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sasuhinasno1fan · 1 year

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Finding you again- Zutara Month Day 20 Part 1

So in honor of day 20 of @zutaramonth prompt ‘College’ I’ve decided to bring back a fic I was working on for Zutara Week 2021, my Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-Joo au, with fencer!Zuko and rhythmic gymnast!Katara. This one is based off the prompt Hair from that year, but it also fits since they’re all attending sports university. It’s an update from the last time I posted this and I’m hoping to actually do all the chapters this time. Anyway, enjoy!

College

“I hear you’re not even father’s son.”

“Disobedient child!”

“Never forget how much I love you my little duckling. I’ll be back soon, I promise.”

“Zuko?” closed golden eyes opened and turned to see his coach standing in the doorway of the changing room. “Ready?”

“Yeah. I’m coming.” He tucked the hairpin in his hand into his bag and pulled it onto his shoulder, picking up his foil.

“Do you think it’ll happen again?” Piandao, his coach asked, taking the bag from Zuko after he made sure his student had his items first. “The panic attacks?”

“I don’t know. I still don’t know the cause.” Zuko reminded, fitting his gloves on.

Piandao sighed and stopped the young man, “And I take it you haven’t gone to the therapist I suggested to your uncle?” Zuko didn’t answer which made the bearded man sigh again, this time full of frustration. “Going to therapy is good for an athlete, especially if it helps your panic attacks. You do realise if you weren’t doing so well in training, the school would actually consider removing you. not to mention those who have connections.”

Zuko didn’t need to be reminded that the one person he wanted to avoid for the rest of his life was unfortunately still involved just because of where he went to school.

“I still get the best wins at practise. I beat Jett all the time.”

“But Jett is department captain and wins competitions. It’s been a year since you’ve been able to place in a competition, let alone not get disqualified. Zuko, if it happens again today, I’m pulling you from competitions until you start seeing the therapist.”

Piandao walked ahead, leaving him standing there. The threat was there and worrying. Thing was, as much as he wanted to do this, he knew he was going to end up having a panic attack again.

Never forget how much I love you my little duckling

Those words felt like a lie every time he heard them in his head.

“No?”

He felt uncomfortable as he stared at the guy in front of him. Mako Choi was an up-and-coming fencer. His own brother was well known for his own skill in taekwondo. After his match – where like he predicted, he’d gotten disqualified after the whole room went double, his hearing got wonky and not to mention, his heart beating like it was trying to escape his chest – Mako approached with his coach, asking if Zuko would train him for his Olympic qualifying match in a few months.

“I just don’t see what you can learn from a guy who’s been disqualified from every match since the season started.”

“A lot from the guy I’ve admired since he’s entered the competitive scene.”

Fiddling with the strap to his bag, Zuko shrugged. “Sorry. I don’t think it’s a good idea. That’s my coach over there, Piandao. He could recommend someone better.” Skirting around the two, he darted to where he left his bike, trying not to feel guilty. If things had been normal, he would have agreed. Mako would have hated his teaching style, he was sure, but at least he could have tried. Right now, all he wanted was to go back to his dorm and sleep, even if it meant dealing with Jett later. He was sure it would be snide remarks and threatening to have him do the worst event for the school’s upcoming Sports Day.

He was all set to go, Piandao just coming out of the gym, still talking with Mako and his coach, when his phone rang.

“What Sokka?”

“So, Coach texted the results of the match. Jett wants to talk to you; says he’s got the prefect thing for you to do to make up for your loss. The rice lifting challenge.”

Zuko had to bite his lip to keep from screaming. Their school’s sports day was each Department against each other in different events. It also had the tradition of one member of the Department being a cheerleader. Each event and challenge gained them points to winning the whole Sports Day and usually ended with a bonus in their funding usually for food. The idea of the lifting challenge was like it sounded: to carry as many industrial size bags of rice, like the one the school cafeteria ordered, and hold it for as long as possible, adding more bags to hold every minute. Usually, the Karate Department would be the one to win, Fencing never even coming close.

“I’m not going.” Zuko said, making up his mind. He’d dealt with enough today and not to mention what he was going to have to deal with once his uncle heard he hadn’t gone to his therapist appointment. He hadn’t said it to Piandao, but Uncle Iroh had booked one, he just never went.

“What?”

“I’ll hang out at Lu Ten’s office or something, but I’m not going. Not to the crapshoot of a meeting or to Sports Day. I don’t care what he threatens me with. I’m only coming back to drop my kit off.”

“Um, well…” Sokka sounded hesitant still, instead of warning him to not piss off Jett. Zuko knew what was coming next wasn’t good. “I actually heard Mai was back. Didn’t make it past the preliminaries for the national team I hear.”

Clearly, this day could get worse.

“Screw it, I’m not coming back for the next few days. I’ll be with my uncle if you need me.”

“Wait, wait, wait! Normally I’d be begging you to come back so I don’t deal with a pissed off Jet, but ask Toph to do your event for you. it would put the Weightlifting Department in danger of losing but it would be big help to her. They’ve still been trying to mess with her and she’d love a chance to get back at them. Just come back to campus, drop off your things and ask her. then I’ll take you out for lunch at my dad’s restaurant. You love his marinated salmon.” Sokka enticed.

Zuko sighed. “I want two orders. And you’re paying.”

“Done! Get here soon.”

Zuko didn’t bother answering, stowing his phone away and pushing off, heading towards Republic City Sports University.

Multiple girls watched the blue ribbon flow like water as Katara did a back leg grab turn. As she brought her leg down, she twirled her ribbon to the side, ready for her coach’s next instruction.

“Good. Very good.” Yagoda said. “your turns have gotten much better. I see someone has been practising her stretches on both sides. Now, I want to see your fouettés. If you want to place in the upcoming competition and qualify for the national team eventually, your routine has to be perfect. Ty Lee, pay attention, because I want to see your fouettés after.”

Suki looked at the girl dressed in pink, who pouted at her matching hula hoop. She didn’t know why she was pouting. Ty Lee was already the most flexible out of the whole department, fouettés were easy for her.

Before the girl in blue could start her turns, the door to the practise studio slammed open, the door slamming into the wall. Standing with all the self-importance in the world, her gold eyes gleaming much like her smirk stood Azula Lung, daughter of the Prime Minister of the Fire Nation and ace of the Karate Department at the school. She had a massive amount of sway within the school just because her father. Not that she was a spoiled girl who would threaten her father on people. Oh no, she took care of giving threats herself and she took care of them well. Some people had assumed her father bought her admission, at least until she competed in her first competition with the rest of the department. She placed first, gained a record and left her opponents in bloody messes. Azula had skill and she knew it.

Seeing that she had everyone’s attention, she easily strolled inside, another girl following her. While Azula was dressed in reds and golds, this person was mainly in black. Her lightweight trench had long sleeves that mainly left her nails exposed, the red catching on the lights in the studio. She looked bored and sullen.

“Mai!” Ty Lee cried, running over and throwing herself at the girl. She looked uncomfortable with the hug but she didn’t push Ty Lee off of her.

“Mai has returned from her qualifying competition for the national team. We’ll be taking Ty Lee with us.” Azula announced, not even asked, announced to Yagoda.

Thankfully, while any other coach would bend easily, Yagoda did not. “You can get Ty Lee after practise is over. She still has her own hoop routine to show me, not to mention her routine for the Department cheerleader for Sports Day.”

Azula scoffed. “Sports Day, waste of time. She won’t be attending.”

“She will if she doesn’t want to be benched from the next competition.”

Azula’s smirk turned into a frown as she glared at Yagoda. “You really wanna do this?”

“This might work with your coach, but you’re not my student, and you don’t pay my salary.”

“We’ll see about that. Ty Lee, plan for us to go to Ember Island this weekend. I’ll take care of this.”

Azula turned and walked out, Ty Lee still holding onto Mai.

“I just can’t believe you’re back! I missed you soo much! Are you visiting before you head to the Olympic dorms?”

“Ty Lee. I’ll explain later.” That was all Mai said before peeling off her friend’s hands and walking out.

Katara watched Ty Lee pout, her whole-body slumping before Yagoda clapped, getting everyone’s attention.

“Let’s start again. Katara, fouettés please.”

While Katara was able to land her fouettés with little issue and do a perfect run of her ribbon routine, she kept thinking about what Azula had threatened. Everyone on campus knew that the Karate Department had gotten the old Weightlifting Department’s gym thanks to Azula. No one knew if the threats – because what else could it have been? – had come from Azula or her father. Just that before everyone knew it, the Karate Department was moving into gym that the Weightlifting Department had worked tirelessly to get hold of from the school, leaving the overworked Department to take residence in one of the older gyms. The last thing she wanted was for Yagoda to lose her job thanks to a spoiled girl.

“She won’t fire her. I mean, Ty Lee is her friend.” Suki said, spinning one of her clubs around her hand with ease.

“The same Ty Lee who didn’t seem that bothered her friend was threatening her coach.” Katara reminded, watching Ty Lee run through her routine with ease. She was Katara’s biggest competition, as Suki had no desire to aim for Olympics, instead using rhythmic gymnastics to better her tenssen jutsu skills for when she eventually took over her family’s dojo. Katara truly believed Suki would give Azula a good fight if she’d joined the Karate Department instead.

“Ok, fair. But come on, Yagoda was on the national team until her retirement age, both as a single competitor and as part of the group team. the school would be insane to fire her over something as small as ignoring a student’s demands, even if it was from Azula.”

Thankfully they weren’t going to fire Yagoda. Threaten her Department was a whole other matter.

“They’re threatening to cut our budget if Ty Lee isn’t excused? You can’t be serious!”

After practise was over, most of which had been with Yagoda on her phone arguing with someone – the Dean it would later be gossiped about – she’d called Ty Lee and Katara over and gave the news.

“You’re seriously going to accept this?”

“Katara, if it were up to me, I would ignore Azula’s demands but I can’t without it affecting the whole team.”

“Why are you letting her push people around like this?” Katara asked, turning to Ty Lee.

The girl shrugged, turning the hoop in her hand. “That’s just the way Azula is. She gets what she wants.”

“Yeah, and leaves a wave of destruction behind her.” Katara muttered loudly enough. Ty Lee flinched slightly but she can’t find it within herself to feel sorry. “So, she can’t be our Department cheerleader. Now what?”

“I want you to take her place. I know,” Yagoda interrupted, seeing Katara revving up to complain and protest, “It’s a lot of extra work, but think of it as planning your own routines. I’m usually helping you or giving them to you. if you come up with a good enough routine, I’ll let you perform it at the upcoming competition.”

“That’s not fair! What about me?” Ty Lee complained.

“Maybe don’t use your friends to back out of commitments. Make sure to pass the outfit you got to Katara, it was bought with our budget and I’d rather it didn’t go to waste. Katara, meet me here during open hours so we can go over the routine for Sports Day.”

Ty Lee huffed. “This is so unfair. I’ve been begging to do my own routine for a competition for ages.”

Rolling her eyes, Katara looked at Ty Lee. “And me being forced to take your place so the rest of us don’t suffer is fair? Grow up Ty Lee. You have all the chances to be amazing at this and you give it up to please your friend, who honestly, is nothing but a bully. And the fact that you seem blind to it says a lot about you.”

