#kinda gaang

[depressedtheatrekiddo]

Listenlisten>:)

U know about that audio that says "I was talking with the moon last night and she told me something about the sun, I tell her something about u" or something like this.

SO

SO

SO

I was thinking with my goblin brain and thought about ma guy SOKKA<3 (because I started rewatching ATLA) justjust listen, imagine if he tells Yue about his new crush (I will say Zuko JEJEJ but you're free to ship him with whoever u want) like, imagine if he talks with her every night and tell her a little about his day and how is his life going. Like girl, this is so fucking perfect and I'm dying.

Have a nice day sweetheartss<3

[demaparbat-hp]

On your most recent From the Couch post... is that a dragon tattoo I see poking out of Zuko's collar? ...................may we see more of it?

You may see all of it.

[skltart]

drawing them felt like reconnecting with old friends

[yikes-kachowski]

"Oh, Bumi, sweetheart, you're just not a bender."

According to the Air Nomad records they have, no Air Nomad is born a non bender. Or it at least none of them were before Bumi.

He theorizes that he is his father's punishment for abandoning the world at the beginning of the war. He is the manifestation of his father's shame and the world's pain and abandonment.

This is just a sliver of context, I have been developing cultural lore about all the nations for years. Particularly Air Nomads and the new Avatar books kinda contradict me slightly. I'm just gonna stick to my au. Hope that's okay with you all.

Any way my bumi if you want more of him. For the record you WILL see more of him from me, he IS one of my favorite characters

[billsbae]

this account supports the gay dads

[libertatias]

whatever you do don't think about zuko abdicating the throne the same year sokka dies because he can't bear ruling without him 🫠

[julchenawesome]

Zukka week 2024

Day 5: Gay/Bi Awakening (and Zuko joins the Gaang early)

Sun Blessed! Zuko, hidden for a long time between the firebenders of Jeong Jeong in the episode of "The Deserter" , and his first encounter to the Gaang members. Minor Backstory: when he was a Child, Zuko is ill, and Ursa prays Agni for his blessing. Agni bless Zuko and got golden hair. Fearing Ozai would use him, she and Iroh hidden him with friends until Jeong Jeong takes care of him. When the Gaang arrives, obviously Zuko was suspicious and traps one of the strangers. While Zuko interrogates him (✨✨✨Guess the quote ✨✨✨), Sokka is Having a mental break down. Bi Bi Bi💙💜💖 Did Zuko got the scar? I let you guessing...

@zukkaweek

[somewhereincairparavel]

omfg I just watched "Zuko alone" (season 2 ep7) for the first time and it's so fucking good holy I'm getting goosebumps rn. The flashbacks, Zuko saying "I'm the son of Ursa and fire lord ozai" right after he got a flashback of his mom, the boy Zuko helped saying "I hate you!" After Zuko tried giving him the knife he got when he was younger, UGHH the angst, the feels I'm sobbing 😭💔

I also like how they showed azula being cunning even as a kid, not mourning her grandfather's death, wanting iroh to die so ozai can be king, not caring about lu tens death, etc. Also, how much her dad favoured her over Zuko, and how Zuko inherited his mom's gentleness. Zuko shows empathy so many times throughout this season. The most prominent one being refusing to steal food as soon as he found out it belonged to a pregnant woman. These little stuff show that his empathy, a character trait he always had, was slowly coming back to him and had never left him even after all the abuse he went through.

it also shows how much Azula has been influenced as a child by her own dad's cruelty and becoming just like him, to please him. The firenation is genuinely the best written segment of atla imo, and I'm saying this as a first time watcher.

The earthkingdom family being so quick to turn on Zuko after they found out he's the prince is so realistic but sad at the same time :( it shows how much a hundred year long war affects people. I'd say this is the episode Zuko truly realized the damage his nation, and his father had done to the world.

[thepublishingpress]

Discoveries (That I Panic About)

Hakoda stood at the front of the ship, gripping the railings to see if he could see the Fire Nation and where his children were.

