#gymnast Zuko

[hyperfocusthusly]

Does anyone have any advice on how to stop writing the middle and start writing the start? Asking for a friend

|| Modern gymnast Zukka AU || 1 || 2 || 3 || 4

Beams, Bars and Burns || Ch. 1 ||

#I’ve been watching The Bear a lot recently #will I survive this process???? #who knows #we’re looking at 8(?) chapters #and that’s just so #loose #I’m not a huge long form writer #all my stuff up to now has been drabbles #but this literally has me by the throat #so here we all are #modern gymnast Zukka au #modern au #Zukka #zuko #gymnast Zuko #sokka #spotter sokka #my writing #beams bars and burns

[dyingroses]

These will be the images I will be using to explain "tuck" and "pike" position from now on:

#lols #post #mine #gymnastics #avatar: tla #avatar #azula #princess azula #atla azula #zuko #atla zuko #prince zuko #the southern raiders #fire siblings #dance

[sasuhinasno1fan]

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

[ultfreakme]

NATLA should hire Zukka writers we know wtf is up with the plot better than anyone else. It's just facts. We have to do gymnastics to write a convincing slowburn and make Zuko actually likeable and lovable for Sokka.

#zukka #natla #it's always a fucking zutara shipper writing #LET US COOK

[mugentakeda]

opinion on Iroh living in Ba Sing Se in the comics ? :3c *bats eyelashes at Iroh meta mutual*

personally I get the political reasoning for it (he very much was well known for participating violently in the war so it'd be a pretty awkward way to start peace talks and such) but like... as an Iroh + Zuko codependency truther... hmn...

though he DOES come to the FN later in the comics to help Zuko out so its like.. did you leave him because you were terrified of making things worse ? were you convinced he didn't need you anymore and so lumbered off to BSS in self-imposed exile certain that you'd be a burden to his personal growth ? or did he just underestimate the distance .. forgot Zuko wouldn't be able to hop on a Bison all the time to visit him... driving me Krazy.

honestly. i think a horrific combination of all of these could work simultaneously. like theres political merit but also iroh might also personally somehow think him being away from zuko will benefit zuko (as if zuko didnt miraculously managing to undo his lifetime of Bad Things in less than like. A year. entirely through various methods of suffering. things that would take grown men their whole life and then some to undo, if even that. And hes like 16 and now hes a monarch and hes gonna be busting his ass everyday for the rest of his life until hes too old to stand up straight). and that yeah hed also underestimate how much being a world away from zuko actually sucks

because something i lovee highlighting in my art of them is that iroh doesnt just love his nephew, he likes his nephew. hes fond of his nephews crankiness, the hovering, the theatrics, the shouting and stomping, the awkwardness and thoughtfulness. there are probably days where iroh just cant work up the typical jovial customer service and diplomacy energy and just broods in the jasmine dragon because he keeps accidentally brewing enough tea for two, cooking enough dinner for two, calling through the house for his nephew and then remembering hes stuck cooped in the caldera, having screaming matches with his councilmen over how to deal with shit iroh and his brother and their forefathers did to scar the world not even before lunch time.

so its like. a combo of the Grand Lotus in iroh who focuses on the political merit and worldly benefits of him being in bss, the shitty ill in the dome codependent Uncle iroh who mopes over not having his prickly ass barnacle of a nephew looming over his shoulder and glaring at people all the time, the Bad At Emotions And Communicating guy in iroh that gets so ashamed of what hes willing to put his own kid through for the sake of the world that he doesnt know if he even has the stomach to visit the caldera and look his nephew in the eye as he drowns under mountains of stress dealing with irohs baggage, etc etc.

and there are also probably things zuko doesnt know about and iroh isnt sure if hed ever have the strength to tell zuko about. at the beginning of zukos joke banishment, the white lotus had been like well if you do decide to take the throne once we figure out how to take down ozai youll need an heir and if your nephew is as good deep down as you claim then maybe mold him to align with us so when you step down he could at the very least be a puppet ruler so we can ensure he doesnt start another war. and then that plan just got adjusted slightly and expanded upon once the avatar wasnt a fairy tale anymore. it hurts worse now after they had reconciled before the comet because now zuko looks at him with a loving, trusting, praising look, despite how little iroh believes he really deserves it. and worst of all he doubts theres anything he could really do to convince zuko that he doesnt deserve that because iroh would bet anything that zuko genuinely thinks hed deserve it if iroh decided he didnt want anything to do with zuko.

