#I’m not amazing I don’t have the inherent drama and meaningfulness of romantic love in me as a potential so I’m basically nothing | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

zuzuslastbraincell · 4 years

Note

Katara!

KATARA KATARA KATARA

why I like them

oh god where do i even start. katara just contains so many multitudes - she's sweet and feminine and caring and attentive but she's never reduced to just that, she's never just 'the girl', she's also allowed to get mad, to be petty, to laugh at her brother, to be headstrong and stubborn, to express vulnerability, to cry and to laugh, to make ridiculous facial expressions and *be* very expressive. she's dealing with a lot of trauma not simply from the loss of her mother but that loss represents also how her tribe have been decimated by the fire nation, how she's the last waterbender, how all this pressure exists on her shoulders (but also pride, but also determination, to bring it back) and that is expressed subtly throughout the series with the same depth and love that male characters are afforded with regard to their respective traumatic experiences. and despite all this she never tries to stop making the world good? She's always pushing for change, she's always wanting to make things better, she's relentless and doesn't give up when it comes to her vision for a better world... she has such a big heart. and that coexists with a deep anger in her, and deep hurt. Not to make an ocean metaphor so early on but she's as deadly and deep as the ocean but she chooses to be kind and warm and that's so powerful.

why i don't

honnestly while katara's instincts to mother people are a sad symptom of how she was forced to grow up to soon and automaically asigns herself a role of emotional responsibility she has mixed feelings about, i know that if katara tried to mother me, i would be annoyed. but that sounds more like a me problem.

favourite episode

oh it's either the episode where she beats the fucking shit out of pakku or it's the southern raiders. the first one because it's so gratifying to see how she's grown and developed as a bender and really come into her own. the second because... god i love how *messy* the southern raiders is, and it really taps into what i love about katara - she's flawed, she runs off on an ill-thought out revenge mission with zuko, she's got a great capability for darkness as she quite seriously considers murdering a man she has every right to loathe and to kill - but she chooses against it, in the end. it would not be right for her, if not him. she chooses what's right for her in the end.

favourite season

I'm gonna be a wee bit controversial and say book 1 had the best conception of katara's arc from student to master and really saw her grow and flourish, from someone yelling at her brother' oafish prejudice to a real master, that really solidified her as an idealist and presented that as the strength that is, that showed her struggling with petty jealousy of aang's progress and had her stumble in ways that made her character comeplling and interesting - like what an introduction to her character! book 2 had some fantastic moments but i can't think of anything particularly remarkable about hee character arc - largely because it tied into aang's romantic arc i think at this point. book 3 had some absolutely fantastic moments (scam queens katara and toph!! painted lady!! southern raiders!! the final agni kai) that really shone but also book 3 lays a lot of groundwork for fanon i hate (e.g. katara as the mom friend - wish that headcanon would die tbh)

favourite line

fuck there's a lot of good ones but my underrated fave is when sokka says he's kissed a girl before but she's never met her and katara says 'Who? Gran-gran? I've met gran-gran' and it's bruuutaaall

but my favourite serious line is 'I will never ever give up on people who need me'. powerful.

favourite outfit

water tribe anything!! and i actually think her book one/book two braids are her best hair. underrated katara hair. personally she looks just adorable in her parka in the flashback to when she was like. eight.

OTP

katara/personal fulfilment

katara/happiness

katara/fulfilling her goals and dreams

katara/loving minor background character who is never named

there's some ships i like in AU situations - yuetara is actually one i lov, especially with waterbender yue, i just love the whole sea/moon thing as well as katara and yue rebelling in loud/quiet ways, being girlfriends who refuse to have their lives defined by the expectations of older men, who have a great sense of duty towards their nations and won’t let gendered expectations stop them.

and most of you know i like the messy drama of katara/azula in a lighter AU situation where they're like, school or academic rivals, and the legacy of imperialism isn’t quite so personal (and azula makes better choices, obviously), but it’s not as much as i “ship” them as i just find the potential dynamic interesting, they’re both driven by a sense of duty for their home, it’s just that means *very* different things depending if you’re SWT or FN.

none of them are OTPs though - they’re more just fun thought experiments

brotp

katara & sokka - absolutely love their sibling dynamic its amazing. both have been impacted negatively by the shit in their lives and are not always dealing with it in functional ways but theyre there for each other, through thick and thin, always have each other's backs, they roast each other and bicker and sometimes make stupid decisions and sometimes lash out but at the end of the day their love pulls through, they’re able to work past those conflicts.

