Stalking Vengeance
Something roams the killing places, sniffing the guilt of the slayers, stalking them on iron paws.
Artist: Anthony S. Waters
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thinking about zuko’s “i don’t know who i’m angry at (etc etc)” and how azula’s voice goes all soft and kinda cracks when she says “is it dad?”. azula who has to be her father’s daughter, because zuko got to be their mother’s son.
and if she’s angry at him it wouldn’t matter. it won’t change that she has to do whatever he says. anger would be irrational. she’s not angry at him.
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Parallels between Gale and Jet:
Around the same age.
Both live in the woods but not because they feel alive there but because that’s their only way to survive. As soon as the opportunity arises both choose to live in another city. For Gale that is district Two‘s military ground and for Jet Ba Sing Se.
Both choose revenge over peace and healing to the point it consumes their mind and they don’t see how citizens of the fire nation / the capitol are under indoctrination and threat as well.
Won’t grant forgiveness, even if those civilians flee to join the side of the rebels.
The moment Iroh and Zuko arrive at Ba Sing Se as refugees and the moment the prep team is released from the prison cells in 13, so they can go freely as refugees, both Jet and Gale treat them as less and deserving of punishment.
Casualties from the Nut in Two and the village near the dam are more than tolerable to them.
They don’t let their better side, represented by Katara and Katniss, in on their plans because they are more demanding than understanding. For Gale that would be the design of the second bomb, for Jet as seen above, when he lied to Aang and Katara about there being a forest fire.
Even their handling of the situation is similar as neither would go as far as pushing others to do as the see fit, yet won’t hold back from blaming them by being passive aggressive and guilt tripping.
This gets evident when we see how they react once a new and more peaceful way opens up. They still hold on, even regretting a missed opportunity:
They have enemies rather than a problem that needs to be fixed, which is a kind of perspective that endangers meaningful connections, so that they loose sight of what it is that they fight for.
The freedom fighters call Jet out until he decides to continue without them, basically turning his back on them and Katniss confronts Gale about the parachute bomb before releasing him.
They start thinking just like the enemy, looking for justifications of their actions. In fact, they adapt the mind of their enemy to reach the same greatness, to maximize the damage, subdue them, to equalize the damage. Because to them justice can only be repaid but never not redefined. An eye for an eye. A hug for an eye appears to mean to eschew to Gale and Jet. So much really, that the counter to control can’t be something less rigid, hence freedom will be of secondary importance.
From the hope leaks rancour.
Chasing an aim can sometimes disguise as escaping a threat that one fixates on, becomes obsessed with.
And sacrificing their sanity appears to them to be the most noble act.
Vengeance is their response but that merely perpetuates the cycle of violence.
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Fic Rec: Honor & Vengeance On The High Seas, by DisConsulate / @paramouradrift
Seriously one of my favorite Avatar: The Last Airbender Fics. Zuko-centric, where he winds up leading his crew into piracy for a canon-divergent telling of Book One (with a whole lotta bonus gay angsting).
It does a beautiful job of balancing Zuko’s growth and development into a leader with him still being a shouty little ponytail jackass with a lot of unprocessed trauma in a way that isn’t dissonant, and feels authentic to the character, despite the different circumstances now shaping his arc. And as a nautical nerd, I am in love with all the research and worldbuilding and naval tactics that play a major role throughout. The characterization is fantastic, with a whole cast of original characters that feel real and complex and important, and the plot and action are great. And while it adheres to some of the main beats of the show with events from certain episodes still transpiring, it differs enough in how the chips fall in those events that it never feels like a rehashed retelling.
Also, poor Zuko is having a whole lot of sexual adolescent angst and queer anxiety while committing treason on the high seas, so. Gay Pirate Zuko ftw!
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