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zvtara-was-never-canon · 3 months

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Can you give examples of Aang showing Empathy? Oh wait, you can't.

Actually, I can - because unlike you, I base my opinion of the characters on the actual stuff that happened in the story, not the bad faith takes dumb people on the internet come up with.

Zuko literally only survived past book 1 because Aang was the ONLY person amongst the heroes that gave a single fuck about his well-being. Aang offered to be FRIENDS with him as early as episode 13, even though this dude is trying to kidnap him.

In the first damn episode we see him realize and try to remedy Katara's struggle with no longer being able to act like a kid and have fun. He wants to travel with her so SHE gets to learn waterbending. He willingly lets Zuko take him into his ship because he understood that a conflict could lead to the people of the water tribe getting hurt or killed.

In Warriors of Kyoshi he apologizes to Katara for letting all the praise and admiration go to this head. He makes sure to put out the fires Zuko and his crew started in Suki's village.

He tries to help remedy the Hei-Bai situation, even though he is unsure of himself and even scared, because he knows he is the only one that has any chance of helping - and the thing that allows him to connect with Hei-Bai is the fact that he is ALSO upset about the destruction the Fire Nation has caused AND hopeful that the world would eventually heal.

He thinks Jet is awesome because he wants to help people that are being oppressed by the Fire Nation - and then is horrified when he finds out his intension is to "free" them by killing everyone

He wants to help the two rival groups not only safely cross the Great Divide, but also stop hating each other.

He confesses that he hid the map to Hakoda because Bato, Katara and Sokka are showing how much they appreciate and trust him and he feels unworthy of it after what he did because he knows it'd hurt him if the roles were reversed.

He is so devastated by the fact that he ACCIDENTALLY hurt Katara that he swears to never firebend again. He is also able to recognize the same principle behind his mistake in Zhao's fighting style, allowing him to win the battle against the bastard.

He accepts the fact that the Northern Air Temple is now occupied by people who not only don't belong to his culture but also don't understand it and unknowingly destroyed something sacred to him (and that one of them had been forced to make weapons for the Fire Nation) because these people have nowhere else to go and he doesn't want them to suffer.

He is furious at Pakku for refusing to teach Katara waterbending, because he knows how much it'd mean to her and how unfair it is that she can't learn it just because of her gender.

He is so devastated by the death of the Moon Spirit that the Ocean Spirit latches onto him to avenge it and save the day - and the leve of destruction it causes haunts Aang, even though the violence was against his enemies. And still, he tries to go into the Avatar state again because people are dying and he can't accept that.

After the fall of Omashu, he wants to rescue Bumi, not because he needs a teacher, but because they're friends.

He felt empathy for Toph when she was explaining to her parents how lonely and unappriacted their over-protection made her feel.

He and Katara both feel bad for snapping at Toph during "The Chase" and wanted to apologize for not understanding that being part of a group was a radical change to her, even though she had refused to even try. He also didn't have a problem with fighting alongside Zuko and Iroh against Azula, AND he looked concerned when Iroh was injured.

After Katara comments on the fact he called Toph Sifu but not her, he calls her Sifu while bowing, to show that he respects her both as his master and friend.

The hopelessness and downright depression he was feeling after Appa was stolen only starts healing because he saw a couple being happy with their newborn baby - the same couple he decided to help cross the Serpent's Pass, even though he and his friends had just been allowed to take a much safer route to Ba Sing Se.

His understanding and sympathy towards Jet, even after everything the guy did, was so strong that it freed him from literal brainwashing.

He doesn't want to push his love for Katara aside to gain power because he cares about her too much - and then does it anyway because, even though not making her his main focus 24/7 offers the risk of her being hurt, him neglecting his mission guarantees she'll get hurt.

He is devastated to learn that the world thinks he is dead because he knows he was everyone's last hope - and yet in the end he still accepts the burden of failure because he understood that, at that moment, everyone would be safer if no one else knew he was still alive.

He goes to a Fire Nation school and bonds with the kids, wanting to give them a taste of freedom and joy, as well as trying to understand what the war is like from their perspective. The same episode also has him pull Katara for a dance because he noticed she was feeling left out.

The boy felt empathy for, and understood the mistakes of, both Ruko and Sozin. SOZIN. Aang could see the humanity in the monster that is responsible for him losing his entire culture and everyone he loved.

When Zuko spoke about wanting to control his impulses so he wouldn't accidentally hurt anyone, Aang explicitly connected with that struggle and saw them being teacher and student as fate, and Zuko agreed because that's how deep their connection was.

Aang is not happy about Katara wanting to murder a man, but he still lets her take Appa on her mission and is not disapproving when she ultimately spares the guy but does not forgive him and makes it clear she never will.

He feels empathy for freaking Ozai, to the point that refuses to kill the guy - even as he has the balls to say that Aang's family, his people, deserved to die. He spared that guy - but only after he had a way to do that without it meaning the death of more innocents. Aang, the pacifist, was going to turn his back on everything he believed in just to avoid more human suffering.

So yeah, miss me with your bullshit and don't come back until your brain is developed enough to understand a cartoon aimed at kindergarterners.

#anti zutara #pro aang

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burst-of-iridescent · 4 months

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ana's meta masterlist

Pro-Zutara:

the official zutara dissertation: part 1 | part 2

zuko, aang and taking lightning for katara

zutara and romantic coding

"you rise with the moon, i rise with the sun" is a zutara line

zutara and thematic significance

zutara vs jetara

zutara parallels in the awakening

zutara's narrative culmination

zutara in the crossroads of destiny:

azula vs katara

love as resistance in the catacombs

zutara in the southern raiders:

the true source of katara's anger at zuko

katara bloodbending before zuko

the narrative relevance of zutara

zutara and bloodbending

zutara's narrative symmetry

why zuko had to betray katara in ba sing se

Anti Anti-Zutara:

the official zutara dissertation (p.3)

"zutara would face too much opposition from their countries"

"zuko and katara are a colonizer/colonized ship"

"zuko and katara would fight all the time”

"platonic zutara is better than romantic zutara"

"fire lady katara is racist"

“zuko would’ve taken lightning for anyone”

“katara is too traumatized by the fire nation”

ATLA Ship Criticism:

the official zutara dissertation: part 4 | part 5 | part 6

why mai.ko was never intended to be canon

mailee is a better ship than mai.ko

how kat.aang could've been fixed

kat.aang's lack of trust in the southern raiders

emotional labour in kat.aang

kat.aang’s narrative imbalance

comparing katara and aang's parenting

why the fortuneteller does not foreshadow kat.aang

ATLA/LOK:

azula/katara parallels

katara's choice in the crossroads of destiny

was zuko's betrayal in-character?

zuko's comments in the southern raiders

zuko's comments in the southern raiders (pt. 2)

zuko is not a “bad boy”

sokka didn't feel inferior to katara

did mai fear azula?

comparing mai and toph

sexism in the water tribes

thoughts on the atla comics

gratuitous violence in the legend of korra

The Hunger Games:

zutara and everlark parallels

zutara and everlark parallels (pt. 2)

gale's arc in the hunger games trilogy

the myth of humanity's inherent evil

the ending of lucy gray

Squid Game:

individualism under capitalism

the ethics of billionaires

#zutara #anti kataang #anti maiko #zutara meta #been intending to do this forever but i'm on this hellsite so much that going through my archives took an eternity lmao #anyway here's a collection of patented ana rambles

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zuko-always-lies · 17 days

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Am I'm the only person who thinks Azula's love language is really, really clear?

