#iroh was storming ba sing se like

[byooregard]

avatar thoughts four the war crimes general iroh has surely committed. like zuko has a whole redemption arc but like he isn't evil he's 16. iroh though. iroh never has to take anyone on a life changing field trip to win their friendship after storming their city and indirectly killing their mom. I'd like to see that

[oneatlatime]

I was thinking about city of Walls and Secrets again (because when I don't like things I want to know WHY) and it occurred to me how much power Iroh has amassed, just by being nice.

We've seen Iroh being nice to strangers, often in situations where he can't receive anything in return for his good manners, since the beginning of the show. I've usually written those occurrences off as Iroh smoothing over for Zuko's awkwardness or awfulness (think him interfering between Zuko and the ship's crew in The Storm), or as simply Iroh being a polite person. I don't think he was lying when he told Toph - while showing Toph - that he enjoys sitting down for tea with new people. He is sociable by nature, and if Azula's comment about him being a tea-loving kook is accurate in Zuko Alone (which is up for debate - she did a lot of lying and/or repeating what the adults around her think as her own opinions that episode), then he's always been a sociable creature. This seems to be a fundamental aspect of Iroh's personality.

So whenever I've seen Iroh being nice to strangers, I've never suspected that it had a purpose beyond the short term (cover for his nephew), or as Iroh being Iroh. But I think he's playing the long game with niceness. Let me explain:

When you're hiding under a false identity while posing as a refugee in a city that probably has a ridiculously large bounty on your real identity's head (and rightfully so), you'd think the smart thing to do would be to keep a low profile. And Zuko and Iroh are doing that! Sort of. They're staying in the lower ring, but they are working customer-facing jobs. And more importantly, a true attempt at lying low would include reproducing the awful tea that was being served at the tea shop before they were hired. But Iroh won't let bad tea stand.

I made a joke in my write up of the Tales of Ba Sing Se that it was a good thing that Iroh came to people's attention as the person who makes the "best tea in the city," because he was going to attract attention one way or another, and being a good teamaker is both less suspicious and more of a currency than just being a nice guy who stops babies from crying and compassionately redirects muggers. But now that I've thought about it for a bit, I think he was going to attract attention one way or the other because he has, all this time, been attempting to attract attention. It's not just his personality, it's not just him cleaning up after Zuko, it's him consciously attempting to build connections. It's a 'nice two birds with one stone' type situation that he can attract this attention while being paid to make tea.

Here's the thing: all these times that Iroh has been polite in situations where there could be no payoff for being so, I think he has been casting seeds. And City of Walls and Secrets is the first episode where we see the seeds of his politeness and (seemingly counterintuitive for keeping a low profile) network building bear fruit.

Jet accuses Zuko and Iroh of being firebenders. He's absolutely right. Given that Zuko and Iroh are members of the Fire Nation royal family, you could argue that they're the most firebenders a firebender could be. But Iroh has been being relentlessly polite to customers, and serving the guards such good tea that they declare he makes the "best tea in the city." Rather than playing it safe and letting people overlook him, he has given people a reason to like him. So the customers, the guards, even his boss, come to his defence when Jet accuses him. The guards are not going to let a man who keeps them fed, keeps them in tea, and keeps them company, be maligned.

Here's the other thing about these seeds of politeness that Iroh casts: they protect Zuko in the long term as much as the do in the short term. Sometimes Iroh's politeness is just covering for a single remark from his nephew, which I always view in the short term as smoothing over offence. But Iroh being polite also goes a long way to protecting Zuko from Jet's accusations. Lest we forget, Zuko steals a guard's swords, at least participates in the destruction of the tea shop's table, and at least participates in the disorderly conduct outside the tea shop. If the law were fair, half of the consequences heaped on Jet would fall on Zuko. And (this is speculation) I would argue that if Iroh had kept his head down and played at being a refugee rather than everyone's friend, Zuko at least would have lost his job for destroying some of those tables. But the goodwill Iroh has generated with customers, guards, and his boss stretches to cover Zuko too. Which is handy, because Zuko is not looking like he's in a place where he can expend much mental energy on anything beyond taking it one day at a time at the moment.

Iroh knows there is power in being nice. The incident with Jet shows that being nice can carry more power than being truthful. A lot of that is down to presentation; Jet didn't exactly endear himself, and frankly season 1 Jet would have been ashamed of season 2 Jet's lack of charm, but that's a post for another day.

All this makes me think two things: first, I wonder if any of the other one-episode characters that Iroh has tossed a throwaway polite comment to are going to come back. Second, Iroh is playing a somewhat risky game by attracting attention; so far it's paid off. I wonder if there will come a point where it causes trouble instead.

[melu-lis]

anyone who simplifies the popularity of zuko to people liking "dark bad boys" is showing a sign of low media literacy. even before i watched atla, my friends recommended that i watched it solely bc of zuko. and after i watched it, i understood why. in the first episodes, most of the audience perceives him as this hot-headed jerk who's obsessed with capturing a 12 year old boy. but then we get to the episode "the storm" and we learn that the reason zuko wants to capture aang is because he was banished by his father; it doesn't excuse his actions but it is a reason. and then in the 2-parter of "the siege of the north, we learn that he has a sister and that their father often pitted them against each other, making him more sympathetic to the audience. from book 1, it is established that zuko will be more than just a villain. we don't see much of a change in zuko's character until book 2 after him and uncle iroh are branded as fugitives by the fire nation. throughout the season, we see him have an identity crisis and grappling with who he is. by the end of book 2, zuko seems to be content with his life in the earth kingdom and figuring out who he is by himself. that's why in tcod, the audience expects him to join the avatar especially after bonding with katara and confronting his uncle about teaming up with aang. but the show defies our expectations by having zuko join azula in her takeover of ba sing se. some people have a problem with this since he showed a lot of growth in book 2 and thought his betrayal was made to not make zutara a possibility but i think it make sense because zuko was more content being a neutral bystander and joining the avatar would be more risky especially he still wasn't on friendly terms with aang. when we see him return to the fire nation, we see that he's gotten everything that he ever wanted, he has father's approval and is hailed a hero by his country, but he isn't happy. this is why his confrontation with ozai is so satisfying, he realizes that not only the way his father treated him was inhumane and his approval is meaningless, but that his nation's century-long war was never a noble pursuit. when he joins the gaang, he tries his best to atone his past mistakes and demonstrate his sincerity of wanting to end the war and ends his arc by becoming the new fire lord ushered in an era of peace and kindness with the help of his ally and friend, aang. i think this why zuko is more popular compared to aang, the protagonist of the show. while aang and zuko are constantly portrayed as narrative foils to each other, aang doesn't have this constant inner turmoil that zuko does. this is why a lot of fans and casual viewers have an issue with gaang's confrontation with ozai. aang talks about how he struggles with killing ozai since it goes against the principles of his culture, a culture that is basically extinct, but this is never brought up until the series finale! it's not like there aren't any episodes where aang struggles with fulfilling his duties as the avatar, there are plenty and it does make him a sympathetic character. it's even more frustrating when you learn that aang not killing ozai was the plan since the production of book 1. there were countless opportunities where aang's struggle between wanting to maintain his identity and be a full-fledged avatar could've been addressed! i think this what aang stans who are resentful of zuko's popularity don't understand, aang's character arc is a lot more disoriented compared to zuko's.

[redrobin-detective]

Recent ATLA Fics I’ve Read

What is says on the tin, stories that I’ve read over the last month that I loved and wanted to share. Some of them are new, some old, some popular, some not but I’ve enjoyed them all and want to recommend them. As a heads up they’re either gen or Zukka.

In the Soft Light by CHSfic and VSfic

As the newly appointed cultural liaison to Northern Water Tribe, Zuko is the first Fire Nation Citizen to step foot inside the city's walls in nearly a century. He's determined to prove himself—to the Fire Lord and to his father—even if the Water Tribe's spirit-touched prince seems to want nothing to do with him. Moon Spirit Sokka, Zukka and Katara/Yue.

