So... Fanfic Writers Of Tumblr, What Is The Worst Occurrence Of The Fanfic Curse You've Ever Experienced?

i did my very first "no beta we die like" tag and i feel that this was a very appropriate tag choice for an atla fanfic.

no love story trope will ever hit quite as hard as "two traumatized teens (often) with unique abilities who are forced to save the world each help the other shoulder the burden of their respective destinies and slowly become each others safe places as they shift from friends to something more."

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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!

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

i do not trust people who hate aang/katara/or sokka but say they love they other two. like LOOK at them. this is a a three for one deal.

PSA for all my fanfic writers- CONSIDER USING NOTION AS AN ORGANIZATION SYSTEM FOR WRITING!!

it only just occurred to me that i could use notion to plan out my fanfic writing and just UGH LOOK AT THE BEAUTY!!^

i can put all my fics together and keep track of pairings & how complete they are!!!

AND give them all little covers!!!!

seriously you guys need to try this it is beyond satisfying🤭

the template i used to make this is linked here 🤍 enjoy!!!

my #1 tip for making the workday go faster at ur minimum wage service job is to pretend you are cinderella and are being forced to cook lukewarm pre-frozen chicken strips for your ungrateful stepsisters and stepmother

The moment that the sliding door of their rented room clicked shut behind her, Katara heard shuffling, a groggy voice whispering. “Katara? Is that you?”

“Aang?” She whisper-shouted back, blinking into the darkness. She fumbled around by the door until she managed to grab a sea-moss lantern by the door and tugged off the cover. Immediately, what the lantern illuminated had her in stitches. Aang was there, sprawled across a thin bamboo mat, clearly half-asleep, but for whatever reason, not in the bedroom he shared with Sokka. She settled down onto a floor cushion next to him, still giggling at the way he continued to groggily blink at her. “What are you still doing up?”

He pulled himself up onto his elbows, rubbing at his eyes in a way that reminded Katara of a seal-penguin pup. “I went to check on you before bed, but you weren’t in your room. I wanted to make sure you got home alright.”

She wrinkled her nose at him teasingly. “What, you thought I was kidnapped or something? Joining an illegal street fighting ring? You can trust me to be able to take care of myself, you know.”

“Firstly, you and I both know that with how our sparring went back at Jet’s compound, if anyone is winning a street fight between the two of us, it’s me .” Mock-offended, Katara parted her lips to respond before Aang held up a hand to stop her. “And secondly,” He continued, grinning slightly as Katara stuck out her tongue at him, “I know full well that you can do much more than just hold your own. But that doesn’t mean I don’t worry about you, Katara.” She felt her heart beat sporadically for a moment, and instantly wanted to curse at herself. 

“So what were you up to, Ms. Street Fighter?”

“For the record, I would have a much cooler fighting name than that,” Katara huffed, reaching up to gather her hair over her shoulder.

-ch8 of the teenager in the iceberg by quillthrills

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:)

Aang Makes a Betrothal Necklace. (ln response to this post.)