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HAHAHAHA AWESOME EPISODE.

I am so happy. I just came downstairs. I made DOUBLE the usual notes. 2 pages. Wow.

Anyways. This is kinda a running commentary but then not. I'm adapting my madly-written notes into sentences.

TY LEE IS BACK! HAAAAALLELUJAH! I missed her cheery ditziness. It's so necessary in the ZuCrew dynamic.

I'm suspicious of the 'meeting with board members' thing. IT'S A TRAAAAP. Something bad is going to happen to Zuko.

Zuko is SO EMO this episode, holy crap...

Li and Lo are so damn creepy. And gross. DD:

Katara has straight hair?! O_O Whaaaat the heck...

Toph's bathing suit, yay!

I am ignoring that potential Taang. Negi might be grinning a little over this one.

Oh s**t, Aang's ******** now! Zuko's ******** too! Until, that is, an ENEMY bird!!! Ahaha, I seriously yelled, "It's an ENEMY bird!" and then proceeded to die laughing.

Hmmm, I sense some jealousy in the male department from Azulaaaa~ And I was right! Hah! And now we see why Azula has no boyfriends. "WE WILL BECOME THE MOST POWERFUL COUPLE IN ALL THE FIRE NATION!!"

Heehee, Zuko trying to flirt is funny, especially when it's with someone like Mai.

Was I the only one sensing some sad!Mai here? Like... before Zuko got all jealous and stuff. There were a few... looks... that made me wonder what was going on behind the mask.

LOL ZUKO BISHIEEE~ I can just imagine the Zuko fangirls pausing it on that frame and just staring at it. xD

Soccer/volleyball? WOW I'd suck at that. I can barely play regular volleyball... and don't even get me started on soccer.

LOL EXPLOSION. I laughed soooo hard.

And I am fully convinced that Azula is a 5 year-old megalomaniac inside.

I'm thinking Azula just wants to be a teenager for once. Aaand I'm right! biggrin

There was this one frame where Mai looked SO CUTE. It was when they were eating, and she and Zuko were kinda leaning against each other. Her face was just so... feminine and cute.

Azula officially fails at flirting and social gatherings in general. She's like Napoleon, eh? Brilliant, good military mind, good at ordering people around and persuading them to do things... not so good at social gatherings.

It's kind of nice to see Azula humanized, y'know? She's got flaws and insecurities just like everyone else. She's just a megalomanical teenage girl.

CREEPY AZULA FAKE-LAUGH. xD

Awww, Mai is sad after they 'break up'. Good sign for Maiko.

Was that a shot of Iroh, Lu Ten, and baby!Zuko?! I swear it was!

OMG, URSAAAAA URSAAAA URSAAAAAAAAA~ I wonder when he's gonna start looking for her.

Oh shiz, COMBUSTION MAAAAN! (You have to sing that like the Trojan Man radio commercials.)

Mmm. Sokka with his hair down. Still gets me. x3

OH MY GOD LASERRRRS. How the hell is he doing that?! Is it some kind of concentrated firebending?

Hehe...
Zuko: *tries to put arm around Mai*
Mai: *smack*

What?! Things in there to BURN?! Oh crap no you AREN'T.

Uh... why is there a huge crater with random rock pillars? o_O Doesn't that seem a bit odd?

WHY ARE YOU BURNING THE PICTURE?!

Back-story tiiiime! biggrin Gather 'round, children, because Stefanie is going to watch this clip over and over and over again until she can recite it by heart!

Ugh, Zuko is such an insensitive b*****d jerk. *crotchkick* Do NOT make fun of Ty Lee, you hear?!

Oh my god, poor Ty Leeeeee~ I always did wonder why she joined the circus if she was from a prestigious family. I yelled, "YES!" When she said, "You want to know WHY I joined the circus?"

Hehe. "I'm sorry, WHAT?!" Sounds like such a teenager-y line.

OMG... Mai... It's kinda weird because that's almost exactly what about 75% of Maiko fanfics chalk her attitude up to. The other 25% are really bad and don't care about the characters.

He's mad at Ursa, he's mad at Ursa, he's mad at Ursa... himself? Ugh, that's no fun. THOUGH YOU SHOULD BE, YOU JERK. First Iroh, now Ty Lee?! You are ASKING for a beating.

Yay Maiko! I knew it'd turn out in the end! I cackled insanely because Mai used the exact line that she uses in my daydreams, in the exact same circumstances... YAY FOR BEING SMART!

LOL. "My own mother thought I was a monster... She was right, of course, but it still hurt." I laughed SO hard.

...Was it really necessary to trash the guy's place?! Seriously! What did he do to you?!

LOL cheesy end shot. It speaks to the dynamic of the ZuCrew though, which I like. It worries me a bit, though, because it makes me think that now they're like a family, which makes me worry because now it'll be less simple for Zuko to go over to the other side.

So, overall, it was a really fun episode! I liked it! I resented the lack of the Gaang, ESPECIALLY SOKKA, but they got 2 episodes exclusively to themselves, it was the ZuCrew's turn. I loved the fact that Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee were all fleshed out more, and I loved that Ursa was reintroduced into the plot. Also, TY LEE IS BACK WHEEEE~

And, of course, the Maiko was delicious. I don't care that they were fighting most of the episode, anyone who knows my pairing style knows that I thriiiive on conflict. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger! If they don't fight, it's BORING. At least sparring or teasing. Plus my Maiko line-of-choice was used, so kudos to my imagination! Well, it was a horribly obvious line, but whatever.

SO DISCUSS.

First and for most, dang Butterfly! you sounded almost like Hollow point when you started that! xd ("Oh s**t, Aang's ******** now! Zuko's ******** too! Until, that is, an ENEMY bird!!! Ahaha, I seriously yelled, "It's an ENEMY bird!" and then proceeded to die laughing.")
I enjoyed the ep well enough, I mean i thought it was rather funny when Zuko almost vomited when the old ladys said it was them in the pic, and when Mai had covered his eyes when they took off there over shirts.

It was rather confusing though, the fire nation seems to rely havaly on the whole "Absolute power" of the royle family, so I thought they whole nation would know when the prince and princess where, or at least the princess because she wasent banished(ohh burn zuko...yes, a bad pun from me, who saw it coming....put your damn hands down-__-) but that aside, it was...odd to see Azula getting jealous, I mean Everyone gets jealous, but for her to get so over the face that Chen woutant give her the time of day(witch I don't understand in the slitist). but I have to agree with Shaolina, it did feel very...fanfic ish, dont et me wrong I liked it, and it was nice to get the offical back stories(This time tomarrow, 10,000 more fanfics will be writen)and I was kind of glad to see Zuko moveing from emo to rage, I can understand rage, I think all men can, I dont understand Emo so well so I cant relate, so where Zuko is now I kind of understand, but I think for sure he said way too much infrount of Azula, "I dont know whats right and wrong anymore" That screams that he dosent belive in the fire nation's march of civilization anymore. We all know why, becuse he saw what it was doing first hand but now Azula knows...

But yeah...

Oh and when you see Aang going down the slide moments after katara said no one could see them I could so imagine seeing Sokka going "Wheres Aang..?" xd

Oh, thank you flying spaghetti monster! I'm not alone in this world. xd


My thoughts exactly. When I finished watching all I said was "I'll just pretend this never happened. As far as I'm concerned they didn't show avatar today."

The highlight of this episode was the Aang gang hanging out, Toph's line when she feels him coming, and when Aang gets away from combustion man. At least they stayed in character

@Butterfly:

