theweeklydiscourse

[theweeklydiscourse]

I’ve seen a few K@taang fans say that Aang telling Katara to forgive Yon Rha in The Southern Raiders is a parallel to Katara helping Aang leave the Avatar State. I really don’t like this take, for a simple reason:

The Avatar State is a supernatural uncontrollable rage. Katara’s anger is not.

On multiple occasions, Aang states that he regrets his actions while in the Avatar state, and he doesn’t like feeling out of control in that way. We even see his rational spirit’s reaction to the Avatar State when it detaches from Aang’s body to speak to Roku in “The Avatar State”.

Aang wants to be stopped when he is in this state. When Katara reaches out to him, she is not trying to change his mind, she is trying to allow his rational mind to regain control. She is giving him agency, not denying him agency.

By contrast, while Katara is angry in The Southern Raiders, we’re never told that her rational faculties aren’t still operational. She’s determined. Not possessed.

At no point does Katara say that she regrets acting in anger. Instead, we see her exercise judgement and mercy even when face to face with the man she saw kill her mother.

This is not someone who is out of control.

(Not that she necessarily would have been out of control if she did kill him.)

The fact that Katara wasn’t out of control and didn’t need to be stopped is further reinforced by the fact that, unlike Aang who agonises over his actions in the Avatar State after the fact, Katara doesn’t express regret at her actions or relief that she didn’t kill Yon Rha. Instead she re-states her initial position that she will not forgive him.

All of this makes Katara’s anger at Yon Rha very different from the Avatar State. She is in control of her actions and does not want or need to be stopped. Trying to stop her isn’t helping to reassert her own control over her actions, it’s questioning her active decisions. It’s denying her agency instead of enabling it.

An emotional woman is not the same thing as an irrational or out of control one.

#anti kataang #zutara #pro katara

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You know, it occurs to me that I don't actually even know what fanfictons pro-censorship fans are objecting to when they say "it's okay to write about it but not okay to romantcize it."

Because in pretty much every minor x adult fic, incest fic, toxic relationship fic *I* have seen-- the fact that the relationship is abnormal and fucked up and not socially okay is a big part of the conflict of the plot.

I don't actually think I could name a taboo relationship fic I've seen where the theme of the piece was "actually this is normal and healthy and you should do it IRL."

[theweeklydiscourse]

The flip side of the post-World War II cries of “Never again” was an unspoken “Never before.” The insistence on lifting the Holocaust out of history, the failure to recognize these patterns, and the refusal to see where the Nazis fit inside the arc of colonial genocides have all come at a high cost. The countries that defeated Hitler did not have to confront the uncomfortable fact that Hitler had taken pointers and inspiration on race-making and on human containment from them, leaving their innocence not only undisturbed but also significantly strengthened by what was indeed a righteous victory.

Naomi Klein, Doppelganger

[theweeklydiscourse]

In ACOWAR during the meeting with Kier when he asks for his people to be free of the mountain, Feyre says “You have every comfort, and it’s still not enough?”

She had every comfort at Tamlin’s manor, and it still wasn’t enough for her…

#freethecourtofnightmares2024

One thing that really pisses me off about the Court of Nightmares is how SJM writes it so black and white. The entire court, not just Keir, is evil and conniving. There was a part in ACOWAR where he says he is going to let the CoN go to Velaris but he told all of the vendors and business owners to refuse service to not just Keir, but all of the CoN. And this paints the entire court in this black and white lense.

Not a single person in that court is a dreamer like Mor? She was the only fucking one?

I think there can be a little bit of nuance to the situation where a significant portion of the court is just bad because they have been festering in the dark for so long, but guess who's fault is that?? It's the leader's fault, the one who keeps the court up and running, aka the High Lord, aka Rhys.

Rhys says he wants change. That he wants to show the world that he's good. But he continues to keep the Court of Nightmares up and running, he keeps Keir as herald.

"Oh this court is so awful and sadistic," Feyre thinks as she sits on the throne with a crown on her head and with Rhys holding her hand.

And Rhys says "the Court of Nightmares just rules itself" and sure, I guess that's true, but as High Lord, you have the ability to put a stop to that and pull out the bad weeds. But instead, you keep it running to further your agenda and to keep your evil mask on.

Getting mad at Keir for slutshaming your lover and breaking his arm is not enough. Restricting access to Velaris is not enough. Even telling the Court "you guys are bad >:C " is not fucking enough.

Rhys the most powerful High Lord who killed all of the Illyrian war bands who sided with Amarantha after UTM, yet he can't do the same to the CoN?

Rhys and Feyre and the IC label the entire CoN as evil without trying to find the forgotten dreamers, and they continue to keep the court up and running and making the excuse that "it's too hard" despite their power and influence. It means they don't care. Or that Rhys maybe fucking enjoys it.

It also means that SJM (so far) has no idea what she's doing and can't understand the situation she wrote in her own series.

And this brings me to comparing Nesta being locked up, the CoN and its dreamers being locked up, and Feyre being locked up. Is SJM intending this irony and hypocrisy of the IC? I sure hope so because I swear it's the most obvious comparision ever, but it confuses me because a large majority of the ACOTAR fanbase doesn't get it. "Oh well the CoN is evil! They have to keep them contained and Rhys can't do a whole lot as High Lord because the Court rules itself." And the most frustrating argument: "Nesta was addicted to sex and alcohol, she needed to be rehabilitated! It's for her own good!"

They don't see the irony of how the IC treats Nesta because Tamlin also did what he did for Feyre's own good. It was to protect her, keep her safe. Not saying it was 100% good and right, but why are we not understanding that what the IC did to Nesta was not 100% good and right either?

[theweeklydiscourse]

What would Zutara be like as a couple if they were canon? I find in other fandoms I’m in in regards to non-canon ships, there is a general consensus of what the ship would be like if they were together, but in this fandom….crickets. And I have a big ass imagination, and even I have no clue.

Zutara’s non-canon status is a blessing in some ways, because so many Zutarians let their imaginations flourish and produce so many potential paths that Zutara could take. In some ways, there’s a silver lining to the fact that Bryke never got the chance to butcher their canon relationship and now Zutarians can use the great dynamic that they had in canon to form new interpretations an expand on it even further.

I think if I were to imagine them as a couple, I would guess that a romantic relationship would closely follow the friendship dynamic they had in canon. A partnership born out of mutual respect and understanding and something that would look wildly different compared to their canon relationships. The friendship between them is already based on a strong foundation and a romance would mean expanding on that pre-existing dynamic to let it transform into something different.

#zutara #Zuko #pro zutara #pro katara #Katara #atla fandom discourse #atla #avatar the last airbender

[theweeklydiscourse]

is anyone going to tell the kat@angers that it's not feminist activism to argue Katara's arc in LOK is fine on the grounds that "some women want to be homemakers and that's okay!!"

Like you're not helping real women that way. In fact, most antis for the cannon ship ARE women. Many are homemakers themselves.

Katara is not a real woman. She is a fictional woman written by men.

Can the sensibilities and wishes of a girl change by the time she is a adult? Yes!

But as this is a textual character who, as per the text, rejects the societal structure of her fictional world (which mirrors our own) that women are and can only ever be docile homemakers (i.e. I don't want to heal, I want to fight; I will never turn my back on people who need me; let's start a prison riot; let's engage in vigilante ecoterrorism; let's pitch an absolute fit because the boys are not pulling their fair weight in the homemaking; let's confront my mother's killer at the absolute rejection and condemnation of the male figures whom I am to respect; etc) it is perfectly reasonable to argue that this end was not a natural course for her character.

Fictional characters are not real people. This means that they do not change their mind off screen. That is not an acceptable argument. That is called a "plot hole", which is a nonsensical change made at the convenience and contrivance of the writer(s), who in this case are men exhibited to not care for women or girls all that much. It is within THEIR character to write this way.

Regardless of who, if anyone, Katara ended up with, Katara tolerating disrespect, neglect, abuse of her children, giving up all of her former aspirations to live in the shadow of men, and dying as a mere footnote in history (and being alright with it!!) is not surprising given the absolute vitriol Bryke has shown toward female fans of their "creation". It was supposed to be a "boy" show. It was always supposed to be a "boy" show. The creators of Supernatural and Game of Thrones did the same thing. ATLA just did it first.

