#Will we ignore that Mai is Azula's dependent?...Okay.

[the-genius-az]

Exactly, your whole mouth is full of reason and your thoughts are clear and decisive.

It's true that Azula was fucking obsessed with Mai, but no one else notices.

Maizula nation please where r u

[nothing-more-than-hot-leaf-juice]

We don’t talk enough about “The Beach” in terms of Azula (long essay) 

Okay so, I have not stopped thinking about this episode and how it reveals Azula’s entire self image and how it foreshadows her breakdown. So here’s a deep dive: 

We start the episode off with this premise: for the first time in the series we get to see Azula as a normal teenager. We’ve seen her in combat, we’ve seen her as a political force to be reckoned with, and we’ve seen her within her messed-up family. But in this episode we’re seeing her on vacation. From the beginning of the episode, we think that it’s going to be Zuko on edge (”doing nothing is a waste of time, we’re being sent away on a forced vacation”) and Azula enjoying her time off (”lighten up, so dad wants to meet with his advisors alone, without anyone else around. Don’t take it so personally”). But that doesn’t exactly happen. While by no means does Zuko have an easy time on their ‘forced vacation,’ the episode reveals Azula’s weakness and hidden insecurities and foreshadows her breakdown in the series finale. 

The first thing to consider is what we already know about Azula: we know she’s dangerous, a protegee at firebending, politically charismatic, and ruthless. We know that people will side with her if she wants them to (Ty Lee chooses her over the circus, Mai chooses her over her family, the Dai Li choose her over Long Feng, and Zuko chooses her over Iroh). From her introduction, we know she’s the preferred sibling under Ozai and that she knows that. She’s confident because of that. She knows that she’s chosen over Zuko because she wasn’t banished or burned. And in season 3, she’s still winning because if the Avatar’s alive, then Zuko will be the one to suffer the consequences. She’s playing the game of Fire Nation politics and she’s winning. 

But in The Beach, all fire nation politics are cast aside from the first minute of the episode. While we think that Azula will be competent and charismatic here as she is everywhere else, that ends up not being the case and it reveals her hidden vulnerabilities. 

Another thing we know about Azula is that she’s competitive. Her whole life she was conditioned to think in these terms as her father schemed his way onto the throne and constantly compared her and Zuko (and when Zuko got banished it signified to her that she had firmly won that competition and she was worthy of her father’s ‘love’). And in previous episodes, this competitive streak has  worked in her favor. Her ‘eyes on the prize’ approach let her conquer Ba Sing Se, defeat Aang, and convince Zuko to side with her. But The Beach offers a new territory: one entirely dependent on her personality. And she still views it as a competition, but this time she’s not the clear winner. 

They arrive at the beach and for the first time in the series, people aren’t praising her as royalty or fearing her as an adversary, instead she’s treated like a normal person. We saw this with Zuko in season 2 when he was masquerading as an anonymous Earth Kingdom refugee in The Cave of Two Lovers or Zuko Alone (where people offered him their home and food when all they knew him for was his actions) and when he was masquerading as Lee/Li (where he was offered a position as a Freedom Fighter, treated as a normal tea shop worker, and went on a date with a girl all on the basis of his personality), but we’ve never seen this with Azula. In this episode, she’s relying entirely on her personality to navigate this teenage social world and she doesn’t get the results she expects. 

From her perspective, her friends and brother are succeeding in this environment way more than she is and that makes her extremely uncomfortable. From her perpsecive, Mai and Zuko are completely fine spending time with each other and Ty Lee is getting the attention of half a dozen guys at once. But Azula doesn’t fit in. She sees this whole ‘Being a Teenager Thing’ as a competition that she’s loosing.Ty Lee and Mai are invited to a party and she’s cast aside. Ty Lee attracts the attention of half a dozen guys and the guy she complimented just ignores her. People at the party leave her alone when in reality, she wanted to come in order to see what it would be like for people to treat them as normal. And in a normal setting, she’s rejected. 

Azula has her comfort zone and that comfort zone is winning. There are four instances in the episode where we see her comfortable and confident that reveal how she depends on her combat and political skills for her self image. The first is when she’s being ignore while her friends acclimate to the beach social scene. She demands that they play in a game of volleyball because one, she needs to be in charge in order to feel in control of the situation and two, she thinks that there’s a clear path from winning the volleyball game to gaining social acceptance. This is a thing she can do. She knows she’s physically capable and thinks if she can do this, then she’s succeeding at the whole ‘Being a Teenager’ thing. And she does succeed. We see the victory make her feel better about herself because she winning (”yes, we have defeated you for all time, you will never rise from the ashes of your shame and humiliation... well that was fun”).

The second time we see her comfortable is after she kisses Chan. From her perspective, part of succeeding at the whole ‘Being a Teenager Thing’ is attracting guys, like Ty Lee, and being in a relationship, like Mai and Zuko. This isn’t necessarily something she actually wants, but it’s something that she perceives as an element of winning. So she plays the part of ‘pretty girl who laughs at unfunny jokes’ and kisses the guy she wants to kiss. This is a win in her books and she has her moment of comfort: 

“Together, you and I will be the strongest couple in Fire Nation history. We will dominate the earth!” 

From the offset, this is just a joke at Azula’s expense like the previous one was, but it says a lot about how she views her self-worth. Her default comfort zone is ambitious, political, militaristic. This is her ‘normal’ and when she thinks she’s finally figured out this whole ‘Being a Teenager Thing’ by kissing this guy, she tries to branch over this false persona she’s constructed to please this guy to her actual self and when that happens, she’s rejected and it hurts her. 

The third moment of comfort is during the campfire scene where Azula sees that, no, unlike what she originally thought, her friends are actually dealing with their own issues and aren’t doing so well. What this means to her is that maybe she is winning. Maybe they’re better at the whole ‘Being a Teenager Thing,’ but they have these other issues: neglect, insecurity, and self-hatred and she tells herself ‘I don’t have those problems, so clearly I’m the one winning here.’ She drags out the issues of her friends because she wants to know that no, they aren’t doing as well as she thought they were. She slow claps and says “well, those were wonderful performances everyone” and we see that she feels better in this small group where she’s the one not screaming and crying about her problems. And this is mean, but it’s undeniably rooted in insecurity. Azula needs to feel like the most competent person in the room. She needs to feel in control because she’s grown up in an environment where being the ‘weak one’ meant getting your face burned off and banished. Azula can’t afford vulnerability. She’s never been able to afford vulnerability, so she surrounds herself by people she can control. And so long as she holds the reigns, so long as she’s perceived as the strong one, it means she’s okay. 

