#lol zuko is bad at names

[thepublishingpress]

A Civil Conversation

(Alt. title: Midnight Talks)

Zuko was feeling rather proud of himself. He had done it. He had managed to convince the Avatar to let Zuko teach him firebending. They had given Zuko a chance. Zuko absently poked at the fire with a stick. Though, not everything was ‘sunshines and rainbows’, as his mother would put it. He shuddered when he remembered the Southern Water Tribe girl’s threat. 

Hm. Perhaps betraying her was not the best idea.

He’s broken out of his thoughts when he hears footsteps. Zuko tenses; he’s ready to defend himself if Katara has come to deliver on her threat. 

“Um… Hi?”

Definitely not waterbender girl. “Hi.” Zuko narrowed his eyes at the newcomer. “Are you coming to make threats at me?”

Water Tribe boy chuckled. “Nah. I think my sister’s already taken care of that, don’t you think?”

“How…?”

“I saw her walking out of your room with a grin, and when I asked her what she did, she said the whole story. So, no, I’m not gonna bother you with threats of extreme bodily harm.”

“Um. Thanks…?” Zuko said hesitantly. The boy gave a shrug in response. “May I ask why you have come to visit me?”

“Wow, so formal,” The non-bender snorted, “I just wanted to ask you some things, since, you know, I didn’t have much time before.”

“Alright,” Zuko said, nodding, “Ask away.”

The other boy plopped down beside Zuko. “You’re the Blue Spirit?”

“I-uh…” Zuko blinked in surprise. Out of all the questions the non-bender could’ve asked, Zuko was not expecting this. “Yes. Yes, I am.”

“Oh! Cool!” Exclaimed the younger boy. “We’ve seen the Blue Spirit in posters and whispers around Fire Nation towns, you know.”

Zuko bowed his head. “Thanks, I guess, but how did you know?”

“Aang told us.”

The Avatar. His name was Aang. Zuko filed away the 12 year old’s name for later use. “Oh. I see.”

“So…” The boy in blue swung his feet like a child. “If it’s, um, not too personal, why’d you leave?”

“I…” Zuko paused, thinking about his answer. “Something felt wrong, I suppose. There was something missing that I knew the palace, my home could not provide. I felt discontent. But now…” Zuko trailed off.

“Now…?” Water Tribe boy pressed, curious.

“I feel more complete.”

The fifteen year old boy smiled. “Good for you, then.”

“Thanks.”

“So!” The non-bender said, clapping his hands together. “About you joining the team…”

“I won’t betray you, I promise,” Zuko blurted, “I know I betrayed you before, but I was unstable, but now–”

“Ah, ah, ah,”  The blue eyed boy shushed him, “It’s not about that. I think we can trust you, for the most part. What I am saying, though, is that if you are to join this group, you need to know about the members, hmm?”

“Oh. Right.”

The boy beside Zuko offered him a grin. “Let’s start with me! You know I’m from the Southern Water Tribe, and I’m fifteen!”

“You’re a year younger than me.” Zuko noted.

“Mhm!” The boy continued chattering, talking about his life in the Southern Water Tribe. Zuko eventually relaxed and they fell into a conversation, comparing each others lives, searching for similarities to bond over.

Finally, the Water Tribe boy glanced at the sky. “I should go to bed now…” He said quietly. He smiled. “It was nice talking to you, Zuko.”

“You too, um…” Zuko mentally smacked himself for not asking for the boy’s name. He had always called the members of the Avatar's group certain names in his head, such as Waterbender, The Avatar, Blind Earthbender, and Boomerang Boy. Said boy, however, laughed it off.

“Sokka,” He told Zuko, “It’s Sokka.”

“Good night, Sokka.” 

“Good night, Zuko.”

Yes, joining Avatar Aang's group was a wonderful idea. 

~*~

lol happy (early?) new year everyone!! finally got out of my writer's block and artist's block (if that's a thing ofc) just in time hehe hope you have a great 2024! <3 - basil dela cruz

(P.S: i love the idea that zuko has no idea what the gaang's real names are, so he made up nicknames. it's so silly and i simply adore it <3333)

[ironinkpen]

iroh is out here playing 4D pai sho, trying to gently nudge his nephew toward making good choices and maybe also committing some treason, while somehow completely forgetting that his nephew is, at any given opportunity, liable to make the most batshit decisions possible if given even the slightest amount of wiggle room. zuko is deeply traumatized and categorically does not understand anything more subtle than a brick to the face, why the FUCK would you leave ANYTHING up to interpretation with him, hello???

listen We Stan Uncle Iroh In This House etc etc but I gotta say, the decision to continuously interact with the Angriest Boy Alive via riddles he does not understand and often froths at the mouth upon hearing is definitely,,,,,, a choice

[katarasmomsnecklace]

I wanna talk about all my fav ATLA ships cuz being a multishipper can suck sometimes

I wanna look at ship tags and not see hate for another ship in them

SPREAD THE LOVE

KatAang: Classic friends to lovers. Couples who commit ecoterrorism together stay together

TAang: She was a punk He did ballet what more can I say. But like actually they're so fun to analyze with what we have in canon, they legit give soulmate vibes.

ZuTara: SHOT THROUGH THE HEART another fun one to analyze, opposites attract/enemies to lovers it's a good time

KaToph: They're defined by overcoming their "weaknesses" Katara fought for her right to be a master despite her gender and became one of the most powerful benders because of her will to fight. Toph literally invented a whole new bending style BECAUSE of her blindness. Love them

MaiLee: Bad bitches deserve bad bitches, we love a sunshine and sunshine protector. Their fighting styles compliment each other as do their personalities

MaiKo: 'I love Zuko more than I fear you" will never not be the hardest line in the show. *doesn't care she got pickles* "HOW FUCKING DARE YOU SHE SAID NO PICKLES"

Ty Luki: I just want Suki to show TyLee the ropes of being a kyoshi warrior. They have so much they can teach each other also if you like the Airbender! TyLee headcanon there's something poetic about her unlocking her powers with kyoshi's fans

YueTara: MOON AND OCEAN NEED I SAY MORE

ZUe (I actually don't know their ship name) we in rare pair hell but SUN AND MOON NEED I SAY MORE also applies to Yue x Azula you guys come up with the coolest scenarios that put either of the fire siblings in the north pole, this fandom is so creative

ZuKKi: Let Sokka pull lol but actually a King and His Guard and King and his Ambassador, it's like Sukka is great but make it better

Mai TyLee and Suki should be a bigger ship cuz I swear I'm the only one that sees it (help me name them)

Tell me about your favorite ATLA ships I freaking love these characters and I love when they love each other

[the-fandom-finder]

It think my main problem with some Izzy fans is they straight up lie or have extreme cognitive dissonance for stuff. “Izzy is more popular than ed/stede” no you were just around people who like is he more than them? I promise you the average person fandom or not does not like him more than the main characters. Also, just because he’s popular in the fandom doesn’t mean he’s a better character. You how many fandom I’ve been where they sent her around the white male character more than any other character? So often it’s a dime a dozen. He talks about how crazy Ed is before we even meet the character and when we meet him, he’s just a little suicidal at very least at that point. honestly even if he did survive, it would not make sense for him to be the captain of the ship. It’s canon that he’s not good at running anything and only really good at violence. he’s an interesting character meant to represent toxic masculinity at least in season one and how breakable and fragile it is. Honestly, him and Zuko have a lot in common when it comes to fandoms. These characters are both flawed and I’ve done bad things, but for some reason, some fans wanna make them look perfect like they’ve done nothing wrong and excuse everything that comes with the cost of completely miss characterizing everyone else around them. Man called the British, which are basically the cop because he didn’t get what he wants and view himself as knowing Ed more than himself which is messed up, bro. and the story portrays this as bad like it should be. Also, why are all the tags that were created to criticize Izzy taking over by Izzy fans like you asked for a specific tag and then take it over and then get upset when people use it. I also have seen fans on Twitter called themselves Ofmd hater and then spend all their time talking about the show. It’s OK to move on. It is not the Izzy show and never was. I have to rewash the show to remember Izzy‘s and actually interesting character because his fans have changed him so much that I can’t stand him if I don’t watch the show. There is a reason why people were being rude against the phantom for some stupid reason reasons or only a small group of people they named them and that weird little list they had. Now I don’t think any of the Izzy fan should be attacked or doxxed because that’s just weird and wrong. That doesn’t mean you can’t criticize them and how weird they are about this white man. I think it’s time for some of you who just have so much hatred of everything else in the TV show. Make an OC That’s like 2 inches away from that character and leave you’ll be much happier. Another problem I have is how some people treat David he’s not a perfect man nor perfect writer, but to go out of your way to say you understand the story infinitely more than him is crazy. He is shown multiple times he loves the character. This is just how he wanted to take him in the story not out of malice,, not out of homophobia not of hatred for disabled people, but because that’s how his story was always going to end he just got to die slightly less full of hate and may be a little happy. Izzy and ed had no chance of ending up together. The story basically states that pretty early that it was one-sided and not entirely healthy on either side. Also celebrating the show knocking a third season and people losing their jobs even though you were probably going to see Izzy again in some form is crazy.  I promise you your hate did nothing or brothers was just being a cheap ass and canceled other diverse shows so it definitely wasn’t because of you. Either way, I guess I win in the end. I still love the show and not full of anger at least about this. I got a lot of other problems lol. This post is probably way too long about something that doesn’t really matter too much but it feels good to get it out especially with finals coming around. If you read this entire thing and hate me well thanks for reading. I guess. Hope you have a nice day and I mean that genuinely life‘s kind of sucks right now for everyone lol.

