#Sokka and aang hearing them say this: oh no we HAVE GOT to stop letting them hang out alone

[your-royal-momoness]

Katara: “I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy.” I would.

Zuko: “I’m not gonna sink to their level.” I will, coward.

Toph: “I’m the bigger person.” I’m not even five feet tall. Give me the knife, bitch.

[zukosdualdao]

so, this post was originally born from a post i saw a couple of months ago that was deriding people for criticizing katara’s main role in lok being a healer when that was never all she wanted to do but liking the scene where she heals zuko in sozin's comet. at the time i thought about responding directly and decided against it, but i have since scanned through transcripts of every instance (i could find; it's possible i could be missing something) of katara healing someone in the show and how they respond. (you know, like a normal and well-adjusted individual. lmao.)

anyway, aside from katara explicitly stating that she doesn’t only want to be a healer, another aspect of why people don’t like that this is how her story goes in lok is because of the way healing is treated in the atla narrative.

Katara: Aang, you're burned! Let me help you. [Katara heals the burn on Aang's arm.] Aang: Wow, that's good water. Sokka: When did you learn that? Katara: I guess I always knew. Sokka: [Sarcastically.] Oh ... Well then thanks for all the first aid over the years. Like when I fell into the greaseberry bramble. [Angrily.] Or that time I had two fishhooks in my thumb!

this comes, of course, after aang accidentally burns katara and she learns she can heal through her waterbending by healing her own hands. then (after comforting aang despite being the one who got hurt, not that i'm bitter), she heals aang after he gets burned in his fight with zhao. and like... there's not so much as a cursory thanks in this scene.

to be clear, because i can already hear some responses in my head and i am making a preemptive strike: i'm not saying that when other characters don't thank katara for her healing, they're like, the worst people ever for not doing so or there aren't other ways at different times where they show their appreciation. what i am saying is that it feels like this sets up a long pattern of katara's healing specifically being taken for granted, and it makes me especially uncomfortable when i see her healing as a sort of metaphorical parallel to the emotional labor often expected of her in the show, especially because this and being The Avatar's Girlfriend/Wife is more or less what she's relegated to in post-canon.

also, i have to note sokka's line here. i don't want to come down on him too hard for this, because it's obviously being written humorously (and does genuinely make me laugh, for what it's worth, if just for the inherent ridiculous nature of two fishhooks), but his sarcastically saying thanks for all the help over the years when katara says she always knew (which is supposed to be her saying it just somehow instinctively came to her) does feel like another mark in this pattern. but i also really read this as sokka trying to lighten the mood after a Difficult (TM) day, so i cut both him and the writers some slack for it.

Meanwhile, back at the Outer Wall, Katara attempts to heal a member of the Terra Team. General Sung: What's wrong with him? He doesn't look injured. Katara: His chi is blocked. [Stops healing.] Who did this to you?

i find it interesting that katara has sort of naturally fallen into a token team healer role, to the degree that we don't even see them ask for her help or her agree to it; it's just automatically assumed that she will. and i mean, on the one hand, it's fairly standard to have an Assumed Healer in a fantasy action setting like this, where people will get hurt in combat and therefore the narrative needs someone whose job is to help them. the problem for me is that the show kicked up such a fuss about how women shouldn't just be allowed to be healers, and yet it's still the role no one but katara ever fills. aang is also a waterbender! why couldn't she have taught him healing, too? i genuinely think it would have added a lot to the story, but katara is The Girl (TM), so healing is what she (and only she) does, what's expected of her, and again, with very rare thanks for it.

Katara stares open-mouthed at Jet, her hands hovering near her mouth in shock. Snapping out of it, she withdraws water from her water skin, with which she covers her hands, and it begins to glow as she kneels down next to him. Cut to a shot from over her shoulder, with Jet glancing at her while she rubs her hands over his chest in an attempt to heal him. After rubbing his chest three times, the glow fades, the water stains Jet's clothing, and Katara looks back over her shoulder toward the rest of the group. Katara: This isn't good. Smellerbee: You guys go and find Appa. We'll take care of Jet. Katara: We're not going to leave you. Longshot: There's no time. Just go. We'll take care of him. He's our leader. They stare at Longshot in surprise. Jet: Don't worry, Katara. I'll be fine. [Smiles a little.]

Cut to a closer shot of Katara placing Aang's body on Appa. Katara opens the vial around her neck and uses water healing on Aang's wounded back. The rest of Team Avatar, Kuei, and Bosco all look sadly and in anticipation. The glowing from the spirit water stops, and Katara starts crying, assuming that it was not enough to save Aang. Aang's tattoos glow for a second and Aang groans. Katara, overcome with joy that Aang is alive, looks at him, who smiles a little, and she holds him closer.

writing about these together because i have less to say about them. i'm definitely not going to fault jet for not thanking katara when she tries to heal him as he literally lay dying, or aang for not having the mind to do so after she brings him back. but i am still going to fault the narrative for putting her in a position where healing is just inherently expected from her and yet very rarely allowing her to feel the emotional toll of that or to feel constricted by it. and when she does struggle against the weight of it (not necessarily of being a healer, but of being expected to be kind and good and uncomplicated with no room for other aspects of her identity, which are very tangled up in why she is The Healer) in episodes like the runaway or in the southern raiders, she just... does not receive a lot of support from the people she should be most able to rely on.

Katara: Maybe we should go upstairs. [Helping Aang up.] You need a healing session. Back in Aang's room on the ship. Katara bends some water onto the scar left by Azula's lightning attack. Katara: Tell me where the pain feels most intense. Aang: Mmm, a little higher. Uhhh! Aang briefly flashes back to the battle at Old Ba Sing Se where he rose into the Avatar State, then back to reality. Aang: Wow, you're definitely in the right area there.

not much to say here, it's just another instance where it would have been so easy to slip one thank you in, and the writers just... do not. the reason i think it bothers me so much with aang specifically is because katara is supposed to be both aang's physical healer and his emotional crutch in a way that she's not written as being for, say, toph or sokka. he's sometimes shown appreciation for her emotional support, but he still comes to rely on and expect it in ways that do not always feel healthy, and knowing that, it bothers me that he shows even less appreciation for her healing, because it's just what katara is there for.

A figure resembling the Painted Lady glides over the water on a carpet of fog and enters the village. She steps into a hut where several people are sleeping on the floor, and bends over each of them in turn, healing them with a blue glow. Her last patient is the mother of the little boy seen earlier, her son sleeping at her side. He wakes as the Painted Lady turns to go and silently follows her out the door. Little boy: Thank you, Painted Lady.

this is a genuinely sweet scene in which katara does receive appreciation and genuine thanks for her healing, but i think it's also worth noting that katara is not being recognized as herself here. still, i am genuinely very glad that it's included in the episode because (again, unless i am missing something) it is the first time katara gets thanked for her healing.

The scene cuts to show Appa landing on the edge of the battlefield. Sokka and Katara help Hakoda onto the ground, and Katara starts trying to heal him. Katara: How does that feel, Dad? Hakoda: Ah, a little, better. I need, to get back to the troops. [Attempts to stand but is too weak to.] Ahh! Katara: You're hurt, badly. You can't fight anymore. Hakoda: Everyone's counting on me to lead this mission Katara, I won't let them down. [Attempts to stand again but can't.] Ahh! Sokka: Can't you heal him any faster?

they're in a high intensity situation, and sokka is Stressed because hakoda is supposed to lead the mission, so i, like, Get It, but "can't you heal him any faster?" does strike me as another moment in which katara's healing is being taken for granted. i think it's something that would bother me a lot less if this was an isolated incident in the writing, but *gestures vaguely at whole post*.

Sokka: [Brightening.] Dad! [Rising and approaching the two.] You're on your feet again. Hakoda: [Sitting down; somewhat weakly.] Thanks to your sister.

that being said, in the next hakoda and katara scene, there is this very sweet moment, where hakoda might not be thanking katara directly but is showing a lot of appreciation and admiration for her skill in healing (and though she's not in the dialogue i included, she's around to hear it, which makes me happy.)

Katara: It's gonna take a while for your feet to get better. [Stops healing.] I wish I could have worked on them sooner. Toph: Yeah, me too.

once again, i'm not gonna fault toph for wishing katara could have healed her feet sooner, because she's been in pain all night, but the writers could have very easily (as they could have in any of these scenes!) chosen to include a perfunctory 'thanks' here, and they just didn't. i know this is getting repetitive, but i swear it's because it's largely more me being mad at the writers than the characters, lmao.

there are also a couple of scenes in which katara doesn't heal anyone, but her healing gets brought up by aang.

Aang: He doesn't look sick. You okay, buddy? [Appa groans and Aang pulls out Appa's purple tongue.] His tongue is purple! That can't be good. Katara, can you heal him?

to be fair, aang asks here, and it's not like aang gets defensive or angry when katara says appa needs medicine (and also to be fair, appa's not even actually sick, lmao, katara's being slightly trickstery), but it's another instance where katara is automatically positioned as the person who is and should be responsible for healing.

Aang: [Chuckles.] Well, not over over. I mean there's always Katara and a little Spirit Water action, [Turns to Katara.] am I right? Katara: Actually, I used it all up after Azula shot you. Aang: [Disappointed.] Oh.

i actually don't mind this so much as a writing moment, as i think it's a lot more intentional wrt aang not always conceptualizing the reality of the violence he’s facing. still, it’s another instance of katara’s ability to heal and care for him being taken for granted, and i find it especially notable it’s in of the last significant moments they share together (the other being an argument as katara urges him not to run away from the reality of their situation with ozai) before they spend the rest of the finale separate until they’re kissing without a word at the end.

and then there is the zutara healing scene, where katara heals zuko after he interferes and takes azula’s lightning to the chest when she’s aiming for katara.

Cut to Katara as she rolls Zuko on to his back and begins healing him. Zuko opens his eyes, feeling the pain lessen, and smiles weakly at Katara, who smiles back as she sheds a tear.

Zuko: Thank you, Katara.

Katara: I think I'm the one who should be thanking you.

it seems fair to me to say that one of the reasons the motifs of healing in the zutara are dynamic are so appreciated by their fans is because of how it contrasts to a lot of moments where the work katara does with her healing is under-appreciated. for one thing, it happens as part of a mutual exchange—katara heals zuko after he gets hurt saving her. (this also somewhat calls back to their scenes together in the crystal caves in the tcod, where she offers to heal his scar after they are trapped together and zuko extends her empathy.) it’s based in reciprocity. it’s also, as shown here, one of the few moments of explicit, heartfelt appreciation and thanks given for katara’s healing.

[enchantedmyth]

Zuko, What’s my name?

Fate hasn’t always been in the gang’s favor. Through their journey of finding Aang in the iceberg to meeting an awkward Zuko, they’ve had numerous ups and downs. So, it was wild when Zuko tried to convince them that he's on their side. No one saw it coming. Especially Sokka.

In general, Sokka was a very analytical person. Always bearing the responsibility for the safety of the group, for keeping them on track, and for coming up with innovative ideas to escape life-threatening situations. Of course, the most important thing, being the one who kept things light. 

As far as his calculation went, Zuko could not be trusted even though he had surprisingly turned out to be useful. He’d been skeptical ever since Zuko first showed up. Neither Appa licking him with joy nor Toph’s feeling that he wasn’t lying could convince Sokka. Sure, Zuko had won his trust a teeny-tiny bit by helping them against  Combustion Man, so Sokka gave in and decided to let Zuko teach Aang fire bending if it meant sending the plan into motion to defeat the Fire Lord. That was the only thing that mattered for Sokka. 

Still, something was bugging him. Right after everyone had agreed to let Zuko stay, he realized something when they were having lunch, something weird. 

Then, again during dinner, when they were sitting around the fire, he noticed the seemingly increasing weirdness of the situation. As soon as he had taken his last bite, he decided to speak up.

“Guys…” he started calmly. “I think we need to address the elephant in the room,” he declared, grabbing everyone’s attention.

“What elephant?” Aang asked.

“It’s called a Bison,” Toph commented.

“I KNOW WHAT A BISON LOOKS LIKE!” Sokka screeched, before he cleared his throat, “I’m talking about him!” Sokka pointed at Zuko.

Katara rolled her eyes. 

Aang raised his eyebrow. “I think we have already established that he is part of the group now, Sok-”

“Stop!” Sokka shook his head. “No, no, no. Don’t say my name!”

“But So-”

“DON’T SAY MY NAME!” Sokka screamed.

“What’s with him?” Aang whispered in Toph's ears, feeling defeated, and Toph shrugged nonchalantly.

Sokka stood up to face Zuko. “So…Prince!”

“Uhh…” Zuko curled his upper lip. “Yeah?”

“What is my name?” Sokka squirted his eyes.

Toph laughed. “I think Combustion Man got to his head.”

But Sokka didn’t budge. “The fact of the matter is, I haven't heard him call any of us by our names. It's always The Avatar or The Bison.” He said, impersonating Zuko as he stepped closer to him. “What is my name, Zuko? See? I just said your name! It’s not that hard.”

Katara growled, growing impatient, but chose to stay silent, just like Haru, The Duke, and Teo, who were also witnessing the whole thing while eating their dinner.

Zuko let out an awkward laugh. “Lee?”

Everyone gasped.

“SEE!” Sokka pointed at him again. “I KNEW IT! THIS GUY DOESN’T KNOW OUR NAMES!”

Hearing this, Toph sat up. “Wait, really?”

“But you've been following us forever!” Aang added.

Zuko scratched his cheek. “Uhh…You guys never really told me your names.”

Aang slowly shook his head in disbelief, “And you decided to just roll with it?”

“It was very awkward this morning,” Zuko argued. “You know, with the assassin trying to kill everyone? Then you guys went to do your own things. I thought it was too late to ask.”

An awkward silence took over only to be broken when Sokka cracked up. “And to think he followed us around the world!” He snorted. Toph and Aang joined in while Haru, The Duke, and Teo softly chuckled.

“Who do you think Appa is?” Sokka hollered.

“Is that the Earth Bender or the Bison?”

Sokka laughed even more. “Holy waters!” He wiped away a tear. “Can you guess who Aang is?”

“Ugh…”

“Who…Oh Spirit! Who is Sokka?”

“The…Avatar?”

“Hahaha! Who are these extra people then?”

“I’m seeing them for the first time…”

“Okay, guess who is the grumpy girl with the hair loopies?”

“The waterbender…”

“Don’t drag me into this,” Katara spat.

And just like that everyone else laughed, breaking the ice. Maybe Sokka trusted Zuko a little more now. 

..............

