#like yes sokka is all of those things but also nobody else would go that far for a cute boy

[dickpuncher420]

peak zukka dynamic to me is zuko's 0 to 100 journey of thinking sokka is mildly annoying cringe side character to secretly the coolest smartest most funniest handsomest guy in the world. he thinks everyone feels the same and that this realization was just another part of his journey. this is post-boiling rock. while sokka goes from thinking zuko is intimidating and mysterious to knowing accurately that he is actually a hugely awkward dork. also that they both genuinely laugh at each other's jokes

REALLL ugh u Get It

[jasmine-iroh]

Sparring Partners

Pairing: Zuko x f!reader

WC: 2.5K

A/N: howdyyyy I’ll be honest idk what this is besides self satisfactory fluff oops. send in some requests pls, I’m bored as heck!

Never let (Y/N) and Zuko spar.

That was an unspoken rule on Team Avatar after Zuko joined the group. The group had witnessed the aftermath of their practicing one too many times; angry gatherings of flames licking at the bark of uprooted trees scattered around piles of rubble and burnt grass.

Simply put, the pair were a force of nature. That wasn’t the reason they weren’t allowed to fight, though. No, nobody really paid much mind to their destructive tendencies, as long as they weren’t too close to camp.

It was their moods after the fight was done that brought about the rule.

Zuko would slink away to his tent and brood, grumbling at anyone who ventured too close to him. (Y/N) would stay with the group, a grin stuck to her face the whole time. It wasn’t a smile that put anyone at ease, though. It was feral, the snapping teeth and predatory curl of her lips more suited to a big cat than a young girl. Even Katara, who was usually found near (Y/N)’s side, avoided sitting too close.

(Y/N) was never mean to the others, but she had a razor sharp edge to her for hours after the duel that made Aang shift nervously in his seat and Sokka focus more on being the meat guy than the sarcasm guy. Suki would stay on edge until it was finally time to split up into their individual tents. Her fighting instincts would be on alert at the scent of scorched earth coming from (Y/N), a completely different smell from the smoke from the campfire.

Zuko, of course, would be the one to start said campfire. There was a tense, almost shy set to his shoulders as the weight of wild eyes bore down on him from near Toph. Toph, incidentally, never seemed to mind the rumbling of thunder in (Y/N)’s voice after a fight with Zuko, or the way Zuko’s heart beat staggered whenever (Y/N) so much as walked past him.

Toph didn’t care if the pair sparred, as long as it would get them over their timid dance around camp. She thought it was an entertaining break in the monotony of training and hiding, and the feeling of (Y/N) earthbending with such raw emotion was as sappy as any romance story there was. It was truly hilarious to her that nobody else could connect the dots between the unbridled chaos of their fighting and their quiet moments together around a campfire.

**

It had been a few days since the last incident when Toph finally decided to ask (Y/N) what their deal was during a training session.

“So, what’s up with you and Sifu Hotman?” She asked, a slightly maniacal laugh falling past her lips when she managed to catch (Y/N) off guard and nail her in the side with a boulder. Toph had taken to using Aang’s ridiculous nickname after she realized how quickly she could get under Zuko’s skin with it. Payback for Zuko burning her feet, she had justified.

Coughing and sputtering from the blow, (Y/N) tried to deflect the question with a volley of rocks she’d been keeping suspended in the air long enough for Toph to half lose track of.

“Hey, that’s cheating!” Toph huffed indignantly, dodging the attack before shifting her feet and sending the slab of earth below (Y/N) tilting sideways.

“No, I just saw a weakness and used it,” (Y/N) laughed and leapt from her crumbling perch to position herself in the middle of the sparring area, knowing that Aang, Zuko, Suki, and Sokka were somewhere behind her. Toph wasn’t stupid, she knew (Y/N) was trying to get into a position that would make Toph go easier on her with their friends in the line of fire.

Oh (Y/N), you really think you’re clever, don’t you? Toph thought with a smirk as a plan formed in her mind, pressing her knuckles into the dirt and twisting them sharply. She felt (Y/N)’s growl before she heard it, knowing that the other girl hated when Toph locked her feet into the earth. This time, though, she kept her hold on the rock, sitting down and waiting for (Y/N) to answer her original question.

“Toph, c’mon!” (Y/N) whined, trying to free herself as Toph sat a few meters away laughing.

“Just tell me and I’ll let you go!” Toph called back, bending herself a chair from the earth with one hand while the other kept it’s grip on the rocks around (Y/N)’s ankles.

“You’re such a little jerk,” (Y/N) answered instead, looking around for something to help her. She was weak without being able to use her feet as her center, something Toph had been hounding her about forever.

“I thought best friends told each other everything,” Toph mocked as she felt the others stop fighting to watch the scene in front of them.

“Yeah, but you also told me you’d throw me off Appa because I took Momo’s seat last week,” (Y/N) replied, crossing her arms stubbornly. Toph was a stronger bender, but (Y/N) had more patience, knowing Toph could get bored or frustrated pretty quickly. That’s how they’d always been, ever since (Y/N) had been sent to live with her helpless, blind little cousin all those years ago.

“What’s going on?” Aang asked the pair, scootering over on a ball of air with a peeved looking Zuko trailing behind him.

“(Y/N)’s keeping secrets from me and acting like I won’t find out,” Toph accused, watching as Suki and Sokka joined the group. Katara, who had been assigned camp duties for the day, drew closer at the lack of fighting sounds.

“Toph,” (Y/N) warned, a sharp threat in her voice as the sound of a tree being pulled up at the roots echoed around the clearing as (Y/N) clenched her fists.

“Yes?” A challenge in her voice, her fist twisting further into the earth and sinking (Y/N) up to her waist in tightly compressed rocks.

“Enough.” Zuko stepped in between the pair, and Toph couldn’t help but notice the spike in his heart rate when (Y/N) dropped up to her shoulders in rock.

“Zuko, stay out of this. Toph’s just being a pain,” (Y/N) huffed, having a hard time breathing with the merciless press of dirt and rock around her chest.

He didn’t stay out of it of course, his heart beating faster than a bird's wings as he watched (Y/N) struggle in the ground. Toph thought the duo were nauseatingly oblivious.

She let out a frustrated growl and slammed her foot on the ground, sending Zuko sprawling flat out next to (Y/N) and encasing his hands and feet in earth.

“Fine. You can both stay here until one of you tells me, then.” Toph declared before standing and walking away from the pair. The rest of the group looked from Toph back down to their friends buried in the ground, and decided that maybe they didn’t want to end up stuck next to the pair. They walked off, promising to talk to Toph and have her fix this.

“Spirits, she’s such a little bastard,” (Y/N) mumbled, turning her head to look at Zuko. She blinked in shock, not expecting his face to be quite so close to hers. A tricky little bastard, the girl amended in her head.

“What were you two fighting about?” Zuko asked quietly, not having to speak much above a whisper with their proximity. Had his eyes always been so golden?

“She asked about what was going on between us,” (Y/N) answered, closing her eyes and turning her head away from him towards the sky. The sun pressed red kisses against her closed eyelids while the breeze played with her hair, making her feel for a moment that she was laid out next to Zuko in a spring meadow by choice instead of locked into the dirt by Toph.

“What did you tell her?” He kept his voice low, tone conspiratorial. He stared at (Y/N), the sun loving her throat and pressing kisses to her cheekbones. He thought, just for a moment, that Toph had done him a favor by locking him into this view.

A laugh, and then, “I didn’t tell her anything.”

“Why not?” He prodded, wishing (Y/N) would turn her head so he could… could what? He thought to himself, images of him wiggling closer and closing the distance between them flickering in his mind without warning. A warm blush crept up his neck at the thoughts, wishing he wasn’t so affected by their proximity.

“Because sometimes you need to let Toph think she holds all the cards so she’s a little less of a pain in the ass. And so she wouldn’t question what we really do when we spar,” (Y/N) whispered, opening her eyes and turning to face Zuko. She met his amber gaze immediately, a grin pulling at her mouth as she leaned closer to him, feeling the heat radiating off his body.

“Oh, you mean that thing where you torment me with your comments all day around camp and then try to play innocent when we’re alone?” Zuko huffed with a smile as he wormed his way closer.

“Hey, don’t get mad. I just saw a weakness and used it,” (Y/N) giggled as she leaned in towards him. Her gaze flickered briefly from Zuko’s eyes, to his lips, and then back to his eyes in a way that made him feel like the ground was falling out from under him. He leaned up to meet her halfway, falling just short of being able to seal their lips together. A soft groan from (Y/N) pulled a chuckle from Zuko’s throat, before his head flopped back down onto the packed earth.

“Such a little bastard,” he heard (Y/N) mutter a moment before her face contorted and rumbling from around them was heard.

Zuko’s hands and legs were freed from their earthen prison, letting him roll away only a second before (Y/N) rose up from her hole on a pillar of earth. She hopped down gracefully and brushed her clothes off before helping Zuko to his feet, that wild look back in her eyes.

“You couldn’t have done that earlier?” Zuko asked, brushing the dirt out of his hair.

“I can put you back, if you’d like,” (Y/N) hummed, stepping closer to him and giving him that sharp grin that sent his stomach fluttering.

“I’m fine right here, thank you,” he replied, a deep blush staining his cheeks as (Y/N) pulled him close and finally, finally, pressed her lips to his own in a slow kiss. He returned the kiss eagerly, loving the warmth of her hand cupping his jaw with gritty fingers as the other tangled in Zuko’s mop of hair.

The pillar she’d used to free herself moments before was now scraping against his back as (Y/N) traced a lazy trail of kisses along Zuko’s jaw. He let out a sound that was suspiciously close to a whimper and felt a thrill go up his spine at the glint of absolute trouble reflected in (Y/N)’s eyes when she pulled away.

“How long do you think we have until they realize we’re not stuck anymore?” She pondered, pressing delicate kisses up the side of Zuko’s throat and along the edges of his scar.

“Enough time to get a head start and cover our tracks.” His eyes moved deliberately to the forest away from camp, before flicking back to hers with a bashful quirk of his eyebrow. His breaths trembling, he tried to ignore how his nerve endings were alight with the feeling of (Y/N)’s lips on his skin.

“Very tempting, but I don’t feel like listening to Mother Katara yell at us for ‘running off and worrying the group,’” (Y/N) whispered back, pressing a kiss to Zuko’s chin before moving to pull away. His arms snaked around her waist quickly, locking her against him.

(Y/N)’s brows shot up in pleasant surprise at his actions. She had been the one to make moves from the start, more accustomed to touch that wasn’t soured by pain or anger. Zuko figured she’d like to have more physical affection from him, but the long nights spent untangling his emotions in return for a kiss were enough to keep her happy and moving at his pace. Zuko had been without a loving hand to hold for so long that he forgot how simple and sweet an embrace could be, how the pad of a thumb rubbing across bruised knuckles could soothe his aches better than any balm.

Feeling bold between the column of earth and (Y/N), Zuko leaned down to her height and pressed a gentle kiss against her lips, retreating before she could respond. The girl only grinned widely, wrapping her arms around his muscular torso. A puff of air left Zuko’s lungs as he was pulled into her strong arms, before tightening his own arms around her waist and pressing his face into the crook of her neck.

“We have to at least make Toph think nothing’s changed, or we’ll never hear the end of how she’s so right and it's everyone else who is really blind,” (Y/N) told him, pitching her voice in Toph’s bratty little sister voice she used when she won arguments.

“Let her. I’m tired of not being able to be like this whenever we want,” Zuko replied, his warm breath against the side of her neck sending a wave of goosebumps over (Y/N)’s skin. It shocked her in the most pleasant way possible to hear him say that to her, since they’d agreed to keep things quiet until he could figure out his emotions.

“Alright, but don’t say I didn’t warn you when she makes you wish you were hard of hearing,” (Y/N) laughed, nudging his head back up to face her. Her senses were filled with Zuko, the smell of smoke filling her nose as the heat from his body scorched a pattern into her heart. Their noses brushed once, twice; their lips a breath apart.

Before either could close the distance, Toph marched around their column of rock, almost slamming straight into them. In a breath, she was gone again, back the way she’d come.

“I knew it, I was so right! You losers are so blind!” She shouted to the others.

Her sudden appearance had shocked the pair apart, making (Y/N) quirk an eyebrow and pulling a rare grin from Zuko at the astounding accuracy of (Y/N)’s impression of Toph.

“Just remember, you brought this upon yourself,” (Y/N) laughed, turning to walk back to camp. Zuko’s hand shot out and grabbed her wrist, reeling her back in towards him so he could seal a lingering kiss against her mouth.

“I know, but that was worth it,” he hummed, walking alongside her back to camp, their fingers tangling together without a second thought.

[softluci]

atla hcs

i’ve been thinking about this for a minute, and i wanna do a set of headcanons for how i think the brothers (and eventually the undateables) would feel about certain avatar: the last airbender characters, or something along those lines. i actually just wanted to talk about lucifer and azula, so everything else here is a bonus. this doesn’t matter, but for what it’s worth: wherever the mc pops up, they will be gn, enjoy!

also: this kinda goes without saying, but there are most definitely spoilers in here. for which seasons? i don’t remember, i watched this show when i was nine, but proceed with caution if you have yet to watch it.

lucifer

if it’s one thing you are not gonna play with him about, it is princess azula. this man is an azula supremacist, and while he might not say those words exactly, anyone would be able to tell that’s the case if they talked to him about the show for longer than two minutes. he actually wasn’t even interested in the show until azula showed up, and he will readily admit this to anyone who inquires about it. what makes it funny is the fact that her first appearance is literally, like, ten seconds, so that means he saw her and immediately knew she was the best, which, like—real recognize real. is he projecting? am i projecting? yes, no. in that order. shut up.

he actually almost couldn’t hide how proud he was when azula almost killed aang, this man is deranged. the same way he takes her wins personally, he takes every loss of hers personally as well, so when she lost that agni kai? 🚶‍♂️ 

the average azula enjoyer believes azula should get a redemption arc, lucifer believes azula should simply get whatever she wants, and the difference between those two things is striking.

average azula enjoyer: i believe azula deserves to heal and redeem herself. it isn’t fair that she was left with her tyrannical, abusive father during formative years of her childhood, with no one to help her or show her what it means to be good. she cannot be blamed for the way she turned out. it especially isn’t fair that she gets no redemption for evil things she did at age fourteen, for a year, while the entire show is iroh’s redemption arc, and he was doing evil for decades—he is literally called “the dragon of the west” because of it. additionally—

lucifer morningstar, resident azula supremacist: everything azula did, she was right to do, because i would’ve done the same. there was never a point at which she was wrong, it’s just unfortunate that nobody could keep up with her, her father included. the only reason why she ended up losing, ultimately, is because this is a children’s show, and good is supposed to win out. it was plot armor. if this were realistic, she would’ve beaten everyone—at the very least, she would’ve beaten zuko in the final agni kai, it’s just that he broke the rules and brought backup. at the time of the agni kai, she was literally the strongest firebender in the show. that’s actually the only part of this lucifer is right about, but you can’t tell him that.

if you ask him what his favorite quote in the show is, he’ll immediately say, “i can see your whole history in your eyes. you were born with nothing, so you’ve had to struggle, and connive, and claw your way to power. but true power? the divine right to rule? is something you’re born with.” and he will do it so well that it’ll give you the chills. 

in actuality, his favorite quote is, “i’d really rather our family physician look after little zuzu, if you don’t mind.” it’s just that it doesn’t have the same chilling effect as the first one. 

does he like any other characters? does he even care about any other characters? he has a deep fondness for sokka because he reminds him of mammon.  yes, and they are katara and suki, with honorable mention to avatar kyoshi. 

does he hate any characters? no, but if you mention avatar kuruk or uncle iroh to him, he might get annoyed. is mildly frustrated by aang, but has the sense to cut him some slack for being twelve and the last of his kind. never speak of ozai.

mammon 

toph supremacist. frequent user of the phrase, “toph is just fucking class.” knows for a fact that toph is the best and strongest bender in the entire show, and no one has ever managed to convince him otherwise. mainly because nobody really disagrees. like, have you ever even seen toph slander?

just like lucifer with azula, he wasn’t invested in the show until toph showed up, which, once again, is funny, because technically her very first appearance is only a few seconds long, so that means he saw her for a literal second and just knew. you can’t even be mad at that, real recognize real. 

no one will ever see him more proud than when he’s talking about one toph beifong. he can’t get over her raw, unbridled talent, and he really never should. if you let him (so, if you’re levi), he will spend so much time analyzing her character and every single one of her strengths, from the fact that she’s the only one who knows when azula is lying, all the way down to the fact that even though she projects a tough persona, she can still be vulnerable, AND—

not only is she strong, but her personality is simply untouchable. this girl grows on literally everyone; like, even lucifer likes her, even though he’ll die before saying it out loud. 

he gets so smug whenever someone asks him who his favorite is and it’s because he knows his taste is top tier, and what makes it worse is that no one can even disagree because toph is just that good. 

will never admit it, but he was shaking and crying during the scene where it looked like toph and sokka were literally gonna die. was also gonna cry when toph almost drowned. basically: he is eternally grateful to suki. 

his favorite line in the entire show is, “i am the greatest earthbender in the world! don’t you two dunderheads ever forget it.” it’s just fucking class.

does he like any other characters? he sees himself in sokka, he’ll tell you that much. he also knows that satan and lucifer like sokka because of him, and he found out because he heard them talking about it. to their joint dismay, they turned to see him standing behind them, grinning like an idiot, and they couldn’t even scare him into leaving them alone when he hugged both of them at the same time because, one, they didn’t really want to, and two, they couldn’t turn off their fondness for him fast enough ^_^. did they reciprocate his hug? did they stay like that for a little bit? did lucifer kiss the tops of their heads? maybe so🤨

does he hate any characters? not really, but he doesn’t particularly like azula because she scares him and makes him sad, like lucifer and doesn’t see her appeal. once tried to make a case for why she shouldn’t have a redemption arc and felt painfully human from the way he almost died. do not mention toph’s parents to him. the name ozai should also never be on your tongue.

levi 

resident sokka enjoyer and suki appreciator. do not ever call sokka dumb in front of this man unless you want a proper lecture. unlike a few of his brothers, he doesn’t like sokka just because of his similarities to mammon. he also likes sokka because he relates to him on a personal level. 

levi absolutely knows what it’s like to feel inadequate and outshined by people younger than you. he absolutely knows what it’s like to feel like your competence is overlooked. while he might be unfamiliar with how it feels to strategize for a war and lose a battle, but it is one of his biggest fears and it absolutely crushed him to see sokka go through that. 

on a lighter note, levi has a deep appreciation for sokka’s comedic value, despite the fact that it can overshadow his intelligence. levi would actually venture to say that he likes sokka’s funnier side because it overshadows his intelligence to the point that it throws the opposition for a loop. this is the aspect of sokka that reminds him of mammon. 

it also seriously warmed his heart to see how everyone missed sokka while he was away for sword training; he especially liked that episode because it was just an affirmation of the fact that sokka is an integral part of team avatar, which he really needed to see. 

you know who else is an integral part of team avatar who needs to be recognized as such more often? suki. do you know how much pain levi is in every time he thinks about the lack of suki screentime . it’s a lot . suki is just too good for the amount of screentime she has, he’s sorry, but it’s true. this is evidenced by the scene of her literally running across prisoners’ heads to apprehend the warden of boiling rock. that scene speaks for itself—she and the other kyoshi warriors end up as zuko’s body guards for a reason. 

he will never let anyone forget that if it weren’t for suki, sokka would still be a misogynist. she was an essential element to sokka’s growth as a character and everyone had better remember it or so help him. also , he is a firm believer in the fact that suki was the best love interest for sokka, with zuko as a close second. don’t ask questions. rip yue but argue with the wall.

his favorite line in the series? 

