#Avatar Essay

[thewolfprince]

Saw a post (by a white supremacy OP) that was basically Jake Sully betrayed his species for “blue (slur) cat girl p*ssy”

Which is absolutely incorrect and already has a wonderful response using dialogue from the movie. I can’t remember who made the amazing response but I’m here for another one.

I checked the reblogs and someone asked (and I’m putting this in short, sweet, non-slur words) if the US military has all this technology and the Avatar program and putting people into cryosleep - why didn’t they heal Jake?

I present two reasons, and they both lead to my final theory (*cough* thesis statement *cough) which I will present first:

The US military was never going to heal Jake and “give him his legs back” (not sure if this is the exact quote from the movie but I’m fairly certain it’s at least close).

First, I believe Jake in the eyes of the US Military is nothing but another foot soldier. Another grunt, another Marine. The only reason he got into the Avatar program was because his brother Tommy died and they didn’t want the Avatar to go to waste and cost thousands of dollars. So they brought in Jake.

Secondly, and the more important point: they were using Jake’s own disability as leverage against him to get him to do what they wanted. Why would they bother to feed the horse the carrot when they can keep dangling it just out of reach? Evil Military Guy, after one of Jake’s missions, tells him “keep this up and we can get you your legs back.” He knows that Jake wants to walk again. It’s the perfect leverage to keep Jake under his thumb to extract information from him about the Avatar program and the Omatikaya people.

And of course once the military wipes the tribe out and gets their investor’s ore, what reason would they need to keep Jake around? None. Why pay hundreds of thousands of dollars when you can simply kill the dude and say “oh no, the wilds of Pandora got him!”?

Once I watch Avatar again I’ll probably reblog this with stuff that I missed.

[sutxdreamwalker]

My predictions for Avatar 3

So I hav some plot ideas in my head for what’s gonna happen in avatar 3 based on theories and sneak peaks we got.

So we all know that Quaritch and the RDA are gonna team up with the Ash Clan so things are gonna go down.

And we know that Spider is gonna have a very important role, definitely after the whole bonding with Quaritch then leaving him and is definitely now living with the Sully’s, he’s gonna be caught in some conflict, as in found family conflict.

Like Quaritch would want to have his father and son like relationship with Spider again, and Jake is probably gonna treat Spider like an equal but Spider might not be accepting of that since, well, he was neglected by him, did not really give a fuck about him, like when he got captured he didn’t worry about him, he only worried if he was gonna spill any information (which he would never do), and in the comics he upright told him to turn himself over to the RDA cause he couldn’t keep up while they were being shot at, he didn’t think about whether he was gonna live or not by turning himself in, and before that when Spider was gonna leave his “foster family” when the RDA returned Jake let his family take him when he didn’t want to and when Kiri wanted Spider stay with him. So Spider ain’t gonna see Jake as a possible father figure no more.

Anyway, also from a spoilers image it seems he’ll go threw some body horror kind of thing with the help of Kiri, cause we see him having a kuru, so maybe he might not get an avatar, but maybe he’ll be some hybrid na’vi kind of thing probably towards the end of the movie.

Now for theories on the Ash Clan, we know fire is gonna symbolic for them, and they are not gonna be nice, and we already know there leader Varang, we don’t know Nah other Ash Clan na’vi characters, but I’m thinking there are gonna be some na’vi who will be by Varang’s side. I’m also thinking that maybe, just maybe, cause it’s a bit of a clique, that at least one Ash Clan na’vi will not like what is happening or realize what there doing is wrong so they’ll switch sides and help out the good guys. I’m thinking this na’vi might be around the same age as the kids or an adult who might be a warrior or smt.

And we’re also gonna be introduced to new biomes and na’vi who have adapted to those biomes, not just the Ash na’vi but also desert na’vi who are known as the “wind traders” who will most likely be a nomadic kind of clan that go around and trade. We have already seen a nomadic clans in the avatar franchise, such as the Sarentu and Zeswa in Frontiers of Pandora.

So I’m thinking the desert na’vi will have a darker skin tone, like dark blue/purple, and will have strips that will resemble big cats that live out in a desert, and this will be a uncommon idea but I’m thinking they’ll have eyelashes similar to a camel, so just listen, camels have long eyelashes to protect them from sand, so the desert na’vi might have adapted to have that same ability.

I also like to think they’ll have this clothing were they cover there heads to also protect from sand (since maybe the eyelashes might not be so long and aren’t as resilient in a sand storm) and have lose clothes to be able to move fast and stay cool in the hot environment. The clothes might be beige with an away of color patterns.

And for getting around I’m thinking they have these windsurfing boards/boats since they are called the windtraders they might use wind and possibly sandstorms to there advantage, so they might be like the Sandbenders from Atla and the Fremen from Dune. And like the Zeswa I’m thinking they’ll have this bind with a giant creature that helps carry there stuff as they travel, like something of a Bantha form Star Wars but even bigger, and maybe some predator that lives in the sand (like a sad worm) and the desert na’vi use some tool to attract it (like from Dune).

And we’re getting introduced to a new Na’vi character, Peylak, we have no idea what his roles gonna be but from the only image we have it seems he’s a good guy, and I’m thinking he’ll be a desert na’vi or maybe Ash clan, or Metkayina, we’ll have to wait and see.

And another new biome we’ll be introduced to is Pandoras arctic biome, ice na’vi will come into the picture. We don’t know when they’ll be seen but I hope it’s soon.

My theory for what they’ll look like it is some pale skin maybe, not white like those AI images, but more like a pale like blue, or I’ve seen some art with them with purple skin that is cool and they might have that, or a combination of the both. And they’ll wear more covered clothing to protect them from the cold, but they might not wear much because they might of adapted to resist the cold. The clothes will most definitely be similar to Artic Indigenous people clothing, or be like people from the ice age maybe.

The animals that might appear I igumane would be these woolly mammoth type creatures they’ll use to get around and penguin like creatures that have two sets of flippers.

Lo’ak has been confirmed to be the next narrator at the beginning of the movie and the movie might focus on him, so we get to see him how he is now after Neteyam’s death, and will see his relationship with Tsireya play out more. He might get some kind of character growth of some kind.

Now for the movies plot, I’m thinking it will be like this:

Lo’ak narrates what has happened after the events of The Way of Water, we see scenes of moments that play through of what happened, like maybe the Metkayina joining Jakes resistance, Ao’nung’s tattoo ceremony, Ronal’s baby birth/first breath, Spider adapting to the Metkayina tribe.

