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my-bated-breath · 4 years ago

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On an Immensely Popular Post

Disclaimer: What I’m writing here may not be completely accurate -- like most works of art, literature, and even STEM tend to be -- and as a new fan of ATLA, a few of the metas I publish may be obsolete or unintentionally insensitive. That being said, I like to believe that I can contribute something valuable to this fandom. In all my (real) metas, I wish to be as objective as possible and not rely on my biases, fanon, or common “knowledge” that may just be misconceptions. If anyone reading this finds something to be false or contrived, I am always welcome to constructive criticism. What I am not welcome to is senseless hate or bashing.

My first experiences with the ATLA fandom begun a long, long time ago, but the most recent and powerful revival of my love for ATLA started with me actually watching the show and soon after, with me falling into the endless abyss of ATLA metas on Tumblr. Sifting through the well-written analyses and the emotion-based rants had taught me a lot about critical thinking and the power of influence, so now I’d like to present a meta that critiques an extremely popular post with over 60,000 notes. And since it’s so popular, this is the part where I must make yet another disclaimer.

Disclaimer: I hold nothing against lesbians4sokka (whose name has now been changed to comradekatara). They have the right to share what they want, but since this particular post has become so influential that it’s still being reblogged regularly to this day, I believe it is within my right to criticize it - emphasis on “criticize,” which is different from “hate.”

Now that that’s out of the way, let us begin:

Lesbians4sokka/comradekatara covers 3 main subjects in their post, which I will quote/summarize below:

(1) Ma/iko: “...the entire foundation of mai and zuko’s relationship was built on how miserable they were together, and how they would just sit there and hate the world together— letting their misery fester as they enabled each other’s depression— and I think that’s really unfortunate because they would work so well as friends if they weren’t trying to make their dumpster fire of a relationship work.”

(2) Zutara: “similarly, what makes zuko and katara’s dynamic so compelling is that they share the same flaws, only as opposed to mai’s apathy and misery, it’s katara’s rage and guilt that zuko identifies with. they both share trauma over having lost their mothers, and both in a similar way (sacrificing themselves for them) and they both cope with their grief through rage, often misplaced… katara and zuko have a deep & profound friendship, but if they were to be in a relationship, they would only bring out the absolute worst in each other thru enabling each other’s rage and emotion-driven decision making.”

(3) Z/uk/ka: this pairing makes for a healthy and wholesome relationship because throughout the boiling rock, we see that “sokka and zuko make an excellent team, as they balance each other perfectly. sokka thinks big picture, and plans ahead, but zuko will charge into situations.” They inspire each other, they trust each other unconditionally, they become more open and supportive of each other, they share a lot of common interests and narrative parallels, and in general, just make each other happy (which could work both platonically and romantically).

As for my response: I’m sure many of you are expecting me to start to save the “best for last.” That assumption would be incorrect because I actually have the least to say about point 3.

I agree that Z/uk/ka can be a good relationship. Their dynamic is funny, playful, supportive, etc. etc. (there are so many positive adjectives I could use to describe their dynamic, the list could go on forever). And they could make a great couple.

…

What, did you expect more from me? That’s it, I’m done.

I’m not here to attack Z/uk/ka as a ship, because while I can never actively ship it (I’m a sad, narrow-minded exclusive shipper, always had been and always will be) I can objectively appreciate them as one. It’s points 1 and 2 I’m more concerned about.

Now, since we’ve already begun working backward, I’ll begin my critiques on point 2: I could write extensively about the parallels between Zuko and Katara, including but not limited to shared pain and a few shared flaws - and just a few, because their weaknesses diverge in many important places. However, since I’m trying to write as objectively as possible and since Zuko-Katara parallels have already been discussed to death, my analysis will focus elsewhere.

However, something from comradekatara’s post that I would first like to address is this-

[Zuko and Katara] both cope with their grief through rage, often misplaced. in the southern raiders, they both act deeply insensitively towards sokka by acting as if his grief over his mother’s death is somehow less valid simply because he is a lot quieter in his coping mechanisms and doesn’t project his rage & guilt onto everyone else.

- or rather, the idea that Zuko and Katara’s shared pain causes them to act insensitively towards Sokka (and though the post does not mention it, Aang as well).

(Note: these points have already been covered by countless metas before mine, so you can skip/skim this section to read a newer argument in the next section.)

Even ignoring the fact that the Southern Raiders had many out of character moments, Katara’s insensitivity towards Sokka is first and foremost a reaction against his insensitivity towards her.

_____

Dialogue from Season 3, Episode 16 “The Southern Raiders”:

Aang: Um ... and what exactly do you think this will accomplish?

Katara: [Shakes her head in dismay.] Ugh, I knew you wouldn't understand. [Begins to walk away.]

Aang: Wait! Stop! I do understand. You're feeling unbelievable pain and rage. How do you think I felt about the sandbenders when they stole Appa? How do you think I felt about the Fire Nation when I found out what happened to my people?

Zuko: She needs this, Aang. This is about getting closure and justice.

Aang: I don't think so. I think it's about getting revenge.

Katara: [Angrily.] Fine, maybe it is! Maybe that's what I need! Maybe that's what he deserves!

Aang: Katara, you sound like Jet.

Katara: It's not the same! Jet attacked the innocent. This man, he's a monster.

Sokka: Katara, she was my mother, too, but I think Aang might be right.

Katara: Then you didn't love her the way I did!

Sokka: [Hurt] Katara!

_____

While I believe that Aang’s principles of forgiveness are morally sound, the way he pushes his beliefs onto Katara undermines much of her grief. At first, Aang tries to relate to Katara’s experiences by comparing them to his own, but there is a forceful connotation to his dialogue that suggests that Aang considers himself to be the moral authority compared to Katara. Hence, Aang judges Katara (“I think it’s about getting revenge”) without trying to reach out and understand her, forgoing the empathetic common ground in favor of taking on the moral high ground.

Thus, when Sokka tells Katara, “she was my mother, too, but I think Aang might be right,” Sokka is not only saying that Katara should choose forgiveness, he is implying that Aang is the ultimate moral authority on this matter and that Katara should accept that. Moreover, similarly to Aang, Sokka’s opening line, “she was my mother, too,” had the potential to establish common ground between himself and Katara, but the added “but…” places Sokka on the moral high ground against her instead. Of course, when we remember that just two lines ago Aang equates Katara to Jet, Sokka agreeing with Aang seems even more thoughtless and unsympathetic.

So when Katara lashes out against Sokka, ostensibly “acting as if his grief over his mother’s death is somehow less valid simply because he is a lot quieter in his coping mechanisms and doesn’t project his rage & guilt onto everyone else,” it is important to note that Sokka undermines Katara’s louder, more visible way of grieving as well (though that discounts that for most of the show, Katara only uses her grief over her mother’s death to sympathize with others).

Moreover, Katara’s line, “then you didn't love her the way I did!” is hurtful, yes, but it is not necessarily equivalent to “you didn’t love her as much as I did.” Katara’s love for her mother is different from Sokka’s because her pain over her death is different -- after Kya’s passing, Katara had to carry the emotional burden of becoming a pseudo-mother to Sokka (see Sokka and Toph’s conversation in “The Runaway”), a burden that did not cease after she joined the GAang (see the entirety of “The Desert”). To Katara, Kya was not only her mother, but the representation of the childhood she lost and the sacrifice made to protect her life. Sokka simply does not have that same relationship with Kya.

I do not mean to say that Sokka and Aang unfairly taking on the moral authority in this situation means that this authority instead belongs to Katara (and Zuko) - “The Southern Raiders” is filled with questionable moments from all parties involved. However, TSR is an episode that delves into Katara (and Zuko)’s relationship with a mother’s sacrifice, so how Zuko and Katara respond to this specific trauma from their past does not dictate how they respond to painful circumstances in the present/future. Let’s see how this is true.

Sozin’s Comet, Part 1: The Phoenix King

No doubt Zuko and Katara felt some form of frustration upon Aang’s disappearance, so let’s see how they “[enabled] each other’s rage and emotion-driven decision making”:

Here, Katara and Zuko make a decision together that turns out to be calm, rational, and not at all emotionally-driven despite their mutual frustration and worry towards Aang.

Sozin’s Comet, Part 2: The Old Masters

Zuko holds immense pain and self-loathing over betraying Iroh, yet Zuko and Katara’s conversation does not enable/exacerbate negativity from any party involved (since Zuko often translates his grief into anger, and Katara was evidently angry at Zuko’s betrayal). Instead, their conversation is open, encouraging, and constructive.

(Note: this is where the review of points made by previous metas ends.)

Hence, to say that “[Zuko and Katara] would only bring out the absolute worst in each other [through] enabling each other’s rage and emotion-driven decision making” - when we are given in-canon examples of the opposite being true - would be a sweeping and inaccurate generalization.

But for the sake of argument let’s say that, hypothetically, Zuko and Katara’s relationship would fail because they only bring out the worst in each other. And here’s where the argument falls apart for me - Is the argument here that Zuko and Katara have an incredibly meaningful friendship yet somehow this “friendship” causes them to enable each other, thus encouraging each other’s worst flaws and regressing each other’s growth? Is a healthy friendship - much less a “deep and profound” one - not one where two individuals can learn from each other in positive ways and balance each other’s shortcomings?

Or is it something different we’re saying here? Are we saying that two individuals can have a “deep and profound” friendship and yet the moment their relationship shifts from platonic to romantic, they are terrible for each other?

While many significant platonic bonds are stunted when they become romantic, I still believe it to be common sense that some of the best romantic relationships stem from a platonic foundation. But since much of “common sense” on the internet sees that “sense” is nonsensical and “common” is a nicer way to refer to mob mentality, I have done my research to show how Zuko and Katara could have been an excellent case of a friends-to-lovers relationship.

An excerpt from my meta, “Research Shows that Zutara Would Have Been the Ideal Friends to Lovers Dynamic.” (give it a read if you want to see references to relationship-research and an overanalysis on diction/tone)

The reason why Zutara is framed as a “toxic and unhealthy” relationship is that their romance would be a classic example of the enemies-to-lovers trope, a trope which modern media has not been particularly kind to. However, when executed correctly, enemies-to-lovers can produce a healthy and loving relationship, frequently relying on friendship as an intermediate between the “enemy” and “lover” stages in the most well-executed versions of this trope. Meanwhile, the trope of friends-to-lovers is just as popular as enemies-to-lovers, though the specific dynamic required between two individuals to achieve this transition is not well-known. Recognizing this, Laura K. Guerrero and Paul A. Mongeau, both of whom are involved in relationship-related research as professors at Arizona State University, wrote a research paper on how friendships may transition into romantic relationships…

According to Guerrero and Mongeau, “...scholars have argued that intimacy is located in different types of interactions, ranging from sexual activity and physical contact to warm, cozy interactions that can occur between friends, family members, and lovers…” Guerrero and Mongeau then reference a relationship model where the initial stages (i.e. perceiving similarities, achieving rapport, and inducing self-disclosure) reflect platonic/romantic intimacy through communication while the latter stages (i.e. role-taking, achieving interpersonal role fit, and achieving dyadic crystallization) often see both individuals as achieving a higher level of intimacy that involves more self-awareness.

In the rest of my research-based meta I demonstrate how Zuko and Katara’s platonic interactions in the show fit into the stages of communicative intimacy (i.e. perceiving similarities, achieving rapport, and inducing self-disclosure) that Guerrero and Mongeau describe as being mutual between friendships and romances. As such, crossing the line between friends and more-than-friends most likely would not cause a dramatic shift in the Zutara dynamic since much of Zuko and Katara’s platonic intimacy easily translates into romantic intimacy. I’ll end off with another excerpt from my meta.

Excerpt from “Research Shows that Zutara Would Have Been the Ideal Friends to Lovers Dynamic.”

“...it would be remiss to simply dismiss the Zutara dynamic as one that would instantly become toxic should they pursue a romantic relationship.”

With that little thought in mind, let’s move onto point 3: an exploration of friendship, romance, and why toxicity is not exclusive to the latter.

Let’s start with what I agree with:

“The entire foundation of mai and zuko’s relationship was built on how miserable they were together, and how they would just sit there and hate the world together— letting their misery fester as they enabled each other’s depression...”

I’m not sure how necessary it is for me to elaborate on this point given that it’s already been accepted by comradekatara and perhaps 60,000+ other users on Tumblr (a gross exaggeration but this remains unimportant), but in her essay, “Zuko, Mai, and the Nature of True Intimacy,” Araeph contributes more nuance to the concept of Ma/iko and mutual misery, stating that,

Unfortunately for [Zuko and Mai’s] relationship, Mai is and will always be a pessimist—a character trait, not a character flaw, in her. The key difference lies in how Mai and Zuko use their negative feelings. When Zuko sinks into negativity, he gives up on any actions that will materially change his world for the better; Mai, on the other hand, can remain negative even at the height of her character development, and it does not impede her ability to act.

So while Mai enables Zuko’s depression, Zuko does not necessarily do the same for Mai. Nonetheless, throughout their relationship for the first half of season 3, neither of them communicate constructively or push each other to grow as people.

This may be the third disclaimer I’m making, but I first want to say I have nothing against Mai. However, I do have something against the idea that “[Mai and Zuko] would work so well as friends if they weren’t trying to make their dumpster fire of a relationship work.”

Their relationship is a dumpster fire, yes, but will the flames cease simply if the amount of intimacy in the relationship changes?

comradekatara state themselves that their entire romantic relationship is quite depressing - they are only able to connect through empty physical intimacy and mutual hatred of the world. Without that, there is little left for them to bond over. Once Zuko overcomes his conflicting morality and inaction from the first half of season 3, he becomes someone who is strongly guided by his principles and beliefs. However, for the entirety of the series, Mai is characterized by her moral apathy. To cite from Araeph again,

It is moral intimacy that is the last and worst omission for Mai and Zuko… Zuko’s struggle to find and follow his principles is the most central aspect of his character, yet it is a struggle Mai neither understands nor respects…

Lack of moral intimacy (not sharing the same core beliefs) is something that applies to both platonic and romantic bonds. Thus, just as transitioning from a meaningful friendship to a romance does not inherently create toxicity in a relationship, switching from a romance that exacerbates one (or both, depending on how you interpret it) party’s misery does not necessarily erase the preexisting negativity in a relationship - perhaps some of it may subside, sure, but as long both parties continue to fail at communicating and understanding each other, even their friendship seems bleak at best. In this case, Mai and Zuko may work well as conditional friends, or in other words, friends who are only friends when they have something to mutually be miserable over. And this tiptoes the line of speculation, but they could be a formidable political team. But unless the Ma/iko dynamic shifts drastically in the lovers-to-friends transition, I’m not sure if there’s much potential in a friendship between them.