Like, what does she do?

Hugging her friends when she's sees them again.

Telling Mai that she's very glad to see her again.

Humiliating her friend's awful, abusive, neglectful parents in front of her.

Giving her (distinctly non-royal) friends seats on a throne.

Making the impossible happen and sacrificing her status as heir to the throne so that her brother can come home.

Openly telling her honor-obsessed brother than he's restored his honor in her eyes.

Repeatedly trying her best to comfort her super-angsty brother whenever he got worried or stressed or sad.

Using physical touch to try to make her brother feel better.

Getting her brother invited to a party.

Doing what she can to try to prevent Zuko from doing something stupid that will get him banished again.

When she screws up and makes her best friend cry, apologizing and using physical touch to comfort her in order to make her feel better.

Risking her life in order to protect her defenseless father.

This is not an ambiguous list. It's probably more clear and straightforward than what we see of Toph's love language, for instance, and if any character less demonized by the narrative than Azula did what Azula does, the fandom would have zero doubt about how deeply she loves people.

And sure, Azula is a bad friend who does plenty of other things which badly screw up her relationships, but I don't think Mai or Ty Lee or Ozai ever doubted for a second that she cared deeply about them. Zuko was the only one so oblivious he couldn't notice, and I'm sure it was blindingly obvious to both Ty Lee and Mai that Azula loved him very deeply.

And all this clarity of love language came despite Azula not having a single family member who ever showed her clear and unconditionally love and affection.

#Azula #Azula meta #Ozai #Mai #Ty Lee #it's really clear

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yourhighness6 · 5 days

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Is Katara "Motherly"? - The Discourse

The whole "is Katara motherly" discourse is a little annoying to me because for one thing its impossible to deny that in canon she acted motherly towards Aang, Sokka, and Toph, with Sokka even saying at one point when he thought of his mother Katara's was the face that came to mind.

But the other problem is that this fits into the shows themes so perfectly of children being thrust into adulthood and enormous amounts of responsibility too easily because of war and the subsequent (or end goals of) genocide, cultural genocide, and colonization. Katara's motherly characteristics are of the show's own making, they're right there in the text and their there for a reason, and although they weren't given enough attention as they should have been, there is no doubt that this is treated as, not exactly a tragedy, but as something bad and debilitating to Katara and her teenagerlike need to goof around with her friends.

But for whatever reason, the fandom seems to think that this characterization is fan made. Katara is supposedly forced into a motherly role by the fandom, particularly the zutara fandom, when in reality it is the show that does this to her. And the whole idea of momtara and dadko is that Katara doesn't have to be the mom anymore. She doesn't have to be the one solely responsible for the chores and the cooking and the emotional labor. She has a partner, and equal, who is willing to put forth the time and energy to assist her in what she feels obligated to do, and to tell her to go sit down sometimes before she burns herself out.

Could the other kids besides Zuko do this? Of course. But as we've already established, everyone in the gaang besides Suki shoves Katara into a motherlike role. Is this their fault? It's hard to say. Toph at least has a heart-to-heart with Katara about it, and Sokka's idea of her as a mother largely stems from trauma.

But my significant problem with Katara's motherly traits comes with the fact that there is no real closure to that arc in the "Runaway". Toph and Katara talk mostly about Toph's parents, and Toph tells Katara that she thinks she is capable of having fun. But other than that, there's nothing. The boys don't have to come to terms with the fact that Katara does not want to be seen (solely) as motherly or put in that position. Instead, the show gives us a few colorful explosions and subtlety implies that it is a little bit Katara's fault that she is seen that way. But again, that's not the fault of the zutara fandom or a reason the trope of momtara and dadko is problematic. It seeks to acknowledge these character traits in Katara, which a lot of kat@angers refuse to do, and give her a way to work past the trauma that caused them and help her adjust to a more healthy amount of stress and pressure on herself for a kid her age.

#the random desire to write in conclusion at the end of these #katara #atla #avatar the last airbender #zutara #anti kataang #the gaang #zuko #toph #sokka #suki #aang #bryke critical #anti bryke #atla meta #katara meta #zutara meta #katara deserved better

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wilcze-kudly · 7 months

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The Gaang being 'bad parents' didn't ruin their characters.

I've seen this argument tossed around a couple times and it's honestly one of my least favourite criticisms of lok.

Katara (and Sokka but we have no confirmed kids for him, which seems unrealistic with how much game he had) lost their mother as children and their father was forced to abandon them when they were barely starting their teens. They were raised by their grandmother with little to no peers of their own age.

Aang did not know his parents and a huge chunk of his childhood was him being groomed into taking up the mantle of the avatar and mastering airbending. He also was isolated from other kids his age. His closest parental figure was Gyatso who was more of a teacher than a father. Also the Air Nomads were literally wiped out so that adds to the trauma pile.

I really don't think i have to talk about Zuko's family life here, but at least he had relatively positive parental figures in the form of Ursa (though i do have a burning personal dislike of ursa) and Iroh. Despite this his struggle around the subject of his family and his trauma relating to his upbringing was a focal point of his character arc.

Toph was raised in isolation by her asshole abelist parents who did not listen to her, sent people to capture and bring her back and then disowned her. (If my cursory understanding of 'the rift' is correct, I need to actually read it because i am unreasonably obsessed with the Beifong family.)

Where, pray tell, were they supposed to learn proper parenting skills? On their brief stint as child soldiers? While fighting a war as literal children?

There is the argument that they must've matured later in their lives, of course. But you can only recover so much from copious amounts of childhood trauma.

Being a bad parent doesn't necessarily make you a bad person. Sure it makes you a failure in an incredibly delicate and important aspect of human life but it doesn't make you a bad person. And saying that it does takes a lot of nuance out of the conversation.

Like, do you know how easy it is to fuck up a child?

Especially that the ways the members of the Gaang 'fucked up' as parents feel mostly in character.

Bumi was going to face some struggles with self worth due to being the firstborn child of the Avatar and arguably one of the most powerful waterbenders in history, while being a nonbender himself. That much was unavoidable, no matter how his parents approached the issue.

