#OTP: Set Our Gondola On Fire

[darkmasterofcupcakes]

Sea Hawk as a father

Bow as a father

[darkmasterofcupcakes]

@tolstoyevskywrites This is Sea Hawk and Mermista’s wedding. No arguments, it’s canon.

[zutarasecrettunnel]

if u like fics that are attempts to fix canon and include what are hopefully cute/heartbreaking/romantic moments with ur fave otp then here’s a thing for u, it’s hot off the presses.

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13407259/1/What-Stays-and-What-Fades-Away

Preview (essentially the first scene) under the cut

"I knew the meat excuse was airtight" Sokka said proudly. He closed his eyes, lifted his chin, and wagged his finger at no one in particular, "I'm a simple man with simple needs, and friends who understand me". The rest of the group was huddled around the fire on the stone floor of the Western Air Temple, taking in the adventure as the young water tribe man relayed all of the details. He had just returned triumphant from the Boiling Rock with the first inmates to ever escape from the perilous fortress. Darkness engulfed the rest of the temple, indicating the late hour of their return.

Katara predictably sat next to Hakoda, laughing with the others as Sokka continued to tell the story. She soaked in the feeling of having her father back with them just as she soaked in the warmth from the fire. Her annoyance at Sokka's deception had melted away the moment she saw him exit the airship with their dad. Having Suki back was also great. It had been too long since she had seen the other young warrior woman or had an older girl around the camp, and her presence clearly made Sokka beam even more than he normally would have after such a decisive victory over the Fire Nation.  

"Yeah yeah, but when you said you had taken Zuko with you, some of us were on to you," Toph retorted, "You can't fool me." 

"There's no way your feet could tell I was lying from that far away!" Sokka exclaimed. He now had half a dumpling spewing from his mouth as he pointed jokingly at the small earthbender. Everyone laughed in response. 

"But seriously. I couldn't have done it without Zuko," Sokka continued, swallowing what was left of the dumpling bite and suddenly becoming serious. The firebender was also part of the group, listening to the story he had just been experiencing some hours before. But he was quieter and clearly sat somewhat away from the others, still hesitant to expect acceptance from any of them. Even now an awkward, not-quite-smile glanced across his face as everyone turned their eyes to him.

"Thanks, but-," he barely muttered before Sokka interrupted. "He even became a prisoner, too! One of our escape plans even had him thrown in a freezer" He paused to take another bite of dumpling and put an arm around Suki, changing subjects almost immediately. "Suki was also amazing! She climbed a wall! Just climbed it! A completely flat wall! FWOOSH!" Sokka lifted his arm from Suki to begin making a dramatic gesture, trying to pantomime the way she had scaled the wall of the prison some hours earlier. The auburn-haired girl blushed slightly, but looked proud that her prowess as a martial artist didn't go unnoticed.

Zuko looked relieved to see the attention move away from his direction, although Katara's intense lingering gaze didn't escape his notice. The Boiling Rock hadn't been his first experience with freezing cold. He couldn't help but recall the fierce look she had in her eyes that time at the North Pole when she herself had encased him in ice and snow. He had hoped that helping Sokka might make the waterbender warm to him somewhat, but even as she inched closer to her father, familiar beads of sweat started at his temples. She probably still blamed him for her father being at the Boiling Rock in the first place. It wouldn't be this easy to convince her to trust him. Part of him didn't even know why he was so intent on earning that trust, although his mind produced images of glowing green crystals. 

"What was it like there? I wonder if it was anything like the prison ship my dad and I were on," Haru chimed in, mostly looking to Suki and Hakoda. The arctic blast Zuko felt coming from Katara eased as she turned her attention back to the two recent prisoners, both still in their simple red garb. The group quieted a bit. It seemed as though Haru was disappointed that his father hadn't been brought back along with the others. Light from the flames illuminating the space glinted off of Katara's necklace, saturated orange like a setting sun. Zuko's memories also shifted back to that ship and tying that stone gently around his wrist. 

"It's a prison in a huge boiling lake. If the guards at the prison ship were cruel, these were twice as bad. The warden ruled with an iron grip. . .at least until I stuffed his own headband in his mouth," Suki said, adding in plenty of sass at the end. Sokka placed a quick kiss into her hair.

"You took on the warden?" Katara asked with a wry smile. 

"Well see, the freezer plan didn't work. We were gonna use it as a boat, but then we let Chit Sang and some other prisoners take it instead once I saw that new prisoners were coming in. I had to make sure that Dad wasn't with them," Sokka explained, looking at Hakoda who smiled warmly. "So there was no other way off the island except for a gondola suspended in the air. There was no way we could get on that gondola and expect to make it without taking a hostage - and we needed an important one." 

"So we started a riot," Suki joined in, now with just as much enthusiasm for the story as Sokka. 

