#it wasn't lifechanging or anything

[mandlovapusinka]

So I composed this whole essay on this and that and everything in my head, but then decided to look at the positives and just enjoy the experience for what it was, so here goes...

I met Mr Christopher Froome yesterday. There. That's it.

[trulyhblue]

that jessie period fic was LIFECHANGING!!!! i know you said it was based around endometriosis so i was wondering if you could expand on how jessie would be around that: telling her when you start dating, doctors trips, conversations around it etc. (not a proper fic lol that is too much to ask) no problem if not!! your work is amazing<3

Ugh I feel like Jessie would be so understanding in regard to how you would cope, especially if you were in too much pain.

Like she’d definitely not really know what to do at first, like obviously she knows but she’d want to make sure that you're alright ALL THE TIME. She’d search up all the ways to make you feel better, and ask her teammates for advice like she’d made sure you were always comfortable and felt loved.

When she first found out, she’d learn what your needs were and how to meet them. You’d definitely need to convince her that she was allowed to leave you for training, games, etc. It was when she went away to an international camp that she got really worried. Jessie would make sure to call you every more than once, and send check-uo texts or reminders to take medication. In Canada, she would check the London time and text you to check that you were falling asleep, and face time you if you ever felt in too much pain.

Jessie would also become a lot clingier during your period, especially when you were wearing a heat pack or trying to find a comfortable position. She’d pretty much offer herself as a pillow and manoeuvre you herself if you were too distraught.

She’d be around you constantly. Not to an irritating extent but rather endearingly. Jess would make your food, reheat your heat packs, refill your water, literally anything you wanted she’d get.

If you ever found yourself in too much pain, and Jessie wasn't there, she’d do everything in her power to get to you. The team definitely knows to some extent, so when Jess leaves a meeting, or hang outs, they are very understanding.

She’d make sure to get your favourite foods before she got home, and would literally just spoon you, talk to you, cuddle you, ANYTHING. This woman would be so catering to your needs that you’d never feel the need to complain.

Ugh, I love Jflem!!!!!

Thank you for the Request!!!

[amid-fandoms]

🌈😮 How did you react to their coming out videos initially?

i might have talked about this before on here but when dan posted his coming out video i was abroad in america and i was at work, so seeing that notification completely broke me down at work. i think i watched it on my lunch break or something and then cried during work and had to explain the situation to my manager but i basically went "someone i really care about just came out" and she thought i was talking about a friend lol (she comforted me)

with phil i genuinely don't remember it but by that time i expected anything from him and wasn't as shocked. it might have been posted during work too and i still cried when i watched it, that much i know

safe to say i should have had a month off just for having these lifechanging videos dropped on my head out of nowhere but that probably goes for literally everyone in the phandom

[lesbianboyfriend]

i listened to the entirety of our wives under the sea while at work so for like 2-3 workdays i would spend my whole shift kind of zoned out getting my world rocked. i wasn't expecting it to be really good because i judge books by their titles and i thought it was going to be like another weird booktok kind of book but i was so wrong thank goodness ... this is not really relevant to anything happening rn but i thought i would like the world to know this

nooo i was also afraid that it might be one of those overhyped books but then a beloved mutual recommended it so i was like okay i believe and yeah….literally lifechanging….never should have doubted ms armfield. i definitely stayed up wayyyy too late last night in order to finish it cause it was soso good i couldn’t stop

[kyoosoup]

rating all the books i had to read for junior high + highschool

blah blah blah

my brothers and dad are currently watching a football game so i have to kill some time. i asked my mom to send me the list of all the books i read for junior high/highschool (i'm homeschooled so she was my teacher/made my curriculum that's why i asked her)

not sure how i'm gonna rate/rank these yet but yeah

if you're bored and want to kill time or you just want to read this for some reason, then strap in

To Kill a Mockingbird

by Harper Lee

this one is a school classic. and honestly, i did enjoy it. i will say i had a hard time reading it when i did, not because of the actual writing/language, but rather because i had no idea how courts worked so i didn't understand any of the courtroom scenes. i'm not sure why i didn't know about courts yet. i'm sure i learned about it in school but i hadn't seen it visually (like in a show or video or anything) so i think it was hard for me to picture. i'm sure if i read TKAM again now i would enjoy it more.

8/10

The Red Badge of Courage

by Stephen Crane

omg i did not like reading this book. idk if it's just me or if it was the book but i was so bored. it's a really short book but it felt so long. maybe i'm being too harsh and maybe it wasn't actually boring. but i wouldn't read it again to find out.

2/10

A Tale of Two Cities

by Charles Dickens

Okay i will say i definitely was really confused when i read this. I liked the story and i'm glad i've read it, because i mean it's kinda famous and i feel like it has some good elements. but it was hard for me to read and appreciate. too much deciphering. I think this is another book that i would appreciate more if i reread now that i'm older.

6.5/10

A Midsummer Night's Dream

by William Shakespeare

I did not reading shakespeare in school. in general, i dont like reading plays or older english or epics or anything like that. The only thing i appreciated at all about this play while reading it was that it had characters who were actors that put on a play . play within a play. this did not make reading the play worth it though lol. i think now the only reason i care at all about it is because of Dead Poet's Society

3/10

A Tell Tale Heart

by Edgar Allen Poe

i don't remember much about this specific short story but after googling the synopsis i do remember liking it. and i'd probably read it again. i can't say much else because i don't remember lol

7.5/10

Harrison Bergeron

by Kurt Vonnegut

another short story. I don't remember every detail of this one either but i did think it was interesting and i would reread it. I'm not sure if i would quite go as far as to recommend it. but, of the books/stories so far, it is the one i would be most likely to recommend. (provably only after rereading it myself)

8.5/10

Animal Farm

by George Orwell

okay guys. this is one of my favorite books that i've read for school. it is one of 2 (i think) that i've actually sat and reread outside of school assignments. not hard to read at all. had some crazy good lines. and it was about animals! (or was it?) i would reread it repeatedly. and i would and have recommended it to people.

10/10

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

by Mildred D. Taylor

I enjoyed reading this one. it wasn't anything crazy or lifechanging for me, but it was a decent read. i think just because it didn't really feel super impactful (i kinda forgot about its existence) i'm gonna have to rate it lower

7/10

The Hiding Place

by Corrie Ten Boom

This was the other book that i reread outside of school assignments. it's another that i would (and have) recommended to people. I really loved this book while reading it. i've always been interested in ww2, ever since my dad gave me an anne frank graphic novel when i was like less than 10 lol. so this book was not only interesting from a historical viewpoint, but i also found it pretty inspiring and emotional. it's been a minute since i've read it, but i would read it again.

10/10

Jane Eyre

by Charlotte Bronte

this book was a rollercoaster and i always have a hard time remembering everything that happened. i remember finding it interesting, unsettling at times (intentionally), and it was a decent read. i think this was one of many school books that was ruined in part because i was supposed to take notes and write essays on it and stuff.

7.5/10

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

by Robert Louis Stevenson

ok i'll admit i enjoyed reading this. thriller and mystery has always been fun for me to read. i will say, i'm 80-90% sure that i was spoiled. not because it's really popular and maybe i heard of the twist. no. because there's a VEGGIETALES PARODY. yeah. anyways. i dont know if i would reread this or not, but i am glad to have read it.

7.5/10

Things Fall Apart

by Chinua Achebe

This is another one of the pretty solid books i've read for school. I would even go as far as to recommend it. Do i remember everything about it? definitely not. But i know i liked reading it and i would probably reread it if i get the chance. It had some pretty cool ideas and themes. i remember when i first read it, i thought the beginning poem (which the book is named after) was pretty cool too. so much that i somehow memorized it: "things fall apart, the centre cannot hold, mere anarchy is loosed upon the world". i had to look it up but the poem is called The Second Coming. Anyways, another cool book.

9.5/10

The Odyssey

by Homer

i hated reading this. i didn't like the act of reading the format. i didnt like the language. and i didn't even like the plot. or the characters. there is not really any redeeming quality to this for me. i'm sorry if you really like this book and are sad that i don't agree. sorry not really sorry. the only reason i'm glad to any extent that i read it is because my assignment for it, instead of an essay, was to make a comic for a scene of it. which was mildly fun.

1/10

Romeo and Juliet

by William Shakespeare

although more interesting by far than midsummer night's SNORE (i'm joking), i was still mildly bored reading this. i am glad i read it for the sake of reading it. but i did not particularly enjoy reading. in general, the story of romeo and juliet isn't really for me. i was just annoyed with them the whole time??? like they're so dumb. i mean in juliet's defense i think she's supposed to be like 13 so what does she know but whatever. i still didn't really like reading it.

5/10

Of Mice and Men

by John Steinbeck

okay this book was an interesting read. it was good but like kinda crazy and dark and unsettling?? which is definitely the point. but still. man. that was crazy. if you haven't read it, it's an interesting read. but dark.

8.5/10

A Modest Proposal

by Jonathan Swift

another story i needed to look up. i cant say i remember much about reading this. most likely i just didn't understand it. the synopsis sounds really crazy though so i'm surprised i don't remember more of it. sounds weird though

2/10

Frankenstein: 1818

by Mary Shelley

this book was crazy and dark but it was pretty interesting and i'd maybe even reread it. it's a well known story but reading for myself everything crazy that happens really made me think. the morality of it all and whatnot. i think maybe the main downside to reading this was i got kinda grossed out. i don't sit well with depictions of anything morbid or gore-y or cannibalism. makes me a little physically uncomfortable. but i still liked reading this book overall. also since i read it i can get mad when people mix up the doctor and the creature. i can also understand this really dumb frankenstein meme

9/10

The Lord of the Flies

by William Golding

i liked this book a lot too. i'm starting to think perhaps i like darker books about morality and how maybe the real monsters were the people we met along the way??

9.5/10

Beowulf

Frederick Rebsamen

ahh another book i hated reading. odyssey level of hate for me. i maybe liked the characters better but i can't really back that up. wouldnt read again. it was probably good or something i just didn't like it.

1/10

Medea

by Euripedes

i don't remember this let me look it up. uhhhhhhhhhhhh. okay i don't remember this one very well but i don't think i hated it as much as some other things so

3/10

Macbeth

by William Shakespeare

shockingly, i did sort of like this one. i know, pretty out of character for me. but the plot was actually interesting so it made up for being annoying/boring for me to read. i would watch a movie or play version of it and maybe actually be interested. maybe

6/10

American Born Chinese

by Gene Luen Yang

i did enjoy this book. it's a graphic novel, so it was a quick read. i wouldn't say it's my favorite graphic novel but it has a lot of cool themes and elements. i would say i maybe like another graphic novel by the same author, boxers and saints, better. but i didn't read that for school so i'm not rating it.

8.5/10

Scarlet Letter

by Nathaniel Hawthorne

I don't remember everything that happened in this book. i would say, in general, it didn't really stick out to me. it wasn't particularly interesting to me and it wasn't outright bad. but i wouldn't read it again.

4/10

My Antonia

by Willa Cather

after reminding myself about this book's existence, i am pretty sure i liked it. but who cares about the literal plot of the novel when we can look into the author being subtly lgbtq coded. the evidence, your honor: first of all, my antonia itself is told from the perspective of Jim, a dude. and it's about his relationship with this girl who eventually gets married but he still cares about her deeply and he reminisces (idk that it's inherently romantic, but it's something). and why does this matter? Willa Cather wrote a lot from the male perspective, and people think it was to avoid being criticized for lesbian relationships. But this is just the tip of the iceberg!!!!!! the craziest part is that Willa had several very close relationships with women. including ahem (from wikipedia) "most notably, the editor Edith Lewis, with whom Cather lived the last 39 years of her life." HISTORIANS WILL SAY THEY'RE JUST FRIENDS. this doesn't really have much to do with the book but i remember seeing this while researching back when i read the book and i was like yooooo ????

8/10

Catch 22

by Joseph Heller

another book i really enjoyed!!! i actually actively want to reread this one. it's cool to read, it was kinda funny, and the plot was interesting. i liked the idea of slowly uncovering the story. i will say, reading it super spread out for school was a little confusing. but that's not the book's fault

10/10

Hamilton

by Lin Manuel Miranda

i'm not sure how much i can count this because i didn't technically read the whole thing. i read parts of a book about the musical and then i watched a recording of it. if i can count it, i would say it's really fun and i enjoy it a lot and would like to see it live one day. the only reason it's not a 10 is because i don't think Lin Manuel Miranda is the best singer. like he's a talented writer but compared to angelic leslie odom jr, lin is not my favorite.

9.5/10

Peace Child

by Don Richardson

this one was interesting, especially since it was a real story. seeing how people can compare and relate different cultures and religions can be fascinating.

8/10

i'm getting sleepy so i am skipping a bunch of the other short stories because frankly most of them i didn't like very much. it's possible i liked a few of them, but i don't really feel like looking them all up. oh well.

Robinson Crusoe

by Daniel Dafoe

now i didn't read the whole book, just snippets, but boy am i glad i didn't. i did not like this book. it was boring. even reading just small parts of this book i was in agony. also, fpr the record, this book was not an epic poem or a play. so there, i can dislike other things too

1/10

Pride and Prejudice

by Jane Austen

okay i love the jane austen movies and shows, so i was relatively excited to read this book. I think taking notes really detracted from my joy. but i like the story a lot. even typing this makes me want to rewatch some of the jane austen media. it wasn't my favorite read, but it was pretty good. a classic, really

9/10

The House of the Spirits

by Isabel Allende

i feel like this book was supposed to be unsettling probably but it really made me uncomfortable. i think there were maybe some sexual things including some creepy ones. and me personally when i am assigned a book with that by my mom/teacher i was like why do i have to read this. now that i think about it, i'm pretty sure i was so uncomfortable with it that i asked my mom to cover up those parts with sticky notes. the story was interesting but those parts really made me not like it

5.5/10

The Joy Luck Club

by Amy Tan

okay !! i did like this book a lot. it's about a bunch of chinese-american mother-daughter relationships so yk. relatable in some ways. i think maybe there were a few weird things but i think overall the read is worth it. i would for sure consider rereading it. and i would also recommend it. i actually recently tried to look for it in a few bookstores but i didn't see it and i was kind of sad.

