i have no season one icons
Jul. 18th, 2010 02:32 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jade_sabrebut I just finished rewatching most of Book One: Water (we skipped "The Great Divide" and "The Northern Air Temple" on purpose, and idk what happened to "The Fortuneteller" but it somehow became a casualty of our fast-forward button), and I just thought I would share a few things.
(Also Quark linked me to a massive Bleach meta post and I felt like meta-ing.)
(disclaimer: Quark I do not know if you will like this meta.)
1) So when I first started watching ATLA, it was Thanksgiving Day, 2005, and I came in like, when they were in the marketplace in "The Waterbending Scroll." I'd seen commercials for the show before, but I had dismissed it as another dumb Nickelodeon show; but it was what was on Nickelodeon, the only kid-approved channel for us to watch, and so we watched it while the adults talked in the dining room. I don't even remember when I was hooked; I'm guessing it's the fact that while I know I came into the episode earlier, the first clear this is awesome memory I have of the show is Zuko lifting the necklace to Katara's neck, and then Zuko and Katara facing off while she's tied to the tree.
So I basically hit the shipping ground running; here was this clever, funny, action-packed show with this guy and this girl arguing with this tension between them, and she wasn't backing down and he clearly had issues that needed work. We kept watching from that point, but I don't remember what I saw; I remember the first time I saw "The Storm" I drooled over the parallelism, and it cemented my love of Zuko. I remember jumping on the internet as soon as we got home, wanting to write capture fic--wanting to fic at all, which was a feeling that had dwindled since Order of the Phoenix had come out and utterly changed HP fandom (i.e., Sirius Black died and surprised everyone; also, we were getting more and more answers, and there were fewer and fewer holes for new fics to fill). For a little while, I had felt like I was done with fanfic; now suddenly I wanted to dive in headfirst and share my love with lots of other people.
I discovered that lots of other people had written capture fic, which thankfully put an end to my desire to write one; I found out about the words Zutara and Kataang and thought it was weird and hilarious that people would smush names like that (and somewhere I have the notebook with the outline of the Shipping Fairy fic I was going to write back when the name-smushing thing was so new); I found out that people like to leave lovely reviews on LJ, and so I got my own and started posting. (For that alone I will always love Zutara.) And I was good at writing fanfic for ATLA; I could hear their voices in my head, and feel and--
this would be side note about writing fanfic and the skills required, and how I think my strengths lie with my ability to mimic; even though my AF story mostly sucks and is ridiculous, I felt like, even then, I had a good handle on Eoin Colfer's prose, and could write in a style similar to him. And with ATLA, I just--have a sweet spot, where I hear the characters' voices in my head and know I'm making them say things the way they would say them. And with Dragon Age, now, if you give me about five minutes with the game, I could write conversations for the characters all day long. I just--I can get a feel for things, and follow in their vein? Or at least I feel like I can. It's a handy thing when beta-ing. I don't know how good an editor I am in general, but I feel like I can help people say things better while still keeping their style, and I think that's important. But anyway this is just my internal feelings and deserves its own post I guess and now back to ATLA--
In ATLA I rediscovered shipping; in Zutara I discovered fandom, and truly bonding with other people over something as it was happening, and dissecting moments and squeeing and all the joy that fandom brings.
2) So I loved Zutara, and I loved Zuko, and it occurred to me (coming as I was from being in the middle of watching all seven seasons of Buffy and feeling like I only shipped Spuffy because I wanted Spike to be happy and not because I thought Buffy was good for him) that I wasn't sure I wasn't shipping Zutara just because I loved Zuko and Katara was the only girl in the series around his age. I mean, that would be a dumb reason to ship them, and my feelings towards Katara were pretty neutral--she was all right, but I hadn't been hit by any feeling that she was special.
And then I saw "Imprisoned."
Now I'd been wanting to see it for a while, because it was the episode with Haru, who was regarded to be the real romantic menace to Zutara (Aang being out of the running at the time, oops), and so one day ATLA came on Nickelodeon (like, right when I got home from school) and I was SO EXCITED that I was finally going to see this episode--it was after the Siege of the North episodes ("The Waterbending Master" was the first episode I saw as it aired, but I had only seen some of the season 1 episodes at that point) had aired, just a random rerun. And I thought Haru (lol, I'd been saying his name wrong) was cute and all, but what--
and then Katara gave her speech to the earthbenders, and I sat up and said, She is going to be an AWESOME Fire Lady. It was just so--so well-said, well-delivered, and she was getting up and doing it because she kicked ass, because she was Katara, and she and Zuko would be Good For Each Other. (A feeling that the show only reinforced as time went on.)
