#if you don’t like maiko and want to make a post about them DON’T TAG ‘ANTI-(SHIP)’ or even tag them at all

[al-ghvl]

I would like to reblog this for a second time because, for some ungodly reason, this issue is still heavily prevalent in the Mai and Zuko conversation. This time, instigated by a particularly insistent user, who I’ve blocked, just in case.

As someone who dislikes a fair amount of ships—or borderline hate, sometimes for purely petty reasons—I ALWAYS make the conscious effort to stray away from tagging that ship, EVEN with the ‘anti’ tag. BECAUSE I KNOW that it would appear on that tag, and I truly don’t want to cause unnecessary trouble for those who enjoy the ship when I don’t.

Though, that isn’t to say that I wouldn’t complain about it, because I’m certainly guilty of that. But when I do, I almost always tag who I think is the problem of the ship, or just not tag anything at all.

That said, STOP TAGGING THE SHIP YOU DISLIKE.

I can't believe that this shit has to be said in the year of 2023 but if you have nothing positive to say about any ship then stay the fuck out of their tag.

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

The double standard Zutara shippers have towards Mai vs Katara is absolutely icky. I saw a post a while ago (don’t remember the user) and screenshotted all the Mai can’t vs Katara can points. I’ll paste them here:

- Katara threatening Zuko if he dares to hurt Aang is a sign of reprimanded sexual tension, but Mai joking about Zuko never daring to break up with her again it's her being controlling.

- Katara screaming at Zuko that, to make her forgive him after he proved to have changed and be a better person to everyone else, he'll need to bring back her dead mother, as if 10 years old Zuko is responsible for Yon Ra killing Kya, is fair. Mai screaming at Zuko to leave her alone after he made a scene insulting her in front of a crowd is abusive, violent and toxic.

- Katara treating Zuko badly after he saved her from being crushed is legit and deserved. Mai slapping Zuko's hand away from her in two separate occasions because he wouldn't stop invading her boundaries after a highly emotional moment is harsh, undeserved and abusive.

- Zuko mocking Katara and telling her that he'll save her from the pirates is cute. Zuko being actually cute with his girlfriend is cringe and obviously something he didn't want to do.

- Katara splashing Zuko when he was kneeling down in the southern air temple episode is justified. Mai throwing a SHEET OF PAPER at him after he broke up with her and ghosted her is abusive and violent.

-Katara touching Zuko's scar in the catacombs to heal him is cute and a moment of trust. Mai touching Zuko's scar multiple times and him not being bothered by it in the slightest (even burying his scar in her hair) is a breech of trust and consent.

- Katara having many guys who have a crush on her throughout the series means she has rizz and that she's a catch. Mai having one boyfriend other than Zuko makes her a slut.

- Mai and Zuko being childhood friends to lovers is cringe and an overused trope, but then you'll go on the Zutara tag and find multiple fanarts of childhood friends Zutara AUs

- Katara establishing boundaries and making her stance on breeches of trust well known with multiple characters is good writing. Mai breaking up with Zuko after he lied to her multiple times means that she isn't worth sticking around, and is so selfish that she'll leave Zuko in a moment of need.

- Katara had three children while Mai only had Izumi, which means Katara is a better woman (yes, I've actually come across this kind of disgusting comment.)

- Zutarians claim that Katara is apparently reduced to a housewife and child bearer with no agency as Aang's wife (she is a well known master, wonderful healer AND politician as she made bloodbending illegal in canon), and would be better off as the fire lady (????), but at the same time Mai is nothing special because she is just the fire lord's wife while Katara is a master. Like, make it make sense. Being a fire lady is either "demeaning" for both or for neither.

+ Zutara fans making Izumi Zuko and Katara's daughter, and then proceeding to make a rant on how Mai is NOT Izumi's mom despite her looking exactly like Mai and Michi PLUS having "fountain" a significant name in Maiko's love story, in her name.

I’ve been silently reading all the anti zutara here and thought of sharing my piece. I would like to hear what you think too

God, the Izumi one pisses me off the most because:

1 - Neither Katara nor Zuko would EVER just refuse to raise or even acknowledge a child of theirs. Katara's whole trauma is about having to grow up too fast after her mother's death. Zuko's whole trauma is growing up with an abusive father that kicked him out of the house. They would NEVER abandon a child of theirs.

2 - Neither Katara nor Zuko would ever forgive a former partner if said partner had a kid with them and then abandoned said child, again, because of their own traumas.

But also HOLY SHIT, zutara's brand of "feminism" never ceases to shock me. "A better woman has more kids"? Seriously? And here I thought the worst take I'd ever see from them was "Zuko needs to marry a woman of a different race because his genes are bad, but he is one of the good ones, and Katara could fix his defective genetic that makes his kind more likely to be violent - no, I never heard the term 'eugenics', what's that?"

And yeah, funny how they're constantly going on and on about how being Fire Lady would totally "empower" Katara, but the second Mai is the one to marry Zuko, suddenly that role is oppressive and disrespectful towards a woman.

[miss-sweetea-pie]

I just saw an interesting maiko post. I didn’t want to comment or reblog because I figured that person didn’t want to have a discord considering the tags and some times tumblr recommended things to you. I probably wasn’t meant to see it honestly, But now I want to talk about it.

It was about how Zuko and Mai are just teenagers who don’t understand each other sometimes and then fail to communicate.

Also about how Mai’s emotionless trait collides with Zuko’s need for emotional validation and Zuko’s controlling possessiveness collides with Mai’s need for freedom. But they care for each other that doesn’t make them a bad couple, and Mai is not a bad girlfriend.

Honestly it a really good way to frame the relationship. I would also call it incompatible, maybe even toxic? it doesn’t make them bad people, but sometimes people do bring out the worst in you. Technically, this is true for Zuko, considering he went back to the fire nation, and he started dating Mai at the same time. Mai is the first person we see him speaking to after betraying his uncle and the show wants us to know he made the wrong choice. Mai is use as a narrative tool for Zuko’s lack of support in the fire nation,he’s miserable when he goes back home, and the one person, you would think he could connect with, his girlfriend, is cold and emotionally withdrawn. The show used Maiko to explore the the emptiness of being home in the fire nation, the empty promises of fire nation glory he been chasing and it doesn’t resonate with him anymore, also the impossible standard of gaining conditional love. (Sorry but Maiko is Zuko centric so it does makes Mai hard to read at best and abusive at worst)

I don’t deny that they care about each other in someway they’ve known each other since they were children, it’s safe and comfortable. but love is not enough. Honestly most toxic relationship in irl continue because they love each but they are not good for one other. Zuko and Mai they don’t understand each other and it seems like they don’t really want to understand each other. That’s the problem. (Mai mostly).

Maiko is really just a toxic cycle of their needs not being met

This scene where Zuko want to talk about his feeing and open up to her

Mai: *yawn* I just asked if you were cold not for your whole life story.

(Not going to lie, that was funny but it’s still a very dismissive thing to say, especially to your partner.)

Zuko is actually a little bit more sympathetic when she tells her “sob story” he didn’t yawn

Zuko: I like when you express yourself.

(her being off and on with her anger. Is like a metaphor for him being in the fire nation, trying to make something work and it’s not working. Constantly feeling like he said or does the wrong thing)

and It just bubbles over until they finally blew up

Zuko’s possessiveness is a reaction to after he feels like he has done all sorts of stuff to please her. it’s zuko reaching his breaking point. Boy is really insecure in this relationship because the feed back he gets from her is contempt. Sure we could argue and say that doesn’t make mai a bad girl friend maybe this is just her sense of humor or personality. well, it doesn’t mesh well with Zuko therefore, they are incompatible, and a bad couple with each other. 

( also Zuko is not nice here that’s kind of the point he hads regressed  in his character arc so to speak.)

and then they get back together by making out.

Sure she says she cares but why when did she actually show it? Actions speak louder than words! We never get a moment where Mai gets it and really understands him.

[cassiavioletblue]

Self-Rec Game!

Thank you @chimknj for tagging me in this as it gave me a reason to go back and look through my fics again! 💗

There are currently 74 posted with my name on AO3 O.o

So that’s why it took me a little while to decide on my personal favs. I noticed that most of them have fantasy elements (hybrids, magic etc.) so I guess my love for fantasy is kinda showing in my writing too ;D

Anyways, here are my own top 10‘s!

1. Give me your hand and I'll hold it

LINK

Fandom: Stray kids

Pairing: Bangchan x everyone (not necessarily sexual, btw)

AU: wolf pack

Chan is living together with the other six members of his pack. It’s a calm life - until one day he runs into a fellow wolf named Minho. The other looks scared and Chan tries to help but taking Minho in isn’t as easy as it first seemed – because Minho can’t get away from his past.

My latest fic and one of my first stray kids ones I posted.

