get flashbanged loser

the price you pay for clicking on my blog

[yanna-the-20th]

masterlist

- literary/media analysis

- art

- fanfiction

tag system

- reblogs

in general = #yanyans-reblogs

if moot/friend = #hilltop-of-peak

- everything else

we don't need allat

might make or discuss

- literary/media analysis

- character art

- oc art

- x reader art/fanfiction

current fandom

- limbus COMPANYYY

rentry resources from: depressant, originally found on pinterest under username "mura"

(platonic lbc yumeshippers PLEASE INTERACT 😭😭🙏🙏)

[yanna-the-20th]

"The Magic Bus"

- Yi Sang & Pre-Teen!Reader (PLATONIC)

WC : 739

TW: implied child drugging

NOTES:

i was originally supposed to post about rodya but i lost motivation after the 8th revision sooo... yeah. yi sang. again (didnt even need to make a mini-analysis i know this mf from the inside-out 💖 YI SANG SUPREMACYYY)

reference to "encounters and departures" if you squint

had to change a looot of yi sang sibling!reader lore

Raindrops cut through the bus' windows in a horizontal slant. You leant against the frigid glass, meshing yourself with the sound of the engine's workings. The lobe of your ear contracted the cold, and wet strands of your hair clung to the glass, leaving ghastly lines when you shifted. The pitter-patter of nature's tears competed with the vehicle's low revving.

You gave up listening to what words the woman coaxed your older brother with. Not like you'd be able to understand the details of the contract in her confusing, enigmatic way speech. Besides, there's little chance Yi Sang thinks his decisions, any decision, through, and even littler possibility you could retaliate against the conclusion he decided on. What reason is left in the infinity of his genius, what has not been maddened by his losses and yours?

You bet on which raindrop would reach the invisible demarcation you'd delineated, and had your assumptions debunked the very minute later.

Another noise stole away your attention.

Shuffling.

Then the seat beside you was occupied, and your hair was bungled in a towel.

Yi Sang dried out your damp hair, his movements robotic and his eyes as lifeless as the body they rested in. Behind him, the lady who called herself Faust turned away, and walked to the front of the bus with a contract that boasted several pages — to finalize his signature, you assume.

For all you know, Yi Sang could've sold you both out to an organ-harvest, or traded your lives for slavery; and he'd have beared it all with the same emotion.

Apathy.

He slid the towel through your hair, bungling up the strands. When his fingers encounter your scalp, a cold shock passes where he touched. Yet, in spite of the mechanical way he handles you, a warmth anoints his aeroir, reminding you that he still can and does love.

"Miss Faust," he starts, though his eyes are trained elsewhere, "has given us a destination to follow. And a role, so to speak, for us to assume."

He eyes you now, his knitted brows almost apologetic, "I am… this is the only route I know. One they've promised your safety for."

Your lips thinned. Old you would have vocalized your disconcertment, but time and neglect wrung your throat dry of words. Instead you package your words into a lump that you force downwards.

He continued, "I cannot divulge the full extent of my participation. Yours, by brevity, is to maintain the bus' cleanliness. To decontaminate walls and floors, clear muck, filth—"

Yi Sang rakes a leaf out of your hair with the cold prongs of his hand.

"You learn well. You adjust quicker. Do as you're told."

He connected his forehead with yours.

"And all will be well."

As you did not speak, neither did he, and the bus was animated only by the necessary chatter of its few participants. But eventually their words, too, evolved into static.

Like the fleeting, transient scenes that flickered from the windows of the bus, you let it pass you by, and you consigned yourself to inheriting the indifference that kept him sane.

With dilatory blinks, your gaze drooped to the empty space between you and your older brother, and your head grew heavy.

You bridged the space by letting your head fall on his lap. He started stroking your hair like he used to in the white box: when you curled up to him, unable to fall asleep, and he unable to continue his research.

Is it selfish to miss the cell? Everyday was predictable routine. Despondence, helplessness, yearning; all defective emotion was quelled by the pills.

