avalononline | text; un: fireprince

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text; un: fireprince

1. what do you know about job interviews?
i didnt know you have to interview to get jobs. even if it's just at a restaurant!! regardless of whether the job itself involves talking to people at all!!? stupid

[ Guess who's been bombing interviews as a part-time busboy all over town. And who's only bothering to ask about proper employment beyond random quests, um, now, after several months of just getting by...? He must be getting tired of stealing hotchips from the cornerstore. ]

2. what do you know about going to school as a full-time student here?
i heard you can make a living like this
insight about going to school in other worlds could be useful too. i was homeschooled....

[ But at least he's thinking in terms of solutions. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

busboy

Yet they judge you inadequate? I will find you a place. Either by opening one myself or talking sense to morons.

You don't throw dishes or otherwise break them or some foolishness, correct?

[Honestly, given Nobunaga's history with throwing Mitsuhide's family heirloom dishes in the pond, he'd still find a way to get Zuko hired, he just wants to make sure he truly understands the situation.]

no i just take them from the table......

[ oh god is this what people were assuming he does?!? This post was a good idea, every response proves, but he's gradually eating himself in embarrassment. ]

were you planning on opening a restaurant anyway??
it's not so easy to just open a business off the cuff you know, my uncle opened his own teashop and even with a sponsor it was still a lot of work to manage
i worked as a busboy and a server there for him too..

I can do it.

So you're familiar with the tea ceremony?

yes but fire nation style is different from other places i imagine
but my uncle is an expert on tea from all over our world so i've learned a lot from him

Why?
Good! I want to see how other places do it! The way the cafes just treat tea and coffee like army rations here sets my teeth on edge.
Your UN is fireprince, are you actually the prince of the fire nation or is it not literal?

its just my username.......

[ He should've changed his username when he had the chance. He gets this question regularly and feels dorkier and dorkier every time he tells the same lie. ]

you sound like my uncle
i told him about these cheap teas my ex-roommate used to drink and he sounded ready to launch an attack over it..

Oh. I thought it might be similar to when I was a teen.

[He is 100% doing the Iroh thing here, and he doesn't even know it! -- In that Oda figures, Zuko probably is a prince, and just like Oda would really rather not deal with the royalty thing. Thing is once you've grown up a certain way already, other people smell it on you! (Or at least you have a fucking attitude that sets off others...!) So imparting his "pearl of wisdom" with a rambling story.]

I had to become a warlord when I was only 13, and a lot of the generals didn't think I had any brains, because I rejected their traditions, and had a pretty crazy reputation around town. My closest retainers were a commoner, son of a farmer, and a samurai with no home. Mitsuhide was constantly refused positions that required basic things, (like busboy!) because of his smart mouth and he always says what he wants. Most bosses hate that. For me, it's the only reason I've lived this long. Other nobility scoffed at me making a commoner the leader of my army, but I'd put Hideyoshi's genius against all of them combined. Traditions are stupid, but so many people are like that!

We've probably gone to war over less than weak tea. Bushido take tea very seriously. I'm not THAT serious about it! I just don't want it abused either!

[ Oh. Oh. He toys for a long moment of replying with something to the tune of "ok so i am a prince" but thinks better of it. For now. ]

i can see parallels between us it sounds like..... not holding my tongue has gotten me into big trouble before, too..
nobility shouldn't scoff at putting commoners in seats of power. it's the nobility's job to represent them and protect them, after all. they seem to forget that in favor of power and tradition where i'm from too. but i agree with you. it's not wise. some traditions should be broken.

and i agree with you about tea too
i'm no expert like my uncle but it should be valued properly
if you ever see something in the convenience stores called Arizona, don't try it. the label on the can says it's tea. it's not. it's an insult. like the ghost of a tea that drowned itself in sugary syrup.

[ He also has the poeticism of a bushi, it seems... ]

[WHOA! Smart kid! He will DEFINITELY find a way to get Zuko a job with him ASAP! Honestly, Nobunaga really did expect it to go over his head, but nope, RIGHT IN!]

It seems I succeeded in breaking a lot of the worst rigid traditions holding Japan back! I'm lucky that so many people here are from 500 years my future. Nobility was very different in my time. It was just about taking what they could from the people with force and trickery. In the future, it became everything we hoped it could!

If it makes you feel any better, I can't hold my tongue to save my life! If Hideyoshi was here he'd be having non-stop heart attacks trying to keep me out of trouble! :)

[AND HE IS DYING OF LAUGHTER ABOUT THE TEA! Now he wants to get it and get Mitsuhide to drink it just to see if they can find the one thing that even Mitsuhide has no tongue for!!!!]

[THEN AGAIN SUGARY SYRUP YOU SAY?!]

[Zuko, this is a full grown adult, your Uncle's age, who all but sends himself into a sugar-coma in the cookie grove trying to eat hundreds of cookies.]

[Yes.]

Thank you for the warning!
Have you tried raisins yet? They are awful!

oh? you're japanese? from what year?
i know about japan.
almost all my friends are japanese. but they're all from like half a century after world war ii.

