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Webcomic: How I Became Yours

Lies, all lies.

How I Became Yours is an Avatar: The Last Airbender fancomic by Jackie Diaz. The story takes place three years after the canonical end of the show, and takes some liberties concerning how things worked out (particularly romantically)...

Toph and Katara have inexplicably taken up residence in an Earth Kingdom estate (owned by Toph?) where they spend their days monologuing and pining after their One True Loves (Aang and Zuko, respectively). Oh, and Sokka is there too apparently. Elsewhere, unbeknownst to the girls, Aang and Zuko also pine after their true loves.

When Zuko discovers that his now-wife Mai hid Katara's pregnancy from him by hiding the letters revealing the truth, after turning his Domestic Abuser switch on by beating up and humiliating Mai he runs away from the still-recovering Fire Nation and makes a beeline for Katara's 18th birthday ball, where the Star-Crossed Lovers joyfully reunite (Aang and Toph also hook up at this event). Unfortunately for them, hell hath no fury like a Woman Scorned; Mai is not about to take this lying down, so she enlists the help of a man named Sho who happens to be her older brother (Nevermind that canon says Mai was an only child until Tom-Tom was born, thus this makes no sense... like the rest of the story.)

Meanwhile, Sokka comes across an injured Azula who can't remember anything about her past and breaks down crying when confronted with it. But rather than toss her back out into the streets or locking her away where no one will find her, the Gaang takes her under their wing and cares for her. During this time she and Sokka fall in love with each other...

The comic enjoyed moderate popularity before certain members of the Avatar fandom got wind of it, and promptly saw to it that the artist was banned from deviantART (the comic's former home) for recurring instances of art theft. Diaz's repeated denials of tracing and art theft in the face of overwhelming evidence (screenshots from the show and her drawings match up ''line for line'') did nothing to endear her to the fandom. She has sadly friends-locked the entire comic at her MySpace page, however, you can view most of it on this Diaz fan's Photobucket account

Recently, she's begun work on a sequel comic: Rise of the Agni Army. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Tropes:

Almost Dead Girl: Azula conveniently waits until the battle is over to deliver a long speech to Sokka before she 'dies', despite being stabbed in the heart.
Amnesiac Dissonance: Azula is implied to go through this gradually, getting memories back in her sleep. However, the trope is not used to portray self-conflict and soul-searching right before a Heel Face Turn, as per the usual implications. Instead, it becomes a Hand Wave that says "Azula is crying about the evil things she's done in the past, so that means she's ~~been lobotomized~~ automatically a really good and completely different person now."
Anachronism Stew: Rampant. The crowning moment of this trope occurs when Katara is seen wearing the Hall Sapphire Necklace. No, really, it's Photoshopped onto the drawing.◊
Arranged Marriage: Zuko claims that this is his relationship with Mai.
- Fanon Discontinuity: Or the fact that Zuko and Mai were very much in love with each other in the series and there was not even a mention that their relationship was even arranged.Of course,Ms.Diaz rewrites their relationship so her favored ship looks good in comparison or give a lame excuse for the reason why Zuko does not love Mai.
Author Appeal: The author is of Hispanic heritage, and Spanish Soap Opera cliches have a way of finding their way into the comic with surprising frequency.
Babies Ever After: The epilogue.
Beauty Equals Goodness: Mai, the Designated Villain, is the only female character who does not sport breasts that would make Pamela Anderson proud.
- She is also the only female character to not be treated to fancy ballgowns, jewelry, or hairstyles, which makes her look the closest to her canon counterpart.
The Bechdel Test: It actually manages to pass. Katara and Toph have a conversation about their dresses and the duties that each of them supposedly has to fulfill. Men aren't mentioned for...oh, about a minute of conversation, maybe.
Beta Couple: Aang and Toph. Surprisingly, the main couple (Katara and Zuko) take a back seat near the end while Sokka and Azula take the main spotlight.
Big Bad Duumvirate: Mai and Sho.
Big "NO!": Sokka pulls off a particularly Narmful one after Azula is stabbed to death.
