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timepiececlockA Special Note On The Season 2 Finale, For The Zutara Shippers
Do you know what this means?
Zutara is the ship of dark, forbidden angst once more.
If I said I was unhappy about this, I'd probably get struck by lightning. Not that I was unhappy with the fluff teashop bluetara phase.
But. you know. DARK FORBIDDEN ANGST. YES.
(until episode 3x07, which is when he'll turn by my bet. Until then!)
All you that are unhappy? All you dudes who are hatin' on our confused bratty boy Zuko?*
Seriously, you're not thinking of this the right way. I mean, this is the kind of stuff I live for in my shows-- this is why I pick antagonistic pairings. BECAUSE FANFICTION IS PAIN. And good tv is pain, too. Hello, bread! Hello, butter!
Ladies, gentlemen, let's put on our Zutara sunglasses for a moment, shall we? They are purple and pointed, you'll see them by your chair next to the Handbook For Unconventional And Non-Canon Pairings, recycled paper edition.
Katara was about to take away Zuko's most horrible mark, when Aang burst in. Yet another thing the Avatar takes away that could have brought Zuko some good in his life. That's where it happened, if you ask me-- and not because of Katara, but because of the scar and Iroh at Aang's side. But Katara is now tied with that in Zuko's mind, no doubt. He and she were having A MOMENT. A moment with one of his enemies, another rival he hasn't beaten yet, and a girl. They were talking heart to heart about his mom and her mom.
And then... because of love of his family or insecurity or patriotism or frustration and immaturity or whatever, Zuko chooses. Before he resolves anything with KAtara.
Now they have... unfinished business.
Oh yes.
They do.
I'm calling it for next season: this is going to come up again. Zuko and Katara are falling into an interesting pattern of unfinished business, don't you think?
Unfinished fights. Unfinished moments of friendship. So what if he betrayed her trust. So what if she probably wants to kill him now.** So what if he thinks she's part of everything wrong in his life (the Avatar). Now they have HISTORY.
And history, ladies and gentlemen, is fanfic and fanart GOLD. It's fucking GOLD.
I am grinning like an idiot, just a little. I'm going to enjoy the next two months before the real world snatches my time away from fandom. It will be such fun.
*He may be indecisive and misguided, but the boy's loyalty is commendable. Totally misguided, but commendable.
**Before tonight's episode, I would have said that the kind of betrayal we just saw, done in tandem with Aang's near death, was something Katara would never forgive. But I would also have said that Iroh would never never raise his fire against Zuko, not even in a defensive way like he did here. But he DID. I'm telling you, my foundations are a tad shaken. If Iroh can give up on Zuko (has he? I hope not), then Katara can forgive the near death of her friend. Two things I would never think to see, but one of them we just did.
In other news, this episode rocked. Rocked. Major love for all the characters. All the ships. In fandom I have my OTP, but in watching canon I multiship, and this episode was multishipworthy indeed.
How can this show be some much like good anime, and better than several animes too? In terms of pure enjoyment levels, Avatar: The Last Airbender is more fun for me right now that most of the other shows on tv. Especially since Doctor Who is on break. And it's a kid's action adventure drama. That could say bad things about the current state of television, but I prefer to think it says good things about the show.
Although they really earned their 8pm timeslot tonight. Nailed it.
Do you know what this means?
Zutara is the ship of dark, forbidden angst once more.
If I said I was unhappy about this, I'd probably get struck by lightning. Not that I was unhappy with the fluff teashop bluetara phase.
But. you know. DARK FORBIDDEN ANGST. YES.
(until episode 3x07, which is when he'll turn by my bet. Until then!)
All you that are unhappy? All you dudes who are hatin' on our confused bratty boy Zuko?*
Seriously, you're not thinking of this the right way. I mean, this is the kind of stuff I live for in my shows-- this is why I pick antagonistic pairings. BECAUSE FANFICTION IS PAIN. And good tv is pain, too. Hello, bread! Hello, butter!
Ladies, gentlemen, let's put on our Zutara sunglasses for a moment, shall we? They are purple and pointed, you'll see them by your chair next to the Handbook For Unconventional And Non-Canon Pairings, recycled paper edition.
Katara was about to take away Zuko's most horrible mark, when Aang burst in. Yet another thing the Avatar takes away that could have brought Zuko some good in his life. That's where it happened, if you ask me-- and not because of Katara, but because of the scar and Iroh at Aang's side. But Katara is now tied with that in Zuko's mind, no doubt. He and she were having A MOMENT. A moment with one of his enemies, another rival he hasn't beaten yet, and a girl. They were talking heart to heart about his mom and her mom.
