#zukka poking each other

[wilcze-kudly]

THIS WAS VENGANCE

Bonus

Never forgive, never forget

[goldiedraws]

(This has been sitting in the drafts for a while so prolly won't be finished. Animation scares me. I also realized I used a pony tail to signify Sokka, so I hope that isn't confusing. I imagine Zuko with book 3 hair. )

[Image ID: A simple digital sketch of four squares in a photo-like arrangement. There is handwriting to the side that says "Zukka photo booth animation thumbnail." In the first photo, Zuko poses really while Sokka appears to be laughing at him. There is a square with an arrow pointed before this showing them walking in and two squares pointed after where Zuko looks over and Sokka looks away. In the next photo, Sokka hugs Zuko and sticks his youngest out at the camera, while Zuko appears stiff and surprised. A square with an arrow is placed after it where Zuko crosses his arms angrily and Sokka pokes him mischievously. In the next photo, Zuko looks angry and waves his arms around while Sokka has a smug cat image over his face and crosses his arms cockily. There are three squares between this and the next photo. In them, Zuko huffs and Sokka extends an arm. Zuko rolls his eyes playfully. In the final photo, they are hugging happily, looking at each other. There is a square with an arrow after this where they walk out happily conversing. End ID. ]

Not sure I’ll finish it but a lil idea for a Zukka animation. It’d be a looping GIF and will def be here if I finish it!

[zukkaoru]

zukka + yoga

zuko started doing yoga in the mornings bc ty lee suggested it to him and he finds it helps him in a lot of the same ways meditation does.

sokka likes it bc he can sit and watch him, and he can poke at the yoga mat bc it has a fun texture

[woahtherebuckerino]

Fic Recs: Avatar: The Last Airbender

i rewatched this series when it came out on netflix and i fell in love with it all over again. so many amazing fic writers have taken inspiration from it, so here are some of my favourites!

first rule of earth kingdom fight club… by ohmygodwhy

zuko, his stubborn inability to die, and finding himself thru getting his ass kicked

this series is a collection of amazing fics all about zuko surviving the siege of the north and joining earth rumble despite not being an earth bender. it’s the perfect mix of hilarious and serious, and i love it so much

a crack in the glass (eye) by carthaginian_berries

Okay, so maybe Sokka’s noticed that Zuko’s left eye doesn’t really move that much. That’s fine. It’s fine, because it’s damaged, and probably injured terribly by some incredibly unlucky accident, and it doesn’t even have an eyelid, so like — Sokka can work with this. Maybe it just doesn’t have any functioning nerves anymore. Sometimes, eyes just don’t move; it’s all perfectly normal, a regular day, just like Zuko strolling into the Western Air Temple to volunteer himself as Aang’s firebending teacher/prisoner/Not A Friend. Walking in on said firebending teacher/prisoner/Not A Friend polishing an entire entirely-detached eyeball? Not so fine. or: zuko has a glass eye. toph is fully ready to exploit the fact.

very very amusing fic about toph, zuko and sokka terrorising the rest of the gaang. the scenarios and pranks made are hilarious and i love this fic so much

Wait for It by mindbending

Prince Zuko is born with eyes of pure gold, the surest sign of a strong inner flame. Prince Zuko is born unlucky. He has no fire to speak of. No spark of potential. (Until swords start bending to his will.)

loving this metalbending take on zuko. all of the ideas are so interesting and the characterisation is on point. plus, you gotta love the zuko & toph friendship

Embers by Vathara

Dragon's fire is not so easily extinguished; when Zuko rediscovers a lost firebending technique, shifting flames can shift the world...

could not have a fic rec list without including this masterpiece. the worldbuilding in this is so unique and intriguing, and you can’t help but get attached to the new characters as the story goes on. the amount of research and real world ties this fic has is also outstanding. this fic is over 700k, but i can promise you that it is so enthralling you won’t regret it

Getting Busy in Ba Sing Se by vixxer

Sokka holds up four fingers and pokes him with them. “Four months is still not a lot of time. Weren’t you traveling the earth kingdom for most of it?” “I could’ve met a lot of people while traveling,” Zuko responds defensively. “Really getting around the earth kingdom, huh,” Sokka says with a wink.

beware for general teenage humour and an inordinate amount of dick jokes. i really like this fic because it emphasises the youth of the characters whilst keeping a very lighthearted and comedic tone.

Boomerangs and Rainbows by mindbending

At Sokka’s behest, the Gaang skips rescuing Zuko during the Siege at the North Pole. Instead they leave him, unconscious, buried in the snow. In completely unrelated news, Sokka’s haunted by a ghost now.

a zukka fic with a very creative concept and outstanding writing. do not be put off by the major character death tag, as the guy in question still hangs around regardless. plus, i like how the fic also gives the other characters their time to shine, instead of simply focusing on the main pairing

Spirits Help Us, There’s Two of Them by hopepunk

Sokka and Zuko are both weird guys. Fortunately, they're the same kind of weird as each other.

another zukka fic that definitely deserves the clown-to-clown communication tag. the whole thing is wildly absurd and yet still sweet, and the other character’s bafflement towards their craziness is hilarious!

[cescalr]

For the ship asks! If we're talking Avatar, what about Mei and Zuko?

I'll be honest, I'm not fond of it. I don't really like mei in the first place - apathy never sits well with me, and she never actually changed her mind? Mei at the start is mei at the end. She didn't think what the fire nation was doing was wrong, and she only sided against Azula to stay with Zuko, which would be sweet if she... actually liked him? And I don't think she does? She was happy with Zuko during his time back at the fire nation when he was acting the part of Ozai's favoured son, and its just... eeh. They give me bad vibes, I don't know. I wouldn't be surprised if she threw a knife at him properly one of these days.

Plus, Mei doesn't have much of a character outside Zuko. I'd rather shew her development than her stagnation, and keeping her with Zuko keeps her the same. In the end, mostly, me*ko just bores me, which is the nail in the coffin for any ship. At least if I hated it I'd feel something, yk? I prefer meilee or even meizula and... really any other zuko ship (aside from aang >-< yike) over meiko, but... I wouldn't, like, absolutely hate it if a good fic had meiko in it, you know? I just don't like them in canon. Much like I've said before, I'm willing to give things their fair shot. It's just that Mei herself is a hard sell for me as a focal character. It's not even that she's a 'bad' person - I read Azula and Jet-centric fics, and even memorably one Ozai centred fic (time travel, it was interesting start but still a wip though so going to see where it leads) - it's more that I just don't know what to do with her. She's kind of a meh girlfriend and kind of a whatever person, to me.

