#like roku during aangs time was kind enough to show aang the mess he made

[oifaaa]

Pepople who hate on Korra also ignore Avatar "But he's my oomfie 🥺" Rokku

It's when people say that korra is the worst Avatar and it's like really you think Korras the worst when she's literally the reason the air nation is back after Rokku let them all die bc he thought a stern talking to was enough to change his number 1 genocide besties mind about taking over the world

[tsukihimeyfan]

Sozin’s Comet’s Deus Ex Machina (and ways to fix them)

I’m sure that most of us AtLA fans can agree that the four part Finale was one of the best moments in animation history, with astoundingly well choreographed fight scenes, fantastic emotional beats, gorgeous animation, and frankly breath-taking music. However, I’m also sure I’m not the only one who was frustrated by one aspect of it in particular, the one blot on an otherwise perfect finale: what I like to call the “lion-turtle and pointy rock” ex machina.

The saddest part is that there was very little they had to change to get to a satisfactory, ties-everything-together ending. For example, take Energy-bending and the Lion-turtle. I saw a post a while ago where they suggested that energybending could’ve been related to what Aang learned from the swamp and the Guru, and it just makes SO much sense (Note: I saw the post months ago and I can’t find it anymore, so if anyone knows who first posted that theory please let me know so that I can give credit where credit’s due). After all, Aang seemed to use the energy of the swamp to sense where Appa and Momo were, and later, during Appa’s Lost Days, Guru Pathik says this:

Meaning he, a non-bender, is capable of reading the energy of others, and of locating people bonded to them from miles away. Let’s not forget that he had also previously sensed everything Appa had gone through with the same ability. Sounds like a really useful skill, wouldn’t you say?

Also, looking at both “sensing” occurrences, they look remarkably similar, so we can be reasonably sure that they’re both employing the same method.

It would’ve been so easy to have Aang take a moment to ask how Guru Pathik met Appa. After all, as far as the Gaang knew, Appa was taken by merchants to be sold in Ba Sing Se, so he shouldn’t have had a chance to meet anyone at the Eastern Air Temple. Did the merchants pass through the temple on the way to Ba Sing Se? Did the Guru try to set Appa free? Pathik would then have to explain how Appa had already escaped on his own, and he helped him find Aang by reading his energy. Aang could then ask the Guru to teach him this ability so that if they ever get separated again he’d be able to find and help Appa easily. Boom - energybending basics acquired.

A highly spiritual person like Aang would no doubt have little problems mastering the sensing ability, especially since he’s used a limited version of it before at the Swamp. Also, if we think about how much the spiritual mentors in the show have tried to drill it into Aang that all things are connected,

we can assume that after mastering everything Guru Pathik could do he would eventually be able to sense even people vaguely connected to him from far away. Being the Avatar, the bridge between the spiritual and physical worlds, would almost certainly also help him master energysensing abilities no other had before. 

Maybe they could’ve added a few 30 second scenes here and there of Aang meditating to hone his energysensing skills. Also, during the whole Boiling Rock debacle, imagine how great it would’ve been if Sokka had asked Aang about his dad and, after pressing his hand to Sokka’s forehead and following his bond to his father, Aang was able to tell him that his dad was alive and well, and that he was somewhere in the direction they’d come from, though at that point he wouldn’t be able to pinpoint his exact location.

“I’m sorry Sokka... I can’t tell exactly where he is yet... I know that’s not really helpful...”

“No, knowing he’s alright is plenty. Thanks, buddy”

After Sokka and Zuko rescue Hakoda, I could picture Aang practicing harder than ever until he could use Hakoda’s bond to Bato and the others to locate them in a prison in Caldera City (which would’ve made rescue before ending the war difficult to say the least, and would explain how they were all there for Zuko’s coronation so fast)

Later, during Aang’s trip to the mysterious island, it would’ve been so cool if, instead of handing him the ability, the lion-turtle just told him this:

... and maybe showed him visions of his energysensing training when he did the forehead-touch thing. Then, during the battle with Ozai, maybe after redirecting the lightning away from Ozai Aang could think to himself “I can’t... he may be a monster, but he’s still my friend’s father!”. Then, he suddenly realizes that just like with his friends and family, Aang has a connection with Ozai too, and that if sensing someone’s energy happens by putting a bit of his energy into them, maybe he can use the same route to take some of Ozai’s energy away from him.

