dragomer

[dragomer]

Zucest Week Day 7 - Azula’s Desperate To Get Zuko Back (combined with the day 1 prompt of “Am I so hard to love?”)

[dragomer]

Ive never seen you and BalrogDeMorgoth in the same room.

Curious.

[USER DISAPPEARED AFTER THIS POST]

There are things in this world you aren't meant to know.

Thanks for the ask ^^

[dragomer]

"If you insist" by Gigicreator on ao3 for Zucest Week 2026

Zuko is obsessed with bringing Azula back to the palace. He ends up having sex with her and now has to deal with an angry wife.

Prompt: "Sorry, I fucked your husband"

[dragomer]

https://archiveofourown.org/works/66690283

"Zuko's impure thoughts" by Gigicreator on ao3 for Zucest Week 2025

Zuko threw a party at his house, but he never imagined his nerdy sister would dress so sexy. Impure thoughts invade his mind.

Prompt: Oh no, He's/She's hot!

[dragomer]

Zucest Week Day 7 - "Sorry, I fucked your husband".

You know, it might have been a good idea to make a AO3 collection or challenge for Zucest week, that way all the fics could be put in it.

[dragomer]

'Ancestral rage' (stupidest concept I've ever heard of) is, in fact, not an excuse to be a weird serial killer that lock up random people in a cave and tried to kill Kung Fu Jesus and a guy from her own tribe in very fucked up ways out of spite.

'Aang has spirit bending, Zuko has lightning bending' Zuko doesn't have lightning bending and guess what Katara has? WATER HEALING, to the point SHE CAN BRING BACK THE DEAD. Some people watched the show with their eyes closed.

https://www.tumblr.com/twinsarekeepers/786696321217232896/idgaf-i-nodded-when-katara-bloodbent-that-piece-of

Thoughts on this take regarding Katara and blood bending?

*sighs eternally* I'm so fucking sick of this discourse, so here's the short version: Hama abused Katara. Fuck that bitch, fuck her bullshit "teachings", fuck her excuses, fuck her stans, fuck her apologists, and fuck the people that act like she was doing Katara a favor by abusing her, free my girl from this stupid fucking fandom.

Long version actually breaking down the horrible arguments of that post:

"She used the a power created by the only other waterbender, who used it to escape colonial power" Did you miss the part when Hama, an adult, tricked Katara, a child, into coming into the woods with her and then used said power to violate Katara's body? And then did the same to her friends? Aka, the part that means that, despite being a survivor from Katara's tribe, she's also HER ABUSER, because I cannot stress this enough, that's what Hama is: Katara's abuser.

And if you don't agree, ask yourself how you'd label Ozai if he "taught" Zuko to redirect lightining by shooting lightining at him, or at Ursa and Iroh, to force him into doing it - and that for each second Zuko fails to get a handle on it, he and those he cares about are in visible physical agony, while Ozai is just laughing at their suffering, and then has the nerve to look all smug and congratulate Zuko, who is left in tears after such a stressful situation.

"It felt like ancestral rage" Yes, it did, and rage is important and can sometimes be good. Sometimes it also poisons you and makes you do things you'll come to regret - yes, even when done against somebody who was a total piece of shit (see Zuko, the person who was with Katara on that journey, not burning Zhao's face even though we know the bastard would not have spared him)

"And yeah, that’s not how the (white) writers wanted us to view blood bending" And the tumblr users want us to view abusive behavior as good just because it came from someone who happened to be of the same ethnicity as the actual hero, even though betrayed said hero's trust in a horrible way - again, something said tumblr users don't do to Ozai.

The *gasp* white writers are holding the brown skinned woman to the same standard they hold the light skinned man, aka treating them equally, and since they both abused vulnerable children that trusted them and used "I'm trying to teach you something" as an excuse, their "students" reject their lessons, find support, and send their abusers to rot in prison where they belong - and redemption is not even off the table, it's just clear the children they abused won't be bending over backwards to make it happen, because they don't owe their abusers a damn thing.

Maybe ask yourself why you have a problem with that, because I assure you it's not because the writers are the ones with a double-standard here.

"Aang had energybending, Zuko had lightining bending" Aang used it as a last resource to avoid taking somebody's life, and it comes with the consequence of "If your spirit is even a tiny bit corrupt, your very soul will fucking die." That's a much more extreme consequence than just "I did this thing and felt bad about it" and I doubt that using it without care wouldn't count as corrupting his spirit, so it's a power that he cannot abuse without IMMEDIATELY getting screwed over.

And Zuko has lightining REDIRECTING. He cannot create it. Somebody needs to attack him first, and even if he aims it back at the person that shot it at him (with intention to KILL him no less), they will not suffer too much. Once again, it's a power that is basically impossible for him to abuse.

Both of these are VERY different from being able to, in Katara's own words "reach inside somebody and control them" and that can be used in anyway she wants, as long as there's a full moon, therefore the comparison is, at best, unfair, and at worst it's downright dishonest.

You wanna know a power that DOES work in a simmilar way to bloodbending? Ty Lee's chi-blocking abilities. Abilities Katara was always freaked out by, and that the show presents as scary and evil 9 times out of 10.

Katara is a compassionate character with a strong moral compass, believes punching down is wrong, and her introduction to bloodbending came in the form of abuse, betrayal and trauma. Of course she hates it. It makes perfect sense for her to hate it, and I'm glad the writers respected that instead of just going "LOOK AT THIS COOL NEW POWER BOOST!" just because she'd obviously only use it against bad people.

Once again, somebody please free my girl from this fucking fandom.

[dragomer]

I think Ashley's view of sex is also greatly influenced by one detail most people missed: A major way to placate her for both Andrew and her parents was just plopping her in front of TV for hours on end where she'd just watch whatever was airing in a trance.

And what was airing on their TV according to Andrew? Old soap opera and old evangelist talk shows, the first which is known for characters using sex to get what the want and the other known for demonizing any enjoyment of sex.

So mix both viewpoints out of context into Ashley's socially isolated child brain and what do you get? 'Sex's main purpose is transactional and liking it makes you a whore and men are whores since they want sex so much'.

Another aspect would be her mom, Ashley clearly has massive hangups over Renee, despite still caring about her actual approval than Andrew does, and clearly ressent her a lot. And what does Renee very clearly enjoy? Sex with her husband.

I'd say her view of sex as a control thing could also be related to the fact Renee and Douglas are very clearly into pretty hardcore BDSM but they apparently didn't find that out until Chapter 2 so it can't have formatted her view of sex much.

Glad you liked my addition to your old essay!

(tw again for extensive discussions of dubiously consensual sexual situations, typical to canon. also spoilers for the decay route update)

was reading this old essay again about andrew and his views towards sex/consent, and especially @/dragomer's great reply, which has led me toward a couple new thoughts:

it has become very clear to me from the decay update that andrew & ashley take after both of their parents in slightly different ways. specifically, while andrew externally presents himself as something a lot more like his father (a doormat, whipped, spineless, passive, useless), internally he aligns much more with his mother (manipulative, temperamental, desperate to appear normal). and while we haven't had as much ashley POV since her all-consuming control of ep1, there are hints that we can assume she is just the opposite-- externally similar to her mother (brash, loud, problem child) but internally more like her father (hesitant, angry but terrified, unable to physically fight back, insecure). there is overlap of course, and neither are exactly like their parents, but the roots of their behavior is clear in the lines of generational trauma that this update has been so incredible at demonstrating.

in particular, going back to this topic of sex and how the characters view it, i think there's an interesting line that we can draw between renee and ashley when it comes to the relationship either character has with not only her own gender and sexuality, but her understanding of how others view her due to it.

the further this series goes on, the more overt and undeniable it becomes that ashley is deeply uncomfortable with even the idea of any kind of mutually pleasurable sexual relationship. instead, ashley often defaults to the idea that sex is something that Must be transactional, Must be something she can use to get something or benefit herself, whether that be making money through sex work or easing her brother's temper and ensuring that he never leaves her.

in my previous essay, i mentioned the idea that what andrew and ashley both ultimately want the most, "is Complete and Utter control over the other," specifically because what they want deep down is safety and the ability to protect themselves from harm. this idea of a desire for control is a large part of why i think ashley is so adamant about sticking to this idea that transactional sex is far superior to/Must exist instead of a more "mutual" relationship-- because in her mind, if it's transactional then she is still the one In Control, who can manipulate the situation in such a way that when she finally gives it up, she is guaranteed to get something out of it. men are shitty and violent and terrible but they have a major weakness in their desire sex, and ashley can hold the temptation of that over them to use them in a way that she can't with the other girls she constantly fails to be friends with.

