Hahn (16) Is Quite A Bit Jealous That The Princess Is Spoken For When It Should Have Been HIM Becoming

Hey, I wanna talk about a piece of fridge brilliance (pun intended) in The Boiling Rock.

Specifically, about the Coolers. And about Zuko.

The Coolers are, first and foremost, a means of firebender suppression. They are invoked as a punishment against unsanctioned firebending. They are designed, specifically, to shut down firebenders who have toed out of line. Like the metal prison in Imprisoned, like the suspended cages in The Puppet Master, these are prison facilities designed with a specific sort of bender in mind.

So then - Zuko.

Why throw Zuko in the Cooler as part of the escape plan? He should be EXACTLY the sort of person the Cooler is designed to work most devastatingly against. It would almost make more sense to try to get Sokka thrown into the cooler - he’s from the South Pole at least. Or maybe Suki, who’s not a bender at all. But they choose Zuko. And he’s successful. Subjected to the most severe form of firebender suppression in the Fire Nation’s most high-profile prison, Zuko is able to dismantle the Cooler and walk away smiling.

Why? 

I want to walk you through some facts:

In a tidbit of behind-the-scenes trivia, it was revealed that airbenders can regulate their body temperature with their breath alone. This is why Aang is so weirdly comfortable traveling around the South and North Pole (and really any climate in the series) in his normal monk garb. Everyone else changes outfits to reflect the changing climate, but not Aang, his breath has that covered.

It would be quite useful if a technique like that could be adapted to another style of bending. The same way that a waterbender’s redirection of their opponent’s energy could be adapted to the redirection of a firebender’s lightning. I bet the man who invented lightning redirection by studying waterbending would have some brilliant insight into using the breath for warmth by studying airbending.

In fact, that exact man tells Zuko “Remember your breath of fire. It could save your life out there.” back in Siege of the North. We see Zuko use his breath to warm himself that very episode, per his uncle’s instructions.

And we see Zuko use his breath of fire in one other case:

To endure the cooler.

I’m willing to bet - Breath of Fire, as a means to keep oneself warm, is not a native firebending technique. If it was, the whole concept of the Cooler would be laughable. Any prisoner would just Breath-o-Fire himself warm in there, and the prison guards would all collectively say “oh wow, the Cooler was a stupid idea, time for a new plan.”

But we know a traditional firebender would be sapped so cold in the Cooler that his firebending becomes unusable. If Zuko were relying on traditional firebending techniques, the same would happen to him. But he’s not.

Zuko’s Breath of Fire is an airbending technique. 

One that Iroh taught him. One the Fire Nation has no precedent for. One which lets Zuko ward off the freezing effects of the Cooler like it’s nothing, and allows him to dismantle it from the inside and come away smiling, unhindered, unaffected, warm to his core. 

It’s another case of Iroh’s brilliance. And I’m betting he and Zuko may be the only two firebenders in the world who could pull this off.

Zuko's crew. T_T I'm now convinced every night had some sort of family activity soused with boiler room hooch. Zuko has zero poker face on mahjong night, while Jee wipes everyone clean with his RBF. And let's not forget Zuko and Aang are Azula-lightning-scar buddies, too. In through the chest and out through the back.

SOBBING!! you are so right about everything omg. I mean zuko lived on the ship with that crew for three whole years, and like. ok yeah he was at peak bastard mode during that time but they MUST have bonded in some way!! Mandatory game night at least once a week! zuko might be shitty at table games but they find out he obliterates everyone at charade.

And AAA OMFG DID U READ MY MIND. I DO HAVE a doodle of aang & a very crispy zuko being “mortal wound from azula” buddies lmao. Slapped some color on it just for you. mwah.

(while we’re at it they also have an epic tsungi horn duo going on as a side gig)

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: “?!?!?!????!??!???!”

jetko + ao3 tags. tags from @ao3tagoftheday​

[IDs: five screenshots of jet and zuko from avatar accompanied by ao3 tags as captions. in the first image, jet and zuko are depicted from the legs up as they fight, in ba sing se. it is nighttime. they are back to back, fighting with their hook swords and dao swords respectively. the tag reads “there’s lots of fluff, but there’s also DUELS.” the second image is a wide shot of pao’s tea shop. jet and zuko are standing at opposite ends. both have their swords drawn and are in fighting stances. customers stand around the edges of the room where the tables are, looking on. the tag reads “a bi disaster and a gay disaster walk into a bar, that’s it that’s the story.” the third image is of jet and zuko in the doorway of a ship’s kitchen, ready to steal food. they are in wary, semi-crouched positions and they both have their swords drawn. the tag reads “arson as foreplay, we all knew this was coming.” the fourth screenshot shows jet and zuko standing next to each other at the train station in ba sing se. jet has his hands on his hips while zuko’s are at his side. the tag reads “less ‘opposites attract’ and more ‘two people from different sides of the asshole spectrum.’” the fifth screenshot is of jet and zuko duelling in ba sing se at nighttime. jet is holding his swords ready to parry, while zuko is swinging his own swords to attack. the tag reads “but there’s no romance here, maybe two percent romance, two percent romance and ninety eight percent REVENGE.” end ID]

everyone always writes jet as super suave and zuko getting all blushy and easily flustered and thats great but have you considered; jet tries laying on the charm and saying the lines. three quarters of the time zuko has no idea what he's talking abt and misses the insinuation entirely, sometimes throwing a 'none of that bullshit' look bc when he has no idea what ur saying he assumes hes being proverb'd on. the other quarter of the time is him just blinking confusedly in response and being like 'oh. uh. thanks?' and giving a sweet little smile. zuko, due to being an unsocialised gremlin boy, sometimes just says sorta romantic things in a super intense way seemingly out of nowhere - like 'you know, i think could stare into your eyes for hours and never get bored' - with literally zero shame or impulse control. every time, without fail, jet goes super wide eyed and stumbles over his feet and words, attempting to respond in the charismatic way but sounding so choked up and flustered that he butchers it every time (zuko thinks those attempts at suaveness are the cutest things hes ever seen and goes to hold jet's hand every time he gets like that)

her drawings of king and eda 😭

trans dudes and their useless cis boyfriends

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.

you ever think about how long hair is technically zuko’s default

Happy tlou hbo day :-)