Ba Sing Se's Reckoning

A place to fuel my obsession for Nickelodeon's Avatar series.

[awkwardsituationist]

chan kwok hung (in photos almost reminiscent of a norman rockwell painting) documents the life of buddhist monks in myanmar and china.

[ohmyasian]

2019. Life of Buddhist Monks. A beautiful set of photographs depicting the daily life of buddhist monks.

[yoshikis-blog]

[basingsesreckoning-blog]

random zuko moments because why not??

[insomno-deactivated20140406]

lolis and shotas makorrasamilin on your dash HAVE A GOOD 2013 EVERYONE

[insomno-deactivated20140406]

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[lazdo]

watch this sailor katara !!!!!!!

(comic by me)

[basingsesreckoning-blog]

Hee! Click for others.

[becausezutara]

Author: IFeltHope44 Genre: Romance, Plot? What plot?, Fluff Warnings: Sexual situations, nothing explicit

Lithe and agile on her feet she was, weaving through the dense forest with little difficulty. The soft ground below her caved beneath her feet, leaving smeared footprints through the trees, and low branches whipped at her arms. However, she ignored the slight sting of bark against skin as her hair blew out behind her; it felt great just to run for the hell of it, instead of running for her life, or running for someone else’s life.

Why the recommendation?

Despite the steamy title, this is actually a cute and concise one-shot. But don’t let that “despite” dash your hopes. This is great for a quick fix of adorable stomach flip-flops, and the prose doesn’t stumble over itself too much. It’s a nice pick-me-up for when you don’t have time for an epic laced with angst and UST.

[shippingfriendingmeme]

Avatar the Last Airbender, Zuko/Katara, Zutara

If you want more friends that also like this ship, like or reblog this post. Add one another.

[harlowrd]

Zutara Month Day 20: “Demons”

Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender Word Count: 200 Rating: PG

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[basingsesreckoning-blog]

This can tie-in perfectly with Dante Basco's recent Zuko soundclip.

Zutara feels :3 *whimper*

[basingsesreckoning-blog]

Title: Committed

Pairing: Zuko/Katara

Rating: M

Summary: There are some sins in life worth committing.

A/N: Originally I had found myself stuck on the Zutara Month prompt "Pride" -- I began thinking along the lines of the 7 Deadly Sins, thus this fic was born. Each installment will be based on/feature one of the 7 Deadly Sins. Rated M for sexytimez aplenty.

part two: PRIDE

"When discussions get particularly boring, I find myself staring at her, trying to catch her eye when the others aren't looking, searching for a sign that it had been her that did that thing to me that night."

[greeniebeans-deactivated2018050]

Lights by *Nymre

Oh, I love this so much.

[elenabeex-blog]

a midnight marathon: wonderland

a midnight marathon, a prompted drabble compilation warning: use of coarse language, sexual situations, and adult themes

wonderland, 1000 words total (series also located on ff.net)

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[basingsesreckoning-blog]

Title: Committed

Pairing: Zuko/Katara

Rating: M

Summary: There are some sins in life worth committing.

A/N: I found myself getting stuck on the Zutara Month (2012) prompt "Pride". I then started thinking along the lines of the 7 Deadly Sins, and this idea came to me. Each installment will be based on/feature one of the 7 Deadly Sins. There's nothing like being naughty ;)

part one: LUST

"When I decided to show Katara the Fire Lord's private office, I didn't think anything of it."

[basingsesreckoning-blog]

ATLA Fanart: The Strongest by ~ajatusvaras

[beanaroony-deactivated20140607]

Desired: Something that is strongly wished for. Sorry I’m late! I felt the need to upload something for this prompt, even though I rushed through it. No smut from me (yet), sorry!

[basingsesreckoning-blog]

Day 5: Serenade

He was no singer. His voice was raspy and hitched at some parts, but to Katara, the words fell beautifully from his mouth, to a tune that spoke of home.

