#justanotherthrowaway1950

[theoneandonlylobster]

"[I was o]ne of the OG Tyzula shippers[.] I was also an OG Maiko shipper but far less prominent/influential in those circles[.]"

I knew that you had been involved in fandom well before the show ended, writing fics before the end of Season 3, but I didn't know you were an OG Tyzula and Maiko shipper. That is so cool!

So I ask, what made you decide to ship Tyzula, what was early Tyzula fandom like, how has Tyzula fandom changed as the years have passed, and where do you see Tyzula fandom going, especially in light of the EU trying its best to joss the ship (ex. having Ruon-Jian as Azula's lover in her ideal dream world)?

Likewise, what made you decide to ship Maiko, what was early Maiko fandom like, how has Maiko fandom changed as the years have passed, and where do you Maiko fandom going, especially since Bryke finally filling in the period between the early post-war era and Korra's era means they will have to commit or decommit to Maiko?

So as far as Maiko fandom goes, I'm not really involved with them anymore and was only ever really tangentially involved I would say. I was friends with people who were major early Maiko shippers and I wrote a couple fics but I wasn't. Like. Important.

I do recall being pissed off by The Promise, but who wasn't? It's wild because it's clear, very clear, that Maiko is endgame and yet they've spent most of their existence broken up, by far. We've all seen the timeline. I can't think of another ship like it. But we all know Maiko is endgame so they're just playing (possum-)chicken with us now.

Okay so, Tyzula. Yes. I'm actually mentioned in the ship manifesto which is a thing shippers used to make a bajillion years ago. I was there. (Gandalf...) I was there on freaking LJ haha. I posted metas and even made a couple of fanmixes, which are what we used to call playlists. And I wrote drabbles (instead of longer fic) mostly because I think I was able, on some level, to tell that my own sexuality was tied into the ship and that scared me.

Tyzula has changed a lot and also stayed the same in many ways. You still get that caretaker!Ty Lee trope, and most people approach the ship via an Azula lens rather than a Ty Lee lens. That being said, these days people are more likely to think Mai would forgive Azula first, which could be comics influenced or could just be fanon. And I think these days you see a greater variety of plots and situations in general.

I will always say that putting Ruon-Jian in that comic made the best case for the Lesbian Azula Truthers out there, since she kissed Chan. Girl can't even remember what boy she kissed? Lmao. What a girl kisser. She just likes the idea of a boy liking her. Seriously if the comics want to be taken seriously do 15 minutes of research and re-watch a single episode to the relevant point.

[akiizayoi4869]

What do you think about the Adult Gaang and what appears to be a new Air Nomad's designs?

I really love the new designs for them! Although I'm curious as to who this other airbender is. If only they'd release a trailer😩

[loopy777]

What do you think about the Adult Gaang and what appears to be a new Air Nomad's designs?

Looks fine to me, although Zuko's hair has me cackling. XD

Speaking of hair, I do wish at least one member of the gAang was doing something different with their hair, though. Katara had three different major hair styles throughout the cartoon and now she's just going back to season 1? Sokka only changes how shaved his sides are? Toph keeps the same hair-do for a century?! Zuko's is technically different, but it's just part of the same trend established throughout AtLA; actually, I'm surprised his old man version in LoK isn't just Cousin It.

Aang is the only one I'm giving a pass to.

New Guy looks fine, too. I'd share a drink with him.

Actually, looking at the image a little more, everyone's pants are baggier than this franchise typically likes to go. Is that because the animation can handle the extra fabric movement? Or is it the fashion in that time period? Maybe the character designers were just feeling the Big Pants look.

My only real complaint is that the posing on that shirt does not favor the grouping. Individually, their poses are Fine. But together? "BE MENACED BY OUR HANDS, MORTAL!! Also that one dude has a club."

[loopy777]

"The one opportunity Ty Lee has had to take center stage has unfortunately also been the worst story in the entire franchise. That thing also did horrific lasting damage by making her look utterly insane regarding her relationship with her family, and it also uses the most boring possible concept for her sisters."

If you don't mind, could you elaborate on why you think Sisters is the worst story in the franchise?

I agree that it makes Ty Lee look bad with respect to her family issues and does nothing interesting with her sisters. It's why I headcanoned that after Sisters, while Ty Lee does successfully reconcile with her sisters, her parents continue to neglect her, causing her to cut them off for good, with her sisters respecting her decision, until the canon roleplaying game explicitly stated she successfully reconciled with her parents and visits them whenever she's in the Fire Nation.

