#also hi toph

[my-cabbages-gorl]

Chapter 6 of Bewitched is up!

HEAPS of hugs and kisses to everyone who has been with me on this multichapter journey, this zukaang corner of the fandom means absolutely everything to me i love you all with my entire heart muah muah muah

Summary: Under the looming shadow of the news of Zuko's betrothal- the Avatar and the Firelord are forced to face themselves.

Rating: Whole fic is Explicit, this chapter is rated T.

Tags: angsty betrothal exploration, post-canon, post-war, unrequited love, Romance, Aged-Up Characters, Post-Canon, Angst, Hurt, Aang's 22 & Zuko's 26

Blurb:

"I can't give him what a wife could give him." Furrowing his brow, he studied the movements of the golden liquid in his cup. Then came his somber whisper, “I’m the Avatar.”

“Spirits,” Toph said as she stretched out her legs before pulling her knees into her chest, “you say that like it’s a death sentence.”

Before anything else, Aang was the Avatar. A mortal hanging in the balance between finite and infinite, past and present, longing and duty. As such, the desires of his human heart moved in a universe where he was merely an instrument of eternal order, the staying hand of the cosmos. In him, being must give way to nonbeing, and all possessiveness must give way to sacrifice.

“Sometimes it feels like it.” Aang huffed, chasing the brittle cold from his chest with a sip. Today, here, he etched the edge of an ancient grief- that even across ten thousand lifetimes, he hadn’t yet learned how to carry.

Continue reading on Ao3

[okbrambleberry]

Just things they can connect about… Zuko you should bring up the fact that you burned down Suki’s village again, I’m sure she’d appreciate it.

[ash-and-starlight]

The world needs more Yue and Zuko friendship, I squeal just thinking abt the parallels. They deserve a life changing field trip together and if u have abt ideas I’m all ears 👀

Hiii anon this ask fermented in my inbox and in my brain for so long,, so take this??? Post canon yue lives/no war au arts?? Anyway aside from the Parallels and their political position & their duty before hoes grindset I think they could learn a lot from each other. With zuko learning the gift of patience & diplomacy from yue & Yue learning that allowing yourself to feel anger and speaking up can actually be Good.

anyway hypothetical life changing trip outcome: zuko takes an intro gender studies class and yue says fuck

(oh and also must not forget the crush on sokka)

[yourhighness6]

I feel like people who dislike Zuko miss how important his character is, especially to IRL abuse victims. The journey from scared, angry, isolated and abused to confident, calm, loved and accepted while being handled almost perfectly in the context of his abuse is so underrated even while being hailed as one of the best redemption arcs of all time.

[petricorah]

confession casualties 

+bonus

[ID: A comic of Zuko and Sokka from Avatar: The Last Airbender. They are dressed in modern winter clothes, and Zuko is wearing Sokka’s water tribe scarf. It is snowing. They are walking with their shoulders touching, and as Zuko talks, Sokka stares at him fondly.

“Azula said someone could smack me on the back of the head, and I wouldn’t realize they were into me,” Zuko says. “She’s crazy, right?”

With a smile on his face, Sokka hits Zuko on the back of the head, and Zuko cowers and makes an outraged expression. “Ow!” Zuko said. “Why the hell did you hit me?”

Sokka puts one arm comfortingly around Zuko’s shoulder. “Sorry man,” Sokka said with an apologetic look. “I thought I…saw a mosquito.”

“In winter?” Zuko said, with a confused expression on his face.

In the background, Toph snickers. “He did say it wouldn’t work,” she said.

The bonus comic is Sokka and Zuko studying at a table. The caption at the top reads “1 Week Later.”

Sokka drinks water, and Zuko calculates with a confused expression.

Zuko yells: “Holy Sh*t!” and hits Sokka on the back of his head, and water sprays everywhere. “You like me?!?” he said.

The final image is Sokka facedown on the ground, and Zuko standing over him.

“I like you too,” Zuko says.

“Y-Yay,” Sokka says from the ground, and small hearts float above both of them. /End ID.]

[aangarchy]

Everytime i get reminded of "toph's" concept art, i always think how weird it would have been to just have an adult man hang out with three kids for months

[discordiansamba]

modern au iroh, try as he might, cannot get his nephew into tea. this is because coffee exists and you know the fridge at home is filled with canned coffee that zuko drinks way too much of. he always has it black until he discovers he can mix in cayenne pepper into it. Everyone Hated That (except zuko).

much to iroh's distress, his niece likes coffee too. azula pretends she likes it black because it makes her seem more adult but in actuality it's too bitter for her. then she learns about the existence of Cold Brews and there's no going back from that. she is considerably more reasonable about her coffee consumption.

ty lee, yue, and sokka are fancy latte buddies. mai also drinks her coffee black (like her soul) but if you think she's going to set foot into a starbucks, she's going to kill you. independent coffee shops or bust. aang, toph, suki and katara prefer tea. they are officially iroh's favorite children.

(zuko will still drink his uncle's tea if he makes it. he was there for him a lot when he was recovering in the hospital. he guesses he can put up with his hot leaf juice.)