9.5/10

Honorable Mention:

basically all the Narnia books by C.S. Lewis

i technically read a few of these for school but i don't know which ones because i also read a bunch on my own. I really like these books. they are cozy and i like the characters. also i like the movies a lot so that increases my favorability for them. i would recommend the series, or at least the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

10/10

maybe one day i will do something like this for books i read growing up or something else school related. but for now that is all. i hope i didn't miss any lol.

if you read this far, i guess leave a comment or something??? i'm impressed. at this point you could rate my ratings. this whole post is probably longer than most of the short stories. lol.

good night

[seyaryminamoto]

The Shadows in her Reflection: Sokkla Saturdays 2023

One day, the moon that reigned over the skies darkened. Concerned by the rare phenomenon, the last thing Sokka expects to learn is that Azula, of all people, might be the key to solving this lunar mystery. By traveling the world together, the Water Tribe Warrior and the Fire Nation's Fallen Princess will seek to fulfill Yue's final wishes in what might just become a lifechanging, memorable adventure for the unlikely pair...

Rated: M

On FF.net//On AO3

A/N: Life's becoming very busy for me lately, so I went out of my way to start this one ASAP in the hopes of finishing it on time for the event. Alas, I haven't fully written everything for it yet, but here's my first entry nonetheless. Worth saying this is a comics-compliant story, a rarity coming from me, yes... it takes place around 10 years after the war ended. It's quite possibly my first attempt to fully write an Azula redemption story based on canon itself (Gladiator is, quite clearly, its own thing and her arc there isn't exaaactly a redemption arc, at least, not the one some people are looking for when it comes to Azula). While obviously Sokka and Azula are very important and at the core of this tale, there's one more connection for Azula in this story that's crucial for her development, and I really hope you guys will have fun seeing it develop and unfold.

Anyway, this is not a one-shot collection, for once: we're here for 8 chapters of a slightly unusual plot choice for my standards, but that I really hope many of you will have plenty of fun reading!

One day, a comet crashed into the moon.

It wasn't Sozin's Comet, which might have destroyed the cosmic body altogether with its power: it was smaller, but harmful nonetheless. The collision couldn't be seen from the planet the moon orbited around, either, for it happened on the dark side of the moon.

A cloud of debris, of filth, rose from the collision spot, where the remains of that comet embedded itself into the moon. It seemed to wish to merge with it, perhaps to take over the moon altogether: the exosphere grew polluted, and the debris from the collision didn't float away into space in due time. It remained locked around the moon, instead… it obscured it. The sun's light had once reflected powerfully upon its surface… but as bright as its rays might be, that noxious cloud muddled and impeded their connection.

And so, the moon started to fade from the sky, leaving but a vestige, a faded glimmer of white, to be seen in the night sky.

The shackled and restrained women wouldn't threaten the Fire Lord anymore. His patience had long run its course after ten years of sabotage by their group. He stepped up to the leader, chained and on her knees, merely a few paces away from the location of her last act of vicious cruelty. Hiding behind a mask of white and purple, she was responsible for the latest case of reckless arson in which he had finally captured them…

Zuko tore the mask away from the woman's face forcefully.

It was not his sister.

His shock, and the time he wasted standing near her without saying anything, emboldened Zirin sufficiently to spit on his face.

Zuko growled, pushing back and wiping the insult off his cheek hastily: his guards rushed in, as though to beat the woman up further, but Zuko raised a hand.

"Stop!" he exclaimed, glaring at the woman again. Zirin's fury failed to be disguised behind the dangerous smirk she offered him. "You… where is she? Why are you wearing her mask?!"

"Because someone had to," Zirin responded. "Because… she has matters to resolve. But she'll come back stronger… and when she does, she'll tear you to shreds as she always should have, Fire Lord Zuko!"

Zuko snarled: he had never understood why the false Kemurikage had joined Azula's ranks, or what kind of loyalty she elicited in them. But part of him suspected, even from some time ago, that it wasn't true loyalty to Azula… rather, it might be pure, unbridled hatred reserved for him. Why?

But he hadn't captured the group for the sake of understanding their grudges. While he certainly meant to make every last one of them pay for their crimes in due time, the main reason why he had chased them for so long was to find Azula.

"Where is she?" he hissed. Zirin scoffed.

"You're too late. She's going to find what she seeks, and with its power, she will destroy you. She's going to…"

"Do you realize that I could kill you right now?"

Zirin finally stopped talking. Zuko's glare froze her heart over for at least an instant: he elicited genuine fear out of her, as well as the rest of the women chained and crouching behind her. The Fire Lord scowled, making his point apparent even more effectively by raising a hand and evoking his flames in it.

"The last time you lot caused more trouble than you were worth, I told myself that another misstep of that magnitude would be enough. I'd do it. I'd execute you all. And you just went and outdid yourselves, of all things. Makes matters rather easy for me, doesn't it?" Zuko hissed. Zirin snarled.

"You wouldn't dare…"

"Azula wanted me to be a stronger Fire Lord, didn't she? The kind who makes the difficult choices, no matter how appalling they might be. Maybe it's time I live up to her expectations," he said: there wasn't a hint of falsehood in his voice. He meant every word he had spoken.

Zirin shivered as Zuko stepped closer to her, still wielding the fire dangerously.

"She's not going to come here to save you. She won't get here on time if I decide to deal my justice to you, right here, right now," he said. "The only way you get to live longer than a few more minutes is if you tell me, right now, where she went. I'm willing to go through each one of your friends, one by one, until I get my answer. Might as well start with you."

He had her. The fear in her eyes was genuine. No, this wasn't the Fire Lord he wanted to be… but they truly had forced his hand. He found patience and compassion at short supply whenever it involved his sister's terrorist group these days.

"So, now that we've established your life means nothing to me and I could snuff it out in a second… tell me: where is Azula?"

Zirin might have meant to continue fighting back… but when she opened her mouth, she spoke with words that Zuko feared might be a trick of some sort, for they were the last he had ever expected to hear as an answer to his inquiries:

"The Northern Water Tribe."

He had looked into the phenomenon in the sky: every astronomer he spoke to would reiterate that they didn't understand it any more than Sokka did. The Water Tribesman felt a worse pang of fear every time he gazed up at the moon these days: its brightness faded more each day, it felt like… was it drifting away from their world, for no reason? Would that make any sense? As much as it was harder to see it lately, it didn't appear to have shrunken in size…

The sun's glow hadn't changed, either: otherwise, life in their world would have also been impacted severely by a weaker source of sunlight. Everything was normal. Even the tides were normal. The moon was the only thing that wasn't.

"I don't know, Sokka. I've tried to communicate with Yue in the Spirit World, yes, but it just doesn't work that way," Aang sighed, after Sokka asked about it for the umpteenth time during dinner, in Air Temple Island.

"She has to look for you instead, is it? You told me she came to you once when you had run away from us, when we were only just approaching the Fire Nation," Sokka said, frowning. "Do you have to wait for her to do that again? Aang, I… I don't like this. I don't know if it's a spiritual thing or if it's something else, something more material, but it's freaking me out."

"It's not affecting my bending," Katara said. "Which, yes, I know isn't your primary concern, Sokka, but I think it means the moon is there. It very much is."

"But why is it so dim? Am I the only one who thinks something's got to be messed up here?" Sokka groaned.

"Well, I have no idea what's a bright moon or a dim moon, so you might just be," Toph said, wiggling her toes as she relaxed by the table, feet propped upon it. At this point, nobody even bothered telling her not to be so careless.

"Sokka, I'll keep trying, but…" Aang started, only for his words to be cut off by a squawking messenger hawk.

"What…? Zuko?" Toph raised her eyebrows, turning her head towards the sound. "Or are you expecting letters from someone else lately, Twinkle Toes?"

Aang rose to his feet, approaching the creature immediately. Sokka merely spared a moment's attention to the matter before frowning again at the food before him, on the table: what could possibly be wrong with the moon? He had looked into it everywhere, and nobody had ever registered a phenomenon like this…

"Uh… uh-oh," Aang grimaced, turning towards the rest of the group. "Guys? Zuko needs our help."

"Why?" Sokka said, with a grimace. "The hell did he get up to now? And hey, I asked for your help with this first! If anything, he can get in line…"

"I don't think he can," Aang said, eyeing Sokka with uncertainty. "Look, I'd love to help you, Sokka, but I'm not sure how to go about it to begin with. Aside from that? Well… Zuko's problem may be more immediate and more urgent. Didn't the moon start acting up a year ago?"

"It did, but it feels like it just gets worse!" Sokka exclaimed. "It is urgent!"

"Well, so is what Zuko told me," Aang said, breathing deeply. "I don't know, maybe it'll even help you find clues if you come with me. Maybe the Northern Water Tribe has information about the moon, they ought to be experts…"

"Wait… the Northern Water Tribe?" Katara frowned. "Why? What's going on?"

"Nobody really knows, but… apparently, Azula is on her way there," Aang said.

The room fell silent. Tension rose quickly, even if everyone remained silent: the Fire Lord's estranged sister, ten years on the run, wreaking havoc across the world, had been a sore thumb for Zuko ever since he had taken the Fire Nation throne. She turned up once in a while, but never for anything good. She continued to be a menace that terrified the bulk of the world population, a feared terrorist who mainly operated, however, in the Fire Nation itself… hence, the rest of the nations had never involved themselves in her capture. Some leaders, particularly those who still had not forgiven the Fire Nation for the Hundred Year War, appeared to thrive in knowing that the dangerous firebender was on the loose and causing chaos in her nation now, rather than in everyone else's.

They certainly would set aside such thoughts going forward, though, if she had finally started venturing into their lands.

"What the hell is she doing in the Northern Water Tribe?" Sokka asked, frowning. "She had nothing to do with that place. She wasn't even in the siege of the north…!"

"Whatever her intent is, it can't be good," Aang grimaced. "Come with us, you can investigate the moon there if you want, Sokka, but we have to go."

"Not a dull day in this life," Katara sighed, shaking her head. "Toph? Can you stay and watch over Bumi?"

"Pfft. Take him with you. I'm not babysitting no weird, loud kids," Toph snapped. Katara huffed, and Aang smiled a little at her.

"He'll be safe with us. Let's take him too, might as well…"

He was nervous. Fear guided their every choice: whatever Azula was up to, this was a profound change of behavior, entirely unlike her. Had she decided to return to the old Fire Lords' legacy after all? Did she intend to destroy the other cultures again, rather than solely focusing on sabotaging her brother's rule?

And with the moon being in such shape… Sokka didn't think he could do right by Yue when it came to that particular problem, but he certainly could help by keeping her people safe. As much as he wanted to learn more about the moon's condition, Aang wasn't wrong to suggest that he joined them. Even if he had no idea if he'd be able to help much against Azula, should it come to that, he meant to be there to offer whatever support Aang and Katara might need of him.

"Alright. Let's get going," Sokka said: his compliance, and the fact that they didn't need to say more to convince him, appeased and surprised his friends.

His mood hadn't been the brightest over the past months. Perhaps over the last year, altogether. It didn't suit the typically rambunctious man to grow withdrawn and thoughtful, but to most, it seemed to be a matter of guilt and fear pertaining the moon and its status. His constant investigations on the subject, his anguish, seemed to drive many people away from him… though no one had drifted quite as far from him as Suki. After making up her mind to move to Republic City, two years earlier, misfires in their relationship had resulted in their return to a long-distance relationship, though this time, one that hardly seemed to be a relationship at all. She was back in Kyoshi Island right now: Sokka hadn't seen her in over six months.

Katara often suggested that he ought to visit her again, trying her best to be supportive of her brother while also struggling to keep up with his fluctuating moods. After a first visit to Kyoshi Island after she left Republic City, Sokka never agreed to go again. His travels, as of late, solely related to meeting astronomers and researching whatever he could about a darkening moon. To this moment, he had found nothing.

Thus, he hoped things would change for the better once they landed in the Northern Water Tribe: local troops received them, standing in a rare alliance with a cluster of Fire Nation soldiers, too. That the day had come when they could work together rather than fighting each other certainly felt like a miracle, but it was one that Sokka couldn't even bother cherishing right now.

"We're expecting Azula to arrive by sea, on a stolen hot-air balloon," Zuko explained, once Aang, Katara and Sokka arrived – Bumi nestled in his mother's arms, sucking on his thumb. "It seems she took one from the Air Force's base…"

"What, she took it just like that?" Sokka asked. Zuko grimaced.

"She beat up everyone on her way in and out, if you really want me to specify that much…"

"Any deaths?" Aang asked. Zuko shook his head.

"Not that I know of. She just wanted the balloon, I guess," he said. "I have no idea if she even knows how to pilot them, but if she doesn't, then she'll take longer to arrive, or she might even…"

"You're not wishing an accident will stop her from getting here, are you?" Aang grimaced.

"Well… I'm not, not fully. A non-lethal one, maybe, but… who the hell can control how that kind of thing happens?" Zuko sighed, shaking his head. "At any rate, we'll keep watch over the skies. She'll be arriving in the shroud of darkness, we're in the dark period after all… so spotting her won't be easy. But we have to do our best to catch her once she shows up."

"We'll find her. Appa can patrol the skies, and if anything's amiss, we'll track her down at once…" Aang said. Sokka sighed, running a hand over his hair.

"It sounds like you guys have most everything under control, right?" he said. Zuko eyed him remorsefully. "I'm just going to go find a lunar expert, if there's any. It's the main reason why I wanted to come anyway, and… I think you guys will get her without issue, right? Right."

