Avatar 3x08-3x11

[oyceter]

Whoa! That was much plot!

Anyway, I loved the puppetmaster episode, which was truly creepy. I wish the show had done more with the medical stuff you could do with bloodbending (strokes! heart attacks! clots! gah!) and less with the puppetry, but I guess that's what fic is for ;).

I'm a bit amused by both Aang and Sokka's crises of confidence; do Toph and Katara get any later?

I was also wondering how they were going to wrap up the eclipse storyline; I couldn't really see the show going into peacebuilding and treaty-making, alas. I sort of wish they had... Oh well! I loved all the action, even though I didn't pay as much attention during the big fight scenes. Am less enthusiastic about Katara/Aang, but oh well.

The Sokka and Toph show continues to be awesome, though I think of them in a non-shippy way. It's the age differences! Two years aren't very big later on, but when you're teenagers, it feels pretty big! Maybe it is less big to them because they travel together and aren't in school. But yes, every time Sokka was like, "Toph! What would we do without you?" I cheered in agreement.

I also loved Azula's manipulation and the fact that she had the foresight to bring earth benders from Ba Sing Se. It was also really cool seeing old one-offs from previous episodes, even though I didn't remember most of them. I especially liked seeing the swamp benders again, given kintail's commentary.

Speaking of which, how exactly is the bending distributed? Via nationality? Race? And if so, what do they do with expats, or multiracial people? My pet idea is that the Avatar must be multiracial; I doubt it's supported on the show, but that would be cool.

And! OMG! Iroh breaks out of prison! Awesome! Zuko SWITCHES SIDES! Zuko, I mock your emo at times, but you have earned a lot more respect from me now. If only you developed a sense of humor...

On a totally shallow level, I am going to miss everyone's red outfits.

But anyway! Zuko! Switches sides! And goes off in an airship to find Aang! This is going to be soooo interesting!

Comments

[smillaraaq.livejournal.com]

Have you read ladylisse's fic "Long Long Time Ago"? She takes the swampbillies and makes them an awesome, complex, beautiful culture, instead of the one-note hicks seen in the show.

As for the bloodbending, I suspect they didn't go into too much detail about all the gruesome stuff you could do with that because it IS still a Nick show for the 7-to-12 demographic. It's really amazing that they get away with as much stuff about genocide and refugees and prejudice against colonials and all the rest of the stuff about life-in-wartime they've done already; I can't blame them too much for being relatively discreet about showing actual injuries and deaths on-screen. (They still get points in my book for Bato or all the Earth Kingdom soldiers in bandages, or showing Song's scarred leg -- even if they're trying not to let the violence get too bloody and scary onscreen, they've still very consistently shown that this is a world where violence has lasting effects, and even magical waterbending healers can't fix everything.)

_{And I was not surprised Azula brought the Dai Li along, as my personal fanon is that after taking over Ba Sing Se she made them into her personal man-harem. *chuckles*}

[magicnoire.livejournal.com]

as my personal fanon is that after taking over Ba Sing Se she made them into her personal man-harem

Doesn't everyone think that? ;)

[oyceter]

I haven't, thank you for the rec!

Yeah, good point about the demographic. I don't know that much about the restrictions for Nick; I'm really used to anime now, and I forget stuff like Naruto is on CN, not Nick.

Azula love!

[kintail.livejournal.com]

Ooo, thanks for the rec! *bookmarks for reading when I am not so overtired*

[smillaraaq.livejournal.com]

She's also written a sequel, "Papa Sun", which is also quite good -- not quite as heartbreakingly lovely as the first fic, but still well worth a read.

[magicnoire.livejournal.com]

Even though I love Sokka & Toph's interactions, I can't think of them as a ship either. I like her little crush on him but Sokka is completely oblivious while he angsts over the fact that his girlfriends tend to meet unfortunate needs. Though I still hold out hope that Suki is still alive! I know Mike & Bryan have to be very discreet about (not) showing deaths on-screen (Zhao and Jet) but I still have hope! Especially since it turned out that Ursa was still alive.

It took me a long time to warm up to Katara/Aang. While I've never been a fan of Zuko/Katara at all, I never really got Katara/Aang either until this S3. Even so, I'm still not into them the way I am in Zuko/Mai but I'd be lying if I didn't expect that this was the direction the show was heading.

I am totally looking forward to seeing more of Iroh as bad ass general. Not that he wasn't always bad ass but he's been kind of quiet about it.

[oyceter]

I'm having a hard time shipping anyone with Toph or Aang! I think it's because even though they're older in canon, to my eyes, they look about 7 or 8.

I know Mike & Bryan have to be very discreet about (not) showing deaths on-screen

Oh, I didn't know that! I should check out the DVDs and binge on extras some time too.

I totally think the show is going Katara/Aang (I mean, these episodes make it obvious, if nothing else), and theoretically I don't have anything against them. I think my brain just flips out a little because contrary to canon, I keep thinking Katara is 14 or so and Aang is 8. I suspect I will be better with it once Aang gets a growth spurt or something.

Well, my other objection is just that it'd be nice to see Katara not romantically connected to anyone, but oh well.

Zuko/Katara? Er. I sort of see it thanks to the S2 finale, but um.... (Judging from this, I don't want to get into Avatar fandom, do I?).

IROH! Always awesome.

[magicnoire.livejournal.com]

It's a Nick restriction, I'm pretty sure. I'm surprised Avatar is able to show as much as they do, honestly.

Zuko/Katara? Er. I sort of see it thanks to the S2 finale, but um.... (Judging from this, I don't want to get into Avatar fandom, do I?).

I... I think I envy you for your innocence. :o! In my experience, the Zuko/Katara component is huge and very vocal. So you can imagine their reaction to the Zuko and Mai revelations.

[oyceter]

Ok, have been catching up on your past Avatar entries, and the Zuko/Katara ship has been around prior to S2 finale, hasn't it? Color me boggled. Oh fandom, how I do not miss you and your shipping wars!

I, um, didn't like Zuko/Mai that much either, but part of that is because I completely forgot she had a crush on him since childhood. Now it seems much less out of the blue! Oh, the problems of mainlining a show while knitting lace...

I dunno... mostly I just don't like the romances in Avatar because my brain keeps going "Too young! Too young!" even though they are all teenagers. Well, that and the fact that I tend to go for gen in general.

[magicnoire.livejournal.com]

Zuko/Katara has actually been around since S1. I know. It makes no sense to me either.

Prior to S3, I actually preferred gen and no shipping in Avatar for the most part too. I was seekritly Zuko/Mai during S2 but since I knew only, like, 2 other people who liked them too, I kept that to myself and chalked it up to my oddball shipping tendencies. So I kind of sat on the sidelines and laughed at the Zuko/Katara and Aang/Katara shipping wars because it was like a train wreck.

But then the S3 trailer premiered at SDCC and I discovered my oddball ship might not be so oddball at all. Of course most people would have been happy with this turn of events. I was just plain baffled, confused, and convinced that it would end in tragedy and Mai would die at the hands of Azula.

[smillaraaq.livejournal.com]

The Zuko/Katara ship was basically born out of the "I'll save you from the pirates" scene in "The Waterbending Scroll". I'm rather fond of Zutara even if it has to be done AU because enemies who are drawn to each other (and SEXY FIGHTING SCENES) is one of my pet tropes, but I have no problem with Katara/Aang or Zuko/Mai as I'm a multishipper at heart. Sadly, though, some Zutarans are...less flexible in their attitudes, so the loud crazy minority has given the ship a somewhat bad name.

[oyceter]

Oh man, I should really rewatch the first two seasons. I binged on them over four days while knitting something really complicated, so I don't actually remember that much of it.

sorry for the splurge of replies

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

::outing myself::

For me, I didn't think of it ever until episode 1x14, with fortune teller's prediction that Katara would marry a powerful bender. Even though there was no logical reason why that couldn't mean Aang or Random WaterTriber #27, for some reason my brain jumped to the only other significant male bending character of similar age-group. Then I forgot about the notion until the season 1 finale, when they fought in the ice. Then for me it was the "unpopular enemies = hot" trope. I went into it with the sense of fun that comes from shipping an unconventional and unlikely pairing, but given Zuko's gradual arc toward goodness (saw that coming from the beginning) it makes the AU ideas easier, because we the audience know He's Not All That Bad. Just very foolish.

Actually, I thought the season 2 finale made the pairing idea more interesting, but a lot of the fans of the ship thought it was a bad thing. I was more like, "What? Now they hate each other again and they have unresolved issues! This is awesome! I can totally fic this!"

Re: sorry for the splurge of replies

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

*to add


Coincidentally, Katara's gradual steps toward being darker as a warrior (season 2 finale, Puppetmaster) make the idea of shipping them even easier. Not because she's any less good, but because it makes me think that after the bloodbending she could have a better understanding of the personal moral cost of war, and what lengths people will go to. It's sad because Katara is such a compassionate person, but it's something she has to learn to accept about herself. Her determination means she'll use all the weapons at her disposal but her compassion means she'll punish herself for it. I think that although she'll be really angry at Zuko for the stuff in the catacombs after her attempt at reaching out, but when she eventually forgives him after they join up, she'd ultimately understand him better this season than she would have last season.