In comparison, Zuko is literally The redemption arc guy. He's the character people want to replicate the success of. Zuko is such a person that he's iconic and Mei is kinda... there. For the record, I didn't even know she existed until I watched the show. Zukka and Zutara and Zuko's character arc were well known to me, but Mei was not. I ended up only liking zukka platonically, not minding and sometimes supporting zutara, shipping jetko for the angst and the parallelism, even giving some really au zuko stuff like that one toph arranged marriage series or his leadership/friendship/family dynamics with his crew a go, jin/zuko, song/zuko - loads of things! On the other hand, Mei didn't have much going for her in my estimation to begin with, and her portrayal by competing ship fans probably didn't help. There was one where she tried to kill him after the war ended, lmao. That was silly. But still. Bias is easy to build, even without meaning to.

So, would I say I like meiko? No. Would I say I hate it? Depends on the portrayal. Much like ronmione, I don't think it would take a lot of tweaking to make her abusive, specifically also without being OOC, which worries me. So I just don't poke that sleeping dragon and hang out in the other ship spaces.

In the end, I think they just didn't understand each other on a fundamental level. (Also important; Zuko never seemed to know what to do with her, the things shed like or appreciate, and never seemed to take her own expressions - mild as they were - of affection as well as one would expect were he actually in love with her, which is itself important to note, though of course also just my own interpretation of what we were given; a lot of their scenes were cut off at some of the most important parts, which doesnt quite sit right with me.) And I need something to dig my teeth into that just wasn't present for their relationship, except in ways I couldn't interpret positively. A shame, but oh well. We can't all like everything :).

[ssreeder]

hey look it’s me back again so soon! ik it’s not exactly poetry related but we are reading this book in class and there is this quote (and of course it’s long) and it’s so beautifully sad and i zukka but they are a basically codependent (looking at you sokka) and this quote is poignant commentary on love supporting but not sustaining a person (something i hope the boys will learn when they heal. and that’s def why hakoda is so suspicious about their relationship) — “It’s a bad word, ‘belong.’ Especially when you put it with somebody you love. Love shouldn’t be like that. Did you ever see the way the clouds love a mountain? They circle all around it; sometimes you can’t even see the mountain for the clouds. But you know what? You go up top and what do you see? His head. The clouds never cover the head. His head pokes through, because the clouds let him; they don’t wrap him up. They let him keep his head up high, free, with nothing to hide him or bind him…You can't own a human being. You can't lose what you don't own. Suppose you did own him. Could you really love somebody who was absolutely nobody without you? You really want somebody like that? Somebody who falls apart when you walk out the door? You don't, do you? And neither does he. You're turning over your whole life to him. Your whole life, girl. And if it means so little to you that you can just give it away, hand it to him, then why should it mean any more to him? He can't value you more than you value yourself.” I could go on and on about what it says and connecting it to ria but the quote says so much by itself. Toni Morrison is an absolute genius. also, i have heard stirrings of a discord, count me in if y’all ever make one :)))) see you next time reed!

Omg this is so beautiful!!!

I can’t believe how wonderfully this is written! It really does describe the way the boys are towards each other pretty spectacularly… (well Sokka a bit more because we get to go inside his head)

…. But I don’t think Zuko is all that innocent with the codependency topic

Hakoda is suspicious & that suspicion is only going to grow the longer he is around zukka. I wonder how long it’ll take him to notice the level of closeness hmmmmm.

There is rumor of discord server & playlist went ahead and made one so feel free to join.

I promise it is nothing but nonsense & I apologize now.

LIAB discord server.

(anyone feel free to join)

[milf-harrington]

zukka + 2 and/or 22? 😌

2 - interlocking pinkies

22 - kissing someones cuts/bruises/scratches

i offer: college husbands content

-

Zuko loved to watch Sokka talk.

He loved his husbands facial expressions, the way his eyebrows rose and furrowed with each word, the way he threw his hands around like just saying the words weren't enough.

It was fun, the lively way he spoke, and Zuko loved it.

Just maybe not when they were walking right next to each other and Sokka's talkative hands kept getting a little too close to Zuko's face for comfort.

Around the fourth time that Zuko had to duck back, he decided to take matters into his own hands, and caught his husbands fingers between his own, gently lowering it back to his side and linking their pinkies together.

It was how they used to walk to class together in high school, so it was less suspicious when they'd let go after seeing teachers looking. (Apparently hand holding counted as PDA, and PDA was generally frowned upon by faculty.)

Sokka faltered, stumbling over his words as he turned to look at Zuko in confused surprise. Zuko just smiled, swinging their hands lightly, before facing forwards again and waiting for Sokka to connect his thoughts back into words.

It didn't take long, the move-by-move run down of Azula's latest scrabble defeat resuming with the mention of a two point loss that had given Sokka the lead he'd needed to beat her.

It was Zuko's fault for bringing it up really.

(Azula had called him the night before, trying to convince him to sabotage Sokka in some way, before he'd calmly reminded her that they'd promised not to involve him in their little feud after Zuko had been the one to suffer from Azula's dirt-instead-of-coffee prank after a particularly brutal 14 point loss.

He'd remembered the call, thought it was funny, and asked Sokka how he'd beaten her this time. That had been around 10 minutes ago, and Sokka was only halfway through the recount of their entire game.

Agni, Zuko loved him.)

And then suddenly Sokka was yanking his hand away and shoving Zuko in the shoulder, making him yelp in surprise as he went careening into a bush.

"SOKKA WHAT THE FUCK-" He yelled, angrily thrashing around and trying to figure out why the fuck he was suddenly surrounded by dry and poky nature.

"Oh my god, baby, I'm so sorry- I panicked-" Sokka's frantic apology was muffled, somewhere to his mid-left, and he kicked his leg out, grinning triumphantly when he felt his foot connect with something followed Sokka swearing.

"Just get me out of this fucking bush." He demanded, wriggling around and trying to get his other foot to touch the ground. Several sharp something's were stabbing into his back where his shirt had ridden up, and there was something jabbing at his ear that was either a twig or the zipper of his jacket. His wrist and hip were stinging, the sharp pain of fresh scratches that had him gritting his teeth.

A hand wrapped around his wrist and heaved, pulling him out of the bush and catching him when he stumbled forward. Briefly, Zuko's head spun from the rush, before he was huffily shoving Sokka away and lifting up his shirt, poking gingerly at the shallow scratches that had reddened the skin.

Sokka made a wounded noise, and pulled Zuko's shirt up further, running his fingers around the injuries gently. "Im so sorry! Let's get you home and we'll put some bedadine on them and then you can yell at me all you like."

