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raewritez · 1 year

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for the want of the sun| chapter 17: onwards

The Misty Palms oasis is less like an oasis, and more like a water hole. More like a puddle in the sand. It’s evening, the sun low but still impossibly hot. My skin is damp, and I’m dragging my feet as I follow Iroh and Zuko through the small town.

Zuko scours our surroundings, the men cooped up in corners, the people leering from the scarce shade. “No one here is going to help us. These people just look like filthy wanderers.”

I roll my eyes. “We’re filthy wanderers, Zuko.”

Iroh stops suddenly, and with my mind foggy from exhaustion, I run into him. He barely falters. He raises his arm, pointing. “I think I found our friend.”

It’s an old man, sitting at a table and fiddling with what looks like a cheap Pai Sho set.

“You brought us here to gamble on Pai Sho?” Zuko hisses.

“I do not think it’s a gamble,” Iroh muses, and walks forward. Zuko meets my eyes with a tired expression, one I’m sure I’m matching.

“I don’t know if I can make it through this,” I mutter, watching as Iroh takes a seat across from the man.

“Me either,” Zuko groans, but nudges me along. We go to stand beside them.

“The guest has the first move,” the stranger says, and Iroh places a tile, the lotus, in the center of the board. I see the man’s lips quirk up, a curious and pensive expression overtaking his face. “I see you favor the white lotus gambit. Not many still cling to the ancient ways.”

Iroh nods. “Those who do can always find a friend.”

Zuko and I share a look. Huh?

The two place their tiles on the board, one after the other, until a shape emerges. I look at the pattern: like a flower. A lotus.

“Welcome, brother,” the man says. “The White Lotus opens wise to those who know her secrets.”

“What are you old gasbags talking about?” Zuko exclaims.

Iroh glances at him. “I always tried to tell you that Pai Sho is more than just a game.”

“Hey!” A yell sounds from behind us. Two men, dressed in Earth Kingdom clothing, are walking towards us quickly. “It’s over! You fugitives are coming with me!”

The Pai Sho man whips around in front of us and grabs my shoulders. I’m too startled to pull back. “I knew it! You three are wanted criminals with a giant bounty on your heads!”

“I thought you said he would help!” Zuko yells, pushing the man away from me with force. He stumbles on his heels.

Iroh places a hand on his shoulder. “He is. Just watch.”

The stranger rights himself up and points at the two intruders. “You think you’re going to capture them and collect all that gold?”

The effect is instant. Suddenly, from every direction, men and women are coming out of their places of hiding, knives, chains, and swords gleaming.

I step near Zuko. “This is helping?”

Someone yells, and the people run towards each other into a mob. I’m shielding my face, ducking, when Zuko grabs my arm and lifts me away. He pulls us behind Iroh and the stranger, and we duck inside a small door.The man closes it behind us, latching the lock.

Zuko is still gripping my arm, so I nudge him. He looks down and releases it quickly.

“It is an honor to welcome such a high-ranking member of the Order of the White Lotus. You must know may secrets.”

“What’s going on?” I ask desperately.

“Now that you played Pai Sho, are you going to do some flower arranging, or is someone in this club going to offer some real help?”

“You must forgive my nephew,” Iroh says. “He is not an initiate and has little appreciation for the cryptic arts.” He sends Zuko a look, but I can’t say I’m not on his side.

“Okay, but actually, is someone going to help us?”

They ignore me. The man leads Iroh to a small, hidden door, where someone is looking through from the other side. “Who knocks at the garden gate?” the voice asks.

“One who has eaten the fruit and tasted its mysteries.”

I shake my head. I think the desert is making me insane.

The door opens, and a short man steps aside to welcome Iroh in. I go to follow, but he turns back to us.

“It’s members only, sorry.” The door shuts.

I turn to Zuko helplessly. “Are we going crazy?”

He’s staring, annoyed, at the door, but then a tired smile twitches at his lips. “I think we did a long time ago.”

—

A thud shakes me awake. I lift my head from the wall where I’m slumped, next to Zuko. We share a look, both of us still weighed down by sleep.

“Is the meeting over?” Zuko asks. His voice is hoarse and raspy, which for some reason sends a jolt through me.

“Everything is taken care of,” Iroh says. “We’re heading to Ba Sing Se.”

“Ba Sing Se?” I question, rubbing my eyes. “What-”

Zuko interjects. “Why would we go to the Earth Kingdom capital?”

The Pai Sho man answers calmly. “The city's filled with refugees. Nobody will notice three more.”

“We can hide in plain sight there. And, it’s the safest place in the world from the Fire Nation.” Iroh chuckles. “Even I couldn’t break through to the city.”

A bell rings, and a boy enters the shop, carrying pamphlets of paper. Everyone turns to him. “I have the passports for our guests. But there are two men outside looking for them.”

“Okay,” the Pai Sho man says. “Then it’s time to sneak out.”

He ushers us near the door, where three large flower pots line the wall. He points, smiling. “In you go.”

—

We arrive at the ferry dock early in the morning. Our driver leads us inside, instructs us to hand our passports to an elderly looking man at a wooden desk, and leaves, sharing some cryptic words with Iroh that leaves my head spinning from lack of sleep.

We board the ferry and leave the port, and the sea air is welcome on my skin. After days of traveling through dust and grime, and a night spent in ceramic flower pots, I tilt my face to the sun, smiling. The boat workers bring us plates of food that look suspiciously translucent.

Iroh approaches us, dressed in an ostentatious floral hat. It’s too early for this.

“Who would’ve thought that after all these years I’d be returning to Ba Sing Se as a tourist!” His smile is wide and he adjusts the hat on his head.

“Well, you’ve got the look down,” I say, gesturing to his outfit. He nods proudly.

Zuko scoffs, sitting beside me, feet hanging off the edge of the ferry. “Look around. We’re not tourists, we’re refugees.” He takes a bite of his food, and I watch as his eyes widen before he spits it out. “Ugh!” he exclaims.

I chuckle. I wouldn’t have dared to eat it.

Zuko storms. “I’m sick of eating rotten food, of sleeping in the dirt. I’m sick of living like this!”

“Aren’t we all?” a voice drones.

I turn around to see a boy standing against the deck post, and…oh. He’s tall, his tan skin dewy in the soft morning light, his dark hair framing his face. He has a rugged look to him, like he has experience in the struggles Zuko was ranting about. He sweeps his eyes over us, and when they meet mine, I have to fight not to look away. He locks our gaze, his lips twitch up at the ends.

“My name’s Jet,” the boy says, standing. “These are my Freedom Fighters, Smellerbee and Longshot.” He gestures to two others: a very tall boy with serious looking features, and a short girl covered with face paint.

The girl nods. “Hey.”

“Hi,” I nod back. When I look back at Jet, he’s still smirking.

“Here’s the deal,” he says. “I hear the captain’s eating like a king while the rest of us have to live off his scraps. Doesn’t seem fair, does it?” Zuko straightens up beside me.

“What kind of king is he eating like?” Iroh asks.

“The fat, happy kind,” Jet answers flatly. He looks at Zuko. “You want to help us liberate some food?”

Zuko tosses his bowl of food to the side. “I’m in.”

I stand up. “I can help, too.”

Again, that smirk. Jet walks closer. “Don’t worry about it, sweetheart. Just let us do the work.”

I eye him steadily. “I can help. I think you’d rather have me with you.” I look at Zuko, urging him with my eyes to jump in.

“Right, yeah,” he says, a moment later. “She’s good. She can chi-block.”

Jet raises his eyebrows. “Chi-block, huh? That’s pretty advanced. Where’d you learn to do that?” I catch the flash of suspicion in his eyes.

“Self-taught,” I shrug.

His eyes linger on me a moment longer before he finally nods. “Okay. Regroup at nightfall. We're gonna have a real meal tonight.”