I like their dynamic on a purely camaraderie/companion-in-war/friendship level as well as a fanon potential romantic one. If you see episodes 12 or 13, you get to see some fo their interaction and its pretty cool whether you ship them or not. I just love both the characters, and after Aang, Katara is the person in the gang that Zuko has had the most encounters with.


Zuko + Toph = OTFriendship. It will be so, I believe it.

[yeloson.livejournal.com]

I kind of dug the Zuko/Mai relationship if only because the writers just accepted it and ran with it S3. Plus the fucking quote of the lifetime of "You're so beautiful when you're hating everything".

[oyceter]

This is true! The relationship makes a thousand times more sense now that I know they had crushes on each other in childhood. I had totally forgotten that and so was sort of confused when it showed up in S3.

[rilina.livejournal.com]

I loved the action and plot lately too and the Sokka-Toph show. And how the show brought back all these details from earlier: it made the two-parter feel very rich in continuity.

Zuko's emo is profound. If Avatar was an anime, I think he would have made a strong showing in the emo awards.

On a totally shallow level, I am going to miss everyone's red outfits.
Me too. I think the Fire Nation has the best fashion designers.

[oyceter]

Fire Nation totally got the best fashion designers.

Well, also it helps that I like red ;). (And! They match your curtains!)

I loooved the continuity, even though I didn't remember most of it!

OMG Zuko and his emo. I laugh at him so much. Nicely, now that he's finally made a decision (please stick with it and don't waffle!), but the beach episode? LMAO.

[yeloson.livejournal.com]

The puppet bending episode was THE SHIT. You know, the only thing that made the old master "evil" was the fact that she never went back to break out the other folks from the prison - of course, at that point, I just figured she had been through so much oppression and trauma she stopped caring.

[oyceter]

The puppet bending episode is my fav so far. So cool!

Well, I think kidnapping random people goes with the evil bit too ;). But I really like how they looked at the effects of oppression and trauma on the psyche.

also i wrote bloodbending fic but do not know if you are interested?

[yeloson.livejournal.com]

Yes, I'm so down with bloodbending (and, once we get coniraya to watch it also, I know he will be too!

[kintail.livejournal.com]

Eee! Finally got ep 11 here in Canada tonight, and just finished watching it (recorded while out at supper) so I am still not much with the words. Eee!

I was very pleased to see the swampbenders again, and so many other previous characters and loose ends (eg, the firebenders acquiring the crashed proto-blimp) being brought in. There wasn't much time for them, but the fact that they and their unique talents were fully accepted and made necessary in the plan along with all the other cultures that had come together for the invasion, it really helped calm any remaining worries about the "look how weird and funny these people are, they even talk and dress funny, ha ha" uncertain vibes I got from the episode in the swamp.

And I've been really pleased that they've been explaining the non-conventional bending like the vine bending and blood bending, too. I just keep being impressed by how much thought is going into the world building of this show even after I slide back into doubt that any American kid's show could be that deep and complex.

I was really hoping Iroh would be on the beach to let lose a huge forked lightening torrent on the blimps before they could bomb the subs (eee! whale-subs!) but alas. But given everything else they pulled together so skillfully, I am trusting that it's not just that the ran out of screen time, but that they have Something Even Better planned for Iroh's return.

All the previous characters have made me want to watch seasons 1 and 2 again, too.

Okay, found words after all. I hope they make sense!

Also, I still need to acquire a koala sheep icon. Yes. *goes off to look for one*

[oyceter]

I cannot wait for Iroh's return! I have no doubt it will be spectacular, especially given all the build up!

And yeah, after your comments, I was really glad to see everyone acknowledged as allies and as people who were specifically sought after for help, and I really loved that one swampbender's appearance as the sea monster in seaweed!

[thomasyan.livejournal.com]

About bloodbending: I don't see why it is automatically considered evil. Sure, it is powerful, and can be abused, but do you think letting a quadriplegic dance again is automatically cruel?

[oyceter]

Yeah, I'm not sure I would automatically consider it evil -- the taking control of other people's bodies is pretty creepy to me (I'd say with hypothetical quadriplegic, I'd feel a lot more comfortable if he/she was doing it to him/herself), but I can also think using it to prevent more harm is possible. On the other hand, I guess it could be a slippery slope?