joaniam:

bramblepatch:

joaniam:

bramblepatch:

So I was just thinking about Avatar ships (ok it’s because of that thing Dante just posted) and it made me realize that wow I like a good dose of politics in my shipping?

As in a good part of why I don’t ship Zutara is wow that would be a political nightmare. Like whoa there Zuko is doing a complete one eighty on his father and grandfather’s imperialistic policy and withdrawing Fire Nation control from everywhere else, marrying an influential woman with strong personal and family ties to not one but two of the most embittered former colonial fronts is like the opposite of what he should be doing. Just from a political standpoint Mai was a much wiser choice, as a minor noblewoman of his own Nation whose family background has probably already given her a solid grounding in governance and administration.

Meanwhile Aang has every reason to keep his strongest supporters as close as possible, and also to build strong ties with the Water Tribes in particular since that’s where the next Avatar incarnation will land.

And I mean obviously Katara is not just a political bargaining chip or something; for that matter, she’s probably a really major political player in her own right at this point, but that just means that she has as much responsibility as the boys to be aware of how her personal life reflects or will be believed to reflect larger phenomena in the political environment of their world.

If you think about it, pretty much everyone in the GAang was a serious political player.

Yeah no kidding, if nothing else being in Aang’s inner circle alone would count and pretty much all of them have some other really major connections, too.

I’m also wondering about the politics of the relationships of the next generation, especially with Tenzin and his family/love interests? I’ve kind of considered for a while that Pema might have had some outside political support because when you’re reestablishing the Air Bender line a nonbender spouse might be preferable to a spouse who Bends the opposing element? And now that I think of it, there’s also the fact that so far as we know, both Toph and Lin are only children and Lin is childless, which could indicate possible issues with low fertility in the women of the Bei Fong line. Whereas Pema’s had four kids in the past dozen years.

-nod-

It would also be a good idea to have the mother of the new air nomads to be a relative political unknown; the Bei Fongs are major players being rich and all, and the new air nation should be as free from outside political ties as possible while re-building.

Oh, yeah, the Bei Fongs would have a lot of pull, both as a wealthy, well established Earth Kingdom family and with their prominent presence in the Republic City police force. Add in that Toph had one of the most consistently positive relationships with Zuko and with Iroh the Elder of anyone in the Gaang - yikes. (Also, if anyone ever accused Toph of not having a personal agenda she’d probably bend rocks at their head…)

And we don’t even have any idea of the possible political ramifications of Lin’s paternity, or the possibly unknown status thereof.

joaniam:

bramblepatch:

So I was just thinking about Avatar ships (ok it’s because of that thing Dante just posted) and it made me realize that wow I like a good dose of politics in my shipping?

As in a good part of why I don’t ship Zutara is wow that would be a political nightmare. Like whoa there Zuko is doing a complete one eighty on his father and grandfather’s imperialistic policy and withdrawing Fire Nation control from everywhere else, marrying an influential woman with strong personal and family ties to not one but two of the most embittered former colonial fronts is like the opposite of what he should be doing. Just from a political standpoint Mai was a much wiser choice, as a minor noblewoman of his own Nation whose family background has probably already given her a solid grounding in governance and administration.

Meanwhile Aang has every reason to keep his strongest supporters as close as possible, and also to build strong ties with the Water Tribes in particular since that’s where the next Avatar incarnation will land.

And I mean obviously Katara is not just a political bargaining chip or something; for that matter, she’s probably a really major political player in her own right at this point, but that just means that she has as much responsibility as the boys to be aware of how her personal life reflects or will be believed to reflect larger phenomena in the political environment of their world.

If you think about it, pretty much everyone in the GAang was a serious political player.

Yeah no kidding, if nothing else being in Aang’s inner circle alone would count and pretty much all of them have some other really major connections, too.

I’m also wondering about the politics of the relationships of the next generation, especially with Tenzin and his family/love interests? I’ve kind of considered for a while that Pema might have had some outside political support because when you’re reestablishing the Air Bender line a nonbender spouse might be preferable to a spouse who Bends the opposing element? And now that I think of it, there’s also the fact that so far as we know, both Toph and Lin are only children and Lin is childless, which could indicate possible issues with low fertility in the women of the Bei Fong line. Whereas Pema’s had four kids in the past dozen years.

pandoricker:

bramblepatch:

pandoricker:

threethirteenam replied to your post: threethirteenam replied to your post: I forgot to…

Yeah, exactly! I like how they wrapped up the thing with Asami and Mako because it was short and sweet and moved things along quickly enough. And another thing that bugs me: the Mako haters NEVER acknowledge that Korra was being just as stupid as him

I mean, Korra was the one who kissed him.

If anything, Asami should’ve been angry with her for doing that, knowing that he and Asami were together.

I am all for making Korra and Mako sit in separate corners and think about their Life Choices for a while.

I also am not best pleased with Pema and her “stealing people’s boyfriends for fun and profit” pep talk, for that matter.

They are both dumb teenagers who need to settle down, but I do think that this whole tangle of romantical feelings bullshit will make everyone stronger in the end. It’s all pretty “high school,” I say, but eh. I don’t find it as gigantic of an issue as others appear to.

And I didn’t necessarily like that dialogue of Pema’s either. x__O It’s one thing to have a fierce lady see what she wants and then endeavor for it, but I don’t appreciate it when it involves crossing yet another fierce lady. SIGH, I don’t really know what that whole thing was about (besides just adding ~*discord between Tenzin and Lin), but oh well.

Honestly, I hope we learn a bit more about what actually went down with the Lin/Tenzin/Pema love triangle? I’m betting that at least part of it was the question of succession - that is, there may have been outside influences that supported the non-bending civilian over the earthbender policewoman as an appropriate match for the only airbender of their generation. And considering that Toph came from a wealthy family (and IIRC ended up as Iroh the Elder’s heir, as well?) there may have been some public scrutiny/pressure on Lin’s choice or lack thereof of a spouse, as well.

But yeah, there’s a big difference between telling a girl to strive for what she wants and telling her that it’s appropriate to aspire to be a homewrecker. Korra and Mako were being teenagers. Pema is old enough and experienced enough that she should know better.

pandoricker:

threethirteenam replied to your post: threethirteenam replied to your post: I forgot to…

Yeah, exactly! I like how they wrapped up the thing with Asami and Mako because it was short and sweet and moved things along quickly enough. And another thing that bugs me: the Mako haters NEVER acknowledge that Korra was being just as stupid as him

I mean, Korra was the one who kissed him.

If anything, Asami should’ve been angry with her for doing that, knowing that he and Asami were together.

I am all for making Korra and Mako sit in separate corners and think about their Life Choices for a while.

I also am not best pleased with Pema and her “stealing people’s boyfriends for fun and profit” pep talk, for that matter.

deathtocupcake:

Ah, Asami showed up~ :D

I just… how can somebody just ask a person on a date after just meeting them. I mean, even if they’re a semi-famous sports guy that’s still sort of…sudden isn’t it? Like, for all you know, the guy could be an asshole, or a psycho, and then what are you going to do? 

Or am I completely misunderstanding the concept of a date here? I thought they were supposed to be special romantic things that you save for… well, being romantic with somebody. :s

Anyway, carrying on now.

The thing to remember about Asami is

she is basically Teenage Female Steampunk Tony Stark