And Aang was obviously going to be over the moon when Tenzin was born. Think about it. He's literally the last of his people. He has no one else 'like him'. No one else to pass down the traditions, the teachings that Gyatso and everyone else he cared about and who were horrifically murdered to. Aang is getting older and he feels like his culture and history and his entire life before he got trapped in that damned iceberg will die along with him. And then Tenzin is born and Tenzin can take up the mantle that had been thrust upon Aang.

I'm going to withhold my judgement on Izumi and Zuko, since we barely know anything about them. She seems well adjusted but that's all i can say right now. But Zuko has also been shown to be extremely, painfully aware of how fucked up his family is and has clearly been putting in a lot of work to unscrew what his ancestors have screwed up.

Toph situation feels very tragic to me,because it's obvious that she thought she thought she was doing better than her parents. She gave her daughters the freedom to do what they want, to not feel opressed and trapped like she had. How was she supposed to know that she was making her girls feel like she didn't love them? (Here's another post of mine about the Beifong family and how they just feel like they're cursed or something at this point.)

TLDR; I get annoyed by people saying that the Gaang being 'bad parents' ruined their characters, because to me it felt like it actually enhanced them.

Neither Aang nor Toph acted out of malice or a lack of love. On the contrary, Toph was trying not to repeat her parents mistakes, accidentally committing a bunch of her own. While Aang probably didn't even realise that he was neglecting Kya and Bumi.

But just loving your children doesn't always make you a good parent.

I think these flaws only add to them as characters. It makes them feel more real.

It's unrealistic and, frankly, just plain boring to go 'oh the Gaang were all good people so they would be good parents too.'

The Gaang were a gaggle of traumatised children forced into saving the world, because the adults around them failed them, that then grew into traumatised adults who have no idea how to be good parents.

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the-badger-mole · 3 months

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Aang was a kid who was the sole survivor of a genocide. Why doesn't that factor in your opinion of him?

I've talked about this before, but his age and tragic backstory are irrelevant. ALL of the main characters are children with tragic backstories, and they are more empathetic, have more growth, and their tragic backstories...actually matter.

Listen, for all people whine about how often Katara talks about her mom (which isn't really that often), it's clear how her mother's death shaped her as a character. It's clear how witnessing her mother's death formed her worldview, and Kya sacrificing herself for Katara made a mark (she never turns her back on people who need her? COME ON! That is obviously her trying to save people the way she couldn't save her mother). Even her wanting to learn how to fight and not heal (which is an insane battle advantage, btw) speaks to her trauma around not being able to defend her mom.

Even Sokka's trauma around the loss of his father and not being deemed old enough (big enough/ strong enough/ smart enough) to go with Hakoda and the other warriors come through in his recurring need to prove himself (coming up with the big battle plan for DoBS, breaking his father out of prison, learning swordplay, etc.). It's woven so neatly into the narrative. His trauma matters to his story.

Toph is the least developed of the Gaang, and her issues with her parents have more impact on character than the destruction of the Air Nomads have on Aang. Heck, Zuko's entire arc hinges on compound traumas.

Meanwhile, Aang's trauma....? What trauma? Yes, the loss of the Air Nomads is a tragedy, but we, the audience, only know it's a tragedy because we have real world knowledge telling us so. Personally, I was in 3rd or 4th grade when I began learning about the Trail of Tears, and in kindergarten when I began learning about slavery (I was born in Harlem. The kindergarten I went to taught us accordingly). When I saw ATLA, I had a frame of reference for the genocide of the Air Nomads. But it didn't really seem to bother Aang all that much. Oh, sure, it did come up when it was convenient to the plot, but it mostly seemed to be a way for Aang to expound on the superiority of Air Nomad philosophy and society to whoever he's talking to. Aside from that, and his first rush of feeling when he found out what happened to them, the loss of the Air Nomads doesn't seem to effect Aang all that much. If he doesn't care about his tragic loss, why should I?

Aang is a fictional character. I don't have to extend the same pathos to him that I would to a real life person. It is the writers' duty to make me feel for him, and they did not. The way he's framed is the issue. And here is where I really start retreading things I've said before, but I think it needs to be repeated (again and again and again). Aang is not framed as someone who has a lot of growing up and learning to do. I could give him a pass on his worst traits because he's a child and still growing, but the show doesn't frame him that way. The show wants me to see him as a precocious imp who's wise-beyond-his-years but still has a cheeky lil' mischievous streak. It's not trying to frame his lying to the quarreling tribes in The Great Divide as a bump in his journey to becoming an effective leader bridging different people together. It wants the audience to laugh at him getting one over on the foolish tribes who absolutely went back to fighting as soon as Appa was out of sight. The show isn't framing his desperation to get the village in Avatar Day to like him as a foolish pursuit he needs to get over if he wants to be strong in the face of adversity. It wants us, the audience, to feel bad for him because his charm isn't immediately bringing the people over to his side. It wants us to be indignant that the villagers don't see how important Aang is and wont' support him. The show isn't framing Aang's non-con kisses with Katara as bad because it hurt her. It isn't making a point to that Aang needs to care about her feelings. It wants the audience to feel bad for Aang and hope for Katara to come around because he's A Nice Guy™️©️®️. Aang is never shown to be a particularly good friend to any of the Gaang, let alone him being kind to strangers just because that's his heart. All of that I would allow to be just him being a dumb kid with growing to do if the show hadn't made it clear that Aang was perfect and didn't have to change, and in fact the world should change for him.

Aang's age and tragic backstory are irrelevant because the show made them irrelevant. All they left us with was a Gary Stu character who hides his selfishness under a thin veneer of cheerfulness. It's not good enough.

#atla #anti aang #anti kataang #when people stop thinking of aang as a literal child and start thinking of him as a character with a role in a narrative #things in this fandom will get SO much better

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dualcordie · 4 months

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I’ve seen people talking about Zuko adopting Izumi instead of her being his biological child and I had a silly little thought (that I haven’t stopped thinking about for days)

warning: this post is basically just my last two brain cells trying to put out a semi-coherent thought

What if Zuko and Azula mend their relationship after everything and heal, but they both still despise Ozai so much that they make a pact that their lineage dies with them and they refuse to ever have children?

BUT

Azula goes on some self discovery trip and eventually meets this little orphan named Izumi. They hit it off almost immediately. Azula is usually super awkward around kids, but Izumi is a little menace and Azula loves her. She sees parts of herself, and even Zuko, in Izumi (ya know, before things went downhill for the both of them as children). She manages to bring Izumi back to the capital and tells Zuko she has a surprise.

Zuko nearly shits himself when said surprise is a 6 year old who can’t seem to stop bouncing off the walls and talks so fast you can barely make out what she’s saying. Zuko is adamant that Izumi doesn’t belong there and “What about our deal?!”

