waiting patiently for a new golden era of jazz. when will i finally get to walk into the club in a pair of dancing shoes and be spun around to the tune of a sexy as fuck saxophone solo
PROPER PROMO POST OTW IN THE MORNING BUT FOR NOW BEFORE I SLEEP IM HERE TO LET U GUYS KNOW THAT MY DAY TWO KATAANGLED KATAANG WEEK FIC IS HOT OFF THE PRESS AND UP ON a03!!! AND A WHOLE 7K WORDS!! :D
guys it is going to be like two days late atp because i last minute got indescisive and started some heavy editing, but my fic for kataang week day two (the protectiveness prompt) is a rapunzel tangled AU where katara= rapunzel and aang= flynn rider and i am so beyond excited to share it with you lovely ppl!!!
Jack was somewhat preoccupied with glaring daggers at Elsie Hannaway, who he had barely been able to look away from since the moment she had walked in on those teetering tall heels, strung between the arms of Olive and another girl Jack didn’t recognize. He had been in the middle of a conversation when the three had walked in, and Jack had immediately gone to tease Adam upon seeing that he had accidentally matched costumes with Olive, only for the words to die on his tongue the moment that his gaze drifted to the girl on her right.
Elsie. With tall heels, and long legs, and a tiny little short black shift dress, and cat ears. Elsie. With drawn-on sleek, feline features on one side and drawn-on neon bubbles on the other. Elsie. With a softly blooming smile on her face that died and withered and darkened as her gaze passed over him.
Dressed as Schrödinger's Cat, famously both dead and alive, all at once.. How fitting. She was, after all, simultaneously the most agreeable girl in the entire Physics department and the bane of Jack’s entire existence.
This party was meant to be an escape, a refuge from Elsie, and yet, she found him even here. Jack took another long sip of ice water, eying the shot Adam held in his hand and wishing desperately that his own drink was made of pure vodka.
“Yes?” Adam asked distractedly, and only then did Jack recall that he had just addressed him moments before. The taller man lifted a bulky black glove to his Kylo mask, adjusting it as if his matching Rey across the room could see right through him.
“ Talk to her.” His words were blunt, but Jack’s tone was nothing but sympathetic. He owed at least that much to Adam, considering that Holden Rodrigez, the one who would usually talk some sense into the two of them, was off in a corner making out with who knows who. “Even if she doesn’t remember you.”
“And if she doesn’t?” Adam’s tone was nervous, uncharacteristically unsure for the man who had one of the most formidable academic records in the school’s recent history.
“Then you start fresh.” Jack’s gaze drifted over Elsie, yet again , against his own free will. “Trust me, history is a hell of a lot harder to deal with than the lack of one.”
Across the room, as if she’d heard him, Elsie leaned over to the friend Jack didn’t know, whispering something before stalking across the room, straight for him. And yes, Jack meant stalking . Something about the way her strappy heels cut through the crowd made him feel the heat of her focus more than he ever had. Beside him, Jack was vaguely aware of Adam throwing back a shot and clapping him on the back in an uncharacteristically frat-boy-ish manner as he strode past him, his own path mirroring that of Elsie’s.
Jack stayed rooted in place. He wasn’t sure he could have moved even if he wanted to. Elsie’s gaze had him pinned. Still, her gait seemed increasingly off as she got closer and closer. Her last few steps seemed to jumble together, and all at once, she was in his arms. Warm, and real. A bit too drunk, the scent of sickly sugary fruity cocktails mixed with the sweet honey and old-paper scent that had haunted him over the last handful of months.
Jack wrinkled his nose at the syrupy scent as it assaulted his senses.
“Were the cocktails good enough to justify the hyperglycemia, at least?” He watched as Elsie’s glare only grew at his casual mention of her diabetes. It had been her best kept secret up until she had passed out late at night a handful of weeks before in the library. Jack had only found her in time because she’d intentionally taken his typical study spot just to get under his skin, a particularly evil habit of hers that he was suddenly grateful for as he helped her adjust her insulin levels until she had recovered enough to hate him for it.
