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Arsonist's Lullaby: An Azula Timeloop Quest

Voted best in category in the Users' Choice awards.
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The Laurent said:
The thing is, like, what about Azula's hangups really tie into whether Zuko has a fifteen part plan for Good Governance? Like she doesn't think she deserves to be Fire Lord because she has a superior tax policy, lol.
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It's a novel angle with which to fish at Zuko's rationale, method and motivation.
 
[X] With curiosity. Just this once, you'll hear Zuko out. Suppose your Father loses. Suppose you relinquish your throne. What does he plan to do? Where will he take the Fire Nation from here? How will he handle the fact that the war is almost won? What will he do with the soldiers, the factories, the fleets? How will the history books describe the reign of Fire Lord Zuko? And how will he react, when he realises he doesn't know?
 
The Laurent said:
The thing is, like, what about Azula's hangups really tie into whether Zuko has a fifteen part plan for Good Governance? Like she doesn't think she deserves to be Fire Lord because she has a superior tax policy, lol.
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As a another voter points out, this is a good look at what zuko's goals and motivations are that could shape Azula's interactions with him.

Also every conversation this route has lead to azula giving away some hint of her thought process to the individual in question and their responses leading to some shift in her truths. I'm hoping that by taking something related to future Azula will never see unless the loop breaks, the coming shift or change will impact her pheonix advantage truth.

That and I believe her mood when the loop ends extends to when she inevitably loops back, coloring her mental state and the tone of her actions toward said emotion, effecting our options and a given conversations direction.
 
The Laurent said:
The thing is, like, what about Azula's hangups really tie into whether Zuko has a fifteen part plan for Good Governance? Like she doesn't think she deserves to be Fire Lord because she has a superior tax policy, lol.
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She believes him to be "weak and unable to see what strong people have to do" and asks him questions she expects him to have no answers to hoping to see him crack when he realizes how weak he is.

Being a gloating cunt is in character for her.

And gets us the chance to see her further confused when he has answers and they don't fit her idea of power.
 
Toboe said:
She believes him to be "weak and unable to see what strong people have to do" and asks him questions she expects him to have no answers to hoping to see him crack when he realizes how weak he is.

Being a gloating cunt is in character for her.

And gets us the chance to see her further confused when he has answers and they don't fit her idea of power.
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It feels like it's kinda missing what's been hammered? Like both of the last votes had her discover something about interpersonal connections, which is why Frustration that hones in on the cracks we've already seen seems better?
 
The Laurent said:
It feels like it's kinda missing what's been hammered? Like both of the last votes had her discover something about interpersonal connections, which is why Frustration that hones in on the cracks we've already seen seems better?
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And then she tries to be smug again and gets a honest answers from Zuko about interpersonal connections and how the "power" path is wrong and firenation must learn to be connected again. And gets even more confused, closer to accepting new truths.

Just as likely as frustration leading to her learning about interpersonal connections.
 
The Laurent said:
It feels like it's kinda missing what's been hammered? Like both of the last votes had her discover something about interpersonal connections, which is why Frustration that hones in on the cracks we've already seen seems better?
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All votes focus on some truth or another, since the primary mechanic defining Azula's actions is the truths. By focusing on pretending to friendship in the first vote, we softened them up, and they were less defensive and able to hone in on the fact that azula believes they'll betray her, which provoked a response that alter the truth as Azula perceives it.

By abducting Kitara, who is very family oriented and who's weak points for Azula to press are family, we determined the focus of the conversation, and the resulting change shifted the related truth.

We don't know what truth of Azula's the frustration vote will effect, however there are concerns beyond that, and there is nothing requiring us to focus our interactions this loop entirely on interpersonal relations, assuming frustration alters a personal truth rather than a community, consequence, or advantage truth.

In addition zuko is the focus of all these options, so there is a fifty fifty chance the truth in question is a personal one.
 
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[X] With curiosity. Just this once, you'll hear Zuko out. Suppose your Father loses. Suppose you relinquish your throne. What does he plan to do? Where will he take the Fire Nation from here? How will he handle the fact that the war is almost won? What will he do with the soldiers, the factories, the fleets? How will the history books describe the reign of Fire Lord Zuko? And how will he react, when he realises he doesn't know?
 
[X] With curiosity. Just this once, you'll hear Zuko out. Suppose your Father loses. Suppose you relinquish your throne. What does he plan to do? Where will he take the Fire Nation from here? How will he handle the fact that the war is almost won? What will he do with the soldiers, the factories, the fleets? How will the history books describe the reign of Fire Lord Zuko? And how will he react, when he realises he doesn't know?
 
[X] With curiosity. Just this once, you'll hear Zuko out. Suppose your Father loses. Suppose you relinquish your throne. What does he plan to do? Where will he take the Fire Nation from here? How will he handle the fact that the war is almost won? What will he do with the soldiers, the factories, the fleets? How will the history books describe the reign of Fire Lord Zuko? And how will he react, when he realises he doesn't know?
 
The Laurent said:
It feels like it's kinda missing what's been hammered? Like both of the last votes had her discover something about interpersonal connections, which is why Frustration that hones in on the cracks we've already seen seems better?
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Personally, my problem with the frustration vote is that it doesn't have a good answer. In it, Azula seems angry about what she sees as Zuko's good luck. She's throwing a tantrum and asking the world, "Why are you like this"?. Less of a frustration with people and more of an angry raising of a middle finger at fate. A somewhat personally meaningful but empty gesture because the most it can bring is some temporary catharsis.

Curiosity on the other hand seems like an active vote, where she's interested in the answers that Zuko can give her. She's exploring options and is actively curious about people. The answers she would get are something tangible, something she could use and take advantage of. It gives the feeling of someone who still hasn't given up.

Ennui is just depression and existential angst and I would totally read it as a midnight guilty pleasure on AO3 but I don't think it's good to have in a quest protagonist.
 
[x] With frustration. In the end, everything always turns out for Zuko. Mother saves his life, Iroh holds his hand, and he hardly has to turn his back on your Father for a month to see him fall. You have bent your entire life to perfection—to the only way there ever was to win—and all it's given you is nine days, after nine days, after nine days. Why is he born lucky, while these days you sometimes find yourself wondering if you were unlucky to be born? Why? Why?
[X] With ennui. It always seems to end this way. You meet Zuko on the day of the Comet, and never see the day after. It feels like you've spent your whole lives chasing after each other's shadows, and everyone who ever mattered to either of you apparently made sure to encourage it. How many times have you killed him? How many times has he killed you? If there's a point to it, you've long lost it in these endless cycles. So why is he here?
 
[x] With curiosity. Just this once, you'll hear Zuko out. Suppose your Father loses. Suppose you relinquish your throne. What does he plan to do? Where will he take the Fire Nation from here? How will he handle the fact that the war is almost won? What will he do with the soldiers, the factories, the fleets? How will the history books describe the reign of Fire Lord Zuko? And how will he react, when he realises he doesn't know?
 
kylina said:
[ ] With curiosity. Just this once, you'll hear Zuko out. Suppose your Father loses. Suppose you relinquish your throne. What does he plan to do? Where will he take the Fire Nation from here? How will he handle the fact that the war is almost won? What will he do with the soldiers, the factories, the fleets? How will the history books describe the reign of Fire Lord Zuko? And how will he react, when he realises he doesn't know?
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You're missing an X.
 
Second Bear said:
Personally, my problem with the frustration vote is that it doesn't have a good answer. In it, Azula seems angry about what she sees as Zuko's good luck. She's throwing a tantrum and asking the world, "Why are you like this"?. Less of a frustration with people and more of an angry raising of a middle finger at fate. A somewhat personally meaningful but empty gesture because the most it can bring is some temporary catharsis.
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In my opinion that lack of a clearly-defined answer is, itself, pretty important.

Like, we saw it hammered in by the very second update - our votes can very easily get derailed by the situation at hand. Azula can and does make plans for how a conversation 'should' go, and through her general omnicompetence and insight into things like fear and greed as motivators, she usually gets pretty close! But friendship and love and all that mushy stuff has been portrayed as a pretty big blindspot to her, and when reality fails to match up to her expectations she gets put on the backfoot as she tries to recalculate.

Frustration practically starts on the backfoot - it's got a structure to the venting, sure, it's got a direction of what tone she's going for; but at the same time it's at least coming close to acknowledging that she doesn't know how this is going to turn out, and that the way she has been operating isn't working as well as it should be.

Magery said:
You open your mouth to castigate Ty Lee for speaking on matters far above her station and abruptly come to understand that, somehow, you have entirely lost control of the conversation, and may have never had it at all.

The plan was simple. You would suggest to Mai and Ty Lee that you spared them out of misplaced childhood sentimentality, a lie they would not believe, and in the ensuing argument they would reveal the motives for their treachery, which would allow you to prevent repeats down the line by taking preemptive actions to prevent similar flaws in all your future subordinates. Once "caught" in the lie, you would remind them of the old adage that one should keep their enemies closer, and they would see a truth they could understand in your actions: the cold-hearted pragmatism of royalty.

Instead, you are… almost about to argue with Ty Lee about your (lack of) instrumental talents, while Mai is off sulking somewhere because she's mad at you for something entirely separate to what you wanted her to be mad at you for.

How did it come to this?
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[X] With ennui. It always seems to end this way. You meet Zuko on the day of the Comet, and never see the day after. It feels like you've spent your whole lives chasing after each other's shadows, and everyone who ever mattered to either of you apparently made sure to encourage it. How many times have you killed him? How many times has he killed you? If there's a point to it, you've long lost it in these endless cycles. So why is he here?
 