“zuko’s gone crazy! i made a sand sculpture of suki, and he destroyed it! oh, and he’s attacking aang.” 

it’s not profound or cool or anything like that, but it makes him smile and giggle every time he thinks of it ^_^. 

does he like any other characters? he has a lot of love for toph and azula for the sole fact that the series improved exponentially after both of their introductions; he thinks both of them are in leagues of their own and seeing them in action just puts a smile on his face. he’s also inexplicably fond of king bumi. 

does he hate any characters? not particularly, actually! he pretty much respects and appreciates everyone, except the guy who mutilated his thirteen year old son for speaking out of turn.

satan 

just pick a girl. any girl. and from the way he talks about them, you’ll think they’re his favorite. he can and will go on about the girls of atla for the rest of eternity.

but since we’re being specific:

katara appreciator. azula enjoyer. basically, between him and lucifer, no tongue raised against azula shall prosper. he has a deep respect for each of their wraths. he also really must have a thing for angst because both of these characters just break his heart. 

if you let him (in other words, if you’re levi), he will go on about how it’s not fair that people call katara annoying when, in reality, she just hasn’t healed from the trauma of seeing her mother’s corpse at age eight, followed by having to take care of her village, meaning she got literally no time to grieve properly, and—

call katara annoying in front of him and you might actually have to meet god for your shallow views of such a deep, complex character. 

he will also go on and on about how katara would be the best bender in the show, if it weren’t for toph, who is untouchable. instead, he’ll talk about how katara almost killed pakku for being misogynistic and how she single handedly beat azula during sozin’s comet. you will frequently hear this man say, “katara aang’s master for a reason,” and he’s right. 

similar to if you call katara annoying, if you call azula scary in front of satan, he’s bullying you. he’s sorry, but it has to happen. no way you’re scared of a traumatized fourteen year old, what are you, eight? or do you have no understanding of azula’s depth? both are unacceptable. 

satan is the average azula enjoyer, times about seven. you simply won’t get away with speaking poorly of azula in front of this man, so if you’re like mammon and don’t like her, you better tread very carefully. 

one time mammon tried to be like, “azula is too far gone to deserve redemption anyways,” and satan literally reverted to his demon form as he said: “if i were abandoned with my terrible father as a child, with literally no one to help me, and then my friends betrayed me, and then, as i was about to be crowned ruler of my country, my dumb fucking idiot brother showed up with his dumb peasant friend for backup, which isn’t even allowed, i might be mad forever too, actually—” and then he threw the nearest chair at mammon for his criminally bad take.

another reason why satan loves azula so much is because he’s convinced she’s a lesbian and satan is the most “let’s go lesbians!!!” person you will ever meet. you actually can’t convince him that she isn’t a lesbian. forget chan. nobody gives a fuck about chan.

what’s his favorite line in the entire series? 

“trust me, zuko—it’s not going to be much of a match.” 

like, come on. katara is just too good. 

does he like any other characters (other than the girls of atla)? he’ll never admit it, but he has a lot of respect for sokka and a soft spot for him because he reminds him of mammon. he also has a lot of respect for aang because he reminds him of beel of how well he handled literally everything despite being twelve. 

does he hate any—yes. never speak of avatar roku. or iroh. or ozai. for good measure, don’t mention general zhao either. 

asmo 

what lucifer is to azula, asmo is to ty lee. like do i even have to say anything else. but for what it’s worth, he also love, love, loves azula because she reminds him of lucifer, from her strength and class, all the way down to her descent into madness. and even though she breaks his heart just as much as she does satan’s. he may or may not have cried over azula in satan’s room while they were talking about her. unlike lucifer and satan, he can respect it if you don’t like her, but it’ll make him so sad. 

but enough about azula. ty lee is where it’s at for him. her subtle strength and unwavering love is something to die for, and he will defend it against anyone, up to and including lucifer, and he’ll win too. asmo is not to be trifled with and neither is ty lee; he can make a strong argument as to why ty lee is the strongest character in the show, and you will have a very hard time trying to refute his points. (the main point being: it’ll be really hard to win a fight against someone who can paralyze you in a few seconds, bender or not.)

the fact that ty lee ran away from home because she was tired of the fact that nobody ever saw her as her own person is just something that tugs at asmo’s heartstrings. he thinks ty lee’s bravery is just something that can be so personal. 

also—he has a massive appreciation for the fact that, even though there’s a war going on and ty lee is in near-constant danger, she still has the sense to maintain her appearance and worry about the skincare of not just herself, but also people she’s close to. that is a detail he will never let anyone forget. 

never mentions it in front of lucifer but one of his favorite scenes is when she paralyzes azula to save mai. once again: ty lee’s bravery is just something that can be so personal. 

he doesn’t have a favorite line in the series, but his favorite exchange of dialogue is between ty lee and azula, wherein ty lee is trying to teach azula how to flirt. he thinks it’s the cutest thing in the world.

does he like any other characters? of course! he likes everyone ^_^ . you’d actually be hard pressed to find someone he hates. ozai. it’s ozai. he has a real soft spot for mai because she reminds him of belphie. something about their shared aversion to affection is just so cute to him!

beel

aang supremacist, will hold steadfast to the fact that aang is the best character in the show and you will struggle to figure out how to convince him otherwise. 

if you ask him why aang is his favorite, the first thing he will do is gesture to a picture of him and say, “look at the material,” like it’s the most obvious thing in the world, before diving into a ten minute in depth character analysis for this boy. 

come on. he shouldn’t even have to explain himself. not only is aang one of the strongest, most competent avatars to exist, ever, he also mastered all four elements in a year, when he was twelve—he’s literally a different breed. and he managed to beat ozai in his own way, without killing him, as a means of staying true to a culture that could have literally died with him at any point in the show. aang is just fucking class.

he also admires aang for his near unwavering kindness and lighthearted nature. and for never going berserk and killing everyone he sees, especially after finding out his people were killed while he was in ice.

you have no idea how much pain beel was in when he found out that the air nomads were just gone. seeing a child find out that not only their family is gone, but also the entirety of their people and culture, just absolutely broke his heart. and that guilt aang was feeling? hit way too close to home for him. 

he also thinks it’s really nice that aang was so quick to forgive zuko after everything, and the two of them ended up being really good friends. it just puts a smile on his face. 

after some reflection with levi, he would’ve liked to see the full scope of an airbender’s power in the series; as in, he would’ve liked to see someone suffocated, but it’s okay, because aang wasn’t like that.  and he heard it happens in the next series over.

anyway, beel’s favorite quote in the show...well, it isn’t really a quote, as much as it’s a dialogue between two characters. it’s the scene where toph asks, “do you really think friendships can last more than one lifetime?” and aang says, “i don’t see why not.” it could bring a tears to his eyes just thinking about it; and in the next series over when it’s proven to be true, he absolutely cried. 

does he like any other characters? he’s actually really fond of zuko and mai because they both remind him of belphie. he also likes sokka for the same reason lucifer and satan like sokka. he has a deep appreciation for katara because aang would literally be dead without if it weren’t for her.

does he hate any characters? well, he doesn’t really like azula. he feels bad for her, but he doesn’t like her. but as for who he hates? take a wild guess. 

belphie 

zuko makes him sob is his number one. yes zuko is his favorite because of his redemption arc, yes he sees himself in zuko, no he will not explain any further than that, what’s your point🤨

in actuality, he will never be able to properly articulate how important it is for him to see that redemption is, indeed, attainable, if you put the work in. in a similar vein, he will also never be able to give words to how important it is for him to see that forgiveness is also attainable.  it means the world to him. that is why it makes him cry. the feeling is overwhelming. i’m gonna cry if i think about it for too long.

he will cling to the fact that zuko is the best character in the show, and he will cling to it even when zuko embarrasses him by saying stupid shit like, “no lightning today?” and even when zuko is so awkward it causes him physical pain. that’s his number one and he’s not changing on it!

firm zukka supporter. will not argue. that’s all.

what’s his favorite line in the entire series? it’s one of the two you’re thinking of. make that decision for yourself.

does he like any other characters? he positively adores aang and will readily admit that it’s because he reminds him of beel. bonus points for aang because he also loves the dynamic between him and zuko. toph is a distant third, mainly because he just really likes her attitude. he looks at her and thinks, now this is someone who would not hesitate to kick lucifer’s ass. 

does he hate any characters? you better believe it. he hates iroh because he reminds him of dia. he can’t really bring himself to like azula because she makes him a different kind of sad. and if you know what’s good for you, you will never mention ozai. 

[pretendthatssomecoolname]

I'm so sorry, but I think I have just read that kataang is boring and they had no problems?!!!? I feel offended by this. So yes, I am going to prove the opposite thing, cause I can.

First of all what is boring to who is their opinion. And I don't argue with someone's opinion. I can have mine and we don't have to agree even if in my opinion someone's opinion isn't valid and the person has no arguments proving it.

*I'm sorry, I had to, I respect other people's opinion, I just had the urge to put it here, my opinion also can be a trash for someone*

Here goes the no problems part. As beforehand some people can say that we can discuss what the actual problem is, but still I think some things weren't helpful or neutral. They were something characters didn't want to happen and that's how I define the problem.

This is a post about problems Katara and Aang had to overcome and they did it so great, that people thought their problems didn't exist

Childhood trauma problem:

Katara didn't have an easy childhood. Everybody knows it, but I am going to repeat it. Her mother died when she was eight. She took her responsibilities in the village taking care of it, her brother and grandmother while being strong as hell, just like Sokka said in The Runaway:

When our mom died, that was the hardest time in my life. Our family was a mess, but Katara? She had so much strength. She stepped up and took on so much responsibility. She helped fill the void that was left by our mom.

She was also the last waterbender in the Southern Watertribe, which means a survivor of genocide, so she was carrying the legacy of her people. I think it cannot be a good thing for a child's psyche.

Now only a tip of an iceberg of Aang's trauma. He has lost his childhood due to avatar training. The boys from the temple have pushed him away not letting him play with them. Monks have decided to separate him and the only father figure he had - Gyatso. He woke up hundred years later, lost all the people he knew, his whole family, air nomads, and their traditions, becoming title last airbender. This is a lot to take and nobody has ever experienced something like that. And being able to smile and finding the benefits of a horrible situation means a lot of maturity and self-control, not immaturity. He knew he had a lot of things to do and couldn't break down right now...but that's a different topic.

Do some people know how hard is to find someone who can help you with your loss? How hard is it to find someone who can help you with the mess you feel? Dealing with the past is a problem. Not everything is perfect. They're messed up and have a lot of traumas. But together they just have felt better. Both of them had a hard past and it could be a problem to make a healthy relationship and not burden a partner. If someone thinks that, considering only childhood issues they had, they wouldn't have had any problems is pretty naive.

Then we have some issues that have been seen by us, from the show itself (not counting results of genocides):

Katara's trust issues - people she has met were mostly disappointment. Her first crush turned out to be a jerk. It may be stupid and not a lot of people think it can be a problem, but scarred by last relationship teenager might not be so eager to go to the next one. The one she chose for being with her has to be careful to not fail her trust that's why she chose aang, he disappears but always comes back right to her arms I have partly written about her trust issues here if you are interested.

The Avatar state - Aang was scared of himself in the avatar state and of things he could do. It followed him through his whole life. Even after mastering it. There could always be an accident. He never felt safe. He was probably worried that his family would be scared of him and the power he held. not me mentioning that katara was the only one who could bring aang back from it

The Attachment - Aang had to learn how to love Katara that much like he did, but also not to be attached to her and let her go. He felt so guilty for doing it, that he even murmured an apology 🥺

Aang's death - this is one of the hardest I think. It was something big for both of them. Katara has seen her best friend and maybe someone for who she has some feelings DYING AND LATER SHE BROUGHT HIM BACK TO LIFE! She spent weeks healing and she even started to hesitate her abilities! It was the worst stage of her journey (from comics lost adventures). Aang, after he woke up, thought he failed all the people that were believing in him. Again. He had to cover the only things that were connecting him with his traditions - his arrows and he even burnt his ancient glider!! Those were times when they collected a lot of anxious thoughts that didn't want to just go away. They needed time to heal from this. Do you ever think that Katara had to look at his scars, from one of the scariest moments of her life, every day and think what she could do to not let this happen? Or Aang scared that he would fail again?

Bloodbending - every full moon Katara had to deal with the power she didn't ask for. Being scared of herself and that she could hurt people close to her. That's some issue you have to be a pretty strong partner to help your love.

Masculinity - Aang for most of the time didn't feel offended by people telling him he is more feminine. That's who he is. But EIP probably sowed uncertainty that maybe he is not enough? Maybe he is not the man she needs?

Here I have something about whole avatar being and my speculations of their problems in teenage years and adulthood:

Restoring balance and peace to the world of war.

Losing teenage years due to politics.

Protective older brother and father; a friend that can feel your every move.

Being in a relationship and doing your duties.

Having a family that mixes two really different cultures.

The pressure of having (airbending) kids.

Every move is watched by a lot of people.

Dealing with each other's fans.

Dealing with their kids being different benders and nonbenders.

Finding time for all the above!!!

I think, that maybe they were also people against their mixed marriage, or wanted Aang to have more children, or to be married to one of the air acolytes? Just a thought nothing important, but still, something possible.

And I know it's not everything! They had a lot of daily problems, but they were happy and comfortable because they had each other! It all was worth it! It's weird that some people actually think that they were boring or they didn't have problems with all of it (and more) going on. Is their relationship boring because they are healthy and love each other more than anything else? you're weird people

Their problems, smaller and bigger, have come out not from them, but from the surrounding world. I like this type of relationships because they're strong and beautiful.

I think I proved my point. Yes, yes you can still disagree because there wasn't a love triangle or breakup. But if you think about it, isn't it great that they found each other at such a young age, so they could be together for every hard moment and being able to know each other well enough so they could communicate without words?

Thank you for reading 💞 I hope I don't sound mean or offending

[forgotten-daydreamer]

"The Last Airbender" honest commentary by me

-> I remember I watched this once, when I was something like 12, and I think my mind FORCED me to forget about it, and now that I'm 20 I feel the urge to watch it again. I saw clips on YouTube so it's not like I know nothing at all, but very very little. I'm honestly scared. I'll point out the things that I like too, if I find something like it. So... bring it on.

---

What is that gibberish in the background even supposed to mean? As someone who studies Japanese I am deeply disappointed. "But A:TLA's words are in Chinese!!" yes. But, for those who don't know, Japanese imported them as kanji so I can recognize them even if I don't speak Chinese, for these characters are written in the same way, even if pronounced differently. Or, well, I could recognize them if this gibberish meant anything. But it doesn't.

Not a fan of the prologue written onscreen as Katara reads it aloud (I suppose it's her?) to be honest. Especially when it's in... English. At this point why not changing that ugly gibberish into the English translation of the words? It would've made more sense, even if it doesn't.

Katara and Sokka sure are very... huh... White. Watching the racism and whitewashing jump out is too painful. Damn, I'm already upset with this movie and I'm only 2:35 minutes in.

A:TLA Sokka would never raise a finger on his sister- never in a million years. This dude straight up grabbed her arm! Not. Cool. Dude.

"I thought about Mom, isn't that strange..?" no Katara, it really isn't. She's your dead mother, it's not strange to think about her. That sentence just seems forced, it's got nothing to do with what's happening.

Okay, Sokka following his father's teachings is actually accurate, nice one.

I take it back. Sokka, what the actual fuck- why would you break the ice right under your feet?? A:TLA Hakoda would be very disappointed.

Oh, look, Aang's white too. How surprising.

Katara, the kid just woke up from a coma, stop asking him a thousand questions, cut Aang some slack!

Acting skills sooo not on point. Maybe the actors are actually good, and maybe it's just the dialogues that are... off. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and see how it goes.

I apprecciate the effort of trying to make Aang's tattoos look "cool" but next time, please don't.

This camera work is giving me a headache. The angles keep changing rapidly with no reason, and sometimes the camera's too close to the actors... Who did this?

Are Katara and Sokka the only white people in their village? I'm... confused.

"I am Prince Zuko." uh???? Where's your scar? Come on, that is literally one of the main points around which his story revolves, you can't just not put it there. I'm so upset.

Oh... that's the scar? Dude, I have a worse scar on my knee, I'm not even joking.

Of course Katara and Sokka's grandma is white, makes sense. So there's three white people in this village while everyone else is Asian, from what I saw. So it's okay to cast Asians as extras but not as the main characters? Holy shit, this movie is so problematic already.

Zuko, for fuck's sake, stop yelling. Aang's right in front of you, you two are, like, three inches apart. Stop screaming!

Firebenders need firepits to draw fire from..? Just bring a flamethrower with you next time, it'd be more efficient than your attacks anyway...

I'm not even 11min in and I want to stop already. I can't endure another 1:30h of this. I'm not strong enough.

"[Our mom] would have fought!" she didn't, that's the whole point. She surrendered to protect you, Katara, and the others. I get that the producers changed the story a little, it's normal, but- you can't change these things.

These dialogues... I want to rip my ears off. So little logic, so little pathos, such a poor timing- I want to cry.

