#hands down Suki Jet and Zuko are my favorites currently

[black-but-mildly-sunny]

Avatar: the Last Airbender

The Netflix show

it wasn't bad. it was definitely 100% better than the movie, but it wasn't the animated show and it doesn't have to be scene by scene a copy of the animated show.

now did they miss some crucial scenes, lines, and moments from the animated show? yeah they did and that hits hard for us OG fans. Did it make the show terrible? no, it was just different yet familiar.

I really like some of the takes they had, it was a bit jumbled together - BUT we do have to remember that it's a Netflix show so they did the best they could for an app that is notorious for scrapping shows no matter what. - I think us original fans were expecting a scene for scene remake and that was a lot to dream for. We already knew that it was gonna be the same since (if I remember) the two original writers left, we already got news that Sokka was gonna be slightly different, and it was already reported that it was gonna be darker and less fun.

Big misses:

- No four nations, fire nation attack opening for every episode

- no original titles

- Sokka is not Sokka (so really no character building)

- Zuko has not said honor yet

- Ozai reveal was disappointing

- Aang not water bending with katara

- Sokka not wearing the Kyoshi warrior outfit

- there's more but I can't write them all

Cool additions

- Zuko and his diary (love that he's an angsty teenager with a diary)

- Zuko and his whinyness (it's hilarious out he just acts around people)

- Zhou and his everything. I actually really like this version

- Azula actually looks like a child. Well you know, she looks young. I kinda feel the animated show almost made her look the same age as Zuko

- Suki was Suki and awesome!

- Zuko and Iroh touching moment at Lu Ten's funeral. And how they played the song Iroh sang softly in the background...my heart 😭

- Ozai actually spitting facts that Zuko did do the impossible and he's the one who found the avatar and rieling up Azula to act (you know crappy father time)

- Seeing Koh!!

- CABBAGES

- and there's others stuff

Final: AND LET'S BE REAL. no matter what they did accurately or creatively, there would still be people complaining about the show cause that's just what happens (it's valid but this is what we get)

[thebakingqueen5]

KW 2021: Height Difference

Day 1 for Kataang Week 2021 hosted by @kataang-week with the prompt Height Difference!

Links: AO3 | FF.net

Summary: Another year, another summer, another week of prompts celebrating our favorite couple. Kataang Week 2021 Day 1: Height Difference. It’s his 14th birthday and Aang is feeling frustrated. Katara wants to help and Aang confides in her about some of his insecurities.

Word Count: 2.2K

After a long day of festivities, night had finally fallen across the Fire Nation palace, and Aang and Katara were ready to head to bed and get some well-earned rest.

The couple had just finished up at the banquet and silently walked through the dimly lit halls to Aang’s room so as to not alert Katara’s overprotective brother. Though they had merely been cuddling the last few nights before sleeping, Sokka would surely throw a fit if he knew that they were sharing a room at all, hence a bit of secrecy was needed.

At last, they arrived- the third door on the right in the central wing of the palace had been designated the Avatar’s quarters since as early as Kyoshi’s time. It was a fair distance away from the rest of the bedrooms in the west wing, and it also had far more extravagant commodities with its own mini-courtyard and balcony, giving the pair plenty of space to get away from the rest of the world and simply enjoy being with each other.

“Today was fun,” Katara sighed as they finally entered the room, taking off her shoes at the entrance and immediately going towards the inviting bed.

She let herself fall onto the soft mattress, groaning softly as her limbs were finally able to relax after a long day of dancing, cooking, and celebrating for the airbender’s 14th birthday, while Aang gently closed the door with a soft thump.

“Yeah,” Aang chuckled as he joined her on the bed. He pulled some of the thin cotton sheets over them and then curled up next to her on his side.“It sure was... something.”

The waterbender shifted slightly to allow her boyfriend to rest his head in the crook of her neck and absentmindedly traced the outline of the blue arrow on his head while he closed his eyes in contentment.

“Something?” she questioned. Katara furrowed her eyebrows, her movements faltering. “Did you not have fun, Aang?”

The airbender winced when he heard the twinge of hurt in Katara’s voice. She hadn’t been trying to make it sound that way, but she had been planning the event for weeks and naturally was a little offended by the implication of his words.

“Oh. No, sweetie, I didn’t mean it that way. The party was amazing! The food, the drinks, the music, everything was spectacular. You did an amazing job, and it means a lot to me that you care so much.”

Katara let out a quiet breath of relief, resuming her gentle touches to his tattoos.

“Of course I care, sweetie. You’re my boyfriend, and I love you. That’s why if you didn’t like it, I won’t be mad, really.”

Aang tilted his head up and pressed a quick kiss to her cheek. “That wasn’t it, I promise. I just… I had  a bit on my mind today.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” she asked him tenderly.

He sighed and buried his face in her neck. “I guess... it would be nice to get it off my chest. It’s not like anyone else would get it anyways.”

The waterbender gave him a curious look, silently encouraging him to continue.

“It’s so stupid, but I heard some nobles talking when I stepped away to get us some water. They just kept going on and on about how much of a child I was and how I’m too young and too scrawny and too short for you, and, well, they’re right!”

He turned his body away from her now frowning face and pulled the blankets snug around his body like a protective cocoon.

“You’re almost 16, Tara,” Aang murmured. “A young woman in every sense of the word. Spirits, you’re of marrying age in a month! Me? I’m just a loser kid you found washed up in an iceberg. How could I ever be deserving of you?”

“Oh, Aang…”

She shifted onto her side as well and wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her head on his back and listening to the rhythm of his breathing.

“Those nobles are utterly ridiculous. First of all, it’s only two years! What difference does two years make in the long run? It doesn’t, that’s what. My parents were four years apart and were the happiest two people in the world! A gap of two years is insignificant,” she said matter-of-factly.

“Second of all, sure we’re young, but considering that we saved the world even younger, I think it’s safe to say we’ve matured beyond our years. We’re certainly old enough to know we love each other, and that’s all that matters.”

“Doesn’t change the other part though,” Aang muttered in response. “Spirits, I’m 14 and barely the same height as you. A little shorter if we’re being honest. It’s so annoying! Why can’t I just grow up already?”

“Sweetie?”

“Yeah?”

“I don’t mean for this to come off the wrong way, but why do you care about that? What difference does it make?”

The airbender remained silent for a few moments and pondered her question, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration.

“The monks had always taught me to judge people based on the content of their character, not their exterior, and to draw satisfaction from being self-assured, rather than care about what other people thought. And in most cases I feel like I do that pretty well, but…”

“But?”

A subtle pink tinted Aang’s cheeks and he took her hands in his, stroking the back of her hand with his thumb.

“You’re different, Katara. You’re the one I love more than anything, the one I would do anything for, the one whose opinions, thoughts, and feelings mean the world to me. You’re the most amazing person on the planet, and you deserve someone worthy of you. Look at Haru and Jet! They were both older and taller and so even something as small as noticing the height difference when we’re dancing kinda hurts. It just feels like I’m the odd one out. I know that’s silly but-”

The waterbender cut him off and shook her head.

“It’s not silly, Aang. Believe me, I’ve felt the same way more times than I’d care to admit. But, in the end, none of that matters. I love you. I chose you . You’re not just my boyfriend, you’re my best friend."

He turned back around to face her and swept her up in an embrace, mind immediately put at ease by her words.

“Plus,” she continued, “So what if you’re a little shorter than me now? You’ll grow in no time. Quite frankly, I’ll miss being taller than you when you do.”

The airbender quirked an eyebrow. “You’ll miss it?”

Katara chuckled softly and pressed a kiss to his forehead, right at the tip of his arrow.

“Yeah,” she whispered, “I will. Being able to do that, not having to look up or go on my toes trying to kiss you, I won’t be able to do all that forever. Things like kisses, hugs, they’re a lot more… accessible with our current heights.”

“Hmm,” Aang hummed. “I guess I never really thought of it like that. I still want to grow taller of course, but when you put it like that, I might miss this a little bit too.”

“Let’s not get too carried away with the future, okay?” Katara laughed. “We have our whole lives ahead of us, let’s just stay in the present- the present where I love you, and you love me, and nothing else matters.”

The airbender grinned with her, pressing his forehead gently to hers.

“I like the sound of that. Thank you, sweetie. For listening, for the reassurance, just everything. It means a lot.”

“Of course, sweetie. I’m always here.”

Katara pressed a sweet kiss to his lips and wrapped her arms around his neck as Aang returned it, pulling her closer to him. They broke apart after a few seconds and grinned like idiots at one another. There was silence, but it was comfortable. The two didn’t need words, they were just enjoying being with each other.

“It’s getting late,” the waterbender murmured after some time. “We should probably go to bed.”

“Probably,” Aang whispered back, unable to take his eyes off the angel in front of him. With a flick of his wrist, he put out the candles that had been lighting up the room and settled into his pillow as Katara drew closer to him and interlocked their fingers.

“Good night, Aang. Love you,” she said, beginning to drift off to the dream realm.

“Love you too, Tara,” the airbender yawned. “Sweet dreams.”

One year later…

“Happy birthday!” the room chorused as Aang blew out all his 15 candles.

The airbender grinned and began to cut the apple cake- an ancient recipe of the Air Nomads recreated by some of the top chefs in the Fire Nation as a gift from Zuko.

“Thanks guys!” Aang laughed. “Man, it’s crazy to think that the war has been over for a little more than two years now.”

Katara smiled and leaned up on her toes to press a kiss to his cheek.

“We’ve all done a lot of growing up. We’re older, more mature-” she gave Aang a quick look from head to toe. “ Taller .”

He chuckled, pulling her close to him and peppering kisses all over the top of her head. She was right, of course- as if triggered by their conversation that night, Aang had grown rapidly over the next year. A month later he was the same height as her, two months following he was comfortably able to rest his arm on her shoulder, and now, a year later, he towered above her with her eyebrows barely at his chin.

“Ugh,” Sokka groaned. “Give it a rest you two. The oogies are out of control! Spirits, you act like a newly wedded couple still in the honeymoon stage half the time.”

“Oh, leave them alone, Sokka,” Suki chided. “It’s his birthday! Let’s give the lovebirds some alone time. They’re just kids, they’re nowhere near that yet.”

