#but good dad Ozai be compelling

[atla-confessions]

I will always be way more compelled by the story of Toph's complicated feelings of still wanting to be acknowledged by parents that did her wrong, than Zuko's. I feel for Toph still wanting to prove herself to the people who held her back and thought she would be too frail and helpless to ever be anything. But Zuko? Why are you going to your fascistic racist genocidal dad for advice on how to be a firelord??? This isn't just something between you and your family, you're willing to put other people in danger because your advisor is a monster?

"But that's the only firelord and Iroh's not around-" Asking literally any rando who is not a genocidal fascist would have been better for leadership advice, but like, there are so many world leaders he could go to for advice if he's serious about wanting to move away from the supremacist stuff he wholeheartedly believed in growing up. Why does it have to be the genocidal firelord have to be the only option? Whole philosophy of lightning being that learning from the ways other tribes and cultures move can allow you to learn better ways to use your own if it's done through actual cultural exchange, and Zuko still has the implicit mindset that the only one who could know how to rule has to be in the blood in the fire nation monarchy. Even if it's the person he had an entire speech about being bad for the nation and for the world, apparently Ozai still knows better about ruling than literally anyone else could, just by the inherent nature of his being?

What an unforced error on Zuko's part. It's a good demonstration of how he really is one of the most immature characters in the whole cast.

X

[umalvie]

i have yet ANOTHER fn family take for you believe it or not once again run first in the server. the fact that the comics even teased the idea that zuko wasn't ozai's biological son is so insane to me like even if you put aside the gross eugenicist implications of the idea that azula was born evil because she's ozai's biological daughter while zuko was born good because he's not ozai's biological son (even though they later confirmed that ozai is in fact zuko's biological dad, this was still the implication of even teasing that especially considering the eugenicist implications of roku as zuko's grandfather meaning he was destined to do good or whatever), it would be so absurdly boring if ozai just hated zuko because zuko was ursa's bastard son and the proof that she cuckolded him.

i think that what bryke believe is the reason for ozai hating zuko (aside from the fact that he's just generally evil) is that zuko wasn't meeting his standards in terms of his education or firebending as well as being too soft for ozai's taste, but the reason that i find actually compelling and supported by canon, unintentionally or not, is that ozai is living a lie. he projects himself onto azula and molds her in his image and makes his will hers, her an extension of him, all under the guise that he does this because he has always seen himself in her. she is strong like him, ruthless like him, prodigious like him, the secondborn child who was never meant to overcome or inherit but deserves it more than a weak, frivolous older brother who birthright dictates will have the throne and the country to boot.

but ozai doesn't actually see himself in azula. he sees what he WISHES he had always been in azula, perhaps what he has grown into on some level, but not what he was as a child. the truth is that zuko is the mirror of all of his childhood weaknesses and failures, and so he hates what zuko represents. he sees the privileges iroh was born with as a firstborn son, yes, and he sees what he perceives as iroh's weak nature that came with age as the war and loss of lu ten softened him, but he does not see what iroh was as a child. because iroh was the favored child. iroh was the fearsome general. ozai was nothing.

ozai is simply trying to revise history by projecting himself onto azula, to create the narrative that he was always strong and iroh was always weak. all the while, he is completely blind (willfully or not) to the fact that even though she's the secondborn and a girl at that, he's actually recreating history by favoring azula the prodigy and abusing zuko the failure. he's even creating adversity for zuko to overcome to inherit something he wasn't born with the right to while also breaking down azula by taking away the thing that she's valued the most.

[katara-stan-club]

Fire and water are opposites. There's a reason hakoda waa a good dad. while ozai was an abusive prick. Wth?

I can intellectually see what the live action was going for with making Hakoda disappointed in Sokka's warrior status: they wanted to have parallels between Sokka and Zuko not living up to their father's ideas of strength and manhood.

HOWEVER,

that is total horseshit and a complete character assassination of Hakoda, and it should never have happened. It worked so well in the cartoon to have the foil of Ozai being The Worst Father Ever against Hakoda's Unending Love for his kids. Hakoda's instant acceptance of Sokka as a warrior in The Guru is so important in showing what he was like as a father: loving. Hakoda can be summed up by that incredible line from Andor: I love him more than anything he could ever do wrong. THAT is who Hakoda was, not this man who was disappointed in his kid for messing up a bit with ice dodging.

Hakoda let Katara have her justified anger at his absence in The Awakening: he gave her the space she needed, apologized to her, and he didn't dismiss her feelings as irrational. He emphasized how much he loved and missed her and Sokka, and how painful it was for him to be without them, like it was painful for them to be away from him. I don't see the live action Hakoda doing that, which is frankly horrifying to me. That scene is so important in contrasting how awful Ozai is to Zuko upon his return from banishment for 3 years vs Hakoda's reaction to Katara's feelings about his 3 year absence.

I cannot even begin to understand why anyone on this writer's team thought it was a good scene. If they wanted a compelling scene for Sokka to be upset about, just do the memory of him being left behind by Hakoda!! That was a lot of the driving force of how they characterized him in this adaptation anyways: struggling with being the warrior Left Behind!! They didn't need to take Hakoda out back and cmmit war crimes against his character to give Sokka something to despair about!!! Just play into his feelings of insecurity and inferiority without throwing the One Good Parent in this show under the bus!!

I literally gaslit myself about that memory Sokka had while in the fog of lost souls: I convinced myself it was a figment of Sokka's imagination and fears about his warrior status and that it wasn't a real memory. I was incredibly disappointed and outraged when I was forced to see it was a true memory when Sokka discussed it later. It was such an unnecessary change, I cannot fathom for the life of me how it was greenlit at all.

don't even get me started on the agni kai I could write a college thesis about that shitshow

[madou-dilou]

Exactly !

Pacifist characters are so compelling in a barren world, and I can think of no better example than Daniel Larcher, from the show A French Village.

Servier (the French prefect) : "... I'll try to negociate with the Germans. If I belly dance, we should be able to get down to fifteen Jews, or maybe even ten...

Daniel Larcher : "Negociate ? Do you hear yourself talking ? You can't bargain human life !" Servier : "Listen. Do you want to save people or make nice speeches ?"

This show takes place during the occupation of France by the Nazis. And it would be so easy to turn it into a simple tale of good versus evil -they are fighting literal Nazis. But the show takes place in the grey area.

Daniel : People will never forgive us for what we are doing. Servier : We are saving ten lives, Larcher. 

Daniel Larcher is a doctor so people are used to rely on him. He wants to help people and is shown repeatedly to go out of his way to do so, but then he is put in charge by the Nazis. He is an idealist but constantly forced to compromise to save as many lives as possible.

Judge : Did Daniel Larcher work for you as a spy ? Heinrich Müller : Heavens, no ! As spy, we try to use competent people. Mister Larcher was just a nice guy, who, in the middle of a war, was trying to be at peace with everyone. The epitome of the martyr, suffering, useless humanist.

As a result, everyone hates him, the Nazis find him too soft and the resistants (among which his little brother) deem him as a traitor. He tried to give his own life more than once but was always denied. He gets captured and beaten up by the resistants, tortured by the Nazis. By the end of the war, everyone hates him and he hates himself the most. When this character was on-screen (at every episode basically) you knew you were in for a cry.

Concentration camp survivor : Do you remember I asked you to make us leave this place ? Daniel : Yes, I do. You offered me money. And I refused. Survivor : As a result, my wife and children are dead ! Daniel : ... I take the jury as witness. Would it have been fair to let the Golmuntz family go because they had money and not the others ? Survivor : And ? Daniel : Would it have been moral ? Survivor : They all died. 140 men, women and children killed the very day they arrived in the camp ! You're the one to talk about morals ! Daniel : I did not know they were sent to die ! Survivor : That's not true ! Saying this, you're killing them for the second time ! Daniel : I did not know !

But if we want to go for something closer to TDP, we have its big brother, the series TDP constantly avails itself of through its elemental magic system, its books and pointless references breaking the immersion : Avatar, The Last Airbender.

I feel like TDP tried to replicate what Aang was with Ezran : the carefree yet compassionate child who is suddenly forced into immense responsibilities and horrible choices. Aang's struggle with deciding to kill the Fire Lord is a moral one, but there is more to it than that. If he kills Ozai, it means forsaking the principles of the Air Nomads, and as the last survivor of their genocide, Aang simply can't do that.

Ezran fails as a pacifist character because there are no such consequences.

The closest was in arc in the first half of season 3, which was very compelling but was butchered by the end of season 3, where we switched from this :

Each one of these pieces is 500 people. Five hundred men and women. Some are moms and dads, and have kids waiting for them at home. All of these are sons and daughters. Sisters, brothers, friends. They're real people, Bait. And after the battle... How can I let this happen?

To this :

*triumphant music*

And these people's deaths were never mentioned again.

When a character breaks his principles, it should break him. Just like Callum is when he uses dark magic. Just like Viren when he decided that Soren's life weighted less than what he percieved as the greater good. Just like Harrow when he killed Zym.

Harrow, contrary to Ezran, gets consequences. He loses his wife, he relinquishes his sense of morals, loses his self-esteem and he eventually commits suicide over remorse.

It makes him likeable, which Ezran is not.

The absence of consequences, gods....

When Ezran makes mistakes, such as abdicating in Viren's favour, we are given contradictory messages : he is a child so he makes mistakes (Opeli), but he is the bravest and wisest king Katolis has known in centuries (Corvus). Before the final battle, Ezran was characterized as a pacifist through and through : he finds the egg, he has the idea of returning the egg (so he does consider it as a person) to its mother to end the war; and once he is king and forced to choose between horrible outcomes where many people die, he hates it, he is disgusted with himself and the very idea that there even is a winning side in a war. He gives up the throne hoping to save lives.

But when he is told that all of these people have been transformed and that they have no choice but to kill them all... he doesn't argue. He doesn't bring up that these people may be detransformed, that they still have a family, nothing. He just does it. It's completely out-of-character. And it's never brought up again. He doesn't hate himself for being forced to do it. No one reproaches anything to him. It has no consequences. On contrary, it's a victory through and through, a triumph of the good side over the evil side. So much for pacificism and the inherent value of all lives.

