#lion turtle

[assassiowl]

[courtneygodbey]

Aang with a bitty baby lion turtle just because 🐢

[katerina-q]

More people should read this

[cnidariancomics]

A scene redraw of the Never Ending Story but with ATLA

[secretchordstyx]

rewatching the wan origin story really got me thinking about how aang was probably the first human in eons that a lion turtle trusted enough to grant another form of bending. and probably the oldest form of bending to boot. the power to bend someone’s very energy. none of the avatar spirits of old could help aang, but the last lion turtle in the entire world understood what the last airbender in the entire world was going through and helped him because he was genuine of heart.

[aangarchy]

After rewatching tlok i'm still holding on to my theory that Omashu either was a lion turtle city in the past or still is a lion turtle city and the turtle is just dormant (or dead, which is more morbid but still possible)

If you compare the design of Omashu to the design of multiple lion turtle cities, they both appear to be very stacked cities, with buildings across all different heights. They're both circular cities as well.

The origin tale of Omashu dates from around the conception of earthbending, which we now know to be about 10.000 years prior to Korra's time (aka Wan's time). Oma, the woman from the story, is said to be the first earthbender. Lion turtles granted people the ability to bend, which both Oma and Shu used to make the secret tunnel leading to and away from the city. The difference is, Oma and Shu learned the technique from badgermoles, which is why they were considered so powerful. (Just like Wan, who learned from the dragon during his time away from the city).

There's a very real possibility that there was a war within the turtle city (we saw all the class problems in Wan's city, and humans are gonna human) and in order to escape the war, Oma and Shu asked the turtle for earthbending so they could escape and be together safely.

On the avatar wiki, it also explains that after the era of the spirits, during the era of the Avatar, the lion turtles got hunted into near extinction. Some turtles chose to hide, like the turtle Aang came across in the show who chose to pose as an island. Earth lion turtles are able to bury themselves into the ground. Omashu could very well be an earth turtle that's buried underground to hide from society, and because so much time has passed history turned into myth.

I know it's a loose theory but i just can't get over the fact that the history of earthbending near Omashu and then the history of lion turtles seems to contradict but also align so well. It makes sense that the two lovers were granted the ability of earthbending from their own turtle and then learned how to use it from the badgermoles.

[yuis-naivety22]

[willofdpeople]

The Good & the Bad: On Aang (Not) Killing the Fire Lord

I recived this asks forever ago, trurly sorry anon, but I'll keep my apologises for the end. I'd love to answer that!

If you're asking me, this is way better than """killing him""". Case closed.

Getting this cleared up: The show didn't say that Aang is morally superior for this. It was solely about staying true to himself. Not a moral high ground.

So when I hear people say it's problematic because it implies that sparing imperialistic dictators has some intrinsic goodness to it, (Ahem-Lily Orchard), I just can't agree. It was never about universal ethics, it was about Aang's culture and values.

Why Is This a Good Thing?

Aang loves his culture, and takes a lot of pride in it and its values. (See: in The Southern Raiders his first go-to to convince Katara to spare Yon Rah is his culture, rather than what such act would do Katara herself). He would have been ashamed if he had broken them. But right now they clash with his Avatar duties, with god-knows how many lives at stake. He needs to let go of his pride & shame, and become humble.

Just like Zuko humbling himself to the GAang before they accept him, or Sokka humbling himself to the Kyoshi warriors and Master Piandao, Aang could only speak to the the lion turtle after he'd given up, after he was humbled.

Even beyond Aang, it enhances the show's themes at large. A theme in A:TLA is paving your own path, and that you can do what you want despite the pressure. Your true destiny will come, you might be surprised by it, but it's yours and you're free to carve it.

You just have to keep going, to continue to do the right thing, and your destiny will find you. Things have a way of working out in the end, eventually.

Sparing Ozai serves the theme, thus the show overall. Everyone told him it's his destiny to kill the Fire Lord and end the war. But he didn't agree, paving his own path, his own destiny, and all was well. The pieces fell in their place.

It is s amplified by the fact that if you read between the lines, he actually did follow all the previous Avatars' wisdom besides Yangchen's.

Aang knew what he wanted from the start. He isn't going to kill the Fire Lord. People (rightfully) tried to pressure him, but in the end, he stuck to his decision.

Justice was served. Aang took his bending away and put him to rot in prison for the rest of his life. There's more than one way to execute justice.

"... and the destiny of the world". That's exactly what Aang did. He followed his own path (staying true to himself) while saving the world (ending Ozai regime).

So that leaves us with Yangchen's advice. The one he didn't follow:

This opens another layer to this. Why doesn't Aang take the advice of a fellow Air Nomad? The one he should relate to the most? Because despite both being Avatars and Airbenders, Aang is the last. They're not the same. Yangchen is speaking from a place of privilege. She can carry the weight of the Avatar and not worry about the Air Nomads. Notice the wording: "spiritual needs". But it's deeper than that. In her time, they were there, they'll preserve their culture and values. Aang doesn't have that.

He's Avatar: The Last Airbender. He has both weights to carry. The decision to spare the Fire Lord, while protecting the rest of the world, is embedded in the show's title.

There's also something so incredibly powerful in Ozai being defeated specifically with Air Nomad values. A 100 years ago, during Sozin's Comet, the Fire Nation started the war by genociding them. When it comes back, the Avatar, the last Air Nomad, ends the war and stops the next genocide while preserving their values. The Fire Nation isn't going to push him to taint (one of) the last living aspacts of the Air Nomads, and Aang is shouting it – in the very same day the disaster occurred.

(Additionally I view this as a land mark of his character development since Siege of the North. He used spirit powers for murder, now he's using them for mercy).

(A:TLA is also a show made with kids in mind. They may not be able to make Aang kill Ozai. He got his bending stolen and sentenced to prison for the rest of his life. That's a more than serviceable punishment for a show aimed at kids).

(Ps: If Ozai had died Zuko would never have found out where his mother is).

The concept is fantastic. Nothing wrong there. But now, it's time for the critisism.

What's the problem then?

Despite looking in internet forums, it's entirely possible that I missed some things. With that being said, the Lion Turtles could have been foreshadowed better. As I stated, I don't mind it. But as far as I recall, it was foreshadowed once in The Library, and that's it. (Edit: It's also foreshadowed in Sokka's Master and The Beach, but the point still stands).

The Lion Turtle is a twist, it subverted expectations, but that doesn't mean it has to be a deus ex machina. That's what foreshadowing is for. It's the literary device to making a plot twist feel believable. The result is many fans, including me, feeling as though it came out of no where, even though it didn't.

Overall, I love that Aang spared Ozai. It ties into the themes of the show and Aang's role as the last airbender. It makes perfect sense, it's rather beautiful. However, I do wish the foreshadowing was better.

And for Anon, to apologize for the wait, I dedicate you this meme: