[ SECRET POST #1950 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #1950 ⌋

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

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 06 pages, 122 secrets from Secret Submission Post #279.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 1 2 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 1 2 - repeat ], [ 2 - spambots ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[fscom.livejournal.com]

11. http://i46.tinypic.com/34pkojt.jpg

[zenity.livejournal.com]

I like Mai. I never really understood why people hated her, maybe it was because people often wanted Zuko with Katara and they took out their frustration on Mai. Either way, it's okay to dislike characters! Hopefully it's for the right reasons, though.

[loracarol.livejournal.com]

Mai is amazing. ♥_______♥

/that is all

[hinodeh.livejournal.com]

First off: I do like Mai nowadays and enjoy reading (good) fic about her. Same goes for Mai/Zuko.

That being said, the Mai hate which isn't misogynistic ship bitterness can be summed up as follows:

-she abandoned her baby brother (YMMV if you agree or not. I personally think that it was a huge misstep to not explore her motivations there more and never bring it up again.)

-she is a jerk to Zuko because she doesn't want to listen to his problems (YMMV again. I think she is pretty supportive most of the time and genuinely cares about him, but during the Beach I thought her reaction to the seashell gift was kinda callous.)

-based on her backstory in "The Beach", some people think that she is a spoiled brat who was forever butthurt about being taught discipline. Others think that she was stifled and constantly forced to fit a very specific mold, until she internalized it, even though she hated what she had become etc. etc.

-she doesn't care about right or wrong, only her boyfriend. Okay, this one is HUGE and a giant mess. I think, again, though, that it would have been better if the show had explored her thoughts on/relationship with the Fire Nation more etc.


Granted, all these gaps in her character make Mai interesting to me nowadays, and I dunno if she has to be the embodiment of purity and goodness to deserve good things happening to her.

[amarra-jade.livejournal.com]

I don't hate her, but she bores me. I just can't make myself care about a character who doesn't care about anything (except her boyfriend, as hinodeh said above me). And her relationship with Zuko came out of nowhere and lacked chemistry IMO.

[amethyst-rei.livejournal.com]

I A-D-O-R-E Mai. Since the moment she made her appearance in the series and I caught a glimpse of her kickass character, I've been utterly in love. And I've been a hardcore Mai/Zuko shipper since they mentioned Mai's crush on Zuko. I see a lot of hate for character as well and I just do not get it. She's awesome. I love the fact that she's so aloof and collected and badass and cynical and sarcastic. I love it. There are not nearly enough female characters like this in the world, and especially in anime/manga. And the few female characters like that that do exist never, ever get the guy. Ever. My love for ATLA increased tremendously when they became a couple. No words to describe how awesome they are.

Also, to those who are seriously anti-Mai... I can't help but think that if she weren't a female she wouldn't be getting this much hate. Now, I normally hate participating in that song and dance, but most people love male characters like her. Broody and aloof, I mean. So yeah, I just don't get the hate at all. (read: hate, not indifference).

A lot of people also complain that there's zero chemistry between Zuko and Mai, and I don't get that, either. I think they're absolutely great together. They have nice chemistry and a fascinating relationship. And I really do think they bring out the best in each other.

Guh. Zuko/Mai. So much love.

[amanda-violet.livejournal.com]

I loooove Mai, and I looooove Mai/Zuko.

I firmly believe that Mai would get none of the flak she gets (shipping-related or not) if she'd been a guy. The coldness/cynicism, for example, is considered sexy in a guy, but in a girl it just means she's a frigid bitch. Which is bullshit. I really, really love the fact that the show had an ultimately-heroic female character who doesn't display the warm, nurturing, accomodating "feminine ideal." Like you, I identify with Mai a lot, and it's really great how a girl with a similar personality to mine isn't a straight-up villain for once. I also like how her motivations/backstory/deeper thoughts were left open in the end, because it leads to a lot of great fic, which makes me love her even more.

Oh, and the final reason why Mai is awesome? People will always hate her, but she wouldn't care if she knew. She'd just be like "ehh, whatever," and go back to throwing knives and making out with Zuko. LIKE A BAWSS.

[uponadecember.livejournal.com]

I love Mai, and I don't get the hate either. However, I just don't see it with her and Zuko. They had some cute moments, but I felt like they never really understood each other.

[la-petite-singe.livejournal.com]

I was WAY late to this fandom, but ugh, why do people hate her?! Is it just because she's with Zuko and, like, fans want him for themselves? Because that's embarrassing as balls.

[(Anonymous)]

I dislike the pairing because it received no development. All we got was a flashback showing Mai had a childhood crush on Zuko when they were like, eight, and suddenly the next season they were sucking face. I had a hard time trying to understand how it worked and I couldn't see the chemistry at all. The Beach episode especially made me cringe.

And Mai herself is too cynical for my tastes. I usually love a good cynical and sarcastic character, but she in general just had a bad attitude and didn't seem to give much of a crap about anything and it bothered me. )8

[(Anonymous)]

I never really warmed up to Mai, and she's always been my least favorite of Ozai's Angels. She was just always kind of a big blah to me. Plus, it bothered me that we never actually got to see her and Zuko get together (in the actual show). We knew Mai had a crush on Zuko since she was a kid, but we never had any idea of what he thought of her. And then, randomly, BAM they're together and everyone's all blase about it.