[ what why do you know about this zuko stop ]

i don't know a lot about japan's history though. but i'd be interested to learn. there's a lot in common between japan and the fire nation. i hope the future of my country is so bright after our war is over, too...

whats wrong with raisins??
it's like a prune or a sun-dried purpleberry
at least they're natural..

1582! I am Oda Nobunaga, if you wish to look it up. Akechi Mitsuhide is also here. I didn't die at Honno-Ji though, either the history books were wrong, or my timeline was altered by wormholes, and not just the ones we arrived via.

I hadn't heard about any world wars. That's troublesome. But I know Japan fares well in the 2000s and 2100s and becomes a hub of technology pioneering. In my time, I struggled to get most Japanese to accept even the usefulness of guns. They consider them inelegant, unlike swords or martial arts. But the normal people can't afford to spend all their time only on studying war, and they shouldn't have to! Mitsuhide actually designed the guns for my army. That way we can have people ready to defend themselves with fractions of the time training, and they don't have to dedicate years to learning how to protect what's important to them. Even with all the other worlds here, I haven't met anyone as talented as Mitsuhide. Idiots can't see talent though. People who just want obedience can't see the potential in front of them! I'm sure if your Fire Nation has enough people who can see what COULD be, then they will prosper like Japan's future too!

I do wish I could see a train! It's hard to imagine, even for me! I made ships with armor plating, and getting people to understand their significance wasn't much easier than guns. Hell, even getting a formal currency took until pretty recently! But everyone can enjoy konpeito in the future and here too if they want to!

Who is the fire nation at war with? In my time Japan was hopelessly fractured. We all agreed it was a fool's errand to try to unite it. So I did it. Because I'm the only one demonic enough to bother trying.

Raisins suck!
Candied kiwi and candy apples are delicious! You can barely tell raisins are even fruit?! Definitely not a substitute for konpeito.

Have you ever had konpeito? It is like rock candy confetti! It's my favorite. It was almost impossible to get in our time, because everyone was desperate to just survive, they couldn't afford luxuries, and so long as the country was fractured, foreigners didn't even think we were worth trading with! And the religions preached that indulging in candy was getting too hung up on the mortal plane, and then you couldn't transcend or be pure. It really ticked me off! So I became the Demon King; their enemy. I don't think I embody the ideals of what royalty is supposed to be like or anything, it just irritates me to no end when people stop others from achieving their true potential.

[ So much in this resonates with Zuko... and yet so much strikes him as odd, too. He's hesitant but irreversibly intrigued responding now. ]

i see. that is a long time. all my friends are from the 2000s and the world wars happen in the 1910s and the 1940s. it's not my planet so i won't say more than that. i only know about it because a friend mentioned it then i researched a lot because i took an interest.. i don't know anything about japan before then honestly except that samurai were warriors that made excellent swords because i saw a movie with katana in it. those are like plays made for modern technology if you don't know yet. we didn't have them in my world.

i don't know how i feel about guns. we don't have those in my world either. but i don't think we're far from that technology. the fire nation is very advanced. but i don't think they'd use that technology right..... not at the point i'm coming from. hopefully in my future, it wouldn't even be necessary.
i also do martial arts and am well-versed in swordsmanship though and so far i feel like i agree with your people in that it's inelegant and makes killing too easy, but your words put a new perspective on it for sure. context is everything i guess.

so you ended a civil war in your time.....?

the fire nation is at war with the rest of the world. it's been expanding its borders and laying siege to anywhere its military can reach for the past century. but it's coming to an end once i return home. i was taken from my world the day of a coup to depose the fire lord. after that, things will change... can only change for the better. but it will take a long time and a lot of strong diplomatic efforts to heal the world again and the scars the fire nation has left on the earth kingdom and water tribes. we will have to find a way to unite ourselves as a whole people once more after so much pain and loss and devastation. on everyone's part, including the fire nation. we lost a lot, too; we almost lost ourselves. but i know a new era of peace and kindness is not impossible.

seeing through to the true potential of something or someone is most difficult..... but you're right that that's the lens we should be using in life. i agree with that whole-heartedly. change is constant. and redemption is real.

[ This kid isn't supposed to be busing tables. No wonder he's stressed. He can't pass a job interview as a busboy, but he's got profound things to say philosophically, apparently. He may not say outright he's supposed to be leading his country when he gets home, but it's pretty clear where his headspace is for someone whose headspace has been in a similar mindset, from the sounds of it. A surprisingly deep turn in the conversation. ]

i dont care for candy though
sweets aren't my favorite
i like spicy foods more

[ And that, too. Can't just leave him hanging. He's really excited about these snack foods, huh. Not the only aristocrat Zuko knows who's fascinated by junk food, surprisingly. ]

Edited 2021-05-05 15:49 (UTC)

I have seen a movie or two here, when I was at the inn! I saw Godzilla, about a giant living dinosaur ravaging Japan! I didn't know who I wanted to win more! Him or the army!

