#azula; you were never even a player.

[prettythinginthehouse]

indi. private select. princess azula for avatar: the last airbender. note; azula is aged up to 20 years old.

azula; you were never even a player.

[lucy-moderatz]

[the-badger-mole]

Zutara prompts: Stepping in front of the other to shield them from something/someone.

Please ☺️

Zuko was shocked to see his father had actually showed up tonight. It wasn't the first time Zuko was being honored for an accomplishment, and this wasn't even a particularly big win for him. Last year, he had won a Phoenix Crown award for his work on the score of the Painted Lady movie. By comparison, a golden leaf at the Yangbaechu Awards for his tsungi horn album was the equivalent of taking home first place at a school art show. It was still an honor, of course, but far fewer people cared. Still, his uncle had insisted on throwing a party to celebrate, as he always did (though Zuko suspected Iroh had only really meant to provide an alternative to the wilder celebrity after parties that usually took place on these nights). Tonight, Ozai had surprised everyone by actually showing up.

Far less surprising was the look of disapproval permanently etched onto his face. Ozai's face was twisted as if he smelled something terrible. He cast a judgemental look around the room in such an obvious way, Zuko knew that his and Iroh's guests could tell exactly what he was thinking. Zuko could practically read his father's thoughts. So disappointing, his son. Zuko had managed to achieve his own fame and fortune separate from Ozai's political and business world, yet he wasted his time and talent on movies with no prestige, and concept albums that most people only pretended to understand. He was friends with mostly B and C list celebrities- certainly no power players who could help Zuko move up in the world. Never mind that Zuko was making a living- a very good living- doing what made him happy. Ozai had never cared for his son's happiness.

Right around the time Zuko was beginning to wonder why Ozai had bothered to show up at all, his father met his eye. Then to Zuko's surprise, Ozai came over. Zuko down the last of his lava whiskey sour and braced himself.

"You're wasting your time," Ozai said. Zuko fought the urge to lower his head. He was as tall as Ozai now. His father couldn't tower over him to intimidate him anymore.

"I've got an award that says otherwise," Zuko replied through clenched teeth. "Several of them, in fact." Rage flashed across Ozai's face, and in spite of himself, Zuko cringed a little.

"Still a mouthy little snot after all these years."

"Why did you come?" Zuko demanded. "Since I'm such a disappointment to you, why don't you just leave me to live my own life?"

"And let you keep embarrassing the family name?" Ozai sneered. "It was bad enough when my brother turned his back on the company to start his little tea shop, but now here you are making a fool of us with your antics. Your sister is poised to launch her campaign for governor, but all anyone can talk about is what actress you're dating, or what foolish little superhero movie you're making songs for."

"Well, I'm sorry Azula isn't more interesting," Zuko said. "Why don't you tell everyone what she got up to in college? I bet the people would find that a lot more interesting than what I'm doing. I know that would defeat the purpose of you spending so much money to cover it up, but it would take the attention off of me."

"I see your success has made your forget to be humble. I ought to remind you." Ozai scowled at Zuko. His hand flexed at his side, as if he were going to strike his son. It wouldn't be the first time, but would he really dare in front of so many witnesses?

"There you are!" Zuko and Ozai jumped in surprise when Katara appeared at his side. Katara had a wide smile on her face, but her sharp eyes were on Ozai in a way that Zuko knew was a warning. "You can't spend your entire party tucked up in a dark corner. At least not without me. So, catch me up. What are we talking about?"

"This is family business," Ozai sneered at her. "Why don't you go find some paparazzi to pose for."

"Maybe some other time," Katara's smile never wavered, but her eyes grew sharper.

"Do you know who I am?" Ozai sputtered, affronted.

"I do know who you are," Katara said, crossing her arms. She stepped forward, and drew up to her full height (which still left her a good half a head shorter than Ozai, even in heels), and glared at him directly. She stood in front of Zuko protectively. "I know exactly who you are, and I don't like you."

"As if I care what some tarty little slut thinks," Ozai sneered. "I'm talking to my son, so leave us alone, or I'll-" Before Ozai could finish his threat, Katara had grabbed his arm and thrown him over her shoulder. He landed on his back with a body rattling thud. The air left his lungs in a whoosh and all Ozai could do was groan weakly.

"I've taken Southern Tribe style martial arts since I was a kid," Katara said, leaning over Ozai. "I know exactly how to handle bullies like you. Now, I have on good authority that you're trespassing, so I'd suggest you leave before I really have to get tough on you."

Ozai managed to stumble onto his feet. He glowered down at Katara. She stared back at him defiantly. He seemed to be about to retaliate, but then he saw Zuko standing behind her with a dark, challenging look on his face. Then Ozai noticed that the other partiers had stopped their talking and dancing and were now watching him with various degrees of warning on their faces. Then he saw the security guards standing at the perimeter of the room as if they were waiting for a signal. For the first time in Zuko's life, Ozai looked a bit scared. Finally, he straightened his jacket and sniffed haughtily at Zuko and his friends, and left without another word.

After a few minutes, the party atmosphere returned. A handful of Zuko's friends came up and checked in on him to make sure he was okay, but after some brief reassurances, they returned to their conversations and drinks and Zuko was once again surrounded by the lively sounds of his friends having fun. Katara slipped her arm through his.

"I'm sorry if I went too far," she murmured. Zuko leaned down and kissed her forehead.

"No, you were spectacular," he assured her. "I didn't think I could be any more attracted to you, but I stand corrected."

[bluespiritshonour]

Somethings I noticed:

Katara, Suki and Azula are the only ones who haven't ever expressed any sort of misogynistic sentiment.

