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cienie-isengardu · 20 days

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The Last Agni Kai is my top favorite fight in the ATLA because of the music, colors, choreography and the tragic sense of two siblings forced to battle each other but I’m still not sure why Zuko and Katara needed to confront Azula instead of being part of team Avatar in the final, the most important battle. Like, I get it thematically, as Azula and Zuko had their own storyline to resolve and so on, but from the perspective of in-universe events? Taking the title of Fire Lord would mean nothing, if Aang was killed by Ozai and the man returned to Fire Nation as a winner against Avatar, leaving Zuko and Katara on enemy territory all on their own, to either fight to the last breath or flee.

Azula, as just crowned Fire Lord, was not that big of threat at that moment because ATLA takes place in a world that has limited long-distance communication and it was not like she had an idea what was going on with Ozai or if he was attacked by Avatar or not. She was far away from Earth Kingdom and would not be able to travel fast enough to aid her father, no matter how much she would want to do so. She would need to learn first about her father’s defeat to plan revenge or counterattack - what gives the White Lotus & alliance forces some time to plan the next step. With Ozai defeated, Zuko could come back to challenge her for the throne the same as he did originally. And even if he died during the final battle against Ozai and/or Ozai’s forces, there is still Iroh with a legit claim to the throne, right? Not to mention the psychological blow to Fire Nation’s psyche, if Avatar came to Fire Nation with their dead or depowered “great” Fire Lord.

And sure, Zuko taking throne with Avatar’s support wouldn’t put him in the best light, considering how his people were raised on imperialism and propaganda, but let’s be real here, his original regime was too controversial for the sole fact he left his country to aid Avatar and his future politics were aimed at peace and repairing damage done by Fire Nation across the world. On that matter alone, coming back to face Azula with the whole Gaang at his side won’t change that much.

My problem with how Zuko and Katara were sidelined on a different mission is not just the whole Iroh’s hypocrisy of I can’t fight my brother ‘cause history will remember it bad but you definitely should go fight your sister for the Fire Lord title. It is just the disappointment we didn’t have a chance to see Zuko, Katara, Sokka, Toph and Suki united like the Old Masters, all different elements in harmony, benders and non-benders supporting each other and together defeating the common enemy; the new generation all here for Avatar so their friend could focus on his task. Dunno if I make sense, but I truly wish that our young representatives of all cultures were there together, as there should be Zuko - firebender - standing against the corruption and deprivation of once honorable Nation, the same as Katara (waterbender) should be allowed to partake in mission alongside her brother, as they together went against the world since the first episode.

Like I said, I love The Last Agni Kai, but damn, we were robbed of Gaang’s final battle against Sozin’s Legacy. Because we have never(?) truly seen them all together at the same time in full battle? Shame. Just shame…

#atla #avatar: the last airbender #prince zuko #katara #oh why the storyline kicked you both out of the main battle that all events were leading to? :(#we could have a new version of old masters! trashing together enemy so aang could focus on his task #and yeah this battle was a big moment for sokka toph and suki (they were great but what is new? they were always great!)#but wouldn't it be a nice additional symbolism to avatar the master of all elements when aang in final battle would be supported #by all his friends and teachers?#just saying #and huh that may be an upopular opinion but screw that i want to see gaang fighting in full battle together

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sokkastyles · 9 months

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Hi,

Hope you are doing well.

I have another query regarding TSR. When Katara confronts Yon Rah and spare him at the end, I didn't notice Zuko's silence at that moment. Now, I am realizing that his silence in a way shows that he accepted and respected Katara's choice. He may not have liked it, but he understood that it was her choice, and that was that.

Looking at the way Aang responded at the end of the episode, I don't think he understood her choice at all. He simply assumed that she forgave Yon Rah, when she did not. It seems like he did not want to understand her choice at all.

On a separate note, do you feel that when it comes to Zuko's actions in the episode, it seems a bit weird that some people say that Zuko wanted Katara to murder Yon Rah in revenge, when not once did he bring that subject up in the episode whatsoever, and the one who brought that topic up was Aang?

I would like your thoughts on this.

The thing I find funny is that people try to make this about Zuko or Katara not respecting Aang's culture when throughout the episode, the one who is consistently unwilling to accept other people's perspectives is Aang. Aang is the one who insists it's about revenge. And I agree, Katara saying "maybe it is" is probably the point where that idea entered her mind.

I'm not saying that was never a possibility, because let's be real, they're not going there to make friends with the guy. But reducing it to revenge ignores the fact that these are people who need to be stopped. No one knew Yon Rah was retired. (I've also said before that Zuko and Katara should have at least disabled the Southern raiders' ship after learning Yon Rah wasn't there, because those men certainly were not innocent.) It's also about Katara reclaiming her legacy. Yon Rah thought he had murdered the last waterbender, remember? One thing that did give Katara closure was being able to affirm her survival and confront the man who could have been her murderer with it. This also ties into why learning waterbending combat was so important to Katara. The Southern raiders' mission was to wipe out waterbenders because the fire nation feared them as a threat to their war. Katara confronting the man who supposedly killed the last waterbender with all her power is an affirmation that that mission had failed. This is also why I have no time for people who insist that fighting is not a part of Katara's legacy and who she is.

And like you said, Zuko is silent when Katara makes her choice. He might have disagreed with her, or not. The only indication we get of his feelings is the look of hatred he throws Yon Rah behind Katara's back as they are leaving, but that could mean a lot of things. It could mean that Zuko has accepted that this man who he clearly despises has to live with the fact that the person he was sent to kill not only lived, but became more powerful than he could have imagined, and that he is pathetic in comparison. One could argue that this is a punishment worse than death. And that actually is probably enough for Zuko, because what he wanted was the confrontation. Remember when he tells the new captain to look Katara in the eyes and remember? I've said before that that mirrors Zuko confronting his father and demanding the truth, a confrontation which he also chose to walk away from without killing. What Zuko wants is for these men to be confronted with their crimes, and in neither case is that accomplished through killing.

And not only is Zuko silent during, but after the fact, he expresses no judgement on what Katara did, not even when she herself says she is uncertain. He tells Aang he was right, even though Aang again is the one to make assumptions and immediately says he's "proud" of Katara for "choosing forgiveness," which Katara immediately shoots down. Despite how much this episode wants to tell us that Aang is wise and understanding, it is Katara and Zuko who demonstrate understanding of the situation, Katara who makes the right decision in the end and is wise enough to be accepting of the ambiguity of her feelings, Zuko who is able to extend understanding to both sides when Aang and Katara continue to disagree. Zuko also never makes an attempt to define the situation. We do not see Zuko and Katara's initial conversation beyond Zuko telling Katara he knows where to find Yon Rah, which implies that Katara's decision to go after him is a foregone conclusion with no need of convincing by Zuko. Another thing we never see is what Zuko told the rest of the gaang after the fact, when Katara was not there. Aang tells Katara that Zuko told him what happened, and makes his own assumptions about what happened, assumptions which Katara says are wrong. But we never hear Zuko's interpretation of the facts, because it's not for him to define what happened. The episode is very careful to NOT have Zuko define or influence things. Which is why it's funny when people try to argue that he did. It also makes it more noticeable that Aang is the one who attempts to define things before listening to Katara, which is why he comes across negatively in this episode, and why it negatively affects an audience view of his relationship with Katara.

#zuko #katara #yon rah #the southern raiders

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thispatternismine · 3 months

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ATLA live action impressions part 2

Following on from last night's post, here are my impressions of eps 5-8

Still really loved it. Gonna be tarred & feathered for this but I actually like it better than the animated show

Highlights:

Ozai giving Zuko credit for finding the Avatar. There's this weird idea in the fandom that Ozai never intended to take Zuko back. Even though we saw him do exactly that at the beginning of Book 3. Yes he set an impossible task, but when Zuko (apparently) achieved it, he was like 'ok yeah cool - you have met my standards'. Sure, there's no way Zuko would have continued to meet those standards if he'd stuck around, but Ozai did actually keep his word. The fact that he does it to make sure Azula knows she's overstepped & remind her she's replaceable, is an especially nice touch

Getting to see how Azula is treated by her father. I've seen way too many people try to claim Azula was never abused because she wasn't literally set on fire like he was. Never mind that she avoided that fate only because she was able to meet his standards. And having to constantly strive to meet the standards set by someone who thinks 'find a guy who's been missing for a century' is a suitable task to set his kid is abuse.

Another annoying tendency of the fandom is to flanderise Ozai into some diabolical caricature who spends all his time thinking up new ways to torment poor Zuzu, so having that scene of him banishing Zuko was a nice touch. He genuinely believes he is being a good dad & raising his kid to be strong (note: This isn't me saying Ozai is right - I'm saying he thinks he's right.)

The 41st Division 😭

Iroh & Ozai interacting with each other

Gyatso!

I spy some female soldiers! A problem with the animated show was that it's all well & good deciding that the Fire Nation has female soldiers, but bias is a thing & 99.9% of the time if you ask someone to draw a soldier it'll be a man. Yeah sure they all stayed to guard the Fire Nation that's why we didn't see any till Book 3 suuure

"Anything you need." "It has to do with Koh." "Anything but that." DYING

Aang's whole speech to Zuko about how helpful his notebook was (let's be real Iroh probably sighed & told him it was a waste of time so this was the first time he heard 'Hey good job on the Avatar research!') & the way they bonded before he unwittingly set Zuko off

"Quit it before they think there's something wrong with you. More than there already is."

"The Firelord deems your performance... below average." OOF. Pretty sure that's the worst thing you can possibly say to Azula. She'd much rather be told she sucked outright than just 'meh'

Waterbender Yue

Non-arsehole Hahn

Using Kuruk lore from the Kyoshi books!

I like the changes to the NWT siege. Having the spirits' mortality be an occasional, temporary thing to gain an appreciation of life that occurs during a full moon when the powers of those who will protect them in that state are at their peak, makes more sense than permanent vulnerability that relies on nobody finding out. Also never made sense that a naval officer was stationed in a fucking desert & was able to just take time off to go through a spirit library, so having Zhao find his info from the Fire Sages works better IMO. I do hope we'll still get the spirit library though

Ozai's lil eyetwitch when Azula backtalked him like if you agree

Haven't mentioned yet but I love the costumes in this

Also never mentioned Momo, the Real Hero of ATLA

Sokka continues to be awesome

Lowlights:

June calling Iroh cute & fawning over him. Normally I'd think it's unfair for the live action version of a character to be held accountable for what the animated version did, but this leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Like og!Iroh's groping of June being treated like a joke has been called out many times so they fucking had to know what they were doing

Why isn't Azula's fire blue? We got like 1 second of it & that's it. Maybe consistent blue flames are a power up she'll obtain later idk

#atla #zuko #azula #ozai #aang

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blluespirit · 3 months

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EPISODE 7 LETS GOOO

Prev episode thoughts: Episodes 1-3 Episode 4 Episode 5 Episode 6

Good Stuff:

Okay but Jee and Zuko finally bonding only for their new friendship to be immediately used against him when Zhao tricks Jee into telling Zuko about his plans to take him to court for treason... it's so good and by good I mean tragic and heart-wrenching. Zuko and Jee besties so true

I love you, Yue. My baby girl.

Absolutely great that they let Yue break off the arranged marriage with Hahn. I'm so happy they let Yue have some agency in her own life - although it would have been nice to have that be on-screen? Give Yue a mini arc? Or maybe I'm wishful thinking. It's not like they have three episodes to cover this like they did in the original.

