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fire-lady-ilah · 3 years

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More good dad! Ozai AU? Even if you didn’t ask for it, you’re getting it and I’m picking up right where I left off. This is my reminder that, while Ozai is a good and non-abusive dad and husband in this, he is still very much an imperialist and a cruel person in general.

Parts [1] and [2] if you’d like. This is part 3. Here’s part [4]

The siblings venture into the capital, although they make it known that no one should inform their parents that they are nearby. The moment they step off the ship, Captain Jee sends a letter to the Fire Lady. He was loyal to the Prince and Princess above all, but he did not feel like being executed or exiled that day when Lady Ursa inevitably finds out.

In a large house just outside Caldera City, Lord Ukano lives with his wife, Michi, his daughter and heir, Mai, and his newborn son Tom-Tom. The Dragon Emperor and the Blue Spirit sneak into the bedroom of the heiress and steal her away.

In that I mean, Mai leaps at the opportunity to escape her home with her best friends, who she’s seen wearing the same theatre masks dozens of times, and follows willingly. It takes an hour longer than the siblings had expected, if only because Mai has far more knives than they had truly expected and they get caught up in the palace kitchens stealing Azula’s favourite mochi and some bags of fire flakes.

Then they are caught by Fire Lady Ursa, who is gathering a late night cup of cocoa after a nice night with her husband, not that her children need to know that part. Her children, who are wearing her theatre masks that had very recently gone missing from her collection, stare at her innocently. Her daughter carries two entire boxes she knows are full of mochi. Her son carries the fire flake bag they use for festivals. Her one day daughter-in-law is making a cup of cocoa and the Fire Lady calmly requests one for herself from the girl.

That night, the fire Prince and Princess sleep in their own rooms, with Lady Mai in one of the many available. In the morning, they take breakfast with the Fire Lord and Lady, discussing trivial matters of politics and domestic affairs.

Mai leaves on the request of the Fire Lord, bringing everything they took from her home and the palace (along with what Ursa and Ozai insisted they take) to the ship with the help of some soldiers.

Azula and Zuko sit with their parents. Ursa gives them each two potent bottles of poison. Ozai’s voice has a worry that only his family knows how to detect through the facade of boredom as he inquires how their firebending and blades practice has been, as to the state of their weaponry. They try to soothe their parents worries with assurances: their practice has been going well in both bending and blades, Azula has achieved perfection in lightningbending and Zuko has achieved lightning, their blades are sharp and well maintained, they weren’t harmed when the temple blew up—

It slips through Zuko’s lips. He was never the actor like his mother and sister. For their part, his parents do not react overly beyond a flickering of the flame and a long sip of tea.

“Your mission has changed.”

Ozai is smart. Everything he does is to serve his goals the best they can. In canon, the premier of those goals is to gain more power for himself. In this world, that goal is to secure the ideal outcome for his family. (Of course, his second goal is as much power as possible. But it is only considered after his first goal).

Allying themselves with the Avatar, at least in appearances, will secure the best outcome for his children. And he has no doubt that his brother (so weak after the death of his son. And yet, Ozai cannot find it within him to scorn him overly. He knows that were he to be left childless, he would break. It is merely that Ozai would break in an explosion, whereas Iroh’s flame fizzled into embers.) would eagerly help his children betray him. Even if it was just in appearances.

His children are loyal and dutiful. They protest, but only out of a desire to maintain that loyalty. He wishes the Avatar had remained hidden, at least until they were both adults. They are prodigal, yes, but they are just siblings.

“You have our permission to reveal your mother’s ancestry. Use it wisely.”

The children know their lineage for at least five generations on each side. That, of course, is in addition to their knowledge of every Fire Lord that has reigned since the unification of the Fire Nation. They are well aware that their Grandmother Rina (who feeds them chocolate and tells them stories whenever she visits) ‘s father was Avatar Roku. Just as they knew of the friendship between Fire Lord Sozin and Avatar Roku.

It is necessary for the people of their nation to hear pretty lies. It is not their responsibility to worry about the nuance and complexity of life. It is one of their responsibilities as Angi’s heirs in the mortal world. To worry of such things is a burden they should not have to bear. It is necessary for the people to believe the Avatar hated the Fire Lord.

The siblings don’t know everything, of course. They are just children after all. But they understand the nuance, the conflicting beliefs. They were told the truth (and carefully kept from necessary propaganda before then) when they were old enough to look critically at the situation. It was their duty to bring the Fire Nation’s good to the other nations, to liberate their populations, the siblings decided.

The Avatar is just a child, but he seemed able to connect with his past lives. And he had pointedly not hurt them, at least as Avatar Roku.

If nothing else, they have the Dragon Emperor and Blue Spirit on their side.

“Zhao has asked for permission to launch an invasion on the Northern Water Tribe. He is a fool, but he claims he has knowledge that will ensure his victory. Tomorrow, I will send him a letter approving his asinine idea. You will stop him— kill him, if you must— and use that act of perceived treason to ally yourselves with the Avatar.”

Ozai wants power, but he is no fool. The invasion is risky at best. He cannot find it within himself to care for the tens of thousands that would doubtlessly die in it, the Northern Water Tribe had the advantage in multiple ways. It would serve its purpose to get his children at the Avatar’s side.

The tone lightens after his orders and Ozai steps back from his role as Father Lord into just being a father. He teases his son on his interactions with his betrothed. He teases his daughter and asks if she would be visiting the circus soon, taking note of how she had learned to prevent a blush but not the squeak in her voice. They are not infallible, they are children.

As they see their children for the last time in the foreseeable future, the Fire Lord and Lady both think as to how much they will miss them. Ursa blinks back tears as she hugs them both, smiling as they react identically, burying their faces into her chest to hide them and breathing in the scent of fire lily perfume.

