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Fire Nation Graffiti (and other primary sources)
Series: Avatar
Characters/pairings: canon characters, mention of Mai/Zuko
Ratings/warnings: G
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Being a notation made at the foot of a wall
In the lower passage of the eastern apartments
By the children of the second prince
In the year of the sand leopard
At the close of the evening
In the electrical air before thunder
When they should have been in bed.
When I grow up I am going to be
A prince.
I was going to write that!
I know, dumb-dumb.
-----
Being some fragments of juvenilia
Attributed to Fire Lord Zuko,
Who was given to the fire
In the year of the dragon-hawk
Honour to his memory.
Mai, your hair shines like
The sun on a [deletion: ‘sword’] knife, I wish
I could stroke it now.
Mai, your face, [deletions: ‘beautiful’, ‘fine’, ‘lovely’] so clear,
A full moon in deep water.
Or in the night sky.
I want you to know,
Mai, that I even enjoyed
The part with the fish.
Summer rain falls [deletion: illegible] softly.
Mai, your skin is snow pale silk
Except [illegible].
For access to the remaining texts, please apply to the royal archivists.
Relevant forms are available at the central library and from the lower palace offices.
Access is subject to approval.
------
Being a notation discovered on the wall of the upper guest chambers,
accompanied by a series of markings
possibly unidentified tribal symbols
perhaps intended as representations of individuals
or as schematic maps
together with a fine amateur drawing of an air bison
during palace renovation work in the wake of the Century War:
WATER TRIIIIIIBE.
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Being a letter in the hand of Fire Lord Zuko, provisionally dated from the third year of his reign, from the private collection of Fire Lord Akemi:
Aang. [deletion: I hope you are well] I’m sorry. I know you have a lot to do where you are, but I need you here, please. There are still disturbances in [illegible] and shortages [illegible] hardly any reserves; peasants are still using rice for brewing despite the prohibitions [deletion: illegible].
There are other issues but [deletion: I’m sure things will improve soon] the problem is Red Rock Island. People are refusing to evacuate and the Fire Sages say they need your help to allow for a controlled eruption. This absolutely cannot wait, Aang, it is not like last summer.
I hope you are well, all the same. I’ve had to do some things, here. I need to talk to you. Mai says hello to Katara and so do I of course.
Please disregard the wording on the letter sent through official channels and come as soon as you can. With deepest respect, Zuko.
PS – Aang I don’t know if you will be able to [illegible; the lower half of the document has sustained severe fire damage].
-----
Being a notation earthbent into the ceiling of the throne room:
Toph Bei Fong rulez [sic].
Other fragmentary characters appear in general to be attempts to represent vulgar Earth Kingdom phrases. They are however legible only with difficulty.
All these characters are still extant behind the decorative panelling.
-----
From the collection of messenger scrolls in the possession of Prince Kenzo, second child of Mai and Fire Lord Zuko. Transcribed and deciphered by Hina Laosin, palace archivist.
For the immediate attention of Fire Lady Mai.
Your Honour,
Glory and good fortune to the Family and the Nation.
Allow me to state at the outset that our guest remains in custody.
We have reassessed our security procedures in the wake of the incident.
Nevertheless, at sunrise check-in this morning, the following text was discovered burnt into the wall outside our guest’s room:
I wish to emphasize that my business remains unfinished. My dearest Mai, please inform [illegible] that I have something to say.
With all due respect,
[illegible] Azula.
She appears to have locked herself back inside without any further activity.
Awaiting immediate instruction,
Your humble servant,
Ayako Muzon
Chief warden, Seika Island Facility.
-----
Written by Princess Ursa for the attention of her youngest child, just prior to her departure for exile.
My dearest girl,
Please remember what I told you this evening about your honoured father, it is very important.
I promise you that other things are more important than [illegible].
Please remember that I love you, Azula, always.
Please remember that a certain standard of behaviour is required
From someone in your position.
I wish I had time to come to you but there is no time.
Darling remember it is how you use it that counts.
Please be careful, darling, remember you are very strong with all my love your mother.
This paper was burnt while the ink was still wet.
-----
Being a note discovered tucked into the side of Fire Lady Mai’s mirror by Mai herself.
I’m sorry Mai.
I know you’ll already know when you find this.
I know you’ll understand, sort of.
I’ll try not to hurt any of the guards.
I’ll try not to let her hurt anyone.
Hugs, Ty Lee.
-----
Being a notation discovered on the favourite wall scroll of Fire Lord Zuko
Which is a perfect example of Kanzo Era calligraphy
OR IT WAS
And which he had only taken down
And left on his desk
For a moment.
Dad, Mother said you’d be in here.
We need to ask you something.
Because Uncle said you were the expert.
Just put it here, silly.
Fine. Where do babies come from?
We will be in the garden.
ANSWER SOON PLEASE IT IS A BET.
