#turn agni into a not-dead agni

[deiaiko]

#19.3 Unravel

It had been some time since Agni felt this nervous. Not even talking with Jinsung Ha recently had made him feel like this. He fiddled with the mask on his hand as he waited for Grace to come back. He had thought hard on how to deliver the news, but he knew that no matter how he phrased it, Grace would be upset. Velt nuzzled under his palm and Agni gave her a few pats, before deciding that she would be better inside her bowl in his lighthouse, just in case the shinsu acted up around Grace after he received the news.

Grace came back wearing the comfiest shirt and shorts Agni knew Grace liked to wear on lazy days. He joined him on the floor, and they ate dinner together. Agni always finished last, so while waiting for him to finish his meal, Grace told him about his day with Bam. Grace was intrigued by how much his way of thinking had changed, and how glad he was to be able to be by Bam's side when he was having a bad day. It reminded Agni of the hidden floor, when Grace faced his sworn enemy.

They left the used bowls on the coffee table and went to brush their teeth. Afterwards, they turned off the light and went upstairs to sit on their bed. Grace's curious gaze never left him, and Agni curled his feet nervously.

Grace was the one who broke the silence. "So…what is it?"

Agni's breath hitched. This was the part he dreaded most. "I talked with the crocodile earlier. Did you know that he could manipulate stone already?"

"Huh." Grace needed a few seconds to let the information sink in. "Didn't Rak learn it on the Hell train? How does he know it?"

"Turns out our crocodile also traveled back to the past like us. He found the young crocodile and taught him."

"What?!" Grace gasped, wide eyed. "That means our Rak is–!!"

"He's dead." Agni quickly snuffed out that hope. They had been in delusion for long enough; it was time that they faced the bitter truth. "He suffered a fatal injury from the explosion. He couldn't have lasted long without proper help." Agni omitted the actual cause for Rak's death, but still kept his words true. "I'm sorry."

"…Oh." Grace looked lost, just like Agni was. His lips parted a little, but they closed before any sound escaped.

Agni gently squeezed Grace's hand, encouraging and comforting as he let the silence stretch on, giving Grace some time to process the information.

"Agni…" Grace whispered, "do you think Hatz and Isu…?"

Agni bit his lip and avoided his gaze, as the nightmare of that day replayed in his mind. He witnessed Hatz get his arm ripped off when trying to protect him. He could still recall the clang of a sword hitting the floor, and Hatz's suppressed scream that gnawed deep at his guilt. He witnessed Isu get beheaded after being taken hostage, the memory of warm blood painting them both still vivid like it happened yesterday. 

Agni refused to acknowledge their possible deaths, because it felt like a nightmare that one day he could hopefully wake up from. He avoided the topic when Grace brought it up, so he wouldn't have to say it aloud and make it real. He had been so hard on himself, because he couldn't get rid of the feeling that he had failed Grace and everyone else involved.

Agni knew this had to change if he wanted to live better, now that they had gotten a second chance. So he swallowed down the lump in his throat that had built up over the years and asked mostly to himself; "What are the odds of their survival?"

"There's always a chance–"

"Grace." Agni looked him straight in the eye. "They were already severely injured before the explosion hit."

Grace fell silent and went still.

Agni felt a pang of guilt upon witnessing Grace's reaction. "Sorry. I didn't mean to snap." Agni fiddled with his hands. He realized that he didn't know how much Grace knew of what happened. "My scar…do you know how I got it?"

"I…was told it was from the family heads' battle." Grace looked thoughtful. Agni knew he was trying to be careful with his words. "A stray attack?"

"It could have been worse." The memory of the scorching heat on his skin felt like it had only happened yesterday. He passed out right when he was about to heal Isu, and only found out later that he also lost sweetfish at that time. The days he spent recovering from the burn, to withstand the excruciating pain every second he was conscious, and finally coming to terms that it'd be a permanent scar, was one of the turning points that had changed him forever. Were Grace not there to care for him, he might have ended up destroying himself even more.

Agni hadn't realized he had his left hand clawing on his cheek until Grace pried his hand off and frowned, "You're doing it again."

"Maybe I should wear the mask…" Agni muttered to himself. After all, Grace gave it to him less so he could hide the scar but more to prevent him from unconsciously hurting himself. The only time he could safely take it off was when Grace was around.

Agni bit his lip nervously when Grace didn't reply. He no longer had the courage to look Grace in the eye that spoke so much concern, so he leaned close and rested his head on Grace's chest. "Rak, Isu, Hatz and Hwaryun were trying to get me out of that damned place. But we were caught while escaping, and…it was a bloodbath. I was…too occupied to react to the incoming heat. Rak shielded us from the explosion. And when I woke up…"

"They weren’t with you," Grace finished it for him after Agni trailed off a moment too long.

Agni nodded dazedly, "I've been telling myself that they're still alive, after a blow that could kill rankers. But…who am I kidding? I was lucky enough to survive with just this little–" Agni vaguely pointed to himself– "inconvenience."

Agni felt a hand gripping his arm, and he pulled away to see Grace looking at him with a pained expression. His eyes were glossy and his lips were pulled into a thin line. Trusting his instinct, Agni reached out to gently trace and cup Grace's cheek with his free hand.

"I'm sorry," Agni muttered. "I'm sorry, for not telling you sooner."

Agni silently witnessed tears that streamed down on his love's face. It was a bitter sight that Agni wished he'd never have to see again, that he had tried to avoid for so long by not telling him. He pulled Grace in and held him close to his chest, as if Agni was trying to gather his own crumbled heart back together.

Grace mumbled their late best friends' names as he held onto him tighter, shaking from each breath he took between sniffles.

Agni felt his own eyes sting with unshed tears. He remembered the years he spent climbing the tower together with his old team. Despite their banter being his source of headaches, Agni knew he too had come to acknowledge them as his cherished friends. Only when they were gone did Agni realize how much he'd miss having them around. Seeing the younger them didn't exactly close the gaping hole in his heart, but at least the emptiness was more filled.

Agni squeezed Grace tighter. "We have their younger selves with us now. We will protect them better this time."

Grace only nodded and sank further into his embrace. And Agni planted kisses on his hair, relishing the thought that after everything he had gone through, Grace was still a constant in his life. As long as he had him, everything would be okay.

When Grace started shaking again, Agni caressed his hair and hummed a comfort song they had known by heart. Still, it didn't make falling asleep any easier for Agni, especially not after admitting that his nightmare was very much real. However, as he had been through grief…this, too, would pass.

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[suzukiblu]

excerpt from in-progress "timebending with Zuko" fic

Zuko wakes up and everything hurts.

Most specifically, his scar hurts.

That . . . doesn’t make sense, he thinks, and reaches for it automatically. A strong hand catches his wrist before he can touch it, which seems–fair, yes. Probably a good idea, anyway, because spirits does it hurt. Just . . . so much.

“Uncle?” he asks reflexively, attempting to open his eyes. It’s surprisingly difficult. And Uncle is in Ba Sing Se, of course, but he’s on his back on a futon or bedroll or something similar and someone’s sitting beside him and his head is swimming and he’s injured, clearly, so options for who said “someone” might be are limited, really.

So it’s not Uncle, obviously, but . . .

“Nephew,” Uncle says, very quietly, and Zuko . . . blinks.

At least, half-blinks. The one eye’s in too much pain to open.

The ceiling is metal, he notes absentmindedly. That’s . . . odd. He was in the palace, wasn't he?

“What happened?” he asks, vaguely bemused. Uncle pauses in a very concerning way, and Zuko has about three heart attacks about just how badly he doesn’t want to know what he’s about to say before–

“The Agni Kai,” Uncle says, very carefully. “Do you remember it?”

Zuko frowns–just with the one side of his face, because again, his scar hurts right now. To the point that his whole body feels wrong, does his scar hurt right now.

“Um–which one?” he asks, because there’s been about a dozen this month alone, and frankly he’s getting really sick of fighting them at this point but if the old guard of nobles are just going to keep dragging everything out like this–

“With your father, Nephew,” Uncle says, very carefully.

Zuko . . . blinks.

“Oh,” he says, vaguely perplexed. Uncle never talks to him about that. “Yeah, I remember that. What about it?”

“Do you remember what happened?” Uncle says.

