#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

[hassians-sernuk-boyfriend]

one of the many questionable things I have drawn that I told myself not to upload here. anyway I sent this dialogue to my partner at 5am and they replied with "this hit me like a truck thanks"

[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

[a-todd-illustration]

"We can get you a little blanket or something, jerkbender."

"I don't need anything from you. Leave me alone."

"Ok, but it sure looks awfully cold on the hard ground."

Sokka caves soon after and plops him on his pillow. This leads to discovering that Zuko is a great personal heater.

[mugentakeda]

NEW and IMPROVED jerkbender royal shitheads ref sheet + notes. gaang ref sheet (minus zuko) will be next so expect to see that soon YAYYY

~~ also extra note that i couldnt fit in but i like drawing lu ten and zuko with side tooth gaps :) and zuko got the tooth next to it knocked out during his banishment in a fistfight so he got a golden tooth to replace it. he secretly thought it looked cool until azula told him when he came back to the fn after ba sing se that it made him look less royalty and more lowlife sailor (later, the gaang convinces him it is indeed cool again)

[sunroofangel]

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 🙄🙄😳

[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?

[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."

[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?

[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.")

[sagechan]

YOU BETTER BELIEVE SHE SHUT THE FUCK UP

so today I was at an event on campus celebrating Black women's roles in the foundation of democracy in the USA, and one of the guest speakers was giving a really brilliant response that touched specifically on white women's tears as being adverse to Black liberation movements, and I guess that must have struck a nerve with the (white) nursing student sitting directly behind me, because she would not stop muttering and complaining about how long the speaker was talking for, and making disparaging remarks to her classmates sitting next to her. now, I'm getting frustrated, cuz the information up on the stage is fantastic and useful for my own pedagogy—plus, this girl is just plain being a racist fool. so I decide to say something. but, of course, as a college English and Rhetoric instructor on the campus representing the faculty, I'm telling myself, "okay, I should be professional about this."

the script in my head: excuse me, if you're not going to listen and learn something, then you should just leave.

what comes out of my damn mouth: yo you can leave or you can shut the fuck up

[reticenceofladyeva]

hoax xiv (you know I left a part of me back in pouhai)

Zuko's arms are crossed tightly over his chest, and if Sokka didn't know any better, he'd say he was glaring at the clouds. Aang has been going on for the better part of an hour about how excited he is to see Katara, how much he's missed her the last few years, how she's going to be so impressed at how tall he is, and so on.

Publicly, Sokka finds himself missing the calm before the sedative wore off (Aang only grins and keeps yapping). Privately, the way Zuko is glaring, Sokka thinks Aang might have a rival (although if Katara is out for blood, Sokka isn't going to worry about it too much). Aang happily prattles on, and Sokka happily tunes him out, choosing instead to rifle through Zuko's pack for snacks. He is not disappointed.

"Sure," Zuko says. "Help yourself."

"Thanks buddy," Sokka says, smiling around the fire flakes and jerky he's appropriated. "I owe you one."

This turns Zuko contemplative in a way Sokka does not like.

Aang continues with the incessant yammering, unbothered. The look on Toph's face tells Sokka it won't be tolerated for much longer. He smiles indulgently at Aang. A Toph-punch to the head, he's sure, will put Aang back under for a while. That he has the thought at all does make Sokka feel a little guilty, but then Aang is the one who spent most of captivity snoozing, and the airbender seems to be accustomed to sleeping through years of his life.

No skin off Aang's wings, clearly.

Sokka kicks Zuko in the shin. "So, jerkbender, what's his name?"

Zuko jolts at the contact and scowls. "Aang?"

"No! The kid. What's your kid's name?"

"Oh." Zuko looks away. "Kova. He just turned one."

Sokka nods approvingly. "Good, strong Water Tribe name. That was my grandfather's name, actually--wait a minute." Launching himself at Zuko, Sokka tackles him into the back of the saddle, and Zuko squirms, trying to land a hit without throwing both of them into free-fall.

A few minutes later, bruised and bleeding a little from his lip, Sokka elbows Zuko once more for good measure and scoots away (but only because Toph told him to move his sorry butt). Aang frowns down at both of them as Toph threatens them with very pointy metal objects. "What are you guys doing," the boy demands, clutching his head. "You could have fallen off of Appa."

Sokka snorts. "Trust me buddy, that's the least of your worries."

Zuko slaps the back of Sokka's head. Sokka pointedly steals more jerky from Zuko's pack.

It's as good a truce as any.