Imagine how amazing it would’ve been if they’d added those little snippets of Aang’s energybending training all throughout book 3, without giving it that name, and then Aang used what he’d learned from Guru Pathik and Huu and what he’d taught himself to rediscover a technique that hadn’t been used in millenia all by himself! (well, with a little “nudge in the right direction” from lionturtle-sensei) We were SO close, all the building blocks were there but... *sigh* we ended up still so far. 

Continued with solving “pointy-rock-ex-machina” under the cut

In Book 2, we’re told that to master the Avatar State Aang has to “let go of his attachments”, but that plot point is dropped completely and all he has to do is get hit in his lightning scar and BAM! Avatar State unlocked, no letting go required! 😒 

He was still just as attached to Katara as he was during Book 2, if not more so. So, in the interest of trying to figure out how to tie up as many loose ends as possible, we could try to hit two birds with one stone by fixing another thing at the same time that wasn’t addressed either. 

We could start with a conversation between Aang and Katara where he apologizes for kissing her when she clearly didn’t want him to at some point during Sozin’s Comet Part 1 - The Phoenix King.

“I accept your apology Aang” Katara’d say, “but from now on make sure to respect people’s boundaries, Ok? Especially girls’ boundaries :) We can talk about this more after everything’s over”

At this point, maybe Aang could be left to think and reflect on his relationship with Katara, on his attachment to her, and on how he’d started thinking about her as “his” almost without any input from her.

Maybe Aang could begin to really understand what Guru Pathik was trying to teach him when he said “you must let go”, and the difference between love and unhealthy attachment to people.

He’d therefore be going into the fight with Ozai with that fresh on his mind.

Then, as the battle raged and he grew increasingly desperate, maybe he’d try a few times to force himself into the Avatar State only to fail miserably. 

At this moment

when he’s been overpowered and cornered (and also has a little bit of “downtime” to think), he could start desperately trying to figure out a way to enter the Avatar State, and wondering why he can’t do it. Katara’s been healing him every day! The scar doesn’t even hurt anymore! Why doesn’t it work???

Then, he'd realize that it doesn’t really make sense for a lightning strike to lock his 7th Chakra, since according to what Guru Pathik taught him chakras are locked or unlocked through changes in emotional and spiritual state, not physical. 

(Note: this is also backed up by what little I know of irl chakras and activating Kundalini in the Yoga school of Hindu philosophy. If anyone knows more about it please feel free to add to this or correct me. I’d love to learn how the concept of chakras in Avatar contrasts with its real life counterpart 😊)

Also, if the lightning had messed with the Avatar State some other way, like by blocking his chi for example, he shouldn’t be able to bend properly either.

So what could’ve caused his problem with the Avatar State? 

Of course! After Katara saved him, Aang became even more focused on gaining her love, and grew even more attached to her than he’d been before! Of course he can’t enter the Avatar State! 

Now, I’m a Zutara shipper all the way, and this would work much better if that had been canon, but this could work even with a Kataang endgame since, as I said before, Aang kind of become obsessed with the idea of making Katara “his” no matter what, a clear earthly attachment, instead of loving her unselfishly and letting her love him in her way:

Notice that he said “we kissed” even though he kissed her, and then “I thought we were gonna be together”, an assumption he made without asking her anything once. Same as in this scene:

Mastering the Avatar State doesn’t mean not loving anyone romantically, as we can clearly see through Avatar Roku’s example (also the “if you want power abandon your loved ones” message is stupid and I don’t like it at all. This would be better imo)

Even during the process for unlocking the chakras, the Fourth Chakra tells us that finding love isn’t contrary to spirituality, and can even be a source of spiritual strength. However, I’ve always thought it was a bit strange that the “new love” Aang found to fill the hole left by the deaths of his people was.... just Katara

Because what Aang lost was essentially all of his family and friends right? So wouldn’t it have made more sense for Aang to envision Sokka, Toph, Appa and Momo as well? You know, his old family vs. his new family?

I didn’t fully understand what exactly was wrong with it until I read some of tumblr user marsreds’ metas on the matter, and I have to agree with them that it seems Aang was sort of focusing on his love for Katara so much partially as a way to cope with the loss of his people. To keep it out of mind. That’s not how you build a wholesome romantic relationship, and it doesn’t seem like the best way to deal with grief either. No wonder his Seventh Chakra was blocked.

