#middle aged toph

[toph-bi-fong]

No but like, I know Toph and Zuko wouldn’t work out romantically in the context of the actual show- and that sort of thing would only happen in fanon or an AU. And preferably when they’re both grown ass adults.

But I still often think about the missed potential for their friendship dynamic. Crazy how the two with so much in common have little interaction time together.

#platonic!toko #ventbending #I used to be super into this during my middle school years (so around the time ATLA ended) #and I was like- Toph’s age and Zuko was also my favorite character #but as a grown ass adult- I see them more as missed Brotp potential #I can see them having a romantic fling in their later adult years- but it wouldn’t be anything serious- lol

[lost-in-fiction-like-ur-mom]

'Fake' Feelings

Zuko x Reader

Summary- In a pinch, you have to pretend to be in a relationship with Zuko. Little do you know it was never pretend for Zuko.

A/N- HAPPY BIRTHDAY @thethreeeyed-raven!!!!! This isn't my typical fandom as y'all know. I wrote this as a birthday gift to my best best best online friend. SHE'S AWESOME. Go check her fics out <3<3! CONTAINS A SINGLE BAD WORD >:)

Word Count- 2,468

"Mai, I already told you. I can't be with you!" Zuko was getting frustrated. While he did love Mai at one point, that was a long time ago. Zuko was now the Fire Lord, their relationship seemed like ages ago.

"And why not Zuko? We've been through this a hundred times. You always come running back, you're so pathetic. May as well cut the middle part and we can act like nothing happened." She stepped closer, pressing herself on his arm. "Like we always do..."

Zuko had finally realized how Mai controlled him. When he was weaker he was naive, now he knew what he wanted. Someone who never put him down, someone who never called him 'Pathetic.'

You.

He immediately thought of you. How you were so strong, but never put others down to feel powerful. How you always spoke your mind, but only out of the kindness you hid deep down.

Your walls were built up so high, but he knew who you were. He knew how beautiful you were.

"I can't be with you because I'm dating someone else." The words left his mouth faster than he could think.

This stopped Mai in her tracks. "Excuse me?"

"Yeah, you're not the only one I am allowed to go out with. We've been broken up for awhile now." Zuko was no longer on the defense, but the attack.

"You do know that I am the only one who could love you. Who could love a traitor, a banished prince. Who else, huh?" Her arms were crossed, a smirk on her face. She knew she outwitted him.

Releasing his bit lip, Zuko exclaims your name.

Her face dropped. She knew exactly who you were. She was furious.

"We'll see about that..." With that, she left the room.

You were on your way to visit Zuko, one of your closest friends, for a 'friend reunion' Sokka had planned. You were of course excited to see him after so long. Though, the ride on Appa was miserable. About a hundred "are we there yet"s and "I'm hungry"s from Sokka.

The five of you- Sokka, Toph, Katara, and Aang made it safely to The Fire Nation shortly.

Upon landing, a man in red robes greeted everyone.

"The Fire Lord sends his deepest regards, as he could not see to you himself. You are instructed to follow me to your rooms." He had a stoic expression, but you guessed he greeted people all the time.

Oh well, Zuko must be very busy as a Fire Lord. You were sad, but couldn't blame him.

What you didn't know was that Zuko was pacing his room, definitely not busy. In reality, he cleared his schedule as much as possible for the week you were all visiting.

How was he going to tell you? He was deeply embarrassed, not to mention Mai might try and pull something with you. He knew not to underestimate her.

The thought of her trying to hurt you was enough to rack up the nerve to confess. He just needed a moment alone with you.

A grand dinner was prepared for the Avatars arrival, the rest of you reaped the rewards of being his friends.

"This is SOO good!" Sokka exclaimed, "Zuko sure has a way with food....." He slammed a fist on the table, before quickly lifting more food to his mouth,

"Sokka, you know he has chefs who make the food, right? Please tell me you know that..." You deadpanned, looking at him.

"Uh... Yeah! Yeah, definitely...." He looked down, that was until a new voice appeared.

"Sokka, did you really think I cooked all this?" Zuko walked to the seat at the head of the table. You noticed you were sat to his right.

It was a Fire Nation tradition that the Lady of the house would sit to the right of the Lord... You brushed the thought off quickly, writing it all off as a coincidence.

"W-well I don't know! You've been working ALL DAY!" Sokka squawked.

The dinner went on smoothly, well as smoothly a dinner can go with this group. You could feel the servants and servers rolling their eyes at all the unprofessional comments, jokes, and laughter.

You didn't care, you were just happy Zuko was able to be himself.

Hours later, when everyone was worn out and had their stomachs filled, they started to head to bed.

You were one of the last to leave, having been helping tidy up as much as you could.

You thanked and farewelled the servers, trying your best to remember where your room was.

The Palace was much bigger than you remembered. The halls upon halls blurred together. You were soon lost.

Every direction you turned looked the same, you started to breathe heavy.

You could already see it, 'cause of death, starvation in the Fire Nation Palace.' Or maybe dehydration would take you quicker?

A man passed by, you were saved! Though, the closer you got the bigger his scowl grew.

"Excuse me, I think I'm lost. Can you help me?" You were nervous asking, it was so 'common' for someone to get lost in a palace. You were sure your cheeks were red.

His face was dark, his eyes covered by his demeanor. For some reason he seemed annoyed at you.

"Sir?"

A hand rested on your shoulder from behind. It started you, putting you into a 'fight mode.'

Turning around swiftly calmed your nerves as quickly as they came. It was Zuko.

"Can I help you?" Zuko was talking to the strange man, who was no longer so 'big and bad.'

"No Fire Lord Zuko, my apologies." He barred his head in a bow and left.

You had a small smile on your lips, "Thanks, he was starting to scare me." While you were positive you could have taken the man, you were tired and didn't really feel like fighting.

"Of course, I can show you to your room." He held his arm out, you took it.

The gesture was friendly, you told yourself. Nothing more.

You must have been lost for awhile, as it took a few minutes to get to your room. The small talk exchanged was nice, but something told you Zuko was hiding something.

At your door, he stopped. "Zuko, do you want to come in? You seem restless."

"Actually, I do have something to tell you..." The tone of his voice scared you.

"Oh, then please sit." He joined you on the edge of your end. The door shut behind you two.

You pushed a strand of hair back, nervously sitting. "What's wrong?"

"I'm not really sure how to tell you this... I really am ashamed to have to ask you for a really big favor..." You had seen him on edge a lot, he was quite the stressor. Nothing like this, though.

"Zuko, anything. What do you need me to do?" You questioned.

He looked down at his hands, "You can tell me. I'm in no position to judge you, you know that."

"I uh," He rubbed the back of his neck, "I told Mai that we were dating so she would stop trying to get with me." He spit out so fast you almost missed what he said.

"Oh."

Well that's not what you thought he would say...

"That's not the worst part." He lowered his face to his hands, "The ball in four days, well I told her you were going with me... She's got Ty Lee lining up suitors for her. Trying to make me mad. Also she uh, she's probably told everyone now..."

"Oh." You were at a loss for words.

"I... I don't know... I'm sorry. This is stupid, at the ball I'll tell everyone what happened. I am so, so sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen! It just slipped out an-"

"Zuko."

"Yes?"

"What if you don't have to tell everyone?"

You hadn't looked at him since he started talking. Honestly, a night with Zuko at a ball? It sounded like a dream. Zuko was handsome, kind, generous, and you'd had a crush on him for months. You knew he wouldn't ever really date you... So you might as well seize the opportunity, right? What could go wrong!

The two of you decided it would be wise to not tell anyone else it was fake, as Sokka, Toph, and Aang had big mouths. They'd slip up sooner or later. As for Katara, she wouldn't have kept that big of a secret from Aang.

So, for the next few days you and Zuko spent every second together. At first, it was coming up with plans for the ball. It turned into getting more physically comfortable with each other. That eventually escalated to spilling each other's deepest secrets, ya know... just in case...

Even in four days, you found yourself going from a crush to madly in love. You found out his quirks, what made him tick, his hidden likes and dislikes. Not a second was spent apart.