Okay, this Iroh seems pretty similar to A:TLA's, thank goodness they didn't mess him up too much.

That is NOT how you pronounce Iroh!! I was a fool to think that there was one character that hadn't been completely ruined in this movie.

Nice nod to Hama, not bad.

Grandma casually has a map next to her when she needs it... Okay, I guess.

The scene on the ship- I'm speechless. Negatively speechless. I want to wash my eyes with bleach.

I love how Zuko just watches Aang fly away, like- "oh, there he goes". A:TLA Zuko would've jumped into the freezing ocean and swam toward him if he had to.

I can't get over their pronunciation of Aang. Ahng? Ohng? What is the reason behind this- why did they change it? He's literally the main character, you just don't do that.

With all due respect, the CGI is bad. I get that this movie is kinda old, but... No. There are older movies with better special effects. Low budget, maybe? I don't know.

"Souuka and I-" it's Sokka. Not Souuka. Sokka.

Zhao is hateful and annoying, which is accurate. I miss the ugly sideburns though.

Iroh calmly sipping tea while Zuko kicks ass- spot on, I can't deny that.

I hate Sokka so much. He's completely out of character, too annoying, uncharacteristically angsty and so boring. How can someone completely mess up a cool character like him?

"There is earth right beneath your feet"... oh my God, for real? Wow, how did they not notice that sooner...

"It's time for you to stop doing this!" reminds me of that one vine with the kid that yells "whEn wiLL yOu LeArN tHAt yoUR aCTioNs hAve ConSeqUEnceS!?", I don't know why.

Katara pushes a Firebender. She pushes him. He could burn her to a crisp and she- okay, you know what, I'm just going to ignore it.

Again with the firepits, I can't even-

It takes six Earthbenders to lift the rock the size of a chair..? And they also have to make a little dance to do that..?

The extras in the background don't even move- guys, at least pretend to dodge or be afraid, or cower backwards, don't just observe while you stand still looking as if you were glancing at the horizon.

Literally everyone in this movie is portrayed by Asian and Middle Eastern actors except for the main characters... Who allowed this, who said that this was okay? Seriously, who. Please, fire this person.

If Aang can't bend the other elements, what was that on Zuko's ship? Were the fire, the rock and the water acting up because Aang was there? It makes no sense.

"Avatars can't have a family." are you sure? 'Cause Roku did, even Wan (and Korra, after Aang) in a way, and many other Avatars too, I'm sure. That's not why he ran away, not at all.

Again with the fake Chinese characters... I mean, I think they were trying to imitate Chinese cursive writing, but... The lines are so straight, so stiff, so clean- there is no way that authentic cursive looks like that. Have you ever seen Japanese cursive? The characters are unrecognizable, but the lines are fluid and curved, not like that.

The scene with Katara and Aang practicing by the river confuses me because- I don't see any water being bent. Is it just me? I'm serious, maybe I just didn't see it..?

Ozai asking about Zuko and acting mildly concerned and almost caring is off-character. It makes it look like he feels guilty, when A:TLA Ozai does not. Also, let's say that this Ozai feels guilty, why doesn't he just welcome his son back, then? But he doesn't, 'cause he indirectly says so, so it makes no sense.

More gibberish. Please, stop. Don't do that again. I beg you.

"-sentenced to Agni KEE." goddamn it. Agni KAI. Not KEE. KAI! Why is that so hard for these people to say things right?

I still don't see any Waterbending. Are they just moving randomly? Are the practicing without actually bending the water..?

Oh, alright, now there's water moving, that's better. Still, so many movements for a little stream of water being lifted in the air- almost like that dance the Earthbenders did earlier. Seems excessive.

Is that monstrosity supposed to be Appa? Why is his face so- human? Oh Spirits, forgive them!

Again with this "I can have no family." thing- did the producers even watch the whole show or just read the summary of Wikipedia?

You know what, the Blue Spirit mask is accurate, in a way. Old masks used to have wigs attached sometimes, so it's not as bad as it seems. His stance though- that's a big no.

Zuko's swords don't actually hit anything most of the times he swings them around- just saying.

"What is this?". Ugh, Zhao, Aang's an AIRbender. Get it? AIR. So he is moving the AIR. I mean, you know he's an airbender, why are you acting surprised that he can redirect the wind?

Yue's white too... I checked online, and I discovered that the actress has Mexican origins: this has nothing to do with Asia and the Middle East so I personally consider this as a desperate attempt to include diversity- as if there were no actual Asian and Middle Eastern actors out there, but fine, I guess. What was I expecting at this point? Oh, I also know that this actress is Asami's V.A. which doesn't change much but since I like Asami I'll pretend to like this Yue too, a bit.

Extra™ moves to create a 10ft tall tornado... Okay, Aang, you're the boss.

Pakku is white too, hm? I don't know what to say anymore. Should I just stop pointing out this cast is so, so wrong? Probably. Will I? No.

Sokka's face when Yue tells him her hair's white because she was stillborn- that is the only realistic face he's done so far. Also, Yue's acting is not that off, and I actually like it! She's better than others.

More waterbending without water. Budget cuts.

I take that back, Yue is basically smiling when Sokka tells her that the Fire Nation is there, like, come on! Yue, I believed in you...

The dialogues are so fake, nobody talks like that! I'm sure that this is among the reasons why the actors seem incapable of doing their job- I'm sorry for these people, maybe the poor performance is not entirely their fault.

I'm trying to figure out what's up with Zuko's hair, and I'm not talking about the fact that it doesn't grow where the scar is, that's normal. What bothers me are those spikes he has on the front and on the back- or whatever they are. I am confused. Better than ponytail!Zuko, worse than all the other haircuts he had in A:TLA.

Zuko's actor is the best one in this movie so far, in my opinion. He's believable. He yelled a lot in the beginning, but now (1:12h in) he's not that odd.

How to understand when a scene has been not thought through: when characters don't do something that normal people would do. Zuko throws fire at Aang when he tries to escape, and then he just stands less than ten feet apart as Aang hides- he watches him, he stands there like "okay, I can't attack you now because the script says I'm not supposed to". Then do not include him in the shot! Or, at least make him say something- no, he just stands there and watches as his enemy is literally three seconds away from him. He could reach him with a little leap, without even running!

They showed Azula for a split second in the Agni Kai scene and then Zuko mentioned her once. Is that all? I hope to see her more, even a little something. Not including her would be a huge waste.

I don't ever want to see Appa again. So ugly he's scary. Who is the person that created the CGI for our amazing flying bison that we fell in love with? This isn't Appa, it's... Something else, something terrible.

The scene where Yue passes out when Zhao kills the Spirit- the secondhand embarrassment is real there. I had to look away, it's so bad.

This Zhao is maybe the most out of character person in this movie, and it's hard to beat Aang and Sokka so that sure is something...

If they say "Souuka" one more time I'll cry. I'm serious. I'll do it.

Alright, alright, the scene where Aang saves the day is pretty cool, I liked it, despite the questionable CGI.

Why do Katara and Sokka keep Aang upright by gripping his upper arms so tightly? That hurts! There are different ways to do that, less painful and more efficient.

Ozai looks like he has no idea of what he's talking about, he looks like me when I read maths.

There she is, Azula!! Wait- are we seeing her again?

...okay, we're not.

---

What can I say... Disastrous. No cabbage man, literally only five seconds of Azula, everyone is out of character, bad casting, bad pronunciation, gibberish wannabe Chinese characters, odd CGI... Everything is wrong.

[royaltealovingkookiness]

@zutaraweek Prompt: Found.

Summary: Katara is snooping around, looking for trinkets that help her solve the Zuko-Puzzle. Ember Island days, canon compliant. Read on AO3 or below.

“What do you think you’ll find up there?” Suki asks as Katara heads again to the dusty attic, laced with cobwebs. 

It is a good question. Katara mutters something about pots and pans, ignoring Suki’s amused smile. Of course, the kitchen in the summer house is the best-equipped Katara has ever seen in her life, and yes, she’s been cooking for the team with nothing more than a clay rice-pot for the last couple of months. Also, it’s not her first visit to the attic. Or the second. Or the third.

The royal vacation home is full of trinkets. Some of them really useful, like the colourful paper lanterns that now adorn the patio or the parasols that come handy on the beach.  

But it’s the other things that draw Katara back; objects that tell a story about Zuko. And now that they’ve become friends, Katara is eager to learn more.  

-0-

The cedarwood-chest is full of Zuko-memorabilia, no doubt carefully collected by his mother. There are strands of silky hair tied together with ribbons, baby-teeth sewn into an ornate pocket, tiny handprints in clay.

Katara opens something that looks like a school-report:

Could do better in his lessons if he were less prone to daydreaming.

Shows great talent in all fields of athletics. 

Great aptitude for music. Can read notes proficiently and sing clearly. His interest should be nurtured further…

Katara smiles as she imagines him as a schoolboy. She pictures a young boy with dreamy eyes. 

A handful of tiny red papers, rolled into cylinder shapes grab her attention. She unrolls one randomly. It’s a prayer, written in the clumsy scribbles of a child. 

Agni, please give me bigger sparks. I think Father might like me more if you did. 

Katara feels like she’s intruding on something entirely too private, so she rolls back up the tiny scroll and puts it back in the box. 

Maybe she could just ask Zuko, but he rarely volunteers any private information. He trains Aang, does his share of the chores, hangs out with the group mostly quietly, sometimes making the effort to butcher one of his uncle’s jokes. Katara wonders if it’s painful for him to be back in this place, conspiring to bring his own father down. For the first time she admits to herself that he’s not in an enviable position.

-0-

The objects serve as conversation-starters. The first thing she brings to him is the drawing of a dragon; made in red and gold ink with bold strokes. The proportions are all wrong, but the eyes of the dragon are strangely expressive. Pain and compassion.

“Did you draw this?” she asks curiously.

A small, wistful smile forms on Zuko’s lips as he turns the paper around. “Yeah. I was trying to explain to Azula what the dragons in my dream looked like.”

“You are quite talented.”

He playfully puts his fingers on his lips. “Don’t tell Sokka, he’ll challenge me to a painting kai.”

Katara promises to keep it as their secret. It feels nice to have a secret to share.

-0-

“Did you make these?” She scatters colourful paper-animals on the steps during the training break. He picks up a badger-frog and makes it skip. 

“Some of it. Mum taught Azula and me. You see? Those perfect ones are hers.” There is barely disguised bitterness in his voice. His sister’s perfection seems to be a permanent shadow he still struggles with. “I probably made all the crooked ones.”

Katara picks up a fire-hawk from the crooked pile. “Can you teach me this one?”

“Sure, it’s not that hard,” he nods. 

He folds the paper in deep concentration, his tongue sticking out from the effort. It makes him look like a kid. The folds are perfectly aligned. Katara copies his movements carefully. 

The others all gravitate towards them, first watching, then joining in. Even Toph insists on having a go, letting Zuko guide her hands through the motions to make a lotus. 

Sokka -  who else - suggests a frog-jumping competition, adding extra folds to upgrade his design. Instead of jumping, his frog spins around madly, which inspires new and even more extravagant designs. Soon, the steps are covered with mythical creatures, monsters and strange animal hybrids. Most of them crooked. Nobody really cares. Laughter echoes among the old pillars; Zuko’s chuckles melding into the group’s merriment.

-0-

“I really like this one.” She picks up one of the kites. It’s blue like the sea, decorated with a sea-lion. 

His eyes turn sad. “It was Lu Ten’s.”

Katara has no idea who he’s talking about, but the heaviness of his voice implies a tragic story. She waits patiently. Zuko pulls his fingers along the reed crossbars. “My cousin, Uncle’s son. He died in the war.”

“I’m sorry. Were you close?”

“He was older than me and he knew the best games. He taught me to sneak around, to wrestle, to fly kites,” Zuko smiles, lost in good memories. “I wish he was still alive, things would be different…” ha adds quietly. 

Before Katara has a chance to ask what he means, Aang interrupts with an enthusiastic yell. “These are some great kites. I haven’t flown one in a century!” 

Inevitably, Sokka appears to examine them. Ten minutes later, the entire group is down by the beach flying kites. Zuko is running close to Aang to get the airbending boost. He’s holding the string of Lu Ten’s kite, the blue silk is flying impossibly high.

-0-

Katara drags out a heavy box full of instruments. The tsungi horn is on top.

“Can you play this thing?” she asks, thinking of the old school report.

“A little,” Zuko replies shortly, keeping his eye on Aang’s movements as he drills the new set.

Aang perks up immediately and stops practicing. “I love music.”

“You have firebending practice to do,” Zuko replies strictly. He’s relentless with Aang.

“Come on, Zuko. Practice, practice, practice. I never get to have any fun anymore,” Aang pouts.

Zuko looks at Katara. Positive reinforcement, her lips form the words silently. It’s an argument they have had quite a few times.

“I’ll tell you what. If you can do this set perfectly by the end of the day, we’ll do music night,” Zuko offers.

Aang restarts his practice more enthusiastically, his concentration and form are perfect. As the sun starts to disappear on the horizon, Zuko declares the set mastered. 

He puts the horn to his lips and starts playing, eyes closed. The courtyard grows quiet. The music sounds both strange and beautiful to Katara’s ears. Clearly, he knows more than a little.

-0-

One early morning she drags a surf-board to the beach, where Zuko sits in quiet meditation waiting for the sunrise. The others are still sleeping in the house. 

“Do you know how to use it?”

“Don’t tell me you want me to teach you,” Zuko looks at her in confusion. 

“Actually, I had something else in mind.” Katara bends her own surfboard and spins around on top of the wave. “Come on, the water is delicious.”

Zuko watches her with a skeptical expression, but he picks up the surfboard and starts to paddle in deeper. Katara gives him a big boost with a wave of her arm. “That’s really neat,” laughs Zuko. 

Balancing himself on the board, he starts moving with the waves. He’s not half-bad for a firebender. Every once in a while, Katara sends him on a spin. On the first two tries, he ends up under the water, but by the third attempt he figures out the rhythm of her bending and moves with it. They chase the waves in the rising sun, their laughter carried by the water. 

Katara collapses in the warm sand, the dancing waves coursing inside her veins, making her feel alive. Zuko soaks in the rising sun, covering his feet in sand. 

“This was fun,” Katara giggles. 

“Last time I was out there, Azula set my surfboard on fire because I won some stupid game we were playing,” he notes. He doesn’t make it sound like anything out of the ordinary, but rather a regular occurrence. Just a normal day in the family. Katara’s stomach squeezes painfully at the thought of growing up like that, constantly watching your back, wondering if your family really hates you. 

He shakes his head, as if to get rid of the bad memories and smiles at her. “But surfing with a water-bender is certainly an experience I never knew I needed.” There is no sarcasm in his voice. “It’s great to have you guys here. It makes this place come alive again.”

Katara nods. “We all love it here, you know. Sokka swears it’s the best place in the entire world.”

“Maybe, after...after this is all over, we could come here for a real vacation.” His voice is a bit shy and hesitant, as if he feared they would turn him down. As if he still didn’t believe that they are friends now.

Katara for one can’t think of anything better than winning the war and taking a long holiday on Ember Island. “That would be great, Zuko.” 

She puts her hand on top of his. He watches it intently, like a painter trying to commit to memory every detail. After a long beat of silence he pulls away his hand.

“I’d better wake up Aang,” he says and heads back towards the house. 

Katara leans back against the old, battered surf-board, enjoying the last quiet minutes of the morning. 

She thinks that after breakfast, she’ll go back to the attic. These objects are part of the puzzle, through them she’s found the real Zuko. But maybe there are more layers to be found. And maybe, through all this, he’s found something too.

[elrondsscribe]

No ATLA shipping wars, please. There is room for ALL the ships.

So I’m sure anyone who’s been tracking me lately knows that I’ve been all up in Avatar: The Last Airbender ...

And I must say, after checking out the tags, I am TERRIFIED to speak my mind about ANY of the ships I like!! Like, I don’t want to be thought of as a poisonous Supporter Of That Which Is Toxic And Problematic because I did or didn’t gel with one ship or other. Spoilers under the cut.

See, I’m always the kind of fan that nobody likes: I’m the MCU fan that appreciates Steve and Tony; I’m the Star Wars fan that loved all nine Episodes. So when I say that I sail literally all of the ships because all of them hit me in different kinds of feels, well, y’all know to expect this from me.

(I should say at this point that the only thing I’m considering ‘canon’ for the purposes of this conversation is A:TLA; no LoK or comics is relevant here.)

(Also, can I just say what a wonderful change of pace it is to be in a property where, at least in the generation of our ‘mains,’ there seem to be more named, developed female characters??)

So I’m gonna start out with saying: I like the canon pairings as they stand! Kataang, Sukki, and Maiko being the main ones, obvs. However, I also like all kinds of AU pairings too!

Like Zutara - I mean, I can hardly say anything here that ten thousand others haven’t already said better, but their journeys do parallel each other in a lot of significant ways, and I think that, by the end of the show, they do legitimately share enough to have the foundations of a good relationship, if as a fanwriter you wanted to go there. You could make much of the poetry of their differences (”you rise with the moon, and I with the Sun”), and/or really develop their existing ability to safely be the ‘splash zone’ for each other’s turmoil. Besides, I think Katara’s mothering fussbudget energy would be a great thing for Zuko, and there’s a gentleness to her that he’d find healing.

{Now, I’ve seen a lot of comparisons between Zutara and Reylo, made by people who either want to demean or defend both ships. I’ve also seen these comparisons soundly trashed by people who like one, but not both, of these ships. As someone who never has had strong feelings either for or against Reylo, and as someone who loves Zutara but not exclusively, my response to all of that drama is a big old shrug of my shoulders. So don’t come at me screaming about Reylo, either to stan or cancel. Please just don’t.}

Also I don’t know a good way to say this, but you know how some people just can’t seem to resist reading Zuko and/or Sokka as gay? Well, I can’t stop reading Mai as lesbian; I don’t know why.

I don’t know which pairing Taang is. If it’s Aang/Ty Lee, omg yes!! Kill me with all the sparkles and rainbows! I already want to eat them both up. More seriously, I think Aang’s peaceable temperament would be a really welcome change in her life, after Zuko’s turmoil and Mai’s ice and Azula’s, well, Azula-ness. She’d probably just love Aang’s aura :) 

If Taang is Aang/Toph, well, we’ve observed that our flighty lil’ Aangster could use a grouding influence :) I don’t know who on Tumblr pointed it out, but Toph is the last person in the world to fangirl over Aang, which seems to be very good for him, while also not clipping his wings. While I do believe they’d be the kind of couple to quarrel and, at times, drift apart from each other (she’s incredibly rooted while he’s the embodiment of a free-spirit), for some reason I can easily see them finding each other again. There’s a scene in my head, one where an adult Aang is faced with the necessity of a sacrifice play that he might not come back from, and instead of tearfully trying to convince him not to do it, Toph says, “Go get ‘em, Twinkletoes.”

