6 Year Old Me: Order Does Not Compute. *Proceeds To Eat Entire Slabs Of Butter For MULTIPLE YEAR*

6 year old me: Order does not compute. *Proceeds to eat entire slabs of butter for MULTIPLE YEAR*

September in a small neighbourhood

Windchimes tinkling in the silent courtyard

A veranda swept with crackling yellow leaves

Sweltering sunshine and chilling shadows

Apples crisping up day by day

Harsingar blossoms dotting the horizon

And a hint of winter in the air

Birthday parties in the evenings and poojas in the mornings

Skirts and kurtis, sarees for cocktail parties

Glittering markets and the silent streets

School uniforms scattered around the house

Iced tea by the gallons while hot chocolate brews

The year is about to end, December is still far away

Long walks and coffee breaks

Rooftop gatherings with soft lulls of the city giving company

A pause, a comma, a chasm of nothingness

The tickle of rustling leaves,

The groans and moans of a test gone wrong

Ice cream trips at night when the entire world is getting ready to sleep

Solitude and heartbreak, but joy and belonging too

How strange is September yet how familiar

Not the unending liveliness of Summer

Nor the bright hope of Spring

Nor the dark warmth of Winter

But a comfort, a moment of peace

Saying that maybe it's time to just relax

And drift away

For now that's enough.

I have the mental fortitude of wet ravioli

Help

Everyone around me is ill

Different doses, different pills

Someone's a little loopy, the other is always sleepy

Their brains are mean to them at night

One's constantly screaming inside.

Someone's eyes are shattered shards

The other is just a one sided glass

Different ailments, different pills

My friends see too much, know too much

My friends are clueless and in need of help

So many untangling threads

Dangling and fraying, knitting and twisting

Into a tapestry that bleeds youth and innocence

Please inform their next of kins.

The kids are not alright

Everything is not fine

Their sins are not gentle, their reprieves are non existent

Someone please help them, they're still just kids

Their quips are edged with desparate pleas

Who hurt you?

No one, they smile and hide

All evidences, buried and sealed

The blade that sticks out of the medicine cabinet wasn't there before

Concealer has gone missing from mother's makeup drawer

The kids are definitely not alright.

Someone's shirt is buttoned up too high, too tight

They look down from the roof, contemplating,

Jump? And isn't that just devastating

Someone look at the kids

Anyone

Please just check, if they are alright?

So i just finished watching the firebending masters and tho I've this series a lot of times ( enough that I could recall from memory the exact ep no and title despite not having seen it in the past two years) this time I saw from a more of a let's say storyteller's lense. Immediately you see that Zuko and aang have undergrown massive change ( this is pretty clear in prev eps as well esp the day of the black sun but it's even more clear here) the former particularly in his interactions and perceptions about himself and the Avatar.

The first clue was when aang is scared to try out firebending and instead of gently encouraging him ( like Katara would) or making him do it anyway( toph) Zuko agrees to aang's request for a demonstration fully trusting that aang would know how he learns best. It is also really interesting that aang is not particularly bad at firebending not is it particularly difficult for him to learn like earthbending was, it's just trauma that is preventing him from even trying it out and by the end of the episode that trauma is addressed and he is able to work past his fears (in a way it is similar to opening a hidden charkra)

Second is how aware Zuko is in his identity as the heir to the fire nation throne, more than ever. And it's not just a bragging or arrogant kind of thing, he is now fully aware of the duties and burdens he carries and has accepted them. When he shows respect to the sun warriors asking for forgiveness for what his nation has done to their culture and when he reflects upon his own firebending you can see how much his uncle has influenced him. Additionally he trusts aang pretty much throughout the episode going along when aang asks him to dance (twice) and telling him that he believes in aang ( 'you're a talented kid'). This is not blind trust, Zuko of all people is fully aware of what the Avatar and more importantly aang as a person is capable of doing.

Apart from this, this episode also has the famous jerk-bending scene, 'think about our place in the universe?' (which is definitely a line iroh has used he and Zuko got into trouble i just know it) Zuko being a goth theatre icon, and just reflections about cultural processes and heritage.