In conclusion, there is a lot I don’t agree with from comradekatara’s post, but if there’s one takeaway I want to impart onto everyone who’s read this far, it’s this: crossing and uncrossing the line between platonic and romantic bonds is not always a transformative experience for the relationship, and the nature of human relationships is a complex spectrum -- not a light switch that can only be set between healthy and unhealthy.

Thank you all for reading!

#atla #atla meta #my bated breath analyzes #this is more pro-zukka than anti-zukka #but I will include neither in my tags #zutara #anti maiko #once again this is a critique #not a post meant to tear anyone or their views down #my bated breath's posts

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kcrabb88 · 3 years ago

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your thoughts on : musicals? what's your favorite Era or style? what would you make into a musical if you could?:D

OH yesss! Hmm, my taste in musicals is weird and very specific, however, I think I can make it make sense!

I'll say that golden age musicals are not my cup of tea, largely. I like the Sound of Music, and the Cinderella soundtrack can be nice, but that era is just Not My Thing. Don't have a lot of loves in the post-golden age either, except for Jesus Christ Superstar, which is kind of a weird one. The 80s definitely marks where my musical theater opinions get stronger because that is when the musicals that I really really love started coming out. Mega musicals obviously got to be Too Much, after a while (hello, Starlight Express), but my deep love for musical theater definitely begins in that period, with obvious things like Phantom and Les Mis, which, and this is a Take, I know, I'd choose over the Sondheim camp side of things. I love Sunday in the Park with George a lot and of course many other Sondheim songs (Finishing the Hat UGH my heart! But like, if I had to choose!)

My mega musical faves aside, the vast majority of the musicals I love best definitely come in what I think of in my head as the post RENT era (and like, I personally love RENT, I know some people don't but no one really can argue that it didn't change what was possible in musical theater). We might not have LMM composing, if it weren't for RENT, and you can definitely kind of see the domino effect of one musical breaking out and leading to more unique musicals. RENT lead to In the Heights and Hamilton (I know it's Uncool to love Hamilton now but like, I do, so), arguably Hamilton and even Great Comet made it possible for something like Hadestown to make it big.

I feel like some of my favorite types of musicals are the ones that make people go "huh" when I try to explain the plot? Things like Hadestown, Great Comet, In the Heights, Next to Normal, or Tick Tick Boom aren't EASY to explain, but they have huge impacts.

As far as jukebox musicals go, I love Moulin Rouge, but that's because it had an original story and took different pop songs rather than forcing a story into a single artist's discography. The only other valid one is Mamma Mia, obviously.

The bottom line for me in musical theater is that generally, I want to see musicals that are going to make me Feel Big Feelings. That's my aim with the medium, and anything that makes me smear my eyeliner crying I'm probably going to love.

As far as turning something into a musical, what I REALLY want is for someone to redo and improve on Boubil and Schonberg's The Pirate Queen, because it had SO much potential to be cool and Grace O'Malley is a BAMF and I just!! Would like to see it!!

Talk to me!

#Hahahaha sorry this got long!!! I have Thoughts #KCrabb does memes #Musicals tag

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jaeyooniverse · 3 years ago

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hey tawa!!! (sparkle emoji) right back at you hehe and my tag is /tagged/mp

hi mairin ~ ❤ thanks for your patience i know it took me a while to get to this 😅 just like you i'm not listing them in any particular order lol this was really hard to choose bc you have a lot of great content 😭❤❤

the sukhumvit swimming rainbow set - honestly i just love rainbow sets in general (like this nature one i also sooo good, and touch) lol but this set is sooo pretty! i love it~

your entire au series but if i had to choose one,, golden child x museum heists - i absolutely LOVE this color scheme and this set just looks so good.. (but also sf9 x cyberpunk is KILLER i love this one, and also vav x criminal organization heist is so perfect and also ace in the dance with me video am i right or am i right huh)

this 24hr set !! i just love the balance idk your sets are just..always so well put together how do you do it

onf comet(?) set sfhdjksh i love seeing sets that show connections btwn a groups concepts/mvs and idk theres just something so aesthetically pleasing abt this set?? i think it's the way the colors go from cool to warm? idk it's very nice i love staring at this set

i know i said there wasn't any order to this but the ace & jacob birthday set !!! it's number one bc wow having a surprise gifset made for me by a treasured moot...priceless 🥺🥺🥺

honorable mentions aka you have so much stuff how can i limit myself to 5 (tho i obviously didnt LMAO):

this july 2018 favorites set!! i lovvveee this like the colors and the dimensions ugh your mind..

seventeen unsolved - omg this is so hilarious honestly sdfhjsk i love this one

this younghoon & haknyeon set just bc it's them and theyre cute and also i love these colors

boyfriend!! this was the first mv/song of theres i heard 😭😭😭😭

rowoon as danny it's so perfect! also love how well you did the first gif to say rowoon as danny 😆

2017 december faves i love the colors and the font ~

in conclusion you are a wonderful content creator thank you for everything you create underrated groups are lucky to have you as a stan 🥺🥺

#hehe oh boy that got kinda long lmao #but ty ily ~#asks #mairin 💞

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marginal-notes · 4 years ago

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TLOK Episode One a.k.a. Korra immediately goes on a rampage

So, as mentioned, I’m finally getting around to watching The Legend of Korra with all of my terrible tastes and general thoughts.

Don’t give me spoilers, my indignation will be funnier without them.

What I Know About Korra Going In:

If the show can have all of Aang’s bending teachers still around for the audience’s nostalgic pleasure, Suki better be alive and kicking too or I am going to throw a fit

Technology progressed pretty intensely in ways that I will want to pick apart later

Listen, what the fuck is Republic City. Why. Why does this exist. Show you better answer me fast with why this exist for a legitimate in world reason that isn’t just: “The audience is a bunch of American kids and teenagers and we want to uphold the liberal ideals of democracy because of course that’s the motives of the victors after a global war of probably unprecedented scope despite like, Zero (0) indication that the idea of democracy was rattling around anyone’s heads in ATLA.”

If this is the reason, I’m going to quit watching. Disgraceful. Disgusting.

Something involving anti-bender sentiment.

Something involving something called the Red Lotus which I am side-eyeing the shit out of

Bloodbending?????

Spirit World shenanigans and Avatar backstory that’s on thin ice with me.

Love triangles. UGH. TERRIBLE. WHY DOES MEDIA DO THIS. WHO FINDS THIS INTERESTING. PLEASE RAISE YOUR HAND SO YOU CAN EXPLAIN TO ME.

Alright, here we go.

WELL, 30 SECONDS IN AND I GOT MY WISH FOR AN EXPLAINATION ABOUT REPUBLIC CITY.

Avatar Aang and Fire Lord Zuko transformed the Fire Nation colonies into the United Republic of Nations, a society where benders and nonbenders from all over the world could live and thrive together in peace and harmony.

Okay. I’m.... I’m going to withhold judgement for now until I watch like, literally more than 30 seconds to fully form my thoughts about this move. I THINK IT’S A DUMB MOVE AND IF THIS IS WHY PEOPLE KEEP HAVING FIRE NATION DEMOCRACY FICS I QUIT.

So. We get a panning shot into this city. Very urban city that’s the product of the industrialization and like whatever the hell that propaganda voice over is talking about.

As a method of setting the scene and immediately letting the viewers feel and know the passage of time between ATLA and TLOK, I love this shot. There’s no mistaking this for being immediately after ATLA. We’re listening to one of Aang’s kids. There are skyscrapers. The Fire Nation palace in ATLA probably counted towards the architectural development towards urban skyscrapers, but that architecture is fully formed by TLOK. Brilliant.

I'm the Avatar! You gotta deal with it!

What a cute brat. Her poor parents, oh my god.

Also, is she supposed to be a prodigy.

Again with immediately setting contrasts against ATLA. Very cool demonstration, extremely effective distinction between Aang’s journey around the world trying to find teachers and learning how to bend in the middle of a war vs. Korra at peacetime with a whole entire facility dedicated to her.

Not sure about how I feel regarding the White Lotus’s presence.

IS THAT SUPPOSED TO BE KATARA????

That's your grandmother, Meelo.

Does he not visit his parents. It can’t be that hard to swing by for like. Yearly festivals if the Water Tribe has those. I don’t see why not. Maybe something for when the winter night ends, I can see that being festive.

Tenzin do you like. Not call? Not write?? Sir???

Oh my god, Pema. I hope she really likes kids, despite how rowdy they are.

Wait. How old is Tenzin. Thirties to forties?

How old is Katara.

Is this going to be a repeat of the Fire Nation royal miracle babies.

I get that, but I don't think keeping me locked up in this compound like a prisoner is what he had in mind.

Going by the episode title, I bet we know what Korra has in mind. Speaking of this compound, where’s the Southern Tribe? The aerial shots look like it’s in the middle of nowhere. Is she so far removed that she doesn’t even spend time with the tribe she was born into? Cause that sure as hell wasn’t how Aang was raised.

Honestly fascinating as these contrasts keep coming. The bizarre presence of the White Lotus. The way her teachers come to her instead of her seeking her teachers the way Aang and Roku did.

The Avatar must have always been a special political figure, without any good contemporaries to our world, to be honest. Back in ATLA, we see that Roku isn’t beholden to Fire Nation citizenship - he seems to transcend that. And it honestly seems important that Roku and Aang went out to the world, experienced the other nations and their ways of life. I think Aang does have a line regarding this.

Because Korra’s situation? Can easily turn into a nightmare, given the realities of what being the Avatar could easily mean.

OKAY THIS SHIP. Very cool looking, very neat, I continue to love every visual manifestation of the passage of time between ATLA and TLOK. One small question. What’s with the rigging poles.

(source)

To be fair, this is a battleship from the British navy, but aesthetically I think we can say this is a fair inspiration. From what I remember while researching the coal fic, the rigging and poles there serve no function. It’s aesthetical. At best, there’s a limited function, but it’s predominantly for aesthetics in the transition into the ships like the Titanic with no rigging at all.

Which raises my question about WHY ON EARTH?? The Fire Nation navy in ATLA??? Were clearly way past this stage in design? Literally during Sozin’s time too??? Almost two hundred years before this current shot in TLOK? Why would the ship design regress like this??? The Water Tribe ships probably wouldn’t evolve into the designs that Europe used? Earth Kingdom ships would probably be more inspired by East Asian designs which also wouldn’t end up with this system for sails?

Where does this aesthetic come from.

IS THAT A CAR.

....

.......

..........

I am not qualified at all for dissecting the potential social and cultural explanation for the western influenced aesthetics appearing. I am but an ignorant banana, I don’t know shit.

.......

oooooooh this is going to slowly annoy me isn’t it..........

That will be twenty yuans.

[Jaws theme]

The city's huge. I bet we could find a place to rustle up something to eat.

You know, I’ve seen plenty of weird shit in Central Park and around NYC before. Korra, you are so unprepared.

Are you tired of living under the tyranny of benders? Then join the Equalists!

Oh boy. Let’s.... let’s put a pin in this thought. I’ll come back to it once I know more about what’s going on. Because. This will either be fun. Or I’m going to have to create a second spite fic folder. Please, show, don’t give me reason to create a second spite fic folder.

On a different note though, I really do love the choices so far for setting up this show’s forward path. There’s no way to mistake this as a rerun of ATLA. This is it’s own separate story and I love that. I really do respect that. The way the different threads are emerging feel really smooth: 1) the impact of Korra’s isolation towards her culture shock in the giant city - which must smell and sound REALLY weird to her; 2) her prodigious talent in the physical, exciting parts of bending meshing with her teenage nature and also clashing with the spiritual parts of being the World Bridge; 3) the absolute hot bed of chaos every part of Republic City must be.

Kinda funny that people would still have sideburns in the same style as from like. Seventy years ago. Vintage.

Mr. Chung, please tell me that you have my money, or else I can't guarantee I can protect your fine establishment.

My terrible taste in interests rears its head again. Listen, you cannot imply something like the mafia or the triads exist in universe and not have me immediately ALL OVER THAT. Republic City, you are such a mess. Like, for this alone, I might write a single fic for TLOK that’s just about trash collection and disposal. And corruption. And-

I am fascinated by the genetics and molecular/cellular biology behind the yellow and white eyes in this universe.

Police! Freeze where you are!

Bitch what the fuck. How many of these rigid airships are part of the police. Are all of them for the police? Are the police literally patrolling people from the sky?

Also, that better be helium in those ships instead of hydrogen by this point in time. I’ve already made my post about the fleet of hydrogen ships in Sozin’s Comet.

How much property damage is being inflicted thanks to these couple minutes. The police just. Stab the brick work. There have got to be so many bitchy lawsuits about that.

This poor girl’s culture shock.

HEY I HOPE THAT POLICE OFFICER SWUNG THEMSELF ON A CLOTHLINE, NOT AN ELECTRIC LINE LIKE I FIRST THOUGHT.

HEY YOU CAN RIP SOMEONE’S SCALP OFF LIKE THAT.

HEY WHAT IS WITH THIS WHOLE SCENE.

HOW ARE THEY JUST RIDING ON THOSE WIRES, HOW MUCH TENSION IS IN THAT STUFF.

HOW DOES THAT ZEPPLIN MOVE THAT FAST AND LIKE. AGILE.

YALL.

WHY DOES THE POLICE STATION LOOK LIKE THAT

Well then, why are you treating me like a criminal? Avatar Aang and your mother were friends. They saved the world together.

Oh this bit is fascinating, I love it. It’s only been 18 minutes, but the level of sheer propaganda everywhere trailing after Aang is really cool. There’s so much I want to know now about how Aang got from the end of ATLA, where he probably wasn’t thinking AT ALL about this kind of cult legacy forming around him, to this.

Lin Beifong’s shut down of Korra’s attempt to use her status as Avatar is great. Just because Korra’s born into this elite role and then locked up and probably pampered in her compound, where everyone is well aware of her status and what it means, it doesn’t mean she gets to strut around with no idea how stuff works or the context behind what she’s seeing and then doing whatever she wants.

Contrasts, love ‘em.