hes like doing these weird gymnastics where he pushes these hoity toity white lotus beliefs onto zuko despite barely even abiding by them himself , and then also knowing he doesnt deserve the blind adoration zuko has been showering him in lately. its like iroh takes all his conflicting emotions and opinions, puts them in a blender, drinks it, and then throws it all back up. i doubt theres anyway to conclude his thought process in a paragraph or less basically.

like i know a lot of people agree leaving zuko for bss retirement era is stupid and i agree but also consider the angst potential and also the white lotus is stupid and iroh is stupid and zuko isnt stupid but he also thinks iroh hung the sun and stars so its more sad on his part than anything because he cant even escape getting the short end of the stick with IROH and doesnt even know it. and it will probably stay that way. Lol!!!!!

#so in summary i think its all of the above . thank you gremkins #i had to stop myself because i could go on for like 1million more paragraphs about iroh and zukos dumbassery #weirdest best worst normalest insanest uncle nephew father son dynamic ever #they both are SO DERANGED!!! #atla #asks

[atla-recluse]

Throne-Stealing Where?

It's always hilarious to me when I see/hear someone calling Azula anything along the lines of "power-hungry despot".

Hungry for power? More like hungry for family/relationship harmony and rules. If anything, she gives power away to others! She helped Zuko get back the throne and (conditional) fatherly appreciation that he so desired, with her only request being that he side with her and their nation (that's not asking for very much, from her POV, mind you)! She gave Mai a higher position than even her noble parents had and a chance to become a Fire Royal Consort through marriage to her long-time crush, Azula's brother, Prince Zuko! She (albeit after first forcefully taking her away from her preferred surroundings) gave Ty Lee another, more exciting way (based on how much fun we see Ty Lee having) to feel different/special and like "her own person"! She never used more force than was necessary when fighting her adversaries and only went "too far" when the situation seemed to call for it due to the risk to her person if she did nothing! (Which may have been a soul-destroying choice for everyone that was there [except Zuko]. Even Azula is implied to have felt like a monster for killing Aang, during that conversation they had on Ember Island!) A 14 year old felt forced to kill, people! That affects the one doing it, too! Why does next to no one ever ask what Aang was even planning on doing once in the avatar state while they were in the catacombs? Especially from the POV if one of his enemies? Play hopscotch and do super gymnastics? Doubt it!

Now, please correct me if I'm wrong but, wouldn't a despot be preoccupied with looking for ways to change the surrounding cultures that they come into contact with? Instead, after she leaves Ba Sing Se, for example, she keeps it exactly as she found it; with the only change being the new Earth Kingdom-originated ruler she places in charge. The people of the EK didn't have anything change for them for better or worse, as far as I can recall. Yes, we do see her trying to break through the wall of Ba Sing Se with that more advanced technology and she is imperialistic (which is something wrong in itself and which can be very brutal). But that's not automatically the same as being a dictator or snatching up bits of power from others in any way she can. And in the end she conquered it by instead using the true, least offensive (in multiple ways) means possible.

As for that period just before the final agni kai we see in show, where she was going to be crowned? She was granted that title by the current Fire Lord aka her father, after her back-on-the-clock brother defected (so willingly left).

u·surp

/yo͞oˈsərp/

verb

take (a position of power or importance) illegally or by force. "Richard usurped the throne"

Based on that dictionary definition, how can she be usurping Zuko's position if, again, the FL himself is giving it to her and if Zuko gave it up? She's literally getting it "legally" (the FL is the law) and without using any force!

Now of course there's a rabbit hole argument that some may try and use by saying that because Ozai himself took his brother's throne without Iroh's consent (was it without his consent? Iroh seems to never be in a rush to be FL), that Azula getting the throne is therefore usurpation. Ummm, I hate to nip that point in the bud so soon but, Zuko is Ozai's son, not Iroh's. That means that (assuming the child of the by-birth king/queen is the only one that should gain the throne next if the king/queen is unable or unwilling) based on that logic, neither teenager should be allowed to sit on the throne.

Kinda hard to usurp a title from someone who "legally" shouldn't have it either, right? Oh Iroh, if only you'd just done your damn job.

All that being said, literally all this girl was doing is finding ways to handle her job and fulfill the tasks of it that she's been given at such an inappropriate age, while amassing the least amount of damage possible. And along the way she tried to extend a hand to her family and friends too, almost as a sort of "sorry for the inconveniences/thank you for your cooperation and loyalty". (She may have even learned some things about herself and others along the way—or could have, if she had been allowed just one more minute of screen time and the writing choice of change that the other Fire Nation kids got.)

