#hakoda and zuko fall for it every single time

[witchering10123]

in some alternative universe where sokka lost his arm, he would 100% take his prosthetic arm off anytime someone asked him to "lend them a hand"

gets them every time

[sapphic-agent]

So, a Kataang fan made a post about a week ago "asking" (rhetorically, of course) why it's a bad thing Katara acts like Aang's mom. And I just-

First of all, isn't that something that Kataang shippers have been trying to actively dispute for almost two decades at this point? That Katara doesn't treat Aang as a younger brother/son? There's literally an entire post about it from The Headband that's made its rounds on almost every single social media platform.

So which is it, besties? Does Katara act motherly towards Aang or not?

(The answer is yes of course, as The Runaway outright confirms it multiple times. The whole premise of that episode is that Katata acts as a mother to Toph, Sokka, and Aang)

Now, why is it a problem? The fact that I have to explain this is telling for how little a lot of Kataang shippers understand Katara.

Katara was parentified. She took care of Sokka (by his own admission) as well as her entire village after Hakoda left. Even before then really, as she says in the very first episode that she's been doing all the chores around the village since their mother died which was years before that. She was delivering literal babies while basically being a baby herself.

Traveling- and being- with Aang is supposed to represent her freedom and childhood, right? That's what the first episode shows us and what Kataang is built on. But if anything, it has the opposite effect.

Book 1 wasn't terrible. Katara was very free-spirited and joyful in addition to being caring and empathetic. Her and Aang could still goof off together, even if she was doing her best to support him emotionally. You could easily see that as her being a good friend.

But somewhere between Books 2 and 3, that changed. Katara went from being his supportive friend to being his emotional crutch. During The Desert, she bears the brunt of him lashing out (he does yell at Toph once, but he's the most volatile with Katara). He also gets frustrated with her during Sozin's Comet, even though Zuko and Sokka were the ones pushing him. It's always Katara who has to bring him back when he loses control of the Avatar State, risking her own safety.

(This isn't emotional, but it was Katara who healed Aang after Azula's attack. She was the one who stayed by his side, staying awake for hours to make sure he would be okay. I like to look at it as a physical representation of their relationship. Aang's wellbeing is always put on her shoulders. If she isn't there to lift him up, he'll fall. And if he falls, the world falls. No 14 year old should be responsible for that. But it's so easy for the show- and y'all- to shove it onto her because this part of her character is never addressed. It's just used as a testament to her caring nature)

Even without Katara's parentification, this causes a major imbalance in their relationship. It puts Katara in charge of managing Aang's pain and being emotionally unsupported in return. The Southern Raiders is proof that Katara can't depend on Aang emotionally the way he does her. She's been his shoulder to cry on through everything and the one time the tables turned, she couldn't even get that from him.

And the saddest thing about this? Katara says to him, "I knew you wouldn't understand." She never expected Aang to support her. She's become so accustomed to being there for others that she's never once expected anyone to do the same for her, least of all Aang.

(But Zuko does. He's the only one who recognized Katara's pain- admittedly, mostly because it was directed at him- and tried to help her. Without being prompted. I gotta give this one to the Zutara folks)

In what world is this dynamic healthy for a romantic relationship?

[gaybabything]

OOOH I love those AUs! Also, yessss to almost all of shows you listed. I really liked TOH but I've never really watched any other iterations of tmnt other then Rise.

Hmmm foods... I really like cherries. Also BBQ chicken!

And I do! I draw and write. :DD

What's the back story behind your profile picture? It looks very strange and fun. Do you have any AU ideas/ head cannons you'd be willing to share with me?

-🌻

I am also a big fan of cherries and BBQ chicken!

For my profile picture, it was just a silly little meme I found on pinterest like 3 years ago and decide I would use it cause it was funny!

As for headcanons, for some reason I always hit all my favorite characters with the transgender beam. Like, Jim Hawkins from treasure planet? Bam, transgender. Jim Lake from toa? Bam, transgender. Leo from every single tmnt iteration? Bam, transgender. Zuko? You guessed it, he transed his gender. The list goes on. (Also I forgot to mention Danny Phantom, Gravity Falls, and HTTYD on the last post)

Other headcanons include:

1. All of the Rise turtles besides Mikey love taking baths/swimming cause they're all aquatic. When Mikey was little he'd throw the biggest tantrums ever during bath time while all the others were practically falling over eachother to get in the tub.

2. There had to have been times when the boys snuck out and to the surface when they were little. (Probably how they met April). There was probably a time when they got cornered by a dog or something when they were still little and it was up to Raph to protect them. This gave him a crippling fear of dogs for years until he met a really sweet pit bull. Cause just like him, people look at those kinds of dogs and immediately think "big and scary and will hurt me" but in reality they're absolute sweethearts. Now he's pretty much over his fear.

3. Billy Bones and Captain Nathaniel Flint were totally gay and in love. I will elaborate if you ask but I'll just leave it at that for now.

4. When Hakoda finally properly meets Zuko, Aang, and Toph he just automatically adopts them. They all practically have "adopt me" written in bold letters on their foreheads. He is now the proud father of 5 kids, a lemur, a sky bison, and whoever/whatever else his kids decide to bring home.

5. Now I'm just gonna talk about Tales of Arcadia ROTT for a bit. If you have not seen the show or movie, then I'm incredibly sorry about this long ass rant I'm about to go on. Feel free to skip the next 10 paragraphs.

MAJOR SPOILER WARNING FOR TOA ROTT BELOW THE CUT

In the end of TOA ROTT, Jim was not thinking clearly at all. He had just watched his best friend, one of his father figures, and so many of his other friends die. His entire world was crashing down on him, and he just wanted things to go back to normal. When he used the Chronosphere, he wasn't actually fully in control of how far back it took him. He was just desperate to go back to a time where his friends and family were safe. The sphere picked up on that, and took him way back to the very beginning before anything bad ever happened to him and his friends.

When Toby showed up, alive and 2 years younger than the one he just watched die, all he could think was that he needs to keep him safe this time. In the first timeline, he had the amulet, Claire had magic, and all of his other friends (aside from Steve and Eli) were magical creatures or warriors. Toby was just a human with a hammer. In his messed up state of mind, the only way he could think to keep Toby safe was for him to have the amulet instead. The amulet had saved Jim's life a bunch of times, so it would protect Toby if he was the trollhunter.

I think after things had calmed down, and Jim had a chance to properly think about what he had done, he would regret this decision immensely. Because being the trollhunter puts a major target on one's back. Yes, the amulet protects Toby, but it also curses him with the burden of being some great warrior and protecting an entire species. This would just crush Jim with guilt, because he knows the struggles a trollhunter goes through and he just doomed his friend to them.

Also, the past 2 years of Jim's life was essentially erased. He's 2 years younger, has none of the scars that he's gained over the past 2 years, and is basically in a body that is no longer his own. People who were his friends, his family, the day before, are now back to being enemies or have simply no idea who he is yet. Hell, he was a troll for a year, and suddenly he's back to being a scrawny 15 year old with no proof of what he's been through other than the mental scars. He's barely the same person. He has so many issues. You know he has ptsd, anxiety, and probably body issues because again, he was a troll, and now he's back to being a 15 year old human boy. (Also I headcanon him as trans so him suddenly detransitioning by 2 years would definitely fuck him up a bit.)

His mannerisms have changed, he has different habits than before, and now he has a huge variety of triggers that no one else knows about anymore. For everyone around him, it must seem like he was suddenly replaced with someone else. This causes a lot of tension and issues with people like his mom and Toby.

And Claire. For him, just yesterday they were in love, they had spent the last 2 years of their lives fighting side by side, growing as individuals together. He was probably planning on proposing to her. And now she doesn't even know who he is. Not to mention he is mentally 18 now, and she is back to being only 15/16. I feel like even though he promised her before he went back in time that he would never give up on winning her back, he would be hesitant to do so now. He would probably wait until she's older to try and pursue their relationship again, which would likely tear him apart.

And don't even get me started on everyone else. Blinky was literally his dad. And now he doesn't even know who he is. I imagine that being around Blinky again would be difficult for him. Just yesterday, Jim could call this man "dad". Now, Blinky is back to having 0 parental instincts for this kid and is probably weirded out by Jim's behavior at first. With Toby being the Trollhunter, Blinky would be more focused on him. Jim would essentially be kinda cast aside at first. I imagine he would feel like he's being abandoned again just like with James Lake Sr. Same thing with Strickler. The guy was his step dad, and now he's suddenly back to being an evil changeling who wants to kill them.

And all the little things, that to him are perfectly normal, are no longer known by anyone else. All their inside jokes have lost their meanings. And he knows personal things about people who don't even remember his name now. I imagine that there would be times where they're all hanging out, having a good time, sharing memories. He'd bring up something that to him, is a treasured memory shared by all his friends and family. Only for no one else to understand what he's talking about. He'd have to play it off, say it must have been a dream or he was just remembering things wrong, and it would kill him inside.

And everyone who hangs around him would know that something is off. Something is wrong with him. They would all pick up on the fact that something happened to him, but he never says what. For Toby and Barbara, this would be especially distressing. To them, Jim just suddenly woke up one day a completely different person and they have no idea why. And it's not like he can just admit that he's from a doomed future and has experienced unspeakable horrors.

Okay I have so much more to say on this topic but it is getting long as hell. I honestly should make this a separate post but I'm too lazy for that :/ Also so sorry again if you haven't watched TOA and have no clue what I'm talking about right now...

Anyways! More questions for you! Do you have any au/headcanons you want to share? (Literally any fandom you want to talk about). What are your top favorite colors? And what do you like to write/draw?

[impossiblycolorfulpanda]

For me, I mostly care about how they can make Ozai better. He should have more of a role in the story that affects Aang and team avatar as a whole, not just Zuko. Let him be the greatest threat, most personal nemesis, and complete antithesis to each member of team avatar. Though I think he should've been the true instigator of the great war, there can simply be a revelation that he had personally trained Azula, Zuko, Mai, and Ty Lee himself, taught them everything they know, and everything they can do, he can do better. Ozai can also do the same thing Iroh's been doing, which is learning the other nations/elements, learning about the lightning redirection, and one-up Iroh in everything he knows. But the difference is that he'll gain the same knowledge as Iroh for war/exploitation purposes only and he'll serve almost as an antithesis to the avatar in that regard. Ozai battles the entire white lotus on his own and murders every single member singlehandedly. He kills Hama and Hakoda himself. Iroh and Ozai have their overdue agni kai but it's to the death and Ozai wins.

I imagine them doing an alternate take of the season 2 finale. Right after Azula hits Aang with lightning, Katara quickly uses the spirit water to heal him. Azula notices this and she pulls Aang away from Katara. Outnumbered and under pressure, the gaang is forced to leave without Aang. Zuko had successfully captured the avatar but with Azula's aid. Azula decides to make Aang her own personal prisoner. She gives him an ultimatum, he must do what she says, when she says it, no questions asked, and no harm will be inflicted on him or his team.

Season 3, up until day of black sun, features Aang and Azula spending time with each other, getting to know each other and even learning to like each other. They may subtly make each other question things they have learned growing up, which can add build-up to Azula's mental deterioration. With Aang in it, the beach episode can be combined with the headband. After she helps set up the plan for when the comet arrives, Azula and Aang have a somber falling out, she then decides to put him in a cell so he can be transferred to boiling rock as his mere presence becomes too painful for her, only for it to become painful without him but doesn't quite realize it yet.

After Zuko officially announces that he is switching sides, he rescues Aang yet again, and they go to reunite with the gaang. Much later, right after Zuko says "She's not gonna make it" as Azula falls from the steep air temple. Aang takes notice and in a moment of impulse, he jumps down, flies to her, catches her, and saves her but shortly flies back to the gaang without another word. This'll break away another piece of Azula's false reality. She'll be hung up about this as she is with Mai and Ty Lee leaving her. She'll most likely lose her lightningbending and Zuko will only get a scar on his torso after she shoots a regular blue fireball.

Hopefully, they can add in a book 4: air, but it's part of the war arc, not post-war. We can get flashbacks of Gyatso teaching aang basic airbending while cutting to the present with Guru Patik as his new sifu and teaches Aang more abstract airbending he hasn't learned before. The premiere of the season can have Aang let go of Katara for good and regain control over his avatar state. This causes Azula and Aang to become much more spiritually bonded which allows each other to know when each other lies and vice versa. At one point close to the end, Aang talks Azula into opening and mastering her chakras and this is when she decides to join Aang and the team, just like Zuko. Maybe even get the official Azulaang endgame.

Heya! Just wondering, since Netflix Geeked Week will probably show a trailer for the live-action Avatar on Thursday, I want to ask a few things:

Are you excited for it?

What do you think they'll keep, cut, and expand in this live-action of ATLA - Book One: Water (Season 1)?

Since Bryke are not on the project now, do you have a good feeling that this live-action could be a lot better than what they come up with at Avatar Studios?

(By the way, were these "Braving the Elements" episodes recent from your last posts? And were Bryke really acting like complete stooges in them? :O )

Hi, thank you for the lovely ask!