“Yeah, haha, absolutely not,” Aang nervously laughed as the other couple exited the room. The stone pendant in his pocket began to feel like poisonous lead weighing down his vision for the hopefully not-so-distant future.

“You never know,”  the airbender heard Katara mumble, so quiet he wasn’t even sure she had actually said it. “Sometimes things will come when you least expect it.”

He stood there blankly for a moment, brain struggling to process her words and had just opened his mouth to ask her what she meant (she couldn’t possibly be talking about what he thought she was… right?) when she decided to speak up instead.

“I can’t believe you were ever nervous about staying short, sweetie,” Katara quipped, her eyebrows raised teasingly.

Aang merely blinked at the subject change, promptly concluding that the last thirty seconds were simply a figment of his imagination, and sheepishly scratched the back of his head in response to her comment.

“I guess it was kinda silly, huh,” he laughed. “Look at us now.”

The waterbender pouted, going up on the balls of her feet and craning her neck to gaze up at him. “You’re too tall for your own good. I miss when you were shorter and I didn’t have to tilt my head every time just to look at you.”

“Oh c’mon, it has its benefits.”

He gave her a quick look to warn her for what he was about to do, and with one swift motion, Katara was suddenly off the ground and in Aang’s arms bridal-style, her arms around his neck and their gazes interlocked.

The airbender touched their foreheads together and gave her a cheesy grin.

“I couldn’t do this before, now could I?” he asked, quirking an eyebrow up at her.

“No,” Katara smiled, her head tilted as she looked at him endearingly, “I suppose you couldn’t. And I certainly won’t be one to complain about you holding me more often.”

Aang laughed and carefully set her back down, hearing the growing volume of the room next to them. He quickly grabbed the two full glasses on the table and handed one to the waterbender.

“Here’s to hoping you’re the one who grows by next year so my neck isn’t always sore from looking down at you,” he said as he held his drink up.

Katara gave him a dry stare before rolling her eyes and smiling.

“Cheers.”

The two clinked their glasses and turned to face the door behind which the rest of their friends had already begun to celebrate.

“Shall we?” Aang asked as he held out his arm to her.

“We shall,” Katara responded, accepting it. “Happy birthday, Aang.”

[army-of-mai-lovers]

@katarahairloopies thank you so much for the tag!! talking about my writing to procrastinate writing is one of my favorite hobbies <3

prompt-share your: 

first fic: the actual first fic I ever wrote was a pjo self insert fic I wrote in a binder when I was eleven and shredded six months later, in which the whole love triangle plot between Leo, Frank, and Hazel was resolved in three pages because even then I hated love triangles, my self-insert proudly declared that they were “too smart to date” (this was the excuse I was using at the time to escape the fact that I was a lesbian), and the completely un-child friendly myth of Philomena and Procne featured heavily because it was the coolest thing in the Mythology Book For Adults That Little Arthur Should Have Never Got Their Grimy Little Hands On, among other things. the first fic I ever posted was a 1D self-insert fic that I regret deeply. 

favorite fic: ughhhh this is so hard I think it’s a tie between let him fly, victory lap, and like ripples, like love. let him fly was really important to me to write because the way the kataang family was portrayed in lok felt like a horrible twisted funhouse mirror version of my own family, and I knew that a lot of other mixed folks were upset by that portrayal, so I wanted to do something that showed Tenzin growing up with both Water Tribe and Air Nomad influences. honestly that’s the fic I’m proudest of, because I got feedback from a lot of other mixed folks saying that they felt seen by what I wrote, which is really all I’ve ever wanted. victory lap I love because I love writing and reading character study fics of characters who don’t get to do much on their own in the show, and I just love the concept of deconstructing the perfect badass Suki whomst we all stan and making her an actual human being. And like ripples, like love just makes me feel good, honestly. Writing it puts me in a good mood, and none of my other profoundly depressing wips do that quite as well. 

EDIT: ok I think the original intent of this question was favorite fic that someone else wrote fjsdkfjsdjfklsjf my bad. for me it’s between Hooked by @listless-brainrot, Balance My Heart in the Palm of Your Hand by the lovely sukis_fans on ao3, where the stars do not take sides by WitchofEndor on ao3, and paint it red, they’ll cover it up anyway by snowandfire on ao3. Hooked I love because it’s the original Jetru fic and because it’s one of the most nuanced characterizations of both Jet and Haru that I’ve seen in any fic ever, also List’s descriptions are phenomenal, also BRUH THE FRAMING DEVICE ok listen framing devices are so easy to mess up and List just made his perfect the rest of us can all go home I guess. Balance My Heart is to this day my favorite mailee fic, I’m obsessed with it it’s so sweet and so well thought out. The author pays so much attention to Mai and Ty Lee as characters and also!!! Mai and Sokka friendship!!! we stan!!!! where the stars do not take sides is honestly a fandom classic (or should be, anyway). Y’all know I love a good major canon divergence and this is honestly one of the most well thought out ones I’ve ever seen. Also the characterization of Azula and of Azula and Zuko’s bond is INCREDIBLE. god-tier content honestly. paint it red is also something that should be a fandom classic and really readjusted my opinions of Jet as a character with its well thought out characterization. I love the concept of past jetko when it’s not “Jet was a total asshole and Zuko was perfect in every way” and paint it red ABSOLUTELY delivers on this it is so wonderful. A common thread with all of these is that they prioritize characterization over “ship dynamics” and they make sure that all of their characterizations are nuanced and three dimensional, and I love them for that. 

most recent fic: love will always find you, the second installment in the donnaverse (in which the girls of Avatar inexplicably love Donna Summer and start a band together), which is about Yue and Suki going on their first date. There’s lots to love about this fic for me: it’s yueki (my favorite atla wlw ship), there’s a philosophical discussion of a Donna Summer song as they drive through LA, Suki backstory, background mailee, just good vibes all around. 

fic with the most notes: like ripples, like love by far, but my most popular fics on ao3 are the greatest of them all (in which Toph and Bumi I duel and become besties) and keep the world at bay (Avatar Sokka) 

a line or two from a wip: what I’m currently working on for atla femslash week-

She’d never needed anyone before, and she didn’t want to need anyone ever again. It was torture, picturing Yue’s face without being able to see her for real. 

Just one night. Only one night. 

How do you know? 

The moon always comes back. 

Suki felt the tears roll down her cheeks, the dry sobs wracking her body as she hid her face in her chest. I don’t know. I don’t know.

favorite character to write for (and why): Mako 100%. I vibe so hard with the tired older sibling with several undiagnosed mental illnesses energy he gives off. 

character(s) you find hard to write: I hate to say it but Katara. I love her to pieces but I have no clue where to start with her characterization wise, which is why if she’s in a fic she’s usually not the pov character and she’s sidelined more than I would like her to be. 

tagging: @listless-brainrot @the-hot-zone @miannmian @scrtminlikesdrawing and anyone who wants to!

[rideboldlyride]

Day 2 of Zutara Week - Counterpart

So now this work has an official name! 

Seal My Heart and Break My Pride <-- That’s the AO3 link

Here’s day 2- I’ll link the days together at the bottom.

***

“It’s- It’s Zuko.” A hesitant hand shot out. 

For a moment, he watched her study his hand, and he felt his stomach plummet. There had been a hope that maybe his stupidity from earlier had been forgiven, but her hesitance seemed to prove otherwise. Seemingly making up her mind, she met his hand with her own. 

“Nice to put a name to a face. Now you can easily tell what’s my equipment.”

A hand rubbed at the base of his neck.

“Listen, I’m sorry--”

“Stop apologizing. I was messing with you.”

Despite knowing that it would have no effect on the youngest woman, he still rose a brow after his old friend across the table from him. 

“Well, I see that Toph found the right kind of people to be around, then.”

Sokka snorted. “Now if only we could get her to stop with the nicknames, it’d be great.”

“Just cause you hate yours, Snoozles, doesn't mean the rest do.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I think it’s an adorable nickname, Sokka.” Suki tried to placate.

“You’re just saying that!”

“I don’t know, ‘Sugar Queen’ feels a little more degrading.” Zuko’s fellow gym-goer seemed to lament.

“Don’t forget ‘Sweetness’.” A voice rounded them and a slight young man moved to join them, his characteristic orange hoodie pulled up. “But they’re all better than mine.”

“Aang, buddy!” Sokka cried and rounded the table to envelope him in a brotherly hug. “You made it!”

“Yeah, I managed to get out of my last shift at the office. Boss took pity on me.”

Katara felt a soft smile grace her face. “I’m glad you were able to come.” 

“Katara! It’s been so long!” He moved to wrap her into a friendly hug, his grin growing. “I’m so glad you’re back.”

“Me too.”

Zuko’s curiosity was still peaked, so he asked the blind woman quietly. “What is his nickname?”

A wicked grin split her face. “Twinkletoes.” 

Zuko snorted. Knowing Toph, there was a glorious story behind each of the nicknames. He knew that his did. 

Katara seemed to think similarly, and turned a raised brow towards him. "Wait- you're one of her old friends. Do you have a nickname?"

"Yeah."

"Sparky." Toph smirked. 

Zuko leveled a finger at her threateningly. "Not a word, Toph. Not. A. Word."

Toph’s snicker turned the rest of the group’s curious gazes towards him. Before she could say anything, however, he shook his head. “Don’t you dare, Toph. You torment me enough.”

“There’s a story here, I can feel it.” The brother of Katara leaned forward conspiratorially. “I will find it out eventually.”

Zuko raised a brow. “We’ll see.”

The newcomer turned to the most recent addition to the group, extending a hand. “Name’s Zuko. You?”

An enthusiastic grin lit up the younger man’s face. “Aang. Toph and I went to high school together.”

“Excuse me for saying it, but you don’t look like you're from the Earth Kingdom.”

Aang laughed, something that seemed to come easily to him. “I’m not. Transfer student.” 

“Ah.”

“Nice try at evasion, music boy.” Sokka narrowed his eyes at Zuko. “But you’re not getting out of a story that quickly.”

With a raised hand, Katara dismissed her brother. “You’re impossible, Sokka.”

“I wanna hear it!” 

“Ugh, and I just want a drink.”

Zuko interrupted, an eager look in his eye. “Yes, please. Listen, I owe you still.”

He turned an amber eye to the young woman, as it caught the dim light of the club, and Katara found her heart rate starting to rise. 

“Drink’s on me?” A soft lilt to his voice tugged at her, and she bit the corner of her lip. 

“Sounds like a deal to me.”

“Perfect!” Suki suddenly jumped in. “We have bets to make!”

Rounding, Katara turned exasperated eyes to her friends. “No, c’mon guys!”

Suki raised a finger to stop her. “You know this is the deal.”

“I thought we all grew out of this - when we graduated! You know, became adults.”

Sokka scoffed. “Speak for yourself.”

“Guys…” 

“Do I want to know?” Zuko found himself lost in the storm of familiar old friends.

“No.”

“Yes.”

Katara and Suki spoke spontaneously. The former sighed. 

“Let’s just go get that drink before I strangle my friends.”

“Yes, go!” Toph yelled after them. “Otherwise you might throw the bet!”

Blue eyes rolled hard.

 ***

“So how long do you think it’ll take for her to connect that he’s the singer for the band that was just playing some of her favorite music?”

“Not long enough.”

“End of his next set? I put 5 down.”

“End of her drink. I’ll match you.”

***

Leaving the crew to their own devices, the two fellow gym-goers made their way to the bar. As much as Zuko enjoyed playing, this crowd was not his scene. Maybe during his college years, a tight pack of skin, liquor and innuendo would have been thrilling to him, but the past few years had been filled with a milder crowd, with less press of flesh and more healthful imbibing. However, that drink sounded amazing, and the company… well, it wasn’t something to scoff at either. His mind wandered back to her, as she trailed in the wake he left through the crowd. 

There was a definite difference between the stormy-eyed woman at the gym and the pleasant woman with a gentle laugh at the corner of her lips, that Toph introduced him to. He wondered what would be closer to the truth about her. While he would have been willing to talk with her as they made their way through, the loud bass of the music and the press of people drowned out any conversation on the path towards the bar. It would have to wait till they arrived.

But as soon as Katara stepped up to the bar, the bartender made his way over, a massive smile lighting up his face.

“Katara!” he exclaimed.

“Teo! I didn’t realize you were still here!” Leaning off of his crutches, the young man pulled her into a familiar hug. “Don’t tell me Jin is here still, too?”

“Sure is! If we left, I think the whole place would fall apart.”

“Wouldn’t surprise me. How have you been?”

The two began to chat amicably, and Zuko leaned back, feeling no desire to invade. Instead, he took the moment to consider the young woman before him. Dressed practically, there was a flow about her - she moved like the sea, in and out, never really stopping. Her laugh, as it reached his ears, was clear and bright, like the sun off the water at midday. There was an edge though-- he could see it in the unpredictable moments, like the eddies of currents under the waves. Curiosity whispered in his ear- how was she in a storm? He had a sensation he knew. Slowly, he returned to the conversation as Teo threw an apologetic look her way. 

���... seems to like terrorizing our Thursday nights only, so far.”

“I’m amazed he’s out.”

“He swears he’s changed, but I don’t know, man.”

“Well, if you see him, please let me know so I can leave immediately.”

Teo put two fingers to his forehead in mock salute.

“So what can I get you two?”

Katara turned, her brow raising in question. A smirk pulled at his own lips. 

“Whiskey for me, and whatever she’s having. Put it on my tab.”

“Same as always?” Teo asked after Zuko. He nodded, but Teo was stopped short by a gesture by Katara.

She leaned towards Zuko. “Ya know, you can find out a lot about a person by the whiskey they drink.”

“Oh?” 

“Yeah.” Her brow rose, seemingly curious to see if he would take the bait. He did.

“Mind if I take a guess about you?”

She shrugged, turning away from him to stare out into the crowd. He thought there was a flash of a smile at the corner of her lips. “Why not.”

***

Molten eyes caught in the dim light, and Katara caught herself getting lost in them. Taking a deep breath, she turned away, eyes trying to focus on nothing and everything that wasn’t him. Spirits, she thought, I haven’t even had a drink yet… the words that slipped out were forcibly casual. 

“Why not.”

What was it about this borderline narcissist that attracted her? Musician- Toph had mentioned that he was a musician. Vaguely, she wondered if his set was coming up soon. She was curious to hear what he played. But, no. That wasn’t what it was. Her eyes slowly rebelled so that, when he moved to give their order quietly to Teo, they tracked his motion. Giving herself the rebellion, she sunk into it willingly for the moment. Handsome? Of course. It had almost excused his assumption back at the gym hours prior, but not quite. The scar had added a level of mysteriousness to his features, but again, it didn’t ring true.

 Maybe- maybe it had to do with his reaction. She had jumped, getting angry, tempestuous, but instead of getting roped in like a boat on the sea, he had… taken the hit. Waited for the storm to pass, like the sun behind storm clouds. Apologized, tried to make the wrong right. She couldn’t help but remember the small smile he had offered her when she invited him to continue using her equipment. It was such a small thing, those little moments, but she had a sneaking sensation that was merely an indication of his overall personality. Had it been Jet…

 Katara shook away the meanderings of her mind and eyes, in time to feel him bump gently at her elbow. He had appeared with two caramel colored glasses in his hands. With a determined look, he handed her the darker of the two.

***

“When is the first kiss?”

“Fiver on tonight.”

“Fiver on first real date.”

“You think it’ll get that far?”

“You think it won’t?”

***

“So you think you know me?” she pried playfully, holding the rich caramel liquid up to the light.

“We’ll see, won’t we?”

A glint in her eye, and she offered the side of her glass, and he tapped it with his own. He watched her with his periphery, gauging her response as he raised his own glass to his lips. As the liquid reached her tongue, she drew her lips into a tight line, but her eyes fluttered close. She exhaled as soon as the swallow slid past her tongue. 

He had chosen a rye whiskey- it’s profile more peppery, a bit more biting. It was an older year, so the cloying bitterness was mostly gone, leaving a pleasurable warmth, he knew. His was not; he'd chosen a bourbon for the night - a much smoother, sweeter profile. He had enough fiery things in his life, his whiskey didn’t need to be another one. The thought paused him for a moment. Maybe she was right about whiskey being a good read on personality.

A bated breath sat at his lips, curiosity getting the better of him.

“Well?”

Finally, a bright eye turned to him. “This is the good stuff. You know your whiskey. Rye?”

The dark headed man nodded, his lips pulling gently up. 

“What do you have-- no wait,” she stopped herself, putting her free hand on his elbow, “let me guess.”

Her eyes roamed him freely, and it took all of his willpower not to blush furiously at her methodical and intense observation of him. 

“Something with a sweeter profile. Bourbon?”

“Got it in one.” His eyes sparkled mischievously as he leaned in towards her. “So what does that tell you?” 

“Well, bourbon is sweeter, smoother. A good drink for soothing the soul. I’m sure this seems like a pot-shot, but…” her hand gestured obscurely towards his face, “I think somebody who’s drinking bourbon by choice has had some pretty recent excitement in their lives. Bourbon is good for smoothing the rough edges.”

He couldn’t prevent the twist at his lips. If only she knew just how true that was…

“What do you think of me, to get me a rye?”

A small buzz started behind his lips. While this drink might have been her first of the night, he had been slowly imbibing as he had played. Putting down the bourbon, he swallowed hard, trying to clear the fog trying to settle over his brain- there was still at least one more set to be done. But in that moment, as sea-blue eyes sat too close in the dun of the bar lights. His thoughts were scattered and it took some time to gather them. Her gaze didn’t waiver as she waited for his response.

“Feisty. You are willing to stand up for what you want or what you think is right. You’ve got spirit- you take up a stranger on an offer just to try something different.”

“You got all that from our short interaction at the gym?”

“And how you respond to people- you’re- well, you’re interesting to watch.”

Her laugh bounced in his mind. “Phrasing, Zuko!” 

A blush started to rise at his throat and he forcibly swallowed it down.

“That’s not what I meant!”

The laugh only grew stronger. A hand pinched at the bridge of his nose. 

“I’m not that- I’m- That’s not-” He stammered and for the second time in 24 hours, he found himself at a loss to respond. Ironically enough, he didn’t dislike it when Katara was involved. 

“You need to stop taking things so seriously, Zuko!” Her words were laced with a laugh. Eyes glinting mischievously, she nudged him with her elbow. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you never pulled a ‘that’s what she said’ joke.”

“Erm…”

“You can’t be serious.”

“Well…” 

“Where did you grow up? With Toph’s parents?” She paused for a moment, her head cocked and the overhead lights caught her lines in a pleasing way. It allowed his mind to wander to other, less than wholesome things, and Zuko glared at the glass of bourbon that now sat half-empty. When did that happen? “No, If you were anywhere with Toph, you’d curse like a sailor.”

“Truth.” A smile pulled at his lips, and he opened them to begin, even as he was interrupted.

A goateed young man had stepped up to him, a hand on his shoulder. 

“Set’s about to start.”

“Right.” Zuko nodded to the darker skinned woman. “Listen, I’ve got to go. But, uh…after?”

Her smile was troublesome, and he knew it. But it was the kind of trouble that he found himself being drawn to, like a sailor to a siren. 

“I’d like that.”

**

@zutaraweek

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7

[sacredlittlespace]

Love Language

A little high school AU where Aang is having trouble asking Katara to the homecoming dance. There’s a side plot of Sokka asking Suki to the dance, too! Hope ya like it.

Aang looked across the courtyard with intent. Katara was laughing currently, her head tipped back slightly and her smile wide. The sound came from her gut, and even though it wasn’t a cutesy laugh like some other girls had, it was still Aang’s favorite sound in the world. 

“You’re staring again.” Zuko’s even tone annoyed Aang for a reason he couldn’t place. He looked back at Zuko, who had a juice box hanging out of the side of his mouth, and frowned. 

“I can’t do this,” Aang said in frustration. 

“Of course you can! It’s just my dumb sister, it’s not like you have to ask out the toughest, smartest, most beautiful girl in the school,” Sokka added. 

Aang saw that Sokka’s gaze was set on where Suki was sat next to Katara a few tables away from their own. He knew that Sokka was also nervous to ask Suki to the dance, but to Aang, Katara was all of those things, and it terrified him. Especially since they’d been friends for years and nothing ever happened between them. Sure they shared a few moments that made Aang question if Katara did feel the same, like in middle school when they were playing spin the bottle at Suki’s birthday party and the bottle landed between Aang and Jet, Katara had chosen to kiss Aang even though technically the bottle was more pointing at Jet. But what if they were just really good friends? Aang could never tell. 

“Look, Katara is popular enough that if you don’t ask her soon someone else will. So you’d better make a move or forget about it,” Zuko said. He leaned back and tossed his empty juice box into a nearby trash can as if he was throwing a basketball into a hoop.

“Easy for you to say,” Aang grumbled. “You and Mai have been together since you were like twelve.”

“She still made me prompose, or whatever you call it for homecoming,” Zuko said, his even tone changing into one of concealed annoyance. 

“And the dance number was great, buddy,” Sokka said, leaning across the table to pat Zuko’s shoulder. “Now I have to top that with what I’m going to do for Suki.”

Aang could barely hear the conversation continue with Zuko asking Sokka what he had in mind. Instead, Aang was back to looking at Katara. She was so beautiful, sitting on the top of one of the outdoor tables, the sun hitting her at a perfect angle to make her hair shine but not make her face scrunch up from the brightness. Even though that would also be cute. Every time a guy stood up or walked near her table Aang’s heart would pound. He kept feeling like any second he’d lose his chance to ask her out. 

“...and that’s where the smoke bombs come in…” Sokka was saying, animatedly leaning towards Aang and Zuko, who looked beyond bored by whatever he was hearing. 

“I’ll be back,” Aang said, not even waiting to hear the rest before standing up. He adjusted his headband and ruffled up the hair that he was still getting used to. Nervous habits. Just start walking, he told himself, and he did. Like a robot he somehow made it to Katara’s table. When he did, the entire group of girls quieted down, and Aang noticed several of the girls smirking. Suddenly his mouth went dry and his palms turned into oceans. 

“Hey Aang,” Katara said softly. She looked at him with her head tilted in a way that made her gaze look like a mix between shy and sultry, and Aang felt his heart beat harder. “What’s up?”

“Hey - Katara,” Aang said, stammering on the words. The girls around them giggled and started whispering to each other before Suki shushed them. Aang’s hands started to shake. “Um, I was just wondering, um…” What are words?? Aang thought in a panic. How do sentences work again?? Oh God, I’ve been quiet for too long, I’m being weird, I have to say something -!

“Yeah?” Katara prompted, leaning closer to him. Her cheeks were turning a light pink, and Aang found himself unable to stop fixating on that detail. 

I’ve got to do this! Now is my only chance, Aang thought, clenching his fists and squaring his shoulders. “I...was wondering...do -”

The lunch bell rang. Suddenly all of the girls were standing up around Aang, pushing him slightly this way and that as they walked around him. Suki grabbed Katara’s arm, and quickly started leading her away. Aang stood still, his mouth still open with the rest of his words in his throat, ready to escape into an empty room.

Katara looked back at him after a few steps with an apologetic look. “Sorry Aang, let’s talk on our way home from school!”

“S-sure,” Aang said, even though he knew Katara was too far to hear. His face fell with disappointment. There were still four more periods left in the school day. There was no way Katara wouldn’t be asked out by then. 

A buzzing in his pocket made Aang focus on something other than the heavy pit in his stomach. When he pulled his phone out of his pocket, he saw that he’d gotten a text from Zuko in their group chat. “That’s rough buddy” was all it said, and then Sokka quickly sent a bunch of laughing emojis in response. 

Groaning, Aang shoved his phone back into his pocket and quickly walked back to his table to get his stuff. 

                                     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Aang didn’t walk home with Katara and Sokka like he usually did. Sokka was off somewhere with Toph getting something ready for his homecoming promposal for Suki, and apparently it was Katara’s job to keep Suki occupied so she wouldn’t catch wind of any of this. So, Aang walked home alone. 

When Aang got to their house, he went straight to the kitchen. There was only one thing on his mind: comfort food. He grabbed a bag of his favorite spicy chips and sat down on the sofa like a bum. Spending the rest of the school day nursing his disappointment had made him somewhat numb. He was still snacking and mindlessly watching TV when Katara walked in a half hour later. 

“Hey, I’m home,” she said brightly. Aang just grunted a response, which made Katara’s face fall. “What’s with you?”

“Nothing. How was distracting Suki?” Aang asked instead, still not looking at Katara and focusing instead on the TV in front of him and the pain in his mouth from eating too many spicy chips. He kept eating anyway. 

Katara huffed and threw herself onto the sofa next to Aang. She was just slightly closer to him than what would be considered normal, and Aang glanced at her out of the corner of his eye in response. “Exhausting! I’m sick of constantly keeping Suki away from Sokka. She already likes him, and she knows he likes her so it’s not like she DOESN’T know he’s going to ask her to the dance. He’s just being ridiculous and now I’m stuck in the middle of it.”

Aang nodded sympathetically. He knew Sokka was going overboard and was asking Katara for too much help. He was happy Sokka hadn’t asked him for anything - yet. “Did anyone prompose to you yet? Or do you know who’s going to?” Aang asked, his tone still even, concealing his hurt feelings. Seeing Katara with someone else...it would wound him like nothing else could. But what could he do?

Katara shook her head. “No one has promposed, thankfully. I would be so uncomfortable if anyone did. A couple guys have asked me to the dance through DMs, but I left them on read.”

Katara quickly looked away after speaking, her cheeks quickly turning dark pink. That piqued Aang’s interest. “How come?”

“Well…” Katara trailed off and paused before continuing. “I’m waiting to see if someone else asks me.”

“Who?” Aang asked, sitting up a little. Now he was curious. He wanted to know who would be the cause of the greatest hurt he would ever feel. 

“A...guy. He’s a friend, actually. A really good friend. But, I don’t know, I guess without realizing it I started to like him as more than that. Sometimes I think that he does, too, but then other times he seems like just a goofy kid who isn’t even interested in girls like that.” Katara sighed. “I guess I’ll just wait and see. If he doesn’t ask me, I don’t mind going alone.”

Aang wanted to offer to be a backup date, but decided that was super lame. Instead he asked, “So if he does ask you, how would you want him to? Since you don’t want a huge promposal.”

Katara’s eyes lit up with an emotion Aang didn’t recognize. Her face softened around a small smile and she dropped her gaze to the sofa cushion, busying herself with picking at some tiny balls of lint. “Well, it’s a school dance so it’s totally not important. But, if I could choose, I would want something small, private, and meaningful. Something that only the two of us could share.”

Katara looked up at Aang as she said the last sentence, and his breath caught audibly, making him slightly embarrassed after the shock of the moment wore off. He looked away, and decided not to think anything of it. It was just a coincidence. He couldn’t find it in him to form an actual response, so he just nodded, eyes focused on the TV.

                                         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That night, Aang couldn’t sleep. He kept replaying those moments with Katara in his mind, and fantasizing about the possibility of her actually talking about him when she said all of those things. Aang didn’t want to let himself hope too much, but he did have a nagging feeling in his chest that wouldn’t go away. He felt it physically pull him out of bed, and before he knew it he was sitting at his desk, fiddling with a necklace he’d made Katara but never gave to her. Without thinking, he pulled out a blank sheet of paper and started writing. 

Dear Katara,

Remember that time you, me, and Sokka went fishing, but I stole the string off his fishing rod and he got so mad that he accidentally fell off the dock and into the lake? Haha, that was such a good time. It’s still funny. Anyway, Sokka was super upset because he thought I just took it to weave a random knot pattern, but it was more than that. Around that time, you’d lost your mother’s necklace, so I actually wove you one to hold its place until you found it again. But, that night your dad came home with the necklace, and I never gave you this one. But, I still want you to have it. The thing is, I always think about you, everything reminds me of you in some way or another. Like that string on the fishing rod, it made me think of you immediately and I took it without thinking. Honestly, I would do anything for you without a second thought. I’d even give my life. Maybe that’s weird, I don’t know. I guess what I’m trying to say is, I like you. I know you’re hoping some guy asks you to the dance, and he probably will because he’d be a special kind of stupid if he didn’t. But if he does turn out to be a special kind of stupid, I hope you’d accept my offer and go to the dance with me instead. I hope this isn’t super lame. I kind of feel super lame after writing this. Anyway, I hope you like the necklace. 

Aang

A sigh escaped his lips as he read over the letter. It was super lame, but since he already wrote it, he decided to give it to Katara anyway. Before he folded the paper, he remembered something, and started looking through his books until he found what he needed. A pressed flower. 

It was in the early days, shortly after Aang’s adopted family was killed and Katara’s father took him in. Aang would get sad often, but thought he did a good job of hiding it. Apparently not, though. Katara had found him on one of his lonely walks and fell into step next to him, not saying a word. There was a tree at the edge of their backyard, and Katara stopped under it, making Aang stop too. She told him that she thought it was fate that she found him unconscious in an alley next to his old home, and that he belonged with her, and her family. Then she looked up at the flowers blooming from the tree above them, and in the wind, one fell down and caressed her face before falling onto the ground in front of Aang. He’d picked it up, intending to keep the flower as a reminder of where his new home was: with Katara.

In the present moment, he moved the flower carefully from the book it was pressed into to the letter he’d just written, and folded the paper over it, keeping the flower safe. Then he quietly left his room and walked down the hall to Katara’s room. He stopped outside the closed door and took a deep, silent breath before bending down and carefully leaving the letter and necklace on the floor beside her door. As he walked back to his room, Aang could only wonder how tomorrow would go. 

                                            ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Aang woke up the next morning, he was filled with regret. Why would he write her a letter? Who does that anymore? I’m so stupid, he thought to himself, jumping out of bed to grab the letter before Katara found it, but he was too late. The letter was gone. 

Panic. Aang didn’t know what to do now, frozen in the hallway just staring at the empty space where his pathetic letter used to be. It was five thirty, so an hour before anyone else would be awake. Aang decided to get ready and leave before everyone else. It would be easy to avoid Katara in school, not so much when they were in the same house together. 

