#but he wouldn’t have been as hostile with iroh as he is with Zuko

[dragynkeep]

I think the ATLA fandom gives Katara too much flack for the way she treated Zuko. Maybe Katara didn't need to spend as much time being harsh to someone who was just trying to make it up to her, but Zuko also didn't need to yell at people who didn't deserve it and betray Iroh. This isn't Zuko hate ofc, but im saying that Katara had a valid reason to hate him and there were many reasons Zuko had a redemption arc. Why is it so common to demonize katara while lauding Zuko?

We love Zuko here but Katara was absolutely in the right to be hostile towards him until The Southern Raiders, because Zuko is the reason they’re in this situation in the first place. 

If he hadn’t betrayed them all back in Ba Sing Sai, Azula wouldn’t have had such a clean victory. Katara had her on the ropes before Zuko jumped in, and Katara being distracted by him stopped her from helping Aang fight Azula. 

But that’s why TSR was such a good episode for them, because Zuko did work through what he’d done and made it up for Katara in the way needed for her. He helped her get closure for the death of her mother, something Katara had been carrying for the entire show, for YEARS, and something that no one else was really helping her deal with. Before Zuko decided to help Katara track down Yon Ra, Katara just kept her grief to herself, and every time she opened up about her, she didn’t get a fraction of the support that she gave everyone else.

If Katara wasn’t so hostile towards Zuko, justified in it because of his actions, then I honestly believe that TSR wouldn’t have hit as hard. Simple because the bridge they rebuilt together was so much more damaged than it could’ve been.

[bellatrixobsessed1]

Skin & Scale (Part 30)

I’d like to give @subterraneanwatcher a shout out for the dragon name idea.

“You guys don’t hate me.” She mumbles. By now it has been several hours since their squabble with Iroh. Hours and that is all she can manage to utter. She can’t seem to get past it. Decidedly it is a good thing, of course. And yet her mind is stuck on it in the same way that it catches on awful things.

“Of course we don’t hate you.” Sokka says. The table has since dwindled down to just she, Zuko, her parents, and Sokka. To just she, her parents, and Sokka. And then with a bidding of kind dreams it had become just she and Sokka.

She supposes that she has known for a good while now that they don’t hate her anymore but sometimes she can’t shake that sense. At least until now. Now she is quite certain that most of the hostility and bad blood has run its course. 

“Actually…” Sokka begins reluctantly. “I think that I love you.”

Azula blinks.

“Oh come on, Azula, I’ve been dropping hints.”

“Hints?”

“I stood my ground against your parents to sit next to you during the play! Why else would I have done that!?”

Azula shrugs, “to be annoying?” 

He takes her by the wrists and gives them a gentle shake. “Because I wanted to sit by you. Because I like you. A lot.” 

“But why?” 

He shrugs. “Is it enough to say that I just do?”

“No.” She frowns. “There is a reason for everything and I want yours.”

Sokka laughs. “Believe it or not, it’s because of stuff like this?” He pauses. “I’ve never met anyone like you. Most people wouldn’t be brave enough to say a third of what you say, especially with the level of confidence that you do!”

“Are you implying that I say embarrassing things.”

He thinks for a moment. “Sort of, maybe? You definitely say some awkward stuff, which is kind of refreshing and adventurous. With Suki I always felt like I was making an idiot of myself…”

“If you don’t feel like you’ve been making an idiot of yourself with me, then I have been doing something wrong.” Azula offers him a flippant flick of her wrist. She furrows her brows. “What are you laughing at, I just called you an idiot.” 

“Affectionately.” His chuckles tapper off. 

“Who said that it was affectionate?”

“The tone of your voice.” He replies. “The way you call me an idiot is different from the way you call Zuko and Aang idiots.”

“Because all of you are different types of idiots.” She insists. It is perfectly reasonable in her mind to assert as much. Logical as well, if she must say. 

“Okay but you are usually at least vaguely amused when you call me an idiot.” He shrugs. “You have this smile and…”

She scowls, a light flush creeping over her cheeks. “I most certainly do not. And any hint of a smile that you think that you have seen is because…”

“You like me better than everyone else and I’m special.” 

“Especially stupid, maybe.” 

And now he is cackling. “Can’t you just admit that you have feelings for me? Unless…you don’t realize that you have feelings for me do you? Because you’ve never been in love before!” He accuses.

“Sokka, that’s ridiculous.”

He smirks, “ridiculously true.”

“Oh you think that you’re clever, don’t you?” She mutters, all the while wondering how the aftermath of one spat has led to this conversation. She finds herself morbidly curious as to just how long Sokka has been holding this one in. It must have been for a while if he is using this as his opening–he has wedged his whole body through a door that was only open just a crack.

“I am and that’s part of my allure.” He wiggles his brows.

“Any allure you have is being severely eclipsed by whatever your face is doing right now.”

“I like what your face is doing right now.” He comments. 

She imagines that her face is some blotchy shade of red and contorted into some expression of outrage and befuddlement. Sokka sure has a lot of audacity. In one final effort to dissuade him she grumbles, “say that I do take you up on this silly little declaration of love, you’re going to have to talk this over with my parents.”

Sokka shrugs. “Your dad let me sit next to you at the theater.”

He has her there and she hates it. 

And she hates that she loves it, that it induces something of a thrill. 

She lets a smirk creep across her face. “Alright, Sokka.” She pauses. “I’ll play along. Let’s see how much you can handle.”

.oOo.

It is a simple question that sets her up for a day of unrest. Just one mundane, perfectly ordinary, innocent question. “How did you sleep, Hosekko?” Mother’s face pales in unison with the furrowing of Azula’s brows. 

“We were going to name you Hosekko.” Ran clarifies. “Small jewel. You were our small jewel. You are still our small jewel–precious, valuable, and one of a kind.” He cups her cheek. 

Azula swallows. 

She could have been Hosekko but she is Azula. She could have been precious and unique. Instead she is Azula, an extension of someone else. She could almost laugh, but the tears tickle behind her eyes first in sync with the flutters in her belly. 

“I’m sorry.” Shaw apologizes. “I didn’t mean to. It has just been hard; we had the perfect name picked for you and we never had the chance to say it.”

She swallows harder and clutches at the fabric of her pants. “It’s alright.” She manages.  But it isn’t. It isn’t alright that Ozai had taken her name from her too. Spirits, she hadn’t even considered that. Hadn’t even thought to be upset by such a small thing, and yet here it is, another weight on her shoulders. 

“I slept fine, mother.” She manages to answer the initial question. In fact she had slept better than she has in a while knowing that she truly does have support when it is warranted. That Zuzu, of all people, is willing to put in a good word for her. 

She supposes that when they return home she can tell the council to behave for him and stop giving him such a hard time. 

Mother smile. “That is good to hear, Azula.” 

She takes a breath. 

“Or would you like me to call you Hosekko?” She asks softly. “I can give you time to think about it, if you’d like.”

“Yes, some thinking time would be nice.” She replies. She has been Azula for the entirety of her life, for better or for worse. She doesn’t think that she wants to part with Azula entirely, even if it is just in name. 

“We will understand either way.” Ran adds.

Azula nods, “thank you.” 

They return her nod and leave her to get dressed. She emerges from her room to Toph’s very loud declaration. “Hujiang!” She holds–upside down–a theater poster. “That’s where the traveling group is now.” She pauses. “I sure hope that this poster says ‘Hujiang’ because the guy who handed it to me said it does.”

“It says Hujiang.” Katara confirms. 

“What, what guy?” Mai mutters. 

“The one Toph and I ran into on our early morning walk!” TyLee grins. “He was very friendly. He kept trying to sell us cabbages though.”

“Wait, why would the cabbage merchant have theater posters?” Zuko asks. 

Sokka shrugs, “he’s kind of a running theme in our lives.”

“He said that he was planning on following the Burrowing Badgermole Troupe to try to boost cabbage sales.” TyLee taps her finger on her chin and hums. “I don’t think that cabbage is theater food?”

“And he’s sure that the Burrowing Badgermole is mother’s group?”

“Well he’s only heard of one traveling troupe from Ba Sing Se.” Toph points out. 

“It’s the best lead that we have so we might as well follow it.” Azula replies. “As far as I know we don’t have any particular time constraints.” Evidently she just wants to get away from the Jasmine Dragon.

“I’m willing to give it a try.” Zuko agrees.

“Hujiang it is.” Aang confirms. 

“We’ll have a quick breakfast and be on our way before noon. Use breakfast to say your goodbyes to Iroh.” Azula replies. “Mother, father, and I will have a quicker breakfast and begin arranging the luggage. Is this agreeable?”

“Agreeable enough.” Zuko replies. 

Frankly she would rather depart right now but she will power her way through breakfast and its discomforts–namely having to sit at the same table as Iroh once more. It is no matter. They will be on their way soon enough and perhaps at a new altitude, she will have time to think.

She will certainly have much to mull over during this flight to Hujiang.

[ssreeder]

hypothetical anon back again! sorry it’s been so long, i didn’t realize how hard these were to come up with

so, hypothetically, what do you think would have happened if jet actually met iroh and found out that, yes, this is to help aang learn firebending? do you think he would have begrudgingly accepted cause aang’s the avatar or...?

(also, the chapters have been absolutely awesome!!!!!!!)

HIIIII HYPOTHETICAL ANON I MISSED YOU!!!

I’ve been getting a lot of Jet asks lately & I LOVE IT

Soooooo… I think it could go a few different ways between Jet & Iroh. But no matter how much anger and hostility Jet threw Iroh’s way because of his trauma,, I think iroh would see through it just like he did with Zuko.

It might have been more difficult for iroh to be around Jet than Jet around iroh, because Jet would remind him of Zuko (which would be really painful)

But I do think Jet would begrudgingly accept that iroh and his people were there to help and Aang can’t defeat the Fire Lord without learning fire bending.

He wouldn’t have been thrilled with the situation and he would have probably been a pain in the ass, but I don’t think he would be quite as outspoken and angry as he is with his current situation.

I’d also like to think Iroh would be a good influence on him and his patience would have benefitted Jet.

Too bad he didn’t go & now he has to deal with Zuko (& Sokka hahaha)

[muffinlance]

Muffin, did tou change the chapter count on As the world should be? :0

Yeah, I sneakily marked As the World Should Be as completed when I realized that A) it's in a good spot to be finished as a standalone short, and B) I am really not gonna get back to it for a long long time. I may yet return to it, but for all intents and purposes it's done.

But since you Definitely Asked, here's the start of what would have been the second chapter:

2. Negotiations

Ozai had once entertained the possibility of bonding with his son. They were both second born. Both destined to be overshadowed by the child before them, simply due to poor luck and a tragically low infant mortality rate among the upper class.

Azula was the perfect heir; eager, obedient, a firebending prodigy, blooming within the court from the first time she realized she could threaten a servant with fire and face no reprimand.

It was easy for the subtler talents of a second born to be overlooked. For the quiet work of a political mind to appear subservient to their older, flashier sibling.

From when his son was first old enough to be worth the investment, Ozai made certain to set aside time to spend with the boy.

%%%

The guard lemur announced Zuko's presence with a loud chittering call and then sat itself on his shoulder like one of the palace lizard-dogs detaining a target, ready to maul on command. Zuko stopped walking and tried to ignore its gigantic eyes watching his every move, its head nearly pressed against his. He would really prefer not to lose half his face.

"Avatar. I've come to open negotiations. As we—" the lemur started tugging at his crown, but Zuko's hands were too full to brush it away. "—As we discussed."

"Come on over! Have you had dinner yet? And it's all right to just call me Aang."

"Nu-uh," the nonbender said. "Pause. What are you carrying, and what are they doing here?"

"Writing supplies?" Zuko said, raising his portable writing desk a little higher, and catching the bag of paper and inks before it could slide off.

Which left the issue of Mai and Ty Lee standing behind him.

"We're chaperoning!" Ty Lee said.

"Wouldn't want anything to impinge upon his Highness' honor," Mai said.

Zuko flushed. And accepted the Avatar—Avatar Aang's—invitation to join them at their fire. He even accepted a bowl of… something that was rice-based… to be polite. He set the bowl on the edge of his desk, and arranged a stack of papers and ink pot and readied his quill. Which the guard lemur confiscated with its tiny paws. ...He readied another one.

"I think it would be prudent to begin with our opening terms," he said. "What do you want?"

"The war to end," Avatar Aang said.

Zuko diligently wrote this under the column titled Demands of the Avatar and His Associates from the Nations of Water and Earth as Regarding the Avatar's Surrender (First Draft).

"More specifically," the nonbender said, "for the war to end without the Fire Nation ruling the world. Troop withdrawals, that navy of yours needs to stay out of our waters, reparations for rebuilding, war criminal trials that aren't a complete farce, in fact, why don't you just turn them over to us for judging—"

"A firebending teacher for Twinkletoes," the earthbender said. "One who isn't going to fry him. And you guys can't keep squatting on Earth Kingdom land."

"My mother's necklace back," the waterbender growled under her breath.

He diligently added all these to the list.

"What does the Fire Nation want?" Avatar Aang asked, when they were done saying things almost faster than he could write.

Zuko started putting marks next to the things that made sense. "We want the war to end too, obviously," he said, and ignored the general Water Tribe reaction to 'obviously'. "Troop withdrawals and land and sea border treaties would be a part of that, and if there are war criminals than of course they'll be brought to justice—"

" 'If'?" the nonbender squawked.

"Zuko," Mai said. "You're not supposed to tell them what we'll agree to. You're supposed to talk their terms down. By using your own."

"Oh. Right." He sat up a little straighter, and started writing under the Fire Nation's column. "We'll need Avatar Aang's surrender, or at least his reclusion from any hostile actions, both now and in the future. His bending instructors should probably be with him, so he can learn to… actually be the Avatar. And so they don't do anything political on his behalf. And, uh. I'm not sure about reparations, aren't those… usually for the side that loses?"

