#(when he finds out it's zuko. he thinks he's going insane)

[brionysea]

still thinking about azula's redemption (hard mode)

[demaparbat-hp]

what does lu ten ii think of original lu ten

Lu Ten (Iroh's son, Second Prince of the Fire Nation) was only a few years younger than Ursa. They were very close friends and confidants, so when Ursa found out that she was pregnant with her third child, she named it after Lu Ten in honor of his memory.

Ten Ten grew up hearing tales of Prince Lu Ten from Mom. When his big brother took him in, those stories changed their point of view.

Zuko loved and admired Lu Ten dearly. He felt really close to his cousin, despite the large age difference. His stories are full of made-up adventures and life lessons given via sword training. Lu Ten used to call Zuko Spitfire, a name that now belongs to Ten Ten.

Iroh speaks of his son only when Ten Ten asks about him. Uncle speaks fondly of Lu Ten's childhood and youthful charm, often comparing little Lu Ten II with his namesake. Sometimes Spitfire asks for stories only to see Uncle smile like he does when speaking of his son.

Sometimes, just sometimes, Spitfire finds himself wishing he was more like Prince Lu Ten, and hates the parts of him that aren't. But those thoughts come and go like waves in the ocean, and they only serve to push him forward.

Ten Ten admires Prince Lu Ten, and wishes he could have met him. (If only because Zuko makes him sound so insanely cool.)

[discordiansamba]

He got caught.

Not literally- he didn't know if what dignity he had left could survive if he got caught in a fishing net. Not metaphorically either, though- he guessed spotted was a better word for it. Someone had spotted him. It was his own fault, really- he'd heard plenty of rumors about the Northern Water Tribe's princess, Yue.

They said she'd been saved by the moon spirit as an infant.

He knew her from her white hair. He'd been curious, so he'd crept closer. He guesses he must not have been as subtle as he thought, because the next thing he knew, she was calling out to him. He tried to dive back under the water, but she called him again, and this time... he paused and looked back.

He felt... drawn to her, somehow.

She carefully made her way to the water's edge, crouching as near to him as she could get. She smiled at him, and introduced herself. He watched her suspiciously for a few moments, his gaze flicking about their surroundings, looking for any guards- but no one else was around. He debated diving underwater again...

...but he swam closer instead.

"Are you a spirit?" Yue asked.

Zuko shook his head. He didn't think so.

"Really?" Yue blinked. "You've certainly been touched by them, then. I've never seen anyone like you before."

Zuko huffed, and swam a bit closer. Yeah. He hadn't seen anything like him before either. He was pretty sure he was one of a kind.

"Can you... talk?" Yue tilted her head.

"Yes," Zuko's voice cracked a little as he spoke, "-I can."

Yue just looked delighted. He should probably leave, but... instead he placed his arms on the walkway, hauling himself slightly out of the water. Her hands twitched like she wanted to touch him, but she kept them to herself. Guess the Northern Water Tribe at least trained their royalty to have manners.

He asks her how she knew he'd been spirit touched. She just gestured vaguely in the direction of his tail. Right, yeah. He guessed that was pretty obvious. She told him that she'd had her life saved by the moon spirit as an infant (which he already knew), and that it had left a piece of itself inside of her. She could feel... something similar in him.

...yeah, actually. He felt like he could tell the same about her.

He told her he used to be a normal human, but then someone had blown up his ship with him in it. That the next thing he knew, he'd woken up underwater with this body. She frowns, considering it for a moment before speculating what he'd already guessed- that it perhaps might be the ocean spirit at work.

(He didn't understand why a Water Tribe spirit would save him.)

She asked for his name. He hesitated for a long moment.

"Zuko," he said, "-it's Zuko."

Yue's eyes widened- and he nearly ducked back under the water. Shit. She knew who he was. Of course she did- the Avatar had been here. It would be weirder if he hadn't been brought up once or twice.

"No, wait!" She said. "I'm just... a little surprised. Aren't you from the Fire Nation?"

Zuko huffed. "Yeah. I don't get it either."

She frowned. "Well... I could look at some things in our library. We have a collection of tomes about the moon and ocean spirits."

He frowned, cocking his head. Why would she do that? They were enemies. She just shook her head. She didn't see it that way. Tui and La had blessed them both in turn. Couldn't he feel it? They were connected, just like the great spirits were.

(He could. He wanted to deny it, but he couldn't.)

Living underwater, Zuko decided, sucked.

It wasn't just because he'd been cut off from any possible way with which he might regain his honor. How could he capture the Avatar if he couldn't even walk? Just wait until he conveniently decided to go for a swim? Even if he did, his father would just think of him as even more of a disgrace if he presented himself before him like this. He was a firebender- a child of the sun.

He shouldn't be part fish.

He missed not being wet all the time. He hated the fact that he'd kind of stopped noticing he was just. always wet. He lived underwater. It was just a state of being at this point. He only really noticed the absence of being wet when he spent too long out of the water, and he began drying out. He still had a working set of lungs (thank Agni), but the amount of time he could actually stay on dry land was limited.

He missed actual food. There was nothing to eat under the sea but fish- and it wasn't like he could even really cook it, not unless he went to the effort of dragging his kills on to the shore and breathing fire on it, which was a chore in and of itself. He'd tried eating seaweed to mix it up a little, but it had just made him sick. Barfing underwater sucked.

He missed actually being able to talk to people- and wasn't that ironic? His Uncle had always tried to get him to talk to members of his crew, but he'd always just brushed him off. Now he found himself longing for someone to talk to, if only to break up the monotony. He'd developed a habit of hiding underneath docks and listening to sailors chatter, but it wasn't a real replacement for actual conversation.

Ugh. At this point he'd even be willing to talk to the Avatar.

(Not really, though. He didn't want the Avatar or his two Water Tribe companions to see him like this. It would be humiliating.)

At least the ocean wasn't entirely devoid of things of interest- he'd poked around a few shipwrecks, periodically finding interesting things. He would bring them back to the underwater cave he'd found, hauling himself up onto the rocky ledge and stashing it with the rest of his stuff. He'd at least been able to recover most of his belongings from his ship- not that he knew what he was going to do with them.

(He'd recovered some of his Uncle's stuff too. He didn't know what he was going to do with that either.)

Agni, he missed not knowing how much horrifying shit was under the sea. He'd spent three years of his life on a boat, completely oblivious to the creatures they'd sailed right over. The first time he'd run into a creature three times the size of his body, with jaws that looked like they could split him in half, he'd hid and prayed to any spirits listening that it would leave him alone.

(It was only after that, that he discovered that nothing in the ocean seemed interested in him. Maybe he was being protected by whatever spirit had done this to him. Thanks?)

He missed having a purpose. Hunting the Avatar had been his sole drive for the last three years, and now it was just... gone. He had nothing to replace it with. He didn't know what to do with himself- and maybe that was the worst part of all this. He had no idea how to fix this- so the possibility that this would be the rest of his life was one that was slowly sinking into him.

He should probably be grateful he wasn't dead- but it certainly might have been easier.

(If he ever saw those pirates again, he was dragging their asses underwater.)

[sapphic-agent]

Let's Talk About How Book 3 Ruined Aang

If you've seen any of my prior ATLA posts, you know that I don't hate Aang. In fact, I quite liked him in Books 1 and 2. He was flawed, as all characters should be, but the show didn't shy away from those flaws or justify them. He was called out for burning Katara and rushing his firebending, Sokka and Katara were rightfully upset when he hid Hakoda's letter, he willingly owns up to the fact that his actions helped drive Toph away, and his entire arc after losing Appa and finding hope again in The Serpent's Path was beautifully done.

(Hell, even in The Great Divide Katara says what Aang did was wrong and he agrees. It's played for comedy, but the show still makes the effort to point out that what he did wasn't the right thing to do. You're just meant to understand that he was fed up and acted off of that)

Those flaws and mistakes were addressed and improved upon and helped Aang to grow as a character.

But for some reason, that aspect of Aang's character was completely flipped in Book 3.

The best examples of this are in both TDBS and EIP. Both the show and the fandom are too quick to brush off that Aang kissed Katara twice without her consent, one of which after she explicitly said she was confused about her feelings.

(And yes, she is angry in response and Aang calls himself an idiot. But after this, it isn't really addressed. They go on like nothing happened for the rest of the episode. Aang's lamentation comes from screwing things up with her romantically, not that he violated boundaries)

The show never really addressed why what he did was wrong. Not only because he wasn't given consent, but also because both times he isn't thinking about what Katara wants. In both instances, Aang is only thinking about himself and his feelings. This is something that persists through a lot of the third book. And by Sozin's Comet it ultimately ruins any character development he had built up in the second book.

One thing I feel was completely disregarded was the concept of having to let go of Katara in order to master the Avatar State.

For me, the implication wasn't that he had to give up love or happiness necessarily. He was emotionally attached to and reliant on Katara, to the point where she was needed to stop him from hurting everyone around him and himself. This is obviously detrimental to his functionality as the Avatar. And the point of him "letting her go" wasn't that he had to stop caring about her, it was that his emotional dependency on her was stopping him from being the Avatar he needed to be and that was what needed to be fixed. I don't even think it's about the Avatar State itself, it's about being able to keep your emotions and duty as the Avatar separate.

(If you look at Roku, he loved and had a wife. It wasn't his love for her that messed everything up, it was his attachment to Sozin. He wasn't able to let Sozin go and not only did he lose his life for it, the world suffered for it. It's the unhealthy attachments that seem to be detrimental, not love itself)

And Aang realizes that in the catacombs, which is how he's able to easily enter the Avatar State and seemingly control it. He let Katara go.

So then why does it seem like his attachment to Katara is not only stronger, but worse in mannerism? He liked Katara in Books 1 and 2- obviously- but he was never overly jealous of Jet or Haru. He only makes one harmless comment in Book 2 when Sokka suggests Katara kiss Jet.

But suddenly he's insanely jealous of Zuko (to the point of getting frustrated with Katara over it), off the basis of the actions of actors in a clearly misrepresentative play. Katara showed a lot more interest in Jet and Aang was completely fine with it.

(Speaking of EIP, Aang's reaction to being played by a woman was interesting. He wore a flower crown in The Cave of Two Lovers. He wove Katara a flower necklace. He wore Kyoshi's clothes and makeup and made a funny girl voice. He willingly responded to Twinkle Toes and had no issue being called that. And for some reason he's genuinely upset about being played by a woman? Aang in Books 1 and 2 would have laughed and enjoyed the show like Toph did. His aversion to feminity felt vastly out of character)

I guess my point is, why did that change? Why was Aang letting go of Katara suddenly irrelevant to the Avatar State? It felt like him letting go was supposed to be a major part of his development. Why did that stop?

Myself and many others have talked about The Southern Raiders. The jist of my thought process about it is his assumption that he knew what was best for Katara. And the episode doesn't really call out why he was wrong. Maybe sparing Yon Rha was better for Katara, maybe it wasn't (the only one who's allowed to make that choice is her). Pushing forgiveness? That was wrong. But the episode has Zuko say that Aang was right when the course of action Katara took wasn't what Aang suggested.

Katara's lesson here was that killing him wouldn't bring back her mother or mend the pain she was going through and that Yon Rha wasn't worth the effort. That's what she realizes. Not that she needed to embrace forgiveness. How could she ever forgive that? The episode saying Aang was right wasn't true. Yes she forgives Zuko, but that wasn't what Aang was talking about. He was specifically talking about Yon Rha.

And that was wrong. Aang can choose the path of forgiveness, that's fine. That's his choice. But dismissing Katara's trauma in favor of his morals and upbringing wasn't okay.

I know it sounds like this is just bashing Kataang. But it's not simply because I don't like Kataang, in my opinion it brings down Aang's character too, not just Katara's. But let's steer away from Kataang and Katara for a minute.

The one thing that solidifies Aang's character being ruined in Book 3 for me is the fact that he- at the end of the story- does the same thing he did in the beginning.

He runs away when things get hard.

Aang couldn't make the choice between his duty and his morals. So he ran. Maybe it wasn't intentional, but subconsciously he wanted an out. And this is really disappointing when one of the things he was firm about in Book 2 was not running anymore. His character went backwards here and that's not even getting into the real issue in Sozin's Comet.

There's been contention about the Lion Turtle intervention. For many- including myself- it's very deus ex machina to save Aang from having to make a hard decision. And that in turn doesn't reflect kindly on his character.

Everyone- Sokka, Zuko, Roku, Kyoshi, Kuruk, and Yangchen (who was another Airbender and was raised with the same beliefs he was and would understand which was the whole point of him talking to her)- told him he had to kill Ozai. They all told him it was the only way. And he refused to listen to any of them, rotating through his past lives until he was given the answer he wanted.

And before anyone says that I'm bashing Aang for following his culture, I'm not. Ending the war peacefully, in my opinion, wasn't the problem. In a way, I think it allowed the world to heal properly. However, that doesn't make up for the fact that Aang refused to make a choice and face the consequences of that choice. Instead, he's given an out at the very last second.

Even if he couldn't kill Ozai and someone else had to deliver the final blow, that would have been better than the Lion Turtle showing up and giving him a power no one's ever had before. It would have been a good compromise, he doesn't have to have blood directly on his hands but what needs to be done needs to still get done. It would also show that being the Avatar isn't a burden he has to bear alone. That when things get hard, he can't run away but he can rely on the people closest to him to help him through hard decisions.

All these issues aren't necessarily a problem with Aang. Aang prior to Book 3 didn't have most of these problems. This is a problem with the way he was handled

[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.

[localfanbaselurker]

I’m watching Voltron: Legendary Defender for the first time and here is what I have had to say per each season (this is 1-2) (3-4) (5-6) (7) (8)

Pre-Watch Knowledge

->big transformers type robot

->pretty alien girl that looks like princess yue from A:tLA

->they are the epitome of color-coded characters

->space??

->there was crazy people in the fanbase that sent cupcakes laced with something to the creators

->queer baiting (this one in particular got me)

->klance.

->^honestly I only knew that because people were comparing it to zukka and I wanted to check it out

->my friend really likes it

Post S1 thoughts-

->that cliffhanger was crazy imagine they weren’t renewed for a s2

-> i went on tumblr after and youre telling me they made that show IN TWO YEARS?? EIGHT SEASONS. IN TWO MF YEARS?? that is insane. props to the writers bro they fr must of known what they were doing.

->all of these characters already scream “doomed by the narrative”

->my fav characters are pidge and lance

->I definitely did NOT expect yue Allura to be British

->bonding moment.

->^like yeah okay i get it now

-> the healing pods are a very interesting concept. Like, what if you get some ailment that it doesn’t recognize?? Do you just die??

-> genuinely felt so bad for Not Yue. Allura. Allura when they had to remove her father’s memory thing. Like yeah I know the castle was corrupted or wtv but bro imagine. Your entire race is dead. your mom, who you previously knew alive is now most likely dead. You already had to go through losing your father once, and now you have to lose him again. Any sliver of hope you had of staying connected with him is gone, because the entirety of his essence is now gone. She’s stronger than me, I would have never given him up so easily. I admire that about her.

->I also made the horrible mistake of going on ao3 after

yk for gits and shiggles… and when I go to a new fandom I always search by hits to see the classics first yk

…

WHY are you guys so 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓴𝔂… I genuinely shed a tear what. I was flabbergasted to say the least.

On that note the top 23 were about redguy/blueguy getting smoochy-smoochy with each other so I guess that should be a hint as to what you guys like

->the description of the show says the robot (voltron) is operated by “five teenagers” but that shiro guy has to be AT LEAST 25. He is pushing 30 you can’t convince me otherwise.

->for now it’s kinda giving atla except the war is intergalactic and lasted 10,000 years instead of 100.

->all the other characters seem to have a pretty clear background, but we haven’t yet heard about Keith’s backstory, so I want to know (I know now, this was my initial thought)

->shiros backstory/ptsd is very interesting, lots of angst possibilities i see

-> I had an inkling that pidge was…genderly different. (At first I thought she was transmasc)

Post S2

-> WHERE is my man. Where did he go.

-> Pookie please come back. Now. It’s not a suggestion.

->KEITH BACKSTORY I PREDICTED THEY WERE GONNA SHOW US YAY I LOVE BEING RIGHT

-> he’s galra! Soooo much whump opportunity

-> the whole “Allura doesn’t hate you she’s just a little upset to find out ur part of the race that killed off her entire peoples and family and okay maybe she does hate you” scene with keith and hunk is really giving that scene in atla: the southern raiders where zuko thinks katara hates him and sokka reassures him (badly) while he was just trying to get laid w suki.

->^ that’s gay

-> the aliens they met are going to be very important, aren’t they?

->^ oohhh so this is where the “langst” stuff comes from? he’s just kinda insecure i think, but it can’t possibly just be this episode that has that tag so high, unless flanderization is just really popular with you guys, but already suspect that unfortunately

->^Allura high key ate with this

->the “Blade of Marmora” people are definitely gonna be important later

-> the mall episode was soooo fun! fav s2 episode for sure!

->^gay. It’s literally giving “two bros chillin in a hot tub. five feet apart cus they’re not gay”

-> I know of 2 ships now. klance and allurance. I only see the former though, the latter seems more like a running gag/unrequited crush thing (for now i suppose)

-> Coran is an icon. I love that whimsical man. he’s beekeeping age per say.

-> I need pidge to find her brother and father man I feel so bad for her PLEASE DOBT TELL ME THEYRE DEAD ILL LITERALLY DIE.

-> pidge is sooooo cool i love her so much she’s literally the pookiest of the pookies

-> Who tf is gonna be the black paladin now. Keith sure as hell isn’t ready for that. maybe Allura?? Cus yk she kinda already leads them a little bit

These are thoughts I had compiled over a while now. I am on S5E3 as of now (07/03/24) but I wanted to document my thoughts either way. I will post on the tag “laura’s first vld”

[kacievvbbbb]

I know, especially with how much more proactive he is in the live action, some people think that Iroh was too complicit with Zuko and should have put more effort into pushing Zuko down the right path.

But I don’t know I think the point was that it had to come from Zuko. This great change had to be something that Zuko wanted for himself and not something Iroh pushes him into. It’s why although he tries to distract or dissuade him subtly he’s pretty content to let Zuko do as he feels the need to (except when he’s taking insane actions that would have killed him if he wasn’t too spiteful to die) but yeah there’s no obvious push to get Zuko to believe this or that or even to undo the fire nation conditioning he simply just worries for his safety and honestly with how reckless zuko was probably the safest route without pushing him into full mental breakdown.