I would’ve loved to see Aang realize at the moment of truth that in order to access the Avatar State he simply had to let Katara go enough so that he could love her selflessly, so that her wants and needs, and the needs of the world, could come first. He needed to become able to accept her answer, whatever it was, when she gave it. He needed to come to understand that his happiness wasn’t completely (or even mostly) dependent on getting into a relationship with Katara. He had a family he’d found all on his own, made up of friends who adored him and who would’ve given their lives for him if necessary. He was not alone in the world any more. Even if she told him no, he would in all likelihood find new love and be happy.

(in fact we have proof and there’s a perfect candidate right there in the Fire Nation but I digress)

The rest of the finale could’ve played out exactly the same as canon, and in the end Aang would’ve had a better understanding of himself and some inner peace. They could’ve also given us an inkling that Aang would later get to mourn over the deaths of his people properly, surrounded by his loved ones (maybe, ideally, in a hypothetical Book 4-AIR?. God, I wish)

I’ve seen some posts about Aang letting go of his attachment to the Air Nomad’s teachings instead (with maybe that very decision to put the needs of the world above his own being what unlocks his Seventh Chakra), and those are magnificent ideas as well, but I myself would’ve preferred if it went this way because I think there’s something beautifully poetic and satisfying about Aang staying true to himself, finding an alternate solution to violence that would still protect the world, and using the wisdom of His People to put an end to the very war that caused their destruction, while simultaneously giving the worst possible punishment to a man as power-hungry as Ozai

...and leaving him the same way he’s left many of the Fire Nation’s victims in the past: trapped, powerless and forgotten.

I also feel like this ties up all the loose ends better, since it was his attachment to Katara specifically which stopped him from mastering the Avatar State in the first place. And, Kataang endgame or not, it would’ve sent a wonderful message about building and maintaining healthy relationships, perfect for the show’s target audience of preteen and teenage kids.

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk

[holydragon2808]

Why I Hate the Phrase “Worst Avatar Ever”....

Feel free to ignore this really. It’s just me ranting again (though if anyone wants to read it of course by all means) and I just needed to get this out because I’m really tired of this whole concept of ��worst avatar ever”….

I had a discussion/debate the other day in RL with someone at my job regarding the Avatarverse and it was one of those debates where the other person completely praised Aang and the previous avatars for their accomplishments/achievements and ignoring their flaws (or glossing over them) while completely deriding Korra for every mistake she makes while completely ignoring her accomplishments and character growth and asserting that she’s the worst avatar ever and made bisexual out of nowhere (which I seriously beg to differ on personally) and blah blah blah….Any fan of Korra as a character has probably had at least one of these discussions/debates with someone in the past whether here or somewhere else on the internet or even in RL….

There was a topic about the “Worst Avatar Ever” on the Avatar Wiki page a while back and I posted a response there (or rather who we personally thought was “the worst” I suppose). I’m just going to be lazy and copy/paste what I said there (and add a few other things) because I honestly can’t express what I said any better than what I did on that site and it’s still my post either way so…. Gonna undercut because it’s pretty lengthy…

IMO just going by the few Avatars out of the thousands that we know of (and if we’re going with cataclysmic consequences for the entire world at large), I’d have to say it’s a three way toss up between Wan, Roku, and Aang despite me liking both Wan and Roku and being fairly neutral on Aang. I don’t understand why people in general give Korra so much crap when these three arguably messed up the world far more than she ever did (again just speaking in general here).

Avatar Wan forever separated the forces of light and darkness from one another and threw the world out of balance for 10,000 years and had to constantly reincarnate to fix it. That’s a pretty hard screw up to top IMO….True, he did everything he could to try and fix it (and I think he’s a very courageous and awesome character despite what I’m saying), but at the same time, it forced a person each generation into a life of sacrifice and duty that none of the other Avatars ever asked for or some not even wanting and not having a choice in the matter….He chose it. The rest of the Avatar line didn’t get that luxury. They just have to “deal with it”.

Then Roku put friendship above his duty to the world and in so doing ignored all the obvious signs that Sozin was heading down a very dark path and possessing resources that could (and did) bring disaster and ruin to the world. The end result: The entire air nation was completely wiped out, leaving a permanent imbalance on the existence of the 4 nations (at least until Korra came along two avatar cycles later and played an integral part in fixing this screw up too but people selectively ignore this).

