#again this isn't anti-Korra

[zuko-always-lies]

List of Morally Worst Things Korra Ever Did

Ok, to be clear, this isn't an anti-Korra post. I just wanted to have a list like this for my own purposes. She obviously also does a ton of objectively good things, but I wanted to see her at her worst.

Setting the ancient airbending gates on fire in a tantrum

Kissing Mako when he was reluctant, he was already dating Asami, said he liked both Korra and Asami, and Korra had just dated Bolin

Using Naga to terrify Tahno

Causing massive property destruction in her attempt to hunt down a couple criminals

Siding with Unalaq over her own tribe when he militarily occupied the SWT

Threatening to have Naga eat Judge Hotah

Conspiring with General Iroh II to force the United Republic into war against the NWT against the will of the United Republic's civilian leadership.

Opening the second spirit portal to "save" Jinora from Unalaq, even though Jinora is begging her not to do it.

Trying to basically kidnap Ryu just because he's an airbender even though he was utterly uninterested in joining the Air Nation.

Helping the Earth Queen collect taxes.

Chasing the Red Lotus behind Lin's back?

Threatening to make it her "life's mission" to stop Baatar Jr. from seeing Kuvira ever again?

[imjustavenuxwithaboomerang]

idk if anyone needs to hear this but if you've forgiven rayla for being sent to kill the princes, you cannot turn around and yell at soren for the same thing

[sillyfudgemonkeys]

RoR: A missed opportunity

Spoilers for the RoR, and other Chronicles of the Avatar novels. (mostly just Roku's and Kyoshi's, but light general plot stuff for Yangchen)

The title can also be called "Wow, they could've TOTALLY done more exploration with Kyoshi's Legacy and Roku's imposter syndrome"

Roku has imposter syndrome in the novel. It's bad. It's stupid. It comes up only every so often, partially because we have our asses being yeeted away from him to someone more "interesting" (and sometimes that someone is BARELY more interesting than Roku).

Like I'm sorry, I bought a ROKU novel. Shouldn't I be getting more ROKU?! >_>

Roku's imposter syndrome can be summed up with:

I'm not as good as my twin Yasu

My parents like Yasu more

Maybe I'm more like the false Avatar Yun

How could I compare to Kyoshi? (mentioned like ONCE/not a lot)

Sozin and Yasu would've probs been a better pick than me (I think this was said by him, that or it was Sozin.....it's whatever)

You can sum it up fairly easily because it's not talked about a lot. 🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃 And sometimes when it is, it's not even from Roku's perspective.

"Ok ok Silly. You don't like how his imposter syndrome is handled. Is that the missed opportunity?" Yes and no. :D

The miss opportunity is not utilizing Kyoshi more and keeping this story waaaaaay too self contained.

"Yeah yeah we know you like Kyosh-" *grabs lips between my fingers* Shhhhh little voice in my head. That's not what this is AT ALL!

This novel fails to capitalize not only on something the OTHER novels haven't had a chance to, BUT it also failed to capitalize on stuff the other's HAD done! :D

In all honesty, it really is a feat it was able to to do BOTH! At once! It really goes to show how wishy washy this whole thing is..... >_>

Let's focus on what it failed to do that R/SoK and D/LoY did: Feeling the weight of their previous incarnations. Their ripples. Their choices. Their consequences.

R/SoK has Kuruk all over it. Everything Kyoshi is dealing with? Thanks to Kuruk. He may only be mentioned (by name) like 56ish times in RoK, but everything Kyoshi is dealing with is tied back to him. His team is heavily involved (as heroes/protags and villains/antags), the state of the world being just ass crack is because of his reign with all the Daofei running rampant (until Jianzhu cleans up....a lot of it, but not all). Just....EVERYTHING. And it only snowballs as we get into SoK. (where it's kinda revealed that it's not just Kuruk's ripples she has to deal with but Yangchen's...AND Szeto's too!)

Then we have D/LoY. Yangchen has to deal with Szeto fallout, which isn't as insane as Kuruk's (again, not entirely Kuruk's fault, he had to focus on saving the world from spirits). But it's still an ass fucked deal Yangchen is dealt. People just LOVE bringing up Szeto and her other past lives around her.

Like Yangchen and Kyoshi canNOT get away from their past lives. Either them being throw in their faces, dealing with visions and them meddling, or just the world/old friends of them just fucking about in their world!

(and this isn't getting into Aang dealing with all of Roku's BS in ATLA, or some of the issues Kyoshi left him [ironically!]. Or Korra dealing with Aang/Wan's stuff, let alone the Red Lotus just being anti-Avatar)

You want to know what Roku has to deal with? Nothing. Fucking. Nothing. Gotta give a hand to Kyoshi, she stuck around so long she smoothed the ripples that Szeto, Yangchen, and Kuruk (and her own too, at the time) must've made because Roku barely register's her on any type of Richter scale! :'D Oh oh, MAYBE, like MAYBE the Earth Kingdom people deciding to jump onto the island MIGHT be a fallout. But it's not like.....her fallout (it probs really isn't her deal tbh). It's the usual "ok Avatar died, time to fuck about" fallout....but even then we don't really hear a lot of shit going on????

Which is just so INSANE?! Like, this woman lived to be 230! What do you MEAN there's nothing?

Like Kyoshi's presence is NOT THERE??? Like where is it?!

WTF??? TT0TT Like this is INSANE, not just for how long Kyoshi's been alive, but like...just compared to the other entries!

Like with the other Chronicles? Kyoshi and Yangchen still were able to showcase ripples with AVATAR'S THAT HADN'T BEEN EXPLORED FULLY YET! We still felt ripples from Kuruk and Yangchen and Szeto in JUST KYOSHI'S NOVELS! Not even getting into Yangchen, just Kyoshi did we feel it!

Like I said above, even in ATLA and we feel the ripples with Kyoshi and Roku! Hell Kyoshi had more ripples in ATLA than she did with Roku's novel! Maybe even Korra (with the whole Chin/Kuvira parallel). LoK showcased ripples, not just from Aang but from Wan!

Like what is going on RoR??? Why are you afraid of a few wrinkles?! TT0TT

I think we actually get more wrinkles from SZETO'S era than we do from KYOSHI! What the hell? Like no. The whole Fire National identity is brought up a lot. Szeto's name, even if unspoken, is kinda hanging there in the background. He's also brought up in the library to showcase the truth behind the island.

Listen, I love Szeto. I love his ratchet ass causing issues for every Avatar (it's my fav running gag besides the Saowon's being lil' shits). I was hoping for it in this book actually! But we really should be dealing with both Szeto and Kyoshi in this novel. Both are shadows that should be crushing Roku right now. Like how Kuruk and Yangchen were for Kyoshi!

It really should've been paralleling Kyoshi more. Kyoshi had Kuruk, the disappointment, and then Yangchen the "Golden child she should be like" weighing on her. No one outright told her TO be like Yangchen. She just decided it was the best option. Everyone revered Yangchen, so obviously she's a good role model! She should be like her! We constantly hear her brought up in prayer! She's constantly being crushed between trying to make good choices like Yangchen, and not be a disappointment like Kuruk.

Roku should be dealing with that too! But it's Szeto/Kuruk (for the negatives) and Yangchen/Kyosh (for the positives). Hell, they can even play with it by flip flopping depending on who's talking (so like a Fire National may make a parallel of: Kyoshifor neg like Kuruk, and Szeto for pos like Yangchen, which is ironically how Kyoshi framed it in her novels, because they like Szeto and not Kyoshi).

Basically, "Do/Don't be like Szeto" and "Do/Don't be more like Kyoshi!"/"Can you live up to/exceed Kyoshi?" Should be two narratives he has to deal with in this novel..... But yet doesn't.

_______

*Inhales*

"Ok so we figured out what it didn't do that the other novels did. Now what did it fail to capitalize on that the other novels didn't have going for it?" Kyoshi.

"Yes we now you-" No. I mean, we have Kyoshi. This is a first time for the novels to have already had a previous Avatar be fairly known by the fandom.

Now we don't know ALL 230 years of her life. We only know up to about the 40th year. But 1) we got two novels of her early life, 2) we know her legacy in AtLA/LoK. Before Wan, she probs had the most info on her besides Roku. Like that's a decent amount to go on. More than Yangchen. Def more than Kuruk or Szeto.

And it would've been a good way to give us more insight on her last years too! :D So what do we get?

We get none of that.

Like you know how crazy this is? It's like having LoK but NEVER, EVER addressing Aang, at least in S1. I know LoK didn't focus a lot on Aang, but we still had his influence all around (esp in S1 when he was still available). His children/grandchildren, friends were still around. We got SOOOO many flashbacks in Season 1. And to the show's credit, at least it came up with a reason for him not to show up again starting with S2 (aka losing the past Avatars). We still get a lot of his essence!

But RoR has none of that? A few off handed remarks about Kyoshi existing at some point. The biggest one being some guy being like "Yeah no I wouldn't have fucked with her."

"Oh! But we have Disha" oh great. >_> She's....just so great......and like....barely a character......hmmmm...... No, girlie ain't even here for most of the book.

And what we get is barely anything. Hei-Ran in RoK has more of a presence than Disha! And that's saying something! We didn't get a lot of Hei-Ran! Hell, Kelsang has more presence than Disha!

Both of them do so much more with their screen time than Disha! I know SO MUCH about them as people/characters with what little screen time I get just in RoK.

Gyatso does more to give us insight on Kysoshi than Disha does imo.

It's just....wow. Just circling back to the lack of ripples. It's just....insane!

Back to my point above the line. It would be more interesting to see people looking at Roku and being like:

Fire Nationals: Be like Szeto! Don't be like Kyoshi! Non Fire Nationals: Don't be like Szeto! Be like Kyoshi! "Why can't you decide?" "Why can't you bend?" "Oh, Kyoshi could've/would've done this-"

Like, again, this should be weighing on him, like constantly. Like he communicates this particular weight on him! Not the generic "oh am I gonna be good enough?" generalization sad boi bs I get. I want specifics sweetie! What you gave me was a generic snooze fest, I wanna feel your despair in my BONES. Tell me why these ideologies are tearing you apart molecule by molecule!

Like, Roku and Kuruk were both successors of one of the most highly regarded Avatars. From what we've got of Kuruk, he seems like he was taking it pretty well (until the great Spirits started spiriting). It didn't seem like he had much pressures, either he was good a hiding his true feelings (which is valid because he does that later) or he really was go with the flow early on before the sprits (also valid, he seemed at peace from what we know)

Roku crumbling under Kyoshi's giant shadow should've been his big arc. (Not....not ho-humming about Sozin and Sozin related things/aventures/whatever the fuck you wanna call the premise of this book, tbh the Sozin thing is handled afdklsajfkldjsalf ahhhhrrrrgggg! TT0TT That's for a different time, but Sozin shouldn't have been this involved it just messes with the previously established lore man.....).

They should've been leaning into this like crazy. Leaning into Szeto. Lean into Kyoshi. Into Yun. Into Yasu! A lot more than they did! (Oh don't assume I like Yasu ajkfjdslkf I know I'm saying lean into it more, but I think Yasu was an unnecessary addition)

That being said, one of the best chapters is Roku Alone and us exploring his past with Yasu! Because we actually get something from Roku for once! The next is Two Wicks cause we actually get some Kyoshi! Like those are the two chapters that touch on his issues the most, but the rest of the book just meanders along.

I dunno, I just feel like this whole internal conflict should've/could've/would've carried this book. Not a bs island mystery where we spend like half the book not in Roku's head but in two other people's instead. (And one of them is doing fuck all in a desert >_>) (the whole island premise should've been used for a different Avatar, would've served them better than it did Roku....but that's for a different rant).

It's just a shame. Roku had a good set up. The imposter syndrome and having to deal with Szeto and Kyoshi's shadows? Mwuah! Cinema!

But in the end it was wasted. TT0TT

[tumblingxelian]

How does RWBY's worldbuilding hold up for you?

Ooh fun question, and one I can answer in a short amount of time!

Long story short, yeah it holds up quite well, I don't need to make any significant leaps in logic or desperately headcanon things to compensate the way I might with some other settings.

For instance most super hero settings don't hold up to scrutiny, or present themselves consistently/coherently once they starts whipping out the more ridiculous sci-fi tech and or magic.

This isn't to say its perfect, nothing is, or that there aren't more details I'd like to see explored or various minor nitpicks I could probably pull out if I felt so inclined.

But as it is, I don't, but its not because I just love the series.

See, as much as I love world building, I do think it gets too easily used as a cudgel by bad faith critics.

Let's be real here, even some of the worlds best authors do not have Tolkein's patience to create a whole new language, & I imagine even his stuff raised questions or inconsistencies.

The absence of local languages/accents, them not explaining the praying statues in the V4 trailer don't bug me. Cos their absence is not harming the story.

Meanwhile if there's an inconsistency or question, that too is fine as they are watched enough to avoid any real issues & so I can focus on having a good time.

Hell, let's bring up ATLA, the golden calf for critics who never watched anything else in their lives without asking "Where's the Zuko though?"

Off the cuff & late at night I can name many ATLA world building issues.

The writers one hundred percent do not grasp the philosophical ideas they are trying to espouse, showing a grasp of "Letting go" almost as wrongheaded anti Jedi people.

The origins and nature of bending is inconsistent even just within the first series, being and or coming from education, gifts, blood, spirits, some combination there-of or what have you.

If we jump to Korra the Spirits themselves are weird, initially presented as physical manifestations of a given land, they instead become essentially alien invaders & stuff like the Lion Turtles, Koi, Badger moles & more are just left as ???? Plus again spiritual misunderstanding.

Or heck, one of my biggest gripes ties into the plot as well but would be the introduction of "Bad firebending" and its counterpart "Good Firebending" introduced very late in the game at season 3.

The problem with saying it was meant to be a surprise is we've seen every Bender tap into anger when bending. Toph cracks the ground, Katara broke an iceberg, Aang goes into the Avatar State, ETC.

Anger & fire was only tied to two characters, Zuko during his season 1 lashing out period & Zhao where it was specifically cited as being unique to him and something to exploit.

Worse still, we've seen people happily Firebend, Aang;s issues with Firebending comes from having too much fun, getting careless with it & accidentally burn Katara. & we have seen sad or direction-less Zuko Firebend like a champ before now.

The 'revelation' of "Good Firebending" is the wrong solution to Aang's issue cos it does nothing about fires tendency to burn, & a solution looking for a problem that had to be tailor made for it to fix & did not exist before, Zuko.

The thing is though, while I will happily harp on the last one as part of a greater collection of issues in season 3. The truth is people are not bothered by these things if they watch a show in good faith.

One doesn't even need to like a show to do this, its just part of the deal when watching fictional media that some stuff is not always going to add up perfectly.

What matters is if the writers made it interesting, feel like it fit coherently within the world and kept it consistent enough that it didn't break the story.

Which CRWBY very much do.

They created a wide, vibrant, varied and interesting world, where a multitude of stories could and do take place that can be expanded upon if one wants.

They created and kept consistent its internal logic as best as it can be conveyed to we the audience when the characters also don't know everything.

Above all they used it to tell a interesting and engaging story, where skill & strategy matter so much in combat Where its so easy to believe bandits and criminals can thrive in the wild. Where the introduction of something like the Ever After can actually fit and feel like a revelation rather than break the story!

So yeah, I really enjoy RWBY's world building :)

[jjsanguine]

Don't try to emotionally manipulate with music me Last Twilight, I know what's up. How the hell did we get here??

The ending seems almost completely detached from everything that was happening till episode 11. Till the breakup if I want to be generous. Here's some disorganised thoughts.

Why was the timeskip so long?? 3 years of not speaking to each other is not chicken change. Speaking of, why didn't they speak to each other? This isn't legend of Korra, they have Line. We hear all about what Day was up to but there's one shot of Mhok working in a kitchen and otherwise not kpim. Why. Mhok took than job to build his career and I feel like leaving with no notice no nothing probably torpedoed his reputation. Was that job important or nah?

I don't care about Day + Nights dad. If we were going to bring a side character back for 2 seconds at the wedding it should have been Gee because apart from Aon she's Day's closest friend. Or was before she just vanished off the face of the earth as much as August who literally isn't in the country.

I would have liked to see any of Night + Phojai's relationship onscreen. There wasn't enough going on in this episode (even thought it was bare long :/) to not touch on *anything* that happened between phoomjai being born and them getting married. How did Ramon react? I don't think Khun "I can excuse classism" would be chill.

Why the ever living FUCK did Day fully regain his vision. I would have been down if some serious side effect like night blindness or astigmatism or the many problems resulting from having to take anti rejection medication and becoming immunocompromised was brought up but nope. Day struggled a bit for a few years and and got his eyes switched back on easy peasy.

Day being sighted again makes how Ramon was like "I'll stop being abusive (regardless of if or to what extent she meant well) once you stop being disabled" something that will never be grappled with. I doubted they were gonna after episode 11 but still, it was nicer than being certain.

Day broke up with Mhok because he thought Mhok pitied him for being blind. Mhok (and also Mhok's backstory) said it was because of Rung, and I thought this was going to be a segue into Day realising that it wasn't all self confidence and roses chez Mhok but apparently I was completely wrong

Day didn't have to really deep that Mhok has stuff going on because Mhok ACTUALLY has nothing going on. It was just pity. Somehow.

I do not understand why this point causes all the problems in episode 11 and was not mentioned at all in the finale. I don't understand why the solution to this supposed pity was to make day sighted again instead of addressing that.

The thought process send to have been that if Mhok doesn't trust anyone to care for Day and Day doesn't think he needs caring for, by restoring Day's vision they can both be right. It's like when gender screwy dramas sidestep the male lead thinking too hard about his orientation after taking for who he thinks it's a guy by being like, he somehow sensed that it was a girl all along and crucially before he kissed them. Nah. NAH FAM. I didn't forget.

Day + Mhok going back up that mountain at their sighted leisure makes hollow the struggle to reach the top first time round. The view wasn't as nice because it was rainbow bereft just like any of Mhok's actions in this episode (Rung's name means rainbow in English). It's like their relationship in a nutshell. Rung and the ripple effects her death have on Mhok's decision making have no place, no acknowledgement, no nothing.

If I rewatch this Mhok + Days story is going to end on the mountain, first time round, because everything after that was setting up the character assassination arc.

[burst-of-iridescent]

so i just went through your entire anti-lok tag and everything you said in it was SO WELL WRITTEN. i wanted to ask if you might have any analyses or anything (or just good old rants! we love being bryke haters) - about something that i noticed, which is this sort of... ATLA/TLOK dichotomy between how all aang's villains seem to be focused on gaining power/dominating the world or whatever, but the villains in TLOK seem to revolve around very pointed targeting of korra and specifically stripping her of her agency/bodily autonomy, but i don't know how to expand on that point.

(idk just. TLOK has a whole list of scenes that make me VIOLENTLY uncomfortable in a way even the worst of ATLA doesn't? and i thought you might have some input to share about it, if you don't mind me asking)

thank you sm!! i'm glad you enjoy my lok and bryke salt <33

i know what you mean, because it's something that struck me when i was watching lok as well. korra's villains are far more personal to her (particularly in what they do to her, or want from her) than azula or ozai or even zhao ever were to aang, and while that isn't necessarily a bad thing (in fact it can often be good to have a personal relationship between your hero and villain; just look at how much more impactful and meaningful zuko and azula's arc was compared to aang and ozai's), there is a way to do it right and that was... not what bryke did.

we didn't need to see korra brutally bloodbent and stripped of her bending, or brutally attacked by unalaq, or brutally tortured by the red lotus or - you got it - brutally beaten up by kuvira (over and over again, might i add). i'm not saying that violence never has its place in storytelling, but it needs to have an actual purpose that's not just shock value. atla, for instance, knew when and how to utilise violence: the sight of gyatso's skeleton in the southern air temple, aang's murder by azula, even katara bloodbending... the violence in all of those scenes was necessary either to communicate vital information to the audience, or drive home the emotive and narrative significance of the moment, or both.

in lok though, bryke hardly, if ever, achieved either of these objectives - especially because it was mainly only ever korra who got the brunt of the violence. no other character is repeatedly targeted and assaulted and violated even half as much as korra is, even when they're facing the same antagonists. tenzin's fight against the red lotus in book 3 gets a tasteful pan to black (one of the few times i think bryke did use violence purposefully; knowing what not to show is just as important as knowing what to show, and leaving the audience with the dread of tenzin's fate was actually sadder and more terrifying than letting us see what happened to him) but korra's agonizing torture at the hands of the red lotus is so long and drawn-out that it begins to veer into torture porn.

imo, this can probably be attributed to two things: 1) bry.ke thinking trauma = character development because they don't know how else to write a good character arc (and they still somehow fucked it up - i will never forgive them for making korra thank zaheer, of all people, for helping her overcome her trauma, like what the absolute fuck bry.ke), and 2) they wanted lok to be "more mature" than atla, which shows both that they fundamentally didn't understand atla, or what constitutes good storytelling, and also that someone desperately needs to tell them that simply upping the violence and hamfistedly handling "complex" topics does not maturity make.

(given the way bryke has written women, i also have to side-eye the fact that the strong-willed, independent, brown female protagonist is beaten and battered and torn down far more than the peaceful, affable light-skinned male protagonist ever is, even during an actual war.)

and of course, contrary to what our dear bryke probably expected, simply brutalizing korra season after season in the name of shock value and development did not, to anyone else's surprise, make lok the better show in the end.

[i-am-extremely-mad]

A disgusting suggestion I got from Pinterest. Uh why did I even sign up for that site? Because I was just looking for some pictures a few months ago? I'll stop with that site after this shit:

That race was just child's play, Korra was acting like a big sister here and that scene was there to show that Korra doesn't take the role of Avatar seriously yet? Also, she's a teenager?

She ditched Tenzin because she was manipulated by her uncle who convinced her that he could teach her much better about spiritual things. She also apologized to Tenzin for that. 

It was completely obvious her uncle started a civil war?! Starting with the whole occupation by the Northern Water Tribe?

She mostly disagreed with Mako, mainly because his advices were of no use to save her tribe?

The context in this scene. She literally sided with her tribe, which was under occupation by the Northern Water Tribe. If anyone upset the balance, it was her uncle. She stood on the side of the oppressed tribe, on the side of her tribe, which was deprived of its independence. How dare she take a stand, how dare she defend her own tribe from occupation!

This is like arguing that we should not have taken sides when Nazi Germany invaded Poland! Or in the case of the Avatar, not to take sides in the war between the Fire Nation and the rest of the world. Seriously WTF?! The conflict had already escalated, her tribe urgently needed military and political support to defend its independence. How she dared the desperate act to get help for her tribe.

This isn't even the worst anti-Korra take. I've seen posts criticizing Korra for daring to threaten the Earth Queen (in the context Korra and the others were defending the new airbenders from Dai Li agents), threatening the Earth Kingdom airship crew (and in the context she and Asami had just managed to break free from them) or threatening Red Lotus that she was going to kill them all (in the context of the scene where they were going to start torturing her and after that try to kill her) or when she "threatened" Tarrlok to release her friends from prison while he tried to blackmail her into submitting to him if she wants him to do it.

I found an uh... old neoduskcomics "sarcastic" comic on Tumblr and DeviantArt showing how “awful” Korra was in Book 2 because, among other things, she dared to threaten the judge for giving her father a DEATH SENTENCE. How dare Korra defy the authorities who just SENTENCED HER FATHER TO DEATH! Really? How dare Korra be angry because her father...I repeat...was SENTENCED TO DEATH! I mean, who's crazy does that, normal people don't get frustrated and angry and even threaten violence if a member of their family is sentenced to death for a crime they didn't commit? Right? She is so obnoxious!

Also the comic portrayed it as her oppressing non-bender there? Like she's hypocritical for doing the opposite of Book 1? They showed the scene like she threatened the judge with waterbending (that's not what happened at all btw) implying that she was doing that because he was supposedly non-bender (I watch scene multiple times, I still can't find any confirmation that judge was non-bender?). Again, she threatened the judge only because he sentenced her father to death, not because he was supposedly non-bender. But again how otherwise literally demonizing Korra if not making shit up about plot?

Or how she supposedly tried to stop Unalaq by force, when in reality she did it when she tried to break her father out of prison, and only attacked Unalaq to distract him so they could escape because her father wasn't there.

And how she didn't listen to her father not to try anything rash before she attacked the judge on the road. The comic of course completely ignores the fact that Korra only did this after seeing her mother completely emotionally broken. Haters as usual like to ignore this very important context. I'm sorry but I had to get some frustration out of me.

[velkynkarma]

I think LOK's issue (or, one of the many) is that it seems to work smoothest when binge watching the seasons (doesn't improve the storytelling, but it IS a binge-watcher season style of storytelling) which is kinda fascinating when it came out just before the major boom in binge-streaming.

also I agree that a longer style would allow us to get and see things like how the water tribes have evolved, the state of fire nation technology and culture, and what everywhere that the gaang visited is like without the war. I remember being most excited to seeing how the world got to grow and heal after the war and then the series never did that.

Yes, and most importantly, bear in mind that the first season of Legend of Korra was supposed to be a stand-alone season. It was intended to be a one-shot series. They did not announce seasons 2-4 were green-lit until season 1 actually had a chance to start pulling in viewers, and for a while it almost didn't happen at all.

But they only had 12 episodes in which to establish an entire new generation, new technology, all of the "what happened after" stuff, establish whole new characters, and tell multiple storylines. Which left us getting Korra's introduction, her entire new friends group, the introductions of Bolin, Mako and Asami, supporting characters like Tenzin and Lin and the airbender family, a whole cultural anti-bending revolution, gang wars, an inner-city war, a whole sport, and a love rectangle shoved into 12 episodes. None of it ever has a chance to really be established, because you ping-pong back and forth between characters and plot points so fast you don't have a chance to. It's a classic case of too much, too fast.

But if the series had 20 episodes, some of this could be expanded on. How about some character development episodes for the brothers or Asami outside of their prescribed roles as "main character's crush," "girl keeping main character's crush from her," and "goofy comedy relief"? How about some episodes of the 4 of them interacting together for a more minor issue, or teaching each other things? How about exploring more of the cross-cultural aspects of the city, with mixed-blood families and all kinds of benders interacting? Build up these character relationships more, and not necessarily in the 'love rectangle' sense of the word. Let them learn things. Let them develop as characters outside the context of the main plot.

And that's not even getting into the stuff people REALLY wanted to see: what happened to their beloved characters from the OLD series!!! Where are Katara, Sokka, Toph, Suki, and Zuko??? What about other side characters????

Bearing in mind the rest of the 3 seasons have to sit on this hastily rushed cram-packed foundation means seasons 2-4 are also on pretty shaky footing. They didn't exactly leave themselves a lot to build on. Most notably with character development--which is again, something I think could really have been solved with a few extra character-centric episodes.

It led to some real problems with pacing and character development. ATLA is centered around Aang's journey to learn all 4 elements, when he's only starting with 1. It gave him 3 seasons to work with and 3 seasons to gradually get stronger. When we first meet Korra, on the other hand, she's already mastered most elements and is an absolute powerhouse. Once she learns Air, there's nowhere for her to really go--which might have been an okay premise in the context of a one-season series, but absolutely meant they ran into a wall with the seasons after.

Korra isn't the only one with this problem either. The writing team obviously wanted a firebender on hand as a starting friend, thus the introduction of Mako. But Mako already starts out (we're told, at least, in the promotional material) as a fire-bending prodigy who is already an expert with lightning. Which is cool until you realize he has nowhere to go, either. Mako never has any physical character development for improvements, and he doesn't have much personality development either, because he was only designed to be "team strong guy and hot dude who the main character crushes on."

At least Bolin got to learn Lava bending...many seasons later.

Korra had potential for sure. There were good concepts in that story. It was just so rushed that it felt like a conveyer belt through Major Plot Points, without really getting a chance to develop any of the characters outside of basic archetypes.

[jeritten]

hello & welcome!! :D

hello all and welcome to my fanfic blog!! :33

i'll tell you some things about me so that you can get to know me better!! --

you can call me Jericho!! :))

i use he/him pronouns

i am neurodivergent (i am autistic),, so please bare this in mind when requesting etc!! (thank youz!!)

as i am autistic,, my blog will be completely neurodivergent friendly!! (font/ image/ gif wise etc!!)

i feel like i should state this: my reckless use of lowercase/ overuse of punctuation will not be in my actual writing lmao,, its more of a thing i do bcuz i like it :33

i am 17 (a minor) so i will not be dealing with anything inappropriate in that manner!!

my fanfiction is mostly written so that i can explore/ indulge in my hyperfixations (ive heard some people don't like this,, so i thought i'd say it here!! (: )

I mostly write 'Character x Reader' fanfics,, but i might stray to 'Character x Character' from time to time :DD

my personal blog is here,, so feel free to put something in my ama tab or message me if you want!! :)

I have an Ao3 and wattpad acc (although the wattpad one is old lol)!! they're both @/No1RatedSalesman1997 !!

guidelines for requesting!! --

again,, i ask for no openly sexually explicit prompts/ asks of any kind plz!! (as i am a minor (: )

i wont write anything with real people in it bcuz that feels weird to me :))

LGBTQ+ asks/ prompts are of course allowed + actively encouraged!! (me being an asexual gay man myself :3 )

no extremely violent gore of any kind plz :') (this includes s*lf h*rm as this is triggering for me (: )

plz only submit a request once!! (this doesn't mean you can't submit two different requests at the same time tho :D )

i write pretty much everything from full-fledged fanfics to imagines ,, so don't be afraid to ask for what you want!!

of course i ask for no anti-LGBTQ+,, p*dophillia or inc*st content in my ask box ty :))

other than that,, ask away!! :DD

sources that i write for!! (in no particular order) --

how to train your dragon (httyd)

megamind (im not joking im very much hyperfixated on it currently)

danganronpa?? (im not hyperfixated on it anymore but i can still write for it >:D )

lucifer (the tv series)

detroit: become human (d:bh)

death note :)

undertale / deltarune

the legend of zelda (loz)

avatar: the last airbender + legend of korra

steven universe (although plz note that i can't do anything romantic for this,, only platonic (: )

lego ninjago (again,, i am for real rn)

(dont see your fandom here?? feel free to ask/ message me and i'll see if i'm up to the challenge >:3 )

final thoughts!! --

i understand that my energy isn't for everyone,, but i really hope that you can enjoy what i put out here!! :)

hope to see you at my first real post (and many others after that!! :DD)

-Mod Jericho :)

[raavas-spirit]

Kuvira: Do you ever get so focused on a project you forget other things and people exist?

Bataar Jr.: All the time.

Kuvira: And that sometimes you are working on it and you accidentally snub someone or hurt someone? Because your mind is on a one track?

Bataar Jr.: It happened a couple of times, yes.

Kuvira: Then-

Bataar Jr.: But none of those times were firing a nuclear weapon on my supposed fiance! You tried to kill me!!

Kuvira: ... only a little bit...

[thevindicativevordan]

Since you wrote about Livewite recently, do you have any thoughts on Volcana, the other villainess introduced in STAS?

Other than "wow she's really hot and I like her design"?

I'm always wanting more women supporting characters in Superman's world, whether as heroines in their own right, civilians in key roles, or villainesses going up against him. Claire Selton is another character I really like that originated from the DCAU, and I am a bit bummed she never made the jump to the comics continuity like Livewire did, even if it's easier for me to understand why she didn't, than why it took so long for Livewire to do so. Volcana only appeared a handful of times, and mostly as a cameo outside her debut episode. Plus while I think electricity works fine as a force that can hurt Supes, fire is a much harder sell, especially since Superman walking through flames unharmed is such an iconic part of his imagery. Then there's also the difficulties with her characterization and background.

She actually works pretty great as his "Mr. Freeze" villain if we use her DCAU incarnation (which pretty shamelessly rips off of the Stephen King novel Firestarter now that I checked it out again). She was captured for her pyrokinesis powers by the shadowy Men in Black from Cadmus and was trained to be a government weapon. She busts out and escapes, but can't take care of herself other than using her powers for petty crime. Just like the obvious ending to DCAU Mr. Freeze is Batman funds a cure for Nora in exchange for Victor giving up his criminal career, the obvious ending for Volcana is that Superman intimidates the Cadmus thugs pursuing her into backing off or else, and then takes her somewhere she can live her life free of their influence. Preferably also somewhere she can get therapy and not just dropping her off on a tropical island like he did in the DCAU.

I'm sure the problem is obvious right away: you can't really use either one of those villains again without ruining what made them great to begin with can you? If you use Mr. Freeze again after Batman tells him to give up crime while Bruce Wayne funds a cure, Freeze isn't really sympathetic anymore, he's just an asshole using his tragedy as an excuse. Similarly with Volcana, if she's out killing and robbing people again, which is what happened with the DCAU version when she was brought back, it really detracts from her sympathy. The audience can only accept so much wrongdoing from a villain before their trauma doesn't excuse their actions anymore and they lose that sympathy.

What I Would Do With Volcana

So powers wise, *just* being a regular pyrokinetic isn't enough to keep you on Superman's level, we have to upgrade her powerset. Luckily there's already a character in a Superman related franchise who offers the perfect blueprint: Mano of the Fatal Five (he's the guy who blows shit up by touching it in the JL vs. FF animated movie if you need a refresher). Mano has an "anti-matter touch" that I would copy the basics of for Volcana. She doesn't just create "fires" she creates "anti-matter fires", and those can actually hurt Superman as a way to differentiate them from normal fires. This lets her be a threat to Superman because anti-matter can actually hurt Clark. I don't see any reason anti-matter wouldn't hurt him, he's still made of regular matter after all.

Adding on to that let's swipe a bunch of powers from other pyrokinetics elsewhere that I don't think Volcana had in the DCAU. So she can fly like the Human Torch and is of course immune to fire in all its forms (so Superman's heat vision doesn't work on her). If you really wanted to give her a boost she could cause anything to explode by superheating the atoms with her anti-matter, basically making her a walking nuke. I remember some firebenders in the Avatar universe being able to use their powers to heal (in Korra's time I think), so maybe give Volcana the ability to reconstruct her body from any source of fire? With all of that now she feels like a Superman-level threat in her own right.

So how do you keep her sympathetic while still allowing her to be used? Should she be kept sympathetic at all? Hot take but I don't think Freeze necessarily only works as a sympathetic bad guy (I watched The Batman cartoon's take on Freeze growing up though, so I'm not a DCAU diehard). I think Volcana likewise can work as a more sinister villainess.

If we're abandoning the sympathetic angle, then the route that seems the most obvious to me is that Claire actually really enjoyed her role as a weapon. She enjoys burning things down, whether that's buildings, or people, or civilization itself. She's a pyromaniac who gets a thrill out of using her powers, and doesn't want to stop. But she utterly loathes her government handlers for how they control her life, and there is nothing she wants more to do than to put every single one of them and their families to the torch. Volcana sees her role as the equivalent of a controlled burn, she burns away the old, the stagnant, and the rotten to make way for new forms of life.

To her, there's a clear parallel between what she does and what Superman does. Both of them act as cleansing forces, Superman purifies Metropolis of evil in the form of supercriminals, he was a force of change that ushered in the Age of Metahumans. Volcana sees herself as the next step in that Age, she burns down the structures and people that act as barriers to keep society from undergoing the rebirth she believes will rise from the ashes. Whether Superman is a part of that next step or someone she has to burn so a new hero of the new Age can come around to replace him is a position she's unsure of. Regardless, if he stands in her way she won't hesitate to fry him.

She's a foil for Clark then in terms of their wrath. Both are disgusted by the evils they see, and both think people can be inspired to change. Superman simply thinks its possible to inspire people to change the way things are without violence, while Volcana believes that's impossible. Some people need to be reduced to ash in order to build a better life, whether that's her government handlers, the group of supervillains who wouldn't follow her, or the corrupt politicians running Metropolis, or even Superman himself if he can't be made to see that truth. Clark channels his wrath towards constructive purposes while Volcana channels hers towards destructive ones.

If we want to keep the more sympathetic angle however, then I think there's still a way to do that while carrying over the basics of her DCAU origin. The big difference is that Volcana doesn't have control of her powers due to the mental trauma she endures as a result of her time with Cadmus. Periodically she will "flare up" even when she doesn't want to, and this hurts those around her who aren't wearing protection. The only safe place for her is STAR Labs where they are working on a way to control her powers and give her counseling, but because of her PTSD Volcana regularly attempts to escape. Living in a laboratory and being poked by scientists again, even though this time they're trying to help her is simply too much for Claire to endure. Regularly her temper explodes and she burns her way out (not killing anyone though). What happens next is always varied as Claire is constantly trying to gain her freedom while others exploit her for their own ends.

Superman thus has to constantly try to track her down and get her to go back to STAR Labs. Clark feels an enormous degree of sympathy for Claire, recognizing that it could've easily been him being trained as a weapon if someone less scrupulous than the Kents had found his rocket. He has a temper himself and understands the frustration Claire feels about her lot in life, while also appreciating the difficulty of constantly keeping your destructive powers under control. In that regard Volcana is a foil for Clark in regards to control: Clark has control of his powers and his life while Volcana has neither, something she envies and resents him for. Whenever she breaks out again, it's a reminder to Clark how few people truly get to take charge of their own destinies.

Probably more than you expected huh? Sorry I tend to get carried away a bit. TL;DR she's a neat character who could work well as an ongoing foe for Superman with a bit of work.

[zuko-always-lies]

In your opinion, what was the morally worst thing Korra ever did?

Not the "biggest mistake" but the actual "morally most bad" thing.

Please reblog, for more votes!

[allnewalldifferentwildspider]

I posted 84 times in 2021

38 posts created (45%)

46 posts reblogged (55%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 1.2 posts.

I added 77 tags in 2021

#zutara - 20 posts

#katara - 9 posts

#zuko - 9 posts

#anti kataang - 8 posts

#overly sarcastic productions - 7 posts

#anti bryke - 6 posts

#avatar the last airbender - 5 posts

#osp - 5 posts

#incorrect zutara quotes - 5 posts

#atla - 3 posts

Longest Tag: 47 characters

#add atla to the list of shows i enjoy by myself

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

I'm just imagining what Legend of Korra would look like if zutara was canon. I still think Katara would be in the Southern Water Tribe, but Zuko would be with her. They would be Korra's waterbending/firebending teachers and her pseudo-grandparents.

Katara: She's strong. White Lotus Guy: She lacks restraint. Zuko: My wife knows what she's talking about.

-

Zuko: More tea, Korra? Korra: Yes, please. Zuko: Did I ever tell you the story of how Katara and I met? Korra: Yes, like a hundred times. Zuko: Well I haven't told you a hundred and one times. Katara: Why? Did you tell her about the pirate thing? Korra: What pirate thing? That's sounds awesome. Zuko: It really isn't. Katara: That's what makes it so funny.

-

Plus it would have been cool to see Katara go with Zuko to the Northern Water Tribe and defend her husband from P'Li.

176 notes • Posted 2021-05-05 14:00:57 GMT

#4

You ever read a fic about a pairing you don't care about?

178 notes • Posted 2021-09-06 18:35:09 GMT

#3

Sokka: What was your favorite part of ending the war?

Zuko: Making out with your sister.

216 notes • Posted 2021-05-03 12:14:31 GMT

#2

OSP on the difference between a werewolf and a wolfwalker

265 notes • Posted 2021-10-30 17:48:41 GMT

#1

Suki: You turned down Aang? He's The Avatar. Literally the most important person in the world. And you said no? You think a better guy is just going to knock and say, "There you are?"

*knock on the door*

Zuko: There you are. Toph and Sokka are back with the supplies. I made sure to get the change.

Katara: Thank you, Zuko.

*Zuko leaves*

Katara: I don't just want to be someone's girlfriend. I want someone that I respect who respects me.

*knock on the door*

Zuko: Sorry to bother you again. I just wanted to ask you something since I value your opinion so much.

363 notes • Posted 2021-06-07 17:04:10 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[amai-no-ura]

Hi! It's the maybe-a-1 anon here. Here's why I relate to 1: My deepest fear is that I'm a bad person. Like, my anxiety shouts that at me constantly, and I often do believe it. One of my first instincts is to believe I deserve any bad treatment I get. There's a voice in my head that's always pointing out I'm not using my time making the world a better place, I'm not doing the most important thing I could be doing.

Example: My boss berated me the other day. My first instinct was defensiveness. My second was "who knows, maybe I deserve it. I'm probably terrible at my job."

>> This is not specific to 1 but also 2 and 6. All dependent stance types have this super ego telling them to be good person and they might face anxiety because they risk failing their super ego standards. So, 1 2 6 are a possibility.

Conversely, when I feel like I'm doing something Important and Righteous and Good, the feeling is almost euphoric. (Is it any surprise I'm also a Double Lion?) The voice finally shuts up for a while. I'm confident and I like myself. I'm a little disappointed when it ends, even if I felt it in a dangerous situation. I don't exactly live for those moments, but they're an important part of my life.

>> Again, this is not specific to 1s but all dependent stance types and social dominant instinct.

For reference, aggressive stance like me (8w9) might join the movement, but not out of desire to be 'good' but to win or the sheer fight of it. Being good is of second importance to my 'will' (I want to see this happen and woe betides all who stand in the way, that kind of feeling)

Example: I regularly attend protests. The feeling that going makes me a good person has kept me turning out long after most people have given up.

>> this is general enough to apply to anyone, stubbornness is human nature after all :) But I've seen this in one ENFJ 1w2 so/sp I know. He literally perseveres through 17 years of environmental conservation volunteering to make his dream happen because it's his 'duty' to the society.

>> One 6w5 I know also attend every protests and never give up. But she has this strong nervous head energy to her. Like, fussing about safety, nervous hatred toward police and generally very intense nervous energy (she is cp6w5, 684 sp/sx, triple reactive). But her energy doesn't rest in the gut, it's in the head.

But at the same time, I don't really resemble a typical 1 in terms of behavior. I care nothing for rules and authority. (I have anarchist sympathies, to demonstrate how anti-hierarchical I am.) I'm not this driven, hardworking person. Much as I like to feel righteous, I'm not actually very good at making that happen. I'm scatterbrained and lazy, and almost hedonistic at times.

>> Well, I'm not sure if you watch Legend of Korra, but 2 antagonists, Amon and Zaheer, are anarchist and they are both 1s (1w2 and 1w9). Enneagram 1 is less about the content of their belief but the direction of anger into 'righteous' purposes and repressing them otherwise to remain in control and 'good'. Behavior is of second importance here.

As for lines of development, I really relate more to 4s there than 1s. When things are going well, I'm more like a 1 ("I'll stand my ground about this moral issue") and when they're going poorly, I'm more like a 2 ("Please just make everyone like me again"). And while I can maybe see retreating to 4, I can't really see growing to 7; if anything, I turn more pleasure-seeking when things are going poorly.

>> this might suggest 1 isn't your core. Maybe a fix. The question is, have you seen yourself moving to 4 under stress (over individualize and focusing on personal flaws and retreating into your head) and 7 when you're at your best (being less uptight and controlled, able to let loose and 'enjoy'). However, 1 moving to 4 doesn't ask people to like them again. No. They retreat into their head and over individualize their flaws and personal image alone. They don't move toward people.