But the thing is she does have those problems. Because after those first two moments of comfort, she gets rejected for who she is. She’s not invited to the party because people think she’s intimidating and weird. Chan leaves after he kisses her because she reveals her true colors. There’s only one other episode where we’ve seen someone actively reject Azula’s personality and there’s a moment of vulnerability where she reveals how that rejection shaped her self-image: 

“I could sit here and complain about how our mom liked Zuko more than me, but I don’t really care. My own mother thought I was a monster. She was right of course, but it still hurt.” 

Azula hasn’t had to think of herself in terms of her personality in years because the last person who valued her as a person, not as royalty or a weapon, was her mother. And her mother saw faults in her. Her mother wondered aloud what was wrong with her. Her mother didn’t like her as much as she liked Zuko and that’s something Azula internalized, even if she was able to mask it up with apathy and cruelty. After Ursa left, she was the unequivocal favorite child. She was the talented one. She wasn’t dishonored or banished like Zuko and she held onto that victory because ‘winning’ the competition of ‘favored sibling’ was the closest thing to love that she got. It didn’t matter who she was as a person, it only mattered that she got results, so she focused all her energy there and came out victorious. Her friends stayed loyal to her out of fear for the most part and she knew it, that’s why she had the circus set Ty Lee’s net on fire and why she guilted Mai into not trading her brother for Bumi. She’s convinced herself that “fear is the only reliable way” because she’s never been shown that people can love her for herself. 

The fourth moment of comfort is when she’s commanding the destruction of Chan’s party. In this moment she said ‘screw these people, I’m superior and I know it. I’m the princess of the Fire Nation, I’m stronger, and they are nothing in comparison to me.” 

This is the mentality she’s been conditioned with for years and by the end of the episode, she defaults to it because it makes her feel strong whereas in reality, she failed at the whole ‘Being a Teenager Thing.’ People didn’t like her. She was rejected for the first time in a long time.

And her greatest fear is this rejection. We see it in the Zuko Alone flashbacks, we see it when Mai and Ty Lee betray her in The Boiling Rock, and we see it when she banishes everyone closest to her in Sozin’s Comet. She anticipates rejection and she acts to snip out the people who can reject her before it happens. 

And the tragedy is, it ends up not being enough. Mai and Ty Lee don’t choose her. Ozai decides to leave her out of the invasion. Zuko takes the throne. There’s no longer her father there to please and no more commands to give. For years she was confident and charismatic because she was in control and in the game of Fire Nation politics, she was winning. For Azula’s entire life, winning that game meant you were worth something and losing it meant that you were thrown away. While she was in control of those around her, while they feared and worshiped her, it meant she was winning. 

But the rejection she faces in The Beach foreshadowed her ultimate downfall because when all her influence and control was stripped away, she was all alone. 

[jyndor]

(Imperialism etc anon) Ok I get where you're coming from! Thank you for being understanding. While Zutara is obviously not inherently racist or anything there are zutara interpretations that *are* racist (example: fire lady katara which I can get into) and it does need to be acknowledged that Zuko's status as fire nation royalty does create a power imbalance between him and Katara. Now, this is a conversation that has a lot of nuance to it but it seems like the people harassing you are (1/2)

(2/2) just repeating some genuine critique they saw without understanding what it means just to say that they're right, harassing people in the process. I did not have that context when sending that first ask and I apologize, since anons harassing you and others are clearly doing it out of bad faith. I just didn't like the leveraging of concepts that really matter in real life (colonialism, etc), ykwim? But I get what you were trying to do.

hey anon I’m finally getting to you after 84 years XD

so first off, I want to be careful about how I approach this because I understand that as a white person (even if my ancestors experienced imperialism) in the US I absolutely benefit from imperialism and don’t want to like, idk, whitesplain XD so if anyone gets annoyed with any way I say anything, just lmk and I’ll rework it. and I also do understand that these are real world issues that are far more consequential than messaging in media (although I do think it’s very important that we challenge messages in media because of media’s influence on our thinking and politics).

but before I talk about zuko and his relationship to fire nation imperialism, and then later fire lady katara and why it isn’t INHERENTLY racist but definitely can be, I want to talk about the atla fandom and how we got here. like, why I assume that most anons who come at zutara shippers are asshats acting in bad faith. if you already know fandom history, skip this section.

1. atla and the fandom has always been kind of shitty and racist

so IDK if everyone is familiar with the history of the ship war in atla fandom, but it’s regarded as one of the nastiest ship wars in fandom history which I agree lol. atla’s creators were some of the first to interact with the fandom the way they did - back then it wasn’t all that common for creators to get into twitter feuds with fans and boundaries were respected more than they are now imo. but for better or worse, and it is a mixed bag, bryke interacted with fandom a lot. certainly at cons but also on social media.

but honestly things really got extra mean in fan spaces when bryke made a “joke” atla season 4 slideshow out of fan art (some of which was really sexual in nature and totally inappropriate) that mocked fans’ creations, but especially zutara fanart and zutara itself. it was pretty tasteless especially considering how most zutara fans were teen girls, and featured some art of sokka saying that if you think zuko and katara would be good together, you’re doomed to have failed relationships. that’s where the whole “dark and mysterious” bs came from, which does describe some zutara fic but not even most of it lol. I actually do respect bryke a lot despite my criticism of them, but I don’t think I’ll ever get over that shit. like even if you hate zutara, even if it’s a joke, we were kids. and they were adults, and the whole thing was nasty.

however, the ship war was chaotic and messy, but it does feel worse now. maybe it’s because back then the fandom was MOSTLY teens and kids, and I don’t think that’s true now. we were all trying to prove our ship was best with like, content from the show and theories and all that, and now it’s like... whose ship is ~problematic lol it’s a show by white us americans appropriating from various cultures impacted negatively by us/british imperialism that they then profited off of, of course it’s racist. that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t talk about that, and in fact many poc have been saying this shit for years - that atla is racist and colorist at many times (guru pathik anyone?) and no one really listened.

if fans are complaining only about zutara, then I’m automatically writing them off as being insincere or ignorant. and since most of these people are anonymous, I have no idea if they are having substantive discourse about colorism in avatar or cultural appropriation (even if it is mostly appreciative). if you are on anon, I have no context about what you actually think except for what you give me. and that definitely is how I view anons in general but especially within the atla fandom because for all 13-ish years I’ve been in it, it’s been messy. that’s why zutara fans have isolated ourselves from the rest of fandom, because the rest of fandom has been really nasty to us. like did we give back some nastiness? absolutely.

but I would hazard a guess that most anti-zutara shippers don’t know about the conversations we have had in this community to make it safer for people of color, conversations that centered poc and woc especially. hey, that’s okay - not to compare zutara to r*ylo because eurgh but like, idk what discourse the r*ylos have about their community. no idea, I don’t go looking for it. and I don’t go to the tags and harass r*ylos - even though they harass the fuck out of everyone else.