And Ezran continues to escape consequences as the show progresses.

The Council Meeting, the perfect opportunity to show us how the world has evolved, how Ezran deals with all the trauma and events, is just a succession of cringe jokes.

When the painting is torn, (by whom and why ? No one cares) he gets away with a cute speech, and then leaves to his fun adventure; while the absence of the king has been established in the previous seasons as a catastrophe... but this time it's not. Somehow.

When he stays behind to try to talk to Rex Igneus despite the Earth Archdragon being obviously in so state to hear him, he forces the group to stay with him and look for him even though the entire place is crumbling on them, it's a miracle they didn't all die.

When he endangers the whole group again in order to save three tadpoles, which has all of them (Callum, Rayla, Soren) but him tortured, no one calls him out. He does not feel bad either. We just deal with the situation but no one holds him accountable, not even a reproaching glance, nothing. He just gets away with it.

Callum, Rayla and Soren were tortured, for God's sake, could he at least look guilty ?

Worst of all, his accommodating principles are affecting the entire show's message.

Ezran is characterized as an empathetic person. But the problem is that this empathy just stops sometimes even though his characterisation is still superficially present. When he is forced to kill thousands, he somehow just does it without trying to argue. But when it's about saving three tadpoles, he endangers the whole party and the whole world with it. And both are framed as the right thing to do. The killing of all these humans is even framed as a triumph : blasting music, funny gags, Aanya's heroic cavalry charge saves the day, all the monsters are getting killed -so much for the inherent value of all lives or the "does it think, feel, have a family?". Idem when Ezran straight-up justifies everything Avizandum did, including killing their mom, right in front of Callum, Callum doesn't react as if it were a normal thing to say. Same with the Pyrrah situation, Ezran rushes to help the poor creature who has just burned a village of his people, innocent human civilians, right in front of him.

What lesson are we supposed to learn here ?

That all lives are important except human lives ?

Does it feel ? Does it think ? Does it have a family ?

?????????????????????????????

Oh, and by the way...

So the show doesn't actually even have the excuse of these soldiers being transformed beyond redemption. What happened here was mass murder.

But it's either a triumph or not acknowledged at all.

Well, to be clear : of course Ezran and co had no choice but to kill them. What rubs me the wrong way is that it's never framed as a tragedy. They thought they could break the cycle, but are forced, in order to end it, to perpetuate it, once again, one -they hope, last time. Even though this mentality is exactly what brought all of them here in the first place. Ezran should be outraged, disgusted, horrified.

To mention ATLA one last time, what made the last Agni-Kai so memorable ? It's the music. It would have been so easy to blast an epic symphonic orchestra. But instead, we have slow, minor chords that tear your heart apart when you are not expecting it. It's the good guy defeating the evil girl, yes, but it's above all two abused siblings forced to fight each other to death.

In TDP, war becomes morally justified and fun.

And since Ezran never gets consequences, it feels like he has no flaws, that he doesn't need to grow, that the show completely agrees with his vision.

And I think it has to do with a certain vision of high fantasy and the representation of dragons, not just as fantastical creatures, but the very forces of nature itself. We humans have vilified them -St George, forgotten them -industrialisation and exploitation (not just of nature but each other, exactly the way Viren does with dark magic and his manipulative behaviour). We try to fight them, to win over them. So it's up to the heroes to realize that this is a false vision and that the real monsters are the humans who are unable to learn.

Problem is, that vision just does not align with the ... gritty fantasy The Dragon Prince has started as.

To speak again of ATLA, the latter starts as an extremely simple situation. Jesus must save the world from the Nazis. But as the show progresses, we have this :

Meanwhile, The Dragon Prince :

At the beginning we were told that things were not that simple, and we were shown it as we followed the perspectives of both sides. It was delightful to follow because of how conflicting it was. It was dragons and elves and knights and mages but it could as well have been steam, gaslight, goggles and zepplins. It was a story about how bloody history is, about how prejudice is difficult to overcome, about how all lives are inherently valuable in themselves.

And at the end, we have this.

Who are the good guys ? Who are the bad guys ? You have four hours.

It just doesn't align with a this vision of high fantasy that has the humans responsible for everything that ever went wrong. As it it, Ezran never demands that Xadia aplogises. Zubeia sent the assassins who killed Harrow and almost killed Ezran and it's never brought up. Never.

But humans do apologize. Soren takes Pyrrha down because she was terrorizing and killing innocents, but he is the one who somehow has to apologise to her, not the other way around... Which means now he is part of the good guys who get to threaten civilians to be eaten by a dragon for contesting the king as all good guys do. Claudia talks of generational trauma but it's not like we can take her seriously after she spent two years alone between her dad's rotting corpse and Satan whispering in her ear, especially since she displays massive hypocrisy right afterwards.

And Ezran says that they have to solve all this without violence; but it's contradicted by what we are shown, his absolute absence of remorse or doubt over Claudia's leg. His childhood friend's leg was cut off and they left her to bleed out at the bottom of the ocean and none of the protagonists even care and I am still supposed to think of them as pacifist main characters I should root for.

It's so unbalanced.

And it's because the story is not about prejudice and generational trauma, but actually about how humans are accountable for what has become of nature.

The real important bit of the Magma Titan thing is not the oppression of humans by Xadia, it's Viren saying that he will be able to artificially warm the earth so humans thrive, and Sarai objecting that the Titan may be the last of its kind. We are not meant to read "a desperate mage finds a way to save his starving people that has been oppressed for centuries." We are meant to read "the dark lord provokes global warming by killing the last member of an endangered species because humans are just unable to be reasonable. They are not satisfied with what they were given, so they take what doesn't belong to them, kill it and transform it into filth."

Keesha saus this and is proven right as she speaks. So yes, it is inherently evil to use organic dead matter (we still eat meat and wear fur though because it's medieval fantasy), and three tadpoles are more valuable and worthy of screentime than hundreds of thousands of human lives.

Meanwhile, Rayla struggles with her dead family as she bears the burden of saving them, she struggles with being rejected by everyone she ever loved even though their ideology was wrong, and her self-destructive tendancies end up hurting the love of her life, Callum; and her only way to save her family is that Callum agrees to do what terrifiies him the most. Callum struggles with his temptation to use dark magic, even if it's to save people, he is terrified to end up like Viren. Viren struggles as his entire world view was shattered, as he realises all the sacrifices he made only led to bad outcomes, and now he helplessly witnesses his daughter doing the same mistakes he did so he can live, while all he wants is to just die. Claudia is willing to go to any lengths to get her family safe, but everyone she ever loved keeps abandoning her over and over while she did nothing to deserve this (her mom left, Callum and Ezran switched sides, Soren switches sides too, Viren dies twice, one killed and the other one by choice), which leaves her to lose her sanity.

Ezran... is just there. He tells us he is angry but we are not shown it. The only time he has had inner conflict since season three episode 5 is in a side story.

An excellent one, by the way.

“It belongs here,” rumbled Pyrrah in his mind. “Do you think all pretty things are free of pain?” Ezran frowned as the cerulean glow of the aquamarine caught in her eyes. “I can smell the blood upon your pretty crown. Was it not once a blade? Perhaps you should leave it here, too, with all these terrible things.”

It's exactly what the show should be about instead of cute animals and demonstrating that using dead organic matter automatically changes you into a monster and justifies everything bad that ever happened to you. Ezran is confronted with how recent and ancient and yet still festering the wounds of the world are. He is confronted with his own grief, he realises he actually struggles to let go. He misses his dad. He is confronted with the fact that he owes his throne to violence -his crown, which he had reforged from his dad's sword as a symbol of the war being over, still reeks of blood. And he hates it.

And the same ought to be said of Soren. Since the ending of season 3, Soren brought little to the table. His jester persona isnt the mask he puts on to ignore his grief. It's what he is, nothing more. During the good scene of A Song of Love and Loss, which was about grieving our loved ones and what the war did to them no matter on which side they were, Soren doesn't even flinch. When he says "it's so good to be part of the good guys", we are meant to take him face value.

His short story "Strangers" was excellent, too. As Ezran realises the past is still a festering wound, Soren literally faces the past, and the wound is reopened and bleeding, both for him and Viren.

But it's side stories. Not the show.

The show, so far, much like Soren, has "no idea what nuance is". The show prefers to spend time on introducing pets or jelly tarts gags.

In the show, so far, Ezran is an empty shell.

So, no, Ezran doesn't need to grow up because The Dragon Prince is validating his vision through and through. He has no inner conflict since everything he does is either right or not his fault actually because he's just a child. He has no consequences because the story's vision is built around his. The events and messages bend around him. On contrary to Viren, who is wrong no matter what he tries, CF @kradogsrats 's post about how his attempts at following Harrow's logic by privileging either the individual or the collective keep backfiring : https://www.tumblr.com/kradogsrats/747310241889337344/i-accidentally-like-a-thousand-words-of-a?source=share

So all Ezran has left to do is to preach to the audience that it's not very nice to be mean.

Which is why he is insufferable.

If Dark magic is set up to be morally wrong no matter what, we ought to be shown that anything is better than using it.

That Viren *should* have let Soren and the hundreds of thousands of people die starving, that Callum *should* have let Pyrrha and Rayla and Soren and himself and Ezran and Zym be tortured.

The characters must choose to not use it knowing what horrible consequences this choice will bring, and these horrible consequences have to actually happen and have dreadful long term repercussions, and NOT to be Deus-ex-machinaed away.

So no new Arcanum somehow unlocked or dragon somehow showing up just in the right time or anything like it. Just the plain consequences, however horrible.

The closest we got was Harrow's death way back in season one, and even it's consequences were Deus-ex-machinaed via the egg and the frankly insane gamble that Zubeia would agree to stop the war to thank the protagonists.