I wrote this a while ago in a sleepy state and thought I did something. Inspired by a post I can't seem to find. This is not exactly romantic but I see some zukka potential here idk man.

[kitty-kei]

Fiery Familiarity - Part 3

hey guys!! sorry it took longer than i expected to get this part out, i’ve been busy at work lol. also i realized i forgot literally like 3 paragraphs at the end of part 2 ;; they’re there now and they’re not crazy important but it’s something lol. enjoy part 3!!

words: ~1.9k

prologue | part 1 | part 2 | part 4

You resorted to carrying Toph, having her bend through the ground to tunnel closer to the camp. You stumbled out and fell to the ground, holding her defensively to shield her from more harm. “Katara, we need some help over here!”

“Toph, Y/n! What happened?” Katara cried, crouching at Toph’s side.

“My feet got burned!”

“Oh no, what happened?”

Toph’s sass started to come back, “I just told you, my feet got burned.”

Katara glared, “I meant how.”

Toph hesitated, “Well… We kind of went to see Zuko last night.”

“You WHAT?!” Aang yelled.

“Zuko?!” Katara cried incredulously.

Sokka let out a noise before Toph continued, “I thought he could be helpful to us.” Katara began to heal her feet. “And if I talked to him, maybe we could work something out.”

“So he attacked you?” Sokka asked.

“Well, he did, and he didn’t. It was sort of an accident.”

Aang had to ask, “But he did firebend at you?”

Toph sighed, reluctantly responding, “yes.”

Sokka started again, “See? You trusted Zuko, and you got burned. Literally!”

You needed to say something. “It wasn’t all his fault, Sokka! He was asleep and thought we were someone coming to ambush him. He tried to apologize, but she’d already been hurt.”

“It’s gonna take a while for your feet to get better,” she paused her healing, putting her water away. “I wish I could have worked on them sooner.”

“Yeah, me too,” Toph grumbled.

“Zuko’s clearly too dangerous to be left alone. We’re gonna have to go after him.”

You stopped listening as Aang and Sokka spoke, choosing to help support Toph and carry her to the fountain for some rest. But of course, you couldn’t get a moment's rest, as an explosion sounded moments later.

You all panicked, grabbing Toph protectively.

“Stop!” You all turned as you heard Zuko’s voice. “I don't want you hunting the Avatar anymore! The mission is off. I'm ordering you to stop.” Zuko tried to block Combustion Man, only to get shoved aside as he let off another explosion even closer to you.

You watched in vain as Zuko tried to stop him. When Combustion Man turned, you felt like everything went in slow motion. Your heart stopped as the explosion pushed Zuko off the ledge, you couldn’t help the scream you let out.

“Zuko!”

Sokka forced you down behind the fountain, only letting you back up once the explosion passed. You almost cried in relief when you saw Zuko had managed to catch himself on the roots hanging between the rocks.

As Aang and Katara used their bending to shield the group, you helped Sokka carry Toph behind the pillars as fast as possible.

“He's going to blast this whole place right off the cliff side!”

Katara tries to peek out, only for another explosion to set off, “I can't step out to waterbend at him without being blown up and I can't get a good enough angle on him from down here.”

You see Sokka’s eyes light up, “I know how to get an angle on him!” He grabs his boomerang, watching before aiming and winding up. “Alright buddy, don't fail me now!”

The boomerang whips into the distance and you hear Sokka cheer as it hits Combustion Man in the forehead. He tries to set off an explosion, but it backfires, and he only succeeds in blowing himself up along with a whole pillar of the air temple. You watch with bated breath, only releasing it when you see Zuko climbing up the root and onto stable ground.

You wait with the others as Zuko makes his way to you.

Aang looks up, “I can’t believe I’m saying this but… Thanks, Zuko.”

Sokka poses as he speaks up, “hey, what about me? I did the boomerang thing.”

“Listen, I know I didn't explain myself very well yesterday, I've been through a lot in the last few years, and it's been hard. But I'm realizing that I had to go through all those things to learn the truth. I thought I had lost my honor, and that somehow my father could return it to me.” He paused, looking down before continuing. “But I know now that no one can give you your honor. It's something you earn for yourself, by choosing to do what's right. All I want to do now is play my part in ending this war, and I know my destiny is to help you restore balance to the world.”

Aang’s face softened with those words, and you could feel hope rising in your chest at the sight.

Zuko turns to Toph, “I'm sorry for what I did to you.” He gave her a bow, “It was an accident. Fire can be dangerous and wild, so as a firebender, I need to be more careful and control my bending, so I don't hurt people unintentionally.”

You could tell that hit Aang in the heart, the memories of his first attempt rushing to the surface as his eyes widened and he looked down in quiet contemplation. He looked up, “I think you are supposed to be my firebending teacher. When I first tried to learn firebending, I burned Katara, and after that, I never wanted to firebend again. But now I know you understand how easy it is to hurt the people you love.” Aang bows to Zuko, “I'd like you to teach me.”

Zuko smiles, bowing back. “Thank you. I'm so happy you've accepted me into your group.”

“Not so fast. I still have to ask my friends if it's okay with them.” Aang turns to Toph, “Toph, you're the one that Zuko burned. What do you think?”

She grins, pounding her fist to get palm jokingly, “Go ahead and let him join. It'll give me plenty of time to get back at him for burning my feet.”

Aang smiles and looks at you, “Y/n?”

You hesitate, looking into Zuko’s eyes as you speak. “I know that there is good in his heart. He deserves a chance to show it. He’s the best shot you have at learning firebending.”

Aang nods, looking to the left, “Sokka?”

Sokka shrugs, “Hey, all I want is to defeat the Fire Lord. If you think this is the way to do it, then, I'm all for it.”

Aang nods once more, looking at the final person. “Katara?”

You watch sweat roll down Zuko’s face, a look of pure hope and fear in his eyes. She glares as she speaks, “I'll go along with whatever you think is right.”

Tension bleeds from Zuko’s shoulders as he steps forward. “I won't let you down! I promise!”

You carry Toph as the group bleeds out of the area, watching as Sokka tells Zuko to grab his things.

You hear Sokka calling to Zuko, something about lunch, after he shows him to his new room. As he slips out of the room, you watch Sokka turn to Aang and say, “Okay, this is really, really weird.”

You slot yourself behind a pillar, watching silently as Zuko pulls a photo out of his bag. You stay quiet for a moment as you watch his thumb rub against it. You see Katara lean against the doorway, his head whipping up as he feels her eyes on him. He stands as she begins to speak.

“You might have everyone else here buying your... transformation, but you and I both know you've struggled with doing the right thing in the past.” You watch as she walks toward him, standing inches from his face as she sneers, “So let me tell you something, right now. You make one step backward, one slip-up, give me one reason to think you might hurt Aang, and you won't have to worry about your destiny anymore. Because I'll make sure your destiny ends... right then and there. Permanently.”

You watch as hurt blooms on his face, his eyes wide and sad as he watches her leave. You hide behind the pillar as she slams the door. You wait until her footsteps and mumbled curses subside before you approach the door.

You knock on the door softly, “...Zuko?”

You hear shuffling before the door opens, a disheartened look on his face.

“Have you come to give me a piece of your mind, too?”

Your eyes softened before you shook your head. “Can I come in?”

He watched you with an indiscernible look before he stepped to the side and opened the door, giving you more than enough room to step inside. You slid in, taking a deep breath before you spoke up, “I’m sorry for Katara’s… outburst. I’m sure you can understand it comes from a place of love for her friends, but her protective nature comes out more threatening than it needs to.”

He looks down, “No, she has every right to be angry. After the things I’ve done, what my nation put them through… I don’t blame her for being mad at me.”

You nodded sadly, trying to find something else to take his attention off of the past. Your eyes lit up as you looked down at the bed, “Is that your uncle Iroh?”

His eyes snapped to meet yours, “I… Yes, it is.”

You picked it up gently, studying the painting. “Tell me about him.”

You could feel Zuko’s eyes studying you, but when you turned to meet his eyes, they were focused on the photo. “He is… the closest thing to a real father that I’ve ever known. He stood by me, no matter how childish, stubborn, or foolish I was. He cared for me in a way that my father never could. He is crazy and wise and tea obsessed, but I wouldn’t have made it this far without him. He loved and supported me, and I still couldn’t see it. I just wish I could go back and make things right.”

You studied his face as he spoke, awed at how beautifully he’d grown into himself. The sharp cut of his jaw, the gentle slope of his nose, the way his hair fell perfectly, long enough but somehow not in his eyes. And his eyes, Spirits, his eyes shined like gold, even in the muted sun. He looked ethereal. You could still see the youth in his face, just the slightest bit of softness left in his cheeks even with how active he was. You could see how the years had worn him down, his face full of worry lines even at 16. Even his scar, the skin now healed and rough, his left eye permanently squinted just so. He was perfect.

You realized he stopped speaking, looking at you with a sadness in his eyes you couldn’t bare. You traced the edge of Iroh’s portrait softly as you whispered, “You really love him, don’t you?”

Zuko inhaled sharply, his eyes widening as he searched your face. He smiled almost imperceptibly, “I guess I do.”

You held your breath, wanting so badly to hug him, reassure him that Iroh would forgive him, that everything would be okay… but you didn’t know him that well, not anymore. So you settled for a reassuring hand on his shoulder as you handed the portrait back. “The next time you see him, tell him. I’m sure he feels the same.”

You paused for a moment before slipping your hand away, beginning to trail towards the door. His raspy voice made you pause.

“What was your name again?”

You stopped in your tracks, inhaling sharply before casting a glance over your shoulder. “Y/n.”

You walked out before you could see his reaction.

taglist:

@mochminnie

[azenkii]

A Long List of Trash Fire Lord Zuko Headcanons

...that i couldn't get out of my head:

(warning: SUPER LONG POST i havent figured out how to trim posts yet)

he's the one who unchains azula despite iroh's protests. she doesn't even try to fight him, just cries into his shoulder and keeps mumbling about how father's going to be so disappointed in her. he takes her to her rooms and has her drink a sleeping draught, then stations the best guards he has left outside her chambers.

his first council meeting takes place literally a day after sozin's comet. he hobbles into the council chamber shirtless with his entire torso covered in bandages and every council member just looks at him like '...what'

he does NOT sleep for like,,a week after sozin's comet and then another two weeks after his coronation. katara, aang and suki try to persuade him to sleep and he doesn't listen. eventually sokka, toph and mai team up to literally drag his ass to bed and tell him he's not allowed to get up until he sleeps (does mai pin him to the bed with her knives? yes. is it kinky or sexual in any way? definitely not.)

he drinks So. Much. Tea. at this point it's practically tasteless to him but he drinks it anyway because he just needs something to do and tea is something familiar. he keeps iroh on his toes because he's constantly asking for new tea blends, uncle, i think i actually tasted the last one,

he flat-out refuses to grow his hair for at least a year after ozai's defeat. the second it starts getting close to his chin he shears it off himself, with his knife, and his stylist has a heart attack every single time

when he's tired he'll occasionally jump up when one of his guards moves. it stops after a bit, but for the first month and a half or so he's really twitchy. when sokka asks, the only explanation he can come up with is that he's not used to having people stand behind him silently and not want to kill him, much less want to protect him (sokka immediately takes him out for a shopping trip and makes a point of walking behind him the entire time, but only on zuko's right side, where he can clearly see it if sokka moves towards him)

when the healer declares azula mentally unstable and in need of an institution, he shuts himself in his office for the rest of the night. no one's allowed in, not even iroh. he finally emerges in the morning, eyes red from crying and sleep deprivation, and tells the librarian that he'd like a list of the best mental institutions in the country, please, the best in the world if you can get them

he loves theatre (is this even a headcanon?). unfortunately it practically died out in the fire nation along with the rest of the creative arts, leaving nothing but small troupes like the ember island players. one of zuko's personal goals (meaning things he wants to accomplish that aren't as important as restoring his country) is to bring back theatre; he finally manages to do it after about eight months or so of being fire lord, along with other arts like dancing, music and sculpture

he establishes a national day of mourning, on the first day of autumn every year, to commemorate the genocide of the air nomads. from 100AG onwards, every calendar printed in the fire nation has it marked. at first it was called the day of repentance, but aang persuaded him to have it changed (by arguing that he didn't want guilt to be a literal staple of fire nation culture)

he introduces literally So Many educational reforms, plus a mandatory class that teaches students about the cultures of the other nations (air nomads included) and how some of their traditions overlap

he turns down the offer of having a statue put up of him in the capital. toph ignores him and does it anyway.

he visits azula regularly, makes sure she's (relatively) comfortable and well-fed, and sometimes just sits down outside her door and tells her about everything that's going on right now ('some of the far colonies have developed their own standardised writing, azula, you wouldn't believe it, and i've asked the fire sages to come visit more often—but you never liked them, did you? oh, well; i'll make sure none of them go into your chambers by mistake')

(he doesn't know it, but when he does this azula sits by the door and listens. she wonders what kind of writing the colonists have developed, and whether or not the fire sages have taken on some new recruits.)

he hates being above anyone else. never sits in the throne if he can help it, nor does he sit on the dais in the council room. when he talks to people shorter than him, he finds himself stooping a little bit to talk to them on their level (the exception to this rule is sokka, who he mocks for being shorter all the way up until sokka grows taller than him, the bastard)

the first time he visits the earth kingdom, the earth king's ministers call a toast. he ends up being the only one who has to sit out, because he's too young to drink by earth kingdom law

once his servants figure out he won't kill them for talking to him, they start becoming a lot more bold, telling him off when he doesn't take care of himself. at one point, they force him to let them take care of him so much that he literally just bolts into the gardens and hides there until the staff rope in mai and ty lee

when he needs to escape, he does one of two things: (a) he dresses up as the blue spirit and does some parkour until he calms down, or (b) he goes to work at the jasmine dragon. (b) happens less often bc the jasmine dragon's in ba sing se, but there's been a few memorable incidents when an earth kingdom diplomat walks in and yells, 'LEE?!' when they see the fire lord

the first court artist who draws him also happens to be the one who drew azulon and ozai. he draws zuko without his scar. zuko takes one look at it and tells him, very calmly, that he'd like him to leave, please.

zuko burns the portrait. he doesn't fire the court artist, but he never calls on him again unless he has to. a second court artist is called, and can't help but be a bit confused when the fire lord tells him to be sure to include the scar

he forgets the crown. a lot. sometimes he walks into council meetings in his sleepwear with his hair tied up in a messy ponytail and a bunch of scrolls tucked under his arm. none of his councilmen have the guts (or the heart) to tell him that this is not, in fact, formal council wear

he goes to feed the turtleducks when he's stressed. he thinks he's being subtle. he's not. the entire palace knows, and they consciously give him space when they see him in the turtleduck garden

most of his staff are older than him, so they look at him and see this teeny tiny fire lord who is So Small and who Must Be Protected. the day after zuko's coronation, the head chef holds a meeting where they commence Operation Do-Not-Let-That-Boy-Turn-Out-Like-His-Father (subsection He's-The-Only-Good-Thing-We-Have)

one night he wakes up to find suki sitting in his room, decked out in full kyoshi warrior garb and makeup, and just about screams blue murder. suki tells him there are suspicions of an assassin in the palace, and would you please stop yelling it's very distracting, we won't be able to hear anyone coming over that racket

zuko gets very, very paranoid of random spirits after that. yeah, suki looks like a possibly malevolent spirit when she's wearing her makeup, what about it? (when he tells sokka he's highkey terrified of spirit shenanigans, sokka just looks at him and says, 'man, the stories i could tell...', and THAT'S when zuko remembers sokka spent like six months more than he did travelling with the avatar)

on his first visit to the southern water tribe, he removes his boots and leg guards, rolls up his pants and kneels barefoot in the snow. even though chief hakoda immediately starts trying to pull him up, he's stubborn as hell and stays kneeling for the entirety of his very long, very sincere apology-on-behalf-of-the-fire-nation speech. he nearly loses his toes to frostbite after that, and both sokka and katara never stop giving him shit for it

the first time he grows a 'beard' is completely accidental. he's stressed over some trade miscommunications with chief hakoda, hasn't slept in a few days...and then when sokka arrives as water tribe ambassador to help smooth things over, he takes one look at zuko and says 'man, facial hair does not suit you'

zuko: facial what now

he checks a mirror to find that he's got stubble covering his chin, dark enough that it almost looks intentional, and holy gods how the fuck did he not notice this before

'UNCLE WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME' 'i assumed you were doing it on purpose' 'WHEN HAVE I EVER DONE ANYTHING ON PURPOSE'

he shaves it all off immediately, of course, which prompts a lot of teasing and rib-poking from sokka until zuko finally snaps that he's scared it'll make him look like his father. sokka stops after that.