The afternoon before the ball you were stressed. It had been easy up until the ball. You just had to be yourself around Zuko, now you had to pretend in front of hundreds...

Katara helped you pick out a beautiful red and black dress. To match Zuko's of course.

A big scene was planned out between the two of you, Zuko would introduce you to everyone in an announcement and you'd walk don't the grand starts arm in arm with him.

It was fun to imagine and talk about, but now the 'what ifs' were running wild.

You somehow made your way to Zuko's room, knocking hesitantly. He begrudgingly opened, but became excited when he saw you.

"Zuko, I'm terrified." He quickly guided you into his room.

"What happened?"

"What if I fall? What if no one likes me? It's a lot of steps it-" He cut you off.

"Hey, it's okay... We can throw everything out the window. Just saw the words."

You swallowed thick. "No, no just... Just promise you'll be there? For me?"

Your name was a whisper on his lips, "Ill always be here for you... Just imagines its only us up there... Just normal day."

You nodded, more relaxed knowing he'd be by your side through I tall. It also gave you a wicked feeling of comfort to know he was still willing to do whatever you preferred. He would have ended the lie immediately if you asked, but you wanted to be there for him as well. To make sure Mai would leave him alone.

The Palace was bustling with people, waiters, food, activities, and entertainment. It all came to an abrupt stop when Lord Zuko appeared.

It was comical, trumpets blared and all head turned.

"Fire Lord Zuko, accompanied by-" Your name seemed unreal on his lips. To be announced with a Fire Lord? You felt you didn't deserve it.

You slowly walked into view of everyone, whispers erupting. To be 'accompanied by' was essentially dating for Lords and Ladys.

All eyes were on you as you took Zuko's arm, walking down the steps. You felt light, your grip tightening on Zukos.

"Almost there, I'm right here." His words were all the comfort you needed.

Music resumed and the party goers continued their fun.

That was expect for one person. Mai. She marched up to you, her questioning eyes on guard. Watching her march over sparked a fury in you, the fire started and didn't stop until you spoke.

"Hello Mai. How can I help you? Is your father well, since he lost his job as Governor and all..." You passively aggressively asked, a mock frown on your face.

"What would you know about Governor dad's and all? You grew up poor." Damn, she got you there.

"I guess the difference in poor and rich is personality. Cause you don't have one..." You shrugged your shoulders at her, biting back a laugh.

"At least Zuko loved me for who I am, not who I was pretending to be." She remarked, not really knowing why Zuko loved her or you.

"Damn Mai, you must know a lot about pretending. Seeing as you're a two faced bitch. Should I go and tell Ty Lee you called her an 'easy bed'." A gasp left her lips in shock, how did you know she said that? Well, you wouldn't tell her, but a gossiping Fire Sage spilled the beans.

Zuko, who had been temporarily called away to exchange pleasantries with a Navy Captain, had returned.

"Mai, I see you've met my girlfriend." He said, snaking a hand around your waist. Chills were sent up your spine.

She gave a scoff, "It'll never last. You're only in it because he's the Fire Lord." She pointed to you, then him, "And you, you just seemed to pick up the next girl you saw laying around. Talk about a downgrade. When you get tired of her, i'll be waiting." She walked away.

"What is her problem!" You exclaimed, face hot with anger.

"Jealousy, I think." He said.

You turned to face him completely. "What for, she doesn't even seem to like you anymore?"

"Maybe cause you're prettier than her?" He said, not realizing his own words.

Your cheeks were now flushed for a different reason. You swiped your lips with your tongue before speaking, "Thank you..."

Hours of dancing, partying, and eating went by. Everyone bought the act easily, you and Zuko were naturals at dating. The fun died down, and many were starting to go back home.

Zuko walked you back to your room, hand in hand.

"Thank you. I really cannot thank you enough, just ask. Whatever you want is yours." Zuko said, still grasping your hands at your bedroom door.

"I don't need anything. This was really fun actually, I know you were just pretending... but i've had the best time the past five days."

"Pretend?" His face screwed up, like he was in denial.

You blinked a few times, own lip curling. "Well, I mean... You made it pretty clear this was all just an act. I-I am not hurt." You were, but wouldn't let him know.

"Words cannot express how genuine these days have been... Oh gosh, I haven't felt this free since I was a child." He pressed on, serious.

"Y-you mean, none of this has been fake to you?"

"Well, I know you signed up for 'fake'." He looked over you, face uncertain.

With a step forward you spoke, "This hasn't been fake for me either..."

"Really?" He pressed his chest to your slightly, hand wavering around your waist. "Because I don't think I could live if you're lying right now."

"Will this answer your questions?" You leaned up, closing the gap and kissing him.

A/N-Thank you for reading, I haven't fully watched ATLA In a little bit sorry if Zuko is OOC!! When it's not midnight and I'm not super tired, I will edit any mistakes!

#avatar the last airbender #netflix avatar #avatar aang #Zuko x reader #prince zuko #zuko x y/n #zuko x reader #katara atla #mai atla #fire nation #azula

[terapsina]

My 5 Most Favorite Badass Middle Age & Older Ladies in various fandoms!

(because I realize they're a rare treasure that deserve some recognition)

Chrisjen Avasarala - The Expanse

The only politician I trust. Curses constantly and it's always glorious. Would have saved the solar system in five minutes if she wasn't surrounded by idiots and assholes. And a goddamn fashion icon.

Katarina Jones - 12 Monkeys

The best example of the duality of man. Like, Dr. Unethical Human Experimentation In Order to Create Time Travel and Save 7 Billion People but Actually Just One Person. Objectively The Worst. But also we all love her.

Toph Beifong - Legend of Korra

The Greatest Earthbender in the universe. Can still take upstart little dictators down a few pegs. Beats up the hero for training purposes... enjoys it a lot.

Mirror Universe Philippa Georgiou - Star Trek: Discovery

Evil. Genocidal dictator. No remorse. Unfortunately the alternate universe version of her dead adopted daughter is a goody two shoes. Typical.

Esme "Granny" Weatherwax - Discworld

I could try to describe her... or I could leave it to Sir Terry Pratchett himself:

"Witches are not by nature gregarious, at least with other witches, and they certainly don't have leaders. Granny Weatherwax was the most highly-regarded of the leaders they didn't have."

&

"Granny Weatherwax was not a good loser. From her point of view, losing was something that happened to other people."

&

Granny’s implicit belief that everything should get out of her way extended to other witches, very tall trees and, on occasion, mountains.

&

We look to… the edges,' said Mistress Weatherwax. 'There’s a lot of edges, more than people know. Between life and death, this world and the next, night and day, right and wrong… an’ they need watchin’. We watch ‘em, we guard the sum of things. And we never ask for any reward. That’s important.

& finally

If anyone locked me in a dungeon, there'd be screams.

#chrisjen avasarala #katarina jones #toph beifong #philippa georgiou #granny weatherwax #the expanse #12 monkeys #atla #star trek #discovery #discworld #terapsina rambles

[likealittleheartbeat]

Rant time: the general atla fandom’s resistance to zukaang highlights a lot of problems in current fandom and fiction. The resistance is about a point around which we refuse imagination and connection. Specifically, we observe fiction as something to gaze at rather than to connect with. So, aang is denied desire because of his age, religiosity, and racially-linked gendered embodiment, which, this conservative portion of the fandom argues, should deny us to relating to or even considering his subjectivity.

“You’re Just A Child”: Aang’s Age

When it comes to shipping aang, suddenly the conversation becomes about the canon--the age gaps, the immaturity, the cultural ties. 12 years old is prime middle school age in the US, the very essence of sexual development. But many fandom members are not engaging with how they felt and experienced that age. Instead, they’re viewing Aang from a separate vantage point and expecting the same mental process from others. These are where the claims of p*do come from when talking about him within shipping. They suggest that engaging with his character is a desire to observe him voyeuristically since many in the fandom are not actually twelve (ignoring the fact that many fandom members are also significantly older than the other characters they adore and offer subjectivity). Their argument continues that it’s not possible to empathize with him. Only objectification is possible, especially in regards to sensuality, as if that is a category has a different process of psychological relating than all others. 