I've been completely ignoring the huge Geeked Week banner so I have no idea what's up with that or that it's possible we're getting a trailer soon, so that's cool information to have lol

1. I honestly can't say I'm excited for the live action. The last Netflix live action for a beloved childhood franchise of mine was such a dumpster fire because they focused on being edgy and dark and abandoned the source material for the worse, so like? Past experience has made me extremely cautious in regards to live action adaptions coming from them. In general I am not a fan of this trend- the Disney ones are shit, and I only really find myself watching and enjoying the (sometimes shitty, but like, in a fun way) J-drama adaptions of old shoujo manga as I don't really fuck with any other genre nowadays. Anime has a long history with shitty adaptions for action shows, and as action is inherent to ATLA after all, even if it's not technically an anime, I know that's gonna be a hurdle they'll have to clear- just having good effects and fight scenes. It's not MY personal focus as I do find charm in shitty effects (I do like J-dramas after all!) but honestly that is probably what's gonna make or break the initial hype for the show imo. Rn I'm honestly just... So neutral about it to the point where it surprises me (I'm. Very much not a neutral person usually lol) and I think it's just a matter of like.... Being burned AND pleasantly surprised by ATLA stuff before so I'm kinda hedging my bets until I know which way it's gonna go for me. Honestly I can very realistically see me LOVING it, but the other option is that it's bad and that's kinda what I'm preparing for rn ig? I can't imagine I'll be too upset if it's just... Bad or unsatisfactory given that I already spend way too much energy on the shit the OG did wrong lol, if the LA follows suit with those I think I'll just kinda... Ignore it lol. Idk, A LOT of mixed feelings

2. I... Really can't even begin to imagine what they choose to do with the reduced time frame, but I know I for sure have my own thoughts on what I WISH they would! Mainly I want NO Kataang, if there's Kataang I'm not gonna even bother with it tbh unless it's completely one sided (which it was in the original, yet we still know how THAT turned out)... I obviously want endgame Zutara, but I'm not hard pressed on it tbh- it would be funny as fuck for it to happen after Bryke left over creative differences though! I REALLY want the Blue Spirit to stay, I really DON'T want The Great Divide (no way it's staying in though so we're probably safe on that front), and overall I kinda just? Want Aang to be more sympathetic- him being irresponsible in the original show only makes sense until a certain point, and I want an Aang that shows an ability to grow from early on. Aang's an awful, awful Avatar, and I truly want him NOT to be one here- honestly, a good way to get around some of his early issues would be to borrow a bit from Korra and twist his love for slacking off into an enthusiasm for all four cultures (rather than just their rideable animals), which I feel like he was CLOSE to having... But as usual with him it was all tell and no show- I wanna see him having friends in all four nations, I wanna see him being multi cultural even before he gets freezed, I wanna see him embrace all four bendings and cultures rather than fixating on air, I wanna see him fail and take responsibility... But I also still want to see him being a kid, because that's crucial, and while the original show never allowed him to grow up, I also don't want him to be immediately seen as and treated as wise and powerful- I want him to struggle with what it means being an Avatar who knows about it at such a young age, I want to see him meaningfully interact with his past incarnations, I want him to ACTUALLY find a balance! I think I maybe just... Want a whole new main character still named Aang tbh, because I DON'T like who he is in the original show, but I do like who he could've been! I REALLY don't want the show to be intentionally edgy- if it goes into any dark topics, they should be ones already raised in the original. I want some more light shed on how the North Pole and Pakku's sexism never went away, I want the show to acknowledge that the monks didn't go down without putting up a hell of a fight, I want to know what the fuck Zhao was doing to get promoted like that despite his constant failures on screen, I want to really dive deep into Aang and Bumi's relationship and maybe how Aang failed him on a personal level (he's literally the only one who would've missed Aang, not the Avatar for all this time) and how he mourned him for years, I want Aang to contend with and realize that he's in a war and how he's FOR SURE killed people and will have to again even before Koizilla (he kills so many people in The Northern Air Temple!!)... I could honestly kinda do with an abridged version of some of the Gaang's travels, like, a lot of them are neat but only matter tangentially or from a world/character building perspective and can be dropped/merged/replaced pretty safely tbh. For example, Haru doesn't really need to exist tbh, what Imprisoned does for Katara can and maybe even SHOULD change gears to focus more on her rather than this random guy who only ever shows up once more to get laughed at because he has a lame mustache. The Fortuneteller should be dropped or altered severely because its message doesn't hold up under scrutiny. Yue should be a bigger presence and be more of an established character. Jet should maybe get his role expanded. Suki should be more of a presence throughout. There are a lot of ways to make the first season better tbh, and also it NEEDS to change to fit with the new timeframe so? Yeah I hope they do a good job at separating the wheat from the chaff because god knows the original show did not know how to do that.

3. I'm honestly pretty confident in saying that Avatar Studios will never ever make anything good, or at the very least, anything that I'll like, but as to what the lack of Bryke means for the LA? Honestly, it's all up to the people working on it- Bryke being bullheaded and bad writers isn't exclusive to them, and if the staff is made up of writers that lean too heavily on the source material or drift too far from it that could honestly sink the whole show. Of course I'm happy they're not on board given their awful track record, but like... I know nothing about any of the people working on it in their stead, so a lack of Bryke doesn't necessarily equate to good writing (it certainly does leave out THEIR bad writing though!!)

Braving the Elements is soon gonna start reviewing the third season of ATLA, and it started in 2021 so everything there is very recent! And yeah, every time Bryke are on they prove themselves to be assholes all over again, they keep topping themselves somehow istg!

I feel that this isn't my most eloquent post but tbh I'm quite sick rn so this is the best I can do atm, hopefully I managed to answer properly anyway?

[azenkii]

Sokka/Suki/Zuko Brotp Headcanons

These three are a god-tier brotp and i'm here to prove it

100% that one friend group who does the stupidest, most impulsive shit but they’re also super nerdy at the same time?

Like they'll be left alone together and you can guarantee that by morning they'll have broken into several heavily guarded government buildings. But like,,they didn't even steal anything important? they just wanted to see if they could find bosco's birth records and figure out why he's a regular bear

The last time they got drunk together they woke up on the Beifongs' roof in librarian's robes with a fully labelled diagram of a nonbending submarine in front of them

Suki and zuko braid each other's hair and sokka got jealous that he couldn't join in so he grew out his hair until it was long enough to braid

Suki teaches zuko how to fight with kyoshi warrior fans and he's absolute shit at it

In return, he teaches her how to fight with dual broadswords and she is not shit at it, which zuko thinks is unfair

all three of them spar together, all the time

sokka’s the unofficial leader of the group

he’s almost always the one who suggests the dumb/smart ideas

suki and zuko are pretty much on the same wavelength as him when it comes to plans so whenever he suggests something it goes like

sokka: so you guys know the new ozai society? well i was thinking about the pipes under the city-

suki: that’s a great plan. dibs on scouting the eastern block, zuko can you-?

zuko, nodding: the night market? on it

no one else can ever eavesdrop on their conversations because they just don’t make sense

the story of their escape from the boiling rock becomes legendary and they make a game out of retelling it. every time someone asks about it they’ll add something new. eventually the story ends up involving a platypus bear named Mai II, Chit Sang’s identical twin, a rope made out of bedsheets and three separate riots

sokka and zuko thought for a solid year that suki didn’t really like drinking because she always ended up relatively sober whenever they went out. turns out she drinks more than both of them combined and she’s just really, really good at holding her liquor

the amount of decrees they’ve passed while drunk is honestly ridiculous. only half of these decrees were cancelled afterwards because the other half actually made sense

suki once genuinely threatened to throw hands with one of zuko’s ministers. her reasoning was ‘he kept making weird faces whenever sokka suggested anything’

sokka and suki once ganged up against zuko. they called it ‘nonbenders solidarity’

zuko retaliated by creating a super-secret best-buds-only handshake with toph and they did it in front of sokka and suki whenever they could. sokka and suki eventually went ‘okay OKAY we GET IT also can you please...teach us the handshake it looks really cool’ and zuko was like ‘hm. no i dont think i will’

he then proceeded to drive them insane by immediately teaching the handshake to everyone he knew. aang? knew it. katara? knew it. mai and ty lee? knew it. every single one of his ministers knew it. the kyoshi warriors knew it (and wouldn’t tell suki). hakoda knew it. iroh knew it. that random regular visitor to iroh’s tea shop knew it.

sokka and suki gave up on ever learning the handshake. exactly one (1) day later zuko and sokka were playing their own modified version of pai sho with suki watching them and then zuko just casually went ‘so now that you’ve given up do you want to learn the handshake’

sokka and suki went FERAL and suki flipped the board

sokka: HOW DID YOU KNOW WE GAVE UP

also sokka, exactly 0.02 seconds later: also yes please teach us the handshake sifu hotman

the handshake is the stupidest most needlessly-complicated thing in the world but they learn it anyway and they don’t stop using it for approximately a month

and oh did i not mention that they made their own version of pai sho? they call it die sho and it features 16 homemade tiles and a set of rules that only suki understands. one game can last anywhere from 2 minutes to 2 days

they once wrote a book together under the pseudonym Wang Kyo-Lee. The book was a 500-page rant about plant husbandry. it became a bestseller in the earth kingdom.

they also once did a role swap for a day. zuko dressed up as a kyoshi warrior/the fire lord’s elite guard (complete with makeup to hide his scar), sokka was acting fire lord, and suki was his water tribe ambassador. that was how they discovered that they worked together so much that their jobs were literally interchangeable

there are rumours that the three of them are involved in a poly relationship. when asked, none of them will give a definitive answer

sometimes they’ll just go on holiday to some random obscure place without telling anyone and come back four days later with a frog, three new swords, a crate of theatre props and a valuable compilation of historical accounts that’s been lost for over a century

the most memorable thing they ever brought back was druk, aka a literal dragon

out of the three of them, suki makes the best tea. however, she’s also the worst cook

sokka learnt how to knit and promptly made them matching scarves. the scarves were ugly af but suki and zuko wore them anyway

when zuko overworks himself sokka and suki will literally manhandle him away from his desk and into his chambers, all while lecturing him as he nods sleepily and dozes on his feet

when suki overworks herself sokka and zuko will bring her tea and wrap her in blankets until she eventually falls asleep

when sokka overworks himself suki and zuko will drag him out somewhere under the open air and just sit with him until he relaxes and falls asleep on one or both of them

they have a running joke where suki and zuko will, in the middle of a discussion, go ‘GODS you remind me of this one guy i met while i was travelling’ and then proceed to describe sokka until he realises they’re talking about him

they all have a very dark sarcastic sense of humour that can honestly be alarming to anyone who doesn’t know them. mai thinks it’s hilarious

suki knows how to juggle. she tries to teach sokka and zuko and they both fail miserably

sokka takes them ice-dodging. sokka (once again) earns the mark of the wise. suki earns the mark of the brave. zuko earns the mark of the trusted. 

(does zuko earning the mark of the trusted make him cry? perhaps)

hakoda takes one look at suki and zuko and immediately goes ‘oh ok youre my children now’

zuko can handle himself pretty well in the cold (breath of fire, remember?) but that doesn’t mean he likes it. sokka and suki constantly tease him about it whenever they visit the south pole

zuko once startled suki while she was sleeping and she accidentally chi blocked him. sokka laughed until he cried

they 100% have heated debates about super niche topics

anyway they’re all bffs who may or may not be dating each other send tweet

[happilyeverafterzukka]

underrated (kind of) zukka fics (part 3)

I feel like I have to change the title of this fic rec series a bit cause not everything is completely underrated but “underrated zukka fics” is a shorter title than “zukka fics I totally love and think more people should read and talk about” 

anyways, I love Zukka fics and I love making fic rec lists - and you can see Part One and Part 2 if you’d like - so here are some more fics that have been getting me through this pandemic! 

the Midwest Bi Disasters Zukka series by Onmyliteraturebullshitagain

okay okay okay stop what you’re doing right now and go read this entire series. I mean it. drop everything and go binge read this series because it is utterly fantastic. every time I get an email from Ao3 with an update to this series I literally stop whatever I’m doing to go and read it immediately because it is THAT good. this series has everything! it’s funny, it’s sweet, it’s romantic, you’ve got some good hurt/comfort and a nice dose of angst that always has a happy ending. basically it’s about Zuko and Sokka being, as the title suggests, bisexual disasters in the Midwest as they fall in love and become important parts in each other’s lives -- featuring Zuko as an EMT, Sokka with a dog named Boomerang, the cutest cuddling ever and the most perfectly written Azula I’ve ever seen! (Rated T - M)

A Bird in the Hand by hereforthefic_onlythefic 

Sokka is a vet and has his meet cute moment when Zuko brings in his pet chicken Duckie and they both immediately get a crush on each other. this fic is seriously adorable and has a new sequel that is just as cute! features stressed out veterinarian Sokka, Zuko being referred to as “Hot Chicken Owner,” and equestrian doctor Jet setting them up in a bar (Rated T)

not to plan by agni_kai 

this fic is the sequel to the excellent and amazing hired where Zuko and Sokka are gay porn stars and are also dating. listen, if Zukka fanfic was a college course then the hired-verse would have to be on the required reading list because these two fics are absolutely phenomenal in every single way. honestly and truly fantastic. this one features post pizza and ice cream couch cuddles, Chan being completely oblivious to the fact that Zuko and Sokka are dating, and Zuko adorably sleeping on Sokka’s shoulder while he’s facetiming Hakoda (Rated E)

to be only, to be every by ofherlionheart 

after I finished reading this fic, I had to lay down and stare at the ceiling for a bit cause I was so emotional over this fic. Zuko and Sokka’s anniversary is coming up and while the fic is mostly about what Sokka wants to do for Zuko, Zuko’s gift to Sokka was an emotional suckerpunch in the absolute best way possible - features Sokka’s love language being “being emotionally destroyed,” some of the most emotional poetry I’ve ever read, and Zuko’s reason for liking tattoos so much ripping my heart right out of my chest (Rated T)

bend it like heck, man by aiyah

I absolutely love this author’s work and I am completely obsessed with this probending au where Sokka decides to get into probending out of spite towards Azula and gets really into it while Zuko is absolutely terrified his boyfriend will get hurt. (Rated E)

Nightmares and Reveries by HisMomoness

Zuko has nightmares and Sokka learns that the best way to stop them is to cuddle his best friend all night - features a “I literally cuddle you in your bed of course I like you romantically” moment, a trip to the South Pole, and everyone knowing Zuko and Sokka are in love except for Zuko and Sokka (Rated E) 

the heartless and the gentle by daosword

if you want a soulmate au that will emotionally destroy you, then this is the fic for you! in this au, the worst things that have ever been said to you/you’ve ever thought about yourself appear on your soulmate’s skin, which means Zuko and Sokka are absolutely covered with words (Rated T)

I’ve Got a Good Feeling (doesn’t happen very often) by lesbianophelia 

Zuko has a date with Sokka and gets so nervous that he eats almost the entirety of a pot brownie Ty Lee gave him and proceeds to get way too high at a party - features Zuko and Sokka playing Animal Crossing together while cuddled on Sokka’s bed 

recreate a place that’s our own world by Muncaster

Storm chaser au!! Zuko and Sokka are assigned to chase storms around the country all summer and fall in love along the way!! A classic enemies to friends to lovers - featuring Zuko being absolutely obsessed with Madonna 

[firelxdykatara]

Katara hated Zuko. It was a plot point. Sokka never did--and their "friendship" in the show was close to becoming something more--so they were on equal footing and had hinted romance. Zutara is misogynistic--why are you forcing Katara into a relationship with someone she hates? Choose Toph or Suki if you really believe Zuko isn't gay.

there’s so much to unpack here, and i know i should really throw out the whole suitcase, but i just can’t help myself

and please, i beg of you, picture someone laughing so hard that tears are streaming down their face because that’s me right now, reading this ask. i about choked on my eggnog, so thanks for that!

point the first: sokka hated zuko every bit as much as katara did in the first two books. it was a plot point. sokka wanted to leave zuko to die because saving him wouldn’t have been worth the trouble--he was pragmatic and deeply distrustful of anyone who wasn’t in his immediate circle, and that went especially hard for anyone from the fire nation. including the birds!

point the first part two: sokka’s easy acceptance of zuko into the gaang had less to do with any budding friendship or caring for him (since there was none to speak of until the boiling rock episodes), and more to do with a lack of any personal grudge. aka: there was no tension there. nothing to really dig into--no true development of feelings. because aang needed a firebending teacher, zuko was around and willing to take on that role, and also he was a prime roasting target, so sokka was happy enough to let bygones be after he helped them take down combustion man.

which, of course, isn’t to say shipping them isn’t valid. there are plenty of ships that have little to no canon basis but a lot of fandom support, and that’s usually fine....until the fans start getting uppity about it and insisting that there Is Canon Basis Really, and then insisting that the ‘rival’ ship is misogynistic when their alleged ‘canon basis’ requires stripping everything meaningful from the girl’s relationship to the boy and giving it to her brother instead. which is exactly what you’re doing here, but i digress.

point the second: how on earth was sokka and zuko’s ‘friendship’ in the show (and why the scare quotes? were they not actually friends? are you really sitting in my inbox right now devaluing their platonic relationship because you don’t think it exists outside of your belief that they really wanted to fuck the whole time, despite sokka being in a happy relationship with someone else?) ‘close to becoming something more’? when did they ever have a single, solitary conversation that hinted at any ‘deeper’ feelings? sokka spent most of their buddy cop adventure to boiling rock mooning over his girlfriend (heh, get it? mooning? because he- oh, you get the point), to the point where he had literal hearteyes the instant he saw her--and zuko’s purpose there wasn’t to deepen his relationship with sokka so much as it was to reunite sokka and katara with their father, and to see an example of what a healthy paternal relationship actually looks like.

(one of my favorite shots in the show is zuko’s soft smile when sokka and katara are hugging hakoda)

so already your claim that they ‘had hinted romance’ falls incredibly flat, because there was absolutely nothing in the show that was ‘hinting’ they had romantic feelings for one another--in universe or out of it. sokka was happily in love with suki, and even the one scene that i can imagine might make shippers scream--when zuko popped into sokka’s tent late at night--sokka was about to have sex with his girlfriend, and when he asked zuko ‘what’s on your mind’, the first words out of his mouth were your sister.

(and then, as soon as zuko left, sokka was calling for suki again. the next morning, he was making a flower necklace--or a lei. because he got lei’d. it’s amazing the things you pick up when you rewatch the show as an adult lmfao.)

point the third (and this one is really where your argument blows up in your face): your insistence that zutara requires ‘forcing katara into a relationship with someone she hates’ reveals your own ignorance, because it’s demonstrably not true--unless you’re trying to argue that katara hated zuko all the way through to the end of the show, which??? i suppose makes it make more sense that you think zuko and sokka had a hinted romance in the text, because viewing comprehension clearly isn’t your strongsuit.

why are yall so quick to dismiss katara’s own feelings in the name of calling a fictional, noncanon ship ‘misogynistic’? because katara said, in the text, ‘but I am ready to forgive you’--and then she hugged zuko, called him into a group hug with the gaang later, joked (and even flirted) with him on ember island, helped talk him through his anxiety about facing his uncle, and happily agreed to go with him to face his sister, where she saved his life after watching him take a literal bolt of lightning to save hers.

if any of that had happened with sokka, yall would be calling it demonstrable evidence that zuko and sokka are in love. and yet when we use that canonical buildup and the deep bond of friendship and trust zuko and katara have by the end of the series to imagine them getting into a romantic relationship because of feelings developed during these events......you call us misogynistic? really? because we’re ‘forcing’ her into a relationship with someone she ‘hates’....except she didn’t hate him by the end of the series, they were very close friends and had gotten over and had closure from their personal baggage, and that’s the kind of stuff that provides excellent fuel for envisioning a romantic relationship developing!

so what was your argument again?

ETA: i was so busy deconstructing the bulk of your argument that i forgot to address that laughable last line--toph or suki? who had much, MUCH less relationship development with zuko than katara did?? ‘if you really believe zuko isn’t gay’???? im sorry that you can’t recognize a whole bisexual when you see one, but as a bi myself, i know that zuko’s dual-wielding ass couldn’t ‘pick a side’ if his life depended on it. and he had more romantic coding with both jet and katara than he ever had with sokka--that’s just a fact. sorry if the truth hurts, anon!

[thiscryptidischronicallyyours]

Hello hello I’m here with this ask thing because I’m an active tumblr user

13. Is there a trope you wouldn’t write if it was the last trope on earth?

18. What is a line/scene you’re really proud of? Give us the DVD commentary for that scene.

Hello very active Tumblr user,

What a pleasure to have you stop by my blog!

13. Hmm….

If I’m being ATLA specific, anything Zutara involving the romanticization of that “I’ll save you from the pirates” and subsequent tree scene. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good pirate au, but not when it’s done like that.

More generally, I guess anything that overly romanticizes situations with lack of consent.

Consent is sexy. *Hops off my soap box and promptly falls on my face*

18. Chapter 21 of At the End of His Rope, right at the beginning of the chapter. The “important” bits are highlighted in blue:

Zuko woke with the sudden lurching halt of the ship’s constant motion. His eyelids glowed with the harsh glare of light beyond them. Preparing himself, he forced his eyes open and waited through the painstaking moments of blindness for it to clear. He pushed himself up on his forearms, taking notice for the first time the absence of furs beneath him. Only deck boards. The single blanket and assortment of blue parkas piled on top of him slipped off, a shock of brisk air invading their warmth.

Zuko stared at the parkas, beyond their presence, the circle of the night before was reduced to abandoned fruit peels curling in the morning sun, scattered crumbs, haphazardly stacked baskets awaiting their return to the galley, and a single snapped guitar string. He glanced around and realized the other absence. The prince was alone. Biting his lip, he followed the trail of the rope but it was still tangled in the knot Podan taught him. He was untethered, and unsteady despite the lack of motion beneath him.

He stood, leaned against the side of the ship, and realized why they’d stopped. They were docked in a small, rundown looking port. Zuko didn’t recognize it from his travels, but he knew it was Earth Kingdom. Rich greens and browns. Mason stones. Dirt. Distant bustling and clangs carried to his ears until a closer clatter of footsteps on the deck dragged his attention back to the ship.

Gathering the end of the rope, Zuko wrapped it around one of his shoulders and made his limping progress toward the noise. He found a small gathering at the helm, Hakoda and Bato bent over a ledger in an animated debate over the rationing of the remaining flour stores. Podan rolled his eyes from his spot against the helm, catching sight of Zuko’s approach. He raised an idle hand in a silent greeting. Zuko nodded in reply.

The prince padded his way to the others, untangling the knot on the other end as he closed the distance and forming the end of the rope into a small loop. Pausing for a moment, Zuko caught Hakoda’s outstretched wrist.

“Don’t look now, Chief,” Podan’s lips twitched enough to shake the remnants of his beard, “but I think you’re being taken prisoner.” Both Hakoda and Zuko rolled their eyes at Podan, before Hakoda turned his rather bemused attention to his wrist and the rope in Zuko’s other hand.

“Morning, prickliness.”

“You left me alone, and unrestrained.” Zuko scowled, crossing his arms, “You’re not supposed to leave a prisoner like that.” The chief gave him a slow, almost sad smile, tugging Zuko into a playful hold with the boy’s back against his chest. He clasped his hands together in front of the prince, though he made sure to keep his hold gentle enough for Zuko to escape it if he wanted.

“How’s this for restrained?” He asked.

Honestly, this is probably my favorite scene in the series at this point. The parkas being piled on Zuko while he slept was a little detail that I don’t think anyone ever commented on, but it was the beginning of the shift to the rest of the crew really considering Zuko one of their own. He might see it as being left alone, but that subtle moment of caring stands out to me.

Podan’s comment about Hakoda being taken prisoner is the embodiment of this fic to me 😂. Hakoda has totally lost control, and everyone is totally okay with it or has at least accepted this as their new reality.

Just generally that “restraining” hug thing that Hakoda does is such dad humor, it makes me laugh every time it comes back up in the story.

Overall, pretty much the subtle vibes of caring in this section make it my favorite.

[limit-list]

ATLA AO3 Fic Recs!

idk about how y’all are handling the state of the world rn, but i have retreated into the “consume every available fanfic ever” phase!! for anyone else who wants to read lots of Avatar: The Last Airbender fanfiction, i’ve gathered a list of some of my favs so far!! i’ve split it into gen series, zukka series, gen fics, and zukka fics because those are the types of fics i thrive in. they’re not in any particular order other than that.

i will say that a funny trend i recognized was that Haicrescendo on AO3 (@sword-and-stars on here) made it on to every single list because everything they write is amazing hahaha, feel free to do as i did and just read all of their atla fics. anyway!! here goes, hopes this helps people, ill prolly add onto it at some point haha.

GEN SERIES:

What We’re Given by Haicrescendo

The premise of the story is that Zuko, Iroh, and the crew set out when Zuko was banished, found out that the Sky Bisons never died out, turn their ship into the Jasmine Dragon (a tea shop on a boat!!!), and never hunted the Avatar. This series is so good, it’s currently updating every Friday I think and I love it so much.

Dragon of the Yuyan by 00AwkwardPenguin00

Summary is: “In which Zuko is fostered/adopted/raised/recruited by the Yuyan Archers of Pouhai Stronghold, and destiny hiccups.” Y’all I adore this series so much, I receive so much serotonin every time this updates. The plot develops really really nicely, the OC’s are my fav people ever, and the way the author uses the signing is just perfection. It’s currently updating every Saturday I think.

kintsugi by discordiansamba

Summary is: “au in which a banished for good zuko ends up being hired by the beifongs to watch over their daughter- or, zuko and toph never took that field trip in canon so now she gets to hog him for three whole years”. If y’all know me, y’all know I love some Zuko and Toph friendship. This story is PEAK bonding, it makes me so happy.

