#fun fact: i always used male avatars

[chocochococoffee]

me from time to time: i miss this fucker

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

Zutarians adultifying Katara and thinking that's "empowerment" (and also outright lying) yet again: https://www.tumblr.com/longing-for-rain/760214836385824768/just-something-i-felt-you-should-know-about-five

The one and only thing I agreed is that at some point Katara is drawn with more, ahem, "developed" body. This started in Book 3, and... I honestly always concidered it to be the bad thing. Not because I'm a prude (although maybe I am), but because I thought the whole deal of main characters were that they are children. They are kids. Of course, a girl at fourteen can have curves - or not have it - the girls are all different, in the end, both of these cases are normal. But Katara is a drawn character, she looks the way the creators want her to look. And the thing that they drew her "pronounced breasts" and "wider hips" never sat right with me, it always irked me. It doesn't look empowering to me, it looks like sexualization, combined with the fact that in Book 3 she is always drawn with partly or completely loose hair, which is not good for battle at all, but looks more aestetically appealing (but that's only my point of view). I prefer her Book 1 and 2 designs any time.

What also irks me is zutarians obsession with "hot, sexy, horny yet naive Katara plus sexy experienced Zuko, the only man who can give her intense sexual pleasure she craves so much" idea. No wonder they cheer when Katara looks older and drool over her "revealing" Fire Nation outfit, it all aligns with their fantasies.

Also, the choise of proof screenshots is hilarious. Three of them are drawn by one studio, the top right one and the final one - by the other. "Wider" or "narrower" eyes are just the result of different drawing styles. For example - the same studio that pictured Katara as "honestly creepy, like a babydoll" draws her in the scenes with Zuko:

https://s3.us-west-1.wasabisys.com/cap-that.com/tv/avatar/109/images/avatar-the-last-airbender1x09_1138.jpg https://s3.us-west-1.wasabisys.com/cap-that.com/tv/avatar/220/images/avatar-the-last-airbender2x20_0904.jpg https://s3.us-west-1.wasabisys.com/cap-that.com/tv/avatar/321/images/avatar3x21_0391.jpg https://www.cap-that.com/avatar/321/index.php?image=avatar3x21_0413.jpg

The necklace scene, the catacombs, the battle against Azula. Same baby face with big eyes. And, dare I mention, in first two seasons her breasts are only slightly hinted at, which doesn't stop zutarians from sexualizing these scenes.

The lenghs they'll go to justify their sexual fantasies... Ew.

I'm gonna be real, Katara wasn't really sexualized by the show. I can only think of two scenes in which I got any kind of fanservice vibe from it (both included her bathing in a waterfall). People are just weird about girls, especially non-white girls, going through puberty, and zutarians in particular want to adultify Katara no matter what to go "See? She's too old for Aang, but not too young for Zuko, even though the age gap is the same!"

Acknowledging "Girls have breasts" is not the same as drawing her in a sexy way, much like not every scene of male characters firebending without shirts on was sexualization. The hair down also doesn't strike me as trying to make her look desirable, just a little bit older - the passage of time is not sexual.

For fucks sake, even a scene like Sokka clearly getting ready to "have fun" with Suki wasn't anything that would be inappropriate for children to see and it's just acknowledging the basic fact of "Sometimes teenagers wanna do more than kiss each other."

If you want to see the characters be sexualized, look at the Fire Nation teens, especially Ty Lee and Zuko - and I'm okay with that because they're not real teens. They're lines in a piece of paper. No minor is being exploited or put in an inappropriate situation, and considering Nickelodeon has a history of sexualizing REAL children in the live action shows, I just don't care that Avatar let Ty Lee wear a bikini or made Zuko attract a bunch of girls by dramatically taking off his shirt at the beach. They're not being harmed, just like no real child was harmed when Ozai disfigured his own son.

These characters age matters when it comes to understanding their reasonings and the ocasional "immature/naive" reaction, and nothing else. And once again, the show didn't really do anything too crazy.

[xviiper-rents-houses]

Avatar... way of the water..YANDERE? P2

Neytiri

I'm going with the premise that you are a human. It was when she saw you in the woods with Grace and Norm. She would have killed you if it weren't for Grace being there particularly. (I think that Neytiri had a connection with Grace, like teacher and student).

Anyways.. Neytiri grew curious about your behaviors. Her decision to not kill you led her to want to learn more about you. It was then, Neytiri decided she would go to the Sky People's base.

When approaching, Neytiri spied you doing your normal tasks. Something about you fascinated her. She just couldn't place it. Neytiri would probably stalk you for a long while before making any sort of contact. When she does make contact, though, it's probably in the case of an attack.

Neytiri in the newest movie was like: insane murder mode. She was unstable in that moment but determined. Dragging from that, I'd think Neytiri would take you as a hostage at first, pointing a knife to your neck. The rest is just history ✨ 💅😈

Jake Sully.

You probably met Jake on base. A cripple. "A meal on wheels." I could see Jake meeting you and you just ignoring the fact he is bound to his wheel chair.

When Jake got his avatar body, however, that's where I think things would get interesting. Perhaps you are doing one of your tasks and Jake just up and lifts you off the ground.

This would lead into spouts of arguments. Either teasing or genuinely irritated, whatever the case. You decide! (Perhaps I'll do some canons on how many Na'vi character likes to hold you? 👀).

When Jake left to go into the woods, you had a feeling something was off. You then learned he fell in love with the ways of the Na'vi.

Jake wanted you to share that bond as well. In the revolt against the humans, Jake Sully wanted you to stay by his side during this battle. To work together.

Spider.

My headcanon for Spider is rather interesting. I felt that we did not get enough of him in the movie though, I could be biased.

In any case, Spider strikes me as the extremely hard headed and protective yandere. Maybe Spider made you uncomfortable multiple times. Forcing you to go outside with him when you didn't want to. And you probably hurt yourself in those cases.

Spider would simply laugh at your misfortune, not aware you were genuinely wounded. It would most likely take him some time to recognize your pain. Then, he would feel extreme guilt.

Spider does care for you though. Deeply. He'll try to take you under his wing and teach you things he has learned. Spider wants you to see what he sees. Spider is fierce in his movements.

He knows what he wants and he thinks he knows what you need. There are times where he doesn't know, though. And that's where you come in. Your words fix anything he doesn't feel sure about.

Ao'noung

Like Spider, you were human when you met Ao'noung. The Na'vi always saw humans as weaker than his own kind. It was bad enough having the Sully kids around and Spider. Now, there is you?

My brain likes to think that Ao'noung personally hated you for a long time. This hatred turned into a sort of obsession when Ao'noung followed you around. I think he would do this because he wants you to know he's not leaving you alone. Making fun of your slow speed in the water.

Calling you names in Na'vi. Poking and prodding at you. If you weren't able to learn Na'vi, Ao'noung would take full advantage of this.

It's probably at a moment when you felt particularly upset when Ao'noung continued his usual antics. Perhaps flat out crying or growing extremely mad at him triggered something inside the male.

That's where I think to think he got used to the Sully kids and their odd fingers. Ao'noung would get used to you and try to make it up to you by being a lot nicer in the future.

Roxto

Now, we didn't get enough of this guy in the film but, I do have some small ideas. (Sorry if it's short, but if I let myself rant: I 👏 will 👏 RANT...p.s., lemme know if y'all want a big rant from me or not).

Roxto seems to be rather unsure of himself in the movie, usually following what the others do. Roxto needs the support and encouragement from others to feel like he belongs.

He was heard saying in the movie after Ao'noung saying: "He asked if you're a freak?" His tone sounded rather uncertain. So, that adds more curiosity to what type of yandere he could be. DEFINITELY the uncertain, unpredictable type.

Like, Roxto might feel major guilt for the stuff he does to you and whatever. Maybe he tries guilt tripping you into liking him? Perhaps your first interaction was of Roxto following along with Ao'noung's bullying.

But, maybe he didn't really like the idea of doing that to you. Maybe he wanted to learn so much from you before but did not get the chance to. So, in his own time, Roxto would maybe try to speak with you to learn more?

[torukmaktoskxawng]

Could we know some more stuff about Jocelyn or maybe some headcanons

YES

So, for those who don't know, in my tsamsiyu ta'em fic, my oc Kayla befriends a human, Jocelyn, and is later introduced to two Na'vi males who tend to stay close to the human female: Txe'la and Meui

(Above) Here they are in the scene where we're first truly introduced to Tuk at High Camp. Txe'la and Meui are not brothers but grew up together after they became orphans of war. Their families were killed when Hometree fell.

While Txe'la is easily more gentle and kind, Meui is respectable but stern. Jocelyn is a healthy mixture of both, and in my fic, Kayla sees how well the three of them complement each other.

Jocelyn is a biotech and, therefore is very knowledgeable, her specialties expanding between medical training, technology, and Pandoran botany. She speaks fluent Na'vi and is always excited to take samples of whatever plant Txe'la and Meui bring back from their travels.

(Below) Jocelyn again, attending to the Avatar many fans said looks like Neteyam:

(Below) Here are all of Jocelyn's scenes compiled together. All thirteen seconds worth 😂

We know absolutely nothing about all these characters (other avatars and human allies) and I consider that a crime, so I've woven my own story about them. Here's another little fun fact I've written regarding Jocelyn:

When Jake sees Kayla for the first time in months, he notices her avatar's nails are painted a coffee-brown color, and later we learn that it was actually Jocelyn who painted Kayla's nails. She apparently has a secret stash hidden somewhere, but it's gotten less secret as she's been found painting other avatars AND Na'vi nails. I headcanon that she likes the nail polish because it reminds her of Earth, something she misses but knows she wouldn't ever go back to. She uses the nail polish as a reminder.

Jocelyn is played by Jocelyn Christian:

Jocelyn is credited as "Bio Lab Tech" in IMDB, but when you watch the movie with CC, it uses her name, so I stuck with it.

I wanted to give some of these unnamed humans and avatars a story, so I gave Jocelyn one, and it ended up turning into another polyamorous pairing (Jocelyn/Txe'la/Meui) that hinted at what was to come between Kayla, Tonowari, and Ronal later on in the fic.

I've debated whether or not to give Jocelyn her own fic and focus on her relationship with "her two Na'vi boyfriends" as Kayla once boldly stated, but I haven't started mainly because I have way too many WIP, not to mention the fic Jocelyn originated from 😂

Thank you so much for your question!

[tacticalhimbo]

CYBERPUNK 2077 NEW YEAR'S EXCHANGE

— Male V / Kerry Eurodyne —

WORDS: 1.1k

FANDOM(S): Cyberpunk 2077

WARNINGS: Mentions of Robbery / Break In, Casual Drinking

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Heya choom @wingedhorrors ! I've been paired with ya for this year's Cyberpunk 2077 NYExchange ( @cp77nyexchange ).

I absolutely adored learning about your V and his shenanigans (we live for chaos), and had so much fun tackling a little somethin' something with him and Kerry <3

Let me know if you’d like a more permanent copy of this, too! I’m always happy to provide a PDF version of the writings I do!

Under a cut for length!

The sound of the holo ringing (again) was one of the last things Kerry needed to hear today. Honestly. The deals he'd been busting his ass over have gone to Hell and back. All that bouncing between studios and offices and for what? Oh, some shattered glass and some shutterbugs digging through his trash. The confrontation wasn't even the worst part of it, honestly. They'd frozen at the sight of THE Kerry Eurodyne, and it was easy enough to keep their attention until some badges rolled up and took them in. No, it was dealing with the media shit storm that came after the fact.

Exhausted face plastered all over the screens. Lights upon lights outside his home, shining in on him as he danced around the team of investigators and the cleanup crew. Constant interruptions asking if he was okay, if he was hurt, if he wants to have NCPD patrols stay behind, if he wants to press charges, if he wants—

Did anybody really give a damn what he wanted? No. So he rolled with it. Downplayed it as much as he could. Just some gonk looking to earn a few quick bucks by selling whatever their paws could latch onto. Musical memorabilia. Discarded garments. The fucking hair from his brush, if they were that desperate. And at the end of the day, he just wanted to drink himself to sleep and forget it all happened; hope to satiate the gnawing void in his gut. But the avatar that appeared in his peripheral was more than enough to bring up his mood and motivate him to answer.