***

The air was quite cold when Zuko suggested they set up camp. Katara didn’t put up much of a fight, but Zuko didn’t blame her. He knew that she must have had the fight of her life just a couple of hours ago...

As the ice daggers were lowered and the rain resumed its downpour, Katara had swiftly turned away from the lowly man who killed her mother and began walking with purpose, each step sending a splash of mud and water up and down her leg. 

Zuko scrambled to catch up with her, slipping and sliding on the soggy path. When he finally reached her, she had stopped walking, having reached the edge of a cliff. Zuko hesitated before placing a hand on her tense shoulder. 

He expected for her to shrug him off, but she did nothing. She was eerily silent, simply staring out over the deep chasm.

“Katara...” Zuko began, but it was at that moment that she wrenched out from his hand and screamed into the abyss, hot tears and cold raindrops streaming down her face.

For the umpteenth time that night, Zuko peered down at her, making sure she was covered in her sleeping bag. In sleep, her brows were furrowed and it took a surprising amount of will power for Zuko to not reach out to smooth them away-- to take away her pain.

He let out a long sigh, his breath coming out in a puff, like a lone whisper into the cool night air. Sleep evaded him. His only companion a crackling fire that he and Katara had used before turning in. He tilted his head up against Appa, reciting the constellations he had learned after years at sea, hoping the monotonous activity would lull him to sleep.

Suddenly, Katara stirred next to him, causing his voice to die in his throat. He waited, wondering if she would just roll over and go back to sleep, but soon a fretful moan fell from her lips followed by a sobbing plea.

“No... no! Mom-- please-- not my mother! Not her! Mom... please! Mommy!”

Katara’s movements became even more frenetic. Zuko could see sweat beading at her forehead and two tears leaked out from beneath her closed lids.

“DON'T KILL HER!” Katara yelled. She shot up to a sitting position, eyes suddenly wide and breaths coming out in deep pants.

“Katara, are you-- are you alright?” Zuko asked, leaning close to her. He felt torn and lost. 

Still breathing shallowly, Katara stared into the fire. The reflection of the flames danced in her eyes as Katara kept staring, almost as if nothing else around her existed. She hugged her knees close. Zuko slumped uselessly against the slumbering bison.

“Should I have killed him?” Katara whispered.

Zuko sat up next to her, leaning in close, thinking he had misheard.

“He killed my mother,” Katara said more firmly. She turned her head, her eyes fixed upon his. “I should have killed him.”

In that moment, Zuko felt the momentary fear he had experienced earlier when he saw Katara bloodbend the man on the ship, or when he had seen just how much power she had over her element in front of Yon Rha. The shadows from the fire quivered dangerously in her eyes, a blue so sharp it could cut ice. She looked at him for affirmation-- to tell her that yes, she should have killed that man.

Zuko swallowed before speaking. “No,” he said slowly, his voice barely more than a whisper. “You did the right thing.” His words surprised him more than they did her. He swallowed again. “Your-- your mother would be proud of you, Katara.”

Katara inhaled then. Her eyes softened as they peered at him, examined him, searched him. Finally...

“Th-thank you, Zuko,” she said, laying a hand atop his.

He smiled, causing a tiny one to light up Katara’s face, which significantly warmed Zuko up against the chill in the air. The two lapsed into a comfortable silence, drawing warmth  from each other. Under the night sky, Zuko couldn’t remember feeling so at peace than at this very moment. Closing his eyes, he began humming a soft tune, not realizing that he was doing it.

“What is that?”

Zuko’s eyes flew open. “Hmm?”

“That tune... what you were humming just now.”

“Oh.” Zuko felt the tips of ears turn red. “It was-- my mom used to sing it me...”

“It’s nice,” Katara said. “I like it. It’s... soothing.” She leaned her head on his shoulder. Zuko forgot how to breathe.

“Are there words?” she asked, a small yawn escaping her mouth.

