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peony-pearl · 11 months

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(this was part of a discussion from another post that I wanted to move to it’s own post bc this right here is the crux of my emotions for Iroh and Zuko and Azula; it does end kind of abruptly but yeah this is me wordvomiting my feels)

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Man the Iroh and Azula relationship in atla breaks my heart because, yes, there is favoritism - but the situations that built up to it are so specific and tragic on both ends (this is more of me rambling bc I have brainworms for this fam oughghghg if you read this thank you)

I do believe that Iroh did what he could to maintain a good relationship with both Zuko and Azula before he left for BSS. Zuko was 8, Azula was 6. That’s YOUNG. I almost wonder if she could remember what he looked like, because after Lu Ten’s death, I think he immediately took that journey before returning to the Fire Nation, thus there could have been another year or two+ until she saw him. She potentially went from ages 6-10 years old without seeing her uncle. Not to mention that even before Ursa left, Azula was already parroting Ozai’s rhetoric. Now with her mother gone, Azula had her father’s full attention and her friends (until the three were separated).

Zuko on the other hand, after his mother’s disappearance, didn’t have any friends from what we saw, nor did he have his father’s approval, and his relationship with Azula? We’re unsure of at this time, but all things considered, he’s had a resentment towards her because of the trauma Ozai is putting him through (which is also trauma to Azula by emotionally excluding her and putting her on a pedestal that he himself will topple). When Iroh returns, Zuko, who is most likely lonely AF, gives his uncle some attention, who then in turn, gives Zuko attention he’s wanted from one of his elders for a long time.

Azula, entrenched in Ozai’s teachings, resents Iroh for abandoning Ba Sing Se, and sees how he overindulges with tea and food to cope with the pain. She won’t be like him; and to even be seen near him by her father is embarrassing. But I’m almost certain she would see the relationship Zuko and Iroh were forging and it HURT. Iroh probably doesn’t force her to talk; that’s not the conversation he wants to have is to force her to spend time with someone she doesn’t want to be around. Besides, to anger Azula could lead to angering his brother, and he’s not at all ready for that mess. He of all people knows the almighty power of the Fire Lord; he was prepared to carry that glorious burden his whole life until it slipped from his fingers.

Ultimately Iroh is fine talking to just Zuko; but no one sees the seeds that are being planted. Iroh doesn’t realize how he’s still playing the game his father embedded in their minds. Iroh leaves Azula to her devices, unaware of how she is living the life that created and destroyed Iroh himself, while he can put his misplaced fatherhood upon Zuko. At this point, Zuko still just sees him as uncle.

And then the Agni Kai. Zuko is burned, and Iroh goes with him. I’m not entirely versed in the manga about Azula getting Zuko his ship, but I think it says a lot that Azula, even when upset that Zuko and Iroh had a relationship, made sure Iroh was part of the team because she knew Iroh could ensure Zuko’s survival. Plus it got him out of the palace so she wouldn’t have to keep seeing him or hearing his dumb laugh, or be invited to Pai Sho games (Which she did want to play but Uncle is SO ugh you know?)

And then three years pass. 3 long years in which Iroh and Zuko may not expect to go home. Iroh probably comes to terms with this; he’s older, jaded, still messed up from losing his son and everything that came with it. Zuko, however, wants his birthright (aka his father’s approval and love). Zuko and Iroh are waging this part of their lives together while Azula and Ozai are holding down the fort; she is becoming stronger and smarter, and has every ounce of her father’s approval.

I have a couple of headcanons as to why Iroh’s demeanor had a bit of a big change once we get to season 2. Nearly losing Zuko to the pirates made him realize how much he saw the boy as his surrogate son. So yes, the favoritism is there; they have endured things together for 3 years that have forged a bond that gives Zuko a father figure (that he didn’t really ask for) and Iroh a surrogate son (that he is more than willing to guide and smother) and this topic alone is enough to make me want to scream and wail because Iroh wanting nothing more than a second chance than to guide a son who wants his actual father who cares nothing for him and yet Iroh CONTINUES to try with Zuko? brain goes BRRRR

(but I also heavily headcanon Iroh’s presence during Yue’s sacrifice to have been a game changer in the way he carries himself and continues to live; but that’s just a headcanon; but the way that he watches a princess from a nation he has waged war upon sacrifice her life for a world she’s never seen when he’s lost his son and he almost lost Zuko and watching her fade away gives him stronger convictions to be a true father figure to Zuko; even if he’s still kind of bad at it for a while, his dedication to Zuko as a son really takes flight in the following season and I think this all ties together)

and then when Azula comes to collect them to take to Ozai and lies to Zuko about the thing he’s been wanting for 3 years. The thing that’s kept him up, ate away at him, the thing that SHOULD be natural - his father’s love. It’s a lie.

And Iroh defends his nephew unflinchingly from his sister - who is also just a pawn and a soldier, just like Iroh was. I personally like to imagine he taught her some of her skillset (but would she have retained it since she was last willing to learn from him around the age of 6? She is very smart after all).

But could Iroh have looked at Azula, realizing it was her that shot that lightning and, after Zuko called him a ‘shallow old man’, gone to Azula and asked what Ozai had put her through over the years? Or did he still revere the power of the Fire Lord, and the magnitude of power Azula holds.

This leads to one big problem with the family - communication. Especially for Iroh. Communication SUCKS in this family. Zuko is so volatile that Iroh often cannot bring himself to really explain things to Zuko in a clear way, which doesn’t help because Zuko NEEDS to be spoken to clearly because he does not get metaphors and proverbs - but is Iroh really even the best person to explain to Zuko that his father is hurting both him and his sister? When Zuko wants so desperately to go home and be loved? And yet hearing that his sister is suffering would enrage him when she’s only been adored by Ozai. And even then, if Iroh acknowledges Azula’s suffering, he doesn’t act to help her. Could he though? He doesn’t give up on Zuko (who struggled for validation) but he never attempts with Azula (who had the Fire Lord’s entire approval).

For Season 2, everything about Zuko and Iroh is the path to stay alive and stay free… which they’re not free. They never will be again because the Fire Nation wants them and in order to stay safe they must seek refuge indefinitely in BSS. Thus, they must avoid Azula, who is willing to enact on her father’s orders (he IS the Fire Lord, after all). Azula has also shot Iroh with fire. Yes, Iroh is much older and Azula is 14; but I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a point that Iroh looks at her and sees her traveling with her friends, facing the Avatar, besting Iroh himself in a situation and as he wakes up from his injuries after she attacks him, he goes ‘I’m done.’ He would continue to put all of his efforts on Zuko. There is a very potential life or death situation with them being wanted, and Iroh won’t relive losing a child under his care.

And yet he would know where Azula’s life is eventually going to lead her, because he was once her. But he left the Fire Nation to escort Zuko and to keep him safe. Zuko did everything he could to try and finish his father’s task, and now his efforts have only landed him a wanted poster. Azula has the Fire Lord’s blessing and her crown - Zuko and Iroh are all each other have, and they also have the bounty on their heads. The efforts Azula put through to ensure that Iroh kept Zuko safe have now reversed, and they are actively evading her as enemies. The painful irony.

Had Ozai never sent her out to collect them, I absolutely think Iroh would still remain open to his niece. Unfortunately, Ozai continues to task her with ways to divide her from her family and therefore keep her closer to his will. By entrusting her with their capture, he alienates her from her shamed brother and uncle, and then gives them reason to have grief with her and not want to be in her life as she actively and willingly serves her father, not once hearing them out on their side of the story. They are rushing to find a way to stay out of chains and survive while she flawlessly continues her family’s goals.

What if she was never tasked with capturing them? But was still traveling the Earth Kingdom to broaden the Fire Nation’s reign? What if there had been a point when she wasn’t poised to capture them or attack them? I can still see Zuko naturally being bitter that she’s there. Iroh may still even be wary, as having her around after they have not achieved a goal means failure and capture (which is what I reason their reactions to her showing up in The Avatar State to be; they immediately know something is off because without a letter, without warning, Azula shows up in full armor after they have not achieved their goal of capturing the Avatar; and Iroh heard lightning earlier, and if it wasn’t Ozai and he deduces it was Azula? Oh lord she knows how to conjure lightning now which means they’re in deep sludge); but imagine if she’s just there to start her overseas military career, not to capture them. What if she knew they were wanted? What if they saw her, knowing they’re wanted, and they avoid her until they come face to face with her and she’s even more hurt that they immediately believed she would be cold enough to turn them in? They really thought that low of her? lol okay HEY GUARDS. Or what if she was like ‘Zuzu I made sure you had that ship and crew, you really think I’d turn you in?’ Or the opposite? In which Zuko sees Azula and knows they can trust her, but the more they get help from her the more she worries that Ozai is going to learn that she’s been secretly helping them through their escapades as wanted men? What if it had been Azula that got them their passports to BSS and was like ‘go here and stay out of my hair I am BUSY and I can’t keep risking my neck for you like this’.

#atla #atla meta #Iroh #Azula #Zuko

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full---ofstarlight · 5 months

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tagged by @sun-marie for this "people you'd like to know better" tag game! ty for the tag :3c

THREE SHIPS:

resisting the urge to fill this with my oc x canon ships, sO:

Roy Mustang x Riza Hawkeye from Fullmetal Alchemist I recently finished a book where within the first few chapters, I looked up on the subway and put the book down and squinted, thinking to myself wait. Is this Royai fanfic? Turns out, it probably was! The author posted about finishing the manga back in 2019, the book came out in 2022 (I think) and was billed as Fullmetal Alchemist meets (Something I can’t remember). Anyway, Royai has my entire heart, because if there’s one trope that has a stronghold on me it is Dedicated Leader with a Mission x Their Unflinchingly Loyal Second-in-Command Who Will Literally Follow Them Into Hell. The mission comes first! They cannot admit their love to each other! They’re also childhood acquaintances????? An apprentice x master’s daughter????????? And atoning for war crimes?????????????????? AHhHHHHHhHHhHHHHHHHHHHHH.

Haymitch Abernathy x Effie Trinket from The Hunger Games: Listen. Listen. I’m rereading the series now and apparently what happens when you read them ten years later is that instead of having a big crush on Finnick and shipping Finnick x Annie, you notice that Haymitch is a fantastic smart, snarky, tortured character and Effie is way more resilient and clever than she lets herself on to be and IDK I JUST. Must resist the urge to write the events of the Main Trilogy, but oops Haymitch and Effie were secretly hooking up the whole time. I have stuff to do. I have other fic to write!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Leorio x Kurapika from Hunter x Hunter: At any given moment, they are constantly in the back of my mind. I have my bad HxH brainworms from 2021 to thank for getting me back into fic and tumblr fandom and I just pulled a 35K fic outta my ass in 2021 somehow and even though I'm not writing for them much anymore, I love them with my whole damn heart and I can summon that love with a snap of my fingers.

LAST FILM:

I had to watch a movie for work last week that is out this week and I really wanted to like it but it disappointed me SO MUCH. :’(

CURRENTLY WATCHING:

I’m kicking off Season three of The Legend of Korra! I finally at long last watched ATLA this year (I KNOW I KNOW), and now I’m working my way through Korra. I’m also watching Spice and Wolf and the new seasons of JJK and Spy x Family.

CURRENTLY READING:

I am rereading the Hunger Games trilogy! I also checked out three new books from the library and I'm torn on which one I should bring on Thanksgiving vacation (it's an Agatha Christie, a dark contemporary fantasy, and a witchy rom-com). Might go with the Christie since it is the Lightest (like, physically).

CURRENTLY CONSUMING:

Chunky Monkey Ice Cream <3 (I have a pint in the fridge that my husband specifically got just for me since he's allergic to banana)

Ibuprofen for my sore shoulder :(

Coral Island

CURRENTLY CRAVING

A vacation that doesn't involve traveling to two different large Thanksgiving celebrations

A massage for said sore shoulder

A cup of tea (this one, at least, can easily be fixed)

taggingggg @theladysarmor @kelofmindelan @maryxoliver @rowingtherubicon @cynda-queer @gwaindrifter @birbycakes @n7viper @gwynbleidd and uhhh anyone who wants to do this!!!!! i will read your thing!

#will i catch up on my tag games #maybe so #you know its been a busy work couple weeks when im behind on my tag games lmao <3 #tama tags

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comradekatara · 3 years

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been seeing a lot of comments like these in the notes of this post today & feeling the need to comment on it. “oh it’s a joke it’s really not that deep.” yeah, I know, but I’m gonna make it that deep. just because.

the thing is, sokka is hardly stupider than the average boy his age (though to be clear, teenage boys represent the dumbest demographic alive, and yes that includes newborn infants). at no point in the show does sokka do anything so unjustifiably unreasonable (other than around aang, that is. they have sometimes been known to form two very brilliant halves of one whole idiot—but again, teenage boys tend to feed off each other’s brainworms) that I would classify him as “extremely stupid.” but even his human mistakes, goofs, oversights, or bad puns seem more egregious when you have the heights of his brilliance to which to contrast it.

here’s a secret: the “smarter” you are, the dumber you seem. because when you’re considered a “Genius,” you’re held to a higher standard. (and yes, sokka is, in the show, referred to as a genius very earnestly by a man who would also classify as such. multiple times, in fact.) there is less room for human error. that kind of pressure is why characters like the prodigious azula fall apart immediately when her reputed Perfection is challenged, or why the brilliant ty lee finds it so much more convenient to mask her genius with feigned obtuseness. intelligence is a construct, and perceived intellect is a matter of persona and reputation as much as anything else.

intelligences vary. no one person is good at everything. many of the most venerated of geniuses are specialists in one specific field and completely clueless in many others. most academics i know are utterly useless when it comes to practical matters. sokka, on the other hand, is very good at so many things. he is both well-versed in practical and cerebral matters. can throw a boomerang at precisely the right angle to hit a man square in the forehead while under extreme pressure, can learn a new poetry form and then come up with plenty of relevant examples of said form on the spot (while also rhyming, which wasn’t even a requirement—he was just showing off), invents multiple new revolutionary modes of transportation in the span of six months, has impeccable people skills, an extremely fast learner, is incredibly open-minded, and so on. (he’s a renaissance man!)

sokka is not just a “genius” (and frankly, I do hate that term) but possesses multiple forms of intelligence that we categorize and quantify across disciplines of theorizing about intelligence as a construct. piandao says that the qualities that define sokka are his “creativity, versatility, and intelligence,” and he is unambiguously correct in that assessment. of course he’s unobservant, distracted, or rash sometimes—who isn’t? but he’s also held to a higher standard, because he is someone who is defined by his intellect.

take for instance, his sibling counterpart. katara is constantly making rash, unreasonable, naive, uninformed, and overly-emotional decisions and/or assumptions. but no one calls her stupid unless they also dislike her as a character (but that’s another matter). no one says “I love how katara is extremely smart and extremely stupid.” but like.... why not? she is the world’s best waterbender, an incredibly bright and intelligent kid, and also, yeah, kind of a dumbass sometimes. like every character in atla, they have the capacity to be very “intelligent” and very “unintelligent” at various times. it’s called being a human being, (especially considering that they’re still kids).

intelligence is a construct. the only difference is sokka is defined by his “intelligence, creativity, versatility,” whereas katara is defined by her passion, courage, and altruism. she is seen to be driven by emotion, whereas sokka driven by reason, and therefore she is not held to the same standard when it comes to intelligence. but this standard is, of course, arbitrary, because sokka also very brave, selfless, and kind, and katara is also very smart, resourceful, witty, and clever. just because they’re not the first traits we associate with them doesn’t mean that they’re not also defining aspects of their respective characters.