"Heyy, V, what's up? Well, besides dyein' your hair again." Kerry couldn't help the low laugh that'd escaped him. It wasn't malicious by any means. "Looks good. Say, wanna come over and grab a drink? Could use the company."

"How can I say no?" A coy grin. "Be a little bit before I get there. Had to take care of some things out of town… You know how it is."

Kerry nodded along. He'd never made the trip himself, but he could always tell when V was out in the Badlands. The subtle static of the call. The obscured scenery. It'd be at least eighty 'til he made it all the way up to Villa Eurodyne. "See ya soon."

The silence that followed the end of their quick conversation was… uncomfortable. Tense, in a weird way. They'd met up like this a thousand times over but, that edge from earlier did little to smooth over. With all the time he'd had, Kerry figured he may as well get a head start and see where things went. And that's exactly what he did, floating toward the rich supply of booze and liquors he'd curated over the years. Gifts from others in the industry, personal purchases, remnants of brands who'd dove out of business with the increasingly cutthroat competition in the city… Huh. Sounded familiar enough. He guessed that's why his hand settled on a nice bottle of aged tequila. Why he'd dug through the collection of bottles for Angostura bitters, stirred in just enough agave nectar, and sprinkled a pinch of chili peppers atop the concoction.

Familiarity in failure; now that was comfort.

Time blurred as the rocker boy absentmindedly found himself a spot on the elegant couch, feet kicked up on the coffee table beside the goods as he downed one, two, three and more. Many drinks and many minutes passed him by, and right as he felt that familiar buzz tickling at his old bones, he heard the rough rumbling of Douglas.

"Door's open!" There was strain in his voice, syllables only just crawling from his throat as he sat up to pour a shot into the spare glass he'd set aside for V. "Oh, and uh—Don't—Don't mind the crime tape. Not my fault this time, promise."

"Yeah, heard something about a break-in on the radio. You good?" The nomad plopped himself onto the couch right next to Kerry, letting the light highlight the rich blue hue of his hair… and the vibrant colors of his jacket.

Kerry gave the outfit a curious glance over.

"Cheesy to say it, but think you're the brightest thing I've seen all day, V. Literally. Any inspirations for the vibe or…?"

"Nah, just going with the flow." Proud eyes peeked over the visor of his glasses. His gaze softened a bit, concern glossing over his eyes even as a sly hand reached for the shot. "But seriously, though, everything okay after the whole thing? Like, you were literally home when it happened."

Kerry briefly paused his own pour. "V, it's chill. You'd be the first to know if it wasn't."

"Uh-huh." A pause to kick back the liquor. "Well, if anything happens—"

"Call you, I know." A nod, and the tilt of his head to join his companion in drinking. "It's all settled, really. Fuckin' amateur this guy was. I mean, who the hell pulls a stunt like this and doesn't hide their face?"

V laughed. "Us? Remember when we met up to ambush that one transport? Who was it for… Oh yea, Us Cracks. You literally just wore a hat and called it a day. At least I tried to keep myself out of sight."

"Well—Come on, the hat did work. Sorta. Besides, your running was more than enough to keep us off any surveillance. And get everything done clean." Kerry couldn't help but laugh himself, shaking his head as he sunk back into the cushion.

A languid arm came to drape over his eyes, shielding his gaze from the light. Golden cyberware glistened beneath the overhead, accentuating the soft flesh between it. Bringing attention to the subtle hairs that needed a good shave. For a moment, he looked properly relaxed. At peace with the circumstances surrounding him, damned be the fact it'd all start over tomorrow morning when the sun rose past the horizon. For now? Such a concept was one of the last things on Kerry's mind.

Especially as he felt V sit back and nestle into the empty space beside him.

"Comfy?" A curious eye peeked open, an arm coming to rest upon the merc's shoulders and coax him closer.

"Hmm…"

The faint smell of dye lingering beneath Kerry's nose. The feeling of V's head upon his chest, shot glass in hand, as the distance was closed. The gentle, passionate connecting of their lips. A gentle hum as they settled against one another. The sounds of the city seemed to drown beneath the comforting blanket of affection that came over them. To be silenced by the sound of their still beating hearts. An equally silent reminder for the two of them that at the end of the day, they were both alive. Both safe.

And that was more than enough.

"Now I am." V smiled. Kerry smiled back.

[pastel-tyranny]

Wanna be a Fashionista?: My opinions on Fashion Dreamer

Long post of my thoughts, follow my Fashion Dreamer showcase: Dyxyg5yr36

I’ll say it right here right now, this game has a chokehold on me as soon as I opened up the main menu. The gameplay loop is very addicting. But before I dive into my many praises I have to talk about some of my gripes with this game.

First of all the lack of clarity; it’s good that they have the button prompts on the screen because oh lord it’s very confusing when you first start out. It’s no wonder the first quarter of the game is a tutorial! I mean yes there are useful tips are there in the tip menu, but some things need to be written out directly. Especially when it comes down to Online Events such as the current (as of right now) Fantasy Butterfly Fairy event. I had to get help from a few other players and online video guides just to make heads or tails for some of the mission prompts. I have a few family and friends who either have the game or are in the process of wanting to get it, I think a consecutive written guide needs to be created so I don’t have to explain for the billionth time to ‘press plus then X’ and so on. (Pro tip: Once you reach platinum rank, the credits roll and take a very long time. Afterward you unlock the final cocoon.)

The next con is a bit of a personal one, the lack of fashion item variety and makeup limitations. The irony of this one I know, but items such as gloves, necklaces, leg warmers, bracelets, suspenders, and inners are relegated to specific shirts, one pieces and shoes. As of writing this there are no; jumpsuits with long pants, cat ears, traditional tiaras, and long mermaid / ball gowns. And ironically a lack of male fashion too. While yes, we get to play as a guy there is the fact some of the girls outfits don’t carry over to the guys. There’s a tee shirt from the Type A body that I really like and think would look perfect for the Type B body and vice versa with pairs of shoes or one pieces. Makeup isn’t as detailed to work with, they’re mostly relegated to prompts instead of picking blush, eye shadow, and eyeliner separately. The length of eyelashes are also regelated solely to the eye shape you picked and are only customized by color.

My final gripe is a smaller one in comparison is lag hiccups. When walking around the different cocoons with a gazillion downloaded items can cause gameplay optimization to stutter a snails pace both online and during Solo Mode. Even if it’s as short as 3 seconds or a “Loading Please Wait” prompt while running around can occur. It’s just a small issue so hopefully down the line, the devs will fix that with an update. I understand there are limitations to the game as a whole but that still doesn’t deter me from playing. Now for the major positives.

The fact you can walk around and play as a male avatar! I am beyond happy, it’s everything I’ve hoped for. Not only can you put lipstick prompts and different color eye shadow, but you can use some of the more feminine looking hair styles on the more masculine looking models is truly amazing! Same goes with facial hair on feminine models the option you can do that alone is spectacular! Both models can share hats, earrings, and glasses too! The clothing designs themselves are whimsical, fun, cute, and cool! And knowing that they could drop new online events in the future with new outfits are always something to look forward to. Another thing I have to praise is the amount of inclusivity we have at the start of the game with afro hair textures, facial features, and darker skin tones. It just goes to show how far we’ve come and I hope that the devs can push that further in future updates and installments.

The ability to have as many clothes as you want without storage limitations is always major plus! Currency being relegated to just creating clothes makes sense to me. Yes it’s gacha based when it comes to getting rare patterns, however simply pressing the ‘like’ button on someone’s avatar can give you the clothes they’re wearing is very helpful. Especially during online mode when other people and clothes on the pop up boards have rare items. And people online can send you cute outfits, even while your switch is in sleep mode! This also applies to the show rooms, it’s great to see new clothes and furniture people get. I also like that this is a game solely deticated to walking around instead of jumping through menus like some other fashion games I know. I am also in love with the fact you can take pictures anywhere, the scenery in some of these maps are a sight to behold! Taking pictures in the photo eggs are fun, especially since you have a nice variety of stickers, filters, and a line of focus to fiddle with along with poses and held items. And finally I think the best part about this game for me is the many muses to see and meet. Whether they are a player or NPC, there’s no shortage of possibilities when it comes to the many choices of fashion. It gives me so much inspiration, and since you can make multiple characters (4 total) you can relegate specific styles to each muse! (Or at least that’s what I did, lol)

Now to address the big elephant in the room, does this hold up as the spiritual successor to the Style Savvy / Style Boutique / Girls Mode games? In some ways, absolutely. If you want to collect / make clothes, design your own custom avatar, and see things other people make then you gotta get the game! However the core of Style Savvy is its lovable cast of NPCs and story set in the world of fashion. And while none of the NPCs you meet have a large narrative to tell, there are a few to me that stick out and I love dearly, even if they’re one dimensional. I let the headcanons fester and make the rules up as I go. The only major goal is to reach Master Rank and get your brand up to the highest level. I heard rumors through the grape vine that a fashion show mode could potentially be added? But that’s pure speculation as of writing this.

So my final overall thoughts; as I said in the beginning of this post, the game has a chokehold on me. It’s fun, entertaining, and full of passion for fashion from the dev team that brought us Style Savvy. It scratches an itch I’ve had since the last Style Savvy game. And while it has its ups and downs, I personally think this is a pretty solid game for the average fashion sim enjoyer outside of the gameplay troubles. Thanks for reading all the way through and if you want to follow my showcase, the code is on the top of this post! :3

(Just for making it this far, I made a promise post that I would make a fashion dreamer version of Dominic from Style Savvy so I’m reposting the pics here again.)

[neteyamstiyawn]

Introducing another one of my oc’s, Val’ryn!

She is the older sister of Moeanri and daughter to Olo’eyktan Noe’rataen of the Ash clan called the Txepìvan’ta. She is the only girl in the all male clan, much like my other oc, Ateyo, is the only boy in my all female clan.

Unlike most children, Val’ryn hated making friends. At a young age, and even now, she prefers to be alone. All the kids in her clan would attempt to be friends with her, to make her feel welcome in a home she didn’t belong in, but she ignored their hospitality.

Val’ryn was only focused on getting attention from her Dad. She knew her Dad hated her because she was a girl; she was supposed to be a boy, so when Noe’rataen found Moeanri in the Dead Forest without any family, he immediately took him in as his own. Val’ryn always hated how her Dad never payed attention to her, but instead payed attention to the child that wasn’t even his.

That’s the sole reason she likes to be alone because she fears everyone else will soon see her the way her Dad does. A mistake, or as he likes to call it: ‘A misconception from Rapule.’ Although she knows how much her Dad hates her, she still tries her best to impress him and make him proud.

As she’s gotten older, she’s started to win her Dad over more and more. From her excellent skills as a warrior and hunter, to her dedication with anything she does. He’s started to notice how he’s treated his daughter unfairly— he still doesn’t really like her, but he knows she’d be useful in a war, if that were to ever approach them.

Although she despises the attention her brother gets, she still loves him. Her and Moeanri are very close; she’s very protective over her brother. She’s gotten into many fights with boys in her clan because they’d pick on him for dating a boy from the neighboring. Val’ryn does hate her brothers boyfriend, but she’ll still defend their relationship.

Fun fact(s): Val’ryn loves the Sky People that crash landed on her island. She tries her best to learn whatever she can from them to better her relationship with her Dad. If her brother of Dad can’t find her, she’s most likely in the makeshift labs that the humans live in. She also has an unusual interest in psychology, wanting to know how Na’vi minds and behavior differ from humans on a deeper level.

(I'm currently working on a story for my oc's. It will be my take on Avatar 3. I had this idea right after James Cameron announced there would be Ash People. I'm still undecided if I want the story to be on here or Wattpad.)

