#the symbolism is symbolism-ing!!!

[sun-snatcher]

hello! i love ur work and i was wondering if u could do some live action zuko angst (that makes ur heart sink) and then it progresses to fluff (that makes ur heart swell) please? HAHA idk if it makes sense but i rlly love ur work!! hope ure doing well n no pressure!!!

🐉・ HEARTBURN

summ.  Fresh from his banishment, Zuko faces the aftermath of his punishment in both his dreams and his waking hours. pairing. Zuko x f!reader (established relationship) w.count.  1k.  a/n.  A bit abstract on this one, but just typical dream logic. A glimpse at Zuko’s descent into madness, almost? Sorry anon if this is mostly angst than fluff! 🧎🏻‍♀️

Zuko’s dreams manifest at the scent of burnt flesh and the sound of his own screaming.

He feels the molten sting of a melting crown upon his skin and the fantastical beast that is his father; something monstrous— something scaled, fanged, clawed, and too large an appetite, with a touch and breath of fire that lights the skies in a blaze.

( He wakes up with his voice hoarse from screaming. The 41st Division will eventually learn early on not to mention it. They just leave a hot pot of tea ready for him come the mornings, by General Iroh's orders. )

Sometimes, it transgresses. Sometimes, it’s his mother who burns while he watches from the sidelines of the Agni Kai; Or Azula. Their shrieks mix with his when he wakes. 

Sometimes, it’s Iroh who scalds him. Great Dragon of the West, jasmine-white with razor teeth and a flame that burns as hot as the sun; serpent eyes a shining gold and a sharper tongue that spoke of his disappointment for his nephew. 

Sometimes, it begins with you.

Please, you beg, at the foot of a winged beast. It speaks in the voice of his father; damning, all-encompassing. It warns the Prince the price of compassion, of mercies, and of weaknesses. Eliminate her, or I will. 

Rarely does Zuko ever move. He’d plead in your name, to spare your life. It never happens; he just wakes to the smell of smoke and the sound of your screaming.

( There are dreams he doesn’t speak at all to defend you. The shame devours him whole. )

“I’ve killed you over a hundred times, in my sleep.”

In the aftermath of another nightmare, you turn to face Zuko. You’re not quite sure what to say. 

“Other nights, it’s the 41st, or Uncle,” he says, quietly. “Even mom, or Azula.”

You turn back to the small medical chest on the desk. The infirmary is quieter at times like these; the soldiers of the 41st know not to visit the usual haunts of their Prince. Tonight, Zuko will have to replace the bandages of his scar, and there are only two people on this ship he’d ever trust in his life to lay a hand on it.

You’re shifting towards where he’s sitting on one of the cots. “May I?”

( You ask. You always ask. Even when you’ve done this nearly fifty times, you ask. Zuko is glad; there’s a comfort in agency, especially when he’s gotten so used to losing it every time he sleeps.  )

He nods, and you make quick work to unravel the bandages. When the layers come away, you observe the way his left eye shuts and opens as he blinks, remaining half-closed into a permanent expression of pain. He looks away, downcast. 

The skin around is stretched taut, some areas rawer than others, marred with growing scar tissue that knots in twisting valleys. ( Zuko has only seen the scar once. He’s covered the mirrors in his room ever since; avoids glancing at his own passing reflections. )

The wound is still fresh; the memories fresher.

You don’t flinch at the sight or recoil like the other soldiers or dignitaries. 

He finds… solace in that.

( Something roils in his mind. It uncurls and hisses and growls. )

“Tilt your head for me,” you say, ready to replace the cotton on his eye with a new one. 

He stops your wrist just as you do. 

Your heart jumps at the contact. His hands are warm.

“Why?” he blurts.

You blink in confusion.

“Why’d you come with me?”

The reply is instant, and unintentionally drowned in affection. “Where else would I have belonged?”

Zuko almost answers instinctively: With me. By my side. He shakes his head.

“You should have never come,” he says, instead. He’d grown fond of you over the years. Too fond; over some Firenation colonel’s daughter, a force to be reckoned with and yet a childhood friend who he’d played and studied and fought with countless times. Fond enough that he’d been foolish to let you step foot into the ship of the 41st Division the day he’d been banished; fond enough to be foolish enough to allow you to put yourself in harm’s way. “You could’ve had a better future back home.”