(There was additional squawking, and some growling from the waterbender.)

"But we will want trade deals. Which can certainly include supplies for rebuilding."

And had to include food, because the Fire Nation's population had lived for a hundred years outside the borders of their island, they didn't all fit there anymore. There was a reason they had to keep expanding the colonies' borders.

This seemed like a good place to leave their initial negotiation rounds. Before any war crimes could be inflicted against his person. Also, he should probably consult with father before making any formal promises.

%%%

Enclosed please find a copy of Avatar Aang's initial demands prior to surrender. There is a significant amount of common ground—

Ozai was very aware of his brother sitting across from him, sipping tea.

"Who knew your son would be such a diplomat!" Iroh smiled. "Ah, but obviously you did. I admit I had my doubts when you sent such an inexperienced combatant into the field, brother, but clearly I lacked the foresight to see that this was your plan all along!"

"Indeed," Azula smiled, with no fewer teeth. "Quite ingenious, father."

Firstborns. How Ozai loathed them.

[nothing-more-than-hot-leaf-juice]

What would an Azula redemption arc look like?

First things first: I hear this thing a lot about how “Azula deserved a redemption arc” and while I don't think Azula was irredeemable, that’s not to say that she should have been redeemed nor was she in the right place to be redeemed during the series. Post-series, I think Azula could have gotten better, but I don’t think “redemption arc” is the right phrase for it. 

Second, I hear a lot about how Zuko should have been the one to go on a “life-changing field” trip for her redemption arc and I don’t think it’s that simple, nor do I think Zuko would be the right person to help her become a better person. The fact of the matter is that even though they are siblings, they spent a good part of the series trying to kill each other. Azula shot lightning at Zuko in the first episode of season 2, they both almost killed each other in The Boiling Rock and The Southern Raiders, and Azula tried to kill Katara during their Agni Kai. They are siblings and I do think they care about each other deep down, but the fact of the matter is that their relationship was hostile and damaged. Repeated murder attempts aren’t a thing either of them is going to get over quickly and they aren’t the type of thing that’s going to make it possible for Zuko of all people to be the one to help Azula heal. There’s also the fact that he’s a teenage boy dealing with his own damage from his abuse and just because they had the same abuser doesn’t mean he’s going to be the right person to help her heal. 

An Azula redemption arc would in no way be the same as a Zuko redemption arc, but let’s first examine why his redemption arc worked in the first place: 

I’ve written more about Zuko’s redemption arc and why it works here. But in terms of him making amends, the big reason why his redemption arc worked was because it stemmed from him choosing Iroh over Ozai. It was his recognition that the unconditional love and support Iroh had shown him was right and the cruelty and conditional acceptance Ozai had shown him was wrong. And further, it was his realization that he was right all along in terms of being compassionate and his father was wrong when it came to the war. He recognized that all the war was needless suffering because he had seen the real human cost in season 2. And through that journey, he saw that the people of the Earth Kingdom didn't deserve the destruction the Fire Nation was bringing on them and realized they had been wrong the whole time. And his betrayal of Iroh was the catalyst for his redemption arc because Iroh realized that already and spent season 2 trying to get Zuko to embrace compassion and peace. He spends a lot of time after he joins the gaang wondering “what would Uncle do?” and tries his hardest to do the things that will make his Uncle proud. Even though Iroh showed him unconditional love upon their reunion, Zuko still put the work in to do right by Iroh in order to make up for his betrayal.

“He’s the one who’s been a real father to me.... It was cruel and it was wrong!” 

Another thing that needs to be made clear: Zuko’s redemption arc worked because he spent time making amends with the people he hurt, but not just because he wanted to make amends, but because he genuinely related to and wanted to help them with their struggles. He was able to make amends with Aang, Sokka, and Katara by relating to their dilemmas and doing everything in his power to help them through their own emotional struggles he also struggled with. He helped Aang overcome a fear of firebending because he too struggled with finding a way to see his element beyond destruction and harm. He helped Sokka “regain his honor” by helping him at the Boiling Rock because he knew what it was like to fail at something and have a person he cared about bear the consequences of his actions (Sokka with Hakoda and Zuko with Iroh). And he helped Katara find the person who killed her mother because he understood what it was to have the Fire Nation take away his mother. Zuko understood their pain in these specific cases and leaned his hand not only to show them that he had changed, but because he had changed. It was because he genuinely understood and wanted them to overcome their problems. He wanted Aang to find his inner fire, he wanted Sokka to regain his honor, and he wanted Katara to be able to find closure because those were all things he wanted for himself. His acceptance into the gaang wasn’t ‘do X thing and then that made up for how he hurt them’ or ‘said he had changed and felt bad and that was enough’-- it was the combination of his genuine remorse, his ability to relate to them, and the actions that stemmed from that. 

“You can do it, you’re a talented kid.” 

“You need to regain your honor? Believe me I get it.” 

“I know who killed your mother and I’m going to help you find him.” 

So the main takeaway: Zuko had the capacity to be good all along but needed the right influence and before he made amends with the people he hurt. He needed to heal a little bit himself, confront the fact that he was hurt too, and change on his own before confronting the gaang. 

So for Azula to have a redemption arc, she would need to do the same. She would need to address the people she had hurt and Zuko was one of the people she hurt the most. That’s why Zuko wouldn’t be the person to guide her on the path to redemption. She’s the one that needs to do the work to make amends with him (this isn’t to say that Zuko hadn’t hurt her in fights before, but she was the instigator of most of their fighting). But before she’s able to do that she would need to do some work on herself. 

The thing that’s going to make it difficult for Azula to get ‘redeemed’ is that Zuko had a war to change sides on. There was a tangible conflict for him to help the ‘right’ side with. Post-war Azula doesn’t have that. She doesn’t have a Firelord to help Aang defeat or a war to help end. 

But another thing that’s going to make it hard for her is that her actions were objectively more harmful than Zuko’s were. Zuko spent season 1 trying to capture Aang, but there were multiple instances where he chose to put others before his search: he chose not to leave the Southern Water Tribe alone, when Iroh was captured he chose to save him from the earthbenders rather than go after Aang, and during the Storm he chose to keep his ship safe rather than go after Aang. He never intended to hurt Aang, even though his actions were harmful. The worst things Zuko did were as follows: burning Kyoshi village, capturing Aang in the North Pole, betraying Iroh in Ba Sing Se, and sending the assassin after Aang. But in all these cases, there was either someone else with worse intentions or he did tangible things to make up for them or the actual consequences weren’t that bad in the end. Kyoshi village was fine, Aang escaped his capture, he committed treason for Iroh, and he risked his life to stop Combustion Man. 

So what exactly does Azula need to redeem herself from?

1. Repeatedly trying to kill Zuko 

2. Almost killing Aang in Ba Sing Se 

3. Sending Mai and Ty Lee to prison 

4. Conquering Ba Sing Se/wrecking havoc on the Earth Kingdom in general 

5. Hitting Iroh with fire (The Chase) and sending him to prison 

But again, she doesn’t have the outlet of war to tangibly show that she’s changed sides. And for most of these actions, it’s other people that dealt with the consequences. Katara healed Aang and Zuko after Azula shot them. Zuko helped Iroh after Azula shot him and Iroh busted himself out of prison. Mai and Ty Lee were released without her help. The Order of the White Lotus freed Ba Sing Se. She doesn’t have a clear way to make amends for the damage she caused. 

So she’s not going to be able to make personal amends with the gaang. Mostly because there’s no reason for her to do so. Zuko was able to because they needed a firebending teacher for Aang and their goals were aligned. Azula doesn’t have that. That’s one of those things that’s just not going to happen because neither party has a reason to want to make amends.

I don’t think she’s going to be able to reconcile with Mai and Ty Lee after what she did to them. She was going to hurt the people they cared about and at the first instance of disloyalty, their childhood friend threw them in prison. At the Boiling Rock, Mai betrayed her because she was going to kill Zuko and Ty Lee betrayed her because she was going to hurt Mai. Neither one put Azula in danger, but she still tossed them aside when all they wanted to do was keep the people they loved safe. They move on from her after the series and find new people to surround themselves with. They were entirely justified in deciding to cut Azula out of their lives after how she treated them. 

And in terms of Zuko, again, they spent a good part of the series trying to kill each other and I’ve written about the complexity of their relationship and Azula in general here, here, here, and here. But the point is that they spent most of their lives pitted against each other by Ozai and they have some serious resentment and hostility towards each other. This isn’t their fault, but it’s undeniable and that hostility is something that’s going to make it impossible for Zuko to be the right person to help Azula heal. He shouldn’t have to if we’re being honest because of how outwardly violent she was to him. But more on that later. 

So because of these things, I think Azula’s redemption arc would have to parallel Iroh’s. 

It’s talked about a little bit, but Iroh was at one point militaristic and destructive. When he was kidnapped in season 1, the earthbenders called him a war criminal. In the flashback of Zuko Alone, we saw him laugh about “burning [Ba Sing Se] to the ground”. In between Ozai’s coronation and Zuko’s banishment, Iroh let go of his need for military victory and learned to focus on spirituality and peace. This is when he joins the White Lotus and starts to see the faults in Fire Nation propaganda, especially after he lost his son in the process. But what I think is important to remember about Iroh is that he faced the dragons long before his son died. In The Firebending Masters, Zuko says that Iroh allegedly killed the last dragon “long before [he] was born” and they deemed him worthy anyway, despite the fact that he still went on to use his bending abilities to conquer the Earth Kingdom. This means that the dragons were able to see deep inside of him and that gave him a greater appreciation for firebending not as a weapon, but as an extension of the self. So if Iroh had that chance when he was younger, before he decided to live peacefully and help others, Azula might have that chance too. 

And Azula is a prodigy at firebending, but the reason Zuko and Iroh are better than she is is that they recognize firebending as energy and life. They use it to keep them warm and they incorporate other bending techniques into it. We only see Azula use firebending as a weapon, never as a tool. She considers firebending something she has to conquer rather than something that’s a part of her. And she thinks this way because that’s what she was taught her whole life, but like Zuko, she needs to understand her element beyond its ability for destruction in order to accept that she herself has the capacity to be something more than a destructor. Azula determined her self worth and the worth of others by their strength and abilities. In order for her to move past this mentality, she would need to go to the dragons. 

And this might be the place where Iroh can step in for her. I’ve written about the dynamic of Azula and Iroh’s relationship (or lackthereof) here. But during the series, Iroh’s priority was to protect Zuko and Azula just happened to be one of the people he had to protect Zuko from (see The Avatar State, The Chase, and The Guru.) If Azula were to face the dragons, she might want to kill them in order to prove herself as worthy since that was the mentality of the Fire Nation, but if Iroh were to connect with Azula in any way it would be though firebending. It would be in guiding her to the dragons and showing her the true meaning of the element. 

Second, and again like Zuko, she would need to recognize how she was hurt by her parents. There’s that scene in The Beach where she mentions how she was hurt by how her mother treated her, but doesn’t actually talk about it. It would be beneficial for her to verbalize how her self image was warped by how Ursa viewed her. Azula seems to realize that how Ursa favored Zuko over her wasn’t right, but she doesn’t understand that the way Ozai treated her was wrong either. She relished the praise her father granted her and didn’t recognize how he used her for her abilities and didn’t value her as his daughter. So a big part of her learning to become better would be recognizing that the way Ozai treated her was wrong and that she has value beyond her ability to carry out his orders. Azula needed to have her own “it was cruel and it was wrong” moment now that Ozai’s in prison and she’s not beholden to him. And it would take her time to come to that conclusion, but she could get there eventually. Through all of this, Azula really just needs her mental health addresses over anything else. 

And for her to truly be “redeemed” (for lack of a better word) she would need to do two things: she would need to prove to Zuko that she was remorseful for how she hurt him and she would need to prove to the world that she wasn’t seeking destruction anymore. Let’s parallel to Iroh’s redemption arc again. Iroh changed in small ways by helping those around him, mainly Zuko, but his redemption from his years as a general for the Fire Nation and his actions in that regard came in his freeing of Ba Sing Se in the finale. That was his moment of redemption. Azula, being the conquerer of Ba Sing Se, would need to have a moment where she proves to the world that she’s going to work for the greater good over personal glory or her father’s orders. There would need to be an opportunity for her to use her abilities to save people, most likely from Ozai’s supporters. 

And in order for her to reconcile with Zuko, she would first need to be genuinely remorseful for how she hurt him and would need to recognize how Ozai hurt him. For most of the series she relishes in his suffering and if she’s going to truly be redeemed, she would need to first, be genuinely remorseful for how her brother was hurt and second, take steps to show him how she doesn’t want to hurt him anymore. In the finale, we see just how fractured their relationship is as she shoots him with lightning and Katara heals him. In season 3, Zuko learns to heal by letting go of the family that hurt him and finds a family that’s going to look out for him and protect him. If Azula is going to prove to Zuko that she’s changed, she would need to act as his protector. Maybe from an assassin or something along those lines, but she would need to put all her efforts into showing him how she’s changed, similar to how he risked his life in stopping Combustion Man to prove to the gaang how he changed. 

And it’s very possible that they’ll never have a good relationship, but if what we’re looking for is an ‘Azula redemption arc,’ that’s what needs to happen. And Zuko isn’t required to forgive her or have her in his life. The fact of the matter is that Azula hurt him and the people he cared about repeatedly. And just because they were hurt by the same person doesn’t mean she didn’t hurt him too. They very well may never have a ‘good’ relationship, but that doesn’t mean Azula wouldn’t be able to get better on her own. 

I think if anything, Azula might be able to immerse herself in firebending. That’s something she understands and that she’s good at. But in order for her to find peace within herself, to move past the mentality Ozai and Ursa instilled in her, and to become a better person, she would need to follow a spiritual path. She would need to go the route of Iroh. Azula doesn’t need to be any kind of military leader or fighter. What she needed was to recognize herself as something other than a weapon, because as long as she valued herself for her combat and military abilities, she was going to seek destruction. In order for her to heal, she needs to recognize that her ability as a prodigy doesn’t mean she was meant for power or destruction, but rather it’s a gift. Azula is an incredible bender, but she didn’t appreciate herself or the true meaning of the element. And if she’s going to move beyond ruthlessness and callousness, she needs to learn the beauty in her element. 

In conclusion, an Azula “redemption arc” is easier said than done. Azula’s motivations are sympathetic and it’s obvious that she’s a victim of abuse and manipulation, but she did hurt people in major ways. She hurt people in ways she wasn’t able to make up for and that’s why if she were to become better, she would need to learn to let go of this image of herself as a force for destruction and recognize the beauty of firebending. She might never fully reconcile with Zuko and it’s improbable that she would develop meaningful relationships with Mai and Ty Lee, but the fact of the matter was that Azula was 14 and her actions stemmed from her abuse. Her path to becoming a better person wouldn’t focus on the people she hurt, because they had moved on and cut her from their lives, but rather it would focus on her individual path to growing past the propaganda of her nation and the emotional abuse under her parents. 

Azula’s “redemption arc” would not be rooted in interpersonal relationships, but rather would entirely focus on interpersonal growth. 

[hello-nichya-here]

How do you think it would turn out if Azula was sent with Zuko on his quest?

First of all: she'd be absolutely FURIOUS at Ozai. How dare he send her on a stupid quest that he knows it's doomed? And all because Zuko pissed him off? It wouldn't matter that sending her along was the only way to make sure Zuko wouldn't do anything stupid, it wouldn't matter that she would be sent back home eventually, and it wouldn't matter that she was technically the heir now - Ozai betrayed her.

That means the beginning of Zuko's banishment would be even more miserable, because Azula is 100% taking out all of her frustration and pain on him. They'd be fighting A LOT and the crew would find it almost unbearable to be at the same boat with them.

Eventually, however, Zuko and Azula would be forced to work together, and would end up developing a bond (despite refusing to admit it). Neither of them wants to make a fool out of themselves and enrage their father, they're both trying their best for their family and nation, and they were both throw in a different and sometimes hostile envirorment against their will. They just can't help but turn to each other for help.

That truce would lead to them developing a deeper respect for each other. Zuko would understand that Azula wasn't just "born lucky", and that she actually works really hard to be as powerfull as she is, and would be grateful that she isn't trying to sabotage him in any way despite thinking their mission is pointless (even though he is aware she's going along with it mostly for Ozai, not for him).

Azula for her part, would see that her brother isn't weak at all (in any sense of the word). He has quite the temper and is very reckless, but he does have a brain, he can endure a lot (both physically and emotionally), he knows how to take charge AND how to back down when needed, and he is just as dedicated to their nation and their family as she is - and she wouldn't admit it even to herself, but Zuko (and Iroh to a lesser degree) has been treating her better than Ozai ever did, both as the "autority" and as an older family member that is meant to watch over her.

Obviously, during those years away from home, they'd realize that miss what their relationship used to be like, with them being actual friends and always having each other's back. Their feelings would slowly grow into being much, much more than familial.

Once they do find out that the Avatar really is alive, everything changes for them. They'd be one hell of a team, and Azula would prevent Zuko from doing the stupid shit she got up to in book one (like fighting a waterbender in the snow, during a full moon). She'd also finally get a good look at just how competent Zuko can be and how he can improvise when shit gets rough - he always finds a way to track the Avatar (be using rumours, basic logic, or straight up hiring a bounty hunter), he knows how to make deals that benefit him more than everyone else involved (using the very expensive waterbending scroll to make the pirates help him capture Aang - who they have no clue is the Avatar and therefore worth A LOT more), he can stand his ground in a fight (his Agni Kai with Zhao, his sword fight with the pirates), and he can even survive having his ship fucking explode. And he is cunning enough to temporarely go against his own nation's best interests just to make sure HE is the one who will capture the Avatar (the whole blue spirit thing, which doubles as showing off his ninja skills).

Azula probably wouldn't be able to kill Aang in the book 1 finale since it isn't just Aang but also the ocean spirit, making it an unbelievably powerfull enemy she cannot defeat. After that, either Ozai will blame just Zuko and Iroh for that failure and make the mission to capture the Avatar be now solely Azula's, or she'd also be a disgrace in his eyes and he'd try to throw her in prison with Zuko and Iroh (key word being TRY).

From then on, two things can happen:

1 - Zuko and Azula will be a dangerous duo (Iroh's is there too, but come on) that will give the Gaang a bunch of problems, then be forced to live as refugees in Ba Sing Se and eventually go back to the palace after the Gaang successfully saves Ba Sing Se from the Dai Li, and invades the Fire Nation in the eclipse, ends the war and has Iroh be Fire Lord (he's a chill, likeable guy, he'd convince them he knows what he is doing). Zuko and Azula would end up growing to understand the mistakes their nation made and work to keep the world at peace... and would one day rule as Fire Lord and Fire Lady.

2 - The events of book 2 would be mostly the same, but Azula and Zuko would have sort of a non-spoken agreement to not get in each other's way, and I can see them almost capturing Aang together in The Chase until Iroh "accidentally" screws up and allows him and his friends to escape. Once Azula knows he is in Ba Sing Se, she gives him the chance to come home with her and he instantly accepts, while Iroh is inprisoned after they take the city and Azula kills Aang. Once they're at the palace, their romance would officially start, but Zuko would still feel guilty for supporting this war and still leave the Fire Nation during the day of the eclipse. Mai and Ty Lee would still save him from being captured at The Boiling Rock (partly due to Mai's feelings for Zuko, and also because they know Azula would regret it if she handed him to Ozai). Instead of a fight "to the death" in the finale that Zuko accepts to prevent anyone else from getting hurt, their Agni Kai would be Azula trying to get revenge on him from leaving her, while he defends himself and refuses to attack her and keeps saying it doesn't have to be this way and that him changing sides doesn't mean he no longer loves her. If we're going for extra drama, Azula still shoots lightning at him, but breaks down crying right mere seconds after it. Once she surrenders/Katara heals him and he sees her sobbing, Zuko embraces her, tells he is going to help her heal, that she is the love of his life and that nothing would ever come between them again, while Azula holds on to him like her life depends on it.

[passable-talent]

Hi! Do you think that you could write an atla scenario where the gaang finds out how Zuko got his scar? Maybe, he was ranting about how his life was hard back at the fire nation and ends up opening up about it?

I’ve always wondered how this convo would go down.... let’s find out, shall we?

Zuko didn’t particularly enjoy going through the photos and artifacts left over from his childhood in the royal vacation home, but that didn’t stop the other members of Team Avatar. Sokka in particular seemed to be intent on digging through for anything he could find. Zuko would’ve thought that he’d been deterred after finding that ‘cute’ picture of Ozai, but it seemed not. He was on his knees in front of a pile of parchments and little trinkets left behind by the royal family, on their last vacation to Ember Island. The rest of the group had gathered around, waiting to see what he found, or keeping each other company.

“Why does it matter so much?” Katara asked, sitting just out of range of the objects that Sokka was flinging behind him as he dug.

“I’m determined to find an embarrassing picture of Zuko,” he said, pausing to examine a drawing of an eight-year-old Azula before tossing it over his shoulder.

“Why?” Toph asked, her arms crossed, voice unimpressed. It’s not like any of this mattered to her- she couldn’t see the pictures anyway.

“Because he’s the only other person in our little group who scares me, other than you and Katara,” he answered Toph, “and at least I’ve seen you guys half asleep or something. I’ve never found any flaw in this jerk and I’m determined to find one.” Zuko rolled his eyes and leaned back, happy that at least the group was busy.

Sokka pulled up a parchment of Zuko when he was about twelve, and upon seeing it clearly, tossed it aside. Katara picked it up slowly from the floor, and looked at it for a moment before deciding to speak.

“You don’t have your scar in this one,” she said, making Zuko’s eyes lift up to her, “and you’re pretty old. When did you get your scar, anyway?”

He wondered, briefly, how she could ask that question so easily. It was a massive scar over his eye- obviously he had suffered something horrible. How easy would that be to explain?

“When I was banished,” he answered, his gaze taken back to the ground in front of him. Sokka stopped digging and turned to look at him.

“What happened?” Aang asked, likely not realizing the gravity of the question, and Zuko let out a hard breath through his nose. He realized he’d never even had to tell this story- the only person he was candid about it with was Iroh, who was there when it happened.

“I spoke up in a war meeting when it wasn’t my turn,” he said, the words flowing quickly. He didn’t want to dawdle on a single one, and so let the honest truth fly quicker than he normally spoke. “My father decided that my disrespect needed to be punished, and I was challenged to an Agni Kai.” It occurred to Zuko that they might not know what that was, and so he added on “-it’s a firebending duel.” There was a somber silence over the six of them, and Zuko paused before continuing. It wasn’t a nice memory- he could still feel the heat of the flames. Sometimes, when he was too hot, his left eye teared up, like it was remembering that day.

“I didn’t realize that the duel was with my father himself, not the old general I’d interrupted. So when the day came, I wouldn’t fight my father, and that showed even further disrespect and, supposedly, cowardice. My punishment was my banishment- and this scar.” For a moment, no one said a word, until Suki spoke up quietly.

“Your father burnt you?” She asked, putting together his implication, and Zuko nodded.

“If I thought that jerk was evil before,” Sokka muttered, abandoning his search. Still Zuko stared at his shoes, letting the group discuss amongst themselves. It had been three years, and still he was terrified of fire coming too near his face. It had been three years, but still he could see the look in his father’s eyes when he stood above him.

“I can’t even imagine,” Katara said in angry disbelief, “how could he even do that?”

“And you were fourteen?” Toph asked, oddly somber.

“Thirteen,” Zuko corrected, and silence once again settled over them.

“That’s evil,” Suki whispered, “I kinda don’t blame you for being so angry.”

“I don’t get how no one stood up to him,” Katara said, clearly filling up with more anger. “You were a child!”

“And he was the Fire Lord,” Zuko said, bitterness in his voice. “He’s a maniac, who had never been told that he’s not as great and amazing as he thinks he is. No one would dare speak up to him. After all, I did, and look where that got me.” Zuko snapped the last sentence with a bit of a snarl on his lips, and looked away from the group again when he realized his hostility. He wasn’t angry at them- of course not. He just wanted the memories gone, his father defeated.

“Good thing Aang’s gonna tell him that, right?” Toph said, as though trying to bring the mood back up. It received only a few chuckles, but it was a start.

“Hey, at least I know that I’m recognizable. Really memorable, isn’t it?” Zuko said, trying to will a smile onto his face.

“I don’t know,” Sokka said, “I think the ponytail was better. I could see you coming from a mile away when you still had that thing.”

“You couldn’t handle the ponytail,” Zuko responded dryly, which seemed to catch Suki’s humor and send her into a fit of giggles. The laughter caught on the with the group, and soon enough their somberness was all but washed away into the sea.

-🦌 Roe

[sporksaber]

Ok, I love the role swap concept with zuko and azula, but I feel like they switch their abilities and personalities a bit too and I think itd be more fun without that. Where Azula is an antisocial and unstable genius who wants to gain power and zuko still struggles with being the less powerful and extremely empathetic sibling. So here's how I'd do it.

(Note, this is just for fun. I'm not saying anyone else's version is bad. But I've though about this so much and need it out of my head before I go off cuz make a whole comic and I do not have the time, i need to work.)

First off, Azula wouldn't call out in concern for the men like how zuko did. In my version she's allowed into the meeting because of the aptitude for strategy shes shown. She speaks up because it's an inefficient plan that uses up too many resources when there are other options. This enrages her father and leads to the agni kai. Azula is terrified and feels betrayed but has no idea how to handle any of it. She fights back during the agni kai, but in her panic she sets off a bolt of lightning. Ozai finishes the match and severely burns on her lower back. Azula is banished for her use of lightning on the fire lord (bc ozai fears she will no longer be easy to manipulate and might plot his death) and is forced to leave the next morning.

Some things to note: azula is eleven at this point. I changed the placement of the scar bc I think zuko's is very symbolic in a way that doesnt suit azula. Zuko's scar being over his eye and close to the light chakra shows the way his view of the fire nation and honour obscures his vision and how he is unaware of the truth of the world under fire nation rule. I set azula's over her spine because that chakra is based on survival and blocked by fear. It also represents trust which will fit into her arc with the gaang. Finally, she doesnt have Iroh to guide her. One of the things that bothered me was Iroh writing her off as evil despite her being a mentally unstable child. She did have to be defeated, but the way he talked about it was too dismissive. (Personally I think he was projecting his views of his brother and his perceived failures with him onto her.) Azula isnt sent to capture the avatar so she isnt given soldiers. She's completely alone without an advisor to look to or keep her calm.

Azula is given a manned ship with a disgraced soldier and an attendant when she leaves. The way I see it the soldiers zuko had were probably more irohs than his. The soldier is relieved to not be executed but hates being demoted to playing babysitter to a child at sea. The attendant views it as a punishment and hates Azula for it. Eventually the attendant will betray her and be killed for it. Azula never trusted the soldier and he eventually leaves to start a family in an earth kingdom colony. Azula doesnt miss him, he was no longer useful. The loneliness does get to her though.

Azula is obsessed with getting the underhand, so she had been successfully building connections and planting spies where needed.

(Zuko has been acting as a respectable crowned prince. He holds a zealous loyalty to his nation and father. He still faulters as Iroh tries to steer him from tyranny, but his sights are set on his father's approval and that alone. Afterall, if his prodigy could be discarded who's to say what would happen to him if he failed?)

