Kataang - Blog Posts
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︵‿presenting...quill's kataang week!‿︵
︵‿︵︵‿︵︵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.
:D the following are excerpts from "all at once, everything is different, now that i see you":
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.
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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.
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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.
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“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.
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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.
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“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.
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The world tilted, and suddenly, neither Katara’s will, nor her body, were her own.
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♥ feel free to check out the entirety of this fic & my ao3 here! ->
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!
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!!!
your “teenager in the iceberg” fic is absolutely everything to me. I’ve reread it so many times!!!
do you have any plans to update it? maybe for the kataang week?
unfortunately, i don't have plans to update it specifically for kaatang week, but i will be getting out a new chapter once all my fics for kataang week are posted:)<3 possibly in between posting ktaang week fics, considering how long its taking me to edit and upload them all:)<3
thank u soso much for the kind words!!! so happy youre enjoying it:))<3
and is it silly that i thought up the phrase "kataangled" and immediately felt like a genuis??? pls tell me i came up with this because i was devastated when i found out the phrase kataangst was not a unique thought or idea of mine 😔
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!!!
the absolute best part is that this isn't even the only fairytale kataang y'all are getting this week because i'm doing MORE fairytale stuff for a prompt later this week 😏
can u guys tell that i'm a disney adult???? (but literally only in the way that i specifically love rewatching the disney princess movies, and not in the way that i pour tons of money into merch and tickets and whatnot)
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!!!
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!!!
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︵‿presenting...quill's kataang week!‿︵
︵day one: cultural exchange/ culture sharing/ revival of traditions‿
︵‿︵︵︵‿︵︵‿‿hosted by @kataang-week︵‿︵︵︵‿︵︵‿‿
summary:
after an upsetting council meeting in which aang is painfully reminded of how little the other nations understand of air nomad culture, katara is there to remind him that he isn't as alone as he thinks OR: aang & katara friends to lovers post-war 👀
:D the following are excerpts from "and i promise, that one day i'll feel fine":
Aang typically prided himself on standing strong when it came to upholding the beliefs of his people. It was his responsibility, his burden of loss to carry and his gift.
But if he was being entirely honest with himself, moments such as the one he found himself in now, surrounded by a council of nations in which he was the only Airbending representative, it was difficult to remain pretending as if nothing was bothering him. He’d accepted a seat on the council of nations before fully understanding what it would mean to him, how it would feel . Every other representative was flanked with another member or two of their tribe.
Aang stood alone.
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He’d been so sure that he’d kissed her, in the Cave of Two Lovers, and again before he’d entered the Fire Nation. Both times, he’d waited for her to say something, anything, to confirm that those kisses had been just as earthshaking for her as they had been for him, but both times, she hadn’t. He’d pressed her about it only once, and the moment she told him that she felt confused, Aang had felt like an absolute and utter idiot . The idea that he’d made Katara uncomfortable… It was enough for him to do his best to suppress his feelings as much as he could.
That had left them where they were now- on opposite sides of a council room. Two teenagers who could end a war but couldn’t manage to communicate. Aang supposed that there was a bit of comedic irony present there, but truth be told, nothing felt funny to him at the moment.
Not with how the other council members were speaking about his people.
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“How can you say that?” Katara ran her hands through her hair incredulously, his jaw set. “Each nation standing on their own and neglecting the balance between our peoples is how the war started. The blood of the Air Nomads is just as much on the other nations for neglecting to remember that, for failing to come to the defence of the remaining Air temples after the first of the Fire Nation raids.” Aang flinched at the visceral reminder, the images it stirred, but regardless, Katara was right. She continued on, her voice dropping in volume but only gaining intensity.
“It’s "every nation on their own" until it was your nation, the one that this “nation of one” defended only months ago.” She spat the last of the words out as if they were laced with venom, her disgust evident as she reminded Hanh of the water spirit form Aang had taken to ward off the invasion of the Southern tribes.
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“Aang. There's no precedent for any of this. The scenario you’ve found yourself in… unique feels too simple of a way to put it. None of the monks would judge you for succumbing to moments of grief and anger.”
“ I would judge me. I would not forgive myself.”
“You should.” She smiled softly, shaking her head. “Even the great Avatar, saviour of the world, is not without moments of imperfection.”
Aang chuckled through his tears, his smile turning cocky. “You’d be surprised. I think you’ll find that I’m about as close to perfection as can be.”
“I know,” she said simply, and the genuine quality of her voice was enough to send a blush blooming across Aang’s face. She pushed on, internally berating herself for letting that slip. “And I understand why you feel alone, I really do, but I’m right here, in your corner. Please don’t forget that. You’ll always have me there." She smiled softly, shaking her head as she did. "If you’d escalated the situation back there, if you had snapped completely, I would’ve been right behind you, following your lead.”
