bro i swear ara might be one of my Favorite characters she makes me so sad but i also like girly get a grip 😭 i love the way u write everbody especially sokka because hes so different but still has his yk quirks and tbh when ppl write him romantically they kinda leave it out

heres ara cuz i am this 🤏🏻 Close to just giving her a playlist since shes so ..woman. yk what i mean??

anyway i kinda Imagine her cut to be simliar to zuko and very uneven cuz bro Zhao will not acutally give a fuck to at least make it nice

this is just a fall from grace even tho its Basically the best thing right now since shes away from all that crazy shit

OMG ITS THE GIRL! The one & only Ara!!! I love how you did a before and after, girl thought she had her shit handled! Only to have her shit handed to her. She has serious sad girl energy but you’re so right she needs to handle it haha.

Thank you so much for this I am squealing with joy you’re amazing!!!

I don’t think anyone has fully considered the potential of a feral zuko au.

Like, Ozai tries to kill him when he’s 10, but zuko escapes with a scar, Ozai claims he was killed by an assassin and Azula gets a redemption arc early.

Meanwhile zuko is off completely changing the corse of history by, in no particular order:

-Making Hama realize that not all fire benders are bad cause the child she just told about how she was in prison immediately his to instigate a jail break

-is emotionally adopted by hakoda along with most of the crew

-finds wan shi tong’s library

-befriends/is adopted by June the bounty hunter

-discovers a herd of flying bison

-joins a traveling acting troupe for a while cause he’s a theater nerd

-visits omashu and is forcibly befriended by bumi, who decides that zuko is now his grandson and no one can stop him

-discovers the white lotus, decides that they don’t do shit, and starts a hobby of breaking into their safe houses and wrecking them until they get off their asses and help with the war

-meets toph when some fire nation soldiers chase him to gaoling and she stops them, and her parents see her, but zuko does this little speech about how proud they must be of their daughter and how much they must trust and respect her since she’s such a powerful earth bender, and basically guilt trips them into letting toph continue to fight and practice bending

-gets a dragon tattoo 

-wanders into the swamp at some point

-drinks a bit more than he probably should, but he can hold it shockingly well

-figures out lightning bending in the middle of a thunderstorm 

-goes to ba sing se, gets arrested by the Dai li, breaks out, and starts a one man war with them, which basically is just zuko par core-ing around the city till he finds some Dai li, then rather beats the shit out of them, or just kill them. 

-He does it all with out fire bending though, just his swords. 

-After like a week the Dai li are basically gone, and the earth king finds out about the war, and makes zuko a part of the army, some fancy title and a medal or something, zuko is officially recognized as the dragon of the east, and proceeds to duck off to the North Pole to try and convince them to help in the war

-they don’t want to, but he befriends yue and they talk about politics and zuko helps her get out of the arranged marriage 

-zuko called Paku a sexist bitch and is surprised yet delighted to inform him that blood bending was invented by a woman

-invents lightning redirection

-the north joins the war thanks to yue 

-zuko meets the mechanist at the northern air temple at some point

-meets and joins the freedom fighters, makes out with jet, uses fire bending to save jets like, then jet tries to kill him

-the other kids understand that zuko is still good even though he’s a fire bender, but zuko leaves, even though every single kid adopted zuko as their older brother

-becomes known as the greatest swords man to ever live

-it’s actually true, and when piandao, who has Ali adopted zuko, hears that he is very proud and brags about it to everyone he meets

-basically zuko gets adopted by almost every adult he meets

-gets really good at cooking, hunting, reading maps, finding water, pick pocketing, stowing away on beats, sewing, and pretty much every other skill you would need to live on your own. 

-hears that Zhao has captured the avatar and casually breaks Aang out of prison

-refuses to be his firebending teacher and leaves

-stops at a village to tell them that the volcano next to them is about to explode, and he knows this cause he grew up in the fire nation which has a lot of volcanos

-they don’t believe him cause the fortune teller never said anything about it, zuko gets pissed and starts yelling at them

-this is the exact moment Aang Katara and sokka show up

-zuko thinks Aang is following him and tries to leave, but sokka recognizes him as the dragon of the east from a wanted poster

-they basically follow zuko around trying to convince him to help them, and he is this close to just beating them up when Katara mentions they are going to the northern water tribe to learn bending

-zuko agrees to go with them just so he can see Katara kick paku’s ass 

-obviously zuko and sokka get together at some point

-when the gaang finds joung joung zuko makes fun of him cause zuko was there when he broke up with piandao cause he was afraid of being found out (cause being gay was illegal) and piandao kicked his ass even though he’s a non bender

Meanwhile Azula thinks she could have prevented zukos death somehow, maybe helped him with his fire bending or hadn’t bullied him so much or something. 

Ozai kind of focused on her more and started to look down on her a lot more cause he couldn’t compare her to zuko. He put a lot more pressure on her and it drove her away from him, she started seeking his approval less and less, instead growing closer to her mom and uncle. Her mom was constantly worried she would screw up and Azula would die too, but she was Ali scared of making her think she was trying to replace zuko. But by being rather open with Azula about that it never really became an issue. 

Azula took up sword fighting and trained with piandao and she got a lot of character growth from that, cause she wasn’t naturally good at it and really had to work hard. Piandao was not someone she could bully or manipulate, so she had to struggle with earning someone’s approval. 

Piandao told her at some point that sword fighting was not something that came naturally to anyone, and you had to work hard your whole life to be really good. He also said zuko was the fastest learner and best student he had ever taught. Piandao believed that zuko could have easily surpassed piandao himself within a few years.

Azula gets to go to the war meeting that zuko got banished at in the show, she also says the plan is wrong, but in a much more eloquent way that doesn’t dishonor the fire lord but does dishonor the general. She fights an Agni Kai against the general and wins.

The plan is done anyway, (zuko finds that message and is able to warn both the earth kingdom troops and the squad of fire nation soldiers that where going to die, it starts the rumor that the dragon of the east is actually prince zuko and it spreads, some solders start to rebel against their commanders in the name of the prince) Azula finds out about it much later and raises all kinds of hell over it, calling Ozai an “honorless coward who betrays his people, unworthy of the throne” to his face in front of a bunch of people.

Azula gets banished for it, Iroh comes with her and she’s now basically zuko from the show, but tasked with finding and capturing the dragon of the east to prove her loyalty instead of the avatar. At this point she does not know that it’s zuko.

She finds zuko didn’t recognize him and fights him, but he’s better than her, and then she sees the knife that Iroh have zuko just before he “died” and puts two and two together and comes up with seven. She thinks the dragon of the east is the assassin that killed her brother.  It kind of makes sense, if the assassination was his first act of rebellion, cause a string of jail breaks followed. 

I’m not really sure where the story could go after that but there’s a lot of potential for an invasion, since zuko knows so many people. Imagine them all showing up to help and they’re all like “oh hey zuko” and the gaang turns to zuko and ask how he knows them and he’s just like “that’s my mom/dad” and it just makes them more confused.

For the 5 ask game: au where Zuko gets blessed by the ocean (in a similar fashion to Yue) for killing Zhao?

1- so when Zhao flees the oasis from Iroh's attacks, he runs right onto Zuko's sword, who deposits him back there. Zhao, struggling with the last of his breath, tries to set him on fire, and Zuko moves to the side, not even bothering to bend it away. This leads to him stepping right into the path of the ocean spirit, which envelopes him.

2- Aang has gone full avatar state and katara is focused on that, leading Sokka to try to focus on everything else- he ducks by Zhao but his pulse is already gone, he turns back to Yue but she's looked at Zuko and nodded, realizing what she needs to do, kissing him one last time and stepping into the pool, reaching a hand out to the ocean spirit and Zuko, which take one hand as the white in her hair fades.

3- while this is happening La has been examining Zuko and decides it likes him- in contrast to Tui's constant even waxing and waning, distant from the earth, the ocean is less predictable and teeming with both life and death. Zuko's tumultuous emotions and persistent drive, not to mention killing Zhao and avenging Tui, so it keeps him alive and LaZuko speaks to Aang with Yue's spirit, giving him instructions for the avatar state for forcing the whole fleet out, then lend him some power. Once they're gone, Yue floats and fades, and La drips off Zuko back into the pond. The prince collapses, and neither Katara nor Sokka even think about stopping Iroh from scooping him up and carrying him away as twin spirit fish begin to circle in the pond again.

