you're so beautiful when you hate the world

Their social standing took a considerable blow, so their family moved to the country (Michi's village, in this case). During this period, Mai found a way to secretly earn income by writing erotica.

A few years later, they were back in the capital for the season, because Tom-Tom will have to eventually start attending the Royal Academy so they're easing him into the move—and because Michi was (not subtly) hoping to marry Mai off.

hi, anon! now as cliché as this sounds, I'd say to be cringe is to be free lol

at the end of the day, we're writing fanfiction—so we really shouldn't beat ourselves up over sounding awkward or cringe.

as for writing Mai properly... I don't claim whatsoever that I have her characterization nailed down perfectly, because her voice IS pretty tricky to write... what I personally do is I rewatch her scenes (conveniently, the ATLA official channel on YouTube has compilations) then I try to see if I can imagine her saying what I wrote.

this ask was sent last year... anon I'm so sorry 😭

I'm honored that you think I'm skilled enough to give advice, but I really am the type to just figure things out as I go :")

If me sharing my process is able to help you in any way, here's what I usually do when I get a rough idea.

I divide the fic in sections. For each section / scene, I list down the things I want to happen. It's important for me to spell things out as simple as possible. When you have a clear guide, the prose will follow eventually. For example, here's a breakdown of a scene from my most recent fic while I was still writing the draft.

Michi and Mai confrontation - Michi complains that she found out about Mai's pregnancy from a parent at the academy - Mai responds with sarcasm - Michi says that having a firebender son is important - Mai dismisses her - Michi gets the final line - Zuko enters the room a few minutes later and comforts Mai

Now, I have an outline of how I want this to turn out! While outlining, you can more or less start imagining the lines. Let's use the same scene.

Michi: You may be the Fire Lady, but you are still my daughter. Did I really have to find out this way? From a parent at the academy? Mai: Splendid weather we are having. Michi: You probably feel that you’re above taking advice from your poor old mother, but I know how these nobles think, Mai. I’m worried about you. If this child is not a firebender, both of you will never hear the end of it.