#Zuko is and will always be a worse firebender than Azula

[blorboazula]

very "I'm a really good person" of Iroh to be all like "I'll not fight my grown ass adult brother with two kids and all, but go fight against your 14 year-old sister"

[melzula]

Okay I have an request

So like we are azula and zuko sister and we adored by both but like in the catacombs we choose gaang over azula and zuko of this and please can y/n x sokka and now zuko now wants to join gaang and yeah I am not good with words I hope u understand what I said😁

Y/n can be a firebender or non bender its ur choice anyway

a/n: okay so there’s a lot to tackle in this request which is why i chose to do it as headcanons so i hope you don’t mind !

summary: being the middle child isn’t easy, especially when your siblings are Zuko and Azula

As the only non-bender and middle child of the royal family, you never felt like you mattered

You were the Black Swan of the palace, a disgrace to your father and his image

You kept to yourself, staying in the shadows and out of his way while your siblings took the spotlight

However, just because your father looked down upon you didn’t mean your siblings shared his sentiment

In fact, they adored you

Zuko was an attentive older brother. He let you follow him everywhere, defended you against anyone who dared speak badly about you, and was your shoulder to cry on whenever your father was feeling particularly cruel

He saw you for who you were, and who you were was an intelligent, kind, talented young woman meant to do great things in her lifetime

Azula, while being particularly mean to Zuko at times, never once treated you the way she saw her brother

Despite you being a nonbender, she surprisingly never speaks down to you or makes you feel less than

It could be because she doesn’t see you as competition as she does Zuko, or maybe she truly does just feel genuine sisterly love for you

Maybe it’s because whenever she felt your mother was unfairly favoring your brother over her, you were always there to assure her that she was a wonderful bender and just as important

Maybe it’s because sometimes she wished you could be her mother instead

Whatever her reasoning, Azula sees you as a comforting presence in her life. She seeks your validation constantly almost as much as your father’s, and she’d do anything to protect you and your honor

Things became worse for you when Ursa left. She could no longer intervene when your father felt like tormenting you, and your siblings knew better than to say anything in your defense. Shortly after her banishment, Ozai deems it best to send you away to the academy since he has no other use for you

Your departure is hard for both siblings. Zuko is gutted that he can no longer be there to protect you or look after you. Though she acts as if she couldn’t care less, Azula is devastated at your leaving. Her source of comfort is being ripped away from her, and she has no one to look out for her

At the academy you learn various forms of physical combat and weaponry wielding. You’re especially fond of using tanto swords in battle and they’ve become your weapon of choice when in a fight

Zuko and Azula send you letters during your stay at school behind your father’s back updating you about your home, their lives, and their annoyance of each other. You keep every single one they send, and it eases the ache of your home sickness

It’s also at the school that you learn of the Agni Kai and Zuko’s banishment. Your heart breaks for your older brother, and you’re devastated at the fact that you never got the chance to say goodbye and you may never see him again. He still sends letter for a time, but as the years pass they become less frequent and almost nonexistent. Azula’s letters follow the same path

Years pass and your father deems it time for you to come home. Now that you’ve made a decent fighter out of yourself he finds your worthy of being his daughter again

However, your stay is short lived. Azula recruits you to be part of her little team to capture the Avatar and your brother, and you don’t really have any other choice but to agree

You downplay how skilled you are in fighting so that she doesn’t expect much from you and force you to do too much of the work. You don’t want to go against her, but you also don’t want to have to fight your brother and your uncle

You also don’t exactly feel good about destroying the world’s last hope for peace

And that’s why, when the time comes, you choose the Avatar over your siblings

You’re tired of being pulled back and forth, of always being stuck between your siblings with no real purpose, of not being able to do anything for yourself

Zuko is astonished by your choice and conflicted. Just when he finally had found his way back into the family you chose to leave it. Why were you doing this? Why were you ruining everything?

Azula is furious. Your betrayal hurts worse than mother’s. You’d always taken her side, always comforted her and supported her, you’d always been there, and now you were leaving. How dare you leave her?

“You fool!��� She’d cried, angrily sending a blast of blue flames your way knowing you wouldn’t be able to stop it. If not for Iroh, surely her strike would have ended you. The fact that your own sister was willing to hurt you for the cause was enough proof to know you were making the right decision

You help the Avatar escape and join his group, vowing to help them in any way you can to win the war. Your fighting skills and knowledge of the Fire Nation makes you a big help and they appreciate your assistance

It doesn’t take long for you to win their trust and acclimate into their group. You become fast friends with everyone, growing especially close to Sokka who may or may not have a huge crush on you

He definitely becomes your shoulder to lean on when things get tough, because he knows it can’t be easy for you to just leave all you’ve ever known behind. you struggle constantly over having to choose the Avatar over your siblings, but he constantly assures you that you’ve made the right choice

Least to say your departure makes Zuko’s return home even more conflicting and turmoil filled. How can he enjoy being back home when you’re not there to enjoy it with him? How could he be happy knowing his sister was out there risking her life to help the Avatar?

Your decision definitely inspires his own to leave the Fire Nation and aid Aang and his friends

Your abandonment of your siblings also fuels Azula’s descent into madness, fueling her fire to continue her mission to capture the Avatar

It’s a rough position you’ve found yourself in, but it’s not like your whole life hasn’t been you stuck in a terrible spot

Being the middle child is hard, especially when your siblings are Zuko and Azula

[impossiblycolorfulpanda]

Zuko's redemption is associated with water. If Azula were to have a redemption, it'd be associated with air.

Water is the element of change.

Zuko's arc starts with his life recently being changed for better and for worse. He has trouble accepting change but he either must learn to adapt to the change or end up crushed.

A different type of firebending move he learns is one that's associated with waterbenders. We don't see him try any other techniques from other nations.

It's also interesting that when around Katara, he keeps a cool head. He cares the most about what she thinks.

By the time Zuko becomes Fire Lord, he has a hand in changing the world for the better.

...

Air is the element of freedom.

Azula's arc would be about trying to free herself from toxic expectations.

For her whole life, she's been trapped and her earthly attachment has always been Ozai. Azula was taught that young people must have rigid discipline and order. Almost the polar opposite of what Aang was taught. Being told she has to be Fire Lord has trapped her even more. That expectation proved more than what she could handle.

She may be restrained in a straightjacket but her real prison is her broken mind and the lies she's been told her whole life. Now believing she doesn't belong anywhere.

Something to add to her redemption that differs from Zuko's is for her to open and master her chakras. It can take her a while to warm up to that idea, and it likely wouldn't be possible for her to take it without her and Aang obtaining a spirit bond that's developed after Aang lets go of Katara and embraces his last chakra, but once it's done, she truly becomes free.

To better represent her freedom, she takes the mantle of Phoenix Queen for herself. She's reborn, stronger than she ever was before, and goes from belonging nowhere to belonging everywhere. You could say she's "free as a bird."

[bellatrixobsessed1]

Red Breath

Summary: Azula has been hiding that she has tuberculosis. Her secret comes out during the last Agni Kai.

For @the-mariachi-96 based on this post.

There is red on her pillow.

There is red on the cloth in her pocket. 

She tries not to dwell too much upon it. 

Today is her special day.

The mirror has no mercy. 

No sympathy nor compassion. 

It is a cold thing, and—had it a voice—it would speak clinically. Forward. Direct. Brutal.

In its own way it does have a voice and it speaks through images it reveals and the inner monologue that it inspires from the looker. Sometimes it is pleasant, mostly it is mundane and indifferent. These days it has been cruel; it shows Azula that she has been deteriorating steadily and rapidly. 

That something that was already well out of her control has spiraled much further beyond it. Either her skin has grown sallow or the palace’s warm lighting is making her complexion look more sickly than it truly is. For certain she has grown thinner, her robes had always fit rather large on her frame for comfort’s sake. Now they are too baggy for comfort. Sleep and illness have put bags under her eyes too.

She touches her fingers to her cheek, the texture of her skin is not quite right, but that could be because she hasn’t been drinking enough. Her cheekbones are more prominent beneath her fingers.

She wants to blame Mai and TyLee.

If they hadn’t chosen Zuzu…

If they hadn’t left…

Since finding out, they have always kept her fed and comfortable. 

She grits her teeth. It is her own fault for letting them care for her instead of learning to care for herself by herself. 

Even if they were there to feed her, she probably wouldn’t want to eat anyhow. The sickness is getting worse and it is stealing her appetite, her comfort, her strength, her motivation, and, most pressingly, her future. 

Her well kept secret is finally unraveling and she is glad that father isn’t around to witness it, that nobody is around to see it, she had made certain of that. And she starts to wonder…

She is always wondering, speculating, or overthinking about something or another. 

This time she ponders exactly what is to blame for her fraying mind, the fog within it, and the things that it shows her—the things that aren’t truly there. 

Can tuberculosis cause paranoia and hallucinations or was it the loss of Mai and TyLee that has put her mind of kilter. If the former is to be blamed then it might be that she is reaching her last days. And, by the spirits, it seems to have come about so quickly. She knows that she doesn’t want to be alone when she takes her last red, labored breath. 

Her chest hurts.

Her lungs burn. 

She is afraid to die.

But she is afraid to breathe.

.oOo.

To some degree, she wonders what the purpose is. Of the crown. Of this new title. Of anything really. Azula will be dead soon and she knows it. So why then? Why bother letting them fix the crown into her hair? A sense of duty, she decides, and to make father proud right to the very end. Her nation depends on her, especially now, with the comet barreling towards the world. Her firebending is charged, she can feel it in her core, but she is no longer certain that she could withstand its power. 

The Fire Sages hover the crown just above their head, they are just about to decree that she is the new firelord. She closes her eyes and when she opens them, Zuko is in front of her with the waterbender at his side and the bison behind him. 

Surely she is delirious with fever. 

But no, the Fire Sages are exchanging looks. 

Her already burning chest, flares with hatred. Resentment for the person who had taken her mother from her and then her friends. For the person who now wants to steal her crown—the very last thing that she has.

She is in no condition for an Agni Kai, but she will fight all the same.

She will fight to keep what is hers, fight for her nation, and fight for her honor. She will fight for her vengeance. She will fight for her friends—surely Mai and TyLee will understand then, how much they mean to her. 

She rises to her feet, her head is already spinning. 

Dear Zuzu has already accepted her challenge. Her fate, whatever it may be, is sealed. 

She closes her eyes and hopes that her coughing will subside just long enough for her to win this fight. 

She takes a labored breath and she takes a stance. She feels that breath, scratchy and searing. Like sandpaper dragging all the way down her throat. She holds herself rigid and ready in spite of it. 

Zuko makes the first strike, a powerful blast of orange flames that heat her face from well across the arena. She returns with a burst of her own blue and equally as scorching, if not more so. It isn’t a fair match; not in numbers, not with her state of mind, not with her state of health. She supposes that she has made her share of sneaky, honorably questionable maneuvers. A war is a war and it will not stop because she is feeling ill. 

And so she throws blast after blast until the chills start to wrack her body. Even then, she pushes onwards. Even then she wields her fire as she always had. But the more the smoke fills her lungs, the more agitated they become. 

She can feel the fit coming on.

“What, no lightning today? Afraid I’ll redirect it?” 

It is bait and she should know better. 

But it is an excuse; an excuse to end this match once and for all, before tuberculosis ends it for her. 

Perhaps this will be the last thing that she does. She wonders if Mai and TyLee will miss her. Or if they will be relieved to know that she is gone. The lightning crackles on her fingers and the fever crackles in her body. 

Both will be released, only one will claim its target. 

She sends the lightning off as disease rushes forward. Her lightning falls short, it splits the ground with a rumbling crack. It launches Zuko violently towards the other end of their arena. And it launches her body into a violent fit. Her coughs come on with such merciless furocity that it leaves her stomach aching and her body hunched forward. 

She can feel the blood behind her teeth. If she parts her lips, it will drip onto the ground. Perhaps not a dramatic spatter, but two or three little droplets. 

She glances at her right hand.

It is bloodied. 

She glances at the battleground. 

At two alarmed faces. 

And then she sees nothing at all.

.oOo.

Azula’s vision is fuzzy. There are figures around her bedside and she can’t tell who is who. She thinks that they are probably doctors. The same ones who have been attending her since she’d come home. The ones that Lo and Li had found for her.

Her throat hurts and her head is woozy.

Sounds hurt.

Bright light hurts as it streams through the window. A glorious light spills over her face but she has not earned glory. 

The comet has passed and so to has her coughing fit. But the tingling in her throat remains as a souvenir of her suffering and her lungs don’t seem that keen on expanding fully. For it, when her lips part, her breath comes out in a labored hiss. 

“Aang should be here soon, he can help with that.” It takes Azula a moment to recognize that voice as the waterbender’s. But of course. She might not be here if not for waterbending. And for the life of her, Azula can’t understand why Katara would help her. Especially when Zuko had also been harmed. Perhaps he hadn’t taken a direct hit but the lightning had fallen at his feet and the shockwaves had thrown him a respectable distance. 

Katara likes him better anyhow.

Everyone does. 

“Mai and TyLee?” Azula mannages. 

“They’ll be here soon.”

But she can’t imagine that they will want to talk to her. They are probably coming for Zuzu, to check on and comfort him. 

“I’m cold.” She mentions. But she is also terribly hot, her face has a thin film of sweat. 

“You have a fever.” Katara replies. “But I think that you know that. How long?”

“How long, what?”

“How long have you known?” And then she elaborates. “That you were sick.”

“None of your…” she falters into a half cough. “Of…” another half cough. “your…”  And then there is the first full cough. Finally another fit comes on in full. Silent tears leak down her cheeks, more so the product of physical strain than any emotion.

Katara hands her a glass of water. “Drink that. After you swallow I’m going to bend that water and try to soothe the inside of your throat. It will probably feel weird, but it won’t hurt…”

It wouldn’t matter if it did, her throat is already sore.

“...And you won’t drown.”

Fleetingly it crosses her mind, that maybe she would be perfectly content drowning. She drinks the glass and Katara takes hold of the water. The sensation is terribly unpleasant, like nothing she has ever felt. Like nothing she ever wants to feel again. But then her burning throat cools and the sharpest of pangs taper off. 

Katara lowers her hands. “No more talking, okay? You’ll agitate your throat.” Katara says. “Just rest.” 

Azula nods. 

“Zuko is in the bed next to you. Both of his feet are bandaged and he’s got a concussion so he won’t be walking for a little while.” Katara informs. “Mai and TyLee and my friends are on their way. You can go to sleep, I’ll wake you up when they get here.”

But she won’t be able to sleep. Her head is too preoccupied with troubled thoughts; knowing that she had failed her people and her father, knowing that she has lost everything including Mai and TyLee, knowing that her carefully guarded secret is now in the hands of the enemy. The enemy that is fixing her blankets for her and putting a cool rag on her forehead. 

“Why?”  Her voice is so hoarse. Hoarse and whispery, nothing like the elegant silk it had been. 

“Because, you don’t deserve to die.” 

It is a simple and impersonal answer. But it is just as well.

“I think that things can be different.” Katara adds. “Now that the war is over.”

Different.

She doesn’t particularly like ‘different’.

She thinks that she might be afraid of ‘different’. 

Even if ‘different’ could be better for her. 

“Get some rest, okay. I’m going to keep waterbending and I’ll have Sokka reach out to this herbalist that we met in Taku; she’s very knowledgeable and she has this troublemaking cat.”

“Miyuki?” Azula grumbles. 

“You know Miyuki?”

Azula nods.

“Does that have anything to do with how Miyuki got in trouble with the Fire Nation?” 

Another nod.

“That’s a story that you’re going to have to tell.”

“You said no talking.” Azula dodges. 

“Later on.” Katara replies. “Right now, just get some rest. We’ll figure out how to treat your tuberculosis.” 

Azula nods once more. Perhaps she will get to live a full lifetime afterall. She just isn’t certain of what sort of life it will be. 

[discordiansamba]

It was just supposed to be a prank.

It really wasn't supposed to be anything more than that. All she'd wanted was to get Zuko out of the way for a few hours so that she could have mom's attention all to herself. It wasn't supposed to turn out this way. He was supposed to be right where she left him, not in the middle of the forest. He wasn't supposed to be running such a high fever.

Azula hovered by the edge of Zuko's bed, watching as the doctors their parents had called tried to treat him. His cheeks were flushed with fever, but he wouldn't stop shivering. She didn't like the looks on the doctors' faces, nor the way they mumbled to each other. She could only catch a little of it- they would shake their heads and say his fever was dangerous even for a firebender.

