Comments | beckyh2112: [Avatar Fic] Assimilation

beckyh2112

[Avatar Fic] Assimilation

Mar 29, 2010 23:33

Title: Assimilation
Characters: Mai, Sokka, Mai's parents, Uncle Naruzi, Azula, Ty Lee, Master Piandao, Fat, Zuko, Katara
Rating: PG-13
Warning: Dark themes in regards to cultural erasure.
Word Count: 2700+
Summary: Mai's father argues to the Firelord that the Water Tribesmen can be educated and made into proper sorts of people. So Azulon sees he ( Read more... )

character: mai, character: sokka, writing, series: avatar, character: fire nation, character: piandao, character: katara

Comments 42

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beckyh2112 April 2 2010, 02:15:03 UTC

Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it. *grins*

Tell me about the movie Rabbit-Proof Fence? And I hope it does remind you of residential schools; I read "Lakota Woman" two years ago, and a lot of things from there stuck in my head. Especially about how the US went about trying to wipe out the American Indian cultures.

What do you see as plausible in Sokka's reactions? /trying to gauge the fic because 'written in a burst of frenzied inspiration' does not work well for personal analysis

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beckyh2112 April 3 2010, 00:10:02 UTC

On the one hand, that sounds like an excellent movie and well worth watching. On the other hand, it sounds like it would burrow into my brain and nestle there with all of the creepy-bad imagery that currently fills my nightmares.

*nuzzles Raiko* Reminds me, interested in another coloring trade?

Thread 6

gigabomb March 30 2010, 05:46:49 UTC

Oh, ow. Geez. Poor Mai. Poor Sokka. I wonder here if Katara actually remembers Sokka (I certainly don't remember anything from age 4) or just the stories her parents told her about how he was stolen so long ago.

Azula's fondness for Sokka puzzles me a bit here, but then, I think it's fairly puzzling for Mai too, so that all works out.

beckyh2112 April 2 2010, 02:20:08 UTC

Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it. Well, assuming you did enjoy it. If you didn't, I'm glad it evoked the emotions it did in you. ^_^

Poor kids. *hugs Sokka and Mai* I have no idea if Katara actually remembers him, or just stories of him, but I've tended to assume that Sokka looks like a young Hakoda in a lot of ways.

*has a little thing for Sokka/Azula*

gigabomb April 2 2010, 04:36:29 UTC

Oh, I enjoyed it. I'm sorry, I... er, forgot to say so, I guess.

That pairing would be... interesting, especially in this 'verse.

beckyh2112 April 3 2010, 00:10:41 UTC

I usually assume any comment at all means enjoyment, but I'm being careful with this story since it's... dark. ^_^

lunatron March 30 2010, 15:08:15 UTC

So Mai dragged Sokka along with.

That was a little jarring, even though I know you do that.

Otherwise, it's nice piece about how one culture trying to 'civilise' another culture often usually just screws up everything. >_>

beckyh2112 April 2 2010, 02:22:58 UTC

Fixed that particular bit. >_> 'Written in a frenzy of inspiration' does not lend itself well to "hey, that is a bad turn of phrase there".

Thank you! I'm glad you got that out of it. I tend to think any efforts to "civilize" Sokka will screw things up since it's basically a form of ethnic cleansing. On the other hand, there are better people for the job than Mai's parents, given the kind of damage they managed to do to their own daughter in canon. (Yeah, let's make the girl sit down and be quiet and be a pretty political pawn and then wonder why she's emotionally repressed.)

lunatron April 2 2010, 14:07:08 UTC

Like, I don't know the universe, but from what I read of your fic, I think just handing Sokka to Piandao when Sokka was younger would probably have been less damaging.

beckyh2112 April 3 2010, 00:11:15 UTC

Yes, yes, it would.

*hides the fic I'm working on where that happens*

redrikki March 30 2010, 20:23:24 UTC

Oh, poor damaged kids. The thing I think I liked best about this was how subtle and understated that damage is. Nice.

beckyh2112 April 2 2010, 02:27:19 UTC

Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it.

The damage to Sokka is extensive, but like you said, it's not something easily picked up on. Especially not when Mai also suffers from similar, if lesser, damages. (I do not think highly of Mai's parents, based off "The Beach".)

spyridona March 30 2010, 20:52:43 UTC

*strokes the darlings so softly* I can tell Sokka is about broken during all of this. It really reminds me of how the US government would take Native American children from their homes and civilize them. How heartbroken Mai must be over this; she's really not the one at fault and is much of a victim as Sokka.

How hard it'll be for Sokka to adapt back to 'home'.

*does a soft fangirl squee over the mention of Haru*

beckyh2112 April 2 2010, 02:35:22 UTC

Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Sokka is broken. Mai's parents did a lot of damage, not only with their efforts to 'civilize' him but with their general failure as parents.

It really reminds me of how the US government would take Native American children from their homes and civilize them.

It should.

Mai is devastated. She's regained Ty Lee and Azula, but she's lost both of the boys who mattered to her in her life. And she's not really ever going to get either back as she remembers them being.

I don't think Sokka will be able to adopt to 'home', honestly.

*strokes the pretty earthbender*