This brings us to the start of the series. Like Zuko Azula witnesses the trap on the old fire nation battle ship go off. She investigates and finds that an air bending avatar is living at the south pole village. She decides she wants to speak with him.

Azula didn't believe the avatar existed before this point. Hiding didnt add up to her knowledge of the morality of airbenders, so she assumed the air nation avatar from the start of the war would be dead. She would know if one had appeared in the water tribe, as the south had all its benders killed and the north was compacted so close together it would be impossible to hide. Earth would be harder, but they were most likely to fight back and out act. And if in ba sing se they'd be used as a weapon or gotten rid of to preserve the peace of the city. Once the culcle progressed to the fire nation it would either be used to take over the other nations or enf the cycle for good. After all, there hasn't been an air bender for a hundred years even if the rumors of some acolytes surviving were truthful.

Azula kidnaps aang with far more ease than she should of been able to. Once he stops struggling she calmly offers him tea and promises to release him once their discussion is finished. He takes the tea and drinks it without question and besides a wary glare shows no more hostility. She thought him a fool, the tea could have easily been poisoned and promised are nothing but words. His naivete makes her job easier though.

She finds out that he was suspended frozen in the avatar state the last 100 years. And so, Azula informs him of the war and the fire nations crimes, advising him to master the elements if he wants to prevent all his new friends and the avatar cycle from certain destruction. Aang is conflicted, he never asked for any of this. Azula just gives a bitter smile. "The hands of fate were never designed to take requests, they move without regard to any life dependent on it. Dont waste your breath when there is nothing you can do."

Azula wants to see Ozai fail. If helping the avatar is what it takes then so be it. When his friends appear to save him she let's them leave without a fight. Theyll be useful in the future.

As the gaang's travels kick off she sets out to find out if the rumours about the acolytes are true. In this she finds a traveling circus. The youngest daughter and an old friend of hers was eager to escape and found Azula's life exciting. She didn't hesitate after being invited along, insisting that traveling would be easy for her and that she'd pull her own weight.

She encounters the gaang a few times as time goes by. The relationship is reluctant on the water tribe siblings part, they dont trust her and hold a decent amount of fear towards her. Her cold and calculating demeanor was unsettling, but the unhinged way she fought was terrifying. Her form was perfect and her attacks were precise, but the bigger the fight the more lost she became as she laughed and shrieked and occasionally snapped at someone who didnt seem to be there. The only worse reaction was when she zeroed in on one opponent, picking them apart both mentally and physically as she drove them to the ground. )

Things that'll happen as I move through an episode list:

Azula doesn't have her ship attacked do she diesnt run into zhao while doing repairs, instead going straight to ty lee.

Azula learns that the gaang is on kyoshi island and heads ther after them. She has been keeping track of the avatar as they move. Ty lee gets along well with the kyoshi warriors while azula buts heads with them. They dont want her there and azula hates it when people get in the way. Zhao appears to try to capture aang and Azula dips at the same time as the gaang. She tells ty lee she can stay but she insists on sticking with azula. This puts her on edge.

Ty lee gets captured by earth benders, when she escapes on her own she cements her usefulness to Azula.

They run into zhao trying to capture the avatar and azula tells him she'll capture him first. They both attack aang during the solstice, though azula's attacks are all purposefully set to miss and trip up zhao as much as possible. Aang is the best way to prove her father wrong and she's not going to lose that.

They rob the pirates that try to capture the avatar. Azula needs the resources and it gives her leverage over the gaang.

After almost killing ty lee for scaring her by popping up behind her Azula tells her why she was banished. (In more of a "my own mother thought I was a monster" way than an opening up about trauma way.)

Azula learns that zhao has captured aang and frees him. She then sets to reworking her information network as not all of them are scared enough of her to not fail her. She remedies it quickly.

Azula learns that zhao is plotting her assassination and decides it's the perfect moment to fake her death.

Azula enters the north pole to defeat zhao and gain any information she can. Ty lee rades a library during the confrontation. Zhao is surprised and infuriated to see her alive, Azula smiles as she sends him to his death knowing that she is not only helping the avatar but also that he gave her a perfect way to hide from the fire nation. (When news of his sisters death reaches hum, Zuko doesnt know what to think. She was always cruel to him, but she was still his little sister.)

The crown prince of the fire nation is sent to capture the avatar. Azula follows him as he begins his search. (Zuko begins to think he's going insane as he keeps catching glimpses of his recently deceased sister out of the corner of his eye.)

Ty lee keeps running into a girl she slowly befriends. She's gloomy and sarcastic and ty lee thinks Azula would like her. (Zuko's fiance Mai tells him that she thinks his sister is still alive.)

As Azula notices ty lee become more and more distracted as she absorbed herself into the cultures that surround them she decides it's best for them to split up. Ty lee diesnt agree, but Azula leaves anyway. She has work to do.

While traveling alone Azula cant escape the thoughts of her mother. Of her fathers betrayal. Of the life she lost because the idiot elders had no grip on proper strategy that even a child could create. She meets a boy that reminds her far too much of zuko with a mother far to similar to theirs. When she sends the bandits controlling the town running she knows it's more than just controlling a territory that compelled her. But at the same time she doubts not following through on the whim would have bothered her.

Ty lee meets toph and chat for a bit. Ty lee tells her about azula and how she left. When toph tells her she should forget her she insists that azula didnt really ditch her and that they're still friends. They talk about their friends and childhood.

Ty lee finds Azula and immidiently jumps at her, which she does not enjoy. Ty lee insists that she still wants to travel with her and Axula sighs as she let's her tag along to the next location, ba sing se.

Azula slips through guards and protocols as she tries to gain any information she can to help her once they reach the city. Ty lee befriends a guy named jet and his group, the freedom fighters. When he tries to get more than friendship she turns him down and it becomes much more awkward.

Ty lee becomes a street performer and chames everyone she meets as Azula researches the dai lee and how they keep control. After lashing out in frustration ty lee drags her out to enjoy the city's night life.

Azula learns of the presence of the avatar and location of appa. She frees him and sets to work taking control of the dai lee. She let's herself be briefly captured but her plan shifts when katara is thrown in with her. Katara is pissed just being around her and azula plays up a cool kind of annoyance. Katara briefly catches sight of the burns on Azula's back and offers to heal her, only for Azula to freak out and yell at her to stay away, backing against a far wall in a fighting stance. They are saved by the rest if the gaang and ty lee shortly after.

Azula goes back to try and salvage her plan only to be caught off guard by the appearance of her brother and his offer to return to the fire nation. Not willing to lose all possible advantages, she agrees. They battle the gaang, and when they are almost captured azula sends a bolt of lightning at aang, causing them to retreat. Katara can heal him more easily than she can maneuver them out of an execution.

Azula returns to the fire nation with her brother, mai and ty lee, starting the beginning of a large power play between her and her father. They are sent to lo and li beach house. The relationship between the siblings is tense, zuko has always been the child born with nothing who gained everything when his blessed at birth sister lost it all. Azula has always been cruel, but he cant help but let his heart catch on the moments when she's not. ("My own mother thought I was a monster, My father thought i was too difficult to keep around" "Don't let their words blind you, you need to be more careful, zuzu." "I learned the hard way to never turn your back to anyone, and the scars will always be there as a reminder if I need it." )

Azula runs into iroh, who is very disapproving of her presence. He warns her to stay away from zuko and to watch herself while at the palace. Later, zuko comes to her asking about their great grandfather. Upon being pressed he admits that he was sent a mysterious letter. He thought she was going to burn it when he handed it to her but instead the heat from the fire revealed a hidden ink. "Honestly brother, did you ever pay attention at all during lessons?" They find a autobiographical scroll of their great grandfathers life and the secret that their other great grandfather was roku. Azula scoffed at the idea of bloodlines deciding fate and quickly left. But Zuko remained conflicted.

During the day of the black sun Azula confronts Ozai. As iroh and Zuko fight the avatar. She learns that her mother left for zuko's sake and that she was never going to be fire lord. Azula tells him she'll be somthing even better and leaves the palace.

Azula and ty lee follow the gaang to the western air temple. Katara immidprntly attacks but is quickly rendered unable to bend by ty lee. Azula tells them that the only way for them to of gotten out was for Aang to be incapacitated, and she knew katara could heal him. Aang decides they can stay but have to stay distanced from everyone else.

Azula tries to teach aang fire bending but is slowly growing sick while aang is barely able to produce a puff of smoke. Unable to sleep and constantly on edge, it soon affects her bending, sending her spiraling as she loses control on the only consistent power she's ever had. Her and aang journey to find the true source of fire bending to try to help their conditions.

Still sick, Azula is itching to do anything away from the temple. Finding sokka trying to reach the boiling rock to find his father, she decides to go with him as she knows the prison well. Sokka declines but she goes anyway. They dont find his father, but they do find suki. Azula formulates a plan but they postpone when sokka's father arrives.

Azula comes up with a new plan, now reluctant to include sokka. He tells her to trust him but she insists she has no reason to. Her sickness has been getting worse and he tells her she needs to trust him, making her angry. Only when he catches her while they're escaping dies she finally begin to accept trusting him, if only slightly.

(While they're away ty lee tries to convince

Azula goes with Katara to find the man who killed her mother. Azula has no concept of why katara is so upset, which causes her to get angry. But azula tracks the man anyway.

Ember island players- azulas character has the scar across her chest. She's absolutely insane and "not entirely inaccurate, but I'd never come up with such a dumb plan." Shes also heavily implied to be more than close to ty lee, which azula has no reaction to even as the others freak out.

I havent decided the ending, zuko will probably turn to the gaang's side. I'll add more later and maybe write or illustrate a bit.

[jaxsteamblog]

Ambassador

Click here to read the entire fic on AO3

After the daylong comedy of errors, and a scathing phone call from Katara, Zuko and Sokka sat across from each other, staring down at Zuko’s phone. Zuko was sure they were both trying to process everything that happened, but there wasn’t any way for him to begin to understand.

He was still trying to find out if he was going to get in trouble for breaking into the North Pole and breaking his leg. This was completely out of his capacity for logic.

“Could you imagine if it was Katara instead of me who ended up as ambassador?” Sokka asked as they headed toward the private wing.

“Hmm.” Zuko intoned, narrowing his eyes.

“What?” Sokka asked, glancing over.

“I’m trying to figure out if that would be better or worse.” Zuko said.

“I’m going to assume you mean that as a purely hypothetical because you are, of course, thrilled that your best friend is living here now.” Sokka said, shoving Zuko hard enough to make him stumble.

Zuko chuckled, quickly regaining his balance.

“Of course. But I think I’d somehow manage to get even less work done with her around.” He said.

“That’s my sister, dude.” Sokka groaned.

Zuko laughed. But as the night went on, and he lay in bed, he wondered what it would have been like.

“If the Fire Lord is ready,” the assistant said, bowing low, “the White Lotus has arrived.” 

Zuko straightened his robe and stood behind his desk, nodding curtly for the assistant to usher in his guests. 

When the White Lotus announced the ambassador program, he worried about what kind of impression he would make on the diplomats. He was the traitorous son of the now imprisoned usurper Fire Lord. Iroh tried to assure him that the Earth Kingdom delegate was sympathetic, but Zuko didn’t know how fully he believed that.

And neither Sokka nor Katara had given him much of a hint when he asked about the Water Tribe.

“Good to see you again, Zuko.” A subdued voice said and Zuko roused himself.

“Welcome, Master.” He replied, bowing. Piandao waved his hand dismissively, and Zuko tried to calm down as he straightened.

The other members of the White Lotus, excluding Iroh, trickled in.

When Tenzin came into view, Zuko flinched. He could never figure out where he stood with the Air Nomad leader. 

“Fire Lord Zuko, I have the appointments here.” Tenzin said. As the older man walked forward, he held out the dense scrolls; a number of colored seals spilled out from the ends. 

“Thank you.” Zuko said, starting to walk around his desk but halting as his assistant intercepted the scrolls. Of course he couldn’t take his own paperwork.

“Fire Lord.” The assistant said, bowing. Zuko withheld his sigh as he took the scrolls. 

Cracking open the Earth Kingdom seal on one, he quickly scanned the characters. He had no idea who Mr. Ying was, but maybe that was a good thing. No news was good news.

Setting the open scroll on his desk, he neatly split the Water Tribe seal. 

Before he could even read it, his eyes caught on the familiar characters.

“Katara?” He questioned.

“While she does not have a lot of experience,” Tenzin said carefully. “She was appointed by the Avatar herself.” 

“No, that’s fine. It’s just…” Zuko cleared his throat, trying to regain his composure. “I was under the impression that Master Katara was enrolled in medical school.” 

“She’s doing this at the personal request of the Avatar.” Katara’s voice said from behind the door.

“Master Katara, this is highly inappropriate.” Tenzin said, his voice flat.

“Aw come on, you knew this was going to happen.” Katara replied as she stepped into the room. Zuko’s throat dried and he busied himself with rolling up the scroll.

“That’s why I was against this whole thing.” Tenzin sighed.

“Too bad no one can say no to Thuy.” Katara retorted and then turned her attention to Zuko.

“Hi Katara.” Zuko said, unable to stop his smile.

“Hey.” She said with a bright smile of her own.

Dinner that night passed in a blur. Zuko could barely remember talking to the Earth Kingdom ambassador, instead watching Katara engage with the others at her table. For some reason, it made his heart flutter seeing her laugh with the governor of Hira’a.

After dinner, Zuko offered to show Katara around one of the gardens. She agreed readily, and they went out into the cool night, silence finally finding them.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” He asked, when they were far enough away from the palace.

“I wanted it to be a surprise.” Katara said.

“But what about school?” Zuko asked. 

“I was failing out.” She sounded pained, and Zuko grabbed her hand, squeezing it gently.

“I’m sorry.” He said.

“It’s okay. Maybe I’ll go back later, to a smaller school. I know I can do it, but those lecture halls were massive.” She replied and they were quiet again.