3½ hours left. Frustration has 43 votes and Curiosity 38, while Ennui has 19. I still say curiosity would be particularly interesting. Especially if Katara is there and Zuko gives a particularly dumb answer.
Magery said:
Your raised eyebrow would have withered even an ocean. "You have met Zuko, yes?"

"No, no that," she says. "Trust me, I know he's an idiot.
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Because if we make Katara reconsider which royal she wants on the throne, even for a fraction of a second, that's a sweet bit of validation to bring into the next loop.
 
[X] With curiosity. Just this once, you'll hear Zuko out. Suppose your Father loses. Suppose you relinquish your throne. What does he plan to do? Where will he take the Fire Nation from here? How will he handle the fact that the war is almost won? What will he do with the soldiers, the factories, the fleets? How will the history books describe the reign of Fire Lord Zuko? And how will he react, when he realises he doesn't know?
 
[X] With curiosity. Just this once, you'll hear Zuko out. Suppose your Father loses. Suppose you relinquish your throne. What does he plan to do? Where will he take the Fire Nation from here? How will he handle the fact that the war is almost won? What will he do with the soldiers, the factories, the fleets? How will the history books describe the reign of Fire Lord Zuko? And how will he react, when he realises he doesn't know?
 
[X] With frustration. In the end, everything always turns out for Zuko. Mother saves his life, Iroh holds his hand, and he hardly has to turn his back on your Father for a month to see him fall. You have bent your entire life to perfection—to the only way there ever was to win—and all it's given you is nine days, after nine days, after nine days. Why is he born lucky, while these days you sometimes find yourself wondering if you were unlucky to be born? Why? Why?

Curiosity feels like a tack better pursued in some other circumstance, when Azula is maybe more willing to listen, and Ennui... No. The whole point of this confrontation is this isn't like the other fights, we've done something different to get a chance to talk. Time to unload.
 
I think frustration flows pretty well from this conversation with Katara, which has once again turned back on Azula. I think frustration has been kind of a theme of this loop so far - Azula starts trying to do one thing and it goes into some other thing she didn't expect. She's annoyed because she's trying something different but it's not giving her the results she's supposed to be expecting and she's not even really sure, it seems, about what she's expected. Throwing her hands up and just yelling at Zuko would be interesting, and I think Zuko would be thrown for a loop (ha!) himself - in what world could he imagine Azula bitching at him about how he has it easy? It'll provoke an interesting reaction.
 
Imrix said:
Curiosity feels like a tack better pursued in some other circumstance, when Azula is maybe more willing to listen, and Ennui... No. The whole point of this confrontation is this isn't like the other fights, we've done something different to get a chance to talk. Time to unload.
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Your largely ignoring evidence that the track we pick here influences the next loop.
Magery said:
"Doesn't everybody?" you say into the silence, the knife-edged violence, the—oh, you're rhyming, like this is some kind of accursed theatre. That's not good. You really are a little off-balance this time around.
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We see it start here, with the realization something is off. Something is making Her more vulnerable, more direct.
Magery said:
Then you look back, meet Mai eye to eye, and let everything poorly concealed by that "nearly" fill your stare until you're close to weeping with it.

She flinches.

Ty Lee actually gasps.

"Good job on selling the act, Mai," you repeat, softer this time. "I'm certain even these fools believed you."
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We have little examples like this throughout the loop. Instances where Azula is just more strait forward and openly vulnerable than normal. The girl who once lied to Toph Beifong for several minutes, transparent to Katara.
Cetashwayo said:
I think frustration flows pretty well from this conversation with Katara, which has once again turned back on Azula. I think frustration has been kind of a theme of this loop so far - Azula starts trying to do one thing and it goes into some other thing she didn't expect. She's annoyed because she's trying something different but it's not giving her the results she's supposed to be expecting and she's not even really sure, it seems, about what she's expected. Throwing her hands up and just yelling at Zuko would be interesting, and I think Zuko would be thrown for a loop (ha!) himself - in what world could he imagine Azula bitching at him about how he has it easy? It'll provoke an interesting reaction.
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Yes, in a quest about someone stuck in a time loop centered in the nine days leading up to the complete collapse of their life, there is an undertone of frustration. It's not what sets this loop apart from a normal loop. Frustration is somewhat a part of every loop since she clawed her way back to sanity, and probably before. What makes this loop different isn't frustration, but she's probably going to dial it up to 11 in the next one the way the vote is headed, so the difference should be notable.
 
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[x] With frustration. In the end, everything always turns out for Zuko. Mother saves his life, Iroh holds his hand, and he hardly has to turn his back on your Father for a month to see him fall. You have bent your entire life to perfection—to the only way there ever was to win—and all it's given you is nine days, after nine days, after nine days. Why is he born lucky, while these days you sometimes find yourself wondering if you were unlucky to be born? Why? Why?
 
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