She didn’t let Ty Lee respond, putting her ribbon away before following Suki out the door.

“Wow.” Suki said, once they had fully exited the gym. “you let her have it.”

Katara dropped her bag on the ground and pulled on her jacket, the Southern Water Tribe symbol proudly displayed on the back. “I’m not gonna feel sorry for her. I mean, who does Azula think she is, just lording over everyone like that, like she’s some princess or something? So, her dad is Prime Minister; technically speaking, so is mine. You don’t see me using my name to do whatever I want.” She complained as she pulled her hair out of its bun.

“because you’ve got sugar in your veins.” A new voice said.

Coming up behind them, led by an oversized Bernese Mountain dog was Toph. If Azula was the Karate Department’s ace at only a sophomore, Toph was the Weightlifting Department’s as the youngest freshmen to be admitted into the school with the most amount of records ever gotten as an incoming freshman. However, many of her teammates didn’t believe she deserved to be there. For one, Toph was blind and another was she was the heir to one of the richest families in the Earth Kingdom. They seemed to ignore Toph ran away from home to even apply and if anything, her blindness made her work even harder. She was sarcastic and sassy and on the worst of days grinded every one of Katara’s nerves, but she was a true friend and Katara felt lucky to have her.

The nicknames she could have done without.

“I heard Azula. What’s the thief up to now?” Toph asked, letting her guide dog lead her past the two rhythmic gymnasts, knowing they’d follow.

“Dragged Ty Lee away for the weekend, leaving Katara here to take her place as Department cheerleader. On the plus side, Katara was given permission to create her own routine for the next competition, which upset the poor Ty Lee.”

Toph burst into laughter. “Serves her right. If she didn’t like it, maybe she should find new friends.”

“I am happy, but it’s already another thing to add to my plate, not to mention practising, checking on dad and now doing what I think is one of the dumbest traditions in the school.”

Toph cackled in a way that told the others she knew something. Toph had this way of just knowing people and hearing things which she used it to her advantage all the time.

“You won’t be saying that when you hear who some of the Departments’ cheerleaders are. Wanna take a guess as to who’s the Fencing Department’s cheerleader?”

Katara looked over at Toph, who’s smile grew maniacal. Usually that meant someone was going to get embarrassed as hell. It usually tended to be Sokka.

“Wouldn’t it be one of the girls?”

“Nope.” Toph shook her head, popping her p.

“Is it-?”

“Katara, watch out!” Suki cried.

Turning the corner, a guy on his bike appeared and with a panicked look, veered off course at the sight of her. She still stumbled over her feet and fell to the ground, her hands pricking in pain as they were scratched. Thankfully though, her jacket took most of the damage. The guy on the other hand, tumbled onto the grass as he was thrown from his bike, the vehicle in question clattering loudly.

She took in the pale skin and dark hair surrounding his face, his gold eye grimacing in pain. It didn’t stop her from noticing the large burn surrounding his right eye. she noticed that his school jacket was the same one Sokka wore, meaning he was in the Fencing Department.

“You should be more careful.” She meant for it to come out a bit nicer, but the anger from dealing the whole situation with Azula and Ty Lee slipped in.

clearly the guy didn’t enjoy being yelled at as he snapped back. “I didn’t see you.” he seemed to rethink his anger and continued in a calmer voice. “Are you ok?”

Katara sighed, trying not to keep hold of her anger. It was an accident and yelling at him wasn’t going to do anything. Though, his pale skin and gold eyes reminded her of Azula, but he hadn’t been the one to manipulate the whole school to get what he wanted. “I’m fine. here.” She got up, pulling his bike up while he grabbed his kit that had fallen off. Other than a few grass stains, he didn’t look too hurt.

“What’s up Sparky?” Toph called, Badger bringing her over and with surprising accuracy, punched the guy in the arm, hard.

“Ow! Stop calling me that.”

“This is Zuko. His dad owns that really cool tea place I keep telling you guys about.” She loosened her grip on Badger’s lead, his signal that he could greet people, as he nosed Zuko for pets. “This is Sugar Queen and Honey, aka Katara and Suki. They’re both Rhythmic Gymnast.”

“Nice to meet you.” Zuko said, wiping his hands from the slobbery kisses Badger gave him in return from the pets on his pants before fitting his bag on his bike again.

“So, have you seen it? what does it look like?” Toph asked, leaning in as Zuko took the bike from Katara.

The gymnast wondered how the two met. Zuko, from what she could tell, was quiet, seeing how he was answering most questions with a few words. Toph was wild and had no filter. Maybe he was different in front of others he knew better.

“How do you – you know what? Never mind. I haven’t seen it, and I don’t know if I can guilt him into showing me. He’s already holding Jett off for me.”

Toph’s face contorted hearing Jett’s name. while she hadn’t been there for Jett’s dating and cheating scheme, Toph didn’t like Jett on principal seeing how Sokka complained about him all the time, he didn’t seem to care that he cheated on Katara and that he was rude to anyone who wasn’t he close friends. While Toph could stand being around Pipsqueak on the weightlifting team, Katara would have to remind Toph that setting Badger on Jett wasn’t a good use of a guide dog.

“What’s his problem now?”

“I’ve been instructed to do the rice lifting challenge for the Fencing Department, but after the day I’ve had, not gonna happen. Any chance you wanna stand in for me?”

“Didn’t you have a competition today?”

“Why do you think I’m avoiding Jett?”

It wasn’t often Katara saw Toph look sorry and with pity. Getting Toph to apologize was near impossible and she’d cover her emotions with her snark most of the time. Clearly whatever relationship she had with Zuko was something deeper than she understood.

“Alright. I overheard the Weightlifting Department talk about switching the orientation of the gym to mess with me, so anything to piss them off.”

“Perfect. I gotta go before Jett finds me, but good luck. And sorry again about knocking you over.” He said to Katara, before he got on his bike and took off.

“So how do you know him?” Suki asked.

“I go to his old man’s tea house sometimes; he was working there and I got to know him and his family. He’s Sokka’s roommate apparently.”

“Oh, that’s Zuko! He’s a pretty good fencer from what I hear. Weird though, I haven’t seen his name in the announcement of students placing.” Suki said, speaking about the posting on their school’s website so they could show off their students and people could keep track.

She had a point. Katara never remembered seeing the name either. She also found it a bit strange Sokka never dragged his roommate to meet the rest of them but at the same time, never really said a bad word about him. There was something about Zuko though that seemed familiar. It wasn’t the burn around his eye, in fact it was his eyes. There was something about the gold that seemed different from other Fire Nation born. It was on the tip of her tongue but nothing came to mind.

“Hey, let’s go find Sokka. Maybe if we catch him off guard, we can get him to agree to let us wax his legs.” Toph said, taking Badger’s harness again.

“Ok, why?”

“Well, you’re cheering for your Department. Who do you think is cheering for the Fencing Department?”

“Oh!” Suki bursting into laughter, grabbing Katara’s arm, “We’ve got to go see this.”

At least there was a small positive for the day. Before they got far, Katara noticed something glinting in the sun. it was a gold hair clip, the design of the Fire Lily shimmering with the inlaid stones. It was exactly where Zuko had landed. She quickly scooped it up, letting Suki drag her along as she took a good look at it. it was beautiful, a bit old if the oxidation on it was anything to go by, but still pretty none the less. But why was Zuko carrying it? his hair was long, but not long enough to need a hair clip like the one she held, not to mention it seemed a bit feminine. So why did he have it?

“What do you mean she wants to get back together?”

Zuko looked up at his cousin, who stopped his job of placing stickers on the bottles. He knew his uncle was going to be coming in with another batch and if they didn’t move quickly, he was going to scold them.

“She moved back. She didn’t make it past the preliminary rounds. She and Azula found me as I got back on campus and she told me she wanted to get back together, that I was the only person she could date. I couldn’t get out of there fast enough.”

Mai’s reappearance in his life was something he could have done without. While he gladly gave up any relationship between him and Azula, his relationship with Mai was nice. It was safe and they understood each other. At least until the day he had his first panic attack and it caused the first of many disqualifications and Mai wouldn’t answer his calls. In fact, with Azula smirking in the background, she dumped him like he was nothing, saying her career in archery was more important than him. He wanted to make it as a professional fencer, but never at the expense of the people he cared about. When she stood in front of him, after another disqualification, asking to get back together, he yelled at her. Told her to leave him alone and follow Azula’s orders like the good dog she was. He didn’t regret his words, even after seeing the look on her face.

“Wow. She’s got some nerve.”

“Lu Ten! Zuko! You two better not be talking and not finishing those bottles! That delivery is due in an hour!”

“We got it dad!” Lue Ten called before turning to his younger cousin. “What are you gonna do?”

“Ignore her. There’s nothing I want from her anymore, so it’ll be easy. You’re putting that on crooked.” He pointed out, looking at Lu Ten’s bottle.

“Shit. I could kill Aang. Who orders tea for 3 different Departments the day before they’re needed?”

Zuko didn’t bother mentioning that their younger cousin wasn’t the smartest person with some things. While he focused on putting the correct stickers on the types of bottled tea, all he could think of was where his mother’s hair clip disappeared to. He knew he had it in his bag, resting on the top of his gear. It wasn’t there when he emptied it and it was no where in his room at the house. He had no clue where it could have ended up. The campus was huge and he’d been around quite a bit before heading home so if it did fall out, it could be anywhere.

“Guess I’ll have to ask Sokka.”

“Sorry?”

“Nothing.” There was a lot involving his mother he didn’t want to tell his cousin or his uncle. “Hurry up before Uncle comes with the next batch. Everything starts at 1 pm and I don’t need Jett getting ideas of dragging me back in.”

Thankfully they finished on time and Lu Ten drove them to the school. While he directed Lu Ten to where the Fencing Department would have their tent, he stacked the coolers on top of each other and headed to where Aang said the Track and Field Department would be set up. The noise from Sports Day and people gearing up for events surrounded him. The year before he was ready to try and get his Department on the tiers, even with Jett being an ass. This year, he wanted to be as far away from this as possible.

“Watch it!”

Stopping, Zuko turned to see past the coolers, surprised when he realised, he nearly crashed into Katara again. The last time he saw her, her training clothes were blue, made even more aware with her Southern Water Tribe jacket she’d been in. this time, it looked like Ty Lee had gotten a hold of her and threw her into her own closet. Her cheerleading uniform was bright pink, the Department jacket somehow matching. He guessed Ty Lee had that made since all the Departments lettermen jackets where some shade of grey.

“It’s you.”

“Sorry. We’re creating a habit.”

“Hmm, more like you are, but that’s fine. what is this?”

“Tea, from the Jasmine Dragon. My cousin put in a massive order last night so it’s getting delivered now. It’s for the Track and Field and Weightlifting but I’m sure Toph wouldn’t mind you stealing a bottle.”

“Tempting, but if my coach sees us downing extra sugar before the day is over, she’ll kill me. I heard from my brother that Jett is trying to hunt you down and since I hate Jett, you should probably deliver that before he finds you.” Katara said, pointing over her shoulder, to where the main field was.