[And if you ship Zutara alongside Aang/Toph, you could have a fanfic where you did a Parallel, with Two Ships Of Opposite-Power-Benders. I’d be a fan!]

Now I’ve seen Sokkla floating around too, and I must say that this intrigues me, especially the way that this ship is connected to ideas about the redemption of Azula. I’ve seen some people being really upset that Azula never got a redemption arc in the show, but c’mon guys. A redemption arc for Azula would have taken a long-ass time - it would’ve been awesome, but it would’ve taken a long-ass time, definitely longer than a fourth season, I think. But if you were going to go with a combination of a redemption arc and a ship for her, Sokka would be a great idea. I don’t think Azula knows what fun and merriment are, and who knows those things better than Sokka?

[Honestly, that’s the thing about shipping Sokka with anyone: he would bring them laughter.]

But enough about the het AU ships, let’s talk about the gay ones!

Zukka would be the most prominent example, of course. The rapport that Zuko develops with Sokka over ‘The Boiling Rock’ is beautiful to behold (jokes about ‘that’s rough, buddy’ aside), and heaven knows Zuko needs someone to teach him how to laugh.

And remember how I said that I somehow can’t see Mai as straight? Well, I also can’t stop shipping her with Azula (don’t know the ship name for this one, but I know it exists). Obviously this ship would have more than an edge of ownership and manipulation about it, but they’re so deadly radiant and it’s like I can’t look away from them.

And Ty Lee is just so adorable and sincere (even with all the buried sadness) that shipping her with almost any of the other girls just makes my heart melt. Especially Katara, who would just cuddle the hell out of her whenever she’s feeling down. Or even Azula, who would totally own and work her but also, like, dazzle her. Main exception being Suki - for some reason, my head goes all kinds of hot, dirty places when I imagine Suki and Ty Lee sparring.

However, all this being said, I still have love for the canon ships that we got.

For example, like I said, I do ship Kataang, and I think together they’re incredibly sweet, but I also think that Katara’s tendency to hover and Aang’s tendency to (literally and metaphorically) fly away from/float above problems would jointly become a not-inconsiderable hurdle in a long-term relationship. Now I’ve observed couples in real life with similar dynamics, and I’ll stick out my neck and say that I consider this a workable hurdle, especially if both Katara and Aang grow in maturity and interpersonal understanding as they get older.

Similarly with Maiko: we see that, where Zuko’s emotions tend to run fire-hot, Mai’s tend to run ice-cold; we saw a clear example of these tendencies really clashing with each other. And Mai’s way of showing Zuko affection does seem to have genuinely perplexed some people who watched the show, to the point that they didn’t read it as affection at all. But again, drawing on what I’be observed, some couples really do develop a ‘love code’ that they understand even if literally no one else does. I don’t see any indication of either Mai or Zuko actually ill-using the other; and I will always stan this line from Mai when she made her big choice: I love Zuko more than I fear you.

As for Sukki - well, you already know. Sokka definitely grew and healed a lot from it, but I don’t think the trauma of being unable to protect Yue is one that will ever truly leave him. And as much as Suki understands him, I do think Sokka’s protectiveness will sometimes grate on her. She’s a motherfucking warrior-chieftain. And yes, this can definitely shape into a relational problem, but not one that can’t be worked around.

So ... TLDR, I love all the ships, and refuse to be part of the anti drama.

[ink-beneath-her-fingernails]

AtLA Rewatch Notes 1x01

so I was taking notes while rewatching yesterday and I needed somewhere to dump them so,,

heads up I’m probably gonna do this for the full series

also: potential spoilers for full series (key word here is rewatch, folks)

also this has little to no coherency and is essentially just a stream of consciousness and stray thoughts

ngl i still love this intro

THEY’RE JUST!! BABIES

this art style has just always instantly grabbed me

I know ppl have talked about this before already but sETTING UP THEIR ENTIRE ARCS IN THE FIRST LIKE SIXTY SECONDS POST INTRO

does anyone else wonder who Hakoda’s dad was since a grandfather was never mentioned and Kanna didn’t marry Pakku or

catch Katara yelling instructions but not trying to help at all?? she grows honey

catch Sokka being a sexist jerk?? he grows honey

YES KATARA GO OFF

ok but Katara’s growth from her anger causing such extreme, large, accidental incidents as splitting a wholeass glacier down the middle to causing extremely intentional, purposeful, small and complex things like stopping all the rain in the area in its tracks and bloodbending someone to their knees

like,, we been knew but they can all be absolutely terrifying if they want to

how many times do you think Zuko traveled through the South Pole and the world?? I know Iroh could just be using an expression and not be serious when he says ‘we’ve been down this road before’ but the Gaang did pretty much travel the entire world over in less than a year, and Zuko’s been searching for three??

no one ever taught Aang about ‘stranger danger’ huh

Sokka going from freaking out when Appa sneezes on him and frantically trying to wipe it off on the ground vs. Sokka climbing into Appa’s mouth and just kinda chillin when he’s drooled out alsldfkdskj

“midnight sun madness” makes me think,,, do y’all think Katara and Sokka at some point realized that most other places in the world have both day and night on the regular throughout the whole year and were like. what.

like I mean yeah they probably knew but it’s a lot different knowing and actually experiencing y’know??

like when they see Omashu they’re like “they have buildings here that don’t melt??” and like. yeah they probably already knew that those were a thing but it’s such a new thing for them

(also off topic but that line didn’t really make sense bc yeah Omashu was one of the first cities/villages/towns they went to w people living in it with buildings that didn’t melt but it wasn’t the first? that was Kyoshi Island man)

also do you think they got to the North Pole and were like. It’s not supposed to be this sunny/dark out at this time of year?? What hemisphere are y’all livin in lmao

“...oh wait”

is there even proof that the atla world isn’t flat

Aang acting vs. Aang lying

I mean ngl he kinda sucks at both but there’s still a significant difference in skill level

like when he took on that role to get into Omashu vs. when he tried to convince Katara he didn’t know what happened to the avatar

but I mean he’s kind of right when he says “i didn’t know him”?? Like he never got the opportunity to learn what that role meant for him or really get to know himself very well because he is just twelve yo

also yes Aang has nightmares love the reminders that this bby is terrified and anxious and overwhelmed by the whole situation even before he becomes traumatized and gets all his Big Responsibilities isn’t that fun

do y’all ever think about what happened to the little kids in their village?? no?? just me? ok

also when Gran-gran essentially gives her approval to go to the North Pole she knew what they were getting into for when they got there didn’t she? she knows what their customs are like and that there’s a high chance they’re going to run into Pakku, doesn’t she? so either she’s hoping that they’ve made some progress (and maybe they have, it’s just still not far enough) in the time that she’s been gone, or she’s counting on Katara putting them in their place and earning their respect and Sokka backing her up

and in that case

we stan tbh

KATARA RECOGNIZING THAT BENDERS OF DIFFERENT ELEMENTS CAN LEARN A LOT FROM EACH OTHER EVEN BEFORE WE LEARN THAT LESSON FROM IROH

I love how easily and subtly they’re fleshing out the magic system in the very first ep w Iroh training Zuko and Aang explaining his glider to the kids

I love the idea of penguin sledding but it,, seems lowkey terrifying and unethical

“I haven’t done this since i was a kid” BABY NO

AANG IS RIGHT YOU STILL ARE A KID

“...and a very bad memory for my people” like I know this seems like such a throwaway line and doesn’t seem like much especially w all the other fire navy ship content but this is lowkey great setup for Hama’s memories… like nobody would want to remember that or talk about it so it makes sense that they never really discuss it until then but it really was horrible and when you see Hama’s story just that little thing in the back of your mind clicks and with just this one little scene so much earlier that most of us probably forget about it’s less holy shit plot twist what a surprise didn’t see that coming and more kind of like just a very sobering, horrible ...oh. and I think that that carries a lot more weight.

“If you wanna be a bender, you have to let go of fear” but just,, how well that sets up his dilemma with firebending and Katara breaking him out of that... he taught her that lesson first, and then she made sure he remembered it. also,,, The Guru foreshadowing?? (nah I’m probably just looking too far into it but whatever)

ok wait but she said “since Gran-gran was a little girl” so is she just kind of exaggerating or did Kanna move there post-raids and it really was technically since before she got there?

in which case do you think that’s part of why she didn’t think Pakku would follow her there, bc there were no benders anymore, or only a couple? And do you think that’s part of the reason Pakku didn’t? Like it seems like they haven’t had much contact with them at all, maybe they had no idea how bad it was at all and kind of assumed at the time that, why would she go to their sister tribe when it’s constantly under attack and basically on the verge of decimation? There are so many other places she could’ve gone, and he would’ve had no idea which one she would’ve chosen, because why would she go to both the most obvious choice and the least logical option? (Which also brings up the question of would/did he try to follow/look for her at all??) ((I’m not tryna make excuses for him at all but I like thinking about the thought processes and logic))

[justsomewritingblogg]

Avatar: TLA  (Part 15 of many)

Request:  None

Requested By:  Nobody

Pairing:  Zuko x reader

Summary:  The Swamp

Warnings:  Some sadness!  Mentions of death

A/N:  Zuko’s in chapter 18, folks!

Word Count:  4K+

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

Flying over a large swamp in silence was not what you’d consider a good time.  Katara was looking at the map, Sokka was sharpening his weapon, and Aang was sitting on Appa’s head, though he was also looking at the swamp below.

“Hey, you taking us down for a reason?”  Sokka asked.  Getting no response, he tried again.  “Aang!  Why are we going down?!”

“What?  I didn’t even notice.”  Aang replied, wiping his forehead.

“I didn’t, either.”  You admitted quietly.  “It must be the size of it.  It’s playing tricks on our eyes.”

“Are you noticing now?”  Sokka questioned.  Appa was flying lower, and at a greater speed.

“Is something wrong?”  Katara inquired, stepping forward.

“I know this is going to sound weird….but I think the swamp is calling to me.”  Aang confessed.

“Is it telling you where we can get something to eat?”  Sokka asked, his hand on his stomach.

“No.  I- I think it wants us to land there.”  Aang replied.

“No offense to the swamp, but I don’t see any land there to land on.”  Sokka admitted, shrugging his shoulders.

“I don’t know.  Bumi said to learn earthbending I would have to wait and listen.  And now I’m actually hearing the earth.”

You cocked an eyebrow.  “This is freaking me out.”  You admitted.

“Do you want me to ignore it?”  Aang asked.  You, Katara, Sokka and Momo all looked over the edge of Appa’s saddle.

“Yes.”  Sokka informed.

“I don’t know.”  Katara started.  “There’s something ominous about that place.”  There was silence for a few moments, until Momo hid in the saddle, and Appa let out a roar.

“See?  Even Appa and Momo don’t like it here.”  Sokka noted.

“Okay.  Since everyone feels so strongly about this, bye, swamp.”  Aang flicked the reigns.  “Yip, yip.”

Appa rose higher into the air, and a tornado appeared out of nowhere, following the crew.

“You’d better throw in an extra ‘yip’.  We gotta move!”  Sokka shouted.  Aang steered Appa, zipping and zagging everywhere, but the tornado seemed to be following you.  It was tearing up trees, and it was closing in.  Sokka began to be lifted into the air, because he didn’t have ahold of the saddle.  You grabbed his wrist and grunted, trying to keep a strong grip on him, and the saddle.

Aang jumped over and put an air-bubble around Appa, making the air inside normal.  Sokka fell, landing on the saddle with a thud.  Aang fought hard to keep the bubble, but the pressure of the harsh winds outside eventually triumphed.  You were all scooped up into the air, and thrown into the swamp.  You, Sokka and Katara landed with a thud, but Aang used airbending just before he hit the swamp water, causing him to land softly.  Sokka sat up, groaning.

“Where’s Appa and Momo?”  Aang asked as you helped Sokka up.  You groaned quietly.

“Oh, no.”  You muttered.  “Don’t tell me.”

“I’m gonna go see if I can find them from the top of this tree.”  Aang determined, hopping up it.  You watched him, waiting anxiously.

“Sokka, you’ve got an elbow leech.”  Katara informed.

“Where!?  Where!?”  Sokka shouted, spinning around.

“Where do ya think?”  She asked, crossing her arms.

“Why do things keep attaching to me!?”  Sokka yelled, ripping the leech off his elbow and throwing it, barely missing his sister.  Aang suddenly swung in on a vine.

“You couldn’t find them?”  Katara asked.

“No.  And the tornado.  It just disappeared.”  Aang said.  The swamp seemed to become darker, and more eerie.  You all turned around, wide-eyed, staring at the creepy setting.

“I hate this.”  You voiced quietly.

~~~~~~~~~

“We better speed things up!”  Sokka announced, cutting through a cluster of vines.

“Maybe we should be a little nicer to the swamp.”  Aang suggested.  You turned.

“Aang, are you implying that the swamp is sentient?”  You asked.

“Yeah.  Aang, they’re just plants!”  Sokka agreed.  “Do you want me to say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ as I swing my machete back and forth?”  He asked, hacking through another vine.

“Maybe you should listen to Aang.”  Katara offered.  “Something about this place feels……alive.”  She noted.  You rolled your eyes.

“Katara, are you serious?”  You questioned.

“I’m sure there are a lot of things that are alive here.”  Sokka started.  “And if we don’t want to get eaten by them, we need to find Appa as fast as we can.”  He determined, turning around and slashing another vine.

~~~~~~~~~

“Appa!  Momo!?”  Katara called.  It had gotten dark, and you were all tired of walking.

“There’s no way they can hear us, and no way we can see them.”  Sokka announced.  “We’ll have to make camp for the night.”  A buzzing was heard, shortly followed by Sokka flailing his machete, trying to kill the bugs that were attacking him.  A puff of air suddenly appeared in the shape of a cloud.

“What was that!?”  Katara asked, weary.

“Nothing.”  Sokka replied.  “Just swamp gas.  Look, there’s nothing supernatural going on here.”

A loud shriek was heard.  Everyone grabbed onto one another.  You turned, as it shrieked again, and your eyes followed the sound.

“It’s just a bird.”  You informed, letting go of Katara and Sokka.

“I think we should build a fire.”  Sokka said, rushing off to a tree.  He chopped off some of its roots and branches.

“Sokka, the longer we’re here, the more I feel like you shouldn’t be doing that.”  Aang told him.

“No, I asked the swamp.  It said this was fine.”  He replied.  “Right, swamp?”  He took ahold of one of the roots and shook it as he disguised his voice and said, “No problem, Sokka.”

He then proceeded to cut that root as well.

~~~~~~~~~

“Does anyone else get the feeling that we’re being watched?”  Katara asked, hugging her knees to her chest.  You had made the fire inside a hollow tree.  You watched the flames dance around, the rhythm, warmth, and color amazing you.

“Please,” Sokka complained, “we’re all alone out here.”  He began swatting at another fly.

“Except for bugs, apparently.”  You noted, looking away from the fire.  The bug suddenly lit up, glowing brightly.  You all winced, covering your eyes to shield them from the sudden contrast.  The light flew away, revealing several eyes in the woods.

“And them.”  Aang added on to your previous comment, a nervous tone in his voice.

“Right.”  Sokka noted.  “Except for them.”  He said, grabbing hold of the group again.

~~~~~~~~~~

The next thing you knew, you were disturbed from your slumber, being drug away.  Your friends were, as well.  You were all yelling.  You didn’t see any attacker, but you did see your friends disappear into the fog.  You let out a holler in your panic.  Your heart was thudding in your chest, but you managed to pull yourself together and grab ahold of a tree, keeping you in place.

You turned, seeing that several vines were wrapped around you.  You bended some of the swamp water, slicing the vines.  They fell limply around you.  You breathed a sigh of relief, standing and wiping your forehead.  You turned, just as more vines flew out of the fog, coming straight at you.  You sliced those with your bending as well, running off in what you thought was the direction you came.

You jumped over roots, ducked under branches, but you kept running.  “Sokka!!”  You shouted, moving a few motionless vines out of the way, jumping over another root.  “Aang!”  You dodged a tree.  “Katara!”  You shouted.  It had become light, and you only now realized how tired you were.  There was so much green everywhere.  A fog rested on the swamp floor.  You slowed to a walk, catching your breath.  Placing your hands on your hips, you looked around, your eyes catching a brief flash of blue.  You walked closer, seeing a male figure.  Your face brightened.

“Sokka!”  You yelled, running closer.  But the closer you got, the more you realized it wasn’t Sokka.  Your eyebrows furrowed.  You stopped running.  “Kaza?”  You whispered.  You observed the figure, staring at its back.  Your mouth pulled upwards as you rushed towards it.

“Kaza, I thought you were dead!  They said you had been killed by the firena-” You stopped short.  Where your brother had just been, now stands a large rock.  You stared at it in disbelief.  You stepped around it, so that you would have been facing your brother, had he actually been here.  You looked at the rock, before crashing forward, wrapping your arms around it.  You sobbed, sliding down it onto your knees.  You cried, mentally cursing the firenation, the swamp, and yourself, for believing in such a stupid lie.

