Just kick me out of my first real fandom now

[terajk]

I should probably not admit this in public:

[Vague Avatar: The Last Airbender spoilers are vague, but possibly not vague enough]


My love of women with disabilities being awesome and interdependent together is officially out of the realm of all that is good and holy. Because, Internet, I have seen Avatar: The Last Airbender, and I want the impossible: something post-canon in which Toph and Azula have a scam-tastic field trip adventure, evading and outsmarting ableist asshats and punching them in the face.

After 24 hours of thinking, I could see this working if and only if all these conditions (and those I haven't thought of) are met:

1) They're both under MAJOR threat from (probably) the same ableist asshat(s)--like someone/a group of someones who will bring them back to where they can be looked after 24/7. Which would mean that Zuko is a jerkass and the fangirls will cry Toph's parents have learned nothing. They're clueless, but not that clueless.

2) Azula doesn't/can't just fix #1 by killing it (and Toph) with fire.

3) Each of them has skills the other doesn't, which are necessary for dealing with #1.

4) Each of them realizes (and admits) the other has skills that she doesn't and that those skills are necessary for dealing with #1 in a "Without them I am screwed" sort of way.

5) Both of them can put aside their do-it-myselfness long enough to do #4 at all, let alone think of team-uppery. (Toph has a hard enough time doing that with people who haven't tried to kill her for two seasons).

6) They would need to see each other as equals. And Azula...well, no.

7) Before 3-6 can happen, they would need lots of time to ignore each other/do horrible things to each other/ try to sell each other out to #1.

8) It doesn't end up looking like a Bugs Bunny cartoon.

9) It has a plot.

Which is, of course, beyond ridiculous. (Doing blasphemous things to canon? I've never done that.) And yet, I will probably definitely keep thinking about this because I want it WITH ALL MY HEART. Sigh.

Comments

Re: Not an intrusion at all!

[rydra_wong]

But, yes, you're so right: aiming for Katara is entirely an attempt to use this power.

*nods a lot*

I hadn't clicked on that, but it's completely right. And it's the only way she can understand that power -- she gets "X cares about Y", but she can only comprehend it as a way to hurt or bribe someone -- e.g. with Sokka, or by setting up Zuko and Mai. She can only see it as weakening people, making them stupid and easy to manipulate.

Re: Not an intrusion at all!

[fulselden]

Oh, good point re the comic - I'd forgotten about that (though, as you can see, I have a deep fondness for fish-on-head Zuko).

And the way her perfect-party-planning skills are straight out of a schmoopy romance novel is also telling - she's playing it entirely by the book, because she sees this kind of thing from the outside. Though she does know Mai wouldn't appreciate a pink tablecloth!