I Have. Such A Soft Spot. For The Idea Of Dyslexic Ellie. 

Zuko is An Artist: Part 1

Zuko became an artist at a young age. Painting was encouraged by Ursa and Uncle Iroh, so he did it to keep himself occupied.

Eventually, it became more than a hobby. He was an artist down to his core, seeing things through a different lens than his family members.

Azula hated that there was another thing that Zuko was better at than her. However, Ozai didn’t like it, so she didn’t. It was that simple.

Under his sleeves, there were often ink writings and drawings.

His favorite things to draw, ironically, are dragons. Twisty shapes, fangs and wings.

Ozai, again, doesn’t approve and tries to keep Zuko occupied on something that he finds productive.

It doesn’t work.

After Zuko’s exile, most of his art is halted.

But sometimes, he starts rambling about ink and paper and dragons, and suddenly he feels a lot lighter.

Around a year and a half into his exile, he gets new brushes and waterproof ink from Uncle Iroh.

He vanished for about two hours, but when he was next seen there was ink on the walls like a fresh coat of paint.

‘“Mako, have you seen the Prince?” Firenze hummed from his spot on the deck.

“No, honestly. Maybe we left him at the last port?”

The captain laughed. “We can dream, Mako.”

Iroh raised his eyebrow. “He’s painting the hallway. If you’d like, you may join him.”

And so, Zuko gained two new painters. Over time, the entire crew painted the boat black and silver.’

Yeah, the crew painted with Zuko sometimes. It became ritual to paint over it when the salt began to wear away at it.

Zuko still has his whole honor complex, but it’s slightly detached from his actual personality due to the relationship that he had with his crew.

So when the Avatar shows up, he’s shocked instead of insistent to catch him. The sooner that he catches the Avatar, the sooner that he’d get locked away from the world.

So he may or may not have deliberately played cat and mouse with the Avatar.

When Zhao takes the crew, they all visit the prince one-on-one. Some with tears, others with somber hearts. They have a group hug and then they have to leave.

The first time Zuko saw the Northern Water Tribe, he felt a flurry of emotions.

First, awe at the beauty that the people had carved from the ice.

Then, anger that the fire nation was going to knock it down.

He craves the feeling of ink on his hands again.

And once they’re declared enemies of the state, he hopes that he’ll feel that again.

Autistic Hunter Week Day 1: Special Interest/Infodump

@spinaroos-47

“Whatcha got there?” Luz tapped the table in front of Hunter to get his attention. “One of Eda’s?”

He lifted the book to show her the title without answering. Why Won’t My Palisman Eat? And Other Problems You May Encounter with Your Lifelong Partner.

“Is Flapjack okay?!”

“Yes. Why wouldn’t they be?”

“Because you’re… reading a book about how palisman get sick?”

“Sure. Did you know that they heal like regular animals if they get hurt? Even though they’re made of wood? But that would mean they’re generating palistrom wood by eating regular food! So hypothetically speaking, you could generate an infinite amount of palistrom wood by cutting off pieces of a palisman and then feeding it so it could heal!” he reached up to the palisman nestled in his hair and scratched its head. “Not that I would. Anymore.”

“Found a game hack,” Luz joked, “Infinite palistrom wood glitch. Why are you reading the book if there’s nothing wrong with Flapjack?”

“The books at the emperor’s coven weren’t really about how to take care of a palisman. There were a couple, but, well, you know. Not much need to take care of them when your plan is to…” Hunter shook his head. “Anyway, there are a ton of weird things palisman can do.” He held up a different book, this one called The Legend of the Palistrom. “Not sure how accurate this is, it’s a mythic folklore kind of story about the first palisman, but there’s bound to be some truth in it, right? Because legends are usually based on fact. It was a nice story, though.”

Luz sat down at the table as he flipped the cover of a book back and forth.

“Supposedly, palisman can hold memories from the perspective of their witch, but no one’s said how to activate and view it yet, not in any of the books I’ve read. Is it like a memory in the mindscape where you can enter it? Or is it more like an echo mouse eating a book and being able to project it as something to watch? And—okay, get this, this is weird, a palisman can not only recognize descendants of its owner, BUT will also recognize palisman carved by its owner’s family as a kind of blood relative! But it DOESN’T recognize a palisman carved from its own tree as a sibling. That being SAID, there’s an old legend that if you carve your palisman from the same tree as the tree of your betrothed, you’ll be partnered for life. The explanation behind it is that your palisman is your lifelong partner, so if you carve yours from the same wood… but that doesn’t make a lot of sense, does it? I mean, if they don’t recognize each other as siblings regularly, why would partners matter? Unless it’s a combination of the family recognition AND being carved from the same tree? I don’t know, it’s probably just a romance legend that doesn’t have any fact built into it. Just sentiment, you know?”

“Probably,” Luz agreed, “It sounds sweet, though.”

