justblaterando

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I keep seeing anti-Maiko people complain that Mai never had a redemption arc to learn about why the Fire Nation was bad, and that's why she shouldn't be with Zuko. And I think that fundamentally misunderstands what a secondary character is. Mai is not a main character. She is a secondary character. She is there to provide support to the narrative, she is there to fulfill her plot purposes and that's it. That doesn't mean she has no character development, but her character development is mostly related to her function in the narrative. In Mai's case, her main functions in the narrative are being Zuko's love interest, and being a key piece in Azula's downfall. Her character development is related to that: we have a girl who is closed off and suppresses her emotions who gradually starts to open up a little through her relationship with Zuko. We also have her feeling like she's always trapped by fear and by others expectations (by her parents and by Azula), and because of her relationship with Zuko, she is able to finally stand up to Azula. That's her character arc. That's what's relevant to her function in the story. Learning about how the Fire Nation is bad is not relevant to her main plot purposes in the story. There's no reason why it can't happen offscreen after the war, with Zuko teaching her about all the things he saw and learned about the Fire Nation during his travels. She is not a main character, the show doesn't need to focus on every single thing about her character. In case people forget, we don't get a "redemption arc" for Ty Lee either, because this is not important, neither Mai or Ty Lee are meant to be the focus of the narrative, we don't need to see them "learning that the Fire Nation is bad".

Another thing that people don't understand is that not every character has to be a copy of Zuko. People act like the only acceptable way for Mai to learn about the wrongs of the Fire Nation is by having a redemption arc like Zuko, but that's not really the case. It's not even feasible: Mai didn't go through the same experiences as Zuko, she wasn't forced to live as a commoner amongst the Earth Kingdom peasants, she wasn't forced to flee as a refugee, so she never really had the opportunity to speak to these people and see their plight the same way Zuko had. Of course Zuko is the one who gets the redemption arc, because he is the main character for which this arc actually matters to the story, but also because the circumstances of his story allow him to have this arc, while the circumstances of Mai's story don't. But that in no way means she is irredeemable or that she can't learn, it just means she will learn about the Fire Nation in a different way than Zuko did, probably through Zuko himself telling her about his experiences and the things he saw. And there's nothing wrong with that! Mai is not a main character, she doesn't need to have some epic redemption journey. She was a Fire Nation noble, just like Zuko, she was taught the same kind of propaganda that Zuko was, so of course she's going to believe in it and believe that Zuko is betraying his country when he tells her he joined the Avatar. But Mai is also not some cruel person, and she's also not a Fire Nation fanatic. If after the show Zuko told her about all the things he saw, she would listen. And in fact, the evidence we have is that she did listen to Zuko and she did learn about the Fire Nation: in the comics she works with Zuko against the New Ozai Society even after they break up. And if you don't want to use the comics as evidence, we have the epilogue of the show as evidence, in which Mai is shown to be on good terms with Team Avatar and playing Pai Sho with Suki. We don't need to see the details of how Mai learned about the Fire Nation being bad (she is not a main character, it's not relevant to the main story), we know that she did learn, we can fill in the blanks with our imagination.

Secondary characters not receiving a huge narrative focus and character development about every single aspect of their characters is not "bad writing". Bad writing would be if the show focused on every detail of every secondary character, because that would be losing narrative focus. Just because certain people don't like Mai with Zuko and use this as an excuse to say why the ship is bad, it doesn't mean that Mai not having a redemption arc is "bad writing".

Finally, this isn't a reason for her not to be with Zuko. Some people argue that Zuko would never want to be with Mai after his redemption because of her still believing that the Fire Nation was in the right, but people forget that if there's one person who knows what is like to have been brainwashed since childhood with propaganda about the Fire Nation, that person is Zuko. And Zuko was way more enthusiastic about the Fire Nation being right and the Fire Nation winning the war than Mai ever was. Why would he hold it against her that she believed in Fire Nation propaganda, when he himself knows what is like to believe in said propaganda? The most likely thing to happen is that he would want to teach her about everything he learned about the Fire Nation, he wouldn't break up with her just because she didn't magically unlearn an entire life of indoctrination.

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baby in the fireplace

The floo fired up and settled down. Narcissa immediately straightens up to find nobody standing at the floo. Then, it dawns on her.

"Draco?" she calls.

-

"Sirius?" Remus calls from the living room.