Aang would come a close second with minor mishaps here and there.

First, the girls:

Ty Lee, while fighting the Kyoshi Warriors: you're not prettier than we are.

Girl, where did that come from?

Mai has several instances of this when she says the Kyoshi Warriors’ uniforms are too girly (I don't mind her not liking how colourful they are; that's totally different) and later lowkey slut-shaming Ty Lee. And while she's rightfully unimpressed with Zuko's seashell (she's right Zuko, step-up your game) she could easily have countered his “Don't girls like these stuff?” the way Suki did with Sokka’s ideas about gendered generalisation. Also, you must have noticed that Mai's feminine too. She's just dark feminine to Ty Lee's light feminine.

Toph: she has absorbed a lot of toxic masculinity that's for sure. She isn't feminine, she light-heartedly teases Katara for being feminine and Aang too. She does give off the “one of the guys” vibes. You know which ones I'm talking about. “Are we going to watch two little girls fighting?” and later mocking Aang for his passivity.

But it is to be noted that Toph manages to do this without being racist to Aang. She's the one who mocks him the most about his pacifist beliefs (which are cultural to him) and she's kinda misogynistic the way she goes about it. But she's never racist to him. (I guess she is in the comics but fuck the comics). Even when Aang was really really nasty to her when Appa was stolen and she had every right to be mad at him—she wasn't. Given her age and her sheltered upbringing Toph's surprisingly mature. But I digress. Among the comics, I love the Lost Adventures only—and I love the spa day Katara and Toph have both in those comics and in the show. It feels like Toph's healing from that internalised misogyny? My reading of it is that just like girls in real world, Toph derides femininity because it has always been a chain to her. Her parents forced her to confirm so she hates it. But being friends with Katara probably let her heal that part of her. She's still not as feminine as Katara and mind you, nor should she be—let some girls never want to be feminine—it’s fine. But she learns to not to act out of a place of hurt.

Sokka: Sokka's misogyny was literally a plot point and he overcomes it. Also he and Aang have actually done drag and not been mocked for it. It's rare to see in media. The only other example I can think of is Good Omens.

His misogyny also feels kinda surface level (as opposed to Zuko in whom it's less obvious but seems more deeply ingrained).

Also. Zuko never did drag. Shame on him.

Aang: is the least misogynistic of the boys. The only instances I can think of are either kinda vague: when he tells Sokka that “It's nice dress!” It's kinda ambiguous if his tone was mocking or complimentary but it upsets Sokka nonetheless. And when he's upset at being played by a woman in Ember Island Players. The first time I watched it I felt it was OOC. But he was also kind of justified as it was racism and misogyny combined on behalf of the Fire Nation in portraying him that way.

Phew. These were purely my own opinions simply by the virtue of gender expression meaning different things to different people. I might say Mai is actually quite feminine while Toph isn't... But what even is considered masculine or feminine?

I love Katara and Toph's spa day because Toph learns that being girly wouldn't kill her—but she also doesn't suddenly become Ty Lee levels of feminine either. Some women just don't wanna be feminine. Oftentimes it's because femininity is derided by society itself—and that's something that one needs to heal from, like Toph did with Katara’s friendship—but everytime I've seen a story like that, the girl, upon realising that femininity isn't a bad thing is suddenly hyper-feminine.

Like, can we have them heal from internalised misogyny and still not wanna be feminine—even though they don't consider it bad or embarassing or fickle anymore?

Toph and Katara’s spa days do it perfectly.

When those girls mock Toph and Katara tells her she's pretty, I can't tell you much I loved it. The same feelings toward Suki’s “I am a warrior, but I'm a girl too.”

[empressofthesunslittlecorner]

Let's talk about Zutara

WARNING NOT KATAANG AND MAIKO FRIENDLY

CONTINUE WITH PRECAUTION

I thought I should finally use this second blog of mine for the reason I made it.

To scream into the void and find mutals.

So let's talk about one Ship which people to this day fight over.

The fanon ship (at it pains me to write this) made out of Zuko and Katara from Avatar the Last Airbender aka. Zutara.

I read a lot of analyses, arguments and so on about this ship.

It probably all has been said about Zutara, but since I'm writing an AangXOC story which will include Zutara, I felt like I should give my stance on it.

Back when Avatar first aired in the country I lived in the time I was like 11-12 years old.

I had an instant crush on Aang since he was so funny, kind and gentle.

I never saw Aang's crush on Katara as a problem, because it always seemed to me, till season 3, that Katara was just motherly to Aang.

Giving a friend a cheek kiss in thanks doesn't automatically mean that you like-like them.

At this time I only really shipped Sokka and Yue and cried my eyes out how it ended.

And then the famous scene from book 2 in the crystal catacombs under Ba Sing Se happened.

Short recap, in that season Zuko goes through a lot of chances and I root for, wishing him the best.

Now back to the scene, I said.

The scene turned me into a Zutara shipper in one instant.

Zuko and Katara opening up to each other, sharing their traumas and feelings about the Fire Nation, Katara offering to heal his scare...it was poetic cinema.

I was shivering all over and was like kiss, kiss, kiss!

Let's not forget that before this scene I didn't even see them as a potential couple...but this scene, this beautiful moment they shared with each other, opened my eyes.

I was like, yeah this is it, this is something one should want from a partner. Mutual understanding.

Then Zuko decided to betray Katara for a chance to go home and I cried right there with our favourite waterbender.

I felt also betrayed.

The scene they shared made me feel things, which I experienced as a young girl for the first time, I felt the connection between Zuko and Katara like it was my own.

I was Katara at this moment and couldn't believe that the boy who opened up to me, who understood what it was like to have their mother taken away from the Fire Nation, who said that he wanted to change, that he turned his back on me.

Didn't I/Katara mean nothing to him?

Didn't he feel how special our/their moment was?

I was devasted.

When Zuko then joined the Gaang in the middle of season 3 I could understand Katara's anger towards him.

Katara and I trusted him first and he betrayed our trust.

We had a right to be angry.

As the Southern Raiders came on, as I saw how flawlessly they worked as a team, I felt my own heart heal.

I swerve to this day, that I thought they would kiss at the end of the episode, but we got a hug.

However, this hug, made me feel all giddy and mushy inside.

I felt it was something special.

Maybe even more than a kiss.

It was a huge of forgiveness and the start of a new bond.

And then the last episode comes on.

Zuko sacrificed himself to save Katara from Azula lighting, she healed him then...I thought, yes this is it, now comes the kiss...but nothing.

Then suddenly Zuko is back together with Mai and I was like WTF?!

And Aang and Katara share this really intense kiss at the end.

I was literally like:

It came out of nowhere for me.

That Aang wasn't over his crush on Katara we all know, but when did Katara decide she liked Aang?

When did this realisation happen, when in the Ember Island Player, which was like a few days before Sozin's Comet Katara made clear that she didn't want to have a romance or get kissed by Aang, which he didn't respect.

Did he ever actually apologise for the unwanted kiss? I don't think so.

Remember I had a crush on Aang, but through the seasons I became a Zutara Shipper and literally felt all their moments like they were my own.

I was Katara and Aang wasn't on my radar anymore.

I really doubted my interpretation skill, did all these lovely, mushy, heartful moments have been really romantic or did I project?

I felt like Zuko and Katara had broken up with me.

Yeah, so much inpact had their "friendly" moments at me!

To this day, the hug Katara and Zuko shared on the Southern Raiders is one of the most lovely moments of any of my ships.

Not even kissing made me feel, what this hug made me feel.

Think about how powerful this is!

If Zutara had kissed, I would have probably passed out or cried like a baby in happiness.

I don't know and I will never know since it's a fanon ship.

Uurgh.

Anyway, years passed and as I mention before I read a lot of analysis and so on.

What shocked me most was that Byrke originally planned to have Zuko and Katara together but then changed their minds.

It did reassure me, how I wasn't imagining things between them, however reading then how the Souther Raider Episode changed a lot of times because Bryke found it too shippy, tells you a lot.

They wanted to make Kataang canon and better, than the natural flow Zutara had going on.

I want to repeat again, a HUG was MORE ROMANTIC and INTENSE than the crappy kiss Kataang shared.

Like what?!

How is this possible?

Well, yeah, if you don't force things and actually make people interact in a wholesome way it can be.

Zuko and Katara felt never forced because they just clicked. They were different, but the same in many things, that it was so natural to understand the other.

Aang and Katara felt always more like a mother-and-son duo, than real lovers.

And Maiko was kinda lame too.

Sorry.

I have this theory they just wanted to pair Zuko with a Fire Nation girl and be done with it.

I don't know why they chose Mai when it could have been worked with Ty Lee too, if it was only to pair Zuko with someone who doesn't understand him or doesn't want to try.

Excuse me, maybe Ty Lee would have been better since she seemed to care for her friends, in contrast to Mai who just tried her hardest to be goth and hate everything.

Sorry.

What I'm trying to say with this rant?

I think, as someone who had liked Aang and then felt more connected to Zuko and Katara, I can clearly say that if Katara had been a real girl and not a fictional character controlled by men, she would be together with Zuko.

Why would I/Katara choose someone who I need to mother, who is younger than me, who can't relate to me, if there is an older handsome boy who is kinda dorky and awkward and tries his best, understands my feelings and helps me to parent the Gaang?

Yeah, no, Katara would have smooched Zuko if she had been a real girl.

Now, who of you who knows me, can say, but Empress some of your OCs are older than their canon partner, how can you say that Kataang can't work if you do this in your stories?!

I want to make clear I don't have general a problem if the girl is older than the guy or taller.

It's just that their supposed age gap is when they are together makes it creepy.

Look at an example.

My parents have a three-year age gap.

Nothing much.

They are both in their 60, mid 60, so it's not weird.

They are in the same mature stage in life and understand the struggles of the other.

Now think if my parents meet at 12 and 15.

My dad is the older one.

Are you going to say with a straight face that it wouldn't have been creepy if my parents started to date at this age?

What does a teenager want with a pre-puperty child?

Also, they live in completely different worlds, how can they relate to each other?

The same goes for Katara and Aang, what does a 14-year-old want from a 12-year-old?

I bet if it was the other way around, we would all give Aang shit for preying on a 12-year-old girl.

The gender shouldn't decide if we find a couple creepy or not, even if it's so sadly.

What I want to say, Kataang would have worked better if let's say season 3 ended with no pairing, just all being friends and happy and then in the comics when they age, when Katara is 22 and Aang is 20 they got together.

They would have matured, been on the same level, probably dated other people and had experience.

It would have been okay.

Even if I still think Zutara is superior in anything.

Anyway, I hope I could explain myself and no hate to the canon ships and their shippers.

Ship and let ship.

I just wanted to explain my reason why I will be always a Zutara Shipper and don't reconsider the ending of Avatar as the end and Legend of Korra.

