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I’ll just leave this here and sneak away so I don’t get stomped by crying fangirls this time… D: 

Oh yea and for the other pages you’ll have to stalk my tumblr. :<

Or click http://goo.gl/GuEaY

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Rewatching avatar again and man, Katara is such a strong character. Her kindness and care towards others is really admirable. And she has gone through so much too. I love watching the end of S2 and S3 because they delve a lot deeper into her emotional world.

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Stop Bothering Your Sister by Isaia

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I genuinely think that Yangchen had always been open to Aang about Kavik. Especially when Aang was attracted to Katara. It's a certain wave of emotion that just radiates from the two.

I'm still a strong believer that Yangchen liked Kavik first. And by first, I mean from the very moment she saw him. But of course (DOY spoilers) She couldn't just jump into wanting him. She had to discover him first. That's why blackmailing, and stalking him was an option... Romantic, right?

And I like the idea that Aang found Katara really pretty at first glance. And the fact that Katara didn't quite get it was kinda funny.

I sometimes compare Kavik to Katara. There was a scene (I think) that was so similar to each other. Both Katara and Kavik saved the Avatar with water from the spirit oasis. I'd also like to imagine (yes, I'm delusional) that when Aang saw Katara he felt something. It's as if he saw the one. And I'm genuinely not kidding. Out of all the girls. It's always been her in his light. The same probably goes with Yangchen. She just declared a man hers against his own will. But I don't blame her🤭.

So because of that....

🧡🌬️🪷🌊💙

I made this>

He is her past life. BITE ME!

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I swear i am fighting demons to finish this thing, but i promise i haven’t abandoned this or any other work. I will finish this if it takes an eon, and I’ll post the stranger sequel too, one day. Not one day soon lol but like… one day.

Anywhooo… ch 8 of kindred spirits.

If you’ve got the time, I’d really be so humbled and honored for readers to drop a comment here or on ao3. I was able to complete this chapter because somebody left some really kind comments on stranger and… idk, it revived my will to muddle on, despite (or perhaps, in spite of) all the many many things happening both in my life and in the world at large that culminated in my most severe writing slump to date. People who are vastly more eloquent than me have written essays on the effect that comments and support have on fanfic writers. I appreciate everyone who’s ever read any of my stories. And people who comment… we shall have a spring wedding.

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Is Deus Ex Machina always a bad thing? People who didn't like the finale of Avatar are always quick to point out the lion turtle, but I think we both agree the ending was both emotionally and thematically satisfying, and to me that's the most important thing. But my question is: if it IS satisfying, is it still a DEM? After all, DEM usually carries this idea that the ending is ruined and it leaves a bad taste in your mouth, which the Avatar finale doesn't.

Coincidentally, I was thinking about this just the other day, although I wasn’t considering making a post on it.

I think what makes this discussion troublesome is that there are two very different operating definitions for “deus ex machina.” I tend to think of it in terms of the classical definition, so I don’t personally have any problem with it when it’s done well, but most people seem to be operating with something like the same kind of shorthand that has turned “Mary Sue” into a meaningless complaint.

The term translates to ‘god from the machine.’ Wikipedia can give a functional summary of how it was originally employed and the criticisms that arose about it even amongst those old-timey Greeks. My own take is informed by those origins and the Greek myths that I’ve loved since I first learned about them in grade school. In a setting where gods and magic are in play, I don’t see a problem with a god being so moved by the events of the story or the character of the protagonist(s) that they intervene in otherwise impossible scenarios. The key here is that the story needs to justify why the god/power is intervening here and not in all kinds of other situations; if a god comes along and raises someone from the dead, or hands over a magic sword, or whatever, then it needs to be clear why people still die and magic swords aren’t sold at every corner market.

The Lionturtle is indeed a deus ex machina in that it is a god-like power suddenly entering the story to hand Aang knowledge that he would not otherwise have been able to attain. However, AtLA firmly establishes that there are spirits in the world with god-like power. Hei Bai is the first at a relatively small scale (and was another spirit moved by Aang’s steadfast purity to enact a happy ending, hmmm…), but we also see Koh having knowledge that predates the existence of the moon and the ocean, Koizilla being able to smash a whole fleet with the help of the Avatar State, Wan Shi Tong being able to move an infinitely-large library between the spirit and material worlds, and an eclipse of the sun shutting down all Firebending. These are all powers that the normal humans of the setting do not have, but they are all exercised as a result of the intervention of the protagonists, so I think they’re perfectly fine elements to have in the story.

Just about the only thing that might separate the Lionturtle from these other examples is that it seeks Aang out, rather than the other way around. However, I think that’s an oversimplification of the situation, in which we had just gotten an full episode of Aang holding fast to his belief in the sacredness of all life, despite disagreement and harassment from his friends. He meditates in search of an answer, and it’s then that the Lionturtle reaches out. So I think Aang ‘earns’ its attention by his unique beliefs, his steadfastness in the face of painful opposition, and his action in seeking a solution via meditation.

Why does the Lionturtle not reach out to other people? Well, the only pacifists in the franchise are Air Nomads like Aang, and there’s possible evidence that they weren’t all as steadfast when push came to shove. However, I don’t think the fate of the world hinged on whether Gyatso or some other random Air Nomad killed an enemy while fighting; Aang is in a fairly unique situation in that regard. Theoretically, a previous Avatar might have faced the same dilemma that could have been resolved with Energybending, but as we saw of Yanchen, perhaps those Avatars didn’t really seek out another solution besides violence. The Kyoshi novel does a great job handling this, showing Kyoshi struggling with similar questions but finding her own answers that do not match Aang’s. Perhaps Aang really is the first person in an Age who merited the Lionturtle’s intervention. It helps that the intention at the time of writing was for it to be a technique only available to the Avatar, so that definitely limits the potential situations where it might have been relevant.

