#I really love kya and she deserves more attention

[waterfire1848]

AU where Aang wakes up 30 years earlier 🙏🏼🙏🏼

Hello, @kibutsulove !!! Got it!

1. Aang wakes up when Hakoda (oldest but smallest of the group except for Aang) 16, Kya is 15, Bato is 15, Ozai is 16, Ursa is 14, and Zhao is 17. When Aang does wake up, he’s woken up thanks to Zhao attacking the village on his first mission and shooting fireballs at Aang’s iceberg (he leaves before noticing Aang). Hakoda, Kya and Bato grab him and bring him back to the village to rest up. Hakoda loves Appa so much while Kya and Bato are digging their nails into the saddle to stay alive.

2. The journey includes Hakoda, Kya and Bato traveling to the North Pole because Aang comes out of the iceberg a decade after Hama is taken away, so he needs to go there to learn waterbending. Hakoda just flat out tackles Pakku and starts punching him when he finds out who he is (Kanna deserved better). Zhao is on their tail the whole time because he’s trying to show off his skills to Ozai (who is too busy hating his showboating brother). Kya and Zhao have one or two or six sessions where they just talk about liking an idiot.

3. When Zhao fails, Ozai wants to go help him (Ursa kind of comes along because she believes the two will die without her) before Iroh (who is also now after Aang) can capture the Avatar. Let’s just say they aren’t as well oiled a team as Team Azula. Ozai is mission driven, Zhao is jealous because Ursa is betrothed to Ozai, and Ursa really is just doing her (she could not possibly care less about capturing Aang but she does find two of his companions kind of cute (bisexual!Ursa))

4. Iroh tries a baby’s first “siege on Ba Sing Se” while Ozai, Zhao and Ursa slip into the city disguises as Kyoshi Warriors. Aang’s earthbending teacher here would probably be Tyro (16) (who sadly isn’t a little blind girl but he is up for all kinds of chaos). Hakoda, Kya and Bato are living their best nonbender lives and watching Tyro through Aang around. (Aang: Aren’t you guys going to help?! Hakoda: You go this! Kya: We believe in you! Bato: Unbroken bones are overrated. Aang: 😑). Kya manages to confess to Hakoda in Ba Sing Se and the two start dating right before the city is taken over by the three Fire Nationals. Aang wouldn’t be killed here because there’s no way to bring him back to life.

5. Tyro, Hakoda, Kya, Bato and Aang all head to the Fire Nation and infiltrate it. While they’re there, Tyro does a prison break, Hakoda learns how to use a new weapon, Kya and Ursa have a secret girls day, Bato goes into the Fire Nation military for a single day and Aang helps out a town. (Kya: I can’t believe that all only took us two months. Hakoda: Yeah, it seems like the rules of time don’t really exist anymore). Meanwhile, Ozai, Ursa and Zhao return as war heroes with Ozai happily rubbing his success in Iroh’s face (but still not getting much positive attention from Azulon if any attention). Zhao grows even more jealous as Ozai and Ursa have to plan their wedding (which Ursa confessed to Kya she doesn’t want to go through with).

[lily-inmyhead]

LINZIN RANT

Disclaimer

• So I just wanted to start of by saying I don't really post much here, but I felt like getting a little tangent of my headcanons for Lin and Tenzin's relationship.

• This will include young Linzin, their breakup and some of the Linzin we see in TLOK.

• I am a firm believer in the fact the Lin Beifong deserved so much better than what she got in the show. However, I am also a firm believer in the fact that Tenzin also deserved better.

YOUNG LINZIN

• I fully believe that everybody knew Lin and Tenzin likes eachother except them in the beginning.

• It was also a classic case of the will-they-won't-they trope (with Kya and Bumi both having betting pools on it).

• Lin and Tenzin were both extremely close growing up, they were both so similar, they both understood eachother in the pressure to live up to their parent's legacy, and Tenzin would always listen to Lin whenever she would struggle with her mother or Suyin.

• Much to Kya and Bumi's disappointment, nobody was ever able to pin just when Lin and Tenzin crossed the line of friendship, not even them. It just sorta happened neither of them knows exactly when, previously mentioned this annoys Kya and Bumi who have to return all the money from their betting pools.

• Everyone thought Linzin was going to be endgame, Tenzin had even started calling Toph "Mom" and she had accepted it begrudgingly and Lin had started calling Katara "Mom" which elated Katara. (I saw this headcanon somewhere and it resonated with me so clearly and I can't remember where.)

• The two of them were a sort of power couple in Republic City, paparazzi fauned over them and named them 'Power Couple of the Century'. They were adored by everyone, even though the attention at time was too much. (The amount of publicity they gained whilst together led to a messily public break up in which alot of names got dragged through the mud.)

• Tenzin didn't necessarily want a family, he wouldn't mind having one in fact he'd like it but it was never on the top of his list at least not until his father died, he never pressurer Lin into the idea of having a family because he knew she didn't want one, he was happy with that as long as he was with her.

• Tenzin and Lin were hopelessly in love, and were actually a really good couple they worked well together.

BREAK UP LINZIN

• Tenzin and Lin's biggest fault was actually what lead them to each other, their deep need to fulfil their parent's legacy.

• Aang's death and Toph leaving Republic City was where it started to unravel with all the new pressure on each of their shoulders cracks started to show.

• I think the last straw was when the acolytes (pushing my evil!acolytes agenda here) kept pushing Tenzin and Lin and Pema confessing to Tenzin. Lin and Tenzin both mutually decided to end things, they both knew it had to end, however it was Tenzin who had the nerve to voice it first.

• In the break up most if not all of Lin and Tenzin's mutual friends took Lin's side. Even Katara voiced her disappointment in her son's choice and chose to comfort Lin as she knew Toph could not.(Katara knew why her son did what he did but that did not mean she liked it.)

• This is one thing I think Tenzin was done dirty on, everyone voiced their dissatisfaction at his actions; Kya, Bumi, Izumi and even Su had sent him letters voicing theirs.

• Nobody stopped to think how Tenzin was feeling, only Lin. Lin knew what the others didn't, the break up had been much more mutual than it seemed.

• The break up was unnecessarily public with both Lin and Tenzin's names getting ran through the mud(though admittedly Tenzin more so). Tenzin however, was fine to play the bad guy as he announced his engagement to Pema not long after. He knew he had to take the blame, he felt at fault and was partly at fault, beside his name could recover, Lin was freshly chief of police, had big shoes to fill and was a woman all things the media would latch onto to pretty much destroy her career. Tenzin was protecting her and only Lin was aware of it and she was somewhat greatful.

• Another stolen headcanon is that after the break up they both need a change, so Lin cuts her long hair and Tenzin grows a beard.

TLOK LINZIN

• The two are reluctant to work together but still work seamlessly when forced to.

• Lin and Tenzin have kept up a cordial relationship. One thing do no matter the time after the break up is meet for tea every Wednesday afternoon, it was a habit they got into whilst together and never got out of.

• The two still love eachother but at this point both know it's practically impossible.

• Tenzin has a key to her apartment still. He only uses it when she is sick or injured.

• Often times Tenzin is the only one who can force Lin to go to the hospital when she needs and sometimes her subordinates will even call him in if they get too worried about her.

• They also somehow end up co parenting the Krew.

THE END

• Thank you if have managed to get this far into my rambling congratulations 🎉.

• These are just my thoughts on the ship and are NOT canon.

• Justice for my babies they were both done so dirty.

[softxsuki]

Congratulationson 1000 followers !!! You deserve them all and what to come in the future !! Always wishing you the best !! ♡♡

Here's for the event pls ^^ <3

1. She/her !

2. Obey Me! Haikyuu! And Demon Slayer pls !! ^^

3. Male ^^

4. Romantic Lovers ^^

5. Idk :<

6. Aries >:D

7. Quality time, physical affection, gift giving/receiving

8. Idk uh don't really think I have one ?

9 I have a personality like, well, ok I am VERY introverted, I have low self-esteem and I have horrible anger issues, but I'm also really sensitive(when it comes to arguements, once someone starts yelling or being more aggressive it'll lead me to crying, and I hate crying.). I tend to not be around a lot of people and I stay in my own space, a lot of people irl would describe me as mean and/or cold but I just have a hard time really showing a lot of emotion besides anger :^

10. 1-I like art, it's been something ive enjoyed since- 3? I just always adored it and still pull out some paper and pencils often ^^

2-gaming, I do enjoy playing games, my types of games honestly could be more like, Call Of Duty, Fortnite, Apex Legends etc but I also really enjoy minecraft and sometimes roblo and the sims ^^ !

3‐I could spend a little while watching animes :p I don't really binge as much as I'd want too but I do really enjoy animes ehe

4-I also like listening to music. I don't sing or dance or really do much besides a little lip-syncing when it's playing but I, well, just like it? I have a horrible time explaining and describing tbh...

11. Well, I'm a minor I'm school, I absolutely LOVE plushies, and hugs. <3 I can't live without my family and I love scary stories <3 I love hearing other people's stories and interests (especially if it's similar to mine) I find collections very interesting and I spend a lot of time looking at things to shop for online ^^; I love chocolate but I'm allergic to it >:^ I love overside shirts and hoodies so I WILL steal clothes. I am always/usually cold so I better get my match-ups jacket >:^ I also could get really clingy tbh :°

12. Can it be a walk in the park as friends and then a confession that leads to a café date ? ^^

I'm sorry I'm not the best at describing or anything so idk how good/bad this was ^^; ♡ ty in advance ^^"

1000 Follower Event Matchup #23

This is event is CLOSED. You can view the masterlist here.

Note: Hi Kya <3 thank youuuuu. so sorry it's taken me this long to get to your matchup, but it's finally done :D. Hope you like who I matched you with :)

I match you with: MAMMON, KUROO, TANJIRO

Runner-ups were: Beel, Akaashi, (no one else from ds, tanjiro is perfect heh)

Mammon:

I think Mammon would be a great match for you because he’d make you feel really special

He pays extra close attention to how you react to certain things and makes a mental note of it; such as how easily you cry when someone raises their voice at you, how you don’t show emotions very easily aside from being angry, and how you tend to stick to yourself when in a room with many people

Mammon goes out of his way to adjust himself to fit your own needs (he’d never admit it though)

Whenever you’re at a crowded event with him, he’ll take you to a quiet table and just spend time with you, entertaining you and helping you feel comfortable so you can have a good time!

If you randomly get upset at him, he’d be a little taken aback because he hates that he was the one behind your anger, but he quickly gets over it; he has Satan as a brother after all, and than man is literally the embodiment of anger, so it’s all good

Get all your anger out, Mammon would give you your space and wait for you to reach out to him again when you’re ready

THIS MAN LOVES TO SHARE HIS CLOTHES WITH YOU

Of course he won’t say that, but you’d randomly find one of his shirts or sweaters in your room and you’d just casually slip into it

When you come into the dining room for a meal and Mammon sees you in his clothes, he’d probably die on the spot, but have a proud little smirk on his face as his brothers watch with jealousy

How does Mammon confess to you if you were his friend at first?

It takes a lot to get him to confess

You know he likes you…it’s pretty obvious by how blushy he gets whenever you compliment him

So you might have to step up and be the first one to confess here

Once your initial confessions are out of the way though, Mammon naturally becomes a great boyfriend by spoiling you with beautiful things and getting you things on his way home from RAD

Would try and play it of like it’s no big deal, saying he happened to come across something that made him think of you…Yeah no he definitely scoured many stores to find the perfect gift for you 

His favorite type of date with you is just spending quality time together in his room, playing some video games, and ordering food until you eventually fall asleep 

SOUNDS PRETTY GREAT TO ME

Kuroo:

I find Kuroo very carefree, so your initial impression of being cold, doesn’t affect him at all, in fact he thinks it’s adorable

He teases you about it sometimes, but he just likes getting a reaction out of you, anything to see some emotion behind those eyes

He truly does help you express yourself a bit more since he’s super expressive himself as an extrovert lol

Your love of gaming is a bit exhausting for him, since he already has Kenma to scold about staying up all night playing games, BUT he’d find himself wanting to play some games with you to see what all the hype is about (he does end up enjoying playing with you)

Kuroo is very observant, he picks up on whenever you’re in a particularly bad mood, or going through a rough time and instantly smothers you in affection

He’d throw one of his hoodies over you (whichever you claimed as your favorite) then cuddle up to you, pressing tons of kisses to your face in hopes that he can kiss away your troubles

One of his favorite things about you aside from your wonderful personality and beauty, is your love for art; if he’s ever around while your drawing, he’d watch you quietly, and perhaps would want to join in on the fun and draw with you

How does Kuroo confess to you, his friend?

Very boldly–as soon as he realizes his feelings for you, he makes it well known, physically by always having an arm around your shoulder or teasing you so he can see you get flustered and upset (not seriously upset, he’d never do that)

I don’t think he’d ever officially ask you out, it kinda just happens one day when he excitedly kisses you after winning a game and it was all smooth sailing after that

His favorite place to take you on a date is a cafe and maybe even a museum; some place he can relax with you and see you happy

Idk I just think you’d be a cute pair

Tanjiro:

Now onto the one I ship you with the most, TANJIRO

Your love for your family is so beautiful to him; we all know he cherishes his family as well, so he loves that you’re very close to yours :D 

It helps that you were friends first before dating, it gave Tanjiro an opportunity to truly know you (all the small things that he could have possibly never noticed had he fallen for you as a stranger)

Do you see how cuddly he gets with Nezuko, patting her head and everything? Yeah, he does the same with you, but it’s even better :3 he loves when you cling to him–being close with you like that gives him the chance to show you how much he loves you

Got anger issues? No problem. Tanjiro is friends with one of the most spontaneously angry guys out there, Inosuke, he can definitely handle any anger you have to throw at him

Ever going through a hard time? He can smell the sadness on you before even getting a chance to notice something is wrong, and he’s already running over to you to try and comfort you

HAVE YOU SEEN HIS HEART? HE’S SO KIND AND PURE HEARTED I just know a Tanjiro hug could melt all your problems away as he whispers beautiful things in your ear in an attempt to cheer you up

How did he confess to you, his friend?

He didn’t realize his feelings for you were romantic until one night when he almost lost you to a demon

He could feel the pain in his chest and how abnormal is was to feel that way for someone who was just a friend (of course having anyone in danger was terrible and would worry him, but this was different…)

That whole night and for many days to come, Tanjiro never left your side and eventually confessed to you

Get a little blushy after his confession, and is so overjoyed when you tell him you feel the same way

His favorite place to take you on a date is probably a busy village with many stores so the two of you could enjoy shopping for whatever catches your eye or browsing the many treasures each store has to offer

He loves how excited you look while shopping, one of the rare times he sees your open emotions and he’d never pass up an opportunity to see you happy

HE’S JUST PERFECT FOR YOU. DO YOU SEE MY VISION? IK IM PROB MISSING SOME THINGS BUT ITS 2AM AS I'M WRITING THIS AND I'M FEELING A LITTLE OUT OF IT LOL

EVENT REQUESTS ARE CLOSED

REGULAR REQUESTS ARE OPEN

Posted: 7/24/2023

[randomideasmybrainhas]

Prompt 6 - Kya

For: @helplesslezbeean - hope you like it, thanks for reading!

Prompt 6 - Kya : ’God her smile could light up the world, and her toned body would sweep me off my feet, and her eyes, the window to her soul, which are looking at me, which are glaring at me, which are getting closer?’

---

We’ve been practicing for hours, and I no longer can feel my body from the frigid temperatures as we continue to bend the water back and forth. Korra is surely out to kill me for whatever apparent reason, since we’ve been practicing all day, and I’m sure I’ll end with a head cold soon enough. I continue to pull and push the water back to Korra thinking of warmer things, like hot cocoa, and sitting by a fire place, and under a blanket reading a book, and Kya… 

God, her smile could light up the world, and her toned body would sweep me off my feet, and her eyes, the window to her soul… which are looking at me… which are glaring at me… which are getting closer? I watched as Kya approached covered head to toe wearing an angry face, even though she seemed pissed at me, and I have no idea why, I don’t think she could get more beautiful. I know it’s wrong to view my mentor in anything other than a professional manner, but I’ve had it bad for Kya for as long as I can remember… She’s just always been there, and she’s such a strong bender. Hence why I’m out here in the frigid cold with Korra training to get better to match her skills. 

“What the hell are you two doing out here?!” Kya shouted over the howling wind, while taking the water and turning it into ice and putting it straight into the ground. I was stuttering out a response while trying to act like I wasn’t absolutely frigid and trying to contain all the body heat that I could muster. 

“We’re training, it was (y/n)’s idea anyways.” Korra said as she sent me a wink. I glared at her as Kya turned her undivided attention towards me with a glare. Any other time I would’ve died on the spot, instead I just kinda stood there trying to come up with a response. Kya simply shook her head and pointed back towards the huts. I sighed and hung my heat in defeat. Korra just laughed and hopped onto Naga and ran off. Great I thought, I was hoping Naga could get me in faster, and provide warmth. I looked towards Kya, and followed like a puppy with it’s tail between its legs and my head hung low.

“I don’t understand why you come and train in the worst conditions possible, do you think it’ll make you stronger somehow?” Kya asked as she kept her arms close to her body to preserve warmth. 

“Well yeah… Then I can fight in anything, and beat my opponents.” You replied sheepishly, while trying to look away from her impending glare. 

“Why on earth would you need to defeat someone so bad you would get sick for it?” Kya asked while she continue to trudge through the snow. You kept following, but whether it was because of the cold, or you were so sick of beating around the bush, you just blurted out, “I do it for you.”

You could die in that moment. You really wanted to.

Kya stopped in her tracks and stared at you while slightly shuttering. You wanted to say something, something better. Brush it off as a joke, but for whatever reason, you couldn’t. You just stood there and stared back at her. 

“What?”

“I- I do it for you. I want to be as good as you. I want to be better, and prove to you I’m capable of protecting you.” You stutter out in-between shivers and trying to not just implode on yourself. It was now or never, and honestly, how hadn’t she noticed before. You only but oogled her every chance you got. 

“For me? Geez (y/n). You are as good as me, and what protecting do I need? I’m quite older than you, I think I can handle myself, I’m not some weak old woman.” Kya huffed out. 

“I didn’t say you were, and never implied it either. You’re magnificent Kya. All I could hope to be and more. God Kya, I’ve been in love with you forever. You not only inspire me to be my best self, but you create this spark in me where all I can hope to do is impress you. I seek your attention and approval constantly, to where I’m out here for with Korra for hours to get better.” You shout over the wind, and step closer so she can hear you better. You were so close you could kiss her, and man did you want to. So badly, but you weren’t sure how this was going, and if it would be safe for you to do so. 

“(y/n)… I… I don’t know what to say.” Kya replied while staring at you, and your lips? Fuck it. You leaned in and brought her close to your body. You were an inch away from her lips and you whispered quietly to where you weren’t sure if she could hear you, “Then don’t say anything. Kiss me.”

And she did. She leaned in and her cold, soft, amazing, honey like, filled with all things happiness and sunshine kissed you. She kissed the life out of you, and if you died from you heart stop beating, you would be okay with that, because this was all you could ever ask for. She was so gentle, and hesitant, but firm and powerful, and it oozed her her pores how much she could dominate you in any way. If she asked you to run to the ends of the earth for her, you would. If she asked you to kill a whole army for her, you would. If she asked you to give you her life, well, she wuoldn’t have to ask, she already has it. After years of crushing on her, this was all you could ever ask for. You pulled her in even closer, and deepened the kiss. 

She continued to kiss you back as you fell more and more in love with her. It wasn’t until after a minute she had to break for air, though saddened, you knew it wouldn’t be good to have her actually die on you. 

“I’m freezing, can we please finish this back at the cabins?” Kya shivered out while shaking in your arms. You just grinned and kissed her quickly once more and instantly took her hand and started walking back to the cabins. No matter what happened, it was all okay, because Kya was here, and you were never shying away or letting go. 

“Oh, and (y/n)?” Kya asked.

“Hmm.” You replied with a grin.

“Never train in the fucking blizzard again. Not even for my attention, I’ll give you plenty if you stay in the warmth.” Kya said while giving you a quick wink and smirk. Her words floated right up to your brain like a drug, and man, you were never training with Korra again… 

—-

Hey, so I tried to keep this a little shorter with only 1,200 words, hopefully you liked it!! Please leave a like and comment!! Love you guys!

[calipolifan]

I love that you care so much about the adults of atla. The kids are very interesting of course and very compelling characters, but the adults, including Ozai, deserve more fandom attention. Out of curiosity, what got you onto the Urzai ship to begin with? I like that you portray them more closely to how they were originally meant to be in canon. The relationship might have become abusive, but there was definitely love there once, if I understand correctly. But please correct me if I’m misunderstanding them! It’s a ship that isn’t usually depicted with much nuance except for “Ozai is the devil himself” and “Ursa is a poor abused little angel”

Also, after seeing previous asks, I couldn’t help but ask you what made you consider shipping Ursa X Hakoda and Ozai X Kya too? I’ve always enjoyed crack ships and those are some very interesting ones. With Ursa X Hakoda, I get the sense that feelings would develop due to shared trauma and the love would follow later. But with Ozai X Kya, I can see their relationship starting as hot and steamy, especially if Kya is a consort or concubine, then they begin to bridge the power/distrust gap and develop romantic feelings as equals. Wanted to get your opinion because I think what makes crack ships so fun is that they’re open to a variety of interpretations.

Thanks!

The kids get enough attention by the fandom anyway, especially certain ones... *cough* Zuko *cough*.

The reason I usually get drawn to the adult characters in a show where it's mostly about kids, is, a) I'm an adult too, b) I usually start thirsting for one them before ending up getting genuinely interested in their character lol.

Why did I start shipping Urzai? I guess it was the weather. It was just the very first Ozai ship I was exposed to, luckily (or unluckily) without context from The Search for good plot.

I ended up stumbling over some really old-school fanfiction where their relationship was portrayed that they were closer to being equals. If not in rank, then at least in mind. I remember in my early days in the ATLA fandom that I was really attached to the very romantic idea of Ozai banishing Ursa to spare her from the execution she would've faced for high-treason. Azulon's murder didn't go smoothly and there'd been clear evidence for an outsider's influence, a trail that would've led sooner, rather than later, straight to Ursa.

I wish I could go back to that time... The fandom has poisoned me like lead over those last two years.

Anyway, for a long time, my utter hatred for the comics got me into an outright Urzai rage. I got the honour of being one of the mods for Urzai Week last year, too.

But I digress, again.

Ozai is my favourite character in the franchise, so it was just a matter of time before I started shipping him with more characters apart from Ursa, and I'm not sorry about either of these facts.

Kyazai? Ozkya? is a ship idea that came pretty late to me. It seems most of the time based on the concept of Kya ending up as Ozai's consort/concubine, and even that is rare to come by. I've seen an AU idea where Ozai takes both Hakoda and Kya as his consort (because he's greedy like that), and I'm still thinking about that. No matter, it's hard for me to really... judge the ship, if you get what I mean.

Hakursa is a ship I read and liked once in a fic that was more centered around Urzai's emotionally messy divorce in a modern AU than anything else. In most other settings, that is, "poor Ursa finally ESCAPED that demon called Ozai", my Urzai heart just bleeds too much for me to even attempt to really get into it.

Both wife-switcheroo ships are really just crack ships to me, and I like them on a superficial level. That being said, they're all also DILFs/MILFs, and in that way, that's enough for me to keep wanting to mix them together in couples/throuples.

[zukkaoru]

time to shine tag

i was tagged by @sheimagineddragons tysm kit!! <3

Only rule: Be as thirsty for attention as you want to be! Link one of your old fics/art pieces or one that didn’t get enough attention, link a work you loved to create or share a draft from your newest WIP. Or do all of these. Be greedy. Show your art. Crave attention. Be proud. And don’t forget to give your friends an excuse to show off theirs!

