#but katara has always been more curious | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

night-daily · 1 year ago

Text

Are friends supposed to kiss on the lips? | Zuko x fem! reader

summary: Sokka's plans are the best.

warnings: none.

Has been two days since Zuko joined the team avatar at the western air temple. The things between you two were tense and the rest of your friends were growing tired of it but Sokka, as the genius he is, came up with a plan.

“Are you sure this will work?” Katara asked his brother. “Well, what's the worst that can happen?”

His plan was simple, Aang will lock the two of you in a room of the temple which can be only opened by him, Katara will tell you that Toph is waiting for you there and Sokka will just drag Zuko, in his mind, you two will become friends or at least will stop barking to each other.

You were training alone in the forest, and controlling the water wasn't hard but you wanna do it perfectly, it has become an obsession. You were tired of being beaten by the fire nation. By Azula.

“If you keep training just your element without moving you'll never improve.” Only hearing his voice made your heart race. “Are you offering to be my target then?” You didn't turn to face him. “More like training with you” The water on your hands fell to the ground. “You don't have to act surprised, like I told you before, I've changed, I'm good now.” He walked closer stopping in front of you. You watched his face, he wasn't lying. “I won't go easy on you.” That was your only response. “I wouldn't expect less.” He smirked blowing fire to you taking you by surprise “Hey! I wasn't ready!” You exclaimed stepping aside to avoid the fire. “The enemy won't give you a warning, you know?” This made you lose your temper, seeing the fire coming out of him remember all the times you have suffered because of it and not only you but your friends and family too. Your fists clenched.

You started turning the water into ice, trying to hurt him it wasn't a training anymore, he sensed your change of mood “Stop!” He thought you would stop but you didn't and you throw him hard on the ground. He hissed in pain and finally, you realized what you have done “Zuko!” You rushed towards him worried. His eyes were closed and he was breathing slowly. You grabbed his face putting his head over your legs. “Please, wake up” You were almost tearing up, this was your fault. “I can’t believe you fall for something so stupid” He was smirking again and opened his eyes just to see you worried. “You're an idiot I thought I hurt you” You push his head out of your legs. He groaned at the sudden movement “Ouch”

You sit away from him on the grass, hugging yourself tighter. You looked so fragile, so broken. Zuko felt his heart ache to see you. “Why are you training so hard?” He was curious because as far as he know you've never liked fighting but what changed? He knows you're in the middle of the war but that never made you be like this, so full of anger.

You didn't dare to look at him. “I'm tired of running away from the fire nation” even your voice sounded broken. For a moment he was confused but then he knew what you meant. Zuko stood up from his place and knee in front of you “look at me” you hesitated and then your eyes were looking at his “When Azula tried to attack you that day, I was afraid, you've been kind to me since the first moment even when you knew it who I was, you made your way through my heart and my mind” your faces were inches apart “I'm always going to come between you and anything that could hurt you, even if it's my sister” and then he leaves you there, alone with your thoughts and your heart beating fast.

what just happened? Did he likes you as you like hi-

“Hey” Katara's voice made you jump on your place “Toph is waiting for you” Toph? Did you forget you were going to do something with Toph? “Let's get going!” Her good humor was contagious so you started walking with her by your side, chatting about your memories together. You were walking for ten minutes until you arrived at the temple, you stopped in front of a room, and you saw Zuko sitting there on a chair, you turned to ask what was going on before Katara push you in there and you heard the door closing behind you. You and Zuko hurried up to the door trying to open it “This door can only be opened by Aang” Sokka explained “And we're not letting you out until you are friends”

Then the room was silent. None of you said or did anything for a few seconds. “Me too” your voice echoed. Zuko looked up to you, confused. “I- I'll always protect you, Zuko” hearing his name coming out of your mouth was like a sweet melody and it was enough to made him blush. He suddenly grabbed you by your wrist and pulls you closer to him. His eyes were looking at your lips making you nervous “ Can I?” He whispered. Instead of responding, you crashed your lips on his, his hands were now on your waist with closed eyes, you two have been waiting too much for this, to be together. Finally, you separated your lips to breathe, but still, you two were closer “Are friends supposed to kiss on the lips?” you asked with an amusing smile. Zuko laughed placing a kiss on your forehead “I hope not”

#atla #atla zuko #atla fanfic #atla fic #prince zuko #zuko #zuko x reader #zuko x fem! reader #zuko x y/n #zuko x you #avatar: the last airbender

595 notes · View notes

sokkastyles · 7 months ago

Note

I read that post you reblogged about Katara using bloodbending to heal Zuko during the final Agni Kai, and honestly I would have loved it if that happened too. I've mentioned before in a previous ask that I wish bloodbending had been explored more in the narrative, especially Katara's complicated feelings about bloodbending. This is going to sound a bit morbid, but I'm kind of wondering if, after the encounter with Hama, do you think Katara would be kind of hyperaware of the water flowing throughout her own body or anyone else's? Would she feel tempted to try bloodbending again? Even though the first time she had to do so was to prevent Aang and Sokka from hurting each other, so she bloodbent Hama, and she found the whole thing disturbing, there's a part of me that wonders if Katara would still have a bit of morbid curiosity about bloodbending anyways. I know this sounds like I want Katara's character to be a bit darker, but what I really want is for Katara to be allowed to have these thoughts or this type of curiosity without her being made to feel like she's a bad person for it. Idk if any of this made that much sense, but I'm curious to know, what are your thoughts?

Katara unconsciously being hyper aware of the water around her and in other people's bodies after Hama is something that has made itself into my fics. Because bending is depicted in atla as part of who the person is, and I think keeping a bender from bending is like keeping someone from being allowed to move their arms and legs.

And once Katara knows this ability exists, not just bloodbending but everything Hama taught her that goes with it, like how to find the water in everything, she will find it impossible to not have this completely alter her bending and how she sees the world.

And, like with firebending, it's not the bending itself that is bad, it's what you do with it.

I love zutara fics that include bloodbending, not just the dark ones, but something I've explored a little in my fics is how it makes her more aware of Zuko's body and heightens her physical connection with him.

Bloodbending can work as a metaphor for consent, because it's not that it's inherently evil to have that kind of knowledge of another person's body, but it's about consent and trust. I see no reason why bloodbending can't be used to heal the same way that medical knowledge can be used both to heal or to kill and torture. (I'm thinking of that particular analogy because I'm reading Gene Wolfe's Shadow of the Torturer currently).

Like, I get that the show writers were trying to add complexity by showing the dark side of waterbending with Hama, but the thing is that while waterbending was always portrayed as good before, it was also portrayed in a very limited way. Katara is the last waterbender of her tribe, who had to learn on her own. "Some waterbending is bad, actually," isn't really a lesson she needed to learn, especially not from the only teacher she's ever had who can actually tell her about her own heritage. The unintended message is that Katara exploring a culture heritage that has been denied to her through war is bad, and it actually ends up limiting things instead of making them more complex. It's also another weird way the show dichotomizes combat waterbending and healing. Despite Katara gaining Pakku's respect, she is still getting the message from things like the Hama episode that using her bending for combat and not healing is wrong. The obvious solution is to make waterbending healing a form of bloodbending, and now that Netflix has made healing an actual learned bending form instead of something Katara is naturally good at, I have hope that this connection might actually be made. And this is a win win, because making healing a form of bloodbending actually achieves the complexity the original show was going for.

#katara #bloodbending #zutara

80 notes · View notes

late-draft · 5 months ago

Note

Thoughts on Toph, Jet and Suki? For these last two the question is more about potential or what you'd like from them, more than about canon.

I'm curious about how you feel about some of my favourites. Don't feel pressured to reply and have a nice day. Love your art!

Hello! Thank you!! I'm gonna try to formulate my thoughts here, but I'll definitely have to expand on these in the future.

I think all of these three are strong, quality characters. Toph has most characterization and she and Katara share an aggressive temper, something I always thunderously cheer for; yet, they're vastly different despite that. The way I see it, Toph's situation is probably happier because the type of pain she carries is a feeling of betrayal and loneliness as she was restrained and oppressed by her parents and had no friends up until recently. She broke free. The writers said they wished there was more time to conclude Toph's struggle with her parents because it's an obvious pain point for her, for which she expressed several times a desire to fix. Fortunately for her, and unlike Katara whose pain comes additionally from traumatic loss which cannot be reversed, Toph's problems mostly can be solved relatively quickly by getting in her life what she was missing. She really is one of the best benders in the world and I was saying "Holy sh*t!" every time she fought because of the stuff she was able to pull off. She has a great dynamic with all characters from the gaang. Her animations of movement and bending are incredible - her character design, clothes and outer shape contribute to this (as shape and movement of clothes affect how animation feels a lot!)

(There's more movement in the lower part that emphasises groundedness?)

I think her discovery of metalbending has been undercut because she probably wasn't in actual danger, she was being brought to her parents who as it turns out, wanted her unharmed. If I had been writing, I would have had her be in a more dire situation which would have then made her discovery and subsequent victory all the more amazing.

She's a character who I think couldn't be stopped by any obstacle. That's literally how she's constructed as an archetype, compared to Katara who might face much more moral/emotional dilemmas or unsolvable situations rather than just challenging obstacles. But I should never say never; Toph did show a vulnerability in the form of (unfounded) guilt when Appa was taken. The narrative correctly found one of her character vulnerabilities because she's someone who theoretically "can't lose" so what happens when she lets her (only) friends down by failing? She didn't solve this guilt last time. It would most likely show up again later if similar situations happen. She's a very compassionate person who cares very deeply about people important to her. (I vaguely hearing about her dealing with guilt about her daughters in LoK, but I've only briefly watched LoK, I have no idea how that could have happened and I'm no longer sure how "canon" that show is considered to be, due to vastly different characterizations of many old characters…) Also her disability is never erased, neither does it make her helpless and her parents wrongfully use it as an excuse to restrain her. It's a part of her that isn't just a cosmetic character trait. She's perfectly capable on her own (if we ignore specific circumstances like being in the air), and I like how the show, instead of having her learn this, skips that part and advances onto Iroh helping her through anxiety and assuring her that it's also okay to accept help from friends in general, unrelated to her disability. Because she expanded this stress due to her parents' treatment onto thinking she should refuse all help in order to stay strong.

________

Suki is also one of my favourites. It's unfortunately clear that she doesn't have much characterization besides being a badass (which is spectacular, it's so cool that she's such a skilled fighter as a non-bender!) and a kind, no-bullshit person. These traits she has are very strongly repeated. Suki to me feels like someone who wouldn't suffer from social anxiety in the slightest. She could be the boldest in social situations alongside Aang, a confident extrovert. However, she feels like too stable of a character with no visible obstacles for her to overcome. I was disappointed by the Boiling Rock episode - yeah, a lot of things happened but it felt like nothing there affected the characters. Like in Toph's situation, what if it was tougher on them? The narrative did say Suki was Azula's favourite prisoner?! As much as I dislike torture, and this was a children's cartoon, imagine how strong Suki could have been to not break under worse conditions? But more importantly, I feel like she might have been really shaken from losing to Azula. How much would this harm her confidence in her skills, and how would she recover from this? Another one is how she might feel about Sokka's brief relationship with Yue, considering Suki had met him first. It would hurt her, and perhaps some feeling of guilt would arise because, how could she feel bad when Yue was no longer in the mortal realm? How would she deal with this? And maybe she could have an inverse parallel in Mai - if both of them had beef with benders, they might have different ways of overcoming this (Suki's being a healthy one). This thread would clearly be connected to the defeat to Azula, the prodigy bender. Because inversely, the narrative currently has Suki not feel anything from losing to Azula, not feel any envy towards benders in the series - that's kind of healthy for her, but boring to the audience. Plus, envy is one strong motivator to improve oneself. If not envy, then anxiety. Her and Kyoshi warriors' fight animations are also spectacular, I love the movement in the specific clothing they wear because you can't really see their legs. It's different from other characters and I heard their fighting style is inspired by aikido? The variety in combat styles is amazing! I think Suki could be additionally developed as one of the characters who puts the most focus on raw, physical prowess. So not just agility like Ty Lee, but strength and stamina too. Maybe Aang and Zuko don't have to be the only characters to push through sustaining scars from difficult wounds (if the show really doesn't want Katara to keep scars on her hands). Boiling Rock anyone? She and Sokka could match in this in the end when he hurts his leg in the final confrontation.

______

Jet is also a very strong character as he has a clearly defined role. He fulfils his purpose well. I really do have a feeling that he is sort of an inverse-Zuko: this doesn't mean I think he couldn't exist as a character on his own if Zuko didn't. But considering who ends up as part of the hero group, Jet additionally fills the role of showing something inverse of Zuko through the form he takes because he's a side-character (two birds with one stone). An Earth Kingdom character (Ally). Nonbender (masculine even without bending). No mercy for enemies. Successful and respected leader (of kids, but still) unlike Zuko who strained to get adults on the ship to respect him (loser). Jet's character design even has the more extreme version of Zuko's type of eyebrows!

This next part touches on shipping which can be skipped: ~ Most likely it's one of the integral parts he was created with. I'm not sure if I read this correctly, but I guess it's possible that Jet's character, which was made to fulfil the narrative purpose of showing a possible bad side to Allies who take things too far and kill innocents, in the visual and behavioural FORM he takes, was subsequently designed to also be someone Katara could project her forbidden interest in Zuko onto, but this time in a "justified" and "good" way, since Jet appears as a good guy freedom fighter. Then reality turns upside down at the end of the episode. (Narrative was planning to redeem Zuko since the beginning, so this was taken into consideration even while making S1. Katara gets a random FN crown in S1E13.) There is no hard evidence in the TEXT of the show for this, but to me it feels like this is what the narrative was doing. Thus there would be a high chance the narrative could force the two to clash in the future; and they do - I guess this is part of the reason why Jet physically fights Zuko. That fight grabs a bunch of threads: Zuko and Iroh are not safe/hidden even in Ba Sing Se, Jet was unable to overcome his visceral hatred for firebenders, Jet needed to be put in the brainwashing machine for some crime, the narrative needs a way to show that Zuko ISN'T integrating in the society outside of FN so it does it by having him refuse to join the freedom fighters gang, AND the two boys inevitably have to clash. I guess this might prove my suspicion, since the two had no interaction in S1 at all.

However, when the show implied that Jet had died, I was literally shocked. Mostly because it was Zuko who kept giving off the vibes of "dies in the end" type of character, so I was stunned to see this transferred onto Jet. (My bro was convinced Zuko was gonna die right up until the end when Katara healed him. Then we were both staring at the screen and I said "I thought you said he was gonna die?" anyway) I feel like Jet did manage to speedrun a sort of redemption arc though. The narrative COULD have pushed him more into "refuses to redeem himself" path if he had ended his run still fully obsessed with killing any firebender he comes across. That was one option. But the story decided to pivot into him managing to overcome brainwashing in order to save the heroes, this is what his arc ends on. I feel like both situations of him dying or surviving were fitting and satisfying. If Jet had survived, maybe I'd push him into an even more morally ambiguous spot, something pretty tangled in which he'd be an ally to the gaang but still antagonistic to Zuko in some way. Or some sort of indescribable negative tension existing there, with no easy or clear explanation Zuko could point to when confronted by someone from the gaang defending Jet. Then what if there was a plot by Ozai's supporters to secretly get the Earth Kingdom to attack the Fire Nation, which would then have Jet be tempted in aiding this. Secretly? Openly? Or not at all.

How cool his animations with hook swords are? They're that good that it feels like his weapons are extensions of his arms. It looks very believable and makes it seem like he's on an equal power level with benders. References used in animation definitely paid off. I'm sad his fight against Zuko didn't last longer or gotten a rematch! But I'm a simple person, I love watching energetic fights.

______

Now in terms of animation of ATLA in general, I was surprised to see that it's actually spectacular in many parts, even if it's not constantly as high as the one in LOK (whose S1 I watched first.) Before watching ATLA, I had the wrong impression that the story was childish, with continuous annoying tea jokes and the like, and thought "well the animation is worse than LOK, so why should I even bother." Then many times during my watch I had to gasp how skilled the animations were! Also, references for fights - amazing, I'll always support this. The fact that I'm now attempting to match ATLA's animation should be telling!

I'm not sure if I replied along the vectors of your interests, feel free to ask additional questions if you'd like.

#ask #this has been me mostly being captain obvious

43 notes · View notes

euphoniumpets · 1 year ago

Text

Triplets | Nikolai Lanstov x Yul Bataar! Reader

Summary: Growing up, you had to work to manipulate water. You weren't talanted like your brother or sister. You had a hard time to controlling the water when you were younger at that point before you became a powerful Tidemaker. After joining the Second Army and seperated your siblings to be a pirate, the three of you joined together again when a certian captain catches your eye.

Requested? Yes: Could i request a nikolai lantsov x yul bataar!reader? perhaps when tolya and tamar joined sturmhond, she went on a separate way choosing to be a pirate who helps the poor or captured & fighting unjust leaders. one day, for a huge mission sturmhond finds that he needs to team up with an able outside crew to succeed smoothly. after initial reluctance out of protectiveness, the twins finally suggest reader. she's a little opposite from the twins, being more quiet, but tough and able to lead her crew. throughout the mission she and sturmhond slowly bond over humor & passion for justice n they fall completely head over heels for each other and stuff.

A/N: so, I made the reader a Tidemaker since I wanted her to be like katara from the Avatar lol because she's so badass but yet so quiet and her wits.

Warnings: none? Just y/n being a badass and her crew too.

After the war, you seperated from your siblings to go into the unknown. You've always longed for the sea and helping others and it has been years since you've saw them. You missed them dearly, but you always got the necklace that you got from them to remind that they were always with you.

Not long after, people got to knew the waterbending pirate throughout the seas. They began to grow afraid and you were the most powerful Grisha that they ever seen.

Your crew was tiny compared to the others, but they always underestimated by the different Grisha powers they held when they fought together.

Tolya and Tamar kept touch with you often as they could and you heard about Sturmhond and his stories and the adventures they had with them. So, when they reached out to you since he needed help to help the Sun Summoner and to find her amplifiers, you didn't waste a second to accept the mission.

Plus it was a win situation since you got to be reunited with them again.

Back at the ship when Sturmhond (Nikolai) had suggested that they needed a bigger crew and alliances against the Darkling, Tolya noticed immedietly when his twin looked at him with a knowing look. He knew what Tamar was asking if their younger sister would help them.

However, being the older and the protective one, he argued with Tamar that she could get hurt and the only response he got was that she can take care of herself.

Nikolai cleared his throat and raised his eyebrows toward the twins in front of them. He knew that they were talking through their eyes and he couldn't help but be curious. ''We know one, she's a pirate and she can be trusted,''

''A pirate?'' Alina questioned and narrwowed her eyes before it trailed to Nikolai. ''Or a privateer?''

Tamar chuckled as Nikolai rolled his eyes. ''A pirate,'' Tolya remarked with a smirk on his face. ''Also a Grisha, you might've heard the stories,''

''I might heard of her, she's a powerful tidemaker isn't she?'' Nikolai questioned. ''Yes, and she's our sister,'' Tamar replied. ''Alright, send her a message to meet somewhere and we will go through the plan with the amplifiers,'' Nikolai ordered them as they nodded before dismissing the meeting.

After recieving the date and the place, you couldn't grow excited since you was going to reunite with your brother and sister again. You met Sturmhond outside of the East Ravka where you guys settled down low for the night before the mission of finding the Sea Whip.

Tamar and Tolya had talked to you about the captain before gathering everybody around in the meeting room. ''Alright, thanks to our sun summoner's tracking friend over here,'' Sturmhond replied and gestured toward Mal, next to Alina before turning back to you.

He was surprised to finally meet the powerful Tidemaker he had heard stories of, only to realize that she was, well, small. He didn't know what to expect but you were different pirate of what he had seen.

''We've traversed the Bone Road to the island of Jelka,'' He explained as you looked down at the map. He watched you study the map quietly. ''As for the Sea Whip, we have some storybrook drawings, not telling what it looks like, rule of thimb for the unknown!''

After preparing the soldiers for finding the Sea Whip, you led your crew down to the caves along with Sturmhond and the sun summoner. Your second hand Natalia, who was a Squaller was next right to you and as your other hand, Ilya who was a Durast.

However, despite him being a Grisha, he carried a sword behind his back. He reminded you of his brother when you met him for the first time when you saved him by the Grisha hunters and would always act that he's older even though he's just eighteen years old.

You knew the captain was uncertian of bringing a child to the mission, but you assured him that he was more capable than he thought Ilya was, who was offended that the captain called him a child.

''There are holes in the cave floor, so, I'd be careful where you step, otherwise, no,'' You remarked after checking the water down below. ‘’No, you can’t tell, or no, there’s nothing in there?’’ Mal asked you.

‘’Whichever makes you feel more comfortable,’’ Tolya remarked.

‘’Comfort is overrated,’’ Tamar commented, giving you a smirk on her face before turning to the crew. A strange noise appeared and you raised your hands up to prepare if the Sea Whip would charge against you.

With a shocking surprise, one of the crew got snatched by the Sea Whip. ‘’Drop the nets! Aim to kill!’’ One of them spoke. ''And here I thought that we were supposed to follow the Sun Summoners orders, do not harm the Sea whip,'' You demanded with a firm voice and looked around to spot the Sea Whip.

‘’I couldn’t see us, it’s toying with us,’’ Sturmhond replied. ‘’Conserve your ammo, or we’ll be dry by the time we need it,’’ You gasped when the Sea Whip dragged another crew. Through the corner of your eyes, you saw the Sea Whip lunge toward the Sun Summoner. ''Alina!'' You heard Mal exclaim before you used your hands to send a powerful wave against the Sea Whip.

The Sea Whip growled before it tossed to the side and it was about to charge towards you before you raised your hands and made the water knock the Sea Whip away from you. The Sea Whip went back to the water again. ‘’It sounds like it’s everywhere,’’ Sturmhond spoke as you all huddled back together and you accidentally bumped into his shoulder.