Healing Balm by burglar_bird

"Prince Zuko," Iroh began, but the prince wasn't having it. He stormed away and before he knew it he was in his quarters, flinging sparks from his fingers and hissing steam. When that passed, he aggressively lit his meditation candles and tried to calm down. It was difficult because unlike combat meditation came easily, which added insult to injury. Gentle flames licked the air and formed in his palms as well. They were warm and soothing, unlike how fire was supposed to be. Instead of stinging his skin with small burns, the flames numbed the scraps on his palms and the aches in his joints. He knew that by the time his meditation ended he would feel invigorated and new.

His heart burned with shame; no wonder father had discarded him. There was no greater disgrace than having a son who was a healer.

Zuko’s Evil Eye by exectutivedoughnut

Zuko is given a new chore to perform, which he does - to the best of his abilities. But just because he’s losing a fight with a needle doesn’t mean he’s blind (or at least, not blind-blind).

The Good Vanilla by Haircrescendo

Sokka’s beautiful friendship with Zuko doesn’t start with breaking Dad out of jail. That’s just what he tells people.Sokka’s beautiful friendship with Zuko started the day he realizes that he knows how to cook.Feat. breakup cake, an attempted assassination, and eating out of the pan like dirty heathens. Zukka

Blue by blacklipscurse

Iroh insists they create a new life and identity in Ba Sing Se. Zuko wants nothing more than to bide his time until his next opportunity to return home, until he realizes ‘Lee’ can get away with things Zuko never could. Zuko dons the mantle of the Blue Spirit again only to lose his focus when the Avatar comes to the city. This time, however, his attention is drawn to the annoying Southern Tribe warrior. Zukka.

WitchofEndor literally everything by them.

I’m obsessed with While Mighty Oaks Do Fall  and have read it no less than 3 times.

High Sage Kenji blesses Fire Prince Zuko with the resilience of the reed, who bends in the wind and never breaks. When he is done, Fire Prince Ozai narrows his eyes, seemingly displeased by this blessing. But Kenji does not speak for himself; he is only a vessel. 

The newly-crowned Fire Lord Ozai offers his firstborn son to service in the temple. This turns out to be a catastrophic mistake.

But also Life in Eden 

Her daughter is five years old when Ursa realises what she and Ozai have been doing to their children. By each choosing one to bestow with their approval, they’re pitting them against one another. Perhaps Ozai is doing it on purpose, but Ursa isn’t. She resolves to heal the damage she has done. In which Ursa tries to be a better parent to Azula, and it doesn’t change very much. And then, quite abruptly, it changes everything.

where the stars do not take sides

When Azula is nine, she becomes an only child. She hears the Fire Lord call for Zuko's life, and in the morning, her mother and brother are gone. Azula may be young, but she isn't naive. She knows what happened to them.

Which makes it all the more surprising when Azula tracks the Avatar down and fights his group of peasant friends, only to find herself staring into an eerily familiar face.

The Sweetheart Swindle

In which Zuko’s advisors won’t stop harassing him about suitable candidates for Fire Lady, and Zuko’s friends hatch an ingenious plan: pretend courtships.

illustrate the remnants of the life I used to live

Zuko's soul marks have been regularly burned away since before he knew what they meant. He knows that he cannot be loyal to his father and his nation while also being loyal to a soul family, so he doesn't look for them. Unfortunately, that means that he doesn't know when he's found them. 

The Family You Choose by TunaFishChris

Some people are born with soulmarks. Zuko has them, but his grandfather burned them off because they "make you weak."

Team Avatar has a few things to say about that.

Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry by orphan_account

(“You’re not sleeping,” Mai says softly. “How’d you know?” Zuko asks.

To be honest, he’s kind of gotten to the point where he’s surprised that anyone can perceive him outside of his necessary functions- he exists solely to sit in council meetings and shoulder the blame for genocides and famines and the suffering of one-hundred years. Doesn’t he?)

The war is over, but the fallout is just beginning. And where lightning strikes, thunder is bound to follow.

Divergence of Destiny by Fernandidily_yo

This is his life now, here on this ship, serving tea with Uncle and the crew. Traveling the world and staying far, far away from the ongoing war.

The Jasmine Dragon is Zuko's home.

Meeting the Avatar does not change that.

It changes absolutely nothing.

  (Until, inevitably, it does.)

this love burns so yellow (becoming orange and in it’s time, exploding) by meliebee

Ten months after Zuko is crowned at seventeen, he faces his first coup. 

With Agni on Our Side by fanficreader5

After the fateful Agni Kai, instead of sending him off on a ship, Fire Lord Ozai decided to remove his son's title and relegate him to being part of the Palace staff.

Zuko's pretty sure he's going to go back to being Crown Prince any day now.

Just a few more days.

And then the Avatar and his companions are captured.

What We’re Given series by Haircresendo

Started out as a “What would happen if Zuko happened to rediscover sky bison while searching for the Avatar?” and turned into something more than that

[prying-pandora666]

Let’s be Honest About Iroh

Okay but for real.

I adore Iroh. When I was a troubled, angry teen who had been abused and had left home as soon as I finished high school, even when it led to homelessness, Iroh meant everything to me.

He was the only adult who never failed me. Who gave me kind advice and words of wisdom to soothe the raging storm of pain and betrayal in my heart.

Only Iroh and the works of Tolkien have ever given me that level of comfort and will to keep moving forward even when I messed up. To always strive to be better, even if you were misguided or lashed out the day before. Even if you’ve been wronged or hurt and lost it all.

But for real, fandom, let’s be for real.

The problem comes when fans claim Iroh never killed anyone. Or never hurt anyone. Or tried to be a “humane” general fighting a genocidal war of aggression . Or that the Siege of Ba Sing Se wasn’t a horrific 600 day campaign which caused “chaos and violence” within the walls of the biggest civilian city in their world. It makes it seem like fandom would rather deify Iroh due to their positive feelings towards him rather than confront the reality that sometimes your mentor is someone else’s monster.

That maybe the jolly, kooky, tea-loving Uncle who always forgave and gently guided Zuko, and never ever gave up on him, may have arrived at that kindness and wisdom precisely because he has seen the end of the path Zuko was walking on. Iroh in his prime was worse than Azula could ever dream of being. When he said “she’s crazy and she needs to go down”, he was speaking from experience because he knows all too well what propaganda does to a person, and that you can’t talk them out of it. They must experience the downfall and realization for themselves.

He never said “don’t help her after she falls”. On the contrary, in the comics he wishes for Azula to heal.

Iroh is not perfect. No one is perfect. And if you keep judging people by their proximity to perfection, you will always be disappointed even in people who do good. And you will also condemn people who need help and have the potential to change into good people.

There are monsters out there but none of them are born that way. They are created through a combination of experiences and their own choices along the way.

But an important message of ATLA is that while we MUST fight those that seek to do others harm, even with our very lives, we must also reach our a hand to help those that have already fallen. If they reject it, that is their choice and they can bear the consequences.

But it is still our responsibility to reach out.

Too much of the fandom seems steeped in essentialism. That everyone is only as good as the worst thing they’ve ever done.

Which is why they feel the need to pretend Iroh was always a good person who never really wanted to participate in this genocidal war.

But this isn’t the case. And the sooner we can admit that to ourselves, the sooner we can begin to understand what drives people to such actions.

And how to help those that have been groomed and exploited for such purposes. Just like Zuko.

Even if we find them unpalatable or mentally unwell. Just like Azula.

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

Every time Ztarians write – jokingly or not - that Katara and Zuko’s extreme discomfort when someone suggests they are dating and their vehement denial that there are boyfriend and girlfriend are sure signs that Zuko and Katara are in love – I am so creeped out.

How can one deny a romantic interest? You agree – means you are in love. You deny – “you protest too much”, surely you are in love, you don’t react = you agree but too shy to admit you are in love, you burn down everything and storm away to the other side of the universe – of course you are in love!

Where is “no means no” and respect to Katara’s feelings?

Zuko is very straightforward in canon in this regard. He passionately denies untruth – neither Jin nor Katara are his girlfriends, and then dreamily sighs when talking about his actual girlfriend, Mai.