“For your information, as an adult, and a very capable scientist, I am more than capable of adjusting my insulin accordingly.” She turned up her whisker-painted nose haughtily.
“But not capable or adult enough to keep your friends informed on your health?” From the way Elsie flushed red in irritation, Jack knew that his barb had hit the mark- he clearly remained the only person within the radius of their university who was aware of her diagnosis. Her lips parted, itching to retort, but he only raised a finger, tired of fighting her after years of doing nothing but bickering. “Please, Elsie. You’re drunk, and I’m well aware that you hate me. You don’t need to remind me.” His gaze fixed on a point behind her, and Elsie turned to watch alongside him as Adam and Olive danced, the latter looking up with a smile on her face that lit up the entire room.
Jack could only assume that underneath his mask, Adam wore a corresponding tiny half-grin.
“You’re the one who made it my mission to dislike you,” Elsie huffed, bringing his attention right back to her, “seeing as you hate what I hold dearest in this entire world.”
Jack couldn’t bite back his tongue quickly enough to soften his rebuttal. “What, hiding your feelings from everyone around them and subjecting me to every last one?”
Elsie refused to dignify his words with a direct response. “Besides, you’re as drunk as everyone else here. You must be, considering that you usually never bother saying more than one or two words to me at once.”
“Hate to burst your bubble, but I’m just as sober as I am every day in the classroom.” He tipped his class of water against her long-stemmed glass, grinning widely at the chance to be right. “So no, I’m not drunk.”
“Are too,” Elsie scowled.
“Now who’s the adult?” Jack crowed, throwing back another sip of water before lightly easing Elsie’s sugar-rimmed margarita out of her hands and setting it on the table behind them. He expected her to fight back, to snatch at the table and run back to her friends so that she could spend the rest of the night cursing his name, but she did none of that.
Instead, Elsie tipped back her head and laughed, the sound like the clinking glass of beakers settling into a wooden storage frame, and Jack was hit by the thought that perhaps she was slightly more drunk than he had accounted for.
⊹ ࣪ ⚛︎ ˖ ⌬ ⋆ ༘ ⚛︎ ⊹ ࣪ ⚛︎ ˖
-quantum entanglement, quillthrills on ao3
⊹ ࣪ ⚛︎ ˖ ⌬ ⋆ ༘ ⚛︎ ⊹ ࣪ ⚛︎ ˖ ᴊᴀɴᴜᴀʀʏ, ᴏɴ ᴀ ᴘᴀʀᴛɪᴄᴜʟᴀʀʟʏ ᴄʀɪꜱᴘ ᴇᴀʀʟʏ ᴍᴏʀɴɪɴɢ ᴀᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍɪᴛ ᴄᴀᴍᴘᴜꜱ ⊹ ࣪ ⚛︎ ˖ ⌬ ⋆ ༘ ⚛︎ ⊹ ࣪ ⚛︎ ˖
Elsie knew in her logical, university-level scientist brain that her friends had just roped her into calling a truce with Jack a mere month ago, and yet, as she sat across from him so early in the morning that the sun had not yet begun to shine, she found herself seriously debating the merits of using the collar of his ridiculously ornate Christmas sweater to throw him across the room. He hadn’t done anything particularly that insufferable since they’d begun their meeting a mere half-hour before, and it only served to stoke the flames of her fury, like an already-blazing fire provided with an abundance of carbon-based accelerant. It would make her life significantly easier if he would just say something patronizing, or even just mildly cold, given her some sort of ammunition to rush back to her friends with so that she could continue to justify their little version of the Cold War, but she should’ve known that Jack would never be so kind as to just hate her properly.
