#kuvira discord AMAZING <3

[theuncannyallie]

Hey! @zhenyilani and I started up a Kuvira discord - the-moon-avatar, samthor, kuvira-protege and others are on board if you want to join. Just lmk and I can send you an invite :)

omg that would be amazing!  I would totally love an invite, thank you!  (For the record though I am not the best at discord, but I would still love to be in and stuff!)

[aroaceaunt]

Ranking the Avatar Universe Books

@threehoursfromtroy, here’s the part 1 of my Avatar meta analysis

In a move that won’t start any discord, I’m going to rank the Books of Avatar: the Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra as one.

#7. LoK: Book 2: Spirits

The writing for this book is bad. Revisiting the Korra, Mako, Asami love triangle felt like nails on a chalkboard. Bolin being the victim of an abusive relationship with Eska is played for laughs. Then Bolin goes 100% toxic masculinity. Asami’s decisions with her company are dumb. Unaloq isn’t a terrible character, but he wasn’t good either. Everything about the civil war was sloppy. The final battle was a deus ex on top of coincidence and a lot of plot armor.

The only person making sound decisions is Varrick. I hate that guy. That’s what makes him great.

That said, there is the bones of a great story hiding in the wreckage. Tenzin’s arc with his family is heartwarming. I enjoyed Avatar Wan’s story. The duality of Raava and Vaatu was neat. Seeing a Dark Avatar had potential. 

#6. LoK: Book 1: Air

Confession: I don’t like probending. I thought the season spent too much time on it. It was a good way to get the Krew together, but it overshadowed the main conflict, dealing with Amon. 

Amon had potential to be the most thought provoking villain. His opposition to the Avatar and all benders could have challenged the status quo. In a world where a significant number of people are basically superheroes, how do non-benders live? The benders vs non-benders should have been the main conflict. 

And after rewatching the season, they were leading up to that. The first half of the season is world and team building. It was slow and methodical as it laid out the groundwork. At some point Nickelodeon cut the series to 12 episodes instead of 20. The quality of the season dropped once Amon attacked the probending finals. The worst episode is the backstory exposition dump in the penultimate episode.

That said, Korra’s intro was great. Watching this person who is the opposite of Aang kick butt was wonderful. Watching her growth through the season was a delight. She is a great character.

#5. AtLA: Book 3: Fire

Book 3 at #5? How dare I! This was the pinnacle of Avatar. The greatest season!

And Ozai was a terrible villain and antagonist. The season dragged once they got to Ember Isle, though “Ember Island Players” was a great episode. Aang learning how to remove Ozai’s bending was a poorly explained deus ex lion turtle. Aang versus Ozai was the worst part of the finale. It didn’t have the weight of the Zuko / Azula fight or Sokka, Toph, and Suki in the airships.

Zuko’s arc is amazing. One of the best redemption arcs ever. The failure on the “Day of Black Sun” was fantastic. “The Painted Lady,” “Sokka’s Master,” and “Boiling Rock” episodes are the highlights.

This is a good season, but it’s the weakest of Avatar.

#4. LoK: Book 4: Balance

Balance takes the spot from Fire for one reason: Korra’s PTSD. Not many will touch that aspect of being a hero. Everything Korra experienced should break her psyche. It was refreshing to see her struggle through her mental health problems.

Kuvira was a great foil. She was calculating to Korra’s recklessness. Her goals were sympathetic. We unite the Earth Kingdoms as one. However her methods were evil. 

Watching Korra stop Kuvira with empathy instead of brute force was Korra’s arc through all the books. She grew so much from the headstrong girl in Book 1.

As much as I love Korrasami, the tiny hints were too small. Nickelodeon squashing any queer story was frustrating. The potential of a radical story never happened. At least on screen. 

#3: AtLA: Book 1: Water

Here is where it all started. The boy frozen in an iceberg. 

Going back and rewatching this season is painful. Not because it’s bad. It’s good. However, watching these great characters being immature and dumb hurts. We know who they will become. The world building is top notch. The explanation for bending is great. Seeing the seeds of who all the characters will become is sweet. 

But this book is not without its problems. The writing and acting is stiff. The switching between being too serious and silly is unrefined. Nobody wants to talk about “The Great Divide.”

The series reaches its potential once they get to the North Pole. I often forget how good the finale is because it’s the first one. Best moment of the Book is Katara proving herself.

#2. AtLA: Book 2: Earth

The Gaang in Ba Sing Se was the pinnacle of the writing for Avatar. All the gears and movements in place at during Book 1 and at the beginning of Book 2 click into place. The introduction of Toph and Azula, the two greatest characters in the Avatar Universe, was delightful. The misses in this season were still solid.

How dare you make me cry like that, “Tales of Ba Sing Se.”

#1: LoK: Book 3: Change

The philosophical antagonism of Zaheer and the Red Lotus challenges Korra in ways that she can’t punch. Had the story been written with Zaheer as the protagonist, we would rooting for him. To him, the Avatar is a tyrant who imposes their will on people. 

Watching the delight and struggles as more people find out they are airbenders was sweet. We got to learn more about their culture since Aang didn’t get to. All the relationship drama with Korra goes away. The Krew is a team. 

The ending sucks. It hurt so much to see Korra tortured. Watching her unable to function was painful. How could they end the season like that? And that’s why it was great. 

With the exception of Korra: Book 2, all of the Avatar Universe is solid. The characters are fantastic. I love this series.

[avatarrewatch]

PerishingShards here: I said my two cents on the Asia-Pacific pre-show earlier. And here is the person who’s responsible for this Avatar Rewatch even existing actually giving her own sentiments:

Shannon here, with tearful eyes and a full heart.

The Avatar Rewatch community has just finished with the beautiful moment of Korra and Asami stepping into the Spirit World together, hand in hand.

I already had so much emotion attached to this finale – such an important, shining moment in my life. But now, it’s even more special, because now I’ve watched it with this amazing community. It’s rare that something so precious to me could become even more special.

When I got the idea to start Avatar Rewatch, I had the feeling that there would be some interest in an event like this, but I never thought it would’ve been this much. Over 900 follows on Tumblr, and over 300 on the discord… I’m totally blown away.

But even more… the incredible levels of love you all have for these shows, and support you’ve shown for each other. Voices from all over the world, especially young queer ones, finding others who are there to hear them, and support them. I love all of you. 

My heart is so full, guys. <3 This has become such a powerful and healing event for so many people, and I’m so proud to have gotten it started.

First, let me personally thank all the mods. @ahhhsami, @asociallyawkwardduckling, @caelum-blue, @captainamsel, @masterkiddojinora, @monsieurtoast, @picmonster50, and especially @perishingshards for all the hard work they’ve done making this event run so smoothly. I got the ball rolling, but this mod team has done all the heavy lifting making the event run smoothly, and keeping the environment safe and welcoming.

But all the hard work we’ve done would be nothing if not for all the amazing people who came. YOU are the community, YOU are what has made this so welcoming and enthusiastic and beautiful. You are ALL amazing, and I know, I KNOW that this community is not going anywhere.

This event will DEFINITELY be annual – we’ll likely schedule the timing a little differently for 2019, but absolutely we’ll do this again! But the question is, what does Avatar Rewatch become in the meantime?

We all came together out of mutual love of the Avatar shows. But now, after two months, that initial mission is complete… what is our community to do?

We’re going to stick together. We’re going to keep enjoying things we love, but now, we’ll be sharing new ones. Still being there for each other, both in happy times and especially in bad.

Avatar Rewatch’s origins were just that – we all love Avatar, and we decided to rewatch it. But now, it’s become less about Avatar itself, and more about the community. This has never been about one person, it’s about all of us—about what ‘we’ like, and what ‘we’ need it to be.

Avatar Rewatch 2018 is over.

Avatar We Watch, however, is still going strong.

Thank you all for being a part of it. <3

These episode overviews are taken straight from the linked wikia.

4.12 Day of the Colossus

Team Avatar escapes from the rubble of the Future Industries factory and devises a plan to take down Kuvira's giant mecha suit. The benders try to slow the suit down, but its power overwhelms them. Varrick tries to use an electromagnetic pulse to short-circuit the giant mecha but fails, only disabling a battalion of much smaller mecha suits instead. Hiroshi Sato is temporarily released from prison to aid Asami, Varrick, and Zhu Li in re-purposing the hummingbird suits for combat use. While working on the suits, Hiroshi and Asami bury the hatchet, and Varrick successfully proposes to Zhu Li. Baatar Jr. reveals a way to disable the giant mecha, and the team uses it to create a plan aimed at infiltrating the suit itself. Using a plasma saw rigged to the hummingbird suit, Hiroshi and Asami successfully cut a hole in a leg of Kuvira's mecha suit. Seconds before Kuvira crushes their suit, Hiroshi ejects Asami from it, saving her life and sacrificing his own to finish cutting the hole, and Korra, Mako, Bolin, Lin, and Suyin manage to enter the mecha through the hole.

4.13 The Last Stand

Having infiltrated the giant mecha suit, Lin and Suyin move to disable the cannon, Mako and Bolin make their way to shut down the weapon's core, and Korra climbs to the cockpit to face Kuvira directly. With the cannon disabled, Kuvira tears the arm from the mecha with the Beifong sisters inside, tossing it into the Spirit Wilds moments before Korra blasts her way into the cockpit, sparking a ferocious duel. Meanwhile, Mako destroys the suit's core with lightning, causing it to explode and split the mecha in half at the waist. Korra helps a wounded Kuvira to exit the wreckage and demands her surrender, but Kuvira, catching Korra off-guard, escapes into the Spirit Wilds, where she finds the still-functional cannon hanging in the vines and turns it on the pursuing Korra. The shot misses, and the weapon begins absorbing power from the surrounding vines, causing it to spin out of Kuvira's control. Korra uses her energybending to counter the cannon's energy beam, and the massive amount of concentrated spirit energy tears open a new spirit portal. Korra and Kuvira are pulled into the Spirit World, where Korra manages to convince Kuvira to surrender, which she does the moment the two women return to Republic City. Sometime afterward, Varrick and Zhu Li are married at Air Temple Island with Bolin presiding. At the festivities, Wu reveals his plan to abolish the monarchy to Korra and Mako. Afterward, Korra and Asami decide to take a vacation to the Spirit World together, marking the start of their romantic relationship together.

Fanfiction

The Legend of Korra Book 5/continuation fanfics

March of Progress: by Writerleft/Threehoursfromtroy/Grannon/Shannon’s main Korrasami fic

Found and Finding by Writerleft/Threehoursfromtroy/Grannon/Shannon’s pure fluff Spirit World fic that is taken from the Spirit World interludes from March of Progress

Repairs Retrofits and Upgrades by Progman

Place in the World by paxbanana

Road to Recovery by Angel_of_the_Starz

Chosen’s Chosen by AudacityOfHuge

Book 5: Light by Ravensbomb

Book 5 Harmony by Silkarc

Nuestra historia sigue by Rosalyn isley

Fanart

Varrick and Zhu Li

Zhu Li and Varrick

The Legend of Korra: Discovers Shipping Season 4

Korra Finale Spoilers

Korrasami

Korrasami

Korrasami Wedding

Korrasami Spirit World Kiss

Fan Music Videos

Home

Au Revoir

The Last Goodbye

Fan Analysis

Lin Beifong is the Unsung Hero of Korra

No, I’m Still Not Over Korrasami

The Power of Korra’s Healing Arc

Legend of Korra Watered My Crops and Here’s Why

The Legend Of Korra Is A Perfect Deconstruction Of Superman

The Legend of Korra: Deliberate Deconstructed

Discord server: https://discord.gg/dtajJx3

Avatar Rewatch Calendar: http://goo.gl/NUV1Kp

(These amazingly beautiful episode title cards were made by the talented @masterkiddojinora)

[justteamavatar]

Talk to me about Korra dealing her trauma post book four and how Asami fits into her long term recovery bc I cannot get enough

Oh man, you’re basically asking me to spill out mysoul. I could go on forever about Korra’s recovery arc as well as Asami in general(hence why it took me FOREVER to respond to this – !!! I’m so sorry @swatztj​ !!!). Let’s see where this goes… (warning - word vomit below)

** * * *

Korra’srecovery arc was one of my favourite about the entireseries. While it’s amazing to know that Korra and Asami are off living happilytogether (korrasami forever

Korrawas first introduced to us as the freaking Avatar, master of all four elements -we had to deal with it. We saw her as a very strong, physical being who mastered her waterbending, earthbending and firebending at a young age. Her demeanor wasbrash, loud, aggressive and direct, used (in many cases) as a tool to hide insecurities.  She was more of a punch first, think later sort of gal andall she ever wanted to be in her life was the Avatar, there was no questionabout it… that was, until the aftermaths of Amon, Unlaq and Zaheertranspired.

*Thoughsince this about Korra’s trauma in Book 4, we will focus more on thepost-Zaheer conflicts*

Korra was kidnapped, chained, poisoned, forced intothe Avatar State, smashed against mountains and stripped of the air within herlungs. She was at her most vulnerable moment and completely out ofcontrol.

Someof us believed that Korra would get right back up after Suyin removed the poisonfrom her system. After all, it didn’t seem to take too long for Korra to spring back into action after briefly losing her bending in addition to her connections with the past Avatars (though,this isn’t to say that she didn’t endure any pain, grief, self-doubt ornegativity during those periods).

However, at the end of Venom of the Red Lotus, we saw Korra as an empty shell – incapacitated,quiet and unresponsive to the outside world. Internally, a whole other battlewas being fought. 

She was told that the airbenders would return to theirnomadic roots while she recuperated. She was told that they would work togetherto end discord and restore peace and balance. The woman who had always dreamedof being the Avatar, master of all four elements and bridge between worlds, wasno longer needed. Her physical power and self-identity was gone.

* * * * *

“I’m trying to understand why this happened to me. But nothing makes any sense. I’m tired Katara. I’m so tired.” ~ Korra (B4:E2)

Inthe beginning events of Book 4, we see Korra detached from her friends andfamily. She could barely sleep or eat and spent much of her wakeful momentsin silence. When see was faced with times of sleep, she would constantly be plaguedwith the intrusive horrors she endured by herself in Book 3. This trauma caused Korra to fall into a depressive state as well as develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and hope faded away from her at every passing second. With the little sliver of willpower she had left,she finally made the decision to visit Katara – the first step needed to beginher recovery arc.

After months of being incapacitated, the stepsneeded to regain mobility took time and patience for Korra. We slowly but surely saw her become more and more active. A quick toe twitch turned into a few walking stepswith Katara’s guidance. While these were fantastic accomplishments for someone wheelchair-bound,things moved a bit too slow for Korra’s tastes. We saw her lashout in anger/disappointment at Katara as well as Tenzin when he visited the compound to see her spar. Though Korra made progress, it doesn’t spark enough hope for someone who had been eager to getout in the real world her entire life.

While she was healing physically, Korra was still faced with phases of “fight, flight or freeze” throughout herrecovery. Certain triggers continued to appear when she began to walk,spar and bend again, which caused flashbacks to flare up at unexpected moments. Herbody would lock up and her mind became fixated on her traumatic past. She stillfelt as though she was being attacked, reliving the effects of the poison andsuffocation over and over again. This caused Korra to hit a wall – she didn’tquite understand why those flashbacks and freeze ups kept happening, but she trulybelieved that she needed to expose herself to action again. Here is whereanother key element to Korra’s recovery arc comes in – exposure.

* * * * *

“The mind canbe a powerful ally or your great enemy.” ~ Katara (B4:E2)

The opening shot of our Avatar in Korra Alone was very indicative of thecondition of her mental state – shattered, distorted, unstable, but notnecessarily unrepairable. After embarking on a voyage to Republic City, we saw another confrontation between Korra and her past trauma; this time in the formof an eerie apparition. She turned away from her destination (Republic City) to walk an anonymouslife in the Earth Kingdom with the hope of reconnecting with herself and her Avatar spirit.

Throughout Korra’s journey, she constantly struggled with hallucinations. Sometimes she visualized Raava – with whom she ran towards - but other times (more often than not) she faced with her own ghostly shadow – with whom shebacked away from. These apparitions only seemed to become stronger whenever Korra fought them. Her “punch first” tactics remained ineffective as herhallucinations constantly countered her with bending and chains. Even when she was in combat with other opponents, they morphed into her ghostlyvisions, forcing her to constantly fight with herself and lose each battle inthe process.

This, understandably, got quiet infuriating. A partof Korra knew that her visions were not real, but she couldn’t escapethem as they seemly controlled every aspect of her day-to-day life. She hadenough, making the decision to finally chase after these phantoms as opposed to fighting them. Little did she know that her decision would lead to the familiar face ofToph Beifong.

* * * * *

“…You need toface your fears. You can’t expect to deal with future enemies if you’re stillfighting the old ones.” ~ Toph(B4:E4)

Unsurprisingly, Toph hadn’t changed one bit. Her demeanourremained direct, harsh, taunting and honest and this seemed to take Korra bysurprise. After all, she was used to being met with looks and words of sympathy(understandably so) after her horrible incident. The bluntness used by our oldmetalbender, while unexpected, was another step that helped Korra towards herrecovery.

Toph was able to quickly realize that Korra was verydetached from the world; instead of looking forward she would always looked back in the past:

“If there’sone thing I learned on the beat, it’s that the names change but the streetstays the same.”

Yes Korra did hold Avatar title, but she was still aperson – a human being who could only accomplish and change so much within herown lifetime. Other Avatar’s would come and go and so would other acts of evil.

What was great about this confrontation was that little spark of defensivenessand enthusiasm we were used to seeing in Korra before the Book 3 finale. Korra knewof and believed in the accomplishments she achieved throughout her life as the Avatar.She challenged Toph on this exchange, but in a less angry and hostile way that we were used to seeing in the first few Books. 

This ultimately led to the two characters sparring,where Korra seemed to be having moments of excitement despite losing the battles. Itwas quite a refreshing site to see, in my opinion.

Not only did Toph confront Korra on these issues,but she also detected small amounts of liquid metal circulating throughout theAvatar’s body. She attempted to rid this metal of her system, but Korra resisted,letting her fears and flashbacks take over again. This would be a task that Korra would have to do on her own; and it is one that she would successfully complete.

Korra used Toph’s advice to metalbend the liquid outof body and release some of those fears that sheheld close, tapping into her Avatar state. Toph was able to ground Korra back to the world again and make her feel more in tune with reality.

While this helped her physically, Korra’sbattle was not over as she experienced yet another hallucination while facingKuvira for the first time. Now, Korra needed to revisit her biggest nightmare of all face-to-face– Zaheer.

** * * *

“That poison should have killed you. But you were able to fight it off.You think your power has limits. I say its limitless.” ~ Zaheer (B4:E9)

Korra’s confrontation with Zaheerimmediately began with an act of determination and fury. She finally stoodbefore the man that traumatized her life and boldly claimed how he held nopower over her anymore. That daring and direct demeanor she showed toZaheer was reminiscent of her persona back in the earlier Books. However, justlike in the past, these defiant acts were used as a way to cover herinsecurities.

Zaheer lunged towards Korra withthe intent of triggering her fears once again. Despite his chained position,Korra backed away in panic and this ultimately broke the belief that seeing him boundwould make her unafraid. Korra was terrified of not only him but of beingperceived as useless and of not being the person she used to be again.

Zaheer challenged these fears andclaimed that neither of them were the same since the events that happened yearsago; he was chained despite learning to fly and she was limitless despiteholding herself down. Korra would never be the same person again as she wouldhave to carry the trauma  with her for the rest of her life. 

However, instead ofassociating said trauma with pain and weakness, she could use it for strength.As Zaheer had said, the liquid metal should have killed Korra, but it didn’t.She was the one that survived despite all odds pointed against her. She had won the battle in the end and he had been the one who lost. The fact that she remained alive points to the ideathat she had no limits.

We have to remember that Korra wasalone in her showdown with Zaheer. None of her friends or family could aid her.Her severed connections to the past Avatars left her alone to fight against Zaheer and the poisonin her most vulnerable state. Korra resisted the poison by resisting theAvatar State for as long as humanly possible. When she could no longer hold offthat particular battle, she fought for her life as well as Raava’s, despite howpainful and agonizing every second of it was. She was truly unstoppable and shehad yet to recognize or consider this amazing feat.

Korra had to accept what happened to her andwhile this meant acknowledging the bad, it also meant acknowledging the good. Insteadof fixating on the moments of suffocation and powerlessness, she had to let the scene play outentirely - focusing on the future and not just the past. The past was not something she could change.

For the first time in nearly threeyears, Korra gained control over her fear. She accepted what happened – the pain,the exhaustion as well as the endurance. She had made it and in the process, connectedback with her spiritual energy.

Korra reached an understanding withher trauma. While her past was not something that she could simply shrug off or ignore,it could be used as a tool of recognition in which Korra could connect withothers at a deeper level. As Toph had said in the swamp:

“Sounds like you’re carrying around your former enemies, the same wayyou’re still carrying around that metal poison. You maybe consider you couldlearn something from them?”

Which can be coupled with Tenzin’s ownwords of:

“It’s true, there will always be new conflicts and enemies to face. Butthe important thing is to learn from yourenemies and better yourself over time, which you have.”

Korra learned from her painful struggles and was able to use new-found knowledge to reach outto others – including her own enemies. She greatly opposed the methods used byKuvira to unite the Earth Kingdom, yet she still related to and understood herat a personal level, even going as far as to risk her own life to save the dictator. She understood Kuvira’s emotions of fear, abandonment, vulnerabilityand lack of control and this level of empathy displayed wasn’t something we saw Korrause towards Amon, Unalaq or Zaheer.

Korra truly found inner peaceonce she found her way out of the dark tunnel. She proved to herself and others that shewas more than just a symbol of physical prowess. She had found inner peace with herself and her trauma, drawing meaning from it which will ultimately help to make her become even stronger in the future.

Korra fought, learned and recoveredfrom some of the darkest moments in her life. She will always carry thescars left behind from the incident that happened in Book 3, but she made herself an even better personby pushing forward instead of holding back. Korra became a beacon of hope forso many of us and remains a character that we will always hold near and dear to ourhearts.

* * * * *

“I want you to know that I’m here for you. If you ever want to talk or… anything.” ~ Asami (B3:E13)

Now, I’ll try to make the Asami part quick becausethis response has gone on for far too long :p.

I think Asami took the role of Korra’s anchor andvoice of reason, even if neither of them fully realized it from the get-go.

Asami bore witness to it all – Korra’s gravelyinjured body smashing into rocks as well as her diminishing hope and sense ofself. She saw her best friend falling deeper and deeper, but if there’s one thing we know about Asami Sato, it’s that she will always have your back.

Asami took on the role of Korra’s caretaker; she helped her dressed, pushed her wheelchair around, made conversation and she presumably helped her bathe, eat and sleep. She was truly there for her despite her other responsibilities of being the CEO of one of the most prestigious companies in the world. Korra was her priority. Heck, the woman was even willing to drop everything and accompany Korra while she recuperated in the Southern Water Tribe.

These feelings of sadness and hopelessness were quite familiar to Asami. We know that she’s had a pretty difficult life from the start - her mother was murdered, her father sided with the equalists, she had to take command of a large company at age 18 and overall, she had a lonely life. Due to these unfortunate events, it was likely that Asami understood Korra and her depressive state at a far deeper level than anyone else who was close with Korra. Asami neither pushed nor prodded and instead gave an open invitation for Korra to talk with her whenever she was ready. 

Korra did end up taking Asami’s offer up as we see her communicate to her via a letter in Korra Alone. Korra opened up quite a bit to her, explaining how hard the past few years had been, how she couldn’t tap into the Avatar State, how she kept having hallucinations and how she feared that she would never fully recover again. There was a reason why Korra contacted Asami and not Mako, Bolin or the others. She knew that Asami would understand her at that vulnerable time and felt comfortable enough to expose a very fragile part of her life. Asami was the rock that Korra could hold onto and I’m sure that she felt some relief and comfort after sending her letter off.

This comfort continued in Remembrances. Korra expressed her same worries again, but Asami’s consistent support, admiration and belief in Korra and her abilities shined through during the exchange.

And finally, we know that what goes around, comes around. After Kuvira’s attack on Republic City, Asami lost her father for good. This time, Korra was the one who took the initiative to provide emotional and physical support for her. She apologized for her three year absence and suggested taking a vacation where the two of them could finally relax and take care of each other without any interruptions (…besides the big rock spirit thing…). 

Korra and Asami had seen each other at some of their darkest moments and while they were strong and developed individually through their past traumas, they would and always will be stronger together and persevere through any obstacle thrown at them.

The. Freaking. End :)