"A riot?! That sounds like, well, a riot!" Toph's comment drew even more smiles and laughs from the group. Even Haru grinned under his moustache.

"It was. Once we had a distraction and a hostage, we made for the gondola," Hakoda had now joined in the storytelling as well. "Like I told Sokka while we were still in that awful place, those Fire Nation guards were no match for two water tribe geniuses."

"But Azula showed up and attacked us, as usual" Sokka continued, "along with those other scary girls she's always with". Sokka stopped for a moment, but then added, "Oh, sorry Zuko, I remember you told me that tall gloomy one was your girlfriend."

Heat rose in Zuko's cheeks and his good eye bulged a bit as the group turned their gaze on him again. He frowned as he looked at the mix of faces. He still had to force down the urge to get mad as he watched the Avatar stifle a giggle. 

"The one with the knives? Who didn't even care about her own brother back in Omashu?!" Katara blurted before she could stop herself. She didn't know why she felt a jolt of electricity shoot through her veins upon the news that Zuko and the solemn girl might be involved. The thought of him being with a girl who didn't even feel anything for her own family made her narrow her eyes. In contrast, Zuko's eyes widened even further, and his mouth fell open slightly. What was Katara even talking about? Mai had never really talked about her time in Omashu, let alone her interactions with the Avatar. He didn't know how to respond. Her tone was incredulous, but not as icy as any of her previous words to or about him had been since he had shown up. Her expression showed that she was surprised to have uttered the question, as if she didn't know why she cared. But she recovered quickly, her brows immediately furrowing as she once again scowled at the prince. 

Aang, who had been gleefully enjoying the story, studied Katara's face with a raised eyebrow. 

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised" she grumbled, in a lower tone than before. It reflected the tone she took with Zuko when she had faced him alone in his quarters, making threats to his destiny. Zuko's heart began beating a bit harder than before.

Pairs of eyes darted between the two. Toph silently moved a hand to lay flat on the stone surface beneath her. 

"Yeah, but I guess she's not all bad. She actually saved us," Sokka was undeterred in his storytelling. Katara sighed inwardly. "I guess she and Zuko are still in looooovvveee" Sokka drew out and distorted the final word, apparently unwilling or unable to get new jokes. Color gently marked the cheeks of the young airbender and his waterbending sifu at the reference. Things had changed between them significantly since they had been the target of this same gentle ribbing.

Zuko's face was stone. He had been surprised that Mai had saved them, especially since just minutes earlier she had been throwing scrolls at his head, not understanding why he had left her to join the Avatar and save his country. 

Katara moved to clean up the bowls the group had used to share their late night snack. "Well, I'm just glad to have you and Dad back," she said, smiling again, "but I think it's time for all of us to get some rest." She picked up the remaining dishware and heard rustling as the others began to get up and stretch. 

The Duke, Sokka and Aang yawned, almost in unison, as if Katara's proclamation itself made them tired. Teo's wheels squeaked slightly as he began maneuvering around the others. 

Sokka continued to tell the others about his experience even as they all shuffled away to their beds. Finally, he focused again on Zuko. Katara could just make out the last part of their conversation as she and Aang, who had stayed behind to help, began to bend water over the dishes.

"So Zuko, with Mai saving you I guess that means she went to jail. You gonna bust her out once you get back to the Fire Nation just like I did with Suki? I bet she'll find you irresistible once you do!" The water tribe boy gave a series of slaps to the fire prince's back, causing a series of thuds. Katara glanced over her shoulder to see his response to her brother's vigorous friendliness. Zuko looked at his feet, conflicted, and his voice carried a bit more gravel than usual.

"I don't know, Sokka. I have a lot to focus on before I can even think about going back to the Fire Nation."

The line of Katara's lips became completely flat, and she encouraged Aang to help her finish their chore quickly. It had been a long and eventful day.

[darkmasterofcupcakes]

For me, the only thing I’m sure about is that Catradora would be the last of the canon/endgame couples to have kids, if they decide to have kids at all. However, which couple would be the first to have a child, I think a case could be potentially made for Scorfuma, Glow/Glimbow, or Seamista. Though, my gut tells me that either Scorpia and Perfuma, or Glimmer and Bow would be the first, for various reasons.

[darkmasterofcupcakes]

Just gonna put this here: Characters don’t have to be shown kissing on the lips to be romantically involved with each other. Kisses are nice, of course, but they aren’t the only way for two people to show that they’re in love. 

[darkmasterofcupcakes]

She’s a closet pyro in love with an open pyro. If they ever have kids, all of the matches in Salineas have got to be locked away for the sake of everyone’s property. 

Mermista's weakness isn't fire in the sense that Frosta has a weakness to it cause of ice. It's a weakness in that she's a closet pyro.

"I kind of set his boat on fire to see what it felt like."