“If you’re into that kind of thing. You know, all of the books mention that palisman all speak the same language, but I’ve DEFINITELY heard different sounds coming from them, and Gus and Willow’s don’t really make sounds at all—wait, hey, how do Gus and Willow know what they’re saying?!” He stood up abruptly, pushing his chair back and holding his hand out for Flapjack to turn into a staff.

“Where are you going?”

“To ask them. Duh.”

And in a flash of gold, he was gone.

Don’t panic, no not yet Pairing: Jetko—Rating: T A/N: dumb boys dumb snuggling dumb shenanigans dumb

Universal Truth

In the past three years the Wani crew clung to the few constants in life. Lt. Jee’s armour failing to not creak. Cook Dekku taking the Princess’ side in an argument. General Iroh drinking questionable plants if it had the slightest possibility of being a good tea. Princess Usha making Bad Decisions regarding her safety if it had the slightest possibility of leading her towards the Avatar.

But the biggest constant was that Zhao was The Worst and they had to kill him.

They’re not kidding, well, not anymore.

In the beginning it was just an off handed comment. A response to seeing him push and push and push the buttons of their recently banished commander. A catopus toying with a mouseguppy.

Later, as Usha grew and developed, they became serious. Zhao’s gaze lingered, his smile grew sharper, and his words gained double meaning. And he touched, casual and fleeting, careful enough to seem innocent but with intent.

They never left Usha alone with him. Not after the Hair Incident. If General Iroh wasn’t available then it was Natsuo, who could earthbend, or Hanako, quick and precise with a knife, or Minh, large and stern faced.

...

So when they finally found the Avatar, they knew it was their chance at finally keeping Usha safe.

They pushed down the guilt of chasing after a child. A cackling, baby faced boy who was easily swayed by the smile of a pretty eye patch wearing girl and the promises of sweet cream and cakes.

They pushed further down the guilt of fighting a gangly limbed boy and a fierce faced girl struggling to control her bending.

Usha came first.

(Princess Usha already apologized for the whole ship to ice wall misunderstanding, so they were absolved.)

...

Lips were pressed tight and tongues were bitten when they docked at Zhao’s port. The Avatar was Usha’s to capture and not for the ladder climbing leech that was Zhao.

...

He still found out. You can’t accidentally set Kyoshi Island on Fire and not have the world find out why.

Nice going, Daishi.

...

What kind of asshole challenges a teenager to an Agni Kai?

The same one that gets beat by a teenager who’s still practicing her basics.

...

Normally one would discourage wearing jewelry found on the floor of a prison. But the Princess pulled it off quite well.

...

Natsuo really deserves a promotion or a raise or both. Cause it’s one thing to save General Iroh from a group of Earth Kingdom soldiers, but it’s a completely different thing to save a naked General.

Thank Agni none of them had any Fire Nation ancestry else they might’ve figured out Natsou’s little lava trick.

...

Fuck Zhao. And fuck Roku too, worst ancestor ever.

Who makes a volcano erupt on purpose!?

...

They really needed to talk about Usha’s habit of pinning people to flat surfaces. Poor Waterbender is getting redder than their uniforms.

It’s Minh’s fault to be honest. The moment he showed her how to wrestle larger opponents they had lost the battle.

They could’ve gone without the unexpected ambush by the pirates. But it did give them an excuse to punch people in the face.

They lost the avatar, again. But they did end with a boatload of treasure. So, win?

...

WHY IS THERE AN ARROW ON YOUR SHOULDER!?

...

They’re not getting a Shirshu. No matter how much Usha and Genji beg.

Sure they can afford one now. But they’ll need to train it. And Satomi isn’t very optimistic about General Iroh’s blood pressure if June continues to interact with the Princess.

...

Music night.

Music night was safe and relaxing. Where they could unwind and take a breather. Maybe even have a little drink or two. If they were lucky Usha might even sing.

Nothing can go wrong on music night.

...

Bad news, Zhao was Admiral now.

Worse news, he was commandeering them to be part of an invasion force against the Northern Water Tribe.

Good news, Zhao will now be too busy and too far away to make moves on your still very much underage commander.

Fun news, you get to watch the Princess blow holes in the logic of planning to attack a polar city full of waterbenders during winter.

Weird news, instead of blowing his lid like usual Zhao is instead inviting Usha to be part of the invasion.

Horrible news, she said yes.

Worst news, you later find out that her rooms are close to Zhao’s.

Good news, no one will ever suspect foul play if Zhao dies during the invasion. They just had to keep Usha way from Zhao until they reached the North Pole.

Nothing but smooth swimming from then on.

...

Was gonna write a Drabble but it basically turned into a mini outline. So, yay(?) structure.

touch-starved zuko being cuddled by katara because she loves how comforting his warmth is.

She will (and he'll let her)

ZUTARA AGAIN! :D!

It's been a while I didn't share something here on tumblr so... Hi hi!

