#zhao
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Fanart // practice
Yakuza - Tianyou Zhao
#my art#yakuza#yakuza fanart#tianyou zhao#zhao#yakuza zhao#practice#zhao fanart#Lad#infinite wealth#like a dragon#rgg#rgg fanart
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I think it was a bad decision, having Zuko defeat Zhao. In the original series, I feel like when Zuko tried to save Zhao from koi Aang it was such an important moment. It really showed how Zuko was truly a good person despite being on the wrong side of the war. it was one of the moments where you could see that he would change sides in the end. Without this moment, his character feels all the weaker.
#atla#atla netflix#atla live action#natla#avatar the last airbender live action#netflix avatar the last airbender#avatar live action#avatar#avatar the last airbender#zuko#zhao
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So, uh, Netflix Avatar, huh? Yeah. I guess I'll make a really long post about it because ATLA brainrot has is a cornerstone of my personality at this point.
So.
It's okay. B, maybe a C+.
That's it.
Now for the spoilers:
The biggest issue with the Netflix version is the pacing. Scenes come out of nowhere and many of the episodes are disjointed. Example: Aang escaping from Zuko's ship. We see him getting the key and going "aha!", and in the next scene he's in Zuko's room. And then he just runs out, no fun acrobatics or fights, and immediately they go to the Southern Air Temple where he sees Gyatso's corpse, goes into the Avatar state, and then sees Gyatso being really cheesy, comes out of it, and resolves that conflict. Nothing seems to lead into anything. The characters don't get to breathe.
The show's worst mistake (aside from Iroh fucking murdering Zhao) is its' first one: they start in the past. Instead of immediately introducing us to our main characters and dropping us into a world where we have a perfect dynamic where Aang doesn't know the current state of the world and Katara and Sokka don't know about the past, thus allowing for seamless and organic worldbuilding and exposition, they just... tell us. "Hey, this is what happened, ok, time for Aang!" There's no mystery, no intrigue, just a stream of information being shoved down the audience's throats and then onto the next set piece.
The visuals are for the most part great, but like with most Netflix productions, they just don't have great art direction. It feels like a video game cinematic, where everything is meant to be Maximum Cool - and none of the environments get to breathe. It's like they have tight indoor sets (with some great set design) and then they have a bunch of trailer shots. It's oozing with a kind of very superficial love.
Netflix still doesn't know how to do lighting, and with how disjointed the scenes are, the locations end up feeling like a parade of sets rather than actual cities or forests or temples. As for the costumes, Netflix still doesn't know how to do costumes that look like they're meant to be actually worn, so many of the characters seem weirdly uncomfortable, like they're afraid of creasing their pristine costumes.
The acting is decent to good, for the most part. I can't tell if the weaker moments come down to the actors or the direction and editing, but if I had to guess, I'd say the latter. Iroh and Katara are the weakest, Sokka is the most consistent, Zuko hits the mark most of the time, and Aang is okay. I liked Suki (though... she was weirdly horny? Like?) but Yue just fell kind of flat.
The tight fight choreography of the original is replaced with a bunch of spinny moves and Marvel fighting, though there are some moments of good choreography, like the Agni Kai between Ozai and Zuko (there's a million things I could say about how bad it was thematically, but this post is overly long already.) There's an actually hilarious moment in the first episode when Zuko is shooting down Aang, and he does jazz hands to charge up his attack.
Then there's the characters. Everybody feels very static - Zuko especially gets to have very little agency. A great example of that is the scene in which Iroh tells Lieutenant Jee the story of Zuko's scar.
In the original, it's a very intimate affair, and he doesn't lead the crew into any conclusions. Here, Iroh straight up tells the crew "you are the 41st, he saved your lives" and then the crew shows Zuko some love. A nice moment, but it feels unearned, when contrasted with the perfection of The Storm. In The Storm, Zuko's words and actions directly contradict each other, and Iroh's story gives the crew (and the audience) context as to why, which makes Zuko a compelling character. We get to piece it out along with them. Here - Iroh just flat out says it. He just says it, multiple times, to hammer in the point that hey, Zuko is Good Actually.
