#i love that atla is having a resurgence rn

[not-kat]

another redraw from the distant past

[atla-bigbang]

Mod Intro: Shelby!

@shelbychild

Name: Shelby

Pronouns: they/them

Introduce yourself!

Hi folks! I’m an english & comp sci major and just generally doing So Many Things. i’m super excited for this bang and the recent a:tla resurgence has been SO good to me. i have big feelings about character analysis at all times

When did you first get introduced to ATLA?

i used to watch it all the time when i was younger & it was on tv, so i’ve always kinda loved it.

What kind of bender do you think you would be? Any reasons why?

earth i *think*? i lack the total stubbornness but i’m also rly even-keeled. water’s also a close one, since i think i’m p adaptable, but i dunno!

What kind of bender do you WANT to be? Why?

idk fire’s kinda cool ngl. but also water is DEVASTATING

Who is your favorite character from the ATLA-verse?

ugh okay so i can’t NOT say zuko, the og emo w a killer redemption arc, but also sokka deserves constant love and toph is my feral child,,

final answer: piandao

Which ATLA-verse character are you the most like? Which do you relate to the most?

so my mod-assigned kin is iroh, which is just, like, valid tbh. i, too, give out strange advice and drink a lot of tea

What is your favorite romantic ship, if any?

i’m like big into zukka rn

What is your favorite dynamic?

okay so like listen idk if anyone’s read @discordiansamba‘s kintsugi series, but just.......everything abt toph & zuko. sometimes family is two feral master benders

What is your favorite character arc?

okay again u cannot ask me this and not have my answer be zuko, but also sokka’s respecting women character arc is Good Content

Which ATLA-verse character would you get along/be good friends with?

i like to think that toph and i would be friends......beat up some rich fools together...........

Anything you’d like to add?

i made a uquiz! i’m also SO excited for this bang, it’s gonna be great! there is already such an outpouring of content from this community i am PUMPED

[nezumasa]

You're not alone on the fanfic thing, I also find it hard since there aren't many original fanfics, they all follow the same plots. And I'm in a fandom that's 15+ years old

I think all fandoms suffer from a “fandom-specific” plot, but nowadays, it feels like certain tropes are everywhere, exploding for like 1-2 years (or maybe a few months depending) and then the fandom is “dead.” Well, more like people move onto the next thing. (Ex. Good Omens, Voltron technically, FE3H, etc.)

Like Good Omens? Everyone loved those dudes and then after a few months, everything just vanished.

It’s like...fandoms are being consumed at the rate of a few months of major activity and then poof! The casuals are gone.

I remember Naruto in the heyday. That place was active for years (still is. But it’s nowhere near 2006-2008 era). Nowadays, a fandom lasting for a year with constant activity is wild. Or the infamous Superwholock? Now it’s considered “cringey” to like fandoms/media that’s a few months old. I blame consumerism and the fact subscriptions like Netflix drop everything at once instead of making you wait.

I mean I guess age plays a part in it. You have so many “younger” people joining fandoms now compared to the 2000s, but it’s like...bizarre because I remember fics with so much variety back in the day as well. But ofc, I guess “High School and/or mafia AU” was the thing back then, but you still got some creative gems.

Maybe it also comes into the fact that writing is considered a “lesser” art than well, art. Just because someone can type/pick up a pencil doesn’t mean they’re good at writing, but if you follow writer circles, you’ll notice the sentiment being passed around, usually among younger fans. Writing just isn’t considered “difficult/an art” anymore in some places online. I get destressing as a hobby, and not everyone needs to be good to write, but I do think the whole “devaluing” of writing plays a part in it.

The atmosphere for fandom writers is just really different from the 2000s now. It’s just “consume, consume, consume” for some readers to without any thought into how long it takes to write something with thought. Some people treat artists the same way ofc, but this is a post about writers.

For example, my current project (the vampire AU i won’t gd shut up about) is at 3100 words roughly rn and that’s just the introduction. I have like 11 sections left and just those 3000 took me a literal 40 hours to produce (according to my word doc info).

You can also hope for a reboot/sequel/netflix thing like ATLA I guess, but then you run into the problem of “fandom wars resurge but with SJ terms.” That’s the problem rn with ATLA, and I’m not joking about that. They’re using terms like colonialism, racism, etc. to argue for ships rn.

Idk, this is wordy, but I’m so frustrated I can’t find the “bite” I want anymore from fandom because I can’t “settle” (using the word loosely) for common plots, “happy button” stuff, etc. and it really does feel like the good stuff is pushed down and ignores compared to the days of LJ, Dreamwidth, fansites with guestbooks, etc.