"How Do You Expect To Defeat The Fire Lord Without Pants!"

[redbrunja]

Okay, so I just mainlined Avatar episodes 3x04 through 3x11, (seven episodes in one night, woot!) and I need to go through chronologically and share my reactions, but first I need to get this out.

 

Oh. My. Fucking. God.

 

Oh, Zuko.

 

*bows before the awesomeness that is the Fire Prince*

 

*flails*

 

(See, sometimes threatening a character works! Yes, Zuko, you WILL get to carry Katara barefoot across hot, molten lava while she quotes ambiguous myths at you and is distracting! Because you have EARNED IT. -  and I promise this won’t sound as saccharine as it sounds in the summery.)

 

*flails harder*

 

I'm almost incoherent right now. This was perfect - this was everything I could possibly have hoped for, and never in a million years thought I would ever see - he untangled his family from the Fire Nation, and stood up to his father.

 

"I'm going to find Uncle and beg his forgiveness."

 

I have never loved you more.

 

And now! Now it looks like he's going to be joining up with the Avatar and teaching him firebending! Words cannot even express how happy this makes me. I'm just *vibrates with happiness*

 

*forces self to take deep breaths*

 

(While I was watching this, I kept glancing at the clock, terrified that there was going to be a last minute cliff that would involve Zuko dying, because that is the kind of cruelty that I expect from writers, but no. He’s alive. HE’S ALIVE AND IN CONTROL OF THIS DESTINY!)

 

Okay, let's take this in a more logical order, shall we?

 

"Sokka's Master"

 

While the realist in me goes 'there is no way you can master the sword in a day,' I greatly enjoyed Sokka getting a chance to shine, and seeing how creative and clever he is. I really, really like this boy, and I love how he's just as powerful as every other member of the team, but doesn't always think so.

 

The one downside is that I really miss his boomerang.

 

Also, this episode is reason 2,754 that Iroh is awesome. 

 

You and Sydney Bristow need to chat about how unbreakable and awesome you are.

 

And in my head, at this point, Iroh’s to-do list is ‘Get out. Get tea. Give my nephew the smack he deserves.’

I can't wait to see how the lotus tiles circle around. (And how impressed was I that the hot air ballons made a comeback in the finale?)
 

"The Beach"

 

This episode almost make me like Azula. I mean, how vicious and cutthroat she was with the volleyball was cute when it was, you know, a game.

 

But god, I am so sick of the Mei/Zuko relationship. To quote Jennifer Crusie, "There's a small contrast problem. They have none." You've got one emo, well-bred fire nation youth and another emo, well-bred fire nation youth. It's just... it's so frustrating to watch, mainly because this is Zuko at his most pod!Prince. (And I thought this was annoying when he was doing it with Iroh. That at least had the advantage of Iroh - who just makes everything better.) Plus, they have this boring dynamic - there are no sparks. Either Zuko's being nice and Mei's being her gothic, haughty self, or Mei's being nice and it's just sliding off Zuko's impenetrable shield of gloom.

 

One reason that I think I really like Katara/Zuko is that they are nothing but contrast (I mean the Fire/Water and Sun/Moon imagery is just screaming at us) with enough similarities deep down that you know they could actually like and respect each other, and you know that they would get under each other's skins. Mei and Zuko just seem to slide against each other without penetrating the other's defenses. (Shut up. If I could come up with a metaphor that didn't sound dirty, I would.)

 

So this episode was great regarding what we get to find out about the 'villains' however, I found the final tell-all a little... hard to swallow. For a minute, when Azula started clapping, I though she had manipulated it all the get Zuko to realize he was pissed at himself, but then that wasn't the case, and I was quite disappointed.

 

Also, they taunted me with the idea that Zuko and Mei were going to break up, and then retraced it. I was so disappointed.

 

Plus, when they draw Zuko and Mei together, they make Zuko's hair this weird black/brown shade to make Mei's look darker.

 

"The Avatar & The Firelord"

 

I don't have much to say about this beyond 'yay, backstory.' I love the idea of Zuko being the great-grandson of the last Avatar.

 

Which makes Katara, in a past life, his grandmother and Aang his grandfather. I have no idea where I'm going with this, but it makes me giggle.