2. so zuko and his privilege

undoubtedly zuko as fire lord is in a fairly privileged position LMFAO. but during the show zuko is very clearly exiled - he holds very little political power in the fire nation EXCEPT for during the first season when he is in command of a ship that ozai gave him on a punishment quest lol like yeah he does terrible things and he of all people would not excuse his actions even if he was a traumatized kid, that’s the point of his arc - that he got some exposure to the rest of the world and worked to be better. and the only reason he was exiled at all was because he cares about people - he didn’t question fire nation supremacy at 13, but he sure did question the morality of his people being lead to slaughter.

but after zuko and iroh defect from the fire nation and stop hunting aang, he has next to no power, in any kind of way. like the guy is a political refugee. and yes, he goes back to the fire nation for like five minutes before realizing that he hates everything about fire nation hegemony and that he wants to end his father’s reign of terror, like that isn’t exactly someone who is going to be well esteemed by the powerful elites when he returns and takes the throne.

and I disregard the comics because they suck lol but zuko does have power as the fire lord, but he limits his power. like compared to ozai, phoenix asshole? azula? for the rest of the world, zuko is kind of an ideal leader for a former colonizing/imperialistic nation to have - someone who worked to end that tyranny, who is anti-imperialist, who believes in justice and equality, who wants to make things right for the peoples who his family oppressed.

I do think it is important to talk about power dynamics and imbalances in relationships - for instance, one could argue that mai is at a significant disadvantage in her relationship with zuko. sure she is from a powerful family but not as powerful as zuko’s. sokka? hah forget it. he’s just as disadvantaged as katara is politically speaking. toph? well, she’s definitely not as powerful politically as zuko - her family tried to silence her for years because of her disability. and oh, she’s disabled so it might be ableist for zuko to strike up a relationship with her when they’re both adults. forgetting of course that toph and sokka and katara and suki and mai are not going to be shy about their wants and needs, that these relationships are not likely to be coercive by nature of the show they’re in and the characters they involve. this is not bill clinton with monica creepiness. like, you’d have to write the relationship that way.

the only person who arguably has more political power than zuko is aang. I guess zuko can’t ever be in a relationship with anyone other than aang. and zuko’s family massacred aang’s people so I guess we can’t ship zukaang. now I know you’re not saying that, context matters. power dynamics are important. but you can’t take away the agency of characters - katara, who is essentially a princess, has agency and can choose who she wants to be with. strictly speaking, aang is more powerful than anyone in terms of political power - he’s the avatar - and of course the dynamic is different by nature of aang not being from a line of oppressors, but there still is a power imbalance in their relationship. and I don’t know how many k/ataang shippers have discourse~ on that. not that I really feel like they NEED to, um idk what they talk about lol I’m not in those circles.

3. fire lady katara is in the eye of the beholder

so fire lady katara is not inherently bad or racist, it’s essentially like saying michelle obama shouldn’t have been first lady of the us (now I get that like the obamas being in power didn’t mean black people are not marginalized lol). you can have conversations about whether or not individual versions of fire lady katara are fucked up, and I’m superrrr open to that because I’ve seen it be kinda shitty before. i’m just gonna leave this link to @shewhotellsstories and her post on this.

but often times katara as fire lady is very dominant in global/fire nation/water tribe politics, she’s a game changer ambassador (that is probably the most popular headcanon I see), she holds on to her culture (and many fans have designed her being in her wt colors, zuko is respectful af to her, she and zuko spend extended periods in the swt, etc. like... it just depends on the way it’s written.

also leaving this response by @avatarnerdkiller to the idea of katara being a prize figurehead.

anyway, thanks for your patience anon and I am curious to see if you see this or even feel like responding after all this time XD

[koiotic]

The Fire Nation becomes a democracy (maybe the real political restructuring was the friends we made along the way)

I have no impulse control so I wrote a thing based on my own post 

Tagging @dreyri-infinity-aldranaris because they commented on my original post and it gave me two years of serotonin 

———

“The war’s over.”

Katara blinked. “What?”

“War’s over,” Sokka repeated blankly.

“What?” Her voice cracked a little, but he just held up the piece of paper in his hand, looking a little dazed.

“People were yelling about it when I went to buy food. Apparently someone beat us to taking down Ozai.”

“Who?” Aang cut in before she could ask, disbelief clear on his face.

Sokka took a deep breath, then reread the paper in his hands like he needed to double check. “Zuko.”

Katara laughed, and she was aware it sounded a little unhinged. “No way.”

With a small shrug, he passed her the paper. ‘Firelord Ozai was removed from power by his son, the banished crown prince Zuko. The new Firelord ordered the removal of Fire Nation troops from all foreign territories and has started peace negotiations. There have been discussions of a large scale change to the Fire Nation’s governance.”

“This... This is... What?”

“This...” Aang hesitated, then glanced up almost hopefully. “This is good? I think?”

“So what do we do?” Katara asked.

“We could go talk to him?” Aang suggested, far too optimistically for her taste.

“Aang, he hunted us! This could be a trap!”

“But what if it isn’t?”

“Either way,” Sokka cut in, “I want to know what in La’s name is happening.”

•••

“We’re making it a democracy,” Zuko said for what felt like the millionth time. The advisors were still staring at him like he had two heads.

“But- but your majesty, we can’t ju- just do that!”

“Why?”

There was more spluttering, but no one seemed to have an answer. One of the advisors buried his head in his hands.

“Well, if no one has any more objections, that’s sorted then.”

•••

Sokka was honestly still expecting this to be a huge joke and/or trap, but no one started shooting fire when they landed in one of the gardens. The gardens of the Fire Nation royal palace. In the Fire Nation. Which was inhabited by firebenders.

But no fire yet, so that was at least a plus.

There was a very high-pitched “hi!” and then a blur of pink was cartwheeling towards them, followed much more slowly by a girl in black, who seemed far less enthused to see them.

“You must be the avatar, the waterbender and the asshole with a boomerang,” the girl in black said, a tiny trace of a smirk on her lips.

“The asshole with a boomerang?” Sokka asked, half offended half amused.

“Nice to meet you!” The pink blur announced, stopping in front of Appa. She was a girl, looking around the same age as the other, but radiating excitement and enthusiasm like her life depended on it. “I’m Ty Lee, and this is Mai!”

She slung an arm around Mai’s shoulder ignoring the other’s glower.

“Hi,” Katara said, a little faintly. “Uh, Katara, Sokka and Aang. We came to talk to Zuko. Sorry, who are you?”

“The royal guards,” Mai deadpanned.

“Cool,” Aang said after a beat. “Um, is Zuko here?”

Ty Lee shook her head, braid swinging around wildly. “He’s in a meeting right now, but you could come have tea with us while you wait!”

“What she means,” Mai drawled, “is that she wants you to get off the bison so she can pet it.”

———

As it turned out, there didn’t appear to be a trap. Ty Lee seemed way too enamoured with Appa to attack them, and Mai didn’t seem inclined to do much at all. The two girls led them to a table in an alcove and even sipped their tea own tea first; Sokka was fairly sure that meant it wasn’t poisoned. If it was, that was some serious dedication to killing them.

“Would you like some coffee?” Ty Lee asked.

“What’s coffee?”

“No idea, but Zuko’s been drinking it and he hasn’t slept in two days. It’s pretty good!”

“No thanks,” Sokka said quickly, before Aang could respond. He was hyperactive enough on good old fashioned sugar in his tea.

“So...” Katara said after an awkward pause. “Zuko’s the Fire Lord now.”

“Yep!” Ty Lee said brightly.

“Okay. Right. Cool. But... how? And why?” Sokka possibly sounded a little frenzied, but that wasn’t the issue right now.

“I believe,” Mai said evenly, “his exact words were ‘fuck it, I’m ending the war’.”

Aang blinked. “So he... just did that?”

“I thought you of all people would know that Zuko never gives up.” Mai shrugged. “When we were kids, I asked him for a knife and he spent three weeks making one from scratch.”

Ty Lee giggled. “We still haven’t told him she just wanted him to pass her a knife at dinner.”

Sokka was having a hard time reconciling the image of Angry Jerk Zuko with the absolute dork being described to him.

“You grew up with him?” He asked, mostly to have something else to think about. And also for the possibility of blackmail worthy information.

“We were best friends!” Ty Lee chirped.

“-with his sister,” Mai finished dryly. “Actually, you’re probably lucky she’s out at the moment.”

“Is she worse than him?” Katara asked, then seemed to remember she probably shouldn’t be insulting the new Fire Lord in the Fire Palace of the Fire Nation. Did Sokka mention the fire?

Ty Lee laughed again. “Azula’s great, as long as you don’t do, say or be anything that annoys her. Like talking to her too much. Or breathing too loud. Or standing too close to her. Or not telling her that she’s the best, smartest, most amazing person ever enough.”

“She’s a bitch,” Mai said blankly. “I like her so much.”

Was everyone in the Fire Nation insane? Was Zuko actually the most normal Fire Nation person they knew?

“She sounds nice,” Aang said, a little awkwardly.

“She is!” Ty Lee agreed. “She only threatened to kill me once today! That’s a record!”

He caught Katara’s eye across the table, and tried to silently communicate ‘what the actual fuck is happening?’. She sent back a helpless shrug.

Sokka had never been happier to see Zuko.

The new Fire Lord appeared a moment later, and Sokka almost didn’t recognise him. Thank the spririts, the ponytail was gone. Well, not really, but there was more hair around it. Looking at it no longer made Sokka want to pin him down and fix that spirits forsaken hairstyle. He was wearing what was probably Fire Nation royal clothing, but it looked like it had been at least a two days since he last slept.

“It’s a democracy now,” he said, and then seemed to process the three new people in front of him. “Oh, fuck.”

Aang gave a little wave.

“Uh, I’m really sorry? For hunting you and all that?” Zuko looked like he was expecting someone to kill him, and wasn’t strongly opposed to the idea.

“What do you mean it’s a democracy?” Sokka cut in, as the last few seconds started being processed in his brain.

“Oh,” Zuko blinked. “The Fire Nation. I made it a democracy.”

“Wait, you can do that?” Katara asked.

Zuko gave a small shrug. “Well there’s nothing to say I can’t.”

Sokka considered himself to be very eloquent. He was a smart guy, a hobbyist in poetry, and generally great with words. “Dude, what the fuck?”

“Do you have a problem with democracy?” For a second, Angry Jerk Zuko was back.

“No!” Sokka almost yelled. “Democracy is great, but what the fuck is happening?”

“I... made the Fire Nation a democracy?”

“No. We gathered that much. How in La’s name are you even the Fire Lord?”

“I’m not the Fire Lord,” Zuko said slowly. “I’m the head of a democratic government.”

Sokka briefly considered screaming, then shelved that thought for a later date.

“How did you become leader of a democratic government?”

“Oh, I fought my dad.”

His head was starting to hurt. He had a feeling that wouldn’t be going away any time soon.

“Why did you just switch sides? You were yelling at us about honour like, last week.”

“Well I kind of realised that hunting the avatar was kind of stupid, and that I may have been misinterpreting the message my dad was trying to send.”

“Which was?”

“Well, he said ‘you’re banished until you find the avatar’ but apparently that means ‘I’m hoping you die on this suicide mission and I never see you again so I can make your sister crown princess’.”

And that... that was a lot to process. There was a beat of silence, then Aang chimed in. “Are you currently in the market for a friend?”

“A what?”

If Sokka had known all it took was a hug from a tiny airbender to render Zuko completely nonfunctional, the past few months could have been a lot easier. Aang practically vaulted over the table and caught Zuko in a hug, and the firebender looked rapidly between him and the others with a look of abject confusion.

“Great,” Mai sighed, “you broke him.”

Ty Lee perked up almost immediately. “Are we allowed to hug Zuko now?”

“No!” Zuko managed to get out, a little strangled.

“I’m your dad now,” Aang declared, clinging on staunchly even when Zuko tried to shake him off.

“No one is my dad!”

“Then I’ll be your grandad!”

“My grandfather also tried to kill me!”

“I’ll be your great grandfather!”

“That was Sozin!”

“Your other great grandfather-“

“Please let go of me.”

“Respect your elders, young man!”

“You’re, like, ten!”

Sokka glanced over to Katara again, but to his horror, he recognised the look on her face. “Katara, no-“

“Katara, yes-“

“Please, don’t-“

“We’re-“

“No, we’re not!”

“We’re keeping him, Sokka.”

[bellatrixobsessed1]

A Flame For A Cabbage (Part 15)

The super important and totally mandatory filler episode!

The camera pans in and out several times before finally coming into focus. Sure, we can be doing a chapter on the Southern Raiders where Sie hunts Zuko & down and tries to take vengeance on them for ruining his perfect life. Instead we view a simple cabbage merchant wearing a blue apron with cabbages embroidered upon it, matching oven mitts, and a chef hat. Beneath the chef’s hat she has her hair bound in its usual topknot with a few cute little cabbage and caterpillar hair clips. The cabbage merchant is adorable and wholesome.

Next to her is her lovely, equally adorable assistant, Jet. He to wears an apron. He does not wear a shirt under that apron. But the apron reads, ‘kiss the cook’ and, in significantly smaller print, ‘please, he’s lonely.’

Iroh and Zuko are also there. They have chosen to wear the standard Jasmine dragon uniforms. But Iroh still wears his cool™ sunglasses. He has not taken them off since he acquired them. They make him feel young again.

“Are we rolling?” Zuko asks.

“I think that we are.” Jet replies.

Iroh gives cheerful finger guns.

Azula turns to the camera and smile. “Hi, I’m cabbage merchant, Azula and this is my boyfriend and assistant, Jet.”

He smiles and waves at the camera.

“This is my future business partner, uncle Iroh. He isn’t my uncle, but he is someone’s uncle.”

“He’s my uncle!” Zuko exclaims more joyfully than necessary.

“And that’s Zuko!” Azula points at him. “And today we are going to be showing you how to cook my favorite recipes; sauteed cabbage and southern fire-fried cabbage! And after that, my good friends, Iroh and Zuko will show you how to brew up a good cup of tea!” With a charming sound of tinkling wind chimes and a swirl of white-pink sparkles, the screen flashes black for approximately 2.5 seconds before the scene changes.

The kitchen is now set up and everyone is in position. On the cooking counter you can see several tools; various cutting knives, one Kenu Reeves knife, spoons, fork, a ladle, a rolling pin (this is not necessary, but Azula likes to leave it out just in case), and one roll of toilet paper! There is no hand sanitizer, that’s what the toilet paper is for! Also on the counter are the ingredients for a perfect sauteed cabbage. There is a bottle of olive oil, a cabbage, two sticks of butter, another cabbage, salt ‘n pepa (like the band, push it real good), more cabbage, one onion, and more cabbages. ‘ A ludacris amount of cabbage. As in, rap artist, ludacris (who is so kindly providing the background music for today’s episode of Azula’s Bitchin’ Kitchin) had stood still while Azula stacked a tower of cabbages to match his height and body mass.

Azula looks up at the camera. “Okay, first things first. We have to make sure our cooking area is sanitized and free of any nasty viruses that may or may not be currently plaguing your society. I would like to think that everyone knows how to sanitize a workspace, but a wise man…” Iroh gives a wave, “...once told me; people are like bees. Bees follow a queen. If the queen is dumb then the whole swam is dumb. You must always assume that the queen is dumb and attempt to teach the queen so that the rest of her swarm may become smarter too.” Azula pauses, hoping that she relayed Iroh’s teaching correctly. “I don’t know who the queen of your society is but whoever you are, listen closely. To sanitize a work space you must unravel exactly three squares of your toilet paper. No more, no less. If you use less toilet paper then your area will not be sufficiently clean. If you use too much then an angry spirit will rise up and curse your family name for generations to come for being wasteful. Please only use three squares exactly!” Azula takes three squares of toilet paper. “Now all you have to do is simply slide your toilet paper over each and every surface. The first square is used to get the right side and the third square will clean the left. Use the second square to clean your hands.” Azula hands Jet the first and third squares, he promptly begins brushing it over every inch of the room starting at the back right corner and working his way to the front right. He repeats this for the left and then Azula furiously runs the toilet paper over her hands.

“Now that we have cleaned our bitchin’ kitchen’ it is time to begin cooking. Preheat your oven. I usually like to keep my oven at a nice and toasty 666!”  She looks behind her. Ozai smiles and waves at the camera as he lights the stove.

“We don’t actually use the oven for this recipe, but it is good to always turn your oven on so that it doesn’t feel left out!” She explains happily. Jet, Iroh, and Zuko nod in agreement.

“Now that you have your oven feeling welcomed and included, we can begin cooking! First you must take one of your beautiful, precious cabbages and slice it down the middle.” She pauses. Jet holds up the cabbage for the viewer to marvel at. It is a perfectly lush and green cabbage. He then hands it to her. “Now, I know that you probably have mixed feelings about stabbing a cabbage. But I assure you that it is fine so long as you thank the cabbage for its sacrifice before doing so.”

Azula closes her eyes and whispers something to her cabbage. The cabbage giggles. And then she cuts it open, shedding a few tears. “Now, many chefs will tell you to discard the cores. They are wrong! The cores of  cabbages are the hearts of cabbages and they are not to be ill treated. I like to store mine in jars. Jet…”

Jet nods and pulls out a box with several locks and hexes that need to be broken through before it opens. Azula pulls out a jar full of cabbage cores and tenderly places that one within. “Not only is it respectful to keep a cabbage’s heart, but it is also useful; cabbage cores can be used to summon the void to consume the life essence of your foes!”

“Oh, sounds scary, Azula!” Jet remarks.

“It is, Jet. But don’t worry, I’ve only ever used them on my mother.” She says with that same cheery tone and demeanor.

“The next step is to ignore the oven and heat a saute pot on the stove. Now, this is somewhat difficult because your oven will cry and tell you that it is insecure, trying to guilt you into using it. This is a trap. Please ignore your oven!” Azula cautions. “Go on, Jet.”

“Please love me! I need friends too!” The oven begs as Jet places the pot on the stove. The oven sounds curiously like the cabbage merchant, “I didn’t mean to take over Ba Sing Se and kill the Avatar, don’t hate me.” Jet continues to ignore the oven that sounds uncannily like Azula as he wanders back to the real Azula’s side.

“Now, that was disturbing!” Azula comments. “But it is completely normal.”

Jet holds up a stick of butter and some olive oil. He is a little early, but Azula can’t fault him for being eager!

“The next thing that you’ll want to do is melt some butter in the pot and add your olive oil. By this time you oven has already gone through the five stages of grief and has accepted that you are not going to use it this time around. On some occasions it will whisper one final plea, so no one will blame you if you still wish to proceed with caution.”

She watches jet pour in some olive oil and butter. “You’ve probably noticed that I haven’t told you how much olive oil and butter to add. This is because you will know in you heart what the right amount is for you and  your family or friends. I know that some of you are thinking, ‘but Azula, I am eating alone!’ This is not true viewers! You are never alone; the void, a ghost, and/or a dilliuminati agent will always join you. Even if you can’t see your companion, they are there.”

“I eat with the void every day!” Zuko puts in.

“Wonderful to hear, Zuko.” Azula says before turning back to the camera. “The next step is the most important. You will take your sacred cabbages and you will begin adding them to the pot. At the same time you will add your Salt ‘n Pppa.”

Jet carefully and lovingly adds some cabbage to the pot. “Salt ‘n Pepa, take it away!” The lights dim and the hip hop duo begin singing at the pot, coaxing it to cook.

“For about ten to fifteen minutes, you will stir your pot. Feel free to go five minutes shorter or longer depending on the situation at hand. If one of the following situations happen, please stir for five minutes less; if your cabbages tell you to stop and/or look fully cooked, if the void begins to open behind you, if the food smells like it is ready, if your cabbages are starting to burn, or--most importantly--if the oven begins to yearn for affection again. Stir for five minutes more if your cabbages haven’t sufficiently cooked, if they ask you to cook them longer, or if the void has possessed your soul and you physically cannot stop stirring.” She pauses. “If the void does possess your soul please contact your local priest and bomb disposal team immediately.”

With another sound of chimes and flash of sparkles the fifteen minutes of mundane stirring have passed. Azula now stands in front of the nearly finished meal. “This is the part where I add my secret ingredient. I will not tell you what it is, because it is a secret.”

She turns around, concealing something, hiding it from view. She puts it into the pot and there comes a series of sizzles and pops. It bursts into black flames, from which tormented wails can be heard--the voices of angst fics past. The fire dies down and the stove dings.

Cue windchimes and sparkles.

The kitchen is now neatly cleaned and Azula is holding up a totally delicious and healthy meal. “What am I holding?” She asks in a tone that indicates disgust.

“A cherry pit, merchant.” Answers a sheepish voice in the studio audience. It is one of Sie’s serving girls.

Azula shakes her head before realizing that she is indeed holding up a cherry pit and it is Jet who is holding up their newly cooked meal. “Oh. Hmm. Well that is strange. Tell me why, on the most important day of television history, one of you decided to put a pit in my sauteed cabbage!?”

“It wasn’t a decision, it was just a small mistake.” The serving girl squeaks.

“Small!? Do you realize what could have happened if I hadn’t sensed the pit in time?”

“I suppose you could have...choked?”

“No.” No that wasn’t it at all. “The cherry pit would have ruined the recipe.” Of course this is only scratching the surface. The cherry pit would have actually caused a ripple effect. You see, the cabbage merchant was going to send the sauteed cabbage to Qin Lee for his  birthday which, woefully, due to the virus, he was forced to spend in isolation--he is dissatisfied. But Qin Lee is deathly allergic to cherry pits. So he would have died. Now Qin Lee is in charge of making sure the Phoenix King’s air fleet is on course. With him having died, the fleet would have been exactly three feet and four inches off course. This would have had them right in the path of a large messenger hawk. The messenger hawk would have flown out of the way to avoid collision, instead colliding with Aang who would have fallen on top of Ozai resulting in a very awkward moment where Ozai would nervously stroke his beard and Aang would cough uneasily. But the force of Aang’s landing would have thrown Ozai’s ship off course, setting it in the path of the comet. The airship would have collided with the comet causing it to impact the earth. Ozai would cry out in jubulace because it would have obliterated Ba Sing Se. However, the fall of Ba Sing Se would have impacted trade, including to the Fire Nation. The global economy would have crashed. Ozai and princess Sie would be homeless because the people will have invaded the palace in a fit of anger. Society would succumb to anarchy and fall. A lone cabbage merchant would have pushed her stall across a deserted wasteland with nothing and no one to buy her cabbages. It would only be she and princess Sie and Earth Kingdom Azula (who is still no help, because she is only eight years old, but her eyebrows are still on fleek).

So it is a good thing that Azula had sensed the pit in time.

“I’m sorry, merchant.” The servant apologizes.

Azula sighes and rolls her eyes. “Fine, since it is a special day, I will show mercy.”

The servant sighs in relief.

“You are banished, leave my kitchen at once.”

The woman is terribly distraught, Azula’s Bitchin’ Kitchen is the only show she watches.

.oOo.

“HEY YOU! YES YOU! ARE YOU TIRED OF WARS BUT FINE WITH LIES AND TOTAL BULLSHIT!? CONTACT YOU LOCAL TRAVEL AGENT TODAY AND YOU CAN BE ON YOUR WAY TO BA SING SE!” Long Feng takes a deep breath. “BA SING SE HOSTS SEVERAL SCENIC WALLS THAT YOU AREN’T ALLOWED TO EXIT! WE HAVE FIRST CLASS RESTAURANTS LIKE THE JASMINE DRAGON AND WONDERFUL BRAINWASHING FACILITIES LIKE LAKE LOGAI SPA RESORT!”

“RIDE YOUR FLYING BISON ON OVER TO BA SING SE, DO IT TODAY!” Long Fang adds.

Long Feng and Long Feng turn to the camera in unison. “BOOK YOUR FLIGHT TODAY AND COME TO BA SING SE!”

.oOo.

There comes the sound of peaceful harp music and a bubbling brook. The image changes slightly and there is a birdseye view of a twisting and turning sapphire blue river. Within the river are funky psychedelic rainbows.

There is the sound of wind instruments. Suddenly the screen shows a deep and lush forest. A deer runs out.

The image changes again to tea light candles and a handful of beads. There is a slight whistle under the sound of wind instruments and harps.

The forest is back. The deer turns its head. It has two noses where its eyes should be and one eye where its nose should be. The swirling rainbow pattern now translucently overlays the image of the deer, darkening until only the eye can be seen.

The music grows louder and the pattern begins to swirl.

Text appears on the screen; “Guru Phatik’s Self-Help/Therapy. Join us today. Jooooin usssssss.”

.oOo.

A loud screeching, drilling noise plays over a black screen for forty-five seconds. That is it. That’s the commercial. No one is quite sure what it is supposed to be advertising, but Sie speculates that it is an add for the drill that had penetrated Ba Sing Se.

.oOo.

“Aaaand we’re back!” Azula declares. “Iroh and Zuko will now show you how to make lavender & cabbage tea! It is a brand new recipe that will be coming to the Jasmine Dragon after we sign some contracts to solidify our business partnership!” She nods at Iroh, “go on, Iroh.”

Iroh clears his throat. “Good evening everyone, I hope that you are all having a lovely afternoon.”

“Uncle, time zones exist and some people might be reading this at three in the morning instead of sleeping like a responsible person should.”

“I apologize.” Iroh says. “A good morning, afternoon, or night to all of you!”  He only says this out of respect for his nephew, because he knows that time is a social construct so it doesn’t really matter anyways. Azula always starts her show at 2:00 in the afternoon. But for most people, it is 7:00 at night.

“I am very excited to share this recipe with everyone. I hope that it will bring joy and comfort into your homes.” Iroh pauses and clasps his hands together. “Now, you might be thinking that making tea is as simple as grabbing a tea bag and swishing it around for a bit. But that only gets you a cup of hot leaf juice.”