ZUKKA SERIES:

Quarantine and Chill 2020 by Haicrescendo

Literally what it says on the tin haha. Series about roommates Sokka and Zuko as they’re stuck in quarantine, first two are explicit, there’s four total so far, and I love them all. The characterization is immaculate, the banter had me cackling, and all in all just a great series!

Carry On For You by Haicrescendo

Summary is: “Not the Pokémon AU you asked for but the one you’re getting anyway. Featuring: full time gym leader and local cryptid Zuko, badge challenger Sokka, and Katara who can only look at so many memes before she flips.” Yall I know nothing about Pokémon but this series!!! It brings me SO much serotonin. I adore this series so much, we get Zuko interacting with animals at the same time as Zukka develops and Iroh is there and I just love it.

the best laid intentions by alittleduck

Post-show fics for the most part. Summary is: “Centers around members of the Gaang coming out to their well meaning but woefully unprepared friends. Part one is centered around Zuko coming out as gay, the second one is centered around Toph coming out as a lesbian and the third one is centered around Sokka coming to terms with his bisexuality.” I love this series a lot, it’s super cute and I thrive on LGBTQ+ gaang fics. We got gay Zuko, lesbian Toph, and bi Sokka and they make me so happy.

GEN FICS:

Embers by Vathara

Ooo boy, this is a long fic, but it is my absolute favorite fanfic in possibly any fandom I’ve been in. The summary for this fic is: “Dragon's fire is not so easily extinguished; when Zuko rediscovers a lost firebending technique, shifting flames can shift the world...” I dunno how to put it any better than that without spoilers!! It rewrites canon from I think Zuko and Iroh getting into Ba Sing Se on. Expect politics, interpersonal tension, several plot lines overlapping and weaving their ways through the story, amazingly developed OC’s, and just incredible writing overall. Definitely a must read.

For Hearth and Home by Haicrescendo

Post-show fic in which Zuko hangs out with a baby all day while everyone falls in love with him. Summary is: “In which Fire Lord Zuko is a total mess and somehow people manage to love him for it anyway.” Honestly I think that sums up the plot, this is just such a pure story, it cheers me up like instantly haha! This is one of the cutest and most relaxing fics I’ve read.

The Family You Choose by TunaFishChris

Show rewrite soulmate fic with the Gaang as family! Summary is: “Some people are born with soulmarks. Zuko has them, but his grandfather burned them off because they ‘make you weak.’ Team Avatar has a few things to say about that.” No spoilers, but I love a good soulmate fic and I’ve never seen a concept quite like this one!! I think I’ve read this two or three times at this point. Amazing.

Unwanted Friends by FoiblePNoteworthy

This was inspired by The Family You Choose by TunaFishChris (see previous), and I love it so much. It’s the same concept, but minus Suki and told from the other’s perspective at an earlier place in the timeline! If y’all end up liking The Family You Choose, you’ll like this one too!!

Perfection is Overrated by Jagged Cliffs

Post-show fic. If you’re like me and have a soft spot for fics where Fire Lord Zuko is an absolute sweetheart to the palace staff, then you have to read this. One of my all time favorite fanfics. Everything about this story makes me happy.

Another Brother by AvocadoLove

Show rewrite. This is a WIP, I’m actually still reading it rn but it’s really good!! It’s about if Hakoda found Zuko as an 8 year old injured on a Fire Nation ship and brought him home to the Water Tribe. No spoilers here, but it’s a really good pure story and I love it so much so far.

Salvage by MuffinLance

Show AU WIP. Ooo goodness I love this story! Summary is: “Mid-Season-One Zuko is held ransom by Chief Hakoda. Ozai's replies to the Water Tribe's demands are A+ Parenting. Hakoda is… deeply concerned, for this son that isn't his, and who might be safer among enemies than with his own father.” Zuko is an angsts bby whomst I adore, Hakoda is my favorite ever, and the OC’s are legit the best. MuffinLance is another author where every fic is amazing! This fic in particular tore me to shreds and then makes up for it in absolute amazingness.

OUTLINE: Amnesia!Zuko Joins the Earth Army by MuffinLance

Show rewrite, I can’t remember from what point exactly, but it’s before Ba Sing Se. Summary is: “Zuko loses his memory and becomes an Earth Kingdom war hero. His father is going to LOVE this.” Written in outline/concept form, I adore this so so much. This fic is why I post concepts of stories I’ll never write, cause this story made me realize people enjoy reading them!! And this is sooo enjoyable, I fuckin love this fic.

ZUKKA FICS:

The Good Vanilla by Haicrescendo

Show AU-ish from the Western Air Temple I think. I think this is the fic that made me fall in love with Zukka actually omg. A beautiful fanfic that shows how Zuko and Sokka slowly fall in love, no spoilers here, there is lots of cooking.

Quit your life and come train Pokemon. (orphaned)

Modern Day AU. Another one of my starter Zukka fics!! Sokka kinda maybe falls in love with Aang’s roommate Zuko. There is nerdiness and awkward situations and ~emotions~. It makes me happy, definitely one of my favs.

by the stars above, i knew we were in love by theycallmesuperboy

Post-show fic. This one tore me to shreds!! It’s a fic about Zuko working his way up to proposing to Sokka. No spoilers, just saying that this story hurt me in all the best ways. Amazing story.

Unchained Melody by AvocadoLove

Show rewrite from Hei Bai’s Forest episode, WIP. Basic premise is that Sokka turns into a ghost, and Zuko is the only one who can see him. The dynamic between Zuko and Sokka is just explored so well here, and the banter is perfection. There are so many things I could say about different parts of the story, but I don’t wanna spoil a thing, so go read it!! Love this fic.

Sea Cranes by Druddigonite

Show AU. Summary is: “Between chasing the Avatar and dealing with his disgrace, Zuko begins to cough up flowers.” It’s a really interesting concept which I’d never heard of before, but I loved this fic! Just enough angst to tear my heart up and then mend it back together.

Hotman by callmecaramleh

Set during the Western Air Temple Arc. Summary is: “Toph decides she needs to know who in the gaang is hot. This leads to quite a bit of trouble for Sokka.” I love this fic so much. It’s so clear that they’re awkward teenagers here, and as an awkward teenager I love the dynamic!!! I just adore these boys so much.

Something Good Can Work by beersforqueers

Bookstore AU!!! I live for a good bookstore AU, as well as library and café AUs. Anyway, summary is: “Bookstore AU! In which Sokka tries to not-so-subtly pick up the cute boy working in the bookstore, and the cute boy is totally oblivious. Because the cute boy is Zuko.” They’re adorable and flustered. It’s precious, another fic that brings me outta a bad mood in like a minute flat. I love this!

[bulletproofteacup]

This is the world we live in now

[prompt #86]: “I find peace in the rain” // Zutara Month #25:  “Enemies”

Prompts by pxroxide-prinxcesss

[summary]:  Aang dies on the day of Sozin’s comet + enemies + Zuko and Katara basically kill everything because they can + zutara (like obviously)

[Warning]: mentions of death, rape, mutilation, basically this isn’t graphic but there are some awful themes...sorry?

***

“I’m so tired of death.” she whispers, kneeling in the mud. 

There is nothing for Zuko to say. He has been unable to speak since the Phoenix King cut his tongue out. Even if he could speak, what would he say? 

Would he apologize for his part in the fall of the Earth Kingdom? 

Would he apologize for failing to teach Aang to redirect lightning? 

Instead, he puts a hand on her shoulder. She draws in a deep, shuddering breath. He tightens his grip for a moment. She shakes her head. “I’m not hurt.” she says, even though she’s covered in blood. 

Katara stands, brushing his hand off gently. “Thank you, Zuko.” 

He nods and they turn back to where Appa is waiting. Momo is chattering, perched on the one horn Appa still has. Azula shattered the other horn when they were escaping the Fire Nation. 

It was miracle that they’d been able to escape that day, but Katara had always been something entirely else. Somehow she’d rescued him from the prison--he’d still be mindless with agony after Ozai had torn his tongue out and cauterized the wound with his own fire (he still woke up screaming most nights). She’d been dressed in a dead soldier’s clothes--Ozai had foolishly forgotten that shattering a waterbender’s hands and throwing her to his soldiers did not render her powerless--and somehow, she’d gotten them to Appa. 

A year later, they are the only ones left. 

It turns out, Zuko muses, that they were more than enough. The dead men lying in every direction would certainly agree. 

Azula and Ozai might have razed half of the Earth Kingdom, but Ba Sing Se was still a stronghold protected by the White Lotus. Zuko and Katara made sure they could never take their focus off of the eastern front--let alone march for Ba Sing Se. 

Zuko lifts his mask and follows Katara through the ruins of the company they’d decimated. He did not focus on the bodies laying in the mud--some smoldering still and others half frozen. Instead he catches Katara’s eye and signs to her, what next?

“Back to Half Moon bay, I think,” she says, “Dad will be there. He wanted to be there before they sent us to the Fire Nation. I think he’s going to argue against it.” 

Zuko snorts. Hakoda had a snow ball’s chance in hell of convincing the White Lotus, or Katara for that matter, not to go to the Fire Nation. Some changed after suffering a loss; Hakoda had given up the fight after Sokka’s death and Katara had given up her mercy. 

He signs back, sweep?

She shakes her head. “I haven’t checked for stragglers.” 

Sure enough, as soon as the words leave her mouth, a fire ball erupts from behind the ruins of a tent. They’d ambushed this company in the dead of night and nearly a hundred men had died before the other half of the camp had woken. It’s only logical that some men had been smart enough to hide. The fireball is aimed for Katara, but Zuko steps into it’s trajectory and disperses it with his daos. 

“Run!” a man shouts, “I’ll hold them off!” 

Four soldiers, he counts, five including the man attacking Katara. They look like recruits--too young and untouched by battle. It only takes a few minutes for Katara to dispose of the first. By then, he’s caught up with the fleeing recruits.

It doesn’t take very long for the battlefield to grow quiet once more.  

***

That night, they sit across a small campfire. 

When they’d first begun, it had been difficult to light a fire without attracting a squad of Fire Nation soldiers. There had been so many littering the eastern country Earth Kingdom, so many little towns underneath the control of the Fire Nation. Now, they went weeks without finding a single solider. This had been their largest company for nearly two months and it had been child’s play to destroy it. It turned out that without scruples, the pair of them were very good at massacre. Katara was very good at it.  

But she isn’t bending blood or drowning men in tsunamis at the moment; Katara is simply a water tribe woman fussing over dinner. 

This is the only time he can find a glimpse of the girl he fell in love with. Even a year later, even after everything that has happened, she is most herself when she’s trying to care for others. Zuko would love it if it wasn’t aggravating. 

“Here,” she says bending food into his dish, “Eat up.” 

She’s cooked the duck-pheasant in a stew of potatoes and carrots. The meat is soft enough that it is easy for him to chew, but she’d still made him cut his portion up. He tries not to let it irritate him, tries to imagine what Sokka would say if he could see them now. It would tickle him, he thinks, and Toph would complain about all the motherliness. Aang, of course, would be glaring at him across the fire--at least until Katara turned her motherliness on him. 

He nods in thanks and takes his bowl. Her smile is tinged with sadness, as if she’d known exactly what he’d been thinking.  

***

Zuko massages her hands before bed. 

The ointment smells strongly of ginger and citrus--it’s a Fire Nation blend they picked up in the last town they liberated. 

“Thank you,” Katara groans, “I could kiss you.” 

He smiles and signs, money. She laughs, “Of course I’ll pay you.” 

She winks and leans over to kiss his neck. He can’t help kissing her back, until she’s flushes and glassy eyed and red with beard burn. “Hey,” she complains, “You can’t get lucky until you’re done with my hands.” 

He feigns disappointment, but turns back to her hands. “I love you.” she whispers as he continues working the lotion into her hands. 

Zuko smiles. He’s gotten very good at communicating without words in the last year; sometimes they don’t even need signals or bits of parchment to communicate. This is how he knows that she knows if he could talk, he’d never stop telling her how much her loved her. But he’s got a job, so he focuses on her hands. Even now, a year later, they still tremble in his grip. 

Katara’s healing was on another level altogether, but her fingers had been crushed so badly. She could bend--if anything she could bend better than she had before--but it was difficult to grasp anything, difficult to manipulate or carry or touch anything. They’d spent months re-breaking individual fingers and even now, he helped her stretch and strengthen her fingers. Should could still manage bending and grip a spoon enough to eat, but she would never write again or sew or weave or squeeze his hand back when he held hers. 

“Zuko,” she whispers, “Where did you go?” 

He turns his attention back to her and smiles. She isn’t fooled, but she doesn’t say anything. Instead, she draws him back into their bedroll and they make love. This is the only time that Zuko feels normal again, when he’s inside her and it doesn’t matter that neither of them are whole anymore. It doesn’t matter that the entire world has fallen apart and their friends are dead. It doesn’t matter that in a few weeks, they’ll leave for the Fire Nation--that they’ll leave to murder the rest of his surviving family. 

The only thing that matters is beneath him. 

He tries to tell her, with his lips and hands and body, that he loves her more than life itself. 

***

In the morning, they climb atop Appa and fly toward Half Moon Bay. 

Neither of them look behind them, the ruins of a Fire Nation company lying behind them. 

This is the world they live in now.

[read-write-thrive]

A:TLA Marching Band AU

Honestly this is just a way too long and complicated list of characterizations for a Marching Band AU, but I have too many WIPs to write it out fully right now, so hopefully y’all like this format!

Elements/Nations:

Air= Brass

Water= Woodwind

Earth= Percussion

Fire= Guard

Avatar= Director

Characters:

Students:

Aang= Trumpet, Freshman, has to learn all 4 elements/sections before he becomes the new assistant director, that one kid who’s always screwing around during breaks to try and impress others (cough Katara cough)/ “just have fun!!!!!”, is openly panromantic/demisexual, often brings giant dog Appa to practice because “he likes the exercise !! and the music calms him down !!!!” but also because Appa has befriended the local stray cat, whom Aang has named Momo, and Aang is too much of a softie to keep them apart

Katara= Alto Sax, Sophomore, at first timid third chair but easily gets to first once she’s properly trained, still sister of Sokka and bickers with him over how he leads the saxophones, teaches Aang woodwind whenever Pakku (woodwind staff) isn’t at practice - which is honestly most of the time after the first week or so, hates when Zuko “invades” the saxophones but eventually warms to him (especially whenever he rejoins and takes over the color guard), definitely straight but is very supportive

Sokka= Tenor Sax, Junior, was really close with Yue before she quit, section leader but is still his single-braincelled self, eventually admits to Suki that the Pit counts as marching band and only then does she agree to date him, is openly bisexual, tries to match Jet’s level of playboy-ness but honestly just needs to calm down

Toph- Quads/Tenors, Freshman, fantastic at pretty much all percussion, is legally blind but can see well enough in full light to march with the group, (legitimately) teaches Aang percussion, at first seems like a helpless little rich girl but is actually brawdy, tough, can swear like a sailor, and is definitely queer in some capacity but she sees labels as bs

Suki- Vibraphone, Junior, leader of the pit, agrees to date Sokka once he gets over Yue and calms down on the whole tough-guy act, is super fit and takes her role seriously but isn’t as anti-fun as other characters can be (cough Katara again cough), is straight and a very outspoken ally

Zuko- Guard/Baritone Saxophone, Junior, best at sabres, that one guard guy who is actually pretty good but gets judged enough for it that he’s constantly angry about it, switches to (aka is forced by Azula/father to switch to) bari sax and is taught by Piandao, fights with Katara at first but it gets better, he and Sokka suprisingly hit it off (Zukka, anyone?), he gets pretty close with the gaang, eventually takes the guard section back his senior year after complete falling out with father/sister, teaches Aang color guard techniques, is probably bi but comes from a homophobic family so just doesn’t talk about it

Azula- Guard, Sophomore, best at flags, reigning b*tch, lot of coercing and controlling, director threatens to cancel the guard bc of the drama but then she, Mai, and Ty Lee all switch to pit for a few weeks and that’s somehow even worse so director caves, is year below Zuko but forced to quit band altogether her junior year due to father’s outrage at Zuko (he is also technically forbidden, but does it anyway and has his best year there), Azula tries to rejoin her senior year but director has had enough and won’t let her get any of the glory so she quits for good, homophobic but is not against doing performative bisexuality (aka bicurious/heteroflexible) to get attention from guys

Mai- Guard, Sophomore, best at rifles, somehow rehearses in all black when everyone else is dying of heatstroke, dates Zuko on/off, Azula tries to convince her and Ty Lee that band isn’t worth it once she quits/is forced to quit but both of them agree they’d rather be in band and abandon her, her and Zuko don’t exactly work out once he graduates (Mailee anyone?), doesn’t seem to enjoy anything so everyone wonders why she’s even in band, is probably at least a little queer but she honestly doesn’t believe in soulmates/mushy stuff like that so doesn’t think much about it

Ty Lee- Guard, Sophomore, best at batons/gymnastics, often used for features (if Azula isn’t interested/needs a second, etc), becomes head guard her senior year after Azula quits and Zuko graduates, actually gets along with the pit once Azula isn’t around to keep that eternal rivalry going, is openly pan once she cuts ties with Azula

Yue- Clarinet, used to be 1st clarinet but after continued harassment from guards transfers to another school after freshman year, her and Sokka flirted and got close but couldn’t do distance, is very good at the clarinet but is too soft spoken for section leader, definitely straight, constantly has guys after her bc she’s seen as innocent (and is insanely pretty of course) but manages to hold her own 

Jet- Trombone, Senior, token hot guy but definitely a little screwed up in the head, at the very least a smoker, v big straight but still an ally (especially to childhood friend Smellerbee, who is 100% a trans girl and no one can change my mind)

Lu Ten- Drum Major, graduates right before story begins, joins military fresh out of hs

June- Electric guitarist (in the pit), Senior, known for being hot af but ruthless, mostly friends with ppl outside of band, definitely deals

Staff:

Director = Roku

Drill Writer/old Director who still helps on occasion= Kyoshi

Pakku- woodwind trainer, specifically alto sax focused, a little against Katara being section leader/giving her lessons, but she wins him over

Jeong Jeong- Guard trainer, absolutely refuses to take part in the drama as long as everyone learns their sets, constantly harassed by Ozai

Gyatso- Brass trainer, definitely takes a shine to Aang but becomes ill during the middle of the first season and doesn’t come back (Aang is obviously very sad about this, though he’s in denial about him being truly gone at first), very good at brass but doesn’t take anything seriously -including himself and life in general

Bumi- Percussion trainer, kinda crazy, isn’t always the best at actually training but is freakishly good himself, also takes a shining to Aang

Piandao- guest of the director but not an active staff member, can do a bit of everything, helps Zuko learn Bari Sax, takes a liking to Sokka

Other Adults:

Iroh- father of Lu Ten but sticks around for Zuko (no one really minds, he’s beloved by the band), usually helps with refreshments, secretly swole but loves his comfy clothes so no one expects the strength, though its very useful when hauling equipment

Ozai- father of Zuko/Azula, likes to pitch a fit whenever Roku cracks down on Azula/ treats Zuko well, tries to become board president for what would be Zuko’s senior year but is snubbed, demands Zuko/Azula quit, Zuko refuses and takes over guard while Azula obeys and eventually quits for good

Mr./Mrs. Beifong- parents to Toph, biggest financial backers of the band but aren’t actively involved, tried to get Toph all special accommodations in the pit but Toph insisted she could march so director convinced them otherwise

Hakoda- father of Sokka/Katara, usually away for work but tries to come by for the big finales, cheers the loudest in the stands and tries to embarass them both as much as possible

Gran-Gran- maternal grandmother of Sokka/Katara, primary guardian for the two but is constantly busy trying to support them so doesn’t make it to practices often, flirts with Pakku more than Katara/Sokka even know, always shows up to every performance even with packed schedule

(ask for specific characters and I can do more, but these are the ones I definitely had to do! hope you enjoy!)

[angel-squid-trash-ghost]

Parental Guidance

       The wind whistled across the tundra. A storm was moving inland but probably wouldn’t be too eventful. But something else wasn’t right in the air. Hakoda could feel it. The wind whispered it to him. It was a warning. Go inside. Go inside, he felt his heart say. There was a giggle behind him. It was his youngest, Katara. He was happy to hear that sound from her. For too long his precious daughter didn’t even smile.

         It was only a year ago his wife, his Kya, had been slain by the Fire Nation. It was hard to see his children grow without a mother. Sokka, his son understood better than his sister. Katara would cry for her mother to tuck her in. She only wanted her mother to make her dinner. Only her mother to hold her when she cried. But his son was showing her a spinning top. One decorated with a wolf spirit that spun in a figure eight. Her blue eyes, his wife’s eyes, lit up with wonder.

“Dad! Look!” Sokka smiled.

              Sokka was a good boy. He was so eager to learn how to be a man. He couldn’t do a Water tribe father prouder. He was smart too. He had built his first snare before he was even shown how to. He was also a good brother. Hakoda knew there were times he couldn’t care for his daughter alone. He couldn’t take the constant pleading for someone he couldn’t give her. But it would be Sokka to take her hand and tell her to hush, that things would be different in the mornings.

              The snow kept falling as Kanna stirred stewed squid. His mother was a tremendous help. She had filled all the roles Kya would have had in their household. He wouldn’t be able to do it without her. Sometimes he would try to get her to rest. But she would brush him off and insist she wasn’t that old yet.

“That’s really amazing, son.” He smiled at his family.

              He was grateful to be able to see their faces every day. He had not been asked to go to war like many in the sister tribe had been. His village was small with only a few other villages scattered around. If all warriors were shipped out there would be no chance for the Southern Water Tribe to survive. Lately there hadn’t been any raids. Not since the last one that took his Kya. He tried not to think about her or the war. Not on nights like this with his family warm and laughing. In the morning, fresh snow would cover the ground erasing the days before. So, he dreamed to be old, white haired and wrinkled, surrounded by grandkids who had never heard of war. Many, happy grandkids who had never seen the red flags or the black snow.

“Dad! Dad! It’s still spinning!” Katara clapped her hands snapping him out of his trance.

“I see! How long do you think it will spin?” Hakoda laughed.

“Maybe until Mommy comes back!”

         Sokka stopped the top, his mother had stopped stirring and his daughter’s smile disappeared when she saw her father’s reaction. Hakoda found himself wanting to go outside again. The stab to his heart was too much. But the wind whispered. Stay inside. Stay inside.

…

          The water was cold. It was too cold. It hurt Iroh’s bones and his muscles. He was already so tired from swimming. He only had a small piece of metal and what seemed to be the remains of his nephew. The storm had destroyed their ship as if La themself had split the metal vessel in two. Iroh didn’t know how many of the crew had survived. But his nephew was with him still as the ice they rested on. Iroh longed to be on the shores of his homeland. He wished he were on sand and not ice. That he was being covered by sun rays and not snow. His rib was broken, and his hip was in an unbearable amount of pain. But in that moment, none of it mattered. His nephew, Prince Zuko was not moving. Iroh felt the burn in his eyes and the choke in his throat. The journey couldn’t be for nothing.

          Another wave washed over Iroh. So cold. The splash hit the burnt skin of his nephew. Prince Zuko’s eyes squinted. Now Iroh was crying, not with pain but with relief.  It gave him the strength he needed to pull himself out  fully from the water. The ice was not much more forgiving than the water. He was still too weak to bend. He closed his tired eyes. Iroh started to think almost into meditation. He was almost ready to resign to a death next to the young life he tried to save. Almost.

         He felt a warmth close to his plumped cheek. It was a salvation. Was it Agni trying to take him to the spirit world? Iroh opened one eye. It was Captain Soru. The son of the navigator Soji, who was surely at the mercy of the ocean if not already dead. He held a fire to him warm and welcoming.

…

         Hakoda felt something else on the wind. There was more than one voice now. He was starting to believe the grief had caused him to go insane. Stay inside. Help. We are here. Stay. Help. Stay. Whispered on the winds as he stared through the uncovered window. Kanna was quick to cover the carved hole with a pelt.

“You will catch a sickness.” Kanna chastised.

“Maybe, mother. But I can hear voices.” He admitted knowing his mother would not judge him. He had said worse things to her.

His mother answered. “What do you hear? One does not hear the wind if it is not telling him something.”

        Hakoda moved the pelt and watched the snow. Slowly figures appeared. At first, he thought he was seeing things. Seven shapes moved through the whirling gusts. Some tall and some thicker than others. But they were all in a circle around something.

“Chief Hakoda!”

“What is it, Moak?” Hakoda asked seeing Moak run past his window.

“Seven men! They look Fire Nation!”

Hakoda’s heart pounded in his chest. “Mother take the children to the communal hut. Go quickly! Tell all women you see to do the same. Where’s Bato?”

“I’m here.” Bato, a man that had been his friend since childhood stood faithfully at his side.

“I want all men armed and ready.” Hakoda said trying to hide his panic.

“There may be a weapon with them!” Moak shouted out.

“Look through the spy glass! Get a better look.”

“Chief it’s…a doll? A child? There is only half a face that I can see! They look injured.”

“Wait till they get closer. Keep your eye in the spy glass. When you get a better sense let me know.” The chief kept his composure. The entire village would be counting on him.

       Hakoda went around the village, preparing for the worst. Every command had to be followed to the exact letter. Hakoda had planned for every single outcome since the last time the Fire Nation were spotted on their shores. His plan was full proof, and he would never lose anyone ever again.

“Dad what’s happening? I can help!” Sokka must have escaped his Gran-gran. He was already armed with seal leather armor and a boomerang.

Hakoda’s pride out-weighed his panic for a few moments. He put his hands onto his son’s shoulders. “What I need you to do right now is a very important job. Do you understand?”

Sokka nodded hard gripping his boomerang for dear life.

Hakoda continued, “I need you to be with Katara and Gran- Gran. I know it feels like I’m sending you away, but I need someone protecting them. You know you’re my bravest warrior, right?”

He could see his son fight his own tears, “Yes, Dad.”

“Then please be with them Sokka. I can’t lose anyone else.” Hakoda pulled his son close before letting him go to bark out more orders. “Guard the gate! Hold the line! Show no fear!” The snow fell faster now making it hard to the approaching men. It seemed like they would have to get closer to get a full idea of what they could be expecting.

              Finally, the Fire Nation men were in sight. Two young men and four middle aged men. One old man and one boy being pulled on a makeshift sled. They all limped, each step taken in agony. The young men had extensive injuries. One appeared to be missing an arm. Two middle age men hobbled along keeping up the old man whilst helping themselves. And the other two pulling the sled with the half-faced boy. They all fell to their knee’s when they reached the gate. They were wet and bleeding. The cold must have been adding to their misery as they were not properly dressed for ice and snow. He heard them sob and groan. Some of his men grew restless. There was no doubt they were suffering, but how could he care. They were Fire Nation. They should get a taste of their own medicine. They should walk around limbless and in pain. They should starve and be frightened. Their child should die innocent in their arms…

“Chief? They have a child with them. The old man is saying they need warmth, or they will all die. What should we do?” Moak whispered.

“Keep the gate closed.” Hakoda said without hesitation.

“Yes, sir.” Moak nodded before leaving to inform the guards.

“Bato!” Hakoda called his friend. “What should I do? They are injured and they have a child with them. But they are Fire Nation. Do they deserve mercy?”

“Hakoda...” Bato stared at the Fire Nation men as Hakoda did, “Are we better than them if we leave them at the gate to die? Are we exposing ourselves to a sneak attack if we let them in? But any decision you make I will follow.”

“I have the same troubled thinking.” Hakoda breathed out. To know his men were as conflicted as he was made it easier for him to form a plan. “We should let the most injured man in to ask what they want. Do not let the child come through yet. I do not want them to think we are too gullible.”

“Yes, sir!” Bato leapt down to the others to inform the change of plan.

        They sent the old man in. He spoke the Water language. He spun some story that the storm had pushed them off their course and their ship sank some miles out. He asked for fire his injured crew could gather around. He had the audacity to ask for food and to ask for shelter. Hakoda had a quick thought of cutting them all down in their weakened state. But he was raised as a warrior. He would not kill men who could not defend themselves. But they would not be guests. They would be held as prisoners until Hakoda decided they weren’t.

“Please take my nephew! He needs a healer right away!” The old man begged again.

              Hakoda could only assume the boy’s face had been damaged by the sinking ship. He was small and couldn’t be older than his own son. He wasn’t moving. Not even when the snow landed on his wounds. He gave the order to have the child taken to the healing hut, but the others had to stay together and were to be guarded at all times.

              Over the next week, the prisoners were given a meal a day of whatever scraps they decided to provide. Any sign of bending and they would be killed. They had to be restrained when their injuries were inspected. The boy in the healing hut had not opened his eyes. As the days went on the villagers grew anxious. No one wanted Fire Nation in their midst for that long. A search party might arrive soon only putting his people in further danger. The Fire Nation men had to leave. They had been shown enough hospitality.

              The next morning Hakoda went to inform the prisoners. They all took the news well. All except for the old man. The old man struggled to stand on his feet. He whimpered even as two men lifted him.

“Please, Chief Hakoda. I understand me and my men must go, but please let the boy stay.”

“You have already asked too much of my people. I will not allow some lifeless Fire Nation pup to be a cause of another raid.”

“No one knows where we are.”

“You could be lying. I should have made the order to kill you at the gate. You could be a spy.”

“We do not wish to stay, Chief Hakoda. But the boy cannot come with us. I fear he would not survive the journey back.”

“What concern of this is mine. Unlike the Fire Nation, Water tribe understand what innocence is. No child of the Fire Nation can be innocent.”

“I know your heart cannot be so hard, Chief Hakoda. He is not unlike your children. His only crime is being born under the Fire Flag.”

“My decision is final.” Hakoda kept his laconic tone.

Iroh threw himself into a kowtow,  “I wish for his safety! He will be safe here! Please, Chief Hakoda. This old man begs you.”

“As my wife did? Before she was slain holding my daughter in her arms? My decision is final.”

“You are not the only one to have loved ones lost at the hands of the Fire Nation. My people lose fathers and sons every day for a war that does not benefit them. I lost my very own son. I do not like this war any more than you. I do not seek glory or victory over you or your people. I want to go home and die in my own bed knowing that my nephew is safe.”

       Hakoda ignored the sympathy that flittered in the back of his mind. There wasn’t much else Hakoda could do. If he allowed the boy to stay, the Fire Nation would have a reason to come back. If not them, then the Northern Water tribe would have a long-awaited reason to seize control of the South. It would be reason enough for some Earth kingdom tradesmen to sell information to the Fire Nation. He seemed to be cornered at all sides. It was the most rational decision to send them all away.

       He approached the healer’s tent unable to remember his reasoning. Inside was the last thing he wanted to see. His daughter was above the half-faced boy. She took a towel and gently dabbed at the boy’s scar. The boy’s eyes moved but didn’t open. He stayed in his place before his body had to react. He stepped backward. The crunch of the floor behind him alerted his daughter. Katara put her hands behind her back like she was caught sneaking an extra tart.

“Dad. I’m sorry. They left him. They said he was already dead. But look! He’s alive, Dad!” Katara began to sob.

Hakoda kept his voice even, not to scare his daughter, “I am taking you to Gran- Gran and you will not leave her sight.”

              Hakoda made his way to the communal hut where all the women and children sat together waiting for news. Including the healer, Kehana who was supposed to be treating the boy. He saw the fear in her eyes. In all their eyes as he scanned the room. He made them aware of his decision. Relief washed over them all. But all too soon when shouting was heard.

              Hakoda dashed outside. Men were hollering and running in disarray. They all were pointing in the same direction. The six Fire Nation soldiers had escaped and were seen hauling a canoe into the water. Hakoda grabbed the nearest weapon and sprinted to the shore. He couldn’t think and couldn’t make any commands, but his men followed suit and ran with him. It was too late. The old man was yelling something over the water that he couldn’t hear. Hakoda hoped La would not make the same mistake and swallow them whole this time.

[zktop10]

Top 10 Rated M WIPs!

Small deviation means bigger gaps between stories. The best way to move a story up is to leave kudos and bookmark the ones you love!

Sx: 0.24

NO MINORS! ADULT CONTENT! 18+ ONLY!

List under the cut:

Title: Southern Lights Author: colourwhirled Summary: A world where the Avatar has disappeared from memory. Where Sozin’s Conquest was successful. Where the unsteady order of the empire is threatened as members of the royal family are picked off one by one and lines are slowly drawn in the sand.

One last hope for peace forces an unlikely alliance between a homesick waterbender, a carefree Air Nomad, a runaway Earth Kingdom heiress, and the fire lord's inscrutable son. Together they must learn to shed old enmities and become the balance they seek to restore to the world. OR: The avatar has four heads. x [[Chapter 4: "And always, his eyes, cautiously watching her. Even when he thinks she isn’t looking. It drives her mad"]] Score: 10 / 10 Tags: Smut, Alternate Universe, Pre-Canon Divergence, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Slow Burn Last Updated: 2020-06-15

Title: live fast (die young) Author: jarrahs Summary: Zuko recognises two of them, the football player and his girlfriend. But the girl with them…all big blue eyes and tan skin, long—Jesus, long—hair. She looks good enough to eat.

Azula glances at him, amused, “Looks like your little blue pill just walked through the door.” (Zutara Modern-College AU) Score: 9.6 / 10 Tags: Alternate Universe, Modern Setting, College Setting, Slow Burn, Enemies to Friends to Lovers Last Updated: 2019-01-10

Title: The King's Pet or The King Author: ShamelessLiar Summary: Sequel to Call Me Katto (spoilers follow!) Katara wakes to find herself imprisoned by the man she loved and must navigate a subtle battlefield if she hopes to escape and free her friends. Yet Zuko, embroiled in Azula's deadly game as he returns to a life he lost long ago, has no intention of letting her stray from his side. They could face anything together - if only she didn't hate him.

Part 2 of Call Me Katto AU Score: 9.4 / 10 Tags: Series Last Updated: 2020-04-19

Title: The Summit Author: AJ_Lenoire Summary: To commemorate the end of the Hundred Years' War and to ensure nothing like that ever happens again, the Four Nations agree to hold a Summit every year. Two weeks of political talks, cultural immersion and utter harmony. As Fire Lord, Zuko is in charge of hosting the first, set in the Fire Nation capital. As war-heroes, Katara, Sokka, Toph, Suki and of course Aang are in attendance also.

However, as Katara finds herself yearning for a life beyond that of the Avatar's faithful companion, it appears that politics will not be the only tumultuous waters they have to navigate. Score: 9.0 / 10 Tags: Friends to Lovers, Slow Burn, Post Canon, Comfort/Angst, Smut Last Updated: 2020-06-03

Title: so let us melt, and make no noise Author: LittleLostStar Summary: It was just as well, then; the South Pole was a lonely place, and his quest fell on him and him alone. It seemed only right that the last part of his journey would be the hardest, but he was so close. Just a few more miles, just a few more nights, just a single horrifying task to accomplish, and then he could finally go home again. Bring me the heart of the last waterbender. The tallest order imaginable, and yet he would do it. He would do anything, if it meant restoring his honour and setting things back to the way they used to be. ~ When a mission to the South Pole goes awry, Prince Zuko awakens in the home of a healer named Katara and finds his heart is damaged and his bending has vanished. His quest to find the last waterbender of the Southern Water Tribe is his destiny-- the one chance to regain his honour and return home. But as time passes and Zuko's heart heals, it becomes clear that Katara is protecting an ancient secret of her own, and that both of their destinies are entwined in ways never before thought possible. Score: 8.7 / 10 Tags: Alternate Universe, Canon Divergence, Slow Burn, No Avatar Last Updated: 2020-02-11

Title: Subterfuge Author: Smylealong Summary: Thirty years ago, the Fire Nation attacked, throwing the world off balance. Katara entered the Fire Nation war camp at Ba Sing Se as a healer, prepared to do whatever it takes to play her part in stopping the war. Getting kidnapped with the Fire Prince and falling in love with him were not parts of the plan.

AU. Zutara.

This is the Zutara story I have always wanted to read but never found it anywhere. So I decided to write it myself.

Part 1 of Subterfuge Score: 7.6 / 10 Tags: Character Death, Smut, Gore, Dark, Alternate Universe, Series Last Updated: 2020-06-16

Title: Lost and Found Author: Smediterranea Summary: Chief Hakoda and his men are out on patrol when they encounter a surprise: an injured boy alone on the ice.

Hakoda brings him back to the South Pole, but keeping this boy alive may be dangerous in ways Hakoda had not anticipated...

A canon-divergent story where Zuko comes of age with the Southern Water Tribe with his only two friends in the world: Sokka and Katara. Score: 6.9 / 10 Tags: Slow Burn, Hurt/Comfort, Friends to Lovers, Alternate Universe, Canon Divergence Last Updated: 2020-06-18

Title: don't blame me, love made me crazy Author: theadamantdaughter Summary: ...in which Zuko is recently divorced and definitely not looking for love, then Katara finds him. Score: 6.0 / 10 Tags: Smut, Porn with Plot, Alternate Universe, Modern Setting Last Updated: 2018-11-19

Title: Broken Hearts and Shattered Breaths Author: Smylealong Summary: Thirteen years after the war, Sokka breaks into Zuko's courtroom with a plea to help Katara who faces certain death. Zuko abandons everything to rush to his friend's aid, but once there, he realizes that for Katara to live, he has to make a big sacrifice - one he is not ready for. Post War Zutara.

Part 1 of Broken Hearts and Shattered Breaths Score: 5.9 / 10 Tags: Series Last Updated: 2020-06-19

Title: The worst thing that could happen Author: BethRedus Summary: “I have an idea. How to solve all of the problems. Mine, yours, all of them!"

“You do?”

“It is a good plan. A very good plan. I will solve all the problems. But…”

“But?”

“You are going to hate it."

“Katara, what is this despicable, all solving plan of yours?”

“We need to get married.” Score: 5.8 / 10 Tags: Fake Marriage, Pretend Relationship, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Firelady Katara Last Updated: 2020-05-04

[airiustide]

Let’s Hope We Make It To Tomorrow

Zutara Month 2020 Part 2, Day 2: Winter

Summary: It's just like any other night when Katara brushes her hair. Not when Zuko visits her home come winter. There's a lot the young Fire Lord could handle but watching his beloved display a show of her beautiful hair in front of him was certainly not one of them.

Also posted on AO3

@zutaramonth

He can’t help but stare. She was just that good at getting his attention. Zuko laid out on his side, cheek rested on his closed fist. The snow had died down hours ago, leaving only the sound of the howling wind outside the hut they were put up for the night in. The fire crackled, adding mood to the silence in the hut with a relaxed ambiance. The single lit lantern by the bedside of their furs danced on the brown skin of her slim shoulders. Her blue robe was pulled to her shoulders. Katara's excuse? To prevent her hair from catching the edge of her collar.

