Do You Guys Ever Think About How Insane The Lightning Scene Was During The Agni Kai Like Specifically

do you guys ever think about how insane the lightning scene was during the agni kai like specifically zuko SACRIFICING his life for KATARA????

like let’s break it down together.

zuko stupidly (affectionate) mentions lightning to azula, provoking her. god knows why he did that, it was only gonna end badly. then she bends lightning, and i think she knows at this point that zuko Can lightning bend since he redirected the lightning back to ozai on the day of black sun. ozai definitely told azula.

and azula KNOWS zuko cares about katara deeply. if there’s one thing she knows, it’s how to take down zuko. and so she PIVOTS, shooting the lightning at KATARA instead, which literally disqualifies her from the agni kai. did she know she wasn’t going to win? she just wanted to hurt zuko? not too sure. but ANYWHO she bends the lightning to katara.

Do You Guys Ever Think About How Insane The Lightning Scene Was During The Agni Kai Like Specifically

and zuko sees this. and he’s like absolutely NOT. and this boy…RUNS FASTER THAN LIGHTNING.

RUNS FASTER THAN LIGHTNING.

and absorbs the lightning, redirecting part of it, but he takes in most of it.

and then…azula goes after katara. and while he is on the GROUnd with LIGHTNING coursing through him, it literally burned and teared his insides, he is actively DYING…his instinct is to try to help katara.

let me say it again. he has just been STRUCK—not even struck—ABSORBED LIGHTNING…and his FIRST instinct when DYING is to reach for KATARA.

and mind you, this isn’t any regular schmegular lightning. this is SOZIN’S COMET CHARGED LIGHTNING. AZULA, ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL BENDERS EVER WHOSE BENDING IS CURRENTLY BEING STRENGTHENED BY SOZINS COMET SENT THIS LIGHTNING.

his injury is on his chest, so while he’s convulsing on the ground, somehow he manages to FLIP OVER onto his CHEST…his lightning torn CHEST…and he tries to reach for katara to help her.

of course because he is actively dying, he can’t help her and his hand falls down.

but OH MY GOD?

and then katara’s point of view is SO AHHHH

because katara only came with zuko because he asked to. in her words, he admitted to his uncle that he needed help facing azula. and he asked her. she immediately caught onto azula trying to split them up, and she knew the agni kai was a bad idea. but zuko reassured her, and she knew it had to be done.

i wonder what context katara had of agni kai’s before this moment. she obviously knew zuko would have to fight azula, but was she aware of the significance of agni kai’s in zuko’s life? the fact that his father scarred him in one? that he was almost killed in both of the agni kai’s he’d participated in, at ages 13 and 16 respectively? did she know that his father tried to kill him with lightning the first chance he got on the day of black sun?

(did she know that the only reason he knew how to save her later on was because his father did the same thing to him?)

the fight comes to a standstill, zuko essentially beating azula. katara hears zuko mention lightning (idiot) and azula takes it.

katara knows how powerful azula’s lightning is. it killed aang.

and azula bends lightning, and suddenly, katara sees azula’s eyes lock on her, before it shoots out of her fingers, and katara is paralyzed in fear. but zuko, ZUKO jumps in front of her, saving her.

it isn’t until he hits the ground that katara is snapped out of her frozen state, immediately running to try to heal him, but azula is on her first.

katara then evades azula, who is unhinged (for reasons we will not get into here) and eventually outsmarts her with the water and the chains.

and katara runs to zuko, to heal him.

but i wonder what she was thinking. i wish this scene was more fleshed out. its pretty short (and sweet), katara flipping him over, healing him, he stops shuddering, thanks her softly. she thanks him instead, and she helps him stand.

but katara, realistically, was terrified.

azula’s lightning killed aang. and the only way she was able to bring him back was with the spirit water.

this is sozin’s comet supercharged lightning from azula. and she has no magic healing water.

(in my head she used bloodbending. but the fact that she canonically single-handedly revived zuko from sozin’s-comet-powered lightning from azula with just her hands is so incredible)

what if the moments she spent fighting azula were too long? what if she had already lost zuko by then? what would she have done?

at this point, she and zuko are far gone from being enemies. they are (canonically) friends. they have a deep connection. what if she couldn’t save him?

but for zuko, it was the easiest choice in the world. he didn’t hesitate for a second. katara’s life over his, always.

katara heals him, and he thanks her. so softly, so gently. and with tears in her eyes, she tells him that she should be the one thanking him.

i fear i want to throw up! i love them so much!

and i love this for katara. she has been taking care of everyone around her all her life, sacrificing her childhood for them. she assumed her mother’s role after she died. katara deserves to be loved the way zuko loves her. fully, completely, deeply, enough to die for her with no hesitation.

thank you for reading me freaking the freak out about zutara

More Posts from Lilacs-and-stuff and Others

lilacs-and-stuff

1 year ago

I feel like I should make a post about this because it’s not something that’s very well-known, and that Americans in particular may need to know about given the uncertain state of our healthcare system at the moment. I’ve wanted to write this out for a while, It’s kind of a long post, so sorry about that!

If you have an emergency and have to go to the hospital, you’ll owe the hospital a lot of money. (I got into a car wreck and broke my ankle and my arm. My hospital bill was around $20,000)

You’ll also owe the ambulance provider, if you need one. (My ambulance bill was about $800)

You may get separate bills from the anesthesiologist or surgeon. (My anesthesiologist bill was $1,700)

You may need follow-up appointments. (My orthopedic surgeon billed me for the appointments and his surgery together and it was about $1,000)

You’ve also got to pay for medical equipment you need afterward, like crutches or a walking boot. (Mine cost about $75)

Altogether, I ended up with almost $24,000 in medical debt from one car accident. That’s a really scary number for someone like me who makes $10/hr at a 12 hour a week job.

I got my debt down to $1075 by making some phone calls and submitting some paperwork.

The first thing I did was contact the hospital. They don’t make it easy to find, but many hospitals (perhaps most hospitals?) have financial assistance programs for people who can’t afford medical bills. I don’t make a lot of money, and I have bills to pay, so they were able to help me. I called the billing department and asked if they had any assistance programs for low income people who can’t pay their bills. I had to call multiple times, and I got transferred in circles by people who didn’t know what I was talking about. Finally, I got an appointment with someone in “Eligibility Services” (I don’t know what other hospitals call it, if it’s something different). I had to bring my pay stubs and copies of all of my bills. When I got to the hospital for the appointment, nobody knew what I was talking about so I had to wander a little to find where I needed to go. I spoke with the guy in Eligibility Services, and I waited for a decision on how much of the bill they would forgive. A month later, I got a call telling me it was totally forgiven.

I did the same thing for my ambulance bill and my anesthesiologist, but the process was a LOT easier. I just had to mail some paperwork and it was totally forgiven.

I didn’t bother with the medical equipment suppliers, since the bills came from separate companies and I didn’t feel like going through the process twice for $75. I was assured at the hospital that they had similar programs for debt forgiveness, so I could have probably avoided paying that too.

The only thing I couldn’t get taken care of was the surgeon/follow-up appointment cost, but they were able to put me on a no-interest payment plan.

Medical debt is scary because it’s something that can come from stuff that’s already really scary. I didn’t need the burden of $24,000 in debt on top of trying to get around on a crutch with a broken arm (it’s not easy, believe me!).. but I can’t imagine what it would be like with a bigger debt or a more severe medical emergency. I see lots of people in even worse trouble than I was in, both financially and medically. Please know that there are options for you when that GoFundMe doesn’t do enough. Even if your income is higher than mine, it’s worth a shot even for partial debt forgiveness.

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lilacs-and-stuff

5 months ago

it's extremely critical that you see the photo of the perp walk for luigi mangione as being propaganda. i've seen so many people wave it off and instead fawn over his looks. and trust me, i know it ended up being kind of pathetic and weird - but please don't brush it off as a "modelling opportunity" for him. it's a fucking terrifying message the police are sending.

i want to make a few comparisons here, in case you're not from the US or familiar with why the perp walk thing is something to pay attention to. just to set the groundwork for why this is a purposeful, unusual, and cruel act by the nyc police - for why this is not a common occurrence and for why that matters.

the prosecution alleges the show of force is due to the charge of "terrorism." for comparison, in june 2015, tsarnaev was found guilty for the boston marathon bombing, which killed 3 people and injured hundreds. his actions are considered to be an act of domestic terrorism. i have spent the last hour looking through google for pictures of similar to mangione's perp walk - and so far, i have found zero. i also just do not personally remember a moment like that, despite living in boston at the time.

they allege that luigi is a stone-cold killer who carried out a longterm plan, making him particularly dangerous. again for comparison: in nyc, recently cory martin was found guilty of the killing of brandy odom. the murder was planned and premeditated to steal insurance money. and yet no staged perp walk. why didn't her life matter enough for a "show of force"?

but mangione gets paraded by a veritable army of police officers as if he is a rabid animal. for a single citizen who allegedly killed one other single citizen, the "largest perp walk ever" occurs.

so what is the "strong message" that the mayor and the police were trying to send here? the mayor speaks as if mangione is already convicted of terrorism. there is a very thin number of people who feel threatened by the CEO's death. none of us felt like mangione needs to be under massive armed guard.

the message is that you shouldn't resist. they are trying to "make an example" of him - that if you behave badly and kill a single rich person, you'll be treated as if you killed hundreds of people. you will be treated worse than a man who was found guilty of terrorism. you will be considered guilty without trial. the message is that the rich are a protected class, and you cannot touch them without massive punishment. they are trying to prevent a revolution by showing dominance and force against you.

the message is that the police are a puppet of the wealthy and that the law is not equally applied across class disparity. it is "some are more equal than others." it is "one life is more precious than another."

the show of force wasn't for luigi. it was for us. it was a warning. they are trying to remind us who is really in control.

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lilacs-and-stuff

1 year ago

I just don’t think Meghan has a leg here. She is a princess, no one wants to hear from her on strikes.

Meghan was a working actress for decades. She was a working royal for 18 months. She benefits massively from her show reaching syndication. She stands to lose depending on how Netflix negotiated residuals for Suits with it being out of cable reruns now.

Meghan knows what it’s like to scrimp and scrap for years. She was a working actress doing bit parts her whole 20s!

The fact is that honestly if she didn’t marry Harry, Suits might have been her biggest hit and again residuals would have a huge impact on her. She completely has a leg to stand on joining this fight. Just like she had one speaking up for BLM.

In fact, A-Listers NEED to be using their spotlight to highlight the strike and the working actors who make up the bulk of Hollywood who don’t make millions per movie. It’s important that people like Meryl Streep or Jennifer Lawrence or Matt Damon or Margot Robbie join the strike. A-list talent walking off set and refusing to take part in press and promo is part of what gives the Union huge bargaining power even if those elite actors are not necessarily hurting financially. But also, a lot of A-Listers also have huge stakes in the fight because it’s also about control of their image and their long term financial profit, too.

Meghan is a producer now with a new production company. If she wants top talent on her productions she needs to be ten toes down in solidarity, too.

Meghan was/is SAG. The Union protected her as a working actress, she can use the outrageous spotlight on her to stand in solidarity and to support working actors.

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lilacs-and-stuff

1 year ago