#jerkbend

[enbymai]

young teen izumi wanting to learn sword fighting so she goes to the best nonbending swordfighter she knows. sokka. sokka accepts her request to train her and becomes an important mentor for her, teaching her swordfighting as well as how to diffuse tensions peacefully.

she never told zuko what she was doing, wanting it to be a suprise. so when izumi comes into his bedroom with a southern water tribe style sword and techniques and movements eerily familiar, he knows exactly who taught her.

the next time sokka visits, izumi says sokka should live in the palace with them.

sokka: i have a home in my tribe. besides, i don't think I'd be allowed to live here

izumi: you could if you two marry each other

[phoukanamedpookie]

Show!Zuko would beat up Comics!Zuko.

Just constant ass whuppings. He'd make the Fire Teens' Ember Island fiasco look like Air Nomad preschool.

[therealjustpeachesback]

Ya’ll have no right to be this funny

[overheard-at-star-command]

Mira: Buzz has no survival or self-preservation instincts. I think he was born without them.

Booster: That can't be true!

Mira: Watch this

Mira: HEY BUZZ! RACE YOU DOWNSTAIRS!

Buzz: *jumps out a three-story window*

[juliette-cai-enthusiast]

Rewatching ATLA as a zukka shipper is just so much fun because like. Objectively as a ship, it works! They're literally paralleled multiple times in the show, they both were forced to grow up too fast, seek their fathers' approvals, have a fun dynamic and lots of chemistry, and just really work well together. Except there is very minimal canon interaction, and the majority of it is aggressive, so 99% of the time, it goes like:

Sokka, throwing his boomerang: Why don't you go back to the Fire Nation, you jerkbending creep!

Zuko, blasting him with fire: Bold words from a Water Tribe peasant!

Me, watching, giggling and kicking my feet: You guys should kisssss

[phoukanamedpookie]

Where are those Air Temple preschoolers, Zuko? Where are they? What happened to them? Don't worry; I'll wait.

I really wanted to slap Zuko when he said this to Aang. Like dude, you do realize that the dead nation that you are making fun of is dead thanks to your family, right? The very same family who has profited from the deaths of the air nomads and countless others for a 100 years since the war started? Kindly shut the fuck up. He's lucky Aang didn't get pissed with him and decide to kick him out of the group. He would have been completely justified.

[mugentakeda]

post canon au where jet is so used to calling zuko "li" but he knows thats not his name but it also feels weird to call zuko zuko so he starts calling him "Z". first letter of his actual name and rhymes with li. his own mind continues to amaze him. way cooler of a nickname than jerkbender, sokka

[caitlynkirammansburner]

i think sokka is the funniest example of a bisexual because he doesnt want to watch anyone else teach aang but when zuko does it hes like cmon guys lets go watch these stupid jerkbenders jerkbend so stupidly and they are shirtless! losers pfft 🙄🙄😳

[bisexuallsokka]

please please please please tell me about the old fucks

send me a wip title!

nothing to see here just old fucks in old sappy love that's it 🤭

...

“Are you still awake?”  Zuko hums. “Are you cold?”  Sokka considers it, then shakes his head. “No.” “Too hot?” Zuko asks, already moving his arm, but Sokka grabs it before he can go far and brings it close to him.  “No,” Sokka says, snuggling back into Zuko’s embrace. They won’t last like this for long, their seventy year old aching joints eventually needing to stretch, to spread out. But they stay as close as they can for as long as they can, an attempt to close the gap that was between them for so long.

“Is it your leg?”

Sokka lets out a huff of laughter. He turns around so that they are facing each other, noses almost touching. “I’m fine, love.” At the unimpressed glare Zuko gives him, Sokka rolls his eyes. “My leg does hurt, but it’s fine. I just…don’t want to sleep yet. I missed you today, jerkbender.”

Zuko’s face softens, and Sokka smiles as a result.

“I missed you, too. I’m glad you had a successful hunting trip though.”

“Yeah. It will be even better when we take ‘Zumi in a few days.”

Zuko snorts. “I’m sure she’s looking forward to it.”

Sokka raises an eyebrow. “Aren’t you? I promise not to make fun of you if you trip over your feet again when you’re trying to sneak up on something.”

Zuko huffs, and his aching hip forces him to roll over on his back instead of his side. Sokka mirrors his movement, but shuffles close so their arms are pressed close. Their hands find each other without hesitation.

“That was ten years ago,” Zuko mumbles. “I’m much more agile now.”

“Hate to break it to you, darling, but neither of us are getting more agile with age. Izumi, on the other hand, I swear she’s getting more athletic as she ages. And she had two kids!”

Zuko laughs. “That’s our girl.”

“Yeah,” Sokka says, voice warm and soft. “Hey, what are you doing tomorrow?”

Zuko turns his head to look at him. “Nothing in particular. Why?”

“Can I take you out on a date?”

Zuko’s face breaks into a wide smile. “What’s the special occasion?”

Sokka smiles. “Just that I love you,” he responds, as if it’s the truest thing he’s ever said.

Zuko grins. “Okay. It’s a date. What are we going to do?”

“It’s a surprise,” Sokka says immediately.

Zuko rolls his eyes. “You don’t have a plan.”

“I do have a plan!” Sokka protests immediately. “Where is your faith in me? I’ve been planning it for a while, just waiting for the right time.”

“Why is this the right time?”

“Just feels like it. I don’t want to wait until our anniversary, it’s too far away.”

Zuko huffs. “Twenty years. Can you believe it?”

“No,” Sokka says immediately.

Zuko knows what he means. Twenty years of marriage, but they’ve been in love for about fifty. He squeezes his husband’s hand for a second and Sokka returns it. 

“I’m worried about Korra,” Sokka says suddenly.

Zuko lets out a long breath. “It’ll be okay. She has us.”

“I just…” Sokka starts. “I don’t want to let her down. I can’t let Aang down.”

“She clearly likes you a lot,” Zuko tells him.

Sokka smiles at that. “She’s wonderful. I didn’t get to be there for Izumi when she was this little, you know? So it’s like I get a taste of that.”

Zuko doesn’t bother bringing up the fact that Izumi was a handful and a half when she was Korea’s age, even without the ability to bend four elements. He knows how much Sokka regrets not being able to be there as her father her whole life. 

He just smiles softly. “You and Korra are as thick as thieves.”

“And I worry about Katara,” Sokka adds. 

“Yeah,” Zuko agrees with a sigh. Losing Aang was hard on all of them, but it was especially painful to watch Katara lose the love of her life. “You think she’s doing okay?”

“Sometimes I catch her looking sadder than usual, but she seems to be doing better. Still,” Sokka sighs. “I can’t imagine what she must be going through. Even when we were apart, at least I knew you were still out there.”

Sokka sighs. “I was always afraid, though. What if an assassination attempt was successful, what if you got sick, what if something happened and I lost you without being able to tell you how much I still loved you?”

Zuko is startled when he sees a tear slip down Sokka’s cheek and he sits up. “Sokka—“

“Spirits, I was a coward,” Sokka says, choking out a harsh self deprecating laugh. 

“We were both cowards,” Zuko says, the only thing coming to his mind right now, but it makes Sokka laugh, so it works, and he keeps talking. It’s been a long time since they talked about this, about their break up and the years they spent apart. “I had the same fears too, you know.”

Sokka moves to wipe the tears from his eyes, but Zuko beats him to it. He keeps his hands on his cheeks, waiting until Sokka looks at him to continue. 

“I know we lost a lot of time together. I will never stop regretting that. But we have had nearly twenty amazing years together now, and I’m so grateful for each and every day I get with you, Sokka. What matters is that we are here now, and we have each other.”

“We have each other,” Sokka echoes, then sniffs. “And we are going to be together until we are a hundred years old and we pass away peacefully in our sleep at the exact same time.”

