Latest Posts by dadriusstan - Page 10

[Context is Aang's death from being struck by Azula's lightning]

Roku: He's not waking up, it's not working!

Kuruk: Yangchen, get over here!

Yangchen: I can't!

Kuruk: FOR AANG!

[Kuruk pushes Yangchen forward. She's holding a fruit pie, which she offers to Aang].

Yangchen: ...Oh, look, I have what appears to be... a delicious fruit pie! I sincerely hoped... nothing happens to... [her voice breaks and she drops the pie] OH AANG! [starts crying]

Kuruk: ... ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL HIM FASTER?

[Yangchen runs to hug Kuruk so tightly he can't breathe].

Kuruk: Yangchen!

[Kyoshi pushes both of them out of the way and walks towards an unconscious Aang. She grabs him by the robes and pulls him up off the floor, then frantically begins shaking him to wake him up].

Roku, Yangchen, Kuruk: KYOSHI!

Yangchen: WAIT A MINUTE, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!

Roku: KYOSHI, STOP!

[All of them manage to stop Kyoshi by grabbing her arms and legs. She puts Aang back down slowly].

Kyoshi: I thought... violence... would be the answer.

I have always been a die-hard Zutara shipper, but someone recommended THIS short fic last week, and now I’ve been on a Zukka binge ever since 😭 Doodled up my favorite scene from mindbending ‘s fic, “A Predictable Story” on AO3 in appreciation for being a great first Zukka experience 💕

drawing sokka & katara with a polar owlcat to try to cure the artblock

Id in alt text

Zukka neighbors AU, enemies to lovers 100k+

while it's not the same story i got the idea from @kurisu-80's neighbors AU comic, which i definitely recommend checking out, i think about it a lot

Aang, surrounded by baffled councilmen, interrupted mid meeting: "ZUKO I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU’D DO SOMETHING SO RECKLESS!”

Zuko, half burnt after fistfighting his latest assasin: “It’s not that bad. Besides, you’re like twelve, you don't have to worry about this”

Aang: “only tw—I was the one who—! No, you know what? I’m calling your grandpa!”

The councilmen, thinking of Azulon: “?!”

Zuko: “WAIT NO AANG I’M SORRY!”

Aang, meditating aggressively: “TOO LATE.”

Roku, taking Aang’s place: “ZUKO I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU’D DO SOMETHING SO RECKLESS!”

The councilmen, losing their fucking minds: “?!?!?!????!??!???!”

this was funnier in my head 😭

I always wonder about how yue occupies her time in the spirit world. I bet she’d enjoy the library :)

Conversation Prompt

“I had a vision of my own death.”

“Spooky. Was I there?”

Hijacked Lesson

(A de-aged Azula ficlet)

“No! Go away! This is my lesson!” Aang whispered harshly at the little girl with sparking fingers. A spiteful, mischievous gleam entered her eye and Aang braced himself for an attack.

“Zuzu! Aang’s being mean to me!” She shouted, running over to interrupt Zuko’s demonstration. Aang took a deep breath, his hands curling into fists. He did not hate Azula. He didn’t hate her when she nearly killed him as a teen. He absolutely should not did not hate this small five year old version who kicked his shins under the table when he dared to sit next to her brother and jumped into Zuko’s arms every time Aang went in for hug (and stuck her tongue out at him while she was getting his big brother Fire Lord cuddles). “Zuzu! Can you show me how to do the form? Aang clearly isn’t ready to learn it!” Aang’s eyebrow twitched. 

He didn’t hate the baby Azula… But he did not like her. 

kratt brothers when they see an animal

this meme + ATLA ships

I'm still thinking of yue x zuko, that whole arranged marriage fic that I will never write lives in my head rent free, imagine her going with him on the three year trip to finding the avatar and just being super curious about everything they see, them getting closer when being away from his family and the fire nation, iroh and yue playing pai sho and just chilling while zuko rages in the background, yue being super excited when arriving at the south pole and just being happy that it's cold again

ahhhhhhh i weep at the potential! simply weep.