Okay, Yue being able to visit the spirit world in her dreams is quite cool, and Sokka and Yue’s talk in Kuruk’s shrine was very sweet

love seeing Sokka defend his sister against Pakku and his misogyny 😌😌 that's a really nice change to see the siblings rallying together.

I'm happy they changed Pakku changing his mind from seeing Kanna's betrothal necklace to him changing his mind because all the other waterbenders marvel at Katara's skill. Feels less like a cop out.

Cool to see more Kuruk as well!!!

Katara and Pakku fight was fine - not as good as the og. I rewatched both fights like three times before writing this lol.

things that could be better:

Aang: I had a vision! you're in danger. arnook: yea i know :) very pointless thing to have them just know. What was the point then. why can't character Not Know Things

I... am not sure if I'm convinced if having Azula be introduced this early is a good move. I feel like most of her personality from the original series is not here at all. I don't see that ruthless, and calculating edge to her. She is far more on edge and angry, and way more emotional. I miss og Azula who's intro was: Maybe you should worry less about the tides, who've already made up their mind about killing you, and more about me, who's still mulling it over. Where is she?!

What is the point of Ty Lee and Azula being here at all in this point in the story.

Katara does not have anywhere NEAR the passion that she has in the original. The Katara I know is the one who refuses to apologise to Pakku after he talks down to her and challenges him to fight right then and there, knowing she'll lose, but not caring because fuck that guy. She knows she's a warrior, and she's not going to let some crusty old man get in her way. She goads him into fighting her by playing on his own misogyny - I'll be outside if you're man enough to fight me! We just didn't get to see any of that so far. They cut out so many iconic Katara moments - which I understand with the limited time - but they've failed to make up for it. Where's the Katara who single-handedly rallies together all the Earthbenders on the ship/prison to unite against the Fire Nation?? Where is the girl who refuses to let anyone walk over her? Who is reckless and compassionate???

Overall, I enjoyed this episode despite my bitching lol. Most of the things I didn't like are issues that spread across every episode that I was hoping would make sense but now I cannot unsee. But this episode itself is enjoyable!

#zuko #katara #sokka #azula #aang #zhao #iroh #avatar: the last airbender #natla #netflix avatar #jack talks #live action series

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bellatrixobsessed1 · 1 year

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Skin & Scale (Part 31)

They decide not to bring Iroh along, there is no need for the extra stress, not when she is already entirely on edge as is. Today flying is every bit as lonely and stressful is it is exhilarating and liberating. Sometimes she thinks that she shouldn’t be left alone with her mind. Mother and father can hear her but they have the tact to keep out of her mind as she thinks over what they have offered.

Hosekko.

It is a pretty name.

Perhaps a touch too delicate for the person she has shaped up to be. She isn’t sure that it entirely suits her in sound and pronunciation. She likes to think that, in meaning, it suits her very well. That she is a small jewel, at least to some people–or dragons. The people and dragons that cherish her.

Azula.

Also a pretty sounding name.

It is fierce and it has renown. It is known by most and familiar to her. But it ties her to a grandfather that isn’t actually her. She has grown into the name and set it stunningly apart from the man but it is a call to that she had only been a means to an end–an extension of someone else’s will. She likes to think that she has claimed the name for her own, outshined Azulon himself. That, if history is kind, people will jest that Azulon was named after her.

And then there is the matter of Sokka.

Somehow this unsettles her much more deeply. She has complete control over which name she goes by. Sokka, on the other hand, is his own person who performs his own actions. She imagines that he will expect cuddles and overt displays of affection. The sort that make her feel uncomfortable. Perhaps she should tell him that she isn’t interested after all and spare herself the humiliations and discomforts.

The boy is on her back, hugging one of her spines. He seems perfectly content to stoke her scales. She doesn’t particularly mind the gesture but she hopes that he doesn’t expect her to return it. Really, she has no business trying to form this sort of relationship.

It would be entirely better and safer to just go off with Ran and Shaw and keep to herself. Better and safer for everyone.

“You’re scared.” The voice, though familiar, and gentle, startles her. It isn’t supposed to be here.

“I’m not scared, Sokka.” She grumbles through the link. She isn’t scared but she is entirely unsettled that he has managed to slip into her mind.

“Emotional bonds, naturally form links.” Shaw explains.

So, inadvertently, she has invited him in.

“I can leave if you want.” Sokka says. “I just thought that you might want someone to talk to. We’ve still got an hour to go.”

She supposes that she could use a distraction from her aching wing muscles. “Fine but don’t snoop.”

“He can’t.” Ran assured her. “The link you offered him is different than the one you have with us.”

But he had still overheard her contemplating whether or not he is worth it. Rather, if she is able to handle anything closer than a friendship. He doesn’t seem particularly offended. It is rather upsetting that he seems to have anticipated as much. But then, she has only ever indicated reluctance and distance. He is probably surprised that she let him in at all.

“I am.” He confirms. “I’m a patient person if you like to take things slow.”

“That would be preferable, yes.” She confirms. “Although I will be severely testing your patience.”

“Pretty sure that I’ll be doing my share of that.” He admits.

She supposes that if he is willing to deal with the things that she throws at him that she will commit to giving him a chance.

“You going to tell your parents?”

“I’m pretty sure that they are well aware.” They had probably been aware of the connection before she had been. “They like you well enough Sokka.” She can’t imagine having introduced Sokka to Ozai–but then, back when he was a factor to consider, she wouldn’t have wanted anything to do with a waterbender anyhow.

Her life is so, so terrifyingly different. This path has deviated so startlingly far from who she was supposed to be.

And, strangely, she can’t say that she is all too upset.

She was supposed to be lonely.

Powerful and untouchable but so terribly lonely and used.

She was supposed to have the crown.

A lovely thing but also a horrible fate. She is not idle enough to enjoy the throne. She is meant to fly and fight and quest for knowledge and secrets not to tether herself to one Nation, however sublime that nation is. However much she loves that nation.

The wind whistles over her wings, it rustles her whiskers and spines. She is not where she is supposed to be–where she had thought she was supposed to be. But she thinks that she is okay with that.

She is, however, not entirely okay with that she had forgotten to eject Sokka from her musings.

“It sounds like you’re doing good.” He mentions. She can hear the smile in his voice. “Sometimes I worry about you…”

She swallows, she is still not used to people worrying about her wellbeing.

“But you seem to be taking things well.”

“Well enough.” She agrees. But still not entirely well. Sometimes she still feels queasy with dread. Sometimes her acceptance falters and she finds herself longing for the familiar–however awful–and wishing that she hadn’t lost the Agni Kai that altered the course of her life entirely.

“You’ll get used to it.” Sokka assures. “And then you’ll know for sure that this is how it was supposed to be.”

And is he not correct? She is a dragon, it was supposed to be like this to some degree.

.oOo.

By the time that they touch down in Huijang Azula’s shoulders are screaming for a massage. She huffs and stretches her back.

“Sore?” Katara asks.

She nods.

“I can do a little waterbending if that would help.”

“Or we can go to Huijang’s spa!” TyLee suggest. “I would love to get a massage instead of giving them for a change. Oh!” She claps her hands together. “One day we should all get a classic Fire Nation hot stone massage!”

“That sounds really wonderful.” Katara agrees.

“All in favor of going to the spa, raise your hands.” Zuko says.

For once they are all in perfect agreement.

“Can I?” Sokka reaches for her hand.

Azula considers. “I–I guess. But you better let go when…”

“When you ask me to. That’s doable.” Sokka grins. His hand curls around hers. It isn’t as though he hasn’t held her hand before, she had let him do it while she was going through her transformation and yet her tummy is still tickling.

His hand, she deduces, is rather big. Hers fits into his very easily and he strokes the palm of her hand with his thumb.

“Since when!?” Toph shouts and Azula grimaces as several pairs of eyes land upon their interwoven hands.

“Since last night!” Sokka declares proudly. “Officially anyways. I feel like this was kind of a thing since our theater night.”

“I didn’t realize that you liked Sokka.” Zuko notes.

“Neither did I.” She mutters. “It’s rather unfortunate.”

“That you didn’t notice or that you like him?” Mai quirks a brow.

“Both of those things, honestly.” She flaps her free hand.

“That’s so cute!” TyLee gushes. “He can get dragon cuddles!”

“He is lucky to have the luxury of holding my hand.” She scoffs.

And he laughs. “It’s very soft.”

Her cheeks pinken if only slightly.

“So are you guys going to do the couple’s massage?” Aang asks.

“We sure are!” Sokka declares before she can answer. It is just as well; mother and father have made a point of requesting massage beds in the adjoining room. And any notions that Sokka may or may not have had are dwarfed by two pairs of watchful, glaring eyes.

Frankly, they almost intimidate her too–and just maybe that is their goal. Perhaps it is more or less universal for parents, human and dragon alike, to disprove of overt displays of affection.

Protectiveness.

She doesn’t think that she minds it too much.

“What type of massage oil would you like?”

“Which oil will help with muscle relaxation?” Azula asks.

“We have an arnica, olive oil, sunflower seed blend.”

“I will go with that then.” She replies.

“I’ll take your manliest scent.” Sokka says.

“He’ll take the apricot oil for his sensitive baby skin.” Azula tells the masseuse.

“But–” Sokka beings.

“That’s what I usually use.” She mentions. “You said that you liked my soft hands. Perhaps I would like to hold a hand that is not scratchy and calloused.”

Sokka sighs. “Alright, apricot it is, but only because you asked so demandingly.”

“You really do think that you are so funny, don’t you?”

“I am. I’m also really smooth, like my hands are going to be.” He pauses. “I better get to hold your hand a lot after this.”

“We’ll see.” She mutters. He almost certainly will get to. Of course she will not request holding and will very much pretend like she doesn’t enjoy it quite thoroughly.

The masseuse begins working to massage the oil into her skin. The scent is divine and it fills the room as the woman works the knots and aches out of Azula’s shoulders and neck. Azula closes her eyes and exhales. This has been long overdue. For an hour or so she is able to slip herself into a thoughtless void of aroma and sensation. She can still sense her parents staring, eyes narrowed, at Sokka from their own massage beds.The massage artists are going to have one difficult time trying to work the sort of uncomfortable tension that only being stared at and observed can bring. But Azula herself pays it no mind. In fact, she thinks that she may have fallen asleep. It has been quite some time since she has had a nap of any kind.

.oOo.

It is luck.

Bad or good, Azula can’t decide.

Not at first anyhow.

It starts with a simple word. “Mother?”

And one more. “Zuko?”

She lingers, as she always had, on the fringes of their mother-son relationship. Watching from afar has Zuko is swept up in an outpouring of hugs, kisses, and cooed words of affection and adoration. This time there are tears. “I’ve missed you so much.”

But she hadn’t missed her.

“What are you doing here?” Zuko asks although Ursa probably has more grounds to pose that question to him.

“I like to have a day of pampering between sets. This show is doing particularly well. I have some extra spending money.” She explains. “And you, Zuko? What brings you to Hijang?”

“I was looking for you, mother. Father has been defeated, why didn’t you come back?” It is a conversation for outside and that is where they take it.

“Oh Zuko, I haven’t had the means; monetarily or emotionally. I have been so afraid of how you would react…”

“Then you must be terrified about how I will.” Azula finally speaks.

And the woman’s mouth falls open. It is as if the woman hadn’t considered her at all. Hadn’t even thought that her other child would tag along.

“Azula…”

“I know what you’ve done.”

Ursa’s brows furrow.

“Don’t pretend to be confused!” Her voice is a pitch or two higher than she had intended. “You also know what you’ve done.”

Sokka squeezes her hand but she jerks out of his grip. He has the sense not to reach out to snatch it back. Mother and father trail behind her.

And all of that joy and delight reserved fully for Zuko dissipates, giving way to the resentment that has always been there for her daughter that isn’t really hers. “I’m not going to let you ruin this family.”

“She’s going to ruin your family.” Shaw growls, the scales are creeping over her skin. “You’ve no right!”

The woman’s face pales.

“Azula, please.” Zuko begins.

“You took me from my parents and hated me for what you did. Was it hard, mother…” she hisses the word. “To look at me and remember what you did. Do I remind you that you’re not the pure and gentle soul that you like to pretend to be?” The woman doesn’t like to look at her at all and she refuses to do so now.

“I look at you and I see when everything in my life started to fall apart.”

She is just like Iroh–hating her for the faults that she doesn’t want to confront within herself. “Did you ever care about me? Did you ever try? Or am I just your mistake?”

She ought not to ask questions that she doesn’t want the answer to.

“You are the worst thing that has ever happened to me.”

Azula swallows, she wishes that those words hadn’t cut so deeply. That they don’t make her stomach hurt. Somewhere deep down she realizes that she had been hoping that the woman would tell her that she had been reading things wrong. That father had been putting thoughts into her head. “Worse than Ozai?” She asks. “Worse than the man who…who…” she falters. Who warped her into something disturbing and grotesque–perhaps not in form but in principle. Everything she is, is a subversion to the natural balance of things.

“She didn’t ask to be taken from us!” Ran snarls. “She didn’t ask to be raised by incompetent, cruel human.” Any cruelty she displays is a mark of her upbringing or so father means to imply. She wishes that she could say that she had no hand whatsoever in who she had become. But, lest she want to become like Iroh, she cannot.

“Please don’t do this.” Zuko grimances. “Mother, you don’t mean that. You don’t mean that, do you?”

“Zuko, she isn’t your sister.”

“But she is!” He insists. “I said that to uncle and I’ll say it to you. Azula. Is. My sister. Whether she wants to be or not.”

Right now, she doesn’t mind being so.

“Zuko, she is a monster. Dragons are evil.”

“Evil!?” Shaw bears her sharpened teeth. Her eyes flash something mighty and terrible. “We haven’t stolen human babies from their cribs!”

“We keep to our own.” Ran adds cooly. “We mind our business until humans trifle with us. Even then we reserve our restraint. Your palace is still intact with some minor damage that could have been avoided had our daughter known that she would be transforming.”

“You broke the palace!?”

“Why does it matter to you?” Azula mumbles, folding her arms across her chest. “It isn’t as though you had plans to return. So it is of no concern of yours.” And yet that screech had coaxed a buried shame back to the forefront. That she is destructive, a natural monster.

“It was just one interior wall and one exterior wall, mother.” Zuko tries.

“I said that it was okay.” Sokka shrugs. “She was trying to step over the garden wall, I told her to just knock it over if she had to.”

Ursa’s expression pinches. “A waterbender has no business giving input into Fire Nation matters.”

“I’m a non-bender actually.” He points out. It is amusing only in that it agitates Ursa.

Zuko swallows, clearly this isn’t the woman he remembers. “You…don’t like waterbenders.”

“Oh Zuko.” Her face softens. “I don’t have a problem with waterbenders. I rather enjoy talking to them. But they should mind their own affairs and I will mind Fire Nation affairs.”

“I hope that you’re doing a better job about staying out of Water Tribe affairs than you have been with dragon…”

“That is not my fault!” She snaps. “You aren’t my fault. I didn’t want you! Had it been up to me we would have tried for a second child the normal way. But your father…”

“He’s not my father.” Azula mutters. And this woman isn’t her mother. That small fragment of her that had been hoping to make amends with the woman fizzles out. And in its place is a loathing so deep that she doesn’t know what to do with it. It burns her composure away and laves her face red and hot.

She has never felt like this before and it terrifies her.

I didn’t want you! No one had. She certainly didn’t want to become Azula. Not when she could have been Hosekko, loved and cherished and unburdened by the war and expectations thrown at her. I didn’t want you! It isn’t just Ursa who speaks these words; in her mind it is Ozai and Uncle. It is Mai and TyLee. It is Zuko, even though his actual voice is arguing with Ursa. It is Katara and it is Sokka. Even though Sokka stands next to her, probably assuring her that he does in fact want her.

But there has been a shift.

She hasn’t noticed the elongation of her claws. The sharpening of her teeth.

It all comes forward; all of the distress, resentment, and grief-fueled rage that she had been bottling up. This woman had taken the essence of who she was supposed to be. This woman had dropped her into the hands of a man who had twisted, warped, and broke her. Dropped her into a world that left her isolated, terrified, and unloved.

And now she will show them how warped and broken she is.

Just the way that they deserve.

She falls back and lets the transformation ripple over her in full. Somewhere on the very fringes of her mind there is a human girl and she is sad and terrified and conflicted. That girl holds rational and reasoning. At the surface is a dragon a full-blooded, impulse driven dragon.

If the woman wants a monster the dragon will give her the monster that she had created.

Perhaps, while she is at it, she will stop by for some tea.

#Avatar The Last Airbender #Azula #Dragon Azula #Ursa #Zuko #Sokka #Sokkla #Fanfiction

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animation-cartoon-fan-writings · 8 months

Text

Chapter 13 of “Book 1: Beautiful Ghosts” is up now!!!

Summary: Aang tries to learn firebending to disastrous results

Here’s an excerpt:

Upon seeing his appearance outside of the cottage, Aang leaps up and approaches him with an eager demeanor. “What happened? Can I see Jeong Jeong now?,” the airbender asks excitedly. Looking downcast, Chey replies, “He won't see you. I’m very sorry, Avatar, but he wants you to leave immediately”. Aang’s smile falls, his face looking shocked. “What? Why won't he see me?,” he questions. “He says you're not ready. Says you haven't mastered waterbending and earthbending yet,” the former captain replies. Katara walks over to the two, telling Aang, “he does kind of have a point”. Undeterred, Aang declares, “I’m going in anyway!” before storming his way inside the cabin.

Katara tries to follow him in, but Chey blocks her path. “Don’t. Perhaps the Avatar might be able to persuade him,” he gives her a hopeful smile. Taking a deep breath, she takes a seat on a log, looking into her own reflection in the swampy waters. She feels Chey sit next to her with an empathetic smile. “Copper piece for your thoughts?,” he asks. Not really knowing how to take that offer, she decides to ask him something that had been on her mind for a while. “Chey, you said you were once a top captain for the Fire Navy. So, what was it like, y’know, doing what you were doing?,” she inquires, curiously. Chey replies, “To be honest, it felt great in the moment. The Fire Nation was all I knew. I grew up dreaming of being a Fire Navy Captain. But, once the high settled in, I don’t know, I guess it just wasn’t what I had once believed it to be. I discovered a lot of things that contradicted what I had always been taught. Thr last war meeting I had attended was the last straw. After that, I couldn’t in good faith support my country as it is currently run”. As the waterbender looks at the man through the reflection in the water, it began to feel as if the image of everyone in the Fire Nation she had held onto for so long, the image of power-hungry elites in fine robes getting their satisfaction from hurting those they feel are inferior to them, was finally beginning to crack. “Do you still love the Fire Nation?,” she asks. “Of course. I love my country. I always will. That’s why I left. I knew that by supporting the current regime, I would be aiding in its destruction. I needed to leave so that I can be part of restoring balance to the world, so that way, once the Fire Lord finally falls, we can start restoring it back to its true honor and glory by helping others,” he answers with an optimistic smile.

Katara thought about how she had previously thought of the Fire Nation, as well as its people. How even those at the very top had good hearts and just wanted what they believed was best for their homeland. Those thoughts then began to gravitate to thoughts of Zuko. Could he be in a similar position? Is that even possible? The waterbender shakes those thoughts away. Zuko is the crowned prince. The next in line to the Fire Nation throne. The fate of his whole identity literally depends on the Fire Nation winning the war. There’s no way he could just be blind to the reality of how much hurt the nation has caused the rest of the world. Or is there?

“It’s getting late. I should probably get some rest, anyway. Thanks for the talk,” the waterbender nervously stammers as she stands up and walks over to Appa, not even waiting to hear Chey’s response.

These thoughts and feelings for Zuko better stop by morning

To read more, here’s the link:

Please comment, subscribe, and bookmark so you don’t miss another update!

Thank you

#avatar the last airbender #avatar fanfiction #atla fanfic #book 1: water #archive of our own #canon divergent au #fanfiction #katara #ao3 #warrior katara #katara fanfic #katara fanfiction

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calcliffbas · 2 years

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So, I know it’s probably been a while for you, but I was recently rereading your White Lotus Zuko series, and I noticed you mentioned being willing to elaborate on your reasons for sticking so close to canon. I’ll admit, the way you stuck close to the events of canon in basically every way was a source of some major frustration when I first read it, and even now, it’s something which unfortunately brings it from a 10/10 to a 9.5/10. Why did you choose to have Zuko’s different choices have ultimately no effect?

Ohhh yikes, I’ve been dreading this ask. The long and the short of it is under the cut:

The simple answer is that the White Lotus Zuko series only really came about because I'm a Zutara shipper who wanted to see what their relationship could have been like if Zuko was a good guy from the start. It really was that simple when I first began writing ‘No Reason You Can’t Do It’.

The longer answer is that I was still (am still?) a very new writer, really not all that confident in my ability to craft a plot and a narrative, and I was more interested in (and had more fun thinking about) the characters and their relationships than the plot. That’s what I liked most about writing Book 1 and Book 2, and one part of Book 3 I really enjoyed writing the climactic scene when Aang unlocks the Avatar State, because that’s when we see how much his friends have helped him on this particular take on his coming-of-age journey.

I could have had the story go differently, yes, but when I was writing this fanfic, I’d just left a job that I hated only to find myself in another job that I hated in the middle of a global pandemic, and I wanted to write something that brought me joy. And like I’ve said before, I didn’t want to write a canon-divergent series so much as a canon-adjacent series; I wrote the story for me, and I enjoyed the fact that sticking close to canon meant that I could try my hand at writing Azula, Mai and Ty Lee. Plus, I was able to bring in more Asian influences such as Zuko’s Japanese poetry or Iroh’s Korean proverbs, which was hands-down my favourite part of 'You Have To Stand Firm’.

I’m sorry to hear that you were frustrated by the way the series went, but I mean, if it’s canon-divergent AUs you want, I wouldn’t say Zuko’s choices had no effect. I wrote a 90k Zuko-centric prequel set in the 18 months between ‘Seventy-two to nil’ and ‘No Reason You Can’t Do It’, and I’m kind of fond of my Mai-centric spin-off, which was set up pretty nicely by the ripple effects of ‘You Have To Stand Firm’ and ‘Who Knows What Happens Next’.

Maybe once I’ve worked on some other stuff and real life slows down a bit, I might go back and write an alternate Book 3 where Zuko fights Azula in the Crystal Catacombs to allow Uncle, Katara and Aang to escape. When they get back to the Wani, Sokka and Suki are fully prepared to go back and break Zuko out. Just before they leave, Iroh hands Sokka a bag to give to Zuko. In full view of everyone, Sokka opens the bag and pulls out a Pai Sho set, a couple of boxes of ginseng, and a Blue Spirit mask. Annnnd that’s how Aang and Katara and the SWT warriors find out that Zuko’s the Blue Spirit. Great job, Sokka.

On the ship’s brig, Azula taunts Zuko by telling him that she’s heard rumours that pirates have sent a mercenary after the Avatar’s waterbender and the Blue Spirit after they sunk their ship. Once Sokka and Suki have broken Zuko out, they decide that it’s too dangerous to risk leading Azula straight back to the Wani, and instead decide to go across the Earth Kingdom as a distraction, a la Sokka and Zuko’s plan in Book 1. Whilst they’re looking for the Kyoshi Warriors, Combustion Man catches up to them - he’s after the Blue Spirit, and he thinks Sokka’s the waterbender!

Cue Aang learning the elements from Katara, Toph and Iroh, the older kids doing White Lotus things, and more ZK pining than ever. But would anyone read it after such a long hiatus? I probably wouldn’t.

#thanks for the ask!#weepingslimethingoperator #white lotus zuko

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raibebe · 2 years

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ok hear me out:

mark: avatar confirmed

renjun: firebender

jeno: metalbender or firebender

haechan: airbender (but like meelo as in tenzin’s son vibes from the legend of korra) but idk it was hard to choose one

jaemin: waterbender (and bloodbender)

chenle: waterbender (foggy swamp style)

jisung: earthbender

okay, I see you. Very valid

Mark: Avatar confirmed (whatever his native element will be)

Renjun: Firebender who also can produce lightning

Jeno: Earthbender for sure. BUT. Lavabender? Tbh metalbending is fucking sick but I love lavabending (But I also love the mental image of him having like a metal bracelet to be able to manhandle Haechan at all times)

Haechan: MEELO ENERGY I AM PEEING 😂 I totally see it, that's so valid. But idk. Firebender seems somehow very right for him

Jaemin: Honestly. If Jaemin was able to bend blood, he'd be terrified of it. Would maybe even stop bending altogether. Until the others reassure him that he's not a monster.

Chenle: man, he's still hard to figure out. But I can totally see the swamp style waterbending and him using it to scare the shit out of Jisung 😂

Jisung: Really? hmmm... Idk what vibes he gives me. Maybe Katara vibes when she just started bending? And Jaemin as his teacher? Hmmmmm... Or very mellow earthbender with Jeno as his teacher?

#this is a lot harder than I though #FORGET MBTI AND HOGWARTS HOUSES WHICH BENDERS ARE THEY??#rai’s mail #rai’s anons #bender dreamies discussion

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twilightangel83 · 1 month

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A Change in Perspective: Chapter 3

It didn't take long for them to decide upon a plan that suited both of them. Iroh would board the ship, claiming to be there to take the position Zhao had offered him, and Zuko would sneak aboard and pretend to be one of the many masked soldiers on the same ship. With so many soldiers and the fact that most of them seemed to have been brought together just for this, it was very unlikely that Zuko would be recognized or noticed for being new or out of place. Plan set, it wasn't really a difficulty for them to catch up with Zhao's ship. It seemed that the admiral was waiting on reinforcements. It did take a bit of work for Iroh to cement his place on the ship properly, and Zhao was suspicious about his change of heart, but Iroh was no babe in the waters when it came to deception. He drew on the very real grief he felt while standing on the burning dock to sell his story to the other man. Pirates, he told Zhao. And aren't the best lies based around truths?

Once they'd settled on the ship Iroh and Zuko began searching out their crew. To neither of their surprise, the crew has been separated onto different ships, but the ships are docked while waiting and it's simple enough. This was the most dangerous part of their plan and they were well aware of this. Iroh was fairly certain he knew how the crew will react, they had lived together on a small ship for around three years after all, but it was always a risk. They were lucky though and everything went well. The crew was on board and no one else learned of their plans. It was several days later that the rest of the fleet arrived and Iroh was shocked by its number even as he was called to Zhao.

"This will truly be one for the history books, General Iroh," Zhao bragged coolly as he stared out at the waters in front of his ship "Just think, centuries from now, people will study the great Admiral Zhao, who destroyed the last of the Water Tribe civilization. You're lucky you're here to see it."

Iroh was careful not to let his true feelings on the matter shine through as he replied, though his voice was somewhat scolding "Be careful what you wish for, Admiral. History is not always kind to its subjects."

"I suppose you speak from experience," Zhao almost sneered "But rest assured. This will be nothing like your legendary failure at Ba Sing Se."

Iroh grimaced as Zhao walked ahead, closer to the front of the boat "I hope not, for your sake." And for the sake of the people on both sides. There had been far too much death at Ba Sing Se.

"Tell the captains to prepare for the first strike." It was a dismissal and they both knew it. Iroh chafed at it, for the admiral certainly had no right to treat him in such a manner, but used it as an excuse to get away from the cruel man. As he moved away he let his expression drop to a more severe one. What was Zhao planning? He seemed so confident in this battle, but the Northern Water Tribe still stood strong for several good reasons. And the full moon was almost upon them, meaning they were near their strongest. Zhao must have a good plan if Ozai had sent this many troops under his control for this plan, but for the life of him Iroh could not figure out what it could be. And something was sitting heavy in his chest, warning him that there was something very wrong. He would keep his eyes and ears open for what was going to happen.

Iroh did his best to keep himself occupied as the first strike begins, hating not being able to do anything to protect the people on the ships or in the Water Tribe, but as the sun dipped down he made his way back to Zhao with a word of warning.

"It's almost twilight Admiral," he noted "As your military consultant, I must advise you halt your attack. The waterbenders draw their power from the moon and it is nearly fully tonight. You should wait and resume the attack at daybreak." And perhaps that would give the tribe time to figure something out as well.

"Oh I'm well aware of the moon problem and I am working on a solution. But for now, daybreak it is." Iroh stared at the other man, something akin to horror flaring up in his chest, but he kept his tone even and curious.

"Working on a solution for the moon?" he asked, disbelieving "Unless you plan to wait here until the new moon I can't imagine what you could do for it. And that would take far too much time." Zhao gave him a superior smirk at that, cruel amusement dancing in his eyes.

"Oh I don't think we'll have to wait that long," he drawled with what sounds like sadistic pleasure "I plan to take care of the moon, and their barbaric attempt at bending, very soon." With that he turned away, missing the abject horror that Iroh can not quite hide. He took several long minutes before he could speak in any sort of calm manner.

"I see." He paused, trying to think of what else to say to learn more, but Zhao waved him away.

"Go inform the captains to halt until daybreak." Iroh hid a frown before turning and making his way out, mind racing. He passed on the order before drawing his nephew away so they could speak in private.

"We may have a problem," he told Zuko with a grim frown and is gratified when his nephew immediately straightened to listen, looking worried. "Zhao is talking like he intends to do something to the moon itself. To stop the waterbenders from being able to bend at all." Zuko frowned, looking both confused and somewhat alarmed and Iroh could not help but feel a swell of gratitude that his nephew realized this could be a problem.

"Is it even possible to harm the moon?" Zuko asked, somewhat baffled.

Iroh nodded "It is difficult but possible. And I have heard rumors that a physical embodiment of the moon spirit exists at the Northern Water Tribe and that this is part of why they remain so strong. It could be just a rumor, but..." He trailed off with a deeper frown.

"But it could be fact," Zuko finished for him "It's clearly enough for Zhao to be willing to risk this." A pause before he pressed on, looking pained "And enough for my father to put this many troops into it. They must honestly believe it's possible, otherwise, why would they risk this kind of gambit."

Iroh shook his head grimly "I can think of no other reason myself."

Read the rest Here

#a change in perspective #avatar: the last airbender #fanfiction #fanfic

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atlabeth · 3 years

Text

everything happens for a reason part 3 - zuko x fem!reader

I feel so much, I get carried away

part 2 | masterlist | part 4

a/n: enjoy the fluff in this chapter bc its not gonna last

once again for reference - this chapter takes place 2 years after the last one so y/n is 11 and zuko is 12

warning(s): eating/food, but otherwise its pure fluff

wc: 3.3k

chapter title comes from carried away by madison beer!

i ran out of kid zuko gifs so i had to make my own smh if you want something done you gotta do it yourself

The young friendship only flourished after that fateful day. Zuko and Y/N began spending almost all of their freetime together between Y/N teaching him about her culture, their usual talking in the hallways, and finding ways to hang out together outside of her schedule. She was absolutely delighted to be teaching Zuko though, so she always made sure there was time for her self proclaimed academy.

Y/N was constantly busy around the castle, so in order to hang out they had started waking up extra early — the pair had become experts at sneaking around the castle with the first rays of the sun. The gardens were a favourite because of its availability, and of course, the turtleducks. It also gave Y/N a chance to bend outside of healing, something that they began to take advantage of as they got older.

Sparring sessions became a regular between them as a way for Y/N to get some practice with martial bending, Zuko to experience fighting against a waterbender, and just another way for them to spend time together. Of course, they had to keep it as quiet as possible to avoid alerting anyone of their presence, but that became the least of their worries over time.

They each pushed each other to be better, and with Y/N’s healing skills, they were able to walk away every morning without any injuries. But after discovering a very unfair advantage that the prince held, she decided that morning sparring just wasn’t enough.

(“Firebending gets stronger in the morning,” he had told her after a particularly brutal blast resulting in some emergency bending on Y/N’s part to extinguish a tree. “My teachers always say that we rise with the sun.”

“Well,” she had said with a smile. “We rise with the moon. You just signed yourself up for some late night sparring sessions.”)

Y/N had truly started to come into her own. It had been two years since her capture, and though she had in no way made peace with her life in the Fire Nation, she was trying to take advantage of it as much as she could. Even though she despised being at the beck and call of nobles and guards, she couldn’t deny the opportunities it gave her to hone her abilities. Her healing had improved tenfold and her martial bending wasn’t too shabby either. Between all of the time spent with Zuko and practicing her bending, she was able to distract herself from her dim reality.

But the world was a cruel, cruel place, no matter how much she tried to ignore it. It didn’t treat souls like Zuko and Y/N kindly, a fact that they would soon become aware of.

In the moment though, Y/N was more focused on not getting burnt.

She twirled to the side as a small flame shot past her, just barely managing to dodge it as she bent a stream of water out from the pond and sent it at Zuko. He turned it to steam as he blocked it with his own fire, which he then sent back at her with a combination of a punch and a kick. Y/N raised her hands and bent up a large wall of water from the pond, and with a small grunt on her part, sent it flying towards Zuko. He tried to conjure up his own fire shield in an effort to extinguish the water once more, but it was too little too late and he ended up getting knocked to the ground and completely drenched.

Y/N couldn’t stop the giggle that fell from her lips as Zuko wiped water off of his face, sputtering incoherently while he pushed himself up. “Did you really have to do that?” he complained.

“You know I do.” She grinned as she walked around the pond to his side, cracking her knuckles before she began to bend the water out of his clothes. “This was in the morning, too. Admit it, I’m getting better!”

He cracked a smile of his own. “You really are. I just wish that you getting better didn’t end up in me getting soaked every time.”

She bent the water she had extracted from his clothes back into the pond and held out her hand to help him up from the ground, which he took gratefully. “That just makes it more fun.”

As she helped pull him up, Y/N found herself more than a little transfixed. The rays of the rising sun shone down on him perfectly, and the smile still on his lips made her feel flutter bats in her stomach.

Y/N didn’t know when she had started seeing Zuko in a different light than usual. When his laughs became melodious, his smile like a ray of sunshine on its own, his company coveted. While she was usually able to trade verbal jabs with him without a second thought, doing her self-assigned job of keeping him humble, something had changed in the past year.

They grew steadily closer over the years after they had met, but one event in particular all but pushed Zuko into her arms.

Ursa’s banishment.

Of course, they didn’t know that she had been banished. No one aside from Ozai knew the true nature of her disappearance — to her children and the other inhabitants of the palace, it was just that. A disappearance.

It was suspicious, yes. All in the span of a day, Princess Ursa vanished, Fire Lord Azulon mysteriously perished, and Ozai took his place, but nothing could be done. It was a somber day for every servant — Ursa showed them a kindness that couldn’t be found anywhere else in the palace, and to rub salt in the wound, a man just as cruel as Azulon had risen to the throne.

Zuko was devastated. He had always been close with his mother, and the only thing she had given him before leaving was a short goodbye and a kiss. He was angry beyond belief at the abandonment, and that anger overshadowed his grief.

Y/N tried to help him, but he lashed out at her.

“Your mother is still here and she loves you! Mine left me like I was nothing. Don’t try and say you know how I feel.”

“But my father is gone. I do know how you feel Zuko, and I want to help you, but I can’t help you if you keep pushing me away.”

“…you don’t know anything.”

It hurt, but she knew he needed space. She gave it to him, letting him brew alone and take out his anger however necessary, but let him know that the door was open when he was ready to talk.

He did — he had apologized for what he said and she accepted, and Zuko ended up spilling every emotion he had to her over the next few weeks. She listened, offered advice when she could, and made Zuko feel a little bit less alone in the scheme of it all. It was a horrible experience, but it brought them closer together, and the prince was eternally thankful that he had a friend to help him through the ordeal.

The night that he came to her room, admitting that he was hurting and asking for her help — Y/N thinks that was the moment she fell for him. She cursed herself at the time for developing feelings for her only friend in the palace, but over time she learned to cover them up. She had to remember her place.

She understood her role, but it got harder and harder to keep up with it the more time she spent with Zuko — this moment was no exception.

“Yeah, yeah. I just hold back because I don’t want to burn you.”

“Liar!” she exclaimed, hitting him playfully on the shoulder. “You forget that I can heal myself if anything goes wrong. Besides, I know you’d never burn me. I trust you.”

Zuko smiled and smoothed his clothes back down, the only sign of their sparring session now gone. “Good, because I trust you too. No matter how many times you totally drench me.”

She snorted as she started to walk back to the palace. “Like I said, that just makes it more fun. And as fun as it has been completely crushing you in combat, duty calls.”

He sighed, giving a reluctant nod as he started to follow her — then his eyes lit up, and he grabbed her arm to stop them. “Wait, how much work do you have today?”

Y/N thought for a few seconds then shrugged. “Dunno, it varies. I got stuck working with Jaysa all this morning, so that’s going to take forever, I have my usual healing lessons with Master Rika after, and then I usually just end up going around with whatever else comes my way for the rest of the day.” She grinned and lowered her voice as if the subject of the matter could somehow hear her. “I’ve been working on a dress for my mother in secret because her birthday is coming up soon, so the free time I get between my shifts that isn’t spent with you has been going towards that.”

Zuko gaped. “You’re making her a dress all on your own, with no help? How?”

She held up her hands with a proud smile. “These things are good for waterbending, sewing, and hitting best friends.”

He gave her a sideways grin at that. “I’m your best friend?”

Y/N snickered and rolled her eyes. “Yeah, dummy. You’re like, the only person that likes me in this whole nation. Of course you’re my best friend.”

“Well…” he started. “Would a best friend like to break the rules even more tonight?”

Her eyes lit up in turn, completely betraying her excitement despite her attempt to look nonchalant about it. “That depends — what d’you have in mind?”

He grinned and leaned forward, dropping his voice to a whisper as he spoke in her ear. “So, after you finish work for the night, we…”

It was a struggle to get through all of her work after the plan that she and Zuko had formulated — sure, they broke the rules all the time. The basis of their entire friendship was breaking the rules, but this was going farther than they ever had before. Y/N wasn’t thinking about the consequences though, she was thinking about the journey — that was her first mistake.

She had rushed through all of her chores with Jaysa, hardly paid attention in her healing lessons, and made quick work of the rest of her day until she was finally able to meet up with Zuko at one of the various servant entrances that she had shown him.

“You’re finally here!” he exclaimed, his body buzzing with nervous energy. “I thought you were never gonna come.”

“Some of us actually have work to get done, mister crown prince,” she joked as she bumped his shoulder with hers. “But that doesn’t matter — let’s get going before someone catches us! I don’t want it to get too dark either.”

“It’s gonna be fine,” Zuko reassured. “My dad is in war meetings all day, no one is going to catch us. Now come on!”

Zuko pushed open the door, grabbed her hand, and began to pull her along. A laugh fell from her lips as they ran, unable to stop herself from casting a cautionary glance behind them as they got farther from the palace. Y/N tried to push her worries out of her mind — like she had told Zuko earlier, she trusted him.

That was her second mistake.

It was surprisingly easy to sneak past the guards around the wall and just as quick to get through Royal Caldera, and before Y/N knew it, they had arrived in the city.

It was nothing like she had ever seen before.

The village she had grown up in was miniscule compared to anything in the Fire Nation, and she was especially awestruck upon entering the city. As home to more middle class citizens than anything, it was a bustling marketplace filled with workers and nobles alike — if she hadn’t been preoccupied with the stars in her eyes, she would’ve been able to see the way Zuko was absolutely beaming at her.

“Come on!” he exclaimed, grabbing her hand once again as he began to walk — at a much more moderate pace than their run here — down the streets. “There’s so much here that I wanna show you. Have you ever been out here?”

She shook her head, allowing herself to gawk at her surroundings while they went down the street. “We aren’t really allowed to leave the palace since we’re technically still prisoners, just… ones that work. My mother always had to give her money to one of the other servants so that when they went out to buy their things, they could pick some stuff up for us as well. This is all totally new.”

Once again, a frown found its way onto Zuko’s face, but only for a split second before he pointed at a stall opposite to them. “Oh— there’s a fruit stand! Come on, you have to try this.”

Y/N let Zuko pull her over to the stand, looking at the array of fruits on display while Zuko conversed with the merchant. A few silver pieces later and they were walking away with a basket of produce — miraculously, the prince hadn’t been recognized, so she figured he wouldn’t need a disguise. Third mistake.

“Here,” he said, offering her a mango from the basket. “You haven’t lived until you’ve tried Fire Nation mango.”

She took the fruit from him and bit into it, her eyes immediately widening as she turned on Zuko. “Tui’s gills, this is delicious! You’re telling me that you people just have this on hand but we don’t get any of it?”

He shrugged and took a fig from the basket as Y/N wiped some juice off of her chin. “There’s a reason I’ve helped you break into the kitchens so many times. Now, where do you wanna go next?”

The pair spent the next couple of hours browsing the marketplace, enjoying their day on the Fire Lord’s coin. Zuko was more than happy to show Y/N parts of his culture after all she had taught him, and she was more than happy to experience it. They had been able to buy lanterns for the upcoming Festival of Szeto, purchase their own blends of tea leaves, and of course Zuko insisted on getting fire flakes and gummies.

(Y/N thought he was insane. Why in the world would the Fire Nation want to make food that hurt them on purpose? She was going to stick with her newfound love for mangoes.)

But Zuko hadn’t even brought her to the best part yet.

“Can I open my eyes now?” She asked, her anxious tone betraying her curiosity.

“Now you can.” Y/N was met with Zuko’s grin and as she focused on the stand in front of them, she had to make a conscious effort to not gape.

Zuko had brought her to a sewing stand with all the threads, fabrics, and silks that she could dream of in all kinds of colors. She immediately rushed forward, unable to stop herself from running her hands over and through each and every piece of material — she was in a seamstress’s heaven.

“I take that as a sign you like it?” Zuko asked happily.

“Oh, definitely,” she confirmed, still completely caught up in all the choices. “This is so much better than all the material we’re given to work with!”

“That’s why I brought you here. I thought you could get some stuff for yourself, and some stuff to help with the dress you’re making for your mom. I don’t really know how sewing works, but I thought that this was one way I could help.”

“That is so sweet of you!” she gushed. “Thank you so much — you should probably get around to some of the other stalls because I… I think I’m gonna be here for a while.”

Zuko laughed and fished out of a couple of golden pieces then set them in her hand. “That’s okay. I’ll meet you over by the steps; we can watch the sunset together.”

They nodded as parting gifts and each was enveloped in their tasks; Y/N beginning to ask the merchant questions about everything at their stand and Zuko off to entertain himself for a few more minutes.

Soon enough, Y/N had her own small bundle of silks and fabrics, her mind already going off in a million different ways of how she could incorporate it into the design. She found Zuko sitting on the steps and as she took her own seat next to him, he handed her another mango.

“Did you find everything you wanted?” She nodded and hummed gratefully as she accepted the fruit, taking a bite as her eyes fell on the skyline in front of them.

“I had a really great time today, Zuko. I really can’t thank you enough for taking me out here. I… I think I forgot what it was like to feel like this.”

“Like what?”

“...happy.” She paused for a second before allowing herself to meet his eyes. “All the time I spend with you in the palace… It’s one of the only times that I really do feel happy. And being out here today, getting to walk around where I wanted and buy things and just— I feel free, Zuko. And that means everything to me.”

She felt the heat rush to her cheeks and she turned away. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to go on like that—“

Zuko gently reached out for her hand, drawing her attention back to him and the soft smile on his face.

“Well… I care about you. You’re nice to me, and you take time out of your day to help me which you don’t have to do. This is just me trying to pay you back for all you’ve done to help me. We can do this more often — whenever my dad’s busy.”

Her own smile grew on her lips and she nodded as she laced her fingers with his. “I care about you too. And.. I’d like that.”

Y/N leaned her head on his shoulder and together, they watched the sunset over the city.

There was no place either of them would rather be.

Y/N and Zuko made their way back to the palace as quickly as they could after realizing how late it had gotten. Y/N was sure that she was going to get the talking-to of her life after what she had done, but she was almost giddy after what had just happened. She could deal with any of Kura’s consequences later — right now the only thought in her mind was the feeling of Zuko’s hand in hers.

The night had been nothing short of perfect. She had felt freer than ever before out there in the city with Zuko, and knowing that he reciprocated the feelings she had for him was enough to make her heart burst. She cared for him, and he cared for her.

Of course, there was that nagging question of how they would continue now that their friendship had morphed into something more, but once again — it was something she would deal with later. Her fourth and final mistake.

But as a guard turned the corner, Y/N realized she might not get the chance. She quickly let go of Zuko’s hand and tucked it under the bundle of fabric, hoping that the gesture of affection had been missed by the man.

If he had noticed, he showed no sign of it. He stopped in front of them, a gruff voice speaking from behind the mask with words that made her heart stop.

“Prince Zuko, the Fire Lord has requested an audience with you.”

haha OOPS

perm tag list: @dv0412 @siriuslyslyslytherin @maruchan77

ehfar: @chandies-sideblog @persica27

atla: @marianne1806

#zuko x reader #zuko x you #zuko x y/n #zuko fic #zuko #avatar #avatar the last airbender #avatar fic #avatar the last airbender fic #atla #atla fic #zuko avatar #sadie writes

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evienyx · 2 years

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Ohhhhh I love the relationship between Zuko and Piandao as well ❤️ and I just imagine Piandao corning Iroh after the Agni Kai and making him promise that he'll take good care of Zuko

"Master Piandao. What a surprise to see you here. I thought you lived in Shu Jing?"

"I do, General Iroh," Piandao responded, his face carefully neutral. "I heard that you were about to set off to travel the world, however, and I felt the need to speak with you before that."

"You would be correct there, old friend," Iroh said, and Piandao's eye twitched just a bit. "I am joining my nephew to watch over him while he is banished. That is neither here nor there, though."

"Actually, your Highness," Piandao said, "That is exactly what I wanted to talk with you about."

Iroh raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"I had heard that there were... conditions that would permit Prince Zuko to return to the Fire Nation."

Iroh nodded. "Indeed. He is to be banished until he captures the Avatar."

There was a beat of silence.

"You mean to say he is to be banished for the rest of his life, then."

Iroh said nothing.

"I don't take you for a fool, General Iroh," Piandao said coolly. "I am not going to dance around the issue. You and I both know that searching for the Avatar is a fruitless quest. The Fire Lord is sending him on a quest he knows that he cannot succeed at."

"That may be true," Iroh said slowly, "But there is a chance that the Avatar is still out there. Even if they are not an airbender, they would have been reborn as a waterbender or an earthbender."

"We would have heard if they had," Piandao said, brushing Iroh's idea aside. "No, the Avatar is an airbender, I am sure, who has disappeared off the face of the earth. No one has found them for nearly one-hundred years. What makes Fire Lord Ozai think that a thirteen-year-old will be able to find him where all the best generals and admirals from both sides of this war have failed?"

Iroh said nothing.

"It's false hope, General Iroh. I can only hope, myself, that you do not inspire the same within me." Iroh raised an eyebrow, questioning. "Do not convince Prince Zuko that this is a quest he can complete. Do not make him think that this was something he was intended to be able to do."

Iroh did not move a muscle. After a moment, he sighed and said, "Is there anything else you needed, Master Piandao?"

"Indeed there is."

Piandao took a few steps closer, until he was just a few feet away from Iroh. His eyes had to turn down a bit to look at the shorter man, but as their gazes met, the playing field was nothing if not even.

"I need you to swear to me, General Iroh, that you will do everything in your power to take care of that boy." Iroh opened his mouth to speak, his brow furrowed, but Piandao charged on. "Swear to me that you will keep him warm and fed. You will keep him safe, and loved, and protected. Swear to me that you will care for him with all of the care that he deserves."

Iroh said nothing. There was a pause, one that marinated in the air, and seeped into Piandao's bones. They both stood there for a few moments, and everything was silent.

Finally, Iroh spoke. "Of course I will, Master Piandao."

"Swear to me, General Iroh."

There was the slightest pause once more, and Piandao wished he could tell whether it was one of hesitation or not. Then, "I swear to you, Master Piandao, that I will keep Zuko loved and cared for. I promise that nothing will ever happen to him that could cause him harm as long as I can help it. I will protect him, let him know that he is safe, and I will be sure to love him." Piandao's eyes were boring into Iroh's soul. "I promise."

Piandao hummed and nodded, taking a few steps back and dipping into a low bow. "Safe travels, General Iroh. Give the prince my best."

"Of course, Master Piandao," Iroh said, bowing in return, and that was the last that Piandao saw of him for three years.

Months slipped into years. The Comet came and went, and Piandao lived his life privately, as he always had.

For the most part.

Still, he knew he should've been suspicious when, once he'd arrived at the Order of the White Lotus camp upon General Iroh's call, he didn't see hide nor hair of Prince Zuko. Piandao knew that Prince Zuko was no longer in Caldera. General Iroh said that he was fine, though, and Piandao had been given no reason not to trust the general.

Staring at the scene in front of him, though, painted a different picture:

Princess Azula, her hair wild, standing in front of her brother, her feet set back into a stance, her hands ready to shoot jets of flame at Piandao if he so much as moved. Prince Zuko, just a bit behind his sister, looking far more pale than anyone had any business being, looking thinner than Piandao had ever seen him, with a dullness to his eyes that chilled Piandao to his core.

Both of them, dressed in what looked to be prison rags. Azula, scowling, her teeth gritted as if she meant to growl at him. Zuko, his face the most vulnerable Piandao had seen it since one of the first times they had ever trained together. His eyes were a bit wide, and there was no telling what he was thinking, just that it wasn't good.

Piandao took a deep breath. He didn't know where Sokka, the Avatar, and their friends were, but that didn't matter to him. Not right now.

Carefully, Piandao shifted out of the stance that he had fallen into on instinct. Then, ever-so-slowly, he did something that he had never done before. Piandao unsheathed his sword.

And let it clatter to the ground.

Empty-handed, Piandao's eyes met the prince's, and he smiled.

"It's been a while, hasn't it, Zuko?" Piandao asked gently. His smile widened just a bit. "It's nice to see you again."

#atla #atla au #ask #ask away #withered lotus au #this au is just slowly turning into the 'piandad au'#largely bc you guys keep sending in asks about it #but ya know im not complaining #its always a good day if i get to write some piandad content #anyway uhhh as you can see i am slowly structuring the timeline for you all as well #so you can get a general idea of whats happening before i format it all into an actual work #which will happen eventually! i just need to outline some stuff first #writing the verbal tennis matches between iroh and piandao has been my fav so far #i love making them interact in this au #theyre both so good w words and i love making them battle with them to see who comes out on top lmao

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dickpuncher420 · 3 years

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hi ambre my love for writing prompts can i get uhhhhhh fairground ferris wheel zukka

As the Fire Lord, it’s rare that Zuko finds enough time to travel, especially at this time of year. But the spirits must have been feeling especially generous lately, because this is the longest he’s ever gone without an assassination attempt, his council has been uncharacteristically agreeable, and all of his current projects are moving smoothly along, without the need for his supervision—meaning that he’s free to take some time off, for once in his life, and finally experience this Glacier Spirits Festival that Sokka has told him so much about.

Sokka and Izumi have already been down in the Southern Water Tribe for a while, ever since Izumi started suddenly bending the tea out of their cups at breakfast one day, and they’re the first ones to greet him when his airship touches down on the outskirts of town. Izumi makes a face when Sokka pulls him in for a kiss—she’s getting to that age where everything her dads does embarrasses her—but then tugs insistently at Zuko’s robes until he reaches down to pick her up.

“Oof.” Zuko groans as he settles her onto his hip. “You’re getting a bit too big for this, ‘Zumi.”

Izumi pouts at him, her golden eyes big and imploring. “But Daddy does it all the time, and he never says I’m too big.”

“Does he now?” Zuko shoots Sokka a look, and Sokka grins sheepishly and shrugs. They’re going to have a talk about that later—he’s well aware that Izumi has the both of them wrapped around her little finger, but that doesn’t mean they can’t learn to tell her no sometimes.

He sets Izumi down after placing a kiss to the top of her head, and she holds his hand and chatters excitedly the whole way back to the house. Auntie ‘Tara has been teaching her some very basic waterbending control, mostly to keep her from getting into any future accidents—even Azula didn’t start learning actual bending techniques until she was six years old.

With the festival starting tomorrow, booths and attractions have been set up all over the centre of town, and Izumi eagerly points them out as they walk past. Zuko can practically feel the tension easing out of his shoulders by the minute—he doesn’t realize how much the crown weighs him down until he’s finally free of it, and now, with it safely stored in his rooms all the way back in the Fire Nation, he feels lighter than he has in ages.

Dinner is a quiet, simple affair. Sokka nabs the stewed sea prunes that Izumi has pushed to the sides of her bowl, and laughs at the face that Zuko makes when he bites down into one by accident. Even after all these years, he’s never quite been able to get used to the taste; never had to, really, since Sokka would always steal his right out of his bowl whenever he came to visit.

They put Izumi to bed once she starts nodding off in her seat, and then spend a few more hours talking quietly, curled up together next to the hearth. Zuko heats his hands and massages Sokka’s leg without being asked—the break is old and fully healed, but Zuko knows that the cold still gets to it sometimes—and Sokka sinks back into his furs with a grateful groan.

“You’re the best husband ever, you know that?”

“Mhm,” Zuko says, smiling. “You could stand to say it more often, though.”

They’re awoken in the morning—or what passes for the morning, this close to the solstice—by Izumi, who leaps onto their bed, squealing about the festival. She barely gives them time to eat breakfast before she’s ushering them out the door, one hand clasped in each of her fathers’ hands, dragging them along as fast as her little legs will go.

Zuko catches Sokka’s eye as they walk and grins. He can’t help it—Izumi’s excitement is infectious.

She totes them along as they go from booth to booth, trying out the fried eel-squid here, admiring the beadwork of a young vendor there. At one of the game stands, Sokka wins her a stuffed sky bison plushie, which she immediately names Baby Appa—or Bappa, for short. Zuko complains that it sounds too much like Baba, and Sokka just laughs and wins him one too, if only to shut him up.

There’s something comforting about the anonymity of the festival. Here, he’s not the Fire Lord. Here, he’s just a man, enjoying the Glacier Spirits Festival with his family, just like any regular person. He’s not the only foreigner, either: in the years since the end of the war, the festival has expanded enough that people from beyond the Water Tribes have become regular visitors as well. Nobody even spares Zuko, with his pale skin and mottled scar, a second glance—especially not when his hair has been braided back like this, in a traditional Water Tribe style.

Zuko doesn’t often regret being the Fire Lord, at least not anymore. Sure, it’s tedious and tiring and stressful, but he’s always proud of his work, and there isn’t a single person in the world that he would rather have take his place.

It’s at times like this, though—with Sokka’s hand in his, and Izumi bounding ahead to marvel at the ferris wheel that towers over the rest of the town—that he wishes he could leave all the pomp and circumstance behind and just be Zuko.

Izumi waves them over, practically vibrating with excitement, and begs them for a ride on the ferris wheel. Unable to deny her anything, Zuko dutifully hands over a few copper pieces to the operator, and the next thing he knows they’re being strapped into the strange metal contraption, Izumi safely wedged between him and Sokka.

Snowflakes begin to fall as they wait for the rest of the seats to be filled. Izumi kicks her feet excitedly, eyes wide, and sticks her tongue out in an attempt to catch a few. Zuko laughs and joins her, and he’s so intent on his snowflake-catching that the sudden jolt of the ferris wheel kicking into motion catches him off guard, and he yelps and clutches at Sokka’s arm.

“Scared?” Sokka teases, and Zuko gives him a half-hearted smack.

“Are you scared, Baba?” Izumi says, adorably earnest in the way that small children are. “You can hold my hand.” She holds out a small gloved hand, and Zuko smiles at her and takes it, wondering if she can sense the way it feels like his heart is melting in his chest. He can feel people’s inner fire—surely waterbenders must be able to do something similar?

“Thank you, ‘Zumi,” he says, and she beams.