Aang’s nose wrinkled as he laughed at the idea of the pair of them fighting the entire council. Katara shook her head, her eyes fixed on his, her tone dead serious. “Let Sokka, or Zuko, or Toph pull us back to reality. I’m right there with you, in everything .” In life too, if you’d let me, she added silently, her hands itching to pull his hands back to hers.
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♥ feel free to check out the entirety of this fic & my ao3 here! ->
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!
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!!!
to all of my lovely readers i promise i have not forsaken you!!! i've been super super inactive for the last week or so and i haven't updated via a03 in a minute so i just wanted to hop on and explain myself:))
i just started two jobs at once to pay for uni & rent and it is absolutely kicking my ass!!! i had to work 24+ hours over 2 days last weekend just so I didn't get double-booked between the two jobs, and in general, i'm super exhausted literally all the time right now 🤧🤍
hopefully this tiredness is not permanent!! i'm still learning how to balance my time around the jobs, so right now, i'm in a bit of a schedule-adjustment period as i figure out how to make time for myself & my hobbies while still working:)
this is pretty much why i haven't been active on tumblr & ao3. over the next week, my work schedule is going to cool down a bit, so i plan to keep at my WIPs and hopefully both release some ao3 updates & make some tumblr scheduled posts so i can keep on top of my fic promo:)
you can expect a new chap of the teenager in the iceberg and a new kataang wish (2023) - inspired oneshot, if happiness were a tangible thing, it would be you, a gift fic inspired by/ for @antizutara coming out in the next week or so!! i promise i am doing my very best to write more as the days go on:))<3 thank u for all the love and hi to the new cool ppl who have followed me even through i dropped off of the internet for a sec hehe!!<3
holy cow to be on a rec list w this many talented people is such a compliment 🤭🤧 so happy ur liking the teenager in the iceberg!!!!
hello! can you recommend your fav kataang fics (preferably not angst since i still need to heal from your fic😭)
yeah sure! i'll try to recommend ones that are happier!
stranger by sycamore17: i've recommended this before and i'll recommend it forever. god tier fic.
apartment 3e by sycamore17: a new girl-esque atla fic with sukka, kataang, and maiko. i looove this fic. it's so fun, and it feels very much like watching a sit-com.
unspoken, undeniable by @flameohotwife: a fake dating au where katara and aang start publicly "dating" because the earth king is on his case about the future of the air nomads. so much fun and the mutual pining is to die for.
old halls, new life by @flameohotwife: parents!kataang i love you. a story that features aang sharing his air nomad culture with each of the cloudbabies over the years.
the plan by the_clockwork_monk: a peek into katara's brain while zuko and sokka are gone during "the boiling rock" episodes. i love fics that tackle katara's denial of her feelings for aang while also having her hardcore pine at the same time. it always makes me laugh.
seeing stars: the atla dating gameshow by @coyotelemon: pure fluff, pure romcom. every moment i was reading this i was squealing wildly into my pillow.
the teenager in the iceberg by @quillthrillswriting: a wip about an au where aang emerges as a teenager from the iceberg. features reverse crush kataang which i looove. such a fun story so far i can't wait to read the rest of it!!!
ever since @antizutara (via this post) put the idea in my head of a kataang wish AU, i haven't been able to stop thinking about it.
the following excerpts are from my draft of "if happiness were a tangible thing, it would be you," hopefully coming out later this week! :)<3
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Ozai strode forward into the passage, beckoning to Katara as he did, and she obliged, careful to maintain several paces of distance. After a few moments of marvelling at the detail of the carved wood panels that lined the passageway, the two finally emerged into a larger room, lined with bookshelves and rolling ladders, intricate carvings, detailed spells on scrolls tacked into walls of ancient wood. A thick scent of cinnamon, and soft rain, and morning dew, smells that seemed as though they shouldn’t have fit with the space, but did so perfectly.
And the room’s light.
Spirits. It was lit with a glow that felt familiar, and yet, entirely foreign, the likes of which she had not yet known. Stranger still, it didn’t seem to have a source, or at least, not until she tipped her head skyward.
There you are. It was the only thought that seemed logical, as if she were greeting an old friend. There you are.
