Why Naruto Fandom > Avatar Fandom

[redbrunja]

Because when a poster in naruto_rants  bitches about female character for no reason, 95 percent of the comments will be like, "Thigh high boots are hot, bitch, and we like our murderous healer chicks."

You pull that in Avatar fandom, and you'll have the majority going "burn that waterbending bitch for having a spine! BURN HER IN THE FACE!"

Comments

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

More fandoms need kickass chicks with fuckme boots, in my opinion.


Your motion is seconded and passed.

And no, the majority of the fandom DOESN'T seem to like Katara, or they imagine her as a perfect healer saint, and hard as that is to imagine.

And the fact that we like her and she's awesome IS all the really matters.

[cherryfruit.livejournal.com]

Fuck that! Katara's awesome. I can't stand the way Avatar fandom acts about her.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Word. Word. Word.

[ivy-chan.livejournal.com]

Damn you, now I'm picturing Katara in thigh-high boots, and various articles of clothing that go with aforementioned boots, and the collective hotness has melted my brain.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Isn't it hot? Isn't it?

[mzminola.livejournal.com]

See, my brain flees from the image of Katara in sexy-clothes, so it tried to imagine Suki in the boots, but she didn't like the heels so Sokka took them off for her...
...and now I have the image of Ty Lee in hot-pink thigh-high boots holding a matching riding crop.
Except it'd probably have feathers and be used for tickling people.
And the boots are not the best for flexibility, and she's whine about the heat until Azula or Mai got fed-up and told her to just take the damn things off.
But of course, it's a shame to waste hot-pink thigh-high boots, so they look at eachother mischeviously...and someone mentions that Zuko lost that bet recently...
So the poor boy has to wear them for a whole day helping out at Iroh's tea shop.
He's got pretty good balance.

...yeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah maybe I should go to bed.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Your mind goes to such delightful places.

[mzminola.livejournal.com]

Oh good. I was worried they were just cracky places, in which case I'd blame the painkillers, but I have the feeling I'd go there normally.

[dharmavati.livejournal.com]

I can't see Katara in thigh high boots but I think she's made her kickassness well-established since S1. Whatever the haters try to make of that really doesn't matter.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Oh, I can see her in a pair of thigh high boots. Especially if the rest of her outfit was really, really conservative. *drools*

And yeah, haters have no grounds at all, imho.

[strange_quark]

Yeah, I love that so much of the Avatar fandom missed the fact that Katara kicked ass. It's like they weren't watching the same show. Because, much as I love the other bender chicks, Katara wasn't a prodigy: she sucked at bending for a while, but she wanted to become good so she worked her ass off.

And I think Naruto fans love their girls more than the creator does.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

I don't think she sucked so much as a.) wasn't the avatar and b.) had NO TRAINING WHATSOEVER.

But yeah, part of what makes Katara awesome is that she worked her ass off, and kept training and practicing even once she found a master.

And loving the Naruto girls more than their creator does is not hard, let me tell you.

[strange_quark]

Yes, but when you compare her to the real prodigies in the show--Toph, Azula--she started on a vastly different level. Azula you could partially explain by having teachers from a young age, but Toph learned on her own.

And when you take Katara from the beginning and Azula from where she's introduced, and you get to the finale where Katara beats her even when Azula has the Comet on her side... I'm sorry, at which point did you miss that Katara kicks ass and takes names?

You can argue about some moments in the show, with her mood (I'm thinking The Waterbending Scroll and The Chase), but she's not flipping perfect, guys. She's 14. Were you a perfect saint at 14? I think not.

It also pisses me off when people bitch about her treatment of Zuko when he joins. I love Zuko, but would you trust him after the shit he'd pulled? I don't think so.

*Hugs my Sakura* I like to think I treat her better than that idiot Kishimoto ever could.

[strange_quark]

Technically, she had the badgermoles to help her with her earth bending.

Right, but learning from a human being who's goal is to teach you bending is different from observing how an animal behaves and adapting it so you can use it. So I guess it's fair to say she had help, but I think a lot of it is ingenuity on her part combined with a natural gift.