But all this becomes most important for these fandom members when putting him in relationship to the other slightly older characters. These arguments must begin by ignoring the fact that most fanfics and art for the zukaang ship and most ships in the atla fandom are simply disengaged from the canonical ages of the characters. A ton of the works are aged up, and those that aren’t don’t discuss the ages because they are working on the assumption that everyone within their fic are at similar levels of maturity to engage with romantic feelings. At the end of the day, most artists and writers are more interested in exploring the dynamics between richly developed character traits that are pretty unrelated to the character’s ages. Still, ships with Aang, and especially Zukaang somehow receive the most attention for tensions due to the canonical ages (despite the creators disinterest in the topic). Even the Toph ships, which have a canonically younger character with bigger age gaps between her and her partners, don’t receive the same pervasive criticism as the Aang ships.

Avatar Aang: Aang’s Religion and Race

One reason is that he’s perceived as the “pure” cinnamon bun of the series; “pure” as in purile and “pure” as in puritanical. Plenty has been written about purity culture in the fandom, enough that I don’t feel a strong need to elaborate. However, I do want to point to Aang’s role as a religious figure, a monk, in the series. Perceptions crafted through the history of Christianity alongside the practices of many other religions associate religion and celibacy, which I think played into further discomfort with allowing Aang a sexuality. If this is your association, it would counteract Aang’s narrative development of wisdom and self-control to believe he might also be developing sexual maturity throughout the series. Of course, Zen Buddhist philosophies, which were majorly influential in developing the show’s themes and Aang’s character, allow for monks to have sex and get married, and they openly address issues of sex and sexuality. The deeply sexually conservative view held by purity culture then forces Aang, even moreso than other characters, into a de-sexualized pigeon hole.

A desexualized characterization is also a claim hefted onto East Asian men at a stupidly outrageous rate by Western culture. They’re allowed to be cute, mannered, wise, even cool, etc. but when it comes to a kind of subjective sexuality, East Asian men are emasculated (stemming from a deep history of Western colonialism/xenophobia and a specific kind of patriarchal ideology in Euro-America). The pacifistic Buddhist-inspired beliefs he practices especially render him as distinct from the rugged individualist of American masculinity and even the elitist intellectual masculinist of Western European cultures. Can masculinity exist without dominance? Can a relationship exist without antagonistic tension? Sure, we get the fluff ships, but where does that blur into and coexist with the erotic? Aang, as a character, forces the audience to consider the reality of his pain, desire, and strength, despite his refusal to demonstrate that in warfare and courtship. Among what manner would someone demonstrate these inner worlds if they won’t exert them on subjugated bodies? It’s a conflict of worldviews that took shape dramatically during the height of colonization, where the colonized were often blamed and maligned for their failures to resist colonization. These beliefs then developed into stereotypes about the masculinity of different races. The stereotypes that have held on from colonialism alongside of unique cultural ideas about masculinity make Aang a hard figure for people indoctrinated into these beliefs to appreciate.

Aang’s Gender Expression

The fandom is forced to contend with his age, his colonized subjectivity, and, on top of all that, he’s denied the authority socially ascribed to his gender. Toph is the ‘tough guy,’ which Western audiences equate with more maturity, when what it actually equates to in the Euro-American psyche is masculinity. This correlation between masculinity and maturity allows Toph to escape the claims that make Aang an especially dangerous object for fanworks. Aang’s softness and passivity correlate him to femininity in this traditional perspective. Essentially, for the atla fans wearing their purity culture lenses, Aang, if sexualized, is feminine and therefore immature and therefore defenseless to predators. What’s wild is the way the Ember Island Players episode evokes and predicts these kind of reactions with its virginal damsel-in-distress actress depiction of Aang (”My hero!”).

But the zukaang ship really lends a microscope to the matter, because, in every demographic way, Aang’s character is denied the structural trappings of power within the relationship.This means that even those inclined to appreciate softer ideas about masculinity and/or more empowered ideas of feminine and colonized subjectivities can feel reticent to engage with the ship. Within an identity politic framework, the zukaang ship dynamics render Aang submissive: he is the colonized subject in relation to a colonizer; he is the more traditionally feminine partner; he’s more pious; he’s more passive; he is canonically younger. One might go even farther to suggest all of these submissive qualities make him seductive to Zuko in the narrative as he abandons his own nation for Aang, placing Aang in a trope familiar to both gender narratives within Euro-Christian traditions (the Biblical seductresses, like Eve and Jezebel, or more recently, Lolita) and colonial narratives (see, “Indian Princesses” or “Dragon Ladies”). If we go deeper into the archives we’ll also find colonial p*derast narratives (if you have a strong stomach, you can look up Andre Gide, as an example).  All these possible features make the relationship especially threatening to modern sensibilities. 

Now, I want to emphasize that there are legitimate reasons for the connections that we draw which ignite this fear. The article, “A Modern History of Groomer Politics” by Jesse Walker, lays out some of these complicated and hard-to-read histories, which illustrate how gay and queer rights (especially on the side of those assigned male at birth) became associated with p*dophilia.  The Homoerotics of Orientalism by Joseph A. Boone is another read that lays out why people are especially sensitive to age gaps within queer colonial contexts. Suffice it to say, to engage with the zukaang ship requires a deft touch not simply to avoid these histories and tropes but, as seen in many of the fandoms works, to challenge them. Still, the associations trigger reactions for people before they can process any of the actual content.

But even outside the zukaang ship, there is a sense that Aang’s gender expression and sexuality are so much more queer (even the Kataang ship, in its heterosexuality, is perceived as transgressive to the romance genre in comparison to the more traditional Z*tara ship because many people find it challenging to imagine Katara’s attraction to Aang and feel so much more drawn to relationships built around hierarchical colonial relationships rather than relationships that ignore the colonizer entirely). He’s inherently disruptive to the gender expressions that are considered acceptable in western tradition, especially by the hero of the story.

Within the context of the zukaang ship, Aang’s character becomes the most queered, though, and I think that’s deeply uncomfortable for a portion of fandom. They don’t know how to allow someone subjectivity who uses docility as his strength to grow and face the world rather than aggression. Instead, for them, Aang’s docility traps him within a perpetual childhood (or, at most, a eunuch-like domestic role for the queen, Katara). Even as they allow themselves to alter every other aspect of the fiction they love, they are at a loss to handle and develop his character in their works. His youth, his race, and his imperfect saintliness, are all upheld and braided together within the confines of purity culture to argue against the morality of rewarding him romantic and subsequently sexual relationships, and, at its worse, to depict him at all.

#atla meta #zukaang #aang #buddhism #fandom problems #had this in my drafts for over a year #someone's message got me about people on twitter got me back to it #atla #meta

[comradekatara]

ohmygod not to KEEP harping on this zukka/klancr thing but YES you’re right the gender thing. exploring queerness in characters who have already expressed onscreen a complicated relationship with gender can be such a great thing, and like you pointed out both of them share similar “nerdy” interests like poetry, theatre, etc that don’t quite fit their gendered expectations for themselves. sokka canonically likes shopping and matching accessories. and yet for some FUCKING reason the tags insist on having sokka be hypermasculine and zuko be hyperfeminine, for reasons i can only hypothesise are racist to both zuko and sokka (feminisation of the east asian man and the masculinisation of the brown skinned indigenous one, to begin with). it’s so incredibly irritating when both of them have interesting and canon relationships with gender and gender roles/presentations. anyway. will leave your inbox alone now. thank you for your time!!

yeah like i think saying that sokka is “masc” is ridiculous but then ppl will try to compensate for that by claiming that actually ZUKO is masc which is really funny also. they both struggle to conform to this standard of masculinity that has been imposed on them. like obviously sokka embodies some “traditionally masculine” traits (his general aptitude for warfare and all that it entails, his ability to kill both animals and humans, his role as provider/protector) but largely those traits have been honed through years of being forced through circumstance to live up to that standard. just as zuko’s musculature or aggression or anger is his way of embodying a standard he has always felt pressure to live up to. but zuko’s like a wells for boys faggot and sokka’s if a teenage boy was a dyke was an old curmudgeon who yells at the miscreant youths to get off his lawn. neither of them are “masculine” but it’s less about them embracing femininity and more about them realizing that these patriarchal standards are constructed and arbitrary and actively harmful (to them and to the world). which isn’t to say that embracing one’s masculinity is necessarily a bad thing, because i do believe that toph would butch it up more as she gets older and comes to terms with her own masculine presentation. but when people say shit like “sokka goes from performing manhood to learning how to be a real man” i just pause bc like. if anything sokka goes from performing manhood to learning that he doesn’t have to be a man at all (while nonetheless still desperately embodying roles in accord with the patriarchal logic he so deeply internalized that he may never fully extricate, even if he wakes up one day and actually straight up decides he is gonna start identifying as nonbinary or whatever). but like. he’s definitely not buff and stacked and ripped. he gives off sickly orphan vibes well into middle age smh. and also zuko having long hair OBVIOUSLY doesn’t make him fem…. but the blue spirit is basically his drag queen persona and his wrists are so limp it actively inhibits his ability to firebend so make of that what u will.