Then Aang comes along and confounds the problem that Roku started by running away and leaving the world without an Avatar at all for 100 years (though to be fair it is pointed out later that had he stayed he would have been killed along with the other Airbenders but he didn’t know about the fire nation war at the time he left so he’s still responsible for running away). Then he spends a good chunk of his show constantly avoiding conflict and his duties at the first opportunity. I never quite understood why so many people looked up to him as this supposed picture perfect avatar. It’s pretty hard to label someone as the perfect hero when they don’t even want the role to begin with and actively goes out of their way to avoid it constantly.

IMO, there’s really no way any of us can say who was the best avatar or the worst because 1) we just don’t have enough information about all the avatars to really compare fairly and 2) one of the major themes of both shows is that at the end of the day, the Avatar is human and humans in general are flawed creatures with both virtues and vices. Wan had good intentions but his (understandable) naiveté caused a calamity for the world that he had to spend (and will still probably forever spend) multiple lifetimes atoning for because there “wasn’t enough time” (and probably never truly will be). Roku’s (understandable) bias towards his best friend led him to ignore the signs that Sozin was not going to let go of his ambitions and as such led to the destruction of the air nation and later the 100 year war. Aang’s (understandable) fear and selfishness of losing his normalcy led him to run away from his duties, get frozen in an iceberg and effectively leave the world without an Avatar to stop the fire nation for 100 years (though to be fair Aang definitely made it up to the world by defeating Ozai and in TLOK we definitely have a firm grasp on the awesome legacy he left behind).

And the latest Avatar, Korra, IMO, her issues caused more harm to herself and her loved ones than the entire world at large (which was kind of the entire point of her journey in a way, to show her that being the Avatar didn’t make her invincible or invulnerable and that she’s a human that can be hurt or rendered powerless too). Her ego, pride and refusal to accept her fears and weaknesses ended up having disastrous consequences for herself and other people on more than one occasion and ended up being her primary reason for her stunted spiritual growth for a long while (that and trusting the wrong people due to her isolated upbringing and said isolated upbringing hardly helped her with her lack of a spiritual center). 

However, despite some of her spiritual connection hang ups (which she eventually grows past), most of her active world changing actions and decisions turned out for the better. Let’s take a look at what she’s done or what effect her actions have caused for the entire world at large during her time as the Avatar:

1) Her exposing of Amon gave non benders a voice in Republic City (and just a larger voice in general) and she was able to undo the damage he caused to a lot of innocent benders in the city by restoring their bending powers

2) She built on the theme of unity that Avatar Aang and Lord Zuko started with Republic City by keeping the spirit portals open and bringing the two worlds closer together than they’ve been in several ages (and vanquishing Vaatu instead of just sealing him away at least until the next Harmonic Convergence (something even Avatar Wan, the person who actually is to blame for Vaatu being free in the first place wasn’t able to do) and for the first time ever in history the Southern Water Tribe was declared independent from the Northern Water Tribe after her actions which will probably go a long way towards ending some of the animosity between the two tribes)

3) brought back the Air Nation from the brink of extinction and played a very integral part in uniting them (and went through a very physical, emotional, and spiritual self sacrifice to keep them alive that took her three years to recover from and at the same time inspired people from all over the world to follow her example of service and sacrifice)

4) and created yet another spirit portal right in the center of the city meant to be a symbol of unity in the world while at the same time stopping Kuvira and her Earth Empire dictatorship when the rest of the world leaders couldn’t for one reason or another (politics, lack of man power, etc), reminding the world of the reason why the Avatar is needed.

True, while the devastation of Kuvira’s attack (along with Korra and her friends’ attempts to stop her) left a good part of Republic City in ruins, it won’t take 10,000 lifetimes for her and the city to rebuild the damage, and thanks to the evacuation beforehand, most of the citizens did live through the destruction.

Korra definitely has her flaws and at times she can definitely be frustrating and hard to deal with and even not the best role model at times (though she definitely grows into one by the end and she’s probably my favorite character in the avatarverse), but I don’t think it’s fair (or even true) that she even remotely qualifies for the title of “worst avatar ever”. Tenzin even confirms it himself “Korra, you’ve transformed the world more in a few years than most Avatars did during their lifetimes”. Just saying…

True, a lot of people and spirits aren’t necessarily happy with this forced integration and there are a lot of risks to it definitely, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t learn to co-exist with one another nor should they not be given the chance to try. Only true peace and balance can come when the barriers disappear and both sides learn to accept each other which is why despite some complications and potential dangers with the spirit portals being open, I honestly agree with Korra’s decision on keeping them open will lead the world closer to “balance” in the long run.