[old rose from titanic voice] it’s been 84 years…………..anyway here’s PART TWO OF THE DANCEBENDING ANIMATIONS featuring a breakdancing move, a bit of jazz dance, and some ukrainian hopak because 1) i couldn’t decide and 2) they look cool

[DO NOT repost, DO NOT take the watermark off, DO NOT delete the caption, do not do any of these things or i WILL find you]

(part one: katara)

behind the scenes by @rainjeanne

I just remembered my second Pride, where I made different flag themed daisy chain bracelets/necklaces to hand out. I need folks to understand something:

They were free.

They were fucking free.

They were maybe ¢60 of acrylic yarn each at the most, and the whole ziploc bag of them took 2 hours max.

Three people gave me sad eyes until I took their money.

Someone who was clearly the mom friend of their group made me take a $5 and gave a 10 minute pep talk.

At least four more people insisted on getting change to pay for the, once again, free bracelets.

In spite of all these shenanigans, the absolute best was this one person who I can only describe as, “queer surfer dude who looks like a boyfriend who looks like a girlfriend.” I can remember nothing of the outfit, only the impeccable vibes. I did the same thing I did with everyone else, explaining the bracelets were free, and they nodded along as they took the last 6 strand rainbow bracelet. As soon as they had it on their wrist, they pointed at something over my shoulder and, like a fool, I looked.

Next thing I know, they’re running off cackling, yelling, “YOU’LL NEVER CATCH ME!” and I’m holding a fucking $20. I had to stop at least two people from chasing them, cause they thought the person stole something, and then they tried to give me money cause they thought it was funny seeing me flail over people being Too Nice.

That was the year I got reverse-robbed at Pride. I hope everyone out there is having a good time and, in particular, that queer surfer dude is out there still causing benevolent chaos.

another couldnt-stop-thinking-about-it drawing, i might actually write this one as well but for now it is a lil doodle

I was wondering, how bad was Ozai's abuse even before this Agni Kai? And how much did Piandao know about it?

Piandao was born into wealth and prestige, but he was not raised in it. He was raised in an orphanage, and the workers there would click their tongues and mutter pitying words. Poor young Piandao, his parents are still alive and well, they simply didn’t want him. If only he’d been a firebender.

When Piandao had excelled at the art of the sword, become recognized, and started taking students, he only got nonbenders. People claiming to be the best in their village, wanting glory that they found harder to gain without having bending of their own.

That was why it was such an oddity when he received a letter requesting (commanding, technically, he supposed) that he train the young Prince Zuko in the art of the sword. He’d agreed (there was no other choice), and a few weeks later, the eight-year-old prince arrived for his first lesson.

After two weeks of learning what Zuko was like, Piandao had decided to train the boy in the dual broadswords. 

Those two weeks, and all the time after that, taught Piandao a lot about Prince Zuko. More specifically, about his life back at the palace.

He wasn’t sure the prince even noticed. Piandao, actually, suspected all the movements were involuntary. 

Piandao would test a possible new student. He’d deny them. The student would raise their voice, anger seeping into their tone, spitting in Piandaos’ face about what a valuable pupil he would be to have.

Piandao would see Prince Zuko sitting in the corner wince as the yelling got louder, looking more wary than before.

The first week that Piandao actively was teaching the boy, he brought him to the town square to watch a friendly fire duel. He watched as the boy leaned back when fire came in his direction, even when it was nowhere near him. Piandao would narrow his eyes at the way the prince would rub at his forearm, and the way his eyes would widen a bit and he would flinch minutely when the flames came too close.

They didn’t go to sit and watch the duels much, after that. When they did, they sat far, far away from the front.

All of this could be written off, but Piandao couldn’t ignore what happened the first time that Zuko got a cut during their training.

Zuko was practicing dodging. It was an accident, and not even a major one, just big enough to put a pause on training for the day. The prince hadn’t moved fast enough and the blade he had been dodging struck him in the middle of his arm. The blade was not very sharp, as it was a training one, but it managed to get through the fabric a bit, and blood slowly seeped out.

Before Piandao had been able to speak, to apologize and call for bandages, Zuko had grit his teeth and spoken instead.

“I’m sorry, Master Piandao.”

Piandao had paused, blinking at the eight-year-old boy. “Why are you sorry?”