So far, every time someone used it, it was framed as wrong and unjustifiable no matter the circumstances.

So, okay.

Show us why not using it to save your kid, your friends, your people, and let all of them die, is actually the right thing to do, the right, moral, "no shortcut" path.

[fire-lady-ilah]

More good dad! Ozai AU? Even if you didn’t ask for it, you’re getting it and I’m picking up right where I left off. This is my reminder that, while Ozai is a good and non-abusive dad and husband in this, he is still very much an imperialist and a cruel person in general.

Parts [1] and [2] if you’d like. This is part 3. Here’s part [4]

The siblings venture into the capital, although they make it known that no one should inform their parents that they are nearby. The moment they step off the ship, Captain Jee sends a letter to the Fire Lady. He was loyal to the Prince and Princess above all, but he did not feel like being executed or exiled that day when Lady Ursa inevitably finds out.

In a large house just outside Caldera City, Lord Ukano lives with his wife, Michi, his daughter and heir, Mai, and his newborn son Tom-Tom. The Dragon Emperor and the Blue Spirit sneak into the bedroom of the heiress and steal her away.

In that I mean, Mai leaps at the opportunity to escape her home with her best friends, who she’s seen wearing the same theatre masks dozens of times, and follows willingly. It takes an hour longer than the siblings had expected, if only because Mai has far more knives than they had truly expected and they get caught up in the palace kitchens stealing Azula’s favourite mochi and some bags of fire flakes.

Then they are caught by Fire Lady Ursa, who is gathering a late night cup of cocoa after a nice night with her husband, not that her children need to know that part. Her children, who are wearing her theatre masks that had very recently gone missing from her collection, stare at her innocently. Her daughter carries two entire boxes she knows are full of mochi. Her son carries the fire flake bag they use for festivals. Her one day daughter-in-law is making a cup of cocoa and the Fire Lady calmly requests one for herself from the girl.

That night, the fire Prince and Princess sleep in their own rooms, with Lady Mai in one of the many available. In the morning, they take breakfast with the Fire Lord and Lady, discussing trivial matters of politics and domestic affairs.

Mai leaves on the request of the Fire Lord, bringing everything they took from her home and the palace (along with what Ursa and Ozai insisted they take) to the ship with the help of some soldiers.

Azula and Zuko sit with their parents. Ursa gives them each two potent bottles of poison. Ozai’s voice has a worry that only his family knows how to detect through the facade of boredom as he inquires how their firebending and blades practice has been, as to the state of their weaponry. They try to soothe their parents worries with assurances: their practice has been going well in both bending and blades, Azula has achieved perfection in lightningbending and Zuko has achieved lightning, their blades are sharp and well maintained, they weren’t harmed when the temple blew up—

It slips through Zuko’s lips. He was never the actor like his mother and sister. For their part, his parents do not react overly beyond a flickering of the flame and a long sip of tea.

“Your mission has changed.”

Ozai is smart. Everything he does is to serve his goals the best they can. In canon, the premier of those goals is to gain more power for himself. In this world, that goal is to secure the ideal outcome for his family. (Of course, his second goal is as much power as possible. But it is only considered after his first goal).

Allying themselves with the Avatar, at least in appearances, will secure the best outcome for his children. And he has no doubt that his brother (so weak after the death of his son. And yet, Ozai cannot find it within him to scorn him overly. He knows that were he to be left childless, he would break. It is merely that Ozai would break in an explosion, whereas Iroh’s flame fizzled into embers.) would eagerly help his children betray him. Even if it was just in appearances.

His children are loyal and dutiful. They protest, but only out of a desire to maintain that loyalty. He wishes the Avatar had remained hidden, at least until they were both adults. They are prodigal, yes, but they are just siblings.

“You have our permission to reveal your mother’s ancestry. Use it wisely.”

The children know their lineage for at least five generations on each side. That, of course, is in addition to their knowledge of every Fire Lord that has reigned since the unification of the Fire Nation. They are well aware that their Grandmother Rina (who feeds them chocolate and tells them stories whenever she visits) ‘s father was Avatar Roku. Just as they knew of the friendship between Fire Lord Sozin and Avatar Roku.

It is necessary for the people of their nation to hear pretty lies. It is not their responsibility to worry about the nuance and complexity of life. It is one of their responsibilities as Angi’s heirs in the mortal world. To worry of such things is a burden they should not have to bear. It is necessary for the people to believe the Avatar hated the Fire Lord.

The siblings don’t know everything, of course. They are just children after all. But they understand the nuance, the conflicting beliefs. They were told the truth (and carefully kept from necessary propaganda before then) when they were old enough to look critically at the situation. It was their duty to bring the Fire Nation’s good to the other nations, to liberate their populations, the siblings decided.

The Avatar is just a child, but he seemed able to connect with his past lives. And he had pointedly not hurt them, at least as Avatar Roku.

If nothing else, they have the Dragon Emperor and Blue Spirit on their side.

“Zhao has asked for permission to launch an invasion on the Northern Water Tribe. He is a fool, but he claims he has knowledge that will ensure his victory. Tomorrow, I will send him a letter approving his asinine idea. You will stop him— kill him, if you must— and use that act of perceived treason to ally yourselves with the Avatar.”

Ozai wants power, but he is no fool. The invasion is risky at best. He cannot find it within himself to care for the tens of thousands that would doubtlessly die in it, the Northern Water Tribe had the advantage in multiple ways. It would serve its purpose to get his children at the Avatar’s side.

The tone lightens after his orders and Ozai steps back from his role as Father Lord into just being a father. He teases his son on his interactions with his betrothed. He teases his daughter and asks if she would be visiting the circus soon, taking note of how she had learned to prevent a blush but not the squeak in her voice. They are not infallible, they are children.

As they see their children for the last time in the foreseeable future, the Fire Lord and Lady both think as to how much they will miss them. Ursa blinks back tears as she hugs them both, smiling as they react identically, burying their faces into her chest to hide them and breathing in the scent of fire lily perfume.

Ozai is not usually physically affectionate with his children. He had never received it from his father and was much more competent in other ways. That being said, no one commented on the kiss he pressed to the top of Zuko’s head (still shorter than him by quite a bit. Sometimes he acted so adult, but he was so clearly still a child) before repeating the action with Azula.

“I am so proud of you. Both of you.”

I’m just now realizing Blue Spirit is supposed to be after the whole Roku thing. Oh well.

For appearances’ sake, the siblings and Mai continue to chase the Avatar. Zhao attacks the Avatar while he trains under the Deserter. Princess Azula ensures the forest doesn’t burn while Prince Zuko uses all the bottled up anger at both Zhao himself and Azulon (really, what is with grown men trying to kill 11/12 year olds?) to yell at Zhao for acting so recklessly.

And if, perhaps, he manages to endear himself to others by knocking Zhao’s feet out from under him, all the better.

The Avatar and his friends escape and the siblings celebrate another success as Zhao nurses his bruised ass and ego.

(“Hey, did the Deserter look like that dude in Master Piandao’s painting in his main hall to you?”

“Admiral Jeong Jeong and Master Piandao were married, Zuko. Obviously that was him.”)

Zhao attempts to order their crew away from them, citing his rank as admiral as above prince and princess.

Azula’s sharp tongue reminds Admiral Zhao that Zuko is not only a prince, but the Crown Prince, and thus he is equal in rank to Zhao. As was their uncle a general, retired or not.

Behind the royalty of the ship stands Captain Jee, his eyes locked with Zhao’s. His eyes promise mutiny even if he were to somehow take them. His eyes swear loyalty to the Crown Prince, to his sister, above all else.

Zhao turns to leave.

“Of course, that is not to say we will not join your invasion.” Zuko sounds like his father sometimes, and never more than when his voice holds a hint of smug satisfaction. “Merely, do not presume to think you can order us in any way. We out rank you, and our crew is the best our Nation has to offer.”

Their ship joins, at least in appearance, Zhao’s fleet. That being said, they obey no orders from the Admiral and only allow his “inspections” of the ship and their crew once. For all intents and purposes, they are just there to observe.

And observe they do. The siblings watch the way Zhao treats his subordinates and twin righteous flames burns in their chests. The truth of being raised by a loving father means that Zuko and Azula are both rather sheltered in comparison to their canon selves. They are raised on ideals of honour and the divine responsibility of a monarch, rather than on the truths of war and practicality of rule. It only results in a hotter fire and more questions as to if Sozin’s way was truly the one to follow.

They still have absolute faith in their father. After all, he is the one that raised them, that taught them of honour and the ideals of a monarch. He is the one that sheltered them. He is the one that suggested they befriend the Avatar to keep them safe.

On the ship, only three people know the entire plan. The first two are the siblings, of course. The third is Captain Jee. He is the one that will keep their ship away from the invasion itself so there is no risk of their crew being harmed in the doomed attack. He is the one that will direct the ship to the colonies once the siblings are with the Avatar. Captain Jee has no qualms about technically commuting treason.

Mai knows some of the plan. In that, Mai knows exactly what Zuko and Azula tell her and then what she observes. She sees the way they stick together, now more than ever. Sees the way that Azula trains her non-lethal lightning (because even she, a nonbender, knows it’s far harder to bend lightning that doesn’t kill than that that does). She hears the way they drop the title of Fire Lord when speaking of their royal great grandfather. She catches whispers about Fire Lord Roku. About the Avatar.

Mai, in a way, knows more than the siblings themselves. She knows that they are genuinely sympathetic toward the Avatar in a way that they don’t yet realize. She begins to keep all her knives on her person, along with an easily grab-able bag for travelling in her room. There was no way she’d be letting her best friends turn traitor without her. This is the most exciting thing she’s done in years.

Iroh knows less than he believes. Oh, he gets the dropped title just as well as Mai, but he does not know the intricacies of Zuko and Azula the way Mai does. He sees Azula’s practice and writes it off as her ever-present search for perfection. He catches the tail end of a conversation between siblings and does not stop to consider who exactly “great grandfather” may be referring to. It would be unthinkable for his brother to tell the children of their heritage.