So of course everything became more convoluted and confusing once your brother stopped taking them, once he began thinking there was more outside the cage. He's only trapped himself in a bigger, colder one.

Nevermind. You don't want to think. Thinking makes your head hurt, and so long as you're with brother Yi Sang, there's nothing that needs thinking about.

You were delirious with fatigue, so much so that you could not discern whether his singing was the product of your mind slipping into dreams, or whether it came from the real, waking world. It did not matter, because if it felt real, then it was to you — and your weariness stretched it truer.

"It is but a dream to deceive,

But so too is being deceived,

Twisting, turning, wandering life,

Set fire to your shadowy heart—"

[yanna-the-20th]

gregor is so cool

did you know that people use the word kafkaesque to describe senseless and sinister situations?

[yanna-the-20th]

"The Butterfly and the Caterpillar"

- Gregor & Child!Reader (PLATONIC) -

WC : 1416

TW: mentions of past abuse

NOTE: ...

"Kafka's ambivalent take on authority—his ability to respect it, rebel against it, and blame himself for everything—seems to come mainly from his relationship with his father. Kafka never managed to emerge out of his father's shadow and escape his self-hatred."

—METAMORPHOSIS, AUTHOR'S BIOGRAPHY

Every night, a gust of wind oozed into Gregor's room via an unresolved crack; his only permanent connection with the outside world. When the weather went rogue, all the little vermin would use it as an entryway, turning his bedroom into their refuge and an ecosystem.

A great many of their little hidey-holes burrowed into the moist carpet beneath it, scattered in a trypophobic arrangement.

It was an odd curiosity. No fix of homemade plaster sufficed, the dressing cracked and peeled right off like an overused bandage — melting into the puddle. When he used his dresser as shield, the bugs went in a roundabout, chipping away at the wood for all their trouble.

Normally, he left the type of nuisances he could do nothing about alone.

But the worst part? The worst part was what his overactive imagination did instead.

You see, for men like Gregor, well-advanced in years; the well of childish hopes tends to shrivel up by the age of twenty, give or take. Fortunately for him, he had the privilege to skip the waiting line.

But when he thought he'd outgrown his dreams, they'd in fact hibernated inside him, emerging from their pupa into their truest form.

A grotesque nightmare.

Deep in the grip of sleep, that area would warp and twist — deforming into the portal to hell. The shadows birthed a hand that tore through the obstruction, the fingers writhing with the intensity of a hundred insect legs.

Some nights, it'd get close. Too close.

He visualized the gloved latex — then the fingers, then the trace of sterile antiseptic, stroking his cheek with a faux tenderness. The smell, so potent it was poisonous, burrowed into the lows of his throat.

Then he'd wake up in a cold sweat and find nothing but the gaping void where it penetrated.

So he didn't like how it looked. Raw, obtrusive — but it was too much an inconvenience to fix. Shouldn't have bothered him in the first place.

Like all else, he let it be. Gregor turned his back against the anomaly and tried his best to fall asleep.

Tried was the keyword. He did all kinds of shifting and twisting to find a position that would let him fall sleep.

The first thing he did was sleeping on his back. But looking at the roof made him uneasy, so he reconsidered laying on his other side. Unfortunately, no amount of switching tossing and turning could fix the preturbation, and Gregor was back to fixating on the crack.

About to relent to his discomfort, Gregor stopped trying to conform when a little fellow made themselves known by his bedroom door. Half your face slotted through the slim opening; your frantic pupil flitting in the dark to seek his presence.

Rubbing the sleep off his eyes, Gregor parted with his bed.

He stifled over to the door, careful of the loose floorboards, and set the door ajar.

"…Something you need?" He mumbled, his voice rising to a yawn.

You were hugging your pillow with a listless, unanchored gaze. A glossy line connected the end of your eyelid to your rigid jaw.

"Ah. Can't sleep?"

Your nod was slow and hesitant.

He sighed, "Me either."

He opened his bedroom door wider. "Come right in."

Your little footsteps rippled against the walls of his room.

Before you came into his life, he didn't have the energy to clean, or to make his bed, or to shed tears.

But after being tossed into the gullies of guardianship, the one strife he could choose, he was now responsible for a life dependent on his own.

He managed to get some of his crap together overnight. Working as a salesman wasn't something he expected to acclimate to quickly, but the consequence of failing made him adapt fast.

While his salary wasn't enough to live comfortably, you didn't want for much. Besides, on the off-chance that you picked up a hobby, three medals sufficed for an instrument and a book or two.

You climbed onto bed — assuming the side closest to the gaping crack, and the one most vulnerable to his prosthetic.

Despite your closeness to these hazards, it was, in juxtapositional irony, where you felt safest. You felt comfortable nowhere else, a preference he learned on your first bad night.

Which turned into the fifth, then the tenth…

He caught onto the excuse early. But with how comfortable you looked, he needed the resolve to crush a butterfly if he wanted the guts to rebuke the habit.

Gregor tucked you in. Then he followed suit and slid under the blankets.

The counterpane stopped at your sleeves and ended inches by his waist. He swore it was only yesterday when he had to leave his forearm bare for the blanket not to suffocate you in your sleep. There'll come a day when you outgrow him and this dump. He hopes it's soon.

"Nighty-night schatzi," He pat your head, "Don't let the bed bugs bite."

He clasped his pincers together with a goofy grin.

… You turned away.

Clearing his throat, he laid on his back and let his gaze abstract to the roof.

The structure's bloated beer belly hung loose. Its somehow managed to keep itself together for weeks, though with the introduction of mold, he's not sure how long before its consumed by the amalgamation entirely.

To let you live like this… he's selfish, isn't he? Dragging you down in this filth. Taking on a responsibility he wasn't ready for. He let his fragile ego get the best of him.

On the positive side, you're alive. Gotta be a worthy achievement for someone like him, no?

…

Hah.

He can't help wonder — what else could he do?

If he knew how to be a better caretaker, he'd burn himself out till he was the best. If he knew how to soothe your night terrors, he'd make sure you never had them again. If he could give you the world, a better one, it would be yours in a heartbeat.

… But love alone can't feed a kid. She knew.

He was nursed on the nectar of apples, only apples, their variation in correspondence to the quality of his performance.

Hard. Crumbly. Sappy.

What they all had in common was not having a core.

If he looked deep inside himself, would he be any different?

Gregor was brought back to reality when your head brushed against his insectoid half. On instinct, he raised his arm in a high arch to arrest sudden movements.

You were no longer facing the wall and headbutted him with a sad pout.

"Gah, sorry bud. The hole bothering you? Was gonna start repairs sooner or later, but uh..."

When his gaze drifted to the right, he felt as though the fissure penetrated through the dresser. The shield was starting to erode.

Pretty sure that wardrobe's seen more than he has.

You shook your head, and pointed to his face.

Confused, Gregor brought his hand to where you pointed. His palm slipped on his cheeks.

When his hand shifted upward, tears bunched on the heel of his palm.

"…I'm fine." Gregor chuckled, more at himself than you.

"Thought too much 'bout something. That's all."

You made an unpleasant expression — the one you always made when he did what you weren't fond of.

When you sensed his lies.

"Worrying'll wither you. Don't wanna end up a sorry creature like me, 'ne?"

You shook your head. Firmer.

With a resolute expression, you shoved your hand against his face so he wouldn't miss your message.

'TOO LATE.' You signed.

'ALREADY THE SAME.'

You dove in for a hug.

…

…That's right. That's how you ended up in his care, wasn't it?

Because the world didn't want you. Because the world left you to die in the winter-bitten streets. Because when you called out for mommy and daddy, they were 8-feet asleep, and the sky stopped your cries from reaching heaven.

So Gregor picked up the slack, because no one else bothered to.

Gregor's sadness was dry. He had already spent his tears.

You laid against him a while. Though you fluttered, and eventually went weak, your embrace remained.

From the other side of the room, the narrow hollow glared. It could seethe all it wanted.