I guess what I’m trying to say is. sure, sokka is “smarter than average.” whatever that means. yes, quantifiably so (even if all modes of quantifying intelligence are inherently flawed). but he’s not dumber than average. especially considering that the average teenage boy is as dumb as [insert pithy joke about art that you really hate so that you think im incredibly clever for disliking the same thing you also think is bad here], am I right?

at the end of the day, sokka was right all along: he’s just a regular guy. a regular shmegular, highly remarkable, completely unremarkable dude. and reports of the peaks and troughs of his intellect have been greatly exaggerated.

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fizzychocolatemilk · 3 years

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Hi! I’m Fizzy, but you can call me Fizz if you want. My pronouns are they/them and this blog is to specifically promote fanfiction that I’m writing, but to also freak out over cool art and writing that I see on tumblr or AO3. I will definitely show some bias over fandoms and ships because I usually hyperfocus on a single ship/fandom, but I like a lot of them. Right now, I’m into Helluva Boss and Hazbin Hotel, MHA, specifically bakudeku, Kuroko’s Basketball, specifically kagakuro, and to a lesser extent The Owl House, One Piece (I just started with this one, but I’m enjoying it a lot so far), Heartstopper, and Miraculous Ladybug. Find my most current WIP Update (#fizzy’s wip update / https://fizzychocolatemilk.tumblr.com/tagged/fizzy%27s%20wip%20update) to find out what I’m working on! I post previews of my work occasionally, and my finished fics are on AO3.

My AO3 - https://archiveofourown.org/users/fizzychocolatemilk

TL;DR See my description for basic information. See below the cut for a guide to my tagging system

Tag - use (tag used before a title was given to the fic)

Gen Tags

fizzy’s fic recs - fic recommendations

fizzy’s wip update - WIP Updates

fizzy’s fic ideas - random ideas I have for fics that I’ll try to write in the future

fizzy’s hcs - HEADCANONS!

fizzy’s fic previews - previews of fics that I’m writing

fizzy’s writing process - random stuff related to fics I’m working on or will be working on

fizzy’s fics - used to tag fics and drabbles when I share the finished product

fizzy answers - replies to asks that I get...they’re not necessarily all questions...but I try to keep this system as simple as possible

fizzy’s anniversary originals - random fun stuff I post on my anniversaries

it’s a fizzy situation - original chat posts

fizzy watches Avatar - all of my reaction posts as I watch ATLA and LOK for the first time

moots <3 - things I get from my mutuals

Headcanon Series and Fic Tags

Pro Heros and Dealing with Children - hc series where I talk about how different mha characters deal with children as heros

The Sun Prince & the Huntsman - bkdk Snow White au (bkdk snow white)

Totally Normal - bkdk personality swap one-shot (bkdk personality swap)

HANHH - hc series where I ramble about a specific character’s insecurities and who helps them out

fizzy’s PRIDE hcs - lgbtq hcs for different characters

NaB bkdk fluff - Natural as Breathing, a short, mostly unconnected series of bkdk fluff

bakugou katsuki: RECOLORED - one-shot I’m writing because I have brown-haired, brown-eyed Bakugou brainrot

Now Presenting BK <3 - one-shot where Katsuki gets quirked into a girl for a bit but this time he was in a prince costume that turns into a princess costume with the transformation

And [Katsuki] realized... - depressed/suicidal Katsuki fic...I had a brainworm and I acted on it in a moment of weakness

bakugou katsuki’s villain playlist - villain bakugou, but he’s a stupid weirdo while simultaneously being scary...the series title is because all the parts are song lyrics

Reblogs

Thank you op - all the fanart that I reblog...and some other miscellaneous stuff where I feel the need to thank the original poster for their marvelous content

reblog - all of my reblogs regardless of content

#fandom #masterlist #tag guide #introduction

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