Then maybe it will skip to Quaritch and Lyle back at Bridehead or some part of Pandora, if at Bridgehead they might one in some real trouble with Ardmor after not only getting Jake, but also loosing a Seadragon and their whole recom team. If it’s some part of Pandora, it’s probably cause they have no idea what to do and this might be the moment they might discovered the Ash Clan.

Then cut back to the Sully’s maybe there planning on what might happen and how to defend the oceans now.

Then some other stuff happens, and maybe some scene with Spider and Kiri, then some Metkayina from another clan rush to tell Jake that some new threat is here which would be the Ash na’vi and he decides to investigate, Lo’ak and Spider maybe come along and possibly Kiri and Tuk just tags along.

Then the investigation leads to the Ash na’vi taking Kiri, Lo’ak and Tuk maybe as hostages, and Jake and Spider find Quaritch and Lyle and they might have some awkward child custody moment with Spider then they decided a short truce just to get Jake’s kids back.

Then it results in them getting capture then Quaritch and Lyle joining the Ash Clan and Lo’ak gets rescued by Jake and Spider, but Kiri and Tuk are still held as hostages then the movie escalated with a big battle or smt at the end.

Idk, but maybe Jake finding Quaritch in the woods might not happen, instead he might have already joined the Ash Clan.

Anyway that’s all I got for this, this entirely small essay, yea 😅

[tickledpink31]

A thought about Princess Yue from the Live Action AtLA

So, I did watch all 8 episodes of Netflix's Avatar just to give it a fair chance. I went in thinking that this is obviously not going to be as good as the original, and I thought it was okay. There are things I that liked and things that I didn't. At least I was feeling some excitement as opposed to the emotionless drag that was the live action movie. At least I get to shamelessly eat up all that Zutara scarfgate content.

But there was this thing that was bothering me in the back of my mind. It's gotten to the point where I actually jotted down notes before my shift at work started, as if I'm writing an essay for school and I don't want to lose my ideas because of my squirrel brain. You've read the header, it's about our favourite Moon Princess and her relation to the patriarchal system of the Northern Water Tribe.

We all love to complain about how Sokka's sexist to upcoming feminist character arc was taken away, and I do too, but I'd like to complain about the inconsistencies of the worldbuilding in this post.

In episode 7, we get this scene:

And in the very next scene we get this:

And I thought, "Huh, something's not right here."

I don't know about you, but a culturally sexist tribe wouldn't allow a woman to do something like that, at least not without her fighting for that right. You might say that, "Oh, but Hahn said breaking off the engagement is her prerogative. She's a princess."

I say nay. If she could do that in the original cartoon, then why was she so moved to tears after hearing about Kanna and Pakku's arranged marriage.

It's never explicitly said, but something tells me that Yue wouldn't have been allowed to reject Hahn's proposal even if she wanted to. It won't matter if she's in higher a position than Hahn. She's a woman and that's that.

Yue breaking off her engagement in the live action doesn't feel like a progressive move, but a conflicting part of the worldbuilding. We end up losing the tragedy of Yue's role as a woman and how that arc pairs well with Katara going toe-to-toe with the tribe's chauvinistic waterbending traditions. The Water Tribe's misogyny is not just about how women aren't allowed in combat, it's about the little things too. It's about how decisions are made for women by men, how women are told to know their place, how they don't have a say in who they marry, and how even men are made to feel emasculated if they stray too far from the "ideal" man's customs.

I do have a way to fix this, though. You want a Yue fighting for her rights? Here are some suggestions:

I love the original Yue the way she is. We love a soft-spoken and compassionate princess, but it's fine if the live action wants to give her a sprinkle of rebellion, just a sprinkle. Maybe you could SHOW Yue tirelessly fighting tooth and nail to break off her engagement.

You can characterize Hahn in the same way as the original—an egotistical warrior. The arrangement ended up forcing Yue's hand, so she decided that she won't have much to lose if she took a stand for herself.

Maybe because of her willingness to break traditional customs, the elders of the tribe are beginning to show Yue less and less respect than they used to.

Yue's defiance is a slow burn arc. Perhaps she and Katara bond even more and Katara's natural fury and rebelliousness rubs off on Yue, so she decides to stick it to Hahn.

Man, I cannot believe I wrote all this. If only I was this passionate while writing essays in high school.

[bakedbeanchan]

AU where Zuko doesn't practice helmet safety

[seheartz]

winding down by the swamp

[beifong-brainrot]

Hey so can we like stop with the "Zutara is for the girls and Kataang is for the boys" thing. It's silly and it's breakdancing just on the edge of gender essentialism.

The assumption that there is something inherent to Zutara that appeals predominantly to women and Kataang that appeals predominantly to men is dishonest because every ship can have appeal to all genders.

The discussion of the "female gaze" in Zutara and the "male gaze" in Kataang is also redundant. I enjoy dissecting the concept of "the gaze", however it is important to note that the "female gaze" doesn't have a set definition or grouping of conventions it adheres to. Lisa French,  Dean of RMIT University’s School of Media and Communication says:

“The female gaze is not homogeneous, singular or monolithic, and it will necessarily take many forms... The aesthetic approaches, experiences and films of women directors are as diverse as their individual life situations and the cultures in which they live. The "female' gaze” is not intended here'to denote a singular concept. There' are many gazes."

Now excuse me as I put on my pretentious humanistics student hat.

Kataang's appeal to women and the female gaze

Before I start, I want to note that the female gaze is still a developing concept

There are very few female film directors and writers, and most of them are white. The wants and desires of women of colour, the demographic Katara falls into, are still wildly underepresented. Additionally, the concept of the female gaze had many facets, due to it being more focused on emotional connections rather than physical appearance as the male gaze usually is. Which means that multiple male archetypes fall into the category of "for the female gaze".

The "female gaze" can be best described as a response to the "male gaze", which was first introduced by Laura Mulvey in her paper: "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema" , however the term "male gaze" itself was not used in the paper.

Mulvey brought up the concept of the female character and form as the passive, objectified subject to the active voyeuristic male gaze, which the audience is encouraged to identify, usually through the male character.

To quote her:

"In a world ordered by sexual imbalance', pleasure' in looking has been split between active'/male' and passive/female'. The determining male gaze' projects its fantasy onto the female' figure', which is styled accordingly."