Tags: @xylobee @thetigrou78 @xxunnie @maoare @xylianasblog @kriss-w // Tagging all my followers because I appreciate you guys.

[phantom-miria]

Omg, yes i agree with everthing you said! I really don't necessary think that most people hate on f!robin just because they're misogynistic, they're most likely just other queer people that are feeling "vindacted" that IS finally acknowledging m!chrobin (and like, I get it! IS has a horrible track when it comes to mlm rep, the fact that m!chrobin isn't a thing in canon and the way they handled the queer male options in 3H is super annoying so I do sympathise with them a lot!) I just wish they wouldn't discount their hatred on her? IS bullshit and homophobia is not her fault?

And yeah, we have this amazing high fantasy world full of dragons, magic and trime travel but queer people having a child is where people draw the line? And why do they feel the need to go on posts of people having fun to remind them that "it's not canon"? I swear that those people love to do that with queer ships, is so annoying. I had this terrible experience recently with some f!chrobin shippers and idk I just felt like they were disgusted at the ideia of Chrom being bi from the way they talked, I hated so much.

Anyway, I'm really sorry for the rant and for reminding you of all the fandom bullshit that you were trying to ignore. I'm just so tired of all of this and I feel like no matter what I say about this anywhere else, I will get called of something bad. You felt like a person that would understand where i was coming from and you did, thank you for your time and understanding! Have a good day/night.

I definitely agree - I see how we got here, and I have sympathy, but a lot of it dries up the longer I'm in fandom and I get worn down by people swerving all over the place to take it out on F!Robin or people who did enjoy what we got in canon, I think. And there's also been a weird narrative about her being favored, which I think is extremely untrue if you look at the history of their inclusion in Smash and the trailer, then the amiibo, then the Fates cameo, then Warriors, etc etc. He always gets the lion's share in crossover content and it's really fucking depressing to people who like her!

FEH was the only spot she really had anything "over" him (and even then it was uneven, with him being available at launch with a summoning movie while she was relegated to grail unit added later) and now after an admittedly big wait his legendary here, with a bunch of shippy hints and getting to be himself in his legendary, plus he got the duo I'd give my eyeteeth to have her in, etc. I really think he was always doing fine as far as official rep, and Engage DLC just came along to confirm the same old pattern of "when only one is picked for representing the character in a crossover, it's him". Officially he has historically done well outside of giving nods to shippinness with Chrom, so I think it is both great and understandable that people are so excited about it now. Of course it feels vindicating! But I don't see the reason to sneer at other fans for what they enjoy or their hopes or personal disappointment about a female avatar not being allowed to officially rep the character, lol.

I really can't understand why people see those fans celebrating and decide they have to ruin it. As if those fans aren't already accutely aware of the fact that it isn't canon in the original game. As if that isn't the reason they're so happy in the first place? It is truly such an unwarranted dick move.

I'm really sorry to hear about that recent experience, anon! I love bi Chrom with all my heart - unfortunately I don't talk about it so much because I am an OTPer who's ended up unfathomably annoyed about the male player character, so I only really end up engaging with ship content for him with a female character most of the time, and so functionally the fact that I headcanon him bi ends up not coming up super often. But I love that idea and am extremely attached to it. There are dozens of us! Dozens!! Especially as a queer woman. It's important to me that they are both bi in my head.

I'm unfortunately not surprised to hear that people reacted with disgust - I remember that from my days in DA fandom :( but it never gets easier. It just makes it feel like there's no real place, because the people who like the version you do suck, but if you don't like the other version as much and those people think you suck for liking the one you do, it's just kind of well...here I am, then. Lol.

No need to apologize, anon, I like talking about this kind of thing! I think I'm just worried that I've been spending too much time doing so recently and my friends are going to be absolutely sick of it, lol. And realistically it is better for me to spend less brainspace on people in fandom being shitty, probably? But I think it's good for you to hear that other people in fandom feel the same way and have problems with a lot of different corners, like you do. I hope you have a good night too! There are people out here who just want to ship and have a good time. It's not all bullshit, even if it feels like it sometimes, or even if you end up focusing on it a lot like me. <3

[firedragon1321]

Context- I'm experimenting with a trans male protag but he's like eleven. And I accidentally drew him older and I like that design too. Which means double the research for my stupid cis ass on how to draw him wheeeeeeeee. I will use Tumblr as always.

(Fun fact- my avatar is a fusion between Pikachu and Patamon I made at age 12)

(Also fun fact- Anyone who says shit about me making the character 11 gets blocked! :) )

[dinosaurtsukki]

haikyuu!! as genshin impact players

a/n: currently obsessed with genshin impact so i decided to merge it with my love for haikyuu!! this was honestly so much fun to write and i hope you guys like it !!

Hinata: he’s the one who always asks for help in the group chat when fighting bosses as well as the dragonspine quests. super thankful when you help him but you just have to be patient with him jumping and accidentally pressing ‘attack’ when gliding’

Kageyama: honestly thought that collecting all the anemoculi was the first objective so he went out and found EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM. loves to flex his stamina at hinata by jumping up cliffs

Tsukishima: RIP most of his characters are hydro users so he has to visit the oceanid twice every day all like 'hey, fucker. it's me again'. someone please give him fischl. hides the fact that he failed the gliding exams about twenty times

Yamaguchi: wanted xiao so bad he made 150 pcs. of almond tofu and a summoning circle in his room before wishing for him on top of wangshu inn. cried tears of joy when he got him 

Ennoshita: super intellectual player. takes the time to calculate the stats on weapons, artifacts, and talents before enhancing them. likes using archers to spam long-distance attacks

Tanaka: in it for the WAIFUS. wants mihoyo to add a trade character feature so that he could trade his male characters and have an army of waifus. currently saving up primogems for hu tao

Noya: BENNET MAIN !! ceo of bennett supremacy basically and loves watching his ‘bouken da bouken!’ idle animation. adamantly believes that he should be a five-star character

Daichi: wasn’t that invested in playing until he got albedo as his first five-star character because he loves the guy so much. loves bringing him when he does co-op and when the other player thanks him for the ‘albedovators’ 

Sugawara: klee main because he loves how chaotic she is. like, he’ll literally use her to kill fish in the springvale lake and timmie’s birds. he’ll use his elemental burst for destroying the training dummies for ellin’s commission

Asahi: even though he has five-star characters, he still likes using the starter team because they feel like his family. explicitly uses amber and kaeya a lot just to prove the haters wrong

Oikawa: venti main because he relates to him on a spiritual level and actually cried during his story quest. also emotionally invested in the NPC quests and actually felt bad about not finding joel’s dad

Iwaizumi: has the WORST luck when it comes to gacha rolls. always gets a five-star on like, roll 80 and when he does, he always gets the non-banner one first. doesn’t know the diff between crit rate and crit damage and is too afraid to ask at this point

Hanamaki: fucking kills timmie's birds for FUN. also does livestreams of him walking from mondstadt to liyue or farming as many pieces of meat he can in a day (the most was 1126). calls the primo geovishap ‘rock daddy’ 

Matsukawa: believes in traveler supremacy and invests in leveling them up, no matter what anyone says about them being a support. ‘y’all are going to wish you leveled them up when traveler becomes the avatar’ he says

Ushijima: very much an explorer kind of guy and takes the time to forage everything he sees. also cooks a lot and has 288 sweet madame even though he doesn't really need it

Tendou: actually enjoys being in dragonspine because he likes the thrill of freezing to death and the aesthetics. farms so much frozen meat because he can. lets ushijima co-op in his world to farm stuff

Semi: used up his fragile resin early in the game and now that he's at ar40 he has Regrets. yells a lot when he plays but that’s whenever he accidentally presses ‘climb’ instead of attack

Shirabu: someone told him that sucrose shouldn't be used as a main and now he's doing that out of spite. actually likes his team comps to be full of supports for the #supportsupremacy

Goshiki: he has such a hard time with boss fights but he's too proud to ask for help. knowing that, his senpais just show up in his world and ask if they could farm there to help him out

Kuroo: collects husbandos and co-op's in other players' worlds while role-playing as that husbando. he's gotten very popular because of this and is known as ‘the legendary co-op player’ 

Kenma: an amazing player, as you’d expect. he got to ar40 in probs two weeks and started livestreaming his plays. an absolute king at clearing abyss levels and showing off those satisfying elemental reactions

Yaku: WHAAAAAALE. you can tell by the fact that he always has the battle pass weapons and so many primogems. definitely a collector who tries to get all playable characters 

Lev: very chaotic player and accidentally walked all the way to liyue at ar10 while running away and dodging monsters. SOMEHOW managed to defeat boss childe without revival materials and by spamming noelle

Bokuto: has the best luck in gacha rolls, opposite to iwaizumi. he showed akaashi a pic of his first 10-wish roll (feat. qiqi, mona, and fischl) and was all ‘is this a good roll?’ 

Akaashi: great at building characters so he shares his knowledge by making videos on optimal character builds and team comps. explains things super well and everyone loves watching his stuff

Atsumu: likes to turn up the volume on his headphones and making lisa climb a really high cliff if you know what i mean. also desperately tried to roll for ganyu and spent all his primogems but got diluc instead 

Osamu: likes to spam genshin fan pages with dumb theories like ‘joel’s dad is the missing cryo yaksha’ or ‘madame ping is going to be on the next character banner.’ has a soft spot for barbara though

Suna: he’s often falling off cliffs trying to farm violetgrass but he does it out of love for qiqi. shows off himself using qiqi as main dps when someone says she’s just a support because he can

Kita: his signature literally says ‘come to my world if you want to farm’. his map is full of landmarks for ascension materials and will even help you find them. in charge of bringing a healer when you guys fight bosses

Sakusa: loves doing photoshoots with his characters, especially capturing stills of their elemental bursts. his fave character is ningguang because of beautiful and photogenic she is (even has the yellow seelie to match her)

▸ 🎕 ┈┈┈┈ 🎕 ┈┈┈┈ 🎕 ┈┈┈┈ 🎕 ┈┈┈┈ 🎕 ◂

taglist (check out my post for details on being part of my taglist):@montys-chaos​ @miyumtwins​ @strawberriimilkshake​ @pocubo​ @sugawara-sweetheart @akaashisbabydoll @laure-chan​ @therainroguefanfiction​ @atetiffdoesart @stephdaninja @oikaw-ugh​ @charliefredb​ @dramaqueenweeb1469 @tremblinghearts @applepienation @kirakirasaku @haikyuu-my-love @waitforitillwritemywayout @kattykurr @atsumusdomain​ @goodfoodxoxoxo​ @ah-kaashi​ @guardianangelswings @definitely-yours @amberalisa @whootwhoot​ @liz-multifandom-hotel @kac-chowsballs​ @procrastination-lady @miyakiyo0mi

[k-dokja]

friends to lovers but the setters are suffering / kozume kenma

“Oh yeah, this is going to be a short little cute thing, I can make it for multiple setters,” I said before promptly splitting the original post split into three. Next up is either Kageyama or Oikawa.

Kenma has mainly online friends, a knowledge not many people possess because of his tiny circle of friends in real life. This, coincidentally, leads to his eventual friendship with you when the two of you match up during a fight thanks to mutual friend's introduction.

— After seeing how well the two of you work with each other in the game, Kenma has surprised himself by going out of his way to invite you to play with him again. Then you invite him the next time to return the courtesy. It goes back and forth like that for a month until it just becomes everyday routine that you play together.

— Kuroo always teases Kenma for having an “online girlfriend” with how often the younger boy played with you. With time, he learns how to tune out Kuroo teasing. Although, he is surprised to learn your identity after that—to find Kuroo isn't that far from the truth.

— You only trust Kenma to tell him after you've been friends for a while. It's easier to let others think you're a guy online because of the harassment a female gamer would face. This also explains why you hesitate to use voice chat often, and whenever you do, there is always some female voice mixed in the chat. “You” back then explained it was “your” girlfriend, in reality, it was you all along and the male voice was a close friend helping you out.

— Kenma is understanding, of course, but he briefly gets a war flashback of all the time Kuroo picked a female avatar to play so he'd get helped and carried by other male players. Every time that happens, Kenma has a mild headache but learns to put up with it anyway. Discovering the truth doesn't change the dynamic of your friendship. In fact, he feels touched you trust him enough to share.

— Cue Kuroo finding out when he plays with the two of you the first time and Kuroo being Kuroo, going “so this is the infamous girlfriend?” which flusters Kenma terribly. Kenma rushes to tell you that he did not tell Kuroo about what you shared, and he did not say you are his girlfriend. He should've warned you about Kuroo beforehand but the older boy popped up without a warning.

— Once the misunderstanding is cleared, Kuroo is pleasantly surprised by the fact he was at least right about one thing. To your relief, he's also pretty cool about the fact but understand your need for discretion. He is doing the same thing, although his reasoning for it is... far less altruistic.

— After a while of playing with each other, the three of you settle into a rhythm, openly talking on the voice chat within your own team. It would have been pretty fun if the current dilemma Kenma has at hand stops bothering him. The hulking male warrior in his party is a girl, and the sultry female assassin in his party is a guy. Kenma wants to have normal friends for once.

— Kuroo more or less pokes fun Kenma again afterwards for the incident, but he is glad Kenma has a friend whose opinion he holds highly. The older boy can see that Kenma cares for you deeply and wonders out loud he might have been right about not one thing, but two after all. Kenma is thoroughly confused but has no interest in pushing further when he has another boss to fight with you now that Kuroo is no longer there to third-wheel like a nosy aunt.

— The game closes down near the end of your middle school year once it milks out all the contents of the extra storyline. As sad as the two of you were, you came to realize there is nothing stopping you both from playing with each other even without that game. Not when there are so many other aspects of your lives intertwined despite him never meeting you. The two of you spend a week jumping from game to game, testing out which one would mesh well with your tastes and playing styles.

— Eventually, you settle on a promising new game with interesting gameplay and customization. What's more, there is an event for marriage between player characters ongoing when you joined. You and Kenma came to the conclusion that the bonuses were interesting enough to go through the bother of the virtual wedding and marriage. Whether you play as male or female avatar this time, Kenma doesn’t mind contrasting you. As long as the caster classes are interesting, you don’t think he is too picky about it. 

— It doesn't really click to him at first, but when you jokingly call him husband in game, his face turns red before he chokes on his drink. After assuring you that he's fine with that, you continue your little joke while Kenma ignores how the tip of his ears grow hot until he gets used to it. Either way, even with this new “upgrade” of your relationship, the two of you never met in real life or saw each other’s faces. Kenma is shy by nature and you don’t want to do anything that make him feel pressured into doing the same.

— His tongue would burn to admit it was courting, but there is noticeable changes in his behaviour towards you. Changes he didn't even realize. They took the forms of him sending you materials you needed for weapons upgrade, helping you with missions whenever possible, staying up all night to do raids with you. Several times of “Five more minutes” eventually snowballed into playing to the morning and left him half-asleep during his school hours.

— The two of you manage to figure out a healthy schedule to play without staying up all night. However, once he enters the bed and opens his phone to email you, the old routine repeats again. After seeing this going on for days, Kuroo can't help himself but intervening, if only on Kenma's behalf.

— “Kenma, just because you have a big phat crush, doesn't mean you can neglect your health for a scrap of attention—”

“I have a what.”

— Denial. Denial. Denial. So much denial. He'd make a point to Kuroo that he does not have feelings for you by trying to ignore you but he soon misses you and realizes how childish it is. Proving that he's every bit standoffish and unfeeling is not worth making you upset at all. 

— Your friendship far outweighs these silly prides. The most rational step for him to take was telling you about his feelings to get it out of the way. How he sees it is that there is nothing to lose by being honest to you about it. So what if he has to come to terms with his growing attraction for you? No matter how your own feeling turns to be, he knows you care for him enough to not break his heart.

— Take days to muster up the courage to tell you how he feels, then suddenly blurt it out when the you are joking about something. Your laughter has his heart skipped a beat and it slips out before he can realize what happened. It’d have been a normal compliment has it not for how flustered he acts afterwards. You catch on quickly that there was hidden meaning underneath his compliments, and after he calms down, you ask him to go on the phone with you to talk this out because it wouldn’t be proper to talk about this through text.

— Screams into his pillow after the call no matter the outcome. Whether you have accepted him or turned him down gently, the intensity of the events made Kenma decided that he should turn in early for the night and let the dust settle. Either way, he knows there’s a particularly nosy friend of his that’d want to learn about this little situation. But he will deal with that tomorrow.

[vickyvicarious]

do u have any atla fic recs? all time faves? can be shippy or not

Fun fact, I am incapable of holding back on reclists. In other words: brace yourself, anon. There’s a reason I put most of this behind a cut.

First off, these are almost all Zuko-centric, because I shamelessly play favorites. I’ll sort them by author rec, gen, shippy, and then by other characters because honestly the numbers break down well that way. Within those categories it’ll be more just as I think of it, so no special meaning to the order. I’m not always good about bookmarking even my faves, so some excellent stuff will no doubt be missing, especially since I haven’t read a lot of the more recent stuff yet/forgot some really old stuff, but this will definitely still give you plenty of fic to enjoy.

There’s a good number of FFN links on here so apologies to people who dislike it, but a lot of great stuff is still on there so give it a chance.

Author recs

Everything by @awesomeavocadolove​​  Such hits as Another Brother (Zuko adopted by Hakoda pre-S1), and currently has a Zukka soulmate fic I’ve been meaning to start reading, as well as Unchained Melody, one of my favorite Zukka fics ever. Always quality, you can’t go wrong.

Everything by KimberlyT.  I do not kid. She’s written a variety of ATLA fic ranging from Zutara/other romance to gen, seriously emotional to cracky cabbagebending. I think my favorite is probably Mismatched (S1 Zuko adopts a baby) but honestly just go read it all.

Everything by @emletish-fish​​. She has a very fun writing style and honestly her end-of-chapter notes on why she’s made the choices she has are fun minimetas worthwhile in their own right. Some of her top fics are the Stalking Zuko series (S3 suspicious Katara to Zutara) and The Worst Prisoner (the Gaang kidnaps Zuko in S1 and can’t get rid of him). I think there’s still a good amount of her fic that can only be found on FFN so check there too.

Everything by @botherkupo​​. Especially her Undying Fire series (healer!Zuko) but also just literally everything she writes, it is all so great. Tends toward Zutara but strong gen fics as well sometimes and a lot of fun. Check it all out!

Everything by @muffinlance​​. Loves to toy with her readers’ emotions in the best of ways. Tons of fantastic gen Zuko-centric AUs, I have adored every single fic I’ve ever read by her, can’t praise them enough. Very productive as well, her tumblr is a hub for the ATLA renaissance and her fics inspire lots of others. Has also organized a fanmade ATLA coloring book for charity so get that once it’s out. In the meantime read everything she’s written.

Everything by Haicrescendo. My favorite is What We’re Given (the series where Zuko finds more air bisons and raises them), but there’s a lot of good Zukka fic too. I tend to steer away from explicit works in this fandom unless it’s a smaller part of a much longer plot-centric fic, so there are a number I haven’t read, but I really like the Pokemon!AU Zukka.

Everything by @gaycinema. I really love the EK fight club series (Zuko fights in Rumbles/etc.) but all of it is a good read. Some Jetko, mostly a lot of introspective or emotional oneshots. Which isn’t really a great depiction of how good they tend to be, you’ll just have to read them and find out. You won’t regret it, trust me.

Everything by @captainkirkk. So far eight stellar fics, starting with kind Fire Lord Zuko and ranging to Floating Tea Shop!Zuko who doesn’t want to hunt the Avatar. I love her style and have laughed out loud at multiple of these. 

Gen Zuko fic

Bringing Out the Blue by maguena1. [unfinished, long] Definitely worth the read. The first ATLA fic I ever got really sucked into. The Blue Spirit never gets knocked out so Aang doesn’t know his true identity; he joins the Gaang on a recurring basis, while Zuko attempts to tell himself this is only for information on how to catch them, they definitely aren’t his friends.

It’s Impossible by Sandra Phillips. [abandoned, long] One of the earliest Avatar!Zuko fics (sort of) and a really interesting take on some spirit stuff.

Embers by Vathara. [complete, long] A landmark fic in the fandom, and for good reason. I didn’t love everything about this fic, but it is very well-written and an absorbing read certainly worth the praise. 

the art of description by incandescens. [oneshot, short] Five descriptions of Zuko and Toph’s field trip from various perspectives. Short, sweet, and funny.

Breaking Point by Kryal. [oneshot, short] Zuko isn’t banished but instead sent to serve in the Home Guard. I love Zuko loving his people, and alternate canon explorations, and this is exactly that.

The Alternative by Lunatique. [oneshot, short] The reason Zuko is so determined is because he fears what will happen if he isn’t the next Fire Lord. An idea I support in canon, to a degree, written well.

Hands and Knees by gigerisgod. [oneshot, short] Zuko reflects on the choices he’s made, and experiences he’s had, when joining the Gaang. A nice introspective fic.

Relative Misery by peroxidepest17. [oneshot, short] Toph complains about her family and Zuko takes her on a field trip. Not a fic I take too seriously, but funny in a sad way.

Second Nature by lazyartisan. [possibly abandoned, long] An AU stemming from Zuko’s capture at the North Pole. Well-written and characterized, an old favorite that I actually find needing to reread to give you more detail, but I can promise it’s good.

Year One by peroxidepest17. [oneshot, short] Lessons Zuko learns in his first year being Fire Lord. I really like explorations of Zuko’s journey as Fire Lord and this is a lovely little window into that.

Soft by PenPistola. [oneshot, short] Zuko and Toph bonding after the Ember Island Players. Short and sweet.

The New Phoenix King by JoeMerl. [oneshot, short] Fire Lord Zuko is overthrown, and no one but him is bothered at all. In fact they help. Hilarious crack.

First Name Basis by JoeMerl. [oneshot, short] There’s some popular posts going around Tumblr lately about Zuko not knowing the Gaang’s names, but this fic did it first back in 2008. As amusing as you’d expect.

Male Bonding by glamaphonic. [oneshot, short] The original ‘Zuko and Sokka bond and are also dumb idiot boys’ fic. Katara is permanently rolling her eyes.

it’s not the waking, it’s the rising by isamagicdragon, thegracious [ongoing, series, medium] Azulon tells Ozai to kill Azula instead of Zuko, which leads to heartwrenching fire sibs adventure. I haven’t caught up on the last chapter yet but god is it fantastic and also just a really interesting and new perspective on what could have happened.

Doe-Eyed by Anonymous. [complete, medium] Zuko is a baby, Azula is a loving big sister. More fire sibs and a great exploration on Azula’s POV of turning against Ozai.

kintsugi by discordiansamba. [ongoing, series, long] Zuko doesn’t have Iroh after being banished, and winds up hired as a guard to protect the frail Beifong daughter. Fantastic preseries Zuko+Toph found family fic.

Legacies by WildInkling. [ongoing, medium] Far in the future, a historian studies the journal of Fire Lord Zuko. Also, he was secretly a famous author but no one knows. A funny and poignant outsider POV.

#UndercoverZuko series by naggeluide. [complete, series, short] A completely cracky concept written straight enough to be actually quite touching in parts, but also just really funny. Zuko goes Undercover Boss on his ship pre-series.

Avatar Ficlets by JaggedCliffs. [series, oneshots, short] An ongoing series of disconnected oneshots, mostly post-canon and mostly Zuko-centric. Some a pretty fun, one is a great view on Zuko and lightningbending, all worth the read (and follow for when more come out).

