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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 đ my new 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.
also...cmon....how funny is it to switch zuko and aang's iconic dialogue to "you're just a teenager!" "...so are you?"
this idea was originally inspired by the talented @allgremlinart's aged up aang drawings, so please go show them some love!!:)<3
enjoy the excerpts from chapters one and two!
ââșËł â§àŒ ËËË âĄ ËËËàŽŻ â©
Aang chuckled, pushing himself up with his hands on his knees. He was⊠taller than Katara had realised, taller than Sokka. He rubbed a hand on the back of his neck, turning to look over his shoulder at the remains of the boulder-sized chunk of ice he had just been blasted out of. âAang. My nameâs Aang.â He hesitated, momentarily seeming to puzzle something over. âAnd honestly? No clue. Donât remember how me andâŠAppa!â He yelped, suddenly scrambling back over the hill of ice and snow. Katara followed him without thinking, and Sokka, grumbling under his breath, followed moments later.Â
ââșËł â§àŒ ËËË âĄ ËËËàŽŻ â©
âSo, youâve brought a monster to invade the village, then? Youâre some incognito Fire Nation soldier sent in as an undercover scout? Well, Iâll have you know that Iâm the villageâs strongest warrior, a-â
âThe only warrior,â Katara chimed in, lightly elbowing Sokkaâs side, earning herself a responding glare.Â
âThe strongest warrior.â Sokka reiterated. âAnd I donât much like firebenders.â He added the words pointedly.
âAh.â Aang titled his head. âThatâs a shame. Some of my closest friends are Fire Nation.â
âOf course they are,â Sokka glared, hunching over into a defensive position and adjusting his fishing spear until it pointed directly at Aang.
ââșËł â§àŒ ËËË âĄ ËËËàŽŻ â©
Katara still wasnât quite sure what to make of Aang. The Water Tribe boys had always been all flashy muscles, seal-jerky breath, and overconfidence, so Katara had never seen someone move, carry themself, the way Aang did.Â
ââșËł â§àŒ ËËË âĄ ËËËàŽŻ â©
Katara had admittedly forgotten how much fun penguin sledding was. âSpirits, I havenât done this since I was a kid!â she called to Aang as he raced past her, surprisingly skilled considering that heâd never even seen a penguin until half an hour before.Â
âYou still are a kid!â He called back over his shoulder. âA kid whoâs losing this race, badly !â
Kataraâs competitive streak reared its head, her eyes narrowing as Aang stuck out his tongue. She sat up slightly, no longer gripping the penguinâs fur as tightly. âYou wish!â She shouted back the words as she raised her hands, breathing deeply. Her hands moved through the positions she had practised from the few bending scrolls the tribe still held on to, and before Aang knew it, the snow in front of Katara turned to ice, and she shot past him as his own ice trail suddenly became dry snow with too much friction to slide on.Â
She made it to the bottom of the hill, beaming, breathing heavily. The wind had whipped her hair out of her bun, and she knew without checking that her hair must have looked like a lion-turtleâs mane. She watched as Aang made a show of drying himself off with a gust of wind that he then redirected at her, messing up her curls even more.Â
âYouâre a cheater !â Aang gasped, mockingly clutching imaginary pearls at his throat. âI demand a rematch.â
Katara strode past him, only turning her head to cast him a smug smirk. âMaybe youâre just not as good of a penguin sledder as you thought .â
âOh, not so fast!â Aang grabbed her wrist, tugging her back towards him, and she internally questioned why the momentary brush of their skin made her heart flip. He tried to trip her, she tried to flip him, and they both ended up on their backs in the snow, giggling, cheeks and noses bright pink from the cold.Â
ââșËł â§àŒ ËËË âĄ ËËËàŽŻ â©
âTrouble sleeping too, huh?â Aang cocked a grin, tilting his head to Katara. She kept her eyes fixed upwards, trained on the moon and the stars, worried that if she looked away, sheâd end up staring into his eyes like a weirdo.Â
âI always feel so awake with the moonâs light on me. Sleeping under the stars has never really been a thing that works. Itâs too energising, too⊠too much. Itâs hard to explain.â