He'd be lucky to survive the night.

She let herself be hustled away at some point, but those words kept ringing in her head. It was just supposed to be a stupid prank. She didn't want Zuzu to die. He was too stubborn for that, right? He was always stubborn and annoying. A fever couldn't kill him.

She couldn't fall asleep that night.

Tossing off her covers, she made her way quietly through the halls of their Ember Island villa. She quietly cracked Zuko's door open and peered inside. Mom had fallen asleep in a chair by the window, so she quietly crept in. Zuko was bundled up in his sheets, almost invisible underneath them as she crept closer.

"Zuzu?"

Nothing.

"Zuko?"

There was a rustle under the blankets. Azula exhaled, and reached for them. Stupid Zuzu. His fever would only get worse if he buried himself underneath them. She'd fix them for him, because she was a good sister- she was. When he was better, she'd apologize for her silly prank. It hadn't been very princess-like of her.

Something grabbed her arm.

Dimly, she was aware that it was Zuko. Azula winced- she could feel something prick her skin. As the clouds parted to give way to the moon, her brother sat up, the blankets falling off of him-

-no.

No, no, no.

That wasn't her brother. They had Zuko's face, but-

-the creature lunged.

Azula doesn't remember crying out, but she must have- loud enough to wake the entire villa. Her mom shot to her feet, but for a moment was simply frozen in place, trying to process what she was seeing. Azula stared up at her brother's face, his lips twisted into a snarl. She couldn't breathe. Zuko's hands were against her throat. There was something wrong with them.

There was something wrong with him.

She dimly remembers someone forcing Zuko off of her. She dimly remembers being dragged out of the room. She dimly remembers the yelling. She dimly remembers the seemingly endless visits from the Fire Sages, muttering to themselves about curses and dragons. She dimly remembers her parents arguing.

Grandfather died. Mother disappeared. Her father took her back to the Caldera with him. She remembers asking about Zuko.

"That thing," her father spat, "-is not your brother anymore."

(It was just supposed to be a prank.)

[drunknillawafer]

right down the line: zuko x firebender!reader | part 6

You grew up close to the Royal Family due to your father's position as a General, but you ran away from home after the agni kai against your best friend, Zuko. Now, you've joined the Gaang and plan on doing your part in ending the 100-year war.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 7

hellooo part 6 oo we're in book 2 territory now... also i am changing stuff to fit my character into this world so just be open to those changes plzzz i do not own these characters and they are not mine! i hope you guys are liking the story so far! I'm so excited I'm already thinking about what I'm going to do when book 3 comes around... rmr to like reblog or comment, i truly want to know ur thoughts because this is my first fic so i hope I'm doing a good job. thank you to everyone who has supported it so far!! even if its 17 ppl idc like that's 17 individuals who bother to read what i write so... thank you!! enjoy >.< about 2000 words

⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙

It was a day like the others, the year before Ozai’s unfair punishment. I’d go to the Royal Palace after school to play or practice, whichever we felt like.

When Zuko and I opened the door that led to the duck pond, his little sister, Azula, was already there with her friends, Ty Lee and Mai.

Azula’s already proven to be ruthless for a 10-year-old. She’s constantly reminding Zuko of his ‘failure’ to live up to the responsibility of Fire Lord just because he’s not as vicious as her. In this home, they favored brutality over honor, and if you know Zuko, he’s all honor. Even at twelve years old, you can tell he won’t grow to be like his father before him and it’s a problem.

She’s only gotten worse since their mother disappeared 2 years ago. No one knows the specifics, but Azula says their grandfather ordered the Fire Lord to kill Zuko and she never lets him forget it.

As we walk toward our usual spot, the little girl comes up to us.

“Zuzu, come play with us!” she says with a hint of mischief in her voice.

“No! I’m busy.” Zuko replies, brushing her off. We continue walking to reach the other side of the pasture, far away from his sister and her friends.

“Fine.” With Azula, fine isn’t just fine. It’s code for I’ll get you somehow.

But I try to keep my thoughts about her to myself. She is younger than us and I’m not scared of her. It’s Zuko she doesn’t see as a threat. As for me, she’s known not to push it. Since we all have the same fire-bending master, she’s well aware I’m better than the both of them.

When we reach our spot, we sit to take our swords from their sheaths. Today it’s blades, yesterday it was bending. We almost forget Azula’s in our vicinity when Mai comes crashing down onto Zuko, making her blush.

Mai is a year younger than us, and she’s always had this crush on him. Everyone knows. I know.

But unlike Azula, I don’t humiliate her with the fact. Even if the thought of Zuko returning the feelings makes me uncomfortable.

Mai quickly gets up and apologizes for stumbling on top of him and Zuko, in all his emotional glory, yells at his sister. “Stop it! It’s not funny.”

She grins with her arms folded. “Oh, but it is, dumb-dumb. I told you to play with me!”

“That’s not how you get people to play with you!” I stand up for him, knowing it’s a losing battle if he’s all alone in his defense.

“Whatever.” She replies and focuses her attention on Ty Lee’s handstand. Probably thinking of a way to ruin that too.

It’s clear we won’t be left alone to spar in peace.

“Want to go to my room?” He asks. Familiar amber eyes gazing into mine.

Butterflies appear in my stomach. I’ve been to his room thousands of times, millions if it was possible. It wasn’t abnormal. But lately, I can’t stop these stupid bugs.

My feelings for my best friend are changing, I just hope his are too.

“Sure.”

A few weeks have passed since the failed ambush of the Northern Water Tribe by the Fire Nation. Admiral Zhao is presumed dead, and the empire retreated. They were long gone, and this loss was too shameful to ever attempt something like it again.

Though, the adrenaline from the win would be nothing compared to the loss felt by the masses. We lost some people, rebuilding was commencing, and the tribe had lost their princess. The Chief had lost his daughter.

While it pained Sokka and I to inform him of the news, what he said in return brought peace to all of us. He said he had a vision of a beautiful young woman sacrificing her life for her people and it wasn’t until that fateful day that he knew it was his daughter. Warmth embraced us all after he spoke. What better way to show your love for your people than to become the moon itself? It was bittersweet. To know she couldn’t walk with us but be with us wherever we go on planet Earth.

If only I knew how I felt about encountering Zuko for the first time in three years.

I honestly didn’t know what to think, act, or be. It all happened so fast.

Having to save Aang in the middle of our encounter distracted me long enough. Letting down the Chief and Yue becoming the moon spirit distracted me long enough. Hell, seeing Iroh for the first time in a while distracted me long enough. But eventually, the dust settles and there’s nothing but his face in my thoughts.

His hair is different, and he looks… sharper around the edges. He’s stronger and his bending is different than before, more determined and intentional. He seems tired.

I replay our interaction in my head multiple times a day, sometimes in my dreams. Each time, I think about what I could have said instead. Other times he doesn’t strike me in the ribs. But then I wake up or come back to reality and the scar of his burn on my side reminds me: he’s no longer my Zuko.

I mourn the gentle boy I once knew.

All our good moments flash through my mind like an orchestrated play. Growing up together. Elementary memories of playing and later, practicing our sparring and bending together. Silent moments where we both sat and stared as the sun painted orange across the sky, once we were done for the day. Being the first person we looked for at a royal party and feeling relief when our eyes locked together, assuring that we won’t spend the night bored out of our minds. Silly things I didn’t think I’d miss so much.

But it was hard to feel bad for him when he was someone else entirely.

I shouldn’t have, but I took it easy on him. I thought there was some sort of silent agreement that we would never hurt each other, like when we were sparring. But at some point in time, practice became fighting, and nobody told me.

I spent three years thinking about this exact moment and I never once thought we’d be on two different sides of this war.

It was different for him, I suppose. He stopped practicing the moment Ozai told him to get up and fight.

The swirl of feelings dizzied me, going from I hate him to I missed him. From where is he? to I think I could find him if I tried.  

But I don’t know how that would land on Aang, Katara, and Sokka.

Zuko’s been terrorizing them since Aang came out of the ice, before they crossed paths with Jet and me. I’m not even sure how they feel about my past with their first enemy. I’ll make a note to ask later.

I’ve been in my head the entire time we went through the cave of two lovers. I think some badger moles got us out and the nomads went their own way once we made it through.

Apparently, we’re heading to Omashu so Aang can learn earth-bending from his old friend, King Bumi.

Sokka’s catching me up to speed, but his voice sounds like it could be a thousand miles away from my mind. “It’s pretty cool, I didn’t really like being trapped and thinking I was going to die but that’s not the point- Hey, are you okay?” He grabs my elbow and stops us in our tracks. His eyes look into mine, looking for me.

He shares a glance with Katara that prompts her to say, “Let's take a break from walking, guys. Aang, c'mon I think I see some water. I want to see what you know before you become an earth-bender.”

“Okay!” The young Avatar replies, eager for alone time with his favorite person. They smile at me before leaving, and I feel left out of a certain loop.

Once they’re far away enough, I reply to Sokka’s question. “I’m okay, why?”

“You’ve just been off… since the invasion.” He scratches the back of his neck as he confesses his concerns.

“It was a lot, I mean. Yue—”

“I know, but you’ve pulled away from all of us.” Almost shyly, he continues, “From me.”

“Oh.”

“But we all want to know if you’re okay.” He hurries to add.

“I’ve been thinking about some stuff is all.” I let out a sigh, a poor attempt at trying to let go of what’s bothering me. “I just hadn’t seen him in a long time. And when I do, he’s fighting me.” I look down at my boots, begging for the dry dirt to become quicksand. My cheeks are getting hot and the familiar knot in my throat is forming. This is why I didn’t want to talk about it.

“Yeah, he does that.” Sokka scoffs. “He’s a jerk. He can be mean to us, I get it! The Avatar and everything. But being mean to you was unnecessary.”

The knot in my throat quickly forms into a tone that’s harsher than I mean it. “Was it?” Sokka’s taken aback and instantly, I’m regretful for it. “Sorry… I don’t know what I feel.”

I investigate his icy stare and for the first time, I feel the distance I’ve put between us. Unfortunately, I think it’s there to stay.

He raises his hands in defense, “I get it.”

“What do you mean?”

“Did you like him?” I finally understand what he’s been saying. Why he wanted to talk. He wanted to talk about us and how Zuko fits into that equation.

“No—I… uh...” the words leave me.

“I see.”

"That's not a confession."

"Then say no."

“Does it matter?” I ask, becoming irritated with his attitude.

“Does it?” Sokka’s stern voice rarely makes an appearance, but when it does, it surprises me. Leave it to Zuko to cause an argument when he’s not even here.

Before I can answer, Katara and Aang return, looking chippier than we do.

“Break’s over?” she asks us, furrowing her brows as she takes in our body language.

“Yeah, it’s over.” Sokka huffs and walks away, leading us to our destination.

☆

With Sokka guiding us, he proudly gestures towards the Earth Kingdom land. “Ladies and gentlemen, the city of Omashu!” When I finally intake what they’ve all been talking about, I know what we see isn’t what they were describing.

“Oh no.” Aang says for all of us.

The fire emblems are too loud to ignore. Omashu’s been occupied.

☆

As the four of us stand in our fight mode, ready to negotiate Bumi for the Mayor’s baby boy, I see three girls in the distance. I see her first.

My heart drops down to my core, the way it did when I first saw Zuko after all these years. Just when I thought the reunions were over, the universe shows me exactly what it is I ran away from. Finally, after all this time, I have to face what I did.

“No.” I mumble.

“What?” Aang asks. They all turn to me. Now that they know who I am, they know I must know whoever is coming to negotiate on the empire’s behalf.

I should have known it would be Mai, but her little brother was not born when I last saw her. When we all went to the Royal Fire Academy for Girls.

I don’t have enough time to warn them, you never do when she’s involved.

“It’s Azula.”

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

tag list <3: @camilleverreault @staygoldsquatchling02

[late-draft]

Before I watched the whole ATLA to the end, I had a pretty strong feeling that Ozai was going to turn out to be pretty mediocre at firebending in the end.

Two seasons kept his face hidden, sure; it does look like a setup for a reveal of a force-of-nature type of enemy. (I loved how dedicated the show was to not revealing his face for so long, it had a great effect.) But taking all the context into consideration, I have a feeling it wouldn't have been out of place to find out he's actually... not that strong. The system that obeys the Fire Lord to a fault is actually a huge problem. The children he was training into weapons from young age, one of them did become that and that's a huge problem. Azula still feels like a "twist villain" in terms of where she lands on the power scale, even if she was already used as a character in combat in the story.

Then, the relationship between Iroh and Ozai - Iroh began the show looking harmless, then it was revealed just how powerful he still is. I believe he isn't actually that old; he visually deteriorated a lot and gained weight after the tragedy of losing his son that definitely broke him completely. But Ozai? The youngest son always kept in Iroh's shadow, Azulon believing him not just to be a spare, but worse than Iroh in everything. Except in looks, if you asked Ozai. But we don't start the story knowing this, we start the story believing him to be the most powerful bender in the world. Inverse of how we were introduced to Iroh.

But this would leave Aang battling a single mediocre opponent; and Zuko and Katara two against one Azula. Sokka, Toph and Suki actually won the greatest victory that day, by stopping the entire fleet that was aiming to raze everything.

I'm still mulling over and trying to figure out what would be different and what types of plotlines I'd like.

[emkini]

heyy I read towards the sun the other day bc I saw you mention it and it fucked. so ty!!!! if you feel like it, do you have other atla recs? 👀

Ohohoh do I

Notes:

I tend to be primarily a zuko-centric gen fic enjoyer in the atla fandom so that's what most of these are gonna be!

Pretty much every author on this list has a bunch of stellar works and I'd recommend checking out all of their ao3 profiles, but these are just some of my personal favorites!

I've been having a Rough Time™ lately, so most of my faves fall on the soft and squishy side– if you're looking for heavy angst I do not have much of it 😔

-----------

Salvage (complete) by @muffinlance is by the same author as Towards The Sun and a fandom classic at this point; I cannot recommend it enough. Summary: Mid-Season-One Zuko is held for ransom by Chief Hakoda. Ozai's replies to the Water Tribe's demands are A+ Parenting. Hakoda is… deeply concerned, for this son that isn't his, and who might be safer among enemies than with his own father.

The Fire Nation Yacht Club series (reads as complete) by @sword-and-stars gives me all the emotions. Summary: Sokka knows three (3) things: 1. The caldera is on fire. 2. Ozai’s really, really dead (and so is his daughter). 3. The only one having a worse day is probably Zuko. / Everyone has their breaking point. This is what happens after you’ve broken. In which healing is a process and also it kind of sucks.

For Hearth and Home (complete) is another classic fic by the same author (honestly just check out all of their work, it's all stellar) that I absolutely adore. Summary: There’s a child underneath Fire Lord Zuko’s desk. He doesn’t realize this until he sits down and tiny hands wrap themselves around his ankles, and Fire Lord Zuko definitely does not shriek and backpedal away at the unexpected touch. He definitely does do that but Gou, the single guard he’s agreed to let shadow him, is kind enough not to mention it.

Mountains and Badgermolehills (complete) by Glass_Onion is an incredibly fun and well-written romp of a read. Summary: After the Blue Spirit frees the Avatar from the Pohuai Stronghold, Admiral Zhao captures Prince Zuko under suspicion of treason. Isolated from his Uncle and his crew, Zuko has only one ally: the chatty prisoner one cell over.

The Art of Burning (incomplete, ongoing) by @hella1975 is superb- lots of angst, lots of emotions, and lots of memes. Summary (excerpt): In a warring land, the Water Tribe forgave the enemy in an act of defiance. For this, he was torn from them, and this time, his wounds won't heal so easily.

Embers (complete) by Vathara is another fandom classic– one I have not yet been able to finish because dear god is it long. like holy shit. Very dense and plot-heavy and an incredible read if you're a lover of worldbuilding and fantasy politics. Summary: Dragon's fire is not so easily extinguished; when Zuko rediscovers a lost firebending technique, shifting flames can shift the world...

where the stars do not take sides (complete) by WitchofEndor is a very sweet and interesting canon divergence fic, and of course as always I am a SUCKER for the fire siblings being close. Such a sucker. Summary: When Azula is nine, she becomes an only child. She hears the Fire Lord call for Zuko's life, and in the morning, her mother and brother are gone. Azula may be young, but she isn't naive. She knows what happened to them. Which makes it all the more surprising when Azula tracks the Avatar down and fights his group of peasant friends, only to find herself staring into an eerily familiar face.

Honor & Vengeance on the High Seas (complete) by @paramouradrift is a very fun read– I haven't finished it yet but if you love boats, pirate Zuko, and angry teenagers being gay and doing crime, I guarantee you'll have a good time. Summary: Zuko was banished, but instead of devoting his life to finding the Avatar to regain his honor he gave in to his spite and became a pirate against Ozai.

And the world, still so wild, called to me (I was lost, I’d been kept on my knees) (complete) by delightfullydiscordant– An Aang-centric fic that hurts my HEART Summary (excerpt): A study in grief and loss, in anger and hate.

a viper-lizard's tales (incomplete, ongoing) by Yumi_Take is really sweet and very fun; it has a simple but unique and interesting prose style that I really like. Summary: The desert sun burns and Zuko probably shouldn't touch the moving cloth, but he does anyway.

[littleweowmeow]

I see you repost a lot of pro zuko post in the last weeks and I wanted to ask, have you notice how much more anti zuko post have been posted in the last months ? I don’t usually mind zuko metas but the last ones I’ve seen are sooooo full of bullshit, they’ll claim things that didn’t happen in the series or misinterpreting things, to make him appear more villainous or more unredeemable ? kind of weird.

i do understand that the sudden rise of zuko’s hate comes from fanon zuko who’s basically a whole ass new character and certainly not canon zuko, but it’s seriously annoying. like I feel that this happens also with Aang. he also gets shit on by soooo many people for the wrong reasons, always citing things that didn’t really happen (or at least not like it’s usually cited) and… is the atla fandom seriously regressing ? how is it possible to misinterpret things like that in a children show. ofc atla is pretty mature for a children show, but it’s also not some Faustian bible with hours long needed interpretation to understand something.

Oh, of course I noticed. Actually, I used to be a fan of reading canon/fanon Zuko comparison posts, but then I realized something. The people writing such posts (mainly Azula Stans) just took advantage of the hype around canon/fanon Zuko, and the one they call the "canon" Zuko is actually not Zuko from the series at all. Seriously, Zuko is much cooler than all this. In fact, this is just a covered-up hatred in order to expose their favorite (Azula) better than she really is, because of incorrect characteristics and other bullshit addressed to Zuko. In general, the tag "anti Zuko" is blocked because I will not tolerate this diarrhea in my feed, but it continues to appear. This is not a criticism or discussion at all, so it's not worth paying attention to.

It seems to me that Atla fandom has sunk to the point that when I see a person saying the right and ironically obvious things, I almost idolize that person because damn it, is there really a person with brains here. What is happening in the fandom is either a special incitement to hatred for God knows what reasons, or people are really degrading at the speed of light. I know that a lot of hatred for Zuko stems from the ship wars (it's just ridiculous), but there is another point. Due to Zuko, it is easier to put your favorite in a more favorable light (it does not matter what specific example we are talking about) For example, this idea that Zuko is a bad firebender is a lie hammered into his head by his abusive father and the show actively refutes this idea. Some people just benefit from picking it up, it's something like "woooo Zuko is a prince and he's had the best teachers all his life and he's still worse than the "character name". Although this is a complete discrediting of the facts and not a desire to take into account the fact that Zuko's mental problems had a strong effect on his bending. And of course this nonsense about him being bad because he's not a child prodigy. There are many such examples, some of them have become considered canon. For example, that he is bad at firebending and stupider than the rest. Now there is really a lot of mischaracterization and humiliation of Zuko, but this is nothing more than a pathetic attempt to make their favorite seem better. It's just not worth a drop of time.

About Aang, I don't often see content with him, but my God, the reason for almost all of Aang hate is the ship wars. I may be wrong, because I have never participated in ship wars, so this is just a look from the outside. I'm sure that Aang hate reasons are almost the same as what I said about Zuko.

[snorlaxlovesme]

thoughts and feelings about the Netflix's Live Action Avatar, now that I've finished:

overall, net positive! as i said in my previous post about the first 3 episodes [x], i'm someone who goes into adaptations with minimal expectations, treating it more like fanfiction, so I can spend more time enjoying myself than being a butthurt baby, so with that in mind i can say that I enjoyed myself a lot! there are episodes that i'm actually really excited to rewatch (5 and 6 are bangers and i won't be told otherwise)

i'm not going to lie and claim that any of the actors will be winning Daytime Emmys, but there were a few standout performances for me at least:

-Zuko was incredible. i love the way this version leaned into Zuko's desperation to capture the Avatar, because now he finally had a real chance of being able to come home after all these years. his acting pre- and post-Agni Kai in the flashbacks felt so sincere. his optimism was adorable before the war meeting and his shattered expression after Ozai banished him was fucking heartbreaking.

-i really loved the boy who played Aang. he was so charming and cute! and i think as the episodes went along he gradually got better at displaying more subtle emotion. for such a young child actor i thought he was doing amazing

-Sokka's actor was putting in work in the back half! i was impressed! the first half of the show I was pretty neutral about Sokka's acting but the more development he got the more I appreciated what his actor was bringing to the table. i think he just needed to be paired with the right acting partners in a scene to bring out the best of his abilities. Katara didn't give him much to work off of, but his scenes with Sai and Yue really hit

-Zhao was great too! they really re-worked his character to be a lot more important from the jump and i loved seeing how underhanded he was being during all of Zuko's quest. normally seeing Zhao on-screen just annoys me but i loved this version and how patronizing he was to Zuko

-idk man every time Gyatso was on screen I was crying. that's just how it is. every time i saw his face it felt like a warm hug

i think the weird part of this adaptation is that the parts that were adapted were pretty mid (or sometimes just bad) in a lot of cases, but whenever they added in their own original ideas it really shined! i feel like that's not the case with a lot of adaptation, people want to see what they know, but honestly if they added in more of their own original writing in s2 I would not be mad because i loved what these writers were bringing to the table (for the most part)

-i've already said that the way they structured ep 1 to include the start of the war was awesome. that was a cool change to show the audience from the jump that they weren't planning on boring everyone with a one-to-one(but worse) adaptation. it also set the tone really well bc my GOD do firebenders be setting people on fire in this show

-big fan of the early inclusion of Kyoshi and the idea that Aang can only convene with past Avatars at their temples. that was not a Hard Rule in the original and it always felt weird to me that sometimes he needed to be at a certain place on a certain day to communicate with his past lives but then in the finale he just had to meditate wherever he was. but yeah, they used Kyoshi lore from the novels and did indeed lose my mind about it

-Zuko and the 41st division. that was SUCH a cool storyline that was woven in starting at episode ONE and i was genuinely impressed with how hard it hit. i didn't see that coming and it had me CRYINGGGG. so yeah, BIG thumbs up for that original storyline. and also they inclusion of the post-Agni Kai Zuko recovering in the hospital and getting banished for claiming that maybe the weak just need the opportunity to get strong. heartbreaking, devastating on its own (Zuko's actor truly was killing me, i loved him so much) but once we see Zuko and Azula start going toe-to-toe next season that line will hurt me even more

-the bonding moment about calligraphy between Aang and Zuko was a really good bait and switch. in the original Blue Spirit episode Zuko didn't talk to Aang at all before firing at him. i like that i was expecting it to play out the same way as before but instead they had a moment of connection before Aang triggered Zuko and all potential for empathy was lost.

-which seems like a good time to address Zuko's character. i want to be clear when i say that i liked something because it was different from the original, it doesn't mean that i like it BETTER than the original. i simply think the new version is fun fanfiction that was written better than i expected. so when i say i like how they dealt with Zuko's obsession with honor, i'm in no way implying it's superior to the original. simply a good different

-anyways. in the original, Zuko's obsession with honor is fully connected to his need to be wanted by his father again. OZAI is the only one who can restore it, and it can only be restored by completing an impossible task for him. in the Netflix version it almost seems like Zuko's honor is tied to the disillusion that the Fire Nation itself is honorable. the bit about Lieutenant...Yi? sorry i'm getting his name wrong, but Lieutenant Yi gossiping about a superior officer, Zuko's disbelief that the Fire Nation would ever use such underhanded tactics like planting spies in Omashu, it was clear to me that Zuko bought into a rigid sense of morality and honor when it came to the Fire Nation. i hope we see more of that in s2 so that we can see Zuko's world truly rocked when he and Iroh become refugees

-Katara being hailed as a master was very sweet! i wish she would have gotten SOME training from Paku (could still happen at the start of book 2) but I did enjoy that during the Siege of the North that she got her own little battalion to command bc she was seen as worth warrior

-OH and I love how they explored Sokka's character. again, them taking out Sokka's blatant sexism didn't bother me, so i was happy to see that in taking that out they DID work hard to make Sokka's character motivations rich and meaningful. having him have the same complex about being a lacking warrior as the original cartoon but with the added twist of overhearing his dad's harsh words about his abilities really added something to Sokka's insecurities. i loved the inclusion of Sai encouraging Sokka to become an engineer because it was clear how much that meant to him. considering in the cartoon he does become a pretty badass warrior (while still being mainly an Idea Guy) i wonder how this storyline will play out later. if he'll try harder to fit into the warrior box he thinks he belongs in or if he'll blatantly begin to reject that role for himself and identify more heavily with his engineer side

-the cave of two lovers had me worried for a second because Sokka and Katara were paired together for that and im like UMMM so i thought it was pretty funny how they reinterpreted "love is brightest in the dark" in that scene. not as good as the original, obviously, but a funny reinterpretation that i didn't hate

i probably have more to say on the additions but this is getting long so i think it's time to get to some criticisms. this show was not perfect by any means and i have several gripes with it so i might as well get that out now

-WAIT first i must say that a lot of the bending looked phenomenal. particularly Zuko and Aang's bending. both actors (and their stunt doubles) were great martial artists and the fire effects and air effects were done really well. i was really worried about how they'd adapt airbending (since air is invisible) and they did a great job adding in dust cloud effects and making sure the props in the scene moved they like would if they were blasted by air

-AND i must emphasize that i was not mad at them chopping up storylines and mixing them together. the Mechanist/Jet plotlines had similar themes of seemingly Good People doing unethical things for what they believed to be a good cause, so putting them in the same episode made sense to me. and having Sokka and Katara getting spirited away and caught up in that mist (a fun LOK reference that time, i loved the easter eggs) and then captured by Koh was a good way to separate them from Aang the Blue Spirit arc could take place. that also made sense to me. people who get mad about the re-shuffling of episodes frustrate me to no end.

okay, now onto critique:

-unfortunately, Iroh was a giant flop. i don't know how else to say it. i didn't really like any part of him, from his costuming to his writing to his acting. something about him felt like he was plucked out of a campy low-budget stage play and just thrown into this show while only know his campy stage play lines. both Zuko and Zhao give pretty grounded, emotional performances and Iroh is SO jarring by comparison when he's in the same room as them acting like a caricature of himself for no reason. his wig was terrible, i wish they had made it more flowy because it stayed the same shape and position the whole time, he used the WEIRDEST announcer voice the whole time (like why are you using a voice?? no one else is using a voice??), and his robes seemed out of place when everyone else was wearing leather armor. and they had a moment in episode 4 where an Earth Kingdom soldier really laid into him because back when Iroh was a general he was responsible for the death of Earth Kingdom soldier's brother. i was interested to see this bc we BARELY get to see Iroh's Bad Side in the cartoon and i was curious to see where the live action would go with it. but it ended with Earth Kingdom soldier slugging Iroh or slapping his face or something and Iroh made some snoody remark about how war changes people, and he WASN'T talking about himself. like bro this man just told you you COOKED his brother alive he has earned the right to slug you, what are you talking about! i was expecting remorse, or at the very least a solemn look of guilt over the person Iroh once was, but nothing. it was bad. obviously having the iconic Uncle Iroh be so terrible is a huge mark against the show. i simply cannot defend that

-circling back to Iroh's wig. well. the hair and make-up department went out of their way to make important characters look like their cartoon counterparts and that was not always beneficial. why did Yue look like she was from Whoville. who okayed that.

-many people have already pointed it out, but it was weird in ep 1 that Aang's decision to leave was because he needed to clear his head, not because he was running away from his responsibilities. i have no idea why they made this change, unless the reason was to have every single person (including past Avatars) dog on Aang for not being around during the past 100 years. but even that doesn't hit the same bc it truly wasn't his fault! he went for a drive and got caught in a storm! he intended to be back in a few hours! idk that change didn't make sense to me. i know Aang felt guilt regardless but the guilt was supposed to be from the intentionality of Aang running away

-the way Katara broke Aang out of the iceberg was weird?? she wasn't angry at Sokka for his sexism, but she could have been angry at him for SOMETHING that caused her bending to grow out of control. or at the very least when she was bending the canoe towards her she could have done a sharp pulling motion towards her that ended with her arms behind her, therefore forming the cracks in the ice (kind of a callback to how in the pilot Katara could really only waterbend backwards at first). instead her hands were fully facing forward and she was gently bending in front of her and that led to the ice sphere exploding behind her. its been bothering me. whyyy

-character-wise, Katara was pretty one-note. like the addition of her guilt for getting her mom killed with her subpar waterbending, while not bad, didn't make up for how much she DIDN'T have going on. it felt like they toned down a lot of Katara's character strengths AND flaws to give Sokka more room to arc, then shoved all of Katara's development into the last 2 episodes. they didn't show much of her resilient hope in the face of adversity or rage towards injustice or how petty she could be. part of this could be her actor, who i won't dog on because she is a child actor who will get better with time, but i don't think the flimsy writing of her did her any favors

-score wasn't nearly as good as Jeremy Zuckerman/The Track Team's. remixing some of the A:TLA's score doesn't make up for the fact that all the original scoring in this adaptation was flat by comparison

-Bumi's whole thing was....weird. i didn't mind at first that they speedran through his reveal because i don't think there's a point to try and surprise the three people who haven't seen the original. 99% of the audience knew the King was Bumi, so I didn't see any problem with that. but the set-up flashback of Bumi lasted like 10 seconds and basically just showed him snort. it didn't give you a reason to get attached to him as Aang's past friend. and his current actions didn't help at all. the acting was very Michael Meyer's Cat in the Hat-esque. so. uh. SCARY AND OFFPUTTING. was not a fan of that all. and having him do a few random goofy tests for Aang AFTER already knowing his identity felt...weird? like what's the point of these now? and then having the reveal that he's NOT kooky, he genuinely IS pissed at Aang for being gone, well. hmm. it's not a bad idea in theory. i liked the concept of having someone FROM THIS TIMELINE (looking at you, Kyoshi, Roku, and Kuruk, and your unjustified rage toward Aang) be upset at Aang for leaving the world in such a state of imbalance. having Bumi be like DO YOU KNOW ALL THE SHIT I'VE HAD TO DEAL WITH SINCE THE WORLD HAS HAD NO AVATAR, was an interesting line of thought i could have rocked with, butttt.....idk man. it's BUMI. he's supposed to be a living memory of Aang's past to give him comfort and wisdom! it hurt to see this version be so cruel to Aang and basically force him to try to kill him just to prove a point. i would have rather had them write out Bumi altogether and use that episode for something else than to smear his name like that

-i'm tentatively alright with Azula's plotline right now. the Zuko line "Azula was born lucky, I was lucky to be born" is really essential to how their rivalry worked in the cartoon. Azula was a cold-hearted prodigy while Zuko was compassionate boy but average bender. i liked the idea of showing how Ozai intentionally pitted his children against each other. i liked seeing Azula's moment of defiance where she claims she's DONE being tested because she know how good her abilities are. i liked seeing the origin of her lighting bending. all of those were cool fanfiction. the thing that worries me is that we, the audience, have already seen Azula's doubt in herself, something we weren't privy to until the very end of the series. plus showing how hard Azula trains kind of undercuts the fact that Zuko is supposed to think he can't measure up to her because of her natural abilities that he DOESN'T have. they DID plant the seed to Zuko that Azula was the one backing Zhao the whole time, so we do have some of their rivalry primed to go. but the rivalry in the original is extremely one-sided. it will be odd to see Azula fighting just as hard to earn Ozai's affection, because intrinsically she should think that game was won a long time ago. so yeah. i'm not mad about it YET, just interested to see how it plays out

and then there are little nitpicks that could be resolved in season 2, should it get picked up again

-Aang not learning any waterbending or burning Katara with firebending can be woven into the early eps of season 2 before Toph's introduction

-the gaang's chemistry will only grow stronger with time. as the cast becomes better friends, as the kids become better actors with age, and considering they don't separate much in s2, i have faith that will iron itself out naturally

-tbh im sure there are more but this is so long i'm fizzling out. i'm fading. i must stop.

but yeah! good and bad! there's lots to unpack but in general i think it was fun. i'm excited for more.

