#brainwashed zuko

[demaparbat-hp]

Thinking about @stygiovictoria's Roleswap AU.

[discordiansamba]

oh oh! AU in which Zuko is brainwashed by the Dai Li into believing he's REALLY Lee from the tea shop.

oh fuck, sorry about your life zuko. and also yours, iroh.

azula doublecrosses zuko after the fall of ba sing se and hands him over to the dai li. she never had any intention of sharing the glory with him. she smiles and tells him that since he enjoyed working at the tea shop with uncle so much, he can just become lee forever.

lee wakes up in ba sing se, alone. his uncle is gone. the city has been taken over by the fire nation. his memories are a blur- he and his uncle went to the earth palace to serve the earth king tea, and then... he can't really remember what happened next.

the fire nation princess wants him to serve her tea. he can feel her eyes on him the entire time he does. she's smiling, but he doesn't like that smile. her other two friends just watch him with looks that verge on pity- but only when the princess isn't looking. part of him feels grateful when they leave for the fire nation. the other part of him just feels... angry?

lee doesn't know where to go, so he goes back to the jasmine dragon. he finds out jin has been looking for him. she asks where his uncle is. he just shakes his head and says he doesn't know. he went missing. she invites him to come stay with her family... but he turns her down. he finds a job at another tea shop. it's all he knows. he's not good for anything else.

princess azula left behind standing orders with the dai li to make sure to keep up her brother's brainwashing. he's stubborn, so if you're not careful, he'll start to realize things he shouldn't. it's why she does not bring him home to the fire nation, as amusing as the idea of having him paraded before the court as a servant is.

the dai li visit lee once every week. it is the same agent every time. they have brainwashed many in their time, but the prince of the fire nation is their masterpiece. he crafts an entire new life for him. lee is drowning in a sea of lies and he doesn't even know it.

iroh realizes something is *very* wrong when he hears nothing of zuko upon arriving in the fire nation. when he breaks out of prison, he discovers that zuko never returned with his sister- and feels fear in his heart. but with the failure of the invasion, someone must teach the avatar firebending... and it cannot be jeong-jeong. iroh asks the white lotus to search for zuko in his place.

it's katara who finds him by accident, after the war is over. she decides to take a break at a tea shop. she looks up at her server- and sees a ghost. a ghost that doesn't recognize her, not even a little- and with a sinking horror, katara realizes exactly what must have happened.

she can't even be angry at him for his betrayal. not when all it earned him was this.

(lee was born and raised in ba sing se. he has no uncle, but he has his father. he is an agent of the dai li, and lee could not be more proud of him. he got his scar in the accident that killed his mother. a tragic fire. an accident. he's been afraid of it ever since.

lee lacks talent. he knows this, but he has found a simple happiness in the one thing he is good at- serving tea. he chats with the customers. he remembers the orders of all his regulars. his life is simple, but he is happy. he has never once thought of leaving ba sing se. why would he? his entire life is here. he has his father. his job. his girlfriend jin. he doesn't need anything else.

...he would like this strange water tribe girl to stop talking to him now. he hides in the kitchen. the owner kicks her out for hassling his best tea server.

lee has been kidnapped. these people keep calling him zuko. he has no idea who that is. they take him to the fire nation. he needs to get far, far away from ba sing se, they say. somewhere more familiar. lee doesn't know what they're talking about. he wants to go home.)

[gaybd1]

Zuko def started realizing how his dad and the Fire Nation fucked him up towards the end of the war, but I love to imagine that he had TIME to process/deal with it away from the FN before he had to go and be Fire Lord

Like there’s the abuse angle OF COURSE which takes time to recover from

But it’s also during that time that he also starts to realize just how… brainwashed he and the other FN citizens were and that is an Awful Realization to have because it makes him feel so used and there is an entire aspect of his identity that he has to rebuild/rediscover.

He doesn’t even understand his reactions at first, but for a while he’s so ashamed to even be considered Fire, and he has a LOT of animosity towards his whole nation. He panics when he sees the colors or the symbols because, justifiable or not, he just feels like such a victim and that’s so embarrassing and he wishes he could just stop it all…

It’s at this point Iroh realizes he needs to Step Up and take the throne— at least for now— so Zuko can just Be A Kid and deal with his trauma. Zuko and Sokka get a place in Ba Sing Se and slowly… slowly… Zuko is able to come to terms with what happened to him and with his identity.

And it’s the fact that he knows the pain and the recovery and everything in between, and his love for his people, that has him crowned Fire Lord 10 years after the war is over, ready to lead his people into a new era.