I will forever be Team-Season-Four-Where-Aang-Finds-Hiding-Airbenders-And-Falls-in-Love-With-A-Airbender Girl-His-Age-And-Zuko-And-Katara-Marry-Eachother-And-Katara-Becomes-The-Most-Beloved-And-Badass-Fire Lady-In-History!

And they find also Zuko mom ^^

So for now this is it for me.

If you want my take on an Aang and OC story, where Zutara will be canon, go to my other Tumblr profile empressofthesunwriter and read Yin and Yang.

Here is the link to the Index

I wish you all a nice day/night!

Till next time!

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

This person genuinely thinks that Aang would be a better character if he kidnapped a baby?? Or would be more interesting?? Honey, why would he do that. That's not him being boring, that's just him not committing an actual, terrible, crime. Alos it's his show, it's literally called 'Avatar the Last Airbender' of course he's going to get more episodes focusing on him, it's his show???

"Aang being a main character limits him to being a role model'' by brother in Christ, this a Nickelodeon show. Even Zuko is a bit of role model, in the sense of him being a way to teach kids "Just 'cause you're hurting doesn't mean it's okay to be a dick to others. Please apologize if you ever hurt someone."

Also Aang DOES make morally questionable, and downright incorrect, choices that the narrative address. Fleeing when the other airbenders want to send him away, hiding the map to Hakoda from Sokka and Katara, trying to learn firebending before he's ready and then vowing to NEVER use that bending again, trying to trigger the Avatar state, wanting revenge on the sandbenders, shutting off emotionally to not deal with his pain over losing Appa, refusing AND accepting to ignore his love for Katara to fully master the Avatar state, his innitial refusal to continue pretending he is dead to hide from his enemies, the Ember Island kiss, and even his refusal to kill Ozai (before the actual Deus Ex Machina happens).

Aang is challenged all the time. He grows all the time. He is allowed to be wrong all the time. Yall are just mad he was the protagonist instead of your favorite.

And while I agree Sokka didn't have much of an arc, I disagree about Toph never growing even if there were some issues with her storyline. She went from someone who was terrified of accepting help from others as that had always meant "lose all agency" her whole life, to someone that consistently relies on her friends. She went from uncooperative because "she carries her own weight" to being a team player that even offers her friends emotional support. She even makes the first step to reconciliate with her parents.

LOTS of characters had arcs (Iroh, Jet, Mai, Azula, and even King Kuei- that's how stories work. The reason some of these were handled better/given more or less screentime is because Bryke insisted on having only three seasons, even though the show clearly needed a fourth. It had nothing to do with "the problem of having a protagonist" - that's not a problem if you're a competent writer with enough time.

Also, if you see Katara in the FIRST DAMN EPISODE talking about how much she wants to learn waterbending AND how grateful she was to be allowed to be a kid again, yet you're suprised to see her become such a badass whose happy ending is helping end the war and thus be allowed to be a kid again because "she's just Aang's love interest", that says a lot more about YOU than about the show.

Avatar's writting has problems, yes, because no work of fiction is perfect because no writer is perfect. But the overwhelming majority of complaints from some fans come not from acknowledging those flaws, but from a complete inability to understand some REALLY basic storytelling stuff that the show handled with excellence.

That's what happens when you're too focused on what you want to see to actually look at the story playing out in front of you: you miss incredibly obvious things that the writers made as easy to follow as possible since the show is aimed at 7-year-olds.

[zuko-always-lies]

Why we can’t take Azula’s speech to Long Feng entirely seriously

“The Crossroads of Destiny”:

Long Feng: Now comes the part where I double-cross you. Dai Li, arrest the Fire Nation Princess. (The Dai Li do not respond. Long Feng turns to them, frowning, and points at Azula) I said, arrest her. (looks back and forth at the agents and loses his patience) What is wrong with you?! Azula: It's because they haven't made up their minds. They're waiting to see how this is going to end. Long Feng: What are you talking about? Azula: I can see your whole history in your eyes. You were born with nothing. So you had to struggle and connive and claw your way to power. But true power...the divine right to rule...is something you're born with. The fact is, they don't know which one of us is going to be sitting on that throne and which one is going to be bowing down. But I know. And you know. (Long Feng begins to sweat. His face is full of hesitation and uncertainty. Azula sits on the Earth King's throne and crosses her legs.) Well? (Long Feng is now truly frightened. Beads of sweat roll down his face as his mouth hangs open, speechless. Azula stares at him cold and intently. Long Feng closes his eyes and drops his head, realizing that he has lost. Long Feng steps forward and bows before Azula.) Long Feng: You've beaten me at my own game. Azula:Don't flatter yourself. You were never even a player.

I’ve seen a lot of hay made of this speech recently, as some sort of “true insight” into Azula’s character. However, on closer examination, it becomes clear that not everything stacks up and it’s an unreliable source at best.

First, it’s very clear that Azula is laser targeting a psychological weakness she’s identified in Long Feng, in order to convince him to give up without a fight. She knows that Long Feng is extremely insecure about his low background, so she calls attention to it and contrasts it with her own royalty. The speech isn’t a flex, it’s a tactic. And the thing is that Azula is a) extremely good at lying and b) would say whatever she thought would convince Long Feng to give up under these circumstances. In this kind of situation, we can’t take anything she says as necessarily representing her own beliefs at all.

