#they're both from SWT

[ultfreakme]

The ATLA RPG characters Nyn Chei and Massak. They invented the fire nation cruiser and had an abysmal divorce. I made the designs.....I'm not good at designs I will be honest.

[yourhighness6]

NATLA Episode 2 Debrief (by yours truly)

Hi again! Here's episode 1 if anyone is interested. This is going to be another outrageously long post, just a tw

I absolutely loved the ominous start and then it's just:

They really captured the Zuko/Iroh dynamic the cartoon had in this scene. I hope they keep this sort of thing throughout the show. Also, side note, but for whatever reason Zuko seems a LOT more violent in this version. This child needs some serious therapy.

I guess this is their version of the map joke, huh? Low-key disappointed but not as mad as I thought I would be.

I'm not sure how I feel about the writers prolonging some of the conflicts that were resolved back in the SWT into this episode. I guess it makes sense that they would have to extend the drama, but I'm a little disappointed these thoughts didn't make it into the first episode. I'm glad they're included, but I think at this point team avatar had started to feel like family already in the cartoon, so it's kind of annoying and misses the mark a bit.

Yes I'm so glad they put GranGran's blessing back in! I was really mad when they took it out, but this honestly feels more meaningful than it did in the cartoon. It's a precious cultural artifact rather than just a couple of blankets. This is similar to what I was mad about with extending SWT conflicts, but I don't have nearly as much of a problem with it, as it seems like they're carrying a little piece of home with them rather than just extra drama.

The burial scene was very sweet and sad. It gave us a bit more insight into Air Nomad culture, and a sense of closure the cartoon didn't really give us. A+ for Gordon's acting as well (he is perfect for this part, even if he does still need some more acting experience)

Zuko has officially mastered the "my uncle dragged me here and I'm an agnsty teenager" face. A+ to Dallas for this entire scene. I am absolutely LOVING the Iroh and Zuko dynamic. Never change (jk I wish you a wonderful redemption arc)

Suki looks just as beautiful as she did in the trailer. Unfortunately can't say the same for the Kyoshi statue (I wish it had been made out of wood), but there is something to be said for the little shrines to the avatars instead of a few big ones. I actually kind of like that they changed that element, and I hope they explore it more in future episodes, because I assume some of the spiritualism surrounding them would have to be changed. Side note: but I've seen nothing of the spirit world so far and I'm getting a little nervous. I guess I wouldn't mind if they decided it was some long-lost avatar trick or is introduced in the NWT, but if they get rid of it altogether I'm gonna be pissed.

I'm glad they decided to make Kyoshi Island a matriarchal society instead of having a male leader. It just makes sense based on the lore and I like to see more strong adult women than in the cartoon. Also Suki got a mom! Maybe she'll get some development too!

This Aang speech was very in-your-face storytelling, but I feel like the whole show is gonna be like that so I'm just accepting it at this point. I think it stayed true to his character while getting the point across, and it also kind of helped his character compared to the cartoon. He's very emotionally open and has a charming nativity about him, but he's clearly trying to help. Loved it.

He's so awkward I love it. This whole interaction was really cool, because it expanded on their relationship in a cool way. They're both struggling between doing what their parents expect of them to help their respective villages, but are being faced with a pull to the outside world, Suki with her "big heart" and Sokka with his need to protect Katara. Thishonestly gives more depth to their relationship and I don't mind the writers dragging out first episode conflicts if this is how they're choosing to explore them.

Aww look at these cute little siblings. I like that the writers are giving them more time to progress from strangers to besties. Their interactions seem more natural, and Aang's grief more realistic. It's also great to once again see Katara growing more confident and powerful in her abilities. I love the smell of some good character development in the making.

Look at her face! She's like,"I'm so good at flirting. Mother would be proud." Meanwhile Sokka's scared of her. Anyway I'm living for their scenes and they're making me giggle. (Despite Sokka's sexism being toned down it still exists to a lesser level and I love to see her beating his ass while he tries to flex)

I love the new subplot! I love that flashback! I love this conflict! It gives more credence to his fears as a prodigy. Whatever writer came up with this deserves a hug.

AHH the ship is sailing! I love Sokka learning to be more open minded! I love Suki learning to be more open-hearted! I love when characters in romantic relationships learn from each other! This is giving Suki and Sokka development in ways the cartoon did not without trying to play Sokka's sexism off as a joke and also giving us more screentime and when I say I love it I mean I am doing a happy dance right now!

Okay, so just a quick word on shipping besides Sukka because as Zutara trash I am legally required to do this:

It seems like they are keeping the zutara hope parallel intact, with Katara and Zuko both finding hope in the avatar but in different ways. However, I don't think this really changes anything. So far, there's beven nothing to suggest they're going with ZK instead of KA, and I'm a little worried that they're trying to parallel Sukka and KA wwith the way they're setting up both girls as kind of a "teacher" to the boys in a way and giving both ships a huge amount of screentime in the same episode. Also, and I hate to say this, they might be attempting to fix KA by toning down Katara's anger and her "dark side". She didn't get angry to break the iceberg and they're eliminating her entire waterbending scroll plotline. They're trying to make them a better match for each other by watering her down and therefore increasing her connection with Aang and decreasing the chance of a future connection with Zuko over their anger and shared trauma. It's sad news that I didn't want to deliver, and I've seen spoilers that there is another ZK moment later down the line, but at this point, I think KA is a lot more plausible than ZK. *cries*

In slightly less depressing news, they're inserting the avatar state plotline a lot earlier. This makes sense with the condensed timeline, and I think I like the way they're going with it so far. I hope they keep the concept of avatar guide intact, though, and I'm worried that they're going to play into more of a connection to all of his past lives instead of just Roku. I kind of hate Roku but I do think that's a major concept I don't want them to get rid of, and his inaction during a time of adversity mirror's Aang's own challenges with confrontation. Their dynamic is a good one, and I wouldn't be opposed to changed but I really hope they don't entirely throw it out.

Scratch whatever the fuck I said before. I'm back on my shipping bullshit I can't believe we got a BONUS FIGHT! Also kudos to whoever decided Zhao should burn the village instead of Zuko. I was always so pissed at him whenever I rewatched this episode and now I can sleep easy knowing it was that military dipshit instead of him

I love Kyoshi to an unhealthy extent but I kind of wish Katara had been the one to go off on him. It would have seriously fixed things.

COUPLES THAT FIGHT TOGETHER ARE THE BEST COUPLES CHANGE MY MIND

Also, side note, but I love the hair these in fight scenes:

Most action movies hairspray the shit out of them but these actors are allowed to look a little disheveled while they kick ass. Huge thank you to whoever decided that more natural hair is superior cuz they are 100% correct

THE BONUS FIGHT SCENE IS NO LONGER COOL I REPEAT THE BONUS FIGHT SCENE IS NO LONGER COOL

I think this was the perfect conclusion to Sukka (for now)! Sokka learned something so much more valuable and impactful than in the cartoon, in my opinion. His masculinity is handled very well in my opinion, and even if I would have liked to see him wear the warrior outfit, there's something really great about the way he continues to embrace protectiveness, a masculine trait, while having rid himself of toxic masculinity, such as not being able to learn from others. He's leaving a more open minded and humble person and I love the way they portrayed it.

Okay the speech was a little on the nose but I liked it. One of the best things about ATLA was the way they executed Aang's childishness ending up beneficial for the world. I think the new conflict is expanding on that nicely while staying true to its roots. *pats writers on the head*

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH IS THIS REAL I LOVE IT SO MUCH AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

IM TRYING SO HARD NOT TO THINK ABOUT THIS LINE AND HOW IT COULD BE ANOTHER PARALLEL TO K/A I HATE IT BUT I LOVE IT AT THE SAME TIME LETS JUST FOCUS ON SUKI SAYING SOKKA HELPED HER AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Also the fan was so cute. That last scene on Appa really wrapped everything up nicely. I like the way they tied in the conflicts between the siblings while engineering growth for Sokka.

Daniel Kim delivered in his two seconds of screentime. Zhao was such a bitch but idk what else I expected. Can't wait to see more of these two bastards in future!

Anyway, to recap:, things I did like:

Aang's new conflicts

Sokka's mini arc

SUKKA

Expanding on Katara's PTSD

Zhao burning the town instead of Zuko

Zuko and Iroh's dynamic

Things I didn't like:

Katara's characterization

Lack of Aang's actual avatar guide

K/A hints and lack of zutara implications

Postponing the Zhao and Zuko agni Kai

Overall, I have to say I think that they're playing into the core themes very well while expanding on the characters. If it weren't for the whole Katara debacle this would be a 9/10 episode, but with the Katara debacle imma give it a 7/10. Still, I can at least understand why the writers made their crappy decisions, even if I don't agree with them. Hopefully certain things are fixed in future episodes, but as it stands I think I'll live (barely)

[starlight-bread-blog]

Do you think there's a more complex and nuanced outcome as a result of Katara marrying Zuko rather than it just being Katara becoming a fire lady? Especially since, technically, she's the daughter of a chief and that considers her to be a tribal princess like Yue.

That is a good question. I suppose I don't think there's a situation where Katara marries Zuko and doesn't become fire lady. Since the definition of the word is, and correct me if I'm wrong, the Fire Lord's wife. But if you mean whether she'll live in a palace, I believe that she will.

According to this article she also lived Far From Home (lol) with A\ang, and in their family picture none of them wear clothes for the SWT's cold weather. Which does make sense with how fine she was with leaving to find Aang and how she spent the entire series away from home and the show rarely treated it as an issue to be dealt with. Additionally, now that the war is over she can pay regular visits to her home.

But that doesn't mean that the chief's daughter becoming fire lady isn't complex and nuanced. First thihgs first, I want to go through what being the fire lady & daughter of the chief would mean.

The fire lady doesn't seem to have duties, since we never see Ursa do anything for the Fire Nation. But it at least has to grant you respect and THE connection to the Fire Lord. Katara isn't Ursa, and is passionate & active in nature. The role comes with a certain power that can assist with one's political pursuits greatly.

As for her being a tribal princess, as opposed to the Fire Lady, Yue explicitly that she has duties.

Yue: You don't understand. I have duties to my father, to my tribe.

But Yue was probably the heir to the throne. She had no siblings as far as we know, and she says "my tribe". I don't know whether the north would accept a female chief, given how sexist it was. But some evidence there is to support that she was the heir is this line from her fiance:

"Perks". If she was going to marry him for him to become the chief despite having no other connections to the bloodline, he wouldn't casually call becoming a chief a "perk". Furthermore, when Sokka tries to hit on her, he remarks of their simularities as they're both a prince and a princess. And Sokka is ann heir, he's the future chief.

It's likely that they were arranged for other political reasons and Yue was going to become queen. Whether she was going to be respected/accepted is up in the air.

But we do know of another heirs that might help us get a fuller picture: Eska and Desna. They had a duty to their father as a prince and a princess. It was their wish to help their father whom they believed was a great man. Which isn't typical for an heir. This is why we can look at their case to see what Katara's life as the daughter of the chief would look like. In their case, they helpped the NWT in whatever they thought was right. And it's likely that so would Katara.

What does that leave us with? A role that grants her political power in the Fire Nation with no duties, and a person with a duty to the Southern Water Tribe.

The Positive

To me this paints a clear picture: Katara would use said political power to push the Fire Nation to rehabilitate the Southern Water Tribe from their atrocities.

I'm not the first person to show these before vs. After pics, but it's very important to remember the sheer extent of the Fire Nation's harm to Katata's home.

Before:

After:

And until the show ended, Katara was still the last waterbender of the south. Don't get me wrong, it IS Zuko's job to rehabilitate the SWT. But she'd want this.

Katara always want to help those around her by any means necessery. If it's getting captured in a Fire Nation prison or blowing up a factory, she will find the power to help others. So the power to fix the wrongs inflicted on her own culture and home being given to her, just for loving who she wants to love, is incredibly rewarding and narrativly satisfying.

The Negatives

1. All of what I've just described is good in theory, but in practice she's likely to face immense backlash. The people of the Fire Nation have been indoctrinated into believing the war was good and were fed Fire Nation propaganda since their school days (The Headband) and continued well into adulthood (Ember Island Players).

Suddenly the new fire lord comes along and decides that the war they've been fighting fir a 100 years is bad actually. And NOW he's dating a waterbender and the daughter of the chief, no less. + Suddenly the girl is starting to have demands. She'll be one of the most cobtroversial figures of that era, and that's no easy task.

2. It opens the door for one bad situation that no one could be blamed for. What if Zuko's heir would be a waterbender? That cannot be. Will the role of the heir go to whoever's a firebender/none bender regardless of order? What would it make their kids feel? Will Zuko be okay with how it'd make his kids feel? It raises so many questions, so many complexities and there seem to be no winners.

But looking at these negatives from a perspective of literary merit, as A:TLA is a fictional work, are these really negatives? I'd say no. There is no real suffering at stake here, only captivating conflicts to be explored. In real life, these nasty situations have to be dealt with. They're raw, they're complicated, and in literature, that's good. Conflicts are the oxygen of a story. Especially ones with no easy answers.

In conclusion, Katara marrying Zuko would make her the fire lady. This would lead to complex and nuanced situations, both good and bad, making for excellent conflicts/character progressions.

I don't know if this is the answer you wanted, but these are my thoughts. Thank you for the ask and have a nice day! 💕

[sokkastyles]

About the trope about "Sokka being an overprotective brother infantalizes Katara," I can actually see that working into how Katara's treated by the other characters and greater narrative. She's parentified, yet infantalized. Must act like she's older than she really is and take care of everyone, but also must be treated like the young girl she is and needs to be protected.

She's expected to handle most of the cooking, sewing, keeping the group together, yet she's not allowed to date or be around guys cause she's his kid sister and he doesn't trust them to take care of her nor does he trust them not to hurt her. It could be that remnant of misogyny that never fully went away or even just the culture within the SWT of protecting women even if they're fully capable of handling themselves. Plus it can tie into how Katara is undermined regularly even she she's fully in the right, yet expected to be perfect. Not saying all this to change your mind or anything, just offering a perspective

You didn't change my mind, I actually agree with you. Sokka is canonically overprotective of Katara and simultaneously relies on her for physical and emotional labor, and yeah, both come from the same misogynistic place. I just hate when people act like him being antagonistic towards any of Katara's potential love interests is normal or healthy. That's the trope I'm referring to, where the girl's brother, or sometimes her dad, is aggressively protective of her to the point of possessiveness and antagonism towards any male seen to threaten that possessiveness. Given the relationship was mutual, that is. I'd be happy for him to tear Aang a new one for how he treated Katara in EIP. But sadly, the show doesn't have him do that, yet also leans heavy into the overprotective big brother trope in the comics.

[nimuetheseawitch]

Sad idea:

AU where Sokka is a ghost and doesn't know it because Katara can see him. He's been dead since the past winter, when he couldn't hunt enough for everyone and gave Katara all his food. Katara also has not acknowledged his death/possibly doesn't realize he's gone, and the rest of the village is letting her believe it in her grief.

Some plot points:

Aang can see him because Avatar spirit stuff but also doesn't realize he's a ghost.

Katara is actually fishing with a ghost. She's doing all the fishing now.

This means that Zuko ignores him even more when he comes to the village because he legitimately cannot see him. Makes me extra sad about the wall because maybe Katara has been fortifying it.

Suki is also a ghost of a former Kyoshi Warrior but may actually be aware she's dead. She can still kick Sokka's butt.

Sokka's complete disbelief of spiritual stuff takes on a while new everything.

He can totally still navigate and make jokes and generally try to protect them, but is just physically not able to.

The Jet situation is super weird because the Freedom Fighters really have no idea who Katara and Aang are talking about, but Sokka does go along with the first mission and tries to warn Katara and Aang.

Sometimes people can see him, if they're spirit-touched or spiritual energy is really intense in an area.