He had been very busy, slowly but surely rebuilding the Southern Water Tribe with Malina. But now he had time to visit.

As he traveled to the Fire Nation, where his children were, he wondered what the announcement they had mentioned in their letters was. 

Katara had only spoke of it briefly, talking more about the young Avatar Aang, but she did say that it might surprise him, and it would be good for Water Tribe and Fire Nation relations.

Sokka was more enthusiastic, stating what Katara had said, but also that he was so pleased with the proposal that he agreed immediately. Aang, the Avatar, was apparently also excited for the announcement. Even Toph Beifong, who was all the way in the Earth Kingdom and busy with her metal bending school, had traveled to the Fire Nation.

So really, this declaration would be phenomenal, and would cause an entire chapter to be made in the history books.

But there was one specific letter out of the eyebrow-raising three that had surprised him immensely.

It was from Firelord Zuko.

Zuko, the poor boy, had sounded very anxious and desperate to please in his letter. He promised that he wasn’t forcing anyone do anything, and that he and Sokka had both agreed this would be the best route, and that he was very hopeful that Hakoda would be accepting of their decision.

And while Hakoda had to admit that he was a bit skeptical of how good this choice was, considering they were just children ruling over an entire nation, he did trust Zuko enough to not have any doubts that all parties had consented to this choice.

Suddenly there was yelling, shaking him out of his thoughts and alerting Hakoda that they were close to the Fire Nation now.

When they finally arrived, the entire Water Tribe was in for a slight shock as a massive furry bison flew in and roared. Of course they had seen the animal before, but perhaps not this close. Avatar Aang immediately leapt off his beast, apologizing profusely to the surprised warriors.

“I didn’t mean to scare you!’ He blabbered. “It’s just Appa trying to greet you! I’m so, so, so sorry! It won’t happen again!”

Hakoda gave him an amused smile, placing his hand on the young boy’s shoulder. “It’s quite alright, Aang.”

“Dad!” 

Hakoda just had barely enough time to see a blurr of blue and brown before he was engulfed in a massive hug, almost knocking him off balance. He grinned warmly. “Katara! Oh, look at you! You’ve certainly grown.”

She beamed. “Oh, Dad, the preparations are amazing! You have to see it.”

“That sounds wonderful, Katara,” Hakoda said, “But I was wondering where your brother was?” 

Katara smiled, albeit a bit mischeiviously. “Oh, he’s in the palace. He’s busy with preparations and stressing over every detail on this very, very special day.”

Hakoda frowned a bit. “Are you sure he’s okay? I don’t want him overworking himself.”

Katara shakes her head. “Don’t worry, Dad. With Zuko there, Sokka won’t even overwork an hour.”

Hakoda nodded, a bit hesitantly. “Well, if you say so.”

And then Katara and Aang started dragging him along, insisting that they can’t be late. Hakoda shot a confused and pleading glance towards Bato, who just shook his head and smiled.

Traitor.

*

“Katara! Oh, hey, Twinkle Toes,” Toph said. “And Hakoda.” She added, a bit like an afterthought.

Katara smiled at the younger girl. “Hey, Toph!” She replied, Aang following suit. “Do you know where Sokka is?”

Toph snorted. “He’s with Zuko, as per usual.” She responded, sounding incredibly exasperated. Hakoda assumed that his son and the Firelord were good friends.

Katara nodded. “That’s good. Come on, Dad!”

The dragging started up once more, with Toph following, but thankfully this time it was much shorter. They stopped in front of two massive bronze doors, accented with shining gold. It looked like a door for royalty, and it also looked very similar to the entrance of the Fire Lady’s room described in Sokka’s letters. Hakoda couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. “Why is Sokka in the Firelord’s room?”

Katara and Aang exchanged glances. They both smiled knowingly, as if Hakoda had said something a bit stupid and was being oblivious. He was mildly insulted by that.

“Oh, that’s not Zuko’s room! It’s Sokka’s.” Aang said casually, as if the knowledge that his son was living in a room made for royalty was inconsequential.