You and Sturmhond met each other's eyes before falling back to the water, focusing at the task in front of you. It was a moment of silent before the Sea Whip showed up and began to charge toward Mal against the walls. ''Mal!'' You heard Alina shout as you sent another wave to knock the Sea Whip away from Mal.

However, the Sea Whip turned toward you with a growl and was about to lunge toward you before Alina used her powers against it.

‘’It’s dead,’’ Sturmhond replied and you met his gaze before you looked at the Sea Whip in front of you.

All of you was back on the ship while placing the amplifiers on Alina's wrist and the sky had turned dark. As Alina's powers grew stronger by the minute they placed the amplifiers on her.

‘’Well, then, where to now, Sun Summoner?’’

Not long after, Alina and her tracker went back to bed, trying to get some rest before you all were going to take down the Fold. You and the rest of Sturmhond's crew stayed awake as they chatted with each other and let out drunken laughs with each other.

You, however, watched your people getting know Sturmhond's people from above the deck. ''Why are you not joining with your crew?'' You heard his voice as he approached you from behind.

''I could ask you the same,'' You retorted with a grin on your face as he stood next to you. ''You know, when I first met you, you threw me off,'' Sturmhond replied, making you look at him. ''Really?''

''Yes, by all the terrifing stories I've heard about a powerful tidemaker, I never thought that you would be so...''

''Small,'' He finished as you let out a laugh at his statement. ''And here I thought, I was making the wrong statement,'' You replied. ''Oh, really? What was your impression of me?'' Sturmhond replied with a smirk on his face. ''That I was handsome?''

''Quite the opposite,'' You replied and letting out a sigh before turning to him. ''I thought you would be one of these nasty pirates,''

''I'm offended by your statement, besides, I'm a privateer,'' Sturmhond retorted, giving you a look. ''Well, not as much you offended Illya today, you know, for someone who's been knowing him long, he won't be keeping his mouth shut,''

''Is he always talkactive?'' Sturmhond replied and looked down at the teenager. ''Believe me, he wouldn't keep his mouth shut sometimes,'' You grunted, remembering the time on how many times Ilya would keep talking during the fights.

Back down at the dock where Tamar looked up and saw you and their captain talk with each other as she heard your laugh and the doe eyes that Nikolai sent you when you wasn't looking at him, Tamar knew that Nikolai was absolutley smitten by you.

''I bet 20 Kruge that they will confess their love by the end of this mission,'' Tolya commented, noticing Tamar's look on the lovebirds above them.

''By the end of the month? please, I bet 20 Kruge that he will confess his love when we fight against the General,'' Ilya commented, making Natalia roll her eyes.

''I'm with Tolya, Y/N's way too stubborn to confess her love so early,'' Natalia remarked.

''Oh, really? You wanna bet on this?'' Ilya challanged them.

''Why not? 20 Kruge goes to the person who had right if our captain will confess his love for y/n,'' Tolya remarked.

''Y/N is definitly going to hate us if she finds out,''

''Oh, definitly,''

#nikolai lantsov #nikolai lantsov x reader #shadow and bone #alina starkov #shadow and bone x reader #tolya yul bataar #tamar kir bataar

234 notes · View notes

seyaryminamoto · 7 months ago

Note

Do you have any particular thoughts on Netflix Avatar Season 1? I haven't watched it myself but I would be curious to hear what you have to say.

I do indeed! I didn't watch it right away, but I have watched it indeed. I think there are merits to certain changes they did, I can see the sense in many of them, that doesn't mean EVERYTHING they changed was good, but it does feel like they were engaging with the original content in a far more creative way than a lot of people are willing to acknowledge or try themselves. No, it isn't a perfect remake of ATLA, but being the critic that I have been of the original show, nobody could ever convince me that the original was perfect, just as this new show isn't perfect.

I want to make a big post on the subject one day and try to get to everything it brought up... once I have more time on my hands, I'll try to do that. But, to give you a bit to chew on... I'll try to do one good vs. one bad on my part, of whatever I can remember right now.

GOOD: I actually do not mind the multiple prologues in the first episode, even though I don't think the changes were handled perfectly. I do believe that showing the genocide is not nearly as bad a choice as a lot of people pretend it is (the way it was portrayed is questionable mostly from a tactical point of view but that's just me being a freak about that... studying basic warfare really fucks up your suspension of disbelief when it comes to war scenes). Mainly, I think it IS important to show it due to the amount of people who are still convinced that Aang didn't suffer nearly as much as most other popular characters did -- that soooo many people have made these claims without a care in the world throughout the twenty years since ATLA first aired proves that the genocide was not treated with the severity it should have been by the OG show. I'm not even sorry to say it. It doesn't feel like a trivialization of violence, it feels like actually setting straight the degree of violence a genocide entails. People asking for a less intense version of genocide basically appear to be asking for the actual gravity of such events to be sanitized so they can chew on them more easily... and that's exactly what leads to it being trivialized, minimized and not taken seriously, if you ask me.

BAD: I don't particularly like the way Fire Lords are so... casual with commoners. Both Ozai and Sozin stood on the same level as a rebel/spy right before setting them on fire, no doubt it's meant to be some sort of flex, but... men of their ideologies and pride would not want to be up close and personal with anyone they consider that far beneath them. Odd choice there, imo.

MOSTLY GOOD: Aang does feel way more serious and has much more dramatic gravitas in everything he does. And this is not a bad choice, in essence. I don't particularly love that they tried to lessen it with occasional "Aang's a silly kid!" verbal reminders that don't actually have any proper visual evidence, because most the silly things he's up for are things the two older kids (Sokka and Katara) are perfectly fine with doing too, hence, he doesn't feel childish at all and it comes off out of place for him to talk about being more childish than he actually is. So... they really didn't need dialogue to try to emphasize his childhood if they weren't going to write him being a goofball. It's fine if he isn't one. He always could be a more serious character, it's only a problem when there's no further substance to him than just brooding (which is what I remember from the Shyamalan movie...).

WEIRD: Aang and Katara both had weird scenes of standing around doing nothing but smiling at their hometowns in episode 1. Maybe it was done as a parallel between them, but it felt a bit... overly theatric? If that makes sense? Like... I know we need to see their daily lives and the context in which they've lived... but it doesn't feel entirely logical for that to happen with them just standing in place and smiling fondly at their world. Most people do not do that in their daily lives...?

GOOD: ... Contrary to what a lot of the fandom seems to think, I actually like the suuuuuper slowburn Kataang here because any potential romantic payoff those two might get isn't nearly as in-your-face as it was in canon. The way their friendship is growing feels far more organic. And some of my favorite character moments in the show were actually between them. Which is not something I'd EVER say about the original show. There's a different sense of maturity for the characters here, and I like that.

BAD: I... do not like Sokka's changes. No, it's not about the sexism. It makes sense to me that this aspect of his character would be changed, updated in a sense: you can even still read him as sexist in some regards! It just isn't as simplistic and straightforward as it was before. But that's... not what bugs me the most. The show genuinely surprised me by taking him far more seriously as a character than I anticipated they would, but they absolutely picked weird choices with him in stuff like his family issues (... the Hakoda changes are just straight-up cringe for me, there's no justification for making him some sort of bitchy soccer mom who congratulates his son but then shits on him behind his back??), his insecurities as a warrior and the frequent remarks about how maybe that's not his path in life even though he does just fine at it, and... his romantic relationships. It's wild, because I actually think they did Sukka a thousand times better than it is in canon, and yet in doing so, they absolutely deadlocked themselves into a whole other problem: Sokka bonding that much with Suki and then hitting on a random Fire Nation soldier like two episodes later?? Then having the romance of his lifetime with Yue by the end of the season?? Ngl, it feels like we're watching one of those sitcoms where characters switch love interests in the blink of an eye. Changing this element of his character this way, when Suki's romance in particular was given new qualities and way more substance... may not have been a great call since it makes him come off insanely shallow, ready to get with any girl he comes across, and frankly, he didn't feel like that in the original show to me. He's also not really funny when he's supposed to be? Part of what made Sokka funny originally was his role as a voice of reason while everyone else ignored him. They occasionally tried to mimic that here... but in ways that didn't really work? Also, the Ron-Weasley-In-HP-Movies brand of comedy of "watch this guy scream, it's soooo funny" is... so trite at this point. Please, don't. Personally, this really feels like a whole other character who isn't Sokka. And some people might think that's great... I'm not one of them. Maybe I'm just experiencing the crisis a lot of people are over Katara with Sokka? But where changes with her do seem to go for things I actually wasn't fond of in her character, I don't really feel like they did better with Sokka in the least.

GOOD: ... "Katara learned waterbending too fast", they say: she did in canon too. A month of training under Pakku is not nearly enough time to justify her being deemed a master in canon. Complaining about how she didn't get that training at all here and still got deemed a master gets a "meh" out of me because I frankly do not see it being remotely as different from what canon did as people want to think it is. Katara was fighting Pakku with way too much power in the OG show for a kid who never got formal training to begin with, and somehow nobody minds that. I don't think someone who was on that level of power in the OG show was nearly as inferior to a seasoned master as a bunch of people want to believe. So... outrage about how they sped up her learning process when we in fact see a LOT more internal growth for Katara, and a lot more depth to her bending source here, makes no sense to me.

Along with that: bending has always been connected with a bender's internal energy, which is related to their peace of mind and internal balance. This show did not invent that. Firebenders are the ones who are most explicitly shown to be connected to their feelings that way, sure, but if you needed ATLA or LOK to non-stop feature characters talking about how a person's chakras had to be cleansed and their hearts clear and their every spiritual thread cleaned up in order to reach their best possible shapes as benders? You probably have bigger problems in analyzing this show than just whining over whatever the liveaction did. A straightforward connection for Katara with her emotions and bending isn't a negative choice in the slightest to me, more so with a character who has constantly been characterized as deeply connected to her emotions: it makes sense that her bending works and evolves the way it does in the liveaction to me. Sorry not sorry.

BAD: Zhao. Uh... I've seen people say they like him here? I felt like I was watching a con artist. It's not the actor's fault, clearly he was given this concept to work with and he did the best he could with it, but the idea of removing Zhao from all prior connection to the Royal Family, making him a total unknown who came out of nowhere and rises to prominence through conniving and scheming feels like they decided to merge him with Long Feng, maybe? And it might even backfire if they DO have Long Feng next season (... they should???) and he has a very similar profile to what they did with Zhao. I didn't enjoy his characterization at all, he was just... weird. So, not a change I was big on.

GOOD: Iroh. My god. I hate the fact that I'm saying this. But I will say it was insanely cathartic to watch that EK soldier beating him up. And that's not all: Iroh actually seems to be struggling actively with right and wrong here, showing hesitation over the war, and most importantly... HAVING A PERSONAL DYNAMIC WITH AANG??!!! I never imagined I would be that happy to see that, but I was. The few moments those two had together were damn solid, some of the best in the show (and the best for Iroh, sorry not sorry, I have never ever been an Iroh-Zuko obsessive fan and I genuinely find myself more intrigued by Iroh's potential bonding with other people, never thought about it with Aang but this show 100% blindsided me with it in a good way). It seriously made me mad that the OG basically never gave them that chance besides... that one scene in the catacombs that was very much just Iroh being a fortune cookie? Aang actually being an element that basically waters the seeds of doubt in Iroh's head is a GREAT change. I said it and I'll stand by it.

BAD: Hahn and not because of the usual reasons: their characterization rework of Hahn was fine. More than fine. The actor they cast was also very pretty! All of which makes it EXTREMELY questionable that Yue somehow has this perfectly decent guy and... uh... chooses the reworked Sokka instead? Like, I know that's how the OG story went, but when you turn Hahn from an opportunistic dick to a perfectly admirable warrior and individual, and feature Yue saying he's great but he's "not the boy of her dreams" (you... dreamt about him ONE TIME?? He's never been in the Spirit World besides that, so wuuuut...??), it makes her choice in romantic interests feel extremely questionable and weird. I'm all for Yue being given more to work with, but this seriously feels like she's... a little crazy. Hahn comes off waaaaaaay too decent for her not to be interested in him... ofc, as long as she's someone attracted to men, which, considering she picked ANOTHER GUY, it's to be assumed that she is?? Ergo nothing makes sense to me. Come to think of it, a lesbian Yue rejecting Hahn is probably the only way her rejection of Hahn would make sense... and it would also not cast such a questionable light on reworked Sokka if he and Yue weren't romantic at all, right after he had that big connection with Suki back when the show began?? So, heh, maybe lesbian Yue is the only thing that would've made sense if Hahn gets reworked for the better like this, sorry not sorry....

GOOD: The full-blown, outright display of Ozai's abuse on Azula rather than subtleties and insinuations. Again, much like in Aang's case with the genocide: PEOPLE DENY AZULA WAS A VICTIM OF ABUSE ALL THE TIME. People pretend Ozai actually loved her on some weird level or that she FELT loved, ergo she was fine and Zuko's the one who was abused. This is not new. We've been dealing with people barking that kind of nonsense since almost twenty years ago. And the backlash from that exact crowd when this show made it evident proves that they refuse to accept Azula as a victim of abuse to this day. Ergo, sorry not sorry: I'm glad they handled it as they did here because it makes it undeniable that Ozai is pushing Azula to extremes and she's pressured to deliver and become the weapon he wants her to be.

BAD: ... the Mother of Faces. That may have been the most egregious offensive and bullshit moments in the entire show. I was so mad when she was brought up at all. It was awful. I hated it. It really must be my most hated moment in the whole thing. UGH.

GOOD: Katara apologized to Sokka once. You know. One time. That, I think, marks the single time in any official Avatar content where she has done that. Call me a salty asshole, but I'm genuinely impressed that they did that, so they get a point for it.

BAD: Bumi. I know some people think the rework for Bumi is great... I could not disagree more. His treatment of Aang is really unacceptable, his behavior is very irresponsible but this time in a vindictive way... I was even reasoning with the fact that he knows Aang is the Avatar, which ALSO happens in the OG, without having known it in the past! The difference? It feels too arbitrary and random that he'd know that here, whereas in the OG show, he IS random and arbitrary, yet somewhere amid so many nonsensical ramblings, he shows insight and intelligence that makes you think there's more to him than meets the eye. I may need to rewatch episode 5 of the OG show in order to confirm this, but I also think that most of the implications there regarding his challenges is that they were actually harmless even if it doesn't look that way all along. Here? They're not harmless at all, he's basically vindictively trying to get Aang to either die for his "sins" or get himself killed through him and neither thing sits well with me at all with this character.

GOOD: Gyatso, expanding on his character and making him a much more straightforward equivalent to Iroh for Aang actually is really helpful, it makes him less of a "stock character" victim to the Fire Nation, it gave him more depth and it makes Aang's bond with him feel much more real. I am very sorry to all OG apologists, but I continue to believe Aang's cheerful behavior was written primarily to appeal to the children demographic that Nickelodeon was aiming for as their audience, which meant he could not be particularly human and truly grieve for everything he had lost. This show doesn't hide that pain at all, and it's particularly good that it does that by showing what a constant presence Gyatso was in Aang's life and by letting them have a manner of final farewell in that episode (... even if I didn't particularly like the episode, but still, it wasn't a bad idea to do that).

BAD: ... call me a consistency freak if you will, but I did not spend all these years obsessively trying to make sense out of the wobbly worldbuilding of the Avatarverse to be told that the entrance to the Cave of Two Lovers is within Omashu and that it leads into the arena within Bumi's Palace. Sorry. I can't accept that. I can't. I legit laughed throughout that whole situation because that's not where the cave of two lovers was, the badgermoles would be causing earthquakes non-stop through the city, and the sewers system would not even work because they'd constantly get fucked up by the creatures (as we know, there's a scene in Book 2 of the kids climbing out of the sewers, so either they won't do the pentapox or they'll forget about the badgermoles conveniently by then...). So. No. Sorry but no. Also, why did they kill Oma??? I know they turned both lovers into women, but... precisely because they did that, why exactly was there any need to change which one died?? Either one you kill is a woman now anyway so... what's the difference? WHY the difference?? Odd.

GOOD: ... Zuko keeps a notebook on his research and investigations into the Avatar. There were many changes to his character but that's the one that stood out the most to me. He actually seems a little bit more methodical, if not smarter, but you know? Kinda smarter anyway for at LEAST thinking that keeping a book with the results of his investigations could help?? Feels like he's actually trying rather than just whining about how rude the world is and how hard he has it. Which, in the end, might ALSO come down to him actually having some hope that Ozai didn't hate him irremediably... which, too, is a good change. I've talked about it before, other people have too: a firstborn firebending male prince has no business being discarded because of incompetence unless he's just THAT pathetic, and even in canon, Zuko wasn't as bad as to justify pushing him out and treating him as shittily as Ozai did without an actual, THOROUGH, exploration of Ozai's motives. You can elaborate, but the show never really did it, and if anything, it offered a bunch of conflictive information about why Zuko thought his father liked him. Here, it makes more sense that he thinks Ozai isn't as much of a bitch as he really is: the Agni Kai is a lot more interesting because they merged both Zuko vs. Zhao and Zuko vs. Ozai into one. The fact that Ozai actually burns Zuko and defeats him BECAUSE he was punishing him for not taking advantage of an enemy's weakness? It's a million times more telling about Zuko's character than what we saw in canon, where he was down to fight an old man out of hybris and then shat himself as soon as his father stepped up instead. So... I don't like this Zuko, which tells you they're doing him right anyway x'DDDD but I find there are a few elements about him that make him at LEAST a little more respectable than he was in the OG show. Among them? He's not constantly ranting about honor but actually lashing out at dishonorable choices out of principle, which makes it sound like he has a WAY better grasp on that concept than he does in canon :'D sue me. This is a Zuko rework too, and fortunately, not ONLY geared towards sanitizing him (even though there IS a fair amount of sanitizing too... which annoys me, but what else could we expect in the era of political correction).

BAD: ... Why the fuck did they decide the way to fix Iroh harassing June was to make her horny for him? Please? Of all things??? All they had to do was just... not make any romantic/sexual implications there. At all. Was that so hard to achieve? This is probably the second worst thing for me in the entire show, ngl. I do not understand the need for it at all. Most of all when they CLEARLY changed it due to knowing Iroh absolutely was a bastard in the OG with his behavior towards her. Isn't it easier to just NOT put any implications of attraction in there? I mean, I should be happy June didn't fully harass Iroh but the way they presented it, it felt like he wasn't even comfortable with it either! This... is not the way you take revenge for a character sexually harassing another one. Bad, bad take, I don't know what made them do this but they absolutely did not "fix" this, they overcorrected it and made it gross as fuck to me anyhow, most of all with the context of knowing that Iroh was the one being inappropriate as fuck back in the OG.

ALRIGHT. I know there's bound to be more, and I probably could think of more soon but I think I'm giving you this for now or else I'll end up making my major post here x'D

All in all, I don't think this show is unwatchable, I absolutely understand people who think it was fun, I also understand people who couldn't get used to the changes and outright dropped it. What I can't understand/accept is either pretending this show is the greatest thing ever (much like I don't think the OG ATLA is...), or pretending that it's the worst one either. This show engaged with a lot of elements in different ways than the original did: not all of it was a miss, not all of it was a hit. And I feel like it's a matter of fundamental, human decency and respect not to go completely berserk taking a ten-ton dump on this show, which to this date is the biggest production in Hollywood with a primarily Asian cast and crew of all time, from what I know, by pretending it has destroyed this franchise completely and that any support for it must come from brainwashed idiots or "not true fans". The gate-keepy attitude comes as absolutely no surprise in this fandom, ofc, but it's still disgusting to see. You CAN be critical of this show with dignity. You CAN do it while respecting other people who enjoyed it completely. It's not too much to ask. I may have learned that lesson the hard way with the ATLA comics, but even then, it wasn't my M.O. to jump into every single comics-positive post to tell people why they sucked and how dumb they were for enjoying them.

That's what I've got for the time being :'D hope it's enough for now.

#zuko-always-lies #natla #it's not perfect #neither is the OG #oh I didn't mention it in the final paragraphs but #I find it particularly hilarious when people rage at the new one #for things the OG did too #like I'm sorry here but you can't come to me and praise the OG for the exact stuff you hated the remake for #at least be consistent??#anyway anyway there we are for now

35 notes · View notes

atla-confessions · 4 months ago

Note

I've seen ppl sharing their sexuality headcanons so I thought I'd share mine!!! These accidentally ended up getting progressively longer with each character (whoops!):

Aang - bi (every Avatar with a confirmed sexuality has been bi so far, so...) before Katara, he had a crush on Kuzon!

Katara - straight (mby bi-curious but never explored it. If she was sapphic I think she'd only be interested in masculine/butch girls)

Toph - pan and tragically bitchless sigma female (I'd like to imagine she had a crush on nearly every Gaang member at some point, all unrequiented. Later in life she'd date a lot but nothing longterm, she doesn't wanna be tied down)

Sokka - flaming heterosexual (ik bi Sokka is a popular fandom headcanon but idk he gives off "the slightly flamboyant guy everyone assumes is closeted but is actually just straight")

Suki - bi (the first time she found a girl pretty was when she was looking at that Kyoshi statue in her village, it awakened something). Suki and Sokka have huge "bi girl and her slightly fruity straight boyfriend" energy imo

Zuko - he gives off huge "aroace guy who doesn't know what that is so he assumes it's normal to no have any desire to seek out a romantic relationship on his own, but still dates bc it's nice that someone wants him (he's deeply insecure & extremely touch starved) so he goes his entire life thinking he's straight" (I also like gay Zuko for the extra angst though, even if it's not rly how I see him)

Azula - extremely repressed lesbian with painful internalized homophobia. Master of ignoring & internally denying the fact she's interested in women. Was in love with Mai since they were kids and was always extremely bothered by Mai's interest in Zuko. Even post redemption (Azula gets redeemed in my brain, though it's a year long process), she's still secretly hoping Mai and Zuko will somehow break up. (She's manifesting their divorce so hard)

Ty Lee - lesbian but closeted and keeps her relationships private from everyone, even friends (having grown up in a homophobic environment she always needed to be careful). Probably delt with comphet at some point, but during the show's plot she's already aware she's a lesbian, though fakes interest in men to conceal this fact (and bc she thinks it's funny to mess with them snd have them do her favors). Had a crush on Azula when they were little, but it never went anywhere and disappeared as soon as she realized the power Azula has over her and how scary she can be.