“I should have been faster. I shouldn’t have gotten hurt.”

“Does it hurt?”

Zuko nodded, a few stray, sweaty stands of hair getting in his eyes. “Yeah. It stings. I’ve learned my lesson, I won’t do it again.”

Piandao had been quiet for a moment before asking, “What... What are you talking about?”

Zuko looked tired, more than anything, and annoyed at himself, glaring at the arm he clutched to his chest. “I mess up and get hurt, I deal with the pain.”

Piandao felt sick, but he had replied simply, “No, I only get the summer with you. No reason to waste time waiting for that to heal without help. We’ll get it cleaned and wrapped.”

It made him want to throw up when he saw how surprised the boy looked as he met his gaze. “I...” Zuko looked down at his arm, then back up and said, “Thank you, Master Piandao.”

The flinches, and way he talked about pain like he deserved it, and the small burn scars, both fresh and fading, that Piandao soon found lay beneath the sleeves, were all enough to paint a rather unwelcome picture, but as Zuko got more comfortable, he would talk all about his mom, waiting back at home, as well as his cousin and uncle, and sometimes his sister.

Never his father.

Things changed when Zuko came for training the summer after his mother disappeared. 

Training was normal, other than the fact that Zuko was rather glum the entire time. He was lost in thoughts, and talked less, and was less excitable. It was rather... upsetting to see.

Then, though, the day before Zuko was to leave, a day that they normally spent relaxing, Zuko came to him, his eyes red, and said, “I don’t wanna go home.”

The next day, the prince had gone home.

Piandao knew about the Agni Kai. He didn’t know what happened to the boy afterward.

He missed him for the three years after that fateful day.

Piandao didn’t train anyone with passion, again, until he met Sokka. The boy reminded him so much of Zuko sometimes that it ached. So alike, yet so very, very different.

Piandao was born a nonbender to two powerful firebender parents. They abandoned him because of it.

When he thought about the way that Zuko’s father (a powerful firebender) treated Zuko himself (a less powerful firebender), Piandao found himself thinking that maybe growing up in the orphanage, parentless, was actually for the best, after all.

“It’s okay to talk to people.” for Silence? 😏

"You're not going to believe this. Apparently every old Master we've met on our journey is part of some sort of secret Pai Sho club. Isn't that crazy?" Sokka continued to babble with excitement as he led Zuko down the corridor by his hand. Zuko tried to focus on Sokka's words instead of the feel of his callused yet gentle grip.

"You'll never guess who one of them is. Go on, guess. You'll never guess. It's Master Piandao! Do you remember me telling you about him? He taught me to use swords and helped me make Space Sword."

Zuko came to a sudden halt. Since Sokka was still holding his hand, Sokka did as well. Sokka turned to look at him and raised a brow. "What's wrong?"

Zuko slid his hand out of Sokka's. He raised his hands and relayed through sign that he knew Master Piandao.

Sokka's eyes widened. "You do? Why didn't you tell me that when I mentioned learning from him?"

Zuko shrugged. He didn't have a good reason, and he certainly didn't have a reason simple enough to be conveyed with sign. He gave Sokka a chagrined look.

"Okay, well do you two get along?"

"I think so," an amused voice said. Master Piandao entered the corridor sporting a wide grin. "Prince Zuko, it is good to see you again."

Zuko almost jumped out of his skin, but he was quick to recover and respond with a bow. After he straightened, Master Piandao returned the bow. He had an amused twinkle in his eye. "From what I've heard, you've been putting the skills I taught you to good use."

Zuko blushed and averted his eyes.

Master Piandao chuckled. "There is no need to be shy. The theatre mask was an interesting addition. You must tell me about these adventures of yours."

Zuko glanced at Sokka. Sokka was smiling, like he didn't see anything mortifying about their situation. That made sense. Sokka had no reason to fear the judgement of his old Master. He had nothing to be ashamed of.

"Come now, Zuko. There's no need to be so formal. It's okay to talk to people." Master Piandao continued to grin.

Sokka's smile dulled a bit. Zuko raised his hands, and Sokka was kind enough to translate the signs. "I can't."

