u/Gloomy-Word-1154

Yall, after the year we had with the movie getting pulled from theatres, the leaks, the game getting cancelled, >!NATLA!<>!…!<, I’m just so happy that we’re getting all these amazing additions. The film went back to theatres for a limited release, 7H released and got confirmed for 4 seasons, Avatar Sonam is the next addition to the Avatar Chronicles series, and we’re getting a Kuruk tv show. Like even if everything doesn’t appeal to you as a fan, seeing Avatar get this level of love is so good for our beloved world, and I’m so happy to see where it goes next. That’s it, that’s the post.

It feels like there’s this expectation that every installment post-ATLA needs to either be the exact same in quality or much better. And while I completely understand that thought process, because obviously who wouldn’t want that, I feel like it’s now entering the territory of unrealistic expectations coupled with some insane nitpicking.

The common sentiment I’ve seen with ATLA is that it’s a masterpiece of fiction and anything that bears its name after it will inevitably be compared to it. ATLA is indeed phenomenal, and it does a lot of things right, but it also has problem areas and thats okay. Even further, there’s this idea that just because something is well written, that it cannot possess flaws; as if acknowledging that it does, somehow takes away from how good it is, or that you shouldn’t like it if it does. Stories are allowed to be great and not so great at the same time and the Avatar canon is an example of that.

I love TLOK and I actually prefer it to ATLA. But I’m able to acknowledge its flaws or things that I didn’t like. To me, those things aren’t something that make it a terrible story or addition to the Avatar canon, just things that didn’t work for that installment. Same with the Avatar Aang movie. Was it perfect in every way? No of course not, and I never expected it to be. There’s just no way it could ever live up to the hype that people built inside their heads. But both installments, like ATLA, do so many things right while offering unique perspectives on this growing universe. We are not meant to view them the same way we did ATLA, and I truly feel like that’s why I’m able to enjoy them.

And now with A7H on the horizon, we’re seeing a brand new wave of wanton criticism and it hasn’t even dropped yet. I think if people just acknowledged that this is an IP that is, and always was, written by human beings who are subject to mistakes, at the will of its parent studio, constantly evolving, and drop this mythology around ATLA’s quality (Ehasz was great, but he wasn’t solely responsible for its success), people wouldn’t be so disappointed all the goddamn time. Instead, you’d get to enjoy future projects in new ways, rather than trying to recapture how it made us feel when we were kids.

I might be reading a little too much into this, but there’s a funny pattern I’ve noticed with the avatar cycle thus far.

Earth Avatars: They both have to clean up whatever mess their Water past lives left for them. Kyoshi inherits Kuruk’s fuckass world cuz he was catching spirit pelts, and Pavi has to deal with whatever the fuck Seven Havens is gonna throw at her for Avatar Armageddon after Korra did her fucking best. And they’ve both needed assistance to function in their life or duty. Pavi needs her prosthetic leg and Kyoshi needed her fans because she was incapable of bending smaller rocks with earthbending being the hardest element for her to grasp.

Fire Avatars: They inherit strong worlds they’re earth counterpart gave them but they just keep getting wrapped up in Fire Nations politics, keeping them in check until the next avatar is inevitably forced to deal with the fallout. Don’t know who was before Szeto, but were told he didn’t have to focus much on the rest of the world, but he united the Fire Clans and became a member of their bureaucracy, only for it to devolve once again after his death, setting the stage for its ultra-nationalistic takeover. Roku kept Sozin in line and made him stave off any hope of colonization until his death, leading to the 100 year war.

Air Avatars: These guys are just always cleaning up after the political shit show of their Fiery past lives and become fucking gods in the eyes of everyone after. Yangchen was forced to deal with the Platinum Affair, with the Fire Nation nationals particularly having a heavy stake in the Shang cities and their Zongdu being very ruthless, undermining her every chance she got. Aang dealt with the 100 year war and oversaw massive cultural growth in his time. They both became martyrs in the eyes of the world after setting up strong legacies. They also love their little Water Tribe boo-thangs.

Water Avatars: These poor fucking bastards man. They inherit strong, balanced worlds, and then it inevitably falls to absolute dogshit because of just ONE fucking thing their past life dropped the ball on, only for it to get worse after they die. And their legacies get flushed down the toilet as a result. Because Yangchen focused on the material world, Kuruk had to fight evil spirits which killed him very young, couldn’t focus on the political instability of the earth kingdom so it became very corrupt and shattered, leaving Kyoshi to clean up the mess. Oh, and everyone hates him too. And Korra….my fucking SWT Sapphic Queen. Aang’s dream of republic city turned into absolute nightmare fuel for our baby girl, and she’s forced to deal with the domino effect. And again, leads to more spirit shenanigans having massive repercussions on the avatar spirit. And what does she get in death for her hard work and suffering? The literal fucking apocalypse and seen as the world’s destroyer. And now poor Pavi has to deal with this shit.

I think it’s time we as a fandom acknowledged that Korra is way better than it gets credit for and 90% of the discourse around how “bad” it was were just rage baiters and over analytical nostalgia dorks who can’t let go of their childhood attachment to ATLA.

It’s one thing if you just don’t like the direction of the show. But scrutinizing the writing just because it’s not what you wanted, seems so ridiculously contrived to me, it’s boggles the mind how people call themselves fans of a show that consistently pushes the ideas of growth and change. Meet the show where it is.

People watch ATLA, overlooking all of its issues and call it a masterpiece of fiction, then turn around and focus on every one of LoK’s flaws and call it bad writing? That’s where the whole “misogynist” discourse comes from. Not from “you don’t like her cuz she’s a girl.” It’s from “You’re holding her to a different standard and then criticizing the writing as a result.”

Korra is everything Aang was not. Aang didn’t want to be Avatar, Korra immediately embraced it. Aang was calm, collected, and humble. Korra was brash, aggressive, and full of herself. Aang HAD to step out of his comfort zone because he inherited a world that consumed by global warfare, and hunted him like a dog. Korra inherited a world that was constantly changing, completely reshaping what the duties of the Avatar actually were and couldn’t approach it like she was initially led to believe.

Her development lies solely in learning to be the avatar the world needs her to be, rather than the one she thought she was going to be. How is that not entertaining?

Is the show perfect? No, of course not. But it’s way better than it gets credit for. And for me, the way that it takes risks, challenges the audience, expands the lore, etc. make me believe that it’s just as good as ATLA, even though there are areas where it falls a little short.