“The part where I disgraced myself or the part where he burned my face?” Zuko says, because it’s so fucked up and awful and horrible that he can’t even get upset about it anymore, except when he’s really upset about it. But if Uncle’s bringing it up, presumably he has a good reason to be, so . . . “Or the whole ‘go find the Avatar who no one even believes exists anymore or you can never come home again’ part?”

“. . . all of that, yes,” Uncle says, still sounding very careful. Zuko frowns a little–again with just the one side of his face–and then looks over at him. His body still feels weird and wrong, but . . .

But . . .

They’re on a ship, he realizes. A Fire Nation one.

Well, explains the metal ceiling.

It doesn’t explain why Uncle is wearing red armor and a topknot like he hasn't in years, though, or why he looks so unspeakably sad.

“Um,” Zuko says, and attempts to sit up. His head immediately starts swimming even worse, and Uncle catches his shoulders and keeps him pinned against the . . . futon? Looks like a futon, yeah. “Where are we, exactly?”

“We are aboard a ship,” Uncle says. “I . . . may have slightly commandeered it.”

“. . . you paid for it, right?” Zuko asks, a little skeptical at that idea.

“Yes, Nephew, I did,” Uncle says, giving him a very tired, pained smile. Zuko doesn’t feel much better, seeing it.

“Is someone dead?” he asks, because he can’t think of anything else that would make Uncle look that way.

“Ah–no, no one has died,” Uncle says.

“Then what’s wrong?” Zuko asks warily.

“. . . you are injured, Nephew,” Uncle says, slowly. Zuko frowns, bemused. “And your father . . . I did not know he was going to do this. I am so sorry.”

Zuko . . . pauses. Looks around the room again, and then realizes: he knows this room, doesn’t he. He knows this ship.

This is the same ship he woke up on after the Agni Kai.

“Hold that thought, Uncle,” he says, then lifts his hands and looks at them. They . . . well, they are his hands, obviously.

But they’re not his hands, obviously.

“Huh,” he says, frowning in bemusement at them; turning them around like he half-expects them to stop being a thirteen year-old’s or something equally ridiculous. They don’t. They are very definitely a thirteen year-old’s hands.

Specifically, his thirteen year-old hands.

Huh.

“You don’t have to be sorry,” he says after a moment, putting his hands back down and glancing back to Uncle, who’s obviously the more important concern. “It wasn’t your fault.”

“I took you into that meeting,” Uncle says, his voice tight. “And I watched the Agni Kai. And I did nothing to stop any of it.”

“I know,” Zuko says. “But it wasn’t your fault.”

“It was,” Uncle says, his smile a sad and terrible thing. “You were there because of my actions. My mistakes.”

“You’re not the one who wanted to sacrifice all those soldiers,” Zuko says. “Or the one who decided to throw fire at my face.”

“You were there because of me,” Uncle repeats, his voice tight and his smile no less terrible. It occurs to Zuko, briefly, that Uncle must be thinking of Lu Ten.

He only ever looks like that when he’s thinking about Lu Ten, so . . .

“Uncle,” he says. “Really. It’s not your fault.”

“Nephew,” Uncle says, and his voice is somehow even tighter. Zuko tries to get up again, and his head swims again, and Uncle moves to stop him again. This time he grabs onto Uncle’s wrists and uses them to pull himself up, and then . . .

Well, then he’s sitting up, at least.

So that’s something.

He tilts his head and his hair slips into his eyes. It’s loose, and long. Not shaved on the sides yet, like he wore it the last time he was thirteen. He supposes he should cut it, but then again, why should he? He's not changing anything, after all.

Except for this conversation, he supposes, because that went very differently last time.

. . . hm.

"Uncle," he says one more time, and reaches out for him. Uncle doesn’t seem to understand what he’s trying to do, so he has to reach out a little farther, and then Uncle makes the connection and leans in and lets him wrap his arms around him and alright, yes: that’s better, Zuko thinks, and clings to him.

Just a little, perhaps, but . . .

Yes. He clings to him.

Uncle wraps his arms around him in turn, very carefully, and makes an awful sound.

“My boy,” he chokes. “I’m so–I’m so–”

“I forgive you,” Zuko lies, because of course there’s nothing to forgive.

But of course Uncle doesn’t understand that, does he.

[burst-of-iridescent]

i really hate it when people act as though zuko is being selfish or self-serving in some way when he tells aang in the finale that the only choice he has is to kill ozai because a) at this point, zuko is right and b) zuko's brutal honesty here is coming from a place of fear for both aang and the world.

are we all forgetting that unlearning his own idealization of his father and realizing that ozai never had been, and was never going to be, the person zuko thought he was, was a significant part of zuko's own arc? it took him sixteen years to understand that giving ozai any grace or understanding or forgiveness was a mistake, because it would be just another tool for ozai to manipulate him with. and that's not zuko's fault, because he was an abused child growing up in an incredibly damaging environment, but it does make sense that he doesn't want anyone else, especially aang, doing the same thing.

zuko is harsh on aang here because he sees in aang the person that he used to be - the innocent, naive kid who wanted so desperately to believe that ozai wasn't a monster, that there was any shred of humanity within him at all to be appealed to. it's not a coincidence in this show so rife with parallels that aang goes to face ozai at around the same age that zuko has his agni kai. and what did it get zuko, when he threw himself at his father's mercy and counted on ozai's non-existent humanity and compassion to save him?

zuko isn't coming down hard on aang because he's angry that "aang won't do his dirty work for him" or whatever other bullshit version of this argument i've seen zuko antis make - he HAS to impress upon aang how dire this situation is because he knows better than anyone that believing for even a second that ozai can be redeemed is incredibly dangerous. aang cannot give ozai an inch because it will only be used against him (and indeed, this does happen in the final battle when aang turns down the opportunity to redirect lightning at ozai and in return ozai presses his advantage to the point where aang would almost certainly have been killed if not for rock ex-machina).

furthermore, this idea that zuko wanted ozai dead for self-serving reasons doesn't really have much basis either, because if that was the case zuko could have just killed ozai himself during the solstice. he doesn't because at that point, he still had an alternative: aang (and you'll notice his word choices never explicitly refer to what ozai's fate will be; it's only "i'm going to help him defeat you" or "taking you down is the avatar's destiny"). as with many abused children, it's likely that zuko himself didn't really know if he wanted his father dead, but when it came down to the final battle without any other viable options presenting themselves, it was something he had to resign himself - and aang - to.

zuko himself does not lack faith in others (in fact, his whole journey is about understanding that his love for and belief in humanity is a strength, not a weakness) but he's learned the hard way that having this faith in the wrong people can result in devastating consequences, especially when the stakes are so high.

i imagine it terrified zuko to see the echoes of his younger self in aang, knowing he's sending him to face his father at the height of his power. at this point, with no knowledge of energybending or any alternative way to defeat ozai, well aware that a fight with his father can only end in bloodshed, zuko has no choice but to give aang the reality of the situation: kill, or be killed and doom the world alongside you.

[thatgirlonstage]

Okay I’m too tired to keep listening to Dark Heir but I’ve got a whole bus ride home so I’m going to spin Black Butler thoughts at you all.

(Idk how coherent this is, I’m sorry if it’s rambly my brain is SO dead but it wants to Talk so)

I’m thinking about… the gradual build of Sebastian’s fear that he could actually lose Ciel, as we go:

The asthma attack in Circus Arc: not ultimately serious, but a danger to Ciel’s wellbeing Sebastian had not been aware of and cannot easily fix

The fight on the Campania, where Sebastian is very seriously injured himself, to the point where he’s in danger of losing Ciel to Undertaker because he can’t physically stop him from being taken,

Which leads into THIS fucking moment in school arc:

which is entirely fueled by Sebastian’s fear that Undertaker will snatch Ciel out from under him, AGAIN, because he did it before

AND THEN GREEN WITCH ARC HAPPENS, where Sebastian gets within literal minutes of losing Ciel to the gas, and WOULD HAVE if Sieglinde hadn’t been there or hadn’t been willing to help them

And still in Green Witch Arc, even AFTER Ciel has physically survived, Sebastian nearly loses him anyway because he backslides so dramatically into a PTSD episode that it nearly voids their contract

All of which is why by the time you get to the Blue Cult Arc, Sebastian is so genuinely afraid he might not be able to protect Ciel that the scent of blood from a single needle prick makes him do. This.