katara & aang - honestly while i feel kataang was just so poorly executed in the show (listen guys I just can’t after ember island players, i know that was a bad episode, but i can’t) & i cant imagine katara wanting to leave the south pole after the war for long spells (it would have to be long distance love, lots of profound and heartfelt letters and occasional visits, if anything, but i dont know if that’s what katara wants or needs? so maybe it wouldn’t pan out?), but regardless, i really do think these two had a life-changing friendship where each really represented hope for each other, that's at the core of it, they both truly believe in each other, and inspired each other. katara & aang good.

a headcanon

chief katara anyone?? chief katara?!?!

oh oh OH i also think that katara, while primarily a combat bender during the war, actually takes to healing a lot more after the show and gets proper healing training at some point with the help of a trained medical expert and maybe yugoda. tbh i feel like the show was a bit dismissive of healing as an ability - i feel like having that is *extremely* useful in any combat situation, you always have a medic on hand - but i understand why katara, who wanted to be recognised as powerful regardless of her gender, and wanted to hold herself in a fight alongside sokka & aang, pushed for combat waterbending training because that is what 'powerful' looks like to her in the moment. obviously katara is capable of incredible healing feats (see: saving aang) but i think given we see her as a healer in lok (not a decision i necessarily disagree with) would mean a shift in focus. i think katara actually comes to realise she likes healing a great deal, but really she excels in all aspects of waterbending and is the south’s most respected master who helped rejuvenate southern style waterbending

unpopular opinion

the main reason people think katara is straight is because we see her have very few meaningful interactions with other girls outside of toph. ATLA as a show is a bit romance obsessed, and very heteronormative in that regard, and so interactions with minor characters almost always line up with a potential crush for sokka or katara, and later, zuko (suki, haru, jet, yue, song, jin....). we rarely see katara build friendships with other girls and it’s such a damn shame.

(anyway bi katara for life)

a wish

the version of the puppetmaster we saw was actually fire nation propaganda, i feel like katara would have felt deep compassion for a prisoner of war and after maybe some clashes, would have agreed to help smuggle her out of the fire nation and secure passage home for hama, and tried to assure her that she still has a place there. the treatment of hama in that episode was awful (but also hama was written to be almost cartoonishly evil, very much an evil witch in her cottage in the spooky woods? like the whole horror movie / spooky story opening was such a big tell) and tbh i reject the thesis that we saw ‘katara’s dark potential’ in that episode completely, or that bloodbending as a power is inherently dark, or katara’s use of it to stop hama ‘corrupted’ her. I feel like katara might feel this way as a teenager perhaps but with time (she can be a little black and white at times), and especially with more training as a healer, i think she might realise that’s not the case, she’ll realise that she was right to try and oppose hama, her elder (she was lashing out rather than really trying to oppose the fire nation), and it wasn’t a betrayal of her or her beliefs, but also her use of bloodbending wasn’t wrong or evil inherently at all? and maybe she’d find ways to use it for healing purposes? anyway my wish is that, i like the idea that they meet again, speak about their differences, reconcile a little / come to an understanding, and katara learns more from hama again

an oh-god-please-don't-ever-happen

anything where katara’s character is reduced to a comforter or a healing device for a man and his trauma. particularly zuko. (they don’t have that dynamic in canon thankfully, zuko would never, zuko respects her too much)

5 words to describe them:

idealistic, hard-working, powerful, headstrong, kind

my nickname for them:

chief. or comrade. :^)

#katara

7 notes · View notes

tlbodine · 6 years

Text

Writing Tip: Slice of Life and Conflict

There’s this notion that slice-of-life type stories do not have conflict or that there is no plot to them. Which may be true for some, arguably, but I think on the balance you’ll find that even very simple stories may have more conflict than it seems at first blush.

Why is this important? Because I think studying slice-of-life stories can yield some really interesting lessons about plotting -- lessons you can apply to your own work whether you’re writing action-packed thrillers or quiet little coffee shop AUs.

All of this occurred to me one day as I was watching Dagashi Kashi.

This is an adorable and utterly silly little anime where ostensibly almost nothing happens -- yet it still manages to be interesting and engaging. How does that work? Let’s find out.

First, the premise:

Kokonotsu (Coconuts) is a teenager whose father wants him to inherit the family business, a candy store that’s been in the family for generations. Hotaru is the heir of a major sweets manufacturer who arrives at the shop with the intention of getting Coconuts’s father to work for her family’s company. He strikes a deal with her: He’ll consider the job offer if she can convince his son to take over the family business.

Along for the ride are Coconuts’s best friend, To, and his sister Saya (who is harboring a long-time crush on Coconuts).

It’s a quiet anime, but this premise is already rife with conflict. There’s the conflict between Coconuts and his father, who’s frequently coming up with excuses and sneaky ways to trap his kid into watching the store for him. There’s sexual tension between Coconuts and Saya, and also between Coconuts and Hotaru (who is probably too oblivious to realize it). There’s the question: “Will Coconuts decide to take over the shop after all?”

But the episodes themselves are...not very dramatic. Take a peek at the way the episodes are summarized on Wikipedia:

Kokonotsu and To try to play with spinning top style toys called "beigoma," only to smash them into Kokonotsu's foot. Later, the two are joined by Hotaru, and then Saya, as they begin a battle royale with beigoma. Later, Hotaru reminisces about an old dagashi shop that she used to visit when she was a child.

Or:

Hotaru arrives at the Shikada shop (san Yō) and continues her eccentric and sexually oblivious sweets-related behavior, culminating with her passing out from drinking a non-alcoholic candy beer mix. Kokonotsu later meets with Saya and Hotaru meets up with them while playing with candy that can also function as a whistle. She then spins a tale relating to the snack; Saya believes it is nonsense, but Kokonotsu catches on that it is allegorical and also implies that Hotaru's ditzy antics may not be completely sincere. Saya defuses the situation when she imagines all the sweets she could get for free if Kokonotsu were to succeed the shop. The three then play Menko into the evening as Saya stuns both Kokonotsu and Hotaru with instances of beginner's luck.

On a day-to-day basis, each episode only obliquely deals with its core conflicts. What the episodes are really about is pretty much the kids doing basic summertime activities and Hotaru doing her dead-level best to win Coconuts over to the magical world of dagashi (basically cheap snack food) which she is...bizarrely and comically infatuated with.

Hotaru’s character is the primary driving force of the show, especially in the beginning. She’s eccentric and over-the-top and there is inherent tension in every scene she’s in simply because she tends to obliviously blunder through social situations. You get the feeling that her upbringing was quite sheltered. But she is deeply knowledgeable and passionate about dagashi, and she endeavors to convert Coconuts over to that same level of passion. From her perspective it seems pretty obvious: She thinks that dagashi is AMAZING, and if he could just see how amazing it is, too, there’s no way he would ever NOT take over the family business.

For his part, Coconuts doesn’t seem to care all that much about dagashi, but as the story unfolds and episodes continue it becomes clear that he knows more about it than he originally let on -- he’s evidently paid a lot of attention to this shop he claims not to care about. He’s also very interested in Hotaru, which definitely has nothing to do with her big breasts. because she’s such an interesting person.

What makes the story interesting enough to watch:

The sexual tension (I’m personally rooting for Saya)

Wondering what crazy new random factoid Hotaru (or Coconuts) will come up with today to relate real life to dagashi

Wondering how it’ll all turn out in the end. Will Coconuts take over the shop? Will he actually be happy if he does so? Is he actually just displaying this sudden interest because of Hotaru, or is Hotaru actually just giving him a reason to be who he was all along?

That shit is really interesting. It’s also proof that plot and conflict don’t have to be “big” to be enjoyable to watch. No one is going to die as a result of Kokonutsu’s choice. His decisions won’t really impact the world in any meaningful way. But it’s important enough that we care, for the same reason that all of the other minutiae of our own lives is important to us. Our lives are made up of tiny dramas and inconsequential decisions that are only important to us, and even only important in fleeting glimpses. And there’s value in telling those stories.

So here’s the takeaway for writers:

Create characters who want things, and give them motives that are in conflict with one another. Hotaru wants Kokonotsu to fall in love with dagashi the way she is, so he’ll take over the shop. Saya doesn’t even like sweets, but she wants Kokonotsu to take over the shop so that he’ll stay in their village rather than move away. This makes her allies with Hotaru despite their being romantic rivals. (Saya also really respects Hotaru’s intelligence and bold nature and they genuinely like each other as people, which is refreshing). Kokonotsu wants a life more glamorous and adventurous than what he has - but maybe Hotaru is the key to that? You get the point.

