#fn challenge

[sugar-petals]

I feel like dramatic classics get done dirty a lot of times. Most of the recommendations are always boring “tailered chic” styles, which would be good for certain work recommendations, but even in my job as an accountant, I don’t have to dress that formally. I don’t even dress for my type bc DCs always keep getting recommended the same boring stuff. I’m more of a casual/street style girly myself.

david kibbe would probably say, "if you can, my elegant dramatic classic lady... go all out... and if you're already an accountant... embody it!" (or something like that) what i would say, and i want to challenge the `what's appropriate for what´ dogma and kibbe recommendation pressure with it:

wanting to dress a way > having to dress a way.

if street style and casual are your thing, maintain it! DC elements can be infused into that. sharp shoulders, tone in tone, geometric shoes. not to mention vintage thrifts, it's a goldmine for gamines and classics. menswear thrifting is perfect for cool DC streetstyle.

also, remember that classic clothes look boring on every other type but classics — and in and of themselves, on the hanger, do feel like the same aesthetic over and over: unless one copies jackie o's actually interesting DC wardrobe. although the "US first lady" trope is... yeah. and who can realistically wear that daily. i prefer kibbe's new DC type epithet ("haute powerhouse"), it's a great name actually.

handy 2025 kibbe type name update chart:

soft gamine's new name is a little too much, soft natural is too limited to magazines here, "deco dynamo" sounds too hilarious for the intimidating dramatic, some new names are missing, but yeah. okay, the old names were more to the point, i can't be the only one? of course, kibbe's TR bias: still "femme fatale". it's the only name that didn't change 😂 i love it. snark aside:

diva/divo chic, spitfire, girl/guy next door, free spirit, dreamspinner, femme/homme fatale, those were right on the money. though, the new ones only settled in on reddit so far, i haven't seen the larger kibbesphere call FN the "nonchalant showstopper" (awkward wording). i hope we maintain the old version, i don't get why he rebranded it all with extra french words.

note how the names used to refer to chic aka style, now it's much more personal identity based. irresistable, belle, elegante, etc. interesting how he goes with the times. "tailored chic" actually gave a pragmatic impression how to dress DC, but at least now you know where the good ole 'DC = bespoke stereotype' comes from. which has its kernel of truth, but names always generalize.

refurbishing DC as a haute couture type is cool actually, which removes some of its office dust. so, the high fashion reference does elevate it to a new level beyond basic tailoring. yes... vaguely classist and aristocratic from kibbe. he always wanted classic and dramatic to be the superior expensive regal hyperfashion categories™ lmao, nothing new, but maybe dupes can help us regular degular kibbe practicioners, and the idea counts.

haute mode -> more options than typical bespoke!

(^to be fair, the movie is more about FG vs FN and literal sweatshops)

meanwhile: in my opinion, it's actually pure classic that is the most highly restricted category, as symmetry and simplicity "need to be maintained always", phew. i wouldn't wanna be a classic dresser myself. dramatic classic still has the benefit of stealing ideas from the dramatic type due to their undercurrent. i think that's where a more refreshing, edgy twist can enter.

chart source

[zuko-always-lies]

Respect and the Zuko-Ozai Agni Kai

"The Storm"

Iroh: Iroh After Zuko's outburst in the meeting, the Fire Lord became very angry with him. [Flashback quickly ends.] He said the challenge against the general was an act of complete disrespect! And there was only one way to resolve this. Iroh: That's right. Zuko looked upon the old general he had insulted and declared that he was not afraid. But Zuko misunderstood... Zuko had spoken out against the general's plan, but by doing so in the Fire Lord's war room, it was the Fire Lord whom he had disrespected. Ozai: You will fight for your honor. Young Zuko: [Frontal shot; kneels on his knees and forearms, while looking at the floor.] I meant you no disrespect. [Gazes up at his father, tears shimmering in his eyes as his voice starts to waver.] I am your loyal son. Ozai[: Far off frontal shot of Zuko as Ozai's shadow and eventually his head come into view.] Rise and fight, Prince Zuko! Ozai: You will learn respect, [Zuko pushes himself up on his knees and hands. Cut to a frontal shot of Zuko as he starts to shake.] and suffering will be your [Zuko looks up at Ozai, tears streaming down his face.] teacher. Iroh: It was no accident. After the duel, the Fire Lord said that by refusing to fight, Zuko had shown shameful weakness. As punishment, he was banished and sent to capture the Avatar. Only then could he return with his honor.

It's interesting to what degree "The Storm" narrative emphasizes the idea that the reason why Ozai dueled and burned Zuko is because Ozai found Zuko's actions disrespectful. It's not about Zuko being "soft-hearted" or "kind" or "anti-imperialist" or even about Ozai looking for an opportunity to get rid of Zuko, it's about Ozai perceiving Zuko's actions as disrespectful. Even the "shameful weakness" is probably partially a problem because Zuko is "disrespecting" the FN tradition of Agni Kai by refusing to fight after he'd agreed to and perhaps partially a problem since Zuko refused to respect Zuko's own honor by fighting to defend it.

Another interesting thing is while Ozai obsesses over Zuko's respect or disrespect, brining it up again in the DoBS, Azula just doesn't care. Unlike her father, she just doesn't care if Zuko is respectful or not. The only thing which matters to her in the end is whether Zuko is loyal or not.

[broadwaybalogna]

Are you in for a very emotional prompt?

Its a challenge.

Katara learns about Iroh's passing and rushes to the FN to comfort him.

Zuko is a mess.

An absolute mess.

Featuring the turtleducks.

Sorry if this is short. I had a long day but still wanted to write a oneshot for today.

-

The day Katara received a letter from the Fire Nation addressing General Iroh’s passing was the same day she left the Southern Water Tribe and took a ship to said Nation.

Katara went running to the castle the moment her ship docked, and pleaded with the castle guards to let her in, proving her credentials as not only a master waterbender, but as Fire Lord Zuko’s friend.

Her arrival was abrupt at worst, and appreciated at best. The servants in Caldera’s castle led Katara to an empty guest room for her to stay in.

She begged the servants to lead her to Lord Zuko, but they declined each time, insisting that he was in no condition to meet with anyone at the moment.

That’s how Katara found herself wandering the halls of the vast castle alone, looking for Zuko’s room in the endless abyss of the castle.

When she finally came across a door decorated with small murals and various gold linings, she was sure she had found Zuko’s room.

She knocked twice, “Zuko?” She whispered into the large door.

A few moments passed before the door finally cracked open.

“No.”

Katara immediately recognized that voice that came from the other side of the door.

“Princess Azula. I apologize, I was looking for Zuko. I didn’t mean to wake you-“

“You didn’t wake me,” Azula cut Katara off, not caring about what the ladder had to say. Azula opened the door wider, and Katara was surprised at the princesses appearance. Her hair was disheveled and her robes looked like they had been worn for days on end without being washed. She had large eye bags and her shoulders sagged. She was anything but the Azula Katara had grown to appreciate after the hundred year war.