"Sokka…" Katara sighed. "Please, at least don't get your hopes too high. What's going on with Azula is manageable, at least, but…"

"Is it? Girl's been on the run for ten years and nobody's locked her down since we took her to look for their mom," Sokka said: his words hit square in the pride of his three friends. "I'm just saying…"

"If that's the kind of thing you'll be saying, maybe go find your astronomer after all," Zuko scoffed. Sokka shrugged, raising his hands defensively.

"Call me if there's anything I can do… though I rather doubt it," he said, turning on his heels and marching out of the Palace room where Zuko had been outlining their plans and strategies to capture Azula so far.

Sokka did exactly what he intended to do: the experts in the north were finally as concerned and eager to find a solution as Sokka was… but they had no idea what was going on, either. That discouraged the warrior at once.

After several hours of meetings with experts and visits to the local libraries to, as usual, find nothing on the phenomenon that concerned him so much, Sokka's patience was at an end. He felt demoralized, broken in ways he shouldn't be over what might just be some cosmic cloud of some sort hugging the moon…

But there more to his misery than that. He had failed Yue once, he hadn't been able to protect her from the terrible sacrifice she'd needed to make. She had been as good as a child, and she had given up her life to save her people. The magnitude of her sacrifice seemed to hit him harder and harder every time he thought about it…

His struggles with Suki weren't related to Yue, but the moon's state had certainly worsened matters further between them. His unwillingness to open up to Suki came from an obvious place: she didn't care to be second place to Yue in his heart, and no matter how many times he told her love didn't work that way, she refused to hear it. Suki's anxiety over the moon had nothing to do with his: she didn't care that it was obscured or not. She wanted him to have his head down on earth rather than up in the sky… and the more she had pressured him about it, the less he wanted to do that.

Memories of Yue shouldn't have been so painful, he had lost her so soon… they barely even had a relationship by the time she kissed him goodbye. He'd never know what might have been. Perhaps that, over all, tormented him beyond reason. But deep down, what hurt most was the knowledge that someone as valuable, as loyal, as true to her people was gone… the Northern Water Tribe would grieve her death forevermore, he knew they would.

His feet carried him aimlessly across the Water Tribe's streets until he reached a location he had approached by instinct: the bridge where he had met Yue for their very first private outing. Where he had given her a gift… where she had kissed him before running away from him. The mixed signals he got from her never made sense to him… perhaps that was why the moon's condition anguished him so. It certainly was much like Yue to show distress signals that simply didn't make sense and that he couldn't interpret, try as though he might…

The bridge finally came into view. He was of half a mind to step on it, to talk to the moon from there, in the abstract, irrational hopes that doing so would help Yue… when he realized that someone else, clad in a heavy blue parka, stood exactly where he had wanted to go.

He frowned: it was quite late by now. Was someone else meeting their beloved at the bridge that night? Maybe it was a popular spot for that purpose, and he just didn't know it…

But even though he could only see the person from behind, he had the feeling they weren't actually waiting for something. No, whatever they wanted, it was already there…

In the water, right underneath the bridge.

Had they dropped something? No, they weren't acting with the urgency of someone who had lost a valuable in the canal. Instead, they were… speaking. It was a female voice, he realized, as he approached it…

A familiar female voice, he thought, with a dark shiver.

It wasn't enough that she was speaking when there was no one else around: she was gesticulating in strange ways, too, as if... as if she were arguing with something. With someone. With the water? With the river?

Sokka's heart sank: Azula was already here. And from what he could tell, Zuko's claims that her sanity was somehow restored were entirely untrue, just as Sokka had constantly suspected.

"… You're entirely out of your mind if you expect I can get there just like that! He's already here, he brought soldiers, and if any of them spot me, I'll be done for!"

Sokka frowned, inching closer quietly: she knew Zuko was here, then. Of course she did…

"And no, I refuse to send the hot-air balloon away as a decoy. If I did that, I'd be stuck in this frozen hellscape unless your people so very kindly tossed me into the sea and I miraculously survived long enough to reach the Northern Earth Kingdom. And as powerful a firebender as I may be, I would not survive a dip in your terribly frozen sea."

Who the hell was she talking to? Sokka frowned. Before, she constantly spoke to someone, or about someone, who appeared to be her mother… but not this time. Now, she was talking to someone from the Northern Water Tribe…? Who had she ever even met from the Tribe? She wouldn't have come across anyone from the North Pole in the last decade, she only ever operated in the Fire Nation after all…

"Ugh, just… shut up. I brought you where you wanted to go, didn't I? Isn't this enough? Flow into this river and find your pathetic fish. Get back inside it and leave me be."

A pathetic fish? Sokka frowned. A northerner… and a fish? His heart pounded, and he frowned as he glanced towards the arguing Azula again.

It made no sense. It couldn't be.

But… could it?

Curses, was Azula connected to whatever was happening to the moon?

The idea made him see red for a moment. He snarled as he stopped hiding, striding up to the bridge with a heavy scowl: she didn't notice him, busy as she was scoffing at whatever she had just heard from the river now…

"I am absolutely unconcerned with your sad stories of failed romances, understood? What do I care if you shamelessly kissed that idiot here? Honestly, though… what kind of terrible taste in men did you have to do something like that, Yue?"

Sokka froze on the spot. His footfall startled Azula when he stopped abruptly.

She jumped, immediately taking up a defensive stance… and her eyes widened when they found his.

"W-what…? You…! Wait. Wait… oh! Oh, so that's it!" Azula exclaimed, lowering her hands again at the sight of him. Sokka gritted his teeth, taking a defensive kata of his own. "This is what you wanted! Yue, he's here!"

She turned towards the river: Sokka gritted his teeth, glancing at the water to find there was nothing there. Azula, however, spoke with such enthusiasm he was taken aback entirely.

"Azula…?" he called her, his voice trembling and uneasy.

"There you go! He came to see you! Aren't you happy now? He still loves you, congratulations!" Azula smiled wildly. "Now, would you so kindly get out of my head and leave me be?!"

The final declaration caused Sokka's confusion to increase… far more than his apprehension, though. He blinked blankly before stepping closer, startling the fallen Princess.

"You. Stay where you are. What do you think you're doing?" she said, her previous, near hysterical excitement shifting completely into wariness.

"I… need an explanation. Right now," Sokka said. Azula scowled, eyes scouring him and their surroundings quickly.

"You're… alone? Where's the Avatar? I saw the shaggy beast descending into the city," Azula said. Sokka grimaced.

"You… for how long have you been here, exactly?"

"I arrived about a day before Zuzu did. The wretch couldn't have taken residence in a more inconvenient place of the city for my purposes," Azula said, with a dry grin. Sokka scowled. "But I should be used to it by now. My brother's certain my entire life is a matter of inconveniencing him, but the longer this goes on, the more certain I become that it's the other way around, instead."

"No kidding," Sokka said, skeptically. "What, exactly, were you trying to do? You said something about… wait, Azula. You… you mentioned Yue. A fish, too. W-what were you…? Are you trying to kill the Moon Spirit too?"

"Ah. Of course you'd think that," Azula said, before letting out a derisive smile. "I would not be quite so self-defeating, mind you. If I did that, I might just cause a major catastrophe, where the ocean would go berserk as it tried to tear me to shreds, much as it did with Admiral Zhao. I wouldn't quite wish to share in his fate, you see… not to mention, that damnable fish is my only hope to get rid of the unpleasant stowaway I'm carrying in my head, so, mind you, I'd like to keep it alive and healthy for the time being so I can send her back there as soon as possible."

"Well… the experts said the fish, Tui, is alive and healthy," Sokka said. Azula shrugged.

"Good for it. Her. Whatever you want to call a fish," she sighed, shaking her head before glancing at the river again. "What do you mean….? I'm not going to do that. You haven't pestered me for a year just for me to play nice and greet your ex for you. Shut up."

"Azula… this is weird. I'm supposed to be here to help them capture you because evidently that's why Zuko came here, I don't need to tell you that…" Sokka said. Azula scoffed, glaring at him sideways.

"Indeed. And yet you're here, talking to me, not brandishing weapons, just… looking at me like you're a terrified puppy too curious for his own good," Azula said, eyeing him skeptically. "Why?"

"Because…! Because I've overheard what you're saying to the river and I…! Okay, you know what? Just… tell me: what the hell is going on?" Sokka asked, eyes wide and pleading. "Look, I should be raising alarms and telling everyone that you're already here and up to no good…"

"But you're not," Azula said, raising an eyebrow. "Which suggests you're either having a leave of your senses or… you don't trust them to help you handle me. Not that you stand a chance on your own either, but still…"

"You don't want to kill Tui, you said. But you're… talking to Yue? In the river?" Sokka grimaced. Azula huffed and rolled her eyes.

"If it makes you feel any better? I'd much rather not be doing that at all. Your adored favorite princess is actually a colossal pain in the ass," she said, with a dry grin. Sokka shuddered.

"I… I don't understand," Sokka said, shaking his head. "I don't get it. Azula… you're talking to Yue? You're seeing Yue? B-but… why? Wasn't it your mother you used to see before?"

"Heh. Funny. I thought you'd never realized what my problem was," Azula smirked derisively. "My brother certainly never did. Maybe I should commend you for having basic intelligence rather than lacking it entirely, as he and the rest of your friends do, but that's as far as I'll go with flattery in your direction. As for why am I seeing your ex? Beats me. I don't know. I didn't ask for this. It just… started happening. A year ago, or so."

"A year?" Sokka said: he raised his gaze towards the moon, darkened as it remained. "That's… that's when the moon started to darken, Azula."

"Oh?" Azula said, blinking blankly and glancing into the night sky as well. "Huh. So, this annoying fool decided she was bored of being the moon and took to hounding me about nonsense instead? Isn't that nice of her?"

"What nonsense? Azula, what is she saying?" Sokka asked. "I…!"

"Wait," Azula frowned, raising a hand as to slow him down. She raised an eyebrow slowly, inching away from him. "Mind you… if I had an ex, which I don't, and my worst enemy started saying they're seeing said ex in all reflective surfaces they come across, and even in dreams on occasion, I would likely assume they're lying because normal people don't do that."

"We've established that you see things since well over ten years ago," Sokka said, with a dry grin. "But usually, as far as I could guess, it was stuff related to you. Right?"

"Right," Azula said, folding her arms over her chest.

"Look… if this were anything else, if you were doing this at some other time, I'd assume you've lost it and that you're going crazy again. But… the moon is like this. It's been a year. Nobody has given me any answers! I've never been able to figure out what's wrong with it, and you're finally a way to unravel that, if just a bit? So… so, please, talk to me. Tell me what's wrong. Tell me what she wants. I-if we achieve it, maybe the moon will clear up again! And then…!"

"And then you'll appease your conscience and I'll somehow get rid of her?" Azula asked, with a dry grin. "I expect otherwise. She's fickle, annoying, childish…! Yes, you're childish! You are as good as a child to me! You're sixteen, aren't you? Learn your place and stop speaking up against your elders!"

Sokka froze on the spot: yes, Yue would be sixteen, stuck forever at that age… the age she was when she had sacrificed herself. He was ten years older than her right now. Somehow, the thought hadn't truly materialized in his head so far.

He leaned over the bridge slightly, glancing into the reflection of the river… to find nothing. Just his muddled reflection, along with Azula's.

"You can't see anything, can you?" Azula asked him. Sokka sighed and shook his head. "Well, she can see you right now. She says… that you were more handsome back when you were younger."

"She… what?!" Sokka squeaked, cheeks flushing. Azula turned up her nose, a devious smirk spreading over her face. "Y-you… take that back! She didn't say that! Even if it were true, she wouldn't have, and you…! Can she actually see me? Azula, can she really…?!"

"Oh, only vaguely. She mostly sees whatever's around me," Azula said, with a shrug, as Sokka approached her. "Or so she says. Anyway, you do believe me when I say that she speaks with me, even though it's uncalled for constantly, and that it's truly your former girlfriend, or…?"

Sokka was nearly in contact with her when she trailed off, glaring at him in disdain as she inched away from him. Sokka smiled awkwardly.

"I just figured, I need to stand closer for her to see, so maybe if I stand close to you, I'll see her too…?"

"Step back or I will send you to the next life faster than you can say 'Yue.'"

"Okay, fine! Damn, I just… fuck, you have no idea what this means to me," Sokka said, stepping back indeed and smiling slightly. "I've spent a year thinking she's… she's catatonic! That she's been attacked, maybe, or that she's in trouble…! But she's just… what, taking a vacation inside your head?"

"If only she could've picked a better head to spend time in," Azula growled, glaring at the reflection again. "Oh, shut up. Empty praises will get you nowhere."

"What? Did she… praise you?" Sokka blinked blankly. Azula scoffed.

"She does more often than not. Empty words, not unlike the ones I've spent my entire life hearing," Azula said, bitterly. Sokka grimaced.

"Yue was an honest person, though. If she has something good to say about you…"

"She might as well save it. I don't want to hear it, and I'll never believe it," Azula said, firmly. She shook her head. "I'm not here, however, to discuss my confidence, self-esteem or people's willingness to sing my praises. I brought this annoyance to the Northern Water Tribe because she missed her people and I figured I might be able to get rid of her, at last, if I brought her here. She's a deceptive little brat, though, and asked to come to this bridge first, only to reminisce on whatever nonsense you two shared as teenagers here, and then she told me that I'll have to enter this terribly secret and secluded oasis hidden somewhere behind the Palace she used to live in, because she might just be able to flow out of me and into the fish if I take her there. So… that's why I'm here. I do not care for this place, I don't have the slightest intention of bringing anyone harm unless they do it to me first, and all I really, truly need is to be free from voices and illusions and seeing things that aren't there!"

Azula's chest heaved as she finished her rant. Sokka listened patiently throughout it all, and she glared at him defiantly after she was done, waiting for an answer. Her flow of thought had gone slightly overboard, it was true, but…

"Okay," Sokka said. Azula frowned. "Look… I don't think I should trust you. I'm not sure I'd ever know how. But at the same time… you're bound to be the only way I'll ever find a solution for Yue, for saving the moon, outright. Maybe… maybe if you see her in the oasis's pond, you'll truly be able to set yourself free from this connection. Although, before that, could you ask her if she wants to connect with me instead? I wouldn't mind… I wouldn't mind seeing her again."

