#zuko and aang are right there. you dont even have to try!!!
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i think what bothers me about zukka is it just feels like such a reach. it feels like a crackship that everyone treats like its not and it's everywhere. like yeah they have some interesting parallels and some funny ship-bait moments in the show, but otherwise they dont really... interact meaningfully... at all...
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weepingchronicles · 7 months ago
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Hiii I’m new to your blog and omggg I’m in love 🥰
You said to request but I have too many ideas 😭
Yandere Zuko somehow getting the reader to fall for him, but he doesn’t believe her until she risks her life to protect him?
Orrr like a dark yandere aang???? Goes into the avatar state over trying to get her back?
Or honestly anything your write 🥹🤧 I’m a sucker for your stuff
ahhh you're so sweet! don't worry I love all your ideas! tysm for liking my blog <3 i decided just to do headcanons for this hope you dont mind
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yandere zuko getting the reader to fall for him! tw/cw: yandere behavior, protectiveness, insecurity a/n: he's honestly a cutie patootie i cant lie
he's awkward... but determined!
his 'yandere-ness' is very toned down while he is pining over you and won't actually show until he is in a relationship with you.. at least not to your face!
now when it comes to making you fall for him, he is at a loss
not that you don't like him but he always seems to mess up when he's around you
like accidentally making your tea too hot and burning you because he was just so nervous speaking with you
or when you finally have a conversation with him and gives the same enthusiasm as "that's rough buddy"
he does care! just, doesn't know how to show it
so he seeks guidance from others..
sokka's advice tells him to flirt with you and show off his strength
he does try but he ends up accidently lighting something or someone on fire
uncle iroh tells him to make a romantic gesture, plan a date and drink tea
this plan actually works in the first bit until he realizes he is not very good at conversation and from the mishaps whenever he serves you tea- he decide this is a no-go
toph says to buy you things or whatever girls like but you never accept his gifts!
aang says to just be nice to you but he has a fucking panic attack every time you smile at him
his last resort is katara who begrudgingly tells him to be himself and just tell you how he feels
and he does
you accept his confession much to his(and everyones surprise)
but he doesn't believe that you actually like him? i mean, everyone in his life besides his uncle hates him or used to. what if this is just a ploy and you're secretly making fun of him behind his back?
because of his insecurities, he slowly distances himself away from you. he finally got what he wanted but it doesn't feel real, just yet.
that is, until one day, azula comes back and is looking to hurt.
fights happen but azula gets the better of zuko.
she's right about to give him another burn to the face until you step in.
whether you're a bender or not, you risk your life to save zuko.
zuko is amazed and almost in awe
someone really cared enough to save his life and out of all people, it's you!
he doesn't know why he never saw it before but you really do love him!
and he's going to make sure that you never forget that he loves you back.
after defeating azula, you both escape very injured but zuko isn't worried about his wounds, only you.
you tell him that you're fine and that it was worth it to save zuko
but seeing you hurt... it triggers something in zuko, a rage that makes even his skin hot to the touch.
he promises that you'll never get hurt in his care, ever again.
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piratefishmama · 9 months ago
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Everything wrong with the liveaction Avatar and WHY.
in my own personal opinion that nobody need agree with me on.
Zuko fought back in the Agni Kai against his father.
Okay so, so far, there's been a lot of people trying to explain why this was wrong with the very limited space on twitter, i'm going to do it here, on tumblr, where i have unlimited space, whee. In the original show, Zuko, with pure terror in his heart, got down on his knees, begged, and pleaded for forgiveness that his father would not give, before being burned and banished for his weakness and disrespect. This gave the audience the impression that Ozai was fucking terrifying. His power was beyond comprehension, and he was so scary that his own son, his own progeny, would still be TOO AFRAID of him, to even dare cross him. Even at the cost of his honour. Ozai wouldn't even grant mercy to his own terrified son, scarring his face, a part of Zuko that he could never hide, so everyone would forever see the proof of Zuko's dishonour and shame. Ozai was awful. In every single way, but he was also terrifying. The Live Action version had Zuko fighting back. Not only did it have him fighting back, it also had him obtain an actual chance to win that fight. Now, an Agni Kai, is a fight between firebenders where the first person to be burned, loses. Undoubtedly, Ozai had many oppportunities to burn his son from the get go, but for a brief moment, Zuko has the upper hand, right here
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It's right here, that Zuko could have won an Agni Kai against his father, the firelord, and big bad of the entire series, right out of the gate, before he'd even hit adulthood. Pathetic. Dont get me wrong, it's a cool scene, but it greatly diminishes how scary Ozai is supposed to be. Zuko has the strength to fight back, he's scared, but he's not paralyzed with fear, he's able to fight back, and damn near almost WIN. Shit's pathetic. Ozai almost got his shit rocked by a teenager. Who isnt even the avatar. Cartoon Ozai was a terrifying monster who had the actual avatar so scared he was having recurring nightmares about rocking up to the big fight without pants, this dude's just a terrible father with superpowers.
The Face Stealer Koh
In the original cartoon, Koh was introduced as a spirit old enough to know who and what the real world forms of the ocean and moon spirit were. A creepy stealer of faces who hunted by causing reactions in people. Stealing their faces wouldnt kill them, they just. Wouldnt have a face. In the live action, he appears in the 'Hei Bai' episode and hunts in the fog of lost souls, y'know, the place in Korra where lost souls get stuck in their worst memories? Then he cocoons them, and eats their faces. Like, full on eats them. And for some reason he was the one who grabbed the lost villagers in the Hei Bai episode, not Hei Bai. It's weird. Pretty sure one of them maybe got eaten, idk. Unclear. Gross and unclear.
Hei Bai plothole
Not so much a plothole as just... something missing. Hei Bai is seen in his 'distressed spirit' form, he's seen, his pain and distress is acknowledged multiple times, and the reason why he's distressed is seen, but he's never shown to be soothed. Aang buries an acorn in the ground near his damaged statue, but it never shows Hei Bai being soothed. In the cartoon he had to be handed the acorn to see it, to understand the implication and be calmed, if just burying an acorn in the ground would have worked, he'd have never been upset, because he'd have been able to see it himself in the ruins of the forest with there being acorns all over the place.
Wan Shi Tong cameo in Hei bai's foggy spirit forest
Dude why tf are you out of your library? Your foxes venture out into the world to find you things, get back to your library, what the hell r u doin out there?
WE DIDNT NEED TO SEE THE AIR NOMAD GENOCIDE
WE DIDN'T NEED TO SEE THE AIR NOMAD GENOCIDE
Gyatso's underwhelming skeletal remains.
In the cartoon they found him surrounded by dead firebender soldiers, having solo'd a ton of them by himself, an old man, a monk, all on his own. Giving the impression that either he fought them off until he fell, or he removed out the air in the room suffocating them all and himself. Both entirely badass ways to go. In the live action the firelord walks through his frankly impressive wall of airbending in a cool 'oo i'm on fire' trick, and burns him alive in front of a bunch of air nation children. The fucking dishonour on your whole goddamn family whoever decided upon that scene, jesus christ.
Azula wasn't scary
She was just... meh.
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The Only Good Thing About the Avatar Live Action series.
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Big spirit fish go brr.
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bitwynn · 2 years ago
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Ive just been watching Avatar The Last Airbender clips lately and like-- lol what if in SAGAU you teach them to control their Vision powers similarly to how characters in the show bend their respective elements??
So like-- i imagine that Anemo, Pyro, and Electro Vision holders would have similar moves and spend a lot of time with each other since i do remember Uncle Iroh calling the Air and Fire elements very similar to each other. It reflects in their bending as well, it just differs in their approach to it. While both have similar bending styles, the Air benders are much more passive and defensive in their bending while Fire benders are much more aggressive and offensive-- you can really see it whenever Aang and Zuko fight. I put Electro in there as well since electricity in the Avatar world is a highly specialized and advanced fire bending skill. I imagine a lot of Vision holders in Inazuma would DEFINITELY try to figure out the lightning redirection skill out of fear of the Raiden Shogun LOLLLL
The water element is STILL OP AS FUCK with Hydro, Cryo and Dendro learning a whole lot from each other. Cryo is there because of obvious reasons aka ICE IS JUST HARD WATER GUYS WHY THE FUCK DID YOU MAKE IT A SEPARATE ELEMENT-- and Dendro is there because plant bending in ATLA (yes plant bending is a thing) is just finding the water in the plants to bend them. The theory is similar to metal bending and blood bending-- you find the bendable parts amidst the unbendable parts and you move those.
