#pro tlok

[beifong-brainrot]

People will go on about how "Katara's story is a tragedy" because she... ended up marrying the guy she loves, having children and grandchildren which she was always excited about and literally becoming a master waterbender and rising to the top of her field as a healer.

Yes, Katara's story has tragic aspects to it. And there are certainly flaws in how she is written in tlok (Though I will argue that there are actually more issues with how Toph and Zuko are just plopped in there for no reason in later seasons). And her storylines aren't perfect, for example her resolving her trauma around the murder of her mother being more used to prop up Zuko than her own internal turmoil. (Most of TSR is from Zuko's perspective and I hate that actually)

"Katara's story is a tragedy" Why do you have such a hard on for this woman's misery? Let her be happy, man.

You know what gaang girlie's life is an actual onscreen tragedy?

Toph's!

People will fucking downplay Toph's childhood abuse because she wasn't physically hurt, but her childhood was a never ending carousel of abelism, misogyny, neglect and isolation. The way Toph describes her parent's treatment of her as "pressure and pain" is heartbreaking.

Toph's only escape was Earth Rumble and earthbending, but despite her skills, she remained the perfect little lady her parents always wanted her to be. She's never known a different life, and she was only able to be her real self in secret.

And when Toph finally opens up to her parents, when she finally lays her real self bare in front of the people who are supposed to love and care for her?

She is met with what may be, in my opinion, the cruellest rejection in the show.

Despite this, even when Toph runs away, she still cares for her parents' approval. Hell, she's even lured into a trap due to her getting a forged letter from her mom and getting excited because it looked like her mom was finally accepting her.

It's also important to note how determined to be self sufficient and to prove herself Toph is. We can especially see this right after she joins the Gaang, where she refuses to participate in splitting with the rest of the group, insisting on "pulling her own weight". This isn't Toph being a brat, or spoilt, this is her wanting to prove that she can handle herself because people have handled and understimated her her entire life.

Eventually, Toph starts to learn to trust the members of the Gaang and this is a step in the right direction. She's literally making friends for the first time in her life I'm so proud of her.

However, I was genuinely upset when Toph's life changing field trip with Zuko didn't work out. When Toph was trying to connect with Zuko and he blew her off (I'm not blaming him tho they had shit to do), I couldn't help but remember the rejection Toph suffered from Lao.

Post canon, Toph continues to try and prove herself, starting a metalbending school and training new metalbenders.

She also reconciles with her father. Not before Lao disowns he rmultiple times and calls her a rude, ungrateful thing. And while he eventually comes to understand Toph and cherish her, that type of trauma sticks with you.

So it's no wonder really that Toph, someone who went her entire childhood seemingly without even speaking to someone her age, would have trouble forming connections. She has children with two different men, neither of which seem to stick around.

Toph tries to do right by her daughters and gives them the freedom she never got. Sadly, the pendulum swung too far to the other side, since it seems that she started to neglect her daughters, which led to them developing a sleugh of issues of their own.

Toph becomes the cheif of police, which kind of makes sense. Republic City was only slowly emerging as an actual metropolis. Toph took on a role as a protector, and probably as a way to prove herself. But as Republic City grew, Toph probably realised that she became something she hated. A cog in the machine, and started to despise her job.

Searching for a semblance of the freedom and happiness her travels afforded her in her childhood, Toph leaves the city and takes up the life of a hermit in a swamp. She managed to fix her relationship with Suyin to some extent, but still seems reluctant or simply unable to connect with her daughter or grandchildren. Since she apparently hasn't seen Opal, a grown 20 year old woman since she was a little girl.

On the surface old Toph doesn't seem terribly dissimilar to young Toph, still tough and spunky. But she is more jaded, depressed and pessimistic. She comes out to save Suyin from immediate harm and manages to somewhat reconcile with Lin, but then she fucks right back off to the swamp where she seems to literally hide until Wu and Korra straight up force her to come with them.

Toph's story began with her alone and it seems to end with her alone as well. It's a story of a girl who grew up isolated and handled by others, and was woefully unprepared for the real world, which only jaded her further. She lives with the guilt of fucking up her daughters' lives and a belief in the pointlessness of life.

Toph started off longing to experience the world and ended up willingly isolating herself from it.

If that isn't a tragedy, I'm not sure what is.