[punkeropercyjackson]

I'm pretty sure Atla being Aang's story and never about Zutara is just.......kinda what Atla about instead of making it a bad story lol!Like it's called 'Avatar:The Last Airbender' and the 2nd part refers to Aang being the sole survivor of a genocide which like the characters is based on the real genocide that happens to Tibet,Aang's people,by China.The Water Tribe gang are also genocide survivors because they're native-coded and the Fire Nation is an imperialist empire because it's based on Japan when it was

So Aang's the protagonist because it's about poc trauma and potraying etchnic cleansing survivors as the victims they are but also humanizing them and showing them as heroes and capable of saving the world that tried to wipe them all out!Aang is the good guy because he goes out of way to help everybody,with activism AND direct action and in the comics,he kickstarted decolonization and arguably counts as the inventor of in his world.Atla was created to radicalize the kids watching it and while it's not perfect(see the demonization of Jet and Hama and asskissing of Iroh),Aang is undoubtedly a great role model and relatable to kids of color as well as asian people who come from lesser known asian cultures that're happy to finally get some rep that's not just easian characters

On the topic of Katara,not sorry at all but she's never been meant to be 'the universal female experience' or some other radf.em-adjacent caricature.Yes,she's a girl and it's really important to her she's a girl but she wants to be a girl HER way,not what's expected of her by society.Katara is a brown native american-Inuk girl who was parentified despite having an older brother due to sexism and fell for Aang because he helped her feel like a real kid instead of a mini mom and he fell for her at first sight because he found her indigenous features to be angelic and princess-y and all around perfect and Katara is a punk girl,she refuses to follow the rules or conform to standards or hold herself back for ANYONE and never shuts up about it or refuses to stop acting on it so she's canonically an anarchist,she was Aang's righthand in The Gaang and did her own solo anti-imperalist activity on her own too and provided resources and aid and even emotional comfort for oppressed groups all throught the show so she's canonically an activist and she hates the Fire Nation and ALL bigots and abusers,no expections,so she's canonically anti-authority and anti-establishment too.Katara is a feminist character in the sense she's nothing like women are expected to be and does the heroism and has the personality traits which are said to be reserved for men by the patriachy,ESPECIALLY at the time.And yes,Zutaras,you too to this fuckin' day

Zuko's redemption arc was Zuko's redemption arc.Not an arc about finding a way to make it okay for him to date Katara!ZUKO'S REDEMPTION ARC IS ABOUT ZUKO!Not even Mai had a huge hand in that despite being Zuko's canon girlfriend but that's not because 'she wasn't important to him',it's because he didn't do anything he had to redeem himself for to her except breaking up with her in a petty way so he could work on healing and free himself from Ozai and she understood that by connecting the dots so she forgave him as she gets what it's like to have your parents abuse you because it's 'normal' in their culture-easian culture.Zuko is fundamentally a japanese man,his name,his design,his backstory,his personality,his powers/fighting style,his tastes,his generational trauma.Ozai abused Zuko using techniques created by abusive easian parents specifically since sadly the normalization of child abuse is so wide,different cultures each have their own unique tactics for it and Zuko thought nothing of it until he left the Fire Nation and learned it's not normal at all and that he deserves better.That's how it works for a lot of kids of color,if not most of us

In addition to the giving reperations aspect,Zuko becoming Aang's big brother figure and pseudo-dad is him healing his inner child and breaking the cycle of abuse.Dadko symbolizes peace with their dynamic too,peace for Zuko's lineage because now he gets to be the good dad to Aang Ozai never was to him and grew up to be a good biodad to Izumi largely realistically thanks to Aang giving him experience with raising kids.Zuko's dad friend behavior is a positive trait,'Mom'tara is silencing Katara for your male fave so she can be realize she's not a real kid actually,Aang was wrong and she's not actually beautiful,kind,cool,funny,charming,badass,a hero and deserving of a soft love with someone who's patient with her because he's just happy to her in silence until he thought he'd have to die to save the world and couldn't bear the thought of parting with her because she's his whole world just as he gave her hope she could grow up to save it.And y'all call him a r*pist because they were mutually unspokenly flirting for months and she got angry at him for implying they shouldn't kiss followed up by an implied almost kiss and multiple cheek kisses from her to him so he thought to make up for it out of misreading the room and immediately regretted it and berated himself for making her uncomfortable at the same time an EXPLICITLY non-consensual on her side episode where Zuko kidnaps her,talks badly to/of her,threatens her condesendingly and even steals Kya's necklace is what gave Zutara popularity

Atla is one of the best pg show's of all time because it's not about Zutara but about Aang.Not about cishet romance where the oppressed girl falls for her boy oppressor as it has the 'undesirable' race boy the villain.Then it would've been propaganda and glamorization of Japan's darker history as during Japan's imperialist era,women were treated pretty similarly to black people in the slavery/segregations and i'm making that comparison because as a black woman 1.It's pretty accurate and 2.Zutradras have a misogynoir problem and an antiblackness problem towards black men too by treating black girls as the same white girls like how they do Katara as a brown indigenous girl and moc Atla fans are targeted by the white Z/K suckers on the basis of being 'males' when white women inherently have privilege over moc,black and brown men most of all.They got a transmisogyny problem too since as i stated,their 'feminism' in regards to Katara is ciscentric only and carry r.adfem-like rethoric to how she should be written,plus their hatred of Aang for 'not being a real man' since they see him as amab and he's canonically very feminine and then there's all the anti-trans Zuko headcanons sentiments that only come from them with literally every other Atla ship group being supportive of trans readings of him,as well as for the Avatarverse cast in general.Atla is a love letter to misfits,not a love story for the normies.Aang was right to keep the Air Nomads alive by not killing Ozai because poc shouldn't have to give up our culture to be 'real punks' when punk is black made and whites and westerners are very much the biggest reasons we and other poc we even need revolutions

Kataang is a ship between two punk kids of color and Zutara robs countless abused japanese/asian-american kids of the narrative they needed and still need.The Atla fandom is extremely anti Zutara because it's a papable replacement for a very powerful story that only caters to the very people the series was saying are bad for correct and proven reasons.You can say 'interracial relathionships are so important and that's why should've Zutara happened!!!' but as a black/white biracial woman you're no different than people who only like interracial ships if they have a white person and get mad at poc4poc interracial rep seeing as you whitewash Zuko's writing and you can also say 'No girl would choose Aang over Zuko' but i had a huge crush on Aang and i was told i wasn't a real girl despite being afab because i was an autistic black tomboy and a huge part of his appeal was that he's not the fantasy,he was like me and plenty of girls weren't attracted to Zuko and it's enforcing cisheteronormative to act like we all did just because we're women.Hell,i'm convinced Katara is trans because of her relathionship with girlhood and canon punkhood and bi with a preference for gnc partners because of Kataang and the Katoph subtext and curiously enough NO Zutara shipper who's anti Kataang headcanons her as transfem while most Kataangers nowadays follow the t4t take on it and almost every lesbian i've met in the fandom stans it too and mocks Zutara

Avatar:The Last Airbender is about a tibetan boy who saves himself and everyone else from the system that tried to wipe his people out entierly with the help of a parentified brown native femme punk girl he's in love with and her in love with him back for his own unconventionality and the reason the mc even survived properly was she didn't stand for her older brother's misogyny and the tritagonist is a japanese disabled abuse survivor who's redemptic arc and joining of the good guys is a healing arc that involves holding himself accountable and unlearning propaganda and ACTING on it instead of infantalizing him because he may have been 16 at the the time but literally everyone he'd hurt is younger than him and coddling and refusing to progress isn't actual healing.'Aang is an ugly loser because he shaves his head for cultural reasons and is kind and positive and boys aren't supposed to be if they wanna get girls and Katara should've ended up with Zuko to fix the nation that colonized hers by becoming it's leader and living there and Zuko's arc was ruined because he didn't become a good person for romance but for himself and to make friends' is NOT the hot take you think it is

[waiitwotworkshop]

*ahem* gaang headcanons? very specifically, transfem zuko headcanons?

YAYY

Zuko goes by Lin and everyone thinks that’s her new name so they try not to deadname her, so when anyone refers to her as zuko they all cringe and try to defend her. Only for her to be like ‘idk why you guys kept calling me Lin, we’re not in public”

Zuko is sm more sensitive abt her hair. She is crying inside when she cuts it off at the end of s1 when it starts growing back in she’s so happy. It grows back a little wavy and it’s such a cute cut that makes her look feminine even w short hair.

Somehow attracts guys while working at the tea shop. This includes jet (ugh) but ultimately they don’t go further than some weird flirting which is actually just insulting each other. Jin still has a crush on her but she doesn’t go on a date with her because iroh just assumes she’s straight(it’s debatable)

Sokka rlly likes girls who can beat him up so naturally he gets a crush. This hot girl is mean to him but sometimes laughs at his jokes he’s absolutely falling for her. And he loves to treat her delicately even though she can clearly handle herself. This is where we get into some divergence from canon (other than the obvious lmao) canon zuko would not want someone to treat him so fragile but Sokka does it so lovingly that she can’t help but love it. Like ‘omg a puddle let me carry you over it so you don’t get mud on your shoes :3’ just being such a gentleman and zuko is so in love with it because she’s never been treated so gently. Ugh just imagine him being so lovesick over zuko, like ‘yes darling, anything u say darling ^^’ this is basically canon do u see the way he treats suki lol. I just love the thought of this grumpy loser doing a complete switch when it comes to zuko.

