It's probably gonna go down differently, but I'm imagining the meeting between the gaang and Azula's squad this loop being like. Sokka stumbles onto a beach and sees the three of them in shaded lounge chairs sipping drinks. Azula raises an eyebrow at him and he runs away
Arsonist's Lullaby: An Azula Timeloop Quest
- Thread starter Magery
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Epsilon Rose
The King of Unrest
Not directly, but it's a fairly reasonable extrapolation from the term Agni Kai.
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- They/Them/She/Her
I was imagining the Gaang settled into the royal family's vacation home there... and then Azula and friends show up, tell everyone to relax, they're on vacation, and casually ask which rooms are still free, or something like that.
"Really, Zuzu, you might have been hunting the Avatar even in your sleep, but some of us know how to maintain a proper work/life balance."
(Azula, of course, has historically not actually been very good at maintaining a good work/life balance, but on the other hand, the looks on the Gaang's faces...)
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RoninSword
Sky God
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A very quick Google says that Agni is the Hindu God of fire.
Keeping in mind I know nothing else and don't care enough to do further research, it's not an unreasonable thought. You just have to be aware that it is fanon.
I've seen people say that in this case agni is meant to be less singular fire deity and more essence of fire or some such but I don't actually know if they were just making stuff up.
Keeping in mind I know nothing else and don't care enough to do further research, it's not an unreasonable thought. You just have to be aware that it is fanon.
I've seen people say that in this case agni is meant to be less singular fire deity and more essence of fire or some such but I don't actually know if they were just making stuff up.
Yeah, I don't think "don't worry, it's not my job to catch you right now", is gonna calm anyone down.I was imagining the Gaang settled into the royal family's vacation home there... and then Azula and friends show up, tell everyone to relax, they're on vacation, and casually ask which rooms are still free, or something like that.
"Really, Zuzu, you might have been hunting the Avatar even in your sleep, but some of us know how to maintain a proper work/life balance."
(Azula, of course, has historically not actually been very good at maintaining a good work/life balance, but on the other hand, the looks on the Gaang's faces...)
It wasn't her job to conquer Ba Sing Se either, she just went "might as well while I'm in the area".
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Julian Bradshaw
MSY Historian
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The bit in the latest update about Azula being unable to put down the work of the Fire Nation, even despite the loops, is pretty interesting.
If we really do want to get her out of the work of running the Fire Nation entirely, we'd need someone as capable as her to do the work instead. But I'm not sure even Mai fits that bill. Doesn't seem right to drag Iroh out of retirement. Maybe it'd just be a long-term goal post-timeloop, that she'd train Zuko or someone...?
Actually, the one person who might be appropriate is Ursa? Depending on how this story decides who she is. Or maybe it shouldn't just be one person, and it ought to be a mix of Azula/Iroh/Mai/Ursa/etc.?
If we really do want to get her out of the work of running the Fire Nation entirely, we'd need someone as capable as her to do the work instead. But I'm not sure even Mai fits that bill. Doesn't seem right to drag Iroh out of retirement. Maybe it'd just be a long-term goal post-timeloop, that she'd train Zuko or someone...?
Actually, the one person who might be appropriate is Ursa? Depending on how this story decides who she is. Or maybe it shouldn't just be one person, and it ought to be a mix of Azula/Iroh/Mai/Ursa/etc.?
Edison_Trent
Freelancer
Oh yes, the name of the sun/firebending spirit being Agni would be fanon, though at least a very reasonable assumption based on the firebending honor duel being called "Agni Kai". I did make sure to not specify a certain "name" in my actual argument presentation, because yeah, you could go with pretty much any fire-related name and it would work.
You know, condemning Iroh to do paperwork might actually be a compromise Azula would be happy with eventually...
Epsilon Rose
The King of Unrest
Wait, I think I just figured out the real™ solution to this time loop. Since Azula's already doing all of the paperwork, she just needs to change the names on the paperwork for the Pheonix King. I mean, what paper pusher is going to question Azula or Ozai about Azula getting the crown? And it's not like Ozai'll see it until it's too late, since that would require him to do work, rather than making his 14 year old daughter a load bearing component of his evil empire.
What could possibly go wrong?
What could possibly go wrong?
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- Head in the clouds
More seriously - I do expect she can do a hell of a lot to stop the burning of the Earth Kingdom by stalling preparations with the paperwork.
It'll get Ozai into her sooner rather than later but I don't think there's anyone competent enough to fix it when if she does lose the duel.
Or more likely her winning the duel and then Ozai having a third party interfere on his behalf.
What - the guy is someone who'd go against his 13 year old son. He doesn't actually fight fair. Azula needs someone to watch her back if she's opposing Ozai. Thematically because yeah she needs the emotional support and just her not being alone.
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Mai and Ty Lee are right there, and Mai has already said she'd do what she did for Zuko for Azula.
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- Right Where I Am
Committing treason for a friend you love is one thing, but paperwork?!?! That is a serious request
Toph might catch on since she can "see" through her feet on the ground she's good at, and play along for a laugh.
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- Reader
Sand muddles her vision so toph certainly won't know someone's there without specifically keeping watch. Particularly if they all jump to the top step from the sand.
She also can't tell whether or not Azula is lying. Azula's nature as a 400 foot purple platypusbear with pink horns and silver wings interferes with tophs ability to lie detect against her.
More like Toph is just amazed of how sarcastic Azula can be at such level, which she is and went straight to binding her with earthbending prior to Dai Li agents showing up to protect Azula from the Gaang until her firebending is back after the Eclipse ended.
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- They/Them
Though from what I can tell Azula's been getting worse at lying, not better, as she keeps on looping.
- Location
- France
We've yet to see if she has gotten worse at lying in general, or just lying about her own feelings. It's very possible that she's still as good as always at ~making a perfect lie as long as it's to tease dear Zuzu.
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You know, it is plausible, though I will admit extremely unlikely, that Azula has never actually been that good at lying and her passing the Toph detector was all down to the unique circumstances of the encounter.
What I mean is, in the real world lie detectors that make use of changes in the subject's biology when they lie have never been completely reliable when the testee is under stress. A lot of the changes from lying also happen from just being extremely nervous. And while Azula will never admit or act like she was nervous I can imagine she was downright terrified at the time. She was without her fire, which this last chapter has shown she is so completely in tune with its like a part of her. In that fight it would have been like she was suddenly blind or missing an arm to have it taken away even temporarily.
Also she's fighting the Avatar and his group, someone that in her multiple encounters she only managed to take down once and with help at that. Here she's encountering them alone except for the Dai Lee.
Which brings us to the last point, the Dai Lee had already betrayed one leader they saw as being too weak when presented with an alternative. And she was without her bending meaning she needed protection during the fight until the eclipse had passed. How was she to know that they weren't going to betray her to help the Avatar.
All of this could have lead to Azula being secretly very anxious, thus making it harder for Toph to notice the comparitively suptle changes that come with lieing.
Do I believe that actually happened that way? Not really. Toph gave no comment about Azula being nervous or otherwise stressed when they encountered her, or afterward when Azula had already turned the tables back on them and they had to escape.
The Dai Lee originally showed loyatly to Feng Long due to his strength in personality and scheming, not due to his martial strength. As such Azula had little reason to believe they would betray her for simply being without her bending for eight or nine minutes.
And while she only ever managed to defeat the Avatar or his group once, most of their previous encounters ended with a draw at best for said Avatar. As such she shouldn't have been nervous about fighting them.
But it is always something to think on. A potential alternate explanation that was never explicitly debunked or even brought up as a question by the creators.
What I mean is, in the real world lie detectors that make use of changes in the subject's biology when they lie have never been completely reliable when the testee is under stress. A lot of the changes from lying also happen from just being extremely nervous. And while Azula will never admit or act like she was nervous I can imagine she was downright terrified at the time. She was without her fire, which this last chapter has shown she is so completely in tune with its like a part of her. In that fight it would have been like she was suddenly blind or missing an arm to have it taken away even temporarily.
Also she's fighting the Avatar and his group, someone that in her multiple encounters she only managed to take down once and with help at that. Here she's encountering them alone except for the Dai Lee.
Which brings us to the last point, the Dai Lee had already betrayed one leader they saw as being too weak when presented with an alternative. And she was without her bending meaning she needed protection during the fight until the eclipse had passed. How was she to know that they weren't going to betray her to help the Avatar.
All of this could have lead to Azula being secretly very anxious, thus making it harder for Toph to notice the comparitively suptle changes that come with lieing.
Do I believe that actually happened that way? Not really. Toph gave no comment about Azula being nervous or otherwise stressed when they encountered her, or afterward when Azula had already turned the tables back on them and they had to escape.
The Dai Lee originally showed loyatly to Feng Long due to his strength in personality and scheming, not due to his martial strength. As such Azula had little reason to believe they would betray her for simply being without her bending for eight or nine minutes.
And while she only ever managed to defeat the Avatar or his group once, most of their previous encounters ended with a draw at best for said Avatar. As such she shouldn't have been nervous about fighting them.
But it is always something to think on. A potential alternate explanation that was never explicitly debunked or even brought up as a question by the creators.
Azula is really good at manipulating people as resources. Soldiers, spies, leaders, and enemies all have pretty clear levers to deal with from how she was raised.
Her friends just want her to be happy.And stop burning the world down. Azula has trouble manipulating her soldiers turned friends because she has no idea how to be happy.
Her friends just want her to be happy.
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Admittedly there's one exception to the no idea thing.
Going against Ozai is just so unthinkable that Azula isn't considering the fact that she has most of nine complete days to wreck the burnination.
HoratioVonBecker
Imperfectly Aligned
Oh, what fanfic?
@Magery I have been enjoying this quest. I am especially impressed at how you've made an Azula redemption story where all of the characters seem like themselves...
As always with a groundhog day type scenario, I feel for the people who can't learn during the repeats. I do wonder what is happening to the spirits of Mai, Ti Lee, Zuko, Iroh and so on during all of this, though I am not expecting it to ever be addressed.