Bato can see Sokka because Bato's wounds nearly killed him. This makes it that much more heartbreaking when it's revealed later.

Yue can see Sokka, but she knows he's a ghost. This is when Sokka starts putting the pieces together. Their kiss as she becomes the moon spirit is actually the first time they really touch, and Sokka now knows he's dead, but he's going to try to keep it from Katara.

This becomes a problem with Toph, who can't see but is 100% sure that this Sokka character doesn't exist. This leads to some tension between her and Katara.

At some point in Ba Sing Se, Katara and Aang both finally put the pieces together, but neither of them wants to admit it. Sokka still comes up with the invasion plan (and also was actually able to hug Katara in the Spirit Library).

Sokka still goes to meet with the SWT but it's more that he asks Aang to take him so he can talk to Bato, who can tell Hakoda that Sokka's dead but a ghost.

After Ba Sing Se, Aang is really concerned that he's a ghost now. Unfortunately, Sokka is not able to train with Piandao, but he tells the best ghost stories (and Hama can't see him) and he and Toph do great scams because he's figured out how to manipulate the world around him just enough for her seismic sense to notice.

I honestly don't know how we'd deal with the Boiling Rock. Unless maybe redirecting lightning poorly stopped Zuko's heart briefly and now he can see Sokka too?

I honestly have no idea how this would end. Maybe Aang helps Sokka move on now that Katara is safe? Maybe he hangs around to haunt the new Fire Lord? Who knows?

[kawaiichibiart]

You voted for it, let's develop my Kya Lives AU

For those who haven't read through it, my Kya Lives AU explores the idea of Kya being kept alive in the FN as Ursa's servant, rather than in prison. While she could have been locked away, they didn't want to give her that luxury. It was also because they wanted her be around when the real last SWT waterbender was found. They'd be killed and Kya would be forced to watch as they die. That way she'd see her failure before she, too, was ultimately killed. This is also why, when they find out she isn't the real last SWT waterbender, she isn't killed on the spot.

From there, she Ursa develop a mutual companionship, which turns into a cautious friendship, neither woman wanting to lower their guards at first. After all, while both are nonbenders, both must have skills elsewhere that should be taken seriously.

Time goes on and the search for the last SWT waterbender becomes an afterthought. The FN has a war to win, chances are they might have killed the last waterbender from the South Pole and not known. Kya's living on edge, careful when she speaks of her family and home to Prince Zuko who has taken an interest in it.

And then Prince Lu Ten dies. The Siege of Ba Sing Se fails and Prince Iroh goes "missing" after he pulls back his men. Ozai goes to present his children to Azulon, and we know how the rest goes. Azula overhears Azulon tell Ozai that he has to feel the pain of losing a firstborn son by losing his own, she tells Zuko Ozai is going to kill him, Ursa intervenes and kills Azulon after making a deal with Ozai so he can become Firelord. Not the best retelling of what happened, but you get the idea.

This where we once again, leave canon behind. Because they're sorta friends now, Ursa tells Kya about what she plans to do and offers to make a deal with her. Help her get her children out of the FN, and she'll help her go home. It's risky, but Kya jumps at the chance to go home. She gets Zuko, Ursa gets Azula, and they get the fuck out as fast as they can.

At first, things are tense. Azula is fully blaming Zuko for what happened, fighting with her mom, demanding to be returned home, and snapping at Kya whenever she tries to intervene. She's upset she got dragged along, because had she been asked, she would have preferred to stay in the FN with her father.

Zuko is also blaming himself, knowing, whether his father was actually going to kill him or not, he should have just not let Azula get to him. They're on the run because of him. For once Azula has to be right, right?

Ursa and Kya are just trying to get by. They'll separate the two kids whenever their fights get bad, and will take turns watching them as one of them goes gets supplies. It isn't an ideal situation for either of them, honestly why they hadn't split paths earlier is lost to them. Would they split once they find a ship? Would Ursa and her kids literally follow Kya to the South Pole and see to it she reunites with her family? (yes)

Both women have wanted posters up. Posters that paint Kya as a witch, a savage who caused Ursa to kidnap the Crown Prince and Princess. Posters that paint Ursa as an usurper. Since she took the kids, the deal she made with Ozai is essentially void. Her murdering Azulon soon becomes public knowledge and Ozai "worries" she plans to kill his "heirs" as well. This makes traveling more difficult, as know all four of them need to be heavily disguised.

And because they have to be so careful now, a journey that, at longest (like extremely long) it should have been roughly half a year to a year. And it takes them longer. They're doing what they can to get by, but they have several points in time where they have to stop and lay low.

The three FN Royals use fake names (Noriko (obviously), Lee (again obviously), and I haven't chosen one for Azula yet, but part of me really wants to choose Loh for the irony). Kya ends up going by Mera.

As time passes their relationship evolves. Azula and Zuko still fight, but Azula no longer blames him for what happened (he hasn't stopped blaming himself yet). Their fights are moreso petty (not the word I was looking for but whatever, I can't think of the right one) fights (one called the other a name, one was being annoying, one kept making faces at the other, etc.). Kya and Ursa have settled into their friendship. Their journey to the SWT has slowed significantly, and they've lived in several places temporarily, but they do, eventually, reach the South Pole.

Once there, they have to track down Kya's tribe, which in itself is, thankfully, an easier journey. It takes them about a day to find someone who recognizes Kya. And, while weary of the 3 people with her, they lead all 4 of them to the tribe.

Kanna is overjoyed at Kya's return, and upon being asked where Sokka and Katara are, tells her about the Avatar. How he returned and was found by her children. That they left with him to stop the war. And Kya's heard the rumors. But she didn't want to consider the Avatar was traveling with her kids. She'd hoped they were home, safe.

But they were gone, they left to help the Avatar, and as proud as she should (and later would) feel, worry takes a front seat in her mind. Her children were the one thing she hoped to see when she arrived. And they weren't there. She ends up sitting with Kanna, listening as she tells her about what had happened while they were gone. The men had left to help fight the war, something she'd suspected would happen. She knew there a chance Hakoda wouldn't be around when she returned. She'd hoped her family was waiting for her, that Hakoda, Sokka, Katara and Kanna would all welcome her home. That, maybe only her husband would be absent. But only Kanna was there. And while, yes, the rest of the tribe welcomed her home, it's not the same thing. Kanna does her best to reassure her that things will work out. That she'll see all of them again.

If you're wondering about Ursa, Zuko and Azula, yeah they're just sorta...standing there. They don't know what to do. Or rather, Ursa and Azula don't know what to do. Zuko thinks he has the solution.

While some Kya and Kanna go about helping the FN ex-royals settle in, Zuko takes note of where the canoes are. That night, he leaves a note, takes a canoe, and leaves in hope of finding Sokka and Katara. And maybe the Avatar. Maybe. (Queue another mother becoming worried sick, because what the fuck?)

Through his random, whatever the fuck you wanna call it, luck, Zuko manages to survive and arrive in the Earth Kingdom. And we enter the second half of the AU which focuses on Zuko looking for, and eventually joining, the Gaang. The first one he finds is Sokka and that's by pure chance. Sheer luck. And Sokka becomes the first between him and Katara to learn Kya is still alive. That she's home. And he's learning this through this boy, this FN boy who spent a few years living with his mom. This boy who had heard stories about him and his sister. Heard his mom speak about them with so much love and decided he had to meet them. It's a bit overwhelming but...mom's home. Waiting. Waiting for him. For Katara. Maybe even for this weird boy.

Katara, takes this revelation differently. Since Zuko isn't their enemy here (that role belongs to Zhao), her animosity towards him isn't because he's chased them around. It's because, all this time, all these years she's spent blaming herself. Believing she'd gotten her mother killed, that her mom died protecting her. Her mom had been alive this entire time. Telling a FN boy, no, the FN Prince, all about her and Sokka. And while she knows chances are Kya couldn't leave without being hunted or being followed, she hates that she apparently bonded with members of the Royal Family. It wasn't fair. It's not fair. He has no right talking so fondly of her mother. He has no right saying her hugs were comforting. That she told the best stories. He had no right being close to her mom.

Katara is hurting, so a lot of what she says comes out because of that. Things she doesn't mean. Things she knows aren't important or will matter in the end. But she watched as her mother was taken away. As her betrothal necklace was ripped off her neck and tossed in front her crying daughter. Told she might as well have a last reminder of her mother. Her mom was gone and it was all her fault. If only she hadn't been a bender. If only the NWT actually helped them. If she'd just been born earlier or never at all. She doesn't mean what she says.

She knows her mother loves sharing stories, of course she'd tell a little boy if he asked for one. She knows her mom's hugs are comforting, she's been held in one every time she hurt herself, like when she pricked her finger on a needle, or when she got scared, such as the time she accidentally broke the ice under Sokka's feet and he fell through. Her hugs were warm and loving.

She can't help but feel hurt. And it takes her time to apologize, not for how she feels, never because of how she feels, but because of how she let those emotions made her act. For the things she said out of anger. Not just to Zuko, but to her brother, to Aang and Toph.

But she spent 6 years blaming herself and she still blames herself. And she can't help but just feel afraid. She's scared Kya blames her as much as she blames herself. That, when they go home, her mom will look at her in disdain. With nothing but hatred, any love she had for her daughter gone. It's so, stupid, but...

And Katara does eventually become friends with Zuko. The two take to talking, listening as the other vents. She thinks he's a moron for deciding to look for them via a fucking canoe (and now understands her brother's constant prayers to Yue to help him deal with this, he wasn't asking for more crazy benders even if they were cute, and wow was that a way to find out her brother liked boys). But it's also kinda nice, that it was solely because of Kya's stories and worry for them that he decided to look for them.

Not like she can get rid of him, they all got attached.

I've written a lot, so the rest will be in bullet points, feel free to ask about this AU, relationships (the only one I was sure I had planned was Zukka or Zukki):

Kya definitely wanted to leave earlier but wasn't sure how to go about doing so

Because they left the night Azulon left, Zuko doesn't have his scar

That being said, he gets captured in Ba Sing Se with Iroh and upon arriving home, gets one chance to reveal where his mom, sister and Kya are at. When he refuses to say, Ozai burns his face and ships him off the Boiling Rock, which is where he meets Suki for the first time.

Katara's guilt is something she's been hiding for a while. So when Sokka shows up with Zuko and says their mom is alive, that he was told by the FN boy next to him, her emotions slowly begin to break through the wall she built until it broke and she let everything out on everyone. She was hurting and wanted everyone else to feel hurt so she used her words to do that. And while she knows she was wrong to speak to them in the way she did, she was not going to apologize for how she felt.

That also being said, she's genuinely afraid of reuniting with her mom, because she can't help but think of it going wrong. She keeps imagining what her mom will say. How she'd look at her. And when the day comes she can finally see her mom again, she's the last one to do so.

Azula does, eventually, track down her dumdum brother's new friends. She'd hoped he was with them and was more than a little pissed when she learned he got captured by Zhao (I can't remember it correctly, but I think originally I had her catch up with all of them, so prior to Zuko being caught, but I like this more).

Zhao just barely made it out alive. First was his escape from the NWT and his failed siege. The next was when Ozai gave him one last chance to redeem himself. Now he's on his last chance. And he was sure he redeemed himself. He killed the Avatar, he caught the traitor Iroh and brought Prince Zuko home, who then revealed himself as another traitor. His last task? Find Ursa and Azula and the savage woman. Hopefully before the two women corrupted her as they did the Prince.

That's all I'll be sharing for now. A lot of it is things I've written before, some of it is changes I've made and some of it's new. This AU will still go through changes and I do want to go over the relationship between characters, so feel free to ask for certain ones!!

[firelxdykatara]

I'm glad you're optimistic about the remake but the cast is far from perfect. Not a single Inuit person has been casted to play a SWT character and every Air Nomad actor with the exception of Gordon Cormier, who is Filipino-Canadian, is of chinese descent and they're portraying Tibetan inspired characters.

I didn't say the cast was perfect, I said the cast has a lot more poc than any iteration we've had (original show, sequel series, and movie) thus far, which is unequivocally true, and that there are a number of poc behind the camera (both showrunners and a significant number of the writers and directors who I can find credits for), which was not true of the original show.

I think looking or asking for or expecting perfection is always going to be an exercise in futility, if not abject failure, and I think it's important to acknowledge what we do have now, which we did not have with the original story, and which makes 'but the show was perfect as is, why change it' more than a little bit suspect.

That's all.

[rebelband]

Have you ever drawn a personality swap with the group? Or maybe even like an opposite personality thing. Idk I was imagining k k with a bit of attitude

mnn... I doodle full-on body swaps (x) once in a blue moon, but I don't usually tend to sit too long on personality swaps?

here's two hypothetical configurations though (based off my own interpretations for convenience). these keep their main trait (energetic/smooth/silly) and alter their personalities solely.

swt is a worker and a perfectionist; it is also, well. sweet! but has a lot of drive while being a bit stubborn. cpn would be more strong-willed (while still avoiding physical conflict), and he'd be the sort to try and work to avoid any feelings/thoughts. cks would be less easygoing, but they'd still be excitable! (their jokes, unfortunately, land a lot more flat this way.) they'd have more priority on work than play.

cpn cares about appearance a lot and maintaining things (or getting new, better things). swt's never been much to care about its looks, but this verse would make them a bit more worried about how cube-like it is and try to smooth those edges down. cks would be the kind to act like they're flirting/being deceptive, but it's all just to lead it into some sort of joke or silly prank. basically they're just more lowkey (and self-conscious).

cks is a huge people pleaser that doesn't want anyone to fret over them and fairly passive when it comes to taking lead. in this case... swt would want to make sure everyone (and it means Everyone) has fun; they also have far too much energy and not enough time to do everything that comes to mind. if they didn't have enough dropped drafts already, well, now they have so many more... cpn would be the guy that tries to play cute/cool in a funny way, not a "hey mama what's up!" way, and would Not have many issues with their identity.

...at least, the configuration I like more is scc but one position to the left (swt with cpn's, cpn with cks's); that's just me being biased. I could talk about the dynamics of both kinds in another post, maybe...?

and an opposite personality verse sounds interesting, but I'm not sure how that'd go...

is it that sweet becomes less brave and willing to fight whereas cap'n takes on those attributes? k_k being more straightforward and honest than they are silly (e.g., "I'm thirsty" when wounded)? no clue... I don't really enjoy this one too much since it takes too much away from them when it's exaggerated in such a way............. kinda.

[leesbian42-rp]

So who am I?

Hello!! My name is Chaos, or Cam, and this will be where I interact with other RP blogs or chat about my OCs. My main is @leesbian42 and I'll keep my OC tag from that blog here too

I'm 24, queer and I use pink/pinkself bat/batself and punk/punkself, or 🐍/🐍self 🌺/🌺self 🦋/🦋self. Don't like neos? Don't follow. Simple as that.

I'll do most kinds of RPs, but no nsfw and if you want it to go in a certain direction you have to tell me. Any and every OC is never restricted to just one Universe, and even if I don't know the fandom more than the basics I'm willing to at least try.

Some of the things I do is: avatar (atla/lok/woba), lego Ninjago, LEGO Dreamzzz, LEGO Friends, Encanto, Disenchantment, Danny Phantom, Descendants, DC (only know basics), Marvel (bare basics), She-Ra, Voltron, Hamilton, historic, LUCIDS, Marble Hornets / Creepypasta etc

everything I post is open RP unless specified otherwise

So!! Some quick deets on my OCs!!

Non-Fandom OCs:

Eldi 'A23421' Light

my cyborg oc with a ✨tragic evil fucked up past✨. Once human, she was experimented on against her will and had her sentience removed from her, sent out by her Creator, James Stone, to get him new patients to experiment on similar to how he did to Eldi or other majorly fucked up shit. when she's around 13-15 she realises what's been going on and by the time she's 17 she's escaped and deep into hiding, working to reprogram and relearn everything

Phoenix Night

don't really have much for him? He's born in Scotland and got sort of a symbiote like venom??? and got a pretty normal life until I hit him with the Trauma and Death stick yk how it is with OCs

Alex Xamira

I usually make her a friend of Eldi's, but I lost a LOT of the information and notes I had on them originally :(

Liwh Saga Korpwinge

my first ever oc!! She's born in 1100 and has travelled with her mother for as long as she can remember, constantly on the run from something she's never gotten explained to her. Until, one day, her mother gets caught D: Liwh sees her hang from the gallows already the next day (and other things bc uhhh 13yr me making this character really went bonkers with the tragedy)

Tilda Klemensdotter and Torkel Klemensson

these two are actually my irl Museum job characters!! Twins, born in the 1760s, they get job at the local sheriff's (länsman) farm, but somehow keep missing each other and leaves in search for their sibling! But now, a few years later, they're back working at their parents farm. They're both half-finnish too bc Torkel is actually a Finnish name, but idk how much they'd know about that side of the family

Rebel

another one I don't got a lot for? I thought the word Rebel as a name would be super cool and made this oc. Lives up to their name def at least

Fandom OCs:

Raya

I don't got a lot for her either? She's an atla oc (from the swt) AND an encanto oc (from the other side of the mountains).

Elyha Ivy Moon

my WoBA (world of the bending arts) RPG atla oc, an airbender born in around 500AG, 17 yrs old and lives in the Republic City with her mums Mary and Rose, and their older sibling Reese. Elyha and Reese are both adopted by Mary and Rose and they often joke the family is the avatar but split up (Elyha air, Reese earth, Mary water and Rose fire). Elyha's bio parents was a moonblessed waterbender (like Yue) and an airbender, which is how she got her white hair.

Rira 'El Fuego'

another atla oc!! She got kidnapped as a very young child by Ozai and Azulon for her purple fire. She's around the same age as Lu Ten and is a very skilled firebender (Ozai and Azulon won't accept anything less, even from the child they kidnapped) and she, after realising the children were no danger, could be seen with Zuko, Azula and Lu Ten. She actually goes with Iroh to the siege of ba sing se! and after that, the sun warriors!

Sara 'Saga Berry' Gustafson

born in the early 1960s, she's one of my youngest OCs on 11 years! She's specifically from a Gravity Falls dream I once had, which then turned into an au. Orphaned and homeless after her mother got evicted, she spends years on the streets before finally being found by Stan Pines during his homeless days. When Stan leaves the country, she goes with him as his adopted daughter and actually spends the rest of her childhood living on the streets and travelling the world with Stan! She's in her twenties when she starts even thinking about settling down somewhere

[mah-o-daryaa]

The Cycle Repeats: Part V

One of the key themes of the ATLA franchise is the concept of the Avatar; master of all 4 elements, the fusion of humanity and Raava, the spirit of light and order, whose sole duty is to bring balance to the world, and be the bridge between both the physical and spiritual realms. Along with this comes the idea of reincarnation, which is the premise of the Avatar Cycle, the idea that the Avatar reincarnates in a cyclic order in any of the four nations (fire, air, water, earth). Another concept related to the Avatar Cycle (although originating from the fandom) is the idea of the Avatar fixing the mistakes of their past life, which is often indicated in differences in both habitual circumstances and personalities between both predecessor and successor, and therefore differences in morality.

But what if I were to tell you that the saying "history repeats itself" is also true among Avatar incarnations? Not exactly going the same way, but rather parallels between the lives, personalities, and accomplishments (and failures) of past lives?

In this series of metas, I will be going over parallels (or in some cases, foils) between certain pairs of Avatars that lived decades, or even centuries apart, and yet could not have ever been more similar.

Equivalent Elements: Avatars Kuruk and Korra

"Kuruk was the Water Tribe Avatar immediately succeeding Avatar Yangchen and preceding Avatar Kyoshi. Native to the Northern Water Tribe, he was a powerful and gifted bender who dreamed of changing the mortal world for the better by uniting the people and acting upon the foundations laid by Yangchen."

"Korra is the current incarnation of the Avatar and immediate successor of Avatar Aang. Born and raised in the Southern Water Tribe, where she mastered waterbending, earthbending, and firebending, she later relocated to Republic City to attain a similar proficiency with airbending under the tutelage and guidance of Tenzin, as well as to help her overcome her aversion to the spiritual aspects of the bending arts. With the assistance of Aang's spirit, Korra gained the ability to energybend and, after connecting with her past lives, she gained the capacity to enter the Avatar State at will, marking her transition into a fully realized Avatar."

These are the respective wiki pages for Kuruk and Korra, and you might actually notice they even look similar (which I guess makes sense, considering they're both from the same nation). You might actually notice that there are some similarities between them, from their heritage, to personalities, to their downfall as the Avatar. I'll get to each of these parallels in a moment.

First and foremost, unlike the previous four pairs I analyzed, both Kuruk and Korra are from the same nation: Kuruk is from the Northern Water Tribe, and Korra was born in the Southern Water Tribe, although her father was from the NWT royal family, while her mother was from the SWT. Therefore, they ended up learning the elements in the same order: water, earth, fire, air. Ironically, I guess you could say they are... polar opposites. (Get it? 'Cause they're from opposite ends of the world?)

Both Kuruk and Korra succeeded Air Nomad Avatars who ended global conflicts that originated in the aftermath of their predecessors' deaths (Yangchen ended the Platinum Affair; Aang ended the Hundred Years War). During Korra's era, the world actively questioned the need of an Avatar, while in Sozin's Comet Part 2: The Old Masters (Book 3: Episode 19), Kuruk told Aang that "When I was young, I was always a go-with-the-flow kind of Avatar. People seemed to work out their own problems, and there was peace and good times in the world." This implies that Yangchen established peace between the four nations which was also prevalent in Kuruk's time, at least in the physical world.

However, during the course of both of their journeys, it's revealed that Yangchen neglected her duties in the Spirit World, which led to an increase in dark spirit attacks during Kuruk's time. Aang, on the other hand, ran away from the Southern Air Temple, indirectly allowing his entire race to be slaughtered during the first Sozin's comet, in addition to indirectly favoring benders over nonbenders, and taking away Yakone's bending, which led to the rise of the Equalists and their leader Amon, Yakone's son, during Korra's time. Korra also witnessed the Harmonic Convergence, which brought back the Air Nation from extinction, while Kuruk hunted dark spirits during his visits to the Spirit World.

Both of their journeys had devastating impacts on their health. Every time Kuruk killed a dark spirit, a portion of his own spirit was harmed, which shortened his lifespan to just 33 years. During Harmonic Convergence, Unalaq and Vaatu destroyed Korra's connection to Raava, which ended up severing her connection to her past lives. However, she was able to fuse with Raava again before the Harmonic Convergence was over. Ironically, Korra was taught spiritbending by her uncle Unalaq, which could have really helped Kuruk to not die.

Korra was also poisoned by the Red Lotus, who tried to poison her with mercury in an attempt to force her into the Avatar State and die, ending the Avatar Cycle for good. She probably would have died had Suyin not metalbent the poison out of the former's body. In the end, Korra was paralyzed and was left to deal with the aftermath for 3 years. During the final year, she coped with her pain by travelling and participating in bending contests in the Earth Kingdom, reminiscent of Kuruk's travels and challenges centuries ago. Since she was 21 years old in Book 4 (the legal drinking age in the US) she probably would have indulged in alcoholism, too, if there was no Y-7 rating for The Legend of Korra (even though Book 1 literally ended with a double murder-suicide, and the poisoning thing).

Despite the Water Tribes' strong emphasis on family and community, Kuruk never told his companions about his spirit hunts, and Korra isolated herself from her family, her companions, and Tenzin during her recovery.