---

taglist: @aquaamethyst96 @kaygilles

a/n: AYYYY. FINALLY OFF TO BA SING SE. ENOUGH FILLER, LET'S GET SOME PLOT IN THE CHAT. IT'S SLOW BURN TIME BABIES.

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harbingerofsoup · 10 months

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there’s death of the author and then there’s whatever the fuck is up with danny phantom

#danny phantom #death of the author #most of the lore is fan made #a decent chunk of the fandom hasn’t even seen the show #one of the most beloved side characters isn’t an actual character #because we made him up based on a like 2 second clip #he’s not even the only widely accepted fan made character #because we spawned more from him #and we ba sing se-ed ourselves about phantom planet #dannypocalypse is also a thing #it doesn’t have anything to do with death of the author #but it’s important to me that we’ve pulled off a successful fandom apocalypse #every year since i think 2017

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pokidokieships · 15 days

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Thinking about zutara in the finale outfits…. this is my canon ending 🌸💕

#zutara #Zuko x Katara #katara x zuko #katara #katara of the southern water tribe #Zuko #Prince Zuko #atla #avatar the last airbender #zutara fanart #atla fanart #natla #netflix avatar #avatar live action #ba sing se #earth kingdom #I really love these outfits… wish we saw more of the gaang in them #myart

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sergle · 1 month

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what I was talking abt earlier. we have fully looped back around and away from feminism, societally, whereas before it was very Feminism 101 to acknowledge that many parts of existing as a woman in a misogynistic society are painful and upsetting. not that being a woman is Inherently Negative in a bubble. but that living on this earth, in the conditions we're living in, is hostile to women. and that gender is a performance. that many of the Staples Of Femininity as accepted by society are things that you have to create and perform and mold artificially and aren't inherent, that COMPLAINING about day to day difficulties of existing as a woman is something that you're allowed to do. acknowledging these basic, again, feminism 101 things, that something tied to womanhood is more time consuming or more expensive or more dangerous Because Of The Problems. does not CREATE the problems. that when women complain about having to perform femininity, they are not, in fact, oppressing themselves. the call does not come from inside the fucking house. saying that you HAVE suffered does not fucking equate that you believe you SHOULD have suffered.

like I could talk about this for hours. how braindead and one-dimensional the Takes are getting. "being a woman is looking in the mirror and going fuck yeah i'm a woman" damn. I guess any negative experiences you have by living in a misogynistic world... are your fault if you are anything but positive? "you don't actually want liberation" we've fully gone back to telling feminists "you WANT to be oppressed" when anything negative about our society is pointed out. it's not real until I say it out loud, I guess, and then I'm actually the one who caused it. if anybody expresses any unhappiness with how they're treated or the status quo or the language and culture surrounding womanhood and femininity. they've created it, right that second. they invented it just now. it wasn't a problem before somebody complained, right? also trans women aren't braindead zombies who just follow the flow of whatever cis women around them say. I am pretty fucking sure they are very much aware of pain, and are MORE than aware of the swirling torrent of misogyny and standards of femininity than anybody else. actually. and I am pretty sure someone complaining on tumblr that being a woman means always putting on a performance is going to make someone change their mind about transitioning. also "performing femininity" as a necessity to being treated well as a woman is not fucking NEWS to your Local Trans Woman. I AM PRETTY SURE SHE GETS THE CONCEPT. using trans women as a scapegoat for this braindead perspective on gender politics is spineless, meritless, and pathetic.