It’s not till he’s almost captured and they go on the run do you actually start to see that maybe Iroh has a side in all this and it’s not the fire nation. But even then being on Zuko’s side takes precedent. It’s not until Zuko is on the cusp of real change, he’s right on the precipice does Iroh start to push a little harder but even then it’s focused in Zuko making a decision for his life one that nobody else can make for him. The closest Iroh gets to forcefully pushing Zuko towards any direction is him yelling “It's time for you to look *inward* and begin asking yourself the big questions. Who are you and what do *you* want?”. And then siding with the avatar during the fall of ba sing se.

If Iroh tried to manipulate him, take advantage of this scared angry child to unconsciously steer him towards his own side then he’d be no better than the fire nation, he’s just be another person wrenching control from Zuko life. But instead Iroh offers him that control, let him go out and see what the world is and let the conclusions of whatever he finds be the foundation on which he is rebuilt again and and again. It’s why when he stands infront of Ozai and says “ No, I’ve learned everything! And I’ve had to learn it on my own” we feel that shit. Because yeah he did he struggled and he fought and he learned and damn it all, he is making a choice for himself.

The story works because Iroh isn’t his mentor, he’s his uncle and he loves him enough to push aside his own personal belief to allow Zuko the space to decide who he wants to be, to give him the agency over his own life. That’s why Zuko’s redemption works so well because he’s not forced into it, If he decides to join the avatar to take down the thrown that has been his choice. If he decides to stay with the fire nation be the prince he was born to be….well that had to be his choice as well. Because that’s the crux of this. None of it matters if it isn’t Zuko, with everything that he has learned, making a decision for his own life.

[allgremlinyaps]

hai good friend,, tell me about mai. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of her before… look what we are doing to our beautiful queens 😔

YIPEE I love when me going insane about a character for a day makes you curious about them... especially cus atp I can kind of predict what is going to pique ur interest

ok ok: so, Mai. She's 1/3 of Azula's Evil Girl Group, colloquially known as Ozai's Angels, and thats the context you see her in for most of the show which is why it's important to know. You know how all cartoons in the 2000s HAD to have ONE morose goth chic? Well she is atla's quota. She's a noble, she's an only child (THEE only child. The first only child they made at the only child factory <33), she fights with 🔪KNIVES 🔪!!! she's Zuko's canonical comphet love interest and she has a very understated but underrated arc..

Her role/arc in the show:

I mentioned Ozai's Angels because her interactions with Azula and Ty Lee are the real meat and potatoes of her character. They're like... baby's first toxic yuri love triangle <3333 REALLY can't overstate how toxic yuri love triangle they are. Mai and Ty Lee end up betraying Azula in season 3 which is both the climax (imo) of Mai's arc and the inciting action for Azula's descent (but we're not getting into Azula never ask me to get into Azula please). A lot of people reduce Mai going turncoat to JUST being about saving Zuko - and like partially it IS. She saves Zuko from dying because she loves/cares about him and that's a big part of it.

But it's ALSO about her finding her voice ?? Like throughout the show we NEVER see her voice opinions about something unless it's to say that she's bored, or jaded, or what have you. She never seems to have strong feelings about anything; her stated reasoning for joining Azula's Imperialism Girl Band is because she's bored living with her parents 💀 but it's like. It becomes clear to the audience later in the show that she was raised to never speak unless spoken to, to mask emotions, etc etc LIEKKK SHE'S SOOO REPRESSED ONLY CHILD SHE'S SO WOMAN TM... So her telling Azula "I love Zuko more than I fear you" was THEE cuntiest moment EVER because it's like oh shit ?? this is something pretty unexpected from this character ?? Waow so crazy so cunt ??

A lot of people point out that she and Ty Lee never really got a "ohhhh Imperialism is bad" arc like Zuko did but. imo there wasn't a whole lot of room in the show for it lol. Would have been something interesting to explore in the comics for sure !! but uhmmm I'd rather walk into the ocean than watch Gene Luen Yang try and write about imperialism and colonialism again so maybe its better we never got that.. (no offense to him he's just... not that great at doing it in the atla comics...not his strength..)

Her reception in fandom:

She's usually only ever talked about in the context of being Zuko's love interest (either positively OR negatively) hence my post that you saw. Like. Victim Numero Uno of zutara/kataang shipping wars cus at least a bunch of people LIKE Aang whereas people either ignore or actively dislike her.

There's often discourse about like. Who's the "toxic" one in the Mai/Zuko pairing and it's annoying when she gets flak for it cus like newsflash: they both are. My GOD they both are. They've canonically broken up twice. They're the emo boy/goth girl pairing. They're cute together. They're miserable together. They're both homosexual. You get it.

Also a lot of times people just call her boring or emotionless and it's like congrats !! you have fallen for her facade... in conclusion... sorry this is so long uhm.. your fault for asking me though... how long is it going to take until I've just told you the entire plot of this cartoon piecemeal ask by ask...

[linkspooky]

Hey. Long time follower here. Your metas, your discussions of "bad victims", your nuanced view of heroes and victims, your favoritism towards "losers"...not only did you heavily influence my own writing and my own favorites in different medias (I'm entirely blaming you for me being a Makima stan) but you helped through an extremely dark time in my life. I don't think that you just made me a better writer, you also sort of saved my life. I'll always be grateful for that.

There's something I want to ask. You answered to another ask that you don't regret reading MHA because focusing on what doesn't work about it made your writing stronger. Do you feel the same about Homestuck? Or about the more disappointing parts of Tokyo Ghoul (and, while we're being candid here, Avatar?).

Thank you for your compliments they're very encouraging to read.

At this point this blog is becoming the bad victim lovers support group where we all hug each other and cry over how MHA is treating all of its bad victims.

HOMESTUCK: Honestly, my main problem with Homestuck is that ACT 6 was so long and uneventful full of characters not doing anything that by the end of it the only character I was invested in was Vriska. ACT 6 also did go out of it's way to kill my enthusiasm for everything I liked in ACT 5, especially John Vriska. I've never seen a comic throw out all of its previous development that the audience was invested in and like everything that was foreshadowed - oh wait My Hero Academia. Unfortunately Vriska is an all-time-fave so I still write Homestuck Fanfic about her to this day. I used to like think the finale of Homestuck was one big "meh" but after years to reflect upon it, I do like Vriska's arc ending on a final note of Terezi searching for her in the void, possibly forever, and the ambiguity of whether they'll reunite.

TOKYO GHOUL: I remember being mad about Kaneki getting a happy ending that he didn't earn. Kaneki was a character that really frustrated me for a long time, but I came to realize that if you like remove Kaneki from his group of codependent enablers he's actually a really interesting character when he's alone. So he's a character I love to explore in fic, even if I disliked what they did with him in canon. Also, Tokyo Ghoul killed off its biggest victims Furuta and Rize in a really cruel way, but it didn't kill off every single victim so it just disappoints me instead of making me sick to my stomach like MHA does.

ATLA: I actually think the Avatar the Last Airbender ending is fine. Which like, isn't saying much because I think the Season 1 finale and Season 2 finales are some of the best things ever put to television. The worst sin that the ending does is number one lack of foreshadowing in earlier in the season and number two rushed plot points. Aang not wanting to kill the Fire Lord makes sense. I think the reason a lot of people criticize this and call it an ass pull is that it's not even BROUGHT UP until the finale. Vash the Stampede is pacifist and one of my favorite characters, but it's established from episode 1 that Vash is constantly up against people who want to kill him and he either has to run away or find a way to fight back nonlethally. Azula's insanity and mental instability could have been a thing, but it's not foreshadowed at all so all it ends up doing is conveniently nerf Azula for Zuko, and also being ableist. The worst problem is while there are epic fights it doesn't feel like an ending, because everyone's character arcs are 3/4ths of the way through. ESPECIALLY ZUKO's. Like people say Zuko is acting out of character in the comics, but I think Zuko is the only person in character in the comics because that's how Zuko without a proper end to his character arc would act. It really feels like they had plans for a fourth season that they didn't get, and their solution was to cram an entire season worth of development in everything post the eclipse on season 3. The fact that Azula is left as such a hanging thread is like proof of that, and the fact that Azula's last shot in the series is just her crying and screaming with like no follow up afterwards is something I've been bitter about for fourteen years.

I could write an entire post about how Zuko's redemption arc is unfinished though. It's like the same problem as Catra. I like both characters and I'm glad they got redeemed but they crammed in the entire redemption arc into 1/2 of the last season and that simply wasn't enough time.

[waterfire1848]

For the ship prompts

#7 fake relationship au for tyzula (Ty Lee/Azula)?

Hello, anon!! Thanks for the ask!

Post canon AU

Azula was gonna kill someone. She was actually going to go back to prison, or whatever the hell that asylum was, and she didn’t care. That place had to be better than listening to the oldest council members alive go on and on about wheat distribution.

Don’t get her wrong. Azula knew this was incredibly important. She wasn’t about to say it wasn’t, but it was just so insanely boring. Zuko and her were passing looks to each other, both of them silently begging the other to declare an Agni Kai and get them out of here.

“The final item up for business is Princess Azula’s wedding.” An old man, General Kai, said.

Now that woke her up.

“Wedding?!?” Azula and Zuko yelled.

“Yes. Fire Lord Ozai had it written that if you could not find a potential partner before your eighteenth birthday then I would be in charge of finding you one.” Kai grinned.

Azula wanted to set the man on fire. She and Kai always hated each other because while she preferred to play the long game during battle and believed in putting time and effort into projects, Kai was more of a throw every soldier they had at a problem and see what happens.

The only reason he wasn’t kicked off the council after Zuko came to power was because his wife and Zuko were actually pretty close and she promised him no mutiny would come from her husband. Which was true, Kai never intended to go against Zuko but he did still hate Azula meaning he was definitely enjoying this.

“What? That can’t be a real agreement!” Zuko demanded.

“The Princess signed it herself.” Kai grinned.

“Azula?” Zuko asked.

���I forgot.” She snapped, “Not a lot of time to think about getting married when you’re locking up in a mental institution.” She hissed.

“There’s no issue though because I already have the perfect man lined up for you.” Kai told her, “Commander Aoi.”

“Koh’s Lair, no!” Azula snapped. On top of being one of the most insufferable humans Azula had ever met, and that was saying a lot, Aoi was over ten years older than her. If she remembered correctly, he should be in his early 30s by now. Zuko must have had similar thoughts because he instantly shook his head.

“As Fire Lord, I-“

“Read below, your majesty.” Kai said.

“No future Fire Lord may void this contract. Neither can new laws exacted by the Fire Lord.” Zuko read.

“Ozai is in prison and will die there. His contracts have to be void.” Azula argued.

“Maybe, but you’d have to prove that and you can’t.” Kai smiled, “I’ll send a messenger hawk to Commander Aoi and tell him the-“

“I do have a suitor!” Azula suddenly said.

“What?” Kai asked.

“Yeah. What?” Zuko asked.

“I have a suitor. We just haven’t been public yet.”

“Oh? Who is it?” Kai asked.

“Ty Lee.” The look on Zuko’s face would have made Azula burst out laughing if not for the seriousness of the situation. Kai looked at her in confusion and a bit of anger at the realization that she was about to one up him, “And since I do have a suitor, you can still Commander Aoi that the wedding is off.”

“Your father would have never allowed-“

“Nowhere in that contract does it say my suitor needs to be male. Just that they must be a member of nobility which Ty Lee is and she’s a respected member of the Kyoshi Warriors as well.” Azula’s grin was spread all across her face that she didn’t notice Zuko giving her a concerned look, “Ty Lee is my partner.”

“I think that’s a good place to adjourn the meeting.” Zuko said.

—————————————

“TY LEE?!?” Zuko yelled.

“I didn’t know who else to say!” Azula yelled back, “It’s fine. You’ll find a loophole in the contract or, worst case scenario, Ty Lee and I get married then divorced in which case we’ve fulfilled the contract and nothing more will need to be done.”

“Worst case scenario???? Azula, how do you think Ty Lee will react to this?!?”

“She’ll be shocked, of course, but she’ll understand that this was all to keep me from having to marry Aoi.” The way Azula pronounced his name made it seem like she wanted to vomit, “I’ll tell Ty Lee the news tomorrow morning and inform her of the plan.”

Zuko bit his lip. Yeah. Just a plan. Ty Lee would be just dandy hearing that she was, legally, now dating Azula, practically engaged. Only to also find out that Azula just said her name to get out of marrying a man much older than her, not because she actually liked her. The girl she’d had a crush on since they were kids was now fake dating her but wanted nothing more. Zuko shook his head. This was not going to end well.

————————————

“I’m sorry. We’re what??” Ty Lee asked.

“Dating. About to be married if you want to be specific.” Azula clarified. The way she spoke made it seem like she found nothing unusual or confusing about this.

“Azula, I….I just…how???”

“When I was younger, my father created a contract with me which basically said that if I didn’t have a suitor by the time I was 18 then General Kai could find one for me.” Ty Lee winced at Kai’s name. Even she knew how much the two didn’t like each other, “Kai was about to stick me with some old commander so I told him you and I were dating. It’s only until Zuko finds a way out of this or we just have a quick wedding then get divorced a day later, but that’s only a worst case scenario issue.”

Ty Lee’s jaw had dropped by the time Azula finished her plan which made the firebender uneasy, “Ty, please. We just had to fake a relationship for a few days. Please, I need your help or I’m going to be chained to some 30 something year old man for the rest of my life.”

“Well…wait! You could just marry Aoi then divorce him!” Ty Lee told her.

“Two problems with that. One, the thought of getting married to Aoi for any period of time makes me want to vomit. Two, I can’t. Both of us have to agree to the divorce and Aoi will never divorce me once he’s in line for the throne.” Azula handed the contract to Ty Lee, who quickly scanned it over.

“Azula, why did you ever agree to this?” Ty Lee asked, “You can’t divorce your partner or pick the person for yourself.”

“I had a lot of parental issues when I was younger, okay?!”

“Daddy issues.” Ty Lee smirked. Azula’s face turned red, but Ty Lee spoke up again, “If I’m going through all this then I get to call it what it is.”

“So, you’ll help?”

“Of course I’ll help.” Azula visibly deflated as if, for the first time in days, she felt some kind of relieve.

“Thank you, Ty.”

“But!” Azula’s face fell, “To sell this we need to act the part as well.”

“Right.” Azula nodded. This was a pretty basic fact. Of course they’d need to act like a couple now.

“Which means more than just some kissing and holding hands. We need to have a date where everyone can see us.” Ty Lee told her.

Now it was Azula’s turn to drop her jaw, “A date?” She asked.

“Yes.”

“And…what if one of us has never been on a date?” Azula asked, getting Ty Lee’s full attention now. The acrobat gave her friend, now fake almost wife, a kind smile. She had forgotten how uncomfortable Azula was with this kind of stuff. When Azula first returned from the mental institution, Ty Lee tried to help her meet people but the Princess wanted nothing to do with it. Only Ty Lee noticed that Azula did, in secret, try to meet people but it was difficult with her life and past actions. The most she’d ever done was a few kisses at some parties Ty Lee took her to but never a date.

“I’m thinking a calm dinner in the palace where the servants can see us and then we let them gossip. No one around but us.“ Okay. That came out way more romantic than she has anticipated but it did seem to calm Azula down a bit.

“That sounds good. Does a date mean…”

“No. You don’t have to wear a dress.” Ty Lee confirmed, laughing at her best friend’s hatred of the clothing.

“Thank the spirits. I’ll get something set up with the cooks for tonight.” Azula told her, “Thank you so much for this. I promise you’ll only have to pretend to date me for a few days.” Ty Lee waited until Azula was out the door to look down at the ground.

“Lucky me.” Her voice trembled with sadness.

—————————————

That night, Ty Lee got her best clothes from her house and made sure to walk all around the palace so everyone could see her. She kept making up excuses to go everywhere so all the servants could see her walking around. Finally, she arrived in the dining room to find Azula at the table. She had her hair down and was wearing the best robes she had. When Ty Lee looked closer she realized the fabric was made with spider-snake silk: the most expensive in the world.

“Wow.” Ty Lee whispered, “You look beautiful.”

“As do you.” Azula smiled.

“What’s on the menu today?” The acrobat asked.

“Pig-cow, rice, and egg custard.” Azula told her.

“Ohhhh. I love egg custard!” Ty Lee happily took some from the center of the table and put it on her plate, biting into it as quickly as she could, “Mmmm.”

“Glad it lived up to your expectations. I remember you telling me a few years ago that it was your favorite. I thought making it was the least I could do.”

“You made it?” Ty Lee asked.

“Okay. I, personally, didn’t make it but the chefs did and I’m the one who told them to.” Azula argued, “Same thing.”

“I’d argue that. It felt very different when we were doing wilderness training and I did the cooking while you told me what to make.” Ty Lee chuckled at the memory of the three of them in their tent, all yelling at each other as they tried to make the fish they caught edible.

“If I recall that correctly, I helped by catching the fish.”

“You almost burned them alive so they swam away then Mai hit them with her knife.”

“Exactly. It’s teamwork.” Azula grinned, bitting into her pig-cow, “I must say though that this pig-cow is better than you’re burning salmon-cod.”

“It was burning because you’re a firebender who controls all the flames in a room.”

“So first cooking was all you and now I’m responsible for the burned fish. Make up your mind.” Azula took a sip of her drink while Ty Lee looked at her with a raised eyebrow:

“I have made up my mind. I blame you.”

“Ha-Ha.”

A few minutes of silence filled the room until Ty Lee couldn’t hold it in any longer and spoke up, “Why did you say my name?”

“What?”

“My name. When you were thinking of a name to give to General Kai, why did you say my name? When you were thinking of potential people who you’d rather date than Aoi, why’d you say my name?” Ty Lee asked.

Azula looked down at her plate, clearly taking a few vital moments to think, “You were simply the first name to come up.” She lied.

“Azula-“

“It’s nothing more, Ty. You were the first name I thought of, but that doesn’t mean anything.”

“It doesn’t?” She asked.

Azula’s gaze wasn’t angry or confused when she uttered, “Do you want it to?” She actually looked a little hopeful.

