#thinkingtoohardaboutmedia

[kiera-raelyn]

@crazy-1201 had this to say:

"I feel like the series really pulled a dues ex machina in order to avoid Aang having to make any actual sacrifices and to hand Katara to him in the end because that was what HE deserved- but I really don’t think the writers considered the female gaze, or her arc as an individual up until that point.

And I don’t mean that to disrespect Aang. He’s a sweet boy, and he does care about Katara, and he has matured some over the series- but not in the way I think she needed or made sense for HER.

They both showed much more potential for growth had they not gotten together at the end, or had it been ambiguous. Katara is a teen thrust into adulthood while Aang is still a prepubescent child she’d spent most of the series caretaking in some capacity, and as someone who has been a teen girl I can say that that would just not fly. The age gap isn’t large, but during adolescence two years is HUGE, especially when it comes to girls because there is such a gap in expectation and mental maturity.

Aang was wise in many ways but he was a child who latched onto the first girl to show him compassion and consistently disregarded her own feelings on the situation, even if not intentional. He did not understand how to give her space and her confusion, and he did not understand her responsibilities and her grief.

I like Zuko and how his arc parallels her, and how he gave her support without her having to carry him as well- but even without Zuko, Aang does not feel right for Katara, and definitely not at that time.

Aang liked Katara as his,

But Katara needed someone who understood her as an independent and fierce woman- and to me that was always Zuko."

💯

It's a bit buried in the comments and I liked/appreciated it, so... copying, @ing them for credit, and reblogging.

I just watched Avatar for the first time all the way through, and yeah, it’s great, but the one thing that surprised me was how different Katara was compared to the fandom interpretation I’d seen and internalized before watching.

Like, before you watch Avatar, you’ve seen all these memes about Katara and her mom, and based on those memes, you assume it’s one of those lines you have to get used to hearing at least once every episode. But then you watch the show and realize that she only talks about her mom maybe five or six times per season and you also realize she only brings her up when she’s trying to comfort someone or empathize with them because that’s how she processes her grief and that’s one way she connects with people.

Or you hear the infamous line, “then you didn’t love [our mother] the way I did” and you prepare yourself for one of the worst character assassinations ever only to see the scene after nearly three seasons worth of context and realize she was kinda right. She’s been the mother, the nurturer, the comforter. She’s been patient, gentle, and accommodating where everyone else has gotten to be insensible and reckless and childish, and the one moment where she allows herself to feel her grief, suddenly she’s this evil bitch and not, y’know, a 14 year old girl whose been thrusted into adulthood in a way no other character has. A 14 year old girl who should be allowed immaturity and raw emotion and anger instead of the patience and grace she’s been forced to extend to every character without even the smallest amount of gratitude or even consideration in return.

Or you see all of the clips where Katara puts Aang in the “friendzone” and you expect to have this wishy washy back and forth where Aang is putting his feelings out there only to have Katara neither commit nor express any clear reciprocation or rejection. Then you watch and realize that, as cute as the ship is initially, that there’s never a point where Aang returns any comfort or grace to Katara despite her always doing this for him to the point of coddling. That for as much as Aang says he loves her, he never seems to outgrow his perception of her so he can recognize her as someone who feels grief, anger, and pain as much as she expresses love, kindness, and maturity. And instead of having moments where he learns to see her beyond her strength or compassion, you’re instead given moments where Aang forces his feelings onto her, both romantic and non-romantic, and Katara is expected to just…shoulder those feelings the way she shoulders everyone else’s.

Katara is the most misunderstood character in the show. As much as people recognize the complexities of Zuko, Sokka, and Azula, they struggle to do the same for Katara because they see her struggles as somehow lesser, and therefore, less deserving of sympathy. They can handle her so long as she’s being endlessly patient and loving and kind, but the moment her endless love, patience, and kindness runs out, she’s suddenly this annoying bitch who can’t shut up about her mother or reciprocate Aang’s feelings. But Katara’s trauma does matter as much as anyone else’s. No, she wasn’t banished from her kingdom. No, she didn’t lose her entire community, and no, she isn’t the only one who lost her mother. But the difference between her and everyone else whose experienced loss because of the Fire Nation is that she’s never given time to process her trauma. Aang gets to lean on Katara constantly. Toph gets to express her feelings to Katara, and yeah, Sokka also lost their mother, but unlike Katara, he isn’t put in the position of being a substitute for everyone’s parent. He even admits that he sees his sister as a mother. The only characters who ever comfort Katara or allow her to vent is Zuko and her father and that’s, like, three scenes in a show where the other characters are consistently given opportunities to seek out Katara for unconditional support.

The fandom interpretation of Katara has been so bastardized that even those who haven’t watched the show know her for this fanon version and not for who she is. She’s such an interesting character beyond her fandom limitations, though. She’s brave, hot-headed, and hopeful as well as gentle and caring. She wishes to learn waterbending, not only because she wants to fight in the war, but because she wants to continue her culture’s practices because, and people often forget this, she also lost an entire subculture within her already fractured tribe. And she wants to defeat the Fire Nation both because of her deep love and empathy for other people, but also because she wants to avenge her mother. But because some of the fans have reduced Katara to a bitch who constantly whines about her mother and friendzones Aang, you wouldn’t know any of this, and it sucks because she’s the only character whose been dumbed down to such an extent.

[kiera-raelyn]

No, but that's low-key fascinating. I'm a little obsessed with this concept. What about Aang would change in this scenario? If he had a little more time to mature and learn more about his culture and the world? Assuming he got frozen because he ran during Sozin's comet and the Air Nomad genocide, then what changes about his personality? For him to have experienced that directly and escaped would have massive implications for his character. More guilt and anger, I think. But does he become vengeful? His temperament is laid back and fun-loving. Temperament is something you're born with and very difficult to change. But it can be. Does experiencing genocide firsthand do that for Aang? So many questions and considerations! And that's just for Aang! The dynamics of the group would be completely different.

I would read the hell out of an epic length rewriting of canon with this change. I would beta and soundboard for the person willing to do it.

au where Aang gets told he's the Avatar (and subsequently frozen) at 16 like he was supposed to.... I think it would change a lot honestly

[kiera-raelyn]

Tumblr over here giving me a new appreciation for Harry.

The most hardcore thing that Harry James Potter ever did was not, contrary to popular belief, the “there’s no need to call me ‘sir,’ Professor” incident, but instead was either the time that he

a) laid into one of the people he respected most in the world (and the only authority figure in his life offering him help in one of the most desperate situations he’d ever been in) for leaving his pregnant wife, going “man, you’re inhibited by your own self-loathing and fear? That’s rough. That really sucks. But you know what trumps that? RESPONSIBILITY. You brought a child into the world. You’re a father now. You’re scared? Walk it off. Walk it off AAAAAALLLL THE WAY BACK HOME. And say hi to Tonks for me.”

or

b) he willingly let himself be murdered, came back from the dead, walked back onto the battlefield, stared his own killer dead in the eyes completely unimpressed and called him “Tom”

[kiera-raelyn]

I did find it odd that Katara just magically gained mastery/was acknowledged as such after her fight with Pakku. Her bending against him was great, and she definitely proved her point.

But.

No one becomes a master on their own. The original show has Aang learning bending from masters of their element (who all happen to be of an age with him). But all of those masters learned from others: Toph learned from the original earthbending masters (badgermoles); Zuko was an average firebender who had been trained for years at the palace until Iroh took over in his banishment - he became a master after he learned from the original firebenders; and Katara learned from Master Pakku, which, added to her natural talent and creativity, made her a master herself.

It's not a bad thing to learn from others and it doesn't reflect poorly on someone that their natural talent didn't make them a master. Because talent alone doesn't make one a master; a prodigy, sure. But not a master. That comes from dedication, effort, and willingness to learn from others. All of which Katara does in AtLA.

