Our Great Divide - Master List
It's what they'd hoped would happen for years. For a decade it's what they would talk about late at night whilst snuggled up in bed together, quiet voices whispering about a life where Jack and Haley came back, where Jack could meet his siblings and their family would finally feel complete. Now it was finally happening, Emily had a pit in her stomach. A heavy weight made of fear and guilt as she worried that this could actually be the thing that tore them apart.
A Foyet Arc AU
-x-
Warnings: Pregnancy, mentions of abortion, angst, complicated emotions
Chapter 1- When I'm Above the Trees
Chapter 2 - Eyes Leak Acid Rain
Chapter 3- Haunted by the Look in My Eyes
Chapter 4 - Beyond the Terror in the Nightfall
Chapter 5 - The Blood and Bruise, the Curses and Cries
Chapter 6 - Your Beautiful Fool
Chapter 7 - I Can't Face Reinvention
Chapter 8 - Leave it All Behind
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A Precariously Stacked Pile of Random Season 2 Thoughts
These are notes I took as I watched the season. Usually after I’d already posted about the episode in question, and I thought of something I would have added to the post. Rather than edit them into my posts, I’m rounding them up and posting them all at once. As such, they are vaguely chronological. Unfortunately, because I made the notes legible to me and me only, I didn't bother to write down what episode I was referring to. I've also added some notes in as I was editing these notes. So this is also a bit of a scavenger hunt. Enjoy!
Iroh poisoning himself: dumbass moment or 5D chess?
My autocorrect corrects “Sokka” to Sock, and “Sokka’s” to socks. This causes double takes when editing.
Badgermoles have excellent eyeliner. Is that where the Kyoshi Warriors get their jaw dropping cat eye?
Why is Ty Lee spelled Ty Lee and not Tai Li?
Why is Dai Li spelled Dai Li and not Dy Lee?
Sometimes Sokka makes me think of Mulan. Am I crazy?
Are the swampbenders’ moves based on a real martial art style too?
Why didn’t Aang use his swamp sense to locate Appa post-appanapping?
Where did Toph, who spent her whole life as a prisoner of her parents’ house and a moonlighting WWE wrestler until Team Avatar busted her out, get such emotional intelligence?
Why did Zuko’s dad put forward the plan to disinherit Iron in favour of him less than 24 hours after Lu Ten’s death? Why did he think that moving quickly was the right approach? Does the Fire Nation not do grieving periods? In what world was 'strike while the iron is hot' the correct course of action here?
Looking back, I’m amazed that season 2 didn’t end in Zuko’s redemption. I didn’t much like Zuko Alone, but I was sure that a season that included that much set up for a Zuko redemption arc would prioritise finishing that arc.
I haven’t even met this Firelord guy yet, but I am peeved that that twerp has a name as cool as Ozai.
Why haven't I met that Firelord guy yet?
I really thought that the older brother character in Zuko Alone would make an appearance later on in the season, giving Zuko a chance to flex some newly acquired morals. But the parallel to Lu Ten and the general message about the evils of war lands better if we never hear of him again.
Zuko in the first half of season 2 had me so annoyed that I was incredibly uncharitable to him in my write ups. Reading through some of the stuff I wrote while watching episodes, I kind of wince now. Zuko in the second half of the season was much less annoying. Which I feel bad for saying, because he’s clearly not in a good place in the second half of the season.
I would love to know why the writers decided to have Toph and Iroh meet in the wilderness. I think it’s a good choice, but I want to know how they came up with it, and why those characters? Is there anything about Toph (especially at that point, when we’ve known her for 1 episode) that suggests that she and Iroh should meet? Or would get along if they did?
Zuko has so many rock bottom fake outs this season:
Zuko Alone? Nope, he gets worse in The Chase.
The Chase? Nope, he gets worse in Bitter Work.
Bitter Work? Nope, he gets worse in the finale.
I’m still peeved that Azula won a 6 on 1 showdown. Sorry, but that breaks immersion.
I bet the Blue Spirit could make lightning.
If water is the element of change, why does the Northern Water Tribe have such strictly defined traditions? I get that it's literally the element of change, in that water can exist in different physical states, but shouldn't the metaphorical interpretation also be true?
I like that Toph can think like an Airbender sooner than Aang can think like an earthbender.
What is Sokka’s boomerang made of? Is it metal? Because if it’s metal, does that mean that there’s a blacksmith somewhere in the South Pole? With a forge?
I still can’t get over how dumb the whole eclipse plot was.
Suki is TINY!!!
I mocked this guy’s 80s aerobics video leotard aesthetic, and I stand by that mockery, because this guy is ugly. Those colours are awful. But do you know who else has those colours?
Jet this season fascinates me. He’s positioned as genuinely repentant and legitimately seeking a second chance and I don’t believe him for one minute. Why don’t I believe him? This show has a theme of learning from mistakes and doing better, so shouldn’t Jet be a perfect fit for this show’s themes? I should be primed to believe him. And yet I don’t.
I have to applaud Iron’s enthusiasm for their new life in Ba Sing Se. A lot of that cheer (at least before the tea shop) is put on for Zuko’s sake. I don’t know where Iroh gets the energy to keep trying with Zuko after years of minimal results, but I’m glad he does.
I think Aang and Ty Lee should hang out. They have similar circus energy. Or maybe it’s that they’re the only two characters in the show so far who are remotely playful.
Aang = surface silliness, core of calm. Not that the silliness doesn't run deep, but he seems to have an untouchable anchor of calm deep within that rarely gets disturbed. Gyatso raised him well.
~~*~~*~~*~~*~~Poetry bouncer ~~*~~*~~*~~*~~
I need next season to have more Appa & Mono subplots à la their escapades in The Swamp. Not à la Momo’s Tale.
Tales of Ba Sing Se definitive ranking:
Momo
Aang
Sokka
Zuko
Iroh
Katara & Toph
I love that Momo still sleeps in the Momo bag from The Blind Bandit
Are Suki and her warriors sitting in the middle of some Earth Kingdom forest in their underwear?
So are Smellerbee and Longshot just done? Will they be back in season 3? What happens to their life now? They are known associates of an enemy of the state who was just executed. It doesn't look good.
Everyone on this show has big ears. Zuko has the smallest ears simply because he has the least amount of ears remaining. But everyone else? Big ears.
Can I have more Gyatso? I forgot how cool he was. More Guru too please.
Hakodilf.
Everyone in the SWT has such wonderfully fluffy hair.
I like Sokka’s boots. Southern Water Tribe boots in general.
If this is the grand total of the SWT, I have some bad news about population dynamics.
Is there a proper naval term for what the SWT are doing? They’re a stealth strike force that seems to be going after individual enemy ships, using both direct and indirect tactics. Not pirates, because as far as we know they aren't going for FN supplies. They're doing what submarines do, but above water. There’s got to be a proper name for that.
Is there a raft of FN corpses chilling in the waters in front of the NWT's big wall?
I saw ATLA described as a show where all the characters are Asian-inspired people of colour, but isn’t Suki a blue-eyed redhead?
I had no idea that you could decline an Agni Kai. Zuko should have done that.
Why are the Dai Li so in love with Azula? I get that they're pissed with Long Feng for getting arrested, but wouldn't the logical choice be to direct their loyalties to the Earth King rather than a wildcard princess? I'm not going to pretend for a minute that the Dai Li are loyal to the Earth Kingdom or to Ba Sing Se, but the Earth King is a known quantity. Seems to me that it would be easier for them to re-puppetify him, rather than a FN princess.
Katara & Zuko bonding over their missing mothers is the same “makes sense until you think about it for five seconds” as Song & Zuko bonding over losing their fathers to war. Technically the same, sort of, on paper, but actually kind of rude to equate them once you know the full story. Same with the parallel between Lu Ten and the older brother in Zuko Alone. The proper dead mom parallel is Katara and Jet. Although Katara doesn’t object to the Zuko comparison, so I have no grounds to do so.
I’m really glad that Katara didn’t remove Zuko’s scar with her spirit oasis water. Both because she kind of really needed that water, but also because one thing this show has always done right is permanence. No quick fixes, no fake outs, no take backs. Lu Ten is dead, and he stays that way. Princess Yue is the moon, and she stays that way. Half a dozen people’s moms are dead, and they stay that way. Aang is the last Airbender, and he stays that way. Zuko is scarred, and he stays that way. There are no hand waves, no easy fixes. All the characters can do is learn to live with it, and go forward. And I’m grateful the show is like that, because that permanence, as well as being a good lesson to learn, functions as a reward for audience investment.
Aang did come to a crossroads of destiny in the finale, chose his duties to the world over his friends, and got aggressively slapped down for it. I have a feeling that he’ll take the wrong lesson from that, since he was already inclined to shun that path.
Overall Season 1 was prettier.
Ty Lee was the cause of more than one Beat Up Sokka Quota fulfillment this season. Make of that what you will.
Will Zuko & Azula spend season 3 bouncing between the FN and Ba Sing Se? They could be heavily involved with establishing the FN governance over Ba Sing Se, since the city is already inclined towards royalty.
Favourite episode this season? The Guru.
The Blind Bandit and The Swamp are tied for second place.
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KISSIN' BOOKS BY MERRY
Hello! I write queer, medieval romance books - and you can find them below. Currently, I'm working on the Hartswood series, which is three separate, standalone stories with connecting characters.
My books are available wherever books are sold, online, and in ebook/audiobook format.
One Night in Hartswood
Oxford 1360
When his sister’s betrothed vanishes the night before her politically arranged marriage, Raff Barden must track and return the elusive groom to restore his family’s honour.
William de Foucart ― known to his friends as Penn ― had no choice but to abandon his intended, and with it his own earldom, when he fled the night before his enforced marriage. But ill-equipped to survive on the run he must trust the kindness of a stranger, Raff, to help him escape.
Unaware their fates are already entwined, the men journey north. But amidst the snow-capped forests an unexpected bond deepens into a far more precious relationship, one that will test all that they hold dear. And when secrets are finally revealed, both men must decide what they will risk for the one they love…
You can read more about ONIH here!
And browse my ONIH tag here 💖
All the Painted Stars
The first sequel to One Night in Hartswood! Out 28th March in the UK and 5th November in North America.
Oxford 1362
When Lily Barden discovers her best friend Johanna’s hand in marriage is being awarded as a prize at a tournament, she is determined to stop it. Disguised as a knight, she infiltrates the contest to fight for Jo’s hand. But her conduct ruffles feathers, and when a dangerous incident escalates out of Lily’s control, Jo must help her escape.
Finding safety with a local brewster, Lily and Jo soon settle into their new freedom, and amongst blackberry bushes and lakeside walks an unexpected relationship blossoms. But when Jo’s past catches up with her and Lily’s reckless behaviour threatens their newfound happiness, both women realise that choices must always come at a cost...
You can read more about ATPS here!
And browse my ATPS tag here 💜
Watch this space for Hartswood Book 3, aka Ash's Book!
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