Wisps of wind. That was the only way she could think to describe them, although putting mere words to the purest embodiment of hope and dreams felt rather silly and diminutive. Swirling iridescent colours, glowing from within, overlapped and danced with one another. She felt homesickness tug at her heartstrings alongside the flicker of recognition, a memory of sitting nestled alongside Sokka back home as the two watched the Northern Lights flare across the sky. Each and every one of the phantom winds overhead carried possible futures, carried sounds and scents of what could be, what a heart wanted more than anything. Wisps of wind, more beautiful than anything she’d ever seen.
The wishes. They had to be.
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On the day of the funeral, it rained. It was a good omen, for those of the Water tribe, to have the water spirit La bless one of their people even in death. Katara knew this, and yet, the rain still seemed to make it all feel worse. Drenched, shuddering from the cold and her own sobs, Katara looked away when her mother was finally lowered into the ground. She squinted at the castle, at the balcony lit by candlelight on the very highest floor.
And perhaps it was a trick of the light, perhaps it was her grief warping her sight, but Katara swore that she could see Ozai there, looming in the windows of his study.
Smiling at her.
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And maybe it was naive hope, maybe it was stupid, but looking up at the stars flying by overhead, Katara closed her eyes and made a wish. She didn’t have the power to stop Ozai and his army. Neither did Sokka. But the Avatar…
The Avatar could save the world.
And so, she wished for him. She wished for peace, she wished for his return, she wished for a way to prevent the oncoming battles and slaughter.
And for a moment, it felt as though the stars spoke back.
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Once the glow had subsided enough for her to lower her hands, she blinked at the sudden motion as the little orb-thing zipped around her, leaving a trail of stardust. She reached out on instinct with her waterbending, suspending the creature in a bubble in front of her as she leaned in to inspect it.
“Awe,” She sighed softly as a smile spread across her lips. “You’re kinda cute-”
All at once, another beam of light speared the sky, sending clouds of gold billowing around the two like smoke. Katara thrust her water upwards instinctively to protect them, but when the smoke cleared, the little star-ball was gone.
No, not gone. Different.
Because standing in front of her was perhaps the most beautiful boy she’d ever seen.
He levitated slightly off of the ground, glitter and star-dust trickling from his sandals. He looked to be around her age, but she thought perhaps he was older, from the almost-foot of height he had on her. She would have found him rather imposing, with lean muscles rippling through the thin fabric of his one-shouldered robes, were it not for the teasing grin he wore on his boyish face.
“You think I’m cute?”
if you want to stick around for this to come out, it'll be on my ao3 (hopefully) this week! ->
guys.....guys i'm writing this and it's gonna come out this week....so excited 🤭
kind of obsessed with disney’s wish even though it wasn’t amazing, and i’m thinking of an au where star was human and fell in love with asha. now that i think about it, it’s the perfect kataang au.
katara’s wish is for the avatar to return, to end the war and bring peace.
her wish is granted quite literally—the boy in the sky is the avatar, and he’s there to assist her in her story of saving the world, including her world/home, the southern water tribe.
do you see the vision?
this is honestly such a good point because like...so many people unironically say stuff like “kataang only happened because bryke wanted it to”
okay...and? that's how....all pieces of media work. they are written...the way the writers write them. am i missing something here...?
Certain people here are acting as if bryke only created Aang and not also Zuko and Katara AND the whole series they are still obsessing over
guys it's OUT NOW!!!! i'll do a proper promo post tomorrow so i guess anyone who sees it before then can be part of a super secret club hehe
new chapter of "the teenager in the iceberg" is gonna be out tonight!!! so excited to show you guys the fortuneteller ep!!
new chapter of "the teenager in the iceberg" is gonna be out tonight!!! so excited to show you guys the fortuneteller ep!!
if any of you require additional info before making your decisions, please feel free to inquire for details in the comments 😌
and if you need my kataang credentials, you can find my fanfic masterlist here and my ao3 here
thank u lovelies!!<3
my (quillthills) ao3 ATLA fanfiction masterlist:
"so i will go to secret gardens in my mind":
after he and katara's escape to the palace gardens the night prior, avatar aang, the king of all four elements, cannot stop thinking of the beautiful dark-haired water princess. misunderstandings and deliberate deception constructed by regent ozai makes the reconciliation of these star-crossed lovers more complicated than necessary. OR: the second of many kataang regency-era works ♔
"you’re in the wind, i’m in the water":
aang has only just been crowned as the avatar, the king of all four elements, and already, he struggles to find his footing in a society without any of his people. a dance with princess katara of the water tribe, and a subsequent escape to the palace gardens, helps him find that footing. OR: the first of many kataang regency-era works ♔
"there's a star-man, waiting in the sky":
a flash-fiction atla modern AU in which yue passes away from cancer early in life, and sokka becomes an astronaut so that he can go to space and be close to the moon she always loved so much ☾
"the teenager in the iceberg"- multichap
i feel like a lot of people have wondered how different atla as a whole would be if aang had been older, so in this au, aang was frozen at age 16! naturally, i just had to flip aang being after katara from day one to katara now having a crush on aang from the very beginning. essentially, to recap. ATLA aang aged up AU fic. kataang. where she falls first, and he falls harder. also, cmon. i just had to write a new version of the scene where zuko and aang meet.