Mulvey also brings up the concept of scopopfillia (the term being introduced by Freud), the concept of deriving sexual gratification from both looking and being looked at. This concept has strong overtones of voyeurism, exhibitionism and narcissism, placing forth the idea that these overtones are what keeps the male viewer invested. That he is able to project onto the male character, therefore being also able to possess the passive female love interest.

However, it's important to note that Mulvey's essay is very much a product of its times, focused on the white, heterosexual and cisgender cinema of her time. She also drew a lot of inspiration from Freud's questionable work, including ye ole penis envy. Mulvey's paper was groundbreaking at the time, but we can't ignore how it reinforces the gender binary and of course doesn't touch on the way POC, particularly women of colour are represented in film.

In her paper, Mulvey fails to consider anyone who isn't a white, cis, heterosexual man or woman. With how underrepresented voices of minorities already are both in media and everyday life, this is something that we need to remember and strive to correct.

Additionally Mulvey often falls into gender essentialism, which I previously mentioned at the beginning of this post. Funny how that keeps coming up

"Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema" started a very interesting and important conversation, and I will still be drawing from certain parts of it, however huge swathes of this text have already become near archaic, as our culture and relationship with media evolves at an incredible pace.

And as filmaking evolves, so does our definition of the male and female gaze. So let's see what contemporary filmakers say of it.

In 2016, in her speech during the Toronto International Film Festival , producer of the TV series Transparent, Jill Soloway says:

“Numero uno, I think the Female Gaze is a way of “feeling seeing”. It could be thought of as a subjective camera that attempts to get inside the protagonist, especially when the protagonist is not a Chismale. It uses the frame to share and evoke a feeling of being in feeling, rather than seeing – the characters. I take the camera and I say, hey, audience, I’m not just showing you this thing, I want you to really feel with me.

[Chismale is Soloway's nickname for cis males btw]

So the term "female gaze" is a bit of a misnomer, since it aims to focus on capturing the feelings of characters of all genders. It's becoming more of a new way of telling stories in film, rather than a way to cater to what white, cisgender, heterosexual women might find attractive in a man.

Now, Aang is the decided protagonist of the show, however, Atla having somewhat of an ensemble cast leads to the perspective shifting between different characters.

In the first episode of atla, we very much see Katara's perspective of Aang. She sees him trapped in the iceberg, and we immediately see her altruism and headstrong nature. After she frees Aang, we are very much first subjected to Katara's first impressions of him, as we are introduced to his character. We only see a sliver of Aang's perspective of her, Katara being the first thing he sees upon waking up.

We see that she is intrigued and curious of him, and very excited about his presence. She is endeared and amused by his antics. She is rediscovering her childish side with his help. She is confiding in him about her own trauma surrounding the Fire Nation's genocide of the Southern Waterbenders. She is willing to go against her family and tribe ans leave them behind to go to the Northern Water Tribe with Aang. We also see her determination to save him when he is captured.

As the show moves on and the plot kicks into gear, we do shift more into Aang's perspective. We see his physical attraction to her, and while we don't see Katara's attraction quite as blatantly, there are hints of her interest in his appearance.

This is where we get deeper into the concept of Aang and Katara's mutual interest and attraction for one another. While her perspective is more subtle than most would like, Katara is not purely an object of Aang's desire, no more than he is purely an object of her desire.

When analysing this aspect of Katara and Aang's relationship, I couldn't help but be reminded of how Célene Sciamma's Portrait of a lady on fire (in my personal opinion, one of the best studies of the female gaze ever created) builds up its romance, and how it places a strong emphasis on the mutuality of the female gaze.

Portrait of a lady on fire's cinematography is very important to the film. We see the world through the perspective of our protagonist, a painter named Marianne. We also see her love interest, Héloïse, the woman whom she is hired to paint a portrait of, through Marianne's lense.

We see Marianne analyse Héloïse's appearance, her beauty. We look purely through Marianne's eyes at Héloïse for a good part of the movie, but then, something unexpected happens. Héloïse looks back. At Marianne, therefore, in some way, also at the audience. While Marianne was studying Héloïse, Héloïse was studying Marianne.

We never shift into Héloïse's perspective, but we see and understand that she is looking back at us. Not only through her words, when she for example comments on Marianne's mannerisms or behaviours, but also hugely through cinematography and acting of the two amazing leads. (Noémie Merlant as Marianne and Adèle Haenel as Héloïse. They truly went above and beyond with their performances.)

This is a huge aspect of the female gaze's implementation in the film. The camera focuses on facial expressions, eyes and body language, seeking to convey the characters' emotions and feelings. There's a focus on intense, longing and reciprocated eye contact (I have dubbed this the Female Gays Gaze.). The characters stand, sit or lay facing each other, and the camera rarely frames one of them as taller than the other, which would cause a sense of power imbalance.

The best way to describe this method of flimaking is wanting the audience to see the characters, rather than to simply look at them. Sciamma wants us to empathise, wants us to feel what they are feeling, rather than view them from a distance. They are to be people, characters, rather than objects.

Avatar, of course, doesn't display the stunning and thoughtful cinematography of Portrait of a Lady on Fire, and Katara and Aang's relationship, while incredibly important, is only a part of the story rather than the focus of it.

However, the 'Kataang moments' we are privy to often follow a similar convention to the ones between Marianne and Héloïse that I mentioned prior.

Theres a lot of shots of Katara and Aang facing each other, close ups on their faces, particularly eyes, as they gaze at one another.

Katara and Aang are often posited as on equal grounds, the camera not framing either of them as much taller and therefore more powerful or important than the other. Aang is actually physically shorter than Katara, which flies in the face in usual conventions of the male fantasy. (I will get to Aang under the male gaze later in this essay)

And even in scenes when Aang is physically shown as above Katara, particularly when he's in the Avatar state, Katara is the one to pull him down, maintaining their relationships as equals.

Despite most of the show being portrayed through Aang's eyes, Katara is not a passive object for his gaze, and therefore our gaze, to rest upon. Katara is expressive, and animated. As an audience, we are made aware that Katara has her own perspective. We are invited to take part in it and try to understand it.

Not unlike to Portrait of a Lady on Fire, there is a lot of focus placed on mannerisms and body language, an obvious example being Katara often playing with her hair around Aang, telegraphing a shy or flustered state. We also see her express jealousy over Aang, her face becoming sour, brows furrowed. On one occasion she even blew a raspberry, very clearly showing us, the audience, her displeasure with the idea of Aang getting attention from other girls.