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And, man, I will go and discover those stories. I do heart Iron Man pretty strongly. But apparently I needed a flying bison to make me heart stuff on the internet!
it's not so much Iroh that Ozai is competing with, as it's Lu Ten, who isn't a firebender
Oh, man, that just makes the stakes so much higher. I mean, is it even traditional for a non-bender to take the throne at all? And yes, Ozai – kept at home because Azulon knows he’s too old to be sure of siring another heir, and he can’t afford to lose all of them in the field. And sure that if he did go to war, he’d burn the Earth Kingdom down to ash within five years, but instead holed up in the palace, orchestrating this elaborate whispering campaign against Lu Ten and Iroh.
it's normal for brothers to bicker and not get along
Yeaaah. I mean, for Azulon, this Cain and Abel dynamic would just be so fucking alien. If he grew up the little brother, tagging along after his older siblings, watching them train and flirt and bicker, leave for war and return and leave again, he knows that family is the one thing you do not tear apart, because the war will do that for you. In other words I would love to see you write Azulon, man.
And, yeah. What this would do to the Fire Nation. All the pictures of the royals in schoolrooms and libraries and offices, getting draped one by one with white cloth.
since my brain is still all Tudor on this, how many miscarriages happened-- OH, WAIT. If maybe the politically-selected brides' family was too close, genetically speaking, to Azulon, and a regressive gene kept popping up?
ARRRGH. Or even, positing some other base reproductive dysfunction, phantom pregnancies, as with Mary. So he’d keep on trying with the first poor bride for years. And yeah, lol inbreeding is too simple to explain Ozai and Azula, but, man. Ozai the precious son who isn’t quite precious enough. Who takes such care to make sure his wife, at least, comes from a lineage that hasn’t been welcomed into the upper echelons since it produced the Avatar. But of course, that doesn’t mean much to a prince. All it promises is power. And, you know, less in the way of consanguinity.
And, man, Ilah being too old to have kids by the time Azulon’s finally, finally brought her and Iroh into the fold.
God, it's all so awful. (AND WE MADE IT ALL UP. Which I love.)
IT IS A HEADY SENSATION. OH FIRE NATION WOE.
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Ozai the precious son who isn’t quite precious enough.
I keep thinking that oh, holy shit, this may actually explain a lot about why he is the way he is. Not only because he lost his birthright to Iroh when he was small, but because, even before that, he was spoiled rotten and told endlessly how special and wonderful he was. Because he was the one that survived. The only child of the Fire Lord, the last representative of that bloodline stretching back a thousand years. My God, how he must have been pampered. He was told he was a miracle, and he completely believed it.
And then, Iroh was brought back, and it wasn't just that Ozai's birthright was taken away, it was that he wasn't special anymore. He was one of two princes instead of the only one.
Damn, that also explains a lot about how he raised Azula, first behind Ursa's back, and then brazenly when she was gone. Zuko is weak; she was the special one.
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The only child of the Fire Lord, the last representative of that bloodline stretching back a thousand years.
And you just know that the Fire Lords probably claim descent from some Fire Spirit or ascended Fire Lord or some such. Man.
As you say, that explains so, so much about Ozai, about Azula, about their absolute trust in perfection. And when it became apparent that Zuko wasn't perfect by his standards, Ozai made sure you could tell it as soon as you saw his face.
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::flails very hard::
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(Also, this makes Ozai-the-Ripped-WWF-Phoenix-King extra hilarious.)
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Oh, oh, oh, here's the thing: it might not be just that he was fragile (he might not have been fragile at all!) but-- weren't we talking at some point about some of Azulon's siblings being killed by assassins? Especially with the line of succession working the way you sketched out above, what if that happened a lot with Azulon's nieces and nephews?
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And, man, assassins. I'm pretty sure they would have been a fixture in the upper reaches of Fire Nation society, you know?
I mean, this is a society which SOLVES PROBLEMS BY THROWING FIRE AT THEM.
Though ... I am loathe to relinquish the idea of weedy, delicate little Ozai, brimful of shiny resentment towards bluff, buff Iroh.
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...
Of course, there is more than that, but separating actual events from the ballad from the street songs from the didactic text from the novels -- it is not easy, because in later years, the story became a romance. A fable. One version had your father falling in love when he saw her firebending. A few have your mother saving your father's life. One has it the other way around. Some are softer, more romantic.
What you know, as a child, is this: when your father is not on campaign, your father comes to dinner two or three times a week. He is a tall man, much taller than your mother, and not only servants, but anyone else in the house gives way to him. Otherwise, when it is just the three of you, it is not terribly formal, though once a while, your mother will get up the whole ceremony and the kneeling and the offering of food when your father needs reminding of his duty towards you. When your father comes for dinner, he usually spends the night, and you expect that during holidays and the days of ritual, he is not there. This is because your parents are not married.