"You're disgusting," Azula said. Sokka shuddered, glaring at her after her words sank in. Azula turned over the bridge and scowled. "This fool has been with a face-painted Kyoshi Warrior loser for the past ten years and yet he wants to see you again, isn't that right? Not only was he disloyal to you by choosing her, now he's disloyal to her by being here, asking to see you. Is this truly the man you were quite so keen on, Princess Yue?"

"You already questioned her taste in men before, thank you very much," Sokka said, eyebrow twitching. "I want to see Yue again, and that's not a crime, damn you! I care about her, I always will! She was my first love. I'm not expecting for her to come back from the dead, she has a duty as the Moon Spirit and she has to fulfill it…! But I… I have unresolved business, okay? I have burdens and things I'd like to talk about with her. If there's anything she needs, anything she wants, I'd love to make it happen. And no, I don't mean I want a reward, or that I want two girlfriends…! I just want her to be at peace. I want Yue to be safe and sound. I want to look up at the sky and believe she's watching over me, and that she'll always be watching over her people, too. Is that so awful of me?"

"It… sounds embellished and far too idealistic now. Either you're not being honest or you're far more upstanding than I expected. And I would sooner believe it's the former," Azula said. Sokka scoffed, pressing a hand to his face.

"Leave it to my luck that the one person who can help me communicate with Yue would be you," Sokka hissed. "Look, you'll kill two birds with one stone if you can transfer her to me somehow! You won't have to take her wherever you go anymore, and I won't pester you constantly about how Yue is doing, which I would otherwise, so…!"

"Wait. Wait," Azula frowned, staring at him in chagrin. "Are you trying to tell me… that if I don't do whatever you want me to do, you intend on stalking me for the rest of our miserable lives in retaliation for my unwillingness to cooperate with you?"

"Exactly. That," Sokka said, with a proud, sarcastic smile.

Azula scoffed, rolling her eyes and glaring at him.

"I refuse to play anything by your rules. The fact that you haven't rushed off to tell my brother that I'm here is… alarming," Azula snapped. "You'll give me away to him whenever you've had your fill of talking to Yue through me, I'm sure…"

"Not that you've done any of that for me so far," Sokka said, with a raised eyebrow. "Can she hear me?"

"Somewhat," Azula said, and he couldn't gauge whether she was being truthful or not.

"And you won't tell me what she's saying, even if she's talking to me, or will you?"

"Don't take it the wrong way, but she's long learned that I'm the only one who hears her. She smiled like a fool when she heard your voice and when she could hear you, yes, but she didn't speak directly to you so far, and…" Azula's word were cut off by a most unwelcome interruption. Her nose twitched slightly with irritation before she rolled her eyes and said. "Fine. Never mind. She says 'hi.'"

Sokka, to his utter disbelief, actually blurted out a chuckle at Azula's frustration. The fallen Princess glared at him reproachfully.

"I'm sorry this is happening to you, Azula," he said, with surprising honesty. "I bet it's incredibly inconvenient. But… it feels like you and her are the most unlikely combination, doesn't it?"

"Tell me about it," Azula huffed, shaking her head. "But that's not my concern right now, is it? I'll happily break off the unlikely combination and set her free, but I need to get to that place and… and I need your word that you won't give me away to Zuko after that's done. There's that, too."

"Oh. Uh…" Azula glared at him fiercely, and Sokka grimaced. "Look, I… wouldn't really want to give you away to him, true, especially when you're the first chance I've had to talk to Yue in over ten years. But… Zuko's not in a good place right now, Azula."

"Well, he's freezing his ass off in the North Pole, evidently, but…"

"I don't mean literally, I mean emotionally, or psychologically, or… whatever," Sokka sighed. "Your antics have had him on his toes for a long time. Reforming the Fire Nation is easier said than done…"

"Why, of course it is."

"And international pressures are always gaining on him. My point is… he captured your allies, and he made them tell him where you had gone. He… basically threatened he'd kill them if they didn't cooperate, going by what he told me."

"Pfft," Azula smirked, shaking her head. "And they didn't call his bluff? That's…"

"It wasn't a bluff," Sokka said. Azula's mirth dwindled. "I'm serious, Azula. I think he wouldn't kill you, no, but… he doesn't want you causing trouble anymore, and he's becoming harsher, and colder, and… well, maybe closer to your father, in a sense."

"Well, that's… not good for me, now, is it?" Azula said, with a weak smile. "While I would gladly have him resemble my father in the respectable senses that he could…"

"Would you, really?" Sokka asked, with a distasteful grimace.

"I'm certain he's going to take after him in the worst ways. Such as… treating his sole sibling as a problem to be rid of. Which…"

"Which is exactly what you've been trying to be for him over the past years, isn't it?" Sokka asked. Azula's discomfort couldn't be more apparent. "Look, you're the key to sorting out whatever's going on in the sky. I can already tell that you are. But Zuko… he's going to be a hazard for you. So, whether you work with me, whether you get rid of Yue, whether the sky is restored or not… ultimately, your brother is going to hunt you down and…"

"And lock me up somewhere so I will no longer embarrass him," Azula recited, her voice muted. Sokka grimaced. "Someplace like… the asylum, I suppose. He did it once before. No doubt he'd do it again if he had the chance. More so if… i-if he knew I'm seeing and hearing things that aren't there again. I… Sokka, you…"

"Huh. We're on first-name basis, are we?"

"You've called me Azula, I might as well do the same," she hissed, staring at him intensely. "Swear to me you won't let me fall into his hands. Help me… and whatever the hell I need to do to fix your Princess and send her back into her fish, I'll do it."

"It's honestly quite messed up, isn't it?" Sokka said, running a hand over his hair as he scrutinized her with uncertainty. "It's like… like you're holding Yue hostage against your will."

"Or she's holding me against hers. Which is illogical," Azula hissed. Sokka sighed. "I may be wrong to think I'm a victim in all of this, but I swear to you, I asked for none of it. It was bad enough to see my mother in my head only to realize later that it was never her, and that I truly had lost my senses…"

"Azula…" Sokka said, eyeing her with compassion. She snarled, stepping away from me.

"Don't… don't pity me. That's the last thing you ought to do," she hissed. "My mind's broken state is my business. Hence why I'd much rather your former girlfriend stopped making it hers. But clearly… I'm at a standstill in a crossroads that I'd much rather not be in. So all I can think of doing, right now, is fixing this mess by returning her to where she's supposed to go. Either you come with me and help me do it, or…"

"I will."

Azula frowned. Sokka breathed deeply and nodded.

"I'll get you there. I know a way," he said, glancing back towards the cliffs that hugged the Water Tribe's Palace. "Just… will be a slightly long hike. But if you're up for it…"

"I'm ready for anything. Most of all, to stop seeing and hearing Yue," Azula said, with a dry grin. "If you're serious… then lead the way."

Sokka nodded: within moments, he and Azula, who hid her face under the hood of the parka she most likely had stolen at some point in her journey, had walked all the way to the outskirts of the Northern Water Tribe. A long climb uphill, exhausting and draining, more so under such low temperatures, eventually saw them reaching the cliffs, and from there, they had to walk the icy trek all the way to the back of the city: long ago, Zuko had escaped with Aang through the zigzagging trail that led into the oasis from the tall cliffs of the polar casket. It stood to reason that they would be able to enter the oasis undetected that way, too.

"Say… I've agreed to not hand you over to Zuko," Sokka said, walking by Azula's side: she was much calmer now, when there were no reflections from which Yue could peer at her. "But even though I did… are you going to keep causing trouble for him after this is said and done?"

"That's not your business," Azula answered, curtly. Sokka sighed.

"It kind of is. He'll kill me too if I help you keep messing with him," Sokka groaned. Azula smirked.

"He might. You could wind up stuck with me just as badly as Yue is, how about that?" she said. "A most unfortunate fate for you, peasant."

"You already proved you know my name. Use it," Sokka said, huffing.

"I'll call you whatever I please," Azula said, simply. Sokka rolled his eyes.

"Either way, my point is… can you just do something else with your life?" Sokka asked. "It has to get old, trying to piss off your older bro-…"

"No, it really doesn't."

"Seriously?"

"It's better than anything else I can do anyway. It's not like I have anywhere to be, anywhere to go, I… I belong nowhere to begin with and he's sitting on the throne that might have given me a purpose otherwise," Azula said, with a careless shrug. "As bad as his situation might be, mine is certainly worse. He can have his throne all he wants, but he's not going to keep it without pushback of any sorts."

"You're way too smart to waste your life away doing something as nonsensical as being someone's… personal pain in the ass?" Sokka said, with a grimace. Azula scoffed. "Come on, now. You can't even tell me it's still fun for you. More so when your friends, or just allies, whatever they are, are in danger. I can try to help you break them out if you want, you know? Would be dangerous, but if you promised…"

"I'll make no promises of good behavior," Azula scoffed. "I couldn't care less to spare Zuzu from my worst…"

"And your friends from getting killed?" Sokka asked. Azula frowned.

"Are they even that?" Azula asked. "Granted, you think Zuko tried to kill them, but…"

"Threatened to, if anything…"

"It's not like they hadn't already stabbed me in the back before that, anyhow."

Sokka frowned as he stopped. Azula didn't slow down, stubbornly trudging on, her bag strapped over her shoulder.

"What…? They betrayed you?" Sokka asked, frowning. "And how the hell did they know where you would be, if that's the case? Did you ask them to come with you and they refused?"

"I'm only here now because they demanded that I came," Azula hissed. Sokka sped up, catching up to her again. "I was… distracted. Constantly scattered because of Yue popping up at every possible reflective surface around me. I was jumpy at first, when I didn't understand what was going on. I couldn't even look at poorly reflective metal without seeing a reflection of a silhouette, of something that wasn't there. She shows up in every liquid surface I see... and mirrors. Steel armor, anything of the sort. At first, when I realized what was wrong, I tried to hide it… but then, things got complicated. Zirin… she caught me talking to Yue more than once. She thought I was slipping again.

"I came clean about what was happening. They told me to get it together. I tried. Our latest operations, however, had been failures and… and yes, in part, because I'm hardly fully there. Yue is… is taking a real toll on me, damn her. And damn Zirin all the more for… for telling me to either sort this out, get rid of her, or get lost for good."

"She told you that?" Sokka said. Azula smirked, eyeing him with unrestrained deviousness.

"Funnily enough… she failed to pull off whatever it is she wanted to do when I was gone. When I was the leader? I only got a handful of us captured. One operation under Zirin's leadership and the whole group goes under. Serves her right for being so full of herself…"

Azula cackled without remorse, and Sokka raised an eyebrow as he watched her with uncertainty. In any other circumstances, he wouldn't have wanted to hear a single word Azula might say… and he found that was probably a terrible reaction now. He didn't truly understand the first thing about the woman walking beside him now… and because he didn't, now Yue was her unwilling hostage, or Azula her unwilling host, and he had no idea how to approach her. If he'd done better, tried harder to be as friendly to her as they'd been to Zuko, after he turned…

There was no denying that Azula didn't make it easy. But talking to her now revealed that her dangerously clever mind was nowhere near as hopelessly broken as Azula herself might think it was.

"Either way, it's just me and Yue, going forward. While I wouldn't particularly care whether my former allies are free or not, I certainly would rather they're not murdered," Azula said, after her amusement receded. "I understand I failed as their leader, anyway. I'm in no condition to lead the group at all, and I failed to deliver on my many promises. Nonetheless… it's a sore spot for me, as you may imagine, to so much as think of allowing my allies to turn their backs on me. I've had enough of that for a lifetime."

"Surprising that you didn't lash out at them for it, though," Sokka said. "Or did you?"

"Some insults were traded, sure. A bit of fire. Some lightning. Maybe a slap or two."

"Who landed those?"

"Me, of course. Not that Zirin didn't try, but she failed."

Sokka smiled a little, shaking his head. Azula raised an eyebrow.

"And that amuses you, somehow?" she asked.

"Sounds like you were giving as good as you got. Not much of a crime when you see it that way," Sokka said. "Look… there's just got to be a better future for you. I don't know what it could be, but…"

"Stop trying to fix my brother's messes for him. He doesn't deserve that much devotion or help," Azula said, shaking her head. "Hell knows how so many of you are so eager to eat off his hand, let alone to convince me to walk away and leave him be…"

"I don't eat off his hand," Sokka squirmed, looking at her in chagrin. Azula smirked. "But… he's my friend. And more than that, his role in the world is a little bit essential at making peace a reality, you know? But he's got, uh… quite the temper. And that means that, if he gets angry or anything sets him off, he might just end up derailing all our hard work at restoring balance so far."

"How is that any of my business?" Azula said, bluntly.

"Why would it not be? He's your brother," Sokka said. Azula scoffed.

"Ask him what that means to him. I give as good as I get, as you put it before," Azula said. "I don't need a brother who doesn't need me."

Her words struck deeply in Sokka's gut: truthfully, he had seldom tried to think of things from Azula's point of view. He had sympathized with Zuko over his struggles… but suddenly, standing on the other side of that ordeal revealed that maybe Azula acted out as she did for reasons beyond what was apparent.

"At any rate, you should shut up," Azula said, startling Sokka. "This is the first chance I've gotten for some peace and quiet for hours and you keep rambling. Be quiet."

"Well… I can't be quiet just like that," Sokka pouted. Azula huffed, rolling her eyes. "There's a lot of things I want to know, a lot of things I want to ask, and…"

"And I should be the least of your concerns. You're here for Yue, aren't you?" Azula scoffed. Sokka winced.

"Right. Uh. Thing is, it's hard to figure out what to do with that, but… say, you can see her, you said? In every reflection you look at? Like, in place of yourself, or…?"

"Behind my reflection, usually," Azula answered. "What about it?"

"Well… what does she look like?"

"Oh? Either you're finally questioning the veracity of my tales or you're being a creep. I'm not sure which one is worse," Azula said. Sokka winced.

"I just… well, maybe more the first one than the second?" Sokka admitted. "Though a part of me does wonder if she really is stuck at sixteen. I'm not sure why I didn't think about that ever before…"

"Because you've grown older and you foolishly assumed so would she. Not the case," Azula said, simply. "She's indeed a sixteen-year-old girl with dark skin, blue eyes, white wavy hair that seems to float, much like her fancy white robes. Frankly, that dress she wears is far more elegant than anything I've seen the rest of her people wear. Guess they left the good fashion for the royalty…"

"Or that's just her moon outfit," Sokka said, with a careless grin. Azula raised an eyebrow.

"Huh. I have no idea how spirits handle dress codes," she admitted. "But frankly, I doubt I'll ever understand the first thing about them. Spiritual matters are unnerving."

"Really? Says the girl who was masquerading as a spirit…"

"I assumed everyone else would think they were unnerving too, and they'd run away or die of fright if we presented ourselves as such," Azula said, simply. Sokka eyed her skeptically. "What?"

"You make no sense," he said, though he smiled slightly at her. "It's kind of entertaining, though."

"Why, I aim to please," Azula said, with a sarcastic grin that suggested the opposite thing, instead.

They reached the chasm then, and Azula glanced down at the oasis. From this distance, she couldn't see Yue… but she knew she would, once they were in the oasis itself.

"Come," Sokka urged her, approaching the entrance of the zigzagging trail that led into the oasis. "This way."

Azula followed him down, and they moved as quietly and inconspicuously as possible: they could see from afar how the military alliance between the Fire Nation and the Water Tribe happened to be in full swing. Numerous hot-air balloons were ready to intercept hers… firebenders, waterbenders, non-benders, everyone wanted a piece of her, from the looks of it. She sighed: it was a good thing that Yue had been able to navigate her into the city safely, and that she had lain low in it for as long as she could manage.

The oasis was a rare location in the Tribe, where it was warm enough that Azula finally stopped stoking her inner fire to get by. She sighed in relief as she followed Sokka, crossing small wooden bridges until she finally reached the pond…

Two koi fish, one black, one white, swam in its waters. Sokka sighed happily at the sight of the white one.

"Seems untouched. Good," he said, smiling kindly at the spirit. Tui and La continued swimming together, and Sokka turned towards Azula. "As you know, if you do anything you shouldn't…"

"I won't hurt the one thing that might just get me out of this mess, damn you. You don't need to say it again," Azula huffed, approaching the pond and glaring at the fish.

To Sokka's surprise, Tui broke formation from La… as though to stare at Azula. The Princess scowled… and upon looking into the water, she soon saw Yue.

"Well? Get going. Your ride is here," Azula hissed.

Youthful, kind and earnest, Yue smiled at her, and then at Tui.

"My manifested form upon the human world… it's good to see that it remains intact. This is the Moon Spirit, Azula."

"I can see that. Now, kindly get out of my head and into the fish, would you?" Azula scoffed.

Yue's smile soured slightly: the clueless expression on her face brought a scowl to Azula's.

"I… I'm not trying to say that I can't do it, but, uh, I… I don't really know how."

"You… what? You don't know how?!" Azula exclaimed.

"Don't be mad! I just…!"

"You brought me all the way here just to make fun of me? Get out of my head and into the fish, right this moment!"

"I would love to! But I don't know how, I said!" Yue exclaimed, flustered, tears in the corners of her eyes.

Azula's chest heaved as she glared at her. Yue's manipulative remorse would not affect her. It couldn't. It wouldn't. She was just…

"You miserable, irksome, spoiled brat!" Azula roared. Sokka gripped her shoulder, and Azula shook her off.

"Be quiet!" he urged her, startling Azula. She had expected a scolding over how she was treating Yue, instead. "They're going to notice you're here if you keep this up. So… shush. If you have to berate her, do it… quietly. Nicely."

"Nicely? Fuck off," Azula said, rolling her eyes, even though she didn't raise her voice again. "I've been stuck with this annoyance for a year. And she can't even figure out her problems and help herself out of my head! I'm quite certain it can't be a nice place to inhabit, even I would like a break from myself from time to time, so I sincerely doubt that she's…!"

"W-well… you're quite smart. I do like the way you think, even if you do things that aren't that nice. But you're so skilled at seeing through people, at devising plans quickly, and…!"

"Stop it! I want no pointless, ridiculous, empty praise from you!" Azula scoffed. Sokka grimaced.

"She was praising you again?" he asked. Azula snorted.

"I know! It's maddening," Azula shook her head.

"What… what was she praising about you?" Sokka asked, puzzled. Azula stared at him skeptically. "I'm just wondering…!"

"She said I'm smart. That she likes the way I see through people," Azula said, with a sardonic grin. "And I'll give her a new one right now: you're thinking there's nothing about me worth praising, aren't you?"

"What? No! I mean, there definitely are things I'd praise about you, but I'm just… surprised that Yue would pick up on them?" Sokka said, with a weak smile. Azula glared at him.

"You're a worse liar than she is."

"I'm not lying, though! You are smart as hell, that's why you're a menace to begin with!" Sokka squeaked. "And along with that, you're an incredibly powerful firebender, the strongest one alive as far as I know..."

"And don't you forget it," Azula said – somehow, his words were hitting the right place that Yue's seldom ever did.

"And you're…!" Sokka started, before freezing where he was. He cleared his throat and shook his head. "Anyway…"

"I'm… what?" Azula said, raising an eyebrow. Sokka grimaced.

"Can I tell you later?"

"Later, when?"

"Later when Yue can't hear it," he said. Azula scoffed.

"What? You're…? Oh, wait. You were going to praise my godlike beauty, weren't you?" Azula smirked, turning towards the pond again. "See how reliable he is? You're so stuck on him and hung up on the fool who can't see half a pretty girl without thinking…"

"You're much prettier than what you think you are!"

Azula froze: Yue's eagerness caught her off guard entirely as the reflection in the pond almost seemed flustered to say it.

"I wasn't about to say it because I knew you'd think I was lying, but it's not a lie!" Yue exclaimed, enthusiastically. "You're a very beautiful lady. Or, uh, well… runaway. I don't know what term you'd prefer for me to use…"

"Can spirits get hit on the head and lose all sense?" Azula asked. Yue blinked blankly.

"W-well… maybe? I don't know. Could they?"

"I'm asking because I'm starting to think that's what happened to you!" Azula exclaimed. Yue winced. "I'm taunting you, damn it: he's your ex! He's awkward about praising another girl's beauty in front of you! Why would you…?"

"Oh! Oh. Well, I don't think there's anything wrong with that, actually. A lot of girls are beautiful after all, many of whom I never knew, many of whom I never will. But I can see you very clearly sometimes, and I know that you're…"

"That's not the point, damn you!"

"Well, if you think I should be jealous… I'm jealous of a lot of things, actually. But that's neither here nor there."

"Oh, so you are jealous after all? Of… of what?" Azula said, frowning. Yue bit her lip and shrugged. "Yue…"

"Let's just say… I just want Sokka to be happy," Yue smiled, hands upon her chest. "I want him to live a full life, too. That I can't do it… it's no reason for him not to. And if he likes a girl, or loves one, well… I hope he'll find all the happiness with her that I couldn't grant him."

"You… you can't be this nice. That's ridiculous," Azula said, with a disgusted expression across her face. "Moreover, why are we discussing this at all?! Get into the fish!"

"I can't do it, I said. And with you being this cranky and constantly pretending I'm lying, I feel even more disinclined to stay in the pond forever."

"What, you're going to hound me until I decide your way of thinking and living is correct?" Azula asked, with a sardonic smile. "Well, yippie, then! Yue is right about everything, ever! Sokka is allowed to ogle every girl that crosses his path because she just wants him to be happy, like the absolute selfless koala-bear cub that she is!"

"Hey, don't talk to her like that!" Sokka huffed, though he frowned. "But… she said that? For real?"

"That she just wants you to be happy? She did. Isn't it ridiculous?" Azula said, rolling her eyes and shaking her head. Sokka frowned. "What? You're not going to tell me that…"

"I feel the same way about her."

Azula raised an eyebrow. Sokka's face shifted into a fierce mask… one that gave away his regrets and remorse far more profoundly than anything else might. She blinked blankly.

"Well, that's… good. Good for you," Azula said with a sarcastic smile. "But it has nothing to do with me. In fact, as you're both such selfless, pure, kind souls, maybe you should look into turning into the black fish. The ocean, right? Go on, do that, swim with her forever. Or, better yet, become her host in my stead. How about you do that? Then you can spend your life looking at your reflection in a mirror and telling Yue that you want her happiness while she tells you she wants yours and…! And I'll be free. Which is all that matters to me. How about it?"

"I… look, I'd take her off your hands if I could, but if she doesn't know how to go about it, neither do I," Sokka said, rubbing his forehead with his fingertips. "At best, maybe we could ask Aang if…"

"Not a chance. You're not involving the Avatar in this. Three's already a crowd, the Avatar would turn it into a full-blown party," Azula said, shaking her head.

"I don't know what to do, okay?" Sokka said, with a heavy sigh. "I'm sorry you're involved in this because... well, technically, it shouldn't have anything to do with you. You never even knew Yue and you've already spent a year stuck in this situation…"

"Exactly," Azula said, raising her hands emphatically before running her fingers through her hair.

"But at the same time… you're the only chance I have to communicate with her directly and figure out what's going on," Sokka said. Azula scoffed.

"Why would I…?"

"If we sort out what's going on with the moon?" Sokka said, gesturing towards the grey sphere in the sky. "Maybe we can break the two of you free from each other. So ask Yue… or tell me her answer, anyway, if something changed recently. Or rather, a year ago. Ask her… if there's something wrong and we can fix it. Please."

Azula frowned but turned towards the pond again. Yue gazed at her helplessly, and Azula crooked an eyebrow.

"Well? Cat-owl got your tongue? You're a lot more chipper than that, usually," she said.

Yue sighed, lowering her gaze. Something immediately alerted Azula that Yue might be lying when she answered that question… but that was no one of Azula's business, even if that were the case.

"I… I don't really know," Yue said, nervously. "One day… something crashed into the moon. I think it was a comet? I'm not sure, I don't really know what it was. I just felt it, and it jolted me around violently. It felt like something loosened up in me, I guess. Ever since, I… I've been able to see you. Whatever happened that day, I… I can see you and only a little bit around you. I see you through every reflection. But as for why it happened, or how, or what it was, I… I don't know any of that. I also don't know how to fix it."

"So, in short, you're not much use," Azula said, cuttingly. Sokka frowned. "You don't know what happened beyond this strange cosmic collision or what you need to do to fix it."

"Cosmic collision?" Sokka repeated.

"Something crashed against the dark side of the moon, or so she says. After that, she wound up here," Azula said, pointing at her head.

She didn't say more. Didn't pressure more. She could tell that Yue was hiding something. She didn't know if she could trust Sokka to keep his cool if he realized Yue wasn't being completely truthful about whatever she had just explained.

"Then… maybe something loosened up?" Sokka grimaced.

"If you're about to wonder how does someone fix the moon, why, don't ask me. Get your earthbending friend to fly across space and do it herself," Azula suggested. Sokka grimaced.

"She wouldn't go for it," he sighed. "But… damn. Then something did happen. Something physical. And maybe… maybe she's here because of a bigger reason than we know. Like… you know how sometimes people say spirits haunt the living because they have unfinished business?"

"And she does?" Azula asked, glancing at Yue in the pond with utter skepticism. Yue's eyes gleamed upon hearing Sokka's latest idea. "I don't know about that. What kind of unfinished business are we talking about here, and how would she go about fulfilling it? Because so far, I'm carrying her around with me, but she isn't controlling me or anything of the sort. So, if you get any funny ideas of being with her through my body or so…"

"If she can't even go into the fish, how's she going to possess you completely?" Sokka sighed. "Look, I know what it looks like, but… I get it. She's the girl I lost years ago. But I'm not that boy anymore. I'm fully grown… and I just want to do right by her. I failed Yue, okay? Right here, in this very place, I couldn't stop Zhao from doing what he did, I couldn't save her from her fate. I've carried that with me from the moment it happened and I don't think I'll ever stop being burdened by that, so…"

"So… that's it. It's your fault," Azula concluded. Sokka winced. "She can't go back to business as usual because she has to fix whatever's fucked up in your head."

"Wait, what? No! It… it can't be about me! There's a lot of people here who loved her too!" Sokka exclaimed, blushing. Azula hummed, glancing about herself.

"True, to a fault. I suppose… she had her people's love. Her father's love," Azula said, bitterly. "You were but a footnote."

"I… hey!"

"He was much more than that."

"Oh, really?" Azula regarded Yue with a sneer once more. Yue frowned.

"Sokka… was my first true friend. My first chance at knowing something beyond the boundaries of the North Pole. He… he was fascinating to me. Him and his sister and the Avatar… they were younger than me, but they were heroes in the making. I looked up to them. I wanted… I wanted to know what it was like. If I hadn't died, I… I would have liked to join Sokka one day, maybe, traveling the world. But of course, that never could happen, so…"

"So, it is his fault for giving you false expectations."

"That's not true. And… actually, I know now! If Sokka is right and I have unfinished business… it's because of the dreams and hopes I couldn't fulfill. If that's why I'm still here… then that's what you have to do. Azula: I want to see the world!"

"Oh, really, now? And you think I'm some sort of magical entity that grants wishes willy-nilly?" Azula asked, hands on her hips. "You want to see the world? In case you haven't noticed, Yue, I'm not exactly welcome anywhere in this damn planet, I'm not even supposed to be here to begin with. I can't take you anywhere you want to go."

"Wait… she wants to see the world, then?" Sokka said, a slow smile spreading over his face. Azula scoffed.

"What's it to you?" she said.

"Azula… this might just be the chance to fix things," he said. Azula rolled her eyes. "I know, this all sounds stupid to you… but it's not. I never could do anything for her, but if I can help you do this, if the two of us can show her the world…!"

"Wait, help me do this? You'd help me travel wherever she wants to go?" Azula asked, amused and dismissive. "I doubt even you can pull that off, Sokka, and…"

"And what if that's the only solution for this?" Sokka asked. "What if she won't leave until she's fulfilled, happy, satisfied with everything she saw?"

"Then she'll be unfulfilled, unhappy and unsatisfied for as long as I may live, and then we'll just go our separate ways once I die. I'll just spend my entire life burdened with a spirit that decided to hitch a ride in my head," Azula snapped, glaring at the pond again. Yue pouted.

"I might just leave if it works out. If we see all the places I'd like to see, I… I'll at least shut up more often. Can I offer you that much?"

"That's hardly worth anything, as far as promises go," Azula grumbled.

"Well, beyond doing this, I don't know what else we could do. And frankly, Azula, you could do much worse…"

"Oh, I could? And what made you the judge of that?"

"I won't be that needy, I won't be that picky! I just… I just want to experience things alongside you. I could be asking you for far worse, like… like spending a year or longer folding paper cranes so that they can fulfill my wish to, say, gain a new body so that I can experience all those things myself! Would you rather do that, instead?"

"Don't get cheeky with me, you…"

"Then listen to me, please: you came this far. I love my hometown and I missed it and I'm glad that we came…"

"Just admit that you told me to bring you to the fish just because you wanted to come back and see everything."

"Well, yes, but I did think this would work. I never imagined it wouldn't. When I sacrificed myself, I just flowed into Tui's body myself. I didn't expect it not to happen now… which I think means some part of me is still there, maybe. Either way, though… maybe all spirits go through moments like these. Where you suddenly regain access to the human world, and you long for what you've lost…?"

"Like a midlife crisis, but with spirits?"

"Yes! I mean, maybe? Does that make sense?"

"None of this makes the slightest bit of sense, Yue, so that question is unnecessary at the moment," Azula huffed, shaking her head.

"I'm just saying… I'm not asking you to do anything that awful. And besides, we both know that you're not even sure what to do next. Your friends weren't very nice the last time you were with them. So… why not give this a chance? Maybe, by traveling, we can also learn more about this kind of thing, about spirits and their cycles, and even learn if there's legends about the Moon Spirit that preceded me. Might be that they went on a journey like this! Right?"

"Beats me," Azula sighed, shaking her head and glaring at Sokka skeptically. "You."

"Me?" Sokka said, arms folded over his chest. "What is it? What is she saying?"

"She's adamant that she wants us to go on this damn road trip you proposed. You say you'd go too," Azula said. "You want to do right by that girl, which means you'll be stuck with me for the foreseeable future. Do you love her quite so much that you'd bear with me for that long?"

"Uh… yeah. I think so," Sokka said. Azula laughed.

"I have the feeling you're going to regret that," she said. Sokka shook his head.

"I don't think so," he said. "But then… we're doing this? We're traveling the world together?" he asked. Azula sighed heavily, rolling her eyes.

"I'm all out of ideas. And I have nothing better to do. Getting pushed around and annoyed to death by this fool sounds like all I've got at hand at the moment," Azula growled. Yue, despite the insults, grinned giddily at her. "I'll just say it's rather inappropriate of you to say you love her or that you want to do right by her when you're taken, Sokka. What would Suki say, I wonder?"

Yue winced, eyeing Azula guiltily. Azula teasingly mouthed the word 'homewrecker' at her, and Yue pouted in her direction as Sokka sighed, shaking his head.

"I don't know what she'd say. She'll be fine, though," Sokka said. Azula raised an eyebrow. "I've spent the last year trying to figure out how to help Yue, she knows I have, and I'm not about to stop now. So…"

"Terribly trusting of her if that's how it is," Azula said, a pang of guilt, and even envy, blooming in her heart. To think Sokka had someone who trusted him to that extent, to the point where she wouldn't mind seeing him off on a journey where he would be reconnecting, possibly, with his first love… a relationship of that nature had to be incredibly strong.

"Yeah, well, that's neither here nor there. Where's your hot-air balloon?" Sokka asked. Azula shrugged. "I'll get my things and meet you there. Is that too much to ask?"

"I left it in a cave right past the city's walls," Azula said. "Yue navigated us into the city from there. Somehow, she didn't lead me astray. Can you get there on your own?"

"I hope so," Sokka said, breathing heavily. "I'll leave a message behind for the others to know I'm okay. I won't tell them about you, though. They'd hound us and hunt us down if I did."

"Just for the record… do you think you'll be safe, traveling with me?" Azula asked, amused. Sokka huffed.

"I'm not so brittle or breakable as to be scared of you like that, Princess," he said. Azula's amusement increased. "Along with that… if you did anything that could hurt me, I'm sure Yue would be very upset about it too. And then you'd get scolded by her constantly for having hurt me. You wouldn't want to put up with that, now, would you?"

His words did give her pause. Her amusement receded and she sighed as Sokka grinned proudly at her.

"Whatever. Meet me at the balloon in an hour. If you take any longer than that, we're leaving without you."

"Well, now, damn! No need to be so grumpy! In fact… wait here. I'll come back right here, we'll climb out, then we'll get to your balloon much easier that way. I don't know if I'd lose my way otherwise…"

"Get it over with quickly, then," Azula sighed, shaking her head.

Sokka grinned and sprung off through the wooden door at the other side of the oasis. Azula watched him go at first, before focusing her gaze on Yue. The Princess in the water smiled warmly at her.

"What weren't you telling me before? I didn't ask in front of him, but I ask now," Azula said. Yue winced. "Something's wrong with you, isn't there? Something weirder than we know. What's your purpose, exactly?"

"I'm not lying when I say that I wish I knew. But I really, really don't," Yue said, gazing at Azula earnestly. "Moreover… you'll be better off just enjoying the journey."

"Isn't the journey about you? You're the one who ought to enjoy it, not me," Azula huffed. Yue smiled.

"Going on the road with Sokka… I barely even let myself imagine that possibility. You haven't really set out yet, but it already feels like you'll help me fulfill a dream, Azula. Thank you."

"Why on earth are you so hung up on him?" Azula grimaced. "Not that I can't tell that he loves you lots, but… you are a Princess. Surely there were other better catches for you…"

"He's very handsome. You know he is."

"That's not my point," Azula said, stubbornly. "He's annoying, obnoxious, rambunctious, sanctimonious, loud…"

"He's fun. He's caring. He's kind. He's loyal. He loves people with his whole heart."

"Don't you think maybe you idealized him a little much?" Azula said. Yue giggled and shrugged.

"Then maybe I'll get to know him better, his real self, thanks to you. I do want to know what kind of man he has grown into… what kind of person he has been ever since I lost him. You could be right, but… I won't know unless we travel with him, anyway."

"Say what you will… I don't like setting out on this journey when you have ulterior motives," Azula said, curtly.

"Funny thing for you to say, considering you've been up to no good and having ulterior motives with everything you do for as long as I've known you, and most likely all your life…"

"Sass doesn't befit someone who looks as delicate as you."

"Unfortunately, I have plenty to offer you even so," Yue said, stubbornly. "I know you don't want to trust me. You don't want to trust anyone. But I swear… I don't want anything bad to happen to you. Or to Sokka. I want this journey to be… well, liberating for all three of us. It might do you good, even beyond what you expect. Don't you think?"

"Beyond cutting you loose and out of my brain? Perhaps," Azula said, curtly.

A journey with no ill intent, no deeper meaning beyond… sightseeing. Traveling. Tourism, she supposed. The concept was odd, out of place, especially considering she was a wanted criminal in at least two nations. Then again, a devious part of her couldn't help but wonder if she could give people the slip… if she could escape notice and avoid capture by Earth Kingdom or Fire Nation forces alike. Mocking Zuko and King Kuei that way certainly had its appeal…

She smirked after that. The Avatar's friend as her companion might just be a boon rather than a curse too, provided he could give her access to places she couldn't reach as herself. She could very well go incognito, hide behind other identities…

"Maybe you truly were a blessing in disguise all along," Azula told Yue: the Princess's reflection in the water offered her a broad grin.

Five minutes later, Sokka turned up. Azula nodded in his direction, and he cast one last glance at the pond, at the place where he had lost Yue, before setting out, following Azula in the uphill climb out of the oasis, and towards her hidden hot-air balloon. Strange circumstances had brought them together, but for the first time in a year, Sokka had broken his standstill… he was ready to get going. If there was anything left for him to do to help Yue find peace, he'd endeavor to do it, without question.

They faded from view again. The light faded, once they did.

Yue smiled, tightly hugging herself as she sat in place, in that unsettling darkness with tendrils that wrapped around her legs, slowly rising. She simply wanted to wait for the next glimpse into Azula's world, for any sign of life, of wonderment… of the fulfillment she ever felt whenever she could see the woman she had connected with.

"Yue…!"

A deep growl, and afterwards, a devious chuckle. The smile froze over her face, and tears bloomed in her eyes.

"You still have hope, I see! Hope, hope, hope, you silly girl, you beautiful girl, you wicked girl…! You know they cannot save you. You know no one can save you. No one would care to. Not even that boy you crave so much…"

She didn't truly crave him that way anymore. It didn't matter if she explained: no one listened. They thought they understood her human needs… they truly didn't. She knew her fate had been sealed when she gave up her life to save the Moon Spirit, and that all hope of a future with him had died at that moment. There was but one thing she wanted anymore, and it was all she could possibly want…

"You are safe here, with me. You are mine here, mine! Mine alone! And you will never belong to anyone else again!"

The tear spilled. She covered her ears: it didn't suffice to keep the noise from booming inside her head, reminding her bitterly that she would never go free… never again.

[honeysuckle-venom]

Sometimes I'm really frustrated that I didn't get certain types of testing and therapy when I was much younger. My brother was in occupational and physical therapy by the time he was three years old. Granted, some of his difficulties were more obvious than mine. And it was a decade later; there was more awareness. But also some of it is that my parents just weren't very responsible with me!

Something that is always just kind of told as a funny family story is the fact that in preschool, at parent teacher meetings, my parents were told that I "failed scissors." Yeah, that's cute. But it also meant something! My teachers brought up the fact that I wasn't meeting a developmental milestone; that's something to take note of! I was dyspraxic. There was a reason I couldn't use scissors until I was much older, a reason I didn't learn to tie laces until I was nine, that I couldn't do buttons or zippers, that I didn't hold pencils or forks properly and made messes when I ate, that I couldn't catch things or tell left from right until way later than my peers! And I was having sensory meltdowns multiple times a week in preschool, I would cry when garbage trucks went by because they were so loud, my first sentence was "tag hurt" about the tag in my shirt. Like, someone should have maybe noticed some of these things and gotten me checked out! If I had ever had occupational therapy it would have been honestly lifechanging for me.

And like, it's fine. I did okay without it; that's why I never got it. I did well in school, and as I got older my physical coordination problems were less important as emphasis was placed on academics instead of fine motor skills. I learned to mostly cope with my sensory issues and hide them in public. The fact that math was much harder for me than other subjects and that I had trouble with visual information was certainly never investigated, because I still did well in all of my classes, and it wasn't until I was sixteen that I found out I had also had a visual learning disability the whole time. That one I blame my parents less for, as the signs were much more subtle. But it still sucks that it took so long to figure out; when I finally was diagnosed with a learning disability the tester included all sorts of recommendations for accommodations that would have been incredibly helpful in school. Even simple things like larger fonts and less visual stimuli on worksheets would have helped a lot.

Idk, it's just frustrating sometimes, because I really think early interventions for some of this stuff would have made a really big difference in my quality of life as a kid. Especially occupational therapy for my sensory issues, because that was causing the most distress, and has continued to cause significant distress to this day. My parents didn't know anything about anything, so there was never any kind of intervention like OT or a sensory diet or anything like that, but gosh it would have been huge for me. Heck, even owning a weighted blanket would have been helpful as a kid (I have one now). I know there wasn't nearly as much awareness of things like that 20 years ago, but some of my problems were a) being pointed out by teachers and b) just generally very obvious, and a little bit of research would have gone a long way. Instead I was just written off as a sensitive kid, which like, yeah, true! But there were reasons for that! Sigh.

[jigglypuff1994]

The Devil Wears Gabriel Chapter 11

The weeks went by without any more job slip-ups. Yes, of course, Gabriel was being his usual charming self. Never smiling. Never praising. No pats on the back. No 'job well done''s. Gabriel hadn't said anything regarding her overnight change, but Marinette didn't mind; she knew she was killing it. If she wanted love and praise, she had friends and family for those things. Here at Gabriel, she was here to prove to herself that this job isn't merely a job - it's a transformative, lifechanging experience.

Marinette wasn't going to shy away or complain anymore. Chloe was right. Marinette needed to kick it up into high gear and make sure everyone knew that Marinette Dupain-Cheng was the fucking GOAT.

Coincidentally, there were a less and less akumas as the weeks went on as well. Practically none. Rena Rouge had picked up the role of interim leader/scheduler of patrols. Ladybug had to take a backseat as her civilian-self became slammed with work. With the summer line being released within the next few weeks, everything had become a crisis at Gabriel.

Which is why today, she was ecstatic that it was Saturday, and not only was it Saturday, but it was also Nathalie's turn to babysit the boss over the weekend. Which meant Marinette was able to drink to her hearts content and finally get some one on one with her friends. Finally. How did three weeks feel like a lifetime? Seriously, she deserved a break at this point. She was working herself to the ground.

Marinette and Luka were doing better. She did try to go out of her way to check in on him during the day. She'd text and call him on her breaks or when she had downtime. She was trying to find balance in their relationship and work on the shortfalls that led to his resentment toward her. So far, so good. Placating is good. Whatever works to keep this relationship alive and well. Luka was so great, right? He's patient and a fantastic lover. What more could a girl want?

Although she could go without his chastising comments or his snide sarcasm about her job. It's not like she criticizes him for working a lot! He needed to cut her some slack.

And, more importantly, why does she keep thinking about another blonde man with kind green eyes and a winning smile? Ugh. Now she had two blonde men in her life making her relationship more complicated than it needed to be. Chat Noir already took up room in her heart; I mean, her kitty would always come first. She could never sacrifice their relationship. And now, Adrien Agreste was creeping his way into her life with his tanned skin and smooth lines. Really, how did she end up in this situation?

[norcumii]

Thank you all for participating in the poll/meme thing!

(No, seriously, I expected maybe a dozen responses, and I am delighted and slightly terrified right now. <333)

I was good and didn't vote myself, so that was several surprises for me. I didn't know what to expect, but Killmonger’s lifechanging fieldtrip with Zuko wasn't it. ^_^;;

So as a treat, here's a snippet from stuff I've already written. Thanks, all!

***

She was polite enough – for Toph – and stayed out of the way. She kept to the edge of the beach, practicing earthbending with one foot on grass and the other digging into the sand while making disgusted faces.

Zuko was able to ignore her, and he followed the ritual’s motions with exacting precision. He was careful and deliberate in pronouncing the archaic syllables to the invocation, nailing exactly what the historians had written.

Their transcriptions, however, had not been entirely correct. So when Zuko bent fire to ignite the wood, an inferno shot skyward –

and just a little bit to the left.

elsewhere

Johnny Storm yelped in astonishment as a bolt of fire blazed through the sky, brushing right past him. He could swear he could feel something weird, a buzzing all along his skin and some kind of fluctuation to his own flames, but his flight path didn’t even waver. He stopped mid-air, trying to figure out where the fire had come from, and where the heck it had gone, but...nothing. Not even a heat trail he could follow.

Great. All he needed was brand new fire-based hallucinations. He was not about to have that conversation with the others. If no one noticed anything weird, he was gonna put it down to his imagination, make a note somewhere on a calendar or something, and forget about it unless something relevant came along to bite them on the ass. “Not my problem,” he muttered under his breath, swooping back towards Central City.

elsewhere, +1

The fire continued on, sliding between realities. Almost. That last one had almost been right. It had the form of fire, but not the essence. Too much air, all flight and desire.

A little to this side, and a similar man burned almost as bright, but even more of air.

A few universes to the other side, though – there. There was a man, physically like the first. He was not on fire; he was meat and bones instead of human-shaped inferno, but his soul was not centered around air.

This one, though – this one’s mind and heart burned so bright with ambition and rage and righteous pain that meat and bone should be ashes.

This was indeed a spirit of fire. This would do.

~end bit

[churchofthpl]

an elaboration of sorts

(this one doesn't rhyme;

most of them don't, but

the one before the last one did

and that's the one that this one

is a sort of extension of)

i see them in everything,

and i could talk about it for hours.

my list of examples is endless.

some of them have cool stories;

some of them don't, but

they still have a place of utmost importance

in my heart.

here are ten of them.

one; she is that feeling i got when i listened to the safety dance by men without hats for the first time. i was twelve years old. i'd been a fan of the ramones for a while, i was getting into other bands in their scene, i knew punk rock, i knew what it was like to be heard by music. the safety dance was different; it was like my future self was being heard. a future self in which i was happier and i had more freedom than i did aged twelve and i felt free to love and be loved back.

two; he is the mural of a swan on the side of my dream college. when i went for an initial visit - the same visit that caused me to apply before even leaving the building - i arrived twenty minutes early to my show-around, so i was stood outside. in front of the main entrance is a huge painting of a swan. i remember sitting on one of the benches opposite it and just looking over every detail and admiring the effort that went into it. i am working my ass off to get my grades up so i can go to that college.

three; they are the first pair of earrings i ever got. i got my earlobes pierced at claire's when i was six years old. they were tiny studs with aqua-coloured gems on them. they lasted a little over a year before seven-year-old cecile took them out. they were really pretty. i still have them somewhere.

four; she is the rocky horror picture show poster on my wall. it's "camp", thank you very much, though my cat seems to be afraid of it.

five; he is the folder of drawings i did as a child. the last time i saw my dad, i was twelve years old, and the last gift he ever gave me was a folder of every piece of art i did as a child that he kept. my best friend at the time joked that i should burn them. i thought about it, very briefly - i kept them. i kept them until i moved out of the apartment. they got lost in the moving, as did a lot of things, because my apartment was cleared out entirely only a couple of weeks after my mom's passing, so there were a lot of things i wasn't in the headspace to remember to take. i never got around looked through the folder.

six; they are the storm that england got a couple of weeks ago. there were tornado warnings in towns only a couple of cities over from me, and though i didn't say anything because it felt silly, i was terrified. the winds were so loud i could hardly hear myself breathe, and the rain was flooding my garden. i stood in my porch and recorded it, deciding that joking about it would calm my nerves a little. (they were there when i sent these recordings to a group chat.)

seven; she is the pair of scissors that were used when i got my first masculine haircut. i was at a point where i didn't know if i was a transgender boy or a butch. it's funny to look back on, because between then and now, i have gone through 'phases' and experiments with my gender and presentation, i have identified as multiple things, and i am back here, now, yet again not sure if i am ftm or a butch.

eight; he is the first muji pen i ever bought. it was a lifechanger. i need to go out and buy some more soon - i wonder if ryman is open on a sunday? they're my favourite brand of pen to use. almost all of my poems that are in notebooks have been in muji pens. all of my handwritten essays have been in muji pens that had the labels ripped off by the invigilators (you know, just in case i printed the answers in japanese onto a pen label and stuck it on the pen).

nine; they are the copy of gloom that i stole from my old group counsellor's office back when i first got transferred to my current school. i only did it because i thought the box looked cool and i was a bit of a kleptomaniac. he never asked for it back. since then, i've taught myself to play, and gloom is my favourite card game of all time.

ten; she is - above all else, i suppose - the first thing i smile about every morning. no, seriously. that's not even me being sappy. i check my phone first thing every morning, and she's always the first notification i read.

[lakesbian]

okay so now we know what song/s you don't like for Taylor, what song/s do you like? (i am personally partial to "pieces of me" and "secret identity" both by aviators)

see the thing about me is that my music taste is near entirely '80s and '90s dad rock, which means that i am not a fantastic source of wormsong recs. aerosmith does not unfortunately have any taylorcore hits!

will be real pieces of me is not serving anything particularly taylor to me but secret identity works well enough. "it's a ghost in the code of my being/and it's coming for you this time" very much giving queen administrator ♥

as for my own few choices:

hope in the air by laura marling. gold morning, To Me, and also wormcore in general, To Me.

"Pick up your rope, Lord, sling it to me If we are to battle, I must not be weak And give us your strength, world, and your food, and your water Oh, I am your savior, your last serving daughter There's hope in the air There's hope in the water But sadly not me Your last serving daughter"

khepri. you agree.

obligatory obvious spiral of ants by lemon demon. obligatory kiss me son of god. etc.

SPRORGANISM by superorganism. also khepri. get it because she's. she's a superorganism.

"Put your mind in my brain and you'll see Everything is better when you're everything"

"A superorganism is a creature Made up of many different individuals Thanks to technological systems You are me, and I am you We are tied together into a single processing system Together we are an amazing superor— When I grow up, I need to be A superorganism, come on give it to me Are you aware? Are you alone with the taste Of architectures forming from my acid waste? It wasn't right for you to refuse It's okay, now you're part of the only thing alive Everybody needs to be a superorganism"

Khepri! You Agree!

more bad times by the presents of the united states of america is Thee undersiders/taylor song to me. like:

"You twisted your ankle I carried you You got a divorce So I married you You fell off a cliff So I buried you I wish there were more bad times to see you through"

"I'd rather gather your bones Than mop up this mess If I scrub us all spotless I'll wreck our success I was holding your hand When it fell on the floor When you left you broke the knob on the door I wish there was more"

they've all been fucked over by the system or by the adults that were supposed to care for them. they form lifechanging bonds in their brief time together. but they still never really got to connect outside of crisis scenarios, and hell, they probably wouldn't have connected if they weren't constantly in crisis scenarios together. despite that, when the chips were down, they were always in each others corners. no matter what else she's doing, when shit hits the fan, taylor is a de facto undersider. and the time they have together is still so tragically short, and entirely comprised of Bad Times! they'd rather keep committing to the batshit track of their lives (rather gather each others bones) than back out (mop up the mess)! when taylor leaves she breaks the knob off the door, and they all wish there had been just a few more Bad Times together. like they are each others Most fucking important and formative relationships as teenagers and they still can't go "ah good times" and reminisce. they've gotta go "wish there were more bad times to see you through." it's so fucking sad. it rocks.

ok this is getting a bit long so that's all for now. i'd say "hope these offerings r winners" but the important part is just that they cannot humanly be worse choices than boys will be bugs

[geffenrecords]

u should give ME recs of the bands u like

srry i take 4ever but OF COURSE 💪

first of main recommendation 4ever is flatsound I KNOW he has popular stuff but he gets me like no one else my bff since i was like 13. he gets a bit overbearing and a bit like. idk too much occasionally buttttt i pgive him a pass. generally id recommend anything from his 2011 album "i clung to you hoping we'd both drown", GOOD SHIT on there but scotland i wish you had stayed/last minute cycle/four songs for losing you/if we could just pretend/losing intrerest and the trust i had in you r all reallly good. heat death, eight months, computer wound, soap, prayer beads, syrup, old lumina, i lost control, meow meow meow, last minute cycle, im so concerned about the ending that i dont even know the plot, cute stuff like that. theres probably more but thats just off the top of my head. idek. he has some good instrumental albums too :)

speaking of if u like instrumental stuff -> BUCKETHEAD. HIII. hes so funny i love him my fav album by him is colma my mom and dad used to play it in the car all the time and it still makes me cry. i wouldnt say his stuff is lifechanging but i use it for bg drawing noise all the time and its sweet stuff + hes really really fun to watch live and play. cool guy.

be your own pet is. well honestly im not relly sure what they are but they are fun ive only listened to their one album and it wasn't the best but it doesnt need to be. theyre so loud i need like ibuprofen if i ever listen to it full length again but the 2 songs by them i really really like are "stairway to heaven" (not a led zep cover) and "bog" (if my chem did a cover of this it would be unbelievably lifechanging).

megadeth I WILL RECCOMEND TO YOU idk if ur a metal person but uhmm give it a shot ? i dont really know how to say this in a good way so here. i think dave mustaine would really strike a note with you. in some aspects. HES FUNNY WEIRD ! and also hes really all you need yto know about them. they've switched out sm guys just keep him in mind. my fav lineup is peace sells bc chris poland was sweet looking and i just like gar samuelson for no discernable reason. they had a good ass bass player with GOOD ASS basslines but well he fucked that up! i honestly have no idea whos even in the band now. im basic w them i like rust in peace a lot and so far so good so what. they generally have a good few songs every album, enough for you to buy it but id never say theres like. an actual ass album thats like. i like every single song on it forever. SRRY LOL but i do really like his voice. song picks for them would be hook in mouth, 502, into the lungs of hell, honestly anything from rust in peace (ESP dawn patrol), peace sells title track, good mourning/black friday, n whatever else. im not the biggest fan of them but they have some good stuff. first album isnt bad either :o

KITTIE you should try rn. im fake i only listen to their first album but im working on it...lol. a bunch of 14 year old girls who met in highschool gym class and said hey lets make a band and well. it actually turned out super good. theyve also had sooooo many lineup changes idek but listen to the entirety of spit and the title track for until the end.

for a real dumb stupid emo band -> nightmare of you. i STILL ALSO havent listened to their other album but their self titled is very cute lol. theyre sooo fucking cheesy and stupid but theyre so fun. saw a pic of mikeyway with the lead singer once and also i reccomend watching their music vids bc theyre funny as FUCK. songs picks are thumbelina, my name is trouble, why am i always right?, i want to be buried in your backyard, and in the bathroom is where i want you. silly.

one of my favs ever EVANESCENCE. or at least their fallen album )are u noticing a pattern yet). i used to drive around and have that one playing on repeat like literally for weeks straight i luvv her sm. going under, whisper, tourniquet, and imaginary are the top Hits from there.

also im not sure if you want like mcr or fob hits BUT ill give them to you because i have the best ever taste are years of soul bonding with them. mcr hits -> drowning lessons, our lady of sorrows, headfirst for helos, early sunsets, best day ever, CUBICLES, helena, to the ed, not okay, interlude, fashion statement, cemetary drive, i never told you, dead, how i disappear, sharpest lives, i dont love you, famous last words, bulletproof heart, only hope for me, save yourself, SCARECROW, boy division, ambulance, heaven help us, burn bright. fob hits -> grenade jumper, patron saint of liars & fakes, sixteen candles, our lawyer made us change the name, 7 minutes in heaven, get busy living, im like a laywer, HUM HALLELUJAH, golden, after life of the party, youre crashing, ive got all this ringing in my ears, DISLOYAL ORDER, shes my winona, headfirst slide, 27, w.a.m.s and west coast smoker. srry people are about to get on my ass but i dont care very much for their stuff post hiatus. I DONT THINK ITS BAD its just not for me. i listen to it with simone all the time though it has my respect blah blah blah.

okay i hope that waz good enuf for you. have fun <3

[shanie]

I actually thought that Moffat’s Xmas specials were better than the ones that came before them. I mean RTD really did like this idea of 10 having to stop an alien threat to London every single Xmas. And Moffat’s first special was wildly different from that formula with “A Christmas Carol” - though “The Doctor, Widow, and the Wardrobe” was a clunker, and “Time of the Doctor” should’ve been a 2 parter. But all of the 12th Doctor Xmas specials are my faves bc they’re so wildly different from each other - and one of them actually features Santa. And each of them are excellent

OK, so the thing of RTD's habit of Aliens invading London every Christmas... it was annoying but in a way I'll forgive it because it gave us an excuse to have Wilf, who then got written into the show full time. I will trade the goofiness of endless London invasions for the gem that was Wilf. He was worth it. But as for the episodes themselves, A Christmas Carol was a brilliant idea. Loved that. Everything about that episode was a breath of fresh air. Probably my all time favorite Christmas Special I've watched it so many times AND I made a music video about it. But the 12th doctor specials were some of my favorites. Doctor Mysterio wasn't the best episode overall but some of the elements were so friggin brilliant that I couldn't help but love it. The "Mr. Huffle Feels Pain" thing like, I don't know HOW that worked so well but I would have folded like tissue paper for Mr. Huffle too. And the idea that the whole plot is because the kid ate the stones, NO REALLY KID I FEEL THAT SO MUCH. Twice Upon a Time made me feel SO MUCH. I didn't realize how much I needed to see the 1st Doctor again until that episode and any excuse to put Mark Gatiss on my screen makes me happy. The Husbands of River Song? MY HEART. OMG I CRIED LIKE A CHILD WITH THE DOCTOR ON THAT ONE. Seriously, I thought knowing how River's story would end would soften the blow. NOOOOPE PAIN CITY. Just, epic. And so emotional. And Last Christmas? You'd never think that would have worked but it did and OMG I'M GLAD IT DID. Somehow fun as hell AND terrifying as hell, all at the same time, and the fact that it gave us just enough closure to Danny's storyline that we could move on? Perfect. Just PERFECT. Basically, I 100% agree with you. I personally think Moffat gets a bad wrap and people think of him as worse than he really was. Did he have some stinkers? SURE he did. But so did RTD. Fear Her and The Idiot's Lantern, anyone? Meanwhile, Moffat gave us all of Season five, the lifechanging 11th Doctor monologue from The Rings of Akhaten, plus he gave us probably the most poignant moment in all of Doctor Who history, the scene with Vincent in the museum. I don't think anything Doctor Who did before that has touched me as deeply as that (Being a person with severe mental illness) and I double anything will ever again.