And then there's Iroh. You remember the kindly but powerful man who you can see gently nudging Zuko to his own conclusions? No, he's a pretty insecure dude who just tells Zuko that his daddy doesn't love him a lot and then he kills Zhao. Yeah. Iroh just plain kills Zhao dead. Why?
Iroh's characterization also makes Zuko come off as dumb - not just clueless and deluded, no, actually stupid. He constantly gets told that Iroh loves him and his dad doesn't, and he doesn't have any good answers for that, so he just... keeps on keeping on, I guess? This version of Zuko isn't conflicted and willfully ignorant like the OG, he's just... kind of stupid. He's not very compelling.
In the original, Zuko is well aware of Azula's status as the golden child. It motivates him - he twists it around to mean that he, through constant struggle, can become even stronger than her, than anyone. Here, Zhao tells him that "no, ur dad likes her better tee hee" and it's presented as some kind of a revelation. And then Iroh kills Zhao. I'm sorry I keep bringing that up, but it's just such an unforgiveable thematic fuckup that I have to. In the original, Zhao falls victim to his hubris, and Zuko gets to demonstrate his underlying compassion and nobility when he offers his hand to Zhao. Then we get some ambiguity in Zhao: does he refuse Zuko's hand because of his pride, or is it his final honorable action to not drag Zuko down with him? A mix of both? It's a great ending to his character. Here, he tries to backstab Zuko and then Iroh, who just sort of stood off to the side for five minutes, goes "oh well, it's murderin' time :)"
They mess with the worldbuilding in ways that didn't really need to be messed with. The Ice Moon "brings the spirit world and the mortal world closer together"? Give me a break. That's something you made up, as opposed to the millenia of cultural relevance that the Solstice has. That's bad, guys. You replaced something real with something you just hastily made up. There's a lot of that. We DID NOT need any backstory for Koh, for one. And Katara and Sokka certainly didn't need to be captured by Koh. I could go on and on, but again, this post is already way too long.
It's, um, very disappointing. A lot of telling and not very much showing, and I feel like all of the characters just... sort of end up in the same place they started out in. I feel like we don't see any of the characters grow: they're just told over and over again how they need to grow and what they need to do.
To sum it up: Netflix Avatar is a mile wide, but an inch deep.
#avatar the last airbender#atla#atla spoilers#avatar netflix#netflix avatar#atla live action#netflix atla#zuko#iroh#katara#aang#sokka#zhao#ozai#review
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Rewatched book 1 after watching the live action and here is a list of everything that wasn’t in the live action that I think should have been :
Sokkas war paint
Saying the words “hair loopies”
Barely seeing the boomerang
Katara being able to calm down aang during the avatar state
The comet
Importance of mastering all 4 elements
Sokka dressing in kyoshi warrior clothing and learning the strength of women (removing and growing from his sexist beliefs)
Zukos honor /destiny (think it’s mentioned once?)
Mouthfoaming guy
Aang water bending
Roku manifesting and telling jeong jeong to teach aang firebending
Aang trying fire bending too soon and burning katara which leads to him being hesitant on learning firebending in book 3
Katara finding out about her healing abilities
Aang being selfish by keeping location of Sokka and kataras father from them
Aangs crush on katara
Aang doing everything he Can to heal his friends in the swamp
"Miyuki, did you get in trouble with Fire Nation again?”
