majorannah:perfectlypanda:majorannah:ly0nstea:perfectlypanda:AtLA + Onion Headlines 4/? (1, 2, 3)
majorannah:perfectlypanda:majorannah:ly0nstea:perfectlypanda: AtLA + Onion Headlines 4/? (1, 2, 3) Not here for this jet slander he was a menace for like 2 days and didnt even try to like be their friend afterwards he was just tryna vibe in BSS while zuko had the audacity to think he deserved a place in the gaang after everything he did Exactly! He just showed up like nothing’s wrong - even though the last time they saw him, he assisted in Aang’s murder, Katara was crying and holding Aang’s lifeless body and Zuko looked like he was about to wrestle it out of her hands; and he even doubled down with an assassin. Then he showed up and, not only did he not tell them about Ozai's “burn down the EK” plan, he didn’t even mention the war or the FatherLord once, but he used the word “friend” twice. (Lucky, the gaang acted inconsistently and didn’t flee, then they wouldn’t know about the genocide plan). The audacity. He needed the Avatar to literally die just so he could get to the point when he’d want to join Team Avatar, and he acts all friendly. I get the point you’re making, but also like… Haru’s picture has the headline: “Man Pretty Sure He’s the First Guy to Come Up With Growing a Mustache”, which is obviously also not true. None of these are meant to be taken as serious character commentary.If you want a slightly more in-depth look at my thought process for the Jet one, it was that the headline “Man Who Brought Immeasurable Amounts of Pain to Your Life Wants to be Friends Again” is a humorous (and hyperbolic) description of Katara’s reaction upon seeing Jet again:In regards to your commentary on Zuko (”zuko had the audacity to think he deserved a place in the gaang after everything he did”, and “He just showed up like nothing’s wrong”), your assertions are just incorrect. In 3.12: “The Western Air Temple”, Zuko is shown to be very aware of the fact that the mistakes he has made mean that it will be hard for the Gaang to accept him:Zuko: Hello … Zuko here, but I guess you probably already know me, sort of. Uhhh … so, the thing is I have a lot of firebending experience, and I’m considered to be pretty good at it. Well, you’ve seen me, you know, when I was attacking you. Uhhh … yeah, I guess I should apologize for that. But anyway, I’m good now. I mean, I thought I was good before, but I realize I was bad, but anyway, I think it’s time I joined your group and taught the Avatar firebending. Well, what’s your answer? [The badgerfrog hops on his head before hopping away.] Yeah … that’s what I’d say, too. How am I supposed to convince these people that I’m on their side? After the badgerfrog that Zuko is pretending is the Gaang hops away, Zuko acknowledges that this fake rejection is what “[he’d] say too”. Zuko doesn’t show up “like nothing’s wrong” or that he believe he “deserve[s] a place in the gaang after everything he did”, he thinks that if he were in the Gaang’s position he would also be suspicious and probably reject his offer of help. Zuko pushes to join the Gaang not because he believes he “deserves” it or because he thinks they should immediately forgive him for his mistakes, but because he knows that he has to atone for those mistakes, that he has to stop the Fire Nation’s plans for conquest, and that the Gaang is unlikely to have another good option for a firebending teacher. These ideas are reiterated multiple times later in the same episode. Additionally, the claim that “Then he showed up and, not only did he not tell them about Ozai’s “burn down the EK” plan, he didn’t even mention the war or the FatherLord once, but he used the word “friend” twice.”, is also incorrect: Zuko: Listen, I know I didn’t explain myself very well yesterday, I’ve been through a lot in the last few years, and it’s been hard. But I’m realizing that I had to go through all those things to learn the truth. I thought I had lost my honor, and that somehow my father could return it to me. But I know now that no one can give you your honor. It’s something you earn for yourself, by choosing to do what’s right. All I want to do now is play my part in ending this war, and I know my destiny is to help you restore balance to the world. In regards to not telling the Gaang about Ozai’s “burn down the EK” plan”, this is addressed within the show in episode 3.18: Aang: Why didn’t you tell me about your dad’s crazy plan sooner? Zuko: I didn’t think I had to. I assumed you were still going to fight him before the comet. No one told me you decided to wait.Zuko didn’t say anything because if Aang was going to fight and defeat Ozai before the comet, then Ozai’s plan to burn down the EK would be irrelevant because he would never even have the opportunity.Zuko does use the word “friend” in 3.12, but the context is important: Zuko: [To Aang.] Why aren’t you saying anything? You once said you thought we could be friends. You know I have good in me Zuko: If you won’t accept me as a friend, then maybe you’ll take me as a prisoner. [Zuko kneels down, bends his head, and raises his arms in surrender.] The first is Zuko repeating Aang’s previous words back to him, because Zuko hopes to remind Aang that Aang once believed in Zuko’s ability to be a good person.The second is Zuko showing that he is so sincere about helping the Gaang that if the group can’t trust or accept his help as an ally, he is willing to help as their prisoner instead.As to the last claim: “He needed the Avatar to literally die just so he could get to the point when he’d want to join Team Avatar, and he acts all friendly.” Aang’s “death” does play a large role, but Zuko’s entire journey in the show is about him getting to the place where he realizes that his beliefs about the Fire Nation and the war are wrong, and that he needs to join the Avatar’s side to end the war. It was quite literally the culmination of three and a half seasons of character growth, and can’t simply be boiled down to a single moment.“And he acts all friendly”. Well yeah. Acting friendly is a pretty basic first step to building any sort of neutral or positive relationship. There are some stuff that are just willfully misunderstood here.Like when I said “Then he showed up and, not only did he not tell them about Ozai’s “burn down the EK” plan, he didn’t even mention the war or the FatherLord once, but he used the word “friend” twice.”, I obviously meant, the first time he showed up. Before Katara told him to gtfo. Hence my remark about the gaang not acting consistently. Because if they had, they would’ve fled too - that was their dynamic so far: the gaang arrive a new location, Zuko catches up to them, they have a confrontation, the gaang flees (I mean, the first time I watched the ep, after Katara told him to gtfo, I thought the gaang would leave too; they clearly thought he was there to set some sort of trap (but they just had to act inconsistently, so Zuko could “redeem” himself)) - and they wouldn’t know about the genocide plan.And that’s something he should’ve brought up right away, the Avatar should know about it even if they yeet him off the cliff. They should make plans. When he showed up in 3.12, he couldn’t have known that the Avatar was gonna fight Ozai before the comet or that they knew about the comet at all. Putting the blame on Aang is a bad move on his part. Sidenote: it’s interesting that, in the finale, instead of talking to Aang, or bringing up Ozai’s plan, he starts by attacking him to “teach him a lesson” (which sounds like something Ozai would say).Also, when I said “and he acts all friendly”, I obviously didn’t mean he’s being polite or something. Rather, he’s acting like a “Man Who Brought Immeasurable Amounts of Pain to Your Life Wants to be Friends”.Also, “He needed the Avatar to literally die just so he could get to the point when he’d want to join Team Avatar” is not boiling down to a single moment (maybe I could’ve omitted the word “just”, my bad), it’s pointing out that the thing was crucial; without that, the other stuff wouldn’t have happened. And I was obviously talking about the gaang’s perspective here. From their perspective, it’s icky that Zuko needed the Avatar to literally die to join Team Avatar. But, sadly, the show doesn’t take the gaang’s perspective seriously. And it’s even ickier that in that self-centered speech of his, he says that he’s been through a lot, but that had to happend to learn the truth; considering that Aang was the one who had to actually die for a few minutes just so Zuko could go home, get the full perspective of things and get his act together. It’s insulting to Aang, or it should be, if their feelings were taken seriously.And yes, he did show up like nothing wrong. Even though the last time he saw them, he saw Aang die in front of his own eyes, which happened with his assistence, and Katara crying while she was holding his lifeless body - while he looked like he was gonna wrestle it out of her hands; and doubled down with an assassin - he didn’t consider that they might be traumatized and seeing him might be painful for them or having him around might be unhealthy for them, because it would keep opening up old wounds. (Because why would he, right? The show doesn’t want the audience to think that way either.) He was thinking about his first time at the Air Temple; when he was practicing his “Hello Zuko, here” speech, he was mostly talking about himself, he was only thinking of the gaang to the extent that they need to be convinced that he’s “good now”, and they would be suspicious. Not about the immeasurable amounts of pain he brought to their life and what impact it had on them.Zuko repeating Aang’s previous words back to him is insulting. Or it should be, if Aang’s feelings were taken seriously. Aang showed him a kindness, and he kept on hurting him, and him repeating Aang’s words like that… people don’t like this sort of thing. Aang gave him a chance and he wouldn’t stop going after him till he literally died and needed to be resurrected. If Aang never died, Zuko would still be after him, so bringing up the “friend” stuff like that is insulting, or it would be, if Aang’s feelings and experiences were taken seriously.And if he was sincere, he might have told them something useful, like Ozai’s plan, maybe, instead of emotionally manipulating them. Given that many of the posts on your blog express similarly negative analyses of Zuko, it’s clear that you are set in your opinion about him. Subsequently, I’m going to disengage, because no amount of debate or analysis on my part is going to impact your interpretation of his characterization or the events in the show, and thus would just be a waste of time for both of us. -- source link