#yes i like good mom ursa

[julietwiskey1]

Can I just say that I really love your interpretation of Ursa. I definitely don’t like the never-did-anything-wrong idea that is common but I’m also not a big fan when it’s taken into the other direction of her being completely awful so your more middle ground leaning positive interpretation is nice!

Thank you. Writing and talking about Ursa is my favorite thing so its nice to know that people like my interpretation of her.

And same. I am definitely a fan of good mom Ursa in fics but I do not like saint Ursa. I feel like it does a disservice to her character and to Azula's feelings about her mom. Same as completely awful mom Ursa does a disservice to Zuko's feelings about her.

Rather Ursa is a character I feel is best when her mistakes from cannon are brought up and are addressed with her improving in areas but still making mistakes.

Thanks again for the nice ask. :)

[attackfish]

So everybody here knows that I'm notorious for being a massive defender of Ursa, and that I have no patience for the "Ursa was a bad mother, she favored Zuko, and was abusive to Azula and abandoned her kids, and made Ozai abuse Zuko," narrative. That narrative is vile, victim blaming, and deeply stupid on a number of levels.

With that out of the way, I want to talk about some really really bad parenting we see Ursa do during the series. And it is to be clear really really bad.

In the Book Two episode, "Bitter Work", Zuko and Iroh have a conversation:

ZUKO: So Uncle, I've been thinking. It's only a matter of time before I run into Azula again. I'm going to need to know more advanced firebending if I want to stand a chance against her. I know what you're going to say, she's my sister and I should be trying to get along with her-

IROH: No, she's crazy, and she needs to go down.

This scene is a favorite of a certain type of Azula fan who wants to paint Iroh as a big meanie who didn't wave his magic redemption wand over Azula the way he clearly did over Zuko. See? See? He's writing her off here and calling her crazy.

This of course misses the context of that scene, which is that Zuko is taking care of a severely injured Iroh, who was injured by Azula, in what looked a heck of a lot like a murder attempt. Earlier in Book Two, in the episode, "The Avatar State", Azula unambiguously attempts to murder her brother after failing to capture him, and he is only saved by Iroh's quick reflexes.

But let's leave that argument aside for today because what interests me about this scene in the context of Ursa's parenting, is the line Zuko says right before Iroh's infamous declaration: "I know what you're going to say, she's my sister and I should be trying to get along with her."

Because in the context of Zuko and Iroh's situation, where Azula has recently attempted to kill Zuko, and just put Iroh into a coma that Zuko had to take care of him during, in which he has only just woken up from, this line from Zuko actually demonstrates some really warped thinking. It is not a healthy response to the situation at all. And his assumption is that a good caring parent figure like Iroh is going to respond to this situation by telling him that Zuko needs to get along with his sister, who is actively trying to hunt him down and capture or kill him.

So why does Zuko think that? What adult reacted that way to Azula's violence toward her brother in the past? It wasn't Ozai. Ozai is not going to use the language of getting along with one's siblings, when he is so bent on setting them against each other. So who was it?

The show answers this a few episodes before this scene, in the Book Two episode, "Zuko Alone." The answer is clear and heartbreaking: It was Ursa.

The scene in which this becomes plain, starts with Zuko and Ursa walking together. Mai spots them and smiles and blushes. Azula notices, and then turns to Ty Lee, and whispers, "Watch this!"

AZULA: Mom, can you make Zuko play with us? We need equal teams to play a game!

ZUKO: I am not cart-wheeling.

AZULA: You won't have to. Cart-wheeling's not a game, dum-dum.

ZUKO: I don't care. I don't want to play with you!

AZULA: We are brother and sister. It's important for us to spend time together. Don't you think so, Mom?

URSA: Yes, darling, I think it's a good idea to play with your sister. Go on now, just for a little while.

And then Ursa leaves Zuko alone with Azula and her friends.

There is a lot here that I want to talk about. I have in fact talked about this scene before, and what it tells us about Ursa's eagerness to reinforce Azula's seemingly kind and loving behavior: [Link], and even touched on why this is in fact an example of bad parenting from Ursa: [Link], but I think this deserves its own post, where we examine exactly what went on here, what this tells us about Ursa's parenting, and how this affected Zuko, and to a lesser extent, Azula.

In those previously linked posts, I talk about how this is clearly a pattern, that Azula has learned to predict and manipulate, and because we know it's a pattern, we know that this behavior on Ursa's part is repeated, and something her children have come to expect from her. Zuko and Azula know their mother wants her children to get along with each other, and love each other and have a good sibling relationship with each other so much that if Azula she plays into that, Ursa will force Zuko to spend time with his sister, and worse, that time will be unsupervised.

So, to be clear here, what Ursa is doing is giving Azula unsupervised access to her brother, against his will, as a reward for Azula momentarily acting nice. Or in other words, Ursa forces Zuko to spend time with his abuser against his will because she wants them to get along.

I think we can all see how that is some grade A terrible parenting.

And it does have negative effects on Azula. I think that we can see her learning how to manipulate people, learning how to lie and get what she wants from people, and that Ursa by giving her what she wants here, is showing her that this is a thing she can do to get what she wants. That is not a great lesson to teach your kid. I think it also feeds into Azula's possessiveness of her brother, and sense of entitlement towards him. She has learned that even the people who love and care about her brother, won't protect him from her. And she has learned that no matter what she does to him, he is supposed to try to get along with her.

These are some really terrible lessons, and we see some of the effects of them throughout the course of the show, so why is it that the "Ursa is a terrible mother" crowd never bring this up? I mean of course we know why, it doesn't fit their narrative. Their premise is not simply that Ursa is a bad mother, or even that her bad parenting explains Azula's behavior.

In fact frequently it isn't even about finding someone to blame for Azula's behavior, so that the responsibility isn't Azula's. (Which, to be clear is not how it would work anyway, because even if Ursa were exactly the type of horrible mother they said she was, Azula was still making the choices to do Very Bad Things, in the same way that just because Ozai is an abusive father, this doesn't mean Azula stopped being responsible for her own actions). It's more about proving that she has suffered enough that she deserves all the sympathy, and is allowed to be awful to other people, including Zuko, you know, as a treat.

The narrative that the "Ursa is a terrible mother" crowd are pushing is that Ursa didn't love her daughter, and thought she was a monster, Azula suffered so much, and it's so sad, and this is why she deserves to do very nasty things to everybody else, and no one should ever hold her accountable. Frequently there is some flavor of, "Zuko had a mother who loved him, you guys, unlike Azula, so he doesn't deserve sympathy, not like poor baby Azula!" Which is a deeply warped thought process on many many levels, but we're not going to go into that here.

The point is, that this type of bad parenting that I am pointing out here, doesn't fit this narrative, because this is not the kind of parenting mistake that a mother who doesn't love one of her children, and thinks that child is a monster, is going to make. This is the kind of mistake that a mother who loves her children very much, and wants them to have a good relationship, and doesn't recognize the threat that one of her children poses to the other, is going to make. In fact, the fact that she does it, proves that Ursa does in fact love her daughter and does not think she's a monster. So it does not fit the narrative these people are spinning, so they will never bring it up as an example of how Ursa was a bad mom.

Of course the other reason the "Ursa is a terrible mother" crowd aren't going to bring this part up is because it would mean acknowledging that Zuko deserved to be protected from Azula, and needed to be protected from Azula, when they were both children, which would go against the whole "she's a poor innocent child" thing they like to spin, and also because Azula is getting what she wants here, and Zuko is the one suffering, which is not going to get Azula any sympathy points.

And for the most part, Ursa was an excellent mother, who did the best job she could in horrible circumstances that she had very little control over, but she wasn't perfect, and she did make mistakes, which makes all of this a wonderful example of how even very good parents can make very bad choices that hurt their children and cause serious long-term damage.

I've talked some about the long term damage that Azula faces from this, learning about manipulation, and developing some really nasty entitlement issues with regards to her brother, but Zuko's long-term damage is if anything worse.

When we put this together with Zuko's line from "Bitter Work" quoted earlier, we can see that Zuko learns what Azula learns from the other angle, which is to say that he will not be protected from Azula by anyone, and not only will he not be protected, but he does not deserve to protect himself. Not only can he not defend himself, but he can't even protect himself by avoiding her. That's not allowed either. And in the face of her cruelty and violence towards him, it is still on him to make their relationship work, and to be clear, he should absolutely be making their relationship work. And the adults who love him are going to tell him this, no matter what Azula does to him.

I for one am really glad that Iroh is there to say no, that's a terrible idea, and you do not need to keep trying to get along with your sister who is trying to kill you. And it's significant that throughout Book Two, Iroh consistently protects Zuko from Azula, and teaches him what he needs to fight back.

[thetombedspirit]

Jurassic World: Camp Fam - Next Generation

I was board, so I made a next gen for the Nublar Six, based on my personal headcanons and ships so if you don't like Benrius and Kenlynn, then please don't come at me. This is all just in good fun.

Enjoy!

Emily Bowman (Benrius)

Emily was nine-years old when her parents were unfortunately killed in a freak dinosaur attack, leaving her orphaned. Darius and Ben responded to the call and took her into their care. She stayed with them for a little while whilst Social Services began sorting out her situation, wherein during that time, Emily gotten to get to know Darius and Ben and what they do; how they locate dinosaurs, care for them, and ship them off to private island habitats funded by Dr Mae Turner and Mantah Corp, now under Kenji’s full jurisdiction. She even began to conquer her fear after making friends with a Maiasaura she named Ursa.

She was eventually put into a foster home, but the conditions were poor, so she decided to run away and return to the Sanctuary, via stealing the mum’s credit card to book a plane ticket.

Darius and Ben were shocked to see Emily and horrified to hear about the living conditions. After sending her to bed, they had a long talk about how they had once talked about adopting and raising a family, agreeing they both adored Emily and didn’t want her to go. So they gave Emily the good news the next morning that they would adopt her into the family and she said yes.

Fun Fact: Ursa the Maiasaura is a direct nod to concept dinosaurs that would eventually become Bumpy, as Maiasaura was one of the many plausible candidates.

2. Julia and Xavier Kon (Kenlynn)

Despite their ups and downs, concerning Brooklynn’s line of work and Kenji's inheritance of Manta Corp, Brooklynn tries extra hard to live in the moment and not take her time with her family and friends for granted and Kenji works hard to ensure that the Kon family name is redeemed through his work. Regardless of their hardships, they work well together and support each other through their struggles.

Julia Kon is the more extraverted of the duo. She takes after her father, enjoys skating, archery and isn’t afraid to get her hands dirty, preferring physical activities to staying coped up indoors all day. Her brother Xavier is more closed off then his sister. Younger by two years, he prefers technology and hacking to climbing and being outdoors.

Despite their differences, two things they have in common is their love for their family and their association with dinosaurs. Namely the herd of Parasaurolophus living by their father’s climbing camp. Every month, Kenji would take the family camping at the cliffs and the kids would play with the baby Parasaurolophuses. One in particular took a real shine to the children; Brooklynn affectionately named her Nightlight, due to how Xavier would snuggle her tightly due to his fear of the dark when they went camping.

Fun Fact: Julia and Xavier are named after Brooklynn and Kenji's original concepts for Camp Cretaceous, Jules and Xi respectively. Also, Kenji and Ben used to have different roles, with Ben being the strong, athletic character while Kenji (at this point in time, Xi) was the shy, nerdy type. They since swapped roles, with Ben becoming the shy one and Xi taking the role of the rich kid and was renamed Kenji.

3. Katie Gutierrez-Fadoula (Yasammy)

When Sammy and Yaz got married and talked about starting a family, they realized there were some complications: Sammy's encounter with the Scorpios Rex damaged her reproductive organs and left her unable to carry a child to term, and Yaz was uncomfortable with the idea of ordering a doner. So in the end, they agreed to adopt.

Katie loves her moms and her life at the ranch. She enjoys spending time with Angel and Rebel, who they were able to rescue and keep on the ranch (best cattle dogs Sammy ever had), tending to the cows, chickens and the stray Pachycephalosaurus that had been hanging around the ranch lately, who she has named Bonehead. She came out to her mums as trans when she was 13 and they wholeheartedly support her through her transition.

Fun Fact: Katie is a sorta merge of Sammy and Yaz's concepts. Sammy was originally meant to be male and Yaz's name was originally Katie.

Anyway, those are my versions of the next generation of Camp Fam. I hope you like them and again, this is just all in good fun; I'm not trying to start any shipping wars.

Take care peoples.

[marymary-diva17]

A princess duty to her home and people

fire lord ozai x reader

Even living in the fire nation didn't protect a person from the effect of the very long war and the fire lords that ruled the nation. There was always duty to the nation and duty to family. The fire nation had been at war with three other nations, not that many people form the fire nation approved of the war and which to stay out of the control of fire lord war, but there are times when lucky is not on your side. A person love their family and nation, but what happens when those how rule the nation the care for are coming for the family they love even more.

Y/n " ursa" you are looking for your sister she had ran off from home after meeting with your parents, the village was uneasy as everyone was on their toes as the fire lord azulan and his son ozai had come for visit. They had stopped by your house and spoke with your parents once they left, your parents soon spoke with your eldest sister ursa. She had soon elf home and seem to be rush about something, she didn't even stop.

Ursa " y/n" you had found your sister she was with the man she loves dearly Ikem. They were holding each other both seem uneasy about something.

y/n " ursa what the matter you ran off and ignored mom calls for you, what happened in the home"

Ikem " it not good"

y/n " what tell me what happened"

Ursa " the fire lord had proposed a marriage between his youngest son and our family"

y/n " what"

ursa " mother and father couldn't regret the off he the fire lord" your family had lived in this village all their lives avoiding the fire lord, due to your family tree leading to an former avatar.

Ikem " we can run away get away from here before they return and the wedding day"

ursa " no Ikem he will come after the whole village and there are families here, they are innocent he will not stop at anything"

ikem " I wont let him take you ursa I love you"

ursa " I love you" Your sister and Ikem had a beautiful relationship a relationship you wish to have, and he had asked her to be his wife. Everyone was happy for the young couple as they knew they are perfect for each other, and not it seems like they are going to be ripped apart.

ursa " i have to marry the fire lord son for te safety of my family, you, and everyone else here I can't let harm come to anyone here"

Ikem " no you can't ursa there most be another way"

ursa " I don't know I don't want to leave this life"

y/n " I have a plan"

ikem " what the plan "

y/n " if I tell you no most stop this plan you or my sister, and our parents anyone else here"

ursa " what are you planning to do" you soon looked at your sister and ikem and told them, your plan they looked at your shocked as the word left your mouth. There was not stopping you as your were doing this for the duty of your family and village, you are going to keep everyone safe.

Many days later

father " y/n you don't have to do this we can do something else"

y/n "no father I will not let nay harm come to our family or the village, this has to be done it will be okay"

mother "my daughter"

y/n " it will be okay mother you don't need to cry"

ursa " sister please let me ..."

y/n " no you deserve happiness and your happiness is with ikem"

villager " they are coming the royal carriage is coming" the villagers had came out to see royal carriage coming with all the soldiers and everything else. Everyone soon bowed as the carriage was coming by and soon it had stopped by your home, soon the fire lord and his son stepped out.

father " welcome back fire lord azulzon"

azulon " hello I came here to get may son bride and bring her to the capital with us, the wedding will happen in couple days your family will be invited"

father " yes daughter"

y/n " hello fire lord azulon and prince ozai I'm y/n the other daughter of the family and the bride to be"

ozai " father"

fire lord azulon " raise up your face young lady" you soon looked at them.

fire lord azulon " she beautiful you have been blessed with beautiful daughters"

father "thank you"

ozai " hello"

y/n " hello my prince I hope I can be a perfect wife to you"

ozai " father I think she will be a perfect bride for me"

azulon " yes she will be perfect my son well it official in days time the wedding will be held, in honor of my son and his future bride and fur princess y/n" There was no going back you had left the day heading towards the capital, you will see your family in couple day on your wedding.

ursa " thank you sister you are beautiful looking bride"

y/n " thank you I'm sorry I missed your wedding"

ursa " it okay I and ikem are happy to be here and we are happy for what you did for us"

ikem " yes thank you"

y/n " I will do it again" Ursa and ikem soon hugged you it was a beautiful moment, spending some time with your family made you happy. It was unknown to you that this will be the last time you will seem them for maybe forever or ever long time.

ozai " enjoy your time with your family my wife it might be along time since you see them again"

y/n " yes my husband"

ursa " sister I hope you do well here and maybe when you have kids we can meet them, and maybe our kids will have a strong bond like we do"

y/n " yes I hope so as well"

ikem " please write to us and when holiday comes we can see each other here or at home"

y/n " yes please take care both of you and look after our families and the village as well" ikem and ursa nodded their heads, at the end of celebration your hugged your family goodbye one last time. This is your duty for your family and village, you had taken the journey of marriage in hopes it will keep everyone else you love from home safe and sound. After the wedding your life did change but your duty had expended as well, as you welcome new people into your life that you will care for and love. Making sure they stay safe and sound from any harm that will come to them, along with make sure they live good lives and that this war will end before it starts effecting anymore lives as it has done and will do in the future.

[waterfire1848]

Maybe an au where Ursa flees with Azula and Zuko?

Hello, anon!!!

The night that Ozai asks for the throne, Azulon doesn't call for Zuko's head but for Azula's. Like before, Azula is the only one there when Azulon orders Ozai to kill her. Terrified, she flees to her mother (because she literally has no where else to go) and Ursa is quickly able to see that something is really scaring Azula, this clearly isn't an act. Ursa eventually finds out what Ozai has agreed to and still provides him with a way to kill Azulon and get himself the throne. (Ozai: What do you want in return? Ursa: The children come with me. Ozai: Fine. Take the boy, but Azula remains. Ursa:...Fine. I will leave Azula here, but I'm taking Zuko. Ozai: I hope you two find a nice little peasant village to live in.) Of course Ursa is lying through her teeth because that night she takes both of her children out of the palace and runs away in the dead of night. (Ozai literally agreed to kill Azula a few hours ago. She's not just leaving her there). She gets them down to the boats and then has to deal with them screaming and demanding to know where they're going (but they're also 8 and 10 years old and very easy move) so Ursa gets them on the boat and they leave. (Yes, Azula does try to jump into the water and swim back to shore and yes, Ursa is very tired by the end of the night).

The three end up in the Earth Kingdom, near Omashu, and take refugee in a small village for a few days to get themselves together. Ursa's main plan is to just figure out where to go next because she has no doubts that Ozai knows that she took Azula is coming after them so she needs to get somewhere safe: Ba Sing Se. The only problem is that none of them have passports that'll get them into the city (actually they do have passports but it would look really weird if they showed up with Fire Nation passports saying they were members of the Royal Family). This means to Ursa that she has to either steal passports from another family or buy fake ones to get them all into the city. She opts for the first option as they're on a bit of a time crunch. (Ursa: I packed enough money to get us to the Huaxi Village. That'll get us half way to Full Moon Bay where we can catch a ferry and- Azula: I'm not going. I'll stay here and wait for dad. Ursa: Azula- Azula: I'm not going with you! I never wanted to come! Ursa: I wasn't going to just leave you there! Azula: I would have been fine! Ursa, who is tired: Ozai was ready to kill you, Azula!! Azula:....Ursa: Do you think he wouldn't act on it?! Because he was going to! Would you have preferred I leave you behind with a man who doesn't love you and wanted you dead just for the throne!?! Azula: *Runs off and hides in the bathroom* Ursa: Azula... Zuko:... Ursa:... Zuko:...These are good dumplings.)

The next day, Ursa takes both the kids and they start walking to Huaxi. It's a long, long walk, especially with two young kids, but they eventually make it there. Huaxi, because it's so close to Full Moon Bay, is filled with refugees, all of whom have passports. Ursa doesn't love the idea of stealing passports from another family but no one else has the Fire Lord coming right after them. She waits until Zuko and Azula are asleep then sneaks out (Yes, she has the Blue Spirit mask) and steals three passports, one for a woman and two children passports. (Zuko: Mom? Ursa: Zuko, you should be asleep. Zuko: Did you steal those? Ursa: Sweetie, we'll talk- Zuko: Did you steal those? Ursa: Yes. Zuko: I thought we weren't supposed to steal. Don't other people need those. Ursa: I don't like it anymore than you do, but if it's a choice between you and your sister and a random family, I'm going to make sure you and your sister are safe. These passports will get us to Ba Sing Se and you two will be able to live there in peace. Zuko: But- Ursa: You'll understand when you're older. Now, go to bed.) The next morning, Ursa is thankful for firebenders rising with the sun because the three of them are gone before anyone can realize their passports are missing.

They make it to Ba Sing Se and get inside the city with little issue, but are placed in the lower ring. Ursa doesn't care as much about that as her only real worry now is getting the kids inside and situated safety. Azula and Zuko, of course, do not like going from a Royal Palace to a tiny apartment that they aren't allowed to firebend in. Zuko kind of understands why his mom did what she did but he also hates the change just as much as Azula does. Ursa is too tired to deal with her kids anger so kind of ignores them which gets them, especially Azula, even more angry. One day, while Ursa is out looking for a job and a school for the kids, Azula and Zuko run away. Their plan is to go back to the Fire Nation because Ozai needs to have heirs so of course he'll take them back. Ursa arrives home that night and, when she finds, no one there, panics and starts running around the entire lower ring looking for her children. (Zuko: Azula, are you sure this is a good idea? Azula: I'm sure, dum-dum. We'll be fine. Zuko: It's just that...mom wouldn't have brought us here unless she thought- Azula: She stole us from the palace and dumped us in this chicken-pig sty! If you want to be a baby and cry about it, be my guest, but I'm going home. Zuko: I'm not a baby! I'm a prince! Azula: Then prove it and let's go home.) (Would you believe that yelling about how you belong in a palace and are royalty attracts attention?) Zuko and Azula are jumped by people who hear them yelling and the siblings are forced to firebend at them. However, these men are grown men and Zuko and Azula are children. The men are about to hand them over to the Dai Li (for a handsome reward) when Ursa jumps in (again Blue Spirit mask) and gets the kids out. Ursa and the kids have a heart to heart where she apologizes for not noticing how big a change this is for them and ignoring them. And the kids agree to give the city a shot, especially after Ursa promises that she'll make them traditional Fire Nation food and get them some red clothes.

Years go by, Ursa is working at the local library, Zuko is working at a tea shop and Azula is working at a combat studio. They've created a small life form themselves there, away from the Fire Nation, and are starting to finally break free of Ozai's abuse when they get word that the Avatar is in the upper ring. Getting curious, Azula and Zuko decide to go visit him where it's revealed that they're firebenders and the two admit to being Ozai's children. Aang, desperate for a firebending master, asks them to come along (who better to teach him how to defeat the Fire Lord then his children?). Zuko and Azula are hesitant to go, both because they don't want to return to their father and because they don't want to leave their mother, but when the issues with Long Feng start up, the three person family realize that they can't just stay hidden in the city forever and agree to help. (Yes, Ursa is coming with them because why don't these children have any kind of adult supervision?). After the fight with Long Feng and the Dai Li, Azula and Zuko start to train Aang as best they can while unaware that Long Feng spent a very interesting letter to Ozai about how two teenagers and a woman, claiming to be his wife and children, are in Ba Sing Se and helping the Avatar.

[zukosdualdao]

i promise i'll do better (i will soften every edge)

zutara month, day 11: "mom and dad are fighting again", @zutaramonth

summary: kya interrupts an argument between katara and zuko.

warnings: reference to (implied) abuse/domestic violence, wrt to ozai's treatment of ursa.

other notes: lyrics from 'light' by sleeping at last. don't ask me how timelines work idk. yes there is a zutara daughter named kya here (separate entity from the lok kya.) she wears her hair in a southern water tribe braid and zuko calls her firecracker and it’s very cute. not really relevant but in this story i’m imagining she’s a nonbender.

“Katara, you know I agree with you.”

Across from him, she crosses her arms, and Zuko sighs. The throne room is empty, save for the two of them, and Zuko feels trapped, claustrophobic in the walls. They’ve made a point of opening up windows in the castle, letting light filter in, getting rid of old, haunting portraits, and making something new and beautiful together. 

But the throne room doesn’t have windows to open. On a day like today, at times like these, it’s all too easy to remember the staunchly severe figures both his grandfather and father made here, walling themselves as they did behind high, towering fires.

Maybe they shouldn’t be having this talk here. It's too late now, but something to note for the future.

“It doesn’t seem like it.”

“Of course I want to increase reparations soon,” he insists. “That’s the plan, and that’s always been the plan. But we have to be smart about this,” he tries to remind her. “We can’t do it all at once, or people will try to block—”

“Oh, so now you’re all about thinking things through! Those instincts could have served you well years ago, you know.”

Zuko closes his eyes and runs a hand through his hair. The words are biting, but it’s nothing he can’t handle. Things have been tense again in the Fire Nation lately. Better than ever before in some ways. Worse in others.

The first years after the war were a turbulent time in the Fire Nation—riots from those not happy with the changing of the old guard, strikes from workers contesting the need to pay reparations to the other nations, whispers of loyalists to the old regime plotting to get either Ozai or Azula back on the throne. A few assassination attempts, all handled efficiently but reason enough for concern.

Ten years past the end of the war, though, and things have started to stabilize. The plan has always been to increase reparations once the Fire Nation’s economy has improved, and Zuko intends to keep his word. But part of the system he’s trying to build means that there are representatives from all over the Fire Nation, as well as the other nations, and they each have their own agendas. It’s a tricky thing to navigate; he has to take all of their concerns seriously, of course, but also act according to his own principles. To live up to the promises he made years ago, and that he’ll continue to make for years to come.

Katara looks at him with a combative raise of her eyebrow.

It’s taken a strain on their relationship. It doesn’t happen often, but when it does, they’re both a little too good at lashing out, both a little too good at saying the thing that will hurt, even if they immediately regret it.

But usually, by the end of the day if not before, they can remember they’re on the same side, for all that their perspectives might differ.

“Can we pause?” Zuko asks of her, and her features soften. “Just—try to hear each other out? Katara, I understand…” but before he can finish, the large door to the throne room creaks, and Zuko watches as one of the serving maids guides their daughter into the room.

“See?” Kya points to them, eyes wide with alarm and lip quivering. “Mom and Dad are fighting again.”

Something in Zuko’s stomach drops. He doesn’t want her to worry about this. About them. He’d had to worry about his parents, to worry about his mother, Ozai looming over her, and sometimes Zuko was pretty sure he saw fear in her eyes where there should have been love, and then—

She’d been gone. And he’d drawn his own conclusions, quietly and with little reason to question them.

“She coudn’t sleep,” Hina says apologetically, and Zuko only waves a hand. “She was asking for you both.”

“Thank you for bringing her.”

“Oh, sweetie, don’t worry,” Katara says, walking over and lifting Kya up onto her hip. “Things are just tense right now,” she says, with a guilty sideways look to Zuko, who smiles weakly. “It’s not anything for you to worry about.”

“Promise?”

Zuko walks over to join the huddle and places a kiss atop her dark hair, which is twisted in a braid. “Promise, little firecracker. Mom and Dad are just trying to figure out the right way to handle something.” He meets Katara’s eyes and tries to impress the sincerity of his words on her. “But we will figure it out. We always do.”

Katara smiles at him and uses the hand not keeping Kya secure on her hip to touch the small of Zuko’s back in a gentle gesture. The three of them stand huddled together, and for the first time in… weeks, probably, Zuko feels his body relax, just a little.

He smiles back, a little exhausted but a lot relieved—to have Katara with him, there to both challenge and support him, to have Kya with them, creative and funny and quick as a whip as she is, and at only age four. He’s glad to have his family.

They are okay. Right now, they are okay. Whatever else may come.

[stardust948]

Good Luck Kiyi AU

[At the hospital]

Ursa: What's going on here?!

Zuko: Dad fell down the stairs and broke his butt.

Ursa: You weren't holding the baby were you?!

Ozai: Uh... yes. Then no. Then yes again.

Ursa: Ozai! You promised me you weren't going to drop this one!!!

~

Azula:

Ursa: Ok. Out with it.

Azula: You completely embarrassed me tonight!

Ursa: Yeah that was the idea.

Azula: Why?! What did I ever do to you?!

Ursa, serious: You played me Azula. You don't think I'm cool at all.

Azula: Why would you think that?

Ursa: I heard you say it. When you butt-dialed me.

Azula: I- Oh...

Ursa: Yeah. Oh.

Azula: I don't know what to say mom. I'm sorry.

Ursa: ... That's a start.

Azula: I never should have done that. I feel awful.

Ursa: Now I feel better.

Azula: *laughs* Next time, could you ground me like a normal mom?

Ursa: Oh sweetie. *kisses her head* No.

~

[Zuko and Sokka trying to juggle]

Zuko: You throw first.

Sokka: No you throw first.

Zuko: No you!

Sokka: You do it!

*start arguing*

Azula, barging in: Sokka. Do you want to dance with me in the talent show?

Sokka: Yes.

Azula: Excellent. Let go to the basement and rehearse. *leaves*

Zuko: Whoa whoa! What just happened here?!

Sokka: Azula just asked me to dance with her. Let's not question it.

Zuko: So you're just gonna leave me hanging?

Sokka: Zuko, you and I are best buds. We've been through thick and thin together. You know I will always be there for-

Azula: SOKKA!

Sokka: See ya. *leaves*

~

[After band rehearsal]

Ozai: Told you I still got it.

Sokka: Mr. Hong you are the answer to our prayers! How would you like to be in our-

Zuko: *covers his mouth* Band meeting. *drags him to the other side of the room*

Ozai: Band meeting? That's never good. That's how I got thrown out of Flight of Phoenix King Ozai.

Zuko: Sokka, I don't want to be the loser who's in a band with his dad!

Ozai: Little quieter guys.

Sokka: I know he's old, but what other choice do we have?!

Ozai: Still hearing it.

~

Katara: *wakes up in the middle of the night and dials her phone*

Katara: Azula! I'm up at the ski lodge and met this psychic who told me I'd meet the love of my life then I met the guy then I met another guy! Then you won't believe who showed up so that makes three guys and I need your help!!!

Katara: Oh, this is Katara.

~

[Zuko and Ursa in his new car]

Zuko: What do you think mom?

Ursa: Well... it's a car. Where did you get it?

Zuko: Used to belong to Mai's grandma.

Ursa: Oh, did she stop driving?

Zuko: No breathing. Thankfully it was at a stop sign so there was no body damage. To the car that is.

Ursa: Wait so she passed away in here?

Zuko: Right were you're sitting.

Ursa: And I'm out.

~

Ursa, barging inside the kitchen: That was embarrassing!

Ozai: It was a simple question!

Zuko and Katara:

Ursa: Your father shouts at me from two ails away, "Ursa! What kind of toilet paper do you use? Quitted or Super quitted?!"

Zuko: Hey look Katara's here!

Katara: *waves awkwardly*

Ozai: So what?! The world doesn't know the great Ursa Hong uses toilet paper?!

Katara: Nice to see you Mr. and Mrs. Hong.

Ursa: And after all that shouting you got the wrong kind!

Ozai: That's because I'm not Ozai the toilet paper psychic!!!

Zuko: Let's go to your house.

Katara: Yeah.

[hello-nichya-here]

Besides Azula, the treatment of what other atla character (by the fandom and show itself), are you kind of disgusted with? And why?

AANG, who is hated for the "crimes" of *reads notes* Being a 12-year-old, not wanting to murder people, and being the one who ended up with Katara instead of Zuko.

Mai, who is hated for the crime of being an emotionally stuntent/distant, grumpy teenager who hooked up with the hot guy even though she wasn't the character the Zuko fangirls projected onto to self-ship with him.

Jet. Dude did some pretty awful things, but we cannot act like he did not have very good reason to hate the Fire Nation and to be very suspicious of Iroh and Zuko being in Ba Sing Se.

Zuko and Iroh - though in their case is "I hate how the fandom white-washes them and pretends they were always 100% good, which just robs them of the complexities that made them interesting characters.

Ursa - this one is both "white-washed and not allowed to have any personality beyond perfect mom" and "literally the devil."

Katara, because a big majority of her so called fans don't actually like her or have any interest in her character if she's not being shipped with Zuko.

"Good Grandpa Azulon." Yes, that's a thing part of the fandom actually believes.

"Total-good-guy-who-just-happened-to-commit-genocide Sozin." I don't mean that the dude had no good in him, but rather that i don't like the fandom pretends his bullshit excuse of "I want to share our glory and progress with the other nations" wasn't just a polite way of saying "I want to invade and conquer every non-Fire Nation territory and impose our way of life on them, and if they don't accept it I'll murder them."

[biconickyoshi]

Hi! Sorry to bother you, but I'm very curious, what is your take on the Ursa situation? Like, I've never read the comics (can't where I live) but Im always on the fence about her. What *exactly* happened? Did she ask for a new face and to forget her children *on purpose*?? Did she not know her memories would be erased?

Because I obviously get running away; and forming a new life and a new family is great...but what I really take an issue with is the forgetting about Zuko and Azula part. As a child of a good mother, I don't think I could ever forgive her for doing that, if it was on purpose. Even if the memories hurt her or she was grieving...it still doesnt make it right, even more so, considering her children were still alive.

I don't wanna be a hater, I just want to get my facts straight xD

No worries at all, anon! :) I'm happy to discuss comic stuff!

So yeahhhh, first off I will say I'm not a huge fan of the first five comic trilogies in terms of art style, characterization, or storylines (meanwhile, Imbalance, the most recent trilogy that has a different author and artist from the first five, was a breath of fresh air). None of these aspects are necessarily bad, per say, but I just personally think they could have been handled a lot better than they were. Once I get to the comics in my AU, I'm definitely going to tweak some things to try and make those events and storylines fit more in line with the vibe of the original show while still sticking to canon in ways that are important.

Ursa's storyline is definitely one that I have issues with... Like I guess it's an interesting enough explanation as to what happened to her, but I'm in the same boat as you when it comes to my opinions about her choosing to forget Zuko and Azula (because yes, the Mother of Faces did give her a choice of whether or not to forget). I think it does make her an interesting and more complex character, but it also makes her more of a shitty person lol. I would be super pissed/hurt if I were Zuko or Azula and I found that out. I know it really fucked with Azula already because she felt like her mom didn't care about her, and Ursa's decision here just proves her right.

[the-badger-mole]

The Other Woman: Part 3

In spite of himself, Zuko laughed when he opened the door to his uncle. Iroh held up a thermos of tea from his shop. Zuko knew it would be his favorite blend. Ginseng and hibiscus.

Iroh didn't immediately ask what was wrong. He strode into Zuko's kitchen as if he were in his own home and pulled down two teacups from the set he'd gifted Zuko years ago. Then he sat across from Zuko at his dining room table and poured them both a serving of the still piping hot tea. Iroh had a ritual when he drank his tea. He would hold the teacup in his fingertips and inhale the steam from the tea, savoring the scent. Then he would take a sip and let it sit on his tongue for a moment before swallowing. Zuko had always found this particular idiosyncrasy of his uncle's a little bizarre, but this time he mimicked his uncle's actions and found that it soothed him a bit. Not completely, but enough to be noticable.

"Aren't you going to ask me what's wrong?" Zuko set his cup down and stared at his uncle. Iroh shrugged and took another sip of tea- normally this time.

"Are you ready to tell me?" he countered. Zuko took a deep breath. He wasn't actually ready to tell Iroh what happened. Saying the words would make it too real. But, Zuko figured, it was better to just say it and get it over with.

"Katara broke up with me," he said. Whatever Iroh had been expecting, that was clearly not it. He froze and his eyes widened in shock.

"But you were so happy just yesterday!" he said. "What on earth happened?" Zuko sighed and ran his hands over his face and told him about the evening. How they'd gone to announce to Ursa and his sisters that they were getting married. How everything had seemed fine until Katara had suddenly left without a word. How he'd followed her home and what she said when she'd given him his ring back. The recounting had left Zuko feeling deflated, and he hunched bonelessly over his tea. Iroh had an odd look on his face, but Zuko wasn't surprised. He'd always had a hard time reading his uncle.

"How do you feel about what Katara said?" Iroh asked. Indignation flared in Zuko's chest.

"I thought she of all people would understand!" He exclaimed. "To lose my mother so young and to be able to connect with her again? I thought Katara understood why our relationship is what it is. I thought she accepted it! But now she thinks she's competing with my mother? My mother!" Zuko's chest was heaving slightly when he was done. He crumpled in on himself and tried to stop shaking. Iroh's face was still carefully blank.

"Zuko, may I be frank?" he broached carefully. That got Zuko's attention. He looked up at his uncle, his brow furrowed in confusion. When had Iroh ever asked permission to speak honestly?

"Yes," Zuko said.

"Nephew," Iroh sighed. "Your relationship with your mother is...unusual. After what you went through as a boy, it's completely understandable why you would cling to Ursa."

"I don't cling," Zuko snarled. Iroh held up his hands placatingly.

"Your relationship with Ursa is unusually close," he pressed. "Particularly at your age." Zuko was 28, but he didn't think his relationship with his mother was so much more unusual than his peers' relationships with their mothers.

"What so wrong with it?" he grumbled. "I thought most women liked it when men have good relationships with their mothers."

"Most women don't like taking second place to their partners' mothers," Iroh countered.

"Katara doesn't-"

"Remember last week when you told me you had to cut your date with Katara short because your mother thought there was a prowler outside of her house?"

"Ikem was out of town!" Zuko protested. "And Mom and Kiyi were alone. Of course I went!"

"What about three weeks ago, when Ursa needed help moving furniture, and you had to miss a work function for Katara's company? The one where she got that award?"

"That was my fault," Zuko said. "I didn't plan well. I thought Mom wanted me to help rearrange her living room. I didn't know she was expecting a delivery of all new furniture." Iroh's mouth pursed disapprovingly.

"And what about all the times that Katara has told you plainly that she has felt disrespected by your mother?" he asked quietly. Zuko felt heat rush to his cheeks.

He and Katara had bumped heads over the course of their relationship, as any couple does, but the only major fights they had ever had were about his mother and things she'd said to Katara. Zuko had at first just said that Katara must have taken something Ursa said out of context, but a few times, he'd heard something his mother had said to his girlfriend, and admitted that Ursa had been out of line. The first few times he acknowledged it, Katara had been relieved, and asked him to talk to his mother about it. More recently, though, Katara had lost her patience for even that. And then that evening...

"Oh no!" Zuko sat up, his face going suddenly pale. Iroh leaned forward, startled and worried.

"What's wrong?"

"I...I," Zuko stammered. The events of the evening replayed in his mind. His conversation with his mother was still fresh in his mind. The things she'd said... if Katara had overheard...

There was no if about it, Zuko scolded himself. Now he understood why Katara had left so abruptly. His mother had been upset, and worried for him. She had said things about Katara that Zuko knew weren't true, but he didn't like fighting with his mother. He would never have let Ursa's words sway him, but he knew that had Katara been listening, she wouldn't have heard him say anything in defense of her or their relationship.

"She has to know," Zuko said, mostly to himself. "She has to know that I wasn't agreeing with Mom." Iroh's brows furrowed in confusion.

"Agreeing about what?" he asked. Zuko froze for a moment, shame darkening his face.

"Mom doesn't think Katara is right for me," he confessed. "She-she thinks I'd be better off marrying someone who wants to be a housewife."

"She said that to Katara?" Iroh gasped.

"Well, no," Zuko shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "She said it to me." Though, now that Zuko thought about it, that wasn't strictly true. Ursa had dropped some non-too-subtle hints in Katara's presence before.

"And what did you say?" Iroh's eyes narrowed suspiciously. Zuko's silence, and his bowed head were answer enough. Iroh leaned back in his seat and sighed. "Zuko."

"She's my mother!" Zuko insisted. "What am I just supposed to tell her to shut up?"

"When it comes to defending the honor of the woman you love?" Iroh slammed his hands on the table. "That's exactly what you say! Poor Katara must have felt as if it were her alone against your mother and you! It's wonder she held out this long! I have seen you stand up for Katara against creeps on the street, against undue rudeness from Azula, against your boss. I've seen you take her side, even when she was in the wrong. Why won't you stand with her against your mother?"

"It's different." Zuko winced. Even to his own ears, that sounded weak. "When I found Mom...I don't know...it didn't feel real for a long time. I guess I was just...just afraid she'd leave again." Zuko's voice trailed off at the end. Iroh sighed and shook his head.

"Ursa leaving wasn't your fault," he said. "She didn't leave because of anything you did. You don't owe it to her to make up for the years she missed. It's wonderful that your mother is back in your life, but she cannot be your life. You had the opportunity to build something new with Katara, but you may have lost that chance forever because you're afraid to have an argument with your mother."

"What do I do now?" Zuko asked. His plaintive voice sounded pathetic, he knew. Iroh stood up and came around to his side. After a moment, he placed his hands on his nephew's shoulders.

"I don't know if you can repair things with Katara," he said. "I hope that you can. She is a wonderful young woman, and I couldn't have picked a better match for you. But whatever happens with her, you have to make a decision about your mother. She won't stop with Katara. No matter who you bring home, she will find reasons not to approve. You need to decide if you're going to allow her to do this again."

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5

[mozart-the-meerkitten]

Hmmm it's been a while since I posted one of my weird crossover ideas on tumblr. Let's fix that.

For the past few days I've been enjoying daydreaming about a Avatar the Last Airbender/Wingfeather Saga crossover. But it's. probably not what you would expect, haha. I'll probably never write it as more than ideas though, so I may was well post the concept here.

So this takes place in the Wingfeather world of Aerwiar, several years before the Fall of Anniera that jumpstarts the war/plot happening in the book series. One day, Artham Wingfeather is in one of Anniera's port towns and is called over by a concerned citizen, who leads him to a crowd watching a rowboat slowly drift to shore. The rowboat contains two small children, who Artham brings ashore and takes back to Castle Rysen.

The small children in question are Zuko (age 4) and Azula (age 2). In this version of events, the Fire Nation royal family is a bit darker than in canon and, after Ozai flies into a rage and burns Zuko (yes he still has his scar I know I'm mean, but there's a POINT I swear) Ursa decides she needs to get her kids the heck out of the Fire Nation. But Ozai is suspicious and possessive of her in general and has her under guard so she can't escape the palace, so she entrusts her kiddos to a few trusted servants, who pack them up in a rowboat with food and water and send them off, hoping they'll make it to a coastal village and be taken in by a kindly family.

Most of this is explained/implied in a note that Ursa sent along with the kids, that Artham reads and passes on to Esben (and Nia and Arundelle). They are properly horrified.

However, what no one realizes is that these kiddos have come through a portal between the two worlds. So Artham and Esben ASSUME that SOMEWHERE these kid's mom is being held captive by their cruel father and so they send out search parties/reconnaissance teams to try and rescue her, and because any father so cruel as to hurt his son the way Ozai hurt Zuko needs to be stopped. The brothers also wonder if, perhaps, this is somehow connected to the Tragic Accident that befell their parents and aunt Illiya a year before when their ship was lost and they were killed. And they start to wonder if, perhaps, that wasn't an accident, but that they stumbled upon whatever This was and tried to stop it and got in the way. (They don't suspect Bonifer... at first...)

Anyway, Artham finds himself caretaker for these two small children and develops a bond with them, especially Zuko (what, you thought I WASN'T going to use this as an excuse to make a connection between two of my favorite characters of all time?). Arundelle also becomes close with them, and- besides the cooks in the castle- she's the first person Artham tells about the kids. Because I thought it'd be fun to make Arundelle a healer (hey, why shouldn't she be good with healing plants and herbs? heh) and have her be the main person who treats Zuko's burn.

Azula recovers from the trauma of being separated from her mom and home pretty quickly since the new place she's in has kind, caring people, nice food, is still a palace, and she's two. She loves playing with Arundelle and listening to Artham's stories. She's very bright and friendly and talkative. She IS very attached to her brother tho, sleeping in the same bed as him the first few nights in this new place, even defending him/trying to explain his actions the way she's heard adults do. (when Artham finds the siblings they're clinging to each other in their little boat, terrified)

Zuko is more complicated. He's had the physical trauma of being burned paired with the emotional trauma of being hurt and abused by his father (the burning wasn't the first time, just the most severe). He understands a little more of what's going on than his sister. He love, love, loves being held, especially by Artham, because since Azula was born he's not been allowed to act like a "baby" and hasn't gotten much physical affection. He's very shy and has periods of mutism when meeting new people or encountering distressing/unfamiliar situations. Little guy has also had his senses severely rattled by losing both half his vision and half his hearing in one fell swoop. In short, he's a mess. The first time he's alone with Artham he has a panic attack because he thinks Artham will hurt him, but Artham being so kind and understanding and gentle with him helps him unlearn that. Zuko becomes very attached to Artham very quickly and... Artham becomes attached to him pretty fast too.

(Additionally, Zuko is terrified of Bonifer. The only explanation he can give for that is, "He looks at me like father did." which does plant a little seed of suspicion in Artham's mind specifically)

So, long term, this severely messes up Gnag/Bonifer's plans, since suddenly the Annierans are combing the Hollows/The Killridge Mts/even the Doonlands trying to find Zuko and Azula's family. This either forces the baddies to speed up their plans... or derails them altogether. I haven't decided yet, haha. The Annierans do find out something of what Gnag is doing (they don't connect Bonifer to it right away tho) and end up with some preparation for the attack that eventually comes. I think the attack on Anniera is still somewhat successful, but a lot less so than in canon. Like, I don't think the entire populace is captured/scattered and I haven't decided if I want Artham and Esben to still get captured or not. (if they do I have this great mental image of 7-year-old Zuko and 5-year-old Azula trying to rescue them from Throg. Just. just imagine the CHAOS even a pair of BABY firebenders could do in Aerwiar. Imagine.)

Oh yeah, to give you a better idea of WHEN this happens, Nia is pregnant with Janner when Artham finds Zuko and Azula. I just thought it'd be fun for Zuko to have the same age gap with Janner he has with Aang and it makes it close enough for things to come together plot wise.

So yeah, that's my thoughts on how Zuko and Azula could potentially have prevented the Fall of Anniera. xD

Other random things they cause:

Artham adopting them

Artham and Arundelle getting married a few years before Anniera falls after the closeness and bonding that comes from caring for a pair of traumatized children.

Absolute chaos with their firebending (the Annierans chalk this up to the old stories of Annieran/Anyaran kids having special powers to defend their home with and decide not to question it further)

So yeah, there's my late night thoughts on a WFS/ATLA AU. where Artham adopts Zuko and Azula. because why not. I hope it was a fun read. :D

[peony-pearl]

"someone PLEASE dare me to talk about the writing of Ursa's story from the comics"

This is your sign, child. Tell me all you've got

BLESS YOU!!!!!!!!

A bit of a foreword to anyone reading: I am going to be speaking about the writing of Ursa's trials from the comics in a critical light in the ways that her story was chosen to be written this way. If you find any kind of comfort or catharsis in her story, this post may not be for you. I am not here to be an anti, I am here to look at changes made to a character that I think could have been a lot more interesting if she had been allowed to keep her original backstory.

That being said:

Ursa's story of being plucked out of a happy home to marry 'the bad guy' could be interesting!

My problem with it is the inconsistencies it creates in it's own narrative... and the fact that it's such painful woobification of a woman who was willing to commit a high crime to save her son in the way that her circumstances create an issue where she is nothing but a martyr. It also continues the whole 'good lineage vs bad lineage' idea that completely undermines the power of Zuko's arc.

Ursa, in the comics, is presented to us as this bright eyed hopeful actress, in love with a man named Ikem when Azulon rolls up with Ozai, unlike some earlier lore where she was born into royalty and was the perfect match for Ozai. Now she's subjected to a wretched life which I can only imagine they put her through to make her completely sympathetic, because otherwise she would have been just like the rest of the royal family - EVIL.

Which I really hate that train of thought, but this is a family friendly show and as good as atla does with it's good vs evil nuances, I often remember I have to cut it some slack... but then I get a bit more frustrated because of the whole 'just because it's family friendly means they can simplify things' which I also don't care for but again... eh. I can't be too picky at times. (I was also raised on Gargoyles which did a great job on showing villains in sympathetic moments and heroes having big major flaws so I'm already a little biased)

Regardless; completely rewriting Ursa's backstory to the point that we no longer see her view of the war (or Ikem's! So they're good people!! We promise!) just comes off as almost manipulative and middle-school fanfiction-y. Ursa is a good person to sympathize with because she's being forced into these situations :C

And as such, she's a good person because of Roku!! And so Zuko is a good person because his mom loved him so much!!

And such, they don't have to show any changes on Ursa's part. No moral failings, no her and Zuko butting heads once they reunite to show how much he's grown... his morals come from her and Roku, because Avatar lineage = good.

And that grinds my gears so hard because then just like Ursa, that's robbing Zuko of his autonomy to make bad choices.

When Iroh tells Zuko in The Avatar and the Fire Lord that his legacy is the good and evil within him, it sucks because Zuko's legacy should solely be his own choices (I have my own issues with Zuko's view of the crown). Not the bloodline within him that he can't control. THAT'S A MAJOR POINT OF THE SHOW. People aren't born evil.

and yet Ursa is GOOD because she is Roku's GRANDDAUGHTER. That's really it. Yes, I can understand that she was raised in the moral compass left behind by him. But Ozai is only really good/charming to Ursa right up until their wedding when suddenly he's just EVIL and he's like 'you're MINE now hehehehe' like there's no in between, you just have to show Ursa in this miserable predicament which then also doesn't allow for any interesting development in our Ozai, aka previous big bad which could have been him following his father's orders to marry some woman and maybe he legitimately TRIED to make things work because NO ONE IS BORN EVIL. Ozai is such a shadow of Zuko that he would try to appease his father, and he might take this marriage on in the hopes that it would start building a bridge between them.

And we're not even getting into the fact that we don't learn that Ursa is the Avatar's granddaughter until the final season, JUST IN TIME for Zuko to learn this while he's locked in his self loathing and is utterly directionless. Again, this takes away the importance of his own choices. The boy who started the series completely devoted to returning home, willing to put himself and others through constant danger and misery just to appease his father is given a free ride card of 'oh you're actually good on the inside! Just do the good thing!'

Because he's Ursa's son, the woman who didn't want to marry Ozai because he was so so awful that his bloodline is OBVIOUSLY why Azula is the way she is (ugh).

Like this could work in more fairytale/simpler story settings but atla has gone so far out of it's way to continue to say 'no one is born evil' and 'people can change'; but when it comes down to it, they're really restricting the moral compass.

In the end, Ursa is good and suffered. Ozai is BAD because VILLAIN. (which yes he is but... ugh).

I don't know if I've made sense. I had a more cohesive idea when I wrote those tags but this is more or less my views of Comic!Ursa.

I don't hate her. But I hate that they just kind of shoved her on the misery train and kind of went 'wow that sucks right? This makes you want to see Zuko find her right?'

And then he does and all is well. Because Ursa is a GOOD WOMAN unlike that EVIL OZAI.

[deadmeatdave]

I was thinking about atla, mostly about Zuko and Azula. We all know that they had a god awful father, but every realise Azula had a shitty mother.

Ursa (their mom) was lowkey a toxic boy mom. She favoured Zuko over Azula because Zuko was "kind" and Azula was "cruel". Yes, Azula was cruel but it was unfair to treat her like she was pure evil when she was a child. Did she think everything was ok because she had Ozai? Even if Ozai favoured her it wasn't like he actually loved or cared about her.

Imagine how this was from Azula's perspective. Your father only pretends to care when you succeed so you're constantly pushing yourself to be better. You've seen what he did to you're brother so you're walking on eggshells to keep in his good graces. Then on top of all that your own mother thinks you're a monster whose pure evil knowing the situation you are in.

I think most people (even me) think she was a kind mother who loved her children and didn't understand Azula's outburst in Sozin's comet when she saw her mother. But when you go back and watch atla when you're older it's easier to see and understand what Azula was going through and why she behaved the way she did.

[ex-textura]

Okay yes obviously now I'm thinking about Gale meeting Calec's family after the game is done and getting fully swept up in(and let's be honest completely overwhelmed by) the chaos of them all.

Gale getting immediately flirted with by Caelestia and when Calec clarifies, "Mom this is my fiancé, Gale" she simply bats her beautiful long lashes and says "He got his good looks from me 😘"

Getting bowled over in the kitchen by a dire wolf with the zoomies, followed by a brown bear, and then a ~10 year old ginger playing tag.

Items constantly missing from his pack and even pockets (and one time from around his neck) and Calec having to explain that's just Jules' way of showing she likes him but also "Jules if you don't give him back his stuff I promise I'll shave your head while you're asleep DON'T THINK I WON'T!"

Freya forever handing him mysterious concoctions and asking him to drink. Sometimes it's a potion, sometimes it's just carrot juice. Nothing is labeled and her expression never changes.

Cooking meals with Thorin, where Gale tries and tries to pull him into friendly conversation to no avail. Gale starts to think maybe he doesn't like him, till Thorin says, "Pass me the salt would you son?" And Gale realizes that oh. He's just Like That.

Little Milo following him everywhere, asking a million and one questions ranging everywhere from how to cast fireball, to what's your favourite colour, to "Can you help me with my homework, Mister Gale?" (Calec gets especially misty eyed about that)

Watching Calec tune up his dad's prosthetics, gently berating the older man for being too rough on them and his dad smiling at him proudly all the while.

Trying to share Calec's single bed in his shared bedroom. Trying to have an intimate moment together only to be interrupted by a hawk landing on his shoulder and screaming.

Watching Calec tussle with Fenn and snuggle with Ursa and help Milo with his maths and Freya design tattoos and banter with Jules and get hugged and kissed by his mom and just. Falling so much deeper in love every time.

This family is big and loud and kinda weird and exhausting as the hells but they're his now, too.

(the wedding is gonna be fun)

[waterfire1848]

Fire Family Freaky Friday AU

Zuko <--> Ozai

Azula <--> Ursa

Hello, @jn3m0 !!!! (Side note but @stardust948 and I wrote a bit on this exact idea and they made two amazing pieces of art for this so you should go look at those 😁).

1. Most of canon still happens, the only difference is that Ursa remains but she does still kill Azulon and Iroh is still away on his spirit mission. As time goes on, Ursa starts to notice how bad their family has gotten. She can’t help but remember the good days when they would go to Ember Island and be an actual happy family but it seems like there’s nothing that can be done anymore. Ozai is still craving more power, even though he’s Fire Lord, Azula (10) and Zuko (12) are still competing, Zuko is chasing after Ozai’s approval which it seems like he’ll never get and her and Azula’s relationship is strained to say the best. One night, Ursa tells Ozai that she wishes their family could be closer. When Ozai refuses to hear her, she decides to sleep in another room to avoid a fight. That night, a random trickster spirit happened to be listening and decided to have some fun with an ill worded wish.