And now, with bizarre dolls getting ever more advanced and better at hiding from Sebastian’s senses and the whole police force mobilized against them, I’m very ready for Sebastian in Brighton to be doing everything short of wrapping Ciel in 19th century bubble wrap. I’ll frankly be shocked if he lets Ciel out of his sight for more than five minutes.

But the thing is. The thing is. Narratively, there isn’t much further you can ratchet up the stakes for Sebastian (at least until you get to the moment of truth with the contract and eating his soul, which is a different conversation). Ciel being put in danger or hurt again isn’t going to do all that much to alter their relationship at this point. Sebastian is already about as whipped as the poor guy can get.

What would be a change, is Ciel nearly losing Sebastian.

There’s been—for obvious reasons—much less risk and fear on that front. There has been some build for it:

Red Butler Arc, encountering reapers, Ciel sees Sebastian fight an enemy who can actually hold their own against him for the first time (and while I don’t think this is confirmed, I suspect Grell’s chainsaw eating his shoulder is the first time Ciel sees him get injured for real (as opposed to allowing himself to get shot and playing dead just for the sake of being a dramatic bitch))

Curry Arc, Agni successfully fights Sebastian to a tie (which is why I’m VERY interested to see if Soma turns back up in the Brighton arc as well, feat. angry Kali powers)

[The murder arc is a fake out, because Ciel knows he’s fine the whole time]

On the Campania, Ciel sees him get very badly injured. This is the one and only time Ciel has real cause to fear for Sebastian’s safety, as such.

And since then, while Sebastian isn’t quite untouchable, he hasn’t really suffered any serious injury or physical danger to himself. There have been defeats or fights that didn’t end perfectly for him—such as the school arc fight—but Sebastian hasn’t been existentially threatened. Ciel, I think, still has pretty high confidence that worst case scenario, Sebastian can always just pick him up and make a run for it (indeed, part of the reason things got so bad on the Campania was because they were trapped on a boat). And even if Sebastian couldn’t save him, Ciel—to the extent it’s even occurred to him—doesn’t have a lot of reason to think he couldn’t save himself.

This is now the second time Ciel has lost everything—his title, his name, his home, his safety, his dignity and respect. The first time was worse, obviously, but he’s got to be feeling the similarities.

The first time, Sebastian pulled him out of his despair by offering him the power to escape.

Now, the second time, he at least still has Sebastian by his side. A Sebastian who is going to be laser-focused on protecting Ciel from all possible threats.

But what happens if Ciel thinks he might lose Sebastian too?

[ceoandslutler]

not to always complain about antis but why do they read/watch kuro if they hate sebastian this much

he's the mc how do u have beef w him so bad, interpret him however u want but if you genuinely dislike him... why put yourself thru the torture of reading his story (and this is about him, no way to argue against that)

like are you just gonna ignore all his development with the other servants... he is the epitome of an allegorical queer coded outcasted non human character who finds kinship in other odd (queer) people. how are you ignoring that lol

you can interpret main characters as morally grey or evil (a lot of times they are) but atp it feels like antis hate him and ignore any changes or developments in his personality, at least acknowledge him as part of the 'phantomfam' he helped to create. there would be no phantomfam w/o sebastian because there would be no o!ciel and phantomhive manor w/o sebastian,,, hell, there'd be no kuroshitsuji w/o sebastian. actually fun fact it's called 黒執事 kuroshitsuji (black butler) not 貴族子 kizokuko (noble kid).

they hate him until they sexualise him into the molds they want, usually within the ships they like [nothing wrong with those ships per se but they're viewed as 'correct' while the most canonical ship is wrong(?)] or they only love him after they take away all his sexual characteristics and turn him into a cat loving spinster, a dad/mom figure with no other characteristics other than (1) love cat, (2) dad/mombastian, (3) cooking and cleaning, nothing else but that ruins him because he's not that flat of a character in the original work... from what we've seen he likes a lot of things, he enjoys playing this butler game with ciel, he likes being mean and flirty, he likes being around certain humans like agni who he genuinely seemed to respect despite being a demon, he likes the concept of death and finds it beautiful, he has an eye for fashion and a lot more.

the way they treat him is akin to how society treated women in the victorian era... either the angel of the house (maternal figure, or in his case, paternal but they do momify him a lot, no sexualised identity or made limited and very 'pure'/'demure') or the hated demonised prostitute (evil evil demon taking advantage of little boy, no parental feelings and no feelings AT ALL, worthless). it's laughable how half of the fandom have such an innate dislike of sebs that they want to deny the changes within him or in the best case scenario, they'd minimise it. not to mention how they want ciel to be the perfect little sex-repulsed victim but other people have made posts about that before. my focus is on sebastian who is so grossly mischaracterised by antis, they are either purposely misunderstanding him or just very obtuse.

you guys have two interpretations of him and both are either dead wrong or at best extremely misinformed lol

[zukosdualdao]

i'm literally insane about the last agni kai and the lightning scene(s). i swear i've rewatched it 10+ times since my last rewatch of the show (which was my first watch in years) and like. azula sees katara come into view from behind. zuko doesn't. he follows azula's gaze and sees katara and is immediately horrified. he doesn't even think or hesitate because he doesn't have time and for once he doesn't have to look back at azula to figure out what she's doing because he knows what she's doing and he won't let it happen. time dwindling into slow motion as a haunting score plays? and zuko literally yelling out "no!" because that lightning absolutely cannot hit katara. as soon as he sees it there's no chance of that ever happening. and then katara watching in horror as the lightning flashes against features in what is probably one of the most hauntingly beautiful animated moments of the show? zuko hitting the ground still convulsing with lightning and katara crying out "zuko!" and immediately trying to run to him before azula attacks again? and the next scene we cut back to with them, zuko is groaning weakly and trying to lift himself up, and we see katara literally gasp in surprise as she realizes he's still alive (i'm sobbing because i do quite literally think she thought he was dead) and immediately tries to run to him again, nevermind that she knows azula is still there, and the hand katara uses for healing is already doused in water as she reaches for him. but then azula starts attacking again. and zuko, despite literally being in so much pain that he can't stand and can barely even move at all without whimpering, still tries to reach for the spot where he can see azula attacking katara. katara is forced to hide from azula's attacks. and as azula is mocking "zuzu, you don't look so good" down to zuko, the perspective shot is such that you can SEE that katara is also looking at where he lies prone in the distance, surrounded by flame (probably wondering how much time they have before it really is too late) before looking back up at azula and realizing she needs to defeat her as quickly and handily as possible so katara can get to zuko. obviously katara would have done this anyway (the whole reason they were THERE was to halt the continued cycle of the imperialist regime of the fire nation), but the scene is specifically framed as katara trying to figure out how to stop azula so the obstacle to her getting to zuko is no longer in the way. katara's defeat of azula was epic and deserves its own post. but then after making sure azula is securely chained, she runs to zuko, looks at him with such immense sadness and horror and fear as she hears him in so much pain, tenderly turns him over so she can get a good look at the wound. and she cups his head? briefly but so gently? so that he won't hit it as she turns him over? and when she tries to heal him you can tell she is so genuinely unsure if it will even work, and so relieved that she starts crying tears of joy when she sees it has (at least enough to keep him alive and somewhat lessen his pain.) they thank each other (and you can tell it's still really hard for zuko to talk and his eyes are barely open but he thanks her anyways i'm.) and she thanks him back and!!! when he starts to try to sit up she makes a little surprised face and then immediately helps him to do so (and puts a tender hand to his chest while she does!!!) and obviously that last shot of them standing together is also one of emotional support, but katara's hand on his back is also partly because i still think (and certainly katara still thinks) trying to walk/stand on his own would be a bad idea, so it's definitely not happening.

[discordiansamba]

azula's first memories of zuko are all of him ignoring her.

she'd try to show him something, and he'd brush her off. she'd try to follow after him, only for him to start walking too quickly for her little toddler legs to catch up. sometimes she'd fall. zuko would just ignore her. when she was really little, she didn't understand why he was so mean to her. he was her brother. she just wanted him to like her.

when she was older, she found out that was only half true.

she and zuko shared a mother- but they had different fathers. her mother had briefly been married to someone else before she'd married father- and zuko was a product of that union. she'd always noticed that zuko didn't look like anyone else in their family, but she'd never known the reason why. she asked her mother about why she'd left her first marriage. she just gave her a sad look and changed the subject.

her father was more forthcoming.

mother's first husband had been a commoner. her grandfather had wanted mother to marry her father instead- something about her being from avatar roku's bloodline. he'd absolved the marriage, and mother had married her father instead- but she'd already been pregnant with zuko at the time. her grandfather hadn't wanted to turn away a child of roku's bloodline, so he'd grafted him onto the family tree.