Gregor dipped into the covers to kiss the crown of your head, bringing you closer when you shifted in your sleep.

Der apfel fällt nicht weit vom stamm.

If he was anything like you, there was hope for him after all.

[yanna-the-20th]

"Nighty-night."

-Yi Sang & Child!Reader (PLATONIC) -

WC: 573 (learned the hard way to keep it under 1000)

NOTE: why sleep when you can write about doing it instead 🤑🤑 IM A GENIUS

Nights were best spent in the League. Here nested the soft chirp of baby birds past their bedtime, mixed with the usual hubbub of adults who never slept.

However, Yi Sang was never part of the commotion. The quality of his work spoke for him.

While you never understood his explanations, even dummies could appreciate how easy he made it look. Creating was art. This was art.

Lamplight held your brother's hands as he screwed in bolts; fitting big parts together as if they were never meant separately. In its inner body, he'd tie cogs and gears into intricate patterns that turned the spectacle into working art.

Your mouth parted with wonder.

…Then it hinged into a yawn.

In the midst of your observation, you felt your eyes droop past a blink. Sleep lugged your head downward, then up, like a crane operated by a lazy worker.

Only a small, blurry slit of your vision was usable. Yi Sang's movements came and went in flickers, until it disappeared altogether once your head surrended to your arms.

A clink hinted that he put down his work. He called out your name twice, you think. It didn't take a third try for him to realize you were fast asleep.

A warm jacket hugged you from behind, then followed Dongbaek's voice. You tuned out of her and your brother's conversation at intervals because the warm blanket made you weak.

"… just go home already." was all you could make out from Dongbaek. The jacket was adjusted.

Her voice was rough. Blunt. Fit for hurling banter and insults.

But it melted tender when the subject was you.

Pleasant sounding-words echoed, laughter lingered a little while, till Dongbaek's footsteps disappeared into somewhere else and Yi Sang got up to pack his equipment.

Shame… You didn't wanna go yet. You were ready to doze off here.

Once everything was in its rightful place — it was now your turn to be moved.

He handled you with more care than he did the former. You were picked up by the underarms, cantaloupe burning through your lids, and whisked into his hold.

Being in his arms was comfy. No wonder the scent of unfinished machines didn't want to let go. Even if you didn't like feeling gross, you curled closer to him by instinct.

He passed through a symphony of different voices. Some shrill, some mellow — others confident and erratic. Although you couldn't make out anything, Yi Sang's was the clearest of them all. His voice was a threader that spun together all the chaos in the world in a proper web.

"…Need not worry. We've traversed this road abundant times." His reassurance made things fall into hush.

The bell chimed — the one you heard everytime you went in. That was how you marked the shift from the inside world to what was outside.

It let out one last ring as the door was shut, bidding you two one last goodbye. Goodbye, little bell, good night to you too!

On his way out, Yi Sang started humming a tune. His steps made the rhythm and the timbre resonated in his chest. You weren't sure what the lyrics were, by this point you were waxing slow and dull, drifting off into the shadowy realm of sleep.

Yet no nightmare dared to lurk about in that darkness.

Not when you were safe in your brother's arms.

[yanna-the-20th]

peak layout twin👉👈

—🐣

omg is that the goat of blog themes themselves 😱😱😱 HI TWIN THANK YOU TWINNNN

[yanna-the-20th]

WARNING: information may possibly be inaccurate due to credibility of sources and use of translators. intended only as a stepping stone for further inferences

corrections, discussion, and suggestions are more than welcome!!

in 1933, yi sang had just quit his job at the japanese government general's office of internal affairs (architectural division) due to his worsening hemoptysis [1]

koo bon-woong (a painter and art critic; yi's childhood friend [2]) took him to baechon hot springs in sŏngch’ŏn county (now an area in north korea.) this is an excerpt from "lingering impressions of a mountain village," an essay yi sang penned amidst his stay:

