I WIN AT TIME
Dec. 1st, 2011 05:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
terajkI posted this, like, 10 minutes before I got my ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
white_lotus LNYE assignment, I swear:
Title: Correspondence by![[archiveofourown.org profile]](https://p2.dreamwidth.org/b164c54b26e4/-/archiveofourown.org/favicon.ico)
terajk for LizBee
Rating: T, No Archive Warnings Apply
Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Characters: Zuko, Azula
Ships: Aang/Katara/Mai/Zuko
Word count: 1448 words
Summary: "I am so tired of you," Zuko said. (Or, whenterajk writes hurt/comfort, there is a Big Damn Argument).
At AO3
white_lotus LNYE assignment, I swear:Title: Correspondence by
Rating: T, No Archive Warnings Apply
Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Characters: Zuko, Azula
Ships: Aang/Katara/Mai/Zuko
Word count: 1448 words
Summary: "I am so tired of you," Zuko said. (Or, when
terajk writes hurt/comfort, there is a Big Damn Argument).At AO3
no subject
Date: 2011-12-02 08:07 am (UTC)And also frustrated, because I got the email from AO3 saying a fic had been posted for me, and THEN MY PHONE'S INTERNET DROPPED OUT. And didn't return for six hours.
BUT I HAVE READ IT, AND I LOVED IT. The way Zuko has sort of started moving past his trauma, while Azula can't yet. And this:
He did not remind her of what the servants had told him about the brief time she was in the Prison Tower with Father.
THERE IS NOTHING GOOD IN THAT SENTENCE. NOTHING GOOD AT ALL.
And the portrait it sketches of Ozai is absolutely chilling, and brings him into sharper relief than before -- a complete monster, but a monster in weirdly specific and horrible ways.
Director's cut/commentary
Date: 2011-12-02 02:44 pm (UTC)The fact that a fic about people having a huge fight related to their horribly abusive dad can make you happy is WHY WE ARE FRIENDS. (IOW, I am so happy to wake up to that.)
Sadly, I don't know if this counts as them talking about their dad's abuse. (Those cheaters--but those are the kinds of conversations you need to have more than once). Also sadly, some Aang/Mai (and Katara/Mai, for that matter) got left on the cutting room floor. Have it back:
I am ALSO sad that more of Zuko vs. the South Pole didn't make it in. ("Hey, Zuko?" "That's Firelord to you, kid." "You're 'Zuko' until you catch a fish.") didn't make it in. I wanted to give you ALL THE THINGS, I AM SORRY. I guess I'll just have to write more fics for you :D
"He did not remind her of what the servants had told him about the brief time she was in the Prison Tower with Father."
THERE IS NOTHING GOOD IN THAT SENTENCE. NOTHING GOOD AT ALL.
NO. NO THERE IS NOT. Except maybe that Zuko stopped himself from using it as ammunition in their fight. I don't think Azula would've done the same for him.
the portrait it sketches of Ozai is absolutely chilling, and brings him into sharper relief than before -- a complete monster, but a monster in weirdly specific and horrible ways.
Thank you. I have a lot of trouble writing Ozai in anything approaching a sympathetic way. (I'll read it, but I can't write it). When you're a villain voiced by Mark Hamil and he says "Prepare to die!" in full ham mode (while getting away with it, because he is Mark Hamil), I cannot write you as anything other than a complete monster. (Relatedly, if I play Batman: Arkham Asylum, Azula will sometimes tell me things about her dad.)
<3 <3 <3
Re: Director's cut/commentary
Date: 2011-12-02 10:05 pm (UTC)Their domestic foursome makes me so happy. SO HAPPY. (One of my White Lotus requests is for Aang/Katara/Zuko. And I'm like, I could totally write that, BUT THEY'RE MISSING A PERSON.)
I guess I'll just have to write more fics for you :D
I am quite okay with that!
I have a lot of trouble writing Ozai in anything approaching a sympathetic way. (I'll read it, but I can't write it).