I was a little bit nervous because of the fandom switch - so I’m really happy about all the kudos, sweet comments and positive feedback I’ve gotten so far :)

2. Lost and Found

(written with @softjeon, like the following fics)

LINK

Fandom: BTS

Pairing: YoonKook

AU: Hybrids; Pika-hybrid!Jungkook x human!Yoongi

Jungkook as a pika Hybrid is just so cute! If you don’t know what Pikas look or sound like you should totally look them up for an extra serotonin boost :3

I don’t want to spoil too much but after the angst there’s lots of cuteness, so it’s worth it I promise ;)

3. Birds of a feather

LINK

Fandom: BTS

Pairing: YoonKook

AU: Hybrids; Eagle-owl!Yoongi x white-tailed-Kite!Jungkook

Another hybrid one, another yoonkook – and yet this has a completely different vibe!

I loved the whole idea with the mating ceremony and the nest building and it was fun to describe the different feathers and looks!

Yoongi cleaning Kookie’s wings at the lake... *sighs dreamily* I just really enjoyed this universe

4. Home

LINK

Fandom: BTS

Pairing/main characters: Namjoon and Yoongi (platonic)

AU: Hybrids; Arcticfox-hybrid!Yoongi & human!Namjoon

Another hybrid one, this time platonic, with Namjoon stumbling completely unprepared into being a hybrid owner. More exactle, the owner of an arctic-fox-hybrid who’s still half wild and anything but tame. Yoongi cherishes his freedom more than anything… at least in the beginning ;)

5. Caim

LINK

Fandom: BTS

Pairing: NamGi

AU: Magic, Witch!Yoongi x human! Namjoon

Closely followed by „Color me in“ where BTS are all witches and Jungkook has to figure out his magic) but I really like Yoongi as a witch in this one. I think he just fits the magic!Aesthetics so perfectly <3

Namjoon finds Yoongi with a little help from Yoongi’s cat who likes messing with his owner. They’re both interested in each other – but then Namjoon catches Yoongi doing spell work, the spell goes wrong and suddenly Namjoon is marked by a deadly curse!

Not gonna spoil the ending though ;)

6. The perfect Illusion

LINK

Fandom: BTS

Pairings: MinJoon, YoonKook

AU: Geisha/TeahouseAU with Namjoon and Yoongi falling for Geisha!Jimin and Maiko!Jungkook

This one is a classical hurt/comfort one about the fates of two people in a teahouse: Jimin as a Geisha and Jungkook as the Maiko he took under his wings. It’s a colorful, dramatic AU with 81k to enjoy!

Please read the tags first though to make sure you’re aware of the TWs!

7. Drown in me

LINK

Fandom: BTS

Pairings: YoonKook

AU: PirateAU, with Captain!Yoongi and Siren!Jungkook

I simply LOVE seacreatures!

Especially with mermay happening right now, this is a great read for you if you like exciting quests by ship, including pirates and a splash of magic ;)

8. Wolfsbane

LINK

Fandom: BTS

Pairings: YoonKook

AU: WolfpackAU

It was a close call between this and „Everything you’re not“ (another wolfpack-AU, with Jikook as a wolf-and-human-pairing) but „Wolfsbane“ won, because I adore Jungkook as this wild and playful newly turned wolf who rushes head on into lone-wolf-Yoongi’s life. There’s an old feud between Yoongi and the pack that took Jungkook in (the rest of BTS) and …

you’ll have to read it to find out what it was about and what will happen to Yoongi and Jungkook ;)

9. Through the Veil

LINK

Fandom: BTS

Pairings: YoonKook

AU: Demon/UnderworldAU; demon!Yoongi x (spoilers!XD)Jungkook

Number nine is this monster here!

TTV is unbelievable 126 k long and contains Jungkook summoning demon!Yoongi by accident who then pulls him into a world of mythical creatures and gods, where Jungkook has to face the underworld and decide between life and death.

10.And, last but not least, number ten, equally shared by these two „Oldies“

Speed Lane (a MinJoon racer!Au) and Solanacea

(a MinJoon fic which is summarized as „How a gang leader fell for a cute little stripper by accident“. It’s a full on GangAU that’s connected with „Colorblind“,another story in the same universe.)

They are both a little older but that’s exactly why they came to mind.

It was back when iI still put way too much thought into what to name the chapters for each fic, „Speed Line“ even had an extra part where I explained their meaning and all! Nowadays I’m lazy and just use numbers XD

Well, that was a lot! :D

Kudos if you read this all <3

I hope you found something that intigued you and you’ll enjoy what you chose (please tell me if you did <3)

Have fun reading!

C.

P.S. For this game I tag @dreamcatchersdaughter @jkeuphoriadreamland @lizardkingeliot @jeonsdear @today-we-will-survive

[firelxdykatara]

Touching Zuko’s Scar

It’s entirely possible that someone has written meta on this before, and possibly done it better/more eloquently than I’m about to. However, I have Things To Say and I’m going to say them, and hopefully my point comes across! This post is largely spurred on by a few posts I’ve seen in the tags lately which have... rather baffling takes on the whole ‘who touches Zuko’s scar and why’ situation, particularly in regards to feeling the need, for some reason, to diminish the scene in which Katara touches his scar and the importance of that moment for both of them.

From what I can tell, this was done in an attempt to prop up Maiko, which I suppose makes some amount of sense since that is a ship which can barely stand on its own without tremendous amounts of headcanoning to fill in the gaping holes left by the fact that the entirety of their relationship development happened off-screen (and the glimpse we do get into it in the ‘going home’ midquel comic leaves a lot to be desired in terms of why Zuko would even want to be with her, but that’s another discussion entirely). But it still doesn’t quite fit, because the scenes with Katara and with Song are so much more meaningful, both in terms of Zuko’s arc and the way the girls relate to him (and it also ties into Katara feeling so hurt by Zuko’s betrayal, and needing more than any of the others before she can forgive and accept him into the gaang).

Now, that out of the way, I do want to say up front that the intention here is not to be particularly anti Maiko, but to examine the situations in which Zuko’s scar is touched (or almost touched), and the similarities two of these scenes have which are not shared by the third (at which point, you’re obviously free to draw your own conclusions).

Also, please bear with me--I can’t take screenshots or anything, so I’ll reference scenes and the episodes they come from but there won’t be images.

Under a cut bc this got long

To start off, there are three moments in the entire series where a character touches, or tries to touch, Zuko’s scar with her hand. (I say ‘her’ because all three instances occur with girls near Zuko’s own age.) The first moment is in The Cave of Two Lovers, the second episode of book two--this is the moment where Song sees Zuko’s scar, recognizes it for the intentional burn from a firebender that it is, and reaches for it.

Song: Can I join you? I know what you’ve been through. We’ve all been through it. [looks at Zuko’s scar] The Fire Nation has hurt you. [she slowly reaches for his scar, but before she can touch it, Zuko grabs her wrist and stops her; she puts her hand back in her lap] It’s ok. They’ve hurt me too. [pulls up the leg of her pants to reveal the burn scars there]

The second moment comes at the end of book 2, in The Crossroads of Destiny, in a moment that is a deliberate parallel of Zuko’s connection with Song--but this time, he lets Katara touch him.

Katara: [she holds up a vial] This is water from the spirit oasis at the North Pole. It has special properties, so I’ve been saving it for something important. [moves closer to Zuko, standing in front of him] I don’t know if it would work, but... [Zuko closes his eyes, and Katara’s fingers touch his scar; the scene holds there as the music swells, before they’re interrupted]

Like Song did, Katara felt a connection to Zuko via a similar trauma he suffered. However, unlike Song, Katara knew who Zuko was--the banished prince of the Fire Nation, and someone who had been her enemy for most of the past several months. However, she still feels compassion and empathy for him, and it is for this reason that she takes his subsequent choice harder than anyone else in the gaang does (and why it takes more for him to earn her forgiveness).

Now, the third moment is... rather incongruous. There is neither compassion nor understanding involved in touching his scar, there is no real emotional connection, and it comes right on the heels of his girlfriend--someone we’re supposed to believe cares about him and his emotional wellbeing, since they’re in a relationship (which happened off-screen, but I digress)--shutting down his attempt to talk about his feelings, something that will present a conflict in their relationship later on.

Mai: [yawns] I just asked if you were cold, I didn’t ask for your whole life story. [she moves forward, smirking, and then chuckles, putting one arm around his neck and pulling his face towards her with her other hand] Stop worrying. [they kiss, and then Mai walks away, leaving Zuko to stare out at the horizon again; the wiki transcript says he looks relieved, but to me he looks resigned more than anything]

What’s interesting about this moment is, for one thing, it’s unclear if Mai is even supposed to be touching his scar at all. Giancarlo Volpe, the director for this episode, put the original storyboards for the scene up on his DeviantArt, and in them, it seems he was fairly careful to make sure Mai was not touching Zuko’s scar. This would make sense, considering that touching Zuko’s scar was presented as a very big deal--he specifically prevented a girl from touching his scar in the beginning of book 2, and at the end, he allowed another girl to touch him, showcasing vulnerability and trust in that moment. It is the culmination of one small part of his character arc, and that makes the moment that Katara touches his scar even more meaningful.

Of course, I can’t say definitively that it was an animation mistake or something that was deliberately changed during production (which, considering there is a moment later in the book where Bryke mandated a change, isn’t outside the realm of possibility), but it does present interesting implications.

However, even if you take the scene at face value and assume that Mai was intended to be touching his scar....it’s still presented in an entirely different framework than the previous two scenes, despite occurring almost immediately after Zuko’s moment with Katara in the caves (at least as far as episode count).

The different framework being, of course, the fact that it.... doesn’t mean anything at all.

In the first two scenes, Zuko’s scar and his pain--as well as the pain of the girls who are forging an empathic connection with him based on understanding each other’s trauma--is the focus. Touching, or attempting to touch, Zuko’s scar is the point--it is very deliberate, and there’s no way to argue against it because the writing is very explicit, and nothing else would make sense for those scenes. On the other hand, you could take out the moment where Mai touches Zuko’s scar and lose absolutely nothing--because the focus is not on Zuko, but rather on the fact that he was attempting to open up emotionally to his girlfriend (and note that this is the first indication we get in the show that they are together--take out the kiss completely and no one would even know they’re dating, let alone supposedly like one another even as friends), and was shut down with a sarcastic quip, ostensibly because Mai simply didn’t want to hear it. (This is in keeping with her later characterization, where she would much rather distract him and keep him from actually talking about any of his problems, but @araeph goes into the nature of Mai and Zuko’s emotional intimacy [or lack thereof] in much greater detail in this essay, so I won’t get too deep into it here.)

Mai touching Zuko’s scar doesn’t mean anything to the audience because it doesn’t mean anything to Zuko. He doesn’t react to or acknowledge it in any way, it’s as if he doesn’t even notice it happening (perhaps because it wasn’t supposed to? but again that’s speculation), and nothing in the scene would change if it didn’t. It simply doesn’t matter. On the other hand, Song nearly touching Zuko’s scar and then Katara actually touching his scar? They matter to him--and to the show, and therefore the audience--very much. Both moments are incredibly important to Zuko’s overall arc, because together, they show how far he had come in his own emotional journey over the course of the book.

Of course, it isn’t enough to keep him from choosing to side with Azula, because his journey was far from complete--but the fact that he was able to show such trust and vulnerability to a girl who had been his enemy not very long ago? That was huge. Because Zuko didn’t just let Katara touch his scar--he closed his eyes. She could have hurt him in that moment, but he trusted that she wouldn’t. He trusted that she was willing to use special water she’d been saving for something important--and he trusted that, in that moment, he was important to her.

It wasn’t just Zuko showing trust either, though--Katara showed trust in him. She trusted, after a few minutes of conversation and learning about the loss of his mother (and, specifically, the fact that the Fire Nation was responsible for the loss of his mother, just as it was responsible for the loss of hers), that he had changed--that he was different, and she could trust him. She was willing to use the spirit water she’d been carrying around for months on someone who had recently been so much an enemy that she fled from the tea shop, convinced that he’d somehow infiltrated the city and was planning something.

The fact that she trusted him in that moment is exactly why she took his next choice so hard, but it is also why their relationship cemented itself so solidly after The Southern Raiders, giving them quite possibly the strongest relationship in the gaang outside of Katara and Sokka.

Anyway, that was a lot of words for what essentially amounts to this: Song attempting to touch Zuko’s scar in the beginning of book 2 is explicitly paralleled by Katara being allowed to touch his scar at the end of it, and both moments occur during scenes where Zuko’s pain and trauma are acknowledged and validated, and where the person he’s speaking with feels a connection to him because of that shared trauma--because they understand what he has been through. It’s likewise important to note that while Song didn’t actually entirely understand, because she didn’t know who Zuko was or what being traumatized by the Fire Nation actually meant to him, Katara did--and she still was able to feel for him, connect to him, and want to help him.

By contrast, the moment with Mai occurs in a scene where Zuko’s pain and trauma are invalidated and dismissed, where his girlfriend attempts to distract him rather than help him through what is clearly a moment of great emotional turmoil. No, she shouldn’t have to be his therapist, but emotional support is vital in any relationship--especially when one party is traumatized and desperately needs support and love--and it is notably lacking from Maiko, starting from their very first romantic scene together.

Make of that what you will.

[flameohotfamily]

so yesterday one person called me the maiko authority, and recently some people referred to this blog as to the main maiko blog, and now i think that i might've sounded rude or offended, denying their words. so here is the thing: i'm not offended or want to be mean/rude/obnoxious towards you. the truth is... i'm just embarrassed and surprised, guys. i'm sorry if i responded harshly or didn't show it clear, offending you instead.

i mean, yes i'm running maiko blog, true. but i'm not some maiko sanctuary even though i wrote it in my bio (it's jokingly, okay?).

i love maiko, i adore maiko, i love to talk/ramble about them with you at 3 a.m., i love to write headcanons, i love when you send me prompts and asks, or want to know my opinion. i love when you write me messages about my fics. i love when you write me all of a sudden because some ideas hit you and you want to share it with me. i love when you reblog my stuff and write those long speeches in tags. i love when you reply under my posts or add something. i love when new people start to follow me or recommend my writing. i love it. i appreciate it. i enjoy it.

i'm just... surprised. i wasn't supposed to be the turtle who carries maiko fandom, i was just! writing! headcanons!! this blog even didn't start from headcanons. i made it because i wanted to have a corner where i would just reblog maiko arts/jokes. and now when someone looks up to me or call me a main/official blog, it's kind of weird and overwhelming. flattering, of course, but overwhelming.

if you assume that i'm the main here just because my blog is first in "top blogs", i suppose it's because i used tag #maiko ten times more than other people who write about more important stuff than the relationship between two non-existent cartoons. besides, it's really not a big deal or something great/something i'm proud about. maybe a few months ago i would've been proud, but now... it seems so so unimportant and stupid. i just had time and opportunity and inspiration, and i grateful that you supported me!! i'm not complaining, i met wonderful people here, i met my first audience and first readers here. it's so nice!! but there are a bunch of hundred times more talented and creative people in maiko and atla fandom in general, and they're making such a great stuff, and i want you to appreciate them and cherish them because they deserve it, not me.

of course, i will continue to run this mess, and of course i will be glad to see your asks/messages about maiko (and not only maiko) at any time!!! i'm not disappearing or denying my blog. i just... want to be like all of you, because frankly speaking i am!! i'm just like you!! and i'm really really really making nothing great (okay maybe someone smiled because of my headcanons, but hey, people smile when they see memes with cats!).

so, that's it. sorry for bringing it again, but it's just spilled out. thank you for the attention!!!

“i don't hate you” all ❤️️

[army-of-mai-lovers]

ATLA Fic Recs part 2!

part 1 (consider this link a re-rec of everything I recced in part 1, bc those fics are still amazing and at this point many of them that weren’t complete are finished now which is cool!) 

So I’m structuring this fic recs list a little differently than I did the first one. First one was just “fics I like” with no regard to how popular the fics were and a little bit of thought as to balancing gen fics with ship fics and trying to have a diversity of ships listed. This time, I am paying attention to how popular the fics are, and while I’m probably still going to rec popular fics/fic authors, I’m hoping to also expose people to some new authors with this list (as well as exposing people to work from their favorite authors that they may not have read)! Expanding your horizons is a really good thing, it’s how I’ve found basically every fic I love, and I hope y’all will love each of the fics I’m reccing as much as I do! In no particular order: 

1.  her beauty in the moonlight overthrew you by @aangsblush I said that I was going to rec this a couple days ago and here I am doing it because HOW ON EARTH IS THIS FIC AS BRILLIANT AS IT IS AND NOT LIGHTING THE FANDOM ON FIRE RIGHT NOW. I’ve genuinely never read a fic like this before. Never in my life. It’s a collection of vignettes, mostly dealing with Hakoda and Sokka’s various experiences of grief with Kya and Yue (and there’s a little bit of cute bakoda and sukka sprinkled in there as well). Like I said, the chapters were vignettes, some of them as short as two or three sentences, and yet somehow I was crying after every single chapter???? The author uses language so sparingly and so impactfully and I truly cannot get over how brilliant this is like bruh. who gave you the right. Who. Who. Tbh I could make a whole post about this fic (and I have!) but instead, I’m going to direct you to the fic, bc really, it speaks for itself. 