You looked back up at the rock, pulling yourself to your feet.  You stood there, facing it head-on.  Your eyes narrowed and your face hardened.  You bended the swamp water, slicing the rock in half.  You glared down at the broken pieces, spitting on them in defiance, before marching away.

~~~~~~~~~

You continued to march, trying to clear your mind, when you were tackled from behind.  You rolled down a hill, landing with a thud.

“What do you guys think you’re doing!?  I’ve been looking all over for you!”  Sokka yelled.  You had never been so happy to hear anyone in your life, but you couldn’t bring yourself to smile.

“Get off me.”  You warned, voice agitated.  They all looked down at you wearily, climbing off.

“Well, I’ve been wandering around, looking for you!”  Katara yelled back at her brother.

“I was chasing some girl.”  Aang spoke quietly, bringing himself to his feet.

“What girl?”  Katara asked.  Sokka offered to help you up, but you denied it, standing on your own.

“I don’t know.”  Aang admitted, helping her up.  “I heard laughing, and I saw some girl in a fancy dress.”

“Well, there must be a tea party here, and we just didn’t get out invitations!”  Sokka exclaimed.

“I thought I saw Mom.”  Katara confessed.  Aang’s face fell.  Yours hardened.  There was silence for a few moments.

“Look, we were all just scared, and hungry, and our minds were playing tricks on us.  That’s why we all saw things out here.”  Sokka determined.

“You saw something, too?”  Katara asked, turning to fully face him.  He turned around.

“I thought I saw Yue, but that doesn’t prove anything.”  He turned back to face his sister.  “Look, I think about her all the time.  And you saw Mom, someone you miss a lot.”  He said, taking a few steps closer.

“What about me?  I didn’t know the girl I saw.”  Aang asked.  He turned.  “Y/n, what did you see?”

You looked up.  “Hmm?”

“What did you see?”  He repeated.

“Nothing.”  You lied.

“You must have seen something.  We all saw somethi-”

“I didn’t see anything!!”  You yelled, startling him.  There was silence for a few moments.  “I’m going to cool off.”  You informed.  Sokka grabbed your wrist.

“No, you’ll get lost.”

You tried to yank your arm free, but he tightened his grip.  “Sokka, let me go.”

“No.  You could get hurt, and who knows how long it’ll take to find you.”

You recoiled back slightly, but froze your actions.  He sounded like your brother.  Of course, you hadn’t noticed before, since you were trying to keep Kaza out of your head.  But since you just saw, or thought you saw him, the similarities were more present.  You stared into Sokka’s blue eyes, your own, glistening with tears.  A sob escaped your lips, and you placed your free hand over your mouth, trying to contain the noise.  Sokka’s eyes softened, and he pulled you into him.  He held onto you as you cried, though he wasn’t sure why you were so upset.  Clearly you’d lost someone, but you never talked about yourself.

“All of our visions led us right here.”  Aang said.

“Okay, so where’s here?”  Katara questioned.  “The middle of the swamp?”

“Yeah.  The center.  It’s the heart of the swamp.”  Aang determined.  “It’s been calling us here.  I knew it.”

“It’s just a tree.  It can’t call anyone.”  Sokka voiced.  You felt his chest move as he spoke.  “For the last time, there’s nothing after us, and there’s nothing magical happening here.”

As if on cue, a giant green creature rose up out of the water.  It appeared to be made of vines, while its face was made of tree-bark.  You all yelled, grabbing onto one another, before running off in different directions.  The creature reached towards Sokka, the vines that made up his hand separating and wrapping around him.

“Sokka!”  You shouted.  You sent water at it, slicing the vines, setting Sokka free.  The creature turned its attention to Aang, swatting him and sending the boy flying.  The creature re-grew its arms and grabbed Sokka again, before speeding off, sliding on the water.  Sokka yelled, and you and Katara rode in on waves, slicing at it.

“How can we fight something that regrows!?”  You asked loudly, slicing at it again.  Katara sent a wave at the creature, knocking it backwards.  She separated the water beneath her, so it rose in small waves on either side.  She ran forward, before getting swatted back, flying past an approaching Aang.  You glared at the creature.  “Drop him!”  You shouted, slicing at its arm again.  The creature grew a third arm, and smacked Aang away, before smacking you away as well.  It pulled Sokka into its chest, and you watched in horror as your friend became consumed by vines.  Your eyes widened as you charged again.

“Give him back!!”  You pleaded, grabbing onto Sokka’s arm.  You tugged, but to no avail.  Aang jumped on top of it and used airbending, twisting the creature up.  Katara froze you and Sokka, using waterbending, and pushed herself forward on a wave, knocking all of you out the other side of the monster.  You watched as the creature slapped its arms on the water, vines crawling up it and filling the hole Katara had just caused.  Aang jumped on its head from behind, smacking it into the water.  The creature swatted at the boy, sending him flying.  Katara glared and moved her arms in a circular motion, sending water arches at it, slicing into it.  She cut off several pieces, and you got a glimpse of a man inside.

“There’s someone in there!”  Sokka shouted.  “He’s bending the vines!”

Katara sliced at its head, cutting it off, but the vines its legs were made of grabbed her, and raised her into the air.  Aang jumped in, and blew a strong wind, revealing the man again.

“Why did you call me here if you just wanted to kill us?”  He asked.

“Actually, that seems perfectly reasonable.”  You muttered, pulling yourself to your feet.

“Wait!  I didn’t call you here.”  The man said.  The vines all dropped, revealing his full form.  He only wore a few leaves.

“We were flying over and I heard something calling to me, telling me to land.”  Aang informed.

“He’s the avatar.”  Sokka clarified.  “Stuff like that happens to us a lot.”

“The avatar?  Come with me.”  The man said, gesturing behind him.  You all looked at each other, but followed the man to a very large tree, above the rest of them.

“So, who’re you, then?”  Katara asked.

“I protect the swamp from folks that want to hurt it.”  He explained, bending a vine out of the way.  “Like this fellow, with his big knife.”

“See?  Completely reasonable.”  Sokka said.

“Well, actually we didn’t want to hurt it.  It was just so hard to maneuver through.”  You explained.

“Not a monster, just a regular guy defending his home!”  Sokka told Aang and Katara.  “Nothing mystical about it.”  He said, sheathing his machete and climbing the tree after them.

“Oh, the swamp is a mystical place, all right.”  The man said.  “It’s sacred.  I reached enlightenment right here under the banyan grove tree.  I heard it calling me, just like you did.”  He told Aang, sitting down.

“Sure ya did.  It seems real chatty.”  Sokka sassed.

“See, this whole swamp is actually just one tree, spread out over miles.  Branches spread and sink, and take root, and spread some more.  One big, living organism.  Just like the entire world.”  The man said.

“I get how the tree is one big thing, but the whole world?”  Aang questioned, sitting down.  You and the siblings followed.

“Sure.”  The man said, shrugging.  “You think you’re any different from me?  Or your friends?  Or this tree?  If you listen hard enough, you can hear every living thing, breathing together.  You can feel everything growing.  We’re all living together, even if most folks don’t act like it.  We all have the same roots, and we are all branches of the same tree.”

“But what did our visions mean?”  Katara asked.  You frowned, hugging your knees to your chest.

“In the swamp we see visions of people we’ve lost.  People we loved.”  The man started.  You placed your forehead on your knees.  Sokka frowned at you.  “Folks we think are gone.  But the swamp tells us they’re not.  We’re still connected to ‘em.  Time is an illusion, and so is death.”

“But what about my vision?”  Aang asked.  “It was someone I had never met.”

“You’re the avatar.  You tell me.”  The man said.

“Time is an allusion.”  Aang echoed.  “So….it’s someone I will meet.”  The man nodded.  Sokka stood, stretching.

“Sorry to interrupt the lesson,”

“No you’re not.”  You muttered.

“But we still need to find Appa and Momo.”  He finished, glancing at you.

“I think I know how to find them.”  Aang declared, placing his hand on the root you were all sitting on.  “Everything is connected.”  He parroted.  His tattoo on his hand glowed, and a white line ran down the root of the tree, disappearing into the swamp.  You all stood, waiting.  He suddenly opened his eyes.  “Come on, we’ve got to hurry.”  He informed.

You groaned as Sokka pulled you to your feet.  “Here we go again.”

~~~~~~~~~~

The sound of singing alerted you to a group of people.  Aang shot a wind-slice, and crashes were heard.  You all pushed past the vines, seeing more men, wearing only leaves, in wooden boats, dragging Appa.  The large bison had a net around him.

“Appa!”  Aang yelled.  He shot some wind at one of the men, who was holding a bag, and he dropped it, getting thrown off the side of the boat.  Momo flew out of the bag.

“We’re under attack!”  One yelled.  He raised a wave and shot it at you, but you, Katara and Aang blocked it.

“Hey.  You guys are waterbenders.”  Katara noted.

“That doesn’t make them nice.”  You countered.

“You, too!?  That means we’re kin!”  The man observed, gesturing to himself.  Katara frowned, dropping the wave.  Sokka and the man ran out.  “Hey, Hue.  How you been?”

“You know, scared some folks, flung some vines.  The usual.”  Hue replied.  Sokka’s eyebrow raised.