#unreachedgalaxy #asks #sokka is basically a lesbian and zuko is THEE prototypical faggot #so it’s not that they’re both ‘not masc’ in the same way #like zuko is cis and sokka is. who can say. #but they do both struggle with conforming to masculinity for whatever reason #so it’s disingenuous to position them as masc4fem in either direction #it is simply far more complicated than that #sokka #zuko #toph #butch toph is so important to me…. there’s a whole ask in my inbox about toph’s gender that I still need to get to….

[oneatlatime]

The Journey to Ba Sing Se Part 2: The Drill

Could I have Appa back please?

The Previously On segment actually didn't spoil anything for once. Nice.

I do like these tank things. In fact I like all Fire Nation technology. Not what it's used for. But the designs are neat. And more interesting than most actual military tech. You ever look at something techy, and think to yourself 'there was an artist involved here,' because that's the impression FN tech gives me. It's not beautiful, but there's a pleasing toothiness to it.

Excellent sound design on the metal screechy moving bits. And is that tank escort really necessary?

I know this is a kids' cartoon, with characters that are designed to be the audience's age. I know! And usually I can suspend my disbelief and forget that I'm watching children do very adult jobs! But this caught me so off guard I laughed. The Fire Nation's big secret project to break through the wall once and for all, that would be an absolute career making achievement for whoever is in charge, and they've given it to a bunch of teenage girls. This is where my suspension of disbelief stops.

Can you imagine the meeting where this was proposed? The Fire Lord being like "Who can lead the attack on Ba Sing Se? We lost Zhao at the North Pole, does whoever it is who occupies his equivalent rank in the Army want the job? Or even Zhao's second in command perhaps? Or how about: three middle school girls, two of which aren't even members of the military? Doesn't that sound like a good plan?" And of course all his advisors have to agree and be like "that sounds like an excellent plan your lordship; did you have any particular girls in mind or should we go scout out the local Claire's?" because the last guy who disagreed with him got his face blown off. I don't care how viciously talented Azula and friends are; a country that puts eighth graders in charge of invasion plans should have lost the war in year one, not still be winning it in year 99.

Did that random commander guy just smack Ty Lee in the face?

Problem the first of this plan: unless the Fire Nation has invented pocket dimensions or bags of holding, there is no way that that drill, even stuffed full of soldiers, would hold enough people to take a city that seemingly contains every single refugee in the entire Earth Kingdom.

Do you think those refugees got preferential treatment for arriving on an Avatar powered elevator?

"I'm the Avatar. Take me to whoever's in charge." OWN IT BABY!!!

That's one hell of an irrigation system they must have.

"He was quickly expunged." Was he? I got the impression he quit. Of his own accord.

Something tells me like forty guys throwing rocks won't stop that thing.

So... what was Mai doing that whole fight? Hanging decoratively off a rope?

I'd forgotten how stupid Earth Kingdom generals were. Luckily Sokka is there to vicariously express my opinion of them. A reverse beat up Sokka quota fulfillment!

Toph is such a little shit and I love her.

Aang sure does put up with a lot sometimes. Part of being the Avatar. It's a good thing he has such patience. Can we talk about how lucky the world is that Aang is the one tasked with putting up with nonsense like this? Imagine if Sokka or Toph were the Avatar. There would be casualties.

I like complaining too buddy. Nice to see Sokka's worth being recognised. Now can we do that outside of a life or death situation too please?

I joke about Zuko's dumbass behaviour, but let's be honest, it's inherited.

Jet. Fuckboy. You do not make it easy to even slightly like you. Guy is missing the point as much as Zuko usually does. Going straight MEANS leaving the freedom fighters behind. It doesn't mean reforming them somewhere else. And what Fire Nation threat are you going to find in Ba Sing Se for your Freedom Fighters to fight? You know, if this idiot was actually serious about fighting for Freedom rather than blowing stuff up for fun, he'd fudge his age and enlist in the Earth Kingdom Army.

Four points: How does Katara know Ty Lee's name? Is this confirmation that waterbending healing cannot remove a Chi block? I love that the trait that gives away Ty Lee's identity is the fact that she cartwheeled away. I love Sokka. Just in general.

There is no way this girl is not tripping.

Can you imagine how loud standing right next to that drill must be?

ABS

Normally I'd say that one earthbender trying to slow the drill down with spikes will work even worse than the Terra Team who tried and failed with like 40, but this is Toph we're talking about. It could work.

These children are so polite when they're committing industrial sabotage. Truly, they were raised well.

Do you ever get the feeling that whoever is in charge of designing Fire Nation armour is into a few things that he's trying to repress so hard that they're coming out in all the wrong places?

Jet seems to have lost all the manipulative abilities he had in his episode. Suddenly he's very bad at reading body language and keeps saying the exact opposite of what he should.

New achievement unlocked! 1000% agreeing with something Zuko said! That was a pretty stupid move.

Cups made out of leaves are neat.

Katara, you can't have it both ways. You can't look to Sokka to make the plan, then get snippy when the plan correctly plays to all of your strengths. He physically CAN'T bend. Either you come up with a better plan yourself, or you do as the guy you appointed planner suggests.

Points in favour of allowing Katara to murder people, exhibit 1.

Confirmed: Sokka is catnip for girls.

Even in comparison to the others, Ty Lee has a bad case of cartoon physics.

Did Katara just disarm herself? That'll come back to bite her in 3, 2, 1...

Mai gets a second personality trait! Yay!

There is no way this is actually practical armour. This is someone in procurement with a thing for sweaty bulging muscles and puppy masks.

And thus, the log ride was born. Later versions would go on to perfect the concept by introducing a log.

I felt Sokka's mud freakout in my bones. Looks like Katara giving away her water isn't going to be a problem.

Petition to let Katara say bitch. The voice actress said Circus Freak but I know what I heard in my heart.

Remember that time Sokka smacked his forehead so many times that his face was permanently red? My turn now.

Aang. I know you love your friends. But maybe a battle on top of a moving machine of destruction in the midst of an aerial assault from your idiotic allies while facing off with the single most powerful and amoral firebender in existence, isn't a place to bring your pet lemur?

Beat up Sokka quota fulfilled by little sister. It's surprising that isn't the case more often. I know Sokka took it too far, but if you don't want him telling you what to do, maybe you shouldn't have looked to him for a plan?

Toph is here! Day saved.

Finally some sense re: Momo safety.

Time for the Western showdown. There's even something that could stand in for a water tower in the background.

If Azula had just struck at Aang the second he got knocked unconscious, rather than waiting until he woke up for dramatic purposes, she would have won this. I give Zuko Hell for being a theatre kid, but he's not the only one in the family.

I would love to know what they make Fire Nation boot soles out of. They have supernatural traction.

I take back everything I said about pet safety. That was a really cool Momo assist.

Aang invents the pneumatic hammer.

I LOVE that the cut braces had an effect after all. Sokka's contribution counts!

I bet this guy's wishing he'd been eaten by a giant fishman like Zhao right about now. Have fun explaining that one to the Firelord!

HOW is Ty Lee still alive?

HOW does Azula still have knees after that drop?

HOW does Mai have such perfect timing?

ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN ROCK TRAIN

They really ought to put wheels on all but the back car to reduce friction and save energy. Then again, if the Earth Kingdom is one thing, it's stupid.

So... Jet's change of heart lasted a bit less than one episode. Good job fuckboy!

So precious.

So Pretty.

Final Thoughts

This was like 90% action, with the other 10% being split between Zuko & Iroh plot stuff and Sokka playing comic relief. So there's not that much to talk about here really (she says, having found a whole post's worth of stuff to talk about).

Sokka had his bossy pants on, admittedly because he was asked to don them. Aang got to do some proper Avataring. Katara and Toph got to exercise their bending muscles. I'm not surprised that Toph was absent for much of the middle of the episode, because - let's be honest - given the right tools, Toph would have finished the Drill in one move. And then they'd be out of episode.

Actually, Mai got to have a personality beyond Too Bored To Live this episode. This is probably the most personality I've seen out of her so far. She's much more expressive when she's with just Ty Lee, rather than Ty Lee and Azula.

And Zuko! Had! Common! Sense! Iroh had to be a dumbass for Zuko to shine, but Zuko was, once again, the most reasonable character in his little B plot. For future reference: If you want to make Zuko reasonable, all you have to do is nerf his uncle and juxtapose him with a terrorist.

I loathe Jet. Always have, probably always will. But I'm still disappointed in him. His 'turning over a new leaf' - if it was sincere at all - lasted like 10 on-screen minutes. I feel sorry for Smellerbee and Longshot. I don't think their faith in their glorious leader is going to be repaid. He seems to brush off Smellerbee's opinions.

The strangest thing this episode was how few lines Azula had. I guess maybe they were using silence to try to show how calculating and collected she is compared to others, but honestly my first thought was that the voice actress had something going on. A cold? A previous engagement? It felt really weird to hear her speak so little, since previous episodes have shown she's not averse to gloating and dramatic monologues. She didn't even have much in the way of facial expressions.

I think the winners this episode were Mai, who got to have a personality; Zuko, who got a turn with the brain cell; and Aang, who got to work out pretty much all the bending he knows so far and successfully Avatar.

I did notice with some of the shots of Aang moving the big boulders the idiots were chucking down, that there was a kind of fuzziness to the air between Aang and what he was moving. Was I seeing the actual bending energy (Chi I guess) moving?

#atla #avatar: the last airbender #avatar the last airbender #the drill

[kataraslove]

I was just told a few days ago that they love momtara becauses it tragic that she has to do all the workd for people until of couse Zuko comes along to help out making it less tragic and that logic made zero sense. katara is not cinderella im not sure why her so called fans want her to be cinderella.. or a damsel in distress until zuko comes along its not very pro katara to me it feels the exact opposite.

there’s this really great thread made by my friend @rukihimehive on kataangthinker on twitter debunking momtara with evidence from the series. i highly suggest giving that a read if you’re as tired of the fandom adultifying katara as i am.

I’ve seen momtara enthusiasts say that anyone who is critical of the fandom trope is “taking away her maternal nature, which is associated with her trauma of having lost her mother from a young age.” in other words, “if you don’t support fandom’s insistence that katara is the gaang’s literal mother figure and interpret all her interactions with the gaang as motherly, you’re erasing her trauma.”

which is so ridiculous to me. in the episode the runaway, katara herself dislikes the label of motherly. she takes personal offence over the idea that the gaang would view her as their mother instead of their peer, and demands to know if it’s true that her behaviour comes across as too motherly, especially because “motherly” is associated with negative connotations such as “bossy,” and “overbearing.”

I’ve seen people state that the gaang’s treatment towards katara is unhealthy, that katara is forced to do all the emotional work and emotional labour and none of the gaang ever supports her in anything. which just isn’t even remotely true.

episodes like the desert - in which the gaang are under extenuating circumstances that forces katara to step up and take care of them - are the exception, not the standard. in bitter work, katara explains to toph on how they divide the chores amongst themselves. katara takes personal issue (and for good reason) when toph only wants to do her share.

there’s multiple episodes in which the gaang help pitch the tent and perform campsite duties. there’s a whole episode dedicated to how katara and sokka are both sick, resulting in aang having to run across the world to retrieve them medicine. there’s an entire episode dedicated to how the gaang cannot get anything done without sokka, who usually manages their schedules and itineraries and helps ensure that they’re on track. there’s plenty of moments in which aang and katara are goofing off, and sokka gets mad at them for not sticking to his carefully curated and meticulous schedule and for putting a wedge in their plans to save communities (see: imprisoned and the painted lady). there’s moments when toph assumes responsibility; there’s moments when aang assumes responsibility. and then there’s moments when none of them have any clue on what to do, when they literally act like children navigating a world that’s constantly trying to kill them.

and what about in katara-centric episodes? what about in the episodes dedicated to developing her character? surely the selfish gaang couldn’t possibly support and understand her goals and desires?

1. imprisoned - sokka and aang aide in katara’s plan to immediately get captured and free haru. aang takes her side when katara suggests to free the prisoners. aang and sokka aide katara in freeing the imprisoned earthbenders.

2. the waterbending master - aang rejects learning from a sexist because pakku refuses to teach katara. aang agrees to train katara everything he learns in the middle of the night. aang and sokka cheer katara on as she goes head-to-head with master pakku.

3. the puppetmaster - the gaang allows katara the opportunity to learn waterbending from hama, a southern water tribe bender, until they discover what hama’s been doing all along. sokka and aang rush to confront hama and to protect katara. later, they provide katara comfort after she breakdowns over learning how to bloodbend.

4. the painted lady - aang calls katara a secret hero for helping people in need, even though katara lied to the gaang and pretended that appa was sick. he later helps katara destroy the factory, and then aides in her plan to confront the fire nation soldiers as the painted lady.

sokka defends his sister’s actions:

“Maybe she is a waterbender, but she was just trying to help you. Because of her, that factory won't be polluting your river, and the army is gone. You should be down on your knees thanking her!”

the southern raiders - this episode is so misconstrued by fandom that every reading of it has become so far detached by canon. no, sokka and aang were not demonizing katara for believing that revenge was the suitable option for her (we find out in the episode that it wasn’t). yes, katara wanted far more than just confrontation (she said it herself - maybe revenge was what he deserved). no, aang was not demonizing katara for stating that her words reminded him of jet’s, who had died a noble death and who katara had personally mourned for. no, jet is not a terrorist and/or a psychopath - he was a child indoctrinated by propaganda and motivated by the death of his parents at the hands of the fire nation. aang and sokka do not interfere in katara’s decision to pursue the man who killed her mother, even if they felt that katara might end up killing that man. no, if katara had killed that man, aang and sokka would not shut her out or ignore her or make her feel subhuman. aang himself had several instances in which he would have taken several lives (sandbenders) if katara hadn’t stopped him. that’s why he says, “I’m proud of you,” because katara arrived at that moral decision on her own, without the influence of external sources (reminder that in the desert, katara had to physically stop aang). at the end of the episode, katara discusses with aang that forgiveness was not the approach she would take towards yon rha, but it was the approach that she would take towards zuko, who had earned her forgiveness.

in each of the above katara-centric episodes (with the sole exception of tsr, which I had described in great detail) the gaang understands katara’s goals and desires and helps her accomplish them, and protects and defends her. to me, that does not come across as a dynamic in which katara is overwhelmingly at risk and treated like absolute dirt. it’s actually quite telling on the quality of a fictional ship (or lack thereof) when fans must demonize katara’s friends and family in order to prop up her fanon love interest.

and when her fanon love interest DOES join the group, nothing… really changes in terms of the dynamics. he serves them tea occasionally? he tells sokka to get out of a bison’s mouth? katara still performs the cooking duties. katara still asks if zuko’s okay and makes sure that he’s included in group activities. the gaang turn to zuko because he is sufficient at hunting down aang, but they all formulate a plan for the comet together. one throwaway line informing someone to get out of the bison’s mouth and him being a strict teacher towards aang does not make him a dad. especially when none of the gaang truly see him as a dad and would probably die of laughing before even considering him as such.

that’s not to even mention the point of zuko’s arc when joining the gaang is not for him to assume an authority, paternal role over a group of kids younger than him (but around his age). it’s for him to finally realize that he belongs to a group of children as traumatized as him, to a family for once in his life. so why should fandom enforce him into a pseudo dad role that isn’t even canon nor would his character even want?

going back to katara, at her core katara is a young, fourteen year old child who has been forced to assume a motherly role to compensate for the loss of her mother. episodes like the runaway delve into how this trauma has forced her to grow up and act older than her age, but at the end of the day, she is still a child and does not wants to be viewed by her peers as some form of motherly figure. which is why it’s so important that characters like aang and toph remind her that she still is a kid, like them.

dark-skinned female characters like katara suffer from the phenomenon of adultification and hypersexualization in fandom spaces. their characters are treated as pseudo mother figures, irregardless of what the narrative could or could not outline for the audience. momtara is a problematic trope because it erases the nuanced dynamics in katara’s relationship with her friends and family, assuming that all interactions with the gaang are of her being their mother. and that canonically, that’s all katara can be towards them. especially in the interest of a ship.