But not, for some reason, in NAtLA. And I'm just baffled by it. It feels too much like a participation trophy. Despite his gruff, sexist demeanor, Pakku has worthwhile things to teach Katara about waterbending. Because he's a master of many decades. But we're just going to gloss over all that in NAtLA - apparently, we're going to entrust leading the Avatar to mastery of one of the four elements to a self-taught, literal child. That's going to turn out well. (I mean, it will, because plot reasons, but it shouldn't.)

I just - Katara's a badass. Learning from Pakku didn't make her less of one. It only made her more badass, because he helped her refine her technique. So this change actually kind of makes her less badass and diminishes the achievement it was for her to gain the title "Master".

/endrant I guess. I've got feelings about this but I think I might be going in circles now.

Netflix, I don’t know how to tell you this but a woman doesn’t have to be self taught to be a strong female character. It’s ok to let her know her limitation and ask for help. It’s ok to let her get angry, it’s ok to let her be jealous, it’s ok to let your female character have flaws and WORK on them. Your female character doesn’t have to become a master on her own to be memorable, it just makes her accomplishment feel unearned.

[kiera-raelyn]

But they're jUsT fRiEnDs!

You know what I think is very beautiful and unique about Zuko and Katara’s relationship (okay, there are a lot of things, but you know what I mean)? No other character will ever be as connected to Zuko’s scars as Katara is.

Not Mai, the second person he allowed to touch his scar, so that she could kiss him, but not comfort him.

Not Sokka, Toph, or Suki, with whom he never even talked about his scars to in-show.

Not Aang, whose back scar caused by Azula and healed by Katara was more of a narrative parallel to Zuko’s chest scar than a personal connection between the two characters that brought them together, and with whom he never even talked about his scars to in-show.

None of them will ever be as connected to the scar on Zuko’s face as Katara is.

Katara, the first person he ever allowed to touch the scar from the most traumatic moment of his life.

Katara, the girl who was his enemy just a few minutes ago, who offered to try to use her precious spirit water to heal his scar that didn’t even physically hurt anymore, because it was that important to her if it meant he could maybe be free of his mark.

Katara, to whose touch he closed his eyes and leaned in to as she gently placed her fingers on his lips and his scar and took a moment to just watch him like that.

None of them will ever be as connected to the scar on Zuko’s chest as Katara is.

Katara, whom he intercepted lightning for, in a show of what type of love he has for her: Agape, the most selfless, boundless, and purest form of love.

Katara, whom he intercepted lightning for, despite knowing that she had no more spirit healing water, and that there was a realistically high chance he could die from this Sozin’s-comet-powered-lightning-bolt that he was trying to redirect without even being grounded in a proper stance.

Katara, whom he intercepted lightning for, in the quickest impulse he must have ever made in his entire life, because of how strong his subconscious need to protect her is. After all, he bolted faster than the speed of Azula’s Sozin’s-comet-powered-lightning to take the blast. That has to be the fastest impulse he ever made.

Katara, whose eyes widened in horror as he fell, writhing, to the ground, with a terrible lightning wound on his chest from protecting her.

Katara, who screamed his name, ran, and reached her hand out to him— desperate to heal him— and who he reached his hand back out to, while painfully suffering on the ground, all in the midst of an inferno.

Katara, the waterbender who fought a crazed firebending prodigy during Sozin’s comet, so she could reach Zuko as quickly as possible.

Katara, who healed Zuko’s wound without even having spirit water, from her sheer strong determination to keep him alive.

Katara, who immediately cried in relief when she realized that death had not pulled Zuko away from her healing hands, and that she had healed the wound on his chest.

Katara, whose name Zuko whispered in such a quiet and reverent manner to thank her for all that she had done for him, which now includes saving him from the brink of death.

Katara, who emotionally thanked Zuko back for all that he had done for her, which also now includes saving her from the hands of death.

Katara, who carefully held on to his chest scar, and supported him in rising up again— both literally and figuratively.

Katara, who Zuko’s heart literally burned for.

Katara, who Zuko’s love for is now permanently carried around as a mark on him forever.

[kiera-raelyn]

Yeah, there was a lot about the American magic system, such as we saw, that just... didn't jibe with how I, as an American, think it would be.

Not the least of which is that we got one school while Europe got three? And Europe can fit multiple times into this country? I think tf not. The First Nation peoples would definitely have at least one of their own schools. The NE, of course. And the South. Prolly the Midwest, too, because let's be real, the corn is alive. The SW would 110% have its own school. I can't speak to the NW, though. Frankly, it's baffling to me that such disparate places over such large areas identify as one (1) discrete political/cultural unit.

Anyway. The other magic schools and the details on the American Wizarding World make it pretty clear that JK doesn't understand cultures outside her own more than on a very basic surface level, if even that. Which, y'know, you do you, boo. But the arrogance required to confidently put that (blatantly ill-conceived) stuff out on your global platform is... astounding. Like bish really said I've got the resources at this point in my career that I could have at least A Conversation with anthropologists from the regions I want to plop schools in willy-nilly to try and get a feel for cultural nuance, but nah. I got this. Research? Stop! That's my purse! I don't know you!

I have always imagined the American magical community in Harry Potter to be significantly less… structured than that of Britain. America is just so big, and the states can be so different, and history is so fucked up and complicated that a whole secret society with a completely separate government and people who’re totally clueless about the muggle world just makes no sense to me.

American wix participate in general elections and watch tv and their kids go to muggle school during the day and learn magic at home or in after-school programs and play quidditch and football and only your great grandma has owls while everyone else just has a phone and generally don’t obliviate muggles who see magic shit bc lol who’s gonna believe them anyway.

And European wix haaaate dealing with them bc they won’t do things the Proper Magical Way they just do whatever the fuck they want bc AMERICA FUCK YEAH.

*eagle noises*

[kiera-raelyn]

This is a bit tin foil-y, but it brings up good points. Again, we come back to: how much say did other writers have? I don't believe for a minute that the show was "meant" to end differently than it did, at least from Bryke's perspective. We've seen too much else from them to think differently, honestly. A last minute deus ex machina and loose plot threads tracks. But there was a whole lot of setup for Zutara that neatly addresses a lot of this.

It's funny. The more I think about all the canon material we have to fuel Zutara vs. how militantly Kataang Bryke are, the more I'm reminded of an exercise I did in high school. The teacher broke us up into groups of four. We each had a paper and wrote one sentence on it. Then we passed it to the next person and they wrote the next sentence in the story. And my group's experience was particularly amusing because three of us were dark, emo, and angsty but the final member of our group was decidedly not. Any time it was her turn, she tried to steer our stories into more pleasant/cheerful territory. And each time, we delighted in jerking it back. And the writing in the show just kind of gives me those feels.

okay tin foil hat conspiracy theory time

I’ve always wondered why the AtLA writing team bothered to set up Aang’s attachment to Katara as the thing that was holding him back from the Avatar State in the book two finale if they weren’t ever going to do anything with that narratively. Like I know some people say “well he only had to let go of her temporarily and he did that in Ba Sing Se” but that is just weak storytelling. And like…is it really letting go if it’s temporary? Sounds like a massive copout.

Of course, there’s also the question of why Aang’s attachment to Katara is a problem. Avatar Roku was able to control the Avatar State and be happily married so it’s not like Avatars have to be celibate to fulfill their destiny or something. So there has to be something specific about Aang’s feelings for Katara that is getting in his way, beyond just being romantically interested in her.

So what would neatly square this circle, explaining why Aang’s feelings for Katara were something he had to give up, as well as pushing him to really do so in a meaningful way? If Katara didn’t reciprocate. 

If Aang’s feelings are one-sided, and Katara’s not interested in a romantic relationship with him, that’s very different from Roku’s situation. In fact, it’s a good illustration of the difference between authentic love, which is selfless, and attachment, which is selfish. It would be selfish of Aang to hold on to those romantic aspirations towards Katara once it became clear she didn’t share them. It would make it only an attachment, and not really love.

