For the record while ATLA is an excellent show and Zukos redemption arc was perfectly paced, I would kill to have had Zuko join the Gaang at the end of book two, because the first half of book three would have been the funniest thing on the planet. Like. Just picture it. A bunch of unsupervised teenagers travelling undercover through enemy territory, trying to blend in⊠and the only people who have even been there before are 1. A guy who hasnt been there in a century, and 2. The former crown prince who has literally never spoken to a fire nation citizen who wasnt nobility, military, or one of his servants.
Like. Neither of them have any idea what theyâre doing, or how normal fire nation citizens act, but theyâre pretty sure the other one is wrong. Rest of the gaang knows even less. No adults. Zuko and Aang getting into a shouting debate over the finer points of fire nation culture is a nightly event. They are both so wrong, and so, so awkward
Zuko, for the fifth and probably not last time: FOR THE LAST TIME, NOBODY USES THE PHRASEÂ âFLAMEO HOTMANâ!
Aang, aware of that fact but in too deep to back out now: OH YEAH? THEN WHAT DO THEY SAY!?
Zuko, clueless and bluffing: âŠSomething about glory to the Fire Lord?
Toph, well aware that both are lying through their teeth and have no idea what theyâre talking about, and fucking loving every second of this train wreck: Clearly the only solution is for both of you to go into town tomorrow and test your theories out.
And the side taking, oh my god the side taking from the other three. Katara sides with Aang every single time. Does she honestly believe that the people of the Fire Nation greet each other with âFlame on, my em-brotherâ? Hell no. Would she rather die than say that Zukoâs correct? Yes.
Sokka usually sides with Zuko, unless he comes up with something astoundingly stupid. Zukoâs thoughts, while usually wrong, sound a lot more plausible then Aangs, and fuck it heâs willing to take a gamble.
Toph is the closest thing to a neutral party they have, in that she knows damn well theyâre all full of shit, and has chosen to instead egg them on to make it worse. Sheâs an agent of chaos, and this is free nightly entertainment. Sheâs having the time of her life right now.
The debate takes a brief pause once they stop going undercover and get to the business of actually saving the world, but holy shit. once things have settled down? itâs back on with a vengeance. Except now Aang and Zuko arenât the two most wanted people in the Fire Nation, theyâre the two most influential people in the world. They are trendsetters. They can make slang become a thing.
When Zuko first hears the phrase âflameo, hotmanâ being thrown around casually, it takes a lot of deep breathing exercises to not immediately return to his previous occupation of hunting the Avatar.
Iroh: Iâm so proud of the way youâve been ruling, nephew. Flameo, hotman!
Zuko, in tears: How could you say that