[blorboazula]

perhaps I'm thinking about age reversal fire siblings and how much worse Ozai would be to Azula than he is to Zuko. because Zuko's not really a bad firebender, he's a bad firebender in the context of Ozai's/Royal Family's expectations. because I go hardcore on, in Ozai's eyes, Zuko = Iron & Azula = Ozai so it's only fair that this time the younger sibling is favored and the oldest is neglected. and punished for not being that strong.

but then he'll project even more in this au because Zuko's not bad but Azula is still the prodigy.

but then, it's not a personality swap so I don't think Zuko would be as easily bent into Ozai's shape as Azula was. Azula is still loyal to a fault and her loyalty changes when Azulon orders her death. it's not like she didn't notice Ozai favored Zuko, she just didn't think he'd go as far as killing his firstborn.

in this one Ursa is a bit of a better mom, she doesn't really favor any of them. better as in she can't really protect them, but she doesn't blatantly favors one. she tried to protect Zuko because he's softer.

maybe I could go in the route of Ursa taking the children.

or she doesn't, but because she never favored any of them, Azula doesn't think she's not loved and Zuko doesn't either. and there's less resentment, I guess, from Zuko because it didn't matter if Azula has always been objectively better at everything, he's Ozai's favorite nonetheless.

just: endless angst possibilities.

[attackfish]

The one where Azula is much older than Zuko

Continued from: [Link], [Link], and [Link].

1. Azula never thought much of her uncle. Her father never thought much of Iroh and for most of her life, she took his word as the absolute truth. Her uncle Iroh was a useless tea loving old man, who's successes were all down to Azulon giving him anything he needed. But it's pretty much impossible to overemphasize how scared and alone Azula feels, left alone with a man who was willing to kill her. And Ursa didn't have a choice, really, about leaving Azula alone with Ozai, or about leaving her alone with Zuko, but it's that second one that just adds to Azula's fear. Because her baby brother, who can't do anything for himself, is depending on her. So she reaches out to her uncle.

2. And she gets the brush off. In Iroh's defense, he has no idea what went down in his absence, and he has always let his rosy picture of his own family blind him to Ozai's less savory attributes, and Azulon's sadistic levels of favoritism. He has no idea that his father ordered his niece's death, or that his brother was willing to kill his own child. And he certainly doesn't know that his niece knows all of this. Without this critical knowledge, his grief seems a lot more important than his niece looking for some company. It's going to be years before he realizes his error here.

3. Azula is, when trying to deal with her father and his expectations, and protect her brother, working against a really nasty cocktail of biases, resentments, and past history. Because she is the elder sibling, by quite a bit, oh, not by nearly as much as Iroh is the oldest sibling, but Ozai is going to draw the parallels. And Azula might be cunning and brilliant, and a firebending prodigy, who continues to achieve even while on a knife's edge, but what if Zuko will be better? It's not even that he expects Azula to live up to Zuko, or even the shadow of what Zuko could be, it's that he expects her to live up to his own grandiose visions of what he could have been, if his father had deigned to look past perfect Iroh.

4. Ozai swings between telling her how perfect and brilliant she is (unspoken is how good this makes him look) and sneering about how easy she has it. Either way, he's always telling her it's better now that Ursa's gone. She didn't understand them. She thought they were monsters. She was a stupid woman with limited vision. But Azula remembers that last conversation she had with her mother, and she knows she isn't the one her mother thought was a monster.

5. Azula also swings between two different extremes, between resenting her brother, for the expectations Ozai has of him, expectations that he will be better than Azula, so Azula doesn't matter, and fearing for him, because he's barely crawling, and what if he doesn't live up to Ozai's grand vision of him, and he won't, because nobody could. How much worse will it be for him when their father decides he's a disappointment?

[triscribeaucollection]

A Small Condition

Iroh only waited a brief moment before asking the guard to take their new prisoner’s staff to his nephew’s room; then he strolled down to the kitchen to fetch some tea. Simmering pot and two cups in hand, he continued his slow pace deeper into the ship, until the heavyset man came to a stop in front of the one and only reinforced prison cell aboard their vessel. Two guards standing at attention on either side didn’t appear to look at him, but Iroh could still feel the weight of their confused stares.

It took a little bit of serene juggling, but he freed a hand in order to knock. The guards exchanged baffled glances over his head.

A bemused moment later, their prisoner called out for him to enter, and Iroh nodded to the man on his left. “If you would, please.”

Thankfully the guard complied, spinning the wheel to turn back the locking mechanism, and Iroh confidently strode inside. A single lantern welded next to the doorway provided enough light to see by, as he approached the prisoner seated beside the back wall. The simple rope had been exchanged for a pair of manacles chained above him, with plenty of slack.

(Honestly, Iroh couldn’t help but shake his head at how little security went into the cell’s setup - if this mission had been given to Azula, rather than Zuko...)

“I thought I would try to make a better first impression than my nephew,” Iroh said politely, settling himself on the bare metal floor and putting down the cups in order to pour. “He is young, and bears his anger as a shield - I hope you will forgive him for speaking so harshly before.”

(Again, if it had been Azula, there would’ve been sly references to the lost Air Nomads, meant to needle and wound while seeming innocent on the surface. Zuko, however, had instead focused on the cowardice of remaining in hiding for a century of war; as always, the boy’s first and foremost thought centered on honorable conduct.)

Their prisoner smiled in return, and carefully accepted the steaming cup of tea Iroh offered him. “Perhaps, if I better understood his circumstances, Master...?”

“Iroh.”

“Iroh,” the other man tipped his head forward. “My name is Gyatso.”

---

They made it through most of a conversation before the ship suddenly rocked, and startled shouts echoed down from the higher decks. Pausing in taking a sip from his second cup of tea, Iroh turned to glance over his shoulder at the open door. “Would the two of you mind going to check on that?” The guards, again, shared a concerned glance. “If you think the prisoner won’t be well-guarded in my presence, then my reputation must be slipping worse than I thought.”

“We’ll be back soon, General,” one of the men said, before they both hurried out of sight. Iroh hummed, and turned back to face Gyatso.

The monk, for his part, stared up at the dark ceiling with a sharp frown. “Hm. It seems certain children decided not to follow my instructions.”

“They have that habit,” Iroh said dryly. He drank the final swallow from his cup, set it down, and produced two items from a hidden pocket within his sleeve. “If I may?”

Gyatso brought his gaze back down, and raised an eyebrow at the key Iroh held out in his direction. ��By all means. Is there a catch to this offer?”

“A small condition,” the firebender agreed, inserting and twisting the heavy piece of steel. “I am aware of the Air Nomad tradition of pacifism, but I also fully understand how such things tend to take a lesser priority when one’s charge is in danger.”

(Zuko burned. Zuko burned at his father’s hand, and Iroh swore that very day he would no longer assist the Fire Nation’s war efforts. In fact, rather the opposite.)

“If you could make your exit without damaging my nephew or any of his crew beyond repair, I would be exceedingly grateful,” he finished, unlocking the second manacle. Gyatso hummed, tipping his head into another shallow nod - and then dark grey eyes focused on the second item. Iroh wordlessly handed it over.

“The Lotus Gambit is not something I expected to remain well known in this age,” the monk said in an offhand tone, turning the Pai Sho tile over and tracing his thumb along the painted pattern.

“Perhaps not well known, but certainly not forgotten. Would you be interested in a game some time, Master Gyatso?”

“I believe I would, Master Iroh.”

With that, the airbender flicked his fingers, and a whoosh of air heralded the world going dark.

---

“-cle. Uncle!” Grunting, Iroh forced his eyes open, just enough to squint up at his nephew. It took a moment for the boy’s half-panicked face to sharpen into focus, and as soon as Zuko could see he’d awoken that expression eased, before shooting straight past relief to anger. “Uncle, you let the Avatar escape!”

“Did I?” Iroh asked with a groan as he sat up. “My apologies, Prince Zuko.”

“Argh!”

---

(This one’s been posted on AO3 for a while now)

[the-warlock-syndicate]

One wonders looking back if that is why Iroh is so calm and chill. Obviously, he is a bit relaxed by nature, and content to examine the little things. But especially in the beginning of the series, everyone from the fire nation denigrated his skills. As a firebender, as a general.

Zuko in the early seasons was not a particularly pleasant person to be around, but he was exponentially worse around people who held power. Zhao, Azula, his father. Guard up, and paranoid as all get out. By contrast, Zuko didn't particularly respect Iroh's abilities. Maybe his esoteric knowledge, but if Iroh was playing at being a washed up incompetent has been, it works to allow Zuko to luxury of keeping the guard down, and keeps Ozai from getting nervous in politics.

For a period of time, Zuko clearly sees his uncle as a bit of a doddering fool, with a touch of senility, and heaps of wierd tips and tricks to firebending that nobody understands. More competant than he lets on, to be sure, but not a threat to Zuko.

And of course, he intermittently throws that guise off, and displays a shocking flair for violence which always blindsides the people he is around. Fighting Zhao, breaking out of prison, etc.

Zuko is 100% Hakoda’s favorite of the gaang.

 Hakoda was a textbook Cool Parent and on top of that he was a single dad raising the only waterbender in the south pole and Sokka (who is wonderful, but you cannot convince me he would have been easy to raise). We know that Katara and Sokka love and respect him and everything, but we know that Katara has absolutely no qualms about talking back to him and we know Katara and Sokka fought constantly. Hakoda’s the type of parent that would let his kids call him by his first name in an argument. 

Enter the gaang. Aang is an absolute sweetheart and is, of course, super nice to Hakoda at all times. But he’s also been raised with the mentalities of ‘adults are your friends’ and ‘you’re the avatar and have more responsibility and importance than all adults combined.’ It’s kind of hard to be casual around the Avatar who is also dating your daughter no matter how sweet he is. Toph has absolutely no respect for authority and she likes Hakoda because he’s not overbearing or shitty like her parents, but she’s an independent child who doesn’t want a dad figure, thank you very much. 

Then we have Zuko: aside from the whole ‘helped bust him out of prison’ thing, let’s be real, this boy would be the favorite. Hakoda was a cool parent and subsequently ended up with two kids who love him but are also The Product Of Cool Parenting Wild Kids. Zuko on the other hand was raised in the ways of Respect Your Elder or Perish By Their Hand (which wasn’t good by any means) and as a result is Level 20 polite and respectful to deserving authority/dad figures. This kid would ‘yes sir’ and ‘thank you, sir’ all over the place and Hakoda would be like “a teenager with manners??? sign me the fuck up????”. Not to mention Zuko spent as much time on the sea as Hakoda did and has all that naval knowledge and of course there’s the whole Ending the War upon becoming Firelord thing. 

Like, Zuko would spend time with Hakoda and be his people-pleasing self and Hakoda would turn to his kids like “why is your friend more polite to me than you guys are?” (in a joking way) and they would be like “FUCK Zuko you gave him standards.” And at first Zuko would be super fucking anxious around the man for several obvious reasons, but eventually they’d all get to the point where Sokka’s getting messenger hawks that say ‘I’m at your house and if you’re not here in 10 minutes me and Hakoda are starting dinner without you -Firelord Zuko’ 

(meanwhile Hakoda tells Iroh that his nephew is just so gd respectful and polite and Iroh is like “are we talking about the same boy? you were not here for his banishment period.”) 

[cat3ch1sm]

Could you write something with zuko, illumi, or robin? Anything you’re in the mood for. It’s so obvious I have a type 💀. Top!reader if you can please

🍃| nah bruh my type is the same as urs💀💀 and also ur username is sending me

💚| ayoo thanks for this!! never gotten a tt or an atla request before- this will be headcanons in which reader is stronger than them and how they (characters) react to this! obv this will be in context for the shows these characters r in (ex: illumi- reader is stronger nen user)

🌵| so yea i hope u enjoy<33 so sorry this took so long:(((

🌱| ps the image below is actually mine hehe

pov: y/n is their s/o and more powerful than them

robin (dick grayson)

· tbh, robin is used to people around him being more powerful than he is. all his teammates are definitely stronger than him physically due to their powers/abilities, so it's nothing new.

· but holy crap ur insane

· robin is hardly shaken by anything since he's always fighting ridiculously powerful adversaries and has equally powerful friends. but the sheer power u alone possess is almost a little frightening

· u get to practice fighting with machines only. he can't let u kill anyone while ur sparring😭

· stays way out of range whenever he sees you preparing to use your abilities. he'll very subtly just back up further and further until you're barely within his line of vision- he is not messing with that😭

· due to your abilities, you do tend to get out of control, and often have trouble pulling yourself back together and keeping your powers in check. robin will do whatever he can to help (although he's probably awkward asf abt it lmao)

· sometimes wonders why in the world u even want him fighting alongside you??? u could probably take out ten Robins in ten seconds ngl

· if he is met with someone he doesn't feel is worth physically fighting, he'll just gesture to u (bc of course ur automatically ready to blow up everything in sight) and be like "have at it idc"

zuko

reader is a firebender!

· he's faced countless enemies that have all been significantly more powerful than him (mostly family members </3) but he has genuinely never seen the likes of you. he loves u and all but bro ur scary asf

· often he forgets how powerful u actually are and is usually very caught off guard when he watches u fight

· won't let u spar with anyone- he's worried you'll kill them😭

· the way you take down enemies so effortlessly is never not mesmerizing to him

· seriously- where were u when he was fighting azula?!?!?!?!?!?!

· absolutely shows u off- although he's quite subtle about it. he makes it so somehow everyone knows how powerful u are

· will very awkwardly ask if maybe u could teach him some things like maybe he means if u have the chance and u don't have to but like it would be cool and-

· uses u to terrorize sokka tbh, one fire blast from u and that mf is running

· katara, suki, and aang r probably scared of ur ass too

illumi zoldyck

· huh?!?!?!?! ur more powerful than him??? hold tf up

· insists on watching u in action when he hears that you may be more powerful than he is

· then he finds out it's true and probably starts stalking u. you're someone of interest now- he wonders to what extent your abilities stretch?

· may set traps and try and trick you here and there from behind the scenes to see how you handle it

· no fr how are u more powerful than him??? ur deadass right up there with chrollo

· ur aura is actually terrifying. like, worse than hisoka and illumi combined. even illumi himself tends to shy away when you conjure it up, and that is definitely saying something

· shows no physical sign of intimidation when you prepare to use ur nen but will probably take a step back or two

· will want to test your abilities, probably by having u fight him or various residents in the zoldyck mansion (obv not his family though)

· will probably have to use force to keep hisoka from trying to get at you. if you're more powerful than illumi, then ur more so than hisoka, which means he'll definitely want to fight you really badly

· honestly, the only reason illumi won't allow the two of u to fight is that he doesn't want u to accidentally kill hisoka.

[wingsfreedom]

What Ursa meant by "never forget who you are" line

Both of these scenes are parallel following each other in the last day of Ursa's presence in the palace:

Young Zuko: I failed.

Ursa: No. I loved watching you. That's who you are, Zuko. Someone who keeps fighting even though it's hard.

......

Ursa: Zuko, please, my love, listen to me. Everything I've done, I've done to protect you. Remember this, Zuko. No matter how things may seem to change, never forget who you are.

_____

Zuko: You're like my sister. Everything always came easy to her. She's a firebending prodigy, and everyone adores her. My father says she was born lucky. He says I was lucky to be born. I don't need luck, though. I don't want it. I've always had to struggle and fight and that's made me strong. It's made me who I am.

It's Zuko's strength.

Ursa saying that Zuko's life would be difficult now since she's gone and Ozai's crown Fire Lord, besides Azula seems like a prodigy kid while Zuko isn't, so she's trying not to make Zuko feels lesser than his sister because he has something special as well.

Zuko has "keep fighting" mentality because this is the strength Ursa planted in him opposing to Ozai praising Azula for her talents.

Ursa tried to protect her son's self-worth but she overlooked to discourage the self-destructive competition he developed against his sister.

P.S (things probably become worse after she's gone.)