She wouldn’t go back to the firenation with Azula because she /can’t/ her father would definitely not accept her like this so this is a hypothetical but she would hate being expected to be Mai’s bf again. And she tries to give her a seashell bc she thinks it’s nice and /she’s/ a girl and likes it so why the hell doesn’t Mai like it too. She’s definitely jealous of the girls getting attention so her and azula r just pissed together.

Zuko is 10x more nervous around katara bc she desperately wants them to be friends. She just thinks back to how Azula made friends so easily and how zuko was so bad at it/didn’t want to hang out with guys that she just tagged along like a loser. She’s so desperate to finally make her own friend that she also tags along to wherever katara is and cringes at herself every time they interact. When suki joins the gaang and three of them hang out she’s secretly ecstatic.

I will literally go on abt trans girl zuko forever I’m so happy to have an excuse to talk abt her someone please ask me more

[foggypieslimehairdo-blog]

Help me find this zutara fanfic!

Hi so I have never posted here before and idk if anyone will see this lol but I desperately need help to find this fanfic.

Its a zutara fanfic set during the episode of the boiling rock and when Zuko and Sokka leave in the hot air balloon Katara creates a attachment for herself out of ice underneath the balloon in order to join them because she is so suspicious of Zuko. When at the prison Zuko and Katara get caught and become prisoners and while they are Katara speaks out against the treatment of the prisoners. In order to punish her the guards are going to go to her cell during the night and whip her but in order to save her Sokka and Zuko had the idea that Sock should with the cell number for Zukos and so Zuko takes the whipping ment for Katara. Thinking she's in the clear and that no-one is going to punish her for speaking out Katara keeps doing it and the boys keep swishing the numbers. It gets so bad that Sokka eventually have to get Katara to heal Zuko (She doesn't know they've been switching the numbers so she still hates zuko). I think they might have hid them in one of the freezers so that she could heal him but I might have made that up lol it's been a while since I got to read it. I also remember that they at some point is trying to run away but Katara get shot by something(?) and falls and zuko catches her and they both fall unconscious. Then they wake up in a cell and zuko is tied up in a chair and she is on the floor. Then she somehow end up in his lap as the warden I believe opens the door. Idk that part is a bit fuzzy.

Please if anyone knows this let me know the name or author or website or link (or if its been deleted🥲) Thankss

[theturncoattournament]

Who is the best turncoat character? (Round 2)

A tournament for characters who change allegiances and/or have a redemption or corruption arc during their stories

PROPAGANDA:

Ruru Amour/Cure Amour- Her redemption arc is amazingly done in my opinion because she was originally an android built for the evil company called crisis corp, and she was built to be emotionless. She would act as a main antagonist for the heroes called the precure. And eventually she decided to basically disguise herself as an exchange student to learn more about the precure to defeat them. And then she met this girl named emiru, who taught her how to feel emotions like love, and joy, and sadness, ect. And soon her and emiru became precure together, and it made my heart burst like. I cried.

Zuko- Zuko's redemption arc is the peak redemption arc that all redemption arcs are compared to

-*slaps prince of the fire nation* this guy can fit so much trauma in him -one of the best redemption arcs of all time -this dude spent the better part of 3 seasons flip-flopping between good and evil -can be so funny in the driest way possible lol -had to fight his own sister, who is insane

he literally has the best redemption arc ever written

Zuko spends like the entirety of season 2 slowly realizing that the Fire Nation were the Bad Guys™, had a whole moral crisis towards the end of the season, ended up choosing to side with his sister so he could go back home even though he knew it was the wrong moral choice, spent the first half of season 3 angsting over having made the wrong choice, then finally joins the good guys for good halfway through the season

[longing-for-rain]

Katara ain't even the last southern waterbender. The post-ATLA material shows that there were other waterbenders in the SWT all along but they were in hiding or couldn't be contacted because the South Pole is too big and communications broke down during the war.

It would be more revolutionary for Katara to end up with a SWT boy so they could rebuild their tribe together and help pass down customs, but Katara doesn't know ANY southern water tribe boys her age except for her brother. Bryke literally couldn't be bothered making any other SWT boys Katara's age, so she has no viable romantic options left apart from Aang. Katara herself was even SUPPORTIVE of settler colonialism if it meant the outcomes could benefit the future mixed kids she would have with Aang. Kataang being "revolutionary", my ass. 😭

I also think it's kindaaaa ironic that someone going on about how "revolutionary" a particular romance is supports Maiko and literally has the url of "Fire Lady Mai" when the Fire Nation monarchy should have been abolished because they gained their power through eugenics over the centuries by breeding the royal family with noble lineages to produce the world's strongest firebenders, and Mai was literally a colonizer who never learned that colonization was bad and becomes the queen of the nation she colonized in the name of. Lol um, okay.

That response was…something, for sure.

I agree, if we’re taking the “Katara has a duty to marry a specific kind of man to fulfill a duty to her people” angle, then yes, someone from the Southern Water Tribe would best fulfill that.

But what I have an issue with is the whole idea that who she marries should be dictated by a sense of duty. Or politicized in general. That’s just a classic misogynistic narrative (so unsurprising to hear from a kataang fan) that a woman’s relationships is not about what she wants, but rather, what would be for the greater good. That is not a healthy basis for a relationship. A relationship shouldn’t be political; it should be about you as a person and who you love. And ultimately I think that’s why Zutara is so hated, because ultimately it does represent placing love above the greater good. Some people view this as traitorous and selfish for a woman to do, but couldn’t be me. Katara, and all women, are not wrong for choosing love. We don’t live very long and love is one of the most beautiful things to experience. We have a right to experience it.

However, I disagree that Katara supported settler colonialism, assuming we’re talking about The Promise here. What she believed was that families shouldn’t be separated and lovers shouldn’t be kept from one another just because their ethnicities are different. She brought up the children to convince Aang to reconsider his stance on enforcing racial segregation (too bad certain fans didn’t get the memo). Also, Zuko wasn’t even trying to recolonize that province; he and Katara only supported their right to self-determination. That’s the opposite of colonialism.

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

Found a funny post. A ZK shipper complained that ZKs are being attacked while there are some much more terrible ships in the fandom – zucest, or Zhao/Zuko, or Ozai/Hakoda, or Zhao/Azula, or Ozai/Kya, or Jee/Zuko, or Ozai/Azula… there were probably more.

I guess you see the pattern. These are small ships (apart of zucest, probably, it seems the most popular in the list). They are nor, like, everywhere. I’ve only ever seen Ozai/Kya mentioned in a ZK fic, lol. And only ever seen Zhao/Azula fanart among the works of a ZK artist.

They do not pretend to be more than they are or to be something entirely different. For example, Hakoda/Ozai content would be either a crack scenario just for fun’s sake or an honest “these two characters are canonically incompatible, there’s absolutely no way they’ll have a sappy happy ending or a healthy relationship at all, so prepare for some serious drama” or “don’t look for a reason here, I just like them because they’re hot” (which is sexualization I guess but at least both characters are adults and not, you know, 14-years-olds). No “fixing the canon” crap here.

They are honest about their problematics too. Ozai/Azula? “This is incest ship, so if it’s not your kink, just don’t read”. Zhao/Zuko? “Here’s some really creepy shit. Yes, it’s extremely unhealthy, that’s the whole point. You were warned. Check the tags again.”. And so on. Not like the fics where Katara falls in love with Zuko after he raped her, you know…

They don’t shit on other characters. I can’t remember Mai being demonized in zucest fics as much (if she ever was) as she is in ZK fics. I’ve actually seen a devoted zucest shipper (hello-nichya-here) who defends Mai and Maiko!

They are just chill, create and enjoy content. Sometimes it’s amazing. One Jee/Zuko fic I’ve read was much more sensual and erotic than all the ZK smut I’ve ever read, combined (and the character dynamics was way more convincing, too).

Their shippers do not make up crazy conspiracies about how they were “robbed”. They do not write a kilometer long metas about how their ship is the actual canon, inserting Watson and Doyle’s names in every paragraph and lying about almost every event from the show. They do not comment “my ship is better!” under fics or arts featuring one character from their ship paired with someone else. They do not force their ship down everyone’s throat. As far as I know they don’t send death threats to people who don’t like their ship. Really, such terrible ships, why people attack the ZKs instead…

They try to use these as exemples of "worse" fandoms because they all have an element people could have issues with - a canonically abusive character like Ozai, a large age gap between an adult and a minor, incest, a controversial/disliked character, etc.

But like you said, these fandoms all mind their business, and anyone who does the same doens't have an issue with them, if they might have an issue with the ships. Meanwhile, Zutarians are hated not because the ship is controversial, but because the SHIPPERS are pushy. It's just going "Don't pay attention to my bad behavior, hate on these guys for having controversial ships!"

Seems it's time for this again: Hello, Nichya here! Unfortunatelly it was not at all uncommon to find Mai-bashing in zucest fics back in the day (honestly, most of the zucest fics back in the day were fucking terrible with both Zuko and Azula being wildly out of character) and it still hasn't disappeared completely. Thankfully that bullshit seems to be on it's way out, and I don't think the fandom ever reached the point of sending hate to Mai/Maiko fans like zutarians did, even if they hated the character for the same stupid reason - aka for "getting in the way."

[sp0o0kylights]

ooo and 5 please! who's saying fuck no about what??

This waaaas a werewolf oneshot I was playing with, separate from Hungry. It features a transmasc Gareth, protective Eddie and Steve, and a personal favorite, Secret Berserker Jonathan Byers.

This was another oneshot that is made entirely of various scenes, so I wrote a quick introduction here to it. It wouldn't make a lick of sense otherwise lol.

(Similar to Hungry, we're playing with dominant/submissive werewolves. Think Patricia Briggs and Ilona Andrews & how they run their werewolf stories based on super outdated but very fun concepts of real wolf packs lol. I have my own little modern twist on them, but there's a difference between a social work/school friend group "pack" and a Wolf Pack TM. )

Snippet

Hellfire won't be out for another few minutes, but neither Steve or Jonathan talk much as they wait. 

It's a peaceful kind of silence they share, particularly between two people who aren't friends, but ended up as family anyway. 

Which is why both startle hard when the doors to the school slam open. 

One of Munson's wolves storms out, looking over his shoulder instead of ahead. "What part of fuck no don't you get!?" 

"Come on." Wheedles another voice, and Steve and Jonathan both watch as a sandy haired boy in a letterman jacket pursues the first.

Slowly, casually, and with the air of a predator.  

"Don't fight it so hard, baby!" The harassing party coos, in a smug mimic of Danny Zuko. 

"Do not call me that." Munson's wolf--Steve can't recall his name but he thinks it starts with a G-- whirls around.

The guy seems to be made of both fury and anxiety, backing away even as he spits and snarls--though his actual emotions are hard to get a read on given he's drenched himself in scent-neutralizing cologne.

(Steve almost sneezes when he scents it, but manages to keep himself together.)

The Hellfire kid's putting up a fight, but its clear from the way he holds himself that he’s a more submissive wolf--and a bad match to the dominate one chasing him. 

Jonathan tosses a glance at Steve. 

"I'll call you whatever I like." His pursuer tells him, a smile unfurling on his face. "Especially after I make you my bitch." 

Steve shoves off the car the same time Jonathan does, but he ends up being the first to the scene, surging forward to step in-between the two.

Hardened battle buddy he is, Jonathan takes this as his cue to fall in behind him, sticking near Munson's wolf. 

"Andy." Steve identifies, voice cold. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" 

"Harrington?" Andy replies, thrown off his target and showing it. "What are you doing here?"

"Putting you in your place, apparently."

Andy's head snaps back, eyes narrowing in mounting rage.

"Excuse me?" 

Steve cocks his hip, hands on his hips.

"Not until you swear off hunting down submissive wolves, you fucking walnut." 

"That isn't what this is, Harrington. Mind your business." 

He makes to go around Steve, and finds the older wolf won't let him. 

"I told you to back off." And the voice Steve speaks with then, is different. 

Weighted.

Steve's wolf is the dominant party here, and he's making Andy feel it. 

Andy growls at him, an inhuman sound, eyes darting from Steve, to Jonathan and back.

He's outgunned and he knows it.

Tension grips them all as Andy meets Steve's eyes in challenge, before clearly thinking better of it.

He drops his head, stepping back.

"Fine. But I'm not giving up, Grace. We're doing this, sooner or later." 

"My name is Gareth." Munson’s wolf snaps, and Steve knows Jonathan will hold him back if he tries to escalate things, 

Submissive has never meant unable to fight, after all. 

Steve keeps an eye on Andy as he retreats another step, and it's all too clear he wants a parting shot.

"Now we both know that's not true." He says, and Gareth hisses like a kettle, fury emitting off him in choked waves. 

Steve clears his throat in warning--he's done playing here, and no matter how much he hates fighting, his wolf has no such qualms.

Andy's eyes dart to him once more, before he whirls around on a heel and storms back through the school doors.

Right in time to plow through the rest of Hellfire.

"Get out of my way, freaks." Andy spits, shoving his way through. 

Will yelps in surprise, caught off guard and off balance, falling back into the lockers with a crash.

His head smashes against metal and he slumps for a moment, stunned.

Mike and Dustin both turn to shout at Andy, Lucas slotting himself to Will's side and trying to get a look at his head.

Behind Steve, Jonathan's eyes go dark.

Munson and Gareth both choke as power floods the parking lot, bloodlust pouring off the elder Byers in waves.

He knifes forward, past Steve, hands blurring in a slurry of shifting muscles and bone until his fingers elongate into sharp, wicked claws. 

It's a controlled change, a feat very few can accomplish--and a deadly one, given Jonathan's reacting out of instinct than anything else.

"Jon." Steve calls, power ringing out from his voice.

(Can see, from the corner of his eye how even Munson, the second most dominant wolf present, flinches from it in surprise.

Steve isn't. He might be a trash fighter, too worried about preventing injuries to inflict them, but his wolf doesn't share the same sentiments.

It's not a disconnect. Rather, it's an agreement he has, with his wolf half, and it serves them very well.)

Jonathan freezes, and it's immediately clear by how tense his muscles are that he's not doing it on his own.

That Steve's using his position in the Pack to hold him, magic and Pack bonds pulsing between the two.

"Steve." Jonathan warns, all too calmly. 

Steve's wolf doesn't rise to the challenge. Doesn't consider it a challenge, even if most wolves would. 

Amber pours into Steve's pupils, the mark of the two halves of a werewolf blending themselves together.

Just as Jonathan did.  

"Check on the kids." Steve and his wolf say together.

 Jonathan's face twist in a snarl as his body shudders under the command.

"Fine." He says after a beat, and Steve's Pack magic releases its hold.

Jonathan's hands twist again, bloodlust fading from his scent, frantic energy draining from the air like a hole punched into an inflatable pool. 

"I'm fine." Will calls out to him, and Steve eases himself back into his own natural state, the threat of Jonathan murdering Andy neutralized. 

He turns to check back in on Gareth, and finds the younger wolf has pressed his face hard into Munson's shoulder. 

"He okay?" Steve asks.

It's redundant because of course Gareth’s not okay--but that's not the question he's really asking.

What he's asking, is if Eddie has Gareth.

Steve has never quite been sure of Munson’s pack status--he knows some clubs and friendships are closer than others, and many can act similar to how Steve’s own capital P Pack does. 

Knows through the kids that Munson runs his group more similar to a proper pack than your normal little high school friend group.

That does not mean Gareth will get the care he needs right now, hunted down like he had been.

"Yeah." Eddie says, understanding relayed in a nod. He turns his gaze to the right of Steve's face, the polite thing to do when two dominant wolves to interact. "Harrington, we need to talk." 

It's in a tone that'd normally have Steve's hackles up, but given what's happened, Steve soothes down his wolf.

Follows when Eddie gently pulls away from Gareth, handing him over to a teen Steve is pretty sure is named Jeff before edging Steve away from the crowd. 

"Can you tell me what Andy said to him?" Munson asks, and his tone is odd.

Off slightly, like he's trying hard to be extra careful. 

Steve chooses not to read into it. 

"He called him names. Bitch and baby. Said Gareth shouldn't fight him so hard." 

Eddie stares at him then, eyes burning into Steve's own, and Steve's wolf itches under his skin at the audacity of it. 

"Anything else?" Eddie demands. 

"He said he wasn't hunting, that it wasn't what it was." 

Munson frowns. "No, did he call Gareth anything else?" 

Steve's dropped the polite urge to keep his eyes averted, now staring dead into Munson's eyes, unable to ignore the direct challenge offered in it.

"He called him Grace, but I figured that was just another insult."

Steve’s voice is clipped. He’s not eager for a fight, particularly not against the guy the kids won’t shut up about, but his wolf is already closer to the surface than it usually is.

Munson stares at him for a moment longer.

"Think you and Johnny boy over there can keep that last bit to yourselves?" 

It's too much like a command, a threat of force in Eddie's voice that's backed by hints of his own wolf shoving forward.

The Steve of old would have been downright violent when faced with that. 

The Steve of now, the one who'd gone three rounds with the Upside Down; who sat drugged out of his mind in a bathroom while Robin confessed to liking Tammy Thompson and then looked at him like he might kill her for it, keeps himself in place as he looks Munson over. 

He’s not imaging it, there is a challenge there--but Steve pauses to think about what he’s being challenged over before he responds. 

How Munson isn't so much focused on Andy, as he is on the name he'd called Gareth.

His eyes flick over to find the younger wolf staring right at them. 

The guy’s arms are wrapped tightly around the middle, a poorly hidden tremble rolling through his body.

Steve hadn't taken Andy's words at face value but Eddie’s request reframed things in his head, and he’s silent as he works out why, exactly Gareth's name matters so much. 

No wonder the kid had drowned himself in that awful, scent neutralizing cologne. 

"Yeah. I'll make that happen." Steve agrees, his words heavy with promise. 

"Thanks." Eddie inclines his head. 

[king-bumis-armpit]

A Dirty Chai and a Black Tea with Cardamom, Part 1

A Maiko Modern AU

Link to part 2 here

Summary: In Ty Lee’s quest for her crush of the week, a cute blue-eyed barista at the local tea shop, Mai stumbles into a new college friend group. But it’s not all bad. That one grumpy guy is actually kinda cute…

Author's Note: This idea was gifted to me by the lovely @cowpoopies !! I’m pretty sure you were the first person to respond to my call for prompts, which was really encouraging!! Thank you so super duper much!!

And thank you to whoever’s reading this. Whether you interact or not, I love you and I hope you’re doing well <3

I made Mai very, veeeeery oblivious here, lol. My depressing in-story explanation is that her mother ruined her self-esteem. The real reason is that I like Mai and Zuko being super duper awkward and then pining for long periods of time. Anyway, I hope you enjoy! Part 2 of 2 will be out sometime next week hopefully. 

WC: 5,010

Mai yawned. It was seven in the morning. An absolutely ungodly hour to be functioning in the world. Her roommate had dragged her out of bed at 6:30 and coerced her into getting ready for the day. They were now on their way to acquire caffeine, passing brick house after brick house on the path out of campus and onto Main St. “Remind me why I’m awake right now?”