“I…I think I do.” Ty Lee admitted. Spirits, her stomach was doing flip and every second that Azula wasn’t speaking felt like 100 years of waiting.

“I think I said your name first because thinking of potential partners made me think of someone who I’d want to be with, who I’d want to spend my days talking to, who I’d be fine with seeing every day and would accept me for everything I’ve done and was. Can I be honest?” Azula asked.

Ty Lee nodded, “Your name wasn’t the first to come up. It was the only one I could think of.” The acrobat’s eyes grew, “Ty, you don’t have to-“

“How would you feel if we turned this fake relationship into a real one?” Ty Lee asked.

Azula beamed at her long time friend, now girlfriend, “I’d love that.”

[kazperthegh0st]

Hi. Im writing my fanfiction on here because writing a oneshot takes more than a month and i dont want to open google docs. (Will be on Ao3 when complete).

Summary: Sokka/Zuko where they want to go on a nice, relaxing vacation but Azula just got out of the mental hospital (again) and Zuko cant leave her by herself so Katara is paid to babysit her. (Modern Setting AU). Azula/Katara.

Ill reblog with updates as time goes on.

Actual fanfic begins here:

Zuko has no idea where Azula got the baseball bat. Thats his first concern. The second is this: What the hell happened to her hair?

“Hello, Zuzu,”she greeted. Then she pushed past him.

She showed up at his door at 4 in the morning with a red duffel bag over her shoulder and a black metal baseball bat with lightning decals in her left hand.

Her hair was pulled up into a messy bun. But her bangs. They were completely crooked and angled and an utter mess.

She had bright red headphones around her neck and Zuko could her some shitty metal music playing.

And all Zuko could think was what the fuck.

Azula collapsed onto his couch, dropping her belongings on the coffee table, propping her feet up on the armrest, and securing her headphones over her ears. She closed her eyes.

Zuko closed the door and took a deep breath.

“Hello, Azula. Why are you here? In my house. With me. Instead of… an insane asylum,” he questioned.

She didn’t respond, only nodded her head to the music filling her ears.

He poked her.

Her eyes opened and she glared at him.

“‘Relaxation is the key to a swift recovery’, Zuzu” she told him. He hated that she was quoting Iroh.

She removed her headphones.

“Do you need something?” She questioned.

“Why are you in my apartment, Azula?”

“Did you think i was going to sleep under a bridge like a homeless person? How pathetic do you think i am?” She rolled her eyes.

“Why aren’t you with Mai? Or Iroh? Or Ty lee, even?”

“Mai kicked me out. Ty lee wouldn’t answer her phone—probably on some stupid anti technology shtick because its ‘aura is off’. And Iroh gave me your address and said i was your problem until he got back from Japan. ‘Familial bonding or whatever’.”

“Iroh sent you?” Zuko felt betrayed.

“Yes, Zuzu.”

“Hes not coming back for another month.”

“Guess im your problem for another month, then”

“I have plans, college, a life, Azula! I cant have you living here! Im leaving for my own vacation in a week!”

“You dont want me in your life, Zuzu? Thats cruel. I thought you were the good sibling. Guess I was wrong for once.”

Zuko stalked off into his kitchen. His house was being corrupted by his evil sister because he couldn’t find it in himself to throw her out.

He couldn’t take it out on Iroh. His uncle worked so hard and needed this break.

He couldn’t take it out on his dad. That evil man was in a prison cell on the other side of the country.

He couldn’t take it out on Azula. It wasn’t really her fault she was the way she was. It was their dad’s fault for traumatizing his kids.

Azula was just as much of a victim as he was.

More will be added later and will eventually end up on Ao3.

[mysticwolfshadows]

Taken - Zutara - Part 33

First / Previous / Next / Masterpost

When they get to the arena, Toph and Aang are dangling in the air in metal cages.

And then Lord Beifong, the bastard, tried to take Toph and leave Aang too be handed over to the Fire Nation. When the Beifong's were walking past her, Katara tapped her foot, making Toph pause.

"It's your choice," Katara said. "But we could use the help."

Toph's father scoffed. "My daughter is blind. She is blind and tiny and-"

"I'll help," Toph said, pulling away from her father.

They joined the fray, despite Toph's father shouting at them. Toph takes over, telling Sokka and Zukoo to go help Aang instead. Katara smiled, knowing this girl could take care of a few lesser benders. She joined the boys at the cage, nodding to Zuko as she pulled water from her pouch.

"Heat the lock," Katara said.

Zuko nodded, trusting her judgment, and grabbed the lock in both hands, heating it until it was red hot. Quick as a whip, Katara doused it in water, freezing it all at once. There was a crack, and the lock came loose with a tug. Aang crawled out, staring at Toph.

"Wow," he said, blinking. "She's so good. Am I really gonna learn from her?"

"Maybe," Katara said, as Toph finished up. "That's up to her..."

Back at the Beifong estate, Katara stands with the others as Toph confronts her parents. She listens as Toph confesses her feelings, her desire to fight, and genuine love for it. She confeses never having a real friend, but feeling like she has the chance to now.

Katara was so proud of her, only, Toph's father is an absolute ass.

"I've let you had far too much freedom," the man has the gaul to say. "From now on you'll be cared for and guarded twenty-four hours a day."

"But dad!" Toph cries, then turns her head. "Katara-"

"They have no say here," Lao said, scowling at them. "This is for your own good."

But it wasn't Katara that spoke up. It was Zuko, his hands clenched, that stepped forward.

"No," Zuko snapped. "You're doing this for you. Your insane desire for control. You'd rather destroy your daughter than release any of your control over her."

"You don't know what you're talking about, boy!" Turning Lao shouted. "Guards! Escort the Avatar and his friends out. They are no longer welcome here."

As the guards stepped forward, Zuko turned, sweeping a foot out, shooting flames at the approaching enemy. The guards stumbled, and Katara got into her own fighting stance, ready to defend.

"Firebender!" Poppy gasped, shrinking away.

"I am Prince Zuko, son of Ursa and Fire Lord Ozai." He turned back to the Beifong's, smoke rising from his fista as he glared. "And I speak from experience when I say you will break your daughter one day. And when you do, it'll be something you can't take back."

"Get out," Lao tries, even as his voice shakes. "Get out of my house."

"We'll leave in peace," Aang cuts in, his staff pointed towards one man. "Toph?"

"My daughter-!"

"Has the right to choose," Katara said, reaching with one hand to touch the earthbenders shoulder. "Toph, if you want to leave, we won't let them stop you, even if you don't come with us."

For a moment, Toph just stared in the direction of the floor. Then, she nodded. "I'll join you," she said, ignoring her parents cries. "I'll teach the Avatar."

Her father was shouting, and the room was thrown into chaos. They took off, fighting their way out, climbing quickly onto Appa and flying off.

"This is gonna come back to bite us, isn't it?" Sokka asked, peering over the saddle as the Beifong Estate grew smaller and smaller.

"Probably," Zuko sighed. "I shouldn't have done that."

Katara shook her head. "Toph deserved to make her own choice. Right, Toph?"

She turned, finding the younger girl clinging to the saddle. She was looking kind of green. "I think I'm gonna hurl!"

"Over the side!" Sokka shrieked. "Over the side! Not in the saddle!"

First / Previous / Next / Masterpost

[demaparbat-hp]

Hey, follow up on the Dandadan ask, with some of the character suggestions.

I am not sure if you want a suggestion based on the role the character had in the story or based on their personality. I will assume is by the personality first.

I think Toph would work well as Unji Suma.

Sokka would be Kinta. Both are nerds who like machines, make bad jokes, and try to be a lady's man and fail.

I was thinking Mai could be Kouki Yukishiro. She has a similar vibe and indifference to attacking people with sharp objects.

You could make Suki Rin Sawaki, and have her Guardian Spirit be Kyoshi?

Azula as Aira is really interesting! And you could still have the "crush" situation, but have her crush on Aang? ? ?

I was also thinking that Aang could fit Vamora, as they have similar backgrounds, but his personality and power is just Jiji. Look at that Face!

Maybe have Yue be Vamora? But invert Yue's situation. Instead of her turning into the Moon, she is the Moon who turned into a human.

At first, I was thinking of having Suko be possessed by the Blue Spirit like you mentioned, but turn Hama into a Yokai that cursed Katara, giving her blood bending. Then have Hama become Turbo Granny, stuck on a plastic statue.

But Having Hama and Iroh become the stand-in for Seiko is interesting. Are you also having the "Too young and pretty to be your gramps"?

But yeah, the story does not need to have 1:1 roles with the cast, some can still be themselves.

But I do think Koh would be great as Count Saint Germain.

I loved all of this! You make some really, really good points here, and it's great to see things from a different perspective.

I've been working on matching characters through their roles rather than personalities, though it's always great to take it into account as well. Character dynamics make for very interesting matches!

When I thought of Mai as Rin Sawaki I was about twenty or so issues away from finishing the Manga, so I hadn't gotten to Kouki's backstory yet. Once I did, however, I found myself agreeing wholeheartedly with you—Mai and Kouki are a match made in heaven.

I have quite a few plans for my girl, including an earlier introduction, some initial antagonistic/chaotic neutral energy, and her connection to a particular spirit.

Mai, after all, is linked with Koh.

But more on that later.

