#archer!azula

[waterfire1848]

A little twist on the nonbender!Sokkla -AU with a Azula being a prodigy in archery instead of a swordfighting-prodigy. Hit us with your headcanons, please :)

Hello, @subterraneanwatcher !!!!

(Side note but I'm loving the nonbender!azula asks) (Also, changing this up just a bit so that it doesn’t seem like a copy and paste of the sword AU)

1. When Azula was born a nonbender, Ozai wanted her dead or thrown in an orphanage. Ursa and the Fire sages intervened on her behalf though, arguing that she had some promise. So, Ozai allowed her to live but she was forever treated as the unwanted child. Ozai wasn’t fond of either of his children so Ursa did her best to split up time between the two but Azula still felt left out most of the time. She would often wander the palace alone, as the child servants and nobles would look at with disgust or pity, and try to find something to fill her time. One day, she saw the Yuyan archers practicing in the court yard and asked if she could try. The archers decided to humor her and helped her use the arrow (because again she’s a child) and Azula fell in love with the craft.

2. She begged her mother and father to let her enroll in archery classes and while Ursa was worried about her (because Ozai’s words about her being weak were getting to her) Ozai decided to let her so that he could have an excuse to not have his nonbending daughter around. When Azula started her lessons, she excelled. She was a natural and very fast learner. When she turned 11, the archers asked Ozai if they could take her with them. He gladly agreed.

3. Azula officially became a member of the Yuyan archers when she was twelve, the youngest member, and grew to love her little family. Most of them treated her like a younger sister or daughter. They joked around with her, brought her into the circle when they ate, gave her tips and praised her (all things she was missing from her bio family). Azula started going on missions at the age of twelve as well and became known as one of the Yuyan archers most accurate hitters at 14.

4. Azula was annoyed when they were hired by Zhao (who didn’t recognize her thanks to her makeup) but didn’t complain because the task of capturing the Avatar seemed like an interesting on. Azula remained with her brothers and sisters until the Avatar escaped and she attempted to stop him. Aang accidentally hit her head and she slammed it against the stone and was knocked out. Feeling guilty, he takes her with him and runs off, leaving the Yuyan archers devastated and believing her to be dead (don’t ya just love Fire nation propaganda??)

5. Aang brings her back to the cave where Sokka and Katara are still sick and lets her rest because she’s still knocked out. When Sokka and Katara wake up, they debate about taking her with them or not: Aang wants to because he doesn’t feel right about leaving her here alone so they decide to do that. After getting her onto Appa and getting in the air, Azula wakes up and demands to know what’s going on, yelling about her arrows and bows and the other archers. Aang explains what’s going on and that they can’t take her back but are more than happy to set her down and let her walk back (which isn’t an option because they’re in deep EK territory and Azula would very quickly be captured). Azula agrees to come with them until she can find a way back to her own people.

+1 (because there was no room for Sokkla) - Azula takes a notice in Sokka’s weapon and asks him to show her them. He gladly does which leads to a conversation about Azula’s archery skills. (Sokka: Wow! Your family must be really proud! Azula:…Not exactly. Sokka: What do you mean? Azula: My father only wanted benders as children. I’m a nonbender so he pretty much threw me away before I could even crawl. I don’t care. I stopped trying to impress him years ago.) Slowly but surely, the two grow closer and closer until the North Pole happens. Azula refuses to return with Zhao and (with a bow and arrow given to her by Yue) stops him from killing Tui (Azula: I’m not called the sharpest Yuyan shot for nothing. Sokka:…Do people really call you that? Azula: No, but I want them too, and I just saved the fish. I think I’m entitled to a cool nickname). Yue remains alive and in the North Pole but agrees to get them to start participating in the war. Azula, having killed Zhao, officially sides with the Gaang and her relationship with Sokka grows. All of them unaware that Zuko, who was trained under Ozai, is now after them.