Plot happens when people want things that they can’t have right away. The things they do to get those things, or to avoid other things, creates the story arc. Kokonotsu has ambitions, but those ambitions are called into question when he starts to have a genuinely good time running the family shop. What does he really want? Who is he really? He’s going to have to change as a result of his changed circumstances, and that creates plot.

Conflict doesn’t have to mean arguments or fighting. It’s just what happens when two people with their own motives and goals collide. Consequences can be as simple as embarrassment or disappointment. Small-scale conflict is still valid and engaging.

#writing advice #anime #dagashi kashi #writing #how to write #characterization #plotting

99 notes · View notes

merryfae · 7 years

Text

Yall mind if I rant: The Sequel Nobody Wanted

The newest comic got me to question my stance on Korra/sami yet again (the dashes here exist to keep it out of the tags, just in case that’s still a problem). The short version of this is that my stance really hasn’t changed. (Also, just a headsup, I haven’t read my old anti k/s post in a long time, but it’s probably full of logical fallacies and the lot, so…what I’m getting at here is please don’t judge me based on what I’ve written in the past).

I remember when I loved LOK. Book 1, I was able to look past the flaws, because the tension, characters, and atmosphere was so good. Book 2, the flaws became harder to overlook, but the Avatar Wan episode was definitely an experience. Book 3 was an entirely solid outing, though I missed some of that original atmosphere from Book 1. And then Book 4. I was so excited for the finale, because Book 4, despite its flaws, had been pretty great. But through the majority of the finale I was thinking to myself, “is that it?” Like, don’t get me wrong, there were some good fight scenes between Korra and Kuvira, and Mako’s sacrifice was pretty powerful, but most of it was underwhelming. It felt less like a wrap up of the show, and more like a wrap up of that season. Nothing from past seasons really tied together with the exception of the spirit portal. Plot elements from past seasons that could have been integrated into the show were dropped altogether. I don’t know. It was disappointing.

So I was already in a bad mood, and the entire ending with Korra//sami kind of killed it even more for me. Because representation is important, no doubt. I push for it a lot myself. But not when it impedes the storytelling. The storytelling of LOK? Didn’t warrant it. This is coming from someone who, at the start of Book 3, loved the idea of Korra/sami. Their interaction in the car? Adorable. Asami sparring with Korra? Great. But there was nothing in future episodes to build up to a romantic conclusion. There was a scene where Korra blushed when receiving a complement from Asami. That’s the only scene between Korra and Asami that implied romantic intent. That and Mako’s whole, “What is with you two???” thing when they all go out for lunch, but goodness, if that wasn’t the most forced, inconsequential conflict I’ve seen in this series. I mean, if you have to tell the audience that there’s something going on between these characters instead of showing us, maybe there’s a reason a portion of your audience didn’t latch on to your intent.

The problem with every scene where Asami and Korra interact (aside from the fact that they don’t bond over internal, character-building struggles, and instead just solve external problems together) is that most scenes are just Asami supporting Korra emotionally. Which, okay, for another character, that could imply romance. However, Asami’s character is already naturally caring and nurturing. She was already a character who was entirely supportive of the rest of the cast, so it’s no stretch of the imagination by any means to view her supporting Korra with tea or her offering intimate support when Korra is devastated in the Book 3 finale as inherently platonic. And, given that she was a support figure already, Korra sending her letters that the others “wouldn’t understand” can likewise read as platonic. This would be different if a character like, say, Opal interacted with Korra in similar ways after her introduction, a character who did not exist to offer unconditional support to our main leads already throughout the show, and whom Korra alternatively exhibits support for in Book 3 (or maybe I just really like their air bending scene together. I don’t know. Don’t hold me to that one). And that covers basically all of Korra and Asami’s interactions – Asami offering Korra support, and Korra accepting (usually) that support. That is, aside from those short (very short) but sweet moments at the beginning of Book 3. Plus, Book 4 takes place after a years-long gap as well, so the fact that we’re only shown them interacting once outside of the finale in Book 4 really speaks volumes. Which is not to mention that, aside from that last scene they have together, they hardly interact in the finale at all. I wanted to like this ship. I really, really did. But not when the writing didn’t add up.

