#likeadragonfruit

[themadmanandhisbox]

☆ put this star into the inbox of your favourite blogs. it’s time to spread positivity! ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

🥺🥺🥺 ty so much 💜💜💜💜💜

[momochizoey]

Character expertise ask game: I trust your Azula, Korra and Victoria Chase.

Also your Max Caulfield now that I think about it.

Omg I put this in my drafts to answer when I had time and completely forgot!!😭😭 But oooh, thank you sm!!! Very flattered!

[balsa-margarita]

I posted 9,455 times in 2022

That's 8,402 more posts than 2021!

581 posts created (6%)

8,874 posts reblogged (94%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@lightdancer1

@akiizayoi4869

@zuko-always-lies

@likeadragonfruit

@themadmanandhisbox

I tagged 3,120 of my posts in 2022

#queued art - 931 posts

#asks - 264 posts

#azula - 204 posts

#death-fires danced verse - 137 posts

#balsa says - 105 posts

#sea of thieves - 93 posts

#atla fanfic - 68 posts

#space station 13 - 38 posts

#robust verse - 28 posts

#zuko - 27 posts

Longest Tag: 137 characters

#just really really wants to be left alone but the damn order of souls and people looking for the damn shroudbreaker keep coming after her

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Something that the ATLA fandom sometimes overlooks is the fact that all of the Gaang, most of the major antagonists (Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee, as well as Zuko) and a large number of the side characters (all of the Freedom Fighters) are all child soldiers. Child soldiers who have in many cases committed morally reprehensible acts or fought for morally reprehensible causes.

And the impact of that - and the inherent darkness of anything that involves it - is extremely important to acknowledge.

127 notes - Posted January 28, 2022

#4

If you make a post saying that "Zuko was a good person from the start," then that invalidates whatever argument you intend to base on that idea. Because it's just wrong.

144 notes - Posted October 17, 2022

#3

I just had a very strange realization this morning about the Fire Nation capital - namely, it's built in a caldera. A huge caldera, of a size that suggests at least a VEI 5 eruption, and quite possibly bigger. (For reference, Krakatoa was a VEI 5.) We don't know how long ago this eruption occurred, but it has to have been long enough ago for a sizeable city to be built there - personally, I think it was probably in the pre-Avatar era.

Also, we see literal lava under the Fire Nation Royal Palace, so there's that. Like, lakes of it.

Which raises the question of... well, what the fuck? Someone had to have realized that building one's capital city on top of a highly active volcanic zone was a bad idea, right? Or is the Fire Nation just that foolhardy?

151 notes - Posted October 18, 2022

#2

Since there’s some “Azula gets exiled” AUs floating around here’s something tangential

Well... Azula doesn’t actually get exiled. She escapes before anything in particular can be done to her (other than imprisonment and general bad treatment) - and while she’s certainly angry about it, she also doesn’t really have the energy to care. Her main priority is escaping whatever fate the people who won the Hundred Year war were trying to create for her, and as such she lays low for a while, and quite frankly mellows out a bit. Eventually, after a year or two, she finds a home somewhere (not sure about the circumstances, perhaps with the Sun Warriors?) and settles down, still trying to work through what happened earlier in her life.

Meanwhile, the Gaang are constantly on edge - well, so are all the world’s politicians, and this causes problems. The fact that Azula ran off only makes everyone more harsh towards her, because they have no idea what she’s doing, and as such the common consensus among the White Lotus and the Gaang is that if she is found, she needs to be brought in immediately. And this turns into an echo chamber situation which no one has the nerve to step in and stop (after all, most of the reasonable people probably think she’s dead) and so things go on like this. Until a few of the Gaang run into her while on a trip to the Sun Warriors’ city for some reason or another, and immediately jump Azula and drag her back to the Fire Nation to be tried-

Which, as predicted, goes terribly. The Sun Warriors break into the diplomatic meetings, absolutely enraged at what they see as interfering in Azula’s healing (and the mention of “taking her bending” only increases the heat) and, facing a split with the original precursor civilization of the Fire Nation, Zuko puts everything on hold. This is long enough for various other things to happen, including Aang’s past lives giving him all the advice he should have gotten when he thinks to ask about Azula, and the Gaang quickly decide that they don’t have a choice to reconsider.

By this time, probably unsurprisingly, the Sun Warriors have taken things into their own hands and break Azula out themselves. And then she runs away from them in turn - leaving Zuko and the Gaang with a nasty diplomatic issue, and none of them with any idea what happened. At this point, having been hit in the face with a metaphorical nailbat, they all realize where things went wrong, and are more than willing to try to fix it.

This time, though, Azula has less than zero intention of allowing that. As far as she’s concerned, this whole situation has taught her one thing - as long as any of the people who won the war and made the decision to come after her are in power, she will never be safe. And she doesn’t return to the Sun Warriors, or anywhere else she thinks she can be found. 

And a little while later, the world starts to feel the effects.

(I’m not sure where it goes from here, or even what this idea is. But yeah.)

164 notes - Posted February 27, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Periodic reminder that taking an ATLA character's bending does not allow them to start over, and does not aid in their development as a person. As LoK shows, it is merely extremely traumatizing.

Suffering and erasure of the self does not equal redemption.

173 notes - Posted November 13, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[mistoffeleesisawitch]

Thanks for tagging me @aethelflaedel !! I think I’ve done it before but I’m doing it again

3 Ships: currently: Villaneve, Rhaenicent, and Lancelot/Gawain

First Ever Ship: Gelphie, I remember it vividly

Last Song: On The Steps Of The Palace- Into the Woods OBC

Last movie: Matilda (2022), Just realized I haven’t really watched any movies this month

Currently Reading: Lancelot-Grail reread!

Currently Watching: Ever After High (for like the 5th time), and I’m starting Only Murders in the Building

Currently Consuming: Pinto Beans, they’re very good

Craving: Those icing sugar cookies

Tagging (If y’all want): @prodogg @likeadragonfruit @maester-of-spreadsheets @playlistashton and anyone else who wants to

[momochizoey]

I posted 878 times in 2022

That's 678 more posts than 2021!

63 posts created (7%)

815 posts reblogged (93%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@visdiefje

@appsa

@dreamofnightsandfireflies

@likeadragonfruit

@madelyn-mads74

I tagged 350 of my posts in 2022

#goncharov - 55 posts

#zoey wrestles with writing - 16 posts

#ask game - 14 posts

#azula - 10 posts

#thanks for the ask! - 10 posts

#zoey rambles in the tags - 10 posts

#atla - 9 posts

#likeadragonfruit - 8 posts

#victoria chase - 6 posts

#life is strange - 5 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#anytime im on the bus or train with headphones in i try to embody the feelings i got from seeing max look out the window listening to music

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

An excerpt of the multi chapter Chasefield fic I'm currently working on:

“OMG, V, don’t be obvious, but look at the hippie. She totally spaced out and broke that dumb camera of hers.”

Victoria rolled her eyes at Taylor. As if she was ever obvious about spying unless she wanted to be. What is she, an amateur? Still, she leaned back in her seat, changing the angle she was sitting at as if she was getting more comfortable listening to Mr Jefferson. She kept her gaze on him attentively for a few seconds longer (not like that was much of a chore) before she flicked her eyes to the side.

Taylor was right: Max’s camera looked busted, loose parts gathered here and there on the table, and she was visibly stressing out trying to put it back together.

Victoria almost laughed and whispered a snide remark towards Max, when suddenly the words caught in her throat.

A cloud had parted outside as Max was bent over her camera, her knuckles pressed against the side of her head. The hair falling in front of her face was lit up with a golden glow in the rays of the sun, and the soft shadow and light playfully danced across her frowning face.

Before she could think about what she was doing, she reached down to her bag. She took out her camera, aimed it at the vision before her, and with no extra thought, no perfecting the settings, no changing the depth of field, she shot.