Despite this, Iroh also knows more than most. He knows from conversation exactly what Zhao intends to do in the Northern Water Tribe and it turns his blood to boil.

They reach the Northern Water Tribe. The siblings sneak off the ship in an emergency boat. Mai enters at the last moment and neither send her away.

Iroh has already left the ship, though he is currently in one last meeting with Zhao in an attempt to convince him not to continue with his plan. He will not check back with his niece and nephew, believing them to be safe on the ship.

In the Northern Water Tribe, the three Fire Nation teens remain tucked into the shadows. They, unfortunately, have no idea where the Avatar is and wander through the city. However, they reach the Avatar’s friends before Zhao does.

(“Is he... alive?”

“He’s just meditating.”)

It goes far better than they could have expected. The siblings’ act of releasing Sokka and Katara from Zhao’s bindings results in a part of water tribe siblings being quite willing to hear them out. Princess Yue gives them an odd look but remains quiet.

Zhao shows up. Iroh shows up. Azula and Zuko denounce him (though they cannot bring themselves to denounce their father, even though they know they should). Zhao declares them all traitors, a koi fish in a bag in his hand.

A bolt of lightning hits Zhao straight in the back. Both he and the koi fish fall into the pool of water. He does not emerge.

Azula’s face is carefully blank, even as she watches the water. She cannot stop to consider whether it is her or the water that just killed the admiral, or if he was even dead at all. She could not even see his body in its depths. She used non-lethal strength.

Despite Princess Yue’s backing, the Northern Water Tribe wants to take the siblings prisoner (hostage, everyone knows). After all, everyone knows of the devotion they show to the Fire Lord and vice versa. If nothing else, they would be excellent bargaining pieces in a more formal treaty.

They had not factored this into their plan. Admittedly, they had not factored the Northern Water Tribe into their plan at all.

The three Fire Nation teens are thrown into a prison cell. A rather comfortable prison cell, but still a prison cell. Iroh is taken somewhere else.

Within five hours, they sit on the back of a flying bison, Sokka handing them food he had smuggled out of the meal as Katara was smuggling them out of prison.

(“We tried to get your Uncle too,” the Avatar says in a remorseful tone, “but we couldn’t find him.”

“Uncle will be fine.” Azula declares, her mind set only on the future as she tries not to think about the way Zhao sunk beneath the still surface of the pond.

Zuko nods in agreement and clutches her hand in a comforting way.)

The Gaang now consists of six people:

Aang, a twelve year old Avatar with a mastery in air and a decent proficiency in water. He looks at the Fire Nation teens and sees his friend Kuzon, sees a time from before the war when an Air Nomad could wander freely through the Fire Nation. He attempts to use Fire Nation slang with them but it’s a century old and results in only laughter.

Katara, a master waterbender and healer (a concept that intrigues Azula to no end, although she tries to keep her questions polite). She tends to have a short temper when it comes to matters of the Fire Nation, but even she can be coaxed into trying a few sweets that Zuko has stored in his bag.

Sokka, a hunter and warrior who may or may not be engaged to the NWT princess (Zuko says he is, Azula says he isn’t). Azula laments that her jokes are even worse than Zuko’s, to which Mai agrees. It is that comment that leads Sokka and Zuko to start bonding, having nothing better to do on the bison’s back than exchange bad jokes.

Crown Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation, who Sokka would insist is walking Fire Nation propaganda as he goes on at least one rant about Fire Nation culture and technology a day. Who surprisingly helps Katara with the cooking because it was one of the things Fire Lady Ursa carried over from before she was Fire Lady and taught to her children.

Princess Azula of the Fire Nation, who has a sharp tongue and a sharper pair of twin daggers that she seems to enjoy threatening her brother with for any inconvenience, even though they both just laugh at it. (Katara and Sokka have to be assured by them both that they truly love each other and that threatening each other with weapons carried over from the theatre scrolls they used to act out as children).

Lady Mai talks the least, seemingly content just to talk to Zuko and Azula. Aang makes it his mission to get her to warm up to him and spends a good portion of his time trying to talk to her. He succeeds when he brings up air ball, of all things. Mai’s parents had discouraged her from sport, believing it to be unfitting of a young lady just as they had discouraged her interest in knives until Zuko and Azula had ganged up on them. Partially for that reason, Mai enjoyed sports quite a bit, a shock to even Zuko (though Azula knew). After that, she talks mainly to Zuko, Azula, and Aang.

Captain Jee guides his ship to the Fire Nation colonies, unable to confirm that his Prince and Princess were okay. He hadn’t expected the worry he feels now, but he knows he will be awaiting a letter at Yu Dao if they are safe.

Prince Iroh is startled to discover that, while meeting with Master Pakku, the Avatar, his friends, his nephew and niece, and Mai had all disappeared.

As had his ship.

[zukka-fic-recs]

Zukka WIP Fic Recs

The following fics have all been updated in March 2022, and I am thoroughly enjoying all of them. ❤️

Burning Bright by @erisenyo

Available on Ao3, WIP, Series, Explicit, Canon Divergent, Canon Typical Violence and Child Abuse, Underage Sex, BDSM Undertones, Angst, Hurt/Comfort

Wordcount: 769,467

Zuko and Sokka write letters to one another and form a connection. Doesn't stray extremely far from canon, but enough to keep things interesting. A lot of very sweet moments and also many very hot and steamy ones (guaranteed to make you fan yourself while smiling until your cheeks hurt!). The way the author writes relationships - both romantic and otherwise - is super compelling, and this series is really driven by excellent character development.

All's Fair by @lovelyelbowleech

Available on Ao3, WIP, Series, Mature, Canon Divergent, Canon Typical Violence and Child Abuse, Torture, Zuko/Zhao (Non-con), PTSD

Wordcount: 233,750

Zhao survives the attack on the North and takes Sokka and Zuko as prisoners on his ship. This one is quite dark at times and there's a lot of wump, but the slow build of the relationship between the boys is great and it's not lacking in comfort! A lot of badassery in this one, and there are some great funny moments too - I love the way the author portrays the characters. A great blend of hurt/comfort and extremely well-written!

Chained by blueeyedarcher

Available on Ao3, WIP, Explicit, Canon AU - No Bending, Graphic Depictions of Violence, Allusions to Torture, Allusions to Suicide, Major Character Death (not the GAang - so far)

Wordcount: 358,478

Sokka takes Zuko (a Fire Nation spy) back to the Southern Water Tribe as a PoW. Not quite as dark as the summary and tags might imply. Many sweet moments. There are other AUs of the fic within the series, such as a shapeshifter AU, which is also very good. (Also: Pirate Queen Yue - need I say more?)

I would also recommend this author's other works!

Spirit's Tether by Spheral3

Available on Ao3, WIP, Gen, Canon AU - Soulmates, Slowburn

Wordcount: 259,011

Mostly canon compliant - except Sokka and Zuko are soulmates, which does change some things! Again, many sweet moments (there are themes in what I enjoy reading haha), and it's friends to enemies to lovers!

There's Bound To Be A Ghost At The Back Of Your Closet by anactualforrealadult

Available on Ao3, WIP, Gen, Modern AU, Dadkoda, kid!fic, Trans!Zuko, Allusions to Prostitution (not Zukka)

Wordcount: 31,799

Zuko raises Kiyi, with some help. Starts when Zuko is a teen and progresses from there. I love Dadkoda and Dad!Zukka fics, and this is a wonderful combination of both!

How You See Me by @mysticpandora

Available on Ao3, WIP, Explicit, Canon Divergent, Canon AU - A/B/O Dynamics, MPreg, Slowburn, Major Character Death (not the GAang - so far)

Wordcount: 117,566

Alpha!Sokka and Omega!Zuko. Zuko ends up injured and stuck in the Southern Water Tribe, and is helped by Sokka and his family. There are some very cute pets in this one, and Sokka works hard to make Zuko comfortable and win his affections. I know ABO isn't for everyone, but if it floats your boat then I think you'll enjoy this fic. And the Air Nomads haven't all been wiped out in this fic, which is lovely to see.

While Mighty Oaks Do Fall by @witchofendor

Available on Ao3, WIP, Teen, Fire Sage Zuko, Zuko joins the GAang early, Canon Divergent

Wordcount: 115,020

Ozai sent Zuko to become a fire sage when he was a kid, and now canon events are happening with that backdrop. This is funny and heart-warming, really tugs at my heartstrings. Extremely well-written and the author creates a depth to the world-building that is very compelling to read.

Guidance Extended Universe by jovialJuggernaut / @jovialjuggernaut-draws

Available on Ao3, WIP, Teen, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Canon Divergent

Wordcount: 269,795

This fic doesn't stray extremely far from canon, but Zuko and Sokka were guided by a spirit to one and other when they were kids because they're soulmates. This does change events somewhat. Also, some Jet in this which is fun!

2 Bros on an Island by HawksEyes /@thehawks-eyes

Available on Ao3, WIP, Mature, Slowburn, Canon Divergent, Homophobia, Torture, Drug Use, Allusions to Sexual Assault/Rape/Non-con, Allusions to Prostitution (this does not happen to Zukka)

Wordcount: 134,016

Zuko and Sokka are stranded on a desert island together pre-canon up until canon events. Then canon events progress, with some divergence. Also, Mava the iguana parrot is a hoot!

I have also really been enjoying this author's other works!

hold in, hold on by argentoswan

Available on Ao3, Mature, Modern AU, College/University, Eating Disorder, Minor Character Death

Wordcount: 69,806

Sokka is raising Katara, who is 6 years old in this. He's really struggling, but is starting to accept help from his friends. Quite a bit of angst, but also sweet moments and this author is an excellent writer.

Would recommend this author's other works as well!