However, there is one difference: Korra was able to get medical attention for mercury poisoning (Suyin used metalbending to remove most of the poison from Korra's body, and Toph encouraged Korra to metalbend the rest of it out), whereas Kuruk was not (spiritbending wasn't discovered at the time to help Kuruk, and he wasn't able to heal himself fully). If Korra still had the connection to her past lives, I imagine Kuruk would somehow manifest in front to Korra to tell her that he was very proud of her.

In addition, in Beginnings: Part 1 (Book 2: Episode 7), Kuruk is the only one of Korra's past lives to mention Raava by name.

"Go back. Return to the beginning. Find Raava."

(I couldn't find the image sorry.)

Although all of her past four lives (Aang, Roku, Kyoshi, and Kuruk) told Korra to connect with the Avatar Spirit, Kuruk is the one who told Korra about its proper name (even though Korra mistook Wan for Raava). I actually have a theory based on this detail that I might come around to later.

We can even predict some of Korra's failures by looking at Kuruk. Kuruk ended up spending so much time in the Spirit World that he neglected his duties in the physical world, which led to the Earth Kingdom being overrun by criminals during Kyoshi's time. Although Korra didn't neglect either the physical or spiritual realms, she did leave the spirit portals open, which led to the ability of humans and spirits to coexist and travel between both realms. Unfortunately, this could lead to negative consequences like dark spirits, like Koh The Face Stealer, escaping from the Spirit World during the next Avatar's time. Only time will tell.

Speaking of which, since Korra opened both spirit portals, and created a third in Republic City, this technically means she can visit her past lives in the Spirit World. However, if I remember correctly, since Kuruk's spirit is still wandering the Spirit World in search for Ummi, and he is currently the only Avatar confirmed to end up in the Spirit World after death, this means that Kuruk is the only Avatar Korra can talk to when she visits the Spirit World. Again, only time will tell.

Accordingly, I can conclude that Kuruk and Korra have interesting, yet expected, parallels. From their heritage, to their journeys, to their obstacles and recoveries (or lack thereof), they are the same song sung in different verses. In the next part, I will analyze the differences between their respective predecessors, Yangchen and Aang, and discuss why they act as character foils.

For now, enjoy fluffy-haired Zuko!

<- Prev I Next ->

[sanrielle]

Hi! Hope you've been having a good day so far <3

For the OTP Questions, 11, 16, and 23 for Tokka? :D

Thank you!

Hi! I'm doing well and hope you are too :D

11. What is their love language?

Toph's love languages would involve her senses, I think. Being blind, she relies that much more on her other senses to give her information, so physical touch and words of affirmation would both be meaningful to her.

Sokka is more of an acts of serve/gifts guy. He constantly makes sure people are eating regularly and getting them food if they're busy/stressed/not feeling well.

Together, I think those love languages are very compatible, assuming Toph is able to let go of some of her pride and let him take care of her. Maybe it could cause some conflict in an angstier setting lol. But Sokka would love experiencing Toph's more affectionate side when they're alone. And by affectionate, I mean both the cuddling she would absolutely deny enjoying and the animalistic fervor with which she throws herself at him >:)

16. Who cooks most? (I'm reusing this one from Twinkles' ask XDDD)

Sokka, easily. Toph can make tea and noodles. She's also really good at picking up takeout, but she'll still make him do it, anyway. I think Sokka would at some point pick up a hobby of like, smoking meat or something. Maybe he even knows how to do it already (I'm no expert but I'd imagine smoking would be a common cooking technique in the SWT?)

Sokka's the kind of guy who likes to take care of people, and he's also very food-oriented, so I think those two things would mix well. Maybe he's never a master chef, but if he were to live with a woman---especially someone like Toph who Simply Does Not Cook---he would take the time to learn a few things.

Addendum: Bachelor Sokka would rarely cook for himself.

23. How well do they know each other’s favorite foods?

I guess I'm just going to talk about food in all three of these haha.

Sokka knows exactly which takeout dishes to get for Toph, depending on her mood. He can't cook her favorite foods, but he'll make sure Katara does on special occasions. (But secretly Toph still prefers the takeout version because she grew up with Fancy Food and can therefore taste very subtle differences in how things are seasoned, etc, and Katara just doesn't quite get EK cuisine. But Toph doesn't say anything.)

Toph knows that Sokka will happily eat just about anything as long as it's got some meat in it. I know this is kind of a cliche from the show but Idgaf haha it's so central to his character and it also makes a ton of sense, considering that SWT cuisine would be like 90% meat/fat. Toph also knows that Sokka (and Katara, too) hates the ""authentic"" SWT restaurant in Republic City and will only suggest going there if she's mad at him.

Thanks for the ask!!

[3cosmicfrogs]

I am curious about your thoughts if you have any on Hakoda/Bato/Jee. Are they in a harmonious throuple? A messy ex of my ex situation? Are Bato and Hakoda both arranging dockside meetups without being aware of each other, or even flirting yet? Are they all pretending what they have is sustainable and fine and not a big deal until suddenly the Avatar is back and the ship blows up?

hmmmmmmmm you're out here asking the big questions...

i think bato and hakoda ought to be together already. they've been away from home for so long etc etc. but because they're not always in the same place for months at a time (bato being hakoda's second in command often leads part of the swt fleet for extended periods of time when they divide up their forces) and through mutual understanding they've opened up their relationship, which is fine, totally, and they're not secretly jealous, absolutely not. this is a healthy relationship.

So they both are not so much arranging as occasionally running into jee on docksides. Look, there's only so many ports not under firenation control this far into the war. And their partner surely wanted to open their relationship, so they might as well reciprocate the flirting of this very tired man.

i think up until the final defeat of the firenation they just somehow manage to never be in the same location all 3 at once, and no one is pursuing anything because bato and hakoda are pining after each other while already being in a relationship, and all 3 are aware that their loyalties put them on ultimately opposing sides. they're all reasonable men, and able to compartmentalize, this is fine this is totally fine. there are no feelings here.

Hm. I dont really headcanon a romantic relationship per se, perhaps a bato/hakoda situation with jee as a platonic third? family friend? Guy they occasionally sandwich when he's in the area? For me the meat of this crackship comes from the mental gymnastics everyone is doing to 1) avoid discussing war loyalties and 2) pine after your romantic partner on bato/hakoda's side. If you want to go down a proper throuple romantic route, I would imagine the above situation except with the addition of jee learning what polyamory is (as i headcanon the water tribes being a lot less into the concept of marriage and monogamy than the firenation). ("lieutenant jee, meet my boyfriend sokka and his girlfriend suki" "you're... all in a relationship with each other, sir?" "what, like it's hard?" "...i see. excuse me.")

hehehehe thanks for this ask! it certainly got me thinking ! about old men, which is my favourite activity btw!

[yourhighness6]

What is your favorite Zutara headcanon?

I hope you have an amazing day! ^.^

I'm so sorry this has been sitting in my inbox forever! I haven't had a chance to answer asks and I kind of forgot about it, so I'm going to give an extra long answer to make up for it lol. I have a few that are tied for first and second, so bear with me.

Firstly, I absolutely love the idea of Zuko helping out Katara with the chores after he joined the gaang. It just makes sense that he would try to help her out, and that he would feel guilty and try to do extra work. Of course, it takes Katara awhile to actually appreciate his help, but after TSR they actually manage to have fun together while they're doing dishes and laundry together, and she can't imagine it any other way.

This one is kind of cheesy, but I love the idea of them both being musically inclined, but in different ways. Zuko is obviously great at the tsungi horn, but he's an absolutely awful singer, and Katara can't play an instrument to save her life, but she has the voice of an angel. They like practicing songs with each other to let off steam, and even after the war whenever Katara finds herself in the Fire Nation or Zuko in the water tribe, they still get together to make a bit of music. They're also both wonderful dancers, Zuko from growing up learning dances in the FN court, and Katara because it's a big part of her culture, and she also just thinks it's fun. Zuko never really liked to dance, because it reminded him of being boxed in at court, but Katara shows him some different steps and he actually enjoys himself for once. In an AU where they end up together, their kids grow up combining the dances of both their cultures and creating new trends in both the FN and the SWT.