- a few minutes later -

Zuko hissed, cringing away from the cool sting of bedadine as Sokka gently sprayed it over his hip and wiped up the drips with a tissue.

"Y'know you could've just let go if you didn't want to hold hands, you didn't have to throw me in a bush-" Zuko started, deciding to return to his previous state of confused anger.

"I saw a dog and panicked." Sokka admitted sheepishly, not looking up as he sprayed bedadine on his wrist as well.

Zuko paused, raising his eyebrow at his husband. "What do you mean you panicked? I thought you liked dogs?"

"Yeah but you're allergic."

Zuko closed his eyes. This sweet, ridiculous man. "I'm not going to have an allergic reaction from a passing dog Sokka. I'd have to shove my face in it's fur and inhale."

"I know that." Sokka groaned, catching more drips with the already stained tissue. "I just saw the dog, and remembered that time you couldn't breathe when we went to visit Aang last week, and panicked and apparently shoving you into random bushes is my panic response."

"Well, get a new panic response you loser." Zuko grumbled, poking at his hip and hissing, and then feeling offended when Sokka slapped his hands away.

"Don't go prodding at them dumbass."

Zuko sat impatiently as Sokka carefully cut off a short length of bandage and pressed it over a folded up tissue, keeping it in place with medical tape from the first-aid kit Katara had given them after the whole tackling-someone-into-the-pavement debacle.

And then Sokka leaned forward, and pressed his lips right over the scratches, gently kissing them over the bandages before moving onto Zuko's wrist and repeating the process, kiss and all.

"All better!" He declared, rolling Zuko's shirt back down and turning to put his supplies away.

Zuko rolled his eyes, feeling his cheeks warming as his heart melted in his chest. "Thanks."

[nothing-more-than-hot-leaf-juice]

here lies the complete story of the Crocverse (AtLA zukka modern AU)

The general facts are as follows: 

Iroh owns a croc store and Zuko works there

Sokka works at Trader Joe’s and loves crocs

Bending is a thing

Jeong Jeong owns an antique store and is furious the croc store ruined the vibe of the strip mall

Sokka and Zuko go on a date to Olive Garden

Toph and Zuko hate crocs

Bumi owns a Jamba Juice

Worldbuilding 

This takes place in Florida

Bending is a thing, but it is unclear whether or not the Avatar is a thing 

The 2008 financial crisis was a thing that happened in this universe 

Characters 

Iroh is the new owner of the strip mall Croc store. He loves and appreciates crocs in a big dorky way. 

Zuko is his disgruntled nephew who works at the Croc store. He hates crocs with a passion and is in kind of a Linkin Park phase. (He is not an eboy, no one is an eboy, society has moved past the need for eboys.) 

Sokka works at the local Trader Joe’s. He wears Hawaiian shirts all the gd time. He is incredibly excited about the croc store and gets addicted to buying crocs. He also likes wearing a ‘men want me, fish fear me’ hat and sometimes completes his ensembles with fanny packs. 

Katara works at a Petsmart. 

Jeong Jeong owns an antique store next to the croc store and is pissed that the croc store ruined the vibe of the strip mall. 

It is undecided whether or not Aang works at Bumi’s Jamba Juice or if he works at the Trader Joe’s bakery. Regardless, he’s more of a Birkenstocks guy and finds that crocs and airbending don’t really work together. 

Piandao is the Trader Joe’s manager. 

Hakoda is currently deployed and Sokka is trying his best to cope (with unhealthy shopping habits). 

Dynamics 

Zuko goes to Jamba Juice a lot. Toph also goes to Jamba Juice a lot. They become buds because they go ‘well we’re both loners going into school with few or no friends and we both love Jamba Juice and hate crocs, that’s as good a place as any to start a friendship’ 

Sokka loves to explore Jeong Jeong’s antique store. Jeong Jeong considers Sokka to be a local menace (and he’d never say it but he’s his local menace and would be hurt if Sokka started poking around another antique store). 

Iroh really wants to be friends with Jeong Jeong (who could honestly use a friend, he’s kind of a hermit). Jeong Jeong is firmly annoyed that Iroh ruined the vibe of the strip mall. 

Zuko likes hanging out at the antique store and occasionally runs into Sokka. He voices his displeasure for the croc store on multiple occasions and Jeong Jeong feels incredibly validated. 

Zuko has kind of just planned to not have friends for his senior year. Iroh thinks that unacceptable. 

Iroh loves Sokka’s outfits a whole lot and compliments them all the time (while also trying to set him up with Zuko as friends). 

Sokka initially thinks Zuko is just kind of weird and asocial, but then one day at Petsmart he’s bothering Katara at work and he sees Zuko sitting on the floor of the reptile section just looking at all the tanks. Katara tells Sokka that Zuko basically does this every other day and Sokka realizes how soft this guy is and just kind of goes ‘oh’. 

Sokka goes to the crocstore and buys some pride crocs to send a message to Zuko. Zuko is oblivious. 

Eventually, Sokka pulls the “so… do you want to do an activity together?” and Iroh comes over with a “he’d LOVE to” and gives them an Olive Garden gift card. 

Sokka hopes Zuko thinks this is an actual date, Zuko is unclear on whether or not this is a date but puts on a button down shirt just in case, and Iroh doesn’t realize it’s 100% a date until Zuko comes out with his shirt and Iroh decides that it is of the utmost importance that he does Zuko’s hair. 

The details of the date have been decided on….but @animegenork is writing the actual fic and if you really want the sweet, soft zukka details you’ll have to wait. All I’ll say is there are turtleducks and smooching involved. 

Relevant Backstory 

Iroh didn’t actually want to own a croc store. He used to own his own tea/coffee store, but when the economy tanked and his son died, it ended up going bust. 

Iroh didn’t have much contact with his brother after Lu Ten died because Ozai was an unsympathetic asshole about it. The last time he saw his brother’s family was at Azulon’s funeral. 

A few years after the falling out with Ozai (and Iroh’s contact with his niece and nephew being basically reduced to birthday phone calls) Iroh finally upgrades to an iPhone with Facetime. When he calls for Zuko’s birthday, Iroh is VERY FUCKING DISPLEASED to see that someone has burned off half of Zuko’s face (and it doesn’t take much thinking for him to guess who). 

Iroh scoops Zuko up ASAP and Zuko moves in with him. 

Iroh attempts to bring Azula, but she firmly does not want to go with him and Iroh can’t exactly just kidnap a child in this day and age. 

So instead of reinvesting in a new tea shop, Iroh invests his time in legal work to go after Ozai for being the Fucking Worst™. 

