so i *tried* to make a gif from one of Bryan’s colour correction shots!!
Mort Musings
Book 2 stills-to-gifs [x,x], requested by animationtidbits
Desna’s sister is named Eska, for the record. “Kirima” was a fanon name that was making the rounds before her actual name was revealed.
Mako breaking from Amon’s bloodbending is completely nonsensical.
It was established in the original series that in order to cancel someone’s bloodbending you need to be a waterbender of incredible skill and power, enough for you yourself to be capable of bloodbending.
Neither Aang or Sokka were capable of breaking out of Hama’s bloodbending. Only Katara was capable of it. I can’t say with 100% certainty, but Yakone, Amon and Tarrlok’s ability to bloodbend without the aid of the full moon implies they were significantly more powerful and skilled than Hama. So it also should have been that much harder for Mako and Korra.
We see earlier that Aang later used the Avatar State to break Yakone’s bloodbending as well, which makes sense. Nothing gives a bender more immediate raw power than the Avatar State. Aang is the Avatar, and at that point in his physical prime and a master of all four elements. And HE couldn’t brute force his way through bloodbending the way Mako and later Korra did.
Someone sent us a really good essay on the differences in how lightning generation is used between Avatar and Legend of Korra. The only people we saw use lightning generation in combat against another person were Ozai and Azula, and it was done so to show their coldblooded killing intent. When it was used, it was serious. Iroh even described Lightnign as “precise and deadly, just like Azula.” Getting hit by lightning without redirecting it was considered a one hit kill, as we saw with Aang.
With Mako, it’s really used no differently than his normal firebending. And apparently he can use it non-lethally as well which, based on what we saw in the original series, doesn’t make sense. Iroh refused to fire lightning at Zuko so he could practice lightning redirection. If Iroh didn’t feel confident in his ability to use nonlethal lightning generation I can’t believe Mako could.
Plus, Mako really shouldn’t have been able to use lightning generation in that situation in the first place.
“Lightning is a pure expression of firebending without aggression It is not fueled by rage or emotion the way other firebending is. Some call lightning the coldblooded fire.
To perform the technique requires peace of mind.”
- Iroh
That certainly doesn’t look like peace of mind and the absence of emotion or aggression.
Azula was losing it as well, but at least she seemed to calm herself down and focus when she used lightning against Zuko.
With bloodbending and his obvious panic, Mako shouldn’t have been able to lightningbend at all. And this could actually be written in without much impact on the story.
Have Mako try to lightningbend, and as Amon approaches Mako have Mako’s lightning blow up in his face like it did with Zuko, knocking both Mako and Amon aside in the blast. Mako then uses the opportunity to take Korra and flee.
It’s much more believable and follows the rules previously established by the series.
And I agree, Bolin and Asami definitely need to get their share of the spotlight in Season 2. Probably even more since Makorra hogged so much of it in Season 1.
Made Rebloggable
-Mortrialus
Their fuckin bathing suits match, they are that couple. Lol.
Prince Zuko, you’re really going to get a kick out of this. That lotus tile was in my sleeve the whole time!
Iroh is freaking awesome. Sure, he may have some faults but he is in my opinion the funniest character in the series and a total badass. He is one of, if not the most powerful fire benders in the entire series as well. I for one, respect him enough for him to be one of my favorite characters
However in Castbender episode 30, Tyrell and AJ discussed if Iroh didn’t get due respect in the series. I will argue that he does. Sure maybe some villains, like Azula, didn’t really respect him, but that’s a good thing, if the villain respects you than you are probably a villain as well. Maybe Zuko did not respect him at first but towards the end, this completely changes when he realizes Iroh was right all along and does take his advice as well as stating that Iroh was the only one other than Aang, who could defeat Ozai. He is respected across the fire nation, even after his failure at Ba Sing Se as “the Dragon of the West”. This is shown by Admiral Zhao asking him to be his General during the attack on the Northern Water Tribe. In the Earth Kingdom, he is respected and feared shown by Toph knowing that he made it through the outer wall of Ba Sing Se and the Earth Kingdom soldiers who captured him that recognized his importance.