Once again, this proves that Katara is not a passive participant in her own relationship, we are very clealry shown her perspective of Aang. Most of the scenes that hint at her and Aang's focus on their shared emotions, rather than, for example, Katara's beauty.

Even when a scene does highlight her physical appearance, it is not devoid of her own thoughts and emotions. The best example of this being the scene before the party in Ba Sing Se where we see Katara's looking snazzy in her outfit. Aang compliments her and Katara doesn't react passively, we see the unabashed joy light up her face, we can tell what she thinks of Aang's comment.

In fact, the first moment between Katara and Aang sets this tone of mutual gaze almost perfectly. Aang opens his eyes, and looks at Katara. Katara looks back.

There is, once again, huge focus on their eyes in this scene, the movement of Aang's eyelids right before they open draws out attention to that part of his face. When the camera shows us Katara, is zooms in onto her expression as it changes, her blinking also drawing attention to her wide and expressive eyes.

This will not be the first time emphasis is placed on Katara and Aang's mutual gaze during a pivotal moment in the show. Two examples off the top of my head would be the Ends of B2 and B3 respevtively. When Katara brings Aang back to life, paralleling the first time they laid eyes on one another. And at the end of the show, where their gaze has a different meaning behind it.

We see Katara's emotions and her intent telegraphed clearly in these instances.

In Book 1, we see her worry for this strange bald boy who fell out of an iceberg, which melts away to relief and a hint of curiosity once she ascertains that he isn't dead.

In B2 we once again see worry, but this time it's more frantic. Her relationship with Aang is much dearer to her heart now, and he is in much worse shape. When we see the relief on her face this time, it manifests in a broad smile, rather than a small grin. We can clearly grasp that her feelings for Aang have evolved.

In B3, we step away from the rule because Aang isn't on the verge of death or unconsciousness for the first time. It is also the first time in a situation like this that Aang isn't seeing Katara from below, but they are on equal footing. I attribute this to symbolising change of pace for their relationship.

The biggest obstacle in the development of Katara and Aang's romance was the war, which endangered both their lives. Due to this, there was a hesitance to start their relationship. In previous scenes that focused this much on Aang and Katara's mutual gaze, Aang was always in a near dead, or at least 'dead adjacent' position. This is is a very harsh reminder that he may very well die in the war, and the reason Katara, who has already endured great loss, is hesitant to allow her love for him to be made... corporeal.

However, now Aang is standing, portraying that the possibily of Katara losing him has been reduced greatly with the coming of peace, the greatest obstacle has been removed, and Katara is the one to initiate this kiss.

Concurrently, Katara's expression here does not portray worry or relief at all, because she has no need to be worried or relieved. No, Katara is blushing, looking directly at Aang with an expression that can be described as a knowing smile. I'd argue that this description is accurate, because Katara knows that she is about to finally kiss the boy she loves.

Ultimately, Katara is the one who initiates the kiss that actually begins her and Aang's romantic relationship.

Kataang's appeal to women is reflected in how Katara is almost always the one to initiate physical affection with Aang. With only 3 exceptions, one of which, the Ember Island kiss being immediately shown by the narrative as wrong, and another being a daydream due to Aang's sleep deptivation. The first moment of outwardly romantic affection between Aang and Katara is her kissing his cheek. And their last kiss in the show is also initiated by Katara.

I won't falsely state that Kataang is the perfect representation of the female gaze. Not only because the storyline has its imperfections, as every piece of media has. But also because I simply belive that the concept of the female gaze is too varied and nebulous to be fully expressed. With this essay, I simply wanted to prove that Kataang is most certainly not the embodiment of catering to the male gaze either. In fact it is quite far from that.

The aspects of Kataang that fall more towards embodying the female gaze don't just appeal to women. There's a reason a lot of vocal Kataang shippers you find are queer. The mutual emotional connection between Katara and Aang is something we don't have to identify with, but something we are still able to emphasise with. It's a profound mutual connection that we watch unfold from both perspectives that sort of tracends more physical, gendered aspects of many onscreen romances. You just need to see instead of simply look.

✨️Bonus round✨️

Aang under the gaze

This started off as a simple part of the previous essay, however I decided I wanted to give it it's own focus, due to the whole discourse around Aang being a wish-fullfilling self insert for Bryke or for men in genral. I always found this baffling considering how utterly... unappealing Aang is to the male gaze.

It may surprise some of you that men are also subjected to the male gaze. Now sadly, this has nothing to do with the male gaze of the male gays. No, when male characters, usually the male protagonist, are created to cater to the male gaze, they aren't portrayed as sexually desirable passive objects, but they embody the active/masculine aide of the binary Laura Mulvey spoke of in the quote I shared at the beginning of this essay.

The protagonist under the male gaze is not the object of desire but rather a character men and boys would desire to be.

They're usually the pinnacle of traditional, stereotypical masculinity.

Appearance wise: muscular but too broad, chiseled facial features, smouldering eyes, depending on the genre wearing something classy or some manner of armour.

Personalitywise they may vary from the cool, suave James Bond type, or a more hotblooded forceful "Alpha male" type. However these are minor differences in the grand scheme of things. The basis is that this protagonist embodies some manner of idealised man. He's strong, decisive, domineering, in control, intimidating... you get the gist. Watch nearly any action movie. There's also a strong focus placed on having sway or power over others. Often men for the male gaze are presented as wealthy, having power and status. Studies (that were proved to be flawed in the way the data was gathered, I believe) say that womem value resources in potential male partners, so it's not surprising that the ideal man has something many believe would attract "mates". [Ew I hated saying that].

Alright, now let's see how Aang holds up to these standards.

Well... um...

Aang does have power, he is the Avatar. However, he is often actually ignored, blown off and otherwise dismissed, either due to his age or his personality and ideals being seen as unrealistic and foolish. Additionally, Aang, as a member of a culture lost a century ago, is also often posited as an outsider, singled out as weak, his beliefs touted as the reason his people died out and.

Physically, Aang doesn't look like the male protagonist archetype, either. He isn't your average late teens to brushing up against middle aged. Aang is very much a child and this is reflected in his soft round features, large eyes and short, less built body. This is not a build most men would aspire to. Now, he still has incredible physical prowess, due to his bending. But I'm not sure how many men are desperate to achieve the "pacifist 12 year old" build to attract women.

Hailing from a nation that had quite an egalitarian system, Aang wouldn't have conventional ideas surrounding leadership, even if he does step up into it later. He also has little in the way of possessions, by choice.

As for Aang's personality, well...