Yet somehow many people come away from this show with the idea that she's trying to purposely take control of or harm as many people as possible in every way possible without any care at all for others' wants. I know at least two characters that that partly or fully applies to, and neither of them are Azula.

#Azula #Zuko #Iroh #Ozai #debunking fandom #common misconceptions #momentarily Tumblr-subtweeted two of these characters #Guess which ones #ATLA

[punkeropercyjackson]

Dick Grayson's ✨️canonical💙 Atla variant,Katara

Blue-coded

Tgirl swag

Brown queen

Eldest daughter syndrome

Masking autistic who gets to let loose as character development

Professinal creepy man hater

Took on a title from a culture that's not hers not out of appropriation but from a common thing they have with hers and the title in question was a mythological hero(Nightwing/The Painted Lady)

Gymnastics based fighting style

Watched her parent(s)be killed at a young age and didn't find out who did until later and speared him only for her own mental well-being due to her young age

Loves feeling pretty and practices self-care but isn't consieted or self-obsessed and encourages everybody to love their looks

Her brothers include a huge doofus with no powers that makes through on brains and is demanding but a good guy at the end of the end(Tim/Sokka)and a red and black-coded ray of sunshine turned goth asshole vigilante turned awkward family member she bickers with but has a connection with that's special and gets misenterpreted as romantic(Jason/Zuko)

And boyfriend in Katara's case but Dick has her own Aang in Duke,the signals of hope who love to run their mouths and are softboys and rowdyboys at the same time and yellow to their blue

Toph is literally just Cass but with blindness instead of muteness and a LI instead of a little sister

Bisexy and has a thing for rebels(Aang,Toph and Jet/Kory,Helena and Roy)but weirdos will lie to you about what she likes to prop up their dudes and leave out her girlies

Dick is moon-coded(Her Marvel Amalgam is Moon Knight)

Also Roy and Jet.Yeah i don't i need to say anything else,they're the same dude

@mayameanderings Your girls🙏🏼

#katara #dick grayson #dick grayson:trans woman extrodinare #trans katara #bi katara #punk katara #autistic dick grayson #team mom dick grayson #sokka #tim drake #zuko #jason todd #afrolatino jason supremacy #aang #aanglove #duke thomas #toph beifong #cassandra cain #kataang #katoph #jetara #jet atla #roy harper #dickroy #t4t dickroy #atla geekery #batfam #teen titans #summerposting

[fanfic-lover-girl]

Christian Take on the Southern Raiders

As a Christian, I wanted to examine Katara's desire to pursue her mother's killer in the Southern Raiders episode. Especially the topic of forgiveness and justice.

Was Aang right about forgiveness?

Aang claims Katara has a second choice: forgiveness. Zuko claims forgiveness is the same as doing nothing. Aang responds:

"It's easy to do nothing. It's hard to forgive"

Aang is 100% right. Forgiveness is hard. Even when the slight is minor, forgiveness can be hard. Aang is also right about revenge. Revenge can poison someone beyond repair. Forgiveness is meant for the victim, not the perpetrator. As Christians, we can not be forgiven by God if we can't forgive others. In secular terms, forgiveness sets you free from the shackles to your tormentor. So as a friend, Aang is right for pointing this out as an option.

HOWEVER, how he goes about it is insulting and condescending. Comparing the death of Katara's mom to losing Appa temporality. I know Appa is one of his last links to his culture but Appa is an animal and comparing him to a mother is disrespectful! And comparing her to Jet. Another issue here is that Aang presents confrontation as mutually exclusive from forgiveness. At least initially. For me, I struggle to truly forgive unless I confront the person who hurt me first. He did validate her need to confront Yon Rha though when he confronted her and Zuko at night. So right idea but poor execution, Aang.

I think Aang may be a bit too demonized in this episode by Zu/Katara fans.

Justice vs revenge

So justice and revenge both involve addressing wrongs. However, Christians should not carry out revenge. We should leave punishment to God and the law. Justice is also tied to forgiveness. Any Christian who says that we should just forgive criminals and let them off the hook from the law is speaking nonsense. Shame on the Christian press who bashed Rachel Denhollander in her sexual assault case.

Zuko called Katara's desire justice. Aang called it revenge. Who's right?

What was Katara going to do?

What's interesting is that Katara does not explicitly specify what she will do when she confronts Yon Rha. Aang is the one who brought up seeking revenge. But even then no one outright says murder. Maybe because it's a kid's show or maybe Katara did not know herself. It's not until she goes for the kill that it is explicit that she wants to actually kill him. Although her wanting to kill him was heavily implied or could be inferred from the tone of the episode.

Is it revenge or justice to kill Yon Rha?

Technically, yes it is revenge. Justice is meant to be carried out by an impartial party (eg. the law) and/or someone with absolute higher power (God). It is an eye for an eye, but it is still revenge.

HOWEVER, Katara has no avenue for proper justice in the Avatar world! And Christianity does not exist in ATLA obviously lol.

ATLA has spirits but the spirits are indifferent to human problems. Tui and La or Agni will not avenge Katara like God promises to do for Christians.

There is a war going on and there is no law that will condemn Yon Rha. He was doing his duty as a fire nation soldier so he is not guilty under fire nation law. Katara could THEORETICALLY get justice by waiting for Zuko to be crowned and letting the new regime prosecute Yon Rha. But then it poses another problem! Zuko would be forced to prosecute who knows how many FN soldiers! Would all retired military leaders be sent to prison?? What if there was some super old guy who participated in the air nomad genocide and was on his deathbed, on the verge of croaking? Should he be carted off to jail?? And you can't (or shouldn't) lawfully prosecute someone for doing something that was not illegal at the time of the action.

If the WT captured him and held him accountable for murder under their law that could work.

Thankfully, Katara made what I believe to be the right choice for herself. Killing Yon Rha would not bring her mom back and probably would not bring her the closure she needed. There are things worse than death after all.

Even though Katara claimed she did not forgive Yon Rha, she did in a sense. By confronting him, she let go of his hold over her. She no longer fears him. She is able to move on and let go of her anger. She does not demand any payment from him by sparing his life because she sees him as a pathetic waste of space already. She found closure. The difference with her forgiveness of Zuko is that she chooses to put her animosity in the past and give him another chance. Reconcile with him. Unlike with Yon Rha. Not that there is anything to reconcile with him anyway...

#yon rha #the southern raiders #christianity #Rachel Denhollander #justice #revenge #forgiveness #atla katara #atla aang #aang critical #only a little bit #christian analysis of media #atla #atla meta #atla zuko #anti christians who demonize victims #forgiveness does not mean justice is not suppose to be served #kataang friendship #zutara friendship

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

zuts: Remember when the creators made fun of fanart in 08 and 012? thats why kataang is toxic and a bad ship cause bryke are assholes

me: Yeah that was a dick move AND that was ten years ago.. why would i care about the creators being jerks 10 years ago? i fully believe aang wouldn't approve at all and still enjoy the ship because i dont make thinking about bryan/mike part of my shipping personality the obesssion zuts have with bryke is very strange to me.. when im shipping zutara im not thinking of bryke or that aaron guy im thinking of the.. characters.. i thought thats what shipping was suppose to be.. but the zuts cant get bryke out of their head

And even if Bryke or anyone else on the writting team was currently being a dick to Zutarians - that does not justify attacking Kataang and Maiko fans? Or trying to force people to like Zutara because "the creators are mean, pity us!"

I LOATHE how Azula was written in the Yang comics, and the way he and Bryke have talked about her through the years checks nearly every box on "Things people that are completely ignorant about mental illness/health say" and matches a lot of stuff I had to hear in my life due to my autism diagnosis - but I don't go harrassing people who enjoy the comics because "They like an offensive thing made by bad people!"

Hell, I don't even think Yang and Bryke MUST be bad people that genuinely hate the disabled/mentally ill. They're just writers that didn't think stuff through when dealing with a sensitive topic and it backfired horribly. It sucks, but it happens.

Meanwhile Zutarians be like "Katara is 14 and Aang's love interest. One of the show runners said he is a goofball like Aang (and the other said he relates to Zuko, but we pretend that important bit of context didn't happen) AND he happens to be bald. CLEARLY that means he is using Aang as a self-insert and Kataang is his way of fantisizing about real children. And they followed their original plan instead of pandering to the zutara fandom, therefore they hate women" What kind of mental gymnastics do you have to do to jump that wild conclusion?

#anti zutara

[waterfire1848]

Modern au

Thanks for the ask!

I’m going to assume you mean Avatar but if I’m wrong correct me.

1. Katara and Sokka live with their grandma because their dad and Bato are off fighting in the Navy. Katara is in high school looking to do something in human rights and Sokka is also in high school and wants to become an engineer. Sokka met Suki, who lives with her two dads, his freshman year and the two started dating a few months later.

