#otp: it's me

[djemsostylist]

Zuko/Toph Headcanon: Reflections in a Mirror (are not closer than they appear)

With thanks to @bonesingerofyme-loc for the discord headcanon breakdown over this particular issue

Zuko goes back and forth on his hair for a long time. It's late one evening and he's back from meetings and he's tired and tense and scowling. He catches a glimpse of himself in the mirror, on his unscarred side and all he can see is his father staring back at him. He chops all his hair off with a knife, and his ministers are trying to figure out how to explain it (since it's kind of a big deal culturally of course) and they explain it away as a "training accident" but Zuko can't quite shake the image from his head because he looks more and more like Ozai every day.

When he and Toph meet up it's grown out enough to hang in his eyes a bit, like when he was a teenager, and as time goes on it gets longer and longer.

Toph doesn't mention it, but one evening at camp on the The Field Trip™ she's playing with his hair and mentions that she likes it like this because it's fun to play with and Zuko just like, quietly decides to never cut it again.

(Sokka, of course, remains angry that SOMEONE that wasn't him finally managed to convince Zuko about the proper aesthetics of long hair. Toph is unbearably smug about the whole thing).

At some point on their Field Trip™, sometime after the hair incident, Toph tells him, completely and utterly sincerely, he looks nothing like his father and it's the first time he actually believes it. Toph phrases it about how she sees everyone, but she doesn't really see people in a way that everyone else understands so they kind of just assume she sees the way they see, because just like she can't imagine what they mean when they talk about what someone looks like, she knows they'll never totally understand what she means either. She sees the body, sure, because her sense is strong enough to pick up weight and center of gravity and etc etc, but just as important to all that is everything else like stance, how they hold their weight, how they walk, how they sit, how they move. It's a whole constellation of details about each person, not just the basic physical, and that's why she can say even though she'd only seen Ozai once in her entire life, she knows that Zuko doesn't look anything like him, not at all.

For his part, Zuko is left completely speechless and the only thing he can think to say is "I love you."

It's not the first time he says it (the Gaang say it to each other the way you do, all the time, reflexively the way you do with family) but it's the first time he means it like that.

Toph just responds with a "of course you do" and the requisite punch, but internally she's freaking out because did he mean it the way she thinks he meant it or is it just like it always is, because Toph has massive issues with people caring about her, and also how she views romantic love. She has Aang/Katara and Sokka/Suki as good examples, but they are special and fated and just because it works for them doesn't mean it will work for her, she wasn't lucky enough to meet her soulmate at 12 (which of course she was but...). She can accept exceptions for her friends but not for herself. Childhood trauma doesn't go away, so even with their friends as examples, she still has the reflexive judgement of it from her upbringing, both again, from her parents, and also what they hammered into her about expectations. For her, marriage was always going to be this like, messed up arranged situtationship that came with giving up yourself and expecting nothing and she doesn't know what it means if she loves him. And Zuko is the first person she's ever loved like this, and it's terrifying and exhilarating all at once for her.

(It takes her a while to say it back, not because she doesn't love him (she probably loved him for far longer than a single Field Trip™) but because of the implications of what it all means in the end. Zuko doesn't say it again for a while for her sake and also because he is a little bit afraid of his own daring, but he also says it everyday.)

[lizardkingeliot]

Payback hickey.

[urfriendlywriter]

specific tropes in romance that always heal something in me that it never broke

like, forehead kisses, soft love confessions, peppering kisses all over the lover's face. promises that are kept, hands those are held with a gentle love, and hugs that engulf the heart too.

or when they rest their head on your chest, or lean on you for support.

"your tears kill me," kinda thing. or when a sunshine character finally cries and bawls their entire life's hurt out into their comfort grumpy character (plus point, if the grump feels guilty thinking if they had done something to trigger this emotional outburst)

communication. no matter hard the topic is, how big your differences are.

listening to the other person yap

admiring their facial features and seeing not just the outer structure but the person that they really are.

them getting angry on ur behalf

cradling each other in hugs basically

feeling emotional walls break when you're with that one person particularly

gentle communication. yearning to do more for your lover (!!!!)

affectionate smiles and eyes crinkling with a smile that's directed specially at you.

finding their laugh contagious.

the feeling of being accepted, despite flaws and all

silent domestic acts like being in the kitchen together, dressing up together, them drying ur hair while u sit between their legs

occasionally stolen kisses

or one deep kiss that just lights your world and fulfills your soul and heart.

sleepily nuzzling into each other!!

reaching for each other despite being asleep, with mumbled endearments and whispers of need!!!

laughter coming easily by their side, like happiness is just another day to day thing (this can also be about self love. when u truly love urself and prioritize your own rights and cherish the fact that you're you. happiness becomes beautiful even in solitude)

their fingers buried deep in yo- OOPS.?! :)

[mischievous-thunder]

They say what you do to someone is what happens to you in another reality~

What remains the same is the undeniable tension of different sorts between the two

[lover-of-mine]

#FIREFIGHTING BOYFRIENDS

[malinaa]

if i think about the hunger games in peeta's perspective i WILL start sobbing

[s-aint-elmo]

part 1 of my pining falin agenda aka it was so tragical that falin got benched for the entirety of marcille's little black dress morally bankrupt baddie era and falin thinks so too

(ID in alt text)

part 2

[xeemaee]

I’m not saying this art made me Ship Them ship them but like… I do see the vision here

[certaindreamchopshop]

The handholding??

