Avatar meme, day 3: favourite character

[lizbee]

Because I am an ABSOLUTE CHAMPION, I went into work with an ear infection today. Hey, the doctor said it was minor, and it's been years since I had one, so I couldn't remember how debilitating it was!

I lasted three hours. Then, before I went home, I popped into the main office, where my managers helpfully told me I looked like death. GOOD TIMES!

But enough about me.



Okay, in fairness, you could reasonably have guessed Mai, or even Azula, because they pretty much share that top spot with Zuko. But he wins because he was the very first character in the series I fell in love with (as opposed to liking quite a lot, because choosing a least favourite out of the regular characters and most recurrings would be ... painful).

Anyway, Zuko. One of the reasons I think his story works so well is that it never descends into the standard manpain tropes. I mean, yes, Zuko has a lot of trauma, which he deals with by being a cranky, selfish jerk, but the writers (and characters) know when it needs to be taken seriously, and when he's just being self-indulgent. The narrative acknowledges his bad choices, and his background as an abuse survivor is an explanation but not an excuse.

Granted, that's not to say his Epic Angst is to everyone's taste. I believe my fellow Squids got tired of it some time back in season 1. When we watched "The Western Air Temple" the other week, piecesofalice noted that Zuko's monologue to the frog shows more personality than he's shown in the entire series up to that point. I disagree, obviously, but it's true that Zuko is instantly more relaxed once he has confronted and then left his father, which nicely demonstrates how years of abuse will cause a person to shut down.

Other reasons why Zuko is great and I love him:

- He seems like Leather Pants Draco, but he's actually Ron Weasley. Which is one reason why I have trouble reading fic written before season 3, because it just seems so totally out of character that Zuko should be in any way cool.
- It's easy to underestimate him because he's overshadowed by Azula and not that great at planning, but he's actually highly competent, especially once he's started dealing with his problems. Okay, I did just query the possibility of Zuko being cool, but competence is pretty hot. I mean cool. STOP LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT.
- His social ineptitude is extraordinary.
- He is NOT playing the tsungi horn. Even though he's good at it.
- You can pretty much pair him up with anyone in the universe, and it would work. He's bendy versatile!

Comments

[jesuswasbatman]

I must admit, the only thing that's made me worried about Avatar is my Fandom-Wank-derived impression that Zuko has loads of fans who think that he's a woobie who must be paired with the heroine and that anybody who holds his nastier acts against him in canon or fandom is a hateful vengeful scumbag.

[lizbee]

I had that idea as well! But I think there's an advantage to coming into the fandom now, because there are lots of people for whom that just isn't a factor. So when you do stumble across wankiness, it's easier to go, "Oh you," because it's not dominating the fandom anymore.

[holyschist]

I think I found the fandom after the majority of the wankiness, so it's always a little surprise when I see people going on about how Zuko and Katara are ~Destined~ and Mai is an evil bitch (I love Mai like very cynical puppies and kittens). I think it's fairly easy to avoid the scarier Zutarians.

(Plus it's really such an ensemble show; I'm not sure I'd call Katara "the heroine." Aang is, I guess, the main protagonist, but...I dunno. It's very ensemble-y.)

[such_heights]

ZUKOOOO. I like him far more than I would have expected, given his character type. But the show does a wonderful job with him.

[lizbee]

Oh, I KNOW. I'm kind of like, "WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME? I NEVER LIKE THIS KIND OF CHARACTER!"

But, of course, I was also a Snapefan back when that didn't involve being an apologist, so I think it's time I admit I have a thing for redemptive arcs.

[musesfool]

I totally went into watching AtLA the first time skeptical of Zuko, because I knew he was the fandom darling, and he is generally not my preferred character type, but I have to say, he won me over fairly early on (no earlier than The Storm, but no later than Siege of the North), and while he's not my favorite, he's definitely in the top 5. I'm so impressed with how they handled his character arc.

[lizbee]

I knew he was the fandom darling

YES! weaverandom was trying to sell me on the series back in 2007, and she started telling me about Zuko, and I was like, "THAT SOUNDS LIKE A CHEAP DRACO RIP-OFF! AND I HATE DRACO!"

Weirdly, it was the comments in the FW entry about the Zutarian rage at Korra that made me think, "...maybe I need to watch this after all." That, and realising it was a world rich enough to have a sequel set a generation later.

[holyschist]

Oh god, there's Zutarian rage at Korra?

[lizbee]

YES. Because the producers said that Tenzin is Aang's son with Katara, apparently. Cue fic where he's secretly Zuko's son, but also an airbender, and -- and -- yeah. Here you go!

[holyschist]

*cries*

WHATEVER, KORRA IS A BAMF.

[holyschist]

I love Zuko's dorktasticness so much. I mean, his arc is satisfying otherwise, but I don't think I would love him if he were actually cool.

[lizbee]

I'm not sure how I'd cope if Zuko were actually cool. I'd have to go be a Sokka fan or something.

[holyschist]

I like Sokka quite a lot too, to be fair.

[lizbee]

Me too, but I find him really hard to write! Not as hard as Aang, though.

[selvage]

Excellent post, full of truthiness.

But tangentially related, Mark just watched The Beach and I am so unbelievably disappointed in his reaction. I imagine there are lots of echo-y comments too. BUT I REALLY LOVE The Beach OKAY THIS IS HARD FOR ME D: D: D:

[lizbee]

I JUST HAD A RAGEGASM ABOUT IT ON TWITTER.

AND ALSO LEFT A CRANKY COMMENT GOING, AMONG OTHER THINGS, "WTF IS UP WITH SAYING BEACH CULTURE IS USCENTRIC?"

AND THERE IS A REALLY LONG COMMENT ABOUT HOW ZUKO IS INCREDIBLY ABUSIVE BUT MAI ISN'T A VERY GOOD GIRLFRIEND, AND I THINK I'M HAVING THE RAGE AGAIN!

[selvage]

I CAN'T EVEN LIZ, I JUST. CAN'T. EVEN.

So many people wrong on the internet, but at least some of the comments are pointing out how fabulous this episode actually is.

[lizbee]

And also this art, although it's posted without attribution, which is my new thing to hate on the internet.

Mark's kind of the new Jacob-from-TWOP, isn't he? Not nearly as wanky or failtastic, but equally prone to completely missing the point.

[selvage]

It frustrates me so much, because he does genuinely love the show, and occasionally - even often! - gets it right! WHY DOES HE HAVE TO GET IT WRONG AT THE MOST IMPORTANT TIMES.

I never read TWoP, but Jacob's fail is pretty legendary. I hope Mark never ends up that bad.

[lizbee]

Mark seems too savvy to end up that bad, but ... well, I have observed over the years that fandom (or at least, the shipping, fic-writing, heavily female end of fandom) often gravitates around men who also participate in that way, or who are at least friendly to people who do so -- copperbadge might be an early example. And when anon memes started suggesting that Copperbadge might not be a cis male (and I don't know if he is or not), part of the transphobia that ensued seemed to come from a position of, "Well, if CB is just a woman like the rest of us, then why should we listen to her?"

FANDOM: Y U GOTTA BE LIKE THIS?

[selvage]

FANDOM: Y U GOTTA BE LIKE THIS?

Summs up my whole fandom experience, pretty much. (Although I got some awesome friends and shit out of it, so there's that).