“Thanks. Sorry again.” He walked around her when she called for him. He looked over his shoulder, watching her walk up to him, tugging something from the bun she wore. It was a hair clip, a very familiar one. “That’s…”

“I found it the day we met. It was where you landed so I thought it might be yours?”

He dropped the coolers on the ground, taking the hair clip from her. It looked slightly shiny, as if it’d been cleaned. He was about to ask, looking up when he stopped. He really got a good look at Katara, her bright blue eyes, the braid that spilled onto her shoulder, with the minor kinks from being in a bun.

“You, you went to Ba Sing Se Preparatory.” he stated.

“Yes?”

“You screamed at those bullies.”

He couldn’t believe he forgot. Her blue eyes briming with anger, the conviction in her voice as she yelled at the bullies from down below, even Sokka trying to calm her down. her family saved his life.

Zuko crawled carefully on the ledge as he wiped down the windows, the rest of his class pushing desks out of the way to be swept and mopped. Most of his classmates didn’t want him anywhere near an open area, especially with his limited vision but he’d just gotten his bandages taken off and he wasn’t about to let it hinder him.

Without them on, he didn’t see Mom flinch at the sight of them, though the massive burn that he now had wasn’t any better, let alone the lack of hair that had been left too. The fights between his parents were getting worse and Azula’s teasing was starting to become more hurtful than playful. He wanted it all to stop. If he pretended that things were ok, maybe they would be eventually.

“Hey scarface!” Zuko looked over, 3 of his school bullies storming over. He tried not to flinch, already knowing what they were going to yell at him about. They’d been doing it all day. “We lost the race thanks to you!”

Zuko used to be more confident. But after the burns, a few harsh words and he’d start retreating back down into himself. These bullies took advantage of it. During their Sports Day, Zuko had dropped the baton in the relay race and ran in the opposite direction of everyone else, away from the bullies yelling at him.

“Mr. Reversal, can’t believe you’re so stupid.”

“You need a walking stick, scarface? Huh?”

Zuko felt one of them shove him and he expected to hit the window frame. Instead, he went flying out the open window. Zuko would mostly remember being caught by an older man with darker skin, most likely from one of the Water Tribes, with kind blue eyes, who held him as he burst into tears and two younger children. The boy patted his back, telling him not to worry because his sister would take care of it and the girl screaming up at the bullies from the ground floor. Her long braid swung back and forth as she shook her fists and threatened to do violent things to them. her eyes seemed bluer than her families, like the clearest ocean.

Katara blinked at him before she gasped. “Wait, Zuko Lung? You, you were in the River Class with Sokka. You disappeared not long after my dad caught you.”

“My uncle, he took custody and it was far from where he lived, so I had to…I can’t believe I forgot about you. Sokka’s my roommate.”

With a smile, Katara shrugged. “no one ever said he was smart. Are, are you happy? Before you left, you always seemed…”

For the first time since this whole list of messes started, Zuko felt like his smile was real. “I am. I mean, I’m dealing with different things, but for the most part, I’m happier than I have been in years.”

“Good. I should really let you go deliver those before Jett shows up. But, don’t be a stranger, ok?” Zuko had only just picker up the coolers again when Katara got his attention again. “How did you know it was me? You didn’t recognise me yesterday.”

“Your hair. I remembered your braid most of all from that day.”

#zutara month #zutara #Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo #fencer Zuko #fencer sokka #rhythmic gymnasit katara #rhythmic gymnast suki #weightlifter toph #track and feilder aang

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juniperhillpatient · 1 year

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Sokka's Master Re-Watch

I enjoy that the water siblings get back-to-back episodes about how awesome they are. It's what they deserve. And much like 'The Painted Lady' is about Katara's defining traits, I think 'Sokka's Master' tells us a lot about Sokka. I kind of feel like just copying Piandao's quote because it's so good.

"Sokka, when you first arrived, you were so unsure. You even seemed down on yourself. But I saw something in you right away. I saw a heart as strong as a lion turtle, and twice as big. And as we trained, it wasn't your skills that impressed me. No, it certainly wasn't your skills. You showed something beyond that.

Creativity, versatility, intelligence... these are the traits that define a great swordsman. And these are the traits that define you. You told me you didn't know if you were worthy, but I believe that you are more worthy than any man I have ever trained."

[ID: an image of Sokka with a sword, looking serious. end id]

Also - I have to laugh real quick. "But I believe that you are more worthy than any man I have ever trained." Uh, didn't PIandao also train Zuko? Dragged through the mud lmao

The Sokka Vs. Piandao fight, & the reveal that Piandao is - 1. aware of the Gaang's real identities & 2. a member of the mysterious White Lotus - is pretty well done, even if I still haven't decided how I feel about that club.

Also, I realized I've been doing Sokka a little dirty in my fanfics by never letting him have his meteor sword as a weapon in universes where it could've been relevant (Vampire Diaries & Buffy alternate universes come to mind) as a signature weapon. Sorry, Sokka, I think it's because it comes up so late in the show. Still. Next time. It's such a neat weapon.

An aspect of this episode that I really enjoy is that when Sokka confesses his insecurities, no one teases him. The Gaang so sincerely respect & love Sokka. I especially enjoyed the water-siblings moment.

[id: Sokka sitting apart from Katara, Aang, & Toph, looking sad. end id]

Katara is quick to let Sokka know that no one else sees him the negative way he sees himself. But, she doesn't discount his feelings as ridiculous either. It's such a sweet moment. And I always crack up at how quickly shopping cheers Sokka up!

It's been commented on before that the A plot of this episode is Sokka learning to be a master swordsman & the B plot is Sokka's friends sitting around talking about how great he is & how much they miss him & the C plot is Iroh getting swole as fuck in prison & that's basically an ideal episode & I have to agree. I loved this episode even if I missed the Fire Teens. I can't be too mad about that though, because 'The Beach' is coming up next.

Oh, & I just have to put it out there - obviously, Sokka is the family comedian, but I liked Katara's jokes! She's funny, Aang & Toph are just mean lol

Oh yeah, Iroh getting swole as fuck in prison. Well, I don't have a lot of commentary on that. I just think it's fun & tracks well with Iroh's characterization. This is yet another example of proof that the face Iroh shows the world is not the real him. The feeble old man schtick really is - well - a schtick. It always has been. Not that he's not a kind old man with good advice & tea. He is. But there's a whole other person beneath the surface, & that's certainly interesting.

My closing thoughts on this episode are on the parallels between the water siblings & the fire siblings. Sokka & Zuko both train under Piandao & become master swordsmen. They both experience crushing insecurity, in part due to the talents of their prodigious younger sisters. The difference is - Katara & Sokka were raised in a kind environment & taught to value each other. Katara's instinct when Sokka confesses to feeling down on himself is to be there for him. I think 'The Beach' demonstrates that Azula is willing to be there for her brother in a similar manner, but because of years of being pitted against each other & the toxic dynamics at play in the royal family, it's not that easy. I'm not saying anything new here, I just fucking love narrative foils.

Sokka of course gets a lot of iconic behavior points for this entire episode...I'm gonna say +1000 for that fight against Piandao, & +500 for the meteor sword idea.

This is a great episode that allows us to take a deeper look at Sokka's character, both his insecurities & his strengths. That's all I have for now. More rambling soon to come!

#sokka's master #atla book 3 #atla re watch

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peony-pearl · 2 years

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Given that there are ranks in the Order of the White Lotus, I personally feel like it would have been more compelling if Iroh was a lower ranking member instead of a Grand Lotus. I feel like it would be a great juxtaposition for having lived as a crown prince and a famous general - eventually losing those titles and going on his spirit journey would lead him to the Order, but his murky background would keep him from ascending ranks and being taken seriously at first.

However, Iroh doesn’t stray. He still takes his position in the Order very seriously. He is still a member; he may be able to prove his journey to the spirit world or there is an event that proves he is trying to change his ways that grants him access to the Order rather than just his passion for Pai Sho and wisdom. After all, his family and, by extension, his own actions, have led to the current state of the world.

Iroh makes the escape from the Fire Nation, and he makes a desperate call out to his fellow Order members. Sozin’s comet is approaching; the siege on the Fire Nation during the eclipse has failed, they must come together.

He may be ignored. Maybe he finds Bumi and Piandao on his own, and together they contact Jeong-Jeong and Pakku. The five of them convince the other ranks of the situation, and that they have a duty to the Avatar, who has made his return during the siege. The Avatar will face Ozai, and it’s up to them to not only aid him, but to free the world from the Fire Nation’s grip before anything else can happen.

Iroh makes his case, whether the Order helps him or not, he tells them he will join his son before he sees his brother burn the rest of the world to the ground. But he can’t, because his nephew needs someone. His nephew who has only tried to be the son his father wanted but has been pushed away; Iroh tells them if they won’t listen to him, then at least give Zuko a chance. His tears over Zuko tell the Order he will be whatever tool they need of him; but it is time to act, before they lose the Avatar again, and the world plummets into an even worse abyss.

He makes his point; and the Order agrees. They band together - Iroh and Zuko are reunited - Ba Sing Se is freed - Aang defeats Ozai - Zuko becomes the Fire Lord - Iroh returns to Ba Sing Se to continue running the Jasmine Dragon.

When the Gaang meet Iroh in the Jasmine Dragon, they see the Order leaving the tea shop. When Zuko asks what that was about, Iroh gleefully tells Zuko he has risen up a rank, he is now a rank under Masters Bumi, Pakku, and Piandao. He has proven his dedication and loyalty beyond what he once wrought, and the Order now keeps in regular contact with Iroh, especially now that he is considered somewhat of extended family with the Avatar, and he is, after all, Fire Lord Zuko’s closest family.

Zuko smiles for iroh’s excitement. He thinks about when Iroh taught him about the qualities of the Four Nations, back when Zuko was still too stubborn to let many teachings sink in. His uncle is dedicated to the world and its vast differences - differences that tie everything back together. He hopes to listen to his uncle better now so he can become the ruler their Nation has needed for a century.

#atla #Iroh #Zuko #The Order of the White Lotus #my writing

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volkswagonblues · 4 years

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a lil guide to the Fire Nation for the ATLA fic writers out there

(aka. a no means exhaustive primer on east asia by an asian person)

This is a guide for fic writers want to write a canon-era story set in the Fire Nation, or featuring Fire Nation characters. A quick little primer on the tiny details of everyday life that you might not think about, but certainly stuff that would make me, an asian person, wince if I were to encounter it. BRUSHES, not quills. CHOPSTICKS, not forks.

