Interview With The Voice Of Toph By Letts React.

Avatar:  Only there for the group photo

One question I often see is:  

“Why are Katara and Zuko so underused/ weak in the “Legend of Korra’?”

The answer is quite simple:  Fan service.  

Bryke wanted the Aang Gang to be in LoK for fan service, but didn't want them to get in the way of other characters.   Therefore Toph, Zuko, and Katara are present but are almost useless.  

Which feels out-of-character for them, and frustrating for the fans when pre-established characters do nothing to help.  

Avatar: Is Roku to blame for the War?

When something goes wrong in the world, people have a tendency to blame others; especially those in power.  In the United States for example, it's very common for people to blame the president for current problems, regardless on whether or not he/ she has any actual control over the problem.  

Likewise, people in the world of ATLA tend to blame the Avatar when something goes wrong.

The fire nation attacks; blame the Avatar.

People get hurt in a war; blame the Avatar.

Can't solve your own problems; blame the Avatar.

The Avatar's mission is to bring balance to the world.  However, the Avatar did not create the world's problems, and is ultimately not responsible for the actions of other people.

Like the janitor for the world, the Avatar cleans up messes and helps bring order to the world, but more often than not the janitor is blamed for the mess existing in the first place.  The irony is that if people cleaned up their own messes, there would be no need of a Janitor.

This brings me to the subject of Avatar Roku.  Many Avatar fans blame Roku for the 100 yr war, and Roku even blames himself.  

But is it really Roku's fault?  

Roku grew up in the Fire Nation with his best friend Sozin, eventually finding out he was the Avatar, and traveling across the world.  When Roku returned to the Fire Nation, Sozin told Roku his plans for world conquest which Roku immediately rejected.  Later, Sozin invaded Earth Kingdom territory for which Roku confronted and defeated Sozin.  Roku had given Sozin two warnings, and there would not be a third.  However, as soon as Roku died, Sozin renewed his plans for global domination.

Although fans and Roku himself blame him for the war, I can not fault him.  Roku saw a problem and did something about it.  He was decisive.   

Just because his wasn't able to prevent a war, doesn't mean he caused the War nor is he responsible for the actions of other.  (Sozin's an adult.  And can be responsible for his own actions.) 

Roku's actions were natural and reasonable.  Plus, most people don't think of murder as their first solution to everything.

(Seriously, execution isn't the only way to solve problems.)

On a similar note, companies do "preventative measures" to keep people safe.  However, people will still get hurt because no rules or regulations can protect stupid people from themselves.

The Avatar isn't some perfect person who can perfectly solve every problem.  (Say that 5 times fast).  They are a human being who is doing the best they can.  

Who is to blame?  It's an interesting question especially when there are multiple parties are involved.  On top of this is the "Scapegoat mentality" people have.  i.e.  If we can blame one person, then everyone else is in the clear.   But the answer to this is both simple and nuanced:  They are all to blame, but not equally.  

First is the Network.  Networks are responsible to make sure their content isn't dishonest or dangerous; that it isn't breaking the law or causing harm.  Many networks already have rules and regulations to guard against these problems, and can ban individuals or companies who break those rules.  Networks have a responsibility to keep their costumers/ viewers safe and they should be accountable if they didn't take or enforce precautions.  I'd say Networks have a Medium level of blame.  

Second, the Content Channel, Creators, or Content Farms have a very high level of blame, and should be accountable to both the networks and the viewers.  They are the source of the problem, and are directly responsible for the injury and harm they cause.  Even if they don't create the content themselves, they are still promoting it and have an equal share in the blame.   Networks on the other hand are only responsible if they didn't try to prevent hazardous content, or if they promoted it.  

Lastly, we have the viewers.   There is an old saying:  "Fool me once, shame on you.  Fool me twice, shame on me."   Most of the victims fall into this first part, and are often the young or unexperienced.  Unless a person was intentionally being stupid, you can't blame them for getting coned.   A thief is still responsible for their actions, regardless of how many precautions the victim makes.  

The Viewers have a very low amount of blame, but the do have a responsibility.  A responsibility to blow the whistle on these dishonest and dangerous content.  A network isn't all knowing, and it relies on heir viewers to help them find rule breakers.  Networks and victims will sue, but the rest of us can be the eyes in the sky.  Viewers can and should call out bad content, warn their neighbors, and hold these creators, channels, or even networks responsible for their actions.  

I've been playing a lot of "Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom" and this is my idea of what a "Bionicle Version" would look like. You'd go to the different temples to gather each element, and the Nuva Gauntlet would change color depending on what element you're using.

Before you watch “The Legend of Korra”

Before you guys watch Korra you should know a few things, or maybe you've already started.  Don't worry, this is spoiler free.  

Avatar and legend of Korra are made by different people.  Yes, the "creators" worked on both shows, but surprisingly few others did.  If you look at the head crews of both shows, you'll notice they are very different.  

Why this matters is because Korra is a very different show from Avatar, by virtue of being made by different people.  A number of things from the original show get retconned, and some characters even get different personalities.  This is because there are different people that are making the show, and this is their interpretation.  

This issue isn't unique to Korra,  many shows/movies/series change when they get a new director, producer, or if they're bought by a different company.  (Like how StarWars was bought by Disney.)  Some of these changes you might like; others you might not.  Just don't feel you have to blindly accept whatever happens. 

This is the finalized version(s) of my bending chart. I overhauled the whole thing and updated some of the symbols.  I’m pretty satisfied with it, though I may change the symbol for “Ice” in the future.  

My old design:  

Which one is your favorite design?

Random Thought:  Avatar vs Percy Jackson

A while back some people arguing who was better/ stronger; 

Percy Jackson or a water bender.  

Most of them concluded that Percy Jackson was stronger, but I always thought this was an unfair comparison.  

First, demigods in the world of Percy Jackson are primarily warriors who only occasionally/ rarely use elemental powers.  Second, the rules and limits in Avatar are very clear, whereas a Demigod's power doesn't have any clear limits.   The two worlds treat magic so differently that it feels unfair to ask "who is better".  You might as well compare “Dragonball” to “Harry Potter”.

Bending 101  

Lesson 2:  Physical Limitations

Bending101

Logo for my upcoming series about Bending in the world of Avatar: the Last Airbender.  In this series, I hope to talk about the basics of Bending.

Feel free to ask me questions.

Like a Gaggle of Geese, I wonder what a group of Zukos would be called?

An Honor of Zukos?

The meeting of the Zukos

zuko们的会面