Get Stuff Done Part 2 (d) and (e)
Continued from here: http://somniumweb.livejournal.com/6733.html
- The Freedom Fighters and Song from Avatar: the Last Airbender -
Going to do two in one to finish off the meme and get to doing other stuff. Not that I needed to give the associations separate posts, but I wanted to.
On first watch (as far as I can remember), neither characters were anything too special to me. I enjoyed the episodes, but thought nothing more of them. Over time, though, a lot of the minor characters of ATLA started growing on me a lot more than any of the main or supporting characters. I found that I enjoyed how much up to interpretation these characters were and how fun and interesting ideas could go about when/how they might appear on the series again or what they might be up to post-war.
The Freedom Fighters: Jet, Longshot, Smellerbee, Sneers, Pipsqueak, The Duke, and many unnamed others
(Fanart by: avici1881)
Before all else, episode 1.10: "Jet" has some of my favorite scenery porn from the series. I love the scenes where the sky looks purple and Appa is sleeping in the red-orange leaves in the canopies. Ahh~ Anyway... Wow, these kids are messed up, amirite? As far as we know, they've been orphaned in one way or another due to the war with the Fire Nation, and had to fend for themselves for a long time. Arguably, being "messed up" is not completely their fault... but still, it could have been helped. We'll never know. So, how did they meet up? Who taught them how to fight/use their weapons? How did they build all those tree houses? How many of them are there? Why did they separate after the dam disaster? - Important questions to the series? Not really. But they're interesting questions to me, and I like reading about the different ideas for their origins and endings. I'm not mad Jet was killed off. It made for a good, cruel lesson that not everyone gets to have that chance they may or may not deserve. That's kinda how life is right? Unfair? Besides, in fanfic, it's always super easy to make up a reason for him to have survived. I find that letting Jet live tends to be a lot more fun, too.
I like the Freedom Fighters because I like giving them second chances. I felt so bad for Smellerbee and Longshot who seemed sincere in wanting to change and then getting involved in all that trouble down in Lake Laogai because Jet couldn't keep out of trouble. But they still stuck by him until the end, and it made me wibble when Smellerbee started petting Jet's hair and crying. I feel like there's a deep friendship between them that the series did a good job of showing with gestures like that. (Another reason I love Season 2 so much.) It didn't show or explain anything detailed, but subtly, you realize that the dynamics and bond between the Freedom Fighters isn't all that different from the "Gaang", despite their more flawed methods and questionable characters. I'm not supportive of the guerilla warfare and terrorism they practiced. Absolutely not. But I still like them. I really like them, and I think they could have played a much bigger and redeeming role in the end of the war than what we got, but... oh well.
Speaking of Freedom Fighters post-war, I highly recommend the Plight of the Freedom Fighters fancomics! (Oh god, incoming pimping, prepare yourselves.)
Look at these BAMFS, holymoly. (Fanart by: RoseMuse)
There's Part 1 that starts off where Lake Laogai left off Jet, Longshot, and Smellerbee: http://SioUte.deviantart.com/art/Plight-of-the-Freedom-Fighters-48513099. And Part 2 that takes place about 10 years later: http://PFFbySIO.deviantart.com/art/Plight-of-the-Freedom-Fighters-87283926. (As is spoiled by the fanart, Jet lives, but hey, it's learning the "how" and the "what happens after" that's fun, right?)
PFF has adventure! Romance! Mystery! Humor! Political intrigue! Jet trolling getting into trouble!
Ooooh, it is on!
Oh snap! Want to know why Jet is fighting in the first place? Read PFF2!
Notice the different expressions between Iroh, Zuko, Sokka, and Aang. Lol. (All art and writing from the comic made by the respective PFF team.)
They are amazing comics, in my opinion, and if you're a Freedom Fighter fan, I highly suggest you give them a try. The only down-side is that, as of August 2010, PFF2 will remain discontinued. The artists and writers will not be updating anymore due to (understandable) personal reasons. However, if you explore the galleries and scraps, there's lots of concept art to ogle, and scripts and outlines have been released to give readers closure on what the team had in store for the story. /end of pimping, thank the lord, this could have been so much longer
I've seen the panels for The Promise where we see Smellerbee, Longshot, and Sneers again, and I have to admit I was very pleasantly surprised that they were remembered enough to be a part of this post-war comic. I was ready to accept after Season 3 that what we got was the last of them, you see. (I've conditioned myself to automatically stop hoping to see my favorite characters in anything canon again lest I suffer from disappointment.) My only hope now is that the comic delivers in giving them a more interesting role than what Season 3 did to Haru, Teo, and The Duke at the Western Air Temple. Perhaps other characters might make a comeback? Perhaps... Song? (Not likely, cease wishing or suffer disappointment, you know how it goes.)