>> like ... for me, I have line to 5w6 and 2w3. I see them on daily basis. When I'm stressed out or can't control the situation I spiral into 5w6, retreating into my head and quiet down all feelings to do what's necessary and 'give up' because I'm not competent enough. But I integrate to 2w3, becoming more image conscious, magnanimous and extending helping hand to people to connect to them and help them as well as being more tender with my emotions. They 'flavor' my 8 on daily basis. It'd be the same for every other enneagram as well.

I hope this helped! Sorry if not; I'm a little intoxicated while writing this (see: hedonism), and also super new to Enneagram in general. Thank you for your time!

>> hedonism can appear in everyone, even 1s. The question is what is your relationship to hedonism (1s might repress it out of desire to be in control and good, 3s might repress it to not lose face, 8s might repress it to avoid being exposed and vulnerable).

---------------------

And, I still have some more questions for you. This shows you are dependent stance type (1 2 6) but I can't see any 2 influence like at all, so only 1 and 6. The reasons why I sense 6 is because your tendency to 'tone' down yourself. 6s are the 'guy next door' kind of person, someone who would tone down themselves to be more normal and just-like-you to avoid danger. 6-fixer also does this, but to varying degree. 1s are more, how do I say it, haughty and holier than thou (think: Hermione Granger (ESTJ 1w2) and Dumbledore (INFJ 1w9)). When they integrate they become more approachable and 'fun' (moving to 7). I still can't see strong 1 influence here yet.

Questions:

1. Have you ever felt superior to people around you? As in I'm more diligent than everyone. I'm more moral. Or I'm the most correct person here. That kind of feelings. Don't think about 'oh, hey, but that isn't good thing?' Enneagram isn't about good thing, but about your bad things, so ... expose yourself.

2. Do you have strong gut energy regarding right and wrong as well as marginally black and white thinking? Disregarding Lion 'Imma do what I feel is right' first and examine whether your sense of right and wrong is coming from your gut energy and not head energy (I suggest watching some 6s and 1s moralizing, Eren Yeager and Hermione are a sharp contrast).

3. Are you resistant to outside input? 1 is gut type, like 8 and 9 and we are typically more resistant to external inputs than other types. Being resistant here meaning you put your own will first and external standards or opinions second. Even if 1 is dependent stance, the presence of gut energy would make them much more resistant to outside inputs.

If you have any question about the questions here, please dm me. I'm sorry if this sounds a bit confusing (that's gut type thing, we 'feel' people and not 'think' them).

[tuiyla]

I’m more in the Glee Fandom but also I’m very curious because I watched ATLA as a child - why do people hate Aang so much? He seems like a sweetheart. Is he like the Finn Hudson of ATLA, who the writers tried so hard to seem like a good person but accidentally made him entitled, hypocritical, possessive, and an awful boyfriend?

We've gotta keep this lowkey Anon lol, just between us cause I'm just gonna go ahead and say some things that I'm sure would piss certain peeps off.

Full disclaimer, while I do think I've pretty much seen it all in regards to the Avatar fandom at large I haven't been actively participating in the fandom for about two years now. So the talking points that I've seen might not be the ones people are bringing up now. Then again, in my many years I've rarely seen takes that weren't just recycled ideas from years back, so there's that. But yeah, based on what I've seen:

God no he isn't the Finn haha. There is a weird portion of the fandom that thinks he's secretly manipulative or whatever but how do you even take those people seriously. Finn I feel is, while by no means a unique case, certainly his own category in the dissonance of how the writers saw him and how he actually comes across. ATLA's writing is way too good to let something like that happen. But I suppose Aang hate can come from a similar place on the fandom in the sense that people simply don't see him as a good protagonist, or as deserving of being one anyway.

And you know I'll just say it, a lot of Aang hate comes from avid Zutara shippers. You know, Zuko and Katara? If anyone comes at me for saying this I'll know they weren't there for the ship wars because everyone knows how infamously intense that was. People were bashing Aang on the one side and Zuko on the other. And what for? Two mediocre ships. Lmao I really give zero fucks now. So anyway, I've only ever seen outright Aang hate from people who dislike the Kataang ship and they usually also happen to want Katara with Zuko.

Aang hate can say anything from simply calling him immature and undeserving - you know, a 12-year-old child - to saying he's actively manipulative, or whiny for not wanting to kill a man (??), or some people even, like, actually believe he's just an all-around jerk. Once again for emphasis, we're talking about a 12-year-old pacifist with the weight of the world on his shoulders who still manages to be the very soul of his group and the whole show.

The popular bashing talking point is also that he feels too much like the creators wanted him to be the perfect hero who gets the girl and "forces" her into a relationship. Again, bonkers crazy shit to say about a 12 year-old with a crush. And then there's the Legend of Korra stuff, because adult Aang is given more flaws and specifically as a father in the sequel series so I guess people look at that complicated and nuanced family dynamic and go "ah yes, bad guy very bad". ~Problematic~, you could say.

The last "reason" I can think of is that, in a cast full of very complex and generally well-liked characters, Aang has always felt flat to some. Like he's the weakest link in his team, you know? Which I don't agree with all that much nor do I think that should mean he's not a good protagonist but whatever. Zuko has always been the single most popular ch and some people don't know how deuteragonists work and therefore want the whole show to center around him, and are bitter about Aang. Nevermind that the show is called Avatar and he's the Avatar.

At the end of the day though, I don't really know Anon. He's definitely not the Finn, and I've rarely if ever seen heavy anti-Aang sentiments outside of the shipping discourse so I'm inclined to believe it mostly has to do with that. I'd be curious as to where you get people hating Aang from but I'll be honest, I don't need those vibes in my life anyway. Unlike with Finn, or any Glee characters really, I frankly don't think there's a good enough reason to straight-up hate on Aang. He is a sweetheart and actually a really, really great character (who people don't deserve by the looks of it). Seems childish of people to spew hate tbh and I would hope it's kids doing it. I know that sounds kinda dismissive but hey, going all out here right. At least with kids you can hope they'll grow and mature out of it.

All of this isn't to say ATLA doesn't have any issues with its writing or Aang's characterization, or the Kataang pair, nor is this an attack of any subset of the fandom. Believe it or not I'm not trying to come for the Zutarians' necks with this, I'm just trying to explain to you the stuff that I have seen over the years. But I'm fine not being in the Avatar fandom as such if Aang/any kind of hate really is happening. I'd assume that's mostly twitter and tiktok but who knows, tumblr isn't immune to awful discourse at all.