The jokes don't creep me out, nor do the fics in which they show the POV of either Zuko and Katara and have the character say they DO want to be in a relationship with the other but thinks would never happen, because it's all in good fun.

But the ones that INSIST those scenes could only mean Zuko and Katara like each other because they think that in real life people only deny being into someone if they ARE into that person? Those are creepy as fuck.

And yes, it's very hypocritical of the self-appointed "feminist shippers" who are always "calling out Kataang for being one-sided/inherent coersive" to then turn around and say "No means yes when it's convenient for me."

Also the Jin thing could not be more different than the situation with Katara. Zuko was out on a date with Jin, and we are given a very obvious reason as to why he's uncomfortable with the idea of them becoming a proper item: he wants to be Zuko, the proud Fire Nation prince that is gonna help his father take over the whole world, Ba Sing Se included. Jin likes Lee, the brooding guy that works in a tea-shop. He likes her, but he already made up his mind about his plans for his own life, and they simply cannot include a peasant girl from the Earth Kingdom.

Meanwhile, with Katara, there's no "larger issue." We are never given any indication that Zuko is even aware of Aang's crush on Katara, he's assuming that once the war is over IROH will be Fire Lord, and while Mai did save him at the boiling rock, we get confirmation in the finale that Zuko did not immediately assume this meant they were back together and they don't properly reconciliate until they see each other again.

And while Katara is obviously aware of her more complicated situation with Aang, she had no issue being honest with him about saying she was confused, reacting negatively when he jumps the gun and kisses her, and, more importantly, full on say that the play was wrong in stating that she only sees him as a little brother instead of a potential boyfriend.

The first time Zuko and Katara and wrongfully labeled as a couple, they aren't even embarassed, they're uncomfortable and look kinda grossed out, even sliding away from each other because ew, no. The second time they're blushing furiously - but it's because it's a direct conversation, not them watching a play that got everything wrong about not just them but their friends.

"Oh, they got embarassed" only works as "evidence" that the characters like each other when they've already done other things to suggest an interest. Most Zuko and Katara ever done was hug, something they casually did with all of their friends. Dismissing their very legitimate disgust and embarassement and trying to play it off as "further proof they like each other" is just absurd.

[notsofriendlyfriendlyreminder]

I've been thinking about rdr2 atla au and just mkay hear me out:

RDR2 AS THE PLOT OF ATLA (+ A ROUGH PLOT)

John: The fucking Avatar, left the temple when he realised, walked the land, when he realised war was about to start he wanted to fly back to the air temple, the storm caught him on his way. Very mad that he is the avatar but also really wants to kick firelords ass, just doesn't know if he is capable enough.

Arthur: The adoptive son of the southern water tribe chief, a firebender but keeps it a secret bcs FUCK FIRE NATION. Knows the ways of the water tribe and is pretty mad the chief left him and Charles here. At the beginning of the series he only knows basic firebending- his technique is very much akin to waterbending (WHICH ALSO MEANS eventually mf will have no problem with lightning bending wink wink) Finds John with Charles while fishing.

Charles: Biological son of the southern water tribe chief and will soon be the new one, with Arthur they are true brothers ALSO he knows Arthur is a firebender. Takes him out to fish regularly to calm both their minds, is also frustrated their father didn't take them with but also understands someone has to protect their tribe. Waterbender, knows basic healing. (The idea is that their father had Charles quite young therefore while he is old, that man is STRONG AF like yes grey hair but also just an incredible water bender, he took in Arthur as a young child/toddler).

Dutch: Zuko and Azula in one. A firebender and a firenation ex-general, kicked out because he spoke out of line. His punishment is looking for the avatar because the firelord knows it's a goose chase. At this point he wants to find an avatar AND overthrow the firelord. (Don't worry Hosea I have a plan).

Hosea: You know he is the uncle Iroh, firebender ofc. Dutchs bestfriend, goes to look for avatar with him, because of that he is no longer a general. Did attack Ba Sing Se, failed and his wife died during. Conflicted on the war, connected with spirit world, taught Dutch his techniques, protective over his and Dutchs soldiers.

Mary Linton: Princess of the northern water tribe, TURNS INTO THE MOON, poor Arthur.

Sadie Adler: Firenation killed her husband, earthbender and is the one to teach John earthbending.

Javier Esquella and Bill Williamson: Send after avatar by firelord, their tactic is to befriend John, end up being conflicted if they want to turn him in or let him kill the firelord

Micah: the firelord- no, I'm kidding, but the guy that got appointed into Dutchs place. When the word spreads that avatar is back and the firelord realises Javier and Bill aren't as efficient as he thought, he hires Micah to find and catch the avatar. At some point teams up with Dutch.

THE ROUGH STORY (i choose to age down the rdr2 characters and subsequently age up their character forms in atla)

Young John is raised at the temple by the air nomads. He is pretty fiesty and overall not a great student, but the monks know he is the avatar. When John finds out, he is very conflicted and unsure of himself. He gets intense airbending training, but because he is not a very well mannered student, they decide to send him away to continue his training (they know war is in the air). John, overwhelmed, runs away and walks the land for few years, somehow managing to never be found. As a young adult, he realises how bad everything is and goes back. He finds his sky bison still waiting, surviving in a cave. Guilt sets in and he flies off, but gets caught in a storm AND FROZEN.

100 years later, Arthur and Charles are the only two men who didn't go with the others to war. They go out fishing and because Arthur is frustrated (they didn't get a message from their father for a long time), Charles suggest him trying some firebending to "blow out steam". It gets out of hand and their ship burns, melting some of the ice. And so they see John and get him and his bison out of the ice. The explosion alerts nearby Dutch and Hosea. But worry not, John kicks their asses.

John, Charles and Arthur start their way to the northern water tribe. Arthur tags along because he thinks that when John finds a firebending master, he could finally learn something new. In the north, Arthur has a romance with Mary, but who turns into the moon while saving the moon spirit. Dutch and Hosea do catch John for a while, but he gets saved by the others. In the end, he and Charles learn new waterbending from the waterbending master.

In a village near Omashu they find Sadie, a strong earthbender and a widow whose husband was killed by the firenation. She agrees to teach John earthbending. They also find the kyoshi island, where Susan, Karen, Tilly and Mary-Beth promise to help if the avatar ever needs it.

During their time they have Dutch and Hosea on their tails but also Javier and Bill. Their tactic on befriending them ends up causing Javier (because he is a way stronger firebender than Bill) to teach John firebending. But the learning is not finished when a huge fight happens between them all AND Micah, who starts it. Javier and Bill show their true colours, so it's Dutch, Micah, Bill and Javier againts Arthur, Charles, John and Sadie. Hosea (at that point againts firelord), gets killed by John when he is in the avatr state. It ends with John being hurt while in avatar state.

Now on the run, John, Charles, Arthur and Sadie end up on a small island in the sea around the north. There he gets healed by a waterbender aka Abigail.

Sozins commet is close and so the final fight comes. John againts the firelord, Arthur and Charles againts Dutch (agni kai, Arthur is able to send back Dutchs lightning), Sadie and Charles againts Micah (they find out Javier and Bill never came back to the firenation, instead they deserted).

In the end John comes back to the island and finds out Abigail is pregnant (cough cough they had a one night stand) and so he spends most of his time there. ALSO PLOT TWIST WHY WAS ARTHUR SUCH A POWERFUL FIREBENDER WELL HE IS RELATED TO THE ROYAL FAMILY and so by some paperwork lies he becomes the new king (during their travels they find more firebenders who helo him with ruling + his father helps). Sadie stays with Arthur mainly just to look for excuses to kill- I mean be mean to ex-firenation soldiers. Charles is now the chief of the southern water tribe and when he and John have time, they look for any airbenders that could leave the temples and survive in hiding.

[trivial-writing]

I’m back! It’s earlier than I expected. Here’s some updates with the family before we get into the main topic of the post: my brother’s spouse is now cishet. She is currently in therapy right now with my brother. The younger of my older brothers stayed at our house instead of moving out.