He also puts Zuko in therapy, because god knows the kid needs it. 

Iroh worked in middle management for various retail stores and landed a management position in a croc store. Eventually, he opened up his own branch in Florida (which is where our story starts). 

And really, it wasn’t Iroh’s dream to own a croc store, but he accepts that life doesn’t always go exactly how you plan it. Iroh recognizes that what he can focus on is bringing joy to people and trying to project kindness into the world every day. Maybe you end up onwing a croc store. Maybe you’re in a bunch of bs legal crap because your brother is a monster and there are two kids who need someone, but you can make the best of it and it doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy simple pleasure where you find them. 

Other details 

The Crocverse is a Mouth Wheat Boy Free Zone. Jet is just not a croc person. Jet has no reason to enter the croc store. This AU does not have room for Jet. I’m sorry Jet stans. (I’m not.) 

Zuko and Sokka are upcoming high school seniors (age 17). 

Katara is an upcoming junior (16), Aang is an upcoming sophomore (15), and Toph is an upcoming freshman (14). 

The swampbenders are frequent patrons of the croc store because they’re good for marshy areas.

The only people who are actually croc enthusiest in this world are Sokka and Iroh. 

Sokka likes wearing neon turquoise crocs the most. 

Sometimes Iroh wears rainbow tie dye crocs to support his gay nephew .

Final words 

This is what I meant when I said the Crocverse was never really about the crocs. The crocs were just a framing device, they’re just how we got here. At its core, the crocverse is about these characters and their struggles, and more importantly how they find each other despite the struggles. It’s about Zuko learning how to make friends. It’s about Iroh wanting the best for his nephew and trying to make the best of a less than ideal situation. It’s about Sokka trying to figure out what to do now that his dad is gone and learning how to open up about it instead of cope with unhealthy shopping habits and deflection. It’s about going to Petsmart and spending an hour looking at the reptiles because you deserve it. It’s about going to Jamba Juice and making friends with the other loners. It’s about learning that you don’t have to be alone. It’s about ditching Olive Garden for a better date somewhere else and smooching the ridiculous Hawaiian shirt Trader Joe’s employee because he’s funny and caring and maybe, just maybe, you deserve that. It’s about letting new people enter your life when you think you have to be alone. It’s about being teenagers together before life starts for real. It’s about, above all else, finding those weirdos who will be there for you and accept you for all your quirks and baggage. 

And that’s the Crocverse. I will shut up about it forever now. 

[beachytablecloth]

zukka or renga + 67?

i still have faith in you - abba (which was actually my 66th song, because 67 was a wiggles song. #preschoolteacherproblems)

We do have it in us

New spirit has arrived

The joy and the sorrow

We have a story and it survived

(cw: descriptions of grief and depression)

Everything after his dad’s passing had happened in a fog, like there was a thick piece of blurry glass between him and the rest of the world.

Langa remembers that first ride after he was gone. The snow somehow felt colder, and the wind against his face as he made his way down the mountain wasn’t exhilarating, but harsh, bitter. Even the sun, trying its best to poke between the heavy clouds, reflected off the snow in a dim, muted sort of way.

It was quiet, but not peaceful.

And he felt nothing.

And then they moved. Mom worried about him—insisted that they didn’t have to go unless he really wanted to—but he would have said yes to anything if it meant he didn’t have to hear her muffled crying through the wall their bedrooms shared every night.

His first day of school was a blur. Maybe he should’ve been nervous, anxious, something, but all he could do was go through the motions. Introduce himself. Sit in class. Try not to get lost between periods.

Until—

A runaway skateboard rattling down the hill. A loud, excitable redhead chasing after it.

The fog began to clear.

He rode and his heart raced. He fell off and scraped his knees and hands and leaned on Reki for balance. It felt like coming alive again.

He snuck out with Reki. He laughed with his friends.

(It felt like coming alive again.)

And then, it was all gone. It was like Dad, again. Except it was almost worse because he knew enough about this feeling to fear it this time. And the one person he wanted to talk to about it was avoiding him and it was his fault because Reki had made him promise and he’d joined the tournament anyway, chased the high of skating like it was the last thing he’d ever feel.

It didn’t matter that he was winning the races. That people were cheering for him.

He was skating, but he felt nothing. The joy slipped through his fingers like sand. He’d lost it. He’d lost Reki.

The person who’d brought fun back into his life. Someone amazing and intelligent and passionate and wonderful—gone like a bandaid ripped off too soon.

And Langa wasn’t sure how he’d survive it—the numbness, the hollowness in his chest. The world, gray and muted and like nothing even mattered anymore.

But then, they found each other again. Langa realized how much Reki meant to him, and he got to tell him that, and they skated together and it was back. They were a team again, and Langa knew that with Reki, he would be alright.

send me a ship and a number 1-100 and i'll write a drabble based on the corresponding song from my 2021 top 100 playlist

[moth-time]

poking your ao3 “marked for later” list like all of these sound fabulous but none of it scratches my particular itch OTL

anyway rec me some atla content? Jetka, Zukka, Zukki, Jetko, Sukka, Mailee, whatever I am flexible on pairings, but something from these tropes:

enemies to lovers

h/c

WHUMP

seriously give me the dead dove fics

repressed af boys (internalized homophobia, guilt, self-loathing, all the good shit)

reluctant allies/allied in the face of greater evil

dealing w trauma/ptsd

i think you get the gist of it I want the sad shit and the complicated relationships and the stories about fucked up people crawling through the mud trying to heal each other

[jockvillagersonly]

I’ve been thinking about the miracle of friendship and my Zukka university!AU so, for your consideration, how Zuko and Toph became friends:

Picture this: Junior year. Zuko is fresh off realizing that he gets to decide what he wants his life to be — not his dad, not Azula. Him.

Zuko goes full fuck it - cuts ties to his family, gets a job at his uncle’s tea shop, switches his major from business (boo!) to theater (woo!)

Downside: despite being a junior, he has to take a bunch of intro-level seminars to fill the preliminary requirements for his new major ☹️

It’s in one of these classes that he meets our lord and savior, mothercrusher Toph Beifong

Zuko is sitting alone in the back zoning out, chewing on his pencil, being dark & broody (duh) when someone small and compact sits directly next to him & pokes him in the face??

We are talking strong this scene energy:

Small & Compact immediately leans in, sniffs, and then sits back with visible disappointment, all damn, you don’t smell bad. So what’s the reason people avoid this row like you’re a walking plague?

Zuko doesn’t answer beyond making his eyebrows Extra Angry 😡 and shooting her his patented “I Listened to a Lot of Mayday Parade in Middle School” glare.

It has approximately no effect because, as Zuko is just now realizing, the weird small freshman is blind and cannot see his glare (which is honestly her loss, he has practiced it in the mirror and it’s a powerful look — )

ANYWAY small freshman leans back in conspiratorially and asks is it cuz you killed someone? I’m not a narc...you can trust me.

Zuko snaps out prove it, pokey before his brain catches up to his mouth and he flushes

But Toph just smirks: sounds like something the feds would say, sparky. Who’s the real narc here, huh? Dumbass.

Obviously this is the start of a beautiful friendship. They sit together every class and talk shit about everyone

(Zuko eventually asks why she sat next to him the first time, and Toph is like I’m blind, and even I can tell that no one sits near you... people keep trying to help me walk up stairs and shit, I wanted to learn your secret for scaring people away)

Zuko recommends using the elevator instead; Toph punches him

Zuko thinks he has a Friend™️?

(And like obviously beyond mutual shit talk, they become friends because they understand each other. They both have fucked-up, dysfunctional, wealthy families, and they’ve both spent life not being seen for who they really are)

[ljf613]

For the ship rating: korrasami/makorra/masami

Alright, I’ve been relatively quiet  about this love triangle up until now, but y’all seem to be appreciating the blunt honesty I’ve been using for the rest of these asks, so I figure I may as well be frank. 

Love triangles are not a trope I particularly care for, and this one was really handled poorly by the narrative, on so many levels. I don’t like it. 

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s get into each of the individual ships we’re dealing with here. (Rather than doing them in the order they were asked in, I think I’m going to go in order from least-disliked to most-loathed.) 

Makorra: C+ 

I binged this whole show over the course of about a week or two, and there were plenty of things I knew about it beforehand-- namely, that Mako and Korra were going to date for a while, but she was eventually going to dump him and get together with Asami. 

Keeping all of that in mind, I came into LOK warning myself not to get attached to this ship. 

And for the first season that was really easy. I spent most of the time wondering why Korra was crushing on Mako instead of Bolin. Not because I shipped Borra (I didn’t), but because I was honestly so tired of the “girl falls for bad boy/brooding loner instead of the sweet guy who clearly adores her” category of stories. 

I wasn’t too torn up about the way season two handled their relationship. This was the season I actually started liking Mako (who is now probably my favorite character), and I honestly felt kind of bad for how he kept getting caught on the short end of the stick. 

Seasons three and four are where I really started enjoying their interactions. Their commitment to maintaining their friendship, and the way they stood by each other, was really sweet and inspiring. 

All in all, they were able to form a great friendship, which could have been a foundation for a strong relationship if the show had chosen to take it that direction, but I’m not the slightest bit upset or disappointed that it didn’t. 

Masami: D- 

I should clarify that I... don’t particularly care for Asami. Not to say that I hate, or even dislike her-- I don’t! But the narrative did not do a very good job of handling her character, and she comes off as more of a Mary Sue than anything else. She’s smart, she’s super-talented, she’s freaking gorgeous-- but that’s all she is. She doesn’t have any flaws, or even very much in the way of character development. She’s just.... there. 

And Masami was a big part of that. Season one Asami really seemed like she was just there to get in the way of Makorra, and season two didn’t help matters very much. 

Mako and Asami don’t seem to have much in common, they don’t even seem to be good friends, and by the end of the show the only thing they have tying them together is Korra. 

I honestly can’t picture them making it work as a couple for very long. But, as always, that’s just my opinion. 

Korrasami: E- 

I went into this show knowing that Korrasami was going to be endgame. I put on my shipping goggles, ready for the romantic tension, the ship teasing, the cute flirting..... 

And you know what I got? None of that. I literally finished the show wondering “did they actually get together? Because that final scene could be read as completely platonic.” 

(I really enjoyed Korra and Asami’s friendship, especially in books two and three-- but that was all I saw.) 

I saw a post one time that basically summed up the problem (can’t find it now)-- Korra could have hooked up with anyone in those last few minutes, and it would have made zero difference to the story. 

(Sure, I get wanting representation, but the relationship should still make sense, ya know? Some kind of build-up?) 

(Think about it this way: if they hadn’t both been girls, if Asami had been a boy instead, or worse, Korra had, would anyone like it as much, or would it just feel like a cheap “hero gets the girl”/Strangled by the Red String subplot?) 

Now, none of that means much. I’ve shipped things with less basis before, and even if I wasn’t especially into it, I might have been able to see the appeal well enough to give it an E+ or D- rating. 

Except. 

Except that, while I may not have been part of the LOK fandom for very long, I’ve done enough digging around to get some vague idea of what it was like in its heyday. 

And the picture I’m getting is.... not very pretty. 

Take everything I said about (certain) Zukka shippers. Imagine that it’s for a show that is not nearly as well-done as ATLA. Keep in mind that it was not old yet enough to have a super-large fanbase. Realize that people are not quite as attached to this story as some others they like, and weren’t going to bother investing as much emotional energy if all they were going to get for it was toxicity and hate. 

.....And suddenly you understand why the Makorra shippers are still afraid to poke their heads out from wherever they’ve been hiding for the last six years. 

This behavior is insulting and obnoxious, and I don’t like it. At all. You are entitled to ship whatever you want. But sending hate to someone just because they want the “wrong” pair of fictional characters to kiss is cruel. 

“No ship, or any aspect of a fictional universe, is important enough to treat another real life human being badly.”

[snowe-zolynn-rogers]

Avatar Zuko Rewrite

Pairings: Zukka (pre-romantic, unrequited)

Word Count: 1687 Words

Summary: Lee somehow manages to win Sokka's heart without even trying aka he feeds him. Sokka doesn't even know how to process how cute Lee is.

Warnings: Injury Mention, Food Mention, Half Blind Character, let me know if I should tag something else.

Chapter 7

When they finally consoled Aang, they led him back to where Lee was in the Avatar Chamber still. It seemed they’d all left him there to continue with his intrigued study of the statues.

Finding him collapsed in front of the Roku statue was definitely not something they’d anticipated. It looked like some debris had flown here too from Aang’s emotional breakdown. None of it looked to have hit Lee but they all guessed it had somehow hit him in the head and made him collapse with a concussion.

“Hey, Lee. Lee, wake up.” Sokka shook the raven’s shoulder.

He gave a groan, waking up and he held his left hip, apparently that had hit the ground first and taken the most of the brunt of the fall. Lee pushed himself to sit up, other hand holding his head, eyes shut still and refusing to look at them. Finally, his gold eyes opened and he gazed up at them.

“What happened? I’m so sorry if I hurt you, Lee!” Aang hugged him.

“No, it wasn’t you. The spiritual pressure is just really strong in here.” He rubbed his left scalp with soreness from the fall, but thankfully, he didn’t seem too injured.

“Well you are right. It does feel like the pressure is stronger here. Maybe it’s the statues.” Aang told him, helping him up on his left side while Sokka helped his right. Sokka felt protective of the airbender, he was obviously weak and a bit hurt, he needed someone to look after him.

He helped him from the chamber, all four leaving it to let Lee recover. The airbender seemed to be getting better, all but his hip, however. But that just seemed sore too, and was obviously better the more he moved it and used it and wasn’t overstressing the muscle he’d hurt. Aang and Katara played air ball this time, Lee and Sokka sitting on the grass, watching.

“Do you think they’d mind if I looked around?” Lee asked.

“Why?” He asked the airbender.

“Food. You’ve been complaining nonstop, I figure shut your mouth with some food.” Lee told him, smiling broadly but also nervously. He was getting comfortable around people but he wasn't sure how to act.

“Nah, they wouldn’t mind. Just don’t get lost. Come back here after or I'm sure Aang might freak out that I lost you.” The raven nodded and set off the path on the left, slowly retraining the sore but thankfully healthy muscle in his left hip. An hour later, Lee came back with several things in his arms. He threw something round at him and he immediately caught it out of instinct.

“Found the kitchens and the gardens. That’s a pomelo by the way. They grew firebender fruit here. Who would have thought Air Nomads could simulate different climates?” He was smiling.

“What the hell’s a pomelo?” Sokka asked, peeling it curiously.

“A fruit. It’s like an orange but better. Don’t complain. I could have made you eat the durian fruit.” He showed him a large yellow fruit as Sokka took a curious bite of the fruit in his hands.

“Hey, I’m not a quitter. Let me try the other one.”

“Don’t complain to me then, water-boy.” He tossed the yellowy fruit at him. Sokka caught it easily. He used his dagger to cut open the durian fruit to come face to face with the yellow flesh.

“What? Scared?” Lee smirked, eyes smiling and Sokka, to all that knew him, was absolutely not one to back down from a challenge.

If anything, a cute boy staring him down to eat a fruit that intimidated him, yeah that was a challenge. He cut the piece sunk his teeth into the yellow flesh and was met with a bitter, sour taste in his mouth and immediately spit it out, spitting saliva in hopes the taste would go away. Lee took one of the unbitten pieces and bit into it easily.

“I told you. Water Tribe Boys can’t eat durian.” Lee teased.

“Well, Fire Nation Boys can’t eat sudachi.”

“I’m Air Nomad. But just the same. I don’t like Water Tribe food.” Lee finished his demon fruit.

“Smartass.” Sokka mumbled.

“Takes one to know one.” Lee sat back on the grass watching the game going back and forth until Katara and Aang finally both tied in a stalemate.

“Lee found the kitchens and gardens while you two were on your supervised date.” Sokka told them.

“Where are they?” Katara asked, blatantly mad. And then Lee did the unexpected again. He pushed upward with his hands and landed on his feet with only mild difficulty from his hip.

For a second, Sokka was sure that he was becoming a true demon like the fruit Lee had eaten with the way he’d been moving until he realized he was just a showoff. Katara rolled her eyes at the display and Aang snorted laughter at Sokka’s terrified yet shocked expression.

Lee made a small chuckle at his shocked expression too, already him and Aang leading each other to the kitchens and gardens, leaving Katara and Sokka to run to catch up again.

“Oh Gods, the kitchens smell heavenly.” Sokka drooled.

“I figured we’d all be tired and hungry after all that’s happened today. I started dinner before I left. It should be done in a few minutes.”

“Cooking’s a girl thing! You can’t cook!” Sokka protested.

“Eat dinner or go try to make something yourself. The gardens are out the door, to the left, down a bit.” Lee walked away from him into the kitchens from where they were in the mess hall.

Sokka was impressed with how easy he seemed to act naturally around him and the others, like the three years on a Fire Navy ship had never changed his personality to the meek and scared boy he’d seen him the day prior. Though, it occurred to him that Lee could just be scared of his bending being destructive.

“He needs to get a handle on that talk of his!” Katara raged.

“He’s fine. I think he’s just getting comfortable around us.” Sokka told her as much. She growled at him to be quiet.

“I made extra.” And the two big bowls of first pasta then a black and lumpy mix got set on the table. Sokka poked it with his spoon.

“What is that?” He asked.

“Zhajiangmian. Fire nation food. Thankfully the not hot kind. Made vegetarian for our airbender.”

“Waterbenders need meat, Lee.” Sokka complained. Lee raised an eyebrow. He bit his tongue, Spirits dammit, why was that cute!? “But it smells good. I’m eating.” He put some of the noodles into his bowl. He looked at the dark saucey substance oddly as to what he should do with it.

“You put the zhajiang overtop of the noodles and mix them.” Lee spooned the mix over his own noodles, mixing it together with his chopsticks. Sokka mimicked what he’d done and brought a the chopsticks to his mouth, tasting the food.

“That’s pretty good actually.” His mouth was full but he felt the need to say it, wanted to see Lee's reaction. Lee laughed at his face that was obviously covered with the sauce. His heart melted a little bit, Lee laughing made his heart skip. Lee sounded happy.

“Wipe your face. You look like a rabid wolfbat.” He laughed, having to stop eating for a minute. Sokka wiped his mouth clean and continued eating, teeth crunching into what he assumed were vegetables.

“Ya know, that’s a good way to get Sokka to eat vegetables, Lee.” Aang told the other airbender.

“It’s better than him wandering off and maybe getting hurt trying to fend for himself.” Sokka was busy spooning the vegetables from his bowl to his mouth, too satisfied with the food to care much about the conversation.

“Katara, why aren’t you eating?” Aang asked. Indeed, Katara hadn't so much as touched her bowl, let alone fill it and eat anything.

“I won’t eat Fire Nation food.” She told them bluntly, eyes shooting daggers at Lee.

“Technically, this is the Earth Kingdom recipe. It’s not spicy like the Fire Nation makes it and there’s no meat added in.” Aang told her. Lee had folded in on himself when she’d made the comment, he was busy quietly eating, refusing to look up from his bowl. He wasn't going to defend himself, he probably felt he deserved it.

“'Tara, you’ve gotta try this. It’s so good.” Sokka urged her.

“I’m not hungry!” She snapped. Lee flinched at the tone but continued eating, seemingly unwilling to look up at her. Sokka could spot his eyes getting glossy with tears that the airbender was obviously forcing down.

“Katara, you’re being too hard on Lee. He’s not even Fire Nation, he’s an Air Nomad. Don’t you think he’s probably struggling through this war too? This war’s been hard on everyone.” Sokka told her. Lee was staring at him, wide eyed and looking a bit scared on his part.

Was he scared of something happening simply because he was defending him from his sister? Maybe it was justified, his sister was scary and it seemed a feasible fear from what he'd heard Lee say about his father. Being around that abuse so long, he probably learned not to defend himself for fear it would lead to him being beaten.

“Fine, I’ll eat. But you better not be pulling anything, Lee.” Katara told him, finally spooning noodles and zhajiang into her bowl and eating.

“Good, Katara?” Aang asked.

She simply grumbled what sounded like a 'yes’ past her food. Sokka smiled at Lee as the raven continued eating, eyes a bit awestruck toward him. It wasn’t a problem convincing his sister to eat, he would have had to make her eat eventually.

Aang went back for a second bowl, commenting that it was just like Xiu-Mei made it. Sokka had ended up having two and a half bowls while Lee only finished one and Katara finished two. Plus Sokka got to sit next to a cute boy he very much wanted to kiss.

Taglist: @darkrainbow333 @magic-but-its-green @the-lemonade-artist @a-chaotic-being @wasinotwantedatthisexactsecond @lgbtforeverything @brain-deadx0 @everythingisstardust @emoqueerpan @thatoneperson1967

[methoxyethane]

Zukka Prompt, “Seeds”

Zuko didn’t know what to make of it, when Sokka handed it to him. “You got me… a pot of dirt?” He asked dubiously, examining the clay pot Sokka had given him with a sunny smile upon his arrival in the Fire Nation.

“It’s a ginyu flower! At least, it’s supposed to be,” Sokka said. “It’s the seeds from a flower we found in the Northern Air temple. Well. Aang THINKS it a flower. It kind of looked like a weed to me, but Aang said when it actually blooms it’ll be a real flower and not a creepy seed pod.”

Zuko looked down at the pot with new appreciation, but no less confusion. “And you’re giving it to me because…?”

Sokka beamed at him. “Because when I heard that it’s a rare and beautiful flower, it made me think of you!”

“Of me?” Zuko asked, trying not to wonder what a rare and beautiful flower and a broken prince might have in common. Other than the apparent shared ability to make Sokka smile Like That.

“Yeah, I mean. For one thing, you’re the only person who stays in one place long enough to be able to take care of it.”

Zuko deflated a little, though he wasn't sure why. “Oh. That… makes sense. You just wanted to see what it looks like when it blooms, huh?”

“And,” Sokka said easily, “I thought that the palace could use a little bit more life in it. Not that it isn't a great place and all, but you know.” He shrugged. “You seem like you need something to remind you you have friends when we’re not around.”

Zuko finally gave a little twitch of a smile. “Thanks for the flower, Sokka. I’ll make sure to take good care of it.”

And he did. He kept it under sunlight and watered it daily, waiting patiently for a little green stem to poke its way out of the soil, almost surprised when it did. Well, he’ll be damned. He was capable of being nurturing after all. 

Zuko watched as it grew, and eventually bloomed into a beautiful blue lily. He didn’t get a chance to show it to Sokka before it eventually withered and died, leaving behind a pod full of seeds.

He planted the seeds in his favorite garden, and took care of and watered them the same as the one he kept in his room. He didn’t see Sokka in person much but they exchanged letters, keeping up with each other even through the long months where work kept them from being able to physically meet, and all the while Zuko took care of the flowers Sokka had given him. 

When Sokka did finally find the time to return to the Fire Nation, it was at the perfect timing. The flowers he had been gradually planting were in full bloom, and the first thing Zuko did was take Sokka to see the gardens where he’d planted them.

“WHOA,” Sokka said, eyes wide as he took on the garden. “There were NOT that many flowers in here last time I was here.”

Zuko blushed a little, wondering just now if he’d gone overboard. He’d been having so much fun planting and replanting the flowers, though, it hadn’t actually occurred to him before now he could just sort of… stop. “They’re all ginyu flowers. I… you took too long to come back. So I managed to breed it, a little bit.”

“This is all…” Sokka said, wondering in his voice as he looked around the stunningly bright blue garden. “Just from that one flower seed I gave you?”

Zuko nodded. “It wasn’t very hard. I mean I did need help uprooting a couple of begonias that spread too far out of their boundaries but the gardener was really helpful, so…”

Sokka laughed, “You even did it all yourself. Of course you did, you’re Zuko.”

He leaned down to pick one of the many flowers, bringing it up to his nose to smell it. “Well I’m glad to see you single handedly revived what could have been a dead species,” he said with a laugh, leaning into Zuko’s personal space. “And I’m really glad you seemed to have had fun doing it.”

He wove the flower he was holding behind Zuko’s ear, giving him a small, intimate smile that made Zuko’s face light up in a blush. “Am I supposed to expect a garden every time I bring you flowers?” He joked as he stepped back.

Zuko blinked in surprise. “Were you… planning on bringing me flowers often?”

“Only when you look lonely,” Sokka said back smoothly.

Zuko laughed. “Too bad, then. I haven’t been feeling lonely at all lately.” 

“Oh yeah?” Sokka leaned into Zuko’s space again, close enough to be able to smell the flower in his hair. “I don’t suppose that has anything to do with me, would it?”

Standing in a field of flowers gifted to Zuko by the man standing in front of him, Zuko just laughed. “Now, why would you think a silly thing like that?”

[1-800-i-ship-it]

*distant cackling* khunbam and zukka for the ship asks!

hello anon (SORRY THIS IS RLLY LATE BTW) jhasdljf u didnt specify which  questions so here we go, im doing the ones i want to xD: 

i wrote this like a few months ago and now im editing it again lmao im so sorry anon it took me so long it was buried in drafts,,,idek if u follow me anymore but whoever reads this, hope u enjoy ^^ 

what was your first ship, and what fandom is it from?

hmm i think percabeth from pjo would count as my first, but for like discovering fandom content, it would be fourtris, from divergent haha which is actually how i discovered fanfiction (i searched up alternate endings for allegiant bc i hated the ending...and found fics LMAO), but my first big phase was probably more like thg & everlark 

explain why do/don’t ship [pairing]

khunbam: they would die for each other and also make such an amazing team?? (hello wave controller and light bearer combo) and just ugh theyre so good for each other if i keep going im gonna go on a tangent haha 

zukka: i just think zuko and sokka work well together and idk i know like maiko is canon but i dont think they would be very healthy for each other? and just like, idk they went to boiling rock together and like sokka actually tells zuko about yue and jahljdf they’d just be gr9 together 

how did you start shipping [pairing]?

