zuko-always-lies

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The fact that Zuko Alone doesn't have Zuko defend the villagers against corrupt Fire Nation troops is both one of the biggest missed opportunities ever and also one of the weirdest ones. Like, they could have written as a moment where Zuko starts to empathize with ordinary EK people and comes to term with the harm that the FN is causing to their lives. Instead, Zuko is faced with a situation where corrupt and evil EK authorities are abusing ordinary EK people, which is probably exactly the same narrative he's been learning from FN propaganda about the EK his entire life.

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we as a society have got to stop referring to sexual things as dirty. Even the fun terms like dirty talk still have this connotation to them...like. sex isn't dirty. sexual attraction and pleasure isn't dirty. and we have got to stop calling it that.

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Azula started it

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The Gaang's hands (with Team Azula and Yue) + headcanons

This series was inspired by @thyinum's Avatar's Hands series!

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Requests are open

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Do you think that the betrayal at the Boiling Rock was done to give a reason for Azula's eventual breakdown in the finale? The more I think about it, the more Mai's anger towards Azula doesn't make sense to me. I know that people say that it's because Azula left Zuko to die, but if that's the case, she should have been angry with Ty Lee as well, since she also tried to stop them from leaving the prison. Also....they were chasing after Zuko and Iroh for the entirety of book 2, even though they kept on running into the Gaang and never actually came across Zuko and Iroh, and that was just Azula. Mai had zero issues with Azula's mission in the second season, and she already loved Zuko by that point. It feels like the writers just forgot about that.

So the thing to understand that in (well-told) narrative, everything happens for a reason. Everything serves a very deliberate narrative purpose. But perhaps we should take a moment to reflect on the differences between Book 2 and Book 3 characterizations before we go back to the Boiling Rock:

Book 2 Azula has some distinctive edges to her which shows the original ideas the writers had. She was consistently depicted as quite hostile to Zuko (this wasn't changed until the writing of the last episode of the series, when the writers realized that they needed Zuko to go home). She was depicted as using fear to control soldiers in a military context, including Ty Lee, but never as using fear to force or substitute for personal relationships. Azula was depicted as mean and cruel(and I believe she was originally supposed to be crueler and more merciless than she ended up being, but it ended up being scrapped as too dark). However, she was also, aside from maybe one scene, was depicted as stable and mentally put together well. Finally, Azula was never depicted as sympathetic in Book 2, and we can't be certain of what the original intentions in this respect were.

Book 2 Mai also has a couple interesting characteristics. First, she was consistently written as not being afraid of Azula. Second, the seed that she had a crush on Zuko was clearly planted. However, since Zuko was never supposed to "go home" in the original outline, it's not clear how this might have flowered, and it's possible the writers didn't know either.

Now let's move on to Book 3. We should note that Book 3 came out in two parts, but I'm not quite sure how much that reflects what the production looked like. It might be that everything was mostly decided before they started writing, but based on the shift between the first and second halves of Book 3, there might have actually that they mostly wrote Book 3.0 before they figured out what they were doing for Book 3.5

Anyways, Book 3.0 (and really we can kind of include the Crossroads of Destiny here) had two shifts in the depiction of Azula's character. First, she was now consistently depicted as caring a lot about Zuko. The first episode of Book 3.0 was kind of ambiguous here in a way that suggests the writers were tentative about this, but every following episode clearly showed Azula being kind to Zuko in one way or another. Second, The Beach introduced the idea of Azula as sympathetic character, including her trouble with her mother. Note that there are two ideas that Book 3.0 does not introduce or use: the idea of Azula being mentally ill/crazy (at her worst, Book 3.0 Azula is only a bit over the top), and the idea of Azula controlling her friends through fear. In fact, The Beach "normalizes" Azula's relationships with her friends a lot.

Meanwhile, Book 3.0's depiction of Mai centers around the seed about her relationship with Zuko flowering. 3.0 always continues the trend of depicting her as unafraid of Azula and generally not giving a shit what Azula thinks.