âNo, no⊠I get it. I feel the same way in a windstorm, all those breezes and gusts of wind, it feels⊠exhilarating.â She watched through her peripheral vision as he looked up at the moon. âIn times of war, I think we all tend to forget how spiritual bending is at its core. Iâd say itâs a good thing that youâre in touch enough with the origins of your abilities to feel the moonâs pull tug at you just as much as it does on the ocean.âÂ
ââșËł â§àŒ ËËË âĄ ËËËàŽŻ â©
Aang smiled back. âNow is our time to try to make up for that. I canât bring back everyone who was hurt in this war, and you canât bring back your mother, but together, the two-, three of us can make sure it doesnât happen to anyone else.â
âIâd like that,â Katara exhaled, her breath calming down and tears dissipating. The two spent hours talking back and forth, exchanging the stories of their respective childhoods. Katara learned that Aang had invented several new bending moves and had been a big fan of fruit pies, while Aang learned that Katara had always been the bossier one between her and Sokka and that she had almost chipped a tooth on seal jerky when she was six. They continued talking back and forth in increasingly hushed tones until the world faded away under the cover of clouds and sleep.
Katara awoke to the loud shout of her brother.Â
âWakey wakey, lovebirds!â he yelped, chucking a rock-hard stick of seal jerky at both of them.Â
âOuch, Sokka !â Katara snapped at him, rubbing her head at the spot where she had been hit, before realising that she was leaning against Aang and immediately jumping away, blushing furiously.Â
i love writing sokka, so i've thrown some of my favourite lines of his from my fanfic "the teenager in the iceberg" together, so that they can be properly appreciated <3 >:)
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Sokka continued, his voice both indignant and commanding.âWe donât even know your name, Mr. Walking Ice Cube! What were you doing in there? Were you trying to mimic a snow-man and you got too carried away?âÂ
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âSo, youâve brought a monster to invade the village, then? Youâre some incognito Fire Nation soldier sent in as an undercover scout? Well, Iâll have you know that Iâm the villageâs strongest warrior, a-â
âThe only warrior,â Katara chimed in, lightly elbowing Sokkaâs side, earning herself a responding glare.Â
âThe strongest warrior.â Sokka reiterated. âAnd I donât much like firebenders.â He added the words pointedly.
âAh.â Aang titled his head. âThatâs a shame. Some of my closest friends are Fire Nation.â
âOf course they are,â Sokka glared, hunching over into a defensive position and adjusting his fishing spear until it pointed directly at Aang.
---
âAppa can give us a lift?â Sokka said incredulously. He gestured at the sky bison, sprawled across the ice and looking as though he could sleep for weeks longer. âIf anything, he looks like he needs us to lift him up off the ground.â
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Naturally, Sokka was still a skeptic. âA pulley system! Hot air from a hidden firebender! Secret underwater sea-vents! Or maybe we all ate something funny and all of this is all in our headsâŠÂ â He finished off his sentence by wiggling his fingers as if he was ready to cast a spell.
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Sokka nodded sharply. âHeâs our responsibility, no matter how much I berated him when we met earlier. We need to find that sky monster of his, itâs the only way weâll be able to catch up with the ship.â
âAang called it a sky bison.â
âHe also didnât tell us that he was the Avatar, so Iâm not sure if we can take everything he says at face value,â Sokka pointed out as Katara rolled her eyes. He cocked a grin. âCâmon, let's go get the little guy.â
âAangâs taller than you!â Katara called after him, rushing to keep up with Sokkaâs longer strides.
âSure, in his dreams !â The decidedly-shorter-than-Aang boy called back.Â
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âHereâs the deal, bucko.â Sokka said matter of factly, accompanying his words with sharp gestures and exaggerated syllables, as if Appa was deaf. âYour friend needs your help, and WE need YOUR help to get to him. You get the picture?â Without waiting for any kind of affirmation, Sokka nodded briskly then scrambled up to Appaâs back, settling into what appeared to be the driver's seat.Â
Appa did not move, didnât even blink.