The click of her camera snapped her out of it. Hurriedly, she tried to hide her camera again, hoping nobody saw-

“Victoria. I know this is a photography class, and I understand the urge to capture an image can feel overwhelming. But please, pay attention. I don’t get paid to talk at you, I’m here to teach you, and I can’t do that if you aren’t listening when I speak.”

She flinched at Mr Jefferson's reprimand, blushing as she noticed the rest of the class was staring at her. 

She scrambled for a convincing cover story. "I'm so sorry Mr Jefferson, I just bumped into my camera bag, and I thought I saw a scratch on the lense and wanted to see if it showed up on a picture. I was paying attention though, you were talking about chiaroscuro? That's like, the interplay between light and dark, right? Like Diane Arbus?"

He sighed. "That's correct Victoria. But please, next time, wait until after class?"

She nodded, and, ignoring her friends' inquisitive looks, she sank into her seat with her arms crossed in front of her.

What the hell was that? Why did Max-fucking-Selfield cause her to completely lose her mind? She was in the middle of class! And not just any other boring class, but Mark Jefferson's class! 

And then that picture! It was like she completely forgot everything her parents had taught her about the exact art of photography! It was entirely unprofessional, the environment was completely uncontrolled, the lighting wasn't coming from a precisely calculated angle, her model (whose identity she refused to think about for the moment) wasn't posed to her exact directions to evoke the specific emotions she had determined in advance. Frankly, she was almost convinced she must've damaged her camera by forcing it to take such a terrible photo. 

She shot the cause of this… lapse of judgement, a look of disdain, only to startle at the intense stare the normally timid hipster had aimed her way. 

Something behind those blue, usually doe-like eyes, had turned its attention to Victoria, and she could almost see the cogs turning in her skull. 

For a second, she wondered if this is how prey felt.

Then Max blinked, and the feeling disappeared.

I've been working on this fic for weeks now, and I'm currently about 7k words in? But while I want to have more chapters ready before I actually start publishing it, I got too impatient and had to share this first scene with you all here! Consider it a teaser! Anyway, I hope you like it! Life Is Strange, and especially Maximum Victory/Chasefield has (once again) taken over my heart, and I'm so excited for the moment I can share the full and completed story with you. Which is definitely coming, I'm in a pretty good writing groove and I know where I'm going, so look forward to it!

20 notes - Posted October 24, 2022

#4

Azula Week 2022 Day 4 - Discovery

Decades had passed since the end of the war. Time may have healed most wounds, some better than others. But discovering impossible ghosts on your doorstep can reopen old wounds.

'He shuffled his feet for a moment and cleared his throat. “Is- is this the residence of Grandmaster Katara?”

“That’s me, yes. What can I do for you?”

“My name is Baatar. I believe you knew my father, Sokka?”'

For Azulaweek, thank you so much for hosting @azulaweek

26 notes - Posted August 4, 2022

#3

I know the clock symbolism has been talked to death already, but what I haven't seen anyone mention is Katya's watch!

In the boat scene, Katya's escape plan hinges entirely on the perfect timing: Sofia's stumble, Andrey's distraction, the cigarette, all of it. And she makes it! Her timing is perfect to the millisecond, which she could because of her very expensive Swiss watch, the one she asked Goncharov for for their anniversary.

Just one problem: her watch was actually ahead by 12 seconds.

She was extremely lucky that the timing actually called for a slight delay, but there was no way she could've known that, or even that her watch watch was delayed. The only reason we know, is that if you pay attention you notice the clock tower rings 12 seconds after her watch said it should have. And yes, you could argue that that was a delay on the clocktower's part, or perhaps even a mistake of the film crew, but if there's one thing we know about Martin Scorsese it's that nothing in this movie has been unintentional.