(the day after sokka leaves, zuko finds that a mysterious someone has scribbled all over ozai's royal portrait, giving him a frankly ridiculous beard and moustache that literally CANNOT be grown in real life. oddly enough, he can't bring himself to care about the defamation of royal property. he's too busy laughing.)

his paths cross with toph and sokka more than any of the others, because sokka is ambassador and toph is technically still a beifong. most of the time, at formal functions, he ends up sequestered in the corner with toph and a hoard of snacks, and they talk and swear much more than they usually do (zuko's ministers once heard him when he was drunk with toph, and the servants swear the older ministers' ears started bleeding)

he restores fire nation cultural festivals, and in doing so subjects himself to learning a lot of complicated dances

during one memorable week, he wrote so many letters and drafted so much legislation that he ran out of paper. he had to go visit the nearest school and ask for some

he keeps up with his firebending and sword training even though it's hard to fit into his schedule. his ministers refrain from reminding him that he has guards to protect him now; it's still hard for zuko to trust his safety with anyone but himself (team avatar is the exception).

he started sleepwalking about two months into his reign. no one knew why. one time, he nearly sleepwalked right off the edge of a balcony, and one of his guards had to grab him by the back of his robes.

the sleepwalking stopped after around a month and never happened again. at this point it's practically palace legend.

after freeing the war prisoners, he went around collecting every single earthbender-proof wooden cell he could find in the capital and surrounding areas. when he'd gotten most of them, he gathered them into a huge pile in the city square and set fire to them with his own hands.

unfortunately he couldn't do that with the waterbender metal cells but he did get toph to come in and bend them all into pretty shapes (well, toph thought they were pretty shapes. everyone else thinks they're meaningless squiggles)

he learned how to write with both hands at the same time out of sheer necessity (he refused scribes until it became clear that he'd be putting some people out of a job; that was when he started letting scribes write very, very minor things, but all important documents/drafts/letters are still written by him)

he once put the wet end of an ink brush in his mouth instead of the wooden end by mistake. didn't even realise until he bit down to keep it in place and ink went oozing everywhere

when his guards rushed in to find him coughing and spluttering black liquid all over his desk they thought he'd been poisoned but no he's just stupid

on his 17th birthday, his first one after being crowned, he got tackled by team avatar in the middle of the ballroom and ended up at the bottom of a cuddlepile for like ten minutes

this cuddlepile happened at an event that was very much public and very much formal. it was a scandal for weeks

just. fire lord zuko, guys. so much potential

[helpistolethesecharacters]

Love Conquers All

Part 2

Zuko x Male Reader

Word Count: 1643

-----------

The next morning Y/n followed Zuko back down to the kid's campsite. Y/n was half expecting them to have packed up and left, but he was happily proven wrong when they got down there.

The kids were sitting in a half circle, clearly waiting for the two of them to arrive. From the looks of things, they might actually be more open to talking to them today.

A look at the water tribe girl told Y/n that she still had a serious distrust for them that would be annoying to get past.

They approached the group. Y/n held back. He would be on guard for anything they might pull that could hurt Zuko.

"Um, so, you guys have something you want to say?"

Y/n guessed that if you couldn't count on the Avatar to break the ice then the world was doomed.

"Yes. I'm here because I know now that my destiny is to teach the Avatar firebending. I also wanted to say that I'm deeply sorry for all of my actions that have caused you pain or worry. I know that my apology doesn't fix everything, but I hope that it can help pave the way to better relations between us."

Y/n had missed this version of Zuko. He had been buried under so much pain and anguish, and had been desperately trying not to let anyone see it. It was good to have him acting more like himself again, but no amount of royal training was going to remove his awkward manner.

"Why should we believe anything you have to say? You've been chasing us around the world trying to capture Aang and kill us! We shouldn't even be sitting here listening to you!"

That girl was really sticking with her hard-done-by feelings. Y/n was going to have to keep a close eye on her around Zuko.

"Actually," the water tribe boy interjected, "I had a question about that."

He stared into the remains of their fire for a second before looking up at the still standing duo.

"Why didn't you just use your airbending to capture Aang? I mean, it looked like you were holding your own against Katara pretty well. When we first met you could have wiped the floor with us. So why?"

Y/n was surprised. The Water Tribe boy was more perceptive than he had given him credit for.

"It's a secret."

Bless Zuko for trying to take the question for him. Y/n sent a grateful smile his way.

"The Fire Lord has decreed that any airbenders are to be executed. If any are found, it's a death sentence."

Y/n looked around at the appalled faces of the kids. Finally it looked like they were starting to realise what they were involved in.

"How can you side with monsters like that?!"

Y/n turned furious eyes on the opinionated girl.

"I don't side with them! I side with Zuko."

"That isn't any better! So you're saying that if he decided to go back to the Fire Nation tomorrow you would just go with him?"

She was on her feet and flinging her words at him much the same way she had been with water the day before.

She turned back to her friends.

"This is why we can't trust them! I know you want to have someone else who's an airbender Aang, but he won't do the right thing if Zuko doesn't."

She spat Zuko's name like it was a bad word.

Aang turned big eyes on them.

"Would you really go back to them?"

"No."

"You just said----"

"I won't go back to them because Zuko won't. And I stand with him."

Y/n chanced a glance at Zuko only to find him already looking at him. He had that soft smile on his face that had been missing for years. Y/n was so glad that it was back. They reached for each other at the same time, fingers coming together and intertwining easily, familiarly.

There was a surprised intake of breath from the kids in front of them.

"Oh."

"Yeah, oh." Was Y/n's eloquent response.

"Well, that doesn't make it okay to do the wrong thing when you know it's wrong."

She was still lecturing them, but the wind had clearly gone out of her sails.

Y/n managed to pull his eyes away from Zuko and look back at the group.

"We really are on your side this time."

Y/n stilled. The air had shifted in the way that it did when it was trying to warn him of something, becoming electrified. He spun around, scanning their surroundings, trying to locate the problem. He spotted the man up on the cliff just in time to bring his sword up and deflect the wave of energy that he sent at them.

Y/n growled. His timing had been off, resulting in his returned wave being sent off in a different direction.

"You all need to get out of here! If he keeps this up, the whole temple is going to come down."

"Y/n, if you can keep him busy, we can try to find a way to get rid of him!"

The Water Tribe boy was apparently their leader, was Y/n's distracted thought as he stood waiting for the man's next barrage.

If they got out of this alive he was going to smack Zuko upside the head for ever hiring the assassin.

That was probably something that the group of kids didn't need to know about, Y/n thought absently.

He was almost too focused on the long distance fight between the two of them to notice Zuko attempting to distract the assassin from where he stood nearly beside him. When had he gotten over there?

Something whizzed by Y/n's ear and he was so distracted by the thought of Zuko doing something so monumentally stupid as to antagonise the most ruthless assassin in the Fire Nation from a matter of feet away, that he didn't even sense it until he felt the air move by him.

He watched as the boomerang flew true and struck the assassin in the center of his third eye. He felt the world slow down as he saw the man draw in a breath for another wave of energy, but instead of it being sent to where they were standing, it exploded in his face and in the air all around him.

Y/n's heart stopped when the whole side of the temple crumbled and fell. Zuko had still been up there.

His sword fell with a clatter that was muted in his ringing ears. He was over by the side of the temple before he even thought about it, scrambling to find Zuko. If he was gone then that was it.

Y/n felt a thought settle in the front of my mind. He felt a sickening sinking feeling in his stomach, but there was no denying it.

He turned empty eyes on the group who were all celebrating their lucky escape. It was their fault.

He stood at the edge of the temple, watching them, feeling the wind caress him. It was whispering something to him, but he still couldn't hear anything over the adrenaline still coursing through his body.

He took a step toward them, reaching for his sword but coming up empty. His gaze narrowed in on it, lying on the floor back where he had been standing.

He was shaking, he realised as he tried to take another step but found himself on his knees instead.

The wind was growing around him as he fell forward onto his hands. He could feel himself falling apart, but he couldn't seem to pull himself back together. He had always had Zuko for that, but the stupid self-sacrificing idiot had gone and gotten himself blown off the side of the temple.

There was a groan from the ledge Y/n was nearest to. The wind died suddenly.

Y/n turned his tear streaked face sharply in it's direction.

He recognised that voice.

Then he was scrambling once again for the ledge, and grabbing hold of Zuko's arm and pulling with everything he had until he had his idiot firmly in his arms and far enough away from the edge.

He squeezed his eyes shut tightly and held Zuko in his still shaking arms. Y/n hoped Zuko was comfortable because he was never letting him go again.

-----------

They had gathered around the fire that someone had restarted to sort out something for lunch.

Y/n had the feeling that his melt down hadn't gone unnoticed by at least one member of the group. When he had gone over to pick up his sword from where he had dropped it, the little blind girl had watched him with her unseeing eyes. He had just sheathed it and walked back over to Zuko's side, but she hadn't stopped watching him ever since.

Y/n was sitting by Zuko's side, too strung out from earlier to be properly on guard, but he was sure that since they had seen him in action they might be a little hesitant to attack so openly.

Once everyone had a bowl of food Sokka cleared his throat. He had an uncomfortable look on his face.

"So."

Y/n waited silently. This was Zuko's destiny, it was up to him to earn his place with the group.

"You know why we're here. Our reasons haven't changed. I think, it comes down to this. Can you trust us?"

"Look," Sokka started, "We don't fully trust you, but I think that's fair. I mean you chased us around the world, but we also saw what you did for us back there. You could have died trying to help. So we're willing to give you a chance. But just one."

Zuko's face lit up with his happiness. It was a sight that Y/n knew he would always enjoy.

"You won't regret this. I promise!"

[princess-of-the-corner]

Avatar Ty Lee AU: The Ba Sing Se arc. I really want to hear heroic Azula use her greatest line: Don't flatter yourself. You were never even a player.

Oh boy oh boy.

So like. This. This takes up like half of Book 2 and also just.....

I debated on this for a while. But since in Canon, Azula was Book 2's main antagonist and still a threat in Book 3, but she's a Hero in the AU, I had to figure out how to replace what she does. I debated about generic things of random Fire Nation people and not focusing on any one person...

But in the end it works better if I create an OC to replace Azula as the antagonist.

And said OC got..... she got away from me.

I called her Noriko which is very ironic given that the comics exist and she really is this AU's Harley Quinn and yes that implies things that I am intending to imply.

Noriko: "Capturing the Avatars and my Fiance's traitorous family? What a perfect wedding gift, don't you think? Only thing better would be kicking off the honeymoon with your execution!"

Zuko and Azula: "Hold on you're gonna have to give me a hot minute to process all that what the FUCK?!?!"

Noriko first shows up in 'The Chase', comes back for 'The Drill' and then of course ends up pulling the whole coup situation but that goes slightly different.

I'll come back to that though.

So when everyone first gets to Ba Sing Sae, the Fire Nation kids pick up quick on 'Oh this is some propaganda shit!'. Which means they know to play by the rules and leave the Dai Li alone until they have more to go on.

Iroh still somehow ends up opening the tea shop because I can't have him not do that!

And then there's Jet. Boy....

Ofc they ran into him last book and that was a trainwreck. So he's just jumping right to where he's attacking them and accusing them of shit.

And Toph goes 'who the hell....????' because she is the only one who never met him. And the rest of the Gaang just pulls a gaslight gatekeep girlboss and pretends 'what? we don't know you? Why are you yelling at us?'.

He gets arrested and they /kinda/ feel bad but.... can't really do much.

While our other new characters get their own stories in 'The Tales of Ba Sing Sae', the only one I'll talk about right now is this version of Zuko's because yes he does still go on that date with Jin! And so does Sokka. Because polyship. And they're like 'Hey there's also another girl Suki but she's off doing her own shit right now we'll talk about that later!'. So yeah Zuko/Sokka/Suki/Jin is the endgame ship here.

Speaking of Suki, since Noriko is a grown ass woman and can't disguise herself as the Kyoshi Warriors, Suki does not get captured!

Also while the Gaang gives Jin half-truths about who they are, she figures out some stuff. Like that half of them are Fire Nation. But she assumes they're just defecting from the country not. Ya know. Kinda important.

Anyway! Back to Jet!

THey're all sus as hell when he shows up acting nice and just skip to figuring out the brainwashing. So they figure out the whole Lake Logai thing. They go down and they get Appa back my baby!!!

