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Okay, this looks like a meme that's fun and something I might actually finish:
Give me a character I'm familiar with and I'll either write you a ficlet (~100 words) or the equivalent amount of personal canon. (Academic!Zuko is totally a separate character from canon!Zuko, btw.)
Maybe this will help with the writer's block? (fma_ladyfest deadline on the eighth. Eep!)
EDIT: An explanation as to why I haven't written the aca!Zuko fic yet, in response to the question when, where and how you see him diverge from canon!Zuko?
I'm actually not sure about that yet! It's probably either a slight difference in him, when he was young, or a difference in the Fire Nation as a whole. Because I have it in my head that the Fire Nation, and parts of the now-Earth Kingdom, used to speak a very different language than the fairly unified one they do in canon, but I haven't figured out how late they would have given that up as the official language. People would still speak it for a while after it was made un-official, at home if nothing else, but even if Aang's slang was outdated it was still understandable. Which would mean either that it was made un-official more than a hundred years ago, or that people in the Fire Nation still understand a fair amount of it even if it sounds outdated and awkward. (Which might mean that Zuko and Azula learned some of it from Ursa? Or maybe Zuko was a tiny child-academic who studied it on his own?)
And of course I've no idea at all when the Earth Kingdom was unified and made to speak a single language, since it was probably a bunch of different ones for a very very long time. ^_^
So pretty much the difference between academic!Zuko and canon!zuko is all wrapped up in regional and linguistic differences in the A:TLA world and the things he learned/was taught before he got banished. Canon!Zuko, for instance, can probably compose some acceptable poems, but academic!Zuko would have learned enough classical court poetry to spot references to it in everyday speech. (Which could lead to all sorts of fun in Ba Sing Se, when he has a moment of thinking "oh, they're referencing that famous poem that compares alcohol to politics -- wait, no, crap. wrong language, wrong country. no, wait again, are they taking International Poetry at the university? Are they the kind of people who would make cross-language references about plotting against the government? Or is there an Earth Kingdom thing they're referencing here that I'm missing entirely? ARGH.")
So basically my writing of academic!Zuko is stalled by my ignorance of Asian literary traditions and linguistic differences, which are the kind of thing that I could easily spend the rest of my life researching.And it would be AWESOME. And this is why I can't really answer your question, because if I knew enough to answer it completely I could start the damn thing. XD
Give me a character I'm familiar with and I'll either write you a ficlet (~100 words) or the equivalent amount of personal canon. (Academic!Zuko is totally a separate character from canon!Zuko, btw.)
Maybe this will help with the writer's block? (fma_ladyfest deadline on the eighth. Eep!)
EDIT: An explanation as to why I haven't written the aca!Zuko fic yet, in response to the question when, where and how you see him diverge from canon!Zuko?
I'm actually not sure about that yet! It's probably either a slight difference in him, when he was young, or a difference in the Fire Nation as a whole. Because I have it in my head that the Fire Nation, and parts of the now-Earth Kingdom, used to speak a very different language than the fairly unified one they do in canon, but I haven't figured out how late they would have given that up as the official language. People would still speak it for a while after it was made un-official, at home if nothing else, but even if Aang's slang was outdated it was still understandable. Which would mean either that it was made un-official more than a hundred years ago, or that people in the Fire Nation still understand a fair amount of it even if it sounds outdated and awkward. (Which might mean that Zuko and Azula learned some of it from Ursa? Or maybe Zuko was a tiny child-academic who studied it on his own?)
And of course I've no idea at all when the Earth Kingdom was unified and made to speak a single language, since it was probably a bunch of different ones for a very very long time. ^_^
So pretty much the difference between academic!Zuko and canon!zuko is all wrapped up in regional and linguistic differences in the A:TLA world and the things he learned/was taught before he got banished. Canon!Zuko, for instance, can probably compose some acceptable poems, but academic!Zuko would have learned enough classical court poetry to spot references to it in everyday speech. (Which could lead to all sorts of fun in Ba Sing Se, when he has a moment of thinking "oh, they're referencing that famous poem that compares alcohol to politics -- wait, no, crap. wrong language, wrong country. no, wait again, are they taking International Poetry at the university? Are they the kind of people who would make cross-language references about plotting against the government? Or is there an Earth Kingdom thing they're referencing here that I'm missing entirely? ARGH.")
So basically my writing of academic!Zuko is stalled by my ignorance of Asian literary traditions and linguistic differences, which are the kind of thing that I could easily spend the rest of my life researching.
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BUT ANYWAY. Yeah, I can see the Earth Kingdom as a place where oppression is very much a matter of proprieties and mores, which would make Earth Consort Mai blandly refusing to give a damn about such things hugely powerful, I think, even if she wasn’t specifically exerting herself to level the playing field for women (not that she wouldn’t want to, but it might come lower down on the list than ‘preventing civil war in the Fire Nation’, at least at first).
And, yes, somehow I find the idea of spirit-touched uniforms really compelling? And I guess they would give plenty of fuel for WACKY GRAD STUDENT HIJINKS, with potential srs consequences and perhaps a side of disguised ninja-ing from Zuko which nearly ends very badly when he finds secret knowledge about the city nudging at the back of his mind and is distracted from IMPORTANT NINJA BUSINESS.
Much as I like the idea of the Sun Warriors coming and teaching Ancient Ways (tm) to the Fire Nation, I suspect that they would be absolutely furious with the place for breaking its alliance with the spirit world? I mean, I guess they might be glad of any return to the old ways, but given that they’re exasperated with the place anyway, to put it mildly, and not exactly given to outreach, I think a palace squabble bringing angry spirits to their doorstep (though one presumes they’d have wards, so no further) might make them pretty recalcitrant about chipping in to help the new regime. Though … somehow the idea of Ty Lee on a diplomatic mission to the Sun Warriors seems immensely appealing!