Zuko closed his eyes again, thinking hard, thinking back to a time where his mother was still around, when he felt safe and happy. In the back of his mind, he couldn't ignore how the feeling of Katara’s head on his shoulder was deeply comforting.

“The moon is bright, the wind is quiet,

The tree leaves hang over the window,

My little one, close your eyes

Sleep, dreaming sweet dreams.”

He was no singer. His voice was raspy and hitched at some parts, but to Katara, the words fell beautifully from his mouth, a tune that spoke of home. Katara’s eyes were closed as she huddled closer. “I like it,” she said again, her voice already drifting. Zuko carefully laid his head atop hers.

“I like it, too,” he whispered.

A/N: The words to Zuko's song comes from a traditional Chinese lullaby known as the "Northeastern Cradle Song". The tune really is quite nice.

Thank you, once again, for the honourable mention for the prompt "Change"! Just-- thanks for reading! Zutara Month is incredible and I'm so glad to be taking part in it!

[basingsesreckoning-blog]

Day 4: Change

Toph had a very useful gift.

Ever since Zuko joined their group, his pulse was probably the one she could pick up on the most. He was nervous being with them-- he was always precariously balancing between wanting them to trust him and actually believing that they did. For the first couple of days, she listened intently to the telltale rhythm of his heart to make sure he wasn’t lying.

It’s been a couple of weeks now though.

A more regular cadence had developed and soon everyone was normal, hearts beating steadily, just a soft drumming in the background.

Until his heart started going completely bonkers. 

It happened whenever Katara entered a room.

Toph could tell it was her. Katara had a way of walking, taking steady and measured steps like the push and pull of her element.

In hindsight, some would probably say that the change between Zuko and Katara had been subtle.

However, Toph knew better. 

This was something she had picked up on immediately and probably way before anyone else would give it the time of day.

Zuko’s heart went insane. Literally insane. Sometimes she counted the beats before it would surely come bursting out of his chest. Sometimes she waited to hear the heralding thud of his body hitting the ground due to cardiac arrest. Truth be told, his heart’s erratic pounding whenever Katara was near often made things more difficult for Toph-- once, she stubbed her toe on a rock because of it.

She. Stubbed. Her. Toe.

She never stubs her toe.

He had to pay for that one, yet the poor guy didn’t know why he was on the receiving end of her (moreso than usual) emotional and physical mockery.

Thump. Thump. Thump. Thumpthumpthumpthumpthumpthumpthump.

“Shut up shut up shut up SHUT UP!”

“...um, Toph, are you alright?”

“I can’t take it anymore! You two are driving me crazy!” With a cry of frustration, Toph bolted out of the room, leaving a highly confused Katara and a red-faced Zuko in her wake.

***

A/N: Thanks so much for the honourable mention for yesterday's prompt "Potential"! I was super happy and excited! I hope you enjoyed today's as well! Don't you love Zutara Month?! =)

[basingsesreckoning-blog]

Day 3: Potential

Azula only wanted what was best for Zuko.

It wasn’t her fault that she outshone him in firebending at such a young age. She was only doing what Father told her to do. Honestly, Zuko would have done the same if he had possessed as much potential as she had.

She didn’t like it when Zuko performed poorly at firebending practice. 

It made Father drill her that much harder.

In turn, she pushed him to do better.

He misinterpreted it as gloating.

Brothers.

She asked Mother about it one day-- why Zuko was such a sorry excuse for a bender.

Mother hadn’t liked that.

Mother said that Zuko worked very hard, but things got so tiresome when one works as hard as Zuko does. Maybe he needed more motivation to do well at his bending. 

Maybe Azula, his sister, could help with that.

“What, no lightning today?!”

She only wanted what was best for him. She only wanted him to do well. Mother would have wanted it so.

Azula fell into stance, the blood rushing loudly in her ears.

Zuko had potential. He just needed motivation.

“Lightning?! I’ll show you lightning!!”

Stretching out her arms, her eyes sliced viciously to the side, a crackle of blue sprouting from her fingertips.