(note #1: this was partly inspired by a chat with @elilim)

(note: #2: I originally intended it for zukka fic writers before realizing that other writers might find it useful. so apologies for a slight Zuko-bias for that reason)

(note #3: this is all stuff i was thinking about when writing firebender’s guide, in case anyone was wondering)

1. CLOTHING

Okay, I think the most straightforward way to describe what everyone’s wearing most of the time is “tunic”. They’re all just...tunics of different colours and varieties. Later when Zuko’s the Fire Lord he wears robes. The show provides a better visual guide than I could, here are a few notes to keep in mind:

a) Japanese people wear their collars LEFT crossed over RIGHT

I don’t think this would come up in writing as much as it would in art, but it’s considered bad luck to do it the wrong way because that’s only for dead people. Let my boy Zuko demonstrate:

b) There are no buttons

This is picky, but Wikipedia says “Functional buttons with buttonholes for fastening or closing clothes appeared first in Germany in the 13th century.[6] They soon became widespread with the rise of snug-fitting garments in 13th- and 14th-century Europe.” I kinda believe it. If you look closely, characters’ clothes are always tied together or wrapped in some way with a belt. If there are fasteners, they’re braided frog closures that go into a little loop, like the qipao-style dresses women wear in Ba Sing Se, or Zuko’s casual prince’s clothes in the topmost image. Anyways, I don’t think Zuko or Azula or the Gaang would technically button or unbutton anything when they’re changing clothes. Clothing is designed to be tied, not buttoned.

[so much more under cut]

c) This isn’t a real rule, but there’s something called koromogae, or the seasonal changing of clothing in Japan.

This is something I learned when I was writing firebender’s guide, and I just liked the fun detail about there being a strict calendar for when to wear something. I liked the idea of someone like Zuko, who actually spent most of his formative years outside of the Fire Nation, coming home and just suffering mutely through the summer heat because upper class etiquette says no changing into cooler clothes until August 15.

From My Asakusa:

And this website:

Generally, people change from thick, heavy, dark-coloured clothes for winter to thin, lighter, bright-coloured clothes for spring and summer. In traditional Japanese culture, particularly in formal settings such as tea ceremony, it is important to acknowledge the changes of seasons—in such circumstances, not only the patterns and colours of the kimono that are worn but also the utensils and furniture that are used are required to change. By changing their clothing, people notice and appreciate the change of seasons. [Japan Foundation]

Here are some visual guides from the official creators for clothes: (notice how it’s pretty much always left over right)

2.FOOD AND EATING

a) Traditional cuisine

It seems like the most common foods in canon are Fire Flakes and meat, to the point where poor Aang had to eat lettuce out of the garbage at some point.

HOWEVER, the Fire Nation seems to basically a big subtropical archipelago, so I would guess that seafood and rice are common. If you want to write about characters eating, a. quick google for “traditional japanese cuisine” would help you come up with a menu really quickly.

Wikipedia says:

The traditional cuisine of Japan, washoku (和食), lit. "Japanese eating" (or kappō (ja:割烹)), is based on rice with miso soup and other dishes; there is an emphasis on seasonal ingredients. Side dishes often consist of fish, pickled vegetables, and vegetables cooked in broth. Seafood is common, often grilled, but also served raw as sashimi or in sushi.

But before we get too serious, at one point the Gaang eats a “smoked sea slug” (Sokka’s Master)

Oh ATLA, never stop being you.

b) Utensils

One thing to keep in mind is chopstick etiquette. Someone like Zuko or Toph, for instance, would have completely internalized all of these.

Another thing is that there are no glasses. Cups and bowls are made of ceramic or clay. Let the Gaang show you:

And another note: characters won’t eat “bread” in the European sense, ie. a baked lump of dough. Steamed buns, yes. Fried pancakes made from batter, yes. Flatbreads, okay I’ll give it a pass. Rice or noodles should be the most common carbs of choice.

3.ETIQUETTE

“In the homeland, we bow to our elders” - angry schoolmistress in The Headband.

Japan Guide has a list of etiquette rules for visiting Japan, which is interesting but not too necessary to read. In general, based on what The Headband tells us, Fire Nation characters would have been raised with a strong nationalist curriculum that values communal contribution over individualist expression. Even someone like Zuko, who openly rebels against that, probably couldn’t help but be affected by it. In general the Fire Nation seems to have an East Asian-ish set of values. It’s patriarchal, all the positions of authority are filled by men; there seems to be a strong emphasis on patriotism; there’s a sense of diffidence and respect towards one’s elders; and finally, there’s an emphasis on “knowing” one’s place in society and fitting into what’s expected of oneself.

I don’t really know how to describe it, but in China and Japan I sometimes feel like there’s rules for everything, and even people born and raised there acknowledge it could be stifling at times. You could go down a rabbit hole researching points of etiquette (for instance, rules on who has to sit where in group dinners...), but to me the most important thing is acknowledging that Fire Nation has a rigid system of etiquette, and also, they’re an imperialist power who’s pretty prejudiced against foreigners. Poor Aang/Kuzon gets called “mannerless colony slob” just for being slow on the bowing action (!!!)

(in firebender’s guide I had a lot of fun imagining the stupid microaggressions Ambassador Sokka has to face in the Fire Nation, so obviously I’m just biased)

4.WRITING AND DESKS

Characters would probably write on paper, with a calligraphy brush. Not quills or pens -- a brush. Technically, old Japanese and Chinese texts should be written top to bottom, right to left, but the show itself doesn’t do this, so I think you’re fine.

One fun thing about traditional calligraphy is that you don’t use bottled ink. You have something called an ink stone, and then you grind your ink yourself by rubbing the ink stone in a special little dish with a bit of water. In my (very few) encounters with this stuff in the calligraphy lessons of my youth, the ink stones can be plain or have beautiful designs on the side. It looks something like this:

ATLA is an East Asian-ish universe, so characters are likely to be kneeling at a table, not sitting. To demonstrate, here’s my boy Sokka doing his famous rainbow at Piandao’s:

and here’s the war chamber meeting when Zuko speaks out against a general’s plans to sacrifice some soldiers:

THERE ARE EXCEPTIONS: This is Zuko’s cute little setup when he’s writing his goodbye letter to Mai. In this case he’s writing in a chair and table. It’s possible that some furniture items, like a sitting desk and a bed in a bedframe (not a bedroll or futon) are special royal palace features. Normally in a private setting we see characters sitting on the ground or on a slightly elevated platform with a low table. Maybe Caldera is just different? Or rich people are just different: the Bei Fongs also have a sit-down dining table + chair setup.

(That little rectangular box is his ink dish!!)

5.A NOTE ON GENERAL CULTURE

It’s worth talking about a few general points of East Asian culture. I can’t claim to speak for ALL of Asia, and I don’t think I should. But I do think ATLA fic writers who want to set something in the Fire Nation should take a few moments to at least skim the wiki pages for filial piety and Nihonjinron (literally, "theories/discussions about the Japanese"). There’s a certain...vibe to...asianness... that I’m not sure I can explain without like, a doctorate degree in sociology.

It’s a bit like gender, I guess. There’s no definitive checklist to what is a woman and what is a man, and we can argue that gender is performative, that it’s a construct, but at the end of the day gender is still (tragically) real in the sense that it still shapes people and affects how we walk and talk and dress and think. Nationality is the same. Obviously, the Fire Nation is a made up place in a made up show, but out of respect to the cultures that inspired it, I do think it’s worth familiarizing yourself with some of these cultures’ codes and values.

Also, ahem, if I can direct you to war crimes in the Japan’s colonial empire. Again, worth remembering that the Fire Nation was an imperalist colonizer too.

I might do a continuation of this post and talk through my more abstract takes about Fire Nation culture - Is Zuko an example of filial piety gone right or filial piety gone wrong? Why I think Zuko’s flashbacks are like, at least part teenage melodrama bullshit (the reason is son preference), how someone like Sokka might be treated once he’s openly Water Tribe in the Fire Nation (probably with racism...), specific aspects of asian homophobia and racism, etc. We’ll see.

This is not a definitive guide. Comments and critique welcome.

If you think there’s a factual mistake, PLEASE hop in my asks and let me know. I also think there’s a huge blind spot in ATLA for South and Southeast Asian representation, so I acknowledge that I can’t speak for all Asians, and there is no such thing as a “pan-asian” identity.

If there’s something else you’re curious about, I’m not a historian or anything, but I like research. Ask me and I’ll try to answer the best I can.

And oh, one last thing, this is how I do research when I wrote firebender’s guide, in case anyone’s interested in learning more (LINK)

#Avatar The Last Airbender #zukka #atla fic #my fic #fire nation

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zukkababey · 4 years

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modern college zukka falling in love with each other in their respective zoom squares during quarantine class and they private chat each other during class but they’re real stupid and don’t know that the host can see private messages so then they get in trouble for being cute and not paying attention

anon, why are you in my and @engagedzukka’s brain... we literally had a whole conversation about this au like, 2 days before i got this ask.

anyway, here’s what we came up with:

sokka’s the guy on zoom who has a super messy room and absolutely doesn’t care. he asks questions to professor piandao and is super engaged with the lecture. he has a bi pride flag on the wall behind him.

zuko’s the one who always has his camera on, always stays on mute, and has like 3 different cats walking across his screen at all times. he has dao swords on the wall behind him.

the swords are what initially peak sokka’s interest. (not that zuko is so very clearly smoking hot, pffffft, no, that’s definitely not the reason.)

sokka pins zuko to the screen instead of the professor. he learns better if he’s looking at something he’s interested in, right?

at some point, sokka physically cannot hold himself back from dming zuko. he types:

i see you wield dual blades.

zuko makes no sign that he’s read the message, or that he’s even gotten it. he goes on being stupidly attractive and perfectly poised. it isn’t until the end of the lecture when zuko sends back:

no, i’m gay.

sokka has to turn off his camera before his face does something truly embarrassing, but then the lecture is ending and sokka never had time to respond.

so, sokka keeps on messaging zuko. sometimes it’s stuff about the lecture, like a long tangent on astronomy and star systems because sokka’s really into the class subject. other times he sends a bajillion emojis in response to zuko’s cats. every so often, he’ll try to send a joke that will make zuko smile or laugh on the other side of the zoom call. zuko never smiles or laughs, much to sokka’s disappointment.

but, zuko always responds. the only problem is that he responds at the very end of lectures, when sokka doesn’t have time to message him back.

one day, one of zuko’s cats—which sokka has learned is named druk—climbs onto zuko’s chest and nuzzles into his neck. zuko must be used to druk using him as a personal cat bed, because zuko barely even bats an eye, hugging druk closer and pressing his cheek to the top of his head.

sokka, who is feeling particularly bold on this fine friday morning, messages him:

where’s my hug? 🥺

zuko, as always, doesn’t give any acknowledgement that he’s read sokka’s message. but then, at the very end of the lecture, sokka gets a response:

ask me on a date and maybe you’ll find out.

sokka doesn’t have the brain capacity to comprehend that, so he’s almost thankful that the lecture ends less than twenty seconds later.

almost.

sokka spends the whole weekend consulting with literally everyone he knows on how to ask zuko out. what should they do? how should he ask?

in the end, he decides on stargazing. it’s supposed to be a clear night on monday, it’s relevant to the course, and he could talk about astronomy for literal hours. the date should go off without a hitch.

sokka logs into zoom on monday with an air of determination. he’s fairly confident he’s not about to get turned down—zuko gave him permission to ask him out, after all.

he knows that zuko’s going to message him at the end of class, so sokka also waits until near the end of lecture. after what feels like eons of waiting, he sends the message he’s had typed out since the start of class:

it’s supposed to be a clear night tonight. want to go stargazing with me? i can tell you about constellations i bet piandao has never even heard of.

zuko responds:

so your idea of a first date is basically giving me more homework?

sokka’s immediate thought is oh shit.

but then there’s a message coming through with an address, then another right after it:

pick me up at 8.

professor piandao, who’s been keeping up with the Sokka and Zuko Show since the beginning of the semester, ends the zoom lecture with a sigh of relief. finally, finally, those two got their shit together. maybe now they’ll pay attention more in class.

spoiler alert: they don’t. if anything, they get more distracted. between one lecture and the next, sokka’s usual background changes completely. and—was that just zuko’s cat that walked across sokka’s screen? piandao doesn’t think that it’s a coincidence that he can see sokka talking to someone off screen, and that zuko, who’s never once cracked a smile before, is laughing. piandao sighs wearily. thank goodness the semester is almost over.

#zukka #zukka au #i am this 👌 close to writing this out in full #i do not have the Time #stop it rachel STOP IT #anonymous #answered

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zuko-always-lies · 3 years

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Zuko Centric-Morality and the Fire Nation

Often times it seems within ATLA’s narrative whether Fire Nation characters are “good people” is determined by how nice they are to Zuko or how nice they are to people who are nice to Zuko, not by any of their other actions. This is definitely true with respect to fanon and within the the fanbase.

There are four Fire Nation characters which violate this rule, notably with three of them being from Book 1. These are clearly good people, and are presented as such, without having a real connection to Zuko or Iroh. They are Piandao, Jeong Jeong, Shyu, and Chey.

However, beyond that a certain pattern becomes clear. Iroh inflicted decades of imperial violence upon the world and isn’t being very proactive about stopping imperial violence in the present(he even gives Zhao good military advice during Zhao’s attempt to conquer the Northern Water Tribe!). He’s nice to Zuko, so from the beginning(long before his White Lotus connections were added) he was always presented as a “good” person, and the fanbase thinks of him as perfect.

Lt. Jee and Zuko’s crew become respectful and nice to Zuko once they find out about Zuko’s backstory, so they’re presented sympathetically and as “good people” from that point onward, and Lt. Jee tends to be positively depicted in the fanfics where he shows up. Never mind that helping Zuko at that point involved inflicting imperial violence on world...

Zuko and Iroh loved Lu Ten, and I believe we’re supposed to believe that Lu Ten loved Iroh and Zuko back and was kind to them. Lu Ten is framed entirely sympathetically, and in fanfiction he’s almost always presented as “a good person.” Never mind that he was an adult soldier who died fighting in an imperial war of aggression.

Ursa laughs at the thought of Ba Sing Se burning to the ground, and if we look at her original intended backstory, it becomes clear that she must have supported the war. The decision she made to murder Azulo and support Ozai coup is also responsible for the Big Bad of the series being in power, although she didn’t exactly have good choices there. Yet, because she was a good mother to Zuko, she’s almost always considered a good person by the fanbase, and the narrative frames her as angelic.

Ming, the guard who was nice to Iroh, is almost always presented positively in the few fanfics she shows up in(maybe one of the reasons she’s so kind to him is because she thinks very positively of his achievements as Dragon of the West? That would be an interesting take).

Mai commits treason to save Zuko’s life and is generally kind to him, so she’s “a good person” and not a morally grey character according to the narrative and fanbase, even though she voluntary joined up with Azula for her own enjoyment and regarded engaging in imperial conquest as an enjoyable hobby. Definitely there are very few fanfics which grapple with what she did during the war and why she did it.

Ty Lee is always nice to Zuko, at least in their two canon interactions in the present. More importantly, she commits treason to protect Mai, who committed treason to protect Zuko. That marks her as “a good person” in the eyes of the narrative and fanbase, even though Ty Lee was clearly shown as having a blast helping Azula engage in imperial conquest. Like with Mai, there are very few fanfics which grapple with what she did during the war and why she did it. Remember, the Dangerous Ladies conquered Ba Sing Se together(and with Zuko’s help, of course).

On the other side, we have Ozai and Zhao, who are mean and awful to Zuko and are painted as evil for it. In fact, the thing what really confirms their awfulness in the eyes of audience is how mean they are to Zuko, not any of the other heinous stuff they did. We also have Azula, a younger sister who made the unforgivable mistake of being nearly as mean to her older brother as he was to her.

It’s funny, though. On one hand we have Zuko, Piandao, Jeong Jeong, Shyu, and Chey. These are people who had to fully come to terms with how awful the Fire Nation actions are and how their own actions aided the Fire Nation’s war of conquest as part of the process of becoming good people. If I’m generous, I might throw Iroh into this pile.

On the other hand, we have Lt. Jee, Lu Ten, Ursa, Ming, Mai, and Ty Lee. These are “good people,” according to the narrative and particularly the fandom, because they were nice to Zuko or Iroh, even though they played their own roles in perpetuating the Fire Nation’s imperial war and never came to terms with it.

Dare I mention that many Azula “redemption” fanfics center entirely on her becoming a better sister to Zuko? Dare I mention that the head writer of ATLA’s ideas for an Azula redemption arc seems to center around Azula becoming a better sister to Zuko and a nicer person, not with her coming to terms with the Fire Nation’s imperialism?

It seems like ATLA’s narrative and fandom suffers from a case of deuteragonist-centered morality. Which is funny, because for the first two and a half seasons Zuko was a villain and “being nice to him” or “being kind to him” would frequently involve helping him do bad things, or at least allowing him to bad things.

#Azula #Zuko #Ozai #Iroh #Lt. Jee #Lu Ten #Ursa #Ming #Mai #Ty Lee #Zhao #Piandao #Jeong Jeong #Shyu #Chey #Protagonist-centered morality #deuteragonist-centered morality #Seriously this is pretty questionable writing

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happilyeverafterzukka · 3 years

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underrated zukka fics (part 2)

my pandemic coping method has been reading all the Zukka fanfic in the world and I loved making my Underrated Zukka Fics Part 1 list and I keep finding/reading more and more amazing fics so here is another rec list! i love talking about my fav fics so if you read any of these (or have any recs!) and wanna talk about it feel free to hit up my messages!!

hope is a heartache by lupus (khaleeseas) (Rated E)

First things first please know that am absolutely ride or die for this author and have loved literally everything they have ever written and you gotta go through their Ao3 and read everything. This one features Disaster Zuko being hopelessly in love with his FWB Sokka and it’s all about the pining and the yearning

Deadlift Me, Daddy by pastelswitchblade (Rated M)

the official summary of this fic is “Modern AU where Zuko is a kickboxing champion and his new personal trainer is thicker than a snicker” and I think that’s all you need to know

Syllables of Debris by Onmyliteraturebullshitagain (Rated M)

ohhhh this one is one of my absolute favorite fics of all time!! Zuko and Sokka meet during a poetry class in college and bond over their shared love of poetry and Zuko himself is a poet but goes under the pen name The Blue Spirit, who happens to be Sokka’s favorite poet - features some truly incredible poetry and some of the most romantic writing I’ve ever read

no other shade of blue (but you) by strawberryblonde (Parklife14) (Rated M)

Sokka and Zuko accidentally get married in Vegas at a Taco Bell/wedding chapel during a drunken night out and are committed to the bit so they agree to stay married and fake a relationship for a year

The Greatest Thing You’ll Ever Learn by Lady_of_the_Flowers (Rated M)

Sokka works at a fancy hotel and catches feelings for new employee Zuko, who also happens to be the boss’ nephew - this is one of the first Zukka fics I ever read and I still think about this one a lot

earth system history by acezukos (purplefennels7) (Rated T)

Sokka is in love with his earth science major best friend Zuko and luckily Zuko feels the same way about Sokka - features the duo sneaking into an earth science lab in the middle of the night and a really beautiful scene of Zuko coming out to his favorite teacher Prof. Piandao

silence is the best tactic (for him who distrusts himself) by technicallyataurus (Rated T)

five times Sokka interrupts Zuko’s zoom meetings and one time Zuko interrupts Sokka’s - features Zuko shrieking “how gay?!” and dramatically falling on Sokka’s lap

isn’t this the vision that you wanted? by nebulastucky (Rated T)

i love me some Firelord Zuko and Ambassador Sokka and this one is an absolute delight -- features some incredible coming out scenes and a picnic scene that made my heart beat real fast

Sounds Like Forever by CuteCat213 (Rated T)

Sokka makes Zuko laugh and falls in love with the sound of it - features happy giggly Zuko

Change of Address series by hearmerory (mostly Rated M)

this is a really fantastic series about a modern au Zuko being autistic and his childhood and eventually him and Sokka falling in love -- please read the tags on these ones tho!! There are some really heavy ones where you should definitely be aware of the content warnings. My faves in this series are The Ways of Tea and Failure, Married, The Best Laid Plans, and More Than Okay

(i’m sorry but) i’m just thinking of the right words to say by interstellar_silence (Rated T)

and they were roommates (oh my God and they were roommates!) aka a really interesting college au where Sokka and Zuko used to go to high school together and Zuko was a real jerk to Sokka until he mysteriously left during sophomore year but now they’re college roommates - features Trans Zuko and Haru being the real MVP

#zukka #Zuko x Sokka #zuko #sokka #fic rec

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ecoamerica · 1 month

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Watch the 2024 American Climate Leadership Awards for High School Students now: https://youtu.be/5C-bb9PoRLc

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beifongsss · 4 years

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blush [zuko]

Pairing: Zuko x reader

Summary: Requested by anon “ Zuko x reader where she meets uncle iroh for the first time!!! Zuko has only talked to reader about him but she finally meets him”. Takes place when they find Iroh and the Order of the White Lotus right before Sozin’s Comet.

It had been a few weeks since Zuko had joined your group. And in those weeks, you had found yourself becoming a stuttering, blushing mess whenever he wandered anywhere near you.

You had always thought that the prince was attractive but you kept those thoughts bottled away deep, deep inside your mind. He was the enemy. You shouldn’t have been fawning over his looks. However, now that he had had a change of heart and wanted to teach Aang firebending, a part of you couldn’t help but think that technically, your feelings weren’t forbidden anymore.

Zuko and Aang spent most of their time training in the courtyard, which was a good thing seeing as how you spent most of your time there with either Sokka or Katara. It was quite a sight to see, the avatar being trained by the very person that used to be his sworn enemy. Their movements were strong and fierce, almost hypnotizing. It also didn’t hurt that Zuko had the tendency to lose his shirt halfway through their training sessions.

Surprisingly, it was Sokka who had eventually caught on to your feelings instead of Katara. It hadn’t been hard considering that you were always bright red whenever Zuko was within twenty feet of you. Instead of confronting you and teasing you about it, he went to Zuko instead.

Aang had scrambled off immediately after training, wanting to go for a ride on Appa. Shaking his head as Aang ran off, Zuko bent down to pick up his shirt, pulling it on before turning and coming face-to-face with Sokka.

“Agh!” Zuko exclaimed stumbling backwards at the water tribe boy’s sudden appearance before scowling. “What do you want?”

Sokka smiled widely, leaning on the pillar next to him. “Nothing. Just thought you should know that our very own (Y/N/N) has a crush on you. Although to tell you the truth, I don’t know what she sees in you buddy.”

Zuko’s scowl disappeared as he turned to glance at you. Sokka followed his line of sight, his smile becoming impossibly wider as he noticed Zuko’s puzzled expression. “N-No, there’s no way she likes me.”