I can't even read it. Well, maybe if he's a tiny baby or something.
(Relatedly, if I play Batman: Arkham Asylum, Azula will sometimes tell me things about her dad.)
I am not remotely a game person, but I've been kind of eyeing Arkham Asylum since I found out Grey DeLisle voiced Catwoman.
Re: Director's cut/commentary
Date: 2011-12-04 05:47 am (UTC)Aw, thank you! Aang is actually really hard for me to write. (And so is Katara. Also, Mai. And you know my Feelings on Zuko. OH CRAP WHY DO I SHIP THEM ALL? IT'S LIKE A PARALLELOGRAM OF HORROR.) As you've said, Aang is the only kid written like a kid (eg. word choice, etc., etc.). It's hard for me to age him up, because I keep hearing this 12 year old. I have to keep reminding myself that he's more than just a goofy kid, but even then.
I don't know how Aang feels about Azula living in the palace. If Zuko'd asked what he should do about her (when he was...12), I think he would've said something like, "Whatever you think is best. I trust you. He may also have offered to take her bending, but Zuko said no, because it could kill him.
I REALLY don't know what Katara thinks, either.
At this point Mai thought she was done with Azula forever when she betrayed her at the Boiling Rock, and is really, really upset that she can't just forget about her now. But she still loves Zuko more than she fears her.
I can't even read it. Well, maybe if he's a tiny baby or something.
I don't read it very often. But
I am not remotely a game person, but I've been kind of eyeing Arkham Asylum since I found out Grey DeLisle voiced Catwoman.
I recommend Arkham Asylum if you are not remotely a game person! (Although, I play the PS3 version, and have no experience with the PC one). The combat/gameplay in general is...I don't want to say easy. But the game knows just what to let you do (and what to do for you), so that you feel like a real superhero. For instance, the camera is right where it needs to be at all times. I can't say that for a lot of games.
Re: Director's cut/commentary
Date: 2011-12-04 05:56 am (UTC)Exactly! I keep trying to picture how he wound up in this relationship with the others, and I kind of shut down. Although now I'm pretty sure it involved seducing Mai with fruit tarts.
She also wrote something about Iroh and wee!Ozai, and I could read their interactions for 10,000 pages, BUT I CANNOT FIND IT NOW.
I know the fic you mean, though! It was fantastic!
Iroh's another one I find hard to write. I tend to end up in silver sandwich territory.
I recommend Arkham Asylum if you are not remotely a game person!
Good to know! Although right now, Portal is kicking my ass something awful. I can't seem to jump without also going to throw myself off the couch. IT'S A PROBLEM.
Re: Director's cut/commentary
Date: 2011-12-04 05:51 pm (UTC)Iroh's another one I find hard to write. I tend to end up in silver sandwich territory.
I agree! And just now (as in, within the last ten minutes) I just cracked a culture bias and saw a difference in Western psychiatry and Chinese medicine that I...did not see so clearly before. Western medicine is the purview of highly paid drug companies and specialists who have years and years of training ("Don't diagnose yourself!), and also patents.But the ingestible part of Chinese medicine is mixtures of herbs. Azula's "medications" are basically TYPES OF TEA. And in stuff about TCM I've read, ingredients for formulas are printed.
Due to culture bias that puts doctors on pedestals, it took me until JUST NOW to realize that Azula can DITCH HER DOCTOR ENTIRELY and MAKE HER TREATMENTS HERSELF. And, since she knows what she is experiencing/feeling, she'd probably do a WAY BETTER JOB at knowing what she needed at any given time. Which would make adventuring a LOT easier. And a PWD saying, "Screw you guys, I'mma handle my disability the way I want" is always badass, but doing it in that way would be SO BADASS I CANNOT EVEN. <3 <3 <3/id
But then Azula would probably have to go to her uncle and
forceask him to teach her tea-making. Which means I have to write Iroh, and, uh. Iroh is hard at the best of times (even as I love him), but Iroh & Azula is really, REALLY hard.Re: Director's cut/commentary
Date: 2011-12-04 07:54 pm (UTC)ME TOO. I jut can't decide on the context.