Additional note: Please consider dropping one of your favorite hidden gems by an other author along with your own work so others can enjoy it as well and so that it doesn’t stay buried any longer!

a little bit of you & a little bit of me okay i'm starting with this fic i wrote for atla gen week about jinora & her relationship with being an eldest sister. when i started writing, i was well aware it wouldn't get a lot of attention between being a gen fic, being a tlok fic, being centered on a non-main character, and the fact that it is. um. 19k words,, but i'm still really proud of how it turned out and it's a fic that's very personal to me bc it's a lot of self projection + lowkey it was my way of coming to terms with being nonbinary lol

never been in love (and it's all good) next is yet another fic i wrote for gen week, this time centered on aro bumi ii. it's a 5+1 fic and has a lot of bumi ii & family moments

only if you want to this is yet another tlok fic, this one centered on kya ii and her dealing with sleep-related issues. it's got a lot of kya & bumi and kya & lin in it!!

of all the stars, the fairest finally i am going to promote the fic i wrote for the atla 18+ big bang, which is a mailee fake dating fic, simply bc wlw fics never get as many reads and oatstf is my baby

okay as for other people's fics, i have. so many i could rec but i will try to keep it (semi) short

a friend is still a friend by @that-was-anticlimactic is a fic about jet & sokka being frenemies and it's just. literally so perfect. it made me feel such a wide range of emotions and i absolutely adore it. (also if you liked the jet & sokka dynamic in my enby sokka fic, you will love their dynamic in this as well)

the tell me what you want me to say series by @zukoisgayforsokka it's vv cute and has zukka, yueki, and background mailee & jinzula and i love it so much!!

a brutally soft woman by @rolandtowen which is about nonbinary suki and i love love love it!!

i like my girls just like i like my honey by clumsycrow is a yueki meet cute one shot with best friends yue & sokka and suki running a booth at a local farmer's market and it is very adorable

strawberry gay time by beifongbltch & snowandfire is a maisuki modern au oneshot and tbh that ship deserves more love. anyway there's lots of sapphic pining and i love this fic

tells me she's mine by crashing_meteors yuetara surfing au. need i say more?

maybe this is how i first met you by sirensokka mai and ty lee in prison post-boiling rock with homoerotic chi blocking and pining <3

okay uhh idk who all has been tagged and who hasn't so i tag anyone who wants to do this <3

[whattheflameo]

Lin healing the bonds with her family hc?

Ohhhhhhhhhh anon you have opened up a WHOLE can of worms I have extremely strong feelings on this topic and most of them can be summed up with Lin Beifong is the Epitome of the older sibling parent trope. RANT INCOMING

Lin choosing to forgive Suyin has almost nothing to do with Suyin’s “apology” (or lack thereof). It occurs solely because Lin actively decides to be the better person in their relationship. She decides that having her sister and her niblings in her life is worth more to her than her grudge and her hurt. Which is saying something, because damn can Lin hold a grudge.

Su isn’t going to apologize; its not in her nature at all. She genuinely doesn’t recognize the need for apologies in anything. She doesn’t give them and never expects them from others. Lin knows this and decides to move on anyway.

Su did write Lin a letter asking her to come talk. Actually, she wrote several. Lin never opened a single one, determined to keep herself from getting hurt again. Its easier, especially when Su isn’t in front of her, to convince herself she doesn’t care.

Despite everything, Lin still hopes the best of her sister. Finding out that she changed her ways after being sent away, stopped with the petty crime and actually made something of herself, built an entire city and raised a pretty great family, comes with a level of relief- even if it wasn’t her to help Su see the error of her ways, at least Su was able to do so.

Lin doesn’t trust Su as far as she could throw her, especially after Su lies to her face to send Korra after Aiwei. She doesn’t trust Su to choose her to save over literally anyone else, and to be honest she has the older sibling complex that she just doesn’t have as much faith in Su’s bending skills as her own. That’s why her “I love you,” before drawing P’li’s fire sounds so much like a goodbye.

Speaking of differences in skill level, that fight between Lin and Su? Buckle your seatbelts motherfuckers I have THOUGHTS. Yes, its one of the most badass fights in the entire series, imo, but I’m gonna be real here. Su was winning. She had Lin on the defensive almost the whole time. But Lin was also at about 40% health- run down, emotionally strained, off-kilter from acupuncture treatment (which I agree with @dont-blame-it-on-the-kids was DEFINITELY not in Lin’s best interest that doctor was 100% paid off by the red lotus), and Su is taking advantage of it. If Lin had been at 100%, even like 60%, she would have WIPED THE FLOOR with Su and Su’s dancy-ass bending style. But she still held her own, even though she was literally breaths from passing the fuck out. Did you SEE some of those hits? There’s one in particular where Su hits her in the gut with a rock mid-air that physically couldn’t not have broken several of her ribs. Su’s behavior in this fight absolutely incenses me like how dare she fucking do that I JUST

All this being said I do really love Su as a character I promise.

Su’s base character hasn’t changed, but after going through the Red Lotus and Kuvira together, Lin does recognize that she’s changed in some important ways. She’s still self-oriented, but she’s not the selfish, bratty teen she was when she scarred Lin for life.

Likewise, after seeing the permanence of Lin’s scars and spending more time with her sister, Su realizes that she’s really hurt Lin. She sees how terrible she’s been to this woman who is willing to give her own life to protect everyone around her, Su especially, and actively tries to make up for it. Like I said, she doesn’t apologize with words, but tries to prove to Lin through her actions that she is going to be there for her. And the fact that Lin’s arm flickers toward her weapons whenever Su loses her temper? Su is so disgusted with herself over it that she nearly throws up the first time she thinks about it.

They’re not best friends, but they do become close. Both of their personalities mellow out with age, and they’re more understanding of each other. Su becomes someone Lin is able to talk to about some personal things, if not the extremely deep stuff. They have wine nights and Su sometimes sleeps over if she gets too tipsy. They both act a lot younger with each other, and Su is one of the only people who can snuggle up to Lin and get away with it.

Unless one of them is actively concealing their emotions (its usually Lin), they can read each other like an open book.

Lin remembers all of Su’s favorite foods and colors and activities and songs from childhood. Su realizes that she hardly remembers any of Lin’s and has a guilty meltdown to Bataar over it. He suggests that she pay really close attention to remember them now, and Su makes it her personal mission. 

Despite having confronted her feelings of abandonment by Toph ages ago, Su can see that Lin not only feels abandoned but also feels like she’s the one who let their mother down, that the break in their relationship is her fault, not Su’s or Toph’s. She knows how glad she was to have Toph back in her life, even if inconsistently, and sees how much Lin wants their mother’s approval and marches into the swamp (and that’s saying something for Su, who isn’t exactly fond of gross swampy things) and drags Toph out to force her to some of Lin’s award ceremonies or other events, including her wedding to Kya. Lin doesn’t know it was Su’s doing.

“Mother Lin may have said she doesn’t hate you but she deserves more from you and spirits help me you are going to say the words “I am so proud of you” to her or I WILL tell Wing and Wei where to find you-”

Basically, Su’s main apology to Lin for all the years of pain and hurt she’s caused is to kick Toph’s ass into repairing at least some of their relationship. Its the most truly selfless thing she’s done in possibly her entire life, because she never tells Lin.

To be clear: NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF LIN HAD NOT ACTIVELY CHOSEN TO SET ASIDE HER PRIDE AND HURT AND FORGIVE HER SISTER. LIN WAS THE CATALYST- SU WOULD NOT HAVE PUT IN WORK TO EARN HER FORGIVENESS IF LIN HADN’T GIVEN IT TO START WITH. Su’s behavior in Zaofu was utter bullshit, it was not worthy of Lin’s forgiveness. She literally showed up and immediately drove a wedge between Lin and some of the most important people in her life, said horribly mean things to Lin, and used Lin’s illness as an advantage to beat the shit out of her. But Lin, strong, selfless, badass, incredible Lin who is so much more empathetic than anyone in that show gives her credit for, looks at all of that and forgives Su anyway. Its not unconditional, like I said the level of trust isn’t bone deep, but she does the legwork. And you know what, Lin deserves to have family that cares about her in her life. Her niblings adore her, and she eventually believes that Su is genuinely there for her. I will die on this hill.

I know this probably came across as incredibly disorganized and rambly. I’ll talk more about Lin’s relationship with the metal clan kids and/or Toph in another post because I recognize that I’ve gone down a fuckin rabbit hole but I have extremely strong opinions on Lin’s relationship with her sister.

[sukirichi]

— 💌 ; a love letter from @kyriaan

long post below regarding broken records. cw includes adultery, physical assault, toxic relationships, broken records spoilers, and mature content

[ from the ask ] BROKEN RECORDS ; track 005

Okay! I finally had time to actually sit down and properly read chap 5 cause ill be damned and burned if i dont pay special attention to one of my favorite series here! Rather drown or be sting by bees slowly 😒

🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙃 I for the first time don't even know where to start so allow me to be all over the place cause my emotions are also all over the place with this chapter ✌️

Ill start by y/n's dad caN GO FUCK HIMSELF? Like okay sir you might have fallen in love with our mom (ill give him the benefit of the doubt regarding his feelings) BUT SIR YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN HONEST? FROM THE BEGINNING? ALSO BRUH YOU KIDDING ME??? SIR YOU LEGIT ABANDONED YOUR OTHER DAUGHTER AND THEN YOU PROCESS TO 'LEAVE US' I- YOOOOO I WOULD BITCH SLAP HIM I SWEAR!!

Also ALSO ILL SCREAM FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK NO KID HAS EVER TO BE BLAMED FOR BEING BORN!! Y/n mom's line: 'we have to atone for our sins' its legit BULLSHIT it wad NOT y/n fault her DAD COULDNT KEEP HIS DICK INSIDE HIS PANTS NOR ITS Y/N FAULT THAT HER DAD CHEATED!!! ATONE FOR OUR SINS MY ASS!! the father is the one that has to take responsibility for all this shitty situation we do NOT nor any kid out there in this situation has to be taken accountable by this!!

And now Suna 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺 bruh im just gonna cry... Everything he does just makes me heart swell i feel so cozy when i read his parts like how sweet and present he is I- bruh I never had that... Actually seeing y/n breaking up with him when shes clearly falling in love with him just breaks me cause Girl for real Suna would be there for you... I get it shes afraid and shes acting on that fear but girl... Pls he truly loves you deeply not everyone is like your dad. There are happy endings. There are good people Sunas one of them pls 🥺🥺🥺 also MY LOVE TSUMU BEING A SUPPORTIVE FRIEND EVEN THO SUNA GOT THE GIRL BRUH TSUMU I FUCKING LOVE YOU MY CHILDISH YET ADORABLY SMUG BOY 😭😭😭😭😭

Nagisas a bitch btw ✌️ so far i see no redemption not excuse in what she did so far. I get her reasons but that does NOT excuse her behavior. She has to lash out at her cunt of a dad not at a innocent woman who was also a victim all along. Nor even her half sister. I get her mentality behind this but doesnt excuse her behavior at all- its basically the same as being a victim from a bully and playing bully after aswell.

Overall YOU MADE ME CRY AGAIN SUKI! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS BUT ALSO UGH MY HEART SUKI!

[ from suki ] 

BROKEN RECORDS IS UR FAVE SERIES??? babe pls you’re gonna me cry !! nah nah fr his dishonesty caused all this mess. YEAHA SAKLAA tbh I love mama lucy but her words of ‘atoning for their sins’ or her mindset of ‘we don’t deserve to be happy when we’ve hurt others’ really messed up YN. she was only 21 and vulnerable with all the shambles happening in her family + the sudden assault from nagisa, that when her mother said those words, she struggled to let go of it. to her, it became like a final verdict that dictated how she lived her life.

SUNA URGHHH PLEASE GIVE SUNA A CHANCE HE HAS PURE AND GOOD INTENTIONS BUT I CANT BLAME HER EITHER AHSJAKA. and the comparison of nagisa being a bully’s victim only to become the next bully is true. nagisa should lash out at their shitty excuse of a father. ALSO AAAAHH THE NEXT CHAPTER (007) IS WORSE AHSJKAAL

[ from the ask ] BROKEN RECORDS ; track 005

I know shins attractive I mean mans perfect?? Does he even have any flaw?? And the way he cried when he got his jersey MYGOD FHDHFHFJSKS but I still look at him and im like.... Hmmmm nah i wouldnt date him its just not my... Do i dare say type? Cause i dont think i have a type ghfhfisofbd but like I just 🧍‍♀️

I love him i just dont love him i guess

The makeout scene tho ill give you that 🥵🥵🥵 made me bark (i would still walk out next day like was a good fuck kita byeeee🚉🏃‍♀️💨)

... More drama regarding mari... And you said this will have like 10 chapters... And from 8 on will be angsty.... 🙂 *traumatized noises*

[ from suki ] 

YUUHHH KITA IS PERFECT HERE AHSJKAA IDK MAYBE ITS MY SIMPING FOR NAOYA CONVERTED TO KITA ALREADY BEING PERFECT AS HE ALREADY IS AND I AMPED IT UP BCOS THE SIMP MODE IS ACTIVATED AHSKAA. the make out scene !! pls sir i’m on my knees spare some love in ur heart AAAAAAHHHHHH. also. i assure you. businessman! kita got game. he’s gonna make you walk funny if you give him the chance HSJKA

yeah i just finished writing the outline for track7 right now and the drama is HSJKAA it gave me a headache sobs 

[ from the ask ] BROKEN RECORDS ; track 006

I want to give you my usual thoughts on the new chapter and at the same ahm...

I just saw myself on Suna... Deeply....and it kinda slapped me harder than i was expecting...there were too many things from him giving himself to mari/treating her like he wants to be treated... To deleting his best friend from social media thanks to his girlfriend... And it really hurt me ahah..

I would vent but.. Yeah

But yes this chapter i saw myself in suna and i had to take quite the long breaks cause it was getting to me 😅😅😅 also if anything i learned from my experiences is that MARI SCREAMS RED FLAGS and even Osamu can see that pls

I would honestly end Mari there, i wouldnt even bother to just retort i would walk my way into to the damn apartment and fucking take Suna for myself cause Mari does not deserve him. Shes manipulative, and in a way abusive.. Not allowing him to keep contact with his best friend his a total redflag and o know its because Suna had feelings for y/n and vice versa but Suna never gave het a reason to distrust him.

The moment he said he was best friends with y/n and was single she immediately clinged himself to him and for what? To then dump him like he was trash...

He gave himself to her, he proved he was there for her he even took her back this boy deserves the fucking world and its not Mari...

I kinda want to say it's not y/n at this point either cause the way she broke his heart was kinda the same Mari did.. Y/n disregarded his feelings and just broke it up.. Mari disregarded his feelings abd broke it up... But y/n stated from the very beginning that she would eventually break up Mari just shrugged and didn't care so i can in a way forgive y/n i cant forgive mari

Besides y/n was supportive from the beginning while Mari was obsessive and controlling.

Another really insanely well written chapter as usual (albeit this one making me ball my eyes off harder because yeah) but yes~ eagerly waiting for the next one~

Take your time tho 😌🙌

Mari can go fuck off 💗💓💞💕❣️❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🖤🤍💯💝💖💋💅

Suna x y/n pls

Y/n deserves to have a healthy love life with someone she loves (hence why npt Kita) and loves her back

And Suna deserve the fucking world and be treated right

[ from suki ] 

NAHHHH cuz when you said suna was treating mari the way he wanted YN to treat her... that’s right. on point. they’re all so complicated sobs. MARI IS A WALKING RED FLAG THAT OSAMU CAN SMELL FROM A MILE AWAY. ALSO yes mari is manipulative and borderline possessive when it came to suna. like yeah, let’s be real, she could tell a long time ago that suna was in love with YN and it made her insecure / jealous, but the whole time, YN kept her distance. she was supportive over their relationship from afar as to make mari comfortable. suna also did everything he could to make sure she was well cared for. for three years, he was focused on her and only her. he gave love a second chance despite being brokenhearted. suna never mari a chance to doubt because he, too, was sure he could be happy with her.

until mari left him.

and now suna is back with YN because they will always have each other. but honestly,,,if we think about it, if mari never broke up with suna or at least gave him the chance to explain himself - if mari didn’t do the exact thing YN did to suna years ago - he honestly would’ve been really happy with mari. they were going well. like yeah mari has always been toxic by pushing suna’s boundaries and asking him to unfollow his own best friend on social media, but he did it anyway. because he trusted their relationship. he wanted the best for them. 

also yeah, the parallels between mari and YN were intentional !! 

HEHEHEHE THE KITA X YN SHIP everyone loves them im so happy about that bcos kita is so amazing in my eyes. PREACH FOR THAT THO !! SUNA DESERVES THE BEST. SUNA DESERVES TO BE TREATED RIGHT. HE DESERVES THE WORLD AND SO MUCH MORE

thank you for taking the time to send me this, kya, it means a lot to me and it motivates me to work harder on the future chapters !! <33

[theotherace]

I also just finished lok and just read all your posts of you dragging it and it was so funny and sadly so true. why was it so bad? it didn’t have to be as good as atla, very few things are but to be that bad was disheartening and what they tried to do to the gaang just made me angry, who was that person called toph? why doesn’t anyone mention sokka? why was kataang such terrible parents? and why did they have such awful children?

Lin was the most interesting but i don’t know if she was as interesting as I thought or I just loved her out of spite, the show tried so hard to frame her as just a bitter selfish hag who deserved the shitty family she had and can’t get over her asshole ex who liked much younger women that I decided I was going to love her but I’m so disappointed that there is really no character to ship her with, and practically nothing about her that it’s not about her great love story with Kya? The what now? Are the shippers so desperate for a w|w ship?? And did they just close their eyes and pick two women who never had a scene together and ‘who is even that lady’ is a good reaction about kya.

Well, look at us, watching LoK ten years after everybody else did, haha. Honestly, I didn't expect or need it to be as good as ATLA. Very few things will probably ever be, in my eyes, not only because it's a very good show, but also because I'm looking at it very nostalgically, and because this is the first fandom I'm really deeply involved in. It means a lot to me, I learned a lot while being part of the fandom.

The comparison to ATLA certainly does LoK no favours, and I do think I would dislike it less if it were its own show, but it is not, and I don't think I'm being unfair when I compare the two. They're connected. This is more or less a direct sequel. And it didn't do a good job at being a sequel.

I'm honestly tired of "Oh, this character you loved? Terrible parent actually". It annoyed me when I read Cursed Child, and I hated it with Aang and Toph. There's other ways to further develop characters, and this can't possibly be the only flaw people can think of. Toph was also incredibly mean and empathyless, which is uncharacteristic for her. That kid had such a big heart. Sure she was rough, but she also absolutely had compassion and empathy for those she loved. And even those she didn't, if we remember her talk with Iroh. The Gaang really was done dirty in LoK.

And Lin is absolutely one of my favourite LoK characters as well, and she was treated unfairly by the story at times, but I do honestly think that my liking her has a lot to do with the characters she's surrounded by. I wouldn't have paid too much attention to her in another show, I don't think. Maybe an "Oh, that lady's cool, I guess", but she certainly wouldn't be my favourite character had she been in ATLA or Gravity Falls or what have you.

And hey, shipping's not everything! Lin doesn't seem terribly unsatisfied with her life. If anything, I'm a little annoyed by everything having to be about shipping, because sometimes it does feel like people don't know how to otherwise engage with a character, and that saddens me. I will say, though, that I don't mind people shipping her with Kya. Shipping two people who rarely or never interact isn't really my problem; you can still think their personalities would go interesting together. I would be a terrible hypocrite if I said anything against that, seeing as I'm the sole Teophaang shipper, and I don't think Teo and Toph ever exchanged a word on screen. Kya just has no personality. So I don't mind the fandom putting some work into her, I actually find that admirable, and maybe there's more to her in the comics; maybe she and Lin interact more there. I know she's canonically a lesbian, apparently, so at least they're not shipping her with some random guy. I was really more expressing surprise about how popular this ship seems to be -- almost every bit of LoK fan content surprises me, frankly, now that I've seen the show. There is so much about Izumi, I see her all the time, and she literally only talks once in the whole four seasons of LoK. Again, this fandom works hard, and I have nothing but respect for that, even if I wish they'd gotten a show that gave back a little more.

Thank you for your ask! I'm not sure I actually replied properly to everything, but this i long enough for now, haha.

[the-last-cuddlebender]

Since when young Tenzin is underloved? His dad loved him the best and treated him as the special one and his mom adores him and maybe his siblings would give him shit when they were kids because they were jealous but he had Lin as a good friend and then he cheated on her with a 20yrs younger woman. The guy gets as much loved as he deserves

Hi, anon! So there’s a few things to unpack here, so I’ll try to be as concise as I can. This is pretty much what I think Tenzin’s childhood was really like and why he should be appreciated just as much as Bumi and Kya. Also with Kataang TLOK parenting thrown in. I’m pretty tired and don’t wanna edit an essay, so I apologize if it rambles.

Also, I’m not gonna touch the whole Tenzin cheating point. I’m fairly certain that that’s just objectively wrong. Everything else I’m more than happy to discuss, though:D

To be clear, when I say I feel like Tenzin is under-loved, I mean by the fandom (and by TLOK, but to a smaller degree). Under-appreciated might be a better word. Or under-explored? Idk. I just know that Tenzin’s childhood—just his—doesn’t get the attention it deserves. Outside of Tenzin having some angsty one-on-one’s with Aang (which I love, make no mistake!), I don’t see a lot fleshing out his childhood. Bumi and Kya get a lot of it, though (or the kids as a whole, but nothing that’s just Tenzin’s).

I don’t subscribe to the idea that Aang treated Tenzin as “the special one.” Bumi and Kya being jealous—in the way that seems to be the majority consensus—of Tenzin when they were kids is a bit hard for me to imagine, too. I try to stick to canon as much as I can, but, for some things, I have to draw the line. There has to be evidence, not just anecdote, otherwise I hc it into oblivion. I’m not saying their feelings in TLOK aren’t valid. They absolutely are, and Aang would never want those feelings to be invalidated. Children just retain things differently. A traumatic accident could have no effect on them but falling in the shower and bumping their head might. Developing brains are weird. 

I can see Kya and Bumi giving Tenzin some shit when they were kids (Tenzin does admit that Kya picked on him), but I highly doubt that was any more/less than normal sibling rivalry and Cain Instinct. Sure, Aang might have given Tenzin attention for being an airbender, but he gave Kya and Bumi attention for being a waterbender and a non-bender, too. To me, it’s like having siblings who play different sports. Just because dad went to every one of my sister’s soccer games doesn’t mean he didn’t attend every one of my basketball games. The hyperfixation on airbending in TLOK makes it sound like that was all Aang cared about, but even in ATLA we can see that that isn’t true. If it was, then he would have kicked out the mechanist from the Northern Air Temple. 

To say that Aang loved Tenzin the best is to imply that he loved his other children poorly, which isn’t true in the slightest. I can entertain the argument that he spent more one-on-one time with Tenzin, but that could be attributed to different children with different personalities having different wants and different needs for validation from their parents. And I will gladly defend it, even though I personally hc otherwise.

It’s hard to talk about Tenzin without also talking about Aang and Katara, so bear with me here:

Tenzin and Kya:

Tenzin was the last airbender besides Aang. Kya was the last waterbender from the Southern Water Tribe besides Katara. To assume Aang treated Tenzin as the “special one” because he’s an airbender would, if using the same logic, mean assuming Katara treated Kya as the “special one” for being a waterbender. 

I’ve never understood why The Southern Water Tribe being inherited by the Kataang kids isn’t as big of a deal as Air Nomad culture. Both of them were recovering cultures on the brink of extinction, so they both have a lot of pressure for the kids to live up to.

Plus, if Sokka had a right of passage for being a Water Tribe warrior, then who’s to say there wasn’t a right of passage for Kya, specifically, for being a waterbender? She would be the special one, there. And maybe Tenzin struggled with his two heritages because being an Air Nomad meant being vegetarian but being Water Tribe meant using dead fish to go penguinsledding?

Tenzin and Learning too soon:

Tenzin probably learned about his responsibility of carrying the legacy of the airbenders at a very, very young age. Aang and Katara probably tried their hardest to wait until he was older to tell him (a-la Gyatso wanting to wait until Aang was older for him to carry the burden of being the airbenders’—and the world’s—last hope, too), but it was unavoidable. It was a part of the world’s history, and the aftermath of the war wasn’t exactly something a kid could avoid. Plus, I’m sure Aang wanted to correct airbender history as it was taught in schools as soon as he got the opportunity after the war.

Tenzin just has the abstract “idea” of what his bending culture was like when it was alive and well. Aang has memories to draw upon from which to imagine the future that the airbenders needed to rebuild towards. Tenzin gets second-hand notes.