The Blind Leading the Blue by BrusselsSprout. [ongoing, medium] An epic Zuko and Toph field trip set in S2. I love them and this.

half in the shadows, half burned in flames by r_astra. [oneshot, short] Iroh dies, Zuko gets caught on the Day of Black Sun, everything ends up all right but damn does it hurt getting there.

A Tale of Earth and Fire by chiiyo86. [complete, medium] Zuko and Toph are married for Politics in a FN Wins AU, and follows them slowly bonding as friends to beginning a revolution. They’re married but it’s not romantic, just some good friendship.

Eight Principles of Yong by psocoptera. [oneshot, short] An exploration of immediate post-show FN politics (sort of), calligraphy, and Zuko. Also has some lovely non-fighting firebending; I always love when people explore other uses of bending.

Healing Properties of Cinder Sage by Dawen. [oneshot, short] Zuko gets very sick in the Western Air Temple. Some good interaction when he’s new to the Gaang, and Toph+Zuko friendship.

We Ourselves Must Walk The Path by WinterSky101. [complete, medium] The Gaang agrees to make Zuko their prisoner in the WAT. Speaking of new-to-the-Gaang, tension, this fic has plenty of it, and also features some good Toph and Zuko.

Frozen by Aris Merquoni. [oneshot, medium] Zuko is captured in the NWT. Some politics, lots of angst, and eventually, healing. Also actually makes me somewhat like Hahn? Incredibly enough.

Reluctant Hero by PAW_07. [ongoing, long] Avatar!Zuko fic. I got to beta it way back when for a little while before I got too busy, and have always been a huge fan of this fic. Great concept, one of the best executions of it I’ve seen, and also one of the first. Definitely read this.

Morality Chain by Pureauthor. [abandoned, long] Azula and Zuko were always on each other’s side; how this changes canon. I love this concept and would happily read a lot more fics with it (please guys, I need more fire sibs).

A viper-lizard’s tales series by Yumi_Take. [ongoing, long] The world needs more of Zuko adopting pets and small children, and those are just facts. This only has one of the two, but it’s a EK baby! Jet plays a big role in this fic as well, a weird kind of uncle-ish to the baby/friend/murderer Zuko needs to watch closely and hold back kind of thing.

(life happens) wherever you are by howlikeagod. [ongoing, long] Katara doesn’t find Zuko and Iroh in the teashop, and canon takes a sharp left turn. Excellent Gaang fic.

The Best Path series by EudociaCovert. [series, ongoing, long] Zuko meets Jet in ‘Zuko Alone’ and winds up getting claimed as theirs by the remaining Freedom Fighters. Really really well-written, I got quite emotional over some scenes.

Shippy Zuko fic

Balm by Thyme In Her Eyes. [Maiko, oneshot, short] A sweet little fic about Mai’s thoughts on Zuko’s lightning scar.

The Black Games by Mrs. Pettyfer. [Zutara, complete, long] Hunger Games-esque AU. It’s the first in a series, and I lost interest after this one but I remember enjoying the fic and it was more personal preference rather than a drop in quality that had me leaving.

Lie To Me by Inkcharm. [Toko, oneshot, short] I’m not actually a fan of this pairing romatically (at least until years down the line), but this little fic of Toph and Zuko bonding through lying to one another is sweet. I choose to ignore the more shippy parts and enjoyed it.

Zutara? What the heck is that? by Ryxl. [Zutara, oneshot, short] Complete crack, have a good sense of humor and I think you will enjoy. Just the mental image of the Gaang finding a Zutara propaganda flyer had me chuckling.

The Three Chores series (1, 2, 3) by Fandomme. [Zutara, threeshot, short] Zuko and Katara slowly bond as he helps with chores. I will admit it’s been years and I barely remember this, but what I do recall is lovely and I always appreciate people lightening Katara’s load.

read the inscription by suzukiblu. [Zuko/Song, complete, series, medium] When Zuko is banished, he is left alone in the Earth Kingdom to fend for himself. Very touching, and I love Song in this.

Hooked by TGP. [Jetko, complete, long] A classic ‘Jet didn’t see Iroh warming his tea’ fic. They’re almost all this premise but so many well-written and very long ones. 

Something To Hold Onto by Wildgoosery. [Jetko, complete, long] The EK fell and Li stayed to fight with the Freedom Fighters to protect the city during its foreign rule. Jet didn’t see the tea fic that goes very AU from canon.

Foxfire by Rahar_Moonfire. [Jetko, ongoing, long] Zuko loses his memories Jetko fic, but with heavy spirit influence and lovable EK OCs, both of which I adore and should be in far more fics.

Once Upon A Teashop by anaer. [Zukka, Jetko, ongoing, long] Cracky Ba Sing Se AU that gets gradually more and more serious. Jet hits on Zuko a lot and Sokka gets a job in the teashop to keep an eye on both of them. Endgame Zukka but heavy Jetko, and both pairings are handled pretty well, not a love triangle that makes me too mad, although as always bear in mind Jet’s messed up. 

Names by TGP. [Jetko, complete, long] I feel like I’m forgetting some more excellent Amnesia!Zuko fics, but this is one I do know of. To be honest I don’t remember it super well because it may be mixed up with other Jetko/amnesia fics in my mind, but I think it was really good. I’ll have to reread myself.

Epistles by Lady_of_the_Flowers. [Zukka, ongoing, long] I love epistolary fic and I love Zuko and Sokka bonding earlier in canon. I will be honest I haven’t read this in a long time and been updating all the while, but the premise alone (Zuko and Sokka become messenger-hawk-pals in S1 and then fall in love) is fantastic. 

Ozymandias, King of Kings by Think_of_a_Wonderful_Thought. [Zukka, ongoing, long] Zuko rebels earlier and actually is sent to the mines, until he is ‘rescued’ by the Water Tribe. Dark but getting lighter over time, and more reluctant-to-rule Zuko which always wrenches my heartstrings. I prefer super loyal and dutiful to his people Zuko but this trope always makes me feel things.

Crossovers

Fallen Drops of Fire by Chasmfiend. [Fullmetal Alchemist, ongoing] Young Azula and Zuko somehow appear in Amestris, and encounter Roy Mustang. I adore the fire sibs, and their relationship in this strange situation is the star of this fic for me, but it’s also fun seeing the FMA perspective of these two.

The Dragon-King’s Temple by Kryal. [Stargate SG-1, long, complete] The best crossover fic out there. Zuko and Toph get stranded on the other side of a Stargate. I don’t know anything about SG-1 but it didn’t matter, the fic was fantastic, they were badasses, it explored language and culture from an outside perspective, and it was just a ton of fun. Must-read.

Other character fic

Loyalty by Julia451. [oneshot, short] The ship captain didn’t misspeak when he called Iroh and Zuko “prisoners” in the start of S2. A lovely look at a nameless character, giving depth to a small moment and humanity to a FN soldier which I always love.

The Only One by HarlowR. [oneshot, short] An excellent exploration of Azula’s mindset regarding Zuko, her desperate need to be loved and jealousy of him matching his own. I think Azula was one of the greatest tragedies of the show, and this fic makes me feel it.

Blood by theAsh0. [oneshot, short] Katara-centric thinkpiece on bloodbending and healing. Dark but really interesting.

Touch and Go by Cadence. [oneshot, short] After Iroh’s struck by lightning, Toph doesn’t let Zuko drive them all away. A momentary alliance and the seeds of friendship. More Toph-focused but still heavy on the whole Gaang.

Shortcomings by Menamebephil. [oneshot, short] Iroh thoughts during his imprisonment, on the theme of mistakes. I love this man and don’t understand why I am so drawn to fic about him that makes me sad.

Watch And Review, Please by Becca Stareyes. [oneshot, short] The Ember Island Players receive some constructive criticism... sort of. Funny and quick.

Azula Redemption Trilogy (1, 2, 3) by Mistress of Sarcasm. [threeshot, short] Second person and deeply introspective, three short little fics delving into Azula’s head and bringing her closer to redemption.

Echoing Refrains by catie_writes_things. [oneshot, short] I really like nuanced explorations of the whole FN royal family. It’s perfectly fine to write Ozai as pure evil bastard, but exploring  what might have been or how he got there, or even as in this fic his talent for music being inherited by Zuko is really interesting too. Iroh-centric.

our curse by ohmygodwhy, and the last dragon by thesometimeswarrior. [twoshot, complete, short] Stay away if you don’t like to cry. In the first Zuko learns Ozai is executing Iroh, and isn’t able to stop it; the second is even worse because it’s Iroh’s POV. I put this in the other characters section because honestly I adore the second fic even more than the first, but they are both fantastically written and will hurt you a very great deal.

Finally, I’m not quite bold enough to put my own fic on a reclist, but just shameless enough to mention I’ve written a few Avatar fics I quite like if anyone feels the desire to check them out on my AO3. ;) But seriously give love to all the rest of these, they deserve it. (And as I said, there’s lots more excellent stuff, this fandom is so prolific and well-written!)

[thinkingisadangerouspastime]

I find it really intriguing how the ATLA writers could have gone a “brotherly love” route with Zuko and Aang, but they never did. Even in LOK, the only thing that I remember Iroh saying about their relationship was that they canonically became the best of friends and that Zuko knew Aang better than anyone, even more than Katara and their children. I find the direction of their relationship a contrast to how often the bond between the male protagonist and the male antagonist that are spiritually linked in other media is reduced to “they were like brothers” and put aside for the respective heterosexual romances of the leads, even though the relationships between the leads often have homoerotic subtext and can be interpreted through a queer lens. I guess what I’m wondering is: would you classify Zuko and Aang’s relationship as brotherly? Do you support interpretations where their relationship is viewed as brotherly? And finally (I’m sorry for all of the questions): why do you think the ATLA writers - who seem to mostly be composed of cishet men - never took the “brotherly love” route and left the nature of their relationship ambiguous?

This ask has been in my inbox for a Hot Minute 💀 my apologies, my friend. And since I haven’t seen LOK, I won’t try to speak on the front. Before I continue, though, @likealittleheartbeat has an AMAZING analysis here about the interpretation of Aang and Zuko’s relationship through a queer-platonic lens that I found to be an incredible read and arguably could answer this ask on its own, lol!

I guess the general “issue” that must be addressed to answer these questions is simply how we define brotherly. That “we” can be divided into the viewers and the writers, only adding another layer of complexity. Because the reality is that we can’t jump into the creators minds and see exactly how they intended Zuko and Aang’s relationship to be interpreted. We can make deductions, e.g. the existence of Kataang and Maiko suggests Zuko and Aang were not intended to have a romantic relationship within canon (duh, lol). In fact, you could even add another division to the “we” - the writers, the viewers, and the characters themselves (i.e. interpretation through the cultural lenses that inspired the show).

All of this is to say that there is not going to be one agreed-upon definition of “brotherly,” lol! Since you seem to be asking for my personal opinions, I’ll go with my personal definition. If anyone has differing thoughts in response to these questions, please feel free to add them in a comment or rb! I think there’s a lot to explore here and my sole opinion is Not the be-all and end-all, lmao.

So, what is my personal definition of “brotherly”? I’m not going to try to make a formal definition, lol, but the gist of my interpretation is a platonic relationship akin to that of siblings. To me, there is a difference between having a “brotherly relationship” with someone versus a “friendship” (I almost used “friendly relationship” but that didn’t feel right jskdfhakdls). I think these two can overlap and/or be the same, but - for example - I have friends who I would say without hesitation that I am incredibly close with, but I also would not classify that friendship as “sisterly.” (Again, these are strictly my personal thoughts, and I encourage further discussion in comments/rbs!)

I’ll take your questions one at a time:

Would you classify Zuko and Aang’s relationship as brotherly?

