UGH

Zuko lost that fight, technically speaking. He took a hit for Katara and wasn’t able to defeat Azula within the bounds of the Agni Kai. He got knocked out and would have died if not for Katara. You could make the argument that Azula defeated her brother here but

She didn’t win.

It’s tempting to write fight scenes as a contest of might where characters try and deplete each other’s imaginary health meters until one of them comes out on top but the most interesting fight scenes, to me, are ones where there is more at stake. Where fighting is a method to resolve a dispute of ideologies rather than a contest of physical brawn. 

This was a fight for the soul of the Fire Nation and even though Zuko ended up flat on his ass, electrocuted, with a second scar from a family member for his troubles

This is where Zuko won. 

This is where the Fire Lord sacrificed himself for a waterbender and member of an “enemy” nation. This is where he wrested the soul of his country away from a century of imperialist rule. 

Yeah, Azula got him with her fifth level Lightning Bolt spell; big whoop. She won the Agni Kai but when has an Agni Kai ever meant anything? 

From Season 1, the Agni Kai has been shown to be a futile dick-measuring contest between firebenders. Ozai “won” the Agni Kai with his son, but defeating a defenseless child is not a victory worth winning. Likewise, Azula’s defeat of Zuko here was the end of their Agni Kai but it doesn’t matter. 

Zuko doesn’t need to beat Azula to win. 

If this was a video game, this would have been the end of Zuko, but it’s not. It’s the moment where Zuko wrests control of the Fire Nation’s destiny away from his father and sister and reunites it with a whole and peaceful world by intentionally losing to protect a friend. 

The Fire Nation fell when Azula knocked Zuko out. It rose again when Katara brought him back to life. 

Adults: you’re just not trying hard enough

Made a profile on Indeed.

Crammed that fucker with every damn skill and job I have ever had. That time I ran roller-coasters for a month? On there. “Property Managing” my mother’s rental for six months because she was too lazy to drive over? On there. ALSO. If you are skilled in, say, Photoshop, don’t JUST put Photoshop as a skill. Also put Adobe Suite, Adobe Photoshop, etc. Put every possible term for your skill under the skills. Google skill lists and start slapping them in there if you have even a tiny bit of skill in them.

Downloaded the Indeed app on my phone.

Set up a saved search to show me all full-time jobs paying $15 or more per hour in my area, and set it to only show jobs with instant apply. I did not narrow it down by field or anything else. Just full-time, my area, $15/hr.

Wrote up a three sentenceish generic cover letter that was basically “I am good at customer service, client management, and handling the variety of tasks this job will involve. I will be available on X date and would love to speak to you about this position at your company.” But slightly more professionally put.

Just fucking clicked apply on everything. Anything that sounded like something I’d be willing and probably able to do. Like, I wasn’t applying to mechanic jobs or anything. But front-desk at a mechanic shop? Sure. Towing dispatcher? Sure. Print shop coordinator for some fancy real estate agency? Sure.

The beauty of Indeed’s mobile/quick apply is that once you’ve set up your profile on there clicking apply is literally all you have to do for about 75% of the quick apply jobs. Some will have a couple additional questions like how long you’ve done certain things, or when you’re available to start. Some have random fun questions like your favorite superhero (usually startups). You click that button and off your resume goes.

I spent about an hour every day doing this, submitted several hundred applications in the process, and heard back from…maybe 20. Got an interview at 4 or 5. Got hired at an insurance company that pays RIDICULOUSLY WELL. Took about a month.

Do I want to sell in insurance? Not particularly. But this job will support me, my art, my ability to buy a house, and PROVIDE RESIDUAL INCOME ONCE I RETIRE. Which. If I play my cards right I could do in as little as ten years.

Your mileage may vary with this technique, but given the way job hunting is set up now carpet bombing an application site like Indeed is always worth a shot. I will note that when I came across a job I thought sounded extra interesting and more in line with the fields I wanted to be in I’d save the application instead of applying, then take the time that night to put together a better full application.

There are 3 main types, but from my research, this looks to be American Gregg Shorthand.

As you can see, there are set symbols for every letter.

Let’s break one of the words down:

Using the Gregg Alphabet as reference, we can see most of the letters in “atrophied” are present. But why no “o” vowel, and why is “ph” written as “f”?

Simple. In shorthand, you cut out all vowels in a word when writing it down, with the exception of words that BEGIN or END with a vowel (hence the “a” at the start being present), or like in the “i” in “atrophied”, to make it more readable when the sound could be harder to distinguish if it isn’t written. In “atrophied” if the the “i” isn’t written, it could be hard to tell if the writer meant a “fud”, “fad”, “fod” or “fid” sound, for example.

Also, since Shorthand is a phonetic writing system, you are encouraged to write down the phonetic sounds of words rather than the actual letter blends - in this case, write an “f” instead of a “ph”.

So in actuality, these aren’t just meaningless scribbles - it’s Gregg Shorthand, a writing system developed to take down notes more quickly than when written out in full, which is very useful in a medical or journalistic environment.

Some people can even write over 100 words in a minute! And, it’s been in use since John Robert Gregg invented it in 1888! Wow! So old!