#finally implemented because why the heck not

[fleursbending]

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲’𝐬 𝐀𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐓𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫. | Sully Family

𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲 : after the successful intervention, your family's hearts still burn for some good ol' revenge. luckily for them, an unfortunate event arises that allows them to do just that.

𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 : sully!family x sully!daughter reader

𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞 : i apologise that this took a lot longer than it should have to be posted! i initially wasn't going to do a part 2, but so many ppl wanted it i just decided eh why the heck not?? with that being said, pls read part 1 before this because i don't think this can be read as a stand-alone! mother!tiri really shines through this time so now i'm just healing your mommy and daddy issues atp.

𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 : bullying/teasing?, hurt/comfort yk the drill, angst, fluff, lo'ak pummels ao'nung, pissed mom!tiri, tonowari pops tf off, dorky brother neteyam, ao is a dickwad here!

𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐫𝐲 : (actually highkey proud of this i'm trying to use more na'vi in my stories from now on) Tsmuke - sister, Skxawng - moron/idiot, Tsmukan - brother, Yaymak - foolish/ignorant, Sa'nok - mother, Txavä’ -disgusting, ‘Itetsyìp - little daughter (term of endearment), Tsamsiyu - warrior, Muntxate - wife/female spouse, Olo’eyktan - clan leader, ‘Ite - daughter, Itan - son, Sempul - father, Uturu - sanctuary, Oeyä - my (possessive), ‘Awsiteng - together.

𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 : 2.9k words !!

𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 :  @pandorainmymind @eywas-heir @spicycloudsalad @missdreamofendless @prty-poisxn @scarlettwitch-4 @23victoria @avidreader3107 @purplehyacinthss @itssiaaax @neteyamoa @tsireyasgf @nijirozzz @useryourbut @yua-himari @sweetheartlizzie07 @grierpilots @reneehillary69 @fruitsalad1 @forasgaard @iwaslikeblah @dumb-fawkin-bitch @theicemav @narutoboi

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐎𝐍 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐒𝐈𝐃𝐄 today, it had been storming the last few days. Now you and your siblings were making the most of the sunshine. Things have been really good the past few weeks, and slowly you were finally beginning to warm up to the ocean. The past had to stay where it was, now you were gradually moving on. 

Y/n remembers her dad's words then, "It's the little steps that end up making the biggest difference." 

He was right, they really did. 

"Neteyam", Y/n giggled as he splashed water at her whilst she sat at the edge of the platform they used to easily access jumping into the water when calling for their Ilu's. Her legs dangled over the edge, peering down at her siblings.

"Tsmuke, you are being silly! Come join us in the water!" Neteyam tried to beckon you to join him and Tuk as they played with their Ilu's.

"Yeah, come on Y/n!" Tuk whined, only to be cut off by ecstatic laughter as her Ilu nudged their head onto her back. 

Y/n held her hands up then, an unfinished anklet dangling below the palm of her hand. 

"I am finishing this, you skxawngs." She reminded them, wanting to give it to Tsireya once it was finished. 

As Y/n began to reach out of her reserved shell, Tsireya swooped right in. She, Neteyam, and Tsireya had become a trio of sorts. She was hoping to make matching anklets for all of them.

"Alright, we're going to ride our Ilu's further out. Is that okay, tsmuke?" Neteyam called out to you, pointing further out.

You rolled your eyes at his worried tone. 

You love your family, really you do. But the one downside to the confrontation you had with all of them. Well, they've been treating you like a little baby ever since then. 

The doting and attention were very much appreciated at first. But it escalated to your siblings trailing after you everywhere you went, for the most part. They'd become increasingly overprotective whenever Ao'nung and his crew were in close proximity to you. The kicker? They implemented a curfew for you now. You had to be home an hour before dinner was ready, a whole hour! 

Basically, your freedom and alone time had been cut in half. Stripped away from you. While you looked a lot more healthy and since perked up in the past few weeks - your family continued to remain on the edge. They just didn't anything to further happen to you, especially now that you've progressed so much.

The Sully's knew you were a strong girl, but the pieces you were starting to put back together could easily be ripped apart again. So for the time being, they'll do whatever it takes to prevent it.

Unfortunately for them, such an event was just right around the corner. 

Y/n scrutinized Neteyam and in return, the eldest son wiggled his nonexistent eyebrows in a taunting manner. 

"Yes, tsmukan. Now go!" You urged him to leave as Tuk waved bye to you.

Letting out a happy sigh at the silence that filled you, wow - this was really nice. She thought to herself. Just the waves rippling beneath you is what accompanies you. 

Neteyam was about to dive into the water when he turned to look back and check on you. There you sat in the same position, back hunched and eyes focused as you continued to weave the unfinished anklet. 

He nodded to himself then, satisfied that you were alright.

Yet the moment he turned his back and dove into the water, the infamous group you've been trying to avoid made their way into the nook where your mauri and outdoor area were. 

Y/n tensed as the air shifted, hearing the sounds of multiple footsteps nearing her. A feeling of deja vu surged through her, oh no. 

"Alone, at last, the great daughter of Toruk Makto!" Ao'nung jeered as their shrill laughter raked through the once peaceful aura you were just starting to settle in. 

A not-so-subtle hiss escaped your lips, eyes closing in disdain. Can a girl not get any damn alone time around here? 

"What's this then? Oh, an anklet!" Ao'nung had stalked over to you from behind, ripping the unfinished weaved strings out of your hand. 

Defeat flooded your futures, not wanting to make anything of this. Y/n hoped they'd just say a few insulting comments and mosey on out of here.

"Who is this for, me? I love it soooo much!" Ao'nung mocked, sarcasm dripping in his tone as his friends cheered him on.

"No. It is for your sister." Y/n deadpanned, not finding the amusement they seemed to be in this predicament. 

"Well, it's quite pathetic. I think you should start over if you want my sister to actually appreciate this." He teased, nimble fingers beginning to untangle the hard work you had just done. 

Your ears folded back then, standing up and facing the idiots. Cracking your neck, a harsh glare was sent their way. Sticking out your open hand, palm up in front of Ao'nung. 

"Just stop that and hand it back over. Then you can be on your own merry ways." You tried to appease them.

"When did you suddenly find your voice? I ought to stomp it out." Ao'nung sneered at you then, and in a blink of an eye, he had thrown your project into the ocean. 

"Ao'nung!" She fumed, angry eyes scouting the water but you could no longer see it. 

"Yaymak! Useless like my father had said, how do you even survive? Come on, take a dip!" He contended, bending down beside you to push you in-

A jarring snarl erupts from behind them. They all jump and swivel around, but are instantly stumped. 

There stood your Sa'nok, gripping a basket full of fruit so viciously that it chipped - pieces of dried flax splintering and falling to the ground. 

"Txavä’. Useless? I ought to show you how you can become useless-" She stormed over to them making most of the boys in front of you yelp in surprise and jump back again.

"Sa'nok! Do not!" You remarked, astonished at her shameless way of protecting you. 

Ever since finding out about what had happened to you, she'd been so civil whenever in the clan leader and tsahik's son's presence. Now she realises how eery those actions actually were. Oh great mother, she was just doing it for your sake. 

"Ma ‘itetsyìp, she is a fierce tsamsiyu. Unlike you!" She vehemently fired, pointing at Ao'nung.

He began to splutter out apologies, the realisation dawning on him that he was being reprimanded by one of the fiercest women Awa'atlu had ever come across.

Another figure popped out of the shadows then, Lo'ak. His fists were tightly clenched at his sides, eyebrows furrowed as indignation rolled off of him in waves.

"Yaymak?! He snapped, and before you could even fully acknowledge his presence he rushed forward - tackling Ao'nung who was receiving a scolding from Neytiri, into the ocean before you. 

"Lo'ak!" Y/n fretted as she peered over the edge to see the two boys yelling and cussing each other out as they floundered about in the water. 

"What in the world…" Jake whispered in question to himself as him and Tonowari rounded the corner - quickening their paces due to the faint sounds of the commotion they had overheard.

His eyes widened at the scene before him, the chief mimicking his expression as well as they stopped, stunned in their tracks.

Neytiri was still yelling at the group of bullies, an accusatory finger prodding at one of his shoulders as he looked down at his feet in embarrassment. She turned a blind eye to what he rebellious son had just done, deeming it was rightfully deserved.

 Both their eyes then flittered over to Y/n who was basically dangling on the edge of the platform, hauling a battered Lo'ak back up. 

His drenched body collided with the surface and he grunted, but that didn't stop him from turning around to flip off Ao'nung who was struggling to push himself up.

"Yeah, eat shit!" Lo'ak continued to provoke him, even while branding a busted lip and what looked like the beginnings of a black eye. 

"Lo'ak…" You cautioned, pointing to your father and Tonowari's looming figures.

"Oh fuck." He cursed to himself. 

"What is going on here?" Tonowari boomed then, stepping forward and making his presence known. 

Jake trailed behind him, tail swishing in unease. 

"Neytiri!" He called for his muntxate, grabbing onto her and pulling Neytiri into his side. 

You walked over to stand by your parents, guilt crescendoing - this happened all because of you. Stupid, you didn't want to make a scene in the first place.

"I'm sorry Olo'ektyan. This is all my fault." Y/n confessed, tail drooping as all the attention was shifted to her. 

"She is lying! My 'ite cannot carry this burden any longer, she will not. This is all your son's fault! He has been antagonising my ‘itetsyìp since we came here." She persisted, a sigh of irritation falling from her lips as she once again pointed at Ao'nung.

The mentioned boy wiped his bloody nose, ears shifting as Neytiri said his name with such harsh conviction.

"'Itan, is what Neytiri speaks of true?" Tonowari divulged as he dug into Ao'nungs pride with a mere look.

"Yes, sempul. What she speaks of is true." He blanched at the scrutinizing look Jake targeted toward him. 

It was like he was about to walk into the battlefield, gun in hand and ready to rain blood.

"Look at me, boy!" Tonowari thundered, eyes now slits as he admonished Ao'nung. 

The clan leader's son could've gotten whiplash from how fast his head turned. 

"Go home, and work up an apology. Now." The chief ordered.

"But, I can apologise now-" He tried to reason, wishing to get this embarrassment over and done with.

"It would be insincere." Both Neytiri and Tonowari spoke at once, the former giving an apologetic nod to your mother in agreement.

Ao'nung tried to fess up some words, but Tonowari glared. His chest almost heaving from contempt.

"Go!" He bellowed. Ao'nung with his tail between his legs scampered off back to his mauri.

His friends stood there, almost comically. They knew they were utterly fucked and word of this would travel back to their own families.

"Why are you still here, shouldn't you be working on your apologies as well?" Tonowari antagonised.

"Oh, uhm- sorry!" One of them spluttered before being shoved by another boy as they all ran off.

Tonowari sighed in chagrin, a hand of his meeting his face. He stood straight then, turning to acknowledge your family.

Right in tow, Neteyam, Tuk, and Kiri were pulling themselves back up from the ocean.

Lo'ak went over to help them. Ignoring the worried hands of his older brother that looked over his bruises.

"As Olo'ekytan, I failed in my duties today. As a father, I also failed. I sincerely apologise to you, dear." He looked at you then, eyes full of guilt as he briefly placed his hand on your shoulder.

"I will be sure that he will see through a firm reprimanding, Jake Sully." Tonowari called to the man that had become his good friend.

"I raise my apology to the rest of your family as well. You came here to seek uturu. This will not happen again." 

Jake motioned, Oel ngati kameie, to him. Tonowari returned the motion, bowing his head down lower than usual to try to convey his genuine upset at the situation his son had conjured.

"You are a fierce mother, Neytiri. Your Sa'nok would be proud." Tonowari added, before turning around and making his exit too. 

Neytiri watched him leave, a faint smile on her lips before giving all her undivided attention to you.

"Oeyä 'ite, are you hurt?" She necessitated, lifting your arms up and checking for any wounds.

"Sa'nok, I am fine." You dejected, eyes flittering to look anywhere to ignore her studying gaze.

"What happened?" Neteyam interjected, rushing over to you and bringing you into a hug. He felt terrible for having left you alone.

"I'm never leaving you again." He whispered, holding your head to his chest.

While the words came with comfort, they made your chest constrict. 

Agitated you shoved him away. In return, Neteyam fumbled backward in surprise.

"Y/n!" Kiri gasped in shock.

"I am fine! I'm going to be fine! I'm not dying or anything, I'm still here okay?! I appreciate the concern, but please. Just, leave me alone." Your voice grew fainter towards the end of your speel, tears welling up in your eyes. 

Cursing to yourself you rushed into the family mauri, humiliation seeping into your conscience. 

Jake began to follow you but Neytiri put a hand on his chest. It had emerged on her then, how a situation that seemed so minor grew to become a lot more vocal than any of them prepared for.

Y/n was not one for attention, let alone being stuck in the midst of it all.

"Give her a moment, then we will go and console her," Neytiri spoke with quiet empathy.

"Okay." Jake agreed hesitantly, all he wanted to do was comfort his daughter. But he knew how much you needed your alone time. 

So they huddled, ‘awsiteng. They waited, ‘awsiteng. 

Until the light escaped the sky, and your raspy voice cut through the gentleness of the night.

"You can come in now, you didn't have to just wait outside. I'm sorry."

Jake looked to his family then, before they all slowly got up and made their way into the Mauri.

You were huddled in front of the fire, a blanket shrouding you as you blankly stared into the burning embers before you.

"Ma 'ite. You are not alone." Jake murmured as he sat by you, brushing away a stray strand of hair that had cast itself over your bloodshot and puffy eyes.

"I know." You acknowledged.

"Tsmuke, you are not alone." Lo'ak reiterated.

"Yes, I know." You acknowledged again, finally looking up at them as they all sat in a circle around the fire.

"‘Itetsyìp, you are never alone," Neytiri affirmed, having sat by your other side and giving your cheek a soft kiss.

"I know. Are you all trying to make me cry again?" You garbled, tears prickling in your eyes at the warmth you were receiving after giving them the cold shoulder.

"No, we aren't! I don't like it when you cry." Tuk remarked, jumping up from her spot and running over to you. Giving you a hug from behind as her little thumbs rubbed away the tears that began to stream down your face.

"Useless my ass! That shithead was so stupid to say tha-" It seemed Lo'ak was still hung up on what Ao'nung had said.

"Lo'ak!" You all chided, quiet laughter following.

Jake grinned down at you then, his teeth even showing a little as he watched his pride and joy laugh. "Baby girl, we mean it. We're all in this together…‘awsiteng." 

"‘Awsiteng." You repeated, smiling up at him. 

He combed through your hair, bringing you and Tuk into his chest.

"And you're right. You need some alone time, yeah? But we'll always be right around the corner. Okay?" Jake continued to reassure you, rubbing your shoulder - or what part he could reach since Tuk wouldn't let go of you still.

"Okay." You mumbled, arms wrapping around his shoulders and squeezing. 

The pieces that felt so scattered and displaced suddenly puzzled back together.

This is home. Not the forest, not the ocean, not the mauri you all resided in.

As chatter overtook the silence, your parents began to cook up a late dinner. Your eyes met Neteyam's who sat directly parallel to you - he gave you a dorky thumbs up. Your little sign between each other that Jake had mentioned in passing that sky people do when you were younger, "Hey, are you okay?"

You returned it with your own equally as dorky thumbs up, earning a questionable look from your mother who after all these years - still could not fully grasp the concept.

This is home, the family that would always accept and love you through the toughest of times. Your family, that always made you feel whole. Complete.

As Neteyam yipped happily at your thumbs up, unable to hold his happiness under wraps. You thought then,

"Eywa, there is no other place I'd rather be."

࿐ ࿔*:･ﾟ˳೫˚

𝐁𝐎𝐍𝐔𝐒 :

As your family began to prepare to sleep, Lo'ak tapped your shoulder. 

You turned to him, giving him a questioning gaze.

"Yes, Tsmukan?" 

He opened your hands before a familiar unfinished project was placed gently in them.

"I tried to dry it outside, I don't know how salvageable it'll be but I am willing to help. I know Tsireya really likes- oomph!"

You stood on your tippy toes, tugging him in to a gracious embrace. 

He smiled then, hands wrapping around you as he swayed you two from side to side.

"I appreciate it so much, thank you brother." 

𝒇𝒍𝒆𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒃𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 ━━━ 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑

⤷ feedback and reblogs are always much appreciated ! feel free to ask through my inbox if you would like to join my taglist. ♡

[parachutingkitten]

Jay = High Intelligence, Low Wisdom

Kai = Low Intelligence, High Wisdom

Essay about this concept below the cut

Now these are all just my interpretations of the characters, I don't necessarily have hard evidence on hand to back all this up, but here we go:

I've been trying to put my finger on the Kai smart/dumb duality, and I think I can finally somewhat make out my thoughts. Kai is not smart. Book smarts don't come easily to him, he's not great at math, he's not great at overly complex stratagizing- but he's got a LOT of great knowledge in him.

Take the dragon healing in DR. He might not intuitively know how different medicines work or why, but he's got injured enough that he knows that type of information is important to know, and so he's forced it into his head. He couldn't tell you why the blue goop helpped the dragon, but he knew that it would, and that it would be important to remember that it would.

He's pretty good at navigating complex social situations, because he's good at reading people. Having had a history with extreme emotions, he knows how to take them into account, and knows how important it is to do so, even if it's not necessarily logical. I hate to say this, but he's very emotionally intelligent, which sounds kinda like an insult but is actually insanely valuable, because humans are inherently emotional creatures.

He's got a solid basis of common sense, and is constantly looking at the bigger picture. That's why he can come up with the best outline for a plan, because he can not think through the details. Now, if he tries to implement a plan of his without consulting others, he's probably going to miss some very important details, and screw himself over. But, he's most likely to have the best basic premise for an effective plan. This is why his intuition is usually correct. He's not logically thinking through the most likely scenario given all available factors, he's looking at every problem from the birds eye view, and is easily able to fill in the blanks, because he sees the whole picture. You can not tell me this kid knew Lloyd was the Green Ninja because he used logical deduction to eliminate all other possibilities, he had a gut feeling based on realizing the value of human life.

Now, sometimes you need details. And Kai is not good at those. He sucks at those. Big time. But he's self aware enough to know when those times are (most of the time, sometimes he wastes all his lives in a video game before talking to anyone else).

The thing all of these points have in common is that he's lived a very full life while making very many mistakes, and he's learned from all of them. He learns from his dumb mistakes, and is wise enough to know which lessons are worth holding on to.

Jay on the other hand... does not learn from his mistakes. He's got a real thick skull.

Inside that skull is a really smart guy who intuitively latches on to engineering and science concepts. He's got a whole heck of a lot of information that his brain is holding onto simply because it can. This man is all about the details. He gets hyperfixated on details to the point where it's a problem. He's the most likely to solve the intricate problem facing the team, forget that they need to stay hidden, and yell "I did it!". Good at details, bad at big picture. This is also why he usually gives up hope so easily compared to the rest of the team. He can not think long term, he can not see the bigger picture like Kai can, so road blocks in the current plan seem insurmountable.

Sure, he might have rigged an old sailing ship with rocket boosters, but he couldn't unscramble "darnagom" his logical problem solving skills are not what's carrying him.

My standby for the Jay dumb/smart duality is that he should have a significant amount of William Osman energy to him. He's very smart, and can work out how to solve intricate problems and make insane builds, but if making said things is a dangerous or dumb idea has never once crossed his mind, and if it has, he has actively chosen to ignore it. Jay's intelligence is much more creativity based than I think a lot of people like to think. Engineering is about slapping crazy ideas together which barely hold together at first- and that's Jay's brand of smarts.

If you compare this to Zane, that's the vital component that his intelligence is missing- the creativity. He is VERY good at assessing options, but not so great at coming up with new solutions himself. He's running on pure logic and tested successes. He's also missing that social intelligence that Kai has. I'd venture to say that Zane is, by far the most gullible member of the team. If there is not a solid logical reason to doubt something, he is absolutely going to take it at face value. Point being, all the ninja have different smarts, and stupidities, let's not try to conflate them too much.

[ecargmura]

Pokemon Horizons Episode 65 Review - Heart To Heart With The Enemy

*Gasp* Liko and Amethio actually escaped the cave on-screen. The writers are actually not shoving everything into off-screen land this time around! Other than that, this episode was filled with surprise twists and intriguing lore that you can’t help but to wonder what’s going to happen next! 

The Liko and Amethio portions are nice because, like Liko, we finally get to know more about Amethio. It’s crazy how he appeared since the beginning and we only learn of his motives and goals 65 episodes in. He wants to get Rayquaza and Terapagos because he wants to be helpful to his grandfather Gibeon and wants him to be proud of him. It feels like an honor thing. Amethio, despite being a villain, does have kindness dwelling within him. If he wasn’t a kind person, Ceruledge wouldn’t have tried to warm its trainer with one of its blade after seeing Floragato try to get some grass for Liko. If Amethio wasn’t kind, he wouldn’t have cooperated with Liko in order to escape the cave, but he did. It’s nice that Liko knows that Amethio isn’t as bad as he appears to be. I really liked their heart-to-heart conversation. The fact that Amethio motivated Liko to not be so down over her failing her Implementation test is something; Liko didn’t even ask Grusha for a possible rematch as she knew there could be other ways she can master Terastal. Sometimes, the most unexpected person and words can be your biggest motivation.

Poor Amethio, the moment he becomes nice to Liko is when Spinel frames him for cooperation against the enemy and that’s when he gets kicked out of the Explorers. I’m assuming a simple act of kindness or cooperation with the enemy is something Gibeon despises? I wonder if something happened to him in the past for him to abandon his own grandson over something miniscule. I’m assuming that’s what happened to Amethio’s father too? Gibeon seems like a cruel person for believing in a fabricated video and not asking Amethio for a concrete answer. People are speculating that Amethio might be going through an anti-hero route akin to Zuko from Avatar: The Last Airibender. While I can see an anti-hero route, I don’t think it’s fair to compare it to Zuko as the circumstances of their turn is different. Zuko is a blueprint for antihero stories, but he doesn’t need to be the pathway.

For the Roy and Dot portions, I’m glad that the kids are sharp enough to realize that Sidian and Coral are deliberately stalling them because they’re targeting Liko. However, what they didn’t expect was that they’re super good at stalling that whatever plan they come up with, the Explorers counter it. People might get angry over the battle, but it’s because the kids aren’t battling seriously. They’re being hasty because Liko is their priority and not the battle. Fortunately, the battle gets called off once Grusha enters the scene as he got a call from Friede about the situation; Friede called him because he knew he wouldn’t get there in time and would need some extra help. I wonder why Grusha mellowed out in this episode compared to how stern he was two episodes ago. Also, I wonder what his Altaria’s beak is made of because it pecked the heck out of that boulder and Flying moves aren’t effective against Rocks.

I do like that Amethio’s words about not giving up has impacted her in a way that she even asked Roy and Dot to go to the Highest Peak with her. Usually, Liko is so passive and the other two seemed okay with not going now that they found Liko and she’s safe, but she still wanted to go. It’s nice that Liko is being a bit more assertive now. I hope to see this more in future episodes.

Also, Terapagos’s anger towards Amethios seems to be more that he reminded him of Gibeon and possibly mistook him for his grandfather, before realizing that they’re different. The way Amethio mentioned his grandfather Gibeon is when Terapagos got another upset reaction. The turtle definitely has beef with Gibeon and it could be a factor to why Gibeon was unusually cruel to Amethio in this episode.

With the announcement of the fourth arc starting in October 11, this means that this arc has three more episodes until then. I honestly can’t wait to see what this new arc has in store as the DLC characters are shown in the key visual. Though, I am a little upset that Arven didn’t show up at all in this arc and it seems that Kieran is going to get that same treatment seeing how he’s not in the poster while his sister Carmine is. What are you thoughts on this episode? By the way, I support Spinel’s rights, wrongs and future beatings.

[skellebonez]

A Trip For Two?

The final fic for @lunar-wandering's Monkie Destiny Challenge! I WAS doing 8 prompts per "week", sometimes using both prompts per day and sometimes just one. This one includes:

... a lot fdkjgfdkslj. I was only able to implement a few random ones.

Happy Halloween!

AO3 Link!

“I can't believe you convinced me to do this,” Pigsy said with a grunt, hand held against the wall as he followed it toward their destination through the pitch black darkness.

“I can't believe you agreed to it only the second time I asked,” Tang countered, a soft excited but nervous laugh echoing softly.

To be fair, Pigsy had always wanted to try one of these escape rooms. He just never got around to finding the time or the right one close enough to give it a shot. Why Tang wanted to go to a murder mystery themed one specifically was easy enough, he wanted to give all his recent extra study focus a new target.

He’d been extra focused ever since the incident with Azure, no more cramming at the last second for anything. Granted, he DID change up his method of study from the one that Shifu Subodhi had him work with, but this new one seemed to work better for him in the long run when balancing the rest of his life duties. Heck, he’d even applied himself to helping Pigsy research different methods of cooking ingredients to elevate his noodles even further.

But he’d also been getting antsy. Not just because of any reason related to his studies, though he was getting more and more frustrated with not “having a better fitting challenge” every so often, antsy with all the stuff going on around them. The constant endangerment, new enemies at every corner, new powers he seemed to continue to need to master and experiment. He thought they needed something that Pigsy hadn’t had in decades.

A vacation.

So, of course, Tang figured he could kill two birds with one stone. An escape room meant a challenge he could meet head on. And this one was offering a prize to anyone who could beat it within a certain time limit. One romantic getaway for two in Guilin, where Tang promised to take him to the Yulong river when they win this.

Tang was overwhelmingly positive they would.

Pigsy had… reservations.

“Tang, you know I’ve never been good with riddles,” Pigsy protested with a snorting laugh.

“No, but you ARE good at problem solving in other ways!” Tang boasted as he looked their pamphlet over. “I’ve seen you somehow manage to Tetris in all those ingredients in your supply cabinet for the shop.”

“That’s just work brain.”

“Well your work brain and my school brain may be brilliant enough to solve this challenge and get us that romantic getaway prize.”

Pigsy couldn’t help the soft smile that crept on his face at Tang’s boasting. It was sweet, how much confidence he had in the two of them.

But Pigsy also knew that as brilliant as he knew Tang to be… he also got stuck on the crossword puzzle on the city’s homepage last week. Three letter word for mirthful.

The answer way “gay”.

They were, probably, doomed. But at least this would be fun!

Pigsy chose to believe that as they finally reached the doorway at the end of the hall, Tang eagerly opening the door to allow them inside the main escape room.

The room wasn't terribly big, all things considered. Roughly the size of the entire dining area and kitchen of Pigsy’s, it was styled like a typical western study one might see in a mansion in an American movie. If it was horribly ransacked and clearly burgled, and also meant to look possibly Haunted. If the old stains and spider webs and the creepy doll on a shelf by the exit were any indication.

So Pigsy had to give the Escape Room crew points for detail! Just crowded enough to look realistic, but not so crowded it would make the game too hard to complete at all. But it did make it clear why this room took over the prize time limit to complete for most participants. Even he was a little overwhelmed and wondering where they should start looking in all of the clutter around them.

It didn't take long for them to find the first clue, or to solve it. Ironically, it seemed like this particular one was timed and they just had to wait a moment for the TV to come on to find the next clue. In fact... most of the clues in the room seemed to come easy to them.

Right until the 6th clue, a note in a vase lead them to a riddle on the wall and, quite frankly, it made no sense.

“I made quick work of the mountain chicken to hide my motive.”

Pigsy didn’t know what the hell this clue could have meant. If a mountain chicken wasn’t a chicken… what the fuck was it? Some other kind of bird? A lizard? A salamander?

“It’s a frog,” Tang said confidently.

“How in the world did you know a mountain chicken is a frog?”

“I didn’t,” Tang said with a shrug. “But this reference book fell off the shelf and the bookmarked page was for that frog. It’s probably meant to be a clue for people who don’t know that already, it falling saved us a LOT of time!”

Yeah… just like how the TV coming on via a supposed timer gave them the clue earlier…

Was this game rigged?

... couldn't be.

But, somehow, it was right there. A broken statue of a frog that looked exactly like the Mountain Chicken in Tang's reference book. And hidden inside one of the cracks was a torn slip of newspaper, revealing who Pigsy assumed must have been the culprit and their motive for this little murder mystery.

“Hey Tang?”

“Yes, Pigsy?”

“Hasn't this seemed a little... too easy?” The chef asked, eyebrow raised in confusion.

“I think we've just gotten really lucky,” Tang said with a smile. “And we HAVE had to puzzle out all but two of the clues ourselves anyway. We're also still really close to the end time and we have one clue left...” Pigsy hummed, nodding as he realized Tang was right. They may have gotten everything pu t together, but they only had 5 minutes to put the clues together in the correct order in the little computer next to the exit door. They were still going to have to work fast to win this challenge.

As they rushed over to the computer he couldn't help but see Tang's wide smile. He was so EXCITED at the idea of winning this. Was he just happy that he could win something that he had to solve? Or was he happy that he was possibly going to win a romantic getaway with his husband? Pigsy didn't know...

But as long as Tang smiled like that? He found he didn't really care either way. He just wanted him to smile more.

“OK, so we have to put this together like... oh gosh, it's Cludo,” Tang said with a laugh. “We have to put all this stuff in like a Cludo answer but with more steps.”

“Well that's easy!” Pigsy said with a laugh. “Mr…uh… what was his name?”

“Chandler.”

“Yeah, Chandler!”

“AH, right, Mr. Chandler stole the study key and killed Mr. Doe -aka Mr. Bennet-, in the kitchen with poison and moved him to the study to make it look like the owner of the mansion did it since only he had the key!” Tang said triumphantly. “Great job, Pigsy!”

He smiled wide, turning around to grab Pigsy and plant a passionate kiss on his lips and-

Wait…

Pigsy pulled back from the kiss as the exit door opened, looking at Tang in confusion.

“I… I didn't remember his name,” he said softly.

“… I didn't either,” Tang admitted, looking around in confusion.

“Then who-”

“You're going to miss your deadline,” the mystery voice said again. From high up. And when they looked up they noticed the creepy doll on the shelf had moved, turning to stare down at them with blank glassy eyes. “… run.”

Pigsy and Tang ran faster out of that room than they ever had before. So fast they didn't notice the giggle and the soft whisper of “I hope they like their vacation” they emanated from the room before the door closed behind them.

They did, by the way.

Even if they were very cautious of escape rooms after that.

[depressedhatakekakashi]

i've been saying like !! why jjk fans try to make everything about kakashi?

they compare kakashi and obito's dynamic with gojo and geto's

they call him "ninja gojo" like he wasn't a character who was created years before gojo

but they will tell you right in the face that we want kakashi to be gojo!!! IN WHAT WORLD? why would we want kakashi to be a character whose author didn't know what shit to do and the best decision he could come up with was killing him off?

kakashi (in his world) is deeply beloved not only by his students but almost the whole village. they begged him to be hokage twice because of how much they trust him, he's an excellent leader through and through and im not gonna mention his abilities/skills and power

but apparently he wasn't as important as gojo is ...

I wouldn’t say Konoha begged Kakashi to be Hokage, but he was clearly the choice they made. Kkshi is the first Hokage we see decided by more than just the lord daiymo and his small group of people (other than Hashirama ofc)

He’s a great leader

Caring friend

His story intertwines with the overarching story over and over sgain. Heck, right up to the final fight he was vital, being the one to implement a plan that ultimately defeated kaguya.

He’s a well rounded character with flaws, hopes, dreams, one of the only actually satisfying arcs in the series. like seriously i feel chested that sasuke got no justice and Naruto never got to think of himself over Konoha. Kakashi at least we get to see retiring/retired hanging out with his childhood best friend and getting to live after thinking for his whole life that his duty was to die for the village

I do not want Kakashi to be gojo. Kakashi is more interesting to me. He’s a character i can write hundreds of stories for without getting bored

I wouldn’t want him or any of the characters i enjoy or be anything like a character like gojo who actively cannot be a part of the plot without ruining it because of how broken he is as a power source)

[nazrigar]

Avatar 2: Electric Boogaloo, or “Why You Shouldn’t Take the Internet’s Opinion Too Seriously at Times”

Twas the year 2022, in the Month of May, when the first teaser for The Blue People Movie(tm) was released... everyone on this blasted device called the internet, from Tumblr, Twitter to Reddit though it was going to fail.

Now look where it is.  $2.243 billion dollars later. For all the talk of “Cultural Impact”, plain and simple, you don’t get people to keep coming back to the theaters for a movie with a gap of 13 years from the first if people didn’t care about it.

...Legit the only place that had faith in the movie was effing r/boxoffice. A subreddit. Another, much bigger subreddit in r/movies was basically betting on this film to fail, and when it didn’t it kept deleting posts about its box office success until recently with the exact same news as above.

And that  $2.243 billion? Mostly from international audiences. Heck even my country of Indonesia made it to the top 20 markets for this film, with Europe (France and Germany specifically), India, China and Korea being the other, bigger markets.

As a guy in the animation industry, whenever I see a lot of my own community and even overseas colleagues either bashing or in disbelief of the film’s success I kinda die inside, because it really feels as if though I’m being a traitor to my own professional community for enjoying the movie wholly and unironically.

It took a while, but I finally accepted the ability to say “that’s fine, so what?”.

What can I say? I like realism, and I like realistic animation! I like how its implemented in the movie.

I like exploring speculative worlds from a biological perspective as well as worldbuilding.

I love science fiction critters, and Avatar always delivers.

It’s a movie made for me, as some dude from Indonesia who helps storyboards projects.

So if you’re a fan of the Blue People Movie(tm), don’t feel ashamed. If you’re inspired by this, but also take the criticisms of certain communities to account to improve on your work? Go for it!

Even Jimmy Camera I think learned his lesson (which is hard for me to fathom because... it’s James Cameron. His ego is pretty (in)famous), as he asked for consultation from the Maori community for their opinions on how to write the Metkayina.

Remember, next time the internet (especially twitter) thinks something is going to flop(tm), but you think it might be good and/or successful! Go for it! What’s most important is what you think, and make your own conclusions about it.

[burnwater13]

Ahsoka Tano had two lightsabers! Two! Count them! One, two! Grogu didn’t even have one lightsaber. That didn’t seem fair. How many attachments did you have to give up in order to have two lightsabers instead of one? Master Luke had made it pretty clear that if Grogu wasn’t willing to give up his dad, then he couldn’t become a Jedi and have Master Yoda’s lightsaber. That also didn’t seem fair. 

Grogu understood that having a weapon like a lightsaber was a big responsibility and he’d have to be careful and respectful and all that. He did. But why not let him get a feel for the thing? And after all, Din Djarin wasn’t even a Jedi and he had the Darksaber! Grogu hadn’t heard Luke ask for it back because it was a Jedi weapon after all and Din Djarin was pretty attached to Grogu. Wasn’t that a problem too?

Wow. Adults were just so confusing. Rules for some people most of the time and different rules for Grogu all of the time. That also wasn’t fair. Or right. Or balanced. Didn’t the Force want Master Luke to be balanced? Wasn’t that why Ahsoka had two lightsabers? Because she needed two to have better balance in her style of fighting.

Of course Grogu had no idea why Ahsoka Tano had two lightsabers. He had known other Jedi who had two and some Sith, he’d heard, also carried two of the weapons. He just wanted one. And just a little one. Not some huge thing that you could swirl over your head and use to fly from place to place. He was actually pretty sure that just happened in vids. What Jedi or Sith worth their salt and meditation powder would do something like that? None of them. You’d make a heck of a target that way. 

The problem was Grogu still wasn’t really big enough to handle a lightsaber, no matter who he was or wasn’t attached to. Master Yoda had been twice his height when he’d last held a lightsaber. That’s a huge difference. If he’d used the lightsaber now he’d be hitting all sorts of stuff with it by accident and that was not the Way or balanced or anything good. 

He could just imagine Peli Motto scolding him for getting burn marks on the N-1. Or Greef Karga saying, ‘I don’t know, Mando. He’s already burned a path from here to the market place. That’s going to take a lot of credits to repair and I have no idea where we can get a new leg for IG-11-M.”

That was Grogu’s biggest concern about having even one lightsaber. What if he hurt someone with it? Oh, not if he was in a fight and had to use it to save his dad from some Imp Remnant. But what if he was just practicing and Din Djarin interrupted him and Grogu whirled around and Din got hurt because that beskar armor doesn’t really cover every inch of his body? That would be awful. 

Yes, Grogu could heal him or anyone else he accidentally injured, but how many times do you want to do that? How many times did he want to apologize? Or listen to the inevitable lecture about the lightsaber not being a toy and that he had to be careful and concentrate and blah, blah, blah? He knew he’d get that lecture every time and anytime he accidentally hurt his dad. Mandalorians were big on lectures as a form of education.

Uff. Speaking of which, who would educate him on its use? Yes, Master Luke was pretty handy with his lightsaber. He’d sliced up a bunch of battle droids with it and all that. Of course they didn’t have lightsabers to fight back with. So it wasn’t like he was using it as anything other than a cutting implement. He didn’t duel anyone with it. 

And he couldn’t do that with his dad either. First Din Djarin wasn’t particularly skilled at using the Darksaber. Second, he gave it to Bo-Katan because of the strange critter on Mandalore. Then finally, Moff Gideon had destroyed that one, when he managed to get it away from her. 

But that was fine. Based on how Mandalorians taught each other how to use weapons, Grogu wasn’t sure he wanted any of them teaching him how to use a lightsaber anyway. How many kids would he have to apologize to and how many of them would still run off to pout? He had no idea and it didn’t sound like fun at all. 

And that made him wonder why Ahsoka Tano went around with two of them. They seemed like magnets for trouble and regrets and lectures and in the end would like be nothing but trouble. What if she was like Obi-Wan and lost them from time to time? Where would she get the spare parts to rebuild them? Didn’t the Empire end up destroying a lot of kyber crystals during their time in charge? With two lightsabers you had twice as much maintenance to do and needed twice as many spare parts and time to manage them. Uff.

Grogu was pretty glad that he didn’t have a lightsaber and hoped for Ahsoka Tano’s sake that one day she would be able to get of hers. Then they would both have time to just have some fun for a change and that would be nice. 

[rosekushina]

I can't speak for everyone, but my biggest issues with Robyn is the fact that she doesn't really do what she's supposed to be doing from a writing perspective. She's supposed to be a hero to the people of Mantle and a sort of Robin Hood, but it didn't work because we never see it where it mattered most. In Volume 7.

She's supposed to be a person who Mantle can rely on, but we never see her actually interact with the people of Mantle outside of the election night. We never see her out in the streets talking and helping the people. After the massacre at the pep rally, we never see what she and her team does with the materials they start stealing from Ironwood. It's never used to help rebuild things. As far as we know, she and her team are completely hoarding it.

When it finally comes time to help, while she does take down Tyrian at first, she then jumps at the littlest provocation and helps contribute to the plane crash, completely undoing the good she helped contribute to in a way that almost felt like deliberate self sabotage.

There's also the big inconsistencies with her Semblance. It's supposed to be a lie detector, but when you compare Ironwood's speech to all that came after, it seems like it's either faulty and can be duped (which is an interesting concept the writers would never explore), or it might not even be lie detection and then we have to go and try to figure out what it actually is via headcanons (which feels more in line with what CRWBY does).

Then there's the whole microaggressions issue regarding Marrow, the nickname "Wags", and Robyn kinda talking over him during their conversation about Faunus oppression.

At the end of it all, her issues build her up to be a hypocritical character who doesn't help with anything, and instead causes more problems. Basically, Robyn Hill is a fantastic character in concept, but her implementation in the show makes her frustrating to watch, and that's what makes people dislike her.

An issue a lot of characters in RWBY have.

^^ this is 100% valid and I truly see these criticisms. I'm not gonna defend Robyn all that much because she's nowhere near my favorite character, but I will say we never see what she does with the supplies just as much as we never see what IRONWOOD does with the supplies. Heck, we don't even know what these supplies ARE that can supposedly be used to build Amity as well as fix the wall.

Robyn had every right to want those supplies back because she didn't know why Ironwood was taking them. When she finds out about Amity (via Blake and Yang) she stops stealing the supplies and the next scene we see her in she recognizes Ironwood is doing something for the "greater good" and invites him to open-up to her (loveeee that scene in Episode 9).

In the scene where Ironwood and Robyn deliver the speech, I believe the camera zooms-in on Ironwood when he says Amity is ready to launch so everyone wouldn't see his hand light up red (he was lying as bait to get Watts).

Robyn couldn't do much LEGALLY in Mantle until she was elected, and losing the election gave her the push to become "full-on vigilante". She had every right to steal supplies (to help Mantle) in my eyes just as Ironwood had a right to take them (to lift Amity to help the whole world). Plus, you can't fix a hole in a large wall being surrounded by Atlas cameras in one day.

Again, I don't LOVE Robyn, but I did LIKE her and understand her until the whole Tyrian-plane ride thing. Oh and I absolutely hated the scene in V8 when she told Qrow he was a better Huntsman than Clover because he was the one who "walked away". Completely untrue.

Either way, she deserved better. But I honestly wouldn't mind if we never see her again.

[alt-bluesman]

Animal Crossing memories, part 2

It's brand new day, time to get back to it! I'm going to toss in some of my favourite ACNH screenshots between the paragraphs. Stuff that I wasn't able to fit in previously, most of it silly, some pretty. They don't have anything to do with what I have to say, but I'd like to share them somewhere & I don't want this post to be a plain wall of text either. Let's go!

So what is my overall opinion on the game? I think it's awesome. Like I mentioned in my previous post, I didn't get around to experience any of the previous AC instalments, so I have no way to compare. I know that some of the faithful fans of the series aren't necessarily thrilled with New Horizons & looking at their criticisms, they raise good points! Personally I enjoy the game for what it is: there's no wrong way to play it and there is no pressure to do it one way or another. I keep coming back to the Sims and Minecraft for the exact same reasons.

When I opened New Horizons on my birthday this year, I finally took the time to check out all of the features they added over 2 years ago. Better late than never I say! They were met with a mixture of excitement and disappointment, haha. Mostly that first one, thankfully. Cyrus' customisation workshop is hands down one of the best things ever - you no longer have to hunt down your desired item variations on Nookazon or beg your friends for them. There are so, so many new objects in the game. Some of the prices were reduced. You can customise your home inside and outside as well as expand your storage. Froggy chair is back!

Let me tell you though, I was appalled when I found out that bulk crafting wasn't implemented. Why, Nintendo. Why! I know they're still adding minor patches to the game, but I'm afraid it's safe to assume that we're never going to get that at this point. I understand why it wouldn't apply to big items, but fish bait? Come on. We can already buy stuff in bulk. Same thing applies to Nook Miles tickets, why the heck can't we print several at the time? Or fly from one mystery island to another, skipping the airport? Eugh. I heard that Nintendo is notorious for not taking the voices of their fanbase into consideration, so I believe we're stuck forever with these pesky mechanics!

But I don't want to be a negative Nancy. I will stand by my words: the game is awesome. I'm thankful for what we got! I believe New Horizons truly deserved its success and I hope the next instalment in the series will receive a warm welcome just like this one. Unlike some players, I don't think another major update is necessary. Of course it would be great, though the game feels finished to me - with all the events, items, recipes, customisation options, it's a solid title. I can safely say it's one of my favourites as far as all games go.

Now, with all that said, what does the future hold for my little island of Pan? Well... the days of Pan are numbered. After some back and forth, I decided it's time to delete my save file and start fresh. I will take a hot minute to explain why (so bear with me if you're curious), but first I want to say why it was a tough choice. Pan is nearly dang perfect for me. Great layout, long pier, blue airport, oranges as my native fruit and windflowers as native.. flowers! I have quite a few items & board drawings that I hold very dear because they came from friends. I like all of my villagers a lot. I love how the island looks. I have so many memories. After all, it's my true and only Pan.

What's wrong, then?! A lot, man. A lot. Even though I'm proud of how the island looks, it's not fun to play on and that alone is a big deal breaker for me. I (mostly) finished it around the time when heavily-terraformed and decorated islands were all the rage & unfortunately developed that unhealthy mindset of comparing myself to all those much more skilled players. For whatever reason, I wanted to live up to somebody else's standards. Not anymore! My next keyword would be "less": less decorations, less flowers, less trees, less cliffs, less waterfalls. (Seriously. They are so frickin' loud)

Admittedly, Pan doesn't have nearly as much clutter as some other islands do, but it's still a problem in many different ways. The whole central part lags and it drives me nuts every time. I'm pretty much confined to walking on paths as there isn't a lot of open space anymore. Said custom paths flicker a lot. Performing some of the daily tasks can be difficult. Wanna catch a fish? There ain't no space. Shoot down an airdrop? Nope, no space. Build a Snowboy without the snowball getting obliterated 10 times in a row? No. Space.

I know there's always an option to declutter, remodel or flatten and start over - I did these and considered them again! But each and every one seems so daunting now. This brings me to my next point: I miss so many things from the early stages of the game. The spacious, natural feeling of a brand new island. Darting around the place like there's no tomorrow. Slowly building everything from scratch, making your own way through it all. Catching all the critters, searching for fossils, getting scammed by Jolly Redd. Heck, even paying off all the effing debt!

I'm always a strong advocate for a second playthrough. It's true that I love jumping into games with as little knowledge about them as possible, hardly anything can replace that fresh, first experience! But it's so much fun to rediscover too. I pay a lot more attention to detail whenever I replay because I already know the main story and I'm ready to take in all of the smaller things. There is no real story in Animal Crossing, just progress and I hope to take it a little at a time. When the game came out, I had a bit of an unhealthy obsession with it, haha. (Who didn't, though?)

I never visited any of the famed treasure islands, but I did time travel quite a bit. Both things can be absolutely okay if they're exactly what you're looking for. Not sure if that was the right choice for me. I played for hours on end, grinding so hard that I think I just burned myself out much sooner that I wanted to. I couldn't bring myself to touch New Horizons for a long time after that. I believe many other players experienced something similar. That and also all the dramas that inevitably erupted with an introduction of so many new players to the AC community. The game kind of faded into obscurity after its prime. Folks were collectively tired.

Many aspects of that initial hullabaloo were great, not gonna lie! Jumping on the bandwagon, sharing our adventures, making memes. Still, it feels nice to come back after it all subsided - to a game that is, after all, supposed to be relaxing and mellow. I've mellowed down over the years too. Not only that, but I also don't feel the need to rush through it as there is no fear of spoilers anymore, I already know all the unlocks, I know what happens in the game. I'm looking forward to getting back into it with a fresh, blank canvas to have fun on and a more open mind.

------------------

There will be part 3 to this! Hopefully soon after I can access my Switch again. I ain't letting Pan go without a bang either, I will snap pics all around it and post & describe them here. If I can figure out how, I will record a tour. If it's worth it, I will save a dream address. This little fictional land meant so much to me (and I can't even fully explain why I get so attached to stuff like that). I even don't know why I just spent so much time talking about Animal Crossing. Perhaps it's easier for me to talk about games, cartoons and fictional characters than my personal life? It is easier for sure!

[readwritedrawrecordrepeat]

Well... That's That! (Well, it WAS that earlier this week...)

I'm a bit disappointed that Deep Cut didn't even get any points, first of all. As much as I loved the EXECUTION of the collab, I think it wasn't a great time to implement it, since Deep Cut haven't gotten nearly the same amount of quality screen time as the other two bands. Even if they did the collab in the fourth game, I think that would have been better, since it would have given Deep Cut a fighting chance to stand on their own and make the collab more rewarding.

But that's... all I really have to complain about in terms of Grandfest, because my GOSH was it amazing! I've already made other posts talking about it, but I can't get over the aesthetics. From the Jellyfish tents to the food trucks to the merch stands, it all felt like a proper music festival. The atmosphere was wonderful, and while I haven't been to a music fest myself, something tells me they got the vibes down pat. I also think the use of the fog machines was pretty clever to get the models moving around the stage AND keeping Deep Cut's shadows when they begin either Anarchy Rainbow or Till Depth do us Part. And as someone who has watched the real-world performances to the point I've memorized a good 80 percent of them beat for beat, I loved that they used the live remixes AND the live choreo! Not to mention salvaging Color Pulse '24! AND THE TRI-COLOR SHOUTS. MY GOSH, THE TRI-COLOR SHOUTS. I have been listening to the Deep Cut one regularly it is insanely catchy.

Three Wishes was wonderful live. That's all I can say on that. It was so cute how some platforms would float into the back, like they were shouting out the jellies that couldn't get up to the front. I've been to a few concerts, and I always love it when the artist moves to the people in the back rows!

The skybox for the sunrise was lovely, and I realized that aside from the Octo Expansion, we haven't seen a sunrise in the Splatoon world until now. Made me feel a bit emotional, honestly. I spent a good 50 percent of my play time watching the performances and syncing up with the jellyfish.

I was sort of worried during the final dialogue that it would be too generic, since it started off as such, but then it moved to something far more wholesome. Again, I think it would have been stronger if we actually... knew... more about Deep Cut (I still love them, though!), and nothing will beat the iconic "You know I love you," but it was still very cute.

And now, I shall stay true to the team I chose and look into... THE FUTURE!

(WooOOOooOOOooo)

First of all, I love the fact that they confirmed not 30 minutes after the results came in that we would have repeats of the special fests, which is actually something I predicted. So, even if this is the last unique theme, it's not the total final Splatfest, so maybe that's why they named it the way they did? (And maybe they'll sneak in some DLC please please pretty please with a cherry on top I'll gladly pay 20 monies if that's what it takes)

Second, it's great that they immediately implemented the Grandfest lookback future on the amiibos rather than waiting on that! Now I can go back and rewatch the performances whenever I want! I don't have any Squid Sisters amiibos, and I got Splatoon 1 after I got 2, so I never got to experience that!

And finally, I wonder what the next game will be like? I'm in the camp of people who DOESN'T want a Great Turf War focused game, just because we already know how it ends and I don't want a glorified history lesson, thanks very much. I wouldn't mind it as DLC or a side mode, but not THE main thing. That said, I DO love everyday history and old-fashioned, retro things, so I'd be down for a game that took place near the start of Splatoon's civilization, or heck, take us to the equivalent of the 70s, 80s, or 90s! Or even just make the game's setting a historical town that's been around and preserved for years. Make the idols an old married couple who don't dance much but instead play classic instruments and sing. Make 'em the honorary grandparents to everyone who lives in the town and everybody loves them. They're not bitter about the current world or longing for the good ol' days but want to watch the next generation grow up. Make them Great Turf War veterans or children who never got a proper youth/teenhood, and so want to watch this next bunch grow up happy and safe. I have given way too much thought into this, but look me in the digital eye and tell me you DON'T want an old married couple as a potential set of idols.

So yeah, I think as long as they go for an old-timey AESTHETIC, rather than proper time travel (or saving time travel for DLC), I think it'll be all fine and dandy. I hope the devs/higher ups learn from the criticisms people had about Splatoon 3 and make Splatoon 4 even better (namely by giving the developers enough time to consider and implement their more ambitious ideas, rather than cutting them off or having them rely too much on fanservice/nostalgia bait).

All in all, I think the series still has potential, and I hope Splatoon 4 improves where Splatoon 3 faltered, namely by giving everything more depth (I found a brilliant post on Twitter -- though I ended up losing it! -- that explained that Splatoon 3 was a good game, but didn't have the same level of depth as the previous ones, and that held it back. I think that's an amazing way of putting it, so if you see that person, let me know so I can give them the proper credit!) and allowing the devs to go for their more ambitious, radical ideas, rather than play it safe.

Ah well. In conclusion: more DLC please and thankie I want more of the 6 AM newscasters with hearts of gold and heads of violence

[trusttechno]

Kitematic inverse rig

Kitematic inverse rig how to#

Kitematic inverse rig code#

The FK is not very useful here, because if we are given a change of angle of a servo, only one effector moves in the chain. This is harder than FK, and there could be more than one solution. This is when you have a desired end effector position, but need to know the joint angles required to achieve it. Inverse kinematics is the opposite of forward kinematics. You know absolutely from the servo positions exactly where the foot is. Forward and Inverse Kinematics – FK & IKįorward kinematics is the method for determining the orientation and position of the end effector (x,y,z) coordinates relative to the centre of mass , given the joint angles and link lengths of the robot arm (servo positions). This equation is deterministic.

Kitematic inverse rig code#

If you want the robot to balance dynamically you NEED to know where the feet are and where they’re going to need to be. Please understand that I’m not going to do all your work for you, so the code or equations I share are not guaranteed on their accuracy but purely a demonstration of how the method is derived and works. This is why the kinematics of the feet are important to you. As soon as you push it past that point, so the centre of mass is the other side of the centre of pivot it will fall. As the centre of mass approaches a point directly above one of the edges (our centre of pivot) the cube will feel lighter to your touch and if you can get the centre of mass directly over that centre of pivot it will balance. The centre of mass is above the centre of pivot (the edges) but because it’s between them (when viewed from every direction) it will just sit there until you prod it. When the cube is just sat there it’s stable. If you’re a little unclear about Robot Kinematics, I recommend to start with something basic, a cube is a good start, and imagine that its centre of mass is right in the middle (which it will be if its density is even throughout). Here is an implementation of a 3 DOF hexapod robot which I built using IK: If you feel confident about the Inverse Kinematics basics, you can jump to beyond the edges of his feet) the robot will overbalance and fall. the edges of where its feet contact the ground). If the centre of mass is above the centre of pivots and between them the robot will balance (almost an unstable equilibrium, if you’re an applied mathematician. If the centre of mass is above but outside the centre of pivots (i.e. Finally, I'd like to use all of those tools in tandem to make some sort of cool keyed animation, but thinking about the logistics of all of that made me wonder if it would be smart to make a separate graph that is entirely devoted to using simulations to automate the keyframing/editing process(this might be good to work on first, considering how useful it could be as a general tool).As you might know “balance” can be defined as the robot’s centre of mass (affectionately referred to as its centre of gravity) being between its centre of pivots (i.e. I ultimately want to make it so that the entire hand can move and rotate- then, I plan to fill the hand in with points in 3D space so that I can use my depth-rendering technique to make it look solid. Points are color coded to their respective finger!Īs mentioned before, this graph is still a work in progress. Drag the control points on the right side of the graph to position the fingers. Drag the "rotate" cursor around in order to view the hand from different angles

Kitematic inverse rig how to#

I had to use a heck ton of trig to figure out how to make the fingers track individual points- also, since our main 4 fingers have three segments instead of only two, that added a little more ambiguity in terms of how I should solve for the position of each joint(as there are now multiple solutions). Despite the title, this graph took me about two days to create and it is still in progress!

[olivereactsaboutgarbage]

Soul Eater NOT! Episode 12 - Soul Resonance!

Oh crap, I almost forgot to do this. Well... let’s see how this show ends. I bet it ends in a really cool way. Judging from the episode title, the ending must involve Tsugumi and Anya. Surprising...

Like all nightmare episodes, this one starts with the opening. After that, Joe is still talking about murder, so the audience gets to see her legs for a second. The villain decides Tsugumi and Anya are cute and starts eating Joe’s face. Then she starts bothering Tsugumi about the freaking love triangle. Honestly, you’d think facing off with the big bad of the entire show would be a break from getting pestered about that, but I guess Tsugumi just isn’t so lucky.

Tsugumi decides that this show isn’t much like Undertale:

The villain decides that since it’s Halloween, she should make her thralls glow red. Personally I think orange is a better Halloween color than red. I know there’s a popular Tumblr post about every color being a Halloween color, but red just feels wrong as one to me. I mean, it’s red.

BRO FOR REAL DID KIM AND JACQUELINE BREAKING UP JUST NOT HAPPEN??? SERIOUSLY WHAT DID I MISS

A bunch of fighting is going on. Akane decides not to kill the villain’s minions when they lose, so she decides to make them kill themselves when they lose. This seems like an incredibly poor strategic move. Why not take advantage of your opponents’ mercy and make your dudes do other stuff? Well, whatever.

Anya starts standing on Tsugumi’s shoulders, so the villain decides it’s time for them to be killed by Joe. This surprises Tsugumi so much that she falls off the building. Uh, Anya is fine though, she already got off Tsugumi’s shoulders at this point. Anya destroys her own skirt, which I guess is the dramatic conclusion to the “Anya is the prude” arc. She kicks Joe so hard she falls off the building. And by “she”, I mean they. Anya says that she will do the fighting, so all Tsugumi needs to do is administer the antidote afterwards. Tsugumi says “I’ll try”. Joe finds a chainsaw, I guess.

Joe throws the chainsaw into the sky and then catches it, so Tsugumi drinks the antidote and starts passionately making out with Joe. Alright

Joe isn’t non-evil, but she’s crying, so Tsugumi decides this show IS like Undertale AFTER ALL, and tries to talk her down. Tsugumi gets stabbed, which is also the kind of thing that would happen in Undertale. Now it’s time for Tsugumi to sing the pumpkin song, which makes the pumpkin episode one of the most important episodes, probably.

Tsugumi and Joe do the nudity thing, but there’s a bunch of chains. I can’t remember what it means that Joe’s soul is like, orange instead of purple. Regardless, everything is fine now.

hey how come the villain gets clothes that seems like a bit of a double standard, are only 14-year-olds allowed to be naked

Anyway, Tsugumi finally resolves the love triangle by choosing both ends of the triangle. She also says that they’ll break up someday so uh, that’s sad.

The evil woman has turned evil. So has the tiny fortune teller. They’re really ineffective!

Oh heck yes it’s the heterosexual boys!!! I missed them. This show should have been about them. They’ve turned evil though. That means it’s a good thing when they get shot.

Speaking of shots, a panty shot happens. I wish that hadn’t happened. Oh well, I guess I’ll just move on with my life.

Now it’s time for the protagonist trio to fight the villain. Joe gets a cool line about how she’s done forgetting things, which I wish would have happened earlier, because forgetting things was always a bad character gimmick, at least the way it was implemented. Tsugumi’s weapon form “has a blade” now, concluding the “it doesn’t have a blade” arc. The girls do a weird dance, then not too long afterwards they win the fight. Tsugumi says the other two shouldn’t have called out their attack name, because that’s a dumb trope Tsugumi hates I guess.

yessssss more heterosexual boy screentime

Tsugumi is using the villain’s soul as a balloon. I’d show you, but I don’t feel like it.

Later on, Tsugumi has a new hairstyle and sexually harasses Joe. The show ends with Tsugumi shouting her favorite nonsense word.

...whatever happened to Tsugumi’s dead dog, anyways...?

In summary, I don’t know why I watched this show. Goodbye forever.

[ecargmura]

Wonderful Precure Episode 19 Review - Cure Lillian Weaves Her Way In

Cure Lillian is here! Her transformation is really good! It’s not as fluid as Nyammy’s, but still great! If Nyammy’s transformation is an SSS tier, then I’d give Lillian’s an S tier. My only issue with her transformation is that she doesn’t move as much as Nyammy does. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, it’s just a nitpick. I do love how her transformation has a curtain and it drops as she flies around. I do like that Lillian with her hair down is shown before it gets tied up. Overall, this was a really good transformation with minor issues.

Lillian comes from a knitting terminology, apparently. It does fit into Mayu’s whole textile theme as she loves making stuff and making people happy with it. Heck, her outfit is also has some textile theme in it as her dress is accompanied by a long ribbon. She’s made many people happy with her creations. Even in her debut transformation episode, her wanting to make others happy is even implemented when she’s purifying the GaruGaru. I’m surprised that the Hamster was purified by Lillian’s powers and not with the Friend Librale like how it usually was.

Glimpses of Mayu’s past are shown as she’s always been extremely scared and timid since she was small. She hated that side of herself, but Yuki always had her back. That’s why the argument hurt her more than she realized. Yuki trying to isolate her was already a bad thing, but what made Mayu hurt more than her lashing out at her cat was the fact that she feels as if Yuki hated her now. I feel like what made Mayu more upset was the fact that she didn’t want to be the one being protected; she wanted to protect Yuki as well. That was her resolve: to protect something even in her cowardly state. That was why she came to look for Yuki, even though it was dangerous. I think that Mayu showing up and becoming a Precure showed Yuki that she was wrong about Mayu and that’s how they make up. I do like that her resolving her fight with Yuki wasn’t expressed with just a mere “I’m sorry”. I do like how there’s more nuance to it than mere words.

The GaruGaru Hamster actually shows off that it has the power to shrink its opponents, making Wonderful, Friendy and Nyammy at a huge disadvantage. I like that it has this power and made me wish other Kirarin Animals showed off their abilities before being purified. The angry wolf guy showed up again, and it’s clear that he’s controlling the GaruGaru powers as it’s a power controlled by uncontrollable rage. It makes me wonder why he’s so angry.

Now that the main four Precures are now here, it makes me wonder what will happen now. All four have appeared, so will the story continue with them chasing after GaruGaru or will there finally be story progression? Will Daifuku and Satoru become Precures or will they stay as support? I don’t mind either way. It seems that in the preview for the next episode, Yuki is still unwilling to cooperate with the Precures because all she cares about is protecting Mayu. I just hope there’s no rinse and repeat of this episode when it comes to Yuki’s character. What are your thoughts on this episode?

[seyaryminamoto]

Matching Heartbeats: Sokkla Saturdays 2020

Day 5: “I melt in your hands”

On FF.net//On AO3

So. It really had come to this. Of all things, her first mission ever truly had to turn out like this.

She hadn't underestimated him when he had nearly shattered her bones with his club, had she been careless enough to stand closer to him or failed to evade his attack. No properly-trained firebender would ever be quite so stupid as to believe themselves superior to heavy weapons, especially one that looked as heavy as that damn club. Yet she had expected he would only be a warrior, at the time: she never expected him to be the brains of his group, for this was merely their second encounter, and while she was still assessing the enemy as they crossed blows in the abandoned town the Avatar had lured her to, she had never quite expected… well, that there would be a truly smart foe in the other team, to put it in some way.

"I know when I'm beaten," she had said, eyeing the group that surrounded her, her hands raised in the air. "A Princess surrenders with honor."

She had noticed they were whispering, though: just as she saw Iroh had been focusing on the earthbender, that tall warrior boy had spoken to the short, new member of their team too: the waterbender and the Avatar were listening as well, her brother, of course, was only focused on her… so many potential targets, what to do?

She chose to attack Iroh in the end, but it happened just as the earthbender attacked, too: a sudden surge of earth, and all her limbs had been restrained, held down: she tried to evoke fire, but the strain of this completely awkward position, prostrated on the ground, didn't allow for it.

"Quick! Look for something to tie her up, I don't know…!" the warrior boy had ordered… just as her brother screamed:

"AAAAAAH!"

Ugh. He was always so melodramatic.

She struggled against the restraints… only for the earthbender to take things further: she found herself buried to the neck in the ground, gasping for breath, panicking as she realized she couldn't move at all. What to do, what to do…? There had to be a way out, she just had to think…

"I found shackles!" exclaimed the waterbender, from inside one of the buildings: she and the Avatar had taken to rummaging through the nearby ghostly town to follow fit with the warrior's demand.

"Great! That'll be way better than rope, she'd just burn through that…"

"Oh… wait, Zuko!"

The waterbender returned with the shackles, but she handed them to the Avatar as she approached the firebenders: Azula's brother was crouched by their Uncle's inert form… and upon realizing the Avatar and his friends were approaching him, he shouted:

"Ugh! Get away from us!"

"Zuko, I can help!"

"LEAVE!" he exclaimed, and now he outright attacked them: wow, that was rude. And here Azula thought they were friends… it would explain why he had been so incompetent as to fail to capture them throughout the past months.

Yet just as she thought Zuko would get what he wanted, and she'd be left buried in this damn place for eternity, the tall warrior boy turned towards her. Azula scowled at him too, and he huffed, hands on his hips.

"No way we're leaving. Not without our prisoner, anyway," he said, stepping towards her.

"I'm not your…! You'd best stay where you are, or I'll make you pay for this!" she exclaimed, knowing her bravado was empty. What could she do, spit fire at his boots? Maybe he'd be outraged about it… and then he might outright kick her face. Which would be utterly deplorable and humiliating. What on earth had just happened? Why was she in this completely unacceptable situation?

"You know, I can move those shackles with my bending, lock them around her wrists underground," the earthbender revealed, with a mischievous grin. "That way she's not going to be a problem!"

"Wait, wait, wait!" the Avatar said, eyeing them all warily. "Are we… going to make her our prisoner? Really? But… why?"

"I'm with Aang on that. Why do we want her with us?" the waterbender asked, eyeing her fellow Water Tribesman – who Azula suspected would be her brother – and the earthbender with utter confusion.

"Well… to change up the game somewhat? It's always the Fire Nation trying to capture us, right? And this way, we know this one's not going to catch us again," the warrior suggested. "Not if we keep an eye on her ourselves."

"Ridiculous… my friends will find me. And then they'll defeat the whole lot of you without breaking a sweat," Azula said, with a proud smirk. "And if, somehow, you managed to avoid them, every Fire Nation soldier will attempt to find me once my captivity is known. You won't get away with this, and you'll pay for it with your lives, whether by my hand or anyone else's."

"You sure?" he had asked, raising his eyebrows. "Because, hey! We're already being chased by a lot of Fire Nation people and so far, we're doing pretty good! Honestly, you and your friends were the scariest ones to chase us so far, so it kind of feels like you were the best the Fire Lord could send already? Which means… now that we took you down, we're feeling pretty good about our odds against everything else they could send at us."

He smiled sardonically. She scowled, angrily. And while the Avatar and the waterbender appeared unconvinced still, they soon surrendered, and the damned warrior boy got his way: she was shackled and unearthed afterwards, and while she could presumably wield basic fire against them, she couldn't possibly perform a full kata within these restraints. She'd have to use more than firebending to escape… she'd have to use her wits. And that she intended to.

She would leave a trail of breadcrumbs for Mai and Ty Lee to follow. It was hard to decide on which breadcrumbs, but eventually she took to lightly burning the ends of her hair, by raising her shackled hands to wipe her face. The hairs would be in danger of floating off their own accord in the breeze, but hopefully they wouldn't be blown away too fast for her friends to follow her trail, much as they had followed the damn bison's…

And soon enough they wound up on said damn bison who, to Azula's chagrin, was fully clean now, and apparently not shedding anymore. It growled at her, and she scowled at it too. Shaggy beast…

And then she got dragged up to the saddle, where the three benders fell asleep, and the non-bender, despite having huge bags under his eyes, decided to stay awake and keep watch, for she couldn't be trusted. And of course she couldn't be: who wouldn't be mistrusting of their captive foe? It was natural. She had to figure out a way to turn that caution of his against him… or turn it into something else, instead.

"You look terrible. I bet you're far more handsome when you've had a few hours of rest," she said: men were fools in many ways. Perhaps a girl's compliments, however shallow as they might be, would sit well with him.

The reaction was just as she had expected it: that her plan would work at all, however, was rather startling: he was visibly flustered, eyeing her with uncertainty, but he appeared perfectly shyly pleased by the compliment nonetheless.

"Well, yeah… you'll likely see that later tomorrow, I guess, once I do get enough rest," he said, with a shrug. She did succeed at goading his ego, of course she did… perfect.

"Will I, now?" Azula replied, raising her eyebrows.

"Yeah… as long as you don't try to escape beforehand, anyway," he said, shrugging. Azula scoffed.

"What makes you think my friends won't find us before that?" she asked.

"That they haven't found us yet, I think," the warrior boy admitted, with an awkward grin. "You three dangerous ladies seemed pretty intense, but something – or rather, my instincts! – tell me that you're the brains of the group. Were you the one who decided to chase after us on that creepy machine? Where did you get something like that, in the first place? And those mounts… you've got to be some real top-of-the-line bounty-hunter or something, huh?"

"You think I'm a bounty-hunter?" she asked, amused. "So you don't see the family resemblance either?"

"Family resemblance…?" he said, blinking blankly. Azula raised her eyebrows. "Woah. Wait a minute, are you…? You're Zuko's sister? Hell, no, I don't see it!"

"Oh, really?" Azula smirked. He scoffed.

"You're way prettier, like, by a landslide. And you're smart. Huh. I think you got the family jackpot, come to think of it… which, huh, who knows why the Fire Lord's family has anything good in their lineage, but if there's anything at all, looks like you hogged it all up for yourself."

Despite everything, Azula laughed. Why did she laugh, she didn't know. The warrior chuckled too, scratching the back of his neck. Were they flirting, without meaning to? Or was this just honesty? She was having a hard time telling… for it was the first time any boy had called her pretty.

"Is that why you decided to keep me as a prisoner? Because you were smitten with me right away?" she smirked. The warrior scoffed. "It's alright, you can admit it…"

"And why would I admit something that's not true? I mean, come on, if it were a matter of being smitten, I'd much rather keep you chasing after me," he smirked. "Boys love the idea of being chased violently by beautiful girls."

"And girls love the idea of being hogged up possessively by handsome boys," Azula retaliated.

They both snorted. And then they laughed.

Was she seriously laughing with the enemy?

"Could you two idiots quit with the weird flirting and let me SLEEP?!"

Toph's shout certainly landed on its mark. Both a Princess and her new enemy-captor-possibly-new-friend merely nestled on a saddle quietly for a while, blushing and hoping the other one couldn't tell under de cover of darkness.

"Though…" she finally broke the silence about ten minutes later: she could tell he was still awake, and his head jolted towards her quickly. "Would be nice to know your names, at least. If nothing else."

"Oh… heh. I'm Sokka," he said, smiling awkwardly.

"Sokka, huh…?" she said, enjoying the sensation of uttering the foreign name's syllables. Curious feeling…

"And you're…?" he said, raising his eyebrows.

"Azula," she replied. Sokka eyed her appreciatively.

"Azula it is, then," he said, with a small smile. "Uh, the rest of us… the bison is Appa, the lemur is Momo, my sister there's Katara, and that's Aang, the Avatar, and…"

"Shut. UP!"

"… And the grumpy one's Toph."

"Right."

They did fall silent then… and the gears in the Princess's mind continued turning. No, this situation was far from ideal… but if she forged a bond, however basic it might be, with one of her captors, there was a far higher likelihood of escape than by only waiting for Mai and Ty Lee to find her. Those two usually were reliable enough… but who knew how far the breeze would blow the miserable trail she'd left behind herself. Not to mention, if that damn bison took off with them, she'd be as good as beyond their reach before long. No, this wouldn't do. She would find a way out of this situation by herself, and she'd obtain a ton of intel on the enemy in the process, too. It would be difficult to endure for a while… but it didn't hurt that the boy she'd chosen for her scheme wasn't that far from her type anyway. A little lankier than her preference, sure, but he could fill out more muscles with the years and…

And why was that even important? It wasn't. She had to focus.

That he was somewhat handsome – and she used both words quite loosely, no, she didn't like him, she wasn't a schoolgirl with a crush or anything like that – only helped matters anyway: she wouldn't have to feign her interest in him, at least, where it concerned his physical appeal to her. Everything else was a matter of delicately weaving a net of perfect deceit until he was so wrapped within her web that he'd be caught completely off-guard once she betrayed their fun little group…

It was just a matter of patience until the right moment to strike arrived. She wouldn't be a problem prisoner, she'd accept her fate… for now.

Flying on the bison was a strange, yet not entirely unwelcome experience, despite it practically sentenced her to not be found by her friends anytime soon. The group she was stuck with was… slightly strange, without a doubt. The waterbender often eyed her warily – she likely still disagreed with the notion of keeping her captive, and wanted nothing but to see Azula vanish from sight as soon as possible. The Avatar seemed careful too, but before long he started to talk more cheerfully, and Azula wondered if he had decided she was trustworthy already. The damn lemur had often climbed over her lap, and she had to shoo it only for the Avatar to laugh it off and say 'Momo was just happy to make a new friend'. As if she'd ever be friends with a large-eared rat…

The earthbender, to her surprise, seemed to be almost as new to the group as she was. She asked occasional questions about how things worked in the team, and it became apparent she had only joined them recently, just as Azula had suspected – her absence back in Omashu could have had many explanations, but that they'd only recruited her recently made perfect sense. And of course, the one she had decided would be her target was the non-bender… who was sleeping at the far end of the saddle, drooling awkwardly, with his limbs splayed in any direction, as though he were a carelessly discarded toy. She wondered how someone could rest in quite such relaxation when he had an enemy so close by… did he truly take their last conversation to signify she could be trusted? Or was it he trusted the rest of his companions to keep her in check? Or… perhaps he knew she wasn't stupid enough to try anything while hovering so many miles above ground, in foreign lands, when she had no idea where they were going.

"What exactly is our destination, if I can ask?" she sighed.

"We'll know when we get there," Katara said, simply. Azula's eyebrows twitched: this one was absolutely ruled out of her plan to earn goodwill from her captors. Anyone else would be fair game, save her. And that lemur. She really didn't like that flying rat.

They only reached that destination – a canyon – after about ten hours of flying, after which the bison apparently couldn't keep going any longer. Yet the Avatar seemed thrilled about where they'd wound up, and the warrior was also in a blissful mood after napping for most the day on the creature's saddle. Of course, the waterbender didn't stop giving Azula the stink-eye as they unpacked, though as the others seemed to be warming up to her, to a fault, Azula decided to poke the hornet wasps' nest instead of enduring the judgment and scowls.

"You really seem to dislike me quite strongly," she said, casually. "Which I find odd, seeing as it seems you've been chased by my brother for far longer than me, and yet you offered him a helping hand back when I attacked our uncle. Is it you feel threatened by my presence somehow, or…?"

"Threatened? Yes. Because I'm pretty sure you're exactly where you want to be," Katara rebuffed, shooting her another harsh glare. "And yeah, Zuko's been worse than you, so far. But that you're his sister doesn't help in the least. And I wasn't really offering my help to Zuko but to Iroh. He gave us a hand back in the North Pole, so…"

"Is that so…?" Azula asked, unable to mask her genuine outrage at those words. Katara scoffed.

"You do remember, still, that we're not your friends? You yourself said it, didn't you? Enemies and traitors, working together?"

"Right, but I just thought that perhaps you had a soft spot for Zuzu since he'd chased you for so many months… I figured maybe I had to up my game so I'd earn some goodwill around here, but I guess it's not that simple," Azula sighed. "Working against my nation seems to be the only way you'll trust me, huh?"

"And even then I don't think Katara will let go that easily," Aang said, smiling awkwardly, though he blinked a few times when his words were almost interrupted by a loud cackle: "Uh… Sokka?"

"Zuzu?! Y-you call him Zuzu?!"

Azula glanced at the warrior with unabashed amusement: he DEFINITELY was her target. And yet, to her surprise, the earthbender snickered too… and the waterbender snorted before covering her mouth with a hand. Oh, maybe this wouldn't be quite as bad as she had anticipated… if they could bond over trashing Zuko, she had plenty of material to work with.

"I wasn't laughing!" Katara exclaimed, and yet everyone laughed at her denial just as well.

"Of course I call him Zuzu," Azula smiled proudly, as Sokka gazed at her with brimming amazement. "I don't presume to know how it works in your culture, but in the Fire Nation, the younger sister's official job is to embarrass and torment her older brother as best she can."

"Oh, it's the same in the South Pole, surprisingly," Sokka declared, smirking at Katara, who stuck out her tongue in his direction. "Though it's true too that the older brother's job is to protect their little sister… a thankless job, but we are just that selfless."

"Pfft! You don't have to protect me! I can protect myself just fine, thank you very much!"

"Sure thing! You know, it's not just about combat, it's about everything else! Who's the one who goes hunting and foraging and finding food for us…?"

"The one who's ALWAYS hungry?"

"And who did you tell to get a job when YOU were hungry? That's right, it was me! And I went and got one, and nearly died in a STORM while you didn't get a job of your own, but did I complain? Not even once…!"

"You're complaining now…" Toph pointed out, smirking, but the argument seemed poised to continue regardless.

Azula watched them bicker, however, and a rather strange sensation nestled in her chest upon hearing their words… upon processing them. Was that really what a brother was expected to do? In other cultures, maybe… it was ridiculous, though, and she scoffed at so much as the idea of picturing her brother getting a job for her sake, or going hunting or foraging for her. That wasn't likely to ever happen… not that she needed it to, of course. She did fend for herself, unlike Katara. She had been apart from her brother for three years, and she saw no need to rely on him. She didn't truly need anyone…

Hours after a rather simplistic dinner – Sokka caught a small animal that didn't taste very good to Azula – the group was set to rest again. The earthbender crafted an earthen tent for herself, the waterbender set up a traditional tent for herself, the Avatar was resting on his bison's saddle… and again, the warrior seemed determined to keep watch.

"You're on guard duty again tonight?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows. Sokka nodded.

"It works, doesn't it? I got plenty of sleep through the day anyhow, I can take it," he shrugged. "You should get some rest too, Princess…"

"You'll still watch me as I sleep, won't you?" she teased, smirking. "Quite interesting to be the object of someone's observation to such extent…"

"Uh… yeah. Because you're a prisoner. And I don't want you pulling any funny business on us," Sokka said… and yet he was smiling. Ha. He found amusement in her teasing just as well.

"Oh, surely that's not all there is to it," she said, beaming mischievously. He chuckled and shook his head.

"There's not supposed to be more to it…" he said. "But anyway, you didn't sleep all day like I did, so you should rest now. You can even borrow my sleeping bag, if you want."

"Borrow your…?"

It hit her then that it wasn't a matter of older brother protectiveness: that was just what he was like. He protected people… even if they didn't deserve his protection.

"Only if you promise you won't set it on fire just to mess with me or anything mean like that, okay?" he said, smiling at her before reaching for his bags and unfolding the sleeping bag for her.

What a rare act of kindness… of generosity. What would he gain from this? What did he think he'd gain from it? Nothing, surely: he had to be stupid to think she had truly lowered her guard with no ulterior motive… and she could tell he wasn't stupid. At least, not when it came to things that mattered. So why show her any form of kindness…?

Once she was halfway inside the sleeping bag, she realized there was more to this apparently selfless act than met the eye: her stomach lurched at the scent of the sleeping bag, and she shot the owner an accusatory glare.

"W-why would you…?! Are you trying to kill me?!"

"What?" he said, raising his eyebrows. "Oh! Oh, yeah, Toph says it smells weird, huh…? Woops. Heh, I forgot. Okay, okay, I'll wash it as soon as I can! Sorry… but it beats sleeping on the hard ground, doesn't it?"

"That depends on how sick I am in the morning…" Azula huffed, covering her nose, hoping that breathing through her mouth would be enough for her to ignore the stench.

"Well, I do hope you don't die! I promise, that wasn't an attempt to kill you. You haven't given us any useful information yet, so what's the point in trying to kill you at all, huh?"

"Ah, that's why you keep me alive, and not so you can watch me sleep," Azula asked, raising her eyebrows. Sokka smirked and nodded.

"True. Not that I'm complaining about the other thing, but I've got my priorities sorted out," he declared. She bit her lower lip but smiled.

Was this really what it was like to flirt with a boy? She'd never truly made any progress with anyone on that front before. This one seemed rather responsive to her advances, though… well, it would be useful practice for the future, at least. She could count on him for that.

"Good night, then," she said, keeping her head safely out of the sleeping bag, in hopes to inhale fresh air rather than the stale scent of the sleeping bag.

"Good night, Azula," he responded. It was weird that her gut felt tingly upon hearing him say her name…

The next day, however, took Azula by surprise: the Avatar had actually chosen this location to train, it seemed. And when Sokka was finally taking his time to sleep, the earthbender took to teaching earthbending lessons to the Avatar, and all his attempts to rest were thwarted completely. Once Sokka finally gave up resting, he took off to hunt, and Azula tagged along: while it was rather useful to learn more about the mechanics of earthbending, to unravel how to fight against it more effectively, she couldn't be careless and disregard her main pursuit. And as tempers seemed to flare often in the Avatar's training session, she ended up tagging along for Sokka's hunting trip instead. It would be useful to learn how hunting was done, if nothing else…

… Or so she thought, until Sokka fell into a hole, after chasing after a moose-lion cub, and despite he begged her for help, there wasn't much she could do for him: she pulled at him, jerked his hands upwards, and he only seemed to sink further. Funny how ironic life was, considering she was the one stuck in the ground similarly just two days ago…

"I'm going to die stuck in here, aren't I?" he groaned, after Azula's final attempt to heave him out failed.

"It's a possibility," she acknowledged. "I could be more helpful, you know? If I weren't shackled…?"

"Not much luck with that, I'm afraid…" Sokka groaned. "I… don't have the key myself."

"Ah. Then I'm befriending the wrong Water Tribe sibling, aren't I?" Azula said. That, at least, got a smile out of the warrior.

"Damn. And here I thought I was your type," Sokka said, nonchalantly.

"I didn't say you weren't. Just that, if you don't have the power to get rid of these, you're not much use to me," she said. Sokka chuckled and shook his head.

The rest of the day was surreal: the small moose-lion cub Sokka had been trying to hunt decided to play with him, carelessly so, even bringing him an apple that Azula found a most ironic gift for the avid meat-eater. Sokka groaned, swore he'd go vegetarian, made countless baseless claims… and yet not once did he beg her to go ask the others for help. Odd, considering two of his friends were earthbenders, albeit one more trained than the other…

And then the actual, chaotic mess began to unfold: Aang, apparently sick and tired of Toph's harsh training methods, stumbled into Sokka and his awkward situation. He failed to airbend him out of the hole, and then proceeded to pity his poor efforts at earthbending with a rather unexpected string of unfortunate wording, such as claiming to be stuck between a rock and a hard place… Azula couldn't stop chuckling, earning herself Sokka's harsh glares in retaliation… and that was when the mother of Sokka's new friend, the saber-tooth moose-lion cub, had appeared on the scene.

"Aang, just earthbend me out of here!" was Sokka's most common request, but the Avatar appeared to want to do anything but earthbend… leaving both his restrained companions to somehow fend for themselves as the furious creature sought to attack them.

It was fair and good that the Avatar's airbending seemed to distract the moose lion on occasion… but at one point it became apparent that it would trample Sokka most deliberately unless it was distracted. And while Azula could barely bend, with her hands shackled as she was, she leapt between Sokka and the creature and shot a small plum of blue fire in its direction.

That, of course, only seemed to make the creature angrier: Aang had to intervene then, casting a powerful gust of wind that finally alarmed the creature enough about these humans and their potential abilities, and it left through the forest at last.

And then Toph took advantage of that momentum to force Aang to earthbend for good. The Avatar was astonished to finally unlock the secrets of the art… while Azula and Sokka were merely relieved they had survived a nearly lethal encounter with a beast that could've killed them both.

Katara was delighted to see Sokka safe and sound once they were all free to return to camp, though she scowled at Azula, ready to blame her for her brother's disappearance…

"Azula stuck by me the whole time I was in that stupid hole," Sokka sighed, smiling and clapping the Fire Nation Princess on the shoulder. "I kind of thought she'd make a run for it? But… she stayed! And then even tried to save me from the moose-lion, but she just made it angry instead…"

"Really?" Katara said, blinking blankly, utterly blown away by the explanations.

"Animals… don't like fire. Clearly," Azula said, sighing.

"But she still tried to help me! And that really took me by surprise," Sokka grinned. "You know, you might fit better with our team than I thought all along. Aang! How about getting a new firebending teacher? Jeong Jeong was a pain anyway, so we could just recruit Azula for it and…!"

"W-wha…?!" Azula gasped. "Did you forget I'm supposed to be your enemy?"

"I think you're the one who did, eh? You tried to save my life today!" Sokka grinned, spreading his arms as though to hug her, and Azula squirmed out of his reach, hoping fruitlessly for her cheeks not to be as red as she suspected they were, going by the heat that surged underneath her skin.

Had she forgotten she was their enemy? No, not really. But was she growing to enjoy their company…? His company, in particular?

Perhaps a little.

Many strange things seemed to happen to the Avatar and his friends… and being caught in the middle of so many happenings was a rather novel experience for Azula. While she wasn't quite the most sheltered noblewoman in the Fire Nation, the idea of traveling abroad with a group of teenagers and children close to her age, with no one to enforce real discipline, no rules beyond those they agreed upon, no stability beyond the ground underneath their feet – or the saddle on which they flew – wouldn't have crossed her mind at all until it became her reality.

After the wild encounter with the moose lions, they went on a strange vacation spree that she found utterly laughable – they took vacations carelessly, willfully ignoring that her father was surely gearing up to strike against the Earth Kingdom's bastions? Truly? – and that resulted in a highly questionable trip to the Si Wong Desert. It didn't help that a group comprised by one too many weirdos decided to recruit a grown-up who appeared to be even more airheaded than Ty Lee – some professor at Ba Sing Se's university –, and that Sokka had decided his vacation would take them to a Library. Oh, it was a real pain that his decision would be the first one that was slightly appealing to her, in all this mess… despite the obvious fact, of course, that visiting a Spirit Library sounded completely, utterly absurd to the Princess of the Fire Nation.

"Does this place even exist?" Toph asked, eventually, as they soared across the desert on the sky bison's saddle.

"Some say it doesn't," the professor replied. Azula scoffed.

"Unsurprisingly so. Why would a Spirit Library be located in a desert, of all places?" she asked. "Utterly inconvenient."

"Well, a desert probably has plenty of room to host a big Library, right?" Sokka said, casually.

It was absurd logic, as far as Azula could tell – might as well claim there was plenty of room at the bottom of the sea, too, and if the idea was to keep everyone away from the damn place, it was far safer underwater than in a desert –, but so much as looking at Sokka right now, while he was shamelessly shirtless, was a bad idea. Why he had decided to strip off his upper body's garments, Azula didn't know, but while she didn't believe she was a prude, she couldn't dare look at him if there was a chance he'd catch her. So far, she had merely glanced at him on occasion… and admired his lean body. Yes, that was harmless, it wasn't like she'd tried to make a move on him – not like she truly knew how, anyway. But if he so much as suspected what effects his shirtless figure was having on her mind, he would never let her live this embarrassment down. And curses, she didn't need further problems while traveling with this group…

"How about the fact that this is something… spiritual?" Azula said, with a sardonic grin.

"You know, that part's been bugging me too," Toph said, flopped upon the saddle as she was. "The heck does it even mean, a Spirit Library? Are spirits even real?"

"Of course they are!" Aang exclaimed, beaming.

Azula huffed, glancing – despite her better judgment – at Sokka as though to ask if he truly believed such nonsense… only to find a rather surprising, disheartened expression on his face. She frowned: what was that? Melancholy? Misery? Longing? Why would the mention of spirits make him react that way?

He was the one to spot something eventually: a tower in the middle of the desert, apparently. And yet, before long, the group realized the Library was actually underground, somehow. Curious, despite herself, Azula requested that they allowed her inside the Library too: while Katara hesitated at first, Azula agreed to the conditions of being shackled again once they were done climbing inside the building, and to everyone's surprise, she did nothing to hinder their mission – fools that they were, truly, for expecting otherwise. What was she going to achieve by attacking them in the middle of a desert, of all things? So Toph and Appa lingered behind, and the rest of the group entered the tower by climbing through with a rope.

Her initial disbelief was rewarded with the most incredible location she had ever set foot upon, and she had been raised in a Palace, of all things. But nothing was quite so astonishing as the giant owl: Sokka had to clap a hand over her mouth as they hid behind a pillar, hoping not to alert the terrifying otherworldly being of their presence. Alright, fine, spirits were real, and she sure wanted nothing to do with them. Yet the fool professor had ran out and revealed himself… and soon enough Azula caught herself watching as each of them offered knowledge of some sort to the creature. The Avatar's wanted poster had been accepted, though… that rang a bell.

"I'm sorry it's so crumpled," she smiled awkwardly, as she offered the giant owl another wanted poster, this time bearing the faces of her brother and uncle.

"Both of Fire Nation make?" the owl spoke. "Quite an astonishing find. I appreciate these additions to my collection."

Oh, she was saved. She had folded one of those posters carelessly into a pocket a long time ago, and that it was still there was a damn miracle… for, otherwise, she might be doing something even more ridiculous than Sokka's splendid knot. In Azula's opinion, it wasn't all that bad… but the owl was far from impressed.

"You're not very bright, are you?"

Wow. Those were harsh words to speak to someone who was, in her opinion, the second smartest person in this very group. The comment, of course, didn't sit well with the warrior, who scowled as the owl welcomed them into the Library and left them to their own devices.

"Bright enough to fool you," he said, bitterly, before setting out to rummage through the Library's contents.

The owl's comment had unsettled Azula too… though she wasn't entirely sure why it bothered her so much. She felt an impulse to reassure him, even if she wasn't sure it would be welcome: she did think he was smart. If anything, that owl appeared rather foolish to her for not being able to see it. And yet every time she wanted to speak out, she failed to find the strength to utter the words: why? Was it because they were too honest, this time around? What was wrong with her? Was she…?

… She wasn't. There was no way she was developing actual, serious feelings for this boy, was she?

Yet she kept following him through the Library, watching as he stuffed his bag with scrolls, and she watched with curiosity until he shot her a sharp glare.

"What? You think I shouldn't do this?" he asked.

"I wasn't judging you in the least, no," Azula said, blinking blankly. "Did you think I was?"

"… Maybe?" Sokka pouted, skulking towards another area of the Library.

"If anything, I'd think it's fair. After that owl's comment about you, I'd gladly ransack this place, too."

Sokka slowed on his footsteps and glanced at her with uncertainty from over his shoulder. Azula blinked blankly: had she said anything wrong? She had hoped to have conveyed her feelings nonchalantly enough that he might not suspect she had any deep motivations to speak them…

"You… you're really something, huh?" Sokka said, lowering his gaze. "You do remember, right? That… we're supposed to be enemies?"

"You think I'd forget?" she asked, though her heart sank at that question. That had to mean she was developing a stupid, one-sided attachment, right?

"W-well, it's just… when you say stuff like that, I end up thinking, well… stupid things, I guess," Sokka sighed. "Things I shouldn't. Especially not after… everything."

"Everything?" Azula asked, blinking blankly as she stared at his back. "Well… granted we didn't start off with the right foot, but… I thought we were getting along better lately. That you were happy I'd stood between you and an angry moose-lion? I wouldn't be surprised if you decided my being Fire Nation makes all that worthless, but…"

"It doesn't make it worthless, it makes it… complicated," Sokka said, gritting his teeth. "But that's not it. Not really."

"Then…?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows.

"I… look, I don't want to talk about this, usually," he said, breathing deeply. "And I don't know if you'd understand, anyway. But I… lost someone. Someone I liked, a lot. It happened in the Siege of the North, and… it still hurts. And sometimes when I look at you, I remember how that felt, and it's great for a second until I suddenly just think…"

"That you shouldn't be feeling this way about anyone else?" Azula ventured, warily. Yet, to her surprise, Sokka shook his head.

"That I shouldn't be feeling this way about someone I'll probably lose too, anyway," he said. "You know why we're here. You know what we're doing. You know I'll fight the Fire Nation, no matter which side you choose to stand on. And… no matter how friendly we've been, you'll choose your own people, won't you? Just… as I'd choose my own, if our situation were reversed somehow. There's… there's no happy ending for this, is there?"

Azula gritted her teeth, frowning… no, no, there wasn't. But… did this mean he liked her too, to a fault? He'd be the first boy to ever… no, the very first person she'd know for a fact had ever liked her, in whatever sense of the word. Was it wrong to fixate upon that now, when he was stating something as important as this? They were enemies, no matter what came next…

For she couldn't turn against her father, could she? She couldn't just become a traitor… she couldn't turn against her people.

Not even for the first boy she had ever grown to like this way.

"I'm not saying we can't be… well… okay, I don't know what we can't be, to be honest," Sokka sighed, turning towards her once she stayed silent for too long. "Or what we can be, either. But you'll want to stop us from attacking your nation, and we just want to set the world free of the Fire Nation's control. We want balance back. And unless you're having second thoughts about your life's mission… I don't know how things will work, from this point onwards."

Azula sighed but shrugged. Sokka gulped as she raised her shackled hands in a gesture of surrender.

"You're not wrong. Not in the least. If you want the truth? I… was trying to get to you. I thought maybe befriending a member of your group would be the best way to break out of this imprisonment, somehow. So… you don't have to worry about a thing. I was completely dishonest the whole time."

"Huh… the whole time?" Sokka asked, though his voice carried a tinge of disappointment that took Azula aback. It wasn't a surprised disappointment… but rather, an expected one.

"You… knew, didn't you? That this was why I…?" Azula said. He shrugged.

"I guessed. I hoped otherwise, but… what's the point?" he smiled sadly, shrugging again. "That… makes it easier, doesn't it? Because the whole time, I knew that was probably what you were after, so…"

"So, we were on the same page" Azula determined. Sokka nodded, too.

"Good thing we cleared the air," he said. She nodded.

"Then, I… will leave you to your research, whatever it may be," she said, simply. "I… will go do something else, in the meantime."

She walked away quickly, wondering if he'd call for her or stop her, anything dramatic and apparently romantic as that… and of course, it didn't happen. Ugh, she was an idiot. She was an idiot. Her heart was beating so sadly… why would a heart beat sadly? That made no sense! And yet each miserable beat seemed to propel nothing but misery through her system. Idiot… she really had grown fond of him. Too fond. What was wrong with her? What kind of fool grew to like the person who had taken them captive?

But she knew why… she did. He was the first person to laugh loudly at her jokes, and his smiles were the warmest that had ever been directed towards her. He was sharp, just as she was… he was strategic, cold-blooded, analytical. All of that sat well with her. Too well, if anything. But perhaps that was wrong, wasn't it? It had to be. Surely their similarities, the ones she had been surprised to discover existed between them, weren't all that strong in the end… or, if they were, weren't conducive to a good relationship. Yes, that was it. That was certainly the likeliest of truths. But… it wouldn't hurt to confirm it.

The disaster began when she was halfway through scouring across the romance section, seeking any books or scrolls on compatibility: the building trembled suddenly, and sand leaked through the walls. The whole group seemed ready to scram, and she caught up with them… just in time for Sokka and Aang to race back inside, and for Katara and the damn professor to stay behind.

"What is going on?!" Azula asked. Katara gasped, eyeing her warily.

"And to think… I took for granted you'd be the one to cause more trouble around here!" she admitted, with an apologetic grimace. "Run! We have to keep him distracted!"

"The giant OWL?!" Azula asked, astonished. Katara huffed.

"Who else?!" she asked.

Azula huffed, wondering what to do. There had to be a strong enough distraction, something that the creature would be too incensed by to remember it was chasing any of them…

Oh. Well, that was a risky gambit, but it was worth trying anyway.

"Katara! Remove these shackles, now!"

"Are you sure about what you were saying before you found that paper, Sokka?" Aang asked, as they moved the dials of the calendar in the planetarium room. "I know what you mean that it's probably better to let her go, but… are you really sure? You seem to really get along with Azula!"

"And that's going to be a problem in the future, don't you think?!" Sokka squeaked, eyeing the dials anxiously – not close enough, another attempt, maybe the next date would do…

"Well… I don't know how it's not going to be one, if anything," Aang said. Sokka scowled.

"What'd you mean by…? Oh, we're close!" he exclaimed. "Next one!"

"I mean… you're already so worried about her that you're pulling away in fear of getting hurt, or hurting her!" Aang said. "You really think seeing her off will change that? You're still going to care, if we bump into her in a battlefield! That's not going to change now!"

Sokka gritted his teeth and eyed Aang with uncertainty as he pulled the lever one last time. Why was that little guy so wise when he shouldn't be? Yes, at this point, he'd definitely hesitate if he found Azula in a battlefield. He'd never have the guts to go through with fighting her at his best… and then she'd kill him, surely, because she was raised to uphold her nation above all else. There was no reason for her to hold back… especially when her apparent interest in him had been feigned just to obtain a fleeting friendship that would buy her way out of the group.

Which… he had been about to give her.

Was he really about to give the girl the chance to fulfill her plan perfectly?

"It's this one, Sokka! Look, it matches!"

He hadn't even noticed the planetarium's lights were dimmer this time. He made sure to jot down the right date for the eclipse and then he dragged Aang out of the room at haste… only to find something was very, very wrong in the Library now.

"YOU MONSTERS! CRIMINALS! YOU DEFILE MY VAST COLLECTION FOR THE LAST TIME!"

"What…?" Aang gasped: the owl's voice seemed to come from the lowest depths of the Library. Was he truly down there, rather than chasing Katara up here?

They reached the landing where they'd left the rope… to find only Katara and Zei nearby. Sokka's heart nearly stopped.

"Where's Azula?!"

"She's…!" Katara grimaced, glancing downwards…

An inferno of orange flames burned brightly down below. Aang and Sokka gasped: they had found out about the burning of the Library's collection of the Fire Nation… and they knew exactly how angry Wan Shi Tong would be upon losing more of his collection now.

"What…?! What's she doing, hell…?!" Sokka exclaimed, clasping the railings of the Library's topmost floor glancing down at the inferno below before shouting: "AZULA!"

He wouldn't have believed it if he hadn't seen it: a sudden speck of blue in the sea of orange took him by surprise, more so when it continued to increase in size, constantly: was she jetting herself out of the Library's basement?

"She's coming back! Oh, she's actually…!" Katara gasped.

"We need to get out of here!" Aang said, unfolding his glider. "Grab onto the rope, Katara, Sokka, Professor Zei! I'll fly us all out as fast as I can!"

"Oh, but…" the professor hesitated… when there was no time to hesitate at all: Sokka and Katara clasped the rope they'd used earlier, glancing at the man in chagrin. "I won't find another collection like this. I'd much rather stay…"

"Are you kidding me…?!" Sokka exclaimed, but Katara gritted her teeth and urged him to grab onto the rope tight… for Aang was pulling at it already. "Professor Zei! You're going to die if you stay there!"

"Sokka, there's no point…" Katara said, gritting her teeth as they flew off… as the rope dangled before Zei, and he refused to take it.

And it turned out to be a good thing, for by the time Aang, Katara and Sokka had only just reached the exit, Azula was about to catch up to them: half the rope caught fire, and she nearly tore the whole window to shambles when her explosive firebending brought her out of the Library in a hurry.

She tried to ease her fall into the sand, but it wasn't easy. She could hear Sokka calling for her – was he for real? Was he really worried about her…? Oh dear, why was her heart beating that much faster upon that thought…? – but the adrenaline and the excitement over what she'd done was still bursting through her as she landed rather wildly on the sand. It hurt, she was definitely going to bear a few nasty bruises… but she'd be okay. She'd distracted the damn owl, and now…

"Azula!"

Two hands caught her shoulders, and suddenly she was being hugged. Hugged. When the blazes had someone hugged her this tightly, this intimately before?

Surely Katara could tell this was a rather awkward situation for her, as she returned Azula's near-frightened gaze with her own… though Aang wasn't quite so interested in whatever was happening with them. No, he had much bigger concerns in mind, for now that the Library was gone, there was no one but them and Toph in the wide expanse of the desert:

"Where's Appa?"

If she'd decided to bet on it, she would've sooner thought the first member of this strange team to lose its mind and decide to lash out at everyone aggressively would be the damn lemur.

That Aang would be distraught by the loss of his bison wasn't quite that impossible to understand. That he would unleash that frustration upon his friends, though, took Azula by surprise: even goody-two-shoes like him had dark sides, then? And yet he hadn't even asked about whether or not she was okay after her rough landing, disregarding how Sokka had demanded she was kept unshackled before helping her walk through the desert, an arm around her waist, and also disregarding Azula's rejection of Katara's offer for waterbending healing, for the Princess suspected that, without the damn massive hairy creature, they'd be stuck in a desert for eons, and wasting what little water they had on healing a few bruises seemed a bad idea.

And where she had expected Sokka to push her away, now he seemed to be doing the exact opposite. Why? It made no sense. Not that she needed it to, she rather liked being held by him… somewhat. She guessed. It was comfortable. That was all there was to it. Yet their last conversation hadn't been that friendly, and now he seemed to be protecting her with all his might…?

"Are you… alright?" she asked him. Sokka blinked blankly and gazed at her with unexpected shyness. "You're being, well…"

"I'm trying to help. I mean… it's my fault you set the Library on fire," Sokka grimaced. "And then you got hurt. I… I'm sorry."

"Ah? Then going back inside instead of running away when the damn building started to sink was your idea?" Azula said, huffing sarcastically. "Had I known it was you and not Aang I wouldn't have burned anything at all…"

He laughed and shook his head, and she smiled. It was weird… but it felt like they were back on track, suddenly. Maybe they wouldn't become anything else… but this was fine. This worked, for now.

Of course, what was happening with the rest of the team was a whole different story: Toph was riddled with guilt over not being able to stop the sandbenders from stealing Appa, Katara was confused over whatever was brewing between her brother and Azula, but more than that, she was aghast by Aang's terrible mood, too. He had taken to gliding frantically, searching for the bison to no avail. The sandbenders were gone… as was his best friend.

"Katara, can I have some more water?" Toph asked, suddenly. Katara warned her against consuming too much of it, and Azula agreed, silently, despite she accepted the small amount of water Katara offered each of them through her bending.

"Can't be that healthy to drink someone's bending water, huh…?" Sokka reasoned, before making a face of disgust. "Ugh! You used this on the swamp guy!"

"No wonder it tastes swampy," Toph said.

"Well, there's not much I can do about that. We can't find much water around here, can we?" Katara said, gazing around at the endless expanse of desert before them…

"Maybe we can!" Sokka exclaimed suddenly, beaming. "Look!"

He grinned before releasing Azula from his hold just to rush towards a cactus he'd spotted not too far from where they stood. Well, there was water inside plants, why deny that? And yet…

"You shouldn't eat strange plants, Sokka!" Katara told him: Sokka had already taken to slicing the cactus with his weapons, though, offering her a glimpse of the watery interior.

"I know it's not every day this happens… but I agree with Katara for once," Azula said, watching Sokka with uncertainty: Momo had taken to drinking with him, of course… that damn creature was a menace, Azula was certain of it.

"It's very thirst quenching, Azula!" Sokka grinned, motioning at her to approach him. "Come on, it'll do wonders for you, especially after all you bent in the…"

He stopped talking suddenly, only for his body to start reacting rather weirdly to the juice he'd just ingested: his pupils dilated, he shook his head violently, he smiled awkwardly, some of the juice trickled down to his chin…

"Drink cactus juice! It'll quench ya'! It's the quenchiest!"

Both Azula and Katara stared at him in chagrin… while Toph merely raised her eyebrows, entirely confused by what her feet were sensing: was Sokka waggling like a worm on the sand, for some reason…?

"Okay, that's definitely too much for you," said Katara, grimacing. "We have to keep moving on."

"Hey, who lit Toph on fire?" Sokka asked suddenly, before turning towards Azula. "It was YOU?!"

"U-uh, no? I didn't light anything on fire…! In the last, uh, two hours?" Azula said, blinking blankly…

And yet Sokka didn't seem to be all that appalled by the notion of her setting anything on fire. Instead, he was smiling brightly at her, and that only felt more ominous than anything else.

"You know what?!" he exclaimed. "Your fire's WATER TRIBE! Can you believe that, huh, huh?! You're Water Tribe, deep down! I knew that was why I got you so well, eh, eh, Azula?! You're like… wham! And I'm just… whosh! I melt in your hands, girl!"

"You… what? I have absolutely no idea what you're trying to say… and I'm not sure I want to," Azula swallowed hard, as Sokka waved his arms around recklessly.

"Oh, you know what I'm saying! You should marry me!"

The words stunned the three girls, outright. Sokka only smiled carelessly… while the lemur twitched awkwardly behind him. Azula's face was rather red now… and not precisely because of the sunburns a whole day in the desert would result in.

"Y-y-you… that's not a proposal, is it? Or is…?" Azula said, blinking blankly.

"You know what? I want some of that cactus thing," Toph decided, beaming. Katara flinched.

"Not a chance, Toph. I think one love-crazed, cactus-addled weirdo is enough for today…"

"Hey! I'm not in love with any of you, I won't start proposing willy-nilly…"

Azula stared at Sokka again, utterly blown away by their words: in love…? Was Sokka…? No. That wasn't right. That made no sense. That was just a weird joke between friends, wasn't it…? Just as the jokes she'd usually pull on Zuko and Mai back when they were kids…? For they couldn't be serious. Sokka couldn't be serious. The cactus juice was messing with his head… or was it making him more honest than he was before?

Suddenly, a gust of wind, and a rush of sand dust, startled the whole group: they turned towards its source to find it appeared something had exploded deeper in the desert, perhaps, by the pattern of the shifting sand…

"What's that?" Katara asked.

"N-no idea," Azula mumbled, quickly. It was a good idea to change the subject, yes. Weird sand clouds were much more intriguing and important than whether Sokka loved her or not…

"It's a giant mushroom! Maybe it's friendly!"

… Upon hearing those words, Azula's mild suspicions that maybe he was serious about his proposal went up in smoke, vanishing without trace, much as the giant mushroom had.

"Shouldn't have given you that much credit," Azula sighed, looking at Sokka. "Hey. We should get moving. No point in admiring the mushroom anymore."

"Oh! Okay! Let's do something else now!" Sokka decided, beaming.

She didn't foolishly believe she could anticipate to any of Sokka's weird decisions or words while he was in this strange, intoxicated state…

… And yet she never would have expected his new idea would be to kiss her.

Her face flushed red violently, more so when she heard Katara gasping behind her.

"Is he waving at the giant mushroom again…?" Toph asked, but Katara didn't appear to want to respond… not even when Sokka pulled away at last, beaming.

"You taste better than cactus juice!" he declared.

"Y-you…! T-that was my first…!" she exclaimed, blushing madly as she covered her mouth with her hands. "You're…! At the very least you should've had the decency to do that while you were on your right mind!"

"Oh, you didn't like it?" Sokka asked, blinking blankly as he tilted his head sideways. "Must be you need to drink cactus juice too! It's the quenchi-…!"

Azula smacked the small plant bowl he'd held in his hand so far, doing away with the remaining cactus juice, and Sokka gasped, digging at the sand desperately as though searching for the now lost liquid that had leaked through the ground.

"Nooooo! We're dooooomed!" he exclaimed. Despite the situation had been rather strange, Katara laughed softly now, and Azula only rolled her eyes and scowled at the foolish boy she certainly liked far better than she ever should have.

Yet as difficult as it was to navigate the desert for hours with an awkwardly rambling companion such as Sokka, it seemed to Azula his nonsense made the matter livelier, kisses or no… especially when Aang returned. He had been rather unpleasant about collecting water from a cloud that crossed the sky, right under the moon… namely because he had hopelessly thought it was his bison. Yet Azula's attention was caught by something else: Sokka's comment.

"Why would Princess Yue need Appa? She's the moon! She flies by herself!"

She had read reports of what had happened up north. Her father had briefed her of it directly, too. At one point, the moon had been blocked, its influence faded, all because of Admiral Zhao's decisions, apparently… she had thought it was a nonsensical claim, for waterbenders losing their power completely? It sounded like a rather helpful phenomenon, but a confusing one too. How had it come to pass at all…? Especially when it hadn't lasted very long, too: the waterbenders were back on track not long after, and the battle was lost.

According to her father, Admiral Zhao meant to destroy the Moon Spirit that day. Whatever that meant. She had given the matter little credit at the time, but was the Moon Spirit this Princess Yue…?

She resolved to ask Katara once they had a chance to take a light break, upon bumping into a sand glider that Aang helped steer most unwillingly. The waterbender was busy watching the compass, ensuring their course was true, and Azula offered to support her with that, for it was better to talk to someone rational than to talk to Sokka right now…

"What, exactly, happened with this Princess Yue?" she asked. Katara froze, glancing at her warily.

"You're wondering… why, exactly?" she asked.

"He brought up that he lost someone before. He didn't elaborate," Azula explained. "I didn't know what he meant, but… it surprised me a little to hear him talk about the Northern Water Tribe's Princess."

"Well… Sokka had a thing for her," Katara said. Azula damn near cursed herself for feeling disappointed upon hearing those words, even if she already knew them to be true. "But she was supposed to marry someone else? And yeah, I do think she liked him too, but… then she became the moon and there was no way they'd be together anymore."

"She became… the moon?" Azula said, with an awkward grin.

"She explained that she was stillborn," Katara said. "And then the Moon Spirit touched her when she was a baby: it brought her to life or so. When Zhao killed the Moon Spirit, she gave her own life to remediate things… she took the Moon Spirit's place and sacrificed herself to save everyone."

"And… she left Sokka? Just like that?" Azula asked, puzzled. Katara shrugged.

"She had a duty. He understood," Katara said, simply.

A duty. A duty to her people… to fulfill what was expected from her. And in the process, she had surely broken the heart of the boy she liked, even if she had never meant to.

No wonder Sokka had claimed to be ready to let her go even before anything serious started between them, too.

He was still his most carelessly goofy self as they traveled across the desert, but Azula found herself looking at him with different eyes now. How odd that a young man with such heavy burdens could be so reckless and silly when he wanted to… her lips still tingled where he'd kissed them. Ugh, it wasn't something she should be thinking about fondly, of course not… but that he might truly like her was still a most dazzling concept, one she wasn't sure how to cope with yet, let alone now that she understood the true source of his apprehensions.

She ended up finding a way to cope with it by watching over him once they stopped at a massive rock their compass led them to: Sokka claimed he felt better, but upon attempting to taste a gross substance on the wall, Azula decided he simply wasn't recovered yet. She slapped his hand violently and he gasped as she pulled him towards her.

"No eating weird sticky nonsense that's stuck to a cavern's walls!" she growled. He blinked blankly, staring into her eyes with innocent confusion.

"Why not…?" he said.

"Because if that tastes like crap and you kiss me again, I'll set you on fire," Azula declared.

"And I don't think anyone will stop her this time, Sokka," Katara smirked. Toph snickered too as Sokka winced… and yet he found Azula had taken his hand in hers, pulling him through the cavern with her.

"You're just… going to hold my hand now?"

"I can't trust you to behave yourself if I don't," Azula said, curtly, hoping not to betray just how nervous she was about acting this way…

Yet she could see, from the corner of her eyes, when Sokka bit his lip and smiled. Was he happy to hold her hand…? Or was he simply happy that someone was looking after him so closely, protecting him, when he was always the protector…?

She couldn't help but continue defending him once the buzzard wasps attacked: she shielded him with her body, even using her fire to chase away the beasts. Busy as she was ensuring the groggy Sokka wasn't hurt, she couldn't do anything to protect the damn lemur – she KNEW he'd be trouble eventually, damn little thing – when one of the buzzard wasps took him away. Katara was busy serving as Toph's eyes, just as Azula had taken to shielding Sokka herself, so it was Aang who saved him… rather violently too. But when the Avatar and the lemur returned to the team, and the buzzard wasps appeared to gear up to continue their attacks, towers of sand chased away the creatures… and that was when the sandbenders had appeared.

Tired as she was, puzzled by too many things at once, Azula barely paid attention to the exchange, checking on Sokka to ensure he was okay… and then the most terrifying of all moments began when the Avatar lost his temper completely.

This time, however, Sokka took to protecting her: he had seen this before, Azula realized. He collected Toph too, one arm around each of them, and helped them get away from the whirlwind of wild sand, stirred by the savagely furious Avatar. It was a display of power unlike anything Azula had seen, and she could barely take her eyes away from him: he had been so small, so innocent in her eyes, merely twenty-four hours ago… and suddenly he was the most punishing force of nature she had ever witnessed. Suddenly he wasn't just a symbol of everything her father had raised her to defeat, a potentially dangerous bender… no, he was already as dangerous as he pleased. And, as powerful as Fire Lord Ozai was… could he ever go against someone with such unnatural, otherworldly bending and win? Even if he was but a twelve-year-old boy?

Somehow, Katara managed to calm him down, if it could be called that. All the while, Sokka held Azula closely, her face pressed against his chest, his heartbeats reassuring her, despite she was anything but soothed… despite she suddenly found her world had taken yet another tumble on that chaotic, catastrophic day, and she wasn't sure how she'd compose it, or herself, ever again.

Finding water again was so refreshing, and drinking it cleared his mind completely, it seemed to Sokka. Katara was far more cheerful now, though that she decided to jump into the water by doing what she had called a "waterbending bomb" was probably not the best use of her improved mood – she soaked the maps Sokka had stolen from the Library, and she had to dry them under her brother's fierce glare.

All the while, though, one member of their group was unexpectedly aloof… and perhaps self-conscious. She had washed, rinsing off the dirt and dust from days on the road, but she hadn't joined the others at playing in the water. Sokka had expected her to join him in deciding which route to take to Ba Sing Se, where they hoped to find Appa… but so far, nothing. She had never been this distant, and she sat at a distance as a group of refugees, passing through the area, offered them useful information regarding a secret way into Ba Sing Se that the Fire Nation was fully unaware of. Even once they started on their way to Full Moon Bay, she was quiet and distant still, walking at some distance from the rest of the group.

"Say, uh… you two talked a bunch, while I was cactus-juice addled?" Sokka asked his sister casually, once he pulled her away from chatting with the refugees they'd just met. "I think, at least? I don't really remember most of what happened anymore, but…"

"Ah, you're not sure why she's being all that distant and weird now? Probably because you kissed her without permission," Katara declared, beaming. Sokka's jaw dropped. "Not that I know for sure if she's mad about that, but you know… surely doesn't help much, does it?"

"I…! Oh, no. She'll hate me now, won't she?" he groaned. "But… wait, when did I do that, again?"

"At the start? You'd just drank the damn thing and then you said you melted in her hands? You were being really weird about her," Katara said, smirking. Sokka raised an eyebrow in Katara's direction.

"And that… somehow doesn't bother you that much?" he asked. "I thought you didn't like her."

"Well, it's hard not to like the only other person who wasn't completely helpless while we traveled through the desert," Katara sighed. "Besides… I mean, yeah, she wasn't nice at first, and she did chase us, but she's definitely never done anything as bad as Zuko did. She's been with us for a while, she's not chained down anymore, and she's still done nothing to hurt any of us. I don't know, Sokka… maybe she's not that bad."

"I agree," he said, smiling at her. "I… I really think she isn't, either. Though, well, I guess we could be wrong. But the way she helped distract that owl, and she's tried to help keep me safe so many times… it's weird, you know? She jumps in front of me all the time…"

"She probably likes you too, see?" said Katara, smirking. "Which… I guess, from a rational point of view, it might not be a great thing? I mean, I know why you'd be apprehensive, Sokka, and if you think this isn't worth trying it's okay, but… I'd expected worse from the Fire Lord's daughter."

"Yeah… me too," Sokka smiled, glancing at the Princess, who walked far ahead of him and Katara.

"Just… talk to her? I guess?" said Katara, shrugging. "Maybe you still have a shot, somehow."

"Even if I kissed her when I shouldn't have, huh…?" he mused.

There were several reasons why he wasn't all that sure about this… and yet whenever he thought back to the past weeks of being allied with Azula, he couldn't help but feel warmth nestling in his chest. She was something else, wasn't she? And he… he was very much attached to her now, whether it was wise or not. Whether he had tried to push her away or not. And if he ever kissed her again… well, he'd make sure it was the right way, this time around.

He decided to talk to her once they reached the ferry station: Azula had been unusually quiet so far, and he guessed it was time he apologized for the cactus juice mess, anyway.

"Uh… hey, Azula?" he called her, unusually shyly, as they lagged behind at the end of their group: the station was very crowded, but they managed to find the line to request for passports anyway. "I, uh, wanted to say I was sorry for troubling you back in the desert. I didn't mean to, but… I guess I did a lot of things I shouldn't have."

"Oh?" Azula raised her eyebrows, intrigued by his words. "Such as…?"

"W-well… I shouldn't have had cactus juice, for starters," he smiled awkwardly. "And I shouldn't have, well, kissed you without asking…?"

"Without… asking?" Azula repeated. Sokka's face flushed. "So… you think it's fine if you ask?"

"W-well! Only if you say I can, even if I ask. T-that is. Well. I think so?" he said, swallowing hard.

Azula blinked blankly at the taller boy. He was so nervous… so endearing, too. She certainly didn't expect to grow genuinely fond of him, and she had resisted the notion for a while… but she was inevitably interested in him now. And his babbling wasn't helping matters at all.

"Hmm… well. I guess… I'll have to think on that permission, then. Just as that woman seems to be thinking about ours," Azula said, grimacing. "If only this were the Fire Nation, we'd be on a ferry by now just because I'm here…"

"Heh, yeah. No doubt," Sokka smiled awkwardly. "Though… we should try to not let anyone know you're Fire Nation, you know? A lot of people here probably were fleeing the consequences of the war, and if they knew…"

"Ah, true enough. Can you lend me your clothes?"

Sokka froze in place, staring at Azula in disbelief as she smirked teasingly at him. Yet she didn't take her words back.

"I mean… you lent me your sleeping bag before. I suppose your clothes will be smelly too… but no one would assume I'm Fire Nation Royalty if I'm smelly, right?" she said. Sokka's face was redder and redder by the minute.

She couldn't help but laugh as he failed to find words to respond with. Flustered as he was, he stared at her with disbelieving amazement, ignoring that Toph was securing passports for them to cross Full Moon Bay… and also ignoring that someone had walked up to him suddenly.

Azula frowned when the female guard suddenly forced Sokka to turn towards her: she was immediately tempted to jump between them, again finding protective instincts triggered when Sokka was concerned… did that guard think he was a criminal? Did they realize that whatever story Toph had fed the woman at the passport counter was bullshit…?

"Tickets and passports," said the girl. Sokka blinked blankly, inching away from her.

"Uh… I don't have mine right now. Go ask our, uh, team leader? Toph, over there," he said, before turning to Azula again. "Y-you don't really… I mean, if you'd told me you wanted to wear my clothes I would've washed them more thoroughly! We were at that waterfall, it would've been a good idea…"

"I was… messing with you," Azula said, smiling awkwardly: the girl behind Sokka appeared utterly perplexed by how he'd disregarded her words… and by the contents of the ones he was saying to his companion, too. "Is something wrong?"

"U-uh, no, I mean… no," said the girl, smiling dryly. Sokka glanced at her once more and she bit her lip. "You really… don't remember me?"

"… Am I supposed to?" he said, with an awkward smile. "Sorry?"

Azula covered her mouth with a hand, attempting not to laugh too boldly as the guard grimaced and sighed, walking away, defeated by Sokka's apparent forgetfulness. He turned towards Azula again, utterly perplexed.

"I… don't know what that was about," he said. "B-but anyway…!"

"I only hope she's not someone you kissed once too and then proceeded to forget about for no reason," Azula smiled. Sokka scoffed.

"Hell, no! I'm sure I don't know her!" he declared, pouting. "I've never seen that face before!"

And it wasn't a lie, not truly: never seeing Suki without Kyoshi Warrior makeup certainly hadn't prepared him for recognizing her without it – or without stronger clues aside from that confusing teasing.

The mood between Sokka and Azula appeared to make more sense now, although the underlying tension remained: Azula wasn't happy, however, when Aang determined they would give up their comfortable trips on the ferry for the sake of traveling across the dangerous Serpent's Pass with the same refugees from before. Sokka appeared just as miserable about the loss of their tickets and passports… and just as paranoid about the Serpent's Pass once they started to traverse it: at one point rocks nearly crushed them, and he shielded Azula with his body while Toph spared them from the falling rocks.

"Thanks, Toph…" Azula said, trying not to be flustered as Sokka pulled away slightly.

"U-uh… didn't mean to… yeah. Well. You're okay, though… right?" he said, biting his lip. Azula nodded weakly.

"You two need to climb a tree," Toph sighed shaking her head. The two of them shot her a confused glance. "You know? That song, people climb trees and make out there or whatever…?"

"Toph!"

She whistled carelessly as she walked past them, leaving Sokka and Azula flustered before each other. It wasn't enough, of course, that things were slightly awkward between them… their friends, naturally, had to make it worse.

But not a lot could make matters worse for Azula, as things stood. Once they made camp at last, in the middle of the night, she sat gazing into the line of the horizon, where the dark sky and the Mo Ce Sea seemed to merge together. The moon, Yue, as she'd finally come to know, hovered there… perhaps watching. Perhaps wondering if she could be half as good for that boy as she might have been. Perhaps knowing that Azula was plagued by the exact same conflict that had stolen her away from him…

And just thinking about him seemed to summon him: Sokka bit his lip as he took his seat beside her. He cleared his throat awkwardly before finally blurting out the actual words he'd wanted to say all day.

"What's bothering you?"

Azula raised her eyebrows and glanced at him. Awkward as he was, his eyes were full of concern.

"I… just can tell you're not okay. You're really quiet, and… well, I guess maybe it's because of how things turned out at the Library? Maybe it's because you don't want to enter an Earth Kingdom city…"

"There's a lot of reasons why I'm not okay," Azula said, simply, rubbing the bridge of her nose with her fingertips. "But… I guess the moon up there is the bigger one."

"The… moon?" Sokka said, gulping. "Huh… you talked to Katara about Yue, didn't you?"

"I'm not going to be an unreasonable asshole… I won't say that because I fancy you, you should've never had any history with anyone else before you met me," Azula said, with a sad grin. "If that's what you thought, anyway. But… I think once she told me about this, I understood. She's the reason why you tried to push me away in the Library, isn't she?"

"N-not for the reasons you might think," Sokka said, gritting his teeth. "It's not that I… that I don't like you as much as I did her, or anything like that. I just…"

"You don't want to lose anyone else the same way you did her. And you'd lose me, for sure."

Sokka gritted his teeth, his fists tightening. Azula breathed out slowly, gazing at the sky.

"I've gotten too caught up in this weird adventure," she said. "It's… nothing like I'd anticipated my first big mission would turn out. I thought I'd be successful, that I'd catch my brother and uncle, defeat the Avatar, overtake the whole Earth Kingdom singlehandedly… and so far, none of that has happened. Instead… I became a prisoner. And I… ended up befriending my captors, to the point where… where I don't even try to run away despite I'm no longer in chains."

"It wasn't that bad, though, was it?" Sokka asked.

"No. But it will be bad, in the future," she said, gazing at him earnestly. "I don't know what I mean to you… but I do know that I'm not much better than your Princess Yue. My loyalty is for my nation. I… I intend to fight by my father's side. Even if we're friends… even if we're more than that, as soon as I can find anyone trustworthy, I'd double-cross you. And then we'd be back to being enemies. And…"

"And?" Sokka said, his voice sad… though he was immediately alarmed by the chagrin on Azula's face.

"And… your Avatar? He… he's going to kill my father, isn't he?"

The question took Sokka by surprise. His eyes widened… for he had never thought of the Fire Lord as someone's father. As someone anyone genuinely cared about. And yet Azula's anguished face spoke lengths about how much he meant to her.

"It doesn't matter how hard we fight, how we push to win the war… I saw what he did when he lost his temper with those sandbenders," Azula said, gritting her teeth. "Not even with Sozin's Comet's return will we be able to stop him if he's trained enough by then. There's… there's no point, There's no happy ending, you said it yourself. And with him… I'll go down, too."

"N-no! No, Aang would never…!" Sokka started, but he froze: yes, Aang would have to kill Fire Lord Ozai, he had always assumed as much. Defeating him would likely require more than just demanding for his surrender. There was no chance in hell Ozai would step down for less than death… and yet: "He'd never hurt you. He'd never be able to hurt someone who was his friend."

"Not even if that friend is fighting alongside a man who'd do a lot worse to him than steal his sky bison?" Azula asked, eyeing Sokka in disbelief. "On top of that, I… I don't even know how I'll ever… how I'll ever fight you guys, if it comes to that. Any of you. I've learned so much about your skills, your abilities, your strengths and weaknesses… and I don't want to even picture going against you anymore. I…"

"Then don't picture it. Don't oppose us!" Sokka said, reaching for her hands with his. Azula blinked at the contact and gazed at him in confused disbelief. "Look… you don't want your dad to die? I get that. I don't want mine to die either. Granted, the war's not my dad's fault but… never mind, that's not the point! The thing is… Aang is a pacifist. He's a good kid. If it comes to it, maybe he won't want to kill your dad at all, and he'll find another way. We can all find other ways! You… you know him. You know your father better than anyone! If you want things to change, if you don't want us to defeat your nation, then… help us!"

"How does that make any sense…?" Azula asked, Sokka shook his head.

"Work with us," Sokka said. "See the world with us. Understand how many mistakes the Fire Nation made. And then, when we go see the Fire Lord… you can help him see reason. And if he won't? Then… we can try to defeat him without killing him. And you can take his place."

"I… what?!" Azula exclaimed. Her sadness was now replaced by utter disbelief. Sokka smiled awkwardly.