4- Zuko's black hair now has a tint of blue, and it shines impossibly bright when the sun hits it, like the rippling surface of the water. At a glance, it looks more like he has a splotch of red scales on his face rather than a burn, and he physically can't drown. He moves like both a fire bender and a water bender now, and redirecting lightning is easy to pick up. His skin doesn't prune in the bath anymore, and he has to relearn walking on solid land again even though he could have sworn he mastered both his sea legs and land legs long ago near the beginning of his banishment.

5- speaking of that, La has a grip around Zuko's heart, and while his memories of what exactly was happening when he was possessed are fuzzy, he knows the ocean spirit sacrificed to take a mortal form in order to balance the worlds, and would not respond well to a threat to that like capturing the Avatar. But, Zuko has to capture Aang, his honor depends on it. But now not only does he not have his honor, his life isn't even his anymore to forfeit in pursuit of it- he saw what Yue did, in her role as princess. He knows La must have a purpose for him as well. At first, this depresses him (cough, which is why he knows now he can't drown) but then he decides that in order to do what he needs for both, he'll just have to convince the Avatar to willingly surrender to the Fire Lord- and that means getting close and persuading him, and he probably needs a fire bender teacher, right?

Random assortment of ATLA AU ideas I'm probably not gonna do anything with but needed to get out there:

AU where Zuko was never banished from the FN due to the people of the FN revolting when they found out. Word of the Agni Kai and the War Meeting had made it's way across the nation and the majority were in favor of Zuko. So much that they were planning a mutiny. Annoyed, but seeing a way out, Ozai orders a tower be made far away from Caldera. Once it's made, Zuko would live there. If they win the war, he'll forgive his son and welcome him back. The tower is built and Zuko is dumped in there. Only one way in and out and he can't open it. The other option is literally barred. Blah blah blah, we get into book 2, Suki has been caught by Azula. She's on her way to prison, not sure where she'll end up. And she's surprised when she's told she'll be keeping the prince company. Because, what prince? And she's put into Zuko's tower. In short, Zuki prison roommates AU but it's not in the Boiling Rock.

No one understands how it happened. Why it happened. They prayed to the moon. So, why did the sun respond and save their daughter? She prayed to the sun. She prayed and begged for him to answer. The one who answered her was the moon. Sun Spirit Yue and Moon Spirit Zuko AU. Bonus if both can bend the element of the spirit that blessed them (firebender Yue and waterbender Zuko).

Zuku joins the Gaang early and poses as Sokka's wife the entire time (fiancee if we go as early as book 1 and up until they get to Ba Sing Se in book 2. Zuko: I must find my darling husband!! I'm so worried about him... Katara: Seriously, what do you see in that guy? Zuko: He makes me laugh.)

The SWT has collapsed. Men have gone to war, and the remaining women, children and elders have split between finding sanctuary in either Kyoshi Island or the NWT OR living a new life at sea as pirates. Sokka becomes well known as a decent pirate. He won't raid someone just to raid them. They have to have something he wants. And right now, his attention was in the rather pretty boy (he assumed it was a boy anyways) onboard Zhao's ship. He'd usually go for maps and plans and even rations when he raided a ship, but this time he's thinking of getting a person. Huh, kidnapping...well there's a first for everything. (Basic summary, the SWT doesn't exist, Sokka is now a pirate, and yes so are Katara and Kanna. Their biggest enemy personally is Zhao, who's hunting down the Avatar (whom they're hiding in their ship). Sokka eventually notices Zuko, who was given to Zhao rather than banished. Blah blah blah, it's easy to tell Zuko hates Zhao, hopefully he won't mind a small kidnapping if it means getting off Zhao's ship (he does but honestly he'd rather be on Sokka's ship, it's a lot cleaner and the avatar seems nice, the bison is a bonus.))

Despite his attempts, Zuko is unable to join Team Avatar. Not able to turn to either side, he runs off and goes into hiding. While on the run, he reunites with Jin and they end up having a heart to heart. Things are confessed but in the end they get together and go on the run together. They open up a secret camp for people like them, on the run from the war. They heal the injured as best as they can and work together to make food that can last a few days. The first time things turn sour is when Jet enters the camp. He's hostile and picking fights until he's given the choice to cool his attitude or leave and hope someone else takes pity on him. Things settle down and he gets close with Jin and Zuko. More time passes by and they're eventually approached by Team Avatar, Aang and Toph both seem pleasantly surprised to see Zuko, but Sokka, Katara and Suki (whom the two water siblings freed from prison alongside their dad) weren't, Hakoda doesn't say anything. Like with Jet, they were given a choice, cool the attitude or leave.

Growing up, Azula always trailed after her mother and older brother. Despite being their father's favorite, Azula preferred their company. Call her overprotective, but like Uncle Iroh and their cousin Lu Ten have told her over and over, they were dragons. And dragons hoard and protect what's theirs. Ursa and Zuko are Azula's hoard, and she wouldn't let anyone hurt them. So, when Ursa disappears, when Zuko gets burned and banished, she decides enough is enough. The war against the other nations has ended, it was time for Civil War. And once she won, she'd bring her real family back. Ozai touched her hoard, it was about time he learned why you should never touch something belonging to a dragon.

Is this how adoption works now?? He just, finds kids lost at sea, abandoned in random places, having run away? Hakoda's not sure why it happened. It started when he found a young girl adrift on a small boat. Her white hair hidden with scarves and her hood. Yue, Princess of the NWT. Ranaway upon learning she was engaged to someone who wouldn't care for her or her people. Then came ex-Prince Zuko, who had been abandoned on an island they stopped to camp at. He'd been living there for about 3 years, maybe longer, he's unsure. But hey, what's another kid? He joins their crew... Fuck his earlier words, he doesn't need more kids. But Hakoda just sighs as a small girl (Toph) follows Zuko aboard. Seriously, is THIS how adoption works now? How's he gonna explain this to Sokka and Katara and his mother? They'll accept Yue no doubt, Toph might also be easy, but Zuko? Fuck, he needs a drink- BATO STOP LAUGHING!!

She didn't want it to end the way it did. She hated what had happened to him. What Ozai did to him while she was gone. What their mother did when she abandoned them. She remembered when Zuko was happy. When he'd smile at her and tell her he'd love her. She remembered the expectations put on him, the extra lessons and how little he was allowed to sleep. She was...jealous for so long. Both of their fire were unique, hers a brilliant blue and his a kaleidoscope of colors. It wasn't fair he was treated special... He wasn't treated special. And she was blind to that. She was blind and the truth was falling apart right in front of her. She hated this. She hated what this war had done to her family. What it did to her. What it did to Zuko. And she hated that she just stood there as her brother was carted off somewhere, ignoring his gaze as he was taken away. She hates everything... (sorta a roleswap between Azula and Zuko but not really?? Both are strong benders, Zuko just peaked later on but not too much later. As the oldest, a lot of pressure was placed on Zuko and thus Ozai's attention was on him as well. Azula, upset with this, did everything she could to upstage him. The two have a good relationship, but Ozai favoring Zuko didn't help and so Azula left to capture the Avatar, stating she wanted a challenge and to prove herself. She got a ship, and set sail with Iroh at her side. Azula eventually joins to Avatar's side and branded a traitor alongside her uncle. Zuko is tasked at bringing her home and despite how much he'd rather join her, Ozai's grip on him is too strong (not in the sense he's loyal to his father, but in the sense that he's too scared to leave). We eventually get to Agni Kai during Sozin's Comet and Azula comes out victorious, but it feels like an empty win because she knows Zuko had lost long ago. This was just the fight that broke him (also yes, Azula becomes the Firelord).

While not fond of how episode 2 used Suki, there's a bit of arc-welding in how they use Kyoshi. Which is to be expected; With eight episodes in which to explore season 1, it's natural that there'd be some shuffling of events. But it's... interesting.. what exactly they chose to shuffle.

While Sokka and Suki are doing their thing, Aang has what can only be described as the Sozin's Comet Talk with Kyoshi. And. Like. It's wild, y'all.

It feels like we're meant to see Kyoshi in a sinister light here. She's constantly shot from this angle, as if looking down on both Aang and the audience. Her dialogue gradually becomes more stern and furious, to the point of roaring at Aang that THE AVATAR MUST BE A MERCILESS WARRIOR while her voice picks up a wicked reverberating echo.

She also blames him for everyone who's died over the last hundred years, accusing him of running away from his responsibilities. Which is a hysterical accusation to levy at Aang, because the show changed that plot point. They took great efforts to unwrite Aang's personal responsibility for his iceberg nap. He was just taking an evening flight to clear his head, and then bad weather kicked up unexpectedly.

What a weird conversation. You can't unwrite your characters' flaws and hold those flaws against them.

Then this culminates in Kyoshi looking really fucking cool, as she takes control of Aang's body to demonstrate the power of the Avatar State by trashing the Fire Nation.

So, it feels like they're trying to take the "Aang doesn't want to kill the Firelord but all the Avatars tell him he must" talks and spread them out across the show rather than doing them all at once at the very end. We went from zero to "MERCILESS WARRIOR" so fast it gave me whiplash.

I don't know. I like the idea of Kyoshi explaining and demonstrating the Avatar State but I have concerns with how she's presented in her talk with Aang.

But zero concerns with how she's presented in her fight scene. General Zhao runs screaming for his life while probably soiling himself? Yeah. That's about right.

For all this episode's faults, it does not shy away from portraying Kyoshi, Suki, and the Kyoshi Warriors as a whole as exceptionally formidable in combat.

Have you ever considered writing Avatar: The Last Airbender?

On a related note: sometimes I look at existing media play a game of, "Which of these characters is most likely to secretly be an Isekai'd transmigrator?" and for ATLA, my top-two picks would be Sokka (who knows more about science than other characters, and is the main force keeping their party Focused on The Plot, and Keeping a Schedule), and Katara (who meets MANY hot guys in her-age group while on an epic quest to become stronger & avenge her mother, etc... and who is sometimes noticeably miffed by Aang's Avatar/Protagonist powers).

I've thought about it! I watched A:TLA when it was originally coming out and I still really, really like it. It currently stands as One Of The Greats of animated shows in my mind. I've never felt too strongly about any fanfiction concepts that I've come up with, though, even though there are a great many fun canon divergence and universe alteration possibilities with A:TLA. I like it as it stands.

Transmigrator Sokka is pretty compelling and funny, though! I like Sokka a lot (I like all the characters a lot) and it does fit some aspects of the SVSSS transmigration situation. Katara's harem is also always funny to think about. Love the fact that the A:TLA characters get to be interested in love without the story stomping on them for it. If I had to pick between them, I'd probably go with Sokka for the fact that he isn't a bender. Many transmigrator complaints.

I'm trying to think of villains who are good transmigration targets in A:TLA for further SVSSS flavor. Zuko would be a fun target, but he's not a proper villain. Azula has potential, but I like her personality as it stands, so I'd be loath to give her up as a character. Without Ozai, the plot loses its main pusher, so nah. Admiral Zhao is funny to think about given how much work it would take to make that work. Ty Lee isn't particularly villainous either, but she would be fun for the sheer chaos this One Smiley Girl could wreak on the plot. I prefer Mai as part of a group rather than on her own, so also nah.

I think one of the funniest things to do in an AU like this perhaps would be to create some awful PIDW version of A:TLA for the transmigrator to think they're working with. Transmigrator versus A:TLA but if it was a shitty grimdark stallion novel written by Airplane Shooting Towards The Sky, so they're trying to battle it into something better and that ends up a lot more like the children's cartoon we know. Absolutely cursed concept.

Uncharted Waters: Many Hands

They’d left the pot containing the rest of the stew half buried in the ashes. The embers from the banked fire kept it warmed to just below a simmer. Zuko served out the portions in two halves of a mangonut and they sat to their meal in the same companionable silence that had marked the better part of the day. Katara stared out over the water, picking at the bits of meat and vegetables in her bowl. 

“Do you think anyone will come this way soon?” she asked quietly. Zuko was almost startled to hear her. Then her question registered and further startled him. 

“I…” he wasn’t sure what to say. He knew that at one time, trade was heavy in these waters. He also knew that the war had made these waters a dangerous place to be a merchant. His own small, barely seaworthy ship had scared off merchants aplenty, and he hadn’t even so much as tried to hail them. Who knows how many of Zhao’s fleet had survived the siege in the Northern Tribe, but Zuko was certain they had probably done enough to scare merchants out of these waters for weeks, at least. Maybe even months. He was sure that wasn’t the answer Katara was looking for thought. 

“I don’t know,” he said at last. “Maybe a while. Maybe soon.” Katara had pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and was chewing at it again. 

“I don’t think my brother and Aang are going to look for me much longer,” she admitted. “If they are even still looking.” 

“You think they’d give up so soon?” Zuko looked genuinely shocked at that. 

“It’s been over a week, Zuko.” Her eyes were still on the ocean, her voice was oddly calm. “I’m not even sure what direction we floated in, besides south. My brother is smart. He knows he has to get Aang to someone who can teach him earthbending. That’s more important than finding me. It has to be. He wouldn’t have any way of even knowing I’m…”  Katara took a deep shuddering breath and clutched her bowl tightly in her hands. Zuko sat quietly for a moment, staring into what was left of his own stew. 

“I don’t know if my uncle made it out of the Northern Tribe,” he said. “I don’t know if anyone else would even be looking for me.” 

“Of course they’re looking for you,” Katara scoffed. “You’re the prince of the Fire Nation.” 

“Yeah?” Zuko laughed bitterly. “That and a ship would have us off this island.” Katara turned to Zuko, her brows drawn. Zuko could almost see all the questions he wanted to answer least behind her sharp eyes. He quickly drained the rest of his stew, swallowing a hunk of turtle-gator whole, and leapt to his feet. “We should get back to work if we’re going to have a shot of finishing this today.”

Read the rest of the story here

Hii! ♥ 8,9, 19 and 24 for the edgy oc ask game? :3

HI TRIXI!! ⸜(*ˊᗜˋ*)⸝ꕤ*.ﾟ

8. Would your OC ostensibly be able to get away with murder?

Enya on her own? Definitely not 😭 the guilt would eat her alive SDLALSDFS but if she had an accomplice...with a certain experience of that expertise...maybe🤔 😭

9. Do you have a specific lyric or quote that you associate with your OC?

If there's any song that literally screams Enya its

Caitlyn Scarlett - Happy When (Miko Waye Remix)😭 there are a few segments from it that rly suits her 😩

[Verse 1]

Try to keep you, try to wrap you up and set the feelin' For when I really start to need you, you don't belong to anybody So I just wait, try to give you time to want the same things Say you don't believe in soulmates, I know it's real 'cause I feel the hole in me-e-e

[chorus]

I'm just a piece of a two-part puzzle Nothin on my own, only happy when I'm lovin' someone Happy when I'm lovin' someone I'm drinking singles but I see double Lonely but I know I'll be happy when I'm lovin' someone Happy when I'm lovin' someone

19. How does your OC behave when enraged?

Enya normally has really bad outbursts and she tends to have a huge meltdown afterward, the worst was finding out Tendo killed her bio parents 😭💔, In that case, she had to literally be pulled off of him after he got knocked because she was so mad she would have killed him with no hesitation😣 in the past though Sometimes it would consist of throwing small things and screaming in a pillow, but that's when she was much younger and had to live with her stepmom 😭😅 24. What is an alternative life path your OC might have gone down? How different would their life be if they'd made those decisions?

Honestly, I do think about that a lot 😭 In Y7 if her parents lived and time went on as usual, she possibly would have encountered the gang in Kamurocho years later, but chances are she would have had an office job or possibly married to a salaryman or even inherited her family's business.. there's no telling how her encounter with the gang would be or even if she'd really be close to them, but I like to think maybe fate would bring them together 😭 and in terms of her being with Zhao, it would really depend, but I rly love the soulmate theory you have and a huge fan of it too😭💙 so it would really depend on whether or not she's married by the time she encounters Zhao or even the state of it (since let's face it, Enya's has a bad boy streak and knows how to pick em 😭) Not to say the guy would be Shoji 2.0... but Enya likes excitement despite her meek personality, so she would always try to seek out someone spontaneous and full of life, an office worker she'd be complacent at first... not to say she has a wandering eye, but chances are she'd break it off if it would be too mundane, or at least if she doesn't feel that... spark

Ishin!Enya is a different story 😭

IF nothing happened to Todo that day or even if she managed to help him just in time for him to be able to recover, with no question she wouldn't leave his side. She would probably nag him if he did anything too strenuous while his wounds are trying to heal because we know he wouldn't sit still for the life of him 😭 he's probably attempting to brush it off and go back to fulfilling his duty, but Enya would care and tend to him once he's better. Ideally, I like the idea of them getting married, but at the same time, I feel them maybe cohabiting for a while would be great at first. Enya knows better than to beg Todo to settle down so she'd be willing to go anywhere he does, as long as he's safe 🥺 this is the good ending at least

THOUGH

IF she never encountered Todo at all and remained living with Shoji, unfortunately, it would be far worse. She'd still have to live under the same circumstances, but soon would officially be bonded to him legally. So there are no more excuses why she can't sleep with him much less avoid him at all. She would eventually bear his children. Even if she didn't want to be a mother she would still care and treat them well, look after them, and teach them the best she could. She would protect them any way she could and would fight back if need be. Eventually, it does become too much and Enya runs away with her children. Maybe she'd have 2 or 3? And she'd raise them alone. I'd like to think she'd be supportive of those in the city who would allow it since she still has a terrible rep because of her dad and naturally the children have the same fate because of Enya "breaking her sacred marriage" with Shoji or something dumb like that, which she would raise them to have thick skin and encourage them. They'd be raised well and would go very far because of that

IF the same fate happens to Todo no matter what and Enya doesn't pass from broken heart syndrome, she'd work at Teredaya as usual. Otose would keep her company and help her with her duties at the inn. On a mundane day though Shoji would reappear and cause a real scene Eventually finding his way to Enya back even against her will because of the arranged marriage. Unfortunately, even poor Otose can't save her. Enya would also find out Shoji was actually in cahoots with Takeda unbeknownst to her and he would not hold back giving every detail of Todo's suffering pretty much tormenting her every way he could. He would make it even harder for her to run off again, letting everyone know to "keep an eye on her" and anyone trying to get too friendly risks their lives in the process, which most people wouldn't do. Enya would still have to bear his children in the end and live under his means. She'd be miserable but would try to put on a brave face for them trying to be a good mom. In order to keep herself grounded, she would plant flowers, much like the ones in her hair and the ones on Todo's kimono. It would be a comfort since her love was snatched away. And it's the only covert way where Shoji won't attempt to destroy or ruin anything of sentimental value, especially if it is something that reminded her of Todo. Since she wasn't able to get Todo's kimono from Teredaya successfully from Otose, she held on to it. hoping one day Enya will be able to break free. That day wouldn't come. For a long time, so it was kept in storage hidden away.

THE LITTLE THINGS ;   muse questionnaire .   moa zhao .

favourite tea .     ceremonial matcha,   though jasmine and a good earl grey  ( or lady grey with added lemon- and orange peel )  is a close second. favourite coffee .     frequently drinks her coffee black,   but then it’s mostly part of her routine.   if it’s consumed for taste and the experience,   she enjoys a nice latte with soy milk.   she does pay attention to where she sources her coffee beans from,  too,   and because she’s usually the one taking responsibility to keeping the coffee stocks filled at work,   everyone kind of has to deal with her being picky about it. favourite sweet snack .     around this time of the year,   probably candied almonds,   and obviously best eaten when still warm.   that or croissants. favourite savory snack .     fresh summer rolls.   if you bring them,   she’s gonna love on you for the rest of the day probably. favourite flowers .     all...  of them?   nemophila menziesii makes entire fields look like oceans,   so it’s pretty high on the list  ( together with poppies, sunflowers, lavender, etc. )   but if you plan to get her flowers,   the safest bet is always just picking flowers you see on your way or getting her potted plants. favourite colors .     ocean blue,  forest green.   and it’s got less to do with the colours themselves and more with the fact that she’s usually outside when she’s surrounded by them,   in the forest,  among trees,  by a river...   anywhere where she feels grounded.   she does not like red and black together  ( sry @taiinted​, they’re sexi on morgan tho )   because of the associations with night, blood, fire, and death.   despite her wardrobe consisting of a lot of black next to neutral colours like beige,   her apartment is pretty much void of black and red.   except that one vase morgan once got her and that sits in the kitchen,   as a small home for parsley. favourite fruit .     all fruit is good fruit.   but it’s currently time to harvest her persimmons so everyone’s welcome to raid her little garden in the middle of boston! favourite vegetable .     pak choi and kale.   i know. favourite season .     the crisp days between winter and spring,   when everything’s slowly coming back to life but the days are still slow and centered around being home with the family and kids. favourite time of the day .     dawn.   has always been,   will always be.   nothing quite makes her forgive the struggle of a night like racing the sun at the start of the day. favourite kind of weather .     the couple of hours before a storm,   when the air is sizzling and mist obscures the vision.   it makes her feel closest to her gods. love language to give .     physical touch and quality time. love languages to receive .     physical touch and acts of service. specific niche love languages .     she centers most of her love around food,   both preparing and consuming it,   because she went such a long time  ( and practically all her childhood )   barely even getting any scraps.   food is associated with being nurtured for and nurturing,   and it’s a less terrifying way of showing vulnerability  ( as in, affection )   than admitting someone’s value to her life verbally.  so it’s pretty frequent that she gets people coffee or something for lunch,   including coworkers that she’s genuinely grateful to have on her team even if her words and facial expressions don’t really show it. favourite hobbies .     she’s an avid cooker and gardener and makes  ( grows )   most of her food from scratch.   she likes running and working out in general.   she climbs!   and every once in a while when she stumbles across another biker,   she enjoys causing havoc on the streets together.   she’s also got her pilot license.   and if that’s not enough,   she plays the lute and viola.   in summary,   she’s basically a never dying battery that’s constantly buzzing around,   and if you ever wonder if she’d like to try out x with your muse,  yes. favourite books .     she pretty much only reads scientific books or biographies and isn’t that much of a recreational reader.   she does enjoy oscar wilde, victor hugo, jules verne, anne rice...   but wouldn’t be able to name a favourite book. favourite movies .     she doesn’t watch movies or shows.   i know,  i know.   her recreational time indeed is spent mostly outside.   she could probably tell you where exactly to find x plant in the neighbourhood but hasn’t been to any movie theatre in boston.   stage one of any friendship with her is usually making her watch your favourite movie. favourite songs .     shostakovich’s waltz no 2,   but i probably have a whole playlist of songs that i believe she listens to on the regular somewhere. favourite musician .     ... she doesn’t really listen to that many musicians and i know too little about orchestra performers to name any.   she probably listens to misha maisky often? favourite animals .     wolves,  whales. favourite insects .     bees. favourite terrain .     forests and moutains are probably the most obvious answers,   together with rivers and oceans,   considering her background and usual outdoor activities.   but she’s fascinated with the tundra and marshes so much that she has books on them in her apartment.

tagged by .    @taiinted, thank u ily!!     tagging .     @proifiler​, @kheen, @eydetik, @spxnglr, @cptnpike, @doctordonovan, @balldwin, @cl2ire, @paramounticebound​, @theresastargirl​, @trustschaos​, @saycred​ (martha), @rizico​, @strnza​, @khrused​,  and whomever else is on the dashboard rn and wants to answer these!

This is such an out of pocket au idea but imagine Ddvd and Zhaoxi with the whole Lucifer amnesia arc from S2. But instead of Zhaoxi turning out to be a super powerful sorceror, the whole three realms imbalance is happening because of baby Ik. Like let's say that humans are much more susceptible to magical energy or whtever when they're younger, so with baby Ik growing up in the magic-heavy Devildom with a powerful angel and also a powerful human sorceror frequently babysitting her, she becomes like a vessel of the three worlds magic and it starts causing all the wreckage phenomenons and Lucifer's amnesia, and the only way to sever this is by destroying the vessel itself

But Zhaoxi just won't let it happen because that's his daughter and he doesn't fucking care if the three worlds descend into chaos, he's not letting anyone touch her. And of course none of the others want to do it either, but they're getting desperate for solutions

Memory-less Lucifer is just happily hanging out with baby Ik while the others are going berserk with distress. Eventually Solomon comes along with the midnight dagger or whtever it was called and has a theory that maybe stabbing Lucifer with it would work (like in canon). And Lucifer is fully ready to do this, not really to protect the three realms as a whole, but to protect his brothers, Zhaoxi and Ik, who he knows he loves deeply even if he doesn't remember it completely

Zhaolu emotional scene where Zhaoxi won't let Lucifer take the knife and Luci calls him A-Xi again for the first time since he lost his memory ;.; But then Simeon shows up and Ik gets the ring of light and things get under control again

And now baby Ik gets to be a mini sorceror!! She isn't super powerful like MC is but Solomon teaches her to keep her explosions of juvenile magic under control and also teaches her to like levitate things she can't reach. The brothers all take turns teaching her new spells and Zhaoxi is very proud of his toddler who can make cutlery dance on command

oh wow zhaoxi’s emotional conflict would be EXTREME... the others obviously wouldn’t make the decision for him (and don’t want to), so it falls to him to choose between his daughter or the three realms in their entirety. essentially he’s forced to pick either his child or the universe as he knows it, and he still picks his child...

honestly the others would probably be having some serious conflict too. lucifer maybe not so much until stabbing him comes into the equation as a potential solution, but i think at least solomon and diavolo have to sit down and seriously debate what to do. for the greater good, the right thing would be to go against zhaoxi’s word and destroy the vessel anyway... but then again it can never really be the right thing to murder someone, especially a child who’s barely even three years old yet

and hhhh the very idea of that zhaolu scene hurts my heart... zhaoxi always puts the people before the population, and he refuses to lose anyone he loves even if it’s for the sake of the three realms. and lucifer knows this somehow (even though he doesn’t fully remember zhao) - and he doesn’t want to hurt him, but at the same time, the way he sees it, it’s either him or ik, right? 

he doesn’t want to three realms to potentially fall into ruin because that hurts everyone that he knows he loves, so either he sacrifices himself or he stands by and lets his child die - because as far as he’s concerned, ik IS his child too. and like... it’s barely even a choice. he knows exactly what he wants to do... good thing simeon shows up just in the nick of time 

but i do enjoy mini sorcerer ik!!! little baby who still can’t run around for long without tripping learns to levitate things and make pretty fireworks :’) it’s some nice fluff to balance out all the angst

Iron Widow

by Xiran Jay Zhao

I'm aware that everyone and their mothers have read this book and I'm super behind. I'm also aware that people will deride this one as just another TikTok YA novel - which isn't entirely inaccurate, but I prefer to judge a book by its own merit anyway.

The book is advertised as a Pacific Rim meets Handmaiden's Tale, with a feminist plotline, polyamorous relationship, and Chinese mythology worked into the worldbuilding.

I unfortunately accidentally went onto Goodreads and came across the reviews for this book, which mostly were either overwhelmingly positive or negative with no in between, and I fucking disagree with both those views so hard that it makes me mad which is why I'll probably be refuting those arguments in the stuff below.

My Rating: 3/5

I'm tired and it's late by the time I'm writing this. I want to emphasize that I did like reading the book - it has that rating for a reason! I enjoyed the experience! My full review is...critical, but that's mostly because it's easier to pick apart criticisms than to point out what was done well. I don't want to deter anyone from reading and I'd always generally recommend reading a book for yourself before looking at any in-depth reviews.

EDIT: After thinking about it I knocked this book down to a 3/5. I think I had much more criticism than praise for this story so giving it an above average rating is a bit unfair.

Full review and spoilers under the cut!

Plot and Characters:

I don't have much to say about the plot, which is overall a positive thing because I can articulate criticisms a lot better than I can compliments. The story was mostly solid and well-paced. It bent to the characters' motivations and personalities in a way that was reasonable. The layers of the world were slowly peeled back in a way that revealed certain truths to the reader while continuing to make them wonder about others, right till the very end.

Overall, I found the writing of the characters to be average. The three most important characters are all archetypal, and though their backstories aren't explored in-depth, I think they are represented well with how they interact with the plot of the book. Even though the protagonist, Zetian, is very much a Strong Female Character, she isn't immune to the world around her and is forced to depend on others for help. She is Special and Unique but not overly so - there are precedents for people with her aptitudes and living people who are "better" than her. She's also not remotely perfect with how she speaks and interacts with other people, and it's not uncommon for her to be very harsh to someone who has suffered under the same systems as she has. Fundamentally, Zetian is an angry girl full of rage against a world who has hurt her, and is willing to enact imperfect, violent vengeance. If this doesn't sound like something you would like, then you won't enjoy this book.

(Some of the criticisms lauded against the book and against Zetian in particular were that she's meant to seem super badass and heroic but in reality she's selfish and violent - because of her violent actions against people who harmed her. Her family, who mutilated and abused her, for example. A fellow pilot who killed a man she loved, as another example. This opinion is fucking bullshit and the people who say this had no place reading the book, because the entire point of the book is that she is violently angry and wants revenge. It's in the summary. She isn't perfectly emblematic of feminist theory. If you aren't going to empathize with the main character, if you aren't going to put effort into understanding why a character acts the way they do, then why are you reading fiction?)

I do wish that there was more relationship development between the three primary characters and that it was handled with a bit more subtlety, a bit more nuance. Sometimes it felt a little like they were jumping from one set of feelings to another, and I think the book would have benefitted from a more gradual shift in emotions and attitudes. Honestly, ultimately, I feel like the relationship between these three characters feel flat towards the end. This is especially true for Yizhi, the "main" love interest - by the end he just seems to...unthinkingly support Zetian without any other influencing factors. It's debatable whether this is in character or not. Also, I think the "character sees another characters memories and starts to understand them" trope is a cop-out.

Fundamentally, though, I enjoyed reading this book! Once I got going, I wanted to know what happened next, and I do think that's the most important part of storytelling.

Style, Tone, and Voice:

The writing in this book is pretty decent, but I won't lie, I think it falls into the same trappings as pretty much any other YA book, which is that the "voice" is...bland, for lack of a better word. Don't get me wrong, Zhao uses some really pretty imagery and their use of figurative language is frequent, but it's honestly a bit heavy handed.

Most notably, again like a lot of YA books I've read, this is another story written in 1st person by someone who...doesn't utilize first person very well. First person POVs are meant to be a direct line into the character's thoughts, but here there's a noticeable disparity between how the character speaks versus the prose. Zetian speaks in a brusque and colloquial manner, but her narration is more prettied up. There's nothing inherently wrong with this writing style, but it would have worked much better if it was in a 3rd person POV.

Overall, I do like the way the book is written - its descriptive, it's not mind-numbingly boring, it's engaging. It's not what I would want from a 1st person POV, but we can't have it all.

Diversity and Social Commentary:

I'm not actually going to comment much on the diversity considering it's a book written by a Chinese author, set in a country analogous to China, and I am not Chinese. I think it was really nice to see the heavy influence of Chinese mythology on the worldbuilding, and it made for some really cool imagery, especially with the mecha-formations. There's queer rep in the poly couple formed by Zetian and two boys. That's nice, I love to see it.

What I will comment a lot about is the feminism, because it's the crux of the plot. It is supposed to be a feminist novel - Zetian's whole goal is to destroy the system that values the lives of boys over girls. The plot does achieve this - by the end of the book, Zetian and her two closest allies have figured out why girls are constantly being sacrificed, and Zetian is one of the most powerful pilots in existence, and not afraid to use that power to completely tear down the military structures.

I think the feminist message could have been represented better. Unfortunately, some of the negative reviews made a really fucking good point that stood out to me: by the end of the novel, Zetian doesn't have a decent relationship with a single female in her life. Her two closest allies throughout the book were men. Zetian doesn't get along with any of the women she knows because they're all subservient and upholding the power structures she's trying to dismantle, and I think you have to sympathize with that on some level - she's been repeatedly let down by the women in her life and some, like her grandmother, have actively harmed and mutilated her. Still, it's a fairly big oversight that the female character in a feminist novel completely fails to connect with any other female character by the end of it. Like there's not a single other woman in this universe who agrees that the patriarchy is bad? The only woman Zetian has a good relationship with is her dead sister, who we don't even know anything about.

Iron Widow also has another issue that I find pretty commonly in YA where it just...states everything. This is a thing I find extremely fucking annoying - an author should not outright tell the reader everything in explicit terms, we should be allowed to come to conclusions ourselves. Zetian shouldn't have to straight up tell the reader that, like, women are used for their bodies that that's Bad; it's something that should implicitly come across in the writing. It's just straight up boring and irritating when authors explicitly tell you everything. This is pretty common in the book, and a lot of times Zetian will straight up verbalize the Feminist View™, which comes across as just clunky writing to me. Once again, we should be able to come to these conclusions ourselves as readers, and also it's strange that this random girl from a frontier village, with no proper education in a world where the concept of feminism doesn't even exist, is speaking in what's essentially online feminist rhetoric. There's nothing incorrect about what she's saying but frankly, it just boils down to this: not everything should be explicitly stated. What isn't said is as important as what is.

Conclusion:

I feel I kind of ripped into this book right now but I genuinely did enjoy reading it. I take any TikTok famous book with a grain of salt but it was genuinely fun to read, and the imagery of the mecha-robots(?) is really cool, literally just a fun time. It's not particularly deep or heavy, but if you want a casual read with pretty worldbuilding and and action-based plot, I think this book has a lot to offer.

FIREKEEPERS DAUGHTER REVIEW! A few days late and I wrote it late at night still emotional and processing the book with minimal revisions made since then lol please have mercy

Greetings, Tumblrians! I can say with complete confidence that this account has for sure become a book review account! Aaa. Not what I anticipated, had to change up my bio order a bit. This book, Firekeeper’s Daughter, is the first thriller that I’ve ever read(beginning to end at least), which made it a bit of an intense one to get through (especially when 100 pages in I’d forgotten most of the summary, thought I was reading a romance and got confused, and then the character I’d gotten the most attached to got murdered lmao?!?!).

Now first things first, this is probably one of the only books (that I’ve read) that I can call a page-turner! I have ADHD, so my attention span is a little faulty when it comes to reading or watching stuff unless I’m super invested in it. A lot of books that reviewers say are “impossible to put down” were unfortunately ones where I could do literally just that, even if the writing quality was admirable. (Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao is one of the only other ones I can think of that goes against that, finishing it within 2 November days was what kickstarted my love of reading again! Without it I would not have this blog💕.) But within a week(actually, a little less than that if I’m remembering correctly), I was about halfway through! Daunis’s integration of her heritage and the Ojibwe teachings passed down to her into her investigation, as well as the richness of Boulley’s writing and my genuine investment in both Daunis Fontaine and the meth-related rabbit hole she found herself in, was what kept me trudging through all of the difficult content throughout. Then, the period in which I’d borrowed this book had expired, as this was meant to be something to read for my free time in ELA, but the teacher had a very strange schedule with trying to be both easy on us and get our current unit done so it meant that we couldn’t finish our choice books. Thus, I hadn’t actually had the chance to pick it up in months, the last time I’d read some of it being in about October of 2022. So this is probably the one with the strangest reading schedule of my current covered stories.

Also, some people are gonna be indifferent to the “Secret Squirrel” stuff, others are gonna hate it, I was in the former crowd. The gimmick got predictable after the first few times but considering this was the first time I’d read a book that was this font of intense, I didn’t mind it that much.

It definitely also gets more intense the further along you go. That’s where I began having some issues with how, in the midst of all of the serious topics covered in this, SA was written and described?? Not that it was glorifying anything, it certainly was not, but.. in the case of Grant, it felt like just a way to make him seem more like a villain(and therefore, one other character, whose mention would technically be a spoiler but they’re directly related). While those scenes were (thankfully) brief, and weren’t gratuitous(but they did..get particularly graphic), it was distressing to see them included. I do wish that this was one of the books I’d read that had trigger/content warnings on the first page for that reason(some of the ones published in the last 3 or so years, like Iron Widow or Blood Scion, have done that). It leaves a bit of an icky aftertaste in my mouth.

To change topics! I did like how Daunis’ struggle of secrecy, as well as her kind of living a “double life'' at multiple points was handled. Particularly, the conflict within her family was written really well. A lot of the guilt she had surrounding her parents and how they turned out due to her conception and life hit me hard??? There’s a line that really gut-punched me on page 394: “Children are never to blame for their parents’ lives. Parents are the adults; we are the ones responsible for our choices and how we handle things … If I’m in limbo, it’s because I chose to remain there. Even inaction is a powerful choice.” (Boulley, 394.) (Okay, fine, maybe I just wanted to have an excuse to quote that.)

WE’RE ENTERING SPOILER TERRITORY NOW! Parameters will be marked if you want to skrrt around it.

I don’t know how anyone else felt about the romance between Daunis and Jamie (I’ll make sure to check out some reviews afterwards!), but it just made me feel uneasy? I get that Jamie was supposed to be a (young) rookie investigator, one making up for the dent left in his record at that, but it was incredibly unprofessional for him to start a relationship with a (slightly) younger woman he was meant to only work alongside (and also had to technically teach how all the FBI things worked due to her being really new to this and only there for this specific investigation). Not that there was really much of a mentor-trainee dynamic there, Boulley made it pretty clear they’re on similar levels intellectually, but..still. Felt a little sketchy! I could understand Ron’s concerns, and I’m glad Daunis addressed some of those issues towards the end of the novel.

Anyhow! Some people in the reviews I’d read halfway through felt that Daunis’ recurring grief didn’t really feel impactful, as they didn’t feel emotionally attached to Lily, but I..actually did? She was the character in the first paragraph of this review I was mentioning vaguely. Perhaps I’m biased, due to some stuff I was sorting out emotionally at the time, but I do feel like it could be justified with the writing itself; We got a good idea of her personality, her importance to and relationship with Daunis, and some of her past(which would be part of the plot later on). And it doesn’t feel rushed(at least in my opinion); the first 100 pages or so of this book is meant to be a lighthearted introduction to our main character and her life, not the mystery we as the readers are about to be entangled in along with her. Yet. (And when shit hits the fan it feels like the kind of whiplash our protagonist got hit with.) While Daunis was a fairly reasonable person and so was Lily a lot of the time, Lily had a more upbeat and sarcastic part of herself that contrasted with her friend(and made their dynamic really work, I think). The pair interacted basically like sisters. I could see why Daunis was left emotionally and mentally scarred after what had happened to her. (And I did tear up a little bit at that brief scene in the afterlife.) (If anyone who’s read the book is reading this now though, please let me know what you thought!)

Last bit of criticism I have: For the final reveal of the masterminds behind the drug distribution inside the trailer, I felt it got..a little bit too “villain monologue”y? Fine, it’s a staple of the mystery genre, but the way that there’s just. Snide remark after smirk and every step of the timeline spelled out in a very know-it-all manner by Mike got annoying after being placed in an extremely serious story that grounds itself pretty intensely in reality. (I think it’s mildly funny that Levi was quite literally the “weakest link” though, and that one argument after the party didn’t just have an insult thrown in out of nowhere kshdhfomefo.)

Also, were the deaths of some of the other students ever explained??!! Was it a side effect or intentional? I can’t remember if that thread was left unresolved or if there’s something I’m forgetting.

END OF SPOILERS! 

So, in conclusion, would I recommend this book? Most likely. Just be careful about the kind of story you’re going in for, and the kind of content that will be included. I feel it’s a little packed; it’s like Boulley really wanted to use this novel as a way to talk about not just some of her own experiences as an indigenous woman, and help people outside of her culture learn a bit more about it, but also tackle issues within her community; all within a narrative that already has a lot of elaborate threads going on(with the family drama/history and the mystery itself)! It is her debut novel, however, so she’ll have the chance to continue to grow as an author(and this was a well-written book albeit not without flaws!).

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5.

Paz, signing off!

(Book trigger/content warnings: SA in both frequent mentions, and scenes on page 226-228 and 370-371(latter is worse in content), racism, including 2 instances of slurs(used by indigenous characters themselves but aren’t reclaimed), grief, PTSD, typical thriller stuff like drugging and kidnapping.)

I finished reading Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao a few days ago and here are some of my thoughts

First off, this book was an amazing read. Xiran Jay Zhao’s writing is immersive and engaging and the fast pace of the story had me in tight grip at all times. I was always curious of what the next paragraph, the next page, the next chapter would reveal to me. Huaxia feels like a fascinating world that still has many secrets to unravel and I’m looking forward to finding out about them in the sequel. Wu Zetian is an interesting main character and while she is ruthless, stubborn and harsh at times she remained a character that I rooted for. I still remember to pure satisfaction I felt when she overpowered Yang Guang and drained the life from him and “Welcome to your nightmare” is just iconic. I like that she is this unhinged and extremely powerful character but it doesn’t come across as forced, because you can see that the reason, she is so powerful is not because she has main character privileges, but because she has this unwavering willpower which lies at the source of her insanely powerful qi. She has made me want to be just a little bit more unhinged myself. The other characters also really grew on me especially Li Shimin (I swear if he doesn’t come back in Heavenly Tyrant my soul will straight up evaporate.) I love myself a morally grey, intimidating giant with a heart of gold and his character ark was really moving and I don’t think I can describe how low my heart sank when he met his tragic fate. I will now forever despise the number 0… (how could they do this to him?! my poor baby, bring him back, now, I’m begging.) Gao Yizhi is just a gem, the ultimate supportive best friend/boyfriend that is needed when you need to overthrow a government. He is so sweet yet can be just as ruthless as Zetian which is a duality that I live for. I will also never get enough of his nerdy fanboying over Shimin and his calligraphy.

On to the magic system. I love it. I loved learning more and more about qi, how it’s connected to the five elements and how it can be used as the story went on and the scenes where the pilots let it power through their meridians so that they start glowing were just so, so cool. My favourite one was probably the one that reveals that Qin Zheng has access to all five of his elemental qis and I wouldn’t be surprised if Zetian also acquires this power in the future given that she already has metal, water and fire at her disposal, that would be so badass.

The writing style was very enjoyable for me. It gives the book a straightforward tone and while some might view this as it being blunt, it was extremely refreshing for me to read something that is clear and concise after having to tediously pry the meaning from the pages of the books I had to read for school. Don’t get me wrong, some of there books were really good, but my brain really needed this change of pace and tone. Something that I particularly liked about this style is that while it is pretty straightforward, it never feels simplistic or rushed. Xiran Jay Zhao says what they need to say in a short and effective way which in my opinion adds extra weight and punch to the messages they packed into their story.

The only critique that comes to mind right now, is that there were parts that I wished had been a bit more fleshed out, but I understand that in order to keep the pace, sacrifices had to be made. I also recently stumbled upon a post of the author saying that they had to delete many scenes due to the strict word count so I guess this is a bone that I have to pick with the publisher.

But more than anything, I want to thank this book and the author. Because for the first time in I don’t know… probably somewhere close to 10 years that I’ve been able to pick up a book, take a liking to it and read it from start to finish without losing my momentum. Every time I opened Iron Widow, I was excited to reunite with Wu Zetian, Yizhi and Li Shimin and see what would happen next. I can’t describe how happy this made me and how much hope it gave me. Maybe one day I’ll be able to go back to being the bookworm I was when I was younger and when I do, it will be all thanks to this book. I loved reading it form the first page to the last and I can’t wait for the sequel.

What gladiator antagonists do Sokka and Azula hold the most hatred for? They've come up against some really despicable enemies during their time together and they both probably have different picks for most hated thorn in their sides as well as some good picks for second most hated. I think Ozai will take first place for both of them.

Gee... that's a tricky one.

Thing is they both hate Shaofeng a lot. I would assume most readers do too xD he's probably the one character with virtually zero redeeming qualities in this story. I can't be bothered to say a single good thing about him because he's just the worst. So, yeah, they hate this asshole big time and so do I!

At this moment... Iroh is also a big choice for them both. He's someone you expect better from, is the way I see it... and someone who wasn't acting all that blindly when he made the crucial, terrible choice he made. He was impulsive, very foolish, and he fucked up majorly with what he's done. While he certainly can have more redeeming qualities than Shaofeng (honestly it's actually hard to have as few as Shaofeng does, considering the number in his case is zero x'D), their resentment towards him isn't likely to go away anytime soon, as he's pretty much the artificer of their downfall, regardless of whatever remorse he may feel now over what he's done.

But of course... Ozai. Oh, Ozai. This bastard even betrayed me X'D I have been relatively okay with him for years simply because his potential as a character is interesting. I've never and will never justify anything he does... but he's someone you can certainly create complex and interesting stories around. You can explore him however thoroughly as you care to! But then... then 236 happened and I saw red just as much as everyone else did, and I keep seeing red with him constantly ever since. He's a little less unbearable in flashbacks (such as one we'll see in chapter 253)... but I'm constantly thinking to myself that I hate him lately and that had never happened before the final arc of Part 2 xD safe to say he has made me mad in ways I never imagined he could make me mad. Of course, he has a horrible advantage over Azula in the fact that he's her father and, as horrible as he is to her, our poor girl can't fully sever her attachment to him... but Sokka utterly despises him and would absolutely wreck him to kingdom come if he has the chance. He objectively, empirically hates Iroh for what he's done... but I'd say he hates Ozai all the more because yes, Iroh is a bastard, but Ozai had virtually NO REASON to do what he's done. No one was forcing him to become the nightmare he has shaped himself into. It's all on Ozai to have reacted as he did, to have hurt his daughter as much as he has, and Sokka won't ever forgive him for that.

Jeong Jeong comes to mind next... ironically, Sokka almost died because of him, but he simply resents Jeong Jeong while Azula utterly HATES the guy. I won't say she hates him more than anyone else on this list, but she definitely would prefer living in a world without him xD she's perpetually uncomfortable regarding anything connected to this guy and wants nothing to do with him.

I don't think I'd say either of them hates Seethus? They're weirded out by him, and Azula is a little more weirded out due to the firebending connection, I suppose, but they don't exactly hate him, I think. So... he's not part of the list! xD Big congrats to Ol' Spooky for that achievement!

As for Rhone, weeeeell... dead as he may be, Sokka certainly hates him very very much still, kind of like how Azula hates Jeong Jeong. Azula certainly hates Rhone a little more than Sokka hates Jeong Jeong XD but she keeps her distance with him, so to speak, as he was someone who once mattered to Sokka and she wants to respect the bond that existed there. Sokka doesn't think she needs to respect it at all x'D but she still does.

Zhao... yeeeeeah, well. Sokka doesn't really hate Zhao, I think we all know that, though his opinion on the man is going to get a liiittle more complicated in due time and he will definitely have one very dark moment of absolutely despising Zhao. Azula, however... boy, she's not even back to square one with Zhao nowadays, she went even further than that. She definitely resents him more than she ever did before... and I guarantee that's not going to get much better in the future. Fact is, I have a VERY complicated scene with Azula and Zhao coming up in the next chapter I have to write, and I'm here answering asks instead of writing it because denial and procrastination are NICE! XD basically, Zhao's one of the people Azula grows to resent and despise the most in Part 3 due to... reasons :'D While at first it's completely plausible to say that Ozai is the bigger problem, Zhao goes on to become a problem of his own in several ways, and that makes Azula's opinion of him spiral downhill faster than gravity.