And good point on skipping to the North Pole asap – and, yes, Zuko being in disguise and getting found out through the power of poetry by Aang sounds like good times. Though I wonder if Iroh wouldn’t at least lobby pretty hard to be disguised as a tea merchant, rather than a noble! And, heh, Zhao. I feel his urge for IMMORTAL GLORY would probably come to the fore pretty strongly in a time of domestic upheaval – perhaps he himself is only a couple of steps lower down the blurry line of succession than Mai and any other major claimants, so he has an even more massive vested interest in returning swathed in military glory. And, hm, if he found Aang already gone and had to skedaddle home with his tail between his legs and half a fleet, I can see him being – well, hardly a worthy antagonist for Mai, but perhaps a useful pawn in some palace plot?
And Yue, hmm. I quite enjoy the idea of her ending up at the head of the Northern Water Tribe, with Mai ruling the Fire Nation and obviously influential in the Earth Kingdom – and, heh, maybe Katara in the South if Sokka is off having adventures and a billion boomerang-throwing babies with Suki! But, then, I also quite like the idea of her throwing it all up and going off to play sweet-but-disaffected royals with Zuko and Iroh. And your idea of her popping into the Fire Nation to do some free-lance spirit-fighting and running into Mai is awesome. So, dilemma, horns of!
And, yes, Azula, very much not the type of person who's good at maintaining already running systems. And yet much too interesting to get rid of as cavalierly as Ozai – plus, seeing her fighting spirits and failing to save peasants and such alongside Mai and Ty Lee would be so fascinating. As would of course the moment when everything turned disastrous enough for Mai to have to step in. Actually … I wonder if it couldn’t be Ty Lee and Azula heading off to see the Sun Warriors. I can see Azula agreeing on the (secret?) basis that, well, if she can’t have the throne and she isn’t going to get a chance to rival her fuddy-duddy uncle in war, she can at least match herself against a dragon.
Also, heh, Koh and Mai’s poker face: a battle with a very clear victor!
Japanese spirits, oh man. A basic library search (for, uh, ‘japanese spirits’) throws up ONE BOOK that isn’t in Japanese. WTF, library? But it does look pretty sweet if you could get your hands on it:
Pandemonium and parade : Japanese monsters and the culture of yōkai / Michael Dylan Foster (Berkeley, Calif. ; London : University of California Press, c2009)
Contents: Introduction to the weird -- Natural history of the weird : encyclopedias, spooky stories, and the bestiaries of Toriyama Sekien -- Science of the weird : inoue enryō, kokkuri, and human electricity -- Museum of the weird : modernity, minzokugaku, and the discovery of yōkai -- Media of the weird : Mizuki Shigeru and kuchi-sake-onna -- Yōkai culture : past, present, future.
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DISGUISED NINJA-ING. YES. *loves this idea* To get into Ba Sing Se's secret libraries?
Or, on the totally comedic side, Zuko might room for a while with someone who was in the Dai Li and accidentally put on the wrong shirt in the morning. He could wander around the whole day thinking why do I feel like I should be on the rooftops right now? And why do I keep wanting to earthbend? We could even spin some srs consequences out of that! *likes this idea too*
Azula and Ty Lee would so go off to do diplomatic things with the Sun Warriors! And I could see Azula deciding to stay and persuade them to teach her The Ancient Ways (because no matter how cool the Dancing Dragon is, they've gotta have more than one set of awesome secret firebending moves) before heading out to conquer the world, and letting Mai run things at home. (Maybe they could help her work through some of her issues, as well?) Or just, y'know, fighting dragons. For fun. Oh, Azula. <3
Tea merchant. Yes! Though I suspect Iroh would say his brother was nobility, to account for Zuko not being all that great at acting.
I like the idea of Mai pinning Zhao to a wall with her knives and telling him that she'd really rather he didn't end up on top: "Things are pretty boring already, but I'm sure you'd make them worse." And then that could be the catalyst for him to call in favours from his friends and run off to the North Pole.
Yue might be able to portray the last two to her father as what Ozai ostensibly sent his son out to do: see the world, get experience, make influential friends. I just don't know which she'd end up doing -- I like both of those ideas way too much.
Ooh, that book looks excellent. *inter-library loans*
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And yes, I think Azula + dragons could be a winning combination! Aaaand – they’d have to work out at least some of her issues, right? I mean, the dragons test you for something, and even if they aren’t exactly cuddly, I think Azula in any near-canon state would probably qualify for burninating. Or eating, or whatever. And I think an encounter with the magical rainbow fire of peace and balance might also calm her down somewhat – as well as presumably making her bending even more formidable? Plus, I feel that Ty Lee + booby-traps + grouchy/amused Sun Warriors has the potential for good times!
And good point re Zuko’s lack of acting chops. Oh Zuko.
And yes, I can absolutely see Mai sending Zhao packing, and eye rolling massively when she finds out that his brilliant plan is essentially to try and take Moscow, Napoleon style, thus freeing her up to start sorting things out in the Fire Nation.
Oh, Yue, problems! But actually, again, we could have both! A wanderjahr with Zuko and Iroh, perhaps when she realises that marrying jerk-dude isn’t for her and wouldn’t be good for her people either, followed by a trek back to the Northern Water Tribe (perhaps after she hears her father has died?), fightin’ spirits along the way.
And, yep, that book does look good, doesn’t it *crosses fingers*. And I’m sure there must be loads of stuff on Japanese folklore ... somewhere *is too lazy to do more catalogue-trawling right now...* Let me know if you find anything awesome! Plus, I guess a glance (!) across at China and Korea, fr’instance, might be useful – given the mix-n-match nature of the canon Fire Nation, it seems justified. If, y’know, daunting.