Katara pushed the doors open, revealing Sokka sitting at a desk, with Zuko beside him, incredibly close and having an arm around his son’s shoulders.

“Oi, Snoozles!” Toph yelled, and the two boys jumped apart. Sokka and Zuko both twisted their heads to face all four of them, their eyes blown ridiculously wide.

When Sokka saw Hakoda, his eyes grew even wider, something that had seemed impossible to Hakoda. “Dad!” Sokka exclaimed, and ran over. Sokka tackled him in a hug, which Hakoda was quick to reciprocate.

Hakoda laughed a little. “Look at you, Sokka!” He said. “You’ve grown into a fine young warrior.”

Sokka beamed with pride at the praise. Zuko looked on at them and smiled.

And this was when Hakoda discovered something very important.

He looked down.

And he saw…

A blue choker.

On his son’s neck.

Shocked, Hakoda shoved him away, confused.

Sokka looked hurt, while the others stared at him, mildly flabbergasted.

“You– you have,” Hakoda stutters through his words, “Since when? Who?”

Sokka looks confused at first, and Hakoda wants to shake him, begging for answers like a hungry, desperate man demanding apples from a tree. Thank Tui and La, Sokka understands. His face flushes right down to the roots of his hair and he glances at his sister desperately. “You didn’t tell him?!”

She shrugged, much to innocently. “It’s you who has the necklace. You tell him.”

“But– but… Ugh!” Sokka groaned.

“Sokka,” Hakoda said, very, very slowly. “When did this happen? And with who?”

Sokka paled, and swallowed. Then swallowed again. He looked like he needed a drink. And, admittedly, Hakoda did too.

“I– I,” He stammered. “It just happened, like, last week! It’s very, very recent news, Dad, I promise!”

“And who…” Hakoda started gesticulating wildly, “Was it that nice girl from Kyoshi? Suki?”

Sokka choked. “Dad, Dad, no! Spirits, no, we broke up! We’re just friends!”

“But then…” Hakoda’s gaze shifted towards the Firelord. There was a high blush on his cheeks. Hakoda looks back at Sokka’s necklace. There’s a Fire Nation symbol inscribed on the purple stone hanging from the blue collar. “You– you– Zuko??”

Sokka grimaced and nodded. “Dad,” He said, gesturing to Zuko, “Meet your future son-in-law.”

And Hakoda faints.

*

When Hakoda came back to himself, he finds he is in the palace’s infirmary.

He also finds his children and their group looking over him anxiously.

Instantly, Hakoda finds himself wrapped in another hug.

“Kids?” He said lowly.

“Glad you’re awake, Dad.” Katara said, smiling.

Zuko stepped forward, a little awkwardly because his Firelord garb was so heavy on him. He bowed. “Um, hello, Hakoda, sir,” He said. “I– I know I didn’t exactly make a, uh, good first impression as your future son-in-law–”

Hakoda stopped him when he took his hand. Maybe he should be against this. Maybe he should shout at Sokka, tell him to break it off, because this was the Firelord, and the Firelord was the leader of a nation that took so much from him. 

But he couldn’t.

He couldn’t because a leader is not responsible for his nation’s past mistakes, they are responsible to fix them.

He couldn’t, because when he looked at the Firelord, all he could see was a young, terrified boy named Zuko. A young boy who grew up to fast, and was forced to save the world, a heavy burden on his shoulders.

“It’s quite alright,” He said honestly, “I was… ah, very… shocked?”

Toph snorted. “Seems like an understatement.” Hakoda ignored her.

“But, I must assure you,” He continued, “I approve of this. You were right, Katara, in the fact that this might strengthen Water Tribe and Fire Nation relations, but I can also see how close you and Zuko are, Sokka.”

Sokka looked like he was going to cry, and he hugged Hakoda even tighter than before. “Thank you, Dad,” He whispered. “Thank you.”