khunbam: at some point i was like YOUR HONOR THEYRE GAY somewhere in s2 i just had the realization like, wtf theyre totally in love 

zukka: after i finished atla and poked around fandom, and i found i really liked the zukka ship 

is there a ship that you used to ship, but don’t anymore?

hmm okay probably catoxkatniss, i think i read it bc a friend recced to me? and so i read a few fics on it but i always felt bad when peeta was made out to be the bad guy or whatever so yea i would say i dont really ship that anymore, and for others i would say i just kinda lost my hyperfixations rip lmao but i still ship them 

what’s a ship you like that most people don’t?

uhh idk, but (forgive me) karoomba 

what’s a ship you hate that most people like?

ehhh i wouldnt say i hate any ship that most people like? but i would say i dont really fancy zutara, but its not like i hate it or anything

what is the most underrated ship, in your opinion?

hmm i dont know honestly haha, maybe daniel & jay from lookism or hangang & jasmine from zero game, tho its prob mostly bc i havent went and explored stuff yet and gotten involved haha 

what is the most overrated ship, in your opinion?

bam x endorsi 

do you prefer [pairing] as an otp, brotp, or notp?

khunbam & zukka otp! 

why do you think [pairing] is so popular?

khunbam: they have chemistry its there!! literally gay for each other from the start i swear and just how they act around each other vs other people

zukka: theres a vid i watched on why zukka is so good but like yeah idk why? i think mostly fandom haha and boiling rock, and i think they would complement each other really well 

why do you think [pairing] isn’t popular?

dunno about this one haha i think most of my pairings r popular? ig prob the underrated ships above i listed, tho that may be due to like again me not actively seeking content for those haha; khunbam and zukka r pretty popular already

rate [pairing] from 1-10 and explain why

khunbam: 10+++ bc i love them 

zukka:  10+++ bc i also love them

sorry head empty no brain 

hyperfixation for these 2 actually kind of slipping now actually lmao rip 

what’s your favorite headcanon of [pairing]?

khunbam: they’re both moronsexuals for each other, hm and wear each other’s clothes haha 

zukka: bi sokka gay zuko, also idk if this counts but zuko talking to turtleducks about his problems in the garden haha  

what’s your favorite canon moment of [pairing]?

khunbam: THE HUG OR WHEN THEY FIRST MEET AND KHUN ASKS WHERE BAM GOT BLACK MARCH FROM 

zukka: BOILING ROCK when they talk about plans and both of them dunno what to do xD

favorite AU ideas for [pairing]?

khunbam: soulmate, artists, coffee shop 

zukka: college au 

realistically, do you think [non-canon pairing] will ever be canon? why or why not?

khunbam: maybe???? very very very slim chance tbh imo ig bc apparently bam will have a female love interest but im not entirely sure about that 

zukka: not really since maiko is basically canon haha 

have you ever written fanfiction/drawn fanart of [pairing]? would you consider it?

khunbam: i wrote poems for them and i have a few wips, so yes i would consider it! it just sucks im kind of losing my hyperfixation rip but maybe i can get it back by writing lmao 

zukka: no i havent, i did have some edit ideas i think but idk if i will get to them haha 

also i am tempted to try and learn to do art but idk if i have the time to lmao rip 

thank u for the ask!! this was actually pretty fun to do, hope u dont mind i skipped a few questions haha 

[szivtalan]

What's your thoughts on Hyuga and Riko, Akafuri (curious), Zukka, Taang, Kataang, and Zutara? My haikyuu server has gotten deep into atla, what's your thoughts on them though

I hope the colors show on a normal screen bc my cringe laptop’s fail screen makes it hardly even discernible lol!!!!

SO breakdown:

Hyuga/Riko: It’s probably the one relationship in KnB that is like. A given, for me??? Like they’re always there to support each other but otherwise they’re both their own people with well-rounded personalities and goals of their own. I can totally see them going out, and I have made them a side couple in many of the things I wrote (probably mostly in rp) because they’re so obviously in love. The only thing keeping me back from being a full-blown shipper is the uncertainty regarding Kiyoshi. Like, I love him too right? And he’s almost on pair with Hyuga as the man who Riko cares about the most. I think (or maybe I’m making this up) they were even dating in the past, and I can’t really fit them into an OT3 narrative with Hyuga even though I want to. But I really see them more as two rivals who are competing for Riko, even tho Riko loves them both aha

Akashi/Furihata: Hopefully I’ll pay closer attention with this rewatch but I haven’t really understood the appeal behind this one?? I’m a curious person and I’d gladly hear you out if you have any thoughts and I’ll even take any kind of recs you’d give me!!! As far as I remember, they didn’t even really interact besides a few instances where Akashi tried his intimidation techniques on poor Furihata omg

Toph/Aang: Just like AkaFuri, I never... really saw the romantic appeal in this? Maybe as a childhood crush, I’d get it, because hey, who here didn’t crush on their best friends? But I see more of a friendlike, siblinglike relationship between them. Temper-wise it’s really just trying to force earth and air together and expect them not to crash.

Katara/Aang: WELL HERE GOES *MY* CHILDHOOD. I spent so much time sitting in front of the TV rooting for these two to finally confess their feelings to each other. If there’s such a thing as soulmates, Katara and Aang were bound to be that. I can’t even say anything more than that because just like it is with Riko and Hyuga, I just can’t not imagine them together.

Zuko/Sokka: I don’t?? hate it?? I really, really don’t, but I’ve also never really consumed any content that wasn’t just like. your regular meme of the two of them being very dudebro-like and poking fun of the “My girlfriend turned into the moon.” “Damn that’s rough, buddy.” exchange sjfdsjfds. I think they have the capacity to lift each other up and bring out the best in each other after they’ve worked out the obvious kinks of starting off as enemies. Also, I’m always down for ships that are a little dudebro-like.

Zukko/Katara: Again, I see the appeal, and I would be open to any kind of recommendations, but my heart lies with Kataang. I understand that for some, Katara’s initial unwillingness to forgive and forget could result in a way stronger bond, or hell maybe even attraction, but somehow I can’t imagine her getting it on with Zuko, the prince of the Fire Nation, and not feel terrible guilt/self-loathing for doing so, even if Zuko had long proved himself to be a reliable ally who had always been on their sides. But yeah, it’s been a while since I rewatched it and now I’m just eagerly awaiting its release on Netflix in my country to do so. Maybe when I’m through with that, I’ll just revisit this ask and give you my refreshed opinion!!