CDHfilms-art In reply to ??? [2022-06-29 19:01:20 +0000 UTC]

👍: 1 ⏩: 0

swan-swan In reply to G-Blackwood [2010-10-30 06:29:31 +0000 UTC]

Because Mai's a pretty girl. XD

👍: 1 ⏩: 1

G-Blackwood In reply to swan-swan [2010-10-30 23:36:53 +0000 UTC]

True.

👍: 1 ⏩: 0

swan-swan In reply to nannypany [2010-07-11 06:08:26 +0000 UTC]

Oh, they're definitely knives...well, they're a combination, really. But they're more akin to throwing knives. A lot of them have only one blade, and none of them are actually shaped like stars...

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

nannypany In reply to swan-swan [2010-07-11 18:32:53 +0000 UTC]

i know not star whats is called I don't think they are knbives cuz my uncle got me a whateva its called kit and theyre shaped like that...

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

swan-swan In reply to nannypany [2010-07-12 03:55:12 +0000 UTC]

Shuriken?

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

nannypany In reply to swan-swan [2010-07-12 08:57:36 +0000 UTC]

I think...

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

swan-swan In reply to sylvacoer [2010-05-15 15:14:45 +0000 UTC]

Well, I'm sure that's included in the whole "thank-you" thing, too. XD

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

swan-swan In reply to Aslan1 [2009-09-21 20:14:13 +0000 UTC]

Hint: Zuko has hordes of screaming fangirls. Aang, notsomuch.

They're also not that practical, as the main basis for their relationships doesn't stem from flirtation and boldness, but rather, fidelity and persistence.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

swan-swan In reply to Miyiku [2009-02-18 06:15:37 +0000 UTC]

Yeah, there's a disappointing lack of those two...

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

swan-swan In reply to Gasty83 [2008-10-13 14:15:35 +0000 UTC]

She was talking about Zuko in a strictly business-like manner. She only grinned when Ty Lee teased her. And again, she probably never had the chance to grow too attached to Tom-Tom. If she didn't care about him, things have probably changed now, and there's a whole world of inner conflict and character development to explore there. Redemptive arcs require a starting point that's pretty darn low.

She didn't care about her family...that's a character flaw. It's what makes her interesting. It's a shocking one, but understandable. By the end of the show, though, she was so open and emotional that it was impossible for her to continue "not caring" about her family.

Especially with her connecting to Sokka and Katara--another brother and sister who are polar opposites of the brother and sister Mai had for primary reference: Zuko and Azula. And we all know how those turned out.

Even Mai's mom and HER brother...


....


...I'm going to need to write meta about this. Or get someone else to. Because there's a big connection there.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

swan-swan In reply to Gasty83 [2008-10-13 20:11:34 +0000 UTC]

I've watched that one so many times, I've practically got it memorized.

But let's go through Mai and Tom-Tom's interactions, just for kicks.

FIRST...our opening scene of Mai:

[link]

Now, here we have Mai and her mom being the main participants in the conversation (two female characters...talking about something other than a boy...Bechdel Litmus test passed! Well, almost, the mom is unnamed, but Ty Lee and Azula make up for that later...back to the main point), and we see that Mai is a typical teenager. Griping about being bored in a new place, but still sticking with her parents--you know that the whole way to the city she was going, "Are we there yet?" Her mom's holding Tom-Tom and telling Mai to smile and be happy because of all the perks they're getting; Mai's had so many perks throughout her life, though, that there's no pleasure to be had in them. She's not a material girl. She'd much rather do something than have something. All in all, though, not much about Mai and Tom-Tom's relationship here. Except that we may get a subtle vibe that the most interaction the two of them have is when Tom-Tom spits up on her shirt or keeps her up at night with his crying or whatever else he might be able to do that's annoying. He didn't exactly improve her life when he came along.

But when assassins strike...
[link]

[link]

...Mai puts all of these grudges behind her and reverts to that basic instinct of protection, changing her position so that she is in front of her mom and brother--before, her family was between her and the impact, but now, she has moved in front of them (not between, but halfway--it's still a shift, and a shift TOWARD the danger). It's not exactly heroic or noble, but it's certainly not cowardly. You know her speed and fighting instinct--she could have leaped away if she wanted to. But perhaps she has an underlying love for her family that drives her to protect them. Or maybe she's been raised and trained for the past few years with the mantra that it is her duty to protect them. A bodyguard, of sorts.

[link]

She then moves noticeably CLOSER to her mom and brother--the warrior-girl closes in on them. An ideal place to protect them--she's also on the Tom-Tom side. Or maybe her mom is holding Tom-Tom on the Mai side. Whatever the case, Tom-Tom is now in the safest location possible--like a herd of animals, the young are in the center while the adults ring them with protection.

[link]
By this point, Mai has already surveyed the danger and seen: [link]

"The Resistance!"

Now, you need to consider this from the perspective of the women--this is not Aang, the hero and the Avatar. As far as they can tell right now, it's these guys:

[link]

Who aren't even noble Earth Kingdom soldiers to them. And they weren't noble at all--in an unbiased light, they were would-be murderers of an innocent family. A mom and her sixteen-year-old daughter and two-year-old son. So Mai, thinking that she's up against those who tried to kill her and her family, promptly obliges her mother's indication and takes advantage of this sudden excuse to put her weapons skills to a real challenge.

[link]
[link]

She does so with a look of such sadistic delight that it makes her one of the winningest characters in the entire show. Unfortunately for the argument at hand, this pleasure is not the look of a woman determined to protect her family and those she cares about--or is it?

[link]

I'm not so sure that it IS the same look, because I'm not so sure I want her motivation in this scene to be family protection, anyway. It's cooler if she just went after the Gaang because she felt like it.

The next day, the whole family goes out to watch the routine morning exodus.

[link]
[link]


And Mai's dad is like, "That's weird, I haven't seen any frogs or flaming hail lately--and my water was completely blood-free this morning--ah, well, let 'em out."

[link]

And so they do, and during all of this political hullabaloo, and during this time, Tom-Tom makes his escape. Mai and Tom-Tom's only interaction in this scene is the complete lack of interaction. She doesn't pay him any attention, of course, and her inattentiveness is surpassed only, in fact, by the boy's own mother, who has set her son down on a balcony to hug her husband dramatically. My guess (made up on the spot right here) is that after the excitement of last night's events, she REALLY NEEDED some early-morning...exercise. I mean, both she AND her husband were gone during the day while Tom-Tom played alone in the nursery. Mai was probably sulking in her own room, or else she'd been assigned to watch the kid and completely blown it off, but that's unlikely as her parents bore her no ill-will on the balcony that coming night.

[link]

Here is where we learn the most about how Mai's family works.

[link]

Mai's mom is overemotional (at least she cares), and Mai is doing what any teenager would do when they see their mom crying over something silly like her son being kidnapped, and waiting for her to grow up. She's in that phase of her life, where it's embarassing to see your parents doing anything. HOWEVER, there are several things to note here that point to Mai actually caring, to some extent, about her mom.

First is the fact that she's actually looking at her and standing beside her. She's not lost in her own thoughts while leaning against a pillar; she's standing next to her, probably considering whether or not it would be proper to put an arm around her shoulders, or hug her, or maybe just walk away until the woman's gotten over herself. Yes, it's cold and rude, but Mai probably wanted to cry a lot during her life and her mom always scolded her, and now here she is breaking down and crying worse than her missing kid.

Her years of hard work finally paying off, Mai's mom has successfully turned her daughter into an unexpressive machine. What we see is a conflict of two interests--the first is what Mai has always been taught, the whole "don't speak unless spoken to" thing that keeps her from expressing herself (which comes with a poker face that keeps the audience from ever knowing what Mai is thinking); the training has done its job perfectly, and the part of Mai that is conscious of the damage this has done to her is probably feeling an evil, satisfied sense of vengeance and "serves you right." But then there's the other part of her--the instinct of a daughter and a family member. It's not as strong as it could be, but it's there, and it is currently trying to make up its mind as to whether or not it should cuddle the weeping woman, or just join in and turn this snivelling solo into a duet. The cold, unfeeling nature resulting from years of living in a fascist regime and the soft, compassionate instinct that keeps her human fight it out for a few moments, before they finally compromise and settle on handing Mom a hanky.

[link]

It's like winching her face into a smile. It takes time, but eventually, she comes up with something.

[link]

And then her mom goes right back to bawling, and Mai is like, "Okay, I did something nice. Where's the warm and fuzzy feeling?" She doesn't get it, exactly. And it's hilarious. This is just one of those five-second scenes providing such a healthy dose of comedy that Avatar is known for. Mai's like, "I've ALWAYS got to be the adult around here! All the time!"

But her dad (who's pretty cool) is like, "Hey, I'm an adult, too, and I say that we trade the Earthbending king for my son!"

[link]

At which point Mai is like, "Oh, yeah, great idea--you just get appointed to a new political position, and your first act in office is to kick all of the prisoners of war out of the city so that they can continue fighting elsewhere and completely uproot the economy and structure of your city, thereby hurting the profits and killing ANY chance you have of reelection in a hypothetical democracy...and now your SECOND act is going to be freeing their KING for your own son--have you talked this over with the Fire Lord, because I'm sure he's going to be REALLY pleased when he reads your weekly report. Me, I'm going to be booking the four of us tank-train tickets to the farthest corner of the Earth Kingdom, because as soon as Tom-Tom gets back, he's going to be joining us on the list of 'eople to execute'."

And Mai's dad is like:

[link]

"You know, sometimes family doesn't leave you any choice on what you can do. Sometimes it's worth the risk because you couldn't live with yourself if you had to go the rest of your life thinking about what you gave up to make it that far."

And Mai's like: "You're such a wimp. Like I'll ever have to make that sort of decision..."

But the next day, she finds herself pondering the merits of such a proverb, and wondering what she would do if she ever had to make a decision like that. Her thoughts are interrupted, though, when she sees:

[link]

THE DAUGHTER OF THE FIRE LORD???

[link]

And she's like, "Oh, %^&#!!! They found out ALREADY???"

[link]

But she makes a wry comment on the subject and greets her old "friend":

[link]

And then smiles with humor as she knows that this has to be something completely different. The pink one was the big tip-off.

[link]

Azula's close proximity and friendly nature are also big tip-offs that Azula wants something. She never hugs unless you have candy. Or money. Or something in your pockets that she can grab and burn.

[link]

Ty Lee, on the other hand, is like cat hair--she just clings to you no matter what. Even if you don't have a cat. And Mai's like, "Wait, didn't you run off to be HAPPY? Why are you with her? And why are you here? There's no happiness here! They attack you with rocks and kidnap your brother and don't even hang around to let you fight them!"

[link]

And Ty Lee's like, "Well, I know that, but it's hard to be happy when you're dead, which was the alternative Azula gave me in her offer, so here I am! And if you want to stay alive--well, you know, so to speak--you'd better take whatever offer she gives you, too."

Only she says it in the code that the two of them worked out when they were kids so that they could keep Azula from tormenting them without her knowing what they were doing. It's much more subtle and cool.

[link]

And Azula's like, "Hey, you want to come on a mission with me?"

And Mai's like, "Oh, heck, yes, I mean, it's not like my family's leaving tomorrow night for a remote island you'll never find on an illegally purchased train because my dad is messing up with his job or anything...count me in!" Actually, she probably went because she was bored and she didn't fancy making the beast any angrier than she was already going to be.

Unfortunately, Azula's like, "Awwww, I wanted to threaten your parents, I had such a good speech in mind and--where are all the Earth Kingdom people who should be bowing to me?"

And Mai's like, "Um...about that..."

And Azula's like, "YAY, I GET TO BE MEAN!!!"

And Mai's like, "This could work to my advantage..."


END PART ONE.

Because it seems to be too long of a reply to fit....

👍: 0 ⏩: 2

Gasty83 In reply to swan-swan [2008-10-19 17:43:20 +0000 UTC]

Even when you wrote your ass off I still think that she doesn't even care about her brother's well being

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

swan-swan In reply to Gasty83 [2008-10-20 02:44:24 +0000 UTC]

I don't think she did, either, or at least, not to the point where it had a chance of influencing her actions. Again, the thing about being redeemed is that you need to start out in a bad place. Mai was a villain. Now she's a hero. She finally found something to care about in her messed up life, and that sort of feeling can spread. And I'm sure it will. It makes her more dynamic. On some level, though, she HAD to have cared for her brother. Mike and Bryan wouldn't have given her the storyline they did if she was really as cold as some suggest she is. To be accurate about a character, you always have to think about what the creators had in minnd.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0