After seeing him live the high life after he saw all the crap the FN dumped onto the Earth Kingdom, I WAS PISSED! It took me until episode 11 to completely forgive him!

See, I have to say that I wasn't mad at him, because I saw it as necessary to his character development. Sudden epiphany wasn't what he needed--I think The Earth King proved this. If he'd never gone back to the Fire Nation, it always would have been a "what if?" in his head. I think he needed to have everything he ever wanted in order to realize that it wasn't what he thought it was, and to realize who he really was and what he really wanted.

But I'm looking at it in terms of his character arc. To the people his actions affected, he's pulled some outrageous shit. Plus, for Katara, more than any of the others, it was a personal betrayal: he led her to believe he was different and then seemed to prove he wasn't at all, like he was manipulating her. She opened up to him and he went and threw it all back in her face. If someone did that to me, you bet they'd know how pissed I was about it.

[strange_quark]

It was the fact that he saw how people suffered in the Earth Kingdom and didn't seem to feel any remorse at the beginning of season 3 which upset me

Hm, remorse, maybe not. But he's certainly disenchanted with the Fire Nation as a whole, pretty much from day one. At least, I think so.

But after the telling off Zuko gave his father, it showed me that he thought about all the people he met in the EK much more than I thought.

This is the scene where I started to really and truly fall in love with Zuko. I've had various opinions of him throughout the series, but that was the true crossroads of his life and it was MADE. OF. WIN.

When I re-watch the finale, I pretty much skip every part that doesn't have Zuko in it because I found the rest of it fell flat. But Zuko! *Hugs him to death* God, I love that boy. If he wasn't jailbait I'd molest him in a heartbeat.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Well said. Katata did take was is probably a decent but not genius amount of talent and then make herself a master.

Oh, god, don't even get me started on complaining about what she did to Zuko. He totally deserved it, and it was even worse when it was zutara shippers saying it. It's like, if you can't handle your OTP not being sweet to each other every moment SHIP SOMETHING ELSE.

*Hugs my Sakura* I like to think I treat her better than that idiot Kishimoto ever could.


You do. I do. My rule for fanfic is that if they don't treat Sakura better than Kishimoto, I don't read.

(On that subject, have you read the latest chapters? Because I have a rant about that.)

[strange_quark]

It's like, if you can't handle your OTP not being sweet to each other every moment SHIP SOMETHING ELSE.

Mostly, they've missed the point. How awesome is it that you get these characters from completely different sides of the track, who are really polarized against each other but who actually have a hell of a lot in common. One of them is constantly fucking up, and he tries to redeem himself but the other one is still pissed because he personally betrayed her. Then they get this really cathartic experience where they begin to fully understand each other, and in the end they've got this really strong friendship and they're very close. That's an awesome recipe for romance, but if you skip all of those beginning steps and go straight to the last, you get... Katara/Aang. Which is not nearly as interesting.

Also, hate!sex can be hot.

(On that subject, have you read the latest chapters? Because I have a rant about that.)

You bet I have, and I'll bet you do. Rant away, sister. FUCKING DEUS EX MACHINA AMATERASU-EXTINGUISHER WTF WTF

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Word, word, word.

ANd frankly, I'm not even upset about Sasuke deux ex machina - I've been waiting for that from the beginning of this fight.

Was pisses me off is that Naruto is TOTALLY stealing Sakura's powers and it SUCKS and I just KNOW that when we get back to Konoha, Sakura WON'T have been powered up offscreen, even though she totally deserves it, and it three members of Team 7 are getting (undeserved) power boosts, she should too.

[strange_quark]

The new Sharingan. Why is it so ridiculous. Why. Jesus. I was even willing give Sasuke a little credit with the last chapter (because did we, wait, was that... ah, there's Sasuke's soul! There's a little bit of the Sasuke I liked pre-Shippuden) but this author, man.

Unlike Avatar, Naruto doesn't seem to reward hard workers without fancy tricks who pushed through with pure heart. I can only name a few off the top of my head, and very few of them get screen time. When was the last time we heard from Lee, huh? When was the last time Hinata got to do something cool?