Instead, he had been cordial and polite in his stupid Christmas sweater. Worse still, he’d been downright gentlemanly, going so far as to offer to pay for her tea and pulling out her chair. His stupid curls were winding around the arms of his glasses and his collared shirt just barely poked out from that soft blue neckline and she could swear that the snowman on that offensively cheery off-season sweater was smirking at her.
“Elsie?” Those different- colored eyes were peering at her strangely through those horn-rimmed glasses, speckled with brown and black in a dappled tortoiseshell pattern. His blond hair shifted slightly, and Elsie was briefly reminded of an Australian Shepherd. “Elsie?”
She wondered briefly whether it was anti-animal of her to so intensely loathe a man who so closely resembled a breed of puppy. Malcom would certainly think so- while his area of interest was centred in cellular biology, he spent practically all of his free time volunteering at animal shelters to make up for the anti-pet policy that was firmly in place in the apartment he shared with Olive and Ahn. She imagined the furious back and forth she and him would have had were she to bring the topic directly to Malcolm, but the laugh that materialized at the thought was quickly stamped out by the jolt of shock that ran through her system when she registered that Jack was attempting to directly address her.
⊹ ࣪ ⚛︎ ˖ ⌬ ⋆ ༘ ⚛︎ ⊹ ࣪ ⚛︎
- preview of ch6, quantum entanglement, by quillthrills on ao3
the template i used to make this is linked here 🤍 enjoy!!!
Would love to see your take on kataang in their late teens or early twenties just being adorable!
Here's a speedy doodle of them all a little older with some mild kataang, if that suits you, anon c:
The gaang is teaching Zuko how to have friends!!!
NO WAYYY YOU DID IT HOLY COW!!!!! THIS IS EXACTLY HOW I IMAGINED THEM WHEN WRITING MY FIC AND STOPPP THE WAY THEIR OUTFITS ARE A PERFECT MIX OF THEIR SHOW SELVES AND THE FITS FROM TANGLED IS INCREDIBLE!!!
and i love love LOVE the little details!! the flowers in her hair, the way aang is holding her necklace, the way she still looks skeptical of him in the first panel and he just has his knowing grin???? ugh i love them and i love this it is so so perfect<3
so so happy to have inspired such a talented artist to make such beautiful art!!
Day 8: free day! 🎏 kataang tangled AU (kataangled) I was inspired from the amazing ka tangled au fic by @quillthrillswriting drawing this <3 come read it here
︵‿︵︵‿︵︵day two: protectiveness/ bodyguard︵‿︵︵‿︵︵
︵‿︵︵︵‿︵︵‿‿hosted by @kataang-week︵‿︵︵︵‿︵︵‿‿
summary:
stuck in her tower for all eighteen years of her life, katara had come to peace with her own lonely, repetitive existence, her only company being her mother, hama. at least, she *was* at peace, until a certain airbending thief happened along her tower, caught her eye, and forever shifted the path of her destiny. OR: kataangled. and yes, i came up with that brilliant wordplay all on my own.
In all of her eighteen years of gazing out into the same meadow, the same night sky, Katara had never quite managed to piece together why every year, on her birthday, the night sky came alight with glowing lanterns in hues of soft silver and blue. As much as it tugged at her, she didn’t mind the element of mystery too much. After all, a girl who grows up never leaving the confines of her tower is a girl used to looking out into a world of mysteries. Katang spent her days pouring over old scrolls, gleaning bits and pieces about the world from what she could see through her window.
To be entirely honest, it wasn’t all that much. A modest meadow, a bubbling brook, the occasional frog-squirrel or cat deer. Still, it was more than enough for her to feel utterly enchanted by. Each and every time that an animal walked by, Katara would imagine how it would feel to be one of those wild things, chained to nothing, bound by your own will.
Katara certainly wasn’t.