“But a miserable one,” you counter. 

His nostrils flare as he sighs. You watch the way his brows weave to a frown, the way they always did whenever he’s tamping down his frustration. "Nothing is more miserable than being banished from home. Yet here you are walking away from it.”

“You and I both know the palace was never a home for me,” you say. “I’ve been by your side my entire life. I’m not about to break that streak over some punishment. You matter to me.”

Zuko’s heart stifles. 

( Compassion, he hears the wings of the blood-red dragon in his dreams unfurl. Compassion is a sign of weakness. )

“It was a stupid move,” he blurts, letting go of you. He had wanted it to be emotionless, but it comes out as distinctively bitter: “Sooner or later you’ll come to regret your decision. Then, you’ll see I was right all along.”

“Maybe,” you say, just to appease him. “But I doubt it.”

( Lies, jeers the serpent. You have only yourself to rely on in this world, Zuko. )

For the sake of conversation, you don’t provoke him further. You continue, instead, with replacing the dressings around his eye. He’s angry enough as is with the world— with you. For being stubborn. And strong. And steadfast. And loyal. And—

Zuko glances at your face in focus, your hands so careful in binding the gauze it’s nearly featherlight. “Tell me if it hurts,” you say, with gentle authority. 

The ire leaves his body. Zuko’s gaze softens at a realisation:

“Not once have you ever hurt me. Not even in my dreams.”

It’s a statement so frighteningly vulnerable that it has you stilling. Your breath staggers. Something swells in your chest. You let your hand rest on his cheek, thumb below his scar. The touch is reassuring. Zuko wants to lean into it.

“I don’t think I ever could,” you answer, honestly. 

( She can, sings the beast. She will. And once she does, know that it will burn tenfold than what I've done. )

Zuko's hand settles on top of yours. 

“You can hurt me,” he concedes, solemn, voice barely above a whisper. “You can if you must. I command it.”

( The dragon in his head hisses. For now, it retreats. )

#‘you can if you must. i command it.’ #<- GODDD STFUUUUU IM SOFT #the symbolism is symbolism-ing!!! #this was so fun to write #Zuko's ptsd will NOT be overlooked in this blog #the fluff is there if you squint through the angst and whump i promise 😭 #Zuko’s dad manifesting into some beastly thing because trauma is. painful #but god would i be lying if i didnt say i dont enjoy writing the complexities of this angsty teen #zuko #atla zuko #atla #avatar the last airbender #natla #avatar: the last airbender #atla imagine #zuko imagine #zuko x reader #zuko x you #zuko x y/n #zuko x oc #zuko live action #live action zuko #atla live action #🪷 ; wishing well #🪷 ; atla

[skrunksthatwunk]

thinking about how eiji's a pole vaulter and how ash talks about eiji "flying" and how eiji's associated with bird imagery and how eiji's free (unlike ash) and how eiji comes in on a plane and leaves on a plane and how ash cannot fly, ash cannot be free, how nyc is ash's prison, and how ash is the leopard who dies climbing the mountain, unable to live at such elevation, how he was trying to reach the sky and be free but was always stuck to the earth, how he chose to die instead of climbing back down, how he chose to die where he could see the sky and hope and freedom almost like a bird with eiji's letter right in front of him rather than letting everything go wrong and ruin it once again, how eiji's a failed pole vaulter anyway, how a bad fall ruined his career and grounded him (physically and emotionally), how it took flying to america and meeting ash and needing to save him and skip for him to try flying again, how he landed hard and harsh and still the thought of that escape compelled ash to protect eiji at all costs because if he could fly that means something to him, even if he doesn't think he can fly, how eiji is the manifestation of his hope and how when he breaks and asks eiji to stay with him a while he folds himself over his legs and weighs him down and traps him and grounds him, how ash fights like hell to keep eiji alive not because he thinks he can be like him (hopeful, flying, innocent), but because he makes him forget the gravity of his situation, and so he can see eiji fly again. how he wants to see him escape. how eiji is a bird and ash is a wildcat and how ash never once saw eiji as prey. how eiji never saw ash as a predator. how it is eiji's naivete that first endears ash to him, how it is his freedom and flight and removal from darkness and his ability to leave that darkness that really roots eiji in ash's blood as something essential to him keeping on living in this hell of nyc. how it is that distance from the violence and that hope for the future that ash chooses to surround himself in as he dies. how ash dies in a dream because he feels more than anything that he can't fly like eiji, that he can never leave. how his violence is a part of him and will be forever, how it weighs him down. how he wants to enjoy the view from the mountainside rather than looking up from the ground below. as if they can both fly. as if he is with him up there and not grounded. eye-to-eye with what he can't have, seeing eiji's homeland: the sky. how he dies trying to reach the top because he couldn't take retreating and trying again. how ash, tired and tired and tired and convinced it will go on forever if he crawls back down the mountain, chooses to close his life deluged in eiji, in eiji's insistence that they can fly together, in eiji's hope for him and for them, in eiji's beautiful dream. how ash dies without trying to realize that dream. how ash, in dying, destroys it.