Mai - bi or straight. Bi Mai is great bc I'd like to imagine Azula being extremely confused "what do you mean you are bi and still somehow more interested in Zuko then me???" Though straight Mai is also real because a worryingly large amount of goth women end up dating men that they are way too good for.

Ty for reading :D

#Aang #Katara #Sokka #Zuko #toph #Suki #Mai #Ty lee #Azula #atla #atla confessions

29 notes · View notes

animation-cartoon-fan-writings · 10 months ago

Text

A Secret Darkness

Idea by Stardust948

Part 2 Part 3

Princess Emi of the Fire Nation had always been a happy ball of sunshine. The first born child of Fire Lord Zuko and Fire Lady Katara, she radiated a different type of light than the world had been seen before her birth. A happy baby, Emi began smiling and giggling at two-months-old and rarely stopped since.

For her parents, their eldest child lived up perfectly to her name, meaning “blessing”. After losing so much to the One-Hundred-Year War, both mentally and physically, Emi was the light of their whole worlds right from the moment Katara found out she was pregnant.

Zuko in particular vowed to himself the moment his daughter was born that he would protect her from all of the darkness of the world. Whether it meant spoiling her beyond belief, indulging in Emi’s every whim and dropping whatever he was doing if she as much as called for him, or instinctively picking her up and taking her away from any place or situation that could be considered even the least bit dangerous. Zuko was a protective girl dad through and through.

This protective instinct was often extended to the people Zuko was cautious of letting into his child’s life, including his own family.

Azula hadn’t been a large part of Zuko’s life following the end of the war, having been put in a psychiatric facility almost immediately following her loss during Sozin’s Comet. During the entirety of Katara’s pregnancy with Emi, the Fire Lord assumed his kids would never meet their aunt. Thankfully, his sister had recovered enough to be discharged when Katara was five-months-pregnant.

It was a long process, but Azula’s weekly therapies and regular medication really helped stabilize her mind, they eventually got to a place where Zuko was more comfortable gradually letting her back into his life. Soon enough, when Emi was three-months-old, Zuko finally introduced his new bundle of sunshine to her aunt. Since then, Azula has accepted the title of “cool aunt” and was quite good at it. She loved her niece and prayed to Agni above that she never lost that light of innocence in her eyes.

Despite having been reunited with his own mother, finding her alive with a new husband and 10-year-old daughter, Zuko hesitated on introducing her to Emi until she was around a year old. Even so, Ursa barely had a relationship with Emi, too focused on her new life and her youngest daughter Kiyi. It was that, along with other things, that led Zuko to decide to go low contact with his mom. He refused to let his daughter go through what he did and would not trust anyone with her if they were not going to be a reliable presence.

Then, there was Ozai. Zuko had been adamant from the moment he and Katara started discussing the possibility of having children that his father would not have anything to do with his kids. This was one thing that the Fire Lady had no problem with, knowing just how evil Ozai was and would always be. So, Emi grew up for the most part believing Iroh was her paternal grandfather, calling him “Papa Iroh”.

As Emi grew older and started getting more curious about the world around her, Zuko’s protective levels started going into hyperdrive. This wasn’t helped by the fact that, since having her, he and Katara had expanded their family by two, with his wife giving birth to their second daughter Kya (named after Katara’s late mother) when Emi was two, followed by their third child and first-born son Kallik just a few years later. How was he supposed to keep his eye on a rambunctious little girl, a toddler, and a newborn while simultaneously keeping up with all his duties as Fire Lord?

Unlike the Fire Lords of the past, Zuko made it clear that he and Katara would not rely on an arsenal of nannies and servants to raise their children. This meant the royal couple did the majority of the childrearing themselves. While they did have Iroh, Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee living at the palace to help on occasions where both he and Katara were super busy, it wasn’t like any of them could be at multiple places at once.

Plus, Emi was starting to get really good at sneaking away undetected for long periods of time. While she thankfully never went beyond the palace grounds, it was still a frightening experience as Zuko would be frantically searching every corner of the palace and beyond for his missing daughter, only to find her hiding in some small corner of the palace library with a smile on her face, eating a freshly-stolen box of cookies from the kitchen.

While it usually wasn’t any more than that, this habit of exploring places throughout the palace that she wasn’t allowed to be in often led to some close calls. Catching her before she got too close for comfort.

Unfortunately, on one fateful day, it happened.

Emi, now six-years-old, wanted to play with mommy and daddy, but unfortunately, they were too busy. At the moment, Katara was feeding the five-month-old Kallik and Zuko was stuck in a meeting with his council, leaving Aunt Azula to at least try to keep an eye on both her and four-year-old Kya.

After several hours, Azula thought she finally got the two young princesses down for their nap. But, the minute she left the room to fetch the girls some snacks and juice, Emi woke up and escaped her Aunt’s suite to once again start exploring the unchartered places of the large Fire Nation palace.

After a while, she found herself downstairs, below the grounds of her home, down in a place she had never seen before. It was mostly dark, except for the flickering of fire light from the torch flames that lines the walls. Emi knew she should go back upstairs before someone realized she was missing, but her naivety and strong sense of curiosity got the better of her. She kept slowly walking through the narrow hall, her big golden eyes looking all around her with such wonder.

Suddenly, the little princess stumbled upon a dark cave marked off by chains and a sign that read “High Risk Prisoner, Under Strict Lockdown, No One is Permitted to go Beyond this point without the presence of authorized staff”. While most people would read that and immediately turn back, Emi didn’t really know how to read anything beyond the level of her picture books and fairy tales.

She was completely oblivious to the darkness a person could possess. She grew up believing everyone and everything was all happy and bright. That even those that were bad at first would eventually become good with just the right help and encouragement. That just a bit of kindness and forgiveness would enough for people to change. She had no idea just what she would find when she got her little body past the chains to see what was on the other side of the cave.

Emi walked slowly down the path. As she approached the end, she saw an old man behind a wall of clear metal. Who is this man?, she thought. His hair was light grey, long and disheveled. His eyes were locked to the floor, devoid of any emotion. Sitting with his back against the wall, his body crouched over like an old hermit just passing the little time he had before death finally took him. Emi kept her distance from him, but her curiosity kept her from running in the other direction.

Suddenly, the man slowly turns his head, looking right at the young princess. Emi cautiously takes a few steps forward as the man’s eyes widen. “Azula?,” the man finally speaks. The child doesn’t answer. Instead, she cocks her brow, confused as to why the man just called her by her Aunt’s name.

Emi did resemble her father a lot. She had his ember-colored eyes and midnight black hair. But, her skin tone was only one shade lighter than her mother’s natural mocha shade. Her father, in comparison, had a light ivory skin tone, just like Aunt Azula. So, Emi didn’t know how this man she had never met before could confuse her with Azula or how he knew of her aunt in the first place.

The man speaks again, louder this time, “Azula! I’m so glad you came to visit. Have you heard what your brother has been doing?”. The man knew her father. Curiosity getting the best of her, Emi decides to play along and not reveal herself to the man. “No. What?,” she asks the man. He scowls as he begins ranting, “Your good-for-nothing brother has decided to completely destroy our bloodline. Not only did he marry that retched waterbender from the south pole, but now he has gotten her pregnant. Can you believe it? The heir to the throne, without the pure ivory skin of Fire Nation royalty. It is simply an abomination!”.

Emi didn’t know what to say to all that. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Clearly he was talking about her parents, and the “abomination” he was referring to could only be her. She had never in her life heard anything like this. “Wh-why is it an abomination? I mean, how would it reflect on him as a leader?,” she inquires, hoping to find out more.

The man cackles madly, “My child, Agni above has blessed our nation to be superior to all others. The Fire Nation is the greatest nation in the world and our bloodline is the purest in the land. Your brother tainting it with some tribal whore just proves that he doesn’t care about his country.”

Emi’s heart drops hearing those words. Did he just say Aunt Azula was his child? Is this man Dad and Aunt Azula’s dad?, her mind races. But, that’s impossible. Papa Iroh is dad’s dad. He’s my grandfather. Surely, daddy would never lie to me about something like that.

“I swear, the spirits are going to burn this nation to the ground and damn us all to the pits of hell for this disrespect to Agni… Either way, thar bastard child of his will always be half-water tribe. By that alone, our family tree will be tainted with impure blood. Agni help us all that child becomes fire lord. But, I suppose you already know that, Azula.”

Emi takes one step back, growing scared of this man. He continues to rant as the child slowly walks backwards, every word he says seeping into her brain and being internalized by the young, innocent soul.

“Don’t worry, soon enough you, my golden child, will take back the throne from your traitor of a brother and his snow-eating whore of a bride. I know you, Princess Azula. My little prodigy. You were born lucky, truly gifted in your abilities as a firebender. And once you finish the job from that Agni Kai, all other nations will fall and you and I will rule as supreme leaders of the world!”

The prisoner starts laughing like a mad man and that’s when Emi couldn’t bear to hear another word. She turns around and runs out of there as fast as she could. Thankfully, the man was so wrapped up in his own laughter and delusions that he didn’t notice. His deep, evil laughter echoing off the walls as she ran back through the narrow dirt pathway.

The princess felt an ache in her stomach as she began to run up the stairs. She felt the tears picking at the corner of her eyes, threatening to fall. She held it all in as she made it up to the top of the stairs and rushed over to the family wing of the palace. Even as servants called her name as she quickly passed, she didn’t answer. Finally, she made it back to her room, going in and slamming the door shut.

She takes a few deep breathes before her lips begins to quiver and her eyes water. Emi runs over to her bed and leaps forward, landing face-down onto the mattress. The now-terrified princess buries her face in her pillow as she begins to cry.

The Fire Nation’s innocent ray of sunshine had just seen the secret darkness of the world. And things would inevitably never be the same again.

Hope you guys liked this. If you want me to continue this and write a part 2, please let me know.

60 notes · View notes

waterfire1848 · 5 months ago

Note

Azutara #36 please

Hello, anon!! Thanks for the ask!

#36 - living in a society where their love is taboo AU

Thanks to @ragzonacamrencruise for helping me come up with a taboo idea for this mini fic.

Opposite elements didn’t mix.

It was a simple rule and one that had been around since before anyone could remember. Fire and Water didn’t mix and earth and air didn’t mix. Because of this, it was frowned upon, illegal in some areas, for those belonging to opposite elements to be in a relationship together. Some limited their views to only benders, but others were very vocal about their believe that if someone was born in the Earth Kingdom they should have no romantic relation with someone in from the Air Temples.

Fire Lords before Zuko all seemed to share this belief as well, advocating that no one in the Fire Nation should have any partner from the Water Tribe. Zuko had never cared much about the law, seeing as how his partner was from the Fire Nation, and he assumed Azula didn’t care either.