Tenzin also didn’t have a baseline by which to measure if he was a “good airbender.” He had only Aang to compare himself to. ONLY AANG. This is talked about in TLOK but only in regards to Aang being his dad, if I’m not mistaken. But Aang isn’t just Tenzin’s dad. Aang is his father, the Avatar, and the youngest airbender to get his master’s tattoos. That’s a LOT more to live up to than just being his kid. And it’s the only thing Tenzin has to compare himself to to measure whether or not he’s a good airbender. I’m shocked that his spiritual ineptitude isn’t more of a haunting issue for him, quite frankly.

Tenzin and Bullying:

Tenzin didn’t have any airbenders his age (anyone like him) growing up. Even Aang had a childhood with other airbenders. As a father, Aang was as playful as a kid, sure, but, to a child, it isn’t quite the same because they don’t share that special bond of growing together and having a shared upbringing. 

Katara can especially empathize with this. 

Airbending is the element of fun. It’s kindof hard to express/embrace that facet of the element if Tenzin is the only one his age who can wield it.

I can almost guarantee that Tenzin got voted out of playing with other kids at least a few times because he was the only airbender (and that would make teams unfair). He probably learned to play by himself. That would certainly make him serious. Toph would probably teach him how to entertain himself, too. And that might lead to Tenzin and Lin hanging out. Who knows?

I honestly think Tenzin was bullied quite a bit (and not by Kya and Bumi), and that the bullying attributed to his demeanor as he grew up. Him cowering from Kya or running from his siblings when they picked on him was an exasperation of what he was probably dealing with outside his home.

In the recent comic with Katara and the pirates, we see a Fire Nation soldier flaunt some pretty nasty ideas about the Air Nomads because of Sozin’s propaganda. I don’t think that 15 years (or however long Tenzin was born after the war) is going to reverse that. Tenzin was probably picked on for being an airbender in addition to being the Avatar’s kid. 

If the rise of fashion post-war was as fast-growing as industry, I can imagine kid-Tenzin being made fun of for being bald (even though it was part of his religion/culture) and for dressing in robes when the world, especially Republic City, was beginning to adopt different clothes. 

Tenzin is an incredibly tender soul around those he loves but also incredibly serious around his adversaries. He has a soft inside and an armored shell, and that thick skin is usually forged through unsavory interactions. And he definitely interacted with plenty of normal kids his age. Aang missed the chance after the ice, and Katara was the only one her age in her village besides (kindof) Sokka. There’s no way Aang and Katara would keep their kids cooped up and strictly homeschooled. At the very least, Toph would bust them out if they did.

Tenzin and Katara:

Now, I’m not saying that Tenzin blames Aang because he obviously doesn’t. But Aang has memories of what airbender life was like, and Tenzin has only dreams. Honestly, it’s like he’s caught in the situation Aang was in when he was a young Avatar. They both have to live up to something that was pretty much just a legend. How could Tenzin possibly be expected to compare himself to something like that and be peachy fine? Aang wasn’t. So maybe, just maybe, Aang and Katara decided to have Tenzin go on private trips with Aang so Tenzin could understand that part of himself that was so hard for him to get? Inner peace is pretty dang hard to think about with THAT much pressure. 

And yes, it was Aang and Katara who decided on the trips. I will not for a second believe that 1.) Aang would make that kind of decision without her input or 2.) that Katara would let one of her kids get private time with dad that would even potentially give the illusion of favoritism. 

Katara knew how important one-on-one time with a parent was to some kids. This is why she tells Sokka to go see Hakoda instead of her in Ba Sing Se. She saw not only how much Sokka wanted but how much he NEEDED to see their dad. Sokka and Tenzin were both caught in a “passing of the torch” scenario (tbh, the scene where Aang tells Tenzin that he’s proud of him in the Spirit World reminds me of when Hakoda tells Sokka that he’s proud of him during the invasion when he’s injured. In both instances, it kindof solidifies the official passing of the torch).

“You didn’t love her like I did”—Katara learned pretty quick in tsr about how incredibly toxic the assumption of loving or being loved more/less was. She would never under any circumstance agree to anything that would show favoritism to one of her children. Absolutely no way. Aang and Katara are a team, and to villainize one for favoritism is to villainize the other.

Tenzin and Yue:

Tenzin had a stressful upbringing. I would even make the argument that he and Yue had a similar time trying to conform to a responsibility that they were told/learned about at a too young age. Their mindsets are very similar—responsibility even at the sacrifice of their own wants and happiness and an overwhelming love for their father.

Tenzin: “I have a responsibility to Republic City.” Yue: “I have a duty to my Tribe.”

They were both determined to love and carry on the legacy of their father and their people, but they did it in their own way. They both struggled with their responsibilities from an extremely young age.

Finishing thoughts I guess:

*********************************************

I can imagine a young Tenzin crying and trying to hide from the world that was shoving its weight onto his shoulders, and who, when Aang finds him hiding in the bison stables or somewhere similar, cringes away from Aang for a split second before recognizing his father and holding on so tight that it hurt. Aang tried his damnedest to teach Tenzin airbending and the responsibility of being the last airbender when Aang was gone, but even he knew that he couldn’t keep the weight of the world off of Tenzin forever. Aang never got that chance when he was told he was the Avatar. He heard the monks say that he was “the airbenders’ last hope” because storm clouds were gathering. Young Tenzin probably felt just as hopeless. The one-on-one trips he took with Aang were specifically to the places Aang had visited in S1 when he was still recovering from realizing that he was the last airbender. Maybe Aang took Tenzin with him one-on-one, just the two of them, to drive home the message that Tenzin was not the last airbender like Aang had been?

“I-I’m just one kid…I can’t. I…I-I’m just—”

“Shhh, shhh, shhh…I know, buddy. I know. But you’re my kid, too. You’re my entire world.”

“Everyone says I’m—”

“Don’t worry about them. They’re not here.”

“B-But—”

“But? What but? Are you hiding someone in your sleeping bag, Breeze-Butt?”

“N…No…”

“And do you see anyone else here?”

“…No.”

“That’s right. So don’t worry about them. It’s just you and me right now, okay? Just breathe. There you go. Just like I taught you—You’re doing so well, bud. Shhh…You’re okay. You’re not just one kid. You’re Tenzin. And you’re my son. You and your brother and sissy are my entire world. I love you so, so much...Oh, see? There’s that million-yuan smile!”

“…Thanks, Daddy. Love you.”

“Love you more. Do you want to try going in the water again? Or we can stay up here if you like. Whatever you want.”

“I wanna try again. But…But maybe just a small fish? I don’t wanna fall off again…I-I can’t do the air-chute yet…and the water hurt.”

“I’ll round up the smallest koi there is. I’ll sit right behind you, too. How’s that sound? I won’t let you fall.”

“Okay!”

*********************************************

Maybe this has been said before idk. These are just my thoughts on Kataang parents and Tenzin. I retcon the entire Kataang family as it’s presented in TLOK, but this is how I imagine it going down in canon. 

This isn’t an attack on any person or fandom btw! I just think Tenzin isn’t as appreciated as the airbean deserves😞 He’s been through so much😭

If there’s a secret stash of young Tenzin appreciation content somewhere, please share!  I might be looking in the wrong places for Tenzin love, and I would love nothing more than to be wrong, honestly. So, please, if there’s a secret stash, yeet me that link!!

[elvenladysakura]

~ Chaar Kadam ~

01

Epiphany

"Randheer - Pakistan police caught him."

The words rang in her head, sinking slowly into pits of her conscience. The love that she waited for - lived for - was held captive in a different land. Air burned her windpipe and Amrit struggled to breathe - those words were caught in her throat. He will not come to save her. It had been a futile dream. Instead, perhaps, she would have to save him.

She hadn't realized how tightly she had clutched at Vashma's hand. Not that her friend had cared. Now they had each other - they held with greed and they cried. They were tears worth four years. Tears for every laugh once shared, every kindred spirit once loved. Amrit snuggled against Vashma's shoulder, allowed her tears to soak through her clothing. Vashma ran her fingers through Amrit's loose hair with tentative affection.

Amrit closed her eyes and allowed the warmth to wash over her. Like desert, she soaked up Vashma's loving caresses - deprived as she was of all forms of love that was in that beautiful life of yore. There was such heartwarming motherliness about Vashma, perhaps it was her pent up love for her lost baby finally finding a different target. Amrit clutched at her other hand.

"Why?" She asked. "Why wouldn't you let me tell Uday Veerji you are here. Why won't you allow yourself to be freed from this cage? This isn't a life worth living Vashma. This isn't a life that you deserve."

Her eyes were closed as she spoke. In the pause that followed Amrit's words, Vashma seemed to have aged decades - lived several lives and spoke with a wisdom that Amrit did not yet posses.

"Do you know what azaadi did to us?" She asked. She had of cause answered this question before, telling Amrit how she wouldn't leave without finding her baby, that she couldn't meet Uday's eyes otherwise. Amrit watched her keenly now, realizing Vashma was going to give a different answer this time.

"It gave us potential. Potential to grab power." She sighed. "When we were a colony- everyone was powerless. Everyone was together. Now that the enemy is gone - we have turned on each other. Now, if we want to protect what is ours, remain who we are - we need power of our own."

Finally, Vashma looked at her, really, looked at her. "This is not a good place. True. But it is an epicenter of power. Mujhe woh takat chahiye Amrit, I want such power that no man ever would trample upon me and mine. Such power that I could right every wrong ever done to me. Such power that I would wish and my baby would be found."

"Iss barbadi mein kudh ko kya aabad karonge Vashma?"

"You won't understand," Vashma said slowly. "If this is greed, manjoor hai mujhe. We deal in secrets Amrit. You have no idea what kind of power they hold. How easy it is to get a hold over a person and make them abide to your wishes. I'm doing the same to Amina bai for now, her need to run this place allows me a hold over her."

"You've changed." Amrit shook her head. But she did not mean it with prejudice. Vashma made things rather simple, more black and white than the confusing gray.

"Do you honestly think it's wrong to use a woman like Amina bai till I find my child?" Vashma insisted. "Do you?"

"No," Amrit said slowly. "Unki bhi toh faida hi hai," she shook her head to her own thought. But the thought gripped her, kept her held in that rather dark place. Power. Greed. Bargain. Then, something else occurred to her, a voice, a proposal - now replayed in a new light.

"Aap apni intezaar utt ke kijiye, beith ke kijiye, soothe hue kijiye, kaathe waqt kijiye - aapki aur aapki intezaar ki beech hum nahi aayenge."

Oh well. If it is what he wanted, Amrit toyed with the idea - was it too bad of her to want a bit of power in return? A little consequence, perhaps a little say - power enough to get Randeer the freedom he deserved, bring him away from that hellish place to somewhere better. Could anyone say she was wrong then if she was to stake her own life in lieu of Randheer's?

She closed her eyes, let the last of acidic tears to drain away. Somewhere deep within her soul, something withered and rotted. Perhaps it was the girl she was - perhaps it was the dream of the woman she thought she would be. Perhaps it was that petulant wish she held into - that wish of becoming Randheer's. If she was to do this - she'd never be his, never be the woman she dreamed to be. But he would be free. Wouldn't that be enough to live out the rest of her life? Knowing that the man she love was no longer suffering but was free and living his life out there somewhere.

Somewhere far away.

Perhaps, this was the sign her God had wanted to give her by making her see a glimpse of Randheer in the crowd. That glimpse which brought her to Vashma and this epiphany.

"Kya soch rahi hai tu?" Vashma inquired, one elegant brow arched dramatically.

For a moment Amrit was amazed at how unfazed she was, even when she had confronted Veer - at his worst no doubt. Vashma had still managed to get an apology from the man, a feat no less - but had also managed to stop him from finding out that the woman he wanted to find and kill was but a door away from him. Vashma could help her.

"Woh Chale Gaye?" She asked vaguely instead. Then added. "Kuwar sahab?"

Vashma was silent for a moment. She was smart and Amrit had not yet learned to keep her face impassive.

"He will kill you." Vashma stated. "You have taken a wrong meaning to my words."

Amrit shook her head, took Vashma's hands in hers.