[darkmasterofcupcakes]

Why can I just see Mermista and Sea Hawk having like...the Etherian equivalent of, like, a Vegas wedding? 

[darkmasterofcupcakes]

From basically the start of the show, I had 4 OTPs for She-Ra: Catradora, Glow, Seamista, and Pertrapta. And now, three out of the four are either outright confirmed canon or basically flat out confirmed. That is literally the best percentage I’ve ever gotten for actually picking ships that ended up canon, outside of Kim Possible or stories where there was really only one canon ship to begin with. 

[darkmasterofcupcakes]

Okay, so I still have to decide between the two, but in my new AU, Seamista’s daughter and eldest child is going to be named either Serene or Serena, derived from “siren”.

[darkmasterofcupcakes]

I mean, Seamista technically didn’t get as much on-screen development, since they weren’t seen as much as Glimmer and Bow, whether together or individually, but there was still a fair amount of development for their relationship. And even besides that, the majority of the interactions and scenes they did have together were excellent at showing their dynamic, with there being several that made it pretty clear that they do genuinely love each other....even if Mermista is bad at openly showing she feels the same way that Sea Hawk feels about her.

Glimbow, on the other hand, literally had about the same amount of development as Catradora? Maybe at most you could say they had a couple less episodes of development, since they were absent from “Promise” and they got together in the second to last episode (unless you go with the timeline of “Don’t Go”, where they were already together by “Taking Control), while Catradora weren’t officially together until the very last episode of the series. But that’s nothing to hold against them, of course. 

As for Entrapta and Hordak....I still feel like it’s hard to define what their relationship is supposed to be seen as, mostly because it’s never really made clear how Entrapta feels about Hordak? It does seem pretty clear in the show that he’s at least infatuated with her, but I do feel like it’s much more debatable how she feels about him? She does clearly like him and seem to consider him a friend to some degree, but I don’t know if there’s anything that gives off the impression that she definitely returns his feelings.

People trying to say that Seamista and Glow got the "reverse gay ship written by straight writers" trope when even if they didn't have on the lips kisses, both had pretty genuine and romantic love confessions, as well as I'm pretty sure being confirmed by the creator. Entrapdak did get that treatment though, for sure.

i really don’t get why ppl act like seamista and glimbow didn’t both have 5 whole seasons of development and, like you said, romantic love confessions (and a forehead kiss for glimbow!), ESPECIALLY if they ship entrapdak, who had like one season worth of being friends and no romantic chemistry imo

[darkmasterofcupcakes]

Headcanon: sea hawk cries during his vows during their wedding.

I personally don’t headcanon them ever actually officially getting married - I just don’t see them seeing it as “necessary”, since they love each other regardless and would probably basically just have a common-law marriage instead. But, yes, if they did have a wedding, he would be in tears during basically the whole ceremony, especially when saying his vows.

Mermista tells him to stop being so emotional, but is secretly touched.

[darkmasterofcupcakes]

what do you think the context is behond mermista trying to kill sea hawk the first time they met?

Honestly, my best guess is that he crashed a party either she was throwing, or if it happened before she became the ruler herself, a party her dad was throwing, and since he wasn’t invited, she initially assumed he was some kind of assassin or something, and acted out of a preemptive form of self-defense. 

Then he probably ended up flirting with her and she realized she was basically a harmless idiot (and kind of cute), so she let him go and then they probably just sort of hung around each other until he had to leave. And then he kept coming back. 

[darkmasterofcupcakes]

Who Needs a Wedding?

Michelle: Hey, Pearly?

Pearl: What's up?

Michelle: You wanna get married?

Pearl: Why are you asking?

Michelle: 'Cause I wanna know if you wanna get married.

Pearl: ...Y'okay. Sure - why not? Might be fun.

Michelle: Sounds good to me.

*One week later*

Pirate: Aren't you going to introduce me to your friend over there?

Pearl: I mean, if she wanted to introduce herself, she would, but I think she's distracted, so whatever. That's Mitch - she's my girl-

Michelle: I'm her wife.

Pearl: Yeah, she's my....Wait....What?

[darkmasterofcupcakes]

They’re relationship in two screenshots and two captions.

“ADVENTURE!”

Mermista: “Don’t do that.”

[darkmasterofcupcakes]

Anyone wanna send me stuff about Glow and Seamista? Prompts, headcanons, just general asks about them? I wanna give my two more (still) underrated ships some love, especially given the fact that I can now celebrate that they’re officially canon.

[darkmasterofcupcakes]

Sea Hawk usually brings Mermista dome kind of sea flowers whever he comes to see her.

He definitely does, and she always rolls her eyes and acts annoyed at the gesture....but if anyone comes to visit after he comes to see her, they’ll find those same flowers in a vase, being very well cared for.