Next, we should turn to what Azula actually says. She actually doesn’t contrast being Fire Nation royalty with being lower class Earth Kingdom. She contrasts being royalty, period, with being lower class, period. Her point was not that Long Feng does not have “the divine right to rule” since he isn’t Fire Nation royalty. Her point was that he doesn’t have “the divine right to rule” since he isn’t royalty. Theoretically, her “divine right to rule” would also apply to King Kuei, to Chief Arnook, and to Princess Yue. The reason that Long Feng doesn’t possess it is because he’s not a Earth Kingdom royal.

Now we turn to another piece of the puzzle. Where does the rest of her family fit into Azula’s “divine right to rule”? Does it apply to only her and Ozai, or to the whole Fire Nation royal family? Well, as a matter of fact, very shortly afterwards Azula takes home Zuko and gets him back in favor, reintegrating him into the royal family. Considering that Zuko would arguably be higher in the order of succession than she was, this makes it clear that Azula believes that the royal family as a whole possesses “the divine right to rule.” 

Now we reach an interesting question: is “the divine right to rule” limited to royalty? The class system of the world of Avatar is not only commoners and royalty. The Fire Nation, the Earth Kingdom, and probably the NWT possess an aristocracy in an intermediate position. Does the aristocracy possess a right to rule, in the speeches theory? Would Long Feng be fine taking over if he came from a noble background rather than a commoner one?

We don’t know. However, there is some fascinating evidence of Azula literally granting her friends royal symbolism, which is a rather radical step in an extremely hierarchical society to say the least. Does she think that Mai and Ty Lee possess the “divine right to rule,” too? Considering she approves of Zuko’s relationship with Mai, a relationship that would add Mai to the royal family, maybe she does. Ty Lee and Mai are Fire Nation nobles, after all.

[bri-the-nautilus]

Blorbo Headcanon: The Tragedy of Gurranq

This is one I've been kind of mulling over, but was spurred to devote some serious thought to tonight. Maliketh/Gurranq is adorable. The best, hungriest boi. A faithful shadow, true to the Golden Order. But I think his tragedy extends beyond just feeling like he let Marika down on the Night of Black Knives. To start, we'll need some background.

Farum Azula is a crumbling city in the sky at the center of a time storm. The southern provinces are dotted with debris from Farum Azula, but the city when we visit it is not only reasonably intact, but frozen. Nothing is actively falling. There's no day/night cycle. Passing time doesn't alter the skybox and nothing changes based on when you enter. It's clear that Farum Azula exists outside the normal flow of time, and can even counteract it: when we travel to Placidusax's arena, a destroyed section of the city reforms itself and the Erdtree doesn't exist. Farum Azula is populated by a society of intelligent beastmen, who were blessed with intellect and five fingers as stated by the Cinquedea, Gurranq's clerical shortsword.

Gurranq, the Beast Clergyman, is a robed figure who makes his home in Dragonbarrow, protected by a Black Blade Kindred. He guides and leads the Hunters of Those Who Live In Death, who weed deathroot. Deathroot is said to be the source of Those Who Live In Death, and Gurranq eats it. The Stone and Claw of Gurranq incantations say that he once went by a different name, which meant "Death of the Demigods." If the player feeds every obtainable deathroot to Gurranq, he thanks them for being a friend but states that he has "done all he can for this world" and promptly disappears.

Maliketh, the Black Blade, is to Queen Marika as Blaidd is to Ranni. He wields and protects Destined Death. It was he who defeated the Gloam-Eyed Queen in battle (Godslayer's UGS) and he who was robbed on the Night of Black Knives to create the blades that slew Godwyn and Ranni. For a shadow like Maliketh, the feeling that he let Marika down and the tragedy is his fault must have been impossible to bear. He vows that Destined Death shall not be stolen from him again. We meet Maliketh in Farum Azula, where he first dresses as a Beast Clergyman and wields the Cinquedea before unchaining Destined Death and facing us with his black blade and armor.

The game makes it pretty clear that Gurranq is Maliketh. Besides their identical appearances, Gurranq's old name meaning "Death of the Demigods," and Gurranq's sanctum being guarded by one of Maliketh's black gargoyles, as you progress Gurranq's questline he makes repeated references to a "past sin" and speaks of Marika as if he knew her personally.

Upon dealing enough damage after feeding the fourth Deathroot

"Put it away. I won't forget... again... mine appetite... My sin... So please.... Enough."

Fifth Deathroot

"My thanks Tarnished.... Death... My sin... Should not be touched by the hand of man... I shall grant thee... my claws... Feed me... more..."

Sixth, seventh and eighth Deathroot

"I won't forget... again.... mine appetite... My sin... I must have more... I must consume more..."

Ninth Deathroot

"It is... it is all... consumed. Still., I am not sated... Not nearly sated..." 

"Marika... Is this... what it is... to sin?" "Will things... never be the same... again?" 

"..." 

"Tarnished... my thanks... for thy... long labor. But I have done... all I can... in this land. Henceforth, mine appetite shall be my sole companion. Farewell."

Moreover, if you complete Gurranq's quest before challenging Maliketh for the first time, Maliketh phase one has special dialogue where he recognizes you and laments that he has to fight you.

Tarnished, why wouldst thou... Why... Tis no matter. I hereby vow, that Destined Death shall not be stolen again.

On the contrary, killing Maliketh before/during Gurranq's quest doesn't affect the Clergyman's dialogue.

But this leads us to some questions about the true nature of Gurranq and the timeline of Maliketh's life. Other demigods, such as Morgott, show the ability to project illusory duplicates of themselves. The Omen King does this twice: once in Stormveil and once in the old battlefield. One could easily assume that Gurranq is such an illusion. But there's one problem: He exists even without Maliketh. If you kill Morgott in Leyndell before either Margit, the Margit(s) in question won't spawn. If you kill Maliketh before finishing Gurranq's quest, it doesn't despawn Gurranq. Now the question is, when is Gurranq? Where in Maliketh's life does he fall?