I am actually letting Jet live in this AU! But this whole situation is a slap to his black-and-white mentality. The Firebenders are the ones who saved him after Earthbenders kidnapped, brainwashed, and tried to kill him. He doesn't join the main Gaang because there's a lot of history there and he needs to sort some shit out. But he does gather his old group again and agree that, no matter what, the War needs to end and the Fire Lord needs to be stopped.

Now! Telling the Earth King about all this shit goes down similar to Canon! But the Gaang all splitting up for a bit happens differently.

Both Sokka and Katara go off to see their dad. Ty Lee and Aang got that info about the Guru and the Avatar State so they go look into that. Mai offers to go with Toph because she knows that no matter how much you say you're fine, confronting your 'shitty yet caring' parents is hard.

Iroh, Zuko and Azula stay in Ba Sing Sae and deal with the Earth King.

Suki actually does show up as she wasn't captured earlier, which means Zuko can introduce her to Jin and they hit it off well!

Of course everything goes to shit. Because Noriko's way into the city was through disguising herself and a handful of her soldiers as refugees being let in. She had laid low for a while, but heard about the drama with the Dai Li and strikes a deal.

While most of the Gaang are elsewhere, she and her group attack the city, with the Dai Li helping her. Zuko, Suki, and Jin do get captured at this point and sent to the Crystal Catacombs and Zuko just has to explain the stuff he left out when talking with Jin before.

Zuko: "So...... you probably noticed I was Firebending during that fight…"

Jin: "I already knew that part. I'm not an idiot. You can't light a bunch of lanterns that quickly without Firebending. But why did the crazy lady ask you where the Avatars are??"

Zuko: "Uh… That'd be Ty Lee and Aang."

Jin: "Okay. Okay you probably should've mentioned that. But I can handle it! Is there anything else I should know?"

Zuko: "..... My father is the Fire Lord? We're going to kick his ass but I think that's relevant."

Jin: "I'm… I'm just going to lay down and contemplate my life. Goodnight!"

Now! Back to Noriko's take over! We have that 'you weren't even a player' scene where the Dai Li is torn between following her or Long Feng. But while Azula is here for intimidating powermoves, Noriko has no issue killing the competition. She might still do the powermove though because that's also fun for her but she does totally kill the fucker.

A lot of the actual fight goes the same. Though no Avatar State is used. Ty Lee does get zapped with lightning thanks to Noriko though, and Iroh lets himself get captured to buy a few minutes for everyone to escape.

On the bright side, Ty Lee is doing a bit better than Canon!Aang had with the lightning thanks to not having been in the Avatar State. And they also have Suki and Jin still with them!

[pencilscratchins]

Okay okay okay I'm obsessed with your Zukka headcanons, more please?

okay this one got long lmaOO

— zuko buys sokka many nice things. he says “my boyfriend enjoys nice things...fine silks...jewels...who am i to deny him this?”and suki says “please zuko these are the royal funds—“

— before they know the next avatar is korra, zuko hopes and prays the next avatar is a swamp bender, because he knows if they’re from the north water tribe it’ll be a whole thing and if they’re from the south he’ll literally never stop hearing about it

— in the beginning, zuko has no qualms about courting sokka. he’s the son of an ally country’s leader like yeah classic political marriage like what’s the issue (other than his own stifling awkwardness of course.)

— — sokka has the brain cell so he’s probably hesitant to jump into a relationship. they’re both public figures and gay marriage was just decriminalized— zukos already a contentious leader. not to mention, sokka has dated royalty before and the devotion to duty only lead to heartbreak. 

— — — kataras the one who straightens him out. she is like “we gave our entire childhoods to these countries— don’t let some grandeur of responsibility keep you from the happiness i know you deserve”

— whenever they’re separated for long periods of time, sokka writes these gorgeous, long winded, purple prose letters about how much he loves and misses zuko, and his travels etc that are upwards of 20 pgs

— — zuko responds with “saw a frog today 👍” and sokka chokes up like “he has such a way with words”

— sokka sleeps on the right, zuko on the left

— just being around each other is enough to put them in way better moods. when one of them is gone, both are insufferable to be around.

— sokka goes on a life changing field trip with redemption arc!azula to find the stone for zuko’s engagement necklace and they bond & really connect in a weird way bc like... theyre sorta of the smartest people either of them know

— — meanwhile zuko, toph, and katara go on a life changing field trip for the metal for sokka a royal hairpiece and accidentally create probending 

— sometimes it will get reeeeall quiet and sokka will just lean over and whisper to zuko “you know your great grandfathers were fucking right?”

— zuko obviously has days where he needs to just like escape and not to talk to anyone, so sokka will take the crown in his absence. 

— — he spends those days doing all the shit zuko hates doing so he doesn’t have to

— sokka still struggles with feeling useless sometimes and thought it baffles zuko how he could possibly think that, he immediately will try to rectify it.

— — so zuko will show him the proof of a history textbook he had to approve, and show him every chapter dedicated to everything sokka invented, planned, or lead during the war and after to prove how important sokka is.

— sokka will be writing and when zuko sits really close to him on his right side, hell just switch the brush over to the left to hold his husband’s hand. 

— when korra is first taken in by the white lotus, sokka insists they spend some time down there. zuko tutors her firebending and she loves him, but she’s obsessed with sokka who sneaks her out and teaches her sword fighting. 

— not really a zukka head canon but when zuko first starts sleeping with the group at the air temple, he looks over and sees aang just levitating a few inches off the ground and is like “what the fuck” sokkas like “oh yeah that’s how he sleeps you get used to it”

— when katara finds out sokka helped toph have suyin, she’s like “it’s so touching that you want our families to be forever intertwined and for our children to always be connected!” and tophs like uh totally yeah 

— — nobody tells her the interaction went “sokka be the father it’ll be funny” and sokka said let me ask my husband and zukos went “lmao do it it’ll be so funny”

— izumi ice dodges when she comes to age and crushes it, which makes hakoda and sokka both cry. 

— — when iroh II wants to ice dodge, izumi refuses. she is however not supported by her fathers who are like “you did it! it’s a right of passage, izumi” “dont be a nerd, izumi”

— zuko, being a huge nerd, does indeed have iroh style his hair before their first date and sokka laughs so hard he cries

— sometime straight people will be like “oh the ladies must be sad you two are off the market!” and they will respond “our ex girlfriends are dating each other.”

— their wedding is extremely opulent, as pure sokkas request. zuko would’ve married him in a broom closet.

— zuko calls sokka “socks” and sokka calls him “zuks” 

— sokka is very much that guy who wants to pretend he’s all cool but brings up his boyfriend all the time

— — “ugh it’s so hot i can’t breathe” “oh my boyfriend breathes,”

[that-was-anticlimactic]

Yes hi, I'd love to know more about your tourettes sokka hc if you're up for it 👀 I'm starving for tourettes hcs so 👀

Oh boy oh boy oh boy!! I can talk about this SO MUCH (I will warn now, there will be some Zukka in this) okay so I guess I’ll start at the beginning...

Sokka was six when he started showing symptoms

It started with just some motor tics but everyone kind of just attributed it to this kid has a lot of energy ahhh

It became more noticeable when he kept almost killing himself with weapons because of his tics and slight carelessness

That’s one reason why he loves boomerang so much, none of the other weapons felt right to him and they would always get in the way of his tics, but he could throw boomerang and it would come back to him so he could keep throwing it and it made him feel calm

Then, Sokka started saying stuff that he didn’t mean to say, but again, everyone was just like hyper kid because it’s not like he was doing anything wrong

But they realized something was up when Sokka started yelling “FIRE NATION” without intending to and sending the whole tribe in a panic

So, Hakoda took Sokka to a nearby trustworthy Earth Kingdom village and that’s where Sokka got diagnosed with Tourette’s (and ADHD)

One of the things with Sokka is touch, like, he feels like touch is constricting and restraining sometimes. The problem is, he LOVES touch, he is a touchy person, but when someone touches him without telling him first or asking him, he doesn’t like it.

Sometimes he mentally shuts down when it happens, sometimes he tics more, the reaction depends on his anxiety levels and who touched him and when and where

The only people he gave a pass to was Kya and Katara. He didn’t even like it when Hakoda put a hand on his shoulder.

It was weird, he could feel the difference when Katara and Kya touched him compared to anyone else and he felt bad because he wanted his dad to hug him, but it felt so wrong

So, Sokka loves touch, but he likes to initiate it

So, moving forward, Sokka and Katara meet Aang, he’s the Avatar, they join and you know, there’s Aang the Avatar, Katara the Waterbender, and Sokka the guy with Tourette’s on the team

At least, that’s how they are known amongst the Fire Nation

Going undercover is so fun for Sokka, but he also has to be really conscious of what he’s doing and what he says and trying to suppress

It takes a lot out of him, but he knows he literally has to do it or he could get caught or expose them and Aang or Katara could get caught

On occasion, he has tic attacks (and for those who don’t know, they’re essentially a really bad TS day or moment where your tics are more consistent and seem to hurt more or you just have like an unending moment of tics where you just can’t stop for a little while. They are usually caused by anxiety or overstimulation or something like that, but they differ for everyone with TS)

The first time it happened in front of Aang, the sweet child panicked because he didn’t really understand what was happening and why Sokka was doing that and really what TS was

Katara is an angel, seriously. She is so sweet to Sokka when this happens and she knows exactly how to ground him and help him get through it

(Seriously, Sokka appreciates her so much. She is genuinely the one exception and anytime she wants a hug or any kind of touch she is allowed to do it)

the first time it happens in front of Toph when she joins is in Bitter Work when Sokka was in the hole

Just looking at Sokka in the whole sends my anxiety up because he literally can’t move! So like, imagine being in a hole for like five hours+ and needing to move like physically and you can feel the sensation in your body and it hurts and burns and tingles but you can’t. Sokka is not having a good time

So, Toph drags him out of the hole and is freaked out because she can’t see what’s happening and it’s scary because Sokka is making noises and hyperventilating and his heart rate is through the roof and Aang ran to get Katara and she can’t touch him because when she pulled him out of the hole he shrieked

She’s cool with it after that, she doesn’t think of him any less or anything, but it terrified her the first time because no one told her he had TS because they forgot to mention it and she couldn’t see what was happening

We all know that Sokka loves Suki and the Kyoshi Warriors with his whole entire heart and once they kicked his butt and helped him learn that sexism is bad, they were so fun to work with?? They taught him their style, obviously, but they also helped him incorporate his TS into it and how to use it to his advantage, something he had been struggling with his whole life

One of the things Sokka loved most about Yue is that she never even mentioned his sounds or movements she just let him do it without questioning him and that doesn’t happen a lot

I feel like Sokka having TS would make his time with Piandao even kore meaningful because he really struggles to keep his hands still so sword fighting does not come naturally to him

Piandao loves it though because it just makes Sokka even more clever and resourceful and he takes his time with Sokka, helping him as much as he can and never getting angry or anything when he can’t stand still

He also added more to what Sokka learned from the Kyoshi Warriors about incorporating his TS into his fighting and using it to his advantage

Not only was his sword an extension of his arm, but his TS was an extension as well

Did Toph and Aang help Sokka incorporate his tics into their scams? Yes, yes they did

Zuko joining the team was weird for Sokka because they kind of just clicked and he realized that they both have a weird thing with touch

On the balloon to Boiling Rock, Sokka is just comfortable around Zuko and his tics are like “cool yeah, have a break” and so he doesn’t tic and Zuko just “why aren’t you ticcing?”

and Sokka is ??? “Huh?”

and Zuko “You usually tic but you aren’t now. Why?”

and Sokka essentially explains that TS is weird and random and sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn’t, but he’s really comfortable and calm so his body is like “ye, let’s chill for now”

and Zuko is like “oh. that’s good. I kinda miss it though”

and Sokka d i e s because what?? Someone likes his tics enough to miss them? Like, they don’t annoy Zuko and he doesn’t tune them out?

and the bender goes on to explain that he likes the noises, they remind him that he is doing the right thing and that he’s here and he didn’t hurt team Avatar and they’re just comfortable / pleasing to the ear

and Sokka DIES

but then Zuko is like mmm maybe you should stay in the balloon and I’ll go to Boiling Rock and Sokka got pissed because he thinks Zuko said it because he’s a nonbender and he starts panicking and ticcing and Zuko panics and kind of just grabs his hand and Sokka... Sokka doesn’t hate it? Like, it feels nice and doesn’t agitate him?

but Zuko was like no I mean because everyone in the Fire Nation guard knows about the guy on team Avatar with TS and I don’t want you to get hurt

At one point in the prison courtyard, Sokka verbally tics really loudly about the moon and some guards hear and head to where they are so Zuko covers for him by screaming about how much he loves the moon

One of the worst moments in Sokka’s life was when Toph was falling and he grabbed her, but he wanted to tic and he knew that if he did, Toph would fall and die and he couldn’t do that, he couldn’t

(he still has nightmares about it happening)

when Sokka becomes an ambassador, some people are pissed because well 1) Watertribe 2) he’s a child 3) they suck 4) they think he’s distracting with his tics and Zuko is not here for it so he will destroy them

Like one time (after they started dating) Zuko overheard some councilors mocking Sokka’s tics and he got PISSED like so pissed and he went off and the found Sokka and hugged him because he is allowed to

oh! Sokka and Zuko’s thing is like hand-holding okay? They both kind of hate it because weird touch stuff, but it’s okay when they do it to each other?? Like, it feels right and like they’re completed and whole and it’s nice

before they start dating, they kind of do it a lot. Like, night before Zuko’s coronation, Sokka finds Zuko and he’s freaking out because what if he ends up like his dad and Sokka kind of just... grabs his hand and they sit there

Sokka is panicking because chronic pain and the cold of home makes it worse and Zuko finds him crying in the library and just... holds his hand

Zuko keeps little things on him all the time like paperclips and paper and writing utensils and things that click and buttons and stuff so if Sokka looks stressed during a meeting he can slip something under the table to him so he can play with it

Sokka also draws a lot during meetings, like, he doesn’t look at anyone throughout the whole meeting, even when he talks. He is able to focus more and pay more attention when he is doing something with his hands so he draws and doodles and sometimes takes notes

Sometimes he just writes the same word or sentence over and over again throughout the whole meeting

Sokka has sensory issues and a lot of noise stresses him out

It’s kind of the opposite of Zuko’s sensory issues? Like, Zuko doesn’t like loud noises and Sokka doesn’t like kind of static-y noises, like... when things sound muffled or muted or people are talking kind of quietly over each other

(Zuko definitely gives Sokka massages when his tics hurt a lot)

Random, but after awhile “yip yip” became a verbal tic of Sokka’s. Sometimes, he would say “you need to yip yip” and then he’d apologize to Appa and tell him that he’s yipping just fine

Toph is kind of like Zuko in how she likes Sokka’s verbal tics

She can’t see-see, but hearing his tics is nice sometimes, especially when she worries

She likes falling asleep to some of his tics

Even though Katara and Zuko are allowed to touch him whenever they want, more often than not they ask first because friendship is magic

Suki is lovely, okay? Like, just her presence is enough to make him feel better and she approaches helping him in a different way, she just talks to him and asks him questions to help him take his mind off of it

Sokka really doesn’t hate his TS, like, yeah, sometimes it pisses him off more than he can even explain, but it’s a part of him and as much as he cherishes when he can sit still, it’s wrong, it’s not him? He sits weirdly in chairs and changes his position every two minutes, he rocks his legs in his sleep, he sometimes even finds his own tics grounding...