And not only does making Aang’s feelings for Katara a roadblock to fulfilling his destiny in book two seem to set this up, it actually tracks with a lot of how Aang and Katara’s relationship is written in book three as well. Katara does not react positively either time that Aang kisses her - she’s even angry about it the second time. And of course it’s a common complaint that none of this is really resolved - we’re never shown on screen how or why Katara’s feelings apparently change.

What if they were never meant to?

What if, instead of the infamous rock-in-the-back, Aang was originally supposed to clear his last chakra in the finale by actually letting go of his attachment to Katara? What if the twist was not supposed to be that what was established by Guru Pathik in book two didn’t mean what the audience thought it meant, but that Aang had to mature enough to realize that his feelings for Katara didn’t mean what he thought they meant, i.e. that they weren’t actually destined to be together just because he had a crush on her? 

And, bear with me here, what if, hypothetically, there were another character who, as a narrative counterpoint Aang’s immature attachment, actually loved Katara selflessly, to he point that he was willing to lay down his own life for her?

Oh right.

[kiera-raelyn]

I feel like this gets back to Katara, specifically, not being allowed to have a dark side. And is also reflective of the narrative resistance to allow Katara to heal in the way she needs to. Like... Katara isn't allowed to have messy edges or feelings. She's punished by those around her when she does.

Other bending and its subforms are allowed to have complexity and moral grayness and still exist despite all that. But not this specific form of waterbending despite its profound potential for good. It arguably has greater potential for good and benefit to society than the other forms (like, seriously, do you realize how many women and children could be saved in childbirth, especially in a pre-industrial society, with that skill?!). But it somehow has greater risks for abuse than the other forms. How? I don't feel like there's a reasonable-to-life answer to that.

Which just leaves us with authorial reasoning. Narratively, what effect does all of the negativity surrounding bloodbending accomplish? It was a technique developed, so far as we know, by a woman of color (and later rediscovered by a man of color) that enabled her to escape the horrific conditions of her imprisonment (which had to have been worse than even what we were shown given the abuse, sexual and otherwise, heaped upon prisoners irl, but y'know, kid's show). She is vilified both for developing the technique and what she did with it later, despite the fact that both things were a result of the Fire Nation's attempt at genocide of the SWT. It reeks of "committing violence against fascists makes you just as bad as them" and I am not here for it. But then, Bryke has proven in various ways that they were not the right ones to address genocide and all its implications.

(Finally found the words to respond to this. It's been sitting in my drafts since June 24. All I needed was those last two sentences.)

Ok, but like, am I the only one who thinks that bloodbending isn’t bad? I see all of these posts about how brave Katara was to avoid bloodbending and how great of Aang it was to outlaw it and how it reflects poorly on the Zutara dynamic that she bloodbent in front of Zuko but like ???????????

NO bending is inherently bad????

No one gave two shits about airbending being used to suffocate the Earth Queen or Bolin fuckin LAVABENDING, aka able to MELT PEOPLE down to nothing. Those alternative forms of bending aren’t intrinsically bad, even though they COULD be used for evil.

The same technique for suffocating someone with airbending could be used to resuscitate someone who wasn’t breathing. It could be used to help a newborn baby breathe. 

Lavabending can be used just as much for environmentally-beneficial reasons as it can for mass destruction.

Hell, even lightning bending was fine in the ATLA and LoK universe, but somehow bloodbending isn’t?

Can you imagine how quickly their healthcare would’ve advanced if Katara had been given the opportunity to use her abilities the way she was meant to? Hama only used them for violence because she spent her whole life trying to SURVIVE. It was all she knew.

Katara is a CARING bender. Her healing bending would’ve gone up 11000000000 points if she had learned to incorporate bloodbending. She could’ve learned how to heal blood illnesses, mend bones, prevent frostbite,  mend actual tissue. Katara could’ve invented MODERN SURGERY.

But somehow HER form of alternative bending is the only bad one?

[kiera-raelyn]

I don't hate Aang, but for serious. He was so wrong for Katara. Don't even have to bring anyone else *cough*Zuko*cough* into the conversation for that to be a true statement.

Also, wtf Bryke. You created these characters. How can you misunderstand them so fundamentally?

I am like, nothing short of absolutely disgusted at Bryke's portrayal of Katara in the comics and TLOK???

And apparently a majority of the audience is okay with this portrayal??

Just a recap:

This is Katara

A girl with severe abandonment issues because her mom was murdered by a Fire Nation soldier and soon after her dad left to right in the war, leaving her alone to take care of her brother and the village.

This is Aang

A boy with chronic running away issues. This fault of his has led to a war extending up to 100 years causing death and destruction all around the world.

Katara does not acknowledge this fault of his because she idolises him as the Avatar but still his actions hurt her. A lot.

Katara: It's not brave, it's selfish and stupid! We could be helping him and I know the world needs him, but doesn't he know how much we need him, too? How can he just leave us behind?

Logically speaking, a person with abandonment issues should never be with a person who has a tendency to run away from their issues. But Aang and Katara get together anyway.

But then the comics happen.

Literally anyone who cared about Katara as a character of her own (and not just as Aang's love interest) was infuriated at how she was portrayed. She was stripped of all her autonomy and characterization and was made into "The Avatar's Girlfriend". Nothing of her own.

Some people actually call this relationship sweet. Yuck.

But the thing is, it has panels like this:

Katara, the girl with abandonment issues looks— that's right, abandoned and forgotten.

Even if the "abandonment issues" angle is thrown out of the window, the above panel from Katara's pov is a very unhealthy and shitty experience. (I can vouch with personal experience)

When you clearly don't have anyone else and the one person who you completely dedicate yourself to is completely avoiding you in favour of other people who don't really matter that much just because it makes them feel better/superior, how lonely and abandoned does that make you feel?

Also this sort of behaviour is undeniably selfish and self centred.

This problem of "Aang paying more attention to fangirls" exists in the show as well but atleast Aang corrects his behaviour or accepts that it was incorrect. The comics however:

Katara, who was abandoned, ignored and lonely in this entire comic is reasonably upset about this. But instead of the comic validating her feelings, it makes her feel guilty???

What the fuck??

If this isn't a fulfilment of the male fetish of gfs/wives putting their own mental issues and feelings on a back bench just for the sake of the man's hApPineSs, then what is this?

Not to mention this fetish is pretty disgusting.

This is what young kids are supposed to learn form the comics?

This is harmful for boys AND girls.

But sure couple goals and soulmates or whatever.

Moving on,

The very existence of LOK!Katara is just—

Like what—?

This definitely isn't the Katara I know and love.

Katara, who was completely devastated by her mother's death but got her shit together immediately and seamlessly slipped into the role of her mother and was so damn good at it that her elder brother could conveniently use his coping mechanism to supress their mother's memories with Katara's instead.

You're telling me this same girl grew up to be a sad old lonely widow who spent her days and nights wallowing in the grief of the death of her husband—

Bullshit.

That's straight up romanticization of "life is nothing without you" trope where the wife just becomes a non-functional person after the death of her husband. That, and Bryke not giving a shit about Katara's character.

There's the evident drama of Aang ignoring his two other kids in favour of the Airbending one; leaving Katara with the other two kids. Just like how she was left alone in charge of things as a child.

And then there's this:

They actually take the time to show us that Katara is sad and lonely and abandoned??

What family does she have left at the South pole? None.

And yet, people manage to think Katara is perfectly fine and happy.

Katara, a person with severe abandonment issues spends her entire life being abandoned??

What the fuck Bryke?

Like, it's pretty clear that they didn't give two shits about Katara as a character; she was just supposed to be a pretty arm candy for the Hero™ with some handy dandy waterbending abilities.

But if other people have done a spectacular job of turning this cardboard character into a fully fleshed out, multi dimensional character, why would you throw it away??

Like, that's just dumb.

Why would they take an infinite number of steps back to turn Katara back into a cardboard character and fulfil romanticized misogynistic tropes?

Much wow, many thanks.