#banana fish spoilers #I'M HAVING A FUCKING MOMENT #mutual reblogged exactly one (1) piece of ash fanart and sent me on A Multiple Hour Long Thing and now im rewatching it lol #yes i am only on episode 2 yes i am still going to write big long analysis posts ANYWAY #whatever hope this makes sense. anyway #banana fish #okumura eiji #ash lynx #asheiji #hhhhh i can't believe i've only watched this twice in like what 5.5 years?? sheesh #anywayyyyyyy i care about them a lot ok. god #and yes i DO kinda have beef with the decision to kill ash off at the end but it really does say so much About his character #that he chose to die in the way that he did even though he's been throwing his life away since episode 1 #dying in peace in comfort in solitude rather than in some chaotic battlefield.... ough...... in the peace eiji alone could give him..... #anywayss i relate to ash a little more than i should so. this one's for us cool guy bottoms up #edit i uh.... i forgot it was a leopard.... in the story..... but whatever it doesn't really affect the symbolic meaning it's just embarras #ing that i forgot >;/

[crescentfool]

i just want good things for them 🥺💗

#persona 3 #ryomina #ryoji mochizuki #minato arisato #makoto yuki #lizzy does art #been working through a backlog of sketches / baselines i have lying around since i am in a coloring mood lately!!! #i alternate between wanting to study things to make more elaborate Things (many sketch pages) then getting bored and wanting 2 color things #as u can see. i am in my coloring phase. i just wanted to draw ryomina being happy together bc thats what heals my soul #seeing them together just sparks joy and GAAH i would like to draw better for them but this shall suffice for now... #like i have so many ideas!! but i have been turtle-ing my way over to them whenever i feel that im ready to tackle smthn bigger. #ryomina can feed me for a lifetime. i love them in a symbolic aspect and the day i can capture that will the day i have ascended #i hope everyones been having a good one btw!!! love you all very much thank you always for the kindness 💛💙

[potionofinstantdamage]

16 with doc? Or whoever fits the song <3

You are my angel

Come from way above

To bring me love

-- Angel by Massive Attack

#ask #countthelions #scribbles #doc #noir au #LOL SORRY FOR AU-ING THIS ONE. NOIR AU DOC IS ASSOCIATED WITH ANGEL OF DEATH SYMBOLISM. TO ME

[theshadowrealmitself]

Something something something angst about the mantle of hero identities getting passed around to new people, the duty of other heroes to accept this because it’s important that civilians keep feeling safe, villains being the only ones to truly get to mourn the original heroes and choosing to step out of their villain identities because they liked fighting the person not the hero, etc etc etc

#listen I love sidekicks and titles being passed down and stuff like that #but there’s always an inherent angst to me in like. the loss of identity? #because yeah at some point they just get acknowledged as superhero titles #but at the beginning of all that was a person making a costume and band intrinsic to *them* #*name not band #I doubt anyone starts off being a hero with the thought that they’d pass down their hero stuff to someone else #then eventually there’s a third generation wearing their costume and stuff #because it’s important that their work continues and the whole symbolically the hero continues on in sone form and villainy doesn’t win #but do they even know about all the personal stuff that went into it from the first person who started that mantle #one thing I always think about is like (and I know this is sidekicks but stay with me here) the robin thing from b*tman #now I can’t remember if this was someone’s hc or if it was in one of the runs or whatever #but it goes that: robin comes from a nickname dick’s parents gave him #because they were the fl*ing gr*twins with their little birdie robin #*gr*ysons not twins god damn it #and again I can’t remember if that’s an actual thing #but imagine if it was #and there’s all those robins after him wearing his suit or some variation of it #calling themselves the hero name he gave himself to honor his parents as he tries to find their killer #no other way to think about for me it’s just. loss of identity #anyways #no fandom #heroes #supervillains #superheroes and supervillains in general

[catfishimages]

so like, what did ken penders actually do wrong?

legitimately, if there's something he did that i'm not aware of please let me know, cause it kinda just seems like he sued a giant corporation for royalties over characters he made/had a hand in making

i kinda thought we were all on the same page vis-a-vis creators suing gargantuan companies? you guys aren't seriously defaming this one guy just because you personally like the stuff the corporation makes, right? right??

#are you guys 'hot coffee lawsuit'-ing this? like really? #alan moore? chill. ditko's estate? chill. ken penders? nooo that's different just cause i happen to like this intellectual property >:( #my general rule of thumb with legal cases is that if one side is a human being with a name #and the other side's name has a trademark symbol at the end #i'm supporting the human being

[quippip]

i really hope vash keeps the spikey hair in season 2 of stampede and i think i finally figured out why. it’s because the floppy down hair makes him feel too soft. i’m reading the manga now, and yea vash can still have his goofy moments and he’s still full of love for other people but he’s not like. idk this is mostly on tiktok i think but i’ve seen a LOT of ppl there say they prefer his hair down because “he’s a soft boy!!!” and he’s. nnooooot? he’s not, really. but he WAS. like, that’s a part of his backstory! that he was a soft happy-go-lucky kid who became tough after everything happened. and so it makes a LOT of sense for season 1 stampede vash to have that softer hairstyle, because he’s still in the younger mindset! it’s a prequel of sorts! but the spiked up hair symbolizes that change, the fact that now he’s faced knives and has to come to terms with the fact that it’s NOT going to be as simple as saying “can’t we just get along?”. ESPECIALLY after the destruction of July, i really think the spiked up hair gives him a more mature feeling, which works because knives thinks vash is still acting like a kid. idk!!!!

#trigun #tristamp #sorry lol this is a really bad block of text but i just have a lot of thoughts abt his hair and what it symbolizes #and also about how the tiktok part of the fandom in particular seems to be heavily soft boy uwu-ing vash and i do not like it!!!! #you can be silly and optimistic and full of love and still be hardened by trauma!!!!!! #the entire point of vash is that hes NOT a soft boy!! he's been hardened by everything that has happened to him! #AND YET he CHOOSES love and peace and kindness!!!!!

[autisticarachnid]

currently painting my own spiderpunk t shirt because diy <333

#it’s what he would want so #but fr i am having fun making the shirt #i’ve just recently gotten into diy-ing clothes outside of making patch pants #and i wanna expand my closet so #diy spiderpunk symbol shirt !! #with holes in it !!!! #spiderpunk #spider punk #hobie brown #salem talks #across the spider verse

[nyaskitten]

my brain has invented new robo/cyborg blorbos and WON'T LEAVE ME ALONE unless I post the art I have of them rn so here y'all go Ig

#raine's art #oc world #I don't even know ANYTHING ab this story other than the villains being like. robot drones that share a hivemind w their emperor #is their emperor a robot? a cyborg? a human? I DONT KNOW !!! #the weird symbols r the ideas for different factions. factions of what? I dont fac-ing know #also yes my brain DID make me make a semi-catgirl whos trans leave me alone !!!!! #original character #character design

[hillbilly---man]

I was trying to do some research and see if anyone was debating the shade of purple in the asexual flag in ~2010 and, while I didnt find any.. I did find an article that remembered my message board thread that inspired the community to make the flag........ So I'm feeling perceived and a little cocky lmaoo

#listen. i may not be very influential or important in the grand scheme of things #but one time i was trying to figure out what colors to make a bracelet & accidentally inspired the creation of a major international symbol #i dont deserve credit but i think im entitled to feel a little proud of myself for Forrest Gump-ing my way into queer history

[wheelercore]

Trying to figure out whether st is referencing Kubrick's The Shining or Stephen King's original book. Or both?

Because ST takes quite a lot of influence from Stephen King (and tangentially related stories) and I'm just staring realllll hard at the fact that there are there interesting possible allusions to the movies/books, one of which being that Wendy goes onto (who is described as blonde and beautiful in the book- something that was changed by Kubrick for the movie) die when Danny is twenty from lung cancer.