“Believe me or don’t,” Sokka said, once again earning a scowl from the scarred prince. “But a girl like that? You’re one lucky guy.”

Sokka and Zuko stood in silence as they watched you talk to Katara, You had said something to her, causing her to bend a stream of water out of the fountain and splash you with it. You threw your head back as you laughed, unaware of the two boys watching you from a distance.

Zuko’s chest tightened uncomfortably as he looked at you, a large smile still on your face as you splashed Katara with your foot. He had always thought that you were pretty, but his main concern had always been capturing the Avatar. Now that Aang’s capture wasn’t his concern, he could start to live his life as normally as he possibly could while in the midst of a giant war. And so, it was in that moment that he figured out that he had feelings for you as well.

And of course, Sokka noticed and decided to take matters into his own hands.

It started off small. Sokka would make sure to call you and Zuko last for dinner so you’d end up sitting next to each other, he’d clean the sleeping hall and put your sleeping bags back next to one another, he would ask you to go hunt or get water together. It wasn’t anything out of the ordinary, just Sokka being Sokka.

Eventually, Aang and Toph caught on and things became more obvious. Their manner of approaching things was more direct, and it usually ended up with you stumbling into Zuko. One time, Aang had sent a gust of wind into a door you had just stepped through, causing it to slam into you and throw you into Zuko, who had been walking past at that particular moment.

Another incident was when Zuko was making his way over to an empty seat and Toph had suddenly caused the ground to become uneven. Zuko had tripped, falling against you and bringing you down to the ground with him. Everyone had gone silent at the scene before them. Zuko was hovering above you, his arms on either side of your head as he tried not to crush you under him. You were staring at him, wide-eyed. Your chests brushed softly with every breath you took and in that moment, as you looked into each other’s eyes, it felt as though it was only the two of you in the Western Air Temple.

Katara was the one to break the silence, clearing her throat and asking if the two of you were alright. Zuko had scrambled up, stumbling over his words as he assured everyone he was fine before extending a hand to you. He had underestimated his strength however, and pulled you up harder than he meant to, sending you crashing against him. Your free hand was pressed against his chest as you regained your balance, cheeks blazing bright red as you made eye contact with him. After a bunch of stuttered assurances that you were both fine, the two of you departed from the courtyard with Zuko heading into the nearby forest to release some of his pent-up emotions and you heading to the sleeping hall to think about what had just happened.

By the end of the night, everyone knew how the two of you felt about each other. Even if the two of you were still unaware.

After the incident Toph had caused, Zuko had begun to approach you more often. Everyone had been surprised, assuming that the incident would’ve just embarrassed Zuko to the point of no return and that he would simply avoid you.

And so, a friendship blossomed between you and the prince.

After seeing the way the two of you interacted, everyone had decided to stop trying to push you together. It was much more interesting to see you blush profusely and Zuko stutter for a ridiculously long time whenever your hands brushed against each other. Not to mention the way Zuko would be rendered speechless whenever your eyes sparkled as you talked about something important to you.

Teasing the two of you became the new normal and you often found yourselves going for walks in the woods to avoid everyone and converse without interruptions. The two of you opened up to each other fairly quickly, talking about everything and nothing. When you learned about how he had gotten his scar, you had hugged him tightly, making sure that he knew it wasn’t his fault and that he didn’t deserve what Ozai had put him through.

It was after this that he began to talk to you about his uncle Iroh and how he had been the only person who had ever truly loved him, other than his mother. He spoke about Iroh with great love and respect and you could feel your heart break at the pain Zuko felt after betraying Iroh.

“He hates me now,” Zuko said roughly, bowing his head as his eyes filled with tears. You approached him slowly, placing your fingers under his chin to lift his gaze towards yours. Your heart ached at the pain that was visible in his striking gold irises.

“He doesn’t hate you,” you whispered, not breaking eye contact. “The way you talk about him, he’s like a father to you.”

“More of a father than Ozai ever was,” Zuko muttered softly, avoiding your gaze.

“He loves you,” you insisted. “He will forgive you. I know it.”

You engulfed Zuko in a hug to which he responded by pulling you close and finally allowing himself to cry. After that, your relationship was only strengthened and when you walked back into the Air Temple, everyone could tell.

A while later, you all found yourselves back in the Earth Kingdom, looking for the woman (June, Zuko had called her) that Zuko had once employed to hunt you all down. After proclaiming that Aang was just gone from the physical world, Zuko had gotten desperate and attempted one last thing to try and gain an advantage over the Fire Lord.

And that is how you found yourself sitting next to a visibly anxious Zuko as Appa followed the shirshu, who was tracking Iroh’s scent. You eventually found yourselves back in Ba Sing Se, June telling you that this was where Iroh was. You all traveled a little further before Zuko came to a stop.

“It’s been a long day,” he stated, pausing slightly. “Let's camp and start our search again at dawn.”

You helped Sokka set up camp, shooting worried glances at Zuko every once in a while.

“So,” Sokka drawled as he nudged your shoulder, a wicked smirk appearing on his face. “How long is it gonna be before you and Prince Pouty over there are smooching?”

You straightened up, blushing at his words. “Sokka! Shut up. There is nothing going on between me and Zuko.”

Sokka scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Sure there isn’t.”

The conversation ended as you walked off to your sleeping bag, curling up in it as you avoided Sokka’s teasing glances. You were beginning to drift off to sleep when you heard a familiar voice.

“Well look who’s here!”

You all shot up out of bed, with Toph shouting in the process. “What’s going on? We’re surrounded by old people!”

You felt Zuko holding onto your wrist, bringing you slightly behind him as you looked around. You felt a smile grow on your face as you recognized the people around you. “Bumi!”

Zuko’s expression changed into one of confusion as you ran forwards, stopping in front of each man to bow to them.

“They aren’t just any old people,” Katara said, talking to Toph. “These are great masters and friends of ours.”

Zuko approached slowly, bowing to Jeong Jeong when Katara introduced him as Aang’s first firebending teacher. Sokka bowed to Piandao before Suki broke the silence. “So wait, how do you all know each other?”

“All old people know each other,” Bumi snorted. “Don’t you know that?”

“We're all part of the same ancient secret society,” Piandao explained, looking at everyone. “A group that transcends the divisions of the four nations.”

“The Order of the White Lotus,” Zuko breathed, realizing that Iroh was much closer than he thought.

“That’s the one,” Bumi confirmed, still chuckling.

“The White Lotus has always been about philosophy and beauty and truth,” Jeong Jeong said. “But about a month ago, a call went out that we were needed for something important.”

“It came from a Grand Lotus,” Pakku continued, turning to face Zuko. “Your uncle, Iroh of the Fire Nation.”

Zuko smiled softly, Toph coming up behind him to speak. “Well that’s who we’re looking for!”

“Then we’ll take you to him,” Piandao stated, a nervous look overtaking Zuko’s face.

“Are you okay?” you asked softly, sitting next to Zuko as the masters led you to their camp.

“Yes,” Zuko spoke sharply before glancing at you, his tone softening. “No. I don’t know. What will I say when I see him?”

“You’ll figure it out Zuko,” you replied. “And he’ll forgive you, because that’s what people who love you do.”

Zuko didn’t reply, instead choosing to reach down and intertwine your hands. You were both glad that it was dark out so that no one would notice the blush dusting your cheeks.

You reached the camp far more quickly than expected. Zuko felt his heart race as you came to a stop in the middle of the camp, facing Piandao when he addressed him.

“Your uncle is in there Prince Zuko,” he said, pointing to a white tent standing across from the spot you were standing in before walking away.

You made a move to walk over to Katara and Sokka when Zuko’s hand tightened around yours, “Please stay with me.”

You hesitated slightly before nodding, following him to the entrance of the tent.

“Are you ready?” you asked softly, squeezing his hand. Zuko nodded before moving forward, his hand squeezing yours desperately.

“Uncle?” Zuko asked quietly, entering the tent. He stopped in his tracks, a soft smile appearing when he saw his uncle snoring softly on a cot. Silently, he sat down, pulling you with him as he curled up on the mat. You took a seat beside him, his head landing on your lap as he laid down. You leaned against a crate that sat next to you, your hands running through Zuko’s hair until his breathing evened out and he fell asleep. It was only then that you closed your eyes as well.

Zuko awoke when he heard a slight chuckle, and sat up to face his uncle. Immediately, Zuko threw himself forward onto his knees, his eyes not meeting Iroh’s as he remembered what you had told him about apologizing. “Uncle, I know you must have mixed feelings about seeing me. But I want you to know, I am so, so, sorry, Uncle. I am so sorry and ashamed of what I did. I don't know how I can ever make it up to you. But I'll- “

Zuko’s rambling was cut off as Iroh knelt down in front of him and embraced him. His eyes began watering, tears spilling as he hugged his Uncle. “How can you forgive me so easily? I thought you would be furious with me.”

“I was never angry with you,” Iroh said. “I was sad because I was afraid you lost your way.”

“I did lose my way,” Zuko mumbled.

“But you found it again,” Iroh said, pulling back from the embrace and motioning towards you. “And something tells me she had something to do with it.”

Zuko didn’t reply, his face going bright red as Iroh chuckled. He had nothing to say, knowing that his uncle was right.

“Tell her how you feel soon, Prince Zuko,” Iroh said, smiling softly. “Do not let her get away.”

You emerged from the empty tent a while later to find everyone sitting around a fire. Quickly noticing the man sitting next to Zuko, you proceeded to bow down to him.

“General Iroh!” you said. “It is an honor to be in your presence. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

Iroh chuckled before waving you over to the empty seat next to him. “No need for the formalities Miss (Y/N). And it is I who am honored to be here with you. I have heard much about you from my nephew and I must thank you for taking care of him while I was gone.”

You missed the blush on Zuko’s face that appeared at Iroh’s words, too distracted by the cup of tea that the once-general had handed you. You took a sip, your eyes widening in wonder as you looked at Iroh once more.

“This tea is amazing! Ginseng tea is my favorite,” you exclaimed, taking another sip. Iroh smiled at you before sending a teasing glance at Zuko.

“It is my favorite as well,” Iroh chuckled. “I am glad to see that my nephew has such great taste in women.”

A silence followed, only made awkward by Zuko’s stuttering.

“Uncle!” Zuko hissed, glaring at the jolly old man who simply took another sip of tea.

Neither one of you had a chance to reply as the conversation soon turned serious. With Aang gone, you all needed to think of a plan just in case he didn’t return in time. It was then decided that Zuko and Katara would head to the palace to fight Azula while you, Sokka, Suki, and Toph would stop the airship fleet. It wasn’t until you were gathering your tools and weapons that Zuko managed to pull you aside.

“Look (Y/N),” he began, fidgeting nervously. “Just in case something happens-”

“Nothing’s going to happen,” you cut him off, placing your hand over his to stop it from shaking. “We’re all going to be fine.”

“Just in case,” Zuko stressed. “I need you to know...”