Arguing "not all women" is not activism in the face of what is really happening in this discourse. Sending death threats to real, actual women with feelings in defense of a fake pretend woman's fake pretend autonomy is performative activism, and worse, hypocritical.

Not all women agree with you. Not all women feel represented and find the outcome of Katara's story satisfactory. If y'all care about feminism and respecting women's choices so much, lay off the real life women you're so fond of harassing. Our views and opinions, while opposing your own, don't affect you.

#katara #feminism #choice feminism #anti kataang #atla fandom discourse #atla

[theweeklydiscourse]

I just have to laugh at readers who claim that the Darkling was Zoya’s abuser. The text and the Netflix adaptation does the barest possible minimum to allude to such an idea and then these fans proceed to reframe the shoddy writing and praise for it’s “brilliant” commentary.

Bardugo and the Netflix writers could’ve done that (with proper planning and thoughtfulness) but it’s obvious that they couldn’t be bothered to put the effort in. Sorry- Zoya’s just not all that interesting and cramming in some subtext about how she was supposedly the Darkling’s victim is pure fanfiction. Particularly when even in the show, we see Zoya pursuing him of her own volition and that relationship is never meaningfully explored or elaborated on after the fact.

#lol they literally just made Zoya into his side piece (sorry but it’s true) it’s all as shallow as it seems #What I’m saying is that I don’t think that the text has enough evidence to support such an interpretation and it all just seems like a grasp #for Zoya to have at least SOME shred of meaning in a series where she’s so….bland and irritating #shadow and bone #the darkling #lb critical #grishaverse #s&b critical #anti leigh bardugo #aleksander morovoza #fandom discourse #grishaverse fandom #anti zoya

[theweeklydiscourse]

Oh besties... we've got a live one on our hands...

*edit* I've actually read this fic myself, and so have others. If you haven't read it but want to, DM me for the link. I want to give this writer as much support as possible. I will be reviewing this fic later because it is good. *

Ehem... so I don't have a problem with people expressing their opinions on something, but this is bullying.

Taking someone's fanfiction and posting it on Tumblr to make fun of the writer is fucking stupid. Someone wrote this with a lot of time and thought, voicing their opinions through their creativity. That's like me going into the kat*ang tag on AO3 and posting someone's hard work just to ridicule them, then completely invalidate their work of FICTION because I don't like the pairing.

I'd never do that because I'm not a fucking bully nor am I an idiot.

But Zutarians are called toxic and delusional. The only delusion is that people believe they have the moral high ground because their pairing is canon. So fucking what?! It's fanfiction created by passionate fans of a beloved show.

Get over yourselves, Kat*anglanders. You aren't perfect. And your morals suck.

At least we don't do shit like this.

[theweeklydiscourse]

the funniest thing about the tiktok tradwife craze is people learning financial abuse exists but like, as a hypothetical. "wait what if the relationship doesn't work out and you have nothing of your own and nowhere to go?" congratulations you figured out a common reason people remain in abusive relationships and why it's important to maintain some level of financial independence

[theweeklydiscourse]

Second Army disorganization

Siege and Storm- Chapter 14

One of the most frustrating and famously nonsensical passages of Grisha trilogy, easily explained through doylist approach- the author's inability to write strategy or politics and demands of the genre, requiring a weak, unfit heroine to defeat immensely powerful opponent way out of her league:

Alina: Oh no, they dare to oppose me again! :(

Isn't that why would you want to establish a council in the first place? So you get constructive criticism and suggestions to do things better?!

My objections to the notion Alina came up with representation of Grisha can't be more obvious:

Army is a structured organization. There are ranks and councils by default. No amount of ignorant teens will persuade me calling it "Second" makes it otherwise.

Any big organization has a structure. Even if Second Army were only about education, there would be councils and posts on different levels. Hell, school system works that way.

Alina: I'm gonna have the useless ones represented, because we're not doing things like the Darkling, but that doesn't mean I'll respect them myself or abandon my prejudices. Fucking nerds. Weidos...

Another YA nonsense- you cannot put people into categories based on their physical predispositions, and expect the mental ones to fit accordingly. You can have a huge, muscled guy, skilled in delicate handiwork. You can have a tiny wisp of a girl beating the living shit out of you (popular trope by itself).

Now why should sensitivity to metals get you a spot in labs, if you're a strategic genius? Or incredibly skilled, witty rhetorician? Isn't it more likely you'd be required to complete basic training to stay healthy and prevent accidentally endangering others, while being assigned to whatever you're most useful at?

And what about those weak or less intelligent ones? Are they bringing coffee and arranging entertainment?!

It also fits this fan interpretation, that Materialki are often neuro-divegent, so they are tend to be kept away from battle for their own sake.

Alina wasn't involved in practical running of Second Army before. Just because she doesn't know about something, it's not a totally fresh idea.

I'd be afraid of a girl, who almost murdered a bunch of people for asking questions, too.

At this point, I'm gonna run with the idea that all the older Grisha are torn between face-palming and silently laughing their assess off (so Alina doesn't overhear and her clique doesn't resort to violence).

“But what do they do in there?” I asked, not entirely sure I wanted to hear the answer. “Only the Corporalki know. But there are rumors that they’ve been working with the Fabrikators on new … experiments.”

Shadow and Bone- Chapter 8

... and that says nothing about the field, or the little groups in noble houses. People tend to stick together with their own, when in strange enviroment. I'm sure such bonds dissolve immediately after their return "home".

I've also delved a little into the sitting order here.

A few lines earlier, Alina noted Materialki didn't show up to complain. Who is so horrified then?! Not them, for sure.

Ironically, this fits into Fabricator-brain theory linked above AND the most logical explanation- Materialki have basic self-defense training, but only those, who are able to, continue. Alina isn't particularly friendly with any of them, so how would she know no one had EVER bothered them to teach them? Alright, there are none in her class, but as far as we know, it consists of a Squaller, an Inferni and a Heartrender. Not the most saying sample.

Having a third of all Grisha helpless doesn't fit into the picture of Aleksander's leadership:

“That’s what Botkin always says. ‘Not showy, just to make pain,’” I said, imitating the mercenary’s heavy accent. “Smart guy.” “The Darkling doesn’t think Grisha should rely on their powers for defense.”

Shadow and Bone- Chapter 17

You don't have to become another Bruce Lee, you only need a chance, when they drag you out of bed in the middle of the night.

What tradition?

This is rather well-written group of angry, disorganized people. It might start with a reasonable goal, but soon everyone talks about something else than others, and the message gets lost in the noise.

Tradition doesn't equal "the way things are done". Neither of them is the same as "the need for structure and people knowing their places". The third one is a legitimate concern, although one could argue it's exactly what Alina's attempting.

This whole scene very much reads like:

The author is desperate to prove the Heroine isn't quite useless- she has good ideas! Look! *whacks a hundreds of years old stategist and survivor par excellence with stupid stick*

[theweeklydiscourse]

Is Katara "Motherly"? - The Discourse

The whole "is Katara motherly" discourse is a little annoying to me because for one thing its impossible to deny that in canon she acted motherly towards Aang, Sokka, and Toph, with Sokka even saying at one point when he thought of his mother Katara's was the face that came to mind.

But the other problem is that this fits into the shows themes so perfectly of children being thrust into adulthood and enormous amounts of responsibility too easily because of war and the subsequent (or end goals of) genocide, cultural genocide, and colonization. Katara's motherly characteristics are of the show's own making, they're right there in the text and their there for a reason, and although they weren't given enough attention as they should have been, there is no doubt that this is treated as, not exactly a tragedy, but as something bad and debilitating to Katara and her teenagerlike need to goof around with her friends.

But for whatever reason, the fandom seems to think that this characterization is fan made. Katara is supposedly forced into a motherly role by the fandom, particularly the zutara fandom, when in reality it is the show that does this to her. And the whole idea of momtara and dadko is that Katara doesn't have to be the mom anymore. She doesn't have to be the one solely responsible for the chores and the cooking and the emotional labor. She has a partner, and equal, who is willing to put forth the time and energy to assist her in what she feels obligated to do, and to tell her to go sit down sometimes before she burns herself out.