#how I feel about my gender is not the same as how I feel about the living conditions of my gender #when I saw that post I screenshotted here I literally sat w my mouth open for a minute #sent it to my friends and was like am I fucking crazy. is this what we're doing now #Forced Positivity and that there is no war in ba sing se and actually #you're ruining children's lives if you complain about misogyny on twitter #I don't HAVE to tell little girls about the downsides because they are already being mistreated #before they have even heard the word 'misogyny' let alone know what it means #you do not have to be fucking happy all the time about the cards you're dealt.#you don't live in a bubble where it's just you and your mirror and your pretty dress and nothing bad has ever happened to you #unfortunately bitch. we will have negative experiences that are in fact. part of the package of being a woman #and IGNORING them doesn't make them not exist. actually they will continue to remain status quo unless acknowledged #sergle.txt #I see so much rhetoric that is JUST old-fashioned gender ideals being presented with liberal language on tiktok #that is just telling women that womanhood is just being a girllll and loving pretty things and being kind and gentleeeee and nurturing #and not working and just like being wholesome and being happy and being a light in ppl's lives and just LOVING LOVING LOVING being a woman #so if for even one second. you don't love it. you are actually failing at being a woman #if you complain about the standards for shaving or putting on makeup. which used to be Baby's First Feminism online #that's actually just you creating problems. you're not supposed to acknowledge it. you're supposed to shut up and smile into the mirror.

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dathomirdumpsterfire · 4 months

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i feel like maul would get into tea because the perfectionism and theatre of good tea making would appeal to his inner neurotic thespian. he would also just enjoy flavors, after knowing food scarcity. a small 6oz cup is probably the right rate of hydration for him post lotho minor, on fuckin repeat all day of course, so i imagine he picked the habit up naturally.

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a-witch-in-endor · 26 days

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Chapters: 19/30 Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: The Gaang & Zuko (Avatar), Zuko & the Fire Sages, Sokka/Zuko (Avatar), Yue & Zuko (Avatar), Azula & Zuko (Avatar) Characters: Zuko (Avatar), The Gaang (Avatar), Yue (Avatar), Azula (Avatar), Zuko's Hat Additional Tags: Funny Hat Zuko AU, Fire Sage Zuko AU, Ozai (Avatar) Being a Terrible Parent, Found Family, Fire Hazard Siblings, canon-typical child abuse, Zuko is the Temple's Baby Nerd, Worldbuilding, Zuko Joins The Gaang Early (Avatar), Zuko has never met a hill he wasn't ready to die on, Autism Summary:

High Sage Kenji blesses Fire Prince Zuko with the resilience of the reed, who bends in the wind and never breaks. When he is done, Fire Prince Ozai narrows his eyes, seemingly displeased by this blessing. But Kenji does not speak for himself; he is only a vessel.

-

The newly-crowned Fire Lord Ozai offers his firstborn son to service in the temple.

This turns out to be a catastrophic mistake.

#while mighty oaks do fall #funny hat au #fire sage zuko #sorry for the long disappearance #life got hard #have a 14k chapter because - as always - I wrote way more than I expected to #“It’s hardly like there’s some kind of trouble we could get into by succumbing to Zuko’s passion for paperwork.”#welcome to ba sing se #joo dee 4ever

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luzho · 1 year

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(based on this post by @waterfire1848) what if: sokka and zuko befriend each other in ba sing se!! after the initial shock, they eventually trust each other and even get matching earrings! besties!!

[ID: This is a three panel comic of a conversation between Sokka in his regular outfit, and Zuko as the Blue Spirit, both drawn in warm colors during a sunset. The first panel is a panoramic view of the two sitting on top of a roof in the Ba Sing Se skyline, surrounded by artificial lights. In the second panel, Sokka attentively watches a serious Zuko saying: “Halloween is so stupid. Dressing up, pretending to be someone you’re not...”. In the third panel, Sokka grabs at Zuko’s shoulder with one hand and gestures wildly with another, telling him: “You are the Blue Spirit!”; to which, he only looks away embarrassed and softly responds: “I know...”. End ID]

#my art #zukka #i love how dramatic they both are... they're so silly when together #i also adore those fics in which they meet in ba sing se and try to keep their friendship a secret only to be later discovered by toph:)#this is my love letter to those aus..... thank you so much #also: i once again posed for this thing... i know EXACTLY how sokka would move his hands... we understand each other #ANYWAY back to the tags #zukka nation #zukka fanart #sokka #zuko #sokka fanart #zuko fanart #later i found out this is a friends quote... huh #the colors here were kinda challenging! but i liked it!!!

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discordiansamba · 5 months

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Hunk: Wait. Hold on. Keith's a firebender. How are we going to get him into Ba Sing Se?

