Suki was a welcome addition to the Gaang. It's the pastede-on addition of Mai at the end, to the core group, that left the most sour taste in my mouth.
LOLOLOL. I think that's the first time I've heard you say anything negative about Mai. XDDD Kudos!
Yeah, Mai was the reason they escaped in TBR, I'll give her that much. BUT...what if Zuko hadn't been on the gondola? Would Mai still have saved them? Not likely.
My biggest beef with Mai at the ending in that tea shop scene is, we didn't get a realization on her part that she'd been on the wrong side the entire time. Even in TBR, she did it for Zuko. She even called him a traitor to his face. I have a hard time believing that her acts in TBR were the result of her suddenly "being on board with the gaang ideology" and not simply because she wanted to suck Zuko's face more. LOL.
Yeah. Weird ending, weird ending, yeah. Fortunately it's (temporarily) revived my desire to write a post-series fic (when I finish all the other stuff on my damn plate).
You're right that she did it for Zuko, I completely agree there. And I would have been happier if we'd had some sign before of her dissatisfaction with Azula or Ozai's reign of terror or some evidence that she believed not just in Zuko, but actually shared his cause. That would have grounded her character more, and made me take their relationship more seriously. (I still don't take their relationship that seriously...I actually have greater respect for Mai's feelings than for Zuko's, since I'm not as convinced of his great love for her as I am of hers for him. Frankly I think Zuko has a deeper relationship with Aang than he does with Mai, and they're not sucking face...ending parenthetical now!)
Nevertheless, I'd be an ass-up hypocrite if I held it against her character for doing the right thing out of love instead of moral justice. ::snort:: First because that's the basis of pretty much every season 1 K/Z fic, and second because it's pretty much the life purpose of my favorite tv character of all time, Spike. He loved so much that he went and bought a conscience just so the person he was in love with could sleep at night knowing that her lover had a moral compass that wasn't just her.
LOLOLOL. I think that's the first time I've heard you say anything negative about Mai. XDDD Kudos!
Shhh! Don't tell anyone. I want to maintain my fandom moral high ground. ;)
Actually, though, I do generally like Mai. I'm a Mai/Ty Lee shipper (season 3 had them turn traitor as a unit, which makes me v. happy.) And I keep thinking up break-up songs for Zuko and Mai... which is problematic because they got back together on the show. Just when I had a really good song for their break-up, too!
I'm not sure I can think of how to write a fic with Mai breaking up with Zuko without looking like an ass--applauded by my fellow shippers for "fixing" the problem and derided by everyone else as breaking them up "for ship reasons" since I'm an obvious and known zutara writer.
I don't know how to write something that says "I'm not breaking them up so Katara and Zuko can suck face with a clear conscience, I'm breaking them up because their puppy love wouldn't last more than five months anyway, and I've practically built a fanmix in my head about this very topic. And, also, I think Mai belongs with her girlfriend."
I guess my opinion on this doesn't count for much since I'm already a Zutaran, but I don't have any problem with so-called 'fixing', as long as the resulting story is of high quality.
No doubt, you could conjure such a thing - provided you were inclined to, and if your past work is anything to go by. ;D
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2008-08-05 02:38 am (UTC)Yeah, Mai was the reason they escaped in TBR, I'll give her that much. BUT...what if Zuko hadn't been on the gondola? Would Mai still have saved them? Not likely.
My biggest beef with Mai at the ending in that tea shop scene is, we didn't get a realization on her part that she'd been on the wrong side the entire time. Even in TBR, she did it for Zuko. She even called him a traitor to his face. I have a hard time believing that her acts in TBR were the result of her suddenly "being on board with the gaang ideology" and not simply because she wanted to suck Zuko's face more. LOL.
Yeah. Weird ending, weird ending, yeah. Fortunately it's (temporarily) revived my desire to write a post-series fic (when I finish all the other stuff on my damn plate).
no subject
Date: 2008-08-05 04:48 am (UTC)Nevertheless, I'd be an ass-up hypocrite if I held it against her character for doing the right thing out of love instead of moral justice. ::snort:: First because that's the basis of pretty much every season 1 K/Z fic, and second because it's pretty much the life purpose of my favorite tv character of all time, Spike. He loved so much that he went and bought a conscience just so the person he was in love with could sleep at night knowing that her lover had a moral compass that wasn't just her.
no subject
Date: 2008-08-05 04:51 am (UTC)Shhh! Don't tell anyone. I want to maintain my fandom moral high ground. ;)
Actually, though, I do generally like Mai. I'm a Mai/Ty Lee shipper (season 3 had them turn traitor as a unit, which makes me v. happy.) And I keep thinking up break-up songs for Zuko and Mai... which is problematic because they got back together on the show. Just when I had a really good song for their break-up, too!
no subject
Date: 2008-08-05 05:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-08-05 05:52 am (UTC)I don't know how to write something that says "I'm not breaking them up so Katara and Zuko can suck face with a clear conscience, I'm breaking them up because their puppy love wouldn't last more than five months anyway, and I've practically built a fanmix in my head about this very topic. And, also, I think Mai belongs with her girlfriend."
no subject
Date: 2008-08-05 06:10 am (UTC)No doubt, you could conjure such a thing - provided you were inclined to, and if your past work is anything to go by. ;D