Ty Lee giggled. The piercing noise reverberated in the suburbs of the quaint town. Mai longed to put in her airpods and drown it all out with music. “I’ve told you like a million times. We need to see the cute barista at the tea shop!”

“And I need to be there because…” she drawled.

“You are going to demonstrate that I have friends and I’m not a murderer. It’s like the mandatory group pic on a dating profile that shows you have social skills,” Ty Lee explained. 

“Right.” Mai knew that arguing was futile. At the very least, she could get a headstart on her Judicial Politics paper. Or she could do her Research Methods lab of the week. Or start studying for her Philosophy of Law exam. Ugh! Time to stop thinking about school. As the houses abruptly became parking lots and store fronts, Mai asked, “So, which crush is this? The girl with the pretty hair, the boy with the blue eyes, or the mohawk guy.”

“Blue eyes! He’s so dreamy,” Ty Lee did a twirl as she walked. “He wears his hair in a ponytail and he makes the funniest jokes. You can’t miss him!”

“And does he have a name?”

“Probably.” Ty Lee skipped ahead and Mai sighed. If Ty Lee didn’t even know this person’s name, then she didn’t see why she was already being called into action as wingwoman. 

They stopped outside of the storefront. Mai was surprised she hadn't noticed the place before. It wasn't far from their dorm building at all, and the warm glow of the lights beckoned her in. The sign on the window read ‘The Jasmine Dragon’. 

Ty Lee walked in first, causing a string of bells on the door to jingle. Mai followed and looked around for their target. The walls were adorned with illustrations of different tea leaves, and Mai recognized a decent number of them from her Aunt Mura’s greenhouse. The inside of the building was much more spacious than Mai would’ve guessed, and housed a number of sage-green tables. The counter was at the back of the shop, likely for the ease of connecting to a storeroom. The menu above the wall housed a wide array of teas and other beverages that sounded intriguing. Mai made a mental note to return at a time when she didn’t feel like death.

Ty Lee was not lying when she said the barista was hot. He was leaning forward on the counter next to the register, cradling his chin in his palm. His eyes were closed, perhaps dozing off. (Mai didn’t blame him one bit.) He had long black hair, but it was not in a ponytail as Ty Lee said it would be. His muscular physique was apparent, even under his t-shirt and apron. Mai was surprised that Ty Lee hadn’t mentioned the nasty scar around his left eye, but she assumed her friend wanted to be polite.

“Excuse me,” Ty Lee said, waking the barista. Mai noted that his eyes weren’t blue after all. He must be the wrong person. “My friend and I were hoping to order.”

He stood up, and glanced between the two of them. He immediately began blushing, and Mai couldn’t help but find it adorable. The poor guy probably had a hopeless crush on Ty Lee, like every other man on the planet, and he had just embarrassed himself by sleeping on the job. Mai hadn’t met Blue-Eyes yet, but so far she was rooting for Drowsy. 

“Umm… Sorry about that. W-what would you like?” he asked. He was looking squarely at Mai, as if Ty Lee didn’t exist. He must be trying to play it cool. Mai wanted to pull him aside and tell him that strategy was never going to work on her friend, but she knew it wasn’t her place.

Ty Lee piped up first, “I’ll take a large vanilla matcha milk tea with tapioca pearls.”

As Drowsy entered her order on the register, a second person appeared from the back.

“Hey! Our first customers of the day. How are you lovely ladies?” This must be Blue-Eyes for sure. He had the signature ponytail and radiant brown skin. Mai couldn’t deny he was attractive. The “lovely ladies” line annoyed her though. 

Ty Lee giggled and batted her eyelashes at him. “My morning is always good when I start my day here.”

Blue-Eyes laughed. “I know Zuko’s customer service isn’t that good. He was sleeping like two seconds ago.”

“I wasn’t!” Zuko demanded, but his vociferous protest did not help his case. He seemed to be fidgeting in his seat.

Blue-Eyes nudged him with his elbow. “Have you even taken their orders yet?”

Zuko nudged him back, harder. “I was before you interrupted!”

Mai took that as her cue. “I’ll have a medium hot dirty chai latte. Her treat.” She pointed at Ty Lee, who smiled brightly.

“I’m a very magnanimous friend.” She pulled out her credit card and passed it to Zuko who cashed them out. 

Blue-Eyes ignored her and focused on Mai. “I never would’ve guessed you were a chai type of girl. You seem like a black coffee person.” Ty Lee pouted.

Mai shrugged, “I don’t want to have to suffer to be caffeinated. Life has enough pain.”

Blue-Eyes laughed. “I feel you. This one time–”

Zuko tapped him on the shoulder. “Sokka, can you help me make the drinks?”

Sokka. So he did have a name. Why did it sound so familiar? And Drowsy– no, Zuko– seemed to be annoyed with him. But maybe that was just how Zuko was. As a fellow grump, Mai appreciated it. 

Mai and Ty Lee found a table while the two men moved around behind the counter getting their drinks and whispering to each other. Mai could only catch snippets but she was pretty sure they were arguing about who should bring their drinks over. 

Ty Lee leaned forward and spoke quietly. “Ugh! I think he’s into you, Mai.”

Mai raised an eyebrow. “Don’t be ridiculous. When in the history of our friendship has that happened? They’re fighting to deliver your tea right now.”

“Hmph!” Ty Lee pulled out a textbook and resolutely ignored her friend. 

Real mature, Mai thought as she pulled out her laptop. She never got annoyed when guys were into Ty Lee. Even hot guys like Zuko. That was like girl code 101.

She pulled up her essay prompt and bit her lip. Justice Own Roberts wrote: “The judicial branch of the Government has only one duty – to lay the article of the Constitution which is invoked beside the statute which is challenged and to decide whether the latter squares with the former.” Does his estimation allow for the justices to exercise their ethical codes? Should the personal ethics of these appointed officials–

“Umm… here’s your tea.” Mai looked up to see Zuko standing over them. Ty Lee had already received her tea, and it seemed to slightly improve her mood.

“Thank you.” Mai accepted her chai and took a deep breath to catch the scent. It smelled nice and strong, just how she liked it. Zuko was still standing over their table, and it seemed he was about to say something more when the door opened.

“Sokka! Tell Toph she can’t drop out of college and become an underground MMA fighter.” Mai recognized the girl, Katara, from a few of her classes. She was followed by Toph, who Mai also knew, and bald guy that Mai had seen around campus.

“No! Tell Sugar Queen here that a college degree is overrated in our fucked economy.”

Mai laughed despite herself, and everyone stopped to look at her.

“Oh, hi Mai!” Katara made her way to stand behind Mai’s chair. “Are you working on Judicial Politics? That essay is killing me.”

Mai nodded. “There is no fathoming the depths of my hatred for that class.”

Sokka made his way from behind the counter. “So do I need to settle the underground fighter dispute or…”

The bald guy shook his head vigorously. “Let’s just hope they forget about it.”

Toph crossed her arms. “We can all hear you. I’m blind, not deaf.”

“Oh!” Something clicked in Mai’s head. “Sokka is your brother, isn’t he? And Suki’s boyfriend.” She shot a meaningful look at Ty Lee.

“That’s right. Are you coming to practice with us later? You can bring your friend,” Katara said. Suki led women’s self-defense courses that Mai, Katara, and Toph all attended. She called her troop the Kyoshi Warriors. Mai thought the name was a bit much, but she enjoyed it all the same.

Mai realized she was in the unique position of knowing more people in a group than her roomate. “This is my best friend, Ty Lee. What do you say? Wanna tag along to Warrior practice later?”

“No, thank you though. I have gymnastics at the same time, remember?”

That was a lie, but Mai nodded along. She had told Ty Lee about Suki in the past, and it seemed that Ty Lee was not in the mood to meet her.

“Well, now that the troops are assembled, I assume you’re all having your usual orders?” Sokka asked. There was a chorus of assent from the newcomers. Sokka grabbed Zuko by the arm to drag him back to work.

“Wait– I haven’t–” Zuko resisted and everyone stopped to look at him. He locked eyes with Mai. “Nevermind.” He allowed himself to be led away. 

“Oh, I get it.” Toph laughed to herself. She must have uncovered his crush on Ty Lee. Despite her lack of eyesight, the woman was alarmingly perceptive.

“Get what?” Katara asked, irritation creeping into her voice. “Secrets don’t make friends.” The two began squabbling and the bald guy extricated himself.

“Hi! I’m Aang. Katara’s boyfriend.” 

“Hi.” Mai replied. She wasn’t sure what to say next. 

“You’re majoring in philosophy and poli sci, right?”

“Yeah, that’s right. What about you?”

“I’m a philosophy major too, but I don’t think we’ve had any classes together.”

“No,” Mai replied.

Katara, seemingly finished with Toph, reappeared. “How are you feeling about Professor Jeong Jeong’s Philosophy of Law midterm?”

Mai sighed. “I’m feeling like Toph has the right idea. After that exam, I might have to find a new career plan.”

Katara nodded sympathetically. “We should study together! You can come over to my place sometime.”

“That would be great! Does Wednesday afternoon work?” There were very few people in her classes that Mai would agree to study with, but Katara was an exception. She was brilliant and always kind. Not to mention, Mai was warming up to her little group of friends.

“That’s perfect! I’ll text you with the details later.” 

Ty Lee perked up. “Mind if I join you guys? I’m not in your class, but I’m more productive when I’m surrounded by others. It focuses my energy.” Mai struggled not to roll her eyes at Ty Lee’s bullshit.

“That’s fine by me! It was nice to meet you!” Katara and Aang left to pick up their drinks.

Ty Lee snapped her book shut, mood buoyed again. “Are you ready to head out?”