Leaving It All Behind by Sreeder

Available on Ao3, WIP, Mature, Canon Divergent, Canon Typical Violence and Child Abuse, Torture, Prison, Zuko/Zhao (Non-con), PTSD

Wordcount: 259,817

Zhao survives the attack on the North and takes Sokka prisoner. Zuko has been Zhao's prisoner since before Sokka was captured. They are both in a prison camp as a result. A lot of angst in this one, but Zuko and Sokka's relationship is so great it makes my heart hurt. Also, Jet is around!

[amixiifish]

Heat- Chapter 5: The Truth

Jet was taking a walk outside, as the suffocating scent of heat was starting to become overwhelming. He really didn’t know how Toph dealt with it.

When he came back inside he was greeted with a most pleasant sight. Zuko was sitting up on his mound of blankets, his hair messed up and pretty eyes clouded with sleep. Attractive pink lips were barely parted to allow slow breaths to come and go. Before he could admire it more, Toph crashed into him with panic.

“Spirits, Toph, watch where you're going.” Jet grumbled after falling flat on his ass.

“I’m blind, shithead. Besides, Zuko’s burning up and I don’t know what to do,” she babbled, unlike her usual demeanor of control.

Jet blinked and was on his feet in an instant. “Katara said he needed something cool. Find a spring or water well or something, grab some water, and cool him down.”

Toph looked at him, unimpressed. “You're asking a blind person to look for something. You’re stupider than I thought. And that’s saying something.”

Jet sighed in frustration and walked out of the cave, a permanent scowl and slouched shoulders scaring off any and all people that were passing by.

By the time Jet was back, he was startled to see a gently cooing Toph wrapped around Zuko. The omega had buried his face in the shorter girl’s neck and was gently being held in a loving embrace.

For a moment Jet was reminded of just how sick this war really was. They were kids. They were supposed to be playing in the sun and laughing. Hakoda, Bumi, Yue’s father, and even Ozai should be in some meeting, discussing trade; not cowering in fear of a psychotic man that was broken by his ancestors' will. Aang was only 12 and had the closest thing to a family murdered in a huge massacre and woke a hundred years later to a world he couldn’t recognize as his own. Toph, also 12, was blind and abandoned by parents who weren’t willing to overlook the fact that she isn’t a helpless cripple. Sokka, at fifteen years old, lost Yue and now couldn't even find Suki after losing his father to war. Katara, at age 14, was mastering her element and was lied to and manipulated countless times- and on top of all that, she had lost her mother to the hands of a monster at a young age. Zuko, at 16, was forced into a role he didn’t want and was ignored and abused for his biology, something he couldn’t fucking control. He, himself at 16, also lost his family and even his sanity, only to be locked in the walls of a city that was manipulated by a man almost as bad as Sozin himself. He frowned harder only to have his trail of thought hindered by a small call from Toph.

“Did you bring water? He isn’t looking too good,” she said in an uncharacteristic act of kindness.

Jet finds himself nodding and giving her the cool water in a jug. She gently grabs an extra cloth and drenches it in the water to cover his forehead with it. She motions for him to come to lay with them on the other side.

Jet immediately shakes his head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“It’s fine. Really. He needs some contact and I’m pretty small,” she joked, her smile not reaching weary eyes.

Jet finds his limbs moving of their own accord and gently wrapping around Zuko. A slight hum was the only sign that acknowledged the presence of the heat-driven omega.

“Jet,” Toph began.

“Yeah?”

“Am I…. a freak?”

“What!? No of course not, why would you-“

“My father said so. He said that I was stupid and small. I didn’t deserve to be an earth bender and I wasn’t worthy of the title of alpha.”

A bitter laugh echoes through the cave. “Imagine how pathetic I am. I needed a war to save me from my parents.”

Jet felt a stab of guilt, pain, and hatred tear through his heart. Gently, he reached over to pull Toph’s hand into his own.

“You are a smart, caring, and incredibly strong person. You fought through being blind and turned out to be the strongest earth bender of all time. You deserve the title of alpha, and so much more. Don’t let that douchebag of a dad get you down.” he said, his low voice leaving no room for argument.

“Thanks. I really needed that.” Toph said, a soft smile making its way on her face.

“I say we throw him to the Unagi and then release Katara in mother mode on him,” came a retort from Toph's chest.

This startles a laugh from the two alphas. Toph leans down and presses a kiss to the top of Zuko’s head. “Thanks, Sparky. Even when boiling you make the most compelling arguments.”

Jet looks over the grumbling omega and chuckling alpha and thinks, “We may not be perfect but we’re family. And nothing is going to change that.”

Sleep slowly overtakes the three as the soft scent of omega in heat lulls them to bed.

[unliikelylovers]

ahh yay u reblogged that ask thing i was hoping u would. ok so. yue/yueki (whichever ud prefer!), azula, bakoda :)

omfg leo <33 this makes me happy ok buckle up for a massive post

yue

how I feel about this character

when i first watched avatar i didn’t rly get her,, like i couldn’t get invested,,

but the more i think about her the more i love her

she is so kind,, so good,, deserves the world,,,,

all the people I ship romantically with this character:

sokka (not to be heterosexual but they were rlly cute onscreen okay)

suki (the vibes!!!!)

katara (moon <3 and <3 ocean <3 gfs <3)

my non-romantic OTP for this character:

yue x a long, happy life leading the northern water tribe and smashing the patriarchy

my unpopular opinion about this character

i can’t think of anything because nobody ever talks about her!! she’s so slept on :(

one thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon

it would’ve been cool if she joined the gaang,, i just love that idea sm. she would’ve brought one more braincell too and they Need That

my OTP

probably yuetara bc i just love that thing where u ship two characters who are foils to each other... very good, usually gay...

but honestly i’m only just opening my eyes to the wonderful world of atla wlw ships so my opinion is yet to be solidified

my cross over ship i don’t do crossover ships lol i find it hard enough gauging whether two characters have chemistry onscreen u cannot expect me to extrapolate it across media

a headcanon fact

i think yue probably hated pakku and she was goddamn right

azula

how I feel about this character

listen i skipped this q bc i couldn’t unpack it enough and honestly later on in the post i wrote two entire essays of how i feel about azula so just read that

all the people I ship romantically with this character

nobody, she needs to heal

my non-romantic OTP for this character

azula x therapy

my unpopular opinion about this character

idk if this is unpopular exactly and it’s gonna take some explaining

basically i went into the show (bc i only watched it for the first time a few weeks ago lol) expecting that she would be a Bad Bitch™ bc everyone’s like,,, simping for her

anyway

that’s not what she is?? like at all???

and at first i did not like her and i was like why does anyone like her even a little bit she’s literally just an agent of fascism and imperialism

and while watching the finale i finally was like Oh.

she’s an abused child. and all she ever learned how to do was manipulate and fight and make war

and she literally never recieved love from anyone

i just don’t understand how you can look at her character and think “yass queen” OR “she’s a crazy bitch”

i am fervently on team Uncomfy When People Idolize Canon Azula But I Desperately Want Her To Heal

one thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon

realistically, her redemption/healing arc would be messy and complicated and not at all linear and hard to make into a compelling tv storyline

and any “redemption arc” that would be compelling children’s television would not be Good Enough For Me

and unpopular opinion i don’t think it would serve the story to add an addendum of book 4

so no i don’t want the atla writers to concoct an Azula Redemption Arc

but i want the characters in canon to save a little space in their heart for her 

for someone she has not directly hurt to see her circa sozin’s comet and say, “this is not the warmaking machine ozai tried his best to make, this is a deeply hurt child”

someone like iroh

scratch that “someone” shit i want iroh. i want iroh to hold space in his heart for his niece, to see that she is not a lost cause. please. you did it for zuko please do it for her

my OTP:

azula x therapy

my cross over ship

a headcanon fact

lesbian.

obviously.

bakoda (which is honestly at this point my actual otp i am fully subsumed)

when I started shipping it if I did

honestly idk? i think i got it from a tumblr post lol i was like “oh? we ship these two? excellent” and just Ran With It

my thoughts

the Old Gays vibes are immaculate. the yearning. the fighting beside one another. the raising children. perfect in every way

what makes me happy about them

that they can grow old together, happily, in their home, in a world at peace...... God

what makes me sad about them

the idea of bato just... pining... for years... the Angst

if we’re talking canonverse then i love mining bato’s injury for angst just consider the possibilities: bato feeling abandoned at the abbey... bato thinking hakoda will never love him if he’s left less mobile... bato not properly taking care of himself

i just have so many emotions about bato someone stop me

things done in fanfic that annoys me:

just straight up ignoring kya or even worse, kya slander, like,, she and hakoda were also in love 

((i may or may not have literally done that in one of my fics and still have weird feelings abt it but it was 600 words of fluff so))

things I look for in fanfic

literally ANYTHING i will read any fanfic that has bakoda as a tag, bakoda nation is all about the crumbs

but for real. the yearning. all of the pining. they need to spend years in love with each other without saying a goddamn word

also if it wasn’t clear from my fics,,, whenever a bakoda fic includes kya i Love that shit. makes me go all heart eyes emoji. i love her. i love her so much i need more kya content

bato/hakoda/kya ot3 content is so blessed,, i see bato as gay probably but i can vibe with bisexual or it can be a v configuration

who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other

hakoda with kya, obviously

my happily ever after for them

growing old together.......... just being old queer dads in love...... please i love them so much this is giving me Emotions

who is the big spoon/little spoon

bato is the big spoon he’s like a foot taller than hakoda and hakoda just wants to be Held

what is their favorite non-sexual activity

there’s a bakoda fic on ao3 where the tags “burn scar care” and “mutual pining” are adjacent and uh yeah. That.

[sourstiless]

i will never understand why they tried to “redeem” billy. he wasn’t a zuko. people only liked him because he was attractive, there was nothing about his personality that was actually compelling. he was a douche. a racist prick who thought because his home life sucked, he could go on and hurt other people and it would make that okay. he felt no remorse for the shit he did, and thought it was funny. spoiler alert, it wasn’t.

he was a replacement for steve, because they decided to take steve’s character in a different direction then intended. y’all can’t say you didn’t see his death coming. they probably knew they were going to do that long before they even wrote the episode.

he served to be a villain, not a great one like azula from atla, but a villain. he wasn’t meant to be liked, and his sudden redemption at the end was basically a fan service to everyone who did end up liking him because he was attractive and not actually for his character

it completely differs from steve, who since they decided to change. i read it was because they liked joe keery and didn’t want to kill him off like they originally intended. i could be wrong but that’s what i remember reading. even though he was a douche in season 1, you could clearly see he wasn’t a “bad guy”. he truly cared about nancy, and acted like an asshole as a result of his emotions. not justifying what he did, because what he did was completely wrong. instead of brushing off what he did like it was nothing, he helped right his wrongs(or his friends’ wrongs because i don’t think he did the spray paint, he broke jonathan’s camera but i think that was it.), went over to nancy’s house to apologize, and when he was told to leave in a very harsh manner, he turns back to save both nancy and jonathan when he realizes something might be wrong. he was a douche, but you could tell by the way he acted from the start, that he wasn’t really a “villain”. kinda like zuko, but zuko is still a better character.

even after seeing the way billy’s dad is, he continues to bully lucas, ready to beat him up, then beats up steve almost to death after hitting him on the head with a plate, and laughs about it. shitty home life or not, he enjoys watching people get hurt. there was never a scene where he genuinely acts like a good person. (and the third season tries to redeem him without any basis of good character development). you see him as a child, and he’s not like what he is now, sure. and yes, his backstory shaped him into that person, but it does not justify what he does. you can’t excuse him for being a bad person because he had a bad home life. i hated zuko in the beginning of atla because he was painted like the protagonist. it took me until mid season 2 for me to like him, and then at the end i disliked him again for choosing the wrong path. he had a shifty homelife, but that doesn’t excuse him relentlessly hunting aang or burning down an innocent village.

he was projecting his anger into something else, but in times where it was his needs over the needs of his people, he always chose the needs of his people over his own. he could have sacrificed his ship and his crew to capture the avatar, what he’s been trying to achieve for 3 years, but he doesn’t. he decides to save them instead. he could have killed ozai out of his own anger, but he knew that it wouldnt solve any problems for his people, or the other nations, only make them worse. there are so many scenes to indicate that zuko was never truly the villain, but none to indicate that billy was actually a good person behind his outer shell.

[thevagueambition]

Atla, Zukka and Sokka :)

ATLA

Favorite character: Zuko, 100%. He’s a character I relate to a lot, eg the whole “hard work vs natural talent” thing... I even have a costume, although I didn’t get a chance to use it when I meant to so I haven’t really done so yet OTL

Least Favorite character: Hmm, god, I don’t know.... Bumi, maybe? As a comedic character he feels a bit too “haha crazy” and he doesn’t really (imo) work well as a dramatic one... 

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon):

Zukka

Hakoda/Bato

Roku/Sozin

Tyzula

Jetko

Character I find most attractive: Zuko. Particularly s3 ofc lol

putting the rest under a cut for length

Character I would marry: idk. not big on marriage really

Character I would be best friends with: Sokka

a random thought: The true hero of ATLA is Iroh and I feel ashamed of not having mentioned his name yet in this

An unpopular opinion: The age difference between Kataang is 2 years which is the exact same age difference between Zutara and neither are particularly weird regardless of the fact that I don’t care about either ship

My Canon OTP: Don’t have one. Sokka/Suki is cute I guess is the closest I come to having strong feelings on a canon ship

My Non-canon OTP: Zukka

Most Badass Character: Toph but also low key Sokka bc he’s a non-bender

Most Epic Villain: That old blood bending woman who gave us all nightmares

Pairing I am not a fan of: Zutara, but that’as as much about fandom behavior back in the day as anything else

Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another): Korra, all of LoK 

They gave Toph too little to do in s3 and she SHOULD have had her Zuko outing like all the others >:( Actually Zuko and Toph have a lot in common in certain ways and that was never fully explored

Also obviously SOOOO many characters in this series who were written as straight when they shouldn’t be lol. We get it, it was a kid’s cartoon in the 00s, but they didn’t have to agressively pair off everyone in neat m/f couples by the end of the series

Favourite Friendship: Aang & Zuko

Character I most identify with: Zuko, as mentioned above. He’s also the same MBTI type as me haha (INFP). Also, Sokka mix of being simoultaneously really clever and extremely stupid is a gigantic mood.

Character I wish I could be: Idk... Iroh, in some ways, certainly. Honestly, by the end of the series all the main kids are pretty admirable people. Who wouldn’t want Aang’s kindness, Katara’s righteousness, Zuko’s determination, Sokka’s cleverness, Toph’s independence, Suki’s leadership, etc? Hell, Mai’s bravery and Ty Lee’s loyalty? I love all the main kids.

Zukka

When I started shipping them: Only a year or two ago, actually! I think last time I rewatched The Boiling Rock I was like 👀

Originally when I was an ATLA fan I was still in the “we must adheer to canon” phase of my existence in fandom and then for a good while I was still affected by my... hesitance to look like a, idk, stereotypical slash fan, in the sense that back in the day people were REALLY hostile to slash ships that seemed, idk, contrived. Zukka also just wasn’t a big ship back in the day I don’t think, Jetko has always been more popular. 

My thoughts: The cammaraderie that developes between them over their stay at The Boiling Rock is incredibly compelling to me and I think that... the ways in which Sokka holds Zuko accountable through “jokes” but still allows him the space to prove himself is really interesting and probably... something that is actually better for Zuko than either Katara’s rage or Aang’s kindness? Idk. 

Also they both have pretty complicated relationships to masculinity and what it means to be a man in their respective cultures and their sort of struggles with that and how those struggles look different due to circumstances like their parental situations and different cultural expectations... Zuko’s is less directly about masculinity per se because the Fire Nation has less strict gender roles, or at least ones that don’t code certain activities as purely masculine endeavours (eg warfare) but certainly there are shades of Ozai’s treatment of Zuko and Azula that are gendered as well as about birth order and it’s interesting how Zuko and Sokka both impose restrictions on themselves about how they should behave and what they should live up to culturally.

What makes me happy about them: I think they complement each other really well. They have a lot in common but are pretty different about their approach to things... I also just really like battle couples lol 

What makes me sad about them: Their respective trauma is part of what makes them compelling but it’s certainly also sad, so in that sense...

Things done in fanfic that annoys me: So much of it is modern AU and i don’t care for it lol. Completely ignoring any sense that the Avatar world must have some elements of homophobia bothers me to exist in the ways it does, but as does completely overplaying it, idk. It’s a balance not everyone strikes well. Also obviously when people demonise Suki or Mai to account for them not being in the picture that’s bad.

Things I look for in fanfic: Honestly, more than anything? Good characterisation. This is a ship that lives and dies by good characterisation. I also really like when they’re set during the time at the Western Air Temple.  

My wishlist:

Swordfighting duels!! Practicing swordfighting together!! Bonding over swords like the dumb teenage boys they are!! Yes I know about the innuendo that only makes it better!! 

Hakoda not just being cool with it but realising about Zuko’s abuse and being like Actually I Am Your Dad Now

I always want fic where the gaang find out about how Zuko got his scar and that with Zukka is even more *chef’s kiss*

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: Hmm ending up with, huh? I like Jetko for the drama but not necessarily as endgame. Sukka is pretty cute so I’m down for that but Maiko is.... look, it made sense for the time that Zuko was back in the Fire Nation because but I 100% don’t think it’s something either of them benefits from afterwards. They’re better off as friends imo also Zuko’s gay

My happily ever after for them: I want them to travel the world together tbh? I never quite know how to account for Zuko becoming Fire Lord in my thoughts about him post-canon because... well obviously I hate monarchy and I don’t actually think Zuko would be particularly comfortable being the leader of a nation, so... I don’t know. Maybe after some years, maybe a decade, of guiding the nation back towards stability Zuko starts reforming the country towards something more democratic and becomes less personally involved in the affairs of running the country? I don’t see them as people who would or really could be tied down by each other because they each have responsibilities to their respective communities and I don’t necessarily find “and then they lived in the Fire Nation palace together for the rest of their lives” compelling... 

Sokka

How I feel about this character: I love him so much. His character developement is so compelling and as one of the very few prominent non-bending characters he is also compelling in the ways that situate him within the world and forces him to look for other things to contribute with. Again, the ways in which he is undeniably very clever but simoultaneously kind of dumb is also just... Very Good and Relatable lol. He was someone I overlooked a bit for a while but I think Sokka’s Master really awakened me to how great he is and on rewatches he became one of my faves. Also, you just gotta love any character that uses sarcasm as a shield lol. 

Any/all the people I ship romantically with this character: Zuko, primarily, as discussed above. I’m fine with both Yue and Suki as canon ships but I’m not really invested in it. When I was younger I liked Sokka/Toph somewhat but actually Toph is a lesbian so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ You could always do Suki/Toph, kill two birds with one stone you know

My favorite non-romantic relationship for this character: Gotta love a good father-son relationship <3

My unpopular opinion about this character: I don’t know what the popular opinions about him are tbh. I’ll use this to say I think ADHD!Sokka makes sense though

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: Hmm, idk... the episodes he had that were focused on him were very good and did a good job of exploring his inner life in the face of how often he’s a comedic character, so it would have to be more in terms of his relationships with other characters. More interactions with Zuko would have been good ofc ! :3c

Favorite friendship for this character: Hm, probably Aang. Protective Older Brother Mode for a character that isn’t even technically his sibling is Very Good.

