loopy777

[loopy777]

Favorite joke from the Wind Waker Gag manga?

Personally, the shield never fails to gets me to smile whenecer i reread it.

I had to refresh myself to do a pick, but this one captures something I've done far too often in any video game with a zoom:

As they say, it's funny because it's true.

[loopy777]

Shitty things about being isekaied #34; every time I use the restroom I automatically reach for my phone I left in my jacket pocket back on earth, and my hand goes exactly where I keep my knives on my belt, so I always walk out of the john with a fresh hand wound

[loopy777]

Swiss Cheese Mono Font by Heirloom

[loopy777]

Why do you think Zuko locked Mai in that cell in Boiling Rock? 😔

Practically speaking, it was to keep Mai from both joining the fight and preventing Zuko from joining the fight. I'd hope everyone got that much. Doors are pretty good at stuff like that. My bathroom door successfully locked someone inside for 15 minutes today and that's a flimsy thing made of wood- and now it needs a new handle.

Anyway!

This does raise the question of why Zuko felt the need to defend himself against Mai. We sadly don't get an extended look at their conversation, and I think the implication is that they say more to each other than we get to see, but clearly we get the important bits, and that paints us a picture of a Mai who, while unable to argue against Zuko's final point (as she goes sullenly silent at the end of their argument in a way I think all us Debaters on the internet fantasize about), is not accepting of them:

Mai: The truth is, I guess I don't know you. All I get is a letter? You could have at least looked me in the eye when you ripped out my heart. Zuko: I didn't mean to- Mai: You didn't mean to? [Reading the letter.] "Dear Mai, I'm sorry that you have to find out this way, but I'm leaving." Zuko: Stop! This isn't about you. This is about the Fire Nation! Mai: Thanks Zuko, that makes me feel all better. [Throws the letter at him.] Zuko: Mai, I never wanted to hurt you. But I have to do this to save my country. Mai: Save it? You're betraying your country! Zuko: That's not how I see it. [Cut back to Mai who looks away from him sulkily and folds her arms.]

Unfortunately, Zuko isn't very insightful about interpersonal dynamics and emotional connections. (But, considering his upbringing, I think we can forgive him.) Sure- Mai, at least at the Boiling Rock, doesn't come around to Zuko's point of view. I don't think she has the time to really process it, considering the mental habits that all Fire Nation citizens (especially the elite) are stuck in. It's not that she was a full-fledged supporter of the regime's imperialist agenda, but after growing up for 15 years hearing that Opposing The Agenda Is Wrong and seeing that reinforced with flaming child abuse, it can be painful to consider that the opposite is true.

But no, what Zuko doesn't get -- can't get until he sees it in action -- is that Mai loves him enough that she'll support him even if she doesn't understand what he's doing. Even when she thinks he's being foolhardy, she'll support that foolishness if his life is in danger- even if it means her own life will be in danger as well.

She never got a chance to demonstrate it before, as Azula's confrontations with Zuko in Book Earth all conveniently had Mai elsewhere, but I do think seeing Zuko in the Boiling Rock is special. He's so at peace with his decision to oppose his father and so confident that this would benefit the Fire Nation that it helps reinforce that supporting him is the right choice for her. It enables her to shed her fear, fight as her best self, and utterly destroy Azula with a single line of dialogue. A Mai who hadn't gotten a chance to confront Zuko and see his true heroic self might not have had the courage to acknowledge her equally true love for him.

And Zuko, stunned to see Mai saving his life, just isn't used to being loved. He can't even fathom that Iroh would forgive him, and Iroh is way more friendly and chill than Mai.

So, to answer your question succinctly, a combination of miscommunication, societal abuse, and parental abuse. Also, teenagers. Teenagers are always so dramatic.

[loopy777]

"why are you following a pro shipper" so I can get better at shipping? How am I supposed to improve my meta if I'm only watching amateur plays. I'm trying to hit nationals next month

[loopy777]

I just realized I didn't actually answer the question. XD Goes to show, never answer Asks while mad that you're going to miss the 20th Anniversary NYCC Panel.