On a different note, the design of this room.

As far as I can tell, it’s a dim, doorless room, which is honestly. Really terrible design. And it says something about the way the Republic City police functions and how that reflects on the chaos of the city itself.

Putting someone dragged into the police station in a dim room without any door as a sign of a possible escape is just a terrible idea. The only thing you’re going to succeed in is making the person tenser and more belligerent. Your suspect or witness gets more nervous, gets more combative, gets more unreliable in this kind of environment. In turn, the police probably starts feeling more and more entitled to harsher retaliation. Conflict resolution? De-escalation? That really doesn’t look like its in the core of the city police. They’re wearing armor for god’s sake.

Everything so far in this first impression of the police is really damning about their attitude and Lin Beifong’s leadership. Rather than using a rappel line down from the airships, they damage buildings. In chasing Korra, they further damage property. The armor, this freaking room. The fact that so much about the active police shown so far depends on metalbending, which implies that very few people can join the field police. The fact that for the gang to be so blatantly in the open about their presence and territory, there must be dirty cops on their payroll.

There has to be so much Lin Beifong hate in this city.

I have done my best to guide Republic City toward the dream my father had for it, but you're right. It has fallen out of balance since he passed.

If anyone tries convincing me Republic City was ever in “balance” they’re a punk ass liar. I don’t think the city could have ever been in balance, whatever that is. The way it was created, the speed it expanded, the life that must be lived there - balance? Don’t kid me with that propaganda.

Tenzin could be trying to find a balance alright. I just wonder how many people vehemently disagree with his idea of balance.

Hello? I'm Korra, your new Avatar.

Well, TLOK is definitely in the era of mass distribution of news and the idea of public sentiment at a level never seen before. This is going to be very interesting for its populist implications, along with other developments regarding politics.

Oh Korra. Did no one try rehearsing this with you? This is a terrible first impression for you to give to people.

Also, what is this building. Is this like a city hall? Why is the roof on the building to the side slanted like that. That’s an angle I’d expect from like. Snow concerns. In northern Europe.

Love that Avatar Aang propaganda. Starting to feel like we’re going to see a lot of it going forward.

Oh my god, everything about this press briefing (?) is highly concerning. This rampaging teenager suddenly appearing without any warning or announcement. The clear lack of script or practice. The open location just to anyone instead of to a select set of journalists who would be sympathetic/under government control. Lin fucking Beifong and Tenzin being the only people accompanying Korra on the stage.

What a disaster.

FINAL THOUGHTS

You know, I’m enjoying this more than I expected to. The general writing is great, the use of visuals and other small details to set the time and place is excellent, the worldbuilding implications are rich in potential. I’m looking forward to exploring where the plot threads introduced so far will lead towards!

#the legend of korra #navi watches lok #these are each going to get pretty long #i'm a really annoying person to watch stuff with #i'm half seeing half SUPER not seeing why the fandom likes lin beifong so much #republic city makes me miss living in manhattan though

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callioope · 4 years ago

Text

Continuing my reactions to Avatar: The Last Airbender.

This post is about Book 2. See my overall impressions and thoughts on Book 1 here.

Quick/General Thoughts

Uhhh pretty wild there is both a solar eclipse and a super comet happening in the same summer… anyways!!!

Ba Sing Se was so messed up omg

Aang

SMH more adults trying to take advantage of Aang. I was furious with the Earth Kingdom general who tried to force Aang to fight the Fire Lord well before he was ready. Clearly he was not ready! And then the audacity for him to attack Aang and then Katara to provoke the Avatar state was whole levels of messed up.

The Great Appa Kidnapping: Yeah, so, as soon as the sand traders took him, I was like, “Oh no. I’ve heard about this. They are going to be in trouble!” But even then I didn’t know it stretched out over so many episodes. These episodes broke my heart! Aang’s complete distress at having lost Appa. Then the episode from Appa’s POV. Poor Appa! He goes through so much. It’s devastating. And then both Appa and Aang both dream of how they originally met each other? UNFAIR. CRUEL. HOW DARE THE CREATORS DO THIS TO ME. (I’m being facetious I love it I live for this kind of drama this is how i express they were doing good storytelling)

The whole “final chakra” being about letting go of attachments… hmm that felt VERY Star Wars of them… Filoni is this your doing? (Although actually I don’t remember seeing his name on any Book 2 episodes.)

Sokka

My fave continues to be the long-suffering Sokka, just trying to get his family to Omashu, it shouldn’t be this hard!!! This was literally what I wrote at the time of watching “Chapter Two: The Cave of Two Lovers,” and OH LITTLE DID I KNOW!!! [cut to Book 3… lmao… anyways]

Sokka making a map to help keep track of the maze-like cave/tunnel is actually really clever. I can’t believe people think he’s stupid. I mean, sure, it didn’t end up working, but that’s because the cave was magic or whatever, and that is beyond his control!

Side note, but lol at Sokka’s purchases and love for shopping. His ridiculous belt! How excited he was that it matched his bag!

Second side note, I was pretty excited to see that gif where Sokka is making that “I’m watching you” gesture and then goes “Water tribe!”

Katara

Yeah, notice how I don’t have much to say about Katara? It’s not that I don’t like her or that I don’t think she’s interesting, but. I just don’t really have a lot to say about her.

I was amused by how she handled those bullies. My impression before I started watching was that she was going to be this like, pure and GoodTM character, but she definitely has her flaws and that is better.

I really liked the scene where she is able to calm Aang down while he’s in the Avatar state. There was good build up to that, showing her worry every time he entered it and her awareness of the fact that he only ever enters it when feeling upset. The fact that she was able to do that clearly Meant Something. So again, I suppose, I really feel up to this point that the show is very much like “Aang/Katara Endgame!” it felt very obvious to me. And I knew before starting the show that Zuko and Katara are a thing — but Aang and Katara is just so heavy handed that it was impossible for me to ship them with anyone else. They were just foundational to the show. Like it always felt like a foregone conclusion to me, almost as if they were established from the beginning although they obviously weren’t.

Toph

I spent like, the second half of Book 1 thinking “WHEN TOPH WHEN TOPH!” Imagine my ire that she still isn’t around for the first five episodes of Book 2, which is titled “EARTH” my goodness.

But OH was I delighted by “Chapter 6: The Blind Bandit”!!! I loved her intro, I loved how Aang is just immediately in awe of her skills when he sees her. He knows she’s exactly the teacher he’s been waiting for. “She waited and listened!” he says. Yes. I love it. (But also, lol at Sokka booing Aang.) Despite this, Aang really does not handle that first interaction very well!

So frustrating how her parents were treating her. “She’s fragile and helpless!” what a thing to say about your daughter. [Also you literally named her “tough”?!] And he is basically going to imprison her, wtf. & how do you get off saying “the avatar is no longer welcome here”?! smh children whose parents try to “control” their kids always end up being the most rebellious.

I was amused that “my dad changed his mind” apparently was a popular lie daughters use on this show. *facepalm*

I liked the contrast between how Toph wanted to teach Aang and how Katara thought he should be taught! That was interesting. And yeah, Toph certainly lives up to her name.

Zuko & Iroh

Spent a good portion of the early part of this season wondering how Zuko and Iroh could possibly be related to the awful Fire Lord (and Azula for that matter — jeez she is nuts!), and longing to know what happened to Zuko’s mom. (Obviously that would be answered soon!)

Knowing that Zuko eventually joins the Aang crew, but also remembering that I never saw Iroh with them, made me SEVERELY worried that something terrible would happen to Iroh. And I spent the entire rest of the series worrying about that. Uh, especially since, apparently Iroh is hopeless at Survival 101. Honestly that was surprising to me.

Zuko deciding they needed to split up was devastating!!! No!!! I loved the adventures of Zuko & Iroh!! He said, “There's no reason for us to stick together,” and I was like, “Yes there is you idiot! Because you’re family and you love each other!!!” I was so sad. I mean, also Iroh is currently the only person who likes Zuko, so, you know, that might be a good reason to stay with him. Just a thought.

The last thing Zuko needs is to be alone, that will NOT be good for his issues. And lo and behold, look! Immediately, he’s struggling on his own. But I did like that episode (“Chapter 7: Zuko Alone”) because we get to see Zuko’s mom! (Uh, did she have a name?) Turtle ducks are so cute.

“Everything I’ve done I’ve done to protect you.” THIS. SLAYED. ME!!!!!! I mean, y’all know Rogue One is my jam so this parallel with Zuko’s mom and Galen Erso????? I lost it. I just lost it. Plus, though it isn’t confirmed until later, we can tell she’s sacrificing herself to save Zuko and just. (A) what a completely messed up family, but (B) MY HEART. SHE BETTER BE ALIVE is all I’m saying.

Interesting side note: they never show Ozai’s face in the early seasons.

If you assumed that I was delighted to see Iroh has been tailing Zuko this whole time, you’d be correct. I had hoped that was the case and was very glad it was. Although *facepalm* again at Zuko. I suppose he had no way of knowing Katara had healing powers but it was so frustrating knowing if he had just listened to them for one minute they could have helped Iroh after Azula blasted him. At least he made him tea and nursed him back to health.

If the evil advisor of Ba Sing Se had files on everyone and knew everything that went on… I mean… did he know about Iroh and Zuko?

I didn’t jot down any notes about this at the time, BUT. Man. Did I ADORE Zuko and Iroh’s adventures in Ba Sing Se. I mean it was a nice relief from all the other crazy stuff happening. (Not happy to see Jet though. Ugh.)

Finally, though, Zuko’s betrayal at the very end of the season totally shocked me. Because of spoilers, I knew he’d join Aang’s crew, and so it was so confusing! And such a regression, I really didn’t understand it and was very worried about what it would mean for his redemption arc — but more on that in the next post, don’t want to get ahead.

Azula

Oh. Boy. Again, I knew she was going to be crazy, but I don’t think I was prepared for just how messed up she is. “Do the tides command this ship. You said they would not allow us…” Jeez that is pedantic in a very bizarre way and obviously not what was meant… Yikes.

Also, Azula is much better at finding Zuko than Zuko is at finding Aang. Just a stray observation.

“Father regrets your banishment. He wants you home.” [insert IT’s A TRAP gif here]

“If the Earth Kingdom finds us, they'll have us killed. If the Fire Nation finds us, they'll turn us over to Azula. Earth kingdom it is.” Yeah, this line was hilarious but also sad. It really said a lot about Azula, and Zuko and Iroh’s relationship with her.

Had no idea Azula had her own crew. It was incredibly clear that Ty Lee felt coerced to join her and didn’t really want to, but that was less clear to me for Mai. Mainly seemed like Mai was bored with where she was and was just like “shrugs might as well do evil stuff.”

I did know that a character named “Mai” would eventually be Zuko’s love interest (and it is pretty heavily portrayed that she has a crush on him), so at this point, I was very much like, “Hmm. This character is too apathetic and annoying, I don’t want her to end up with Zuko!” Plus, the fact that her name was pronounced “May,” (which was not how I thought “Mai” was pronounced) and I knew Zuko would have a thing with a lady in a tea shop, I wasn’t 100% sure Zuko/Mai were end game.

“She’s crazy and she needs to go down.” I think Iroh said this. I just don’t know what to say. Why is Azula the way she is? That’s never entirely clear to me. In some ways, it’s implied she was just Like That (in the flashback where mom is like “What is wrong with you?”) and perhaps she’s just her father’s daughter. I don’t need a reason, per se. Idk. I just don’t know what to say to her. She clearly needs help.

#avatar the last airbender #avatar: the last airbender #atla #a:tla

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koala-otter · 4 years ago

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hi!!! do u have any zukka fic recs?? (preferably modern aus but any would be so appreciated!)

hi babe!! ok im gonna be honest, im kind of a snob when it comes to fic, especially modern aus (my definition of “modern au” is “having modern amenities” more than anything else, so i really struggle when authors make their setting the US, i won’t lie, like if the gaang interacts with a character named kevin?? it feels so wrong to me), so i don’t have too many of those to recommend

but here are a few fics I picked out! and you can also always take a look through my bookmarks on ao3 or through my fic rec tag here on tumblr for more.

1. “before the storm” by @dickpuncher420 this one takes place during sozin’s comet! and I really enjoy it because it’s from sokka’s perspective. it’s very sweet, basically about sokka dealing with his feelings for zuko before they have to separate for the comet. it’s a nice change from the “older ambassador sokka-firelord zuko” premise (which is of course wonderful!!) that is typical of zukka fic, and it’s really well-written. *also ambre just generally has a great blog and she makes a lot of beautiful zukka fanart, so I highly recommend following if you don’t already!

2. “@boomerang-guy” by @meteor-sword GOD I LOVE THIS ONE. it’s a youtuber au where zuko watches sokka’s videos (he makes planners and reviews weapons, it’s perfect). and yeah all around just super cute. I don’t know whether emily plans on completing it, but they are a really lovely writer, and this fic as it stands has a satisfying end, so whatever they decide, it shouldn’t be an issue for you :)

3. “The Road Between Action and Inaction” by @donvex I feel very privileged that I got to talk to donte while he was working on this, and it honestly came out even better than I expected. the premise is sokka picks up a hitchhiker named zuko in alaska on his way down to california (I know i said i don’t like modern aus set in the u.s., i meant it, it’s normally true, this is the exception to the rule). very sweet scenes follow, including camping and sightseeing and singing. the hoodie scene just gets me.

4. “blue’s clues” by asperula UGH THIS ONE. it’s cute af. you get vigilante blue spirit zuko, journalist student sokka, “and they were roommates” in a republic city university setting, and it’s just so much fun. i loved it, i have no doubt you will too.

5. “Wishful Thinking” by mindbending ok spoiler alert: this one ends up the way you want it to, but god what a trip to get there. sokka is making so many romantic gestures, and zuko cannot see, for the life of him, that they are all for him. it is the height of dramatic irony, you will be frustrated, you will be distressed, you will be sad, but in the end it will all be worth it. *i’m a big fan of mindbending, they have a few other high quality zukka fics, my other favorite of which is “Intimate Counselors,” and I recommend reading everything by them basically lol

oh one last one 6. “Alchemy” also by mindbending (told you i loved mindbending lol) this one is a noir parody. takes place in caldera featuring a detective sokka investigating the disappearance of the mob prince zuko, the identity of the blue spirit, and the scar of his favorite teashop worker, lee. it’s hilarious, it’s so sweet, i could go on about everything i love about it. oh, and toph is also in it, which is super fun!