And then there’s the fact that Bryke’s claims that Korra/sami was intended from the beginning are obviously false. I mean, they’re on record saying that after Book 2, relationship drama had come to an end, and they were ready to focus on friendship. If I remember correctly, the voice actors had to be called back in after the finale had already been finished in order to include that last scene with Korra and Asami. It was literally last minute.

It certainly doesn’t help that I dislike basically every ship in LOK. I never liked B/opal either. I didn’t like M/asmi, and Ma/korra didn’t have the best development itself. Honestly, I don’t think Bryke are good at writing romance period. But I’m angrier about Korra/sami, because not only is it a relationship involving the show’s main character, but it’s the central focus of the scene that ended the entire show. Say what you want about Kat/aang, but at least that ship was planned and introduced beyond minimal amounts of subtext from day one. It was a consistent part of the story. And alternatively, if LOK had ended with Ma/korra like it did in Book 1, I wouldn’t be necessarily pleased with it, but at least there was a textual history there between the two.

And I hear the arguments about how Bryke couldn’t include textual evidence of Korra/sami because it was a ship between two women. Okay, point taken. I mean, they did admit that they didn’t even bother asking Nick until last minute, but I digress. But jeez, you could at least develop their relationship a bit, couldn’t you? Again, the only conflicts these two face together are external ones. Korra and Asami fight a gang. Asami carries Korra away from danger while Mako and Bolin fight off baddies. Korra and Asami escape/crash/rebuild an airship. In none of these scenes together do they have any meaningful interactions. Maybe you could count Korra grinning at Asami for two seconds while they rebuild the airship. Maybe. But they don’t bond over anything or talk about anything except what’s happening to them at the hands of outside forces (or essentially, what’s relevant to the plot). Hence why Asami’s offer of unconditional support of Korra in the Book 3 finale rings a little hollow. It’s just Asami doing what she’s been doing the whole time, albeit with a more emotional framing.

And all this could all lead me to explaining why I didn’t like the conclusion of Korra’s character arc, or why I didn’t like how Asami was essentially a plot device until Book 3, and even then, she wasn’t given any real development. (In fact, I’m actually kind of bitter that the show didn’t write Asami better. Her entire character basically revolved around A) the love triangle nonsense or B) her father/company). But if I were to go in depth with that, it’d take another thousand or so words, and I’m amazed I even had the drive to write this whole thing in the first place. In short, the show really is a mess.

Now, I’m only writing all this because I’ve seen panels from the comic. The first few panels I saw, I figured I shouldn’t judge too harshly. I didn’t see enough of the actual comic to draw a conclusion. But with the new ones out, it’s safe to say that the comic seems relatively out of character for both Korra and Asami. Seriously, maybe one sentence in there sounded like it could come from Korra. I implore you all to switch the dialogue and pretend Korra is saying Asami’s lines, and Asami is saying Korra’s. Do you feel the character-charged dialogue? Me neither. And anywho, I’m a bit frustrated people are hailing Korra/sami as the epitome of representation when it’s really…not. It’s hard seeing Korra develop into a nearly unrecognizable character for me, because she was the saving grace of the show from day one.

Korra/sami isn’t the only ship that’s frustrated me like this. I downright despise several forced ships in fictional media, especially when it’s detrimental to a character’s development. I didn’t like J/ashi from Samurai Jack. Krist/anna or Kristoff/anna or whatever the heck it’s called from Frozen was pretty awful. Several Marvel movies (of which I am a fan) have awful romance subplots (Sta/ron and Bruce/nat are the biggest offenders). At the end of the day, Korra/sami isn’t the biggest offender. It does offer quality bi representation between two WOC. But that doesn’t mean we have to like it. Go ahead and enjoy your ooc comics folks. Who knows. Maybe it’ll actually be good.

#anti korrasami #anti bryke #shipping nonsense #i really hope i don't come off as pretentious #as i gain more confidence i'm always worried about asserting myself #do i sound like a jerk?#also #my inbox is open so if you wanna have some polite discourse #hit me up #also also #did i write this whole thing only for no one to read it?#yes yes i did #and a headsup #i didn't write this out of anger #i wrote this because i love fictional analysis #this honestly started off as a one paragraph thing that i wasn't planning on posting #but i had so much fun i ended writing a bajillion words

139 notes · View notes