Yeah. He was wrong about that one. Zuko just wished he didn’t have to find out by accidentally seeing his sister and friend meeting up in secret in the garden.

It wasn’t uncommon for Zuko to move around the palace on the roofs. Sue him. He liked having the small bit of time to himself and to move freely instead of having at least five guards around him and two servants by his side. Those quiet and beautiful nights were some of the most peaceful moments he got. Then, one night, he heard Azula’s voice and, naturally, made his way towards her to see what she was doing out so late.

“If you keep talking you’re going to get us discovered.” Azula warned.

“Says the one who’s talking right now.” Another voice, a woman, added, laughing a little, “You’re sure no one is around?”

“Positive. Zuko’s asleep, the servants and guards have been dismissed and no one patrols the garden this late.” Azula promised, “We’re completely alone except for the turtleducks.”

Zuko’s eyes grew when he saw Katara step into his view, “They can stay. I don’t think they’ll tell anyone about us.” The waterbender smiled and wrapped her arms around Azula, kissing the princess passionately.

“Have I told you recently how absolutely amazing it is having you as my girlfriend?” Azula asked.

“Yes, but I always love hearing it more.” Katara leaned her forehead against Azula’s, “I love you, Azula.” Her voice was soft but Zuko definitely heard that.

“I…lo…I mean-“ Katara only giggled, kissing Azula again.

“I know what you mean.” That was too quiet for Zuko to hear but he decided to hide himself when their kissing showed no sign of stopping.

Zuko instantly hide himself from sight. His brain going a hundred miles an hour. Azula and Katara???? He would never have guessed. But…but Azula knew that was against the law. Fire Nationals weren’t allowed to be in relationships with people from the Water Tribe. Not that Zuko was about to go down there and bust them, but he was curious about what could have caused Azula to go against the law.

He’d have to talk to her tomorrow if he really wanted answers.

—————————————

“Azula?” Zuko asked.

Azula turned from her seat at her desk, where she was working on some papers he has asked her to fill out, and looked up at him, giving her brother her full attention, “You okay, Zuko? You look nervous.”

Zuko shut the door behind him, “I am nervous.”

“Why?” Azula’s eyes narrowed.

“I saw you yesterday.”

“….Okay?” Azula was either playing dumb or he wasn’t being clear enough, “I saw you yesterday too. Did you hit your head, Zuzu? You know there is such a thing as too many hits to the head.”

“Azula, I saw you with Katara in the garden and heard you.” Zuko watched as Azula’s eyes grew only for half a second then returned to unmoved. Her face slipped, if only for less than half a second, and that was all Zuko needed for confirmation, “You and Katara???”

“Don’t say it so loud.” Azula snapped, grabbing him and dragging him out to the balcony where no one would hear them, “Do you want me banished?”

“What?! No! Why would I want that?!”

“I just assumed based on you announcing to the world that I’m in a relationship with someone from the Water Tribe.” Azula growled. Right. The punishment for breaking the law was banishment.

“Azula, I…”

“Think I’m a freak? Think there’s something wrong with me that I would choose a partner from my opposite element?” Azula asked. Her tone made it seem like she expected him to hate her now. All that did was make Zuko’s face drop.

“No. No, I don’t think that at all. I just want to make sure you know what you’re doing. You know how people will react if they find out-“

“No one will find out. Katara and I are careful. We only meet at night, away from everyone and, when we do meet up during the day, we’re incredibly careful to not be suspected.” Azula explained, “We both know the risk, Zuzu. The Southern Water Tribe isn’t as strict with this law as we are, but Katara is still facing banishment if people find out about us. Especially because it’s me.”

“What do you mean?” Zuko asked.

“If Katara had just met some random Fire Nation peasant girl on her travels and got together with her, the tribe wouldn’t have been pleased and she might have faced social isolation but they wouldn’t kick her out of the tribe or keep her from participating in activities. Since she’s dating the Princess of the Fire Nation, Katara not only has betrayed her element by being with me but all the people who lost their lives to the Fire Nation.” Azula leaned over the balcony, letting the wind gently hit her hair to calm her down.

“Katara can’t blame you-“

“Katara blames me for nothing. It’s the older warriors in the tribe, who have done nothing but fight their whole lives, who would advocate for her banishment.” Azula told him, “We’re careful, Zuko, and we know the risks.”

“Good. I just wanted to tell you that and…that you do have a friend now.” Zuko smiled at Azula, “I won’t tell anyone.”

“Thank you, Zuzu.” After the two broke apart from their hug, Zuko took the opportunity for some fun.

“Now here’s my big question. How did you get Katara? Did you hit her over the head or bribe her or…”

“Ha-Ha. Hilarious.” Even with the joke being at her expense, Azula cracked a smile at her older brother’s antics.

“You must tell me your secret, Lala.” Zuko laughed, “You somehow got a girlfriend whose previous partner was the Avatar.”

“I happen to think I’m a better catch than the Avatar. Thank you very much.” Zuko winced and shook his hand back and forth, earning him a hit in the shoulder, "What happened to the friendly sibling relationship you promised the therapist you'd try at?"

"I'm no expert but I think this is a nice, normal sibling relationship. At least it's better than the days when you used to try and kill me."

"Hey! I never tried to kill you. I tried to capture you. There's a difference."

"Ah, yes, my mistake." Zuko chuckled, leaning against the railing and letting out a breath, "I'm really happy for you, Zula. You and Katara."

"Thank you."

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

"What do you mean Zuko knows?" Katara asked.

"Exactly that. Zuko knows we're dating." Azula repeated.

"What now? Do we have to break up? Do you have to leave the Fire Nation?" Azula shook her head, sitting down on her bed next to her girlfriend.

"No. He's actually okay with it."

"Really?” True Katara hadn’t expected Zuko to blow up at Azula and demand she leave—her asking before has really been a worst case scenario fear—but he was really completely okay with it?

“I was just as surprised as you are, but he really doesn’t have any problem with us dating. We just have to keep it secret.”

“So basically what we’ve been doing?”

“Pretty much except maybe a little more secret since Zuko did find out.”

Katara rolled her eyes, “Zuko is the Blue Spirit. I don’t think we have to worry about servants or nobles on the roof whenever we want a romantic night in the garden.”

“You mean you haven’t heard about how our servants travel on the roof all the time?” Azula asked, very clearly joking.

“I guess I missed that fact, but seriously, are we okay?” Katara asked, “I don’t want you to risk banishment for me, Azula.” Azula gave Katara a weak smile when her girlfriend moved her face away from Azula’s.

“I told you when we started dating. I’m okay with that risk.” Azula said, “I want to be with you. No matter what the possible penalty is.” She gently pushed Katara’s chin so that she was looking at her and kissed her girlfriend, “I…I lo…”

“I know.” Katara whispered, “I love you too, Azula, so, so much.” The collided in another kiss, sinking into the bed while the rest of the palace, even the guards outside, were none the wiser.

————————————

Two months passed after Zuko discovered them and nothing changed. Katara and Azula kept a low profile. In fact, many were sure the two hated one another which made Zuko almost laugh but he forced his laughter down. Eventually, the two decided to tell Mai, Ty Lee and Sokka about their relationship.

“You and you?!?” Sokka yelled, pointing between Katara and Azula, “Kat, you…you do know she’s-“

“I know she’s Fire Nation and I’m Water Tribe and I don’t care. I love her, Sokka.” Katara’s use of the word love made both Mai and Ty Lee’s eyes grow.

“Wow.” Sokka whispered, “So, how long have you two been together?”

“A year now.” Katara told him, “We got together shortly after the war when I went over to the palace to help heal her.” Azula took Katara’s hand in hers, “We both got to talking and realized we had a lot in common. Then, one night, Azula threw her face at mine and we kissed-

“I tripped!” Azula snapped, “You’re very messy sometimes, Tara.”

“You tripped? You tripped while we were both sitting on your bed?” Katara asked.

“I had gotten up to get something, came back, tripped and fell on Katara and, by accident, our lips touched.” Azula explained.

“Okay. Who were believes my story that Azula just stopped caring for long enough to kiss me?” Katara asked.

Everyone raised their hands.

“You’re all traitors.” Azula grumbled.

“But I’m very happy you did that, Zula. I don’t know if I would have been brave enough to make the first move.” Katara said, nuzzling Azula’s neck and making Azula practically melt.

“You certainly weren’t with Aang.” Sokka whispered, earning a hit of water right to the face.

“So, who all knows?” Mai asked.

“Just you guys but we’re trying to tell more people.” Katara admitted, “We just want to make sure we’re telling people we can trust first.”

“That’s a good idea.” Sokka nodded, “I don’t know how much dad could protect you if people found out about you and Azula.”

“Thanks for the confidence, Sokka.” Katara mumbled, “Don’t worry. Azula and I are careful not to be noticed. We made it a year and no one knew.”

“That’s impressive.” Ty Lee admitted, “How did you hide it for so long? I was sure you two hated each other.”

“We always just kept everything behind closed doors and, when we needed to fake an argument, we just found something random to argue about.” Azula shrugged, “And since Katara and myself are amazing actresses, no one ever suspect us.”

“You guys fooled me.” Ty Lee said.

“And me.”

“Not me.” Everyone looked at Mai.

“We fooled you.” Azula argued, “You just don’t want to admit it.”

“I’ve known for the past nine months that you two have been dating. I couldn’t sleep one night so I went for a walk and found you and Katara sneaking into the garden with food then you started kissing.”

“If you knew then why didn’t you say anything?” Azula demanded.

“Not my place.” Mai shrugged, “Plus, you two seemed really happy keeping it secret. I thought you’d be more comfortable if you kept believing that no one knew.” She calmly explained.

“Thank you, Mai.” Katara whispered.

“See, Zuzu? This is how you should have handled discovering our relationship.” Azula said.

“Not said a word and hope you two don’t get caught?” Zuko asked.

“Exactly!”

“You’re ridiculous.”

“A ridiculous person who can still kick your butt whenever I want.” Azula grinned.

“That’s not what the crown says.” Zuko said, standing up.

“The crown you only got because of Katara.”

“You fired at her!”

“You brought her!”

By this point in their relationship, no one was really all that scared when the two started arguing about the Agni Kai. They knew Zuko and Azula mostly did it for laughs and never really meant any harm when they started arguing about it. Over a year in therapy together really did do wonders.

“Let’s go. This could go on a while.” Sokka sighed.

“You guys feel like pig-cow for dinner?” Ty Lee asked.

“Oh! Yes! I know this great place in town!”

If only the group had noticed a pair of eyes that had been watching them during their entire conversation.

—————————————

Azula’s eyes slowly opened, allowing her to take in the sight of her room covered in the morning light. Thanks to Katara, she wasn’t really waking up at dawn anymore but still got up early. That morning, like most mornings, she could feel her girlfriend’s arm around her body.

“Katara.” Azula whispered, “Good morning.”

“Good morning.” Katara yawned and stretched her body, “We should have a lazy day. Just you and me.”

“That would be perfect but you know I have meetings.” Azula said.

“Why do you have to be princess and Zuko’s advisor?” Katara asked, resting her head on Azula’s chest.

“I don’t know, but I do know that I have to get up. What will you do this morning?”