I think those are my favorites at the moment! more modern au in there than i thought there would be, so hopefully they are fun for you and you haven’t yet read them! let me know what you think of them, and if you have any recs of your own feel free to send some my way :)

#zukka fanfic #zukka #fic rec #ask #anon

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caelum-in-the-avatarverse · 4 years ago

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Written for @azulaweek. Prompt - Night. (Image Source)

Summary: In which little Azula is very insistent, and Lu Ten can't say no to that face, even if it is an ungodly hour of night when all sensible Firebenders should be sleeping.

~~~

Today we get FLUFF! I never write actual fluff so you’re welcome.

~~~

“Lu! Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu!”

“Ugh, what the - Zuli, kiddo, is that you - mmph!”

Azula had slammed her cousin’s bedchamber door open, run into the room, jumped onto his bed, and bellyflopped on top of the half-asleep teenager all in the space of about three seconds. “Lu!”

Lu Ten jerked the rest of the way awake, bolted upright in his bed, and reached out to grab the little girl and hold her up by the armpits. “Zuli? Are you okay? What’s wrong? Is there an assassin?” He looked around the dark room wildly, scanning for threats.

She giggled down at him. “No! There’s a thunderstorm!”

Right on cue, a massive rumble rolled through the sky. Now that Lu Ten was listening, he could hear the rain falling hard outside. “Oh,” he said, relaxing a bit and setting her down in his lap. “Is that all?”

“Come on,” she said, tugging his arm. “We have to watch!”

“Kiddo,” Lu Ten yawned, “it is...I don’t even know what time it is. Too dark for Firebenders to be up, that’s for sure. You need to go back to sleep.”

She pouted up at him. “But you promised! You said next time there was a thunderstorm we’d watch it together!”

He had indeed promised, as the last time he’d been in the palace during a thunderstorm he had literally been on his way out the door to boot camp and Azula had nearly thrown a fit when he told her he had to go. “I did,” he agreed, “but I was kinda thinking we’d be doing that during daylight - ”

She stared up at him, small and expectant and wide-eyed and trusting and a little brat who knew exactly how cute she was. He was being played. Lu Ten was completely aware that he was being played. He was eighteen and dealt with the Fire Court on a regular basis, he knew manipulation when he saw it.

That didn’t stop his heart from melting. Better to allow yourself to be manipulated by your adorable five-year-old cousin than some scheming politician.

And besides...he couldn’t not be there for his cousins. He was always willing to take the extra step, spend a little more time, be a little more patient. He wouldn’t say he was good with kids, exactly, but he was good with Zuko and Azula. He’d figured out how to be, because...well.

Aunt Ursa was the best, but Grandfather was too old to bother with children, and Father was often off on campaign, and Uncle Ozai was...not exactly parental material. He rarely involved himself in his children’s upbringing, and when he did, Lu Ten rather wished he wouldn’t. Maybe he’d be better at it in a few years - or a decade - when the kids were older and capable of holding something approximating adult conversation. Lu Ten wasn’t holding his breath, but he could give Uncle Ozai the benefit of the doubt. Grandpa had barely known what to do with Lu Ten until he’d been eleven, after all.

For now, though, Lu Ten was fully capable of blundering his way through every awkward, confusing, hilarious, and ridiculous situation he could with his cousins. At least they were old enough to use words now - that made interaction so much easier.

Except for the part where they could use words to craft a persuading and manipulative argument.

“You said,” Azula said in a very small voice that made Lu Ten’s heart crack clean in two.

He sighed. “You’re right, I did. And what kind of prince would I be if I didn’t keep my word, huh?” With great mental anguish, he tossed off his blankets, stood up, scooped Azula into his arms, and made his way to the window. There was a nice wide window seat, and he settled onto it, sinking back against the comfy cushions and pulling his legs up so he could lounge against the wall.

Azula slid down beside him and leaned so far over the window sill she almost fell out.

“Whoa, careful kiddo,” Lu Ten said, pulling her back, and then he added, “It’s fine, just us, back to your posts,” when a pair of guard-shaped shadows across the courtyard startled and moved forward. They complied silently, leaving Lu Ten and Azula as alone as royalty could ever truly be.

Azula didn’t lean outside again, but she stayed pressed up against the sill, staring up at the storm. The window was wide enough to comfortably lounge in, stretching all the way up from the seat to the ceiling in beautifully carved teak wood edged with latticework. The intricate geometry and sharp angles were a direct contrast to the view they framed - the night sky was filled with round, roiling clouds that swirled haphazardly overhead, lit for an instant by a far-off streak of lightning. The thunder followed in a low rumble, distant.

“Whoa,” Azula breathed, still staring. “How far away is it?”

“Hm?” Lu Ten asked. “Oh, sorry, forgot to count. We’ll do the next one, okay?”

“Okay.”

It was raining buckets out there, Lu Ten saw. The raindrops hit the courtyard flagstones hard, bouncing back up again in little splashes before settling into puddles. It was the start of the rainy season, and the weather was starting with a bang.

Literally.

“Lu!” Azula said, pointing excitedly at the streak of lightning that flashed through the clouds.

“One one thousand,” Lu Ten counted, “two one thousand - ”

“ - three one thousand,” Azula counted with him, “four one thousand, five one thousand, six one thousand, seven one thousand, eight one thousand, nine one thousand - ”

Thunder clapped overhead, much closer than before.

“How far away?” Azula asked eagerly.

“Almost two miles.”

She bounced a little. “How does it work again?”

“Hm,” Lu Ten said. He reached around her, held up his hands in front of her. “How many fingers do I have?”

She snorted. “Ten.”

“Right. So. How many groups of five can you fit in my ten fingers?” He wiggled his fingers pointedly.

Her brow furrowed, and she stared at his hands. Her little fingers idly poked over his. “...Two?”

“Two groups of five,” he agreed. “It takes five seconds for the sound of lightning to travel one mile. So if it takes nine seconds to hear the thunder, that’s almost two miles.”

“Hm,” Azula said, processing that. She was distracted a moment later, when a fork of lightning came down in the distance. “One one thousand, two one thousand, three one thousand, four one thousand, five one thousand - ”

Thunder.

“How many groups of five fit in five?”

She snorted. “Just one.”

“One mile then,” Lu Ten said.

She was staring out at the spot of sky where the lightning had arched down from the heavens. “Do you think it hit anything?”

“Probably,” he yawned. “When it comes down like that it’s gotta hit something.”

“I wanna see something get hit by lightning.”

“Ask Grandpa for a demonstration tomorrow.”

“That’s not what I mean - ”

For an instant, the sky was cracked in two by a massive flash of light, so bright that in that split second the entire courtyard could be seen clear as day. Lu Ten saw Azula’s face, lit up in awe as she gaped upwards. Then it was over, and the world plunged back into the dark of night.

The thunderclap was immediate and deafening.

“Whoa,” Azula breathed when it was over.

“No time between that lightning and thunder,” Lu Ten laughed. “It’s right on top of us.”

“Do you think it’ll hit anything?” Azula asked, excited.

Lu Ten shrugged. “I hope not. That would be dangerous.”

“But we’re Firebenders.”

“And that’s wild lightning. You don’t go walking on lava for fun, do you?”

“No.”

“Exactly.”

Azula leaned back against him. “I want to make lightning.”

“I’m sure you will, someday,” Lu Ten said. Maybe sooner than usual, even. Azula had taken to firebending lessons like a turtleduck to water, and her instructors and family members alike were astonished at how quickly she learned. Prodigy, some people had started to whisper, with knowing looks towards Fire Lord Azulon. Grandpa was a prodigy himself, and Azula had been named for him. Perhaps it’d been precognition, or maybe Azula had been blessed by the spirits as a reward for the honor shown to her grandfather.

Either way, it made Uncle Ozai happy. The man practically preened whenever someone complimented Azula’s skills, already advanced past what was normal for a child her age. Lu Ten hoped Azula’s gift helped Uncle Ozai forge a connection with her, finally figure out how to relate to his own kid. The man was still hopelessly distant when it came to Zuko. How ironic, Lu Ten thought, that Ozai lived right here in the palace with his children and never seemed to know what to do with them, while Lu Ten’s father had spent much of Lu Ten’s childhood out on campaign and still managed to forge a tight-knit bond with his son.

“I’m gonna make the best lightning,” Azula declared. She was still staring up at the clouds, entranced, but her eyelids were drooping.

Lu Ten pulled her into his lap so he could tuck her up against his chest. “You’ll have to work very hard for that,” he said, “but I’m sure you can do it.”

“I’ll be the best Firebender ever,” she yawned.

Lu Ten smiled and wrapped his arms around her. “You’re gonna be the fiercest little general. You and Zuko both.”

“And we’ll help you win the war?”

There were only ten years until the comet returned. She would be fifteen, one year shy of legal adulthood. Hopefully the plans they were setting in motion around Ba Sing Se would win the war before that, but if the Fire Nation had to use the power of the comet to end it once and for all, and if everyone was needed to help strike the final blow...well. “Of course you will.” He ran a hand over the top of her head.

She smiled and sighed and watched the storm out the window, her eyes slowly closing. Lu Ten briefly considered moving them back to his bed, but...he was tired, he didn’t want to jolt her back to alertness, the window seat was comfortable enough, and now that he thought about it his eyes were already closed...

He didn’t bother getting up.