"you with the dark curls, you with the watercolor eyes"- multichap
Avatar Aang had been told time and time again that to venture across the surface of the sea when the moon had risen and claimed what rightfully belonged to it was to sign your own death certificate. And yet, he found himself here, at the water’s edge, skipping stones, lost in thought. To be the Avatar had once meant something, years before. Before the four tribes had separated, scattered to the ends of the earth. Those who formed fire itself chased the other tribes from the surface lands, those who could move rock and metal burrowed underground, those who flowed with the air sent ships with great sails across the sea until they reached towering mountain spires. Those who bent water, who bent blood… they retreated to the depths of the sea, and with time, they became a part of it. Legend told of the way in which the Water tribes had adapted, two legs smoothed into razor sharp scales and voices twisted into something dark and luring. Now, they were the monsters known as sirens. OR: a KATAANG AU where tui and la have split the earth into the sea and the sky. aang is a winged avian, while katara is a siren<3
"well, my (not-yet) boyfriend's in a band":
in which the gaang are in a band, and when it comes time for them to write an original song to submit to the republic city music festival, aang is...suspiciously good at writing love song lyrics OR kataang, if they were in an indie band and aang didn't know how to communicate his feelings except through writing love songs
"i’m no longer a kid, and everything has changed":
after aang falls to azula's lightning strike in the caves of the earth kingdom, toph, sokka, and katara are left to pick up the pieces. katara's healing abilities are put to the test in the weeks that follow, but she finds herself seeing aang in a different light as she realizes how much he's endured since emerging from the iceberg only months before. OR: the weeks-long gap between the end of season two and the beginning of season three of ATLA is finally at least partially expanded upon. ALSO OR: a bit of aangst, or kataangst, if you will
"can you see me using everything to hold back?":
Katara's life after saving the world was filled with a whirlwind romance with Fire Lord Zuko that became a loveless, controlling marriage she is no longer happy in. After finding out the extent to which her husband has betrayed her trust, she escapes to find home in the person she has missed most during her time in the Fire Nation. OR: The common Zutara trope of "Zuko helps Katara escape an unhealthy relationship with Aang" is flipped entirely and completely on its head.
"my heart is yours, it’s you that i hold on to":
The war has been ended, Ozai has been rendered helpless, and Zuko has reclaimed the Fire Nation with the promise of peace. Everything that Aang has been working towards since the moment Katara freed him from the iceberg has been done. He's saved the world. Now, all that's left is to confess to his forever girl. OR Aang wakes up the morning after him and his friends saved the entire world, and the first (and only) thing he can think about is Katara. When they get a chance to talk, the two take a walk down memory lane.
"shining down on me":
sokka can't stop thinking about yue. she comes to him in his dreams, and try as he might, he just can't move on. inspired by the song "my love, mine all mine" by mitski
"the avatar's adventures in parenting":
aang being a bad parent is CHARACTER ASSASSINATION and i won't stand for it. i just know that him and katara wouldn't be focused on just passing on bending, but the *teachings* and ideals of both of their tribes to all their children, regardless of bending status. OR, aang and katara become parents and aang finds out that parenting is his proudest achievement, more so than stopping a hundred year war or holding the position of avatar
"i'm trying to tell you something, something that i already said":
katara speaks to each member of the gaang individually and finds out that aang has been head over heels with her for years and no one ever bothered telling her. this takes place after the fire lord is defeated, but in my version, they never kissed in the finale:oo katara is basically dumb in terms of love and so is aang and they are peak miscommunication trope and theres too much zutara content and not enough kataang OR katara interrogates each of her friends (toph, sokka, and zuko) and comes to the conclusion that she has lived for years without the kind of love most people wish for their entire lives
if any of these speak to you, they can all be found on my ao3 account:)<3 happy reading!!!
the teenager in the iceberg- ch7 sneak-peek!!!
“Psht,” Aang rolled his eyes, sending a breeze to blow back Sokka’s sandy hair. “Katara’s a friend, Sokka. Dependable, just like Appa, or Momo.”
“Thanks.” Katara said flatly, pretending to suddenly be interested in observing the sand at her feet. Dependable. He sure did know what a girl wanted to hear.
“Hah, maybe you should go into the jewellery business, instead of doing your whole world-saving thing!” Sokka exclaimed from the water’s edge, seemingly unaware of the tension that had been crackling between the two benders only moments before.
“I don’t see why I can’t do both!” Aang ambled over to him, leaving Katara thoroughly confused and more than a little hurt. “I would say that you should start a business too, but it looks like you don’t have too much of a chance of breaking into the fishing industry.”
“Mmm, care to help? I don’t see you doing much more than watching from the sidelines.” Sokka shot him with the daggers in his eyes.
“A vegetarian fisher?” Aang raised an eyebrow, but walked into the water alongside Sokka regardless.
“Maybe you can do the bookkeeping for the business. I think you have the potential to have a real head for numbers.” The fish shot up beside Sokka, splashing teasingly, and Sokka lunged, only to come up with empty hands yet again.
Aang doubled over, weak with laughter, which was made worse when the fish came up yet again, just to splash Sokka with a small wave of water. “I think to have a bookkeeper, you need to be able to catch fish to sell,” he managed through his chuckling.
“Yeah, alright, Air-Boy.” Sokka fixed him with another glare, and before Aang could dart out of the water, Sokka tackled him, managing to submerge him for only a couple seconds before Aang erupted from the water in a burst of wind, using the waterbending he’d already learned to combat Sokka’s overeager splashing.
Katara giggled, settling back onto one of the larger rocks, but her smile faded as she watched the way Aang’s eyes shone in merriment, the way he grinned playfully. Katara’s a friend.
She couldn’t stop replaying the words over and over again, even as Sokka finally caught and roasted his fish, even as she and Aang foraged for the nuts and berries that would make up his dinner, even as she extinguished that night’s cooking fire.
Katara’s a friend.
She wasn’t sure if that was fully true. Not after the way she felt when she looked up at him, not after the way he’d jumped to protect her from Jet, not after the way her heart leapt into her throat at every accidental touch.
Was this only friendship, to him?
She cast a sidelong glance to Aang, curled up with Momo under woven orange-and-yellow sleeping sheets. Moonlight danced across the planes of his cheekbones, his skin sparkling as if cast from mica.
It was as if the moon spirits themselves were marking him as hers.
Wordlessly, she leaned over him, quietly adjusting the branches to his right until the moon caught on the leaves above him, until his face was no longer illuminated.
He wasn’t hers. She wasn’t sure why she had to keep reminding herself of that.
♥ check out the six chapters of this (ongoing) fic & my ao3 here! ->
i'm sorry, but the atla fandom is the only place where i've ever seen people unironically use a 12 year old telling his friend that killing someone out of grief is maybe a rash decision and not healthy to argue that that same 12 year old is being controlling and is an unhealthy partner
you guys know that murder is like....a bad thing....right? especially for a 14 year old? you guys know that revenge murder isn't a healthy strategy? you guys know that anyone who would encourage that is probably actually the unhealthy one in that scenario...right??
sooo.... anyone else ever wondered how different ATLA would have been if aang had been frozen at age 16 instead of age 12?
yeah... me too 😌 my multichap kataang fanfic "the teenager in the iceberg" follows the events of the show, but with only aang aged up, while everyone else remains their canon age.
to put it clearly, katara falls first, and aang falls harder 🤭 (and they both get a lil jealous hehe)
enjoy the excerpts from chapter 6!!! (the jet episode!!)
⁎⁺˳ ✧༚ ˎˊ˗ ♡ ˗ˏˋയ ✩
“We’ve got a big plan to score big against the Fire Nation.” Jet kept his face straight ahead, his hooks swinging, and Katara could see the bit of wheat he still held between his teeth over his shoulder.
“Sounds…big.” Aang said the words somewhat sarcastically, earning a choked giggle from Katara, but Jet didn’t quite seem to catch the nuance of it all.
“Oh, it will be.” He hacked aside a final overhanging branch. “Here we are.”
“...A bunch of holes in the ground?” Aang shifted his weight and raised an eyebrow, only to immediately drop to a defensive position when Katara swatted him, hard, on the arm and gave him a glare. He raised his hands in a “don’t shoot” position, and schooled his features into neutrality by the time Jet turned around.
⁎⁺˳ ✧༚ ˎˊ˗ ♡ ˗ˏˋയ ✩
Aang paused his movements at this, letting the water he was bending drop to his feet, coursing through cracks in the rock floor beneath them. “Katara. You can’t genuinely believe that. Sokka is an idiot, but he’s not dumb.”
Katara raised an eyebrow. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“That Sokka can be goofy, sure, but I trust him and his perception, 100%. He doesn’t miss things. If anything, he sees and notices things most people don’t. If he doesn’t trust Jet….” Aang sighed, resuming his bending forms. “I just feel like you’re getting too close to him. Jet, I mean.”
“And what would the problem be with that?” Katara could hear her voice rising, her temper flaring.
“He’s a bad guy, Katara.”
“You don’t know that!”
“He hurt you!” Katara shut her mouth at the raw emotion in Aang’s voice. He was breathing heavily now, his fists clenching as wind whipped around them. He bit his lip, took in some deep breaths. “He hurt you,” he repeated, this time more gently. “I didn’t protect you quickly enough.”
⁎⁺˳ ✧༚ ˎˊ˗ ♡ ˗ˏˋയ ✩
Tonight was different. She still couldn’t sleep, that much was the same, but as she rose to drill her forms by the river, she felt a hand clamp around her forearm. She almost screamed, but when she whirled around to face her would-be attacker, she exhaled in a whoosh, relieved that it was only Aang.
“My bad,” he whispered, cringing at his choice to grab her arm without warning. “Didn’t mean to scare you.”
Katara dropped back down onto her sleeping bag, neatly crossing her legs. Aang did his best to ignore that she was only in her wrappings now, that the moonlight was sparkling on her bare skin, like a spirit in a painting of old. “I was just…wanting some air.”
“C’mon, Katara, don’t even try. You’re an awful liar.” He flashed a grin, and in the dark, the starlight set his teeth aglow. “I know you’ve been bending at night.”
Katara blanched at this. “How?”
“Light sleeper?” Aang shrugged. “Plus, you’re not great at sneaking out, either. You’ve stepped on me pretty much every time you’ve gotten up to practise.”
⁎⁺˳ ✧༚ ˎˊ˗ ♡ ˗ˏˋയ ✩
“I, um…” Aang trailed off, and even in the dark, she could tell he was trying to hide a blush, could tell he was embarrassed. “I got you something.” He quickly backtracked, his voice somewhat frantic. “If you want. You might not. Want it, that is. And you don’t have to, and I’m not sure if it’ll even-”
“Aang.” Katara caught his hands in hers, looking into his eyes earnestly. “What is it?”
⁎⁺˳ ✧༚ ˎˊ˗ ♡ ˗ˏˋയ ✩
♥ the rest of the (ongoing) fic can be found here!! ->
happy reading! <3
for everyone reblogging this and saying they suddenly want a 16 year old aang fic i in fact have been writing one that updates weekly!!!
check it out here!! ->
au where Aang gets told he's the Avatar (and subsequently frozen) at 16 like he was supposed to.... I think it would change a lot honestly
NEW CH OF TEENAGER IN THE ICEBERG IS UP i'll make some proper promo posts asap!!!! but at the moment my brain is toast from writing so this is all you get!!!!
CHECK IT OUT HERE -> The Teenager In the Iceberg
ugh they were ride or die from day ONE
no thoughts just katara imagining her and aang getting married and having a kid together
reblogging because i just spent ages reformatting & updating this 🤧
my (quillthills) ao3 ATLA fanfiction masterlist:
"so i will go to secret gardens in my mind":
after he and katara's escape to the palace gardens the night prior, avatar aang, the king of all four elements, cannot stop thinking of the beautiful dark-haired water princess. misunderstandings and deliberate deception constructed by regent ozai makes the reconciliation of these star-crossed lovers more complicated than necessary. OR: the second of many kataang regency-era works ♔
"you’re in the wind, i’m in the water":
aang has only just been crowned as the avatar, the king of all four elements, and already, he struggles to find his footing in a society without any of his people. a dance with princess katara of the water tribe, and a subsequent escape to the palace gardens, helps him find that footing. OR: the first of many kataang regency-era works ♔
"there's a star-man, waiting in the sky":
a flash-fiction atla modern AU in which yue passes away from cancer early in life, and sokka becomes an astronaut so that he can go to space and be close to the moon she always loved so much ☾
"the teenager in the iceberg"- multichap
i feel like a lot of people have wondered how different atla as a whole would be if aang had been older, so in this au, aang was frozen at age 16! naturally, i just had to flip aang being after katara from day one to katara now having a crush on aang from the very beginning. essentially, to recap. ATLA aang aged up AU fic. kataang. where she falls first, and he falls harder. also, cmon. i just had to write a new version of the scene where zuko and aang meet.
"you with the dark curls, you with the watercolor eyes"- multichap
Avatar Aang had been told time and time again that to venture across the surface of the sea when the moon had risen and claimed what rightfully belonged to it was to sign your own death certificate. And yet, he found himself here, at the water’s edge, skipping stones, lost in thought. To be the Avatar had once meant something, years before. Before the four tribes had separated, scattered to the ends of the earth. Those who formed fire itself chased the other tribes from the surface lands, those who could move rock and metal burrowed underground, those who flowed with the air sent ships with great sails across the sea until they reached towering mountain spires. Those who bent water, who bent blood… they retreated to the depths of the sea, and with time, they became a part of it. Legend told of the way in which the Water tribes had adapted, two legs smoothed into razor sharp scales and voices twisted into something dark and luring. Now, they were the monsters known as sirens. OR: a KATAANG AU where tui and la have split the earth into the sea and the sky. aang is a winged avian, while katara is a siren<3
"well, my (not-yet) boyfriend's in a band":
in which the gaang are in a band, and when it comes time for them to write an original song to submit to the republic city music festival, aang is...suspiciously good at writing love song lyrics OR kataang, if they were in an indie band and aang didn't know how to communicate his feelings except through writing love songs
"i’m no longer a kid, and everything has changed":
after aang falls to azula's lightning strike in the caves of the earth kingdom, toph, sokka, and katara are left to pick up the pieces. katara's healing abilities are put to the test in the weeks that follow, but she finds herself seeing aang in a different light as she realizes how much he's endured since emerging from the iceberg only months before. OR: the weeks-long gap between the end of season two and the beginning of season three of ATLA is finally at least partially expanded upon. ALSO OR: a bit of aangst, or kataangst, if you will
"can you see me using everything to hold back?":
Katara's life after saving the world was filled with a whirlwind romance with Fire Lord Zuko that became a loveless, controlling marriage she is no longer happy in. After finding out the extent to which her husband has betrayed her trust, she escapes to find home in the person she has missed most during her time in the Fire Nation. OR: The common Zutara trope of "Zuko helps Katara escape an unhealthy relationship with Aang" is flipped entirely and completely on its head.
"my heart is yours, it’s you that i hold on to":
The war has been ended, Ozai has been rendered helpless, and Zuko has reclaimed the Fire Nation with the promise of peace. Everything that Aang has been working towards since the moment Katara freed him from the iceberg has been done. He's saved the world. Now, all that's left is to confess to his forever girl. OR Aang wakes up the morning after him and his friends saved the entire world, and the first (and only) thing he can think about is Katara. When they get a chance to talk, the two take a walk down memory lane.
"shining down on me":
sokka can't stop thinking about yue. she comes to him in his dreams, and try as he might, he just can't move on. inspired by the song "my love, mine all mine" by mitski
"the avatar's adventures in parenting":
aang being a bad parent is CHARACTER ASSASSINATION and i won't stand for it. i just know that him and katara wouldn't be focused on just passing on bending, but the *teachings* and ideals of both of their tribes to all their children, regardless of bending status. OR, aang and katara become parents and aang finds out that parenting is his proudest achievement, more so than stopping a hundred year war or holding the position of avatar
"i'm trying to tell you something, something that i already said":
katara speaks to each member of the gaang individually and finds out that aang has been head over heels with her for years and no one ever bothered telling her. this takes place after the fire lord is defeated, but in my version, they never kissed in the finale:oo katara is basically dumb in terms of love and so is aang and they are peak miscommunication trope and theres too much zutara content and not enough kataang OR katara interrogates each of her friends (toph, sokka, and zuko) and comes to the conclusion that she has lived for years without the kind of love most people wish for their entire lives
if any of these speak to you, they can all be found on my ao3 account:)<3 happy reading!!!
i have two fics ("you're in the wind, i'm in the water," and "so i will go to secret gardens in my mind") now posted in this au! if it sounds like your cup of tea, check them out here!! ->
KATAANG STANS!!!
i need your input.
i'm currently working on a bridgerton-esque kataang oneshot (and by bridgerton-esque i mean vaugely in that era but probably filled with inaccuracies lol) and i'm wondering what types of scenes in that style people have always wanted to see played out with kataang.
in this fic, they do have bending, and aang is basically the very newly appointed king (for reasons that will be elaborated on in the fic), while katara is a high ranking soon-to-be noblewoman just making her debut this season.
i definitely want to throw in a corset lacing scene, and i had a really fun idea where aang uses airbending to dry out every man's quill every time they try to add their name to katara's dance card, but i'd love love love to bring some other ideas to light so if anyone has some regency-era-inspired kataang suggestions, i'm all ears!!<3:)
for those who might be wondering what katara's outfit & jewelry looks like in my new regency-era kataang fic "so i will go to secret gardens in my mind" <3
kataang fans, have you ever thought, "wow, i am experiencing a continuous and severe sense of lack in my life. i need more kataang regency-era fanfic to fill the void." ? i know i have 🤭
"you're in the wind, i'm in the water," is my first voyage into regency-era kataang, and if the idea piques your interest, feel free to check out some of the excerpts below!
it's got a scene like "the headband"...cmon. need i say more 🤭🤭🤭
♔ ♕ 🜲 - ♔ ♕ 🜲
All at once, suddenly broken from the spell that was dancing with Aang, she realised that every other pairing in the room had cleared themselves from the ballroom floor, shuffled off to the side. Instead of dancing alongside her and Aang, as she had assumed they’d been doing, they all stood perched at the edge of the painted tile, their gaze as hungry as that of a lion, their lips buzzing with intrigue and gossip. Katara paled at the sight, suddenly all too aware of the curls that had sprung free from her hair and the uneven positioning of her tiara. She felt a light touch at her chin, and Aang was there, gently tugging at her to face him.
“ Hey ,” He said, and she already felt her heart rate slowing, her breathing calming. He looked so earnest, and yet, so entirely in control, so sure of himself, in a way that Katara found inexplicably intoxicating and magnetic. “Don’t pay any mind to any of them. They are only marvelling that someone as plain as me could manage a dance with a girl who looks as ethereal as a spirit come to earth.” His teasing tone ceased for a minute, the playful grin fading into one that looked almost genuine.
“It’s just you and me right now, Katara.”
Her eyes widened slightly as he took her hand once more, matching her own fluid movement perfectly. “Okay,” she breathed. Internally, she cursed herself for losing all sense of her noble vocabulary, in the presence of a king , no less, but Aang… There was something about him that eluded every regal, noble wall she had spent so much time meticulously constructing to hide any sense of a personality from the world of the Ton.
♔ ♕ 🜲 - ♔ ♕ 🜲
“You know, I’m almost certain that teasing your king could be considered treason.”
She shook her head slowly, mockingly, as she smiled innocently back up at him. “Do you always accuse those who attempt to flirt with you as being treasonous?” She knew she was being overly daring, much more than she should be around the newly-appointed young king, but she didn’t care. Aang was a breath of fresh air among the stuffy suits and pig-minded noblemen that seemed to frequent the Ton.
His eyes sparkled in response to her playful tone, the way she met his eyes unblinking. “ Are you attempting to flirt with me, Princess Katara?”
♔ ♕ 🜲 - ♔ ♕ 🜲
“These look familiar, somehow,” Aang mused, his tone contemplative.
“Ah,” Katara nodded softly as she fixed her gaze to where Aang’s fingertips caressed stone. “These carvings are traditional, in my tribe. There are similar runes carved in-” Her words caught in her throat for a moment, and she coughed once, quietly, before continuing. “In my mother’s necklace.”
“The one you wore during the ceremony? With the pale blue stone?”
“Y-Yes.” Katara looked up, caught off guard. “I hadn’t... I hadn't realized that you’d paid that much attention to what I was wearing.”
As much as he tried not to, his eyes drifted to her lips, her neck, her gown. “How could I not?”
Katara flushed pink, hurriedly breaking their eye contact as she felt sparks of chemistry sizzle in the look Aang had fixed her with.
♔ ♕ 🜲 - ♔ ♕ 🜲
♥ if you'd like to check out the rest of this one-shot, and my other kataang works, head over here to my ao3 ->
ugh they INVENTED love and no i will not be taking critiques on this opinion bcos its not an opinion its a fact 🙄
katara being the first thing aang sees when he opens his eyes after being stuck in an iceberg for 100 years then him never wanting to ever look away
KATAANG STANS!!!
i need your input.
i'm currently working on a bridgerton-esque kataang oneshot (and by bridgerton-esque i mean vaugely in that era but probably filled with inaccuracies lol) and i'm wondering what types of scenes in that style people have always wanted to see played out with kataang.
in this fic, they do have bending, and aang is basically the very newly appointed king (for reasons that will be elaborated on in the fic), while katara is a high ranking soon-to-be noblewoman just making her debut this season.
i definitely want to throw in a corset lacing scene, and i had a really fun idea where aang uses airbending to dry out every man's quill every time they try to add their name to katara's dance card, but i'd love love love to bring some other ideas to light so if anyone has some regency-era-inspired kataang suggestions, i'm all ears!!<3:)
i love how silly they are together 🤧
here's an underrated moment from 'avatar day' (s2e5): katara almost combusts from laughing at aang as he is making fun of sokka.
she was down horrendously