My headcanon is this: After the NoBK, Maliketh seals Destined Death in himself. Marika orders him to go to Farum. Outwardly, she says that having him in the Capital where Destined Death could be stolen was a mistake. Privately, she doesn't want him around when she rebels against the Golden order, similarly to how Iji suspected Blaidd needed to be removed before Ranni killed her Two Fingers. Maliketh has dialogue expressing a strong adherence to the Golden Order, so it's safe to assume that unlike Blaidd with Ranni, he would not have been willing to side with Marika over the Greater Will. Maliketh leaves, but he doesn't go to Farum immediately. Yet. Confused? So am I.

Marika sticks her head into Farum, sees a self-loathing ball of fur, and leaves to plot the Shattering.

Maliketh, meanwhile, feels a duty to help rid the world of the evil that he thinks he allowed the creation of. Those Who Live In Death are a new phenomenon. Godwyn being slain and buried caused his influence to spread along the Erdtree's roots, raising the dead. Although he has restrained Destined Death and no longer wields it, Maliketh is both qualified and honor-bound to fight Those Who Live In Death. And as long as he's in Farum in about half an hour when Marika goes to see him, everything's fine.

Adopting the name 'Gurranq', Maliketh heads for Caelid. There, he sets up shop leading a cadre of Golden Order adherents (eventually including Darian and the Tarnished) in weeding the deathroot that allows the dead to wake. When Marika shatters the Elden Ring, he feels lied to and betrayed, but he pushes it out of mind. The Tarnished succeeds in excising every major deathroot node from the Lands Between and feeding them to Gurranq. Gurranq has done all he can for this world, and thanks his truest comrade for their service before they part ways.

Farum Azula is a city out of time, and Maliketh is demigod and high priest of the city out of time. He arrives right after Marika dismissed him, on time for her to see him there. He knows what she's going to do, but has to bite his tongue. There he sits for all the years after the NoBK. Until one day, the Tarnished arrives.

For them, it's been just days.

For Maliketh, it's been centuries.

Maliketh was betrayed by Marika. He spent centuries simultaneously laboring to repent as Gurranq and sitting alone in a lost city and blaming himself for what went wrong as the time-displaced Black Blade. He had one companion who shared his mission towards the end of his time in the Lands Between, but they parted ways and Maliketh lived all that time again alone. But now, his truest of comrades has returned to kill him and steal that which he swore would not leave his side again.

A second betrayal, more painful than the first.

[gold-fire]

*Watching the aurora borealis in the Southern Water Tribe*

Katara: Do you love me?

Azula: Of course.

Katara: Would you give your life down for me?

Azula: Without a doubt.

Katara: Do you love me more than fire flakes?

Azula, coldly looking at her: You were never even a player, Katara.

[raayllum]

rewatching avatar and thinking about the long feng and azula to viren and aaravos pipeline

I think about "You've beaten me at my own game" "Don't flatter yourself; you were never even a player" all the time and it always makes me think about Viren's assessment in the novelization that he's patient and good at playing the long game while he's trying to figure out the mirror and like... It's so mean, truly.

[prettythinginthehouse]

Character Tags;

[goodbye432]

Zuko Is a Theatre Nerd

Rating:

General Audiences

Archive Warning:

No Archive Warnings Apply

Fandom:

Avatar: The Last Airbender (Cartoon 2005)

Relationships:

The Gaang & Zuko (Avatar)

Toph Beifong & Zuko

Characters:

Zuko (Avatar)

The Gaang (Avatar)

Aang (Avatar)

Katara (Avatar)

Sokka (Avatar)

Suki (Avatar)

Toph Beifong

Ozai (mentioned)

Azula (mentioned)

Iroh (mentioned)

Additional Tags:

Toph Beifong and Zuko are Siblings

Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck

cactus juice

Suki is so done

Zuko is a theatre nerd

He is high on cactus juice

and trauma dumping like no tomorrow

Everyone else is just loading

Based on a Tumblr Post

Episode: s03e17 The Ember Island Players (Last Airbender)

Ember Island (Avatar)

Toph thrives on chaos

and we love her for that

Crack

Language:EnglishStats:Published:2024-05-31Words:741Chapters:1/1Comments:1Kudos:18Bookmarks:3Hits:116

Zuko is a Theatre Nerd

ZuriTurner999

Summary:

He turns to Suki who was already turning to leave for more firewood and shouts after her, “I take it you want to play my mother?” Or Zuko tries to cheer everyone up after the awful Ember Island play. What better way than to put on their own? Inspired by a tumblr post.

Everyone is silent after returning from the theatre. It’s frustrating, none of it was even close to accurate and the acting was frankly, atrocious. He’d have been more believable as a five year old; Pu-on Tim should be ashamed. He paused, this was an awful idea… they did look like they needed a distraction. 

“You know what? We can do better than that. Let’s make our own play. Sokka you can play my father” 

Sokka looked incredulous, “I don’t want to be your father” 

Zuko almost laughed but he forced his expression to remain flat, “Perfect, you already know your lines.” 

Now Sokka just looked confused. And concerned. He opened his mouth to ask something but Zuko had already moved on, turning to Katara, “You can be my sister” 

Katara was still looking over at Sokka, but her expression turned to disgust as she processed what he said, “That’s disgusting, the thought of that repulses me on a spiritual level. I would kill you.” 

