[ SECRET POST #1950 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #1950 ⌋

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

01.


__________________________________________________



02.


__________________________________________________



03.


__________________________________________________



04.


__________________________________________________



05.


__________________________________________________



06.


__________________________________________________



07.


__________________________________________________



08.


__________________________________________________



09.


__________________________________________________



10.


__________________________________________________



11.


__________________________________________________



12.


__________________________________________________



13.


__________________________________________________



14.


__________________________________________________



15.


__________________________________________________



16.


__________________________________________________



17.


__________________________________________________



18.


__________________________________________________



19.


__________________________________________________



20.


__________________________________________________







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

[(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

[amarra-jade.livejournal.com]

This.

[(Anonymous)]

This. Especially Zuko and Mai not having any chemistry. Which is kind of surprisingly because Zuko had chemistry with like...everyone.

[(Anonymous)]

And in MY opinion, they had chemistry in spades. Stop stating that nonsense as if it were irrefutable fact.

[amanda-violet.livejournal.com]

+1

[(Anonymous)]

If they had so much chemistry... what did they like about each other? I still cannot answer that question based on what was in the show. So take that as an honest question.

I agree that they did have some chemistry in the comic, but that's not the show...

[(Anonymous)]

Hmmm... if I had to flesh out what they like about each other, for a fanfic or similar...

I'd say that what Mai likes about Zuko is that he's always trying. She's seen him since he was young, since before he got burned (figuratively and literally) and covered up his idealistic desire to do better, to be better with all that brooding. She doesn't quite understand what he gets so upset about - she never got the refugee's-eye-view of the Fire Nation's rule that Zuko did, and frankly she's not as attuned to the needs of people outside her immediate circle as Zuko is - but she understands that he is feeling things deeply and pursuing them out of a passionate drive. And she admires that, because she long ago decided that her own strategy would be simply to stay where she was and snark about how shitty her situation was, rather than trying to act to change it.

Zuko, paradoxically, finds in Mai the peace of not having to beat out his brains with trying. Iroh loves Zuko deeply, but he also wants things from Zuko - wants him to grow past the Fire Nation mimdset and hopefully into the White Lotus mindset, wants him to respect the Avatar as key to the balance of the world. Mai doesn't really want anything from Zuko except to be there with her and not be *completely* McBroodyPants. All his life, Zuko has tried hard to not disappoint people - Mai is the first person since his mother disappeared that he can not-disappoint, just by being himself. It ultimately isn't enough for him - which is why he ends up leaving - but Mai tells him that it's *okay* for him to just chill and enjoy his returning-prodigal-son welcome - enjoy sending servants around, if that's fun for him. Zuko will always be a perfectionist with himself; he needs someone like Mai who can express in her sarcastic way, "I'd rather see you happy than perfect."

Dqng, now I wish I didn't have my plate already filled with original projects; I'd love to do a Zuko/Mai project that examines this dynamic!

[(Anonymous)]

They were stating their opinion, which is kind of what you're allowed to do on here. You think they had chemistry? Good for you. Your opinion is as valid as any others. Unfortunately for you, that also works the other way round.

[(Anonymous)]

That's only true to a point, because if you actively dislike something "a little too much", you get labeled a troll. Opinions aren't created equal around these parts.

(Not necessarily applicable to this secret, per se, but relevant to A:TLA secrets as a whole.)

[kyogres.livejournal.com]

Hahaha, tell me about it. I ship him with practically everyone except Mai (because I couldn't see the chemistry) and Katara (because I could see the chemistry in the first two seasons, but I think all chances of that pairing working out sunk after the season 2 finale).

[natural-blue-26.livejournal.com]

Which is kind of surprisingly because Zuko had chemistry with like...everyone.

Preach anon!

[millimaru.livejournal.com]

I even saw him having chemistry with Toph.

[barnabys-bane.livejournal.com]

These are my feelings exactly, though I don't really have much of an opinion of Mai as a character. She's just sort of...there.