[cain-shuga]

i woke up at 5:48 am and had the kind of abrupt realization you only have in the middle of the night, except it wasn't anything lifechanging i just think i know who the killer in disco elysium is

[space-malex]

okay i really just need to say my opinion. i hate when people say it's wrong to act like the threesome never happend when the narrative actually drops it. i've seen people say it's doing the characters dirty by not acknowledging it when the characters are being written as if it never happend. for me the only way i can still like maria, and i do. is by trying to not think about the threesome that's true for malex to to still love them is to know the threesome wasn't some epric lifechanging part 1

ance between the three of them. becuase it wasn't and some people don't wanna exept it was that pure and lovely. people should be allowed to not acknowledge for their own sanity. just like other people would let people enjoy the threesome i just wish this fandom would let people like what they like for me it felt out of charcter for all of them not just maria. it was even more out of chaacter for alex to except. and yes their are bisexual men who have threesome but this is different part 2

becuase if they wanted to portray i bisexual man who likes having threesome that would be realistic but they didn't do that. they wrote a man who's very monogamous when he actually tries to have a relationship. if they truly wanted to pull of the threesome they should of went with writing him as a guy who's liked threesome in the past. instead of feeding into a bisexual stereotype part 3

Look anyone who enjoys it- that’s their right to do so. But to act like it amounted to anything more that a “shocking” moment explicitly designed to make people talk is simply ridiculous. That is all it meant. That is it. You are free to enjoy it, but it didn’t really mean anything and I think people are free to pretend like it didn’t happen because the show is doing the same thing.

[itslovelyokayy]

Moving On - Stardew Valley Fanfiction

Chapter One: Breath of Fresh Air

Summary: Denver recently moved into her grandfather's old farm. Wanting a fresh start, away from her old life and the person she used to be, she uprooted everything and moved to Pelican Town. In hopes she can grow as a person, she throws herself into this new life, although her old life is still tugging at her sleeve.

Word Count: 2,098

Warnings: Swearing? Nothing more, yet!

A/N: Back into the writing scene! Currently obsessed with Stardew Valley, so here's the first chapter of my latest work. I'll probably also be posting up some one-shots as time goes on, so if you like my work or if there's any prompts you wanna see written out, feel free to hit me up. Thanks, lovelies! 🖤

~

After a long day of planting the first Springtime crops, Denver knew it was time to call it a day. This farmer life was still new to her, and several hours of preparing the soil, planting the seeds, and clearing out some of the fields has her absolutely beat. She steps into her new home, kicks off her work boots by the front door, and sits with her back against the wall.

Letting out a sigh, her mind starts reeling. Was this the right decision? Do I really belong here? Should I have stayed closer to dad?

Just a month ago, she pulled out that lifechanging letter from her grandfather. Her job at Joja was draining, coming home to an empty apartment night after night had her questioning her decisions. But was this the right choice? After giving her past boss that two week notice and packing up everything she owned, she made the difficult decision to move out to Pelican Town, leaving her father back in the city.

She knew he'd be fine; after all, he wasn't home too often. Happily traveling within his career, he always had different adventures keeping him busy. Denver, on the other hand? Wake up, work, sleep, repeat. She knew it was time to step out of her comfort zone and try something new. She had visited this small town when she was a child, but always believed she was meant to be in the city. Now that she's been here a couple days and met a couple kind faces, she's second guessing everything.

She checks her phone for the time, and it's only 5pm, though her aching muscles would lead her to believe otherwise. She stands up, dusting off her jeans, and decides it's about time to head out to the town. After stepping into the bathroom, she takes a couple minutes to take her long brown hair out of the Dutch braids and change into a clean outfit before starting the long walk to the town. She passes by her beloved Jeep, deciding she's already used to long walks anyways, and continues on.

Stepping into the Stardrop Saloon, Gus smiles at her from behind the bar. "Denver! Nice to see you, can I get you anything to drink?" His genuine smile makes anyone in the saloon immediately feel safe and cared for.

"Hey Gus! Can I just get a water for now?" She says with a smile, as she takes a seat at the corner of the bar. A quick scan around the room shows Mayor Lewis and Marnie across the room, a couple unfamiliar faces enjoying food and drinks, and to her right, another room with curtains covering the entryway. A VIP room, in this small town? she wonders. She'd seen many in different bars back in Zuzu, so it doesn't sound completely unbelievable.

Her thoughts are interrupted by a woman with short blue hair behind the bar, "Hey hon'! You must be the new farmer."

"Do I stand out that much?"

"Oh no, not at all! You know what they say about gossip in small towns." She chuckles lightly, setting down a glass of water with a slice of lemon. "We don't see too many new faces around here, at least until the fair. I'm Emily, by the way!"

"It's nice to meet you Emily, and thanks!" She takes a sip of the water as Emily lays a menu in front of her.

"Just let me know if you wanna order anything!" She says over her shoulder as she makes her way out from behind the bar and around to other tables.

Studying the menu, Denver hears the front door open and footsteps right behind her. She slightly jumps and turns around, to see someone walking past her to the end of the bar. The guy leans against the wall, "Just the usual," he says to Emily before shoving his hands in his pockets and taking a look around the room. Apparently, Denver was staring a tad too much, because their eyes met after a moment. "Need something?" He says to her, a snarky tone in his voice.

Denver's eyes shoot to her hands on the bar, embarrassingly. "My bad," she mutters under her breath, as she starts reading the menu again. The strange guy scoffs slightly under his breath while Emily places a beer down for him.

"Shane, could you try not scaring off the new farmer?"

Denver looks up to meet her eyes, and gives a shy smile. "Oh, it's okay. Uhm... Can I just get some spaghetti, please?"

Emily agreed, and continued along with her work. Denver sat quietly thinking to herself until the spaghetti was placed in front of her, and she got to eating. A few yells are heard from behind her, in the direction of the closed-off room. Shane groans, "And..here..they..come."

Denver looks over to him, "What do you-" and is cut off by three people around her age bursting into the room, all yelling excitedly. The first is a girl with long purple hair, turned around facing a guy with long black bangs barely sticking to his forehead. The girl is laughing, while the guy is rolling his eyes, "That was just a lucky shot, we all know that." He pushes past the girl and heads out the front door, pulling something out of his jacket pocket.

The third is the tallest of them all, with blonde hair sticking up in all directions. His emerald eyes were lit up as he was bent over laughing at the first two, clutching his stomach as he stumbled over to the bar. He set his hand down and waved with the opposite, "I'll be out in a second guys!" He turned to the bar, leaning on both elbows right next to Denver. "Hey Em! Can I get one more beer before we head out?"

Emily laughs, raising an eyebrow, "Are you sure you should be heading home drunk, Sam?"

He waves her off, "It's a Friday night, we're just having some fun! Plus, I'm totally fine, watch this," he quickly spins around, elbowing Denver in the shoulder. He immediately turns around, holding onto her shoulder. "Oh shit, my bad! You alright?"

He's staring into her soul, it feels like. His bright green eyes are wide with concern, and now she's realizing she's staring too long... "Yeah! Yeah, you're totally fine. No worries."

Skeptically, he stares for just a moment longer before reaching into his pocket. "Here Em, lemme get one for me and one for the fresh face, too." He winks at her, and she rolls her eyes. "Alright Sam, I don't wanna hear it if you cause any trouble."

Denver's still staring, "So...you're Sam?"

"Sam, I am!" He flashes a proud smile.

Emily was quick with the beers, and places one in front of each of them. They each grab them, and he turns to Denver and clinks their glasses together. The two each take a sip, "And you're new around here. You got a name?"

A small smile pulls at the corners of her lips, "You could say that. It's Denver."

"Well Denver, you should come hang out for a bit! Unless it's past your bedtime?"

"I mean, Emily sure seems worried that it might be past your curfew."

"Ohhh, you have no idea." He laughed before downing the rest of his beer in one quick drink. "I'll be outside, come on out!" He pulled a couple of gold coins out of his pocket, flipping them onto the counter, before rushing out of the bar.

Denver grabbed the glass, drinking most of the beer quickly.

Shane chuckled, "Damn, a girl after my own heart."

She blushed lightly, finishing the rest in one full take, paid up for her meal and tipped Emily, and walked out the front door.

As she pushed the door open, she heard a thud. The girl with the purple hair groaned, "Oh man, gonna feel that in the morning," as she rubbed her head.

"Oh my god, sorry! You good?" Denver crouched down to meet her eyes.

The girl looked up, "Oooh, I saw you at the bar! New farmer down the road, right?" Denver nodded in response. "I'm Abigail! This is Sebastian, and the idiot on the skateboard is Sam. Don't tell me you're leaving already! You totally gotta join us for a round of pool!"

Sebastian stood up from the front step he was sitting on, "Abby, we should all get heading home anyways. Sam will hurt himself if he keeps trying to do...whatever he's doing, and I don't need anymore shit from Demetrius right now."

Denver tucked a tuff of hair behind her ear, "Yeah, I gotta get heading out for now anyways. Maybe next time? I need to buy Sam a beer sometime anyways." She glanced over at the blonde, trying to perfect his kickflip, but instead, his skateboard flies from under him, sending him to the ground and the board into a planter.

Sebastian rolls his eyes, while Abigail bursts into laughter. "You imbecile! What did Sebastian just say?" Running over to him and offering a hand up, Sam places his hand behind his neck while his face turned a light shade of pink.

"Yeah, you're probably right... Abby, you gotta take your test in the morning!"

Abigail's eyes widened, "Oh shit, I totally forgot!" She pushed herself up off the ground, stumbling down the steps past Sebastian in a hurry.

Sebastian stands up behind her, "Hey, I'll walk you home. I have some work to finish up tonight anyways, so I should probably get going too."

Sam waved, "Alright you two, catch you both later!" The two waved over their shoulders and walked away.

"I should probably get heading home, too," Denver broke the silence. "I've got so much work to do, and I wanna get everything comfortable as soon as possible."

The blonde is grabbing his skateboard out of the planter, "Well let me walk you home! Follow me this way!"

"No no, that's not-"

"Don't argue with me! I gotta get to know my newest competition in pool."

He's walking across the town square, so Denver follows. He leans his skateboard against a house, and he presses a finger to his lips, "Be quiet through here," He whispers. "This is my place, I don't wanna wake up my brother or mom." Denver nodded, and continued to follow Sam past the house and through a small opening in the fence.

After past the houses, Sam turned to her, "So, Pelican Town? Why?"

"Oh, uh.. Family farm, I guess. New start to life."

They took their time walking back to the farm, casually talking about how they both moved here from the city, Sam describing some of the other residents here in town, and just simply chatting. By the time they reached the worn down farmhouse, they checked the time, and noticed it has been nearly an hour since they left the bar.

"Well shit, guess I gotta start heading home now." He stumbled slightly as he spoke, an improvement from his steps the whole walk over.

"You sure you don't need a water before you go?"

"Uh... Sure, if you don't mind, real quick."

Denver shuffled around in her pockets for her keys, unlocking the door and hurrying into the house. She grabbed a glass from a cabinet, filled it with water from the sink, and walked back to see Sam sitting on the front steps, his head leaning against the rail.

"Hey, you okay?" She asked softly, sitting down next to him.

He sighed, "Yeah, all good." He stared off at the sky for a moment, before turning to face her and grab the glass. He thanked her before taking a sip, and turned to state at the sky once more.

Her eyes followed, softly exhaling as her eyes lit up. She hadn't noticed it yet since moving to the valley, but the stars and moon lit up the entire sky, leaving a soft cast of light across the entire field in front of her. The city was always so lively, people busy and bustling at all times, that even if someone slowed down for a moment to look at the sky, they wouldn't see quite as many stars as are visible here. Taking just this short moment, with a new, kind person siting next to her, is such a breath of fresh air.

Sam sighs, "Thanks for the water, Denver. I'll see you soon, okay?"

She smiled back at him, "Yeah, see you soon."