Could the other kids besides Zuko do this? Of course. But as we've already established, everyone in the gaang besides Suki shoves Katara into a motherlike role. Is this their fault? It's hard to say. Toph at least has a heart-to-heart with Katara about it, and Sokka's idea of her as a mother largely stems from trauma.

But my significant problem with Katara's motherly traits comes with the fact that there is no real closure to that arc in the "Runaway". Toph and Katara talk mostly about Toph's parents, and Toph tells Katara that she thinks she is capable of having fun. But other than that, there's nothing. The boys don't have to come to terms with the fact that Katara does not want to be seen (solely) as motherly or put in that position. Instead, the show gives us a few colorful explosions and subtlety implies that it is a little bit Katara's fault that she is seen that way. But again, that's not the fault of the zutara fandom or a reason the trope of momtara and dadko is problematic. It seeks to acknowledge these character traits in Katara, which a lot of kat@angers refuse to do, and give her a way to work past the trauma that caused them and help her adjust to a more healthy amount of stress and pressure on herself for a kid her age.

#pro katara #anti kataang #atla fandom discourse #katara #atla #avatar the last airbender #zutara #zuko

[theweeklydiscourse]

i think the moment in seige and storm when baghra asks alina “is the world so very fine that you think it worth saving?” might be one of my top five moments in the series, because it asks a question that’s so often taken for granted in the fantasy, scifi, and superhero genres.

rather than framing alina’s quest as a journey to restore the world to its pre-existing normalcy, with the implicit assumption that this normalcy is the most desirable outcome, the question lets us wonder if a world in which suffering and subjugation are so embedded into its fabric isn’t a lost cause.

how long has baghra been subjected to hatred and distrust from otkazat’sya, and greed and jealousy from other grisha, for her unique powers? how many wars has she seen? how many massacres? how long has she watched ravkan nobility ignore the poverty of the masses? her son is over four hundred years old. she has had half a century to watch a little boy who just wanted to stay in one place for a season and play with other children turn into someone she believes is an irredeemable monster.

but she does not believe in his mission, largely because his high-minded belief that the world can be put to rights has no basis in her reality. what has his fight done for him yet? sure, the second army is a blessing for the grisha - but if the best that can be imagined for her kind is to be conscripted as children to labour for the powers that oppress grisha and non-grisha alike, it’s a mixed one. being considered useful is hardly the same as being valued or respected.

i wonder, as she taught young grisha to harness their powers, if she ever wondered whether any of it was worthwhile. if she watched the successions of generations of grisha live and die as she and her son stayed the same and wished they could be like them. if she thought that maybe giving her son a life like hers, long and lonely, was a mistake. lb never seems to consider this, but it must have crossed her mind at some point.

then along comes alina, the mythical sun-summoner with the power needed to conquer the fold and, just maybe, bring respect to the grisha. principled, hard-working, and determined she may be, but also a child, naive and hopeful and completely unprepared for what’s coming for her. and baghra doesn’t tell her to fight; she tells her to run. she doesn’t hold out the hope her son has in a brave new world, no matter how promising this girl might appear to be. the best thing for her is simply to disappear.

but then bardugo does no justice to this idea by having the death of the darkling be the supposed solution while the world that created him barely changes. he’s only a symptom of this broken world, but the brokenness in him is treated as evil. what might have happened if alina had been broken in the same way and we’d been forced to asks the same question baghra does?

[theweeklydiscourse]

i always imagined jesse would try to read all about saul goodman's trial, maybe try to find some recordings or transcripts in the news, just to see if he could incriminate him in any form since he was the only one left who knew he intended to go to alaska. so he's relieved to know he never mentioned him at all at the trial, only walt, but ends up confused about his ramblings about some people named howard, chuck, and when he reads "james mcgill" he kinda wonders where he heard that surname before and then remembers the old guy who burned his house back on his old neighborhood.