"Look… this is crazy, you and me. Maybe it's… too fast? Though, it was really fast with me and Yue too, so I don't know how to go slow, if anything" he chuckled "But I don't know how I'd fight against you either… not for real. I want you on my team. I want to be in yours. And heck… as big and burly and strong as the Fire Nation has tried to be, if you can tell already that the Avatar is going to overcome everything and bring back balance, what's the point of fighting? Your people will pay the price if the war continues to escalate and if Aang's involved, it will be turned against the Fire Nation eventually, just as it was in the North Pole. There can be a happy ending, Azula, if the war just… ends. If we don't have to go that far to make it stop. Look, I hate your dad… but if you can make him pull back his army and make amends as best he can for all the harm he and his forefathers did, I'd never ask for his death. I wouldn't need it. I don't need him to die, I just… I just need the world to make sense again. I just need a world where people don't have to die like Yue did. A world where… where I wouldn't lose you the way I lost her."

Azula didn't say anything for a moment, despite Sokka was gazing at her intensely, holding her hand as he was. He bit his lip at her silence, unsure of what to do… until she leaned closer, her lips hovering inches from his…

And then she lowered her head, pressing her face to his shoulder instead. Sokka bit his lip as her hand tightened around his, as her eyes closed tightly.

"You don't have to make a choice right away, right now," Sokka whispered, his thumb stroking the back of her hand. "But… you can choose anyway. Whatever Aang says or thinks… as far as I'm concerned, destiny can change if you want it to. If you fight to make it so."

Destiny…? Was that truly what guided them? Was there a force that kept them locked into set decisions and choices… or were they altering the world with each new step they took to oppose what was expected of them?

Azula raised her gaze, finding Sokka still watched her. She gritted her teeth before leaning in far more decisively: her lips brushed his lightly, and this time he kissed her wholeheartedly, no longer in as clumsy and silly a manner as he had while drinking cactus juice. That had still thrilled her when it happened, despite she hadn't wanted to feel giddy about it… but this? His arms held her closer, and her heart was beating so fast she thought it would burst from her chest. She liked this… she liked him. She really liked him.

Maybe she felt something stronger than that, even. For it seemed so did he.

She probably should have been losing her mind about how absurd it was to fall in love with the enemy. About how ridiculous it was to find herself so appealed by a Water Tribesman she had barely known for a few weeks. About how outrageous it would be that the exemplary, ideal Princess Azula had cast everything into the wind, forsaking all notions of being saved, of being found, of being her father's perfect child and heir… but somehow, the heart she had kept in check for so long was beating powerfully anew, filling her very soul with emotions and feelings that floored her. Emotions that she had thought she'd never feel… let alone for someone who embodied everything she should have never loved at all.

And yet that didn't stop her from falling asleep holding his hand that night. It didn't stop her from walking with him the next day, sharing awkward smiles, as she pondered her future some more. As she reasoned that there were so many choices left ahead of her: she could still push him away, if anything compelled her to… she could run away in Ba Sing Se, if she wanted to. Just so… she could stay, if she wanted to.

Granted, things weren't quite so cheerful anymore when the giant serpent attacked. That was quite the disaster: Toph fell into the water, leading both Sokka and Azula to jump in for her and swim her back to safety while Aang and Katara deflected the giant creature's attacks and ensured the refugees got through safely. And then? Then the pregnant one decided it was the ideal time to have her baby. Yes, of course Azula knew that wasn't something anyone just decides on, but she couldn't have picked a worse timing… yet huddling together with Sokka as they dried up after their incursion in the water wasn't the worst thing ever. And while the Avatar had still been somewhat miserable, it seemed he was far happier once Katara finished helping deliver the baby, and things should have moved along better from that point onwards, as they escorted the refugees to the city itself…

Until Aang saw the drill.

She knew what it was as soon as he described it. She knew exactly what was happening: it was a stratagem her father had plotted and concocted from a long time ago, commissioned to the inventor who had taken up refuge in the Northern Air Temple. It was on its way to tear down Ba Sing Se's walls, and it would breach all the way to the Earth Kingdom's Palace if it was uncontested… and it would be. It would be.

It was a won battle already. There was no way the five of them could stop them… and did she even want to stop them?

They climbed the Outer Wall and watched how Earth Kingdom troops were fighting back; the very sight of them told Azula she would have to make her choice far sooner than Sokka had intended her to. He eyed her with uncertainty often, though he didn't reveal his doubts… despite Azula could see in Aang, Katara and Toph's expressions that they were doubting, just as much as he was. It was the first time she had confronted her own nation by their side… and for all they knew, she would turn the fight around and help her nation, instead.

The so-called Terra Team attacked the drill relentlessly, but to no avail: their earthbending would never withstand the drill's might. The tanks that accompanied the drill had been cast away quickly, or so the earthbenders had believed, but they retaliated before long. And while the earthbenders fought fiercely, and defeated some of the firebenders, in the end their resistance amounted to nothing.

"So, the question is…" Aang said. "How are we going to stop that thing?"

All eyes turned towards Sokka, who had been studying the drill intently. He blinked blankly upon sensing he was being watched.

"Why are you all looking at me?" he said, grimacing.

"Because you're the idea guy," Aang answered, quickly.

"Oh, so I'm the only one can come up with a plan?" he retorted.

Well, no, no he wasn't the only one. But no one had asked her yet. And she wondered briefly if no one would.

"Azula?"

It was, of course, Sokka who called her name. He eyed her hopelessly, despite his tone seemed to suggest he clung to some sort of hope, regardless. The others watched him intently, and the Fire Nation Princess waited quietly for him to finish what he was saying.

"Do you know anything about this thing? Anything about how we can defeat it?" Sokka asked. Azula breathed deeply and raised her eyebrows, holding off from answering for almost ten whole, endless seconds:

"I might," she finally said. Sokka's eyes widened as the rest of the group gasped.

"Please, tell us!" Aang said, stepping towards her. "So many people will be in danger if we do nothing… Azula, I know you were our prisoner, but now? You're our friend. Please… help us save Ba Sing Se."

Her fist tightened. She frowned heavily. Cornered, forced to make up her mind, just as she was trying to enjoy the freedom of having a choice… brilliant.

"There's only one way to take down that thing," Azula said, dismissively. "And it's from within. We need to get inside the drill."

"Wait… we?" Sokka said, blinking blankly. Azula huffed, raising her eyebrows.

"Did you think you'd do this without me? That I'd sit out on my own plan?" she asked.

"Well… no. But, you know, you don't really have to join in if you don't want to," said Sokka, swallowing hard. "I know this isn't, well, anything you wanted to do, so…"

"Not like I have much of a choice anymore, do I?" Azula said, bluntly.

She proceeded to explain what she had in mind… and to her surprise, Sokka added his own ideas to her plan just as well. At first, her suggestions seemed to startle the others, for it sounded like a rather risky venture, one that could backfire so easily… and yet there was no other way. They had to trust her… to trust she knew that drill. To trust she wouldn't turn against them, even if her strange stiffness, her sudden distance, suggested she might.

They made their way down the wall again, gathered under a crevice: Toph whipped up a dust cloud and then a tunnel for them to travel through, unseen. Once they reached the drill, Sokka spotted a possible entrance, and Aang helped hoist each of them into the drill until Toph seemed to get cold feet at the last moment, choosing to stay on the ground and fight back from outside the drill instead.

"Okay, so we need the layout of this machine if we're going to figure out the best spots to break," Sokka said, looking around himself. Pipelines ran through the system, powering it, and before long, he settled on breaking one that appeared to be a source of gas rather than any other substance.

"What are you doing?!" Katara exclaimed.

"Someone's going to have to come fix it!" Sokka grinned. "And it'll probably be an engineer. We can just steal the drill's plans from him and be done with it!"

Azula bit her lip as she retreated into a dark corner with the group. Soon enough, an engineer did show up. Katara stepped out into the open…

Only for a sharp kick to her lower back to knock her to the floor.

"Wha…?!" Aang gasped. "KATARA!"

He had no time to respond: a sharp blow to the back of his neck knocked him unconscious just as well.

The last one left, of course, was Sokka. His eyes were wide with hurt, and Azula eyed him apologetically before striking him down too, digging her knee into his stomach.

"What is…?! What?! Princess?!" the engineer exclaimed.

"Ugh. It was about time," she said, rolling her eyes- "Please, help me bring those three to War Minister Qin. Clearly, one can't be captured around here and expect assistance, can they?"

"We heard you were missing in action, but we trusted you'd prevail!" exclaimed the engineer.

"Enough with the pointless excuses!" Azula shouted, freezing the man in place with her harsh words. "We have work to do. That city will be ours."

She glared at Sokka, who squirmed, the only one still conscious, on the floor. He gazed at her pleadingly, but her eyes' sharp, golden steel offered no respite. She had made her choice. She would simply have to figure out if she could live with it.

"You're ALIVE! It's a miracle! You've returned to us, Princess!" War Minister Qin was exclaiming happily, and Sokka would shoot glares at him from the top-most observation deck's floor. His sister and the Avatar, tied beside him against a railing, were doing the same thing, now they were back to their senses. "Oh, the Fire Lord will be thrilled that you are, and that you brought the Avatar with you, too! Today marks a grand victory for our great nation!"

"That it does, War Minister, for sure," Azula declared, languishing carelessly on a throne-like chair that still stank of the War Minister's stale perfume. Of course, the man had been happy to sit here until she had arrived. No doubt, despite all his apparent bliss over her return, he was definitely distraught about having to share his triumph with her. "Are we progressing well so far?"

"Perfectly on schedule, Princess! We should make contact with the outer wall within the next ten minutes!"

"Ten minutes, is it?" she said, raising her eyebrows. "How utterly sluggish and slow is this damn machine that it would take that long? This… this is truly a pathetic strategy. Did that Mechanist design this machine deliberately to stall us?"

"Well…! We have, yes, suspected as much, but… surely that's not the case! And even if it were, we'll keep going, Princess, of course!" said the War Minister.

Azula huffed, raising her chin haughtily.

"Full speed ahead, War Minister."

"F-full…? Well, we are going at the safest speed we can…"

"Full speed, I said!"

"R-right! Yes, Princess!"

It wasn't a good idea, he knew: the system was delicate, despite how sturdy it was from the outside. Any overloading of materials could cause a clog within the machine's drill, and if that happened… oh, her recklessness could doom their whole enterprise. She shouldn't demand for this, but how to say no?

The drill began moving faster, digging up earth from down below to move forward. A sharp glance at the three that sat, gagged and restrained, on the floor… Azula rose to her feet, and the War Minister nearly winced as Azula gestured at the periscope.

"Please, keep watch. Ensure we're headed in the right direction at all times, War Minister."

A rather ridiculous order, and yet again, the War Minister rushed to the periscope and abided by it. All other eyes on the command module were set on their respective tasks, too, for they were busy setting up everything so the Princess's full-speed order would be heeded…

And so, none of them saw the Princess step towards the three captives and burn off their restraints.

It was a rather strange but amusing pandemonium: Aang's airbending took everyone by surprise as he crafted a whirlwind inside the command module. Sokka rushed towards his weapons and Katara's water pouches, which the War Minister had requisitioned: together they took to taking down the rest of the engineers within the room… while Azula had a rather violent firebending showdown with the two Imperial Firebenders within the module, tasked with the protection of their mission. The War Minister screamed desperately, no doubt searching for a place to go… only for Sokka to deliver an uppercut at him, knocking him unconscious right away.

"HA!"

There wasn't too much time to celebrate yet, though: he rushed to help Azula, tossing his boomerang to distract one of the firebenders. The Princess smirked at him, taking the opportunity to deliver a most lethal charged fire blast at the firebender's stomach from the soles of her shoes, after she performed a somersault that left Sokka gaping in wonder at her skill. The next firebender attempted to attack only for Azula to dodge him, trip him with a firebending kick, and leave him for Sokka to finish off with a powerful blow of his club to his helmet, a sure way to knock someone out.

By the time the two main firebenders were done, everyone else was either surrendering or had given up already. And so, Azula made her way to the machines, switching each value to its opposite one as violently as possible, both to ensure the drill would either collapse fully or at least move in the wholly opposite direction.

"We did it! We stopped the drill!" Aang exclaimed, hugging Katara excitedly.

"And it didn't even reach the Outer Wall!" Sokka said, beaming brightly as he helped Azula with busting the machine. "Princess, your plan was GENIUS!"

It wasn't long before some loud explosion resounded through the mechanism: of course, so many careless commands would eventually be too many for the machine. It would break down – without exploding, hopefully – and it would be out of commission for good, as long as the Earth Kingdom's authorities took the machine and dissembled it safely…

Azula released a deep breath before turning to smile at Sokka. He stood beside her, grinning just as brightly as he had when he had been intoxicated… though far more earnestly, this time.

"I was sent to hunt down a traitor and a failure…" she said. "And I guess I'm the traitor now, huh?"

"Definitely not the other thing, though," Sokka said, beaming. "I always knew you were the best your dad could send after us! Look at this! You tore them down in one go! This was…! You're just…! Hell, I…"

"You have something to say, yes?" Azula asked, amused. "Are you going to sing praises about me? Declare me the greatest being that ever lived? Or perhaps will you say embarrassing things such as 'I melt in your hands' once again?"

"Y-yeah, well…" he chuckled, his hands on her shoulders. "You know what? Yes, I can say I definitely melt in your firebending hands, Azula. Especially after today. I know what this means to you. I know how much you're sacrificing for, well… us. But I think… or rather, I hope? That it'll turn out okay in the end?"

"I sure hope so too. Because if not, you'll have to refund me for all this faith I'm putting in you," Azula said, pointing at him and pressing her index finger to his chest. Sokka chuckled, lowering his gaze. "Make sure I won't regret this, alright? Tall, warrior boy?"

"I can think of an idea or two to achieve that, dangerous, beautiful Princess," he grinned.

His brow pressed against hers just before he kissed her, fully. Aang blinked blankly as he watched them – as did the conscious crew members of the drill, gaping in utter disbelief at their Princess's shameless behavior: wasn't she supposed to be the good kid, as opposed to her brother?

"Woah," Aang managed, but Katara laughed beside him, tugging him away, towards the people they'd have to keep watch over.

"Come on, it's not polite to stare," she said.

"You're taking this way too well, huh?" Aang grinned. Katara shrugged.

"What can I say? I guess she grew on me, just a little," she smiled. "Besides… this way you'll have a firebending teacher, right?"

"And she'll be the best teacher ever!" Sokka declared, revealing he and Azula had stopped kissing by then, though his arm remained wrapped around her shoulders. She gasped.

"Hey! I never did say I'd do that, did I?" she asked. Sokka laughed and shrugged.

"And why wouldn't you?" he said. "It'll be fun!"

Azula groaned and shook her head, though she smiled as her friends laughed together. Her friends… new friends, who hadn't wanted her for her title, her position, her privilege. Friends who had shared their meals, even their bedding with her, who had worried about her, who had protected her… and whom she had protected, just as well. It was a strange sensation, one she wasn't sure she had ever felt before… but as she stood there, an arm wrapped around Sokka's waist, watching his most goofy, cheerful grin, Azula guessed she melted in his hands just as well, for this was exactly where she wanted to be.

"So… do you really think Zuko is going to be somewhere around here?" Ty Lee asked, nonchalantly, at Mai. "Maybe we really should've gone back to find Azula… she would've tracked him easier than us."

"We had the beasts, she had nothing. If she didn't come back to us, it's because she couldn't. There's no reason to think she would've done any better than we have," Mai sighed.

The damn ferry station was a pain: she and Ty Lee had secured outfits to blend in as Earth Kingdom, dreary colorful stuff she would never wear if she could help it. Then, they'd tracked down two people and with her knives, threatened them out of their passports and tickets. They had raced away, crying… and Ty Lee had certainly seemed sorry for it, but Mai wasn't too bothered about the matter. Surely Azula would've done worse to people if she'd wanted what she didn't have, right?

But the damnable ferry just wouldn't arrive, would it? The sooner they reached that damn huge city, the sooner she'd be close to tracking down Zuko…

"Uh… huh? Mai! Mai!"

Mai's eyes drifted towards the direction Ty Lee was pointing at: the passports lady was speaking to two newcomers: a short, balding man with a silver beard… and a young man with dark hair, and a rather violent scar across his face.

"You… you figured it out! You found him!" Ty Lee exclaimed, beaming. "Aww! This is soooo romantic!"

Despite the discomfort of the situation hadn't decreased in the least, Mai smiled: maybe this ferry station wasn't so bad, after all.

[dansiere]

anon: how did Pearl first summon her weapon? me, rolling up my sleeves: time to publish my 5000 + word War Era Pearlnet fanfiction.

[tstrangeauthor]

Reading as a Writer

Now, I come to you as a friend and as a foe with the wisdom of a piano from the 80s. In all my time *authoring*, I have learned to read as a writer. And it can be annoying as heck because sometimes I want to read a bad story just to relax and destress, but in my head I’m correcting it. But it helped me! So let me help you.

Strange, what’s the difference?

Great question. The key difference is questioning. Reading as a writer means you are more analytical with what you read. You should be questioning everything: why did I get immersed here, why did I reread this paragraph, how come this scene feels rushed but the next one slow? 

The goal is to implement the best of what you see other authors do into your own writing, and this can be very biased based on your own style. Remember: Not everyone likes the same stuff, so here are some general question to help you analyze what you read better to reach your audience

How did the author create/fail to create a visual setting?

Was there a lot of sensory detail? Were the details easy to visualize, or did they jumble my thoughts and confuse me?

Why am I bored/super excited reading this right now?

Does the author use various sentence structure? Is the pacing too slow, too fast? 

What is making this scene so confusing?

Are the characters’s voices not distinguished enough? Is the sequence of events out of order? Did the author not elaborate on key events in the plot?

Finally, you’re going to ask yourself how would YOU change it. How would you make this scene better? How would you ease the confusion? How would you keep the reader from getting bored and create that reading experience that got US into writing? Reading as a writer takes time. Critical thinking with even the bad stuff can be difficult and unappealing, but it will help your writing ten fold. We’re all writers here. Let us learn from each other