[sleepyzukka]

I was thinking about an AU where Lu Ten lives and I was wondering if he’d be a bender or not and if so, if he would use weapons. Combustion bow. What if he carried little vials of blasting jelly and just different types of poison, like poison that could kill and paralyze. Coating blasting jelly on the arrows and setting them on fire when they reach their target and BOOM they fucking explode. I just thought it was a good idea especially if he was as good an archer as the yuyan. But yeah, I thought hey, since Zuko has a weapon, maybe other firebenders do too? I don’t know if Lu Ten would be a firebender but it makes sense, no? Sozin was, Azulon was, Ozai and Iroh are, Azula and Zuko are, Iroh ll is a firebender too soo. Chances are Lu Ten would be a bender. But I digress.

[ap-kinda-lit]

Sokka: What would you say if I told you your sister made a phony bomb threat just to get a free ride on a blimp?

Zuko: I’d say that’s fairly classic her.

[crybabylulu]

Sooo Azula is an archer! And I love it! I’ve always headcannon that she is a good archer and like sword fighter just cause she had to be good at everything like it doesn’t matter what she just has to be good at everything 🤣 I love it! And I JUST KNOW SHE DONT MISS WITH HER ARROWS ON HER CHERLY BLOSSOM SHE DONT MISS! OMG I CAN PICTURE THE APPLE SCENE BUT DIFFERENT WITH TY LEE AND OBVIOUSLY SHE TERRIFIED BECAUSE ITS IN HER MOUTH INSTEAD OF BEING IN TOP OF HER HEAD AND OBVIOUSLY ITS NOT MAI AND AZULA IS JUST SMIRKING! SHE FINNA TORMENT THESE GIRLS WITH HER ARROWS 🤣😭

[vics-chaos-gremlins]

Quotes

*Edwyn walking into a kitchen so messy he's only seen it in his nightmares*

Edwyn: What the hell happened...

Archer: We made breakfast.

Edwyn: Again... What the hell happened...

Julie: It's not gonna be spotless Edwyn.

Edwyn: I wasn't expecting spotless, I was expecting it to not look like Dorothy Gale steared her tornado through my kitchen.

Julie: It's not your kitchen, it's mom's.

Edwyn: And when moms not home, seince apparently I'm the only one who can cook. When she's gone, it's my kitchen.

Edwyn: I genuinely expect this from Archer, but you too Jules?

Julie: I'm sorry nobody taught me how to cook.

Edwyn: Maybe the Almighty princess Azula of the fire nation needs to get her ass off her cellphone.

Julie, whispering: Agni kai..

Edwyn: What was that?

Julie: AGNI FUCKIN KAI BITCH

Edwyn: YOU FORGET I CAN ACTUALLY WIELD FIRE!

Julie: SO CAN I BITCH!

Julie: I WILL GO FULL OZAI ON YOUR ASS!

Cedric, recording from a safe distance:

Archer, sitting next to him eating burnt pancakes: You should get someone to do a fan animation of this.

Cedric: I'll get Marshall on it.

(@sobeksewerrat the girls are fighting,)

[theotherpacman]

some positives about the atla live action series bc as much as i am a hater it's not good for the soul or the critical thinking skills to only hate things forever

the costumes are phenomenal. I really love all the live action character designs, they look fantastic

a lot of these young characters LOOK really really young, which is important. aang is a kid and they cast a kid and he looks like a kid. azula looks very young - in the cartoon (esp when you're a kid) you don't really think about it but she is a child. it's important that they're kids

the actors are doing a great job and I don't want to hear SHIT against them

suki's mom!!!!! I LOVE suki's mom as the tough-as-nails leader of kyoshi village. a shining example of a GOOD deviation from the original. changes can be good suki's mom is wonderful 10/10 no notes

some of the cgi looks really good!!! the wide shots of omashu look cool as hell and I know some people hate how the bending looks but I think it looks great. it was always gonna be hard to translate to live action but I think the cgi bending looks about as perfect as it could

lesbian oma and shu... so good so important... lesbian oma and shu

the cabbage man. love him

I thought it was cool how kyoshi like possessed him while he was in the avatar state. an interesting take on what the avatar state entails, lots of potential, and kyoshi herself showing up to save her village was a great use of it

jet oh my god jet they did jet really well

LOVE the secret tunnel musicians

azula being a prodigy archer is fantastic. she should

looks like there are actually a lot of things I enjoy about the reboot :)

(update: I don't know what's up with ian ousley's heritage so I'm just removing the thing I said. it's a positivity post anyway)

[sulkybender]

Azula as an archer is such a fundamental misunderstanding of her character it is baffling

[quotidianish]

Some tf2 shenanigans . Some sillays

Original scene (it’s from the captain underpants Netflix show and it’s a funny series I promise): friendship separation anxiety

ATLA au ideas under cut

Pauling scout and medic are kind of the og team avatar. Found him on the far far outskirts of the northern water tribe. Heavy (an earth bender constantly utilising seismic sense) and Engineer (who comes from a long line of secret metalbenders) would basically serve as Toph and the replacement for both team Azula and Zuko would be soldier demo and sniper (soldier having refined expertise in fire jet propulsion trying to get back after exiled from the fire nation army, demo cursed by spirits to be a combustion bender trying to please his ma, sniper a former yuyan archer trying to earn back the fire lord’s good graces). Pyro is very obviously a fire bender who likes the spirits a bit too much. Spy’s scout’s father who spent the past 100 years in the spirit realm trying to find his wife. yeah I think that’s everyone

[sokkastyles]

People wondering why Azula has a bow when my mind immediately went "because fire arrows."

That kind of looks like what we see in both trailers when the voice over talks about the fire nation destroying the world.

But then I thought...maybe Azula is the one who shoots Zuko down in "The Blue Spirit" instead of the Yuyan Archers. It would make sense for the show to consolidate characters and they did say they were giving Azula an expanded role to pave the way for her becoming a greater antagonist later. This could be a way for the show to introduce her as an antagonist to both Zuko and the gaang while we see another side of Zuko.

It also adds some interesting dimension to her antagonism with Zuko. Like, if she was there at Pohaui stronghold then maybe she recognizes that the person in the blue spirit mask is her brother?

I'm calling this right now, actually.

It would also explain why Azula later thinks Zuko knows about Aang not really being dead if she suspected him of being a traitor early on. Also the emotional impact of Zuko wearing that mask that represents their mother and Azula just like, mercilessly shooting him down because she's trying to banish any vestige of that connection to her own weakness.

[breyito]

@zukaangweek

Day 2: Stay close to me

AU where...everything is lost. Lu Ten never died, so Iroh took Ba Sing Se and became the Fire Lord two years later. The Northen Water Tribe has been under siege for 10 months and Omashu is the last refuge in the Earth Kingdom.

Even waking up four-five years earlier and getting some training, the Avatar is no match against the Yuyan Archers and the Dai Li. Lu Ten manages to capture him and drag him to the Palace, along with the two Watertribe savages that protected him so much.

Azula, having aided their cousin in the capture, gives the task of taking care of the Avatar's needs to Zuko, to humiliate him. Zuko accepts with his head high, expecting to find the Avatar frightening and furious.

Instead, he falls in love with Aang.

Ooooff, I have a TON of headcanons for this thing, but not a single thing written *winces*. Feel free to ask!

(and in case you were wondering....yes, Zuko, in the eventual escape, is left behind.)

This took me so damn long because I couldn't decide on few enough pictures for a single moodboard...so you get all of them! And possibly more tomorrow, for Zuko's fate!

[kitsune024]

Zuko Fic Recs Part 2 - add later

Zutara Fics

An Unlikely Alliance by @badlucksav I Chapters: 53/? I season 2 divergence, Fake Dating, Fluff and Humor, Slow Burn..kind of These Tides Do Turn by @ink-and-dagger-alt I Chapters 32/32 I Completed Canon Divergence, One-Sided Aang/Katara, Slow Burn, Blood and Violence, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Ember Island

Another Brother by @awesomeavocadolove I Chapters: 37/? I Canon Rewrite, Water Tribe Zuko, Adopted Sibling Relationship, Found Family Tale of the Blue Spirit by QuillWrighter I Chapters: 8/? I Blue Spirit Zuko, Spirit Zuko The Spirit Tale of Fire Lord Ozai by @commehter I Chapters 21/? I Fire Lord Zuko, Canon Divergence, Pre-Canon, Time Travel, Fix-It, Spirits, Bodyswap, Zuko is Ozai, Parenthood Dragon at Heart by Identical Gemini I Chapters 40/? I FFN Dragon Zuko, Ursa is not liked here, Adventure/Friendship heart of a dragon by @discordiansamba I Chapters 8/? I Zuko gets raised by dragons au, Canon Divergence Sisyphus by @blluespirit I Chapters 6/? I Early Zuko Redemption, Badass Zuko, Blue Spirit Zuko