Shiro: Oh. That actually might be a problem.

Keith, tilting his head: Why would it be a problem?

Pidge: Uh, because you need a passport to enter the city?

Keith, holding out his passport: I've got one of those.

Hunk: wait. you do? But you're-

Keith: I was born in the Earth Kingdom, Hunk. My grandmother's from here. I thought I told you that?

Hunk: ooooooooooohhhhh. well. that solves that problem, I guess!

Lance, Allura & Coran, all slowly raising their hands: well. actually-

#atla au #keith: anyways I don't see what the big deal is. we could always sneak in #pidge: sneak in. to ba sing se.#keith: yeah?#pidge: and how do you suggest we do that #(keith whistles to kosmo. kosmo teleports over)#hunk: WHAT. YOU MEAN KOSMO COULD TELEPORT THE WHOLE TIME #keith: it never came up?

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un-pearable · 1 month

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the kyoshi flashback in Avatar Day and the sheer scale of ba sing se in comparison to…. literally everywhere else in the world really has me thinking about the politics that lead to such distinct “nations”. it makes way more sense for a land as vast as the earth kingdom to have once been earth kingdoms with local land disputes between feudal lords - as we see with the conflict kyoshi ended - only for a world-spanning war to have driven first the lords to unite under ba sing se’s banner for protection, and then as the war continued, increasing waves and waves of refugees and oma shu standing as the only remaining hold out due to their unique position (top of a mountain - most other earth kingdom towns we see are in valleys) such would explain how many ruins and ghost towns we see throughout s2 but also the improbability of a land that big to be unified under a single leader for that long

#text✨#just pondering i don’t want to do research about if they’ve actually spoken about this #hm. i think it’d be very interesting if the beifongs are descended from a former lordship. would explain even folks in ba sing se recognizin #the name and crest…..#anyway i think smthn similar happened to the water tribes . i like the idea that the village we see in the south is only one of many but i #really like the idea that the north only has such a big city bc their miscellaneous tribes banded together #and i’m very interested in the political strife that would result in #different clans with different practices all piled on top of each other… the myth of homogeneity is BORING give me cultural diversity bryke #also…. another layer of tragedy in the loss of regional cultures in both the earth kingdom and northern water tribes as their populations #were condensed into urban environments

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swordbending · 6 months

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[ID: a screenshot of a tumblr post that reads "'azula can't be redeemed' iroh and zuko literally did way worse things than azula ever did yet they got redemption". End ID.]

y'all I-- ☠️☠️

#I cannot with azula stans like can we please be serious #ofc azula can be redeemed but ofc she's done worse things than zuko #iroh okay you can probably argue did worse things than azula #but she literally succeeded in colonizing ba sing se where iroh failed #the only thing that kept her from succeeding in literally killing aang was that katara still had the spirit water from the north pole #you can make a case for azula redemption without making things up

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raewritez · 1 year

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for the want of the sun | chapter sixteen: another climb

a/n: hey guys…long time no see…

Zuko and I are by Iroh’s side the moment we hear him wake. It’s morning, and songbirds have found their perch in the forest outside. The sun streams through the rotting panels of wood, painting Iroh’s weary face in soft light.

“Uncle,” Zuko urges. Iroh breathes in, prying open his eyes. Zuko releases a sigh of relief, and so do I. “You were unconscious,” he says. “It was a surprise attack. Azula did this to you.”

Iroh pushes himself up. “Somehow, that’s not surprising.”

I stare at him in worry. “How are you feeling? I mean, obviously not great. I tried making the salve you taught me but I don’t know if I did it right-”

“I’m fine, my dear. Thank you.”

Zuko stands up and rushes to the kettle that we put on the fire. Neither of us really know how to make tea, we just used some of Iroh’s herbs that he had stashed away. I’d seen him do it enough times, but he makes it look easy.

He carries a cup of steaming tea over to us. “Here, Uncle. I hope we made it the way you like it.”

