There Are Two Types Of Parents On The Boiling Isles

I can imagine Ellie in Jackson making a kid army. Because every little kid think she’s so cool because she survived “the outside” and especially the younger kids have never seen that so they see her as a superhero. And she’s just corrupting every single one of them into annoying the hell out off all the adults.

I was wondering, how bad was Ozai's abuse even before this Agni Kai? And how much did Piandao know about it?

Piandao was born into wealth and prestige, but he was not raised in it. He was raised in an orphanage, and the workers there would click their tongues and mutter pitying words. Poor young Piandao, his parents are still alive and well, they simply didn’t want him. If only he’d been a firebender.

When Piandao had excelled at the art of the sword, become recognized, and started taking students, he only got nonbenders. People claiming to be the best in their village, wanting glory that they found harder to gain without having bending of their own.

That was why it was such an oddity when he received a letter requesting (commanding, technically, he supposed) that he train the young Prince Zuko in the art of the sword. He’d agreed (there was no other choice), and a few weeks later, the eight-year-old prince arrived for his first lesson.

After two weeks of learning what Zuko was like, Piandao had decided to train the boy in the dual broadswords. 

Those two weeks, and all the time after that, taught Piandao a lot about Prince Zuko. More specifically, about his life back at the palace.

He wasn’t sure the prince even noticed. Piandao, actually, suspected all the movements were involuntary. 

Piandao would test a possible new student. He’d deny them. The student would raise their voice, anger seeping into their tone, spitting in Piandaos’ face about what a valuable pupil he would be to have.

Piandao would see Prince Zuko sitting in the corner wince as the yelling got louder, looking more wary than before.

The first week that Piandao actively was teaching the boy, he brought him to the town square to watch a friendly fire duel. He watched as the boy leaned back when fire came in his direction, even when it was nowhere near him. Piandao would narrow his eyes at the way the prince would rub at his forearm, and the way his eyes would widen a bit and he would flinch minutely when the flames came too close.

They didn’t go to sit and watch the duels much, after that. When they did, they sat far, far away from the front.

All of this could be written off, but Piandao couldn’t ignore what happened the first time that Zuko got a cut during their training.

Zuko was practicing dodging. It was an accident, and not even a major one, just big enough to put a pause on training for the day. The prince hadn’t moved fast enough and the blade he had been dodging struck him in the middle of his arm. The blade was not very sharp, as it was a training one, but it managed to get through the fabric a bit, and blood slowly seeped out.

Before Piandao had been able to speak, to apologize and call for bandages, Zuko had grit his teeth and spoken instead.

“I’m sorry, Master Piandao.”

Piandao had paused, blinking at the eight-year-old boy. “Why are you sorry?”

“I should have been faster. I shouldn’t have gotten hurt.”

“Does it hurt?”

Zuko nodded, a few stray, sweaty stands of hair getting in his eyes. “Yeah. It stings. I’ve learned my lesson, I won’t do it again.”

Piandao had been quiet for a moment before asking, “What... What are you talking about?”

Zuko looked tired, more than anything, and annoyed at himself, glaring at the arm he clutched to his chest. “I mess up and get hurt, I deal with the pain.”

Piandao felt sick, but he had replied simply, “No, I only get the summer with you. No reason to waste time waiting for that to heal without help. We’ll get it cleaned and wrapped.”

It made him want to throw up when he saw how surprised the boy looked as he met his gaze. “I...” Zuko looked down at his arm, then back up and said, “Thank you, Master Piandao.”

The flinches, and way he talked about pain like he deserved it, and the small burn scars, both fresh and fading, that Piandao soon found lay beneath the sleeves, were all enough to paint a rather unwelcome picture, but as Zuko got more comfortable, he would talk all about his mom, waiting back at home, as well as his cousin and uncle, and sometimes his sister.

Never his father.

Things changed when Zuko came for training the summer after his mother disappeared. 

Training was normal, other than the fact that Zuko was rather glum the entire time. He was lost in thoughts, and talked less, and was less excitable. It was rather... upsetting to see.

Then, though, the day before Zuko was to leave, a day that they normally spent relaxing, Zuko came to him, his eyes red, and said, “I don’t wanna go home.”

The next day, the prince had gone home.

Piandao knew about the Agni Kai. He didn’t know what happened to the boy afterward.

He missed him for the three years after that fateful day.

Piandao didn’t train anyone with passion, again, until he met Sokka. The boy reminded him so much of Zuko sometimes that it ached. So alike, yet so very, very different.

Piandao was born a nonbender to two powerful firebender parents. They abandoned him because of it.

When he thought about the way that Zuko’s father (a powerful firebender) treated Zuko himself (a less powerful firebender), Piandao found himself thinking that maybe growing up in the orphanage, parentless, was actually for the best, after all.

Ive been going through the roulette of zuko adoption au’s (he cant catch a break) and I really enjoy Sun Warrior Zuko and Spirit Touched/Agni Zuko fics the most. Then I found one thats basically both(with a dash of dragon!zuko), so heres some art for @aravenwithawritingdesk ‘s Quetzalcóatl

What if zuko has body dysmorphia. Like along with the hearing and sight loss he just hates the scar so much. He can stand to see it, cringes anytime his hand brushes against it. It triggers him when people mention it.