Song
(Fanart by: zimmay)
Song might be the first minor character of this series that I really got attached to. I really wanted to see her come back in Season 2 and 3. There's a bittersweetness about her and Zuko's relationship and how, most likely, they're never going to see each other again. And, as far as canon goes, I'm fine with that. But it also leaves so much up in the air. What is there to say they won't see each other again? (Do you know how easy it is to make that happen in fic? Zuko does owe a lot of apologies...) Song is a character that, to me, had potential to participate in the story outside of "The Cave of Two Lovers." Still, she was a great one-shot, too.
Goshdarnit, and she was just so nice. So nice and normal. Dammit, Zuko. She was in a similar situation to the Freedom Fighters (except she still had her mother) where her home and family life was destroyed. And she had a physical scar to remember it all by. But Song worked differently. Song didn't choose revenge - she chose compassion. We don't know how many refugees she has seen, but she was one herself, and we don't know if she's a master healer or just an apprentice, but she gets stuff done anyway, because that's how she rolls. And the last thing I want is for her to be pining over "Li" and what happened with the ostrich-horse. I don't mind that she keeps him or what happened in memory, but with the war going on, only having met him for a day, and then how he disrespected her hospitality? I think Song is smarter than to expect an apology anytime soon. It could happen, but not soon. There's ways she can keep herself busy and ways she could help out with the war that don't involve Zuko, and I like that. It's not a call to "get over it", but to continue using her skills and nature constructively despite having been hurt.
Additionally, as much as I ship Song/Zuko, I still stand by not wanting Song to pine or "wait" for him. Hell, looking at Zuko in The Promise leaks, I find myself thinking, "Wtf, why would I want to ship Song with His Royal Magnet of Bad Decisions? HASN'T SHE BEEN THROUGH ENOUGH? WHY MAKE HER PUT UP WITH ZUKO? BRAIN, Y U DO THIS?" But alas, Song/Zuko has got me good, and I still love the tiny Song/Zuko fandom to bits. It's actually a Song/Zuko thread on an ATLA forum that stimulated me to come out of complete internet lurkery. (The Song/Zuko corner of fandom broke my online-communication cherry, basically.)
So, completing this was fun. I hope the big pictures and paragraphs of love didn't scare anyone away. I'm also planning a Smellerbee + Song -centric fic with Longshot and Zuko on the side. But the focus will be on my two favorite ladies of ATLA. It's going to deviate from canon, but no drastic changes... so far. Tentative title is based on a Ra Ra Riot song: Ghost Under Rocks. It's still undergoing changes and editing, but I know I want to get it done SO BADLY. So there. I'm a sucker for the Freedom Fighters and for Song and now the whole internet knows, and I don't care.
Another meme bites the dust. Thanks for reading this far!
- The Freedom Fighters and Song from Avatar: the Last Airbender -
Going to do two in one to finish off the meme and get to doing other stuff. Not that I needed to give the associations separate posts, but I wanted to.
On first watch (as far as I can remember), neither characters were anything too special to me. I enjoyed the episodes, but thought nothing more of them. Over time, though, a lot of the minor characters of ATLA started growing on me a lot more than any of the main or supporting characters. I found that I enjoyed how much up to interpretation these characters were and how fun and interesting ideas could go about when/how they might appear on the series again or what they might be up to post-war.
The Freedom Fighters: Jet, Longshot, Smellerbee, Sneers, Pipsqueak, The Duke, and many unnamed others
(Fanart by: avici1881)
Before all else, episode 1.10: "Jet" has some of my favorite scenery porn from the series. I love the scenes where the sky looks purple and Appa is sleeping in the red-orange leaves in the canopies. Ahh~ Anyway... Wow, these kids are messed up, amirite? As far as we know, they've been orphaned in one way or another due to the war with the Fire Nation, and had to fend for themselves for a long time. Arguably, being "messed up" is not completely their fault... but still, it could have been helped. We'll never know. So, how did they meet up? Who taught them how to fight/use their weapons? How did they build all those tree houses? How many of them are there? Why did they separate after the dam disaster? - Important questions to the series? Not really. But they're interesting questions to me, and I like reading about the different ideas for their origins and endings. I'm not mad Jet was killed off. It made for a good, cruel lesson that not everyone gets to have that chance they may or may not deserve. That's kinda how life is right? Unfair? Besides, in fanfic, it's always super easy to make up a reason for him to have survived. I find that letting Jet live tends to be a lot more fun, too.
I like the Freedom Fighters because I like giving them second chances. I felt so bad for Smellerbee and Longshot who seemed sincere in wanting to change and then getting involved in all that trouble down in Lake Laogai because Jet couldn't keep out of trouble. But they still stuck by him until the end, and it made me wibble when Smellerbee started petting Jet's hair and crying. I feel like there's a deep friendship between them that the series did a good job of showing with gestures like that. (Another reason I love Season 2 so much.) It didn't show or explain anything detailed, but subtly, you realize that the dynamics and bond between the Freedom Fighters isn't all that different from the "Gaang", despite their more flawed methods and questionable characters. I'm not supportive of the guerilla warfare and terrorism they practiced. Absolutely not. But I still like them. I really like them, and I think they could have played a much bigger and redeeming role in the end of the war than what we got, but... oh well.
