Cant Stop Thinking About This

///discourse ///

my pet peeve is azula fanart that draws her sexy af. short schoolgirl skirts and cleavage out and bold lipstick 24/7. and like. i get it. her color is red. she’s intimidating to u. she’s #meangirl #darkacademia #trustfundkid to u. she’s an east asian girl and you’re having some trouble w metacognition right now, to say the least.

but this is a 14yo girl who is TERRIFIED of displeasing her father in any way or any amount. ozai is tyrannical, prone to violence, w black-and-white vision where you’re loyally in or you’re permanently out of his in-group, and prone to taking any actions of his children as personal attacks, statements, embarrassments, and injuries. he is a narcissist who nearly killed her older brother in front of her, then tossed him out to sea for an entirely age-appropriate social mis-step, who inhabited a world of domination and violence, likely displayed some level of domestic and spousal violence in front of and possibly against azula when she was younger. ozai regularly treats and respects azula as a possession of his.

all that and you think 14yo azula is dressing sexy?? azula is wearing dad-approved jeans and plain solid-color t shirts. azula is begging to get her ears pierced. canon azula is dressed, advised, served, and socialized by adults. she has no comprehension of how to do makeup or her own hair. she lives in a massively, toxically radically masculine world of logic, violence, dominated/dominator duality, career-focused, emotionless, loveless lives, and u think that this girl, raised by her violent and possessive father, without a mother or single older woman around, can do anything for her hair besides a ponytail?

azula uses st. ives apricot facial scrub and neutrogena grandma lotion her elderly housekeepers buy for her, she wears ponytails and buns she learned exclusively from youtube tutorials that she watched in secret, she wears practical polo shirts and dark wash jeans that ozai approves of his daughter wearing outside, and for occasions she has a stylist that puts her into designer blazers and adult black dresses. on those occasions she looks so 14 trying to be a real adult, like the soulless and joyless ones that surround her. she’s intimidating in spite of/with her non-sexiness. not because of it.

and i do see azula going high femme as an adult. and i do think when she wants to rebel against ozai, in scenarios where she’s taken in by iroh as well, she goes for daring teenage tiktok looks (“one positive side to my first guardian being put in jail is that apparently my new guardian is willing to let me download social medias, so I have a tiktok now. he even fired the intern in charge of my official instagram and let me be the one to delete it.”)

but like. cmon guys. azula, as we know her in canon, will not rebel an inch. she is safely, terrifiedly sitting in her approved corner, and that’s not where sexy is. where’s that post abt how zuko is an iroh-advised grandpa sweater polo shirt prep kid. real after-school kumon/mathnasium core. that’s azula too. she’s wearing lots of gold jewelry and a halter top in the beach episode but don’t let that fool you. that’s her first time dressing up “to be a normal teen” and she coats herself in the equivalent of head-to-toe gucci because that’s how other #teenz dress, right??

and like. how come the nerdy dorky sheltered traumatized brother is often acknowledged as the grandpa sweater polo shirt prep he is, w thirst traps, as is his human right, but some ppl view azula, who shares most of those traits, as constantly seductive? how come it’s this character, an east asian teen girl, who wears the miniskirt and the red lipstick of the gaang to some of u? let’s think abt it for 2 seconds

okay rant done i have a capri sun now :)

Universal Truth

In the past three years the Wani crew clung to the few constants in life. Lt. Jee’s armour failing to not creak. Cook Dekku taking the Princess’ side in an argument. General Iroh drinking questionable plants if it had the slightest possibility of being a good tea. Princess Usha making Bad Decisions regarding her safety if it had the slightest possibility of leading her towards the Avatar.

But the biggest constant was that Zhao was The Worst and they had to kill him.

They’re not kidding, well, not anymore.

In the beginning it was just an off handed comment. A response to seeing him push and push and push the buttons of their recently banished commander. A catopus toying with a mouseguppy.

Later, as Usha grew and developed, they became serious. Zhao’s gaze lingered, his smile grew sharper, and his words gained double meaning. And he touched, casual and fleeting, careful enough to seem innocent but with intent.

They never left Usha alone with him. Not after the Hair Incident. If General Iroh wasn’t available then it was Natsuo, who could earthbend, or Hanako, quick and precise with a knife, or Minh, large and stern faced.

...

So when they finally found the Avatar, they knew it was their chance at finally keeping Usha safe.

They pushed down the guilt of chasing after a child. A cackling, baby faced boy who was easily swayed by the smile of a pretty eye patch wearing girl and the promises of sweet cream and cakes.

They pushed further down the guilt of fighting a gangly limbed boy and a fierce faced girl struggling to control her bending.

Usha came first.

(Princess Usha already apologized for the whole ship to ice wall misunderstanding, so they were absolved.)

...

Lips were pressed tight and tongues were bitten when they docked at Zhao’s port. The Avatar was Usha’s to capture and not for the ladder climbing leech that was Zhao.

...

He still found out. You can’t accidentally set Kyoshi Island on Fire and not have the world find out why.

Nice going, Daishi.

...

What kind of asshole challenges a teenager to an Agni Kai?

The same one that gets beat by a teenager who’s still practicing her basics.

...

Normally one would discourage wearing jewelry found on the floor of a prison. But the Princess pulled it off quite well.

...

Natsuo really deserves a promotion or a raise or both. Cause it’s one thing to save General Iroh from a group of Earth Kingdom soldiers, but it’s a completely different thing to save a naked General.

Thank Agni none of them had any Fire Nation ancestry else they might’ve figured out Natsou’s little lava trick.

...

Fuck Zhao. And fuck Roku too, worst ancestor ever.

Who makes a volcano erupt on purpose!?

...

They really needed to talk about Usha’s habit of pinning people to flat surfaces. Poor Waterbender is getting redder than their uniforms.

It’s Minh’s fault to be honest. The moment he showed her how to wrestle larger opponents they had lost the battle.

They could’ve gone without the unexpected ambush by the pirates. But it did give them an excuse to punch people in the face.

They lost the avatar, again. But they did end with a boatload of treasure. So, win?

...

WHY IS THERE AN ARROW ON YOUR SHOULDER!?

...

They’re not getting a Shirshu. No matter how much Usha and Genji beg.

Sure they can afford one now. But they’ll need to train it. And Satomi isn’t very optimistic about General Iroh’s blood pressure if June continues to interact with the Princess.

...

Music night.

Music night was safe and relaxing. Where they could unwind and take a breather. Maybe even have a little drink or two. If they were lucky Usha might even sing.

Nothing can go wrong on music night.

...

Bad news, Zhao was Admiral now.

Worse news, he was commandeering them to be part of an invasion force against the Northern Water Tribe.

Good news, Zhao will now be too busy and too far away to make moves on your still very much underage commander.

Fun news, you get to watch the Princess blow holes in the logic of planning to attack a polar city full of waterbenders during winter.

Weird news, instead of blowing his lid like usual Zhao is instead inviting Usha to be part of the invasion.

Horrible news, she said yes.

Worst news, you later find out that her rooms are close to Zhao’s.

Good news, no one will ever suspect foul play if Zhao dies during the invasion. They just had to keep Usha way from Zhao until they reached the North Pole.

Nothing but smooth swimming from then on.

...