Sokka would be a great Kinta! He's there from pretty much the start of the story, obviously. He's Katara's genius, if quite dumb at times, older brother. He's a skeptic through and through, which is kind of funny once you learn that he's spent years obsessing over a mythical library said to have been built by a spirit of knowledge.

Sokka does field research sometimes, going on long excursions he's sure will bring him to the remains of the library.

Wonder how that'll work out for him.

Toph is Unji Zuma. No questions asked. In any other AU, that would be Zuko's role. But he's already busy running around as Okarun, so Zuma's spot is open, and Toph is willing to take it.

(I love Zuma, alright? He deserves the very best and Toph is it. I still need to figure out how to make that particular match work, but Agni strike me where I stand if I don't.)

Suki as Rin is something I didn't see coming! It's a really interesting idea, though. Perhaps, much like Rin, Suki has been watching the Gaang's movements for a while, quite suspicious yet well-intentioned. That sort of angle could work, if given more thought.

Also yes! Azula's crush was always meant to be Aang! I love Aira and Jiji's dynamic in canon, even if I don't particularly push for a romantic relationship for them. They're so precious. And there's something very sweet and funny about collected and antagonistic Azula having a crush on silly ol' Aang.

Now.

The bit I've been waiting for.

Yue.

I. LOVE. THAT. SO. MUCH.

The Moon spirit taking human form because #reasons and then befriending this insane Found Family in hopes of remembering/finding out what it's like to be human? That's such a gutpunch and I'm in love with it. Yue as Vamola is something I'm not sure I could've ever thought of, but it's canon from now on. No questions asked. Canon.

Oh! Hama and Iroh!

Splitting Seiko's role was such a wild and fun choice that I'd love to delve on later. Most of my inspiration for Zuko and Iroh's initial dynamic draws from Momo and Seiko's own relationship in canon. Iroh is one of, if not the most spiritually enlightened characters in ATLA, so he was obviously going to be a very important player in this AU.

And it's also fun because, instead of "She's too young and pretty to be your grandmother!" we get "But he's so nice and funny! Are you sure you two are related?" And I find that hilarious.

As for Count Saint Germain...

Stealing energy and abilities from others is the Avatar's thing here. But manipulation and the eternal search for power using whatever means are necessary... Sounds like someone else, doesn't it?

[discordiansamba]

another boiling rock au idea is an au where instead of being banished, ozai sends zuko to the boiling rock after his agni kai and claims the prince died in the night due to an infection. by the time zuko's aware of what's going on around him, he's already confined to a cell at the boiling rock. his father doesn't want him. he's a shame to his nation. he doesn't think he can get any lower.

or: zuko grows up at the boiling rock.

very few people there even know that he's the former crown prince, but what they do see is a thirteen year old kid with half his head swathed in bandages, his hair freshly shorn, who has been thrown into the highest security prison in the fire nation. which is pretty fucked up!! zuko goes from pampered prince fed only propaganda all his life, to being surrounded by war prisoners and other assorted political prisoners- as well as just your run of the mill convicts.

it's an eye-opening experience, to say the least!

(zuko's escape attempts are like, a once every two month occurrence. none of them ever work, but he's gotten father than anyone else ever has. this is because no one else is as insane as the kid who was basically raised for part of his life here.)

years later, when the war is over and iroh is sitting on the fire lord's throne, he begins the long process of freeing the countless prisoners of war that the fire nation has imprisoned- as well as the political prisoners. it's a long process- and he decides to begin with the boiling rock, where he knows the chief of the southern water tribe was sent after the failed invasion.

there's no records of zuko at the boiling rock, of course.

or: iroh finds out that his nephew isn't dead. he's been at the boiling rock this entire time. suddenly the fire nation has an heir apparent.

(zuko returns to the caldera for the first time in years, very much not the same person he was when he left- and is unsure how much he can actually trust his uncle.)

[empressgeekt]

Fic Series Idea - "There is no Escape Once Cradled in the Bat's Cape" Saga, or Gotham had just as much as an adoption problem as their champion.

Buckle up people this is going to be a long one...

Okay, So I've been looking in to Batman crossovers, and I've noticed that there is a large majority of MLB, DP, and Spider-Man ofr the crossovers. However, I have also found a very small percentage of cross-dimensional adoption fics, with Zuko from ATLA and Keith VLD, two dark angsty boys who definitely need the love of the batfam.

So, I'm planning out a multipart (At least on AO3) Saga, where, we can watch Zuko Keith, And Jet from ATLA get sucked up by Gotham, whom is a manifestation of darkness, insanity, and empathy and stands as the spirit in control of the land that both Gotham and Buldhaven would be eventually be built (much like Agni is for the fire nation).

1) The first installment would be Zuko's origin in the Batfamily.

After Agni can't stand to watch the soft hearted price suffer through his fate again, the deity of the sun calls a meeting with Gotham, begging sanctuary for the boy. After some rather harsh words, Gotham agrees, and swipes up Zuko right out of the Royal infirmary, mere hours after the Agni Kai. All While Iroh watches in horror. Left in the Prince's place is a single scroll, written in the language of spirits, the only part that Iroh can understand, is that in order to find his nephew he had to restore the honor to his nation and aid in the champion of the four nations, for that is a the only way that Iroh will ever find Zuko again. So, Iroh starts his quest for the Avatar.

On Zuko's end, Gotham dropped the prince in an alleyway, and lured a Robin!Jason to his location. Upon discovering a child laying in a dumpster with half of his face charred black, Jason phones Bruce and Zuko is taken to the Batcave. Even though the young prince is underneath the care of the incredibly skilled and patient Doc. Tompkins, Zuko quickly falls victim to infection, and his condition is touch and go for days. Bruce would go through all the identifying tests he can think of, but none of them even give a name to the dying kid in a quest room upstairs. The batman is honestly at a loss of what to do with the child. He can find no living family, no ID, no documents, no name. There's no where he can send the child, The foster system is out of the question, even if Zuko survives, he's be horribly scarred and likely disabled, not to mention even at 12 he'd be too old to good chances of getting adopted. All signs point to Bruce most likely becoming a father of three. Jason is fine with the idea of Zuko Staying. He's 15 at this point, old enough to be a good big brother.

Though things become a whole lot more complicated when Zuko is conscious enough to start talking...And he can't understand a lick of English...Our dramatic sparky boy, wakes up to an unknown world, in a utterly luxurious house, with people who are too pale to be water-tribe but have blue eyes, and wear weird robes. Zuko figures he was banished to this place, but he doesn't know what for, or what he can do to regain his honor, and these people are being so nice and gentle with him. Cue, confusion and panic.

Jason starts teaching Zuko English once he's conscious enough. The two grow closer, even if Zuko only grows more confused by learning. Once his bandages are removed, poor little prince ends up having a break down after seeing his reflection, one that Bruce walks in on. Que Overprotective BatDad, learning from a Zuko with Broken English skills, what, or who, gave the boy his scar. And yep, This kid was Bruce's now.

Zuko continues to heal, and eventually the holidays roll by. With the holidays came Dick Grayson, whom while still a hothead is trying to make a truce with Bruce for the sake of Jason, well, lets just say someone for got to tell him about the 12-year-old now living with them. Dick's temper gets the better of him and Zuko Get's spoked accidentally firebending at the Original robin. No one was hurt but Zuko still ran off, disappearing into the labyrinth of the manor. This situation is eventually resolved, and Zuko learns about the Batman, as Bruce offers to ask around the super community, and still very young Justice League, if there are other pyropaths who can help Zuko with learning control. Zuko doesn't want to at the moment as He's still getting used to everything else.

Eventually, Bruce makes Zuko his foster kid and with the help of the faked paper trail, gets him in school. He does well in math, as it is a universal (mulitversal lol) language, but Struggles with the other subjects, due to the language barrier and the fact that he's only ever had private tutors before. Everything is going well...

Then April rolls around. Jason and Bruce's relationship becomes strained, and eventually Jason learns about Shelia haywood, and goes looking for her. Jason says goodbye to Zuko before he leaves, and that he'll be bring a mom for them when he comes back. But everyone knows what happened. And instead of his brother Zuko gets a coffin. (sorry)

Months pass. Bruce trains Zuko, Just to make sure that his current youngest can protect himself, as Zuko refuses to put on the robin costume. Dick ends up spending more time at the manor, really trying to mend bridges after the tragedy. They live in this odd fog of grief, until one tiny Timothy Drake breaks into batcave with a resume and powerpoint explaining the need for a robin and offering himself to the position. Dick and Bruce pretty much go, "We can't just ignore this." because this kid is clearly being neglected. Tim is trained for Robin, wanting to follow in his hero's footsteps, and Zuko eventually decides to dawn his own cowl, as the Blue Spirit, because he can't let another Robin Die. that's where the first book ends.

2) second's installment is Keith's origin story.

Gotham after Zuko, starts to keep an eye out for souls they believe would thrive underneath their champion's care, even in worlds beyond their own. Gotham comes across one Keith Kogane, and right before Keith rams his fighter into the force shield at the end of season four, it isn't Lotor that comes to his rescue. Instead Gotham plucks the boy right out of the pilot seat and the pod still goes flying into the shield.