And watching it again tonight, it struck me that one of the things that's so great about the speech is that it, at least in the beginning, fails. Katara risks everything to get up there and make the speech--dignity, ability to mingle with the other prisoners--and it doesn't work. Words alone aren't enough to convince these beat-down people to do as she says. But she believes in her speech and she believes in the people, and even though she fails, even though they don't think it's worth it, she's still willing to fight for them. That's what makes her a leader (in season 2, when she gets to hang out with the Earth Kingdom generals? SO GREAT), and so very Katara. She tries again and she keeps going and she's willing to get in front of people and push them and she's just...and then she's also the Team Mom, holding everyone together while also holding herself together, and yes she fails because she's human, and we all fail, but she grows into such an awesome confident person who's plumbed her darker depths and still come out strong and determined to do what's right, and I love her.
3) I just--watching Zuko and Katara fight in the Spirit Oasis, which I haven't watched in so long, and seeing their connection, and how they've got this--this connection, and yeah they're enemies with the larger capture/defend the Avatar thing going, but they're also trying to outbend each other--it's just so personal, Katara showing her new skills, Zuko acknowledging them and then being like here comes the sun, leaving now.
And Katara's failed again, and again it's not because she didn't try.
But I guess--that sums up their relationship, doesn't it? Yes, they have roles defined in terms of the Avatar--but they also have roles defined in terms of each other, and it's just between them; the rest of the world and the rest of the cast isn't involved, it's just Zuko and Katara, and that is a rare thing for two people so embroiled in the politics and strategies of everyone fighting the war. It's her mother's necklace; it's her stubborn refusal to do as he asks; it's his insults, and her proving him wrong for the sake of proving him wrong, and it's him fighting back because he has to fight her. It's their mothers, it's sitting in a cave underground trying to make decisions, it's touching a scar without fear or disgust or revulsion; it's having trust thrown like fire in her face, and the deep, personal bitterness smoldering after she's doused the flames with hate. It's not about Aang or Sokka or Hakoda or Ozai or Azula, other than the ways those people have shaped their characters; it's about the prince and the peasant, and how they choose to deal with it. And what happens there--the arc they have is, as![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
rashaka has said many a time, the best, most satisfying storyline in the whole show. It doesn't really matter that they don't kiss (although man, do I wish we had gotten one) because what they do have is such an epic journey of growth and trust and friendship and awesome.
And it's nice to rewatch the show, and still get that excited feeling about my ship, and how wonderful it is. :-D
feel free to lovefest about any/everything in the comments.
(Also Quark linked me to a massive Bleach meta post and I felt like meta-ing.)
(disclaimer: Quark I do not know if you will like this meta.)
1) So when I first started watching ATLA, it was Thanksgiving Day, 2005, and I came in like, when they were in the marketplace in "The Waterbending Scroll." I'd seen commercials for the show before, but I had dismissed it as another dumb Nickelodeon show; but it was what was on Nickelodeon, the only kid-approved channel for us to watch, and so we watched it while the adults talked in the dining room. I don't even remember when I was hooked; I'm guessing it's the fact that while I know I came into the episode earlier, the first clear this is awesome memory I have of the show is Zuko lifting the necklace to Katara's neck, and then Zuko and Katara facing off while she's tied to the tree.
So I basically hit the shipping ground running; here was this clever, funny, action-packed show with this guy and this girl arguing with this tension between them, and she wasn't backing down and he clearly had issues that needed work. We kept watching from that point, but I don't remember what I saw; I remember the first time I saw "The Storm" I drooled over the parallelism, and it cemented my love of Zuko. I remember jumping on the internet as soon as we got home, wanting to write capture fic--wanting to fic at all, which was a feeling that had dwindled since Order of the Phoenix had come out and utterly changed HP fandom (i.e., Sirius Black died and surprised everyone; also, we were getting more and more answers, and there were fewer and fewer holes for new fics to fill). For a little while, I had felt like I was done with fanfic; now suddenly I wanted to dive in headfirst and share my love with lots of other people.
I discovered that lots of other people had written capture fic, which thankfully put an end to my desire to write one; I found out about the words Zutara and Kataang and thought it was weird and hilarious that people would smush names like that (and somewhere I have the notebook with the outline of the Shipping Fairy fic I was going to write back when the name-smushing thing was so new); I found out that people like to leave lovely reviews on LJ, and so I got my own and started posting. (For that alone I will always love Zutara.) And I was good at writing fanfic for ATLA; I could hear their voices in my head, and feel and--
this would be side note about writing fanfic and the skills required, and how I think my strengths lie with my ability to mimic; even though my AF story mostly sucks and is ridiculous, I felt like, even then, I had a good handle on Eoin Colfer's prose, and could write in a style similar to him. And with ATLA, I just--have a sweet spot, where I hear the characters' voices in my head and know I'm making them say things the way they would say them. And with Dragon Age, now, if you give me about five minutes with the game, I could write conversations for the characters all day long. I just--I can get a feel for things, and follow in their vein? Or at least I feel like I can. It's a handy thing when beta-ing. I don't know how good an editor I am in general, but I feel like I can help people say things better while still keeping their style, and I think that's important. But anyway this is just my internal feelings and deserves its own post I guess and now back to ATLA--
In ATLA I rediscovered shipping; in Zutara I discovered fandom, and truly bonding with other people over something as it was happening, and dissecting moments and squeeing and all the joy that fandom brings.