Zuko huffs out a laugh. “Sounds like a good life. I am more than okay with that.”

Sokka gives him a watery smile, then takes a deep breath. “Wow, I’m getting sappy in my old age.”

“You’ve always been a big sap,” Zuko points out, and Sokka scoffs. 

“Excuse you, I am a brave warrior and defender of my people,” he says. 

“You can be all of those things and also a sap,” Zuko says. 

“I’m your sap,” Sokka says. 

“You’re just proving my point,” Zuko says. 

Sokka smiles, not looking away from Zuko. Zuko lets his thumbs brush the skin on Sokka’s cheek, lets himself appreciate all the ways Sokka’s body has changed, the signs that show he lived a long, good life. The wrinkles from his smiles and laughter are new, but those are still the same eyes he fell in love with. 

“Remember when we would stay up talking those days leading up to the end of the war?” Zuko asks. 

Sokka smiles. “Always. We both knew we couldn’t sleep because of everything going on, but it was nice to pretend that we just wanted to chat.”

“You should get some sleep,” Zuko says. 

Sokka makes a face. “But I want to keep talking to you.”

Zuko huffs a laugh. “Save it for the morning, okay? Or for our date.”

Sokka seems satisfied with this. “Okay. In the morning.”

They lie back down, pressed close, and Sokka leans over to kiss Zuko’s forehead. “Goodnight, love.”

“Goodnight. Love you.”

“Love you too.”

…

“Zuko?” 

Sokka’s tone wakes Zuko from sleep instantly. 

“What’s wr–?” he starts, seeing the terrified look on his face, but Sokka motions him to stop talking.

Zuko strains his ears, but he can’t hear anything.

“Something is wrong,” Sokka says, grabbing his sword and lunging outside. 

Zuko scrambles after him. “Sokka?”

In the darkness, Zuko sees a shape move. He throws a fireball above their head to illuminate them, and doesn’t recognize the shadow. 

A child cries.

“They’ve got Korra!” Sokka yells.

[comradefleur]

zuko immediately sweating around kanna and hakoda whenever he's in the swt is so funny and my fav hc ever. it's even worse for him bc his bf will NOT help him whatsoever bc he thinks it's the most amusing thing ever. zuko will look over at sokka with the most pleading eyes whenever hakoda is like "come fishing with me, son" or kanna is like "have you not been eating!?" and sokka is just like "figure it out jerkbender"

[arverst-aegnar]

Day 30: Time Loop/Time Travel

heck yeah, i completed two days this year!!

the ending is a bit more abrupt than i wanted, but it just was not cooperating with me, and i was afraid that if i left it too long with my other incomplete Zutara Month ideas it might get infected with "takes too long to finish -itis". so here it is.

The word spreads quickly, covering the entire Earth Kingdom in a matter of days and reaching the Northern Water Tribe’s court within a week. Even the remnant of the Southern Water Tribe, all but forgotten at the bottom of the world, hears about it before the new moon.

Fire Lord Ozai is dead. His successor, Fire Lord Iroh, has declared his intentions to put an end to his nation’s war of domination. Petitions for peace and offers of reparations are being extended to all world leaders.

The Southern Water Tribe elders suspect a trap of some kind. Some think the proposed Peace Conference is actually an opportunity for him to kill the other nations’ leadership, leaving them vulnerable to his armies. Others suspect a subtler scheme to conquer the rest of the world through diplomacy, or perhaps a combination of culture and technology. 

For Sokka and Katara, who only hear the news by listening intently outside the elders’ meeting tent, there are more pressing matters at hand.

“Dad’s going to need me with him at this Peace Conference,” Sokka declares. He pulls out his boomerang and takes aim at a snowman some of the little kids built last week. “Whatever the Fire Nation’s planning, it’s no match for Southern Water Tribe ingenuity!”

Katara worries her bottom lip with her teeth. “What happened to Fire Lord Ozai?”

Sokka scoffs. “Who cares? He was a big, fat jerkbender like all of them. Probably set his bed on fire ‘cause he was roasting the Earth King in his sleep.”

