#like zuko is not that interesting what could they possibly have to say about him for 2 whole hours

[comradekatara]

Can you go a bit more in depth about your post about Sokka in the Burning Rock episode? You said that it was basically his suicide mission, which I agree with. I'd really like to hear more of your thoughts on it.

okay yeah i mean i'm sure i've covered all these points before extensively because i love weaving a tapestry of sokka's fucked up psychological landscape more than anything in the world, but every so often someone will comment on one of my posts and be like "i think you're reaching i think sokka is the paragon of mental health actually" and i'm just like um. did we not all watch the boiling rock. did we just ignore the apotheosis of sokka's entire character arc. like katara's apotheosis in "the southern raiders" is both very overt and impactful and also, arguably, subtler than sokka's, because they don't explicitly spell out the themes every five seconds, but like. if you didn't watch the boiling rock then you cannot understand sokka. and weirdly enough i also believe that zuka shippers are the biggest culprit of this despite this episode being thee zucchini episode because they somehow still have the audacity to characterize sokka as "goofy sunshine who exists to comfort zuko" when like. the entire point is that sokka is legitimately suicidal here and zuko is doing everything in his power to support him thru what is quite literally a mental breakdown. like their relationship is legitimately interesting i don't understand how people have taken that and made it deeply boring.....but i digress.

the boiling rock is quite obviously sokka at his lowest. the worst thing that could ever happen to him – fumbling a mission that was squarely his responsibility, from its conception to its execution, due to not being able to sufficiently compartmentalize his emotions, leading to the mass imprisonment of most of his comrades, including the men of his tribe whom he idolized his entire life and felt immense pressure to live up to, including his father who he is deathly afraid of disappointing (for reasons that have nothing to hakoda being malicious or neglectful in any way, fwiw), and thus being directly implicated in the failure and the harm caused by said failure – happened. sokka is someone who is especially bad at dealing with failure, because a) he is exceptionally talented, and thus has less experience dealing with failure in both minor and major ways, and thus lacks the emotional resilience developed through the process of struggle and growth that normal people (such as, incidentally, zuko) go through and b) to sokka, whose primary desire at all times is to protect and provide for others in any way he possibly can, for someone else to sacrifice themselves for him constitutes a fundamental disruption to the order. there is a perverse wrongness to kya or yue or hakoda or suki making sacrifices on their own volition, because it means that sokka has existentially failed to protect them by martyring himself. like, he somehow feels so guilty about suki being imprisoned that when azula reveals this piece of information to him, it literally distracts him from his own mission. and mind you, there's absolutely no way sokka could have known or been responsible for suki's imprisonment. but he still feels guilty nonetheless. and azula knows that, knows exactly how to twist the knife to make him break, because, well, it's honestly pretty obvious.

sokka obviously cannot retroactively save his mother or his first girlfriend, but he can save his father and his current girlfriend. in "the awakening" aang says he has to restore his honor after the guilt and shame of his failure in ba sing se (aang is also an incurable gifted kid perfectionist, btw, as is azula. posts for another time...) and sokka repeats zuko's line again in this episode, after experiencing the guilt and shame of his failure during the eclipse. the driving motivation of zuko's entire character, feeling like he has failed in some ontological way and must therefore redeem himself or die trying, is reinforced through aang and sokka's respective experiences mirroring that drive. aang goes out in a storm and nearly drowns to redeem himself in some vague, nebulous way, because he isn't thinking rationally. and likewise sokka, who usually always has a plan and always thinks things through, feels that caution and foresight is pointless, because he came up with a genuinely brilliant invasion plan and it didn't work, so clearly there's something wrong with him (just as he always suspected) and no amount of planning even matters, because he's a capital F Failure and always will be. and so he vows to save his father, as he promised him he would when they parted on the day of black sun, or die trying, because if he can't even do that then what is he good for; at least he'll die a martyr, which to him, is basically his ideal situation. because to sokka, dying as a martyr is basically the highest form of fulfilling his purpose (being needed, protecting people) and so if he dies a martyr, then maybe his catastrophic failure (that is entirely his fault and rests squarely on his shoulders btw) can be forgiven. so his plan is basically just to sacrifice himself for his father so that he can die "redeemed." very normal, rational, healthy behavior, i would say.

sidenote, i also see people claim that "the boiling rock" makes sokka look stupid because why wouldn't he take any of the insanely talented benders to a prison in a giant volcano surrounded by a boiling lake, and it's like. sokka literally admits that he's not being rational, that he doesn't think he's going to survive this, that this is not a good idea. it would go against sokka's entire modus operandi if he brought the children who he feels a deep, presiding responsibility to protect on a suicide mission that he's lowkey hoping will fail (because he not so secretly loves courting death. it's like she's the moon or something). he only lets zuko come with him because he doesn't actually care whether zuko lives or dies at this point. sokka has absolutely no faith in zuko whatsoever (and frankly, why would he, zuko has yet to actually prove himself to him. he didn't even kill combustion man; sokka did) so he has no idea that zuko is actually going to be helpful and supportive in a meaningful way. and frankly, if he had known that at the beginning, or even remotely liked zuko as a person, he probably wouldn't have caved so easily when zuko invited himself to join. if he didn't think that zuko was objectively worse than him and basically worthless as a human being, i doubt he would have let himself be so vulnerable with zuko in the first place. meanwhile zuko is eating it up bc he's like "omg he's confiding in me he's letting me help him we're basically besties" because he doesn't actually know sokka well enough to realize that sokka doesn't actually do that shit with people he remotely respects. shit like "my first girlfriend turned into the moon" and "i had a feeling this was going to be a one way trip" are simply not things that sokka would say out loud 98% of the time. the fact that he is admitting something real is not a testament to the trust he places in zuko, but rather the opposite. sokka spilling his guts (you know, for him) to his resident collateral damage, sokka bringing his lovingly crafted space sword on this mission, sokka not even confirming whether or not his father is actually there beforehand – he's simply stopped giving a fuck, he doesn't care whether or not he lives to see another day, because to him, he has nothing left to lose.

but of course, that also isn't true at all. i mean, for one thing, zuko still needs to teach aang firebending, so he does serve a pretty important function to the group, and zuko simply telling him to do hot squats in his absence does not qualify as significant tutelage. but also, even more importantly, sokka is integral to the fabric of the group. when he's gone for a day in "sokka's master" they literally all just shut down and start complaining about how much they miss him (we don't actually see any b-roll of the gaang hanging around the western air temple because the episode is simply too busy for that, so who can say whether the same thing occurs twice). sokka cannot afford to simply die just because his first plan failed, he still has a major responsibility to his friends. fucking idiot. i've said before that sokka has the emotional resilience of like. a pathetic wet newborn kitten caught in the rain. but like, come on man. i mean, as someone who has also suffered from debilitating perfectionist issues and never had to be responsible for a failed military invasion that cost my people their freedom, i do get it, but still. not his best moment. although there is something genuinely admirable about the fact that after he finds suki, he decides that saving suki is enough, and genuinely does want to succeed in his mission going forward. like his love for suki is one of the only things that consistently makes him happy and makes him forget that his greatest dream in life is to be murdered, and that's so beautiful to me.

the entire point of this episode, by the way, is that sokka is wrong. if that isn't obvious. sokka's entire worldview, that he only has value insofar as he exists to provide for others, and if he fails to protect people in any capacity, he has fundamentally failed to uphold the one reason he even exists on this earth, and thus he does not deserve to exist unless he is bearing the weight of everyone's suffering or otherwise proving his worth through sacrificing himself for others, is um. fucking stupid???? and incorrect. and stupid. the thing is, unlike zuko, sokka can't really point to any one person who taught him to see himself this way. he can't just face his father and tell him that his abuse was cruel and wrong, because hakoda is a good father who has never not supported and believed in and encouraged him, done everything in his power to protect him, loved him unconditionally. hakoda has inadvertently damaged sokka's psyche in various ways, of course, but never with any intention to hurt him. like, ozai tried to kill zuko, on multiple occasions. it's a pretty obvious indicator of the primary source of harm in his life. but sokka is equally if not more Unwell, and there's no one single figure he can blame, because his complex lies within a tangled web of what my best friend fanon calls the "massive psychoexistential complex" of the colonized subject. he is being dehumanized not through interpersonal abuse, but through the violent logic of imperialism. sokka's formative traumas inform his psychology as he understands that he only has value insofar as he is protecting the people he loves (namely his sister) from being murdered by imperialists, much like his mother did. and that logic is continually reified through the violence he is being subjected to, until he truly absorbs the belief that his life has no value on its own, that he is genuinely Less than [human] in some fundamental way. which is obviously deeply tragic, but also lowkey kind of comical because he also happens to be the specialest boy in the world, who literally did come up with multiple working escape plans at the world's most secure supermax on the fly, mind you! but whenever anyone tries to point that out, including piandao literally saying "you're the most exceptional and worthy person i've ever met in my life" sokka is just like "um. that is incorrect actually." like NO ONE should depersonalize themselves and feel that their only value lies in their ability to serve and sacrifice themselves for others, but it's especially ironic that sokka literally does not think he has any value as a human being, and yet he is also objectively exceptional. like, do you understand why i adore this character so much. do you.

anyway. the point of this episode isn't that sokka has worth because he's exceptional, either. that's lowkey the point of "sokka's master," but also a) sokka doesn't really internalize it and b) the more important part of the episode lies in how much the gaang just misses his company because they miss their neurotic control freak big brother who makes bad jokes. but even if he couldn't come up with multiple working escape plans on the fly, suki and zuko still stay by his side anyway because they care about him. they are demonstrating that they would risk their safety and possibly even their lives, in the exact way that sokka is always trying to for everyone else, for him. that sokka doesn't need to be the one who always protects everyone else, and that he isn't a failure for letting people who care about him help him and protect him. and sokka has to accept their help, because suki and zuko are simply too stubborn not to force him into letting them support him. they are standing in a literal maximum security prison in the middle of a volcano and they are still choosing to prioritize sokka's mental health and wellbeing, which is honestly crazy, but also exactly what he needs in this moment. suki has known sokka for what, 3 days maximum? yes they're soulmates but like, girl get up. and in zuko's case, "girl get up" is magnified tenfold, because he literally risked his life to go with him to the boiling rock (also largely motivated by the guilt of not being able to stage his own prison break with iroh, but still!) and let himself get imprisoned despite being the fire nation's most wanted criminal, stayed by sokka's side no matter what including getting thrown into a literal torture chamber for him, jumped across a gaping boiling chasm with no guarantee that he'd survive except for the implicit expectation that sokka would catch him on the other side. like zuko is so fucking pussywhipped and sokka didn't even value him as a human being until like halfway through their entire mission. insane.