There was work to be done with her around, and Zuko knew that rationally. But a lot of the work involved the war, and as he looked over at her, he grew concerned. 

One of the many projects meant to handle the wartime tragedies was paying out reparations and benefits to former POWs. That included Katara’s own father. 

Then there was the subject of her mother. 

“The work is going to be hard.” Zuko said.

“I know.” 

“And personal.”

Katara stopped him, pulling on his hand to make him turn.

“Do you think I can’t handle it?” She asked.

“It’s not that. I’m worried it’s going to hurt you.” Zuko replied. 

Katara took his other hand in hers and gently swung them, looking down at the ground.

“I know it was rash, but I didn’t want to lose this chance.” She said.

“What chance?” Zuko asked.

“Being with you.” Katara looked up at him, a small smile on her face.

Zuko frowned, and her face fell.

“What is it?” She asked.

Zuko took back his hands and held her face, stepping in to kiss her. Katara leaned into him, running her hands up his back. Her lips, her tongue, her breath, everything that he could take in, Zuko took greedily. 

When he did step back, Katara reeled, slightly dazed.

“That was nice.” She murmured. 

“This isn’t like you.” Zuko said.

“What are you talking about?” She asked, a laugh in the background of her words.

“You would never put me before everything else.” Zuko said, then sighed, looking bemused. “As much as I would love that.”

“Of course I would! I love you, Zuko.” Katara said.

“No, you wouldn’t. You would’ve dropped out when I asked you to if that were true. You would always chase your dream to be a doctor, because you love your people more than anything else.” Zuko countered.

“You are my dream.” She said firmly. 

“I am very much not.” Zuko, still holding her face, looked into her eyes. “Plus, you would be terrible at this job.”

“And why’s that?” Katara asked, moving her hands to hold onto his arms. 

“Because if I were to work in any sort of proximity with you, I would be trying to get you alone and in a locked room.”

“Zuko!” 

“You would be amazing. You would fight for your people here, even as the work eroded you. You would balance out all of the hostile mess in my court. You would be bound to the spirit that surrounds my entire country and that, well,” Zuko smiled and Katara’s face flushed. “I don’t want to explain why that intrigues me so much.” 

“So why do you say this isn’t my dream?” She asked.

“Because it’s mine.” Zuko said softly, kissing her again. 

Having her near him was everything he could ever want. He wanted to dress her in red and black, with the blue tied neatly at her neck. He wanted her at court, bearing down on his ministers and governors that constantly stymied his work. He wanted her compassion and her vengeance as he made his penance for the war. 

There would be long nights as they worked together on these projects. He wanted to see her asleep every single night. He wanted to pin a crown in her hair.

“I am going to marry you.” Zuko said.

“Yes.” Katara agreed.

“Blazes, I’ve never wanted anything so badly in my life.” He said, his voice shaking manic energy.

“Nothing?” She asked, coyly.

“Well…” Zuko replied.

Loud knocking made Zuko jolt upright.

“Fire Lord? Your breakfast is ready.” Someone called through his door.

Sitting up, Zuko rubbed his face. 

It had been three days, and he was already back to having these dreams again. 

Gripping his blanket, Zuko looked over at the empty half of his bed.

A broken leg hadn’t been that bad, all things considered.

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[cobra-diamond]

The Unfinished 2nd Half of Zuko’s Journey

Zuko’s journey consists of two parts. The first part we saw in the show; it was Zuko receiving his Uncle’s forgiveness and becoming Fire Lord. The second part we did not see; it is his struggle to restore the honor of the Fire Nation.

The True Ending of Avatar

The ending for Avatar was not Aang and Katara kissing in Ba Sing Se in front of a beautiful sunset followed by the word “The End”.

No, the true ending of Avatar was Zuko’s coronation. That was the moment when you knew the Gaang had accomplished their goals, that their journey was complete and that the Avatar world had changed for good; the Fire Nation’s war was over and Zuko was the Fire Lord who was going to restore the honor of the Fire Nation...

... Going to. He had not done it yet by the show’s end.

Zuko: “I promised my Uncle that I would restore the honor of the Fire Nation, and I will.”

“And I will”... Will. It was a new goal that hadn’t been achieved and you can bet your butt it wasn’t over three months later. Now read the next lines:

Zuko: “The road ahead of us is challenging. A hundred years of fighting has left the world scarred and divided. But with the Avatar's help, we can get it back on the right path, and begin a new era of love and peace.”

The road ahead is “challenging”. “Get it back” on the right path. “Begin” a new era of love and peace.

Restore the honor of the Fire Nation... A Goal.

Begin a new era of love and peace... A Motivation.

The road ahead is challenging... A Conflict.

These are the beginnings of an entirely new story for the franchise; a logical continuation of the original cast that does not erase the significance of what came before. It is the continuation of Zuko’s stated Goals and Motivations at the end of the show where he must change and grow in order to become the Fire Lord that redeems the Fire Nation.

It is the beginning of the second half of Zuko’s journey.

Where Aang’s Journey Ends, Zuko’s Endures

Aang’s journey in the show consists of a single, clear goal with a definite endgame: master all four elements and defeat the Fire Lord. Once Aang masters all four elements, he is ready to face the Fire Lord. Once he defeats the Fire Lord, his journey is over. How he masters all four elements and defeats the Fire Lord, along with the people he meets along the way, is what makes the story deep and compelling. This is where Zuko comes in.

The purpose of Zuko’s journey wasn’t clear for over half of the show. Until Iroh spelled it out for him in Avatar and the Fire Lord, it appeared he was a morally ambiguous wild card who could end up on either side. Why Zuko’s inner turmoil was so important to Aang’s journey was not clear.

Indeed, we did not know the full importance of Zuko’s journey until he stood up to his father in Day of Black Sun. That’s when learned why Zuko was important: he was the crown prince abandoning the evil ways of his country to help the Avatar save the world.

So you’d think that when Zuko helped Aang master firebending, defeated his sister in the Agni Kai and was crowned Fire Lord that his journey was over, right? That being crowned Fire Lord was Zuko’s reward for being a sensitive, gentle soul unlike the ruthless, warmongering norm in his family?

That he’d spend the rest of his days slowly coping with his trauma while enjoying endless, relaxing days of romantic bliss with Mai? That he wouldn’t face internal opposition from the diehards and stalwarts of the old regime? That from the start of his reign he would be leading a Fire Nation that was fully accepting of him and everything he stood for… Right?

Wrong.

The Tragedy of the Fire Nation

In addition to the central conflict of ending the Hundred Year War and Aang’s need to defeat the Fire Lord, there were numerous subtle threads running through the show that gave Avatar its heart and soul: the tragic, lasting effects of war on a people and their culture, the effects of foisting too much responsibility on children, the importance of friendship and having people to lean on, among many others. One of these threads concerned the topic of how decent, normal people can turn bad.

In Season 1, it is revealed that Avatar Roku—a firebender—was a respectable, honorable Avatar despite being a member of the Fire Nation.

In the same season, a Fire Sage helps Aang in his effort to connect with Roku despite being loyal to the Fire Nation and Fire Lord and Avatar.

Aang: “If this is the Avatar's temple, why did the Sages attack me?” Shyu: “Things have changed. In the past, the Sages were loyal only to the Avatar. When Roku died, the Sages eagerly awaited for the next Avatar to return. But he never came.”

In The Blue Spirit, Aang laments to Zuko how one of his best friends was Fire Nation and says to his enemy, “Do you think we could have been friends, too?”

A Fire Nation admiral and firebending master—Jeong Jeong—deserts out of disillusionment with the war.

And Iroh fights Zhao to stop him from destroying the Moon Spirit, to which Zhao does agree, for a moment, until his temper gets the better of him, showing that concern for harmony and balance isn’t a lost concept in the Fire Nation; it’s just buried deep.

In Season 2, Aang rescues the child of Omashu’s occupying governor, ignoring the practical advantages of keeping it as a hostage, and we are explicitly shown how happy this makes the invaders.

In Zuko Alone, Zuko becomes a truly sympathetic character. We are shown how he has always struggled to live up to the expectations of his warmongering family, and leading up to Season 2’s finale, Zuko and Irohs’ disillusionment with their country reaches new heights, showing that the militaristic expectations of the Fire Nation isn’t even embraced by all members of its ruling family.

In Season 3, the Gaang lives in the Fire Nation. We see Fire Nation people, their kids, their towns, their daily lives. Aang is actually excited to be in the Fire Nation because it reminds him how much fun it was before the war.

In Avatar and the Fire Lord, Roku is shown to have been the best friend of the Fire Lord that started the war, but Sozin’s desire and willpower to achieve his goals corrupted him, and in that same episode, Aang comments that friendships can transcend lifetimes, suggesting that the Avatar and the Fire Lord can be friends again. Ultimately, this is proven true when Zuko joins the Gaang, helps them stop the war and becomes friends with Aang.

Toph: “It's like these people are born bad.” Aang: “No, that's wrong. I don't think that was the point of what Roku showed me at all. Roku was just as much Fire Nation as Sozin was, right? If anything, their story proves anyone's capable of great good and great evil. Everyone, even the Fire Lord and the Fire Nation have to be treated like they're worth giving a chance. And I also think it was about friendships.”

Everyone, even the Fire Lord and Fire Nation, have to be treated like they’re worth giving a chance. Even if they don’t ask for it.

But most importantly, at the start of every episode, Katara says the Four Nations used to live together in harmony.

What the show was saying in so many small ways was that the Fire Nation’s war and what its leaders had become were neither normal for the Avatar world nor for the Fire Nation itself. Not even Chin the Conqueror’s conquests of the Earth Kingdom holds a candle to the Fire Nation’s multiple layers of evil, self-interest and disregard for world balance. It was a world first, even for the Fire Nation.

While the existence of the all-powerful Avatar, in theory, helps keep the peace between the four nations, the Fire Nation did not used to be hostile to the other nations. Sozin changed the old Fire Nation, the one that was peaceful and enlightened, that achieved an unprecedented era of prosperity, that convinced Sozin that the Fire Nation was first among equals. The fun, friendly Fire Nation that Aang remembered was lost and it stayed lost for a hundred years…

… And the solution wasn’t to destroy the Fire Nation.

The True Purpose of Zuko’s Journey

Until the series finale, Zuko’s journey appeared to be about him achieving moral redemption for his time spent as a halfhearted, incompetent, semi-accomplice in his nation’s evils. But Zuko did not turn against his father and help the Avatar in order to redeem himself of his sins. No, he turned against his country because he was alienated from it, couldn’t meet its expectations and became disillusioned with its goals. In other words, because it was what Uncle Iroh had taught him.

Zuko’s heart told him that betraying Iroh in Ba Sing Se was wrong and that he needed to right that wrong. To Zuko, doing the right thing meant following Uncle Iroh’s guidance and accepting him as his true father, and to do that required switching sides. Zuko’s redemption was not achieved when he stood up to his father. It was not achieved when he stood victorious over Azula. It wasn’t even achieved when he became Fire Lord at the end of the show. Zuko’s redemption was when Iroh hugged and forgave him. That was the moment of catharsis for Zuko. That was his “redemptive” moment.

Zuko wasn’t redeemed when he showed people he was “good” or “righteous” or “honorable”. Zuko was redeemed when he felt accepted as a son... By his uncle.

Unfortunately, Zuko’s troubles were deeper than his banishment and Agni Kai with his father. In short, he simply didn’t belong in the Fire Nation he was born into.

Zuko was a normal boy born into an abnormal situation that he didn’t have the personality for. He didn’t have the ruthlessness, intelligence, competence, precociousness and raw talent for militarism and totalitarian rule that his sister had, so he failed to live up to his father’s self-serving, power hungry expectations which, in turn, represented the peak of malice, moral corruption and ruling-through-fear that the war had instilled in the country’s leadership.

In fact, Zuko also didn’t live up to the expectations of his country, as revealed by his monologue in Siege of the North Part 2.

Zuko: “She's a firebending prodigy – and everyone adores her.”

Hmm. I wonder who “everybody” is...?

If you think the Fire Nation’s militarism is simply the result of genetic predispositions, I encourage you to read The East Asian Origins of the Fire Nation and Its Villains. It helps shed light on the potential reasons why a “soft” boy like Zuko might struggle in a militaristic culture such as the Fire Nation’s.

So when Zuko finally realized the righteous path and followed it, his story was over, right? He stood up to his father and Iroh forgave him. He showed us that he had a pure heart and was a good person and good, moral people are supposed to be rewarded for their innate qualities, right? What only mattered to Zuko’s journey was that he help the Avatar, vanquish his sister and end the war by royal decree so that a new era of love and peace could begin… Right?

Wrong again. Iroh even says so when he tells Zuko that his journey is not over when they are together in the White Lotus camp in The Phoenix King:

Iroh: “… Someone new must take the throne. An idealist with a pure heart and unquestionable honor. It has to be you, Prince Zuko… And only you can restore the honor of the Fire Nation.”

Until that moment, Zuko had no visions of himself as the ruler of his country, never mind changing anything about it.

Let me repeat that.

Until THAT MOMENT Zuko had no visions of himself as the ruler of his country.

Zuko: “And then... then would you come and take your rightful place on the throne?... I'll try, Uncle.”

Very reassuring words from somebody who believes they’re destiny is to rule a country full of walking flamethrowers. Not. Once more, I encourage you to read The East Asian Origins of the Fire Nation and Its Villains for insight as to why this could go wrong.

To Zuko, the Fire Nation he grew up in is the Fire Nation. As he understood it, his father had to be eliminated, the airships destroyed and the rest of the world defended from what remained of the Fire Nation’s power. Him taking the throne was an afterthought at that point, never mind what to do about his sister.

Perhaps he thought that stopping his father and helping Aang become a fully-realized Avatar would be enough to intimidate Azula and the rest of his country into submission since there did not appear to be a plan to militarily dominate the Fire Nation. However, that’s a topic for another day.