The lightning flashes were far away now, the thunder distant rumbles, and the sound of the raindrops hitting the courtyard flagstones were a constant, steady patter that lulled both prince and princess to sleep.

~~~

Author’s Notes

Thanks for reading! Kudos and comments are super appreciated!

One of my deep-rooted headcanons: Azula absolutely adored Lu Ten, and he adored her right back. (Maybe this isn't a radical take these days, but back in the 00s/early 10s I seem to remember the few fics that involved Lu Ten and Azula having it that Azula hated him and was cool with him dying. *shrugs*

This takes place just over a year before the siege of Ba Sing Se starts, for reference.

The lightning-thunder-counting is totally a thing and if you didn't know that then I apologize for your childhood and its lack of cool older cousins. Basically if you count the seconds between lightning and thunder and divide it by five, you get the number of miles away the lightning was cuz that's how long it took the sound of thunder to travel to your location.

I kinda figure there are no glass windows in the Fire Nation, just a thing I thought of while writing this cuz the image of rain on the windowpanes is so natural to me but then I was like "Wait..." There's no air conditioning in the Avatarverse and you really need that island breeze to be able to pass through easily to keep cool. Does this make things easier for assassins? Probably, and that's why you get guards stationed everywhere to relieve Azulon's paranoia, lol. RIP to the brave men and women who're keeping watch in a downpour.

Regarding Lu Ten's relationship with his cousins - listen, I do not mind children, I like to think I can handle children, however, I was a teenager by the time my first cousins were born, and after over a decade of my life wishing I had a bunch of cousins to play with like my friends, suddenly just having...babies around was kind of...underwhelming. They were FINE they were just...small and gurgly and had few ways for me to interact with them, and I'd already had three little sisters so I was kind of over the baby stage. SO imagine my SURPRISE AND DELIGHT when the kids finally started talking and having discernible personalities and interests and then one day I was suddenly holding a full-on conversation about Transformers with a five-year-old and we were both contributing to and invested in what we were talking about and I realized "Oh my god I love these children."

So that's kind of the personal life experience I pour into Lu Ten's relationship with his cousins in my headcanon - he loves them, spends time with them, doesn't quite know what to DO with them, and then suddenly they're talking and he's like OH THANK AGNI I CAN FINALLY GET TO KNOW YOU. XD

#azulaweek2020 #atla fanfic #avatar fanfiction #Azula #fire nation royal family #Lu Ten #caelum writes

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sol1056 · 6 years ago

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three contagonists in one

another two-parter anon:

...while many people [note] Lotor's lack of a relationship with Keith, I find infinite wasted potential in what could've been an interesting arc with Shiro. Both leaders, explorers, abused by the empire, and --- this was stressed for some reason in the Kral Zera episode --- both being a special object of Sendak's hatred.

You just knocked right on one of the few truly fascinating aspects of S3-S6, and one VLD seems to have completely overlooked: Lotor’s positioning as a mirror contagonist.

There’s something you’ll find in a lot of the Gundam series that I haven’t seen too many other series do, and it’s become my favorite way to flesh out a cast. Although most Gundam series have a nominal protagonist, there’s usually a core group of pilots. Each will step into the main spot for a few episodes, and each has a secondary character who acts as their foil. This is their mirror contagonist.

I first noticed the pattern in Gundam Wing, where it was most stark. Heero had Relena, whose innocence balanced his brutal backstory yet whose political savvy balanced his ignorance of the bigger picture. Duo had Hilde, who’d become a traditional soldier while Duo acted alone. Trowa had Cathy, whose compassion and extroversion matched his detachment and isolation; Quatre had Dorothy, whose ruthlessness and game-playing echoed Quatre’s darker side. And Wufei had Sally, who refused to mope, but grabbed the bull by the horns. Even the antagonists had mirror characters.

A mirror contagonist is also an impact character: they’re the only one the protagonist can’t ignore, even when no one else can get through. Done right, it’s an intriguing way to highlight a character’s internal conflict. But boy, do mirror contagonists take a lot of planning.

First, they must have a goal of their own, or they’re just a plot device to artificially force the protagonist into plot-movement. Some walk-on just happens to say the right thing to make the hard-headed protagonist think twice? Gee, how convenient. Nope, the mirror character must have their own trajectory, or it won’t be believable that their words/actions could shove the protagonist’s trajectory onto a new course.

Second, as a contagonist, their trajectory may run parallel to the protagonist’s, but it must differ in the details, whether means or ends. The contagonist is a makeshift ally (as much as they align with the protagonist), but there must also be conflict, and that’s where the quasi-antagonist role comes into play.

Third, the contagonist personifies either the lie the protagonist believes, or the truth they must accept. Since that points back to the protagonist, you really have to nail down exactly what wound lives in the protagonist’s backstory, what their self-protective lie is, and what truth they need to recognize. Otherwise you end up with a mirror character who’s more like a broken funhouse than a solid reflection.

Really, you’re creating a secondary character who is tailored to be the only one who can force the protagonist to face the truth. If a secondary character works as a mirror/impact for multiple protagonists in your story... your protagonists need some serious switching-up in their lies, their truths, or their goals. Or all three.

And that brings me to Lotor.

He’s a match with Allura, by virtue of his Altean obsession, and their respective parents. He’s also clearly set up as an impact character, with his words changing Allura’s trajectory like no other character manages. He also seeks peace, with similar means (a sentient mecha) but differing goals (taking over the empire rather than dismantling it).

Although Keith and Lotor never actually meet except for two short scenes, Lotor’s also rife with parallels to Keith. Their respective backstories are shot through with implied neglect, abandonment, distrust, and isolation; Keith’s near-obsession with Lotor underscores that parallel, of like calling to like.

And yeah, you’re right: there’s a third set of parallels with Shiro. In terms of leadership styles, they’re both inclusive of their teams, fond to a point but always with an edge of distance. They’re strategic thinkers, rather than tactical, and they tend to take the long-range view over short-term gains. And yes, it is rather odd that Sendak seems to have especial contempt for both of them.

This is actually where my original thesis -- that Lotor would make a great mirror contagonist -- falls apart. Because it makes no sense for him to be the mirror for three separate characters. As a contagonist, yes, but to mirror each of these? I mean, we’re supposed to see Allura, Keith, and Shiro as separate entities, so creating someone so well-rounded they can mirror all three...

Lotor is actually a protagonist.

I’ve alluded to this before, and others have come right out and said it, but this also presents somewhat of a problem. First is that this is too late in the game to be introducing major repeating characters (let alone a seventh protagonist). He should’ve been introduced --- even in passing --- no later than S2. And he should’ve at least been mentioned in S1, so we were aware of the chance he’d enter the fray.

The second (and larger) problem is that despite being characterized as fully as a protagonist, he swings in and out of being a plot device. Frankly, it’s like the story has no idea what to do with him; he takes up too much room. (Honestly, he would’ve been an amazing protagonist by himself, but I guess that’s too much of a complete reboot to flip the tables like that.)

In S3, Lotor isn’t aligned as a true antagonist; the resulting interactions end up more like protagonists from overlapping stories. Lotor needs a goal that either opposes the team (ie, attack vs defend the empire) or competes with it (both racing to capture the same comet).

Instead, the team is focused on defeating the empire and Lotor is like, well, whatever. The entire reason they meet is because Lotor manipulates them for his own ends, but these aren’t ends that (at that point) seem to impact the team beyond annoying them. Putting Lotor front-and-center thereby shifts the story to him, which makes the sudden swerve away from him around S4 just as jarring as the original shift to him.

By S5, Lotor hasn’t lost that layered characterization... and the story still isn’t sure how to balance him with the paladins. He shows flashes of being a true contagonist, in that his objectives are loosely parallel to the team’s, but their ends (overthrow Zarkon) are his means, not his ends (take command of the empire).

This is where Lotor’s positioning as a quasi-protagonist reveals some major story problems: mainly, that the core team has never expressed what will happen after. The entire coalition storyline --- from the end of S2 to the end of S4 --- drops out of sight, and in the gap, Lotor’s goals become the team’s goals. That’s not a mirror contagonist; that’s a protagonist taking over the story.

Only one scene ever veers close to doing what it should with a contagonist, or even a mirror: have a discussion. Instead, we get Lotor saying, “this is what we need to do,” the team argues yes or no (but not why), Shiro snaps at Lance, and the debate is over.

That closed the door on Lotor ever being more than an exposition fairy and plot device. The purpose of a contagonist is to poke holes in the heroes’ plans. Shiro and Lotor (or, in the non-clone version, Keith and Lotor) should’ve gone head-to-head over the (expected) divergence in their respective goals.

When the story doesn’t go there, it’s a sign the team has no end-goal. There’s nothing, at that point in S5, to indicate what any of the paladins consider criteria for success. What must happen, or be in place, for the team to say the war has ended and been won? Who knows; it’s never discussed or even implied.

Without a goal on the paladins’ part, Lotor has to be stepped back: no meeting with Keith, no exploration of the parallels with Shiro. He’s limited to a plot device that enables Allura’s power-up, provokes conflict for Lance, and provides a ready-made Next Step for the paladins. That is, ‘support Lotor in reforming the empire.’ Which actually just boils down to ‘become the empire’s lackey,’ including vrepit-sa’ing people. (Ugh.)

This, I suspect, is also the reason Lotor had to be stripped of his generals before the story let him meet the paladins; the generals would’ve been four more contagonists (one for each paladin) and the story could barely handle Lotor. It wasn’t up to interrogating each paladin’s individual reasons for being in the story, especially when 3/5ths didn’t seem to have explicit goals.

There’s no doubt Lotor was a compelling character, with damn good personal reasons for wanting his parents overthrown. He was far more interesting, too, when he had little inclination to rule, as this implied some larger scheme separate from simply gaining power. But that also made him an awkward character for contagonist or mirror purposes. Compared to his strong motivations, the paladins became cardboard in their own story: no goals, no tensions pulling at them (other than Lance’s jealousy), no outside pressures forcing them to act, no internal needs pushing them to choose.

The very nature of Lotor’s personal vendetta revealed, in comparison, the paladins’ complete lack of personal motivation. For that reason, he had to be reduced first to an exposition fairy, then to a plot device, and then to a pawn tossed one way then the other and finally to a villain shrieking madly. Letting him retain the strength and depth of a protagonist only made clear how little the true protagonists filled that same role.

I should add: Shiro is the one exception to this, as anon points out. Of the team, barring possibly Allura, Shiro is the only one with a personal connection to all three major antagonists (Sendak, Zarkon, Haggar), and the only one with a personal reason to make the empire pay. Contrasting Lotor and Shiro would’ve made sense, as respective leaders, and would’ve been a strong argument with no right answer and serious emotional beats.

The story veered away, I think, because that would’ve returned Shiro’s motivations to the forefront. By S5, I suspect the EPs were already trying to downgrade Shiro and minimize his personal stakes. With Lotor’s parallels to Shiro, the easiest way for the story to dismiss Shiro’s unanswered questions was to diminish the one character whose presence could raise those questions again.

#vld #voltron #lotor #characterization #contagonists #protagonists #analysis #sol thinks about stuff

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anxiousdepressedintrovert · 6 years ago

Text

Otome Friday

LoveStruck under the read bar

The Royal Romance

-My Ideal opening: the light come back on and Riley is standing there with Anton’s men on the ground. She looks at Gladys “No, Gladys, I’m sorry.” and then shoots her. or something like that

-Here we go

-I’m in a public space so I can reign in my behavior

-Oh god the chapter title is Taken

-Someone call Liam Neeson!!!

-Oh fuck no! They snatched Olivia too!!!

-yeah, Anton’s gonna die

-Stiletto blade to the eye

-Why is he still wearing glasses?

-Yas Olivia.

-....Riley’s tied up, but I’m going for the petty option. Which is the third

-Anton actually likes us? Nah, I’m good

-Claudius. Anton...why are you using their actual names?

-Ofc Claudius is someone important

-UGH

-AHHHH HE’S FUCKING HORRIFYING!!!

-I wish I could jump into this game.

-I’m gonna fight everyone

-I really wanna see Olivia go off on Anton.

-Like, take him down

-WE’RE OLIVIA’S ONLY FRIEND!!!! OMG

-It is in the midst of chaos that we find peace

-Yes! we got to headbutt him!

-Bless the woman who believes in a backup back up knife

-Oh man I’m buzzing

-shield bow sword helmet

-It’s the sword!!!

-Oh look, Gladys

-UGH

-I wanna know why!

-Tell me why Gladys.

-I want weapons...so yeah I caved

-Oh course this is about the last Duchess

-UGH

-I’m dramatic so...rams head mace it is

-Don’t make me regret this Gladys!

-HANA!!!

-Oh god oh god oh god oh god

-This is so fucking tense

-I can’t

-Yeah....Claudius is getting my mac in his head

-yas Liam!

-I knew he wasn’t stupid

-Ugh the team work from Olivia and Riley is golden

-Ah this is why you don’t hire cowards

-AHHHH NO OLIVIA!!!!!

-NONONONONONONNONONOONONONONONONONONONO

-oH MY GOD

-This is so fucking stressful!!!

-Yes yes it’s over now get Olivia some medical attention!!

-Mara get away from Olivia!

-She’s thrice the bodyguard you’ll ever be

-Bertrand! Don’t be like that!

-Everyone has people to hug, we have a corgi

-Riley wins

-Olivia why are you at the reception?!

-You got stabbed!!

-OMG Neville and Madeleine!?!!!

-AHHHH YAS MADELEINE! DRAG HIM!!!

-Peace out!

-Gotta go make some royal babies

-Of course PB has to stick one last 30 diamonds option in there

-Hmmm, choices, choices...

-WHY DON’T WE HAVE NICE LINGERIE!!!

-Sex on a couch

-I’m kinda disappointed.

-Leo and his MC broke shit in their hotel room

-But Liam got us roses!

-My heart! The letter!!! AHHHHHHHHH

-I swear to god!

-I better get my happily ever after!!

-WTF is left? Huh? What’s left?

Veil of Secrets

-We are up shit creek without a paddle

-Oh thank god we didn’t hang up

-Thank you for not being stupid Grant

-Heh. Raven can pick locks

-Going to The Endurance

-Oh Flynn, you can tell me how badass I look now

-Do Grant and Flynn not get guns?

-Okay then

-My dumbass jumped behind the car.

-I’ve seen enough action movies to know better

-Shame

-Grant got Drake’s flesh wound

-I love you Noami

-Love you too Flynn

-Duffy, you’re being a child now “Lemme alone”

-Sound like one of my cousins

-Wow. Duffy is really distracted. We got past him AND down into the hold

-PIERCEI SHOULD LEAVE YOU HERE TO DIE!!!

-In fact I might !

-ofc he comes back

-YAS. Duffy’s gonna have a fucking concussion

-WHERE THE FUCK DID HE GET A BOMB?!

-Jeff you can’t do anything right

-Pierce, shut the fuck up!

-Raven was talking him down and now you’ve gone and riled him up

-Easy Jeff. It just means you don’t look like your mom

-Awww Jeff don’t fall for it

-Jeff didn’t know his birth name

-Sad

-Pierce you dumbass!

-Why would you give Naomi’s position away?!

-EWWWW

-Jeff doesn’t have a hand anymore

-Oh man...I’m glad this choice isn’t timed.

-hmmm, to burn or save them?

-I want Duffy to live with his choices

-But At the same time...

-Pierce could/would leave his money to Kate

-And I also want the pleasure of mocking his life choices....

-Fuck it

-Saving Duffy

-”End of the line Pierce!”

-YAS Naomi! “You have the right to remain silent”

-It fucking better be over!

-Wait! What did I miss?!

-I only have 5/6 clues!

-What’d I miss?!

Saerys Route

-Anyone else feel like this came back really fast?

-Cause I do

-I’m happy for it but still

-Oh god. The Summary is angst

-We should have kill Yovith last season

-WHAT!!!!!!!! WHY ARE WE ALWAYS GETTING STABBED?!