After a quick shower and blindly getting dressed, Aang all but ran out of the house. In fact, once he was outside, he broke out into an all out sprint. The doors to the school building didn’t open to students before seven thirty, but Aang knew a place that was always open to him. 

“Aang, nice to see you so early,” Roku said, smiling. He opened his front door wider, allowing Aang to come in. Even though Roku was Zuko’s great grandfather, he’d always had a special bond with Aang. It’s like the two could always talk about anything and always understand each other on a deeper level. 

Roku placed a cup of hot tea in front of Aang. They sat in silence at Roku’s kitchen table for a long moment. Finally, Aang broke the silence. 

“Roku, I did something really stupid,” he said, his face pulling into an anguished frown. 

“Illegal stupid, or normal stupid? I can only help you with one. Kyoshi could probably help you with the other. She killed a man once.”

“Ugh,” Aang groaned in frustration. “Enough about that. Just normal stupid. I wrote a letter to Katara confessing my feelings for her but now I regret it and it’s too late. What do I do??”

“Ah.” Roku looked away from Aang and took a long sip from his tea. “Did I ever tell you how I managed to get my wife?”

“Yeah,” Aang nodded. “You were a total loser but she liked you anyway.”

Roku laughed. “Something like that. Love gets easier as you grow older. You learn what’s important and what isn’t. When you’re young, the surface, the appearance of it matters so much. You say things and think, ‘oh, why am I so stupid! Why did I say that and not this??’ When you get older, you learn that with the right person, there’s never a wrong way to say how you feel. They speak your love language fluently, and accept your awkwardness and vulnerability.”

“But how do I know she’s the right person? What if she doesn’t speak my...language of love,” Aang said, forgetting exactly how Roku had phrased it and making up the closest thing he could on the spot. His brows were pulled together so tightly that his forehead actually started hurting. 

“You will know when you find the right person,” Roku said. He watched Aang while he sipped his tea. “Listen Aang. There is no shame in expressing how you feel. We feel things for the exact reason to express them. Your feelings will guide you to the right path; when something fills you with anxiety, you know that’s your spirit telling you that path isn’t for you. When something brings you happiness, you know that’s your spirit telling you that whatever it is that makes you happy is bringing you closer to your authentic self. And when you feel peace, that’s your spirit finding its home. If you don’t accept and express your feelings, you will only become lost. You like this girl, you told her; her response will lead you to your correct path.”

“What if she rejects me?” Aang asked softly. 

Roku put his tea down, and looked Aang straight in the eye. “Then you’ll get closer to who you need to be with.”

                                               ~~~~~~~~~~

While at school it was easy to avoid Katara. She was a year above him in school, so they had no classes together. And usually they didn’t sit anywhere near each other at lunch; that was Katara’s girl time. That started when Suki wanted to talk to Katara about Sokka alone, and then it just stayed that way. Aang skipped lunch today just to be safe. 

Roku’s words kept going around and around in his mind the whole day. The right person. Who you need to be with. Whenever he thought about those things, all he saw was Katara. If she rejected him, he’d be totally lost. 

Maybe she would reject him quietly. Or maybe she would pretend the letter never happened and spare him. Aang was hoping for the latter when he got home, knowing he couldn’t avoid Katara forever. 

“Aang?”

He’d barely entered the home before Katara called his name. “Yeah,” he called back, busying himself with taking off his shoes before entering the house. His voice had cracked slightly with nerves, and Aang cleared his throat, hoping she didn’t notice. 

“Can we talk?”

When Aang turned around to walk into the living room, the first thing he noticed was the woven necklace around Katara’s neck. His heart started pounding immediately, but then he looked up and saw Katara’s upset face and his entire body went cold. 

“Where were you today? You left early, I didn’t see you at school, and then you weren’t around after school either.”

Aang looked to the side and started playing with his hair nervously. “Sorry, I couldn’t sleep last night, and then Roku asked me to come by this afternoon and help him with some housework. I guess I should have told you and Sokka I would be home later.”

Katara’s face softened. “I couldn’t sleep last night either,” she said, delicately touching the necklace she was wearing. Aang swallowed so hard he swore Katara could hear it. Her face fell back into a frown, and then she said, “Why doesn’t Zuko help him, he’s actually related to him.”

Aang laughed nervously and shrugged. “They have a complicated history. Plus I enjoy spending time with Roku.”

Katara hummed softly in response, and looked away. Her cheeks were turning pink again, and she started nervously playing with her necklace. Aang remembered what Roku had told him, and tucked his fear away for now. Either way, he would come out of this closer to where and who he needed to be. 

“I see you’re wearing the necklace I made you, I hope that means you like it,” Aang said. He figured he’d step up and approach the situation head on. He was the one who wrote the letter, he had to be ready for a response. 

“I love it, it’s beautiful,” Katara said, smiling at the ground. “And that flower...it was from that day…”

Aang scrunched up his mouth with nerves and started playing with his hair again. “Yeah...you’d said if someone asked you to the dance you’d want it to be meaningful and something only the two of you could share. I figured that was a good choice. I know I’m only a backup date, but I still wanted to do that for you.”

Instantly Aang regretted saying that. He didn’t want to be the backup date, he wanted to be her first choice and he should have fought for it. He worked up the courage to look back at Katara and found that she was already looking at him. 

“You know, you really are a special kind of stupid,” she said, smirking. 

Aang’s face twisted. “Huh?”

Katara took two steps towards him and smiled. “You’re the one I wanted to ask me to the dance. Suki and I were actually planning a way for me to ask you. I’m glad it happened this way, though.”

“Uh, what,” Aang said, blinking. He felt like Katara was speaking another language. Like he could hear sounds coming out of her mouth, but not words. 

Rolling her eyes, Katara closed the distance between the two of them and wrapped her arms around Aang’s shoulders, letting her hands cradle the back of his head. “I like you, too, Aang. Everything you said in the letter, I feel the same. It’s more than the dance, too. I,” she said, ducking her head a little, her cheeks bright pink, “I want to be with you, Aang.”

He didn’t know how to respond. The best possible outcome just happened, and he felt his soul leave his body anime style. He felt like fainting, but instead he leaned forward and kissed Katara. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he pulled her even closer to him, something he’d always wanted to do, and they stayed that way for a long moment. 

Suddenly the front door burst open, and Sokka walked in, lower lip trembling, eyes filled with tears. Katara and Aang jumped away from each other, not sure if they wanted Sokka to know just yet. 

“Sokka?” Katara asked, clearly concerned. “What’s wrong?”

“It was a disaster,” he wailed. Sokka started ticking things off his fingers as he spoke. “The hot air balloon canceled, the acapella group ended up just being one guy who weirdly smelled like pickles and couldn’t even sing - he did have an impressive range of armpit fart sounds, but that’s besides the point! All of the letters I wrote her to be delivered before each class ended up getting sent to some girl named Zuki instead?? And the scavenger hunt clues didn’t match where Zuko actually hid anything. And we didn’t even get to the second part of the promposal yet! The smoke bombs were duds - or so I thought until they went off five minutes later and basically suffocated me -”

“Sokka, stop! We get it, this super over the top, way too many ideas mashed into one promposal didn’t work. Now skip to the part where Suki reacted; what did she say??” Katara asked, and Aang leaned forward too, just as interested to hear. 

“I don’t know!” Sokka said, throwing his hands up. He groaned and scrubbed his face with his hands. “I was so humiliated I just ran home. Suki will never want to see me again, I’m a failure!” Sokka was just about sobbing now, but then the doorbell rang, interrupting him. He paused and frowned, turning towards the door. “If this is that weird acapella guy, I’m not paying him.” Sokka angrily swung the door open, and his face instantly lit up. “Suki!”

Aang moved a little so that he could see Suki, who was standing in the doorway with roses in her arms, amongst several bags. She was beaming right back at Sokka. 

“Hey Sokka. Zuki gave me all of your letters, and the roses, and Zuko gave me all of the gifts you got me. Someone from a hot air balloon company gave me a free ride coupon, too. Oh, and some guy who smelled like pickles performed the Ave Maria with armpit fart sounds?” Sokka’s face fell and he dropped his face into his hand. Suki just laughed. “But I also saw the dance performance you came up with, or at least the backup dancers. They said it wasn’t the same without you, and the lyrics you wrote for me, but they ended up giving me the lyric sheet and I loved it. I don’t know what else you had planned, but it was all amazing Sokka.”

“Wait. Wait here. There’s one more thing.”

Suki’s face fell a little, and she tried to stop him. “No, Sokka, I -”

“No, seriously, I’ll be right back.” Sokka’s sincere voice convinced Suki, who just smiled adoringly at him and nodded. 

Aang looked at Katara after Sokka ran up the steps, but she just shrugged. Aang guessed Katara didn’t know this last part of the plan either. Only a moment later, Sokka was running back down the steps. He approached Suki with a teddy bear in his hands. It was wearing a shirt with a picture of Sokka and Suki printed on it, and tucked into little straps on its hands was a little case. 

Sokka rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, looking at Suki with a blush on his cheeks. “This was how I was going to originally ask you. There’s a flash drive inside the case of songs I picked out for you. The lyrics of the songs spelled out a message you were supposed to decode, asking you to the dance, and...to be my girlfriend. 

“But once I saw Zuko’s promposal to Mai - who’s already his girlfriend - I panicked. Especially since it’s you. I thought this wouldn’t be enough. But now I see I kind of went way too hard on the promposal. I’m sorry.”

Suki dropped everything in her arms and jumped towards Sokka, grabbing his face in her hands and kissing him. Aang looked away, feeling embarrassed for some reason, and saw Katara do the same. They shared a look and giggled, both happy that Sokka hadn’t seen their kiss moment. 

“Sokka, everything you did was so romantic. I love how passionate you are about things that matter to you, and I love that I’m one of the things that matters to you. I would want nothing less than to go to the dance with you as your girlfriend.” Suki’s smile was wider than Aang had ever seen it, and the only thing that distracted him from it was Sokka’s knees buckling and him fainting to the ground. 

                                        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Aang looked across the hall with intent. There Katara was at their table, laughing and talking with Suki and Mai. Aang smiled at her, even though he didn’t know what was making her smile, he just loved to see it. 