On to the main topic of the post. Masculinity and femininity in Avatar the Last Airbender. More specifically, the parallelism between Ozai, Hakoda, and Iroh for masculinity. As for femininity, I want to look at Kya and Ursa. This is mainly going to look at the effects of lacking masculine and feminine figures in a family and how loss affects individuals in the family.

If your tiktok and youtube shorts algorithm is anything like mine, then you keep seeing the Fresh and Fit and Whatever podcasts spew absolute mockery of what they think being a “man” is like. If I were on those podcasts, I would call them boys, because that’s what they are. They are not men. They are boys in a man’s body.

Iroh, however, is a man. He has patience, compassion, confidence, loyalty, wisdom, joy, and other positive traits. HE is the peak of masculinity. I remember when watching Overanalyzing Avatar’s Day of Black Sun analysis, something caught my attention. He said that Iroh was Zuko’s loving father figure and Ozai was Zuko’s actual father. I would disagree. Ozai is Zuko’s fake father. Iroh is Zuko’s actual father. When Zuko lashes out, Iroh doesn’t clap back with equal aggression. When Zuko leaves Iroh, Iroh doesn’t prevent his “nephew” from choosing his decision. Iroh follows Zuko until the “The Chase.” He doesn’t tell Zuko anything. He lets Zuko make his own decisions. After Zuko betrays Iroh, Iroh isn’t mad at his son. He’s sad. He mourns the fact that, in a sense, he lost another son. He mourns Zuko’s path of destruction. After Zuko leaves his first prison visit, we see Iroh crying in his cell. During Tales of Ba Sing Se, Iroh spends his biological son’s, Lu Ten’s, birthday tending to other young males, things Iroh would’ve wanted to do with Lu Ten. I’m sure of it. Soon, the writers reveal that it was Lu Ten’s birthday. Iroh finds a setting like Lu Ten’s grave. Then, one of the best songs committed to lyrical music for television plays. Iroh doesn’t blame Lu Ten’s death on the Earth Kingdom like Jet did with the Fire Nation and his parents. Instead, he blames himself. In Sozin’s Comet Part Two: The Old Masters, when Zuko comes to apologizes to Iroh, he is on his hands and knees pleading for forgiveness. He cries with a raspy voice. And in that moment, Zuko is immediately taken in a warm embrace with his loving father figure. Zuko is baffled saying, “How can you forgive me so easily? I thought you would be furious with me.” To which, Iroh, a true father, a true man, says, “I was never mad at you. I was sad because I thought you lost your way.” He is proud in Zuko that Zuko found his way on his own. Iroh doesn’t take that time to praise himself. He focuses on Zuko. Zuko, the son he found after he lost his previous one. Zuko, the son who wnet away just like Lu Ten. But the difference here is that Zuko, Little Soldier boy, Brave Soldier boy, came marching home.

Speaking of that Zuko scene, let’s trash talk about the Fire Loser Lord. Like I said earlier in Iroh’s section, Ozai is Zuko’s fake father, if you can even call them that. In The Storm, the origin of Zuko’s scar is revealed. A thirteen year old boy wants to be a good Fire Lord, and in doing so, he finds his way into the Fire Lord’s meeting room. Zuko stays quiet as told by his true father until a general devises a terrible plan. Zuko is challenged to an Agni Kai. He is confident because he thinks he’ll fight the general. Instead, he steps up to the ring and finds his father. He is on his hands and knees, begging his father for forgiveness. Ozai, the absolute monster, seeing his SON on his hands and knees, decides to burn his face. He says suffering will be your teacher.” When Zuko kidnaps Aang in the North Pole, he reveals Ozai told his SON that “she was born lucky … I was lucky to be born.” That is not a father, let alone a man. Please tell me, how is Ozai a man? How is Ozai a father? Can you call Ozai a father? I think not. But Zuko is not the only victim to Ozai’s “parenting.” Azula too is a victim. In the first or second part of Sozin’s Comet (i forgot) it is revealed how she is afraid of her father. The very idea of her father leaving her behind. She is afraid of Ozai treating her like Zuko. She is a mere puppet to Ozai. Ozai manipulates her to find joy in being Fire Lord, a clear downgrade to being the Phoenix Princess. Ozai molds her into being daddy’s little monster. I’m not a psychologist, but I think Azula has problems with perfection. She can’t face the idea of her being imperfect in her father’s eyes. She tries hard to please her father. She tries to please him as much as she can. Now, I don’t really call the comics cannon. I think it’s inconsistent to the show, but I really like Ursa’s backstory. She is forced into an unhealthy marriage. There are subtle undertones of sexual abuse. She is walking on egg shells with Ozai. May I pose another question? How is Ozai a husband? Can you call Ozai a husband? I can’t. It’s impossible. With Hakoda next, I want to mention this parallelism, Ozai has two children. A firstborn son and second born daughter. The daughter catches the attention of everyone while the son is viewed as a lower individual to his sister. Ozai sends both of his children away. He forces his children to fight. He sends CHILDREN to a war. Not just CHILDREN, but his own BLOOD RELATED CHILDREN.

Now, let’s look at Hakoda. Hakoda is a chieftain. His children consists of a firstborn son, a nonbender, and a gifted waterbending daughter. Katara, the last waterbender of the Southern Water Tribe. Hakoda nurtures both his children. He treats Sokka as an equal to Katara. He favors both of them. He ensures one child is treated the same as the other. Hakoda goes out to fight in the war. In Bato of the Southern Water Tribe, a flashback shows how mich of a man Hakoda is. Sokka wants to fight in the war. Hakoda stops his son. In Hakoda’s willingness to protect his children, he forces Sokka to stay home, and protect his sister and the rest of the tribe, probably assuming the war wouldn’t affect the tribe anymore, with the Fire Nation assuming the last Waterbender is dead. Hakoda forces his kids to stay home while he fights in war. Ozai forces his kids to fight while he sits on his throne, like a scared little boy. As a reiteration, Hakoda forces his kids to stay home, safe and sound, while he fights to protect others, like a protector and true father. Hakoda tells his children how proud he is of them and says how their mother would be too. Like a true man, Hakoda fosters care for his children, teaches his children, and supports his children.

Hakoda and Iroh are true men. True fathers. Ozai is a coward. Ozai is a monster. Ozai is a child in a man’s body. Ozai is a 30-ish (i’m guessing his age) child who steals the honor of the 16-17 year old man that is somehow related to him.

As for femininity, Ursa isn’t the angel some people and even the writers want to push. Ursa didn’t even bother trying to steer Azula to the right path. If Ursa had given Azula the same amount of guidance that she did with Zuko, Azula would’ve gotten the redemption arc she deserved. Ursa plays favorites with Zuko while Azula suffers. Azula needed a proper mother figure. Ursa is a woman that shows the virtues of femininity. She is caring, wise, protective, proactive, reactive, durable, and supportive, but her folly is in how, or rather who, she shows her femininity to. A true mother would nurture both her children no matter what. Ursa isn’t as terrible as Ozai, but she’s not an angel either.

A better mother figure could be Kya. We don’t know much about her, but what we can gleam from her very few appearances and the comics to my chagrin, she was caring. In the Southern Raiders, it is her care for her child that makes her lay down her life for the sake of her child. Kya does have favoritism towards Katara over Sokka, but I can be completely wrong. Kya is firm in handling Yon Rha. Unlike what toxic masculinity says, Kya is firm. She is also a protector. She doesn’t marry Hakoda for status. It’s clear in North and South that she married Hakoda out of true love. Hakoda married Kya not for her to be child bearer, but as a person who can care for him and he for her.

A very important theme in Avatar is how war affects the household. It is the lack of positive feminine and masculine figures in Sokka’s life that makes him sexist in the first few episodes of the show. It is the lack of a healthy parental figure in Azula’s life that makes Azula mentally breakdown. It is Ozai’s lack of fraternal care that pots Zuko and Azula against each other in the Final Agni Kai. It is Ozai’s lack of true masculinity that steers Zuko away from the path his mother and Iroh set him to follow. It is the lack of a maternal figure in Katara’s life that forces her to mature into a simile of what a feminine mother is. I didn’t really talk about Toph’s parents here, but the same applies here too. It is Toph’s parents’ lack of personal quality time that makes her leave. It’s her parents’s lack of understanding and open mindedness that forces them to see their daughter as a fragile object. Objectification can go in many ways. Whether it be in lust, in utility (think Azula), in entertainment (Zuko and Ozai probably), and, in Toph’s case, false care and compassion.