Over time and with help from his friends, he learned to not be ashamed and that having TS didn’t make him ant less of a warrior

also, he, Toph, and Zuko are the disabled club✌��(and it makes them feel better sometimes in their own little way)

I have a lot more I could say but this is already pretty long, so I’ll end this sweet with Katara is amazing and Sokka’s relationship with her is wonderful and she knows how to help him with his tics in the way that Zuko does and can help center him like no one else and Sokka just loves her so much

Okay! Ah! That was kind of a lot but I hope you like them! Anyone can feel free to add more to this or lemme know if you have any ideas!

Thank you for the ask! I enjoyed writing these:)

[atlabeth]

Well first off I just want to say congrats on your 200 followers!!!!! You deserve it. In your prompt list I want to do #32. Can you do a Sokka x fem reader where she is Toph’s older sister and they start dating. It can be apart of the ATLA timeline or modern it’s up to you 😊

come back safe - sokka x fem!beifong reader

summary: you and sokka have to part ways in ba sing se, but he’s not letting you go without saying his piece.

a/n: im just gonna assume that you meant 32 from the fluff list, if you meant angst or general then im sorry!! but thank you sm for requesting :-) and a personal thank you for always sending in asks, your support for transferred means the world!!!

also i did this surprisingly fast?? me getting a request done in a reasonable amount of time?? who am i ???

wc: 1.2k

warning(s): some sad sokka moments and some very intense dramatic irony lmao, but mostly fluff  

32. “Well, it’s a good thing I don’t plan on doing that.”

-----------------------

Parting from your friends was never easy. Ever since you had run away from home with your sister, Team Avatar had become a surrogate family, and you wouldn’t have it any other way. Toph was a whirlwind in her own way, but Aang, Katara, and Sokka all got her in ways that your parents never had, not to mention how you were finally able to be yourself away from the world of Earth Kingdom nobility. You couldn’t offer Aang any of the earthbending wisdom you sister had in spades, but your skill with blades made you a valuable asset nonetheless.

That connection made it so much harder to separate.

After leaving Gaoling, you had never been apart from the group for longer than a couple of days. But visiting your mother would take at least a week, not to mention everyone else was going off in their own directions — Aang to visit a guru to help control the Avatar State, Sokka to see his dad, Katara staying in the city to aid the Earth King. You would all be saying goodbye for an unprecedented amount of time.

To put it in simple terms? You were freaking out.

You and Toph had gone against direct orders from your parents to join the Avatar, and no sooner had you earned the support of the Earth King when you found out about the letter from your mother. It was.. strange, to say the least.

As Beifongs, you were held to impossible standards, and what the two of you did broke every single one of them. You were skeptical when you first read the letter to Toph, but she was so excited at the possibility of your parents finally coming to accept the two of you that you couldn’t say no.

After taking care of last minute affairs, you ended up back in your room to begin packing. You and your sister would be making the journey on foot, so you wanted to be prepared for anything that could happen — you might’ve just been going through the Upper Ring, but you had come to not discount anything in Ba Sing Se.

You finished folding the last of Toph’s clothes and closed the bag, and at that moment you heard a knock on the door. “It’s open!” you called as you moved onto your own pack. You glanced up to see your visitor, and the corner of your lips quirked up when you saw it was Sokka.

“Hey, you.”

“Hey yourself,” he said as he shut the door behind him. “Listen, do you have a moment to talk? Before you leave, I mean. I know you’re on a tight schedule and all.”

“I always have a moment for you.” You set another article of clothing in your bag and clapped your hands together softly as you turned to face him. “What’s up?”

“I’ve been thinking a lot about where you’re going. You know, you and Toph going to see your mom.”

“Oh, yeah. Exciting, isn’t it? It’ll be an interesting meeting.” You chuckled, a notion lacking in mirth. “Wonder what she’s going to say after we gave up our entire lives to help the Avatar without their permission.”

“Just.. whatever goes on, be safe, okay? If you get hurt out there, I don’t know what I’ll do.”

The sincerity in his voice shocked you a bit, but you gave him a light punch on the shoulder, choosing to shoot back in your usual joking manner. “Well, it’s a good thing I don’t plan on doing that.”

“I’m serious, Y/N.”

You smiled and shrugged as you folded another tunic and placed it into your bag. “Sokka, we’re just going to the edge of the upper ring. You have nothing to worry about!”

He sighed and shook his head. “Look. I don’t have the best track record with people that I’m close to. I couldn’t save my mom, and I couldn’t protect our tribe, and I couldn’t save Yue. It’s like the moment I start to care about anyone, something bad happens to them, and I can’t do anything to stop it. And now you’re going off to the city to see your mom, and even though it’s so close, I just can’t shake this feeling, and I— I don’t know what I’ll do with myself if something happens to you too.”

Your brows creased as the full weight of his words hit you. “Sokka.. are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

He stepped closer and took your hands in his, those ocean eyes holding a softness you had never seen before. “I care about you, Y/N, so much that it hurts. So I know it sounds ridiculous, but I need you to promise me that you’ll come home safe.”

There was only a moment’s hesitation before you tugged on his hands to bring him even closer, your eyes fluttering shut as your lips met his.

“I care about you too,” you responded quietly, a small smile gracing your features. “And I promise I’ll be safe. Just for you.”

“Good.” He smiled as well and gave you another soft kiss, one that quickly became more heated as you got lost in each other. You could feel the pure emotion, the sadness, that he poured into it, and that feeling made you want to give this boy everything in the world. You had almost tuned out the world completely until the door was pushed open and Aang’s voice rang through the air.

“Sokka, are you almost ready? I saw you come in h— oh, spirits, I’m so sorry!”

You and Sokka immediately separated, jumping apart from each other so quickly you nearly tripped over your own feet. You quickly gathered yourself and leaned against the table your bags were set on, giving Aang an easy-going smile in an attempt to cover up your breathlessness.

“Aang!” Your voice was unnaturally high as you used your hands to talk. “He was just… checkin’ in on me. Making sure that I was ready. Just.. nothing going on here. Just.. two friends.. bein’ friends. And.. gettin’ ready. As friends.”

You could hear Sokka snort behind you as he tried to keep his composure as well — Aang, meanwhile, was as red as a fire ferret as he began to back away.

“You know, I can just come back later! Or you can come to me, Sokka. Whenever you’re ready. I won’t tell anyone, I promise!” He gave you guys one last slightly panicked smile then darted off, causing the two of you to dissolve into laughter.

You glanced at Sokka with a shy smile as you felt your cheeks burning up, and that just made him laugh even harder. “Think he’ll keep that promise?”

You sighed happily and shrugged. “You know what? I don’t even care. And I think I’ll try extra hard to stay alive if it means there’s more kisses like that in the future.”

Sokka gave you a heart-melting smile and walked over to the door. “Just come home safe, and you’ll get all the kisses you want.”

-

perm tag list: @dv0412 @siriuslyslyslytherin

[cherryskyies]

Edge (Zuko x Fem!Reader)

To be added to the taglist, just send an ask.

Genre: Humor

Warnings: Swearing

Word count: 1.3k

Pt.1 // Pt.2 // Pt.3 // Pt.4 // Pt.5 // Pt.6

Summary: Running into an earth bender in the middle of the woods and following him to a village run by Fire Nation when he runs away? Fun, isn't it?

Main Masterlist

[Part 5]

“We've got a few options! Some regular nuts and some kind of oval shaped nuts? Also some rock shaped nuts, they might just be rocks though,” Sokka said, tossing the ‘nuts’ he collected onto the ground in front of everyone. “Dig in!”

You paused for a moment, looking at the nuts and then back to Sokka, “You have to be kidding.”

Katara nodded, a look of disgust on her face, “Seriously… is that all you got?”

Pouting, Sokka dug through his bag, eventually pulling out 7 berries, “I found these too, but I think they’re poisonous.”

Groaning, you flopped onto your back, disappointed that there was nothing good to eat. Sure, you could take your chances with the berries or break your tooth on one of those ‘nuts’, but there were already a lot of issues and you didn’t want to pile onto them.

‘boom’

“What was that!?” Sokka yelled, jumping out of surprise. 

Aang and Katara both stood up and ran in the direction of the noise, “I think it’s coming from over here!”

“Shouldn’t we like, not run towards a huge boom?” You asked, slowly getting up. If anything, you were going to walk and save your energy in case you needed to run away.

“Yeah, what she said.”

“Hello there? I’m Katara! What’s your name?” You heard Katara say in the distance, followed by Aangs “Nice to meet you!”

You looked over to Sokka, laughing quietly at his annoyed face, “Loosen up a bit, it’s not like one bender can take down 3 benders and a meathead.”

“Yeah, well this meathead is having some doubts.”

Rolling your eyes, you bumped your shoulder into his, “Well don’t.”

“How!? We are literally walking up to some random bender in the middle of a forest, kinda suspicious isn’t it?”

Shrugging, you walked a little faster, “Just a little bit, now lets catch up to them, pretty boy.”

“Quit calling me that!”

You giggled, teasing him was just so easy and fun- you couldn’t help it. 

Noticing he slowed down and was now behind you, you frowned, “Hurry up, slow poke.”

“Why shoul- AH”

You pulled his arm, effectively cutting him off and making him walk faster, “We don’t have all day, you know.”

“Whatever,” he grumbled.

By time you caught up with them, the bender was gone and they were pouting.

“I just wanted to say hi! Is there something wrong with the way I look? Do you think my markings scared him off?” Aang asked, letting his body fall into a sit on the ground.

Sighing, you sat next to him on the ground, frowning due to its coldness, “There is nothing wrong with you or the way you look, Aang, so don’t even go there,” you started, giving him a side hug. “I’m sure he was just startled. I mean, what would you’d think if two random people came up to you out of nowhere?”

“I’d think they wanted to be friends, but I understand. Not everyone will think the way I do and that’s okay! Thanks for cheering me up, (y/n).”

“Ugh,” you hear Sokka groan, watching as he kicks a stone with his foot, “I am literally starving.”

“Why don’t you eat one of the nuts you collected from earlier?” Katara suggests, barely able to hold her laugh back when Sokka’s face goes red.

“Well why don’t you try looki-”

Aang jumps up, cutting Sokka off and knocking you backwards, on accident of course, “Oh, sorry (y/n)! Anyway, I bet there is a town nearby! It’s probably where that Earth bender ran off to.”

Aang doesn’t let anyone respond before running off in the same direction as the earth bender, “Come on!”

Unwillingly, you follow behind, jogging next to Sokka.

It wasn’t too bad, the scenery making up for the annoyance you felt. You ran by a cute little pond, almost stopping to pick a lily pad out of it, but Sokka had stopped you and laughed at your childishness.

“I don’t think now is the time for flower picking, (y/n). If you want a flower so bad, I’ll pick you a bouquet of the prettiest ones I can find when time allows it.”

You had to look away, the blush on your face being too obvious. Sokka was your best friend, but damn, that sentence made you feel things. 

“Great hat!” Aang said, grabbing the hat off the man's head. “I’ll trade ya some nuts for it!”

“He is not going to give that man some nut shaped rock for that h- oh, he did.”

You and Sokka looked around together, eventually stopping at a meat stand and purchasing some.

“They just entered a random house, didn’t they,” you heard Sokka say, a deep frown on his face. “C’mon, might as well join them.”

Looking up, you caught sight of the end of Aang's staff entering a house, “It's probably that Earth benders home.”

You were right. As you and Sokka made your way into the house, you heard Katara talking to him about seeing him earlier. 

“They saw you doing what!?” A lady yelled, staring wide-eyed at the boy in front of her.

The boy couldn’t have been older than 17 and you couldn’t help but giggle a bit at the fact Sokka was worried about someone like him attacking you 4. He was quite attractive though, the way he was arguing back at her reminding you of Zuko. 

“-what would happen if they caught you earth bending?!”

‘They?’ you thought, looking at the woman oddly. 

“Hold on now, who’s they?”

The woman paused, it was obvious she forgot about you 4 as she scolded her son, “The Fi-”

‘knock knock’

“Open up!” a man yelled, knocking once again on the door. 

Sokka peaked out the window, immediately throwing himself onto the floor after catching a  glimpse of the person, “Fire Nation! Act natural!”

The boy's mother moves to the door, opening it slowly and allowing the man to walk inside. He was a big man, an obvious Fire Nation tax collector. If you knew this village was run by the Fire Nation, you would never come to it.

“What do you want? I've already paid you this week!” 

The man smiled, a threatening smile, “The tax just doubled and we wouldn’t want an accident now, would we?” A fire ball appeared in his hand, slowly getting bigger until the woman gave in, hesitantly handing him coins.

Flicking 4 copper coins to the ground, he turned to leave, “You can keep the copper ones.”

Letting your shoulders fall, you took a deep breath, the others doing the same.

“Nice guy. How long has the Fire Nation been here?” Sokka asked, leaning against the wall.

The lady sighed, “Five years. Fire Lord Ozai uses our town’s coal mines to fuel his ships.”

Her son shot up from his spot on the floor, “They're thugs! All they do is steal from us and everyone here is too much of a coward to do anything about it.”

“Quiet, Haru. Don’t talk like that!” His mother scolded.

Katara was confused, “But Haru is an Earth bender, can’t he help?”

You already knew the answer to her question. No, it was forbidden for any non Fire benders to bend in villages run by the Fire Nation. The consequences for ignoring such rules were harsh as well.

“Earthbending is forbidden. It's caused nothing but misery for this village! He must never use his abilities.”

“How can you say that? Haru has a gift! Asking him not to earthbend is like asking me not to waterbend. It's a part of who we are.” Katara said, one of her hands gripping the pendant on her necklace.