Now, there was also talk of Iroh being a push over, which again I would disagree with. After his son and father died its perfectly understandable he wouldn’t want to fight his brother for the throne, I don’t think this is being a push over, I call it being human. I also think it’s just that he puts his energy into things he really wants and is not power hungry. While this could appear as him being a push over, it’s really not. “There is nothing wrong with a life of peace and prosperity”
Just run away while you still can
Iroh has a very complicated history. I don’t believe he was ever really “evil” but in the beginning he was a General for the Fire Nation, a very good one. As Toph stated he was the only one to ever break though the outer wall of Ba Sing Se. However, this was a changing point in Iroh’s life, because this was where his son, Lu Ten, died fighting on the front lines. Iroh quickly retreated, which is concerted by many to be his greatest military failure. Soon after this, his father died and his sister-in-law disappeared.
The details are still fuzzy here but what we do know is that he then went on a journey in which he learned proper fire bending from the dragons, (pretending to kill them for their safety earning his title of the Dragon of the West). He also went into the Spirit World to make peace with his son Lu Ten. I assume this is when he joined the Order of the White Lotus, a group he would eventually became a leader of. After some unknown amount of time passes, he then begins to travel with Zuko where we see him in the show.
So what does this mean? Is Iroh good, evil, or somewhere in the middle? On one side it could easily be stated that it really shouldn’t take your son dying to make you realize that genocide and world conquest is bad. Nevertheless, I still don’t think he was at any point really “evil”, as the creators said, he was never cruel, only “very good at what he did”. As Katara would say, “…not as big of a jerk as he could have been” award because he could have been much worse, like his brother Ozai who was evil to the point of attempted genocide.
But, where was he on the moral compass when helping Zuko capture Aang? Would he have let Zuko take Aang to the Fire Lord? I think at that point he was more focused on helping Zuko than anything else, which I completely respect, but it’s an interesting question. He probably didn’t even think about it from any point of view other than helping Zuko, who he now thought of as his son. The final straw against the Fire Nation may have been at Ba Sing Se when he fought against Azula.
Nope, definitely not a bad guy…
There is no doubt he did end up doing good in the end. He fought against his own country for the greater good in the liberation of Ba Sing Se. He turned Zuko, the next Fire Lord, into being a good person. Historically this is very important because who would have taken the thrown if Zuko was still considered a bad guy? Having someone from the royal family in power helped stabilize the Fire Nation after Aang defeated Ozai. He even saved Aang and Katara at the end of book 2, by holding off the Di Li and giving Katara enough time to get Aang out. If Iroh wasn’t there who knows what would have happened to Aang.
People learn and people change. Iroh learned what he was doing was wrong, and had the open mindedness and bravery to go against what he has been taught since he was a child.
A key theme in Avatar is that “anyone is capable of great good or great evil”. This is shown with the foil of Iroh and Ozai. One turns out to be a very good person while one turns out evil even if they were both born into the Fire Nation ruling family. You cannot argue that it was only the loss of Lu Ten that made Iroh good because Ozai lost people close to him as well. His father… you know the one he murdered in cold blood (or at least arranged for it).
Iroh’s dynamic and complicated character shows the brilliance of ATLA. Not many shows do this. It really demonstrates a depth that most other show, adult and children, lack. Let’s hope that General Iroh, in Korra can live up to his name.
has this been done yet
i cANNOT BREATHE
800 % DONE WITH YOU TUMBLR!
Short answer: Yes, Tarrlok is a better character than Mako.
Both characters have tragic back stories, yes. Mako’s back story is very, I hate to use the term, Mary Sue-ish. His tragic back story is superfluous and really has little impact on his character and his arc other than to cheaply pull sympathy from the audience.
Tarrlok also has a tragic back story, but his story is used to explain who he is and why he does what he does. Tarrlok is a manipulative extremist. His philosophy is “I will maintain law and order in Republic city no matter what.”
