Contemplations

Fanart, edits, liveblogging, analysis and whatever else I feel like.

[maifandom]

Screenshot Redraw: ATLA 209 - Bitter Work

Sokka: Well, if you can't earthbend me out of here, go get Toph. Aang: I can't do that either. Sokka: You can't? Why not? Aang: It would just be really… uncomfortable. Sokka: Uncomfortable. Well, I wouldn't want you to feel uncomfortable.

[maifandom]

Screenshot Redraw: ATLA 208 - The Chase

That telling smirk...

[maifandom]

Screenshot Redraw: ATLA 207 - Zuko Alone

Now you've made him mad.

[maifandom]

Screenshot Redraw: ATLA 206 - The Blind Bandit

[maifandom]

Can you please draw painted lady Katara and aang kissing 😘

You drawings are wonderful 💖

Thank you for the kind words!

I don't usually do requests unless I'm in the mood for them. (Tokka is the most irresistible.) I'm afraid I'm a little tapped out on Kataang at the moment.

This is a good opportunity to say hi to everyone and let you know what I'm up to. Hello, new followers! I make a point to check out your blogs and get a sense of who you are. Hi, everyone else! I especially love reading tags on reblogs. Thank you for the great reactions in the last week!

Right now my #1 project is a 100-page Tokka comic that I started years ago and am finally going to finish. If you're interested in that, you can see behind the scenes posts on my main blog, Maivry. I'm getting pretty close to launch, so you can also stay tuned here on Maifandom for an announcement about that!

On Tuesdays I post an ATLA screenshot redraw. I may post extra fanart as well - ATLA or otherwise - but I'm still getting back into the drawing habit.

[maifandom]

Kataang Week 2023 Day 7 - Reunion

[maifandom]

Kataang Week 2023 Day 6 - Free Day

I decided to use my free day to finish that one scene in the Cave of Two Lovers.

[maifandom]

Kataang Week 2023 Day 5 - Secretly Dating

I think they would like to keep their relationship a secret from the group at first... however briefly.

[maifandom]

Kataang Week 2023 Day 4 - Cultural Differences / Cultural Exchange

I wonder if Aang ever got over his aversion to stewed sea prunes.

[maifandom]

Kataang Week 2023 Day 3 - Confession / Whisper

I have a feeling that, after they hashed out their whole story to each other, this line would turn into an inside joke.

[maifandom]

Kataang Week 2023 Day 2 - Injured

Escaping from Ba Sing Se.

[maifandom]

Kataang Week 2023 Day 1 - Wind & Rain

[maifandom]

Fifteen Years Later...

15 years ago today, ATLA's finale aired. In commemoration, I dredged up my initial reaction to the finale, which I posted in the shipping thread of ye olde AvatarSpirit.net's forum. Consequently it's very shipping-focused and includes a billion portmanteaus. But it's the closest thing I have to a liveblog for ATLA, and I love nostalgia.

A little context, first. I found Avatar through Zutara fanart at the end of 2007 and caught up on all the existing episodes in probably January 2008? Disappointed that Kataang was so obvious, I turned to Sokka ships and decided I liked Tokka best. I lurked in the fandom for a few months, joined the forum shortly before everyone found out that the Boiling Rock was going to get a DVD release on May 6, two months before it actually aired on TV. I spent a lot of downtime debating the merits of Tokka and making predictions about the show based on random commercials and then the finale trailer. On the shipping side of things, my reaction was kinda negative. I was increasingly disappointed leading up to the finale. Don't worry, it gets better.

Brackets indicate present day edits or comments.

[Begin finale reaction]

OH MAN, WHERE TO START? [...] I guess I'll start from the beginning.

Zumo! ♥

Harutara, ahahahaha.

Nylappa! ♥♥♥ (Ahahaha.)

Irko reunion! ;_; Oh man, I cried. xD

Maiko reunion. xD Seriously, Zuko's eyes. Zudorko. ♥

Okay, I guess it's time for Sutokka stuff, right?

Sukka... were practically glued together. Seriously. And I'm sorry, much as I try to be unbiased, I just really didn't like it. D: There were moments. Mere moments, like back before I had a particular bias. I don't truly dislike it, but when it's so constant and final it's hard to ignore.

It made Tokka moments hard to come by. Or in fact, many other character interactions. Sokka was seriously obsessed. @_@

Did anyone else notice the only time we got Tokka moments was when they were separated from Suki? Dx Aside from the Tokka hand-leading seconds previous. I dunno. I suppose I should be thankful that they made a point of including Tokka. But much as I ADORE this scene:

[Image - probably Sokka covering Toph from debris]

*Insert fangirl scream that gets cut off*

...well it didn't really lead to anything else. ;_;

See, I wanted angst! And drama! And depth! And at least someone acknowledging it. ANYONE.

Frankly, I hated the apparent Toph x everyone-ness. [Zuko, The Duke, and...?] I'm fine with those ships. In fact, I ship more than one of them. But when they're all there? That just says Toph is fickle or childish, to me. D:

I would have liked it better if Tokka was never a romantic ship. Or if we were shown Toph was boy-crazy from the beginning -- with Taang, or some random one-shot character. Why did they save it all for the finale?

But I don't think that's necessarily what's happening. (Reminder to self: don't listen to every conclusion the fandom comes to. >.>) In which case, we still have Tokka disappearing as if it never happened, and Toph doesn't care one iota.

Apparently I came in at just the right time to stew in all the Tokkaness, come to all these conclusions, and then have pretty much everything I ever thought about Tokka or Sutokka be completely undermined. :P

I get the sense that M & B were looking over my shoulder at the things I listed that I didn't want to happen with Tokka, and thought it was a recommendation. :P

However, much as I must seem to be ranting, I'm far more apathetic than angry. Some of that fan depression I had after I watched EIP -- I got this sense I lost my favorite characters, because what I thought was there no longer was. D: [Particularly the way Sokka is characterized, since he's my favorite.]

So, oddly enough, the Sutokka plotline was probably the one I was least interested in, except in with glimmers of hope that those characters I loved might come back. (And they did. Some.)

But, oh man, you should have heard my breathing when Toph got in her metal armor. :P Sutokka got some of the best action EVER.

Wait a second. Pretty much EVERY moment in the finale that had action in it was better than everything else in the whole series. Where can I begin?

[I rambled about staying on topic.]

Except... Crazula? Seriously, I can't say enough how astdirl,dtbmortsnehjAMAZING Crazula was. AZULA, where did you GO? ;_;

And the Kazuko [platonic Zutara] was better. :D

Okay, I'm still not done.

Kataang?

Yeah, it's okay. (Best in EIP.) [Eh???]

Remember the Kataang commercial?

"I won't let him fight alone?" :P

I find it highly ironic that Katara was on ANOTHER CONTINENT THE WHOLE TIME.

Heh. Oh, well. I'll just pretend there's a little extra Kataang in there more along the lines of EIP. ^_^ And then I might be able to say I officially like Kataang, or something.

[End finale reaction]

Years later, I'm rather bemused by some of my thoughts. My disappointment in Tokka makes sense, since they would be so awesome. :P During ATLA, I assumed that shipping details were done very purposefully and would lead somewhere, even if it was just a character arc. After watching LOK, I came to understand better how the writers used shipping more for fun, especially with secondary characters. Part of the magic of shipping or just being in a fandom in general is the fans' imagination. I've been (more or less) happy to continue Tokka using my imagination. I can even imagine contradictory scenarios - angsty, happily ever after, silly, serious - so it really doesn't matter what happened in canon after ATLA.

I don't think Toph was boy crazy, but I do think Sokka will forever care about her well-being. Nowadays Sokka, Suki, and Toph's side plot might be my favorite plotline in the last two episodes, but it's really hard to choose. The Agni Kai is beautiful, the Old Masters are powerful, and Aang's battle against Ozai is intense and important.

My original thoughts on Kataang are really weird to me now. I think I finally warmed up to them a couple years later. I'm not sure what I thought was so good about them in EIP - maybe the fact they actually talked a bit about their relationship? But watching Aang kiss her prematurely is so cringy to me now, and like many I would have liked some sort of interaction before they kissed in the final moments. But I can enjoy it now!

I might dredge up more old posts from the days of great debates, or try to find my first impressions of a few more episodes. (I know I've always loved the Boiling Rock.) Let me know if that's of interest!

In other news, Kataang week is next week, and I am plotting to participate for once.

Now... back to drawing!

[maifandom]

Screenshot Redraw: ATLA 205 - Avatar Day

Iroh: You must never give into despair. Allow yourself to slip down that road and you surrender to your lowest instincts. In the darkest times, hope is something you give yourself. That is the meaning of inner strength.

[maifandom]

Screenshot Redraw: ATLA 204 - The Swamp

Katara: Does anyone else get the feeling that we're being watched? Sokka: Please, we're all alone out here. Aang: Except for them. Sokka: Right. Except for them.

[maifandom]

Screenshot Redraw: ATLA 203 - Return to Omashu

Sokka: You realize we're probably walking right into a trap. Aang: I don't think so. I'm sure the governor wants his son back as much as we want Bumi. It's a new day. I have a good feeling about this.

[maifandom]

Screenshot Redraw: ATLA 202 - The Cave of Two Lovers

Katara: Why is your forehead all red? Chong: Nobody react to what I'm about to tell you. I think that kid might be the Avatar.