iScheids

cha-lii:

As a girl who grew up only with brothers and other boys on my street, can I just say Avatar: the Last Airbender helped me - like actually, genuinely helped me - find my confidence and a fucking voice. Like, the majority of my childhood was spent being put down or teased by my brothers, being told that I couldn’t join in games, or if I did I was only there to be saved like some damsel in distress, or being told that I was not allowed or able to do certain things because I was a girl, blah blah blah. Imagine being a young girl treated like that by boys, then watching a show like Avatar.

First, characters like Katara - who has her own brother treating her similarly in Book 1 - and Suki, who taught me so much about being confident and strong, about finding my own skills and strengths, and not letting myself be put down or told no by the boys and men in my life. Katara was told she couldn’t fight simply because she was a girl, and outright refused to accept that limitation being forced upon her. Suki was treated as less skilled than she was because she was a girl, and outright proved that she was just as strong as she said she was. But then, at the same time, they showed that you can be and do all of this without losing your femininity, or becoming unattractive to boys, like girls are made to believe will happen if they come across as too smart or too strong or too independent. Hell, it was Suki’s strength that made Sokka fall in love with her, if you ask me.

Then there’s Toph. Now, I’ve always been a bit short, a bit stocky. I’ve never really been into fashion or make-up or anything like that. They’ve just never really appealed to me. And in every other show I remember watching as a child, every female character was into that, even just a little bit. Except Toph. Toph was short. Stocky. Tough (pun intended). Sarcastic. Smart. Strong. Independent. She absolutely amazed me. She was so confident in her abilities, in who she is, and she was never afraid to stand up to people who tried to tell her ‘no’. And then, on top of that, the show let her be sensitive, let her have moments of vulnerability, which told me that no matter how strong or confident you are, you’re still allowed to cry, and be afraid, and be open and honest with your friends, and you won’t be any weaker or lesser for it.

Mai was one of my favourite characters, and I could never figure out why. But now I realise it’s, again, because she was so different to the kinds of female characters I would usually see. Mai was blunt, sarcastic, deadpan. She was deadly, powerful, skilled. But she was also beautiful, and she was kind and gentle and open and happy when she was with Zuko. She loved Zuko, and Zuko loved her, and the fact that she was unconventional didn’t affect that in any way. I’m a bit of a loner, and I’m quiet, and I don’t especially enjoy socialising, so seeing Mai, a character who was much the same as me in those aspects, still have such beautiful, happy relationships - Zuko and Ty Lee - was such a comfort.

Which brings me to Ty Lee. She is the complete opposite of Mai. She’s loud, cheerful, colourful, active. The positivity that she radiated always inspired me, encouraged me to try to find good in the bad. She was pretty much the definition of ‘girly’ - an expression which made my blood boil as a child - but she was still one of the most badass characters in the show, constantly immobilising even the most powerful characters. But the one thing about Ty Lee that always stuck with me was her loyalty. The scene when Ty Lee stops Azula from hurting Mai - again, immobilising arguably one of the most powerful characters in the show - even though she knew that doing so could even cost her her life, has always been one of my favourite scenes in the whole series. Here are two girls who are completely different to each other in every conceivable way, who prove that these difference shouldn’t and don’t matter - if you love someone, you stick with them, no matter what. If you want to be friends with someone in spite of your differences, you can be.

Even Azula taught me so much. She came across as a villain for the majority of the show, and she is definitely one of the best villains I’ve seen in anything, ever. But there were moments that showed how sensitive, and how afraid Azula could be. When she spoke about her mother on Ember Island, it was with longing and sadness. When she was reprimanded by her father in The Phoenix King, she looked terrified. When she drove Mai and Ty Lee away and they betrayed her, she lost her mind from loneliness and fear and hurt. And her defeat in the finale - I’ve genuinely never seen a defeat like it in anything else. She didn’t remain cocky or confident that this wasn’t the end, she didn’t go quietly and angrily, she didn’t swear revenge. She admitted defeat in tears, because she was terrified and ashamed, because she had let her father down, because she was just a child. There are many things that I find inexcusable. But Azula’s character taught me that not all bullies are inherently cruel or malicious. Sometimes, they’re a victim of cruelty or fear or pressure, and they feel the need to lash out in response or as a defence, and maybe a little bit of kindness can go a long way in helping them - if Ursa had been that wee bit kinder to Azula, maybe Azula wouldn’t have been so driven to please Ozai, maybe she wouldn’t have become so obsessed with power, maybe she could have gone down a similar path of redemption as Zuko.

Honestly, the women in Avatar taught me so much, so many genuinely valuable life-lessons that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. But not just the women - the show also completely obliterated toxic masculinity.

Aang was powerful as shit, but never once shied away from being kind or sensitive or honest - all the things that boys are taught are too 'girly’, Aang embraced as vital parts of who he is. Sokka was a sexist ass at first, but learned that he was wrong to treat women as weaker than men, and changed how he thought and acted towards them, becoming stronger and kinder and smarter in the process. Zuko tried so hard to be strong, and to keep getting stronger, but he understood that Azula - his younger sister - was stronger than him, and in time he learned to accept it, even asking Katara - another girl who is younger than him - to help him take her down, acknowledging both Azula’s and Katara’s strengths. Then there was the fact that he had such an open, loving, sincere relationship with his mother, and never once tried to pretend otherwise. Then there’s fucking Iroh. Iroh is just. We should all aspire to be like Iroh. He wasn’t afraid to be kind and sensitive, to be humble, to sing to children and share tea and advice and joy with strangers. I honestly attribute just about every good quality I have to Uncle Iroh and his life lessons.

Avatar as a show taught me so much about equality between genders, about diversity, about discovering yourself, about finding your confidence and strength, about friendship and loyalty and love…

Basically, just fucking watch this show.

johncribati:

Just about every joke in Avatar: The Last Airbender is peak comedy but conceptually my favorite moment is that scene in The Waterbending Scroll where Zuko’s crew was fighting some pirates and Aang was lost in the middle of a smoke cloud.

Now, Aang being an Airbender, the logical thing to do would be to blow the smoke away, which he does.

This would be funny enough in and of itself, but what really gets me is that Aang just nopes his way out of the situation by… Calling the smoke back?

Like on top of this being the literal only instance of an aerokinetic character blowing smoke away in reverse (not the same thing as kicking up a cloud of dust) just… everyone who was fighting just goes back to fighting each other like that didn’t just happen? Like they didn’t just see the Avatar- who they’re fighting over- is no longer tied up?

This five seconds of animation is just the most beautifully hilarious mess.

(via aidnhd)

a-fragile-sort-of-anarchy:

a-fragile-sort-of-anarchy:

You know, in retrospect, having gay marriage as a debate topic when I was the only openly gay kid in class was SUPER WEIRD. Imagine if you walked into AP Gov and your teacher pointed at you like, “I don’t think Brian should have health insurance because he sucks. Discuss?”

I can’t even fathom what I would do if I had to write an essay about how I should be able to take a piss in peace.

(via rdjshookerheels)