[He still has an ueasy feeling about looking up too much of the future, at least until the 2000s. He got the basics. Japan lost to America in WW2, but then allied(? ISH? Was subservient to USA?) against North Korea and China in the 1950s, and in the 1980s, Japan had a technological breakthrough which powered what they called the Economic miracle. And then Nobunaga gets too restless, wanting to experience it all, so he has to run out and DO something, not just read about it! But easier topics:]

Our katana are the best! Not just because of our iron, but our blacksmiths are world masters! We have volcanoes and natural resources that power it, if we could -- no, I mean WHEN we get our heads on straight!

I'm not sure any kind of killing can be elegant. Nor should it be. It's one of the uglier things humanity and demons can do. The only thing worse is suffering without even death. Maybe that's why I like guns, they're fast. And they offer people a means to defend themselves without having to study for decades under sometimes cruel masters.

Our blacksmiths were like that too! Some of my katana collection lasted until the 2000s! I'm pretty sure no gun could survive that kind of wear and tear! That's the difference in humans and weapons. We can both be strong for our metal, and our masters, but for humans: surviving the worst things makes us stronger, weapons just get broken! For me being the Demon King means I always have to look out for others who want to take my place.

To say Japan is in a civil war supposes there are only two sides. There were over 300. Missionaries and merchants from Europe used to completely ignore us during my father's time. Not because of the fighting, but because no matter what our resources were, we weren't worth the bother. I'm not sure how to explain that. We didn't have anything worth coming for. It wasn't that far out of the way, but they didn't even want to bring sugar, because it was too much effort with nothing in return.

It was humiliating! And most of the people, and ALL the lords weren't even aware enough how small, petty and pathetic, the rocks they fought over were. Imagine if by simply all working together, doing what we enjoy best, here in Camelot, we could save all the worlds, and anyone who wanted to could travel to the other worlds as they pleased. That simply! But instead, each and every off-worlder declared themselves King, had a century or two to back it up, and just fought over onigiri or a single fish instead of just figuring out ways to get more of it. That was how bad Japan was in my father's day. Honestly, a bit worse, because from all I can gather here and from the future, the world is so much kinder, and the demons like me are no more. And I'm glad. I didn't intend to destroy all the demons or anything like that, but I knew Japan could be so much more if it could be at least whole. I keep being asked here if I couldn't have done it a different way. Less violent, they mean. Without having to break the lords, and become a Demon King or the rest. I don't know! Sometimes I'm surprised it even worked!

Did you know plays were popular in Europe too? I'll admit I thought the missionaries romanticized it too much, but now I think they really downplayed it! They mentioned opera, but when I saw my first one I almost cried! It was so beautiful! The idea of having actors and artists who could tell the stories they wanted to, not just of what their lords ordered, or what the priests wanted, was too good for me to resist. It was, I think, what they now call an "eccentricity," but my hometown used to just call me an idiot to my face! LOL! And now there's a whole industry (movies!) and it's one of the things Japan is best at in all the world! Even though we're so tiny, especially compared to everyone else, and had so far to catch up to! I'm so proud of them!!!

I hope you can do it! The idea of uniting the whole world behind peace, is a lot, even for me! So I won't be much help beyond morale support. But as with Japan meeting the rest of the world, I think the more people realize how much bigger everything IS, the more they realize both what they're actually capable of, and what they truly want most in life.

Crabs in a bucket. Did you know that if crabs in a bucket cooperated, they could all escape? But they don't know how. Even if a few start to, other crabs will pull them down so they stay trapped.

That's how Japan was. Monks and some religious types believed that if people left Japan they would bring back evils: plagues, spirits, Godzilla, whatever! Some of them were just so scared they thought anyone rising to the top was going to be a big monster determined to crush them, so they had to stop them before they got that far.

[Oda just wanted to fly, man. To see the whole world and everything in it. So of course seeing beyond his world is more than a dream come true.
Also why he is texting like crazy to Zuko even though his letters to Hideyoshi aren't usually this long! But that's different, his foreign correspondence with Luis Frois definitely got long like this! A sign of how excited he is!]

I felt like another crab in the bucket. I couldn't rise up to escape, so I had to claw my way out, by breaking the bucket that held us, or at least make a hole, and to do just that I had to make the others more scared of me than of each other OR what they thought could be outside. I think it's probably a lot easier for an outsider to just upend the bucket entirely, but if you're born in the bucket, even just because you can see the sky, doesn't mean anyone knows what's outside it. They start to view the bucket as more than home or territory, they're afraid of what's beyond the bucket. Maybe you see the shadows of seagulls and think everything outside it must be like that, big, scary, and awful! So then the crabs fight over just having enough space to breathe. And if a crab from the wild gets stuck in the bucket, the other crabs don't always want to believe that it's true: that the world is so vast and fighting over breathing room is silly.

There's only two ways I know to conquer someone else's fears. Show them the opportunity, and hope they're more greedy and ambitious than scared, or scare them worse than their previous fear.