-If the soul bond is gone

-Doesn’t that mean that Sigyn doesn’t have a soul anymore?

-Apparently the final form, has a final form

-This angst.

-Ugh

-The soul plain is gonna be on fire

-....It’s dark

-Boring!

-Now we’re trying to make plans

-Why are we going to the elven domain now?

-Not just in this route but in general

-We’ve been there in Reiner and Isuel’s route

-Iseul’s route made sense and so did Reiner

-But this doesn’t really.

-Lol, Sigyn called Reiner ‘dad’

-I spent hearts on it. Exploring the bond better work!

-Okay. We got something.

-Good.

-Magic worked a little and the bond is still there thank god

-We have more hope now

-Iseul and Ryland flirting.

-I ship it

-Now we’re going to the Elven domain

-Isuel’s being cryptic

-But we know...Well, I know

-Weepy Prince Consort

-I love him

-Sigyn and Saerys planning on living in the Elven domain so Iseul won’t visit

-Saerys is so precious!!

-I love their relationship so much!

-So they’re gonna take us to an elven garden and NOT show it to us?

-Fucking rude

-Now we wait...fuck.

Duke Route

-This is gonna be painful

-...oh no. *whispers* he’s hot

-But he’s an rude entitled man...so...no

-Kirk Steele...wtf.

-Again with the attempts to buy Chatshpere

-Awww we get alone time with Duke

-*Spongebob voice* Imagination~~

-Kelsey is smol

-This date is cute

-Here we go...

-...While I don’t completely trust Zeke...

-...I wouldn’t mind a route.....

-Duke’s parents aren’t getting better but they can make new memories

-Robin is, once again, a gift

-I’m ready to fight Kirk Steele/

-Yeah. I’m ready to throw down

-You don’t threaten Robin. Especially when it’s unclear if they have powers in this story.

-DUKE’S NEVER HAD MAC AND CHEESE BEFORE!!!

-WHAT THE FUCK!!!!!!

-This CG is so domestic and pure I love it

-And Kelsey waits days to tell the rest of the gang. Why Kelsey

-OMg this is when shit hits the fan

-Duke is being extra aggressive

-....let Duke ‘thank’ you.

-Getting head in front of the window

-OMG

-Having sex in front of the window

-And now I’m hot and bothered in the fucking library

-great

-Oh Duke. Don’t go.

Atlas Route

-Time to kick Atlas’s ass!

-At least they gave us the option to not be useless

-Jaxon is such a good friend. Not to mention shipper

-Awwww what a bonding moment!!!

-Oh Comet!!!!

-We found him!!

-Time to knock some sense into him

-Of course Zella stayed with Atlas. She needs to strangle him!

-Atlas took down 7 guards in his rage

-Jaxon ruining moments again

-Ofc the escape can’t be easy

-Ugh. This no neck bastard.

-Go Jaxon!

-Aww Comet missed Atlas!

-I feel like SP MC would be the wife that gets drunk and tries to burn her marriage certificate saying “Good luck trying to return me without the receipt!”

-Jesus, the moment Atlas gets naked Zella loses the ability to think properly

-Honestly? Same

-Top Zella

-Death is a mercy for Petros. He gets none

#Lovestruck Voltage #Starship Promise #Villainous Nights #Love and Legends #Duke Route #Atlas Route #Saerys Route #playchoices #The Royal Romance #Veil of Secrets

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seyaryminamoto · 7 years ago

Note

Yeah why does Zuko treat his sister like that when his entire character and development revolves around him learning compassion and sympathy?

Because that’s what his entire character and development SHOULD revolve around, what most people think they revolve around… but it’s actually not the case.

There are many instances where the show tries to press on that Zuko has become a kind and compassionate man, and those instances are mainly dialogues and quotes. I’ll list several ones that the fandom seems to cry about back and forth, and then we’ll break everything down bit by bit, so I can explain why I think Zuko’s development isn’t about any of these things…

Examples: The Guru

“It’s a new day. We’ve got a new apartment, new furniture, and today’s the grand opening of your new tea shop. Things are looking up, Uncle.”_____________Iroh: “Who thought when we came to this city as refugees, that I’d end up owning my own tea shop? Follow your passion, Zuko, and life will reward you.”Zuko: “Congratulations, Uncle.”Iroh: “I am very thankful.”Zuko: “You deserve it. The Jasmine Dragon will be the best tea shop in the city.”Iroh: “No. I’m thankful because you decided to share this special day with me. It means more than you know.”Zuko: “Now let’s make these people some tea!” Iroh: “Yes, let’s make some tea!”

Day of Black Sun Part 2.

“No, I’ve learned everything! And I’ve had to learn it on my own! Growing up, we were taught that the Fire Nation was the greatest civilization in history. And somehow, the War was our way of sharing our greatness with the rest of the world. What an amazing lie that was. The people of the world are terrified by the Fire Nation. They don’t see our greatness. They hate us! And we deserve it! We’ve created an era of fear in the world. And if we don’t want the world to destroy itself, we need to replace it with an era of peace and kindness.”

Ember Island Players

Toph: “Geez, everyone’s getting so upset about their characters. Even you seem more down than usual, and that’s saying something!”Zuko: “You don’t get it, it’s different for you. You get a muscly version of yourself, taking down ten bad guys at once, and making sassy remarks.”Toph: “Yeah, that’s pretty great!”Zuko: “But for me, it takes all the mistakes I’ve made in my life, and shoves them back in my face. My uncle, he’s always been on my side, even when things were bad. He was there for me, he taught me so much, and how do I repay him? With a knife in his back. It’s my greatest regret, and I may never get to redeem myself.”Toph: “You have redeemed yourself to your uncle. You don’t realize it, but you already have.”Zuko: “How do you know?”Toph: “Because I once had a long conversation with the guy, and all he would talk about was you.”Zuko: “Really?”Toph: “Yeah, and it was kind of annoying.”Zuko: “Oh, sorry.”Toph: “But it was also very sweet. All your uncle wanted was for you to find your own path, and see the light. Now you’re here with us. He’d be proud.”

Sozin’s Comet: The Old Masters

Zuko: “Uncle, I know you must have mixed feelings about seeing me. But I want you to know, I am so, so, sorry, Uncle. I am so sorry and ashamed of what I did. I don’t know how I can ever make it up to you. But I’ll-… How can you forgive me so easily? I thought you would be furious with me.”Iroh: “I was never angry with you. I was sad because I was afraid you lost your way.”Zuko: “I did lose my way.”Iroh: “But you found it again. And you did it by yourself. And I am so happy you found your way here.”

There’s even a hilarious thing going around in a popular post these days, about his “Father Lord” slip of tongue, interpreting that as Zuko being so aware of the fact that it’s his FATHER who has to be defeated/die… while of course, ignoring the rest of the context. Just the kind of posts I love, as you’ll imagine.

Anyways, with these quotes in mind… what is the main takeaway the general public gets? That Zuko learned kindness! That Zuko learned the Fire Nation was wrong!

And now I ask… if he learned it all, as apparently he did, where’s the proof of it in his actions? When does Zuko show genuine kindness and empathy towards other characters and people, post-redemption?

First of all, the Guru gives us the creepy Zuko who’s happy and chill after getting out of his emo coma. What bothers me about Zuko in these episodes is that his transformation doesn’t feel genuine to me AT ALL. Zuko made the right decision, he let Appa go, after Iroh encouraged him and told him to do that. But reasonably speaking, did he really understand what Iroh was telling him? Iroh scolds him for not thinking things through, and tells him that it’s time for him to think about what he wants, and who he wants to be, basically. Zuko’s answer to that is letting Appa go, and then fainting, and then coming back to life as a happy boy. Which… eh? He should have changed, no doubt, after this experience… but to this extreme? And this fast?

The reason it feels fake is because you can’t really see him pondering Iroh’s words properly. He had a bunch of nightmares and even then we have no idea if he learned anything from them. If there was any reflection on his part over what he was experiencing. Where he SHOULD HAVE asked Iroh for advice, where he should have taken his seat and sipped his tea while asking Iroh about his own experiences, hoping to unravel what his own path should be… Zuko just got happy. That’s that. That’s how he learned kindness and empathy and sympathy and all that. So he becomes a very supportive nephew, but Iroh doesn’t really understand where that came from, and from the looks of it, neither does Zuko because as soon as the stakes are high again, what did he do? Pick his old life over the new. And that, again, reinforces my interpretation that his “change” was him trying to behave the way Iroh would approve of, rather than him actually trying to understand ANYTHING from Iroh’s words in lake Laogai. Rather than him learning a single thing about kindness and peace and good will towards men.

Second, DOBS Part 2. Zuko gives Ozai a funny speech about how they’ve been indoctrinated in the Fire Nation to believe they’re great and spreading greatness through the war. What an amazing lie it was, he says. A lie he believed in and fought for, directly, during at least 3 years. Yet also a lie he set aside for his own benefit, whenever he so wished (see the Blue Spirit, for instance). A lie he apparently stopped believing in when Azula shows up to drag him home as a prisoner. He cuts his hair and discards his ties to his nation…

… And yet still tries to fight Aang in the Chase. Because he’s got to get the Avatar, despite he knows the Fire Nation has listed him as a wanted criminal.

And he still tries to use Appa to bring Aang to him in Lake Laogai, because this way he’s going to get the Avatar for real and still go back to the horrible nation that issued out a wanted poster for him.

When you look back, all the way to episode 3?

“If my father thinks the rest of the world will follow him willingly, then he is a fool!”

Point and case being: Zuko, for one thing, wasn’t as blind to Ozai’s war at every point in the show as most people would have you believe. If he was aware of how Ozai wasn’t going to get the world to follow him, to the point of calling his terrifying father A FOOL??? Then clearly Zuko didn’t buy into the propaganda entirely. His actions during the war are NOT for the Fire Nation’s sake, or for his father’s sake, but for the sake of going home already and putting an end to his banishment once and for all. Nothing in the entire show has ever lead me to think otherwise, and I know for a fact that I’m not the only person who sees it this way. So Zuko didn’t really care about the lies and the greatness: it was NEVER what guided his actions, because what he truly wanted was to stop being banished.

So, now that the whole lie thing is out of the way, he tells Ozai that the rest of the world hates them! And yes, they do! He sees that for himself in Zuko Alone… you know, that episode that comes after he’s been out there, stealing from Earth Kingdom people, OUT OF A SENSE OF ENTITLEMENT. So sorry, I will always bring this up because Zuko NEVER owned up to this and I have no reason to believe he even regretted it. So… ugh. Anyways, point being that Zuko is telling Ozai all about how the Fire Nation deserve the Earth Kingdom’s hatred… which of course, Ozai knows. He’s not THAT stupid, he just doesn’t give a crap about being despised xD But the thing is… Zuko talks about this like he’s seen the world, like he’s watched how Fire Nation people treat Earth Kingdom people horribly, like he’s learned how messed up his own people can be.

But… when did we see Zuko standing up to Fire Nation people who were oppressing Earth Kingdom ones?

The answer is a grand total of zero times. Zuko stands up to a group of Earth Kingdom bullies who are harassing other Earth Kingdom people, and then after revealing who he is, he discovers they hate him even more than they hate the bullies. Zuko also helps Jet steal food on their ferry ride to Ba Sing Se, but who’s he stealing it from? Earth Kingdom people who are oppressing Earth Kingdom people. Zuko didn’t actually see how the Earth Kingdom people hated the Fire Nation, he saw how the Earth Kingdom people hated HIM, all through Books 1 and 2.

Now, why did Zuko help the people he helped? The bullies bothering Lee’s town had bothered Zuko too, the people hoarding food bothered him as well because he was eating crap while the good stuff was kept elsewhere. Zuko NEVER acted the way Aang did, spontaneously deciding to help the oppressed and downtrodden who needed help out of the good will of his heart. Nope, Zuko worked with others when it was convenient, most of all. Lee only gets Zuko to stay after the bully soldiers steal Zuko’s food, convincing him when he offers to feed Zuko’s ostrich horse at his house. Without that offer, Zuko would have just left and done nothing for these people.

In short, Zuko apparently learned that the Fire Nation is despised… when, as I said, going by his experiences, the one he should have learned was despised was HIM. He’s holding the Fire Nation as a whole responsible for his actions, for his wrongdoings, for everything bad he ever did in the Earth Kingdom. I repeat, the only time Zuko saw Earth Kingdom vs. Fire Nation in the flesh was when it was Earth Kingdom people mad at him for whatever he was doing, be it setting their villages on fire, stealing their food or treating them like lesser than him. The only exception I can think of is when the Earth Kingdom soldiers captured Iroh, and what happened there? Zuko and Iroh fought them, didn’t even reflect on how rightful or not these people were to pick a fight with them, and moved on. That simple.

We never get to see Zuko reflecting on how the Fire Nation has harmed these people so badly. We don’t get him reflecting on his own faults and mistakes often, but he certainly never seems to give much thought to how messed up things are and how the Fire Nation has no right to destroy everyone else. His showdown with Ozai, so very awaited by so many people? It, again, feels forced and hard to believe. It comes after we’ve seen Zuko talking to Mai about how he was his father’s perfect son but then he wasn’t HIM… and aside from that? What else did we have throughout the first half of season 3 to show us why Zuko is seeing the world differently than how he saw it before? He heard a story about his ancestors and was told he had good and bad inside him? Well, gee, that didn’t stop him from displaying his entitled side again by boasting to Mai that he can make anything she wants happen because he’s a prince, only a couple of episodes later. It didn’t stop him from wanting to be part of a war meeting desperately, with the attitude of a tantrum-throwing child.

There are SO MANY CHANCES the third season could have taken to portray a Zuko who ponders things, who pays attention to the world around him and realizes that he’s part of the Fire Nation, that he wants to respect everyone different from him too, that he doesn’t care about nation division but about doing what’s right by the world. Instead, he’s out there sending murderous cyborgs to kill the Avatar, he’s yelling at his imprisoned uncle, he goes to the beach and just picks fights both with his friends and with complete strangers, and throws more temper tantrums than anyone ever should.

And that brings up the really essential question: where, in all three seasons, did Zuko learn that peace and kindness were the answer? He says as much to Ozai, no doubt. But HOW is this his conclusion? Why would Zuko think that everyone should be kind and get along when the first person who always jumps into violence/conflict mode is him?

His field trips do nothing to prove he actually changed in this way, if you think about it:

Aang’s field trip: Zuko is aggressive and angry over losing his bending. He’s not very kind and peaceful about it, as far as I can remember. When they reach the Sun Warriors’ place, he’s clever for 10 seconds and stupid right after again, and when told that they have to be deemed worthy by Ran and Shaw? His immediate response to Aang’s doubts and uncertainties is “Well, we’re the Fire Prince and the Avatar. I think we could take these guys in a fight, whoever they are”. Again, responding with violence to a situation that he didn’t even know understand fully. What’s Zuko’s instinctive response to everything? Violence!

Sokka’s field trip: Zuko may know a thing or two about political prisoners, who knows, I certainly don’t know because the show never touched this subject. Tyrants like Ozai can and will imprison people who don’t deserve to be in jail… but as far as we saw? That might not have been the case in the Boiling Rock. We learn no stories of any of the people in this prison. We don’t have any clue about who they are. We don’t know if they deserve to be in there or not. But Zuko not only agrees to help Sokka break out his dad and girlfriend… he also agrees to helping Chit Sang, a complete stranger, who may just be hella dangerous for all they know (the wikia claims he’s been accused for murder and he says it’s not true: if he’s lying that means Zuko helped release a murderer from prison!). While the Boiling Rock is Zuko’s best field trip by far, it still makes you wonder if he gives his actions proper thought. Does he really want to release Fire Nation prisoners without knowing who they are or what they did to end up in there? How does this count as “peace” and “kindness”? Granted, the kind part is letting the guy go, sure, and what about the part where, if he were a murderer indeed, he might just go out there and kill again? How is that still kind, still peaceful?