Sokka blinked, utterly bewildered. âHow do we get him to, yâknow, go ?â
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âHeâs not gonna-â Sokka started, but as Katara slid onto Appaâs back, they felt him begin to levitate. Sokka huffed, crossing his arms dramatically. âSpirits, I hate when youâre right and Iâm wrong.â Too concerned to snap a retort back at Sokka, Katara just settled down into her seat, anxiously picking at the leather of her coat.Â
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Katara awoke to the loud shout of her brother.Â
âWakey wakey, lovebirds!â he yelped, chucking a rock-hard stick of seal jerky at both of them.Â
âOuch, Sokka!â Katara snapped at him, rubbing her head at the spot where she had been hit, before realising that she was leaning against Aang and immediately jumping away, blushing furiously.Â
---
he's so sassy and funny i love sokka so much
the following is an excerpt from my new ATLA aang is aaged up AU fanfic!! (or at least, a teaser from the upcoming update on wednesday) (!!!!) (so excited bc u guys seemed to really like the first ch and left so many lovely comments!!
i present to you, a little sample of ch2 of "the teenager in the iceberg"!!!
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The trio flew on through the sunset, until Tui rose above them, pulling the colour out of the sky as if she were weaving onyx black strands of soft wool into the most beautiful of tapestries. Katara settled on her back, tugging her fur lined overcoat closer, huddled against Sokka, who was in turn huddled against Aang for warmth. Moonlight and starlight bathed the three in enough light that neither Katara nor Aang could sleep, although Sokka seemed to be snoring away just fine. After a few hours of fruitless attempts to slip into dreamland, both Katara and Aang rose from their respective spots beside Sokka and moved to sit in the driverâs bench.
âTrouble sleeping too, huh?â Aang cocked a grin, tilting his head to Katara. She kept her eyes fixed upwards, trained on the moon and the stars, worried that if she looked away, sheâd end up staring into his eyes like a weirdo.Â
âI always feel so awake with the moonâs light on me. Sleeping under the stars has never really been a thing that works. Itâs too energising, too⊠too much. Itâs hard to explain.â
âNo, no⊠I get it. I feel the same way in a windstorm, all those breezes and gusts of wind, it feels⊠exhilarating.â She watched through her peripheral vision as he looked up at the moon. âIn times of war, I think we all tend to forget how spiritual bending is at its core. Iâd say itâs a good thing that youâre in touch enough with the origins of your abilities to feel the moonâs pull tug at you just as much as it does on the ocean.â Katara raised an eyebrow at the cheesy sincerity, and he chuckled in response. âIâm serious! Out of all the nations, Airbenders have the highest rate of benders, and Iâve always felt like itâs because of how much we connect to the spiritual aspect of all of this. We feel our element through our veins, we acknowledge its origins, we treat it as a sacred art.â
Katara nodded, puzzling it all over. âI wish Iâd gotten to learn bending as a child properly, the way you did, with the stories of its origins and the teaching of precise bending forms.â
Aangâs brows wrinkled at this. âYou- you didnât get a teacher? But⊠werenât you the one to break me out of the iceberg?â
âYouâre looking at the last Waterbender of the Southern Tribe.â She sighed, hanging her head. âEverything I know about my bending was either made up through trial and error, or scraped together by bits and pieces of the few bending scrolls my tribe held on to. Weâve never believed in building fortresses and kingdoms the way the Northern Tribe does, and so, when the Fire Nation raids began⊠our waterbending numbers just continued to dwindle as they were defeated and taken to Spirits know where.â She bit her lip, trying desperately to steady her voice.
âThat's⊠thatâs how my mother passed. I was there, in the tent, when she wasâŠkilled.â
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just finished the draft!! 4,424 words baybeeee!!!! you guys are eating GOOD w this update. releasing wednesday morning:))) catch up on the first chapter before then here ->