I was walking through the toy aisle at Target when I found this thing and had a VIOLENT AND IMMEDIATE FLASHBACK to when JP first came out and they had a bunch of REALLY COOL T Rex toys that I would have sold one of my scrawny small-child limbs for but my mother wouldn’t get me one because they were “too violent and also ate people” :(
Can we all agree that despite zuko being 16, he has proven himself more capable and effective in both diplomacy, bending, and hand to hand combat then soldiers that are in their late 20's or more with decades more experience and he just mops the floor with them? Why does no one appreciate this in fics or hell just in context?
Yes, Zuko is intelligent,
an eloquent and inspiring speaker,
a capable leader,
a skilled firebender.
and has the Fire Nation’s best interest at heart
These things are all true.
however...
He’s also an awkward dork who practices his speeches by talking to frogs,
spent a good portion of the show in Existential Crisis Mode,
and has an unfortunate habit of making impulsive, dumbass decisions that often risk his personal safety.
He has the range.
This man (thatgreygentleman) is one of my favorite creators and his hot take on Zuko’s coronation is amazing
There’s only like half the staff that the palace should have because Ozai and Azusa fired/killed/mutilated/scared off/etc. the rest
So they’re all trying their hardest to do their jobs and their terrified of messing up in case he’s just like the rest of his family
They know he’s friends with the Avatar but you can never really be sure
At first they all stay out of his way
Then, a group of younger maids see Zuko and Aang feeding the turtle-ducks
Aang pushes Zuko into the pond and the maids are sure he’s going to set the boy on fire
But instead he just laughs and checks to made sure none of the turtle-ducks are hurt
A few days later, the cook walks into the meal hall to see how everyone’s meal is going
Instead he sees the Firelord in a heated debate about theatre with Suki while Aang, Katara, Toph and Sokka are in the middle of a food-fight
The cook makes the mistake of squeaking indignantly at the sight of his hard work all over thirteen year-old faces
When Zuko notices him he quiets the other teenagers down and apologises for the mess, the others quickly following his lead
Over time, the sergeants come to realise that the new Firelord is just a regular child
An eccentric child who owns a third of the entire world, but a child
By the time Zuko turns seventeen, the entire staff has warmed to him, even the new employees who had heard rumours about what Zuko’s predecessers did
He’s genuinely kind to them and interested in their lives in a way that they’d never experienced before, especially not from a noble
Eventually it became normal for Zuko to be found in the kitchen teaching servants how to make good quality tea
Zuko also offered hugs to them
Many of them had lost people to the war, and at first he did it as a way to comfort them
He was stiff and had obviously never done it before but the servants loved that he cared about them enough to step out of his comfort zone
He was also warm and very comfortable once he relaxed
The younger, bolder servants took advantage of this by hugging him whenever they could
At first it was when Zuko was alone, then one servant accidentally hugged him when he was in front of the Gaang
Sokka and Toph thought it was hilarious
Katara and Aang joined the hug
Suki comforted the servant after she freaked out and started crying
When Zuko adopted Druk, the entire staff helped raise him
Political alignment chart
fuck it. names are too complicated. I’ll respond to anything. If you yell “hey shithead” in my general direction I’ll turn around 8 times out of 10