I will say, I haven't seen anything in the next 600 years that has yet changed my mind about that, but there's also a third kind that I just can't deal with. They play to people's fears and anxieties and hopes, and tell them everything will be just fine as long as everything stays exactly like it is now. Basically they tell the other crabs in the bucket that wanting to leave is bad. Wanting more space is bad. Just accept the bucket. And don't let anyone else leave. Everything must stay the same. The only reason there's anything bad, is because some crabs want more than just a bucket. To me, that's the worst. Even the crabs that would rather kill each other as their only idea of fun (or to have more space in the bucket, or make a ladder of dead crabs!) are easier to deal with.

Like you said, change is constant, so why deny that reality? From how it was in Japan, when I dealt with our warrior monks, it was because they had the most to lose, and least to gain. Part of their religious precepts isn't just rejecting candy and other luxuries (so the ambition or greed of opportunity outside the bucket!) But it was a very rigid hierarchy. It placed them out of the way of the conflicts, but with enough power to still try to team up and help drag any other crabs down or stop people from breaking the bucket itself.

If you want to hear more about that portion, that's a story best done with tea and sake. I don't regret a thing, but I think I understand a lot more about your Fire Empire than I want to say on here. I even specifically used fire to deal with them. It wasn't like the magic of here, but that might have been worse. Nevertheless, it is a great joy and HONOR seeing that the future generations of even other worlds, are able to look at our actions critically, but still want to move forward and heal each other, instead of repeating what mayhem we already wrought, or carrying our grudges on eternally. With that kind of mindset, I don't think it's possible for you to fail, because you've already come further than we thought could be done.

You remind me a lot of Tokugawa Ieyasu. He doesn't like sweets either. He doesn't get along with people, though that's almost certainly my family's fault, he loves spicy foods, and in a couple decades after my death in other timelines he ushered in Japan's Golden Era: of peace, prosperity, and progress. I always hoped to hand off a united Japan to him, and give my army to Hideyoshi.

Totoyomi Hideyoshi was born a commoner. That's one of the bucket linings I've been trying to break. The monks reinforce that hierarchy where commoners aren't allowed to rise to the top, no matter how genius. Much like the busboy tests they're giving you, only instead, he would have had to have been given to the monks as a child, raised as a monk, and then they would only let him be a monk, or born into a samurai family.

Hideyoshi is my right hand man. He's as brilliant as Akechi Mitsuhide, but where Mitsuhide was born into a family of samurai, he just doesn't ever stop teasing people no matter their rank --I wouldn't have him any other way! -- Hideyoshi is even better at charming people than I am. Mostly because he doesn't ever seen insane, asinine, or demonic! But even so, he's brilliant. But the idiots in the other bucket would insist he shouldn't be allowed to do what he's best at, even when he's better than ALL of them at it! Maybe it's because he's better than them? I don't know. Sometimes the line between ignorance and arrogance is non-existent, isn't it? Lol.

Oh, but about Ieyasu! He also prefers spicy. So whenever you and I have tea and sake together, I'll make sure to get you his favorite snacks!

I wonder what would be a good future job for him? Ah, but that's not fair. He's already a healer, so it's cheating. You really can get hired anywhere if you're good enough at that, but even with that as my magic, I'm not the healing type. I think he might even have experience as a busboy too! It's a long story, and not mine to tell though.

[ Zuko is overwhelmed, baffled, and fascinated... Indeed, he can tell this is the mark of a man who cares about his country. A long mark. A lot of care. Thankfully, his Japanese friends are similarly excitable types, and the enthusiasm is not as off-putting to him as it might have been a year ago. In fact, something about this guy strikes Zuko as rather like his old roommate Tamaki, except if he were to imagine the host talking about war and political philosophy... though it wasn't far off at all to imagine him talking about snacks and Godzilla... It's a little surreal, but nevertheless strangely... endearing? ]

wow ok
im gonna miss many points
thank you for taking the time to write all this to me.......??

[ To him, a stranger. Zuko hasn't even introduced himself yet. He's moved by this unnecessary level of attention and investment of care? Reminds him of his other long-lost, intensely enthusiastic friend Titus Alexius, another fascinating war hero who was a lot more bubbly on the surface than the poignant stories he told of his world. Who'd also, in fact, shown Zuko a Godzilla movie. It wasn't his thing. But if it were a movie about a monster attacking the Fire Nation instead of Japan, he'd probably have taken more interest in it. ]

you should meet my uncle iroh
he's here. i'll tell him about you.
he was an esteemed general in the fire nation armies for a long time but he is unusual. some might say eccentric. many others might say something less flattering. but he's lived a full life and understands many things most people don't. i can already tell you guys would have a lot to talk about. he's very wise. i'm certain he would love your crabs in a bucket metaphor. he has a lot of good proverbs like that.
he's the uncle who likes tea, too. :)