[kiera-raelyn]

For the love of god, please interact with the creator of the work you love. If you've got the energy to gush about it elsewhere, then use just a fraction of that to do so with the person who actually made it. They're the ones who need to hear it most. Gushing about it to other readers may make more readers, but there's only one writer. And if they decide it's not worthwhile to share their hearts with the world, because that's what they're doing, then the readers will not have more to read.

Fanfiction is interactive by its nature. We write and then we share because we want others to like what we've done. If that were not the case, we wouldn't share in the first place. Fanfiction, especially long form fics, are a labor of love for your fellow community members. It takes considerable time and effort to not only conceive of a story, but to get it in a form fit to be shared with others and to continue to do this over months and sometimes years. Fanfic writers do this without pay and, if they're not getting interaction with their works, without appreciation. Do you honestly think you would put weeks, months, or years of effort into something you got no pay, appreciation, or recognition for? If so, show me. Prove it. I don't think you would. And expecting it of others is an astronomical level of selfishness and entitlement.

I say all this mostly from a reader's perspective. While I have written a bit, I am by and large more of a reader than a writer. While my experiences as a writer enforce what I've said here, my experiences as a reader confirm it more. I've seen authors say that the only reason they came back to finish a story was because of their readers. Because they knew there were people out there who cared, that they didn't want to disappoint. Authors who have said that their readers comments gave them the motivation to keep going when the story (or life!) got hard.

I am by no means perfect at always leaving comments. I would be lying if I said I commented on every chapter of every story I read. I don't. But, I'm trying to be better about leaving something, even if it's not the essay I feel the story deserves. Which is why I've pinned the kudos image post to the top of this blog, so that I can easily access it when I just don't have the energy to write out a long comment, but I want the author to know their work is appreciated. I encourage you to do the same.

A writer friend told me something that broke my heart a little bit today; they're going to quit publishing their fanfic.

My instant thought was that they had been trolled or attacked or that something terrible had happened in their life because this person is so passionate about their writing. It wasn't any of that. Engagement with their works has been going down, as it has for many of us. Comments are like gold dust a lot of the time, and just looking through the historical comment counts on old fics on ao3 demonstrates this trend very clearly. It was not simply the comments dropping off which caused them to decide to stop posting, however.

My friend came across a discord server for their fandom (I should point out here that their fandom interest and mine diverged a couple of years ago, we stay in touch but don't currently read each other's posts because I'm not into their fandom and they would rather gouge their eyes out with a wooden spoon than read anything Star Wars) and specifically to share fic in that fandom. They joined, because we all love a good fic rec, only to discover that their latest multichapter fic, which has almost no comments and very few kudos, is being hotly discussed in this server as one of the best stories ever. Not one of these people has bothered to say this to them on the fic. When they asked, none of participants could see the point in telling the author of the fic they apparently loved so much that they love it.

This discovery has absolutely destroyed my friend's love of sharing fic. They share because they love seeing other people's enjoyment, and fic writers do that through comments and kudos/reblogs/likes because we don't get paid. There is no literary critic writing a blog post/article about how amazing the story is for us to copy and keep/frame. There is no money from royalties. All we have are the words of the people reading our works.

Those people on that server could have taken five minutes of the time they spent gushing about how amazing my friend's story was to other people and used it to tell the one person guaranteed to want to hear that praise how much they loved it. They could have taken a moment to express their opinion to the person who spent hours upon hours plotting, writing, editing, and posting those chapters. Instead, they deprived my friend of thing that keeps them sharing their writing, and in the process have killed their love of it. My friend now feels used and unmotivated.

I won't be sharing a link to their fic, they said I could share their experience but not their identity. I know they plan to post one final chapter. I know they intend to express their hurt at being excluded from the praise for the thing they created, and I know they intend to announce that as a consequence they will not be posting for a long while, if at all.

So please, I beg you, don't hide your love of a story from the writer. It's just about the only thing we have.

[kiera-raelyn]

Ginny's character being just utterly mangled remains one of the most infuriating things about the movies to me. I mean, my list of complaints for the movies is extensive (PoA wasn't even in chronological order!), but that's pretty high up there. My girl's a badass bitch and you don't see like, any of that, in the films.

i love the silver trio so much but it always grinds my gears when i remember that while neville and luna still don’t have that much screen time, you still get an essence of who they are as people. their personalities, their morals, their relationship dynamics with other characters (like harry) and yet ginny, despite being a bigger character than both of them, and being harry’s future partner, mother of his children, most important person in his life (to name a few), ginny has exactly ZERO opportunity to shine. unlike her pals, she gets little to no screen time, let alone scenes one-on-one with harry (which both neville and luna have), her entire personality is erased. everything that makes ginny who she is is removed.

it’s absolutely infuriating to watch. as an audience, how are we supposed to get to know her? to understand her? to understand why she is the woman harry wants to spends the rest of his life with? like i love luna and neville, they’re wonderful characters and additions to the story, but prioritising them over ginny in the films (and giving them additional scenes like luna and harry in the forest alone?? it’s a sweet scene but also??? harry & luna don’t interact like that in the books, not to mention luna is much more eccentric and unintentionally amusing in the books, more so than she is perpetually wise and friendly… like we couldn’t have the library scene or the ‘lucky you’ scene in ootp - arguably the most important scenes for ginny (and harry’s) development but we have time for luna to share some nice slightly ooc wisdom with harry? again, i love luna, and i love that scene too, but cutting other important scenes…?)

i could go on and on about this. but i just hate that she is so sidelined, and discarded in the films, despite being such an important character as an individual and in relation to harry. i’ll never understand you david yates. ginny, sweetie, i’m so sorry.

[kiera-raelyn]

And again, the whole first half of this post stands on its own. Irrelevant of all else, Aang is not right for Katara romantically.

Katara’s abandonment issues: Zuko comes back, A/ang doesn’t

Something I’ve just realized about Zutara vs Kat/aang is that… Zuko comes back to Katara, but Aang doesn’t.

We all know Katara has abandonment issues. After her mother was killed by Yon Rha, her father and the other men in the Southern Water Tribe left. These are literally some of the first shots in The Boy in the Iceberg (1.01).

Those abandonment issues never leave (no pun intended) Katara. She carries that weight at least up until The Awakening (3.01). These issues cause her frustration and her subsequent outburst against Hakoda.

But what does trigger Katara’s breakdown? What brings her to that breaking point, where she can’t keep it in (which would have happened eventually anyway, but it’s still important to specify why) anymore? 

A/ang has left.

And I think it’s quite telling that Hakoda and Katara have this conversation.

Katara: He left.

Hakoda: What?

Katara:  A/ang. He just took his glider and disappeared. He has this ridiculous notion that he has to save the world alone, that it’s all his responsibility.

Hakoda:  Maybe that’s his way of being brave.

Katara:  It’s not brave, it’s selfish and stupid! We could be helping him and I know the world needs him, but doesn’t he know how much we need him, too? How can he just leave us behind?

Hakoda: You’re talking about me, too, aren’t you?

Now I think it’s important that A/ang leaving is being compared to Hakoda leaving. Aang exacerbates her abandonment issues. And it’s nothing new. He left in The Storm (1.12), in The Desert (2.11), and it’s literally the reason why the Avatar has disappeared a hundred years ago. Because he ran away.

And even then, A/ang doesn’t come back. It’s always Katara (and the others) who have to go and find him.

In The Storm:

(Where Katara tells him that maybe running away from his problems wasn’t that bad, maybe it was meant to be, which is… debatable, to be honest. When the Fire Nation attacked, I’m sure the Air Nomads would have found a way to hide A/ang, the literal Avatar. And if he had been killed (which is terrible, I’m sorry) during the attack, the Avatar Cycle would have resumed and another Avatar would have been born. But that’s beside the point.)

And in The Awakening:

He only really comes back in The Desert, but if he wasn’t hopeless, exhausted and still had food/water left, I’m sure he wouldn’t even have come back. He would have kept looking for Appa. 

Besides, he never apologizes to Katara or Toph, and Katara still has to take it upon herself to do the emotional labour.

And on that note, while A/ang doesn’t run away in The Serpent’s Pass, I still think it’s important to point out that Katara has to find him to, again, be the emotional labour in their friendship.

I wouldn’t have as much of a problem about A/ang always running away from his problems. 

If he actually learned from it. 

But even during the series finale, he still runs away because he doesn’t want to kill Ozai. That’s how he finds the lionturtle. By running away and leaving the others - and Katara - to worry.

And to find him.

Now, what does that have to do with Zutara?

Well, throughout the show but especially from season 2 onwards, everything points Zuko in the Avatar’s direction. He has to find the Avatar to restore his honour. He has to come back to teach Aang firebending. He has to come back to fight the good fight. He has to come back to defeat Azula and Ozai.

And who is, of course, always following the Avatar?

Katara.

But this isn’t just about Aang. This is about how the whole show is structured in a way that brings Zuko and Katara together. And he always comes back.

To her.

They always end up together. Somehow. Someway.

As enemies:

As almost friends:

As “I’m sorry, could you allow me to be your friend again?”

As “I’m trying to right my wrongs, what can I do to make it up to you?”

(Something A/ang never did.)

And, of course, as friends:

There’s a reason why it’s always Zuko and Katara who share a moment during every season finale. Because it’s thematically important in the show.

But it’s also important to point out that while A/ang doesn’t come back to Katara and exacerbates her abandonment issues… 

Zuko comes back. Always.

[kiera-raelyn]

Huh. I've never really thought about him this way. Good points. Love the quote backups. Going to need to take all this into account when next I write HP fic.

your post on harry’s handwriting was an eye-opener for me! ik his writing resembled his mother some and is decent overall, but i’ve never seen pics of it!

idk where the horde of fanfic writers came up with the weird notion that harry has bad/chicken scratch handwriting, which triggers me every. time. they make out his handwriting to be messy, his eating habits sloppy, his speech behaviour bumbling, his appearance unkempt, and that he’s rather messy as a person. which boggles the mind, because he’s used to cleaning up after the dursleys and probably enjoys an orderly space, if not super spic and span??? is it only certain fandoms, cuz they make the other character(s) all elegance personified and well-mannered? like, harry already is a well-mannered boy, otherwise petunia would’ve been tutting, clucking, and dying of shame even more before the nieghbours lmaoo. idk whether to cry or laugh, and sometimes it’s such a turn-off that i choose to rage quit fics.

please, if you have the time, i would love a thorough breakdown/meta on how harry actually comes across as a person!

Okay, I have so much to say about this. And omg, Harry's chicken scratch handwriting is one of my pet peeves in fics (here's the handwriting post, btw). Harry's characterization when done wrong in general, tbh is a huge turn-off for me. Becouse I love Harry, he's my boy.

So, what we're gonna look at is how other characters in the books perceive Harry, how he comes across in universe to people who can't read his mind (like we can, as the readers).

I'll start with a general note about how most characters in the books don't really know Harry. This is mostly because Harry, contrary to fanon interpretations, is a very private person and rarely talks about himself/his feelings/his thoughts out loud. This is a habit I believe was ingrained into him by the Dursleys.

Like, I mentioned in the past Harry doesn't talk as much as other characters. Scenes of the trio usually consist of mostly Ron and Hermione talking, for example. This is not becouse he doesn't have thoughts (he's quite judgmental inside his head, and we know he has a lot to say), but becouse he's used to not voicing a lot of them thanks to the Dursleys.

This essay turned out pretty long, but here we go:

How do others see Harry?

Harry comes off as confident. Harry is a defiant and courageous person, and this often comes off as confidence to other people. It's why Snape thinks Harry is arrogant and why most students are always sure Harry meant to do what he did. They think he has shit together because he comes off like he does:

Harry stayed silent. Snape was trying to provoke him into telling the truth. He wasn’t going to do it. Snape had no proof — yet. “How extraordinarily like your father you are, Potter,” Snape said suddenly, his eyes glinting. “He too was exceedingly arrogant. A small amount of talent on the Quidditch field made him think he was a cut above the rest of us too. Strutting around the place with his friends and admirers . . . The resemblance between you is uncanny.” “My dad didn’t strut,” said Harry, before he could stop himself. “And neither do I.”

(PoA, Ch14)

Snape sees Harry as arrogant, when in fact Harry is just defiant and intelligent.

“But you’ve been too busy saving the Wizarding world,” said Ginny, half laughing. “Well ... I can’t say I’m surprised. I knew this would happen in the end. I knew you wouldn’t be happy unless you were hunting Voldemort. Maybe that’s why I like you so much.”

(HBP, Ch30)

Ginny (and other characters) believe he likes to save the wizarding world. That he is this confident hero and savior. I mean, they believe her lie about the tattoo, which says a lot:

and all Romilda Vane does is ask me if it’s true you’ve got a hippogriff tattooed across your chest.” Ron and Hermione both roared with laughter. Harry ignored them. “What did you tell her?” “I told her it’s a Hungarian Horntail,” said Ginny, turning a page of the newspaper idly. “Much more macho.”

(HBP, Ch25)

Harry doesn't see himself as leader material, but it's clear everyone else does:

“I think we ought to elect a leader,” said Hermione. “Harry’s leader,” said Cho at once, looking at Hermione as though she were mad, and Harry’s stomach did yet another back flip. “Yes, but I think we ought to vote on it properly,” said Hermione, unperturbed. “It makes it formal and it gives him authority. So — everyone who thinks Harry ought to be our leader?” Everybody put up their hands, even Zacharias Smith, though he did it very halfheartedly. “Er — right, thanks,” said Harry, who could feel his face burning.

(OotP, Ch18)

Neville Longbottom, who gave a roar of delight, leapt down from the mantelpiece and yelled. “I knew you’d come! I knew it, Harry!”

(DH, Ch28)

“Look who it is! Didn’t I tell you?” As Harry emerged into the room beyond the passage, there were several screams and yells: “HARRY!” “It’s Potter, it’s POTTER!” “Ron!” “Hermione!” [...] “Are you all right, Harry?” Neville was saying. “Want to sit down? I expect you’re tired, aren’t—?” “No,” said Harry. He looked at Ron and Hermione, trying to tell them without words that Voldemort has just discovered the loss of one of the other Horcruxes. Time was running out fast: If Voldemort chose to visit Hogwarts next, they would miss their chance. “We need to get going,” he said, and their expression told him that they understood. “What are we going to do, then, Harry?” asked Seamus. “What’s the plan?” “Plan?” repeated Harry. He was exercising all his willpower to prevent himself succumbing again to Voldemort’s rage: His scar was still burning. “Well, there’s something we—Ron, Hermione, and I—need to do, and then we’ll get out of here.” Nobody was laughing or whooping anymore. Neville looked confused.

(DH, Ch29)

Everyone expected Harry in DH to have a plan of attack the moment he arrived because that's how he acts. Even in the above scene, he's in terrible pain from his scar, but the others don't see it. What they see is a Harry who looks exhausted but says no to rest because there's work to be done and they expect this of him. They see someone fearless and capable with a plan who could lead them, but this isn't what we see because we're inside his head.

How Harry doesn't speak much and acts overall quite distant, as in, he actively avoids the girls who fancy him:

Then he blinked and looked around: He was surrounded by mesmerized girls. “Hi, Harry!” said a familiar voice from behind him. “Neville!” said Harry in relief, turning to see a round-faced boy struggling toward him

(HBP, Ch7)

And he only has two close friends and barley knows the other students in his year. Most students only know Harry Potter from the stories, rumors, and Dumbledore's end-of-the-year speeches about his heroism. They have no clue who the real Harry is — so they expect the hero they do hear about.

He stands his ground a lot (again, defiance):

Harry turned to McLaggen to tell him that, most unfortunately, Ron had beaten him, only to find McLaggen’s red face inches from his own. He stepped back hastily. “His sister didn’t really try,” said McLaggen menacingly. There was a vein pulsing in his temple like the one Harry had often admired in Uncle Vernon’s. “She gave him an easy save.” “Rubbish,” said Harry coldly. “That was the one he nearly missed.”

(HBP, Ch11)

And more often than not, he does so coldly and calmly. A lot of his more fiery anger is a sign of trauma with Harry, his baseline anger reaction is cold.

All of this adds to him appearing to others as controlled, confident, and like he has everything together and could never have any issues. He comes off as this bigger than life person to most people. Snape isn't the only one who reads Harry's behavior as confident. But it's actually far from the truth.

We, as the readers, see how depressed Harry is. How lowly he thinks of himself and how much he doesn't think of himself as anything special when he very clearly is. But the fact he doesn't say any of it and has mastered the skill of acting cold and like everything is fine when he literally wants to die at the age of 5, no one knows. Even Ron and Hermione didn't truly realize the full extent of Harry's low self-worth until 5th year.

The other students are shocked to see Harry as angry as he is in book 5 because he's often way more controlled and well-mannered than that. They're used to seeing him cold and quiet, not firey. Most of his fire stays inside his head unless he's really angry or emotional in general (or traumatized):

Professor Umbridge sat down behind her desk again. Harry, however, stood up. Everyone was staring at him; Seamus looked half-scared, half-fascinated. “Harry, no!” Hermione whispered in a warning voice, tugging at his sleeve, but Harry jerked his arm out of her reach. “So, according to you, Cedric Diggory dropped dead of his own accord, did he?” Harry asked, his voice shaking. There was a collective intake of breath from the class, for none of them, apart from Ron and Hermione, had ever heard Harry talk about what had happened on the night that Cedric had died. They stared avidly from Harry to Professor Umbridge

(OotP, Ch12)

The shock of the other students, I believe, is because of what he's saying, yes, but it's also because Harry is behaving very unlike him here. He usually doesn't shout at teachers or anyone, really. He rarely speaks in classes actually.

And regarding his confidence, everyone, Ron and Hermione included, was sure Harry is super skilled and that that's how he evaded Voldemort:

“You don’t know what it’s like! You — neither of you — you’ve never had to face him, have you? You think it’s just memorizing a bunch of spells and throwing them at him, like you’re in class or something? The whole time you know there’s nothing between you and dying except your own — your own brain or guts or whatever — like you can think straight when you know you’re about a second from being murdered, or tortured, or watching your friends die — they’ve never taught us that in their classes, what it’s like to deal with things like that — and you two sit there acting like I’m a clever little boy to be standing here, alive, like Diggory was stupid, like he messed up — you just don’t get it, that could just as easily have been me, it would have been if Voldemort hadn’t needed me —” “We weren’t saying anything like that, mate,” said Ron, looking aghast. “We weren’t having a go at Diggory, we didn’t — you’ve got the wrong end of the —” He looked helplessly at Hermione, whose face was stricken.

(OotP, Ch15)

They didn't for a second think he wasn't confident in his own abilities because Harry acts in a way that comes off as confident and capable. It's why everyone so easily accepts him as a leader under various circumstances. He acts level-headed while he's terrified, so everyone thinks he knows what he's doing except Harry (and the reader). Ron and Hermione had zero doubts Harry's skill was a big part of why he survived book 4, it's only Harry who doesn't think that.

The fact Snape bothered to extract his own memories during his Occlumancy lessons goes to show how he thinks Harry is talented, contrary to his words. He feared Harry would reverse the connection and see into his mind, otherwise he wouldn't have taken these precautions.

Think of Voldemort’s resurrection even. Inside his mind, we know Harry's terrified. We know he has no idea what he's doing.

But imagine being a Death Eater in the crowd and you see this 14-year-old kid stand up after being Crucio-ed by their lord, and he stands up, resists the imperius, and shouts at your lord like he thinks of himself as equal to him — or, perhaps, better than him:

“I asked you whether you want me to do that again,” said Voldemort softly. “Answer me! Imperio!” [...] I WON’T!” And these words burst from Harry’s mouth; they echoed through the graveyard, and the dream state was lifted as suddenly as though cold water had been thrown over him — back rushed the aches that the Cruciatus Curse had left all over his body — back rushed the realization of where he was, and what he was facing. . . . “You won’t?” said Voldemort quietly, and the Death Eaters were not laughing now.

(GoF, Ch34)

That's pretty badass. Harry comes off like a confidant badass. And he gets more badass and confident as he matures (even if he isn't actually as confident as he appears).

Even in the DoM, Lucius Malfoy, who was in the graveyard, takes Harry seriously:

“Don’t do anything,” he [Harry] muttered. “Not yet —” The woman who had mimicked him let out a raucous scream of laughter. “You hear him? You hear him? Giving instructions to the other children as though he thinks of fighting us!” “Oh, you don’t know Potter as I do, Bellatrix,” said Malfoy softly. “He has a great weakness for heroics; the Dark Lord understands this about him. Now give me the prophecy, Potter.”

(OotP, Ch35)

Bellatrix makes fun of how Harry gives the other kids orders as if they're going to fight, but Lucius knows better, he knows Harry is going to fight, and I think, he's scared of what would happen when he does. Even Bellatrix quickly starts taking Harry more seriously:

“Oh, he knows how to play, little bitty baby Potter,” she said, her mad eyes staring through the slits in her hood. “Very well, then —”

(OotP, Ch35)

And she changes her tone completely after he casts a Crucio at her:

“Never used an Unforgivable Curse before, have you, boy?” she yelled. She had abandoned her baby voice now.

(OotP, Ch36)

His aura is one of competence and confidence even when he's frightened and has no idea what he's doing. Especially when he's frightened and has no idea what he's doing.

And for the most part, he doesn't come off nearly as judgmental as he actually is, because he doesn't say a lot of what he thinks. We only see him start to actually speak his mind and be more sassy out loud around 5th and 6th year. And even then, his highly judgmental physical descriptions stay part of his narration, they aren't spoken:

“That’s the bell,” said Harry listlessly, because Ron and Hermione were bickering too loudly to hear it. They did not stop arguing all the way down to Snape’s dungeon, which gave Harry plenty of time to reflect that between Neville and Ron he would be lucky ever to have two minutes’ conversation with Cho that he could look back on without wanting to leave the country.

(OotP, Ch12)

Ron and Hermione banter while Harry feels done with them, but he doesn't really say anything or complain. He keeps a lot of his thoughts inside his head.

If we look at how Ron, Hermione, and Sirius see Harry, they're the closest to who Harry actually is as these three know Harry best. (They're also more objective than Harry who looks down on himself)

After the book 5 conversation I mentioned above, Ron and Hermione are more aware of Harry's insecurities, but they find them silly. They see Harry as incredibly capable and skilled:

“Did he?” said Harry. Behind him he felt rather than heard Hermione passing his message to the others and he sought to keep talking, to distract the Death Eaters.

(OotP, Ch35)

“What are we going to do with them?” Ron whispered to Harry through the dark; then, even more quietly, “Kill them? They’d kill us. They had a good go just now.” Hermione shuddered and took a step backward. Harry shook his head. “We just need to wipe their memories,” said Harry.

(DH, Ch9)

When danger comes, everyone's instantly following Harry's lead. Harry's the planner when the situation is dangerous, he calls the shots, not Hermione. Hermione and Ron look to Harry for a plan when things get tough, and Harry always figures something out. Now, we see Harry thinking he has no idea what to do:

He could not think what to do but to keep talking. Neville’s arm was pressed against his, and he could feel him shaking. He could feel one of the other’s quickened breath on the back of his head. He was hoping they were all thinking hard about ways to get out of this, because his mind was blank.

(OotP, Ch35)

But Ron and Hermione don't. No one does. They just see Harry coming up with a plan to save them. Every time. They don't see him wracking his brain for a way to keep everyone alive.