[wilcze-kudly]

Wei is so much his grandmother's grandson it makes me giggle

[Just a few examples. Shallow, I know. But let me have this lol]

Bonus:

The bedhead is an heirloom

[cowboygideon]

I don't know whose idea it was to kill off sokka for tlok but if I ever find out I'm putting a hit out on them because WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT HE AND KORRA WOULD HAVE HAD THE BEST DYNAMIC WHY ARE YOU A COWARD

[your-royal-momoness]

Zuko would be obsessed with brat but would only listen to it in secret

[longing-for-rain]

regarding aang becoming offended bc of his portrayal as a woman in ember island players, i think his anger was justified on that specific occassion? I mean, the fire nation was mocking his gentle nature and pacifism by portraying him as a blithering naive idiot who never took things seriously and the belittling of his culture and beliefs. This is one of the worst episodes for him, dont get me wrong, but in this case, femininity was utilized as a source of derision and weakness imo. I dont say this with bad intentions, just thought i would write this bc i also condemned aang for the same thing before

If that was what Aang was upset about I might be inclined to agree, but everything he says and does throughout that episode points to the contrary. Aang doesn’t say anything about the incorrect portrayal of his culture and personal values. Here is what he does say:

[Note: the above expression is before the actress hardly says anything so he’s clearly just mad about the fact that she’s female]

Aang: [angrily] Is that a woman playing me?

Aang: I don't do that! That's not what I'm like! And I'm not a woman!

[Note: the official script includes the emphasis; again, it’s very obvious that he’s most bothered by being played by a woman]

Then this exchange:

Toph: I don't know, you are more in touch with your feminine side than most guys.

Aang: [Standing up, angrily] Argh!

Katara: Relax, Aang. They're not accurate portrayals. It's not like I'm a preachy crybaby who can't resist giving overemotional speeches about hope all the time. [Everyone looks at her] What?

Aang: [Turns around and sits down. Sarcastically.] Yeah, that's not you at all.

You know what I love about this conversation is that is proves two things at once. Firstly, yet again, it’s clear that being portrayed by a woman is what is most upsetting to Aang. Secondly, his reaction (and, honestly, insult) to Katara’s values here shows that he’s not thinking that deeply about this. It has nothing to do with values. Aang is offended at the idea that he is being portrayed by a woman and with more “feminine” qualities, which honestly plays well with his creepy, possessive behavior with Katara later this same episode.

And I actually do like the fact that you brought up femininity being used as “a source of derision and weakness” because guess what! That’s the definition of femininity itself. Femininity doesn’t mean simply being a woman; femininity is the social behaviors and roles that women are expected to fulfill. Which is why I don’t have any sympathy for a man who is offended by being called feminine or compared to a woman because it’s reflective of a deeply misogynistic attitude on his part. If Aang thinks femininity is so degrading and weak, what does that say about the fact he expects his crush to behave that way? I mean, this is what he thinks of Katara, through his own perspective:

So yeah, that’s my question. If being compared to a woman is so insulting and humiliating to Aang, what does that say about how he intuitively views actual women? Why does he think he’s above that treatment but women aren’t? People act like I’m crazy for saying that he exhibits toxic masculinity this episode but this only furthers that point.

Oh and before someone jumps in here and acts like this goes both ways, let me point you to this:

Toph’s reaction to finding out she’s being played by a big, buff, stereotypically-masculine man. She’s thrilled! Why? Because we are products of a misogynistic society and therefore intuitively view being compared to a man as a compliment and a woman as an insult. The respective roles assigned to each are not equal. Masculinity and femininity were never equal and the system was deliberately created that way. You can see this idea ingrained in the writing of this episode because it’s a bias we all hold to some degree, including the writing and creative team here.

So I’m sorry, but considering the bias clearly present within the writing team and the way the characters behave this episode, it’s clear to me that Aang’s reaction has nothing to do with his culture and everything to do with his misogyny.

[sporadictimetravelgarden]

jet and zuko are the type of people to never admit they are together. like no wtf him ew no way after theyve been together for two years. theyre in their thirties and live together and its like what, us? dating? ha, thats crazy man, like they aren't basically married, and then no one finds out until someone accidentally find an official document that they actually are married, they did it while blackout drunk when they were nineteen and just never annulled it and kind of just stayed together

[000marie198]

The fact that each of Zuko's little sisters, canon and fanon, are not only powerful benders but also total chaotic gremlins who fear no one

Azula is among the most powerful firebenders, is a master of psychological manipulation and wouldn't hesitate bitch

Toph invented metal bending, is a walking lie detector, cackles in joy at chaos, would wipe out an army singlehandedly for funsies

Kiyi melted a thick metal door down with zero training and she's like 5 or 6!

The world isn't ready for Zuko's three gremlin sisters teaming up. Zuko himself isn't ready for his three gremlin sisters teaming up

[tellhulla]

The first time I watched LoK I didn't get why people were mad that Katara didn't had a statue

Obviously she didn't had one because she was still alive, everyone else was dead so they got a statue to celebrate their life and their legacy, but Katara's life was still ongoing, her legacy wasn't finished, she could still do great things that future generations would remember her by

It seemed so simple, dead heroes got statues, Katara was alive

And then it was revealed Toph and Zuko were alive too

And I got it, and I was pissed too

[bryverros]

i think they bonded over their hate for doing chores

[ultfreakme]

I know Zuko is queer because he has exactly one guy friend the same age as him(Sokka) and the rest are badass sapphic women. Mai, Ty Lee, Suki, Katara, then the Kyoshi Warriors ended up being the main security in the Fire Nation palace. Song saw the dude and went ‘time to adopt him this is bestie material’. Like he’s just accidentally drawing on all the women for gay reasons and gay reasons only.