“You don’t understand.”

She shook her head, taking a step forward, “I understand that Haru can help you fight back. What can the Fire Nation do to you that they haven't done already?”

The lady glanced at Katara before looking at her son, “They can take Haru away, just like his father.”

Katara went silent, finally understanding the problem, or at least you hoped she did.

_______________________

Taglist: @xapham  @lovesanimals @itsametaphorbriansblog @eridanuswave @buckysjuicyplums @duh-dobrik @kaylove12

[natequarter]

ok but imagine if aang woke up like... 30 years earlier

elaboration below the cut

- he gets woken up in a fairly similar situation to the original series, but instead of katara and sokka, it's hakoda and kya

- they're just kind of flirting in their canoe because yes there is a War but c'mon!!! they're kids

- they are pretty Surprised that this is, yknow, the avatar. and he is apparently 12? they're also pretty worried about another raid coming so they go to kanna and are like 'hey mom can we steal a canoe and run away to the north?'

- kanna thinks this is a romantic pursuit of lovesick teenagers & then sees they have a twelve-year-old airbender in tow and is just like. 'what the fuck did you do this time'

- she agrees to let them go, giving them exactly one warning: 'if you run into a guy named pakku, punch him'

- hakoda and kya are perfectly happy with this

- when they get to the southern air temple kya makes fun of roku's beard

- the rest of the episode goes similar to how it did in canon

- they stop at kyoshi island at some point and aang Insists they have a break. the kyoshi warriors are cool! it's Fun!

- and then they see a fire nation ship and are just. *internal screaming*

- what they are not expecting is said fire nation ship to have one (1) angry fire nation prince on it

- cue a lot of fire, several boomerangs and the current head of the kyoshi warriors kneeing Prince Jerkface in the dick

- cue teenage ozai yelling 'my father will hear about this!!!'

- at this point aang hakoda and kya are pretty much just 'fuck it i'm out' and leave

- instead of meeting haru aang runs into a younger prisoner and kya 'accidentally' stages a revolution (hakoda in the background: yes you go!!! i love you)

- when they escape one of them agrees to be aang's earthbending teacher

- cue kya & hakoda being like 'wait aren't you meant to learn the elements in order?' and aang going 'well if one of you were a waterbender this wouldn't be an issue'

- they have a pretty good banter by now and earthbending companion (i'll give them a personality at some point) is like 'do you guys hate each other??' no this is just besties arguing over the fate of the world. it's fine

- roku contacts aang meanwhile hakoda is complaining about how warm it is!! what the fuck!! the entire time

- when they eventually reach the north pole they are welcomed by a young man called pakku. kya instinctively punches him and he starts yelling

- she's horrified and immediately apologises

- secretly however she thinks it was funny

- so do hakoda and aang

- iroh takes zhao's place as annoying b1 antagonist

- except he has like 1 jot of respect for the spirits

- he's about 30 here

- various cuts to ozai monologuing about how Terrible his life is

- various canon adventures happen i don't have the energy

- iroh is, uh, A Jerk. not quite as bad as his scheming father who has been hinted at through flashbacks but still hasn't been shown but like... definitely a grade a jerk

- ozai tries to kidnap aang

- this fails and ends up with a confrontation between him, hakoda, kya and iroh

- there's a brief shouting match between the fire bitches. is ozai freezing to death? yes. will he accept help? no

- is the siege of the north failing once aang escapes? yes. will iroh back down? fuck no

- he's finally forced to leave when hakoda, kya and pakku team up to break his nose

- ozai gets hypothermia

- (in a hospital) aang: whew that was a lot!

- pakku: uh YEAH you nearly died kid

- aang, pointing at shivering miserable prince: he seems miserable

- ozai: you would be if you nearly froze to death and got humiliated and upstaged by your brother

- kya: that was your BROTHER? i thought that was your father

- ozai: oh no my father is a git

- aang: your family doesn't seem very... familial

- ozai: i got sent to hunt you down

- aang, hakoda and kya: yeah we guessed that

- ozai: it's all my brother's fault my father will hear about this

- it becomes very evident very quickly that azulon does not give a shit after they send a ransom letter and the response is 'you can keep him lol'

- pakku: okay i'm a jerk and this guy seems... even jerkier

- ozai: my father says iroh was born lucky. can't say the same for me my mother died giving birth to me

- everyone, collectively: ouch

- ozai: it's fine she was a jerk too *runs away before anyone can stop him*

- hakoda: well that was. dark

- kya: yeah after we fix this war can we get that kid therapy?

- hakoda and kya together: aang's paying

- if people are interested i can elaborate more on this later

[firelxdykatara]

You’re doing a LoK rewrite, correct? Would be really interested in hearing how you plan on fixing Suyin’s character and the Lin-Suyin conflict because……. oh boy. Man there’s a lot to unpack there. This is what happens when we don’t let Toph just raise her fucking kids for the sake of pushing a stupid as hell narrative about working women and single motherhood.

I am indeed!

In... you know, the way I'm doing most of my big potential projects, in that I have a folder with some documents that have plot notes and... some day I may actually get full, finished fics out of them (h2o AU is in there, as is my voltron!atla fusion AU, and uhhhh my book 3 atla rewrite, and a few other things), so... but I will say that the docs I have for my LoK rewrite so far amount to roughly 4.2k words of just Plot and Character Notes, which may some day turn into words of Story, hopefully.

ANYWAY, POINT IS: yes, this exists, and I have Many Many Thoughts.

Including how the Gaang kids would shake out! Cause I know I'm doing Zutara, and maybe Tokka???? Although I don't wanna just leave Suki out either... maybe a throuple??? Or Sukka having an amicable breakup before Sokka and Toph get together--maybe she already has Lin by then, and Sokka helps support her through the grief of losing Kanto???? Idk honestly, I haven't actually figured any of that out definitively yet except that Aang was perfectly happy to settle down with an Air Acolyte from one of the rebuilt temples because he grew up and out of his crush on Katara pretty easily once he hit puberty and matured a bit.

UHHH none of which is actually an answer to your question, because it's a valid one! Which is why I've been sitting on this a while (10 days I'm so sorry) bc I haven't made any solid decisions but I've been letting it percolate around my head a bit. And the more I think about it, the more I really like the Sukka -> Tokka idea (and I don't want to kill off Suki since the kids all deserve their awesome Kyoshi warrior auntie in their lives, and also I want a Sukka kid to be besties with Iara [zuko and katara's youngest] so maybe she gets with someone else after she and Sokka split? I could be talked into Ty Lee/Suki actually, the more I think about it....), but obviously having a stable father figure and a Toph who is... not what LoK made her out to be will dramatically change the Beifong family dynamic.

That said, I think I actually have a solution. (I'm so sorry for what I'm about to do.) Toph has Lin with Kanto--and he passes away when Lin is two or three, which is why she has very few memories of her father. (Although none of this 'she doesn't even know his name until she's 50+ cause Toph didn't tell her daughters about their fathers' bullshit.) Sokka is there for her through it all (all of the gaang is, of course, but you know that it sometimes just hits different when it's someone you're also starting to fall in love with, especially when there are older and much more deeply buried feelings there that are now resurfacing, because at least in my version Toph was deeply in love with Sokka when they were teenagers, but he was in love with Suki and she also loved Suki so she didn't want to mess up anything about their family or the group dynamics by making her feelings anyone else's problem), they fall in love, get married and have Suyin.

(Sokka may jokingly refer to it as a shotgun wedding, but the truth is he wanted to propose well before he found out she was pregnant, his attempts just kept getting messed up in increasingly comedic fashion.)

Throughout all of this, Republic City has been established, Sokka is Chancellor, Toph is something of a defacto police chief--mostly because, at the time, no one else was willing to volunteer, and she jokingly offered to whip the law enforcement, but unfortunately everyone else at the meeting took her seriously. However, she is also the founder of the probending league, and basically her feelings about law enforcement are complicated and she actively discouraged her kids from joining the force which is part of why Lin did. How else do you have a teen rebel phase with a parent like Toph? (Which, in this instance, means tough and firm but fair, with a 'you break it, it's up to you to fix it' attitude and very little desire to actually control her daughters and their behavior.)

Ah, but here's the rub.

Suyin is ten years old when Sokka dies, and Lin is sixteen. I'm not sure how he's killed--maybe by Yakone, to tie it into my plans for Amon and book 1. (Note that I'm not sure when the Yakone bloodbending trial happened in canon, but it doesn't matter. The timeline I'm gonna build will be completely different post-comet, and I'll eventually write it all down so that I can keep things straight.) Which would incidentally provide excellent means of having Katara have a very personal stake in the Amon conflict, and perhaps color the fight between him and Iara, but I'm getting off track. And I think Sokka being killed by Yakone, and Toph being unable to protect or save him, or deliver her own brand of justice to avenge him (because Aang is there to stop her and.... shit probably got ugly, I suspect she didn't talk to Aang for at least twenty years after Sokka's death--and this isn't to say I think Toph is particularly violent or murderous, but in that moment, she absolutely wanted to kill the man with her bare hands, and however much she may have regretted it afterwards, she took a very long time to forgive Aang for stopping her in the first place), is what results in Toph stepping down as police chief.

She didn't withdraw from her daughters or fuck off into the swamp or anything (words cannot express how much I hate that part of her canon history), but she did grieve for a very long time. Lin, meanwhile, felt like it was up to her to keep her family together, while also feeling a desperate need to... prove herself, I think. And because her mother was so adamant that she not join the police force, that's exactly what she does. I think Lin completely misread Toph's intentions, too, and believed that the discouragement was because her mother didn't think she had what it takes, when in reality I think Toph was scared of Lin losing herself in the job like she herself had begun to, and eventually coming up on something she couldn't change or fix and making the same mistakes she had.

(I think Toph and Lin have communication issues largely because they are both headstrong and willful, but where Toph thought she was giving her daughters the room they would need to make their own way, what Lin desperately craved was direction and she felt like that was something her mother simply couldn't understand.)

Suyin, on the other hand, fell in with a bad crowd like in canon. I think that what she desperately needed was attention, similar to Lin craving direction, and Toph was trying so hard not to be her own parents that she went a little too far in the other direction and Suyin began to feel like it didn't matter what she did, her mom wouldn't care, or get angry, or discipline her, or anything. Lin and Suyin butted heads a lot growing up, too, especially after Sokka's death, because Lin tried to rein in her sister's behavior and this was met with resistance and derision because Suyin felt like Lin was trying to be both mom and dad and she was neither but her big sister would never admit to being just as lost as she was and it made her furious.

So when Suyin is sixteen, and Lin is twenty-two and new to the force, The Big Rift happens. Lin catches Suyin and her gang, tries to apprehend her, gets a scar on her face in the ensuing conflict. But instead of abusing her power and sending her problem child off to her mother before fucking off to the swamp to avoid the consequences of her actions, Toph tries to actually fix things. Suyin cools her heels in prison for a while, because she was paralyzed by guilt at the time when she hurt her sister (a few inches lower and she could have slit her throat), and was still there when Lin's backup arrived.

Uhhhhhhhhhhh..... I'm so sorry I rambled for so long, BUT THE UPSHOT IS: I think Suyin learned a bit about culpability and taking responsibility for her own actions, Toph realized that her daughters had different needs than she did at their age (and I think a lot of the problem was that grief clouded her own ability to connect with her daughters, and in trying to not be her own parents she lost sight of how to be the parent her own daughters needed), and Lin, I think, had to realize that she had never fully processed the loss of not one but two fathers and had turned to her job in order to avoid actually confronting the grief that had overshadowed her childhood.

However, she did not forgive Suyin, at least not right away--and she wasn't forced or expected to. Suyin understood that she crossed a serious line, she took her lumps and did her time, and no one shamed Lin for her anger. I think, as a result, she had less reason to hold onto that bitterness, and perhaps by the time the story actually begins, she and Suyin are on much better terms, though I haven't worked it out exactly yet.

UHHH yeah I went on for days lmao. All of this is subject to change, too, depending on the needs of the story whenever I get around to actually writing it all down, BUT these are my initial thoughts, at least.

[slythergirlimagines]

Don’t Call Me Princess Part 1- Zuko x Reader

Summary: Reader and Zuko can’t stand each other, so when they are forced to share a room, chaos ensues. Lots of angst and fluff! (GIF Not mine!! Please someone tag me in some Zuko gifs I’m struggling to find them) masterlist

  Words: 2,470              Requested: Yes. I combined the requests for enemies to lovers and bedsharing

          Don’t Call Me Princess- Part 1

  You were exhausted. The past three days had been hell for you. The Gaang had gone to try and free a village from Fire Nation occupation, but it hadn’t gone half as smoothly as you’d planned. You’d been kidnapped halfway through, but luckily you were rescued before any harm came to you. It was who rescued you that was the problem.

  Ever since he had switched sides and joined forces with Aang, Prince Zuko had been a thorn in your side. He was moody, antagonistic, and you were always fighting with him. He was so infuriating and always trying to get a rise out of you. Zuko had been the one to save you, and he hadn’t let you forget it.

   “You know if you wanted my attention Princess, you didn’t have to go and get yourself kidnapped. Coulda just said so.” He had smirked when he’d found you. You would’ve decked him if you could’ve, but of course he made sure to mess with you when you were tied up.

   “Get me out of here Zuko.” You’d demanded.

   “I don’t know... I kinda like where you are.” You hated how the look he gave you made your stomach flip. Obviously it was your body trying to vomit.

    “Get. Me. Out.” You had gritted your teeth.

   “Sure thing princess.”

   “Don’t. Call. Me. PRINCESS!” You had shrieked.

   Zuko had called you princess from the moment he joined the team. He was always degrading you like that, and it made you want to throttle him.

   You and Zuko managed to get out safely, and the Gaang freed the village. What should have been a victory for you was tainted by Zuko, who hadn’t shut up about saving you since it happened.

  Currently, you were discussing where to go from there. None of you particularly wanted to camp after this experience. It was Katara who brought up the idea of taking a break. Toph had managed to scam you guys some money, and you had just enough to afford to stay somewhere and relax for a few days.

   “Like a vacation?” Sokka asks excitedly, Toph nodding in agreement.

  “Yeah, I think it could do us all some good.” Katara says, fingers combing through her thick dark hair.

    Everyone sits digesting this idea for a while.

   “So where do we go?” Aang asks. It surprises you that Aang actually wants to take a few days off. In the beginning he had acted his age, but the longer you all had spent on the road, the more dedicated to the cause Aang had become.

  “We’re close enough to Hépíng.” Zuko says. “It’s a city of peace and relaxation. Maybe princess can avoid trouble there.”

