#taotai.

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Fire Nation admiral AU;

Taotai starts off as a lava bending prodigy in a small earth kingdom village. Word gets out that there's a lava bender in said village and circles around to a fire nation commander, who finds great use in the rare bending ability ( as seen later in Korra when one lava bender took down ba sing se's walls ) he orders a raid on the village and kidnaps TaoTai.

The word got around to the commander after TaoTai's father, a fire bender, went to change his citizenship to the earth kingdom.

Shortly after, TaoTai was brainwashed into believing the fire nation spared him from a life of poverty and oppression. As a child, he has no idea he is being indoctrinated as a weapon.

He isn't allowed to learn earth bending and is punished anytime he attempts. He is taught that it's a weakness. As it pales in comparison to lava bending.

The intense nationalism of the fire nation is critical to his developmental years. And he soon joins the Navy. His choice of military branch weights heavily on his avoidance of earth. He typically has coal on the ship that he phases into lava. But once was able to pull lava from under the water which was cooled into magma, which is a very hot and very hard type of rock. It's basically a mineral. He burnt his hands when he landed on it and it's a symbolism of his avoidance of his own heritage.

This is the rundown of the beginning of his story. Because of his powerful bending ability, he does eventually become an admiral. Where he captures many villages including his own.

He also has the same mental health condition as I do, which later on in his story really does him in. After it, he has his arc. ( Where he finds a hunger for the truth ) Which is caused by him being forced to see how feeble his mind falls under the immense pressure of the military. Causing him to retire to light duty work.

In the era of the comics where Zuko is learning to be a fire Lord, I like to think TaoTai plays a critical role in keeping the bonds of the fire nation and earth kingdom strong. While also reconnecting to his culture.