I mean I wouldn't exactly call him your average James Bond or superhero. Aang is mainly characterised through his kindness, empathy, cheerful nature and occasional childishness (which slowly is drained as the trauma intesifies. yay.)

Aang is very unwilling to initiate violence, which sets him aside from many other male protagonists of his era, who were champing at the bit to kick some ass. He values nature, art, dance and fun. He's in tune with his emotions. He tries to desecalate situations before he starts a fight.

Some would say many of Aang's qualities could be classified as feminine. While the other main male characters, Zuko and Sokka try to embody their respective concepts of the ideal man (tied to their fathers), Aang seems content with how he presents and acts. He feels no need to perform masculinity as many men do, choosing to be true to his emotions and feelings.

These "feminine" qualities often attract ridicule from other within the show. He is emasculated or infantiliased as a form of mockery multiple times, the most notable examples being the Ember Island play and Ozai tauntingly referring to him as a "little boy". Hell, even certain Aang haters have participated in this, for example saying that he looks like a bald lesbian.

I'd even argue that, in his relationships with other characters, Aang often represents the passive/feminine. Especially towards Zuko, Aang takes on an almost objectified role of a trophy that can be used to purchase Ozai's love. [Zuko's dehumanisation of others needs to be discussed later, but it isn't surprising with how he was raised and a huge part of his arc is steerring away from that way of thinking.]

Aang and Zuko almost embody certain streotypes about relationships, the forceful, more masculine being a literal pursuer, and the gentler, more feminine being pusued.

We often see Aang framed from Zuko's perspective, creating something akin to the mutual gaze of Katara and Aang, hinting at the potential of Zuko and Aang becoming friends, a concept that is then voiced explicitly in The Blue Spirit.

However, unlike Katara, Zuko is unable to empathise with Aang at first, still seeing Aang as more of an object than a person. We have here an interesting imbalance of Aang seeing Zuko but Zuko meerly looking at Aang.

There is a certain aspect of queer metaphor to Zuko's pursuit of Aang, but I fear I've gotten off topic.

Wrapping this long essay up, I want to reiterate that I'm not saying that Zutara isn't popular with women. Most Zutara shippers I've encountered are women. And most Kataang shippers I've encountered are... also women. Because fandom spaces are occupied predominantly by women.

I'm not exactly making a moral judgement on any shippers either, or to point at Kataang and go: "oh, look girls can like this too. Stop shipping Zutara and come ship this instead."

I want to point out that the juxtaposition of Zutara and Kataang as respectively appealing to the feminine and masculine, is a flawed endeavour because neither ship does this fully.

The concept of Kataang being a purely male fantasy is also flawed due to the points I've outlied in this post.

Are there going to be male Kataang shippers who self insert onto Aang and use it for wish fulfilment? Probably. Are there going to be male Zutara shippers who do the same? Also probably.

In the end, our interpretation of media, particularly visual mediums like film are heavily influenced by our own biases, interests, beliefs andmost importantly our... well, our gaze. The creators can try to steer us with meaningful shots and voiced thought, directing actors or animating a scene to be a certain way, but ultimately we all inevitably draw our own conclusions.

A fan of Zutara can argue that Kataang is the epitome of catering to the male gaze, while Zutara is the answer to women everywhere's wishes.

While I can just as easily argue the exact opposite.

It really is just a matter of interpretation. What is really interesting, is what our gaze says about us. What we can see of ourselves when the subject gazes back at us.

I may want to analyse how Zutara caters to the male gaze in some instances, if those of you who manage to slog through this essay enjoy the subject matter.

[queen-of-andor]

I really like Azula. But the moment any fan starts hating on Zuko or uncle Iroh in order to defend her, I lose any interest in the possible discussion.

[ponytailzuko]

tho i will say its actually kind of incredible how atla is used as the bastion of western animation. the pinnacle. nothing lives up to it. how? its not perfect. it reuses tropes (in a good way!!!). watch an anime. etc. how is it the pinnacle of western animation? but at the same time, i cant actually list a better western cartoon when it comes to long form narrative storytelling. which baffles me because atla could literally be better. "zuko is the pinnacle of redemption arcs" i have literal critiques about it. its just like i swear there can be other shows like it. or similar. or on par. or better even because it was written by two white men in 2005. but i cannot list one.

[soupmanspeaks]

Glammike but a kid should go up to Freddy during a Meet-N-Greet and mention something about playing catch with their dad and then Freddy looks them dead in the eyes like "haha I never played catch with my dad :3" before 4 beats of silence pass through that entire greenroom and bro gets looks from everyone send tweet

[stolligaseptember]

bitter work is so zutara coded and i'm about to start chewing drywall again

[ionesyapping]

I will always hate the authors for what they did to this child. I will always hate them for never giving her a happy final, for making everyone blind at her trauma, for giving everyone a 2nd chance but not her. I will fucking hate the writers till the day I die like a Christian child hates God after losing his mother. This poor child was born with a mother who feared her, with a father that made her hate the world, an older brother who got everything she ever wished to have from the love of their mother to sincere friends, support of their uncle to even the throne. This poor child who had to work every single day since she knows herself for mastering everything she can get her hands on, never being enough in the eyes of her family and teachers. This poor child who never knew what was goid or bad as her mother judged her while never saying why and loved her brother in the meantime. This poor child who had to grow up with the manipulations of her father and hallucinations of her mother. This child who could've been so much more but was seen only as a princess and a child of war in the eyes of her family. This poor child who was sent front row to war hoping that if she returns her father will finally be proud of her. This poor child who even after she has killed the mf avatar and won an entire city for her father was not given what she wanted. This poor girl who had to fight her own older brother to not end up in jail or worse. This poor child that was locked in a nuthouse for years seeing hallucinations of her mother. This poor child who was convinced her own mother wants her dead. This poor child who after finding her mother sees how her little sister has everything she ever wished. This poor child that was never seen as more than crazy and cruel by her own family. This poor child who just wanted to be loved since the beginning

[dirtytransmasc]

no cause no one gets them like I do. no one gets the dynamic between them like I do. no one sees them like I do. I just want them to be happy. please just let them be happy. let them find peace. let them heal. let them be.

with the exception of @hyperfixatedfandomer cause they get it too

[saijspellhart]

Sokka’s sexism was not an important growing point for his character - an Essay

I’ve seen all the discourse online about people up in arms about the toning back of Sokka’s sexism in the Netflix ATLA. (Almost everyone I have spoken to have brought it up as a reason to hate the Netflix ATLA) I think that anger is knee jerk, and misguided. It never mattered WHAT the Netflix adaptation was changing, people were always going to be angry about it. They could have announced Momo is a girl now, and people would have raged. Momo being a girl would have changed NOTHING about the series, but people would have been outraged.