Zuko nodded again, “Already getting into character, good work Azula” 

She kind of reminded him of Azula anyway. 

She went to object, but he was already turning to Toph, who was already grinning, “And you can be my grandfather” 

“I would rather die,” She contributed cheerfully. 

“Outstanding, a perfect impression. Could hardly tell the difference.” 

Toph’s smile got bigger. 

He turns to Suki who was already turning to leave for more firewood and shouts after her, “I take it you want to play my mother?” 

She shook her head and kept walking. Aang pipes up, “Don’t worry Zuko, I’ll help you with your play!” 

“Yep, you can play Uncle Iroh.” 

Toph cackled, “Wow Sparky really got some great family members there” 

“Family dinners are a riot” 

She cackles harder. He smiles a bit. 

“So are we just… not going to address that bundle of trauma?” Katara asked. 

Suki returned with the wood, ”No.” 

Zuko shrugged, Suki was already acting out of character by coming back. If they were doing this he may as well go all in. 

“Toph, you order Sokka to kill me,” he directed. Toph nodded imperiously and created a rock throne to glare down at him imperiously. Sokka managed to look even more concerned. 

“Why did your grandfather even want to kill you?” 

He shrugged, “My father wanted to be Firelord and he used the excuse that Iroh no longer had an heir. Grandfather liked Iroh best and said Father should also know the pain of losing a son. Now Katara?” 

She was gaping at him. 

“You eavesdrop then run to taunt me about getting killed by our father.” 

“What?” 

He ignored her, “Suki you get to beg Sokka for my life and kill Toph.” 

Toph obligingly fell off her boulder throne. Suki looked unimpressed, adding more wood to the fire. 

“Sokka, you’re the firelord and Suki is never seen again.” He went on, disregarding their growing horror completely. 

“Katara you act like you’re better than me, like usual, and Aang you can just start spouting old, vaguely helpful proverbs at me” 

Aang looked like he was about to start crying. 

“Sokka you light my face on fire” 

“Wait, wait, wait, I thought I was playing your father?” 

“Yes?”

Your father gave you that scar?” Sokka asked him, pointing to his own face. 

He arched a brow, “Yes, we’ve been over this. Now you banish me to find the Avatar.” 

“You were banished to find me?” Aang asked, “But your scar looked healed when I met you” 

“Of course it was healed, I’d been looking three years by the time you got out of that iceberg” 

“Obviously,” Toph intoned loftily. 

“I’m not dealing with this tonight.” Katara threw her hands up and left. 

Zuko stared after her, “Goodnight then.” 

Sokka gaped at him a bit longer before also heading over to his bedroll, “This is a conversation for future me.” 

“You’ve got so many issues, Sparky, it’s hilarious,” Toph giggled a bit more before throwing up a rock tent for sleep. 

Suki had already went to bed and had taken Aang with her before he tried to talk with Zuko. She was pretty sure he’d tried some of the cactus juice at the festival and was not looking forward to the emotional blowup that would happen when he remembered what he said. 

Zuko smiled. None of them were focused on that awful play anymore and he felt great, kind of floaty but he was sure he’d sleep it off. He wondered what was in that cup the lady had given him. 

He shrugged, going to his bedroll. That was a problem for tomorrow. 

[simon-newman]

Spirit Ashes

So. Getting into Elden Ring now I do look for content around the Internet.

What did get my attention is a lot of hatred for Spirit Ashes mechanic which is apparently new thing for Fromsoftware games.

To put is simply - Spirit Ashes are a summoning mechanic where you can call upon a specific AI controlled Spirit to be your ally in the fight.

Some Soulslike veterans insist that this is Fromsoft's method of giving casual players an "easy mode" in an otherwise difficult (or not*) game.

* - The other thing is that there isn't even a consensus if the game is easy or not - some claim it's unbalanced and Fromsoft jumped the shark/used cheap gimmicks to up the difficulty while others claim it's the easiest one and made for casuals even without Spirit Ashes.

Anyway.

Yeah - I have been using Spirit Ashes since I got a set of 3 puppies from Ranni. Then I switched to some stronger ones like Jellyfish and finally Banished Knight Oleg. Are they helpful? Well. Yes? They do provide another target for the boss to focus on. They also deal some damage on their own.

Are they an "easy mode"? Are they breaking the game? Do they win on their own?

Short answer. No - they are not.

First I need to make a disclaimer. The summons can't be used everywhere - only in specific locations. Additionally they can't be re-summoned. They can be upgraded up to +10 but nothing above that - meaning they'll continue to lose in value as the monsters get stronger. Especially when I tackle the NG+ which scales the enemies up 7 times up to NG7+.

Now as to how useful are they playing the game for the first time?

It depends on the boss really.

Beastman of Farum Azula in Limgrave? Yeah - the wolves helped me tear him apart.

I've tackled the Tree Sentinel at lvl 17 and they didn't survive long enough to get his hp down by 1/3.

Pictured above - both me and the wolves are dead already.

Margit? The wolves were lucky if 1 survived till phase 2 (50% hp). Calling them in phase 2 alone was useless as they'd get annihilated with about 2 hammer strikes.

I will say that I did feel kinda bad for some bosses once I switched to Oleg.

Admittedly - this guy is a lot tankier and deadlier than the pups and did save my skin several times.

But he's not an almighty "I win button".

Magma Wyrm just melted him in it's AoE. Same with double gargoyle fight. Even at +7 in a lot of fights he's only enough of a distraction to get in a few initial attacks.

