[ SECRET POST #1290 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #1290 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 05 pages, 108 secrets from Secret Submission Post #184.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 1 2 3 4 5 - not!fandom ], [ 1 2 3 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[kitty-wake.livejournal.com]

Yes. Katara seems to care for Aang a lot - but I don't recall her doing very much for him that she wouldn't do for Sokka, or even, by the end, Zuko. Not that she treats them all the same, of course, but there's nothing particularly romantic about her relationship with Aang. Aren't all the shipping scenes from his point of view, anyway?

I totally agree with your experience of having a younger friend with a crush on you. I've never experienced that - well, I didn't when I was fourteen - but I can't easily imagine a girl that age thinking "Mmm, boyfriend material" about a twelve-year-old. (Still less can I imagine a twelve-year-old boy dreaming of sweet, chaste love.) If they'd just given the ending teashop scene a few years, I'd have been fine.

Mmm... to the last point, I've got no issue with Zuko and Mai, or Sokka and Suki. They're a bit older and I bought the chemistry (and I totally loved Mai saving the jerk who dumped her. Mai is awesome, and no-one will tell me differently). Also the thought of them having sex doesn't skeeve me out.

[ginzai.livejournal.com]

I think Katara certainly does love Aang, but it did always feel very motherly to me, rather than romantic. I think there were a couple of hints on her side; she looked surprised but not displeased to realize that Aang was a strong bender in that episode with the prophesy, and she did have some hooded eyes going on in the episode where she and Aang danced. However, it felt far more like minor flirtations from Katara's side, compared to an actual crush from Aang.

And having been that 14 year old with a 12 year friend with a crush, it's fun to flirt back a bit. 14 years do a lot of experimenting and there was something weirdly safe about it with him, since I had so little experience with flirting in general and there wasn't really a risk of rejection. It was only when it started to seem like it was getting real that I grew uncomfortable and started to withdraw.

Which, coincidentally, is what I see Katara doing after Aang kisses her for the first time. I can't think of any of those low-key flirty moments between them after that, not until Aang demands to know what their status is and she rejects him.

I've got issues with the Harry Potter epilogue, so I'm glad that they didn't do the same sort of finalized ending here. That said, the dynamics between a slightly older couple would make more sense to me than what we had in canon, particularly since the development on Katara's side was so shallow. Had they been a bit older to begin with, or if Katara's love was better developed, I'd have been fine with things.

Oh, I love Mai! I'm a bit less crazy about Zuko/Mai because of the lack of development there as well (and okay, I'll admit it - I don't usually care for the whole "childhood friends, adult lovers" thing) but I thought their potential was epic, especially in the second half of the season. Oddly enough, I grew to really appreciate the pairing after they broke up. I don't hold with Mai bashing, no sir.

It's not a matter them having sex though; it's the perception I had from them in the first half of the third season. They screamed awkward first teenage romance to me in most of their early scenes together. I like them better after they got back together, but there was so little there of that that it's hard for me to completely shake the earlier image.

Out of the canon pairings though, Maiko is actually my favorite. They're the one who still feels like puppy love but with the most potential to turn into something else.