Just like I believe Sokka being sexist or not being sexist really changes nothing in the scope of the story, themes, and is not the character growth people claim it to be. Hear me out. Let’s break it down and think about it in terms of themes and character development and how it affects the entire plot.

Sokka is introduced as being cartoonishly sexist in the very first episode of ATLA. As a device simply to make Katara rage. He keeps this trait for a grand total of 3 episodes until episode four when a girl whoops his ass and his sexism is cured forever onward. In the span of a 30 minute episode Sokka’s sexism was given a what for and through that he was transformed into a better man?

Imagine if Zuko’s mental and emotional journey had been solved in a 30 min episode, and wasn’t a lessen he had to repeatedly fail and try and fail and try time and time again. Imagine if Katara’s waterbending journey, or obnoxious controlling nature was just solved in a 30 min episode and not something she struggled with and fought for the entire series.

But let’s say his sexism is super important as everyone claims. Let’s explore it.

When is it challenged ever again in the entire series?

When Sokka leads the invasion on the Fire Nation, there aren’t a bunch of women in that army. He leads an army of men.

When Sokka needs to find a sword master to teach him the art of sword play, it’s a man. He never needed to overcome sexism to accept a non-traditional master.

Nearly all women, sans Toph and Katara, that have any long lasting influential moments in Sokka’s character development are women he has a romance with. Woman whose motivations and agency rely on a man.

The Kyoshi warriors that kicked his ass? What of them? Sokka has to rescue Suki from prison. It’s not tackling some gender equality issue. Suki is a woman in distress and Sokka is the man who comes to rescue her. (Cute and romantic, but hardly tackling a gender cliche.)

Do the Kyoshi warriors ever engage in any actual battle that matters to the plot and win? Not really. Instead the important role of the Kyoshi warriors is to be nurturing to Appa while he’s lost. A traditionally female role. And to provide a way for Azula to overtake Bah Sing Sei. (Don’t get me wrong, I love the girls, but the show never again utilized them in a way that challenged sexism.)

Sokka didn’t need to overcome sexism to respect Azula. Azula commanded and earned all the respect she needed. Sokka didn’t need to overcome sexism to respect Toph. Toph earned his respect by kicking the ass of everyone around him.

At no point in the rest of ATLA was Sokka’s sexism ever challenged after episode 4. It never helped him become a better leader because he never had to lead women whose respect he needed to earn. It never helped him develop his warrior skills. It didn’t affect the plot and his growth as a character any farther than getting a hilarious butt whooping in the fourth episode.

Sokka overcoming sexism wasn’t well written, it was a GAG. A goof. Ha ha funny, man got his butt beat by women and was forever cured.

If we really think about it seriously, as character growth, people who have had sexism so rooted into their beliefs don’t just overcome it because one woman broke the status quo and kicked their ass. That’s lazy writing. It was lazy in the cartoon and it would have been extra lazy in a show that had even less time to explore the issue.

Sexism, if they REALLY wanted to tackle it as a serious issue, should have been a problem Sokka had to challenge several times, and have his preconceived notions proven wrong and dismantled. It should have made him a better leader, or a more respectful fighter.

Instead it’s treated like a joke.

The Netflix ATLA decided to tone it back with Sokka, because from a writing standpoint it made more sense thematically for Katara to challenge sexism with the Northernn water tribe. They didn’t have the time or the budget to poorly tackle the issue of sexism twice, so they focused tackling the issue where it mattered to the plot and where it mattered to KATARA’s character journey more.

I’m tired of people screaming how much they loved his sexism and how the Netflix adaptation is rotten without his sexism. It’s not a lack of media literacy that it was cut. It was media literacy that led to it being cut. A writer recognized when the message was important and when it wasn’t.

That’s all I got to say. You don’t have to agree with me. But these were my thoughts on the matter.

[aangarchy]

How I would have re-written episode 1 of the netflix live action series

I've been thinking about this a lot, especially after watching several analysis videos and breakdowns of bad writing.

Keep the opening sequence. I liked the opening with the two Earthkingdom soldiers well enough. Just get some better actors, and maybe a better reason for the Earthkingdom to believe the Fire Nation will start a war, bc just tossing a scroll to your companion telling him to get it to the Earthking bc "they're going to start a war" is a bit too vague for my liking.

Skip the Kyoshi narration. Completely get rid of it. The only thing it does is repeat things we already know, or tell us how we're supposed to feel about the main character before we even meet him. The one thing that we'll miss here is the explanation of what an Avatar is, but that's something that can be remedied later, in a way that isn't just spoken exposition.

Now, because they wanted a "mature & gritty" live action they kan keep the airnomad genocide sequence. Controversial, I know, because personally I didn't feel like it needed to be there, but for the purpose of keeping the live action's specific story, we'll keep it.

We start off with Aang, he's playing with his fellow students (not just by himself), this shows us he's playful, whimsical, goofy. This way he doesn't have to tell us this later while talking to Appa. While Aang is playing in the background we go to Gyatso, who is being told by the abbot that he has to tell Aang his identity because they got some really bad intel from the Earthkingdom, the Avatar needs to be ready sooner than planned. Gyatso is sad about it but goes outside to call Aang away. This gives us the first indication that Aang feels ostracized and isolated because of his identity. Gyatso and Aang walk through the temple and pass a statue of Yangchen. This is where we explain what an Avatar is, as Gyatso reveals to Aang that he is the Avatar. I like the idea of still implementing the airnomad identification method, the four toys that are actually Avatar relics. Aang is scared and confused, and he's also told he can't complete his training in the Southern temple, so he'll have to be separated from Gyatso. We get the same emotional payoff. I also want to introduce a bit of a time skip, we have time for this because we got rid of the Kyoshi intro monologue. We see Aang get rejected by his friends, we see him get taken away from Gyatso for extra training, we see him bored out of his mind during important meetings concerning the Fire Nation's movements. Then we skip to the night of the comet festival. Comet is in the sky, and Aang tosses and turns in his bed. He was told he has to leave right after the comet festival, so Aang runs to Appa and runs away. Actually RUNS away, not just getting a breath of fresh air.