Geo is just Geo because... its GEO. ITS JUST ROCKS. DO I NEED TO SAY MORE.
I imagine that the Anemo guys, Venti especially, would very much enjoy their new found speed and agility with Venti just yoinking the concept of an Airbender Staff for himself or even inventing new ways to Windglide using the gliders already there and just innovating the already existing skill. Heizou would also really appreciate it, considering how he doesnt really like fighting and prefers incapacitating criminals as swiftly as possible in or out of a fight. The fuckery you could do as an Airbender man--
Like i said earlier, the Pyro and Electro Vision holders would really take a special interest in each other. I can imagine Thoma trying to find someone with an Electro Vision so he can try to learn how to deflect lightning. (Haha ARCHON QUEST GUILT--) and ohhhhh my gOD i can already see cOUNTLESS cocky Pyro and Electro Vision holders in Inazuma AND EVEN OUT OF INAZUMA just going "STRIKE ME DOWN RAIDEN, YOU DONT THE BALLS--" just because they learned how to redirect lightning AHAHAHA
Cryo and Hydro would hangout a lot and like-- honestly, Cryo might hangout a lot with Geo as well considering how cryo is just Ice but Solid. Its kinda similar to bending earth in that way. I still do think that Cryo and Hydro users would learn a lot from each other but Hydro learns more from Cryo and Cryo learns more from Geo. In the bending sense at least. So i imagine that the closest Cryo can get to Hydro is turning the ice into snow or slush and the closest that Hydro can get to Cryo is slush as well but much MUCH more watery. Like a half melted Big Gulp from 7 11. Honestly, i can kind of see Eula using this as an opportunity to both better her reputation AND to better care for the knights under her since waterbenders are the healers of the bending world. So, i can see her visiting Barbara a lot and getting healing lessons from her or her like-- groveling at Dionas feet trying to learn how to heal her troops AHAHAHA
DUUUUUUUDE the Geo dudes are gonna have sO MUCH FUN SINCE LIKE-- even tho earth bending is SUUUUPER underrated, in the right hands its SO fucking op. I can already see Ningguang trying to master metal bending so she can literally just-- detect what metals are around her and the quality of them. Like "oh this ugly unrefined lump of metal is much MUCH more valuable than the necklace youre trying to sell me there. Tell me, youre not foolish enough to try and swindle the Tianyuan Qixing? Oh? How was I able to tell? With the knowledge and gifts brought by our Grace of course!" And Zhongli trying to master every aspect of earth bending, from seismic sense to metal bending to lava bending and so on, because even though he stepped down as Archon, he is STILL the Prime of the Adepti and Lord of Geo. And if this brings him a closer connection to the Overseer? Lol thats just an added benefit AHAHAHAH
The Dendro users thoooo, they would DEFFO take advantage of their inherent and direct connection to water to better connect with the plantlife around them. ACTUALLY i can see Collei kind of learning how to heal herself of Eleazar BECAUSE of her connection to Dendro and Dendro's connection to water-- the "healing" element. And i can also see Tighnari like-- using it as a different sort of "seismic sense" in a way. Thanks to the lessons learned from the Hydro users that can now fucking bend plants, he can turn that lesson-- the "finding the bendable parts amdist the unbendable parts" and turn it into his own! So he could, using his Dendro Vision, detect and identify any and all plantlife nearby by the way the Dendro element surrounds the Hydro element that flows within the plants themselves! If hes familiar enough with the plants, and honestly he probably is, he could determine its age, species, health, and any other aspects of it he'd want to learn
And ohhhhh my gOD-- dont even get me STARTED on them mixing in their own martial arts into their bending styles. Because like-- each bending style is based off and inspired tby many real life martial arts. Tai Chi for waterbending, Hung Gar for earth, Northern Shaolin for Fire, Ba Gua Zhang for air and so on. So, imagine them just mixing in the fighting styles of each nation or even their own personal fighting style into their bending style! So like-- i can see Thoma mixing into his Firebending some Inazuman Judo or Karate (both are Japanese martial arts and Inazuma is based off Japan) and some Mondstadtian Ringen (Mond is based off Germany and Ringen is German style martial arts/grappling) to really like-- personalize and make Firebending his very own. And, taking that further, even taking the lessons from the show-- the lesson that every element is connected and that you can learn from each and every element. You can actually see that in, as how ATLA goes on, you can see the Gaang and the other benders using bending moves from other elements-- not just Aang learning the other elements to become a Master Avatar but literally everyone-- Zuko using a move he learned from Iroh who learned from waterbenders, Katara using earthbending moves to bend ice, and so on. I could think of more but im currently sick off my ass and my brain is mush. So characters who already have a fluid connection with their Vision/Element or just have that fluidity thanks to their job or their natural personality, have a much more unique way of controlling the elements! The only ones i can think of rn is Yunjin and Childe-- Yunjin because of the slight and fluid movements she makes as an opera singer and actor, i mean-- have you even watched her attack animations? Theyre SOOOO smooth and pretty!! And Childe because of his Delusion, meaning hed already be trying to learn the other bending arts and, thanks to his fight brain, would definitely look for a way to incorporate each elements bending styles and moves into his own
FUUUUUCK dawg, i could go on and on and ON but im currently sick off my ass and i need the rest gjsjfnsjfi-- Feel free to yoink my idea and build off it!! Id love to see what yall think :))
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14th-century-verona-queer · 5 months ago
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Sokka HC’s (trauma edition)
just some stuff that I think is true abt Sokka idk
I haven’t watched ATLA in literal years so please correct me if some of my info is wrong
Some of these are probably obvious but I just wanted to give my take on them lol
Ever since the night of the fire nation raid, he’s terrified of fire and even more scared of the smell of bodies burning and the sight of ash. Because although fire is what took his mother and a lot of the tribe members away, the smell of bodies burning and the sight of ash reminds him of the sight he saw that night, and how he was useless to do anything about it, that now burns forever in his memory. Because while Katara is traumatized at seeing the death of Kya, Sokka is traumatized of seeing his tribe members killed and burned in front of him. He’s the kind of guy to break down after the fact of whatever just happened, so he can still fight fire nation soldiers and everything. But the minute he gets off of the battlefield and the adrenaline wears off and hes alone? He makes some excuse about “needing to plan where they’re going next in the peace and quiet because fucking toph and aang make it hard to focus with their earthbending lessons” he breaks down, sobs racking his body and an inevitable panic attack coming as he relives the worst night of his life over and over again for hours, acrid smoke and burning flesh all he’s able to smell, screams of pain and heartbreak all he’s able to hear. (when Zuko comes along it gets a little bit better because he can remind himself the Zuko is a fire bender and hes safe and warm and would never do anything to hurt me. So he just kind of melts into his best friend’s boyfriends arms and it becomes a routine for them. More on that on the zukka post i will get to writing..eventually)
He has abandonment issues because of how unexpectedly Kya died and left him to take care of Katara while she was grieving, and then Hakoda left him to take care of the entire tribe by himself. This is probably why in that one episode (i dont remember which one and im too lazy to find it) Sokka was so adamant about refusing to let Katara go and try to save Haru and his dad, because he was scared that she wouldn’t leave until she got everyone off of the ship, eventually get captured, and spend the rest of her days there, leaving him behind.
(This ones cannon I think but here’s my take on it) He has self-worth issues because of his constant expectations that have been set on him, by himself and by other people. A lot of people reading this are gonna be like well yea he had to take care of the entire tribe by himself! Which, true! Not exactly the best move Hakoda, but what’re you gonna do i guess. But i think his self-worth issues stem more from his need to be the perfect “chief”. What i mean by that is that if he’s doesn’t catch enough fish for the tribe (even if they probably have enough to survive because always working too hard) he hates himself because he isn’t doing enough and they look so skinny and its all my fault because i just can’t catch enough fish. And if the people are cold, or if they’re sick, they expect him to take care of them, but they dont see that he’s a 16 (or younger, he was acting as chief for a couple years before Aang came along i think) year old boy trying to do everything himself with no help. Every day he hears the same thing: “Sokka, we don’t have enough ______! Can you please get more?” So he never ever thinks he’s good enough no matter what he does because there’s just never enough. even if he catches 100 fish for the whole village to eat, he’ll still beat himself up about it because sure they were able to eat today, but they’re not eating enough and he still needs to get more furs for everyone because the winter is only getting colder and they’re getting sicker and they’re all going to die because he’s so useless and can’t do anything right
because of him having to do everything himself, he absolutely hates being offered help. He refuses it practically every single time, because he’s so used to people younger than him counting on him to do something, and if they’re counting on him that means that he cannot fail, and asking for help (to him) is one way of failing. If he asks for help that means he couldn’t do the one thing Hakoda asked him too. It’s super simple Sokka, just take care of the village of like 15 people. And he can’t even do that.