2. laughter lines by @bi-suki To be completely real, I tend not to read sad fics, or seek out sad media in general, but I read this fic and I’m so glad I did. It’s a modern au about Sokka and his family moving to Anchorage, separating him from his childhood best friend, Yue. Make sure you read the tags before you read this fic, please. It’s really sad. I started tearing up while writing out just that quick summary. Keep a box of tissues handy. I’ve read a lot of this author’s fics and they all have a habit of sticking in my head long after I’ve read them, but this one really packs a punch. Sokka’s grief and his friendship with Yue is written in such an intimate and beautiful way, and yes, I literally am crying right now thinking about it. I do think it’s hard to pull off writing yukka, especially in a modern au, while giving appropriate depth to both Sokka and Yue, but this fic really managed it so well. Even though this fic made me sad, I don’t regret reading it one bit.

3. call it fate by @bluberry-spicehead y’all are really converting me into a maiko shipper and honestly I’m so here for it. Mai’s one of my favorite characters in ATLA, and the care that the fic takes in portraying her perspective as well as her relationships with Zuko, Azula, and Ty Lee (despite the fact that Zuko isn’t even there when the fic takes place)--I mean, it’s honestly just incredible work. I’ve seen a lot of joke-y posts about “oh what if x happened with Aunt Wu instead of what happened in canon?” but never with Maiko and never quite the way this fic describes it. It’s really original and really carefully done, with all the complexity and nuance of their relationship infused into the details of the fic. And the way that Mai is written is both in character for her and expands on existing canon in a way that I really believe works for her. The writing is so immediate and really roots you in the world and in Mai’s head and I love it I love it I love it! 

4. i am your savior, your last serving daughter by @gays4korra *sokka voice* SUKI! Bruh. BRUH. The amount that I love both Suki and Kyoshi cannot be overstated, they’re both such fascinating and complex characters, and yet some people (*cough* the fandom *cough*) don’t want to see them in their full and complete brilliance. Enter this fic, which shows Suki and Kyoshi meeting, like someone saw my wildest dreams and was like “hey that’s a cool fic idea!” The TEARS I cried reading this fic (yes, I am aware that this is the fourth time I’ve mentioned crying over a fic in just this one post, these fic authors are incredibly talented and I have three planets in Cancer, fight me) Suki and Kyoshi, icons themselves, conversing across time???? iconic. simply iconic. And then the fact that Sokka orchestrated the whole thing because he wanted to make Suki happy? I love them, your honor. And Kyoshi being happy that Suki looks up to her because really Kyoshi’s a fluffy dork with self-esteem issues.... I’m crying again it’s so beautiful I’ve looked at it for five hours now. Gosh. read this fic. 

5. Balance My Heart in The Palm of Your Hands by @spookysukki ok while looking for this person’s tumblr I found out that this was their first work in the fandom and can I just say pal you POPPED OFF with this one fic and I hope that you write more because this was. This was awesome. Mailee is def in my top 5 (possibly top 2) ATLA ships but unfortunately I have a hard time finding content for it. Fortunately, every time I do find content for it it’s incredibly cute and this was absolutely no exception. It’s also the rare Mai & Sokka friendship fic which is not something I knew I needed in my life but is a concept that I am completely obsessed with having read this. Basically, Mai’s jealous of Sokka because Ty Lee keeps talking about Sokka being attractive, and shenanigans ensue. And you know me, I love shenanigans. This is also a Mai perspective fic which is awesome because as I said earlier, I love love LOVE Mai, and she’s so sweet and broody in this lsfjskdfjk I love her so much what an icon. 

5. earth system history by @pianjeong I have read this fic. So many times. I could honestly probably recite it from memory (jfdksjflsd ok that’s not true but at this rate I probably will be able to soon). It is an absolutely stunning fic. It’s like all my favorite parts of college condensed into one story (running around buildings you probably shouldn’t be in in the middle of the night with the person you have a crush on, coming out to your professor who is also gay, all iconic college moods). I’m simply obsessed with the way each character is written, and it’s so clear that the author knows what she’s talking about when it comes to geology, and that in general this fic was written with a lot of love for the characters of ATLA and also for rocks. It’s that love that keeps me coming back to this one. Cannot recommend it enough. 

6. the end is barely beginning by @katarahairloopies  gosh I don’t even know where to start with this one other than I cannot believe that it almost wasn’t posted and I’m so glad that it was because you truly can never have enough father/son moments between Hakoda and Sokka and I care them. I care them so much. Also can I just say Hakoda not remembering all of Sokka and Katara’s friends’ names and having to really think about it is such a dad mood. I can’t remember a single time in my life where my dad could remember all of my friends’ names (and there were points in my life where he would have only had to remember one name and yet. and yet.) I really love ATLA fics that are character studies because they tend to really retain the complexity of the characters as they’re depicted in the show (or make them more complex) and this one is no exception. There were so many lines of this that were just really poignant and beautiful. Again, cannot recommend it enough. 

[whattheheehaw]

Hi can I vent to you, feel free to ignore this if you want but Have you noticed how there are a lot of zkka shippers who are all for s0kka and/or zuk0 being bi until it comes to them being with women? Deadass I feel some people only make s0kka bi just so he can be with z0k0 but just...ignore his attraction to women. Not to mention the utter hypocrisy zkka shippers have with ztara ,It's the biphobia and misogyny for me

Yeah, I’ve definitely noticed the biphobia and the misogyny in the newer Zukka shippers. 

A lot of people don’t know this, but when I was new to the A:TLA fandom, I used to spend some time lurking in the Zukka tag, liking posts here and there. I thought the ship was cute (still do) and I liked the content that was in the tag. I loved seeing bi Zuko and bi Sokka headcanons and I loved the fact that Zukka shippers called them bicons. However, some of the same people that claimed Zukka was “bi rights” didn’t share that same energy when Zuko and/or Sokka were paired with women. I started to see more takes that claimed Maiko and Sukka were both results of compulsory heterosexuality, and not a reflection of the boys’ bisexuality. 

Why can’t Zuko and Sokka love and date women? If they’re bi, that means that they’re attracted to both men and women. Using comphet as a reason why a certain ship doesn’t work out, especially when you headcanon the character(s) in that ship to be bi, just reeks of biphobia. Sokka and Zuko were both shown to initiate and enjoy kissing and hugging their girlfriends. They were even implied to have sex with their girlfriends. So why, for the love of God, is this part of their lives described as “compulsory heterosexuality”? I would say that if you’re just going to label Zuko’s and Sokka’s het relationships as “comphet”, just go ahead and headcanon them as gay, however, that would also completely disregard their romantic feelings for their girlfriends in those het relationships. Either way, the treatment of het relationships by the Zukka fandom makes me uncomfortable.

This was the first major red flag I ever received from the Zukka fandom and their perception of bisexuals in heterosexual relationships. And I feel like this mentality is also a reflection of what many people believe about bisexuals as well.

The next red flag I got from the Zukka fandom was a post which contained a “Zuko would fight anyone that called him straight or bi” headcanon. Like, no? Just, please God no. That headcanon itself is biphobia wrapped up in a pretty little bow, and the fact that that post got so many reblogs and likes left a very bad taste in my mouth. Zuko would never attack someone for getting his sexuality wrong? And I don’t even understand why being mistaken as bi or straight is necessarily a bad thing? I mean, if someone made an honest mistake and got my sexuality wrong, I would just politely correct them about it. And I honestly don’t think that sexuality is a huge part of either Zuko’s or Sokka’s personalities if I’m being honest, so I don’t understand why either of them would get offended to the point of attacking someone over it. 

Also, it’s quite concerning that a decent portion of the Zukka fandom consists of members of the LGBTQ+ community and come up with these biphobic headcanons, but that’s a discussion for another time.

Another thing that I observed about the Zukka fandom was their complete disrespect towards the female characters in A:TLA, namely Katara. A notable member of the Zukka fandom came up with the headcanon that “Katara is homophobic” as a “joke”. And I just don’t think that’s funny. That’s like if I shipped Katara and Azula and called either Zuko or Sokka homophobic. Nobody would be laughing, and I would get canceled. 

Katara is one of the most supporting and accepting characters in the show. Sure, she was hostile at first to Zuko but that was only because his betrayal of her trust created a personal grudge between them. And even though some people use the “Katara is a homophobe” headcanon as a joke, it doesn’t help anyone. Society should progress past the point of viewing homophobia as funny if it truly wants to become anti homophobic and more accepting and supportive of the LGBTQ+ community. 

Also, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that a portion of the Zukka fandom has this headcanon so that Katara won’t be able to interfere in Zuko and Sokka’s relationship. Since Zutara was—is—the most popular Zuko ship for over 10 years, I guess some Zukka shippers felt like they needed to make up some reason for why Zutara wouldn’t work out, or even be close as friends.

