RMH
"I'm Dorothy Gale from Kansas"
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YOU ARE THE REASON
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izzy's playlists!
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@this-world-moves-on
HELLO, EVERYONE!
I don't write often but I wish I did.
OZAI/URSA
i) Betrayal https://archiveofourown.org/works/28670016
ii) Evermore
https://archiveofourown.org/works/36271774/chapters/90421567
AZULON/ILAH
i)He should be nothing like me
https://archiveofourown.org/works/31967302
ii)The fire in her eyes
https://archiveofourown.org/works/46558933/chapters/117241696
I have said this before but I think something which is underappreciated is that Mai has a very different understanding of Azula's actions and motives than Zuko does. That isn't to say Mai likes Azula's actions or doesn't feel a great deal of resentment toward her, but she'd regard a lot of what Zuko thinks about Azula to be complete BS. For instance, there's not a chance in the world that Mai thinks Azula bringing Zuko home was part of a perfidious plot against Zuko. And this is something that could very much come up postwar.
Ty Lee also wouldn't understand Azula's actions the same way Zuko does, but the odds of Zuko taking her seriously are zero. As for Iroh, I don't know what he understands, but he would never "debunk" any of Zuko's hatred for Azula.
just scrolled through an argument that kicked ass. OP made and posted an AI image, then defended themselves saying they’re disabled and can’t draw so AI is all they can do. someone chimes in “i understand that feeling, but Beethoven made music despite being deaf, i believe in your abilities!” to which OP replied that being deaf isn’t a real disability unlike their CPTSD that prevents them from drawing. Beethoven had it easy tbh. and that’s why i have to use AI to make Helluva Boss fan characters
somebody please give them ibuprofen 😭
Azula loves____ the most
Lo and Li
Zuko
Mai
Ty Lee
Ursa
Iroh
Lu Ten
Ozai
Azulon
Someone else (put in tags)
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[ Azula working with Zuko and they find a secret room that Ozai kept hidden from them. ] Zuko: Hold on. Father went to a lot of trouble to keep this room hidden. Azula: And? Zuko: What if it's booby trapped? Azula: Don't worry. I'm one step ahead of him. Zuko: Great. What's your-- [ Azula shoves him into the room. ] Azula: We good? Zuko: Zuko: Yeah.
Guys + @zuko-always-lies look what was just posted
Do you believe Iroh redeemed himself?
Edit: 3 minutes later the fuck-
It's fascinating how Sokka so fundamentally gets at the issues surrounding Iroh and Zuko here. Iroh doesn't really care when Zuko hurts people, since he has "good inside him" and thus his actions are irrelevant. The possibility that Zuko might become a better person outweighs all the concrete harm Zuko is inflicting on his victims.
Except that in the end Iroh is fully and 100% right and Sokka ends up seeing it too
Within the next hour or so, Zuko would betray Iroh and Katara, leading to the Avatar almost dying.
And Sokka only accepts Zuko when Zuko actually concretely and firmly makes a real commitment to help the Gaang.
Correct. Zuko did, indeed, have good inside of him. He did a LOT of backsliding especially in that era. But it was there. And he made the choice to nurture it. It doesn't matter WHEN he did it. Only THAT he did it
It matters a whole ton to the people that Zuko hurt "WHEN he did it."
This is a strikingly hypocritical statement from Zuko. And I'm less talking about his Agni Kai's with Azula than his violence against Aang, which extends even to the series finale, here. Zuko has never seen "young age" as a reason not to inflict violence on someone. If 13 year old Zuko was a child, so is 12 year old Aang and 14 year old Azula and all the children Zuko terrified in the Southern Water Tribe.
I was chatting with one of my mutuals and they sent me this thought. The question they were interested in was "Does desiring someone's love like indicate you care about them on some level or is it just entitlement on Zuko's part," but I don't think we need to limit ourselves to that. I think we're dealing with a fascinating interpretation here.
Essentially, what if the skeleton key to understanding what's going on is that Zuko wants a sibling's affection and adoration, even wants Azula's affection and adoration, but doesn't want to go through the hard work and complexities of an actual mutual sibling relationship, doesn't want to actually deal with the complexities of the actual person Azula. Or, in other words, he doesn't care about Azula but he wants her to care about him.
As the basis for a post-war fic, I think this is potentially very interesting.
This is essentially the take I think makes the most sense in canon and most of fanon. He's very self interested and involved. And he can only see or care about what a person can provide him, even if that thing is their love for him. He 'wants his family back' but what he wants is more people to admire and praise him uncritically because Iroh is dipping to terrorize the poor tea drinkers of ba sing se.