“Hue?”  He asked.

~~~~~~~~~~

They had led you back to their home, and served dinner.

“How do you like that possum-chicken?”  The man asked.

“Tastes just like arctic-hen.”  Sokka noted.  “So why were you guys so interested in eating Appa?”  He asked.  “You’ve got plenty of those big things wandering around.”  He observed, pointing at a catfish-gator.

“You want me to eat old Slim?  He’s like a member of the family.”  The man announced, tossing a piece of meat in the creature’s mouth.

“Nice Slim.”  Sokka told it, tossing his own piece of meat at it.  The creature growled.  Sokka yelled quietly.  The man laughed.

“He don’t eat no bugs!  That’s people food.”  The man said.  You looked at your food, placing it on the ground, deciding you were no longer hungry.

“Where’d you say you people were from?”  The other man asked.

“The South Pole.”  Katara answered.

“Didn’t know there was any other waterbenders except here.”  The man told her.  “They got a nice swamp there, do they?”

You face-palmed.

“No, it’s all ice and snow.”  Katara answered.

“Hm.  No wonder you left.”

You had to laugh at that.  You laughed out loud.

“You know, you’re from the North Pole.”  Sokka reminded, glaring at you.  “It’s cold there, too.”

“I know.  But I understand what he means.”  You explained between laughs.  Sokka frowned before turning to his sister.

“Well, I hope you realize now, that nothing strange was going on here.  Just a bunch of greasy people living in a swamp.”

“What about the visions?”  Katara inquired.

“I told you, we were hungry.  I’m eating a giant bug.”  He declared, taking a bite of it.  You shuddered.

“But what about when the tree showed me where Appa and Momo were?”  Aang asked.

“That’s Avatar stuff; that doesn’t count.”  Sokka told him.  “The only thing I can’t figure out is how you made the tornado to suck us down.”  He told Hue.

“I can’t do anything like that.”  Hue answered.  “I just bend the water and the plants.”  He admitted.

“Well, no accounting for weather.”  Sokka continued.  “Still, there’s absolutely nothing mysterious about the swamp.”  You frowned, thinking back to the visions.  If you had tried so hard to keep Kaza out of your mind, why did he appear now?  You stood, walking away from camp.

You walked into the darkness, placing your hand on the trunk of a tree.  You looked up at it.  “Why did you show me that?”  You whispered, closing your eyes and placing your forehead against it.  You felt a hand on your shoulder, and you spun around, being met with blue eyes.  You breathed out in relief.  “You scared me.”

“Sorry.”  Sokka apologized.  There was silence for a few seconds.

“Can I help you with something?”  You asked, bringing your hand off the tree.

“Actually, I was wondering if I could help you with something.”  Sokka confessed.  “You seem off today.”

“Doesn’t everyone?”  You replied.

“Yeah, but you seem especially off.”  He countered.  He frowned.  “Is something wrong?”  He asked.  You bit your lip.

“I- um.  It’s just what I saw.”

“I thought you said you didn’t see anything.”

“Yeah, well.  I lied.”  You dared to look up at him.  His features were soft.  He was looking down at you with concern.  “But I don’t want to complain.  You and Katara saw people you missed, too.  People that died.”  You said, wrapping your arms around yourself.

“You lost someone.”  Sokka deduced.  He took a step closer.  You nodded, though you weren’t sure if he could see you.  It was very dark away from the fire.  As if the swamp read your mind, the leaves above you separated, revealing a little moonlight.  You looked back up at him, now seeing more of his face.  He was waiting.  For what, you weren’t sure.  “Do you want to talk about it?”  He asked.  “I find that often helps.”  He admitted.  You sucked in a deep breath.

“It was my brother.”  You confessed.  Sokka’s posture changed.  He seemed to be more cautious, now.  “Kaza.”  You let out a humorless laugh.  “He was an idiot.  But he cared deeply about everyone, and everything.  That’s why he volunteered to join the battle.”  You swallowed, trying to get the lump out of your throat.  “He- um.  He didn’t come back.”  You informed.  Tears were streaming down your cheeks.  “He said he had to help.  He said he’d be okay.”  You paused briefly, trying to collect yourself.  “He said he’d come back.”  You choked on a sob.  “He always was so selfless.”  You muttered.

Sokka’s frown deepened, if that was even possible.  You continued.  “When you and Liam offered to help at the North Pole, I was afraid it would happen again.”  You confessed, looking up at him.  Sokka pulled you into him, resting his arms around your waist.  “I couldn’t let it happen again.”  You whispered.  “Not to Liam.  Not to you.”  You placed your forehead on his chest.

“He left.  The warriors fought for a day, without stopping.”  You informed.  “A man came to our house the next day, saying that he was lost in the battle.  Everything was different after that.”  You took another deep breath.  “He gave us Kaza’s bracelet I made him when we were little.”  You confessed, rolling up your sleeves.  On your left wrist was the white half of a ying-yang.  On your right wrist, the black half.  “The black one was his.”  You stared down at it for a moment, before pulling it off and holding it out to Sokka.  “I want you to have it.”  You told him.

“What?  I can’t.  It was your brother’s.”  He rejected.

“Sokka, please.”  You pleaded.  “For me?”  His gaze went from you, to the bracelet, then back to you.  He sighed, gently taking it from you.  He slid it on, it resting on his forearm.  You took ahold of the pendant, matching it up with yours, to reveal a perfect fit.  Sokka looked over at you.

“Are you sure?”

“I’ve never been more sure about anything in my life.”  You confessed, looking up at him.  You both stood there for a few moments, neither sure what to do next, until you pulled him in, wrapping him in a hug.

“Guys?”  A voice asked.  You separated and turned, seeing Aang and Katara.

“What are you doing out here?”  Katara questioned.

“Just…uh….talking.”  You told her.  Sokka looked down at you.

“We were just coming back.”  He said, leading you all back to the fire.  “We should get some rest before we continue the journey tomorrow.”  He admitted.  Aang and Katara gave you both weird looks before laying on the ground, soon falling asleep.  You and Sokka laid down as well, backs facing each other.  You stared down at your half of the bracelet, while unbeknownst to you, Sokka was doing the same.  You sighed, closing your eyes.  The exhaustion reached you, and you finally had some peace.

A/n:  So, you could say, ‘everything changed when the firenation attacked.’  :D

Tag List:  @pizzamelon7384, @rissa-doodles, @chewymoustachio, @book-nerd-and-a-fangirl, @exo-nova, @emo-plaidin, @dinoromp, @90skid018, @mack-n-size, @thenoblenomad, @importanttyrantruler, @poisonedinventor, @thepixelatedarcher, @hitsugayarose

[haikyuu-scenarios-drabbles]

anonymous asked:  How would you feel about an Avatar AU? I’d love to see what element, or if a character is a non-bender, you feel would match your favourite characters in HQ!

oh-HO. i am unsure if you know that Avatar is one of my all-time favorite shows so when i saw this ask i was pumped!!! without further ado: i finally had some inspiration. i took this a bit farther than just my fav characters (i did as many as i could think of) and although i say in my rules i don’t do hc’s i felt this ask was best answered in that format so i did my best! i hope you enjoy 😁 im nervous as hell about headcanons 😬 some i have reasons for (serious or funny) and others i just...have a feeling 

special shoutout to my discord fam that i love so dearly and especially to @animelake13 and @justoverseas for helping me out 💕💕

Karasuno:

Daichi:

Alright with those thighs and that dependability?? Earthbender through and through

He is a rock solid, all-around player that holds Karasuno all together

he is their BASE, stable as fuck

he didn’t get those thighs from nothing he got them kicking around some boulders

didnt get those arms from nothing either, punching rocks out of mountainsides

Suga:

Waterbender for sure

Hello? Mr. Refreshing

Very calm and level-headed, but like Katara: DO NOT. FUCK WITH HIM.

He’ll fuck you up

again like Katara, mom friend, supporting the whole team, caring a lot about them and getting ready to fight and ready to jump in and help at a moments notice

Asahi: (Thanks Louie!)

ok so this boy was hard to decide bc, he’s a nervous bean but also the motherfuckin ace so he ain’t playin around

so i decided on earthbender because, he’s a big boi; a powerful and all-around player that has the respect of his teammates

and although he’s nervous, so maybe he doesn’t use earthbending to the extent of other benders but when he needs to, he will

and when he does it has impact and he is a pretty strong earthbender to boot

he can move fucking mountains when he wants to

member of the white lotus bc he only uses his immense power when he absolutely has to

noya: “asahi!! show us your bending”

asahi: “oh im not much of a bender”

MOVES A CONTINENT

Noya:

While my first instinct was firebender

the more i thought about it the more airbender made sense

air is the element of freedom and Noya is the definition of wild and free

not only that but his position too! airbending is almost purely defensive

sounds like our guardian diety to me

also can u imagine

Noya and Hinata racing like maniacs on air scooters

Daichi throwing up barriers all over the place to stop them but they just nyoom around them like obstacles

airbending is all about circles too and roooooolllliiiinnnng (hehe) thunder!!!

Tanaka:

alrighty well here is Karasuno’s firebender

Firebending is known for its intense and aggressive attacking style and literally

Tanaka yells like a maniac anytime he goes in for a spike

and firebenders can be hotheaded (dont have to be, Iroh for example) BUT say anything about Kiyoko, Karasuno or really anything and he’s ready to throw down

it might be all talk but he still gets fucking triggered

he fires up two flames in his palms and makes that face “ehhh what did you say about our lovely Kiyoko-san?!?”

Enno:

airbender

he has such patience and probably mediates or something 

or else he’d go crazy from Tanaka and Noya doing stupid airbender/firebender shit and burning down the entire town 

deals it out when he needs to, sometimes blowing Tanaka and Noya to opposite sides of the room and pinning them there until they calm the fuck down

anytime Tanaka gets too heated, Enno just shows up and blows out his fire 

Hinata:

ok so i kinda spoiled earlier

but airbender

i know airbending is defensive and Hinata sucks at that aspect, but his personality man, airbender all the way

again imagine him and Noya zooming on air scooters around

they would be a MENANCE

but also in the same sense, airbending is all about finding a way around the “normal” way of fighting (they refuse to harm anything is what i mean)

Hinata had to find his own way of fighting in volleyball and yeah…airbender  

possibly bc he’s a bit of an airhead too  

Kageyama:

WATERBENDER BUT WITH BLOODBENDING BACKGROUND

ok hear me out

he used to want to control people and make them do what he wants, otherwise get rid of them bc they’re useless and who needs ‘em

but then he meets this stupid, bounce off the walls, airbender who he doesn’t need to control bc this kid already does what he couldnt find in anyone else

and he slowly learns to stop using bloodbending, sometimes slips and lapses, but for the most part has left that part of him behind

also water is the element of change and Kageyama certainly goes through a major change in character throughout Haikyuu

everytime Hina and him fight, they make a snowstorm that nobody can stop and it pisses Tsukki off bc he can’t do anything about it

Tsukki: (props to Lake for this one)

tsukki why are you an enigma

nonbender and is a sword master 

with his ability to analyze and control, he would heckin destroy 

sword fights are a lot about watching your opponent and being able to make a quick decision to block or counter attack 

he can definitely make decisions at the drop of a hat and his strategies work and work well 

Yamaguchi:

THIS BOY

IS A WATERBENDER BUT SPECIALIZES IN HEALING

when Karasuno needs him most!!! he’s there!! ready to help and get his team back on his feet, in this sense by healing them

and also like Suga, mirroring Katara, don’t fuck with him. especially when it comes to Tsukki

AGAIN like Katara/Suga, mom friend, there to support all the time and bust in and help when needed

More teams under the cut!

Aoba Johsai:

Oikawa:

so there’s a bit of a trend here i see

but Oikawa would also be a waterbender, i guess it’s a setter thing

water is the element of change and Oikawa adjusts his setting style and approach for each of his team members to bring out the best of them

waterbenders let their defense become their offense turning their opponents own forces against them which i think fits Oikawa to a T

can make ice spikes he can throw long distances with scary accurate precision

like, one can just zip past your ear, and you dont see him anywhere where tf is he?!

Iwaizumi: 

i couldn’t decide between firebender and earthbender

so i went with the lovely mix, lavabender 

just like Toph, Iwa shows his affection through some sort of violence, but thats just cause he cares a lot

oikawa has mastered the art of distinguishing flaming hunks of smoldering rock thrown at his face

also stubborn unmoving like a rock

and when he gets heated, he is fired up

and finally, arms. where did he get ‘em? throwing boulders around. 

Shiratorizawa:

Ushijima:

metalbender, bc he’s definitely an earth bender but there’s something special about him

he’s a little dense (ok maybe not a little)

Earthbenders are generally muscular, tough and direct AND HELLO. thats Ushijima in a nutshell 

Tendou:

our guess monster is definitely a non-bender

like ty lee specializes in chi-blocking 

he can disrupt someones chi pretty easily making them completely helpless 

sometimes he does it to be funny 

like make Ushi’s right arm useless for a day 

and Ushi is like “Tendou. I don’t use that arm anyways.” 

“i knoooooooow Wakatoshi thats the point!”

which for some reason Tendou thinks is hilarious cause now he really cant use it 

Semi:

firebender

mainly bc of his hotheaded and competitive behavior 

his desire to show his abilities in his words is “uncontainable” and that kind of made me think of Azula 

wants to show off and be the best 

Shirabu:

so although Shirabu is also extremely hot-headed, he hits me as a waterbender too 

maybe just because every single setter so far has been a waterbender but its just my gut feeling 🤷

Nekoma:

Kuroo:

firebender but can lightning bend

dont ask me why it just seems right

he has the concentration and flow it takes to lightning bend, i mean he has that whole speech he gives to his team before every game 

“We're like the blood in our veins. We must flow without stopping. Keep the oxygen moving and your mind working.” 

and while this may lead to possibly thinking he could be a waterbender, he uses his knack for fluid motion and deceptive strength for a different purpose

not only can he lightning bend, he can redirect lightning which takes an immense amount of skill and is drawn from waterbending techniques

maybe its also the hair cause it looks like he got hit by lightning

Kenma:

ill be honest, i dont think Kenma would be a bender

what he would be ilike is Sokka, super smart, the strategizer, the man with the plan

who people look to for the next step, the brain of the operation

and i dont think he’d necessarily have a speciality besides overwhelming ability to observe and make decisions

so basically…he’d be the same LOL

Yaku:

earthbender

being small (dont kick me Yaku) means nothing (uhh have you seen Toph?)

super dependable and not gunna take anyone’s shit

Yamamoto:

Tanaka’s counterpart

his homeboy

his fellow firebender

both ready to throwdown at a moments notice

Fukurodani: (wow i suck i dont know anyone well enough but these two)

Bokuto:

did someone say airbender??

i just keep imagining he was the one to teach Hinata the air scooter and they fuckin zoom around while Bokuto is hollering at the top of his lungs

his hair already looks winblown, like he just stepped off his glider and doesn’t bother to fix it

also im cackling bc airbenders prefer evasive manuevers and…i keep thinking about that time he ran away from a block and Akaashi called him out for it

Akaashi: (ily Lake for helping)

so apparently setters are waterbenders

bc this boy is definitely one

he has nice fingers (weird i know) but i can see him just making these beautiful hand motions to bend water and hnngg yes

ok but in a more real way, waterbenders have strong fluid motion and understand those around them, they believe in very strong connections between individuals 

so even when Bo is out of the game, Fukurodani doesn’t fall apart because they have strong connections and can survive without him 

[panda-noosh]

Ooooh if you're still doing Avatar... Could we have a sokka x reader (or shiro tbh) where its in the middle of the last battle and they don't think they're gonna make it through so they get married in the middle of the fight like in pirates of the caribbean??

words: 1k

notes: *inhales* i’ve never seen pirates of the caribbean please forgive me if this is inaccurate i just made up my own version

+++

    Sokka knew this was it.

   There was no longer any point in pretending that any of them had a chance. The mission had failed, and was continually failing. There was no escape route, nowhere to run or hide or duck for shelter. They were entirely doomed right now, and Sokka was finally letting himself come to terms with that fact.

    He was hollow, yet full of emotion at the same time. He wanted to scream and yell and fight with everything he had in him, but he also wanted to curl up on the grass and let the earth take him into it’s clutches, hide him from this god forsaken battle that he shouldn’t have even been in in the first place.

    He knew he had signed up for this when he agreed to go with Aang and Katara. He knew this was what he should have expected, and once upon a time, this was the life he wanted to live. He had always wanted to be a warrior, prove to the people back home that he could fight and he was going to be just as great as his father - but then he met you, and that all seemed to change.

    The line of his future shifted to something else, something more domestic yet complex at the same time. All of a sudden, Sokka didn’t want to spend the rest of his life on the battle field. Though he knew that fighting and saving people would always be a part of him, he could see himself settling down and having a family with you in the long run. In fact, he craved it.

    But he had to let go of those fantasies now, because there was no way he was making it past this horrible night.

    You were beside him. That was the only thing keeping him going, knowing that if he died, you would be left completely unprotected, and god only knew what would happen if you saw him drop to the ground. He didn’t want you to see him die, so he stayed standing.

    “Sokka!” you cried out. He span on his heel, eyes widening. The battle hadn’t gone quiet, but they weren’t as deeply under attack as they had once been. The Fire Nation had spotted Aang and Appa in the distance and had steered their attention in that direction.

    “Are you okay?” Sokka panted, rushing over to you. He cupped your face, tilting your head to and fro to make sure you were okay - you weren’t. He would be a fool to try and convince himself of otherwise, as there were scratches indented all over your flesh, and blood coated every inch of your body.

    He inhaled, slowly shaking his head. “This is it, isn’t it?”

   You closed your eyes tightly, and the first set of tears fell. “We weren’t meant to go like this.”

    “I know.” He pressed his forehead to yours, sighing. “I know.”

   “We had plans,” you whispered.

    Sokka nodded slowly, his hands falling from your cheeks to your neck where he gently rubbed his thumbs over the mud streaked, scarred skin. You shuddered in his grip, reached up and placed your hands on his lower arms, as if he was the only thing keeping you from collapsing. That was what Sokka would always be, what he wanted wanted to be - an anchor for you to hold on to when times got difficult.

    The decision was last minute. In fact, the words had barely processed fully in his mind whenever he was suggesting it - another one of Sokka’s crazy ideas, something nobody would take seriously until it actually came down to using it as a last resort. That was all it was, and yet it ignited something in him that he couldn’t stamp out.

   “Let’s get married.”

    Your eyes shot open, jaw falling. “What?”

   Sokka ignored the sounds of battle ringing out behind him and grabbed your hands, dragging you to the side. “I don’t have an engagement ring or anything, and I don’t really wanna get on my knees in the mud. But let’s just get married - right here, right now. Before we die.”

    “Sokka, you’re absolutely insane.”

   An explosion rang out behind them. Sokka grinned, staring down at you. “Is that not one of my charms?”

    You inhaled deeply, squeezing his hands. For a second, Sokka truly believed that his last memory on earth would be the memory of rejection, and his stomach did a tiny flip. Even in these circumstances, he still wanted you to say yes, wanted you to be willing to marry him at any given moment.

    He bit his lip. “Please?”

   And then you were nodding. “Let’s do it. Let’s get married.”

    It wasn’t a ceremony, was barely even an event. Only Momo bore witness to the sharing of the vows, but in these circumstances, neither of you could afford to be picky. 

    It wasn’t grand, but it was certainly memorable, and at the end of the day, that was what Sokka wanted. Something he could clutch close to him as death tangled itself upon him, something he could remember. And although it wasn’t grand and big and flattering, although mud was coating his face and his hands were caked in blood and scars, it was perfect for the two of you because you were together.

    “I do,” you finally whispered, concluding the ceremony.

    Sokka closed his eyes and pressed his lips to your own. He pushed away the thought that this might be the final kiss the two of you share, pushed away the idea that this was all he would be able to give you - war, destruction, hostility, violence. The two of you would never be able to settle down and have a family, sit around a hearthed fire in your small little cottage with perhaps a few children running around. You would never be able to do any of that, but in this moment, Sokka didn’t really mind.

    You kissed him back furiously, knotting your hands in his robes before pulling away and gasping for breath. “That was … the craziest thing we’ve ever done.”

   He smiled, grabbed your hand and turned towards the battle. “Now lets go and help our friends - but as a married couple this time.” 

[rwdestuffs]

Done dirty: Ruby

“Main Protagonist” my ass!

Ruby is supposed to be the main protagonist. She’s supposed to have this grand destiny she’s supposed to fulfill, and be the hero.

So why does it feel like she’s taking a back seat to everything important?

Take the Red trailer. We don’t get a whole lot for her, she’s jut there kicking ass. She’s tearing through those Beowolves like they’re nothing, and it’s some great choreography.

Then in Volume 1, we run into the first problem: She kicks the ass of Roman’s men without her weapon.

See, the writers have repeatedly said that Ruby is trash without Crescent Rose, and Volume 5 reinforced that. Not only is it something that is told, it’s something that contradicts what we are shown. Ruby goes gaga in a later episode over weapons, and that’s never brought up again. It would have been a great running gag, and a means to introduce the weapons that the main cast has to the audience in a natural way. Here’s a scenario: After Ruby cuts up those grimm while saving Weiss, she starts examining the weapon. To which Weiss begrudgingly answers the questions in a failed attempt to get Ruby to shut up.

“Ohh! Is this a Rapier mixed with a milti-chamber dust revolver so that you can use them for different effects?”

“Yes.” Weiss ground out.

“And it it made up of a steel-titanium alloy that makes it really durable?” (This part isn’t actually canon, but I think it would be neat if we knew what kind of materials these weapons are traditionally made out of).

“Yes.”

“Can I touch her?”

“What?- No! You can’t touch Myrtenaster!“

“Oh. So the weapon’s name is Myrtenaster?- That’s cool. You should see my sister’s weapons. She called them Ember Celica, and she made it so that they can look like ordinary bracelets when they’re not in use. They mix long-range shotguns with gauntlets, and they’re really cool!”

See that?- All of that could have been a conversation that Ruby could have had with Weiss. Not only would it have been natural, given Ruby’s love for weapons, but it also would have been a great way to introduce the weapons that the cast uses. We could have gotten a similar conversation (using different attitudes depending on the person) with other characters. It could have been a cool bonding moment. Ruby also apparently doesn’t have to prove that she can be a capable leader to Weiss. In this scenario, most would expect that the main leader would have to do something to prove themselves, and prove the person who doubts them wrong. But we don’t get that. All it takes to reinvigorate Ruby’s confidence is a talk from a teacher, and Weiss gets lectured by Ozpin. This could have also led into an interesting bonding moment, and show the differences between how Ruby and Weiss function, and how Blake and Yang function. But we don’t get that character interaction. Ruby gets further robbed of character interaction/development when jaune hijacks the plot to reveal that he’s putting his team in danger due to his lack of experience and reluctance to be trained because ego™. Ruby doesn’t even rush out to find Blake with her semblance, she just… stands there. Doing nothing. Some team leader. She also sides with Weiss on this, and since we never saw any bonding moments between the two, there’s no evidence to believe that the reason she’s siding with Weiss is because of a bond that they have.

Volume 2 also does Ruby an injustice. While the Food Fight has some moments for her (Like quoting Nixon for some reason), she doesn’t do much else. Because she’s not questioned while the team is visiting Mount Glenn, her motives are never questioned. She isn’t questioned on how she plans to accomplish her goal, or on how she would handle tough decisions. Ruby lacks focus in this volume, and the most she gets in terms of bonding with her team and character development is…

This scene… Which, while humorous, doesn’t really add much else. Ruby then uses her speed to defeat JNPR (And here’s a kicker: Assuming that the mess hall is the length of an average school, Ruby is actually only moving 10 Meters per second. She’s slower that freaking Hercule Satan!), and… That’s about it. Apparently she also confronts Cinder during the dance, but she hardly provides anything else. The Ozluminati don’t take any precautions because of this ‘masked intruder,’ none of them bother to check to see if their systems have any malicious hardware on it, they just sit around… With Ozpin probably literally dicking around in his dick chair.

(Why does it look like a dick?)

Volume 3 doesn’t add much. Outside of referring to Weiss as her ‘BFF,’ Ruby doesn’t actually do anything in this volume. And get used to that, because this is just the start of that trend. Ruby ends up taking a back seat to a lot of things, like Pyrrha’s first and final character arc, Yang’s framing, and some backstory for the villains. Ruby acknowledges Penny, and… Yeah. That’s kinda it. After that, she has a small breakdown on Pyrrha committing manslaughter (bot slaughter? mechaslaughter? droidslaughter?- Whatever), but that’s undermined by jaune taking Pyrrha aside to repeat the sentiment. Ruby’s words fall on deaf ears because she’s taking a backseat to Pyrrha’s arc. Normally, this wouldn’t be a problem, but in normal situations, Ruby’s motives, personality, and other aspects would have made her a character in her own right. And had this not been a rushed attempt to give Pyrrha some non-jaune related characterization before her death, Ruby taking a supporting role would have been normal. After everything, she ultimately defeats Neo (by using a weakness on Ice Cream Girl’s weapon), and watches Roman die. She feels no remorse, nor does she seem to have any real reaction. I mean… This is a young girl! And she just saw two people die right in front of her!- Yeah, Roman’s a villain, but his speech about surviving should have shaken Ruby up a bit. Maybe even force her to realize that some people aren’t bad for the lulz (that’s Cinder’s role), but that they do bad things because they’re in bad situations. Pyrrha’s death ultimately sets off her Silver Eyes, and then Qrow gives her the rundown on her newfound powers. This is where a lot of things start going wrong in a narrative sense for Ruby. She doesn’t question this. She doesn’t ask how they work. And she doesn’t ask how her mother could have been killed if she had this power. Then she sets off, knowing that Yang’s emotionally vulnerable, and that a lot of things went down the drain for her. Sure, Ruby has this grand destiny, but she doesn’t seem to leave a letter specifically for Yang. She leave a generic one for both Yang and Tai.

Volume 4 is where it gets obvious that the writers have likely forgotten about Ruby being, y’know… The first letter in the title. She takes a backseat to jaune’s angst, as well as the Renora duo’s conclusion to their backstory (Let’s face it; Ren and Nora have so little character to them, that they’re basically the same character). Ruby doesn’t comment on Penny’s death, she only acknowledges Pyrrha once, and her mentioning the family that she left behind to go on this quest that her uncle all but explicitly gave to her isn’t even mentioned. And when Ruby is about to finally acknowledge what happened, jaune steps in and is all “Nah, don’t worry about what you’ve done. You’re doing fine.” effectively robbing Ruby of any kind of development that she’d get by questioning herself and her decisions. She sends a letter home, and that’s it. She gives this monologue that genuinely feels that the writers only gave her because they realized, at the last minute “Oh crap! Ruby didn’t have a lot to do this volume!”- So they gave her that speech to make it seem that she grew, but it doesn’t actually feel like she grew.

Volume 5 rolls along, and by this point, we’re almost used to Ruby not getting any development. She isn’t questioning anything that Ozpin tells her. Nobody does. And she then learns hand-to-hand. Now, it feels as if the writers did this, as a means to try to say that they gave Ruby development, but they’re not exactly doing it right.

Yes, Ruby needs development. They acknowledge as much. But they don’t understand how she needs development. If they really wanted to teach her hand-to-hand, have Ruby be the one who suggests it. There’s a video that suggests that Ruby is afraid of her silver eyes, and it’s an interesting idea, albeit, not well-communicated. Here’s an idea as to how it could go down

Ozpin: Now, miss Rose, we will be needing to work on your control over your silver eyes.

Ruby (Frightened): My… My silver eyes?

Ozpin: Yes. Is there a problem?

Ruby: No! I mean, uh… How about I help Oscar train in hand-to-hand? I could use a bit of training without my weapon anyways. Heh heh…

And there you have it. Ruby trains in hand-to-hand because she’s afraid of her Silver Eyes. The last time she used them, a grimm dragon got petrified on top of Beacon Tower, and she fell unconscious for a long time. It would make sense had it been better-communicated to the audience if this were truly the reason why Ruby never once asked about them.

Ruby’s lack of development hardly stops there. She doesn’t get the fight with Cinder (You know… The fight that’s been foreshadowed by practically everything, from the opening themes, to Cinder’s grudge, to freaking episode one where Ruby foils Cinder’s dust heist), she ends up fighting Emerald while jaune’s revenge boner leads him to take on Cinder. That’s like Sokka fighting Ozai while Aang fights the random Fire Nation Soldiers. Jaune should have fought Emerald (While Emerald uses an illusion to make him see Cinder, or even Pyrrha as a means to taunt him), and Ruby gets to be the one to take on Cinder. Her Silver Eyes should have activated when she saw Vernal deplete Weiss’ aura. Because as far as Ruby knows, Vernal is the maiden, and seeing another maiden towering above a friend of hers that doesn’t have any aura should have triggered the Silver Eyes instead. The most she does is tell a speech to Raven that… didn’t really feel like a real thing. Most of the victories we saw on-screen rarely took teamwork, and mostly revolved around one moment of awesome that just undermined the threat of the grimm or big bad guys. She’s about as effective as a level five Bulbasaur in Inferno Cave.

Ruby is constantly taking a backseat to most moments that develop the much more interesting cast and jaune.

And once the story is all said and done?- What is she going to do? What is she going to do once the heroes defeat Salem, and the world is safe from the threat of the grimm?

Yang has some world exploring to do. Blake has equality to keep alive. Weiss has a company to run. Ren and Nora have each other……… What’s left for Ruby? What are her goals for after the adventure is over?

Nothing.

[seyaryminamoto]

I've started the process of writing my own love story. Its not a fanfic, but an original novel that I plan on completing someday. However, even though I already have the main story planned out, Im having a hard time with dialogue and coming up with ways for my characters to interact with each other(if that makes sense) I was just wondering if u have any tips 4 me. I know this doesn't have anything to do with gladiator, but im a huge fan of your writing style and would love to hear your advice.

Hmmm… well, dialogue is a little tricky. From what I’ve been taught in school, there are three different kinds of texts that can comprise a narrative text: action (the actual narration), description and dialogue. Action moves things forward, description somewhat stops time, and dialogue can achieve either thing, depending on how it’s used.

But dialogue also helps a lot when it comes to characterization. Dialogue is meant to convey information between characters, and characters, like real people, have different points of view, disagreements, points in common, and so forth. Each of your characters has had different experiences, and often dialogues are the best way to bring up those experiences (having a character talk about something that happened to them is often more dynamic than simply explaining it in descriptive or narrative text).

So, with that in mind, how to write dialogue? First things first: imagine yourself in the shoes of a character. Dialogue is the best empathy exercise I’ve ever done, because it really forces you to forget yourself and to picture yourself in someone else’s shoes for a moment (kind of like what an actor does). Two characters are unlikely to respond in the exact same way to the same events. Say that there are two characters in a sports game and one team scores: one of the characters cheers and the other grumbles in frustration.  You can know, just through dialogue, that one character supports the winning team and the other supports the losing one.

Dialogue can be difficult, but it’s a really good tool for characterization, too often better than description or narration. Yes, actions speak very loudly, but a character can be incredibly elegant in actions and appearance, only to swear like a sailor once their dialogue begins (then you’d get a pretty funny contradiction between appearance and behavior that makes for an amusing character). In short, dialogue is how a character interacts with the world around them, with their friends and enemies, with their family and strangers (characters also interact differently with each kind of relationship I mentioned here, the same way real people do). So when you write dialogue you give your character a voice, and as in real life, everyone has different voices.

You’ve said you’re writing a love story… dialogue, to me, is essential for romance. I don’t know what kind of story it is for sure, but whether your characters are instantly attracted to each other or absolutely can’t stand each other at first…? You need to bring up situations for dialogue to produce genuine bonding. Physical attraction alone isn’t enough to establish actual love, most fiction these days makes a deliberate effort to go beyond that, so dialogue is a must in your line of work. Dialogue is how you show chemistry between your characters, how you prove to your readers that these two characters have plenty to offer each other and can have a very special bond.

My advice is… generate situations where dialogue can happen between them. Push the plot so that they have no choice but to interact. Their first dialogues may not go too far in establishing meaningful bonding, but that’s where you’ll have to produce situations where they get to bond. Using Gladiator as an example, in chapter 9, when I brought Sokka to the Barge’s deck and he found Azula training there, they end up training together for the first time in the story. Azula’s warrior training shows, but she’s no expert with the sword. Because of this, the subject of why she never trained with Piandao came up, and this is the first time Sokka hears about her conflicts with her mother. Azula finds herself telling him about this, while obviously holding back a lot of information he didn’t need to know, but she’s still sharing something with him that she hasn’t shared with most people (namely… because nobody else has asked her about any of this before :’D).

That exchange is what I consider the first real bonding scene between them in the story, where they first truly respected one another and their many differences, while finding a little common ground, too. Knowing Azula wasn’t allowed to learn how to use swords gave Sokka the chance to offer to teach her, many chapters later. Teaching her becomes not only another perfect excuse for them to spend time together, but it strengthens their relationship because he’s somehow fulfilling one of her dreams.

And it all started with that dialogue!

So, allow your characters to have important things in their lives aside from their relationship (as it is here with Sokka, Azula, training, bending, swords and such). If they have common interests it becomes easier to weave in a romantic storyline. If they have diametrically different interests, you can weave in the romance anyways because of how they try to conciliate those differences. Give them more substance aside from their relationship (which is realistic, as people in real life tend to have much more going on in life aside from just romance), and soon enough you’ll have two characters who can interact at leisure. From casual talk, like what I explained above with Gladiator as an example, you can get a conversation that will move dynamically and organically through many topics. If it’s a meaningful conversation, it can come back sometime later, once one of the character brings it up like “hey, remember when you told me about *insert topic here*…?”, as it was with Sokka and Azula’s interest in swordsmanship, or when Sokka remembered later that Azula’s relationship with her mother wasn’t that good, knowledge he acquired thanks to this particular exchange.

In any case, this is what I recommend. But for other important things to note with dialogue:

Small talk is a thing: while some people will tell you that you should NEVER have empty, pointless dialogue in a story (because a story should be concise), people in real life can have some really pointless conversations. Yes, your dialogue, ideally, should always convey new information, but don’t be unforgiving with yourself if it doesn’t. Sometimes you need a few lines of empty small talk before you can get to the real meat of the exchange. The main thing to avoid, though, is turning a serious conversation into meaningless small talk, but I’ll expand on that in point 3.

People have different vocabulary: this is something that can cause trouble in some ways. It’s been a little complicated for me in recent times, I used to be better at it. But part of characterization is knowing what kind of words your character would use, and what kind they wouldn’t. You can have characters who are very eloquent with their dialogue (I try to do this with Ozai, because really, it takes some real weirdo to say things like “the universe delivers you to me as an act of providence”, canonically), others who are less so, and some who would just have absolutely no fancy words in their vocabulary altogether.Important thing to note: your characters, unless they’re meant to be you, or are educated exactly like you, probably won’t talk exactly as you do. One particular problem I’ve seen in some writers is that they can’t seem to change the speech pattern of characters, either they aren’t sure how or just don’t know how to do it, and it gives the feeling of mechanical dialogue, because it’s like you’re just reading the narrator’s voice rather than the character’s. Whether you’re making fanfiction or original fiction, your characters should have different speech patterns from yours/the narrator’s, unless there’s a very good reason for them not to have them (example, you can have a character who loves using literary quotes when talking, and you can also have a character who’s never read any high literature: by logic, the second character shouldn’t be able to use any of the quotes the first one uses in common dialogue).

Make dialogue meaningful when it has to be: I am a fan of small talk, of simple conversations between characters that can be pretty easy-going, casual, what have you. I don’t need every exchange between characters to be filled with “I AM YOUR FATHER!”-like revelations. But I recently watched at TV show that had just featured a “character death”, and it provided a perfect opportunity for the character’s best friends to talk about what happened (and to properly talk about how one of them was going to fill the “dead character’s” shoes from there on), and… the dialogue that should have been important was absolutely, entirely, meaningless. It didn’t change anything. It didn’t move either character in any direction. You barely even felt like they were affected by their friend’s “death”, that’s probably the worst part of it all (they shoehorned one of the characters getting tears in her eyes at random, despite the conversation’s emotional charge was equal to zero).In conclusion: when something big has happened, your characters will show emotion, will react emotionally, and if they don’t, there’s a chance they’re just bottling things up (and you should imply the bottling up through dialogue, which can be done). When caught up in awful circumstances, characters cannot simply indulge in small talk, or pointless conversations that lead nowhere. It’s in these cases where strong dialogue is needed. Anticlimactic dialogue is a very unpleasant thing to have in your story, as it can break all suspension of disbelief from your readers.

Don’t be afraid of having multiple characters in one conversation: I’m not a fan of big conversations in real life, but multiple voices in fiction have been ridiculously fun for me to write. Yes, you need to be versatile and switch positions with every new character you write, but for instance, I really enjoyed writing the Gaang talking at the cafeteria table in IHTBY. When you bring together characters from different backgrounds, different experiences, and have them interact with each other, you find yourself with all sorts of different chemistry between all of them: you can have characters who get along well, characters who like to bicker with each other, characters who have entirely different views in life, characters who have crushes on each other… you can have virtually anything. And that provides the opportunity for dynamic dialogue scenes that, for reasons beyond my understanding, a lot of writers seem to avoid like the plague. Granted I’m not saying you should make every single dialogue a multi-character dialogue, but I do recommend that you don’t run away from this, because I’ve seen people who do that and it only seems to hinder their stories in the end.

Your character will behave differently depending on whom they’re talking to: this is something I mentioned earlier, but I’ll mention it again: Azula doesn’t talk with Sokka with the same cautious respect she usually has to muster when talking to her father. When she threw that caution into the wind (as she did in a recent Gladiator chapter), not only was she terrified while doing it, but she took Ozai and everyone else around them by surprise. Likewise, she wouldn’t talk to any strangers the same way she talks to Sokka or her father.Characters will respond differently to other characters, depending on how guarded or how free they feel around the other person. Depending, too, on what sort of relationship they have with the opposite person: Sokka is Azula’s partner and lover, he has seen Azula for who she is, entirely, which means she’s at her most open when she’s with him. Toph, Ty Lee, Mai and others are Azula’s friends, they know she has a her softer side but they haven’t seen it nearly as often as Sokka has, so Azula is more reserved around them than around Sokka. Ozai is her father, due to her relationship with him she endeavors to NEVER show him her soft/weak side, so she’s VERY guarded when talking to him. Likewise, she didn’t show her soft/weak side to Zuko, her brother, until a little while before they parted ways, because she couldn’t let him see she wasn’t absolutely perfect, so she was very reserved with him, too, even if she would lower her guard just enough to torment him whenever she felt like it.An important example, with which I seem to break this rule (despite I kind of don’t…) is Sokka: he’s constantly horrifying people everywhere because of how he talks boldly to Ozai, apparently not holding back at all (truthfully, he holds back a lot more than most my characters seem to realize x’D). He doesn’t get a pass for this: everyone thinks he’s crazy for showing so little respect to the Fire Lord. Ozai thinks it’s amusing, sure, but most other people are horrified. If you have a character who talks to everyone the same way, regardless of authority or different positions in the world, other characters need to respond to it, especially if it’s as far out of place as it is when Sokka does it in Gladiator.

Let the character guide you: once you’ve established your character, dialogue can become a matter of impulse (as it happens to me most times). Only a couple of hours ago I had to backtrack on an exchange between two characters where one of them responded negatively to what the other character said. I couldn’t really write it differently, because the one character could only be offended by the other character’s words. I had to modify the full dialogue so that the response to the first line of dialogue wouldn’t turn a playful conversation into an argument.In short, you can’t force a character to behave or respond to situations in ways they don’t want to. If your character leads you in one direction, you can’t double down on them and make them act differently than they would. Once you feel characters moving by themselves in one direction or another you know for sure that you’ve been able to understand them… but that is a full compromise, so to speak. If you understand them, it means you understand why they respond to things the way they do, and you also understand why they wouldn’t respond any differently than how they do. So, if you’re faced with a problem like the one I described in the previous paragraph... change the situation, or the previous dialogues that can be altered (if changing the previous character’s dialogue disrupts their characterization too, you’ll have to rewrite from further back). Just, don’t force a puzzle piece where it doesn’t fit. That only harms your story further in the end. It takes away the life in your characters, because they feel less consistent and therefore, less believable.

I’m not sure if I can come up with anything else… but if you have any other specific questions about dialogue-writing that I didn’t answer here, just let me know and I’ll give you a hand if I can do so! :D

[zutaras-where-its-at]

So I've decided to rewatch atla b/c I haven't seen it since it ended. I'm just about finished w/ the show. And while I've always shipped Zutara and was never happy w/ the Kataang ending (even as a child), I never disliked Aang. But rewatching it now, wow. Aang is actually kind of a terrible person at times. And it kinda sucks having that realization, you know? The entire Gaang were my heroes growing up. Seeing that one of them is kinda awful breaks my heart. So sorry for rambling 😅

Hello, Friend!

Alrighty… Sorry that I left this sitting in my inbox for a few days. I felt the need to address it when I had more time to write out a cohesive answer. So, here we go!

As someone who has been in your place before and who has watched the entirety of the series several times during my adult life, I will definitely agree with you on the fact that Aang can be very immature at times. I will also agree with you that that can be a little disheartening, and can make him seem less likeable. 

HOWEVER. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about this both now and in the past, and I’ve come to realize a few different things about Aang that personally restores my faith in him. While he does tend to be in the wrong quite a few times throughout the series, I think it’s important to remember a few crucial facts.

Number 1, Aang is just a child who happens to be carrying the literal pressure of the world on his shoulders while coping with his own massive trauma. One of my pet peeves is when people brush off the fact that Aang has literally lost everyone he’s ever known, and has awoken in a world completely different from what he’s used to–AND upon waking up to this new world, he is immediately shoved into being the savior of it. (Anyone else getting major Steve Rogers vibes over here?)

Even with his status as an actual twelve year old, nobody ever really addresses this trauma since it isn’t as apparent as, say, someone who’s mother died in a raid during the war. Sadly, his trauma is completely overlooked because it no longer is relevant to the more pressing issues of the war. “Oh, you woke up from a 100 year nap and everyone you know and love is long gone? That’s rough, buddy. Why don’t you just try and forget about that for now and prioritize the massive shitstorm that is our political climate?” No wonder Aang can sometimes act bitter or selfish. Hell, I would too if everyone dumped their problems on me and didn’t bother to help me with my own. (P.S. That is a generalization of everyone in the series and is not meant to represent every character. I think plenty of people, like Katara and Sokka and Toph and eventually Zuko, showed a lot of support and concern for Aang’s well-being, but I also think that Aang’s PTSD is well beyond their abilities.)

Number 2, Aang’s flaws are actually an example of great character writing. Do I think that his character was always written well? No. But do I think that he was written in a believable way? Yes. I think that by the end of the series, Aang still had a long ways to grow in a lot of different ways, but who didn’t? I actually think his character arc went very realistically. I would rather watch somebody make mistakes and learn from them than watch somebody be perfect all of the time. By the last episode, Aang still had issues with entitlement and immaturity to deal with, but I don’t think that those are unusual things to find in a preteen. All things considered, he easily could have let his tragic backstory turn him into an epic villain, but Aang still chose good over evil. Repeatedly.