The hut Katara resided in was adorned in tribal artifacts and animal skin. Trinkets made of bead and bone clinked from the small brush of wind that escaped from the opening of their closed window flap. Crafted bowls and utensils were gathered by the fire. Wicker baskets laid splayed out with fruit and nuts and dried meats.

Hakoda’s hospitality was often over the top when the young Fire Lord came to visit. It was rare, unfortunately. Zuko’s time was kept with other affairs. Making an appearance in the Earth Kingdom was more dire than visiting his girlfriend. Every chance he got resulted in him being pulled away by the chieftain and liquored up until the man was drunk, silly and pestering Zuko about when he planned to wed his daughter. That would last until Katara came to Zuko’s rescue, gently reprimanding her father for bothering the Fire Lord and guiding the chieftain to bed with a kiss to the forehead.

“My turn.” Katara would greet Zuko, interlacing their hands; him allowing her to lead him away.

Their night would usually end up with abrasive kisses and whispers about how much they missed each other before they drifted off buried in the warmth of Katara’s furs.

Not tonight. She invites him to make himself at home, waiting for Zuko to remove his armor and boots before he slid in the furs and sighed. Katara sat down next to him, undoing her waist length braid and entangling her fingers through her hair. She makes a hum, casually pulling her robe over her shoulders before proceeding to release her bun and remove the beads holding her hair loopies in place.

Whether she was aware of it or not, that wasn’t clear. Throwing her thick curly hair behind her shoulders, slipping long, delicate fingers through the tresses and massaging the scalp. Katara encloses her hand over the comb made of whale bone lying next to her lap, coming up to glide it through her long hair. Zuko shifts in his position, looking up casually with her back turned to him and her hair brushed over her shoulder to expose her fine neck. But inside, he’s burning hot; wrecked with how lovely the very woman in front of him was. That she was here with him. Him. And after a year it was still hard to believe she chose him.

“Do you do that every night?” He asked. A hand reached out, coming towards the nape of her neck, admiring the exquisite curve. Zuko stops inches from touching her skin, balling his fist and burying it in the furs.

Katara’s smile was mischievous in every way, “Yup.” Tossing it to the side, caressing her hands through chocolate locks before lifting her hair and hanging it over her forearms. Katara chuckled, lidding cool, blue eyes seductively at Zuko. “Do you like it?”

Zuko swore white smoke escaped his ears. A blush burned his cheeks and he was red from his neck to the tips of his ears. So much for keeping a cool face. “Y-yes. I like it.”

“You like it?” she repeated. Katara captured him, causing Zuko to fumble and stutter a ‘yes’. “How much do you like it?”

Her smile reaches her eyes. Zuko’s longing gaze warmed her. She was smitten. Despite acting all confident, she felt the intensity of his gaze all the way down to her toes. Making it hard not to want to kiss him. She twists her hair, allowing it to fall to her back but that only proves futile as she crawls to Zuko’s side and dips her head, awaiting for his answer.

He swallowed soundlessly, reaching up to cup her cheeks. Electric currents coursed through him, his thumb sweeping over the line of her cheekbone. “I l-like it very, very much.”

“Very much?” Katara comes in, resting her hands on his shoulders,

“Very, very much.” Zuko corrected with a slow grin. His hot breath knocked against her parted lips. He tilts her head, oh so slightly, bracing himself for what he had waited for since his arrival. Finally, both hands slid in her hair, gently cuffing the back of her head.

Without warning Katara falls into his chest, colliding her mouth with his; a delightful squeal escaping her. The two laugh, rolling on the furs and covering each other with kisses and warm embraces.

[bellatrixobsessed1]

Kissing Dead Pearls (Part 27)

The sky was a watercolor backdrop of searing oranges and yellows and pastel pink. Against it, holding a surfboard was a petite silhouette. “She’s too small to be any good.” Chan remarked. 

“I thought that it was the other way around, dude.” Ruon Jian shrugged. 

“Maybe if you have the right size surfboard. That one’s too big for her.”

To this Ruon had nodded in agreement. It didn’t bother Jet like it bothered the rest of the team. Chan and his girlfriend were particularly annoyed by the mistake. They could tell that she was new to the sport, unlike themselves. They have been doing it since childhood. 

Truth be told, they were afraid of her. Afraid that her mistakes would cost their team a victory that they hadn’t even had a chance to begin working towards. That first practice was a mess. Jet had watched her rather closely; every time she lost balance and every time she charged towards the wave too early or too late. She never seemed to have them timed right, could never seem to sense the water in the way a seasoned surfer would. She just didn’t have the connection. 

She took a deep breath. It was an hour and a half into a three hour long practice and she had yet to pull off even the most basic maneuver. But more than anything, Azula wanted to make her father proud. Truthfully, she had come to decide, within the first twenty minutes, that she hated surfing. It didn’t come naturally to her as volleyball did. She was furious with herself for having missed volleyball tryouts in favor of trying something new. 

She could have been on her way to becoming the star athlete of the middle school team. She could have been an hour and a half into praise and cheers. Instead her teammates were glaring at her. Even the coach’s formerly sympathetic eyes were clouding with impatience. She knew that he’d only let her on the team because of her father and his father’s legacy. 

She also knew that it was becoming abundantly clear that she didn’t share the family talent. She cast one more forlorn and longing glance at the volleyball in her sports bag before closing her eyes, readying her surfboard, and dashing towards the water. 

This time she was going to do it. She knew that she had timed the wave right. If only she had timed throwing her surfboard down correctly. Another wave took the board out from under her feet. 

No one bothered to tell her that she was supposed to go belly down and paddle out to the wave. 

Not even the coach. 

She was never one to quit. The only thing more dishonorable than a failure was a quitter. She would ride the failure out and probably with more success than riding any wave. A week into her new sport and she was only just starting to catch onto paddling out.

Azula was certain that balance wouldn’t be a problem. Toph had been kind enough to let her borrow her skateboard. The way she and Toph saw it, skateboarding was basically surfboarding without water. She did just fine maintaining her balance on the skateboard and by the end of the night she was even doing some decent tricks. 

So why the hell couldn’t she catch onto surfing?

She came to find that it was a simple as not being able to catch a wave. As simple as not knowing what to do when she finally did. She knew that once she figured out how to pop up that she would be able to stay standing and ride it out, but the waves were relentless and knocked her into the blue before she had a chance. 

Three days into week two was when she finally broke down. She was crying on Sokka’s bed about how Zuzu was mad at her for trying to one up him and how it wasn’t worth it because she wasn’t even good. How she wished she would have just gone for volleyball. 

He treated her to ice cream that she didn’t think she deserved, but Kya had insisted and Hakoda and Katara made it special.

Jet watched her cross the beach. “I’m surprised she’s even showing up still.” Chan’s girlfriend had commented. 

“I wouldn’t if I was that awful.” Ruon noted. 

“I wonder if her dad beats her for not being able to carry on the family legacy.” Jet didn’t know the girl’s name but even Chan looked at her and muttered, “too far.” Jet might have slapped her if he didn’t have a moral code. 

Azula held her head as high as she could for how many times the waves pulled it under. She had enough grace, he could see it in the way she paddled, the way she cut seamlessly through the waves. He could tell that she was getting used to timing and catching the waves. But she never managed to fully stand up and the one time she did, she hadn’t known what to do next. 

He watched her drag herself and her board back to shore. Long locks of hair hung down her back, shimmering in the setting sun. She wore a seashell bracelet around her slender wrist. Her skin was tanned nicely and her eyes reflected the sunlight so well. 

The rest of the team called her the weak link but he called her beautiful. 

The rest of the team called her the weak link but he called her untrained. 

He spent his entire weekend doing what their coach should have done. And she caught on fast. Who would have thought that actually teaching her what to do would have made such a significant difference.

When Monday came around, she walked onto the beach with a surfboard fitted to her smaller stature and a more confident stride. 

If she could have some success with a board that was not properly sized, she could do wonders with this board. 

For the first time she’d managed to catch a wave. Albeit, not on her first or even fourth try. But ten minutes in, she caught one and rode it out. Practices went that much smoother, she was beginning to learn and perform the basics. 

It wasn’t the remarkable and impressive transformation she had hoped for.

It was so ordinary. 

But it was enough to bring her from dead last to third from the bottom--and on a good night, four away from it.

The season had ended and she vowed to do volleyball next year. But the next year rolled around and her teammates were disappointed to see her dragging her board up the beach. 

A summer practicing with Jet and Sokka had done wonders. 

Chan, his now ex-girlfriend, Ruon, and the rest of the team hadn’t been there to see her practice. It was just as well. It was more satisfying. 

She went first. Her paddling was stronger, her carves smoother, her balance expectedly impeccable. She pulled off her first roundhouse cutback.

Azula was a thrill for Jet to watch, she always was. That determined and driven look and the victorious one that usually followed. They were stunning. She was stunning. Especially now that confidence was thrown into the mix. He more than admired her haughty stride back up the beach and past the rest of the team, “you’re up Chan.”

.oOo.

Azula takes Sokka’s hand and they slowly pad along the sand. He is so close to the sea that almost took him and yet he grins, wide and beaming. It is probably because he is with her. He stops to brush the hair out of her face. 

He leans in for his kiss only to get a mouthful of hair courtesy of the wind throwing it back across her face. He sweeps it aside again and this time she holds it back. 

She closes her eyes and tilts her head up, she looks serene and blissful. 

It makes him want to hurl.

Jet turns away before their lips make contact. With more force than necessary, he takes another bite of his chili dog. He doesn’t even like chili! Yet the flavor is still more pleasant than the look of Sokka locking lips with his ex.

He feels bad for feeling so appalled considering how much less tense she is, but it hits him quite mercilessly that he could have never made her feel that way. If only he’d met her first. If only he had been the childhood friend. 

If only he’d asked her for a date when he’d first had the urge. That day when he saw her silhouetted against the sunset with a surfboard in hand. 

Maybe if he’d held her a little closer when teaching her to balance. Maybe if he’d cheered her on a little more, she would have asked him. 

Maybe he would be walking down the beach with her. Instead he finds himself furious. After everything he’d done for her, she’d snub him like this? It was he who helped her work from no skill whatsoever to the surfer that the rest of the team strived to be. 

He helped get her through the past few months of summer and now she was ignoring him more or less completely.

“Still brooding?” Katara asks. 

He takes another angry munch of his chili dog. 

“Why are you watching them make out if it makes you angry?”

He thinks that maybe he wants to be angry because that is better than feeling let down, used, and miserable. “Maybe if I watch hard enough, she’ll see my charm and makeout with me instead.” He mutters.

“Ew.” Zuko grumbles. Apparently the concept of it is enough to drive him right back to the smoothie bar. Granted, he makes a similar face when he gets within sound range of the couple. Jet swears that if Sokka had the strength, he would quite literally lift her off of her feet. 

Thankfully he is still too weary for that and has to settle for a careful hug. “I’m going to go share a smoothie with Zuko, you want anything?” Katara offers.

He shakes his head. 

“You sure? We’re going to be heading back tomorrow, so now’s your last chance to have one.” 

“I’m sure.” 

He hears that light and warm laugh and frowns deeper. He wants to be happy for Azula, he truly does. But he can’t force happiness. He hears the shifting of sand and a shadow falls over him. 

“Exactly how long do you plan on staring at my daughter for?” 

Jet tenses up. He gives his body enough slack to muster up a single shrug. “Until she stops being so annoyingly beautiful, I guess.” He, to Ozai’s dissatisfaction, slips up. 

“If that is the only reason you are upset to have lost her, than you didn’t deserve her.” 

He wonders how many times Sokka was told that he wasn’t good enough for Azula, if he had been told at all. “It isn’t. It’s just the easiest reason to explain.” 

When the girl’s father doesn’t respond, he continues. “She’s talented and clever. She’s…” his mind wanders back to the stormy beach. “Strong and determined. I think that she might be unstoppable…”

Ozai nods. “Even so. You knew what this trip was about when you stepped aboard the ship. It is not her fault that you were not prepared for the outcome.” He pauses and clasps his hands behind his back, fixing Jet with a stern look. “If you trouble her over her decision, I assure you that there will be a free spot on your surf team.”

Jet suppresses a scowl. The old man did more to hurt his daughter than Jet himself could ever hope to do and he had half the mind to inform him of such. He curbs his tongue. “I don’t want to hurt her.” But he wishes that she wouldn’t hurt him. “Should I talk to her?”

Ozai shakes his head. “Unless it is about surfing or another mundane topic. She will speak to you about it when she is ready.”

Jet sighs and rests his chin in his hands as Ozai makes his way towards the smoothie bar. He feels as out of place as Azula must have while carrying a surfboard much too large for her. He doesn’t belong on this trip. With this family. 

Azula leads Sokka back to their beach towel and, in the shade of their umbrella, begins unpacking lunch. It probably has all of Sokka’s favorites. 

