Sun Child: Art!

[weirdlet]

Little Soldier Girl by ~weirdlet on deviantART

Okay, so I'm a little too subtle when it comes to differentiating genderflipped versions of characters- but I like it^^

Comments

[beboots.livejournal.com]

Ooh... political handlers... Right, that's it, that's my new head canon now. Zuko's just a figurehead fire lord - one who dresses in those elaborate robes, suffers assassination attempts, writes letters, sits stoically behind the wall of flame for part of the day, and occasionally performs the dancing dragon before crows of Earth Kingdom and Water Tribe ambassadors. Behind the scenes, it's Mai and Toph organizing everything and feeding him speeches. ;)

Gah! I love Embers. <3 Vathara does some lovely world-building in that, with a darker (but more believable for it) history of Fire Nation/Avatar politics... and just little things, like the troops in recent chapters treating Zuko as an actual PRINCE to be protected... and even details like it being the custom to not use metal but obsidian or other stones on the crown prince? I love little details like that. They make the entire world so much more believable and coherent as a whole, you know?

There are also a limited number of good Waterbending!Zuko fics out there, you know? I didn't even know I liked the idea until I read that fic. ;) Also, the idea of fire being able to heal? Awesome. I mean, we use heat to sterilize, cauterize, soothe, sweat out toxins... It's useful stuff, to a physician!

That's another thing - I love firebending being used for things other than, well, fighting. Even something as simple as lighting a candle, or making candy or what have you. :)

[weirdlet.livejournal.com]

Mmhm^^ The thing that's been in my head forever has been just some innkeeper's daughter in the Fire Nation, opening up the shutter on a lantern and blowing until the wick catches, like in Practical Magic.

politically handled!Zuko- I like to think that he'd come into his own eventually, but it would definitely start out with needing some help. Zuko was raised to be a prince, if not an heir, for the first thirteen years of his life- Toph and Mai just have more of a finger on the pulse and practical experience right now. And he'd have to put on an appearance of knowing what he's doing, otherwise there's gonna be a huge push to return Ozai, Azula, or Any Popular Ranking General on the throne. Iroh might be of help there, though.

[beboots.livejournal.com]

Ooh... now THAT is a nice image. :) You must find some excuse to use it.

And yep - Zuko needs advisors he can trust. In my personal head canon, Fire Lord Zuko only gradually learns to be really good at public speaking. That, or he just incidentally says the right sort of things, because he's chronically honest. Sincerity, when used judiciously, can be a good thing.

I also love the idea of Zuko wearing elaborate, symbolic robes. Just a week and a half ago, the MacTaggart collection was open for viewing at the University I attend - it's a collection of hundreds of mostly Qing dynasty robes (along with a few older examples). They're all ridiculously embroidered with dozens of symbols, and, of course, I immediately thought "damn, the Fire Nation HAS to have a tradition of symbolism like this." My particular favourites were two robes displayed side-by-side - one belonging to an emperor, the other a from a boy emperor. On the one, the five-clawed imperial dragon was clutching the orb of wisdom (or so it was explained to me). On the child's robe, though, the dragons were smaller, and reaching for the orbs, but not quite touching them yet, indicating that they still had much to learn.

[weirdlet.livejournal.com]

Arghle- costuming symbolism... hitting multiple buttons... intellectual!lust engaged...

And I've been looking for an excuse to use that image since- well, since I found out there was a fan-made Avatar D20 supplement^^ One of these days I'd love to run (or preferably, play in) an Avatar D&D game.

[beboots.livejournal.com]

What? They've made a D&D game of it? This is the first I've heard of it! I've never gotten into D&D, but this may be the excuse that I need... D:

But yes, if you're ever in the vicinity of Edmonton, Canada, totally make a point of visiting the MacTaggart collection if you can. It's one of the largest non-private collections of Chinese textiles, like, outside of China. You wouldn't believe how tiny and delicate the needlework is on a lot of these things.

Then, of course, they break out the lotus shoes, and you stare at them for a moment before realizing that hey, those aren't CHILDREN'S shoes... D: Have you ever seen x-rays of bound feet? Quite disturbing. I think I read a fic once in which Toph had that done to her, which I thought was absolutely horrifying. (I'm normally not one to judge other cultures by my own standards, but I draw the line at crippling people, you know?)