#this is my manifesto of why I can’t stand that trope #antizutara

[scrimblewimble]

• Leap Of Faith •

RedemptionArc!Zuko X Avatar!Reader

• In which the reader comes to Zuko's camp after his rejection from the gaang instead of Toph and they form a bond •

Reader and Zuko are the same age!

- gender neutral reader, suggestive later on, porn (almost/kinda) with plot -

It was, obviously, understandable that your friends were sceptical of the fire Prince's sudden change of heart.

He had hunted you across every nation, determined to cut you journey short and stop you from bringing peace. Every interaction you had with Prince Zuko told you that he was a bad person, but you still very desperately wanted to believe him.

A fire bender willing to teach you showing up just after the invasion failed, when all hope seemed lost? It felt too good to be true, and for it to be Prince Zuko, the boy you hadn't been able to stop thinking about since he saved you as the blue spirit? Turning away a chance like that felt plain wrong.

Which is why you were here, looking around the woods in the middle of the night. It must be 10 minutes of aimlessly wandering before you finally see the light of a campfire through the trees and bushes, thankfully he wasn't far from the air temple.

You have to air bend a fire ball away from your face before you're even halfway through the bushes (you have to admit you did sneak up on him a little), an action which is immediately followed by a panicked collection of apologies.

"I didn't see that it was you!"

"Zuko calm down I'm fine," you can't help but laugh slightly at how different he seems, this reaction is certainly not something you'd imagine from him.

"why am I so bad at being good?" he put his head in his hands, a little overdramaticaly in your opinion.

"It was an accident seriously don't worry about it," you pulled his hands from his face, giving them a reassuring squeeze, "you don't want to know how many times I've accidentally hit Sokka when he's caught me off guard."

"Right," he looks away awkwardly, sighing a little, "right."

There's a moment of slightly uncomfortable silence where it dawns on you that you actually have no idea what to say.

"Do you, uh-" he takes his hand from yours, reminding you that you still hadn't let go of it, "do you want to sit down?"

"yea, sure," you chew the inside of your lip nervously.

You both go to speak at the same time, leading to an awkward exchange of 'you firsts' before Zuko seriously insists that you speak before him.

wow this is awkward.

"I want you to join us- team avatar I mean," he opens his mouth to speak but stops himself, "and I get that the others may not be totally on board but I'm, like, the avatar. So. My decisions are final."

"Do you really think that's a good idea?" he finally makes eye contact with you again, which alleviates a little bit of the tension.

"Well, if your telling the truth, I really couldn't think of a better teacher even if I tried," you laugh, "you're a strong bender, and I feel like we have the potential to get a long!"

"how can you be sure of that when we hardly know eachother?"

"Not sure, I guess I admire how driven you are?" you shrug, "and it didn't hurt my opinion of you when you saved me from Admiral Zhao."

"Right," he turns back to the fire, "that."

There's another few moments of silence, and before he gets the chance to say what's on his mind you got your hand resting on his, "how would you feel about going back to camp with me tonight?"

"I'm not sure that's a great idea."

He makes no move to remove your hand.

"are you worried about Katara?"

"It might be easier if I go back when everyone's awake, I don't want to catch anyone off guard."

"like I did with you?" You laugh, but he doesn't. He actually looks a little ashamed.

"It'll still probably be easier if we go back together."

He's quiet, but you feel like he agrees, or at least understands where your coming from. Is this awkward?

"You could, maybe stay here for tonight, and come with me in the morning?"

You wanted to trust him so badly.

"I would be ok with that."

A leap of faith.

Zuko Smiles awkwardly, looking away again. Neither of you can really think of anything to fill the silence for a while.

"It's crazy that after all this we're sharing a camp alone," he very clearly regrets saying that as soon as the words leave his lips.

A smirk plays on your face for a moment as you look at him hard, his gaze avoiding "I could understand it being weird us camping together, but I'm not totally on board with the alone part."

It was, of course, obviously weird that the two of you be alone together, but his expression at his own words had sparked that mischievous type of curiosity in you.

"I just- y'know, since you have your group and all,"

"Is that," you move forward to see more of his face, "all?"

The Prince is visibily a little uncomfortable, and you could almost swear his face was going a little red, even with him trying his hardest to face away from you. But he still hadn't moved your hand from his. And he made no effort to put any distance between the two of you as you edged slightly closer.

Was this actually happening?

"What's wrong, prince?"

That irritatingly teasing tone of voice is the final straw that pushes the boy next to you over the edge, and you know it's gotten to him because of the way he grabs you by the shirt and kisses you, just once, but deeply.

By the time he pulls away he's breathing heavily, your faces still close together.

His breath is hot against your lips, he smells like burnt caramel, and it occurs to you you've never been close enough to someone to be so sure of how they smelled.

Your the one pulling him in next, moving your hand from his and gently tangling it in his soft black hair, he's very confident considering he couldn't look you in the eye just minutes ago, placing his hands on your waist and pulling your entire body in closer to him.

Before you've even properly processed what's going on, your straddling his legs, and his tongue is grazing your bottom lip, resulting in (much to your embarrassment) a soft moan.

You pull away, warmth spreading across your face with a hand trying to hide it.

"please," his voice is pleading, eyes glued to your lips, "I want you to make that sound again."

The sound of his voice has you like putty in his hands.

---

A/N I've never been that embarrassed writing something before (first time writing anything suggestive) so please enjoy it, because I never want to do that again!! felt downright shameful :/

#zuko #zuko x you #zuko x reader #prince zuko #avatar the last airbender #avatar #sageissleeping

[zukkaart]

My a:tla post-canon headcannons

Even though Sokka is notoriously bad at art, he draws Yue constantly because he worries that he’ll forget what she looks like

Zuko loses sleep over his father’s diplomacy tactics, he studies them inside and out to ensure that he will never do anything like him, even to a fault

Toph never forgives her parents but cries when she sees her mom again, she never sees her father

Yue watches them all and leaves moonflowers outside their doors/windows on hard days. Even Zuko

Azula has short-term memory loss for the rest of her life because of the trauma

Katara cries the day she realizes she’s the age her mother was when she died

Zuko avoids Suki again after the war because the guilt starts to eat him alive. She has to corner him and force him to admit his guilt before he can speak to her again

Aang opens up a baking school on Saturday mornings in the EK to teach people how to make traditional air nation foods (especially fruit pies)

In between missions Ty Lee returns to the circus

Mai is a regular both at Aang’s baking lessons and Ty Lees shows

Zuko travels to Ember Island to see “Love Amongst the Dragons” every summer but always insists he take the others to see a “good version” elsewhere

Iroh has regular shipments of special teas sent to Sokka to help with his adhd

Zukos scar still burns sometimes in the middle of the night, he wakes up screaming. Iroh never mentioned it, no one else does either

Aang talks to Yangchen late at night when nightmares keep him up, he often cries in her lap the same way Kyoshi did

Probably more to come

#avatar the last airbender #sokka #zuko #atla #sokka avatar the last airbender #Katara #aang #toph #post canon #post canon Au #Suki #Azula #Mai #Ty Lee

[sanrielle]

Plz someone draw Chief Toph and Adult Lin as their respective 5'3" ball of chaos and 5'10" buff queen. Toph is smol, Lin is...not lol. I know this in my heart.