Iroh takes it from his hands gratefully and takes a sip. I see his eyes widen, his jaw clench.

Zuko looks at him hopefully. “How is it?”

“Good!” Iroh exclaims, a little forcefully. “Very, uh, bracing!”

Zuko gives me a satisfied smile. I give him a thumbs up, but when he turns away, I give Iroh an apologetic grin. He shakes his head with a smile.

Then, Zuko says: “Uncle, I’ve been thinking,” and I know that whatever he’s about to say is cause for concern.

“It’s only a matter of time until I run into Azula again,” he continues. “I’m going to need to know more advanced skills to face her.” He pauses. He sends the both of us a look. “I know what you two are going to say; she’s my sister and I should try to get along with her.”

I shake my head. “Um, no? She’s insane. And I’m not a firebender, so…”

Iroh nods. “Yes. She’s crazy and she needs to go down.” He pushes himself to stand, groaning as he does so. I reach out to help him but he waves me away. “It’s time to resume your training.”

Zuko nods solemnly. “Thank you, Uncle. I’m ready for this.”

—

He and Iroh hike up to the mountain peak in the evening, and hours pass before I hear the thunder.

I’d busied myself with cooking, mixing together vegetables that I’d found in the overgrown garden outside the cabin. There’s carrots, tomatoes…not quite enough for a meal, but we’re working with what we can get. I spend most of the day alone. My mind wanders, and my chest hurts when I think about things for too long, but the sun is out and the grass is lit golden in the evening and I convince myself that it’s enough. When the rain comes in, I watch it through the window, and listen to the quiet melody of the droplets on the roof.

When Iroh breaks through the door, obviously troubled, I stand, heart already racing. “What did he do?”

Iroh shakes his head, clearly distressed. “He wants to bend lightning. I told him he is not ready, but he won’t listen.”

“He’s out there?” The sky is dark, and the wind has picked up drastically. As usual, the mention of Zuko stirs anxiety in my body.

Iroh nods. “I’m still weak. I can’t…”

I nod. “It’s okay. I’m going.” I have no coat or protection from the rain, so I make my way to the door.

“Be careful, please,” Iroh says.

The grass is slippery under my feet, and the wind whips at my face, and I scan my surroundings for Zuko. I hope I won’t find him fried somewhere.

It hasn’t been ten minutes when I see him, figure moving slowly down the mountain with shoulders hunched. “Zuko!” I yell, walking as fast as I can without slipping. I call a few more times before he notices me.

I’m shaking my head when I approach him. “What were you thinking?” I yell. “Bending lightning? You know how dangerous that is! You’ve been out here for hours…” I pause my lecture when I realize that the drops falling down his face are not just rain, and that his good eye is tinged in red, and that his face is raw with emotion that makes him look like a young boy.

I fall silent, staring. The rain is loud around us. He won’t meet my eyes, his gaze cast down to the ground, and his shoulders begin to shake.

“Zuko,” I whisper. I take a step forward. I’m surprised when he falls into me, arms reaching, pulling me to him. “I-”

“Please,” he chokes out, and his breaths are short and fast. “I can’t-” He’s shaking, and I grab his wrists that are placed on my shoulders.

“Zuko, breathe. It’s okay. You’re okay.” I’m trying, but he’s not with me. Not really. If he were more conscious, I’m sure he’d recoil at the touch we’re sharing, at his vulnerability. He’d be pulling away, but right now he’s not, so I’m trying. I place my hand on his chest. “Zuko. Look at me.”

He does. His eyes meet mine, glossed with tears and rainwater, a dull brown. I recognize then what the look is on his face: defeat. He shakes his head. “Why does this always happen? Why is it always so hard?”

I don’t know what to say. I don’t have an answer for him.

I pull him close to me. His arms wind around my waist, clutching, and I’ll let him have this moment of respite. He’s quiet, and I almost don't catch his whispered “I’m sorry,” but I do. I just hold him. I hold him until the rain stops.