2. Aang is still twelve but he's also in high school. Gyatso would be his foster dad and Appa and Momo (a dog and a ferret(?)) are their pets. He's still bald but instead of having an arrow on his head it's now on his yellow and orange jacket.

3. Toph's parents think that the school they all go to is a private school that helps her because of her blindness. She's been able to keep that lie going for three years now. Katara helps her with any questions that she has and she's already declared that Sokka will be her chauffeur when he gets his license.

4. Ozai lost custody of Zuko and Azula when Zuko ended up in the hospital with third degree burns. They both live with Iroh who sends them to school and takes care of them in the apartment above his tea shop. Zuko, due to being partially blind and deaf, is in a few classes with Toph who introduced him to everyone else. Azula took longer to meet everyone because of her rivalry with Katara but eventually joined the group.

5. Mai's parents were strongly against sending her to a local high school but she wore them down. They also had to cut back on spending when Tom Tom was born at the same time that Ozai, their business partner, came under investigation for child abuse. Mai and Zuko started dating their sophomore year. Ty Lee's parents never cared where she went and Ty Lee liked going to the school because her sisters didn't go there. She does gymnastics for the school and has won three gold metals for her work. She also loves to freak out teachers and students by twisting her body into different shapes. She and Mai join the group shortly before Azula does.

#ask #avatar modern au #modern au #send me an au and i'll give you five headcanons #katara #sokka #suki #aang #gyatso #toph beifong #ozai #zuko #azula #iroh #mai #ty lee #atla #avatar the last airbender

[theerurishipper]

When I first watched avatar, my reaction to Azula in the last episodes was something like "damn, she's going crazy" and "Hell yes! She's defeated finally!"

Even if her break down was uncomfortable to watch, I thought it was obvious that she was one of the final bosses. So it is surprising to see many Azula apologists not getting her role that was clearly intended from the start. I enjoyed her as a cunning, manipulative bitch, the villain, not this person her stans try to portray her as

I don't know why Azula apologists can't understand that her role is that of a villain. She was never meant to have a happy end. Her fate at the end of the story is her comeuppance for her actions. She pushed everyone away and tried to control them through fear. Her tragedy is that her father turned her into this, but she had a choice, and she constantly chose the wrong one. It's why she ends up alone in the end. To start blaming every other character for not throwing away their goals to pick her up and fuss over her. I genuinely see takes about how Zuko should not have fought Azula and should have helped her instead because she was clearly not well. And it's like... she wants to kill her brother, she wants to fight him, and she's trying to commit genocide. They are fighting to save the world from her, this isn't the time to lick Azula's wounds. The mental gymnastics some stans perform when it comes to Azula is actually so impressive that they are practically Olympic level athletes.

Thank you for your ask!

#Azula critical #Anti Azula #Asks

[hyperfocusthusly]

The Pummel Horse is hard, the floor is soft, Zuko’s grumpy, Sokka’s had worse days

|| Modern gymnast AU || 1 || 2 || 4 ||

Beams, Bars and Burns || Ch. 1 ||

#who knows what I’m doing #not me #but whatever it is has gripped me #avatar the last airbender #alta #zukka #atla Zukka #sokka #atla sokka #zuko #atla zuko #modern gymnast zukka au #gymnast zuko #spotter sokka #my art #beams bars and burns

[ao3feed-zukka]

Beams Bars and Burns

Read now on Ao3 at https://ift.tt/eSvOF1u by HyperfocusThusly Zuko is a gymnast, was a gymnast. Then life happened and it seemed impossible to get back to any place of joy. Time moves on, some things get better, some things gets worse, but whatever has happened he’s now stood here, in front of a new gym admittedly mostly at the behest of his well meaning, if slightly over exuberant Uncle. Can joy be found again? And will the clever, calm spotter he’s paired with help him find it? Words: 1071, Chapters: 1/8, Language: English Fandoms: Avatar: The Last Airbender Rating: General Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Categories: M/M Characters: Sokka (Avatar), Zuko (Avatar), Katara (Avatar) Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar) Additional Tags: Modern AU, Gymnast AU, Alternate Universe - No Bending (Avatar TV), at least not in the elemental sense, Gymnast Zuko, spotter sokka, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Iroh is a Good Uncle (Avatar), Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck, Slow(ish) Burn, Eventual relationship, Will update tags as we go, no beta we die like ozai’s bending Read it on Ao3 at https://ift.tt/eSvOF1u

#IFTTT #zukka #sokka #zuko #avatar: the last airbender #atla #ao3 feed

[rinstrumental]

all the wrong places

zutara

# not proofread, part 2 here

part one - disclosure

The night air was still. The only sounds in the vicinity were the lapping of the waves against the shore and crackling of the bonfire that had been going since sunset. The flames flickered in the reflection of Katara’s pupils, her gaze focused as she threw branch after branch into the blaze.