Personally? Probably not. To me, there is a sense of superficiality associated with the term “brotherly” that in my eyes can be reductive to platonic relationships between men (can be, not always lol). I think with Zuko and Aang, the relationship just runs much deeper than “brotherly” can connote. For one, they are the primary narrative foils of the show! The only relationship that comes close to theirs in terms of narrative significance is Kataang (which is a very different dichotomy, btw, I’m not trying to compare them lol). We have numerous episodes dedicated to the parallels between Aang and Zuko, including but not limited to “The Storm” and “The Avatar and the Fire Lord.” I mean, this is an actual quote from the latter episode:

Do you really think friendships can last more than one lifetime?

We see variants of this line and the notion of friendship itself associated throughout that episode explicitly with Roku and Sozin, Roku and Gyatso, and of course the Gaang at the end, but implicitly we also know it’s about Aang and Zuko, too. Aang says, “Everyone, even the Fire Lord and the Fire Nation, have to be treated like they’re worth giving a chance.” One common take with this line that I’ve seen is interpreting it as foreshadowing for Aang’s decision to spare Ozai - which obviously is a fair assessment - but we cannot also ignore how much it applies to Zuko joining the Gaang. Specifically, Zuko reconciling with Aang.

We all know Aang was the first person to extend friendship to Zuko back in “The Blue Spirit” and tbh, after he saw Appa licking Zuko, you can tell Aang was nearly willing to extend a second chance to Zuko then and there lol. Aang and Zuko’s friendship, them being drawn together, is a relationship that transcends lifetimes, transcends social norms/expectations, transcends a loss greater than anyone can imagine (for Aang) and offers a new opportunity arguably far more than deserved (for Zuko). I think ascribing a qualifier of “brotherly” to their relationship therefore limits this transcendence because of how much their dynamic encompasses.

Do you support interpretations where their relationship is viewed as brotherly?

Of course! One of the reasons I love A:TLA - especially my small corner of the fandom - is how many interpretations that every relationship presents, be it a small “difference” (such as calling Zuko and Aang’s relationship “brotherly”) or a more drastic one (exploring fanon possibilities with rarepairs, let’s go #AangRarepairWeek 😎). So even if this interpretation isn’t one I’m inclined to in the literal sense (i.e. it’s the “brotherly” qualifier I feel I dislike, because I do love platonic Zukaang as much as romantic Zukaang), I absolutely encourage others to make the most of their fandom experience and product/support content that they enjoy!

Why do you think the ATLA writers - who seem to mostly be composed of cishet men - never took the “brotherly love” route and left the nature of their relationship ambiguous?

I will say that we don’t really have any way of knowing the sexualities and gender identities of every single A:TLA writer, lol. I’m not saying they were all queer in some way, of course, but I just want to establish that we don’t and can’t know unless told. If that makes sense 😂

As I mentioned earlier, I have no way of getting inside the writers’ minds to determine their intentions when they were writing Zuko and Aang’s relationship, so all you’re gonna get here are my best guesses lmao! For one, there wasn’t really a need to outright label Zuko and Aang as having a “brotherly” relationship. The existence of Kataang and Maiko again speak for themselves. Most viewers - especially casual watchers - don’t need the show to state “these two only love each other in a brotherly way” to conclude that the relationship was platonic (or rather, was not romantic), especially considering that the show was made in the mid-2000s (i.e. sad but true, most people weren’t watching A:TLA with a queer lens 😔). So I wouldn’t say they left the relationship “ambiguous” so much as there wasn’t need to qualify it further than simply being platonic.

Of course, I do think there is an ambiguity that comes with Aang and Zuko’s relationship, which I love to exploit in my Zukaang fics 😌. Was that ambiguity intentional? Again, I’m inclined to say no. But I can’t speak with certainty and - as I discussed earlier - I truly think Aang and Zuko’s relationship would be limited by being called “brotherly” when their connection runs so deeply and is intertwined so heavily with the spiritual themes of the show. Thus, it’s possible the writers were purposefully emphasizing that spirituality by not labelling them as “brotherly”! But as I said, there’s really no way to be sure.

At the end of the day, I don’t think it matters how someone chooses to label Aang and Zuko’s relationship. I mean, I’m always a little horrified when a person completely overlooks their narrative significance as foils (because I personally can’t imagine dismissing either of their importance to the other), but hey, to each their own. Brotherly, queerplatonic, romantic, and hell, anything in-between - these interpretations are anyone’s for the taking. Have fun with it! 💛

(I hope this at least kind of resembles the answer you were looking for, anon 😂)

[maliciouslycreative]

How I played damage control to an anti in a small anime fandom and may have led to her ultimate downfall

I know I had a really nice write up of this at one point but oh well. I’ll spill more of the tea in this one because honestly the tea was so hot.

There are a few things that I have to give context to first. Gaia online was like THE mega forum of the 2000s, you made a little avatar and through posting and doing other activities on the forum you made money to buy clothes for your avatar. There were forums for everything but the fannish portions were really what drew in most of the people. The anime I was into was Beyblade. It was a shonen anime about fighting with tops that were possessed by the spirits of magical creatures. The story was honestly pretty average but the characters were fantastic and the fandom is to this day still one of my favourites. The series had a primarily male cast and didn’t even have a female lead until the second season. This led to the fanfic for the English fandom being about 70% canon/OC, 10 % canon m/f, and 20% slash. The most popular character in the English fandom was by far Kai Hiwatari, the loner badboy of the team.

Also before we get started I would like to add that one of my best friends was neck deep in this and the two of us were more or less fandom married. This is the same friend that I fake dated, had feelings for, and she nearly got me into kpop in 2011 so like if you haven’t read that story please read it too because it will give you a good idea of how stupid I am and how much of a fanfic I have truly lived. 

To set the stage I was 16, soon to be 17 when I joined the fandom and it was 2004. In September of that year I wrote a humour longfic that became an absolute smash hit and I found myself somehow fandom famous. It was around this time that I joined Gaia online. I made my little avatar and immediately went looking for the beyblade thread so that I could make new friends. I found the main thread, made my little introduction and at the end of it mentioned that I was a slash writer but I supported all ships. This is where I met C. She had declared herself the authority on Beyblade in these parts and I had just committed the crime of mentioning slash which was very obviously not canon and we did not discuss in this thread because we only discussed canon things. I was like well that’s a bit severe but like sure whatever I just want to hang out and have fun. 

Oh boy did I have no idea what I was in for. 

C was a year older than me and unfortunately that made her older than the majority of the fans at the time. Her favourite character was Kai, and she was not shy about talking about this fact. She stanned Kai above all other characters, and often at their expense. She was also a fanfic writer of a popular canon/OC series. Actually, she was so full of herself that she didn’t even call herself a fanfic writer, no her stories were in fact novels and were apparently very good. I never read them. But more on that later. 

Eventually the slash fans got tired of her being rude to us in the general thread so we made a Beyblade slash thread. There was a core of like 8 or so of us and we honestly had sooo much fun. When C would be too unbearable in the main thread the people from there used to come over to our thread and we’d chat with them about non slash stuff because we were honestly all multishippers and just wanted to have fun. We’d get comments like “wow, I’ve had more pleasant canon het ship discussions in the slash thread than the regular thread”. We never worried about C coming over and getting upset about comments like this because she refused to be associated with anything related with slash lmao. 

I tried my best to keep the peace between C, myself, and the rest of the fandom because ultimately I hate being in fandom drama. I just want everyone to have a good time. I’m a people pleaser. Unfortunately my newfound fame put me in the awkward position of being the most fandom popular person in our small community aside from C. Virtually every fan that read fanfics that came into our thread knew one of us or the other by reputation and C HATED this. Especially because people would come in to the thread, recognise me and go “oh my goodness I love your fanfics!” and I’d be super sweet with them and it’d lead into “I can’t believe how nice you are, I love you” which would lead to us crying at each other. This was not the kind of fan interaction that C got, no her fans were more kind that were there to praise her and worship her like a deity that had blessed them with some gift. Rarely did they tell her how kind she was. 

Back in the mid 2000s there were really commonly those commercials (usually by Christian organisations) asking people to sponsor say children in Africa or to help build schools or provide drinking water. You all probably know the ones; know the language that they used in those commercials. My fandom wife, who I suppose I shall call wifey because yes we were THAT couple back then, once said that C described her fics like those people described donating money to save the lives of Children in Africa. So we used to joke that her fics were so good they’d save lives in Africa. Looking back at it all, she almost had a very fundamentalist Christian approach to bringing people into her fanfics. She of course tried to get all the slash people into reading it. None of us read canon/oc fic mostly due to our poor treatment at the hands of their fans and creators. Getting fed up I one day told her that if she would read any one of my fanfics that I would read the entirety of her novels. Yes, I was willing to commit to read a couple 100k of canon/oc fanfic that I’d never touch normally if she would even read one of my 1k 1 shots. Heck, I had a fic even that shipped 2 minor characters so she didn’t even have to sully herself reading about one of the main characters. It was honestly a good deal in her favour. I kept this up until the day we all left the fandom. Sometimes I do wonder if her fics were even ¼ as good as she claimed, but I will never know because she refused to read my fics. 

She wasn’t all bad and a tyrant all the time. As long as people kept the conversations on track and didn’t come in to the thread saying things like “KAI IS SO HOT ND T3H BEST N I AM GUN 2 MARRY HIM” she stayed mostly civil. It was always hilarious watching InuYahsa or Naruto fans try to come in and bad mouth Beyblade because they’d unleash the dragon and C was great at chasing off undesirables in the thread. 

The real apex of goings on though on Gaia was the guild drama. So guilds were like exclusive themed mini forums within Gaia. Anyone could buy one and run it however they want, as long as it still adhered to Gaia’s ToS. C of course was the owner of the only Beyblade guild. The fandom wasn’t really big enough to support 2 guilds so we just kind of let it go. Technically she allowed people to post slash fanfics but like everything had to be explicitly tagged and there was absolutely no slash RP. Wifey and I controlled a handful of minor characters together in the forum RP and definitely used to try to push the boundaries a little bit. Some ambiguous flirting here, a stray comment there. It was such a fragile balance though because C was heavy on the ban button. The active portion of the guild was just people that were in the cult of C and worshipped her writing. 

Understandably the other slash fans and myself were getting disheartened by this. So we pooled our funds together and decided that we’d open a second guild that though it was run by slash fans we would welcome anyone into our ranks. We just wanted to have a fun place for everyone to hang out, and to hopefully run a few events out of. In hindsight, we should have seen what would happen. When we opened the guild, with me as the guild leader, it was like somebody blew up the whole dam protecting the delicate ecosystem we had cultivated. Every single person in the Gaia fandom that was not a zealous follower of C applied to be in our guild and left her guild. We of course figured that we’d attract some of the gen population but we did not expect to accidentally poach all of it. All of the moderators were getting messages from people thanking us for giving them a place where they could say whatever they wanted without fear of getting their faces ripped off or banned. 

C lost her shit. She was so mad that we went behind her back to ruin her guild. We literally had to show her posts in the very public slash thread that we had been planning this in public and that it was not to ruin her life. We just wanted a place where we could freely post slash. The two of us had some spicy comments back and forth and then she dropped an absolute bombshell on me. Since Gaia’s mail system is terrible I unfortunately no longer have exactly what she said but it was something along the lines of “Ok, you win. I’m going to close my guild.”. Us slash fans had never been doing this to win anything. We had never been competing. We just wanted a safe space to be ourselves. 

C never joined our guild. The fandom slowly faded out within the next year anyway. We weren’t getting new content so naturally people just drifted into other fandoms. C kept up with the main Beyblade thread for a lot longer than most of us but eventually that eventually faded into obscurity too. 

I learned a lot about fandom bullies from those days. But honestly the thing that stuck with me the most out of everything was that if you provide a positive safe space for people they will flock to it. It may seem like there are so many hostile people out there, but there really aren't. They're the minority but they just make sure that their voice is the loudest. The best way is to ignore them and just do your own thing. The bullies just want attention and if you don’t give it to them and prove to them that their opinion doesn’t matter to you then they’ll move in and find something else to yell at. 