He’s an absolute control freak and micromanages everything, and Katara (the hypocrite, smh) hates it. He needs to be in control of everything because that means that nothing can go wrong unless he makes a mistake. (Which he knows he will make a mistake but at least its his fault and he can find a way to fix it) If he relies on other people that means they’ll make mistakes which means something that needed to get done won’t and he’ll fuck up again and he’ll be worthless, because planning and fixing and engineering and fighting is all he has, all he thinks hes good for. He would rather be solely blamed for not being good enough and screwing up than letting someone like Zuko or Katara or Aang be told that. He was never in control of the war or his mother’s death of Hakoda leaving or anything, so he find some kind of solace or coping mechanism in being able to at least control the village and having some semblance of control (idk how else to explain this! Im so sorry!)
Also because he doesn’t trust anyone else to do it right lol. He’s been taking care of the whole village for such a long time that there’s a very specific way you supposed to do this Katara! It took him such a long time to finally get a rhythm going, get used to how to take care of 15+ people at a time, so any little change to his routine pisses him off and makes him panic because he’s lost the control of the situation and now he’s in an unknown territory where he doesn’t know how to do anything which makes him a liability.
(I’ll probably continue to update this post because im probably not done, and/or make a pt 2 if y’all wanna see that. Won’t be restricted to just trauma next time!)
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broken-lycan · 7 months ago
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after rewatching a bunch of atla eps I decided to give the live action show a try and I do like it I think?? there are for sure things I dont like about it
there's the excessive use of cgi, zuko's "scar", sokka being so.... normal (not sexist, not goofy, nothing), iroh being made sympathetic right from the start, appa's fur, the amount of exposition (directly showing the fire nation genocide of the air temple rather than having be sth the viewer finds out along with aang & gran gran going into this whole speech instead of the narrative showing rather than telling)
but there are also things I do like which I didnt expect to like?? I love the details about zuko, his red string conspiracy theory wall that shows just how much he is obsessed with capturing the avatar, his shelf of avatar figurines, it just shows so well how obssesively he's focused on that and how serious he takes this fool's errand his father gave him because he truly believes that that will be the thing that will make his father love him
it was a big disappointment tho that the first time aang went into the avatar state is when he found gyatso's skeleton. narrative-wise it makes sense and all because these eps are way longer than the cartoon eps so they had to have a different climactic point but it also made the escape from zukos ship so anticlimactic, it wasnt even a fight at all. and what's stopping zuko from steaming right after them?? they're not buried in ice after all. and you mean to tell me a fire navy ship wouldnt have cannons or stuff like that on it??
it does at times feel like the narrative is a bit rushed, events are just packed together without much breathing room
but I do think I will keep watching tho, its very promising
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gasmeros · 3 months ago
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Can I get a bit of Step 1: die Step 2: Blue Spirit and the Time Travel Gaang sans Zuko for the ask game pretty please
yippee attention!!! this is my favorite activity
ok forst one, that's basically zuko dies saving aang from pohuai stronghold and turns into the blue spirit for real because of it. basically the spirit world was like "oh we were uh. we were using that." as this whole thing where the gaang is destined to restore balance, and that includes zuko. so when he dies, the spirits fumble for a plan B and go "let's curse him with immortality"
this one is currently 2,779 words. warnings: on screen major character death and graphic depictions of violence
Something in his chest shifts. The Avatar's jostled the arrow in him, desperately trying to hold the blood inside his body with too small hands.
"It's not stopping." He's practically wailing the words. "I— I can't— I need to get help!"
"But why are you here?"
The Avatar pulls back, and Zuko feels panic flare in his gut. A strangled cry escapes him, not from the pain of the arrow. Desperate and uncoordinated, he clutches the Avatar's sleeve.
"Pl—se, please," he begs, voice cracking into a broken whisper. "Not alone."
He's crying, ragged sobs pulled from his torn chest. The Avatar echoes him with his own hitching breaths. He doesn't try to pull back again, but instead leans forward, pressing their foreheads together.
"Thank you," the Avatar whispers, words wet and clinging to his tongue. "I'm so sorry."
This wasn't the plan. He wasn't supposed to die saving the Avatar from Zhao. Damn it, he has a whole destiny in front of him. This can't be it.
"I should take him."
The world erupts into sound, and Zuko drops into nothingness.
it's kind of all over the place cuz the original vibe was meant to be kinda spooky and unexplained, but then i started writing and it got a lot less spooky. like, the original pitch was to lean into the weirdness of spirits and their motivations and personalities, how they just dont align with humans, but i ended up writing the spirits as super human and Knowable, plus let zuko keep his human personality instead of pulling one of those "when they die, part of who you knew died too" thing, and then i was torn on how to continue. so i didn't
and then time travel one!! i actually talked a bit about that one here:
basically long story short, everyone gets flung back in time during the final battle for a do over but zuko is the only one who doesn't go back. so s3 gaang with s1 zuko shenanigans!
here is another snippet! it's uh. less shenanigans and more serious stuff ahsjhfd. content warning for major character death (sorta. debatable. and debated.)
Aang reached over and grabbed her hand, squeezing gently. "We have a second chance. That's what this is."
Sokka and Suki nodded, expressions somber, but Toph just scowled.
"But we don't," she bit out. "This Zuko isn't the same person. He doesn't have the memories that made our Zuko. And now that we've messed things up, he never will."
Suki gave a low sigh. "Toph, even if you're right, we can befriend this Zuko, too."
"And what if I don't want to?"
"Toph," Aang begged.
Toph just surged to her feet, stamping a foot on the ground. "I don't know this Zuko! He's not our Zuko!"
"He could be—"
"No, he can't! Our Zuko's dead!"
this one ran outta steam it's not really a set up im used to, and while i have ideas, i feel like it needs a bigger plot than im prepared tonwrite in order to pay off well
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skittlezzzishere · 9 months ago
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"Hello, Zuko here."
Mentally face palming at his introduction, you step towards him.
"You know Zuko, Katara wont be happy when she finds out you're trying to join us. And she'll probably kill me if she finds out I'm here with you." You point out, "Not to mention the time you stole her necklace, kidnapped Aang, tried killing us at least-"
"Okay! I get it! No need to remind me of the past...." He interrupts.
"Zuko, the past was a few months ago."
Groaning, he hides his face in his hands.
You place a hand on his shoulder, "Hey, even if they dont want you, I know you're trying to change. I'll try to convince them."
He looks up at you, "How are you gonna do that?"
Shrugging, you looked down at him, "I mean, you did save me from being kidnapped from Zhao, maybe I could bring that up to them."
"That's only one thing!"
"You still saved me with that infamous ponytail era-"
He gives you a glare that makes you shut up, hands moving up in mock surrender.
"I don't think they'll want me there..."
Squating down to be face to face with him, you give him a look of determination. "I know they'll want you. Aang doesnt even have a fire bending teacher, and no one else can teach him because I only know the basics! They'll have to accept you, even if they dont want you."
"Was that supposed to make me feel better?"
"Did it work?"
"No."
~~~~~~~~~~~~
"You did what!?" Katara yelled.
"I'm just saying he could help Aang!"
"You're just trying to help yourself so you can learn fire bending!" She huffed.
Aang was trying to defuse the situation, Sokka was confused why you went to see Zuko, and Toph just enjoyed listening to Katara's anger when it wasnt directed towards her.
"Well, Katara....She is right, I do need a fire bending teacher." Aang breaks in.
"Are we just going to forget and leave behind the fact how hes tried to kill us multiple times!?"