She says nothing as her brother goes to pull his boomerang out of the snowman’s head. Nor does she say anything when her father announces that he and his entire family will be attending the Peace Conference, along with several of his best warriors. 

On the ship, she delights in opportunities to use her waterbending to speed it on its way, or to play pranks on Sokka, but often she is found deep in thought, wearing a pensive look much too old for her.

“You’re strangely quiet,” Kya observes as they prepare to disembark. The voyage is over, but the journey to Omashu will take at least another day. “Something eating you, sealpup?” She pokes her daughter in the side, which provokes a giggle that quickly fades. Face unusually solemn, Katara shakes her head. Kya frowns, but leaves the matter be.

The entry into Omashu is packed like salted fish in a barrel, people from all over drawn to the Peace Conference, but an envoy from the king gives their delegation precedence over the rest. Sokka cranes his head back to take in the architecture. Kya’s gaze flits around, trying to take in the variety of clothing worn by native and visitor alike. Hakoda’s attention is on his family, but he makes sure he knows where all his warriors are at the same time. Kanna, riding an ostrich horse graciously provided by the king, seems mostly interested in staying upright, but her head turns every now and then when a familiar scent wafts in from one of the market stalls. Katara, kept at the center of her family unit, has no interest to spare for any of it.

When they reach the palace, they are immediately brought to the main hall, where King Bumi, Chief Arnook, and three of the Earth Kingdom’s Council of Five await them, as well as Fire Lord Iroh. No sooner are the official introductions made than Katara turns to Fire Lord Iroh and, with a hasty bow, demands, “Did Zuko come with you?” A half-second later, flustered, she stutters, “I - I mean Prince Zuko.”

In the chaos of the sudden trip, some things were left to the last minute, and that includes the talk Hakoda and Kya intended to give their children about how to behave in front of foreign royalty. The blood drains from Kya’s face. Hakoda, his face a storm of anger stirred up by fear, takes a step toward Katara, prepared to pull her back to safety. But before he can, to their astonishment a broad smile spreads across the Fire Lord’s face. With a shallow bow, he waves a hand toward a door behind them. “Prince Zuko is in the garden, but I am sure he would not mind the company, if your parents think it acceptable.”

Katara is running towards the door before he finishes speaking.

*****

Katara knows she’s going to get in trouble for this later. It’s her own fault, putting off the explanation for so long, acting like the little girl they believe her to be -- as much as she can, at least. But whatever punishment they think up is nothing compared to what’s waiting for her in that garden.

If he doesn’t remember, if she’s still all alone in this, then no punishment could be worse. If he does …

She’s never seen the garden in the Omashu palace before. It’s more ornamental than the ones she’s used to, and the main features seem to be rocks and crystals more than trees and flowers. But she can sense water -- a fair amount of it, too, like a small pond -- and she doesn’t have to follow it far before she sees him.

Zuko is next to the pond, his back to her. He’s smaller than she’s ever seen him, and not just because he’s sitting down. His hair is long enough to brush his shoulders, even pulled up into the traditional topknot. Like his uncle, he is dressed in Fire Nation red and gold, but the cut of his robes looks different to her untrained eyes -- Earth Kingdom style, perhaps? Surrounding him are half-a-dozen turtleducklings, and the wave of affection that sweeps over her freezes her in place.

“Hey now.” She recognizes that mildly scolding tone, even if his voice is a little different than the one in her memory. “You have to share with your sister. You’re not getting more seeds just because you’re bigger.”

Katara tries to say something, but it seems all the words she wants to say are trying to come out at once, and have jammed up in her throat. She stumbles back half a step.

The crunch of the gravel under her feet gets his attention. His head turns slightly in her direction, then he’s leaping to his feet, turning towards her -- 

Oh.

He doesn't have the scar.