Aang made quick work of the tower walls, the uneven brick providing natural foot and handholds as he scaled the rough, mossy stone. When he finally reached the summit of the spire, he heaved himself over, his breath rough as he dusted off his palms. He tugged off his thin overshift, revealing his one-shouldered monk’s robes as he did. Aang scratched his neck absentmindedly as he took in his surroundings. He was surprised to see that the tower was furnished, lived-in, even. He recognized waterbending forms painted on most of the walls. There were even lit candles softly flickering away in various nooks and crannies, casting warm light over the room.
Wait. Alarm bells rang in Aang’s mind, urging him to further examine the situation he had found himself in.
If the tower is abandoned, then who lit the-
The next sound he heard was a deafening thunk as a thin sword buried itself in the wall next to his head, leaving a deep cut along the shell of his ear.
She wanted a reason to snap back, to make some snide comment, but Aang’s eyes were so open, his expression so… trustable that she simply couldn’t stomach it.
Katara knew that should’ve been telling him to leave. She should’ve asked him to apologise, to be on his way. In all her years of solitude, she’d never dreaded being alone, but something about Aang leaving and her never being able to see him again sent a pang of something like homesickness straight through her.
“I see that you need time to process all of this.” Aang stood, his eyes shining with sympathy that only made Katara feel more guilty over how heartbroken Mother Hama would be were she to find out about her new doubts. “I’m happy to give that to you.” She trailed like a ghost behind him as he strode to the window, tugging a wooden glider from his back before standing atop the edge of the terrace, grinning at her softly as she clung shyly to the carvings of the doorway. “And I understand that you don’t know me, that you have no real reason to believe me.”
He turned to the side, saluting her teasingly. “So I’ll be back, same time tomorrow, so that we can get to know one another a bit better.”
“Aang!” She shouted, rushing to the edge of the terrace as he snapped open his glider, plunging downwards. “No, you will not .”
“I can’t hear you! But I totally agree! I’m looking forward to it as well!” His whoops echoed through the field as he did a couple loop-de-loops.
Aang stepped through her window, right on schedule, with an injury he claimed he had gotten while sparring, Katara’s only response was the word “Again?”
“Hey, If being injured is what it takes for you to let me stay even a few minutes longer, I’ll take it.” Aang grinned, shrugging as he tugged up the end of his top to reveal the bruises patterning his ribs. Katara did her best to focus on the injury itself, and not the muscle rippling over Aang’s side, as she settled into the stool next to him, leaning over to run her hands over the purple-and-blue skin. “I like your company.”
I like you. The response materialised in Katara’s mind before she could suppress it, and the longer it sat there, the more right it felt. I like you.
“So, what else does a thief carry with him in his bag?” Katara had been strangely curious about what Aang considered precious enough to carry around with him in his satchel, but after fishing through playing cards and a set of spinning marbles he’d been very proud of, her interest was considerably less piqued.
“Oh, I don’t think I ever got a chance to explain what I took to end up in your tower.” Aang fished around until he tugged out a velvet box, passing it over to her with both hands. He continued on, talking about the castle security and his plans to pawn the necklace to feed and house children displaced by the ongoing conflict with the Fire Nation, but his words faded away as Katara opened the box.
I know you.
There, nestled in silk, was a pale blue pendant on a deep blue velvet ribbon. Just looking at it for a moment was enough for her to feel entirely off balance. Vague memories hit her, one after the other, of looking up at a ceiling of moon symbols carved in diamond, a hanging mobile of seals and icebergs. The ornate arches of a castle, the corridors and gardens of a grand estate.
I know you.
The world tilted, and suddenly, neither Katara’s will, nor her body, were her own.
to see the rest of the kataang week submissions from the other extremely talented and lovely members of this community, head over to @kataang-week :)<3 thank u so much to the wonderful mods for making all of this possible!
i love writing sokka, so i've thrown some of my favourite lines of his from my fanfic "the teenager in the iceberg" together, so that they can be properly appreciated <3 >:)
---
Sokka continued, his voice both indignant and commanding.“We don’t even know your name, Mr. Walking Ice Cube! What were you doing in there? Were you trying to mimic a snow-man and you got too carried away?”