Zuko watched her hands carefully. At times they danced a little too close to the fire, ash and fire licking at her scarred fingers.

“You don’t have to do that. It’s a nice night,” he said. It was the first time anyone had talked in a half hour, his slightly hoarse voice cutting through the tranquil night.

Without looking away from her self-assigned chore, Katara replied. “Toph gets cold easily.” As if on cue, the girl dozing behind her rolled over and began to snore.

The two of them were the only ones left awake, their companions scattered around them and sleeping like logs. The usual palpable, awkward silence that came when they were the only two people in the room was as apparent as ever.

Zuko couldn’t bear it. Just being around Katara already made him anxious. Not that she was an unpleasant person, but there was just something about Katara that made Zuko desperate to prove himself. Despite her forgiveness, every time he thought of Katara (often), all he saw was an intangible spider web of betrayal, his feelings, her feelings, their convoluted past and possibly somethingmore. What did she think of him? He wished he had the courage to ask.

“What was it like, coming here?” This time Katara was the first to speak, yanking Zuko out of his thoughts. “As a kid, with your family and everything.”

He winced. Not wanting to have to think about his family, Zuko tried steering the conversation in a different direction. “It wasn’t just my family. Sometimes Mai and Ty Lee would come along too.”

Katara finally looked up to meet Zuko’s eyes, waiting for him to continue.

“It was fine, I guess. Azula kept them occupied most of the time. I just spent time with my parents. But at night, we would sneak out of our rooms to ‘play’. At Azula’s behest.”

The girl sitting opposite him finally cracked a smile. “She’s always been the one bossing you around, isn’t it?”

“Just like you with Sokka,” Zuko chuckled. Katara pulled a face.

“What games would you guys play?”

“Stupid games, if you can even call them that. Gymnastics competitions, dress-up, fire flake eating challenges,” Zuko muttered, deep in thought. “Sometimes truth or dare...”

“Well,” Katara sighed. “Since we’re both still awake with nothing better to do, maybe we could play one of those games.”

“What, dress up? Now?”

“Of course not!” She crossed her arms, laughing. “Do you see a catwalk and closet filled with royal Fire Nation attire anywhere around here? I meant something like truth or dare.”

“Alright. try me.” Katara’s laugh felt like liquid courage, flowing through Zuko’s veins, lifting him up high. He could do anything.

“Truth or dare?”

“Dare.”

“Go into the ocean. I want to see you completely soaked when you come out.”

Zuko eyed the midnight blue sea, already anticipating the bone-deep chill. But a dare is a dare, right?

He pulled his shirt off over his head, dumping it in the sand. Before Katara could react, Zuko was running towards the waves.

“Wait, I was kidding, but are you actually gonna do it?” she shouted in disbelief. As she watched him get closer to the water, Katara finally grabbed a cloth and chased after him, maybe against her better judgment.

She heard it before she saw it. A loud splash, followed by a yell. “Fuck, it’s freezing!”

“I was kidding,” she repeated breathlessly, throwing the makeshift towel over Zuko’s head. “What if you get sick or something now?”

Zuko pulled the cloth aside to thank Katara, and was surprised to see the look of pure worry on her face. Well, maybe annoyance, too. But was she actually concerned about his well being?

“You can’t get sick just before Sozin’s Comet, that was so stupid of me!”

Oh, right, Zuko remembered. He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t a little disappointed, suddenly remembering the hard-hitting reality of the circumstances that brought them here in the first place. “I’ll be fine, I’ll just get back to the fire and dry off. I promise I won’t get sick.”

Katara’s furrowed eyebrows relaxed. “Okay, I shouldn’t get stressed over small things like this. Keeping our composure is the most important thing we can do right now.” Zuko nodded in agreement.

The both of them settled down next to the bonfire again - this time next to each other, Zuko couldn’t help but notice. He leaned towards the heat, sighing in relief. He felt a bundle of fabric drop in his lap, recognising it as his top when he looked down. All of a sudden Zuko was hyper aware of his lack of clothing. Katara laughed when she noticed the blush rise on his face.

“Sorry,” he mumbled bashfully as he hastily pulled the shirt back on. “Forgot about that.”