And my heart just aches for Katya because it's the foreshadowing of it all. She did everything right, acting correctly with the information she had, and it was pure luck, fate almost, that it worked out this time. But in the final scenes (when she's noticeably wearing a different watch, the Italian one given to her by Sofia, that does run perfectly on time), her betrayal of both Goncharov and Sofia is also the only correct course of action she could have taken given the information she had, only this time it doesn't work out. It's the perfection that leads to her downfall: by attempting to control her fate she actually ensured that fate couldn't give her the help she needed. By trying to shackle time, she actually bound herself to it, mercilessly dragged into the gearbox until she's ground down by the clockwork of time.

And that's not even mentioning the red-stained strap of the new watch! It's suggested to symbolise her determination, willpower and leadership at first (making excellent use of colour theory), but it actually has its meaning flipped on its head, because Scorsese actually uses the much rarer negative connotations of red, symbolising danger, violence and anger, again foreshadowing her path.

39 notes - Posted November 21, 2022

#2

A Scene from Getting Family Approval

I've been struggling with chapter 3 of Getting Family Approval (the combined Ursa/Iroh chapter) for months now, but I really wanted to write Something for the Ozai chapter which is set after that one and the Hakoda one, so I wrote this. Not sure yet if this will be part of the actual chapter when I get to it, or if it's just a different POV of what's happening there, but I hope you enjoy!

Ozai took a deep breath as he was led into the prison’s garden by his guards, enjoying the smell of the fresh air and the feeling of the sun on his skin. He might not have his inner flame anymore, but sometimes, in the heat of the sun, he could pretend.

Of course, unlike his old cell, this one had a window, so he wasn’t completely cut off from the sunlight, but it couldn’t compare to the direct feeling of the rays of Agni during his rare visit to the garden.

Watching my words when I speak to my daughter is a small price to pay to enjoy this, he thought.

Speaking of Azula, he wondered what the occasion was. Usually she came by once every six months, but it had barely been four months since her last visit.

There’d always be a low table set up in the garden, where they’d share tea and even some fried mochi with togarashi seasoning. He’d never admit it, but he appreciated the fact that she remembered his favourite snack, and that she actually made sure to get him some even if it was only twice a year.

He’d asked her once, why she did all this. The nicer cell, the visits, the books (carefully selected and approved, but still). He knew he would not have done the same in her position.

“You’re a terrible person, dad,” she’d answered, looking him in the eye with a quiet intensity. “You used me and Zuko, you were a tyrant and you happily continued waging a war on the world we never should have fought in the first place, and I will never forgive you for it.” She’d sighed, then. “But you are still my father, and that means something to me, even if it doesn’t to you.”

They hadn’t spoken more during that visit after that, finishing their tea in silence. He still wasn’t sure what to make of it.

Now, as he reached the table, he noted with surprise that his daughter wasn’t alone this time.

Seated next to her was a Water Tribesman. If he remembered correctly, it was the same boy who'd insulted him after his defeat, the one who’d masterminded the invasion during the eclipse.

Ozai couldn’t think of a single reason the boy could have to visit him. Probably not a social visit then. He sat down at the table, back straight, and greeted his daughter with a nod. “Good afternoon, Azula. This is a surprise. Zuko hasn’t changed the calendar, has he?”

Azula snorted, and the Water Tribesman coughed to hide a laugh, looking at Azula in disbelief as if he couldn’t believe Ozai was capable of making a joke.

“No dad, we’re here with a reason, actually.” Interesting, the use of ‘we’ meant the two had planned this together. As he took a sip of his tea he puzzled over what the two of them could have been doing that involved him of all people.

“Let me start with introductions. Sokka, this is my father, Ozai. Dad, this is Sokka, my fiancé.”

Ozai choked on his tea.

What?

41 notes - Posted March 27, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

My post-canon Yuezula oneshot is finally done!

Summary:

“Have you been angry about it? Felt genuine anger?”

Yue looked away, eyes staring out over the field of vibrant pink spirit flowers. “No, I- That wouldn’t help anything. I can’t change what happened. And I wouldn’t, I had to do it for my people and the world. It’s not like I could let Tui die. I had a duty and it’s good that I could help.”

“That doesn’t mean you can’t be angry about it.”