Was gonna write a Drabble but it basically turned into a mini outline. So, yay(?) structure.

my loser boy gets his notebook back and immediately gets back to work 🌊

silly little comic 

okay but for a split second can we all imagine short zuko? just imagine. 

zuko getting upset because the gaang doesn’t find him threatening enough due to his height.

sokka making so many short jokes on him that it’s unbelievable. 

azula being taller than her big brother.

iroh being about the same height as zuko and trying to let his nephew know that height is not something to be worried about.

zuko constantly getting mistaken for being younger than he is because he’s the same height that he was when he got his scar.

sokka just picking zuko up and throwing him over his shoulder and zuko being able to do nothing about it because he doesn’t want to hurt sokka with his firebending.

imagine the possibilities of short zuko. please.

zukka week 2019 day 5: touch

nothin like a good ol avatar zuko au to soothe the soul

Pirate Zuko

Alright so Zuko doesn’t go running from his ship once he wakes up, but he also doesn’t buy anything he’s being told anymore. So he turns to his crew, explains what’s going on and essentially goes, “So I’m gonna be a pirate now. I’ll fill out all the paperwork for you to be dismissed from the navy and get you guys as close to home as I can.”

Iroh’s shocked, but doesn’t say anything about it and that night the rest of the crew have a big discussion. They all come to the same conclusion and wait for the opportune time.

By the time Zuko’s filled out and sent off the proper paperwork relieving them of duty he’s also cut his hair short. So then he’s about to take the ship as close to the nearest colony as he can to let them go home they all just go… no.

Zuko: What do you mean no?!

Jee: We mean no, you can’t get rid of us.

Zuko: I’m your prince, go!

Jee: Technically you just went and threw your title away after discharging us. We’re civilians of the Fire Nation and you’ve got no title. You can’t make us leave.

Zuko, fuming and nearing screaming: What do you want?!

Jee: Oh, we’re staying. You want to be a pirate? You need a crew. You’re not a prince now, you’re the captain.

Imagine a thirteen year old in charge of a ship full of ex-navy officers turned pirates. Except he’s dangerous as well and no one knows how to deal with him.

And when Aang wakes up? Ooooh boy.

currently cackling about the idea of ellie lifting weights and practicing SPECIFICALLY because she WILL pick joel up one day so help her GOD

and the day she finally manages a fireman’s carry, joel is teasing her about being mighty mouse, and then she actually does it and joel’s just like O.O

Aang, surrounded by baffled councilmen, interrupted mid meeting: "ZUKO I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU’D DO SOMETHING SO RECKLESS!”

Zuko, half burnt after fistfighting his latest assasin: “It’s not that bad. Besides, you’re like twelve, you don't have to worry about this”

Aang: “only tw—I was the one who—! No, you know what? I’m calling your grandpa!”

The councilmen, thinking of Azulon: “?!”

Zuko: “WAIT NO AANG I’M SORRY!”

Aang, meditating aggressively: “TOO LATE.”

Roku, taking Aang’s place: “ZUKO I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU’D DO SOMETHING SO RECKLESS!”

The councilmen, losing their fucking minds: “?!?!?!????!??!???!”

Some of my Atla headcanons nobody asked for part 6:

Zuko adds a ton of spices to his meals, Sokka pretends he can stand it as well but we all know what his reaction to fire flakes was so it always ends the same

Aang bakes the best pies

Katara modified bloodbending so it could be used to heal instead of hurting people

Sokka was absolutely delighted when he noticed that Zuko is sarcastic as well, the rest of the Gaang in turn, were mortified

The Gaang must have had these hug competitions where the one who hugs the strongest is the winner and after finding out Zuko doesn't know what it is (I mean, he and Azula wouldn't really compete over hugging Ozai, come on) they compete on him (it's all just an excuse to hug him, really) and Zuko acts confused, but deep inside he feels nice

Toph has an unnamed job to sit on Zuko's council meetings as a Earth Kingdom's ambasador and feel who is lying to him, then after the meeting Zuko and Toph go into his office and make a list of people to fire or look out for

On Lu Ten's birthday Iroh always does the rituals like in "The Tales of Ba Sing Se" but on the anniversary of his death he can't force himself to do pretty much anything, those days Zuko never fails to come to make sure uncle eats something, drinks some tea and then he just sit with him just so his uncle knows he's there for him