Rebecca Hb. (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
beckyh2112) wrote2009-09-21 12:31 pm
beckyh2112) wrote2009-09-21 12:31 pm
Entry tags:
In Which I Ramble in an Annoying Fashion about Fandom-Specific Tropes
I think a lot of post-series Avatar authors take the easy way out.
They bring Kuei back to take over the throne and hand-wave getting rid of the Dai Li. They have Ozai commit suicide. They have Aang take away Azula's firebending. Oh, and with some years of loving therapy, she gets sane again and is no longer a threat to anyone.
Gag me with a spoon.
Assuming Long Feng is still alive, you really think he's not going to lie, politic, and manipulate his way into maintaining his power? How many people in Ba Sing Se really know what Kuei had him arrested for? How many people are going to remember that after the Fire Nation invades perhaps a week, two weeks later?
How many of them are going to go 'the Fire Nation never would have done that if Long Feng had still been around'?
Would Kuei even want to go back? Assuming he's still alive as well, what attraction does Ba Sing Se hold for him over the possibility to see the entire world? Ba Sing Se has been his cage his entire life. Not even all of Ba Sing Se, either; just the Palace and possibly the Upper Ring.
Even if he does come back, if Long Feng is still around, how the hell do you think the two of them are going to work things out between them?
Given how little of Ozai's greatness actually comes from his firebending, the thought of him committing suicide over losing it is almost laughable. He's charismatic as all hell. If you're polite, he's ruthless; if you're not polite, he's a psychopath.
He became the Firelord by convincing his wife to kill his father, by having the Fire Nation court and military willing to back his ascension over that of his brother, and not by firebending at all.
He conquered the world because Azula loved her daddy very much. Not by him firebending at all.
The man is at his most dangerous without his firebending, because I'm willing to bet a lot of people are going to underestimate him now that he can no longer firebend.
Ozai will surely be depressed as all hell for a while, but depressed does not equal suicidal and suicidal does not equal actually going through with suicide.
Having Ozai commit suicide is just a cheap way to get him off-stage. Because evidently a lot of fan-authors aren't willing to imagine what he might do to get out of prison and make a new life for himself.
Azula magically becoming sane again == haahahahahahahaNO. Do some research into the likely mental health services available at the tech level Avatar seems to enjoy. Consider also, why the HELL Zuko would want her sane/functional again, given how much damage she's done sane/functional.
She, like her father, is plenty dangerous without her firebending. Not as much so as Ozai, but she's still young. Her taking a break from sanity is a blessing for pretty much everyone.
Having Aang take away her firebending is a pretty horrible disservice to Aang. He's still going to have to deal with possibility being overwhelmed by her. There's also the fact that the only reason he spiritbent Ozai in the first place is because the only other option was to kill Ozai.
There are other options with Azula. Her firebending isn't on the same 'demigod-like' level as Ozai's was; Zuko is her equal in power by the end of season two. He also knows things she will never learn - lightning-redirection and "The Firebending Masters" proved that.
Make things difficult for your characters. Don't take the easy way out.
They bring Kuei back to take over the throne and hand-wave getting rid of the Dai Li. They have Ozai commit suicide. They have Aang take away Azula's firebending. Oh, and with some years of loving therapy, she gets sane again and is no longer a threat to anyone.
Gag me with a spoon.
Assuming Long Feng is still alive, you really think he's not going to lie, politic, and manipulate his way into maintaining his power? How many people in Ba Sing Se really know what Kuei had him arrested for? How many people are going to remember that after the Fire Nation invades perhaps a week, two weeks later?
How many of them are going to go 'the Fire Nation never would have done that if Long Feng had still been around'?
Would Kuei even want to go back? Assuming he's still alive as well, what attraction does Ba Sing Se hold for him over the possibility to see the entire world? Ba Sing Se has been his cage his entire life. Not even all of Ba Sing Se, either; just the Palace and possibly the Upper Ring.
Even if he does come back, if Long Feng is still around, how the hell do you think the two of them are going to work things out between them?
Given how little of Ozai's greatness actually comes from his firebending, the thought of him committing suicide over losing it is almost laughable. He's charismatic as all hell. If you're polite, he's ruthless; if you're not polite, he's a psychopath.
He became the Firelord by convincing his wife to kill his father, by having the Fire Nation court and military willing to back his ascension over that of his brother, and not by firebending at all.
He conquered the world because Azula loved her daddy very much. Not by him firebending at all.
The man is at his most dangerous without his firebending, because I'm willing to bet a lot of people are going to underestimate him now that he can no longer firebend.
Ozai will surely be depressed as all hell for a while, but depressed does not equal suicidal and suicidal does not equal actually going through with suicide.
Having Ozai commit suicide is just a cheap way to get him off-stage. Because evidently a lot of fan-authors aren't willing to imagine what he might do to get out of prison and make a new life for himself.
Azula magically becoming sane again == haahahahahahahaNO. Do some research into the likely mental health services available at the tech level Avatar seems to enjoy. Consider also, why the HELL Zuko would want her sane/functional again, given how much damage she's done sane/functional.
She, like her father, is plenty dangerous without her firebending. Not as much so as Ozai, but she's still young. Her taking a break from sanity is a blessing for pretty much everyone.
Having Aang take away her firebending is a pretty horrible disservice to Aang. He's still going to have to deal with possibility being overwhelmed by her. There's also the fact that the only reason he spiritbent Ozai in the first place is because the only other option was to kill Ozai.
There are other options with Azula. Her firebending isn't on the same 'demigod-like' level as Ozai's was; Zuko is her equal in power by the end of season two. He also knows things she will never learn - lightning-redirection and "The Firebending Masters" proved that.
Make things difficult for your characters. Don't take the easy way out.
no subject
Expect the other nations to patiently wait for the Fire Nation to be very fucked up before they go "friend Zuko, we shall help you!". Cos hey, why HELP them keep their air force?
* Such as, say: economic slump (LOOK AT CONQUEST INSTEAD SHINY), government departments clashing (deliberately so they're kept busy), any oppressed religious/ethnic groups, draconian social values, any education systems deliberately designed to push kids towards the military...