As far as Zuko's feelings, I think he's pretty good at Not Thinking about things when he has a goal he can work towards. He has Aang to teach and the deadline of the Comet looming over him, so whenever his thoughts drift towards Mai, he probably just clamps down on that and tells himself, "After the comet."

However, I think there's one bright point that helps him do this: when Azula attacked the gAang at the Western Air Temple (the morning after the Boiling Rock escape), she didn't taunt him about Mai. If Mai was in some kind of a state that would cause him distress -- dead or in danger -- Azula would have probably mentioned it as part of her standard mind games. I think he can sometimes console himself with that fact, whenever he's awake at night and having trouble distracting himself.

I can also seeing him have a level of disbelief that's keeping him from really processing a reaction. This is a guy who had was made to feel like he had to fight for love, so the idea that Mai defied the Fire Nation and Azula for him even though she was mad at him and he'd tried to break up with her is probably hard for him to accept. He might wonder if he dreamed it. And he probably has no idea if this means he and Mai are in a romantic relationship again. He might even have trouble understanding this new side of Mai, one who can unleash a passion right out of a romantic epic.

He might blame himself a bit for Mai having to do such a thing, since that's again an unhealthy thing he's been taught by his upbringing, but I think having Sokka and Suki in the leadership position during the mission might help, especially since he respects them. So he might be able to acknowledge that there was nothing they could have done to keep Mai from having to intervene.

So Zuko probably just has a tough time acknowledging it all to himself, and since there's a looming deadline, he tells himself he can deal with things after. And the one time Aang or Sokka tries to talk to him about it, he blankly says he's fine and ends the conversation.

So yeah, I guess I see Zuko mostly in a low-level state of denial and confusion who is staying busy to avoid acknowledging that his girlfriend might be dead and the world's only hope is that the goofy 13-year-old with the low attention span can beat up his monster of a father.

it's too bad we didn't get to see zuko's reaction to mai getting left behind in boiling rock it feels like he accepts her sacrifice so easily without guilt or worry what's your take on his feelings surrounding the matter

Yeah, it's a huge missing emotional beat in the whole romantic subplot. But, at the same time, it's probably the least egregious missing emotional beat in AtLA's romantic subplots. Consider:

Kataang: Never clears up what Katara's "confused" feelings are about. Aang metaphorically comes of age and she's ready to date him without any kind of exploration of her own feelings and doubts, leaving her a cipher we have to project various possibilities on.

Sukka: Sokka ruins the Black Sun search of Ozai because he's so pained about wanting to rescue Suki that he lets Azula waste their time. But he never mentions Suki again, goes to the Boiling Rock to rescue his father who was captured on the Day of Black Sun, and then just gives little cartoon heart eyes when he randomly stumbles on Suki's presence in the Boiling Rock and improvises a rescue for her, too.

Maiko: Zuko doesn't acknowledge Mai's sacrifice and she seems to get out of prison without his intervention or knowledge.

So I guess Maiko is kind of lucky that it still has a fully functional plot, even if it goes a little lopsided in the end and no one has a satisfying explanation for what is going on with that prison release even the militant anti-Maiko folk XD. It feels more egregious, though, as the scene immediately following Mai's sacrifice has Zuko hesitate and look back towards the prison- only to have him deduce that Azula's presence implies an airship they can steal. Why did the storytellers think that was a thing which needed explaining, when we could have put a nice bow on the actual emotional character-based stuff going on?

I honestly think there probably was some kind of an acknowledgement of Zuko's interest in the matter scripted and maybe recorded (releases of animatics have contained additional dialogue not in the final version, so we know that's a thing the AtLA production process did, aside from it being standard practice in the industry), but it was cut for time and space. What's especially weird is that the two 'Boiling Rock' episodes don't feel like they tell a story which requires two full episodes, but at the same time they feel like they have too much going on for just one episode. There are a lot of little moments that feel like they could have been trimmed, like Ty Lee's completely unnecessary "I don't know" hum that comes a full second after Azula's "What is she doing?!" reaction to Mai's big moment, where a second or two could be shaved off to allow Zuko to at least make a sad face over Mai's unknown (to him) fate.

So I guess my take is that, yeah, the storytellers dropped the ball on that one, but Book Fire's production overall seems like it was having problems and I guess we're lucky it wasn't as bad as some other problems.

[loopy777]

it's too bad we didn't get to see zuko's reaction to mai getting left behind in boiling rock it feels like he accepts her sacrifice so easily without guilt or worry what's your take on his feelings surrounding the matter

Yeah, it's a huge missing emotional beat in the whole romantic subplot. But, at the same time, it's probably the least egregious missing emotional beat in AtLA's romantic subplots. Consider:

Kataang: Never clears up what Katara's "confused" feelings are about. Aang metaphorically comes of age and she's ready to date him without any kind of exploration of her own feelings and doubts, leaving her a cipher we have to project various possibilities on.

Sukka: Sokka ruins the Black Sun search of Ozai because he's so pained about wanting to rescue Suki that he lets Azula waste their time. But he never mentions Suki again, goes to the Boiling Rock to rescue his father who was captured on the Day of Black Sun, and then just gives little cartoon heart eyes when he randomly stumbles on Suki's presence in the Boiling Rock and improvises a rescue for her, too.

Maiko: Zuko doesn't acknowledge Mai's sacrifice and she seems to get out of prison without his intervention or knowledge.

So I guess Maiko is kind of lucky that it still has a fully functional plot, even if it goes a little lopsided in the end and no one has a satisfying explanation for what is going on with that prison release even the militant anti-Maiko folk XD. It feels more egregious, though, as the scene immediately following Mai's sacrifice has Zuko hesitate and look back towards the prison- only to have him deduce that Azula's presence implies an airship they can steal. Why did the storytellers think that was a thing which needed explaining, when we could have put a nice bow on the actual emotional character-based stuff going on?

I honestly think there probably was some kind of an acknowledgement of Zuko's interest in the matter scripted and maybe recorded (releases of animatics have contained additional dialogue not in the final version, so we know that's a thing the AtLA production process did, aside from it being standard practice in the industry), but it was cut for time and space. What's especially weird is that the two 'Boiling Rock' episodes don't feel like they tell a story which requires two full episodes, but at the same time they feel like they have too much going on for just one episode. There are a lot of little moments that feel like they could have been trimmed, like Ty Lee's completely unnecessary "I don't know" hum that comes a full second after Azula's "What is she doing?!" reaction to Mai's big moment, where a second or two could be shaved off to allow Zuko to at least make a sad face over Mai's unknown (to him) fate.

So I guess my take is that, yeah, the storytellers dropped the ball on that one, but Book Fire's production overall seems like it was having problems and I guess we're lucky it wasn't as bad as some other problems.

[loopy777]

The NYCC Avatar 20th Anniversary panel is SUNDAY.

THE DAY I DON'T HAVE A TICKET FOR.

I want to throw something I love against a wall and watch it break. Stepping away from my model kits and Transformers now.

[loopy777]

Do you ever start writing something that you’re excited about and that seems like it’s turning out well and that you’re getting eager to share, and then you start typing it up or doing an edit pass and it’s just awful it’s awful its premise is fundamentally flawed and it’s out of character and the prose is clunky and the plot is badly paced and ludicrous and the whole thing is embarrassing, how could you have done this, how could you have sunk so much time into this, you can’t even look at it, how is this that shining thing you were so excited about, how could you even have considered finishing it let alone sharing it with anyone, you’re crying, your mother is crying, nuns are spontaneously exploding in the streets,

[loopy777]

I got Nintendo Switch Online and access to FE Blazing Blade yahoo

[loopy777]

FE7 doodles pt 2! Up to the end of the tutorial.

[loopy777]

"BANZAI!"