2) So I loved Zutara, and I loved Zuko, and it occurred to me (coming as I was from being in the middle of watching all seven seasons of Buffy and feeling like I only shipped Spuffy because I wanted Spike to be happy and not because I thought Buffy was good for him) that I wasn't sure I wasn't shipping Zutara just because I loved Zuko and Katara was the only girl in the series around his age. I mean, that would be a dumb reason to ship them, and my feelings towards Katara were pretty neutral--she was all right, but I hadn't been hit by any feeling that she was special.
And then I saw "Imprisoned."
Now I'd been wanting to see it for a while, because it was the episode with Haru, who was regarded to be the real romantic menace to Zutara (Aang being out of the running at the time, oops), and so one day ATLA came on Nickelodeon (like, right when I got home from school) and I was SO EXCITED that I was finally going to see this episode--it was after the Siege of the North episodes ("The Waterbending Master" was the first episode I saw as it aired, but I had only seen some of the season 1 episodes at that point) had aired, just a random rerun. And I thought Haru (lol, I'd been saying his name wrong) was cute and all, but what--
and then Katara gave her speech to the earthbenders, and I sat up and said, She is going to be an AWESOME Fire Lady. It was just so--so well-said, well-delivered, and she was getting up and doing it because she kicked ass, because she was Katara, and she and Zuko would be Good For Each Other. (A feeling that the show only reinforced as time went on.)
And watching it again tonight, it struck me that one of the things that's so great about the speech is that it, at least in the beginning, fails. Katara risks everything to get up there and make the speech--dignity, ability to mingle with the other prisoners--and it doesn't work. Words alone aren't enough to convince these beat-down people to do as she says. But she believes in her speech and she believes in the people, and even though she fails, even though they don't think it's worth it, she's still willing to fight for them. That's what makes her a leader (in season 2, when she gets to hang out with the Earth Kingdom generals? SO GREAT), and so very Katara. She tries again and she keeps going and she's willing to get in front of people and push them and she's just...and then she's also the Team Mom, holding everyone together while also holding herself together, and yes she fails because she's human, and we all fail, but she grows into such an awesome confident person who's plumbed her darker depths and still come out strong and determined to do what's right, and I love her.
3) I just--watching Zuko and Katara fight in the Spirit Oasis, which I haven't watched in so long, and seeing their connection, and how they've got this--this connection, and yeah they're enemies with the larger capture/defend the Avatar thing going, but they're also trying to outbend each other--it's just so personal, Katara showing her new skills, Zuko acknowledging them and then being like here comes the sun, leaving now.
And Katara's failed again, and again it's not because she didn't try.
But I guess--that sums up their relationship, doesn't it? Yes, they have roles defined in terms of the Avatar--but they also have roles defined in terms of each other, and it's just between them; the rest of the world and the rest of the cast isn't involved, it's just Zuko and Katara, and that is a rare thing for two people so embroiled in the politics and strategies of everyone fighting the war. It's her mother's necklace; it's her stubborn refusal to do as he asks; it's his insults, and her proving him wrong for the sake of proving him wrong, and it's him fighting back because he has to fight her. It's their mothers, it's sitting in a cave underground trying to make decisions, it's touching a scar without fear or disgust or revulsion; it's having trust thrown like fire in her face, and the deep, personal bitterness smoldering after she's doused the flames with hate. It's not about Aang or Sokka or Hakoda or Ozai or Azula, other than the ways those people have shaped their characters; it's about the prince and the peasant, and how they choose to deal with it. And what happens there--the arc they have is, as
rashaka has said many a time, the best, most satisfying storyline in the whole show. It doesn't really matter that they don't kiss (although man, do I wish we had gotten one) because what they do have is such an epic journey of growth and trust and friendship and awesome.And it's nice to rewatch the show, and still get that excited feeling about my ship, and how wonderful it is. :-D
feel free to lovefest about any/everything in the comments.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2010-07-19 12:41 am (UTC)(on a total side note I want to do East Asia studies, just for the hell of it, and by "the hell of it" I mean "because it's fascinating and different and I want to know as much about that part of the world as it knows about us, also I bet I would get a butt-ton of writerly information/knowledge/inspiration.")
SO ICKY. I know what you mean--she's, like, cradling him in her arms. Uuuuuuuuuuuuugh.