#and no I don't think Iroh wanted Zuko to serve tea for the rest of his life

[peony-pearl]

JKFAJSKDJSA I’ve got brainrot thinking about Iroh and Zuko making it to Ba Sing Se and Iroh has such a breath of relief about them being safe now, and now they’re going to be able to make money and support themselves and now they’re completely independent of their family (and safe from the Azula/the bounty on their heads; not to mention their wanted poster gives permission to kill them on sight), and with this money and safety, Iroh’s hoping Zuko can start assimilating into the life of a (somewhat) normal teenager. Not only does Iroh mourn his only child, but Zuko’s relationship with his father was already tenuous - thus this could be the perfect scenario in that Iroh could sidle into a true fatherhood role for Zuko.

Iroh’s so eager to see Zuko become happy, pushing him on that date with Jin, doing his hair, hoping he’ll let go of Ozai’s expectations. With the new tea shop in the upper ring, I can only imagine Iroh began planning to set aside funds so Zuko could attend Ba Sing Se University eventually, or for Zuko to get his own place one day; maybe he’ll meet a nice girl and Iroh can ensure they have a good financial start and fund the wedding; he has so many ideas and hopes that have been transplanted from his dreams for Lu Ten’s future and are now given to Zuko. It’s the life he couldn’t give Lu Ten, and he hopes his love is what Zuko needs after everything Ozai has put him through. After realizing that being part of the Fire Nation Royal Family has caused his pain (and his nephew’s) he’s more than happy to leave it all behind to discover what he wants out of the rest of his life; and he hope to encourage the same for Zuko. He can be a father again to a boy who needs one.

But Zuko... wants to go home. And Uncle is Uncle, not his father. He wants to make Ozai proud. Living in Ba Sing Se is a shadow of the life he wants.

As much as Iroh and Zuko mean to each other, the different levels they’re living on are so far away that they can’t understand why the other would want the life they want so badly. Their difference in age and experiences and traumas is so vast, and yet they’re all each other has until Azula comes to collect and offers Zuko everything he’s ever wanted.

#atla #atla meta #Iroh #Zuko #my hot take is that Zuko's apology should have been met with an apology from Iroh #for putting expectations to fully embrace a new life at such a young age after so much trauma #Zuko may or may not have really needed to apologize but for the sake of Iroh pretty much being the person to push him #and for them to have support in BSS and jobs and a home Iroh made sure they were provided for #but again it wasn't the life Zuko wanted #so his apology is half warranted #He made the apology and that speaks volumes for his growth #and no I don't think Iroh wanted Zuko to serve tea for the rest of his life #he just wanted the kid to embrace a new life because they were stuck in BSS #I think Iroh would have celebrated the moment Zuko found a passion and if he made his own career in it #anyway I'm rambling lmao

[bard-llama]

Trope suggestion: body swap!

Also, I think that part of Wan Shi Tong's Uninvited Guests is my fav too 😅 you nail Zuko down so well!

Awww, thank you!!

Funny you should suggest that trope! I contemplated it for a while and wrote down a few ideas, but never put any words on paper. The ideas were very cracky, but it could also be fun to pursue a more serious, slightly body horror type body swap (like, Aang ending up in Zuko's chronically pained body? 😬 But Zuko getting to maybe be painfree for a bit, even though looking in the mirror is a reflection of one of his nightmares? 👌)

In the cracky idea, I was thinking it was s2 in Ba Sing Se and they wake up in each other's bodies and Zuko's all "ah, this nightmare is familiar. So I should wake up soon... right?" only he never does. And the Gaang is all around him and he's trying to "act natural" bc they could 100% murder him if they wanted to (they don't, but he can't really conceive of that). Meanwhile, Aang is freaking out about Zuko being in Ba Sing Se and HAVING HAIR and SERVING TEA and he's in general having a stressful morning shift - when Zuko walks in all "YOU!" And when they start shouting incoherently at each other, Iroh shuffles them into the back room to talk things over, but the rest of the teashop gossips about it FOREVER (and they're worried Li's not as shouty as usual, while that other kid is VERY shouty lol).

Which I guess could all still work for a more serious take 🤔 But add in a Zuko who's like, freaked out, but also so, so relieved not to be in pain and that's how he knows he's dreaming (side note: it is possible to feel pain in dreams, but it is not normal. Unfortunately, I have experience with this). So he wants to wake up - but he also kinda DOESN'T, because then he'll hurt again.

And Aang is... probably having a very rough time lol. He wakes up at like dawn in someone else's body - in Zuko's body - and then the old man is coraling him out of bed and to the teashop for the morning shift and he's tired and his head hurts (fun fact: for me, i can't always tell the difference between tired/fatigue and headaches bc of the way they materialize in my forehead/over my eyes) and then people start shouting orders at him and stuff (picture like the morning rush at Starbucks, but with a totally untrained barista) and he's very stressed.

So naturally, just as he's getting a handle on things, his body walks in the door.

...shit, I might actually have to write this.😅😂

#atla #fic planning #ask #body swap #chronic pain