[theweeklydiscourse]

I always found it suss how in the avatar finale, right after Zuko takes that lightning bolt for Katara the characters are just instantly separated. They quickly shove Zuko’s irrelevant goth girlfriend back in the frame and Zuko’s like “wow lol I forgot you were in the prison my bad” and she comes and threatens him to never leave her again and they kiss and it’s like….ok? Then Katara just takes A/ang to the rooftop and kisses him even though her last interactions with him were him throwing tantrums and forcing kisses on her. So she’s automatically forgiven him and decided she accepts his advances? Why? What was her thought process? Or was it not shown because she was just being presented as a trophy? And Zuko and Katara don’t get to have any closure or talk about what happened because their natural chemistry overwhelms the awkward and forced kisses the other pairings had lol

[theweeklydiscourse]

Adoptive mommy reunion

Siege and Storm- Chapter 14

Alina paints her as some sort of defiant heroine, when the hag was the only person aware there's"need" to help Alina.

Of course Alina's looking forward to meeting Ol' Bags- it's her new mean mommy. There's no "care" without scolding and a stick.

Her performance!

Alina: ... but I'm trying to care about MORE now!

Baghra: Fuck it! Mommy says NO!

As if she didn't know Alina sees her opinions as a word of god and internalizes the hell of them.

You couldn't make a meat pie from what you know... that's why ~I~ am here to tell you!

She humiliates Alina, makes her doubt her own judgement and then introduces herself as an authority on wisdom.

Alina struggled half of the first book with imposter syndrome. I'm sure she's not susceptible to inferiority complex, now that she thinks she's good for something only thanks to crutches in a form of two extraordinarily powerful amplifiers.

Thinking about it, Baghra constantly calling Alina "girl" won't be accidental choice of words. There might be considerable age difference between them, but Alina's supposed to be adult and public figure of world-changing importance with suppressed interest in becoming either. Encouraging her view on self in such infantilizing way ensures she'll lose the little ambition and responsibility Alina managed to gain.

Baghra plays her like a fiddle. She knows Alina's fear of corruption- she planted the seeds herself-, she know of her temper and past of weak, unwanted orphan, she knows of Alina's gullibility, she knows how to make herself pitiful. And Alina eats it up, scared of reaching for MORE.

Isn't that what this is all about? Alina's mentality of abused orphan, used to be looking up to unkind older female figure, kicked in. While she wants to be wanted, this is what she grew to expect as "affection" and caring, so she latched onto Ol' Bags, and the hag's just using it for her own purposes...

And Baghra gets exactly what she wanted...

Well played, ya old cunt! Well played! As if "hope" ever had a place in Baghra's vocabulary.

#Once again…we learn just how deep Baghra’s manipulation runs. The narrative would have you believe that she’s just a learned yet cranky old #lady who hands out sage advice to other characters (But that only covers a small fraction of it) Really #she’s an abusive and cynical person who sees no purpose in making the world a better place and pulls others into the throes of her #self-imposed isolation and misery. #The irony is that if the Darkling was truly the abuser the narrative makes him out to be he would’ve used the tactics that Baghra uses #Baghra’s jabs and carefully aimed insults about Alina’s character are a more skillful representation of abuse than anything we ever saw #from the Darkling. #Capitalizing on her meekness and insecurities…playing into her fear of becoming like the Darkling…calling her a child…it all comes together #baghra morozova #anti Baghra #grishaverse #siege and storm #grisha trilogy

[theweeklydiscourse]

Am I the only one who finds it weird that Aang’s friendship with Katara is treated as an obstacle by the narrative for k@taang?

#katara #anti kataang

[theweeklydiscourse]

Darkles’ death, but read it as a vague sex scene full of crying:

#Malina found gunned down in a ditch #Bardugo wishes that Malina could measure up to the insane chemistry and eroticism of Darklina #I guess that’s what happens when you use well-worn symbolic archetypes to write your main couple and weave their identities together to form #an emotionally and thematically resonant scene that cements their relationship #Everyone seethes about the horror of shipping these two together but I think that this scene speaks for itself in terms of how significant #it is and how it gives the readers a taste of the unrealized potential of their relationship. #ruin and rising #darklina #the darkling #alina starkov #grishaverse