[writermai05]

Arsonist's Lullabye

Chapter 7: Witness Me, Like Fire

Summary: Zuko and Azula reunite?

Pairing: Zuko x fem! reader (Live Action or Animated) 

A/N: A late/early chapter to make up for lack of chapter this week. I’m actually hoping to get another chapter out on Friday so let’s keep these good vibes going LOL.

Word Count: 800

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Avatar: The Last Airbender, I am merely a nerd who hyperfixates a lot. Lots of divergence from the canon story lol. 

Warnings !: Mentions of Zuko’s scarring, Azula has a mental breakdown (team get Azula therapy.)

Zuko was going to burn down the shop if people kept coming in. 

He was so close to being done, and yet his shift at the Jasmine Dragon was never ending. A mere 15 minutes before Friday night closing, a whole group of college students from the university, probably a club Zuko had guessed, and they had about 20 people all together. It had taken Zuko alone nearly 30 minutes to get everybody their drinks and he was absolutely drained. 

As he ducked below the counter to put some pastries in the refrigerator, he heard the door chime once again. Letting out a silent sigh, he called out to the customer, “Sorry! We’re actually closed right now.” The person who walked in gave an eerily familiar chuckle. 

“Even for family Zuzu? How disappointing..” 

A chill shot down his spine. He straightened his spine, standing up from beneath the counter, facing his sister. 

“Azula…How-” 

She cut him off before he could even get another word in.

“A Southern Water Tribe girl, about..hm..” She laid her right hand flat in front of her chin, “This tall. Nice, talkative, kind of strange.” 

At the mention of you, Zuko felt lightning shoot through his veins, himself becoming a storm brewing in the middle of the shop. 

“Y/n…” 

“Bingo! Right on the nose. She mentioned that the two of you were classmates, so I figured you and our dear uncle still lived at this little tea shop. It’s…quaint.” She said snidely, literally turning her nose up at the shop that Zuko and Iroh had put years of work into.

“How did you know about the shop?” 

“You think our father doesn’t know where you are? After all these years, you thought you were finally free?” Azula chuckled bitterly. “Ridiculous, really. You should know better than that.”

“What about Mai and Ty Lee? Did you know they were in Ba Sing Se? Have you been keeping tabs on them too?” Zuko knew that it was a deep cut, but at this point he didn’t even care. Azula’s facade cracked at the mention of her two former best friends. 

“They don’t matter. Nobody does.”

“Then why are you here? If you’re so much better than this, then why even come?” Zuko yelled, becoming frustrated. 

This alarmed Iroh, who was blissfully unaware of the situation that was escalating a mere five feet away outside of the kitchen. He came into the front of the cafe where the two siblings were arguing. 

“Azula? It’s been so long...” Iroh kept his eyes trained on the woman, a phantom image of the little girl he once knew, years before. Azula and Zuko’s heads snapped to their uncle.

“Hello Uncle. I can see you're still yourself.” Zuko rolled his eyes at his sister’s reply, letting out a scoff. 

“Knock it off. Why are you here Azula?”  

Azula shrugged, feigning innocence. “No reason. Don’t you think it’s nice to leave the Fire Nation every once in a while?”

Zuko, moved his hands over his face, rubbing frustratedly. “I wouldn’t know. I haven��t been back to the Fire Nation since, I don’t know, our father burned half of my face! I don’t understand Azula! You leave for, spirits knows what, and you come here, why? Just to antagonize me? What do you want?” He violently ripped his hands away from his face, fire coming from his hands out of a shear vexation. 

“Zuko!” Iroh scolded. 

“I don’t see what you have to complain about. You left! Just like our mother!” Azula began to laugh hysterically, much to the shock of both Zuko and Iroh. 

“You know what? Coming here was a mistake. I should’ve known that he was right.” Her breathing began to pick up, as she continued to laugh, bitterly, and clearly distressed. 

“Azula!” Zuko called out, as she made her way to the exit. 

Then she screamed, a guttural, and painful noise. Her arms stretched in front of her body, unleashing a torrent of flames towards the two. Iroh acted quicker than Zuko, dispelling the flames as they approached them. The older man stood in shock, as Zuko attempted to follow his sister out the door. 

Walking out of the shop into the cool night air, the dark sky clouded everything like a shawl, and with it Azula was nowhere to be seen. 

As he paced back to the shop, he made eye contact with his Uncle, shaking his head. They could not wrap their heads around what had just happened. Iroh put an arm around Zuko’s shoulders, locking the door behind them. He knew that Zuko didn’t mean for this to happen. They would probably talk about it all tomorrow morning. 

But just like that, Azula had disappeared into the night, 

and all Zuko could do was witness it. 

[sokkastyles]

Examining the way that various characters define loyalty. In “The Storm,” Zuko defines the plan in the war meeting as a betrayal:

Young Zuko[Zuko is shown standing up.] You can't sacrifice an entire division like that! Those soldiers love and defend our nation! How can you betray them?

Then, when faced with his father in the agni kai, defines himself as loyal to Ozai:

Young Zuko[Frontal shot; kneels on his knees and forearms, while looking at the floor.] I meant you no disrespect. [Gazes up at his father, tears shimmering in his eyes as his voice starts to waver.] I am your loyal son.

An idea that Zhao uses to question Zuko later, implying that Zuko’s status as banished means there is cause to question his loyalty:

Zhao: Prince Zuko, the Avatar is the only one who can stop the Fire Nation from winning this war. If you have an ounce of loyalty left, you'll tell me what you found.

It’s also Zuko’s association with Iroh that calls his loyalty into question, as Iroh himself is known as disgraced:

Zhao: General Iroh, why am I not surprised to discover your treachery?

Iroh: I'm no traitor, Zhao, the Fire Nation needs the moon, too; we all depend on the balance.

Iroh defines loyalty in an entirely different way, though.

Ozai: Iroh is a traitor, and your brother Zuko is a failure. I have a task for you.

Again we have the idea that Iroh is treacherous, but notably Ozai does not tell Azula that Zuko is also a traitor, but a failure. If Zuko were branded a traitor, Ozai would have to admit losing his control over him, since Zuko’s belief that he needs to regain his honor in his father’s eyes is what keeps him loyal. Better a failure than a traitor. No matter how much Ozai puts down Zuko, he needs Zuko to be his scapegoat, so he also needs to keep Zuko loyal to him. It also helps Ozai maintain his control over Azula as well, because Zuko serves as the example of what happens if you fail to keep being the golden child, and it’s how Azula defines herself, as not Zuko (until the end of the series, that is). 

Azula: I expected this kind of treachery from Uncle. But Zuko, Prince Zuko, you're a lot of things, but you're not a traitor, are you?

Azula also needs to believe that Zuko wants desperately to come home, to be accepted back into the fold, and that’s part of why she needs him to side with her in Ba Sing Se. Zuko carving a life out for himself (with Iroh the traitor, no less) in Ba Sing Se is a threat to her entire worldview, because in order for her to be the golden child, Zuko has to be the scapegoat. If Zuko chooses to leave that dynamic, not only is it a threat to her superiority, but a threat to her belief that her father is right and good and that there is nothing better than the life she has with Ozai. Azula also tells her mother in the finale that fear is the only way to maintain loyalty, that trust is for fools.

Zhao, Ozai, and Azula define loyalty in similar ways, loyalty to Ozai, loyalty to the regime, unquestioning loyalty in response to control through fear of being branded the other and ostracized by the regime.

Both Iroh and Zuko define loyalty to the people of the Fire Nation rather than the Fire Lord. Zuko was against betraying soldiers who served his nation loyally. Iroh said that the Fire Nation also needed balance to be maintained. This is also why Zuko and Iroh have a better concept of statecraft and a leader’s obligation to the people of their nation than Ozai, Azula, or Zhao do.

[searchingforserendipity25]

Small Comforts | Avatar: The Last Airbender

Candy Hearts Exchange entry for @traveleorzea.

5 times Iroh makes tea for others, and one time Zuko made tea for Iroh

1. jasmine tea pearls (lu ten’s favourite)

Iroh brings a satchel with him between camps, during the Siege, a gift of home for Commander Lu Ten. 

Afterwards -

The small pearls unfold, revealing the leaves. Iroh breathes in the gentle smell, and sees his son’s closed eyes. How Lu Ten had focused his fire to warm the cups, carefully, the better to make their blossoming linger. 

It had been such an easy way to make him happy. Jasmine is lovely, a breath of life’s own generosity, and for a long time Iroh cannot bear to smell it, avoids the gardens of the Fire Palace and their sweet-smelling nights. 

2. ginseng (after the storm)

“It will warm you up, nephew.” 

“Uncle, I do not want -”

“It will strengthen your flame and keep you strong, after the chill,” Iroh insists. 

Zuko dislikes weakness, and dislikes illness, hated his bed-bound days with the first turmoil of his exile. 

I am proud of you, he thinks. His nephew, who saved the helmsman. Ozai would not have done such a thing. The Dragon of the West - 

How Iroh’s heart had leapt like a flame, when Zuko’s hand slid on the rail!  

“Uncle-”

Zuko does not look at him. 

Iroh promises, “I shall offer a cup to the Ensign.” 

3. nettles, ginger root & chamomile (castways)

They make do with less than nothing. Iroh lacks the wisdom of the peasantry, the skills to live as a poor man. It falls to Zuko to keep them fed, and that is a shame among many, that his nephew has turned to thievery in exile. 

But he knows his herbs - most of the time.

"If we die of poison weeds," Zuko warns, "I'll haunt every tea parlour in the world. All the tea sellers. And this bush in specific."

"Ruthless vengeance, Prince Zuko" Iroh laments. "

But his nephew drinks the tea, a poorman's supper, and sleeps better for it. 

4. green tea with peppermint (ba sing se)

It is important for us to create an identity in this city, Iroh said. Mushi - he could not forget. Nor could he forget the Dragon of the West, pacing the shadows of the ancient walls on the other side, years ago.

Another life. Now - A small room, a growing business.

"Delicious," the customers say. The worst and most likeable ones are young scholars, coming to hog the long tables with their scrolls, drinking green tea to keep awake - how Lee scowled at their loitering! But it was his favourite, too.

(Iroh did not forget. But Mushi - he was almost happy).

5. black tea (the war camp)

Truly they are on campaign, if Piandao is all out of matcha. 

“You are a fool,” Jeong Jeong says, over a brew bitter and warm. 

Piandao smiles. “We are all fools. But we are righteous in this betrayal.” 

“A fine novelty, righteousness,” Iroh says, and keeps pouring two cups every night, though he shares his tent with no-one.

Fire cannot mend. But it can defend. Iroh keeps a shard of his shackles in a pocket, with the black tea leaves. He hopes, fool that he is.

His nephew's hair smells of smoke, dust, air-bison fur, hope answered in the dark.

+ 1 - the dragon blend

Zuko does not visit often. 

The Fire Lord cannot - and Iroh, returning to their old rooms and his old store, half-tea master and half-hostage, does not resent him, only misses him dearly. The Jasmine Dragon - Lu Ten had invented the name. Had turned the steam of his cups into curling beasts, wings flapping and fading. It had always made his father laugh.

Iroh had thought he was the last one to remember.

“Happy birthday, Uncle," Zuko says. He offers the first jasmine cup of the day, sends the steam dragon flying, coughing bright sparks.

Iroh laughs for a long time.

[lonewolfel]

Fictober 2023 Day 4

Read on AO3 Fandom: Avatar: the Last Airbender Prompt: 29 - "That's all? Easy." Rating: Gen Characters: Zuko, Azula, Ozai, Ursa, (Iroh and Lu Ten mentioned) Ship: N/A Warnings: implied child abuse, mentions of a child character committing murders Notes: AU where Zuko is trained to be a spy and assassin for Ozai.

Many within the Fire Nation would say Zuko and Azula were like night and day; which was very much the truth. 

Azula was well known to be the golden child, the light of the Fire Nation. She was a firebending protegee who became the youngest person to create blue flames at the age of 10. She was also considered to be a tactical genius. 

Zuko on the other hand was seen as Ozai's disappointment heir. He was not a strong firebender and to the point, the young prince will never be seen firebending in public. He was considered too emotional to be good at strategy or war. Zuko was often considered to be hidden in the shadows of his younger sister; little did they know that that was how he liked it. 

It all started when the boy was 10.

Zuko was sitting by the turtleduck pond while he read a theater scroll.

"What are you doing, dum-dum?" Azula asked. 

Zuko startled at the voice and dropped his theater scroll.

"Leave me alone," Zuko snapped. He leaned down to pick up the scroll. 

"Are you reading one of those stupid scrolls that Mom gets you?" Azula asked knowing full well the answer. 

Zuko blushed and protectively pulled the scroll into his chest. He knew that his younger sister was more than willing to burn it if she got her hands on it. 

"None of your business, Azula," Zuko snapped.

Azula let out a sigh that only an 8-year-old who thought they knew everything could.

"Maybe if you spent as much time as you do reading theator scrolls you would actually be good at something," Azula said.

"I'm good at stuff," Zuko protested. 

"Really like what?" Azula asked.

Zuko froze. He was good with the sword according to Master Piando but he couldn't say that. If he told Azula then it would make its way to their father and Father would be so mad.

"Sneaking around," Zuko finally shot back. 

It was true as growing up with Azula and Father had ensured that he knew how to not be seen or heard. 

"I bet you can't sneak into Dad's office," Azula said.

Zuko knew exactly what his sister was doing. She was setting him up so that he would get in big trouble with their father. None of them were allowed in that room. However, the 10-year-old's pride didn't allow him to back down.

"That's all? Easy," Zuko said. 

A wide smile of a predator appeared on Azula's face. He knew at that instance that he had played into her hand, but Zuko wouldn't take back the words. 

"Great then go do it," Azula said. 

"I will," Zuko shot back. The boy stormed off to go do it with his heart in his stomach.

~~~

Ozai did a quick scan of his office before he sat down at his desk. He could never be too careful as he planned how to usurp his brother while he was at Ba Sing Se.

Ozai then began to work on his plans and the actual work the Fire Lord had assigned him. 

It was towards sunset close to the time that they would eat dinner when he heard the noise. 

It sounded like a bang and a whimper. 

Ozai walked over to the cabinet (that he swore he looked at when he first arrived in his office) with a flame in his hand ready to burn whatever decided to sneak into his office. When he opened it he was met with a surprise.

Instead of some animal or small assassin, his oldest child looked at him with gold eyes wide in horror at being caught with his hand frozen on his elbow likely rubbing where he bumped it. 

Anger rose in Ozai. He had told his children that they weren't allowed to be in his office. Of course, his failure of a son wouldn't listen to direct orders. 

"How long have you been in here?" Ozai demanded. He hadn't heard the boy enter the room but he also couldn't have been in here before him.

Zuko flinched back as far as he could go.

"I don't know before you came in here," Zuko said.

"Liar," Ozai snarled. There was no way that the boy could have hidden from his search.

Zuko shrunk back.

"Honest, there is a small gap between the cabinets and the ceiling. After you sat down I hid in the cabinet in case you looked up," Zuko pleaded.

Ozai looked up at the mentioned gap and saw it. Ozai had dismissed it as a security threat as it was too small for an assassin to hide in and too high for a hole to be cut into to listen to him or see what he was doing. Clearly, he underestimated it like his son.

His son remained hidden for hours and likely hours more if he wasn't so clumsy. 

Zuko was an awful firebender. He wasn't in any way smart. He was brash, impulsive, and far too sensitive to really be worth anything, but perhaps his talents could lie elsewhere.

If Zuko was so silent and sneaky he would make a good assassin. It would be shameful if word got out but the boy could be just the tool he would need against Iroh. After all his brother and his nephew adored the boy and they likely wouldn't think twice about telling their secrets to him which would get back to Ozai.

Yes, this boy will actually be of use to him.

"Follow me," Ozai said.

Zuko shot his father a confused look. Ozai paid it no mind. He walked through the halls with his son following behind. 

Ozai then barged into the room that his wife was in. She seemed to be reading some scroll. She looked up in confusion and concern.

"Ozai..." Ursa began.

"You will teach him everything you know about poison," Ozai said. He left no room for arguments He left his wife and son staring after him in confusion.