in conclusion: "the boiling rock" is a beautiful story of the most mentally ill boy on the planet (he took first place ever since jet died rip jet forever in our hearts), and his two ride or die bitches who he met like yesterday, and also his dad, and a casual homophobe named chit sang, all working together to demonstrate to him why killing yourself is a bad idea in most cases, probably. it's also the story of the most insane dyke drama of all time, but that's for another post (of which i have of course made multiple, most recently, here). i said it's the apotheosis of sokka's arc, and by that i mean it's the most overt acknowledgement of what his fundamental issue is, and the first steps one must take in actually resolving it (namely, accepting help and support from your peers and loved ones). do i think that sokka is magically cured after returning from the boiling rock? no, probably not (in fact, because i'm somewhat sick & twisted myself, i like to imagine that once the war ends, he actually gets worse). but he does seem genuinely happier after they return. and maybe that's just bc kyoshi warrior pussy hits different, but like. he was able to rely on others for help (including mai my best friend mai) who supported him unconditionally and prevented him from simply giving up, and that's so incredibly important. that kind of support is always important, to everyone, of course, but as we've established, it's especially important to sokka specifically, at his lowest (quite possibly ever), in this situation. no one has an obligation to risk their life for someone else, but sokka is something who thinks that his purpose is to risk his life for other people (namely katara), and so for people who really have nothing to gain and everything to lose in standing by and promising not to leave without him, to actually show that they support him unconditionally is huge. if sokka has no fans then i am dead and so is suki zuko hakoda toph aang piandao iroh the mechanist etc etc etc. perfect episode <3

#suicide / #writergracethepanda #asks #analysis #sokka #sokkaxsuki #cinematic masterpiece the boiling rock part 2 #(technically i use that tag to talk about maizulee but swagever) #this post is basically just stream of consciousness unstructured rambling so i hope you find it valuable in some way... #at this point i've given up on trying to do Readings of and make Arguments about sokka #and i'm just rambling. i posted a whole fucking. ACTUAL essay about him yesterday and no one read it #but this is not that. this is. who even knows. it's certainly not an ''essay'' #my thesis statement: i love sokka so much #my body paragraphs: hes a weak willed mentally ill fucking IDIOT #just trust me ok. trust the process

[hella1975]

maybe not a hot take but is anyone else like reluctant to get new atla content lmao. like the series is so genuinely incredible and the last time they tried to capitalise on that we ended up with The Movie and while i AM excited to have more conversation about atla and maybe even another renaissance (god ive seen what youve done for others... *is talking about the zukka renaissance of 2020*) im also very scared of what is going to be made canon. like a whole movie for zuko? you're gonna give that loser an entire movie now? he's going to canonically say a slur i just know it

#like because atla hasnt had any new content since the show ended *yes we're ignoring the film entirely* #it means the fandom is very solid and we all know what is and isnt canon and the general fanon consensus for things #and idk it's just always been a very stable fandom to me like it's always one i can fall back on #bc it's not changing and it's not going anywhere #so to suddenly have all this big new flashy content coming in is actually more nervewracking than it is exciting #at least for me #like zuko is not that interesting what could they possibly have to say about him for 2 whole hours #basically avatar studios im just begging you not to butcher my faves #they have been through enough besties #atla

[melzula]

Can you please write jealous Zuko? It can be however you like😊

a/n: i love jealous zuko! however this ended up being more angsty than i intended😭 hope you enjoy!

summary: a party at the palace leads to a deep revelation for zuko

He was miserable.

The palace didn’t throw parties very often these days, but the recent conquering of another Earth colony was deemed a call for celebration, and so all of the noble families in the Capital City were invited to attend. A grand feast was held and praises were showered upon Ozai throughout the night. It was one of the rare times Zuko didn’t have to worry about his father’s wrath, and so he should have been enjoying himself.

But he couldn’t, not when he could see that across the way another boy was flirting with you right in front of him.

You were Zuko’s everything- his childhood best friend that he’d always held harbored feelings for. During his banishment he thought of you constantly, and upon his arrival he immediately asked you to be his girlfriend. You were sweet and friendly, easily approachable and always able to cheer him up despite his moodiness, you were perfect. And apparently this other boy could see this too.

You smile out of politeness and nod along to the boy’s rambling story about his fire bending skills and high IQ, not very interested in listening but too nice to brush him off. It infuriates Zuko to see someone else take advantage of your kindness, and he’s unable to just sit back and watch any longer.

A harsh hand lands upon the boy’s shoulder, startling both of you in the process. Zuko’s eyes are blazing with fury, his palm scorching the fabric of the boy’s robes and scaring the spirits out of him in the process.

“Can’t you take a hint? She doesn’t want to talk to you!” the Prince bellow angrily, prompting a few guests nearby to turn their heads curiously towards the commotion. A bit embarrassed at the sudden attention, you gently pull Zuko’s hand away and drag him out to the gardens before he can escalate the situation any further. The last thing you need is for him to cause a scene at his father’s party.

“What?” Zuko says defensively as you wordlessly walk through the palace hallways. “I was helping you!”

“You were acting jealous again,” you chide gently.

“No I wasn’t!” He argues defensively only to shrink under your pointed gaze. “…I was.”

“I love you, Zuko, but I don’t love how jealous you can get sometimes. I’m your girlfriend, don’t you trust me?”

“Of course I do!” He interjects quickly, almost offended at the notion.

“Then what is it? Why do you act this way?”

Zuko is silent, his eyes casted sullenly to the floor as you patiently wait for his answer. You take his hands in your own and give them a reassuring squeeze to let him know you’re there for him, and the act seems to coax him out of his stupor.

“I’m afraid you’ll change your mind about being with me, and once the right guy comes along you’ll realize you’re better off without me,” he admits quietly, almost ashamed to voice the thought out loud.

“Zuko…” you utter sadly, heartbroken at the fact that he could even believe such a thing.

“Why do you want to be with a boy who’s been exiled from his own country before? Whose own father burned his face? Who’s so messed up in every way possible?”

Gently carefully cupping his face in your hands, you tilt his head upward to meet your sincere gaze. His eyes are glossy with tears he refuses to let fall, and your heart aches for the poor boy before you. You wish you could take away all of his hurt in agony, but you can’t, so you do your best to take away his insecurity instead.

“I wish you could yourself the way I see you,” you tell him lovingly. “You are more than enough for me, more than I could ever ask for. You’re strong, you’re brave, you’re smart. You’re you. I love you, Zuko. No one’s ever going to get into the way of that.”

He says nothing in response but simply yanks you into his arms for the tightest hug you’ve ever possibly received. You know he isn’t the best at words or emotions, but his embrace conveys that he is grateful for every word to come out of your mouth.

He knows he may be jealous at times, but he also knows that he doesn’t have to be anymore.

Because you’re not going anywhere.

| atla tags: @sirkekselord @niktwazny303

| zuko tags: @thebluelcdy @royahllty @the-firebender-girl @ilovespideyyy @yiyibetch @eridanuswave @lammello @a-monsters-love @knaite-solo @taeeemin

#zuko #zuko x reader #zuko imagine #prince zuko #prince zuko x reader #prince zuko imagine #atla #atla x reader #atla imagine #avatar the last airbender #request

[blluespirit]

i wish that there was more time between the day of black sun and sozin's comet bc zuko's official desertion from the fire nation would have the most insane ripple effects (and it would be nice to see the gaang interacting a bit more than we got but hey i'll take what i can get)

zuko's desertion would have been essentially impossible for the fire nation to bury since it was such a big deal that he returned at all. so i imagine the smear campaign against zuko would have been craaazy. i think it would have been interesting for the gaang to try and deal with that when navigating the FN. zuko would be very recognisable i think at this point, and it would have made staying hidden much harder. would they still have chosen ember island? maybe the kids didn't recognise zuko and azula during The Beach , but with the prince of the fire nation committing treason would there be more wanted posters? would there be more talk around the island? would zuko have to remain hidden while the rest go out and get food?

i wonder if zuko deserting and very meaningly committing his loyalty to the avatar influenced other soldiers in the FN to also desert? or would it have had the opposite effect and made people feel more patriotic since zuko was banished, returned under the guise of having killed the avatar, and then left when aang announced his survival to world during the failed invasion?

SPEAKING OF THAT!! the rumours around this would be INSANE. we know what really happened, but the public don't. did zuko and the avatar plan this so that there would be an inside man during the invasion and then zuko used that chaos to escape? what really happened in ba sing se if zuko didn't kill aang, but azula thought that he did? (again: we, the audience know the truth, but the general public don't). if zuko and the avatar where working together... for how long? was iroh involved somehow since he also disappeared the same time that zuko did? did iroh get captured on purpose to be close to zuko to possibly help him if needed? did zuko break iroh out of jail or did one of the guards or was iroh alone? you could spiral on this as just an average person in the avatar world for years like. if youtube existed in atla imagine the video essays breaking down all the conspiracies

its a kids show so obviously Nothing Bad Happened BUT in the Boiling Rock, zuko getting found out as not only an imposter (already, a very bad situation), a traitor (extremely bad), AND the traitorous (ex) prince of the fire nation (devastatingly terrible) would have been... incredibly dangerous for zuko. in zuko and iroh's original wanted poster, the official translation says “Permission is granted to kill them on sight” and this was before zuko has gone right ahead and committed Treason On Purpose. the warden is not going to be nice. when the warden visits zuko in his cell he literally tells him "If these criminals found out who you are, the traitor prince who let his nation down, why they'd tear you to shreds." the boiling rock would be hell trying to survive. it also puts a lot more weight on zuko refusing to leave sokka in their first escape attempt. also ozai obviously knew that he has his son was in prison bc he... broke in to the prison bc azula was there but then zuko manages to escape with sokka (another imposter) and suki and hakoda (POWs) and chit sang (a prisoner) and two of azula's trusted friends end up in prison for treason as well i just. that is literally insane for the average person to hear about. again, THE CONSPIRACIES!!

when zuko eventually does take the throne there's a lot of conjecture around what zuko did while he was banished and moreso, what he did the second time he left, this time voluntarily. i think zuko's loyalty would be questioned a lot; by other world leaders who are understandably wary about the fire nation and its motivations, but also by its own people - some who believe that zuko is a traitor to his country and is trying to sabotage it since he helped end the war.

idk these are all just me rambling but it would been so interesting to explore the implications of zuko leaving the fire nation and how that would have impacted the gaang and how they interacted with others in their travels. there are so many fic where zuko joins the gaang early, but neither myself with the aus that I have written, nor many that ive read have explored this very much or at all.

