Stupid Avatar canon question

[lizbee]

Is it ever actually said, in the show (stuff Bryan and Mike say in interviews only counts if I like it) that Ursa is not a firebender?

Because I keep seeing it come up, but I don't remember anything about it in her (very brief) appearances, and it doesn't make sense to me. I can't imagine Azulon letting even a second son marry a non-bender, or Ozai being willing to do it. And in any case, she's Roku's granddaughter and Azula's mother. I'm pretty sure she can light a match, y'know?

This week's AtLA obsessions: Ursa and Azula. Is there any Azula redemption fic? It seems like there should be -- I mean, there's a whole massive Zhao redemption comic, and on the whole I'd say his crimes have greater spiritual consquences than Azula's. But she is a girl, and that's a taint that no amount of cleansing can remove.

(My other whim, for schmoopy Ursa/Hakoda fic, was somehow answered. Only the fic is too schmoopy. I NEED A PROPER BALANCE, PEOPLE! MY WHIMS, CATER TO THEM! Or I'll have to write the damn thing myself. And we all know how that ends up.)

Comments

[nextian]

I read an Azula/Sokka fic which you can find through delicious, which actually I really enjoyed except for that it was a redemption fic. It's quite a common theme! I don't know, I love Azula at her worst, and I'd love her to sort of meet Toph in the middle or something, but I think only the best possible writer could seduce me into loving a fic about her becoming good in the way that the main cast is good.

e: Found it. I feel like I should point out that I liked it in comparison with most of the rest of Avatar fandom.

[lizbee]

Well, the first chapter is pretty amazingly Sokkatastic, but is this going to involve Azula being redeemed through love for Sokka? 'Cause I love me some Sokka, but he's not that amazing.

[nextian]

It's a WIP, but that's where it looks like it's heading -- or rather, through Sokka's Amazing Combination I Love You You Evil Doofus, Shut Up and Kiss Me and Intensive This Is How To Be A Human Being Therapy.

[lizbee]

It's the Intensive This Is How To Be A Human Being Therapy that I see working, in combination with some event that actually forces her to deal. I don't know; I feel like an Azula redemption is something that should be able to be done well, but I have no idea how.

[nextian]

I feel like she'd have to be trusted with something huge. Like, actually tasked with running a city, or a military unit, or something. But I can't imagine a circumstance in which she'd be allowed to. ... Well, if Zuko died, I could see Mai thinking it was a good idea, actually, but I would feel bad about fridging Zuko and his little face.

Alternately it could all be c/o Iroh, who I think in a big way (even though he is my favorite) is responsible for the fact that she never had anyone who thought she was valuable but Ozai, and is already well-trained in the assisted redemption/maturation of cranky teens.

[lizbee]

Yeah, I think Iroh really let Azula down. He doesn't really seem to "get" girls (he sent her a doll!), which is understandable for a military man and the father of a son. He returns and tries to make Zuko his surrogate son, while Azula's on her own.

On the other hand, Azula's already well on her way to sociopathy by the time their mother leaves, complete with cruelty to animals and weaker children, so it's not clear whether Iroh could have helped her, or if she'd even let him.

But mostly, I think Iroh just didn't really like Azula, and keeping Zuko in one piece was pretty much a full-time job. A fic where he has to deal with that would be aces.