Gone Viral

[bloodyrosemccoy]

Last night I managed to get my buddy Heather—you may remember my buddy Heather, the nicest person in the world—completely addicted to Avatar: The Last Airbender. After I assured her that there was no questionable content in it and in fact it’s a kids’ show, we spent a good three hours watching through it.

We’re still on season one, so I have yet to convince her that Uncle General Iroh is a god damn badass GQ motherfucker,* and she’s still dubious of my claim that Zuko’s character arc through the series is, in my conservative opinion, one of the greatest ever written.** Right now they’re just a goofy old fat guy and a bratty wounded teenage antagonist.

BUT SOON SHE WILL SEE THE LIGHT. She’ll be going back to school in Southern Utah in a couple of days, but she has asked if she can come over when I’m done with work tomorrow to finish the first season.

She is a little worried that she’s making me watch something I’ve seen before. “You have no idea how happy I am to have an excuse to,” I told her.

So I’m hoping Saturday will be Avatar Party 2: The Writers Realize How Cool This Show Can Be, And So Does Heather. And if she doesn’t make it, don’t tell anyone, but I may have to just watch it again. For … completeness. Yes. That’s right.


*Partly because one does not use such tawdry language around Heather. Hell, even “Iroh is a gosh darn cool GQ mothereffer” may be too saucy for her, but cleaning it up completely sort of loses something.

**No, really. Redemption, finding one’s own path, coming of age—they’re old tropes, but never have I seen it executed better.

Comments

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

*grin* But Zuko IS a whiny teenager! That's part of the fun. (The second watchthrough of S1 is fun because you see it all after learning his story and learning about his character, and you see just how hurt and angry and flaily and desperate he is.) And I love that he's still an awkward kid even in Season 3. He knows what he has to do and he's going to do it, but that doesn't make it EASY to just barge up to the others and be like, "... Zuko here ..."

Sokka was tough to warm up to, agreed. You think he's gonna just be the comic relief and then gradually it dawns on you that he's turning into a badass ...

Heather hasn't even MET Toph yet. TOPH. Damn, she's in for goodness.

So you're on the finale? Oh, god, there's a scene with Iroh there that just makes me choke up EVERY DAMN TIME. And it is truly EPIC. Like, in the traditional sense. It's awesome like a hundred BILLION hot dogs.

[fadethecat.livejournal.com]

I have now finished watching the entire show. And I have spent pretty much all day today since we finished the four-part finale talking about the awesome that is Avatar.

Seriously. It's like, we'll be out at dinner, and the conversation is about how brilliant the structure is and how tightly plotted things were. On the drive back, we're talking about the way the structure maps to a really good RPG campaign, and how the GM statted out stuff like the metal-bending upgrade, and what you can tell about the players by how their characters act... And I spent about half an hour after the finale just walking nervously in circles, trying to burn off the tension acrued through Massive Awesomeness.

Damn, but that's a good show.

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

OMG YES. The metalbending was a terrific thing, and I loved how they established that it had never been done before you even meet Toph so it's even more awesome when she's like "I have decided to invent metalbending!"

OH AND THE BLOODBENDING UPGRADE. The first time I watched S1 I noted that airbending could be a pretty scary one to have because what if you bend the air in people's lungs and my siblings laughed and told me that THEY HAVE PROBABLY THOUGHT OF THAT TOO.

Also, now I'm sure you've figured out which scene makes me bawl like a girl every time. "Hey, I'm sorry I was a little snot and called you names and betrayed you and got you sent to prison and I'm sure you'll never forgive--" "SHUT UP AND GIMME A HUG, YOU."

OH GOD AND THE WORLDBUILDING.

I believe all I could say for a while after finishing the series was something along the lines of ASDGAGASDFLADYES. So I know where you're coming from.

[fadethecat.livejournal.com]

My response to all this is mostly OMG YES but I must single out the scene with Zuko and Iroh.

I was sniffling. In front of friends. I get a little sniffly just thinking of it again. OH IROH. OH ZUKO. *flails*

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

I know, right? Talk about unconditional love. All he wants is a father figure to love him and it was there all along and ... *wibble*

Speaking of reconciliation, I'm curious about Toph's parents' reaction to the events of Sozin's Comet. That would be an interesting conversation to listen in on ...

[fadethecat.livejournal.com]

*wibbles along with you*

(And, you know, it's a whole trope in the show that if Iroh gives you advice, TAKE IT. Failing to take his advice ALWAYS ENDS BADLY. Taking his advice ALWAYS WORKS. Seriously. I mean, look at the invasion of the Water city, when he tells the general not to attack during night, to press the attack during the day, and then finally, not to kill the moon spirit. Every time! He was right, every time!)

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

Not to mention his advice to the nice prison guard that maybe she should take the rest of the day off. That turned out to be very good advice.

It's interesting that a character whose major moments of growth and wisdom are behind him could still be so enthralling, too. But then, you kind of get his story in reverse when you get the flashbacks, which is still pretty cool.