#this is basically a thought stream #zuko #sokka #aang #katara #toph #the gaang #book 3 #i think that like.... zuko leaving would have been crazy. it should be the talk of the town! #the gossip mill would have been on OVERDRIVE #it also makes it so hard bc no one knows what the truth actually is #one day in court as fire lord one of the foreign dignitaries is like ummm fire lord is it true that you systematically #robbed upper class earth kingdom citizens to help fund local militia groups to take back land occupied by the fire nation #and like zuko is just sitting there like WHAT #zuko: yes i did rob people. #the foreign dignitary: 👁️👄👁️ #avatar the last airbender #atla #the boiling rock #the day of black sun #the firebending masters

[wileycap]

Little snippets of dialogue, showing what I think postwar redeemed Azula would look like:

AZULA: Admiral Asahi seems to be convinced that a return to the old regime would be in the best interests of the Fire Nation. He recently gave a speech where he accused the Fire Lord of being an impotent, cowardly puppet who was leading the country to ruin. Well, if he misses the old ways so badly, we should slather him with tar, put him in a boat at sunset and light the boat on fire after Agni's last rays have left the world, so his spirit will never feel the warmth of the Sun again!

EVERYBODY: [looks at her]

AZULA: But... we won't. Because. We're very moral.

SOKKA: Yyyeah, good save. Not creepy at all.

---

ZUKO: Princess Azula, what do you think we should do about the war orphans?

AZULA: We should train them to be an elite fighting force. They've already lost everything, so their feelings of hate and grief would be easy to twist to serve us.

ZUKO, sighing: Let's try that again. Remember that the Earth King's delegation is going to be at this meeting, so maybe try to avoid saying anything that could restart the war.

AZULA: ... give them jobs?

ZUKO: Child labor is bad.

AZULA: Even if it's-

ZUKO: Even if it's peasant children, yes. And don't call them peasants.

AZULA: What do you want from me? Should I say, 'oh, poor babies, we should fund luxurious orphanages where they can get the best education and care, and many hugs and kisses, where they can weave flower crowns and roll around in meadows of fire lillies?'

ZUKO: Yes.

AZULA: Oh. Well, that one, then.

---

ZUKO: Azula! What did you do?

AZULA: You're going to have to be a little more specific.

ZUKO: Admiral Asahi's estate burned down!

AZULA: That's unfortunate, but I don't see what it has to do with me.

ZUKO: So you're saying you didn't do it?

AZULA: Of course I didn't.

ZUKO: ... really?

AZULA: I hired someone to do it. I am royalty, after all.

ZUKO: Azula!

AZULA: Oh, lighten up, Zuzu. My operative made sure that everyone got out.

ZUKO: Everyone except for Asahi, who was trapped in his outhouse.

AZULA: Yes, well, that was unfortunate.

ZUKO: In his outhouse, where the fire started.

AZULA: A very tragic accident, but he survived, didn't he?

ZUKO: Yeah, but he was covered in... anyways, who did you hire?

AZULA: You know, I'm not entirely sure. She wore a mask, but I think she's called the Red Spirit.

ZUKO: What? You can't steal my secret identity!

AZULA: What are you talking about?

ZUKO: The Blue Spirit!

AZULA: The Blue Spirit was a myth, made up by Zhao to explain the Avatar's escape from Pohuai. Sure, there were some copycat bandits in the Earth Kingdom, but our own intelligence has repeatedly dismissed the possibility of the Blue Spirit being an actual person. Haven't you been keeping up with the reports?

ZUKO: I- you- argh! [stomps off]

AZULA: Bye, Zuzu.

#atla #atla spoilers #avatar the last airbender #atla fic #character dialogue #dialogue #azula #zuko #sokka #atla azula #atla zuko #fire nation

[wingedcupcaketimemachine]

Heyyyy, I saw your requests open and wanna ask for oneshot Zuko x GN!Reader(who is really-really sweet for a firebender), but they're childhood friends(and Zuko had a crush on them) and reader ran away to Earth Kingdom. Then they meet in some village where Reader lives and make something romantic there!

Please and thank you!

Zuko Reuniting With Childhood Friend

Pairing: Zuko x Firebender!GN!Reader

Summary: You and Zuko are childhood friends who grew up together in the Fire Nation.

Warnings: Contain spoilers for some of Zuko's backstory if you haven't seen the show. Also contains badly written kiss scene

Type: Romantic ❤️

A/N: I decided to give the reader a bit of backstory to explain why they fled to the Earth Kingdom. The one shot takes place during season 2 episode 14, "Tales of Ba Sing Se." Hope you enjoy <3

Oneshot starts below cut

Avatar: The Last Airbender Masterlist

Main Masterlist

You had been friends with Zuko back when you still lived in the Fire Nation. You had grown up alongside him and his sister, Azula, as your father was on of the Firelord's more trusted generals.

As a young child, you were never very interested in playing games with Azula and her friends. You preferred spending quiet time with Zuko around the palace.

Zuko never understood how he felt about you.. Of course he liked you. The two of you were friends, best friends even. But, did best friends make a fiery red blush rise from your face to the tops of your ears? Did a best friends cause your heart to stop beating every time you got lost in their eyes?

Even now, as his golden eyes met yours, his heart felt as if it would beat out of his chest. He carefully studied you as you sat in the corner of the tea shop. You had changed. Your hair was different, maybe a bit longer than he remembered, and you had swapped out your red Fire Nation clothes for a simple green dress -- an Earth Nation staple. Most notably, your bright eyes had remained the same.

You studied him as well. This Zuko was much different than the boy you knew as a child. His hair was much shorter, and his once warm golden eyes had grown dull. You wondered, how had he ended up in a Ba Sing Se tea shop of all places? After his banishment from the Fire Nation, you weren't sure if you would ever see him again.

"Uncle, we have a problem," said Zuko as he approached his uncle behind the front counter, "Don't look now, but over in the corner table, it's (Y/N)."

Iroh swiftly turned to glance at your table. He recognized you in an instant. His mind was flooded with the memories of you and Zuko growing uo together in the palace.

"Uncle!" Zuko scolds, "Didn't I say don't look? Now they're gonna know that we're onto them."

Before Iroh could respond, you walked up to the counter with a small bag of coins in hand.

"Thank you for the tea, Zuko," you said politely, "And you too general Iroh."

Zuko felt heat rise to his ears. He had always though you were pretty, and seeing you up close was starting to make him a but flustered. "But why?" he thought to himself. Were friends supposed to think of each other that way?

"You're welcome," said Zuko with red checks, "But you can't call us that here. I go by Lee. And my uncle is called Mushi"

"Sorry!" you said quickly, as your face flushed with embarrassment, "I didn't even think that you would go by different names here. Speaking of which, what are you doing here anyway?"

"Well," Zuko said, "It's not really something we can discuss here."

"My nephew is right!" Iroh said, jumping back into the conversation, "Why don't the two of you go out tonight and discuss how both of you came to be in Ba Sing Se?"

At Iroh's suggestion, Zuko turned even redder, if possible.

"I like that idea," you said shyly before turning back to Zuko, "I know a restaurant in the city if you'd like to go there."

"Yeah..that sounds...nice," Zuko said quietly, "I can meet you in front of the tea shop tonight."

"Yeah," you said with a grin, "See you tonight."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After it had gotten dark, you stood outside of the tea shop waiting for Zuko. As you waited, you began to hear muffled voices from inside the shop.

"i'm not so sure about this, Uncle," said Zuko hesitantly "What if they end up hating me after I tell them. I don't want to lose them again."

"Do not worry Zuko. They have a god heart, and so do you. Now get going. You're going to be late."

"Hi," you said as Zuko walked out of the tea shop, "Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah," said Zuko, rubbing the back of his neck nervously, "Lead the way."

The two of you walked in an uncomfortable silence. The tension between you could be cut with a knife. After a brief walk, which somehow felt so much longer than the short 10 minutes, you came to a stop outside of a small restaurant.

"This is it," you said awkwardly, "Do you wanna go find a table?"

"Sure," said Zuko, before you fell into another uncomfortable silence.

"So," you said after you had settled in your seats, "What are you doing here in Ba Sing Se anyway? I thought you were looking for the avatar."

"I am!" Zuko said quickly, "But Uncle and I got a bit sidetracked. Azula's after us."

Your eyes widened in shock.

"Azula? But what could she want from you? She's already next in line to become firelord."

"My father," said Zuko quietly, "He sent her after me and the avatar. He doesn't seem to think my efforts to capture him are good enough."

"Of course," you said in a rare burst of anger, "I should have known your father would do anything to prevent you from returning to the Fire Nation. That's part of the reason I left, you know."

"Really?" said Zuko curiously.

He had always wondered what made you leave the Fire Nation. Although he had already been banished at that time, he had heard through letters from the Fire Nation that you had run away shortly after his father sent him to find the avatar. Selfishly, he couldn't help but think that you had left for him.

"I never really agreed with the Fire Nation's teachings," you said honestly, "I always wondered why we were taught that our way of life was better than everyone else, when, truly, each one of us should be seen as equals. But when your own father challenged you to an Agni Kai, I realized that we really weren't the heroes the Fire Nation said we were. We were the villains. I came out here to try and make a difference. I can't just stand by while our people destroy the world and everyone in it."

Zuko's gaze met you eyes and he saw the many emotions swirling inside of them. Most importantly the fiery determination that he hadn't seen since childhood. As your words sank in, he though about how he and his uncle had ended up in the city. Unlike you, who, through your unwavering need to help others, had worked the make life easier for the people whose life had been torn apart by the Fire Nation, he had spent the better part of a month terrorizing innocent towns on his hunt for the avatar.

"I always wished I could be more like you, you know," Zuko said ashamed, "I always thought I was doing the right thing by tracking down the avatar, but after seeing all the damage the Fire Nation has caused, maybe I've been doing a lot more harm than good."

You smiled at him before softly cupping his face.

"You're not a bad person, Zuko," you said quietly, "I know there's good in you. You just need someone to help you find it."

You felt Zuko's skin burn under your touch, as you look into his golden eyes, which are filled with hesitation. As you leaned closer, you could hear Zuko's breath hitch as his breath caught in his throat. Zuko began to lean in, hoping you couldn't hear his heart beating at a thousand miles an hour.

Your lips finally connected, for a brief second, before you pulled apart, faces flushed.

"You, know," Zuko said quietly, "I missed you a lot after I left the Fire Nation."

You smiled softly.

"So did I," you said before gently pulling him into another kiss.

#zuko #zuko imagine #zuko x reader #avatar the last airbender #atla #atla imagine #atla zuko #avatar zuko #prince zuko #zuko fluff #prince zuko x reader #zuko x you #zuko x y/n

[daftmooncretin]

rip to rian johnson but star wars sequels would be way better if ben solo was just kinda cowardly and han solo coded so he defected from the jedi and went to be a fun swashbuckling anarchist space cowboy instead

and finn and poe have to find him and try to convince him to come back to the rebellion but hes afraid who he is and what he could become

also instead of luke trying to kill his nephew for NO REASON (so insanely out of character it boils my blood) he just realises after ben dips thats hes not cut out for teaching. and is living on a mandalorian colony as rebellion liason/ambassador with chewie and sometimes lando i guess (din djarin is there) he aids the rebellion (because of course he would fuck that plotline) but he wont stay on the rebel base because he doesnt like all the chosen one clout and mandalorians are very chill and mind their own business

han and leia are still together and play active parts in the rebellion because fuck that plotline too although they do disagree about the ben situation (leia is annoyed and han is understanding) poe and ben childhood friends and for what.

in this au, rey is raised in the empire and is a sith lord but she has doubts and isnt as abjectly disgusting as kylo ren because of course not. (appears slightly too interested in the rebellion when poe is captured and maybe??? possibly lets finn and poe escape but thats up for debate.) rey gets more evil over course of movies before turning to light for plot drama and a satisfying zuko arc.

force awakens timeline

prophecy that a new jedi will rise and take down the dark side. rey and sith lord (dk who but fuck snoke im writing him out) assume it is the missing ben solo (its finn and rey tho fr) and are intent on finding him. movie opens on rey being evil probably and capturing poe. also finn as a character actully needs no real changes hes great. and then next scene space pirate ben solo doing his thing (but without identity revealed so we dont know who he is yet he may go by kylo because funny)

instead of luke poe has a lead on missing almost-jedi before he dipped ben solo and is searching for him on leias orders.(rebellion also believe the prophecy is about him. but nuh uh) torture scene and escape scene doesnt need to change but show reys nuances and how lost she is.

in the interest of narrative poe and finn still crash on tatooine but finn manages to pull poe out of the crash. (finn still gets the jacket at some point because i say so) poe is too injured to fly so they seek out help and and meet ben solo who saves them from pirates or something idk. (but neither know who the other is)

finn and poe convince ben solo to be their pilot still thinking hes a random smuggler named kylo. they get along very well, especially finn and ben. rey by this point is tracking their whereabouts

they end up on that lightsaber planet and ben gets the weird darth vader nightmare and freaks out, (hes afraid of being evil or something idk) poe is getting suspicious now also finn feels the force and takes up the lightsaber. rey comes and finn trys to hold her off. finn get hurt and drops lightsaber. ben is forced to take it up and his identity is revealed as rebel reeforcements led by han and leia arrive and they see him fighting. rey and ben have a weird charged moment (yes i guess i am still making reylo a thing but its reyben now and its woke so shh) and in a dramatic desperate effort he manages to knock her lightsaber away with the force. poe crawls into a plane at somepoint and blows up reys ship. the rebels destroy the stormtroopers but rey captures finn and escapes in a stolen ship.

ben has a oh-shit-i-said-id-never-use-the-force-again related existential crisis which makes him freak out and leaves. a distraught finn-less poe calls him a coward. poe picks up the discarded lightsaber and the jackettm and sadly packs them up. leia tells him about the starkiller and poe volunteers to go on the starkiller and save finn. han and leia have a sweet moment and han decides to go with poe on the suicide mission, chewie goes too.(chewie arrived at somepoint i guess)

mid hostage situation finn blocks reys force attempt and shes shook up. he sees something in her (finn is a beautiful sweetheart) and he trys to appeal to her. she force chokes him and books it out of there. but it is clear she fears him a little. he escapes with mind tricks and runs into han poe and chewie on the deck. finnpoe moment fr. poe gives him his jacket back in order to get the keep it it looks good on you line.

meanwhile ben is back on his ship(i guess its the falcon?) and he thinks about finn and his mom and luke or something.. a dream maybe?? idk something emotional and motivational for his arc. and he goes to a box under the floor in his ship and pulls out a green lightsaber. he turns the ship around.

on the ship poe finn han and chewie are planting the bombs and escaping when they get stopped by stormtroopers ordered by rey. poe is about to be shot by a big droid thing when it is cut in half by ben wow big reveal hes here oooo ah. rey is shot in the shoulder by chewie and angrily orders more stormtroopers. they cant take them all. han sacrifices himself by blowing up the bridge. he tells finn and poe to find luke in the mandolorian colony ben is distraught him and han have an emotional goodbye he tells him to tell leia he’s sorry and that he loves him and he proud of him then he makes chewy get ben out of there and he blows himself up. leia senses it v sad rip man but he had to die to intensify plot drama

rey chases them onto the ice planet and another weird charged moment. mind link established??? this time ben is too angry and grieving though so its not a good match and she wounds him real bad all over hes v scarred now. poe shoots at rey and throws lightsaber at finn. he gets ben onto the ship and finn and rey have the big force awakens show down. finn uses the force v powerful all that jazz the good guys get away. on the ship finn mentions how he felt a connection with rey to poe and claims he sees good in her

movie ends with meeting luke on mandolore. ben is very traumatised wont really speak to finn or poe and avoiding luke. finn returns lukes lightsaber and rey has doubts movie over. movies ends with ominous rey ben mind link

final notes (on first movie and overarching rewrite plans)

finn

finn is the protagonist of this movie so it would be much more character heavy on him them the original. more in depth on his stormtrooper trauma, how he always chooses the people he loves over the cause and his reluctance to join the rebellion. his friendship with poe and the han/leia parallel’s especially. relationships with han and ben important for his character exposition and he plays a key role in supporting both rey and bens character progression. possesses the strong sense of mercy and kindness at the heart of the star wars franchise.

rey

rey is raised in the first empire and does not know anything different. when she meets finn who was able to rebel and escape from the same system she is trapped in she becomes plagued by doubts and projects all of her hatred and resentment onto finn to compensate, but it is clear she fears him. to escape from her doubts she fixates on finding and capturing ben solo imagining him to be a frightening and terrible adversary. however when she meets him they see eachothers minds, and she sees how plagued by doubt and fear he is, how he runs from everything and he sees her too. they connect and develop a strange mutual fascination/understanding. this is put askew by finns appearance at the end of the movie in defence of ben. reys fear of finn increases when she sees the true extent of his power. she fears and hates equally finns strength of character and easy goodness and by extension hates ben for his alliance with finn. she blames finn for “taking” ben from her.

ben solo

kylo ren is a disgusting blight on the star wars names so ben solo is being completely reclaimed by me into a different character because i fucking hate that stupid pretentious eboy. instead ben solo is an incredibly han solo coded character with a heart of gold and deep love and loyalty to his friends and family. his main weakness as a character in this rewrite is his fear and lack of self belief. ben is terrified of being a jedi and of his own power. he fears his own nature and was so afraid he would become his grandfather that he ran from the jedi altogether. ben solo is a runner that wont face his problems, he runs from the jedi and from his parents to avoid failing or becoming something terrible. finn and ben recognise the need to run in eachother (although important distinction finn runs because he doesn’t want to fight for a cause. and ben runs because hes afraid he will be the reason the cause fails) and ultimately encourage eachother to break the cycle and stand their ground (well finn motivated ben in this movie, finns not fixed yet.) Bens arc in these movies is about learning to live with his own nature and fighting for what he believes in despite his fear. also dealing with mommy issues (ben is kind of jealous of poe and leias relationship the son she wanted or something blah blah blah etc) and being a malewife to his murder girlfriend. his job is kind of to support and fight with finn and later rey and help them save the world

finnpoe (will be a gay couple)

their friendship will be front and centre in these movies because they represent duty vs personal loyalty. poe puts the cause above all else and values his own life and personal relationships little. finn on the other hand is disillusioned with establishment cause of stormtrooper trauma and wants to protect himself and others from it. poe is the first person that finn truly bonds with and loves. he puts poe above everything, including being a jedi and the rebellion. this leads to a lot of fighting and discord between finn and poe as finn doesn’t understand how important the rebellion is to poe and poe doesnt get why finn is trying to protect him from it. ultimately though poe teaches finn faith and belief and finn teaches poe to accept love and value himself. (also many hanleia parallels) the two of them are the harbingers of a new age. poe as future leader of the new republic and finn as the jedi messiah or whatever. in terms of romance, im thinking slowburn. baity first movie, kiss at the end of the second and established relationship by the halfway mark of the third.

also when rey eventually joins the light in the beginning she refuses to talk to ben (cause of romantic drama i havent thought of yet but centres around some sort or betrayal in the second movie) or finn (because hes her narrative foil and slow burn best friend forever) so her first friend is poe and she kind of follows him around in her first few months before she eventually bonds with finn 4eva. her poe shadowing has lots of cute friend moments where they fly together and he tries to talk her down about finn and the ben drama but also more importantly it foreshadows her leadership ability and tactical mind as she gives him advice and aids him with the rebellion behind the scenes (also leads to leia taking rey under her wing probably because poe is her surrogate son and mirror) which will eventually lead to her and poe leading the republic together because in my mind rey is a jedi but actively a member of republic government because ben can’t do politics and finn won’t but shes great at it so she’d be a perfect jedi liason and vice president to poe. meanwhile finn and ben lead the jedi. finn as a knight travelling across the galaxy and ben as a teacher. (luke is happy in retirement rn on mandalore but leia is still probably an advisor in the republic because retirement is definitely not for her) and everyone is happy the end. force ghost han solo is clapping.

#this entire thing has been gathering in my notes app for about two years #until i was like why didnt i post this #so enjoy #can you find the destiel inspo in here because im a freak #I HATE KYLO REN #i just wanted the finn poe rey ben found family #and for pookie luke not to get character assasinated #star wars sequel trilogy #star wars #rey #finnpoe #poe dameron #ben solo #rey skywalker #finn star wars #han solo #luke skywalker #din djarin #dinluke #the force awakens #the last jedi

[ilikepjo24]

Sokka could have killed Azula if he wanted to, indeed. He could force her to retreat even more, cause I her to fall. He could stab her. He didn't. He retreated and let Zuko throw a fireball at her, one that she managed to avoid.

That says a lot about Sokka and about everyone else on that rooftop as well.

Sokka didn't want to kill Azula. He could. And it would be convenient for him a Team Avatar if he had. But despite her imprisoning his dad and girlfriend, and ruining his dobs plan and killing his best friend and almost harming his sister on multiple occasions, he still doesn't want to kill Azula.

However, I don't think it's about being a good person or anything like that. Sokka was never afraid to do sketchy shit if that's what needed to be done. He invaded the Fire Nation when they were at their weakest. He crashed airships, killing hundreds, without even giving it a second thought. He killed the Combustion man without flinching. He wouldn't be afraid to kill Azula if that's what he thought was necessary.