Then we go to the attack. Same turn of events, the airnomads realize they're under attack, and while they're not outnumbered they are still clearly overpowered. The one change I would put here is make it a cliffhanger. Don't show Aang make his iceberg, we basically don't know what happened to him from this point, at least not yet. We don't show the outcome of the battle with the airbenders, but we can already tell it's not going well. End with Gyatso in a room being surrounded by firebenders, the firebenders ask Gyatso where the Avatar is and he says he doesn't know, which isn't a lie. The firebenders aim to shoot, but as the camera pans away we see Gyatso do a last airbender move. It only gets revealed later that he basically sucked the oxygen out of the room to kill everyone including himself, but we don't see it happening.

Boom: we switch to Katara. She's not in the haunted ship, she's with Sokka on the boat for a hunting trip. Same thing happens, they get dragged by the current, they stumble upon the massive iceberg. I would keep Sokka's sexist remarks, and Katara breaks the iceberg because of how angry she gets at him. Aang is free, the massive beam appears and we cut to Zuko, who stares at the beam like it solved all of his problems. Aang asks Katara to go penguin sledding.

Aang gets taken to the village, everyone is confused to see his tattoos. Gran gran makes the same comment as in the original: "we thought the airbenders were extinct". Both Aang and the audience get confused now, bc we were with the airbenders just now. How many of them died during the fight? How much time has passed? Aang and Katara do some bonding. They go penguin sledding, Katara reveals she's the only waterbender in the south pole. Sokka gets mad at them goofing off, because there's a war going on. Aang doesn't understand, what war are we talking about?

Then instead of letting Gran gran do the iconic intro as pure boring exposition, I'd say make the scene more atmospheric. Aang gets invited to join a watertribe feast, and they tell a story around a campfire. Katara is the one telling the story, she's looking at the kids, Aang sits amongst them, sticking out like a sore thumb in his airnomad tunic amongst the watertribe kids. Katara then gives her iconic intro, and tells it like a story, talking about their brave warriors off to fight in the earthkingdom, lots of the kids listen in awe because their fathers are amongst the warriors, and Aang slowly starts to realize that what happened to him was 100 years ago. He still doesn't know the airbenders got attacked, and the audience doesn't know if any airbenders survived.

Zuko attacks the village. He doesn't do any exposition to Iroh (because Iroh as a character already knows Zuko is banished). He just shows up and tries to capture the Avatar. We don't tell the audience yet, we just know he's from the same nation that attacked Aang's people. Zuko wreaks havoc and Sokka nearly ends up getting killed, so Aang intervenes, shows off some airbending and we have the same revelation: "you're the airbender? You're the Avatar?" And Sokka and Katara look at Aang in shock. Aang goes with Zuko, and Katara convinces Sokka to go help him. Gran gran agrees, and gives her blessing to the both of them. They take Appa, we keep the gag of Sokka protesting and then cutting to him screaming on Appa.

Aang frees himself, goes into Zuko's room, steals Zuko's stupid diary, they have a fight, Aang escapes but falls in the water, cue Avatar state (i'm still mad they took the first avatar state moment away in the LA) but because Katara and Sokka looked from a distance they didn't really see what happened. They take Aang away, Katara manages to freeze some soldiers, they fly off. Katara asks Aang why he didn't tell them he was the Avatar. Aang says he doesn't want to be. Then they ask where to go to now.

We try to give the illusion of a time skip. Boom: southern airtemple. Only it looks different from what we saw earlier in the episode. It's completely overgrown and deserted. Every hope that Aang had of anyone being alive is slipping away. They walk around, and Sokka accidentally steps on some bones. Aang asked what happened, and Katara explains that they don't really know because it was so long ago, all they know is the Fire Nation started the war by first attacking the airtemple. Aang is confused why the Fire Nation would do this, Sokka goes off on a tangent calling them monsters and heartless, Katara stops him when she realizes Aang isn't really listening, bc Aang is walking off to the room Gyatso died in.

We see Gyatso's skeleton, finally it's confirmed to the audience that he didn't survive. He's surrounded by skeletons of Fire Nation soldiers. Cue Avatar state again. Katara and Sokka nearly get blown off the mountain, but Katara talks Aang down (because yes, it's important that she's the one getting him out of the avatar state, not that he manages to calm himself down). We end the episode the same way, Aang breaks down sobbing in Katara's arms.

Rewriting the episode this way gets rid of several writing flaws that are very noticeable in the live action. It also sets up plot points that are important for later, and leaves some satisfaction for the audience so they can piece the plot together while watching instead of having their hand held and being told what's going on by the characters as it's happening. It also leaves some important reveals for later (zuko having been banished and why, the reason he's trying to capture aang), so the audience still has some surprises coming its way. I personally feel this version of the rewritten episode is also good for people who never even watched the original, it's easy to follow without being so easy it gets boring, and still leaves an air of mystery.

I could rewrite every episode this way honestly, but if i were to do it for episode 3 and 4 specifically we'd be here for ages because there's so. much. wrong. in there. Also episode 5 while we're at it. 6 can remain roughly the same.

Let me know what you guys think.

[polysucks]

omggg I would luuvvvvv if you could do an essay on the parallels between Katara and Lyanna, that would be so cool.

From what I can think of right now, they both went against societal norms. Katara went against it as there weren’t any water benders to teach her because the fire nation wanted to strip that power from them but she still taught herself, and when she met the northern tribe who were sexist with their views on water bending, she used water bending to fight instead of the traditional healing role set for woman. Lyanna did it by fighting off the squires bullying Howland with a tourney sword (quite unexpected), and becoming the mystery Knight of The Laughing Tree (supposedly but I honestly believe it’s her). Also their innate instinct to help others in need no matter what, even if it dangers them.

Anyways, tysm for answering!!