"that's why," her father had smiled at her, "-you're so much better at everything than he is. you have royal blood in you. even with avatar roku's blood in him, your half-brother is just a peasant."

azula had taken comfort in those words. she didn't need to be liked by her half-brother. she was better than him. it couldn't be more obvious that it was true- where zuko struggled, she always succeeded. nowhere was it more obvious than it was with their bending- her first flame was strong and steady, unlike zuko's pitiful, sputtering thing.

grandfather still chose to keep him around.

then grandfather was dead- and mother was gone. not long after, so was zuko- he'd gone to live with his swordsmanship master. he would return eventually- father couldn't simply excise him from their family. it would be considered disrespectful to grandfather's memory. she'd asked father anyways. he'd only laughed and told her that his existence only served to make her look better.

she didn't think she needed it. she was a princess- born with the divine right of rule. her uncle, when he returned to the palace, would look at her sadly and tell her that he wished she would get along with her half-brother. azula had scoffed. get along with zuzu? why would she bother? he'd never wanted her around to begin with. she was just returning the favor.

zuko returned to the palace with even more of a commoner's stink to him. she didn't think it was possible.

she was there when he sealed his own fate. it was stupid, really- who cared about some stupid servant? zuko, she supposed. he'd stood up for them over a general of old, noble blood. if he'd been a real prince, it might have not been a big deal. but for a fraud like her half-brother? grabbing the hand of a noble was the ultimate insult.

he really should have expected the agni kai.

(she'd give him a few points for actually trying to fight. not by much- he'd still lost, naturally.)

father banished him- sent him on an impossible quest to find the avatar. azula assumed that would be the last she'd ever hear of him. he'd probably die in the earth kingdom somewhere. everyone knew the avatar was dead. the cycle was broken. he'd never find them.

(and then he did.)

[broadwaybalogna]

A retelling of the end of Zuko and Azula’s Agni Kai because we were ROBBED [Zutara]

”Zuko!” Katara yells, but another blast of lighting is hit close to him, separating the two.

Zuko tries to focus on the fight occurring in front of him, but the pain in his chest is beyond anything of what he expected. It’s excruciating, who knew Azula’s bending could be this painful. He had encountered firebender after firebender when fighting, but Azula was beyond them. Or maybe this just hurt more because she was his sister.

Zuko groans and reaches his arm out, trying to get up and fight as much as possible. But everything hurts. His body feels frozen and he can feel his heartbeat cry.

”You don’t look so good Zuzu,” Azula yells, he’s not quite sure from where. His eyes keep on closing without his permission and his body keeps on aching with every breath he takes, but he knows that if he lets his consciousness go, he may never get it back. So while Katara fights Azula, he’ll fight himself, and they’ll both win.

The sounds of water and lighting fill Zuko’s ears, and he tries to imagine what is occurring in his head.

He hears Azula say something else, this time, it sounds a lot more like a mumble in his ringing ears.

Then, silence. Zuko worries over what’s happened. It’s too quiet. A thousand thoughts flood his head at once and they all end with one of them dead.

Zuko winces, this time, he’s not entirely sure if it’s from the pain or the scenarios coursing through his head.

Almost as soon as it started, however, the silence ends, and the splashing of water can be heard not far from Zuko. This time, the sounds are all too loud, he can hear the clinking of chains against each other as someone is tied, and Zuko prays it’s Azula.

He hears Azula grunt in frustration and he knows Katara has won. He lets out a small sign before unwillingly redirecting his attention to the pain he can feel everywhere.

Katara comes over to him and flips him to his side, taking out leftover water and bending it to fit around her hand shape. She lightly presses her hands against Zuko’s wound on his chest and lets it heal.

Initially, he hates the feeling of pressure on his fresh wound, but it quickly fades as he is relieved of any and all pain. Zuko opens his eyes and looks over to Katara.

”Thank you, Katara,” he rasps out.

she smiles and tears tug at her eyes, “I think I’m the one who should be thanking you… We did it” she replies, letting the tears from her eyes finally fall.

Zuko looks at her and the tears streaming down her face.

”Are you okay?” He asks, taking into account her physicality. It doesn’t look like she has any wounds.

Katara tilts her head, still lightly crying. “What do you mean?”

”You’re crying,” he obviously points out.

”Yeah, tears of happiness,” she laughs out.

Zuko looks over to Azula, whose hands and mouth are iced as to avoid attacking any further. He looks back over to Katara who looks equally as confused as he feels over the concept of tears of happiness.

”You… Cry when you’re happy?” Zuko finally clarifies.

”Yes,” Katara quickly answers.

he tilts his head as Katara did earlier, still not grasping the idea.

”You’re doing it too,” Katara finally points out.

Zuko widens his eyes and brings a hand up to touch the bags under his eyes which are indeed wet. “That might be moreso from being shot with lighting than joy, if anything. Are you sure you’re okay?” Zuko checks Katara’s arms and analyzes her face.

”Zuko, I never thought I’d say this, but you have a lot to learn about being happy.” Katara lightly jabs at him.

Zuko lets out an “mmm” of acknowledgement, still not completely sure if Katara is okay, but allowing her to win the conversation.

Katara takes Zuko’s arm and allows his to lay his weight on her as they begin to leave.

”And for the record,” Zuko finally continues, “you’re a pretty crier.”

Zuko is just able to catch a glimpse of Katara’s face heat up before she turns her head the other way.

”You’re so awkward,” she says, flushing.

”It was a compliment!” He argues.

And Katara laughs. A nice, light laugh that almost makes Zuko forget everything that happened.

This time, it’s his turn to turn away his blush.

[iridescentscarecrow]

obsessed by how fjmt's ideas on family evolve over the course of his work. love and sacrifice -- here, nayuta, forced into the role of the protector as opposed to the nayuta of the prophecy.

i find it interesting how fjmt insists upon family and connection as formed within society and how this always inevitably leads to a rejection of society. agni and luna from fire punch are notable here too, their connection itself is used by the people around them to extract worth from their bodies. and in the end, this connection is what drives the revenge arc that togata directs for agni. but more importantly its what drives living, drives his participation in the aforementioned hostile society.

and togata directing this, then him, the director taking on the role of agni's sister, his family, is important re: denji because

makima is the director of part 1, the author who forms the family for denji. family, for her, are dogs (and she herself is one. she identifies through smell. she is kept and collared by the state) and she creates and solidifies aki and power into tropes to drive denji along her narrative. and yet, she craves affection that she can only engage with through subordination, domestication. this is how she's been treated, she surrounds herself with dogs, makes the chainsaw man she desires functionally her dog while imagining him in terms of freedom (in terms of a chaotic, masculine self).

and nayuta, born out of makima, is cast into this role in this chapter. fumiko calls what nayuta refers to as "family" her "pets", you see nayuta assume the role of the sibling in fjmt's previous work. this is chilling when you consider how nayuta itself reformulates Family in p2, acting as the thread that connects denji to the Plot, the story of normality, that he grapples with. an idea set out by makima, the normal life she takes away from him.

and barem! i've talked about how barem models himself after how he idealises makima before (his Dead Wifehood) but the punch, the irony in this is how he turns to nayuta, the control devil who loves and sacrifices and is driven into the narrative on her own, the makima that we knew existed in her search for intimacy, but one he is unable to visualise. and he points a gun (a gun!), the very thing she turned aki as denji's family into, at her reincarnation..

[simplydannie]

Previous: Back to the Underground || Find Them || Poisoned || Side Effects || The Troll || The Hideout || The Call

Introduce two new OCs, Apollo and Agni! One by my friend @kais-va and the other by me. I’ll do an introduction post about them one day! Hope you like it Kai 🫶 Thank you for your support!

TRIGGER WARNING ‼️ MENTION OF GUNS

After turned in by Creek, the twins find themselves back at the hands of their father: Vaughn. Angered that they have escaped her grasp, stricken by fear that Vaughn is now after her, Mistress reveals the secret of whose children they are…. Now all of the under-city will be out for their blood…

The table went flying.

