Working On (yet Another) ATLA Wip In Which During The Invasion Azula Helps Zuko Escape And Goes With

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

zuko and azula wearing matching outfits >>>>>>

what is Herdbalist Zuko's hair like?

YES. Finally, someone asking the IMPORTANT questions!

“Well I would have brought my comb. But you kidnapped me.”

“You are just not gonna let that go, are you,” Sokka said.

“Sokka,” Katara said. “Aang did pull him into the saddle. While he was saying ‘no.’ And then we didn’t ever bring him back.”

“Because there is an evil fire-shooty admiral guy after us! ‘Us’ including him! Which I am still waiting on an explanation for, but I will at least accept a ‘thank you Team Avatar for saving me!’ ”

“Well,” Spirit said.

“Do not–”

“I would have brought my gratitude–”

“–finish that.”

“But you kidnapped me.”

He didn’t even say it accusingly. He said it while scratching the sweet spot at the base of a lemur’s tail, smiling with airy indifference, as Katara sat behind him combing out the bison-flight tangles from his ridiculously luxuriant waves of hair.

“Did you leave your dignity behind, too?” Sokka accused. “What kind of man has hair down to his butt–”

“Longer than that,” Katara reports, running her comb through just a section of that hair because they would probably both have to be standing for her to get a full swipe in.

“–and lets another man’s little sister play hair stylist? Do you not know the danger of surrendering hair control to a little sister?”

“I can think of worse things a little sister could do.” Their demure firebender kidnappee continued to smile. Sokka would have really appreciated if he’d been a surly firebending prisoner instead.

“I’m going to give you hair loops,” Katara said. “Beads or no beads?”

“No beads!” Sokka snapped.

“Just do the opposite of whatever your brother says.”

“Beads!”

“I’m so glad you agree,” his little sister said, sickly-sweet, her smile matching the firebender’s smirk.

It was stupid how good his hair looked when Katara was done. All… loopy, and beady. And every day on the flight north it got more and more complicated because there wasn’t much to do on the back of a bison, until there were tiny braidy loops and swirls intertwining everywhere and a loopy-beady high bun, and still so much hair left to cascade down his back, and it didn’t even get sufficiently ruined when the Northern waterbenders attacked even though Sokka’s hair looked like a hare-possum had died in it.

And one of their warriors offered the guy a hand down from Appa when they got to the city. What was with that?

“She’s pretty,” said warrior sighed, as all that hair went swishing after Aang and Katara.

Sokka squawked.

“Sorry,” the guy said. “Your sister?”

Additional squawking ensued.

i think we as a society need to talk about this more

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.

For a prompt could u do one where zuko finds some of his old crew at the boiling rock and they escape with everyone. I've never seen this done before and I thought of it like last night but I think it could be fun

The coolers aren't so bad. 

One day in the coolers is enough to crack most of the firebending inmates in Boiling Rock, but most of them haven't been to both Poles. Jee and his crew have a lot of experience in swimming in the polar seas — both of them, and for weeks in the North Pole, with nothing but half-remembered lessons on the Breath of Fire from General Iroh to keep them alive. The cooler is nothing compared to that. He's dry here, for one, and it's not truly isolation if he can still hear Teruko mouthing off at the guards in the cooler right next to his.

“I can take you back to your cell if you’ve learned your lesson,” a guard jeers at the prisoner in the cell on the other side. 

The voice that answers is a punch to Jee’s gut. “I have — completely,” Prince Zuko says, sounding sullen and angry and alive, definitely alive.  

Teuko suddenly shuts up; that's confirmation enough for Jee.

The brat had managed to survive Zhao's fucking pirates. The wave of relief that hits Jee is short-lived; the prince might be alive, but he's in the cooler next to Jee's. The Fire Nation's prince, thrown into his own country's most secure prison, and locked into the worst torture chamber ever conceived of for firebenders like them. 

They need to get that boy out of here. Jee has to round up the old crew tomorrow; figure out where the brat's regular cell is, make an escape plan —

But first, he needs to survive the night in the cooler. Jee takes a deep, fortifying breath, and settles down to wait. 

This flashback in ATLA, Azulon becoming enraged with Ozai for disrespecting Iroh and the recently deceased Lu Ten, is usually interpreted as Azulon then ordering Ozai to kill Zuko. I disagree with this for two reasons. 1: We don’t actually hear Azulon say that, it’s only referred to by Azula (who was around seven or eight at the time and might have misunderstood what she heard) and by Ozai, years later, when he is taunting Zuko on the Day of Black Sun. Neither Azula nor Ozai are reliable narrators. 2: Azulon is, at the time of this flashback, the ruler of the Fire Nation who has just lost one of his only two grandsons and heirs. What kind of monarch loses one heir and then turns around and demands the death of another, especially when losing Zuko would hardly bother Ozai? My interpretation of this situation is Azulon ordered Ozai to give Zuko into Iroh’s care, replacing Lu Ten as Iroh’s heir, neatly removing any argument Ozai had about Iroh’s line having ended. Ozai of course would never accept this. He either lied to Ursa, claiming Azulon wished Zuko dead, or outright told his wife he’d kill Zuko before seeing him get ahead of him in the line of succession, thus manipulating Ursa to help him assassinate Azulon. I think this theory makes far more logical sense than ‘Azulon ordered the murder of his nine-year-old grandson’.

Au where the Gaang were looking for a firebending teacher, just found Zuko on the side of the road and picked him up by the scruff of his neck and was like "you". No one figures out he's the Prince of the Fire Nation until Sozins Comet.

Aang comes back, having defeated firelord Ozai, and then finds out that his wet rat of a firebending teacher is actually royalty and is being crowned Firelord tomorrow. He is so confused.

Eda: Listen, kid…

Luz: Oh, you can call me Luz

Eda: I’d rather not. If I named you I’d get attached.

Deep deep deeeeeeep down, buried under layers of "DONE" and existential crisis, I'm sure our lieutenant cares about the teen toddler. I mean tyrant. I mean---

[ID: digital sketch of zuko and jee form avatar the last Airbender. jee is lying on his bed, frowning up at a small child version of zuko that sits on his chest and holds a wet sock in jee's face.End ID.]

I know it's not… something anyone of us expected…

but I want you two anons to know that you set in my head, thoughts and ideas in motion, and now Zuko's a bit too big sock is wet and lt. jee has to fix it because uncle is sleeping!

and… jee never expected to have kids… but here we are…

sorry jee… (at least you have the bunk bed with the porthole!)