zuko feels a crushing weight in his chest and a tightness in his throat whenever sokka feeds an animal or talks about an invention or makes himself laugh and zuko is like yeah this is just how people feel about sokka, this is the standard procedure when experiencing sokka because it’s obvious to everyone that sokka is the best man on earth and it’s a universally held opinion that everything he does is super cool so it’s only natural that those in his presence feel giddy and overwhelmed and in awe and protective all at once all the time
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ATLA (zukka….) au where everything is mostly the same except that the phrase “friend of the Avatar” is a euphemism for being gay, a la the phrase friend of Dorothy
(the phrase started towards the start of the 100 year war because in this universe Avatar Roku was some flavor of gay, then Sozin canonically banned gay marriage after their situationship went downhill. so people had to be more subtle about communicating their identities, something something something, the phrase became semi-commonplace throughout the fire nation and later the earth kingdom. maybe it started even earlier because of bi queen kyoshi. who knows!)
miscommunication and self-discovery ensues throughout the events of ATLA:
early on into his banishment and search for the avatar, Zuko runs into someone who casually mentions that they’re a “friend of the Avatar” and he’s immediately like “THE AVATAR IS ALIVE? WHERE ARE THEY. TELL ME”
…he learns a new phrase that day! perhaps he didn’t even know gay people existed until that awkward encounter (bc sheltered fire nation royal.) maybe he does some self reflection at this point, or perhaps he puts off his sexuality crisis in favor of his avatar hunting mission. who’s to say?
(the next time he hears someone say they’re “a friend of the avatar” he asks if they’re gay or if they actually know the avatar. you know, just in case they actually do.
….and the next time after that, too.
but after that he catches on pretty quickly that, no, it’s REALLY just a turn of phrase, and he does not repeat the mistake again.)
+ early into the series events sokka runs into some confusion when he mentions to a stranger that he’s a friend of the avatar while aang isn’t around—
sokka: hey so uhh i’m actually a friend of the avatar… think i can get a discount for that??
kindly ally shopkeeper: oh! i love that for you!! you know, i have a cousin who’s gay, real swell guy. anyways about the discount—
book one sokka, canonically sexist and with perhaps a fragile masculinity: what wait a sec, IM NOT GAY??????
shopkeeper: oh that’s okay, you don’t have to explain yourself or put a label on it to me (:
(sokka does in fact get a discount.)
he walks back to katara who was waiting for him and overheard the whole conversation, and she says “you know, sokka, it’s fine if you like boys.” sokka responds as you’d expect he would at this time.
(some amount of time later, sokka comes up to katara and aang very nervously and says “hey guys. i think i might. um. be a friend of the Avatar.”
and aang, confused but enthusiastic, goes “aww buddy, we’re already friends!!!!”)
at some point they’re fighting Zuko and during a back-and-forth exchange, Sokka proclaims “i won’t let you hurt him, the Avatar is my friend!” or something to that effect
Zuko, who has learned from his past mistakes in misconstruing this phrase, says “love is love. but your sexuality will not stop me from capturing the Avatar”
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sokka: thank you for saving me! and for being so beautiful
zuko: what
sokka: BRAVE. ahem. thank you for being so BRAVE, not beautiful. aha. sorry. that was weird. i don’t know why i said that. i think the adrenaline must still be messing with my head, making me say craaaazy things. i don’t think you’re beautiful. NOT THAT YOU’RE UGLY. i mean, obviously you’re not ugly. i just mean if i had to choose, like if you put a sword to my head and said, “am i attractive or ugly? pick one.” obviously i’d have to say you’re attractive because objectively, that’s just a fact. but you’re not so attractive i can’t stop LOOKING at you, you know?
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a totally professional discussion between the fire lord and water tribe ambassador (sokka is showing him the turtleduck doodles he made during the meeting)
i just had to redraw that taika waititi thor meme with them lol
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