Broken pieces splattering everywhere. The Mistress looked outside the window into the city of Mount Rageous.

“What…. Happened…” She fumed as she asked her goons. The Rageons standing in front of her were afraid to speak. She turned and faced Shank, her face burning red, “YOU HAD THEM! WHAT HAPPENED!?”

“What happened was you didn’t tell us the freaking truth.” Shank said plainly.

“You didn’t need to know anything. All you need to know is that I NEEDED those twins back!”

“YOU DIDN'T TELL ME THAT THEY WERE THE FREAKING CHILDREN OF THE DAMN CRIME LORD OF UNDER RAGEOUS!!!”

She fell silent.

“That was my business to know… that was information you don’t need to worry about.”

“Really? Because it would’ve helped me if I would’ve known that! We go after them after they use the damn smoke bombs only to be bombarded by the Montegue gang! I lost half my guys dammit!!! Only reason he let me live was to give word back to you!”

She turned around to face him, “Word? What word?”

“That he knows. He knows what you did and what you’re trying to do…. That you’re going to pay for taking his kids out from the under-city…. That you’re going to pay for the death of his wife…”

Mistress stood silent. She stared out into the bright lights of Mount Rageous. A scowl came across her face…..Vaughn Montegue: father of the infamous twin duo that had Mount Rageous eating from the palm of their. She knew what he was capable of. He owned and ran most of the corporations that supplied Mount Rageous. Of course, his goal was to run them all, but the other gang lords ran the rest. He was cunning, vile, and cruel when needed to be. He was the top dog of Under Rageous, wealthiest of them all…and on the side, he ran his own hustle of importing and selling Trolls for their essence…

But with one word, Vaughn had the power to end the economy of Mount Rageous, especially now that the powers of the upper-city had used his children to make them money. For that he was angry….for that he was coming for blood….her blood. Mistress needed to make sure he was stopped before he could plan anything, before he even had the chance of coming after her…

“Then it seems I’ll have to make my first move.” She murmured.

“And what the hell would that be? Unless you want to keep me in the dark again?” Shank asked her. She turned around to face her lover. Walking up to him, she placed a hand on his chest.

“Not again babe. Me and you are in this together after all.” She smirked, “I want EVERYONE to know…”

He cocked an eyebrow, “Known about what?”

“Know the truth about those identical brats. I want all of Rageous, both upper and under, to know where they come from, who their father is.”

“And what good is that going to do to you? Didn’t you want those brats alive?”

“That was before their father got involved… Now I want them all dead. Their father can’t protect them forever. If the other crime bosses of the under-city know, they’ll kill them all for me. How do you think his darling wife was murdered?” She looked back out into the city, “I want their blood splattered along the streets of Under Rageous…”

She could feel the whirring of the car, the sound of the engine humming through. Velvet stirred, she could feel herself regaining the strength in her body, her consciousness slowly coming back to her.

“What…What in the world…” Her hands stretched across as she felt the black leather….Leather? Her eyes opened more allowing her vision to clear. Turning to her left she saw Veneer was still out cold. “Ven?” She saw the gash she had left him on his eye. Velvet swallowed the lump in her throat…she had done that to him…out of her fit of rage again, she hurt him badly.

“Wait?” She looked around again, the Troll, the little one they had met back up in Mount Rageous, where was he? Where were they? Why were they in some fancy car? Where was that annoying purple, fancy talking Troll?

“Don’t remember your own car do you?” A deep voice spoke. It came from across them, sitting on the opposite side. It was familiar…She didn’t even need to look at who the voice came from. Her eyes fell upon the figure sitting across from them: a tall, pale Rageon, with peacock green hair. He wore his business attire as usual…still fiddling with the wedding ring he’d always wear on his finger. His ice, blue eyes fell upon her, “Did you two really think you could avoid me?”

She scowled, “Well we tried our damn best didn’t we dad.” Velvet turned to try and shake her brother awake, but he didn’t budge.

“What’s with the gash on his eye?” Vaughn did not take his eyes off his daughter.

“I…I don’t know….So could you just leave it?” She snapped.

“What. Happened.” His tone came out more serious, more menacing.

Velvet side. Crossing her arms she faced out the window, “I don’t know! I just got angry…I can’t…..I can’t control.” She stared back at him, “There! Is that a good enough answer for you?”

“So you guys did use the little Troll after all?”

Velvet looked up to stare at her father…

“I know the side effects of Troll essence ...I've seen it first hand. Something I didn’t expect or want my children to experience.”

“Well…you wanted to be part of this family business after all didn’t you?” She said.

They both turned to find Veneer stirring and moaning, his eyes opening as he regained consciousness, “Wh-what happened….Wh-where, are we? Where’s Branch?” He turned to face his sister. She remained silent. Veneer began taking in his surroundings…he grew silent and still when he laid eyes on his father sitting across from them.

“Veneer. You have matured since the last time I saw you. Without all that disgusting attire you were made to wear in Mount Rageous…I can see you have grown, both of you.”

“See. Which means we don’t need YOU in our life anymore.” Velvet spat. Veneer eyed his sister, then his father….Perhaps so. Perhaps they didn’t need him, but Veneer WANTED his father back in his life. They had messed things up with Floyd…so perhaps this was another chance they were getting?

Vaughn scoffed, “Just because you are older does not make you wiser. For one, you two were fools falling into the hands of Mistress. For having her use you as puppets.”

“…But we got out of it didn’t we.” Veneer responded.

“How do you think that solves anything?” Vaughn cocked his head to the side, “Who do you think sent those goons after you?”

“Well why do you think she’s after us?” Velvet exclaimed. This caught Vaughn by surprise, “She knows we’re your damn kids doesn’t she? That’s why she gave us hell, that’s why she wanted us? That’s why she took us away? So all this is YOUR fault!”

“Vels come one relax…” Veneer protested.

“No! It’s true! You know it is!”

“And why do you think I tried protecting you! Why I was hard on you! If you had not run away none of this would have happened!”

Veneer covered his ears as their father and Velvet began to bicker back and forth. His eyes closed shut, he began squeezing his head, “Enough!”

They stopped to stare at him. Veneer began to shout, “We needed a dad when mom died! We needed you! We lost her too and we miss her! But we have you! We NEED our dad!”

BANG!

A small explosion caused the car to swerve out of control. Velvet clung on to the seats as fear entered her body.

“What’s going on!” Vaughn yelled to the Bergen driver.

“Ambush!” The Bergen on the passenger's seat began loading a gun.

BANG! BANG!

More explosions. This time the care flipped. Velvet and Veneer let out a yell. Out of instinct, Vaughn took off his seatbelt and engulfed the twins in his arms. He held on to them tight as the car flipped and turned off the road seemingly down a ditch. It tossed and turned uncontrollably until it came to a halt landing upside down. The twins and their father stirred in the back as they regained the strength to move.

“Teal! Coal!” Vaughn called out to the Bergens that were driving…but they were out cold. He reached over to a compartment underneath the seat pulling out a gun.

“What the hell dad!” Velvet exclaimed.

“Want to fight whoever did this with bare hands? Be my guest. I for one am not going to give them the advantage.” Voices were heard coming closer…they were outnumbered…they were at a disadvantage. Vaughn pressed a button within the compartments of the car…a signal for backup up…

“Oh Vaughn! We know you and your brats are in there.” A conniving voice sounded from outside. Vaughn loaded the gun and prepared to walk out.

“What are you doing?” Veneer called out in a harsh whisper.

“Buying time until backup arrives. You two stay here.”

“Like hell we are!” Velvet exclaimed. She moved to open the door, but their father firmly grasped her by the arm and looked her dead in the eye.

“For God’s sake. Listen to me for once and stay here!” His voice was demanding, serious, and fierce. The twins only blinked to him in response…the father in him coming out for once in his life. Taking a deep breath Vaughn stepped out of the car alone. Veneer attempted to peek through the shattered windows to get a view of who was out there, who was it that ambushed them…All he could see was the glowing lights of a Strobe Rageon.

“Crap! It’s a Strobe! And where there’s a Strobe you know there's a Goyle! What do we do?”

“Nothing. He wants to be stubborn and told us to stay here. We stay.” Velvet crossed her arms and pouted.

“Seriously! Now out of all times you decide to listen!”

