#and dollar store zuko

[lightdancer1]

I mean if we really want to go there

Canon makes a single exception for 'Zuko the true root of all morality and being nice to Zuko makes you too pure and perfect and good for this world.' That would be the point where his little sister overheard his father and his grandfather plotting his murder, warned him, warned his mother, and saved his life.

She is given a perfect license to kill him with the full sanction of her state and culture, brings him back in honor. She is rewarded for this with the loss of her friendship, her family, and her sanity.

Anyone with a halfway functional logical approach, post recovery to the breakdown, would reason that the one thing not to do under any circumstances is to repeat something that backfires on them this badly, in this specific way.

I do not understand how ATLA fanon convinced itself Azulon, the guy who perpetrated a second genocide, was just bluffing on the 'kill the kid' bit. The canon openly shows that he wasn't in the show. For the sake of her brother his sister saves his life and the comics demonize her and the show demonizes her for the heinous offense of......not letting daddy and grandpa kill her brother.

The second time she helps him, it goes from bad to worse.

Any post-canon Azula written like an actual human being would go full Diogenes and let Zuko alone to the mess he inherited and have a very deep fear that doing anything good for Zuko from past escalation would end in him rewarding her with actual death because how dare she do anything for him at all.

That is the logic of a show and a fanon where an empire unleashes a century of genocidal war but the true evil is not the army on the speartip of the genocide, nor the autocrats who set all this into motion and run it for all the same reasons as their real life counterparts...but instead it's a 14 year old who was mean to her brother a few times and halfway killed a physical god who got better.

So you tell me, why would anyone halfway human or logical, let alone fully so, operate on that basis postwar to go 'doing nice things for my brother has worked out so well for me before that clearly I should do more of it'.

Zuko has plenty of valid reasons to dislike Azula but she wasn't punished for any of those reasons, she was punished for DOING GOOD THINGS for him. Twice. That would be the major barrier to any postwar reconciliation and as written in the show, let alone the comics, it is by design nearly insuperable unless Zuko somehow finds in himself a self-awareness that his youth and reality rewarding him at every possible level and evading any actual facing of his own bad actions makes, shall we say, somewhat unlikely.

Autocrats who take thrones as teenagers and got away with attempted murder do not learn from this that this is bad, and they are surrounded by courtiers and the trappings of power in a way that would be hard to resist. The basis from here of 'family reconciliation' runs very hard into Zuko's hunger for throne and power in the actuals how, and it is something that would only change if given a sufficiently big hammer.

And that, in short, is why my post-canon scenarios have his rule of the Fire Nation blow up in his face in a decade as he's sixteen at the time he takes power and facing a situation an omniscient deity would find challenging and he's.....Zuko. Literally nothing about that postwar situation is sustainable and the way it would be all too probable to explode in everyone's faces would finally force Zuko to realize there is more to the universe than his own personal self-gratification and to examine everything canon shied away from because the ball of rage and resentment has become a singularity drowning the entire series in a paen to the redditbro mindset.

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

When you really think about it, Chloe is just a version of Azula written by people who failed to understand what made Azula work as a character.

They are both malicious 14 year old girls that have a final swan song where they fight the heros for the last time and have a breakdown when they lose. They both have neglectful mothers (but like at complete opposites of the neglect spectrum) that they crave love from, and they both have "loving" fathers that shaped them into the horrible people that they are today.

However, the writers of ATLA understood that Azula is the way she is because of her circumstances; if her father wasn't abusive fire Hitler that encouraged the worst parts of Azula's personality, and if Ursa was able to have a better relationship with her daughter, then Azula would not have turned out the way she did.

Meanwhile, the writers of ML honestly think that Chloe is a bad person only because of her choices, despite writing the exact opposite. Chloe got her ideals of Rich superiority from her Father who raised her alone for most of her life, who is also shown to constantly abusing his political power in the early seasons, but the show dosen't point out that obvious connection beyond "he dosen't punish Chloe enough because he loves her too much UwU". Chloe's mother straight up dosen't care about Chloe and acts like a meaner version of her, but Chloe is the one the Narrative treats as the big threat that needs to be stopped? Andre gets rewarded with a new daughter despite being the reason why the old one turned out so bad??

Azula and Chloe are both cogs in the evil machine that realize they are unloved at the end of their stories, but while ATLA puts the blame on the machine, ML puts the blame on the cog and it's really weird because they laid the ground work for the evil machine!

Also, Zoe is like a dollar store version of Zuko I guess.

Here's another thing that made Azula work: Her progression as a villain felt more natural.

During Season 3 of Avatar: The Last Airbender, the show acknowledged how screwed up she was mentally. After losing Zuko, Mai, and Ty Lee and being made Fire Lord only for her father to crown himself Phoenix King, Azula's sanity gradually degraded, and it was played seriously. It was clear that as evil as she was, she has a lot of issues that make it hard to just write her off as beyond saving.

With Chloe, after the betrayal, the writers ramped up her evil moments while acting like she's always been this cruel. While you could argue these have been traits she's had since Season 1, there's no natural progression to her getting worse after she betrayed Ladybug.

[oneatlatime]

Zuko Alone

I'm hoping for some Appa this episode. It's been too long since he's gotten any good sight gags.

Zuko is cosplaying Clint Eastwood. He's also back to being stupid pale this episode.

You know it's a good thing that Zuko's not in the Fire Nation anymore because he really would have sucked at being Fire Nation. Robbing pregnant women is probably kindergarden level stuff for them.

How is Zuko in such bad shape? Last time we saw him he had a cave full of spoils robbed from rich people. Did he not bother to pack at least some of that stuff? Actually, not thinking far enough ahead to pack would be pretty in character.

Oof that would rub me the wrong way. Not enough money for a meal, but sure, let's use totally edible eggs as ammo.

Where'd the egg go?

Who is the scarred up hat wearing vampire and what happened to the real Zuko? Imposter Zuko just elected to not be provoked into a fight. Real Zuko would already be setting things on fire.

Just a bunch of thugs. Yep. It's consistently awesome how many of the facets of war this show can cover.

Imposter Zuko and Song's horse bird just got kidnapped. Did not see that coming.

Zuko kind of has arm bandages like Sokka has this episode. Also love the character detail that the boy has scraped knees.

Is the kid's dad the same guy as the man at the store? Or maybe this is a one haircut town?

So the guy who was near to fainting off his horse bird this morning is now turning down freely offered food? Could Zuko please shelve his pride for five minutes? Kudos to the mom for accurately reading his distaste for charity and turning it into a request for aid though. Although covering for the boy's egg trick is worth at least a meal.

Tangent!

I don't get Zuko. How can he still have so much pride when he's wearing rags and starving himself to feed Song's horse bird? I'm quite shameless when it comes to accepting help and I've never, ever been able to understand the whole 'too proud to accept charity' mindset. I'm always up for some charity. I have enough manners to offer to do the dishes after, but if you're offering free food I'm eating it. And I've never been in a situation as desperate as Zuko's. So I don't get this.

ok tangent over.

Peak rich kid behaviour. I hope those nails aren't expensive otherwise Zuko doing work for food might end up with this family out of pocket.

Is the wood grain on this ladder an actual photograph of wood grain?

Zuko has more patience this episode than he had for all of season 1 combined. He's also never gone this long without yelling. Either proximity to young children activates Zuko's otherwise mostly slumbering decency, or to fit him into a Fistful of Dollars homage the writers had to make him out of character.

If I had been in this situation when I was a kid, if I had been a) this visibly bored, and b) this nosy around guests, I would have been given a hammer and a bag of nails in three seconds flat. Also, nice to see a Sokka face from Zuko.

I get that 'a man without a past' is a staple of the cowboy genre, but the boy's father bringing up the privacy of the past twice in like two minutes makes me think he's done stuff he doesn't want to talk about. Seems both the parents have read Zuko right though.

Finally! Some pretty! I have been suffering! This may be the first really good pretty all season!

Bad news for the Appa decor on my blog. He may have been supplanted in my affections.

Two things: first, Zuko is a carbon copy of his mom. Second, That is way too much forehead.

Having Zuko's mom introduce herself by talking about the lengths mothers will go to for their children is not giving me foreshadowing anxiety at all.

Azula's been a bitch since birth. Noted.

Sir, your eyebrows. Also, yeah, I wouldn't want to play with her either.

Yikes this is making my teeth itch and my skin crawl. Calling it now, she's rotten to the core.

Zuko and Azula's dad has some weak ass genes. BOTH of his children are carbon copies of their mom.

Also, I was not expecting Zuko's very stupid ponytail to be a pre-scar thing. It is much better with a full head of hair.

If I had spent my childhood hanging out with an untouchable princess who set things on my head on fire for fun whenever I involuntarily displayed emotion, I'd be gloomy and apathetic in self defense too.

Sokka in this episode in spirit, if not in person.

Seriously that's the same face three times over!

Um, no? If Iroh doesn't make it back from the front, doesn't his son become next in line to be Firelord?

Can you hear all the unspoken "father thinks that" and "father says that" in front of every one of Azula's opinions in this whole scene? I stand by my assertion that she's awful anyways, but she's also obviously drunk much too much of her dad's koolaid, if you know what I mean.

This kid is going to get into so much trouble one of these days. Provoking the soldiers, nagging the mysterious stranger with the mysterious past, and now taking his weapons? Kid's sweet but he really needs to learn when to stop pushing his luck.

Stabbing dead, dried wood sounds like a great way to utterly annihilate the edge on those. Hope Zuko packed a whetstone.

Where is this patience coming from? I don't understand and it's BUGGING me.

Hold on. Technical problems.

My very basic DVD player sometimes has difficulty with these disks. Whatever happened between the above two screenshots, I've missed it. So picking back up from the one on the right...

Either these soldiers are impressively cowardly (which, yeah) or Zuko's really been working on his death glare, because they've got him outnumbered and out-armoured and they still back off.

OH it's parallels! Zuko's cousin and the boy's older brother. Got it. Kind of a false parallel though. Grandson of the Firelord does not equal earth kingdom conscript.

Give the demonstrably impulsive and nosy child a knife. That'll work out just fine I'm sure. Pretty sad the kid glommed on to Zuko so quickly, but it's also yet another realistic representation of the consequences of war. This show's good.

*shudders* theatre kids.

She's tiny! Do you know how darkly humourous it is to watch a two foot tall baby spout her father's murderous nonsense? Once again, in this whole scene, not a word out of Azula's mouth is actually Azula's.

"What is wrong with that child?" Apart from budding homicidal and psychopathic tendencies? Her dad. Her dad is what's wrong with that child.

Their dad has no subtlety at all. And also no brain? You think a day after the firelord finds out one of his family died is the right time to very boorishly make a play for the crown with you daughter as a prop? Could you possibly come up with a better demonstration of why this guy shouldn't be in charge?

How did this asshole land such a nice wife?

Yep. Siding with the old firelord on this one.

Does flashback Zuko sleep in his day clothes? Because that's not ok.

I like that their mom sees straight through Azula's lying here. She knows her daughter.

In a move that should surprise no one, everything Zuko touches turns to shit, as usual.

It's the Mexico filter!

Absolute truth from Zuko in that monologue. He's got them pegged. Too bad it fell on deaf ears. It's Zuko's curse, that whenever he approaches being remotely reasonable, he happens to be surrounded by people who will react in such a way that Zuko learns to equate being reasonable with failure.

An earthbender. The bare feet should have clued me in.

Last season Zuko and Iroh laid waste to like ten of these guys. And Iroh didn't even have pants. So what gives? Is he that starved?

Ursa pulling a Mufasa.

Don't answer don't answer don't answer

And he does.

Zuko is so very good at completely misinterpreting the point.

So we can add thief to the list of things that make Azula awful. Also that delivery of "who's going to make me? Mom?" is chilling. Zuko's lost his only defender inside this atrocious family and she knows it, he knows it, hell the turtleducks probably know it.

His dying wish? You guys buying that?

Ozai. That's his name. I'd forgotten that.

So... something something dead firelord something something missing mom something something maybe Azula wasn't actually lying this time?

Final Thoughts

The title wasn't kidding. Let's rename the show 'Avatar: the Guy who's Really Bad at Capturing Him' while we're at it.

There is now no way whatsoever that Zuko is not going to be redeemed. No writing team would invest that much energy and a whole episode into a character we're not ultimately supposed to root for. So somehow he's going to end up joining the Gaang. Don't know how he'll pull that one off. He's done some pretty not great stuff. And it's not like the Gaang watched this episode and unlocked his tragic backstory.

Speaking of, what prompted these reflections? I could understand if Zuko started to contemplate his cousin and the events surrounding his loss in the war after he learned about the family's older brother, but he was having flashbacks before he even got to town. Usually when there are backstory bits, there's a good reason to show them at that time, like how the Storm prompts Aang to think about the last storm he was in, or seeing a boat from his father's fleet prompts Sokka to remember what his dad told him. So what caused Zuko's memories to give him situationally appropriate flashbacks?

Pretty funny that he found the Nice Earth Kingdom Family that Azula predicted for him. And they are really nice! Either Zuko is an open book or the parents' social intelligence is off the charts because they're giving him exactly what he needs to feel at ease after barely a single conversation.

Speaking of Azula, I'm not surprised to find that she's always had deeply awful tendencies, even as a child of (I'm guessing) less than ten. But it cannot be ignored that, from the moment her father took a liking to her (as a tool to boost his own greatness, if not as a person), she didn't stand a chance. You can tell by the number of times that the stuff coming out of her mouth is a thinly veiled repetition of her father's unfiltered opinions, that she's been spending lots of time listening to him, probably while he puts down her mom and brother and talks about how she's the special one. You know what I'm getting at. Azula never stood a chance once her father got involved, and her mom lost the ability to influence her once her father started giving Azula praise for objectively wrong behaviour. That being said, Azula is awful even when she doesn't need to be awful for her father's approval, like when she's with her friends, so it's not all her father's doing. She's not a good person but she also had plenty of help to become that.

I guess Zuko and his mom are Fire Nation anomalies? And maybe Iroh has become that since his son died and he lost the war?

How on earth did Zuko survive as long as he did in the palace without his mom to protect him? What a no-win situation to be in. The only person in a whole nation with empathy.

This episode does makes Season 1 Zuko make more sense. He's been larping his dad as a defense mechanism for surviving the Fire Nation/probably a very futile effort to earn his approval. Although Zuko doesn't seem to care much for his dad if the tone he takes with him by the turtleduck pond is any indication.

Being banished was the best thing that ever happened to Zuko. The more distance between him and his remaining non-uncle family, the better. Between prioritizing his crew over capturing the avatar in the Storm, releasing the Avatar in the Blue Spirit, and now defending a random earth kingdom child this episode, it's hilarious how much Zuko HASN'T learned the lesson that Ozai banished him for not knowing. Don't get me wrong; that's a good thing. This episode plainly shows that behaviour that pleases Ozai is behaviour that should be unlearned as quickly as possible.

Zuko completely missing the point of his mom's last instruction is delightfully on the nose. But it also makes sense, which I may talk more about later.

How did Zuko hold on to his temper (and his volume) for a whole episode?

How did a show named after the main character get away with an episode that doesn't feature him at all? As a concept, this is such a strange episode. The writers were like "how can we kick start the woobification of Zuko? I know! A Spaghetti Western!" and it worked. Who comes up with that?

I now want at least as much, if not more, of Sokka and Katara's childhood via flashbacks. And more Gyatso please. If they can devote a whole episode to the childhood of a guy who isn't even a team member yet, they can show me some Sokka childhood shenanigans as a palette cleanser.

I really don't know what conclusion to draw about this episode. The writers have given me a massive backstory/trauma dump and I'm honestly like:

[dont-leafmealone]

What is UP? brand new Kazula/Azutara oneshot! G, no warnings except extreme pettiness <3 read on ao3 using the link above or under the cut below!

"Look, Katara, I'm just saying you could give it a chance."

Katara rolled her eyes, shifting her phone to her shoulder while she checked the price on a box of instant noodles and compared it to the quantity. "Jet, the last time you set me up with one of your exes, I ended up with food poisoning."

"Not my fault Jin can't make an omelet. She's good at everything that matters."

Katara wrinkled her nose. Not at Jet's crude implication — though that was a factor — but because it was nearly six dollars for two servings of noodles. She put the box back on the shelf. "Well, I'm not interested in a repeat of the incident."

"For the record, this one's not my ex. She's a friend from work, new to the area, and she's had a little trouble connecting with people. I think you'll like her." 

Katara let Jet dwell on her skeptical silence. After a moment, he said, "She's also my ex's sister."

"There it is." She rolled her eyes and looked over her grocery list. "I'll think about it, alright?"

"Alright, cool. 'Ru's gonna be home in a little bit, I oughta get started on dinner."

"Bye, say hi to Haru for me."

"Will do, sweetheart. Catch ya later."

She hung up the phone and started to push her shopping cart out of the aisle. As she rounded the corner, she nearly collided with a woman aggressively texting. Katara gasped and pulled the cart up short, and the woman looked up, glaring at her. 

"Watch it," she snapped, brushing her silky hair behind her ear with a manicured hand. "You very nearly ran me over."

Katara bristled. "Get your nose out of your phone. It's a crowded store."

The woman scowled. She pushed past Katara's cart, knocking it into the neighboring shelf. Boxes fell to the floor, and Katara tamped down a growl of frustration. 

What a bitch, she thought, putting the boxes back on the shelf. 

She wheeled her cart to the next aisle, the unpleasant interaction soon nearly forgotten as she compared prices on canned soups.

"Hey, Sokka?" 

"Yeah?" Sokka poked his head into the kitchen, raising his safety glasses. He set down the power drill he was using to re-hinge the door, since the landlord had yet to return any of the calls on the subject, the prick. 

"Which one of Jet's exes had a sister?" Katara asked, nose buried in a cookbook as she stirred a pan of sauce on the stove. Sokka frowned.

"Not another one of his blind dates," he said. 

"Double date this time," Katara confirmed without looking up, pursing her lips. "Him and Haru, with me and Mystery Girl."

Sokka frowned, thinking.  "I think Ty Lee had a few sisters," he said, pulling off his work gloves to examine the blister forming on his thumb. "And...Zuko has a half-sister, but she's in middle school."

"Huh." Katara put down the cookbook, rooting through a drawer. "I guess we'll find out."

Sokka shook his head. He didn't get at all why Katara kept trying — there were, in his opinion, better ways to meet people than through Jet. But did little sisters ever listen? 

No, he thought, pulling his gloves back on and adjusting his glasses. No, they do not.

"​​What do you think?"

"It's nice," Zuko said, not looking up from his phone. Azula scowled, crossing her arms in a way that wouldn't wrinkle the dress.

"You didn't even look."

Zuko glanced up. "It's a little dressy."

Azula frowned, looking down at her clothes; she'd picked an elegant, but understated, calf-length dress in a flattering burgundy, on the less flashy side of her wardrobe. It was even one she had worn in public before. "What do you mean?" 

"You look like you're going to an office meeting. Tone it down." 

"I'm meant to be making a first impression," she said. 

"It's Jet's ex. He's not really known for batting out of his league."

"What does that say about you?" she retorted, earning a middle finger raised in her direction. 

"I think you look nice," Kiyi piped up, taking off her headphones. 

"Great. Now I have to change." 

Kiyi stuck her tongue out, putting the headphones back on. Azula rolled her eyes; her siblings could be so immature. 

"Try that one with the blue on it," Zuko said. "Jet said the girl likes blue."

"That one with the blue on it," Azula quoted. "That narrows it down marvelously."

"The one that doesn't make you look like you're running for Congress," he added. 

She rolled her eyes, striding to her room. Her closet door stood ajar, her other options on display — moving into Mother's house had drastically limited her storage space, forcing her to downsize her wardrobe. She easily found the dress Zuko had referred to, a shorter, much more casual red dress with electric blue beading and embroidery around the neck and hemline. 

Azula hung the dress on the closet door, surveying her current outfit in the full-length mirror. Loath as she was to admit it, Zuko had a point. She did look somewhat political for a first date. Sighing, she picked out the heels that went with the red dress and set them at the end of her bed. 

This had better be worth the trouble, she thought as she changed into her pajamas. 

"Where is this place you're heading to?" Sokka asked as he dug through his backpack for Katara's bus pass. She took her eyes off the mirror for a second to check her phone. 

"The Thai place up the road, you know the one where you and Suki went on your anniversary?"

"Seems pricy for a blind date," Sokka said skeptically. Katara shrugged, checking that her mascara was dry. 

"Jet said he knows a guy."

"I do not trust that man any further than I could throw him," Sokka said. "Here's your bus pass," he added, putting it down on the table in front of her.

"Thanks, Sokka." Katara yanked on her brother's ponytail as he walked past, earning a startled yelp and a glare. 

"Go meet your stupid date," he grumbled, pulling her in for a hug. 

As the bus pulled up to the stop and Katara stepped off, her phone buzzed, a text coming in from Haru's number. 

- hey. not gonna make it tonight. flat tire. 

Katara frowned. As far as she knew, Jet didn't even have a car, and took the bus, like her. And Haru biked wherever he went. Something was fishy about this.

You guys don't even have a car. -

​​​​​​- all the buses. flat tires on all of them. sorry </3

Katara ground her teeth. Haru did not send analog emojis. Nor would he lie in such an obvious way just to get on her nerves.

Jet, give Haru's phone back to him. -

And cut the bullcrap. -

- Sorry, katara. Jet's sick and he refuses to admit it but we're pretty sure going out is a no-go tonight, sorry.  - You should go ahead though, let us know how your date goes. 

Katara bit her lip, stifling a groan of frustration. Half the reason she had agreed to the date was the expectation of having Jet and Haru there as a buffer. But at the same time, she knew it'd be totally rude to cancel just because they wouldn't be there. It occurred to her that she didn't have Mystery Girl's number, meaning she couldn't cancel even if she wanted to, except by standing her up — which was so not an option.

Great. Guess we're doing this. 

She squared her shoulders and marched up to the Thai restaurant. 

The reserved table for four was in the back of the restaurant, on a balcony overlooking the street below. It was a pretty view, lots of neon lights and window decor, if you could get past the light pollution. 

Katara had been sitting alone for the better part of ten minutes, sipping water and waiting for her date to show up, and was beginning to wonder if she had been stood up — Mystery Girl had to have gotten a text from Jet too. What if she'd decided not to risk meeting Katara without that buffer?

Katara was starting to consider cutting her losses and eating alone when the hostess approached the table, followed by a short, dark-haired young woman that Katara thought she recognized.

It wasn't until the woman had sat down, brushing her hair behind her ear with delicate, manicured nails that Katara realized why. 

"You," she said, at the same time the woman looked up and hissed, "You."

All Katara could think was that Jet was one twisted bastard. 

Azula couldn't believe Jet had set her up with this — this woman. It had to be a sick practical joke, right? Some stupid way of getting back at her for something. He'd orchestrated this simply because he knew it would piss her off, and —

Azula stopped. No, she told herself, cutting off that paranoid train of thought before it could derail. There is absolutely no way he could know about that. You're not under 24/7 surveillance, and especially not by Jet. You could kill him with a pinky nail. 

She took deep breaths, running through these affirmations until she had managed to clear her head. 

"This was obviously a mistake," Azula said, picking up her handbag as she stood.

"Obviously," the other woman said, an irritated edge to her voice. "I'm supposed to be meeting a date here."

"As am I." ​​​​​Azula looked the woman up and down; far from her more slovenly appearance in the grocery store earlier in the week, Azula had to admit she looked quite elegant, her midnight blue off-shoulder dress complementing her brown skin. She shook off the momentary distraction. "Clearly one of us was given the wrong table."

"Well, it wasn't me," the woman said testily. 

"You're dining alone at a table for four," Azula pointed out. 

"It was a double date, but — never mind, I don't have to explain to you," the woman said, pinching the bridge of her nose. Meanwhile, dread settled in Azula's stomach. She closed her eyes, sighing. 

"Is there any chance this was a blind date, organized by a certain Jet Andal?" she asked, hoping she was wrong. The woman's eyes widened. 

"You're kidding." 

"I'm afraid I'm not," Azula said. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, though."

The woman's gaze darkened. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Jet isn't particularly choosy about the company he keeps," Azula said. 

The woman stood up, scowling. "Obviously not," she snapped, picking up the purse and jacket that were hung over her seat.

She stormed off, the doors of the restaurant swinging shut behind her.

Azula scoffed and sat back down, picking up the menu the woman had left. She was going to kill Jet, but first she was going to at least get a meal out of this. 

It had been nearly an hour since Katara had left the restaurant, teary-eyed. Despite her skepticism, she had really hoped this date would work out; that hope went out the window, though, and she had comforted herself with dinner from the Mexican grill on the corner. Now, Katara's bus was delayed, and it was about to start raining. She huddled under the bus stop awning, watching the road. 

Somebody joined her on the bench. She looked up, and scowled. 

"What do you want?"

"I informed Jet that the arrangement went awry," the woman said, in a somewhat clipped tone. "He informed me that I was being rude and petty, and that I should apologize. Apparently you're a nice person, or something."

She looked down at her lap, picking at her nails, and it was then that Katara realized she was embarrassed. 

"So. I'm sorry," she went on. "I hope your next date goes better."

Katara swallowed. "Thanks," she managed to say. "I hope yours does, too."

There was a peal of thunder, and the forecasted rain began pouring down. 

The woman turned to Katara, offering her hand. "I'm Azula, by the way."

Katara looked up, shaking her hand after a moment. "Katara."

"Oh. Jet's ex with the brother." Azula's expression softened, and she nodded. "It's nice to meet you. I wish it had been under better circumstances."

"Yeah, you too."

The bus finally rolled up to the stop. Katara sighed and picked up her purse.

"Wait."

She turned back to Azula, who had her phone out of her purse. "If it's alright with you, I'd like to exchange numbers," Azula said. "You don't have to, but...well, I've had trouble getting to know people in the city. And I've only heard high praise from our mutual acquaintances."

Katara hesitated. A minute ago, she would have flat-out refused, but...

"I've been rude and petty too," Katara said. "I'm sorry. I'd be happy to get to know you better."

She took Azula's phone and entered her number, allowing Azula to enter her contact into Katara's phone.

"Azula Huo?" she asked when she took her phone back. "Are you related to Zuko?"

Azula gave a theatrically put-upon sigh, tucking her hair behind her ear. "By some insane luck on his part. I'm his sister."

"I didn't know he had another sister," Katara said.

Azula's eyes seemed to sadden a little, though her cool smile didn't waver. "Our family's complicated. I'm sure you've heard enough about it from him."

Katara really hadn't; Zuko wasn't forthcoming about a lot when it came to his family, except for bits and pieces, but it seemed like Azula didn't want to get into it, so Katara nodded and left it at that.

"Well, I won't keep you any longer," Azula said. "Enjoy the rest of your night."

"You too," Katara said, waving as she climbed on the bus.

She arrived home to silence, the lights already out in Sokka's room down the hall. She quietly toed off her shoes, creeping up to her bedroom.

Moments after she put her phone on the charger, there was a buzz as she received a text from Jet.

- did azula apologize? I told her she was being a petty bitch, but she never listens to me

Katara rolled her eyes and texted back.

Yes, she apologized. I did too. -

- any chance you'll agree to a double date next week then? - I might have already told azula you were going. she might have already agreed ;) - you must've made a real impression

Katara fought off a furious blush. The nerve he had.

I'd be happy to. - As long as you don't cancel last minute again! -

- like i'd miss that.

Azula took a deep breath, pausing to check in the window that her outfit was still in place before entering the restaurant. It was several thousand dollars below the price range she was accustomed to, but it was a change she would have to adapt to in her new life.

She followed the hostess to the table in the back. Haru and Jet were already seated across from one another — tragically underdressed for the venue — and looking so disgustingly in love that Azula briefly considered leaving. She instead slid into a seat beside Haru, picking up a menu.

"Has Katara not arrived yet?"

Jet looked up. "She said she'd be late. Buses are running slow tonight."

Azula nodded shortly, trying to hide her disappointment and worry — what if Katara had decided not to show up at all? She had been pleasant enough during their last text exchange, but what if Azula had said something off-putting, and Katara was too polite to point it out, so she instead decided to blow off the date and make an excuse, and it was all —

"Hi! Sorry I'm late, the bus got held up."

Azula looked up as Katara sat across from her, tossing her brown waves over her shoulder.

"You're just in time," she said, relief coursing through her. Take that, paranoia. Not everything is a catastrophe. "I only just got here."

"I'm glad I didn't keep you waiting too long, then." Katara smiled, and Azula was a little ashamed at how quick the butterflies took flight in her stomach.

"Shall we order drinks?" she suggested, louder than she meant, glaring when Jet smirked.

"Good idea," Katara agreed quickly, opening her menu with a smile.

[conretewings]

(Found this forgotten nugget buried deep in my drafts and even though RWBY is effectively done for I thought eh what the hell I'll post it anyway)

Saw someone describe Cinder as a complex, cunning, well written character, and another declaring her more successful than Watts and Tyrian and I-

This angsty, dollar-store Zuko knock-off is about as complex and deep as a mud puddle and much less interesting. And if she's so cunning, how is it she's always getting stumped by the idiot Power of Friendship Squad?

#CinderSucks

[writeofmind]

of ur costumes AND tats :0

ok, starting off, i was zuko about 3 years ago, and i did the scar with cheap dollar store crayons and a glue stick and it came out rly gross looking (in a good way) and people kept messaging me asking if i was okay lmao

then the following year i was my idol boy inosuke, which, was one of my favs bc it was so easy and all i had to do was buy the mask and the swords

and most recently i was toji from jjk! i made the worm out of an old body pillow and just tied him up to make him look wormy, and then tied him to my waistband to keep him wrapped around me. the sword i made myself out of foam and spray painted it

u can’t see too much of my tats but you can see the updated ones + there’s more on my shoulder, sternum, and rib cage!

[kennythetrampvamp]

Dollar store ponytail zuko

I should've bought him he was 5 dollars. I miss him

[goongiveusnothing]

I feel like he could really learn from Heidi Klum lol I would’ve rather seen that creepy worm on stage than a dollar store Danny Zuko. How lazy can you be…

Heidi Klum has a personality and clearly just loves Halloween.

Harrieween was something started by the fans, not by Harry. He's tried to seize onto it for marketing which hollows it all out even more than it was. But as with everything, he just doesn't have the real personality for it.

I've never felt more bored of Harry Styles.

[omi-papus]

Yall I remember BNHA every other month but I compleatly forgot dollar store Zuko existed for three straight years until earlier today a picture of him jumscared me on pinterest. Like I remembered KODA, but the Katty Perry bitch utterly slipped my mind.

[inkyspirit]

So far I'm. Okay with Netflix's Avatar. I just finished episode 3 and it was... Meh

But I quite enjoyed episode 2.

So. I'm not yet on the hate train or the love train.

But watching Avatar trending again finally gives me the chance to rant properly about something I care deeply about.

And that's Hollywood's general avoidance of 'ugliness' on their actors.

Zuko's scar does look better than the sun burn we got in the movie-which-shall-not-be-named, but gosh darn it, this kid got half his face burnt off by his own dad. Based off the cartoon, it is even possible he's got permanent sight and hearing damage from this thing. It's THAT bad.

Can we show just how bad a scar like this is? Like.. please?

I feel the same way about other such characters.

Phantom of the Opera, "Oh don't look at me I'm super hot except for this bit of makeup on!"

Ironfist, "O yeah this little stick on tattoo? I hugged a dragon until I almost burnt to death. You can buy it from the dollar store."

Ready Player One, "Don't look at me I'm hideous! Oh what a good hero you are for loving me even though I forgot to put sunscreen on this side of my face!"

If you went to try and prove a point, then MAKE THEM UGLY!

Now. I'm not actually trying to say I consider real people with real injuries to be deformed or ugly. What I am saying is Avatar taught me something.

I still remember the very first time I watched the very first episode of Avatar. I saw Zuko and I turned to my little sister and said "Guess we know who the bad guy is." Before bed even said a word. Because this is what Media had taught me. It taught me that 'ugliness' is uncomfortable, bad, even evil. That we should distrust it. And we still do that as adults! Remember some of those trending stories a few years back where parents were showing real life Tick-Tockers with various injuries and disabilities just to get a 'funny' scared reaction out of their kids?

But Avatar played the game then taught us we were wrong. Zuko isn't ugly or scary at all. He's a traumatized child who works through his issues and was always meant to be part of team Avatar even if none of them knew it at first. He was destined to be a hero but his father's abuse tried to stand in the way. Avatar took the expectations that have been trained into us and showed us why it's wrong. For the kid I was back then, it was a defining experience both as a storyteller and a human being.

Which is why our media needs to show 'ugliness' more. Not as bad guys, not as horror tropes, but as just everyday people and characters who deserve, simply by nature, human respect.

[saphushia]

sometimes u just gotta draw an oc you’ve had for like a week looking really cool with a big sword

aka this is my new child dandy and i have no idea what they do other than look fine as hell and kick ass

[lightdancer1]

If people want to fight me over Zuko being a boringly simple character to write

You have two roots of any Zuko story.

Azula always does it, she's the root of all evil, and even if Kharn the Betrayer is out there massing pyramids of skulls for the Blood God if he patted Zuko on the head and called him a sweet cinnamon bun he's the lesser evil to a 14 year old girl. Zuko's entire personality hinges on one-upping a sister who's innately better than him at most sides of his life and he is essentially a skinnier, more competent Eric Cartman about it.

Everything and anything that happens is all about Zuko and how it affects him personally, nothing else is real. Someone else's entire culture gets wiped out? Does it give Zuko a sad? Then it gets a 'that's rough buddy' and otherwise it's non-existent. Someone's sole memento of their surviving parents is used as a hostage by Zuko in his villain days? Zuko does it, so it's OK. Zuko can do the most horrible things for the most nonsensical reasons and Agni will spend 100 years watching Saints games on TV and finally gets bored and notices the two genocides, doesn't give a single shit, and makes Zuko a stupider dollar store Paul Atreides.

There is literally no challenge to writing any of this, it's predictable hero worship in the most annoyingly inbred Redditbro self-projection onto one of the most overly hyped and least likeable characters in media. Say what you will about Walter from the Big Lebowski or Dream of the Endless, they have more awareness they're assholes than Zuko is ever likely to have and the settings do not validate every single asshole dickburger move they've ever made or are ever going to make.

I have no interest in writing Zuko stories because they're fucking boring iterations on these two themes.

[unfortunately-rogi]

Does anyone else think that Lee from the tea shop kinda looks like the new firelord? Just me?

[just-rogi]

YO WHAT THE FUCK I just realized the age gap between Zuko and Azula is almost the same as me and my step brother?? AND ZUKO CHALLENGES HER TO AN AGNI KAI??? like obviously I conceptualized that their relationship was fucked up and that it was wrong for Zuko to challenge his 14 year old sister,, but holy shit man,, Azula was his BABY sister.

Like I STILL struggle to remember that my FIFTEEN YEAR OLD brother isn’t the seven year old with chubby cheeks who followed me around constantly and held my hand to cross the street and sat next to me every day on the bus to school, I STILL see him that way sometimes. Like maybe I’m the weird one bc I am definitely a bit over protective with him but man, it just kinda hit me that when I was 18 he was Azulas age. Sorry but that just fucked with my head so much and really put into context how wrong Zuko was for fighting her in the finale when she was CLEARLY broken and “slipping” ,,, god she was a baby, fuck at that age I was helping him with his history homework at the kitchen table and making lunch for us because he only knew how to make grilled cheese and scrambled eggs and French toast sticks

Azula probably wanted an older sibling to do homework with and to make HER lunch, man fuck Zuko, why am I actually emotional about this wtf

[yourlocalshittywriter]

Nicknames That I Fully Believe Katsuki Bakugou Has Given His Classmates And Teacher

Author’s Note: What’s crackalackin you seasoned sons of bitches? Here are some nicknames that I think King Explosion Murder has given to his classmates and Mr. Aizawa. Some of these are cannon, some of them aren’t, some I made up, some I heard somewhere, but they’re all pretty fitting in my opinion. I added links to some of the nicknames that need context. Enjoy! Stay fresh, cheese bags!

Shouta Aizawa - Eraserhead - Hobo, Caterpillar, Crippling Depression, Skinny Hagrid, Eyebags Sr.

🥦Izuku Midoriya - Deku🥦 - Deku, Broccoli, All Might Wannabe, Green Bean, Osteoporosis

❄️Shoto Todoroki - Shoto🔥 - Half n’ Half, IcyHot Bastard, Daddy Issues, Candy Cane, Prince Zuko

🦈Eijiro Kirishima - Red Riot🦈 - Rock Bottom, Shitty Hair, Sharky, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Pet Rock

⚡️Denki Kaminari - Chargebolt⚡️ - AC/DC, Dunce Face, Pikachu, Sparky, Phone Charger

🧻Hanta Sero - Cellophane🧻 - Phil Swift, Soy-Sauce Face, Bondage, Tape Arms, Wallets

💞Mina Ashido - Pinky💞 - Alien, Raccoon Eyes, Dollar Tree Princess Bubblegum, Gum Wad, LSD