Speaking of Freedom Fighters post-war, I highly recommend the Plight of the Freedom Fighters fancomics! (Oh god, incoming pimping, prepare yourselves.)
Look at these BAMFS, holymoly. (Fanart by: RoseMuse)
There's Part 1 that starts off where Lake Laogai left off Jet, Longshot, and Smellerbee: http://SioUte.deviantart.com/art/Plight-of-the-Freedom-Fighters-48513099. And Part 2 that takes place about 10 years later: http://PFFbySIO.deviantart.com/art/Plight-of-the-Freedom-Fighters-87283926. (As is spoiled by the fanart, Jet lives, but hey, it's learning the "how" and the "what happens after" that's fun, right?)
PFF has adventure! Romance! Mystery! Humor! Political intrigue! Jet trolling getting into trouble!
Ooooh, it is on!
Oh snap! Want to know why Jet is fighting in the first place? Read PFF2!
Notice the different expressions between Iroh, Zuko, Sokka, and Aang. Lol. (All art and writing from the comic made by the respective PFF team.)
They are amazing comics, in my opinion, and if you're a Freedom Fighter fan, I highly suggest you give them a try. The only down-side is that, as of August 2010, PFF2 will remain discontinued. The artists and writers will not be updating anymore due to (understandable) personal reasons. However, if you explore the galleries and scraps, there's lots of concept art to ogle, and scripts and outlines have been released to give readers closure on what the team had in store for the story. /end of pimping, thank the lord, this could have been so much longer
I've seen the panels for The Promise where we see Smellerbee, Longshot, and Sneers again, and I have to admit I was very pleasantly surprised that they were remembered enough to be a part of this post-war comic. I was ready to accept after Season 3 that what we got was the last of them, you see. (I've conditioned myself to automatically stop hoping to see my favorite characters in anything canon again lest I suffer from disappointment.) My only hope now is that the comic delivers in giving them a more interesting role than what Season 3 did to Haru, Teo, and The Duke at the Western Air Temple. Perhaps other characters might make a comeback? Perhaps... Song? (Not likely, cease wishing or suffer disappointment, you know how it goes.)
Song
(Fanart by: zimmay)
Song might be the first minor character of this series that I really got attached to. I really wanted to see her come back in Season 2 and 3. There's a bittersweetness about her and Zuko's relationship and how, most likely, they're never going to see each other again. And, as far as canon goes, I'm fine with that. But it also leaves so much up in the air. What is there to say they won't see each other again? (Do you know how easy it is to make that happen in fic? Zuko does owe a lot of apologies...) Song is a character that, to me, had potential to participate in the story outside of "The Cave of Two Lovers." Still, she was a great one-shot, too.
Goshdarnit, and she was just so nice. So nice and normal. Dammit, Zuko. She was in a similar situation to the Freedom Fighters (except she still had her mother) where her home and family life was destroyed. And she had a physical scar to remember it all by. But Song worked differently. Song didn't choose revenge - she chose compassion. We don't know how many refugees she has seen, but she was one herself, and we don't know if she's a master healer or just an apprentice, but she gets stuff done anyway, because that's how she rolls. And the last thing I want is for her to be pining over "Li" and what happened with the ostrich-horse. I don't mind that she keeps him or what happened in memory, but with the war going on, only having met him for a day, and then how he disrespected her hospitality? I think Song is smarter than to expect an apology anytime soon. It could happen, but not soon. There's ways she can keep herself busy and ways she could help out with the war that don't involve Zuko, and I like that. It's not a call to "get over it", but to continue using her skills and nature constructively despite having been hurt.
Additionally, as much as I ship Song/Zuko, I still stand by not wanting Song to pine or "wait" for him. Hell, looking at Zuko in The Promise leaks, I find myself thinking, "Wtf, why would I want to ship Song with His Royal Magnet of Bad Decisions? HASN'T SHE BEEN THROUGH ENOUGH? WHY MAKE HER PUT UP WITH ZUKO? BRAIN, Y U DO THIS?" But alas, Song/Zuko has got me good, and I still love the tiny Song/Zuko fandom to bits. It's actually a Song/Zuko thread on an ATLA forum that stimulated me to come out of complete internet lurkery. (The Song/Zuko corner of fandom broke my online-communication cherry, basically.)
So, completing this was fun. I hope the big pictures and paragraphs of love didn't scare anyone away. I'm also planning a Smellerbee + Song -centric fic with Longshot and Zuko on the side. But the focus will be on my two favorite ladies of ATLA. It's going to deviate from canon, but no drastic changes... so far. Tentative title is based on a Ra Ra Riot song: Ghost Under Rocks. It's still undergoing changes and editing, but I know I want to get it done SO BADLY. So there. I'm a sucker for the Freedom Fighters and for Song and now the whole internet knows, and I don't care.
Another meme bites the dust. Thanks for reading this far!