2. Cue the panic the next morning. Zuko is the first to wake up because he’s now the strongest firebender and screams so loud (because I think that’s most people’s responses when they wake up in the wrong body) that he wakes Azula, who’s staying next door, up as well. (Azula: ZUZU! Shut up! Zuko, running into the other room because he thinks Azula is there but sees Ursa: Mom? Did you just call me Zuzu? Azula: Did you hit your head, dum-dum? I’m not mom. What-Father! I-I slept in! Give me a few moments and I’ll- Zuko: Azula? Azula: It won’t happen again. I promise. Zuko: A-Azula? Azula:….Yes? Zuko: Look in the mirror. Azula: What? Father, what are you-…AHHHHHH!!!) It takes them a few minutes to get everything straight but in that time they also realize that if they’re here then their parents must be in their bodies. Of course more freaking out ensues but, finally, the family calms down enough to actually talk. (Ozai: Your wish! You did this! Ursa: Not this! I didn’t mean for this to happen! Azula: Why are you complaining? I’m the one stuck in this powerless body. Ursa: Young lady- Azula: I think you’re the young lady now. Ursa: Azula! I am still your mother! You will not speak to me this way! Azula: How can you be my mother when you're two feet shorter than me now. Ursa: Ozai! Talk to your daughter! Zuko: This isn’t going to end well.)

3. To avoid detection, the family decides to act as if nothing is wrong. Ozai and Ursa attend their children’s training and tutor sessions, Azula gets started with Ursa’s daily tasks as Fire Lady and Zuko attends Ozai’s meeting as Fire Lord. (Can you believe that things go horribly very very fast?) Not only do Ozai and Ursa hate being the younger ones now, but they're both struggling with firebending lessons as well. Although for two different reasons. (Ozai: Ursa! Woah! Ursa: Sorry! I can’t control her fire. I don’t know how Azula does it. Ozai: Yeah, no kidding. You set half the garden on fire. Ursa: At least I’m making fire. You’ve hardly been able to do anything! Ozai: I know….maybe Zuko wasn’t as lazy as I believed. Ursa: I’ve seen our son train and lazy is hardly what I would describe him as. *Tries to simply point at Ozai and sends a blast of fire out of her finger* Ozai: And Azula has more discipline than you could ever know. Ursa:….Maybe we both need this).

4. Meanwhile, Zuko is struggling with keeping up with his father’s meetings and Azula is struggling with her mother’s list of duties. Zuko is flat out understanding nothing because he’s been so focused on his firebending that he hasn’t taken the time to really study much else. He has to find Azula after every meeting so she can explain to him what the generals said. (Zuko: Azula, councilman Raiko said we should increase funds to the-Woah! Azula, drowning in papers: Don’t say a word! Zuko: Are you okay? Azula: Everything needs the Fire Lady’s sign of approval. I have to sign off hundreds of documents, plan for our next dinner with hundreds of different councilmen and- Zuko: Do you need help? Azula: Were you not just coming in here to ask for my help, Zuzu? Zuko: Don’t call me that while you’re in our mother’s body. Azula: Don’t remind me I’m in her body. I thought mom just sat around all day. Zuko: She is Fire Lady. Why would you think that? Azula, shrugging: I don’t know. What about you? Being Fire Lord as fun as you imagined? Zuko: I don’t know how father does hit someone with a chair every day. Azula: Zuzu- Zuko: 😑 Azula: What are we supposed to do about the dinner in a week? Zuko:........ Azula: Zuko? Zuko: Panic.)

5. A week goes by with the family stuck in each others bodies. As time goes on, they do start to learn more and more about each other. It slow, but there is some progress. Azula catches Ursa struggling with bending and helps her out, Ursa notices that Azula doesn't know how to do her hair and helps her (even if she does have to stand on a stool to reach her head), Ozai gives Zuko some scrolls to help him with firebending and some points for how to deal with the councilmen and Zuko shows Ozai a couple tricks he learned from Iroh. It's certainly not easy but there are some really nice moments. As stated above, there is a dinner with the Royal Family and all the members of the noble class. The family get together before hand to talk about what they have to do to survive the night. As long as they stay silent and give simple answers they should be fine (they hope). Zuko goes in first with Azula behind him next to Ozai and Ursa. It's expected that Zuko, being in the Fire Lord's body, walks around and talks more than Ursa or Azula does. Most of the night goes on without any issues, Azula knows how to talk to members of nobility so she does a decent job in Ursa's body and, with Ozai next to him, Zuko does a good job being the Fire Lord. Then a councilman, who is very drunk, comes up to Zuko. (Councilman: Fire Lord! Ozai: Not again. Zuko: Again? Ozai: He always gets drunk at these events. Councilman: So good to see you! And Prince Zuko! Finally left mom's side, huh? Ozai: Yes, well, it was time. Councilman: I'll say. I think your old man here was worried that you'd never actually step into your prince- Ozai: I think that's good! We don't need to hear anymore. Zuko, coldly: Yeah. We don't. *Walks off.*) Zuko disappears for the rest of the night, leaving Azula to end the night and the family to go looking for him. They find him in one of the hidden rooms in the palace. The family get to have a little heart to heart where they finally talk about the past week but also how everything has changed in the last few years. It's not a full healing session but it's the most they've talked about these issues. The four fall asleep in the hidden room and wake up back to normal the next day.

[seasideoranges]

❤: Which character do you think is the most egregiously mischaracterized by the fandom?

❤: Which character do you think is the most egregiously mischaracterized by the fandom?

Ask Game! OKAY SO I know this is asking for one specific character, buuuut I'm going to go through more than one character haha. To start;

Toph!

I was just talking about Toph in a server a couple of days ago, and I feel like people mischaracterize her a lot, but I kinda don't blame them! Toph is kind of a tricky character to write! But I read so many fics that just boil her down to "tough girl who doesn't take shit and bullies everyone" and like, yes, there is some truth to that, but she is also so much more! She's soft, she listens, she's genuinely a kind, good friend, despite her rough demeanor! There's a reason Sokka opens up for the first time about his mother with Toph.

Azula!

I adore Azula to bits, I love her, I want to see her get better and get another chance, but man, I hate how people lately have been woobifying the crap out of her lately (this happens to Iroh and Zuko too!!). I seen an argument on TikTok that Azula had a right to mortally wound Aang because it was SELF DEFENSE?! I thought OP was joking, but uh, nope, they were completely serious haha. You can't say you love 'problematic' characters only to try and make them 'unproblematic' as possible!

Aang!

I noticed that there's some people that hate Aang with a passion, so much so, that they'll try to paint him out as this sexist, abusive person/partner/father, and it bugs the hell out of me. Kind of makes me laugh a little too, seeing how powerful the haterism is towards this fictional 12 year old boy. This discourse especially gets worse when TLOK gets thrown into the mix and people try to paint him as a 'deadbeat' father, and some even try to compare him to Ozai?? It grosses me out, and the 'deadbeat' part is far from the truth! Words have meaning and weight to them, people!

Sokka!

Had to throw my fav in here of course. Here's the thing, people will either characterize Sokka as being nothing more than a dumb jokester, or they'll acknowledge that he's smart, but completely forget that he's incredibly grump, sarcastic, and skeptical which can lead him to be borderline cynical, especially in S1! There's also the whole "Sokka didn't really love his mom" discourse and, not to sound dramatic, but it makes me want to rip my hair out LMAO. I personally think that Sokka is one of the most interesting characters in ATLA and it kinda sucks seeing people gloss over him so much.

URSA!

Now this might be my most controversial take lmao. Before I start, I'm not saying Ursa was a perfect parent, and I wont be talking about the comics in this part, just strictly the show. But at this point, I almost feel like an Ursa defender because people greatly misinterpret her character and try to paint her to be just as bad as Ozai, especially when Azula is thrown into the mix. I'm sorry y'all, but I don't agree with the "Ursa was a 'boy' mom and favorited Zuko and abused Azula" takes. I don't think this was the case at all, and her relationship with Azula is so much more complex than that. People tend to forget that A) This was all Ozai's doing, he saw Azula as a weapon and put a wedge between her and the rest of her family (specifically Zuko and Ursa) and B) Ursa was also abused. She was an abused woman, trapped in a horrible situation, and wasn't left with a lot of great options or freedom.

Anyways I could talk about this all day with pretty much the rest of the Gaang, but I'll try and keep this from getting too long haha! AND AS ALWAYS, I don't want any discourse! I am always open for discussion! I love reading other peoples takes and I am always willing to change my views!