Still watching Avatar.

[conuly]

Zuko was getting better, and now he's worse again. I want to shake him - why are you chasing after your dad? He should be on his knees begging your forgiveness, and you should listen more to your uncle, who actually gives a rat's ass about you!

Sigh. Also, rewatched that episode where Katara goes to the prison ship because reasons, and gives a lot of inspirational speeches without doing proper groundwork first or even taking the time to effectively scope out the situation, and in retrospect I think the Fire Nation soldier who accused the lemur of earthbending wasn't a damn fool, he was trying to protect this dumbass kid from the consequences of showing off her earthbending directly in front of a squad of enemy soldiers. To no avail, but you can't blame him for that.

Comments

[alexseanchai]

now you mention it, that is an excellent and entirely plausible interpretation of the lemur-accusing soldier's motivations

[conuly]

It makes more sense than the face value approach.

[gingicat]

I do need to do an Avatar rewatch myself!

[conuly]

I'm enjoying it for the first time, but Jenn has been dropping in and out so that's why I already rewatched an ep.

[affreca]

What I like about Avatar is that both are reasonable understandings of that scene.

[conuly]

:D

[greghousesgf]

that's such a good cartoon!

[conuly]

YES.

[brokenallbroken]

I like when teenagers are written realistically.

[conuly]

Yes, but we're all of the agreement that Katara's treatment of Aang is somewhat unhealthy. We keep telling her and telling her, stop trying to mediate for him! Stop interceding! Let him manage his own issues with other people! It wouldn't be appropriate if he was her much younger kid brother, and he's just about her age already.

It was most blatant when Toph started training him, but it's constant and ongoing and not a thing she should do.

Edit: but I feel strongly about this - more so even than the rest of my family, I think - for Reasons.

[brokenallbroken]

[nods] Absolutely.

Katara and Hermione would kill each other, because they are too much alike.

[mindstalk]

She's 14, he's 12, that can be a big difference, especially with boy/girl maturation rates.

[conuly]

She still shouldn't be treating him like she's his mom and he's six. If nothing else, she should at least wait until he asks for help before jumping in and trying to tell other people how to talk to him.

[archangelbeth]

I think she's too used to micromanaging Sokka...

[conuly]

Lovely icon is lovely.

Also, I don't see her treating Sokka the same way. It's a very her and Aang thing and I think maybe the writers were going for it as a sign of her feelings but it just is not a healthy basis for a relationship. (With anybody, not just romantically.)

[archangelbeth]

Hmmm.

I think they may've been intending it as... Katara is bossy? (Possibly from having to grow up "too fast" when her mother died...) Sokka is used to her trying to micromanage him (and/or she feels she should've done it more), and ignored her into stopping?

I think she grows out of it, mostly? Eventually.

[conuly]

I don't know how they intended it, but she doesn't do this to Sokka or Toph, and you'd think Toph would be the natural target (and would shut this down fast) with the blindness and all. And I think we'd also expect her to be bossy to them, individually and collectively, but instead it's going around telling people "Oh, he didn't mean that" or "You should have said this to him in this way instead of that way" and, my personal favorite, "Toph, don't teach him the way that makes sense to you, use more positive reinforcement!" which, to Toph's credit, she completely freaking ignores.

If she did that all the time about everybody - "Don't mind her, she's got personal issues!" and "I'm sure my brother didn't mean anything by it" then it'd still be a bad idea but at least it'd be consistent.

[archangelbeth]

Hmmm. Yeah, that is interestingly possessive. I wonder if she's feeling possessive since, well, she hatched him. >_>

(Toph is a delight.)

[conuly]

(Toph is a delight.)

Yes, though "blind character who is effectively sighted" is not really a win for disability representation, even in the 90s.

Edit: Sorry, as usual I express my enjoyment of a thing by nitpicking it. I don't know why I do this, but I do know that this is why it irritates me when people say dumbass things like "It's just a show!" or "Don't read it if you don't like it!" or "It's for fun, stop taking it so seriously!"

This is how I have fun, thanks!

Edit edit: Not that you did that or I thought you were thinking it or didn't understand it.

[archangelbeth]

Not a win, no, but at least they do remember that she's mostly illiterate, and don't have her Detect The Paint Strokes With Her Delicate Fingertips.

Re edits: *giggles* I usually Have Fun with stuff by fixfic. Like, I know what the Doylistic explanation is. LET ME SEE IF I CAN MAKE A WATSONIAN ONE!

[conuly]

Happily, she lives in a society where, although literacy appears to be widespread, the inability to read doesn't pose any real barriers to her. So....

I usually Have Fun with stuff by fixfic. Like, I know what the Doylistic explanation is. LET ME SEE IF I CAN MAKE A WATSONIAN ONE!

My fic stays in my mind, because it's 10000% blatant self-insert Mary Sues. I make no apologies for this, but I don't expect anybody else to enjoy reading it.

But yours sounds fun to write AND read!

[archangelbeth]

There's a few places which... I don't know if you've seen yet? Where Toph has inconveniences. (Edit: But yeah, she doesn't have a deep yearning for books, and doesn't need to seek them out.)

My Star Wars Most Recent Fics, Have I Shown You Them? ^_^
(I think I'm most proud of https://archiveofourown.org/works/22232863 -- which may only make sense when one knows the SWTOR MMO plotlines, and yet.)

[conuly]

I have actually not seen ANY of the new movies. I know, I know!

[archangelbeth]

OH NO! ;_;

Okay, ignore the spoilerific SW ficlets. >_>

[grav_ity]

I love Katara's growth as a character from I HAVE IDEALS!!! to I ALSO HAVE A PLAN!!! If a 12yo got that sort of thing right on the first try, I would have several follow up questions.

Ugh, ZuZu.

[conuly]

1. Fair enough.

2. You know, in my actual life, mostly online, I spend a lot of time saying to people things like "You have no obligations towards people who hurt you" and "Sure, your mom literally squeezed you out of her body, but what's she done for you lately?" and "If your dad wanted you to hold his hand while he died, he really should've tried being there when you were a kid" and likewise. I think my words of wisdom for Zuko are "You can't get hot dogs from a taco joint, so stop wasting your time."

[silveradept]

Zuko really does need to listen to his uncle more. Things go better for him when he does.

[andrewducker]

One of the things I love about Avatar is watching people learn how to be better. And it not always going well, or in the right direction, is a big part of that.

[conuly]

Agreed, and I'm not even done yet :)