Ozai is not usually physically affectionate with his children. He had never received it from his father and was much more competent in other ways. That being said, no one commented on the kiss he pressed to the top of Zuko’s head (still shorter than him by quite a bit. Sometimes he acted so adult, but he was so clearly still a child) before repeating the action with Azula.

“I am so proud of you. Both of you.”

I’m just now realizing Blue Spirit is supposed to be after the whole Roku thing. Oh well.

For appearances’ sake, the siblings and Mai continue to chase the Avatar. Zhao attacks the Avatar while he trains under the Deserter. Princess Azula ensures the forest doesn’t burn while Prince Zuko uses all the bottled up anger at both Zhao himself and Azulon (really, what is with grown men trying to kill 11/12 year olds?) to yell at Zhao for acting so recklessly.

And if, perhaps, he manages to endear himself to others by knocking Zhao’s feet out from under him, all the better.

The Avatar and his friends escape and the siblings celebrate another success as Zhao nurses his bruised ass and ego.

(“Hey, did the Deserter look like that dude in Master Piandao’s painting in his main hall to you?”

“Admiral Jeong Jeong and Master Piandao were married, Zuko. Obviously that was him.”)

Zhao attempts to order their crew away from them, citing his rank as admiral as above prince and princess.

Azula’s sharp tongue reminds Admiral Zhao that Zuko is not only a prince, but the Crown Prince, and thus he is equal in rank to Zhao. As was their uncle a general, retired or not.

Behind the royalty of the ship stands Captain Jee, his eyes locked with Zhao’s. His eyes promise mutiny even if he were to somehow take them. His eyes swear loyalty to the Crown Prince, to his sister, above all else.

Zhao turns to leave.

“Of course, that is not to say we will not join your invasion.” Zuko sounds like his father sometimes, and never more than when his voice holds a hint of smug satisfaction. “Merely, do not presume to think you can order us in any way. We out rank you, and our crew is the best our Nation has to offer.”

Their ship joins, at least in appearance, Zhao’s fleet. That being said, they obey no orders from the Admiral and only allow his “inspections” of the ship and their crew once. For all intents and purposes, they are just there to observe.

And observe they do. The siblings watch the way Zhao treats his subordinates and twin righteous flames burns in their chests. The truth of being raised by a loving father means that Zuko and Azula are both rather sheltered in comparison to their canon selves. They are raised on ideals of honour and the divine responsibility of a monarch, rather than on the truths of war and practicality of rule. It only results in a hotter fire and more questions as to if Sozin’s way was truly the one to follow.

They still have absolute faith in their father. After all, he is the one that raised them, that taught them of honour and the ideals of a monarch. He is the one that sheltered them. He is the one that suggested they befriend the Avatar to keep them safe.

On the ship, only three people know the entire plan. The first two are the siblings, of course. The third is Captain Jee. He is the one that will keep their ship away from the invasion itself so there is no risk of their crew being harmed in the doomed attack. He is the one that will direct the ship to the colonies once the siblings are with the Avatar. Captain Jee has no qualms about technically commuting treason.

Mai knows some of the plan. In that, Mai knows exactly what Zuko and Azula tell her and then what she observes. She sees the way they stick together, now more than ever. Sees the way that Azula trains her non-lethal lightning (because even she, a nonbender, knows it’s far harder to bend lightning that doesn’t kill than that that does). She hears the way they drop the title of Fire Lord when speaking of their royal great grandfather. She catches whispers about Fire Lord Roku. About the Avatar.

Mai, in a way, knows more than the siblings themselves. She knows that they are genuinely sympathetic toward the Avatar in a way that they don’t yet realize. She begins to keep all her knives on her person, along with an easily grab-able bag for travelling in her room. There was no way she’d be letting her best friends turn traitor without her. This is the most exciting thing she’s done in years.

Iroh knows less than he believes. Oh, he gets the dropped title just as well as Mai, but he does not know the intricacies of Zuko and Azula the way Mai does. He sees Azula’s practice and writes it off as her ever-present search for perfection. He catches the tail end of a conversation between siblings and does not stop to consider who exactly “great grandfather” may be referring to. It would be unthinkable for his brother to tell the children of their heritage.

Despite this, Iroh also knows more than most. He knows from conversation exactly what Zhao intends to do in the Northern Water Tribe and it turns his blood to boil.

They reach the Northern Water Tribe. The siblings sneak off the ship in an emergency boat. Mai enters at the last moment and neither send her away.

Iroh has already left the ship, though he is currently in one last meeting with Zhao in an attempt to convince him not to continue with his plan. He will not check back with his niece and nephew, believing them to be safe on the ship.

In the Northern Water Tribe, the three Fire Nation teens remain tucked into the shadows. They, unfortunately, have no idea where the Avatar is and wander through the city. However, they reach the Avatar’s friends before Zhao does.

(“Is he... alive?”

“He’s just meditating.”)

It goes far better than they could have expected. The siblings’ act of releasing Sokka and Katara from Zhao’s bindings results in a part of water tribe siblings being quite willing to hear them out. Princess Yue gives them an odd look but remains quiet.

Zhao shows up. Iroh shows up. Azula and Zuko denounce him (though they cannot bring themselves to denounce their father, even though they know they should). Zhao declares them all traitors, a koi fish in a bag in his hand.

A bolt of lightning hits Zhao straight in the back. Both he and the koi fish fall into the pool of water. He does not emerge.

Azula’s face is carefully blank, even as she watches the water. She cannot stop to consider whether it is her or the water that just killed the admiral, or if he was even dead at all. She could not even see his body in its depths. She used non-lethal strength.

Despite Princess Yue’s backing, the Northern Water Tribe wants to take the siblings prisoner (hostage, everyone knows). After all, everyone knows of the devotion they show to the Fire Lord and vice versa. If nothing else, they would be excellent bargaining pieces in a more formal treaty.