Hermione never considers Harry stupid, not even in first year:

“I’m not as good as you,” said Harry, very embarrassed, as she let go of him. “Me!” said Hermione. “Books! And cleverness! There are more important things — friendship and bravery and — oh Harry — be careful!”

(PS, Ch16)

And Ron clearly doesn't expect stupid behavior from Harry. He's surprised and shocked when Harry does something he considers stupid:

“What the hell,” panted Ron, holding up the Horcrux, which swung backward and forward on its shortened chain in some parody of hypnosis, “didn’t you take this thing off before you dived?”

(DH, 19)

Both Ron and Hermione trust Harry's opinion and they trust him to know what to do when shit hits the fan. When things are dangerous, both Ron and Hermione (and everyone else) turn to Harry to know what to do becouse that's the aura he has:

“I’d tell him we’re all with him in spirit,” said Lupin, then hesitated slightly. “And I’d tell him to follow his instincts, which are good and nearly always right.” Harry looked at Hermione, whose eyes were full of tears. “Nearly always right,” she repeated.

(DH, Ch22)

Hermione agrees with Lupin's assessment here. Dumbledore did too, he's the one who told Kingsley and Remus to trust Harry's instincts. Harry doesn't give the impression he's messy and bumbling, quite the opposite. Yes, Harry and Hermione have their doubts, they don't agree with Harry on everything, especially when he has no evidence for his claim except his intuition. But, it's telling Harry can make claims based on gut feeling and Ron and Hermione ask him why he thinks that instead of just instantly rejecting the claims.

Like I mentioned above, he looks like he has his shit together even when he really doesn't. He's an expert in keeping a mask on and bottling up his feelings.

Sirius, also sees Harry as mature and capable for his age. It's why he's so insistent on telling him things while Molly wants to cuddle Harry:

“I don’t intend to tell him more than he needs to know, Molly,” said Sirius. “But as he was the one who saw Voldemort come back” (again, there was a collective shudder around the table at the name), “he has more right than most to —” “He’s not a member of the Order of the Phoenix!” said Mrs. Weasley. “He’s only fifteen and —” “— and he’s dealt with as much as most in the Order,” said Sirius, “and more than some —” “No one’s denying what he’s done!” said Mrs. Weasley, her voice rising, her fists trembling on the arms of her chair. “But he’s still—” “He’s not a child!” said Sirius impatiently.

(OotP, Ch5)

Between them, Sirius sees Harry more accurately. Harry is incredibly mature and capable and wants to be in the know. He'd be better off in the know. Sirius understands Harry's curiosity which Molly seems unaware of. Lupin also remarks on how Harry is going to find out things anyway, he's aware of how curious and determined Harry is. Sirius considers Harry capable even during PoA and GoF:

I know better than anyone that you can look after yourself and while you’re around Dumbledore and Moody I don’t think anyone will be able to hurt you.

(GoF, Ch18)

Molly, on the other hand, never really sees Harry's capabilities. Molly only ever sees a polite, intelligent kid. In the early years at the Weasley, Harry barely talks to Molly and Arthur because he doesn't really know how to talk to them. So they talk to him, the other Weasleys talk around him, and he's polite in turn:

“I don’t blame you, dear,” she assured Harry, tipping eight or nine sausages onto his plate. “Arthur and I have been worried about you, too. Just last night we were saying we’d come and get you ourselves if you hadn’t written back to Ron by Friday. But really” (she was now adding three fried eggs to his plate), “flying an illegal car halfway across the country — anyone could have seen you —”

(CoS, Ch3)

Harry acts around most adults like this, especially when younger. It's clear he acted this way around his teachers too:

“You see what you expect to see, Severus,” said Dumbledore, without raising his eyes from a copy of Transfiguration Today. “Other teachers report that the boy is modest, likable, and reasonably talented. Personally, I find him an engaging child.”

(DH, Ch33)

Snape got it a bit different. Because Harry is defiant and sassy — it's how he responds to the Dursleys, and this is how he responds to threats he can't do anything about in general. Sass. It's why we see Harry do this with Umbridge, Snape, and Scrimgeour:

Who do you imagine wants to attack children like yourselves?” inquired Professor Umbridge in a horribly honeyed voice. “Hmm, let’s think . . .” said Harry in a mock thoughtful voice, “maybe Lord Voldemort?”

(OotP, Ch12)

“Do you remember me telling you we are practicing nonverbal spells, Potter?” “Yes,” said Harry stiffly. “Yes, sir.” “There’s no need to call me ‘sir,’ Professor.”

(HBP, Ch9)

“...You may wear that scar like a crown, Potter, but it is not up to a seventeen-year-old boy to tell me how to do my job! It’s time you learned some respect!” “It’s time you earned it.” said Harry.

(DH, Ch7)

Harry appears confidant and arrogant not only to Snape but to Scrimgeour too (I think other students at Hogwarts see Harry as arrogant too. His demeanor can come off as arrogant if you don't know what he's thinking. It's why they could believe the Daily Prophet, it fit what they got to see). It's because he is rude and sassy when speaking his mind. It's because he acts more confident when he's terrified. It's because he's cold, distant, and uncaring towards most people and actively avoids talking to most.

And even that's mostly when he's older. In 4th year, he responds to Snape by glaring at him silently and wishing he could cast a Crucio at him:

Harry sat there staring at Snape as the lesson began, picturing horrific things happening to him. . . . If only he knew how to do the Cruciatus Curse . . . he’d have Snape flat on his back like that spider, jerking and twitching. . . .

(GoF, Ch18)

Harry is overall really quiet, which does create the impression of him being put together. More than he thinks of himself, for sure. It also adds to why many students feel as comfortable talking about him as they do because he feels distant to them. His quiet makes him feel mysterious, unknown, and far away. Like a symbol rather than a person.

Something I want to note, specifically with Umbridge, is this scene:

Harry looked around at Umbridge. She was watching him, her wide, toadlike mouth stretched in a smile. “Yes?” “Nothing,” said Harry quietly. He looked back at the parchment, placed the quill upon it once more, wrote I must not tell lies, and felt the searing pain on the back of his hand for a second time; once again the words had been cut into his skin, once again they healed over seconds later.

(OotP, Ch13)

Part of why Harry comes off as such a put-together badass is that he doesn't let others see his pain. He doesn't show he's in pain to others, especially when it's people he doesn't like. He acts though, constantly.

He hates crying in front of others becouse Harry does everything he can to not appear weak:

Harry suddenly realized that there were tears on his face mingling with the sweat. He bent his face as low as possible, wiping them off on his robes, pretending to do up his shoelace, so that Lupin wouldn’t see.

(PoA, Ch12)

And it works, people see him as confident, and capable, and heroic. Most people don't see the struggle because Harry keeps bottling it in.

Even with Hermione, he tries not to let her see how upset he actually is. We know in his head, that he is devastated by his wand breaking, that he's mourning it like it was a dead loved one, but this is what he's willing to show Hermione:

“It was an accident,” said Harry mechanically. He felt empty, stunned. “We’ll—we’ll find a way to repair it.” [...] “Well,” he said, in a falsely matter-of-fact voice, “well, I’ll just borrow yours for now, then. While I keep watch.”

(DH, Ch17)

All this means, we, as the readers , see Harry's pain, his struggles, his vulnerability — but the other characters almost never do.

The only character who is consistently aware of Harry's struggles is Sirius who Harry confides his weaknesses to more than any other character:

“Never mind me, how are you?” said Sirius seriously. “I’m —” For a second, Harry tried to say “fine” — but he couldn’t do it. Before he could stop himself, he was talking more than he’d talked in days

(GoF, Ch19)

Harry is so used to saying his fine and bearing his burdens in silence. It's what he does. It's what he did for years. Most characters think Harry is unshakable because that's how he acts.

