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I just realized the reason I'm (very slowly) writing this Zuko-in-Ba-Sing-Se!fic is a) to fulfill my narrative kink of Destined Hero abandoning their destiny for a happy domestic-ish life, b) to write something about the Dai Li, and c) to get Zuko/Li* to go to university. And get all angry about them not having certain scholarly works in their collection, since, seriously, just because you happen to be at war with someone's country is no reason not to have copies of everything they ever wrote. Also maybe he will get offended that they only have the modernist version of Love Amongst the Dragons and spend weeks trying to find someone who has the one written in pre-Reformation Vulgar Fire Nation. Oh gods I am not equipped to be turning Zuko into an academic. Why am I trying? Oh right because I am secretly trying to write the most idfic-y Zuko ever. Okay then. :D


*I don't know if Zuko is the kind of person who thinks of himself by name in his head. But I personally would find if everyone I met knew me as Li and called me such then that would be pretty effectively my name whether I was given it at birth or not.



Also Wade-Giles romanization can go DIAF. *glare*

Comments

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Ahaha, I didn't know I wanted it either until just now. :D My thought process, in more detail than you care about:

Hmm, I want Zuko to stay in Ba Sing Se and get a life there. Let's see: his uncle is there, at least, but what else? Jin (wait, I don't remember very much about her and even though I quite like her I don't think I could get Zuko to give up his quest for one person who likes him but doesn't need him. Drat), the Dai Li (no, at this point they're a reason for him to leave, no matter Embers-verse Zuko's relationship with them), some unknown person who needs him for his sword skills -- hey, wait. Fighting in the city is probably a bad idea with the Dai Li around, but what if one of the University students needed to know about two-sword fighting? For, um, their thesis or something-- waitasec what if Zuko was a student OMG.

[dancing_serpent]

no matter Embers-verse Zuko's relationship with them
*g* Tempting, isn't it? But yeah, different Avatar-verse.

In my head, Zuko would at first want to find out as much about the Avatar as he could - after all, so far he didn't have much success with what he knew about him. That's a good reason for being a student at the university. But after a while it would become gradually less important until it's pretty much pretence - because Zuko likes the academic life and gaining knowledge and maybe he even made friends among the other students.

And Iroh would have noticed a lot earlier than Zuko, but would have kept silent and happily paid for the university fees. Which he can afford now, because his tea shop is running splendidly, especially after they got to serve tea to the Earth King (the invitation to the palace was real and arranged by the noble guy who got Iroh the tea shop in the first place, and now all the other nobles want to try out the tea maker who's favoured by the king), and Iroh already had to hire three more people, and...

ARGH! Help...the bunnies are running away with me!

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Although it's not like you can actually get away from the Dai Li. >.> There's probably a whole swathe of books you can't get access to without permission and supervision from the Dai Li.

You are obviously much better at plotting things than me. *g*

Iroh would totally enroll Zuko in, like, an art class or something and Zuko would put up with it just for access to the university library. And then he would start taking more classes so his professors would get him permits to read the restricted-by-the-Dai-Li books which were the ones he really wanted anyway. :D

Hmm, but what about Azula? Maybe Aang & co. didn't go to Ba Sing Se, Appa never got kidnapped, something like that? So Azula and Mai and Ty Lee would still be chasing them around and Ba Sing Se would be safe. ish. Would the giant drill still be there? How could you take it down fast without waterbenders? *brainstorms*