They had not factored this into their plan. Admittedly, they had not factored the Northern Water Tribe into their plan at all.

The three Fire Nation teens are thrown into a prison cell. A rather comfortable prison cell, but still a prison cell. Iroh is taken somewhere else.

Within five hours, they sit on the back of a flying bison, Sokka handing them food he had smuggled out of the meal as Katara was smuggling them out of prison.

(“We tried to get your Uncle too,” the Avatar says in a remorseful tone, “but we couldn’t find him.”

“Uncle will be fine.” Azula declares, her mind set only on the future as she tries not to think about the way Zhao sunk beneath the still surface of the pond.

Zuko nods in agreement and clutches her hand in a comforting way.)

The Gaang now consists of six people:

Aang, a twelve year old Avatar with a mastery in air and a decent proficiency in water. He looks at the Fire Nation teens and sees his friend Kuzon, sees a time from before the war when an Air Nomad could wander freely through the Fire Nation. He attempts to use Fire Nation slang with them but it’s a century old and results in only laughter.

Katara, a master waterbender and healer (a concept that intrigues Azula to no end, although she tries to keep her questions polite). She tends to have a short temper when it comes to matters of the Fire Nation, but even she can be coaxed into trying a few sweets that Zuko has stored in his bag.

Sokka, a hunter and warrior who may or may not be engaged to the NWT princess (Zuko says he is, Azula says he isn’t). Azula laments that her jokes are even worse than Zuko’s, to which Mai agrees. It is that comment that leads Sokka and Zuko to start bonding, having nothing better to do on the bison’s back than exchange bad jokes.

Crown Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation, who Sokka would insist is walking Fire Nation propaganda as he goes on at least one rant about Fire Nation culture and technology a day. Who surprisingly helps Katara with the cooking because it was one of the things Fire Lady Ursa carried over from before she was Fire Lady and taught to her children.

Princess Azula of the Fire Nation, who has a sharp tongue and a sharper pair of twin daggers that she seems to enjoy threatening her brother with for any inconvenience, even though they both just laugh at it. (Katara and Sokka have to be assured by them both that they truly love each other and that threatening each other with weapons carried over from the theatre scrolls they used to act out as children).

Lady Mai talks the least, seemingly content just to talk to Zuko and Azula. Aang makes it his mission to get her to warm up to him and spends a good portion of his time trying to talk to her. He succeeds when he brings up air ball, of all things. Mai’s parents had discouraged her from sport, believing it to be unfitting of a young lady just as they had discouraged her interest in knives until Zuko and Azula had ganged up on them. Partially for that reason, Mai enjoyed sports quite a bit, a shock to even Zuko (though Azula knew). After that, she talks mainly to Zuko, Azula, and Aang.

Captain Jee guides his ship to the Fire Nation colonies, unable to confirm that his Prince and Princess were okay. He hadn’t expected the worry he feels now, but he knows he will be awaiting a letter at Yu Dao if they are safe.

Prince Iroh is startled to discover that, while meeting with Master Pakku, the Avatar, his friends, his nephew and niece, and Mai had all disappeared.

As had his ship.

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fairydust-stuff · 4 years

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Wendy Darling Embodiment of Motherhood

Here’s the thing ,I have never been a big fan of Wendy Darling from JM Barrie’s classic novel Peter Pan. Not only is she a cocktail of every bad stereotype about Victorian women casually thrown into a blender to make the ultimate Grimm’s fairy tale heroines are more bad ass then you smoothie. But Wendy is just straight up the most boring character in Peter Pan. That being said she does play a very important role in Peter Pan. Also it’s gotten the point where I’m a bit tired of seeing this idea that the Never land ladies have nothing to offer. If we don’t change everything about them or let’s just leave them out entirely trend via Hollywood. Seriously when is the last time Tink got more than a cameo and I’m not talking about the sugary princess clone Disney created from her mutilated body. Anyway I want to take a look Wendy Darling how she works, how she doesn’t work what she embodies and how she’s been portrayed in various adaptations.

First let’s take a look at some themes. Peter pan is at its core a coming of age story about accepting the inevitability of growing up. However Wendy as a point of view character is kind of an odd choice for this theme. In the original novel Wendy brings a flower to her mother who declares “Why can’t you stay like this” Then the narrator proceeds to talk about how Wendy knew she must grow up. So we already have a character who accepts the fact she must grow up on page one. In fact Wendy doesn’t run away to Never land as much as take a holiday, and to be fair John and Michel suffer from the same problem. Honestly I think the closest thing we get to a character arch in the novel is George Darling who is a seriously underrated character in my opinion. So Wendy just never struggles with growing up. However another theme of Peter Pan is motherhood and oh boy does Wendy fit into that.

“She used to come to me in my and I’d say pretty mother, now she has come and I’ve shot her” Tootles laments after thinking he shot and killed Wendy. Even Hook want to take Wendy to be the mothers of himself and his crew in typical pirate fashion coveting what Peter Pan and the lost boys have Wendy becomes a treasure for them to steal. Smee when carrying Wendy even promises “I’ll save you if you promise to only be my Mother” Every boy and man child in Never land craves a mother and want Wendy to fill the position. Wendy taking on the role turns her into a kind of ideal in the eyes of everyone in Never land even her own brothers get in on the treating her as the perfect mom.