"Yes?" he hears somewhere in the distance.

"Did you happen to have a bald, pale baby delivered to our floo?" Remus steps forward to peer at the giggling infant sitting in their fireplace, thankfully not lit but definitely covered in soot.

"Nope. Wait... yeah, no. I don't think so?" Sirius's voice draws closer as he appears at the living room threshold with a freshly washed baby Harry on his hip. "What a very odd question to ask Remus. I believe after the first time, I stopped. Per your request."

Remus rolls his eyes as he leans down to pick up the mysterious baby. "Then whose baby is this?" he asks, moving the child around and inspecting it, as if he were looking for a nametag.

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Listen... this is irrelevant and has no basis to any reality but

Lucius walked away from the Wizegmont on the basis of imperious. Awesome, good job being rich, but hear me out. Everyone was just like oh forreal of course your innocent.

Anyway Severus was able to not be indebted to A.W.B.D because Lucius was like "Oh this one's innocent too"

Narcissa side eyes him. So he has be like and her two *points at a manic Bellatrix*

Narcissa coughs. And him * points at Sirius spitting mad*

This leads to a very awkward Malfoy Manor, because there is three Black family members, Severus Snape and Lucius Malfoy.

Awkward lasts for two minutes exactly, and then it's wands drawn, with the last one standing getting rights. Rights to what, who knows?

Who is coming out of this alive? What if the Black Madness got Bellatrix and they have to fix her? Severus has real regrets, Lucius has minor regrets (being the losing side). Narcissa is mad because they were all going to end up back in Azkaban if they woke Draco.

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What truly angers me about this BS is that the fandom ate it up!!! The quantity of people that portray the reach army as made of a bunch twelves years old with a big ego is astounding

David Benioff on the sacking of Highgarden:

"The Tyrells...Fighting isn't really their forte, I mean they're just not known for being the most fearsome warriors, so to have a long extended battle there didn't make a lot of sense."

What the fuck was he talking about? The Tyrell’s helped Tywin defeat Stannis Baratheon at Kingslanding. Tywin even entrusted Loras to save Cersei & Tommen from Stannis’s soldiers. His arrival stopped Cersei from killing then both.

Loras even defeated Jamie at a tourney before the events of the show. Like they forgot what they established in their own show. I’m so glad D&Ds careers are over.

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there is a serious lack of discussion about how mai is zuko’s safe space. we see this in their first appearance together (that’s not a flashback). when mai asks him a simple question, “aren’t you cold?” and zuko, who has a hard time opening up and expressing emotions that aren’t anger or angst, freely and openly starts to tell her his worries about going back to the fire nation. and while people love to chastise mai on her reply, “I just asked if you were cold, I didn’t ask for your whole life story”, I think they misunderstand her approach to this. zuko is worrying and overthinking about something he cannot change, something that will only drive him crazy and she tries to distract him with a joke. and it might fall flat, but she realises this and suddenly she is comforting him with her touch. her hand reaching out so casually towards scar like it’s not a big deal, because it’s not. they’ve known each other for a long time, they’ve grown up together and their relationship was a long time coming. and zuko leans into her hand, and her kiss, without thinking twice about it. because mai is familiar, and mai is comfort and that can be seen when you contrast it to song’s attempting at touch his scar, and how quickly he was to stop her. but it’s not only this moment that showcases mai as his safe space, but also when he’s back in the fire nation. when he’s stressed out and going through a tumultuous time, not knowing what’s right and wrong or what he should do next, it’s mai he goes to. we see this in “nightmares and daydreams” when he spends all day at her house, when he can’t stand being in the palace anymore, mai and her house and her bedroom is his safe space. and here we see her trying to comfort him, trying to say the war meeting is stupid, it would be be boring anyway, and shall we go for a ride around town? it’ll be fun… and even though he’s still sad, he goes back to her house on the day of the war meeting and she’s making him tea. and even when he does get invited to the all day war meeting, she goes to the palace with him and waits for him all day, to see if it went well and to comfort him if it didn’t. when he says that it was everything he thought wanted it to be, she’s immediately happy for him, reaching out to touch him with a smile on her face. mai is who zuko feels safe and comfortable around, even in his vulnerable moments and it’s something we should talk about.

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Draco’s last day at daycare

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Careful! Your bisexuality is showing.