And yet, he didn't. There could be multiple reasons why. It could be that he feared if the most important person (by FN standards) in the elevator thingy was dead, the guards wouldn't hesitate to cut the line immediately. It could be that he thought they had a chance of capturing her and having a vulnerable hostage, since they had better numbers. It could be for Zuko's sake. As a brother, it's possible he wouldn't be interested in killing a little sister infront of her older brother.

As for Suki and Zuko... They don't hate Azula. Sokka just threw away an opportunity of getting rid of an enemy and none of his allies that saw it were bothered. No one said "wtf are you doing? Why would you do that? You could have saved us so much trouble!". They are not eager to see Azula dead despite her being their enemy. Suki doesn't hate Azula, even after Azula imprisoned her. And Zuko doesn't hate Azula either, so all the fics of him having Azula endure any kind of torture are ooc, and they need to be stopped.

No, seriously, stop it.

When it comes to Ty Lee, I noticed that she didn't react to her friend almost dying? I don't think it because Ty Lee doesn't care for Azula, so it's either that she didn't notice because she was busy, or that she had trust in Azula's abilities to make it out alive.

And Azula is... interesting. She either doesn't value her life, or she values it, but she values her duty more. There's no other option. Because how TF is half your foot touching sweet death, and then you just continue without flinching or being scared or anything? You just move on? Honestly, whether Azula doesn't care about being alive that much, or does care, but would still find it honorable to die on duty, it's still interesting. It creates lot of questions about Azula's mental state at the moment and about her dedication to her father and country. Where does it end?

If it's neither of the two, then Azula was just being an arrogant-ass motherfucker which also creates questions. Is it because she trusted her own abilities a lot? Is it because she believed Zuko wouldn't let her die? Is it because she thought Sokka wouldn't kill her? And why is that? Does she consider him soft, cause he didn't hurt her in the dobs, or does he consider him too weak to kill her? And is that because he's a "water tribe savage" or because he's a nonbender?

Every time Azula is on screen, there are so many things to analyze!!

#atla #azula #zuko #sokka #suki #ty lee #the boiling rock #atla meta #azula meta #sokka meta #scene analysis

[balanceoflightanddark]

What if this happened?

Azula and Zuko manage to capture the avatar right after Katara quickly healed him while still in Ba Sing Se. The gaang were forced to leave without Aang, altering the day of black sun plan into a rescue mission.

Until the end of "Day of black sun pt 2", Aang is stuck as Azula's prisoner. As the main character, Aang would still have the most screen time but it gets shared with Azula and he spends the most time with her.

What do you think will happen between them? What could "The Beach" episode look like with Aang in it?

Well, this is an interesting ask.

The first most definite thing I can say is whether or not Azula and Zuko know that Aang is alive. I would wager they would capture his body which might not necessarily be conscious to show that the Avatar is indeed dead. Naturally, this could lead to a nightmarish scenario like at the start of Book 3 where Aang wakes up on a Fire Nation ship, only for it to be under the control of the Fire Nation instead of being captured.

Course, I wouldn't imagine Aang's initial escape attempt being too successful given that he just recovered from being shot in the back. Azula and Zuko would still be able to hold him till he gets to the Fire Nation where Ozai...I doubt Aang is going to be kept in good condition since killing him would just cause the Avatar to reincarnate. Therefore, I could see Ozai keeping him in torturous conditions not unlike what Zhao put him through in Book 1. Alive, but unable to do anything. Might even give Azula the "honor" of watching him since Zuko has returned to become the Crown Prince.

But let's assume that Aang is able to try and make an escape attempt a few times. I mean let's face it, he's not exactly someone who's easy to keep down. I could see Azula wanting to keep his escape attempts under wraps so Ozai's wrath would not directed towards her. Now here's where things get interesting. She starts noticing that Aang is avoiding killing anyone, isn't going into the Avatar State, and overall isn't acting like what the Avatar is expected to act like by the Fire Nation (which we can get some interesting worldbuilding by seeing how they view the Avatar from their perspective).

If we go down this avenue of thought, Azula might assume that putting the Avatar in torturous conditions isn't working since he keeps trying to break out. What she might feel work better is if he was broken mentally so he simply wouldn't have the will to fight. To this end, she might give him better conditions that are less torturous, but she'll try to break him by passing stories about his friends dying or being captured or something. Make it clear that he can escape, but break his will to fight. Maybe have daily "chats" taunting him.

Now here's where things get interesting: Aang won't break. He knows Azula's lying to break him...but in the process, she inadvertently starts letting him know about her upbringing by divulging what her worldview is. Maybe even starts to feel a bit sorry for her than anything. I mean he did feel bad for Zuko even when the latter was trying to kill him, so it's completely in the realm of possibility. Which in turn befuddles Azula since everything she does to break him doesn't work, and she knows he's sympathizing with her.

Which leads to the Ember Island. This could be Azula's last chance at breaking Aang, showing how pathetic he is for sympathizing with a monster and not even attempting to escape when he has a chance. It backfires since Aang knows enough that Azula is NOT a monster, and tells her this. And the reason he doesn't want to escape is because he's afraid that Ozai's going to come after her for letting him escape (which isn't out of the question since Ozai is becoming more and more frustrated with Azula's lack of progress). As badly as he wants to escape, he doesn't want anyone else to suffer on his hands. Not even Azula.

Now here you can go a few routes. For me, Aang would eventually escape once he realizes that Azula won't budge. But he times it during a time where her back is turned, like the Day of the Black Sun so there's a reason for why her security is lax. Or he comes into contact with the rest of the Gaang and he escapes during the Black Sun Invasion so as to make it look like a rescue instead of incompetence on Azula's part. Either way, I do feel that Aang would advocate for mercy on behalf for Azula or at least make sure she doesn't rot someplace after Sozin's Comet. Azula would obviously assume that Aang abandoned her like everyone else, but Aang coming back and telling her the truth would give her a bit of a mental safety net and possibly lead to the road for recovery.

All in all, this was a good ask. You can do a lot with this, either go Azulaang, worldbuild for the Fire Nation, humanize Azula to Aang, maybe cause Aang to form a rift with Zuko or Iroh due to their differing opinions on Azula. You can do something with this given the ideas I just pointed out.

#princess azula #azula #aang #avatar aang #atla #atla ask #azulaang #azula x aang #aang x azula #not really #but there you go #anon ask #ask answered #ask me anything

[nono-bunny]

"The Fortuneteller" is such an interesting episode to me because like? Aunt Wu is never wrong in the end, kinda like how in "Jet" Sokka's instincts are always right as well- the show tries to play it off in the end by saying "sometimes they're right and sometimes they're not", but throughout the whole episode his instincts led him to eventually save an entire town! If they never ran into Jet, he WOULD have destroyed that town, not to mention how Jet does eventually change through his experiences with the Gaang, but! This isn't about Jet rn

Aunt Wu not seeing anything about romance for Aang while she DOES see it for Katara is strange to me if we're to assume he's the man she's ought to marry, because like? Wouldnt their fates be intertwined? Which is why it's a good thing I fully don't believe she WAS talking about Aang, and this episode unintentionally serves the anti-Kataang narrative so well its not even funny (well, okay, it's a little funny, seeing Aang get subtly rejected over and over is very healing). Even if we take out the fact that I believe she was talking about Zuko because, c'mon, he's a fantastic bender who already loves Katara a bunch by the end of the show (platonic? romantic? nevertheless they share an incredible bond)... The Avatar isn't the only "great bender" in the world by a long shot, and I'd argue Aang doesn't even qualify because of his poor work ethic and lack of interest in bettering himself, like- Aang is acknowledged by more ATLA fans than just me to be the weakest bender in the group (until he enters the Avatar state, at which point, he's just the weakest Avatar because he has no control of it) and? Yeah being born with the Avatar Spirit is never gonna be enough to become a great bender by itself, which is something even all the other Avatars aside from Aang seem to recognize, y'know?

I forget who it was, but I saw a post saying that in a better written show, this episode that has such a big focus on unreciprocated feelings would be when Aang recognizes his situation for what it is, recognizes seeing his own lack of interest in Meng when looking at Katara and her lack of interest in him, and have him start to accept that and move on, but... Aang ALWAYS shows himself to either be incapable of understanding or just straight up ignoring Katara's nonverbal cues, not to mention how he goes on to ignore her express vocalization of her discomfort with him, so.

This episode also has Bryke use Sokka as a mouthpiece to give a very incel-y feeling pick up artist lesson and? Yeah, what could I have possibly expected? For Sokka to show some consistency? He fr never takes his own "advice" here, it's so weird! He's always been very forthright about his feelings, so him teach Aang to play coy is so ooc for him unless the point they want to end up making is "love makes fools of us all", which. Doubtful

It's yet another episode with a morality lesson about "Destiny", but fr this one feels so weak when compared to Zuko's whole thing later on about CHOOSING his destiny, where we actually see him do it when he defies and upends his harmful legacy in favor of peace, because here? Here everything plays out as foretold, with a "you control destiny" messaging tacked on at the end- the cloud bending was cool, but I hate the implication that Aang legit goes on to twist and bend Katara to a shape he sees fit, right by his side forevermore, but... Yeah, that's fully what he does, so? Thanks a lot, I guess, Aunt Wu! Look what you did! He was the closest he ever comes to giving up in this episode, some tough love would've done the trick!!! But noooo, god forbid Aang has to face and acknowledge any sort of REAL rejection, Katara simply... Doesn't yet understand that her ultimate role in life is to end up as his trophy wife, that's all! God, fuck comics and LOK Katara!!!

#avatar the last airbender #atla #anti aang #anti kataang #anti bryke #atla critical #the fortune teller #katara deserved better

[restinslices]

I liked the Twilight Lin Keui thingy idk if u watched Succession or Avatar the Last Airbender but can u do tomas,kuai liang and bi hans reaction to either of those shows and who their faves are?bi han is so azula coded

Off topic but do y’all make music playlists for y’all Ocs too? Shit is incredibly relaxing.

Bi-Han

You're so right about him being Azula coded 

Azula has to be his favorite character too. I refuse to take any criticism 

I think when Bi-Han watches anything he's probably on the villains side because sometimes they be spitting. They just have very harsh methods to go about these plans 

His favorite season I think would be season 2

Why? Ozai’s Angels obviously 

Season 3 is their downfall and season 2 is when they're all in their prime 

Plus the Ba Sing Se plot is something I can see him liking 

“See? Liu Kang is just like the king! Incompetent!”

Incorrect but that's an interesting theory 

He's such an Azula defender. He just like me fr 

Least favorite character? I wanna say possibly Commander Zhao because “how are you a Commander but you're terrible at your job?”

But I also wanna say Ozai

He could be his least favorite character because ya know, he's an abusive and manipulative sack of shit that turned his children against each other 

But he might understand his ambition and need to continue his family's legacy 

Depends on his mood ig

One of those people that saw Kyoshi for the 0.5 seconds she was on screen and immediately thought “that's my favorite Avatar”

As a kid he crushed on Ozai's Angels 

Because of the clothes alone he wanted to be apart of the Fire Nation but power wise we know that wouldn't have happened 

Oh the brainwashing of the citizens? That's unfortunate, but at least they're dressed amazing 

Pro Hama. She did nothing wrong. 

Thought blue fire was the coolest shit ever and thought Kuai Liang was ass because his shit is boring ass orange 

His favorite episodes are the season finales because it wraps everything up well and that's when the tension is extremely high 

In order it's The Crossroads of Destiny, Sozin's Comet (places 2nd because Azula lost) then The Siege of the North 

As a little bonus his favorite tale in The Tales of Ba Sing Se is The Tale of Toph and Katara 

Why do I think this? I think he likes the characters and also he enjoys watching little shits get what they deserve (the mean girls that insulted Toph)

Kuai Liang

So we're all agreeing that he definitely had a huge crush on Suki, right?

His love for female warriors that could put him on his ass started with Suki then he ends up marrying Harumi

She's a warrior right? 

Doesn't matter. She'll be dead in the next game anyway. MOVING ON-

Bi-Han wants to be apart of the Fire Nation and Kuai Liang wants to be apart of the water tribes 

As a kid he really wanted blue fire but it never happened 

Favorite characters I think would be Suki, Toph and Zuko

He loves all of them but these are his top 3

His favorite season is season 3 because it's the season that wraps up this amazing show from his childhood and it's done beautifully 

Favorite episode I think would be Boiling Rock 

It's the start of Azula's downfall and come on y'all, we saw Suki, Sokka and Zuko team up. Shit was fire (no pun intended)

He also likes The Beach because it emphasizes how broken the villains are and shows that at the end of the day, they were children robbed of a childhood 

Gets the appeal of Zutara but is a Kataang shipper 

Despises Ozai because of what he did to his kids and his people 

Honestly fuck Sozin, Azulon and Ozai

“Your people didn't deserve to live in my world!” shocked his little heart because damn, you still ain't got no remorse?

He watches this show very often as he grows up. It's never a show he forgets about 

Also fuck Long Feng

Forget all the brainwashing, it's keeping Appa that pushed him over the edge 

Definitely showing this show to his kids 

Too bad they won't live long enough to share it with their own children-

I'm done. Sorry 

Favorite tale is The Tale of Iroh 

Because… Iroh

Do I need to explain?

Tomas 

Probably had a crush on Katara 

I have no reasoning as to why. Like, with Kuai Liang it makes sense with who he marries later, but with Tomas I'm just “yeah that makes sense”

Heavily disagrees with people who call her annoying 

Yeah, she has her moments but she's not this terrible character 

As a child he was jealous of Aang because he got her in the end 

Yeah Tomas, just ignore the genocide of his people and the trauma he has-

You FOR SURE wanna be him 

Jealousy aside, he really likes Aang. I can see Aang being his favorite Avatar

Sokka is also a character he loves 

Tbh I think he loves everyone in the Gaang and while his favorite character is Katara, his second favorite switches from time to time 

Favorite season is season 1 because it kicks off this fantastic part of his childhood 

Unlike his brothers, he was fine with the element he has 

Yeah, he's smoke and not really an airbender but it's close enough 

Minus the genocide, they were living a good life (which is a wild ass sentence)

Knows all the ATLA conspiracies 

“Did you guys know there's a conspiracy that Ty Lee is a descendent of Air Nomads?”

“Did you guys hear this theory that Yue was supposed to be the Avatar after Aang but because he was in the ice she never got the Avatar spirit and that's why she needed the moon to live?”

“Do y'all think Sozin and Roku were hunching?”

Skips the Appa's Lost Days episode 

Favorite episode is The Cave of Two Lovers because it makes him laugh 

Everyone hates Ozai but you wanna know who's really on his shit list?

That old bitch that snitched on Haru

Kill him immediately 

The live action movie filled him with such a rage, he didn't know it was possible 

And because of that, he hasn't seen the live action show yet 

His favorite tale is The Tale of Sokka 

Why? It's just Sokka being a goober

#mk1 #mk1 2023 #mortal kombat 1 #bi han sub zero #bi han #kuai liang scorpion #kuai liang #tomas vrbada smoke #kuai liang mk1 #mk1 bi han #tomas vrbada #tomas vrbada mk1 #bi han headcanons #kuai liang headcanons #tomas vrbada headcanons #mk1 headcanons #lin kuei brothers #atla

[pocketramblr]

5 ask game: atla au where zuko won the agni kai against his father

Oh interesting...

1- Zuko wins, and Ozai is down. Zuko could, by rights, kill him. Instead he rather loudly says the point is proved and honor his, and he will not sully that honor by committing patricide and regicide. He walks away as the stunned crowd watches. Ozai, who would have burned a surrendering child, certainly has no qualms about attacking one in the back. Zuko goes down and it's chaos.

2- some in the crowd cheer for Ozai, others don't, jaws dropped because this started when Zuko said it was wrong to send out those young recruits to die, and now Ozai broke the law and code of the Agni Kai in order to attack a child, his own son. It's easy to dispose of the recruits from the commoners, to sacrifice them for the good of the noble county. It's a bit harder for some of them to swallow a leader who sees them as equally disposable. The Crown Prince bested his father, and now the Fire Lord is the one acting against his better. What does that mean for the crown? The war? Iroh leaps to his feet and calls for guards and doctors for both of them, injured as they are, and they are quickly separated as the court looks around and tries to place new alliances.

3- Iroh does not focus on the court - after securing Zuko's physical safety, he reaches to those he knows outside the Caldera, tells them the news. The people have fought a long war, and so many never seen the benefit of it directly. Some even harmed, rather directly. A prince who fights with honor and them in mind could be very appealing.

4- Azula is forgotten, in the hubbub. It's a very novel experience for her, and she doesn't like it one bit. She doesn't like that Zuko wasn't as weak as she assumed. She's stronger than him, right? So then she's even stronger then father? If Zuko can take the throne from dad, then Azula can take it from Zuko! (She is like. 11. Girl wouldn't be ruling anything.)

5- the Court is in furious whispers and fragile alliances as Ozai returns to the throne, acting as if nothing has happened, as if Zuko isn't constantly surrounded and hidden from him as possible. But then a trembling magistrate opens a letter from a factory along the river, making the armor and machines needed for their navy. The factory refuses to produce any more, unless they receive one of two things: 1- word of an apology to Crown Prince Zuko for the grave insult paid him, or 2- an order from Fire Lord Zuko to continue production. This isn't the only letter. Ozai made his choice, to stand in the Agni Kai, and by Agni, they will not pretend he has not offended the sun and it's people by what he did there.

#if ozai is smart he'll apologize #but if he tries anything underhanded... he's going to be the first to be blamed #so really what happened next is up to how much he understands that lol #pocket talks to people #anon #ask game

[sokkastyles]

Hi! I have seen various explanations for why Azula asked Zuko to join her in the catacombs and then let him have the glory of killing Aang. The second part can be easily explained as a way to control him and a way to protect herself if Aang actually lived. But I have seen people argue that Azula let Zuko join her in season 2 out of some kind of love for Zuko. She never needed Zuko for her plan to succeed so it never made sense to me.

Also, how do you think Ozai reacted to Azula after the invasion when he found out she lied to him? I always found it odd that there was no reference or hints of Ozai punishing her or anything like that?

She actually does need Zuko and she tells him she needs him for her plan to take Ba Sing Se to succeed.

Azula tells Zuko that she's planned that moment very carefully, and she's not lying. She does a lot of things that are strategic moves. First of all is separating Zuko from Iroh, because she learned through experience that Iroh would be a thorn in her side in bringing Zuko home.

But if you think about what else she learned, specifically in season two in her fights with the gaang, she learned that she could not win if she had to face Zuko, Iroh, and the gaang at once. She loses against them in the Chase and has to resort to fighting dirty to get away.

So she divides and conquerors. She captures Katara, then seperates Zuko snd Iroh, then captures Sokka and Toph and Aang. What's interesting to me is why she chooses to put Katara and Zuko in the same prison and the rest of the gaang in a different cell, but if I were to speculate I would say that Azula expected that Zuko and Katara would fight and take care of each other. Even Iroh and Aang teaming up to save them works to her advantage, because seeing Katara and Zuko together creates tension for Aang and sewing Iroh and Aang together creates tension for Zuko. When Katara and Aang seperate from Zuko and Iroh, Azula is able to play on that tension to seperate Zuko and Iroh, AND play on Katara and Aang's emotions when it's uncertain whether Zuko might help them. Azula was absolutely counting on having Zuko on her side.

But I'll also repeat what I said before. Azula needs Zuko on her side, not because she cares about him, but because she bases a lot of her self worth on having what Zuko does not. If Zuko no longer needs those things, it is a threat to Azula's superiority. If Zuko no longer wants to go home, Azula has to face the reality that her home is not a great place to be. Her whole speech about how If he joins with her, he'll have everything he always wanted, isn't just her playing on what she knows Zuko wants. She NEEDS him to want those things, otherwise she can't be the golden child to his scapegoat.

This is why I keep saying that Azula's relationship with Zuko is abusive. Azula has to make Zuko feel bad in order to make herself feel good. If Zuko is happy living a simple life in a tea shop with Iroh, she can't convince herself that her life is the best, because deep down, she knows how empty it really is.

I also do not think it's odd that we never see a reference to Ozai punishing Azula for lying about Zuko killing Aang. When have we EVER seen Ozai punish Azula? Oh, I think the lie did contribute to Ozai's decision to take her down a peg in the finale, but I don't think he outright punished her. That's not his style. But the manipulative way he talks to her in the finale definitely is. I don't know that he even believed Zuko when he told him Azula had lied, as the reaction we see is disbelief and at that point Zuko has fallen out of favor so why consider what he says? But I think it did shake Ozai, the possibility that Azula could lie to him, and that her glory might outshine his instead of being a reflection of it. But that was always going to happen the older Azula got, and it's something a parent like Ozai would never handle well.

#azula #ozai #zuko

[kitty-kei]

Fiery Familiarity - Part 2

here’s part 2! it was a lot of play by play from the episode, but i tried to make it more interesting. we’re getting into the meaty bits, hope you guys enjoy!!

words: ~1.9k

prologue | part 1 | part 3 | part 4

“Hello, Zuko here.”

Like the others, you were shocked. The LAST person you expected to see here was Zuko, especially so soon after the Black Sun fiasco.