In fact Wendy only gets to be a little girl in the narrative when Hook offers his hand to her and she takes it and only because the narrative felt the need to defend her submission to her own capture. But looking back that may very well be the point when you look at Wendy and Peter’s relationship without the shipping googles it’s actually quite interesting. You’ve got two pre teen’s on two different wave lengths. Wendy states in the novel “Peter what are true feelings towards me?” and is displeased with Peter’s answer “That of a devoted son” this seems up their relationship perfectly. Wendy uses the role of mother to try to basically become Peter’s wife something which he is deeply uncomfortable with needing constant reassurance that playing an adult couple is “ Only make believe” now whether or not Peter is flat out not interested or scared of his own feelings is up for debate. I personally lean toward the former because Peter is constantly surrounded by busty topless mermaids who like to flirt with him. So if he hasn’t had his sexual awakening yet it’s not happening ever, but the point is Peter uses the reaffirmation of Wendy as Mother to keep her at a distance. When Wendy returns home Miss Darlings offers to adopt Peter which he refuses. This highlights the fact when given the chance to have an actual mother he doesn’t want one.

Wendy is a reflection of Peter’s warped relationship with motherhood. He confesses to Wendy that he did at one point did return to his mother only to find the window barred and “There was another little boy sleeping in my bed!” It could be argued Peter’s desire to stay a little boy forever actually steam from the fear of abandonment and being replaced. This shapes Peter’s relationship with Wendy in sense he wants a mother he can actually control. One who never makes him feels too grown up or who challenges him or his choices in a meaningful way. This shows that motherhood is important and that without a proper mom boys will never truly grow into men.

Wendy plays a similar role to the lost boys only she actually ends up helping them. While the lost boys clearly already have mommy craving’s Wendy gives them a taste of what having a mom is actually like or at least what an ideal mom from a Victorian upper middle class family structure would be like. So when Wendy wants to go home the lost boys who getting a taste of what their missing decides to go with her. Where they get adopted into the Darling Family and grow into respectable members of society who all get boring office jobs in the prolog which completely contrast their colorful energetic personalities, moving on. Wendy acts as kind of encouraging benevolent guide for the lost boys and Peter her inevitable goal being to encourage to move beyond the superficial trappings of childhood and take a step forward into adulthood. Peter is the failure, deficient as the novel itself states but the lost boys are a triumph of the power of proper maternal nurturing.

Wendy Darling has appeared in various adaptations and Spin offs though I’m mostly going to focus on Movies and TV because most of the Peter Pan book retellings where Wendy plays a key role just do not fill me with any positive feelings. And I want to mostly focus on the good today with some casual snark thrown in.

So let’s start with Wendy from the 2003 Peter Pan Live Action adaptation. I love this version it makes changes from the novel while still paying homage by using actual lines from the book. Though I have very mixed feelings about 2003 Wendy.

The movie heavily leans into the annoying I’m not like other girls trope. Here Victorian lady Wendy turns fairy tales into gore fests, and has an interest in sword play and pirates. I’m not saying girls from that era can’t have those interests but it just feels like their Wendy is the product of listening to too many focus groups not to mention she learns to be an expert sword fighter who can go toe to toe with adults after five seconds with Peter. And what is with the sudden unexplained blood thirst? Where did that come from?

Though I do like how the film unlike the novel actually gave Wendy an arch. Wendy’s aunt is mortified at her niece’s interest in becoming a novelist who travels the world. She insists Wendy’s parents separate Wendy from her brothers and allow her to tutor, Wendy to teach her how to be a proper lady. They also have a school teacher shame Wendy for drawing a picture of Peter flying above her bed. This seems to be subtext for the Victorian shaming of sexual expression from girls as dirty and shameful. This actually makes Wendy feel like her life is changing way too fast and it scares her. Since she is twelve and her family is already talking about marriage prospects. While the scene where Peter and her meet is pretty much played like in the novel. There’s the added moment of Peter whispering in Wendy’s ear “ Forget them Wendy Forget them all come with me and we’ll never ever have to think about grown up things again” which unlike the novel frames Wendy as running away from growing up.

Then she develops a crush on Peter Pan and this being Hollywood they go with the scared of his own feeling interpretation. I guess her whining and screaming his name for a day was just too sexy to resist. Wendy contemplates joining Hook’s crew because when your crush rejects you validation by pirate man children is good salve for your wounds. But then realizes she can’t remember her mother and much like the novel becomes scared that her and her brothers have forgotten their parents. Then they all get kidnapped by the pirates and Hook and Peter have a show down which is way better than the novel because here Hook attacks Peter’s abandonment issues and actually brings him to his knees. But then Wendy kisses Peter and he gains the strength to defeat Hook. Basically the implication is Wendy realizes growing up is ok because romantic love is a thing. Hey, I didn’t say it was a great arch but it’s more than the novel gave her or anyone. I’m not a huge fan of this Wendy depiction but I’ve got to take my hat off to the writers for at least giving Wendy a coming of age narrative.

Disney’s classic Peter Pan pulled a similar move taking the focus from Peter and putting it entirely on Wendy. The implications at the end imply that Wendy’s adventure was all a dream and that Tinker bell and Tiger Lilly were reflections of her own manifesting sexuality. Peter Pan her desire not to grow up and Hook I’m going to guess that he was her daddy issues.

I actually think Walt did Wendy a solid in her characterization. This is one of the few Wendy’s were her concern for her brothers and the lost boys don’t feel tacked on. Since most adaptations do very little to build Wendy’s dynamic with the other kids. Here it’s in every face wipe and tearful good bye and every “Do be careful” thrown over Wendy’s shoulder.

Also the Disney movie does a one eighty from everyone in Neverland worshiping her to Neverland treating her rather badly. It takes Wendy’s annoyance from called her squaw from the Novel and has the Indians bully her into fetching firewood instead of joining the celebrations. Also the mermaids not only try to drown her but Peter thinks is all a big joke. Disney’s Wendy constantly stands up for herself but often gets brushed off or forced to walk the plank. In this version you can one hundred percent understand why Wendy is so done with this place and ready to grow up. Here the reality of what it’s like to experience everyone acting like a self-centered child is here on full display.

Also Disney’s Wendy is not perfect she gets angry and loses her temper attacking mermaids or yelling at Indians. She gets jealous of Tiger Lilly being all over Peter and is sour towards him. Wendy is dreamy eyed, and polite but this version of her also doesn’t take anyone’s crap and will let you know if you’ve crossed a line or if you’re flat out awful. But she’s still pleads with Peter on her attempted murder’s behalf. Wendy also reminds Peter that Tiger Lilly is drowning when he gets caught up in celebrating his cleverness. She still makes sure she can say goodbye to her brothers and the lost boys before Hook kills her. Even on her worst day Disney’s Wendy is a kind person even when those around her are less so.

But my favorite portrayal of Wendy has got to be from the 90’s classic “Peter Pan and the Pirates” TV series which aired on Fox was about one season then got cancelled. While it doesn’t really focus on Wendy a whole lot since its more concerned with the relationship between Peter Pan his lost boys and Hook’s crew.

She still has a pretty important role. Wendy often serves as a voice of reason to the group which doesn’t go against her original role in the novel since she takes a cake that’s been left out all night away from the lost boys. Which does present her as the one with the most common sense but the show lets Wendy tell Peter this is a bad idea way more often than the book and blow up at him after he does the stupid thing every one told him not to do. Also Wendy gets to be more of a moral center lecturing Peter for stealing the picture of Hook’s mother in the episode “Hooks mother” and encouraging him to return it and even getting Peter to take care of Hook after he’s injured. This is in a positive change in my opinion because it actually expands on Wendy’s role as a guide to adult hood. Here Wendy Darling encourages a kind of good behavior she helps build moral character in her boys. Wendy has strong ideals and this adaptation actually has her stand by her principals for better or worse. This not only gives her more of a central role in the story but also gives her more chances to be active. Yay character agency!

Also this version of Wendy was the first to have a bit of an interesting relationship with Hook. (Who is voiced by Tim curry and does an excellent job.) While the writers got rid of the almost pedophilic undertones of Hook wanting to keep Wendy from the novel and the “My beauty” pet name. Thank god for that even in the novel i thought it was too much. There’s still a bit of a dynamic even if its way more innocent.

In the episode In Peter on Trial Wendy not only lands on the ship unharmed but reminds Hook executing Peter without a trial would not be proper form at all. She then hits Hook in the ego by declaring “Surely you don’t doubt your powers of debate against that of a mere girl” And not only gets a trial but manages to win even when the trial is rigged against them. Hook even congratulates her before proceeding to find his own loophole and kill Peter Pan anyway. The point is this suggests this Wendy has a bit of an insight into Hook maybe more so then Peter. She knows he’s obsessed with good form and has an ego that prides its self on being the smartest person in the room.

This cuts both ways while Wendy is capable of manipulating Hook, he also consistently manipulates Wendy by offering his word as a gentlemen when he intends to break it as a pirate. This dynamic highlights Wendy’s flaw of trusting dangerous people and allowing them to hurt her friends. Hook has picked up that she trusts or wants to trust him. In this version Hook actually treats Wendy as opponent vs the usual she belongs to Peter and I want to steal her like in most adaptations. Also despite Hook being terrifying Wendy has no problem being all “There’s no need to get cranky Captain” and I kind of love how comfortable she is with the guy despite him being an enemy.

This proves Wendy doesn’t have to be a sword wielding “Who are you to call me girlie” action girl to be a good character. She can be flawed but still remain a good person and giving her a spine is always appreciated.

Wendy Darling is at her core a guide into adulthood with a strong moral character and a voice of reason who is used to shine a light on how important motherhood is since the result of mothers abandoning or neglecting their children shape the Peter’s of the world. This makes her important to the overall story and themes of Peter Pan.

#wendy darling #wendy darling appreciation #peter pan disney #Peter Pan 2003 #Peter Pan and the Pirates

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theladyarwen-archive · 6 years

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Light (光)

Description: Light: (verb) Make (something) start burning; ignite.

AO3 Link

Prologue: Push (推):

“People like to think war means something. What can you learn from your opponent? More than you think. Who will master this love? Love might be the wrong word. Let’s admit, without apology, what we do to each other. We know who our enemies are. We know.” -Detail of the Fire, Richard Siken

~*~

Before: Using the Earth u was inevitable, people were prepared for it when it happened, and when she finally gave out they moved. They terraformed as many new planets and moons as they could. There were hundreds of them at first, all with different climates, different people and different problems.

More centralized planets formed the Alliance. They considered themselves to be more civilized, more worthy of power over all of these little colonies. All because they were richer, and filled with newer technology.

The outer-planets disagreed with this idea. The way they saw it, it wasn’t fair for an outside government to control them when they didn’t even know their struggles. They didn’t trust a government that wanted to stick its nose into things that they had been handling on their own for years.

People that didn’t welcome the Alliance’s “help” called themselves the Brown Coats (Joe Toye and Bill Guarnere were among this group,) and fought against what the Alliance wanted.

They lost after three years of fighting for their freedom. It left a bitter taste in their mouths, the kind that lingered.

After the Alliance got their way things didn’t get much better for the outer-planets. Most were left dirt poor, trying to make ends meet by farming, trading and owning small shops. The only thing that had changed for them was now, every once in a while they had to answer to a government that wouldn’t give them the help they needed.

Others never went back to living on a planet. They decided they would rather live in space, where the outer-planets couldn’t control their every move. They would rather live on a ship than have their freedom taken away by a government that didn’t know jack about struggling.

~*~

After: Joe Toye spent years building up a crew of people he could trust. He pulled them from all over the system, taking some from unsatisfactory situations, others from loving families. He never felt guilty about picking up strays, it was something his mother did often when he was young, and it just felt natural to him. Like it was the one good trait he picked up from her.

Buying Light was based solely on a gut feeling. The second Joe had seen her there was a pull, like she was the home he had been looking for all his life. She was in need of a good wash, a few repairs and a fresh coat of paint, but she stood there like a beacon of hope in his life.

A light.

~*~

Bill Guarnere, Joe’s best friend and second in command, complained about the ship the second he saw her. And Joe knew he would.

(“It’s a bit… Rundown don’t ya’ think?” He asked, a smile tugging at his lips because he knew somehow Joe would find some luh-suh ship that looked like it wouldn’t even get off the planet, let alone handle well out in space.

Joe just shook his head, trying not to roll his eyes, “Shut up, you haven’t even seen inside her yet. For all you know she’s a beauty on the inside.”

Guarnere did roll his eyes at that, “Yeah, I’m sure she looks better than this inside.”)

Joe and Guarnere had grown up together. Well, together as you could be when you both lived on ranches miles away from each other. Joe was raised by his mom and a few farmhands what she had taken in when he was younger. Guarnere was raised by both his parents, and even helped them raise his two younger sisters. .

Neither of them had much of an education from growing up on an outer-planet with parents that didn’t have money to send their kids to school every day. Not when there was a farm to look after. But they both had a knack for getting into trouble, though their parents thanked God it was never anything too bad.

The older boy, Guarnere, was like a firecracker, and was always willing to back Joe up on anything. It was something that always drew them to each other throughout their childhood. That’s why they ended up going to war together, and lost their legs together.

They were brothers, even if it wasn’t through blood.

~*~

Joe never heard a complaint from Guarnere about the pilot he hired.

Frances was a small girl who had a fire in her eyes that made her look hungry, though Joe wasn’t sure what for. Her hair was a mess of black curls that never seemed to stay in the ponytail she tried to keep it in. She had a temper that matched her eyes, and even challenged Guarnere’s.

But she was also sweet, and fell in love with Light as soon as she saw her. Joe trusted her right away based simply on the fact she wore her feelings on her sleeve. There was something brave about doing that, especially in their line of work.

(“Please call me Fran. Only my mama calls me Frances,” Fran had laughed as she shook Joe’s hand. “Would you rather I call you Joe, Toye or Captain?”

She spoke fast, and it threw Joe off at first. “Toye or Captain. There’s only a few people who call me Joe when they’re not holdin’ a gun to my head.” Fran laughed again at that.)

Part of him knew her and Guarnere would end up together. And he prayed he wouldn’t lose a damn fine pilot if their relationship went sour. What surprised him was when they decided to get married.

And he would never say it to Fran, but sometimes he wishes they hadn’t gotten together at all.

~*~

Picking up Ronald Speirs was more of a surprise than anything else.

The man was scary even to Joe, who was used to being the scary one. And he was pretty sure the man was about to kill him and his crew. (If you could call three people a crew.)

But the guy was clearly a talented mercenary, and the men holding them up in that moment really weren’t paying him enough to be doing what he was for them.

(“You’re a damn talented gunner, where’d you learn to shoot like that all the way out here?” Joe asked, trying to ignore Speirs’’ current boss in the hopes that he wouldn’t just kill him right there. “And what are they payin’ you?”

The compliment threw everyone off, and Joe heard Guarnere mutter a warning. That of course he was going to ignore.

“I taught myself,” Speirs sounded like he was trying not to brag, but he had the right to. “They pay me ten percent of everything.” Joe snorted, rolling his eyes, “Work for me and you’ll get twenty, and your own room.” He said, ignoring the threats from the other gunners.)

Even after Speirs joined the crew he and Joe had their differences. Especially when it came to getting into fights with people they had no business fighting with.

~*~

Finding George Luz was part happy accident, part pain in Joe’s ass.

Their first mechanic was always flakey, and even though none of them knew anything about fixing an engine (or most things on the ship for that matter,) they were pretty convinced he was on the same boat. Sure, the first kid was likable, but he wasn’t too great about thinking about things before he did them. Which left the crew in bad situations more often than not.

Joe found Luz one afternoon sitting on the floor tearing apart his ship’s engine, the actual mechanic of his ship nowhere to be found. He was too shocked and confused to even kick him off the ship.

(“I’ve been lookin’ for you for hours where the--” Joe paused, staring down at a kid who he was sure couldn’t be older than 18. The kid had the brightest smile he’d seen in a while, “-- Who the hell are you?”

Luz was up in a flash, dropping the parts he had been toying with, he wiped the greasy from the engine off on his pants before grabbing Joe’s hand to shake it. “George Luz, at your service. You can just call me Luz. Your, uh, mechanic let me in. I don’t know where he went, though,” He shrugged, dropping Joe’s hand before turning back to the engine.

“But I do know, he’s not very good if he couldn’t fix this. It’s an easy catch, even with the extra parts,” Luz gestured around as he spoke, and Joe was sure he hadn’t seen anyone this jittery in his life. “It was a real simple fix, too,” he sat on the floor again, pulling Joe down so he could see what he was talking about. “See, you don’t actually need these two parts. So all I did was take those out and then I took these wires and connected ‘em to this. These two are just there for show, mostly. Some engines need ‘em, but yours sure as hell doesn’t.”)

Luz was a whirlwind of energy, with the messy hair to match. He never knew when to quit, or when to be quiet, but that was what was most endearing about him. His eyes were almost always bright, and even on their worst days he took the time to cheer everyone up.

Joe’s never understood how he does it, but he’s pretty sure Luz keeps the ship running on positivity alone.

~*~ Edward “Babe” Heffron was a small, scrappy kid the crew found in the Eavesdown Dock on Persephone. He looked rough, clearly keeping himself alive by picking pockets, and it was just his luck he ran into Light’s crew.

They picked him up just a few months after adding Luz to the crew, which made the two fast friends. Part of it was their closeness in age, and the other part was understanding how scary it can be to just join a crew of strangers who knew so much about each other already.

(“They kid robbed us, Toye.” Speirs was still breathing heavily. After spending what felt like hours chasing Babe through streets and alleys he wasn’t familiar with. He was lucky Guarnere caught him before he was completely lost. They had to drag the kid back to the ship, and he put up a pretty good fight the whole time.

Babe had the decency to look guilty, whether it was because he got caught or not Joe didn’t really care. “Yeah, he did, but you caught him didn’t you?” Plus he’s just a kid.” He rolled his eyes at Speirs frown.

“I promise I’m sorry, please don’t take me to the feds. I don’t have anyone to bail me out, I promise I won’t steal from you again.” Babe spoke fast, sounding desperate. He was clearly scared they would turn him in, or worse.

Guarnere sighed loudly, shaking his head before turning to Babe, “Alright, how about this. You’re a pretty talented thief, especially if my friend here didn’t even feel you grab his credits right out of his pocket,” Babe seemed to preen at that, he’d never had anyone compliment him like that before, “You give us your name, and you can come with us. You’ll get your own room, daily meals all that junk.”

Babe yanked his arm out of Speirs’ girp, and for a second they all got ready for him to run again. Instead he dusted himself off, though it didn’t really help, “I’m Edward… but everyone calls me Babe. What makes you think I want to travel around with all of you on this junky ship?”

“‘Cause I got a feeling you don’t have anywhere else to go ecept back on the streets. You look like you could use a shower and some clean clothes.” Bill shrugged, “You don’t gotta come with us, though.”)

In the end, Babe decided to stay, because even though the ship looked like it could fall out of the sky at any moment, it was better than going back to sleep on the streets of Persephone. And no one had offered him a home since his mother died two years ago.

Joe trusted Bill’s judgement on the kid, and he knew if anything bad did happen, Bill would take the blame.

~*~ Joe loves his pain in the ass, ragtag family. They’re an odd group, but he wouldn’t have it any other way.

He would do anything for them, and knows that in the long run they would do the same. They’ve all stuck together through some of the hardest times, and some of the easiest.

Joe knows that if it came down to it, he can trust any of them with his life.

#my fic #my writing #band of brothers #luztoye #firefly au #joe toye #george luz #bill guarnere #ronald speirs #babe heffron #frances guarnere #eugene roe #hbo war #i havent published anything in years so #be kind

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imamotherfuckingstar-lord · 7 years

Text

Home Series, Part Six

Pairings: Peter Quill x Reader, Steve Rogers x Reader

Warnings: mild language, angst

A/N: This was only suppose to be a very long one shot. No beta this time. Song for this part: Here Comes Your Man by the Pixies

Summary: Your best friend in the whole galaxy is coming to visit to help out with Thanos. When he arrives, Steve finds himself jealous of the close relationship Peter and you have. Will this stop the man from telling you how he feels? Will old feelings be brought up once Peter arrives? Does first love truly fade?

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Epilogue

Your feet slammed against the pavement, The Pixies sang into your ears and the morning sun was starting to rise above the city. It had been exactly 51 hours since Peter declared himself an Avenger and the rest of the Guardians had taken off in the Milano with promises to return in a few weeks. You had stood there on the helicopter landing platform on top of the Tower, watched as the ship took off with Peter’s arm around your waist and a flicker of what you presumed was regret in his eye. You blatantly ignore it, because apart of you was glad he decided to stay, that he chose to be with you. But then there was Steve and everything that had been hinting at some sort of relationship before Peter's arrival. It felt like you were torn between two people and not the two handsome men. No, yourself. The person Peter had grown up with and knew so well, then there was the Avenger. The person Steve had grown to understand, who stayed up with him late on some nights, watching movies and talking quietly. And as selfish it might seem, the two parts of you wanted both men.

“On your left,” a soft voice came up from behind you. Whipping your head to see who it was, you laughed when blue eyes smiled at you.

“Always a show off, Rogers,” you grinned pressing pause on your headphones. You slowed down your steps to a brisk walk. He followed suit, his gray shirt clung to his well formed chest and you had to look away as to not incriminate yourself.

“I believe this was my running spot before you decided to take it over,” he pointed out with a wide smile.

“Got me there.”

“You haven't been out for a run since Peter arrived, getting back at it?”

Your hands went to the back of your head, trying to steady your breathe through the cold air. “I needed to clear my mind, you know with the shit storm coming our way.”

Steve watched the lie escape your mouth, but didn't offer a follow up, he knew you'd share what you wanted and he didn't want to pry.

“Yeah, it's going to be challenging. How's Peter adjusting-”

“-stop please,” your eyes glared at Steve with a loud sigh from your lips. “You don't have to do this.”

“I know, but he's my teammate now and I want to make sure everything's good. Need him ready for when the war comes.”

“Right,” the word comes out long and unconvincing. “I, there's just.. I'm sorry.”

Steve stopped in his steps and gave you a hard look, “You shouldn't be sorry for how you feel. I'm not going to play petty and not be understanding of your choice. I respect you, Y/N.”

You let out a soft sigh and looked toward a group of people doing yoga in the far corner of the park.

Your choice? Was it your choice?

It was you that gave Peter the ultimatum and he had made the decision to stay, to try a relationship with you. But the guilt weighed heavy on you every time he looked at you.

“I-I’m scared that he's going to regret ever staying. He's going to end up resenting me and leave for good. I don’t want to lose him,” you confessed in a low whisper and hated yourself, because how self important you were for saying those words to Steve of all people. But the man stepped forward and placed a hand on your shoulder, “I know he means a lot to you, so just do what feels right. At the end of the day, you have to live the life you want.”