This one isn't really Zutara-centric, but Toph teases the HELL out of them. She literally goes around making the snarkiest comments and she will not stop until they are both blushing like tomatoes.

In an AU where they get together, they are the second in the gaang to get married, after Suki and Sokka but before Aang and Teo (I said what I said). Their wedding is obviously a huge event, and Sokka and Aang are the groomsmen while Toph and Suki are the bridesmaids, obviously. Katara is super into wedding planning and picking out her dress. Uncle Iroh helps her with the plans and buys fireworks and organizes the guest list and Zuko rebels against the both of them at every turn because he doesn't really want a huge, ostentatious wedding. He eventually realizes that this is way more important to Katara than it is to him, though, so he stops trying to get them to tone things down and only helps her with the planning when asked, to give her all the creative freedom her heart desires. In canon (where they don't get together) I like to think that Zuko would be Katara's 'man of honor' at her wedding with Aang. Partially because of pining and angst, but mostly because they want to be there for each other and see each other happy, even if they aren't going to be the ones spending their lives together.

Zuko would be the first one to realize his feelings for Katara, but he'd be in denial for so long that by the time Katara realizes her feelings back, they're at about the same place when it comes to their relationship. She's the first one to say "I love you" and even though it takes him a little time to say it back, it's only because he's scared to be so vulnerable with someone at first. She gives him time, and his love confession ends up being simultaneously the most awkward and the most romantic thing in the world. Zuko is the one to propose and Katara says yes without question.

They end up having two kids, twin girls named Kya and Ursa after their mothers. Kya, the nonbender, is set to inherit the throne, and Ursa, the waterbender, has a special gift for healing. Zuko only wanted one kid because he was afraid of messing them up, but he ends up being a wonderful father. Katara is a great mother as well, of course, and she loves to teach Ursa waterbending while Zuko helps her incorporate firebending moves into her fighting style. Kya feels a little left out of these family training sessions at first, but Zuko teaches her how to use the dao swords, her Aunt Mai teaches her how to throw knives, and her Aunt Ty Lee teaches her chi blocking, so she's just as deadly as the rest of her family.

Katara's first project after becoming firelady is to help spearhead pollution reform and create industrial regulations that help the FN become more environmentally friendly. She eventually travels back to the village in "the Painted Lady" with her daughters to show them the value of respecting nature.

This one also isn't very zutara-centric, but I don't think Katara and Azula would ever really reconcile. Although she becomes good friends with both Mai and Ty Lee (who are dating, obviously), she can never forgive Azula for some of the most traumatic events of her life. Zuko and Azula do eventually have a healthy relationship after Azula realizes the error of her ways, but she decides to move away from the palace of her own accord. There are too many bad memories there.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my headcanons! These are the only ones I can think of right now but I probably have more somewhere in my brain.

[erisenyo]

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ELECTRIC LOVE!!!

Ohhh this was tough to pick! I'll go with this bit from their shopping date:

“What’s this?” Zuko asks, holding up a deceptively simple-looking circle of thin, stamped leather. “An armband? This is nice?”

“…Let’s do one thing at a time and save armbands for later,” Sokka suggests, doing a double take at the raised-eyebrow look the shopkeeper gives him over Zuko’s shoulder as Zuko shrugs and goes back to the basket.

“My son works for a wholesaler in Zhou,” she says, lips twitching.

“Ah,” Sokka says—it’s a frequent stop for Southern trading vessels, even before the end of the war—as he waves away Zuko’s questioning look and goes back to looking through the basket again with a new purpose in mind.

I am unable to resist teasing a proposal between the two of them but not actually writing it, as it turns out, and I really liked the idea of using that in particular to show the boys' relationship progression here and to orient the reader into this post-canon moment where they're together but also still figuring it out, to some degree.

(I also just love the detail of armbands for the SWT as a sign of commitment, from the novels)

Both Sokka and Zuko's attention is caught by something proposal related in the story (Sokka here with the armband, Zuko with the jewelry making to anyone who has read some of the other stories set in this AU). But neither of them directly references it or brings it up to the other, and Sokka outright redirects the conversation. There's a readiness that isn't there for either of them yet for that conversation, even though they feel very sure and happy with each other--which makes sense, since they're probably 18/19ish here (I don't feel like doing the math) and both still heavily involved in their individual post-canon rebuilding efforts and functionally in a long-distance relationship.

And there's still a level of unfamiliarity with the details of each other's cultures, too, in the fact that Zuko doesn't know about armbands (where this vendor whose son would interact with Southern traders does). I wanted to show the ways they're still learning and sharing with each other, and also suggest their tendency to get very caught up in each other and the giddiness of being back together. Plus, it felt like something Zuko wasn't likely to get in a Fire Lord briefing ahead of some formal visit South, and that no one else would think to tell him.

For this Fanfic Directors cut ask game!

[sokkastyles]

(a.p.p.) in re: this post

i'm a lurker in the fandom and i guess i missed out on this bit of drama; it's actually driving me insane that i can't figure out who and what specifically this is about on my own. you don't have to, but if you want to, i'd love to hear the entire pot of tea on this 👀

Okay, I've been trying to stay out of it because I don't want to point fingers, that user and I are both on a mutual block, I do not want to interact with her, and I believe she feels the same. Also, she is the victim in the most recent round of Katara Adultificationgate: Electric Boogaloo, although she's also a hypocrite who attracts drama because she keeps trying to make herself seem morally correct.

The long and short of it is that this user was, a couple years ago, trying to police zutara shippers in her own community for writing darkfic. They aligned with other users who were going on a witch hunt with the stance that it's okay to write darkfic as long as you're doing it "in the right way." With the exception that of course the way they write it is the right way. Because of course they alone are the only one capable of understanding all of the nuance involved in writing about heavy topics.

Now, this person is being attacked for writing darkfic, and is again trying to defend themselves by saying that they're writing about their own trauma, or condemning the violence portrayed.

But what's funny about the current wank is that the content of her fic is like, nearly identical to one that was being targeted in the wank two years ago. It was a fic about Katara being assaulted by men of the NWT. Which, as far as I can tell, is also what the current fic at the center of this is about as well. Only the user who wrote it has been defending it because it's meant to be an expression of her own trauma, or because the themes are about healing and condemning the act itself. Which is all well and good, but the problem is when you get into the issue of trying to police who can write about sexual violence, and in what way, and that is exactly what she was doing before. And that's also at the heart of why she's getting hate now. Every attempt to justify herself just gives more fuel to people who think you need to justify yourself for engaging in fandom a certain way.

And the thing is that KA shippers making the accusations will not see a difference, no matter how hard you try to insist that you're writing about dark topics in the "right" way. Neither they nor her have a right to decide who can write about dark topics and in what way. You can't engage in a good faith argument about how to be sensitive when shipping zutara with someone who thinks shipping it, period, is an irredeemable sin.

I know another component to this is that people are accusing her of racism because the fic involved Katara being assaulted by members of her own/sister tribe, or the idea of her being saved by Zuko. And the thing I will say about that is that while it is valid to express discomfort with those kinds of works or to speak against those particular tropes, it is NOT valid to attack someone over it or say they can't write that kind of fanfiction, or judge their intentions. I'm not going to speak about how indigenous people should feel about such content, but I am going to say that no one, regardless of their identity, has the authority to speak for an entire group of people.

I do understand the issue with the portrayal of violence within the indigenous community by someone who is not indigenous, and I understand the issue with depicting her being saved by someone outside that community. However, these arguments are being misused, because the people doing the arguing hate zutara in any form. If they really cared about the savior trope, they might examine how it is present in canon, with light-skinned Aang being the one to "save" Katara from languishing in the SWT so that she can learn waterbending. Especially considering how her homeland is depicted as backwards and Katara needing to escape it, something EIP parodies but which is still present itself in the narrative. One of the most recent posts made also screenshotted an old interaction where an indigenous fan accused a zutara shipper of "wanting Zuko to get on his wild side with Katara" on a post that said nothing that could possibly be interpreted that way. The post was about Zuko having Hakoda as an in law. The person who made the accusation made it because they hate zutara, not because the zutara shipper was actually being racist. And, I mean, if an indigenous person is caused so much pain by the very existence of a ship, the proper thing to do is not seek out content for that ship that is going to trigger you. Personal discomfort, even due to experiencing racism, does not mean you speak for an entire community. Especially one as wide and varied as "indigenous people," which describes a huge number of ethnic and cultural groups, not a monolith of people who all singularly feel the same about a cartoon ship from 2005.

If you asked an indigenous person not embroiled in fandom nonsense how they felt about these issues, I guarantee you they would not care about the ship war. Some might even be offended at the idea that Katara is even supposed to represent them, considering that her character is a mishmash of cultures and played by a white actress and talks like a white kid from California.

Which all boils down to the same thing. The only thing you can say is "this makes me personally uncomfortable." And the solution, although people may not want to hear it, is to not engage with that content. Nothing else. This was true back then, and it's still true now. And it's true for both sides.

If you want to know what indigenous authors have to say about the issue of representation, though, Sherman Alexie, Leslie Marmon Silko, and Gerald Vizenor have all been heavily criticized both within their indigenous communities and without, for their portrayal of violence, both against native people and native on native violence. For every person who says that intercommunity violence is "bad representation," there is also the opposite issue of the denial and victim blaming that also happens within these communities. In particular, Alexie has been accused both by people within and outside the community of writing a white savior narrative, when he was writing about his own experience, and the story is much more nuanced than that. (And yes, I'm aware of the allegations against Alexie, but that doesn't discount what he's had to say about his own experience, both in the ways he's spoken up about being tokenized by whites and the ways he was criticized for being "bad rep" within his own community).

And it's telling that some of the things I am seeing antis say now about the current fic is identical to what "well meaning" individuals said about the fic that was targeted years ago. And during that time, the author did not even speak up about why they wrote the fic. And I'm gonna say something else people might not like: they shouldn't have to.

Nobody has to justify why they wrote fanfiction or divulge information about their trauma, identity, or history, and the people demanding that are ALWAYS going to find a reason for why it's wrong for you to do what you are doing.

I'm seeing people say things like "but why did she have to write about Katara?"

Because fuck you, that's why.

This is the exact same argument leveled against porny fic. Whether your fic is meant to have a deeper moral point or not, the argument is the same. And you don't owe anyone an explanation.

But antis and radfems don't like that argument because they can't weaponize it.

[sisterssafespace]

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

Sisters I’m in a big predicament. I was approached for the purpose of marriage nearly a year ago and alhamdullilah this brother is EVERYTHING I would want in a future spouse. Everything was halal, spoke to my elder brother/s, we had my brother join us in all our meeting, never spoke unnecessarily and strictly kept things halal. To keep things short, my parents do not approve of him due to tribes (I’m Somali btw). They are strictly saying N.O. - not only to tribe, but they want me to complete Uni first and be established and independent.

I’ve tried speaking with them and it has not been working. I cut things off for now with the brother to lessen the stress as it started to worry me that there is no point continuing to talk if marriage is not promised. We were both hesitant, but ceased speaking. Although we kept thing’s extremely professional and distant, I’m shattered, because I know of what a great person he is and would be as a husband and father. Any advices?

و عليكم السلام و رحمة اللّٰه و بركاته حبيبتي،

First of all, I am deeply sorry for the situation you are in, even though you made sure things with this brother are kept professional and distant as you said, it does hurt, especially for us girls because we do get attached too quickly whether we like it or not and we start daydreaming and planning, etc. Having your dreams being crushed does and will hurt, it is bound to cause you a heartbreak even if you are trying to be not very emotional about it. It is definitely not easy for a sister to find the guy she thinks is " EVERYTHING " and then would have to let him go.. I am really sorry sweetheart..

لا حول و لا قوة الا بالله 💔🥺

Now, on a practical level, I do salute you for cutting ties with him right after your parents disagreed, that is very brave of you!! But you should remember that whomever left something for the sake of Allah swt, Allah swt will reward them and will please them in a way that exceed their expectations and all their dreams.

There are two theories here:

1) this guy, despite him being everything - Allahuma barik - he is not the one for you, he may be - and I am saying maybe - a good guy but he is not good for you, and in that case then Allah swt is removing him from your life because He swt knows that there is no khayr in this relationship for you. And in that case your parents' refusal is just a means to realize Allah's decree.

2) this guy is good for you, he is meant for you, this situation is just a bump in the road. Also, let me just clarify that your parents, with all due respect, have no business refusing the guy because he is from a different tribe. If Allah swt has said in Surah Hujurat (49:13)

يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّاسُ إِنَّا خَلَقۡنَٰكُم مِّن ذَكَرٖ وَأُنثَىٰ وَجَعَلۡنَٰكُمۡ شُعُوبٗا وَقَبَآئِلَ لِتَعَارَفُوٓاْۚ إِنَّ أَكۡرَمَكُمۡ عِندَ ٱللَّهِ أَتۡقَىٰكُمۡۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ عَلِيمٌ خَبِيرٞ

O mankind, indeed We have created you from male and female and made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another. Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you. Indeed, Allah is Knowing and Acquainted.

Then they're argument is invalid. Unfortunately, a lot of people are still carrying that mentality but that's purely cultural and it has nothing to do with the religion. You can find a lot of videos on YouTube where the Imams or the Shaykhs are urging parents to let go of that mindset and are actually defending the daughter or the son's desire to marry outside the tribe or outside the culture. You can send them or show them these videos, you can talk to someone influential in the family maybe a grandparent or an uncle and ask for their help to convince your parents.. I wonder what your brother can do about this as well, you mentioned he was with you when you'd meet the guy, and I got the feeling that he liked him or at least didn't object to him, so maybe as an older brother he could talk to your parents as well.. and in shaa Allah khayr. As for their argument for you to finish uni, we can't argue with that. I don't know though, I know it is not unusual in your culture to marry young and keep studying and finish one's degree while being married. It is not unheard of. I also don't know how young you are and how many years left of studying you have, may Allah swt grant you success and put blessings in your studies and make it a beneficial knowledge for you, ameen. But again, getting married while still in uni is not a simple decision, you need to consider a lot of factors, especially how financially stable the spouse is and to what extent he can support you.. some couples get married and still live at the parents' house, others get married and don't even live together because they'd be a way studying in a different city or something.. it really depends on their specific situation, on their priorities and on their boundaries, like what couple A is comfortable with might not be suitable for couple B, so like this one particular argument, you are the vetter judge for it. Does that make sense?

But how do we know which theory is the right one? How do we know whether he is not right for you or not .. well, " But it may be that you hate something while it is good for you, and it may be that you love something while it is bad for you. Allah knows, and you do not know."

So what you need right now and I know you asked for advice and I feel like all you can do right now, all that is in your hands and under your control right now is to pray on it: istikharah istikharah istikharah all the way.. istikharah and let go tbh. Pray on it, ask Allah swt to enlighten your parents' basirah, soften their heart and guide them, but also let go and focus on your studies. Time will tell. In shaa Allah with time, you will see and understand the answer to your prayers. If this brother is the right guy for you, if there is khayr in being with him, if he is your rizq and he is your maktoub then he will not go anywhere. Allah swt will make a way to reuinte you in his blessings. But if he is not your rizq then he was never yours to begin with habibty, and your rizq is hidden somewhere else. All you have to do is have tawakkul and rely on Allah swt, have good faith in Allah swt, and believe that He is the best of planners. Alhamdullillah, what is meant for us will never miss us.

I hope my reply is satisfying for you my dear.

I pray Allah swt grant you patience to walk through this trial, and I pray He grant you all the khayr of this duniya and hereafter. May Allah swt bless you with the good pious humble gentle brother who really deserves your heart and knows how to take care of you, and the same for all muslim girls who are looking to get married, ameen.

Lots of love, fi aman Allah,

- A. Z. 🤍🍃