 

And also, I really wished we had seen past-Katara actually do something besides be pretty. I was thinking she was going to be another firebender, but, while it’s still possible, they never showed it.

 

"The Runaway"

 

Great, fantastic episode. I wanted to point out how much I loved two strong, independent women having difficulties with each other that are completely unrelated to a man. It was just their personalities and issues bouncing off each other, and that scene with Katara in the water (god, she's a little hottie, isn't she?) made my heart squeeze. I love what Sokka said about not remembering his mother’s face, and seeing Katara’s when he thinks of his mother. I mean... what else can you say, beside 'awwww.'

 

"The Puppetmaster"

 

Katara gets all the best fight scenes.

What was great about this episode is that I've wondered before about using blood (hadn't thought about the idea of manipulating people like puppets though) and I adored that Katara did use it when her back was against the wall.

 

I just adore how the old women won even as she lost, as did Katara.

 

Although, this was one of the episodes where the fact that they don't really kill people (Suki is fucking well alive) really lessens the impact - I was fine with them skimming over what the Fire Nation prison was like, but I really felt keeping the villagers alive was a bit of a cop-out.

 

"Nightmares and Daydreams"

 

It was a nice choice to got for a comedic episode before the big show down, and I think everyone has been at that anxiety-dream can't-rest place before.

 

Was I the only one going 'Katara, just screw him already - a couple of orgasms and he'll be out like a light'? *crickets chirp*

 

Also, the bits with Zuko were excruciating to watch the first time - I keep hoping that it was his daydreams, only it wasn't. I was very much in a 'what the hell, you just found out backstory about the Avatar and the Fire Lord and you're entertaining your dull as dishwater girlfriend?' At this point, I was ready to disown him in my heart.

 

"Day of Black Sun"

 

What is there to say?

 

Katara didn't have enough to do, first off.

 

The lack of Kiyoshi warriors, even if Suki was absent, was really obvious.

 

Seriously, the swamp people come back but not the awesome chick fighters?

 

I really liked how they set up the trap - nothing like clever villains, although I'm back to hating Azula with the passion of a thousand fiery suns.

 

And here is why Suki is not dead: first, we are told that Azula can lie without getting caught. Second, she said that Suki had been her PRISONER. Which means, that after the fight we see, she was still alive. Third, Azula never says Suki's dead - she just said that Suki had given up hope on Sokka (which, you just know has broken his heart into a thousand pieces.) Plus, Azula said that Suki was her favorite, which totally made me think of the man who tried to brainwash Sydney. "You were my favorite. You never broke."

 
(*pst* smiliaraaq - I have a plotbunny that requires an alias for Suki - would you mind if I used 'Soo'? Because that has attached itself as another name for her in my head.) 

So Suki's totally alive.

Either a.) still locked in a Fire Nation prison, and despairing of rescue but knowing that she has to get herself out or

 

b.) she's already escaped, and is wounded and recovering, or back at Kiyoshi island, or... the possibilities are endless.

 

But back to Zuko.

 

I... words fail me. You know when you want something to happen, but you think short of fanfic it never will? And then it does? The only way that conversation could have  been better is if first Zuko had broken his uncle out wearing the Blue Spirit mask.

 

But I can't even complain about that, because Zuko is following his uncle's path and I... *waves hand inarticulately*

 

He mastered lightning! He was composed enough to say his piece and walk away!

 

And there is a post I should write about the Fire Nation as the US, but I am too in love right now to want to drag real world metaphors into this show.

 

I need post-DoBS Zuko/Katara fic now.

 

Thank you, wondrous writers, for giving me set up that can be turned to smut! (Because, seriously, I have been worrying that puzzle over throughout the serious.)

 

*glees*

 

*glees harder*

 

*glees harder still and goes to turn off the heater, because my body temp is high enough, thanks.*

 

Man, what am I going to do with my time now?

 

Oh, right. Studying for finals.

 

Or I could, you know, write fanfic.

 

Comments

[fairest1.livejournal.com]

I told you that it'd be obvious when you'd caught up! Told you!

"He's the one who's been a real father to me" = completely true. And it's AWESOME to have him realize it and tell off his bio dad with this factoid.

And it was really just odd that the Fire Nation kept dangerous prisoners alive, without getting any use out of them, and having to go through complicated procedures to even give them a drink of water. I mean, they wiped out an entire nation -- why keep the waterbenders alive? At the very least, killing them off would prevent any others who develop the abilities from mastering them (at least without sailing across the world).

And Zuko inna zeppelin! I honestly think he's at his hottest in that last bit.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

I know! I was frantically typing this entry, and I though, 'this is what fairest1 was talking about.

""He's the one who's been a real father to me" = completely true. And it's AWESOME to have him realize it and tell off his bio dad with this factoid."

YES. I mean, often WE know that's the truth, but to have Zuko verbalize it, and to his bio-dad no less? *loves*

See, I didn't have that much trouble with the fire nation keeping them alive - or at least, I didn't until you mention it, but I really couldn't believe that the mad waterbender wouldn't be killing the villagers in various unpleasant ways.

I was too enthralled with the fact that he was actually alive and going to help the Avatar at the end to fully appreciate the hotness.

And frankly, the hair is getting a little to emo for me. I like it when he ties it up, though.

[fairest1.livejournal.com]

Exactly. I mean -- Iroh said he viewed Zuko as a son way back in season one, but now Zuko's openly admitting that he feels the same. Though since Iroh went TOTALLY BADASS and broke out of jail without Zuko's help, it'll be harder to apologize. Zuko's best bet is to clearly be helping the Aang Gaang when Iroh finds him; otherwise he's gonna get a smack when they meet up again.

That, too -- really, what point is there in just locking them up? It didn't even seem like she was going after specific targets, like former guards or Fire Nation citizens who'd committed war crimes. It was just random people in the woods.

I suppose. But I like the emo hair better than the shaved head.

. . . and the zeppelin scene has him bearing a certain resemblance to Gil, so that added an extra heart floating up from my head.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Yes, Zuko better has some 'see, see, this is what I've been doing' in his back pocket. And I sincerely hope he sees Iroh, and immediately kneels down.

And upon rewatch, yes that scene with his hair blowing in the wind DID make him rather resemble a certain Spark...

[fairest1.livejournal.com]

And also a big helping of "I'm sorry! I was a complete idiot! I know better now!" as soon as Iroh spots him. And with any luck, there's going to be hugging and all forgiven by a very patient Iroh who can at least tell when his nephew is really really trying.

Mm, yeah. Zeppelin Hair = new trend for fall!

[smillaraaq.livejournal.com]

Well, don't forget that way back in the first season, we saw the coal rig with all the imprisoned Earthbenders (and given how many prisoners were there, and Tyro's comment at the end about "taking back ALL our villages", they were from many different places across the Earth Kingdom; so there's precedent for them taking prisoners instead of killing them off. The Earthbenders were being used as slave labor, so it's possible they were keeping the Waterbenders alive for much the same reason -- break them physically and mentally, and then if you ever need their special abilities you can haul them out of storage and put them to work. The genocide of the Air Nomads was a special case, since they were trying to eliminate the threat of the Avatar -- keeping the other benders alive I think shows some of their imperial arrogance, nothing less than the Avatar can truly be a threat to them so they will deign to keep their wretched prisoners alive...

As for Hama holding the villagers prisoner instead of killing them, well, other than the obvious excuse of "it's a Nick show and they're tying not to kill too many people", I can sort of handwave that -- after her own long imprisonment, forcing them to suffer in the same lingering way she did might seem a more complete revenge than just giving them a mercifully quick death.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

I guess I needed to see some torture, really. Because if she's going to kidnap them to as reparations for her own hurt, I need to see some blood and agony, because they all looked too cognizant and well-fed for me to buy that they'd been held for months and months by a madwoman.

But again, Nick show.

And yes - I can definetely see choosing to keep other benders alive in case/in order to use their powers.