—

We leave the next morning. Iroh’s well enough to get back on the road, the road to wherever we’re going. Our ostrich horses managed to follow us, so we saddle them up, Zuko with his Uncle, and me alone. Zuko avoids my eyes the whole morning.

It’s later, when the afternoon sun is high and sweltering, and Zuko’s nonstop navigation has Iroh and I catching eyes that the day turns for the worse.

Iroh groans loudly, looking to see if Zuko noticed. When he receives no response, he does it again, until Zuko pulls back on the reins, closing his eyes in frustration that has me smirking. “Maybe we should take a break,” he says.

“No, please, don’t stop for me,” Iroh says, clutching his chest in faux pain.

Zuko glares back at him. “Get off.”

Iroh slides off the saddle, triumphant. I hop to the ground, my knees almost buckling as I hit the earth, and my body screaming in the pain that comes from sitting still for hours on end. But almost as soon as I’m standing straight, I leap back, an arrow narrowly missing my foot.

“Woah!” I exclaim, tripping.

“What was that?” Zuko calls, but the answer comes in the rumbling coming up the trail. A group of men dressed in red costumes surrounds us, an array of weapons raised. I step back quickly, coming to Zuko’s side, and he raises his hands in defense.

“Colonel Mongke!” Iroh exclaims. “What a pleasant surprise!”

A tall man with intricate facial hair lifts his head in disdain. “If you’re surprised we’re here, then the Dragon of the West has lost a few steps.”

Zuko glances at his uncle. “You know these guys?”

“Sure,” Iroh grins. Colonel Mongke and the Rough Rhinos are legendary. Each one is a different kind of weapon specialist. They are also a very capable singing group.”

I snicker. “Singing? Like acapella?”

The man glares down at me. “We’re not here to give a concert. We’re here to apprehend some fugitives!”

Iroh sighs. “Would you like some tea first? Jasmine, maybe? I’d love some.”

“Enough stalling,” the man scoffs. “Round them up!”

One of the other men begins swinging a ball and chain around, aiming at Iroh. Zuko shoots flames towards the group, while I leap over and quickly push at his pressure points. The chain falls to the ground with a clatter. When I look back, the men are slumped on the ground, and Iroh is pulling my arm to drag me to the ostrich horses. I grab the horn of the saddle, putting my foot in the stirrup before pushing myself to sit on top.

“Go, go!” I yell, kicking at the horse’s sides.

The three of us gallop down the trail, leaving the men in the dust. My chest is heaving as I try to catch my breath. I catch Zuko’s eyes, the shock prominent in both our faces.

Iroh breathes in. “It’s always nice to see old friends.”

I can’t help the look I give him. It’s been a long day.

“Too bad you don’t have any friends that don’t want to kill you,” Zuko snarks, steering the reins.

Iroh assumes a pensive look. “Hmm. Old friends that don’t want to kill me…”

—-

taglist: @aquaamethyst96 @kaygilles

#atla #avatar the last airbender #prince zuko #zuko x y/n #zuko x reader #zuko x you #zuko fanfic #avatar fanfic #avatar x reader #zuko #iroh #for the want of the sun #fire lord zuko #aang x reader #kataang #aang #ba sing we #earth kingdom #azula

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escapism-from-the-real-world · 1 month

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You know it never really sunk in that we live in a dystopia, or at the very least a society that accepts and shrugs at dystopian societies when they appear in real life until I thought about the implications of North Korea.

There is a whole ass country where the people aren’t allowed to LEAVE under penalty of DEATH. You have to look a certain way, act a certain way, you’re constantly monitored, you’re encouraged to rat on anyone who is “different” or has any kind of ideology that differs from the expectations of your government. Hell, well the last dictator of North Korea died, you were PUNISHED IF THEY THOUGHT YOU WEREN’T MOURNING HARD ENOUGH.

That is straight out of a dystopian novel and we just??? Ignore it?? Like we joke about how insane and awful and crazy North Korea is but we never do anything about it?? We hear the stories of people who escaped that hell hole and we’re just like “wow that’s crazy” AND THEN WE DON’T DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT???