More than twenty days have passed since I last savored my fragrant MJB. Here the newspaper seldom comes, and the postman only occasionally appears bearing "hard rolled" colored news. Both contain stories of silkworm cocoons and corn. The villagers appear distressed about some relatives living far away. I too am apprehensive concerning matters left behind in the city. They say there are roe deer and wild boar over there on P'albong Mountain. And some even say they've seen a "bear" that comes down to catch crayfish in the gully where they used hold rituals to pray for rain. I continually suffer from the delusion that these animals, which I have only seen in zoos, have not been captured from these mountains and put in zoos, but rather have been taken from zoos and put in these mountains. When night falls, just as men retire to their chambers, P'albong disappears into the lacquer-black, moonless night. The air is so crystal clear, however, I feel I might easily read my cherished Gospel of "Luke" by starlight alone. And I could swear there are twice as many stars out here as in the city. It is so quiet that I seem to hear for the first time traces of the movement of those stars. At a peddler's inn, I light an oil lamp. Its subtle odor, reminiscent of the city's evening paper, arouses dreams from my youth. Oh, Chŏng! I remember our gluing up packets deep into the night beneath such a light. A lone grasshopper perches atop the lamp, and with its light green hue, as if crossing the letter "T" in English, "underlines" the peculiar portions of my languid dreams. Feigning sorrow, I hang my head and stilly listen to its ballad, so like the sound of a streetcar conductress punching tickets in the city. Then that, in turn, becomes like the sound of scissors in a barbershop. At last I close my eyes and calmly, carefully listen. I then produce my journal and, in wild grape-colored ink, set about drafting the poetic sentiments of this intermontane hamlet.

Torn up newspaper day before yesterday // A tarnished white butterfly // A balsam resembles my lover's beautiful ear // In that ear stand visible the articles of bygone days

Before long I grow thirsty. Drinking water at my bedside—I consume the liquid, cold as if drawn from the sea's depths. Taking in its quartzose, mineral odor, I feel the path of the mercury plummeting past my lungs. I sense that, if I so desired, I could trace that frigid curve upon a blank sheet of paper.

When the stars shine down upon the bluestone roof, it cracks with the sound of a crock exploding in the depths of winter. The sound of insects is deafening. Because autumn, at this time, has come only enough to fill a single postcard. At times like these, how could I even begin to hope to fathom the mysteries of time? The sound of my pulse turns the entire inside of the room into a clock, and the long hand and short hand's revolving around the drive screw makes my eyes itch by turns. The smell of machine oil wafts in and out of my nose. I feel sleep approaching beneath the oil lamp.

I have a brief dream in which a young city girl appears; she looks like the "Paramount" Pictures logo. And then, before I know it, in my dream I see the poor family I have left behind in the city. They stand shoulder to shoulder, as prisoners of war do in photographs. And they bring me worry. Which finally wakes me from my slumber. Shall I just die? I entertain such thoughts. I stare at my threadbare Korean coat, which hangs from a nail in the wall. Ah, yes, you have followed me here across the vast northwestern provinces.

I turn up the wick, and, after relighting the lamp, use my pen to plant ultramarine "seedlings" in my notebook. Upon the page, one by one, a...

---

sorry... it cut off thither cause im a brokie who can't afford the full article. this is an excerpt from the article: "Lingering Impressions of a Mountain Village: —A Few Paragraphs from a Journal of Travels to Sŏngch'ŏn."

this was used by john m. frankl, who counters the strictly nationalistic depictions of yi sang (i.e he draws a line with his personal life). if you're rich, here's some of the stuff he made uploaded on project muse. if you're broke, there's still something you can learn from the previews

FOOTNOTE FROM SAID ARTICLE

YANNA'S FOOTNOTE

[1] - im not sure if yi sang contracted tuberculosis twice.

[2] - here are two sites with information on koo bon-wong:

namuwiki

wikipedia

the stuff in namuwiki isn't 100% factual in general, as is the case with wikipedia. read it for fun — though take what you see with a grain of salt

[2] - the two consistent statements in namuwiki and wikipedia say he was a hunch-back who dabbled in fauvism. he was also a very close friend of yi sang's. as proof, here's a portrait he did of his friend:

wow. isn't that charming?

anyways, he allegedly formed the organization "mokilhoe" — which aimed for an independent western painting movement. they later had to change their name to "moksihoe" because of japanese censorship (more information on this organization on jiwa sarang publishing and the federation of korean industries)

[yanna-the-20th]

fanfiction

limbus companiii

--yi sang (my GOAT)

"nighty-night" —yi sang & child!reader

"the magic bus" —yi sang & pre-teen!reader

--gregor

"the butterfly and the caterpillar" —gregor & child!reader

notes:

i only write platonic xreaders. nada-else

cause fuck romance am i right 🤣?? (fervently hides yaoi stash)

(btw i enjoy ships but im not kidding 'bout restriction to platonic content)

not taking reqs either cause you'll see me once in a decade

uhh what else

oh yeah — ull see me edit my posts often to correct errors lmao. i make a shit ton of reckless mistakes since i get trigger-happy when i finish writing

[yanna-the-20th]

art

trok (te rise of kyoshi, subset of atla)

yazhu my skrunkle 🥺🥺🥺

note: ion rlly do much art so ummm hahahha....

[yanna-the-20th]

literature/media analysis

limbus companii

the realism of canto iv's ending in depicting how japan got away with their war crimes

yi sang's trip to baechon hot springs (less of an analysis, more on infodump) -- LENGTHY

atla (za last airbender)

critique on s1 e17: northern air temple (reblog chain, discussion shifted to cultural preservation and heritage. ideas mostly focused on pierre nora's "between history and memory") -- LENGTHY

usage of coal symbolism in s1 e6: imprisoned

trok (te rise of kyoshi, subset of atla)

lek's death from a thematic viewpoint

note: my analysis r rarely long. i indicate the ones that are with "--LENGTHY"

[libraryofprojmoon]

This is a repository for all the literary works referenced in Lobotomy Corporation, Library of Ruina, and Limbus Company!

Our goal is to find and make an available collection of original texts and translations of those works, as well as cross-media adaptations, academic essays, audiobooks, youtube videos, and more, in order to make the source material referenced in-game accessible and enjoyable for everyone!

This blog is currently a WORK IN PROGRESS and we appreciate not only your patience, but also your help and contributions ♥

Best viewed on browser!

Mobile friendly LCB Sinner directory

Inferno-Limbus Company parallel masterdoc (colloqually known as 'Looney Tunes') by @unowers

Project Moon Media and lore intro masterpost by @hypodermicfroggy

Limbus Company Story Logs

All art and visuals used on this blog are from Project Moon's games and affiliated media. A huge thank you to Project Gutenberg for hosting many of the works of literature we were looking for

[yanna-the-20th]

the ending of canto 4 is crazy realistic when you put it through the lens of japan's annexation of korea (SPOILER WARNING FOR CANTO IV)

remember when the sinners were made to have their memories wiped of k. corp's secrets? and how they aren't really able to do jackshit about the system as a whole? (and yeah, no shit, who even can anyway?)

i guess dongrang is gone but they'll just replace him. they'll keep feeding the tearful thing with suffering and the root problem of their society isn't one addressed easily

and when juxtaposed with how japan's war crimes were forgotten by the world thanks to their propaganda, k. corp got away just as easily with their mind-erasing technology (possible allegory for 'history is written by the victors?')

in the end, only dante truly remembers what transpired, but they can't do shit with the info. like how the victims of japan's bs were left uncompensated and neglected by the government

man. limbus is so horrifying

[yanna-the-20th]

...man 😞

theres just something that really sticks out to me about how nelly intertwined the two strands of linton and heathcliff's hair, instead of tossing away either, and put the bundle in catherine's locket (her 'heart')

heathcliff's an asshat who did some crazy shit to see catherine. catherine went batshit ill too because she was separated from heathcliff. they're both horrible people who love so intensely that they hurt other people

and yet, nelly gave heathcliff one last chance to be with catherine symbolically. prior to this, heathcliff said: "nothing that God or Satan could inflict would have parted us."

cathy said: "whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same."

they're so codependent on each other that they're both impossible to separate. and no matter how hard anyone tried (debatable, lowk think nelly couldve done a little more), they were always going to find each other. even in death

to, im guessing, respect his efforts, and give cathy some semblance of peace wherever she may have ended up, nelly gave him a place in catherine's locket

interestingly tho, linton's strand was tied with heathcliff's. we know they don't get along well, and if the strands symbolize them individually, what's the deal in pairing them up thematically?

suppose then that this is indicative of nelly's perspective. she's always playing double agent, gossip — narrator. maybe she thinks catherine can have the best of both wuthering heights and thrushcross grange

maybe

[yanna-the-20th]

sorry man. no disrespect to elizabeth welschz but i dislike how s1 e17: the northern air temple played out

its like the issue of the earth kingdom refugees industrializing a sacred place was pushed aside for more fire nation conflict

these air temples are sacred places. this is one of the last things that aang has to connect him to his culture

but its like nobody sees the place's cultural significance. not even katara, who said that exploring the southern air temple was a chance to learn about air nomad history back in the earlier episodes, stepped in to defend aang's position

and dude — i get sokka's impressed by their level of technological development because he likes how much intricate work is involved, but even he would get mad if someone disrespected the water tribe's culture and practices. this is the equivalent twin; they're defiling air nomaf cultural heritage by vandalizing it with their equipment

wouldn't both katara and sokka understand just how much this means to aang? especially because they witnessed his crash out back in the southern air temple?

and the way the ending plays out makes it seem like aang's fault too:

i don't find the message or aang's learnings very fitting, esp. because that's not even what aang was angry about in the first place

he was angry that:

he wasn't overreacting either bro 😭😭 they destroyed the STATUE of a MONK

right in front of ANOTHER MONK???

that wasn't the only damage they did to the temple:

i understand that the refugees possibly had nowhere else to go after the flood, and it was absolutely okay for them to use the southern air temple as a last resort

but they had no right to overhaul it. that place has been here longer than they were

if teo's dad wanted to pursue his passion of inventing things, that is no problem in and of itself. but he needed to do it in a way that didn't alter the structure of a holy place. he needed to restrict his inventions to useful equipment that helped them get around (because the temple obvi wasn't built for non-airbenders) or make their day-to-day life easier without destroying existing structures

the finger knife sharpener prosthetics, the wheelchair, the makeshift glider, the candle with spark powder — these are all great inventions that can exist independently

main takeaway: they do not need to sacrifice cultural preservation for development. technological advancement should go hand-in-hand with progress

(p.s: aang letting teo see the northern air temple vault bcs he saw how free-spirited teo is, when he's already seen how much damage the industrializers have inflicted on the holy temple site, just doesn't make sense to me...)

[mysticalfolklore]

Hmm you make a fair point and that honestly has always bothered me but there's a whole discourse around heritage preservation. I would highly recommend reading Pierre Nora's Sites of Memory!

So anyways from my understanding, this episode dealt more with the idea that the air temples (and by extension, the air nomad culture) cannot remain stagnant or preserved pristinely because then it loses its value and becomes nothing more than a historical artifact. Memory and Culture are said to be entities that rely on a constant reinterpretation and engagement because when you pass on traditions and spaces, there is bound to be changes and that's ok! The core ideals remain but it's healthy for traditions to adapt and for places to gain new meaning by inhabiting new people that still respect the memory of those past. The lack of awareness of this fact is what this episode highlights IMO.