“What Zuko?” you questioned, ducking your head to catch his gaze. He stared at you for a few seconds, causing you to shift under his gaze. “What is i-”

You were cut off as Zuko leaned forwards, connecting his lips to yours. You gasped softly before returning the kiss eagerly. You stayed like that for a few seconds before being broken apart by Sokka’s voice.

“Hey!” Sokka cried. “As glad as I am that you and Prince Pouty are finally smooching, we really do have to save the world right now.”

Chuckling softly, Zuko pressed another kiss to your lips before pulling away.

“Stay safe,” you breathed, embracing him one last time.

“Trust me, I will,” Zuko whispered into your ear. “Now I have someone worth fighting for.”

You watched him walk away, only looking away when you felt something hit your head. Turning, you found yourself facing an impatient Sokka, motioning for you to climb onto the eel hound. “Are you done? let’s go.”

Grinning, you grabbed his hand, sliding onto the eel hound behind him. You were ready to fight, knowing that Zuko would be waiting for you when this was all over.

so the sokka fic will be out soon but for now here is this zuko fic. i hope its alright its my first time writing for him. hope you all enjoy :)

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neuronary · 2 years

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so. i've been thinking about a couple things. that whole azula adopted by piandao and fat thing from a while ago, that me and @eshusplayground and @ultranos were talking about. combined with a thought that i think also originated from nos about the lower ring of ba sing se hating the fire nation but loving azula because of her putting joo dee in charge of the city.

and like. say azula's been tending to her garden and growing her cherries and mostly ignoring the international news because, hey, not her responsibility any more, right? all she has to worry about is her cherry trees and her raspberry bushes and everything else can pretty much go fuck itself - she gave them enough. she gave it all enough.

until the day piandao folds down the newspaper and says "there's a revolution started up in ba sing se, in the name of some woman called joo dee."

and. what.

azula remembers joo dee. she remembers a woman who sort-of-vaguely had a personality but didn't like to think about it. she remembers a woman who navigated the bureaucracy of the upper ring like it was her home, even when it wasn't. she even remembers feeling mildly guilty about how much she appreciated that joo dee didn't ask many questions. that was why she'd installed her in the first place - joo dee needed something to keep her occupied to prevent an oncoming breakdown from whatever it was long feng and his dai li had actually done to her, and azula had needed someone to keep an eye on the city for her. of course, her 'uncle' had pretty much destroyed that entire plan a few weeks later because his ego had been bruised over the whole affair, but that isn't polite talk for the breakfast table.

fat, of course, notices that azula's upset, because he has about triple the emotional intelligence of piandao and azula combined, and suggests, oh so gently, that they change the subject.

"no," azula says, perhaps a bit more sharply than she intended to. "please. i'd like to see it."

her guardians exchange one of those Looks, clearly weighing up the pros and cons. azula takes the opportunity to switch the paper with yesterday's and gets down to the details of the matter.

the article is written by one of those centrist types that's trying to appeal to everyone. you'd think it would make for accurate journalism, but in fact the report is littered with contradictory and unnecessarily emotional language. azula parses it with a little difficulty - she's out of practice - and comes to three conclusions:

first and foremost: a great deal of this is her fault. she'd known, at the time, that joo dee was never going to be a permanent solution to the problem of ba sing se's self-destructive system of government, but she’d considered it appropriate in the short term, and had otherwise been preoccupied with spinning her report of events to put zuko in a good enough light to get him home safe.

second: the revolutionaries are well-organised, but joo dee has very little to do with it. the journalist has put just a little too much emphasis on insisting that their actions are ineffective, which means they're accomplishing something, which means they're organised. but not well-organised enough that joo dee is actually directly involved. azula assumes she and her suffering are a symbol more than anything.

third: she feels oddly guilty about this entire situation and a little proud, to boot. her recent reading material has been rather critical of the mandate of heaven (king kuei remains a staunch and unwavering point in their favour) and proposes a system similar to the way the southern water tribes were governed, through choice of the populace. azula has her own doubts about its efficacy, but it seems to be what these revolutionaries are aiming for, and she can appreciate the "if you want it done well" attitude they're holding.

when she tries to explain all this to piandao and fat, she is met with two terribly-concealed looks of pity that make her chest do something twisty and uncomfortable. she responds (very maturely) by storming out to the forge and making another three trowels.

"fat thinks you are repressing your emotions through distraction again," piandao says when he comes to collect her for lunch.

azula mutters something very rude to herself about where, exactly, fat can take his thoughts and stick them, and does not repeat it when asked to.

"i thought," piandao breezes on, unphased, "that we might make a trip on your birthday, agni and the earth kingdom's bureaucracy willing, to ba sing se."

azula keeps her excitement at the prospect firmly locked away in her head and nods slowly. "i think it would be useful," she settles on. "and i'd like to understand what's going on there through my own eyes."

it takes some persuading fat, but the three weeks until the date itself come in handy there, and eventually he gives up, promising to take care of the garden for her.

"you're not coming with us?"

"i'm not one for travel. upsets my delicate constitution."

azula is pretty sure that this is just code for fat preferring to hide from the world in its entirety, rather than hide only a part of himself from the world. she doesn't understand it, but she respects it nonetheless. he'll be alright without them. he has been in the past, piandao reassures her, when she fidgets while packing.

(she wouldn't have done that a year ago, she's gotten soft and fallen into caring too much, again, think how that ended last time, she has to pull herself together—)

fat pulls her into a hug that smells of lapsang souchong and freshly tilled earth.

(recovery is not a linear process for anyone, especially not child soldiers that have only a garden and two well meaning but not especially knowledgeable old men to help them through.)

azula breathes, accepts more bentos than would be necessary for a party three times their size, and goes back to ba sing se.

the wall has been rebuilt, again, from her uncle smashing it down, again, because he had absolutely no class whatsoever. (so maybe azula is still a bit angry about some things. she probably has the right, after everything.)

inside is different. the tension is no longer being hidden, which is convenient, because it means it take azula all of four hours to track down a meeting and a further two to track down what she really wants to see.

joo dee - her joo dee; it turns out there were several - is staying with her mother in the lower ring, spending her days sitting in silence and staring out of the small window she has. azula doesn't ask for her real name. she can't get the words out, just holds up one of the many jars she brought along. joo dee's mother accepts it, confused, and lets azula up to see her daughter.

"anything that helps," she says, weakly, as azula stares.

she sits down, and joo dee's mother leaves, and azula stares.

"hello, princess azula," joo dee says, after a moment. azula feels her breath about to catch, and makes sure it doesn't.

"i'm not a princess anymore," she replies, tone carefully even. "they kicked me out."

"hmm," joo dee replies. "how unfortunate. you were a very kind princess."

azula snorts into her tea. "no. i was efficient. vastly different and only very occasionally overlapping things."

joo dee hums again, then, "there is no war in ba sing se."

"not anymore," azula agrees. "i put a stop to all that. there's about to be a revolution, though."

"oh," says joo dee, and her eyes well with tears. azula has no idea what to do with that. "apologies," joo dee says, while the tears roll, fat and heavy, down her face. her voice doesn't change. "when the men came. with their army. they took me away and threatened to kill me if i did not release control. there is no war in ba sing se. i--" she falters, just for a moment, then recovers. "i did not wish to see anyone harmed. i failed."

azula swallows around the sudden lump in her throat. "the people appreciate your efforts," she said, eventually. "they want you back. they want you to lead them."

joo dee watches her. "there is a revolution in ba sing se."

azula nods, feeling incredibly lost. "i'd like to see it succeed, i think. i dislike the system of government here. too many layers."

"yes," joo dee says, "too many layers. perhaps we should just. do away with them."

"that... might work," azula says. she gets the distinct feeling they're not talking about government anymore. she can't follow the thread of the conversation like she might have been able to in the asylum. she's not sure if it's a good thing or not.

"yes." joo dee says, sounding very certain. "yes, i think it will."

something moves in azula's peripheral and she jerks her head up. joo dee's mother is standing in the doorway, cheeks tearstained like her daughter’s. azula begins to regret her decision.

"thank you," she whispers, voice hoarse. "she hasn't spoken so much in months."

"gardening helps," azula blurts out, then avoids the ensuing awkwardness by pulling a zuko and climbing out of their window to run across the rooftops until she is far enough away that the burning in her lungs is only a product of exertion.

piandao does not comment on it when she follows him around like a shadow the next day. she appreciates that about him. fat would have questions. he just lets her sit in the corner of the forge he has taken over for their stay, and hums old folk songs while he works.

azula visits the revolutionaries. she attends meetings, watches passionate twenty-somethings shout about justice and democracy. she leaves early, buys street food, and wonders about her own home. the fire nation is disciplined, controlled, heavily so. it might have the discipline to manage itself in the absence of a fire lord. it might collapse entirely.

(she still has more of a claim to the throne than the rest of her family and more political finesse. she might just nudge the common folk in the right direction. let them sort it out, if that's what they want. the earth kingdom's governor's won't last long after ba sing se overturns itself.)

when she gets home, though, she goes back to her cherry trees and picks the fruit off the branches, cutting them open and prying away the pits with a practised ease. fat will help her plant them, later. when she has the energy. for now, she'll go to bed and get some sleep. everything else will grow out of whatever happens tomorrow.

#listen i love this au ok #also i think about the joo dee that azula put in charge of ba sing se about twice a week #i'm obsessed with her

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chiliger · 3 years

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Random thought of an AU where Sokka is in the swim club of his high school but is kinda finding the sport unfulfilling as of late.

One day after practice, he walks past the gym and catches sight of the fencing club. Out of curiosity, he watches a pair spar, mesmerized by their quick and elegant moves. He makes a habit of watching the fencing team everyday after swimming for about a week, even mimicking the moves he observes, before he is caught by the fencing coach, Mr. Piandao. Sheepishly, Sokka expresses interest in the sport, admitting he’s never even held a sabre; but Piandao invites him to try it out after the team finishes for the day.

(More under the cut.)

Despite his sloppy stance and stiff moves at first, Sokka shows signs of promise and quick learning. Mr. Piandao encourages Sokka to come during the next club meeting and maybe try a few rounds with some of the beginner players. Sokka is ecstatic with the idea and as soon he gets home, he looks up videos of fence matches and practices the moves and stances, using an umbrella as a sabre. He practices all weekend, much to Katara’s chagrin whenever he swings the umbrella too wide and knocks over something in their room.

Come next meeting, he skips swim club and heads for the gym the fencing club practices in. Mr. Piandao is pleased to see him and hands him a spare sabre, vest and mask, then has him pair up with some of the more novice fencers. Near the end of the meeting, the club members gather together for a few rounds of dueling for anyone who wants to, whether novice or advanced. One of the fencers, who has kept their mask on for the majority of the meeting, is challenged to a round and wins so quickly that Sokka had to make sure he didn’t blink and missed something.

The same fencer keeps a winning streak for a few more rounds, and when no one volunteers to challenge them, Sokka, despite his better judgement, raises his hand. He steps up before the fencer, unable to make out any details of the person’s face because of their mask. The first and second round go quickly, with Sokka losing both. For the third round, he ups his game, managing to parry his opponent's quick strikes, and almost making a successful strike of his own. He still loses the third round, but he isn't sulking, he's more invigorated than before by the beauty of the sport.