it's not difficult to see how ashley might've internalized the ways in which she is viewed by others, not only as girl but as sex object and crazy problem child to come to this understanding. to ashley, the idea of a truly "mutual" sexual relationship is straight up fucking impossible, and the idea that she might actually find sex pleasurable is terrifying, because that would just be proof of her own weakness. i'm inclined to interpret her extreme panic after their (in andrew's words) "single great night of drunken sex where she actually seemed to enjoy it," as being a product of this fear, which is clearly exacerbated by andrew's desire for something True and Good and Romantic. (she can also be ace and/or sex repulsed, these things can obviously coexist, but my point is that there's more of a narrative basis for her discomfort here as well, on top of that or alongside it.) ashley thus sees enjoying herself during sex as a weakness to be destroyed, giving up one of the few things that she alone has the ability to use against other people/men-- andrew, on the other hand, wants nothing more than for her to enjoy herself, to fulfill all those highly romanticized expectations of forbidden love that he built up for himself writing all that shitty angst poetry. ("Andrew is a romantic, to an almost neurotic degree," after all.)

for all that ashley barks, it is very clear that she doesn't actually have all that much bite-- unlike andrew, who goes the complete opposite direction in denying his talent for manipulation despite being wayyy more capable than he appears at first glance (see: julia), ashley isn't actually all that skilled at manipulation. most of the supposed "power" that ashley holds over andrew is really just her annoying the shit out of him or chucking herself headfirst into trouble until he gives in and complies or helps her. all of ashley's "power" is thus clearly built on a shaky foundation, especially considering just how much she panics every single time he even seems to Start making a move. for all that she jokingly threatens physical violence, it isn't until both andrew and the demon dream charm start to make it clear that he is legitimately considering killing her that she begins to actually start taking it seriously. sure, she isn't a wholly "innocent victim," or whatever, but while ashley could win olympic gold in the pissing-your-brother-the-fuck-off competition, andrew is often the one that comes across as Actually Fucking Dangerous.

anyways, back to renee: though this hasn't been explicitly stated (iirc), and i expect this to be a point that is likely to be elaborated on further in other future routes, i think there is still a clear line that can be drawn between renee's status as a Teen Mom and ashley's views on transactional sex. more specifically, while their reactions themselves are fairly different, the circumstances under which they are stuck and the external judgement either young lady receives from others seems likely to me to be quite similar.

we get hints in the little time capsule in the backyard that renee was fucking vicious as a teenager, fully prepared to murder douglas's father before they found out she was pregnant-- but she chose to keep the child for the potential he might offer to get them a more normal life, to be a normal family unlike they ones they were forced to have. ashley is treated like a problem child from day one, unable to fit into society or find anyone willing to like her but her brother-- so she chooses to find power in her sexuality as a final hour desperate move to get what she wants, the one thing she and she alone can give up and use to her advantage, so long as she is sufficiently careful about it. in either case, both renee and ashley are judged externally for their value as sex objects above all other possible traits, and attempt to twist this value into something they can use to gain control and an advantage. this is opposed to someone like andrew, for whom sexuality is simply a part of him, something he wants, but also a source of bullying and something that makes him feel powerless (see: the entire school (rightly) assuming that he wants to bone his sister).

[dragomer]

[dragomer]

🐰👑💖

Inconsistent art style kills me more than school

[dragomer]

I think I never uploaded this Ashley drawing here lol

Not 100% pleased with how it came out, but it's decent in my mind!

[dragomer]

[dragomer]

It’s 6 am and I can’t sleep. Here’s a doodle.

[dragomer]

The Zucock is too good!

[dragomer]

So, I've done it! :D I finished up the little Zucest oneshot I wrote for last year's @zucest-week, which very much still applies to the 'Targaryen incest traditions/Brothers marrying sisters' prompt!

It's still very much just a snippet: more the characters discussing the idea of Zuko marrying Azula than anything actually happening. But I had fun trying to imagine all the different cultural reactions and everyone could have and do a bit of worldbuilding for it all. :)

Which is to say that if anyone wanted to follow up on what I've written and continue the story, please do go ahead! I'd love to read it! :)

But either way, I hope y'all zucest truthers appreciate my humble offering <3

Fire and Blood on ao3 (Zuko/Azula, 2.4k)

[dragomer]

Zucest Week Day 6 - Under The Table Action

Support me on ko-fi

[dragomer]

Zucest Week Day 5 - Getting Hurt To Save Each Other

(VERY lightly inspired by Epic The Musical)

Support me on ko-fi

[dragomer]

You deserve a free meal from McDonald’s because you’re a pretty chill and decent person. Stay safe, drink water, hug your mom and have a good one.

Awww, that's very sweet of you, you deserve one too!

Have a good one too!

Thanks for the ask ^^