“Probably a walk around town, then I need to send letters to me father and-“

The doors suddenly slammed open. Katara and Azula, thanks to years at war, sat up quickly and got fire and water ready to use against the attackers but there were no attackers. Just Hakoda, who did not look happy.

“Katara?” Hakoda asked.

“Dad?” Katara quickly realized she wasn’t really wearing a lot of clothes and grabbed a blanket to cover herself with. Hakoda took his own light jacket off, which he always had with him, and wrapped it around his daughter, “Dad. What are you doing here?”

“I was told my daughter had something to tell me. I think I can guess what it is.” Hakoda growled, looking at Azula, who was also now pretty embarrassed to be caught in a situation like this but especially so wearing only the barest of clothing.

“Sir, we-“

Hakoda cut Azula off, “You stay away from my daughter! I don’t want you anywhere near her or I will throw you into the ocean!” Azula wasn't all that afraid of Hakoda but having a grown man yell at her did remind her a lot of Ozai. Involuntarily, she winced and backed up, flames dancing on her finger tips in case she had to defend herself.

“Dad! Don’t talk to Azula like that!” Katara yelled, “I love her!”

“No, you don’t. You’re confused and attaching yourself to the first person you could find after Aang. A few months in the South Pole will-“

Katara's face twisted into disgust at her father's words, “No!” Katara yelled, going to Azula’s side, “I’m not confused and I’m not just dating Azula because of connivence. I. Love. Her!”

“Katara, sweetie,” Hakoda’s voice changed to one that sounded more calm and understanding, “I came here because word has already spread to the Water Tribe that you and Azula are together."

"What!? How do they know?" Katara asked.

Hakoda only shrugged. It didn't matter how they knew now. All that mattered was that this did know, "The council is very upset by your choice to date the Princess of the Fire Nation and-

"Let me guess. They want me banished." Hakoda could only nod.

“I’d rather be banished than not stay with Azula.” Katara’s declaration made the room go quiet, but Katara continued and turned towards her girlfriend, “Azula, you don’t have to feel the same way. You can say whatever you need to to-"

“I love you.” Azula whispered, “I want to stay with you too. No matter what.” Tears of joy filled Katara's eyes when she went to kiss Azula.

"So what now?" Katara asked.

"Now you two should leave." Hakoda sighed, "Zuko is doing every he can, but it will probably be best if you both disappear for a while." The two nodded.

"You won't try and stop us?" Katara asked.

"I came because I thought there was a way to keep you in the Southern Water Tribe, a way to make this all go away, but...but you clearly love Azula. I know that when I lost Kya I never forgave the person who took her away from me. I'd hate myself if I was the person who took you away from Azula." Katara offered her dad a hug, feeling his arms wrap tightly around her.

"We'll send a letter when we find a safe place."

"Good. I'll tell Zuko about what you two decided to do. Promise me you'll be careful."

"I promise."

Hakoda then turned his head towards Azula, "And promise me you'll protect her."

"I will." Azula nodded.

An hour later, Azula and Katara had snuck out of the palace and were on their way to the docks with hoods over their heads to avoid being recognized.

"Regret dating me yet?" Katara asked.

Azula only offered her girlfriend a smirk and a kiss on the lips, "Not for a second."

#azula #katara #azutara #kazula #ask #anon #send me a ship and a number and I’ll write for it

24 notes · View notes

the-blue-eyed-firebender · 5 months ago

Text

Fanfiction Masterlist.

(Updated 7/15/24)

I started writing again in March, and I now find myself the mother author of nine fanfics. I figure it's time I make one of these. I'll pin this post to the top of my Tumblr and update as more works are added.

So here's a masterlist of my children stories, favorites first in no particular order.

It's all Royai and Zutara Trash so if you're not into that, move along.

The Counteroffer

Riza Hawkeye x Roy Mustang

Rating: T

Word count: 2.7K

On the eve of Mustang’s inauguration as Fuhrer, Riza Hawkeye submits her resignation.

My very first Royai fanfic, and my first attempt at creative writing in literal years.

(light angst with a happy ending)

Hourglass

Riza Hawkeye x Roy Mustang

Rating: T

Word count: 1.6K

Riza Hawkeye never intended on living past age thirty-two. It wasn’t that she wanted to die. She simply did not expect to live.

Written for Royai Week 2024, Day 5: Gift

(angst with a happy ending)

The Art of Living On

Riza Hawkeye x Roy Mustang

Rating: T

Word count: 3.9K

She has never done this. Has avoided it at all costs. Because she is unfit, she tells herself. Her hands are made for firearms and filing office paperwork, not soothing fussy babies. Her edges are too sharp, too jagged to provide comfort to anyone. She is scarred and bloodied and barely knows the love of a mother herself.

But the baby wails, pleading.

Written for Royai Week 2024, Day 2: Appreciate

(domestic fluff, light angst with a happy ending)

Uncle Zuko

Katara x Zuko

Rating: T

Word count: 2.6K

Of all the things his hands have held - from dragon eggs and ancient texts to the element of Fire itself - this is by far the most precious, the most powerful: a new generation, one born into a world without war.

Zuko is forced to hold Sokka's baby, and feelings happen. I published this story years ago on FFN under a different title. This is the updated/revised version. I haven't written much of them lately, but Zuko & Katara are, and will always remain, my otp.

(domestic fluff)

Strong Whiskey and Slanted Light

Riza Hawkeye x Roy Mustang

Rating: G

Word count: 908

His team is alive. The Elric brothers have their bodies back. Havoc can walk again. And from her place in the driver’s seat, Riza Hawkeye - alive and breathing - glances sharply in his direction, brows raised in a rare moment of removing her attention from the road ahead. He doesn’t miss the way she winces at the sudden movement of her still-healing neck. “Sir?”

“It’s just a question, Lieutenant. I’m curious.”

Written for Royai Week 2024, Day 1: Curiosity

(light angst, mutual pining)

As You Were

Riza Hawkeye x Roy Mustang

Rating: T

Word count: 2.4K

Maybe it’s the fact that she’s dropped his honorific.

Maybe it’s the fact that they are somehow both alive. Maybe it’s the fact that he can see her, when he’d believed with such certainty that he never would again. He can see her and she is beautiful, and for once he doesn’t understand why he ever chose to banish that thought from his mind when it is so clearly the truth.

(angst)

The Flame Alchemist's Daughter

Riza Hawkeye x Roy Mustang

Rating: T

Word count: 6.4K

The ink is a burden. The knowledge is a curse.

Disclaimer: I wrote this before I fully understood the mechanics of Mustang's flame alchemy (I literally finished the series in March 2024; I'm new here, so my bad). I realized later that some of the implications here would not make sense in canon. That said, I still love this story. I'm proud of it and it's freaking fanfiction so who cares.

(angst)

Checkmate

Riza Hawkeye x Roy Mustang

Rating: T

Word count: 1.6K

In the wake of his election victory, Roy Mustang makes a very important visit to Fuhrer President Grumman.

Prequel to "The Counteroffer."

(fluff, light angst)

Four

Riza Hawkeye x Roy Mustang

Rating: T

Word count: 2.2K

Each time he has laid eyes on Riza Hawkeye’s tattoo, the course of Roy Mustang’s life has been permanently altered.

(angst with a happy ending)

30 notes · View notes

ekwolfwriter-blog · 6 months ago

Text

WIP Zutara Month Challenge: Accidental Kisses

This one, I have a cute idea as well. And I have a snippet for this one.

So this one I have been slow working on because I had the idea then lost it but now I can make it slowly but the idea is as following:

After The Southern Raiders, Zuko has been able to help Katara around more but noticing she looks more tired than usual. He finds her and she confesses, after nearly collapsing on to the ground. He caught her and after some time of talking, she tells him that she has been trouble sleeping and was only able to sleep when they were close in the Cave (Shocker I know)

But Zuko then offers to make a little blanket cave for them to help feel a bit more relaxing for her. Especially with the feeling of cuddling with someone.

The following snippet is of Katara thinking of thanking Zuko - while a little sleep deprived but also feeling a bit honest with her heart:

Katara bit her lips as she looked at Zuko as he was pointing out to the stars from their little blanket cave that looked up at the sky. She could see the sincerity in his eyes and he seemed eager to tell her the story but all she wanted was to show her how much she appreciated his efforts. And more so, she could not deny that he was looking rather handsome in the softer moon light.

'I... i want to give him a kiss,' she thought. 'But just on the cheek. Yeah, that is safe. And I am sure he will understand. I mean it is not too much, hopefully he understands.'

Katara moved closer as she took a breath and leaned up to kiss his cheek.

But Zuko turned to her as he said something "Anyway, hope I didn't bore -"

His sentence was cut short as his lips were met with Katara's lips as she had her eyes closed. Zuko stilled as he looked at her softly, waiting for her to make a move as he did not want to embarrass her. But a traitorous part of his heart and mind wanted to give in and kiss her back. Her lips states like sea salt and a bit chapped but he liked how soft the the kiss was on his lips.

Soon Katara opened her eyes as she looked and realized what she had did. She pulled away and blushed hard. "Oh Spirits! So so so so so sorry Zuko. I was just trying to give you a kiss on the cheek. I was not trying to kiss you creepily. I promise I am not like that," She tried to explain but pulled the sheets over her head.

Zuko only watched, confused but also feeling his heart gushing over Katara being flustered for some reason. He blames his traitorous heart still doing back flips from the kiss. But he realized he took too long to say something as he cleared his throat. "It's okay, I know you are not like that. I am sorry as well," he said.

Katara looked at him from under the sheets. "What are you sorry for? I was the one that kissed you without permission."

"Yes, but I did not pull away or answer your kiss back," he said softly as he sat up a little to rub the back of his neck, his face was turning red. "A gentleman is always taught to respect the lady, but also that kisses are important, especially with how important a kiss is. And I figured you were trying to just say thanks but I did not pull away either and accepted the kiss."

Katara looks up at him. "Does kissing mean something different for your people?"

"Not any more different than what it might be for others, but that just... a kiss on the lips feels more personal. And intimate than what a man like me should expect."

"A man like you?" She was curious as she sat up with him.

"A man that is... well digraced in more than just his looks," he said as he shied way away from his face as Zuko's scared side was on the other side.

Katara looked at him softly as she sees now what he meant. She reached up and turned his face to her as her hand touched his scar; caressing his face in her touch as she smiled softly at him. "From what I can see, you are more than honorable than anyone I have met, and certainly more gentleman like. Nothing can change or should make you feel ashamed of it."

Zuko was stunned as blushed then somehow seemed to lean into her hand more to feel it. He smiled brightly at her. "Thanks," he said.

Katara smiled more as she sighed before saying something, but she could feel her exhaustion hitting. Probably a good time to avoid talking about the kiss more. "Well, I should sleep. I should let you go as well."

Zuko raised his eyebrow at her as he smirked. "Weren't you the one that said that you wanted me to cuddle with you to help you sleep again?"

"That was then and this is now, and I just don't want you to feel weird with me," she tried to say, feeling her cheeks heat again.

But Zuko chuckled as he leaned back. "Who said I didn't like the kiss?"

