I Think The Other Really Important Distinction That Gets Lost Is Fandom Stories Published On E.g. Ao3

I think the other really important distinction that gets lost is fandom stories published on e.g. ao3 vs. stories that are marketed and sold by publishing houses/Hollywood/whatever for the purpose of making money off the people who will pay to consume that story.

In the second case, there is a limited amount of resources that can be invested into a limited number of stories, and those stories have to be both well written enough to be readable and compelling to an audience and thus worth that audience spending money on them, and have enough broad appeal that the people putting in resources to create this thing and get it out into the world will get back more than they put in. In this case, the thing to do is make it clear that you as an audience member want more diverse stories, and that lots of other people do to. At the same time, advocate for more diverse writers/editors/artists/etc to be hired or given a chance on their work (and advocate for more hiring diversity across the board, tbh).

In the first case though, literally this is the easiest space to add more diversity to the collection of stories available for people to read. Sign up for an account, and write a story. It's not great, because you aren't the best writer? Your fic is full of so many plot holes it could be mistaken for swiss cheese? You struggle with motivation and can only write little things that get like 20 kudos and were maybe read by 100 people each? That's okay, half the fanfiction full of tropes you hate is in the same boat!

But maybe one of those people who read your fic was inspired to write their own with some of those ideas that you wanted to see. Maybe they shared it with a friend who writes, or got inspired to create some new headcanons that inspired a stranger a few steps down the line on tumblr. Maybe none of that happened the first dozen times you wrote a little drabble of a story, but over time you found yourself writing better things, writing longer things, writing with more nuance and care and energy that comes from practicing a thing until the parts that used to exhaust you now give you energy back instead, and one day you look at your ao3 account and realize that the latest story you wrote was actually really good and people loved it.

And while you're writing those stories of your own, or still practicing but haven't quite gotten up to a full story you want to share just yet, go find some things you love that other people wrote and give them a comment, even if it's just to say, "Nice story! I love how creative this was!" Share some headcanons of your own on tumblr, and share other people's headcanons that you'd like to see more of. Bookmark the stories that you think are worth sharing with other people. Bookmark tabs with stories that you maybe didn't love-love but did want to leave a comment on, if only you had more energy to leave a comment, so that you can come back and leave that comment later.

Create the kind of content you want to see, and support other people who are creating content you find interesting even if it's not the best story you've ever read.

Fandom is the easiest place to leave your own mark, to create your own content and share it with other fans. At the same time, plenty of fans are young and still learning, or older but new to this whole "fandom" gig, or tentatively returning after time away, or older and still learning because we are all still learning new things no matter how long we've been around, and the best way to encourage them to stick around and keep growing is to be kind. To be supportive when you read something and liked it even a bit, even enough just to say, "That was fun! Thank you for writing and sharing it!"

There is such a strange, nuanced distinction between a trope being okay at the micro-level and problematic at the macro level, and I don’t think we appreciate it enough.

Like, let’s take one trope for example: the old 80′s “career woman is unfulfilled and unhappy until she Finds Love and quits her job for a man.”

I think a lot has been said about this being a sexist trope. But I would argue that on its own, it’s actually… fine? It could even be an important story to someone, depending on execution. Because, well–work isn’t fulfilling for most people! Lots of workers, even in very high earning jobs, get burned out and are sort of encouraged to stay in this unhealthy rat race where all that matters is make line go up.

Of course a relationship can be more fulfilling than a job! Damn!

But. But.

While an individual story about a woman going “work sucks, fuck this, I actually just want to have a torrid romance and leave to have wild sex with a muscley lumberjack in the hills” doesn’t necessarily have to be sexist…. that kind of story being the overwhelming majority is.

One snowflake is harmless. A snowstorm is not.

One story about a woman being better off not working is harmless. Every single story being about it, in a culture that pressures women into having less independence and power, is not. 

So then what do you do? Do you tell everyone who wants to write their cheesy lumberjack romcom to stop? Will that even work?

Oh man, kids these days...

Still acting like human kids, but now I have the fully developed brain and multitude of life experience to contextualize their actions in ways that I couldn't contextualize my own when I was their age, not to mention different priorities as an adult than the ones I had as a kid, so oh boy do all these decisions made by kids these days look baffling to my adult perspective!

Kids these days. So weird.

Yes, I think these are some really good points, too! As a child, Zuko is outright told by Ozai that he will learn through suffering, right before Ozai burns him in that sham of an Agni Kai. Zuko responds to this act of cruelty by spending the next three years desperately trying to please his father and become the sort of man his father apparently wants in a child, all so that he can return home to a man who abuses him. He has been told that the Fire Nation are the good guys who want what is best for the world, lead by his father the Fire Lord who wants what is best for his children, too. From the perspective of the Zuko who believes in this propaganda, he is doing everything in his power to "earn" the right to return to the Fire Nation. At the same time, the other nations are fighting against becoming a part of the Fire Nation. For the Zuko who believes that he brought Ozai's cruelty on himself through his bad behavior and can't imagine anything worse than never getting to go home, it would be baffling to see anyone else not just refusing to join the Fire Nation but outright fighting against being colonized by them.

Zuko had to unlearn the lie of his own accountability in the case of his father's cruelty towards him, before he could be ready to let himself learn what he and his nation should be held accountable for in perpetuating the war.

My thoughts on Iroh tend to be a bit fuzzier, in part because it did seem like the writers occasionally added new aspects to his character (such as the White Lotus involvement) without fully considering how those things might hang together with previous actions we'd seen from him. That makes it bit hard to get a fully coherent analysis of his character, and easier to read thoughtless or even outright sinister intent into some of his character beats. However, I do tend to lean towards agreeing with you, that Iroh was a complex character placed in a difficult situation in charge of a deeply traumatized teenage boy who still bought into his father's dangerous ideology, and that he did his best to love and support Zuko from within the boundaries of the situation and his own abilities as a teacher. I think he didn't always know how to connect with Zuko, but I also think he wanted that connection even when he wasn't sure how to say so in a way that Zuko might be able/willing to hear.

Every so often I see the argument that Zuko's journey through the Earth Kingdom was necessary in Season 2, because he had to learn empathy (or empathy for the Earth Kingdom, at least). I have to disagree with this argument.

Zuko didn't lack empathy, before or after being burned. He lacked:

Emotional intelligence (very much not helped by the fact that he was an abused kid who was slow at picking up social skills, and then a very traumatized kid tossed onto a tiny boat with a fresh burn, a crew of adults who didn't respect him, and an uncle who didn't know how to communicate with him, and given a quest that was meant to be impossible by the father who had burned him and claimed it was for his own good)

Acceptance that his father didn't love him, but this was not Zuko's fault nor his responsibility to 'correct' by fulfilling an impossible quest/making himself less compassionate/magically becoming a more powerful firebender/etc (I feel like this one should speak for itself)

Accurate understanding of how his nation was treating the rest of the world (very much due to growing up surrounded by propaganda about how great his country was, and then banished with a crew of Fire Nation soldiers who had grown up with the same propaganda, and his Uncle - the Fire Nation Prince and former General who had led armies in the Fire Nation's war - who seemed to communicate with Zuko primarily through vague philosophical ideas, proverbs that Zuko consistently made clear he did not understand, and questions about Zuko's motives - generally asked in such a way as to make it clear that Iroh thought he already knew the 'right' answer before he asked the question)

Zuko didn't need to learn empathy. He needed to learn that his country was the aggressor in a war against people who primarily wanted to defend their own homes and families from the violence brought by his nation, and he needed to learn that Ozai was wrong for treating empathy and compassion like bad things.

PICK YOUR BATTLES! SOME BATTLES AREN'T YOURS! SO PUT THEM BACK!

Zuko | Sketches