   “Shut up Zuko!” You snap before you can control yourself. You know this is what he wants, but you can’t help it when he goads you like that.

  “I get it ok? You saved me. What do you want from me?” You cry.

   “How about some gratitude?” He snapped back. “I’m always having to save your ass from something, and all you do is sit around and pout.”

    “What?!” You demand. White hot rage flows through you. If you were a firebender you knew you’d be on fire.

    “Just last week the Sea Monster knocked you off the boat, and I had to go get you. Then a few weeks before that, you were being nice to that man who tried to take you. Had to get you out of that one. And then there was that time-“ Zuko counts on his fingers.

    “Enough!” You cut him off. He’s made you so mad that you’re shaking. “Newsflash Zuko, I didn’t need your help any of those times! I had them all handled. It’s not my fault you decide to prematurely step in!” You screech.

    “Didn’t need my help?!” He says back. His amber eyes flash defiantly, and he balls his hands into fists. “Princess, please tell me what you would have done if I hadn’t stepped in any of those times!”

    “What do you want an essay detailing my plans? I would have thought of something, you just never give me the chance!” You seethe.

    “Right. Ok, sure.” Zuko says.

   “What’s that supposed to mean?” You’re heaving now. Your fingers itch to slap him, maybe strangle him. You think that would feel really cathartic.

   “You want to know what I mean? You really want to know?” He snaps.

    So far everyone else has remained silent. They had learned early on to just let you and Zuko fight it out. If your fights were deadly against each other, you were even worse when you teamed up against one of them. Now they look uncomfortable, eyes darting between you two.

   “Guy, maybe you shouldn’t....” Aang starts.

   “No, let him say it Aang! I want to hear it.” You cross your arms and jut out your chin in defiance.

   “Guys really...”

  “Stay out of this Aang!” You both snap at the same time.

   Zuko whips his head angrily back at you, locks of raven hair falling into his eyes.

   “You know what I really think? I think you’re the most incapable person here!” Zuko snaps. “You’re always making stupid decisions that jeopardize not only yourself, but every one else on this team!”

    His words hurt a lot more than they should. You and Zuko had fought every day, but never before had he said something so cruel to you. Angry tears well up in your eyes.

   “You know what? Fine, maybe you’re right. Maybe I’m incapable and incompetent, but at least I’ve never intentionally done anything to harm this team. At least my nation isn’t destroying everything it touches, and oh yeah, at least my father isn’t behind it all!”

   You’ve never said something so cruel either. You almost regret saying it, when you see hurt flash on Zuko’s face. Your eyes linger on his scar, the brutal reminder of his monster of a father. Zuko’s face falls, but then it solidifies into an even angrier expression. He opens his mouth to say something even worse, before Aang cuts him off.

   “ENOUGH!” He yells. “All you guys do is fight and I’ve had it! You guys are so unnecessarily mean to each other it’s ridiculous! We’re a team. We only work when we’re supporting each other. What is wrong with you two?!”

   Aang’s face is red and his chest is heaving. You’ve only ever seen him so torn up once. You clench your jaw and look away as you blink back the tears.

   “We’re taking a much needed break, ok? Can’t you guys just be civil for a few days. Please?” Aang pleads.

   Neither you nor Zuko says anything, and the silence hangs heavy for several moments. It feels like another challenge to see who folds first. Finally, you decide to be the mature one since Zuko clearly won’t

  “Fine.” You say. “I’ll be civil. As long as he says the hell away from me!” You stand up and stomp off to the furthest corner of Appa’s saddle.

  “Couldn’t agree more.” You hear him snark back.

   You hear Aang heave a long sigh, and Katara mutter something to him. Slowly, they resume a conversation about travel plans while you sit and mope.

   Zuko somehow always knew your biggest insecurities, and knew exactly how to strike at them. You had always felt like a burden to the team. You weren’t a bender, and truthfully you weren’t a skilled fighter either. You didn’t really know why they kept you around, and it haunted you enough without Zuko reminding you every five seconds.

   Subtly, you turn your head and watch the team interact. Even Zuko had rejoined the conversation. They were fine without you, you noted sadly. Maybe Zuko was right.

           ——————————————-

   Hépíng is a gorgeous city. It lives up to its reputation of peace. The city is flooded with tourists, and it makes it easier for you all to blend in. Zuko is vaguely familiar with this place, and leads you to the strip of land where all of the Inns are.

    Sokka and you are the least recognizable of the group, so you briefly play rock, paper, scissors to determine who has to go book your rooms. You know Sokka always picks rock, so you go with paper. Sokka grumbles all the way into the Inn.

   It takes him what feels like hours to come back out. He looks grim, and you feel your heart drop. You had just gotten excited about having a break from Zuko, you didn’t want to have to jump right back into saving the world.  

   “Ok so here’s the thing.” Sokka says, “I got us rooms, but there can only be two people in a room. So we’re going to have to split up.”

   “Ok so what?” You ask, shrugging. You didn’t get why this was such a big deal.

   “Because one of us is going to be unfortunate enough to share a room with you.” Zuko says, rolling his eyes. “Princess.” He narrows his amber eyes and smirks. 

  “That’s it!”

   You’re about to start throwing punches when Sokka ends it.

   “You know what?” He says. “I’ve made up my mind. Aang and I will share, and Katara and Toph will share. You two” he says pointing between you and Zuko, “are going to work out your problems. Now is the perfect time to do it.”

   You can feel the color draining from your face.

   “What?” Zuko asks at the same time you give an emphatic “No!”

   “Does anyone object to that arrangement?” Sokka asks.

   You and Zuko both raise your hands, but nobody else does.

   “Come on guys it’ll be good for you.” Katara says. “You all have never gotten to properly bond, and the fighting has got to stop.”

   “This is absolutely ridiculous!” You say, stamping your foot.

    “You think you got the bad deal, Princess?” Zuko huffs. “If you’re so miserable go sleep on Appa.”

     “Shut the fu-“

    “Alright!” Sokka says, slapping his hands over Aang’s ears. “Let’s go find our rooms.”

          ——————————————-

   The inn is nice and cozy inside, with a warm fire in the fire place. You used to love fire before you associated it with Zuko. Of course he had to ruin that for you.

   Sokka leads you past the tavern, and into a back hallway with five rooms. Katara and Toph take the first one. You manage to get a peek of the inside, a spacious room with two beds and what appeared to be a chair and tables. The room next to their is occupied, so Sokka leads you and Zuko to the end of the hall.

    “Our room is across from yours.” Sokka says, handing Zuko the key to your room. “Please don’t get us kicked out of here. We all need this.”

   “This was your brilliant idea, chief.” You snark at him, flipping your hair over your shoulder. “Any casualties are on you.”

     Zuko snatches the key and nods his agreement.

    “You’ve brought this on yourself, buddy.” Zuko says.

    Sokka slumps against the door frame as Aang throws open the door to their room.

   “Sokka look! These beds are great for jumping!” Aang says, using his bending to propel himself higher.

    Sokka’s face falls even further.

   “Gotta go.” He says, and slams the door behind him.

     You and Zuko are left standing in the hallway in tense silence.

    “Well? Aren’t you going to let us in?” You huff.

   Zuko rolls his eyes but unlocks the door. You purposely knock into his shoulder as you enter the room, causing him to stumble. You smile vindictively to yourself as you walk inside until you notice something’s wrong.

    “Um Zuko?” You say slowly. “Now is the only time I’ll tolerate you calling me dense. Am I hallucinating?” You say taking in the room.

     Zuko stiffens beside you as he also examines the room.

    “I really, really wish I could say yes.” He says.

    There’s a notable difference between your room and the others’ rooms. Where they had two beds, you only have one large bed.

    It takes a moment for either one of you to say something. Your horror is reflected on Zuko’s face as you turn to look at each other.

   “Sokka!” You yell, going over to pound on his door.

    “Sokka open up right now or Zuko is going to fry your ass!” You yell.

    “I’ll do it, Sokka.” Zuko threatens. It sounds more dangerous coming out of his mouth than yours.

    A bleary-eyed Sokka pushes open the door.

    “What are you guys-“ but before he can finish his sentence, you and Zuko are hauling him to your room to show him the offending bed.

    “Oh.” He says when he sees the bed. “They didn’t tell me that.”

    “You and Aang have to switch us!” You beg. “We can’t do it Sokka. You’re asking way too much.”

   “Yeah what kind of vacation is this?” Zuko demands. “Just let us switch rooms, we’ll get over sharing if we have our own beds.”

    “Yeah! You won’t hear a peep out of us the rest of the week.” You add on.

    Sokka shakes his head.

   “Nuh uh. No way. You’re just going to have to deal with it. Share it, sleep on the floor, I don’t really care. I don’t want to hear from either of you for the rest of the day.” He says. He turns to leave and then stops. 

   “How about we make a deal?” Sokka says turning completely back around.

   “Anything!” You beg. 

   “Sokka please man.” Zuko says.

   A huge grin splits Sokka’s face nearly in two. You don’t like the expression on his face one bit.

  “Aang and I will switch you rooms, if you can go the first three days without fighting.” You open your mouth to protest, before Sokka shushes you. “Not one fight. You’re going to spend three days together. You are going to work out your issues, and then, if you manage to do that, Aang and I will switch for the remainder of our vacation. Can you do that?”

  You make eye contact with Zuko, and try to read his expression. Sokka is asking for a lot. Three whole days of dealing with Zuko just to have four days of your own bed. Zuko’s eyes narrow at the challenge, and you find yourself mirroring him,

  “Deal.”

A/N: Welcome to my new series;) I hope you all enjoy it. I think I got everyone who asked on my taglist, but if I missed you please let me know!

Taglist: @galacticamidala​ @a-random-queer-kid​ @taeeemin​ @realimbo​ @samsmultifandomblogs​ @fire1ordzuzu​ @shortmexicangirl​ @wingeddemonclub​ @mangoberry34​ @marvel-ing-at-it-all​

[gaysimpsstuff]

Fatgum As a Dad

This was inspired by a conversation I had on a discord server, we all have daddy issues and want Fatgum to adopt us so here’s all the shit we collected.

There are some serious themes in here, mostly regarding the biological parents of the kid, but it’s vague as possible. If anyone wants me to add a trigger warning please let me know.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It all started when he was a kid, when he learned what an orphanage was. One of the kids in his class mentioned being from one, so when he got home he asked his parents about it. 

“Mom, what’s an orphanage?”

“Well, Taishiro, it’s where children that don’t have parents go. Then people can come and adopt the children. Why do you ask.”

“A kid at school said he’s from one, when d’you think he’s gonna get adopted?”

“He might, not all children get adopted. Some of them stay in the orphanage until they’re adults.”

“BUT THAT’S NOT FAIR!” he shouted. “EVERYONE DESERVES A HAPPY CHILDHOOD!”

“Well, honey, life’s not fair. And not everyone gets a happy life. It’s how most villains are made, actually. They were hurt more than everyone else and couldn’t handle it anymore. Not all villains are like that but many are. I think you should stay away from that kid, Taishiro. He might turn out a villain.”

But he didn’t stay away. And he made it his mission to become a pro hero so he could make a ton of money and help as many people as he could. He’d help even villains, keep them from doing something dangerous and inspire hope in them.

Then, he’d adopt any kid who needed a father. All the orphanages and foster programs would be empty. Homeless children off the street and in his house, being fed and clothed. He’d care for each and every one of them, not wanting a single person to feel like they didn’t belong. 

He finds most of his kids at pride parades. He walks around with a shirt that says ‘FREE DAD HUGS’ and a box full of candy. He remembered one of the kids walking up to him slowly.

“Um.. are you Fatgum?” 

“Yes I am!”

“Can I have a hug?”

“Yes you can, Kiddo!” he got down, and the kid put his arms on his stomach (Fatgum’s too big for anyone to fully hug, the dude’s taller than Allmight!) he wrapped his arms around the kid before he heard sniffles. He looked down and saw that the kid was crying.

“M-my parents never hug me like this!” they exclaimed. “They haven’t since I came out. They want to kick me out when I turn thirteen!” 

“Can I have their number? I’m going to... talk to them.”

He ended up taking the kid’s family to court, and since the parents were going to just kick the kid out anyways, they let Fatgum adopt them, but they kept nagging him about how he was ‘going to be raising a little demon.’

“Then call me Lucifer.” he spat right back. Now, that kid’s grown up, has pride flags all around their walls, and doesn’t ever doubt that they’re loved.

Fatgum probably bakes with his kids. Helping them up onto the counter to mix ingredients and play with the dough. If they mess something up or break a glass, it’s fine. He doesn’t yell at them or sigh and shake his head, he just kissed the kid on the forehead and helps them clean up the mess. 

The food always turns out amazing, and Fatgum always tells the kids that. All of his kids are now Gordon Ramsay level chefs and have probably met Gordon Ramsay. 

No matter what their body type is, Fatgum tells his kids their handsome/beautiful and are model worthy. If anyone comments of one of his kid’s body, whether it be negative or... ‘positive’ in a creepy way, you can expect that they’re getting slammed into the ground. No questions asked.

One of Fatgum’s kids is really good at make-up. Like, really good. So Fatgum did the only thing a rational father would do. 

Ask for a make-up job.

It didn’t end all that well...

“Hold still.. I gotta get the eyeliner on.”

“Gosh, Kiddo it’s making my eyes water.” 

“I know, just hold still... aaaand...... done! Now don’t touch it or it’ll smear!”

“Wow, that looks great! You’re really good at this!”

“Thanks, dad- you smeared it already didn’t you?”

“....Nope.”

Fatgum: I'm not gonna do it, it just seemed like a good option. 

Fatgum not even two seconds later after seeing a trans kid crying: now carrying said child on his shoulders while his spouse is chuckling in a corner after signing adoption papers I did it.

This man would get his kids almost anything they wanted. Especially kids with ADD/ADHD/Autism/Tourettes/Anxiety who need stim toys.

Kid: chewing on their nails.

Fatgum: here take this stim toy, and this one, you chew this one so that might help-

Kid ends up with more stim toys than they can count.

Fatgum: just doing his job 

The Daddy Issues Gang: Hi dad- oh shit wait- Hi- I- fuck- trauma ensues. crying

Fatgum: grabs the daddy issues gang we're going to the nearest courtroom say hello to your new father its me im the father ok lets go.

Kid: um, dad can I talk to you? 

 Fatgum, turning around quickly: yes? 

 Me: ‘he moved so quick, he's mad at me, I'm gonna get yelled at’ Sorry, sorry! 

