#anunoccupiednon-genius

[ultranos]

Will Minh meet Ursa and Zuko? (I can't see this going too well)

if Iroh got in the equation, I believe he would be met by a protective father ready to slap a bitch

In modulus, I'm going to claim spoiler territory.

In KS!verse, yes, he absolutely will. He may or may not be on his way for a visit (entirely unrelated to this mess, just because it's his kid's birthday) when Izumi walks into that toy shop for the first time. So he'd walk into this situation after it's had a few days to grow into a rather large problem.

Minh facing down Iroh would certainly be something. (He'd lose against the Dragon of the West without question, but that absolutely would not stop Minh from trying if it meant getting between Iroh and his kid.)

[ultranos]

Now I can't stop thinking about how Azula is with kids in the modulus-verse. Is she good with them? Do Azula and Shujiao want to have kids of their own?

So I always kind of liked the headcanon that Azula is weirdly really good with kids, and that no one who knew her as a kid would have expected this so they’re always thrown for a loop. Including her.

Basically, it’s treating them like people in their own right. People are hard enough to deal with on their own, Azula doesn’t need there to be an entirely different set of rules for kids when treating them like small adults with the kind of boundaries and ability to form thoughts and opinions works just fine. And if they don’t understand something, it means that obviously she just has to explain it again until they do.

Really, you can’t expect kids to just magically know things without at least showing them.

Also, there’s a healthy dose of thinking about what Ozai, Ursa, and/or Iroh would have done for her in a similar situation...and then doing the exact opposite.

[ultranos]

What happens with the smith/glassblower brothers?

Kind of spoilers, but they are both alive and well when the “story” starts. Azula just isn’t living with them anymore and they live in another town.She had left because that’s what you’re supposed to do when you finish an apprenticeship: you become a journeyman and then a master.

Both of them pretty much became Azula’s found-family-pseudo-guardians, despite the fact that they were only in their late 20s when a feral 14/15-year-old dropped into their lives. They tried their best; thankfully, their best was miles better than Ozai. So they’re the ones who tried to help and offer support when Azula finally felt safe enough to slip out of “survival mode”...and right into a panic attack because as it turns out, her entire life has been in at least low-key “survival mode”.

So the crafting lessons also become ways to cope in a healthier fashion, a way to meditate, a way to figure out how to build and create instead of destroy, a way of self-expression. It’s under their roof that Azula’s able to start figuring out who she really is.

They still do keep in-touch and generally each of them visits at least once a year.

[ultranos]

By saying Azula would grown with temporarily losing her bending, you mean in the way of out growing her unhealthy ways/motives to bend? In the same way Zuko couldn't bend because he wasn't so full of rage anymore.

I imagine Azula traveling around, learning techniques from every nation, understanding that bending should be like breathing, a natural part of her, full of life, not destruction.

Yeah, that’s what I mean. It’s not something that has to happen, but it’s a good catalyst for the start of her questioning her mindset and the things she was taught. I don’t think Azula would rest until she figured out how to fix it, and because of that drive, would be more willing to question ideas she never challenged before.

[ultranos]

Wait, you like Borderlands? That game is my obsession. I have more than 300 hours on BDL 2.

I do! I haven’t played it in awhile, and I only played the 2nd one, but my friends and I played a ton of it, both solo and co-op. (My go-to characters were Zer0 and Maya.)

The game is also what introduced me to Cage the Elephant and The Heavy. (I also really like the BGM from Dam Top/Bloodshot Ramparts, and have been known to listen to that on loop.)

[ultranos]

What small change would alter canon!azula story completely?

So I was trying to think of things, and how one defines “small”. Azula follows Zuko instead of listening in on Azulon and Ozai? Small from her perspective but major departure.

There are a lot of things like that. Arguably, s&a is an exercise in this, although the actual real “departure” is that the rivalry between Ozai and Iroh was just a little bit worse. And this ends up derailing canon!Azula’s path completely.

But here’s a thought: let’s say that the small change is that there is one servant who has been taking care of Azula since she was a baby. And this servant made it clear she cared. (There was a period in Chinese history where the nurses/nannies of emperors were elevated to a position of honor, even above their mothers, so that the emperor’s mother would not be able to control him through that bond)

So Azula gets one adult in her corner, but the adult who cares most about her as a person is also one with the lowest social standing. But it’s a real source of unconditional love and affection. One adult she could trust. Because even if this servant got dismissed, Azula would also know that she didn’t leave by choice.

The one thing Azula wanted more than anything else...and she got it, freely given, from the lowly. Might it be one of the things that makes her realize that her family’s opinions of her (Ozai’s obviously, but also Ursa’s and Iroh’s and even Zuko’s) don’t matter? Could something this small change everything for a child?

[ultranos]

11 & 12

The sun don't shine underground is my fav title.

11. How do you come up with your fic titles? 

If it’s a long, multi-chapter fic or series, I generally try to have a theme of sorts. For ghost, I use computer science terms. s&a is using lyrics from Matthew Good’s discography. The dragon!AU also uses song titles, with the title coming from The Ink Spots and the chapters are all God is an Astronaut.

12. Tell the author your favorite fic title of theirs (not the fic, strictly title). Author: what’s your favorite title you’ve come up with and why? 

I really do like the sun don’t shine underground as well. The full lyric is

It's a long way down You know it's a damn shame the sun don't shine underground 

Currently, my favorite title is one of the future books of s&a: tiger by the tail

I just really like how evocative the phrase is. And I’m extremely excited to eventually get to it.

[ultranos]

7 & 9

7. Do you prefer to read short fics or long fics? 

Either, really. There’s something special about a well-constructed short fic where the author manages to make every word work perfectly. And there’s no feeling quite like being able to sink your teeth into an excellent long fic.

9. Tag 3 fic writers you think are underrated/unknown in the fandom/fanfiction community. 

Here are another 3:

@zuzuslastbraincell, @chaoticsandstorm, and @esaleyon

I have no idea if they’re unknown, but considering how much I enjoy their work, I’ll happily declare seriously underrated and deserve more praise.