I can really imagine Ozai saying something like "Consider yourself unable to return to this nation until such time as you should bring the Avatar before me and make an end of this war," meaning of course "you're banished until you capture the Avatar and deliver him to me so I can bring him into the Avatar State and kill him for good." But of course Zuko would force himself to hear it as literally as possible, because he really wants the war to be over quickly in a bloodless way, so he would answer it something like "I shall bring him to you and end the war," meaning "I'll go get him so you can talk it out," and Ozai hearing it as "Of course, father." So yes, hopeful (and possibly willful, on Zuko's part) misinterpretation all around. And Iroh probably understands all of it from the start, but keeps quiet.
Aang and Kuzon probably hung out and made modern (read: classical, for Zuko) poetry jokes for hours on end. I can see Aang hearing Zuko say something that sounds a little odd to modern, MEK-speaking ears, and going "Did you just just reference the poem I think you just referenced? About the princess and the lady general and penguin-sledding for international co-operation? Because that's my favourite one." (And Zuko automatically replying with "Oh yeah? Well, gently drifting pine needles on a late winter's night," to which Aang responds "NEWLY OPENED PLUM BLOSSOMS IN EARLY SPRING, let's do this tentative yet hopeful alliance!")
. . . the more I plot this out, the less likely it looks that Zuko will ever actually get to go to Ba Sing Se. >.> Unless Mai takes over the Fire Nation or something. Which would be really cool.
thinking of Heian court ladies like Ono no Komachi et al writing their classics in the vernacular. Actually, they'd be a great place to begin in general, I guess, for obvious reasons of awesomeness but also because as far as I know (NOT FAR - must... read... Tale of Genji...) they could write as they did not only because of the high premium Heian high society placed on aesthetics but also because they were relatively unconstrained, as court ladies go. Which, much as I appreciate the Reign Within dynamic, might help make sense of what looked to be a fair degree of gender equality within the canon Fire Nation.
Haha, oh Tale of Genji. I'm still 1/4th along, in exactly the same place I was a year ago. (I love it! It's just, well. You know.) And the Fire Nation does seem to have a surprising amount of gender equality, compared to the other nations. Even leaving aside Zuko's very powerful female relatives (I'm including Mai and Ty Lee in this, because Azula pretty much adopted them, even if it was for reasons of having personally loyal bodyguards) we have some evidence of women in the Fire Nation army. (I think it was in the Painted Lady episode?) Also, Jun is maybe from the colonies.
There aren't actually a lot of powerful women outside the Fire Nation + Kyoshi Island, come to think of it. :| (The deaf university student friend you are planning to write for Zuko does not count, self.)
(though what about religion?)
Ooh, nice one! I can see the Fire Sages using it most of the time, and maybe it's in use when talking to/about spirits or the Spirit World. It's the common tongue rather than the artful one, so naming them in it doesn't give them the power of highly valued words, but it's still respectful? (Note to self: research Asian spirits & demons. In at least moderate detail.)
It really is fun! And you're wonderful to talk to. :D
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2010-09-29 11:46 pm (UTC)Aang and Kuzon probably hung out and made modern (read: classical, for Zuko) poetry jokes for hours on end. I can see Aang hearing Zuko say something that sounds a little odd to modern, MEK-speaking ears, and going "Did you just just reference the poem I think you just referenced? About the princess and the lady general and penguin-sledding for international co-operation? Because that's my favourite one." (And Zuko automatically replying with "Oh yeah? Well, gently drifting pine needles on a late winter's night," to which Aang responds "NEWLY OPENED PLUM BLOSSOMS IN EARLY SPRING, let's do this tentative yet hopeful alliance!")
. . . the more I plot this out, the less likely it looks that Zuko will ever actually get to go to Ba Sing Se. >.> Unless Mai takes over the Fire Nation or something. Which would be really cool.
thinking of Heian court ladies like Ono no Komachi et al writing their classics in the vernacular. Actually, they'd be a great place to begin in general, I guess, for obvious reasons of awesomeness but also because as far as I know (NOT FAR - must... read... Tale of Genji...) they could write as they did not only because of the high premium Heian high society placed on aesthetics but also because they were relatively unconstrained, as court ladies go. Which, much as I appreciate the Reign Within dynamic, might help make sense of what looked to be a fair degree of gender equality within the canon Fire Nation.
Haha, oh Tale of Genji. I'm still 1/4th along, in exactly the same place I was a year ago. (I love it! It's just, well. You know.) And the Fire Nation does seem to have a surprising amount of gender equality, compared to the other nations. Even leaving aside Zuko's very powerful female relatives (I'm including Mai and Ty Lee in this, because Azula pretty much adopted them, even if it was for reasons of having personally loyal bodyguards) we have some evidence of women in the Fire Nation army. (I think it was in the Painted Lady episode?) Also, Jun is maybe from the colonies.
There aren't actually a lot of powerful women outside the Fire Nation + Kyoshi Island, come to think of it. :| (The deaf university student friend you are planning to write for Zuko does not count, self.)
(though what about religion?)
Ooh, nice one! I can see the Fire Sages using it most of the time, and maybe it's in use when talking to/about spirits or the Spirit World. It's the common tongue rather than the artful one, so naming them in it doesn't give them the power of highly valued words, but it's still respectful? (Note to self: research Asian spirits & demons. In at least moderate detail.)
It really is fun! And you're wonderful to talk to. :D