I almost forgot to post this art dump here
you've always had such a beautiful hair
"sometimes we wear masks"
Iroh and Azula on a school project
Iroh takes charge of the project. He ends up coordinating meetings and determines who should do what. That is the extent of his participation. If it’s a research project he doesn’t do any research instead he delegates that out. When it comes time to write he delegates out the individual assignments and assigns himself as editor but only really skims through for major formatting errors. He turns in the project and tells everyone that it his his project and forgets to mention that others worked on it.
Azula also takes charge of the project. She is bossy and demanding and plans out everything that needs to happen. She assigns herself more then her fair share of the work but makes sure that everyone else does their portion excellently. In fact she forces everyone in the group to work harder and longer then any other team assigned the same project. She also takes part as editor and makes major changes to what people have written. She turns in the project and when she talks about it she mentions how it was a group effort. She down plays her role in the project.
In Legacy of the Fire Nation book:
Iroh condemns Ozai for "lauding" Azula like he didn't spend the entirety of book lauding the shit out of Zuko, calling Sokka a fool in comparison to him who needed Zuko to stay grounded and claimed that the Fire Nation needs him but doesn't deserve him. Like that is more expensive than anything Ozai supposedly praised Azula with other than her firebending.
And that's just two examples.
The dumbest scene in atla
So if Iroh believes Zuko has good and bad in him because of Roku and Sozin, then that would mean Iroh thinks of himself as inherently bad.
This would also mean Iroh thinks of Azula this way. And he would also see Ozai this way.
This goes against the theme of the show of everyone being capable of good. This also could strongly support Fire Nation war mentality if you can apply the all evil card to any group of people (Air Nomad genocide, sw genocide).
If anything, this supports the Iroh that the writers weren’t aware they made: someone who doesn’t care about his 14-year-old niece, who’s one of the most powerful firebenders out there yet doesn’t challenge Ozai for the throne (despite it being his and he would obviously have supporters), who doesn’t stop Zuko from hurting innocent people, who never directly says anything to Zuko about the how wrong the war is, and who never does ANYTHING in the war until he’s forced to.
Regardless this isn’t really a scene you’d want to support if you’re a fan of Iroh. It makes no sense if he’s gone through a redemption arc and moved away from the propaganda of the Fire Nation entirely.
Iroh: The Missed Opportunity
I will be the first to admit it: I am not the biggest fan of Iroh. Or rather, I'm not the biggest fan of how he is presented in the franchise nor by anyone who insists that he was a saint that could do no wrong.
Cause he did do wrong. He was the man responsible for behind the bloody 600-Day Siege of Ba Sing Se. Even if he ultimately relented, that was only when his son was killed and after he had waged a bloody campaign that spread great suffering throughout the Earth Kingdom. It's a black mark against him that calls into question whether or not he's really as saintly as the series (at least post Book 1) makes him out to be. It especially calls into question his position as Zuko's mentor and whether or not he's truly the person who should be guiding him on the path of redemption.
Which...ironically should've been something that made him more fascinating than the jolly old uncle people envision him as.
Think about it: if Iroh was a warmongering general, that would bring into question almost all his advice to Zuko. What experiences colored his perception and wisdom, and how that would affect his nephew who idolizes him. It would bring into question Zuko's own morality and redemption arc if he's basing himself so much on Iroh's approval, a man who not too long ago was fighting for the Fire Nation. Sure, there's no doubt Iroh would want to help Zuko, but his instincts as a general and manipulations into preparing his nephew for the role of Fire Lord would interfere with what Zuko needs now.
The idea of a flawed father figure isn't a new one, but there's a reason it has a lot of staying power. For example: Long John Silver from Treasure Island is a pirate, yes, but his mentor figure to Jim Hawkins along with their dynamic was what made him an enduring character. Obi-Wan Kenobi from Star Wars kept vital information from Luke about his father which strains his relationship with him, but it's implied he was suffering from PTSD and was having issues with the truth himself. Lord Shimura from Ghost of Tsushima genuinely cares about Jin's wellbeing, but their clashing ideologies leads their relationship to tragedy.
You can make flawed father characters work. And that's how Iroh should've been written. There should've been more doubt. Of what advice and wisdom is coming from a place of genuine heart or from a past of conquest. And Zuko blindly accepting his every word, but then learning to forge his own path would've made for a much stronger redemption arc instead of being handheld the whole way through. Especially since it's that craving for acceptance which led to his toxic relationship with Ozai in the first place.
Instead, Iroh was turned into a saint, a flawless figure. The general forgotten in favor of the goofy wise uncle. And so too was any nuance that came from his character.