Mai stared at her blank Google doc and sighed. It wasn’t a productive morning, but it wasn’t awful to socialize for a change. “Yeah okay.” They gathered their stuff, and Ty Lee tossed her cup in the garbage. Mai had no idea how she chugged it so fast.

As they reached the door, Zuko called out, “Thanks for stopping by!” His hand was raised in an adorably awkward wave. Mai kicked herself. He wasn’t into her. Her mom had made it abundantly clear that guys didn’t like gloomy girls. 

Still, Ty Lee wasn’t giving him the time of day. Mai returned his wave and gave him a small smile before chasing her friend out of the tea shop. 

Ty Lee was already halfway down the block by the time she caught up.

“I think Zuko is way hotter than Sokka! You should go for him. He might be single.”

Ty Lee rolled her eyes. “Oh Mai! He couldn’t take his eyes off you that whole time. You should totally go for it, though.” Mai blushed. “Besides, you got us an invite to Sokka’s house, assuming he lives with his sister.”

“That was why you invited yourself to our study session?” Mai laughed. “What if Katara lives with Aang or has a roommate on campus?”

“Then I’ll say the energy is off and it’s affecting my aura and I’ll leave early,” Ty Lee explained like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“This is why I don’t believe in auras. You change the rules all the time.”

Ty Lee smirked, “Your aura was much pinker in there than normal. Did that have anything to do with a certain sleepy barista?”

“Oh shut up!” Mai trudged on ahead, hearing Ty Lee’s giggles behind her. 

— — 

As the pretty girl and her friend left, Zuko lowered his hand. Was waving cringy? The way he did it probably was. But the pretty girl had smiled! At him! He wanted that to happen again. The friend had stopped by many times before, but she’d never brought the pretty girl with her. Mai, Zuko remembered. 

His friends had congregated around their normal table in the back with their drinks. Zuko claimed a seat in between Katara and Toph.

“Sooooo, you guys know Mai from class and stuff?”

Katara chuckled, “That was not subtle at all. You like her?”

Toph punched his arm, “Looks like Sugar Queen finally caught on.”

Aang was beaming. “This is so exciting! Zuko’s never had a crush before!”

Zuko’s jaw dropped. “Yes I have! You all only met me two years ago. What are you talking about?”

Sokka cut him off, “Well this is the first time you’ve called dibs.”

Katara’s eyebrow twitched. “Eww! You two have a system for calling dibs on ogling your female customers!”

“Hey!” Sokka protested. “It works on all customers regardless of gender. And it’s a tried and true hand signal.” He made a series of complicated movements that Zuko had memorized only through seeing them many, many times before Sokka met Suki. 

Katara glared at her brother. “That’s still objectifying and degrading. Besides, you have a girlfriend!”

“And I love her! I haven’t ogled anyone since we started dating. Zuko was the one who called dibs anyway.”

Zuko sighed. “I thought you could help me out. But I think she was clearly just more into you than me.”

“Dude, what? She was definitely checking you out. What happened to our plan? You were going to take out their drinks and ask for her number.” Zuko appreciated that Sokka was trying to cheer him up, but there was no way Pretty Girl was looking at him for his attractiveness. His fingers itched to touch his scar. He formed a fist in his lap instead.

“Oh please. Do you remember the first thing she said to Katara?” He pitched his voice higher, “‘Oh this is your super hot brother? But he’s dating Suki? Life is full of suffering.’”

Toph kicked him under the table. “I don’t think that was why she asked about Sokka. I feel like I’ve heard that Ty Lee girl’s voice before. Isn’t she always here when Sokka is working?”

“Oh yeah!” Sokka sounded smug. “She was definitely flirting with me earlier. Maybe her friend was letting her know I’m off the market.” He flexed his muscles. While he was distracted by posing, Katara gagged exaggeratedly at Aang, who was trying desperately not to laugh. 

Zuko smiled. His friends always made things seem… slightly less horrible.

“I have an idea!” Katara said. “Why don’t you happen to be visiting Sokka or Aang during our study session? You took Philosophy of Law last year, right? You can offer to help us and talk to her some more.”

Zuko bit his lip. “I don’t know. Besides, I’m probably working on Wednesday.”

Katara shrugged. “That’s not an issue at all. I’ll text her and ask to change the location to here.”

Sokka nodded. “This is a good plan Katara, I’m impressed.” Katara rolled her eyes. “The shop is really quiet on weekday nights. You could probably still sit with them. Who’s working with you on Wednesday?”

“I’m pretty sure it’s just gonna be Uncle and me.”

“That’s perfect!” Aang said. “Your Uncle is going to be so on board.”

Zuko shuddered. “You are NOT going to tell my Uncle about this.”

Aang frowned. “But he’ll be super helpful. I bet he has great advice for love stuff.”

“That’s so embarrassing.”

The younger man pulled out his phone. “I’m gonna text him.”

“Don’t!” Zuko sprang out of his chair and tried to get around Katara to grab Aang. But Aang was quicker and dashed behind a Sokka. A very intense chase through the shop commenced, to the raucous laughter of their friends.

— — 

Ty Lee hummed happily while applying her mascara. “I hope Zuko and Sokka are both working tonight! Then they might ask us out. It would be so fun to be able to go on double dates with them. We could even have a double wedding!”

Mai sighed. “We spend enough time together already, don’t you think? Besides, Sokka is unavailable, so you need to get over it. And I still think Zuko likes you.”

“Not a chance! You’re so dense sometimes.” Ty Lee sprayed some perfume and Mai tapped her foot impatiently.

“Are you ready to–” Mai was cut off by a notification on Ty Lee’s phone. 

The other girl gasped. “OH MY GOD! The girl with pretty hair asked me to get dinner tonight! I’m freaking out! Do I look okay?” Ty Lee began frantically running around their tiny dorm room. 

“You look great,” Mai assured. “I guess this means you’re ditching me tonight?”

Ty Lee shrugged, “Duty calls. We’ll have to take a rain check on that double wedding scheme.”

“Bummer,” Mai deadpanned. “If that’s the case, then I’m leaving now. Have fun and stay safe!”

Ty Lee winked. “I always do.”

As Mai made the short journey to the tea shop, she couldn’t help but feel nervous at the prospect of meeting Zuko again. She hated herself for getting so worked up. She hardly knew the guy, so he shouldn't be affecting her like this. She certainly hadn't thought about Kei Lo this much before they started dating. And Zuko wasn’t into her. No way.

She caught sight of the familiar facade and pushed through the door, to the chime of the bells. The shop was almost completely deserted except for Katara sitting alone at a table near the back. Zuko and an older man were working behind the counter. There wasn’t a Sokka in sight, so it was probably for the best that Ty Lee found other means of entertaining herself. 

“Welcome in!” the old man smiled warmly. “Katara tells me you two have quite the night of studying ahead of you. Order whatever you want, on the house!”

“Oh!” Mai was taken aback by his generosity. “Are you sure?”

“Of course! I’m not so old that I’ve forgotten my school days. Besides, what's the point of owning a business if I can’t flaunt it a bit?”

Mai smiled. Before college, she hadn’t met very many generous people, and even fewer jovial ones. She decided to take a page from his book and be whimsical for a change. “In that case, I want your favorite thing on the menu. Since you’re the owner, you probably have good taste.”

The old man laughed. “I like to think so! But I would be devastated if you didn’t like it. How about I have my nephew whip something up for you instead?”

He gestured to Zuko, who Mai realized was staring at her very intently. Did she say something awful? Did he think she was weird? Oh! He was probably wondering where Ty Lee was. Maybe his uncle was only being so nice because he thought she was the girl Zuko liked.

She could feel her cheeks getting red. “That would be great… Um… Thanks again.” 

The spirit of whimsy whooshed out of her body and she retreated to Katara’s table.

The other girl already had her textbook, notes, printed study guide, and laptop in position. It did not make Mai feel better. 

“I’m so sorry I’m late,” she checked her watch, but luckily it was only five minutes after their scheduled time.

Katara smiled, “You’re not late at all! Sokka, Toph, and I came here after our lectures so I’ve been here all day. Midterms are killing me, but this is a good place to zone in and focus. You should totally come here more often.” Her eyes twinkled and Mai didn’t know what was happening. She would almost think Katara was flirting with her, but wasn’t she in a relationship with Aang?

Mai noticed Zuko, not too far from them working on her order. Mai spoke slightly louder than normal to ensure he heard, “Yeah, Ty Lee loves it here. But Ty Lee had something come up today, so Ty Lee won’t be here.” It was highly un-subtle and inelegant, but she wanted to be sure Zuko understood that Ty Lee wasn’t coming. She hated to think he would get his hopes up, anticipating her arrival.

“Oh yeah,” Katara said, “I forgot she was going to come with you.” Zuko must not have told Katara about his crush.

Mai pulled out her study materials, and Zuko approached their table. “I– I made this for you.” He gently set the cup amid the mess of books and paper. “It’s black tea with cardamom and a dash of milk. It’s my favorite for studying.” He gazed resolutely at the floor.

“Thank you,” Mai said. Zuko didn’t leave and Mai wondered if he wanted her to try it before him. Surely it was too hot.

But then Katara spoke up, “Oh my goodness!” Mai looked up, startled. Perhaps cardamom held a special significance to the other girl. “Zuko, I just remembered! You took philosophy of law last year, right?” 

“Yes. I did,” he replied robotically.

“Do you think you could help us study? You are really smart and get excellent grades.” Katara spoke like she was announcing the fact to a crowd.

“Yes and I love helping others!” Zuko offered. Mai was not sure how that was relevant, but she supposed he couldn’t hurt. Besides, it would be nice to see him up close.