“You’re staring again,” Zuko teased. He filled up a plate of desserts for both him and Mai, and on the other side of him Sokka was doing the same. 

“Yeah, at my girlfriend,” Aang said, and couldn’t help the little laugh that followed. The words still made butterflies erupt into flight in his stomach. His girlfriend. How would life ever get better than this?

“I still can’t believe Suki said yes to being my girlfriend,” Sokka said, turning around to gaze at the table of girls. 

“I still can’t believe you fainted when she did,” Zuko said, his voice back to its even tone. 

Sokka frowned. “I had low blood sugar! I hadn’t eaten all day because I was working to get everything ready and -”

“Yeah yeah,” Zuko said, waving a hand towards Sokka. It was nothing they all hadn’t heard before. “Let’s just get back before Mai turns into a dragon and bites my head off for taking too long to get desserts.”

Aang quickly finished filling his plate with fruits, but grabbed a few pastries last minute in case Katara wanted those too. When they got back to their table, Katara immediately started eating the fruit off of Aang’s plate. 

“Thanks for getting me fruit,” she whispered to him. “I’ve been dying for them all night, but forgot to tell you to grab some when you got up. You just read my mind.”

“I do what I can,” Aang smiled, watching Katara fit so many pieces of pineapple into her mouth that she looked like a chipmunk. Then he brushed her long wavy hair off of her shoulder toward her back, letting his fingers brush the necklace he’d made Katara that she still hadn’t taken off. “I can make you a better one,” he said, looking at the cheap string it was made out of. It was all he had at the time, but she deserved better.

“I already love this one,” she said, shaking her head. 

“I love you,” Aang said automatically. Once he realized what he’d said, his smile dropped and his eyes widened. He’d said it without even thinking, and now he was afraid he’d scared Katara off for good. 

For a moment Katara’s eyes widened too, but then her face softened into a dreamy smile, and she leaned forward, pressing a kiss onto Aang’s lips. She tasted like pineapples, but that wasn’t the reason Aang had a hard time pulling away.

“I love you, too.”

[sokkathebluewolf]

Elements

Hi. I read your ask about character birthdays and decided to look whats their sign element is accoring to dates you have provided. I don’t include the dates since you can easily find it in this post. I will try to keep this short and only talk about sign element and not about the sign itself or else this has a problem of becoming like one of your fics :D.

Thank you for that analysis! I thought to make it too but it was going to take too much work xD I’ll leave it under the cut!

Our beloved “future” firelord Azula comes first and it can’t be any other way! All hail Azula! :D

You stacked so much fire modifier on her that its ridiculous :D Her season element is fire (obviously), but her sign element is air! That nice complement because there can be no fire without air.

On the other hand our meat and sarcasm guy Sokka has contrasting element. His seasonal element is water, but his sign element is fire! No wonder he thought the fire was manly and fell in love with fire princess. As the saying goes you need to fight fire with fire!

Next up Toph, our crazy melon lord! She her season sign is earth, but her sign element is water. That is not surprising since melon over which she rules has a lots of water in it. :D

Katara, our mother figure and eco terrorist in original show, is born in water season, but her sign element is earth. That could make her and Toph a nice mudbenders as was shown in original show when they trained Aang.

Speaking of Aang, our residential avatar, he is born in air season, but has contrasting sign element of earth.

Next up the one without honor since he needs to capture the avatar. That’s right its Zuko the disgraced fire nation prince and failure. He not only failed to get born in fire season like his perfect sister, but he also don’t have fire sign. Zuko is born in air season and his sign element is earth. No wonder he was destined to wander whatever the wind blows and never recover his missing honor!

If we speak about dishonor we need to look up at the royal asshole that started it all. If you thought that’s Ozai, you are right. Ozai has fire as his season element, but has contrasting sing element of water and that maybe the reason why he has such perfect hair, because he washes it a lot in it.

His brothe Iroh, the famed dragon of the west, is born in air season and has earth as his sign element. That not surprising since he draws power from other elements.

Lets talk and do honorable mention (Zuko’s distant scream HONOR!!!) to the people that have both of their season and sign elements same!

Zhao! He not only has fire as his both season and sing elements but also is expectional firebender. So its not surprise his temper is also on fire! No wonder he looked down upon that failed prince.

Both Haru and Kori has season and sign elements same as their bending. Earth. They both are good at their bending too.

Sokka’s maid Song has water as both her season and sign element. She maybe even be a secret waterbender considering that she is very good at healing.

Same goes for Suki who has air as both her season and sign element. So its not surprise her favorite weapon is a fan!

This post is already starting to grow in size and if i continued in my current pace it would start to turn onto fic, so lets avoid it and instead from now i will only provide names and elements with first being name, second season element and third sign element.

Han: water- earth

Shuren: air-earth

Qiang: fire-fire

Fei Li: air-fire

Renkai: fire-air

Rui Shi: fire-earth

Haoren: earth-fire

Tai Wei: fire-earth

Wuhan: earth-water

Jianghuo: air-air

Taro: fire-water

Jeong Jeong:fire-water

Hakoda: air-fire

Kya: earth-earth

Ursa: water-air

Piandao: fire-water

Tiang: earth-water

Lu Ten: fire-air

Hahn: air-water

Jet: air-water

Yue: water-fire

Jin: water-air

Rhone: water-air

Mai: earth-air

Ty Lee: fire-fire

Kino: water-air

Teo: air-water

Shoji: air-water

Rei: air-air

Tom-Tom: water-earth

Yuudai: earth-air

Mari: water-air

Focusas

[bellatrixobsessed1]

Wan High Weeping (Part 49)

Azula studied her reflection, she was still getting used to feeling satisfied by what she saw. She ran a brush through her hair, set it to the side and looked at the time. She still had plenty of it, more than enough to perfect her makeup. First she slipped out of her sleepwear and turned to the mirror again. Yue had been correct--not that it surprised her--she still didn’t have the toned, athletic look that she was aiming for but she was slim to her content and comfort. She found her uniform, her old uniform, and pulled it over her head, savoring, in full, the way it fit her. It was still tight in the chest, not that she had any complaints there, at least she had earned one thing for all of her suffering. She swept her hair over her shoulders, trying to decide if she wanted to wear it loose or wear it up.

“You almost ready?” TyLee shouted, bringinging her moment of self-appreciation to an abrupt halt.

“I still have to put my makeup on.”

She heard TyLee groan from the other side of the door and she wonders if the girl was beginning to regret letting her live there for the school year. “Can’t I get dressed and then we can put on our makeup together?”

Azula rolled her eyes and unlocked the door, beckoning TyLee in. As she walked passed she muttered. “You already have makeup on.”

“It isn’t how I want it yet.” Azula replied.  She leaned against the wall and waited for TyLee to re-emerge. At the sound of the shower turning on she decided that she might as well get breakfast out of the way. These days, it was an endeavor she didn’t put much thought into save for deciding what she wanted to eat.

Since the trial, the rest of the year had been generous to her. She’d slipped once or twice more before fully settling into things. And Zuko had his own share of close calls. But by June, she had gotten herself to a comfier spot. A place where she didn’t mind moving the team practice to the beach. At that point, she thought herself to still be on the softer side.

But at that point it bothered her significantly less.

A few kind words on her beach photos had certainly helped. Particularly the ones wherein Chan asked for a second chance and Teo threw their relationship status in his face. Such was the nature of their relationship, a steady flow of bickering and testosterone.

As she ate, Azula wished Zuko luck with his GED prep classes and Ursa with her book signing. She ran through her comment feed. Zirin had posted a picture of she and the rest of the team, Nagako with a newly re-secured position. With any luck, they would keep the momentum she had started for them. She hoped to go up against their team this year.

It had been tricky to explain why she had chosen to leave them. But a few of her goals, required her presence back at Wan High.

Mostly she wanted to feel out what it would be like to live with TyLee before deciding to room with her in college. But a discussion with Yue made her realize that she wanted to wrap up what she began at her old school. She wanted to spend her final year with Mai and TyLee, they way they’d began high school.

“Still want to touch up your makeup?” TyLee asked.

Azula glanced at the time. “We still have to pick Mai up.” She hoisted her bag over her shoulder and drew out her car keys.

“Can I choose the station his time?”

Azula was certain that Mai would just love the pop numbers. “Sure, Ty.”

She watched her scramble into the passenger's seat, where she made herself at home. It brought a sense of comfort to open her glovebox and see TyLee’s chapstick and sunglasses again.  She was fairly certain that, one of these days, she’d open it to find a studded bracelet Mai left behind.

“Really, TyLee?” Mai grumbled. “One of these days you’re going to have to let me ride shotgun again…” she paused. “And let me chose some good music.” She tossed her backpack into the backseat before climbing in for herself.

“How can you, hate this?” TyLee turned it up a few notches.

“I will jump out of this car and walk.” Mai threatened dryly.

There was a sense of surrealism in setting foot in the school again. It was as foreign as it was familiar with its tri-colored banner and its cringe inducing slogan scrawled in purple, blue, and black, ‘Wan High wolf-bats go, go!’ But what did she expect from a school that used a hybrid-animal as a mascot.

She ran through her schedule as she wandered down the hall in search of her new locker.

Azula snapped her fingers, “find another locker to lean on.”

“Apologies m’lady.” Chan heaved himself away from her locker.

“Don’t you have a locker to get to?”

He patted the one he was currently leaning on.

“Of course that one is yours.” She muttered.

“Who do you have for first hour?”

“AP English with Macmu-Ling.”

“Oooo, advanced classes.” He drawled.

“Looks like we won’t be seeing each other very often.” Azula noted.

“Harsh.” He laughed. “I missed you.”

“Well, of course.” Azula replied with a flick of her bangs. It would seem that he would be accompanying her to class.

She stood in the doorway of her classroom and let him finish his spial about how they were letting him back on the volleyball team, so long as he promised to behave himself. “Hey, good luck at tryouts today.”

“Thanks, Chan. But you’ll find that I don’t need luck.”

She found herself a seat at the front of the classroom, nearest to the door and began arranging her pencils and notebooks to her satisfaction.

“You’re attending Wan High again!”

Azula looked up to see Katara who slid into the seat next to her.

“Yes.” She replied. “I’d like to finish high school with Mai and TyLee.”

“What about your new volleyball team?”