He hears the sand sift again and the clunk of a glass on the wooden table. “There’s a shot of rum in yours. Don’t you dare mention it to anyone on this beach.” 

Jet takes his beverage and sipis it. “And yours.”

Ozai holds out his receipt. There is only one alcoholic drink and Jet can taste the rum on his. 

“You could use a drink, boy.”

Azula settles into Sokka’s arms and Jet can’t disagree. 

[fortunatelychaoticphantom]

Agency and Aang’s Arc

A while ago I made a big comment regarding the debate about Aang’s final choice to spare Ozai’s life in the finale and how that fits into his character arc. I feel like this is an important issue that deserves its own post so here’s a revised version of what I said.

----

Every time this debate is brought up I usually see the same comments; whenever people talk about Aang’s recurring running-away problem and how it influences his actions in the final battle, others claim that choosing to spare a life is not the same as running away and immediately accuse the criticizers of wanting a child in a kid’s show to kill someone. There are two fundamental misunderstandings that need to be addressed here.

First of all and most important, no one says that Aang should have killed Ozai. There is some very good, interesting and important debate on whether or not Ozai should live, whether death as a punishment is acceptable at all and if so when and how, and what specifically these character in these circumstances should do. But the issue that most of the criticism has is that this debate is never fully explored or resolved in the show but is instead magically swiped aside by two very glaring deus ex machinas that specifically come at the expanse of Aang’s arc.

Second, the whole “running away” issue is not about killing or not killing Ozai, it’s about Aang’s agency and his choices. It’s about the fact that in the end he could not overcome Ozai without the Avatar State and he could not avoid killing him without Energy Bending, both abilities he didn’t work to gain. It’s about how he got to that point in the first place and how the accumulation of his decisions throughout the show influenced the course of the final battle.

(continue after the break)

When it comes to running away, Aang is more than entitled to freak out occasionally. He is a child in horrible circumstances. Even before he was frozen, the knowledge of being an Avatar was thrust upon him too early because of the coming war and that is quite a lot to ask such a young child to handle. And if loosing his friends and being overwhelmed by his duties and responsibility isn’t enough, the fact that he overhears that he would be separated from his father-figure makes his running away all the more understandable. But just because we understand the reasons, that doesn’t make it the right choice. Of course, had he not run away he would most probably have died and, well, I guess we would have no show. But just because it turned out good for him (as good as waking up to a war-torn world knowing his entire people were murdered while he was asleep could be), it still doesn’t make it the right choice. If Aang had died, as long as it hadn’t happen in the Avatar state, a new Avatar would have been born in one of the Water Tribes. I can’t say if it would have been good for the world or not, it would simply have been different. But the point is that Aang did run away. He could have talked to Gyatso, he could have tried to convince the other masters to let him stay or try to find some middle ground where he would train in another temple but still be able to keep in touch with Gyatso or any other possibility, but he didn’t. He didn’t face his problem, he ran away. By having Aang freak out and run away again in “The Storm” and having Katara comfort him (which is great!) and tell him that it was meant to be (which is not so great) she is actively rewarding his behavior and he keeps doing it again and again.

Running away in its broader sense was a major issue for Aang in his Earth Bending training as well. I have written about this before in regards to “The Great Divide” and “Bitter Work” being two of the most important episodes in my opinion for Aang’s character. I’m probably the only one in the world who ever said it, but I LOVE “The Great Divide”. It is such a wonderful show of Aang’s character and it deals specifically with the most important trait of Air Bending - avoiding a direct conflict and circumventing around it to find a different solution. It shows a lot of imaginative ingenuity from Aang and shows us that situations aren’t always as binary as we might think. But in “Bitter Work” Aang is confronted by the fact that this tactic doesn’t work in every situation and that sometimes he has to face his issues head-on (literally for Toph…). This seeming dichotomy is the major conflict that defines Aang’s character arc for two season and climaxes in the ending of “The Guru” and “The crossroads of Destiny”, and is directly linked to the Avatar State and Aang’s journey growing up.

In the end of “The Guru” Aang has a vision of Katara being imprisoned and decides to abandon his training leaving his chakra blocked and the Avatar State as well in order to save her. He chooses personal attachment over his duties as Avatar. We understand why he did it, but that doesn’t mean he should have done it. We don’t know exactly what would have happened if he had stayed in the Eastern Air Temple with Pathik. Sokka would be fine because he was with Hakoda at the time, Toph would have still escaped her captors because her story didn’t touch the Gaang in the episode at all, Katara and Zuko would still be prisoners while Iroh would still be free, and Ba Sing Se would still fall (honestly, it fell the moment Azula stepped into the city). Maybe the third season would have started with a “Boiling Rock” type of prison-break to free Katara, I don’t know. But the thing is that Aang would have been a fully realized Avatar at that point, who can choose to enter the Avatar state at will and not have it control him, endanger him and everyone around him. But he doesn’t do that. He runs away again. But even though he runs away in that moment, in the final battle in the catacombs he actually does make the choice to let go of Katara, open his last chakra and achieve the Avatar State. But doing this complicated process in the middle of a battle field is less than ideal and he is struck down by Azula, blocking his chakra for good. And after a two season build-up, the whole chakra-letting go of Katara-Avatar State issue is just never touched on again and Aang’s arc comes to a screeching halt.

Now, I said “seeming dichotomy” because, like I said before, the whole issue of running away vs. facing conflicts head-on isn’t about the question of killing or not killing, it’s about making an active choice, and that is something that in the end Aang doesn’t do, and we need to talk about this.

Aang’s past lives advised him about the issue and I think it’s important to see what exactly did they say to him. Roku lamented that he didn’t act sooner on Sozin’s actions and told Aang “you must be decisive”. Kyoshi said that even though she didn’t technically kill Chin the Conqueror, she would have done whatever it took to stop him and told Aang “only justice will bring peace”. Kuruk told the story of losing the woman he loved to Koh, blaming himself that had he been more attentive and active he could have saved her and said “you must actively shape your own destiny and the destiny of the world”. And lastly, Yangchen said that while Aang’s values and education are important, it isn’t about him since his duty as Avatar is for the world and not himself and said “selfless duty calls you to sacrifice your own spiritual needs, and do whatever it takes to protect the world”.

Now, the thing is - technically speaking, not a single one of the old Avatars actually told Aang to kill Ozai. This is very important. Is Aang talking about the question of killing Ozai? Yes. Is any of them telling him directly that he should kill? Absolutely not. They are talking exactly about Aang’s unresolved character arc - about facing your problems, about not running away, about making an active choice, shaping your own destiny and not letting destiny control you and making sacrifices for the world.

In the end of “The Phoenix King”, After arguing with the rest of the Gaang about what to do with Ozai, Aang goes to his room and meditates for a while but soon falls asleep. And then, literally out of nowhere, deus ex machina #1 appears off-shore and lures a half conscious Aang to it. Is this an active choice? No. Aang has no idea where he is when he wakes up or what is he supposed to do. He doesn’t even try to find out until the very end of the episode. He does use this opportunity to communicate with his past lives and later on with the Lion Turtle as well. But again - he made no effort to seek out the Lion Turtle, he didn’t choose to find it. It appeared out of nowhere at the very last minute before the final battle, brought Aang to it, and gave him the technique to defeat Ozai. That is the literal definition of deus ex machina. And if that’s not enough, the Lion Turtle brought Aang to the shore where he would wait for Ozai to come to him. There isn’t a single active action from Aang in all of this. None of this happens on his own terms, it is the Lion Turtle’s terms. That is not a character in control of their destiny, that is destiny in control of a character.

That’s just the stuff leading up to the battle, now let’s talk about the battle itself. Twice during the battle Aang chooses to spare Ozai’s life. This is very important to talk about, because almost no one talks about the first time, and the focus is mostly on the second time. The first time Aang chose to redirect the lightning away from Ozai instead of back at him, and the second time was stopping the attack at the peak of the Avatar State and using Energy Bending instead - and that’s the most important difference between the two that surrounds his character arc. The whole conflict is exactly this - becoming a fully realized Avatar in control of the Avatar State to be able to defeat Ozai without killing him while paying the price of letting go of Katara or not finishing the training, not being in control of his powers, keeping his feelings for Katara but having to kill Ozai to defeat him and paying the price of giving up on his ideals. That is it. That is the conflict that was completely dropped from the third season. That was the process Aang was supposed to go through, that was the choice he was supposed to make, but didn’t. It was made for him instead.

Aang lost the battle. There’s no buts, no ifs, no nothing. That amazing moment, that incredible shot of Aang using a technique that has been so intrinsically woven into the narrative of the show on so many levels and for so many characters, the exact opposite of a deus ex machina, using the ability he worked for, that he learned, to redirect Ozai’s lighting away in order to keep his ideals was the pivotal moment that brought his loss. Aang lost. Without the Avatar State, without being in full control of his powers, even with his immense strength and resilience, Aang couldn’t defeat Ozai. Aang was exactly two strikes away from death before deus ex machina #2 reared its ugly head in the shape of the Magic of the Pointy Rock. Under incessant attacks that he can no longer hold, Aang is shoved (passive voice again) on a rock directly on the scar where Azula hit him with lightning. This magic solution opens up Aang’s chakra with zero explanation that it is even possible, achieves full control over his powers and the Avatar State while doing absolutely nothing to gain it.

Don’t get me wrong. Aang grabbing Ozai’s beard through the rubble and just bitch-slapping him to the spirit world is probably one of my favorite shots in the entire show. Everything in this battle is magnificent, and Aang’s final choice to come out of the Avatar State and spare Ozai is wonderful. But non of it would have been possible without the Pointy Rock and the Lion Turtle. Aang needed both the Avatar State and Energy Bending to defeat Ozai without killing him - two abilities that he didn’t have, that he didn’t learn, that he didn’t even know existed in the energy bending case until a literal divinity showed up at the last second to bestow it upon him. And that cheapens his entire arc, or more accurately negates its very existence. (We could also go into the moral, political, tactical and social aspects of Energy Bending itself, which is not at all touched in AtLA and only kind of awkwardly and incompletely dealt with in LoK, but this is not the place)

I want to address the issue of deus ex machina. I mean, It’s a cartoon! Everything is there for a reason! Every shape, every color, every word. So what’s the difference between a giant Lion Turtle with magic powers and a guru who happens to know everything the protagonist needs to know about his main conflict? Guru Pathik is a great example - he sends Aang a note through Appa telling him he wants to help Aang achieve his full potential as an Avatar. We see this happen. We see that Pathik has been living in the Eastern Temple, following the teachings of the Air Nomads, implying on a rich world of inter-cultural exchange of ideas and practices and even hinting on the possibility that the Air Nomads might not all be gone or that remnants of them have remain in various ways around the world. He comes across Appa - who reaches the Air Temple because he feels safe there - gains his trust, helps him heal and asks him to bring the letter to Aang. We also know why Aang didn’t get the letter - because Long Feng has been intercepting any and all correspondence and information to and about the Gaang. The guru and everything about him and the process of getting Aang to meet him makes sense within the working of the established world - that is what makes him a plot point instead of a deus ex machina. And above all, Pathik might have sent Aang a letter promising solutions to all his problems, but it is Aang who chooses to go to him and learn from him. It’s active instead of passive.

The same can be said about Katara’s spirit water and about her final battle with Azula, where she the epitome of a warrior the way Piandao describes it to Sokka in “Sokka’s Master”. This is another great example of the difference between plot point and deus ex machina, and more specifically an amazing example of a hero defeating their enemy and choosing to spare their life in an active way with no deus ex machinas.

And the funny thing is, they already made all the preparations to make Lion Turtle such a plot element as well! We know Lion Turtles exist because Aang sees them in a book in “The Library”. The Gaang made an active choice to seek out the library in order to find some information that would help them fight the Fire Nation, and they did find the information about the eclipse. Not only is this an important piece of information for the rest of the show, but it also sheds more light on Zhao’s character, his actions and what led to the siege of the North and Zhao’s quest to kill the Moon Spirit. Imagine that Aang would have taken the book with him, or at least did more than randomly flip some pages. Imagine him asking Pathik about it, and Pathik maybe knowing some stories about the powers they might have, about Energy Bending. Imagine that at the end of “The Phoenix King” Aang would have meditated in his room and asked the guidance of his past lives. Imagine him listening to them and taking an active choice to seek out the Lion Turtle. Imagine him talking to the Gaang and deciding together to split, Aang seeking out what he needs (maybe even going back to Pathik to finish his training and open his chakra, because, again - he can’t spare Ozai’s life without the Avatar State), while the rest of the Gaang joins the White Lotus on the other efforts to end the war, since the Fire Nation does not equal Ozai, and just because he is defeated doesn’t mean the army would stop attacking and there is still Azula to contend with. Imagine him seeking out the Lion Turtle asking for help and learning Energy Bending. Imagine him doing all of this and how great a story it could have been.

Aang had a choice - ideals or attachment. I would’ve said he chose both, but the thing is he didn’t choose at all. It was chosen for him. This is completely passive. There is no choice, there is no agency. He is no longer an active participant in his own story.