Fatgum: uh, no. I'm getting you ice cream and a new stuffed animal no questions asked

He'd just know when something's wrong, and he’d be great at comforting.

His usual style of comfort is to let the kid sit on his stomach and tell him what’s wrong. His body is one giant pillow for his kids to lay on, he can fit at least eight of them if they cuddle in closely.

Once filmed a commercial dressed as the Cool-Aid man, and all of his kids were in the commercial.

Fatgum: Busts down wall  “OH YEAH!”

Director: “And CUT! Okay, try a little more aggressive-”

Fatgum, in tears: “I don’t wanna scare my kids.”

As stated before, if anyone makes his kids feel bad he’s punching them to the ground, but sometimes he’s not in a position where he can do that. Like if a Karen mom ever comes over.

"Linda stop bringing lemon squares if you're going to talk about my son that way because they're just as sour as your attitude."

Fatgum but he slaps the toxic members of your family and tells them to do better or he's taking you.

Then takes you anyway because you prefer him.

Fatgum with a sweater that says ‘mr dad guy on it’

Fatgum definitely watches ATLA, and quotes Uncle Iroh daily. When his kids are minding their own business they suddenly hear

“Leaves from the vine... falling so slow...” 

INAUDIBLE CHAOS AND PANIC

Fatgum agency cosplayed ATLA characters on Halloween.

Fatgum was Iroh.

Kirishima was Sokka.

Tamaki was either Momo or Appa.

Maybe get a couple others in on it too, Mirio could be Aang and if Kirishima convinces Todoroki to join for a while he’d totally be Zuko.

Fatgum lets his kids squish his face.

Fatgum used to work with a hero who was hard of hearing, so he learned sign language to help them, and he’s got the skill saved in case one of his kids might be deaf.

So one day, Kirishima invites Bakugou on patrol with him, and we all love that headcanon of Bakugou going deaf, so when he gets pissed at something, he starts insulting everyone around him in SL.

Fatgum notices and starts signing back to him.

YOU’RE ALL MOTHERFUCKERS AND I HATE YOU ALL!

Hey, now, let’s calm down and not call everyone motherfuckers.

FUCK YOU TOO

Bakugou...

Everyone thinks that they’re doing magic, because they’re making all these shapes with their hands and keep looking offended at each other.

Now, Fatgum tries his gosh darn hardest to keep up with the memes, so when his kids come home with good grades, he says “That’s so pog, Kiddo!”

All of his kids are embarrassed.

In the middle of a battle, he throws Kirishima at a villain and they both scream “YEET!” the villain afterwords forever lives in fear of the word ‘yeet’ because he thinks it’ll result in a human rock being thrown at his face.

Fatgum can’t text very well, because his fingers are just too damn big-

sonhsisntextsblooklikehthis'

Translation: so his texts look like this

you learn to understand his texts

Someone better get him a large tablet instead of a phone

If he gets married after he adopts the kids, there’s going to be a huge competition over who does the rings and who does the flowers etc.

If any of his kid’s ever bring home a romantic partner, you can bet your ass he’ll be all over them.

“What’s your average grade?”

“E-eighty percent sir!”

“And do you take sports?”

“No sir, I wish to be a biologist.”

“I see, I see...”

“DAD, YOU AREN”T INTERVIEWING MY PARTNER, ARE YOU? YOU SCARED OFF THE LAST THREE I DON’T WANNA DEAL WITH THAT AGAIN!”

“SORRY, KIDDO! I’LL LET THEM GO NOW! I’ve got my fucking eyes on you. Don’t screw this up.”

Hope y’all enjoy this, if y’all want I can write some headcanons for if Fatgum’s kid becomes a villain-

[passable-talent]

OMG is it too much to ask for a continuation of the last person's ask request ? Like I loved it so much but was heartbroken at the angst ending. Could you like do where the reader has to adjust to him being there and they work through there feelings them eventually falling hard for zuko as they did for Lee and Zuko tries his best to make things right them and whether or not it works is up to you I'm down for a surprise will they/won't they?

I’m going to... scream

someone, you my friend, loved my fic SO MUCH you want a continuation??????

I owe u my life thank you so much 💕💕💕💕

side bar I watched The Western Air Temple to get the true 👌🏻👌🏻 canon compliance of this ask and I am like, not okay. i would give my life for Zuko and the episode is SUCH a rollercoaster and a masterpiece of the group’s collective opinions of Zuko, I could go off but I’m not gonna. mostly? 18 y/o me cannot handle the resurgence of 6 y/o me that just crushes on Zuko like crazy

this is gonna be another long one because I actually really like this storyline? also ya boi is a sucker for angst

continuation of this post

You’d stalked back into the temple, finding an empty room to sulk in, anger and sadness and betrayal and all sorts of upset wrestling in your heart. You thumped your back against the wall, scowling, and reached up to wipe a tear you weren’t aware had fallen, forcefully, as though you were angry at it.

Maybe you were.

Zuko had betrayed you. He had been given the choice, and he chose poorly. He had no excuse for that. You could’ve even understood if he’d regretted it immediately, but he hadn’t! He had stayed in the fire nation for months!

What had changed? What had rocked his life so deeply that he’d come to the avatar? Was he being honest, or was it a trap? You wouldn’t put a trap past him, not after all of his past treachery.

Though you didn’t want to see him, you did want to know what was going on, in case there was a fight and you needed to intervene. It was as good a time as ever, you decided, to practice seismic senses. You weren’t quite good at it yet, and not nearly as good as Toph, but you’d been learning.

Pushing off of the wall with a motion still angry, you took a step forward and kneeled, settling both knees onto the floor. Already you closed your eyes, regulating your breathing as though deep in meditation.

The touch of your fingertips to the stone floor was light, at first, feathery, but slowly you moved your hands forward and laid the palm down. You stilled, your body not moving even a bit, and slowly a scene began to take form. It wasn’t a picture, and you couldn’t see it exactly, it was like the way that your fingers could find your nose even when your eyes were closed. You just knew, as though the ground itself was an extension of your body.

You could sense Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Toph, standing together and facing Zuko. You couldn’t quite understand his movements, but you knew they were frantic, whereas Team Avatar stood ready in stances prepared to fight.

The image went fuzzy as your heartbeat sped up, and by the time you could get it to clear up again enough to make sense of it, Zuko was gone. You stood up, and walked back out to the rest of the group, fists clenched at your side.

“So you kicked him out, huh?”

“We had to!” Katara said, a snarl in her voice. “He’s-“

“Don’t defend yourself to me,” you interrupted, “I probably would’ve done something worse.” There was a pause, in which you followed their lead to grab your sleeping bundle from Appa’s saddle. “And even if I hadn’t, my voice will only confuse our decision. I’m not even sure what I think of him, but I know I’m angry.”

“We can’t trust him,” Katara said, and you dropped your bundle so you could use it as a seat.

“I kind of have a confession to make,” Aang said, and the night only got weirder from there.

When Toph came back, you weren’t surprised she’d been burnt. And you weren’t surprised when Combustion Man resurfaced, too. You had the forethought to throw a rock shield from rubble in front of your friends, but very quickly Aang and Katara’s attempts at fighting back made the five of you realize you needed to find an even better place to hide.

What did surprise you was that Zuko swooped in, to try to stop the assassin. Despite everything about yourself, despite everything he’d done, you felt cold dread grip your heart when he was thrown back over the edge of the temple, and may have even tried to save him if it weren’t for Combustion Man’s constant explosions.

But Sokka did what Sokka did best, and soon the assassin was gone, leaving behind a clear view of the fire prince climbing a vine back up to safety.

“Oh. Zuko made it,” you said, your tone halfway between relief and annoyance.

His speech to Aang was everything you expected to hear, and it seemed as though he’d earned Aang’s forgiveness. Your heart still racing, you listened, to Aang’s words. You didn’t dare look at Zuko, and so stood beside Katara, staring at the ground by her feet. You tried to let anger be your shield, because Zuko’s presence made you remember all to easily how much you cared for him, even if it was a different part of him, under a different name.

“Now I know you understand how easy it is to hurt the people you love.” The sentence made you lift your head, and for the first time you let your gaze slide to Zuko. You caught his eye, just for a moment, as though the sentence had had the same effect on him. But he brought his focus back to Aang, to be told that he needed permission from all members of Team Avatar. Toph and Sokka’s answers were affirmative, and you knew yours would be the same- but that didn’t mean that you had to go easy on him.

“Y/N?” Aang asked, and you raised your chin, though still your gaze was on the floor, unfolding your arms from your chest.

“There’s good in him,” you started, and you raised your gaze finally to Aang. “I’ve seen it. And if you think that this is proof that he can let it-“ you slid your eyes to Zuko, a soft glare making up your expression. “-guide his actions,” you looked back to Aang with a small nod, “then I’m okay with it.” You didn’t dare look back at Zuko, you didn’t want to know his reaction. But mostly, you didn’t want to see his face, remind yourself how much you still cared for him.

It was easy, you decided as you laid in bed that night, to hate him when he wasn’t in front of you. It was easy to be angry and talk of how you’d hurt him when you couldn’t see him, hear his voice. But now that he was here, and you’d watched him fight, you knew that that wasn’t the truth of it. You still cared for him. Lee hadn’t been washed away in Ba Sing Se- the aspects of Zuko’s personality that Lee was made of were still there, and very much alive. You saw it in the small smile he’d let himself crack when you glanced back as Team Avatar walked away from him.

The boy you’d almost fallen in love with was very much alive. And though he’d betrayed you, he’d hurt you, he’d betrayed and hurt the people you cared about- it didn’t stop you from wanting to love him again.

“Y/N?” came Zuko’s voice from just outside your door, and your first response was to earthbend a slab from the floor that sealed the door shut. “I know you’re angry, please, just let me in so that I can talk. You don’t need to listen, or look at me, I just want to say things to you. I need to.” Despite yourself, you wanted to hear what he had to say, and so you uncurled just enough to pull your slab through the door, though you didn’t move it far enough to allow him to enter the room.

Reaching down to press your palm to the floor, you used seismic sense to make out that he’d sat down on the other side of the slab.

“Thank you,” were his first words, and you assumed that he meant for moving the slab. You were wrong. “-for saying that about me. You, I feel like I’ve hurt you the most. I know that that’s selfish, or- or ignorant, because I’ve done terrible things to Aang and Sokka and Katara, but-“ he sighed, and you heard what you thought was an impact between palm and forehead.

“But when I did those things to them, I didn’t care about them. I cared about you.” Though you couldn’t see him, through your little wall of rock, his words made you turn, rolling over to face where his body was.

“I cared about you a lot, and still I let Azula-“ once again he cut himself off. “You deserve a proper explanation, Y/N, even if it isn’t a good one.”

“My mom always treated me differently than my sister, I know that. My father did too, but in a different way. He didn’t- he wanted nothing to do with me. I was his eldest, his son, and he didn’t seem to like me at all. He was the one that gave me my scar, you know.” His next sentence was lost on you as you sat up, anger hot as lightning coursing through your veins.

You knew that scar had come from a firebender. But between Ba Sing Se and this moment, you’d been so caught up in your anger that you never stopped to realize that Zuko was a firebender too, and so a firebender must’ve hurt another firebender, and who would’ve done that? His father, the fire lord? If Aang didn’t take him down, you decided that you would.

“I spent years blindly searching for the avatar, not letting anything get in my way. I was so cruel. To Katara and Sokka, to Toph and Aang, I was so cruel because I just wanted to go home. I wanted to earn my honor, but moreso I just wanted to show my father that I could do what he asked.” You heard a tremor in his voice.

“And I was so blind, it made me ignore how important my uncle was to me. I see it now- and I think back on his face right after I betrayed him, and I just feel so ashamed.” He paused, leveling his voice before he said his next words.

“I think about how you looked. When Azula said that you were my enemy, too. I know it’s no excuse, but she’s so manipulative, she’s such a-“ There was quiet as he let out a breath.

“I don’t regret spending my time in Ba Sing Se with you. But I do regret how it ended. You have every reason to be angry with me, you’re right to be. I’m so sorry, Y/N.” You thought, for a moment, that he was done, but still he didn’t move.

“When I went back to the fire nation, I fell back in with an old girlfriend I’d had before I was banished. But it felt wrong. It felt like- like I was just with her to try to regain my life from before, but I wasn’t that person anymore. I wrote her a letter, but I didn’t know what to say, and...” Zuko paused, and sighed. You wondered, with a bit of bitterness, why he would tell you about a girlfriend he’d had between the last time the two of you saw each other. Wasn’t he just giving you more reason to be angry with him?

“I’ll never have enough words to tell you how sorry I am. And I know I don’t deserve a second chance from you. I deserve nothing but hatred and- and anger and everything you can throw at me, because I asked for it when I turned against you.” You stared at your slab, and wondered how long it would be before your eyes bore holes straight through it.

“Just... just know that I’m sorry, and I- I’m never going to treat you like that again.” He took a deep breath, as though meditating, or summoning his courage. “Know that I’ve thought about you almost every day. About that time you spilled tea on me and tried to pay for a replacement shirt, and-“ he tapered off, and let out the rest of his breath. “You’re probably asleep.” He was silent, for a moment, as he reached up to press his hand onto the rock keeping him from you.

“Goodnight, Y/N.” You heard him stand up and walk away.

You remembered the night he was talking about. Mushi- Iroh- had let you stay past when the shop closed, before you worked there. Zuko had sat down across from you and closed your textbook whenever you tried to read, and finally you’d gotten frustrated and put it away. You’d tried to put your feet up, but instead kneed the table, and sent his cup rolling, spilling his tea onto his shirt.

Looking back on it, it made sense why the heat of the tea didn’t bother him. He was a firebender, after all.

The part that he’d failed to mention tonight was how he’d walked to a back room to get another shirt, as you followed, insisting on paying for the ‘damages’. But the words had caught in your throat when he took off his shirt because wow, and that was all you could really fathom yourself to think, and you’d stuttered, and he’d just laughed before putting another shirt on.

You wondered, now, if things would have turned out differently if you had kissed him that night, instead of pulling away. Had you called him boyfriend, would he have been so quick to betray you?

Laying down slowly, you reached out to press your palm to the ground again. It took you a moment to get a clear seismic understanding, as your heart was pounding and your breath shaking, but you could sense him in the room he’d taken up as his own. You pulled your hand to your chest, losing the image, and closed your eyes.

Your throat burned the next morning.

ok this bitch got LONG AS FUCK so stay tuned for a pt 3 probably tomorrow

edit: | part 3 | part 4 | part 5 | part 6 | part 7 | part 8 |

-🦌 Roe