Rokus dragon
Aang dealing with the guilt of leaving the southern air temple and all his people getting killed and not accepting his role as avatar
Sokkas intuition for recognizing Jets deceit
Sokka being a natural inventor (it’s barely even touched in the live action) Sokka is smart and creative
Katara’s dedication to learning water bending by stealing the scroll
Katara’s jealousy of aang being able to bend and learn faster than her
Kataras fierce determination and her take no shit personality
The cruelty of the fire nation by imprisoning earth benders into work camps (this is just one example)
Katara’s selflessness and bravery by getting herself imprisoned in the war camp and saving all the prisoners shows how much empathy Katara feels for people and always wanting to help those who can’t help themselves
Showing how master jeong jeong and others left the fire nations army because of its cruelty (fire nation people can be good and recognize the evil in their own ranks)
How aang feels upset about the disrespect and condition of the northern air temple/legacy of his people but accepts it in the end knowing they need this temple as their home
Using the fallen war balloon to create a fleet of airships in the final battle with Ozai
Appa being a badass and also fighting to protect aang multiple times
Iroh and his white lotus tile (this is important foreshadowing for later seasons)
The healer in the northern water tribe recognizing the betrothal necklace and realizing it belonged to her friend and kataras grandmother, kanna, who was engaged to master pakku of the northern tribe but left to live in the South Pole
Katara confronting pakku and telling him “I’ll be outside if you’re man enough to fight me” ( the challenge is off screen in live action, dumb choice tbh just glad we got to see the physical fight at least)
Pakku finding the betrothal necklace and talking about kanna and katara saying her gran left because “she wouldn’t let your stupid tribes customs control her life” which in turn makes pakku reconsider and start teaching katara waterbending
Pakku complementing kataras skill saying she’s has advanced faster than any other student he has trained (this shows how great and powerful of a water bender she truly is)
How strong the water benders are at night especially during the full moon
How the moon was the first water bender
Zuko kidnapping aangs body while he is in the spirit world
“You rise with the moon, I rise with the sun”
Not showing emotion to koh cause he’ll steal your face
Zuko talking to unconscious aang telling him how everything always came easy to his sister, she’s a firebending prodigy. Ozai telling Zuko that azula was “born lucky while Zuko was lucky to be born” (another instance of ozai’s cruelty as a father)
Talking about how iroh has been to the Spirit world
Zuko trying to challenge katara during a FULL MOON” “Here for a rematch?” “Trust me Zuko it’s not going to be much of a match” and then her kicking his ass in 5 seconds
Aang showing compassion to Zuko by saving him again despite Zuko kidnapping his body
Iroh staying with katara Sokka and yue after the moon spirit is killed (this shows his heart)
Yues body disappearing and her spirit kissing Sokka and her saying “I’ll always be with you”
The ocean spirit grabbing zhao and dragging him into the sea
Pakku wanting to help rebuild the southern water tribe
Pakku Calling her Master katara and saying she’ll train aang from now on
Azula appearing at the end and Ozai sending her on a task because Zuko is a failure and iroh is a traitor
#if something that is listed here was shown then oops my bad g#avatar the last airbender#atla#aang#katara#sokka#zuko#azula#ozai#fire lord ozai#iroh#zhao#netflix avatar#natla
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We need to talk more about SASSY AANG
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bad maids make great surgeons and better men
#art#my art#digital art#comic#character design#ocs#original characters#my pirate ocs#zhao#brielle#yukina#Liam
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Overall NATLA Thoughts
Okay, now that I've watched the series, I can give my thoughts.
Overall, I thought it was good!!! I had fun watching it! I'd rate it a solid 6.5/10. It's nowhere as good as the original, but it was definitely enjoyable and made some nice changes here and there that I liked. There were also some things I was also Not a fan of too.
I said in another post that it's best to treat this like an AU of the original. There will things that are great and things that are bad. That's the nature of adapting something.
Having said that, I need to get my initial thoughts off my chest... here we go.
Things I thought were good:
Sokka's characterisation - I really enjoyed him! I thought Ian did a good job! He played the funny moments well and retained the underlying seriousness/cautiousness. It wasn't perfect, but I enjoyed the changes a lot and think it was overall a solid performance.
Zuko's characterisation - Like Sokka, I do think I was most satisfied with their performances. A lot of Zuko's moments from the cartoon are sometimes... well, cartoonish and definitely wouldn't translate to live action, but I think Dallas did a nice job at balancing Zuko's desperate anger and that occasional sassiness well.
Zuko and Iroh moments were great. Had me on the floor crying. As it should have.
The bending looks a trillion times better than the movie - I understand it would not have been easy for the actors but, overall, I was very happy about it.
The scenery was stunning. It just looked so beautiful. I loved it so much.
Absolutely ADORE that they made Zuko a good calligrapher and artist. I read a fic about a million years ago where Zuko is a fantastic calligrapher and I thought it was perfect and made so much sense, and now I can say it's canon. This is perfect for me.
S U K I
The Freedom Fighters were ✨ perfect
They were so real for making Oma and Shu lesbians
Koh, Wan Shi Tong and Hei Bai looked fantastic, but I have more to say about all of them below, unfortunately.
I actually like the change they made that Katara is Aang's sole waterbending teacher.
Aang is not perfect, and needed more goofy scenes HOWEVER, I did like how they've had Aang's guilt more prominent in the story. The original didn't do a very good job with that, imo.
Zuko entering is breaking and entering era by breaking into an impenetrable Earth Kingdom prison is just perfect.
In Masks, I like how Aang and Zuko got a longer conversation - that was pretty cute.
I liked how they changed Yue a bit and got her out of the arranged marriage... how Yue saw Sokka in the Spirit World before meeting him in the real world.
Things I didn't like:
Far too much info-dumping/exposition. So much spelling things out. It was not as egregious as the movie, and I get there's a lot of information that needs to be conveyed well and quickly... but sometimes it really took me out of the show.
Why are Mai and Ty Lee here.... I was hoping the live action would give them a bit more depth (and they might as it goes forward!), but why put them in season 1 at all if they're just going to stand around???
Some odd changes - putting this as one point, but there are some bizarre changes that didn't make sense to me, as they did not benefit the story or deepen the characters. I have two main examples: a) making it so Aang didn't run away from home, and b) making it so Zuko actually fights Ozai in the Agni Kai.
Characterisation of Katara was Not Great. I don't think I got many hints of the reckless, compassionate, badass Katara until the end when she fights Pakku and rallies all the women together to fight (which happens off-screen). She was sweet and kind, but she just lacked the fire that OG Katara has.
Azula's characterisation - Azula is desperate to impress Ozai and so her character is just…. brewing with anger, frustration, desperation. I was SO excited to see the Azula we are introduced too… perpetually and irritatingly calm, calculating and ruthless. She's perfect, she's terrifying! She's literally the character of all time. But this Azula had more Zuko vibes? I don't think there's anything wrong with giving Azula more concrete motivation by wanting to impress Ozai and establishing that Ozai is abusive to both his kids, but I do think trying to do that right off the bat is a mistake.
WHY is Wan Shi Tong here. I love Wan Shi Tong, but like I said: Why Is He Here? Why could we not have his iconic, ominous as fuck introduction from The Library, and instead he's introduced in a random season 1 episode giving Aang Information(tm) about the Spirit World.
When Aang gave Koh the statue, and then he just takes it and immediately lets all the villages go, and neither of them even say anything, I actually laughed out loud. Like, I am so sorry, but what in the jesus fuck was that.
Speaking of Koh - I think Koh is better the less we know about him. Roku saying ~all Koh wants is a family like the rest of us~ just pissed me off?? I like my Koh the Face Stealer Terrifying and Unknowable, thank you.
NOTHING EVER REALLY HAPPENS WITH HEI BAI!!?? where's my precious spirit bear?? Like Aang never really does anything with him and the replacement Koh story is boring and it sucks.
Bumi.... sorry I just didn't vibe with him at all.
Things I can't decide on:
Fancy spirit knife to kill the moon spirit annoyed me a bit, but I guess they wanted to Kuruk something to work with and a little bit more interaction with Aang which I get but idk. I really flip/flop on this one.
I've been very on the fence about having Azula (and Ozai) being in the show in season 1 in general. I'm not sure if it benefited either of their characters.
Azula & Ozai's dynamic - Okay, so, I think they're trying to give Azula more depth, right? They're trying to establish what it was like for Azula to live with Ozai and that she's also (like Zuko) trying to desperately prove herself to him, but Ozai using Zuko's... achievements to do that just felt so weird. I get he's doing it to manipulate her, but that just felt so wrong when in canon it's very obvious that Ozai just didn't give a single fuck about Zuko. Ozai pits Azula against Zuko by saying he's a failure, he's a bad bender etc. Azula is born lucky, Zuko is lucky to be born - like, Ozai says that to Zuko's face. I don't know if I am communicating this point very well, but it just didn't seem right to me??