#well *sigh* now i have to read/watch both. fuck. #and also do/ctor sleep 🙃🙃🙃🙃 #well rewatch but i dont really remember what happened lol #*holds hands with rosemarys ba/by and the shin/ing* you guys are my bestest friends #but also the symbolism of choking esp in s4 with el *and* robin who went by the alias *rose* and is later choked by a vine #and how that relates to lung cancer -> getting more and more unable to breathe as your lungs get sicker and sicker #the choking also being related to conformity and self control to the point of 'choking oneself' #sorry delusion moment. what the fuck am i even talking about #of course the DS movie didnt come out until 2019 but the book came out it 2013 i believe? #rosegate #kind of

[monster-noises]

hmhmhm for ages I've had my heart set on getting one like.. Encompassing Life-Altering Media Tattoo for the things most important to me (originally just Transformers and Ghost) and I have been struggling now for two years to figure out How to incorporate re8/Karl in a way that doesn't Super fuck with the design or require me to like.. wait for or find Another piece of media that Hits Me like that but I was thinking today like.... what if.. what if I just take Karl out of that set up entirely and plan for a separate FaHI tattoo?? I've also always wanted to get commemorative tattoos for every story I write (haha ha h a-hhh) and also cringe is dead? Now I've just got to figure out What and Where not that I'll have money for Either anytime too

#monster noises #just rambling #it's difficult cause I want something more Cool but Symbolic than Blatantly Obvious #but trying to do that while Avoiding the Hammer is fuckdfgkjdfg ing Difficult

[lukore]

it irks me when like. midtone skinned poc tend to imagine themselves as like. a single color in illustration.

#i mean obvi there are like. simplifications that are necessary for certain mediums but its just like. regressing to the symbolic level #in a way that defers to racialized/ing(?) history

[answrs]

I just realized but the emblem as seen by N or other Team Plasma would be a hilarious/sweet misunderstanding (if N) or horribly frustrating (if Plasma grunts/gossip media) sticking point for the organization in their crusade against the Battle Subway. Just look! That horrible Boss Emmet has carved his logo into the forehead of this poor, hapless pokemon! Except uh... nope, sorry, that was the author Arceus...

#ing(o)men au #the unintended consequences #of using the symbol already on his forehead as a lil design note #because artistic differentiation from normal absol besides the coat was needed #lmao #:') sorry emmet

[asleepinawell]

just two dragon boys homoerotically akh morn-ing each other at the end of the universe, as one does

(better with audio as it hit THAT part of the song at the perfect time)

#this probably has an interest group of exactly me #'show me your vaunted fortitude' zenos that's gay #ffxiv #i tried so hard to get my rotation to line up for this #the the music lined up perfectly #i was so pleased #akh morn-ing bosses back gives me so much genuine joy #favorite spell in the game #i know i'm weird #i was so excited to get it i didn't bother to use my damage buff first oops #my rotation just went to hell when i saw his cast bar because i was like :DDDD #whatever i won on the fist try #10/10 best fight ever would have a gay fight to the death with zenos at the end of the galaxy again #ffxivmp #endwalker spoilers #endwalker #zenos yae galvus #mp #tempestgaming #also zenos blasting dark and me blasting light is nice symbolism (even though mine is unaspected) #uggghhh this ending part was so good #i know some people didn't like it but it was absolutely what i wanted at the end of the game #the ability to just go all out in an extremely fun duel with no real stakes #the world wasn't hanging in the balance we'd already saved the day #i mean at the end of the day he was right and i just needed to get past all the other distractions #gg zenos #akh moron #himbo lizard boy tag

[theophagie-remade]

I am privy of fandom drama the insanity of which you will never believe

#the same person who said that bk//dk shippers who don't think it will be canon have internalised homophobia saying that hc-ing deku as bi #is ''misinterpreting symbolism''... i can't believe i'm witnessing this i must have died and this is some kind of layer of hell i'm sure #help. help. this is because someone joked that since dual wielding is an euphemism for bisexuality in japanese and deku has two swords in #the new fantasy au poll then he could be bi #no but fr the biphobia in this fandom... #someone else once said something along the lines of ''omg am i the ONLY one who doesn't think he's bi?🙄''... bro... #mytext #animanga #bnha #salty