I forgot about zutara week and when I remembered I was sketching this and realized it didn't match with any day theme. q_q

So here it is! A day later, a momtara and dadko argument with poor Sokka in the middle! LOL

If someone it's interested, here is my art process:

Master Pakku promised that he would keep an eye on Zuko (a promise made to both the chief and to Iroh). Pakku had initially thought the prince would be selfish and rude, but watching him spar with the other boys, it's obvious the kid is actually a little ball of nervous energy ready to be told he failed. Time will tell if he's any good at fighting, but maybe Pakku needs to step in and offer a bit of tutoring.

///discourse ///

my pet peeve is azula fanart that draws her sexy af. short schoolgirl skirts and cleavage out and bold lipstick 24/7. and like. i get it. her color is red. she’s intimidating to u. she’s #meangirl #darkacademia #trustfundkid to u. she’s an east asian girl and you’re having some trouble w metacognition right now, to say the least.

but this is a 14yo girl who is TERRIFIED of displeasing her father in any way or any amount. ozai is tyrannical, prone to violence, w black-and-white vision where you’re loyally in or you’re permanently out of his in-group, and prone to taking any actions of his children as personal attacks, statements, embarrassments, and injuries. he is a narcissist who nearly killed her older brother in front of her, then tossed him out to sea for an entirely age-appropriate social mis-step, who inhabited a world of domination and violence, likely displayed some level of domestic and spousal violence in front of and possibly against azula when she was younger. ozai regularly treats and respects azula as a possession of his.

all that and you think 14yo azula is dressing sexy?? azula is wearing dad-approved jeans and plain solid-color t shirts. azula is begging to get her ears pierced. canon azula is dressed, advised, served, and socialized by adults. she has no comprehension of how to do makeup or her own hair. she lives in a massively, toxically radically masculine world of logic, violence, dominated/dominator duality, career-focused, emotionless, loveless lives, and u think that this girl, raised by her violent and possessive father, without a mother or single older woman around, can do anything for her hair besides a ponytail?

azula uses st. ives apricot facial scrub and neutrogena grandma lotion her elderly housekeepers buy for her, she wears ponytails and buns she learned exclusively from youtube tutorials that she watched in secret, she wears practical polo shirts and dark wash jeans that ozai approves of his daughter wearing outside, and for occasions she has a stylist that puts her into designer blazers and adult black dresses. on those occasions she looks so 14 trying to be a real adult, like the soulless and joyless ones that surround her. she’s intimidating in spite of/with her non-sexiness. not because of it.

and i do see azula going high femme as an adult. and i do think when she wants to rebel against ozai, in scenarios where she’s taken in by iroh as well, she goes for daring teenage tiktok looks (“one positive side to my first guardian being put in jail is that apparently my new guardian is willing to let me download social medias, so I have a tiktok now. he even fired the intern in charge of my official instagram and let me be the one to delete it.”)

but like. cmon guys. azula, as we know her in canon, will not rebel an inch. she is safely, terrifiedly sitting in her approved corner, and that’s not where sexy is. where’s that post abt how zuko is an iroh-advised grandpa sweater polo shirt prep kid. real after-school kumon/mathnasium core. that’s azula too. she’s wearing lots of gold jewelry and a halter top in the beach episode but don’t let that fool you. that’s her first time dressing up “to be a normal teen” and she coats herself in the equivalent of head-to-toe gucci because that’s how other #teenz dress, right??

and like. how come the nerdy dorky sheltered traumatized brother is often acknowledged as the grandpa sweater polo shirt prep he is, w thirst traps, as is his human right, but some ppl view azula, who shares most of those traits, as constantly seductive? how come it’s this character, an east asian teen girl, who wears the miniskirt and the red lipstick of the gaang to some of u? let’s think abt it for 2 seconds

okay rant done i have a capri sun now :)

Artist Zuko really is one of the best things in the world!!😍

HE IS!! I love the idea of it being therapeutic for him (hence his characterization in All the Lights are Shining). I also love the idea of him just being super casual about it. I headcanon that it was something he had to learn as part of his formal education like all of the other noble kids, but he just became exceptional at it. His mother encouraged him (of course) and Iroh continued to do so once Zuko was in his care. So Zuko is just like, “Yeah. This is a skill I was required to learn, but it’s also one of my favorite hobbies and it helps me work through all of my emotions and trauma. And I guess I’m kind of decent at it?”

Also, when the Gaang finds out he can draw, Suki and Toph mercilessly tease Sokka about how much better an artist Zuko is than him. And Katara and Aang want Zuko to teach them how to draw. They keep asking him and he finally relents. It turns out Aang is pretty decent, but Katara is just as bad as Sokka. Zuko is just perplexed by that because Katara excels at so many things, so how is she so bad at this?

(I just have a lot of ideas surrounding artist!Zuko. 🥰)