[deejadabbles]

Yu-gi-oh x Avatar:TLA

Been re-watching Avatar the past week and when I searched for it I legit couldn’t find, like, any Yugioh Duel Monster x Avatar The Last Airbender content??? I mean the search feature sucks here so maybe I’m just not seeing it, but, now I have a mighty need for this cross over, so I guess I’ll do it myself! (if anyone knows any other posts about this though please link me to them!)

So first off, Yugi is the Avatar

I don’t care if most think Yami is the main protag it just makes sense to me that Yugi is the Avatar

Much like Aang, Yugi is an airbender, but instead of being raised by a group of monks he was actually raised by his nomadic grandfather, who is also an airbender.

Yugi is basically what everyone thinks of when they think of the stereotypical airbender, he’s intelligent, prefers pacifism, would give a stranger the shirt off his back, fun loving and worldly due to his travels, etc.

On the other hand Grandpa, while kind and not prone to violence, isn’t exactly a “monkly” airbender. He’s way too familiar with gambling halls, tomb raiding, pirating, and pretty much every other seedy side of the different nations you can think of. 

While grandpa definitely toned down those..*ahem* less than virtuous adventures when he started raising Yugi, he did not shield Yugi from these things during their travels. Yugi's safety was always his priority, but he also knew it was important for Yugi to learn to take care of himself if he was going to travel the world.

Plus, I mean, when Yugi beat a pirate captain at pai sho at age 12, and won them an ancient water tribe artifact, grandpa knew his bright young airbender could handle his own.

Oh also, Yugi’s flying bison is a brown fluff-ball named Kuriboh. Kuriboh was the runt of his littler, much smaller than most male bison, but that didn’t stop Yugi from bonding with him almost immediately when they met near the air temple (in fact if probably helped them bond more), and the two are now inseparable <3

Grandpa took Yugi against the wishes of the council in charge of the Avatar. The council wanted to shelter Yugi and deprive him of a normal life (much like the monks wanted to with Aang), but grandpa basically said “F all of you” and took Yugi with him so he could have a fun, free life away from all that...at least for awhile.

When Yugi turned 16 the council tracked the boys down, finally told Yugi he’s the Avatar, and demanded he come with them to finish his airbending training and start learning the other elements.

Yugi was honestly, understandably, pretty devastated, his whole life was being stolen from him in the blink of an eye, but, he’s also heard tales of how important the Avatar is for the world and how people would suffer without the avatar, and he couldn’t handle the idea of letting the world down.

Yugi whet with the council, unknowing of that was about to come.

Okay so for Atem I have two possibilities for his role in this AU that I really like, so I’ll just list them both:

#1 is that Atem was the Avatar before Yugi, born as the son of Fire Lord Aknamkanon. 

He grew up in the lap of luxury, but never took it for granted thanks to his father, the most peaceful Fire Lord the nation had seen in a long time. 

His father dedicated his life to improving relations with the other nations and maintaining peace.

Atem’s uncle, Aknadin on the other hand, was an authoritarian jerk-wad, who thought Fire Lord Aknamkanon weak and unfit to rule the Fire Nation.

You can see where I’m going with this. Aknadin hatched a plan to assassinate both Aknamkanon and Atem, and put himself on the throne, using the death’s of the Fire Lord and Prince as cause for war.

What he did not count on though, was Atem being the Avatar. 

Atem didn’t even know he was the Avatar at this point, they were going to wait until he was 16 to tell him, like most Avatars. Atem had no idea he could bend other elements besides fire, let alone realize he had the power of the Avatar spirit. 

Even still, when Atem was attacked by his uncle’s assassins, and he was on the verge of dying, his Avatar sate kicked in.

Well, not quite. It began to kick in just before Atem was overpowered by the assassins, but not quick enough to save him. You know that whole thing about “if the avatar dies while in the avatar state, the avatar will cease to be”? Well, this was a strange In-Between.

The avatar cycle was not broken, since the avatar spirit wasn’t fully awoken, but now Atem’s soul, that incarnation of the avatar, is in a strange form of limbo.

 It was only 16 years later when the new avatar, Yugi, went into the avatar state for the first time, that his soul was finally brought out of limbo. Only now he and Yugi have a strange bond. Instead of residing somewhere deep inside Yugi’s soul like the other past avatars, Atem seems to be one with Yugi, able to commune with him like a constant companion, and even take over Yugi’s body in times of need.

In this version the new Fire Lord waited years to launch his war, gaining the trust of the other nation while slowly changing and manipulating the ideologies of his own people through propaganda and fear mongering.

Yugi fled the air temple when the firelord finally launched his attack on the air nomads in an effort to kill the new avatar, and during that tramtic ordeal is when Yugi went into the avatar state for the first time and awoke Atem’s soul. 

Now Atem’s main focus is helping train Yugi to save the world from Fire Lord Aknadin, who’s hell-bend on world domination.

 OR!

If the whole “Atem dying in a half avatar state that affected his soul” plot doesn’t work for you, I also think we could just simplify things and say that Atem is a Fire Bender dedicated to helping the avatar defeat the tyrant Fire Lord.

In this version Atem would still be a Fire Nation Prince, whose father was dedicated to peace. Only in this version Atem’s father died unexpectedly, and Atem was deemed too young to take the throne, so they put Uncle Aknadin on the throne in Atem’s place.

Atem watched for years while his uncle slowly, meticulously dismantled all of his father’s hard work for peace and was powerless to stop him. All Atem could do was train, improve his firebending, and hope that he could challenge his tyrant uncle to an agni kai for the throne someday.

During that time Atem also found it hard to hold onto his own morals, as his home was every-changing under it’s new Fire Lord, becoming more and more authoritarian and xenophobic. He became a bit harsher during that time, but deep down still held on to his core belief in peace and mercy that his father taught him.

So, when he found out that Aknadin was making plans to wipe out the Air Nomads, and thus, the new Avatar, Atem had to take action.

He fled the Fire Nation to warn the Air Nomads, and he did manage that, but it wasn’t enough to save everyone. Yugi was still too young to fight an army, or the Fire Lord, he hadn’t even begun to learn waterbending let alone anything else. So, when the Fire Lord’s soldiers attacked the temples, the monks insisted Yugi and Atem flee together, live to fight another day, and become strong enough to fight the Warmongering Fire Lord.

No matter which version of Atem we go with everything else stays virtually the same. In the version where Atem is just the spirit of the previous avatar and Yugi’s guide, the Fire Nation still attacked the Air Temples, hoping to kill the new Avatar, he just waited longer to do this, accumulating support and maybe even some alliances with other nations.  But either way, Yugi escapes (after a LOT of arguing against leaving any one, let alone everyone, behind) so he could start his avatar training and defeat this new threat.

In this AU I believe most of the gang’s time would be spent trying to train Yugi in the next elements, but also avoiding capture by the Fire Nation, who’s put a big bounty on Yugi’s head. They also aren’t sure who to trust, as sides are often picked and alliances formed during wars and they have no real way to know what nation would aid them vs the Fire Nation. Unlike the original ATLA show, this is a new war unfolding before their eyes, not one that’s been known and ongoing for 100 years. 

Now on to the rest of the cast! Honda is a non-bender, but don’t underestimate him, in a world where he constantly has to avoid the Dai Li and thugs who can earthbend, he’s learned to take care of himself. 

Jonouchi is an earthbender, and Yugi actually met both him and Honda while traveling the world with grandpa (before learning he was the avatar). 

Jou and Honda were both street kids who joined the gangs in Ba Sing Se in order to survive. Their fellow thugs tried to mug Yugi, thinking him an helpless monk. Peace-loving Yugi didn’t attack them, of course, but used his airbending to dodge their attacks with ease and grace... and ended up humiliating them all when he blew them into a fountain. 

While Jou was initially against mugging Yugi (even when he was a thug he always went on about facing opponents who at least stand a chance against you, not picking on the weak) after that incident Jou basically made it his life’s mission to make Yugi’s life hell the whole time Yugi and Grandpa were in Ba Sing Se. He’d track Yugi down pretty much every day to harass him, trying to get Yugi to “fight him like a real man” and just generally being a bully. 

Yugi always refused to fight him, even the few times Jonouchi actually landed a hit on him with his earthbending. Grandpa intervened a couple times, but ultimately left it up to Yugi to handle.

Right before Yugi and Gramps made to move on to the next city though, Yugi came across a frantic and injured Honda. 

Turns out Jou spoke out against their gang stealing from a family that was already down on their luck and said thugs decided they had enough of Jou’s mouth and wanted to “teach him a lesson”. Honda tried to stop them and defend Jou, but was overpowered just by sheer numbers.

Yugi couldn’t stand by and let this happen, of course, and together he and Honda found where the thugs had taken Jou. Despite the fact that Yugi still refused to strike a damaging blow on anyone, his and Jou’s opposing bending styles actually worked pretty well together and they were all able to escape.

That was the turning point for both boys, but especially Jou and he finally realized that he mistreated Yugi and that Yugi was someone to be admired, not mocked. They unfortunately did not get a chance to make amends then, however, since Yugi and Grandpa were gone the next day. 

So about a year later, when Yugi returns to the city after escaping the raids on the Air Temples, Jou and Honda are eager to help him and insist on joining Yugi and Atem, “as the avatar’s bodyguards” if nothing else. And despite being against the idea of endangering them, Yugi had to admit he teared up at the mere thought of friends joining him on his journey.

Next, we of course have Anzu, a waterbender, and Mai, a firebender.

Anzi and Mai have a traveling act together. They combined their bending with intricate dances and make a marvel of it, sometimes doing synchronized performances that focus a lot on how their opposing elements can compliment and balance each other, other times they do solo numbers that are just as mesmerizing with Anzu’s captivating grace and Mai’s mesmerizing passion. They also wear full, intricate face paints (or sometimes even masks) while on stage to help keep them from going unnoticed when traveling.

Anzu also knows a bit of healing with her waterbending, and as they travel through towns/cities, Anzu often uses her time between shows helping heal those who can’t afford medicine. Mai sometimes goes on about how ppl will take advantage of Anzu is she isn’t careful, but secretly really admires Anzu’s kind heart.

Don’t ever underestimate these girls though, their bending isn’t just for performance, they can and will kick your ass with their bending and have held their own again a whole crew of highway men. You don’t travel the world without knowing how to defend yourself, especially if you’re women thugs think they can take advantage of.

The boys came across Anzu and Mai soon after leaving Ba Sing Se. The first glance they got at them was one of their shows and were impressed to say the least (Yugi was particularly captivated by the waterbender, like the big-hearted bi-disaster that he is).

What really impressed them though was that night, when Yugi was taking a walk through the town to clear his head. Once again he was seen as an easy target by his “weak” appearance (season 0 anyone?) and some thugs ambushed him. Before he even had the chance to defend himself though, two women came to his rescue, water-whipping and fire-blazing. It didn’t take much for Yugi to put two and two together and realize they were the dancers from the show, and, being thoroughly impressed by their bending skills, he begged Anzu to teach him waterbending.

Anzu was actually interested in the idea from the start, when they heard about the attacks on the Air Temples and the Fire Nation declaring war, she was outraged. Anzu is nothing if not compassionate and all that life being burn away gave her a slowly growing need to take action, and now the avatar himself was asking her to teach him!

Mai on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with Yugi and his “band of do-gooders” and insisted Anzu turn him down. Mai grew up in the Fire Nation during the rise of the tyrant Fire Lord Aknadin, she knows first hand how ruthless his soldiers can be, and sees it as loosing battle to resist them. In her mind, her and Anzu have a good life going for them, why change that to fight a war they aren’t going to win?

The girls argue about this for awhile, to the point that Anzu actually thinks about leaving Mai to go with Yugi without her, despite the idea of leaving Mai behind tearing her up inside.

Then the town they’re staying in is attacked by Fire Nation soldiers. Everyone, including Mai jumps into action to defend the towns people and together they’re able to fight them off. In the aftermath, having the war’s carnage brought right into her lap, Mai sees that the ruler of her homeland has to be stopped and agrees to join the gang too. 