His hand slipped from your shoulder and with a warm smile, he took off into a steady run, leaving you standing there on the verge of screaming obscenities. You watched his figure speed further from you, almost like watching a foggy dream drift from your unconsciousness. Walking over to the nearest park bench, you slumped down and threw your head back, letting the sun shine on your face. Closing your eyes off from the world, you think of the confusing events that followed Peter’s announcement.

“Peter,” you pulled from his embrace to look up at his beaming face. “What are you talking about?”

“How much have you had to drink dum dum? I said I’m staying here with you,” he grinned widely and threw an arm over your shoulders. A flutter of regret and excitement hit you instantly, it almost felt like you were drowning. You grabbed a hold of Peter’s arm and dragged him through the bar, right out the front door. The city was buzzing with life, as you inhaled the cool air before turning to Peter.

“I-I don’t know what to say, Pete,” you forced a smile, but your heart was racing a mile a minute. “I can’t let you do this.”

The handsome man frowned and shook his head in accusation. “No, no. You want this, you’re the one who talked about all that sappy relationship shit.”

“But only if you want it too Peter! I can’t let you give up the Guardians! The Milano! You love them! That’s your life and I should have never given you that ultimatum, I wasn’t thinking straight.”

Peter ran a hand over his face and walked over to where you stood, placing his hands on your shoulders. “Don’t be a little shit. You know how I feel about you. And you know damn well, no one makes me do anything I don’t want to.”

You let loose a small smile and rolled your eyes, “You are something else, Quill.”

Peter grinned and shrugged, “I’m a lot of things. So come on, let’s go back inside and celebrate. I’m a freaking Avenger! We’re finally back on the same team.”

His ability to ease any situation was coming in handy, because a calm fell over you and in that moment the confusion disappeared. You sighed and agreed to go back inside, but you just needed a moment. Peter pressed a kiss onto your forehead, before warning you to hurry ‘your ass up’ or he’d come out to get you. You watched the man walk back into the bar and once he was inside, your shoulders slumped. Leaning against the brick wall of the bar, your eyes closed shut. All you wanted to do was drown in a pool of whiskey, to forget the predicament you had put yourself in. You had two perfectly amazing men who both wanted to be with you, yet you felt like a complete chump. Someone was going to get hurt and it almost felt inevitable.

“Fuck,” you whispered.

“I would say language, but I know that won’t stop you,” Steve smiled as he closed the door behind him and walked over to you. He leaned into the wall with that same soft smile, the one that was always holding a little bit of pain. “You okay?”

“I’m a lot of things, Steve,” you bellowed out.

“And okay isn’t one of them,” he stated cooly. You gave him a thumbs up and he laughed. “Alright, you’re being mature I see.”

You snorted and his entire face lit up. “There you go. That’s the face I like to see.”

“So everyone getting piss drunk inside?”

Steve scratched the back of his head and smiled sheepishly. “Sam and Peter are downing beers like it’s the last night on Earth.”

“Of course,” you pushed your body off the wall and nodded to the bar. “We should probably go back inside, gotta make sure Peter doesn’t get too drunk. He’s kinda a handful when he’s had a few too many.”

“Him a handful?”

Steve questioned with a smirk, you returned the smile and started walking toward the door, but his hand touched your elbow.

“So the two of you together now?”

You halted your steps and turned to face Steve, the feel of his fingers against your skin sent waves of emotions through your body. “I honestly don’t know what’s going on.”

Steve took in your admission and sighed out loudly. “I-I think I need to do this, before it’s too late.”

“Do wh-.”

Before you could finish the question, his lips were on yours. His hands slipped around your waist pulling you against his firm body, without a single hesitation you leaned into the kiss. Your lips danced against his and it was sweet. It was everything you had imagine it could be, it was Steve. And then he pulled away, his cheeks flushed with a little embarrassment. He chuckled and released his hands from you. “I don’t want to make things more complicated for you, but it felt like it was the only chance left I had to do that. Just, just do what feels right. I promise you, either way I’ll be there for you.”

The sun bearing down on you started to sting your eyes, so you jumped up from the bench and started walking across the grass, toward the street. The Tower was only a few blocks away, so you decided to not call a car to pick you up. Getting to the sidewalk, you looked back and saw Steve running past you, he looked in your direction and waved before speeding off once again.

Smiling to yourself, you think about breakfast. There was a little diner around the corner that had the best pancakes and coffee in the city, in your opinion anyhow. Deciding it was a good idea, you pressed play on your headphones and jogged the block to the little diner. You grabbed a newspaper from the magazine stand on the corner. Strolling into the place, the smell of coffee hit your senses and your stomach growled. One of the regular waitresses looked up from the register and smiled at you, pointing you over to a booth in the far corner. Your eyes followed her gaze and when they landed onto your regular sit, a familiar face smiled up at you. Laughing in confusion, you hustled over to the booth and tossed the newspaper in front of Peter. Pulling off your headphones, you took a seat and grinned.

“What the hell are you doing here, Peter?”

He smirked and shrugged innocently. “When I woke up, you were gone. So I figured I’d go out for breakfast, I just asked SATURDAY where the nearest diner was and she told me this one.”

“You mean FRIDAY,” you corrected him with a grin. “This is my favorite breakfast place.”

“Yeah, FRIDAY told me that. So I decided to come and I used my dazzling charm to get the waitress tell me which table was your spot,” Peter explained with a proud smile, pushing his cup of coffee to you. “Drink up. I ordered like six plates of pancakes.”

Taking a sip from his mug, you watched Peter slide his hand across the table. His palm was facing up, looking ever so inviting. Sighing softly, you placed the cup down and settled your hand over his. Peter’s face relaxed and he squeezed his hand against yours.

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#Home Series #Peter Quill x Reader #Steve Rogers x Reader #Star-Lord x Reader #Captain America x Reader #Star-lord #Captain America #Steve Rogers #Peter Quill #Marvel #The Avengers #Guardians of the Galaxy #mcu

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