Even when Harry tries to lie so Sirius won't worry, Sirius sees through it:

Nice try, Harry. I’m back in the country and well hidden. I want you to keep me posted on everything that’s going on at Hogwarts.

(GoF, Ch15)

As for his room and appearance, he is a little messy actually when he has the chance to be in seventh year:

Harry had spent the morning completely emptying his school trunk for the first time since he had packed it six years ago. At the start of the intervening school years, he had merely skimmed off the topmost three quarters of the contents and replaced or updated them, leaving a layer of general debris at the bottom—old quills, desiccated beetle eyes, single socks that no longer fit.

(DH, Ch2)

As in, his trunk is a bit of a mess. But this makes sense, I think. He allows himself to be messy when he doesn't have the Dursleys over his head. It's like a sort of freedom he didn't have before, so he indulges in it. I think the mess in his trunk is also a result of him actually living from it for 6 years, as he couldn't really leave everything at home with the Dursleys, could he? Still, his room and belongings are nowhere near as messy as Ron's.

As for his appearance, the only thing mentioned to be messy is his hair:

His jet-black hair, however, was just as it always had been — stubbornly untidy, whatever he did to it

(PoA, Ch1)

But from other characters (including Hermione) thinking Harry's hot:

“Oh, come on, Harry,” said Hermione, suddenly impatient. “It’s not Quidditch that’s popular, it’s you! You’ve never been more interesting, and frankly, you’ve never been more fanciable.”

(HBP, Ch11)

We can conclude Harry's messy hair comes off as cool and attractive and not like a bird's nest.

We also see from Hermione and others that Harry looks scary. He is 5'11 by book 6 with an intimidating glare and that he looks like he can throw a punch, (and can definitely throw a punch when he wants to). So he has a physical intimidation factor when older:

“Well, it’s like Hagrid said, they can look after themselves,” said Hermione impatiently, “and I suppose a teacher like Grubbly-Plank wouldn’t usually show them to us before N.E.W.T. level, but, well, they are very interesting, aren’t they? The way some people can see them and some can’t! I wish I could.” “Do you?” Harry asked her quietly. She looked horrorstruck. “Oh Harry — I’m sorry — no, of course I don’t — that was a really stupid thing to say —”

(OotP, Ch21)

Harry was not aware of releasing George, all he knew was that a second later both of them were sprinting at Malfoy. He had completely forgotten the fact that all the teachers were watching: All he wanted to do was cause Malfoy as much pain as possible. With no time to draw out his wand, he merely drew back the fist clutching the Snitch and sank it as hard as he could into Malfoy’s stomach — “Harry! HARRY! GEORGE! NO!” He could hear girls’ voices screaming, Malfoy yelling, George swearing, a whistle blowing, and the bellowing of the crowd around him, but he did not care, not until somebody in the vicinity yelled “IMPEDIMENTA!” and only when he was knocked over backward by the force of the spell did he abandon the attempt to punch every inch of Malfoy he could reach. . . .

(OotP, Ch19)

To summarise

Harry bottles up a lot of his emotions and tends to be quiet, this creates the often wrong impression he is confident and has his shit together.

He doesn't show pain and weakness to others and doesn't cry or show he's upset to basically anyone (except Sirius). This means basically no one sees his struggles or how depressed and traumatized Harry actually is. It even surprises Ron and Hermione in book 5.

He is defiant and rude to people he doesn't like, especially when scared, the result is that he appears like a very capable and confident badass especially when under pressure.

He can be intimidating with his glare alone and once he's older he is a physical presence. He's not someone who can disappear in a crowd post-book 5.

His rudeness oftentimes stays in his head except when someone really annoys him. This makes him appear defiant, but overall polite because he keeps most of his mean comments to himself.

When younger, he is very polite and quiet, especially toward adults. When he's older, he gets a little sassier (as in, he says some of his internal monologue out loud). But he is a polite, well-mannered kid for the most part.

The character who has a messy room, is a bit of a slob, has chicken scratch handwriting, and is lazy with schoolwork, is Ronald Weasley, who I love dearly, but these descriptions have nothing to do with Harry and everything to do with Ron.

The only unkempt thing about Harry's appearance is likely his Potter hair, which is more messy hot than messy bad (if all the girls' reactions are anything to go by).

[kiera-raelyn]

Y'all are cooking over here and I am starving.

Ugh I will always love the concept of Katara using blood bending to revive Zuko after the last agni kai, mostly because it makes no sense to me that Zuko was able to bounce back so easily after being struck by lightning, but also because the way the show treats bloodbending is just odd to me. It was a defense mechanism created by a traumatized victim of some of the most devastating parts of colonization, and although I understand that Hama was supposed to symbolize the "bad parts" of waterbending and was important for Katara's growth in realizing that the world isn't entirely black and white, its still disappointing to me that the show never explored the gray areas of blood bending, especially since that episode was, as I stated above, about understanding the gray areas of the war. Katara using blood bending to revive Zuko would add so much to the last agni kai in demonstrating that she has truly realized that "good" and "evil" are relative concepts, and Zuko being saved by both a defense mechanism of a survivor of colonialism and a type of bending used to terrorize his people would have even added to his arc, as the narrative required him to save and subsequently be saved by the physical embodiment of everything his family sought to annihilate.

[kiera-raelyn]

This! So much this. Honestly, it was one of the things that super frustrated me about Natla. Katara just gets declared a master without even learning, at all, from Master Pakku. I've got a post in my drafts that really gets into this, but to be very brief, it cheapens her character. Because she will, in the rest of the series, work hard to learn waterbending and she will keep practicing it and innovating and building on what Pakku taught her. Except, he didn't in Natla. 😤

Anyway, have some more tags with good points.

katara becoming “the greatest healer in the world” will never be a satisfactory ending for her character. not only because we never actually saw her heal, not only because of the gendered implications of healing, not only because she said herself that she wanted to be a fighter, but because katara’s arc in atla is about earning her own empowerment.

she fought tooth and nail to develop her waterbending skills even when she had no one to teach her, even when it put her in danger, even when she was straight up forbidden to learn. of course she had raw talent, but that would have gotten her nowhere without her own resourcefulness, creativity and willingness to learn and work hard. that’s what differentiates her from azula, her foil, and leads to her triumph over azula in the end. nothing was ever just given to her… nothing, that is, except her healing.

the moment katara discovers her healing abilities is in the aftermath of her own victimization, when her narrative is subjugated to serve her male love interest’s. her healing, like her accident at aang’s hands, is something that happens to her rather than something she actively does — and this narrative will continue to repeat itself throughout the story. katara never has to work at, develop, or fight for her healing abilities, a jarring contradiction in a show that always stresses the importance of discipline and effort to becoming a master.

nothing worth having ever comes easy, as it goes… and yet healing comes nothing but easy to katara. what, then, is the audience meant to infer about the value of healing as a skill within the narrative?

katara’s empowerment arc in atla is one catalyzed by her own agency, driven from beginning to end by her actions and choices. she fights for every bit of power she has, fails, learns, fails again, picks herself back up, and repeats the cycle over and over. the struggle is what makes her growth meaningful, just as the fight is what makes her victory worthwhile. that is what makes katara a hero, and makes her so inspiring to the many girls who saw themselves in her.

for all that resilience and hardship and strength and growth to be stripped away in the legend of korra in favour of defining katara by some underdeveloped, unexplained ability she just intrinsically has not only devalues her as a character, but also undercuts the significance and impact of her character arc in atla. and that will never, ever sit right with me.

[kiera-raelyn]

Anyone who says Zuko and Katara weren't romantically coded in canon are blind and/or lack media literacy skills. Like, it's right there. Bryke may not be here for it, and it may not be your cup of tea, but it was literally in the show.

The creators be like: let's add as many cinematographic techniques to make this scene as romantic as possible

The classic "Noooo..." when a character is about to lose a loved one

The slow-motion

The soft music followed by a close-up reaction shot of their eyes

Their hands reaching out for each other

One character holding the person who got hurt/risked their life for them