#i wrote a meme where zuko was stressed about coming across as this horrible shadow of his father | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ljesaw · 3 months

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i like writing young fire lord zuko because he's still grappling with his identity and he's still in the trenches of his trauma and unlearning the harm done to him and the harm he's done. and something i think is so important for someone who is going through that is that it's not just BAM he's redeemed and he's changing everything for the better and it's perfect. i think it's just as important to highlight zuko's conflict with trying not to Be Like Ozai as it is for people to be wary of zuko because He Is Zuko. like i think he's struggling both with taking up his father's horrible mantle but also with the name he's created for himself. because not only is it "zuko is a victim and he's trying to heal" but it's also "zuko was horrible and he has to reconcile that side of himself with who he wants to be going forward" and that's not easy

#something people often get wrong with zuko in fandom/fics/etc is that like.#he saved katara's life. he's doing great now!!!!!#but he's still? got so many issues and those aren't going away overnight #i wrote a meme where zuko was stressed about coming across as this horrible shadow of his father #'if i give this order will my soldiers think i'm mean and nasty just like ozai????'#the problem is that his soldiers aren't even thinking about ozai (mostly). they're thinking about ZUKO and what he's LITERALLY already done #i don't want to erase the harm zuko's done just as much as i don't want to erase how he's handling coming to terms with the harm done to hi #if this makes sense? am i making sense? KJNSKTRJNHKJSNRTH #like YES poor zuko but also. zuko's got A LOT of reparations of his own to take care of #and he's going to have bad days and he's going to have his little temper tantrums and he's going to lash out #because that's all part of that piece inside of him that's always going to be that hurt teenage boy who longs for his father's love!!#it doesn't make him less worthy of his redemption. it just gives him more nuance #i love him i LOVE him. my sad angry hurting little fire hazard </3

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