"I should do this. I could give you hundred reasons why. Starting from keeping my family safe from that volatile man. Then I could give you one truth. I would do it for Randheer. Just like you are doing this for Kabir and Uday veerji. I will go back to him - jo honga dekha jaayenga ."

*

This initiative of hers, had God's blessing. Amrit would not have thought of keeping pardha on her head - it was Vashma's doing - and before she knew it, the silver tongued Vashma had already taken Veer's word to protect her and her honor.

"- humare liye yeh ek mehemaan hi rahengi. Jab tak yeh humare saath rahengi iss pe ya isski izzat pe anch tak aane nahi dunga. Yeh vaada hai humara hum iss ki taraf aank utta kar bhi nahi dekhenge."

And so they went, a satisfied Vashma bidding her a tearful good bye, and her own heart thumping in her throat, Amrit followed Veer, out into the lantern lit street of chandni chawk.

Outside, he stopped abruptly. She'd have walked into him had she been any less attentive.

"Ek darkhast hai aapse," he said then. The shadows hid his expression but his tone was weary, that once haughty pose drooping. Amrit spoke before she had thought it out. Her need to get this right - get herself into this power play too urgent.

"I will not leave. I promise."

There she had gone and made a bargain of her own. Her freedom in exchange of Randheer's - one day, very soon.

Veer went still, very still as if her words had doused him in ice water. He turned to her sharply, eyes searching. But she had turned her face away. He could only see a silhouette of her face against the pardha lit up by the nearest hanging lantern. Dark hair braided thickly hung from her shoulder down to her waist. If he so wished, he could convince himself into seeing a glimpse of his run away bride in this stranger. Maybe, he was drunk after all.

"Chaar kadam-" he said instead. "Four steps. Stay four steps away from me always. Not a step closer. Not a step further. Chaar kadam."

"Chaar kadam." She repeated, slightly puzzled but inwardly happy. Distance - she was only too happy to impose. But then he stumbled and she reached instinctively to steady him - a hand at his elbow.

For whatever reasons, she wanted this man alive - not dead on some shadowy step of chandni chawk.

He managed to stay upright, one hand bracing the nearest pillar and the other holding into her arm. Amrit stumbled along and ended up pressed between the pillar and him. This was the closest she had ever been to Kuwar Veer Pratap Singh, without any conscious attempts by the man himself to intimidate her. He looked down at her speculatively, his gaze trailing over yet unseeing her face. She turned her face away, scrunching her nose in disgust at the scent of alcohol in his breath. He dipped his head and muttered close to her ear.

"Qareeb aayi toh tum barbaad ho jaongi- dur gayi toh hum barbaad ho jayenge. Chaar kadam. Remember."

He moved away and waved a warning finger at her.

"Chaar kadam."

*

Image above belongs to Sonytv Twitter, who posted it. Fair use, no profit intended.

If you wish to read further follow the hashtag #chaar kadam.

[tellywoodtrash]

immj2 13.10.20 lb

askjdshkfjdhkfkjdhfkj vansh being told the number of things that went wrong in the 24ish hours he wasn't in this house of horrors and his face is like THIS IS EXACTLY WHY I DON'T LEAVE YOU FUCKING DUMBASSES ALONE

lol, like i said in the firsttttttttt lb, vansh is taking this news realllllllll chill. he's not mad at riddhima at allllllllll for keeping all this from him. 

saasuji, chachi, and aryan adding some shuddh desi ghee in this aag. can't blame them. riddhima IS a colossal pain in the ass.

lmao one more bomb thrown on vansh, ki sejal bhi kidnap hui hai aur yahin kahin hai. yaaaaaar, i never thought i'd feel this bad for Ghar Ka Bada Beta after shivaay, but this man is truly having to deal with The Most.

accusation after accusation thrown left and right, and vansh is literally like

man, idk why kabir does any of this devious planning and effort. with allllllll this dumbfuckery, it's just a matter of time before the raisinghanias go extinct from SHEER STUPIDITY. he should just bide his time and let them wipe themselves out. should take like, 3 months, tops.

VANSH HAS A BOMB OF HIS OWNNNNNNNNN: “SEJAL MERE PAAS HAI.” WHUT??!!?!?!?

lmao the panic on allllllllllll these fools' faces hearing that vansh has sejal. dadi and siya are the only oblivious and unbothered ones here.

hahahahahaha vansh turns around and sees YET another fucker who's out to test him and is like MOTHERF....... AB TU KAUN HAI BEYYYYY

vansh playing march 24th waale modiji and is like NONE OF YOU FUCKERS LEAVING THE HOUSE FROM NOW ON. NO ONE. EVER.

dang this growly vansh aint the smiley simp from the last 2-3 eps. i'm intrigued.

he promises everyyyyyything's gonna come out in a bit. yissssssssssssssss *grabs my popcorn from the rasoda*

vanshhhhhhhh OUT!

my queschun is ki does mishra know he's fully being made to shady shit by kabir or not!?!?!??!?

mishra not picking phone. he dedddddddddddd, lol. #RIPMishra

KABIR WTF DON'T BE PULLING THE DUDE'S WIFE AROUND LIKE THIS. OH GOD THEY'RE FULLY GONNA GET MURDERED TODAY. 

ainvayi ka nakli fikar and some chugli against vansh.

REJECTED. honestly, she's really asking to be murdered, lol. sis, you can't be playing both parties like this.

lol kabir is meeeeeeee, so sick and tired of heterosexual ppl in love.

blah blah blah find out what he knows.

lmao everyoneeeeeeeeee is panickkkkkk.

WHY DOES HE KEEP TAKING HIS BLOODY MASK OFFFFFFFF

AND DESTROYING PROPERTY AND MAKING NOISE TO DRAW MORE ATTENTION TO THE ROOM. KABIR, SATYAAANAAASH, I THOUGHT YOU WERE THE SMART ONE HERE.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP.

lolololololololololllllllll mummy ki haalat kharaab.

kabir using his half brain cell and not panicking out of control. good.

god bless this vapid praani. idhar sab ki hawa tight hai aur isko apni hairstyle ki padi hai. he's like an evil rudra from IB.

chachi is relatably stress-eating carbs. my most potent coping mechanism.

aryan is like, chillllllll this is mauke pe chauka type situation. 

ASDLFKDSLKFJDLSKFJDLSJFLDSKJFL VANSH WHY ARE YOU LIKE THISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS HE LAMINATED IT AND EVERYTHING HAHAHAHAHHAHA GODDDDDDD I LOVE HIS PETTY ASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

chalo inn madam ki baari ab, phat ke haath mein aane ki.

helllllllllllllllo, sir. immediate aankhon ko thandak now that he changed out of that red suit.

damn, my aankhein not the only thing thandiiiiiii in this room. temp just dropped to -20 with how chilly he's being to her.

SIS HAS WIPED HER SWEATY UPPER LIP SO MANY TIMES KI FREEFUND KI MOOCHON KI WAXING HO GAYI HAI FRICTION SE. BEHEN POWDER THAT SHIT AND STOP TOUCHING IT; YOU'RE GIVING THE WHOLE GAME AWAY. JESUS. ISKO SPY BANAAKE BHEJA HAI?!?!?! ISKO?????? 🤦🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️

lol does he look like he gives a rat’s ass about sejal and your ramkathaa??????

DUDE STOP RAMBLING. JESUS. YOU'RE SOFA KING BAD AT THIS.

speaking of bad sofas, wth is up with the RIDICULOUSLY high backed chairs in this house, they look fucking insane.

vansh willing her to STFU with his eyes is honestly me.

“maine apni pasand badal li, riddhima.” yiiiiiiiiikes. he's not just talking about cologne, is he???

but also, you deserve much better than this twit, so good for you, my man. you deserve to be with someone who at least has six (6) brain cells.

dhat tere ki. he still seems into her. bloody heterosexuality. hum sabko le doobegi.

“itni nervous kyun ho tum aaj?”

NERVOUSNESS JAAYE BHAAD MEIN; I WOULD FUCKING NEVER LET ANYONE TOUCH MY FACE WITH THEIR BLOODY HANDKERCHIEF EXCUSE ME SIR THIS SKIN TAKES A LOT OF MAINTENANCE I CANNOT HAVE YOU DABBING AT IT WITH YOUR FILTHY POCKET CLOTH AND RISKING BREAKOUTS I MUST INSIST YOU REASSURE AND COMFORT ME FROM 2 FEET AWAY THANK YOU

riddhima trying valiantly to bluff her way through this conversation but vansh is like me on online shopping sites after filling my cart full of stuff: NOT BUYING IT.

literally me any time someone touches my face. internally screaming and thinking about how i’ll have to go dab tea tree oil all over to preemptively stop a breakout.

uhhhhhhhhhhh, she didn't say anything about wanting to know what sejal said to you????? mind-reading is very rude and an invasion of privacy, vansh!!!!!

4 pm, kab bajenge bloody 4, out with it alreadyyyyyyyyy.

lol that tinnnnnnnnny smirk of his as he leaves.

no but forreal, imagine living with this dramaticass man who promises big shows at a given time, like honestly i would be so fucking annoyed. at least shivaay never planned his big living room all-family conferences and made ppl WAITTTTTTTTT for it.

mummy is like kabir plsssssssssssss gtfo.

riddhima is useless as ever and has no info. big surprise.

AEDKLSJFLDSKJLFSKJFLKSDJL HE SNUCK UP ON HER

mummy always been knowing that riddhima is a fucking nikammi.

ok notttttttttt cooool my man. phone is private shit. 

off kardiya shaaaani ne.

lol kiskoooooooo pappu bana rahi ho behen, this man knows everyyyyyyyyything.

was that HIS phone he just picked up and left? usmein recording kar raha tha toh??????

honestly can you even blame vansh for being such a shakki shakeel, his house is filllllllllled with fucking snakes.

THIS FOOL JUST BE WALKING AROUND USING ALL THE MAIN DOORS AND SHIT WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU MANNNNNNNNN

asjdkasjdkajshkdsj and the prize for most valiant effort at hide and seek goes to.................

peripheral vision naam ki bhi koi cheez hoti hai, bhai. use karle.  

4 BAJ GAYE LEKIN PARTY ABHI BAAKI HAI, ABHI TOH PARTY SHURU HUI HAIIIIIIIIIIIIIII 🥳🥳🥳

hahahahahhahahaha what the fuck his ass actually has a fulllllllllblown sirens blowing at 4 pm. like not a small tinkly alarm too, this is like those sirens they have blaring at big factories and shit.

riddhima dressed in that promo waali sari where nothing good happens so............ good luck sis.

(but also this is the sari anika wore when they fucked in laal ishq so maybeeeeeeeeee good times are incoming???)

HE ACTUALLY TURNED AROUND AND TOOK HIS PLACE, FOR MAXIMUMMMMMMM EFFECT. THIS MAN AND HIS FLAIR FOR THE DRAMATIC. I LOVE IT.

“yeh sab kya ho raha hai vansh??”

“chaar baj gaye, dadi.”

yes. totally a satisfactory explanation for this shit. thanks vansh. but you COULD have mentioned in your notes ki 4 baje ko jo hona tha, was a scheduled fire drill.

ANY HIGH TENSION SITUATION MAKES ME WANNA PEE REAL BAD, AND GIRLS, MY BLADDER IS REAL HURTY RN.

also lord, this one’s base makeup is too yellow toned too. just look at the contrast between his face and his ear.

askdlajlkdjlasjdlasjlkj he sat right on THAT table.

“toh bataao mujhe: kya hua, kyun hua, aur kaise hua.”

.............. like.... who are you talking to? and what exactly are you referring to? you want me to like start from the big bang and the creation of the universe and evolution and all that jazz, ya like, from this morning when i woke up?

(it’s stupid shit like this i would ask that would get me fully murdered in a sitch like this. damn my smartassery, it’s gonna get me killed.)

lol aryan is up first. we love to see it. OUT WITH IT, YOU WEASELLY LITTLE SHIT.

noooooooooooooo, he didn't even let him properly stew and sweat over it. ouff vansh, kuch toh dramatic pause dete.

“afwaa phaili hai ki meri nazar baaz se tez hai..........”

why all the guys on colors these days gotta be baaz and cheel and god knows what else?!?!!?

OH DAAAAAAAAAAAAMNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN

OH HELLLLLLLLLLLLLL HE DID USE HIS PERIPHERAL VISION AFTER ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLL GOOOOOOD JOBBBBBBBBB VANSHHHHHHHHHHH

KABIR TU TOH GAYAAAAAAAAAA #RIPKABIR

akjsadkjhskjdhkjskask ngl i am fucking thrilled by this development

riddhima and mummy having simultaneous heart attacks though. lol idc, die bitches.

lmao kabir looking reallllllllllll ulta-chor-kotwaal-ko-daante for someone who got caught hiding inside a table.

DANG, I ACTUALLY CANNOT WAIT FOR THE NEXT EP????????? SHIT. THIS STUPID SHOW HOOKED ME IN SOOOOOOOOO EASY. 😫😫😫

[avatraang]

Summary: “But the true secret, is in the gooey center!” -Monk Gyatso.

Izumi shrugs. “I wanted more information, and what better way to learn than from a living relic?” Bumi lets out a booming laugh. Suyin copies him, doubling over in a fit of giggles.

“She called you old!” He wipes a tear away from his eye.

“You called me old!” Aang feigns feelings of insult, throwing a hand over his heart.

“You are pretty old.” Tenzin reasons, much to the surprise of everyone. Lin lets out a low whistle. Upon seeing the incredulous stares, he backpedals. “What? I’m just saying, Dad is technically one hundred and forty. That’s pretty old!” Kya raises an unimpressed brow at her brother.

[For his birthday, Aang teaches his younger family members the most important of Air Nomad traditions: the Art of Ancient Cake Baking, as taught to him by Monk Gyatso. None of the kids know what to expect. Gaang + kids fic. Oneshot. Mostly LOK compliant.]

Notes: HOOO BOY, I had fun with this one!!! It's been a minute since I wrote something for ATLA that wasn't Tokka focused, haha. This was a fun little project! I do love doting on my boi Aang.

So I wrote this prompt down years ago and never got around to it, but recently I really wanted to give Aang the positive attention he deserves, and this was the result. This is completely written for fun; there’s no real plot other than me wanting the best for Aang, lmao. For reference, here’s the scene I’m referring to when I say Gyatso taught Aang how to bake: Gyatso Teaches Aang. Also, I heavily reference this blog post when I comment on how the cakes are made: Air Nomad Cake Recipe. Thanks to whoever put in the time to figure out how the Air Nomads baked!

In this fic, Suyin is barely six. Lin and Tenzin are twelve, Kya’s fifteen, Izumi’s just turned nineteen, and Bumi is twenty. Aang is turning forty. The only ship that I make clear are together, is Katara and Aang. Everything else is purposely left up to your imagination; I want the focus to be on Aang, and for everyone to be able to read this without worrying about their ship. Kataang is only implicitly stated because it kinda has to be canon for Kya, Bumi, and Tenzin to exist, lmao. But even then, I tried hard for that not to be the spotlight; Aang is my main focus in this fic, and I hope you will enjoy him as such!

I hope you all have as much fun reading this as I did writing it; my boi Aang deserves all the good things! Let me know your thoughts :)

Preview:

Toph is sitting opposite of Aang, silent as stone. She’s inspecting him; Aang can tell by the way her feet shift almost imperceptibly, scanning his body. Finally, Toph breaks the silence. “When do you think they’ll be done?” She nods towards the kitchens.

Aang shrugs. “I don’t know. A couple more minutes, maybe?” His knee is shaking, but Aang can’t bring himself to stop it. He’s always been jittery; that’s just his nature. “The kids are probably driving everyone else insane by now.” He wipes his brow, sweaty from the steam of the galley.

Toph snorts. “You know it. I apologize in advance for Su most likely wrecking your beloved Air Temple statues.” One of the cooks steps out of the kitchen, followed by three waiters. They’re carrying ridiculously enormous bags, one in each individuals’ hand.

“It’s alright,” Aang grins, “I’m friends with the best earthbender in the world. I’m sure she can fix it.” He graciously accepts four bags, surprised by the sheer weight of the food. Bowing in thanks, he watches Toph take the other four bags. Then, they head out into the busy street.

“Oh yeah?” Toph continues their earlier flow of conversation. “You’ll have to introduce me sometime. They sound awesome.” A cart flies down the road, almost trampling them. “Hey!” Toph calls, aggravated. “Watch where the fuck you’re going!” She jostles the food.

Aang presses his lips into a thin line. “Maybe they had a good reason for the crazy driving?” He attempts to keep a hopeful tone. As they crest a hill, Air Temple Island comes into view.

“No, Aang.” Toph scolds. “Sometimes people just suck.” She rolls her eyes.

He grimaces. Aang can see Appa, curled up by the ferries, some children cautiously peering his way. Walking a little faster, Aang bends the air to give them a boost; under his feet, he can feel Toph giving them a hand, too. The earth moves as if it has a mind of its own, guiding them along at quick speed.

Upon reaching Appa, the children notice them and back away from the flying bison, eyes wide. Toph bends herself up to Appa’s saddle; Aang does the same, and hands her his bags of food. Once settled at the reigns, Aang lowers the hood he’d been wearing, and gives Appa a hug. He watches the children’s eyes go wide. One of them calls out, joyful. “Hiiiii, Avatar Aang!”

Aang’s smile comes easy. “Hiiii!” He calls back. Then, he shakes Appa’s reigns. “Yip, yip!”

The bison takes off, flying into the sky. Over Aang’s shoulder, he calls out to the children. “Byeeee!” He can’t help it; Aang laughs. The looks on their little faces are priceless.

Toph snorts. Shouting over the wind, she says, “So dramatic, Twinkletoes!” He turns to find her own hood has fallen off her head.

“You’re one to talk!” Aang claps back. But his reply must be lost to the air currents, because Toph just closes her eyes, relaxing into the saddle.

The food is delicious. Aang is glad that he convinced Katara into ordering takeout instead of working herself into exhaustion. The adults sit, wine in hand, discussing life and all its trivialities. Kya stirs her wine in its glass (Aang and Katara had granted her special permission), looking at it with distaste. Aang holds back a smile at his daughter. He supposes perhaps it wasn’t as sweet as she was expecting.

“Happy birthday, Aang!” Sokka cries, holding his glass up high. Everyone matches it, holding their cups up in cheers. “You’re still just as ridiculous as when Katara and I found you in that iceberg. You’re just..” Sokka makes a face. “... Taller.” With accompanying cries of hear, hear! everyone takes a sip of their wine (or, for Lin, Tenzin, and Su, their juice), laughter ringing through the room.

Indeed, forty is a sweet year for Aang. It’s his twenty-first wedding anniversary, and what’s more, all his family have come to celebrate with him. What could be better?

As conversation fills the atmosphere, Aang scans the room. Tenzin and Lin seem to be involved in an intense battle over who can eat the most food (idly, Aang wonders if they’d let him join them). Mai and Sokka are discussing something very intently, but Sokka’s still shoveling food in his mouth like there’s no tomorrow. Izumi is entertaining Suyin, who’s attempting to build… something, from her uneaten meal. Bumi (Bumi! Aang takes a hearty sip of his wine at the thought that his son managed to acquire enough leave to make it for the occasion) is caught in conversation with Zuko and Toph. Katara and Ty Lee are helping Kya with her wine tasting ventures. Aang is about to go join Lin and Tenzin, when someone pokes his side.

“Hey, All Powerful Avatar,” Suki’s voice greets him. Aang turns towards her, sitting back down. “Your actual birthday is, like, two days from now, right?” Suki takes a healthy bite of her food. Aang copies her.

“Yep.” They’d celebrated today, because it was the only day that Katara could say, with certainty, she’d have off from her clinic. He swirls around what’s left of his wine, before downing it in one uncivilized gulp.

“What are you gonna do?” Suki swings her braided hair over her shoulder.

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[tardis-sapphics]

number 1 from the writer meta asks

thank you so much for the question! sorry if this is a late reply, i completely forgot i’d scheduled this! 1. Tell us about your current project(s)  – what’s it about, how’s progress, what do you love most about it? 

my current project is for tomorrow i might die, my post-s12 reunion fic i’m writing from yaz’s perspective. it’s one of the many reunion fics out there, but i wanted to test myself and put my own spin on it, mostly because i’ve been intrigued by her development in s12 re: her confidence. i’ve been wondering - how far will it go, especially with the doctor’s disappearance being a factor? i think she’s capable of falling into recklessness - but how can she come back from it? how does yasmin khan grieve? progress for the first two chapters was great - quick, smooth, and it all tumbled out. however, between chapter two and chapter three (the final chapter), my life changed quite dramatically and i’ve been struggling to get myself in the right mindset since then. luckily i had a bit of a breakthrough a couple days back and it seems like i’ve found my voice for it again. the writing style is quite particular: a lot of paragraphing, a hell of a lot of introspection, and a significant dearth of descriptive narration.  i need it to be perfect for the fic to work. i really love this fic and i want to give it the attention and the writing it deserves.

i think i love the writing style most, as described above. i like playing about a bit with how i write, and this has taken a bit more effort but the effect has been worth it.  it’s rooted in dialogue and action, and the spaces in between. the sparsity and the sudden intensity complement where yaz is right now in her life, i think. also, i love my oc, kya, so much. i just want to be his friend. he’s a doctor-ish character without the mystery and grandeur of the doctor’s backstory, even with the backstory i’m revealing in chapter three. he has a very particular way of looking at the world because he’s so emotionally intuitive - it gives him a mature innocence, a freedom - and in all honesty it makes me want to be like him.

ask me about my writing process! 

[emletish-fish]

Worst Prisoner Swamp notes:

ff.net

ao3

Notes:

This chapter covers the swamp to the start of the blind bandit.

So the swamp shows you people you love, irrespective of time (ie Aang seeing Toph in the swamp before meeting her. Hands down, I thought they were foreshadowing eventual Taang and I was so pleased. Much older Toph and Aang could actually be so good for each other. Aang needs grounding and Toph needs someone to help smooth those super abrasive and defensive edges and brave enough to climb over her defensive walls.)

Katara and Zuko first bonded about their mothers and I wanted to elaborate on a conversation about that, but I couldn't really find a place for it in book one. I felt like it would be perfect here as a flashback. Mostly because the swamp brings up a lot of issues for Katara, but also because by this point, I missed writing my drama llamas together.  Just look at them, they are beautiful together.

Zuko's mum: So I think Ursa tried. However, I think she would have enjoyed Zuko's company more. Hands down that woman loved both those kids, but one of them was infinitely easier to be around than the other.  She probably concentrated on teaching Zuko more, because he was receptive. Whereas I think Azula got more scoldings from her mother.

The flipside of this, and goodness have I seen it countless times, is that when there are two or more children, and one is very challenging – the “good one” is put under enormous pressure to always be “good”, because the adults don't want to deal with two difficult ones. I think that Ursa would have been quick to correct any behaviour Zuko showed that she didn't like. She would have done this lovingly, but she would have still done it, because she needed one “good” and “manageable” kid.

I am not at all with the Azula apologists who blame Ursa for 'withholding affection' and that's why Azula is the way she is. In the flashback we see Ursa scolding Azula a lot and that is because Azula's behaviour is deserving of a scolding. Ursa is trying to set boundaries. Azula is not an easy kid to raise right, but lordy is that woman trying. Azula is a product of her environment while also being responsible for herself and her choices.

I think Azula loves Zuko and her mother, deep down, in one big, hellish tangled ball of complicated feelings – which I will delve into when we get to it.  Katara sees them as complete opposites, because in her mind Zuko = good, friend and Azula = evil gremlin. She doesn't want to see any similarity between them – but those two have more than a nose in common.

I can see Ursa trying to give them a more rounded knowledge of the world and an appreciation of the things she loved, like music. I chose tacky dramatic plays – because my goodness, both Zuko and Azula are ridiculously dramatic. I hate the comics and pretend they don't exist. I think rather than Ursa being a common actress, she was a noblewoman who was just really into the theatre.  Zuko and Azula both learned that being super dramatic got their mother's attention and brought her amusement.

I also think the Ember Island Players were always that terrible.

Anyway, Zuko can remember a lot more fine detail about his mother, purely by virtue of being older before she vanished. Katara was young when her mother died. She was what? Seven? How much can the average person remember from when they were seven? I think this is why Katara couldn't interact with the vision of her mother more completely and why there was no sound/dialogue between them. She doesn't exactly remember what her mother's voice sounded like.

