#throneforged

[thatboomerangguy]

[ @throneforged ]

"How do you break it to possibly the world's worst dad that you're in love with his daughter and you want to marry her, but you need his blessing because, despite how bad a parent he is, he means the world to her?"

[honorforged]

The first year at sea was the longest of Zuko’s life. Exile felt cold and endless, seeping into his bones with a chill that never left him no matter how that angry fire in his soul burned. He told himself he had no choice. There had been no room for argument when his father spoke that decree, so he boarded the ship in a daze of humiliation and pain, too busy trying not to drown in his own shame to notice what he was leaving behind. But the ocean is vast, and there is nothing to distract him from his own thoughts. But @nationforged drifted into those thoughts often. He would see her as she stood in the courtyard that last day, perfectly composed, hands folded behind her back as if she were already some high-ranking general observing a minor inconvenience instead of watching her brother’s life collapse. There had been something in her eyes, not pity, never that, but something unreadable he’d been too angry to decipher then. Now, with only the horizon for company, he wondered.

Was she pleased he was gone? Relieved to have one less disappointment cluttering the palace halls? Or had she felt the shift the way he had? The sudden imbalance of a world tilting them further toward their father’s shadow?

He knew what that shadow felt like.

Their father’s approval had always been a moving target, retreating just as Zuko thought he might reach it, always demanding more, always more. And Azula had never hesitated to give it. She learned early how to mold herself to meet his every expectation. Her lightning was precise, her fire hotter, her cunning mind sharper than any blade. She understood the rules of @throneforged's love better than Zuko ever had, or perhaps she simply understood it wasn’t love at all, but leverage.

And yet, there had been small, fleeting moments when their mother would rest a hand on Azula’s shoulder and gently correct the cruel turn of her words. When she would soften the edge of Azula’s triumph and remind her that strength without compassion was hollow. Zuko remembered how Azula would bristle at it, eyes flashing, but she listened. Even when she pretended not to. Their mother had been the only counterweight in that palace and now she was gone. Now he was gone too. There was no one left to stand between Azula and their father. Zuko told himself she didn’t need him. She’d never looked to him for guidance. If anything, she delighted in exposing his shortcomings. But he remembered being children running together along the palace terraces. He’s her older brother. He’s supposed to protect her. Instead, he left her alone in the one place he knew could swallow a person whole.

He failed her.

He knew how it felt to be consumed by the need to earn their father’s approval. After all, he was chasing the Avatar because, without that singular hope he could regain his honor and earn his place back, he feared he would dissolve into the nothing his father said he was. The difference between them was that Azula excelled at becoming what was demanded of her. Their father would shape her into his perfect weapon by carving away every crevice of gentleness until only sharp edges remained.

Some nights, he stood at the stern of the ship and stared back toward the Fire Nation, long vanished beyond the curve of the world, and he would imagine her somewhere beneath the same sky, framed by red silk banners and torchlight, standing beside their father while he beamed with pride. If he reclaimed his honor, if he returned victorious, perhaps he could stand at their side again. Perhaps he could be something greater than a boy marked by his shame.

[nationforged]

❝ . . . 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐆𝐄𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐁𝐎𝐘 , 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐃 𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 . 𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐎𝐖𝐍 𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐃 , 𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐊 𝐓𝐎 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐎𝐖𝐍 𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐃 . ❞

— Anita , West Side Story , A Boy Like That / I Have A Love .

[honorforged]

Completed promo commission for @throneforged

If you are not the person this was made for, do not use, copy, edit, or distribute anything from this commission.

[honorforged]

Here's a question for you.... what efforts, if any, do you think Zuko made in repairing relationships with the other nations? (Reparations, rebuilding efforts, returning artifacts, etc)

Pause replies to answer this juicy question from Dad.

I feel the most significant reparation is the end of the war itself. Zuko makes a commitment to peace by singing into the Harmony Restoration Project, which includes pulling Fire Nation forces/citizens out of occupied territories in the Earth Kingdom and ceasing hostilities with the Water Tribes, and a big part of that is the return of territories that had been taken during the war.

Colonies established on Earth Kingdom land are a major political issue, and Zuko has begun the long process of addressing them. In the comics, this becomes a complicated but important step toward restoring sovereignty to those affected regions. Rather than forcibly removing Fire Nation settlers outright, Zuko initially tries to balance the rights of colonists with those of Earth Kingdom natives. This leads to the formation of mixed communities like Yu Dao and Cranefish Town, which eventually becomes Republic City.

Zuko reopens diplomacy with the other nations, working alongside Avatar Aang and Ambassador Katara, and those personal relationships serve as a symbolic bridge between nations that shows a consistent effort from Zuko to reject Fire Nation supremacist ideology. This includes acknowledging past wrongdoing and redefining Fire Nation identity away from imperialism toward coexistence. And that includes greater respect for other nations’ cultures and histories by returning their artifacts, human remains, and protecting their cultural heritage.

[honorforged]

How did you know this was about you??

[nationforged]

❝ 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐂𝐑𝐘 𝐀𝐋𝐎𝐍𝐄 , 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐖𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐒 𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐒 𝐘𝐎𝐔 . ❞

— The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus , Face Down .

[honorforged]

Something interesting that @nationforged noticed about how our muses refer to their parents is that Azula always says Father with that capital F, and Zuko never does unless I have to for grammatical reasons, but he always says Uncle with a capital U. And neither of them capitalizes mother.