Katara’s field trip: I barely even need to talk about this because Zuko absolutely condones Katara killing Fire Nation soldiers, who are/were acting UNDER ORDERS OF THEIR SUPERIORS, all because he wants to be her friend. Zuko, Mr. I’m-going-to-be-the-Fire-Lord-of-peace-and-kindness, standing by and even encouraging a girl who’s mad with grief and who wants revenge for her mother’s death, regardless of the cost. Again… is this Zuko’s peaceful doctrine? What sort of kindness do these actions reflect? When Aang says they shouldn’t do this, Zuko SCOFFS, he MOCKS him… and yet six episodes ago he was rambling about peace and kindness to his father, who of course, LAUGHED IN HIS FACE THE SAME WAY ZUKO WAS LAUGHING IN AANG’S FACE NOW…?

My point… Zuko learned some very pretty words that he can’t seem to put into actions. Heck, who knows if he even understands their meaning. But maybe what he meant was that everyone else should be kind and everyone else should be peaceful, and only when they all are nice and peaceful will he become nice and peaceful too. Maybe.

Carrying on after his speech to Ozai, though: as usual, his conversation with Toph only strengthens my belief that his development was about becoming exactly what Iroh wanted him to be rather than growing on his own and genuinely learning to better himself for his own sake. He says that the play rubs his worst mistakes in his face: what did the play show him doing? Yelling at Iroh, sending Iroh away, and I suppose having a weird affair with Katara (is this somehow implying that having a moment with Katara was one of his worst mistakes? Well, okay then, Zuko… x’D)? I can’t remember the play portraying anything else. Oh, well, growing out his hair. I guess he didn’t like his hair much either. Ah, and breaking Aang out of prison, I’m guessing he’s really sorry for that now, for… some reason?

Point is… the play didn’t show a Zuko who was hurting strangers, the way he often did in Book 1. It didn’t show a Zuko who was treating Earth Kingdom people like they owed him stuff just because he was Fire Nation royal, as he did in Book 2. We were shown a Zuko who, above all else, was mean to Iroh: THAT is his biggest mistake. Or so he believes. His remorse, his guilt? It’s all about Iroh. And that he’s acting the way Iroh expects of him is what makes him a worthwhile person now, basically. Instead of Zuko questioning what deserves to be questioned, we get a Zuko who adopts Iroh’s beliefs blindly, and who doesn’t even act on them entirely. He just tries to talk the way Iroh would, but as I said above? His answer to every problem is STILL violence. He STILL doesn’t think things through, he may have set a murderer loose in the Fire Nation on his trip to get out of prison, he thinks murder is fine and dandy in general… but because he will recite Iroh’s creed he’s somehow all good now?

And when Iroh takes him back, everyone’s happy, everyone’s moved, that’s what he deserves! Well, no doubt Iroh was going to accept him as he did, why wouldn’t he? Zuko modeled himself after his uncle, entirely. He wants to be Iroh 2.0, and he’ll do whatever he has to do to earn his approval.

But being Iroh 2.0 doesn’t mean having mercy for everyone, it doesn’t mean believing in peace and kindness as the answers to every ordeal. No, it means stopping the war, at any cost, and by doing whatever needs to be done. And that would be fine, but it also means that BOTH Iroh and Zuko don’t care, ultimately, if their other relatives live or die. Iroh never suggested Aang could find another way to defeat Ozai other than killing him, meaning he probably didn’t think there was another one and, meaning, he didn’t care that his brother had to die. He must have seen it as a necessity. Likewise, Zuko sees his sister unhinged and broken, and his reaction is simply to take advantage of her loss of sanity, and after her defeat, to stand by watching her writhing on the ground. Iroh has already told him Azula needs to go down, and that he shouldn’t get along with her. So he doesn’t even try. He doesn’t really need to freak out about whatever his sister’s future will be, because as long as she’s not standing between himself and the throne, he can easily just discard her.

I brought up that I found that “Father Lord” interpretation ridiculous to no end, but I’ll expand on why now: Zuko isn’t “painfully aware” of the fact that it’s his father who has to die. He’s not shown hesitating, instead, he’s shown hoping Aang can get it done, basically. Zuko isn’t particularly worried about Ozai’s fate, and it shows not only an episode before, where he’s actively scolding Aang for trying to find a solution other than murder. And it shows, again, in the finale when he confronts Ozai in his prison cell by telling him:

“You should count yourself lucky that the Avatar spared your life.”

Does this SERIOUSLY sound to anyone like a guy who was conflicted and sad that his father had to die? I can’t see it. I really can’t. If he was worried about Ozai, if he felt bad about his potential death? That feeling was buried SO DEEP that Zuko wasn’t even conscious of it. And as a reminder.. he has accepted Iroh as his actual father. He outright tells Ozai that Iroh is the one who was a real father to him. So… I don’t know if he’s really that conflicted about Ozai dying. Not when the person who’s most eager in the show to get Aang to kill Ozai is Zuko.

… Anyways.

In short, Zuko’s story was not about kindness, despite what the show would want everyone to believe. Zuko has ALWAYS suffered from a severe disconnection between his actions and his words. It’s something many people have criticized about his character before, and this ask really just ended up turning into a criticism about that, too. Zuko can talk about goodness and honor and kindness and peace all he wants, but when he stands watching his broken sister, with a look on his face that suggests Katara is more affected by Azula’s broken display than he is? You get the feeling he’s really just all talk. That a guy who preaches peace and then goes out to help his new best friend on her vengeful killer spree actually doesn’t care about peace or kindness unless it’s convenient to bring it up. Sure, he poured tea for people once in a while. Sure, he has taken up Iroh’s example and he may become an even better person in the future.

But the Zuko we saw in the show? He’s not changed nearly as much as people want to think he has. His redemption was supposed to be about how he learned better, how he became a good person, and how he’s the ideal Fire Lord for a Fire Nation headed for peace: do excuse me for questioning that, considering that the comics got their start with a trilogy where Zuko was charging against the Earth Kingdom all over again, as if his speech to Ozai had been hollow because here we are again, Fire Nation vs. Earth Kingdom. Who learned anything from the 100 Year War? Not Zuko!

All talk about Zuko’s kindness and good heart isn’t completely unfounded, but the show never developed his best traits the way it was supposed to. And the thousands of times where he shows no kindness, no mercy, where he chooses violence over peace, speak much louder than the handful of times where he decided to do the right thing, for a change. Especially when the merciless, violent stuff happens after he’s supposed to be all redeemed. Zuko’s growth was nowhere near as brilliantly executed as so many people would like to believe. Switching sides while barely changing your behavior and responses to situations is merely switching sides. It’s not a full-blown redemption, let alone is it one based on how compassionate and nice he’s become.

#markhamillz #... I ranted again #I did not mean to #crap

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klanceprance · 6 years ago

Text

EDIT: CONTAINS SPOILERS

Some last minute S7 predictions

edits after watching s7. let’s see if I predicted anything

Ranveig's super weapon will make an appearance

uh no

The team gets split up

not really they were pretty much together through it all

Shiro goes missing AGAIN

I didn’t really think that this would happen and I’m really glad it didn’t

BUT I got a lot of omg Shiro’s gonna die feels

They travel to another alternate reality/through time

technically they came out of the quintessence field and it’s 3 years later so time travel yes

I head canon that they’re in an alternate reality too cuz things just felt kinda off for me but who knows

More flashes from the quantum abyss

sadly no

More Garrison flashbacks (duh)

only in ep1

I was really hoping that especially since they were at the garrison that we’d see some more

flashback 4 years earlier when Sam came back to earth is not what I meant

Keith/Krolia fight sequence

we didn’t get to see them fight side by side but we did see Krolia be a badass on the back of the black lion as Keith pilot so I take that as a win

WE GOTI LOVE YOUS!!!!

New arm for Shiro

YES!

Allure gave him this

And she literally tore off her crown to make it work

Comment about Shiro's white hair

sadly no

SHIRO AND ADAM

Adam died before they could reunite

sad

Keith being a better black paladin than before

FUCK YES

Lance pilots the black lion

sadly no

They discover the WHITE LION

sadly no

Communication with past paladins avatar style (maybe through the astral plane)

ugh this would have been so cool to see when they were trying to mind meld/bond with their lions

The OG paladins

sadly no

Road trip games

Corn trying to play I Spy

then singing the Altean alphabet

and Romelle joining in is so cute

bonus: everyone’s reactions to this

Broadcast across the universe (of what idk)

technically Sam broadcasted to the universe

Return to Space Mall

no physically but in the game show ep they were sponsored by the Kaltenecker dude AND Vrepit Sal’s

Return to Balmera

nope

there wasn’t a Balmera nearby to collect crystals

lol Coran calling earth’s solar system a baby was cute

but the Balmera comes to earth at the end

HUNK AND SHAY

at the end for a little

Return to mermaid planet

like with space mall, game show sponsored by them

where everyone is safe and warm

Return to Olkarion

this would’ve been so nice

especially if it wa on their way to earth to figure out a way to get the lions to full power

Lance uses sword in battle

where was this???

I had high hopes for this

but we get some great sharpshooter content this season so

Shiro cries

Keith gets a bayard upgrade

not exactly

but he literally summons his bayard like HOLY HELL YES!

Space wolf has more powers than just teleporting and being super cute while also being badass

apparently has the ability to disappear when it could’ve helped the plot

I’m a little bitter

but his name is KOSMO!!!!

bonus: Keith was waiting for him to tell him his name so cute

Romelle has Altean alchemy

really loved her character from what we saw in early episodes

her commentary and then being badass with Allura

ALTEAN GIRLFRIENDS!!!!

really hoped she had more screen time though

Pidge loses her glasses

sadly no

we did get quality humor in this season despite it being so serious

They get sucked into a black hole

BUT black holes are mentioned which leads to using the old Castle that’s a crystal to power the Atlas

SLAV??? (God I hope so)

he makes an appearance at the end

hope we see him again next season

New villain that isn't galra???

for a bit Admiral Sanda, but she had earth’s best interests at heart

technically the robust thing was powered by an Altean so yeah?

Return to the Garrison and someone punches/insults Iverson

they did return

we were wrong about Iverson

I was hoping he’d address the Garrison trio too though

Kantenecker screentime

YES!

Space tacos

damn it

it was space BURRITOS

I was do close

Addressing Shiro's clone and whether or not shiro remembers everything

lol all of Shiro’s comments about this were GOLD

Heart to heart talks between them all

stranded in space

HUNK AND KEITH

omg the popsicle scene come to life

Lance reunites with his family

YES! I’m so HAPPY

the hug dog pile yes!

Time jump

yes they missed 3 years

BUT also at the end it’s months after the last battle

earth becomes the new coalition base

Paladins get captured

YUP

Hangar dies

she disappears

I don’t count the game show ep for this

Camping on planets

sadly no

I really thought it was going to be space road trip with pitstops but

Caravanning through space by each lion latching onto the legs of the one in front like a Caterpillar worm

didn’t happen with the lions but did happen with the paladins when they were stranded

Blade of marmora is destroyed

omg I was really hoping this wasn’t a thing but it WAS

but BoM is still alive

KOLIVAN!!!!

Earth isn't green and blue from space

still is

Keith's shack is gone

most of earth is destroyed so this is implied

Krolia and Keith visit Texas Kogane's grave

they did

omg I’m not crying you’re crying

bonus: why was Acxa there???

it’s a private family moment so why???

Keith and Lance copilot Red

sadly no

Black paladin Krolia

ugh that would’ve been so cool

New voltron upgrade

wings

double sword

ridge’s canon

Less time on forming voltron

they didn’t form voltron until the end so yeah

Going through the quantum abyss together to get to the other lateens

not yet

really hoping for next season

They all witness lotor's second location with alteans being sucked of quintessence

but it’s mentioned that the BoM went there and they were all gone

or were they talking about the colony where they found Romelle?

I can’t remember lol

They address Lance's death

no but Lance almost dies like so many times

please stop hurting my boy

References to monsters and mana

no really

but they did collect crystals

Collecting crystals to reenergize the lions

OMG they did this!

Time vortexes

kind of

Injuries that allura can't heal and they don't have healing pods

nope

Lions being to heavy because they unloaded the castle

nope

didn’t even mention that it might slow them down along with the fact that the lions weren’t at full power

Having to get rid of some things to make it lighter

lol no

but the passenger situation was funny

Voltron is destroyed

nope

Comet that created voltron exists on earth

nope

More unique quintessence

does shirt count?

using the Altean to power the robeast???

Magical tears

nope

Lava planet

Krolia creates a simulation for the paladins on a volcanic planet so i think that counts

Someone has a twin reveal

lmao does Voltron 2.0 count as Voltron’s twin?

when they show Lance’s family, there’s a girl wearing a jacket just like his I hope this is his twin sister???

Keith goes galra

ugh I was rally hoping for this!

If you read all of this, you're just as sane as I am. Take that as you will.

Also I'll be tagging spoilers with #voltronspoilers and #vlds7

Edit: So I got some things correct. I’m actually surprised lol some of these are really vague and general though and kind of a stretch but just let me have this please

#i know this is long #but i had a lot of thoughts to get out #especially right before the season drops #still debating whether i should stay up or not #i mean i have plans tomorrow #but i can always take a nap #some of these are kinda shitposts #but it's possible that they happen #no one knows whata gonna happen #and i'm scared #let's see if any of these come true #shrug #voltron #vlds7 #predictions

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dolokhoded · 3 years ago

Note

Pierre, Letters & The Great Comet Of 1812?

pierre - are there any characters in this musical that you particularly relate to?

hmmm okay. different aspects of many of them, actually. one is,,,,, definitely sonya. that one's probably due to the fact that i'm incredibly close with my cousins, they're probably my favorite people on earth, there are two girls, one older than me by two years who i haven't seen a lot lately, but there's also my little cousin hope, who,,,, definitely puts me through some situations. i'm usually the one looking after her and my brother, and i understand that they see me as kind of a buzz kill sometimes but, y'know, someone's gotta do it. i love her a lot, anyways, but it's hard sometimes. then there's fedya. i,, cannot exactly explain the way in which i relate to fedya, there's something about the way he views the world, he handles situations in the book that just hits a little too close to home (and also my family's always had a bit of an issue with money so i guess having to find a way through, whatever way that is, is a part of me i see in him? and it's kind of refreshing to have ONE character who isn't mad rich, thanks tolstoy ig). it's probably not a good thing and i probably need to chill sometimes, but what can ya do, i'll work on it once i can afford to behave differently, i guess. and then there's helene for the sole reason of, ,, my brother, anatole kuragin. i relate to helene in literally no other aspect, but i rlly feel her on this one. kid's a total disaster, he's overly emotional and he's kind of an asshole and has the world's worst ideas, but someone's gotta look after him and i know that my options are to either disagree with him and have him get mad and push me away or play along and make sure he at least doesn't get hurt in the process, if possible. part of me wants to include vera in this even though she wasn't in great comet bc the whole eldest daughter that was clearly raised differently from the others thing,, yeah, but i don't know.

letters - do you use writing (or art in general) as a way to express your emotions?

i used to ! i used to write a lot, a few months back, i wish i could do that again. i honestly don't put that much into drawing, writing was much more of an outlet for me, for as long as it was, anyway, and i really hope i get that motivation to write again, even if it's through negative feelings. for now, i limit myself to music. i've always expressed myself through music.