Keith is dumbed into an abandoned building, right in front of one on the run Cassandra Cain. Our angry little halfbred cupcake, has no idea, why a smoky person named Gotham has saved his life, or how they teleported him back to earth, but once he learns that this silent yet super sweet girl is being hunted by assassins, but he's not going to leave her alone. Besides she had seen him in his Blade uniform, and something is off with him. His fingers and jaw began to itch and ache, the odd vocal ticks he used to have as a kid come back with a vengeance, and his eyes water at night and whenever he looks at a light.

The two teenagers continue to travel, keeping out of sight from assassins and bonding. Keith for once has to be the talking one in a conversation, and Cass can obviously keep a secret, so keith doesn't hide anything from her. Besides once his teeth fall out and fangs grow in their place, his fingers bleed from growing a second set of retractable claws, and he gains a third eye lid, he can't really hide his mixed blood. Keith, talks, and starts to teach Cass how to read once he realized that she couldn't.

Eventually Keith learns about the city of Gotham, and feels a pull to go there. Once they are on route to the city the assassins, and stalkers get more and more intense, almost like they didn't want Keith and Cass to go there. This just makes Keith more determined. As the people after them won't want to follow them anymore if they were inside to Gotham territory. Sadly keith was wrong, the Assassins did follow them into the city, but now they were there to kill no capture, during the attack Batman, Robin and Blue Spirit show up.

At the end of the Keith finally has the pent up breakdown that has been right at his heels since the start of the story. Shouting about how his life doesn't make sense anymore, every since that smoky Gotham person snatched him, and Zuko goes, "you met Gotham?"

In the end, Bruce takes in both Keith and Cass, because both are sad traumatizes dark haired orphan even if both are legal adults his CAD (Compulsive Adoption Disorder) demands he keeps them, and while they don't know the motives of this Gotham Spirit, they create the code "Rapunzel". If any member of the family calls that code, it means that Gotham had dropped off another soul. Keith and Cass, become vigilantes. Cass is Black Bat, and with some modifications to his blade suit, Keith becomes Blade Bat.

3) Third installment! Jet's inclusion!

This one opens with Gotham watching over Jet while he dies from internal bleeding, and then the dark spirit vanishes away to make a deal with a certain other spirit...

Next thing Jet knows he's waking up in a Lazarus Pit. A woman with long dark hair and bright otherworldly green eyes, or as we know Talia Al Gaul, is pulling him out of it. She claims Jet as her own, even if Jet can't understand a word of what she is saying or what is happening.

Jason is also confused as to where Talia has found this frizzy-haired kid or why they were put in the pit or why Talia was training them with him. Once more Jason starts to teach a younger teen to speak in English, while Talia teaches, Jet Arabic and League speak. Jet struggles with Pit Rage, its even worse for him then with Jason. Mostly because Jet is much more frustrated with his situation. The sixteen-year-old wants to go home, he wants his troupe, the family he made after tragedy, he doesn't want to be here in this place, with a creepy woman who told him to all her mother, and a bunch of guys with way too many swords.

Jason is usually the one who has to deal with Jet's Rage, as Talia made them share a bedroom, and his big-brother instincts are slowly kicking in having been long dormant, it doesn't help that Jet is the age that Zuko would be if Jason had stayed at the manor. However, just as Jason is starting to connect with Jet, things go horribly wrong.

And here is where I'm going to take very heavy inspiration from the fic, "Jason and the Three Terrors", by, Cdephiki. I highly recommend this piece.

Talia runs into the boys' room in the middle of the night, waking them and telling them to pack. Ra's is getting to close to her plans and she doesn't want him to interfere with her children any longer. So, she gathers up Jason, Jet, Damian, Mara, and Athanasia and they flee into the mountains. Sadly though, Deathstroke catches up with them, and Talia is killed, leaving the Children to escape on their own. Jason and Jet have to navigate caring for three young children while running across Europe and Asia, meeting check point Talia had set up to help them disappear. At one of them Talia has left the Red Hood gear and helmet, and a nameless suit for Jet.

Eventually the League catches up with them, and they are forced to return to Gotham, (and on the plane ride, Jet learns that he gets Air-sick). Jason manages to get them a small apartment in Crime Alley, and they set up. He isn't comfortable with bring in the children into Bruce's care with the Joker still Alive, and Red Hood protector of Crime Alley is born, only this time he has a partner. His own dark reflection of Robin. Jet becomes White Hawk. The children are safe, Jason is cleaning up his home, Jet is more and more stable by the day. Things are good.

Until Ra's makes a reappearance. Assassins raids their apartment, and Jason and Jet are forces to run with the children in tow. Batman, Nightwing, robin (tim), Black Bat, Blade Bat, Spoiler and Blue Spirit intervene, thinking that Jet and Jason are kidnapping their own siblings. They get into a small scuffle, Until Ra's himself makes and appearance, with a bout a team of twenty assassins behind him. Once learning that Ra's wants the children and their connection to himself, Bruce completely forgets any ill will with Hood and Hawk and fights beside them in the presedeing brawl between the Assassins and bats.

Jason is run through during the chaos, and the bats retreat to the cave. for treatment. Bruce doesn't think twice about taking five children in at once, and he isn't about to be a deadbeat to his two bio children. Sure, Ra's will still be trying to hunt them down, but the Assassin's were beaten back for now. All is well..

Until Zuko takes his mask off...and Jet sees his golden eyes...

PTSD and Pit go into over drive and suddenly Zuko trying to die at the hands of Jet's blade. Keith, Bruce, Cass, Dick, and Tim, all jump into action holding Jet back. All of the younger kids are confused and on edge. The situation gets so bad that Bruce has to put Jet in a separate room, to keep the kids from killing each other, and to allow Thompkins to do her work and Save Jason.

Jason is stabilized (still knocked out), and Bruce takes control of the situation. He talks to the younger children first, getting their names and ensuring them that they'll be safe here. Alfred would make rooms for them, but everyone just wants to be by Jason's beside at the moment. Zuko approaches Bruce before, he leaves to speak with Jet, explaining what happened behind the attack. Zuko learned because Jet had slipped into Earth Kingdom Language during the attack, and Zuko recognized it, and all that Jet rambled about. Bruce reassures Zuko that he isn't at fault for Jet's trauma; he would've been a child during it after all. Then goes to speak to know a not Pit flooded, but still pissed off Jet.

They have a very informative discussion regarding, the differences between, vengeance and Justice, and Jet is of course emotionally adopted.

Later after Bruce, Dick, Zuko, and Jason reconcile and reunite. Zuko seeks out Jet, and apologizes for the fire nation's actions. There's little Zuko can do and what he has done isn't much, but he wants peace in his home, and him and Jet fighting would stop that. Jet Agrees to be civil, but they would never be family. Zuko is fine with that.

The next will either be the fourth or fifth installment, because I might do a self-indulgent, Jason/OFC fic in between these, but that remains to be seen....

4) Fourth/fifth Installment - Thomas Wayne, Flashpoint Batman

Gotham is watching one of the flashpoint time lines, watching crumble and shatter. For while Thomas was a good substitute, he would never achieve the full potential of the proper champion, forming an unstable reality. Only this time they don't allow Thomas (and maybe Martha I'm still 50/50 on whether she survives) to perish with in his reality. Gotham offers a second chance at family, or Thomas can go the way of his dopplegangers.

I think we all know which choice he takes...

There's nothing that groundbreaking that happens in this installment, just Thomas reconnecting with Alfred and Bruce, meeting the children and bruce's fiance (I ship BatCat and the relationship will be subtly developed on the side of the series). Thomas hangs up the cowl and works a more support team roll in the family, Tompkins isn't always available after all, and someone has to help Alfred watch the little ones who are either benched, injured, or not patrol ready.

5) Fifth/Sixth installment - Batman Beyond

Yep Terry is getting on this crazy train-wreck of the family, not just him though...Dana, Max, and Matt get swooped up too.

Once more Gotham is watching as a Beyond timeline is slowly breaking apart. The city is crumbling from non-stop earth quakes, satellites are zapping everything and Terry barely has had the time to rescue his loved ones from the chaos. Max was ready to go when he came for her. Dana needed more convincing, and Terry had to take his mask off to get her to come with him. Matt and Ms. Mcginnis....Terry only managed to get Matt out of the house, before the place went up in smoke.

The cave was the only place he could take them, but the batmoblie is shot out of the sky, just as they enter Wayne property. Terry yells at everyone to run into the manor, telling them to get to the cave through the clock, before confronting the one that shot them down. Blight (I think that's Powers' name), whom is supposed to be dead (fic taking place like mid season three) leaps out and he and Terry clash. During the fight, Terry's cowl get pulled down, and his suit is punctured. Blight eventually gets the upper hand to terry having already been injured in the crash, pick the teenager up by his neck and flinging him across the battlefield. Gotham steps in by this point, killing Blight by devoring him slowly with a swarm of supernatural bats. Terry makes a break for it running inside the manor.

Inside Old Man Wayne, explains what's happening, the timeline is breaking down, and there isn't anything the can to to stop it. Gotham appears in the cave, and Wayne recognizes them. He asks Gotham to spare the children, Gotham agrees after all Wayne has served as her faithful champion for decades, its time they pay him back. Terry tries to argue that he should saved too. Wayne disagrees, saying that he has sins to pay for and he doesn't have long anyway. After a farewell, Gotham, takes Terry, Max, Matt, Dana, and Ace, whirling them away to another more stable dimension.

The group lands in crime ally, in an ally (heh). It's late at night, and cold out. Terry barely makes it a few steps before the adrenaline wares off, and he collapses. Dana stays with him, while Max, Matt, and Ace go looking for help. Long story, short, they get jumped, but Red Hood and White Hawk don't allow kids to get hurt in their ally. Max sees the bat on Hood's uniform, and asks if he knows batman. Hood said he's bat adjacent. And Max grabs his arm and starts to drag him to where Terry and Dana are. Hood is so confused by this action he just freezes, but he's running full speed once he hears Matt say his brother's hurt.

They pretty quickly deduce that Terry's outfit is not a costume, and they call a code Rapunzel. Bruce rushes over to the scene, and after determining that Terry is stable. Takes, them back to the cave (Red Hood and White Hawk riding behind them on Hood's cycle). Bruce gets the run-down of what happened from Terry, during the ride, though Bruce does try to tell him it can weight until after he's seen a doc. Kid doesn't listen, only continues to talk until he's hit with a wave of nausea.

Once at the cave, Terry is handed off to Thomas, and Bruce takes care of the minor cuts and bruises the others have. Max takes up the role of explaining everything, as she was closest to the batman beyond team, other then terry...Then Thomas comes running out ordering everyone to take a decontamination shower. Jet and Jason take Matt while Cass (who was in the cave) took the girls into the respective locker rooms. Thomas diagnoses Terry with acute radiation sickness.

The rest of this fic would be terry slowly recovering and the others adjusting. Matt would be coming to terms with his mother's death, and getting close to his new siblings, especially Damian, Athansia, and Mara as they are the closest in age. Max meets Oracle, begins to train underneath her. Dana, feels out of control and after talking with Selina agrees to get training so she can protect herself. It would end, with the whole family playing rooftop tag on Terry's first patrol.

The next two installments

they would pretty much be follow ups to Zuko/Keiths realities and how they plan on getting their angsty boys back.

Iroh, would get Aang to translate the scroll that Gotham left behind, and a very reluctant John Constantine, sends the Gaang to Gotham.

On Keith's side, Lance and Matt are really ticked off by Shiro (kuron) behavior, and this leads to them digging to find out what is really going on. Red contacts lance through his dreams and tells him that Keith is still alive, and Black is waiting for him. This only furthers Lance and Matt to push forward, Krolia joins them after learning about the name of the former Red Paladin and leaves her mission to go find her son. Eventually they get the real Shiro back, and all he wants to see Keith. The search continues....

Well that's all the planning I have. I did play around with the Idea of Mirabel from Encanto getting picked by Gotham but I'm not sure if it would work. What do you think? is this a good idea to dive deeper into.

[marinette-buginette]

Do you think that Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee can reconcile and become friends again?

First thing first anon, I'm sorry for taking so long to answer, I just needed to sit down to write all of this down and yes, I know it took so long we are in 2025 now, I am sorry.

TLDR: It depends

Now for the actual analysis aka my word vomit, under the cut

No, really, it depends. Are we only taking the end of the show as canon? Do we consider any of the comics canon? Only part of them? Was Azula institutionalized? Did she escape? Did she open her super secret daycare in Smoke and Shadow which included Mai’s brother? Do we entirely ignore the comics and assume she was imprisoned? Did she run away? Is she actively working against the post-canon Fire Nation leadership? Is she just chilling somewhere under a fake identity having decided to say fuck all that?

Cause all of that affects the way in which Azula could interact with Mai or Ty Lee, their reasons for interacting, the state of mind they are in etc. There is a whole deep blue sea of options to explore here. 

Now if we attempt to remove all of that somehow and try to get to the barebones of it all, I’ll discuss first one very important contextual thing about (my interpretation of) Azula and then a look at her separate relationship with Mai and Ty Lee (cause they are two distinct dynamics).

Azula, loyalty and duty

In my reading, Azula is a character who highly values loyalty, in the sense that she both offers it and expects it. And when Azula is loyal to someone/something she truly gives everything she has. Those two things are usually her father and the Fire Nation. There are multiple instances where this is very clear. I’ll discuss one that I don’t really see mentioned a lot.

Azula, the current heir to the throne (Ozai had no clue she was bringing Zuko along), who is a prodigy firebender and generally liked and respected by the high-ranking people of the Fire Nation (”Everyone loves Azula”), following a historical feat (Ba Sing Se has never been conquered before) which made up for what was probably the greatest military failure in the history of the Fire Nation during the 100 Years War (The Siege of Ba Sing Se), shows up to her father’s doorstep with a (foreign) military force strictly loyal to her (the Dai Li).

And Ozai doesn’t even blink as far as we are aware. Any monarch with more than two brain cells would have seen that as a threat. Cause it is. The optics of it are batshit insane. Ozai does literally nothing. She’s still invited to all military meetings. She is out and about during DOBS. Let me reiterate that. Ozai, who finds himself and a good chunk of his troops without bending, during a foreign force invasion, allows his daughter and her personal military (who can use their powers cause they aren’t firebenders) only loyal to her run around as the last means of defense for him.

So there are two options here: he is an absolute moron (which understandable, but as someone who took part in regicide, she should see *some* nuance of this if nothing else) or he has no doubt that Azula would never turn against him. Easy to figure out which one is more likely right?

(The only time when she goes against her father’s wishes with bringing Zuko back, it backfires on her pretty badly. I bet you Ozai leaving her behind during the comet shows something shifted there)

Stick with me okay, I am going somewhere with this.

Loyalty is something Azula takes very seriously. And it intertwines a lot with duty in her case (to her father, to the Fire Nation). It’s a very strongly embedded into her as a character. And she, the princess of a whole country, expects the same from her peers (and subjects). It affects the way she interacts with them and asks things of them. Case to point:

Azula and Mai

Azula and Mai are much more on equal footing as a friendship than Azula and Ty Lee. In many ways Mai and Azula have the same experience, trying their best to fit a role their parental figures dictated for them as a means of survival. 

But Mai does not care about the Fire Nation or her family. She is a lot more individually focused. She doesn’t join Azula because it’s the right thing to do for the Fire Nation bringing traitors in or capturing the Avatar. She does it cause she hates Omashu and wants to get away from her family. And she does not save Zuko’s (and everyone else’s) life because it’s the right thing to do. She does it cause she loves Zuko despite him being an absolute jackass. The only time when Mai said anything about the loyalty to the Fire Nation was when she was talking with Zuko in the Boiling Rock and she did it more as an attempt to convince him to come back for her and his personal gain rather than some Fire Nation loyalist reason. 

Also Mai does not fear Azula. The famous line from Boiling Rock is not her admiting Azula scares her. 

(Not when Mai said during the Drill episode that Azula can throw as much lightning at her as she wants but she’s not getting into the sewage. And when we see Mai later then after that battle is lost she does not look like someone who fears the consequences of what she did.)

That is her knowing exactly where to strike to hurt Azula (the way Azula sort of did to her during the beach episode). They know each other very well, which also leads to knowing how to hurt each other very well. I would say Mai’s betrayal probably hurt more, not just because she was closer to Azula but because it was premeditated (even though it was over a short period of time).

Azula and Ty Lee

Ty Lee, much like Mai, does not care about the Fire Nation or her family. However, in some regards, she’s a lot more unreliable and flighty (which I would say stems a lot from her not being very sure of her own identity). This refers mostly to pre-reunion, though because from the moment Ty Lee joins she’s perfectly reliable as a fighter, and, in one instance I can think of (the Drill) even more so than Mai. The thing about Ty Lee in general though is that she tends to be quite fickle.

Let’s take the circus situation. Ty Lee said that the circus is her calling and her aura has never been pinker. We know she was strong-handed into joining Azula’s mission but nothing stopped her from going back to it after the fall of Ba Sing Se. Instead, she sticks around Azula and Mai in the Capital. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing but it certainly shows Ty Lee’s fickleness. I also think that it was an advantageous thing for her to do. I don’t know how much she thought things through when she joined the circus (and I don’t think she’s too prone to long term thinking) but that would have certainly had negative impacts on people’s perception of her, an experience deemed unworthy of a nobleman’s daughter (“Certainly our parents didn't send us to the Royal Fire Academy for Girls to end up in places like this”). So returning home with such a victory most likely made her life much easier if she just returned after she got tired of the circus. Add to this Ty Lee’s penchant for excessive flattery and I think there might have been some point where Azula wondered Ty Lee was still her friend just because of the benefits (I don’t think she was and I don’t think Azula believed so either but the thought could have still crossed her mind). 

And when it comes to Boilin Rock, Mai had some time to think through her actions and make a decision. Ty Lee just acted on an impulse to end a fight between her two friends before either of them did something they regretted. But that’s certainly not what it looked like to Azula in the moment.

Conclusion

I think whatever rekindling of their relationships might happen, it will have to be based on building trust again from very fragmented relationships. Given how many times Azula gave her loyalty and support for it to blow in her face, the trust issues run deep, especially cause Mai and Ty Lee already had it once and well, we know how that ended. I’d say they might have a harder time in some regards, getting that trust back because of their history. On top of that, I think the way Azula sees the Fire Nation and how tied she still is or isn’t to her sense of duty, would play an important role in her reflection of understanding of Mai and Ty Lee or any relationship they might or might not rekindle.

So yeah, it depends.