42 notes - Posted March 29, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[balsa-margarita]

To all the people who have mentioned me in that post that's been circulating - thank you! I avoided reblogging/responding to it more than once because I know some people get annoyed by that, but I figured I would make an independent post to thank you.

@akiizayoi4869, @seeksattentionhatesattention, @tamerlan-pahlavi, @likeadragonfruit, @enaya86, @peony-pearl, @julietwiskey1, @dawnsiren, @prodogg - thank you again. So much.

[azulasnailtech]

I saw your name and when I misread it as “Azula snail tech” I thought “since when did she get a den den mushi?”

azula's den den mushi would be pale red with a blue-on-blue whorled shell. she'd give her snail a little black hat that looks like her topknot and it would have a teeny tiny gold flame crown to match her own. she would make fun of zuko's den den mushi for having a rotary dial. her own has a touch tone — much more modern.

[g-on-ef]

@likeadragonfruit @cham-chammity @mortysanchez @melody-pearl @bloodmoon24 @desolationofzara @kurosakiichigoat ^*^

It seems like there's more positivity on Tumblr than other platforms (*cough*Twitter*cough*). Like, you can say "I love you, bestie." without anyone calling you corny or childish.

Y'know what? Reblog this to let your besties know you love them.

[momochizoey]

From the WIP Ask Game: A Daughter’s Vengeance

So, A Daughter's Vengeance is a (series)canon-compliant oneshot about Azulon's death from Ursa's POV, because there was more to it than just protecting Zuko.

See, when Azulon started his little eugenics-plan of combining the lines of Sozin and Roku with the goal of creating a royal line of extraordinary firebenders, he has Ursa taken to the Palace for her marriage to Ozai, and forbids her all contact with her family. This in itself is not an unusual expectation for royal marriages, to prevent outside families from having undue influence in the Fire Lord's court, and Ursa's parents understand and are proud to have arranged such an advantageous marriage for their daughter. After all, they think, she will live in the lap of luxury, will always be provided for, and is far enough from the line of succession that the biggest dangers of marrying royalty is diminished. Not to mention the honour it brings to their family.

Azulon is not someone who likes to share power, however, let alone leave power outside of his control. And to him, that is what any descendent of Roku represents: uncontrolled power. So, he keeps an eye on them, makes sure to always know where they all are, just in case. He can't have them all killed, not before he knows his plan succeeded at least, but he won't leave them unchecked either. But then Zuko is born and seems to be no more powerful than normal, and it seems like his experiment failed, and he almost drops the surveillance.

Then Azula is born, and he waits. She bends her first flame at 2, and he waits. She's labeled a prodigy, quickly learning excercises beyond her age, and he's done waiting.

Unbeknownst to Ursa, who has been unable to contact her family since arriving at the palace, her entire family is killed. She knew why she was chosen of course, but she doesn't know the danger that her family had been in. Until Ozai, who did not appreciate being used in a breeding experiment by his father either, tells her what happened to her family a few years later. (She probably knows it's not fair of her, but any time Azula succeeds with a firebending excercise she feels a little resentment for her daughter, and any time Zuko fails at it she loves him for having kept her family safe for as long as he did.)

There's nothing she can do to avenge her family though, not without risking the lives of her children. That is, until Azulon orders the execution of her son.

[osdove]

📓

Post-Search Azula whump fic that disregards Smoke & Shadow bc no <3. Azula is found eight months after Zuko and Ursa arrive back in the Palace; some old enemies (cough Long Feng cough Dai Li cough) found her and were not so forgiving of old betrayals and animosities.

If you've ever read/seen Berserk, a certain character makes a certain.... choice at the end of Golden Age arc. Prior to this choice, they went through physical and emotional hell. That's what she went through, perhaps a bit less intense though. (Oh, and some brainwashing on the side, thanks Long Feng)

Put “📓” or some other version of a book emoji into my inbox and I’ll explain the plot of a fanfiction that I haven’t written but daydream about

[julietwiskey1]

If you’re still procrastinating, still up for more ship bingo?