Azula and Katara had become friends of sorts, exchanging letters every now and again. Although Katara and Azula had fought against each other in an Agni Kai, the Princess had learned to respect Katara’s bending and vice versa.

“You look…”

“Terrifying? I’m aware.”

There was a long awkward silence between the two girls.

“May I come in?”

“Sure.” Azula opened the door enough for Katara to walk in.

The room reflected Azula’s appearance perfectly. Clothes were thrown around the room as well as other trinkets that were probably given to her after Iroh’s passing.

Both girls took a seat on Azula’s bed.

Then, with no warning, Azula began to cry. It was a weird cry, a cry she had probably never experienced before. Azula had cried in anger, disgust, hell, even joy, but never greif. Azula placed her head in her hands and hunched over her legs that were firmly stuck to the ground.

Katara took a deep breath and began to rub the princess’s back.

“I wasn’t even that close with him,” she said between cries, “but he always tried to be close to me. Always. It was so annoying.”

Katara didn’t speak, she simply let the younger girl let out her emotions as best as she could.

Once Azula’s cries died down and she was finally coherent again, she spoke.

“Is it wrong that I miss him? I never showed that I so much as liked him. But he was still so good to me and Zuzu.”

“Well, did you love him?”

“Well I mean, family’s family, right? Though that’s a shitty argument to use when you’re from this family. I wouldn’t have loved him if the Fire Nation had won the war, that’s for sure.”

“But the Fire Nation didn’t.”

“So… So I guess I might’ve. He was the only other person besides Zuzu who thought I was capable enough to be better.” She sighed.

“You have every right to grieve. No matter what anyone else says, or what those tiny voices in the back of your head may say.”

Azula sniffled, “thanks.”

“Of course.”

“God, I feel so many emotions right now. I hate it.”

Katara let out a small laugh, “yeah, that’ll happen when you lose a family member.” She thought back to her mother and all of her grief surrounding the woman. She never truly got over her mother’s death, it still haunted her. But she had learned to cope, and that seemed to be enough.

“Zuzu is right down the hall. He has the less fancy door,” Azula pointed in the direction of Zuko’s room from where she was. “He needs all the help he can get.”

“No, I don’t want to leave you alone here. Zuko is no more important than you.”

Azula sighed, “he is right now. He’s doing horrible, Katara. He hasn’t left his room in days, he hasn’t eaten a thing, no one even knows if he’s alive. At least I answer my door, you’re gonna have to kick his down if you want to get in there.”

“Are you sure?” Katara asked, “because I’ll stay with you as long as you need.”

“I’ll be fine. Some servant will come in here and give me some ice cream to chow down on soon, so I’m set for the night. It was nice letting that out, though. But don’t you dare tell anyone that happened, or I’ll challenge you to another Agni Kai, and I’ll win.”

Katara smiled. “Okay.”

She walked out of the door with a glass of water in case she needed to break the lock on Zuko’s door. Azula had insisted she would need it.

When she came across the door that could only belong to a Fire Lord, she knocked.

No response.

She knocked again.

“Zuko?” She called, a bit louder than when she was at Azula’s door.

Still nothing.

“Zuko, I have water and can easily get through here if I need to.”

Still nothing.

Katara groaned and took the water that was in the cup Azula gave her. She pushed it under the door and onto the other side of the doorknob before freezing it and breaking it. She pushed the door open to be met with a room that looked like a tornado had gone through it. If Azula’s room was bad, this was catastrophic.

Hundreds of pages of paper were scattered across the room, and a bookshelf had even fallen from the side of one of the walls leaving small wooden shards near it. Mountains of who knows what were everywhere. Katara picked up one of the sheets of paper. The paper was funeral information that had been written then crossed out and written over again before being crumpled and thrown onto the ground. She checked the other sheets of paper to see if they were the same. They were. Each page was filled with possible placed to hold Iroh’s funeral. The fire nation dock, outside near his tea shop, a cathedral. Each one had been exed out and written over with another idea.

Katara continued to scan the room. The only thing Katara couldn’t find was Zuko.

She checked everywhere in the room, but Zuko was no where to be seen. Until, that is, she caught a glimpse of the palace garden from one of Zuko’s windows. The window overlooked a small pond where a young man seemed to be sitting down, motionless. Katara opened the window and called down.

“Zuko?”

The man’s head snapped up and towards Katara. If the large red scar on the man’s face was anything to go by, it was certainly Zuko.

“Katara?” He stammered out, blinking to make sure she was really there.

Katara bender some of the water from the pond to help lower herself onto the garden beneath her.

When she finally reached the ground, she ran to Zuko and engulfed him in a hug.

“I am so, so sorry, Zuko.” She spoke into his ear. He was still sitting on the ground, hunched over the pond, but Katara was on her knees and lowered herself just enough so she was on level with him.

Zuko’s hands slowly made their way around Katara’s back.

“You’re here,” he sighed as he relaxed into her embrace.

“Of course I am.” She responded, hugging him even tighter.

When they finally let go, Katara was able to get a better look at Zuko. His hair was well maintained, which was good, but everything else was terrible. He very clearly hadn’t slept in days, and he wasn’t wearing the crown of the Fire Lord. Had he not spoke or hugged her before, she would have thought he was a corpse.

“What are you doing here?” She asked after a long moment of taking in his figure. Azula was right, he hadn’t eaten since.. well, probably since he got the news.

“I wanted to see the Turtleducks,” he responded, as if it were common knowledge. Katara looked back at the pond to see a small family of Turtleducks swimming around. “Uncle and I would often talk while we fed them.”

Katara took in a deep breath at the mention of Iroh.

“Speaking of,” she slowly started, “how have you been?”

“What does it look like?”

Katara let out another sigh. “I mean in words, Zuko. Have you talked to anyone since- since you heard?”

Zuko swallowed, “no.”

Katara moved to sit closer to the older man, now nearing his mid-twenties. “So tell me. Please, how are you feeling?”

“Katara, I’m feeling terrible. Awful, horrible, every other word under the sun. Is that what you want to hear?”

Katara said nothing, she just waited for him to continue.

There was a very long silence before Zuko spoke again, and it was just barely above a mumble.

“I keep on trying to think about what he would tell me in this sort of situation. But I can’t. It’s all… blank, like I can’t even remember him if he’s not here.”

Katara felt her heard beating in her chest.

“What would be say, Katara? What would he do to make things better?” He spoke louder this time, and he looked into her eyes like he had lost himself, but like when he was sixteen.

“I-“ Katara started, “I don’t know.” She answered as honestly as possible.

“Then why the hell are you even here!?” He yelled as he stood up from beside the pond. Katara followed in suit.

“I’m here for you, Zuko,” She explained as calmly as possible, albeit upset about Zuko’s outburst.

“You can’t help me, Katara. No one can. Not unless they can bring him back. And not even your magic northern water tribe water would be able to do that.”

Katara stood just a foot away from Zuko. The hurt in his eyes were beyond what Katara had seen before. He looked so tired, tired of everything.

Zuko wasn’t normally one to let himself go in fear of letting down his nation, but this was different. This was far beyond ‘personal’, this was the person that shaped Zuko to be everything he was. Every piece of Zuko’s identity had been reconstructed with the help of his Uncle while he was out looking for the avatar, and even when he took over as Fire Lord.

There was something so terrifying about losing the once person who knew everything about you, and that fear had come true.

“You’re right,” Katara finally said, “no one can bring him back. No one can even come close. But I know that right now he’s looking down on you from the spirit realm waiting for you to realize that the only direction you can move is forward. You’ve spent too long working to make your life everything it is, both you and your uncle. You can’t throw that away, not now and not ever.” Katara paused, reaching for the right words to say, “We’ll never truly get over his passing, at least I don’t think. I never got over my mother’s, and neither did Sokka. But each time I look at him I see her, and I see her legacy, her love and pride, and it makes me remember to continue.”

Zuko lowered himself back down beside the pond and Katara did too. Slowly, she moved to sit beside him then take his head in her arm and lay it against her shoulder.

“Please sleep,” she pleaded, “we all need you to sleep.”

Zuko didn’t say anything, but he closed his eyes.

Katara looked over at the Turtleducks in the small pond as they swam.

She looked back to Zuko, then the Turtleducks.

Here.

This is where his funeral would be.

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

In my opinion, one of the worst patterns of the Zutarian fandom is how much they refuse to believe Katara is happy and thriving in her post-canon role. No, she must be neglected, depressed, misunderstood, disempowered until the great Firelord Zuko saves her.

Her relationship with Aang, canonically her best friend? Where they protected each other, laughed and had fun, stood side by side as they faced overwhelming challenges together? Nope, all lies. Aang never understood the real Katara, always neglected her, and she was forced to sacrifice all her dreams and hopes as his love interest.

Her relationship with Sokka , Aang or Toph? Long-suffering Momtara who always did unasked emotional labour that was never reciprocated. They never understood her trauma, pain, or rage; she could never be herself around them.

Especially Aang who she mothered and spoilt; apparently he was a 3-year-old toddler she was forced to take care of against her will.

(even though in literally the 1st episode, Aang sacrifices himself just like Kya did to protect her, and promises to help her achieve her dreams of being a master waterbender.)

Rebuilding the South Pole with Hakoda and her fellow Water Tribe members? She feels trapped and stifled in her role, nobody takes her seriously because she's a woman with opinions.

Then there are the fics where she marries Zuko out of self-sacrificial duty to her tribe.

The fics where she's captured by Zuko as a pawn of war and eventually falls in love with him because he's so brave and honourable.

The fics where she and Zuko start a relationship and Aang is so jealous he stops talking to his canon best friends forever. Toph and Sokka don't care because they never cared about Aang, they were rooting for Zutara from the beginning.

The fics where all her friends and family are so horrified by bloodbending and her dark thoughts that she runs into Zuko's arms where she finally feels understood.

It's so utterly degrading. Why do they hate her so much? Why do they refuse to believe she's happy post-canon? That the only way Katara would ever fall in love with Zuko is because he saves her from a life of utter despair?

WHERE are the fics where Chief Katara of SWT and world diplomat is happy and thriving? And in a decades-long situationship with Zuko because the sex and companionship is good but ew she would never abandon the SWT? And she and Avatar Aang are besties and trade embarrassing stories about Zuko every time he comes to visit?

WHERE are the fics where Kataang break up but remain chill best friends? And Zuko writes Aang 1,000 letters for advice on how to approach Katara because he's an awkward dork? Because Aang is Zuko's best friend as well and a charismatic mf'er who canonically charms people wherever he goes?

WHERE are the fics where Katara feels miserable and trapped in the FN because everyone thinks she's a savage barbarian and she's forced to assimilate in an alien culture? And Mai , Ty Lee, and Azula intimately understand how much pressure she's under; and support her as she decides to leave and travel the world on her own terms?

WHERE are the fics where Zuko and Katara are overwhelmed with their responsibilities and make a wrong decision that ruins people's lives; because they can be stubborn, self-righteous, and quick to anger? And Aang's wisdom, Sokka's pragmatism, and Toph's craftiness bail them out?

I could go on and on. There are so many cool possibilities! Especially since apparenly ONLY Zutarians care about the Real Katara and Zutara is feminist and empowering, and every girl's dream.

But instead, we have this. Cinderella Katara who is rescued from her life of drudgery by the rich, gentle, and kind Zuko Marx. Whisked away to live a FN palace where she'll never be sad again.

Gross.

It also doesn't make their ship look as good as they think it does, since it kind of implies that Katara would only ever have feelings for Zuko if EVERYONE ELSE ON THE PLANET was terrible to her. Zuko might as well be the last man on Earth in these scenarios. This isn't Katara finding her soulmate, this is Katara settling.

If someone only pursues a relationship with you because they believe you're literally the ONLY option left and that they are basically stuck with you anyway so why fight it, instead of because they genuinely like you for who you are, that is going to be a MISERABLE relationship.

[waterfire1848]

Au. Where azula didn't only just focus on bending, but also to everything (combat, weaponry, chi, meditation, and being a assassin/ninja, and learned that lightning redirection in just 5 minutes) and mastered and remastered them all.... And that azula is not that blind (and know she's starting to get insane but realize why should she care about them?) and after ozai tells her that she's not coming and stays in FN and be fire lord, azula challenge him to agni Kai (azula not blind enough to realize she's far more stronger and powerful than ozai, blinded because of her fear) and wins, who makes the fight for ozai super long and hella painful.

Hello, @lala-ann-11 !!!

1. When Azula is a child, she’s brought up as a soldier but Ozai knows that if he plans to use her in the field then she needs to be a master of other things aside from firebending. Along with her bending, he makes her study weapons and combat and everything else under the sun. When Ty Lee shows off chi blocked, Ozai has Azula constantly learning from her until she has it down. He basically wants to make sure he has the ultimate weapon. And, by the time she’s fourteen, that’s what Azula becomes.

2. Ozai also makes sure Azula is educated and sends her to school as early as possible. Not only does this help her learn strategies but it gives her access to books from before the war. In all honesty, Azula started off reading just with the intent to learn more and please her father but as she began to read she saw more and more what things really used to be like (since these books would be untouched by FN propaganda). She’s not 100% against the war now (because she’s still a child and believes that her father is right) but she is starting to see that maybe he got some things wrong or maybe the world wasn’t as horrible as he told her. (I swear this won’t become a Tangled AU)

3. Azula is sent out into the field after the Avatar and does somewhat struggle (mostly because she’s on brand new ground and fighting enemies she’s never encountered before) but it’s very similar to the show where any set back she suffers is for a minute, if that, and then she’s back in the game. Only now, Azula also has her knowledge of the world before the war and gets to see how the EK is faring from it. Again, she’s not 100% against the war but her teaching of FN propaganda is starting to break. While fighting, she also gets a moment to speak with Aang which only furthers her belief that maybe things aren’t that perfect (Aang: You know, before I went into the ice, the Fire Nation and Air Nomads had a yearly celebration together where we brought food, played games and at the very end used firebending and airbending to create different pictures in the sky. Some of the teenagers used their bending to try and fly around. Azula: That sounds really fun…I wish I could have seen it. Aang:…Maybe one day it’ll come back).

4. When Azula starts suffering from her mental breakdown, it goes a little different. In canon, she had time to form a bond with Ty Lee and Mai so their leaving really hurt her, but here? She doesn’t have that same bond with them, so them leaving, while upsetting, doesn’t completely break her. She does grow a bit paranoid and become more agitated but doesn’t get to the point of hallucinating. And her agitation actually works to her benefit because it gives her the push she needs to fight against Ozai. (Azula: Shouldn’t have spent all that time making me the ultimate weapon). Let’s just say Azula has A LOT of pent up anger towards her father (Fire Sage: Princess! Princess, you won! Azula: In a minute! He still has some unbroken bones!)

5. Zuko and Katara arrive to face Azula but find her already crowned and telling them that they don’t have to worry about the Fire Nation anymore. She tells them that she called off the airships. (Zuko: And where’s father. Azula: I don’t know. Bleeding somewhere. Zuko: *Shrug* Okay) Aang, Sokka, Suki and Toph return to the palace where they all have a long talk with Azula about what should happen next. Much to their surprise, she gives the crown to Zuko, saying that she wants to have the chance to be free for a while and explore. (Azula: But I’m coming back at some point. Zuko: Maybe we could be co-Firelord’s when you return. Azula: I’ll think about it.) Azula leaves right after Zuko’s coronation and heads off to finally be free of her ultimate weapon title.

[marinette-buginette]

The title All the Fire Lord's Men inspired an idea: AU in which the Fire Nation won (Aang was never found or the Avatar cycle is broken), and Sokka is drafted into the Fire Nation Army and thus meets with Fire Lord Ozai's daughter, the formidable Princess Azula, who at the time is receiving military education and training as the potential heir to the throne, and they end up serving in the same unit. And I don't think Ozai would want Azula to get special treatment. How does this sound to you?

Play the Mulan soundtrack

Ngl my first thought was 'Why is the Fire National conscripting people from newly conquered territories???? That sounds like a recipe for disaster'. And then I remembered the FN army is not exactly known for uh...their ability to put things into medium to long term perspective lol. I think they decided to take some political prisoners (that's how Sokka ended up there, cause he's the Chief's son) and forcefully conscript them. And then the one non-nepo hire in the prep process pointed out that putting people who hate the FN in FN-controlled territory would result in sabotage, the possibility of them running away, information leaks to resistance troops etc.

The result is that there's this unit of like 10 political prisoners stuck on some tiny Fire Nation Island guarding like... a grainery and the one (1) small town there. There's a military supervisor on the island but he's a old man close to retirement who gives 0 fucks. There's a super tiny garrison in town too, which is mostly tasked with making sure these 10 don't get a ship and escape (not that there's a lot of naval circulation around anyway but still).

Now Azula. While I think Ozai would put her up to anything that helps sharpen her skills, I don't necessarily see him pushing her into proper military service. What I could see, though, is Azula wishing to prove herself and deciding to do something challenging in regards to the army. So she gets wind of this little peculiar situation and decides she will whip them into shape. As like a challenge to herself.

When she gets there, Sokka is the only one boneheaded enough to get into a full argument with her about something. It goes on forever. Half of the unit starts shipping them. The other half thinks he's going to get them all killed. Someone suggests that Sokka should try to seduce her and convince her to let them go.

Shenanigans™ ensue for sure.

[eyesundernightfall]

some TPOT 17 thoughts hehe

!(MASSIVE SPOILERS OFC)!

okay ngl this ep was like rlly good??? In terms of recent eps I’d rank it between episode 16 and 15 (bc 16 was decent n 15 was peak I do not take criticism/j)

the opening was neat, any eliminated contestant content is greatly appreciated (also SAW MY BELOVED-)

Skipping over a bit, the challenge was rlly goofy (I’d expect nothing less from bottle lmao) although I have a slight fear that bottle will go power hungry or smth and kinda become the new pillow, in terms of her goofiness/spontaneous nature and stuff but she seemed fine this ep, and showed genuine concern for her team being ufe, so I think we’re good fn

also WE GOT PILLOW N YF OUT LESGOOO

I honestly didn’t rlly like either of them by the end. I could see the appeal in others liking them ig but pillow just felt counterproductive on purpose for her “research” and YF was just kinda there. He had a cool partnership w/ PT ig???? But that felt like it was 3/4 off camera w/ not much to it so I wasn’t particularly sad to see either of them leave

I liked the idea of splitting the teams up into representative groupings, and also can’t wait for the merge where we could get more interactions like the ones we got this episode

Also poor tv man the guy had such a valid crash out like honestly-

he got ditched and then got a spider mech suit thing like hell yea u tell them (i still rlly like both grassy n tree but TV was still so justified imo)

btw POOR TWO

THEYRE SO WORRIED ABT GATY WHO I ALSO WANT TO SEE BTW WHERE SHE ATTTTT

My best guess is either Gaty’s locked in some special area for one to maybe use as a bargaining chip in case of emergency or perhaps she’s just lost in the flower field. who knows

now for the 3 main things/scenes I wanted to talk about

1- BOOK WAS ICE COLD AND I AM HERE FOR IT

ok it was more like a lil pissed off and very exasperated BUT STILL IM GLAD SHE GOT THAT BOUNDARY SET YOU GO GIRL

On the other hand tho I do feel kind of bad for pencil, especially since I do kind of relate to her in terms of missing ppl or memories that have moved on (??) ig?? More on that later

I definitely don’t want either of them to go anytime soon and hopefully make it to the merge, but I think there’s a solid chance book might get out next ep ToT (VOTE BOOK BTW WE CAN SAVE HER PLEASE I AM STARVEDDD FOR BOOK CONTENT AND SHE MUGHT GET OUT SOON IN BFDIA TOO NUUUUUU)

Anyway, now that she’s been rejected by her last old ally in the game I think I want to see pencil either get fully ruthless n cutthroat with no room for ANYONE (and do this even more then before) or maybe finally open up to new allies? Idk I just want her and book to stay and see what goes down

2- ONE GOT HER SHIT ROCKED???? BY DONUT OF ALL PPL?????? LETS FUCKING GO??????? To b clear one is easily one of if not my fav algebralien but I rlly wanna c her get her ass beat that was awesome. She’s genuinely a great villain and her borderline psychotic episode w/ Donut showing how desperate she is for these deals was incredible to watch MAJOR props to sonderingemily (I believe that’s how u spell it pls forgive) for the voice acting that was so cool

this also solidifies her status as a villain even further, like it was kinda already pretty obvious, but now we see the lengths she will go to for her plan it is greatttt

I also love donut like 10x more now I already thought he was a great character but this just made him better like wow (plus he’ll hopefully stick around for longer bc of this in the event CY is ufe anytime soon yippe)

lastly, I wanna talk about the pen & pencil scene cuz that shit hit DEEP

I’m not gonna lie, pen’s words n whole situation hit hard for me personally especially when irl I’ve been dealing with some messy social stuff, working through things and emotionally processing some past events as well. I’m wishing for older times, definitely romanticizing them quite a bit but those times were still better than this. now I’m asking myself who I want to spend my time around as I grapple w/ the fact that the people I do still hang around from before have changed, some seemingly for the worse, but at the same time, they’re links to parts of my past I wish I still had, so what do I do with that? The experience of not being able to quite move on from a memory or piece of the past while others have, especially when they were closely tied to those memories before, is a very real and isolating experience that the jnj team honestly captured wonderfully in this scene, and I actually listened to just the audio after I’d finished the episode just to reflect on pen’s words in my own life. I get this is still technically ‘baby object kids show’ but honestly this episode actually felt deeper/more mature in many aspects, and this scene really tied it together for me in a very personal way that I was genuinely not expecting when I put the video on, and I think that’s good. It still had some really well done humour, but it hit home in a very piercing way for me today. I like the contrast of pencil’s near total shut out of the world while pen is @ least trying to be near others more, although you can still see him reminiscing about before, which is also smth I completely understand the duality of

also even though BAGGED is ufe I don’t have much worry of pen getting out (which I rlly don’t want him to) since he’s clearly got a pretty huge arc going atm and I want to see it keep going

closing thoughts on the ep, I liked the challenge, but the characters rlly brought it home today. The challenge brought a nice way of splitting the teams up to basically get a whole ep of cross team interactions to continue arcs that have been taking a while up until now which was rlly nice

I can’t wait to see what one will b up to as she clearly sinks into desperation w/ her deals, and now donut’s a loose canon, likely being able to spread info abt her freely

there was even more buildup to other events that will hopefully get payoffs soon, and I can’t wait for that, but that’s all from me :))

[oneatlatime]

Any predictions for season 3, or are you planning to dive straight in?

You're not the first person who's mentioned s3 predictions, so I'll give it a shot, but I'm really not sure if I have anything to use to make predictions. S2 ended in a very final, end of arc kind of way. Lots of things have been tied up. I don't even know where they're all flying off to. Back to the Southern Water Tribe, since the Earth Kingdom's a bit of a bust? The Fire Nation's out of the question, the Northern Water Tribe probably has mixed feelings about seeing them again, maybe the Eastern Air Temple? Although even that might not be safe, since Aang's travel plans to said temple to meet the Guru were known by various Earth Kingdom generals. And that stupid King.

I think the Fire Nation contingent are going back to the Fire Nation, and I am looking forward to a Zuko with eyes at least somewhat open interacting with FN citizens/nobles/military etc. who are still completely drinking the kool aid. I think it's going to suck for Zuko. Should make for good TV though. Lots of conversations where both people are saying entirely different things while thinking they're talking about the same thing.

I said it before, but I'm worried for Iroh. He's for sure arrested, but is he going to be executed? Obviously I don't want that, but unless Iroh still has enormous popular support, and the Firelord's grasp on power is incredibly shaky, I don't see how permanently eliminating a traitor (from a FN perspective) can be avoided. Then again. Kids' show.

As for the Gaang? In broad strokes, Aang still needs to learn firebending to fully Avatar himself, then he needs to defeat the Fire Lord (who is quite the homebody apparently - seriously, where is this guy?). So next season Aang will shake off his lightning hangover, find a firebending teacher, defeat the firelord. He'll probably have to commute to the Fire Nation to find the Fire Lord first. No idea what he'll do in between those things. Perhaps inadvisable shenanigans? That would be in character. His biggest story arc all series has been learning to accept his status as Avatar, but between his talks with the Guru and opening his last Chakra in the finale, I think he's done it. So all that's left is the main plot and goofiness.

Katara has the same problem she had going into S2 - she's mastered waterbending, so she needs a new conflict/arc. S2 answered this demand by... having her hang around? What did Katara do this season? Bend a bunch, set up camps, tear down camps, wreck Jet, support Aang, be nice to Toph that one time, yell at people. I hope she gets something meatier in S3. I still think she should meet some good FN citizens that challenge her morals.

Sokka was also kind of just there this season, although if I'm being mean I'll say that he was also kind of just there for S1 too, which is why it doesn't feel as odd as Katara's lack of purpose. I loved his stuff with Suki. Suki is officially the glow up of the season. I loved their interactions together, and I love the growth she poked him into doing. I'd like to see more of that. So less a prediction and more of a hope: S3 Sokka develops the ability to rely on/trust others (or maybe realises others can be relied upon/trusted is more accurate), hopefully with Suki somehow involved. And I loved his dad too. I want to see more of that guy, but since a cardinal rule of kids' stories is getting rid of the authority figures asap, it won't happen.

Toph. Honestly I'm stumped. She already broke the universe. Where can she go from there? Unless she's going to devolve into an antagonist, which I absolutely don't want, I don't see how she can top her S2 plot. And Aang's got earthbending down, so I guess she'll be like Katara was this season: tagging along. Not that I'm complaining; I love me some Toph in any form. We have seen that she wants to make peace with her parents, sort of, probably? Or at least give them another shot? But I kind of don't want her within 100 miles of her parents. So I don't know.

Appa & Momo will hopefully be tagalongs in S3 too. I learned my lesson this season about wanting the animals to have character arcs.

I guess the antagonist in S3 will be the Fire Lord, finally. Who else is left? Zhao tried, he died. Azula tried, she won. Unless S3 has an Azula rematch. But would she want that? She's already proven that she won. She can go home and enjoy the spoils of her victory (which may or may not include Zuko - I'm kind of unclear on exactly how much agency Zuko is going to have in the FN, especially since I'm not actually sure that he has permission to be there as a free man - didn't the arrest warrant Azula was executing in episode 1 list both Zuko and Iroh?)

There's nothing left for the Gaang in Ba Sing Se, so I doubt they'll go back there. Frankly it's the FN characters who have roots there. I wonder what will happen to Iroh's tea shop? I wonder if his investors will find out who he is? I wonder if money talks louder than national loyalty? (It's the Earth Kingdom - the answer is yes) Wouldn't it be funny if Iroh busted out of imprisonment and went right back to serving tea? And everyone sent to find him would be thinking "this is the famed tactician the Dragon of the West - he's probably travelling the FN plotting a coup as we speak. That devilish mind of his must have safe houses set up all over the nation." When actually he's right back where he got caught, doing exactly what he was doing when he got caught, to great and not-very-quiet acclaim?

I think S3 might have an overall darker tone too, within the bounds of a kids' show. I don't know what place Ba Sing Se occupied in the mind of the average person in the Avatar universe (although refugees seemed to revere it), but the city's fall to the FN represents a very big FN victory. The Gaang will probably be the most underdoglike in S3. S1 was mostly stalemate, then a big FN defeat. S2 was opened with the FN taking Omashu and closed with them taking Ba Sing Se. The FN have never been in a better position, and I bet the NWT is safe from further invasion only until the FN have built their fleet back up. So even the few free areas could have an expiry date on their freedom.

This is rapidly devolving into rambles, so I'll conclude by saying I have no clue what's going to happen next season, and that's exciting.

[lazyveran]

About the azutara political marriage u have said katara is a jealous person . I want to ask why do u say katara is super jealous and does katara ever fight ty lee or is it just azula who gets the complains. Also Is azula jealous and possessive with Katara too?

so outside jealous katara being canon (my beloved...) i think in the context of the au katara is only really allowed One Person. azula is her State Mandated Partner and it's extremely frustrating when people, cough ty lee cough, undermine that and make her feel insecure about her position within court. wider, katara is very unsure and insecure about her place in fn culture PERIOD, and ty lee's familiarity with azula is something that challenges her pre-conceived notions (or guesswork) about FN marriage and their social customs around that ect, as well as her own cultural norms when it comes to a married couple.

so it's not fun for katara at all. its confusing, azula's attitude is confusing, and ty lee is also really nice? outside of azula? katara is upset and angry and CONFUSED about all of it. so she goes and yells at azula. multiple times. because ultimately azula should be the one telling ty lee no, as SHE is the one thats married, and so the responsibility falls to her. its all a little excrutiating telling azula her relationships are weird.

azula herself is. weird about her possessiveness. she doesnt percieve anyone below her rank as a threat because, well, in azula's eyes they aren't. shes arrogant like that. she's so used to the court flirting-flattery that if katara is on the recieving end of it, its normal. azula only acts on her possessiveness if its to protect katara's honour, curbing toph and her very... generous... comments, or as egotistical power plays to lord over people that katara is hers, thank you very much. she's also subtly possessive on a day to day basis, trying to dress katara in her household symbols and blues, physical tokens of affection, touching her hair in public, that sort of thing. katara doesnt recognise those little acts until way later into their relationship

[orangepanic]

who's iroh ii's sister??

We have no idea! The idea of Izumi having a daughter is only mentioned in the B4 DVD commentary as a character and romantic side plot (for Mako) that was dumped in trimming down the story line. However, I love the idea of Iroh having a little sister so I've included her in my own headcanons as Princess Tai, a kind and bubbly girl ten years his junior who loves Iroh to absolute pieces even though he can be a bit of a dumbass. She's bright and takes her duties seriously but is far more of a homebody and much less ambitious than her brother. She loves the Fire Nation and its history and customs in a way that he can't. Tai is generally well-liked and a leader in her own right in areas that interest her like FN culture, where she takes a hand in organizing a lot of the major celebrations and exhibits. She misses her brother something awful but out of everyone in the family probably understands him the best, too, and knows that trapping him in the palace would be terrible for him as well as deprive the world of all that he could be. Iroh for his part welcomes Tai's perspective as a trusted advisor and would happily incinerate anyone who so much as looks at her funny. This is my sunshine x grumpy platonic pairing and I love them.

I've seen many different versions of Izumi's daughter over the years from talented writers and they're all so different, from a swashbuckling adventurer to an accomplished historian to a challenged older sibling to the future Firelord. They're fun to read and I hope we get to keep them instead of something official coming from Avatar Studios.

[the-badger-mole]

I was watching this video where people talked about their childhood crushes and when the topic of Avatar The Last Airbender came up the two girls were like “Zuko easily hands down.” “Zuko Obviously.” “There’s no other options. I mean it’s either Zuko or Caillou. Of course I’m gonna pick Zuko.”

Putting aside the funny fact that they straight up forgot about Sokka completely here. I was thinking comparing Aang to Caillou is actually pretty accurate. A whiny immature bald kid who gets away with way too much bad behavior. At least we can hope Caillou grew up and turned out ok whereas we know Aang’s story from childhood to adulthood and it’s not a pretty outcome (for everyone else dealing him that is, mainly Katara and his kids).

Do you think it’s a good thing Korra lost her connection to past Avatars and by extension Aang? I feel like if she had had the option to contact him regularly throughout the show’s events he would have given out some very problematic advice that only made things worse for her.

Honestly, anything that keeps Aang dead and from coming back in to be "tH3 r3@L h3r0oo000OO!!11!!!" is fine with me. I don't really care enough about LoK to be that invested in it, though. I'm just pissed off that Bryke couldn't even let Katara have bloodbending. They just had to have Aang come back from the grave apropos of nothing to do it! When Aang needed to speak to Roku, he had to sneak into a FN holy site, and be there within a very specific and short time frame, to do it. Even without Zuko and the rest of the Fire Nation coming for him, that would've been challenging. Meanwhile, Aang can just pop back into existence, like he forgot his wallet or whatever, and undo an injury Korra got from bloodbending!!! I've always known that Bryke didn't respect Katara, but clearly she's just a joke to them!

[foolofatook001]

hello Internet I turn to you in my desperation

does anyone have a download of (or know what happened to) the Avatar: The Last Airbender fic “Book 3: Fire”? I can’t remember the author, but I know for a fact I had it in my favorites on FFN; I don’t think it was ever on ao3 but I could be mistaken. Anyway it has since disappeared, hence this search

Plot description below the cut; it’s been a couple years since I read it last so it might be shaky in parts lol

It was an imagining of how s3 of avatar would go before the actual season 3 came out, so it would’ve been published some time between Dec 2006 and Sep 2007, and I remember author’s notes indicating that there was very quick turnaround on the chapters; I believe the fic was not finished before the show started airing though

The main pairings were Zutara, Taang, and Sukka; I distinctly remember Jin/Jet as part of a Ba Sing Se subplot as well

Iroh and Zuko join the Gaang almost immediately after the fall of Ba Sing Se when Azula turns on Iroh and tries to have Zuko execute him; Zuko refuses and he and Iroh catch up with the gaang, who are escaping Ba Sing Se through underground tunnels with Toph’s help

Iroh initially starts teaching Aang firebending, but is setting up Zuko for the role due to the fact that he knows he’ll have to leave to do White Lotus Things

They realize the surprise portion of the eclipse attack is ruined, but it’s still their best shot so in the meantime they’re going to drum up support in the Earth Kingdom, etc and also foment rebellion in the Fire Nation, setting up Zuko as a challenger for the throne

(Now we get to the vague-memories-and-disjointed-scenes portion of the description lol)

There was a very strong Spirit World subplot with Roku and Kyoshi; the eventual reveal was that Sozin had made a deal with a Spirit of War (definitely had a more “demonic” angle) and his descendants had continued that deal, which was finally coming due after 100 years.

There was also an episode wherein Zuko and Katara were captured by an insane FN governor and had to gladiator-fight a dragon; they ended up freeing it and it killed the governor. That confrontation with the dragon also started positive rumors about Zuko and helped him gain the FN’s respect as their returning prince

The whole fic was a bit darker than the actual show; I remember Azula actually died (still in a fight with Katara), and I believe it was stated that Ozai just straight-up murdered Ursa and lied about her “banishment”

There’s a lot more to it (I’m pretty sure it was at least 20+ chapters and definitely over 100k words) but that’s all I can restate coherently lol

Anyway if anyone knows anything please let me know 👍

[audio-luddite]

Friday night DJ

Well I am playing discs. Those black LP things.

Right now it is Dire Straights "brothers in arms". MOFI masters and all that hi end stuff. Oh and two glasses of Cabernet. I am really into this.

If anyone don't know MOFI for me is Vinyl with a capital V. No clicks. No skips. No FN noise. I challenge anyone to hear any of that. There is just the music that those punks put down on that island on the side of a volcano.

This is a digital recording and I don't care. It is on plastic here.

There are so many tiny things being thrown against the wall of my room. The music is wide and tall and I gotta say the BASS is exceptional. Yes there are drums, but there is the bass guitar too, it is right there.

Clarity.

Just before this was a Steely Dan side of Gaucho and before that two Box Scaggs albums. Even the wife got into it. She even let me turn it up just a bit.

All these are high end recordings for whatever that means. They are both great music and great technical recordings. That is the best combination. Oh "Why Worry" from DS B-i-A is really good. The downside of 180 g 45 rpm is you only get two songs per side. At least my sports watch is happy. Deep bass.

yes this is stream of consciousness from a very unstreamed music track. Shit that little drum just jumped at me. How do they do that depth thing.

"Ride across the river" is on now. Holly FN shit. This is a song strangely appropriate for our Day and Age. Freedom fighters dying. What I got is etherial grand music and sounds. Crickets and night sounds as well as a rock band. More jazz and I do not know what.

Hey I just turned the computer on so this is what is on the system.

This man's to strong is a song you have to hear in a good system. I compared the LP to a lossless stream and the stream lost. I wish I could accurately describe what I hear. That synth-guitar wa made for this media. Impact. Presence. Clarity.

Oh and the tube amp is in line droogs.

Phase linear 8000a II Turntable.

Audio Technica AT 7v with 440 stylus.

ARC SP 14 Preamp

ARC Classic 60 hybrid Tube amp (8x6550 tubes)

Stealth speakers.

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

How do you feel about the idea that Azula would've been a good Firelord before her mental breakdown? I won't name anyone, but there has been a few fics that depicted Azula as a legalist who would enforce bureaucracy and government structure, including busting corruption and reforming the FN's legal system.

Honestly though, I personally interprete Azula as highly emotional (even though she is very intelligent and calculating, she also has a lot of anger and pride) and uncaring of her people, so she likely wouldn't have bothered. As Firelord, she would've been the highest authority anyway and who cares about fair legal systems when she gets to execute idiots she doesn't like while wrecking shit in the Earth Kingdom? Azula loves power, but I think she wouldn't love ruling. Pre-breakdown Azula's ideal place was by her father's right hand

Pre-redemption Azula would be as good of a ruler as any imperialist can be, aka not that good.

But let me start off by saying: Azula doesn't execute people for shits and giggles and she surpresses the fuck out of her emotions because she desperately wants to pretend she doesn't have any. That is not to say she's a kind, compassionate soul that would NEVER take advantage of the fact that she's so much more powerful than anyone else, but still, these are her consistent character traits.

We have very few scenes of her showing any emotion openly (most being during her breakdown, aka when she was too mentally exhausted to fight them), she canonically only ever killed ONE person (who came back to life), and we literally see her stopping a torture session. Even when she was completely out of control, she banished instead of executing people that she believed were conspiring to kill her, and only attacked Zuko and Katara, who were enemies not only of her but of her entire nation and explicitly said they were about to steal her crown.

She's cruel, but not that cruel, anything else is out of character fanon. The most she'd do is threaten people with the fact that she has the power to get away with doing ANYTHING them, because she genuinely believes that fear is the only way to ensure loyalty.

Azula is all about order (girl gets mad that she was firebending with one hair out of place) and, much like Zuko, she's a patriot - but her definition of patriotism is very different from his. She had little interest in the human element of it all or in the notion that duty it'd be her duty to take care of anyone. She's all about the glory, the legacy, the conquest, the battles won, and the Fire Nation being seen as inherently superior.

For exemple, if she had been in the war meeting that led to Zuko's banishment, she might have also had an issue with that general's plan of using Fire Nation soldiers as bait because they're "fresh meat." Not because she'd see it as a betrayal of their trust and a horrible crime against innocents, but because it's a waste of resources. It's stupid to knowingly let competent, loyal soldiers die just to avoid coming up with a different strategies that maximizes enemie losses while keeping yours as low as possible. And obviously she wouldn't have brought up that concern out of turn and in anyway that could be seen as challenging Ozai.

Basically, if there was a famine, a plague, a tsunami or anything that means only losses for the country, you can bet Azula will try to remedy the situation. She needs people in her army, as her servants, growing the crops, etc. Human life is not THAT disposable to her. But if a fishing village is dying because, to make all their weapons, the Fire Nation is creating a problem of polution? Well, too bad for them, they can they there and die or try their luck and move elsewhere, weapons for the army are more important than one village filled with nobodies.

And if some soldier dies, you can expect she'll okay with the family and fellow men honoring him because glory of battle and all, but don't expect her to actually care. She won't send them to a doomed battle, but she's perfectly at peace with the fact that not all of the soldiers going into battle will ever return. And she will NOT be happy if someone pulls an Iroh and "falls apart" after a person loss.

And obviously, only the people of HER nation sometimes get her "pragmatic compassion" so to speak. The colonies? Forget it. They're inferior beings that barely count as people. Again, Azula wouldn't be ordering her army to commit attrocities for her amusement, but don't expect her to give a shit if they imprison or kill people who are resisting too much, or to see literal genocide as bad - she canonically doesn't care.

