It's So Fragile

i still can't get over the sheer AUDACITY of iroh going to ba sing se. like did it work? yes. but ONLY because the dai li was too busy following around some bald kid looking for his dog to notice him

like i cannot emphasize enough how fucking stupid this plan was. the siege of ba sing se ended 5 years ago. people know what iroh looks like, to the point where he once got recognized by a random army captain at a hot spring and almost got his hands broken about it. and yet he rolls up to a city that has a vested interest in recognizing him and secret police force with zuko. zuko. like i could buy that no normal citizen would look at their tea shop guy and assume he was secretly an evil general, okay. but it's one thing to just be Mushi from the Tea Shop With an Unfortunate Resemblance to General Iroh, and another fucking thing entirely when Lee the Tea Server Who Looks Weirdly Similar to Prince Zuko is standing right next to him literally twenty-four seven!! like at least get different jobs hello????

every decision iroh makes is the decision of a man fully prepared to commit to the bit. will this succeed? who knows. but it will be very funny if i pull it off