Master Piandao's smile slipped away, leaving behind a frown. "What do you mean?"

Sokka continued to translate as Zuko signed. Zuko looked everywhere but at Master Piandao. "I can't talk to people anymore. I can't talk at all."

Master Piandao seemed to be at a loss as to how to respond.

This is Zuko's first sword fighting lesson, change my mind!

Aka tiny "let me be good at something Azula isn't" Zuzu making his Mom proud and driving Master Piandao crazy.

I don’t think anyone has fully considered the potential of a feral zuko au.

Like, Ozai tries to kill him when he’s 10, but zuko escapes with a scar, Ozai claims he was killed by an assassin and Azula gets a redemption arc early.

Meanwhile zuko is off completely changing the corse of history by, in no particular order:

-Making Hama realize that not all fire benders are bad cause the child she just told about how she was in prison immediately his to instigate a jail break

-is emotionally adopted by hakoda along with most of the crew

-finds wan shi tong’s library

-befriends/is adopted by June the bounty hunter

-discovers a herd of flying bison

-joins a traveling acting troupe for a while cause he’s a theater nerd

-visits omashu and is forcibly befriended by bumi, who decides that zuko is now his grandson and no one can stop him

-discovers the white lotus, decides that they don’t do shit, and starts a hobby of breaking into their safe houses and wrecking them until they get off their asses and help with the war

-meets toph when some fire nation soldiers chase him to gaoling and she stops them, and her parents see her, but zuko does this little speech about how proud they must be of their daughter and how much they must trust and respect her since she’s such a powerful earth bender, and basically guilt trips them into letting toph continue to fight and practice bending

-gets a dragon tattoo 

-wanders into the swamp at some point

-drinks a bit more than he probably should, but he can hold it shockingly well

-figures out lightning bending in the middle of a thunderstorm 

-goes to ba sing se, gets arrested by the Dai li, breaks out, and starts a one man war with them, which basically is just zuko par core-ing around the city till he finds some Dai li, then rather beats the shit out of them, or just kill them. 

-He does it all with out fire bending though, just his swords. 

-After like a week the Dai li are basically gone, and the earth king finds out about the war, and makes zuko a part of the army, some fancy title and a medal or something, zuko is officially recognized as the dragon of the east, and proceeds to duck off to the North Pole to try and convince them to help in the war

-they don’t want to, but he befriends yue and they talk about politics and zuko helps her get out of the arranged marriage 

-zuko called Paku a sexist bitch and is surprised yet delighted to inform him that blood bending was invented by a woman

-invents lightning redirection

-the north joins the war thanks to yue 

-zuko meets the mechanist at the northern air temple at some point

-meets and joins the freedom fighters, makes out with jet, uses fire bending to save jets like, then jet tries to kill him

-the other kids understand that zuko is still good even though he’s a fire bender, but zuko leaves, even though every single kid adopted zuko as their older brother

-becomes known as the greatest swords man to ever live

-it’s actually true, and when piandao, who has Ali adopted zuko, hears that he is very proud and brags about it to everyone he meets

-basically zuko gets adopted by almost every adult he meets

-gets really good at cooking, hunting, reading maps, finding water, pick pocketing, stowing away on beats, sewing, and pretty much every other skill you would need to live on your own. 

-hears that Zhao has captured the avatar and casually breaks Aang out of prison

-refuses to be his firebending teacher and leaves

-stops at a village to tell them that the volcano next to them is about to explode, and he knows this cause he grew up in the fire nation which has a lot of volcanos

-they don’t believe him cause the fortune teller never said anything about it, zuko gets pissed and starts yelling at them

-this is the exact moment Aang Katara and sokka show up

-zuko thinks Aang is following him and tries to leave, but sokka recognizes him as the dragon of the east from a wanted poster

-they basically follow zuko around trying to convince him to help them, and he is this close to just beating them up when Katara mentions they are going to the northern water tribe to learn bending

-zuko agrees to go with them just so he can see Katara kick paku’s ass 

-obviously zuko and sokka get together at some point

-when the gaang finds joung joung zuko makes fun of him cause zuko was there when he broke up with piandao cause he was afraid of being found out (cause being gay was illegal) and piandao kicked his ass even though he’s a non bender

Meanwhile Azula thinks she could have prevented zukos death somehow, maybe helped him with his fire bending or hadn’t bullied him so much or something. 

Ozai kind of focused on her more and started to look down on her a lot more cause he couldn’t compare her to zuko. He put a lot more pressure on her and it drove her away from him, she started seeking his approval less and less, instead growing closer to her mom and uncle. Her mom was constantly worried she would screw up and Azula would die too, but she was Ali scared of making her think she was trying to replace zuko. But by being rather open with Azula about that it never really became an issue. 

Azula took up sword fighting and trained with piandao and she got a lot of character growth from that, cause she wasn’t naturally good at it and really had to work hard. Piandao was not someone she could bully or manipulate, so she had to struggle with earning someone’s approval. 

Piandao told her at some point that sword fighting was not something that came naturally to anyone, and you had to work hard your whole life to be really good. He also said zuko was the fastest learner and best student he had ever taught. Piandao believed that zuko could have easily surpassed piandao himself within a few years.

Azula gets to go to the war meeting that zuko got banished at in the show, she also says the plan is wrong, but in a much more eloquent way that doesn’t dishonor the fire lord but does dishonor the general. She fights an Agni Kai against the general and wins.

The plan is done anyway, (zuko finds that message and is able to warn both the earth kingdom troops and the squad of fire nation soldiers that where going to die, it starts the rumor that the dragon of the east is actually prince zuko and it spreads, some solders start to rebel against their commanders in the name of the prince) Azula finds out about it much later and raises all kinds of hell over it, calling Ozai an “honorless coward who betrays his people, unworthy of the throne” to his face in front of a bunch of people.

Azula gets banished for it, Iroh comes with her and she’s now basically zuko from the show, but tasked with finding and capturing the dragon of the east to prove her loyalty instead of the avatar. At this point she does not know that it’s zuko.

She finds zuko didn’t recognize him and fights him, but he’s better than her, and then she sees the knife that Iroh have zuko just before he “died” and puts two and two together and comes up with seven. She thinks the dragon of the east is the assassin that killed her brother.  It kind of makes sense, if the assassination was his first act of rebellion, cause a string of jail breaks followed. 

I’m not really sure where the story could go after that but there’s a lot of potential for an invasion, since zuko knows so many people. Imagine them all showing up to help and they’re all like “oh hey zuko” and the gaang turns to zuko and ask how he knows them and he’s just like “that’s my mom/dad” and it just makes them more confused.

After the war when Zuko tells everyone everything that happened when he went back to the Fire Nation, ‘Ty Lee needs help untangling her braid’ becomes everyone’s excuse for getting someone out of the room.

Katara wants to spend time with Aang but Sokka’s there? “Ty Lee needs help untangling her braid”

Sokka found a really big bug in his room and he needs Suki to get rid of it, but Aang won’t leave? “Ty Lee needs help untangling her braid”

One day Azula wants to talk to Zuko alone, but he’s with Ty Lee so Azula looks her dead in the eye and says “Ty Lee needs help untangling her braid”

Ty Lee just nods and says “sounds serious” and leaves

Some of my Atla headcanons nobody asked for part 4:

Aang names every single animal he meets. He can see an insect chilling right next to him and be like "oh, hi Bob" or something

When Zuko told the Gaang about how he got his scar they all climbed on him and forced him to be hugged for a few (tearful) hours afterwards

Suki likes to draw and when Sokka finds out about it he definitely signs them up for these artistic dates or something

Toph made her statues herself

When Sokka admitted to his family that he forgot what Kya looked like everyone was utterly shocked and told him he's almost identical to her (yes, Sokka cried after hearing that)

After the war Iroh starts calling Zuko "son" instead of "nephew"

Zuko still can't get rid of the bad and scary burden the word "father" has so he still calls Iroh "uncle" but being called son by him makes him so so happy

Iroh has a tea blend for every member of the Gaang so when they come all exited and he can't catch what they order in between their conversations (or when they come sad and can't utter a word) he knows just what tea to make

Hey, I wanna talk about a piece of fridge brilliance (pun intended) in The Boiling Rock.

Specifically, about the Coolers. And about Zuko.

The Coolers are, first and foremost, a means of firebender suppression. They are invoked as a punishment against unsanctioned firebending. They are designed, specifically, to shut down firebenders who have toed out of line. Like the metal prison in Imprisoned, like the suspended cages in The Puppet Master, these are prison facilities designed with a specific sort of bender in mind.

So then - Zuko.

Why throw Zuko in the Cooler as part of the escape plan? He should be EXACTLY the sort of person the Cooler is designed to work most devastatingly against. It would almost make more sense to try to get Sokka thrown into the cooler - he’s from the South Pole at least. Or maybe Suki, who’s not a bender at all. But they choose Zuko. And he’s successful. Subjected to the most severe form of firebender suppression in the Fire Nation’s most high-profile prison, Zuko is able to dismantle the Cooler and walk away smiling.

Why? 

I want to walk you through some facts:

In a tidbit of behind-the-scenes trivia, it was revealed that airbenders can regulate their body temperature with their breath alone. This is why Aang is so weirdly comfortable traveling around the South and North Pole (and really any climate in the series) in his normal monk garb. Everyone else changes outfits to reflect the changing climate, but not Aang, his breath has that covered.

It would be quite useful if a technique like that could be adapted to another style of bending. The same way that a waterbender’s redirection of their opponent’s energy could be adapted to the redirection of a firebender’s lightning. I bet the man who invented lightning redirection by studying waterbending would have some brilliant insight into using the breath for warmth by studying airbending.

In fact, that exact man tells Zuko “Remember your breath of fire. It could save your life out there.” back in Siege of the North. We see Zuko use his breath to warm himself that very episode, per his uncle’s instructions.

And we see Zuko use his breath of fire in one other case:

To endure the cooler.

I’m willing to bet - Breath of Fire, as a means to keep oneself warm, is not a native firebending technique. If it was, the whole concept of the Cooler would be laughable. Any prisoner would just Breath-o-Fire himself warm in there, and the prison guards would all collectively say “oh wow, the Cooler was a stupid idea, time for a new plan.”

But we know a traditional firebender would be sapped so cold in the Cooler that his firebending becomes unusable. If Zuko were relying on traditional firebending techniques, the same would happen to him. But he’s not.

Zuko’s Breath of Fire is an airbending technique. 

One that Iroh taught him. One the Fire Nation has no precedent for. One which lets Zuko ward off the freezing effects of the Cooler like it’s nothing, and allows him to dismantle it from the inside and come away smiling, unhindered, unaffected, warm to his core. 

It’s another case of Iroh’s brilliance. And I’m betting he and Zuko may be the only two firebenders in the world who could pull this off.

I read a HC that there were gaang + mai + ty lee dolls and action figures after the war. Cause they were famous, and heroes.

Now I CA t stop thinking about Mai despising doll-Mai, and Zuko absolutely loving it. Cause, you know, it’s Mai! He can’t not love mai!

HC accepted

Some of my Atla headcanons nobody asked for part 6:

Zuko adds a ton of spices to his meals, Sokka pretends he can stand it as well but we all know what his reaction to fire flakes was so it always ends the same

Aang bakes the best pies

Katara modified bloodbending so it could be used to heal instead of hurting people

Sokka was absolutely delighted when he noticed that Zuko is sarcastic as well, the rest of the Gaang in turn, were mortified

The Gaang must have had these hug competitions where the one who hugs the strongest is the winner and after finding out Zuko doesn't know what it is (I mean, he and Azula wouldn't really compete over hugging Ozai, come on) they compete on him (it's all just an excuse to hug him, really) and Zuko acts confused, but deep inside he feels nice

Toph has an unnamed job to sit on Zuko's council meetings as a Earth Kingdom's ambasador and feel who is lying to him, then after the meeting Zuko and Toph go into his office and make a list of people to fire or look out for

On Lu Ten's birthday Iroh always does the rituals like in "The Tales of Ba Sing Se" but on the anniversary of his death he can't force himself to do pretty much anything, those days Zuko never fails to come to make sure uncle eats something, drinks some tea and then he just sit with him just so his uncle knows he's there for him

Anyone who tries to tell me that Azula doesn’t end up being the shortest in her family other than Iroh is wrong.

Zuko is taller, Mai is super fucking tall already, Ty Lee gets one of those weird growth spurts at like sixteen (it happened to me I got +2 inches), and Kiyi is eventually taller than Azula too. The entire concept of her being the strongest Firebender ever while she is (conceptually) the smallest is hilarious to me.

I present to you:

Mai: “If you can’t reach it just ask. I’ll get it for you.”

Azula: “Fuck you, I don’t need your help.”

Azula: *starts climbing the library bookshelf to get to the one book she wants all the way at the top*

— — —

Zuko: “I’m taller so I go first.”

Azula: “What does that have to do with anything? No one says that! You’re supposed to say it’s because you’re older.”

Zuko: “Yeah, but I like rubbing it in that I’m better than you at something.”

Azula: “Being tall isn’t a skill.”

Zuko: “That’s what short people say.”

— — —

Kiyi: “I was going to make a joke about you being short but then I figured that would be mean.”

Azula: “You know, sometimes it’s nice to keep your thoughts to yourself.”

— — —

Azula: “Stupid fucking genetics. This is Iroh’s fault.”

Ty Lee: “Technically he had nothing to do with it.”

Azula: “Hush, I need someone to blame for my being small.”

Ty Lee: “If it makes you feel better I love that you’re small so I can give you all the forehead kisses in the world with ease.”

Azula: “That makes me feel a little bit better but just barely.”

Some of my Atla headcanons nobody asked for part 2:

Iroh's wife died while giving birth to Lu Ten

Ozai punished Zuko after he failed at firebending practice by burning his hands and forbidding him to tell anyone including Ursa and forcing him to say ut was his own fault

Ty Lee has synesthesia, hence why she sees auras (people's feelings)

Sokka despised the months of not being able to walk with a broken leg so after Katara deemed him okay, he sprinted through the palace and overwhelmed his leg which put him back in the cast

Zuko secretly loves tea but refuses to give uncle the satisfaction

After Zuko's ship blew up, his crew aboard Zhao's ship heard about it, thought Zuko died (since Iroh joined Zhao) and dealt with it surprisingly badly (he might have been a brat, but he was their brat)

Pakku and Iroh don't like each other very much and tend to fight in this very peaceful manner of offhandedly thrown comments, said with sickeningly fake smiles

Zuko calls Iroh dad once, without even noticing it and Iroh's too stunned to speak for a moment, but he doesn't want his nephew to feel awkward for pointing that out so he just carries on the conversation

The whole Gaangs sleeps in a big cuddle pile even after the war

Sometimes Toph wakes up from the nightmare of Sokka letting go of her hand and when she does, she reaches for his hand and he subconsciously squeezes it

I was just reading For Hearth and Home by Haicrecendo on a03 and I was thinking how amazing it would be for Firelord Zuko to offer a daycare within the palace so parents don’t have to worry about their young children and can pick them up after work. I just love Our Firelord.

I love this so much

Zuko likes to check in on them (re: procrastinate from paperwork) and inevitably ends up on the ground getting used as a jungle-gym

The kids aren't really young enough to remember Ozai, and the idea of a monarch is nebulous and far-off. To them, Zuko is just Some Guy in pretty robes and with a shiny headpiece, who they can easily bully into getting them more snacks and letting them go hang out in the royal gardens and see the turtle-ducks

The new staff are horrified. Everyone else just laughs and continues going about their business. Another day, another toddler drawing on their Fire Lord's face while he naps on the floor.

Concept: there's so much pushback against Zuko marrying someone from the Water Tribe (something about foreign interests idk) that he turns around and says "ok I'll find someone else"

He turns up the next day, and introduces his new suitor. "This is Wang Fire, respected veteran and citizen of the fire nation."

He produces all of the legal documents proving that Wang Fire is a citizen, and the council wants to argue that it's just Sokka in red with a beard, but they can't because whenever he shows up in blue, Zuko refers to him as "Ambassador Sokka."