It's also really clear to me that Katara and Sokka don't really talk about her together. Katara brings her mother up will all and sundry random dudes, but Sokka looks really taken aback whenever she brings up Kya around him. I can't even say it's because it's old grief, as Katara is still hurting. My best guess is that as Katara assumed a more motherly role in Sokka's life, they talked about Kya less. Tragically, I think th thing Katara remembers the most clearly about her mother is how her mother died, because it was traumatically burned on her memory.  Poor girl.

So the shared dream – give me this tacky trope lovely readers. I know, I know. It is tacky. But ATLA had gifted me a magic “everything is connected” tree and I am going to use it. That's why I had Zuko explicitly mention that he was sleeping under an banyan tree last chapter – because the trees are connected and...the trees know they miss each other and give them a dream hook-up, and...spiritual mumbo-jumbo, etc. Just give me this tacky, romantic trope.

So Zuko has given up/lost nearly everything. He's had to completely give up his identity, and his quest and everything he defined himself by. It just makes sense that his bending would be affected. So I have brought his season three storyline forward.  Iroh's wisdom from under lake Lagoai is also brought forward. So Zuko will be on a quest to find what really matters. You go, you soft little bean. I’m sure it will be fun for you.

The thieving vigilante bit:  I think this was an important milestone for Zuko, and while he didn't steal Song's ostrich horse in the last chapter, I still think he needs to get his vigilante on and explore some of his lower impulses. He's low-key ashamed of it (because his mama raised him better than to be a common thief, and that is why he is always lying to Iroh), but he is learning a lot about himself through it.

  So swamps typically symbolise low points in character's  journeys and places where a hard truth is learned, or properly understood. Poor Zuko is getting pretty close to rock bottom at this point. I think it would make sense that he would resist his Uncle's hopeful musings – because he has no hope and he thinks there is no point in being optimistic. There really isn’t much more left for him to lose. Soon we will see Zuko beginning to build himself back up, from scratch, away from his abusive environment and discovering things that really matter to him. He'll regain his sense of identity and purpose away from the terrible influence of his father and sister.

Honest Confession time: I think Yang Chen and Kyoshi were the bomb, and also infinitely better at being the Avatar than Roku and Kuruk.  Both those women were so competent.

Look at her! Look at what she did!

If Aang can commune with his past lives, Kyoshi and Yang Chen would serve him much better as mentors. Because, hands down, Roku could have made life, the universe and everything one thousand times easier for Aang if he had just had the gonads to do his duty. Aang is very different from Kyoshi, but goodness does she have wisdom for him.

I think Kyoshi and Yang Chen had the best wisdom for Aang. I didn't like how he dismissed her in Sozin's comet. I thought it was a bit disrespectful to be honest.  I don’t think Aang means to, but it has cornered himself into favouring letting a tyrant live and thousands of others die, because he doesn’t want to do his duty for personal reasons (just like Roku). 

If Aany only draws wisdom from one source (Roku) it becomes rigid and stale. Aang needs to learn from his other past lives. I wanted Aang and Kyoshi to have a conversation, and get to hash out their differences and come to understand each other better. I wanted Aang to see the human side of Kyoshi, and her to thaw a little towards Aang and give him a break and encourage him.

When Aang confesses he didn't want to be the Avatar, I think Kyoshi would have known exactly how that feels. It's a pretty mixed blessing being the avatar. Anyway, I've always wanted to write a more philosophical conversation between those two, and so I am indulging myself a bit here, but I hope you enjoyed it.

Next Chapter: TOPH!!! (she needs the caps).

[sky-kiss]

Urzai Day 4: Modern AU

A/N: I failed. This was going to be business AU. With a lot of boardroom sex. And then it was. Sokka getting the parents drunk and them just being filthy and confessing all their youthful indiscretions. Now it’s this.

______

AU Where Everyone Is Disgustingly Happy and It’s Pretty Gross

______

“I fail to see why we must attend.”

Ursa took a steadying breath, staring straight ahead instead of at the man beside her. If she looked, the urge to slap him upside his idiot head would prove too great. Instead, she pinched the bridge of her nose. She reminded herself of the reasons she had fallen in love with him. She reminded herself of the two beautiful children they raised together.

Better. She turned, painting on a radiant smile, “Because, my love,” she stressed the endearment, enjoying the scowl it elicited, “this is a family affair. And, like it or not, Sokka is practically family.”

“Not yet.”

She pinched his forearm, “Hakoda will be there. You like Hakoda.”

“I tolerate Hakoda,” he corrected, turning up his nose. There were times when her husband struck her as a paragon of men, forward thinking, handsome, charismatic even. There were others when she could not shake the impression that he was nothing more than an oversized child trapped in a man’s body.

“Yes, well,” she smoothed a nonexistent wrinkle out of his dress shirt, patting his stomach, “I tolerate you as well, dear. So please. Behave.”She knocked on the door before he could argue, shifting the bundle beneath her arm. A bottle of wine for herself, cinnamon whiskey for her husband, and a pie (bakery bought; she had no talent herself) for the children.

Despite Ozai’s grousing, she had high hopes for the evening.  Sokka hadn’t offered much in the way of an official explanation; he was just excited to have a place of his own after sharing an apartment with his sister for the past three years. “A get together kind of thing" had been his exact words. Kya had kindly translated to “ a housewarming party.”

Ursa was happy for the him. In part because he deserved it; of all the young men she’d she’d had the pleasure of knowing Sokka was one of the few she would classify as genuinely good. And, more selfishly, because she knew how good he had been, and was, to her daughter. It was something of an open secret among their social circle that Azula had spent the majority of her nights at the house.  Helping Sokka unpack.

“He’s really quite hopeless,” she’d muttered, making a show of inspecting her nails. “Honestly, it’s a miracle he’s made it this far.”

The hand at the small of her back smoothed upward, fingers curling in the fabric of her shirt as he leaned past her, knocking on the door. Ozai’s voice pulled her from her reverie, “If you’re going to stand there all day navel gazing…”

She shook her head, chuckling despite herself.

The conversation inside silenced immediately. She could just make out the sound of Sokka barking orders (at her own son, most likely) and then feet padding across the hardwood. The water tribe boy was grinning, a hint of color already in his cheeks from the heat, “You found the place! See, Azula. I told you they’d find it.”

Azula, leaning against the kitchen island, made some flippant gesture with her hand, “I didn’t doubt they could find us, imbecile. I doubted they would come.”

“Well,” Sokka turned back to them, grinning, “Shows what she knows. How are ya, mom?”

Ursa chuckled, returning his embrace, “I’m doing well, dear. Are you settling in?”

“Yeah. Yeah, just...boxes. A lot of boxes,” he scrubbed a hand over the back of his neck, surveying the living room. While it was mostly put together now (her daughter’s influence, no doubt) there was still an element of chaos. Nothing she and Kya couldn’t fix over the course of an evening. Sokka held his hand out, tone more somber, “Mister Huo.”

Ozai shot her a look. To an outsider, she imagined it must look as austere as any of his other expressions. After decades together, she saw it for what it was. Thinly veiled amusement. Her husband linked his hands at the small of his back, standing to the full of his considerable height, “Sokka.”

“Dad’s out back making burgers if you want to go help. Think he was going to make a fire or something.”

Ozai’s eyes widened, “He’ll burn your house down.”

Sokka flashed him a sheepish green, shrugging, “Yeah. That’s what mom said too.”

Her husband grumbled something under his breath, pausing to press the obligatory kiss to her cheek before stalking towards to the back door. It was probably for the best. Conversation would be easier without Ozai looming over their shoulders. And Hakoda, for as dear as he was, as good as he was, was better off with a more...grounded partner supervising his lofty endeavors.

The water tribe boy stared after the man, shaking his head. “We’re never going to eat.”

Sokka sounded appropriately miserable. A bead of sweat trickled down the side of his face, a testament to the summer heat and the oppressive humidity. Staring out towards the backyard, Ursa was inclined to agree with him. Already, she could hear the telltale signs of their bickering.

“I’m just saying. If you had a little more vision, we’d have this done in half the time,” Hakoda flipped the burgers for perhaps the fifth time in as many minutes. Too often. He shot a dark look at her husband. Ozai stood to the side, arms crossed over his chest, unrepentant. He was already portioning out their whiskey, tone droll, chiding.

“There is a burn ban in place for a reason, Hakoda.”

“Are you this unimaginative in every aspect of your life, Ozai? If so, remind me to offer Ursa my condolences…” Kya slid the back door shut. The rest of their conversation was (mercifully) droned out.

Sokka took the pie from her, motioning for her to follow, “C’mon. We were waiting to take a tour of the house until you got here.”

“That was very sweet of you, dear, but you didn’t have to go through any trouble on my part.”

He waved her off. To her surprise, Azula uncoiled from her position near the kitchen island, moving to twine her arms around the young man’s waist. It was...impressive growth for her.  Even months into their relationship (and after her parent’s reservations were finally erased), she’d been leery about showing public affection. She’d spent years cultivating her public persona, encasing herself in armor; even the smallest show of attention was too much like a gap in her armor.

That she felt she could express herself here was telling. Ursa  fought the urge to reach out and touch her daughter’s face. Azula’s smile was subdued, maybe even indulgent, but it was there. That meant the world to her.

Kya rolled her eyes. The water tribe woman pressed a glass of wine into her hand, tipping her head towards the hallway, “If you’d prefer, Ursa and I can show ourselves around…”

Her son shook his head, half a step from lunging in front of them, “Not a chance. You guys will start ‘organizing’ and I’ll never find anything again. Now. First stop, the bedrooms.”

The older women shared an amused glance. Neither of them missed the way Sokka took Azula’s hand. Neither of them  missed that the girl was mostly willing to follow, her protest entirely feigned.

______

It was a comfortable house, she’d give him that. Nothing overly remarkable (which shock her, honestly; Sokka was painfully traditional in some respects and a pioneer in others). Perhaps the most impressive aspect was an addition he had made himself.

He was living here alone (technically). The master bedroom was his. The spare was set up to serve as an office sometimes and a place for guests to stay. The third room was just...excessive. So he’d started a project all his own.

Sokka scrubbed and the back of his neck, gesturing at the polished hardwood floors. The far side of the room was lined with mirrors; an effective replica of any ballet studio. Ursa hid her smile behind her hand, listening as the boy fumbled through his justification, “Don’t smirk, mom. The room wasn’t doing me any good and Azula needed a place to...you know. Practice. And at least if she’s here when she falls…”

“I do not fall, Sokka.”

“If she falls,” he corrected, “I can drive her to hospitable or something. Or at least...defend the paramedics when they arrive.”

Ursa smiled, “It was very thoughtful of you, dear.”

“Eh. Gotta give her some reason to stick around.”

She didn’t respond but found herself shooting another glance towards Kya. The other woman shook her head. In silent agreement, they hung back a few steps, letting the couple lead them back towards the kitchen. They were involved in a little squabble, verbally prodding each other until Azula dug her elbow into the boy’s side. It didn’t keep him from laughing.

Ursa shook her head, linking her arm with the water tribe woman, “I don’t think I understand their relationship. But I’m not exactly in a position to judge.”

“Let’s just say love is strange, hmm? Leave it at that.” She liked the other woman. She was clever and feisty and had a...realness to her that was lacking among the majority of Ursa’s social circle. She liked the glint in her pale eyes, the hint of mischief as she leaned against her shoulder, “And how are you holding up, Ursa? After everything with Zuko?”

She snorted into her wine, “Ah. You mean after he decided to take ten years off his mother’s life?”

“More or less.”

Her (idiot) son had decided to vanish over the weekend. She’d been none the wiser until Azula forwarded her one of the (less flattering) new articles. Tycoon’s son married in Vegas. Ursa was still in the process of recovering. Her frustrations were only made worse by Ozai’s sudden indifference to the whole affair. For once, he wasn’t willing to chastise their son. Ursa finished her glass, “I’ll make it through. How’s Katara?”

Kya snorted, “Happy to have her brother out of her hair, I imagine.”

It’s all...oddly companionable. They two women drift into more neutral territory. How busy the hospital was recently (they were understaffed again, Kya was convinced that was responsible for her fresh string of grey hairs); how Ursa was managing the company’s latest merger.

It was...lovely.