Oneshots

Mercy by Etherborn I Chapters: 1/1 I Overpowered Zuko, Dark Oneshot, Zuko Getting Revenge Teatime in the Dungeon by Skylinneas I Chapters: 1/1 I Azula Redemption Destiny and Duty by @sirenalpha | Chapters: 1/1 | The Gaang Learns How Zuko Got The Scar, Fix-It of Sorts, Aang doesn't get to run away from his responsibilities in this fic

Bookmark Series

Consider Chaos by @awesomeavocadolove I Part 1 - 6 I Chaos Avatar Zuko kintsugi by @discordiansamba I Part 1 - 9 I toph didn't get her field trip so she gets to hog zuko for three whole years, Canon Divergence no grave (hold my body) by @zenzaaaaaaaaaaaa  I Part 1- 4 I Badass Zuko, Spirit Zuko, Canon Divergence, Azula Redemption Learning to Fly by @fanboyzuko | Part 1 - 17 | Zuko Takes Himself on a Life-Changing Field Trip, Zuko is 13 A Dragon's Instinct by @aelincreativ I Part 1 - 3 I Dragon Zuko, iroh is a bad uncle in this, Azula Redemption, azula loves zuko, Zuko's crew, Jee is a good dad Dragon of the Yuyan by @awkwardpenguinproductions I Part 1- 40 I Yuyan Raise Zuko, Zuko & The Yuyan Archers, Canon Divergence, Badass Zuko The Gaang finds out..... by @imalwaysconfuzzled I Part 1- 6 I Oneshots, Badass Zuko, the gaang found out how insane their friend is. Loyalty Is Acquired Through Time by @codeearth | Part 1-13 | Role Reversal Au, Zuko and Azula, Badass Zuko, Badass Azula, Zuko is the prodigy and Azula was banished

[narrativelysignificantturtleduck]

you know i don't think it's Explicit that zuko was taught swordplay bc he wasn't as strong a bender as azula but also it makes a lot of sense given the whole firebending supremacy thing so WHY the goddamn FUCK was natla azula an archer

[waterbenderkat]

Archer Azula archer Azula we’re getting archer Azula.

[drpoisonoaky]

me: for some reason Azula is an archer in the new live action trailer

my sister: maybe they didn’t make her a firebender or she doesn’t have blue fire anymore, live action adaptations y'know

me:

[crybabylulu]

ATLA style pt 11 this is correct and no I will not take criticism

Zuko: *running away screaming*

Azula: COME BACK HERE! *chasing him with her bow and arrow*

Mai: aren’t you gonna stop them? *looking at Ursa*

Ursa: hm? What’s going on?

Mai: *pointing to Azula chasing Zuko around the turtle duck pond*

Ursa: they’re just playing

Mai: *looking at her with wide eyes* she’s chasing him with her bow and arrow

Azula: *shoots Zuko in his leg*

Zuko: AHHHHH!

Ursa: oh! *gets up and quickly rushed over to him* AZULA NO!

[waterfire1848]

Sokkla Opposite AU, where Sokka is the banished Water Empire Prince looking for the Avatar and Azula is the last firebender of Hira'a who just found a boy inside a volcano.

Hello, @stardust948 !!! (BTW Love this reverse AU!)

1. Azula grew up in Hira’a because that’s where Ursa took the children and fled to when the Water Tribe attacking (very big mistake making your main city basically in a bowl). Iroh, Ozai, Lu Ten, Azula and Zuko were living their lives in the royal palace when the WT attacked and Ursa took the kids and fled to Hira’a which is where they’ve spent most of their lives (13 years). Ursa never stopped telling her children stories about Caldera and a time before the Water Tribe attacked and the Avatar which Azula rejected by Zuko was mesmerized by. Azula never really thought the Avatar could be alive and instead wanted to focus on defeating the Water Tribe so that they could go home. Iroh, Ozai and Lu Ten all never come to Hira’a so Ursa has no clue what happened to them but, shortly before Aang comes, she’s killed by the Water Tribe (who are looking for any remaining members of the Royal Family). Azula is the last firebender left in the area and feels the weight of this everyday. One day, she and Zuko are by the volcano (Zuko: Yeah. The Water Tribe would never look for two firebenders near a volcano. What a crazy idea. Azula: Zuzu. Zuko: Yes? Azula: I will know you into the active volcano. Please shut up. I’m trying to focus.) Of course he doesn’t shut up, Azula gets made and a familiar airbender pops out.

2. Sokka was banished by his father because he’s a nonbender. (Kinda hypocritical since Hakoda’s a nonbender too but…) Basically, Sokka was scarred and banished because Hakoda wanted Katara to take charge. He believed that she, being a girl in the Water Tribe, would be far more easy to control when she was on the throne as opposed to Sokka. So, Hakoda tricks Sokka so that when he goes on a traditional hunt, Sokka is attacked by a polar bear dog and blinded in one eye and returns home empty handed. Hakoda regards this as Sokka’s failure to show he can’t lead (he can’t even catch some food for a family. How is he expected to lead a nation?) and banishes him to find the Avatar. When Sokka sees the light coming from the Fire Nation island, he knows that this is his moment. (Sokka: Gran Gran, do you know what this means?!?! Kanna: That we have to go to the land where 80 degrees is their record low temperature?). Sokka’s scar is three long scratches over his eye and he can’t see out of it, so he relies on his other eye and good hearing to detect things. Also, because of his lack of bending, he’s become an expert in weapons and hand to hand combat which aids him greatly in an initial fight against Zuko (which he wins easily) and he doesn’t get to fight Aang because the airbender goes with him without issue (Aang: I bet none of you Water Tribe soldiers have ever fought an airbender before…)

3. When the Fire Nation was attacked, firebenders fled all over the planet and were hunted down by the Water Empire. Realizing they were weak, a good number of firebenders took whatever resources they could find and fled to the old Sun Warriors civilization. Azula and Zuko, being former royalty, were able to get that information and tell Aang about it so he can learn firebending (I changed the cycle. It’s now air, fire, earth and water). However, to throw Sokka off their trial they have to make a couple stops in the Earth Kingdom first. (Azula: I’m telling you, based on how Aang flies that water prince won’t be able to track us. Aang: What do you mean how I fly? Azula: We literally flew across two islands then flew back to both of those islands. Aang: Seems normal to me Azula: Yeah, no one is figuring out our pattern.) In the Earth Kingdom, they find Mai, who also fled with her family but they went to the Earth Kingdom. Mai is still trained as a markswoman but now she’s also helping the Yuyan archers. (Zuko: MAI! Azula: Your girlfriend is alive after all. Aang: Girlfriend? Azula: Mai and Zuko were inseparable before the Water Tribe attacked Caldera. They literally did everything together. Zuko: What?! No, we didn’t. Azula: Okay, we’ll pretend. Maybe we can also pretend the sky isn’t blue, Appa isn’t big and the Water Tribe doesn’t suck too. Zuko: 😡 Azula: This is only proving my point). Mai agrees to join after realizing where they’re going and what they’re trying to do.

4. Bato is a bit different from Zhao. He’s a family friend, but also Bato doesn’t just tell Sokka not to try and capture Aang. He gives him a chance but when Sokka can’t, he steps in and tells Sokka to remain put while he handles it. (Kind of in a…. ‘You’re my kinda sorta nephew’ way). Would you believe that Sokka doesn’t listen? Bato figures out where they’re going and that that’s the hiding place of the firebenders. The Water Tribe empire sends as many ships as possible and attacks while Azula, Zuko and Aang are there. When they arrived to the Sun Warrior’s home, they met Ty Lee who became a sort of spiritual person since her time in Caldera and is very closely connected to the dragons. When the city is attacked, she and the dragons emerge to protect the people and one of the dragons is shot down. The Water Tribe has GREAT respect for the spirits but they don’t really care for the first benders of other nations so killing a dragon is not a big deal to them. You know who it is a big deal for? Aang. While Aang attacks the Water Tribe, Ty Lee sacrifices herself to become the second dragon and maintain balance. (Sokka: Bato! Bato! Bato, hardly breathing because the dragon drove its claws into his chest: Hey, Sokka. Sokka: BATO! Bato, don’t worry. We’ll get a healer and- Bato: Don’t. I’m okay. Sokka: The blood coming out of your body would say otherwise. Bato: Sokka, I don’t know what you know about your father’s plan but promise me you’ll stay safe. Sokka: I- Bato: Promise me. Sokka: I promise. Bato: Good. Good….Sokka: Bato?…Bato…😭) (Hakoda: Ugh! Advisor: Sir, I- Hakoda: Get Katara! Advisor: But the princess- Hakoda: Get her! Tell her that she has her first mission. Bringing her brother back and killing Team Avatar. I have a feeling her newest skill will be very useless for that.)