“What the hell are we going to do Ven? They’ll probably shoot our dad dead in a second! Then we’re next!”

Veneer bit his lip as he peeked through any opening he could find, his ear listening to the conversations that were happening outside…

Vaughn stood boldly in between the Rageons in front of him and the car that had his children behind him…It was a young Strobe standing amongst his comrades…

“You? You did this?” Vaughn seemed surprised. The young Rageon smiled, his glowing green eyes staring him down, his oranges hair illuminated brighter along with his yellow markings as joy soured through his veins.

“Pretty good wasn’t it?” He twiddled with the gun in his hands.

“How did you know where to find us?”

“Hmm, that’s for me to know and for you to NEVER find out. How does that sound?” The Strobe smiled, “Now! Word has it that you have spawns! Weird how a cranky old guy like you had any game to be able to reproduce anything at all.”

Vaughn fell silent, but his expression was unchanged. How? How did they know about his children? That damn Troll opened his mouth didn’t he….or worse….the Mistress was done being silent.

“Depends where you hear the news from. I wouldn’t believe anything this damn under-city has to say.” Vaughn responded.

The Strobe frowned. Taking his gun he shot towards Vaughn’s shoulder….The older Rageon was unbothered as he did his best to absorb the pain it gave. Inside the car, the twins gasped, holding their mouths.

“Oh my god! Next time it’ll be a bullet to his head!” Veneer said, “Vels, we HAVE to do something…He’s our dad.”

Velvet looked at the pleading look in her brother's eyes. She let out a groan as she reached for the compartments inside the vehicle…she drew out two more guns. Handing one to her brother.

“Whoa, whoa!” Veneer held his hands up in defeat, “Nope. Nuh uh. Any other options?”

“Want to help dad out or not chicken feet?”

Veneer casted a long glance at his sister before finally sighing in defeat. He took the gun carefully, “I guess we are our father’s children aren’t we.”

“I guess we are.”

The lights of the Strobe Rageon illuminated brighter as he grew angry, “MOVE OUT OF MY DAMN WAY!” He yelled at the top of his lungs. Vaughn cocked an eyebrow as the blood from the bullet wound began to drip down his shirt.

“Apollo.” He Said. The Strobe stared at him in disbelief, “You’re Eros’s boy. Crime boss of your district. You’re his boy aren’t you?”

“Congratulations! My identity has been revealed! Dad said this was my moment, my shot, kill you and your brats or bring you back to him….I’d prefer kill. NOW MOVE!” Apollo yelled. But Vaughn stood still holding the gun firmly in his hand. “I’ve had enough…AGNI!”

PLOP!

A red Goyle Rageon with shoulder length orange hair and big round horns landed on top of the car. The twins screamed inside.

“No!” Vaughn lifted his gun to shoot the Goyle Rageon, not before others came to disarm him.

“Get them out of there!” Apollo demanded.

“With pleasure.” The Goyle Rageon, Agni, began to tear apart the vehicle with his bare hands.

Velvet and Veneer let out a scream…

“Teal! Coal!” Velvet yelled out to the Bergens who were still out cold.

CLANK! CLANK!

They could hear the Goyle tearing apart the car. Veneer caught a view of the Goyle Rageon through the opening he was creating. Lifting the gun in desperation, Veneer began to shoot…but the bullets bounced off the Goyle, leaving him unscathed.

“Adorable. A for effort.” He smirked as he began smashing the car.

“Leave them alone! It’s me you want isn’t it. It’s me your father has a quarrel with. Not them!” Vaughn spat. Apollo came around and began to strike the older Rageon.

“It’s you and any spawn you reproduce Succubi.”

Vaughn laughed, spitting out blood, “What a coward. Sending a child to do a man's bidding.” Apollo glowed bright and fumed. He took out the knife he had in his pocket.

“What if I brought him your head?”

“Make sure it’s mounted on a gold platter, I don’t look well in silver.” Vaughn smirked.

Agni kept beating down on the car as the twins screamed inside. He reached into an opening taking a firm hold of Velvet’s arm. She screamed trying to pull him away as he pulled. Grabbing something sharp, Veneer was able to run it into the Goyle's skin. Agni screamed in pain.

“YOU LITTLE BRAT!” He tore a piece of the car straight off exposing the twins. Apollo turned to finally see the twins.

“Don’t do anything yet! I want them to see life leave their fathers eyes.” He smiled a wicked grin as he pointed the knife to Vaughns throat.

“DAD!” Veneer jumped out of the broken vehicle, attempting to run to his father. The Goyle Rageon grasped him by the shoulder tearing him back.

“Oh no you don’t! You get to watch the show, tiny man!” Agni smirked.

Apollo ran the knife down Vaughns cheek… blood began trickling down. Vaughn made no movement, no sound, he endured the pain. If he fought now, he knew that Goyle would snap the twins in two with ease. His eyes met his children as they stood horrified. He made a notion…a sign for them to run when they could, but he could see the small head shake they each gave him…

“DAD!” Veneer cried out again struggling against the tight hold Agni’s grip. His eyes began to glow, an orange-pink hue. “NO!” He yelled as he lifted and pointed the gun towards the Strobe Rageon…

BANG!

[starsfic]

AU idea: In spite of Ozai's efforts (and Alzua's under his influence) to twist the narrative behind the scenes and set off the domino effect that would lead to Azulon's death in another world, the reigning Fire Lord's order that Prince Zuko be placed under the custody of the returning Iroh successfully goes through.

In any other time, Ursa would believe Azula the moment she said that her grandfather had ordered her brother's death. She would rush to her husband's side to plead for Zuko's life. Ozai would offer her a deal.

Ursa would forget her children.

In this moment, Ursa pushed back the rush of emotions.

"Honey," she said, gently stroking Azula's hair back and trying her best to not tremble. She needed to think, to focus. "Does that make sense to you?"

Azula blinked. "What?" she said, no longer sounding like a cunning general and instead a confused little girl. "What are you talking about? I heard Grandfather say it!"

"Yes, but, honey, it would be a very dumb decision." Ursa had no real knowledge of politics. However, she had common sense and alarms blaring in the back of her mind. "We just lost Lu Ten. Do you really think your Grandfather would want another grandchild dead?"

"But, Father said-"

Ursa rose up. "I am going to have a talk," she said, not saying who with. "I'll get to the bottom of this. Zuko is going to be fine." Azula stared at her like she was saying gibberish. "Right now," She beckoned a guard. "You should go to bed."

Azula tried to talk, but the guard took the hint and gently coaxed her away. Ursa tried to ignore the flash of anger in her eyes as she turned and headed to the next guard. Thankfully, he agreed to guard Zuko's room until Ursa returned.

Fire Lord Azulon was still in the throne room. The flames were extinguished, meaning he was about to leave, which gave Ursa almost no time to bow.

"What is it, Ursa?" her father-in-law said, sounding more tired than she had ever heard him. "I would like to get a chance to light some candles for my grandson sometime tonight."

"Apologies, my lord," Ursa said, keeping her eyes on the floor. "But I had heard a disturbing command issued from you and I wanted to make sure I understood it correctly."

There was a sigh. "I understand your reluctance, but your husband must be punished. Iroh will raise Zuko well, and I am sure you will still have the chance to see him."

Motherf-

"Then you did not order my son's death?"

There was a long pause.

"Excuse me?"

Ursa dared to raise her head and resisted a jolt at her father-in-law in front of her. "I found Azula telling Zuko that you had ordered his death," she said. Azulon raised a brow, and she continued, secretly glad for all her time in the theater. Nobody would be able to hear the tremble she kept back. "I would brush it off as an exaggeration, but she mentioned that her father said something to her."

There was another long pause. Azulon stared at her and then raised a hand to his brow, massaging it as he let out a soft swear. She resisted another jolt at the proper ruler swearing. "Ozai..." He pulled his hand away from his brow and stared her down. "I can assure you, daughter, that I did not order Zuko's death. The only death I intended was his connection to Ozai as father and son. I did not realize that Ozai's care towards him was so little that he would seize the chance to get rid of him."

"That is my fault," Ursa admitted, praying to Agni that he did not ask.

Azulon didn't, instead staring at her for a second before huffing. "It is clear I will have to take other measures," he said, raising a hand. A scribe scurried his way out of the darkness. "Ursa, I must ask that you take your children and hide in Iroh's quarters until I send for you. I do not think Ozai will take his banishment lightly."