As the club clean up and put away their equipment for the day, Sokka spots the talented fencer from the before, and runs up to them as they remove their mask.

"Hey, thanks for the match. I'm sure I wasn't much of a challenge, I'm just learning how to play" he says with a bright grin. He holds out his hand. "I'm Sokka."

The fencer, bright eyes that are almost golden, looks at him for a moment before taking his hand. He doesn't smile, but his raspy voice is soft, "Zuko. Maybe with some more practice, you'll be able to beat me."

Sokka laughs, not sure if Zuko was teasing or encouraging him. "Maybe. I bet I could if you teach me some of those sweet moves."

Now, a corner of Zuko's lips twitch up just slightly that Sokka thinks he imagined it. "Keep coming to the club meetings, and we'll see about that."

On his way home, riding his bike, Sokka is wearing a brighter grin than he had before. He thinks about the idea of officially joining the fence club, and learning more from Mr. Piandao, and thinks of seeing Zuko again and maybe one day, winning a duel against him.

Sokka lets go of his bike's handles as he approaches the slope of a hill, raising his arms up as he speeds down the slope with a loud and cheerful whoop.

#text post #chili rambles #sokka #zuko #piandao #zukka #this was meant to be a short two of three paragraph thing then is got out of hand #i know nothing about fencing i just got the idea and my brain went wild

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that-was-anticlimactic · 4 years

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Yes hi, I'd love to know more about your tourettes sokka hc if you're up for it 👀 I'm starving for tourettes hcs so 👀

Oh boy oh boy oh boy!! I can talk about this SO MUCH (I will warn now, there will be some Zukka in this) okay so I guess I’ll start at the beginning...

Sokka was six when he started showing symptoms

It started with just some motor tics but everyone kind of just attributed it to this kid has a lot of energy ahhh

It became more noticeable when he kept almost killing himself with weapons because of his tics and slight carelessness

That’s one reason why he loves boomerang so much, none of the other weapons felt right to him and they would always get in the way of his tics, but he could throw boomerang and it would come back to him so he could keep throwing it and it made him feel calm

Then, Sokka started saying stuff that he didn’t mean to say, but again, everyone was just like hyper kid because it’s not like he was doing anything wrong

But they realized something was up when Sokka started yelling “FIRE NATION” without intending to and sending the whole tribe in a panic

So, Hakoda took Sokka to a nearby trustworthy Earth Kingdom village and that’s where Sokka got diagnosed with Tourette’s (and ADHD)

One of the things with Sokka is touch, like, he feels like touch is constricting and restraining sometimes. The problem is, he LOVES touch, he is a touchy person, but when someone touches him without telling him first or asking him, he doesn’t like it.

Sometimes he mentally shuts down when it happens, sometimes he tics more, the reaction depends on his anxiety levels and who touched him and when and where

The only people he gave a pass to was Kya and Katara. He didn’t even like it when Hakoda put a hand on his shoulder.

It was weird, he could feel the difference when Katara and Kya touched him compared to anyone else and he felt bad because he wanted his dad to hug him, but it felt so wrong

So, Sokka loves touch, but he likes to initiate it

So, moving forward, Sokka and Katara meet Aang, he’s the Avatar, they join and you know, there’s Aang the Avatar, Katara the Waterbender, and Sokka the guy with Tourette’s on the team

At least, that’s how they are known amongst the Fire Nation

Going undercover is so fun for Sokka, but he also has to be really conscious of what he’s doing and what he says and trying to suppress

It takes a lot out of him, but he knows he literally has to do it or he could get caught or expose them and Aang or Katara could get caught

On occasion, he has tic attacks (and for those who don’t know, they’re essentially a really bad TS day or moment where your tics are more consistent and seem to hurt more or you just have like an unending moment of tics where you just can’t stop for a little while. They are usually caused by anxiety or overstimulation or something like that, but they differ for everyone with TS)

The first time it happened in front of Aang, the sweet child panicked because he didn’t really understand what was happening and why Sokka was doing that and really what TS was

Katara is an angel, seriously. She is so sweet to Sokka when this happens and she knows exactly how to ground him and help him get through it

(Seriously, Sokka appreciates her so much. She is genuinely the one exception and anytime she wants a hug or any kind of touch she is allowed to do it)

the first time it happens in front of Toph when she joins is in Bitter Work when Sokka was in the hole

Just looking at Sokka in the whole sends my anxiety up because he literally can’t move! So like, imagine being in a hole for like five hours+ and needing to move like physically and you can feel the sensation in your body and it hurts and burns and tingles but you can’t. Sokka is not having a good time

So, Toph drags him out of the hole and is freaked out because she can’t see what’s happening and it’s scary because Sokka is making noises and hyperventilating and his heart rate is through the roof and Aang ran to get Katara and she can’t touch him because when she pulled him out of the hole he shrieked

She’s cool with it after that, she doesn’t think of him any less or anything, but it terrified her the first time because no one told her he had TS because they forgot to mention it and she couldn’t see what was happening

We all know that Sokka loves Suki and the Kyoshi Warriors with his whole entire heart and once they kicked his butt and helped him learn that sexism is bad, they were so fun to work with?? They taught him their style, obviously, but they also helped him incorporate his TS into it and how to use it to his advantage, something he had been struggling with his whole life

One of the things Sokka loved most about Yue is that she never even mentioned his sounds or movements she just let him do it without questioning him and that doesn’t happen a lot

I feel like Sokka having TS would make his time with Piandao even kore meaningful because he really struggles to keep his hands still so sword fighting does not come naturally to him

Piandao loves it though because it just makes Sokka even more clever and resourceful and he takes his time with Sokka, helping him as much as he can and never getting angry or anything when he can’t stand still

He also added more to what Sokka learned from the Kyoshi Warriors about incorporating his TS into his fighting and using it to his advantage

Not only was his sword an extension of his arm, but his TS was an extension as well

Did Toph and Aang help Sokka incorporate his tics into their scams? Yes, yes they did

Zuko joining the team was weird for Sokka because they kind of just clicked and he realized that they both have a weird thing with touch

On the balloon to Boiling Rock, Sokka is just comfortable around Zuko and his tics are like “cool yeah, have a break” and so he doesn’t tic and Zuko just “why aren’t you ticcing?”

and Sokka is ??? “Huh?”

and Zuko “You usually tic but you aren’t now. Why?”

and Sokka essentially explains that TS is weird and random and sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn’t, but he’s really comfortable and calm so his body is like “ye, let’s chill for now”

and Zuko is like “oh. that’s good. I kinda miss it though”

and Sokka d i e s because what?? Someone likes his tics enough to miss them? Like, they don’t annoy Zuko and he doesn’t tune them out?

and the bender goes on to explain that he likes the noises, they remind him that he is doing the right thing and that he’s here and he didn’t hurt team Avatar and they’re just comfortable / pleasing to the ear

and Sokka DIES

but then Zuko is like mmm maybe you should stay in the balloon and I’ll go to Boiling Rock and Sokka got pissed because he thinks Zuko said it because he’s a nonbender and he starts panicking and ticcing and Zuko panics and kind of just grabs his hand and Sokka... Sokka doesn’t hate it? Like, it feels nice and doesn’t agitate him?

but Zuko was like no I mean because everyone in the Fire Nation guard knows about the guy on team Avatar with TS and I don’t want you to get hurt

At one point in the prison courtyard, Sokka verbally tics really loudly about the moon and some guards hear and head to where they are so Zuko covers for him by screaming about how much he loves the moon

One of the worst moments in Sokka’s life was when Toph was falling and he grabbed her, but he wanted to tic and he knew that if he did, Toph would fall and die and he couldn’t do that, he couldn’t

(he still has nightmares about it happening)

when Sokka becomes an ambassador, some people are pissed because well 1) Watertribe 2) he’s a child 3) they suck 4) they think he’s distracting with his tics and Zuko is not here for it so he will destroy them

Like one time (after they started dating) Zuko overheard some councilors mocking Sokka’s tics and he got PISSED like so pissed and he went off and the found Sokka and hugged him because he is allowed to

oh! Sokka and Zuko’s thing is like hand-holding okay? They both kind of hate it because weird touch stuff, but it’s okay when they do it to each other?? Like, it feels right and like they’re completed and whole and it’s nice

before they start dating, they kind of do it a lot. Like, night before Zuko’s coronation, Sokka finds Zuko and he’s freaking out because what if he ends up like his dad and Sokka kind of just... grabs his hand and they sit there

Sokka is panicking because chronic pain and the cold of home makes it worse and Zuko finds him crying in the library and just... holds his hand

Zuko keeps little things on him all the time like paperclips and paper and writing utensils and things that click and buttons and stuff so if Sokka looks stressed during a meeting he can slip something under the table to him so he can play with it

Sokka also draws a lot during meetings, like, he doesn’t look at anyone throughout the whole meeting, even when he talks. He is able to focus more and pay more attention when he is doing something with his hands so he draws and doodles and sometimes takes notes

Sometimes he just writes the same word or sentence over and over again throughout the whole meeting

Sokka has sensory issues and a lot of noise stresses him out

It’s kind of the opposite of Zuko’s sensory issues? Like, Zuko doesn’t like loud noises and Sokka doesn’t like kind of static-y noises, like... when things sound muffled or muted or people are talking kind of quietly over each other

(Zuko definitely gives Sokka massages when his tics hurt a lot)

Random, but after awhile “yip yip” became a verbal tic of Sokka’s. Sometimes, he would say “you need to yip yip” and then he’d apologize to Appa and tell him that he’s yipping just fine

Toph is kind of like Zuko in how she likes Sokka’s verbal tics

She can’t see-see, but hearing his tics is nice sometimes, especially when she worries

She likes falling asleep to some of his tics

Even though Katara and Zuko are allowed to touch him whenever they want, more often than not they ask first because friendship is magic

Suki is lovely, okay? Like, just her presence is enough to make him feel better and she approaches helping him in a different way, she just talks to him and asks him questions to help him take his mind off of it

Sokka really doesn’t hate his TS, like, yeah, sometimes it pisses him off more than he can even explain, but it’s a part of him and as much as he cherishes when he can sit still, it’s wrong, it’s not him? He sits weirdly in chairs and changes his position every two minutes, he rocks his legs in his sleep, he sometimes even finds his own tics grounding...

Over time and with help from his friends, he learned to not be ashamed and that having TS didn’t make him ant less of a warrior

also, he, Toph, and Zuko are the disabled club✌🏻(and it makes them feel better sometimes in their own little way)

I have a lot more I could say but this is already pretty long, so I’ll end this sweet with Katara is amazing and Sokka’s relationship with her is wonderful and she knows how to help him with his tics in the way that Zuko does and can help center him like no one else and Sokka just loves her so much

Okay! Ah! That was kind of a lot but I hope you like them! Anyone can feel free to add more to this or lemme know if you have any ideas!

Thank you for the ask! I enjoyed writing these:)

#avatar the last airbender #Sokka #sokka avatar #zukka #Zuko #Katara #zukka but tourettes and a healthy dose of angst #but what if... sokka has tourettes #Tourette’s syndrome #Sokka with Tourette’s #self projection? who is she🤭#atla headcanons #atla #atla sokka #corey rambles:)#corey tics:)

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