🐸Tsuyu Asui - Froppy🐸 - Kermit, Leap Frog, Frogger, Ed Bighead, Pepe

💸Ochako Uraraka - Uravity💸 - Round Face, Pink Cheeks, Airhead, Welfare, Kirby

🔊Kyoka Jiro - Earphone Jack🔊 - Ears, Skullcandy, Raven, Beats by Dre, Jackass

💰Momo Yaoyorozu - Creati💰 - Easy-Bake Oven, 3D Printer, Ponytail, Bob the Builder, Kale

🏍Tenya Iida - Ingenium🏍 - Sonic, Four Eyes, Knockoff Ingenium, Chop-Chop, Lightning McQueen

🌑Fumikage Tokoyami - Tsukuyomi🌑 - Birdbrain, My Chemical Crowmance, All Time Crow, Revelry in The Dark, Edgar Allen Crow

🦑Mezo Shoji - Tentacole🦑 - Handjob, Walking Gloryhole, Octodad, Tentai, Handyman

🍰Rikido Sato - Sugarman🍰 - Diabetes, Dollar Store FatGum, Lips, Archies, Sugar Crash

🐿Koji Koda - Anima🐿 - Steve Irwin, Rockhead, Vow of Silence, Fluttershy, Rhino

🥋Mashirao Ojiro - Tailman🥋 - Wannabe Jackie Chan, Tails, Tarzan, Furry, Monkey Man

🌫Toru Hagakure - Invisible Girl🌫 - Clothes, Invisibitch, Carmen Sandiego, Air, Who?

✨Yuuga Aoyama - Can’t Stop Twinkling✨ - Dollar Store Tamaki Suoh, Elton John, Tengen Uzui Wannabe, Chastity Belt, Sailor Moon from Wish

🧠Hitoshi Shinsou - Mind Fuck🧠 - Hypno, Megamind, Washing Machine, Eyebags, Aizawa Jr.

[hello-nichya-here]

alright, bestie just pretend you don't know who I am. no one does. actually tipsy this time. living up to my reputation. modern au high school this time 'cause why not

---

Azula examined herself in the full-length mirror in her bedroom. It wasn't the intricate, gorgeous oversized mirror she was used to in her father's manor. Nor were the tiny pajama shorts and cropped tank top name brands she was familiar with. They were cheap Walmart items Ursa had picked up.

Azula sighed, trying to fix her mood to be reasonable. She didn't want to be an embarrassing nuisance. It was just very difficult to hold back the hundreds of complaints she had about the cheap shampoo and the dollar store bottled waters, so different from the imported sparkling stuff Azula was accustomed to.

There was a knock at the door. Azula rolled her eyes, expecting her mother. She had lived here a month now, and a month was already too long with Ursa. "Yes?"

Zuko burst into the room, walking over and throwing himself back on Azula's bed. The two of them had maintained a cold but formally polite relationship for years. Ever since Azula moved here though, it was different. Zuko had started opening up about - well, everything. Zuzu was not known for his subtlety, after all.

Azula couldn't resist the urge to laugh. She closed her bedroom door and walked over to sit on the edge of the bed. "Hey dum dum. How was your day?"

Zuko huffed in annoyance, causing Azula to giggle. He was so dramatic. Zuko glared. Azula lay back on the bed beside him, grinning. Zuko was wearing just sweatpants and no top, ready for bed himself. He looked so adorable. Wait - where did that thought come from?

"Shitty," Zuko said. "My day was shitty. I'm so sick of getting in trouble all because-"

"You're loud and can't resist causing problems?"

Zuko turned his head, glaring at Azula. Azula just grinned, enjoying the way his features softened at her amusement.

"What's up with you?" Zuko asked, his voice softer, less intense than when he was venting.

Azula smiled, scooting closer to him on the bed. She missed her old home and her father. She missed Mai and Ty Lee. She could admit that, in the privacy of her head. But it was good to have Zuko here. "I'm okay."

"Don't lie."

Azula sighed, rolling her eyes. "I am. I'm just...I miss name-brand pajamas. How stupid is that?"

Zuko laughed. Azula sat up, grabbing a pillow and smashing it into his face. Zuko wrestled her for it, trying to shove the fluffy weapon back at her. Azula couldn't hold back the peal of laughter, letting herself be pushed back in the bed as Zuko rolled on top of her, hitting her in the face with the pillow.

They were both lost to breathless laughter as Zuko won the wrestling match - although Azula pretty much let him. He was on top of her on the bed, holding the pillow against her with a threatening smirk.

"Okay, it's stupid," Azula said. "Fine."

Zuko's smirk changed to a soft smile. "No," he said. "I get it. The change is weird." His eyes darted downward, toward her tank top, which his bare chest was pressed against. Azula suddenly felt warm all over, way too aware of her legs tangled with Zuko's. "Besides," Zuko said. "The pajamas you're wearing are cute."

Knowing who you are? Whaaaat? I have no clue...

Poor Azula, dealing with former rich girl problems. And I loved seeing Zuko just throwing himself on her bed without giving a fuck because he needs to vent and his baby sister is there XD

It really does feel like something he'd do since he is a drama queen, it adds a bit of a family vibe, and yes, Azula was totally correct, it was adorable, I would have snuggled with him.

Azula struggling a bit to admit she isn't adjusting all that easily is a nice touch, especially since it led to an adorable pillow fight. I loved that you called the pillow "the fluffy weapon."

I have zero issue believing that Azula's pajamas were cute, but I do NOT believe that the cuteness was the only thing Zuzu noticed. Gotta check out his adorable, pretty, sexy baby sister.