A thought pressed at her.

"May I ask-"

"Yes," he said, sounding a touch annoyed. "Your marriage will be annulled, and you will be allowed to stay. You both have two strong children and you have done nothing to garner my anger." Azulon gestured. "Now, leave."

Ursa resisted a smile. This had gone better than planned. Her father-in-law's mercy about her marriage was fully unexpected, but she did not dare to ask.

The next morning, Ozai's banishment was announced.

Their quarters had been completely destroyed by fire, and Ursa thanked Agni and Azulon for her and her children not being there when Ozai got the news. Azula looked like the world had turned upside down for weeks until she learned that she was only behind Iroh and Zuko from the throne. (Ursa made a note to perhaps suggest therapy for her family.) Zuko seemed confused but relieved, albeit a bit uncertain, when he learned that he was now Iroh's son.

Ursa remembered her children.

[balanceoflightanddark]

The fire nation's defeat was technically Azula's fault.

Zuko and Iroh were branded traitors and failures. Azula was given specific instructions to capture them, dead or alive. Azula had them both red-handed in Ba Sing Se. Instead of doing what she was told, she asks for Zuko's help and she clears his name in return.

Now, it could be argued that without Zuko's help, she would've been pummeled into submission by Aang and Azula. Well, then after his usefulness was used up, she had a chance to pull yet another fast one and apprehend him without having to lie to Ozai.

Zuko acted suspiciously. He made Azula doubt that Aang really died and she began to think that Zuko may have had something to do with his survival. Instead of searching for proof of Aang's survival and informing her suspicions to Ozai, she puts unnecessary risk on herself and sets up a gambit that was ultimately pointless in more ways than one.

If Azula did what she was supposed to do, Zuko and Iroh would be dead or put in prison which leads to Zuko never finding out about the plans with the comet, Aang never finds a firebending sifu, the FN gains victory unopposed, and Azula can reign as Fire Lord.

In short, by choosing to lend Zuko a hand more than once, she indirectly did Team Avatar a huge favor.

Boom: Butterfly Effect.

The FN's MVP was also Team Avatar's MVP. I do enjoy the irony.

I wonder though, what would the Gaang's, Azula's Zuko's, Iroh's, Ozai's, and all of FN's reactions when realizing this epiphany?

It would break Azula.

...no seriously. It would break her.

While I think it would be a bit of a stretch to say that the defeat of the Fire Nation was her fault (cause there's no way in hell she could've seen bringing Zuko home would end up with his betrayal of Ozai), I do think she was hurting already with Zuko betraying her. If she was torn up about Mai and Ty Lee turning on her, I have no doubt she'd feel the same about Zuko regardless of what her relationship with him is right now. Add on to the fact that this is a girl that is hoisted with way too much responsibility than she is able to handle (being driven to become perfect at any cost), a revelation like this would destroy her.

And the fallout wouldn't be pretty. At all. It would probably rival her breakdown at Sozin's Comet, if not be worse. Hell, I think Zuko and Iroh would be a bit concerned for her. Zuko did seem somewhat regretful at her state after the Last Agni Kai and Iroh (while not Azula's biggest fan) probably wouldn't be that callous to brush her off.

Ozai would hate her though. Hate hate HATE her though. He puts on so much pressure for her to be perfect. What do you think the abusive piece of shit is going to do when he puts two and two together. Might even disown her on the spot, which will cause her to spiral even more. And she'd probably lose a lot of support in the Fire Nation for indirectly letting an unpopular successor on the throne, which would cause her to spiral even further.

...kind of why I don't really want to put the blame on the Fire Nation's defeat on her since the poor kid doesn't need that on top of her failures already. Besides, I think the defeat of the Fire Nation can better be laid on Ozai's feet. I mean, he was the one who banished Zuko and mistreated both him and Azula. If we want to go indirect, he set up a domino effect. And directly, he wasn't able to consolidate the Fire Nation's gains at the end of the war which led to a huge rebellion movement. And he certainly didn't seem to want to get involved with fighting Aang during the Day of the Black Sun which could've stacked the odds further against him when the firebending was turned back on. Mind you, this was before Zuko showed up. Like he was sipping tea while Azula was holding the Gaang off.

That being said, I could see him pass the buck off on Azula for the Fire Nation's defeat. Which would lead into the scenario I just outlined above.

[whencyclopedia]

Agni

Agni is the Hindu god of fire. He is regarded as the friend and protector of humanity, in particular, he safeguards the home. Various forms of fire are associated with Agni and include the sun, lightning, comets, sacrificial fire, domestic fires, the fire of the funeral pyre, and the digestive fire which is within all humans. Agni was especially important in the Vedic period (1500-500 BCE), and the Vedas contains more hymns to him than to any other deity. He is still considered today omnipresent though not directly worshipped. Agni knows the thoughts of all people and is a witness to all important actions, hence the use of fire in many important Hindu ceremonies such as marriages. He is also referred to in sacred texts such as the Mahabharata as the 'Oblation-devourer' and the 'Purifier'. With flaming hair and riding a goat, he is easily identified in Hindu art.

Agni's wife is the daughter of King Nila who impressed the fire god by being the only woman in the kingdom who managed to kindle a flame in the royal palace. In some myths, Karttikeya (Skanda), the Hindu god of war, is Agni's son and the result of Agni's conquest of the Pleiades, the wives of the Seven Sages.

Agni & Various Fires

Agni is the son of the Celestial Waters, and that element is closely connected with fire which is thought to be carried down to earth within rain. From there fire is drawn up by vegetation and so when two sticks are rubbed together fire appears. Agni is also responsible for lightning which is born from the god's union with the cloud goddess. Another fire Agni is associated with is the funeral pyre; in this role, he leads the dead to their final judgement by Yama, ruler of the Underworld.

Agni is perhaps most closely associated with sacrificial fires where he is thought to carry the offerings of humans to the gods. According to various myths, Agni was at first afraid to take on this duty as his three brothers had been killed already whilst performing the task. Consequently, Agni hid in the subterranean waters but, unfortunately, fish revealed his hiding place to the gods. As a result, Agni cursed them so that fish would become the easy prey of men. In another version it is frogs, then elephants, and then parrots which reveal Agni's attempts at hiding and the god punished them all by distorting their speech ever after. The final hiding place of Agni in this version was inside a sami tree and so it is considered the sacred abode of fire in Hindu rituals and its sticks are used to make fires. Reluctantly taking up his duty again Agni did negotiate by way of compensation to always receive a share of the sacrifice he carried to the gods and he was given the boon of ever-lasting life.

Agni appears in all forms of fire and even those things which burn well or have a certain lustre. In the Brhaddevata we are told that at one point Agni is dismembered and distributed among earthly things. The god's flesh and fat becomes guggulu resin, his bones the pine tree, his semen becomes gold and silver, his blood and bile are transformed into minerals, his nails are tortoises, entrails the avaka plant, his bone marrow sand and gravel, his sinews become tejana grass, his hair kusa grass, and his body hair becomes kasa grass which was used in sacrificial rituals.

Over time Agni's importance as a god diminishes, a fact explained in the Mahabharata as due to his overindulgence in consuming one too many offerings. In the Visnu Purana he is described as the eldest son of Brahma and Svaha is his wife. Together they had three sons, Pavaka, Pavamana, and Suchi, who in turn had 45 sons, which, including their fathers and grandmother, totals 49, the number of sacred fires in the Vayu Purana.

Agni, according to one Rigveda hymn attributed to the sage Vasistha, also has a darker side. Similar in nature to the 'flesh-eater' demons, the raksasa, he has two wickedly sharp iron tusks and he devours his victims without mercy. However, when called upon by the gods, Agni destroys the raksasa with his flaming spears. This episode, when Agni becomes a servant of the gods, is illustrative of his fall from the pinnacle of the pantheon.

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[zvtara-was-never-canon]

So did season 3 Zuko genuinely believe Ozai loved Azula? Is that why he was okay with ratting her out to him with no fear of what he might do to her?

Zuko is a 16-year-old boy that was a victim of abuse pretty much his entire life. It took him THREE WHOLE YEARS to realize that their father disfiguring and banishing him for speaking out of turn/against a cruel plan, and refusing to fight him, was, in fact, a deeply horrible thing for Ozai to do and it was all Ozai's fault.

