#bryke

This is a term for creatives that means that even though you may like some part(/scene/character) very, very much, you need to be able to make decisions for the betterment of the larger story.

It refers to being able to step back and see the whole project and make decisions for THAT instead of your personal feelings.

This is how creatives improve. This is how creatives in places of privilege (they get their projects on the big screen) stay humble—for lack of a better word—and prioritize their story and audience, instead of their personal wants.

“Feedback isn’t a personal attack.”

Another BIG, important lesson for creatives. The artistic process is dialogue and that dialogue includes feedback. Said feedback can’t and won’t be nothing but praise. Not all feedback needs to nor ought to be taken seriously and enacted, but it still leads to improvement—especially those who are in uninterrogated places of privilege and leaning on biases. It also includes being able to listen to others in the writing rooms!

Good artists understand THIS (both points), instead of being lauded as the most talented. Praise and the demand to have nothing but it creates stagnation, even deevolution, and a needy, immature creative that can’t handle what the artistic process involves, especially when they’ve “made it big.” These creatives throw public fits, attack people who “hate” on their creation even if they’re ostensibly fans, and even insult such fans and send their fan base after them. “Proof” that they’re a good creative and deserve their place and whomever’s “hating” on them is stupid and childish is that place in the industry.

Various creative classes do this with peer reviews, and some form of feedback day involving the whole class or groups.

Notable creatives are:

James Cameron, who made a colonization white-savior fantasy that exotifies native/indigenous women (literally used a MINOR’s features without consent nor reimbursement, Q’orianka Kilcher), uses extant indigenous peoples/cultures as an easy cheat to making alien cultures (not real representation and using), hasn’t done anything with his vast amounts of wealth to actually help any of these peoples, could not try to step out of his whiteness and westernness to have truly “alien” soundtrack nor have bipoc co-creators (has token actors who took on a LOT), couldn’t even hire people of those peoples to be those aliens, and couldn’t interrogate or try to step out of his whiteness nor Christianity for his movies.

Vivziepop, who dismisses things she’s done in the past—as an adult, hired a cowriter and VA who’s known for rape “jokes” and has been recently outed for blackface. Who does not, in fact, have real representation for the queer community nor sexual violence victims, hired a rape fetishist on the team and had them handle that character/dynamic, defended that employee’s position by lying about their own victim status and weaponizing victim status against those (many of them victims) speaking out against how wrong it was, sacrificing narrative and characterization for a gay relationship that’s abusive but victim blames the victim in it, uwu-ifying the abuser, platforms a surprising amount of sexual harassment (obviously in a way that enables it; it’s a punch line), fetishizing incest/twincest (it included merch, and very obviously wasn’t just for a bit in the narrative), has no real BIPOC representation, sacrifices her female character LEADS for whatever the male characters are doing, only writes the same dynamics of main casts, and weaponizes her audience (fans) against “haters.”

That Marvel comic artist who can’t draw women and throws a fit whenever someone points it out.

Emerald Fennel, who made that “adaption” (white woman fanfic) of Wuthering Heights.

Kojima, of MGS creation, who can’t let go of his racism, colorism, and misogyny, and gets too big on himself about making insane plots and plot twists.

Gooseworx and co, who can’t take true responsibility for racism and enablement of such (micro) aggressions that led to larger actions.

Bryke, of AtlA creation, who couldn’t diversify the writers room of their series revolving around eastern and Inuit cultures, and forced a romance between two of the cast (12/13 and 15/16) that did not fit well into the narrative—and apparently also bullied a minor fan for not shipping it.

Has complaining about the same show over and over for 20+ years now not gotten to you yet?

Has seeing millions of other people enjoying the franchise without a care in the world made you feel like your efforts are just a waste of energy?

Have you ever thought about just ignoring the franchise as a whole and moving onto something else?

Is there any self-awareness that other stories and pieces of media may fulfill your excruciatingly specific yet generic standards you have for storytelling and characters?

Do you ever get a little embarrassed of spending so much time and energy on trying to insult the creators of a kids’ show?

Have you ever sat and realized that most of the content in the franchise doesn’t entice you, and that it may not be worth the energy to continue to larp as a fan of it?

Have you ever thought that your interpretations of the story and its characters being so at odds with what is happening means you simply just don’t like the show as a whole and maybe should look elsewhere for entertainment?

Are you exhausted of finding new ways to hate on every single piece of new content and media to drop in the franchise?

Are you bored yet of having to fit your criticisms into new stories in the franchise where you have to twist the narrative so far that it doesn’t even resemble what happens?

I used to be a mod on here when the show was airing (as @rashaka).

I read recently that Livejournal may be soon taken down entirely as a platform. It hasn't been itself in 15 years but I will be sad to lose all of the fandom content that existed there through the 2000s. Zutara fandom was a huge part of my fandom experience and I have a soft place in my heart for it.

If anyone wants a time capsule, look at this ship community and go back to the dates when the show was airing. See what people thought about the ships, the showrunners, the fandom.

