#and it's like she has consistent thoughts and opinions like a regular person you're too caught up in conflating every reaction she has

[mollysunder]

Idk who needs to hear this, but in the event Jinx and Viktor do partner up, Jinx is the more normal one of the two. Imo people in Zaun LIKE Jinx better than Viktor. Viktor's association with Jinx alone is damage control for his reputation.

If you think about it for even 10 seconds, you'd see how Viktor is just an offputting dude. Yeah Jinx has volatile outbursts of destruction, but that's concentrated at specific people and at Piltover. Jinx isn't out here performing strange feats of blood magic that turns innocent bystanders (Sky) to dust. Jinx dealing with hextech recognizes it's dangerous (it connects to the realm of Heebie Jeebies) and is hesitant with it. Viktor knows he doesn't know what he's doing and just keeps going. That's worse, that's so much more dangerous.

You could say that Viktor's well-meaning and eventually develops a cult following from it. But one, Jinx has a cult too, and it's more successful (they steal real estate). Two, Viktor's time in Piltover has really skewed what needs to be done. At best, as a part of the hextech duo, Viktor might have improved workplace safety with his inventions, maybe, but not really. He wants to help Zaun, but he's lost the plot in the frenzy of Piltover's trade expansion.

Ironically, Jinx almost certainly has a better handle on understanding Zaun's politics and issues than Viktor ever did. Jinx spent her formative years at the top of Zaun's hierarchy while being raised by the defacto kingpen/political leader and actively enforced Silco's regime as well. So Jinx knows who and what's up in Zaun because she kind of made it happen, lol.

Tldr: Between Viktor and Jinx, Jinx is the more charismatic and likable figure to Zaunites. Take a step back and notice how Viktor is an extra level of weird compared to Jinx.

[an-aspiring-jester]

Hi I have a question and want to hear your thoughts! A lot of anti-Maiko arguments claim that Mai was completely unaware/does not align with Zuko’s moral codes and mission, for example in stopping the fire nations imperialism. This therefore means that they don’t work in a relationship. I want to hear your thoughts, specifically if you choose to debunk this claim! Thank you!

Hi! Thanks for the ask! I don't know if you're the same anon as before but I love seeing (and talking to!) other maiko fans on this site! <3

To start off, I don't think the show gives us any concrete evidence of Mai's political views, so my response consists mostly of canon-compliant headcanons that I think make sense for her character.

Mai's main problem is her passivity. So frankly, I think she never questioned Fire Nation's imperialism because she had no reason to! (Or even the opportunity - remember that everyone in the Fire Nation is spoon-fed the propaganda since early childhood, and the only time she went out she was traveling with Azula) But, judging from her apathy in Omashu, her view can be summed up as something like "why bother conquering other nations, we already have everything we need in the capital, it's more trouble than it's worth/it's boring." What she does have strong opinions about (I think) is the absolute power of the Firelord - the guy branded and banished his own son for speaking out of turn - what can a regular citizen do? I talked about it before - she views maintaining the status quo and playing by the Firelord's rules as a way to keep Zuko (and herself) safe. Add her own stifling upbringing where she was forbidden to express her opinions, and you see why she never speaks against the regime. Even talking about it with Zuko can be potentially dangerous - the walls have ears, after all.

(Purely headcanon territory: I think one of the reasons she fell for Zuko in the first place was his earnestness in speaking up against mistreatment of others - be it the fountain incident, or opposing the slaughtering of young Fire Nation soldiers. And she saw how that turned out for him. I believe the Agni Kai trauma made her even more reluctant to stand up for anything.)

And now the turning point - the Boiling Rock. Mai's whole arc is about overcoming her apathy and passivity and finally finding the courage and the drive to stand up and FIGHT for what's important to her. And let's not kid ourselves, she didn't do it for any political agenda, but for ZUKO. But it doesn't make it any less impactful. It's just the first step for her! I see no reason why she wouldn't become a supporting and politically-aware queen by Zuko's side? It's not like she threw a fit over keeping Fire Nations colonies or insisted on staying spoiled and unbothered in Caldera - we see her in Earth Kingdom clothes, peacefully interacting with Zuko's friends!!! She has time to learn about the world and different cultures now that the danger is over, and there's no Azula's shadow looming over her, ready to report any perceived treachery if her opinions stray from the universally accepted.

I'll give antis that - maiko probably WOULDN'T work out long-term if Mai stayed her uninterested, apathetic self. This (among other things) is why they had communication problems during the show. But the whole POINT is that she grows as a person and will CONTINUE to do so after the show! It's never too late to change! Mai didn't have to actively help Zuko stop the war (though saving his life was a pretty important step for that!), it's enough that she'll help him shape a better future for the Fire Nation and the world!

There's a long way still ahead of them but what we are shown in the finale makes me very optimistic about these two. :)

I don't know if you're satisfied with my answer but that's basically my opinion on the matter. I'm really glad you reached out! (And kinda flattered you wanted to hear MY thoughts XD I'm just a nobody chilling in my corner XD)

[south-park-meta]

What are your thoughts on the boys' parents? This is for no reason other than I like reading your answers.

Aw thanks!

When I was a kid and watched South Park a handful of times, I started off liking pretty much everyone but Gerald. I thought the other parents could be dicks but they were the kind of dickish parents that I related to more myself/were parents that either my friends or I had. Pluuuus in early seasons the big thing Gerald was was condescending, and one of my biggest button-pressers as a kid (and now lol) was people talking down to me or acting like I was dumb.

I still mostly like earlier seasons Sheila, Sharon, and Randy, though with a more adult perspective not so much for the McCormicks since there's active physical abuse shown....

Liane I've never had much of an opinion on. How the show approaches her has always seemed the least consistent of any of main parents to me. It feels more like fitting her into a role rather than the show being shaped around her responses sometimes. That happens a bit with the other parents but I think it's worse with her for me since she has less screen time outside of that.

As the show's gone on I've liked the moms more and the dads less overall. Sharon and Sheila are both supportive moms in their own ways. They both want what's best for their kids, encourage them to talk, and encourage medical or psychiatric treatment pretty readily. I think Stan and Kyle both have relatively healthy relationships with their moms, and when BIG problems come up they're decently willing to go to their moms for advice. I've seen Sheila in particular criticized for making Kyle 'scared' to talk to her but he seems scared in a regular kid way to me, not ACTUALLY scared he's going to get hurt by her or anything. Tbh Stan seems less willing to talk to his mom than Kyle does to me, and that's because the Marsh family on a whole has built a weird dynamic around ignoring issues rather than because he's scared his mom will hurt him, too.

Gerald's a character I never liked to start with and pm can't STAND now. All his recent plots suck, he's a terrible person and basically irredeemable. His brand of shittiness is often a lot more 'everyday' than a lot of the other shittiness in South Park which doesn't help. Like you're going to run into a smug Yelper, or a troll who suicide baits online, a lot faster than you'll run into a lot of the ways they've run Randy's character down like blowing up houses and shit like that. They've made him more human in the most negative way possible. I'm also not really thrilled with it because so much of it is tied up in negative Jewish stereotypes and caricature. Which was always true but seems a lot more straightforward, with Gerald being less self-aware or reflective, than it used to be. He's a terrible dad and was also closer to Kyle when Kyle listened to him unquestionably. He puts Kyle down more now because Kyle doesn't just listen to him without thought.

Randy's a tough one for me because I relate enough to Stan that I want his relationship with his dad to be net positive. That was something that was truer in the early seasons. Early on, even if Randy did something stupid that could've gotten Stan hurt or killed, it still seemed clear enough that he didn't want anything bad to happen to any of his family. A lot of his earlier behavior seemed at worst ignorant, at best a 'his heart was in the right place'. I've seen a few people flip a switch on Randy when it came to Post Covid because not only did he spend solid decades blaming Stan (and went right back to 'no YOU fucking killed our family' seconds after forgiving him and telling him it wasn't his fault lol) but seemed to genuinely care more that Tegridy burned than that his family was destroyed.

To me the moments that get me more are actually Stan and Randy's interactions in episodes like Band in China. Like when Randy says he's not going to see the band perform and tosses that hemp shirt in Stan's face. That's a rough one for me because like, Stan is TRYING to connect with his dad and actually articulate the problem and Randy tells him to fuck off. AND Stan still actually does wear the hemp shirt even though Randy's not even going to be around?? While I guess there's an element of saying 'fuck the farm' in that considering the content of the song, I don't think that's all there is. The level of wanting Randy's approval and wanting Randy to listen to him while getting multiple essential 'fuck you's is just really sad to me. I'm hard pressed to root for Randy now but I like enough of their early seasons' relationship to want it to turn around.