So we’re left with the question of whether Energybending itself conforms to the established rules of the setting. I personally think it does, quite handily. We saw examples of bending being taken away before, at least on a temporary basis. The death of the Moon Spirit takes away all Waterbending. The eclipse on the Day of Black Sun takes away Firebending for its duration. Ty Lee pokes Qi-points to disable bending even while leaving limbs otherwise functional (sometimes). Those all help clearly establish that bending is tied to the physical body, and specifically the Qi energies flowing through it. We see esoteric manipulation of those energies by way of Waterhealing, Lightningbending, and the time Aang’s spirit is knocked out of his body by physically crashing into a bear-shaped shrine/idol.

So yes, the Lionturtle is a newly-arrived god who imparts special magic to solve a problem that couldn’t otherwise have worked out so neatly, but all the elements are there to make it a workable plot element. If the Day of Black Sun had worked out, would people be complaining about how Deus Ex Machina it is for the gAang to stumble across information on an eclipse coming before the return of Sozin’s Comet that will take away Firebending and allow Aang to confront Ozai without training up to the a higher fighting level?

Well, not if Aang kills Ozai in that scenario, I expect.

The root of the way most people use ‘deus ex machina’ in modern times, I think, links to what Aristotle is said to have been alluding to in that Wikipedia article, and what Nietzsche also seems to be getting at. Specifically, they seem to think it’s better when a tragic story is allowed to end in tragedy, rather than an audience-pleasing happy ending getting tacked on in an act of weakness and cowardice. It’s fair to criticize this (I enjoy tragedy as well as happy endings, when it’s done right), but I think it can be taken too far into a desire for bleak endings in general. It would be more ‘mature,’ the thinking goes, for Aang to have to kill Ozai, be tainted, scream his angst to the sky, and show the audience that Life Is Dark even though it’s a trite message that doesn’t really follow from anything that came before. The thing about Tragedy that a lot of people forget is that it needs to be set up with as much care and earnestness as Deus Ex Machina, or else it’s just as hackneyed and immature.

AtLA is not a tragedy. It is not about the mistakes and flaws of the protagonists piling up into chaos. So the complaint about ‘deus ex machina’ doesn’t even really apply, according to the original controversy about it. Aang is not freed from the consequences of a flaw, because his desire for peace and life is something that’s consistently portrayed as good throughout the rest of the series. It’s built up in his culture, the appreciation for the Air Nomads that’s conveyed despite their flaws, the focus on his being the last survivor of a genocide, and even the subtitle of the series (providing you don’t live somewhere that got the much more generic “Legend of..” title that fits Korra’s more generic legend so much better). It’s not a tragedy if everything is working out until a last minute swerve when all the good things suddenly become bad.

That’s a Comedy, according to certain modern definitions. ;)

The only story that could end with Aang giving up his ideals to kill Ozai using the philosophy and ways of the Fire Nation is a story about how the Fire Nation is right- that morality is secondary to strength and necessity. And if that’s the story being told, wouldn’t it have been easier to just make the Fire Nation the heroes in the first place, slaughtering corrupt pacifist hippies who would rather we all die than fight to improve the world?

No matter how you look at it, people who criticize AtLA’s ending by calling it a ‘deux ex machina’ aren’t doing so by using the text of the story at all. They’re either glossing over how the setup for all the plot elements is all right there in the story, or else they’re doing exactly what the ancient Greeks criticize bad deus ex machina for in the first place by putting the wrong ending on a story. So most who use ‘deux ex machina’ as a criticism aren’t thinking about the nature of Story at all, I think. They’ve heard the term, mistake it for general criticism of ‘unearned’ plot points, and/or use it as justification for their own pretentious fascination with bleak endings.

So, to summarize my answer- yes, DEM can be a criticism in and of itself, depending on the definition in play. It can apply to AtLA, also depending on the definition in play.

But applying DEM to AtLA as a criticism just doesn’t add up.

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my fav girlboss !!! this is some old '24 art, but it's something i'm really proud of :thumbsupemoji: RAHJRFJRSABJRGK okay bye tumblr

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Putting down Aang to prop Zuko’s dumbass up… interesting

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二十年前的今天，她劈开了一座冰山

Twenty years ago today, she split an iceberg

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Kataang antis always describe Aang as 'a 12 year old bald monk' and never 'a short king of color with a shaved head and cultural tattoos who's gnc and constantly peppy and knows how to cook etchnic vegan food and does extreme sports'.If i was Katara i wouldn't not like him back either

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A scene redraw of the Never Ending Story but with ATLA

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hakoda and kya doodle for strawpage that i never posted here

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It's not only canon, but it's central to both character's story in the original show, and as noted above to the larger franchise. Actually, it seems impossible to hate the ship and actually been a fan of the show. It's possible to enjoy others more, even implausible noncanon ones, but there's no requirement to hate on the show itself to enjoy those.

funny to me that antis still try to argue about the validity of Kataang canon lmao. like you don’t have to enjoy a ship if you don’t want, but it’s definitely as canon as a pairing can possibly get. they married and had kids and grandkids. so much of ATLA’s continuation with The Legend of Korra hinges specifically on Kataang being canon… their children and grandchildren are crucial characters lmfao

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kataang i never posted here 😢

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Avatar Romances