~~~ Book 2: Earth Kingdom

Zuko knelt down in front of his father. 

"You wished to see me," Zuko said.

"Your uncle is a traitor," Fire Lord Ozai said.

Perhaps that should have surprised Zuko but it doesn't. He knew that his uncle didn't like the war anymore nor did he care for Ozai. Iroh had always attempted to get close to the siblings after he returned 1 year after the failed siege. Azula had never given the man the time of day. Zuko had once wanted to but between the amount of classes he was taking and the inability to talk about them, Zuko ended up pushing his uncle away. Then two years later Iroh agreed to search for the Avatar like his father before him and that was the last he had seen of the old man. 

"I want you to kill him and make it seem like it was the Earth Kingdom," Ozai continued.

Perhaps the order should have filled him with horror and pain, but it didn't. Zuko just felt numb. His uncle was like any other life he had taken just related to him and considering how little they knew about each other it might as well just be a stranger.

"It will be done, My Lord," Zuko said. 

Ozai waved his hand to dismiss his assassin son.

[saintvainglorious]

Fics I Enjoyed in February

5 fics total. Includes fics from the following fandoms: Avatar (The Last Airbender), Black Sails

clay kids by suzukiblu Avatar: The Last Airbender | Jet/Zuko | 35k (WIP) | Teen & Up

“I don’t think you want someone like me in your group,” Lee says, stepping back, and Jet steps forward quick and grabs his wrist. “Believe me, you don’t know what I want,” he tells him, his eyes intent on Lee’s. On Lee’s gold eyes. “I get it, man. Dirty little secret. You think you’re the only one who’s got it? Me, I got off lucky—I take after my mom.”

(Never) Forget Who You Are by mindbending Avatar: The Last Airbender | Gen | 10k | Teen & Up

“Hello, my name is Joo Lee,” says a young man in cheery spring green, his smile stretched to the point of pain. “I have been given the great honor of showing the Avatar around Ba Sing Se.” “Zuko?!”

Let the City Pull You Under by MadSeason (naive_wanderer)/@madseason Avatar: The Last Airbender | Jet/Zuko | 8k | Teen & Up | Part 1 of up in the city (until the stars lost the war)

[He’ll wonder all that, later; but in this moment he kisses a boy who thinks he’s something other than he is, and clings to the bolt of revelation that strikes him in the dark: maybe nothing in life matters except grabbing onto whatever brief moments you have to feel good.] Before joining the Avatar, before choosing his path on the crossroads of destiny, and before he finds a poster for a missing bison, Crown Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation has a teenage affair in Ba Sing Se. Featuring wheat crime boy Jet and horrifically understanding parent man Uncle Iroh.

No Reason to Run by MadSeason (naive_wanderer)/@madseason Avatar: The Last Airbender | Jet/Zuko | 31k (WIP) | Teen & Up | Part 2 of up in the city (until the stars lost the war)

[In another life, Zuko finds a poster for a missing bison outside Pao’s teashop, dresses himself in black, and resumes his mission with the kind of single-minded focus he hadn’t been able to muster for months. In this life, Zuko finds a poster for a missing bison, stares at it for a bit with his insides roiling around his heart like a ship caught in a storm, and crumples it up in one hand before tossing it into the trash and going back inside.] Sometime during late spring in the city of Ba Sing Se, Zuko serves tea (badly), falls in love (maybe), and deals with a chronic illness of the soul. AU continuation of "Let the City Pull You Under".

don't come closer, don't let go of me by youatemytailor/@annevbonny Black Sails | James Flint/John Silver | 3k | Teen & Up | Part 1 of unfinished business

"Why are you here?" Convinced it would look too much like startlement, Silver does not let his eyes shift downwards at the sound of Flint's voice, roughened with disuse. He watches the displaced dust around the rafters above, instead, swirling in the air as the men walk on deck. "Ben mentioned you were refusing your rations." "So?" "So, I'd rather you not die. Not now, not when we’re so close."

[theowritesfiction]

'The Desert'

Full disclaimer, I know how much Appa means to Aang. I understand the loss of a pet only too well. My first cat went missing when I was 11, and it returned four days later badly injured and the vet could only do the merciful thing. Appa is more than a pet, Appa is a companion, family. But even with all that in mind, I don't sympathize with everything Aang does in this episode. Sorry, but I have no sympathy for Aang lashing out at Toph. Aang gets 40 Jerk Points.

I love the way Katara immediately takes charge of situation after Aang storms off to look for Appa. (Which isn't something I blame him for. That's totally understandable.)

I think people have already pointed out how Iroh treats someone like Mongke with far more civility than his own niece. Must be the camaraderie between old warmongers. Also, the old fart is clearly milking it and exaggerating the injury Azula inflicted on him.

Sokka is right back to being a comic relief, but at least his cacti trip is hilarious. Katara is the absolute star of this episode. Everyone around her is useless or has given up. Sokka has put himself out of the commission, Toph is lost and confused in the sand and Aang has lost his will to go on. The moment when Katara goes fuck it, I'm getting all of us out of here is like... my love for her encapsulated. Even though Katara has seen a desert for the first time in her life, she is the only one with the presence of mind to travel during the night when it's cooler and to use the stars to guide them towards Ba Sing Se.

Katara having another clever idea to collect water from the cloud and asking Aang to do it earns her Aang's ire and more lashing out. Aang shouting 'What are you doing?' at Katara... she's the one keeping you all alive, actually. You already know that anyone who's even remotely mean towards Katara earns Jerk Points. 40 more for Aang.

Iroh fraternizing with the other old White Lotus farts now just kind of irritates me. I hate this shady cabal of manipulative old men.

I'm afraid that the myth of Sokka's intelligence was badly damaged in this episode. Drinking the cactus juice, okay, I can almost understand that, but then after sobering up he immediately licks some gross yellow gunk from a cave wall? I have no words. Chew him out, Katara.

I loved the way Katara and Toph cooperated during the escape from hornet caves. Katara essentially calling out targets for Toph. They do work together very well. :)

The ending with Aang freaking out and going into Avatar State on the sandbenders is the kind of thing I can totally sympathize with. It's the going off on his friends that I object to. And Katara once again with a mom/big sister moment, having to calm Aang down.

A pretty heavy episode, but obviously one I really love, because Katara is at her best and absolutely shines in this one.

Jerk Points for Book 2:

Iroh - 510 Azulon - 300 Ursa, General Fong  - 200 Aang - 130 Zuko - 120 Ozai - 100 Toph Beifong - 70 Bumi, Lao Beifong - 50 Sokka - 40 Pakku - 30

[hello-nichya-here]

Is Zuko indirectly responsible for Yue's death?

Eh... a little. He kidnapped Aang, which is, ya know, bad, and maybe Aang would have been able to stop Zhao from getting the fish and killing the moon, so Yue wouldn't have had to sacrifice her own life, but we can't know that for sure. Zhao wasn't alone, and Aang himself said he couldn't win against all the Fire Nation attackers because there just too many of them.

I cut Zuko some slack on that episode because, unlike in a situation like him burning Suki's village or threatening the Southern Water Tribe or the fall of Ba Sing Se, he was utterly screwed and desperate. Even during "The Blue Spirit" he wasn't in as terrible of a position, because he still had his title as prince (a banished, disgraced one, but still) his ship, his crew, his uncle, and likely wouldn't be attacked if he didn't cause any trouble for the Fire Nation. He would never be able to come home, but there would be no threat to his safety.