“If they paid attention to me at all, they’ll be able to manage without me.” She shrugged. “How is Jing-Zao?” The last she heard, the baby wasn’t faring so well.

Katara’s face fell. “I’m still waiting to hear from Suki. I can’t believe she’s missing the first day of school again.” She looked over her schedule. “She doesn’t have lunch with me this year anyways. So far, no one I talk to does. But I bet I have Usha.”

“When do you have lunch?”

“Fourth.”

“I have fourth as well. I’m pretty sure that Teo mentioned, he does too.”

“Mai and TyLee?”

“Fifth.”

“With Aang, Toph, and Suki.” Katara noted.

.oOo.

Teo folded his arms over his chest. He still wasn’t happy to be back within the halls of Wan High. Sure, the year had ended decently with Jet and Chan in their places. But that didn’t hinder Usha and Chu-Leng any. In fact, Chu-Leng seemed extra aggressive these days, blaming he and Azula for ‘stealing’ Chan and getting him removed from the volleyball team.

He’d made a point of tossing Teo’s books around the hallway.

He noticed someone picking up his books. She stooped down and felt around until her hands found what she was looking for. “You’re Teo, right?” She asked as she handed him the books.

“Yeah.” He answered. “And you’re the BeiFong kid?”

Toph nodded. “My dad said that he was interested in partnering with your dad’s business.”

“I thought that I heard him mention something like that.” He found himself stealing looks at the labrador panting next to her. “It’s nice to finally meet a promising student.”

“Thanks!” Toph smiles. “Wait a minute, you’re talking about Appa aren’t you?” She laughed. “You’re probably right though, Appa is probably smarter than most of these numbskulls.”

“What class are you headed to?”

“Art.” Toph replied. “To me it’s collage class. I’ll cut up magazine pages, glue them, and hope for the best. Either way around it’ll turn out better than whatever is going on with Kori’s face today.” She paused. “I mean I haven’t seen it, but I’m pretty sure my crafts will look better.”

“You’re setting the bar too low.” Teo said.

“You think I should try to make my pieces look better than Chan thinks his abs look?”

Where had this girl been last year?

“Where are you going?” Toph asked.

“Cafeteria.”

“Appa’s favorite place in the school.” Toph declared. “If you run into Spike before me, tell her I said hi.”

“Spike?”

“Your girlfriend.”

“Why, Spike?”

“Ya know, spike, like the volleyball thing. Geeze, Teo, Appa coulda figured that one out.” She paused. “Hey, I’ll talk to you more after school.”

With that, Teo showed himself into the lunchroom. He found Azula sitting with Katara and wheeled himself up. If there was one reason he still bothered showing up to this hellhole, it was to see the two of them. With any luck, lunch would be a more pleasant experience this year. In way of a greeting, Azula leaned over and gave him a small kiss.

“Toph said to tell you she said hello.” Teo set his lunch down. “I’m pretty sure she wants me to say hi to you too, Katara.”

“She’s back in school again?” Katara asked. “I thought that her parents were still deciding on that.”

Azula shrugged. “I get this feeling that Toph had more say in that than her parents.”

“Did we invite him to our table?” Teo asked.

“He tends to invite himself to places.” Azula replied. But she let Chan take a seat anyhow.

“Good afternoon, ladies and nerdass.” He wrigged his brows.

“Not attractive.” Azula commented.

“Not even slightly.” Teo agreed

Katara rolled her eyes. “You know, I don’t think that I’ve ever met a group of friends who insult each other the way you three do.”

“With mountains of affection?” Teo asked.

“With great creativity?” Chan added.

“More like, with great truth.” Azula mumbled.

“Truth?” Teo asked.

“You are a nerdass and he is a dumbass.”

“And you are a smartass.” Chan declared smugly.

“Exactly. With great truth.”

“Please leave me out of this group activity.” Katara requested.

“Are you sure?” Teo asked. “It’s a real good bonding activity.” He unwrapped his sub sandwich. The sound of clicking heels brought his good mood to an abrupt halt.

“You’re really sitting with these nerds?” Usha scoffed.

“As opposed to sitting with yours?” Azula asked.

Usha ignored the comment. “Come sit with Kori and I, where you belong, Chan.”

“I think, I’ll pass.” Chan replied. “I was kind of hoping for a quieter year.”

Usha sniffed. “You’re really going to sit with the fat bitch and the whore?”

Teo raised his hand. “And the cripple.” Usha’s lip twitched. “Beat you to it.” He flashed the most shit eating grin he could muster.

.oOo.

Azula listened to her ramble on and on about her supposed better table. She almost felt bad for the girl, she didn’t realize that she had already been dropped. If not, she was about to be, her removal from the volleyball team had cost them state. Azula couldn’t imagine that they had taken well to that.

Really, she ought to warn her, but she was looking for a little entertainment to go with her lunch. “Do me a favor.” She muttered. “Let the girls know that I’ll be filling in for you.”

Her face bunched up in disgust. “They’re not going to let you back on the team.”

“The choice isn’t theirs, now is it?”

Usha balled her hands and stormed over to Kori.

Azula hated to admit it, but the woman had put a question into her mind; did she really want to go back to a team that didn’t particularly want her around? But the school only had one volleyball team. She looked at the ball poking out of her backpack.

“You’re not a fat bitch.” Chan said.

“Not what’s bothering me.” Azula replied, though she appreciated the reassurance.

“What is?” Katara asked.

“Usha took over the team after I left…” She trailed off. They would probably tolerate her so long as she could get them to state where Usha had failed. But it wouldn’t be like the Xi River team.

“Are you considering not trying out?” Teo asked.

“Trying out was never part of the plan.” Azula replied. “Coach already handed me my spot. Try-outs started the week before school started, anyhow. I’m trying to decide how much shit I’m willing to put up with this year.” She supposed that she would attend practice and see which girls made the cut again and go from there.

Whoever they were, she hoped that they would accept her back without a hassle. It weighed heavily on her mind until the final bell and followed her to the gymnasium.  

“Good to have you back, Azula.” Coach put a hand on her back. “I’d like you to meet the JV girls. They’re a rowdy bunch and I was hoping you could help me shape them up.”

“It’d be my pleasure.” Azula replied. It was an opportunity. Should the varsity team hassle her, she could spend some time with the JV girls, that is if she could handle the unchecked zeal of a gaggle of underclassmen.

“You look nice today.”  She turned around to see Kori. Of course she was handing out compliments now. That was just Kori’s nature, to suck up to anyone who even looked like they could make it to the top.

“I am aware.” Azula replied stiffly.

“Whatever.” The girl grumbled. “Usha looks better.”

“She tries.” Azula muttered under her breath.

.oOo.

“Uno, bitch!” Haru threw down his final yellow card.

“Come on dude, let someone else win!” Teo frowned.

“How about you get good!?”

“Long-Shot, tell him to give us a chance.”

Long-Shot looked to Aang.

“I don’t think we’re ever going to win, Teo.” Aang replied. “Haru hasn’t lost a game of uno in his life.” He pulled out his iPod, “see.” He pointed to a string of digital tally marks. “That’s my losing streak.”

“Wow, dude. You won’t even let your boyfriend win?”

“He needs to get good too.” Haru replied. “In this world it’s wreck or get rekt.”

Teo groaned, Haru was getting to be worse than his dad as far as awful jokes went. He checked his watch. “Alright guys, time to wrap up.” He braced himself for a little mockery and some smooching noises from Haru.

“What, is it girlfriend time already?” He didn’t fail to deliver.

“Come on, Haru.” Aang said sheepishly. “I think we could use some us time too.”

Normally he wouldn’t rush them so much, but Azula promised him that she had something special to give him. Evidently, he was hoping for some comic con tickets and an offer to cosplay with him. One day they’d get there. The doorbell rang and he hurried to the lower floor as fast as he could wheel himself.

He greeted Azula with a hug. Her hair was slightly disheveled and she was still in uniform. “How did practice go?”

She set her duffle bag on the floor. “It went better than I thought it would. Kori is going to be a problem, but the other girls are willing to let by gones be by gones.”

“You look exhausted.”

“I had to remind them of who they are dealing with.” Azula shrugged. “Is your dad home?”

“He’s in the garage, why?”

“I was hoping that he could join us.”

“Why?”

She pulled out a slip of paper. “I might have mentioned to my mother than he needed a little help getting his business going.”

“Are you serious?” He asked.

She slid the check across the table. “He’s treated me well, your father. Better than mine did.”

Teo wheeled forward and pulled her into a hug. She made herself comfortable in his lap and draped her arm around his neck. He kissed her forehead. He heard a cough from behind. “Sorry, dad.”

“No please, continue.” The man said half-sarcastically. “Don’t let your old man ruin your night.”

“Actually, dad, Azula has something she wanted to tell you about.”

“Practice went well, I take it!” He declared excitedly. That was one thing Azula could provide that Teo couldn’t; talk of sports. Every other time he invited her over, his father would embarrass him with talk of how football was back in his day.

“It went fine.” She replied. “But there are other things that I’d like to discuss more.” She took the check back from Teo and handed it to his father. “It’s for your repair shop. Think of it as a thank you for letting me spend the night and what not.”

.oOo.

Azula made her way back to TyLee’s house. Hopefully she and Mai would arrive around the same time as each other. She imagined that their first days had gone just as eventfully as hers, and hopefully as well. Her car still smelled strongly of TyLee’s perfume. She turned on her radio, feeling as though things were finally falling back into place.

Falling back into a comfortable normal where she was comfortable in her skin.

A new sort of normal.

A better normal than the one she’d had before. A more natural and effortless sort of normal. The kind of normal where she knew that she was going to get an earful from Ursa for not calling her sooner. The kind of normal where she knew Zuko was going to text her with a new pun from Iroh.

The kind of normal, she didn’t have to fight for.

That didn’t leave her with the impression that she could lose everything that comforted her in a heartbeat.

She supposed that, for all of the hurt and humiliation, she was glad for the accident. It would seem that it has given her more than it had taken.

She pulled into the driveway to see Mai walking Tom-Tom towards TyLee’s house. It would seem like they’d be stuck catching the midnight show. Not that it mattered, they had always been good at killing time. Perhaps one of these days, she would invite Katara to join them, if the girl had some spare time. She shut her car off and greeted the pair--and Tom-Tom.

In a few minutes they would be piling back into her car and heading to the mall. Just as they had when they were three years younger.

A new normal.

Yet a familiar normal.

[twentysomethinginorlando]

71 Reasons Universal Should Build Their Own Avatar Land

New Post has been published on https://twentysomethinginorlando.com/universal-needs-avatar/

71 Reasons Universal Should Build Their Own Avatar Land

I have long said that Nickelodeon must not like money, because they had a potential gold mine on their hands with the Avatar: the Last Airbender and Legend of Korra series. I know from experience that Universal likes money, so they should pounce on said potential gold mine and build an Avatar Land of their own. I have a list of 71 reasons why.

It would make Disney and their Pandora: the World of Avatar and blue people very angry. Has anyone noticed the logo has almost the same font used on all the episode titles?

Avatar: the Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra have HUGE fan bases. The original series premiered in 2005, Korra concluded in 2014 and the fandom is still going strong.

When the Nucleus Art Gallery held a show dedicated to art from shows, the line wrapped around the building for hours with people camping over night for limited edition art prints. I was out there for four hours before we got in.

The vast majority of people waiting for said art show were in full cosplay, so events like the Harry Potter Celebration could be possible.

Republic City would fit in perfectly as a new island in Universal’s Islands of Adventure. It could easily replace the outdated Lost Continent or Toon Lagoon.

Universal has had many partnerships with Nickelodeon in the past. Spongebob and Dora the Explorer currently appear as characters in the parks and in the parade even though they do not have rides.

Universal’s greatest success has been The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Nothing is going to top that, but bringing in another outside, in depth world, could do almost as well.

Legend of Korra’s poor ratings were due to Nickelodeon constantly moving the show’s timeslot around, poor marketing (they literally aired season three with about a weeks notice), and general mishandling of the show. Once it went to digital, the numbers skyrocketed.

Avatar: the Last Airbender and Legend of Korra appeal to all ages. The original series was aimed at boys seven-ten, and I was a thirteen year old girl when I started watching. I was a member of several online fan sites, and I had in depth discussions with people twice my age. I had a professor in college that watched both series with her sons!

This would be Nick’s opportunity to make up for the travesty of the Last Failbender.

Universal needs something with a vast source to pull from for a new land or ride, with opportunities for fans to find their favorite things that were never available before.

Incorporating the Republic City Spirit Portal could also allow guests to step into the Spirit World either on a ride or as part of the land itself.

Universal would have much more creative control and be able to branch out more than they did with the Wizarding World because they would not need the creators’ sign off on every little detail.

As stated previously, Nickelodeon clearly does not like money, so Universal could probably get the rights pretty cheaply.

By focusing on just one area of the Avatar world there would be plenty of material into future expansion if Universal wanted to incorporate it into whatever they’re doing with all that land they purchased. Much like the two Wizarding World lands, there could be a Republic City land and a land dedicated to the original series.

Despite being off the air, there is still new content being created. There are comics coming, slowly but surely, so the fandom can keep growing but they are not dependent on movie sequels.

All of Avatar: the Last Airbender and the first three seasons of Legend of Korra are on Amazon Prime video for easy viewing both for Universal’s research purposes and for people to become acquainted with the world.

My mother has only seen a handful of the episodes start to finish, and she would understand a theme park land based around it with no explanation. I guarantee there are more parents who can do the same.

At one point, a Nickelodeon executive even said Avatar could become their Harry Potter! I agree with you! WHY DID YOU RUIN IT WITH THAT AWFUL MOVIE??

There are already theme park rides that have been built based on the series. One is the central ride to Nickelodeon Universe in the Mall of America called Avatar Airbender and another similar ride exists at Blackpool Pleasure Beach in England. Kings Island previously had one as well before removing all of their Nickelodeon rides.

Nickelodeon Universe. Photo from Theme Park Review.

Fun fact: Avatar: the Last Airbender was the first show to beat Spongebob for the Kids’ Choice Awards for best cartoon in TEN YEARS. It was never nominated again and is the only show to beat the demonic yellow cube.

This would be the one thing that would get me to renew my annual pass with Universal, or get a new one I guess since mine has been expired so long. I think it would do the same for other people.

The best thing about Universal’s Diagon Alley is that you truly step into another world. The high buildings of Republic City would allow for that same effect once again.

Universal clearly wants to continue to grow. New intellectual properties is what they do best. I love Skull Island: Reign of Kong, but it’s a D Ticket attraction at best. Mummy is the only Universal branded ride I would consider an E ticket in addition to Hulk, Forbidden Journey and Escape from Gringotts. Maybe Ripsaw. Maybe.

Avatar and Korra actually have more villains to pull from than Harry Potter does. Rather than having the dementors show up LITERALLY EVERYWHERE you could have Equalist chi blockers, Evil Spirits, Firebender soldiers, the Red Lotus members, Fire Lord Ozai, Azula, Kuvira and her metalbenders, or the Colossus.

For anyone who hasn’t seen the shows, all you need is a preshow for one of the rides that states the opening narration from either series and you perfectly have enough of an understanding to enjoy the ride.

Instead of Houses, people would have elements to choose from, prompting a variety of different apparel options to sell.

Guests could also choose merchandise representing their favorite pro-bending teams.

Instead of interactive wands, there could be interactive gloves or bracelets that would allow guests to set off bending effects instead of spell effects.

There is a wide variety of original creatures to make plush versions of. When The Legend of Korra plush were originally released, they sold out almost immediately and were extremely hard to track down.

Kids could get temporary airbender tattoos or Kyoshi Warrior face paint.

Toy versions of Aang’s staff, Korra’s staff, Zuko’s swords, Jet’s swords, Sokka’s sword, Suki’s fans and Asami’s glove would sell incredibly well. 

Once Upon a Tee, TeeFury, Ript Apparel, and other similar sites frequently release shirts based on both series and they sell incredibly well.

Searching “Korra” on Etsy brings up 939 results, searching “Avatar: the Last Airbender” brings up 1,300 results. Clearly there is a market, and that’s just handmade stuff.

Distant Horizon has been hosting an Avatar pumpkin carving contest for TWELVE YEARS.

A merchandise line of toys would do well. The only reason the original Avatar toys sold badly was mistakes made on Matel’s part. They refused to release any of the female characters, and instead chose to focus on alternate versions of male characters in outfits that were never in the show, or on minor characters that appeared only once. 

They could sell bending scrolls.

Getting your name written in traditional Chinese characters would be a great souvenir.

They could sell pai sho sets.

A pro-bending stunt show could easily become a new, updated combination of The Eighth Voyage of Sinbad Stunt Show and Poseidon’s Fury. 

A Spider-man style ride could take guests through Republic City with Team Avatar chasing down Equalists from Book One or dodging spirits and vines, and trying to stop the Colossus from Book Four.

The series style of blending 2D and 3D animation would work perfectly for simulator 3D rides, which is Universal’s wheelhouse.

They could literally make any ride they wanted and present it as Varrick’s newest invention and guests are test piloting it. “ZHU LI, DO THE THING!”

Using the technology of the Raptor Encounter, a flying bison encounter or even a dragon would be possible.

A flying bison aerial carousel, think like Dumbo, would make a terrific family friendly, all ages ride. Islands of Adventure is badly in need of rides without height requirements.

Germany’s Movie Park has a different style of hang gliding attraction.

Movie Land. Photo from Theme Parks of England.

The Aang statue would make a nice addition to the Universal sky line.

Many of the voice actors from both series frequently attend fan events and would be able to reprise their roles.

Unlike the Wizarding World, the aging of the actors would have little effect on the ability to produce more content since it would be all animation.

They could do a metalbending zip line attraction and charge for it as an upgraded experience.

The Jasmine Dragon would make an excellent new restaurant and tea shop.

The score is amazing and would lend itself very well to a theme park environment, and the Track Team would probably return to produce new music.

Omashu slides, anyone?

Penguin sledding flume ride.

Ember Island Players stage show. I’m just saying.

Superman style roller coaster with airbender gliders.

Korra was the first non-heterosexual main character in western animation, as the series concludes with her forming a relationship with Asami. That forward thinking and representation is something the world needs. There was nothing explicit or outright stated about it, and there wouldn’t have to be in a theme park either, but it would be a great first step.

Avatar_Mom is submitting the Avatar Fan Panel to San Diego Comic Con for 2017, for a show that’s been off the air for almost ten years. Fans still show up, at the price of missing other cool SDCC things.

An Avatar Fan Convention has been discussed online and is rumored to be in the works.

The cast and crew behind the show still care and want to be involved. At the Nucleus Art Gallery show, only the creators were confirmed to be there. I encountered Seychelle Gabriel, the voice of Asami, Dee Bradley Baker, the voice of Tarrlok and all the animals on the show, Cora Baker, Dee’s daughter and the voice of young Korra, and Giancarlo Volpe, one of the series directors. So that would eliminate the problem they’ve had with Harry Potter actors not wanting to return.

I have cosplayed Korra at Disney on multiple occasions and Universal on one, each time I have been recognized by Cast Members/Team Members and guests, and have been asked for photos. People recognize the character and get excited. Even people who have never seen the show know it’s Avatar.

I have interacted in character with Disney characters and they got it, and it was pretty much the greatest thing ever.

Unlike blue people Avatar, Korra and Avatar: the Last Airbender have had a lasting presence in pop culture. Even Failbender is better remembered for how terrible it was. “Everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked,” is more quoted than anything from that movie.

Verrickland!

Avatar has its own canonical holiday that could be celebrated, Avatar Day is on April 28th as established by the air date of the episode “Avatar Day”.

There are a total of five artbooks with in depth world information to draw from.

Steampunk is all the rage right now and Republic City’s steampunk elements would attract people for photography opportunities.

Avatar: the Last Airbender featured a main character who used her disability to become one of the most powerful benders in the world, and featured a recurring character in a wheelchair.

The Legend of Korra also showed a main character getting critically injured and seeing the character recover from that.

An overturned cabbage cart would be a spectacular photo opportunity.

At the very least, it would have a bigger fan base than Jimmy Fallon.

Korra screenshot from Piandao.org.