And so, is really any surprise that Hakoda cries during the announcement?

He is just so, so proud.

*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&

zuko: sokka, sokka, did u notice the color of the necklace???

sokka: ofc why?

zuko: its purple bc us yk?? fire nation and water tribe??

sokka: oh my god you're so cheesy ily

also why when i try to write this super light-hearted fic it just turns out to be a lil angsty does anyone else experience that????

also also zuko is a bloody simp change my mind

[stardust948]

The White Lotus Delima

In Sozin's Comet, it always rubbed me the wrong way that the White Lotus, an elite group of adult fighters, sent children to stop the Firelord and retake the Fire Palace while they liberate Ba Sing Se. A city that would automatically be liberated if they won the war. I know the show went this route to spotlight the main characters, the Gaang, but I have an alternative proposal.

We meet the White Lotus earlier in the season, right before Day of the Black Sun. They've all gathered together with the SWT army, and we can have a fun reveal like in the show.

The Invasion still fails because not only did Azula discover the original plans, but the White Lotus organization as well. The Dai Li help defend the Fire Place and the White Lotus sacrifice themselves to ensure the Gaang and other children's escape.

It's bleak. Just as bleak as the Book 2 finale if not more because the Gaang have literally no support. This makes Sozin's Comet even more intense because they're the only thing standing against Firelord Ozai and another geneocide.

But what happened to Iroh? He still escaped during DOTBS and tracks down Zuko and the Gaang as they're looking for him. They find each other a day before Sozin's Comet, and we still get the touching reconciliation scene with him and Zuko. Iroh also still atones for his past war actions, but not by liberating Ba Sing Se.

He does it by fighting Ozai.

The Gaang is spread thin and Aang is taking longer to return. No one knows if he's actually going to. So, right before the comet arrives, Iroh challenges Ozai to an Agni Kai. We cut back and forth between Zuko and Azula's duel to Iroh and Ozai's. Right when Katara gets into the fight is when Aang returns and takes over the fight against Ozai. The rest plays out like on the show. (Except the rock to the back thing. Aang puts in the legwork to unlock his Avatar State. That's why it took him so long.)

We then reunite with the White Lotus and all the other characters at the very end during Zuko's coordination. Happy ending for all!

[evienyx]

Allow me to present to you: Dead Moon Spirit AU.

"Ninety-five years after the Air Nomad Genocide, the war ends. There is no winner, nor loser. There are simply those who are still alive, and those who are not. 

Ninety-five years after the Air Nomad Genocide, Admiral Zhao of the Fire Nation kills the Moon Spirit, and the Ocean roars. The sun hides away, and the only light is that of the seas, so very blue, and so very angry.

Ninety-seven years after the Air Nomad Genocide, Crown Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation is burned and banished, sent beyond the protected walls of Caldera, told he can only return if he kills the Ocean Spirit and brings the world back into balance.

No one has seen the stars since the night the moon died. 

Ninety-nine years after the Air Nomad Genocide, in a South Pole ruled by darkness and cold, a beam of light shoots into the sky."

If I'm being totally honest with you, though, most of this story is me both testing out a different style, as well as pushing my Zuko-and-Yue-Bestie agenda.

I'm steadily working through it. It's a different writing style from my usual, and will probably only be a few parts, but I love it with all my heart.

I don't know quite when it'll be done, but I'm working through it steadily, in between writing for Fractures and BMaFT, so we'll see.

[horrendoushag]

am i truly to believe that the gaang never once looked at the wanted posters for iroh and zuko in season 2 and questioned what that was all about

[greenapplebling]

I am once again asking people to stop assigning family roles to found family. It beats the point of having a found family in the first place

Also: "this character is a mom friend" ≠ "this character is the mom of the group"

One implies the friend is naturally caring, nurturing and thoughtful. While the other implies there's an assigned person in the group who gets emotionally burdened by people of their same age range to act like their mom

[blorboazula]

fun fact: the ciano dragon's, well, dragons can change their size at will. I was talking with @waterfire1848 on discord and had this idea for how the Gaang discovers Azula can do that. there's also a little bit of feels, I guess.

brief context: Aang and Katara found Azula living in the abandoned Fire Nation ship, they got the grumpy lizard to travel with them. at this point, they have no idea who Azula is. here's a drabble about the night Azula's having a nightmare about.