5. Katara in canon was incredibly strong on just a couple weeks of training. Now imagine her with years of training and being okay with bloodbending (yeah....not good). As the princess of the Water Empire, Katara has a military force behind her but chooses not to use it because she wants to move swiftly. To do so, she uses Yue and Suki to help her. Yue isn’t exactly a princess (since only Katara can fulfill that role) but because the Water Tribe is incredibly spiritual, she is held in high esteem for having some of Tui’s life force. Unlike Azula and Zuko in canon, Katara and Sokka get along great. The second Sokka sees Katara he runs over to hug her and ask her how she’s been. Katara really doesn’t have any bad intentions so she tells Sokka about the mission their father has given her and if he wants to help. Sokka grows worried though because he doesn’t have Aang and wonders why his father could want him back without the Avatar. (Katara: He wants you back. What’s the problem? Sokka: I just….I don’t know. It feels weird. Katara: He’s our father. Sokka: I know and I know he just wants what’s best for us both but- Katara: He probably wants you back now because the Avatar is back. Hope will return to the Earth Kingdom and whatever’s left of those ashmakers may come together again. We need our Prince. Sokka: You’re right. Katara: I always am. Sokka: Spirits, I forgot how annoying you are when you’re right. Katara: I’d like to think of it as more….announcing to the world that I’m smarter than you. Sokka: You were right in this one argument. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves). The first time the four meet the Gaang, Katara goes right for bloodbending and bloodbends them all. (Katara: You’re not living up to the legend, Avatar). She only losses because Azula hits her with enough fire that Katara has to back up and they escape on Appa. (Sokka: You learned to bloodbend during the day?!?! Katara: That’s not all I learned. Sokka: What do you mean? Katara: Let’s just say I have a very…creative way to make sure that little firebender and the Avatar never bend a single element again).

(Plus one) 6. In Ba Sing Se, Sokka realizes the truth: that Hakoda doesn’t want him to return and grows terrified of going back with Katara. With very limited options, since Katara is seconds from taking over the city, he decides to switch sides and make a desperate jump to Aang’s team (Azula: Why would you join us? Sokka:….The good of the world? Azula: 😑). Of course, no one on the team trusts him but they’re a little occupied with fighting Katara to really worry about that. While fighting in the final battle, it’s Katara vs Sokka, Azula and Aang and Katara is very angry that Sokka changed sides. She’s angry enough that it throws her off her game and she ends up at Azula’s mercy with a flame to her throat. (Aang: Azula, no! Azula: We have to! If we don’t kill her now then she’ll kill us later! Aang: No! We can’t kill her. Azula, taking her eyes off of Katara: Aang- Sokka, noticing what Katara is about to do: Azula, watch out! *He pushes her out of the way of one of Katara’s attacks and Katara sends an ice blade past Azula and straight into Sokka’s chest. Sokka: AHHHH!! Azula: Sokka!) Katara takes the moment of panic to attack Aang, bloodbending him and Azula down and removing Aang’s bending but being forced to flee (cause….the Earth King has guards) before she can remove Azula’s. Azula, Zuko and the guards get Aang and Sokka to a healer’s room while Katara, Yue and Suki flee the city without being detected. Azula remains with Sokka and Aang while they heal, staying with Sokka until he actually wakes up. (Azula: He saved my life. Zuko: He did. Maybe he has changed. Azula: Zuko: Azula? Azula: No one’s ever….Zuzu? Zuko: Yes? Azula: Nevermind. It’s not important. I’ll talk to Sokka when he wakes up.)