In addition, I think that when the Zukka fandom gets criticized and called out on this misogynistic behavior, they like to cling to Suki and call her their favorite character and an icon, etc. to prove that they don’t hate women. Some Zukka shippers even started adding Suki to their ship, creating Zukki. However, since Zukki is usually a by-product of Zukka, this ship almost always ends up being Zukka and Suki instead of Zuko, Sokka, and Suki in an equal and balanced relationship. And while there isn’t anything wrong with stanning Suki and calling her your fave (I mean, who wouldn’t?) I do find it a strange choice considering that she doesn’t have much characterization within the show. Perhaps it’s because people can take Suki’s character and mold it into whatever they want? I don’t know.

But anyways, this ask is getting long and if you want to read more of my thoughts about misogyny in the Zukka fandom (i.e. the homophobic!Katara headcanon and the swapping of Sokka for Katara in some Zukka content), you can read this post here.

[owlf45]

First Line Game

Rules: List the first lines of your last 20 stories (if you have less than 20, just list them all!). See if there are any patterns. Choose your favorite opening line. Then tag 10 of your favorite authors!

Uh uh uh tagging anyone!!! Go u

Yes I just noticed this even tho you tagged me 27 days ago,, sue me 

here’s for stories I havent posted yet bc i think thats more interesting: 

1. The poor boy was pressed up against the muddy wall. His limbs were contorted strangely of his own volition, attempting to make himself seem smaller than he was as he curled away from her. His two wandering, glazed eyes barely peeked out between the folds of his arms, plagued with fierce terror and uncertainty. — quaternary structure

2. Wind, coarse, harsh and cold, whips at his clothes and hair and bites fiercely at his exposed face. It howls and whistles in his ears, pulling and yanking him aimlessly across the barren terrain. His eyes burn and ache from dryness as towering, sweeping clouds of dust and snow circle and billow around him like giant spirits swept away in a storm. Glaring flashes of lightning illuminate the outlines of the swirling haze, accompanied by hollow booms that tremble the sky. — pineal body*

3. Breaking his leg was the final straw. — idk royal duo holders au title here 

4. Maiko was twenty-three when the time finally came. — parallels

5. The first thing that appears on Chousen’s skin from his soulmate is a small ‘dumbass’ written in neat, slanted letters. — Smudges

6. Uraraka’s parents are chronic liars. — Uncanney Valley*

here’s for stories i already posted:

7. Second will never be what First wants, but he tries his best. — Meticulously 

8. Remember, Izuku, that the crown weighs heavy on a head full of stolen ideals. — Crown of Ink

9. Ren Akamine absentmindedly placed a water bottle on the girl’s desk. Hers was beside his own, but despite the close proximity as classmates, they hadn’t spoken a word to one another the entire year. — Vitamin Window

10. “I’d like one scoop of mint chocolate chip in a bowl, please.” — ripen the plucked days 

11. Izuku is sitting ram-rod straight in the courtroom as he listens to the prosecutor, who paces back and forth in the courtroom. His words are powerful and cutting. It booms. It echoes. It rings and follows back to Izuku. Standing next to Izuku is the translator, who quietly repeats everything the prosecutor says. — Frame of Reference 

12. It wasn’t meant to happen. — Insecurities of the Body 

13. “Does it ever get annoying?” — Rose Quartz

14. Seiya hated speaking Spanish. Maiko and he weren’t always on the best of terms, and as he stood there, hands on his hips, in the middle of who-fucking-knows-where in Brazil, he was starting to feel the edge of his distaste for her more and more. — Two Daisies

15. Izuku only had to wait for five more minutes. — Dandelion

16. He’s hiding in the dark, cramped space, folded into himself and silent. — Instincts of a Hollow Chest* 

17. “You? You’re the famous villain everyone’s talking about recently? A little twig like you?” — Safe Space 

18. Izuku does not have friends, but the man who sits on the bench with him every day is nice. — Imaginary 

19. He was found by a man with dark hair and yellow eyes. — Indefinite

20. Perhaps it was the predisposition of Nedzu’s character to seek out what shouldn’t have been his affairs, but he was undeniably interested in harboring a discussion with the peculiar man. — lol no this is on my second account good luck finding it <3 

pineal body, instincts of a hollow chest, and I think uncanny valley are my favorites (i couldnt pick one oops). they each represent the core of the main three styles i usually attempt in my openings. 

I tend to go with pretty snappy and short first lines that get straight to the point. I don’t really like opening with narration or rambles or character introspection—you’ve just met the characters, and often I don’t care about their situation enough to sympathize that well. After reading so many fics that start off with the ‘the world is cruel’ monologue i try to stay away from it. Starting off with a simple event or object or trait that someone can clearly visualize and relate to is something I prefer to jump off of. 

I’m the belief that if the crux of the beginning of somone’s fic is 1) the beginning narration of canon (like the ‘world is not equal’ dialogue from BNHA) or 2) relies too much on the character explaining their suffering, that’s what the rest of the story will stick to—canon and melodramatic telling instead of showing. its a fifty fifty chance (on a good day) whether or not im proven wrong, but there are so many ways to start off a story and its always exciting to get a strong beginning. 

[krastbannert]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Edit because I'm a dumbass and forgot: tagged by @myargalargan thank you friend😂😅

How many works do you have on AO3?

42. (28 of them are ATLA; my next biggest fandom is Destiny with 7).

What's your total AO3 word count?

92,992. I don't write very fast. Or long fics for the most part. And I struggle with multichapters. So. Yeah. (It'll probably be going up by about 5,000-6,000 in the next week or so, though).

How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

I have written for a total of 11 fandoms: Avatar: The Last Airbender, Avatar: The Legend of Korra, The Dragon Prince, Halo, Skyrim, Dragon Age, Star Wars, Destiny, Tron, Horizon: Zero Dawn, and Mass Effect. None of my Skyrim or Halo works are on AO3, though.

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

to that loyal heart you're forever sixteen (Chit Sang & Zuko, 805 kudos)

Twin Flames (Azula & Izumi, 501 kudos)

those stories written in your skin (Zuko and his tattoos, 311 kudos)

Lonely (Azula & Zuko, 193 kudos)

Drifting Up the Cliffs with the Rising Stars (Maiko, 156 kudos)

I'm...not entirely sure how to feel about this, honestly. Four of these fics are not my best writing; 'those stories', especially, is...probably one of my weaker ATLA fics. 'Drifting' isn't bad, but it's not as good as my other Maiko fics. 'Twin Flames' though I'm really proud of; it's my first ATLA fic, and one of my personal favorite, so I'm happy to see it up there. And even if it isn't so well written, I love the idea in 'to that loyal heart'. So, overall, I think I like it? But I question the choices because I know I've done much better.

Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

Every single one. I like talking to people, what can I say?

What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?

'Hey, Pretty Boy' had a pretty sad ending - it's a Modern AU retelling of the story of Yue and Sokka, so. Yeah. 'The Abyss' (about PTSD at the end of a major battle in Destiny's backstory) and 'the sun shall set for you' (a Taangst week fic about suicide) are also definitely up there.

What's the fic you've written with the happiest ending?

I've actually got a lot of happy ending fics. If I had to pick one with the happiest...probably 'Waiting to be Seen', a post-war Smellershot fic. It's just good and honest fluff, and it gives Smellerbee and Longshot the happiness they so much deserve after having their childhoods ripped away.

Do you write crossovers? If so, what is the craziest one you've written?

Never written a crossover, never really felt the desire.

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

I got told I should kill myself because of a fic I published on FFN, back when I still had one of those. But I think that's the only one, surprisingly, even though I've written about a fair number of controversial topics.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Never.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

No, but I'd die probably die and need Jesus to resurrect me so I could thank the translator because that would be amazing. I would be beyond overjoyed if someone were to make a translation or a podfic or what have you.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Nope.

What's your all-time favorite ship?

Smellershot or Janaya, probably.

What's a WIP that you want to finish but don't think you ever will?

...this is a list that is ever growing, and is very, very long, already - too long for me to really list here.

What are your writing strengths?

I think probably character's internal thoughts and emotions. As well as angsty sucker-punches. Apparently I'm pretty good at those.

What are your writing weaknesses?

Plot. Every single time. Keeping a consistent plot. I'm a bit rusty on action scenes, nowadays, too; used to be alright, not so much anymore. Also, I feel like I'm not that good at keeping consistent characterizations across multiple chapters, for some reason. Like I just want to rush character development, even though I shouldn't.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

As long as it's accurate, then...yeah, go for it. I do it every now and again, but usually just a couple words at a time because I just don't know the languages.

What was the first fandom you wrote for?

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. That fic is dead and burnt, the ashes scattered and hopefully overwritten on the hard drive of the computer I used (which I'm not sure if it exists anymore, actually).

What's your favorite fic you've written?

