Macabre Fairy Tale

ZK Week 2026: COURT (for Depiction)

.

Arcane AU:

Enforcer Zuko Kasai has a very simple task: survive in the Undercity long enough to complete his mission, and do so without calling forth Councillor Ozai's wrath. Again.

The people of Zaun aren't making his job any easier. He sympathizes with their cause, he truly does, but if Katara blows up another factory, Zuko swears he'll jump off a bridge before Father's goons can get to him. How is he supposed to reclaim his status as the Kasai Heir in these conditions?

(The solution finds him when a strange kid with a connection to the Arcane drops on Katara and Sokka's doorstep. Naturally, it all goes downhill from there.)

.

Depiction AU:

Manipulation comes in the wording of things. It's easy to win an entire Court when empathy is turned into a weapon. Luckily for their mission, Katara—Master Waterbender, Tempest of the Fire Nation, Fiancée of the Crown Prince—has always been a people person.

ZK Week 2026: TIME

.

Erased AU:

A lifetime of breaking involuntary time-loops has made Katara an expert at preventing tragedies. But nothing could have prepared her for finding Sokka's body, being framed for his murder, and having her consciousness sent all the way back to her childhood.

Time has a morbid sense of humor.

Now, Katara has the chance to stop the chain of events that will cause her brother's death—starting by saving her reclusive classmate, Zuko Kasai, from becoming a serial killer's first victim.

.

Catching My Reflection AU:

Mom died, and Katara started dreaming of memories that weren't her own. Little things, innocuous warnings, slow-coming over the years. Keep Sokka away from fish hooks. Teach Bato to make burn ointment. Sit on the village wall and stare at the ocean, waiting for an old ship to appear on the horizon.

Father scarred him and cast him out, and memories consumed Zuko. He drowned in them, sudden and unapologetic. Visions of all the mistakes he made in a future that wasn't his, so he wouldn't choose the wrong path this time. Play Pai Sho with Uncle and thank him for the tea. Write to Azula, tell her she's something beyond Ozai's weapon. Go to the South Pole, know you're not alone.

Find the others, and wait for them to wake up.

ZK Week 2026: LEGACY (for KING)

.

Deep Water AU:

Itijuk knows who he is and what he wants. The life of Prince Zuko is far behind him, buried under a sunken ship. His fate was chosen when Hakoda saved him from the water's depths and named him a survivor. This will be his destiny, if he has any say in the matter.

(As it turns out, he doesn't.)

.

Or: When the Chief's daughter carries the Avatar's dead body into the Southern Warrior's camp, Zuko finds there's some things one cannot forsake.

.

KING AU:

Come morning, Ozai will be Fire Lord. His wife has planted poison in his father's tea and joined dinner to secure an alibi. Pointless, he thinks, she will be gone by dawn as well. Ozai doesn't spare her a second glance. He's busy with his glory. Busy with his drink.

Suddenly, the world blurs and his hands begin to tremble.

“Oh, dear husband,” Ursa whispers lovingly in his ear as Fire Lord Azulon bursts into the room, Royal Guards trailing behind him. “You never did appreciate subtlety.”

(Come morning, Ozai is found dead in his cell.) .

Zutaraweek 2026 Day 6: Court

What if Zutara… but they’re in a trite-but-fun tennis-themed romance novel?

I like to imagine the cover would look something like this. This is not an actual book! Just a concept I came up with. The illustration was hand-drawn in procreate.

Some fun facts for tennis lovers & alternate versions under the cut off:

Zutara Week 2026 Day 6: Court

Zuko was not subtle at all when he started trying to court Katara... 🌸 @zutaraweek

zutara week 2026

Inspired by East Slavic folklore: souls of ancestors feed on the steam of borscht.

Headcanon: Witch MC believes she descends from Zmey Gorynych, a 3-headed dragon slain by humans in ancient times.

So she brews a bowl of borscht to summon its soul and forge a connection with it.