#implied zutara

[bblackthing]

I wanted to try to animate some emotions, so here's blushing Katara.

I saw a gif of Katara pulling her hair behind an ear and decided to also add her blushing)

Shockingly this animation only took me 3 weeks

Also please don't thing too much about hand, I know its incorrect... and Aang😅

[kayray-art]

tyzula x mazeve wedding

[firelords-and-waterbenders]

Azula Week D2 - Protective

Azula and Kya stood on the palace steps to see off the Phoenix King’s air ship. A cool breeze caused a shiver to run up the Fire Lord’s spine. Both royals bent into a formal bow as Ozai boarded, only rising once he had disappeared into the belly of the ship.

“Bye, Grandpa!” Kya called while enthusiastically waving. “What a dick,” she murmured so only Azula could hear.

Azula’s jaw clenched as she leveled a glare at her niece. “My office, now!” she commanded before turning on her heel and retreating into the palace.

Kya was almost jogging trying to keep pace with the Fire Lord, but Azula didn’t care. She dismissed the guards stationed outside her office and ushered the princess inside. Kya looked on in curiosity as the older woman locked the doors, latched the shutters on the window, and checked the ventilation grates in the wall. Once satisfied they were secure, Azula rounded on her.

“What were you thinking?” she exclaimed. “You must be incredibly lucky to have disrespected your Phoenix King and your Fire Lord and come out the other side without being challenged to an Agni Kai!”

Kya crossed her arms over her chest. Her brows furrowed and her jaw clenched. “What do you mean disrespected you?” she bit out. Her voice raising with each word. “I was trying to make him see that your policy ideas, our policy ideas, are valid and thought out and necessary! It’s not my fault he doesn’t give a shit about…”

Azula smacked her across the face. Kya’s face snapped to the side of the room. She bit her lip as her nostrils flared and drops of blood welled up along the scratches on her cheek left by Azula’s perfect manicure.

“Watch your mouth,” she warned, her voice a low and dangerous hiss. “Father has spies all throughout my court. Do you know how much he despises your father? Do you know how hard I had to work to convince him to keep you alive and admit the embarrassment of having a half-breed granddaughter? The only thing stopping him from killing you is the fact that I need an heir of royal blood and can’t produce one myself.” Her eyes burned with tears as she admitted that out loud.

Kya’s face softened as she faced the Fire Lord. “I’m sorry, Aunt Azula,” she murmured. Azula turned to face the closed window, blinking back the tears threatening to escape.

“Did you ever wonder how your father got his scar?” she asked, calmer. Kya nodded. “When we were younger, Zuko spoke out against a general’s plan in a war meeting and was challenged to an Agni Kai. In the arena, he found out he would be facing our father, not the general he spoke out against. He refused to fight, and Father burned him for his cowardice.”

She took a steadying breath. She always tried to keep it at the back of her mind. To never speak it aloud. “You can’t treat me like this! You can’t treat me like Zuko!” Her words from so long ago filled her mind. The panic she had felt back then gripped her chest once more. She lifted her chin and turned back to Kya, shoving all that back to the deepest recesses of her brain.

“If you question his decisions like you did last night again, if he finds out about any ill things you have said about him, he will not hesitate to do the same to you or to me. Do you understand?”

A look of horror stamped across Kya’s face. That expression pulled at something in Azula’s chest. She needed this girl to understand the seriousness of the situation. If she didn’t, she would get herself killed. It slowly dawned on her that she could not let that happen. It wasn’t even just because she needed an heir. This was the first time in a long time she felt a real bond with someone, one of the few times in her life she felt like she genuinely cared about someone. She didn’t know what she would do if something happened to this girl, and it scared her.

“Kya, I need to know that you understand me,” she repeated.

“Yes, Aunt Azula,” she replied with a nod. Azula nodded back. Her mind whirred as she thought of ways to further protect her. Her eyes widened for a split second as the idea hit her. A smirk curled the corner of her lip.

“Kya?”

“Yeah?”

“Would you like to learn how to bend lightning?”

[twinkle-toph]

fic request:: stepfather!Sokka and Lin just having a heartfelt talk or just them spending time together.

Hi Anon! I'm sorry this took me so so long. I've just been in such a horrible block lately. But I luckily went on a walk in the snow yesterday and got an idea that wouldn't stop nagging at me! I hope you like it :)

And a lil note: Let’s call this an AU where Toph has Lin two years earlier than in canon (bc what is canon anyway) and Suyin isn’t even a thought until a bit later on. Lin's also older than 6 or 7 here hehe :D

Also available on AO3!

--

Sokka watched her as the snowflakes fell upon her eyelids and how she frustratedly blinked them away. He had to bite his cheeks to keep from laughing at her expression and irritation at the climactic event that she was only now experiencing for the first time in her life. She was just like her mother in every sense of the word – even in the way she disliked the cold.

It was certainly a sight.