To which Azula starts to persuade him (because she’s good at that shit and would be able to do it without hesitation) and even makes the point that their ancestors would be livid if they knew that the Fire Lord adopted a random child rather than “keeping their lineage pure” or whatever the fuck kind of bullshit they’d say. She wants to be an auntie so bad, she’s bound and determined to get Zuko to adopt this kid.

Zuko says Izumi can stay, but he can’t be a dad right now and they’ll have to eventually find someone to take her in. Azula doesn’t believe that for one second, especially after seeing how great Zuko is with every child he comes across. She manages to rope the gaang into it and when Zuko sees how Sokka and Izumi instantly click, how comfortable Izumi is around Aang and Katara’s kids, as well as Toph’s, he can’t say no to adopting her. He takes her in, spends more and more time with her, and they’re definitely a dynamic dad and daughter duo (even though he hasn’t officially adopted her yet). There’s even talk going around the palace that Zuko is spoiling her rotten (but he swears he isn’t, he’s just trying to give her a better childhood than he had).

then blah blah blah Zuko’s a great dad to her and him and Sokka surprise her with the official adoption and they sometimes struggle with the whole new being married and parents thing but they’d give their lives for Izumi in an instant and they’re in love and that’s all that matters

#and they lived happily ever after #someone who can actually write #please write this #i am begging #zuko #azula #izumi #sokka #atla #zukka #sokka/zuko

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cryptids-and-muses · 10 months

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ATLA modern au that is slightly more realistic than usual:

Aang:

Does not go to college

Lives part time with his grandpa gyatso and part time in his VW van

Works as a janitor at a dojo he used to train at and goes to the various kids belt ceremonies

Does a lot of activism in his spare time

Katara:

Goes to college on student loans

Lives in student housing with Ming from the episode the fortune teller as her roommate (this was too funny not to do)

Used to work for a nonprofit but got paid shit, was encouraged to do a lot of unpaid labor, and got super burned out

Now works as a tutor

Is torn between becoming a teacher and full time activism, while struggling with possible not being able to support herself on either path

Still does a lot of activism and that’s how she met aang

They were both part of a blockade to stop construction on something bad for the environment, the cops showed up, aang helped katara get away with his VW bus (I said more realistic not fully grounded)

Sokka:

Also in college on student loans

In student housing with tio from the episode the northern air temple as his roommate

Has a work study position with Pian Dao who’s a professor

Has switched majors a lot but eventually settled on engineering

Toph:

Uses the money her parents send her for tuition to rent a shitty apartment

They think she’s enrolled but she’s not

The college she told them she got into is very far away from them to help justify moving away

Doesn’t have a regular job but is part of a local level MMA league that she does pretty well in

Survives off that, odd jobs, and leftover money from her tuition

Suki:

Got into college on a sports scholarship

Is studying physical therapy

Rents an apartment with several roommates (kyoshi warriors)

Has some kind of training or coaching job, think camp counselor

Met aang through the dojo he works at and/or toph through her fighting league

Zuko:

Used to go to college but dropped out

After he was cut off bounced between his friends places before ending up fully moving in with toph

Works at his uncle’s tea shop (obviously)

Is generally very lost and doesn’t know what he wants to do with his life

#atla #avatar the last airbender #atla gaang #avatar gaang #katara #sokka #aang #toph #zuko #suki #atla modern au

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avatartophblindbanditbeifong · 10 months

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The Perfect Pair

Miles Morales x fem!Reader

2.4K words

Summary: Miles would do anything to keep you out of harms way. But what if the only way to protect you is to hurt you in the process?

Miles rapidly bounced his knee up and down.

He was sitting on the variety of red and orange seats of the New York City subway while looking at your contact on his phone. He eyeballed the picture that lit up his screen every time you called—a candid photo he took of you mid-giggle-fit with your mouth open and your eyes shut tight.

His thumb hovered above the call button for what felt like forever to him. The longer he waited, the more anxious he got and and his knee bounced, and bounced, and bounced… and now he was calling you. Miles physically froze; paralyzed. His eyes widened, his breath halted, and his heart pounded.

“Your message has been forwarded to an automatic voice message system (347-).”. Miles blew out a sigh from his lips, hung up, and hunched over his knees, thanking whoever decided not to put cell phone service underground.

Miles loved you. That was a fact nobody could deny. You were all everyone ever heard him talk about. You were his first thought when he woke up in the morning and the last face he imagined when he closed his eyes at night. With you being everything he absorbed, the last thing Miles wanted to do was hurt you.

News had been circulating around about “Spider-Man's Potential Lover?” with various pictures of him swinging around the city with you attached to him . Paparazzi were ruthless and would do anything to get a glimpse of gossip at the expense of your safety, and Miles would not have any of that. If you were revealed as Spider-Man’s lover, then his parents (and yours) would know about his double life. Everyone who knew you and him would know. That possibility would put you and everyone around him in danger. And villains wouldn't hesitate to do something horrible just to get to him.

It’s to keep her safe, he reasoned with himself.

Truthfully, he couldn't stand the thought of another person he loved dying because of him. Miles would rather go the rest of his life knowing you're safe from a distance instead of standing atop your grave. If Spider-Man was bound to lose the people closest to him, then Miles couldn't be close to you anymore.

She’ll understand; he tried to convince himself, right?

…

Meanwhile, in your room, you sat alone in the dark. Your only source of light was that of your phone, which illuminated your face and nothing else. “‘The stars sure are beautiful tonight. Too bad you can’t see them, Toph!’” you huffed out a laugh at that line. You were watching Avatar: The Last Airbender, a show you initially introduced to Miles for the two of you to watch together, but actively watched without him when he wasn’t around.

…which, when you thought about it, seemed to be more often than not recently.

Of course, this was the routine for the entirety of your relationship with Miles. He was around, but not really. In class during roll call, Mr. Morales was almost never there to announce himself as present. During a date at your favorite burger spot, Miles had to leave early because of a car accident on Clinton Street. A text you sent at 3PM on a weekday wouldn’t get a response until 5PM. You knew of his responsibility and the toll it took on him in every way, shape, and form. So, when he didn’t call or text at night, when he got home at 3AM from patrol, you knew the ‘why’ and didn’t get upset because you understood that this is what it meant to be in a relationship with a superhero.

This will all pass, you presumed, …right?

A triple knock on your window brought you out of your onslaught of spiraling thoughts. You didn’t have to turn around for your brain to register who was behind the glass. You turned off your phone, rolled out of bed, and strided to your window in one big swift movement, then opened it to be face to face with him. You noticed he wasn’t in his suit, which wasn’t unusual, but if he wanted to spend time with you, he could just have used the front door. You made a mental note to tease him about that later.

“Hey!” you breathed with an infectious smile, all while grabbing one of his hands into yours to keep him sturdy as he ducked under the window frame and into your room.