It's either Brave Soldier Girl or Burn on the Pyre. Both are pretty ambitious fics, and I think that they both have some of my best writing about some of my favorite characters.

Tagging:

Anyone who wants to because I really need to go to bed right now, so anyone on my list of usual suspects can consider themselves tagged, as can anyone else who wants to answer the questions!

[muffinlance]

Do u like any atla ships in particular? like zukka?

I greatly prefer Gen and friendship over ships, especially with the ages of the characters--there is no reason for these Actual Babies™ to be getting into lifelong commitments, that isn't how romance works.

But one quickly runs out of Gen options, so I read all ships equally searching for plot gems. And I do mean all ships, they are all equally (un)appealing to my ace brain and therefore I skim over The Sex and look for plot potential.

Gonna just talk about Zuko ships 'cause y'all know where my heart is. My ship impressions, in order of increasing rarity:

Zutara -- a solid default ship. Pairs with any plotline. Wide range of writers. Come for the initial enemies-to-lovers drama, stay for the complementary and mutually supportive relationship. Can get troublesome in some of the written-before-Zuko's-personality-became-clear fics, and/or some capture fics. Special mention to Enslaved for being a Zuko gets captured fic, and a ridiculously good exploration of a realistic Water Tribe culture to boot.

Zukka -- smaller selection, double the fluff, and with an abundance of Ba Sing Se teashop AUs. That is not a complaint, that is my happy place. Stories tend to have greater baseline humor, and get more quickly to the Awkward Turtleduck center of their Zuko-pop. This is the Good Feels ship.

Jetko -- WHO LIKES DRAMA BOYS. (...I like drama boys.) Almost always Ba Sing Se fics, for obvious reasons. I like that writers generally treat this as exactly as unhealthy as it is, and usually then focus on growing both boys to better mindsets. This is the only ship where the writers might have one or the other of the boys Dump His Ass by the end, which actually makes it one of the most age-realistic relationships.

Maiko -- Is generally set post-season-three, which is a class of fics I generally don't read due to personal preferences (I really like mid-show drama, I make no apologies). AKA I have so little impression of this ship I almost forgot to include it. Don't hate it, but don't seek it out.

Toko -- I associate this ship largely with unfinished dead fics and the need to make it about romance rather than friendship at the last minute. Embers turning into Toko in, like, the last chapter was my first intro to the ship, and the trend of "let's have them be awesome buddies for many chapters (but they're totally gonna Do It when they're older) seems to persist across many fics. I continue to be unimpressed by people assuming romance adds more to a story than a solid friendship, but that's more a societal complaint than the fault of this ship.

Aang/Zuko, whatever the ship name is -- Generally integrates the relationship more than Toko, at least, but is mostly just a plotless smut tag, so I mostly just avoid.

Suki/Zuko -- these have real potential, such great personalities, but I don't see many finished works with it.

Yue/Zuko -- it breaks my heart that these are almost all dead fics 'cause they are rare but some are really good.

Jeeko -- given the character ages I keep not wanting to like these, but the writing community is small and ridiculously talented. Much higher average quality than other ships. Looking at you Nele and Dracze. Even the quickie fics have some manner of plot and touching character insights layered in. Did I set out to find a Drunken Wizard Jee Accidentally Summons Incubus Fire Demon Zuko Instead of More Liquor AU? No. Do I wish it was a full fic rather than a one shot? Yes.

Zucest -- Is usually just solid smut, as the ship name itself makes no illusions of, aka at best a skim read for plot from me. Lower average writing quality than other ships, again probably due to the small amount of writers.

Hakoda/Zuko -- Dammit Dracze.

[shrinkthisviolet]

Author Interview Tag!

Tagged by @maipreciation, thanks for thinking of me! This looks really fun :D

(Note: I’m keeping this as a running list, so if you’re ever wondering what fics im working on/brainstorming, make sure to check here! Last update was on 12/12/2020)

Name: Lavi! As of 12/5, I’m no longer going by my real name (see this post)

Fandoms: so many 😂 check my bio, I think I have them all listed. I’ve posted fic for Hamilton and ATLA, and then there was a huge Inktober compilation I posted last year with a whole host of fandoms. Currently, my major fandom is ATLA, and probably Kipo as I’m starting to move through S1

Where you post: I have an AO3 (lavi0123)! I used to have an FFN and a Wattpad, but I don’t use either of those anymore :/ tbh, I’m embarrassed of anything I still have up there 😂

Most popular one-shot: Most definitely we’ll give the world to you (and you’ll blow us all away), one of my contributions to Maiko Week! I’m not surprised it’s an ATLA fic, but I find it interesting that a fic with Izumi in it blew up so quickly. But hey, if y’all want more Izumi content, you won’t be disappointed 😉

Most popular multi-chapter fic: ...I’m really embarrassed to say because I don’t think I’ll ever finish it...but En Hamilton Heights is the only multichap fic I’ve published so it’s gotta be that one 😂 hopefully soon I’ll have another fic to add to that, since I’m working on one (sorry EHH fans but it’s been too long and tbh I don’t remember where I was going with it :/ I’m thinking I might orphan it)

Favorite story you’ve written so far: you think this world is a dream come true (but you’re wrong) for sure! It’s super niche but it’s something I wrote out of love for a movie I discovered this Halloween and absolutely love. Though all you’ve got to do is want something (and then let yourself have it) is a close second. Basically, anything I write that sounds absolutely bonkers as a concept is one that I love 😂 (and it’s no coincidence that both fics are Mai-centric! I love all my Mai-centric fics nearly equally)

Fic you were nervous to post: Is there an “all of the above” option? 😂 I’m always nervous to post. But in particular, I was nervous for if you ran away (come back home), because it was Mai-centric and longer than any one-shot I’d written thus far, and also you think this world is a dream come true (but you’re wrong), because it’s Mai-centric and a Coraline AU, which makes it BONKERS as an idea

Why was I nervous to post Mai-centric fics, you ask? Two reasons: 1) Mai is very different from who I am as a person (I vibe a lot more with Aang and Ty Lee, sometimes Katara and Sokka), so I didn’t want to upset the Mai stans by writing her incorrectly. 2) Mai is generally not well-liked in the fandom at large, so I especially didn’t want to attract antis who would accuse me of writing Mai as too emotional and loving (which is why I tried to justify that in my tags). Luckily, my comments have all been lovely, and I’m far less afraid to post fics about her now that I’ve written three fics with her as the focus! And the shoutout from @nonbinary-crafter-aang praising my portrayal of her?? I was touched 🥺 still am

How you choose your titles: Song lyrics or movie/book lines that speak to me, occasionally a pun. Remember that post I rb’d about how authors title their works? My tags pretty much say it all 😂

Do you outline: Ehh...define outlining 😂 for my one-shots, nope. But for my upcoming multichap works (see below) and Nanowrimo work (original fiction, so I won’t talk about it on here, but send an ask if you’re curious), YES ABSOLUTELY!

For my Nanowrimo work and one of my upcoming AUs (a Soulmate AU), the worldbuilding is so complex that it’s an absolute necessity. For the other upcoming AU (a time travel AU), there are just too many things that need to happen at certain times so as not to interfere with canon events, and things I want to change from canon and things I want to keep...I think you get the idea 😂

Complete: Basically my entire maiko halloweek series! Check it out if you want some fics about the most underrated canon ATLA couple :)

In-progress: ...En Hamilton Heights again...but not for long, sadly. Still trying to decide between a quick conclusion and just flat-out orphaning it. Still haven’t made up my mind, but either way, it won’t be what I originally planned, unfortunately.

I’m also counting my ATLA Soulmate AU on the basis of forever in my mind (only you), which has the worldbuilding and fits into the AU without much problem (the AU is going to be a series of one-shots, not a multichap fic, because there won’t be enough deviations from canon imo to justify multiple chapters. And one-shots are just less pressure for me 😂)

[EDIT 12/12/2020: added another fic because I’m an idiot and forgot about this too 🤦‍♀️😂 it’s a year-old idea that I started writing but I’m picking it back up thanks to the Heist banter in MatPat’s St Jude stream!]

-A fic series combining Escape the Night and Who Killed Markiplier (Heist and Date are part of it too, but only tangentially at the moment. Depends on how involved I want DA Y/N to be). Tentatively titled A Heavy Cost, and definitely won’t happen in any of Mark’s projects, but in a way that’s actually for the best 😂 the canonicity for me stops at ETN S3 (with some S4), then it’s canon divergence

Coming soon/not yet started: OOOH YESSS HERE WE GO

Okay okay sooo we’ve got two main things:

–An ATLA Soulmate AU, featuring platonic and romantic soulmates! I know I called it in-progress, and I stand by that even though I haven’t actually set up the series on AO3 yet, but this AU is about to be SO MUCH MORE than just a few Maiko moments. Because...drum roll...it’s gonna be entirely Aang-centric (with maybe one or two exceptions)! Like Mai, Aang is a character that doesn’t get as many -centric fics as he should (and being an Aang stan also isn’t unanimous for some reason??), so I’m gonna fix that. Plus I want to dive further into his mind, and I think I’m more equipped to do that than I was with Mai, since Aang and I are very similar in attitude.