the great comet of 1812 - what does this show mean to you, and what's your favourite element of it?

ugh SO much. great comet widened my variety in books, in music, in so many forms of media, i'm so glad i stumbled upon it. first of all it motivated me to FINALLY read war and peace, which i just started a few days back, i started reading again this summer and i've gotten a lot of classics out of the way but this one intimidated me so much and so far i can just TELL it's gonna be one of those books that will challenge me to think about so many different aspects and it's gonna be such a rollercoaster, im just in like the start of the second part of the first book and i already have so many thoughts?? i just know this is probably gonna be one of the most important books i will ever read. i feel like great comet as a whole has just,,, motivated me. for absolutely no reason. i started listening to classical music again, i started reading much more, i'm even thinking of learning a new language sometime, and i went through a very long very awful period of,,,, doing literally nothing. all my interests faded out and i wasn't motivated to do anything at all, and suddenly it's all back and i'm really glad that's happened. as for my favorite element,,,, i probably can't decide on one. i feel like it's,,, just such an incredible show, overall, from the way the stage is built, the way the actors interact with the audience and even by the placing of the seats you really feel like you're in the story, to the music, dave malloy is absolutely bullshit talented and so are all the actors in it (if i start talking about lucas steele and how INCREDIBLE his performance is, how comfortable and natural he seems in his role i will literally NEVER SHUT UP it's,,, i'm shook. he's got me shook, i've never felt insecure as an actor before i've done theatre my whole life and yet he's done it. i love him), to the costumes and how nice and flowy the dresses are, and the symbolism behind natasha's costumes, it's all just,, so good. thank u for coming to my ted talk.

#great comet asks

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emjee · 7 years ago

Text

Natasha, Pierre, and My Soul Ascended To A Higher Level Of Existence Which Is Basically What The Whole Show Is About

I saw Great Comet last night (16 August) you guys and let me tell you, ALL MY DREAMS CAME TRUE.

There’s truly nothing that can replace the experience of having your butt in a seat and I am so, so grateful that I was able to go. I truly count it as a blessing.

SO! My best friend and I made a trip of it (we don’t live near NYC) and because we could only see the show once I did my research and sprang for second row of the front mezzanine, center. We could not have chosen better seats. I was on the center aisle right next to all those ensemble members and could probably have reached out and touched Scott Stangland and Paul Pinto at various points in the show.

Shoba was on for Natasha and I was so excited to see her because even though I LOVE Denée I do have access to her performance through boots and though it’s not the same as in person I had heard such great things about Shoba that I really wanted to see her and I did and she was perfect. There is so much of book!Natasha in her, my dear, dear girl and soul sister. I adored her.

Scott was on as Pierre and he was everything I could have wished for. His voice sounds rougher in recordings I’ve heard but was delightfully smooth last night in places where smoothness was called for but also got rough when it was necessary and he’s got a such a dark tone to his voice that was great and a wonderful contrast with all the lightness of Shoba’s.

Lucas Steele. Amber Gray. Grace McLean. Brittain Ashford. THEY WERE ALL RIGHT THERE. IN THE SAME ROOM AS ME. I CAN’T BELIEVE IT. QUEENS AND KINGS, ALL OF THEM. DEMIGODS AND GODDESSES.

Let’s play a little game called “How Many Times Did MG Cry?”

I walked into the theatre and saw the set.

It started with the blue light and “The moooooooon” in “No One Else” and continued through the whole song because I know exactly what that feels like, Natasha darling. And apparently so did the audience member Shoba made eye contact with because her eyes were so wide and she nodded.

“Dust and Ashes”. I mean. Fuck. Me. Up. That is perhaps my favorite musical theatre solo of all time and it’s just a brilliant song and Scott did it brilliantly. His delivery of “Did I squander my divinity?” had me WRECKED.

Literally everything from “In My House” to “The Great Comet of 1812” with special intensity in “Pierre & Natasha”. Scott’s three “stop”s were so gentle. Instead of it being harsher, like “stop, I can’t bear to hear you speak of yourself like this, you have to stop”, it was so tender, like “Natasha, darling, please, shhh, stop”. And when Shoba reached out to touch his face, he leaned back like he was startled, couldn’t believe it was happening, these things don’t happen to him, he almost couldn’t bear for her to touch him because he loves her so damn much.

Other things I noticed and loved:

Scott’s “raise the roof” motion on “I am enjoying myself at home this evening” was the best thing I’ve ever seen.

In “The Opera” when Natasha sings “Yes, Pierre that good man, a little sad, a little stout,” Marya shakes her head slightly and widens her eyes like “Natasha you can’t say things like that.”

I enjoy going to the opera in general but I can also tell you that the opera performance is 100% what zoning out at the opera is like. Suddenly nothing makes sense and everyone’s making weird noises. It was fantastic.

Our seats for Lucas’s first entrance were PERFECT. STRIKE A POSE, ya Russian playboy.

When Anatole tells Pierre he saw Natasha and Pierre says “Oh, dear Andrei’s betrothed” Anatole looks at the audience and does a hand gesture that translates to “eeeeeeeeh let’s see how long that lasts”.

Pierre’s little dance during the “gonna drink tonight” section is so adorable and so sad because he’s so excited but there’s no way this is gonna go well sweetie.

They were not fucking around with the announcement about the strobes. They were hard even for me and I’ve seen shows with strobes before, but I managed to keep my eyes open and it was fucking worth it. Anatole during the “Drink with me my love” section was A GIFT.

Also Grace McLean in that suit. She rolls up to Pierre and mouths “I love you” before stalking off with her whip.

During the preparations for the duel the ensemble member lounging on the stair next to me turns to the ensemble member seated up the staircase behind her and slurs “This seems familiar. It feels like we’ve done this before today already.” #twoshowday

When Anatole tells Pierre “Shake it off, and be happy, we live to love another day” he gives him a wink and does the finger guns thing and it’s like God Anatole YOU HAVE NO TACT.

The way Shoba delivers “I’ll shut myself in my room and try on new dresses” is like, yahs, girl, I know exactly what you mean and that is also how I cope.

Obligatory casual reminder that I would do anything for Natasha Rostova.

In “Charming” when Hélène sings “he was thinkin’ bout you, he kept sighin’ bout you” Natasha turns away from her and mouths “yes” and it was exactly like when your best friend tells you that they overheard your crush telling his friends you were cute and he wanted to ask you out my gosh it was so real

Honestly in general Shoba just gives off this sense of Natasha a young woman who’s trying to figure out what this love thing means because she definitely cares for Andrei but he’s gone and you get the sense that she’s young and she loves who’s in front of her (and that is so real for me) so she’s got a crush but then it’s like the first time someone has paid attention to her in an implicitly sexual fashion and it kind of makes her head explode. It’s a perfect (to me) interpretation.

Anatole’s “I am in love, dear, I am in love” gave me the sense that Anatole was saying that because he knew that’s what was going to get Natasha to take him seriously enough for him to get what he wanted. (I also think Anatole thought he loved Natasha. I don’t think he did, because he’s not looking out for her best interests and that’s a key part of love, but he thinks he does because he’s a shit with no emotional intelligence.) But in this case he’s wheedling, like, “look at me sweetheart look at me look at me I love you please look at me I love you.”

Anatole’s face when Natasha sang “I will love you Anatole” seemed less “oh shit what did I get myself into” and more “oooooookay yep I can roll with this very nice good job Kuragin.”

I got a letter! I caught Pearl Rhein’s eye as she was walking up the aisle and smiled at her and she smiled back and presented a letter with a flourish and Blaine was behind her and gave his letter to my best friend. (Blaine’s note said “If I flip a coin what are the chances that I’ll get head?” and Pearl’s note said “Your face glows as brightly as the comet itself” and this is the story of how I died I will treasure that note forever.)

Anatole rolls into “Preparations” with luggage! Like, he just strides in with a duffel bag, and the way he delivers “You’ll not be seeing me…for some time” and the look he gives the audience just screams “BECAUSE I’M GONNA GET LAID, BITCHES”. Also, both Lucas Steele and Nick Choksi swagger like they’re weightless and I adore it. I’m easily charmed by well-executed swagger. See above comments about how I get it, Natasha honey.

I am normally anti-singing at the theatre because other people did not come to hear me sing BUT the cast is so loud on the “Goodbye my gypsy lovers” chorus that I figured it wouldn’t bother other people and I know the cast likes to see when people know the show so I sang along and caught the eye of the accordion player walking up the aisle and sang right to him and he gave me an “awwwww yeah” face and it was the greatest moment.

After Pierre’s “WHOOOOOOOOOOA” the entire theatre erupted in applause while the cast collapsed on the floor and caught their breath. Scott was bent over gasping for breath, and when the applause died a bit and he looked up to start singing again he caught Lucas’s eye and just started giggling and it was the greatest, and then he sucked in another deep breath and dove straight into “Here’s to HAPPINESSFREEDOMANDLIFE.

When Lucas did “Shut the door! First we have to sit down!” he scooted into the end of a booth next to a young woman who looked at him, looked out at the rest of the audience, and fanned herself, like “oh my god he’s so hot”. Everyone laughed and the way Lucas said “Yes” sounded like he meant “Yes, that is true.” And then they ‘sup nodded at each other and Lucas reached his arm around her shoulders and relaxed into it and said “That’s the way,” and gave it another beat before “It’s a Russian custom.” And then held the silence for a solid thirty seconds before “alright.”

In “A Call to Pierre” during the ascending scale on the strings the lightbulbs light up a path from Marya D to where Pierre is sleeping at his desk. THIS LIGHTING DESIGN UGH I LOVE IT.

As mentioned above, “Pierre & Natasha” ended me.

I went to the stage door and got to meet Josh Canfield and Shoba and Scott and Grace and Brittain (sweet Brittain! I nodded to my best friend who was next to me and said I would stand in the dark for her any day and Brittain said “Everyone needs someone like that” god she’s so cute) and I got to thank Pearl for my letter in person and she thanked me for my glowing face and Nick Choksi came out and Nicholas Belton and other awesome badass ensemble members and everyone at the stage door was so respectful and it was wonderful. It was a bit of a bummer not to see Lucas or Amber (although I know Amber almost never stage doors because she has a tiny human to get back to at home) but I’m going to write so many letters tomorrow because it’s so important for me that this cast and team and family knows that they are loved and that people (me) traveled across a third of the country to come see them.

This show is SUCH an inspiration, not only to other theatre performers and designers of my acquaintance, but to people like me whose primary artistic expression is not theatre, however much I love it. I’m a writer and this show has reminded me that I get to do what I want and that beautiful, beautiful things often come from a melding of tradition and complete out-of-the-box fantastical thinking. It was an honor to be a part of that world last night.

#MG says stuff #NP1812 #Great Comet #Natasha Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812

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dontdontwhatwhat · 7 years ago

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my Great Comet experience

I sat in front mezzanine front row next to the aisle and there was so much interaction with the ensemble!!! This is kind of long sorry but there were so many things!!!

ACT 1 •In the beginning Mary threw me a Pierogi •Courtney was incredible as Mary omg she was so amazing •I noticed before prologue started Dolokhov chills in the left front orchestra and talks to the audience and throughout the whole show he generally stays in that area and the left banquets (so if he’s you’re fave you might want to sit there) •During Pierre (I think) Anatole and Dolokhov sit on the steps together and Anatole rests his foot on dolokhovs leg and he holds it •Nicholas was amazing as Bolkonsky and so funny! His French little thing kept leaning away from him when he was trying to whisper in her ear •Paul Pinto hobbling in as the servant during The Private and Intimate Life made me laugh so much •No one else was so beautiful and the blue lighting and Andrey in the snow ugh •Anatole leaned over a man to kiss his (presumably) wife in his entrance •Natasha’s face after the opera. She was so shocked and confused and everyone laughed •During Natasha & Anatole Anatole looks at an audience member and smiles when he says “isn’t that so?” •Dolokhov’s little dance when he comes in during the duel •Dolokhov was literally yelling all his lines in the duel he’s way more aggressive than in the soundtrack and his movements were very dramatic and exaggerated I couldn’t help but laugh •Anatole ruffling Dolokhov’s hair •"Just as a duck was made to swim" Anatole did like chicken arms and motioned them back and forth as if to be a duck swimming it was adorable •I was lip syncing to the duel and Billy (ensemble) came in front of me and screamed along “HERES TO THE HEALTH OF MARRIED WOMEN…” in my face and I mouthed the words back at him (he also spit on me it was great) •My friend said he also tried to grab my shoulders from behind but I was leaned over towards her so he couldn’t and I didn’t notice some how •Pierre almost came up to where I was sitting during the duel •After the duel Anatole did a little finger gun and made a pow noise at Pierre it was so cute •Dust and Ashes was incredible and all the cast stand in a line in the rear mez and sing (you can’t see this if you’re sitting in the orchestra) •Helene was amazing in Charming I love her so much •The ball had same sex couples •Two male ensemble in bear masks danced right next to me and it was amazing and they danced together but right after the song ended one tripped up the stairs and it made me so sad :( •I didn’t get a letter during letters but I think you mainly have to be in the orchestra to get them. A few were passed out individually by some ensemble in the mez though.

ACT 2

•Ingrid was incredible as Sonya and her voice is so gorgeous •Sonya alone and letters? (I can’t remember the second song) but Natasha walked past me in the front mezzanine •You could see Dolokhov spitting during preparations •During balaga dolokhov whispered into anatoles ear and then went in for a kiss and their lips touched but anatole pulled away and then dolokhov pulled him back closer and smacked his butt •Dolokhov also smacked an ensembles butt a bit later •Balaga was honestly such a fun song and my mom got a red shaker •During the Abduction Anatole sat next to an old man and he kept looking away and giggling and then they fist bumped •The abduction was sooo much fun and omg no one talks about it but Nicholas Beltons dancing!!! His legs kick so high and he is non stop energy •When Pierre giggles after his whoa it’s so adorable •Also an ensemble member jumped on Nicholas Belton’s back and he gave them a piggy back ride •Marya and Helene making out •I think someone forgot to whistle for Dolokhov in his line in the abduction? •In find Anatole, off to the side Pierre literally pushed Paul Pinto down the stairs to the orchestra and it scared me •In Pierre and Anatole after Pierre is threatening and grabbing anatoles throat Anatole touches his throat like he’s really hurt and starts gagging and it’s so sad •Andrey really hit Pierre hard in Pierre & Andrey and then Mary went to comfort him and he threw his hands up defensively and walked past her •Pierre didn’t struggle to find the sleeves :( •The lights in the ceiling during tgc1812 were so gorgeous and beautiful

Bonus stuffy stuff

•Helene is like half naked during her bow it’s wonderful •Anatole and Helene are caressing each other the whole show and it’s gr8 •I love grace so much she is perfect •Courtney and Ingrid were lovely I’m so happy I saw them •Paul being literally everywhere and every single character he’s honestly one of my favorites and deserves more love •Also Nicholas Belton’s dance moves •The ensemble were all so amazing they did like hand stands and stuff off the railing and danced in front of and next to me omg •Andrew played violin in my friends face and another ensemble girl in the beginning played in mine

also if you have any questions feel free to message me and I’m going to post my stagedoor experiences later

#the great comet #natasha pierre and the great comet of 1812 #my experience #review #mine #there was so much going on #I didn't know who to watch

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