Whatever Zuko thought his endgame was, he didn’t know it, but Iroh knew it. Avatar Roku knew it. The White Lotus knew it and Aang came to know it. Zuko’s journey was not to prove that he is a good person on the inside. It was not to turn against the Fire Nation. It was not to teach Aang firebending. It wasn’t even to defeat his sister and assume the crown. Those were all just means to his journey’s end. Zuko’s journey was, and always has been, to be the Fire Lord that redeems the Fire Nation.

And it wasn’t over when the final credits rolled.

The Two Halves of Zuko’s Journey

Zuko’s journey could be thought of as having two parts. Part one is in the show. It is where Zuko learns why the Fire Nation needs to change and what he needs to do to change it: help Aang, subjugate Azula and become Fire Lord. Part two would be the trials and tribulations that result in the Fire Nation’s redemption, or at least the key events that set it firmly on that path.

Redeeming the Fire Nation, however, is not a process solved by merely wearing the Fire Lord’s crown. It is not enough for him to have a pure heart and have unquestionable honor. He has to make the right choices and answer the hard questions when it comes to weening his country off of war, conquest, colonies and a massive military industry, to say nothing of the culture that supports it.

If “everyone adores” Azula, is everyone going to adore him?

He has to reform the members of the old regime: the generals, admirals, soldiers, nobles and true believers. He has to get the people who are resentful of him on his side. This is not a simple, good versus evil, 3 months later having tea in Ba Sing Se kind of problem. Do you really think Zuko is going to hold mass executions, imprison families and burn books like certain Chinese emperors of old? Or will his “pure heart” and “unquestionable honor” collide with the realities of the post-war Fire Nation?

Will the broken, anemic state of the Royal Family be important? Without old-man Iroh, the ruling family is just him, himself and himself. Will Azula’s ability to create heirs be left to shrivel to dust in the asylum? Ew! Gross!! But that’s a question Zuko has to ask; that’s how power is transferred in his government, and at the end of the show, it’s only him.

Will he even try to get Azula on his side? Does he need Azula on his side? If so, for what purpose? What role will his mother play in the government? Can he simply allow Iroh to be a “multinational agent” via the White Lotus? Will he have to force Iroh to put the Fire Nation first? Will the nobility and military see the state of the Royal Family as a weakness that must be fixed... Or be replaced?

Who will oppose Zuko? Who will follow him? What mistakes will he make? What will he get right?

How will Zuko struggle, how will he change and grow in order to become the Fire Lord that redeems the Fire Nation?

If you thought the reward for finishing hard work is not having more hard work to do, then you’re probably not an adult.

That is the unfinished second half of Zuko’s journey, that we didn’t get to see.

But don’t worry; the hard work ahead for Zuko is the basis for Season 4.

[naga-and-appa]

Unconventional

Written for @sassydoilies as part of @atla-secret-santa. I hope you enjoy it!

Read on AO3.

Iroh eyed the sulking Toph sitting at one of the tables in his shop as he headed back to the counter after giving tea to a customer. The earthbender had claimed the same spot in the Jasmine Dragon for several days, and though Iroh would never send her away, he was rather worried that he was still as sullen as she’d been when she’d arrived in the city.

Glancing around to make sure there were no customers who needed him, Iroh headed for the small corner table where Toph had propped her feet up. Despite not having her feet on the ground, she heard him coming, and she at least guessed who was pulling out the chair across from her because she didn’t say a thing as Iroh sat down.

“I have to say, Toph,” he began, “I wasn’t expecting to see you in Ba Sing Se for a while. Not that I don’t appreciate the visit, but we both know it’s not your favorite place to be, and I definitely wasn’t expecting you to come alone whenever you returned.”

Toph’s bottom lip protruded slightly as she picked at a loose string on her shirt.

“It’s not as bad here as it used to be,” she said with a shrug.

Iroh couldn’t help but sigh. He reached for the untouched teapot that he’d sat by Toph hours ago. Holding his hand against the porcelain, Iroh quickly had the tea at a proper temperature again. He poured a cup and pushed it towards Toph, careful to place it far enough away from her feet that she wouldn’t send it flying across the shop on accident. He was quite fond of the set he’d given her.

“Still,” Ioh said, taking a sip of his own tea, “I take it that something prompted the trip. Last I heard you were quite busy in Republic City.”

Toph snorted, but she reached for her tea and took a sip, which Iroh considered its own victory.

“It’s kind of busy, yeah,” she said with a shrug. “It’s not that bad. There’s just so many people around all the time. It gets kind of loud.”

Iroh didn’t bother to mention that Ba Sing Se still had significantly more people than Republic City. Toph didn’t need to be told that. He understood that Toph’s standing as a friend of Avatar Aang meant something very different in Republic City than it did in his tea shop in Ba Sing Se. Toph had been recognized a few times since she’d arrived, but no one was demanding her help on anything like he imagined certain people were back in the place she currently called home.

“Ah, so this is a relaxing vacation of sorts,” Iroh said. “Tea is a good aid in that, but if it's relaxation that you want, I have other recommendations that you might enjoy. There are far better things to do than just sitting around here all day.”

Toph squirmed, her face contorting as she considered the offer.

“Maybe,” she muttered before taking another drink of tea. “I don’t really care. Sokka was just being a pain, and I needed to get away. I didn’t think much about what I’d do once I got here.”

Her cheeks turned pink, and Iroh couldn’t help but smile, glad that Toph’s feet were still propped up so she couldn’t see. It felt like they were finally getting closer to answers about the mystery of her arrival. Iroh hadn’t been oblivious to how she and Sokka had begun to behave around each other as they got older. Since Toph had become an adult, it had only been clearer, though Iroh could also tell that very little had actually happened between them.

He allowed himself a small chuckle though and pretended not to notice Toph’s stiff posture.

“Despite never having been on the receiving end of it myself, I do understand that Sokka can be on the intense side once he gets into one of his plans.”

Toph’s frown deepened.

“Yeah,” she said into the tea. “But that’s not really…”

She hesitated and downed the rest of her tea before she decided how to continue voicing her thoughts. Straightening her shoulders, she said, “Sokka’s actually not talking to me much at all. He does when he has to, about important stuff, but other than that… Nothing. And I don’t get why, so I tried to ask him, but he got even weirder and said a bunch of stuff about how everything’s normal and I should stop reading into stuff. So, I got annoyed and left.”

Iroh watched her closely, noting the expressions that passed across her face unwillingly. He wondered if Toph understood what was causing Sokka’s distance more than she was letting on. There had been a handful of times where she’d let her guard down for Iroh over the years, but most of the time, she kept such walls up that Iroh genuinely wasn’t sure what she was thinking. He couldn’t read her with quite the same efficiency as he could Zuko.

He poured her another cup of tea.

“That does sound frustrating,” he said. “I can understand why you needed a break. Though I must say, leaving the city doesn’t do much in the way of getting him to speak to you, does it?”

Toph snorted.

“No,” she admitted. “Obviously not.”

They fell silent. Iroh busied himself with sipping his tea, giving Toph the time she needed to consider her next words.

“I want to stay a few more days,” she said. “Then I’ll go back.”

Iroh smiled gently before getting up to greet a newly arrived customer.

<hr>

Toph had come to Ba Sing Se to be left alone. Okay. So, she had also been hoping for a bit of wisdom from Iroh, but other than that, she had hoped to be left alone. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew that Aang and Katara would be leaving the Northern Water Tribe soon, and it wasn’t much of a stretch that they’d stop at Ba Sing Se for a visit with Iroh on their way back to Republic City.

It wasn’t surprising, but it was somehow unexpected. And unwelcome.

Toph knew that she looked hostile despite Aang and Katara being two of her closest friends. Aang had greeted her and stuttered out an excuse about seeing some of the city before fleeing the tea shop. Katara was braver. She was still sipping on her tea across from Toph at the table. Her gaze flickered over to the younger woman frequently, but she didn’t speak.

“Just ask,” Toph said with a scowl. “I know you want to, and this silence is getting to me.”

“We didn’t expect you to be here,” Katara said. “Not that seeing you isn’t a welcome surprise. We just thought it would be a few more days. And you seem a little…”

“Grumpy?” Toph finished once Katara’s waffling was too much to handle.

Katara sighed, her shoulders slumping.

“Yes, that,” she said. “Did something happen while we were gone?”

Toph snorted and downed the rest of her tea in one go, a move that would have scandalized Iroh if he’d seen it.

“When doesn’t something happen in Republic City? That place can’t go two seconds without some kind of crisis.”

Katara pressed her lips together but didn’t say anything. They both knew it was true. It was probably expected in a place that was so new compared to the places that surrounded it, not that knowing that made it any easier to deal with.

“You’re not this sullen because of something with Republic City,” Katara pointed out, leaning in close to avoid being overheard by the other customers. Not that any of them particularly cared to listen to their conversation. Toph could tell that not a single one of them had recognized who they were.

She shrugged in response to Katara’s words. Leaning back in her chair, she propped her feet up on the table. She didn’t want to see the way Katara was watching her anymore, though she still heard the noise of embarrassment Katara made in response, and she could imagine Katara looking self-consciously at the other customers even though she couldn’t see it.

It was silent for a moment before Katara spoke again, a slight hint of nerves in her voice.

“Is this about Sokka?”

Toph froze. Had she been that obvious? She had genuinely thought that Katara hadn’t noticed a thing. Or maybe that was just what she had hoped. She was suddenly grateful that she had her feet propped up and couldn’t sense Katara’s satisfaction in her body language. Her cheeks were warm, and that was mortifying enough.

“It is,” Katara said with satisfaction. She deflated a second later. “I thought things were changing between the two of you. Especially after…”

She trailed off awkwardly, but Toph didn’t need her to finish. They both knew that things had started changing after Sokka and Suki had mutually decided to call it quits. Toph was grateful not to have it spoken aloud.

“Did he do something to screw things up?” Katara asked instead.

Toph snorted and tilted her head back towards the ceiling in a thinly veiled attempt to hide the expression on her face.

“I don’t know what you’re on about, Katara, but since when does Sokka do anything without screwing it up?”

Katara didn’t answer, but Toph sensed that she’d fallen into deep thinking mode, which was more than Toph could bear in the moment. She dropped her feet to the ground, trying to ignore the return of sensing Katara’s body language.

“I’m going to practice some bending,” Toph muttered, hurrying from the shop before Katara could stop her.

<hr>

Toph breathed in deeply and focused on the ground beneath her. The rocky outcropping in the park was her favorite place in the city. The only downside was that the rocks had clearly been put there through human intervention. They didn’t have the deep connections to the earth that rocks often did. Even where the ground had been dug out to place them in the ground, Toph felt that the soil didn’t cling to the rock the way it would if they’d had a longer relationship with each other.

That didn’t matter because it was all she had in the city. Most of the time, the amount of metal in the place didn’t bother her. If anything, it gave her a chance to show off her metalbending, but now and then, she couldn’t escape the desire to be among the dirt and rocks that she was so intimately familiar with.

She felt Sokka approaching long before he thought she could. It wasn’t surprising that he’d find her eventually. Katara had implied that she was going to speak to him when Toph had accompanied her and Aang back to the city, and Toph’s protests hadn’t done a thing to change the waterbender’s mind. Toph watched as Sokka moved a little closer to her chosen spot only to freeze and backtrack a few steps. The process repeated itself over and over, gradually bringing Sokka to where Toph sat on top of one of the larger rocks in the outcrop.

When he got closer, the racing of his heart was even more apparent. Toph almost wanted to smirk at the thought of speaking to her creating such a response in him, but she was too angry to do anything but scowl before calling out, “What do you want?”

It was a testament to how much time they’d spent together that Sokka didn’t jump despite Toph detecting his presence while her back was to him. He walked around the rock to face her but didn’t make any moves to climb on it himself.

“To talk,” he said unnecessarily.

They fell into an awkward silence for just a second. It felt like a competition, and Toph didn’t want to be the one to break it. But the way Sokka’s heart was racing even faster than when he’d been approaching her left Toph thinking he’d be taking a while, and she was impatient.

“So now you want to talk?” she asked, crossing her arms against her chest. “You sure didn’t for the last month.”

Sokka reached up and tugged on his hair nervously as he answered.

“I guess if I say that I was busy with work you won’t believe me?”

Toph didn’t bother with a response. Sokka sighed and shifted on his feet before climbing onto the rock Toph was on. He wasn’t the best climber and slid backwards a few times. Toph remained silent until he was sitting cross-legged across from her on the rock.

“I get it,” he said flatly. “I’m an idiot, and I probably always will be.”

Toph snorted, the closest thing to a smile that she’d shown all day forming on her lips.

“Yeah, I already knew that. I just didn’t think you were the kind to completely avoid your problems, Sokka. Especially like that.”

The brief silence that fell between them then was more comfortable than any of the ones before. Sokka’s eyes were on Toph, and despite her face being turned away, Toph kept her palm pressed firm to the rock, analyzing Sokka’s every move.

“You’re right,” he said. “I should have told you that I had feelings for you, but I was worried about how you’d react.”

“Really?” Toph retorted. “You think I don’t like you too? I know you’re an idiot, Sokka, but that’s even—”

“No,” he said with a sigh. “I thought you did like me, but we’ve known each other for so long that I wasn’t sure how to handle it. You don’t do anything conventionally, Toph. Even though I know you, I don’t know you like that. Not yet at least. Making some kind of romantic speech or something didn’t seem like what you’d want. You’d probably punch me or something, but I didn’t know what to do. So, I avoided the whole thing instead. I figured I’d deal with it later. But then you ran off to Ba Sing Se before I could.”

“I’m sure you coming here now has everything to do with self-reflection while I was gone and not with Katara biting your head off the second we got back,” Toph said, tilting her head to the side and grinning.