Book 3.5 is where the final shift in the depiction of Azula occurs. There are two new ideas introduced here. First, there's the idea of Azula using fear and terror to force people to have relationships with her due to Azula's own fear of loneliness. Let me point out that this idea conflicts strongly with her past depictions, where Azula only used fear as part of her methodology of ruling. Mai being "afraid" of Azula is also suggested, for the first time at this point, despite all previous depictions of Mai emphasizing that Mai was not afraid of Azula (while Ty Lee was). Second, the idea of Azula being mentally ill and "crazy" is introduced late. Previous depictions of her showed her being mean and cruel, but not her being "crazy."

Now, at long last, we can return to your question. Again, we must remember that everything which happens in a story happens for a reason. The Boiling Rock episodes served one primary purpose: depicting Zuko and Sokka bonding and getting to know each other. This is why these episodes were written. Hypothetically, reintroducing Hakoda and Suki could be another purpose for them, but Hakoda was instantly written out again and the writers made it clear that they had zero real ideas for Suki in subsequent episodes and essentially just had her character hang around in the background 95% of the time.

However, if the purpose is to show Zuko and Sokka bonding, why do Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee appear? Why does Azula show up and fight Zuko, and why does Mai save Zuko? None of this was necessary for the Zuko and Sokka bonding experience. I suppose having Azula and Zuko fight furthers their rivalry, but literally in the very first scene of the next episode (The Southern Raiders) there is a fight scene between them which serves to further this purpose far more effectively. The writers also could have written Mai's sacrifice as having a big effect on Zuko, but we all know they avoided that too.

The reason that Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee appear has to be almost solely for reasons related to the arc of those characters. The writers wanted Azula to have a big breakdown and go "crazy," but they hadn't built up toward that idea at all in the previous two seasons. They needed to speedrun toward it now, and having Mai and Ty Lee betray Azula offered a convenient start toward Azula's downfall and mental health collapse. Moreover, it also allowed them to depict Mai and Ty Lee as "redeemed" and "on the right side now," while having them stick by Azula until the end would make depicting this problematic. Zuko being Mai's love interest and Ty Lee always being depicted sympathetically probably contributed to urge to redeem these characters, but it's also important to remember that the writers took pains to make sure that child characters were "happy" and/or "redeemed," even if they died tragically, during the series. The only real exceptions to this were Hahn (NWT warrior who was Yue's betrothed) and...Azula. One of the reasons why Azula's ending strikes so many people as odd and at odds with the themes and tone of the series is that almost every other child got some sort of "happy" or at least honorable ending, while Azula was not only humiliated and utterly broken but also denied the slightest hope of happiness.

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I just finished watching book 4 of Korra and isn’t it insane that one of the main themes of the season was “monarchy bad, democracy good” even though Suyin is one of the main heroes of the season? and suyin is an absolute monarch in all but name?

Sorry to ramble in your ask, but I felt like I was losing my mind while watching the season and your suyin post was really good

"Absolute monarch of a city-state=good, absolute monarch of an empire=bad."

LoK's politics were always bizarre, but even within that context the depiction of Suyin was weird. The thing to understand is that while the narrative doesn't necessarily endorse Suyin and her actions, it was also always carefully goes out of its way to avoid critiquing Suyin. It was always careful to depict her in a relatively "neutral" way. This was an issue because Suyin is objectively a bad person with many villainous traits, but who has interests which sometimes align with the heroes.

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What do you think the fact that Ursa doesn't touch Azula on the family portrait, unlike Ozai does with Zuko? Is it supposed to mean something? Just curious to know your thoughts about this.

It suggests emotional distance between her and Azula, just like Ozai putting his hand on Zuko's shoulder suggests he's proud of Zuko. I'm not sure what more there is to add. ATLA was extremely consistent with depicting Ursa as having been cold toward Azula. Even the comics consistently agree with this. The only people who refuse to see this are fans obsessed with Ursa being a "perfect mother."

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Am I the only one who was confused what the hell this grand plan on Sozin's comet was for? It felt illogical because uh..wasn't the fire nation still on the winning side at this point? Seriously Azula finessed her way into Ba Sing Se walls with makeup and a disguise. They just needed to claim the rest of the Earth Kingdom through the normal colonization process which makes it strange Ozai wants to burn it down given you know...they're supposed to be colonizing the land. The comet doesn't even last that long so I'm not sure what would be accomplished here given Ozai was burning trees before Aang stopped him. Not even a city.

I feel like it's because they wanted Aang to fight him but they couldn't think of a way for Aang to actually meet Ozai 1v1 as Ozai spent the majority of his time at his palace whilst delegating his personal tool-I mean daughter and his army to do the work. Realistically if Ozai stayed in his palace and continued as usual, Aang would have a hard time getting to him, especially since Azula fucked up his connection to the avatar state and that only got triggered because of a rock. Hell the last time they tried confronting Ozai, Azula proceeded to finesse the gang once again and blatantly trolled them as a way to stall until her bending came back and Ozai wasn't even where they thought he was.

JFC

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Fic-to-Art #48: Azula and her nieces

Now, I apologize, I absolutely forgot I hadn't posted this out here :'D but here it is now! Last year's final piece for my Fic-to-Art collection!

While I can't guarantee there will ever be anything 1:1 with this scene in Gladiator, I mainly wanted to capture the vibes of their dynamic. I continue to think the funniest damn thing that can happen to Azula and Zuko is for their sibling to be their kids' hero, so here's a representation of that, with Zuko's little girls being completely taken with their aunt. I really wanted Mari to look like the happiest little girl ever (her aunt has blue fire, just like Princess Jing!!), and I really loved the hyped expression across her face. She's such a bundle of energy, makes me happy just to look at her. Zi, comparatively, is always much more chill and laid back, which will absolutely result in some crazy sibling dynamics once the two of them grow older. Utterly different personalities can be a great source of chaotic chemistry :'D

At any rate, hope you guys enjoy this glimpse of family time with Azula and her nieces! If you would like to be part of the creative process behind these pieces, a $1 Patreon pledge is enough to make you eligible for suggesting prompts and voting on them monthly, as well as reading Gladiator snippets 6 days before the new chapter is published!

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Taking those awful comics into account, I have zero clue why Ozai simply didn't kill Zuko after Ursa left. It's clear at this point Zuko is a 'disappointment' and Azula is passing expectations with flying colors. If anything Ozai should've been looking at Zuko sideways when he realized Zuko isn't catching up like he wants and trying to get rid of him so Azula can take his spot as she is more useful. Just wait a few months when Azulon's death dies down, let Zuko have a totally not staged 'accident' and boom, Azula is heir, problem child out of the way, Ozai gets what he wants with zero drawback.

Yeah, it doesn't make sense for a comics Ozai to keep Zuko alive, other than that Ozai probably still wanted to keep his only male heir.

In the show, though, there are more explanations to this.

The thing is, this would be a logical thing to do IF Ozai wanted to get rid of Zuko. Interestingly, though, in the show, Ozai actually wanted to make Zuko his heir. Yes, Zuko didn't meet his expectations, but when Ozai found out that Zuko supposedly killed the avatar and helped Azula take Ba Sing Se, he immediately accepted him as his heir and during the meeting, Zuko was at Ozai's right hand.

Ozai hated Zuko, because he wasn't a capable heir in his eyes, but deep down, he wanted Zuko to be one. And as soon as Zuko "became" the prince Ozai would approve of, Ozai instantly gave him his approval and support, even if it was purely conditional.

Azula was likely a last resort for Ozai, if Zuko would prove himself as completely untrustworthy. And it shows, given that he named Azula Fire Lord only after Zuko betrayed the FN and Azula herself is rather surprised that Ozai gave her this title.