A ‘booing’ track plays.

“But if you follow my instructions closely, you will have your very own cup of lavender-cabbage tea.”

“I’m really excited, uncle!” Zuko’s eyes twinkle with delight. “Let’s get started.”

“Yes, let’s make some tea!” He raises a finger and dashes across the kitchen.

“Remember, ignore the oven!” Azula cautions.”

.oOo.

“Man, I hate this show!” Sie comments before flipping the channel.

He is met with a bombastic guitar riff. “Yo! What’s up muthafukas! It’s yer gurl Toph and yer boi Twinkle Toze! Today we’re going to ride a giant serpent through Serpent's Pass while Sokka and Katara look on in horror and then we’ll head off to a hidden underground library to piss off an uptight owl!”

“Yeah, this is more like it.” Sie nods to himself. He holds a tub of ice cream to his chest, knowing that this show will only fill the emptiness of TyLee’s betrayal for approximately an hour.

[undried-ink]

Alas, here is the long-awaited first post of this blog on character arcs! It's fairly long, so eventually I'll probably put everything under a cut. I hope this is helpful in some capacity! Without further ado let's get to the meat of this post.

So you’ve written your book. The prose is insightful, including perfectly-placed figurative language and a whole lot of snappy dialogue. The world is carefully set up, with just the right amount of exposition to give the reader a concrete image of it in their minds without being overbearing. The plot is deliberately-paced and has all sorts of twists and turns that make you go, “Oh, I didn’t see that coming, but oh my god I totally should have.” On top of all the stuff that makes books actually good, you’ve put extensive research into making your characters racially, religiously, and sexuality-wise diverse. (See? There’s even a nonbinary character, if you squint.) But the characters themselves…? Well, they have sloppily put together realizations and arcs that make the reader want to cringe and wish the book was told from the perspective of one of the trees on the side of the road you’ve described. (Now we’re talking. That might actually be a good idea for a children’s picture book. But trees aside…)

This is a guide, or more like a couple of guide on how to write character arcs. My credentials? Just like anyone I am fully unrecognizable from when I was ten years old.

Let’s discuss some famous examples. We’re talking Zuko and Azula from . We’re talking...uh, actually I can’t think of any more. But that’s all right. If you’ve not seen Zuko has a long, intricately-painted redemption arc and backstory that somehow manages to lodge him a place in the group of main characters. And Azula? Oh, she spirals into what is, arguably, insanity before getting into a big firebending fight with Zuko. Who happens to be her brother. The Fire Nation royal family is complicated, okay?

These examples, especially Zuko, are, well, examples to us all. In the minds of many they represent the pinnacle of character work. I can’t promise you but I can promise you a much better understanding of how to write your characters’ personal growth. And the first step? Knowing the right target for an ambitious character arc. The genocidal villain whose sheer force of will and disregard for others’ happiness or safety? Maybe not the best candidate. But your flawed main character who’s just trying to do the right thing, or the genocidal villain’s hapless but loyal sidekick? Sure, go for it. I actually believe you can pull off more than one character arc at once, so feel free to pick both the protagonist the sidekick, but know that it’s almost inevitable that you’ll end up favoring one’s arc over the other. That’s perfectly fine, as long as said arc is well done. And, to reiterate, that’s what this post is here for.

Once you have your victim (or maybe the holy soul you’re saving, depending on what kind of writer you are and your perspective), it’s time to think about their arc is going to entail. I’m not saying you have to carefully plain every stage of their arc, but even if you hate outlining with a burning passion you should at least type up a few bullet points about what you want to cover when it comes to this character’s progression.

After doing so, you should have a much better idea of what you want of your character, but that won’t always be the case. In the event that you realize you made a horrible, horrible mistake and should rot forever in Writing Jail by picking character or kind of character arc, don’t be afraid to scrap everything and try again. The world will survive without your story for a little while as you work out the kinks. Be brave, start again, and know that you are better at what you do now than when you started.

Okay. We’ve decided where we want this character to go, who that character is going to be, and we have all other relevant information thoroughly dealt with. Now what? It may seem like you can just ignore the whole thing and go off to write whatever you want. It may seem like you need to put thought into this arc before it even happens. And if so, that would be correct. Don’t worry. There’s not much left to do before we get to the juicy part, actually writing. If the writing process inherently involved much planning I think I would have given up years ago, and that goes for many others too, so I’ll cut this part short: what you’re going to need to do is take a quick break from planning this character’s arc and forget about it. Take at least a day off from doing anything surrounding it. Work on other projects. Do something entirely different than writing. It doesn’t matter.

Once you’ve had at least a day and no more than two weeks off from this arc, return to it so you can see exactly what you messed up. This shouldn’t take too long, so be careful about it.

Now you are officially done with the slapping-down-information stage, a truly monumental occasion. You’re ready to do some actual writing! Now there’s just going to be a few things to keep in mind while you’re writing this character.

First: Everyone has different attitudes towards this sort of thing. Some characters will want to grow as people so badly but don’t know where to start, some will be unyieldingly unreceptive to their personal growth, and hey, some others yet will be somewhere in between or not know how they feel. Make sure your character’s attitude about it fits with their personality and is discernible from any other characters’ (if you’re going to pull off an arc with more than one).

Second: The character shouldn’t change without reason. Whether you painstakingly planned the kind of arc you want to write and how you want to write it or typed up three points in Word at three a.m. in a weird fit of passion, you should have written down the character is changing. Have they switched sides? Do they want to prove themselves? Are they just doing so to be a better human?

Third: People change nonlinearly and slowly, but steadily. Your character should constantly be making baby steps towards the endgame of their character - the key words being “constantly” and “baby steps.” They might regress a little, they might not make big strides, but they will constantly be making at least And this might seem like the opposite, but these two points aren’t mutually exclusive: This should be a slow process that isn’t painless. I don’t know about you but I’d much rather see a character fulfill their arc by the end of a series, but have a much more realistic progression, than a fully realized character who gets there in a chapter.

That’s it for today. If you have any questions send in a private message or an ask and happy writing!

[bellatrixobsessed1]

Swift As Karma (Part 19)

Azula felt strangely fine given the circumstances. There was a soft, albeit, persistent tingling sensation that occasionally shifted into a stinging. Other than that, she felt almost...normal. Her stomach fluttered with anxious suspicion. 

Sitting up was another matter, that was painful. For a while she opted to stare at the craggy ceiling, trying to get a sense of where she might be. A warm glow bounced off of the cavern walls. It was almost unpleasantly warm, the sticky, bothersome sort of heat. For a moment she considered that she may have died, after all, and found herself on the dark side of the Spirit World. That would make sense. 

