#i've been looking for SO LONG for a proper redemption arc where he is actually CONFRONTED by his actions as the WORST DAD EVER by his

[sharlmbracta]

@did-we-imagine *grabs you by the collar* YOU. GET OVER HERE

Homestead

Here is the fic in it’s entirety without all the readmores; thanks again to everyone who kept up with this! This fic wasn’t meant to happen at all and was all written from the top of my head the moment I included Niwa and the kids lmao, so if anything consider this a rough draft for Ozai and Niwa’s story. It’s not perfect and there are some inconsistencies but I’ll tend to those as the main story begins to develop more ^^

****

A healed Azula having her first violent outburst in years after finding Ozai in his hiding spot in the Earth Kingdom. She has him pinned, aiming her hand that is popping with charged lightning right at his heart.

‘Beg for my forgiveness.’ She seethes as Zuko panics behind her.

Ozai remains calm.

Years have passed, long enough to realize what he did to them.

He does not deserve to even beg. He closes his eyes.

Azula’s own eyes are overcome with tears. The lightning is at its zenith.

But she is not her father. She releases the lighting into the air with a curse.

Keep reading

[malachi-walker]

We Need to Talk About Hordak

Ok... -pinches bridge of nose- I get the feeling I'm about to piss off both Hordak stans and antis in one go, but this needs to be said. I will be addressing Entrapdak a little, but no ship hate here, only how it applies to people's general reaction to Hordak.

Ok, so. Let me preface this by saying I don't necessarily hate Hordak as a character. I'm honestly just kind of indifferent toward him, mainly because I've seen this narrative played badly way too many times before, where a dude who has done phenomenally awful things gets magically forgiven because he was cute with a girl, while those who suffered as a result of his actions are painted as being unreasonable for not forgiving and forgetting. And as much as people like to say "it's just a show" that is reflective of real world attitudes. Just look at how many poor women get assaulted by high school/college athletes and then are expected to just forgive them because they did thirty hours of community service. That shit still happens regularly.

But there is one thing about the recent "Hordak redemption" calls that I think really needs to have a spotlight shown on it.

Let's all get this perfectly clear: Hordak getting angry about Catra betraying Entrapta DOES NOT MEAN HE HAS BECOME A BETTER PERSON.

What it actually means is that Hordak was pissed off that he was the one getting hurt for once.

Throughout the entire series, the man has shown nothing but indifference or outright disdain towards the suffering of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of people who have been chewed up and spit out by the abusive military system he created. (Remember when Adora confronted him and he scoffed at the idea that he ruined her life? Yeah, he may not have been the one to yoink her across the galaxy, but he's still responsible for building the system that fucked her up so badly and his utter indifference towards that is horrifying.)

And the fact that he continues to demonstrate outright pride at the things he's done, even after Entrapta is just...

Hordak created a system where he believed that he was in control, where he didn't care about how many people his decisions destroyed as long as he wasn't the one getting hurt. And then when he actually did begin to give a shit about someone else (and the fact that Entrapta is someone who came from outside that system and thus hasn't been indoctrinated to his spiel is noteworthy in and of itself)... Well, the fact that he blew a gasket when that system worked against him is outright hypocritical, if not a sarcastic "sucks to be you" moment.

Don't get me wrong, Catra definitely did wrong to Entrapta and will need to try to atone for that in the future. But as for Hordak? He created a survival of the fittest hierarchy rife with abuse, arrogantly assuming that he was outside of that hierarchy and untouchable, and then had a city-destroying hissy fit when he was ultimately proven wrong. He ultimately got outclassed by the finest example of the system he created, which is outright poetic irony.

Here's a screenshot of the time he tortured Catra back in s2 for understandably lying to him out of fear of his wrath. Just sayin'. The man expects total honesty and loyalty from people who have absolutely no fucking reason to trust in his "mercy."

And this is just me feeling petty.

There's an old saying that goes something like, "If you want to really measure the person you're in a relationship with, instead of focusing on how they treat you, focus on how they treat the waiter." Entrapdak is cute and building an actual emotional rapport with someone can be a stepping stone towards realizing you've been a terrible person and starting to address that, but it does not mean you've actually done so.

But in all honesty, I understand people who don't want Hordak to get a redemption arc, because people like him actually exist in real life and are carrying on their totalitarian regimes/dictatorships/wholesale slaughter right now. There are many people out there who have had to flee their countries, or grown up hearing the stories of their relatives doing so, because it was either that or getting murdered. People who have lived through the rest of their families and communities not getting the chance to escape. In fact:

Here's a 2019 map of how many dictatorships are active in the world right now.

In conclusion, Entrapdak may be cute and I'm not wholly against a Hordak redemption if it is handled with proper respect to his many, many victims and how they feel about that, but I'm also not against the opposite either. But Hordak hasn't magically grown a moral compass or become a better person just because he developed positive feelings towards Entrapta.

Call me when he shows empathy to the billions of people (counting the corpses) whose lives he's ruined.

[did-we-imagine]

Hello. I wanted to tell you that it was an excellent read and that I have already read it in full before. Sorry for omitting recommending it to you. 🙏🏻 Thank you so much, I 200% appreciate the thought and will make sure to share quality FN fam material. 💖 Esp with Ozai.

I highly recommend you check trashfactory's tumblr. They have really awesome fanart and funny stuff going on here. Peonypearl has amazing meta and nuanced takes (ik they're the author of this piece, i enjoy their stuff except that au where poor zuzu got fully fried, I kinda feel super bad abt zuzu mutilation). Another one you might really like is maiqueen's work on ao3/tumblr. They've changed their pseudonym (i can't remember their new one). They also play a lot with Ozai in masterful ways. Crookedmouth-mountainbones has some really cool fanfics, but I think they are unfinished, so you might feel a little bit unsatiated because the quality of their content leaves you yearning for more.

Also check Shame by Wind12 on Ao3. Unfinished, but amazing nonetheless if you like seeing a 10% more human Ozai. The only gripe some folks might have is its portrayal of Azula (not too blatant since the fanfiction is unfinished, but there are times where Ozai compares Zuko and Azula, he starts worrying about Azula's loyalty...and worries she is might plot against him).

Imma try and remember the name of one that was super cool where Ozai kinda gets amnesia-ed by a spirit who was done with his mindfuckery on DoBS. Also unfinished, but a masterpiece.

Check KingoftheUzbeks' work on AO3. They have some amazing fanfics.

And last but no least, Forgiveness by Tljlyricz on AO3. THIS IS THE ONE FANFIC THAT PROBABLY REUNITED AZULA STANS, ZUKO STANS, AND ZUTARIANS. I still reread it from time to time even 2 years later. 🤡 It was one of the few fanfics that I got the pleasure of reading while it was being updated. I'd have this crazy adrenaline rush like when your manga/series' new chapter/episode comes out. 💖

PS: There are so many but unfortunately it's been a long while so i forgot their names. There is one where Ozai regains the throne and fucks up big time, but he kinda realizes by the end how far gone he is, and dies in Zuko's arms...And one where he escapes prison, ends up having a kid who is Mako's dad later on 🤣, he isn't a good husband/BF like he is to Niwa in peonypearl's war but he's come a long way as a person and reconsiders many things (unfortunately he does sth fucked up to Azula before, which feels like a stab to the gut) and it's only in one ending (the story has 2 alternative endings).

Homestead

Here is the fic in it’s entirety without all the readmores; thanks again to everyone who kept up with this! This fic wasn’t meant to happen at all and was all written from the top of my head the moment I included Niwa and the kids lmao, so if anything consider this a rough draft for Ozai and Niwa’s story. It’s not perfect and there are some inconsistencies but I’ll tend to those as the main story begins to develop more ^^

****

A healed Azula having her first violent outburst in years after finding Ozai in his hiding spot in the Earth Kingdom. She has him pinned, aiming her hand that is popping with charged lightning right at his heart.

‘Beg for my forgiveness.’ She seethes as Zuko panics behind her.

Ozai remains calm.

Years have passed, long enough to realize what he did to them.

He does not deserve to even beg. He closes his eyes.

Azula’s own eyes are overcome with tears. The lightning is at its zenith.

But she is not her father. She releases the lighting into the air with a curse.

Keep reading