[blluespirit]

atla fics i want to write but in a future investigative journalist kinda way/vibe; some potential ideas:

The Boiling Rock idea 1: a journalist goes to the Boiling Rock Prison, now at the centre of controversy as reports come to light for the first time detailing the horrific abuse endured by prisoners during the war.

The Boiling Rock idea 2: a journalist investigates the rumours that Fire Lord Zuko and Ambassador Sokka broke in, and out of the Fire Nation's most notorious prison, expecting it not to come to fruition, and instead, uncovering one of the most insane stories of the year.

Pentapox: a journalist investigates a mysterious outbreak of the so-called "pentapox" disease that broke out towards the end of the war in the then Fire Nation-occupied city of Omashu, in which a highly documented disease resulted in the release of dozens of Earth Kingdom citizens from the city to stop the spread, despite there being no record of any similar disease then or since.

Azulon, Ursa and Ozai: a journalist decides to take the plunge and investigate the suspicious and frankly disturbing timeline of events that lead to Fire Lord Ozai taking the throne. Through a series of harrowing interviews with previous servants, political experts and even a special interview with the Fire Lord himself, they learn their suspicions of murder and violence were tame compared to the truth.

Ba Sing Se's missing women: a journalist delves into the bizarre series of disappearances of Ba Sing Se women in the final decade of the war and the state secrets that surround it (i.e., all the women the Dai Li brainwashed were people, and there's no way there wasn't some scary as fuck rumours about the Dai Li kidnapping women and then seeing them again, except they no longer have any idea who their loved ones are)

The Blue Spirit: A journalist looks into the bizarre crimes of a masked vigilante who robbed both the rich and the poor, freed the Avatar, and ended their story in the Ba Sing Se catacombs. The story leaves everyone with a lot of questions, and very few answers.

The Boy in the Iceberg: a journalist decides to delve into the truth of what happened to Avatar Aang in between the time he went missing and 100 years later. Through incredible exclusive interviews with Chief Katara and Ambassador Sokka, they learn about the events that led to Aang being discovered, and what it meant to leave their home behind to save the world.

The Freedom Fighters: A journalist and their journey tracking down one of the most well-known resistance groups in the later half of the war as they learn the fate of it's leader and the terrible cost of war on the children that were pushed into fighting.

[sulkybender]

I'm still kind of amazed no one's really read my "Fire Lord Zuko gets brainwashed by the Dai Li" fic.

Like, not to be weird about it, but *gently pushes* go on, try it!

under an open sky

[unevenpatterns]

Jetko week prompt: Gentle touches

Here is the first chapter of a new Jetko fic "Stealing my mind". It's based on the fic idea of both Jet and Zuko being imprisoned by the Dai Li, but the effects of the brainwashing are hitting Jet way harder than Zuko.

Rating: T Words: 3,170 Summary: Both Jet and Zuko are thrown into prison after their fight got stopped by the Dai Li. Now they're stuck in an underground prison with no way out and only each other for company.

Zuko wants to break out, but how do you do that when your only ally/enemy is slowly losing his mind?

[omnitheist27]

The 40 x Kill the Justice League (1/4)

@the-ravenclaw-werewolf and @purplemochi20055

Hey everyone! I'm back again for the first part of this crossover fan comic between The 40 and Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. Ever since it was announced, I was excited for the video game's release since it's Arkhamverse Batman's return and final appearance by Rocksteady Studios. Oh, and paying tribute to the late Kevin Conroy's last performance providing the voice of Bruce Wayne/Batman.

When it did come out through early release playthroughs on YouTube...it was underwhelming but still an overall good game in my opinion.

----

I took inspiration from the scene where Wonder Woman was using the lasso of truth to restrain the brainwashed Flash. When she tries to get him to tell the truth through the lasso's magic regarding how to free the Justice League from Brainiac's control, The Flash, after regaining some semblance of control, eerily states that she has to kill them and they have to die to save the world.

As one of the members of The 40 whose been brainwashed by Brainiac and turned into an enforcer, Corrupted Deku is essentially Izuku whose earnest desire to be a hero is now twisted to serve Brainiac by killing anyone who tries to resist the cybernetic alien's attempt to terraform the Earth.

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Profile: Corrupted Deku

Personality: Corrupted Deku lacks the original Izuku's shy and kind personality, instead, he's somewhat similar to Katsuki Bakugou's arrogance and hot-blooded attitude and is full-on sadistic in inflicting any potential enemy with a slow death if it's convenient for him (though he's still pragmatic enough to take the shot).