“Hey, Y/N.” he muttered. You kissed him upon his greeting, muffling his annunciation of your name.

“How was your night?”

“Oh, it was fine,” he shrugged. “You know… beat a couple’ve bad guys… the usual.

Miles stuffed his hands in his pockets, nervously rocking back and forth from heel to toe. “So, what about you? How was your day?”

“The same— well, I mean, I didn't beat up a couple of bad guys, but y'know… the usual,” you answered. “Oh! I— uh… may or may have not watched a couple of episodes of Avatar—”

“You didn’t!”

“I said I may or may not have. I never said I did!” you chided playfully.

“How many episodes did you watch?”

“... Eight,” you said, through gritted teeth.

“What!” Miles threw his head back in mock despair. “That's practically an entire season!”

"No, it's not!" you insisted. "Just because I watched ahead doesn’t mean I can't rewatch it with you!" At that, you and Miles burst out laughing with squinted eyes, covered mouths to muffle yourselves, and smile lines that pierced into your cheeks, but not too loudly; your parents were home.

Miles watched you through the slits of his eyes while you were hunched over with one arm cradling your stomach and the other covering your mouth. While what you said wasn’t even that funny, for whatever reason, the reaction that came out of your banter caused a chain reaction like pinball; you laughed, he laughed harder. He laughed because of your laugh, and you laughed because he was laughing at you. It was the epitome of your dynamic. But the ease and warmth he felt around you were quickly replaced by dread and guilt seeping through the seams. Miles subconsciously reminded himself that he came here for a reason.

"You know you could have used the front door," you chuckled, simmering from the laughter from just moments ago.

"...It's 9pm."

"Right, well..." you shrugged, "y’know, for next time."

"Yeah, for next time. Okay." Miles wavered. Miles stood there in front of you for a few seconds before slowly trekking around your room with his head down and his hands still in his pockets, like he was pondering something. Your eyes followed him from point A to point B.

"Miles..." you tried, but he didn’t hear you, so you called for him again.

"Hm?" He perked up.

"You okay?"

"Me?" he asked, pointing to himself. The expression on his face genuinely looked like he didn’t know if you were trying to get his attention or not, although he was the only person in the room you could be talking to.

"Yeah, you," you crooned. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." He cleared his throat to avoid another voice crack. "Yeah, I mean, I'm great. Why-why do you ask?"

"Mmm… I don't know. You just seem a little on edge."

The way Miles fidgeted with his fingers and his inability to keep eye contact with you were telltale signs that he was not, in fact, great like he said he was, and the look on your face let him know that you were losing patience and he couldn’t keep stalling the situation. So he sighed, "Y/N… there's something I need to tell you."

You took a deep breath. “…okay.”

The onslaught of spiraling thoughts returned with a punch to the gut. What could Miles need to say so badly that it made him this nervous? Your heart pounded in erratic beats; a sudden shortness of breath caused you to plop down onto your bed, looking up at Miles standing before you. You weren't stupid; you knew what was happening. Miles was pretty cliche with his advances, but you never imagined he would come to your home in the dead of night and say, "There's something I need to tell you." Like they do in the movies.

You get ‘em how you lose ‘em, I guess.

You should have known from the moment he said your name when you helped him into your room. You felt that he was off, like you were telepathic or something. Your mother once told you that you and Miles were “the perfect pair” because you read each other so well. "It's a good trait to have in a relationship," she said. "If you know when your partner is feeling off, you can find a way to help, even when they feel like they can’t ask for it." But now that you were in that moment, you didn't want to read him the way you could because, right then, you knew what you were reading wasn’t going to have a happy ending.

Your lingering gaze on him was a little intimidating. So much so that Miles had forgotten the lines he was going to deliver to you. The ones he replayed and revised in his head from the moment he stepped off the train to when he landed on your fire escape

"Well..." he stammered. "Uh, um…" Miles dropped his shoulders, blew out a deep breath, and rubbed his face.

How am I supposed to do this? He thought.

Miles lightly trod toward your bed, seating himself next to you; his weight caused a dip in the mattress, resulting in you bouncing on the surface.

"There are pictures of us out there, Y/N," he began. "Of me and you swinging. The most recent one was on Tuesday; that was four days ago."

"Okay, so then we won’t swing together anymore." you offered.

Miles clicked his tongue and shook his head, saying, "No, Y/N, you don’t get it. It's too risky."

"That's never been a problem before."

"If they recognize you just by your backpack—" Miles didn’t even want to think of the possibilities. "Look, I don't want you to get into trouble. It's too dangerous. If your parents or mine—"

"I can handle it!" you argued.

"It's not about handling it," he hissed. "It's about keeping you safe!" The look on his face was frantic; it portrayed the true image of fear and uncertainty. "And you won't be safe if you're with me." He whispered. The shift in Miles’ body language from then to now showed you that he was serious about his decision. The eye contact between the two of you was too intense for you to hold all at once.

Then a knock, knock, knock sounded at your door. You and Miles jolted at the sudden noise. "Y/N?" It was your mother. She slowly opened the door, peeking through it as it widened more.

"Yes, mommy?" you ask innocently, lying on your bed with your ankles crossed and your phone resting in your hands.

"Is everything okay? I thought I heard arguing coming from here."

"Oh, no. That was my show." You shook your head. "Although there were people outside arguing a minute ago, I don't know."

"Okay, well, close your window before you go to bed, okay?" She replied, turning out of the room. "And why are you in the dark?" You shrugged your shoulders. "Weirdo," she called you, as she shut the door in its entirety.

You waited a couple of seconds for your mother's footsteps to fade before calling out for him. "Miles?" you whispered.

"I'm here." You turned your head in the direction of his voice. He reappeared on your windowsill.

“Who gets to decide that, Miles?"

"What?"

"Who gets to decide whether I'm safe with you or not?" but you didn’t get a reply that time. There was no point in dragging this out longer than it needed to. Normally you wouldn't be so stubborn with him, but you knew once Miles stepped out of your window, he wouldn’t be yours anymore. You moved to the side of your bed closest to the window, closest to Miles, and reached for his fingers, nervously toying with them.

“You want to break up?” you whispered. Unable to say the words and look at him at the same time.

"Yes." With that answer, your eyes met Miles's. "I mean, NO, I don't want to break up, but.. GAH!" He tried to come up with some sort of bluff to soften the blow, but he couldn't bring himself to be dishonest with you at that moment. "Yes." But he couldn’t even look you in the eye when he said it.

Your eyes darted around his features as tears welled up in your eyes, swallowing the lump in your throat. You felt a cold rush flush through your chest—a dull ache that caused your heart to physically hurt. It was like the opposite of the flutter you felt in your tummy when... before...

It’s done. It's over.

You let his fingers slip out of your hold, leaving them to dangle between the two of you. Miles could feel the sadness radiating off of you. He couldn’t bring himself to look at you because he hated the idea of being the cause of your pain.