“Uncle!” Zuko called out, “Do you mind if I sit with them for a little while? I can help out if we get more customers.”

The old man was already looking their way, a gleam in his eye. Mai heard the distinct undertone of humor in his voice: “Don’t worry about it! I can manage.”

Zuko turned his attention back to them and looked between both sides of the table. Katara moved her backpack off the floor and into the seat beside her. Zuko sat beside Mai, and Katara smiled from ear to ear.

“So, when I took this class, Jeong Jeong gave us a list of ten essay questions and then he chose two of those to write on the day of the exam. Is the format still the same?” 

Mai nodded. “I printed out an extra study guide for Ty Lee in case she got bored.” She handed it over, and Zuko’s fingers grazed hers as he took it.

He glanced over the prompts. “My strategy for exams like this is to target the readings and lectures that apply to most questions. That way, I know there’s at least one source I can reference. 

Mai nodded. “I think we should start with Aquinas for natural law theory and Hart for legal positivism. That will give us a good overview of the main debate in the course. 

Katara tapped her fingers on the table, “Do you think he’ll take points off if we disagree with him? He’s a big advocate for natural law, right?”

“Definitely,” Mai agreed. “He never shuts up about it.” Zuko chuckled and Mai felt warmth blossom in her chest.

“I don’t think he’ll take points off if you explain your case, though,” Zuko replied.

“Okay then,” Katara began flipping through her textbook. “Let’s start with Aquinas.”

— — 

“Yes, but you have to keep in mind that the judges don’t have a standardized moral code. What if the Supreme Court accepts a case reviewing–” Zuko’s train of thought halted as Mai shifted in his direction. They were almost touching. He could shift and their arms would be pressed together. “I’m sorry, what was I saying?”

Mai gave him a sympathetic look. “Don’t worry about it. It’s almost closing time for the shop and we’ve been at this for ages. Maybe we should call it quits?”

“No!” he said before he could stop himself. It was true that they’d been studying for almost two and half hours at that point, but he didn’t want it to end. Zuko had studied his old notes all week in preparation for this. (It was more than he’d studied when he’d taken the class the first time around.) But he really wanted to be helpful and impress Mai. 

Over his short time knowing her, his crush had only grown. She was beautiful, obviously, but her sharp wit and humor made talking to her very entertaining. Even when the topic was Philosophy of Law. Beyond that, she was incredibly smart and she grasped the concepts very quickly. It was apparent that she didn’t need his help, but he liked watching her in her element. Crap, was that creepy?

Katara rubbed her forehead. Zuko knew she was really stressed over midterms, but she still rehearsed their little speech about asking for his help studying at least half a dozen times before Mai’s arrival. In true wingwoman fashion, Katara backed him up yet again: “I know it’s getting late, but what if we talk through this last prompt really quickly. We’re almost all the way through the study guide.”

Mai agreed, but just then the bells on the door jingled. Zuko looked over to see that it was Aang. He came to stand behind Katara and rubbed her shoulders. “How’s it going?”

Katara leaned into his touch. “It’s awful. I’m going to fail. Why am I minoring in Justice in Society anyway? I don’t need it for med school.” 

Aang smiled down at her. “Do you remember the last exam you thought you were going to fail? You got, what? Ninety-five percent?”

Katara crossed her arms. “It was ninety-two.”

“I’m sorry.” Aang kissed the top of her head and she visibly relaxed a little.

Zuko smiled wistfully. He had never had a long term relationship, but maybe… He glanced sideways at Mai, who was still scanning the study guide.

“Hey Zuko!” Aang got his attention once more. “Do you think you could unlock the upstairs for me? I think I left my Tsungi horn in your room.”

Zuko narrowed his eyes. Aang was terrible at the Tsungi horn. He didn’t own one as far as Zuko knew. “Sure. I’ll help you look.”

They went into the back room and Aang stopped them before they could go any farther. “So how’s the mission going? Katara texted me that she thinks Mai likes you for sure.”

Zuko’s cheeks flamed. “I don’t know about all that. I still think she might have been into Sokka. She was talking to Uncle– Oh! Also, she really got along with Uncle Iroh.” He knew he was probably smiling like a fool, but Aang was in no place to judge.

“Zuko, everyone gets along with your uncle. It would be really concerning to me if she didn’t,” Aang pointed out.

“Fair enough,” he sighed. “But it’s still important to me. Anyway, she was talking to him and he mentioned me. When she first saw me it was like the wind left her sails or something.”

Aang shook his head. “I’m sure you’re misinterpreting things. And that was just at first, right? How have things been going otherwise?”

Zuko bit his lip. “I actually think they’re going pretty well. I mean, we’re getting along well enough but it’s hard to tell. We’re studying and Katara’s there, so I don’t know if she likes me all that much.”

Aang snapped his fingers. “I have an idea! Let’s go!” The younger man grabbed Zuko’s wrist and led him back out into the shop before he could protest.

Mai examined them. “No luck finding it?”

“Nope,” Aang smiled nervously. “Not a trumpet in sight?”

Mai’s brow furrowed. “I thought you were looking for a Tsungi horn?”

“None of those either,” Aang laughed in a stilted manner. “Anyway, I had an idea. Since this exam is so awful, what if we all went out to dinner to celebrate when it’s over? You and Katara can relax, and it'll be my treat! And Zuko can come since he helped out.”

Mai hesitated, and Zuko wished the floor would swallow him. Aang came on way too strong. He was going to scare her off and she would never come back.

Katara spoke up. “That’s a great idea! We deserve it, don’t you think?”

Mai relented. “Okay… but I can pay for myself. You’re all too kind. Seriously.” Zuko almost crumpled to the ground in relief. 

Mai left shortly after, and the shop closed for the evening. But the end of day chores didn’t feel so mundane, with the knowledge that he would be seeing Mai again so soon. 

Part 2

[bronzetomatoes]

i do think oh so frequently about the dsmp fandom's response to c!Tommy's trauma, but it just works so well as an exaggerated example of what happens in other fandoms. like. the idea was that he was villianised by fans for turning angry and mean after being abused, which was seen as an inherent flaw rather than a trauma response, right? because it didn't fit into the way fictional abuse victims are treated like objects of pity in fandoms.

and a lot of ppl thought this was happening bc people who turn bitter and angry and lash out due to trauma are never represented in media, but... they are. lol. i can name like 3 off the top of my head, one of them being from a show made in the 70s-80s. it's just that they either got the same treatment on a smaller scale (because the DSMP fan culture was essentially a 10-year fandom compressed into a year or 2), or they just. ignore it. they pretend that they were the "perfect victim" all along, mischaracterise them in the popular fanon, turn their anger issues into a palettable sort of anxiety disorder, morph their PTSD symptoms into something sympathetic rather than what they find to be too mean or scary.

they'll insist that they're misunderstood, but what they mean is that their actions "weren't that bad" or "were perfectly justified". there's no middle ground lmao bc they can't accept that the sympathetic traumatised character could have done bad things due to said trauma without their victim deserving it. c!Tubbo didn't deserve to be told that he was worth less than the discs, but c!Tommy is not an irredeemable monster, nor was he justified in saying that. Zuko was a 16-year-old boy living in the shame caused by his abuse, and he was absolutely horrible to his crew, burned down suki's village, and constantly turned on people who were only kind to him. like this feels like such a stupid thing to type, that people can do awful things that you don't need to justify but you also don't have to hate them forever. like.

ik this felt like a DSMP-centric issue bc it was a lot of ppl's babys-first-fandom (both the ppl defending and condemning ctommy, though more of the latter), but isn't it obvious how people were filled with sympathy for Hawkeye and disdain for BJ? how this has always been a problem?

[princess-of-the-corner]

In regards to Miraculous Gaang animals:

-Sokka: I was thinking just Captain Beetle, especially since it sounds vaguely close to Captain Boomerang, which is an appropriate title for Sokka but also not because it's also the name of a DC villain who killed Tim Drake's dad (and it doesn't have ladybug theming). I definitely think use Captain though, because I am now attached to Sokka having Cap as a nickname.

-Katara: So there are actually several species of big cats that like and excel in the water. One of them is the jaguar, and black jaguars do exist. Jaguars also have lots of night and water symbolism associated with them. I'm not the best with names, but I think Midnight Jaguar, Black Jaguar, Painted Jaguar, or maybe Inky Jaguar could all work for her. (Also, look up fishing cats. They're useless for this au because they don't come in black, but they're a cross between otters and bobcats and they're insane).

-Suki: ML got it right here actually because very many species of vipers are blue or teal, so I'd stick with that. For some reason my brain is getting stuck on Viperious (instead of imperious), but some other half baked options could he Velvet Viper, Silk Viper, or Vypertime (instead of hypertime),

-Zuko: Seriyu is the blue dragon spirit of Japan that represents the east and springtime. Spring represents new beginnings which is fitting for Zuko, and could provide a fun connection/contrast with Iroh's whole Dragon of the West thing. Otherwise I got nothing.

-Toph: I like the Blind Tiger too much to come up with anything else, lol. My brain said "yup that's perfect the naming machine is now off for her." Sorry if you were hoping for more options.