–Bumizumi time travel AU, which can be read as platonic until the last couple chapters (it’ll be multichap) but definitely has a romantic agenda throughout. So just. Be warned if you don’t ship them. It’s gonna be chock full of comedy and antics! Also A LOT of platonic affection between Izumi and teen Zuko (and just between Izumi, Bumi, and the Gaang in general), because platonic affection is underrated and also I can :D I’m also probably gonna make fun of how some elements of affection have become solely romantic territory, because...um, no, hugging and holding hands and cuddling can be done between friends, thanks! (Maybe it’s the ace in me talking. But regardless)

There are also vague concepts I’m spitballing, like:

-Zukaang telepathy AU (Platonic Zukaang, the only romance I’ll ever write in ATLA is for the canon ships, prompted by a dream because apparently ATLA lives in my head rent-free forever now 😂)

-Evil Zuko AU (Azula doesn’t exist, mostly prompted after watching Aang make fun of Zhao and realizing that if Zuko had been in any position of power during the War...the Gaang would have stood no chance at all)

-Bumizumi Arranged Marriage AU (Bumi and Izumi both think the other is hotheaded/reckless (Izumi @ Bumi) or uptight (Bumi @ Izumi). So Kataang and Maiko (along with Sukka, Ty Lee, and Toph because...duh) set them up in an arranged marriage, with the presented reasoning being that they already know each other’s families, it’ll be a great symbol of unity, and this way Izumi doesn’t have to worry about suitors. They both agree to it (it’s arranged, not forced), and over time, they warm up to each other...and maybe even...fall in love?? Prompted because we need more arranged marriage fics! On that note, I’m gonna plug shadows and steel by @dearestpartnerofgreatness because arranged marriage needs more rep and this fic does it and with Maiko to boot!)

-Zukaang as Brothers AU (I saw a fic about this, but it wasn’t complete. If it’s not done by the time I get to this concept, I’m gonna write it, because just...imagine the possibilities! Zuko and Aang are already basically brothers in canon anyway, this is just making them brothers in blood as well as in their hearts. This is especially vague because I have no concept of how this is gonna work 🤷‍♀️ I’ll get to it eventually)

(Can you tell I’m obsessed with Zuko and Aang’s friendship? Because I am!)

[EDIT 11/25/2020: I’m adding two more because I forgot these have been swirling around in my head too 😂]

-A fix-it fic based on May You Always Be Satisfied, a backstory fic for Who Killed Markiplier by @blackaquokat! I recently reread it and remembered that I was gonna write a fix-it for that fic. Not because the fic sucks, it’s actually amazing! I’m just a sucker for the main (requited unrequited) pairing, and there’s at least five ways to make that pairing canon and avoid the mess of Who Killed Markiplier. And THEY ALL DESERVE TO BE HAPPY OKAY

-A Finnrey fix-it for the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy (this one is especially vague, and I probably won’t write it since a bunch of these already exist, but it’s fun to think about. Maybe if I ever run out of WIPs 🤷‍♀️)

Upcoming story that you’re most excited to write: I’m equally excited for the Soulmate AU and the Bumizumi Time Travel AU! I’m also excited for my Nanowrimo work to be finished, but that’s more so in-progress than upcoming

Tagging:

@nonbinary-crafter-aang @dearestpartnerofgreatness @ohsalamanders @blackaquokat (no pressure ofc, only if you want to! But please tag me if you do, I’d love to see it!)

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

Saw a zutara tagged post that went kinda like this:

“If you canon pairing feels threatened near some friendship relationship, than maybe you canon pairing is so shallow and this friendship is just so strong and romantic”.

I don’t need to specify that “canon pairing” here is kataang and “strong romantic friendship” is zutara, do I?

Meanwhile: every zutara fan plot that does not make Aang and Mai absolute monsters, have them either absent or dead. Because, I guess, zutara is such a strong pairing it has no problems with Katara and Aang’s or Zuko and Mai’s friendship… Zutarians, take your own medicine.

And again, they say that, yet I, who spent too much time watching people react to the show, can confirm that most people new fans are not only not into Zutara, lots of them are VERY confused as to why it's so popular and why so many fans INSIST there was ever a Aang/Katara/Zuko love triangle.

Zutara really is "a threat to the canon ships" solely on their large echo-chamber, and nowhere else - and I'm including the minds of sane zutara shippers when I say "nowhere else" because even though they like the ship, they don't lie to themselves about it being this universally loved thing that somehow snuck it's way into the show against the writers' wishes.

Also, this notion that fanon ships are only good if they "threaten" the canon ones is very weird and a result of Zutarians being desperate to keep the fandom ship wars alive even as nearly everyone else got sick of it well over a decade again. More than one potential pairing can be good at once - yes, even the rarepairs that only has five fans. People are allowed to like Zutara AND Kataang/Maiko - hell, people are allowed to want Zuko, Mai, Katara and Aang to all be in love which each other. Fandom folks need to stop being cowards and embrace multi-shipping already, dammit.

To quote a wise brazilian proverb "Se organizar direitinho, todo mundo transa" (If we set this up correctly, everyone gets laid)

Once again, if these people would just chill and enjoy their ship without trying to force it down everyone's throats, them and their pairing would not be so infamous and this blog would not exist, yet they just can't resist shooting themselves in the foot over and over again.

[dearestpartnerofgreatness]

Author Interview Tag!

@shrinkthisviolet, thanks for tagging me! :) 

Name: I don’t want to post my real name but you can call me A, lol. 

Fandoms: Most often involved in the ATLA & Tangled fandom, although I’ve written for Hunger Games, Victorious, Wynonna Earp, and The Fosters in the past. Would be open to writing Miraculous Ladybug, Jane Austen novels, Anne of Green Gables/Anne with an E and for various Asian dramas in the future.

Where you post: I’m @eleonorastay on ao3! 

Most popular one-shot: nedovtipa, the aftermath of the Bade breakup/an explanation for Beck’s character change in seasons 3 & 4 of Victorious

Most popular multi-chapter fic: shadows & steel, my Maiko Arranged Marriage AU fic. Still wild to me that so many people are liking it!

Favorite story you’ve written so far: Either shadows & steel, or Blossoming Jealousy, my Tangled fic about Rapunzel working through the change in dynamic between her and Eugene when Lance is added to the mix. 

Fic you were nervous to post: A Little Drunk, which is a Galeanna fic I wrote when I was younger (before I had an ao3 account). My first and only M-rated fic, which...I’m not really an M-rated type of writer, lol. I often worry about it romanticizing a toxic relationship or being inappropriate for the fandom/characters it’s for. I have some ideas for continuing it but it still makes me nervous.

How you choose your titles: Song lyrics/titles, or words that sound poetic to me. 

Do you outline: For chapter fics, YES. For shadows & steel, I have story notes on my phone + my laptop, and post-its next to my bed filled with dialogue snippets, as well as two timelines: one to keep track of how the overall story follows the same timeline as the episodes in the series, and one specifically for Mai’s journey. 

Complete: Other than the aforementioned Bade and Tangled fics:

Wake Me Up - The evolution of Dolls waking up Wynonna. (Wynonna Earp) 

Make You Miss Me and Take It Out On Me, two Wyatt/Callie-themed fics (The Fosters)

In-progress: 

shadows & steel -- I PROMISE THE LAST TWO CHAPTERS WILL BE UP SOON. I live in America so the pandemic is raging plus I work two (and a half) jobs + am moving in two weeks, so a lot is going on rn. 

a fanfic for Switched, a Japanese drama on Netflix that has zero content even though it’s so good

a Tangled Season 2 AU where Eugene is held captive (I randomly wrote the last chapter but nothing else??? Like a fool????)

Coming soon/not yet started: 

bruise belies the break, a Suki-centric chapter fic set 1 year after the war about Suki working through her trauma. Will feature Sukka, a LOT of Suki/Team Avatar friendship, a Kyoshi-themed festival, cute Maiko and Kataang moments, discussions of Ty Lee and Mai’s complicity, Sokka trying to figure out his place in the world, and probably a million tagged/cited references to y’all here on Tumblr who have taught me or inspired me! (Probably rated T for trauma-related themes fyi)

currently untitled Kataang chapter fic (!!!) set 8 years after the war. A trip to the Northern Water Tribe brings up a series of questions, concerns, compromises, and conflicts for Aang and Katara about what the future of their relationship holds, especially what building an inter-nation family would mean for them. Will feature Sukka and Maiko living their best married lives, Toph living her best unmarried life, explorations of Air Nation and Water Nation culture, and some fun surprises. (Probably rated T--yes the characters are older and most of them are married but will be 100% sfw because that is how we roll)

Upcoming story that you’re most excited to write: 

Probably bruise belies the break--I LOVE Suki and I am so excited to start delving into her storyline!  

Tagging: @savethelastdan

[drowning-in-cacophony]

Which of your fics…

I was tagged by @thinkingisadangerouspastime! Thank you!! <3

Did you think would get a bigger reaction/audience than it got: definitely grief (which uh, unrelated: I really hate that title, but I couldn’t think of anything else). It’s got Sokka and Zuko bonding and being bros and I was certain it’d be a bigger hit considering a) people love those two interacting and b) I tried to focus more on Sokka’s grief. But, ah well. 

Is your funniest: mmmm... I don’t think I particulary write ‘funny’ fics? One of my wips will be funny, I hope, but currently... idk, I think graphite and tea has some funny moments? The scowling and grouching Zuko does makes me laugh (fondly) on re-reads at least.

Is your darkest/angstiest: I’d say home (overthrown). This fic came out mostly as a stream of consciousness- I really just let myself go with the flow, and that usually results in me producing angst. 

Is your absolute favourite: Can I say it’s a three way tie between my maiko fics? :) But no, honestly, it’s probably give it oxygen. There’s some things I’d change if I wrote it now (the writing could be edited in places to make it a little smoother, and I think I understand Zuko better now too) but it was my first atla fic and it’ll always hold that special place in my heart. Plus, it was my first fic to ever break into triple digits for kudos!

But my maiko fics really are some of my favourite pieces of writing I’ve done. I poured a lot into all three of them (especially summer blooms) so they’ll always be up there for me too. And the reception I got on them! I was not expecting the lovely, amazing fandom response I got for all these at all. So yes - they’ve got a special place too.

Is your least favourite: Anything I wrote back in 2013-2016, most of which no longer exist on the internet. Because they were just bad. (But they did help me become the writer I am today, so... silver linings?)

I pretty much like everything on my A03 account (although my atla fics are just a lot better than the other fics I have up on it, since the others were mostly venting fics? I’ve tried a lot harder with my atla fics).

Was the easiest to write: graphite and tea definitely. I got the idea, wrote and edited it all in one day, and after only one false start, it really flowed. Mai’s voice just felt so easy for me in that fic and it’s probably the one I had the most fun writing too. Grumpy-but-sweet-on-Mai is just my favourite Zuko-behaviour to write!

Was the hardest to write: summer blooms. I spent days on this fic. Writing and re-writing. It’s one of the most emotional pieces I’ve ever written, and the longest for a while too. I wanted the emotional scenes to really hit the reader, while not overstating things either. The pacing was at times difficult too - I wanted to properly convey both the main events - their childhood and their reunion - but without making it a drag too. The fact that it was entirely Mai’s POV tripped me up at parts, since I needed to imply what what happening in Zuko’s life without just stating it (since she’s a kid in the first half) while also giving her character the spotlight she deserves. Connecting all the main/important scenes too was a bit of challenge. And writing kids too. But, in the end, it turned out just as I’d wanted! (and the fandom response to this fic - just wow!)

Has your favorite line/exchange/paragraph (share it): This line from give it oxygen has stayed with me. It was actually a last minute addition, but I’m so pleased I thought of it because I just really liked it.

This tea set is more than a little below them. One plain colour – no pattern, nothing fancy – and the material is rough in places, like it’s not been polished correctly. There are minute cracks along the top of the cups. When Zuko had pointed them out, Uncle has only brightened. Cracks make character, Zuko, and a lingering look Zuko hadn’t bothered to interpret. 

Have you re-read the most: graphite and tea or give it oxygen, though I think the former edges out by one or two re-reads? graphite and tea was entirely indulgent and written basically just for me - I wanted to see an artist!mai fic, so I wrote it. It makes sense that I’d re-read it the most, considering it was the very content I wanted to read.

Would you recommend to someone reading your work for the first time: mmmm... this one’s a little thought-provoking. But I think I’ll have to go for graphite and tea. It’s fairly light and a really fun read (and the maiko interactions are just plain adorable - plus, I really like how I wrote Mai in this fic).

Are you most proud of: This one’s a no-brainer. summer blooms , because just- yeah. I was so nervous about writing it, mostly because of the emotional content. I wanted that to seem real, and honestly, that sort of emotional content? I hadn’t written anything that intense for a while. It was also the first real maiko fic I wrote (even if it was posted last) so it was really my first time getting to know these characters and their interactions with each other. So it’s got a really special place in my heart (and yet again, the fandom response was just so amazing! <3)

Tagging: ...I’m realising I don’t know many people on here who write fics? (who haven’t already been tagged, I mean). I might be pulling a blank here, but I can only think of one person? So, and with no pressure to do this of course: @justoceanmyth and anyone else who wants to do this? (maybe then I can find more people who write since apparently my small circle is overlapping).

[thinkingisadangerouspastime]

author interview tag

i was tagged by @ambivalentmarvel!! thank you so much!! all the love to you my friend 💕

name: amy // thinkingisadangerouspastime // faerialchemist on ao3

fandoms: in terms of what i’ve written about… well, in chronological order, it was teen titans, a dash of winx club, fairy tail, a dash of ohshc, fma/fmab, mcu, ml, good omens, tdp, she-ra, a dash of fruits basket, pjo, and finally atla. im most active with atla and tdp right now, though fma/fmab will always be my favorite and i sporadically jump in and out of the mcu lmao.

where you post: ao3, ffn, wattpad, and quotev lol. idk why quotev too tbh but i started writing fic in middle school (which is why you should not. Never Ever. go to my ffn lmao) so i guess i just wanted to cover my bases?

most popular one-shot: on ao3, Inevitable (Avengers Endgame fix-it) has the most hits but There’s a Fine, Fine Line (Flash Thompson character introspection) has the most kudos.

most popular multi-chapter fic: i don’t really have a lot of true multi-chapter fics? i only have a couple multi-chapter fics and a few oneshot collections (back when i was worried about posting too many stories; now i have no shame 🥰). No Ordinary Exchange has the most hits (Rayllum College!AU and a true multi-chapter fic) while certainty has the most kudos (Catradora fluff prompts; a oneshot collection)

favorite story you’ve written so far: oh man that’s so hard? i have things i like and things i dislike about all of my fics where once they’ve been posted for long enough it’s hard for me to pick a favorite. i guess No Ordinary Exchange, because it’s the longest fic i’ve ever written (and possibly the only multi-chapter fic i’ve ever completed? lmao) and i just had so much fun writing it. i got to explore a lot of rayllum fluff, angst, and hurt/comfort while also delving into soren’s strained relationship with viren and even introducing some of my ocs, just as a way to explore them! i also got to make everyone queer which y’all know i love

fic you were nervous to post: Sigh No More (Maiko Much Ado AU) because it’s so niche and keep the paper lantern lit (zutaraang week oneshots) because i’d never written an ot3 before

how you choose your titles: mmmmmm song lyrics, randomly thinking of them, texting my best friends in our group chat, and using a significant word/phrase from the fic

do you outline: yes? for shorter fics, i usually just think it through in my head, but for longer fics i’ll either write down an outline (bullet-point style) or type it in the notes app on my phone (i KNOW, pls don’t judge me)

complete: if we go to ffn, where all of my fics are, 21/30 are strictly complete. if you include oneshot collections that are always in limbo between complete and incomplete since i can update them but don’t have to, 25/30. some of those remaining five will probably never be finished 😳

in progress: five fics, two of which are 99% abandoned, another two of which could be completed one day (although the change in my writing style might kill any readers who come across it), and then No Ordinary Exchange, which is written in full and updated weekly.

coming soon/not yet started: a katara-centric fic about her path to forgiving zuko (with a heavy focus on her guilt regarding kya’s death and aang’s near-death, meaning there’s some nice kataangst, too); two sequels to fire lily (young!maiko fluff and hurt/comfort), the first of which will be kinda angsty can’t lie; mai and sokka content (i have a few ideas for mai&sokka and maixsokka babey!!); an aang-centric drabble-esque fic or two; possibly some “outtakes” to my rayllum college!au

do you accept prompts: technically, yes! my ask box is always open. but my rule is very concrete that i am not required to write any prompt i receive and i will only write what interests me.

upcoming story you are most excited to write: im technically already in progress of writing it but my katara-centric fic,, AHHHHHHHHH. and then the sequels to fire lily!! i can’t wait to work on them 🥰

tagging: @justoceanmyth, @penguinsledder, @the-last-cuddlebender, @korvidaee, @irresistible-revolution, @praetorqueenreyna, and anyone else who wants to do this!! just say i tagged you :) and no pressure to those i tagged - only do it if you want to