She felt Sokka’s heart speed up in embarrassment. He scratched at his head and averted his eyes.

“That was a good motivator too,” he admitted. “But I would have done it soon anyway. It was getting ridiculous, wasn’t it?”

Toph snorted and leaned forward to punch Sokka on the arm. He let out a shout and moved away, rubbing at the spot where she’d made contact.

“You didn’t want to make a confession because I’d punch you or something, right?” she said as she sat back. “I had to prove your fears right.”

Sokka grumbled, but there was a grin on his face. He moved to sit beside Toph instead of across from her. Closer together, Toph’s nerves, which had been abating, returned in full force. Her fingers pressed hard into the stone, and she struggled to keep her breathing even as she felt Sokka’s eyes on her.

For a second, she waited for him to do something, but then she realized that was ridiculous. He’d already proven that he could take ages to do anything.

With a grunt of frustration, Toph grabbed his collar and pulled him into a kiss. Sokka let out a humph against her lips before returning the kiss. Both of them were smiling when they pulled away, but Toph quickly schooled her face into a frown, waving a finger in Sokka’s face.

“Try not to ignore me again,” she said firmly, smirking when Sokka swallowed nervously.

“Of course not,” he promised, relaxing slightly after Toph slugged him on the arm a second time.

[bellatrixobsessed1]

Zuko's personality fits the stereotype of a bully. He is an asshole, aggressive, possessive, mean.

Azula is a mean-bitch. uses manipulation and fear to control others.

If Zuko hadn't been influenced by Ursa and Iroh,Zuko would be the same or worse than Azula.

anti-azula can suck a d*ck, your precious Zuko is not a saint. Zuko improved as a person thanks to his uncle and the gaang. Azula had no one to help her to be a better person

(I like Azula because she's a bitch, I like Zuko because he's an asshole, neither of them is a saint)

This ask is a little harder for me to answer. I hope that this doesn’t sound rude but I’m trying not to let my ask box be an outlet for anger. Though I do 100% understand wanting a place to let it all out without having to fear backlash for more unpopular and controversial takes. So I’ll try to answer this in a way that’s fair to everyone. 

Basically I agree with the sentiment here; I’m not fond of the double standards that the fandom tends to have for Zuko and Azula. And I do see it coming from both Azula & Zuko fans. 

Honestly, despite some of the wording I think that this is pretty close to my own take; Azula and Zuko have both done some shit. They both came from a really hostile and unstable environment and this upbringing led to them both doing bad things. 

I’ve mentioned before but Zuko is definitely really loud. Even redeemed he can get very loud and aggressive. Because he also relapses sometimes. And I do agree that he can be dangerously possessive--I have the scene where he throws Roun Jian into a vase just for talking to Mai. Like he literally did the classic ‘my girl can’t talk to other men’ thing. And that’s not healthy behavior. It’s a sign of insecurity. 

Zuko has burned Kyoshi Island. He tried to capture and kill Aang. The whole thing with Katara and her necklace was really shady. He’s done some bad shit too and just like a redeemed Azula wouldn’t get a pass for killing Aang or taking over Ba Sing Se, Zuko shouldn’t get a free pass either. 

And even redeemed Zuko gets loud and impulsive at times. 90% sure that in The Promise he was wrestling with a side of him that was like Ozai and the the promise that the comic was named for was literally Aang’s promise to take him down if he ever got as bad as Ozai. Because even he acknowledged that that side was there. And I think he’s afraid of it. Which is the sad nature of some abuse cases. 

Does it make him an evil or bad person? No. But he’s also not his soft uwu boi either. 

And as you said; Azula has definitely done some shit. I’ve talked about this several times but Azula wasn’t a good friend. I feel bad for her because she never had the social skills or tools to know how to be a good friend. I do think that she did genuinely care about TyLee & Mai. But it doesn’t change that she did manipulate and toy with them. 

Likewise with Zuko. I do think that she really cared about him and I do think that it hurt her when he left. But also she wasn’t good to him. She used him at times and she manipulated him too. 

She literally imitated Ozai. She is pretty much an embodiment of Fire Nation propaganda and how it corrupts people. Azula definitely has done some fucked up shit. I just don’t think that it makes her irredeemable or a complete monster. Imo she’s way too young to get written off as unsalvageable. 

I think that the huge difference between he and Azula is that he did have proper guidance and the intervention that Azula didn’t. The scrip could have easily been flipped and that’s why it’s really hard for me to understand how some Zuko fans condemn Azula while excusing Zuko and how some Azula fans condemn Zuko while excusing Azula.

Like you said; Zuko had people to point him in the right direction. Azula had Ozai and strong wartime propaganda and indoctrination. Azula was groomed for war in a way that Zuko wasn’t. And because of that she didn’t get a chance to heal in canon. And that very well could have been Zuko. As the oldest son he could have been the golden child that got groomed while Azula got tossed aside as ‘the useless second born’. 

I think that there’s bias on both sides to a degree and that it has just created a double standard. Which is a damn shame imo because that massively takes away from the complexities of both Azula & Zuko and the very deep and realistic portrayal of what an abusive home could look like. As well as how war, propaganda, and travel/learning all comes into play. 

Sometimes people seem to reduce it to ‘I like x character better so they can do no wrong and I don’t like y character so they can only do wrong’. And I don’t think it’s that simple. 

Azula and Zuko are both fantastically written so it sucks to see both of them get torn apart. It also kinda sucks to see both of them get reduced to ‘soft cinnamon roll uwu’

The very thing that makes both of them so compelling is that they are multi-faceted. That they both have good and evil in them. Basically, they are realistic. They feel authentic, like they could be real people. 

I might be starting to ramble lol. But yeah, I think that I agree with this ask on principal even if the wording of it is harsh. xD Like, ya got the spirit anon! I feel like it’s more galaxy brain to like Azula because or despite that she’s a bitch  (or to like Zuko because or desptie that he’s an asshole). It’s like you like the character for exactly who they are. If that makes sense. 

Of course I don’t think that it hurts to have soft/fluff headcanons to lighten the mood and stuff like that. 

Anyhow I’m about to head to bed so I’m gonna end my rambles here. 

[secretlyatargaryen]

I’ve read a lot of analysis of Zuko’s fever dream and the blue dragon/red dragon dichotomy, mostly focusing on how these represent Zuko’s internal conflict with his own morality, but I think there’s another interesting interpretation.

This dream is, in part, a “what could be” scenario for Zuko, with him on the throne, torn between good and bad, represented by Iroh and Azula, respectively, because those are the two people who most prominently represent these things in his life. It’s not entirely that, and the fact that Zuko is without his scar in the dream shows us that this is a future that can never be. In that case it’s a “what could have been” and a symbol of Zuko’s own desperate desire to fix what he thinks his problems are, and a hint that what Zuko is trying to regain, his place by his father’s side as the beloved crown prince, never really existed in the first place. This also shows us that this is a future that Zuko cannot quite believe in himself. I’ve written before about Zuko’s seemingly contradictory feelings towards his birthright and how I don’t think he ever really saw himself on the throne, and I think this is another hint that this is the case. In this dream, Zuko is sitting on the throne, but the reality we see is one that isn’t quite real.

The fact that he imagines Azula, and not Ozai, as the blue dragon shows the audience what a powerful influence Azula has over him (and also foreshadows Azula’s influence in leading him to betray Iroh underneath Ba Sing Se). It’s interesting because we might think the blue dragon would be Ozai, especially when contrasted with Iroh, as the two father figures in Zuko’s life, but it’s Azula who is contrasted with Iroh here. This does not mean Azula is a more powerful influence than Ozai, but rather it shows that Azula’s influence is different, more direct and tangible in Zuko’s mind. I do think that this is evidence that Zuko sees Azula as both someone who has power over him and someone he is afraid of. This is, after all, a nightmare, and the blue dragon’s appearance here is very dark and threatening. But his fear of her is very different from his fear of Ozai. Whereas Zuko views Azula as an antagonist, represented here as a negative and threatening presence vs Iroh’s positive and nurturing presence, Zuko doesn’t view his father as an antagonist. And interestingly, once Zuko does realize his father’s abuse towards him, he views Ozai as Aang’s antagonist. His standing up to Ozai is focusing on how he believes that it is Aang’s destiny to defeat his father. I actually think that Zuko is so afraid of Ozai that he can’t perceive of him as an enemy that he can face alone, even on the Day of Black Sun. Zuko is perfectly capable of facing Azula in battle (even though Azula is also abusive to Zuko) but the one time he faced Ozai in battle, he was so terrified that he couldn’t fight back. He does redirect lightning at his father when he finally stands up to him, and the fact that he brought his swords with him, and carefully planned to confront Ozai on a day when he knew Ozai would not be able to use his bending, shows that Zuko was prepared to fight back if he had to, but I think this was something he wanted to avoid and something he wasn’t confident that he could win. At the end of book 2, Zuko is certainly not capable of confronting his father even in a psychic fever dream.

In Zuko’s dream, both Azula and Iroh seem to represent what Zuko could become if he were on the throne. Azula is the abused child who never got free of her father’s toxic influence and become totally indoctrinated in the Fire Nation’s imperialistic worldview, while Iroh represents the freedom to choose good. But the threat that Azula poses in this dream is more than just an existential one. I also think that Azula here could represent a possible future for Zuko, were he to inherit his father’s throne.

Blue dragon: [In Azula's voice.] It's getting late. Are you planning to retire soon, my lord?

Zuko: I'm not tired.

Blue dragon: [Into Zuko's ear.] Relax, Fire Lord Zuko. Just let go. Give in to it. Shut your eyes for a while.

Zuko slowly starts to shut his eyes but widely opens them upon hearing the other dragon.

Red dragon: [In Iroh's voice.] No, Fire Lord Zuko! Do not listen to the blue dragon. You should get out of here right now. Go! Before it's too late! [Both dragons are poised to either side of Zuko.]

Blue dragon: Sleep now, Fire Lord Zuko.

The dragons disappear, and the room they're in, as well as the guards watching Zuko, crumble to nothing. The blue dragon reappears in front of him. Two golden eyes appear, followed by the face of the blue dragon, which closes rapidly.

Blue dragon: Sleep. [Voice grows louder and more hostile as it continues talking.] Just like mother!

The blue dragon in the dream behaves similarly to the way Azula does. She is manipulative, offering temptation with an implicit threat behind it which becomes more explicit by the end of the dream, while the red dragon with Iroh’s voice urges Zuko not to listen, just as Iroh urges Zuko not to listen to Azula when Zuko is awake.

I’ve read analysis of this scene that suggest that it show’s Zuko’s fears about what might have happened to his mother and that he believes on some level that she is dead, which I agree with, but I also think it represents a fear of what he thinks might happen to him if he were to take the throne. This also answers the question of why neither Ozai or Azula seem particularly bothered by the fact that Zuko is the heir to the throne, despite their obvious disdain for him, and why neither of them are bothered by him being reinstated as heir in book 3. There are two possibilities here.

1) Zuko takes the throne but is weak and easily manipulated by Azula, who becomes the true influence on the throne, represented by the blue dragon whispering in his ear and telling him not to worry and just “give in,” which Zuko does not want to do.

2) Zuko takes the throne but is killed by Azula, who takes the throne for herself, or Azula kills him before he can inherit the throne, or Azula usurps him in a similar way to what Ozai did with Iroh. This also goes with the idea that Zuko believes that his mother is dead, especially since his mother disappeared at the same time that Ozai took control of the throne, and the fact that at the end of the dream, the blue dragon tells him to “sleep, like mother” seems to imply that Zuko believes that what happened to his mother will also happen to him.

This is an interesting interpretation because it shows that the threat here is not just one against Zuko’s soul (although there is that, too) but that he believes on some level that his future as the crown prince is literally a threat to his life.

I also think it’s interesting that although the red dragon is portrayed as a positive and protective influence, telling him to go before it’s too late, it also appears vaguely threatening. This is because believing Iroh, and embracing the destiny that Iroh wants him to embrace, is a threat to the carefully constructed psyche that Zuko has built in order to cope with his situation. If it were easy, then it wouldn’t be a crossroads of destiny. This is also why it is ultimately important for Zuko to choose good for himself, and not because Iroh is pushing him to, which also is related to Zuko’s fears of being controlled even from a seeming position of power.

[lostinmagic]

Zuko’s Growth

For having a TINY bit of empathy, for daring to say that his father’s plan was too harsh, young Zuko is forced to battle his father but refuses to fight his own kin, pleading that he didn’t mean to show disrespect (tears streaming down his face). Not fighting was an act of strength, but his father viewed it as shameful and weak. And for this Zuko is burned and permanently scarred, by his own father, a man who’s supposed to love him. And then he’s exiled unless he can find and capture the Avatar— which is a lost mission, a hopeless cause. Until Aang wakes up.

So what does Zuko do?

He stamps his empathy down.

He tries to bury all the good parts of him given to him by his mother. He buries that spark under anger, bitterness, resentment, and hostility. From the beginning of season one he is fighting a war with himself— but we barely see it because the internal conflict comes out as rage and hatred. It’s hard to live a life fueled only by hate and it takes its toll on Zuko, making him short-tempered and belligerent (which we know isn’t the real Zuko— The only thing that’s twisting him into “evil” is his chase of the avatar. If you take that away he’s just a teen who’s been abused and raised to believe the wrong things. His anger and frustration and short temper come from what he’s been through and constantly being at war with himself, but when he unlearns that and changes, they turn into more docile versions of themselves. He still has a sharp tongue but it’s more bark than bite. And he shows a willingness to learn and listen from the gaang rather than lose his patience at the drop of a hat).

Iroh sees this struggle in Zuko and he does his utmost to keep that spark in him alive and bring it back out. He never loses hope for Zuko, but Zuko is too far gone at the time to really realize what his uncle is trying to do for him. Zuko is bent on regaining his honor, forcing his way back into his old life, when in reality he doesn’t fit there anymore (and he eventually sees this after all his travels; that he’s changed too much). His only destiny, future, is that set by his father and he can see no further.

But change begins when he experiences kindness by strangers. When he sees the destruction the Fire Nation has brought to innocent people. When he saves Aang as the blue spirit and wonders about Aang asking if they would have been friends. When he lives in the Earth kingdom happily with his uncle in the tea shop, learning what a quiet and normal life feels like. When he meets Katara and reaches out first, when she almost heals him. When he frees Appa, and the battle for good over evil resurfaces (it’s the first time his internal struggle spills over into his waking life, especially that we as viewers get to see; I mean- he physically falls ill, showing us how this battle has taken a toll on him all these years)

But his thoughts of home have forever tormented him. He needs to see with his own eyes what the reality of being back home would be like. So he pushes away Iroh, fighting against his Uncle and everyone else, joining his sister, whom he doesn’t really trust. He needs to come to terms with the fact that at the end of season two, he made the utmost wrong choice. He has to face all that- feel the anger at himself for his choices (the beach scene), for his past, for the course his life has taken. Zuko back in the fire nation is Zuko wrestling with his destiny. Wrestling with realizing that he can make a new life, a new path, a new destiny for himself. And it doesn’t have to involve the Fire Nation.

And then he does it, he finds that moment in facing his father where he shakes off the chains of his abuse and childhood trauma and forges his own destiny. He realizes that his honor is not dependent upon his father’s approval. He rebukes his father for the abuse he put him through and claims Iroh as his true father. Fast forwarding a little—when he and Iroh meet again, and Zuko breaks downs, that’s the ultimate moment of healing for him. Because he expects, as a result of his betrayal, to be hated, to be punished, to be outcast because that’s what his father did to him. Old Zuko would have likely left and not even entered the tent, because it wouldn’t be worth getting hurt again. But this time, he goes in. He needs to say sorry. Because besides his mother, (whom he thinks is dead) he has never had anyone else care for him. And that’s what Iroh offers him, forgiveness and unconditional acceptance. And it heals a huge hole in Zuko’s heart.

Part of Zuko’s continual healing is with Aang and everyone. When he comes to them, truly ready to fight alongside them, no one believes him (naturally) because of his past. He shows growth when Katara drenches him with water and shoves him backwards because he doesn’t react. That’s huge for Zuko. Before, he likely would have immediately became angry and fed up at trying to convince the group he was good and would have said something like “fine! I thought I would help, but I’m out!” or he would have fought back, doing something irrationally. But he doesn’t. He stays, on his knees. He’s learned that anger and stubbornness won’t get him anywhere, and he won’t go away or stop trying to get them to trust him.

Additionally, when Zuko accompanies Aang, Sokka, and Katara on individual quests, he learns not only how to work with them, but also to respect all three of them. He lets Sokka take the lead and plan the missions, he doesn’t judge Katara for wanting revenge, and he stands side by side with Aang to learn about the true source of fire power. His growth isn’t shown merely by words, but is backed up by action. This is crucial.

More symbolism comes when his fire power is all of the sudden too weak. Because he’s only been taught to use hate and anger as fuel. And his rage and hate burned and burned before because of his past and all he had been through. But now, that’s gone and he doesn’t want to build upon that again! So he journeys with Aang and learns that at its heart, fire is energy, and is life giving. So he shifts and welcomes that in, and his power is larger and stronger than ever before (evidenced by when he duels his sister in the finale).

And lastly, the end. When he sees Mai alive and well, and on his side, he never looks more at peace. For the first time in his life he has true family and true friends. He belongs. He has made peace with his past and his mistakes and looks to build a future as Fire Lord to correct the past and bring life to the four nations. He has finally found his purpose —one that he defined and created and the peace and joy radiating off his face in the end says it all.

[edelweiss123]

It still baffles me...

...that the writers of a kid's show who were willing to blatantly address various heavy topics on-screen such as revenge, war, torture, racism, famine, sexism, ableism, child abuse, abandonment, and fucking GENOCIDE, with gravity and aplomb...

...still somehow thought that "literal 12-year-old doesn't end up with his first crush" would be a deal-breaker.  Like...?

Okay.  First, a disclaimer.  I am a die-hard Zutara shipper. I'm also really fond of MaiLee and Taang, independent of that, and really don't care for Maiko, but that's topic for a different post.  None of the points I’m going to go over have anything to do with those pairings.

But EVEN IF I didn't feel that there were far better canon characters for Katara and Aang to end up with respectively...

Kataang, as it is written in canon, is sad and weird and uncomfortable to me, and here's why:

The Dynamic

Maybe if the characters had been, say, 16 and 18 when they first met, this wouldn't be a problem.  But Aang is 12 and Katara's 14.  And their maturity gap is far larger than a mere two years.

Aang, despite being well traveled and the burden of Avatarhood on his shoulders, is also a very *young* 12.  Remember, up until the iceberg, he's lived a pretty idyllic, mostly responsibilty free life.  He's only known he was the Avatar for like, a month, tops, before that.  Sure, the other monk children don't play with him after this reveal, but it's well established he has friends all over the globe; he's a prodigy, yes, with all the pressure that can bring, but it doesn't appear he was pushed to master air so fast?  He just very much enjoys airbending.  And Gyatso is a loving guardian.

Which is why he runs away at the first sign of something difficult in his life--the possibility of losing Gyatso.

Compare this to Katara, who was born in a hostile landscape amongst a struggling people.  She is, as far as she knows, the last of her kind, with no teacher to guide her.  She suffers a traumatic loss young, and it is *explicitly stated in the show* that she stepped up to fill her mother's shoes at what, 7? 8? While her family grieved.  Her father leaves, possibly to never return, when she is 11.  She is laden with responsibility beyond her years.  Her time and energy are not for her to spend on herself--she has too much to do.  *She is not a child*

So of *course* she starts mothering this wide-eyed cheerful boy, who got taken away by the same people who murdered her mother within a day of meeting him.  He's the Avatar but he's also an innocent kid in need of protection and care.

Now, does that mean she never acts immature?  No--she *is* still a teenager, and prone to occasional bouts of typical teenager dumbassery. (see: waterbending scroll).  But she does most of the chores and nags the others about their misbehavior and tries to console them when when they're down. She literally poses as Aang's mother at a PTA meeting.  For fucks sake, at the end of Season 2, when she's holding a dead Aang sprawled in her arms and looking pleadingly at the sky, there is NO WAY you can convince me all those art students storyboarding that scene WEREN'T making an intentional reference to *La Pieta*--You know, that super famous statue where Mary is cradling her dead Savior son (before he gets resurrected) and that is widely considered one of the most poignant examples of MOTHERLY LOVE AND GRIEF in the whole WORLD.

And I don't know about you... but it's really, really creepy to me for a *romantic* relationship to result from something with that much mother/son energy deliberately coded into the show.

The Lack Of Development

At what point does Katara reciprocate the crush? It's very well established that Aang has a crush, of course.  But we've got 61 episodes and basically no definitive evidence that Katara feels anything for Aang beyond platonic affection.  There's the time a fortune teller says she'll marry a powerful bender and she's like, 'huh' (let's ignore the fact that Aang at the time is like the only powerful bender she really knows).  There's the time she (almost?) kisses Aang in a cave because, you know, she thinks they might stay lost forever and starve to death if she doesn't (romantic!)  

The other two times Aang kisses her--she's just kind of shocked after the first one, and gets mad after the second one because she *had just expressed a desire to not do so seconds before*  And the fourth kiss is in the literal last 30 seconds of the show, with no dialogue, no lead-up, just a fade to black "welp this is happening, aaaand, SCENE."  It very, very much has the feeling of "hero gets the prize/girl" instead of "two people who have been mutually longing for each other come together", and that's really, really gross to me.  It does such a disservice to both their characters, but Katara's especially.  It feels like she had no agency in this result, that they got together because Aang wanted it so much, but it matters so little what she wanted that we don’t even need to bother showing her wanting it.

The Stunting/Regression of Character Growth

What does Aang sacrifice? The answer?  Nothing.  'Now, wait a minute', I can hear you say, 'he lost his entire people and culture!  How can you say he's lost nothing!'  I didn't say he's never suffered *loss*.  But having something taken away from you and giving something up for another's sake are two entirely different things.  Aang, in the end, gets everything he wanted--the girl he wanted, his pacifist morals intact and unchallenged, his culture eventually restored.  Hell, he even somehow gets the Avatar State, despite never explaining how he manages it when it was EXPLICITLY STATED he couldn't do so without letting go of certain attachments.  Wow, guess it turns out he never needed to sort out all of his emotional trauma to acheive inner peace and enlightenment after all--just needed a good acupressure session to get those chakras flowin'! One quick magic whack to the back!

I don't think 'the hero is always right' is a good message.  The theme of 'just because you want something doesn't necessarily mean it's what's good for you, or others' is a pretty recurring theme throughout the rest of the show, and having the universe warp itself to accomodate the beliefs of the protagonist  (lookin' at you, deus-ex-machina turtle) so he is always right, no matter what, means that he never has to reevaluate his beliefs, never really has to *grow* as a character.  

Kya, Ursa, Yue, Iroh, Hakoda, Katara, Sokka, Zuko--hell, even Toph, who makes the decision to let Appa get taken so she can save her friends...

Over and over it's shown that Love is Sacrifice, and I think Aang should have been shown making some personal sacrifices for the sake of the world, instead of showing that the power of clinging to his absolutist morals is enough to solve all his problems.

I understand why the writers, despite showing many characters die off-screen, hesitated to show Aang killing someone, even someone unredeemably evil, because there would be no way to do it OFF screen, and it IS still a kid's show.  (On that note:  couldn’t they have just somehow...idk, trapped Ozai in the Spirit World or something?  Have him literally sent to not-hell?)  

BUT, that doesn't mean they couldn't have shown Aang doing something that made him realize that, as the Avatar, even if a necessary action went against his personal beliefs or wasn't what he wanted, his needs are superceded by the needs of the world he claims to love.  He ignores this in S2 and nearly pays the ultimate price... but it's never properly addressed again. And thus, because that never happens, I honestly don't consider 13-yr-old Aang all that much more mature than 12-yr-old Aang, and I think that's a waste of potential.  

And as for character regression...

Katara? Master Waterbender and war-hero?  Who grabbed onto the first opportunity to explore the world beyond her tiny home, who fought for every scrap of skill and recognition she had--against a world determined to see her as lesser because of her race, her gender, her age?  Who never backed down from what she thought was right, even when her own family and friends didn't support her?  You're telling me that, according to canon, *that same Katara* was perfectly content to retreat to the South Pole and do nothing of note for the next 70 years except for being a good little housewife and healer?  Get the fuck out of here with that misogynistic horseshit.

IN CONCLUSION

I could go on.  I could talk about the unequal division of emotional labor between the two--with Katara constantly having to be mindful of not upsetting Aang too much lest he fly away and/or have an Avatar State tantrum.  With Katara constantly reassuring Aang, but Aang, for instance, offering unsolicited advice about revenge instead of trying to understand what she needed, or kissing her without asking--twice!--and expecting them to be together without him ever even asking if that's what she wanted.  I could talk about Katara not taking Aang to task for things he does wrong and Aang not being willing to see that Katara isn't perfect--how he puts her on a pedastal and Katara is afraid to leave it and break his illusions by being her real self.

But ultimately, what it boils down to, it that the most unrealistic thing about AtLA was not the magic, or the spirits, or the hybrid animals.

No, the most unbelievable thing about this show is that the ending was ruined just because more than creating a consistent thematic and emotional throughline, a couple of white dudes wanted to vicariously live out all of their "hot-for-babysitter" childhood fantasies.

And that's all I have to say about that.

[floof-reppu]

How about team avatar and iroh if you can befriending a male firebender who can become intangible by turning his entire body into fire

Team Avatar + Iroh befriending a Male!Firebender who can turn his entire body into flames

The Hundred Year War is still going on; however, you refused to support the Fire Nation for what they've done to the world. Instead, you've been traveling by yourself and doing whatever you could to help with the endeavors of the war.

You happened to meet Iroh and Zuko during their time in Ba Sing Se working at the tea shop. You weren't friends with Zuko by any means, but you immediately recognized the scar on his eye. Not mentioning who you were or how you knew him, you simply partook in a cup of tea and chatted casually from your table.

Iroh could tell that you were a firebender, and a unique one at that, though the time that you could talk was short lived. You wouldn't see him for a fairly long time after that, but fate seemed to play a role in finding his nephew Zuko yet again.

Months later, you were on Ember Island attending the play about Avatar Aang and the rest of his friends, detailing what had happened since his return. You were going to get some snacks during the intermission when you saw a familiar face at the top of the auditorium: Zuko. Calling out to him, albeit quietly, all heads were now pointed towards you.

“You’re that guy from the tea shop… why are you here?”

“No particular reason. You know, your disguise would be pretty bad if it wasn’t for all the other Zuko ‘impersonators.’”

His friends (which you knew not as Team Avatar at the time) were quite wary of your presence until you explained that you were in NO way sided with the Fire Nation. They didn’t believe you at first until Toph told them you weren’t lying, to which any hostilities they might have had with you vanished.

Zuko remembered having a conversation with Iroh about you, when he said that you had quite the amount of power and potential in bending. Sozin’s Comet was only a few days away, and they were running short on time to prepare, so he asked you in good faith if you would be able to train with everyone the next day, to which you accepted.

During that time, you displayed your special firebending technique for all to witness, and everyone was amazed to say the least. You had no physical presence, but it took a lot of energy to maintain, so you stopped after only a few seconds. Aang practically begged for you to teach him how, but even you didn’t know how you performed this feat.

The day slowly came to an end, and you found yourself with new friends. Even though the war was close to ending, those friendships were only just beginning.