The sad thing is, those shoes were GORGEOUS. Embroidery-wise, anyway.

But seriously. Costume symbolism = awesome. I love the cut of the robes of the Fire Nation royalty, but because of the medium (animation, so they have to be drawn over and over again...), they have to be coloured relatively plainly, you know?

[weirdlet.livejournal.com]

Not an official D&D supplement, but something that the people on the Order of the Stick webcomic forums cooked up- I can link you if you like.

And yeah- footbinding is one of those 'my brain refuses to fully contemplate the horror of having to endure such a thing' squicks for me- respect to different cultures' mores and standards aside. I like to think that in the Avatar world, it doesn't happen, or at least is not prevalent now.

Sometimes, I think half the reason I get into fandoms is because I see opportunity to draw fancified versions of their base-model clothes^^ Haven't done much of it yet for Avatar, but not for lack of wanting.

[beboots.livejournal.com]

Link? Yes please! (Woohoo! Another thing to distract me from homework! ;) )

I don't think that footbinding WOULD happen in the Avatar world. I think that bending does serve as an equalizing factor amongst the sexes, because really, it seems like it appears just as often in men as in women, and physical strength (which men TEND to have more than women) doesn't necessarily correlate with strong bending (like in the case of Azula and Zuko, or especially in extreme cases like The Boulder and Toph). Women seem to be just as capable of asskicking as men in this universe, so I think that it's straight up harder to "oppress" them, if you know what I mean. They wouldn't stand for it.

Plus, you know, benders have a lot of respect, it seems, in their respective cultures, and if there's something out there (like footbinding) that would harm their ability to bend (because it's all dependent on their forms, which involves footwork and strong stances) then, ipso facto, it would not become popular with the "elite" (benders) of society, thus wouldn't become popular at all.

That's my logic, anyway.

[weirdlet.livejournal.com]

http://sites.google.com/site/avatard20/ Is cool^^

Yeah- a lot of settings where magic or simply superhuman talents can pop up, it can be harder to oppress groups that don't believe the press about their place in things. At the same time, though- social pressure can be pretty powerful. In Ba Sing Se, they don't seem to go to extremes of female oppression, but I get the distinct impression that they wouldn't think it ladylike to be rough-and-tumbling with the boys. Women of a Certain Class, and those who want to be considered as worthy as they are, don't do such things because it treads in places that traditionally are men's responsibility.

Every once in a while, though, I'm sure someone comes along, breaks all the rules, and thoroughly scandalizes everyone^^ And who's to argue with her spirits-given gifts?

[beboots.livejournal.com]

You do have a point about the ladies of Ba Sing Se. Although, your statement really does apply to those of the Upper Ring. We saw very few Lower Ring ladies - and Jin seemed like a go-getter. ;)

But yes, your point also applies to female roles in the Northern Water Tribe. They have waterbenders, but they aren't allowed to fight, right?

[weirdlet.livejournal.com]

*nod* I'm sure they're allowed to fight to defend themselves- but they aren't trained to do so, because that treads on Man's Turf, man's responsibilities, and the male arts. It may be as innocent as starting out as a way to divide up the work into the spheres they're most commonly used in, but as time goes by, it becomes tradition and hidebound, and binds more than it frees. A woman might have the talent- but she also might have 'it's not right for me to do so' hanging over her head.

[beboots.livejournal.com]

I agree. Tradition is a strong motivator. Why do we do this if it doesn't make sense? Because it's TRADITION, duh. It helps perpetuate actions long after their meaning has been forgotten. (I'm not thinking of a particular example or anything, but man that sounded bitter. I actually love many traditions. ;) )

Speaking of traditions... Am I the only one who loves the look of white Fire Nation mourning robes?

[weirdlet.livejournal.com]

Nope^^ I really liked that they did the white-for-mourning thing.

Poor little Zuko, looking utterly traumatized and adorable in his white clothes.

[beboots.livejournal.com]

I know! That look he has - like, a growing realization... "wait, this... maybe possibly doesn't actually seem like a good thing?"