I want zuko clawing at his face, growing out his hair just to hide it at much as possible, immediately tenses when he hears 's', the gaang is super protective of him and defends his honour anytime someone goes for a low blow, uncle tries to help zuko accept that part of himself, and the scar is like the only thing azula avoids because she's never seen zuko react like that.

Autistic Hunter Week Day 1: Special Interest/Infodump

@spinaroos-47

“Whatcha got there?” Luz tapped the table in front of Hunter to get his attention. “One of Eda’s?”

He lifted the book to show her the title without answering. Why Won’t My Palisman Eat? And Other Problems You May Encounter with Your Lifelong Partner.

“Is Flapjack okay?!”

“Yes. Why wouldn’t they be?”

“Because you’re… reading a book about how palisman get sick?”

“Sure. Did you know that they heal like regular animals if they get hurt? Even though they’re made of wood? But that would mean they’re generating palistrom wood by eating regular food! So hypothetically speaking, you could generate an infinite amount of palistrom wood by cutting off pieces of a palisman and then feeding it so it could heal!” he reached up to the palisman nestled in his hair and scratched its head. “Not that I would. Anymore.”

“Found a game hack,” Luz joked, “Infinite palistrom wood glitch. Why are you reading the book if there’s nothing wrong with Flapjack?”

“The books at the emperor’s coven weren’t really about how to take care of a palisman. There were a couple, but, well, you know. Not much need to take care of them when your plan is to…” Hunter shook his head. “Anyway, there are a ton of weird things palisman can do.” He held up a different book, this one called The Legend of the Palistrom. “Not sure how accurate this is, it’s a mythic folklore kind of story about the first palisman, but there’s bound to be some truth in it, right? Because legends are usually based on fact. It was a nice story, though.”

Luz sat down at the table as he flipped the cover of a book back and forth.

“Supposedly, palisman can hold memories from the perspective of their witch, but no one’s said how to activate and view it yet, not in any of the books I’ve read. Is it like a memory in the mindscape where you can enter it? Or is it more like an echo mouse eating a book and being able to project it as something to watch? And—okay, get this, this is weird, a palisman can not only recognize descendants of its owner, BUT will also recognize palisman carved by its owner’s family as a kind of blood relative! But it DOESN’T recognize a palisman carved from its own tree as a sibling. That being SAID, there’s an old legend that if you carve your palisman from the same tree as the tree of your betrothed, you’ll be partnered for life. The explanation behind it is that your palisman is your lifelong partner, so if you carve yours from the same wood… but that doesn’t make a lot of sense, does it? I mean, if they don’t recognize each other as siblings regularly, why would partners matter? Unless it’s a combination of the family recognition AND being carved from the same tree? I don’t know, it’s probably just a romance legend that doesn’t have any fact built into it. Just sentiment, you know?”

“Probably,” Luz agreed, “It sounds sweet, though.”

“If you’re into that kind of thing. You know, all of the books mention that palisman all speak the same language, but I’ve DEFINITELY heard different sounds coming from them, and Gus and Willow’s don’t really make sounds at all—wait, hey, how do Gus and Willow know what they’re saying?!” He stood up abruptly, pushing his chair back and holding his hand out for Flapjack to turn into a staff.

“Where are you going?”

“To ask them. Duh.”

And in a flash of gold, he was gone.

Did you know swans give hugs with their necks? google swan hugs, you won't regret it.

zuko and his horribifuckus bird based off this post

Monoma: What trouble have you gotten into today?

Midoryia: None, surprisingly, why? Someone call you an ass and you need to compare it to a villain attack?

Monoma, flailing his arms around dramatically: Oh Izuku it was horrible! This girl tried to get in front of me for lunch but I pushed her back into her spot and-

Midoryia: Amour, I was joking.

zuko: sorry for sending that assassin

sokka: you’re the one who sent combustion man?!?!?!

zuko:

zuko: thats not his name 🤨

everyone is like “zuko is the dad of the gaang” and “Katara is the mom!” But consider- you are wrong. Open your eyes, folks. Katara is the dad and ZUKO is the mom.

I mean, overprotective? Tries to Relate to the kids and be the Fun Parent but ends up worrying and nagging anyway, terrible sense of humor but tries so hard anyway? “Let’s have a beach party, you’re working them all too hard? gentle encouragement, you’re doing great buddy!” All Katara.

Stressed, trying to get everyone to take things Seriously™️, constantly sleep deprived, first one awake (rises with the sun) and also the last one to sleep? Excellent glare, great scolding skills, good at finding stuff? Zuko is the mom and y’all need to transcend gender and really see the possibilities.

Oddly specific TLOU AU idea:

No outbreak AU where Sarah and Ellie are sisters and Joel's their dad. Sarah does soccer and Ellie does ballet (to everyone's surprise, she's pretty good). Except whenever Joel tells people that one of his daughters dances and the other one plays soccer they think it's the other way around. Just bc I think that could be fucking hilarious.

Bonus: Ellie and Dina meeting at dance :)