"He's trying to change, Katara!"
She crosses her arms, "What if he's just using you? What if you're only siding with him just because you're both Fire Nation?" She spits.
Hands growing flames, you took her bait. Throwing fire at her.
Aang stops the fire bending with his staff, giving you a look of disapproval.
"I get what your trying to do, (Y/n). But you need to be careful."
Huffing in irritation, you turn away, burn marks being left on the ground of the temple where you stormed off to Zuko's camp.
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muffinlance · 2 years ago
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Kidnapped Zuko? Rescued by Gaang who dont know who he is and he has to hide his identity.
Okay, so. There’s already a teenager down in Commander Muttonchop’s brig. This fact is so far past concerning it’s wrapped around to let’s-not-think-too-hard-about-this hilarity, and Sokka finds himself grinning, and offering the guy a good ol’ fashioned Water Tribe wrist shake through the bars. They’re neighbors, after all.
“Hello, Fellow Prisoner. What are you in for?”
“I, uh,” says Fellow Prisoner, who is clearly undersocialized from his time in here. He’s looking a little grimy around the edges of his all-black outfit, and the bruises on him have had time to get newer, fresher bruises on top, which is just. That is all kinds of reassuring. Oh, and the giant fiery facial scar. Also reassuring. Though at least that one’s a few years old. So… inflicted when he was, what, Aang’s age?
So reassured, is feeling Sokka, for the Fire Nation’s upcoming hospitality.  
“Uh,” repeats Fellow Prisoner, who is uncoiling a little in the direction of Sokka’s offered hand. As if Sokka was trying to coax him out, and hadn’t just sort of forgotten he was holding it there while his thoughts were doing their downward spiral. But hey, one man’s desperate attempts to keep his cool were another man’s offer of friendship. Fellow Prisoner grasped his wrist and shook it, in both the most technically correct and least experienced Water Tribe wrist clasp Sokka has ever experienced. 
“Zhao thinks I was stealing military correspondence,” the guy says.
“Were you stealing military correspondence?” asks Sokka.
“Only his,” scowls Fellow Prisoner, to whom Sokka takes an immediate liking. “...What did you do? To get arrested. But not killed. He doesn’t usually…”
So, so reassured.
“Oh, you know,” Sokka says, continuing to shake wrists, because it is becoming clear that Fellow Prisoner has no idea how long this is supposed to last and Sokka isn't going to be the one to stop him. “The usual. Found the Avatar. Became traveling companions. Got captured doing something definitely heroic that did not in anyway involve excessive screaming of an unmanly pitch.”
“...The Avatar?” says Fellow Prisoner, who clearly knows how to focus on the important points.
“I’m bait,” says Sokka.
“For the Avatar.”
To be fair, Sokka is still a little stuck on that point, too. It’s been a few weeks, but he still wakes up too-hot in the night and wondering why the stars above him aren’t quite right.
“Yep,” he confirms.
Fellow Prisoner’s face does a thing. A sort of processing, processing, processing thing that involves progressively more scowling. “The Avatar left you? I knew the old man must be a coward.”
“So,” Sokka says, “about that.”
Fellow Prisoner drinks up Sokka’s story like a man who’s spent three years in a desert searching for water. 
- - -
(It’s been two and half years.)
- - - 
Their escape involves a significantly higher swords-to-escapees ratio than Sokka had anticipated, which is distractingly epic. 
Also, the last-minute bison save is both the stupidest thing his little sister could have possibly done and very welcome, which means that Sokka is going to catch his breath and let some of his adrenaline fade before channeling his inner Gran-Gran for a lecture. 
Fellow Prisoner sheaths both his swords. And kind of stares, rather than sitting down, so Sokka pulls him over before the bison turbulence (read: catapult dodging) can do the job. This does nothing to interrupt the staring. 
“Hi,” says Aang, looking back from Appa’s head. “I’m Aang! What’s your name?”
“...Li?”
Under the sunlight, Fellow Prisoner’s eyes glint gold. He is… very Fire Nation-y looking, now that there is enough light to see him. And he is warmer against Sokka’s side than anyone not feverish should be, even in the ridiculous heat these northerners call ‘winter’.
“Are you a firebender?” asks Aang, like that question hasn’t spent decades earning its status as an insult.
“Uh,” says Li.
“Great!” says Aang, who has already figured out Li-speak. “I need a teacher!”
On the deck below them, Zhao has gone from shouting to laughing. 
Sokka continues to be reassured.
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atlabeth · 3 years ago
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oh, spirits - zuko x reader
summary: literally just the 'there was only one bed' cliche with zuko
a/n: so this doesnt fit anywhere into canon but i actually dont care! anyways this one goes out to elle (@arquitecturadelanada), the queen of this trope and also the inspo for this with her latest post skjfh thanks babe love you
this came out of nowhere this wasnt even the zuko wip i was talking about. i just started writing and this happened
warning(s): none, some well deserved fluff for all you guys lmao (also its not proofread but i mean thats kinda expected by now who do u think i am)
wc: 1.8k
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This had to be a joke.
It had been a long day and an even longer night of running from the Fire Nation, and when Sokka and Katara started arguing with each other, you and Toph became increasingly aggressive in trying to annoy the other, and Zuko nearly burned down a whole forest on a quick pitstop, you all collectively agreed that you had to find somewhere to rest for the night in order to prevent a future murder. There was only so much peacemaking that Aang could do with a bunch of sleep-deprived teenagers.
The spirits were on your side for once, managing to stumble upon a sleepy town outside of Fire Nation influence. Everyone had voted in favor of sleeping somewhere other than the ground, so when you saw an inn with vacancies, you were ready to throw every gold piece you had at the owner.
“Aang, I can find a place for Appa to stay,” you said as you handed him your money purse. “You make sure that none of them kill each other and get us some rooms.”
“You got it!” He smiled and took the small bag from you then ran inside to catch up with the others.
You took out a moon peach from your rucksack and held it out for Appa, a treat that he gratefully took. “Good boy, Appa!” You rustled some of the fur on his head before gently taking his reins — finding a spot for the sky bison was one of the hardest parts of travelling when you decided to stay in villages, but you had done it so many times that it had become familiar.
When you returned to the inn, one sky bison lighter, you found Aang waiting in the lobby with a key in his hand and a nervous expression. He looked up as you closed the door behind you and his eyes widened as he tried to put on a convincing smile.
“Hey! Good news, I got us all rooms. Bad news—”
You took the key out of his hand and heaved an exhausted sigh, already beginning to walk towards the staircase. “Aang, as long as I have a room there is no bad news. I can put up with Toph’s snoring or Katara talking in her sleep as long as I have a bed beneath me.”
You looked at the number on your key and idled down the hallway until you found 2A, but when you pushed open the door you were met with… a sight.
“Oh, spirits,” you muttered.
Zuko was your roommate. And not just that, but there was only a single bed for the two of you. When he heard you walk in he whirled around, already attempting to placate the situation.
“I’m in the same boat as you. I don’t know why we’re together or why there’s one bed, but—”
Before he could finish, you had already run out of the room in search of the little bald menace that put you in this position.
“AANG!” you yelled, not caring if you were waking up anyone else. This was what you got for trying to be nice and helping with Appa — Aang had gotten you stuck in a room with not only the boy you were hopelessly crushing on, but with one bed. Maybe the murder from earlier wasn’t off the table.
You found him in the hallway and when you stomped up to him he had the nerve to look happy. “Oh, hey! I hope you like your room,” he grinned, a mischievous twinkle in his eye.
“Actually,” you said as you held out your key. “I think that you switched these up. This one’s for you, right? You put me with Katara or Suki or Toph, right? You wouldn’t do something like this to me after I confided in you, right?”
“Relax!” Aang patted you on the shoulder and pushed your hand back. “I’m with Sokka, Katara and Suki are together, and Toph insisted on a room for herself — she put in extra money, so I can’t really go against it. Besides, you’re always telling me how much you like Zuko— this is your chance!”
You groaned and ran your hand over your face — you were far too tired to be dealing with this. “Yeah, my chance to completely embarrass myself! What were you thinking, Aang?”
“It’s going to be fine,” he insisted. “Just be yourself and try to relax.”