It’s also important to realize that the whole Gaang had their fair share of ugly moments. I could go more in depth, but off the top of my head I can remember specific moments in which they all showed some nastier sides to themselves. But that doesn’t make them bad characters, and it doesn’t negate their goodness. In fact, it actually makes them more inspiring because they’re more relatable to everyday people. They show the constant struggle between good and bad, which we all have to go through. 

So to answer your comment, I don’t particularly like everything that Aang has said or done, but I do think that we need to give him a little bit of a break. I like Aang, and I still admire him to this day, not because he was flawless, but because he was good and compassionate and kind, and he refused to give up despite all the odds stacked against him. I look up to him because he did not let resentment consume him even with his own past trauma. I love him because he took the worst possible situation and found the best possible outcome (see: Aang refusing to kill Ozai even though nobody would’ve blamed him for it). Even with my status as a Zutarian, I definitely don’t hate Aang. He’s a pretty tough kid if you really think about it.

[groundramon]

Do you have a list of like top 5 tv shows? (Cartoons and anime included)

!!! Yes I do, actually!

I’ve actually thought about doing a YouTube video about this in the past, and while I do want to do list-like videos (and I already have at least one in mind) in the future, I put off doing this one because it actually…depends greatly on where certain shows I currently like are headed because some currently-airing shows would be on this list if they hit their full potential, but who knows if they’ll hit their full potential. Also I always split anime and cartoons into two categories because I always had a hard time picking otherwise xD But I do have some semblance of a list, and I adore talking about this kind of stuff, sooo:

5. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

This spot is kind of a three-way tie between Voltron, Bojack Horseman, and FMAB, all for extremely different reasons. So consider Voltron and Bojack my honorable mentions. But while I believe Bojack’s best is honestly some of the (if not the) best out there, and if Voltron promises through on what they’ve promised it will easily skyrocket up this list, Bojack’s worst is everything I hate about Hollywood and Voltron just has too many holes at the moment.  FMAB has the best of both worlds because it has great animation like Voltron, doesn’t have any of Bojack’s bad kind of moments, and doesn’t have many holes in it.  (Another honorable mention goes to BNHA, but like Voltron, I just don’t think it has had enough time to develop all the way. Unlike Voltron, it doesn’t really have any holes, but I do have a problem with how strictly it adheres to cheesy super heroes of the past.)

BUT onto FMAB itself. God cmon, its FMAB, do I really need to elaborate why its so great? The characters are compelling, their motivations are powerful and interesting. I could write an essay examining Ed’s character alone, because he has so many interesting motivations and morals that seemingly conflict with his angry disposition, and I don’t even like Ed that much. The story is exciting - there’s basically no filler, and it almost moves too fast at points. I do have problems with the show - as I said, it goes too fast. The only two deaths in the season happen in the first 12-15 episodes of the series, and although I think that’s because the original FMA animated those scenes already, it still fucks with the pacing of this show. Additionally, despite Lust, Gluttony, and Envy all being revealed before, the show introduces a completely new villain - Greed - to introduce the homunculi. And then they kill Lust - the presumed leader of the first three introduced homunculi?? Idk man, the show barrels in a completely different direction way too quickly. But other than that, its a great show. The only reason it isn’t higher is because I’m a biased shit towards other good shows.

4. Teen Titans

Speaking of being a biased shit, idk if it shows or not, but I have a HUGE soft spot for corny kids shows that try to give kids bad laughs and dark/relatable storylines, or rather, have a heart while doing so. Its not so much that I like a balance of comedy and darkness in my shows - although that’s a good thing, I eat pure angst up and I’m all-for pure comedy shows that have the aforementioned heart (ie we bare bears, another good show not on this list) - its just specifically corny pun-ridden teen/tweeny-feeling shows/games that actually have a decent story underneath that get me. (Also my sense of humor aligns much more with shitty teen lingo and puns than modern cartoon humor that’s considered “good”. Like I find Teen Titans 10x funnier than I’ve ever found Steven Universe. I’m a 90s kid at heart even tho I wasn’t alive in the 90s)

But the biggest impact of this show for me was the heart and the plot. The silly moments made me laugh, sometimes iromically and sometimes unironically and sometimes I wasn’t sure how, but it was the story that really gripped me. The first season’s overarching plot for Robin is honestly one of the most compelling things I’ve seen in kids cartoons…period. Its dark, its unique, its a subversion of such a simble and broad trope. Sure it had a nice cheesy ending but Robin actually saves the day through INTELLIGENCE, something he always had. No other Teen Titans ending did that, but I digress.

And god, do not even get me started on Terra’s arc. Just because Robin’s was the most well-structured arc doesn’t mean his was the most emotional. I was fucking distraught after Terra’s season. Those memes weren’t a joke, I legitimately cried right in front of my mom. IT WAS SO OBVIOUS, BUT IN MY BLIND LOVE, I MISSED ALL THE SIGNS… and god, even when she comes back, even when she’s given a happy ending, she manages to make me cry AGAIN. I never, ever thought I could cry over a character like Beast Boy, but she made me do it. I didn’t even cry when Sokka’s girlfriend died, but this really, really got to me. Once for personal attachment, and the second time because…the finale is so good. Literally its Bojack levels of deep, emotional, and realistic, and this was the ending of a fucking kids show. What the fuck. To this day I still get emotional whenever something reminds me of her arc. Which brings me to my next series…

3. Cybersix

Hi so did I mention Cybersix is really good? Because Cybersix is really good.  I’m not even done with it but yeah, I love this show.  It’s got an amazing art style, great animation, an intriguing story…I have a feeling I’m gonna be really disappointed when it ends because I’ll want to know what happens next so badly.  I like the characters, I like the aesthetic, I like the old-timey music that dates this cartoon so wonderfully, I even like the romance between Lucas and Cybersix/Adrian!  How’d you make me do that.  Oh yeah, because it’s not hard to get me to care about a mutually rewarding relationship that’s gradually built up through a friendship, then an aesthetic attraction, then presumably a relationship but idk yet, where both parties care about one another and their boundaries and have gotten along well since the start.  I forgot.  (I could nitpick that Lucas doesnt have the same buildup for the relationship as Cybersix [its complicated, basically he’s friends with Cybersix’s alternate persona Adrian but he’s in a relationship with Cybersix, and he doesnt know theyre the same person] but I’m not gonna.)  It’s just…a good show man.  @ hollywood, reboot THIS you cowards.  Stop rebooting shit nobody wanted a new version of and reboot shows that were ended to quickly.  Actually dont reboot Cybersix because the only animation studios that would be able to do it any justice are Studio Mir and anime studios, and whoever owns the current copyright to Cybersix would probably be okay using flash for it

2. Digimon Adventure (with a honorable mention to Digimon Tamers)

You can rip my love for the entire Digimon franchise from my cold, dead hands.  I’m sincerely surprised any show passed up my love for this show.  If/when the currently airing series in Japan gets brought over here, I’ll watch it, even though Digimon has kind of abandoned what made it so great in the first place.  But hell, even Fusion was enjoyable - the second arc, from what I remember, was pretty dark and interesting (im still mad they got rid of the two best characters tho) - and the only reason I disliked Data Squad so much is because of Marcus (that and it doesnt have anything else that’s absolutely stunning, in fact from a technical standpoint Marcus is the best thing about the show).

But there’s a reason I put Digimon Adventure here and not the entirety of the Digimon franchise.  Digimon Adventure is what started it all.  No Digimon season has as much heart in it as the original.  Sure the animation improves each season, sure Tamers is probably better story-wise on a technical level, but I dont think any season matches the raw charm of the original.  It was so charming, in fact, that what was supposed to be a 13-episode miniseries evolved into a massive franchise that’s still beloved to this day.  Hell, there’s still content being released for the 8 Digidestined of this season!  It’s right alongside Pokemon, Invader Zim, Hey Arnold, and all these other beloved 90s/early 2000s cartoons that are being revived in recent years, and I think that says a lot.

I wasn’t even alive when Digimon Adventure was airing, but I loved the Digimon games I had played so much that I went out of my way to watch it.  And I…loved it.  Sad as it may be, it was the greatest TV show I had seen at the time.  Growing up in the late 2000s watching only Nickelodeon and CN was not a good period to grow up in, and I never saw Avatar as a kid.  By the time the 2010s had rolled around, I had mostly given up on cartoons, and besides, they were all fugly.  I still tried to watch some, but just…the humor didn’t grip me, they seemed dumb, and they weren’t pleasant to look at.  (Okay the main shows I’m vaguing about are Adventure Time and Regular Show, as well as whatever Nickelodeon was doing but I begrudgingly put up with Nickelodeon for the most part because I preferred Nick and I never knew what else to watch)  Then Digimon came around, and hol-y-shit.  The characters were like nothing I had ever seen before, the storylines engaging and interesting.  Sure it was cheesy, but there was 95% less fart jokes than the average cartoon, a good story, and actually relatable characters that actually go through hardships and actually change for the better!

Digimon Adventure has been and always will be proof to me that no matter what you are, no matter what your show is, you can make a good show out of it.  If you get people who care, who can make relatable characters, who can come up with an interesting story, you can make a good show.  Digimon Adventure is basically a big long toy commercial, and yet its better than lots of shows that dont even have merchandise - and its also better than a lot of shows that have merchandise now, but weren’t created to sell toys in the first place.  I just.  Love it a lot.

Also, the reason I specifically chose Digimon Adventure, outside of having a personal attachment to it since it was always my favorite, is because Tamers hecking scared me as a kid and I’ve never gotten over how creepy the last arc is.  Like it’s good, but it still scared me.

Honorable mentions: Bojack Horseman, Voltron: Legendary Defender, We Bare Bears, Gravity Falls (thats a big one, it would definitely be on this list if I had 10 spots, and will gladly take the 6th spot if Voltron doesnt follow through or Bojack goes south), Over the Garden Wall,  the aforementioned Digimon Tamers ,and Infinity Train might be #2 or at least #3 if it wasnt just a single episode l m a o

1. A tie between Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra

HI SO YEAH if you didnt expect this then you dont know me //BRICKED

Before I explain both, I want to be very clear that I’m not counting them as a single entity.  No, I just cant pick between them.  They’re two extremely different shows, and I actually agree with people who say ATLA is overall a more-rounded show.  Problem is, I watched both during a period of my life where politics and darkness make an extremely interesting show for me (aka the current period of my life) and thus its a very biased and “nostalgic” pick, just like Digimon Adventure.  Had I watched these shows when they were airing, I dont know if LOK would even be on this list.  Heck Digimon adventure probably wouldnt be on this list since ATLA would’ve held the crown for my favorite show for all those years.

They both have amazing animation and solid writing, but that’s about all they have in common in my eyes - even though they share the same world.

Avatar: The Last Airbender is a kids show.  Through and through, its a kids show.  That’s not an insult in the slightest though; no, the fact that they can make something so sophisticated and enjoyable that still clearly appeals to children is really a testament to their skills.  Many kids shows that try to take on heavier/darker stories feel like completely different shows when they try to do that - shows that arent intended for kids.  Voltron and SU are the most notable examples of that, but even LOK has a little bit of that (but in LOK’s case, its the entire show, so I kinda give them a pass lol)  Other shows do it okay (Gravity Falls) but really the only show I’ve ever seen match Avatar’s perfect balance of comedy and seriousness is Bojack, which isn’t a kids show so it has an advantage over Avatar.

Avatar’s world is fanciful and larger than life.  I’m so sad that I watched Avatar and LOK after my fanfiction days; I would’ve loved to spend nights thinking about a potential Avatar story, complete with my own Avatar and original cast.  I could put it before Avatar, after LOK, who knows? but it would’ve been so much fun.  Hell I HAVE thought about Avatar stories, but I obviously dont have much thought up on any of my potential ideas.

The pacing of Avatar is golden.  How a show wish such good pacing got through Nickelodeon, I dont know, but whatever deal allowed Avatar to go on for three seasons and then end was a once-in-a-life-time deal (as evident by what happened to Korra).  Somehow this show came out almost completely perfect, with few or no flaws.

This is the pinnacle of children’s entertainment, in my opinion.  This is proof that there’s no excuse for the garbage that makes up 90% of children’s entertainment.  The standard doesn’t have to be this, since this is the best, but this show is proof that we need to raise the standard.  I wish executives actually gave a shit about quality; if they did, maybe we could get mostly good shows instead of mostly bad shows.

If most shows were half as good as Avatar, the average show would be gorgeously-animated, smartly-written, and really good, even if it had a flaw here and there.  If most shows were half as good as Avatar, Steven Universe would be the average instead of a godsend.

If I someday, somehow make a show that’s 2/3rds as good as Avatar, I’ll officially be a good writer.  I’d love to make tons of shows just as good as Avatar, but hey, I cant get TOO cocky now lol

Now for The Legend of Korra.  Korra has slightly better animation (god i love studio mir) and different but still intriguing worldbuilding.  I know a lot of people found the political bs to be annoying, but I actually found it quite intriguing.  Avatar did a little bit of exploring moral gray areas and playing with politics, but Korra just goes all-out.  I wish the first season’s morality could’ve been a little grayer, but even then, the politics were still interesting.  And god, that one scene in the first season finale, the murder-suicide…that’s still a really powerful scene.  The entire finale would’ve been super powerful were it not for everything resetting by the end of it, but hey, they basically did the same thing in season 3!

Holy shit though, season 3.  An on-screen strangling.  Someone exploding themselves to death.  And then the finale’s fight.  The finale’s fight. The finale of season 3 is one of the most intense things I’ve seen…ever.  The atmosphere in that fight is just…so good - combined with the animation and choreography, its just amazing.  You can almost feel every hit, you actually feel concern for Korra, you’re legitimately concerned for her life.  And you know what?  You should’ve been!  Because she almost dies, and she has to suffer the consequences of that.  The fourth season has a time gap in-between, but even then, she spends episodes trying to fully recover.

In my opinion, the only thing making Korra a kids show is Milo.  I’m certain they put him in there because otherwise, it wouldn’t have been allowed to be called a kids show.  It’s dark, its intelligent, its beautiful, and it’s going to go right over most kid’s heads.  As a kids show it does kind of fail; it just doesn’t really appeal enough to them.  Once you’re old enough to understand, say, Naruto or Dragon Ball you should be okay, but ATLA appeals to all ages while Korra really needs a certain maturity in its audience to be understood and to not scare its audience.

They’re just both. so good

(thanks for the ask!!!)

[zutaraverse]

Chapter 1 Part 1: A Pair Of Shoes and Mango Skins

“Me and Katara are going to travel the world and rebuild the air nation!!” cried an excited Aang.

The group of friends were sitting in the gardens of the fire palace discussing the future. A year had passed since defeating Fire Lord Ozai and they had travelled together to start the new alliances; they opened negotiations with the Earth Kingdom and Water Tribes, educating the new ambassadors to carry on their work. They had started talk of reparations, of long term relinquishment of the more recent colonies (the first ones had been Fire Nation for so long that they chose to remain that way), and had helped rebuild parts of various cities.

They had convinced Uncle Iroh to take up the role of Fire Lord, and he had promised that when things settled he would leave the position for Zuko. The last thing the nation needed was somebody as inexperienced as the Prince in all fire nation matters. Zuko would stay, observe, help, and slowly the responsibility and power would shift to him - when he was ready. Iroh still wanted his tea shop and was determined to break the family tradition and not ‘die as Fire Lord’.

“I… I don’t think we are Aang…” started a hesitant Katara. She chewed on her bottom lip and her bright blue eyes looked away from the young avatar. “I know you want to rebuild the air nation but I … thats not what I want to do.”

There was a moment of silence as Aang processed this.

“But Katara!! You know how important it is for balance in the world! You know we have to do this!” Aang looked put out and he was whining like a child. Then again, he was only thirteen.

“No, Aang, you need to do this. I don’t. I have my own life to live.” There was another complete silence where the young avatar blinked several times in confusion. “Alone Aang. Not you and me. You on your own, and me on mine…” she added quietly, her whole face turning red and desperately trying to stop herself shaking. Somehow letting down her friend was one of the hardest things she had had to do. Because thats exactly how she saw him; a friend. More of a son than anything else. Sure, they had kissed a few times but that did not mean that they were together. And if anything, those kisses were motivated by a happy confusion on her part. Besides, he was still so young! And she was now fifteen knowing far more about the world than most people, including Aang - she couldn’t spend her life waiting for him to grow up holding on to the hope that she might eventually fall madly in love with him. Because that is what she wanted; when she eventually finds somebody she wanted it to be like fire, she wanted to fall madly in love - they type old folks sing about. She knew she was not ready for that right now, and neither was he.

“But… I love you.” He said, a deadness in his tone. The others had realised something significant was going on and they stood slightly to the side, ready to intervene.

“I know Aang. I’m sorry.” Katara hung her head, hoping to Yue that it was enough for him to understand.

“NO! YOU DON’T KNOW! I saved the world Katara! I saved it for you! And this is how you repay me?! That’s not fair!!” he shouted, making the whole group jump. Katara started to cry.

“Right Twinkletoes! That’s enough!” said Toph in her stern voice. Stepping between them.

“Move Toph, this has nothing to do with you!” growled Aang, trying to look past her to Katara

“Actually yes it fucking does. You can’t go around spreading bullshit like that - and whats worse, you can’t actually be serious about thinking that shit!” she growled back. She was still as small as she had been a year ago, but had grown more fierce than ever.

“Toph! Don’t swear!” Aang said, shocked by the language she was using and actually focusing on her and not Katara. Toph smirked; step one accomplished.

“Why not Twinkletoes? Does that offend you? I’ll let you in on a secret; I’m not a little girl anymore - I can use whatever language I like.” She stood, arms folded across her chest waiting for his next move.

“Toph you don’t understand, this is between me and her! And I’m sorry but you are going to have to get out of the way…” He went to swipe at her with his glider but she preempted it; with a flick of her toe a rock jumped up from the ground and knocked the glider out of his hands. With a stamp of her foot he was covered to the head in stone, unable to move his arms or legs. He had no choice but to listen.

“Right you are going to listen now, and you are going to listen hard. Tell me, Aang, you saved the world - you seem to think that thats a reason for Katara to fall in love with you. But we also live in the world - surely we should all be head over fucking heels for you by that logic. Let me tell you sweet cheeks, that is not the case. Secondly, Don’t you ever fucking say you saved the world. You couldn’t have done it without us - especially without Katara who babied you when you had nobody. She is the greatest water bender there ever was and she taught you and cooked and cleaned and organised and picked you up when you were down - She mothered you Aang! Where is the romance in that! Why would she commit to being with a kid who she sees as her own son? Thirdly, you can’t earn people’s love like that - they either are in love with you or they aren’t. Fucking deal with it, that shit hurts. And lastly Katara has spent the best part of the last two years doing what you needed to do. She isn’t Air Nation - she is her own person and quite frankly its insulting to her that you just assume she will drop everything that makes her Katara so she can follow you around on your missions being nothing more than ‘The Avatar’s Girlfriend’.” Toph finished, glaring at Aang who was now in tears. She whipped around to face Katara.

“And you! You fucking pressured Master Pakku to teach you, you travelled the world, you beat Zuko at the North Pole, you brought both Aang and Zuko back from death and you are incapable of standing your ground? What is the world coming to!!” Toph threw her hands up in the air, exasperated. Katara sobbed louder but threw herself onto Toph in a tight hug as a thank you.

In the meantime, Aang was pleading with Sokka, Suki and Zuko to make her see sense.

“Sorry man,” muttered Sokka, coming closer to the avatar, “I’d prefer she be with you rather than on her own but she deserves her own life… she’s spent it so far looking after me and then us… thats not really fair.”

“Aang, try to understand,” added Suki gently, “We are not the kind of people who are easily pushed over - we need to find our own path, we are all strong… and from what I understand, thats part of the reason you love her in the first place - how can you deny her freedom?”

“Zuko! You think this too?” pleaded Aang, as if Zuko held the answer he needed.

“You can’t earn love. Believe me, I tried to earn my father’s my whole life. Besides, Katara deserves her freedom, she’s fought her whole life for it. Remember that Mai turned out to prefer Ty Lee to me - it hurts but it also passes.” Zuko didn’t move from where he was standing, arms crossed over his chest and leaning back against a pillar that surrounded the garden. He was trying to lighten the atmosphere and to calm himself down - he had suddenly realised how much more he respected Katara for standing up for herself. Staying with Aang was the easy option, the one they all thought she would take. But she was stronger than merely doing what people wanted her to do. She was, after all, one of them. It was the one trait that brought them together. Toph didn’t want to be cooped up in her home treated like a dirty secret, Sokka didn’t want to stay in a village without helping out in the war, Suki didn’t want to be helpless and powerless in her island’s struggle, and he… he didn’t want to follow in his father’s footsteps and destroy the world.  They had all fought for their freedom, they all knew how important it was.

Aang dropped his head so his forehead rested on the rim of the stone prison. Toph released him. He slowly bent to pick up his glider and looked at his friends, avoiding Katara completely.

“Well, I guess this is goodbye then.” He nodded to himself and leaped up into the air, opening his glider and losing himself in the clouds.

The group stood, stunned at his immediate disappearance into the skies.

—————

Night fell and Aang still had not returned. It dawned on them that maybe he meant it, that he really had gone off to start his missions immediately. Appa was gone when they checked in the stables that had been especially built for him.

Toph declared that Aang was a ’twat who didn’t even say thank you’. Sokka and Suki were unnaturally sombre and Katara would silently brush away quiet tears. Zuko was the only one who was holding it together. He tried to explain to the others that it would take Aang some time to grow up, that he was still only thirteen - he was, after all, thirteen when he was banished. Plus, Aang was the avatar! He could take care of himself.

They all knew he was making sense but still they felt slightly betrayed at his extreme reaction. They all went to bed with heavy hearts.

Continued in Chapter 1 Part 2, posted soon!