-Azula: I think her blue flames are significant, so I think basing her off an arctic fox, a silver fox, a blue morph fox, or maybe even a cross fox. Actually, yeah screw it, cross fox Azula. Duality, being split between red and dark gray/blue coloring as she's conflicted with her loyalty to Ozai/the fire nation and her own unique individual wants and needs. Being part blue connects her to Blue Dragon!Zuko too. I'm thinking that her costume is similar to the one in the show but if it was more flowy and elegant and less armory and intimidating. So like, the layered panels thing she has going on can stay, but more thick cloth traveling layers and less rigid armor. Instead of the big leather flaps she has like a poncho or a shawl. She's already got the cross fox coloring motif of big black middle panel and red side panels, and we obviously have to add her skirt tunic being pulled back into a coat tail. Keep the loose pants and the pointed boots for the theatre vibes. I'm thinking her mask is sort of like a masquerade/theatrical fox mask that covers the whole top half of her face and has fox ears but leaves the bottom open. Names. . .uh? Yeah I'm bad with these. Vixen?

-Yue: Also nothing, so sorry.

-Jin: Homegirl appears in one episode, we can go hog wild with her (pun intended) and do whatever we want. I'm thinking basing her off a wild boar and not a farm pig. I want her whole "chipper jubilant" hero thing to be more "Feral joy that one gets from running through an open windy feild at night and screaming at the top of their lungs." I like the idea of keeping her spiky, messy, wild hair in her costume. Like, let that go nuts. Pigella also has ballet inspo, so I think Jin should get, like, festival revelry dancing inspired costume and makeup, but also in more muted earthy tones. Names. . .maybe Babirusa? Type of Indonesian wild boar. My only other ideas are just straight up using Wild Hog or Hogwild.

-Ty Lee: I like the idea of her costume being very circus themed. Like, she looks like a trapeze artist. Lots of glitter and "look at me" kind of details on her costume. Tight, but with just enough loose flowing bits to look cool when it moves around. You could even keep the crown thing because my girl is a queen after all. I think we name her something like Sticky Sweet, Sweet Stinger, or Honey Stinger. Something that emphasizes the "looks like a cinnamon roll, could kill you" thing she has.

-Mai: Hear me out---rat instead of mouse. Mai is always down to pick a fight and is a lot meaner than your average mouse, and this way, her costume could have, like bandit/thug inspiration and she could just look so menacing. The only names that come to mind are Rat-Attack-Tat, which doesn't exactly roll of the tongue or Swarm, which brings more bug than rat.

Also. Eagle!Jet because Freedom Fighters and also Jet with guns sounds like a dangerous and amazing combination. That's it.

Anyway, I gotta go find everything on the Avatar!Ty Lee AU now because I didn't know you had that and HELL YEAH!

Oh! Okay so!

I love the Captain name for Sokka. Also I am double laughing at the Captain Boomerang reference because I have heard him called 'discount Sokka' once before. May have to hammer out the exact ladybug reference with it. A previous ask mentioned Harmonia and Harlequin.

Jaguar is perfect for Katara. I think I gotta go with Painted Jaguar because gotta love the reference.

Something viper themed is good, but I'm not sure exactly what. Vipertime makes me laugh but idk if it fits.

Seiryu is great actually.

Blind Tiger is also perfect lmao.

Okay so Azula! So like. Technically this is a no Bending au. Or else there'd be too much going on to have both atla's plots and the au's. So there's no reason to have a fire theme. BUT. I can't resist bringing back the wordplay that is Vulpyro.

rip Yue I got nothing either.

'looks like a cinnamon roll but will kill you' is the best description of Ty Lee. So yeah one of those Honey Stinger ones is great!

Rat time!! I like it. No idea on names.

Jet with the Eagle is a terrifying but perfect combination. Not sure what his plot will be in this au considering how different the plot is? Like obvs I want to parrallel ATLA's plots but I think a lot of him is hard to translate.

[generalallxsanjishipper]

Icon made by: me

Hi! Welcome.

This is Generalallxsanjishipper's blog

(A long ass nick, I know.)

*stares at the (not many) but 100% "Yes" votes that was in the poll* (How the hell am I supposed to introduce myself? I have no idea, but okay, whatever—)

Killian here! It's not my real name, but it's my art name. I can be called Isa or Bibi as well. My real name is Barbara.

I'm from Italy and I'm a 2001 girl, She/her pronouns, bisexual, introverted, Virgo (too much of a perfectionist sometimes. Ops)

I am a Writer, a Screenwriter and an Artist. I even went to an art school, but the only thing that I learned there is anxiety. Yey.

I love reading. Like tons of books, but for whatever reason I stopped entirely reading books written in Italian and now I'm constantly binge-reading english stuff.

As a Writer, I create tons of Own Characters, yes. I have honestly so many OCs that it's hard to keep track of them between Original Works and Fanfiction. I have to admit that I never wrote as much fanfiction as I'm doing during those last years, mostly for bad experience with criticism in my first fics. But apparently I got over it after randomly starting to write little One Shots of a few different fandoms. It excalated, now.

To read my stuff, you can find me in AO3, Efp and Wattpad under Killian44peeta's nickname. Even as an Artist, you can find me with that nickname on Instagram. I DO NOT have TikTok and I DO NOT intend to have it. If I change my mind, it's gonna rain for months lol.

I have many, many fandoms.

Listing them all is impossible, but my obsessions usually stuck the most when I have a "main crush" in said fandom. If not, they are fleeting at best... And usually the same main crush is the one that I ship with most people (Not always though).

Yep. I'm a multishipper, pro LGBTQ+ and I love polyamorous relationships.

When I hate a ship, I just hate it. No matter how hard you try to change my mind. Still, I'm of the "live and let live policy" because, damn, ship wars are boring and if you dislike something, YOU BLOODY IGNORE IT.

YOU DO NOT STUPIDLY FIGHT SOMEONE AND SAY TO THEM TO K*LL THEMSELVES BECAUSE THEY DO NOT SHIP YOUR PAIRING. THOSE PEOPLE YOU SHIP DO NOT EXIST. THEY ARE JUST A WRITER'S FANTASY. NO NEED TO BE SO STUPIDLY CHILDISH. JUST CALM DOWN.

*takes a deep breath*

Thanks.

A few examples of my main crushes:

Animated ones first.

Sanji, Corazon, Reiju and Vivi (One Piece), Douxie (Tales of Arcadia), Zuko (Avatar), Mika (Owari No Seraph), Levi, Jean and Yelena (Shingeki no Kyojin), Akashi and Kise(Kuroko no basket), Gwen (Total Drama), Megara (Hercules), Dark Bloom (Winx Club), Hijikata (Gintama), Hyoga, Eden, every Virgo Saint ever except Shun (Saint Seiya+), Shiro and Pidge (Voltron), Lust and Roy(Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood)

Not animated crushes (directly the person, not the role, because if not the list would be sooo much longer, ok)

Daniel Sharman, Danielle Campbell, Colin O'donoghue, Richard Armitage, Ian Somerhalder, Josh Hutcherson, Zoe Kravitz, Tom Ellis, Hayden Christensen, Bridgette Mendler

(am I forgetting someone? Probably. Sorry)

Welp. I dunno what else to say. Hope you have fun inside my blog? If you wanna be friends (chat here, on Discord, WhatsApp... ) and ask questions I'm okay with it? If you wanna talk with me about (my, yours) stories, I'm DEFINITELY okay with it.

:D I love to rant about fanfictions and original works. I love ranting about ocs and headcanon about characters. Yes.

(do not kill me if I don’t answer immediately, I have a life/I need time to draw/I need time to write)

Bye.

-Killian

[mood-2017]

initial thoughts after finishing the first three episodes of the atla netflix adaptation bc I have thoughts in my brain (contrains spoiler)

first, things I really liked and appreciated so far:

KYOSHI BC HOLY SHIT

the cgi looks GOOD, the animals actually look like they belong in this world

the bending looks insane (it actually has impact other than.. yk)

combat choreography and costume design is also a 10/10

idk a lot about score but I like what I hear lol

story progression is also interesting, of course they had to combine 2-3 episodes worth of information to fit their format and I feel like they put a lot of thought into that (it's more of a 50/50 tho)

starting the show with the air normad genocide was cruel but it really set the mood (I may have cried over that one aang and gyatso scene)

the actors actually look like the kids they are portraying

got nothing to complain about zuko, iroh, suki, zhao, etc.

I actually think that they portrayed zuko very well with him being very grumpy and goal driven but also has his awkward moments

I still have hope that they bring out irohs personality more

next, the bad and the ugly oof:

line delivery and interaction between the main characters feel a little stiff and awkward (might get better idk but where is the chemistry??)

I'm sorry but they sucked the life out of katara. If I didn't know the original character, I would find her really boring?? No hate to the actress tho, the lines she was given are just not it imo she did what she could with what she had

NO relationship building between katara and aang?? (they basically cut every important scene of their relationship out? like her being the one who breaks aang out of the ice, her being the first person he sees, her being the one calming him down after he goes into avatar mode at the southern air temple and probably more that I missed) > kind of makes me think that they're actually gonna go for zutara and idk what to feel (we all saw that scarf scene)

still don't know how to feel about them introducing azula, ty lee and mai so early? why introduce them so early when you already have to cut so much from the original to fit the 8 episode format? (their actresses slayed tho)

pacing lacks now and again and makes the flow a bit awkward (probably bc of how compressed it is)

I feel like the adaptation relies on the knowledge of their viewers who know the original a lot, especially when it comes to the main characters bc if this was my first introduction to atla I wouldn't feel connected to any of these characters YET

mind you, I still have 5 more episodes to watch so maybe this will turn around idk

I'd give it a 6,5/10 SO FAR but only bc I'm SO attached to the original so therefore I'm probably not as open minded as someone who hasn't watched the show 17 times

the original is a near perfect show and I think everyone knew, that there was nothing that the adaptation could do much better but you can still tell, that the people behind the scenes have a real passion for the original so I still appreciate everything that turns out better than the movie that shall not be named