“I don’t do ‘relaxing’,” you grumbled as you stormed off in the direction of the front desk. You would try and get another room, or another bed in the room, or anything but sharing a bed with Zuko. You were pretty sure that you would actually die of embarrassment. You had no plans of ever acting on this crush that was in no way reciprocated — you would keep it to yourself, and if it didn’t fade, take it to your grave. Simple.
“Hi? Hello— yes, hi!” You managed to get the attention of the innkeep after desperately tapping on the desk a couple of times, and once on the wall for good measure, before she walked out of the back room.
“What?” She was an older woman who looked like she would rather be anywhere than talking to you at the moment, so you tried to make it quick.
“I’m really sorry to bother you, but I’m up in room 2A? I believe there’s been a mistake, there’s only one bed—”
“We don’t make mistakes here in the Hamatoshi Inn.” The woman was smiling but there was no heart in it. “If you got the room, then you got the room. There shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Of course!” you floundered, trying to save face so as to not get kicked out. “I’m not trying to insinuate anything, it’s just— well, there’s two of us. And there’s only one bed. Do you have any other rooms with two beds, or can you move another bed in, or—?”
This time when the woman spoke, she punctuated each word with a pause in between. “You got the room. There are no extra beds, and there are no problems. Deal with it.”
“I know, yes, but—” The innkeeper didn’t even allow you to finish before slapping a piece of paper on the table in front of you, which read No Vacancies. She met your eyes with an irritated smile, then gestured away with her hand as if to shoo you away.
You glared down at the key in your hand then clenched it into a fist, before trying to let all of your anger out in a breathing technique Aang had taught you. It didn’t work, so instead you tried to remind yourself of how good it would feel to sleep on a real bed instead of a sleeping bag on the ground or on Appa’s saddle.
You closed the door behind you once you returned to the room to see Zuko sitting on the edge of the bed, rummaging through his own pack before he glanced up at you. You shook your head and he sighed, but if you had kept your eyes on him for a second longer you would’ve seen the faint blush on his cheeks.
“There are no other rooms, and there are no other beds.” You lowered your voice to the pitch of the innkeeper’s as you waved your finger around menacingly. “‘And there are no problems. Deal with it.’”
Zuko laughed and you gave him a weary smile, gesturing around the two of you. “So. Camelephant in the room — what do we do about this? I can always try and force Sokka into giving up one of the beds in their room; I’m pretty sure we can beat him in a fight. Or I could sleep on the floor?”
“Is sharing a bed with me really that bad?” Zuko meant it as a joke, but in your combined state of nervousness and sleep deprivation you went into panic mode.
“No!” you refuted, perhaps a little too eagerly. “No, of course not! I just— I don’t want to make you uncomfortable! Y’know, you’re a prince, you’ve probably never shared a bed with anyone—”
This time, you noticed the redness of his cheeks as he shook his head. “No! You’re fine, I— I don’t want to make you uncomfortable! I’m totally okay sharing a bed with you. I’m definitely not gonna make you sleep on the floor; if anything I’m taking the floor.”
You shook your head as you picked yourself up from your spot against the wall. “No, no one is sleeping on the floor. It’s been a long day, and we picked this inn specifically so we wouldn’t have to sleep on the floor.” You took a seat on the other side of the bed, pushing your hand down on the mattress to see it spring back up. “We’ll share it.”
Somehow, Zuko’s cheeks turned an even brighter shade of red and he averted his eyes to avoid you seeing. “That, uh— that sounds good.”
After a few minutes, you had formed a barrier with some extra pillows you had found in a closet and had settled in for the night. You thought that it would be hard to fall asleep, but with your total exhaustion combined with Zuko’s familiar warmth (the boy was a walking fireplace) you found yourself drifting off far quicker than you thought you would.
You were so exhausted that morning came before you knew it, something that became known when rays of sunlight filtered through the shoddy window shutters. You yawned, reaching out a hand to pull the covers tighter around you only to hit your own leg.
You opened your eyes and nearly choked — the warmth was not from your covers, instead from another body. Zuko was pressed up against your back, his arm laid across your waist in a lazy attempt to draw you closer. One of your legs was touching his, all the pillows from the makeshift barrier either at the bottom of the bed or on the ground. From how you felt, you could only assume that you had been like this for at least half of the night.
Oh, spirits.
You immediately darted upwards and pulled your leg away — not that you weren’t okay with it, it was just— there was so much to go through with this that you didn’t even know where to start.
“Zuko.” Your urging did nothing to wake him up, so you tried again, saying his name a little louder. “Zuko.”
“Five more minutes,” he muttered, his hand moving around blindly in what you figured was an attempt to find yours again.
“Zuko!”
This time, it seemed to work as he cracked an eye open. He saw you next to him, the pillows separating the two of you gone, and your visible embarrassment, and it all seemed to click as he echoed your thoughts and jumped up, equally embarrassed and now fully awake.
“Oh, spirits!”
-
perm taglist: @dv0412 @siriuslyslyslytherin @maruchan77
atla: @marianne1806
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ly0nstea · 7 months ago
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"There are other light skinned characters that people like, therefore zuko and iroh recieve no nicer treatment because of skin tone" bro please 😭😭 obviously other light skinned character get benefits for the same reason I'm saying in relation to characters with darker skin please develop some critical thinking skills i beg of you
Toph being played by a man in the play is also a dig at her lack of femininity in the same way aang being plaued by a girl is a dig at his lack of masculinity. Sokka's masculinity is also undermined in the very episode that calls out sokkas sexism where he's dressed up in womens clothes and aang pokes fun at him, nothing like this ever happens to zuko and iroh, their masculinity is never threatened by the show
Ty lee and mai are not major characters in the same way aang, sokka, katara, toph, zuko, and arguably azula are. They dont recieve episode long spotlight, theyre azulas team, they dont exist by themselves and are defined in the show as relating to others, compared to azula, zuko, toph, etc. Who all stand alone. Sukis also in like 10 episodes across the whole show, and 4 of them are the finale, be serious. Iroh does have standalone moments across multiple seasons, we never see anything about ty lee or mai that isnt regarding to zuko or azulas arcs/backstories, its all incidental.
Aang is also not universally loved, i dont love him, hell i barely like him, azulas wrongdoings arent excused by anyone outside the relatively small azula mini-fandom.
Why do i have to trying to be woke, even if i take all of your assumptions and this is just a wrong, completely out of nowhere i conjured out of a vacuum, why is it more likely to you that im trying to make some woke, progrsssivist point and not simply having an opinion, right or wrong? Lmao??
Just because theyre not white, or even close to white, doesnt mean they dont benefit from an obvious colourism issue within the fandom
Crazy how the only 2 major characters in ATLA that don't get ridiculously scrutinised for all of their wrongdoings are both the lightest skinned and most traditionally masculine characters in the show (zuko and iroh). Probs just a coincidence tho
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pencilscratchins · 4 years ago
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S’cuse me, but I love your zukka hcs — have you got anymore you’d be willing to share?
youse all indulge me too much sksk
— zuko thinks sokka’s like the smartest person alive and his catchphrase is basically “my husband says…” “my husband told me that…” “my husband knows all about…”
— ty lee has no boundaries, so you know she just walks in while theyre making out and sits between them like “hey-- stop screaming its me-- do you think this letter from mai is giving some vibes?” 
— the thing that delays their wedding the longest is sokka trying to figure out what his official title is. prince/ king consort is so long and clunky, and like… fire lord zuko and lord sokka kinda sounds like a stutter…. and king sokka was rejected by every member of their friend group… and “that guy sokka” was vetoed by the council so they just are Stumped
— — hakoda really wants him to go by chief sokka of the fire nation but only to make zuko’s cabinet members angry
— — — i really have no preference, i guess lord sokka? anyway, you know zuko heavily campaigns for fire lord sokka
— not a zukka headcanon, but amongst the gang: they all agree that whoever is currently wearing zuko’s hairpiece is the fire lord. his assistant is like “sir please” and he’s like “i’m sorry i can’t help you :( ask fire lord aang, perhaps?”