[smillaraaq.livejournal.com]

Yeah, and given the constraints of a Nick show marketed to such a young audience, I am constantly astounded at how much they DO get away with. There's genocide, and brain-washing, and a creepy secret police, and plenty of character deaths and injuries (just discreetly bandaged, off-screen, or otherwise non-bloody), and hints of racial/cultural prejudice, and refugees...really, for all that they have to play some of the darkest stuff with a very light, subtle hand, they're still managing to give a surprisingly good portrait of life under siege/occupation. Even with all the magical elements, this is still very clearly a world where violence has lasting consequences, and people aren't just going to shrug off their injuries like action-movie heroes. And that even extends towards showing the mental/emotional toll -- Aang's anxiety before the invasion, Jet's and Hama's unreasoning hate towards even FN civilians... There are still a few things that you would expect to be coming up in this sort of wartime setting, like rape or more direct forms of torture, that I'm sure will never ever be dealt with directly since it's a kiddie show, but the world's been portrayed with such realism that an adult viewer can imaginatively fill in all the little dark corners for themselves.

[smillaraaq.livejournal.com]

Oh, also, the thing with the slaughter of the entire Air Nomad culture is a very special case, in ways that might not be readily apparent because it's not mentioned directly in the show but has been brought up as canon by Mike and Bryan: with the other three nations, benders are just a subset of the population. But the Air Nomads were ALL Airbenders; destroying them all was the only way Sozin thought he could be sure he'd eliminated the threat of the Avatar (and it might have worked, if Aang hadn't conveniently decided to run away).

[fairest1.livejournal.com]

Ahhhh. But if you kill the Avatar, they'll only reincarnate. Which means that you'd be best off killing the waterbenders so, at least, when he's born there, he won't get any training.

[smillaraaq.livejournal.com]

Well, in the short term at least, killing off all the Air Nomads meant Sozin would have a break of twenty years or so waiting for the next one to be born and trained -- and he was old enough at that point that it might have been a matter of conveniently leaving the problem for the next generation. ;)

But then when the Air Nomads were all gone and no new Avatar showed up for a hundred years, well, maybe they figured the cycle was already broken somehow. (And that may be the case anyway when Aang eventually dies, unless there's a secret hidden population of surviving Air Nomads somewhere -- three more rounds of reincarnation after this one and whoops, dead end, no more Avatar cycle!)

[fairest1.livejournal.com]

Hm, true . . . but why go to all the trouble of containing the waterbenders? As near as I can tell, this was about 50 years back, and they didn't seem to make any use of the ones they had. It's not like they went through training to break their wills and put them to work on ships or something; they were just kept there.

Actually, there was a note in the latest magazine, semi-joking, that the title might be changed to "Avatar: One of the last few airbenders"

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Unless, of course, Aang has kids and trains them as airbenders so that in three cycles there will be at least SOME airbenders around.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Plus, I have a feeling that the Fire Lord would be more threatened by the water tribe than the earth kingdom, just with the way that their bending opposes each other.

[fairest1.livejournal.com]

Right. That, and the fact that it's easier to wipe out a smaller tribe than a nation that takes up what, 2/3 of the world?

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Oh, how interesting.

[reopened-wound.livejournal.com]

Wow, so I just caught up with all your posts about the lovely Avatar.

I'm glad I found SOMEONE who like the KataraxZuko thing. Because everyone that I know likes Avatar is into that...KataraxAang thng.

Many fangirlisms to come.

Mwaa* ♥ ♥

[smillaraaq.livejournal.com]

*koff* katara_zuko *koff* It's only like, mmm, maybe the second or third oldest A:TLA fan community? I'm a little surprised you only seem to be running into Kataang fans, as Zutarans are so numerous (and, sadly, the small lunatic fringe is at times so loud) as to be more than a little notorious. ;)

"Why Do You Need To Take Off Your Shirt To Meditate?"

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think Aang and Katara have some cute moments, (especially on Aang's side) but I really feel no need to write/read fic about them - Zuko and Katara strike me as much more interesting to play with.

And I was told that Zuko/Katara is like, the most popular ship in the fandom, yet everyone on my flist seems to be Zuko/Mei shippers. *sad face* Once I have internet reliably again, I am going to do some hardcore looking, and find the good Katara/Zuko fics. I've had better luck with fanart so far. Speaking of which, check this one out:

http://mad-sniper.deviantart.com/art/Eternal-Dance-cover-38841774

(follow the links at the bottem of for the rest)

[smillaraaq.livejournal.com]

*giggling*

Seeing Zuko FINALLY getting his head straightened out makes all the angst of the last two seasons worth it, eh?

Yes, Sokka's picking up swordplay so quickly was a bit much, although that seemed to take place over more than a single day, but I can sort of handwave it away as he's already had a lot of training in different weapons so it's not like he's coming from a completely cold start. And once again, more teasing hints about the White Lotus Society, whee!

I did have mixed feelings about "The Beach" -- I liked seeing hints of a more human side to Azula, and seeing that there is at least ONE area of her life where she isn't scarily precocious and beyond competent (and per the AU talk my fanon has been that she's a little backwards emotionally, so that really works); and so much love for seeing that Ty Lee does have a brain beyond that ditzy-cheerleader act, and a chance to see Azula and the Dangerous Ladies interacting a bit more as friends and less as mistress-and-servants. (Not that any of them ever forget just who has the highest status here...but there is still something of a more intimate bond there, they can get away with more familiarity than anyone else.) That last big emo-confessional scene around the fire was a bit overdone, but all in all I still liked that episode a lot.

I don't mind the Zuko/Mai thing the way you do, but in my mind the way it's shown here is like Kataang less inspiring to my imagination for just the same reasons; they're too much alike, it's a little too easy. (Now, back when he was a fugitive and her primary loyalty seemed to be to his sister, that was another story; that was pushing all my "we shouldn't trust each other, we shouldn't be doing this" enemy-ship buttons. Now? Too fluffy. Although if he's going to be siding with the Gaang now and Mai still remains Azula's loyal sidekick, this could change.

Also, the hair thing? If you look back over the previous seasons they've actually wobbled back and forth between black and black/brown quite a lot, it's not just a contrast-with-Mai's-shiny-hair thing. It's been consistently inconsistent enough, heh, that I tend to view it as his hair is genuinely black-brown, the sort of shade my mother or a lot of folks I knew growing up in Hawai'i had, where it *looks* black in a lot of lighting conditions but at other times the light will be just right to reveal that it's actually a very dark brown.

I wanted to point out how much I loved two strong, independent women having difficulties with each other that are completely unrelated to a man. It was just their personalities and issues bouncing off each other

YES YES YES YES YES! I *loved* that, have loved that occasional clashing with Toph from the beginning. I've seen a lot of other folks like oyceter who were bothered that the two primary girl characters were fighting, but personally I *liked* that they did not go for the easy route of "now we have two girls so let's make them bestest friends". Because that just wouldn't be true to the characters: Katara can be a controlling, mother-hen bossy sort, and Toph can be very abrasive and rebellious, and you'd EXPECT those personalities to not always mesh smoothly, and just "we're both girls" is not enough in common to smooth that over. And having their conflicts, as you put it, grow naturally out of their personalities instead of the usual depressing fighting-over-boys was very, very refreshing. (The Dangerous Ladies work in a slightly similar way for me -- they bicker a little bit, but they're still obviously friends, and the bickering is again over basic personality differences, not boys. SO COOL. They all have lives and identities other than being defined in terms of their romantic interests!)

And the bloodbending is something people were speculating about in meta long before the creators started dropping hints about it, so it was particularly cool to see it finally shown, and so very creepily!

(As for Suki aliases, sure, help yourself!)

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

*giggling*

Seeing Zuko FINALLY getting his head straightened out makes all the angst of the last two seasons worth it, eh?

Well, the angst of the first two seasons was really it's own reward, imho. But it make the pain of the first 10 episodes totally worth it.

Yes, Sokka's picking up swordplay so quickly was a bit much, although that seemed to take place over more than a single day, but I can sort of handwave it away as he's already had a lot of training in different weapons so it's not like he's coming from a completely cold start. And once again, more teasing hints about the White Lotus Society, whee!

Good point. I can handwave it for a variety of reasons (they have to end the series before the summer ends, they don't have time to have him study the sword for years!) But my inner nit-picker just had to mention it.

I did have mixed feelings about "The Beach" -- I liked seeing hints of a more human side to Azula, and seeing that there is at least ONE area of her life where she isn't scarily precocious and beyond competent (and per the AU talk my fanon has been that she's a little backwards emotionally, so that really works)

I liked what it said about Azula, but I think it was totally in character that she doesn't know how to deal with people who don't know who she is.


and so much love for seeing that Ty Lee does have a brain beyond that ditzy.