Am looking forward to the fire update... One of the things I have been getting out of the story so far is that Azula is much better at fire bending than she realizes.
She's spent so many repeats trying to fight her way through some of the finest benders of the age (and through some of the finest non-benders) she's probably picked up alot from them, while at the same time, since she hasn't been willing to learn about the spiritual foundations of how Zuko or Iroh fire bend, or how Katara water bends and so on she doesn't have a strong foundation. And her poor foundation leads her to failure against the gaang, but if her opponent was anyone else, I expect even she would be surprised at how much better she was...
If she could think of her father as unworthy, I expect a bending fight between them would be terribly one-sided at this point. Not that I expect that winning such a fight would solve her problems.
At the same time, I wonder if those weak spiritual foundations will mean she can teach Zuko anything? Sure, she has way more practice than him now, due to her many, many repeats, but Zuko already knows the importance of practice. Without giving him a groundhog day experience, can she offer any actual insight that helps him?
I look forward to finding out.
Regards,
fasquardon
As always with a groundhog day type scenario, I feel for the people who can't learn during the repeats. I do wonder what is happening to the spirits of Mai, Ti Lee, Zuko, Iroh and so on during all of this, though I am not expecting it to ever be addressed.
Am looking forward to the fire update... One of the things I have been getting out of the story so far is that Azula is much better at fire bending than she realizes.
She's spent so many repeats trying to fight her way through some of the finest benders of the age (and through some of the finest non-benders) she's probably picked up alot from them, while at the same time, since she hasn't been willing to learn about the spiritual foundations of how Zuko or Iroh fire bend, or how Katara water bends and so on she doesn't have a strong foundation. And her poor foundation leads her to failure against the gaang, but if her opponent was anyone else, I expect even she would be surprised at how much better she was...
If she could think of her father as unworthy, I expect a bending fight between them would be terribly one-sided at this point. Not that I expect that winning such a fight would solve her problems.
At the same time, I wonder if those weak spiritual foundations will mean she can teach Zuko anything? Sure, she has way more practice than him now, due to her many, many repeats, but Zuko already knows the importance of practice. Without giving him a groundhog day experience, can she offer any actual insight that helps him?
I look forward to finding out.
Regards,
fasquardon
Imrix
Periodically Malevolent QM
I think this is true, but also kind of missing the point. If Azula could think of her father as unworthy, beating him would be a pretty short, sharp victory, but the crux of Azula's issues is that 'coming to think of her father as unworthy' is like... Realising that is probably where this quest, and the loops, come to a close? That psychological journey is the substance of Azula's arc, it can't be dismissed as a small thing.
Because like, Azula does not have a weak foundation. Avatar was a story that understood the importance of a strong foundation as early as having Zuko beat Zhao by stressing the importance of his basics, and it still posited Azula as the greatest firebender of the age. Iroh describes lightningbending as "a pure expression of firebending, without aggression" (in pointed contrast to every other firebender in the show who hasn't learned from the dragons) that "requires peace of mind" and even in the middle of a psychotic break, still Azula could throw lightning. It would have been entirely congruent for Zuko to win that duel in canon because Azula was so off-kilter from the comet and her deteriorating mental state that she lacked the focus to wield lightning anymore, but no, she is Azula, the prodigy, and even at her nadir still her fire burns blue and lightning bends to her will.
All the uncertainty of a fight between Azula and Ozai is in the mental layer, in whether Azula could actually bring herself to fight her father in earnest, without being undone by internal turmoil. Why do you think we never, either in canon or in this quest, saw Ozai personally tutoring Azula or sparring with her? If she knew she could beat him, even in practice, that would be a crack in the illusion of her father as the all-powerful Fire Lord.
Like,
This is the only Impact 5 Truth that Azula has, and the only Personal Truth which has never been altered through all 90k words of this journey. You do not get that good without having a strong foundation and a steelclad understanding of the fundamentals, not in this setting, and not in the real world either. She may be ignorant or dismissive of the spiritual side of firebending but that, fundamentally, doesn't bloody matter for Azula.
It matters for someone like Aang, who is the Bridge Between Worlds and so needs to understand spirits as well as mortals. It matters for someone like Iroh, who has had a long, hard journey to be at peace with himself and acquire wisdom as well as power. It matters a lot to Zuko, who has had to fundamentally reshape how he looks at the world and what firebending means to him when he lost the anger that drove him, who needed to find some other emotional fuel to burn in the furnace of his soul. But Azula? Azula is fire enfleshed, and though everything else in her life might fall apart, that will remain simply, obviously true.
Hell, just this update we had Ty Lee poking at this with the idea of running away from it all to be a fire-dancer, and Azula flounders at the thought because with so much else in her life falling apart, with all the questions she's uneasily considering about her status, her father, her brother, the empire she's a part of, who she is, she can't deny that the idea has its appeal. Ty Lee isn't wrong when she says Azula is a firebender the same way she's an acrobat. Azula would be happy as a fire-dancer, the world's greatest firebender up on a stage, pushing herself to her limits and beyond to the applause of a crowd she can't even hear, too enraptured by the joy of her art.
Unfortunately, her life is more complicated than that.
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