[ A :) from Zuko is more of an accomplishment than meets the eye...! This is the most important takeaway he's addressing as his first order of business in this long letter, "you should meet my uncle," which is also a higher honor than it may first appear. But it's the priority before getting into anything else, it feels like. Other things? This kid actually took notes on a pad of paper on the side about what to reply to...! He's more invested than he seems, Nobunaga. ]

i agree killing is ugly and inelegant at its core. but not all combat is. sometimes it's necessary. you seem to know that. some violence often prevents more violence... like you say about sending a message to the other crabs in the bucket. but too many people know how to fight without knowing why to fight, and understanding that part of training comes from having to study with masters. that's why i'm wary of what i know about guns, even given your new perspective on it.
an important part of my swordsmanship training was to learn calligraphy and painting. one must be certain of one's own identity as a fighter, as much as a painter must know his own style, because much like a brush stroke on a parchment, the cut of a sword cannot be erased. one stray ink blot can mar a beautiful scene. you must be mindful leaving your mark on the page.
putting a gun in the hands of an angry peasant in the middle of a war would be like giving a child a knife as a toy..... without the philosophical training, they'll take their rage into their own hands on instinct, and while on the one hand that is fair, things are seldom so direct. too many people in my world deserve the chance for revenge than to give it to just anyone who has cause for it. that'd be almost everyone. it'd create a book full of ink blots. an illegible chapter in history.

but then again my world is not as big as yours. ive seen maps of your planet. it's massive. my world is big too, or so i thought, ive been all over my own planet but ultimately there are still less than half a dozen nations if you get down to it. and the fire nation is the smallest of them all. it looks a lot like japan actually. islands, volcanoes... but even with so many fewer players on the board, it will be hard to unify all the nations. even harder to convince others to forgive the fire nation for its long reign of terror. we will be hated for a long time after the war is over, too.

but i am proud of my nation. my culture. even our history, as much as there is to be ashamed of. pride and shame cannot be picked apart. Uncle taught me we must not try to look past scars as something shameful, but to see them instead as fine details in a fuller picture. being spirited away is strange because where i'm from, firebenders are hated anywhere outside the fire nation. so if you have something positive to say about the fire nation, either you're talking to enemies or nationalists, no in-between. but to people from other planets, i can just share the beautiful things about my home without judgment one way or the other... it's refreshing.

so for example if i wanted to tell someone about a classic Fire Nation play, Love Amongst the Dragons, it could stand alone here as a work of art, not just a piece of cultural heritage. but back home, no one from outside would want to see it, and for us, we all already know the story. it's the same way as you described theatre in japan too, censored, limited: our art always reflects our pride in our nation. you will never find art that's critical of the Fire Lord or our nation's history or our role in the war. we don't even know it's propaganda because there's nothing else to compare it to!! i only learned how thoroughly we've all been lied to once i left and moved to the Earth Kingdom. now seeing how people can make whatever kind of art they want in other worlds and there's a market for anything, as long as the story is told with passion...... i hope we have that kind of freedom for expression someday, too.

the fire nation is like crabs in a bucket too but in a different way.. no one is vying for the Fire Lord's throne, they either respect him or fear him too much for that. but people don't want to know about the world outside because they have been given no reason to think there's anything worthwhile outside the bucket. we are more like ostrich-horses with blinders on i guess, all saddled up for war but our heads are in the sand. we've been told for over a century that we're the most advanced, prosperous civilization in the history, and that the war is our way to "share" our wealth and culture with the rest of the world.... but it's the farthest from the truth. for people who have never left the fire nation, it would come as a huge shock to learn the entire world despises us.

so what you say about how to conquer someone else's fears....?? with either the promise of opportunity or the threat of a greater, unexpected fear...?? that resonates a lot. so thank you for that wisdom. i hope i can remember it somehow when i return.
you've already given me a lot to think about...... even before meeting for tea and sake and whatever spicy japanese foods you wanted to show me. i'd be willing to meet with you. i'm free almost anytime, honestly... even now if you'd like.

[ He's on a roll, after all. Nobunaga has no idea how much of an accomplishment this correspondence is by the rules of Zuko-style Socialization. "I'd be willing to meet with you even right now" is a heavyhitting invitation very few have ever been extended. And of those new friends who have made such a fast bond, he keeps them close, even despite frankly maddening world-hopping shenanigans, and can count these people on one hand. He would still drop anything he's doing in the moment to go have tea with any of them, too. ]

[NEW PENPAL FRIEND!!!! Nobunaga is kind of like Tamaki, in a fearless overly enthusiastic, bombastic, sweeping everyone into his pace kind of way, for sure.]

I look forward to tea with your Uncle! We can swap war stories and complain about the disrespect to tea culture!

[FLAWLESS!]

I definitely wouldn't want everyone to have guns, that would lead to bandits and more accidents. The idea that guns could be as available as food is here, honestly hadn't occurred to me! The amount of metal and work to make the guns, still took enough that even with all my efforts, I couldn't arm every single person in an army with guns, and I wouldn't have tried to. The army is more effective with different people doing different things. I think most people also don't want to go to war. It is definitely unnerving to try to think of circumstances where no one enjoyed things like tea farming or being a merchant, or art and music, or movies.

[He reads the rest, and just SAVES IT! It's amazing! It's a kind of letter he wants to look back on some day! It reminds him a lot of talking with Hideyoshi about what to do with their rule, but with the learning aspect of Luis Frois!]

I'd love to hear about Love Amongst Dragons! And everything about your dances and culture and architecture! Is it also like Japanese?

I'm free now too! I've been job-hunting, but mostly for fun! To see what it's like!

As I said, I was raised to be a war general my whole life. That is probably why I felt so trapped in the bucket. In order just to survive or protect my lands; the way nobility in theory is obligated to, I had to be as scary and violent as possible, but by the time the others were less of a threat to me, I still couldn't leave the bucket without abandoning them, which would make them return to their old ways. I'm not surprised most people aren't nearly as pleased to be here as I am, LOL! But for me, it's an opportunity I just can't waste!

Luckily, I'm not bad at interviews, but unlike you, I don't have experience in nearly anything else! I think I could handle shipping for a whole international organization, or taxes, or high finance, and factory management, and none of that is applicable here! LOL! But it's kind of fun to see what options exist! I think I want to make one that doesn't exist here, so I am gathering information on what would sell! :)

see, this is where my fire nation mindset probably comes in then
because as soon as i first saw guns in a movie, my immediate thought was that the fire nation would probably outfit every soldier, sailor, and airman with a gun and spare no expenses in the manufacturing process, if we had this technology
but instead..... we can just conjure actual fire from thin air..... which is free. :)

[ Zuko, your jokes are weird, stop. Don't :) that. He still doesn't know what LOL means and wouldn't use it even if he did by logic of "but I didn't actually laugh out loud," so instead he just makes things creepy with the five different emoticons he knows. ]

i relate to what you say about feeling free from all the expectations and pressures in a weird way in this world, and about abandoning the other crabs in the bucket...... but trust me if you're job-hunting for fun you're about to be disappointed multiple times over. i don't know what any of those jobs you mentioned entail exactly but none of it strikes me as "fun"

[ Zuko, you're also sixteen and hate normal fun anyway, sit down. ]

i know a teashop in the center of town
probably funner than job interviews
:)

[ Again with the :)?! ]

Isn't it difficult to use fire against water and earth though? [How DID the Fire Emperor conquer the shit out of everyone?]

Well, first you have to start with: "What is fun?"
Other than fire and plays, what are you favorite things? And you might be good at making some plays and movies here!

Let's go! I'll meet you there! :D

[No no, it's flawless, Nobunaga's goal is to master all the slang, emojis, and to eventually stop giggling like an idiot whenever someone abuses the swear "Fuck." -- Spoilers: it will never happen. At least he doesn't run around repeating it like a five year old, when he was told of it's darker meaning.]

[ Oh, god, they're weird kindred spirits. Zuko's picked up talking like a sailor more than when he was actually sailing with sailors. Now he hangs around the mafia at piano bars and watches Quincy Taraccino movies like Kill Will and drops F bombs in front of the Avatar by accident. ]

i'll explain about bending in person... its too long to text.
same with fun.
not too long to text just dont want to

[ At least he admits to having fun now. Oh, how he's grown so.

He's at the teashop in a matter of minutes, perfectly prompt and punctual, and even goes ahead and orders a table... at which he sits awkwardly waiting for someone it suddenly occurs to him, after perhaps too long, he has no idea who he'll be looking for. A few minutes go by until Nobunaga gets another text. ]

i have no idea what you look like

[ Well, if not embarrassed, at least Zuko's enthusiastic in his own way... But has a clever thought on his own as a solution after skipping another beat. ]

but search for a small red dragon on the table.

[ He'd intended, for once, to go somewhere without his greedy familiar... But the ferrety little dragon wastes no time appearing after it's been called to be used as a living nametag, because it knows this teashop well already, knows Zuko well already, and knows this means it gets extra food and its own cup of tea. Because that's how they roll. Possibly the most pampered familiar in all of Avalon? Hope Nobunaga doesn't mind some goofy, rude, spitty dragon crawling all around the table, ahem. Because that's also how they roll.

The samurai will find the fire prince in casual clothes very much like this, dark grey jeans and clearly well-worn but sturdy black boots, looking deceptively far more modern than he natively might after so long being away from home, even down to the clean, chic, short haircut his best friend Hikaru still maintains for him. Having the dragon as an automatic accessory also boosts the cool factor, frankly, truth be told... ]

Edited 2021-05-06 05:11 (UTC)

[THEY REALLY ARE KINDRED SPIRITS! Wait until/if Oda's AU more internet savvy actual fire, and somehow louder, version joins too, the mayhem will be amazing!]

[Dragons definitely boost the cool factor!]

[Nobunaga only has one suit virtually, a straight up tuxedo for the opera, so far, so he's still going around in his ornate armor -- look, just because he hasn't had any assassins come after him here yet doesn't mean they aren't just waiting for him to slip up! He does have European boots for climbing trees, and running, and because people don't remove shoes in businesses and that's still weird.]

[AH DRAGON! SO CUTE!]

Yo! [The scar is very fiery too, and he gets what he meant about his uncle's meaning to move past them. If Masamune even shows up, they can talk too!]

[Also pretty much no one knows how surreal it would be for a modern Japanese person to have Oda Nobunaga giving a European wave, saying Yo, and sitting in a European chair in the only way he finds comfortable: sideways, with the back to the table and with enough space to withdraw gun and katana as necessary. WELL, that part might be less surprising. But usually he lounges sidewise on cushions. Sideways so he can again, grab that sword and gun without warning.]

Ah? How come everyone has a cute familiar except me!? [He loves dragons though! Well, he loves ALL the familiars, really. Even his own.] I have an oni, I don't know if you know what that is. They're a type of Japanese demon. I've been told I shouldn't really bring him in -- [Gestures with a smug grin.] Most places.

Hello! [Formal bow... to the dragon.] I'm Oda Nobunaga, Demon King of the 6th Heaven.

[Absolutely normal greeting. Absolutely.]

Yo...

[ Zuko mumbles back, and gives a single nod in greeting at the man as he sits, raising his brows at him without a smile. His energy matched his texts, he could already tell... Zuko's? Less so. ]

Zuko. And Zunyan.

[ Who also gives a long, intense stare with sharp golden eyes, its whiskers flicking idly, until it barely inclines its head enough to be considered something like a bow. The implication of a bow. It's a dragon, it's not about to bow to anyone, uh...? But Zuko's trying to make it act more politely. He can't tell that he's making progress or not; if he is, it's inconsistent. The reality is, Zun only obliges Zuko when it feels like it, or can tell it's frustrating the boy too much if it doesn't care as much as he wants it to. But, hey, when you're a dragon, if you don't care, you don't care! Plus, it's true, he's weirdly cute, the scaly furry little thing, and it helps him get away with a lot. ]

It's okay. They know him here.

[ And indeed they do. An old man who often tends the shop happens to pass by when he sees Nobunaga sit, not realizing who's sitting there with him yet. But as he approaches and sees the dragon, he lets out a jovial whoop and waves, calling "Zuuu~u~n!" in a loud sing-song voice. The dragon snaps to attention, whipping its snakelike neck around in a flash, scampering to the edge of the table. Without hesitation, the old man calls to the kitchen on his way back with a bucket of plates in his arms — "Dumplings! The dragon's here!" like this were completely planned. They come here this often, first of all, yes, and Zuko's soft scowl of embarrassment is proof of it as he squirms in his seat. He hates when the old man does that... And second of all, Zuko's clearly made a habit of ordering the dragon its own food like it's a person to the point that it's amused the entire staff enough to become a serious joke they all abide by now. Who are they to tell a dragon no, either, really? He's the only person who comes here who does this for his familiar; it's silly and charming and how shy and bashful the grumpy boy is over it makes the small teashop staff all the more enthusiastic about teasing him by playing along and feeding into his dragon's pampering, despite clear signs reading "no familiars allowed inside," Nobunaga's not wrong. Make no mistake, there really are dumplings on the way out by the time a young waitress comes to take their actual orders (they're not free, just prompt, another waste of Zuko's money the shop is equally happy to indulge); and the way the shameless little lizard scurries impatiently while it watches her approach, hanging expectant on the edge of the table, is proof that this is also normal for them... Zuko mutters "thank you" without meeting the waitress's eye as she sets the plate of dumplings and three saucers down, catching a writhing Zunyan in between his hands before the dragon can help itself to its steamed snack; but he looks Nobunaga straight-on, tone rather stern for offering the man a nicety. ]

You're new, right? What do you like? Your choice. They make good jasmine tea here, too...

[ The primary reason he trusts them. ]

Edited 2021-05-06 06:35 (UTC)

[Super cute holy shit! It's like all the best parts of Ranmaru, Ieyasu, and himself, and almost what could have been with some of his siblings -- also with a dragon!!!]

[Nobunaga has to struggle to not laugh, settling for just smug haughty, his general state of being, but he gets it. How Zuko has trouble with first impressions. Ieyasu style, for sure. To be fair, Nobunaga was definitely a lot worse like that in his youth. Believe it or not, he's mellowed! Although having the rampant freedom and so much sweets and things to be enthusiastic about has definitely brought out more of his Fool of Owari side!]

[At the suggestion, carnelian eyes glow! He'd just been about to ask Zuko's recommendation!] My favorite!

[When not sweetened.]

[So Jasmine is what he orders! And he'll wait for her to leave, seemingly appreciating her work, but mostly just rampant paranoia of 40 years watching for assassins and checking for unseen weapons. As you do.. He still hasn't gotten used to how invisible magic is, even if he's very good at improvising too.]

How long did it take you to first find this place when you first got here?

[Since they know him well!]