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this is incredible

art by lisou_____ on instagram

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Why is Zuko romantically interested in Mai? What does he like about her as a person? Does he understand her personal desires and struggles?

"Why is Zuko romantically interested in Mai?"

He's a moody, angsty, grumpy teenage boy, she's a moody, angsty, grumpy teenage girl. She hates everything, but she doesn't hate him, and he appreciates that. He practically brags to a guard at the boiling rock that his (ex) girlfriend doesn't need anyone to protect her because she can handle herself.

They find each other physically attractive, enjoy making out and bitching about things they don't like, and they genuinely have a lot in common (troubled family life, struggling with the idea of who they should be VS who they actually are, don't like it when people try to control them, want a comfortable life where they are free to do whatever they want, and experts at using cool weapons that they're not allowed to kill people with because it's a kid's show).

Also Mai knows how to be understanding, caring and supportive without babying him, something Zuko desperately needs and actively seems to want in his life. And while her "aloof", more detached personality sometimes clashes with his need to shout about every single emotion he feels, it sometimes has the very healthy effect of making him chill a bit (and makes her come out of her shell a bit more).

"What does he like about her as a person?"

Like I said, he likes that she genuinely cares for him, but doesn't put with his bullshit, AND he likes that's just as much as an angsty teen as he is. He literally makes a move on her when she finally had enough with their friend group and yells at everyone, including him, to leave her alone. He looks like a lovesick fool when thinking back to "that gloomy girl that sighs a lot." Boy literally said "You're so beautiful when you hate the world" and was being 1000% sincere.

He likes how bold she can be, how she doesn't put on an act for him and how he doesn't have to put on an act for her, and how she literally risked it all to save him and is willing to be by his side now that he's about to start a new era for their nation even though she didn't fully understand why he changed sides.

Mai is, before anything, her own damn self and won't let anyone dictate her life for her, and Zuko really admires her for it because he can relate to that - which leads us to:

"Does he understand her personal desires and struggles?"

Does Zuko, the banished prince that rebelled against his abusive father, his nation's cruel and violent ways, and even against the father figure that he loved dearly but that wasn't listening when he said he wanted more in life than just a job and a roof over his head, understand what's like to only get conditional affection, be told that he needs to shut up and let himself be bossed around if he wants literally anything in life/not to be harmed, to not be listened to even by well-meaning people that just don't get it, and eventually risking everything to carve his own path in life with people he believes actually vallue and understand him?

I'd say yes.

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"mai isn't izumi's mother, her and zuko broke up in the comics and mai is seeing another guy."

literally her and zuko:

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WAAAAA😭😭

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save me characters who are still hated and mischaracterized in 2024 for the sake of a fanon ship save meeeee

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Mai truly is for us emotionally repressed girlies like

Her whole character arc is like she’s emotionally repressed and was never allowed to express herself so she puts up all these walls and acts like she doesn’t care about anything and is so closed off.

And then her whole arc culminates with her loudly and proudly declaring the love she feels so deeply for Zuko. she expresses just how deep these emotions go, she is willing to die for him. Because she cares so much. Her emotions, her care, her love are so strong that they overpower her fear. Not just her fear of Azula but her fear of expressing herself, of stepping out of line, of standing for what she believes in. Which at this moment is Zuko- she doesn’t even fully understand what he’s doing, but she knows she trusts him more than anyone else. More than the fire nation propaganda and brainwashing, more than Azula, more than her parents. She knows Zuko has a good heart, she loves him for it, and she trusts it.

And that trust and love empowers her to finally express just how deeply she feels.

I don’t know if I’m articulating this very well but as someone who has always struggled to express myself Mai is just so fucking good and powerful to me.

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storytime

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storytime

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The funniest thing ever, to this day, about those “Katara’s rizz” posts, is that they always include Zuko as if he isn’t the biggest simp for his goth gf

Good thing that when I see those posts on TikTok the whole comment section is full of “tf is Zuko doing there” or “get Zuko out of there” comments lmao

[no hate to those who include Zuko in the Katara simps group, it’s just hilariously inaccurate that each one of those posts include Kat’s husband, the guys that simped for her throughout the series, and then Zuko who maybe had a total of five scenes with her where she isn’t chewing him out and he’s not glaring back lol]

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reposting (again, duh) 'cause i'm just—not satisfied with this. will leave it alone now, i promise

Edit: y'all my mother said I didn't fuck up the hands this time HAHAHAHA—