All shot using real figures, lighting and miniature sets. My usual foil for water technique and cotton wool for the splashes were used into create the water

[loopy777]

So if yall didn’t know, in The Hobbit book, Thranduil had the Dwarves locked up for approximately weeks, and Bilbo was just invisible and wandering in the palace the entire time, vibing miserably.

My headcanon, therefore, is that the Mirkwood Elves now have a local legend about a ghost haunting Thranduil’s palace, never seen but generally thought to be harmless. Thranduil scoffs at the idea, but has been seen glancing around at the dark corners of rooms. Legolas fully believes in it and is known to say hello out loud when he enters an empty room, in case the ghost is nearby.

It’s not until Legolas joins the Fellowship that he figures out that the supposed ghost was actually an invisible Bilbo the whole time. He never tells Thranduil, because he thinks it’s funny to see his regal father unnerved by the idea of a ghost.

[loopy777]

we should make fun of americans more. why dont their shops include tax in the price tag. like how much does this item cost? its a surprise :)

[loopy777]

"There is an argument to be made about how Mai represents the Fire Nation itself and its relationship to Zuko, but that is a topic for another day." This is from your meta about mai. i keep seeing the zvtara's argument that mai is the personification of the fire nation for zuko and the false values ​​that zuko turned to when he returned to fn, and that's why maiko doesn't work and thematically zuko should have ended up with katara (his redemption era) not mai (his mistaken return to fn era). I'd be really interested to hear your thoughts about it.

The quote anon brings up is from my meta about Mai's 'radicalisation', which I posted after we got the teasers for "Ashes of the Academy".

And I think percieving Mai as the personification of "the bad side" of the Fire Nation and presenting her relationship with Zuko as him regressing in a manner of speaking is a very biased way to talk about it. Because atla has put in great effort to humanise and make us sympathise with the Fire Nation and its people. We're shown how the children of the Nation are victims of the system. We cannot place a blanket damnation onto the entire Fire Nation without damning Zuko, Iroh, Jeong Jeong and the like.

You cannot divorce Zuko's character from his care and love for the Fire Nation and its people. Even when he's a child, still indoctrinated in the Fire Nation's values, he is still extremely caring of his people, outraged when learning about the plan to use young soldiers as a distraction and aacrifice, as well as 'rescuing' Mai when she was clearly a bit nervous and uncomfortable with Azula's prank.

[Which I don't think Azula was necessarily trying to be evil here, don't get up in arms in her defence. I think it's probably very normal for children who can control fire to play dangerous games and pranks on each other. Still doesn't negate Mai's clear discomfort]

Even Zuko leaving the Fire Nation to join the Gaang is something he does to help his nation and save it. He not only recognises its wrongdoings, but also the damage it causes to its own people.

Zuko: Stop! This isn't about you. This is about the Fire Nation! Mai : Thanks Zuko, that makes me feel all better. Zuko: Mai, I never wanted to hurt you. But I have to do this to save my country. Mai : Save it? You're betraying your country! Zuko: That's not how I see it.

Now, the reason Mai is seen as the "regressive Fire Nation representative", is likely due to her involvement with Azula, as well as her passive acceptance of the Fire Nation's state. Which is kinda an unfair standard to hold her to, because Zuko straight up had to get banished to see the error of his ways.

As I outlined in the post I linked at the top of thid post, Mai has been forced to do things she didn't want to do, restricted, repressed and used to boost her father's political career. She never had a choice, or an alternative. Whatever rebellion she could concieve was shut down with guilt tripping or threats. And the fact that the boy she had a crush on got violently injured by his own father and banished from the country for speaking out probably didn't help matters.

Mai : I was a rich only child who got anything I wanted... as long as I behaved and sat still, and didn't speak unless spoken to. My mother said I had to keep out of trouble. We had my dad's political career to think about. Azula : Well, that's it, then. You have a controlling mother who had certain expectations, and if you strayed from them, you were shut down. That's why you're afraid to care about anything, and why you can't express yourself.

Much like the children in "the Headband", she hasn't been shown an alternative. Mind you, she's only like 3 years older than the children who didn't know how to dance. And, when Zuko returns, the pair seem to find solace in each other. They're both not fully happy with the lives they're being dealt in the Fire Nation, but cannot yet find an alternative. So they're hating the 💕world together💕. How romantic.

Mai : Orange is such an awful color. Zuko: You're so beautiful when you hate the world. Mai: I don't hate you. Zuko: I don't hate you too. [They kiss, but are interrupted by Azula.]

I think what I appreciate about Mai is that she doesn't know how to comfort people. And I hate that this starts getting turned into "Mai is a bad person and she doesn't love Zuko". This is an expectation particularly placed on women, for them to be automatically emotionally intelligent and exel as caretakers, especially of their male partners.

This is especially rich from the part of the fandom that sees Katara, a character well known for her empathy, so much as express care for her friends or brother and scream "emotional labour someone save this poor girl".

When I don't think it's that Mai doesn't care, it's that she's trying to help Zuko get readjusted to life in the Fire Nation with the coping mechanisms she used. Helping by distracting him, and keeping him from spiralling. It's clear that she cares, and her efforts do succeed multiple times in cheering Zuko up. He also spends a lot of time, including a night at her home when he's stressed. You can see how she is his safe place, even if she struggles to comfort him in the traditional sense.

The roughest time in Zuko and Mai's relationship is during "the Beach" when Zuko is feeling insecure about his role back in the Fire Nation, angry and restless. This affects his relationship with Mai, as he is insecure in this as well, becoming very jealous with her.

Zuko: He thinks he's so great. Well, what do you think of him? Mai: I don't have any opinion about him. I hardly know him. Zuko: You like him, don't you? [Mai sighs and walks away.]

[...]

Mai : Zuko, what is wrong with you? Zuko: What's wrong with me? Mai : Your temper is out of control. You blow up over every little thing. You're so impatient and hotheaded and angry! Zuko: Well, at least I feel something, as opposed to you. You have no passion for anything! You're just a big blah! Mai : It's over, Zuko. We're done.

I think this is another point in favour of Mai not being exactly representative of the Fire Nation's 'false values', as we see a trend of possessiveness in Fire Nation men, as well as an endorsement of settling disputes through anger and violence. Mai chastises Zuko when he engaged in these actions, clearly disapproving.

How some of y'all will still insist that the fire nation is a feminist utopia is beyond me. Anyway. Wellfare check on On-Ji. Blink twice if you need help girlie

Zuko: For so long I thought that if my dad accepted me, I'd be happy. I'm back home now, my dad talks to me. Ha! He even thinks I'm a hero. Everything should be perfect, right? I should be happy now, but I'm not. I'm angrier than ever and I don't know why!

[...]

Zuko: I'm angry at myself! [Slamming down with his clenched fists he causes the camp fire to turn into a pillar of fire, the girls recoil from the flames. Cut to close-up view from above of Zuko. Cut to a wide-view of the entire campsite as the flame dies down. Zuko turns away.] Azula: Why? Zuko: Because I'm confused. Because I'm not sure I know the difference between right and wrong anymore. Azula: You're pathetic. Mai : I know one thing I care about. I care about you.

 [They kiss.]

But once Zuko is forthright about the root of his issues, Mai reaffirms her care for him. She loves him, after all, but they're both incredibly damaged people struggling with commuinicating. Despite what people may want you to believe, Mai loves Zuko, not the Fire Prince.

Nothing proves the trust and love Mai has for Zuko than the fact that she sacrificed herself to save him and his friends. Remember, it was only due to Ty Lee's intervention that Azula didn't kill her, and Azula herself stated that Mai "knew the consequences". Essentially, Mai knowningly risks execution to save "the jerk who dumped her". This is, frankly one of my favourite moments in the show, and the reason Mai is such a special character to me. I could rant about it for ages.

Mai has, as I've pointed out in other posts, had her moments of quiet rebellion, especially in inaction. I want to reiterate that I don't think it's because she secretly dissaproves of the war effort on an ideological level. She just doesn't want to participate in it, and she's rebelling how she can, especially against Azula.