I know! It was an awesome episode!
This episode almost encouraged me to take notes, but I'm too lazy. Haha.
-begins to read-
I loved the return of Ty Lee, too! One of my personal favorite characters. ;D
Hm... The 'meeting with the board members' could be plot development.
Tragically emo, really.
Definitely gross. I died. D: Twice.
I think her hair just turns straight when it's wet/when it's wet and combed. That's what mine does.
I know! Her bathing suit was cute! I just wish I could have seen her hair down, but not all POOF like the episode where they all primp. Tales of Ba Sing Se, I believe?
Um... No comment...?
Enemy bird. Haha. My sister was like, "OOOOOH YEAH." And I was like, "BOOO." She was mad at me until she saw it was 'Bustion Man's.
Haha. Azula has no boyfriends. Lonely and creepy.
Zuko flirting was hilarious. But Mai was rather rude and mean to him. I TOTALLY saw their break-up coming. And a little bit of their back togetherness.
Hm? Sad...? Not more than usual, no. I'm not one for details and reading looks, though.
The fangirls was hilarious. Agni-kai (sp?) dejavu, but with the fangirls actually on the screen. xD
I wouldn't be bad at soccer, but as for volleyball, well...
That was hilarious. ;D
I know. She's very scheme...y. I laughed at her winning speech even after seeing it for the fifth or sixth time. xD
It was really strange. But entertaining. Jealousy~
Yeah, I liked the scene when they were eating together and leaning against each other. But other than that, I didn't really like much.
Yes! She's horrible, really.
Flaws! Bwahahaha! All Aang has to do to defeat her is throw a huge party! Haha.
That was so funny. xD Everyone just got quiet. A little too loud there, Azula. And why am I addressing her...?
Meh. I liked the broken vase/pot in any case. ;P
Too many things to process right now to be sure. ^^"
Ursa! I loved those baby-Zuko pictures!
My sister thought he would be lame, too. ;P When she read about it in the Avatar magazine, that is. She admits she's wrong now, though.
It is lurvely. :3
I really don't know... Isn't he a Rough Rhino? Or at least his tattoo reminds me of it. I dunno. He's got freak-o powers. Zuko found a good assassin.
Haha. Gotta love the Mai-to-Zuko-smack. That made me snort.
I was angry about that. If he burnt the little hand in the shell thing... Don't even get me started.
Yeah, that was really weird. Just random landscaping? It was cool-looking, at least. I think there's some places like that somewhere in the desert...
I got so mad! And Ty Lee agrees.
Haha. Someone likes backgrounds.
-kicks him again-
Hm... I thought she was less deep for some reason. But I love her even more now!
It is a teen line, isn't it? Haha.
Ew... Fanfic relations. Booo.
I was guessing Iroh because he wouldn't talk to him. But technically it is his fault, so... Being mad at himself is justified. I don't think he'd say Ursa... I mean, she gave his life for him or something along those lines.
My sister got so mad. xD I was a little angry. She doesn't have passion for anything though, really. I predicted their back-together-ness. This sounds like I've said it before... Probably did. xD
That was funny. MOMMY LIKED ZUKO BETTER. But daddy liked her better, so WHATEVER. I loved when Ursa was like, "What is wrong with that child?" in a previous eppie. xD Zuko Alone, perhaps?
I know... He didn't really do anything to them. Was funny though.
I loved Ty Lee's smile! Maybe they'll all go to the other side, she asks hopefully?
Yeah, I was surprised that they didn't have much Gaang. But I'm happy still. Loved it too.
I liked the fighting too. Made up way too easily though. xD

@Shaolina:

Hm...
Yes, I liked humanizing her. But it makes us like her even more. D:
Um... Okay.
It was kind of fanfic-ish. But I hate relating it to one. I really think they're a little higher than that. I loved the fangirls though!
Only a bit of disregard, really.
Ty Lee and Mai weren't like that. She wasn't really ditzy at all, either. And she still clung to her character, especially after kissing um.. the person who's name I suddenly forgot. xD
True. It did happen rather suddenly. But not without reason. At least some.
I think she apologized because she realized she was just jealous, and was actually taking sympathy on Ty Lee because she wanted to be more like her. But I guess it could've been better near the end. I guess.
Yeah... Kind of bad man-choice. But she wanted someone strong.
But it's still good to get backgrounds. Maybe they were all similar, but at least I can force myself to dislike Mai a little bit more.
Hurt cat? Learning to care for...? And you're angry at cliches?
-pretends week did happen-

@Lord-god:

Haha. She did sound like HP, didn't she? Haha. Almost.
The vomit/eye covering was hilarious. Old lady smell. Ewww.
Yeah, it was confusing. But the old ladies said, (or something like this) that everyone starts over at Ember Island, so... But I agree with that. Nice pun. I think jealous Azula was odd, but not unacceptable. And emo to rage is always a good thing. But, really, he should be mad at EVERYONE. Haha. Just kidding. I don't know who he should be mad at really. Himself was a good choice. It was kind of dumb to say all that in front of Azula, but I think he's respecting her more as a family member, and less like an enemy. Or at least he's trying to relate to her that way, now that he's back in the Fire Nation.

@HappyBanana:

It would suffer a little, with the lack of background. Not really... But the introduction of 'Bustion Man to the Gaang was important.
It did have a little character development. Humanizing Azula, at least.
I think it wasn't a dud. I liked it. But you're entitled to your opinion. I'm sure the rest of the eppies will be better by your standards.

I'm too lazy to respond to the rest, really.

Nope, you are not alone. By the end of the episode I wanted to cry, not because of the sob fest that was that camp fire, but because by the end of the episode they had disregarded the plot and characters so much it just hurt. K, here I go:

My hopes against Maiko are still very high, and I'm not one to start ranting (too much) about a couple I dislike, but if there's just one more episode centering around the two headed monster Zuko and Mai have become, I'll change my attitude to one that can match Of Ninjas and Pirate's about Kataang.

Character developement my a**. A more cliche'd story for Mai and Ty Lee they couldn't have come up with, and I'm not just about to show sympaty for neither of them just because they said it. I care for Zuko's story because it's something we've been following throughout all the series, and it's got its validation. Mai? "oh, I had all I wanted as long as I behaved" Yes, honey, that's called discipline; you do something wrong, you don't get a reward. Ty Lee? Oh please. I wish they had just let her follow a dream, instead of making her run away from an oh so horrible family.
Azula was pmsing, the end. However, I did like the last bit, her part of the sob fest, when she said her own mother thought she was a monster.

Now please, please lets get back to the fighting, the saving the word, the funny, and the Toph we all wait for.

I liked Azula way better when she was just a completley evil power hungry genius who is a way better villain than any I've ever seen in a cartoon. But I mean Azula insecure? Azula worrying about boys? Azula apoligizing to Ty Lee!? There is no villain reputation in that! And therefore no way Azula could be doing that! Though I do admit the "my own mother thought I was a monster" line was pretty funny when she was like "She was right of course" but I think they strayed way too far from her character with this episode.

My replies (numbered for convenience):

1) The problem for me is that it wasn't done in a tasteful, lasting way. It was just there. Placed among awkward comedy that blows in your face. So the whole "humanizing" thing.. I can't take it seriously. Regardless of the pic we see at the end I feel Azula is still the same.

2)Just because it's animated I don't think it's higher than a fanfic.

3)No comment because I don't remember what I said and I'm taking care of my 2 siblings. Might go back here at night.

4) No. Azula's not a screamer. When she goes psycho she uses her low "I eat babies" voice. Look at her speeches at Ba sing se, look at how she talks to armies, to her families, and to her friends when she's being psycho. It's always done in a low evil tone. Sometimes with a glare that pierces the deepest parts of your heart. The whole scream wasn't in Character, it was just a horrible joke.

5) If it were the first time Azula's jealous of Ty then maybe I would buy that. But Azula's been jealous of Mai before, and Azula's been a b***h to her (and everyone else for that matter before) Two season and 1 episode (when we see Zuko's father giving him the scar) we've seen Azula and she's never done that before. It just came out of nowhere. All these years of being a sociopath and nothing. It still makes me go WTF?

6) He didn't seem strong. Just overly annoying.

7) This one I'll divide into 3:

A) It was late when I wrote those options. Those were the first things that came to mind.

B) I guess I didn't make myself clear when I said I hated clches. I despise and hate with all my heart teenage/high school cliches. Which is what we've been served here. I'm 20 years old, so it wasn't that long ago when I was Azula's age. I've had lots of friends and they had lots of friends and I've never seen or heard what these cliches says... what this episode says. I'm just sick of hearing "Azula's a teenage girl so she was bound to be like that."

NO! Not only "just because she's a teenager" is an unvalid excuse, but a disregard of what Azula is.

C) Cliches are unavoidable. Pretty much everything's been used at some point. Especially in the old days when there was no copyright. But it's what you do with it. Look at tales of BSS, the one with Kataara and Toph. Cliche, even with the standard mean girls. What I liked is the fact that during and at the end of he episode Toph is still Toph. She even shows how content she is being blind because she's able to see personalities over appearances. That was sweet, and cliched, and completely lovable.

Just in case I want to say I'm the least romantically inclined person here, much less Zutarian.