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

*blinks*

on, wow, you may have spawned a whole post I need to do on Naruto's elitist themes. Because you are so right; people's talent and screen time is SO DEPENDENT about the blessings of God/Kishimoto.

Let's see, you have:

Naruto: has a demon put into him at birth, son of the Hokage.

Sasuke: bloodline limit, last heir to a hugely important clan

Kakashi: comes from a ninja family and is given a bloodline limit.

Shikamaru (who gets an insane amount of screen time, considering): bloodline limit, genius (genetics).

Neji: bloodline limit, naturally gifted.

Compare and contrast with:

Rock Lee, genius of hard work: has NEVER won a fight. EVER.

Hinata: bloodline limit - natural ninja talent=works hard to overcome. Never seen from again.

Sakura: no ninja background, gifted with genjutsu: ignored by her first sensei, ignored during the sasuke in a barrel arc, and then has her awesome based-on-her-own-skills strength stolen by the main character, because he didn't have enough gifts, what with the massive chakra reserves, heirloom jutsu, frog summons, and clones weren't freaking enough.

Kishimoto has an ANTI hard work theme. You either get your skills from her family, or you're fucked.

(The Sannin are the only exceptions to this, and I actually think they are better balanched characters than Team 7. First, neither Orochimaru or Jiraiya come from important families, Tsunade is the one with political power and they are all on the same level, power wise.)

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Too many things to list. Because gods forbid that we have well, written, interesting female leads.

I didn't even get it all the Suki haters ('like, why was she even IN the finale?')

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Same here! And it's the worst when it's the Zutara shippers hating on Katara.

My response: get the fuck out of my fandom.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Oh, I know WHY people where pissed at Katara, it just made me think they were children who had never been hurt before.

But we of all people should understand WHY Katara acted the way she did. In fact, we should be glad that Katara was so hurt by Zuko's actions, because that means she was really emotionally invested in Zuko. That means she CARES about what he did.

Word! I was like, 'death threats = win!" God I love my pairing during WAT, and apparently only me and three other people had that reaction.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Yeah, on of the reasons I love Zutara is that Katara can be mad at Zuko, and he can take it. Aang? Not so much. Either she'd hurt his feelings and then the focus would switch to her apologizing and not why she was mad at him, or he'd be confused, like, 'who is this girl? Where's my passive, prize, Katara?"

[strange_quark]

Especially because one of the themes of this show is that hard work is rewarded in the end. It's pretty much essential to Zuko's character arc. Look at Sokka. Not everyone is a prodigy and not everyone gets everything right. Except Aang, apparently

I think people dislike her because she takes the role of caretaker upon herself, and parents sometimes have to be strict. I love Toph, but she can be a brat, and Katara calls her out on it. OH NO.

[strange_quark]

God, why? Just... argh. I've already ranted about this.

and she spent most of the show travelling her dorky brother and two twelve year olds.

EXACTLY. Sokka's the oldest and he's smart in some ways, but he's useless in that sense. (Can you imagine when him and Suki have kids? "Suki, something weird is coming out of the baby! OMG IS IT SICK?? SUKI WHAT'S--" "Sokka, the baby spit up. It's okay.") Katara is the only one really qualified to take care of the team, and if she acts like a bitch sometimes it's because she's fourteen and already taking care of a family, essentially, and she shouldn't have to but who else will?

Agreed. I LOVE Toph's smart comments about the other characters, but if no one called her on her behaviour, I would be sorely disappointed.

Much as I adore her, her behavior often gets a pass because she's supposed to be the snarky one, so when Katara gets on her case fandom sees it as Katara being uptight and bitchy, and that's not fair. I'm sorry, but in The Runaway Toph is out of control and is acting like a selfish child, and Katara takes the punch by calling her out on it. How awful.

By the way, your icon is VERY pretty

Thanks :) Zutara makes everything pretty <3

[strange_quark]

Because Bryke worship Aang like Kishimoto worships Sasuke.