But isn't Sisters ultimately harmless compared to stuff like Reckoning of Roku (poor plotting and characterization that retroactively changes ATLA for the worst), The Promise (poor characterization and failure to deal with de-colonization properly), or Ruins of the Empire (Kuvira's "redemption")?

(FYI, I think Ruins of the Empire is the worst story in the entire franchise due to how it handled Kuvira's "redemption.")

Well, note that I say three separate things about 'Sisters:'

It's the worst story in the franchise

It did lasting damage to Ty Lee

Boring version of her sisters

So in my mind, being the worst doesn't actually have anything to do with its impact on the franchise. If we just look at them without the wider context, the other stories you mention are bad and sometimes have deranged themes, but I really feel that even they hold together better than Sisters. Sisters isn't just bad- it feels like a weird, shambling, twisted mockery of a story rather than the real thing.

It just doesn't make sense on any level. Why is Toph even present in this story? Especially when she doesn't react to Ty Lee at any point like an actual human having a conversation? What is even supposed to be the psychology behind Ty Lee thinking her acrobatics makes her unique but she actually stole it from all her sisters and unconsciously manipulated them into giving it up? Why does a world-class martial artist, never mind one who can disable people with a poke, need help against a couple of low-rent thugs shaking down a traveling circus? Never mind how Ty Lee's anxieties about the Kyoshi Warriors and the resolution are so surface-level they don't even need to be part of the story.

At least with the other Gene Yang comics and the non-Yee novels, they feel like the authors put some effort into it, even the disasters. Sisters just feels like it was spat out by ChatGPT.

[loopy777]

“We’ve been involved in all those main ancillary stories, so in our minds it’s mostly canon,” [Michael Dante] DiMartino said (transcription via Avatar News). “There’s probably some stuff if we may go back, like: ‘that doesn’t totally line up with this’, so there may be some little tweaks here and there, but as of right now we’re proceeding as if all this stuff is part of the proper universe and hopefully building on it.”-Link

In light of the above quote, what would you like to see from Avatar Studios' animated works, and how likely do you think they will adopt your preferred story beats or address your specific gripes with the franchise?

Sadly, I don't think anyone at Avatar Studios even knows the exact nature of any of the fandom's gripes about the comics. My reading of that quote is, "Read the comics? LOL We are way too busy for that. But um, you should still buy the comics because our bosses want you to, so, um, they're still canon. But in case we contradict anything, that's not a contradiction, that's a 'tweak.' Also, remember to pick up your limited edition official 'Avatar x Magic: The Gathering' cards! That's funding my eventual retirement!"

So yeah, I have no hope of anything really being fixed. But I've spent most of my life in the Star Wars fandom, so I'm used to continuities putting great stories right next to the worst stinkers you could possibly imagine. You just eventually get to pretend they're not there. Hoping for retcons is for long-term readers of superhero comics, and that's a game you never win, you just have to try to quit while you're ahead.

Whether Avatar Studio's animated output is going to be any good seems to me to be an independent matter. It might happen, since it's a whole Studio thing now and not the Mike and the Bryan writing every single script all by themselves like with LoK's foundation. But we'll see.

That said, my main gripe with the franchise is poorly-written drivel, so that's something that's very easy to fix. Just hire someone who knows how to hire good writers. Then hire good writers.

[loopy777]

What do you think about Smoke and Shadow and Ashes of the Academy portraying Michi as a loving mother in both the past and present? I thought the show was pretty clear that at best she was complicit in Ukano's emotional neglect and abuse of Mai. I understand that your husband essentially choosing terrorism over your family would spur a change of priorities in anyone, even a noted social climber like Michi, but it's jarring imo since we never have anyone in-universe note the change.

Honestly, before the comics, I would have said Ukano is more likely to be redeemed than Michi. Both parents are shown to be concerned about Tom-Tom, but Ukano doesn't hesitate to go for trading Bumi where you'd expect a Fire Nation Fanatic to balk at least a little, and Michi is the only one we see shutting Mai down, so we get a much more negative slant on her. I suppose, in retrospect, we can retcon this all to say that at least Michi pays attention to Mai while Ukano ignores her completely, but it's not a natural reading in a series where even moments of silent character interaction get at least a little musical sting to call attention to it.

That said, I also thought both Ukano and Michi would immediately back Zuko as the pathetic power-chasers they are, so Ukano deciding to be a loyalist to a guy in jail who can't even sit up properly really surprised me, never mind Michi showing up working in Auntie Mura's shop. But, again, we can perhaps say in retrospect that Michi is the only die-hard social climber and Ukano really just wants to spread Fire Nation imperialism as a true believer. That one is a bit more of a natural reading, as Michi was the only one talking about getting to lord around like royalty, but again, if we weren't meant to group Ukano in with that, I'd expect him to actually get some characterization before suddenly showing up in the comics as an anti-Zuko terrorist.