Your mother likes the idea of your father falling in love after seeing her wash her hair. "As if there would be time for that on one of Azula's campaigns," your mother says, laughing.
Yes, Azula.
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WRITE MOAR. OMG.
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separating actual events from the ballad from the street songs from the didactic text from the novels
IS THIS A WORLD WHERE THE FIRE NATION WON?
ETA: THOUGH THE ABOVE MAKES MUCH MORE SENSE. FACEPALM. BUT DUDE, I STILL CHERISH THE WEIRD AU BELOW:
Is this ... is this Mai, some of the edges rubbed off her by victory, getting right the hell out of being Fire Lady? Because her association with Azula gives her even this much latitude; because her parents presided over the fall of Omashu and not over its recapture; because she isn’t a bender and Zuko can’t afford to take the chance of having a non-bending heir? Because she never really wanted that job, anyway? Because there are other ways of exercising power?
Or is this not Mai at all, and she’s the one still in the centre, in the palace, letting Zuko have his nights off, his little warm segments of domesticity?
though once a while, your mother will get up the whole ceremony and the kneeling and the offering of food when your father needs reminding of his duty towards you
YES. Oh, man, control through subjection, of a sort. A skill it is still expedient for any woman to acquire, in the Fire Nation, for any noble, even. This whole society shot through with the sideways, the conditional, the indirect, even as it trains its children to go straight for the kill. Subversive ballads, propaganda rhymes. Memories of war.
"As if there would be time for that on one of Azula's campaigns,"
INDEED. Hell, who is even fire lord, in this world?
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Fuck me, now I want that fic so bad I can taste it. What happened to Iroh in this universe?
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I'm trying to think through this. If Zuko never left, what does that mean? Does Katara still go to the Fire Nation capital? If she has to face both Zuko and Azula (who is a little nutty, but no more than usual, because Zuko never left, so Mai and Ty Lee are still with her). I just. If Katara goes, I can't -- both Zuko and Azula?
Wow.
(I'm trying to think about Iroh's utter heartbreak in Zuko, and I don't know if I can really think about it, because it just hurts so much.
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Man. I mean, maybe Toph goes with her? Because they don't even know about the airships. And maybe Aang gets delivered to his last stand by the Lion Turtle, as per usual, and maybe he takes out most of the airships by himself, once he hits the Avatar state?
But Toph and Katara get to the Fire Nation capital, and there is a fucking army waiting for them, with Azula at its head, fire pooled in her hands.
Iroh's utter heartbreak in Zuko
Oh, man, no. And what's worst of all is that he can see Zuko trying to be the Fire Lord he should have been, trying to snip away at corruption and blunt the damage they're doing to the world. And he can trace in every new dispatch from the Fire Nation how he is failing, how his failure is changing him.
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I don't think I can deal with the idea of a world without either Toph or Katara. Especially at the hands of some kind of Zuko/Azula/Fire Nation death trap. Oh my God, the pure amount of heartbreak. At the end, do you think Katara is desperate enough to try Bloodbending? Because that, oh my God.
how his failure is changing him.
Jesus goddamn Christ. Oh, Zuko. Zuko. He had this tiny little thought, from wandering in the Earth Kingdom: maybe this war should be stopped. Maybe we should hold onto what we have. And then, he goes into his first meeting with the economic advisors, and they lay out for him exactly how the entire economy of the Fire Nation is based on war. It has been, for three generations. What would Zuko like to replace it? Trade? Who would the Fire Nation trade with? Agriculture? Has he forgotten that only a relatively small portion of the Fire Nation is suited to agriculture, and that it can feed only half of the mouths in the nation?
Oh Zuko. And then, the first time assassins come for his children -- the legitimate children.
And when Mai catches the assassins, more or less alive, and it turns out they were from Ba Sing Se, ostensibly acting without --
Yes.
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Oh, man. Definitely, I think, when it comes down to the line. But ... Toph is there. They could go underground, right? Though, even if they did escape, the shape Katara would be in, having sunk to bloodbending. And then, Aang. OH FUCK.
What would Zuko like to replace it?
And Zuko, I mean, assuming he never got his big carthartic fuck you dad moment with Ozai - perhaps Mai found him, as he was leaving the letter - he might even, most of him, be glad that it's so obviously impossible to end the war. He can imagine his father would be proud of him. It helps, a little.
And when Mai catches the assassins, more or less alive, and it turns out they were from Ba Sing Se, ostensibly acting without --
Oh, man. Damn. And when it turns out that they had orders to try and bring back at least one of the children, one of the younger ones.
THIS IS JUST TO SAY
the thread
that was on
your LJ
And which
was so totally
doom-rich
and awesome
Oh Tony
so much the asshole
so broken
plus, rockets
... And I typed all that out in one line to start with so it would look like real work, ahem. Anyway,
Ok, ahem. I should do some work now, I guess. Sigh.
Re: THIS IS JUST TO SAY
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