The ferris wheel creaks and groans as it carries them up, and back down, and back up again. Sokka assures them that it’s perfectly safe—he’d looked over the plans and supervised its assembly himself—and Zuko finds himself relaxing into the motion of it, chuckling at the way Izumi’s eyes go wide whenever they reach the top of its cycle.

Eventually, the ferris wheel slows and shudders to a stop—and it’s just their luck that they happen to be sitting at the very top of it when it does. Like this, they have the entire town spread out before them, with all its lights and colours and the crowds of people milling about. It makes Zuko feel strangely small, but small in that way that he likes, in the way that makes him feel like just Zuko.

And maybe it’s only temporary, but—he glances over at Sokka, at Izumi, both staring down at the world below with wonder in their eyes—he thinks he can let himself enjoy being just Zuko, just for a bit.

#zukka #atla #dickpuncherwrites #goldrushzukka #ask #hiiiiii alex beloved this got way out of hand. i hope u like it anyways #zukka dads

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sokkastyles · 3 years

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People usually says that Katara and Aang are best friends, but I really don't see this. Katara and Aang never shared any deep conversation or understanding, I mean, Katara does understand and protect and cuddle Aang, more like a mother would do, but Aang never does the same. Actually, I think he disrespected here more than just a couple of times. On "Southern Raiders" Katara even said that she knew Aang would never understand her. Best friends are supposed do be supportive, understanding and Katara knew that Aang wouldn't be able to do this for her. I don't think that Katara goes to Aang to share her burdens because she is constantly protecting him and he probably wouldn't be able to handle it. I do think they are friends, but never best friends. Katara gives and Aang just takes.

I'd like to hear your opinion.

I think it says a lot that Katara tells Aang in "The Southern Raiders" that she knew he wouldn't understand this part of her. Katara is always trying to protect Aang from anything, including herself and her darker emotions. That says to me more than just feeling protective of Aang, it says that she feels like she can't be her true self around him. Like when she yells at him in "The Waterbending Scroll," she immediately apologizes and is afraid of hurting his feelings. When she is praised for her bending skills in front of Aang, she deflects and says that Aang is the Avatar. Whether or not Aang actually does understand Katara (and I think it ALSO says a lot that he claims he understands but then completely misunderstands at the end of the episode, and is wrong about his assumption about what Katara would do) it is clear that KATARA thinks Aang wouldn't understand this aspect of her personality, and that's true not in just what she says in TSR but in the way she hides the darker or more selfish parts of herself when she is around him. Like how she waits until she is alone with Zuko to finish her threat to him. Or when she breaks down in the catacombs (again while alone with Zuko) because she has to always keep it together for Aang and the rest of the group.

If you look at that scene in TSR, Katara didn't even want to tell Aang where she was going.

Katara: I need to borrow Appa.

Aang: [Jokingly.] Why? Is it your turn to take a little field trip with Zuko?

Katara: Yes, it is.

Aang: [Slightly surprised.] Oh. What's going on?

Katara: We're going to find the man who took my mother from me.

Zuko: Sokka told me the story of what happened. I know who did it and I know how to find him.

Aang: Um ... and what exactly do you think this will accomplish?

Katara: [Shakes her head in dismay.] Ugh, I knew you wouldn't understand.

I mean. Look at the way Katara approaches this situation. She's not asking Aang's permission, they're already packed. She doesn't open with telling Aang where they are going and why or bring up her mother to appeal to what he already knows about her trauma. She just tells him she needs to borrow Appa. She's already decided that he's not a part of this, she doesn't want him to see this part of her, and she already knows Aang won't understand.

And Aang's response in the face of Katara's seriousness is to joke about it. And he's totally surprised when he realizes how serious she is. I'm supposed to think that these two people have a deep and intimate connection?

Moreover, Katara becomes even more defensive in response to Aang's levity. Her dialogue changes from "I need this" to "WE are going to do this." Meaning her and Zuko. Because she feels unsupported by Aang. She's already decided that Zuko will support her in a way Aang won't, and she hated Zuko like five minutes ago! But she trusts him more than she does Aang, the supposed wholesome option, her supposed best friend.

Another very interesting thing is that when she says she knew Aang wouldn't understand, it is to refute Aang's dismissal of what Zuko said. Zuko is speaking in support of Katara after Aang's initial dismissal of her, Aang is dismissive again, and Katara says what she said to Aang not only in response to his tone, which makes it clear that he doesn't take what she wants to do seriously, but she says it to defend Zuko. It is, like, hilarious when people use this episode as evidence that Katara and Zuko are toxic together because what they just did right there was support each other instantly, while Aang and Katara bicker with and talk past each other.

Katara could have said something like "Zuko says he knows where to find him and it's the only chance I have" or something to indicate that she didn't really trust or want to go with him, because she hasn't forgiven him yet, but she doesn't do that. Instead she lets Zuko explain the situation to Aang, who should know her better and who she should feel more comfortable with than a guy she only recently stopped hating.

The thing that gets me is that there were multiple opportunities to use this episode as a bonding moment between Katara and Aang, even as its purpose is to establish a bond between Katara and Zuko. Aang could have apologized to Katara for not understanding or used it as an opportunity to learn about her. Instead he assumes she'll do what he thinks she should do and is totally wrong, makes an assumption, and Katara's look of guilt when Aang says he knew she'd "make the right choice" is so painful. That look says so much. Because I believe Katara wished Aang understood. I think she wished she could show the more hurt side of herself to him without fear of judgement. It's the same look she gets when she overhears Sokka talking about how he thinks of her as a mother figure. And whether or not it is Aang's - or Sokka's - fault that Katara feels this way, the reality is that she does, and that is so sad.

It's sad that a fourteen year old girl feels that much pressure to be perfect, to not show anything that might be interpreted as ugly or uncomfortable for the people around her to deal with. To take care of other people to the point of feeling guilty for her own emotional needs.

What annoys me a lot of the time about this conversation is that a lot of people center Aang and how good of a person he is and how he "deserves" Katara, how dare you say Aang did anything wrong, etc etc. The problem with this - other than that no one deserves a relationship based on how good they are - is that it's not necessarily about what Aang did wrong, it's about Katara's needs not being met. And the show weirdly went out of its way in one of its last episodes that focused on Katara and her relationships to show that Katara's emotional needs were not being met in her relationship with Aang.

#katara #antikataang #the southern raiders #zuko #the runaway #the waterbending scroll

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afterhourswjay · 2 years

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This time I have I have an idea about the man, the myth, the legend, Hizashi Yamada. Could you by any chance do some head cannons about him with an autistic/Neuro divergent partner? That would be absolutely amazing!

(Copied and pasted for those who are confused in seeing them answer this again lol)

Yup, no problem!! warnings: unnamed asshole lady being an asshole Tag list: @dynacats

- while he may not care that you're autistic/neuro divergent, in the 'doesn't make a big deal of it' and doesn't treating you 100% different or like glass, he is very aware of your needs - you guys have been dating since your high school days, which shocks him sometimes! you- you still love him so much, even after all this time? It literally blows his mind - you have a pretty strong quirk, and a hero license. but not because you want to be a hero. you have a license in case hizashi ever gets bored or needs help during his workday - what's your quirk? idk, some sorta ice quirk. you typically make and sell ice sculptures. if you focus particularly hard, you can condense the molecules of your ice to the point of virtually being unmeltable unless under extreme heat (such as being hit by a fire quirk) - you normally have everything under control and that's fine, but the one time you can't really control your quirk all that well is when you happy stim especially if you do any sorta hand movements (he finds it cute even if you accidently end up flinging ice in his direction) - sometimes you'll be talking about a project your excited about doing or something in a show that you love, so you get to talking. And talking. Your hand movements become more aggressive, more erratic, as you try to keep up with how fast your brain is moving. next thing you know, mic lets out a small yelp and your brain screeches to a halt when you see the entire front of hizashi covered in a thin sheet of ice! - he told you, as best as he could with his mouth frozen shut, to be careful when removing it. When you were done, you were left with a funny ice impression similar to that one starwars scene where Han Solo gets stuck in the block - sometimes when you're out and about with Mic, you'll stop to get food at a local cafe or mom n pop restaurant. and you and mic sometimes like reminiscing about memories n such - mic had to go to the bathroom really quick, and almost the second he's gone, some lady stomps up to you. you're about to ask her if she needs something, but she doesn't give you the time as she immediately launches into a semi-aggressive tirade about how loud and disruptive your being - especially your laugh - you don't look away from her face, can't look away, as her face squashes and contorts in various forms of anger. you stutter out an apology in a very quiet, and very broken voice, clearly close to crying - your saved when hizashi comes back from the bathroom and, with one look at your distraught form, tells the lady off before deciding that the cafe cannot properly handle your excitement and that you two can go be excited elsewhere - you usually just make ice cubes the way non ice quirk users do, but if your friends (or hizashi) want a drink, then you'll form little personalized ice cubes. you'll ask them if there's a particular type of ice shape they want. aizawa almost always asks for cat shaped ones, and mic likes asking for bird or music note ones - if you ever get mad, you ask mic if you can have permission to use UA's training facilities. somehow, he's always able to get the permission you need to be able to blow off steam- when you're mad, you frequently let loose blasts of ice that put shoto's ice blast at the festival to shame. not only are you able to shoot ice, but you're essentially able to bend it (kinda like waterbenders w water) so you never have to worry about 'running out' of ice. however, the more you reuse your ice, the more brittle it becomes - sometimes you like to imitate movie magic and one of your attacks resembles elsa's ice spikes. you're careful to use them as a last resort when helping mic as you don't want to hurt anyone, even if they may seem to deserve it - despite the two of you having different types of quirks, you two fight against villains together scarily well. it gets difficult sometimes cuz mic's sound quirk sometimes breaks the more brittle ice attacks, but all in all, you two are a well rounded team

#jays thoughts #hizashi headcanons #present mic headcanons #mha headcanons #hizashi yamada #bnha hizashi #mha hizashi #hizashi x reader #hizashi x you #hizashi x y/n #reader is an adult #reader is gender neutral #reader has a quirk #reader has a hero license

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firelxdykatara · 4 years

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ppl love to forget that katara: 1. has her own taste, 2. developed around aang, he needed her for his development and vice versa, 3. ZUTARA IS SHIP BETWEEN AN OPPRESOR X OPPRESSED!!! Ignoring all of the development they had with their respective partners and the trauma Zuko caused Katara!!

In the infamous words of one Luke Skywalker: amazing. every word of what you just said was wrong.

It’s actually kind of ironic that you bring up Katara’s taste, since, throughout the show, we have examples of the guys she likes, to greater or lesser extents in canon--Jet (explicit romantic feelings on her part, word of god that jet was her first kiss--a kiss that would have been consensual, incidentally, something you should keep in mind for later) and Haru (she denies the crush, but that could just as easily have been because of the abomination he’d been growing on his lip rather than denying those feelings ever existed), both of whom have much more in common (in terms of both emotional and physical maturity, and physical appearance) with Zuko than either of them has with Aang.

Zuko’s book 3 hairstyle is almost exactly reminiscent of Jet’s, even, if not quite as floofy.

(This is probably in part because of Jet’s function as a foil of Zuko within the narrative, particularly given their book 2 encounters, which I think just further solidifies my point that, were it not for extenuating circumstances [like the fact that Zuko was introduced as an enemy and they had significant obstacles to hurdle before they could be friends], Zuko would have been exactly Katara’s type. Had they met under different circumstances, she could have been the girl he went on a date with in Ba Sing Se. Just something to think about.)