Mind you, this is not the trauma olympics. I'm not saying that Toph has suffered more than Katara or that Katara's trauma is not as valid as Toph's. Katara and Toph's experiences are completely different, Katara being a victim of genocide and war, Toph being a victim of child abuse. I'm just saying that, objectively, Katara had a happier 'ending' than Toph.

[darklinaforever]

When people try to justify Katara in TLOK by saying she's old I want to pull my hair out ! In this case, why is this not the case for other former members of the gaang who are active despite their old age ? Why does Katara have 0 statues in the town ? Why out of everything she could do, she's just kept as a great healer when that's not what she wanted in the original ? Why, if she is such a great healer, does she almost never manage to heal anyone ? Why does she never go anywhere unlike other gaang members who are so old ? Like the bloodbending trial ?! Since it was she who banned it (a very stupid thing, by the way). Like, his granddaughter's own ceremony ? Why isn't she there but Zuko is ?! How come Katara doesn't see her family often ?! She doesn't even try to see them ?! We're talking about Katara ! She would never do that ! Why do we learn more about Aang's role than Katara's about parent-child relationships ?! Stop trying to defend Katara's crappy writing from old age. Old age doesn't stop you from doing badass things in the Atla universe. Everyone forgot Bumi ?! I am so angry ! The simple truth is that Bryke, as in the comics, specifically erased Katara to reduce her to Aang's wife. That's all. Why am I making this rant ? Because I'm tired, once again, of seeing people defend Katara's writing in TLOK under the pretext that she's old, and especially seeing people say that the writing of strong women is even better in TLOK. Can we just talk about the horrible treatment of Korra herself in this ?! Not forgetting the worst thing I have ever seen ! To say that the treatment of Katara in TLOK is better than in the netlfix remake of Atla... How angry all this can make me !

[marigoliad]

"Wu personally asked Raiko. He says he doesn't know what to do without you." A little Wuko fanart bc why not

[starlight-bread-blog]

[leantailean]

The spring sun

Katara🩵

[rightwheretheyleftme]

One of the main messages of Avatar: Kissing girls without their consent is fine!

Because even if the boys who violated their consents never learn their lesson

They can still be heroes

And get the girl as a reward for their bravery!

Reminder: These storylines were written by 2 grown men

[brynnsasha191]

Does it ever drive you crazy just how fast the night changes?

Kataang x Kainora parallels drive me insane. Both ships deserve the world.

[blackflash9]

I probably shouldn't take a children's cartoon so seriously, but there's something deeply interesting about watching a fandom collectively defend and glorify a character for dwelling in their issues and stagnation while demonizing someone who largely processed their trauma and grew from it.

[sjbattleangel]

Me whenever hacks like Lily Orchard go after Steven Universe, She-Ra, The Owl House, The Legend Of Korra, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Sailor Moon, Revolutionary Girl Utena, Moon Girl, Star Wars, Dungeon Meshi, ect.

(P.S: I am a massive fan of the media mentioned above) (P.S: Yes. I will fight to the end defending Steven Universe, She-Ra, The Owl House, Utena, Evangelion, Sailor Moon and The Last Jedi.)

[oxyintelligent]

I’m sorry but I looooooove watching the Korra characters getting ruined. I’m having the time of my life.

If I had to endure watching Aang become a deadbeat, Toph a corrupt cop and awful mother, and Katara a mute housewife- then I hope that every single Korra character becomes a piece of shit that destroyed the world. At least let’s be consistent.

[nonspecificfandomblog]

I’m probably just yelling into the void at this point because I don’t actually have many followers, but nonetheless I feel compelled to say something after the announcement for the new Avatar series.

STOP JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS!

I was not always a Korra fan, it took me a long time to appreciate her for the good Avatar she was. When I first watched the series, I could not stand Korra—at all. She aggravated me beyond all reason and as such I didn’t judge her or treat her fairly.

But I am a fairly judgmental person and as such, sometimes I have to force myself to be more reasonable and realistic in my expectations of a person and giving them grace. So I did. And once I did, I really came to love Korra. She made many mistakes, just as Aang did, Roku, Kyoshi, Yangchen, and every Avatar before her. She learned and the world changed because of it, both for the better and the worse. But just as the world changed, so did she, and she grew as a person into a much better person and Avatar. Not only does the series show that, but so do the comics.

Although I used to be one of Korea’s biggest haters, I am now one of her fiercest defenders. I still have a couple of qualms with certain plot points in the series *cough* Aang would’ve been an amazing dad *cough* but none of them link back directly to Korra’s value as a person and/or an Avatar.

This announcement was meant to spark discourse and discussion, mainly to incite curiosity and excitement about the series! That much is obvious and there is no doubt in my mind the writers intended that with the announcement. I’m also certain they knew by how they were framing it that some discussion would link back to Korra and the state of the world at her passing. However, I do not believe the writers intended to start a hailstorm of hatred all directed at Korra, restarting the years old and tired discussion of her value as a person and/or an Avatar. Do I think they could’ve framed it differently to not restart that discussion while still inciting curiosity and excitement? I’m genuinely not certain. That said, it is still the responsibility of fans to use critical thinking skills when discussing and analyzing a series. To dislike a character is understandable, to completely dismiss one as useless and awful because of your own bias is not.

All this in mind, WE DO NOT KNOW THAT KORRA CAUSED THIS GREAT CATACLYSM DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY. Let us use our critical thinking skills and NOT JUMP TO CONCLUSIONS. Something happened, assumedly towards the end of Korra’s lifetime, though possibly even after her passing. Obviously there would probably have been some lead up during her lifetime to the cataclysm that left the world in the state it is in at the beginning of Seven Havens, but there’s no way to say it happened during or after her lifetime, at least not at this time. Either way though, I must repeat, WE DO NOT KNOW THAT KORRA CAUSED THIS GREAT CATACLYSM DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY. She is a good Avatar, in spite of the many mistakes she’s made, and I have full confidence that she did a great wonderful, albeit imperfect, job of balancing the world in every way she could. And I believe that that rings true throughout her entire life, even the life we have not seen thus far.

Even with all this, whatever state the world was in at her passing, disrepair because crises insurmountable to her abilities arose, or a tentative peace with problems creeping along the edges, Korra cannot be entirely blamed for whatever happens when she dies. Just as Kuruk’s time in the spirit world left the earthly realm imbalanced for Yangchen to deal with, Roku’s failure to take down Sozin left Aang to take down the Fire Lord and end a hundred-year-long war, and Aang letting Yakone remain unfound for Korra to deal with his son, Korra may have left some issues unresolved, due to her own mistakes and her own inability to resolve every single problem the world throws at her. Wan was the first Avatar, using the powers for good, but even he died unable to leave the world completely at peace, beginning the cycle so each Avatar could do their best to maintain balance.

Korra shouldn’t need such fierce defending because, just as every Avatar before her, she made mistakes, but she also accomplished a lot of good. People are far too quick to unfairly dismiss and hate on her when she did exactly what every good Avatar before her did: use her powers to help guide the world, albeit imperfectly.

We know practically nothing about Seven Havens from the small synopsis blurb, let alone what part Korra may have had in it. Stop jumping to conclusions and stop unfairly hating on Korra, she deserves better.

[beifong-brainrot]

One thing I love about tlok is how it cleary shows parental figures as real, human people who struggle and make mistakes, despite loving their children. I think a lot of media, especially for younger people has a tendency to polarise parent characters, characterising them as either ubiquitously good and caring, or malicious and abusive.

This was one of my biggest, if not only gripes with atla. The parents in that show were presented as very black and white. Ozai was an horrible father, who burned his son and used his daughter. Iroh is an always loving and supportive fatherly figure. Kya the og died for her daughter and we only hear good things about her. The most nuance had are in Ursa, Hakoda and the Beifongs. But even then, Ursa and Hakoda's 'parenting fails' are presented as out of their control, due to an abusive marriage or war respectively. And the Beifongs are mainly swept off to the side, being the least relevant to the story.

I understand why this was done, and I don't think its a bad choice entirely, especially with Hakoda and Ozai being somewhat foils of each other. But it's still feels like a bit of a boring brick wall in what usually is a very finely detailed storyline.

But tlok gives us a show of characters failing as parents, not out of malice like Ozai, but because parenting is hard.

I actually adore the choice to make Aang and Toph 'flawed parents'. They both cared for their children, but had a lot ot things in their lives that made it difficult to fully act on it. Aang was busy and dealing with the weight of the world and Toph had never been subjected to healthy parenting, therefore she struggled to adjust to it.

Tonraq and Tenzin also struggle to parent properly, their struggle coming from their daughters' respective growth. This is a common struggle many parents have as their kids grow up and it's nice to see it represented in a way that isn't just a parent wiping their tear with the old 'my lil girls all grown up and destroying things'. There's often resistance, there's butting heads, but that doesn't mean there is malice, or a lack of care and love.

Suyin is probably the most controversial mother/motherly figure in the show and that's why I love her so much. I've already yammered on about how Suyin's motherhood makes her so polarising in the fandom. But the long and short of it is that she combines both previously mentioned 'flaw types' and they feed into each other. She, like Toph, struggles due to having a poor parental figure, and she tries to compensate and cope through her family and Zaofu. This leads to her being overprotective and a bit controlling with her children. She responds emotionally when threatened or upsetm

But all of them, Aang, Toph, Tenzin, Tonraq and Suyin still love their children very much. Still care for them and still try, despite their difficulties. And I think that's something I love about tlok.

[darklinaforever]

Me, when someone dares to tell me that Korrasami is better than Caitvi :

Or even at the same level, while this ship of tlok is (sorry to the fans) super poorly written :

Seriously, this ship is one of the worst queer relationships I've seen in fiction with Chaggie from Hazbin Hotel ! And I'm not difficult though.

Korrasami is a bad ship, and I don't understand its popularity. Already it's a bad ship which is part of a bad show...

I guess it's because it was still pretty rare for real representation in a children's show at the time, but still. Objectivity as you grow up please ?

[high-on-cactus-juice]

Somewhat unpopular shipping opinion but I truly believe jinko should have been endgame. Like these two were way too cute together for Jin to end up being a one episode character!!

Also I do really love Mai but I just don’t believe the MaixZuko pairing is the best one out there, considering that they started dating as a result of being two depressed teens. I’m a sucker for grumpy/sunshine dynamics.

[starlight-bread-blog]

Some people suggest that Katara became a trophy wife to Aang in TLoK. In my opinion the writing of the Gaang in TLok isn't very good, (and I'll discuss this later), but this critisism is not it. In her introduction, Katara is refered to as "Master Katara", she's a high ranking member of the White Lotus - and her most highlighted relationship is with Korra. She is the one who helps her recover from Zaheer, and she is the one who advises that she should meet Tenzin. Her relationship with Aang is very rarely the focus. Katara is not a trophy wife, nor is she reduced to Aang's partner.

This isn't to say that the writing in TLoK is perfect, I can name 5 issues from the top of my head.

She doesn't have a statue as she deserves.

She wasn't present during the bloodbending trial.

Katara is the only living Gaang member without a fight scene.

She wasn't present during her own grandaughter airbending ceremony.

When her children discussed their flawed childhood, we never heard of Katara's parenting and perspective.

But as you can see, none of these issues can be fixed by Katara not ending up with Aang or ending up with a different character. None of this issues suggest that Katara is living in specifically Aang's shadow.

Heck, even if Katara was a trophy wife (which she isn't), that wouldn't be a problem with Kataang, it would be a problem with TLoK. Compare this (hypothetical) situation to the very not hypothetical situation of the comics. Many if not all of the characters act incredibly out of character (if I remember correctly, but for argument's sake let's say that they are). Aang promises to kill Zuko if he ever becomes like his father. That is out of character. He couldn't kill a genocidal dictator because of his cultural values. It was very powerful in the original. So what, does that mean that Aang has given up on preserving his nearly dead culture, and that we should hold him accountable for it? Of course not. He's being out of character. His promise is a comics problem, not an Aang problem.

This is the same with Kataang in TLoK. It wouldn't be a Kataang problem, it'd be a TLoK problem. Because in A:TLA, Katara is anything but a trophy wife. She is the narrator, the central character of many episodes, a master waterbender, a teacher, a healer - she is the hero alongside Aang. If you cannot link Katara being a trophy wife to A:TLA, you should take no issue with A:TLA. Katara hypothetically being a trophy wife has nothing to do with the original cartoon. Again, it wouldn't be a Kataang problem, it'd be a TLoK problem.

But then again, Katara isn't a trophy wife to begin with.

[leantailean]

Love seeing their happy family