In my ~10 attempts he has NEVER survived long enough to take down one of the gargoyles and I had to fight 2 vs 1 in every single iteration of that fight.

Even without AoE this is often the case against bosses that are an actual challenge.

This is way after Oleg got annihilated by the Crucible Knights. Mostly in 1v1 fight. He wouldn't last long enough for me to get one of them to 50%.

This means that I had to do 75% of the fight solo anyway.

And there are worse examples.

Astel the Naturalborn of the Void? Oleg was pretty much useless and would die almost instantly due to AoE gravity attacks that he also helped trigger more often.

Falligstar beast is outright easier to deal with if it focuses it's attacks on you because most of them is blockable and can be punished.

His contribution against Lansseax was next to none.

Malenia is known for healing from hitting enemies - meaning the summon whose AI is just going to tank blows might end up doing more harm than good.

And that's not mentioning bosses that you can't even use summons against.

In general if a summon is strong enough to make a major contribution to the fight the boss is usually weak enough to die in around 10 hits from me alone anyway.

Ultimately Spirit Ashes are just a mechanic to be used as you see fit. There are people who play without armor or even without leveling. It's their choice and a testament to their skills.

I am just wondering how many soulslike elitists who keep saying that "Spirit Ashes are for unskilled casuals" themselves followed precise meta build guides from the Internet to make sure their Tarnished is the most optimized boss killing machine possible so that they wouldn't struggle.

[ara-line]

So. The ending of Avatar

When I first watched Avatar in 2020, I always found how Aang defeats Ozai really contrived. He doesn't get to decide whether or not he kills Ozai, or even if he has to give Katara up to achieve the Avatar State. Nope. He gets handed an easy out. The show beats us over the head with the parallels between Zuko and Aang. Unlike Aang, however, Zuko doesn't get handed an easy out from having to make the hard decision of leaving the Fire Nation to join Team Avatar, giving up everything he's known to do the right thing. (That's the closest parallel I can think of, so bear with me).

So why does Aang?

Side note: I wonder if it would have been better for Aang to have wondered if he had it in him to give up his crush on Katara rather than wondering if he should kill Ozai. Aang never had any moral dilemma over whether he had to kill Ozai or not before the invasion. Why did that happen after, though?

At the time, I felt like my intelligence was being insulted. Avatar, up to that point, had consistently shown a lack of fear from touching upon hard subjects like abuse, for example. The show trusted its child audience enough to know that they were capable of understanding tough subjects with nuance. So why chicken out here?

My opinion only solidified after I rewatched the show with my sister and got a look at the OG scripts.

Let's start with The Guru.

Basically, Aang has to make the hard choice of letting his crush on Katara go so he can achieve the Avatar State. Aang makes the choice not to do it. After Aang gets shot down by Azula, he can't achieve the Avatar State. Ok. So far so good.

The way this episode frames this, it's hard not to get the impression that they were going to come back to this plot thread. Especially with the lingering shot of Guru Pathik's sad face as Aang leaves him.

So you would think that in the lead up to Sozin's Comet, Aang would be grappling hard with himself on how else he could achieve the Avatar State. He's not willing to let Katara go. There must be another way. She surely will agree to be with him, even after the non-consensual kiss in The Ember Island Players, right? Right?

But eventually, Aang has to come to that realization that he can't expect Katara to return his romantic feelings just because he wants her to. And this would be during the battle with Ozai when he's in that rock.

Or do the creators have something else in mind? Something that surely wouldn't insult their audience's intelligence and let them have their cake and eat it too? I wonder what that solution could be?

So that's the alternative? Seriously? SERIOUSLY?

Side note: I have been waiting for an excuse to use that gif for a very long time. If there was ever an appropriate occasion.....

And then Katara and Aang get together.

Again,

Given how little build up there was to the lion turtle and the fact that the whole give up Katara to get to the Avatar State even existed, I have to wonder if the creators decided they wanted to have their cake and eat it. If Kataang not being endgame was never considered, why even have the Guru Pathik plot thread to begin with?

But Araline, you say, the point is that Aang decides love is more important than power! As my sister put it, Aang is a simp for Katara and we're supposed to believe that's a good thing.

But I ask you: How does that contribute to the larger narrative? What exactly is the point of Aang doing so? Because I can name a point to Aang giving up Katara for the Avatar State: That he has to make a hard choice to do the right thing, like Zuko, his biggest narrative parallel, did. Zuko had to give up the luxurious lifestyle being a royal offered and the ability to pretend he had a loving relationship with his father in order to help Team Avatar defeat the Fire Nation. He had to make hard choices. Aang did not.

The only reason I can think of for Aang to have gotten this easy way out was for the creators to have their cake and eat it too. Aang gets to have Katara and he defeats Ozai. Great. No chance of Kataang not being canon. In doing so, they ended up insulting their audience's intelligence. Like I said before, Avatar was excellent in approaching tough subject matter in a nuanced way appropriate for their child audience. It was easy for them to approach Katara rejecting Aang in an appropriate way as well.

So that's my two cents here.

[jackedjacket]

Tbh the character I’m most disappointed in is Azula. In the original she’s this incredibly strong, manipulative, calculating character, whereas in the remake she gets turned into a whiny, insecure crybaby. She went from “don’t even flatter yourself you were never even a player” to “pwease admiral zhao tell me what’s happening🥺” like almost every line that came out of her mouth made me think “she would not say that”. Even starting out with having her pretend to be a servant is ridiculous, Azula would NEVER play a lowly peasant character like that even as pretend, she would get Mai or Ty Lee to do it. Like everything about her was so bad and wrong and 🤢