But it is what it is, and as you say, Michi suddenly being redeemed off-screen and having a good relationship with Mai is very jarring. Everything with Mai and her family is jarring, really, from her suddenly having a poster of herself hugging Tom-Tom to her father having disappeared and kidnapped Tom-Tom with no one mentioning it until he shows up to kidnap her as well to Michi suddenly being someone Mai wants in her life. Apparently the only thing we're allowed to actually see happen to her has to involve Zuko in some way. The 'Mai Family Drama' story could have been something more substantial than 'Smoke & Shadow' in terms of plot and probably theme, but I guess Mai doesn't rate a story focused on her unless it can involve Azula in some way.

And it's very easy to read all these family developments as an over-reaction to the criticisms of Mai's character in the fandom and an attempt to address that, but I have a hard time believing Gene Yang is savvy enough to know about Mai Hate and he wants to do something about it. If that were the case, why was he pushing his Zuki agenda? If he's so locked in to the Avatar fandom, why did the Mike and the Bryan had to tell him that Jet actually died? It's one of our favorite gags!

In the end, I think it's mostly about Gene Yang having a desperate need to reconnect the entire AtLA cast with their families. Zuko has to seek advice from Ozai, he gets his mother back and a brand new sister with no complications, Toph reconciles with her dad, Katara gets a new stepmom, and Ty Lee reconciles with her sisters and embraces how identical they are. Gene likely didn't bother redeeming Michi or even addressing her character because he had no interest in her beyond an opportunity to salvage some family for Mai in the wake of the plot with her father. Perhaps the Mike and the Bryan had Ukano earmarked as a villain, and Michi's off-screen redemption was Gene's contribution.

But either way, like everything established during Gene Yang's run, it's a super-weird disconnect from AtLA and we're all stuck with it now. The least they could do in compensation is show us Michi interacting with Ursa and have both of them being weirded out by each other's new characters.

"Were you always a peasant?"

"Were you always invested in your children?"

*cue fistfight*

[akiizayoi4869]

What do you think about the adult Gaang movie getting delayed until October 2026? Personally, I'm fine with it since I would rather wait another 10 months than have the adult Gaang movie be bad and possibly tank the IP's future, but I am interested to hear your thoughts.

Honestly I just hope that it means it will actually be good. This is plenty of time for them to get everything together and make something great, and to take some things out and put some things if they need to.

[loopy777]

What do you think about theory that Azula was involved in Ozai's ploy for the throne? Spirit Temple revealed that Azula knows that Ursa helped Ozai poison Azulon, even though as far as The Search is concerned, after she told Ursa about Azulon's order, there is no indication that she hid in the room/hall where Ursa and Ozai made their deal. It seems highly unlikely that Ozai would ever tell Azula unless she was involved, Azula has yet to have a conversation with restored Ursa, and current canon doesn't suggest that there were other people involved from whom Azula could have learned about the details of Azulon's poisoning.

Yeah, even before the expanded material, I wasn't a big fan of Azula having some role. She was just a kid, didn't offer anything to the logically-assumed proceedings (as you noted), and her character in turn doesn't really gain anything from having that addition to her backstory.

After all, she's already traumatized and twisted by Fire Nation culture and the way Ozai raised her. She already tried to kill her brother several times. She has issues with the way her mother reacted to it all. She doesn't really need the addition having abetted a family-conspiracy murder during her childhood.

Honestly, considering what Zuko Alone and DoBS hinted at, even Ursa's involvement was a mystery until the comics introduced the idea that she knows how to make magic poison. Throwing Azula in there as well would just be over-complicating a simple matter of killing a 704-year-old cranky man.

Honestly, the only part I thought needed expansion was how Ozai got named as the heir when Azulon was so dead-set against it (bad-um-tish!) and we still don't have that explained. I continue to think it would have been more logical if Ursa was the fulcrum for that part, somehow providing or being the method for Ozai to be backed by the Fire Sages and Azulon's death not getting much of an investigation. But I don't think there's a plausible way to add Azula to that part, either, although I can totally picture Gene Yang claiming that Azula has heretofore unmentioned magic forgery skills and she uses her small size to sneak into Azulon's office to rewrite the will that he conveniently kept in an unlocked drawer in his desk.

And, not to put too fine a point on it, Ozai has so little content related to something other than abusing his kids or running a war. Why take more away from the one real manifestation of this character's primary motivation?

So yeah, I've never seen a compelling take on it.