/takes the huntress out back and buries it (jan mingle pt. II)

[scrubscrub]

Who: Anyone on the SS Huntress! Crew and visitors.
Broadcast: N/A
Action: SS Huntress
When: More of January! We got three new crew mates and it will be messy.

IT'S ANOTHER MINGLE FOR OUR EVER-EXPANDING SHIP.

Also, we need an update on how well Koala is doing at pinball.

God, help this ship.

Comments

[eyeforaneye]

As leader of a nation that's probably expected. [ He tries to imagine Zuko in an authoritative position, giving speeches and inspiring confidence.






It isn't working. Then again, he doesn't know him too well yet. ]

[honorbends]

[ it's okay zuko doesn't have a lot of faith in himself either ]

Our world needs structure.

[ and a bunch of kids have to be the ones to guide it ]

So if I don't fulfill my expectations for myself, I can't fulfill my expectations for my country, or my world. The Fire Nation can't rebuild itself on the back of a leader that doesn't know his or her own strengths and weaknesses.

[ he shrugs slightly ]

So I had to figure it out.

[ the hard way. but. he's fine, now. mostly. ]

[eyeforaneye]

I don't disagree. [ But in his mind it's a struggle that belongs firmly behind closed doors; Naruto's the kind of person who wants to lead openly and honestly, with a lot of his faults on display to give him a greater sense of closeness to the villagers whose trust he's earned.

Sasuke's ready to count the days until that starts to become impractical, much more personally aware of how many secrets the hokage had really kept. ]

After a great conflict that's truer than ever. You'll have an extremely hard test ahead of you, especially if you have those who associate you with your father and loyalists who think you betrayed his agenda. [ Reminders of how hard your life sucks, delivered by Captain Sensitivity. ]

[honorbends]

[ gee thanks sasuke he loves you too bruh ]

I don't think anyone will associate me with him.

[ ozai had made it pretty clear, repeatedly and publicly, how much he hated his son. ]

But there will probably be people who wanted him to stay.

[ citizens who felt safe, underneath ozai. who don't trust the avatar. who bought the lie ozai was selling. ]

[eyeforaneye]

You'll have to decide on your own policy in dealing with them, then, whether you want to be merciful and accommodating or... [ Or do what Sasuke would do and try to root out potential for rebellion before it can flourish. No wonder no one took his bid for hokage seriously. ]

Well, I'm sure you've thought about it.

[honorbends]

I'm not killing people for having a different opinion.

[ flatly. that was what ozai did, and that is exactly why ozai is no longer the fire lord. he put everything out of balance, and the avatar defeated him.

zuko may have been the only person in the royal family (outside of iroh, of course) to see what the fire nation was for what it truly was, but he has no intention of falling back on old habits. ]

I'm not going to rule out of fear. The kingdom would fall apart.

[eyeforaneye]

I'm not advocating murder. [ His tone breaches on testy but he pulls it back, again absently toying with an electric charge down his arm and over his hand. ]

I was just interested in what your style of ruling would be. There's a difference between firm and cruel.

[honorbends]

[ his eyes flicker to watch the electricity (expression flickering briefly between wary and almost a little envious) before refocusing his attention on sasuke's words. ]

People need to trust in my leadership, and in the Avatar.

[ but that won't come so easily. ]

The war lasted for a hundred years, and the Fire Nation is used to comfort at the expense of pain. But the people were afraid of my father, and his crimes are finally out in the open for the world to see. There'll be some who won't believe in the new vision, but most already do.

I won't use my new power to squash out other opinions, but I won't tolerate people harming other people. Firebending isn't supposed to be used for destruction, and I won't allow it to be used that way just because people are unhappy with a regime change.

[ though, zuko expects most of these people will be coming for his head, and he's confident in his ability to stay alive thusfar. ]

[eyeforaneye]

[ He looks back up suddenly, eyes meeting Zuko's. They're back to their normally dark shade, but that doesn't make the stare any less penetrating. ]

They're good thoughts.

I'm not saying any of this because I'm trying to make you question yourself. It's more that a difficult situation like that one will make it easy to slip backwards if you haven't drawn a firm line for yourself, whether you have the help of others or not. Solid theories don't always translate well into reality.

[honorbends]

The only alternative is becoming my father.

[ he stares back, unflinching. ]

If I cross that line, I may as well just give the throne back.

[ ozai is much better at being a monster than he is. but zuko is much more stubborn than ozai. he won. ozai lost. zuko has no intention of returning back to how it was before. ]

[eyeforaneye]

You're right. [ Which is exactly why he's saying it. Whether it's just him projecting or not, he has some strange desire to ensure that that won't be Zuko's path, and reminding him of the stakes and seeing his reaction makes him feel more and more that it won't be. ]

Then you'd have accomplished nothing and your existence would've been nothing if not a detriment.

[honorbends]

I know I'm right; that's why I said it.

[ tartly.

zuko has a permanent reminder of how much of a psychopath his father is. he has absolutely no intention of becoming that person, or harming his (potential?) children the way that ozai ruined him. and azula. ]

[eyeforaneye]

We can't maintain a conversation if I don't offer my opinion on your words, unless you want me to ignore the topic and pick a new one.

If I derailed from something important to you so suddenly then you'd probably internalize it a little, find it offensive that I was dismissive after dragging you into an honest conversation, and then think about it later. I was sparing you that. [ Yeah. They're similar. ]

1/2

[honorbends]

[ well when you put it that way ]

[honorbends]

[ . . . sigh. ]

My father took the throne from his older brother, my uncle. He's responsible for the disappearance of my mother, and my sister is locked away because she's not safe left to her own devices. He tried to strip me from my birthright for speaking out of turn at a meeting, because I didn't want to send our soldiers to certain death as a diversion during a battle.

[ which is, clearly, what happened to his face. ]

I have no intention of becoming as much of a coward as someone who decides to challenge a thirteen year old to a fight to the death, because of injured pride and a need to prove himself. That isn't who I am, and that isn't the legacy I'm going to leave my family with. I'll abdicate the throne to someone else before I allow that to happen.

[eyeforaneye]

[ Speaking out against his father at that age? There's a courage that Sasuke had never had as a child, or at least that he'd never had the opportunity to show. Self-reflection has become such a huge part of his life and still he feels like he's unable to properly put the pieces of his past together to form all the 'what-ifs' that'd likely cause nothing but pain anyway. ]

... the struggle of that kind of upbringing makes a few common pitfalls more obvious to you. [ Sasuke's thought that for a while now, however, that the best kind of leader is one that's not only experienced the suffering of his people but that has also gained a full respect for avoiding the mistakes of his predecessors. ]

It's important to give those situations and circumstances that would've seemed better if they were changed their own sense of worth. It makes them easier to swallow.