Powers and Abilities:

Artificial Quirk: Through Brainiac's vast knowledge of the multiverse, Corrupted Deku has been bestowed with an "artificial Quirk" of the alien android's creation.

Cybernetic enhancements: He's been cybernetically enhanced by Brainiac to not only have superhuman physical abilities but also be nearly immune to the friction that would build up from the constant movement of his super speed.

Superhuman Speed: The Artificial Quirk, in addition to his cybernetic enhancements, allows Corrupted Deku to move at extreme speeds, potentially at the speed of light. It functions better than his canon counterpart's Full Cowl (minus the other Quirk abilities he would unlock, starting with Black Whip in the Joint Training Arc), making his powerset closer to a user of the Speed Force.

Superhuman Strength: Corrupted Deku possesses an unprecedented amount of superhuman strength, and can potentially go further in conjunction with his super speed.

Superhuman Endurance and Durability: Corrupted Deku is extremely durable from physical harm and capable of enduring the friction build-up of his super speed.

Superhuman Reflexes and Accelerated Perception: Corrupted Deku can react at extreme speeds and can slow his perception of the world to the point that everything moves slowly.

Superhuman Intelligence: His already above-average intellect has been enhanced to a genius level one, allowing him to formulate over 100 different scenarios with a high success rate.

Regenerative Healing Factor: Corrupted Deku is fitted with cybernetics that is capable of self-healing, allowing him to regenerate and heal from damaged and/or lost tissue.

Wind Generation: He can create cyclones and tornados through his super speed.

Lightning Throw: Corrupted Deku can charge up Lightning from his Artificial Quirk and cybernetics to throw at potential targets.

Invisibility: He can move so fast that he can disappear from the sight of the naked eye.

----

Also, much like in how the brainwashed members of the Justice League had to die in ''Kill the Justice League'', Izuku and all the other members of The 40 who have been brainwashed also have to die for them to be stopped. Making it a very, very, very personal and angst-filled adventure for Zuko and all the other non-brainwashed members of The 40.

To make it even worse, Corrupted Deku and the brainwashed members of The 40 have already been racking up a body count estimated to be over 5000 people (including children, infants, and the unborn) by the time Zuko and the other non-brainwashed members of The 40 go off to fight them.

As for the identities of the other members of The 40 whose been brainwashed? Well...you'll just have to wait and see~

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Lastly, I just want to say that the next fan comic will be about The 40 exploring random parts of Poppy Playtime and dealing with the mascot villains plus learning about the lore of Playtime Co.

And, I just want to say Happy Lunar New Year's Eve! On the zodiac, I'm the rat! 🐭

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Behind-the-Scenes Thumbnails

[late-draft]

Leaves From the Vine has sneaked back up on me to completely hit me in the feels and almost bring me to tears every time I hear it, and now I can't let go of the AU where Lu Ten survived but is kept a secret in the Earth Kingdom as a failsafe. All because of the tiny, highlighted detail that Iroh didn't find him in the spirit realm. And I know, what are the odds of actually finding what you're looking for in a wild, uncontrollable and mysterious land such as the spirit realm, where spirits may not even persist as gestalt individuals; and I know it adds to the tragedy that Iroh, despite straining to much that he even succeeded in what so few manage - entering the spirit realm - he still couldn't see his son one more time. And I know that Lu Ten's death is in a way a pivotal point in history that results in the world getting saved. And that Iroh's character evolution fully depends on it.

And yet, what if.

[ljesaw]

i love the idea of zuko mirroring iroh as he grows up in that he becomes one of the people in the gaang that you can go to with your problems and he's going to EAT at giving advice

[hoplesslylovin]

zuko and azula relationship has so much potential and y’all don’t give it the credit they deserve

[discordiansamba]

in a small room in the earth king's palace, someone groans and sits up. he presses a hand against his head. it feels... groggy for some reason. he can't quite remember where he is, and how he got here. he must not be fully awake yet. he blinks the sleep out of his eyes, and slowly, he recalls himself.

...oh. right.

his name is lee. he's... earth kingdom, born and raised in ba sing se. his mother died in a house fire when he was thirteen. his father works as an assistant to a minor minister in the earth king's palace. he lives in the middle ring of ba sing se with him. he works as a tea server. he still doesn't quite remember...

...oh wait. yes he does.

he'd... he'd been in the earth palace with his father for some reason, though he couldn't... wait. he remembered now. he'd been given the chance to serve the minister he worked for tea. it was a rare opportunity...

...oh. he'd fainted.

lee groans and covers his face. at least that explains the headache. he must have hit his head on the way down.

there's a knock on the door, and moments later, his father enters. for a moment lee just stares at him, before he exhales in relief. his father smiles at him and tells him he's glad to see him awake. he already had the healers look you over. it was just a case of exhaustion. you didn't sleep at all the night before.

...yeah, he remembers that now. he'd been too excited. too nervous.

after all, the earth palace belonged to princess azula now. the fire nation had taken over in a coup, deposing the earth king. it's scary to think about, but it has very little to actually do with lee. he's just a commoner from the middle ring.

he apologizes to his father for making him worry. his father just laughs and squeezes his shoulder. he tells him to go wash up- and that if he's feeling up to it, there's someone else who has requested his services while he's here. it turns out the minister was so impressed with his service, that he'd praised him within earshot of ba sing se's new ruler.

...he's going to serve the princess of the fire nation tea.

it's an odd feeling. his heart clenches with anxiety. with fear. with... anger? he tries to shake it off. he also feels extremely honored. enemy nation or not, princess azula is still royalty. this is the chance of a lifetime. now that he started thinking that way, a bud of excitement slowly formed in his chest.

he let his father guide him to a small washroom, where he splashed water on his face. he paused, looking at his reflection in the mirror and tilting his head. strange. it... almost felt like this was the first time he'd ever seen his face. he huffed. there was no way that was true, of course. he'd only lost vision in the one eye after the fire, not both.

he brushed his hair, trying to get as much of it to cover his burn as he could. it was getting longer, but it wasn't quite long enough yet. he smoothed the wrinkles out of his clothing, taking in and letting out a deep breath. he steps back, and takes in his appearance in the mirror once more. he's wearing his finest robes, of a deep forest green. he hopes it will be passable enough for the princess. they're made of a heavy material, but...

...he feels... light, he suddenly realizes.

his father smiles at him when he exits. you look like you're in a good mood, son. lee nods. he... is, actually. he doesn't know how to describe it. it's almost like... like some burden has been lifted off of him. he feels... free, almost. which is a strange thing to think, he admits, when they're now under fire nation subjugation.

"hm," his father strokes his beard thoughtfully, "-i suppose you are happy, then."

lee blinks. happy?

...he is, he realizes. he's... happy. why wouldn't he be? he's been invited to personally serve tea to royalty. it's something he never even would have dared to let himself dream of. his father gives his shoulder another fond squeeze, before leading him to where the princess is waiting for him.

his sister the princess is sitting in one of the palace gardens, with two other fire nation girls. he does not recognize them, but for some reason he feels his fingers twitch. they are staring at him. the princess looks up at him with a smile, and his left eye twitches. he and his father bow to the princess and her companions.

"i've been told on good authority," princess azula says, "-that you're quite a skilled tea server. i simply had to see for myself."

"you honor me, your highness," lee says, "-i swear i will not disappoint."

"no," she smiles, "-i don't believe you will... lee, was it?"

"yes, princess," he says, "-my name is lee."

(a strange feeling washes over him as he says that. yes, he thinks. he's lee. he has always been lee.)

[brionysea]

iroh when a traumatised teenager who's been made crazy in the last day because he encountered his biggest trigger starts a scene in the tea shop: oh, the poor boy, he's confused :(

zuko when the same thing: I'm gonna beat this bitch up with someone else's swords

[bluewithpurplepolkadots]

Honestly I think we should just ignore any future Avatar works and just work with AUs or making our own Avatars ourselves.

In my head I’ve been playing about with Zuko as a 12 year old Avatar (The Fire Nation is still the bad guys/he was banished without realising he was the Avatar). He is basically travelling with his cheerful sixteen year old (not the last but still a persecuted group) airbender master Aang (and mostly just Aang as his first book). Gyatso, Aang and other ragtag airbenders basically find an almost drowned Zuko after his ship is sunk, having no idea who he is at first. (Though Gyatso being the typical wise old man has his suspicions and simply smiles mysteriously). Zukos own grief stricken Avatar state is triggered when he and Aang find Iroh dead and Aang has to bring him down to earth.

[jade-kyo]

Mai truly is for us emotionally repressed girlies like

Her whole character arc is like she’s emotionally repressed and was never allowed to express herself so she puts up all these walls and acts like she doesn’t care about anything and is so closed off.

And then her whole arc culminates with her loudly and proudly declaring the love she feels so deeply for Zuko. she expresses just how deep these emotions go, she is willing to die for him. Because she cares so much. Her emotions, her care, her love are so strong that they overpower her fear. Not just her fear of Azula but her fear of expressing herself, of stepping out of line, of standing for what she believes in. Which at this moment is Zuko- she doesn’t even fully understand what he’s doing, but she knows she trusts him more than anyone else. More than the fire nation propaganda and brainwashing, more than Azula, more than her parents. She knows Zuko has a good heart, she loves him for it, and she trusts it.

And that trust and love empowers her to finally express just how deeply she feels.

I don’t know if I’m articulating this very well but as someone who has always struggled to express myself Mai is just so fucking good and powerful to me.

[integer115]

Ashes of the Academy quick reaction

Ursa blames everyone but herself for Azula's problems raising her. Azula was in a war? What war? She's just pure evil!

The world around us doesn't matter! Brainwashing is the absolute remedy - yeah.

There is no difference between stopping the war and losing the war, losing everything that was won during a hundred years of war.

The aristocracy has power and influence but does nothing with it because… Because between the scene where Azula is in chains and the scene where Zuko is standing on the balcony there is a script black hole!

Zuko is both powerful and powerless. The plot black hole obliterates any sense of who is responsible for what in the post-war Fire Nation and how society functions in general.

Mai's claim sounds really absurd. Mai is your boyfriend and you actively tried to make the Fire Nation lose the war, remember?

Yes, precisely because Azula burns everything for no reason, it is she who, even during her breakdown, did not throw fire at her servants. On the other hand, we have Zuko, who was constantly throwing fire at innocent people. Starting with his subordinates on the ship and ending with Aang. Simply put, the comic screws Zuko's characteristics to Azula.

So Mai didn't want to hang out with Azula. Okay. So Mai is just a hypocrite. Great character development.

So Azula lives to multiply suffering and destruction. Okay. Then again a banal question. Why the hell did the entire cast of the show survive Azula's captivity alive and well? And in Hokoda's case, even recovered? Why did Katara spill water under Ba Sing Se and not blood? Pathetic.

The writers themselves don't know why this whole idiotic circus with Kemurikage was needed. Perfect.

The Fire Nation is waging a war to acquire colonies. That is, it is implementing a full-fledged program of development of new lands. So how do the inhabitants of the colonies end up in someone's minds as sympathizers of the Earth Kingdom? What kind of nonsense is this? These are literally the same people of the same nation. Why, in The Promise, they showed us that the inhabitants of the colonies themselves consider themselves to be part of the Fire Nation. And this is logical. So how on earth did they turn into traitors during the war? Where did this nonsense come from?

Azula didn't trust her friends. Okay. Then why the hell she didn't burn them in the original show and went to get new ones? If they were just tools to her, she'd just get new ones and that's it. In the last Hicks comic, Azula almost did the dance with Ty Lee just to avoid turning the girl into a roast, so what the hell? This is literally a pluralism of opinions in one head and we are not talking about Azula's head.

So why did Azula lose her temper like that if she didn't trust her friends from the start and didn't even consider them friends. Again?

What the hell is a children's academy? Am I the only one who remembers about the war? Okay, writers, I get it, the war had no effect on anything. It's all the fault of a bad school and a bad Ozai. One question, on who is this intended for?

Oh yeah, let's boil it down to evil for the sake of evil. Literally!

Writer! You yourself mentioned a crowd of traditionalist aristocrats at the beginning of the comic, and now it all comes down to an old granny with a Sith Lord complex. Is it so hard to just watch your own writing?

What kind of people will Zuko be trusted with? Where did these people come from? Who let this people into positions of power? How did all this even happen again? The plot black hole keeps coming back to haunt us.

This granny was really going to kill the teacher with a Dai Li agent? An agent who would just attack in broad daylight? Why would he? Why would she? Okay… Let's say it's designed for children under one year old.

But now there's a bunch of Dai Li sitting in the Fire Nation and waiting for Azula. What? What kind of nonsense is this? How many years have passed since the show ended? Are these agents infinite? And they work for themselves! What nonsense this all is...

I apologize for the confusion and emotionality. But it's just…..bad.

[sooz-again]

Just realized that I almost drew a scene from The Quiet Things if only I had drawn Jet touching Zuko's scar. Aaaaauuuughhhh well, if I ever make this into more than a sketch, that'll be the first change I make to it.

one last sketch before i buckle down and get some bigger projects done