Also, another reason why I think Ozai didn't kill Zuko in the show, is that it was hinted that Ursa and Ozai had a good early relationship. He didn't kill Zuko after she left, bacause he had likely promised Ursa that Zuko won't die and maybe he kept this promise out of some feelings he still had left for Ursa.

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I don't understand how Sokkla is so surprisingly popular to the point where it actually has famous well known fanfics. Sukka is right there! Sokka deserves better than a war criminal

It has well know fanfics because people like to write and read them and because some of us actually like Azula and want to explore her character and her dynamic with Sokka. Some people ship both Sokkla and Sukka and some people just don’t care about Sukka or Suki. Hope it helps.

X

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For the anti Sokkla anon, ship dynamic aside, I think it might be beneficial to hear that Sokka is also a war criminal lol. So is Suki, so is the rest of the Gaang. So if that's the only counter-argument against Sokka x Azula well, good sailing to the ship, I'm sure they'd love to compare battle strategies

X

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Shower thought about Sokka/Yue

Maybe we should see their canon story in the context of a princess who is forced into a political, arranged engagement with a guy she doesn't love and who she knows is kind of a jerk, who has mixed feelings, at best, over this situation, and then, as a reaction, proceeds to become infatuated with a somewhat funny, foreign and exotic guy who shows up out of nowhere and who she barely knows. Maybe it's not a coincidence that the guy she shows romantic interest in is the outsider with zero knowledge of her circumstances and zero understanding of why she has to marry Hahn.

And for Sokka's side, maybe we should pay attention to the fact that he's an emotionally immature boy with near zero experience with women who sees one sight of a pretty girl, decides based on that alone "she's the one for me," lies about his background in an attempt to romance her, brushes aside her concerns and her attempts to end the emotional affair between them, and persistently and consistently shows zero understanding of the social and cultural context surrounding Yue and her decisions, just like he shows zero understanding of or respect for her sense of duty.

I don't mean to criticize Yue or Sokka here, but they're both acting like idiotic teens who barely know each other and are more in love with the idea of each other than with the actual person they're supposedly infatuated with. I think this is good writing and makes them very real and realistic characters, but I also think this means that, had Yue survived, Sokka and Princess Yue would not have had a stable or long-lasting relationship even with Yue's betrothed Hahn, the alleged obstacle between them, dead and gone. It probably would have fallen apart shockingly quickly.

P.S. One thing I love about "The Serpent's Pass" is that it shows that Sokka completely misunderstood how and why Yue died.

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Star Trek Question

There have been 12 Star Trek series made:

The Original Series

The Animated Series

The Next Generation

Deep Space Nine

Voyager

Enterprise

Discovery

Picard

The Lower Decks

Prodigy

Strange New Worlds

Short Treks

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Star Trek Question

There have been 12 Star Trek series made:

The Original Series

The Animated Series

The Next Generation

Deep Space Nine

Voyager

Enterprise

Discovery

Picard

The Lower Decks

Prodigy

Strange New Worlds

Short Treks

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one whole year no magery ao3 update 😔 we miss u

I almost published a secret santa exchange story I wrote for a thing my friends and I did, just to make sure I'd added something for the year, but in the end the work just wasn't good enough to be worth it.

I have been writing something else the whole year, though: Arsonist's Lullaby, a story about Azula, a nine-day timeloop, and a life worth questioning. It's hosted on the creative forum Sufficient Velocity and was recently voted both "Best New Work" and "Best Ongoing Quest" in the site's annual awards, for which I am very honoured.

It'll be published on AO3 when it's finished and when I can figure out how to adapt some of the storytelling techniques I've used to the AO3 ecosystem without losing their impact—but until then, you can get 'early access' by following the link and reading it over on Sufficient Velocity.

It's the best thing I've ever written, so if you check it out I hope you enjoy it!