— theyre one of those couples that have like 1000 inside jokes that they will never explain to anyone else, so they’ll be in the middle of a party & sokka will just nonchalantly say something like “oh didn’t you hear? ive decided to remove my kneecaps,” and zuko laugh so hard he’ll snort champagne through his nose as everyone else just stares
— every time zuko gets a paper cut sokka fully acts like its an assassination attempt 
— sokka braids zukos hair once it gets long enough since sokka used to braid katara’s hair, so hes like amazing at it
— sokka goes grey first and finds his first one in his early thirties, which horrifies him. zuko has no mercy. he turns to him while cuddling and holds his face all sweet then just
— —“im so glad youre spending the limited time you have left on the earth with me :)” “i dont feel safe in this home anymore”
— sokka: ah yes. bedtime with me, my husband, and my husbands fifteen foot flying dragon.
— after zuko gets comfortable with being publicly out, hes basically always holding sokka’s hand in public
— pre-teen izumi figures out that while her pops sokka wants to make her know the value of a dollar; her dad zuko was, fundamentally, a rich kid so she’ll be like “dad can i have money for a fried meat stick? its 30 gold pieces,” and zuko will be like yeah that sounds right here you go kiddo.
— — sokka does eventually find out and makes her stop though :(
— they wear the same shoe size because zuko had weirdly big feet that sokka teases him about 
— before they date, sokka mentions how much he loves poetry and zuko immediately heads to the library & accosts the librarian like “i need the most impressive poetry we have”
— sokka thinks zuko is so funny even though literally no one else sees it
— when izumi has iroh ii they are the most over involved grandpas ever. when iroh starts showing a real passion in sailing, sokka bawls his eyes out he’s so happy. iroh does ballet when he’s younger and zuko sets up little stages for him to perform for the staff in the courtyard. 
— — sokka also patently lies to him about historical events.
— — — “granddad, grandpa told me that one time, great uncle aangs sky bison was taken by a giant mushroom in the sky”
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what do you think about people saying aang and katara wouldn't work because katara has abandonment issues and aang first instinct is always to run away / flee? (you don't need to answer if you dont want to ofc)
I’ve been pondering over this ask for a few weeks now (I think it’s been a few weeks? Time is a lie and I’m bad at answering asks in order lmao) and honestly, anon? I don’t think it’s worth it for any of us to acknowledge this particular rhetoric regarding Kataang’s relationship. Why? Because it’s a perfect example of a bad faith argument. People who offer up this as “evidence” that Aang and Katara wouldn’t work romantically do not care that what they are saying is untrue. Thus, they are not seeking to find compromise or common ground, and you shouldn’t feel bothered to entertain them.
Like, let’s be real. Aang runs away a grand total of… twice in the show? Once technically prior to the present storyline itself? Correct me if I’m wrong in my counting, of course! But I cannot think of any time Aang runs away that a) happens outside of Book 1, b) he doesn’t accept the consequences of and/or impose unnecessary guilt on himself, c) is in regard to his relationship with Katara. To my knowledge, Aang ran away:
Pre-canon, fearing separation from Gyatso because of his status as the Avatar (provided in a flashback in “The Storm”)
From the fisherman’s criticism that is ultimately linked to the same issue as above (which makes sense, because this instance also occurs in “The Storm”)
I suppose a case could be made that Aang was “running away” post-DoBS when he temporarily delays getting a firebending teacher, but like. Extenuating circumstances (he blames himself for the mission’s failure and for their friends’ capture, not to mention he’s back at an empty Air Temple - intense mixed feelings, you know?). Also, it’s not like he “runs away” once Zuko becomes his teacher, and in fact Aang both very eagerly accompanies him to the Sun Warrior “ruins” and is the one to originally allude to why Zuko’s firebending is off in the first place (“Maybe your firebending comes from rage and you just don’t have enough anger to fuel it the way you used to”). So I find it hard to categorize this instance as “running away” when arguably it falls more in line with hey, Aang was stressed and guilty and re-encountering memories of his people, so it’s not exactly a surprise he needed a moment to himself.
Furthermore: I also do not count Aang “running away” in the Book 3 premiere because to me, it’s pretty clear Aang was actually running towards his responsibilities as the Avatar there both out of obligation and to grapple with what he deems his own failure (running towards his responsibilities too soon, as it happens, hence why he reunites with his friends after the fact). I also don’t count his “running away” in the series finale with the Lion Turtle because he was a) clearly in some kind of trance jfc and b) again, he was trying to face his responsibilities as the Avatar. Literally the opposite of running away and also entirely out of his control because yk. Spirit World powers, lol.
So Aang ran away twice, thrice if one is feeling really harsh. Even taking into consideration the latter two examples (that again are really not him running away), it’s clear that none of his motives are ever related to Katara. It’s always about his being the Avatar. Fearing his duties, accepting his duties, facing his duties, etc. etc. So trying to overlay that theme with his and Katara’s affections for each other seems pretty nonsensical, lol. And besides - a major part of Aang’s arc is him reconciling that he is both the Avatar and the last airbender. His transition from running away to running towards (to kind of meeting in the middle) these parts of himself is demonstrative of his growth as a character. Like,, sorry Aang has solid and nuanced development??
In other words, there is no canon basis to the idea that Aang’s “first instinct” is always to run away. Yes, he runs away a couple times, but it’s never related to Katara and is only a significant struggle for him in the early days of Book 1. Thus, when people try to use it as “evidence” against Kataang, it’s a clear red flag that they don’t care about taking canon at its own merit. They simply prefer fanon. To each their own, ofc! But again - watch out for the bad faith argument. Ain’t worth your time.
Regarding Katara’s “abandonment issues”: I don’t think it’s untrue to say that Katara struggles with people leaving her, and she definitely struggles with Aang’s brief disappearance in the Book 3 premiere (also related to how her father had to leave during the war). But Aang proves time and time again that he always comes back to her. To name a few: they reunite at the end of “The Awakening.” Aang returned to her after the Siege of the North (Koizilla, lol). Aang came to find her in CoD. Aang found and helped in her “The Painted Lady.” When Aang disappears during the series finale, Katara trusts - even though she is understandably anxious - that he will return to defeat Ozai and that he will succeed (“Aang won’t lose. He’s gonna come back”). So it’s clear Katara doesn’t see Aang as a “flight risk,” lmao - why should the fandom? Once again, it all returns to the notion of bad faith. People who adamantly believe in the rhetoric you present, anon, do not care about canon, which in itself is totally fine, but it is oftentimes important to distinguish between canon and fanon. If someone outright refuses to do that - major red flag.
In sum: this argument is 99% of the time not worth engaging because it is a blatant misinterpretation of canon. We all have better things to do! (Like prepping for Kataang Week, am I right?)
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sokkas-honour · 4 years ago
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hii if ur taking requests can i get a zuko x reader where they get into an argument & they dont talk to each other for sometime but then they make up & its just angsty & super fluffy? also can it be when zuko's firelord? thank u!!
ofc you can! hopefully this works :) it’ll be a two parter
The ember island failures: part one - zuko x reader
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summary : zuko and you had been growing slighty apart from all his duties as firelord. in order for him to catch a break as well as spend more time with you, you both planned a trip to ember island months ago but what happens when the avatar shows up stating he had a diplomatic trip with the firelord planned the same day you’re set to leave
wc : 1.8k
notes/warnings: i tried to make this as gender neutral as possible but didnt know how to switch out firelady to it being gender neutral so i apoligise. i use a curse word here and there but thats about it. stay tune for two though!!
part two
taglist (always open) : @draqondance @biqherosix
you woke up, excitement cursing through your veins as you immediately remembered what was happening today, you were heading to ember island with your boyfriend to finally have some time alone to relax, away from all of the problems in the world for just a few days. your excitement dimmed a bit as you realised zuko was long out of bed but it didn’t matter, you’d have him all to yourself later today.
you finished packing a couple of things, even taking the time to make zuko’s bag so that he didn’t have another responsibility on top of everything he already has to deal with. your excitement was still going strong as you gently put a couple of bathing suits into your bag. once you were done, you called a nearby servant that you adored to bring the bags to the airship.
your smile and happiness filled the nearby palace corridors, making nearby servants and guards chuckle as it had been a while since they’d seen anyone in the palace seem so carefree. you made your way to the kitchen and asked the cook if you could have a fruit tart and of course he gave it to you, you had always been so nice to him and his staff, constantly complimenting the food, they couldn’t wait for you to finally become firelady.
munching on a fruit tart, you made your way to the courtyard where zuko and you met each morning if he’d awoken long before you. you waited patiently while watching the baby turtle ducks splash around making you smile at how adorable they were. suddenly, you heard a voice that you recognised but it wasn’t the raspy one you loved but the chirpy voice of the young avatar.