(ps don’t worry about the yapping, I love it, and I’m exactly the same haha 🤞🏽😂)

Okay I am sooooo sorry I am so late on this but I have been rotating katara and lyanna in my brain since I got this ask and im gonna be one hundo with you real fuckin quick Lyanna is Katara's auntie now sorry i don't make the rules this is canon now geroge told me himself

Quieted, Softened, Sanitized—Brown: The Erasure of Katara and Lyanna’s Accomplishments

Word count: 1521 Time to read: 9 - 15 mins CW for racism discussion, my opinions on racism, the Starks are brown die mad about it

It’s infuriating how women like Katara and Lyanna—brown women who carve their own paths, wield power with confident certainty, and refuse to be caged by expectation—are so often reduced to footnotes, whispered about in soft, mournful tones, as if their strength is something tragic rather than triumphant. Meanwhile, women like Azula and Visenya Targaryen, who share that same unrelenting fire, are exalted as legends, feared, revered, and mythologized in ways that allow them to loom larger than life. The difference? One set of women is allowed to be seen. Their power is acknowledged, even if it’s as something dangerous. But for Katara and Lyanna [and Elia, but this isn’t about her], power is only recognized when it's softened, wrapped in palatable narratives of quiet suffering, of impropriety instead of impact. Lyanna is forever the "willful girl" whispered about behind closed doors. Katara is the "stubborn girl from the South" instead of the master waterbender who faced down the most powerful men of her time and won. Their stories are filtered through loss, restraint, and buried rebellions, while their white counterparts are allowed to rage, to conquer, to take up space in history without apology. It's not just an oversight—it's a pattern. A refusal to let brown women be big the way white (or white-coded) women are already allowed to be—ya know. Despite societal hierarchy.

The Fire Nation tried to erase waterbending from the Southern Water Tribe, but Katara refused to let that part of her identity die. When she finally reached the Northern Water Tribe, she had already proven herself as a fighter—she had battled soldiers, trained Aang, and built herself into a warrior without a formal teacher. She arrived not as a student begging for guidance, but as an equal who deserved to be taught.

But Master Pakku didn’t see it that way. To him, she was just a girl, and girls were meant to heal—not fight. She could be powerful, sure, but only in a way that served others, never in a way that allowed her to claim power for herself.

This is where a lot of stories would frame Katara’s fight as a classic “girl vs. sexist establishment” moment. And while, yes, sexism is at play, Katara’s defiance goes deeper than that. She doesn’t just fight Pakku to prove that women can fight—she fights because she knows she is more than just one role. She already is a great healer. She accepts and embraces that. But she also knows she’s a great warrior. She’s smart, strategic, and terrifyingly powerful when she needs to be. She refuses to be reduced to just one identity when she knows she is so much more.

This is the real reason she fights: because the world tries to tell her that she can’t be both. That she has to pick. That she has to be either soft or strong, either a protector or a destroyer, either a girl who heals or a warrior who fights. But Katara doesn’t accept that. She takes back all of herself, not just the parts that are deemed acceptable.

And despite this incontestable power, Katara is often remembered in a way that softens her edges. Fandom discussions, media interpretations, and even in-universe characters frequently define her by her healing, her warmth, her nurturing spirit—as if her rage, her ambition, her battle prowess, and her political mind are footnotes rather than fundamental parts of who she is. Women like Katara, brown women with unshakable power, are only allowed to be celebrated if they are framed as gentle first, as if their strength is a quiet, reluctant thing rather than something they claim outright.

Where Katara gets to fight her battle in real time, Lyanna’s battle happens after her death—in the way she is remembered, and in the way her story is not hers anymore.

In life, Lyanna was fiercely and proudly Northern, unashamed of her Stark identity, a girl who rode too fast, who fought when she saw injustice, who wouldn’t be controlled. We see this through the little moments—the way she defends Howland Reed at the tourney of Harrenhal [allegedly], the way she’s spoken of as being headstrong, wild, impossible to tame. The world she lived in wanted women to be beautiful and obedient, to be desirable and soft and pretty and powdered and white. But Lyanna was none of those things.

But in death, she becomes something else.

To Robert, she is his lost love, the girl who was stolen from him, the woman who haunts him so deeply that he builds a war in her name. Something to covet and to lust for rather than remember and honor with fondness and respect. To Westeros, she is a tragic figure, a noble lady taken in her prime by a prince (or a demon. The argument is always about Rhaegar’s intentions, not about Lyanna’s choices), her story one of sorrow and longing. And worst of all, to history, she is just another part of Rhaegar’s legacy—a romanticized casualty in the tale of a great man.

But Ned knows better.

Ned remembers her not as a myth, not as a tragic beauty, but as his sister. A warrior, a woman of fierce conviction, someone who lived and fought and made her own choices. He carries the weight of her final moments, the truth of her life that no one else will ever fully understand.

"Promise me, Ned."

She isn’t just asking him to protect Jon—she’s asking him to protect the truth of who she was. Protect the pride of the North. She doesn’t want Jon to be defined by his birth, by the expectations placed on him, by the legacy of men who only care about his bloodline. She wants Jon to be his own person. She wants for him what she never got—for his story to be his.

And yet, Lyanna, like Katara, is remembered through a softened, sanitized lens. She is reduced to whispers, to tragic beauty, to quiet improprieties. She was a woman who fought, but history has rewritten her into someone who was stolen. Her strength is remembered in hushed tones, as if it is something delicate instead of something to be respected.

Meanwhile, her white (or white-coded) counterparts—women like Visenya Targaryen—are allowed to be legendary. Visenya was just as wild, just as politically shrewd, just as fiercely independent as Lyanna, and she is remembered as a conqueror, a queen, a wielder of Dark Sister. She is allowed to be grand, mythical, powerful in a way that does not diminish her. Similarly, Azula, a firebending prodigy who shares Katara’s intensity, is feared, studied, and dissected with fascination. She is allowed to be bold, brilliant, and deeply, unapologetically seen.

This is the pattern: brown women like Katara and Lyanna are remembered only in ways that make their power comfortable to those who look back on them. They are rarely allowed to be truly big the way white women are given excuses to be. Their strength is either erased or reframed into something tragic, something wistful, something mournful rather than something irrefutable.

What makes Lyanna and Katara so powerful is that they don’t fight to prove themselves to other people. They don’t break barriers just for the sake of breaking them. They fight because they already know who they are, and they refuse to be anything less than their full selves.

Katara never questions whether she’s strong enough. She knows she is.

Lyanna never questions whether she has the right to make her own choices. She knows she does.

And in the end, both of them are remembered for what they refused to compromise. Katara walks away from her fight with Pakku not just victorious, but with the freedom to be all of herself. Lyanna, even in death, refuses to be a symbol—because the truth of her story lives on in the promise Ned made, and in the son she left behind.

Both of them are proof that strength isn’t about being one thing—it’s about refusing to let the world tell you who you’re supposed to be.

And maybe that’s why history tries so hard to soften them.

Because women like Katara and Lyanna don’t just challenge the expectations placed on them—they shatter them. And the world has never quite figured out what to do with that.

[patheticblorbloscholar]

His weakness. A tiny human made from the same DNA he was made from. A human who made him see. The power this boy holds over him.