---
“So, you’ve brought a monster to invade the village, then? You’re some incognito Fire Nation soldier sent in as an undercover scout? Well, I’ll have you know that I’m the village’s strongest warrior, a-”
“The only warrior,” Katara chimed in, lightly elbowing Sokka’s side, earning herself a responding glare.
“The strongest warrior.” Sokka reiterated. “And I don’t much like firebenders.” He added the words pointedly.
“Ah.” Aang titled his head. “That’s a shame. Some of my closest friends are Fire Nation.”
“Of course they are,” Sokka glared, hunching over into a defensive position and adjusting his fishing spear until it pointed directly at Aang.
---
“Appa can give us a lift?” Sokka said incredulously. He gestured at the sky bison, sprawled across the ice and looking as though he could sleep for weeks longer. “If anything, he looks like he needs us to lift him up off the ground.”
---
Naturally, Sokka was still a skeptic. “A pulley system! Hot air from a hidden firebender! Secret underwater sea-vents! Or maybe we all ate something funny and all of this is all in our heads… ” He finished off his sentence by wiggling his fingers as if he was ready to cast a spell.
---
Sokka nodded sharply. “He’s our responsibility, no matter how much I berated him when we met earlier. We need to find that sky monster of his, it’s the only way we’ll be able to catch up with the ship.”
“Aang called it a sky bison.”
“He also didn’t tell us that he was the Avatar, so I’m not sure if we can take everything he says at face value,” Sokka pointed out as Katara rolled her eyes. He cocked a grin. “C’mon, let's go get the little guy.”
“Aang’s taller than you!” Katara called after him, rushing to keep up with Sokka’s longer strides.
“Sure, in his dreams !” The decidedly-shorter-than-Aang boy called back.
---
“Here’s the deal, bucko.” Sokka said matter of factly, accompanying his words with sharp gestures and exaggerated syllables, as if Appa was deaf. “Your friend needs your help, and WE need YOUR help to get to him. You get the picture?” Without waiting for any kind of affirmation, Sokka nodded briskly then scrambled up to Appa’s back, settling into what appeared to be the driver's seat.
Appa did not move, didn’t even blink.
Sokka blinked, utterly bewildered. “How do we get him to, y’know, go ?”
---
“He’s not gonna-” Sokka started, but as Katara slid onto Appa’s back, they felt him begin to levitate. Sokka huffed, crossing his arms dramatically. “Spirits, I hate when you’re right and I’m wrong.” Too concerned to snap a retort back at Sokka, Katara just settled down into her seat, anxiously picking at the leather of her coat.
---
Katara awoke to the loud shout of her brother.
“Wakey wakey, lovebirds!” he yelped, chucking a rock-hard stick of seal jerky at both of them.
“Ouch, Sokka!” Katara snapped at him, rubbing her head at the spot where she had been hit, before realising that she was leaning against Aang and immediately jumping away, blushing furiously.
---
he's so sassy and funny i love sokka so much
BTW i see these posts all the time like "ohhh i dont know what to comment on fics.." and every response is "keysmashes! or hearts!! anything works :3" and thats GREAT!! thats helpful!!
but: consider. if u genuinely like analyzing writing.. do u know ur just allowed to go through and quote your favorite parts and ramble abt what they mean to u and the author will LOSE IT WITH HYPE?
genuinely. i felt SO WEIRD the first time i did it.. but like. holy shit authors love it. its crack for authors. the first time i did it, it was on a fic that hadnt updated in half a year, give or take, and the author made 3 updates that month BECAUSE OF MY COMMENT.
LIKE. as an author every comment is INCREDIBLE!!! but also, dont feel like your comment has to be short or otherwise ur invasive or smth!! authors ADORE long comments more than ANYTHING.
hi!!! i'm quill 🕯an a03 writer trying to figure out an entirely new platform!!she/her
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