“Hey, I heard you guys flying around down there, so, I just thought I'd wait for you here.” You watch with a barely contained smile as Appa let out a roar and licked him. “I know you must be surprised to see me here.”

“Not really, since you've followed us all over the world, “ Sokka sneered.

“Right. Well, uh…” You could see the hesitation on his face as he took a breath to prepare himself. “Anyway, what I wanted to tell you about is that I've changed, and I, uh, I'm good now, and well I think I should join your group, oh, and I can teach firebending…” Zuko met Aang eyes, “to you.”

You could see Aang's posture relax slightly, his grip on his staff loosening as Momo chittered softly.

Zuko started, “See, I, uh-”

“You wanna *what* now?” Toph asked incredulously.

“You can’t possibly think that any of us would trust you, can you?” Katara furrowed her brows as she continued, “I mean, how stupid do you think we are?!”

Sokka chimed in, “Yeah, all you’ve ever done is try to hunt us down and capture Aang!”

You piped up, trying to diffuse some of the rising tension. “Everybody, please, just calm down-”

“I've done some good things! I mean, I could have stolen your bison in Ba Sing Se, but I set him free. That's something!” He gestured to Appa before giving an awkward shrug. You watched his eyes widen slightly as Appa licked up his back once more.

“Appa does seem to like him,” Toph said, her tone significantly softer this time around.

“He probably just covered himself in honey or something so that Appa would lick him. I'm not buying it.” Sokka made a show of gesturing along with his obvious disdain for the prince.

Zuko took a breath before beginning again, “I can understand why you wouldn’t trust me, and I know I’ve made some mistakes in the past.” You could tell from the look in his eyes that he meant it. The way he looked to the side, ashamed of his past actions.

Your breath hitched as Sokka raised his voice. “Like when you attacked our village?”

“Or when you stole my mother's necklace and used it to track us down and capture us?”

“Look, I admit I've some awful things.” He buried a hand in his hair as he continued, “I was wrong to try to capture you, and I'm sorry that I attacked the Water Tribe. And I never should have sent that Fire Nation assassin after you.” You could see Toph and Sokka’s posture change as Zuko continued, “I'm going to try and stop-”

Your eyes widened, “that was you?”

Sokka pulled out his boomerang, ready to attack, “Wait, you sent Combustion Man after us?!”

Zuko’s hand fell as he looked up, a look in his eyes you couldn’t quite place. “Well, that's not his name, but-”

“Oh sorry, I didn’t mean to insult your friend.” Sokka’s voice was laced with angry sarcasm.

Zuko’s fiery temper set in as he raised his voice angrily, “He’s not my friend!”

Toph pointed accusingly, “That guy locked me and Katara in jail and tried to blow us all up!”

Zuko closed his eyes as he composed himself before looking at Aang. “Why aren't you saying anything? You once said you thought we could be friends.” You could hear the quiet desperation buried in his words. “You know I have good in me.”

Aang looked to the rest of you, and the hope in your eyes dulled as Sokka shook his head. Aang’s expression turned harsh before he replied. “There's no way we can trust you after everything you've done. We'll never let you join us.”

You couldn’t help but gasp softly as you watched Zuko’s face fall, “Aang-”

“You need to get out of here. Now.”

Zuko’s face contorted as he tried to speak once more, “I’m trying to explain that I'm not that person anymore!” He took a few steps forward, desperate to plead his case.

Sokka positioned his boomerang, “Either you leave or we attack.”

“If you won't accept me as a friend, then maybe you'll take me as a prisoner.” Zuko fell onto his knees, raising his hands in surrender to be cuffed.

Katara shifted, getting ready to bend, “No, we won’t!”

“Katara, no!” You yelped in vain, helpless as she hit him with a blast of water. You took a step, reaching towards him as he grunted in pain.

“Get out of here, and don't come back! And if we ever see you again,” she stomped as Sokka stepped forward threateningly, “well, we'd better not see you again!”

Zuko’s wide-eyed expression changed to one of resignation as he lifted himself up and walked off.

You stood at Toph’s side as the others gathered their things and stalked off, grumbling angrily about the situation.

“Why would he try to fool us like that?” Katara asked.

Sokka piped up, “Obviously he wants to lead us into some kind of trap.”

Katara sighs, “This is just like when we were in prison together at Ba Sing Se. He starts talking about his mother and making it seem like he's an actual human being with feelings.”

You could feel your face fall at the mention of Ursa, “Katara, you don’t know that he was lying about his mother.”

Sokka shot you a glare, “He wants you to trust and feel sorry for him so you let your guard down, then he strikes.” Sokka motioned out a jab.

She knelt as she set her belongings down, “The thing is… It worked. I did feel sorry for him. I felt like he was really confused and hurt.” She paused for a moment, getting up, “but obviously, when the time came, he made his choice, and we paid the price.” She looked down, brow furrowing. “We can't trust him.”

You leaned into Toph, just enough that she gave you a questioning look before Aang caught your attention.

“I kind of have a confession to make. Remember when you two were sick and I got captured by Zhao?”

You listened as Sokka and Katara bickered about frogs and warts, in true sibling fashion. Thankfully, Aang cut them off once more. “Anyway, when Zhao had me chained up, it was Zuko who came in and got me out. He risked his life to save me.”

You could tell the confession only managed to rile Katara up more, crossing her arms as she ranted. “No way. I'm sure he only did it so he could capture you himself!”

Sokka jumped in once more, “Yeah, face it Aang, you're nothing but a big prize to him.”

Aang’s face fell slightly as he sighed, “You're probably right.”

Katara’s arms shifted, fists clenched at her sides, “And what was all that crazy stuff about setting Appa free? What a liar!”

Toph finally spoke up, “Actually, he wasn’t lying.”

You inhaled sharply, watching her with laser focus. You had almost forgotten about her ability to sense lies.

“Oh, hooray! In a lifetime of evil, at least he didn't add animal cruelty to the list.” You almost scoffed at the sarcastic venom in Sokka’s voice.

Toph sighed, “I'm just saying that considering his messed-up family and how he was raised, he could have turned out a lot worse.”

“You're right, Toph! Let's go find him and give him a medal. The "not as much of a jerk as you could have been" award!”

Your eyes narrowed as you looked at Katara, “that’s not fair and you know it Katara.”

“All I know is that while he was talking to us, he was sincere. Maybe you're all just letting your hurt feelings keep you from thinking clearly.”

Toph made a good point. However, you couldn’t help but wonder if your own feelings toward him were clouding your judgment as well.

Aang and Sokka turned to face you two as Katara continued, “Easy for you to say! You weren't there when he had us attacked by pirates!”

“Or when he burned down Kyoshi Island!”

“Or when he tried to capture me at the Fire Temple!”

Katara stomps like a petulant child, “Why would you guys even try to defend him?”

Toph stalks forward angrily, “Because Katara, you're all ignoring one crucial fact,” she pokes at Aang’s chest, “Aang needs a firebending teacher! We can't think of a single person in the world to do the job! Now one shows up on a silver platter, and you won't even think about it?” The ground rumbles as Toph stomps out her point.

You walk up and place a hand on her shoulder in a show of support, staring them down with her. “I’m not saying what he’s been through justifies his actions, but Toph is right. Right now, he’s the only chance we’ve got.”

Katara seems to contemplate this, looking down before Aang speaks. “I’m not having Zuko as my teacher.”

“You’re darn right you’re not, buddy.” Sokka glares at the two of you.

Katara crosses her arms again, “Well, I guess that settles that.”

Toph growls, shrugging off your hand as she turns, calling out to them before she stomps off. “I'm beginning to wonder who's really the blind one around here!”

You give one last look to the others before following her.

“So, what’s the plan Toph?”

She glares, “what are you talking about?”

You give a sly grin, “well if I know you, and I do, you’ve got a plan. I want in.”

Toph gives you a smirk before explaining.

When night fell, you and Toph snuck away to the ground above the Air Temple. You knew Zuko had to be camping close, and your suspicions were confirmed when you saw the distant flickering of a campfire. You walked with Toph closer to the camp, slowing when you heard an alarmed Zuko.

“Who's there? Stay back!”

“It’s me!” Toph cried, throwing up an earth shield as Zuko sent out a panicked fire blast. Your eyes widened, trying to reach and push Toph forward before she tipped back. You were a second too late, catching her as she fell.

She yelped in pain, “You burned my feet!”

You watched his eyes widen as he got up, “I’m sorry, It was a mistake!”

You helped Toph as she scrambled away, desperately throwing earth to defend herself. Zuko dodged desperately, “Let me help you! I'm sorry!” He reached forward, grabbing her shoulder.

“Get off me! Get off me!” She managed to elbow him away, throwing up an earth pillar to knock him away.

He tumbled to the ground with a grunt, pushing himself up onto his elbows. His eyes were wide as he cried, “I didn’t know it was you!” He grabbed his side, groaning, “Come back!”

You met his eyes, a mix of worry and pity crossing your face as you helped Toph shuffle away. You could see the desperate look he threw your way, and your heart ached to put a smile on his face. He reached out, but you knew you had to help Toph. You turned away, trying to catch up to her.

“Ugh! Why am I so bad at being good?!”

You felt your heart shatter at the pure frustration and sadness in his voice. You couldn’t help but think that even with all he’d done, he was still just a scared boy trying to figure out his place in the world. You just wished the others could see that too.

You met his eyes, a mix of worry and pity crossing your face as you helped Toph shuffle away. You could see the desperate look he threw your way, and your heart ached to put a smile on his face. He reached out, but you knew you had to help Toph. You turned away, trying to catch up to her.

“Ugh! Why am I so bad at being good?!”

You felt your heart shatter at the pure frustration and sadness in his voice. You couldn’t help but think that even with all he’d done, he was still just a scared boy trying to figure out his place in the world. You just wished the others could see that too.

#avatar the last airbender #avatar the last airbender x reader #zuko x reader #zuko x y/n #zuko x you #firebender reader #gn!reader #atla #zuko

[ur-frndly-neighborhood-memer1]

A THEORY ABOUT OZAI-

Why was Ozai so cruel?

Fire Lord Ozai is the absolutely malicious and tyrannical main antagonist of the Avatar: The Last Airbender. In the series, he comes across as a cruel, ruthless, and a megalomaniac dictator. Which is why he is often considered as a 2 dimensional cartoon villian with no rich background compared to the other villains like Azula, Zuko (formerly), Hama; Amon, Zaheer...

We never really see his inner struggles or anything complex about his character at all. His only motivation is like "Evil for sake of being evil". That's why some fans complain about his character being too shallow and too cartoonishly evil. And this really stands out when we compare him to rest of the characters, and arguably, they're all more complex characters than Ozai.

But... is this really true?

Could there be something more interesting and tragic about Fire Lord Ozai's character? Do we only see the only a small part of the iceberg? Well, let's find out!

There's literally nothing we know about his childhood or his early ages. All we know is that he was married Ursa when he was 30 and Ursa was 21, Ursa was specifically chosen because she happens to be the granddaughter of Avatar Roku. So, they could have powerful heirs for the Fire Nation. And it actually happened because Zuko and Azula really are exceptionally powerful firebenders.

Another thing we know about him is this panel,

They actually look like a normal, ordinary family here and it hurts. They're on a vocation; Ozai and Ursa just sitting calmly, baby Azula playing with sand, little Zuko running to save a turtle-crab... And when when the wave washed over Zuko, Ozai ran to save him.

Could the whole thing be true or Ozai was lying? I personally don't think it was a lie, because Zuko seems to remember some rare memories of his family being happy once and coming to Ember Island all together. Yes, you can say that Zuko could be an unreliable narrator here since he kinda romanticized those memories... But again, it's what happens with memories. Don't we all remember our childhood as purely innocent and happy? Because we like to remember those happy times and often forget about the bad ones. But the bad times don't erase the good memories! Also, in the "Beach", when Azula came to comfort Zuko, she also seemed a bit depressed. It means she was also missing those happy and innocent times of their life. So no, Zuko's memory was correct and Ozai probably wasn't lying either. Their family had some good times once.

Could it possibly be a redeeming quality for Ozai? Perhaps. However, we all know that it didn't last long. And we also know that Ozai was always sort of like that and Iroh comfirms it in "The Legacy of The Fire Nation" novel

And something interesting here... Iroh admits he sort of blames himself for not being a better guide for his brother. Which makes me think... Did Ozai really ever have a positive influence on his life?

You can arguably say Iroh, but i'd disagree. First of all, there's a huge age gap between Iroh and Ozai. And Iroh was a general who was busy with fighting in battle, such as the siege of Ba Sing Se. So I imagine they didn't really have a chance to spend time together and bond as brothers.

Also, Iroh wasn't exactly a positive influence before the death of Lu Ten. He used to be more ruthless and hungry for glory. Yes, he still was a caring guy towards his family, but he only realized the terrible side of violence and terror after losing his dear son... This is when he finally developed empathy towards everyone, not only for his family. So I don't think he would be able to be a better influence for Ozai when they were younger...

And if not Iroh, who could possibly be a good guidance for Ozai? Azulon? Pfft, yeah right! He definitely favored Iroh over Ozai, and was seen to be cold and harsh towards his son. So nope, he was an abusive father and far from being a good guidance.

But... What about his mother? What happened to her?

The only thing we know about Iroh and Ozai's mother is her name, Ilah. And she was married to Fire Lord Azulon. There's literally nothing else we know about her. So, we don't know what kind of a relationship she had with Ozai either.

And that's why I have this theory in my mind! Could it be that Ilah died when she was giving birth to Ozai? And maybe that's why Azulon was cold and cruel to Ozai?

The death on childbirth was a common incident during middle age and in the earlier ages too. Unfortunately, it still can happen in modern world too... But thankfully, it's a rare incident now due the modern advantages.

So yes, it's very possible that Lady Ilah to die on the childbirth. Because we never see her in the series nor in the comics. If she was alive at the moment, she would totally show up on Ozai and Ursa's wedding. But she didn't, which means she was long gone, at least for like 20 years. But since neither Iroh or Ozai mentions her for once, we can assume that she died very long ago.

Could this be why Iroh turned out to be a caring and compassionate person towards his own family? Because he had maternal love and support? Well, he obviously didn't get that from Azulon (even though Azulon seemed to care for Iroh and Lu Ten in a certain level). And that might be why Ozai became a cold and cruel jerk, because he never had this kind of love and support in his life.

And it also explains Azulon's bad treatment towards Ozai, reminds me of how Tywin Lannister despised his son Tyrion Lannister from Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire. Tywin hated his son Tyrion because he was a dwarf and also because he "killed" his mother in childbirth

So maybe Azulon was going full Tywin on Ozai and blamed him for "killing" his own mother.

If that's the case, it makes a ton of sense for Ozai's character! Because he never really had a chance to redeem himself and grow up in a healthy environment. He was being told that he was a killer since he was born and accused with killing his own mother. I can totally imagine Azulon telling him that he is "An ill-made, spiteful creature. Full of lust and low cunning" (Quote from Tywin Lannister), or maybe even calling him a "monster"?

If this theory is true, then it makes sense for Ozai's character and why he became a brutal, ruthless and narcissistic person.

And let's not forget, narcissism isn't only a personality disorder but also a coping mechanism. Narcissists actually have fragile egos and low self-esteems. That's why they fake confidence and a false sense of grandiosity as a self-defense mechanism. The exact reasons of narcissism is not known, but researchers show that both genetic and environmental factors are in it. And it's very possible to occur because of a trauma or abuse too.

So maybe Ozai was crushed under the abuse and pressure of being "guilty" for killing his mother in childbirth, and he found comfort in creating a false sense of superiority.

And this also might be why Iroh and Ozai became distant towards each other. Ozai was probably jealous of Azulon's nicer treatment towards Iroh. So he didn't want to be around him and see how their father treats him better, because it would remind him of the fact that he was the unfavorite child. And from Iroh's aspect, maybe he was devastated after the death of his mother and wanted to distance himself from Ozai for it? Yes, it doesn't really sound like something that the Iroh we know would do. But again, we really don't know the Iroh before Lu Ten's death, but he surely cared about his family so much. And maybe that's why he distanced himself from Ozai because he took away a part of his family? And because of Azulon, Iroh probably didn't have a chance to accept Ozai a part of his family at this point. And when he did, it was probably too late. The damage was done. Ozai already became a narcissistic jerk and a potential tyrant.

So, that's my headcanon about Ozai's evilness. You can agree or disagree with it. If you have different thoughts, please feel free to share them with me

#atla ozai #azulon #atla iroh #azula #fire lord ozai #ozai #evil #Atla #Avatar the last airbender #Avatar Ilah #Why is ozai evil #avatar analysis #Zuko #ursa #avatar ursa

[omnitheist27]

The 40: Catch the Bullet

"To answer your question, you get to be a superhero by believing in the hero within you and summoning him or her forth by an act of will." - Adrian Veidt/Ozymandias

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@the-ravenclaw-werewolf, @purplemochi20055, @hulkchloron99, and @r3dp4nd4ch1ld

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I decided to bust out my drawing tablet and use Photoshop again to create a comic for The 40, and I will say...it's a start for me to brush up on my digital illustration skills.

Izuku has come a long way after his year-long intense training regiment compared to his Pre-Character Development self. But the most gracious physical feat he had performed that would make Bakugou jealous and All Might proud, was being able to catch a bullet fired from a revolver.

I was looking over Alan Moore's well-known comic, Watchmen, and was greatly interested in Ozymandias' character and the astonishing physical and mental feats he's able to perform after dedicating himself to training his mind and body by retracing the steps of Alexander the Great by traveling the world. The one thing that interests me about how he managed to become what he is, is through his interview in the second to last issue. Where Adrian firmly believes that anyone can do what he can achieve, as you need to have the belief and willpower to see it through.

And what do you know...Izuku manages to do the impossible after the many trials that await him in the year-long intense training regiment. Reacting immediately upon seeing an unknown assailant pull a revolver on him, and summoning all of his willpower and technique to time his catching of the bullet correctly. However, like with Ozymandias, Izuku's skin was damaged from the bullet due to the obvious friction from the speed it had. But it's still a great accomplishment compared to his pre-training self, as the bullet would've burst through his hand and killed him, never mind the idea that he could actually catch it.

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Afterward reaction from the other members of The 40.

Spike Spiegel: Shhiieeeeeeeeettt kid...you actually caught it...

Levi Ackerman: Well I'll be damned...

Zuko: Izuku...you did it.

Korra: That...was the most craziest thing you have ever done.

Saitama: ...Good for him...

Mob: That was close!

Edward Elric: How is that possible?

Ishigami Senku: That can't be scientifically possible!

Gojo: Bwa ha ha ha! Amazing!

Hanako: That was close.

Souma: Holy crap!

Mako: Whoo hoo Izuku-kun!

Kobayashi: That was too close for comfort!

Tohru: (worryingly) Izuku-kun!

Chika: Hmm...I must keep a close eye on this one.

Haruka: ...Huh...

Naegi Makoto: He actually caught it!

Ciel Phantomhive: That was...impressive...

Katsuki Yuuri: That took some insane reaction speed.

Shouyou Hinata: Go for it Izuku!

Saiki Kusuo: I knew he would catch it. Looking at you Omnitheist27.

Suzui Ryōta: I wouldn't take a gamble like that.

Heine Wittgenstein: He has come a long way.

White Blood Cell / Neutrophil (U-1146): The medulla oblongata must be very active for him to do that.

Satō Mafuyu: ...

Hasegawa Langa: ... 

Killua Zoldyck: While impressive for someone like Izuku, I've seen greater reaction time.

Kamado Tanjirou: Yeah! Izuku-san!

Kuroko Tetsuya: ...

Okumura Rin: I've got to train harder if I want to do that.

Fujioka Haruhi: That really was close.

Emma: Go Izuku!

Serinuma Kae: I've got to read Observepeople again!

L: To possess the will needed to pull that off...

Shiota Nagisa: I'm not sure if I want to do that...

Legoshi: So humans are capable of such feats.

Suzuki Iruma: I wonder if learning to catch a bullet would come in handy for school?

Fujinuma Satoru: That...is something you don't see every day.

Feliciano Vargas (North Italy): I'm starting to get flashbacks of Japan wanting to cut bullets.

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Canon MHA cast reaction:

Midoriya Inko: (bawling) IZZUUUUUKKUUU!!!

All Might: (in English) Oh my...oh my...GOODNESS!!!

Bakugou Katsuki: Tch! I would've caught it as well!

Uraraka Ochako: You did it Deku-kun!

Iida Tenya: WHILE I WOULD NEVER RECOMMEND SUCH ACTION, I WILL ADMIT MIDORIYA-SAN'S EFFORT!

Todoroki Shouto: Midoriya...

Asui Tsuyu: That was reckless Midoriya-san, but good job.

Mineta Minoru: HE'S INSANE!!! Although he was pretty cool.

Kirishima Eijiro: MANLY!!!

Shinso Hitoshi: Could I do that...

Togata Mirio: POWER!!!

Izumi Kota: Kick his ass Izuku!

Eri: D-D-Do your best Deku!

Shouta Aizawa: (to the rest of Class 1-A) If I catch any of you performing a stunt like that...

#the_40 #fan comic #adobe photoshop #digital comics #my hero academia #izuku midoriya #bullet catch