Blood from the Mouth: Sho's mouth is dripping blood after a fight with Toph. However, the injury is probably not very serious, as he's able to pull off a Deus ex Machina just seconds after he's hurt. Either that, or he's just that Badass.
Brother-Sister Team: Zuko and Azula, Sokka and Katara, and Mai and Sho. Those last are the only team who really do stuff together, though.
Brought Down to Normal: Azula, in the beginning.
Bus Crash: It's offhandedly mentioned that Oz ai was executed.
Cherry Blossoms: A rare homage to the Eastern setting of the show. The romantic undertone is clear, given the alternate meaning of the word cherry and the gratuitous sex scene under the trees.
Conspicuous CG: A rather odd variant. The only parts of the comic that Diaz actually ~~traces~~ draws are the characters and their clothes (well, most of them, anyway). Everything else (backgrounds, accessories, props, settings), are photos. Spectacularly few of them are of Diaz's own creation.
Convenient Miscarriage: Mai poisons Katara in the beginning, making her lose Zuko's love child. This leaves Katara free to act like an infatuated teenager when Zuko comes back into the picture three years later, and also serves as a source of cheap Wangst.
Costume Porn: Toph wears dresses. Without complaining. And the other girls' outfits are even fancier than hers.
Covers Always Lie: In addition to the comments Jackie Diaz wrote to look like critical compliments, not one of the three scenes pictured on the cover happens in the comic.
Cut and Paste Comic: Taken to truly absurd heights, especially considering that everything was traced or vectored in the first place. Each character averages in at about 4 distinct faces for the duration of the comic and about 2 poses for each outfit.
Dead Guy Junior: Katara's miscarried baby is named Kuzon, after Aang's Fire Nation friend from before the war. Her next baby is also named Kuzon, apparently in honor of his older brother.
Delusions of Eloquence: Everywhere. Cases in point: "a 'curtain' Fire Lord" and "'CHARD' MONSTER".
Department of Redundancy Department: "Katara is pregnant with child!"
Derailing Love Interests: Poor Mai...
Deus Exit Machina: Zuko and Aang have to leave Toph's estate so Zuko can be Hauled Before A Senate Subcommittee. They are, therefore, not present when Mai and Sho storm the estate in an attempt to kill Katara.
Deus ex Machina: Sho executes a firebending move seen only twice in the original series: the bender casts a sphere of fire and then disappears. Only he kicks it up a notch, where, instead of using this move as a distraction in order to run away in the resulting smoke, he turns it into a sort of Villain Teleportation. Have we mentioned that, up until this point, he has demonstrated no ability for firebending?
Did Not Do the Research: Bloodbending only works under a full moon. Katara uses it to murder Mai in broad daylight.
- Toph says she knew Azula was pregnant because she could sense its heartbeat, despite Azula probably only being a few weeks along at best. (For the people not familiar with human reproductive biology - the embryo doesn't even have a heart yet at that stage.)
  - You can't even hear the baby's "heart" until around week 12 and with an amplified doppler device, or you can wait around week 20 with a regular stethoscope.
  - There is an attempted Hand Wave with this by Toph claiming Azula was around three months along, but even then there's still the Fridge Logic as to how Toph could've known just how far along exactly Azula was.
  - Also, wouldn't Azula get some kind of a bulge starting from two months? Sure, prior to the fourth month mark it can be hidden with proper dressing, but was Diaz aware of that?
- Sho has multiple knives that are probably meant to be throwing knives, probably to highlight his relationship with Mai. However, the knives are placed in such a way that he'd have to be double-jointed in order to retrieve them from their holsters, and even then his effectiveness in battle would be vastly decreased. No wonder he opted for a sword fight with Sokka instead of assassinating him from a safe distance.
- Azula is dosed with a deadly poison that specifically targets firebenders, giving her Easy Amnesia. This poison at first named "Ginseng Lotus Poison." In the cartoon, Uncle Iroh's favorite tea is ginseng. That probably explains why he's acting so violently out of character...he started taking a drug that targets the memory processes to cope with his son's death, overused it a little, and ended up as the addled old man who can't remember not to call his nephew "My Lord." The problem with this name was probably pointed out to Diaz at one point, so she alters the name to "Gin Sing Extracts," which is just as bad.
  Iroh: Delicious tea? Or deadly poison?
- Iroh explains to Azula that blue fire is called "Cold-blooded Fire" when in the series, that describes lightning due to the serenity needed to use it. Her fire is blue because it's extremely hot.
- Hilariously, Diaz says she reads a lot and claims most people these days don't have a clue what they're talking about these days (pot, kettle. Kettle, pot), and that too many people don't know what's important in their lives (see Moral Dissonance and related tropes below). It'd be Hypocritical Humor if she wasn't dead serious.
Domestic Abuser: Zuko's treatment of Mai.
Don't Call Me Sir: Zuko asks Iroh not to call him "my lord" early on, then forgets to repeat this request when Iroh lapses back into this mode of address.
Double In Law Marriage
Dramatic... Ellipsis: SO VERY MANY.
Dull Surprise: To be expected given the amount of copying and pasting; a character might be speaking calmly one panel, then shouting or breaking down into tears in the next with the exact same face.
Easy Amnesia: Rather than delve into the canon Azula's complex, fractured mental state, Diaz opts to use this trope as an excuse to completely rewrite the character.
Exact Eavesdropping: How Azula finds out that Sokka likes her. Interesting that he just happens to start talking about how physically attractive she is when she's supposedly hidden from sight...in a bright, salmon-colored, low-cut dress.
Fanservice Pack: Sokka becomes noticeably, what is likely supposed to be, more attractive as time goes on.
Floating Head Syndrome: The cover/poster for the sequel comic.
- Also Aang and Toph for this comic.
Flynning: The "swordfighting" scenes consist of both parties taking the "en guarde" stance for a few panels. Once, Sho executes a clumsy flip, and that's it for variety.
Friend to All Living Things: Azula is a friend to all obviously photoshopped turtleducks, talking panda nature spirits, and miniature glowing Aang clones.
Funny Background Event: Although unintentional, it's still funny. In many panels, Aang can be seen in the background wearing an expression that plainly says "Sweet God end the pain now."
GIS Syndrome: Oh so much. One ballroom scene even had blurred photos of Avatar cosplayers in the background.
Giving Someone the Pointer Finger: Sho does this as he's taunting Sokka before their ensuing fight.
Good Adultery, Bad Adultery: Fire Lord Zuko impregnating Katara and physically assaulting his betrothed (Mai) for getting upset about it... we are supposed to sympathise with him and the love he and Katara share why, exactly?
- Sympathetic Adulterer: Zuko is intended to be a Pay Cheating unto Evil/Boring sense; not only is Mai supposed to be seen as evil, but Zuko claims he never loved her.
Hauled Before A Senate Subcommittee: Zuko gets hauled before one when he wants to marry Katara. Justified because he's about to make a grand mess out of his nation just as the world is getting back to normal. And, well, he did institute the Senate, after all, so he really shouldn't be complaining.
Heartbeat Soundtrack: This is attempted in several places. However, when it's written as "*heart beating faster*" in little italics floating in the background, it's a bit hard to take it seriously.
Hidden Elf Village: During the Time Skip between the end of the series and the beginning of this comic, Aang finds one of these, populated by Air Nomads. Nothing more about this development is said.
Highly Visible Ninja: Azula spies on Sokka. In a bright, almost-pink dress. No wonder the attempt failed miserably.
How Much Did You Hear?: "So, Azula, I assume you were hiding in that tree long enough to hear me go on and on about how beautiful you are? And about taking you to see the cherry blossoms, of course..."
Idiot Ball: Sokka starts the plot off by accidentally mailing a letter concerning all of the details of Katara's pregnancy directly to Mai's doorstep. The only explanation given is that he didn't bother checking where the messenger hawks were going, even though he didn't have a reason to be sending any messages to the fire nation in the first place.
- Mai also holds onto an Idiot Ball by not only keeping the incriminating letter for three years, but leaving it out where one of her maids could easily spot it and bring it to Zuko.
Immodest Orgasm: Katara treats the reader to a description of her every sensation during her sex scene. Including her groans.
Impossibly Low Neckline: Seems to be the default style for every single dress.
I Never Got Any Letters: Zuko never learns about his and Katara's son until the start of the story because Mai intercepted her mail.
In Name Only: These are definitely not the characters you know and love.
I Shall Taunt You: Sho takes the time to insult Sokka right before their fight.
It's Always Spring: Azula mentions that she's been at Toph's estate for eight months. During that time we never see any leaves or snow on the ground, not even during a montage which shows two or three months passing. An equatorial climate could be an explanation for that, but the plants generally look like those belonging to a temperate region. It's a result of either Artistic License - Geography or SoCalization, but the lack of consistency makes deciding which one it is a hard call.
It's All About Me: Katara has a miscarriage. Traumatic and tragic, right? Except the thing that upsets her most (judging by what she emphasizes) is that it happened the day before her birthday. It's not about the dead baby. It's about her. Any sympathy for her the readers might have had just went flying out the window.
- Zuko accuses Mai of this, but Mai's accusation toward him fits him better.
- Sho, while retreating, declares he has a grudge against the protagonists because they drew his blood for the first time in a while, instead of because of Mai's death.
Jerkass Dissonance: Mai gets a lot of sympathy, probably because she tends to be right when it comes to the important details of the comic.
Jerk Ass Has A Point: Mai's justification for keeping Zuko from learning about Katara's pregnancy◊ is actually pretty sound: there would be serious social and political problems in the Fire Nation if there was an illegitimate heir born from a mixed relationship between the Fire Lord and a Waterbender. But of course, we're supposed to think of her as a villain for it.
Jossed: At least one reader must have thought Azula's pregnancy later in the comic was the result of a rape, until missing pages of comic showing her having sex with Sokka were found in the artist's Photobucket account.
Just Between You and Me: Mai and Sho freely volunteer information, such how Mai poisoned Azula and Katara, without any reason or provocation.
Karma Houdini: Zuko, who abuses Mai physically and psychologically and never faces any consequences for it because he did it for "TRUE LOVE."
- Well, until the sequel, anyway.
Knife Nut: Mai (of course) and Sho.
Kudzu Plot
Laser-Guided Karma: Mai almost killing Azula can be seen as this, especially since Azula almost killed Mai for betraying her in the Boiling Rock.
Letting Her Hair Down: Katara, Azula, and Toph. Poor Mai is never allowed to relax like they are.
Long Hair Is Feminine: Azula and Toph rarely wear their hair up in their trademark updoes of the show. This cannot be coincidence.
Love Makes You Crazy: Mai is the intended (and most obvious) example of this trope, but it arguably applies to almost the entire main cast. Zuko deserts his nation for months to be with Katara; Katara murders her hypotenuse to be with Zuko. Azula ends up lobotomized and giggly even after she gets her memories back, and Toph...well, her sex scene with Aang is listed under Nightmare Fuel. And all of them, even Sokka and Aang who barely do anything else, defy nasty nation-centric prejudices (which were basically nonexistant in the cartoon) for love.
Love Makes You Evil: Mai, intentionally. Unintentionally, Zuko and Katara as well.
Magic Skirt: Hilariously displayed in the tumble-dodge-thing Katara does when Mai attacks her.
Maligned Mixed Marriage: Used so ubiquitously it's simply absurd.
- For worse, it's supposed to be forbidden by law...
- This is implied to be the reason for Aang and Toph, elemental opposites like Sokka and Azula, and Katara and Zuko, getting together.
Martial Arts Do Not Work That Way: There are a few hand positions traced from stills of the show that somehow make it into the comic. Other than that, none of the "bending" pictured in the comic looks even remotely like the complex forms depicted in the cartoon - mostly because the characters hardly ever move.
Melodrama
Mix-and-Match Critters: One page has a badly photoshopped duckturtle, and it is hilarious.
Modesty Bedsheet: Both varieties are used: the L-shaped sheet one later love scene with Zuko and Katara, and the traditional invokation with Toph just before the Taang love scene.
Moral Dissonance: Zuko impregnates a fifteen-year-old girl, carries on a love affair with her after he marries his childhood sweetheart, then slaps and verbally abuses his wife when she dares to get upset. Yet he's presented unerringly as a hero.
Moral Myopia: Zuko quickly declares Mai's heart darker than either his father Phoenix King "Burn the World" Ozai, or his sister Princess "Rule through fear" Azula. Her crime? Not telling Zuko that Katara was pregnant with his child. This is portrayed as a horrible thing, even though Katara herself decided that for the good of the world Zuko must never know. (See Idiot Ball for how Mai, and ultimately Zuko find out anyway) When Mai tries the same logic, she's declared selfish.
- Later, she kills Mai in a painful manner. Although it was in the heat of battle, which would be an acceptable excuse, Katara explains that it's because Mai poisoned her to cause her to miscarry. While the anger within Katara is understandable, the Moral Myopia comes from the fact that Sokka tells her that it was a heroic thing to do.
Murder the Hypotenuse: Mai attempts this. Katara achieves it.
Negated Moment of Awesome: Azula appears to have regained her bending powers, but then gets hit in the chest by a knife Mai throws.
Not-So-Omniscient Council of Bickering: One which bickers relentlessly over whether or not to let Katara marry Zuko. Aang sits in on the meeting and silently prays for death.
Obligatory Swearing: Quite a bit of it, which is especially jarring considering that it's based off of a children's show.
Off Model: Not simply compared to the original character models, but heavily applies by simply comparing different shots of the same characters. In fact, the title page demonstrates the recurring issue of Katara's skin tone varying wildly from page to page.
Only Six Faces: It's particularly obvious in the Babies Ever After epilogue, where the five children all have the exact same face.
Pay Evil unto Evil: So your romantic rival's killed your unborn child-now what do you do? If you're Katara, you kill them in the most horrific manner possible.
Power Glows: Aang's tattoos glow avatar-state style while having sex with Toph.
The Power of Love: Used to the point of the ridiculous. Azula's love for Sokka allows her to completely regain her lightning bending, Sokka and Azula's Intimate Healing, and how Sokka is able to bring Azula back from the Spirit World.
Pretty in Mink: Azula's final dress exudes this.
Princess Classic: Both Azula (Badass Princess) and Katara (The Chief's Daughter at best) get "upgraded" into something vaguely reminiscent of Snow White.
Princess In Rags: According to the backstory, Azula was banished from the Fire Nation after Aang took away her lightning bending. Her first appearance has her poisoned and bleeding in a back alley, wearing only a tattered "ninja outfit." Sho later reveals that she got into such terrible shape because she tried to get a seat in the new Fire Nation Senate by blackmailing Mai about Zuko and Katara's child, and Mai decided to shut her up instead of caving.
Princesses Prefer Pink: Oh, man, Azula. One dress she wears isn't quite pink, more of a salmon or peachy color. But, given that her usual regalia is the deep red armor of the Fire Nation, the difference is still quite striking.
Protagonist-Centered Morality
Psycho Ex-Girlfriend: What Mai was supposed to be, although she ended up being one of the more sympathetic characters.
Psycho for Hire: Sho, though he doesn't charge Mai for his services as a favor to her, is stated to be a well-accomplished (and rather sadistic) bounty hunter.
Psychotic Smirk: Sho wears one of these all the time, save for a few brief moments when Toph is kicking his ass. Limited expression must run in the family.
Put on a Bus: Suki.
- Or was she? Look at the maids' faces.
Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: Azula and Toph. As if they needed yet another character trait Xeroxed from Snow White.
"The Reason You Suck" Speech: Zuko and Mai exchange them after he discovers her letters, each accusing the other of selfishness and disregard for the Fire Nation.
Recycled Soundtrack: During Katara and Zuko's conversation on the balcony, Katara very blatantly rips off "What Hurts the Most" by Rascal Flatts.
- Even more blatantly, while Zuko is pining for Katara in the first chapter, part of his inner dialogue contains lyrics straight out of "My Immortal" by Evanescence.
- Aang lands on Toph's balcony, offers to take her flying, and asks "Do you trust me?" There aren't any lyrics written, but you can practically hear "A Whole New World" in the background.
Redemption Equals Sex
Redemption in the Rain
Remember the New Guy: We're supposed to believe that Sho has been around since the beginning, since there's no explanation on how he can be Mai's older brother when she's said in canon to be the eldest child in her family. Tom-Tom could have not be given a Plot-Relevant Age-Up and a name change, could he?
Replacement Goldfish: Azula becomes a veritable clone of Princess Yue in the end. Zuko and Katara name their new son Kuzon, after the baby Katara lost in the beginning. But, of course, both goldfish are perfectly happy with this arrangement, so there is none of the emotional baggage usually associated with this trope.
Rescue Romance: Sokka and Azula
Rouge Angles of Satin: You know you're in for a migraine when the word "beauty" is misspelled on the friggin' cover.
Say My Name: "ZUKO!!" "KATARA!!!"
Scenery Porn: Yes, the backgrounds are mostly stolen photographs with traced art Photoshopped on top of them. At least they're pretty stolen photographs with traced art Photoshopped on top of them.
Schedule Slip: Averted. One thing that can be said for Ms. Diaz is that she did update consistently and frequently, and even more surprisingly, finished the comic.
Screw the Rules, I Make Them!: After listening to his Senate Subcommittee bicker over whether a marriage to Katara would be harmful or not, Zuko gets fed up. He reminds them just who instituted the Senate after the war (I AM THE SENATE, anyone?) and dismisses the meeting.
Self Insert Fic: Katara looks an awful lot like Ms. Diaz herself, who has also claimed that the events in the story are based on things that actually happened to her.
- So it's almost like My Inner Life or My Immortal then?
- "Almost?" Compare this with this self-portrait Diaz drew.
- Not to mention the fact that her DA name is "waterbender196."
Sequel Hook: Sho is still at large.
- The sudden disappearance of Mai's mangled body might also count as a retroactive Sequel Hook.
Sex Equals Love: Zuko/Katara, Sokka/Azula. Aang and Toph just barely subvert this, since they become engaged before their sex scene.
Shirtless Scene: Zuko, Sokka, and Aang all get at least one. Sho does not, despite the fact that he's just as good-looking as the others, because he'd be too sympathetic if he were sexy as well as cool. It's not working.
Shoulders of Doom: Sho's shoulders are not armor. And he has the muscles to fill them out, too. YUM.
Siblings in Crime: Mai and Sho.
Sparkling Stream of Tears
Spin Offspring: The whole point of Rise of the Agni Army
Star-Crossed Lovers: Zuko and Katara at the beginning of the comic.
Such A Lovely Noun: Sho does this when he's taunting Sokka.
Sword Pointing: Sokka does this to Azula and later to Sho. In his defence, he was merely anticipating an attack in both cases. Not that he would have been able to stop either opponent with that ridiculous position if they did attack him.
- Sho also does this, simply because he's cool.
Tampering with Food and Drink: Mai sends Katara a poisoned fruit basket.
Tears of Blood: Mai, after being bloodbended.
The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: Or, rather, the royals who don't do anything:
- Zuko whiles away his time pining for Katara in the Fire Nation, leaves his wife, then spends at least eight months doing nothing but lounging at Toph's estate with his new girlfriend. It's not until he's Hauled Before A Senate Subcommittee that we actually see him doing his job.
- Sokka and Katara are supposedly Prince of the Northern Water Tribe and Princess of the Southern Water Tribe by now. We never see them carrying out any duties pertaining to this, aside from attending a ball in Katara's honor.
- Aang is the leader of a Hidden Elf Village of surviving Air Nomads. He deserts them pretty early in the story, and never returns; in the sequel, he lives with Toph in "Bong" Sing Se.
- Toph is a high-ranking Earth noblewoman...which apparently means that she's Katara's head housekeeper at a splendid estate in the countryside.
- Iroh apparently does nothing but get wasted once with the kids, drink tea, and play Pai Sho. And it's not an act of Obfuscating Stupidity, either, like it was in the show.
- Azula, at least, has the excuse that she's been stripped of her title, cast out of her country, and is now suffering from Easy Amnesia on top of that. It still doesn't make it less painful to watch her giggle like a helpless teenager.
They Call Me Mister Tibbs: Zuko demands that Mai address him as "Fire Lord," then beats her in the scene when he confronts her over Katara's letters.
Those Two Bad Guys: Mai and Sho in the fourth chapter.
Transplanted Character Fic: It's rather a (western) fantasy/romance comic than an Avatar fanfic.
Unsound Effect: Of a rather painful variety with sound effects such as "heart beating faster" and "servants leave the room."
Unwitting Instigator of Doom - Sokka; by accidentally sending the letter out to the Fire Nation, he informs Mai of Katara's pregnancy.
Vapor Wear: Toph - Toph, of all people - wears a flimsy nightgown at one point. And it's painfully obvious that she has nothing on under it.
Villain Teleportation: Sho can do it.
Visual Innuendo: It's chock full of phallic symbolism if you look carefully enough. There are candles in the Zutara sex scene which presumably flicker under Zuko's influence. The rain serves a similar function in the Sokkla sex scene, even though Sokka's not a bender. The Taang scene...is weird, but there. And, of course, Sokka wants to take Azula to see the cherry blossoms.
Wall Bang Her: Sokka and Azula.
Wall of Text: Holy damn, the textboxes are cramped at times.
Wet Sari Scene: Azula's dress gets soaked during a sudden rainstorm. Mercifully, there's not all that much to see.
Wham Line
Mai: You see all those years ago, when I got to your letter, something had to be done. You where not sick... like I wanted everyone to believe... I had made something just for you to eat so that little problem would go away... and yes, I took pleaser in doing it...
What Happened to the Mouse?: After Mai is murdered, she is never seen again in the comic. You'd think that a dead body with blood leaking out of its eyes and mouth would at least have been featured in the background, but no.
- Appa gets a few moments like this, especially when Zuko and Aang land on the Earth Kingdom ship in Chapter Five. The Wall of Text discussion with Toph that gets rehashed ad nauseam with Sokka later? Pictured in great detail (metaphorically speaking). The ten-ton flying bison-thing that flew to the ship, had to land on the ship, and was possibly throwing off the ship's balance while this discussion is going on? Not even a glimpse of him.
- Toward the end, Mai asks Sho if he had coated her knives with poison as she requested, and Sho says yes. This was just a ploy to confirm that Mai was responsible for Azula's Easy Amnesia, and the poison is never mentioned again. Ever. And then Sho comes right out and says that Mai had poisoned Azula, so that little tidbit becomes meaningless.
- Ursa makes a total of two appearences, then disappears after Azula gets stabbed.
- The new temple of Air Nomads - potential plot for a good Hidden Elf Village story arc, or throw-away backstory that unceremoniously and callously throws all of Aang's Last of His Kind troubles into the trash heap?
- The Water Tribes are reorganized into a hereditary monarchy. No, seriously, both tribes are now under the command of King Pakku and Queen Kanna, with Prince Sokka and Princess Katara in the wings as joint heirs-apparent. When did this happen? Why did this happen? How did the people react to this huge overhaul of their national culture? Alas, no answers are given.
- Toph's parents died in the war.
- And, to quote King Bumi, where's Momo?
White-Haired Pretty Girl: Azula, in the end, after the Moon Spirit heals her from a mortal wound. The hair color is also passed on to her unborn child.
Why Couldn't You Be Different?: A scene in Chapter 4, which was meant to be a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming, but comes off as a retroactive example of this trope. After nearly a year at Toph's estate, Azula meets Zuko and Ursa. The two proceed to monologue about how much better Azula is now than she was when she actually had a personality. The canon Azula's claim that her family never loved her for who she was actually looks more feasible in this light.
- That's just... depressing.
Winter Royal Lady: Azula. Blue dress, white fur trim, white hair, the works.
World of Buxom: Every single female character old enough to have breasts has really, really big breasts. Except for Mai...because, you know, she's evil.
Yandere: Mai, supposedly.
You Might Remember Me From: Some of the copy-pasted images quite obviously come from the Bleach anime. Readers might be jarred a little to see Prince Zuko suddenly become Ichigo with a dye job and a burned-up face.
"You Never Did That For Me"
Mai: Even when I was married to (Zuko) he never got me flowers.