So, yes, we’ve established that Katara has her own taste. Her tastes seem to be boys with great hair who are taller than her, the same age or older, and of a similar maturity level.

Aang falls short (heh, short) on all counts. So it isn’t Katara’s taste in boys that led her to be interested in him. Hm!

Next, you claim that Katara ‘developed around Aang’--that she was necessary for his development, and that he was necessary for hers.

Let’s take a moment to examine that, shall we?

I will absolutely grant you that Katara was necessary for Aang’s development--only to a point, of course, but we’ll get to that later--but was he really necessary for Katara‘s growth? I suppose I could grant you this on a generous technicality--he did, after all, provide her with the means to finally leave the South Pole and find a waterbending master to teach her (although she wound up largely self-taught anyway). But that had nothing to do with his relationship to Katara and everything to do with the structure of the plot--Katara and Sokka find Aang (and he never would have gotten out of that iceberg without Katara’s own righteous anger, so even that leads back to her own power), and then they go on a quest to find teachers for the Chosen One and save the world.

The story could not have begun without first finding Aang and then providing means for the other main characters to travel with him (or, in Zuko’s case, chase him), but this has nothing at all to do with Aang’s relationship to Katara. Aang was not a mover in Katara’s developmental arc--if anything, he acted as an obstacle more often than not, his actions ranging from innocent but obnoxious (playing and flirting with girls rather than helping with chores like picking up vital supplies, leaving Katara to do all of the quite literal heavy lifting and keeping her stuck in the role of caretaker that she’d been thrust into following the death of her mother), to deliberate and harmful (hiding the map to Katara and Sokka’s father, a truly selfish action, regardless of his lack of malicious intent, and one for which he never actually apologized), to somewhere in between (”she didn’t really mean that” he says to the man refusing to train Katara because she’s a girl, when yes, she very much did mean that, and Aang was no help in finally getting the old codger to eat his words--Katara had to shove them down his throat her own damn self).

While Katara’s overall arc wasn’t exactly big and dynamic (like Zuko’s redemption arc), or in-your-face (like Sokka getting force-fed Respect Women Juice and his eventual growth into a tactician and leader), it was very much present and woven into her character--and Aang had almost no part in it. He provided her with the means to get to the North Pole, but left Katara alone to fight the patriarchy herself. He messed around while Katara took it on herself to do the chores and keep the Gaang alive, but he did almost nothing to decrease that burden so she could grow out of the caretaker role. (Contrary to popular shipper claims, Aang didn’t actually teach Katara to have fun. She already knew how to have fun. But she couldn’t indulge, because she had a responsibility to her family and her tribe, and later to her brother and Aang and Toph, and Aang goofing off and trying to get her to do the same only added to her burdens rather than subtracting from them.) He provided Katara with the necessary motive to learn to heal herself, but he certainly didn’t seem to learn from the experience of accidentally burning her, preferring instead to claim he was never going to firebend again, despite already knowing, at that point, that he was going to need to master fire along with the other elements to become a fully realized Avatar and defeat the Firelord.

He didn’t help Katara keep them alive during The Desert. (In fact, he ran off, leaving her to desperately try to keep Sokka and Toph from succumbing to the heat while worrying for his safety.) In The Painted Lady, Katara makes the decision to stall the Gaang and do what she can to help the Fire Nation villagers on her own--Aang agrees to help her when he finds out, but he wasn’t actually instrumental in her making that choice. The Puppetmaster was, again, Katara finding a master of her own, and having to deal with the fallout from that. And in The Southern Raiders, Aang was--perhaps unknowingly, if I’m being generous, because he is a child and could not reasonably be expected to fully understand the implications of what he was asking her to do or why it was impossible--actively impeding Katara’s development! She desperately needed closure, something he could not understand and actively belittled and dismissed. The only reason he relented in the end (but not without a condescending ‘I forgive you! Does that give you any ideas???’ parting shot lmao) was because Katara was planning to take Appa anyway, and letting her go (and hoping she’d just magically wind up doing things his way) was easier than trying to fight her on it.

While Aang’s existence was necessary for Katara to start down her own path, she needed neither his guidance nor his approval to follow it--and absolutely nothing would change about Katara’s arc if you removed their romantic relationship entirely.

Possibly because the only changes needed to do so would be to remove the two times Aang kissed Katara without her consent (which, hopefully, no one would actually miss), and the epilogue kiss (which was awkward and unnecessary to begin with, since ending the entire show on a romantic kiss as the final shot kind of missed the point of the story to begin with, but that’s another discussion). None of these kisses (which are the only moments in which Katara’s feelings for Aang are so much as addressed; do note that addressing them, or hinting that they needed to be, is not the same as saying she exhibited any sign of reciprocating them) altered anything about Katara’s behavior, her personal arc, or (and perhaps most critically) her relationship with Aang.

It’s that last point that is really damning, as far as ‘Katara obviously had feelings for Aang, she kissed him in the finale!’ goes. Because she didn’t ‘obviously’ have feelings for him. And the fact that he kissed her before the invasion and then she forgot about it (she literally had no idea what he was talking about during the play’s intermission until he reminded her that he’d kissed her) is pretty clear evidence that she didn’t actually have feelings for him. Not the kind he had for her.

I’ve been a teenage girl. I know what it’s like to be surprise!kissed by your crush. And I absolutely for a full fact know that I had not completely forgotten about that kiss three months later and had, in fact, spent most of my waking hours thinking about it and remembering it and trying to talk to him about it. Now, granted, I was not in the middle of a war, but even if I had been, I doubt I would have needed reminding about the fact that the boy I’ve supposedly been developing feelings for had kissed me and showed clearly that he had those feelings for me too.

At the very least, if Katara was harboring feelings that she was worried about approaching until after the war, her relationship dynamic with Aang should have shifted. But it didn’t. She acted the exact same way with him after the Day of Black Sun as she did before it--that is, as a mother figure and a caretaker, responsible for his wellbeing. (And it’s clear she never took him down off the pedestal she needed him to occupy, either--let it not be said that the unhealthy aspects of their relationship only went one way.)

And book 3 is, incidentally, where Katara went from being vital to Aang’s development to being detrimental to it--or, rather, Aang’s refusal to let go of his attachment to her (despite ostensibly having done as much at the end of book 2) was. Because despite having been told by, perhaps, the greatest authority left in the world on Air Nomad culture (even more than Aang, who had left his temple with a child’s understanding of his culture that was never able to mature because he got stuck in the ice berg while his people were wiped out) that he had to let go of his possessive attachment to this girl who never even expressed the possibility that she might harbor romantic feelings for him to begin with, after Azula killed him and Katara brought him back, he went right back into the mindset of Katara is mine, it’s just a matter of time.

And the narrative validated him for it.

Notice how, during Ember Island Players, Aang says the following (emphasis mine):

“We kissed at the invasion, and I thought we were gonna be together. But we’re not.”

First of all, if you go back and watch the scene, it’s clear it wasn’t a mutual kiss. Aang sprang a surprise kiss on Katara, which left her shocked and unhappy after he flew off. (The decision to have her looking away and frowning was a deliberate one on the part of Bryke, who wanted Katara’s feelings kept ambiguous. Heaven forbid you allow the animators to make it clear that this fourteen-year-old girl who was just kissed without her consent by someone she’d never once demonstrated romantic feelings toward might actually have some. Heaven forbid she have a little agency in her own romantic narrative. But whatever.)

Second, he says he thought they were gonna be together.

He thought.

He never once even asked Katara what she thought--or even how she felt. He just assumes. He assumes that if he kisses her, she’ll kiss him back and they’ll get together. He assumes that she must have feelings for him, even though her body language is closed off and she told him with her words that she did not want to talk or think about this right now, and kisses her regardless of those signals, upsetting her and leading her to storm off.

And the narrative rewards him, because despite the fact that they don’t have a single significant scene together after that second disastrous kiss, Katara just decides off-screen that she Does Love Him Really and walks onto the balcony to make out with him.

The upshot of all this being that, while Katara was indeed instrumental to a lot of Aang’s early growth and development, Aang was not necessary for her own arc, and their romantic relationship (such as it was) actively hampered Aang’s development in book 3, while removing it would change absolutely nothing for Katara (except saving her from some painfully embarrassing memories).

As far as your third point, I’m simply not going to get baited into explaining how reducing Zutara to an ‘oppressor/oppressed’ relationship is not only insulting to interracial couples irl (not to mention any other couple with a potentially unbalanced dynamic of societal power, since there are many more axis of oppression than just racial), but demeaning to Zuko and Katara, their personal arcs as well as their relationship development together.

However, I will point out that Zuko was not responsible for any of Katara’s trauma. She did not find violence and fighting in bending battles to be traumatic--in fact, she reveled in it. She enjoyed fighting against Zuko at multiple points (especially noticeable in their battle at the end of book 1), because she wanted to fight--she always had--and once she had the ability, she was ready to throw down with anyone who gave her the slightest reason. (Including, by the way, her own potential waterbending master.) Aang’s death at the end of book 2 was Azula’s doing, and while I think that contributed to Katara’s extreme reaction to Zuko joining the gaang, it was not something for which she actively blamed him, and it wasn’t something she believed would be repeated--she let him go off alone on a journey to find the original firebending masters with Aang well before she chose to forgive him. So she already trusted Zuko’s intentions and that Aang would be safe with him.

Finally, because this has gotten long enough already, I hope you now understand that Zuko and Katara getting together would not require ignoring any of their development with their canonical romantic partners. We’ve already established that Katara’s arc wouldn’t change in the slightest if all of Aang’s romantic advances were removed, and I haven’t even gotten into how Mai meant nothing in the grand scheme of Zuko’s development because I’m pretty sure that’s just self-evident. I mean, the video compilation put together by Nick showcasing Zuko’s journey throughout the series doesn’t include a single scene with Mai, though it does include several with Katara, and even Jin makes an appearance--because Katara, and even Jin, played key roles in Zuko’s personal journey, while his relationship with Mai happened entirely off-screen and her only real function was to showcase just how unhealthy trying to force himself back into the role of the Crown Prince was for him.

What development, exactly, is there between them to even ignore?

At any rate, I’ve gone on long enough--I hope you enjoy the fact that you activated my wordvomit trap card right when i was about to go to bed, anon, because I just spent two hours writing this instead. In case you’re interested in the TL;DR: at the end of the day, there was no meaningful, mutual development in Kataang’s romantic relationship, and those romantic feelings that did exist were largely one-sided and ultimately detrimental to Aang’s development in the final third of his overall arc. Meanwhile, Mai meant nothing to Zuko’s journey--rather like Aang’s romantic overtures, she could be removed from the show completely and nothing about his story would change--while Zuko and Katara were both vital to each other’s overall storylines, arcs and development. This, coupled with the fact that Zuko never actually traumatized Katara and, in fact, helped her achieve closure from the biggest source of her own trauma, means that Zuko and Katara have better and more believable build up that could potentially lead to a romantic relationship than either of them have with their canon romantic partners.

So no, anon, I didn’t forget anything--I think you may have, though. Perhaps a rewatch is in order? Make sure not to close your eyes for the back half of book 3 this time.

#atla #zutara #zuko #katara #aang salt #kataang salt #maiko salt #salt for ts #just trying to cover my bases #asked #Anonymous

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