But during Book 1's finale? He had been hiding in Zhao's ship after a murder attempt because Iroh, the only family he had left at that point, thought it would be better to let Zhao believe Zuko really was dead, and then he let him go chase Aang again, at night, in the middle of a snow storm, all alone in enemy territory AND with no ally other than himself. Hence him running into the problem of finally having the Avatar - but having nowhere to go. And when he actually stopped chasing Aang? Ozai sent Azula to capture him because, thanks to Zhao knowing he was the Blue Spirit, he was now a traitor and would be hunt down.

I know the lines are a bit more blurry in the world of Avatar, but if there was ever any moment in which Iroh could be seen as endangering Zuko, it was that one - hell, Iroh realizing he almost got his "son" killed was probably why he was following him during "The Chase" and tried to reason with him in "Lake Laogai."

And lets not forget what happened after that episode, when he actually stopped chasing Aang for a little while: Ozai sent Azula to capture him because, thanks to Zhao knowing he was the Blue Spirit, he was now a traitor and would be hunt down no matter what he did, and the only way to save himself was by capturing Aang. It was no longer just for his honor, it was about survival.

The boy had almost zero hope left and was just trying literally anything to no longer be in the shitty situation Zhao (and Iroh) put him in, and the impact of his actions on everything that happened in that episode are a bit hard to measure because they are too many "maybes" involved.

That being said, let's be real, if at some point Zuko felt it was necessary to kill Yue, he'd do it. Just look at him having zero issue with Azula killing Aang, and then sending an assassin after him. If he had never been banished, Aang had never been found, and Zhao had managed to conquer the North Pole, Zuko would be happy about it, because he was raised to be unbothered by the thought of his nation commiting literal genocide.

[assorted-fics]

Fics of the Week

Avatar: The Last Airbender

letter to the editor by aloneintherain

No one knows that Dante Basco, an emerging writer with a growing readership, is actually Fire Lord Zuko.

Not even his editor.

Legacies by WildInkling

Long after the events of Avatar: The Last Airbender, a lone historian finds the personal journal of Prince Zuko. Little does she know that he was also the mysterious anonymous author who took the world by storm. The world will never be the same. Inspired by and directly links to aloneintherain's Writer Zuko AU.

Treachery of the Highest Order by LoserLife592

Sometimes life is unfair. Sometimes the universe likes to kick you when you're down. Sometimes bad things happen to good people.

But there a still lines that need to be drawn. And this? This is beyond that line.

(or, You Think You Know A Guy)

A Dragon’s Instinct by AelinCreativ

Zuko is banished. Never to return to his Nation unless he does the impossible. But when Agni, Dragon of the Sun, gives Zuko a mission, he has a new purpose in life besides pretending to still be loyal to his father. With Azula playing defense at the palace, Zuko has the whole world to search for answers and the people who Agni says will be Champions of the Elements and help him restore balance to the world. He has his own secrets to keep while he's at it. With an uncle he can't trust and a crew of misfits on his side, can Zuko do the impossible and stop the war in time to save his people?

He's thirteen and the Spirit's have big plans for him. Is one teenage dragon enough to save the world?

a distant yesterday by aloneintherain

Iroh had been worried that the gentle tea server from Ba Sing Se wouldn’t survive the Fire Palace. But he can see traces of him in this young prince, this almost-Fire Lord.

Ozai didn’t crush Zuko the way he had intended. He survived. He grew strong, and gentle, and more honourable than Ozai could ever imagine.

And Iroh is so proud of him.

Follows Iroh’s thoughts on his nephews in Book 2 and Book 3 and beyond.

Quiet Like a Fire by WhatWouldJackSparrowDo

Things Azula is surprised by:

- her father's death at Zuko's hands (however supposedly inadvertent)

Things Azula is not surprised by:

- Zuko's complete and utter lack of a plan afterwards

(Zuko's aim on the Day of Black Sun is a little off. Ozai gets struck by his own lightning. Azula grudgingly takes care of the rest.)

Derry Girls

the derry catholic gays club by wafflesofdoom

claire hadn't exactly planned on becoming all of her best friends fairy gay-mother.

or, the one where literally nobody is straight.

Harry Potter

rather start a family than finish one by elumish

He knows, knows deep in his soul, that if Potter ever wanted to take over Britain, he could do it, and most of them would probably just cheer along.

the family evans by dirgewithoutmusic

What if, when Petunia Dursley found a little boy on her front doorstep, she took him in? Not into the cupboard under the stairs, not into a twisted childhood of tarnished worth and neglect—what if she took him in?

Petunia was jealous, selfish and vicious. We will not pretend she wasn’t. She looked at that boy on her doorstep and thought about her Dudders, barely a month older than this boy. She looked at his eyes and her stomach turned over and over. (Severus Snape saved Harry’s life for his eyes. Let’s have Petunia save it despite them).

Let’s tell a story where Petunia Dursley found a baby boy on her doorstep and hated his eyes—she hated them. She took him in and fed him and changed him and got him his shots, and she hated his eyes up until the day she looked at the boy and saw her nephew, not her sister’s shadow. When Harry was two and Vernon Dursley bought Dudley a toy car and Harry a fast food meal with a toy with parts he could choke on Petunia packed her things and got a divorce.

the girl who lived (again) by dirgewithoutmusic

Molly tried her best. When Harry had told them, Arthur had asked excitedly, "is this a Muggle thing?" Hermione had hurried out a "no!" and a frantic history of gender diversity in the wizarding world.

"It's just that I'm a girl," Harry had said, and Arthur had nodded and asked her about how telephone booths worked. He would call her by the right pronouns until the day he died at the respectable old age of one hundred and thirty three, and he would make it seem easy.

But Molly had to try. Hermione explained things faster and higher-pitched every time Molly messed up a pronoun. Molly frowned and muttered and put extra potatoes on Harry's plate at breakfast. Harry slept in Ron's room, which didn't bother either of them but which made Hermione scowl.

Harry got boxes of sweets and warm hugs, as Molly chewed things over. For her fifteenth Christmas, the Weasley sweater she would receive would be a bright, friendly, terrible pink.

The next time Harry visited, Molly put her on Ginny's floor to sleep-- for some definition of sleep that involved Hermione hissing threats at three in the morning if Harry and Ginny didn't "shut up about Wronski feints, do you know what time it is."

a snake in the den by dirgewithoutmusic

you know what would have been great? if ron got sorted into slytherin.

imagine– we have this kid on the train, the first friend harry meets, with his corned beef sandwiches and smudged nose. ron is eleven years old and he wants gryffindor, because he’s a weasley and that’s what always happens. but it doesn’t happen.

what a way to redeem slytherin house– or, god, at least complicate it. because ron is petty. he is mean and sharp and ambitious and jealous– and he is loyal to the ends of the earth. he is all those things, and he is and always has been good.

potter becomes before weasley in the alphabet, so harry says not slytherin please and gets told might as well be gryffindor. percy and fred and george are all sitting there in red and gold, ruffling the already-ruffled hair of the boy who lived, smug, and then ron sits down and the hat spits out slytherin!

the heir of something or other by dirgewithoutmusic

When kids in the Slytherin Common Room tossed jeers at the pudgy feet of Millicent Bulstrode, Harry rose up to do something about it. This Harry, now one of Snape’s own, got fewer House points lost but many more detentions– it had never been the colors on his hem that Severus hated.

This was not wishing Harry an easy path. This was not wishing the boy a warm House. This was Harry, three weeks in, sleep deprived and considering running away and going back to Privet Drive. This was Harry in the back of Potions class, blank-faced under Snape’s disdain the way he’d perfected under the Dursleys’s torments.

When Quirrell shouted “troll in the dungeons, thought you ought to know,” and Harry overheard that there was a girl in the bathroom crying, he still ran off to make sure she got out okay. He hesitated first, at the back of the little pack of Slytherin first years (at the back so that no one could get behind him)– he hesitated.

And Millicent Bulstrode, who could never quite keep her tummy tucked in enough, could never brush all the cat hair off her robes, never quite keep her temper in check, hesitated, too.