THIS IS TRUTH.

(I felt the need to say that in capslock)

Mostly I'm like "They argue. That's what they do." but I don't think it's fair to place ALL The blame on Katara.

RIGHT. I think their relationship is better for the arguing, honestly. Stuff builds up, they butt heads, they get shit out of their system, and then they have girly bonding moments. Good times.

Katara gets blamed because the fandom loves Toph and she can do no wrong and anyone who disagrees with her is picking on her, how dare they? Well, I love Toph and I love Katara, and I love both of them for their awesome moments and for the flaws that make them human, because neither of them are perfect and with Toph it's not just a physical imperfection.

Basically, I can see where both girls are coming from. So they don't need to be bashed. Calling Toph out of control, that would be justified, but calling them bitches? Out of order.

I agree with this, hardcore.

[strange_quark]

I'd much rather have Toph and Katara fighting out their differences than bitching about each other behind their backs. Because that's not them. They're the type of voices something the don't like.

Exactly. Also, if someone had a problem with you, would you rather they let it fester and they resented you for it and when it got to be too much they blew up at you for it, or would you rather they told you to your face and you had a chance to fix it before it got ugly? I know which one I prefer.

I think Toph CAN TAKE CARE OF HERSELF when someone disagrees with her. And Toph DOES NOT get picked on, she has people WHO JUST DISAGREE WITH HER. That is not a crime.

Oh, believe me, you're preaching to the choir here.

I think it's just because people think Toph is the epitome of awesome does everything right, but she doesn't. She twelve. Let her have her flaws, and let people call her out on them. It's how a person grows.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Especially because one of the themes of this show is that hard work is rewarded in the end.

My thought upon reading this sentence: Unless your Aang. And then I got to the end of the paragraph and was like 'hee!'


I think people dislike her because she takes the role of caretaker upon herself, and parents sometimes have to be strict. I love Toph, but she can be a brat, and Katara calls her out on it. OH NO.

And what's great about Katara is that she has a REASON for being the mother-figure -it's not because she's a girl. I love "The Runaway" for two reasons: it's basically a love song to Katara and how awesome she is, and it calls Toph on her shit and issues.

[strange_quark]

My thought upon reading this sentence: Unless your Aang. And then I got to the end of the paragraph and was like 'hee!'

Grrr... You've seen my rant about it. I can't do it again.

And what's great about Katara is that she has a REASON for being the mother-figure -it's not because she's a girl. I love "The Runaway" for two reasons: it's basically a love song to Katara and how awesome she is, and it calls Toph on her shit and issues.

I don't think Katara's always in the right with Toph, either, but especially in that episode Toph is acting like a child and Katara was totally within her right to put her foot down.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Can you give me an example of Katara being in the wrong with Toph? Because I'm usually siding with Katara during their confrontations.

[strange_quark]

I can't point to specific incidents mostly because it's been a while since I've watched some of these eps and I don't remember, but during The Chase I could see things from both of their points of view and I couldn't really decide who I though was right. I think I mostly agreed with Katara but I had a foot on either side of the fence.

During The Runaway I mostly sided with Katara but Toph had a little bit of a point when she said Katara wasn't her mother. I think Katara had every right to put her foot down with regards to the gambling, but there was a little bit of something else in how she lectured Toph that I've had happen to me with older people who are essentially my peers and it pissed me off, so I could sympathize with Toph a little.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Okay, I see where you're coming from.

[the-sun-is-up.livejournal.com]

Heh, I remember reading that post. I particularly liked how the OP was using her Karin-bashing to DEFEND OTHER FEMALE CHARACTERS WHAAAAT.

Also the OP kept calling Deidara "Didi." WTF MAKE IT STOP.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I was like, hello, thar post, your evil reputation precedes you.

And the poster needed a reality check - a show is allowed to have more than one awesome girl.

And I just realized that the quote in your icon is from a superchic[k] song. Win.

[okroginator.livejournal.com]

lskjslajskfl THIS IS WHY WE CAN'T HAVE NICE THINGS.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

I know! Why do people hate the good?