But she felt a hand clasped over hers. A touch she had grown so used to. She couldn’t possibly be in the dark side of the Spirit World if TyLee was there too. 

“Where are we?”

“In a hidden cove…” TyLee trailed off.

“And.”

“We’re with Toph and Katara.” 

This had Azula bolting straight up. 

“Take it easy!” TyLee exclaimed. 

Azula was already on her feet, whether she should be or not. “Where are they?” She hissed, using the cave wall to hold herself up right. She found her breathing to be rugged and somewhat labored. 

“Getting food, I think.” TyLee replied. “They asked me if I could go because they didn’t want to risk getting caught, but I said that I had to stay with you.” 

Azula scoffed; the lot had just assaulted her and now they were asking for favors. The audacity of it.She gritted her teeth against her pain and aggravation. 

“I think that they’re bringing some back for us too.” 

Azula made her way to the mouth of the cave. Sickly brown-clear waves lapped at the dilapidated cliffs, eroding them more and more with each violent slap. Looking off at the distant fishing village instilled a longing within Azula. She just wanted to go home. She should have never left at all. 

Should have never left to go after Iroh and Zuko. 

At the very least she should have just stuck to the task instead of taking on her own ambitious side mission. 

She dangled her legs over the edge, the idea of leaning forward and letting herself drop flickered in her mind. She spared a look over her shoulders. 

She couldn’t do it. 

Not with TyLee standing there. 

The girl caught her glance and came to sit behind her, she looped her arms around Azula, over the unburned portion of her chest. They sat for the longest time with the breeze tossing their hair. The wind carried the scent of murky water and a reminder and a new sense of sorrow. A pettier sort of longing. Azula ran her fingers through her hair, it was too short. It was a wonder that the water peasant had recognized her at all, especially when she was dressed in a coating of filth instead of jewels and expensive makeup. 

“I’d like to just let go.” She mused aloud with her eyes fixed on the water. 

“I don’t think that that’s true.” TyLee replied softly. “I think that you just want things to stop hurting.” 

“You don’t know what I want.” But she absolutely did. TyLee stroked Azula’s hair. “Stop that!” She snapped. TyLee flinched, it wasn’t as if she could have known that the former princess had just mourned the length of her locks.

.oOo.

Katara was still reeling from the night before. Her blood boiled twice as hot in seeing Azula curled up with TyLee in her  hiding spot.

“So you really aren’t going to talk to me?” Toph pestered. “Come on, you agreed last night that sparky is our best shot at saving Sokka.”

Katara scowled, “don’t give her a nickname, she’s not part of our group.” 

Toph lifted her hands, “just trying to make you laugh a little.” 

“This isn’t a joke, Toph.” 

Toph seemed to deflate before her. Part of Katara was thankful for that, it meant that she would make tactless remarks. The waterbender was in no mood for ‘friendly’ banter. Not when she had hostile bickering to get to. 

It wasn’t over.

It would be over until the princess was gone. 

She was going to end things today. “Hold my fish.” 

“Uh...okay.” Toph muttered, taking the sea food into her arms. They had bought enough for four, but really they only needed enough for three--two depending on how things went.

.oOo.

Surprises. 

Azula was growing to loath surprises. 

It had been a surprise when the avatars conjoined with her soul. It had been a surprise when Katara had body slammed her the first time. Somehow it still came as a surprise when it happened again.

The cavern floor wasn’t nearly as comfortable as the waterlogged wood of the docks. She’d barely shielded her head from the brunt of it. This time, she lashed out. Weak as she was, she decided that she’d rather die making it as hellish for the waterbender as she could. 

She didn’t have much energy, so she made good use of what she had left. She didn’t land many attacks, but the ones she did land were as brutal as she could make them. A swipe at Katara’s eye that left blood trickling and the girl’s eye closed. A punch to the throat that had allowed her time to kick the girl off. Not that the waterbender didn’t pounce again and with more fury. 

The sound of rock on rock and Katara occasionally backing off, told Azula that Toph had entered the fight. And TyLee as well, both restraining their own friend respectively. Katara let out an angry cry and the former princess felt the nip of ice as shards fell into her arms, legs, and--naturally--torso. 

Azula hissed in pain. The waterbender was putting so many shards into her belly. She found herself gripping at the rocks and kicking her feet in discomfort. 

“Toph!” Katara roared and Azula knew that she had an opening.She forced herself to stand, ignoring the nearly crippling agony. She was going to die, probably, and she supposed that, that was fine by her. But she’d be damned if she went alone.  

It had been so long, maybe surprise would work for her if she acted quickly enough. She tapped into her chi, brining lightning to her fingers for the first time in a month or so, maybe more, she’d lost track. “You’re about to find out exactly what your boyfriend was feeling before I killed him.” Her own words made her feel even uglier within. It didn’t matter, the strike would probably take her down just as well. 

She could already feel the oppressive presence of the avatars waking up. But it was too late to shut the bolt down now. 

“Azula, wait!” Aang’s cry was loud in her mind.

 Everything burned from her head and down. Her head hurt so horribly, as though there were a crack in her skull. Perhaps there was, perhaps the power would rip her to shreds. All of her chi points seemed to flare white hot. Agni, it was torture.   

True suffering born of true power.

.oOo.

Katara’s mouth went dry. 

Her eyes. Azula’s eyes. They were framed by lightning. Lightning and a vivid, familiar glow. Katara opened her mouth but no words could come. The princess’ head jerked back, almost inhumanly. 

Katara couldn’t tell if the firebender was laughing or crying.  It was probably some hellish blend of both. It was a shrill shrieking sound. 

Azula’s head fell forward again. Her eyes flickered like the lightning from the avatar’s glow to their human state. Katara expected to see pure hatred in those golden eyes. But, in the brief flashes, she only saw torment. Torment and sorrow and a glimmer of insanity. 

The most intense stare she’d ever held. 

Katara wasn’t sure if she was furious or afraid. Horrified or sympathetic. 

She didn’t have time to decide. 

She closed her eyes, but she could still see the lighting. 

Her heart twisted and she knew Aang’s fear. 

Or maybe not. 

Aang hadn’t seen his demise coming.

.oOo.

A terrible scream ripped from Azula’s throat as the lightning flew from her fingers. Multiple, sharp pops shot rapidly down her arms. If she were to look, she’d find herself staring at blossoming patches of red beneath her skin. 

Her legs buckled. 

Her ears rang with a cacophony screams that weren’t her own. She could feel them tampering with her spirit energy and her chi, shutting it down. But they were too late. Her lips curled into a hideous smirk. They were too late.