“y/n! it’s so good to see you!” he exclaimed while walking towards you, turning your head to meet his gaze you grinned. it had been a couple of months since you’d seen your friends with whom you’d traveled the world with in order to defeat the old firelord. though his presence did confuse you.
“aang! it’s been so long!” you met him half way and embraced him in a hug, god it had been a while.
“it has, it really has. i’m sorry that i can’t talk for awhile, appa has become a bit impatient these days but hopefully we can catch up on him while we see how yu dao is going! speaking of that, any idea where zuko is?” he chirped. his words bright and cheery confused you, since when were you and zuko going to yu dao? you were both supposed to leave for a couples getaway to ember island, not a diplomatic trip to the ex colonies.
before you got to ask your friend about what the hell he was talking about, you saw the love of your life from over his shoulder.
“aang! it’s so great to see you!” his sweet, slightly raspy, voice beamed. his facial expressions all showed the sheer amount of happiness that the firelord felt to finally see a friend of his that he’d been away from for awhile. with greeting aang on his mind, zuko didn’t notice the look of confusion on his partner’s face.
the airbender turned around, his back now facing you, in order to embrace his close friend.
“there you are! how was the fire nation been since i last saw you two?” aang asked after they separated from their hug. he had directed the question to the both of you but you were still confused as to what was going on to even bother to answer the question but apparently your face didn’t express your current feeling as your usually attentive boyfriend hadn’t looked at you in any way other than just happiness. he even made his way next to you, placed an arm around your waist and gently kissed your forehead as a way to say good morning.
“it’s been worse that’s for sure.” he joked nervously, not wanting the avatar to be worried. both boys turned to you for your answer but were met with silence until you realised they were waiting for you to speak.
“yeah, it has.” you absentmindedly said but quickly composed yourself as to not alert the benders near you. you added on to your response in a more cheery and reading manner. “firelord business has been stealing this boy from me.”
all three of you nervously laughed.
“we should probably start heading out, appa’s been a bit impatient these last couple of days so i don’t want to keep him waiting for too long.” aang was the first to speak, urging the couple to bring their stuff into the flying bison.
“i’ve already told a guard to bring my bags to the barn, i just need to double check something with a general and i’ll meet you out there.” zuko informed him and removed his hand from your waist. he turned around but before he could even make a step, you grabbed his wrist to stop and interrogate him.
“when did you plan this trip to yu dao?” you asked rather harshly as his head turned to face you in order to hear what you wanted to say.
“aang wrote to me about two weeks ago in order to check on how they’re doing ever since they’ve been left to do their own thing. didn’t i tell you about this the other day.” he turned his body around completely to face you.
“no, you haven’t told me anything zuko. we haven’t had more than ten minutes to each other in so long!” you exclaimed and his eyebrows furrowed in confusion, he was so sure he’d told you about it.
“i’m sorry then, i genuinely thought it’d told you. now, if you don’t mind i’m gonna go to general ikoso to make sure that he’s got everything under control. then i’ll come back to say goodbye okay?” he reasoned with you, eyes darting to your grip on his wrist, trying to make you get the hint to just move on and let him do his job.
“don’t you even remember what today was supposed to be? or are you stupid enough to forget about it?” you asked accusingly, removing your grip rather aggressively.
“hey guys, i’m just gonna go wait by appa. y/n, it was to see you, zuko, i’ll see you by appa.” the airbender awkwardly said trying to get out of the area, not wanting to see any sort of fight between his friends. you felt a bit guilty about bringing this up while aang was around but you couldn’t bother to wait.
“that’s fine aang, youre good.” you turned your head briefly to give him a small smile before he rushed out awkwardly and turned back to your boyfriend.
“no y/n, last time i checked it wasn’t our anniversary, it isn’t your birthday or mine. believe me, i would never forget those even when i’m swamped with work.” zuko smiled warmly reassuring you which just made you even madder.
“you’re right, you didn’t because i would be even more pissed at you.” you calmed down a little making him chuckle a bit at your statement. you continued.
“you forgot about the fact that we’ve been planning a trip to ember island for months!” your anger and annoyance came back, completely ditching the softer tone you’d taken just a second ago.
you watched as his face went from a simple smile to confusion, to realisation to then regret and embarrassment.
“shit, i completely forgot we even planned that, it’s fine we can reschedule.” he asked for forgiveness while attempting to reason with you, if only he knew that it only pissed you off.
“no we can’t zuko! i’ve been prepping for this for months! it was a time for us to finally see each other because you’re never around! i understand you have duties as a firelord, believe me, i agreed to deal with all of this when i followed you to the fire palace after ozai. but you also agreed to make time for me! and guess what? you’ve completely neglected me for the last couple of weeks!” you vented, your voice getting louder and louder as you continued.
“y/n-”
“no! listen to me! not only have you been neglecting me but you have also been neglecting yourself! you wake up before me and go to bed after me, so not only do i not see you, you’re barely getting any sleep zuko! you’re tiring yourself out, i can see it, aang probably saw it, hell everyone who works in this stupid palace can see it! you’re gonna hurt yourself and you keep denying to open up to me or even just relax!” you interrupted him, not wanting him to interrupt you before you finished. your tone switched from accusing to just pleading after you took a breath. “you promised me this trip! you promised yourself this trip! two weeks, that’s all i’m asking for zuko! everyone in this damn place was ready to take over while we enjoyed time together, something we haven’t experienced in months. please zuko, i’m sure aang would understand.”
his eyes had averted from your gaze a while ago and was just staring at the ground, trying to figure out what to say to his partner that as he personally believed was in the right but he just couldn’t take a break now. him cancelling a diplomatic mission could come to hurt him later but he knew that aang could deal with it.
you stared at him while his gears were turning, your right hand had suddenly placed itself on his upper left arm to add to the fact that you were pleading him to understand your point of view.
he lifted his head and stepped back, making you drop your hand to your side and search for his gaze to try and anticipate what he was going to say.
“seeing how yu dao is going is more important than a stupid little trip y/n.” he harshly stated, his usually warm gaze turned rather cold which took you aback. you swallowed literally and figuratively the information, taking in your boyfriend neglecting the trip that had planned months ago, his mental and physical health, and your relationship together.
“well zuko, if you feel that way, i guess i’ll see you in two weeks. believe me, my trip wouldn’t have been any different than my every day life.” you replied, your tone matching his before sharply turning on your heals and left towards the docking area before he could even reply.
zuko watched you leave, realisation washing over him at his words as you were out of his eyesight.
“damnit, how stupid could i be?” zuko cursed under is breath, head leaning slightly on his arms. he took a deep breath and made his way to the stables where he assumed appa was with his head down in shame. he just hopped that when you saw each other again everything would be forgotten.
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rubythecrimsonwriter · 2 months ago
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I am back on my bullshit and I just know y'all missed me.
So they're in Ba Sing Se and they have Appa now so obviously they can get into bigger and better trouble once more, which obviously means King Kuei and Azula becoming involved a la canon and you would think that Katara and Zuko would you know. Fess up.
Of course not. What were you thinking?
Zuko is Not Involved In Shenanigans, Uncle, whatever do you mean? (He is, in fact, stalking Katara in the palace.) (Katara is well aware of this and makes unsubtle comments about how useful such and such thing would be. She acts surprised when it suddenly appears when her back is turned, as though she simply misplaced it.)
(Yes. Toph is aware. I dont know why you would think Toph would be the one to stop Shenanigans.)
(Aang is not aware that's unusual, much less that he should be paying attention. Sokka is too busy not punching advisors to care about magically appearing shit.)
So: the Gaang is in the Palace trying to explain the Hundred Year War. Iroh is blissfully making tea. Zuko is in the Palace acting as guard dog and gofer.
Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee are in the Palace acting as Kyoshi Warriors.
And then Katara gets a note pinned like dozens of others that says the Kyoshi Warriors are not.
Not what? Aang asks.
They're not Kyoshi Warriors, the Blue Spirit says, and every head in the room jerks upward and reels back at the grotesque mask grinning at them perched atop a sconce.
(The Dai Li quietly lose their minds. It'd be funny if anyone actually registered it beyond all the other chaos.)