Like I was truly brainwashed as a kid for not realizing that we live in a world where a fully functioning and running dystopian government is ruling ruthlessly over a whole group of people. That it was just normal for that to happen and for people to be suffering like they did, like they are, and for us, the so called “freedom fighters”, us “liberators” who “stand for justice and democracy” to do NOTHING ABOUT IT.

Are we really surprised that our government and when world governments are okay with genocide when a) they have performed many genocides before this point in time for their own personal and financial gain and b) HAVE ALLOWED A LITERAL DYSTOPIA (THAT ONE COULD DESCRIBE TO SOMEONE AND THAT PERSON WOULD GUESS IT WAS A FICTIONAL SETTING WHEN IT IS, in fact, A VERY REAL PLACE AND GOVERNMENT) TO EXIST WITHOUT ANY KIND OF PUSH TO STOP THE DICTATORSHIP OF THAT LAND???

It’s insane. This is insane. How are we not seeing the dystopian society we are currently living in? That we are letting people live in?

Fuck this. Fuck the world governments for letting this happen. Fuck the education system for making this seem like a normal fucking thing.

Free Palestine. Free the people being literally tortured, manipulated, and abused right in front of our fucking faces.

#free palestine #palestine #free gaza #gaza #north korea #what the fuck #dystopian society #fuck the dystopian society we live in #there is a fucking war in fucking ba sing se

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robstetrician · 1 month

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"Happy birthday, my son..."

"If only I could've helped you."

#leaves from the vine #falling so slow #ugly sobbing to this episode as we speak #robs avatar rewatch #atla #avatar #avatar the last airbender #the tales of ba sing se #atla iroh #uncle iroh #iroh #atla lu ten #lu ten #this episode hates me

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dyketower · 2 years

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i dont get why ppl pretend like azula has canonically killed shit tons of ppl like??? the only person she ever directly kills is aang. she has no QUALMS w killing ppl sure but shes only killed one person and he lived.

ppl are just so weirdly determined to make azula out to be so much worse than she is. its funny cuz its not even like u have to do all that. like shes a bad person canonically??? shes just not as bad as u want her to be. u have plenty of evidence of her sucking in canon. u dont need to make up more.

#azula #atla #maybe if they bothered to explore the ramifications of the ba sing se coup we could discuss her in-direct kill count #bc like. she should have one for THAT. u cant convince me otherwise #but they dont so :/ idk…#either way. if ur gonna love or hate azula AT LEAST be fr abt it and not act delusional

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texas-gothic · 13 days

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So, is it just me or is the whole Dai Li arc really counter intuitive? Like we spend all of Book II hearing about how the Fire Nation is justifying its genocidal conquest by claiming that the Earth Kingdom is a cesspit of corruption, and the assumption of any reasonable person is that they are obviously lying. The Earth Kingdom is totally corrupt, and we just a few more years of occupation to find those WMDs Saddam was hiding. But then we get to Ba Sing Se, and here's Long Feng and all his goons, and it turns out that the Fire Nation was...right actually?

It's not a great look for your show about fighting the Empire if you're constantly validating the Empire's explicit in-world propaganda.

#richard rewatches avatar (yes again)#avatar the last airbender #atla #ba sing se #long feng #dai li #guess we can chuck this in as yet another show in the “oops we accidentally made fascism true” pile

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magicalgirlagency · 3 months

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Finally. I've done it. Mahou Shoujo ni Akogarete has been officially blacklisted. I cannot deal with this bullshit anymore.

I won't speak about it ever again, and you guys should do the same thing, too. The Underage Lesbian Porn Show was just some collective fever dream that we all had. We're burying this shit six feet under, and wait until other MG anime to premiere later this year, okay? Okay.

And last but not least, here's my final message to those who unironically enjoy this series: Y'all are absolutely disgusting freaks, I am murdering you with rusty hammers in my mind, and never show up to any place with children ever again.

#magical girl #mahoako who?#we don't talk about mahoako.#there's no mahoako in ba sing se.#promise to me that y'all will forget about that freakshow okay?

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