And then... because of love of his family or insecurity or patriotism or frustration and immaturity or whatever, Zuko chooses. Before he resolves anything with KAtara.
Now they have... unfinished business.
Oh yes.
They do.
I'm calling it for next season: this is going to come up again. Zuko and Katara are falling into an interesting pattern of unfinished business, don't you think?
Unfinished fights. Unfinished moments of friendship. So what if he betrayed her trust. So what if she probably wants to kill him now.** So what if he thinks she's part of everything wrong in his life (the Avatar). Now they have HISTORY.
And history, ladies and gentlemen, is fanfic and fanart GOLD. It's fucking GOLD.
I am grinning like an idiot, just a little. I'm going to enjoy the next two months before the real world snatches my time away from fandom. It will be such fun.
*He may be indecisive and misguided, but the boy's loyalty is commendable. Totally misguided, but commendable.
**Before tonight's episode, I would have said that the kind of betrayal we just saw, done in tandem with Aang's near death, was something Katara would never forgive. But I would also have said that Iroh would never never raise his fire against Zuko, not even in a defensive way like he did here. But he DID. I'm telling you, my foundations are a tad shaken. If Iroh can give up on Zuko (has he? I hope not), then Katara can forgive the near death of her friend. Two things I would never think to see, but one of them we just did.
In other news, this episode rocked. Rocked. Major love for all the characters. All the ships. In fandom I have my OTP, but in watching canon I multiship, and this episode was multishipworthy indeed.
How can this show be some much like good anime, and better than several animes too? In terms of pure enjoyment levels, Avatar: The Last Airbender is more fun for me right now that most of the other shows on tv. Especially since Doctor Who is on break. And it's a kid's action adventure drama. That could say bad things about the current state of television, but I prefer to think it says good things about the show.
Although they really earned their 8pm timeslot tonight. Nailed it.
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no subject
Date: 2006-12-02 06:11 pm (UTC)Speaking as someone who is on a raging, anime binge, YES!!! WORD! I c-could make several extremely dorky anime comparisons right now, but suffice it to say AtLA has purchased my soul, yes?
Unfinished fights. Unfinished moments of friendship. So what if he betrayed her trust. So what if she probably wants to kill him now.** So what if he thinks she's part of everything wrong in his life (the Avatar). Now they have HISTORY.
YES!! YES!! And this opens that long-locked portal of Zutara-epic-fic POSSIBILITIES! WHO KNOWS! This might be the barrier-break that we've been needing, the turning point from hundred-character drabbles and thirty-chapter adventure fics! YES!
I saw this finale as a sort of technical and incredibly creative ship death for both; at this point, Katara is quite literally single. All the shippy, though, is right over the horizon - Zutara has, well, everything you addressed in your post ((history and possibilities that just became TEN TIMES HOTTER!)) and Kataang has acquired that tragic, sacrificial taste that can be quite appealing. ((reminds me of Ed/Winry when it comes to aftertaste))
ZZuko's traitor factor isn't assholeness so much as undiluted stupidity, so yes, why is fandom hatin'? At this point, he needs a slap on the wrist and a push in the right direction; the boy's tentative already.
But it did catch me by surprise, incredibly. I suppose this finale reveals that at this point in time, Zuko's insecurity, desperation, etc. outweighs his mettle and everything the viewers were previously led to admire about him. It's like the stealing-horstrich moment, only to a much higher degree. Hmmm. So really, it shouldn't be that new.
no subject
Date: 2006-12-02 06:34 pm (UTC)I used the previous Mary-Sue experience as a parallel, and she disagrees about that as well: "And I do think creators have the ability to write a 'Mary-Sue'. A Mary-Sue, in my definition, is very nearly a perfect character. So in that case, our definitions differ."
At this point, I'm getting a migraine because I've tried to explain it in every way I could, even reminiscing on my own prior experience, as evident by the no-Mary-Sue-in-canon parallel. Think I should keep going? What she's disagreeing about is, I understand now, pure definition, and she thinks I'm trying to change her opinion.
no subject
Date: 2006-12-02 09:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-02 10:54 pm (UTC)She's intelligent, though, so it was rewarding. Albeit exhausting and probably something that shouldn't happen again, lol.