It wasn't like Azula went around announcing her skills, seeing she didn't have the skill of speech in this form. A form she had been in for years, and roughly the same size since then. She trained the size change, of course, but this seemed optimal to live inside a ship designed for average-sized Fire Nation men. The form was about the size of, well, an average-sized Fire Nation man. That was also a perfect size to travel with this group, sometimes she flew alongside the furball, but young dragons weren't fit for long distance travels, she'd allow herself to curl up in a ball on the corner.

So.

The group knew she could fly, spit blue fire and be a pretty good defense against "the inconvenient Fire Nationals".

It has been a few calm days, a rarity, and peace called unpleasant memories. Like the escape from the palace. Her fire swallowed by blue-ish white flames, kicking and squirming. She woke up tasting ash and blood on her mouth, it has taken months for the blisters to heal.

She got up, walked in circles in the same spot before laying down again. Closing her eyes brought images of the palace hallways and echoes of damning words. She huffed, sat up. They slept peacefully, the three of them, side by side.

It reminded her of some of the good old days. When she, Mai and Ty Lee would drag Zuko to a sleepover and the four of them would sleep under the stars. She didn't think too much about that. It brought other pleasant yet painful memories.

Sokka was as spread around as he could, lanky limbs all around, softly snoring. Aang at his left, in a position not much different, but occupying way less space as the smallest of the group. (As the youngest of the group.) Katara was on Aang's other side, back turned to him and the only one properly on her bedroll. On her side, hands tucked under her head.

Azula couldn't sleep, it didn't matter how many times she tried.

Back in the ship, she'd just go awake until her body collapsed in a corner from days of staying up. Now, she couldn't do it. They needed her protection – her help, they were kids (she hasn't been a kid in a long time). She needed to be well-rested, at her best performance at all times.

In the palace, when she couldn't sleep, she had two options: Zuko's bed, Mother's bed. Climb on it, curl up near the bottom and not move until sunrise. She hadn't shrunk (further) since joining them, but it was as easy as ever. She made herself a little smaller than the annoying lemur, found a perfect spot at Katara's feet. The girl irradiated warmth even through the bedroll, and was a firm presence.

It has been awhile, since she fell asleep this quickly.

///

"Why's Blue so tiny?" Azula could be very sleepy still, but she snapped her teeth at Sokka anyways. He should know to not try to poke her.

"She'll bite your hand off one of these days," Katara commented. "Maybe it's a dragon thing?"

"Flying and spitting fire are a dragon thing, not turning into a teeny tiny lizard."

Katara was looking at her like she was seeing the most precious thing in the world, Azula half-flew half-jumped to her shoulder: "Hello there. Slept well?" She nodded.

"It's a thing I heard in the legends," Aang chimed in, now fully awake, apparently. "Dragons are very, very large. It's convenient for them to shrink." She nodded along.

"Blue here doesn't look that large when she's, like, in her usual size."

Aang shrugged: "Unless she shows us, we don't know how large she actually is. We don't know how old she is. Or why she was in the South Pole. Or even her name. We literally call her by the color of her scales and her fire."

That was fair, she guessed. She thought they wouldn't take well if she shifted into a very Fire National-looking girl wearing clearly high society clothes. Or a girl that was very much obviously related to the Prince trying to capture the Avatar.

She liked this little life, stressful as it was, at least it was a little less lonely.

[yikes-kachowski]

Fun fact! Bumi and Akiak are actually best friends since they served with each other in the United Republic armed forces.

They cuddle and talk about their feelings together 🙂

[all-inmoderation]

do people who keep drawing sokka as spirits know that he doesnt have any respect for the spirits in the show