"I'm sorry, Y/N," he sniffled.

"Okay," you said monotonously. Miles watched as you got up from your bed and headed toward your door, opening it and then closing it behind you.

And with that, you were gone.

This is what he wanted, right?

…

Miles thwiped, swung, and released in aggressive cycles across the city. He didn't really have a destination in mind, but he knew he couldn’t go home yet. Memories and shared moments between the two of you reflected themselves off the glass of the skyscrapers as they played through his mind. The sound of your laugh and whispered "I love yous" flooded his ears, drowning out the noise from below.

Miles understood the sacrifices that came with being Spider-Man; he had experienced them once before. However, he had never experienced the pain of losing a loved one by choice. He had never experienced heartbreak like this before. Regret started to settle in as it hit him that he'd just hurt the one person he vowed to always protect, and that was a decision he’d have to live with.

Miles thwiped, swung, and released. thwiped, swung, and released.

Maybe in another universe, he thought.

#miles morales #spiderman across the spiderverse #spiderman into the spiderverse #miles morales x reader #miles morales x you #miles morales imagine #miles morales drabble #miles 1610 #earth 1610 miles morales x reader #spiderverse x reader #spiderverse x y/n #earth 42 miles morales x reader #x reader #miles 42 #earth 42 miles morales x black!reader #miles morales x black!reader #streambeabadoobee4clearskin

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phoukanamedpookie · 1 month

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hot take from me: I don't think Azula needs a redemption arc. I think she needs help, therapy, and care.

But saying that a child who was abused and who yes did bad things need to be redeemed or to redeem themselves leaves such a bad taste in my mouth.

What children do when they are trying to survive abuse and are in survival mode can not really be judged as good/bad dichotomy.

Because that child is not existing in world of good/bad, they are not making choices in regards in this moral thing to do, the good thing, the right thing vs not.

They are living in a world of will this help survive this moment yes or no. Even if they don't realize.

Azula should and can apologize for hurting people, but she doesn't need to be redeemed.

And in turn the adults in Azula's life should be apologizing to her and be trying to right by her. Ursa and Iroh failed her and did not protect her.

Azula and Zuko were both abused and abandoned by both their parents in diffrent ways.

Zuko at least had Iroh to help him, to guide him, and to step in as a parental figure. He also had some positive memories associated with their mother.

This is not to say one's abuse is worse or better than the other because that is not how abuse and trauma works. It is simply point out that Zuko thankfully had a support system, a safety net where Azula had none.

That lack of a support system is very damaging. Azula is some who has been hurt and who is realistically deals with a lot of fear even if she puts up this fearless aura about her.

She like Zuko has trauma. She like Zuke deserves understanding and compassion.

She like Aang, Toph, Katara, Sokka, and Zuko is a child too.

👆👆👆

Also, lemme dig up that post I made about Azula just starting to gain a yetzer tov because she was literally too young to have one before.

#azula #azula meta #actual human child azula #yetzer tov

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oneatlatime · 7 months

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Want to get your thoughts on something you've touched on in a couple places. A pretty popular idea in the fandom is that one of the (in-universe) reasons airbenders have gone so hard into the peace-and-love monk thing is a self-awareness that, if they didn't, there's not a whole lot anybody could realistically do about it.

Like, Southern Air Temple pretty strongly implies that Gyatso solo'd a room full of comet-roided firebenders. It killed him but he did it, and while he is a master Airbender, we're not given any real indication that he is uniquely so, right?

I have many thoughts on this! Sorry in advance for the long post! And sorry if this goes a bit off topic!

Short answer: I don't agree.

Long answer:

We've seen that nations' cultures tend to reflect their native bending styles. Or vice versa. It's probably a chicken and egg scenario. The Fire Nation chose to spread (like wildfire) and is full of hot headed, impetuous roid-rage sufferers who can't see or plan for the long term. Fire itself easily becomes ungovernable and is at best muzzled/leashed, always waiting for the next chance to bubble over in unplanned / unpredictable / generally unhelpful directions (Hi Zhao!). So an element shapes a culture shapes and element until you've got a positive feedback loop (or in the case of the Northern Water Tribe, a negative feedback ourobouros due to outside pressure). Importantly, neither culture nor element develops in isolation; I think they develop simultaneously.

The Earth Kingdom is probably the most rigid and unchanging, even when it would benefit them to change/innovate. We see rigidity and humourlessness in response to change or the unexpected (see Toph's parents) and we see an inability to let go of a bad idea, or mitigate the consequences / think on the go when things that were clearly bad ideas go bad in ways anyone with a non-earthbender brain can see coming a mile off (think The Avatar State episode). Earth digs in when it should retreat, stands solid when it should duck and weave. It is grounded to the point of stupidity (unless you're Toph or Bumi, although even Toph seems to be unbending so far). It's linear to the point of being unable to deviate from that line.

This is me guessing, but I figure since fire and water are opposites, air must be the opposite of earth, right? So while we'll never see airbending culture in a non-shrunk-down-to-one-person form, we can look at earthbending culture for its dark reflection. Well, probably not dark, but you get what I'm saying. They'll be opposites in world view. We can extrapolate.

So if earth is grounded, humourless, aggressively traditional, linear, then air must be constantly fluctuating, unchained, lighthearted, bonkers-all-over-the-place. The heaviness of earth would dictate that problems should be faced by digging in and facing them head on until the problem blinks first. The lightness of air would dictate that problems should be faced the opposite way: blinking first i.e. removing yourself from the problem entirely. The linearity of earth dictates that fights are solved by fighting - you punch me, I punch you. The non-linearity of air would seek to recontextualise a problem until it's no longer a problem because we all forgot what we were fighting about in the first place, i.e. throwing pies at it or busting out the marble trick. The heaviness of earth would cause excessive earthly attachment; the lightness of air would cause excessive detachment from worldly concerns.

To start violence is to make a statement that you wish to be involved. It's rooting yourself to a particular dispute, choosing a hill to die on. It stems from attachment. This is earthbendery behaviour (and Zuko-y, but let's not go there). To never start violence is to never invest, never dig in your feet and make a stand. To be detached. (I'm oversimplifying here.) It's clear from in-show examples that Aang's pacifism is of the "ladies don't start fights but they can finish them" variety; he's got no problem with self-defence (caveat: we have no idea how typical an air nomad Aang was). But he never attacks first that I can think of.

Violence is a very direct tool. If someone starts a fight with you, and you decide to continue it, you're choosing the most obvious action. Since when is airbending direct or obvious?

All this to say, I think that pacifism, peace and love, monkiness, etc., was more likely a natural and inevitable outgrowth of air nomad culture, caused by constant culture / element interaction, rather than a conscious choice.

So I think airbenders "have gone so hard into the peace-and-love monk thing" because the nature of their element creates a culture that discourages the traits required for effective offensive violence, and the inherent detachment and ever-changing nature of air naturally encouraged spiritual (i.e. monkly) pursuits rather than earthly ones, like whatever the conflict of the week is. I don't think self-awareness of the dangers of their element factors into it. Not to take away from Gyatso's accomplishment, but I think air is nowhere near the most dangerous element. From what I've seen so far that would be Fire or Earth, though I'd give the edge to Fire because they self-generate, and also because they've spent a largely successful century dominating the other elements. Waterbenders and earthbenders can be neutralised by taking away their element; airbenders - due to the very nature of their element - probably can't get past that initial avoid and evade instinct to become legitimate offensive threats.

As for Gyatso, I think he's an outlier. We know little about him so far, but we do know that: a) Aang says he's the best airbender (in I think the Southern Air Temple?); b) he's good enough that he was granted a statue while he was still living, learning, improving; and c) he's good enough that the monkly council (of which he is part) granted him the honour/responsibility of being the quasi-dad of the Avatar. These things tell me that Gyatso was the Spiders Georg of the Airbenders. I suspect Bumi is the same for the Earthbenders, and at least as far as the philosophy of bending is concerned, Iroh may be so for Firebenders. Even the example of Gyatso nuking the comet-enhanced firebenders is a case of defensive action in ultra extraordinary circumstances: he was staring into the teeth of a genocide while mourning the disappearance of his quasi-son and the likely loss of the world's only hope / chance at stopping the war. That's how far you have to push an airbender before they'll take a life. Unless the Avatar world pre-war is a lot more godawful than Aang has implied, airbenders probably wouldn't have been taking lives frequently enough for them to get to the point where they would have to start questioning whether they should consider pacifism.

I think what this fandom idea ultimately is, is a desire for the hidden badass trope. Everyone loves it when the most peaceful character in the story is revealed to secretly be a Rambo-level fighting badass, right? Who didn't love it when kindly grandpa Roku manifested in his temple and unleashed a volcano? But I think this trope fundamentally takes something away from the appreciation of Airbending, Air Nomad culture, and the concept of Pacifism as a whole. This is just my interpretation, but applying the "secretly the deadliest all along!" trope to airbenders undermines their commitment to pacifism and makes it performative rather than earnest. It's a cop out; an acknowledgement that violence actually is the answer, and even those head-in-the-clouds monks know to use it when the chips are down. This show goes out of its way to show that non-combatants have value and a place in this world that's worth fighting for, that fighting goes way too far pretty frequently, that non-violent solutions are valid, even preferable. It would kind of undermine that message if all of the elements were easily weaponisable.

Something I've loved so far about Avatar is the show's earnestness. There have been no Marvel-style fakeout bathos plots. I feel making airbending secretly the deadliest element or similar would be exactly that sort of thing. Can't my pacifists be peaceful not because they're secretly untouchable badasses who carry the biggest stick, whom the rest of the world leaves alone out of fear, who are not a threat only because they have chosen not to be, but because that's just who they are?

On the other hand: Aang's been a one-man-army plenty of times. We've seen that; that's undeniable. So air is stupidly powerful as an element. No denying that. Gyatso did murder a bunch of people trying to kill him, so air can be deadly. But I don't think your typical airbender could be deadly. If you gave a can of airbending to a firebender, an earthbender, or even a particularly provoked waterbender, I don't doubt that they could kill people with it. But the culture that the element generated - rather than a conscious choice by that culture's participants - prevents them from taking the direct, violent, solution. And I think that culture developed in tandem with airbending, so there could not have been a time when airbenders were deadly as a rule. Air shaped airbenders as much as airbenders shaped air, and it shaped them into non-violent people.

There's a lot of power in the idea of consciously choosing, and sticking to, something that is perhaps not in line with your natural abilities. Styling airbenders as deadly-but-choosing-peace is a great way to explore themes of agency, identity, strength of character, morals, maturity, etc. But, to me, there's also a lot of power in the idea that some people just can't - not won't, but CAN'T - fight their way out of things, and this doesn't make it any less wrong to genocide the crap out of them.

If the fandom wants to headcanon airbenders as secret badasses who consciously choose nonviolence, I say a) go ahead! there's more than enough evidence to support that conclusion; b) I respectfully disagree; and c) is Iroh not enough?

tl;dr in my opinion, air's pacifism was a natural outgrowth of, and restriction imposed by, the element rather than a conscious choice; airbending can be deadly but airbenders aren't; Gyatso is not representative; 'speak softly and carry a big stick' is all well and good as a philosophy, but those who speak softly and don't have a stick are of value too.

#atla #avatar: the last airbender #ask #PLEASE let this not start drama #just my opinion guys!#remember I'm not yet halfway through season 2 so maybe a later episode will disprove everything I've said! Who knows! Not me!#Also I don't know anything about Eastern Philosophy which this show undoubtedly references frequently #in a way that completely goes over my head #so I may have made some entirely incorrect assumptions in this post #oops!

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burst-of-iridescent · 7 months

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Aang was indeed a bad father. It's way past time we stopped making excuses for him.

An all too common defense for Aang is the fact that he's a monk and is not well-versed in how parenting looks. Yeah! No shit! But do you know who is well-versed? Katara! They talk as if Aang is a single parent like Toph but he is not. Katara's been on Aang's side since the day they met, always stood up for him, always complimented him.

Is this really the thanks she gets? Are they really that disinterested in explaining Katara's side of the story? As if her not getting a statue wasn't insulting enough.

Another major flaw in this defense is that Aang is not just a monk. He's the avatar. This means, part of mastering all elements also means embodying all of the ideologies based on said elements. That includes elements/ideologies completely opposite of his own. His daughter's crack about Aang "cutting and running when things get tough" shows that he's learned absolutely nothing.

We never truly see him master all the elements, he just gets them and, more or less, calls it a day. I'm even beginning to doubt that he's truly mastered his default airbending and he just got his tattoos prematurely because the monks were impressed with his scooter invention.

Zuko got the privilege of understanding the ideologies of other nations, allowing him to grow, and unlearn any toxic masculinity lessons through them, and would blow a gasket if he ever saw a kid get mistreated by a parent in any way. Is it really any wonder why Zuko is the more popular character and the most requested choice for Katara, in comparison to Aang?

using the "but he was a monk!" argument to excuse aang's bad parenting is fucking baffling to me. even leaving aside that aang did have a father figure (or are we collectively ignoring monk gyatso?), i don't think you need to witness fatherhood in action to understand that showing preferential treatment to one of your children is a messed up thing to do. that seems like the kind of thing that should be common sense, especially when you're best friends with the guy who's walking proof of what happens when you play favourites with your kids.

truthfully, i also don't fully agree with katara being able to compensate for aang's supposed lack of knowledge. while i do believe katara was a good mother, and i don't think it was her responsibility to teach her own husband how to be a good parent, i have my doubts about how much, if ever, katara called aang out on his behaviour towards bumi and kya. if their relationship in atla was any indication, i suspect katara very much turned a blind eye (or at most tried to gently suggest that aang pay more attention to bumi and kya) to aang's flaws in this area, as she (unfortunately) does in most others. that's one of the reasons i was never able to get onboard with kat.aang, because katara is the only one of the gaang who is never able to meaningfully challenge aang, even when he desperately needs it. (the only time i recall her trying to push him to do something he doesn't want is in sozin's comet when the fate of the literal world depended upon it. not a good omen, methinks.)

the katara we knew in atla might not have idly sat by while aang favored his airbending child over the others, but the seeds for who she turns out to be in lok are already planted. it's not a stretch to see how katara's blind faith in aang, and her unwillingness to confront his flaws, could have easily led her down the path to the woman who would fail to stop her husband from neglecting two of their children.

it's no surprise that aang in lok is repeating all the same mistakes he did in atla, because his character arc came to a screeching halt at the start of book 3 and was never picked back up again. how are we meant to believe that aang ever became the avatar (yknow, the embodiment of all four nations in one) when he was still, at the very end of the show, prioritizing the values of one nation over the others?

truly the shocker of the century that people might prefer katara to be with a character who had a believable arc with well-written development and a satisfying conclusion, instead of the narrative equivalent of a brick wall.

#anti kataang #zutara #aang critical

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zuko-always-lies · 12 days

Text

List of Azula AU/fic ideas

Better parenting Ursa

Azula raises Katara AU (and continued) and more

Azula and Katara get friendly postwar and talk about their brothers.

Mai is significantly older than Azula and Ty Lee AU (Older "sister" Mai)

Jin works at Iroh's teashop but finds out about his past

Zuko tells Azula about the Spirit Water

Ursa and Ozai get along better, and it's not a good thing AU

Imperialist Lu Ten survives the war and tries to regain his throne afterwards

Zuko finds out more about his nation AU

Revolutionary Azula takes over Ba Sing Se AU

Three different AU ideas in one

Favoritism in the royal family is a little different

What if Zuko had a nonbending twin sister (who he doesn't get along with).

Zuko's daughter changes how he sees Azula

Zuko and Ursa try to isolate Azula ("for her own good")

Ozai gets exiled and the Gaang stupidly ally with him

Earth Kingdom ends up with custody of Azula postwar and support her bid for the Fire Nation throne when Zuko starts another war with them.

The Gaang tries to figure out why Zuko joined them.

Dangerous Ladies find Ursa in Book 2

Azula and Toph fake dating

Zuko/"world leaders" try to force Aang to take away Azula's bending and he's very much not OK with it.

Azula is thrown away to the NWT postwar as a trinket and Chief Arnook adopts her.

Comics! Ursa's letter about Zuko being a bastard gets out.

Zuko and Katara lie about what happened during the Agni Kai

An exiled Azula finds Fire Imperialist! Ursa postwar

Aang has to save Azula from being executed by Zuko

Zuko's defection during DoBS goes very badly for Mai

Zuko joins the Gaang at Ba Sing Se, but it ends poorly

Zuko killed Azula during the Agni Kai, and now he has to deal with the consequences.

AU idea where Zuko keeps Azula permanently imprisoned in bad and torturous conditions postwar, and Izumi finds out about when she’s relatively young, and draws exactly the sort of conclusions about her parents that you would expect. Not to mention being terrified that she might be treated the same way if she missteps…

Ozai never declares Zuko and Iroh traitors

Iroh-Azula roleswap au

Zuko asks Azula for help with his firebending

Zuko wants Azula to like him but doesn't get why she doesn't like him (postwar)

Katara has an arranged marriage with Zuko and Azula tries to get into the good graces of her sister in law

"Katara is supposed to have an arranged marriage with Zuko, but she falls in love with Azula instead."

Another take on Zvtara (arranged marriage) and Maizula.

Azula-Katara AU idea (or: Katara runs into an Azula who has changed a lot in some ways and not very much in others)

Zuko is actually Ikem's son

Firelord Azula ends her brother's exile

Azula raises Izumi (it's complicated)

"AU idea: Azula commits suicide out of despair, and just about everyone is convinced that Zuko had her murdered or at the very least “encouraged” her to do it."

Dangerous Ladies get banished/declared traitors and Azula basically gives up. Mai has to step up her place

I have to say, “Zuko has to deal with finding out that Ursa very much isn’t who he believed she was” remains excellent fanfic fodder.

"AU idea: Ursa is more aware of Ozai’s abuse and potential for abuse than in canon, so, right after her exile, she seeks out Iroh and charges him with protecting both of her children."

Firelord Iroh treats Azula in a really screwed up way.

"AU where Azula dies during the latter stages of the war or right after it, and Mai is the only person who ever morns her as a person, not as a politically convenient symbol (Ty Lee runs away from her complex feelings on Azula as much as she can)."

Dark idea

"Since so much of the fandom is convinced that Azula is Zuko’s older sister, I need an AU where this is true and Zuko is just as throne-obsessed as canon and spends all his time trying to usurp his older sister."

"AU where Ozai has a heart attack and dies right after the fire siblings return to the Fire Nation, and Zuko and Azula have to pick up the pieces. Meanwhile, the Gaang are plotting to overthrow them and bring the war to a close once and for all..."

King Kuai adopts Azula as his heir

Things get complicated, darkly (Azula exiled postwar AU)

What if Zuko tried to be a good brother

"I really need an AU where Lu Ten returns and is pissed over Ozai’s usurpation, so he kills Ozai, seizes the throne, and continues the war. Of course, Iroh ends up supporting his actual son in all of this, and the conflict in the Fire Nation ends up boiling down to Zuko and Azula vs. Lu Ten and Iroh as the situation spirals toward civil war, at the same time the 100 years war continues."

"Maizula AU where Mai married Zuko, but he died not long after Izumi was born, and Azula and Mai are secretly carrying out a relationship while raising Izumi and ruling the Fire Nation as her regents."

Azula joins the Gaang with a twist...

"The chaos which would result if Lu Ten showed up alive again in Book 1 and launched a rebellion against Ozai in pursuit of “his” throne."

Ursa opposes Firelord Zuko

Iroh tries to kill Azula during "The Chase"

Mai and Ty Lee on trial for "war crimes"" and Azula has to save them

This is very long list, and people are welcome to steal any ideas they want from it for their own use.

#Azula #Au Idea #Au idea #Azula au ideas #Zuko #Ursa #Mai #Ty Lee #Katara #Ozai #Iroh #Not very friendly to Iroh #Various au ideas #fic idea #crack fic idea

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