Due to culture bias that puts doctors on pedestals, it took me until JUST NOW to realize that Azula can DITCH HER DOCTOR ENTIRELY and MAKE HER TREATMENTS HERSELF.
...how did we not see this AGES AGO? That is amazing!
Which means I have to write Iroh, and, uh. Iroh is hard at the best of times (even as I love him), but Iroh & Azula is really, REALLY hard.
And that is a problem. But there could be reluctant cuddling! And competitive tea making! And Iroh forcing Azula to do a stint as his waitress!
Re: Director's cut/commentary
Date: 2011-12-05 12:03 am (UTC)...how did we not see this AGES AGO? That is amazing!
It is our cultures' fault, for being so insidious. (For instance, in real life, mental hospitals were brought to Asia by American missionaries. (It's easy to see our understanding of disabled people--or any other kind of people, or anything else--as the Right, Enlightened Way, when it's actually just A Way. If you're interested, here's an article in the New York Times by Ethan Watters called "The Americanization of Mental Illness, about how America's export of our ideas affect how mental illness manifests in different cultures, and how those ideas aren't purely unbiased, and have bad things about them.
Lolariously, for the longest time I thought Iroh could go with Azula on all her adventures; she was like, "For the love of fire, NO. I already have to deal with my mother tagging along, and by the way, I'd like to have sex with my wife now. IF YOU BRING ZUKO I WILL KILL YOU" But I kept going back to it, or thinking of things she could do if she had to go off of her treatments. Head, meet desk.
But there could be reluctant cuddling! And competitive tea making! And Iroh forcing Azula to do a stint as his waitress!
Yes to ALL OF THIS. Would Iroh be secretly FULL OF JOY that Azula wanted to learn the art of tea-making? He could use the family Manipulation Gene for good (again), and be like: "Why should I teach you? I couldn't even teach Zuko to make good tea." And he would put his hand on her shoulder and watch. IT WOULD BE FABULOUS.
...But then, Iroh doesn't like Azula at all. *grumbles*
Re: Director's cut/commentary
Date: 2011-12-05 09:07 am (UTC)I hope there are LOTS.
Thank you for the link!
I kind of feel like there are certain "modern" conditions, like shell shock/PTSD that might be known in the Avatar-verse, on account of the century of industrialised warfare. Only none of the nations have communicated their various ways of dealing with things, and Azula's almost worse off by being in a position where she can get the "best" and "most up to date" treatment. The application of lightning-bending as electric shock therapy, for example. I haven't been able to find that many sources on traditional Chinese medicine, though.
...But then, Iroh doesn't like Azula at all. *grumbles*
He could get to like her! As a child, she was a bully, and after Ozai took the throne she probably said a lot of cruel things about Lu Ten and Iroh himself.
But Iroh doesn't seem like the type to hold a grudge, and he probably has some guilt about never giving her the support he gave Zuko (even though she would have rejected it if he tried, and probably allied herself even closer with Ozai). Guilt is a pretty terrible motivation for rebuilding family bonds, but it's a starting point.
I alluded to it in my Tophzula, but I had this idea for a fic where Azula turns up on Iroh's doorstep, injured and needing his help. And then she's stuck there while she recovers, and having a broken collarbone means she can't set Iroh on fire, and it's awful but secretly not unbearable.
Oh! And also!
Date: 2011-12-02 04:20 pm (UTC)WHAT? That is even worse than the time I thought Kaleidoscope was going live a week early, and was all excited at 5:00 AM like a kid on Christmas morning. But at least I knew how long I had to wait to get my present. YOU FAIL, PHONE!
Re: Oh! And also!
Date: 2011-12-02 09:57 pm (UTC)