#zuko fic
My favorite thing about fanfic Zuko is that he just does not have a reference point for sexism. Like:
Some person: isn’t that women’s work?
Zuko, thinking of Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee: women’s work? You mean homicide?
When Zuko becomes Fire Lord he’s sitting in a meeting where there happens to be only one female advisor, Takiko (Which strikes him as a bit weird but for now he’s got bigger gazellefish to fry because he’s still trying to figure out who is worth keeping around even if *sometimes* (every day) he’s tempted to just turf them all out and start from scratch rather than deal with the paranoia) and Takiko’s in the middle of giving a presentation when they run out of tea. One of the male advisors remarks on this loudly, staring pointedly at Takiko. Because some female in the room “obviously” she’s the one who should be making the tea.
Takiko, used to this nonsense, starts to move towards the pot but to the collective shock of everyone in the room she is waved away by the Fire Lord.
“No, no, you’re in the middle of your presentation, I’ve got this,” says Zuko.
Male advisor: *sputtering* “My Lord! Surely Takiko can do that. Is it not below your station to pour tea?”
Zuko: “It’s fine. Uncle Iroh always pours his own tea and he’s ranked above all of you.”
*Room collectively recalls that Uncle Iroh is Dragon of the West*
Male advisor, changing tack: “She has uh… much more experience with such things.”
Zuko: *displaying an impressive level of control in using a fire technique to heat the pot that he learned during his time working in the Earth Kingdom tea shop* “I doubt it.”
(The kicker: Zuko makes better tea than anyone in the room has had in an official meeting in *years*.)
I’d like to believe that after the meeting, Takiko privately thanks Lord Zuko for making tea and awkwardly laughs how all the other male advisors always have her do it because she’s female. And Zuko later commands the first male advisor who looks Takiko’s way the next time they run out of tea to make it instead.
Actually, alternative idea: He brings Azula in as part of her rehabilitation and let’s them try to explain to Azula why she should make the tea.