Some highlights

Episode discussion: Cossroads of Destiny

Episode discussion: The Southern Raiders

Episode discussion: Ember Island Players

Episode discussion: Sozin's Comet

rec: large rec lists

fan-fiction

On a related note, you may enjoy the ATLA tag for the ship-manfiesto community, which has two Zutara manifestos and some for the other major pairings as well.

For reference, here's the tags on the katar_zuko community:

⚠️: Do not download anything from the ads on this site. Livejournal has been compromised as a platform owned by the Russian government for years now.

Some people, namely Zvtarians, say that Mai x Zuko's narrative function was to show the audience and to Zuko himself that he doesn't fit in the Fire Nation's imperialist regime. In book 3 Zuko comes back to the Fire Nation. It's everything that he's ever wanted, but it doesn't bring him peace. And Mai is his girlfriend during this time. So she must be one of the reasons to why he's so miserable, right? It's an understandable argument. In fact, it's one that I used to believe in when I still shipped Zvtara. But do I still stand by that take? Well, no.

I believe that Mai's narrative function during the first half of book 3 was to give Zuko someone to vent to. Iroh is in jail, Azula can't be trusted, and Zuko and Ty Lee's relationship is nonexistent. Mai was the person Zuko went to to seek help and to share his frustrations. To support this, let's have a look at the Nightmares and Daydreams episode.

In this episode, Zuko:

Spends all day at her house.

Vents about not being invited to the war meeting.

Vents once again after the war meeting didn't go as he expected.

And Mai was being supportive all the way through. Please note that when Zuko vents to Mai, that's how the show vocalizes his internal struggles. That's the narrative function of their relationship. Mai is Zuko's safe space, even if it doesn't always seem like she is.

(Edit: I also forgot to add Zuko confirming that Mai wasn't a part of the reason why his time in the Fire Nation was miserable):

Let me preface by saying:

the original show isn't a favourite of mine, so I'm not at all biased that way, but i do enjoy it quite a bit and rewatch it a bunch bcs od how comforting it is

My favs of the gaang are and always were sokka & toph

If I HAD to ship someone it'd be zutara but that's not the point here since the film doesn't even have them speak once ffs all the people screenshotting stills of them near each other are mining for crumbs atp (i see u)

And yes i streamed it cause i was always going to, makes no difference to me when, i don't have the program that owns it where i live so i was always going to pirate it

NOW

the film.

SPOILERS though not severe

My primary complaint, even though I can appreciate why they did it, is the VAs being different. VAing is something I really, really love as an art and skill and as such I always associate characters with their VOICE not their animated appearance if that makes sense. That said, Sokka's new VA was the one that came shockingly close to the original, which is great since he's my favourite anyway. I still would have preferred to have at least SOME of the original VAs back. Esp zuko, bcs come on, he IS the character.

A positive, the film is STUNNING. I have a large tv but seeing this in theatres would be absolutely wonderful. The animators deserve all the praise for their work and I wish they could get the chance to have it appreciated in theatres.

Onto the rest, and the problem.

The PLOT.

The characters are off, their interactions feel forced, not to mention that despite all the plot they feel barely there somehow? Yes, it's the Aang Show, but so was the original and the others felt like a fundamental part of the story, not its accessories.

Katara in the film can be summed up as two things: a powerful bender and Aang's support. Literally, that's all. Everything about her revolves around Aang. I don't even remember if she talks to anyone else of the gaang? If she does, it was clearly so short an exchange or remark I missed it.

Toph & Zuko feel like they were dragged from their jobs to be there, and get a few one liners to make it "feel" like they were before. Nothing about either of them in the film beyond them fighting super well is present.

Sokka gets to be Sokka, for a little bit, without Suki tho ofc. She gets one shot in the credits.

Honestly if the film was JUST Aang and the airbender guy and the gaang was elsewhere and busy it would make little to no difference to the plot. Aang ends up doing everything himself anyway.

The gaang was there to get their asses kicked several times.

Not to mention, THE MOST POWERFUL BENDERS IN THE WORLD, losing to a bunch of randos who got airbending literally five minutes ago? Atrocious, least believable thing in a film that has constant: characters being slammed into the ground or into rocks from 1km away and not being hurt at all.

I also didn't get Aang having to go into the avatar state to use the other elements? He should know all of them super well by now and only use the Avatar state rarely, ex. THE CLIMAX OF THE FILM.

Power scaling and nonsense aside, my point is this. The film is beautiful, and yes they were all animated to look like the prettiest people ever, not that anyone minds, but other than that and cool fight scenes, the film has little to say, little to add to the world or characters, and little substance to justify its own existence.

I think I'll forget about it as soon as I start doing something else.

And even as someone who, again, didn't LOVE the original, it felt like a hollow attempt at cashing in on this nostalgic story for many without providing a reason for you to invest in it.

I haven't even mentioned the shipping wars, which seems to me to be the ONLY INTERESTING THING people can talk about bcs there is nothing else😭😭

No one except kataang shippers have anything to work with at all and even you guys get very little, along with Katara being solely portrayed as existing for Aang atp.

I rambled, but I had to. It was worth a onetime watch but definitely not more than that. Tumblr posts about it are more interesting and memorable than the film. And there's a reason people are arguing about ships and no one is talking about the plot.

It's simply

Meanwhile in the pilot chapter: