Avatar and other fictions
So, I've watched up to Avatar 2x02. This obviously does not make me an expert. I haven't even met Toph yet, or Mai and Ty Lee, and I'm sure I'll love all of them. But man, I love it already. "The Cave of Two Lovers" is just. D'awww. It's starting to make sense to me why Katara is so in denial about her feelings for Aang (which, like I've said--pretty obvious from day one, even if the BFF nature of their relationship usually takes precedence over the romance, which is fine by me; they're cute either way). She's so used to being (to needing to be) the one who is in control, undaunted by challenges to her composure from without...and from within. Realizing that she has romantic feelings for her best friend would require her to let go of some of that control and reevaluate herself--and she can't afford to do that or she might not know how to put herself back together! The war and the task of preparing Aang gives her an excuse--for this, she has to stay the in-charge, rational one. But I suspect that without something or someone to give her a push in the other direction, she'd always be looking for an excuse to avoid letting go and accepting her feelings. Which is much of why her feelings, especially her anger, sometimes burst out of her. And for all that it was meant as comic relief, I have a feeling that her clinging to that fortuneteller had something to do with this too. There's a part of her that doesn't want to be like this, that doesn't want to always have to have the situation in hand. Because she's still a kid and she shouldn't have to always be the adult. And one of the things that's so charming about her relationship with Aang is that he reminds her of this. He lets her relax and be a kid sometimes.
Speaking of--gah, the stuff about how Katara "mothers" Aang. It's just. Augh. The thing is, if I squint and turn my head sideways, I can see where they're coming from. She comforts him a lot, encourages him to confide in her when he's upset, offers him some discipline when he needs it. Those are things mothers can do. Except that mothers aren't the only people who do this. Any good friend should do that stuff too. And the idea that Katara doing this for Aang automatically makes her his mother is so dysfunctional I don't know where to begin. To sum up: if it's only your mother who comforts you and keeps you in check if you need it, you are sadly lacking in other relationships. Most likely, though, it's not that the people saying this are screwed up like that (at least, I hope not, because that would be really sad). It's that they (like lots of other people in lots of little ways, so this isn't me going ZOMG IF YOU DON'T LIKE AANG/KATARA YOU ARE A HORRIBLE SEXIST OPPRESSOR!!) have fallen into a common trap of thought: certain behaviors force women into certain roles. If Katara has a take-charge, caring attitude about Aang, she can't be his girlfriend (or even just his best friend), because that doesn't properly fit the roles women are allowed. No, she must be his mother. :|
Anyway, enough of Katara--onto Zuko. I've been glancing over stuff in Avatar fandom here and there, and I often come across people trying to disprove claims made by The Crazy Zutarians (band name!). Which I totally understand, because I too get cranky when sections of fandom make ridiculous claims that fly in the face of canon.
But one thing that comes up a lot is this: "Zuko/Katara fans claim that Zuko is some kind of glorious noble prince figure. So we must counter this by highlighting all his negative traits and downplaying or ignoring all his positive ones."
Now, I'm not arguing that it seems like Zuko/Katara fans (from what little I've seen of them) have a warped view of Zuko. But--at the current point of canon, anyway--I love how we catch glimpses of his positive traits. So I'm going to reiterate them here.
For one thing? Great leader potential. As "The Storm" showed, when push comes to shove, he can look at a group of people under his command who don't really like him and still make an unselfish choice about their welfare. He's a hell of a long way from being able to do that on a regular basis (or, uh, even very often at all), but the potential is there. One thing that comes up in discussions of what an immature twit he is is his inability to make reasoned, sensible decisions. But the thing is, it's not a total inability. He can do it--but thanks to the complicated maelstrom of negative emotions, insecurity, and complexes that make up his usual state of mind (themselves the product of a terrible upbringing), it's extremely difficult and usually only seems to manifest in direst need.
He's also very clever and inventive in his thinking, which quite surprised me when we first began to see it. He doesn't just stomp around sulking and whining about not getting what he wants (even though, uh...he does that most of the time); he comes up with creative ways to go about getting it.
And he's determined as hell. It's just that so far, he's turned that dogged strength of will to all the wrong purposes. Oh, Zuko, you idiot.
Yeah, I like him a lot more now than I did early on in the first season. He just grows so damned much and you get to see so much potential afjkdslfkd;fjdskl. Heart.
Despite Avatar, I haven't given up on other fandoms. Earlier today, I started watching Season 4 of the Wire at long, long last. This show is so damned amazing, I need to rattle my friendslist until more of you watch it. >:O I'm going to watch at least another episode later tonight. I have a terrible, terrible feeling that the kids this season are going to break my heart, and I will love it and beg for more.
Finally, I also haven't given up on my comics fandoms. I will pimp out postboot Legion of Super-Heroes some more, and you will like it. Then, just for the mood whiplash, I'll upload lots of Hellblazer. Soon. And everyone will see my idiotic love for John Constantine.
Speaking of--gah, the stuff about how Katara "mothers" Aang. It's just. Augh. The thing is, if I squint and turn my head sideways, I can see where they're coming from. She comforts him a lot, encourages him to confide in her when he's upset, offers him some discipline when he needs it. Those are things mothers can do. Except that mothers aren't the only people who do this. Any good friend should do that stuff too. And the idea that Katara doing this for Aang automatically makes her his mother is so dysfunctional I don't know where to begin. To sum up: if it's only your mother who comforts you and keeps you in check if you need it, you are sadly lacking in other relationships. Most likely, though, it's not that the people saying this are screwed up like that (at least, I hope not, because that would be really sad). It's that they (like lots of other people in lots of little ways, so this isn't me going ZOMG IF YOU DON'T LIKE AANG/KATARA YOU ARE A HORRIBLE SEXIST OPPRESSOR!!) have fallen into a common trap of thought: certain behaviors force women into certain roles. If Katara has a take-charge, caring attitude about Aang, she can't be his girlfriend (or even just his best friend), because that doesn't properly fit the roles women are allowed. No, she must be his mother. :|
Anyway, enough of Katara--onto Zuko. I've been glancing over stuff in Avatar fandom here and there, and I often come across people trying to disprove claims made by The Crazy Zutarians (band name!). Which I totally understand, because I too get cranky when sections of fandom make ridiculous claims that fly in the face of canon.
But one thing that comes up a lot is this: "Zuko/Katara fans claim that Zuko is some kind of glorious noble prince figure. So we must counter this by highlighting all his negative traits and downplaying or ignoring all his positive ones."
Now, I'm not arguing that it seems like Zuko/Katara fans (from what little I've seen of them) have a warped view of Zuko. But--at the current point of canon, anyway--I love how we catch glimpses of his positive traits. So I'm going to reiterate them here.
For one thing? Great leader potential. As "The Storm" showed, when push comes to shove, he can look at a group of people under his command who don't really like him and still make an unselfish choice about their welfare. He's a hell of a long way from being able to do that on a regular basis (or, uh, even very often at all), but the potential is there. One thing that comes up in discussions of what an immature twit he is is his inability to make reasoned, sensible decisions. But the thing is, it's not a total inability. He can do it--but thanks to the complicated maelstrom of negative emotions, insecurity, and complexes that make up his usual state of mind (themselves the product of a terrible upbringing), it's extremely difficult and usually only seems to manifest in direst need.
He's also very clever and inventive in his thinking, which quite surprised me when we first began to see it. He doesn't just stomp around sulking and whining about not getting what he wants (even though, uh...he does that most of the time); he comes up with creative ways to go about getting it.
And he's determined as hell. It's just that so far, he's turned that dogged strength of will to all the wrong purposes. Oh, Zuko, you idiot.
Yeah, I like him a lot more now than I did early on in the first season. He just grows so damned much and you get to see so much potential afjkdslfkd;fjdskl. Heart.
Despite Avatar, I haven't given up on other fandoms. Earlier today, I started watching Season 4 of the Wire at long, long last. This show is so damned amazing, I need to rattle my friendslist until more of you watch it. >:O I'm going to watch at least another episode later tonight. I have a terrible, terrible feeling that the kids this season are going to break my heart, and I will love it and beg for more.
Finally, I also haven't given up on my comics fandoms. I will pimp out postboot Legion of Super-Heroes some more, and you will like it. Then, just for the mood whiplash, I'll upload lots of Hellblazer. Soon. And everyone will see my idiotic love for John Constantine.