Yes. I'm really enjoying Ty Lee at this point, and I loved that she seemed a little more self-aware. Also, finding out her backstory was fun. ("Circus freak is a compliment!")

..a chance to see Azula and the Dangerous Ladies interacting a bit more as friends and less as mistress-and-servants. (Not that any of them ever forget just who has the highest status here...but there is still something of a more intimate bond there, they can get away with more familiarity than anyone else.)

Can I just say that I love when the ladies drop their dresses and Mei holds up her hand to shield Zuko's eyes? *snickers* It was a nice repeat of that scene with Zuko and Iroh.

I don't mind the Zuko/Mai thing the way you do, but in my mind the way it's shown here is like Kataang less inspiring to my imagination for just the same reasons; they're too much alike, it's a little too easy. (Now, back when he was a fugitive and her primary loyalty seemed to be to his sister, that was another story; that was pushing all my "we shouldn't trust each other, we shouldn't be doing this" enemy-ship buttons. Now? Too fluffy. Although if he's going to be siding with the Gaang now and Mai still remains Azula's loyal sidekick, this could change.

Yeah, I think this might be a pairing I enjoy more in fanfic than on the show itself. And it's really a shame, because some of there dialogue was killer. ("You're beautiful when you hate the world.") And I know that if it had been anyone else and Mei I would have been all over that ship like white on rice. But I really didn't like the relationship arc (Mei loves her friend brother as a child, he grows up, and they get together and he orders the servants to bring her things). Plus, since this was the height of Zuko's pod!Prince behavoir... i kept having to remind myself that it wasn't Mei's fault that Zuko was acting like that, because I don't want to be one of those fangirls who's like, 'Bitch must die for running him! *stabby stabby*!'

[smillaraaq.livejournal.com]

I liked what it said about Azula, but I think it was totally in character that she doesn't know how to deal with people who don't know who she is.

Yes...if she can't order them around, she really doesn't know what to do. She's used to relating to people as a princess who can have people killed on a whim, not as a human being on equal footing.

Yeah, I think this might be a pairing I enjoy more in fanfic than on the show itself.

Try looking for stuff written before S3 premiered, basically...check for postings in maizuko from before September 2007. MayFlyer's unfinished Maiko story was a lot of fun, and I know I've seen some really nice dark, dark, angsty Maiko written back around Season Two, although it would take a bit of work to track it back down again.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

"Yes...if she can't order them around, she really doesn't know what to do. She's used to relating to people as a princess who can have people killed on a whim, not as a human being on equal footing."

*nods*

As for Mai/Zuko... I think I'll be checking that out after my Zuko/Katara thurst is slaked - right now I don't think I'm in the right space to read them.

Speaking of, can you give me the link again to the challenge post inspired my your Zuko + Katara fic? Because I have no idea where it went.

Oh, and what's the main catch-all Avatar com? Because I was poking around, and all the general ones looked pretty dead.

Re: And take two.

[smillaraaq.livejournal.com]

The main catchall comm is avatar_fans, that one goes all the way back to the show's premiere and is most definitely not dead. ;)

And take two.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

"I've seen a lot of other folks like oyceter who were bothered that the two primary girl characters were fighting, but personally I *liked* that they did not go for the easy route of "now we have two girls so let's make them bestest friends". Because that just wouldn't be true to the characters: Katara can be a controlling, mother-hen bossy sort, and Toph can be very abrasive and rebellious, and you'd EXPECT those personalities to not always mesh smoothly, and just "we're both girls" is not enough in common to smooth that over. "

Plus, it given the times they DO get along have meaning. The spa day would be well-nigh meaningless if it was just par for the course, and Katara helping Toph pull a con would have none of the emotional gravatis that the actual scene does, because of what went on earlier. I honesty think they're friends - but that doesn't mean they don't have problems with each other.

"And the bloodbending is something people were speculating about in meta long before the creators started dropping hints about it, so it was particularly cool to see it finally shown, and so very creepily!"

I bet.

(As for Suki aliases, sure, help yourself!)

Thank you muchly!