Katara turned to him as she was the one stunned this time. She looked at him with more hopeful eyes as he undid his best to feel a little more comfortable, but looked ready to sleep with her. Katara slowly leaned down into his chest as she sighed and looked happier.

"So... you did not mind the kiss?" Katara asked.

"Not at all, it was... rather sweet, just like you," he said softly as he pulled her into him.

That is all I have for now, subject to change and tweak but hope you like it!

#zutara #zutara fanfiction #writing #zutara month 2024

40 notes · View notes

seventeendeer · 5 months ago

Text

I'm rewatching ATLA for the second time in my adult life, in part to try to honestly engage with it as a valuable turning point in american children's animation, and also in part to try to pin down exactly what it is that makes me dislike the writing so much

I was prepared to have to dig deep, but actually for starters it might be the fact that the show tries to get across a message about "girl power" within the first 4 episodes, then spends AT LEAST 7 more episodes reducing its female lead to a nurturing mother figure who only exists to be absurdly supportive of her little protagonist boyfriend she met two days ago (because her "womanly intuition" tells her he's Really Important). when she's not babying her love interest, she's giving pep talks to strangers (where she's always right) or nagging her older brother (where she's right unless the writers are feeling vindictive).

it's incredibly bizarre to me that katara is remembered as this layered, interesting, feminist character when, from my perspective, it's clear right off the bat that the male writers have no interest in portraying her with any sincerity. she's idealized to the point of parody, unless the story calls for her to be taken down a peg, in which case she's immediately made to grovel for her mistakes. her dead mom is brought up at every other opportunity as a token attempt to make her character seem interesting, but over the course of 11 episodes, there has been no indication that the writers think her taking on a maternal role after her mother's death is anything less than a virtue and a matter of course. more often than not, her constant emotional availability, wisdom and "gut feeling" are favorably contrasted against other characters portrayed as more wary, practical-minded, or logical.

fans (RIGHTFULLY) criticize how korra was treated in the sequel series, but katara is subjected to the same shitty sexist writing, just on a less dramatic scale (and there's plenty to unpack there about how korra being louder, more confident and gender non-conforming painted a bigger target on her back in the writer's room). these are writers who want to be feminists, but can't handle a female character having too much personality outside of her role in the male characters' lives, so they either inhibit their development or get retroactively angry at their own creative decisions and decide to punish their female characters for their own choices - dark-skinned girls especially.

I'm curious to see where the series goes from here. still trying very hard to keep an open mind, but it's an extremely sour first impression.

(among many others. I don't like this show.)

#deerchatter #sexism cw #racism cw

17 notes · View notes

sokkastyles · 8 months ago

Note

I hope you don’t mind me sending in asks every so often, because I really love your blog and I like reading your opinions/analyses of ATLA’s story and characters. What I want to talk about is this one trope in fiction that I’ve always liked and wanted to see more of, which is “Person A sees characteristics of Person B’s personality or abilities that are kind of morally dubious or complicated and possibly less than desirable (depends on what the ability or personality trait is) and even though Person B has complicated feelings about what they saw, they never flinch or look away from who Person A is.” Because I’m obsessing over Zutara again, this made me think of the scene where Zuko sees Katara bloodbend for the first time and while he is momentarily surprised, his facial expression goes back to normal quickly. Something similar happens when he sees her waterbend while confronting Yon Rha. I really wish we had gotten a scene where Zuko and Katara actually talk about her blood bending abilities, though the main reason I wanted this isn’t only because of the potential for another Zutara moment. I also really wish the narrative had utilized bloodbending more and that we had gotten to see more of Katara’s complicated, ambiguous feelings about bloodbending (and yes I know she didn’t like bloodbending in canon, but I wish we got to see her be a bit curious about it or not knowing how to feel about it before she decided that). What are your thoughts about this? Is there anything about Katara’s bloodbending that you wanted to see explored in the narrative as well?

First of all, I love getting your asks! They are always very well thought out and insightful! I think you sent me another one that I didn't get a chance to respond to yet because I have been very busy, but I'm not tired of getting asks from you at all!

And I do think an underrated aspect of Zuko witnessing Katara bloodbend is that it's validating to him as an abuse survivor, as a fellow child of war who also lost his mother, as someone who deals with anger issues, to see Katara bloodbend and be able to control her bloodbendinng in that moment.

I do not think that Zuko was intentionally living his revenge fantasies through Katara or encouraging her to commit violence. We've actually seen both Jet and Hama try to do that to Katara and there are some distinct differences. If you recall the way Jet and Hama talk about their actions, and the way they try to get Katara to also do those things, they appeal to her with specific language. They appeal to her anger, specifically, telling her to think about what happened to her mother. They take joy in assuming that she is just like them and has sunk to their level.

When Zuko talks with Katara about Kya, he does not focus on her anger and loss and the need for revenge. Instead, he tells her that Kya was brave. When he sees himself in Katara, he doesn't see negative. He sees someone who is angry, yes, but also someone who isn't controlled by that anger.

Part of the problem with the way antis talk about this episode and Zuko or Katara specifically is this pathologizing around whatever "fantasy" they think Zuko or Katara might be engaging in. And let's be real for a second. It is actually incredibly common for abused children to have revenge fantasies about their abusers. Like, incredibly common. But it's something that is not talked about very often because we don't like to think about it. When it is talked about, it is usually in terms of the person becoming violent themselves.

I do think that Zuko wanted for Katara the same thing he got with his father, the chance to confront him and to walk away, to not be goaded into violence or sink to that level. But that doesn't mean it isn't also incredibly validating for Zuko to not only watch Katara have power over this man, but to be able to exert enough control over that power to be able to walk away.

Which is similar to what Zuko does with his father. Zuko doesn't want to be angry anymore, but that doesn't mean he suddenly becomes a doormat. And when he faced his father, he was prepared to fight if he had to. He brought his swords, he redirected lightning right at Ozai's feet. He made it clear that he could have hurt Ozai if he had wanted to. But he has enough control over that anger not to. Directionless anger is ultimately similar to intrusive thoughts of revenge, because both make the person feel helpless and out of control.

Also my piping hot take is that Aang was afraid of Katara's anger because he himself never learned to control the Avatar state, whoops.

Anyway, I love that Zuko has that moment when he maybe sees a bit of his old self, the part of himself that was angry and wanted to hurt people because he was hurt, in Katara, and it surprises him. But now he's wise enough to have compassion for himself, and for her by extension, and understands now that that anger comes from grief.

#zuko #katara #zutara #the southern raiders

93 notes · View notes

ninacytosis · 10 months ago

Text

For the time lost

Summary: Zuko wants to erase every reminder of his past mistakes, and Katara will take him on a journey to, quite literally, heal both of their scarrings.

Contains: Angst, Fluff, Katara has burns scars from Aang's first attempts to firebend, Katara tries to get over her resentment towards the FN, Zuko doesn't hate Azula.

Dear reader: I hope you enjoy it! <3 Let me know if you want me to continue posting.

Find chapter two here.

Also if you prefer reading in ao3 here's the link.

┊┊┊┊☆┊*🌙*┊☆┊┊┊┊

Chapter One

“Dear Zuko:

I hope this letter finds you well. Since you didn’t respond to my messages from the previous weeks, I couldn’t help but do a little investigation on my own. Aang told me he last visited the Fire Nation a couple of days ago, and to his surprise, you weren’t there. Honestly, this got me even more curious. What are you up to, Fire Lord? What juicy secret are you keeping from us?

Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that my dad made some octo-fish soup this weekend. I bet you have never tried it, well, maybe on your finding-the-avatar days you stopped by and tried. But that doesn’t seem like you. One day Sokka and I will cook you some, but only if you tell me why you’re being so distant lately!

We’re always here for you, Zuko.

Hugs,

Katara”

Zuko read the letter while waiting for the water to boil. He had never heard of octo-fish soup to this day, but he wasn’t opposed to trying new dishes. In fact, most of his favorite dishes weren’t even from the Fire Nation. After trying the Omashu noodles, who could blame him?

“Dear Katara,

I hope you enjoyed that soup and the company of your family. Knowing that you spend good quality time with your family brings me so much joy and relief because all of you deserve it. I hope that every good memory makes up for every bad one, though unfortunately, healing doesn’t work like an exchange, does it?

As the Fire Lord, certain duties demand my presence in the other nations. So, as much as I wish my lack of responses were due to a secret vacation of mine, they are more like business trips. Might as well call me the Fire Businessman now. (Don’t let anyone read this to Toph because she most certainly will call me that.)

It was nice hearing from you. Send as many letters as you please. Even if I’m not home, I’ll promise I’ll read them. By the way, how are your little waterbenders doing? I’m sure it was harder to handle Aang, you know, back in our teaching-the-Avatar days.

Best,

Zuko”

He sat down and frowned at the piece of paper. It’s not that he wanted to hide things from her, or his friends. But it was almost embarrassing to write and send a letter describing his last weeks. It was a path of emotions he was unready to walk through. She would probably forget it in a couple of weeks anyway, and then he would be able to tell her everything.

“Dear Zuko,

Or should I say, Dear Fire Liar?

Even though I don’t have a lot of time in my hands, I still managed to get some information about your mysterious “business” trips. Sokka’s been of great help, for once, and a little bird told him that people from the Northern Water Tribe have spotted you in very weird places. But being honest, I still don’t know what is it that you’re hiding so hard. You got yourself an Ice Lady?

On another note, it’s very exciting to see both of the Nations exchanging goods and, you know, not trying to slit each other’s throats. I always wanted the war to end of course, but it was very hard to imagine a future so full of prosperity. It’s hard to grasp sometimes.

I hope I’m not getting overly emotional but it makes me think about my mom a lot. She never lived in a world without war in it, isn’t that fucked up? Some days I feel a strange guilt running through my body because I get to move on and she will always stay there. This seems like I’m getting all over the place. I don’t usually say this stuff to anybody, but I know you would get it. And today seems like a good day for letting it all out.

When I’m down, I like to think that she sees the world through the eyes of Sokka, or dad’s, or even mine. It’s silly, I know. But it makes me feel closer to her.

Well, enough about me. Tell me more about your trips, about your uncle’s new place. I’m dying to know. Maybe next time you should try doing business in the Southern Water Tribe and pay us a visit. We all miss you!

Hugs,

Katara”

Zuko took a long breath. No amount of tea would cure the unmeasurable shame that he felt reading Katara’s letter. He knew how empathetic she was, and how much he loved her family, and he could never forgive himself for what his family did to the world. Every day he looked at himself in the mirror and was reminded of a past he could never erase, his face became no longer his once his dad put his palm on it.

His sudden state made him forget about Katara’s little quest. He was not only full of shame but also full of passion to help others. Every reminiscent of the war also reminded him of the resilience of people during difficult times. And every time Katara changed the subject, Zuko needed to excruciatingly tell her how much her strength motivated him to be better. And after writing that letter, he decided it was time to invite her to the palace.

#atla #zutara #zutara fanfiction #zuko x katara #it's my first fanfic pls be kind :)#also i'm not a native english speaker so plsss forgive me if the dialogue sounds unnatural #or if the grammar feels off #FTL :)

22 notes · View notes