My crossover ship: I don’t really have crossover ships

[bellatrixobsessed1]

I’ll Meet You At The Bottom (Part 46)

He was in the Water Tribe, he was home. Azula wondered if it would even be in good taste to just show up unannounced at his door. It was just one more reason to let him wander back to her. The princess rubbed a healthy amount of aloe onto the back of her neck and dabbed a fair amount across her cheeks. How odd would it be to wear a sunburn in the Water Tribe? Still decently sore from the day prior, she stretched herself out on her bed and started at the ceiling until a few knocks roused her from it. They were too gentle to be Zuko’s or Toph’s, but not light enough to belong to Aang or Ursa. So that left Katara. Azula fixed her robe that had fallen loose and made her way towards the door. Upon twisting the knob, the princess found herself in the company of two people. When the firebender at last felt compelled to move, Iroh entered first followed by her mother. The man arranged his tea set upon her dresser. The princess frowned to herself, she didn’t exactly have time for neither a lecture nor another long and heartfelt discussion. If for no other reason than to just move things along, she was almost content to let bygones be bygones.

 “Here.” Iroh placed a cup in Azula’s hand.

 Azula took a quick drink and set it down. “Exactly how long is this going to take, I have a mission that needs completing.” Completing was a bit of a stretch, she had a mission that needed starting. “The longer I wait, the harder it will be.”

 “I think that we need to talk.” Iroh stated flatly. Azula winced, his talks were never quick.

 “Can we have this discussion elsewhere? Perhaps on a boat. Preferably to the Southern Water Tribe?”

 “This late at night?” Ursa asked.

 “The docks will be less crowded.” Azula pointed out.

 .oOo.

 The snow had stopped, leaving the world around him quiet and still. A frigid glittering tundra they was deceptively impassable. Sokka chanced the journey into the outside world regardless. Since he was a boy he longed to see if the land’s lore was true; did an iridescent spirit elk really emerge on the dawn of the first winter storm? He was skeptical but itching for something new to think about, so he would search out this elk. He bundled himself abundantly and heaved his way out of his home. The first rays of the morn befell the fresh layers of snow, he surveyed the world around him trying to pick out the safest route and any sign that an elk may have passed through. He directly faced the sunlight, thinking that maybe the mythical beast would appear within the rays. That seemed like an elky thing to do, not that he knew much about the elks. He took one step forward, successfully driving himself into a snow bank. He grumbled to himself, remembering at once how much he loathed those things. Wedging himself out was a timely matter and gave him time to gather that it would be wise to leave his father a note saying that he’d be out chasing imaginary deer.

 And he was off again bounding over the snow. With the sun now quite high and no sign of the elk he had no real purpose for being out and about when the rest of his village was just beginning their morning routines. But he didn’t care, he enjoyed not having a purpose for once. He put his adventure to a stop when he came to a towering glacier with an opening large enough to venture into. He thought to explore it, but only briefly. He hadn’t the proper equipment to get very far.

As he shuffled away he couldn’t help but wonder where his sense of adventure had gone. A few years back he might have dived right in and played it by ear.

 .oOo.

 Not a seafaring soul desired to take Azula in the direction of the Water Tribe. “Do you know much about the Water Tribes and their seasons?” One such captain questioned. “With all due respect Fire Lord Azula, anyone who suggests going there at this time of the year surely doesn’t.” At the slanting of her eyes he quickly added, “it’s understandable, I don’t recall you ever having gone there to see the season for yourself.”

 “Then maybe you’d like to pleasure me with the view.” Azula suggested.

 Save for Zu-Zu and friends, no one had ever refused her before, but this man was shaking his head so violently she thought he might snap his own neck. “Not a chance. The storms brewing that way are enough to freeze a man right to his soul.”

 Azula gave a small hiss and was about to make her a request a demand when a hand fell on her shoulder. “One way or another, I’m getting to the Water Tribe, mother.” She muttered.

 “You’ll have to find a less timid captain.”

 With her patience wearing thin Azula scowled, “then find me one.”

  She supposed she shouldn’t have doubted the woman. Granted Ursa’s find was a rather shady looking woman with a monstrous height, but the sailor seemed willing. After a slur of slick words and a very bountiful bribe anyhow. No less, the princess found herself aboard a rather study ship with a weary mother and an uncle who seemed very accustomed to shoddy trade affairs—no doubt Zu-Zu’s doing.

 With nowhere to retreat to, Iroh began his pestering. Azula didn’t realize that she resented him more than Ursa until he began speaking. Her mother never seemed to see the best in her, but this wasn’t something reserved for Azula alone. Iroh, he tried to be compassionate towards the worst of people, and still couldn’t muster that much up for her. “Why am I the only person you ever saw as truly evil?”

 She guessed the answer before his reply had been made. She and Ozai had been one and the same to him. His relationship with her father was damaged irreversibly. Ozai was a completely cruel and hateable man and by extension she was the same.

 She was in for a long boat ride.

 .oOo.

 Though the elk had, expectedly, been nothing more than a tall-tale, Sokka didn’t come home empty handed, he had stopped along the river at first just to gain a sense of direction and then to give himself a challenge. He’d gone spear fishing before but never had he never tried it with nothing but a knife alone. He may have only caught one thing but it was still something. Being as the winter had struck so suddenly, every ration counted. He could fend for himself, if nothing else. His walk was beginning to take its toll though, the cold was finally biting at him hard enough to draw attention. Even through his mittens he felt the first piercings of chill. He hustled along the riverside, covering as much ground as he could. Home wasn’t too far off from there, spying a frozen waterfall, he could confirm such.

 He ought not to gander, but the crystalline scenery compelled him. Icicles taller than his father accented the cliffside, sparkling white like earthy prehistoric teeth. Other icicles were more translucent like wintery chandeliers. He stood marveling at the majesty of the frozen cascade, after so long, he had forgotten how splendid the arctic views were. He followed the jutting lines of the cliff to the very top.

 In the dying rays of the sun, stood a great white creature almost washed out by the white of the snow around it. It’s antlers could have easily been passed over, mistaken for another thicket of icicles. It tossed its head from side to side, displaying shimmering fur that when hit in the right manner, appeared more silver and pastel blue.

 Sokka blinked as the creature observed him with deep blue eyes. At his next blink it was gone.

 Later in the evening, when the winter resumed itself in full, he had himself wrapped in a generous bundle of silks. Over a helping of Arctic hen, he relayed to Gran and Hakoda of his fishing success (he had given his father the honor of eating his catch) and of the beautiful beast with the sapphire eyes.

 “A fine catch indeed.” Hakoda gave him a thumbs up. “Tasty too.”

 Gran snickered. “And there you were, insisting that I was just treating you like a kid and telling fairytales. Fairytales aren’t for children, dear. They can be guides or bringers of luck, they can be wild and dangerous.”

 “Alright, Gran! I believe you.” Sokka smiled awkwardly.

 “Wonderful, now how about you go let Paku know that?” Usually if Sokka believed in something, Paku would too. And if Paku dropped his skepticism, Sokka was inclined to follow.

 “I think I can do that.” Sokka nodded. A fresh lump of sadness gathered in his throat. Katara would have loved to have seen that elk. She always was more fond of folklore than he. And Azula. He longed to tell her about it, he couldn’t really see her caring—in fact she would probably ask if he had taken some of her Ruby Tears for his own—but still she would get a kick out of the story. He missed her, he missed causing her to smile, missed comforting her. Instead, he became the reason she needed comforting. He missed all of them.

 The door rattled in its frame. “I should bolt that thing better.” Hakoda noted. The last thing the man wanted was to wake up to a heap of snow in his front room. Again, the door shuddered some.

 “I don’t think that’s the wind, dad.” Sokka stood.

 “What kind of fool lurks in this weather?” Paku questioned.

Sokka tugged the door open it swung forward without warning. “Firebenders, Paku.”

 “Naturally.” He rolled his eyes.

 Sokka on the other hand was both thoroughly delighted and horrified all at once. Standing in the doorway, shivering softly, under mountains of clothes was Azula. Behind her were Fire Lady Ursa and Iroh. Azula’s hair fluttered and whipped into her face, a face that was unmistakably the image of pissed off.

[nyangibun]

Zutara: The Blue Spirit Rises

A/N: There are two reasons why I changed my url. One, because I adore Zutara more than is probably healthy. Two, because of this damn story that won’t leave my head. So as you can see, I was totally compelled to write this (I had no choice) and I hope people like it?? Or just read it even. Alternatively, you can find it here at FF. 

Summary: While searching for the Avatar, Zuko realises the war has devastated most of the world, including the Fire Nation. He returns home after years away to right the wrongs of his father under the guise of the Blue Spirit. A vigilante by necessity, Zuko works alone, but then a new player shows up in town. A woman in red. Is she a friend or is she a foe?

CHAPTER 1: THE MASKED MAN

The night was unnaturally cold. It had rained only hours before and now the drop in temperature, usually unfelt in the Fire Nation, had left the streets empty save for a few stragglers. A man clad all in black stood on the ridge of a high rooftop. The blue and white paint of his mask glinted underneath the waning moon. From afar, he could pass for a statue, but he waited with practiced calm, silent and focused. It didn’t take long for his target to exit the tavern. People were nothing if not predictable. The guard stumbled down the street, a hulking figure dressed in standard Fire Nation black, but the gold trimmed shoulder plates indicated his high rank.

The masked man crept from roof to roof for another block, following diligently behind like a shadow, until the guard turned down a narrow street with no facing windows. In swift succession, he dropped down from the roof, unsheathed his dual broadswords and pinned the guard beneath their sharpened edges.

The guard blinked up, annoyed. “What do you want?” But the fear in his eyes dulled the demand.

“You are in no position to be asking questions. Tell me when the shipment is coming.” He needed to intercept it before it reached the harbour. Once it was loaded onto a ship, it would be out of his reach.

The guard paled, shifting underneath the menacing stare of the mask. “I won’t tell you so you might as well kill me, Blue Spirit.” He sneered the name as if he were tasting age-old sea slugs left to rot in the sun.

“You wish to die without honour?” He regarded the guard with a pitying frown beneath the mask. The loyalty of these men were misplaced. They sought only to please the royal family but in doing so, they had left much of their own city in ruins.

“What does a thief know of honour?” He spat, white spittle splattering onto the mask.

“I know that there is a shipment of new explosive shells.” He had relaxed his stance but now he leaned in, driving his swords closer to the man’s skin. “And I know what will happen when it reaches its destination. Where is the honour in massacring a village?” His voice involuntarily tightened towards the end, angry and foreboding; he could issue threat after threat but in his albeit short time as the Blue Spirit, a slight intonation made all the difference. It was a suggestion of loss of control. By the way the guard flinched back into the wall, it was enough.

“If they’re…” His voice squeaked and he swallowed nervously to clear it. “If they’re harbouring rebels then they had it coming. The Fire Nation only seeks to bring peace. If those earth kingdom peasants can’t understand that then –”

“Then what?” the masked man snapped, cutting him off. “They deserve to die? Explosive shells will not spare the life of a woman or a child. Tell me the time, guard. I am losing my patience.” To emphasise his point, he pressed the blades where they crisscrossed at the jugular, not to draw blood but enough to become uncomfortable.

“I will never tell you! I am a loyal commander to Fire Lord Ozai!”

The masked man sighed. It always ended this way. Too often the Fire Nation’s reverence for the royal family left the Blue Spirit with very little options. He sheathed his swords with one fluid move, only to draw a smaller dagger from his left boot. He pressed it against the cheek of the guard; this time, he did draw blood. Just a thin slice. “Do you know what happens to a commander who can no longer fight?” He left another incision by the guard’s right eye. “He is retired. Forgotten. Without honour, without respect. I will not ask a third time. When is the shipment coming from the factory?”

The guard appeared to understand the implication of his words. If there was something worth more than their loyalty, it was their position. The Blue Spirit knew these military men well; he could smell their selfish opportunistic greed a mile away. “The shipment…” The guard hesitated, but only for a second as the Blue Spirit pressed the dagger dangerously close to his eye. “It’ll arrive two nights from now! From the western gates.”

“What time?”

“I don’t know.” The Blue Spirit traced the curve of the guard’s brow with the tip, almost as delicately as he would with the stroke of a paintbrush. Blood pooled in the crease of the guard’s lid. “I swear! I They didn’t tell me! Please, please…” He trailed off, the fear making his voice quiver.

“I will spare your life, but not out of mercy, out of pity. With every breath you take from here on out, remember that your life is as meaningless to me as it is to the Fire Lord. But now, you have the chance to make amends for your sins. Stray from this path and regain your honour.” He flipped his dagger and brought the hilt down onto the guard’s head, effectively ending their conversation.

The Blue Spirit turned from the crumpled guard. In two nights time, he would have to intercept a shipment of highly flammable explosives around a unit of firebenders. It was times like this that made him wish for a partner.

+++

“Are you having trouble sleeping again, nephew?”

Zuko rubbed his tired eyes before taking a seat across from his uncle. The rotund former general had already placed a steaming cup of tea in front of him. Ginseng by the smell. “Why do you ask, uncle?”

“The sun is already up. You are normally meditating at this hour.”

His uncle sipped at his tea but his eyes remained on Zuko. They weren’t suspicious, only concerned. It made Zuko’s stomach tighten with guilt. He looked down at his own cup of tea and shrugged. “It was cold last night.”

“Hmm, so it was,” Uncle Iroh acquiesced, before remembering something and smiling widely. This did little to help Zuko’s constitution this morning. Anything that made his uncle that happy usually made him very unhappy. “Xun was looking for you yesterday!” Zuko sighed audibly and pressed his lips to the cup to keep from speaking. His uncle took it as a sign to carry on. “The boy looks up to you, Zuko. You should not be so quick to dismiss a young boy’s admiration.”

“His admiration is entirely unjustified, uncle. I have done nothing to deserve it.”

“On the contrary!” Uncle Iroh exclaimed, startling a still bleary-eyed Zuko. “You have done more than anyone else. You have listened to him. All a child really wants is to know they are being heard.”

Zuko clenched the ceramic cup tightly in his hands. He was too easy for his uncle to manipulate; too susceptible to a small boy who craved attention and praise. “What did Xun want?”

No longer than a couple of hours later, Zuko found himself walking behind an excitable young boy with black shaggy hair and big amber eyes. A wooden stick trailed behind him as he chattered excitedly about the upcoming Fire Nation Festival. It was to be held at the end of the month; a celebration of their culture. “Will you take me, Lee? Please!”

Please, please…

The memory jarred him for a moment. The guilt coiled even tighter from where it had remained from the conversation with his uncle this morning.

“Lee?” The young boy walked back to where Zuko had stopped in the middle of Harbour City. He proceeded to poke him with the stick when Zuko didn’t reply right away. “Hey, are you even listening?”

“Yes,” Zuko snapped, and pushed the stick aside. “And don’t poke me with that thing.”

Xun rolled his eyes and started to walk ahead again. “You should teach me how to use it and then I’ll stop poking you.”

“It’s a stick. There is no use to it.”

“It’s a sword!” Xun stopped and whirled around to poke Zuko again. “See, look. It’s got a pointy edge and a little handle thing.” He turned the wooden stick around and to the side so Zuko could see. “Mama said I’m not allowed a real sword so Dad made me one.”

Zuko raised a hand toward the boy with his palm facing up. Xun dropped the sword eagerly into his hand and watched as Zuko twisted it this way and that. As a practice sword, he had to admit it was a good size and weight for Xun, but the thought of the young ten-year-old having any need to fight with a real sword made Zuko uneasy. “Why do you need to learn how to use a sword anyway?” He handed it back to Xun and continued walking through the market.

“In case the other nations attack!” Xun cried out as he raced to catch up. “Or to protect my house from thieves.” He walked in step with Zuko, glancing up at him with wide hopeful eyes. “So will you teach me, Lee? Please?”

“How do you know I can even fight?”

“Uncle Mushi said you were a great fighter before you had to come take care of him.”

This stopped Zuko again. Why must his uncle always overshare? One of these days, he would let something slip and then they’d both have to spend the rest of their days imprisoned at Boiling Rock. Azula would love that.

“So is that a yes?” Xun nudged him with his bony elbow. “Will you teach me to fight? I want to be great just like you.”

Zuko opened his mouth to deny him but was abruptly cut off when three large men around his age stepped into view. They wore black tunics with dark red shoulder plates, and sheathed at their sides were the standard long-bladed swords. Zuko sighed inwardly.

“You’re better off learning from the old witch lady how to fight,” one of them said, laughing at his own joke. Zuko had never bothered to learn their names but they knew his unfortunately.

“Lee’s probably a better fighter than all of you!”

Zuko refrained from thumping his forehead with the palm of his hand. This kid needed to learn to keep his tongue in check. “C’mon, Xun. Let’s go find your mama.” He put a hand to the boy’s shoulder. Zuko was surprised to find he could feel Xun’s muscles tensing spasmodically as he clenched and unclenched his hand around the wooden sword.

“Oh yeah, Xun, why don’t you and Lee run along to your mama?” All three boys snorted derisively. Even their taunting was lacklustre. Zuko could only imagine how abysmal their fighting would be.

“Xun,” Zuko warned, his hand now gripping the boy’s shoulder. “Move.” Under any circumstances, he would be forced to defend his honour, and that of his young friend, but to fight three guards in broad daylight, even if they were still in training, would be stupid.

They made it barely two steps before Zuko felt something smash into the back of his head. Cold liquid dripped down into his tunic. They must have thrown the same object at Xun because before Zuko could react, the boy had already run off toward the three men. Laughter rang out, and a moment later, Xun was sent crashing into a wagon wheel cart, his wooden sword snapped in half at his feet. Zuko’s control slipped then. He could appreciate the need for calm in a moment like this, especially when the risk of being discovered was so high, but he was still at his core a hotheaded eighteen-year-old. “You’re going to regret that.”

The one closest to him lunged forward. Zuko easily sidestepped the man before ramming an elbow into his back. This knocked him off-balance, giving Zuko the chance to swipe at his feet. Seeing their companion flat on his back forced the other two to unsheathe their swords. Without firebending or his dual swords, Zuko was seemingly at a disadvantage, but it wasn’t a fair fight in the end. With a few swift moves, Zuko had managed to capture the sword of one man and knock the sword off of the other. He was tempted to reach for the fallen weapon but not many people in this city could wield dual swords and he wasn’t about to draw any more attention to himself than he already had. He kicked it instead so it would slide away from the reach of the guards.

The guard that had fallen down first was now advancing toward Zuko, sword at the ready. His grip was more confident than his companions. He was probably more skilled too.

“What is going on!” A tall man with gold trimmed metal shoulders walked towards them. The three guards visibly paled and fell into line with their heads bowed. “Actually, I don’t want to know. What I do want to know is why you are here instead of where I assigned you. Anyone? Tengen?” Neither of the men responded. That was when the commander took notice of Zuko. “You. Who are you?”

“Lee, sir. I am just a lowly tea servant.” Zuko was glad he grew out his hair over the past year. It was shaggy enough now to hide part of his scar, but none of that would matter if this commander had any power within the royal army. If he did, he would know Zuko’s face.

“What are you doing with that sword?”

Relieved, Zuko instantly surrendered over the sword. He bowed his head and kept it at an angle towards the ground. He may not recognise him but he would not risk the commander studying his face for too long.

“The next time I see you fighting in my city, I’ll throw you and your brother in the cells,” the commander snapped, gesturing to Zuko and then to Xun, who was now standing beside him. “As for you three, didn’t I tell you to report to Commander Zhao? The Fire Princess’ ship will arrive in two day’s time and they need the dungeon cleared for the prisoner. Go now before I throw you in there with her!”

All three guards scurried off, but Zuko stood immobilised by the commander’s last words. His sister had captured someone important enough to be kept in the dungeon. Someone that needed Commander Zhao’s supervision. The latter thought was what really held his interest. Whoever this person was, they did not deserve what Zhao indubitably had planned. The man was sadistic, cruel without reason or honour, but maybe worst of all, he was effective. No one had ever undergone Zhao’s torture with their secrets intact. If this prisoner was as important as they were making her seem, nothing good could come out of having her secrets spilled to the Fire Nation.

Zuko would have to free her.