I haven’t thought a ton about the other characters honestly, and I’m especially having trouble placing Ryou in all this, but here are some half developed/misc headcanon:

Seto is a firebender and the son of Fire Lord Aknadin, making him and Atem cousins. 

In the version where Atem is just a regular firebender and not the previous avatar, Seto and Atem grew up together. Atem tried his best to convince Seto to leave with him when he set out to warn the Air Nomads of the attack, but Seto refused, already being drawn in by Aknadin’s power-centric teachings. 

In the version where Atem is the previous avatar and shares a body with Yugi, Seto was only a few years old when his older cousin Atem was “mysteriously killed” and Seto grew up hearing stories from his father about how they could avenge the young prince and the previous fire lord.

In both versions Seto is similar to a Zuko character. He’s sent out by his father to capture the avatar, but eventually he comes to realize what a warmongering monster his father is and turns on the firelord, joining Yugi and the gang. He’s still an egotistical ass though and is basically constantly criticizing the whole gang the entire time he’s with them. The rivalry between him and Yugi/Atem is still there, because of all the times Yugi whipped him with his airbender while Seto was trying to capture him. Also, Seto honestly believes that he’d make a better avatar than Yugi and thanks to @readerinsertfanfiction now I can’t get the thought out of my head that Seto would try to science his way into becoming a second living avatar 😂

I really want to include Mana and Mahad in this AU as well (since they’re my fave side characters) and thought maybe they could also be firebenders who grew up with Atem and were his close friends. Then when the tyrant Fire Lord took over they started plotting behind the scenes and formed a rebellion within the fire nation. (for real could you imagine the version where Atem was killed by his uncle and now an older Mahad and Mana, who’ve been waging a rebellion in the name of their prince and best friend, meet Yugi and can talk to Atem again and how heart wrenching a scene like that would be??)

Another possibility I thought of for Mahad and Mana was that they’re spirits of deceased airbenders who have gained some power in the spirit world. They commune with Yugi and help guide him and even step in to save him a couple times. This idea play more on the whole “Dark Magician/Dark Magician Girl Duel Monsters” side of things. Heck maybe we could do both these ideas since DM and DMG are usually considered separate entities from Mahad and Mana.

Duke/Otogi, I could image being a character similar to Jet (a charmer/flirt, who’s cunning and vengeful, at least at first? Come on I know you can see it) and maybe even having a similar story of tricking the gang into helping him do something horrible in the name of fighting the Fire Nation, then redeeming himself later.

I’m still a little unsure of Ryou’s story in this AU, but, I think I have an idea brewing involving Ryou being a waterbender who’s been processed by an evil spirit. Said spirit is thriving/feeding on the carnage of the war and often takes over Ryou’s body in order to stoke the fires of said war. This could lead to some interesting stuff involving Ryou wanting to join Yugi and the gang, but the evil spirit always stabbing them in the back. The gang, especially Yugi, would see it as a personal responsibility to save Ryou from the evil spirit and Yugi tries to learn more about his spirit powers in order to help Ryou.

I have some more vague ideas floating around my head, but I think that’s it for now. Boy, these are the longest headcanon I’ve had in while lol. I’m really loving the idea of this AU and I’m even really tempted to write an actual series surrounding it. I’d love to hear your guy’s thoughts about any of this or whether all this is even appealing at all. Please feel free to invade my inbox if yall wanna talk about this AU! <3

[nanaminsonyfans]

Between Worlds; Chapter One

Previous, Next, Masterlist

A/N: Hey! I really appreciate all the world of encouragement from all of you. This is the first chapter, I am very proud of this one, it was about four pages long in my google doc so have fun with that info! This is about 1634 words in it. I think I should just put this here, there will always possibly be mild language. I do not own any of these characters. Please enjoy this chapter!

i do not own this gif

y/n = your name

"Black snow?” You ask confused, your head still foggy. Then the smell of smoke triggered your memory. Black snow. “Fire Nation…” You spoke breathlessly and pulled your hand away from Appa. “You’re right.” Katara said, “They might’ve seen the glow when I bent you out.” Oh yeah. You remembered now. “I’m y/n...and you are Katara and Sokka yes?” You said smiling warmly. “Uhh how would you know that?” The snarky voice of Sokka spoke.

Shit. 

“Uh..haha I’m the avatar duh! I know everything haha..” You say, trying to convince yourself more than them. “Right.” Katara said giving you a motherly smile that made you feel safe. “We better get going then.” You said as you climbed up on Appa. “Well? Hop on we’ll get there faster.” You gave them a childish grin, earning a soft giggle from Katara. Once the two siblings climbed up on the flying bison, you spoke the magic words. 

“Appa! Yip yip!”

It felt amazing to say that, you always wanted to say that. You used to run around yelling ‘yip yip’ when you were younger. It was a fond memory but, those memories seemed so distant now, you felt conflicted. You tried to remember your mother’s face. You couldn’t. ‘Why can’t I remember my mother?’ You blinked back tears, they felt like icicles against your skin. You let go of the reins on Appa to wipe your eyes as you sniffled to hide the tears. 

Katara moved to the edge of the saddle to look over at you. Your h/c hair blew in the wind as Appa landed behind the village. “Hey...y/n, are you okay?” She asked softly placing a hand on your shoulder before you slid down. “Hmm?” You processed what she said, leaving your little world. “Oh yes. I’m fine. Just...how long was I out?” You already knew the answer, but you wanted to seem clueless. 

“One hundred years.” Sokka spoke with a bit of resentment in his voice. “Oh. That’s a long time huh?” You asked yourself more than them. “Appa lay down. We don’t want anyone to see you, okay buddy?” You said softly jumping back up to the saddle to grab your glider. The black snow seemed to fall in thicker clumps. They were getting close. You knew how this went. You’d have to fight the Fire Nation, fight Zuko. You gulped. ‘Put on a happy face.’ You thought to yourself. 

“Let’s go to the village. Everyone will be excited to see you!” Katara spoke happily, grabbing your hand as she ran in. Sokka followed, a bunch of children running to him with snowballs. You let out a soft giggle and followed Katara. She introduced you to everyone, it was a fairly small village, but the people seemed happy. 

“This is my gran-gran.” Katara said gesturing to an old woman with grey hair and tanned skin, much like Katara. You bowed, “It is a pleasure to meet you.” You said in a respectful tone. “Oh dear, it’s alright. I’m honored to be able to live long enough to see you.” The grandmother spoke softly tucking a piece of hair behind your ear. “Though, we all thought you were a male.” You turned pale, this has to be a dream. Your head started to hurt. 

“Excuse me, Katara is there anywhere I could lay down for a while? I think I’m getting a literal brain freeze.” You smiled weakly rubbing your temples. “Oh! Of course, I’m sorry. I should have thought about this before. Follow me.” Katara leads you to a small igloo with a thin cot. “I’ll leave you alone for a bit.” She smiled sweetly and walked out. As soon as she left you pinched your arm. 

“Ow!” You hissed quietly. You always heard that if you’re lucid dreaming, you can’t feel pain. You can feel it. Oh no. If you were stuck here...you would feel the lightening from Azula when she almost killed Aang. That was the most memorable moment for you. You gulped hugging your knees to your chest as cold tears rolled down your rosy cheeks. The scent of smoke was getting more forceful as it entered your lungs. You coughed before you heard the sound of something heavy slamming down on land. “Shit.” You murmured standing up.

“Where is the avatar?!” You recognized that voice, it was commanding yet, had so much hurt behind it. You swooned slightly at the fact that you could see Zuko face to face. Not just through your screen. Katara ran into the igloo in an erratic state. “They’re here to take you, so don’t go out.” She said pushing you deeper into the home. “Katara, I am the avatar. I can handle a few soldiers.” You narrowed your eyes at the other girl. “It’s the prince of the fire nation-” She was cut short by a few screams of children. “Katara, I’m not letting your people get killed.” You said sternly, gripping your glider tightly as you walked out. Your grip was so tight your knuckles turned white, blending in with the snow as you stalked over to him. 

Prince Zuko.

 As much as it hurt your heart, you had to do this. You let out a deep exhale, leaving a foggy cloud in return. “Leave them alone.” You glared at the teenage boy across from you. Zuko whipped around with a snarl. “The avatar...is a woman?” He hissed then laughed. “We were all told you were a man. This will be the last time you ever surprise me.” He growled staring at you as a small smirk formed. You twirled your staff like glider around your fingers. “Let’s make a deal, Prince Zuko.” You said as you started to walk in a circle, him following suit, eyes fixated on yours. 

“What type of deal.” He spoke in a demanding tone that sent shivers down your spine. You smirked and blew a gust of wind at him, knocking him down. “If I win, you leave this water tribe and never come back, but if you win...I’ll go with you.” You sighed softly. “Deal?” Zuko got up with a hateful glare at you. Man, if looks could kill, he certainly would have slaughtered you. “Deal.” He growled kicking a wave of fire at you. 

You let out a small yelp and backflipped away. You started to pant and sweat. Good Airbenders can control their body temperature right? You cleared your head as well as taking a deep breath then sent another gust of wind. It came so naturally to you, and it felt exhilarating. Zuko kicked multiple waves of fire at you, you dodging each one. He screamed in frustration and let out a punch of fire at you, getting closer as well. You exhaled bending back to dodge him, as well as tripping him with your staff. “Stupid Avatar!” He yelled irritated, good. You had to let him catch you. Zuko ended up tackling you, pinning you to the ground. Guards started to walk off the ship to assist him with you.

Zuko’s cheeks flushed pink by being so close to a female, especially a strong one...He gulped which was only noticeable to you as the guards grabbed you. The cold made everyone’s noses and cheeks pink, so he had an excuse right? Wrong. Firebenders have a warmer body temperature than anyone else. You noticed and tinted a light shade of pink as well. “Ahem- Take her to the ship!” He barked his orders and followed behind the guards that were carrying you. “Y/n no!” Sokka and Katara yelled from the village.

‘Y/n? What a stunning name…” Zuko thought, absentmindedly of course. He shook his head and turned to you, tied up against a pole on the first floor of the ship. He walked over too you examining your staff. “Hey! Give that back!” You screamed in anger as Zuko took away your staff glider. He smirked and handed it to Iroh, your eyes following it. You normally wouldn’t care for an object, but you felt a deep connection with it. “Take this to my chambers-” “Oh, I’d like to take you to your chambers!” You hissed at Zuko, you meant it to be scary and intimidating. It wasn’t. If anything it was pathetic, earning the prince to turn red as everyone laughed at you and him. “I’ll take care of it myself.” He hissed grabbing the staff and marching away, disappearing into the dark metal cavern. 

You let out an irritated sigh blowing a strand of hair out of your face. You glanced around, seeing the old man. You smiled softly remembering how kind and loving he is. As you closed your eyes and relaxed your body, you knew what you must do. The ship shook as a powerful gust of wind went through the ship. It all happened in a blur to anyone but you. 

Your body seemed to fly through the ship making a beeline for the prince’s chambers. You busted through, the metal door crashing down onto the floor. Alarms rang out making your head pound seemingly to the rhythm of the sirens. You groaned and grabbed the staff from Zuko forcefully. “Don’t you ever take something from a lady again.” You glared before leaving to the bow of the ship. You whistled calling for Appa. 

You heard his call back and saw a gust of loose snow as he took off. You could see two figures on his saddle, you smiled to yourself. “Woah! Slow down there buddy!” You heard Sokka scream in a panic. You used your glider to fly up, the air hitting your face, it felt good. You landed safely on Appa’s head, holding onto the reins. “Hey there big guy.” You cooed as he flew through the air, he groaned in response to you. “Hey Y/N?” Katara asked in a motherly tone, you turned around. “Yes?” You gave her a childish grin yet again. 

“Where are we going?” 

“The Southern Air Temple.”

A/N: I really hope you like this chapter! I worked really hard on this and i hope you guys enjoy it as much as i do!