I respect canon most of the time, but they could've done better with Toph's middle-age body model. I wish to see that rectified wherever possible.

#toph #lin beifong #lok #avatar legend of korra

[mycomfortblanket]

Under the Night Sky

Chapter 2

They must have been flying for at least two hours when Toph speaks up from behind him, "Hey Twinkletoes, can I come sit up there with you?"

Aang twists around, surprised to hear her ask that, "Yeah! Yeah. Here, let me help you." He stands up, balancing on ohhh i head and reaches out for Toph's arm. They grip each other's forearms as Toph slowly stands up and slips a leg over the saddle, reaching out with her other arm for Aang. Grabbing her extended arm, he carefully pulls her to him and lowers her into a sitting position on Appa's head.

When he sits next to her, her arms encircle his and she leans in. He knows she only does this because she can't see and the only thing she can sense is him, but the act still makes him blush.

They ride in silence for a little bit before he asks, "So, why'd you want to come sit up here? You've always preferred the saddle," he asks, looking down at her. Her hair is whipping everywhere around them and the cool air biting at her cheeks give them a slight pink tint.

"Starting feeling a little fifth-wheel-ish," Toph says, shrugging.

Aang turns his head and sits up a little straighter, trying to see over the lip of the saddle. Not being able to see anything, he slumps down and turns forward. She laughs and says, "Don't worry, everyone's clothes are on. Sparky and Sugar Queen are cuddling and Fangirl and Snoozles are doing that annoying thing where they whisper quietly."

"Oh, yeah. I hate when they do that."

They're silent for a few moments when Aang feels her perk up a little, "Hey! Can I steer?" Toph asks, a little excited.

"Uhh, I hate to break this to you, Toph, but you can't see," Aang says awkwardly.

"No shit, Twinkletoes. But, it's not like there are things for him to dodge! Come on!" Seeing no real problem with her steering, he shrugs and shifts, throwing a leg behind her and moving until she is sitting in front of him. Aang takes her hands and guides them onto the rope, placing them in the right spots.

"Okay. So, when you want to go left, you pull the reins the opposite way, like this. And it's the same if you want to go right. If you want to go downwards, you pull the reins up slightly like this," his hands cover hers as he guides her through the motions.

"Cool! Look at me doing seeing-people things!" Toph laughs out. They ride like that for a while, Aang sometimes telling her which way to go so they can avoid the bigger clouds and flocks of ratbirds. "Alright, I'm getting bored with this," she says, handing the reins back to Aang and then leaning back against him. She crosses her arms and rests her head back against his collarbone.

Aang tenses slightly, but eventually relaxes when he feels her small snores vibrating against his chest. A large smile comes to his face when she turns her head slightly, tucking herself under his chin.

Ever since the other night when he had gotten up to share his blankets with her, Toph hadn't been able to leave his mind. He noticed her more. Noticed the little things she would do like how she would tuck her bangs behind her ears just for them to fall back in her face, the way she twitched her fingers when she was thinking.

A few hours later, they arrive in Ba Sing Se. Aang leans down slightly to say in her ear, "Hey, Toph, wake up. We're at the hotel." She stirs slightly but just snuggles in tighter against his chest. Aang looks up and sees the rest of the group walking into the hotel to get some rooms.

Looking back down at Toph, he heaves a sigh before moving out from behind her to get into a crouching position and picks her up bridal style. He's a little surprised at how light she is. She is pretty petite in stature, but her big personality makes her seem larger than she really is.

He gently jumps down from Appa and makes his way to the entrance of the hotel. Looking around, he attempts to find the others when a short middle aged man appears beside him, and judging from his uniform and name tag, he is the desk clerk.

"Oh, oh! The Avatar! Oh, it is my honor. Your friends told me you were coming. Here is your key Mr. Avatar, sir. You're in room 203- the second floor, second door on the left," the desk clerk says. Aang sticks out his little finger that is holding up Toph's top half and the clerk slides the keyring onto it.

"Oh, err, thanks, sir. But, uh, my bison-"

"Yes, sir. Yes, sir. We have a stable out back with plenty of hay. I will make sure he is comfortable."

"Oh, okay. Great, thanks!" Aang says, and begins walking towards the stairs. Although Toph is light, her weight is still more than he is used to and his breaths come out a little harder than normal.

Finally up the stairs and through the door of the room, he stands at the foot of the bed. The foot of the only bed in the room. Sighing, he moves and awkwardly pulls back the covers before laying her down in the bed.

Aang thinks for a moment if he should remove some of her clothes to get her more comfortable, but immediately pushes that thought away. Although they are close, they aren't close enough for that.

Looking at her once more, he removes her headband and the pins holding her bun in place, letting her hair fall over her shoulder. Aang never realized, but her hair is a lot longer and softer than he ever realized. He has to fight back the urge to pet her hair more than what is appropriate. He also removes her wrist and ankle cuffs in an attempt to at least make her a little comfortable.

Finally finished, he steps back and surveys the room, taking note of the small bed that Toph has taken up most of. There is a couch, but it is literally too small to even be considered a loveseat, it's more like an extra wide armchair. There is the floor, but it is stone and he can feel the chill of it through his shoes.

He briefly considers going to get another room, but his lack of money is a real issue and doesn't want to seem ungrateful to Zuko since he si the one who paid for this room.

Taking a deep breath, he takes his shoes off and sits on the edge of the small bed, opposite of Toph. He lays down, his body completely stiff as she sleeps next to him. He doesn't know why he is so uptight about sleeping in the same bed as her. They had slept in the same bed before and the other night when he shared his blankets with her.

He keeps telling himself there's no difference between those times and right now. But, in the back of his mind, he knows there is a difference: he had begun to develop feelings for her.

It was after they shared the blankets at the campsite. he had awoken before everyone else and Toph was still curled up against him, her head on his chest and one of her hands was fisting the fabric of his shirt that was over his heart. Laying there with her, he felt so secure and safe, something he didn't realize he needed to feel until he had it.

Aang eventually convinces himself that what they are doing, something they have been doing since they were kids, is not as big of a deal as he is making it out to be. He slips underneath the covers and lays as still and as straight as possible, trying not to touch her. Sleep begins to pull at his eyelids, and slowly, his body grows less tense as he drifts off to sleep.

In the morning, he slowly comes out of the grips of sleep by the sunlight streaming in through the window. Not opening his eyes, he snuggles deeper into the blankets and pulls the pillow he is cuddling closer to his chest. Burying his face in it and inhaling deeply, he smiles a little at the smell of Earth and mint, finding it comforting for some reason.

A groan vibrates through his pillow and it begins to stir slightly. Frowning, Aang lifts his head from the pillow and squints his eyes open.

Instead of cuddling a pillow, he is cuddling Toph, which explains the groan. He has an arm wrapped around her waist and their feet are tangled together underneath the blankets.

Toph squirms in his grip before turning around in his arms and pressing her face into his chest, throwing one of her arms over his waist. Aang hears her smack her lips a few times and then nuzzles her face against him, her deep breathing returning.

A small content smile appears on Aang's lips. He squeezes her tight against him before releasing his grip and taking a deep breath, the smell of Earth and mint invading his senses again.

Slowly, he succumbs to sleep with Toph securely pressed against him.

#taang #toph beifong #aang #toph x aang #tophxaang #aang x toph #fluff #taang fluff #avatar the last airbender #atla

[wejusthereforthefanart]

The new A:TLA reminds me

I was way more interested in the Gaang’s children than I ever was in Korra and her friends, and I was honestly disappointed when I first saw that LOK would have the next generation be middle-aged. 

We got so little of them as kids and teenagers, too! All the flashbacks involving Lin and Suyin were just building up to a traumatic moment where Toph is corrupt for a day, and the fanart I’ve seen of the Gaang kids is so good that I wish we focused on them instead of Korra. I mean, I understand it’s meant to be about the reincarnation of the Avatar, but Aang was already such a great character and for him to die years before the events of the series began was sad. 

We barely saw any of Sokka as an adult, and we don’t really know how his relationship with Suki went. We don’t know how Suyin turned into a little shit when her mother was the literal chief of police, or how people treated Bumi because he couldn’t bend. The fandom is split down the middle about how Aang was as a father, where some believe he was awful and blatantly favored Tenzin and the others think he was great for, I don’t know, some reason. 

And I’m super upset we didn’t get to see Zuko and Mai overcome their childhood issues to raise their daughter and break the cycle of abuse. Why the Hell couldn’t we see any of that?

#avatar #a:tla #a:tlok #rant #korra #lin beifong #suyin beifong #sokka #suki #tlok bumi #aang #tenzin #zuko #mai #toph beifong

[zuko-always-lies]

The problem with saying Azula and Ozai are the same is that there's a HUGE age difference. Azula is a kid. A minor. Still in middle school. 14. Same age as Katara. Very close in age to both Toph and Aang. Literal same age as Snow White. Younger than Zuko. She's under Ozai's power, and has no power over him. Meanwhile, Ozai is an adult. He's over thirty and has a near adult kid himself. He has power over Azula. He's not a minor. He can do things by himself. The two are not the same. Not at all.

This 100%. Azula is actually on the younger side of children in ATLA: older than Aang, Toph, Teo, On Ji, Meng, and the Duke, the same age as Katara and maybe Ty Lee, and younger than Jet(probably), Suki(probably), Haru(most 14 years old can't grow bushy mustaches, he's probably older), Zuko, Yue, Sokka, Mai, Hahn, and Jin(probably).

#Azula

[viridian-house]

I think my 2 biggest problems with natla have become what I see people saying the most in its defense.

no, they did not "only" have 8 episodes to tell the story. the runtimes of the original and the nf adaptation are about the same--especially if we consider making cuts to the most filler-ish episodes (11 for sure, and 14 maaaaaybe. I'm torn on 5 because it informs us of how the EK still isn't free of the FN even though we just saw a stronghold, omashu, and also foreshadows how innovative and strong toph really is to be the first to bend metal). anyway, they've got the same amount of time to tell the story and yet it still suffers from pacing issues. it still suffers from the characters feeling hollow and just kind of "stuck together" and never forming a true family bond.

and the 2nd thing is the people who say "well it's an adaptation of a kids show, why does it need to have depth?" when...the original is definitely digestible for children, and s1 is for sure different in tone than s2+3, but...I was a middle schooler who loved it. my dad never missed an episode because he was just as invested. it was the only show my high school aged siblings didn't make fun of me for watching, because it was a mature enough story for everyone to enjoy. someone else said it, but that's why the story is so timeless, it's why we're all still fans, it's why we've all taken so many years to discuss the themes and the characters (people are still arguing over Aangs choice not to kill the Firelord, for goodness sake lol). I don't care how "hehe fun times" the show starts out--by the THIRD episode, we see Gyatso's skeleton and the total ruin of Aang's home.

and on that same note, we didn't need to see the genocide. we didn't need to see Ozai burn a man alive. but we did--okay, the show wants to be NF's game of thrones. why, then, is the story written so that the characters spoon feed us exposition? why, then, do we see the genocide happening instead of witnessing the devastation of the world organically through the eyes of these children? everything we see in the original informs us in some way of the state of the world. we see Aang's struggle between wanting to carry on living how he wanted, and how much he believes in the power of silliness (telling Katara, "you ARE still a kid!") and how unfair it is that he, essentially, has no choice (and by the way, his drives to have fun and avoid his destiny/the guilt he feels over near-apocalyptic circumstances being "his fault" for running away, are why it's such an impactful moment when he must "show no emotion at all" in meeting Koh, essentially forsaking everything he's embodied for 19 episodes straight to get the info he needs to help save the Northern Water Tribe--natla manages to suck all the meaning out of that, as well)

anyway. if it's "mindless fun just turn your brain off it's for kids" then why the heck is it so violent. why the heck is it stripped of any and all opportunity for a kid to learn important things that were present in the original, which trusted its audience (including the kids) with mature themes and didn't feel the need to dumb itself down at almost any moment at all. I don't understand. make it make sense.

#natla #atla #avatar live action spoilers

[akilice]

I see a lot of comments on that post agreeing that Toph shouldn't have been a cop, but she shouldn't have had kids either, what do you think of that Aki?

I think Toph having kids was interesting, especially since we see how her suffocating childhood ended up with her trying to do the opposite for her daughters by giving them all the freedom they could have, which ends up backfiring

I think those comments are just silly, it's a weird assumption to make over a character who we've only known when she was 12, i agree that not all female characters should become moms or are fit to be moms, but i don't think it's as much of a character assasination of Toph like her being a cop is

Also if Toph didn't have kids we wouldn't have her badasses middle aged daughters, I can't ever imagine LoK without Lin

#anon

[the-badger-mole]

AU Bot Plots: Aliens Part 2

I am fairly certain I've mentioned this idea before, but I can't find it (because Tumblr's archiving feature is trash). Also, I don't think it was a very fleshed out overview, so I'll do that here. Enjoy!

This fic is one of my more self-indulgent ideas (not quite at the level of self-indulgence as my CaptainMe OUAT fic, but almost). This story takes place in an alternate universe where we have figured out space travel already. The aliens are humans from our planet who are on an exploratory mission. They have a similar rule to Star Trek's Prime Directive, and just as in Star Trek, that rule is often broken. This time it's broken by a young boy on board.

The mission that this ship is on is years long because of the distances they have to cover, so the scientists and crew on board are also travelling with their families (like military families stationed abroad). This kid (let's call him Jamie, age 11) is the middle sibling of 5. He has two older sisters (Allora 23 and Daysia 16) and two younger siblings (Makayla and Brian both 2). They have been on the ship with their parents for years, (the youngest two were born on the ship). Their mother, Octavia, is an astronomer and their father, Jamal, is an engineer. Jamie is eager to follow in his parents' footsteps and work for the space program. His eagerness often gets him in trouble.

Jamie knew he wasn't supposed to mess with the transporter, but he couldn't help himself this time. Planets with life were exceedingly rare, and to find a planet that not only had life, but had sentient, technologically advanced (relatively) life was unheard of. Finding this planet had caused a stir throughout the ship and back on Earth (they can communicate with Earth, but messages take a few days to get there). There were talks of sending a small team of explorers covertly to the surface, after confirming that the air was, in fact, compatible with their lungs. Jamie would never have been allowed to go, but he thought this might be his only chance to ever get up close to a planet like this. So one day, while his parents are busy, and his older sisters are occupied, Jamie sneaks into the transporter room, with the intent of sneaking down to the surface for five minutes and coming right back. But something goes wrong. Instead of being transported to the surface of the planet, Jamie brings back a group of the planets inhabitants. To Jamie's shock, they look like Earth inhabitants. That's all he gets the chance to register before Something Terrible happens and the transporter breaks, trapping Katara, Sokka, Aang, Zuko, Toph and Suki on board the ship. And that is how Jamie got himself grounded for an entire summer.

That's the basic premise of the story. I'm toying around with the space family having super powers of their own (a holdover from my Marvel/ATLA crossover idea). Allora might be preparing to get married (the Gaang would be invited to the bachelor/bachelorette parties). Octavia and Jamal would become the parents the Gaang deserved. I think they'd be aged up a bit, though. Especially if there's wedding festivities for them to be pulled into.

Mostly, though, this story would be an excuse to have the Gaang interact with some of my favorite pop culture artifacts (which is also the main reason why this fic will stay with my CaptainMe fic...on a high shelf in a dark corner of my mind). I love the idea of Iroh encountering the Isley Brothers music, while Zuko and Toph fall in love with heavy metal and rap. Sokka would impress Octavia and/or Jamal and he'd be offered a spot in the training academy (not quite in keeping with the programs rules about not interfering with a planet's societies, but exceptions can be made). He probably won't accept it, ultimately, but it would be a tough call for him. If the family has super powers, there would absolutely be a showdown with Ozai and Azula.

Read the first version of this prompt here

#atla #zutara #au bot plots #alien superstar part 2 #THE YEAR OF CONTENT!!!!