THE HANDHOLDING??

[padchai]

some poolverine text posts because I got bored

Part 2

[butyouaremymess]

LNC: Penelope Bridgerton (inspo) / [Colin version]

[djemsostylist]

I think the thing about both Zuko and Toph (and this will likely end up a longer post at some point) is that they work together so well in a way that makes sense both for the continuation of the characters and the story. Both of them are not the type to settle down right away...I think they both need time to figure out what life is like beyond the scope of war. How to live their lives and who exactly they want to be. It gives them a chance to both grown up and figure out who they are apart before they get together (which also helps with evening out their ages and life experience). I think the idea of pairing off the Gaang makes a lot of sense (the six of them went through something so incredibly unique that's it hard to find others to share it with, and I like the idea of them all being this sort of huge interconnected family) and Toph and Zuko have this separate level of connection that goes beyond what I think the others can understand. The whole idea of abusive family is something that connects them in ways the others can't really understand, as is the idea of reshaping yourself and finding out who you are. They also probably both deal with insecurities and doubting love and also neither of them have home in the way the others do. The idea of them meeting again as adults and finding in each other the love and family they both so desperately wanted as children is just so beautiful.

Anyway I'm on day 5 of this new ship and I've written like five fics. I seriously can't get these two out of my head. Send help 🙈

[me-writes-prompts]

Random + angst prompts:

By @me-writes-prompts

Yearning prompts

“I can’t stop loving you.” Angsty romance prompts

Character A gets hurt/injured ft. Character B’s feral response

Coffee shop love prompts

Situationship prompts

Situationship jealousy prompts

Heartbreaking prompts

Reuniting angst prompt

“What are we?” Prompts

Ghost x vampire prompts

More ghost x vampire prompts

Vampire x werewolf prompts

Close proximity prompts

Crush prompts

Navigating through new relationship prompts

"Please don't leave me" prompts

Lovers in "denial" prompts

Reunited lovers prompts

Grumpy x sunshine prompts

"You're too good for me" prompts

"I think...I'm in love with you" prompts

Fake dating prompts

Betrayal prompts

"What would I do without you" prompts

Roommates to lovers prompts

Ice cream prompts

Underrated trope list

First date prompts

Oblivious x pining prompts

Break up prompts

Marriage of convenience prompts

Jealously prompts

OTP bonding with their children prompts

Denial of feelings prompts

Internalized homophobia prompts

Sunshine vampire x grumpy human prompts

Party game prompts

Family fluff prompts

Hero/warrior prompts

Lovers to friends prompts

Childhood friends prompts

Self-esteem issue prompts for your ocs

Nervous/awkward couple prompts

Forced proximity but one of them is claustrophobic prompts

[euthymiaaa]

— slow burn for friends to lovers˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚

aaaa slow burn man, enjoy LOL

delicate hugs, but they linger longer the more both of you do it

"why are you staring? is there something on my face?"

gently pushing their hair behind their ear to see their face better

handholding where your hands are intertwined tightly with theirs

late night calls where one of you accidentally falls asleep

them reading you like an open book, especially knowing when you're going through difficult times

"i can't imagine who i'd be without you in my life"

wanting more physical affection yet you don't want to overstep

yearning to constantly be in their presence

platonic sleepovers that somehow ends up with you waking up with their arms around you

buying matching jewelry, but it doesn't mean anything right?

getting extremely worried when they get physically hurt

memorizing their coffee/tea order so you can buy it for them every morning

"you're so oblivious aren't you"

accidentally staring a bit too long at their lips

watching your favorite movies together

singing your favorite love song to them as if you are truly dedicating the song to them

"you drew stars around my scars" (cardigan by taylor swift)

feeling like your complete self when you're with them

sharing each other's clothes (especially hoodies)

hearing rumors that they have a crush and desperately hoping that it is you who they are crushing on

the urge to confess to them whenever you see them, yet you fear losing them

"what are we to each other?"

[twelverriver]

bonus: the shoes in question

Ncuti Gatwa in Behind the Scnes: Empire of Death

[lover-of-mine]

Welcome back Couch Theory, you were missed.