For one moment, Zuko stares at her with wide eyes. Then in the next, he’s closed the gap between them, pulling her into the tightest hug she’s ever had. Katara wraps her arms around him and buries her face into his shoulder. “Katara,” he breathes, and a little sob escapes her at the familiarity and warmth in that single word.

“Zuko,” she manages. Her voice wobbles but does not break on the name like she thought it might. “Oh, Zuko.”

He pulls back too soon, but he cups her cheek with one hand while the other brushes her hair out of her eyes. Katara tries to smile at him, but it’s hard when every emotion of the past three years wants to pour out at once. Instead, she reaches up and gently touches his left cheek. The skin is smooth and whole under her fingers.

Zuko closes his eyes, but not before she catches a flash of pain. Immediately, she knows what must have happened. Why he has no scar. How Ozai must have died.

“I thought I was dreaming at first,” he says hoarsely. “I told him off. Yelled at him for being a terrible father and a worse Fire Lord. Then -”

Katara shakes her head and pulls him back to her. This time he’s the one to bury his head in her shoulder. “I know,” she tells him, her throat still choked. “I know. I did too.”

Later, she thinks, she’ll tell him about Yon Rha. About how in her determination not to relive the worst day of her life, she had pulled on his blood with a ferocity she had only seen herself use in nightmares. What his corpse had looked like, afterwards, and the look on her mother’s face. How what had once been a fantasy of power and relief had, if only for a little while, become a horrifying reality. Maybe she’ll finally find the words to describe the contradictory emotions that have been warring in her ever since, but even if she doesn’t, it will be okay, because now she has someone who will understand.

For the moment, she holds him close as they both succumb to tears.

[harmlesshagofthewoods]

“You’re training with Master Piandao?”

“Yes. I mean no! I mean, you’re not going to get any information out of me! So don’t even try it jerkbender! I’m a steel vault and I’m not going to hand Aang over to you!” Oh no, “I mean, I wouldn’t hand Aang over if Aang wasn’t already dead. You know, after you and your sister killed him and totally ruined everything. Totally dead. No more Avatar. Congratulations!”

A slight smirk tugged on Zuko’s lips, before it fell to a darker shine that Sokka couldn’t place. “I already know the Avatar is alive. I’m not going after him. And I’m not going to tell Piandao who you are, so don’t worry.”

Oh no.

Oh shit!

----

Sokka just wanted to learn how to wield a sword. Having the Prince of the Fire Nation also being at the compound was the worst thing that could have ever happened. Or was it really that bad?

[reticenceofladyeva]

hoax xvi (you knew the password so I let you in the door)

Aang peers over the edge of the saddle. Zuko hits the water in a nearly perfect dive, and then Aang loses sight of him. He huffs. "What was that about?"

Sokka yawns. "Just a jerkbender doing his jerkbendery thing, Aang. Besides, he probably doesn't want us to watch Katara kill him."

"Katara wouldn't kill him, Sokka." Aang protests.

Sokka shrugs, much too nonchalantly for Aang's comfort. "She might."

They land Appa down the beach a ways from the camp, and Aang speeds ahead of Sokka and Toph on his air scooter, kicking up sand and tiny shells in his wake. He has to get to Katara. He's missed her so much while the three of them were in prison, and it's like the glimmer of water on the horizon for a man in the desert.

Zuko is kneeling in the sand, forehead nearly touching the ground, when Aang skids into the group of tents. Water Tribe warriors eye the firebender warily as they pretend to go about their tasks. He is murmuring something to Katara, who is poised over him with half the bay at her command, ready to drown Zuko if she lets go of it. Aang takes a moment to admire her.

She's grown since he saw her last, from a young girl two years older to a grown woman. Her hair has been cut short, and the ends just brush her chin. It curls more than it used to now that it isn't weighed down, and it frames her face in an umber halo. She's traded her Water Tribe blues for a brown and green Earth Kingdom hanfu made of practical, sturdy material, and it falls over curves in her hips that Aang doesn't remember her having.

She's beautiful.