Is it fair or realistic to expect him to understand that, even though Azula managed to live up to Ozai's insane expectations for his children, it was still unfair of him to put so much pressure on her and that it was only a matter of time before she cracked under it? Can we really blame him for not realizing Azula is being psychologically abused when she's in denial about it herself and actively trying to convince everyone around her that everything she does is effortless? And when the adults he actually trusts, aka his mother and uncle, are ALSO not aware of what's going on right in front of their faces?

Can we blame a child who is desperate to get even the slightest bit of approval and affection from his parent, and never achieving it, for thinking their sibling has an easier, enviable life because they ocasionally get some conditional love?

Can we expect someone who just heard their parent say the words "Your sister was born lucky, you were lucky to be born" to just casually ignore that very clear "I wish you were dead, you don't deserve to exist" and focus only on the implications of "Wait, is he dismissing my sibling's life-long attempts, and success, of living up to his expectations as sheer dumb luck, not hard work and genuine talent?"

I've said once, I'll say it again: Zuko's attempts to survive all the trauma he endured are basically the same as someone who is panicking while drowning and trying to pull under the person that is trying to rescue them because they cannot think clearly in such a dire situation.

It's no coincidence that the two main moments in which we see him having compassion for Azula (in The Southern Raiders and then in the finale post Agni Kai) take place AFTER he has turned his back on Ozai and found a group of people who love and support him. He is now watching the situation from the outside, from a safe distance, not while in the middle of all the chaos, unsure if he's gonna make it.

And for the first time, Zuko can actually see his sister. A prodigy, but still someone that is trying to meet impossible standards. A brave, fierce, DANGEROUS warrior, but also a deeply traumatized child.

There's a reason Aaron Ehasz, the head-writter and executive producer of the show, has repeatedly said that, if Avatar had gotten a fourth season, he would have liked Zuko to essentially be Azula's Iroh and help her heal and redeem herself. He is literally the only other person in the world that knows what being Ozai's child is like, even if he was the scapegoat while she was the golden child.

[bones4thecats]

Hi again! I've got an interesting idea for you today!

How would Record of Ragnarok Gods react having to fight/marry a widowmaker(overwatch) reader!

Widowmaker is a really interesting and tragic character in my opinion! She was a ballet dancer, before she was kidnapped and subjected her to an intense program of neural reconditioning, in effect creating a sleeper agent

Shortly after returning home, she killed her husband and vanished.

Widowmaker is the perfect assassin: a patient, ruthlessly efficient killer who shows neither emotion nor remorse. Widow's physiology was altered to improve her aim, drastically slowing her heart, which turned her skin cold and blue, and numbed her ability to experience human emotion. It dulled the pain of what she’d done, while heightening the charge she felt on the hunt.

How the gods react knowing she killed her first husband? How would they react to her title as the perfect assassin? How would they react knowing she can't feel emotion yet yearns to be loved and to be healed?

A/N: I have never played Overwatch, since I’m not that big on video games, so thanks for the description regarding her character! I also decided to do all Hindu Gods because they’re my favorite pantheon. Now, I hope this makes sense, enjoy~~

●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・

●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・

🪩 Shiva met you through his wives, as they needed someone taken out, but they couldn’t just stroll up to random human and go, ‘Yeah, ur dead.’

🪩 After that hunt was successful, he had gotten more and more interested in you personally

🪩 It took a while, but you eventually took him as your husband and your blank stare was something he was determined to fix

🪩 He had no idea why your skin was blue, but he figured you were a possible demi-god, or like Kali, you just had blue skin like how he had purple

🪩 When you decided to tell him about everything, his reactions varied;

🪩 For the husband thing; He was kinda freaked out, but he knew you had changed and wouldn’t try hurting him

🪩 Title as the ‘Perfect Assassin’; Like mentioned, he already knew from his wives, so he just relaxed about that

🪩 And the way you yearn to feel things; Shiva was quite the romantic, so knowing you couldn’t show it, yet you wanted it so badly made his heart yearn for you more

🪩 Parvati, Durga, and Kali have been trying to get you to feel things again to the fullest, and they swore on it, with Shiva, they’d succeed

🪩 Oh yeah, and he loves dancing with you! It calms him down after a long day

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🔥 He had heard about you, but never met you until Shiva brought you into help scout a rogue God from another Pantheon that was said to try murdering any God that came near them

🔥 Agni looked at you as you nodded and he helped you take the God down, using his fire to burn the guy to crisp

🔥 You and him were a funny match

🔥 He was very warm while you were very cold, so resting with him was one of the best experiences you ever had

🔥 Unlike Shiva, he reactions a lot differently to each incident

🔥 Husband murder; Kinda scared of you, but he accepted it in the end, as it was the only way you guys could continue a healthy relationship

🔥 Title; It’s normal for important people to have big titles, like Shiva’s was the God of Destruction and Dance, which made people turn to look at him. So having you get a nickname that stood out didn’t shock him, in fact, it impressed him more than anything

🔥 Your yearning for closeness; Definitely has the same issue as you, he gets judged by the fire that envelops his body, and because of the flames, he doesn’t get that much physical affection, so he tried hugging you daily no matter what

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🐘 He met you when he was picking flowers for his mothers and father

🐘 Ganesha was spacing out so badly that he didn’t notice a rogue God coming from behind to kill him, so when he heard the sound of a man burning alive, he jumped and saw you come down to finish the job

🐘 You scared him at first, but after getting to know each other, you guys were inseparable

🐘 The women and Shiva allow your relationship to thrive as long as you didn’t go berserk like you did with your last husband, which prompted you to tell him about your past;

🐘 Husband Murder; He won’t judge you for it, but seeing as your past gives you justification in his eyes, and he’ll defend your honor of that from anyone

🐘 Title; Shocked? Yes. He knew you were a good shot, but not that good! Not like he was doubting your ability, but it just made him go;

“ Holy Heaven, my wife is the best assassin in all Pantheons! “

🐘 Finally, the yearning for love; Definitely gives you what you want, he loves affection and nobody can change my mind.

🐘 He does enjoy watching you dance, sometimes joining in himself whenever you ask him too

[tgrailwar-zero]

If we’re dropping ourselves into the water as bait, we better hope we can stop this whale next turn. Otherwise, I think we’re done for.

ADMIRAL: "Probably. Have fun!"

You were tied to a rope-- a more sophisticated device would probably be less unsettling.

CREW: "Heave, ho!"

Fwish.

You were thrown overboard.

And then-- down into the water you went.

You could see MUSASHI deeper down, thrashing against the whale. She stabbed her blades into the uninjured eye of the beast as it let out a horrible noise, roiling back and forth.

You probably had two Emperors with chronic migraines at this point, yes.

The whale, while blinded, seemed to be using echolocation to help guide it. However, the sheer amount of stimuli barraging it at the moment was far from ideal.

Still, the yelling did the trick.

It began barreling towards you.

There was a very real feeling that the second that monstrosity made contact with you, you were dead. Honestly dead. Gone. Consumed by a program and then broken down into data and deleted.

The whale opened it's massive maw, closing in.

Closer.

Closer.

Closer.

You felt a heavy tug on the rope as you were yanked upwards and out of the water.

You spiraled in the air, feeling yourself a hair's breadth away from being whale food, before slamming onto the deck.

The massive Attack Program breached the water, MUSASHI hanging on with her blades plunged into the left eye of the monstrosity.

The ADMIRAL cackled, stepping forward.

ADMIRAL: "We're not going to get a cleaner shot than that! Hey, you damn whale! You're showing your belly- is that a surrender? Unfortunately, I take no prisoners!"

ADMIRAL: "Alright, you picaroons! Show me you have the stones to pull this off, and let's blow this waste of data space out of the water! Fortune is mine, and mine alone! Mine to spend and mine to gain! By this lucky coin of mine… Pseudo-Noble Phantasm, 'Agni Gandiva', charged to 75%! We can either get the perfect shot, or hope we can make do with what we've got!"

MOBY DICK is within incredibly close range of you and your ship.

SHIP STATS

The ship took some damage from MOBY DICK breaching the water so close!

SHIP'S HULL: [ X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / / / ]

MAGICAL ENERGY: [ X ] [ X ] [ X ] [ X ] [ X ]

'LUCKY SHOT': [ X ] (Power: Stage 3)