The silence took over again, but this time it felt more comfortable. Like falling asleep under a big blanket after a long shower. Zuko looked down. Katara’s knee leaned against his own, her hand brushing carelessly against his whenever she reached for the pile of branches again. The fire was still going.

“Truth or dare?”

Katara didn’t miss a beat. “Truth.” He swore he could hear the smile in her voice.

“What’s your most embarrassing secret?” Oh my God, she’s going to think that was weird.

She laughed again, a beautiful, resonating sound. “I didn’t think we were going to get personal.”

He shrugged. “I mean, you did make me run into the sea in the middle of the night.”

“I told you that you didn’t have to do it, you didn’t listen, and now you’re putting the blame on me? You’re unbelievable.”

“Okay, fine. Secret for a secret.” Zuko turned to face Katara, his expression serious.

“Now you’ve got me interested. You go first.” She smirked smugly, resting her chin in her hand. “What kind of terrible, humiliating life story does the almighty prince of the Fire Nation have to tell me?”

“Um… do you remember what I told you just now? About the… games I’d play with my sister and her friends?”

“Sure.”

“Er… I… was the one getting dressed up.”

“Are you kidding me?” Katara exclaimed. “Tell me something I didn’t know!”

Zuko felt the heat return to his cheeks. “How’d you know?”

“Come on, I have a brother too. We all know ‘dress-up’ means putting the only boy around in a skirt and doing his hair!”

Zuko couldn’t help but begin to laugh as he recounted how he had worn Azula’s dresses as Mai smeared makeup on his face and Ty Lee braided his hair, the three of them giggling hysterically the whole time.

“I think that might be the first time I’ve heard you really laugh,” was all Katara had to say when Zuko had finished talking. The smug smile on her face had shifted to something more genuine, like she was actually enjoying listening to him ramble on and on. Zuko’s heart skipped at the thought.

“Ah, well, your turn now,” he said quickly, changing the subject again.

“For the record, I think that was a lame ass secret,” Katara sighed, sitting up straight. “But what I’m about to tell you absolutely cannot be known by anyone else. Especially Sokka.”

Zuko couldn’t help but feel nervous as the stern look returned to Katara’s face, her intense stare boring holes into his skull. What was this, a murder confession?

“I lied about kissing Jet that one time. I lied about having my first kiss to rub it in Sokka’s face.”

He didn’t know what to say. What should anyone say to that? “Oh.”

Katara groaned and turned away from him, flustered. “It’s so stupid, I know. But it’s really my most embarrassing secret. I don’t even really know why I’m telling you this, I guess I trust that you won’t tell Sokka. You probably don’t even get it! You’re the older brother, you wouldn’t understand why I’d even lie about something so trivial- shit, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have mentioned th-”

Zuko gently squeezed Katara’s shoulder, bringing her breathless rant to an abrupt stop. “Katara, it’s okay. I won’t tell Sokka or anything, because who you’ve kissed or whatever is none of my business. But I do get it, the whole competition thing.”

“Of course you do. Sorry, it was just stupid of me to bring it up.”

“It’s okay.”

This time, the silence was thick and heavy. Zuko’s hand on Katara’s shoulder, their knees leaning against each other, the general closeness of their bodies - he was suddenly made aware of it all. He could hear her shallow breaths and his own heart thumping against his ribs.

“I… felt like I had to prove myself. To you.”

“What?”

“That’s why I took on your dare. Even though I hate the cold, and I’m scared of the ocean at night.”

“Ah.”

“I’ll never forget how I left you… all… in Ba Sing Se. And I don’t think you ever will either, even after we went after Yon Rha and everything. I know that was just one stupid dare that didn’t mean anything, and I know my betrayal was so much bigger than that, but… I think I just wanted to say that I’m still willing to do anything if that means I can show that I’ve changed for the better. For the sake of the world, for Aang. For you.”

“…I see.”

“…Agh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to dump that on you.”

“No, no. That means a lot, Zuko. Thank you for telling me that.”

A breeze swept the beach. The bonfire cried out in protest, doubling over in the wind and eventually dying out.

A flame formed in Zuko’s hand, and he held it out in between him and Katara to share.

It was warmer than the bonfire ever could’ve been.

#avatar the last airbender #zutara #zutara fluff #zutara fanfiction #zuko fanfic #zuko x katara #katara x zuko #atla fanfic #atla zuko #atla katara #katara #zuko

[toph-bi-fong]

IDK mate, maybe the lot of us hate Z/tar/ians because of the way they demonize Aang, reduce Katara into an abused housewife that needs Zuko’s saving and call the thing we love and enjoy toxic and unhealthy.

You want to talk about moral shipping standards? Z/tar/ians are judging a 12 year old kid and accusing him of being a sexual predator because he kissed off guard Katara that one time.

They can ship it if they want, really. We’re just sick of the mental gymnastics they have to make to justify why they should’ve been the canon pairing in the end. And we’re sick of them dragging Aang’s character through the mud.

Also, maybe the ATLA fandom wouldn’t look down on the ZK fandom so much if you guys didn’t perpetuate this kind of behavior- lol.

#antizutara #zeekay fandom #ventbending

[crowcaws]

I've had some thoughts brewing ever since I finished NATLA, and watching Friendly Space Ninja's review of PJO really brought up a lot of feelings after sitting on it for a month so I'm going to try and articulate those thoughts here.

It's very interesting this fixation on the "word of god" and its involvement making or breaking a screen adaptation, to the point where you get unwavering devotion when a creator is on board, and outright disdain when a creator isn't on board. Both are completely reactionary takes that are unhelpful, especially when adaptations can be, sometimes, excellent without their original creators involved, and awful (cough fantastic beasts cough) when they are involved.

Regardless of whether or not NATLA was bad (it wasn't, it was just fine) I love that people are going "HA I bet Netflix regret losing BRYKE!" as a sort of gotcha, as if Korra didn't prove like a decade ago that Bryke are not infallible screenwriters. As if those same people, when the show was first announced and Bryke were on board, didn't even think to consider that Bryke are just two of the writers that made a great show.

Because fandom has a problem where it doesn't actually care or consider if the original creators are a good fit or not, if their involvement will harm the adaptation or help it, or if their recent work is still up to scratch with their original work. Fandom just wants a security blanket in the form of a name on a credits list, to the point of almost cult-like devotion that makes or breaks their opinion of content before it's even released.

This devotion is how you end up with fans doing logical backflips when their perfect book accurate Percy Jackson adaptation that "Uncle Rick" promised is now changing a bunch of stuff for not very good reasons, and now they have to either do mental gymnastics to justify questionable choices or admit that Rick can be wrong.

Percy Jackson had Rick Riordan on board and that series, let's be honest here, was just fine too. It wasn't groundbreaking, it did not surpass the source material on most points (I say most because all that Sally content was inspired) and fell short in a lot of ways that have been outlined by critics more articulate than I. Some of that, I suspect, was due to Rick's fixation on this adaptation being the antithesis of the 2010 movies to the point where it feels like they refused to let the show be fun and colourful in parts where it should have been. His involvement, as a book author delving into screenwriting, cannot be proven to have been more beneficial than if he had simply consulted and set boundaries and left it at that.

And of course Joanne is a fuckwit. But even creatively, you can't tell me that the fantastic beasts movies were better for her meddling.

But back to PJO and NATLA: I genuinely feel like we got very similar end products with both shows. An underwhelming foray into live action adaptation that suffers from too few episodes and disappointing characterisation save for a few standout roles (In this case, Sally, and Zuko and Iroh), and some problems aside that each show varies on, but ultimately still delivers something entirely and completely watchable. Percy Jackson has at least a tiny bit better characterisation overall, but cannot hold a candle to the fight choreography and special effects in NATLA (partly because in PJO they had a bad habit of cutting away or writing out every time anyone was mean to do something heroic or actually fight.) And yet you cannot speak a bad word about PJO, but NATLA is torn to shreds.

Back to NATLA and the Bryke: Almost nobody, in this whole time from the NATLA announcement to airing, has made comment on the absence of Aaron Ehasz, who was not involved with Korra either. They were happy to celebrate when Bryke was involved, and mourn when they departed, but you should have been mourning Aaron this whole time, if anyone. Aaron wrote Tales from Ba Sing Se, if you weren't aware. Arguably the most memorable episode of the Last Airbender, so emotionally rich and captivating that even hearing the instrumentals of that song in NATLA brought me to tears.

So why wasn't Aaron's absence ever felt? Well, that is because the fans saw "original creators" in headlines and ran with it without question as a sure sign of victory (and then failure when Bryke departed). Because fandom doesn't really care WHOSE name is in the credits, fandom just wants that sense of security -- and it's a false sense of security, because Annabeth and Katara both still ended up gutted of their depth at the end of the day. The presence of Rick didn't save Annabeth any more than the absence of the ATLA writers doomed Katara.

#natla #avatar the last airbender #netflix atla #pjo #pjo tv show