Zuko vs Zhao in the Siege of the North... I genuinely do not know how to feel about it! I didn't love it, I didn't hate it. I don't know how to feel about Zhao telling Zuko that his mission is a sham and that Azula is the prized one... It feels like it's saying the quiet part out loud? In the OG we all know that Ozai sending Zuko on that mission was an excuse to get rid of him, but we can work that out, no one actually says it. And then Iroh just fucking killing him/mortally wounding him instead of the Iconic scene where Zuko reaches out to save him despite everything Zhao has done to him, but Zhao's own pride gets in the way from letting him accept help from Zuko.
Zuko’s crew being the 41st is not necessarily a bad thing at all!!! But I do just want to say that in the original, the attack goes ahead, and presumably, those soldiers die. It’s horrible. Zuko’s sacrifice is in vain, and it was always going to be in vain because the Fire Nation as it stands would not allow Zuko's compassion to win. Ozai would not allow it. While not necessarily a bad choice (all the soldiers bowing to Zuko on the boat was so sweet I loved it!) but I think it does take away some of the horror of Zuko’s story (same as it does with making Zuko fight back in my opinion) because the whole point is that Zuko did the right thing - and he was punished for it, and those soldiers died anyway.
anyway...
Okay!! got that off my chest. I know I just had a big whine here, but I still had a lot of fun watching this show. I think some of the backlash is a bit over the top and unwarranted. It was never going to stand up to the original - and that's okay.
Enjoy it for what it is!
#zuko#sokka#katara#aang#yue#iroh#zhao#azula#ozai#jet#koh the face stealer#wan shi tong#hei bai#natla#avatar the last airbender#atla netflix#avatar netflix#jack talks#live action series
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it’s weird how losing an agni kai is made to seem like a really big deal when it comes to the Fire Nation Honor Code, but when zhao loses to zuko he doesn’t suffer any consequences whatsoever. i guess he just refuses to admit it ever happened?? but i think he should’ve, at the very least, been forced to wear a big t shirt that says I LOST AN AGNI KAI TO A TEENAGER in bold capital letters across his chest for the rest of the season.
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Extreme long shot, but looking for a fic I read years ago, that to my knowledge is NOT on AO3 or FF, just on someone's blog or maybe a small hosting site. It's a three(?)-part series.
Stuff I remember: Zhao kills Iroh pre-north-pole; he dies on a beach due to shrapnel, I think. Zuko wanders off in a daze, stays with a nice Earth Kingdom woman for awhile, then embarks on Messing With Zhao's Shit until Zhao catches him. Gaang rescues him (from Pohuai?) after whump.
Zuko leads them back to the Earth Kingdom woman for a safe place to rest, meanwhile Zuko's crew has found her and given her a letter+their location+tell our stupid prince he's not the only one who wants to Mess The Fire Nation's Shit Up. Zuko and the Gaang go to his ship, whose treason against the Fire Nation is already in progress (and they've gotten their families out of the Fire Nation to avoid reprisal, so Jee's wife is there). Katara bonds with the ship healer, who teaches her non-bending healing and is both salty and instructive. Ends incompletely right as Zuko and the Gaang are about to leave the ship.
Those parts of the series are a good read, but I am dying to re-read the part that's an Iroh POV of the royal family, including Ozai's strategic murdering of all of Iroh's children (he had more than Lu Ten in this AU), and Iroh's extremely chilling "maybe I should do the same to his" thoughts until baby Zuko wins him over. It is PEAK disfunctional Fire Family.
I thought I bookmarked this somewhere, but I can't for the life of me find it. Plz send help.
EDIT: FIC FOUND! See the reblog chain for the link, it's in the second post.
EDIT EDIT: This is. Even better than I remembered. My heart hurts, ow. <3
#trying to archive all the fics I like to re-read#and it is driving me insane that I misplaced this one#because I know it took me several hops through ancient fic rec pages to find it originally#heeeeelp#avatar the last airbender#atla#Zuko#Iroh#Sokka#Aang#Katara#Jee#Zhao#The Fic That Got Away
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I'd love to see a fic that's structured as a behind-the-scenes documentary showing what Zhao's crew think of him.
With @chiptrillino:
INTERIEWER: So... what do you think of Zhao?
OFFICER: *buries face in hands*
MIDSHIPMAN: if I hear another fucking word about that fish—
CUT to break room with portrait of Zhao pinned to dart board.
Handheld camera zooms in shakily on the dart board.
BOILER MAN: He read me a list of names and asked me which of them sounded more more impressive. Zhao the Conqueror. Zhao the Destroyer. King Zhao.
THE BLUE SPIRIT, disguising his voice poorly: Not a fan.
LIEUTENANT: He wants to strike while the moon is full. City full of waterbenders, while the moon is full. I ask him why, and he says, “for dramatic effect.”
BOILER MAN: The Zhaore Lord. The Zhao-inator.
OFFICER: I pointed out that we're a fuckin' island nation and without the moon we'll be flooded beneath the sea, and he wrote it off as a technicality.
MIDSHIPMAN: So fuckin' done with that fish.
#Zhao#atla#Zuko#Zhao: a documentary#Zhao's mother: rubs forehead with a patience borne of resignation
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I'm imagining Zhao was Jee's neighbor growing up, and his frown lines are the result of him listening to him talk.
poor unfortunate soul jee
[ID: digital drawing of Zhao and Jee from avatar the last airbender de-aged to a young teen (maybe 13 years). Zhao on the left of the image is leaning forward shouting at jee "play Wonderwall". on the right of the image is jee clutching a sting instrument looking perplexed at the rude request. End ID.]
#atla#jee#zhao#this was one of these drawing where you just.... started and kept adding and adding#and whops?!?!#suddenly there is a BG#oh well just... leave it roughly shaded no colours call it a day#i want to add... i feel with jee!#i knew once how to play guitarr but everyone only requested to play wonderwall#maybe is should try to learn that song#maybe i should still keep refusing out of spite!#i know what you wonder! "why does zhao has a school uniform and jee not?'#well you see...#poor planing i am now morthing into... zhao is the insuferable rich kid and jee is... well not poor but not rich rich.#for some reason it was easyer to get zhao righ then jee....#dang it zhao!
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Netflix Zhao is just here for good times.
#punch a fish in the face my friends#my new hobby is drawing canon chars doing Netflix things#Zhao#natla#atla#avatar#Iroh#Zuko
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Zhao's Essence of Wok and a Hard Place
#tianyou zhao#zhao tianyou#like a dragon: infinite wealth#like a dragon infinite wealth#yakuza 8#yakuza 8 spoilers#zhao#gif#my gifs#infinite wealth#ryu ga gotoku#rgg#like a dragon infinite wealth spoilers
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the lu ten+zhao toxic exes masterpost
(context cus I know this is nonsensical: I read a fic once that hc lu ten and zhao both studied under jeongjeong together. I just took that concept and ran far far away with it- in my dai li lu ten au, lu ten's ""death"" was a set up orchestrated by ozai- carried out first by zhao, then finished by long feng and his men. zhao was chosen by ozai in secret specifically due to his unique history with lu ten, and because of his obviously ambitious nature. zhao helping set the trap by luring lu ten in to the earthbenders was zhao's first big step towards favor with ozai)
#if you think this is insane I'm just going back to the traditional yaoi roots of crack shipping. its hilarious.#(<-joke. their bad relationship exists a result of how I characterize lu ten and is au lore relevant don't question me.)#I also use their dynamic as like. The foundations of what makes zhao and zukos dynamic what it becomes (<- weird obsession)#zhao#lu ten#zuko#azula#iroh#atla#dai li lu ten#alicias art
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Zhao the Fisher :)
#fire nation#zhao#legend of aang#the legend of aang#fantasy#fire#moon#ocean#avatar#avatar fanart#avatar art#water
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Is it already a theory that Zhao is Azulon's bastard child? Because this goes nicely with the theory that Lo and Li are Azulon's concubines. It would also explain why Zhao is so weirdly competitive with Zuko. Zhao also doesn't seem to respect Ozai much, either, come to think of it. He takes weird joy in the thought of humiliating Zuko and how it reflects badly on Ozai ("your father raised a coward.") There's an interesting backstory there.
What's also interesting is that Zhao says this about Zuko's inability to finish him off, which is what Ozai would want him to do, but Zuko is following his own instincts, the ones that got him banished by Ozai.
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