Tarrlok’s character and his philosophy comes directly from his desire to become the antithesis of his abusive father. His father was a notorious and brutal criminal that had no respect for law and order. He created chaos and panic throughout Republic City. His father then tried to turn his sons into weapons against Republic City and the Avatar, to which Tarrlok rebelled.
Yakone was a criminal, Tarrlok became a lawmaker. Yakone wanted to create chaos, Tarrlok wanted order even if he had to resort to tyranny to do it. He saw Amon and the Equalists as equivalent to Yakone. You can see how unpleasant that idea is to him. When Korra accuses him of being the same as Amon, and effectively the same as his Father, Tarrlok snaps and attacks her.
That is how you handle a back story. Many of the characters from ATLA have tragic back stories that aren’t there just to pull sympathy from the audience. They inform us about the characters, they explain where their flaws and problems come from.
- Zuko’s family history, his banishment and disfigurement explain why he desperately seeks the Avatar. It explains how he justifies his villainous actions throughout the series. It explains why his moral code is so messed up.
- Iroh’s loss of his son explains why he tries to give Zuko as much support and guidance, and also explains why his world view is so radically different from the other members of the Fire Nation army.
- Toph’s parent sheltered her and babied her, which explains why she is so rebellious, why she dislikes rules and people telling her what to do.
- Sokka lost his mother and his father left for war, leaving him behind despite his desire to join him. It explains why Sokka takes his role as villain protector seriously, why he’ll stand his ground well past the point of insanity and his inferiority complex.
- Jet lost his parents. It explains why he’s so driven to revenge against the Fire Nation, which tragically consumes him.
Like Tahno, Tarrlok’s behavior ultimately leads to his downfall. Tarrlok is exposed for kidnapping Korra and for being a bloodbender. Tarrlok uses bloodbending to knock Tenzin and Lin unconscious (And you can see just how shamed he feels for doing that), his public life is over. Tarrlok is then captured and debended by Amon. He loses all his power and status.
Tarrlok spends his time in captivity thinking about his crimes and his father and brother. He tells Korra that he feels he was wrong. He tells her that despite his attempts to break free of his father’s influence, he ultimately became his father in the end. He offers a sincere apology to her for his wrongdoings against her and the city at large. He also gives her all the knowledge and information he has on his brother, hoping the revolution can be stopped.
And in the end, when Amon tries to flee Republic City, Tarrlok takes it upon himself to end the threat of Amon forever at the expense of his own life.
Tarrlok’s character is flawed. He commits terrible crimes and the series makes no excuses for him. In the end, he sees how terrible his actions were and tries to find redemption. Is the writing for him perfect? No. The way is flashback is revealed, and his narration over it is very hamhanded. I also have serious reservations about the ultimate conclusion of his arc and his character. Still, at the end of the day Tarrlok is one of the best written characters from Legend of Korra and a considerably more well rounded and developed character than Mako.
Made Rebloggable
-Mortrialus
The idea of Katara never getting married and being independent is one I’ve thought about and was interested in. Though just because she was a wife and a mother doesn’t mean she can’t still have an impact and influence in public life. She was credited with outlawing bloodbending, so it’s very clear she did.
I personally can’t imagine her as an ambassador or a Republic City counsel leader. She was never really interested in that sort of thing, unlike Sokka who very clearly wanted to be seen as a leader and become like his father.
What Katara was most interested in throughout the entirety of ATLA was being the best waterbender she could be. It was her primary motivation for joining Aang on his quest to defeat the Fire Nation.
My personal interpretation of her character is that her ultimate goal would be to become the Southern Water Tribe’s equivalent to Pakku; the leader of the tribe’s waterbenders, a renowned waterbending teacher and the foremost expert and master.
And that’s ultimately what she became. She’s one of the leading experts in the world, if notthe leading expert. In Legend of Korra, she’s pretty much stated as being the greatest waterbender in the world.
She was the one who personally trained Korra and while Aang was a bit unconventional, we see from Roku that training the Avatar is normally the work of an accomplished master and a great honor.
Despite her lack of screen time in Legend of Korra, I’m ultimately happy with what became of Katara. She might have married and become a mother, but she by absolutely no means lived the stay-at-home life.
I was also disappointed she didn’t show up in the trial flashback.
I don’t care for shipping and I don’t care for ships. It’s such a minor part of the shows I’m interested in, but it always completely overtakes discussion about everything else in the show and consistently brings out the worst in fandom. The massive amount of hatred Mai and especially Asami got are perfect examples of this.
Unless it’s so bad it damages the show like Makorra was, I just tune out romance in a show. I don’t see the appeal of it, or why people become so obsessed about it.
Everyone might have their own personal preferred interpretation of how a ship would be best realized and some will be better than others, but I associated Zutara with redemption romance because aside from context free fan art of the two kissing or holding each other, that’s all I’ve ever seen from the pairing.
I have no interest in seeing more Zutara stuff, and since I can’t/won’t go over the fan works and make a fair and proper judgement call I’ll stop calling them a redemption romance.
By Request
-Mortrialus
Some pics from today’s art show
Oooh man you have no idea how much I love this question!
Speaking as someone who is a fan of the Mako with interesting potential via Episodes 2-4
(before they bound, gagged, and stuffed him into the back of the trunk of a Satomobile and replaced that Mako with this inconsistent/rash/insensitive/dickish two timing jerk with a nasty habit of not owning up to his mistakes and placing blame on others-of a clone that is Clone-DickMako)this question couldn’t make me any happier!If there was one thing the show gave us the impression of from the get-go, that Mako was a pretty serious guy. He was more level-headed, and was someone who was forced to grow up faster in order to take care of his brother. He can seem harsh, but he still was more calm and reserved. He was focused, and someone who was more of thinking then acting—instead of the other way around.
He didn’t seem to have much of a since of humor, like say his younger brother. He appeared to be a bit of a stick in the mud in a way (not as much as Tenzin, but Mako did give off that aura).
However then something happened, something that was so exciting because it showed a completely new side to Mako I thought I’d never see.
This serious, focused, mature, calm, reserved, stoic, stiff of a young man…turned into a pile of goo and was all blush-blush-doki-doki the moment Asami arrived.
It was hilarious, to see the “serious” one of the group, transform into a shoujo schoolgirl just struck by cupid’s arrow.
It was a completely different change of pace and something I didn’t expect.
But then of course, through his relationship with Asami, we got to see shades even then still of different sides of Mako. One that is so hilariously bizarre and yet somewhat cute and endearing.
He turns into a total mush, a sickeningly sweetheart, with her. And it just seems so hilarious because he’s the last person I expected on the cast of the main four to turn out that way when in love. (when I first started LOK I mean).
This made me excited, I wanted to see more things go from this direction.
Asami lightening up Mako, and in a way, Mako gets to be “young” again through his relationship with her. By that I mean, growing up without a mother or father and you have to be the one to raise and take care of your sibling (which they should of delved into that a bit more, so the audience can see that pain and connect with Mako, and come to understand his actions that would come back to relate to that pain-good and bad choices), Mako would of been forced to be a grown up when he himself was still a child.
It would of been nice to see the show take the angle that the reason Mako started to become more affectionate and carefree with Asami is because she got Mako to let down his guarded walls, learn to stop and try to enjoy life every once and a while, to appreciate things more, that there is nothing wrong with expressing how you feel and showing some affection for the people you care about.
But at the same time, I hoped through Mako, that with all the positive character developments that Asami can influence on him, that he might be able to be some positive influence on her.
Maybe they could have a heart to heart, and discuss for both of them what it was like to grow up without a mother. Maybe Mako could use that moment to tell his whole past to Asami, and make her understand what it was like for him and Bolin to grow up on the streets all those years without a parent to protect and shelter them or a loving warm safe home to come too, all by themselves.
And Asami, being in the position she is, being the daughter of a very influential and one of the wealthiest men, could decide to try to do something. Raise awareness or a campaign of sorts of the struggles that all the poor on the streets go through.
They could also use that as a perfect way to combat the equalists with their negative tactics and propaganda, with a positive influence. Characters like Mako and Bolin, but also Gommu, and even some of those kids on the streets, as a perfect example to let people see. While Asami can use herself, her father and possibly others (like the CEO of Cabbage Corp), or even the Air Acolytes, as an example as well.
That bender vs non-bender isn’t completely black and white. There are rich and well off benders, but there are also poor and even homeless, benders. There are respected, rich, liked, and well off non-benders, and the same, poor, unfortunate, and even homeless non-benders.
They can use that moment to show, that benders and non-benders can work together, to rise those out of poverty to a more substantial or acceptable living standard in comparison to the poverty. Her and Mako can show people that benders and non-benders aren’t that different, they can work together to create a better city for each other, and that true power comes not from the elements, but from responsibility and leadership-and you can either use those powers to help people, show them peaceful and cooperative way of life, working hand and hand, side by side with their fellow man and woman—or you can let power corrupt and be filled with hate, instead focusing on destruction and revenge rather than recreation and creation, or those who just would take advantage of others rather than give and be charitable.
I can foresee them doing so much good by working together. For bender and non-bender, for rich and poor, for Republic City.
Also another huge thing that I think would of made a HUGE impact on the story.
Is if perhaps, Iroh was off doing his own thing somewhere or maybe fighting with Korra, or something along those lines. (Bolin can either go with Korra, or fight with Asami too idk, either can still work) But if it was Mako that went with Asami, instead of Iroh.
Because of that confrontation with her father.
It would show a huge contrast between the two, for starters (Asami and her father), the man who hates benders so much he wants to destroy them, to avenge his wife at the hands of a fire-bender, letting himself be blinded by his pain-creating prejudice in his heart. Then his daughter, Asami, the one who chose to not hold all benders (especially fire-benders) accountable for the act of one evil one for taking her mother away. She symbolizes the ability to forgive and to move on, to let go. But more importantly, because she fell in love with a fire-bender, in her father’s eyes, she practically fell in love with her mother’s murderer. But Asami and Mako can work hand and hand, side by side, showing Hiroshi just how wrong he is, just how much Mako and Asami care about each other, and just how much of a “monster” he’s become-when the “evil firebender” is protecting his daughter and staying by her side, rather than her own father-who is trying to kill them both.
It would make for a much more interesting, tragic and complex turn of events if Mako fought with Asami against Hiroshi rather than with Korra against Amon.
And of course, I think, thanks to Asami’s influence, and this growing war with the extremists, Mako will have to learn to let go. And by that, I mean of Bolin. Mako will have to learn that he can’t be there to babysit his brother forever and shelter and coddle him. That at some point, Bolin needs to stand on his own two feet, become independent and fight for himself. But he can’t ever do that, if he always has Big Brother Mako always making sure everything is safe for Bolin and that he is taken care of. It would show a great growth and influence on Mako and Bolin’s characters, as well as their relationship if they included that, rather than just make Mako some know-it-all and Bolin the punchline.
It would be more human, more realistic, more connecting and engaging.
Lastly, I think Mako could of made a good influence on Korra, in a way. Being the little miss-charge first, think and ask questions later, that she is.
I kind of hoped there would of been a friendship of sorts between Korra and Mako, in a way similar to Aang and Zuko. Two imperfect people, who through their friendship are constantly teaching each other and learning from each other.
I would of loved to have seen Korra learn from Mako that your first
crushlove aren’t always going to want you back, and from that a very well rounded and developed friendship could of formed around that.Or heck maybe go really outside the box and maybe have Korra not crushing on Mako at all, and they just develop a good interesting friendship. It would of been totally unexpected and very refreshing if Korra wasn’t the pining crushing heroine over the “mysterious hawt boy”. (and let’s face it, Mako’s out of nowhere attraction then feelings for Korra really made no sense and totally came out of left field it wasn’t needed and it really hindered not only Korra’s, Bolin’s and Asami’s characters and the plot, but most definitely hurt Mako’s character)
It was what I constantly hoped and expected out of Mako and his relationships with the others, but didn’t get squat of that awesome stuff.
Rebloggable version by request.
