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Well, I think you all look perfect
There is no more Avatar. With six episodes left in the series, fueled by tea and antipasto, Viking Zen and Rob and I marathoned through them tonight: the finale was fully as awesome as I had been hoping and I am now sad that future Mondays will contain no flying bison. Beneath the cut you may find some random thoughts on the end of the series, which I may attempt to improve, clarify, footnote, or erase in embarrassment tomorrow; spoilers, etc. In the meantime, I have no idea what we're going to watch next week. Inspired by Toph, I think Viking Zen has put in a bid for some Zatoichi. Anyone have any other suggestions?
It was clear after about an episode and a half that Zuko was the kind of character whom ordinarily I would have zeroed in on, except that Uncle Iroh out-awesomed the entire rest of the show with more or less his first lines ("Very well. But first I must finish my roast duck") and only advanced ("Leaves from the vine falling so slow . . . Brave little soldier boy, come marching home") from there. Nonetheless, I note that I have finished up the series really quite fond of Zuko. And he did pull a Londo Mollari, but he got better. There is currently an exhibit in Cary Library whose participants have been asked to summarize their lives in six words on an index card, which are then tacked up into a collage; I saw it tonight with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
ericmvan when we were browsing the new stacks. I do not want to misquote, so you will have to imagine the sense of "repeatedly" or "lots" into the following five-word statement and I'll check the precise wording when I return my books, but the one I liked best read, "Shot self in foot. Recovered." It seems like something the new Fire Lord might be able to appreciate.
I love that what Aang learns from the Lion Turtle is quintessence. Mastery of the four elements he can learn from within the world of water, fire, earth, air, but the capacity purely to bend chi is something he receives while outside ordinary space and perhaps time—not in the spirit world, but the tracker June states that her shirshu's failure to scent him "means your friend's gone . . . He doesn't exist"—and not from any human, but from a creature so ancient, we've glimpsed it only in scrolls and proverbs. As a means to defeat the Fire Lord without killing him, stripping Ozai of his firebending is brilliant; it also made me wonder whether Aang could instill bending in others, like the Mechanist's son, more comfortable flying his glider than wheelchair-bound on the earth, whom even Aang says has the spirit of an airbender. Probably this would not entirely solve the problem of the balance of the Four Nations, but at least we might get a new generation of Air Nomads who are not all related to one another, never mind to the Southern Water Tribe.
I assume the whereabouts of Zuko and Azula's mother are material for a future production, otherwise I will have to fly to California and slap Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko upside the head. I was expecting to find out she belonged to the White Lotus. All the other cool kids do.
I do not know what the writers' official word is on Azula, but I find it interesting that her ending within the show implies that even she may not be irrecoverable. She doesn't have a breakdown because she's a sociopath who runs out of manipulable options, or a megalomaniac who runs off the reality cliff (like the late and not particularly lamented Admiral Zhao; if you have to ask, yes, I felt some sympathy for him), but because she is human and she grew up in a snake-pit of fire. Zuko carries his scars where everyone can see them, but I think his sister's taken more damage. He at least had Uncle Iroh and memories of a mother who unconditionally loved him. Azula had a father who praised her only as perfection in his image and a mother she believed saw her as a monster—and then disappeared, which cannot have helped Azula's belief that love is inherently unreliable; it cannot be enforced, so fear is the better binding. Yet she is as strictly bound by her own need for approval and affection, however unacknowledged: her mother's perceived lack of love still hurts; she is momentarily devastated when her father orders her to remain behind without him; the first real tremors are triggered when Mai and Ty Lee turn against her. If her only security lies in being so conclusively dominant no one will cross her, of course she's going to be paranoid once that's been shown not to work. Who is she, after all, that anyone should love or be loyal to her? And all she knows is the cold-blooded fire, how to be flawless, the prodigy, the string-puller, untouchable. No failure is acceptable. Once she begins to slip, she has nowhere to go except collapse. None of this alters her cruelty, her casual malice and manipulation, her unquestioned expectation of power and the precisely planned lengths she will go to achieve it, but where I initially assumed we were looking at someone with pieces missing from birth, I suspect now that some hard-coding took place early on. I do not know if she will ever be healthy. But the substrate may be there.
I wish I didn't feel that the Ember Island Players' "The Boy in the Iceberg" was like a preview of the upcoming film.
It was clear after about an episode and a half that Zuko was the kind of character whom ordinarily I would have zeroed in on, except that Uncle Iroh out-awesomed the entire rest of the show with more or less his first lines ("Very well. But first I must finish my roast duck") and only advanced ("Leaves from the vine falling so slow . . . Brave little soldier boy, come marching home") from there. Nonetheless, I note that I have finished up the series really quite fond of Zuko. And he did pull a Londo Mollari, but he got better. There is currently an exhibit in Cary Library whose participants have been asked to summarize their lives in six words on an index card, which are then tacked up into a collage; I saw it tonight with
ericmvan when we were browsing the new stacks. I do not want to misquote, so you will have to imagine the sense of "repeatedly" or "lots" into the following five-word statement and I'll check the precise wording when I return my books, but the one I liked best read, "Shot self in foot. Recovered." It seems like something the new Fire Lord might be able to appreciate.I love that what Aang learns from the Lion Turtle is quintessence. Mastery of the four elements he can learn from within the world of water, fire, earth, air, but the capacity purely to bend chi is something he receives while outside ordinary space and perhaps time—not in the spirit world, but the tracker June states that her shirshu's failure to scent him "means your friend's gone . . . He doesn't exist"—and not from any human, but from a creature so ancient, we've glimpsed it only in scrolls and proverbs. As a means to defeat the Fire Lord without killing him, stripping Ozai of his firebending is brilliant; it also made me wonder whether Aang could instill bending in others, like the Mechanist's son, more comfortable flying his glider than wheelchair-bound on the earth, whom even Aang says has the spirit of an airbender. Probably this would not entirely solve the problem of the balance of the Four Nations, but at least we might get a new generation of Air Nomads who are not all related to one another, never mind to the Southern Water Tribe.
I assume the whereabouts of Zuko and Azula's mother are material for a future production, otherwise I will have to fly to California and slap Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko upside the head. I was expecting to find out she belonged to the White Lotus. All the other cool kids do.
I do not know what the writers' official word is on Azula, but I find it interesting that her ending within the show implies that even she may not be irrecoverable. She doesn't have a breakdown because she's a sociopath who runs out of manipulable options, or a megalomaniac who runs off the reality cliff (like the late and not particularly lamented Admiral Zhao; if you have to ask, yes, I felt some sympathy for him), but because she is human and she grew up in a snake-pit of fire. Zuko carries his scars where everyone can see them, but I think his sister's taken more damage. He at least had Uncle Iroh and memories of a mother who unconditionally loved him. Azula had a father who praised her only as perfection in his image and a mother she believed saw her as a monster—and then disappeared, which cannot have helped Azula's belief that love is inherently unreliable; it cannot be enforced, so fear is the better binding. Yet she is as strictly bound by her own need for approval and affection, however unacknowledged: her mother's perceived lack of love still hurts; she is momentarily devastated when her father orders her to remain behind without him; the first real tremors are triggered when Mai and Ty Lee turn against her. If her only security lies in being so conclusively dominant no one will cross her, of course she's going to be paranoid once that's been shown not to work. Who is she, after all, that anyone should love or be loyal to her? And all she knows is the cold-blooded fire, how to be flawless, the prodigy, the string-puller, untouchable. No failure is acceptable. Once she begins to slip, she has nowhere to go except collapse. None of this alters her cruelty, her casual malice and manipulation, her unquestioned expectation of power and the precisely planned lengths she will go to achieve it, but where I initially assumed we were looking at someone with pieces missing from birth, I suspect now that some hard-coding took place early on. I do not know if she will ever be healthy. But the substrate may be there.
I wish I didn't feel that the Ember Island Players' "The Boy in the Iceberg" was like a preview of the upcoming film.
no subject
he doesn't have a breakdown because she's a sociopath who runs out of manipulable options, or a megalomaniac who runs off the reality cliff (like the late and not particularly lamented Admiral Zhao; if you have to ask, yes, I felt some sympathy for him), but because she is human and she grew up in a snake-pit of fire.
I love that. A sociopath who runs out of manipulable options, a megalomaniac who runs off the reality cliff (can we just pause here, for a moment, to consider the reality cliff? I've been listening to "We all go down together" over and over again, and the cliffs of Dover as sung in that song recall to me the reality cliff). And, someone who grew up in a snake-pit of fire. That last concept seems like something
I was expecting to find out she belonged to the White Lotus. All the other cool kids do. :-)
This sounds like a cool show. I've never seen even a scrap of an episode of it, but you,
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I'm so glad!
And, someone who grew up in a snake-pit of fire. That last concept seems like something cucumberseed could run with.
Well, in this case it's partially metaphorical. But I agree with you.
I've never seen even a scrap of an episode of it, but you, cucumberseed, and sartorias all love it. That's a pretty powerful triangulation.
I recommend it very highly.
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You should see it sometime. And I will be avoiding the Shyamalan adaptation like the White Jade Bush.*
* A toxic plant. Not to be confused with the White Dragon Bush, whose leaves "make a tea so delicious, it's heartbreaking . . . Delectable tea? Or deadly poison?"
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I intend to. One of these days...
And I will be avoiding the Shyamalan adaptation like the White Jade Bush.*
This sounds wise. Even if it weren't for the casting issues, I don't seem to hear much good about his work.
White Dragon Bush, whose leaves "make a tea so delicious, it's heartbreaking
Slightly OT, but did you ever see this? Ursula Vernon. A Wizard of Tea.
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Do not let me interfere with your watching of Princess Tutu! It is brilliant.
(But, yes. Avatar: The Last Airbender is one of the more awesome things I have seen in any medium.)
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We were on a panel together at Arisia on Pushing Daises - you bought my Kitsune print, just so you have some context about who I am and why we might have some similar tastes. :-)
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I have heard of it, but never seen it. Thank you!
just so you have some context about who I am and why we might have some similar tastes.
I remember very well who you are! I think I still owe you a poem for that print . . .
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Here are some other TV suggestions for you:
Carnivale - Intense and unique look at destiny, fate, and avatars of good vs. avatars of evil set during the great Dust Bowl. I can honestly say that there is nothing like this show that I have ever seen or heard of. Sadly it was supposed to be 5 seasons long and got cancelled after the 2nd season, but it has a at least a little closure to it, so it doesn't leave you hanging unbearably.
Wonderfalls - A bit like Pushing Daisies, also cancelled early, made by Tim Minear of Firefly fame. Young apathetic intelligent girl works at a Niagra Falls tourist shop when suddenly inanimate objects start talking to her and telling her what to do. Lee Pace plays her brother!
Life on Mars - Not as sure if this is your style, but I loved it. Important - watch the UK version of this, not the US one. UK version stars John Simm, fabulous actor, and is just, well, better. So much better. It's part science fiction and part 70s cop show. Great character chemistry, some creepy moments, and snapping great dialog. UK version is currently available only as a Code 2 import, but I can set you up if you are interested.
Impromptu - This is a movie about the awkward love story between George Sands and Chopin. Great film, great cast.
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Thank you! I loved the first episode of Life on Mars and then never managed to catch any more of the show; I've had recommendations for the others, especially Carnivàle and Wonderfalls, and I shall certainly count your opinion a point in their favor!