I don't think Zuko managed to convince Mai to turn on the Fire Nation during their shorty conversation. However, he showed her his sincerity and his firm belief that what he was doing was for the benefit of the Fire Nation. And Mai trusts and loves Zuko enought to believe that he believes what he is doing is right. That's why she saves him, at the risk of her own life.

And as I've said before, she unintentionally picks which of Ozai's heirs she trusts more to lead her nation. She rejects Azula's rule by fear, and chooses to take a gamble on Zuko's hope to save the nation.

It's a moment when a character who has been condidtioned to be passive and easy to manage rebels because someone they trust and love has showed them an alternative to a life of biting back complaints and complying with the system that hurts you.

To cut to the chase, Mai is the part of the Fire Nation that Zuko loves and fights for. Someone who loved him and trusted him, within the nation that had scorned him when he fought for it.

Sokka: I think your uncle would be proud of you. Leaving your home to come help us? That's hard. Zuko: It wasn't that hard. Sokka: Really? You didn't leave behind anyone you cared about? Zuko: Well, I did have a girlfriend. Mai. Sokka: [Smiles and looks at Zuko with interest.] That gloomy girl who sighs a lot? Zuko: [Smiles.] Yeah. Everyone in the Fire Nation thinks I'm a traitor. I couldn't drag her into it.

She's the only thing he cites as having been hard to leave behind. She's his safe haven and support when he is struggling readjusting with his return to the Fire Nation. She's the first member of the Fire Nation to fight for the reformed, peaceful Fire Nation he hopes to foster, even if she didn't believe in it herself.

And he shows there that there is hope for a better life, and that it's worth fighting for, it's worth having the will to change.

I don't think Maiko is a perfect relationship, I don't think they should be. I like their flaws, and that they both have something to work towards. Flawed characters are fun characters. But I think they work thematically, because Zuko isn't abandoning the Fire Nation. On the contrary, he is trying to save and reform it. It makes sense to have a character like Mai, who acts as a physical manifestation of the aspects of the nation he loves and sees worth fighting for. Even if these virtues are dormant and suppressed, as represented by Mai notedly struggling with self expression.

The notion that anon outlined also places Katara in the "the opressed are responsible for reforming their opressors" trope. We tend to place the responsibility on the opressed to prove to us that they shouldn't be opressed and be rewarded by them when we give them the bare minimum. Katara being posited as a reward or marker for Zuko's redemption also completely undercuts the character with arcs and characterisations that she herself has.

Plus, indigenous woman × (sometines reformed) coloniser is a widespread and rightfully critiqued trope, and I just don't see why Katara should serve Zuko's arc like that.

Very satisfying gif here ❤️ get his ass queen

I don't think you're in the wrong just by shipping zutara by default, but I just find the hate maiko and specifically Mai herself get in extremely poor taste. Liking a ship is fine, but it can exist in fanon and be just as valid. Trying to impose it over clearly outlined storylines and interconnected arcs and insist that "this is how it's supposed to be" is kinda cringe.

[loopy777]

Hello White Fan of an animated movie with a Protagonist of Colour who's story centers around their culture and generational trauma. In front of you is their older female family member/mother fifure who ended up passing that generational trauma onto them. You must talk about the effects that had on the main character without making out their female family member to be Abusive Evil Irredemale Monster, and without complaining about the Protagonist forgiving them. If you are unable to see the older female character as a deeply flawed but also deeply traumatised individual then the Saw Trap goes off. You have all the time in the world. Begin.

[loopy777]

edgy assassin protagonist coming back to the fantasy slums they grew up in (orphaned, of course) only to find out it's been gentrified. what used to be a shady bar just called "the pit", full of assassins haggling for the price of hits and fences pawning stolen trinkets, is now a bandit-themed fancy restaurant called "the cloak and dagger" where they sell overpriced burgers with little knives running through them to keep all the ingredients in place