(The sconce is wooden, lit with one of those eerie glowing crystals. Its high enough up that most people can't see it in their peripherals, and his dark clothing and the bright attraction of the crystal does the rest. As long as his pale skin is covered and his mask is only on when he attracts attention, he might as well be a ghost.)
(Toph gave him pointers on how to avoid attracting the attention of even the best earthbenders during their B&E of Lake Laogai. The three of them really had way too much fun doing that.)
(The Dai Li: it doesn't FEEL like a spirit, doesn't TALK like a spirit, doesn't ACT like a human, disguises like a spirit, what the fuck IS it)
The messenger enters the room at that point, announcing the presence of the three Kyoshi Warriors. The messenger does NOT like the fact that everyone in the room stared at him like he just announced the end of King Kuei's reign. He misses the Blue Spirit standing twelve feet almost directly above him entirely.
Katara, completely unbothered by The Drama™: don't let them in. We'll follow you out there.
Sokka: soooo we're just. Taking it's word?
Aang: *having vivid flashbacks to Pouhai Stronghold* *knows EXACTLY who's under that mask* *knows what happened last time he pushed* *Katara seems to know him and is chill with him and thats the LAST thing he expected really* *scrambling to get words out in the right order* YEAH SPIRITS LIKE ME RIGHT THIS IS TOTALLY TRUSTWORTHY
Everyone else who has dealt with a spirit: uhm. Absolutely not.
Katara gets up and finally looks up at the Blue Spirit and starts arming herself with her water slings and walks over to the messenger and says lead the way.
The Dai Li will SWEAR they were watching. Up, down, and sideways, THEY WERE WATCHING. But the Blue Spirit inclines its head at Katara and turns and vanishes into the darkness behind the sconce.
(Zuko has spider crawled up the backside of the pillar and is clinging to the decorative plaster near the ceiling. The plaster forms better hand holds for him the longer he's up there, which means only Toph knows where he is and is doing what she can to help because only the greatest earthbender in the world could bend in the presence of the most elite taskforce of earth benders and have them not notice.)
Kuei gets evacuated to some bunker. Some of the Dai Li go with him. Some of the Dai Li follow Katara. Sokka is bound and determined to get this plan ironed out and Aang needs to stay because he's the Avatar. Toph goes with Katara. Everything is always fine with the Gaang splits up, I dont know what you're so concerned about.
Enemies to respected coworkers to friends to lovers Blue Spirit and Painted Lady and an I know that You know that I know about the Identity Shenanigans but wtf can we do about it slow burn Zuko and Katara while Azula and Sokka respectively hate literally everything about this and they don't even know the other's identity. A case of Let's Deal With This Later Bc We Have Other Issues and also Your Sibling Is The Worst. Ready, set, go!
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Recently saw a tiktok that was like "if you ship [toph and zuko] than you have issues or you see something galaxy brained that i havent" and stumbled upon the concept of aroace Zuko and i concocted this idea ages ago so im posting it now: the epic Toph x Zuko Marriage of Convenience 
Okay what you are all thinking of is book 3 Toph and Zuko, which totally dont have romantic chemistry and with the added age difference is prob why no one ever considers this ship. Four years when you're a teenager is a big difference. Four years when you're in your twenties and beyond isnt that big a deal. So they're adults and they've been friends for years at this point.
You also gotta sit back and look at what they are. Toph is the only child to a very rich and very well known Earth Kingdom family. Her family name in general is huge and carries a lot of weight but you also got her own accomplishments: Master Earthbender, the Creator of Metalbending, the Avatar's Earthbending teacher, and shes a war hero. Thats big. And then you got Zuko, who at this point is the Fire Lord. Zuko himself comes from a prominent Fire Nation family, seeing as he's royalty. He's also descended from a Avatar, but i dont think thats all that well known. Zuko is a Master Firebender, the Avatar's Firebending Teacher, and a war hero. On top of being famous both these people have credibility to fall back on.
So what im leaning into here is not exactly a marriage alliance seeing as the Earth Kingdom has its own royalty but its definitely a political move
Anyways Zuko has a lot on his plate, dismantling his dad's empire and all that. When he's nearing 30 the council is all like "you need to find a bride". Zuko writes up his ex-girlfriends and finds out they're either married or he just cant bring himself to trap someone into a marriage with him after knowing how it destroyed his mom. So he's stuck with no one of his own choosing so the council and high up nobles are trying to fix him up and not-so-subtly set him up with their daughters. Half of Team Avatar comes and visits (lets say Toph, Aang, and Sokka) and witness the behind the scenes of all this. They're having tea with Zuko and two people come in at different times and try to casually talk about the marriage thing. Toph can hear things that happen in the hallways too. Zuko is all "noooooooo guys why is this happening to me" and Sokka probably finds it funny but also a little sucky, and Aang probably hates it because "Zuko should marry for love!". And Toph is all "I know right" because she can totally relate. Her parents were looking for matches for her since she was born, and now that shes visiting again they've started back up again. Her and Zuko start swapping match-making stories ("so i come home and this boy and his father are there and my mom is all like 'Toph have you met __'" "I'm in the throne room for a meeting on road construction and this guy derails the whole thing so he can introduce his niece to me"). Later on after Toph has been listening in on the palace for a few days now and shes starting to really feel sorry for Zuko. Sokka just keeps making jokes until Toph snaps at him. Aang is pretty oblivious and probably spends all day at the market looking for souvenirs to bring home for Katara. And one night while Zuko is up late doing paperwork by candle light Toph stops by because her body cant sleep at night sometimes and they get to talking and Toph jokingly throws out "what if we just married each other? Then everyone will get off both our backs!" and they're laughing and after they've calmed down Zuko has a light bulb moment and he's like "wait, that might not be a bad idea". They spend all night working out the details to their hypothetical wedding and a day later decide to actually go through with it. Theres uproar from the council of course because Zuko didnt choose their pick Toph isnt Fire Nation nobility. And then Zuko starts listing all her family's importance and stuff and the council is forced to admit to themselves its not actually a bad idea. Plus marrying Earth Kingdom would make the Fire Lord more relatable to the colonies where theyre having a lot of problems with people of mixed heritage right now. Sokka and Aang hear rumblings of this because palace servants gossip and they're debating wether or not to believe these rumors when they run into Toph and just ask her and shes all like "yeah we're talking about it" and they boys flip out. Aang still maintains that everyone should marry for love but Toph and Zuko won't budge.
Over in the Earth Kingdom Toph's parents are ecstatic because the only better option Toph could marry was Earth Kingdom royalty. They completely endorse it and only argue to not seem like pushovers and when topics revolving money come up (ex. dowery). The Earth King gets in on this because its too good a opportunity to not capitalize on it. The Earth Kingdom is abuzz because a foreign King is marrying one of their own. Everyone is hyped and Team Avatar are the only ones who find the whole situation weird because to them its not a fairytale its their actual friends.
All-in-all they get married in the Fire Nation and the guest list was awful to make but people from all over the world are there. Toph's mother freaks out the whole time because "what if Toph falls down all those steps!" The wedding is mostly all Fire Nation tradition but Toph wears a Earth Kingdom wedding dress because everything is political now. Toph and Zuko have a relatively fun night and Sokka has the time of his life. And their marriage actually really works out for them because they're friends. They make fun of fancy people and rant to each other in the evenings. Toph is still running metal bending schools but either now they have to come to her or she gets stuck with a Fire Nation security team for like 3 months of the year she spends in the Earth Kingdom and she gets flashbacks to her childhood. And Zuko is sometimes all "i miss my wife" and the servants are all "awwww they're so in love" but the truth is he wants to talk sh*t with her and because shes blind he always has to write letters with the interpreter's opinion/gossip in mind. Toph still sneaks out all the time because shes not giving up her independence willy-nilly and is not above pulling the blind card to get out of things, which irritates Zuko sometimes because that means he has to deal with boring meetings by himself. They gaang visits all the time and by the time Republic City rolls around Toph manages to get herself sent as a "ambassador" (her and Sokka have some fun their shared meetings) and then to stay on to help set up the police force, which is a little dicy since shes representing the Fire Nation but also shes teaching only metalbending so its a controversial thing. This also gives Zuko a excuse to visit Republic City more often so he can see everyone since they settled down there.
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