There'd also be no valluing of nature and/or the spirits, which is a very, very, VERY bad idea in the long-run. Angry pandas kidnaping people, folks getting sick, all that unpleasant stuff - and that's still the best case scenario because I believe Azula wouldn't pull a Zhao and try to kill the fucking moon and anger the ocean when she lives in an archipelago.

Azula's reign would be ruthless, but functional... for some time. Sooner or later the disregard for human life, both in the Fire Nation and especially the colonies, would mean revolt and a colapsing system. Maybe it'd happen during her lifetime, maybe it'd happen decades or centuries after her death, but still, her actions would heavily tied to it regardless of if she was around to face the consequences.

As to whether she even wanted power at all, the show made it quite clear that she did - but there was ONE thing that she wanted even more than she wanted the crown, and that was love and genuine human connection, hence her being super devoted to her dad and basically giving Zuko the crown twice (by bringing him home in Crossroads of Destiny and by looking out for him in The Headband instead of letting Ozai find out about his visits to Iroh). The fact either the dad that strongly favored her or the brother that she felt she could easily manipulate being the ones in power also meant power for her was a nice bonus.

That's why in my headcanons for what a redeemed Azula would be like, she usually ends up as Zuko's advisor and wife. She'd deal with all the bureaucracy Zuko has no patience for and he'd remind her that a ruler can only be truly good if they're compassion. Plus, hey, if he didn't have to give up his ambition for the crown even after redemption, why can't Azula be redeemed AND achieve her goal of being the Fire Lord's second in command/favorite person due to how loyal she is, only this time for a Fire Lord that would actually care about her?

[waterfire1848]

Au. Azula wins the agni Kai. Not reckless, far more calculating cunning & smarter. Shoots a powerful beam of bolt lightning, stronger, controlled, free, ( does actually in the real life speed of lightning), to both zuko & katara, zuko can't didn't manage to catch, can't redirect it. (Both died). Azula still revives both of them (she invented fire & lightning healing) then said I can, could and would for real actually kill both of you if ever you repeat this. (Also shoots lightning on iroh that he can't even redirect it as revenge, for ignoring her and calling her monster & crazy) Banished both zuko & iroh and strip off their titles and honor forever, permanently, without chance of regaining them. Along with Mai and ty lee. Also the gaang, would be killed on sight if ever seen on any parts of FN.

Hello, @lala-ann-11!!!

Although Azula is suffering from a hallucinations and a mental breakdown, she is still a child soldier. When she gets into a fight, especially an intense on, her muscle memory kicks in and keeps her afloat. Even if her mind isn't in the right place, she knows what to do. Because of this, she's able to fight against Zuko and actually stay on her feet, thinking back on previous lessons she'd done and how to best counter his attacks. Eventually, she uses lightning and aims it directly at Zuko and Katara and fires. And, since Zuko is not faster than lightning here, he gets hit and so does Katara, who tried to use her waterbending to protect herself but ends up getting electrocuted. Azula, trained in every use of her firebending, heals them. (Zuko: You won't kill us. Azula: No. Live. Live, knowing you only do because I let you.) (Yeah, I stole this from Hazbin Hotel but it just fits so well)

Appa returns a few hours later with a defeated Ozai and triumphant Gaang. When they arrive, Zuko and Katara tell them what happened and, at first they don’t believe them because (1) they don’t think they would lose to Azula and (2) they don’t believe Azula would let them live if she did win. However, Azula does arrive at the courtyard and demands that they all leave the Fire Nation and not return. The Gaang objects, arguing that since Ozai is taken down now Azula has to step down as well but Azula refuses. She has the right to the throne and she just defeated Zuko and Katara, she’s the winner in this case, but, of course, the Gaang want to fight. (Azula: Fine. Let’s fight. Sokka: You sure you want that? You’re fighting all of us without Sozin’s Comet. Azula: I don’t need Sozin’s Comet to beat you. You really think over a decade of training was just for show? *Grin*). The fight is not an easy one. Both Azula and the Gaang are tired, but she manages to defeat them and exiles all of them, saying that if they return she will kill them.

A couple days later, after Azula has gotten a lot of sleep and rest, Iroh arrives to challenge her for the throne. (Azula: Now you want to step in and be Fire Lord? What? You didn't feel like it when father was in charge? Didn't feel like actually helping? Iroh: I regret not taking the throne sooner. Maybe then I could have protected it and this nation from you. Azula: Protect the Fire Nation from me? I've done everyone for the Fire Nation and for my father! EVERYTHING! You abandoned this nation and your brother and niece the second you found a way out. Iroh: It's a shame, niece. I think you could have been a good ruler, but it appears as though Ozai has gotten to you. He has turned you into the same monster he is. Azula: Monster? Iroh: Yes. Though it pains me to say it, niece, you need to go down. Azula: I don't think I'll be the one leaving this fight defeated.) Azula is faster and more cunning than Iroh, but Iroh throws bigger punches. One of his fireballs straight at Azula would be enough to throw her to the ground and Iroh has more experience under his belt. That being said, Azula know show to maneuver around him unlike anything Iroh has seen. While Iroh is distracted, Azula moves under him and sent a blast of lightning straight at him. One Iroh can't redirect in time. He's not killed but he's out of the fight. That night, Azula makes a declaration to the nation that Zuko and Iroh are banished and stripped of their honor, giving them no way to get it back.

Ozai is pretty pleased to say the least. True, he wasn't the one who banished Zuko (this time) or got to defeat his brother, but he can always change that in the history books. (Azula has done a good job though, she can get a footnote). However, more and more time goes on and he remains in prison. The guards make no move to talk to him or let him out or anything to that affect, they just stay at their post and don't move. Ozai grows angry, demanding that the Fire Lord's orders be recognized and they'd all be killed for their treason. (Guard: We are following the Fire Lord's orders. Fire Lord Azula has ordered that you are to remain here.) Ozai is shocked and angered. He constantly makes threats to Azula and yells (as if she can hear him) that she'd be nothing without him. Finally, Azula arrives and stands in front of her father's cell. Bottom line, she tells him that she is in charge now and he is an embarrassment for losing to the Avatar during Sozin's Comet and, without his bending, he's nothing to her. (Azula: The only reason you are still alive is because mother's nagging voice is already in my head. I don't need yours as well. But, make one more threat against me and I will come down here and finish the job.).

Azula continues the war and wins it. The Fire Nation was about to win during Sozin's Comet, but since they lost it they didn't win on that day. Instead, it takes longer and the Gaang remains a thorn in Azula's side but they eventually do win a few years later. By that point, the Fire Nation is ruling over the world. The only place left is the North Pole which Azula doesn't care enough about to try and attack. (Azula: It's taken 110 years, but the Fire Nation has won this war). The Gaang continues to fight, to try and preserve whatever hope they can so that maybe the next generation can defeat the Fire Nation. Azula remains on the throne until she passes away after a long, long life.