He and Lin barely spent any time together in the City, so when she insisted that she join him on his quick trip to the South Pole to check in on his father for this same reason, he couldn’t say no. He’d questioned Toph about the sudden request from the young earthbender and she just shrugged, saying: “you haven’t been around much; she misses you.”

That much was true, unfortunately. With his work as councilman and his recent promotion to chair, he hadn’t been able to hang around as much as he used to. It was lucky if he was ever able to leave city hall early enough to catch Toph awake, let alone Lin. But he was able to take a minute to finally put his vacation and sick days – happy to realize that he had over two months wracked up – to use at Katara’s request, and was able to plan a trip to the South.

It had surprised Sokka when Lin asked him if she could come along because she never really expressed interest in ever wanting to leave the warmth of Republic City during the summer months for the bone-chilling frigidness of the Southern Water Tribe. But he was happy to have her join as long as Toph approved, which she obviously had. And as much as he would have liked for Toph to join in on the trip just for the sake of them spending a bit more time together, the idea of him being able to share his culture with Lin made him excited.

“Ow!” Lin yelped, breaking Sokka out of his daze. “Sokka, a snowflake just- it stabbed me in the eye!”

Sokka huffed out a laugh after he realized that nothing bad had happened to her and walked up to her, crouching down to her level to examine her eye. The task was made difficult, however, when she refused to open the affected eye. He chuckled. “I’d be able to see if you were hurt if you would open your eye, Lin.”

“But it hurts!”

“It was just water. I doubt anything’s wrong,” he said, trying to not laugh at her dramatics. “Can I just take a look to be sure?”

Slowly but surely, she opened her eye and began to blink frantically. “Hurry up, hurry up. I don’t want another one to get in my other eye.”

He placed his index finger beneath her small chin and tipped her head back to take a look at her eye, making sure to use his other hand to shield her face from the falling snow. After making sure that there was indeed nothing wrong with her eye and that it had just been the feeling of the snow against her eye that caused the small bout of pain, he squished her cheeks and ruffled her hair. “You’re fine, you drama queen.”

She scowled and rubbed her eye. “Who are you calling drama queen, drama queen?”

Sokka opened his mouth to respond, then closed it, nodding once. “You got me there, bud.”

The eight-year-old smiled triumphantly, then almost immediately frowned when she felt the precipitation increase as the snow more rapidly fell upon her cheeks. “Can we go inside now? I’m really hungry and, uh, I hate the snow.”

“Sure thing,” Sokka said, not holding back his laugh this time. He held his hand out for her to take and when she did, he guided her to the kitchens. He looked down at the small figure next to him with a smile and said, “You know you didn’t have to come along, right?”

Of course, he knew that she knew. And he also knew why she came because her mother had told him the reason, but he wanted to hear it from her.

Lin sighed loudly. “I wanted to come.”

“And why’s that, Linny?”

“Because.”

“That’s not a reason,” he said matter of factly, giving her shoulder a poke as they arrived at their destination. “It’s actually just a preposition.”

“It’s a conjunction, actually.”

Sokka paused to think about the validity of her assertion and pursed his lips. “I-I knew that. I was just testing you.”

Lin rolled her eyes and threw herself into a chair, propping her feet on the table in front of her in true Toph Beifong fashion as he served them bowls of soup and a roll each. “Sure you were.”

“You’re stalling.”

“I wanted to see where you were from, okay?” she admitted quietly after a beat of silence. She was avoiding his eyes as she continued to speak. “I’ve never been here and I- you haven’t been around much… I didn’t want you to- I didn’t want you to leave and not see you for longer.”

Setting the food down in front of them, a huge smile spread across Sokka’s face. “So you’re saying you miss me. Is that what I’m hearing?”

Lin groaned, throwing her head back and pulling the soup toward her. She dipped her roll into the soup and shoved it into her mouth. “I take it back.”

“Hey,” he said, his joking tone dropping from his voice completely as he reached over to give her small shoulder a squeeze, a gesture she shrugged off. “I miss you too. So much. And I’m really happy you wanted to come along.”

Shyly, she looked up at him. “You are?”

“‘Course I am! I love spending time with my favorite girl,” he said, then quickly added. “Don’t… tell Kya or, uh, Izumi I said that, though. I’ll lose my Favorite Uncle privileges.”

“I won’t,” she giggled. “But you’ll always be my favorite uncle… And you can’t tell Uncle Aang or Uncle Zuko about this either.”

Sokka smiled and stuck his hand out for her to shake. “Deal.”

The two continued eating in silence, nothing other than the sound of Lin slurping her soup and their utensils clinging against their bowls. It wasn’t awkward and he was pleased that the environment was comfortable.

When she was finished, she unceremoniously belched and pushed her empty bowl of soup toward him. He laughed and made quick work of collecting them and washing them to join her at the table again, taking a leftover roll and taking a bit bite.

“Hey, Sokka.”

“Hm?”

“Do you love my mom?”

Sokka stopped chewing and coughed a few times after swallowing. “Do I what?”

“Do you love my mother?”

“I- uh, I’m not sure how to answer that question.”

He wasn’t because yes, he loved Toph. A lot. But he also knew what she was asking and he knew exactly why she was asking. Her mother, however, was not made aware that these feelings – this love – were stronger than the typical you’re-my-best-friend-and-we-went-through-numerous-life-or-death-situations-together feelings.

That he knew of, at least, because Toph was damn perceptive if he knew her well. And he knew that her daughter was just as perceptive.

“It’s a yes or no, Uncle Snoozles.”

Sokka snorted and scrunched up his face before he full-on laughed at the nickname and the way she was sitting – her arms crossed over her chest and she’d just propped her feet on the table again. Before responding, he cleared his throat and pushed her legs off the table, making her frown. “Yes, Lin, of course I love your mother. Why do you ask?”

“Because I can tell.”

“Can you now?”

“Mhm, I can,” she nodded, resting her elbows on the table and leaning in, an eyebrow raised in suspicion, making Sokka lean back out of instinct.

“And how can you tell, might I ask?”

“My mother is The Toph Beifong. I know how to read heartbeats,” she said sassily. “It’s the same way Uncle Zuko’s heart beats when he sees Aunt Katara.”

He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. She’s a fifty-year-old in the body of a child, this Lin Beifong. “You’re something else, you know that?”

“Yes, I know that, thanks for noticing.”

“And you’re just like your mother.”

“I know that, too.”

[stitch1830]

I feel like it would be hard for the Zutara and Taang kids to grow up in the public eye (since Zuko and Katara are royalty, Aang is the Avatar, and Toph is basically a celebrity). What are your thoughts on this?

Yeah I think they'd probably struggle with this, probably like any celebrity and their kid kind of situation. I haven't read too many fics or headcanons that deal with this particular situation, but I can imagine that any ATLA next gen kid would struggle with this issue on some level, so it would be interesting to see this talked about more! This and multicultural families. That's something that intrigues me too.

For me, I kind of have the dunebabies pretty oblivious to their parent's spotlight and fame up until a certain age, and some of them like it because they can make more friends, and some of them are kind of indifferent if that makes sense...

Some people headcanon that the Beifongs travel a lot and don't stay in one place for too long, and I think in those instances, maybe they appreciate a bit of the fame so that they can make friends quickly wherever they go. In my AU, they primarily stay in Republic City, but they do travel from time to time. I can imagine the kids having trouble establishing friendships and relationships where they can trust the people without feeling like they're being taken advantaged of or something similar. I would say in my AU, Lin and Kenji are more skeptical of people and keep themselves closed off to most, while Gyatso and Suyin talk to everyone and try to make friends everywhere (and in Suyin's case, she's the persuasive friend. She gets what she wants almost all the time lol).

Steambabies might feel the added pressure, especially because even though they don't care about image or the reputation of their parents, others do and it could directly affect how they are as leaders when they're older. It's something that's always on their mind, and since their parents are the first to really bring positive change to the Fire Nation and the world, there's additional pressure of maintaining or improving upon that. So I can see them at an early age thinking about how they interact with others, what they say, and just being guarded with their emotions. My oldest steambaby, Kya, would probably suffer the most from this pressure, I imagine she talks about her issues a lot with her mother and father since they had to deal with some scrutiny for their relationship. Izumi is a bit of a wildcard, but her indifference doesn't mean she's ignorant. She knows what the public sees of her, and she's pretty calculating with what they do see if she can help it. Iroh is pretty quiet and introverted and he doesn't make a lot of noise in the media (his sisters do enough of that), so he probably doesn't feel the effects of the 'celebrity spotlight' as much as other members of the Fire Nation family do, which he's perfectly happy with.

[mitskigatekeeper]

a short poem inspired by two characters that i thought weren’t right for each other

[bblackthing]

Sometimes I need to take a break from Digital art to challenge myself I guess.

So I always wanted to draw them in animal-themed hoodies, so here they are! But due to it being traditional art, I couldn't decide which version (1: Scanner vs 2: Phone photo) kept the colours how I drew it... So here are two versions.

Crops:

[stitch1830]

How do the Zutara steamkiddos react to baby Lin?

Hmmm good question. I'm going off two steambabies at the moment: Kya and Izumi. They're probably a couple years older than Lin, maybe Izumi is 4 or 5 years older? *shrugs*

I feel like they would adore baby Lin. Like Kya wants to hold her and kiss her cheeks all the time because it's a little baby! So cute. She loves watching Lin and often she'll invade everyone's space so she can get a good look at the baby and make silly faces at her. It's cute for the most part, but sometimes the parents are ready to whine themselves because she has no personal space boundaries whatsoever right now lmao.

And Izumi is like "Auntie Toph I want to play with Lin in the water."//"That's nice, but no." Lol like Izumi sees Lin as a literal baby doll, so obviously a real baby can do everything her baby doll can do and wants to run around with Lin. Obviously the parents are like "No, kiddo. The baby is fragile, can't be playing rough." Usually she shrugs it off and runs off to do her own thing because she's Katara and Zuko's little spitfire kid.