Lovely. You realize that you've made me actually watch Avatar? Grins. It's lovely too.

You write Azula so well!

This was rather interesting; you successfully applied larger scale strategy into the world of Avatar. In all honesty, I assumed at the end of the second season that the Ba Sing Se was distinctly Fire Nation; I had not thought that keeping Ba Sing Se under control would've required more effort.

I like how Azula is shown for her brains now rather than her attitude and combat prowress, although a bit more in those aspects would've helped the atmosphere of the story. The story seemed more like reading a detailed history book than anything else.

I liked the concept of dividing and confusing the people, and managing to even coerce the influential ones into aiding Azula through the use of the confusion. Separation of family members through the new walls was a nice touch as well.

I read through this rather quickly so there's a good chance that I missed or misinterpreted things. Here's a few things that caught my attention:
1) Why send Ty Lee to deliver a message by mouth? Wouldn't it have been better to simply send a letter?
2) Why couldn't the rebellious leaders be executed in the Earth Kingdom? What's the big difference really?
3) What happened to the soldiers that were sent to the upper/middle rings and not allowed out?
4) What was the point of the balloons at the end in terms of maintaining Ba Sing Se in Fire Nation control? They did give a huge display of power as the Fire Nation now controlled the air, but air has never been a good method of occupation; you need ground forces for that, which were apparently still grounded.
5) Overall, my biggest gripe is that the plan executed far too smoothly. Even the best laid plans will run into snags once in a while; I would've liked to see Azula react and adapt to such a situation.

This was a truly entertaining read and a vastly different outlook on the Avatar universe. I'm a personal fan of the types of stories that center on the antagonist utilizing their smarts to gain power. If you're into anime, I'd recommend Death Note and Code Geass, both unfinished, as they're along the same veins.

Bravo. Well done.

This is so blindingly amazing, I've enjoyed every moment of it.

Interesting and well written, I don't get to read enough Azula, are you going to continue this story perchance? It would be quite a highlight if you did.
Later:]

Scary and far more interesting than the finale itself.

Fantastic.


-Stan