If so, what do you think about Tophzula?

I'm up for one more.

TophZula

[hexlyng]

Hi there. I saw one of your pieces and loved it. Would it be alright if I could use it as a pfp? (With credit to you, of course.)

Sure, go ahead! As long there is credit I'm fine with that.

[zuko-always-lies]

Zuko’s Incredible Romantic Instincts

“The Beach”:

(Cut to close shot of the elderly twins rear ends touching in the foreground, while the four teens stand looking on, confused and slightly disgusted, in the background. Zuko covers his mouth to prevent himself from getting sick. Cut to an above shot of a Maroon printed bead spread. Ty Lee lies back on to the bedspread.) Ty Lee: (snuggling against the pillow) Ooh, I love this seashell bedspread! Mai: (Cut to shot of Mai) Are you serious? It looks like the beach threw up all over it. (Cut to wide shot of the entire room, Ty Lee is still snuggling her seashell bed spread in the foreground. The other three teens stand listening to Li and Lo.)

Mai says that she doesn’t visually like seashells right in front of Zuko. And yet, about 30 minutes later:

(Cut to shot of Mai and Zuko huddled together under an umbrella. A small child runs by laughing. Shot of Zuko looking to the side at a seashell, which he picks up. Shot of Zuko handing the shell to Mai) Zuko: Here... (Bringing the shell toward her) This is for you. Mai: Why would I want that? Zuko: I saw it and I thought it was pretty. Don't girls like stuff like this? Mai: (turns away from him) Maybe stupid girls. Zuko: (throws the shell away in anger) Forget it!

And yet 30 minutes later Zuko gives Mai seashell since “girls like stuff like this.” Between this and Zuko’s classic “you have a good appetite...for a girl” line from his date with Jin, I’m starting to think that Zuko doesn’t have the best romantic instincts... 

He’s an awkward and inattentive teenage boy, not some sort of super-savvy romancer.

credit to @likeadragonfruit for the idea.

[g-on-ef]

@littleredandbigbad @likeadragonfruit @unbaed-you @charliesradiodemon @desolationofzara love and appreciate you guys so much 💜

Reblogs to tell your mutuals you love them but don't know how to interact

[juniperhillpatient]

I was tagged by @waterfire1848 & @prodogg - thank you! 💖

rules: tag 9 people you want to get to know better

favorite time of year: autumn! halloween, my birthday, pretty leaves, cool weather, haunted houses, hay rides, special coffee drinks, bonfires & spooky movies 🎃

comfort food: soup

do you collect something: animal skulls & bones (that I find hiking, not that I kill), fossils & cool rocks, horror movie dvds, & haunted items

favorite drink: cherry vanilla coke

favorite song: it rotates & depends. currently, ‘the world is ugly’ by my chemical romance

favorite fic: I have many fics that I love but a big favorite is ‘the white lotus gambit’ by theodur on ao3

the thing is that both the people who tagged me also tagged a lot of people that I would’ve tagged 😆 so, I’ll try & tag people who I’m pretty sure I didn’t see tagged yet lol 🥰 & no pressure ofc just for fun if you want ✨ @likeadragonfruit @theowritesfiction @ellakomskaikru @kyoruchi @kyoshitaurus @queenofthefaces @camipretzel @cisnesincorbata @solborealis

[lightdancer1]

As said by likeadragonfruit the conversation between Ursa and Zuko was going very well...but family regrets aside, this Ursa is still racist and homophobic (and I would also say not an excellent mother to Kiyi at the moment given her irritation by the child's totally understandable fear for the whole face change thing, even more so if it happened like in your other verse... with Noriko's face melting like heated wax) :p

Yes, which is intended to showcase her faults in a somewhat telescoped fashion. She, like everyone else, gets a chance to grow out of her failings or not do so (but I will say since in this AU Usagi Ex Machina actually gives Ozai the nicest future he gets in any of my AUs Ursa is never going to be written as worse than Ozai in her trajectory).