I don't hate her or anything, I just find her generally uninteresting. She has her moments, but outside of that she's just...kind of around. I can't really fathom her inspiring intense hatred though.

[evil-little-dog.livejournal.com]

Not gonna lie, I see Mai as a saner version of Buffy the Vampire Slayer's Drusilla. That was my immediate reaction to her. I loved her immediately. That she's dangerous, cool, competent - she's like a younger, assassin version of Emma Peel, one of my favorite fem characters ever.

[insanenoodlyguy.livejournal.com]

Listen carefully OP.

Your friends may be Zutarians! Obviously, you are immune, so good on you right there.

Now, lookiing forward: You need new friends. But first, you need fire. Cleansing fire.

[(Anonymous)]

I like Mai. I support Zuko/Mai, and I thought she was a bamf for standing up to Azula in the end.

Tbh, the only female character I didn't really like was Suki because she was so uninteresting and didn't really do anything. She's like the Ginny Weasley of the A:TLA show. That said, I didn't hate her. In fact, I didn't really find anyone hateable -- except maybe the fire lord. XD

[(Anonymous)]

I'm a Zutara shipper and I loved her as a sidekick! She and Ty Lee were awesome henchmen and I loved them both through season 2!

Season 3... everything with them was handled... poorly.

It's hard to make a blase character appealing, and they did not do it well. They skipped over Mai and Zuko getting together (one of the most interesting parts of any relationship), so they were just kind of sitting there, brooding, which I found really obnoxious on both their parts. I did not want to watch Zuko mope around for 10 episodes, let alone Mai (who we did have less connection to than Zuko). Why would I watch them to sit there and brood together? If I wanted to see that, I'd go to the alley by the local high school, not watch an action-adventure cartoon with kung-fu Jesus.

hinodeh had a lot of good point in their post, but I also want to add that to me, Maiko was coded as part of what Zuko always wanted in the Fire Nation that no longer made him happy. She certainly didn't seem good for him (even if her crush was cute), and it worked well to show "This isn't what Zuko needs anymore," so having it be endgame just didn't make any sense for me. (I also liked her better as Azula's henchman than Zuko's girlfriend. I don't like to see the ladies as 'so-and-so's girlfriend' particularly when it takes away from their previous awesome... Suki was Sokka's girlfriend, but she still kicked ass; Mai didn't kick ass again until The Boiling Rock.)

Then again, I also have problems with Ty Lee not kicking ass, and how she didn't want to be part of a matching set... so she joined the Kyoshi warriors, wha?

[http://users.livejournal.com/_thirty2flavors/]

lol w/e Mai is awesome, sucks to be your friends.

[fauxkaren.livejournal.com]

lol. My experience is kind of the opposite. Everyone I'm friends with who is into ATLA ADORES Mai and I am just 'meh' on her and I didn't care for Mai/Zuko much at all.

Like, I don't DISLIKE Mai, but... I didn't care for her at all either. I thought both TyLee and Azula were more interesting.

[timbeon.livejournal.com]

I didn't hate Mai, but I didn't like her either. She was really boring, and just kinda... there. We never really got any insight into her as a person, and she didn't really go through any character development- it didn't feel like she learned anything or grew as a person. Her relationship with Zuko also felt kinda dropped on the series out of nowhere- the only setup was "she had a crush on him when they were little kids" and then suddenly they're making out.
She really just felt to me like her only reason for existing was to give Azula's team a third member and Zuko a girlfriend. And she worked great as one of Azula's henchmen- she rounded out the trio and was an entertaining counterpoint to Ty Lee. But she just wasn't a strong enough character to work well on her own, and they tried to make her work on her own and it failed.

[checkerblob.livejournal.com]

I love Mai <3

[ninety6tears.livejournal.com]

She's awesome, they're awesome. I shipped Katara/Zuko, but I still couldn't fight it.

[(Anonymous)]

I didn't like Mai BECAUSE she reminded me of when I was a teenager. I admit, I had that stupid goth phase, which makes me go all 'oh god why' whenever I remember it. God, I was stupid back then....

Anyway, the problem with Mai is that I don't find her snarkyness witty enough to be compelling, her emotional distance from all other characters was rather annoying and gave out the 'I'm better than thou vibe', her neutral stance got on my nerves as well - she didn't have any drive, motivation or just idk... it didn't seem like she wanted anything apart to hang out with her boyfriend.

In short, she was a typical teenager. I very much dislike teenagers.

[otakugal15.livejournal.com]

I found her very boring. Though I liked her turning on Azula. That was kick ass. But, that was it for me. Otherwise, I still find her so totally boring.

[nyxelestia.livejournal.com]

The answer in why so many of your friends hate her probably lies in how many of them are Zutara shippers.

Mai's one of my fave characters, too, and I tend to describe myself as a cross between her and Katara. Ironically, I don't ship either of them with Zuko. Jetko all the way!

[pts.livejournal.com]

Mai's great.

[(Anonymous)]

Ok doke, this is just my opinion and all but here it is.

I dont' like the Zuko/Katara ship. And I don't like the Zuko/Mai ship either. But I like Mai. I though she was freakin' awesome on her own. Does it make me a bad person if I love the character but hate the pairing?

Gotta admit though, Mai's one liners are pretty epic.