Have I Ever Mentioned How Genuinely Happy I Am That Zuko Ended Up With A Daughter. He'd Be A Great Dad

On the one hand I feel like Lu Ten absolutely would buy Zuko a bunch of expensive stuffed animals to try to one up the GAang, but on the other hand I really need to resist the urge to give Zuko an army of stuffed animals.

Luz: Come on, do it!

Hunter: No. It's stupid. I'm not doing it

Luz: It'll be so funny!

Hunter: [arms crossed] Absolutely not

[Later]

Luz: [videoing everything on her phone]

Hunter: [in a monotone voice] Trust fall!

Darius: I'm not going to catch you

Hunter: [dramatically sighing] I'm gonna fall

Darius: [glaring] Don't

Hunter: [in a completely monotone voice while falling backwards] Oh, no. I'm falling

Darius: [jumping over two tables and catching Hunter with seconds to spare] Why in Titan's name would you do that?!

Hunter: [voice crack form embarrassment] Why wouldn't you just use an abomination?!

Luz: [under her breath while still videoing] Dadrius confirmed

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. 

Atla Gen Week 2021.

Day 3: Found family / Unexpected ally.

@atlagenweek2021

Fic Snippet!

“Are you out of your mind?” Zuko rushed across the courtyard and bore down on Aang with an intense, almost palpable fury. “Do you know how badly you could’ve hurt her?”

“I was just…I didn’t mean to-“ Aang stammered.

“Fire is not a toy!” Zuko bellowed at him. He turned to Katara, examining her for injuries. “Are you okay?”

“I’m alright,” she assured him, her voice shaking. “I’m fine.” She was trembling visibly, and there were singe marks on her clothes, but she otherwise seemed unharmed. Zuko turned back to Aang, how was looking down at his feet in shame.

“What were you thinking?” Zuko demanded.

“I don’t know,” Aang mumbled, kicking at the ground. “I was…mad.”

“About what?” Zuko was absolutely bewildered. “What could Katara possibly have done that you thought it was a good idea to do that?”

“Nothing,” Aang admitted sullenly. He didn’t say anything after that. Zuko glowered at him, took a few deep breaths to quell his own anger.

“You’re going to clean this mess up,” he said gesturing to the torn up stones, dirt and cooling lava. “Then you’re going to do 100 fire squats. Then you’re going to work on your forms for an hour. And I don’t want to see so much as a curl of smoke out of you. You’re not responsible enough for fire. Understood?” 

“What? That’s not-“ Aang’s protests died on his lips when he saw Zuko’s expression.  He huffed, kicked at stone, and finally nodded.

“Get started,” Zuko ordered through clenched teeth. He turned back to Katara, who was watching the exchange. She was still shaking a bit. Zuko draped his arm protectively around her back and guided her away. He glanced back once more at Aang, and almost rolled his eyes when he saw the younger boy still moping at the ground. It was hard sometimes to reconcile the awesome might and eminence of the Avatar with the reality of Aang, the child.

“I’ll be back,” he warned Aang. “Have this mess cleaned up. And don’t even think about asking Toph to help.” 

I know canonically, the Lava Fissure Incident takes place while Zuko and Sokka are rescuing Hakoda, but I wanted to have Zuko see and react to it. Personally, I think it was another accidentally accurate depiction of how unready Aang is to be the Avatar. And it is also another incident that the narrative decides not to call Aang out for, so the chances of him growing from it are...well, we all know how things turned out in LoK.

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."

All 12. I just need time to do the actual calendar bit but it’s almost done and will be up on my ko-fi shop as soon as I’m done.

its so funny how katara stays being the only person zuko doesn't yell at when they're rightfully mad at him.

zuko with everyone: 🤬😤😡🙄

zuko with katara: im sorry 🥺 thats something we have in common 😔 what can i do to make it up to you queen i waited outside your tent all night 😕

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.

I present to you,,,art (idk what to say, its a doodle dump, enjoy!) @hella1975

Bonus sketches that I didnt clean up:

💕Happy Valentines Day💕

(Click for better quality ✨)