>(I haven't even done a commentary sweep of the Etude, dammit. And I
>still need to get back to you on G&H. You're killing me here,
>Hutchins. This is how you get your sick kicks, isn't it?)

What, like I knew that.

Anyway, be cool, it's not going anywhere. That's the beauty of this web-based system. It doesn't have to happen in real time. :)

>I still say that Azula is exactly arrogant enough to name her flagship
>the Sozin's Comet, although I suppose a patrol
>vessel/Q-ship/light raider/etc. multi-purpose small craft isn't
>exactly grand enough for that purpose.

As far as she knows at this point, that would mean something to exactly one person in the universe, herself. She's not a solipsist, for pity's sake. :)

>So I'll just assume she's holding that name in reserve until such time
>as she gets her hands on something with real city-slagging power on
>it. :)

Or go with that. That works too.

>I'm assuming that the stellar cartography part of that skillset is due
>to the fact that she still hasn't given up on finding out that her
>homeworld really does exist somewhere and she's not just a crazy lady
>who had a very vivid fever dream while Vandal was stuffing her into a
>tube?

Well, quite. Although of late it's become sort of a "and while you're at it, keep this tab open" thing. Even for Azula, it's difficult to maintain that level of intensity for more than 50 years of not finding anything. She'll never give up on it entirely, though.

>I would have gone with the good old red dot. :)

I thought about it, but in its way that's even more amateurish than letting them see your scope's reflection. I mean, you don't think a guy like Boone would have a laser sight that's invisible to the naked eye?

>>"Boone hates it when I make him do that," said Azula conversationally.
>
>I really liked this passage because, even cleaned up and a marginally
>productive member of society, it pleases me that UF-Azula is still
>Azula. She's not the true slimeball that daddy and grandpa
>were, but she still has her moments when she's really quite violent
>and more than a bit evil.

I don't think "evil" is the right word there, but she's certainly still capable of cruelty; it's just that she's gotten much better at intuiting where it should be directed. Regardless, I agree inasmuch as it's fun to give her opportunities, every now and then, to let that conqueror gene go to work a bit. She probably does it more for sport than because she feels it's some kind of cosmic destiny, nowadays.

>I'm going to assert as a reader that that threat is almost entirely
>empty. The universe does not always justly dispose with the dead (see
>Kiryuu, Nanami for exhibit A) but Azula, I think, does not qualify for
>a trip to the Pit upon getting slotted. Given Valhalla's very loose
>entrance requirements I would say she has a pretty good chance of
>ending up there, probably to Katara's immense disgust.

Well, broadly speaking, and were things left to take their ordinary course, that's probably so. However, from S4M5 Requiem for a Lensman:

	"Wait a second," said Kozue, holding up a hand with a
thoughtful expression.  Then she hesitated.  "... OK... I don't want
to seem insensitive here, but... uh... look, if Kei was dead, wouldn't
you guys know it?  I mean, you're the Valkyrie."
	"We would know if she came to Valhalla," said Vigdis.
	"Oh, come on," Kozue protested.  "Where else is a woman like
that going to go?"
	"That... would depend on what killed her," Corwin said slowly.
 He turned to look her in the eyes and said, quietly and seriously,
"It's all... not as simple as that."
	"But we -haven't- seen her, and Teleute and Forseti haven't
either," Vigdis confirmed, "so... there -is- hope.  But I don't want
to give you too much of it.  She had... has... very powerful enemies.
Everyone who was at the Ragnarok has."
	"Powerful enough to interfere with the natural order of
death?" Kozue asked.
	"Yes," Corwin and Vigdis replied as one.
	"... wow," said Kozue softly.

>Also, nice punchy reveal. I must admit, I had a reflexive skepticism
>to Ozai rising that high in Surtur's court. The man always
>struck me as an indifferent ruler and plotter at best, operating on a
>kiss up/kick down principle beloved by so many middle managers.

Indifferent as a ruler and plotter, yes, but then, he's not ruling or plotting in his present job; he's Surtur's Minister for War - and operating the Fire Nation's perpetual war footing, independent of the rest of its political and social machinery, is something he must have been particularly good at, because, well, look at the size of the goddamn army he just barely lost the war with.

That kind of thing gets Surtur's attention. Plus, you know, the whole "fire" thing. And the whole "refined his forefathers' system of worldwide misery until it was practically art, if you're into that sort of shit, and Surtur is" thing.

>>Then, narrowing her eyes again, she laughed lightly and said, "I once
>>told Father that I'd see him in Hell. Under the circumstances,
>>though, I think that's a promise I had best break."
>
>I'm guessing in the context of UF, this exchange occurred during the
>off-screen conversation that took place between Azula and Ozai in
>The Search?

Or some effective equivalent, yes.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.