Now, moving on to less world-shattering antagonists x'D I'd definitely say they hate Hahn and Hina. They're basically the nightmare couple! They're not really that big a deal all in all, but if neither of them has to EVER deal with those two again, they'll be much happier about life for sure.

Huang Li! Cannot forget Huang Li, the wretched Amateur Arena handler. Azula very much hates him for everything he put Sokka through... Sokka very much hates him for the same reason + on behalf of all the gladiators he had to fight and all the gladiators who had to die because of this piece of shit. He's not really a significant villain and we definitely saw the last of him by now, but their resentment towards him is everlasting anyway.

Another less intimidating villain for sure is Kuan... the very incompetent and embarrassing Kuan. He does have his... fan? Fans, plural? Are there two of them? x'D but he's generally someone Sokka and Azula just can't stand because he's a nobleman with delusions of grandeur and an ego probably bigger than Ozai's (and that's saying something). While he's not among the people they hate most because he really hasn't been able to do anything utterly unforgivable to them, he's someone they would very much love to never deal with again, too.

Their hatred for the Prison Rig's warden is certainly more serious than for Kuan, probably on a similar level as their hatred for Huang Li tbh. He's not exactly important, but the awful things he's responsible for do make them hate him anyway... And I suppose we can just lump in all slave abusers as a general group of people they hate tbh xD if they could put a stop to them permanently and make them pay for everything they've done, they definitely would.

So... okay. After that... let's try to make a proper list with the individual characters I mentioned here XD

Sokka:

Ozai

Shaofeng

Iroh

Rhone

Huang Li

Prison Rig Warden

Zhao (he's as low as #7 because it's only at one specific point in time in the future...!)

Kuan

Hahn & Hina

Jeong Jeong

Azula:

Shaofeng

Zhao

Iroh

Ozai

Jeong Jeong

Rhone

Huang Li

Prison Rig Warden

Kuan

Hahn & Hina

Weeell this ended up being a strange top 10 hated enemies! x'D Hahn and Hina got lucky for not being frequent and prominent enough to warrant any higher spots in both lists, really, they're more annoyances than anything at this point. But I guess this works? XD

3, 9 and 16 for the book ask?

answers under the cut

3. What were your top five books of the year? Oh man , I'm gonna only include novels in this, since I have a hard time ranking them along with short story collections or nonfiction.

Hangsaman by Shirley Jackson I honestly am so afraid of when I will run out of novels by her. Each one has been a new fave and I wouldn't even be rank them amongst themselves. Hangasaman is a really weird book and I don't know that I understand the intentions behind it, but even so just on a sentence by sentence base it's so cleverly written. I'm surprised that this book hasn't risen to prominence again with the popularity of crazy women literature, but perhaps it's too vague and depressing? Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters Another author I don't wish to be out of novels to read of! Although in this case she is allegedly still writing. I was not particularly looking forward to this one as I had watched the bbc miniseries long ago, and while I enjoyed it at the time it seemed a straightforward enough story that I didn't think the novel would add much beyond Sarah Waters' beautiful writing. Well apparently they completely changed the last third of the book which I had disliked in the series but now I read the book, the book version is my favorite bit by far! It ties everything up beautifully, and honestly Nan's arc just doesn't work without it. You can't cut the conclusion from a coming of age narrative! I imagine it was changed because of how political it is.

Also shoutout to nan for genuinely thinking she invented being a butch lesbian for most of the book. Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir Yes well I got converted.... You see enough about this on your dash I got nothing to say. Turning the Storm by Naomi Kritzer This duology is incredible and it's as if no one knows of it. This is the 2nd book in it, I read both this year but I liked the 2nd one better because the first one has a somwhat slow beginning. People will ask for revolutionary fantasy, fantasy with lesbian leads, fantasy with butch leads , but here it is! It's here! It exists! has since 2003 apparently! The way these books are unknown is insane to me. The Thousand Eyes by A.K. Larkwood Another duology, this one is more recent and more well known, but not enough really. I think a lot of people were turned off because the mc is an orc? I remember early reviews saying it was bad because there was no point of the mc being an orc. Well to this I say there is no point of being a book reviewer if that's your issue. She's cool, her gf is cool, getting possessed by malevolent gods is cool. I love the world in this and I hope the author will return to the setting even if the mcs story is completed.

9 Did you get into any new genres? I already answered before that I started reading more short fiction which was already a reach. I'm trying really hard to think of a 2nd answer. Oh, I read a biography, which I don't think I ever read before. It wasn't even a pop science-y one, more academic (the pdf I read had notes scribbled..) so I was surprised what an easy and fun read it was: Wu Zhao: China's Only Woman Emperor by N. Harry Rothschild, Peter N. Stearns By now I don't remember what inspired me to pick this up, but it was fun! I didn't read any other biographies afterwards though so probably not really getting into a new genre.

16. What is the most over-hyped book you read this year? I'm in Love with the Villainess by inori oh my god, I didn't even dislike this, it was fun enough and I did read the 3 volume main story. But I dunno what others have read because this was not worthy of all that praise l saw. I know it's a light novel but that's not an excuse, plenty light novels have decent writing, or failing that, writing that reads like a coherent narrative instead of a rough placeholder draft. And people who praise the trans rep in this are beyond me, like its nice trans characters exist at all in a yuri story (even though its convoluted magic trans stuff instead of a character just being trans but lets set that aside), but the way people talk over it youd think theyre actual characters with personalities, no the weird straight incest siblings get more lines than the trans character, come on.

I still enjoyed it, it was a fun turn your brain off kinda story, but nothing more. It likely will work better as an anime. The reactions TO the books though make no sense.

Hello. I love your comic. ^0^

This has probably been asked of you before, but how long did it take for you to construct Wan Jin's name? Or to put it simply, how did you find the right Chinese characters/symbols to match what you wanted the name to mean based off English?

I'm trying to make an OC myself, and while I'm still working out what I want their name to mean, I don't wish to take any random words and mush them together to create something that might not make a lot of sense and potentially look...disrespectful to the language as well. Hoping you might have a little insight :)

I think I’ve answered this before but Wan Ji’s name consists of the following letters;

Her surname, 聶 (Nie) meaning Whispering/Quiet,

(a friend of mine pointed out that the symbol for her last name is composed of repeating the symbol for “ear” three times, which essentially sums up to, “I need three sets of ears to hear you” and ever since I decided to maintain it as thematically relevant bc it absolutely is)

And her given name, consisting of 晚 (Wan) meaning Night/Dusk and 羇 (Ji) meaning Traveller.

All together, that gives her the name “Whispering Night Traveller” Ive also seen it translate itself into “late” which is also thematically appropriate for Wan Ji.

Anyway, the way Chinese names work is, at least how I’ve rationalized it, to make sure every character used makes sense in relation to the other available characters.

For instance, you don’t want to pick random characters and sounds bc they might end up meaning something like … “Donkey sour fire” which obviously makes no sense. In Chinese, the character you use is almost more important than the sound because you can get the same sound from various characters but they all mean vastly different things.

Personally I made a list of name meanings I would be happy with, and started looking up words and combining them to see what sounded the best, and writing down the characters associated with each sound and their meaning. The website “Behind the Name” is actually very useful for this because it shows you the character and it’s meaning with the sound it makes and how to pronounce it. I initially went in thinking I could just find the name I wanted but since nothing I found worked, I began picking out the syllables of names that had pieces of the meaning I wanted, then looking at the name to see if I liked how it sounded.

It’s also worth noting that Chinese names are composed of a single syllable surname and a two syllable given name (but this isn’t always the case.) single syllable names are weird to the Chinese ear and are usually given extra syllables to make it feel more natural.

I’m no authority on the matter so please do your own research l! I recommend Xiran Jay Zhao’s videos on YouTube for more info. I’m not sure which video she explains naming in but it might be the “over the moon” one.