She's beautiful and then she's sinking to her knees in front of Zuko, allowing the water to fall back into the bay as he pulls her into him. Katara wraps her arms around his shoulders as his slip around her waist, and then one of his hands comes up to hold the back of her head, fingers tangling in the curls. Katara leans into him, burying her face into his shoulder, and Aang can see her shaking. The Water Tribe warriors have stopped pretending to be busy now, and they watch her with open surprise.

Then, a toddler staggers out of a tent, General Iroh on his heels. Aang sucks in a breath sharply.

The oasis on his horizon slips away, nothing but a desert mirage.

[petricorah]

i saw this post about probending zuko and got swept up in the euphoria of planning a zukka probending au before remembering sokka doesn't bend.

so anyway. pro bending sokka where he gets high on cactus juice and gets in an argument with katara and registers himself as a jerkbender, saying "i (hic) totally (hic) bet you i can beat all of you in pro bending tournament" and signs up high off his ass

he wakes up in the morning with Regret. But is too stubborn and arrogant to back down. so he goes. after all, he fights benders all the time, right? (he realizes one mistake when he's not allowed to bring weapons into the ring and is plopped into the arena completely defenseless)

he manages to beat the first few in a combination of smarts and dump luck. And yeah he gets bruised a lot but there's no way he's going to let katara say "i told you so" This is now for non benders Everywhere, okay?

and so he gets better about using the arena and the benders' strengths against them and his plans and he gets into further and further along. And maybe he spars and practices with Zuko because they're on opposite ends of the bracket and haven't fought each other yet. And Sokka always beats Zuko in swords but now the tables are turned, and how the hell is he going to beat Zuko at probending when he can't even take his eyes off his crush to spar?

[desertbcrnnobody]

Sokka bowing: "Fire Lord Jerkbender."

Zuko bowing: "Chief Boomerang."

Katara: "Honestly. Are you two ever going to use your actual names?"

Zuko bowing smirking: "Ambassador Painted Lady."

Katara: "Don't start that. Please."

[discordiansamba]

caved and started working on more conventional werewolf AU stuff but the further I get into it the more I realize I kind of. actually do want to do something more in depth with it but I will post this snippet from what I wrote already bc I think it's really funny.

"Has anyone seen Aang?" Sokka glanced up at his sister. "Last I checked, he was getting firebending lessons from Zuko. Why?" "I wanted to go over some waterbending forms with him." Katara said. "Are you sure he's with Zuko? They're usually done with morning practice by now." "He's not with me," Zuko remarked, briefly causing them both to jump out of their skin, "-Toph took him somewhere else after we finished practice. Earthbending practice, I guess." Katara frowned. "Any chance you know where he went?" "No," Zuko said, "-but I can probably find them." He and Katara exchanged a look. Sokka shrugged. "Well then by all means," Sokka said, "-lead away, my good jerkbender." Zuko rolled his eyes at the nickname, but otherwise chose to ignore it. Probably because Katara was around. He seemed awfully skittish around her for some reason. They trailed behind Zuko, growing increasingly mystified as they watched him wander around the air temple. There didn't seem to be much rhyme or reason for his abrupt changes of direction, but he seemed pretty confident as to where he was going. It didn't take them long to find Aang and Toph- they'd gone topside, into the forest where they could more freely earthbend. "Huh," Sokka said, "-I guess you really are the world's top Avatar tracker." "Actually, I was tracking Toph this time," Zuko remarked, "-she hasn't taken a bath in awhile. Her scent's stronger." "Yeah, that'd make-" Sokka cut himself off, squinting at Zuko, "-her scent?" He could have sworn there was a hint of a smile on Zuko's lips. "I have a good nose," he said with a shrug. And then, before anyone could ask, he left. Sokka looked at his sister. She looked at him. "…so you think he has Aang's scent memorized?" Sokka asked. "Knowing Zuko?" Katara rolled her eyes. "Probably." ___________________________________ ("So which one of these cells is Suki's?" "I don't know," Zuko said, "-and don't look at me like that. I don't know what your girlfriend smells like.")