[Oda's also now wondering if he should have brought his Go board, since he doesn't want to be too loud and overwhelming, and that's how he has to be chill around Eustace.]

Well— I searched for one pretty soon after arriving, honestly... There was a teashop kinda like this in the last place I lived, but— this place is better.

[ He pauses to load up a small plate for Zunyan first, serving the dragon before either of them, but also loads up a small plate he slides over toward Nobunaga. Polite. ]

We come here at least once a week. And I got here, um—

[ His eyes search upward, chopsticks poised midair in thought, his first bite hovering before he even goes for it. Zun notices that Zuko's not going for it right away, and even though there's still food on its plate, it darts upwards to try and steal a bite... prompting Zuko to draw his hand back without even looking, as if by muscle memory. This must be another norm for them. Truth be told, the dragon isn't that greedy that it steals from Zuko mid-bite, but in fact only pretends to, not to aggravate him ~~though that is sometimes funny and often easy~~, but to prompt him to eat right, Zuko who gets so caught up in processing life that he often neglects his basic needs unthinkingly. The dragon pulls this kind of sneaky care over the boy more than Zuko will ever know. More than anyone will ever know, cuz Zunyan doesn't talk, and even if it could, it wouldn't reveal the method to its madness. But it's not so goofy as it looks.

But it does like to eat, so as soon as it's certain Zuko's hopping to, it does turn back to its own plate, perched in Zuko's lap with its neck outstretched to eat from the table, a little more polite than standing on it, maybe... ]

Four months ago?

[ He takes a bite after completing his thought. He's been here longer than his post made it out to be, really... ]

[Nods! And nah, Nobunaga gets it. He's been waffling and balking on the idea of the working for a King he hasn't met. Something about being born to command and not even taking his father's orders etc. It's different when you're doing less prominent work (like busing tables!) because then you can walk out whenever you please.]

[This gives him like 5 openings for all the questions though!]

What do you think of the King so far?

[He's taking note of what the dragon likes to eat, because Nobunaga pretty much keeps feeding everyone's familiars the second he can. It's becoming yet another weird bad habit of his.]

I confess, up to now, I was looking at the other styled cafes to see how the other worlds do it, perhaps that was my mistake. Avoid "Starbucks" too. I was told chocolate was best served as a drink, but I have to disagree. Cookies are better. [Holds a hand up!] Ah, but you could probably avoid it altogether, it's usually fairly sweet.

You mentioned living in the Earth Kingdom, how did that come about? [A head tilt, and a small laugh and shakes his head.] No one leaves Japan. [Sighs, and rests an elbow on the table, and his chin on the fist.] Crabs in a bucket. Though, I suppose that's just as well. None of us had designs on total global domination. Well, I came the closest. [And Hideyoshi made some egregious missteps without Nobunaga and Mitsuhide to temper him, perhaps specifically as a rebellion against what Mitsuhide would have advised against. But that's literally an alternate universe from Nobunaga. He wonders how the wormholes will change things, if certain things will revert to absolutes no matter what.]

Are you still staying at the inn? Kitsuno was also here about four months ahead of me, so she is renting her own place, and graciously hosting me.

I must confess, the whole landlord concept still has me at unease. Not because I have a problem with rent, but I don't understand the chain of control and profit.

[ Oh god, these are more adult questions than this poor teenage schlub is prepared to answer. He talks to his plate, mumbling only a little at first, though still speaking clearly. He's got good training, it's clear to tell, he's just uncomfortable, which didn't come across as strongly as "bratty" did in his post online about failing job interviews. His correspondence with Nobunaga shows he's a deep thinker, has some amount of eloquence when it comes to something he's convicted about, but if he's not...? Defused. Like this. Hesitant with chit-chat. Trained well socially, just in poor practice, perhaps. ]

Yeah, I live in the inn... With my sister. I don't know anything about landlords and that stuff. My friends and I lived in the starter flats in the last place I was at, too. I'm the wrong person to ask... My sister and I haven't thought about moving out of, because it's free. But— I dunno. Maybe we're supposed to by this point...

[ Someone online brought this to his attention today, in fact, which made him feel a little ill at ease that it'd never once occurred to him until then that they didn't intend to provide free housing forever if they wanted and that maybe there's an expiration date on how long it's appropriate to stay in the inn, that maybe there was limited room they'd run out of for newcomers eventually, that maybe he and Azula were freeloaders, not just thieves... It made him uncomfortable. ]

I don't know much about the King, either. He seems a little— nonchalant...? Royalty doesn't act like that where I'm from. The Fire Lord must seem stern. I'm not afraid of Arthur. But— I don't think citizens should fear their ruler, either. Maybe he's not wrong to be so friendly and relaxed...

[ See how he dodges that Earth Kingdom question by taking another bite? Masterful. ~~Not really, actually pretty obvious~~. ]

text; un: fireprince

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action?

Action!!!

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3/3 TW: Ikko-Ikki cult, genocide, sacrifice, anti-Buddhism

oof i didn't realize i'd never responded to this, sorry for the wild delay! i'd love to continue tho