#anti legend of korra

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

You realize Asian countries have big cities, and skyscrapers. And modern technology, that all of that is not only a thing in the West???

My guy, the Aang statue is very obviously inspired by the statue of liberty and the creator of Ford lives there. Republic city is "New York, but in the 1920s", and so I'm gonna point out that this american bullshit where it does not belong. Looking at a New York City inspired thing and saying "That's an american thing" is not the same as saying "And every asian city is just a tiny little vilage where everyoen is dirt poor and has to walk for a whole hour to have any acess to water."

And even if Republic City had instead been inspired by Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, Seul or literally any major asian city - that still doesn't explain the HUGE leap in technology in between those shows that are last than 100 years apart. We went from a mostly feudal world with ocasional bare-bones industrial stuff that only one nation really had any access to (and that the show was constantly highlight could often be BAD for them) all the way to the prohibition era and World War I stuff. One more season and they'd reach the point of Korra having to airbend to save people from the deadly smog that is fucking up their lungs.

And even the name REPUBLIC city is peak "Americans have to remind everyone that their form of government is the only valid one, and thus force it in a world that clearly only works with absolute monarchies, tribal chiefs, or a crazy dictator." It's really no wonder the first villain Korra ever went up against was a shady dude that you knew was shady because he said the word "equality" a lot and that the whole fandom keeps saying is communist even though he didn't say anything communist-like.

[loveamongdragons]

I don't know exactly what it was, but when a friend of mine started watching LoK back in the day and I glimpsed a few scenes, I got that weird feeling that something is off and I don't wanna watch it - despite having loved ATLA.

I haven't watched it to this day and truth be told, considering the treatment of Katara and Toph turning into a cop, among other things, my motivation to catch up with it is minimal.

I've read The Promise and The Search, and found both disappointing and, again off, and haven't read any of the ATLA comics since.

Idk, I love to live in a bubble where canon ended with ATLA.

[hello-nichya-here]

Thoughts on LOK?

Just one: Should not have been made.

[gritsandbrits]

Why do you dislike Legend of Korra? … And do you enjoy Avatar Last Airbender? :)

It had a lot of issues with writing and yes i know some is the fault of executives but there were other decisions without that, that i disliked like, Aang and Toph being bad parents bc "hurrdurr realism", Katara's contributions rarely acknowledged", Eska's obsession with Bolin being treated as a joke and not the creepiness it really is, no mention of the other members of the GAANG. The romance was NOT good, Mako came off as a creator's pet. Also the villains while good in concept were kinda confusing. Show even brought back airbending which I don't think should've happened, and it felt like it gave Bumi a consolation prize instead of letting him learn how to rely on his own skills. It's just a jumbled mess.

Even Korra herself was kinda a mess i hated how they brutalized her for the sake of drama but also have her made these rash decisions that did more harm than good. Not excusing the massive hatedom she got but some the criticisms aren't entirely unfounded. I still like her but i i wish she was in a better series.

[baku-usagi]

Talking to Co workers about how much I despised legend of Korea reminds me of how much I did love bolin, and how said I was that he was played for a comic only character. The show was honestly such a garbage fire with so much potential. Big sigh

[starlight-bread-blog]

I don't hate TLoK, but I do wish Republic City would stick to being aisan inspired. Or at least, spend more time on establishing its good qualities. Not just because of the consistency, but because of it would turn the city into a character. Like the Titanic:

They do soo much to establish the boat as this great, beautiful, majestic thing. They even give it a voice towards the end, in Thomas Andrews: "I'm sorry I didn't build you a stronger ship, young Rose".

So it hits harder, and could have hit harder, when this happened:

[iminaworldofpureimagination]

I really dont want the avatar movies to have nods to LOK .. i really want em to be their own different thing/ revamp. Toph as an abusive mother living by yourself in the swamp? toph the lonely child who found real family/friendship and knows all about abusive parental behaivor? She becomes a shitty mother? do no expercet her to be great no but that is not what toph would do and its just sad . plus aang dying at 60 is bullshit. not canon

[opalsiren]

and like i've said it before but it bears repeating, no children's animated show will come close to the genius of atla ever again. though the imitators have tried, it was really just the stars aligning in the most serendipitous way to create a near-perfect show with god-tier writing, acting performances, and visuals. even other media made by the producers just aren't up to the same standard of quality. nothing will ever come close again.

[caripr94]

Hey caripr94! I was thinking about Aang and Katara and I would like your wise insight :)

I read a comment or watched a video saying that Aang should not have married Katara if he wanted to rebuild the air nation. The argument was basically that he should have married a non-bender like Tenzin. Since Pema is a non-bender the probability of airbender kids is higher compared to a bender like Katara bearing his kids.

Another opinion was that Aang should not have married at all. He should have impregnated as many willing women as possible.

Let's say Aang was Christian, what would be a good course of action? There should be more airbenders to regain the loss of culture and to provide future teachers for the next avatars, but being monogamous is an obstacle to that goal. There are only so many kids one woman can have. What if Katara was infertile? Korra would be doomed since there would be no airbenders to teach her if Aang remained faithful.

Well, really, it's not just about rebuilding a nation from one's children; it's also building a nation of psychologically healthy individuals. Look at what happened when Jacob built his nation from his offspring from several women. The women had to compete with each other for his affection and so did their children. Joseph was sold into slavery because of his brothers' jealousy of him, and although it ultimately turned out for the best, it still put him through years of trauma, especially starting at the young age of 17.

Even in the Avatar canon, as shown in Legend of Korra, Aang's children still had to compete with one another for his attention and affection, even when they all had one mother to smooth things over between them. If they all came from different mothers, I'm sure that it would have been harder for them, especially considering how distant Toph's daughters were from each other for 30 years when they had different fathers.

So I don't think that having more children with more fertile women to rebuild the Air Nomads would have been worth forgoing the stability and commitment that comes with monogamous marriage and reproduction. Besides, I don't think that it would actually be necessary to rebuild the whole Air Nation anyway. Like many others have said, there's no way that the Fire Nation could have wiped out a whole nation in one day, even with Sozin's Comet. Some of the Air Nomads could have escaped and hid amongst and intermixed with the populations of other nations, so they could have descendants in those other nations with their genes and maybe even airbending abilities. Considering that, Aang could have gone to one of those women and have his kids from her for better chances of airbending offspring, and those kids could have intermixed with those other descendants.

[ironwoodatl01]

Everyone makes it sound like Zaheer caused the rise of Kuvira.

Everyone forgets that Kuvira came to power under Korra's watch.

Also, everyone thinks Zaheer and the Red Lotus wouldn't depressurize Kuvira's lungs the moment she gets uppity.

The Red Lotus is the natural predator of dictators, and Korra's ham-fistedness ruined the balance of the ecosystem.

So much for the Avatar and the balance of the Kingdoms.

[whentheynameyoujoy]

I don't understand people railing against NATLA's supposedly shitty writing when LOK is right there.

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

There is 58 years between the first plane flight, and a human going to space.

Technological advancements happen very quickly, so yeah that argument is mute. Even if you believe Santos Dumant was the first person to do it, that's still 63 years between his flight and a human going to space.

Also I'm not sure in which universe is democracy a widely American concept.

Even before Ancient Greece in the Vajjika Republic in 6th century bce India is widely considered to be the first example of a democratic Republic.

Also democracy is literally only in Republic City, which didn't have real democracy until the end of Book 1, and the earth kingdom who was suffering under a bad case of fascism. And Queen Hou-Ting, what ever godamm name was, sucked dick and was a terrible ruler.

The water tribes kept their chiefs, they just get to vote on it. The northern water tribe chiefdom is hereditary. The fire nation kept their firelord

Korra did not spread democracy everywhere, unlike where you claim they forced it.

Poor earth kingdom citizens, they must miss being a selfish queen who never did anything to help them, and let theives go wild, and then the facist dictator, who put people into concentration camps.

In HISTORY leaps in technology have happened fast. In a STORY you need to be careful not to make the whole thing feel like it's set in a different universe - and when we go from rudimentary industrialization, some of which is openly treated as a PROBLEM by the original's shows narrative because nature's worth and it's key role in keeping balance are a central theme in several episodes, all the way to Ford 1s everywhere, big ass factories that would obviously cause a lot of polution, lightningbending going from rare to something common that is used to give everyone electricity, all because the writers wanted to change the aesthetic from Meiji Era Japan to Prohibition Era New York, I'm gonna say that shit went a bit too far.

I didn't say americans invented democracy, I'm saying it's very common for american writers to push their own way of life as the only correct one, because there's literally over a century of the government spreading propaganda about "The american dream" and "the american way of life" to EVERYONE, including people in the USA, where the writers were raised - which is why the city that is supposed to represent the all four nations suddenly goes from "Very obviously east asian" to "Very obviously USA stuff that was never present in the old show." The character of Korra isn't running around saying "The US is inherently better", but the show very much is by making the symbol of balance and harmony so PAINFULLY american.

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying Bryke or anyone involved in the making of Korra was actively trying to make propaganda, they were just influenced by it and repeated some of it without even realizing it - and so did you with the bizarre leap in logic of "If you criticize the way americans, knowingly and unknowingly, tend to push their way of life as the default/superior one in stories, that means you think the fascist villain had a point/is not that bad"

If you like Korra as a show, including the whole concept of Republic City, that's fine. It's none of my business. But as someone who literally had to study American propaganda pieces and the long lasting influence it had in media, there is NOTHING you or anyone can say to me that will convince me that is not a reflex of propaganda that breaks the world-building that had been very coherent and consistent in the previous show. Either deal with that, or block the tags/my blog.

[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 !

[gritsandbrits]

I can't believe the O'Connells & Ben and Kai were the only ones to avoid the shitty parents trope.

[spop-romanticizes-abuse]

“catra is a complex poc” fuck that. here are some ACTUAL poc animated characters who are just as, if not more complex than catra.

grace monroe (infinity train) • black american

connie maheshwaran (steven universe) • indian-american

katara (avatar the last airbender) • inuk

wolf (kipo and the age of wonderbeasts) • black american

suhara/shadowsan (carmen sandiego) • japanese

korra (the legend of korra) • inuk

jesse cosay (infinity train) • indigenous (apache)

lars barriga (steven universe) • filipino

azula (avatar the last airbender) • japanese

ryan akagi (infinity train) • japanese-canadian

luz noceda (the owl house) • afro-dominican american

(there are a lot more, so i'll be making a part 2!)

[alpaca-clouds]

Let me talk Anarchism

Okay, let me quickly talk about it, because I am so annoyed with this. For once in the way how it relates to Solarpunk, but also in relation to media. And yeah, choosing good old Hobie here, because while it was kinda played for humor with him a lot, he was one of the few characters in media I have seen, that are actually kinda a positive representation of anarchism.

You know, media in general misrepresents anarchism all the time. Sometimes for propaganda purposes, and sometimes because the creator does not know any better and has grown up with said propaganda themselves and just believe it. Most of the time, media hence represents Anarchism as "Society without rules!", which is most certainly not what anarchism is.

The word Anarchism comes from the Greek An Arkhos, which translates into "Without Rulers". That is exactly what Anarchism means. Anarchism is a political philosophy that aims to get rid of all unjustified, involuntary hierarchies.

This is, by the way, why Anarcho Capitalism might use the word, but can never be anarchist, because capitalism aims to build unjustifiable hierarchies. It is exactly the goal of the system. So Anarcho Capitalism is a contradiction in itself.

An anarchist society will still have rules. We know that, because there have actually been societies in history, that today we would call anarchist. It is just that instead of a sort of some group of people ruling over everyone else deciding on those rules, everyone would get to have their say in it. That is, why those historical examples of anarchism for the most part have sprung up in smaller, close-nit societies, because before the age of the internet it would've been rather hard to make everyone's voice heard.

If you are wondering: "But isn't democracy already doing that?" The answer is no. Because democracy is not working, due to the politicians having all the power and the populus not being able to force them to stick to whatever they promised during the election. We cannot recall politicians, who have lied to us. So for the most part, it is the people with big money, who influence the politics. People, who were not even elected, but who the politicians will try to please more than the average joe, who has voted for them. 

It is another reason, why a lot of anarchists are against the police. Not only do they use police violence, but they are in a position, where they are allowed to use it against people, often without much reprecussions. And all of that, without the people having any say in who does and does not get to be a police(wo)man. It is another unjustified hierarchy.

And, yes, it is also why anarchists tend to be against the concept of nation states. Because internationally some states rule over others. Colonialism might've ended on paper, but it has not ended in practice. The reason some nations are poor, while others are rich, is that the poor nations get exploited by rich nations. An unjustified hierarchy. And that is without starting on the fact how many borders have been drawn by people, who had no right to do so.

On the small scale, though, anarchism first and foremost is about helping people. Mutual aid is one of the core principles of the anarchist movement. Helping people, who got left behind by the unjustified state and the people who are in power. It is also about empowering people and allowing them to find their own voice.

See, here is the fact: One of the core believes in anarchy is, that people are actually not terrible. If the state stopped existing tomorrow, people would not run around, murder and pillage. They would still help one another. We have seen this time and time again when through war or natural catastrophies systems of power have failed. People help each other. Because we are actually a pretty social species.

This is also why I absolutely loathe the depiction we see in a lot of media. Most of all in Legend of Korra. Where not only the Red Lotus, as an anarchist group, does not do jack shit in terms of mutual aid and things like that... We also see basically the Earth Kingdom go to ruins and violence within minutes of the Earth Queen having been killed. Like, no, that is not how people would react in that situation. There would not be instant riots or some shit. Jesus. What made them think that?

And yes, sure. Some anarchists might riot on the streets, because they riot AGAINST the unjust system. But always remember: Usually, when there is police violence for example against a protest, it is your friendly neighborhood anarchist, who will be willing to put themselves between you and the police.