Today’s Interest: Firelord Zuko Headcannons

everyone always writes jet as super suave and zuko getting all blushy and easily flustered and thats great but have you considered; jet tries laying on the charm and saying the lines. three quarters of the time zuko has no idea what he's talking abt and misses the insinuation entirely, sometimes throwing a 'none of that bullshit' look bc when he has no idea what ur saying he assumes hes being proverb'd on. the other quarter of the time is him just blinking confusedly in response and being like 'oh. uh. thanks?' and giving a sweet little smile. zuko, due to being an unsocialised gremlin boy, sometimes just says sorta romantic things in a super intense way seemingly out of nowhere - like 'you know, i think could stare into your eyes for hours and never get bored' - with literally zero shame or impulse control. every time, without fail, jet goes super wide eyed and stumbles over his feet and words, attempting to respond in the charismatic way but sounding so choked up and flustered that he butchers it every time (zuko thinks those attempts at suaveness are the cutest things hes ever seen and goes to hold jet's hand every time he gets like that)

silly advisors with their silly questions

My Jetkotara brainbot strikes again. I just love them so much.

Pose references [X]

parental caretaker and kid writing prompts

- younger kid standing on their caretaker's shoes and rocking around. almost like they're dancing or waltzing.

- the thing where the caretaker pulls the kid closer to them by like wrapping their hand around their head and covering their ear and tucking them against them.

- kid sitting on caretaker's shoulders. always a good one.

- "shh, shh, I know, I know"

- any sort of "take me instead" situation, said by either character. devastating.

- dealing with sickness. like obviously the kid getting sick and accidentally calling their caretaker mum/dad/parent in their feverish delirium is super cute and top tier.

- BUT ALSO. hear me out. caretaker getting sick but trying to push through to look after their kid and their kid works super hard to make their job easier or look after them in small ways.

- kid hiding for some reason (minor anxiety or major trauma or anything in between) and the caretaker comforting them or trying to coax them out.

- caretaker sweeping kid up in a big ole bear hug and spinning em around.

- kid hiding behind caretaker.

- "you should be in bed" "I can't sleep" "...alright, get over here, you can stay up for five more minutes"

- caretaker and a maybe slightly older kid arguing and making up.

- caretaker picking up slightly older kid from a party that's gone wrong in some way.

- caretaker who's maybe less like a parent and more like an older sibling. they take their kid to abandoned buildings and eat cheap takeaway/takeout with them.

- caretaker teaching their slightly older kid life skills that they maybe didn't have the chance to pick up on when they were younger.

- or yk just caretaker teaching their younger kid life skills. like trying to get them involved with cooking and lifting them up to help grab things and letting them watch things get cut up and prepared.

- caretaker indulging their younger kid in tea parties with their stuffed animals.

- caretaker looking after a kid's comfort items (bonus point if the kid is older, and double bonus points if the kid is too embarrassed to care for their comfort items themselves).

- younger kid curled up by their caretaker while their caretaker plays videogames. bonus points if the caretaker lets them play like baby mode co-op (like luma in mario galaxy). bonus bonus points if the caretaker is like an older sibling and gives the kid an unplugged controller.

- older kid playing co-op with their caretaker and getting way too invested. bonus points if it's mario kart. bonus bonus points if they're showing each other their favourite games from their respective childhoods (because yk different eras).

- caretaker carrying an exhausted kid to bed.

- better yet, the kid pretends to fall asleep in the car so they can be carried inside (caretaker knows their game but is more than happy to carry them).

- caretaker having a hard day working late and coming home to their kid sleeping peacefully on the couch, clearly having waited for them to come home.

- kid having a hard day at school and caretaker is in the middle of making dinner for them.

- caretaker shielding kid from danger with their body.

- kid refusing to leave caretaker's side when they're both in danger.

TFW when u and ur bf have the same bad taste 💕 [inspo]

Ok but Zuko using the knowledge he acquired during his banishment to help him as the Fire Lord. Like making small talk with Earth Kingdom dignitaries about their local foods that he enjoyed and even misses. Like having in-depth conversations with his captains about sea currents and navigation. Like, in the middle of a meeting with several high-ranking naval officials, pointing out flails in security, like how a person can cling to a Fire Nation ship for hours at a time, or climb aboard using hatches on the upper decks, or disguise themselves as a lower ranking guard with easily accessible spare armour….

Though none of his experiences can prepare Zuko for the long, awkward silence that comes after he admits to doing or at least knowing something illegal and/or completely buck wild

Camp Camp au where everything’s the same but every time Preston gets scared/frightened he jumps into Max’s arms

*crashes through ur ceiling* can we have dad joel n ellie caring for the horses and/or going on a horseride,,,,maybe ellie challenges him to a race n zooms off,,,

* you crash right onto my work table * ah ! right on time . here's a funny ! i accidentally spilled a dash of panic attack into it btw my bad !

ps : i watched that spaceship museum scene 18 TIMES while writing both this and the larger fic abt joel n ellie OOHMHJGOD pls tell me if i got their characters right IM SO BAD . IMSO BAD AT THEM . also rip callus my beloved but dw ellie gets a new horse :-] ! (* said horse dies later as well * we can't have SHIT in seattle)

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There’s only three things that Joel had told her when it comes to horses; one, she never, at any given time or situation, should stand behind a horse. Two, that one charged kick from its hind legs is enough power to kill a grown man, especially a tiny teensy girl like she is (much to her dismay). And three, don’t kiss the horse, Ellie, it’s dirty.

Now that they’re in Jackson, though?

“They’re not dirty anymore, Joel,” she snipes, tongue stuck at him while the man rolled his eyes from across the stable—and then she resumed her cooing, stroking the fur of one of the horses unlucky enough to find herself at her hands. “You’re all clean and pretty, aren’t you, big girl?”

Somewhere behind the other stables, Joel lets out a laugh. “I thought you came along to help me clean up.”

“I did!” Ellie says in defense, holding a hand up, “I just really like this horse!”

“Any particular reason why?” He teased.

“Nah,” Ellie frowns lightly with a shrug, “I don’t—”

She felt something stuck at the back of her throat.

The cannibals closing in. Her thoughts going Joel Joel Joel, grabbing on the reins and leaping on, bullets flying everywhere, a ledge, a sharp gasp, a fistful of brown fur—

Her chest tightened.

“Ellie?”

There’s a large hand pressing on her shoulders, her back. “Hey, hey—what happened?”

“I,” Ellie tries to breathe, but it came out all gasped and shaky and pathetic, “I’m—”

“Hey, hey. S’ okay. C’mon,” Joel shushes, low and reassuring, guiding her to slide down against the wall and sit on the dirt floor of the stables. “Breathe. You’ve got this. You’re okay.”

She lets out a dry sob, and Joel rubs on her back, gentle and grounding and her fist tightens on his jeans instead, trying to shake the feeling of fur from her hands. “I’m—M’sorry.”

“Hush,” he says, “I don’t need apologies, El. I need you to breathe.”

“Okay,” she nods, barely a whisper, inhaling shaky breaths one after the other. And then, like it was supposed to make sense to Joel, “he—Callus.”

“Oh,” he exhales softly.

“They—they shot him.”

Joel reaches out round his arms over her shoulders, pulling her closer. “I know.”

“I didn’t even get to bury him.”

“I know, baby girl,” he murmurs, calloused fingers stroking on her baby hair, “I know. I’m sorry.”

Ellie finally gives up, leaning against his side with another shaky breath. Joel feels strong and sturdy on her side, like an anchor—the crying comes slowly, this time; the thick pain in her throat, rising up and up until it forms a choked-out sob, and she stares into the distance, letting the tears burn its way down her cheeks. And Joel didn’t wipe them away. Not this time.

Her lungs ached, hands grabbing on Joel’s jeans tighter, and he lets out another soft shush before he holds her hand for her, squeezing it back just as tight. As his other hand rubs her arm up and down, the feeling in her ribs begin to lighten. Another sob lightens it, and then another, and there’s a small smile on her face when she looks up at Joel again.

“Okay?” He whispers, and she nods at him.

“Okay.” It hurts, but it’s okay to hurt. She’ll let it hurt. And then, maybe, one faithful day when her hair is as gray as Maria's—she'll finally learn how to grow around it, like wild vines that grows all over the remnants and ruins.

“I’m sorry,” there’s guilt in Joel’s voice when he spoke up again, patting on her shoulder gently, “I didn’t mean to make you remember things like that. When I asked “any particular reason why”, I meant as in that girl Dina you’re—”

“Oh my god, Joel,” Ellie groans with a laugh, throwing her head back before pushing him away. “I told you we didn’t break up, we’re just friends!”

“Well, she’s been scowling whenever she sees you and Cat around, and I’m sensing there’s some kind of triangle between—”

“—Joel!”

“Alright, alright,” Joel laughs gruffly, raising both hands in defeat, “although, Dina’s got a particular liking to horses too, don’t you think?”

“Fuck you,” Ellie laughs, returning to stroking the horse’s fur gently. This time, the feeling calms her again. It doesn’t hurt as much anymore.

“So,” Joel says, gently again, nudging his head towards the horse, “you naming her Callus junior?”

“Nah,” she shrugs lightly. “I was thinking… Shimmer would be nice.”

He gave her a look. “You’ve got a horrible taste at naming horses.”

Ellie smirks at him. “She still likes me a lot, though, so suck it.”

Joel huffs out another laugh at that, leaning back against the wall with crossed arms. “You look like the kind of gal horses would like.”

“The fuck’s that supposed to mean?”