The earth kingdom refugees didn't know ANYTHING about air nomad culture. So they improvised and learned from what they found. There was no one to tell them this was wrong so they carried on and then there came a time when their sense of ownership towards their new home outweighed any reverence they may have had for the architecture of the temple because well they had needs, right? but I think by the end of it, they do learn to be more mindful but that can't mean they just pack up and leave. Because then the air temple will lose the life it has learned to inhabit again. So this is where the idea of "architectural rehabilitation" comes in which really is a fascinating but highly still debated discourse. The refugees continue to inhabit the space but now they know what it means to the person who basically saved them, I'd like to think that there was cut scene somewhere before the Gaang left where they talked endlessly about what held sentimental value and what didn't. Maybe even a scouting of a nearby area for a separate structure to be made! But this is all of course my own headcannons and we don't know what happened.

Bottom line, rehabilitation of any old structure is always a bitter pill to swallow but a place cannot hold memory forever and i think Aang would prefer to have the temples become safe havens for people rather than having them sit empty because that would just remind him of the absence of the Air Nomads. I mean, was Aang too forgiving of what happened? YEP. But the fact that grief we felt for him was so profound means the episode did what it was supposed to do. Too bad some people still enjoy destroying historical and sacred sites for funy tiktoks in today's age but oop that's another matter

[yanna-the-20th]

----------------------------------

hello !! first off — thank you so much for your perspective ! i'd been so troubled with how they executed the episode that i neglected what they were really trying to say haha

i read a few chapters of pierre nora as per your recommendations. im not very bright nor as well-versed as u are in heritage preservation, so please please do correct me if im wrong. i am willing to learn !

yep, ure very correct, and id like to reinforce ur ideas! the episode wanted to tackle how culture can't stay the same forever, and how people keep it alive through reinterpreting it. i believe this passage from pierre nora's between history and memory to be the best fitting:

"Consider, for example, the irrevocable break marked by the disappearance of peasant culture, that quintessential repository of collective memory whose recent vogue as an object of historical study coincided with the apogee of industrial growth."

how i understood this was that industrial growth hindered the intimacy of peasant culture. the value of memory was reduced into an interesting object to study, no longer something that's precious or memorable on its own. the next line follows it up with how mass media plays a role in watering down culture through influencing public view. i find this especially fitting with how the episode's exposition plays out: aang and the rest learn about the windwalkers (what they called the flying earth kingdom refugees) in the northern air temple through a storyteller (a form of media)

i believe they've even touched upon how culture survives through oral communication during this storytelling scene! the earth kingdom refugees, in spite of how they've marred the air temples, were able to keep the perception of air nomads alive. their wind gliders and giddiness were enough to imprint an accurate enough impression of what the air nomads were like, which even aang compliments:

AANG: So what? I laugh at gravity all the time too!

but you are correct, the earth kingdom refugees weren't truly preserving the essence of air nomad culture because they lacked the core idea: spirituality. interacting and living with spirits

it's why when the gaang arrived at the air nomad temple and realized the earth refugees weren't real airbenders, aang said they lacked spirit. i don't think he was talking about the fun kind — he was talking about literal spiritual connection. after all, spiritualism is what powers airbending and is the root of airbending traditions

to aang, seeing those refugees flying without that same kind of spirit, is a mockery of airbender culture

this would be such a beautiful issue to discuss and teach in a kids show if only it was resolved and developed properly

because in the episode, teo's father is dismissive of aang's concerns

—

TEO'S DAD: "We're just in the process of improving upon what's already here. And after all, isn't that what nature does?"

AANG: "Nature knows when to stop."

TEO'S DAD: "I suppose that's true. Unfortunately, progress has a way of getting a way from us."

TEO'S DAD: "Look at the time! Come, the pulley system must be oiled before dark."

—

after that, aang's problems aren't given closure. the events that lead up to the climax of the episode are:

aang finds a spot untouched by the industrialization. it's blocked by a vault which can only be unlocked with airbending, and aang rightfully refuses to show teo because he doesn't want it to be

aang and teo get closer thru wind-gliding because apparently the earth refugees have the same spirit in them as the air nomads do (which is why they're still able to fly with the makeshift gliders)

their bonding time makes aang change his mind. he opens the vault for teo, and inside they discover fire nation equipment

now that the writers established a new conflict, aang doesn't confront teo's dad because he's approaching reinvention of air nomad culture the wrong way, but because he's working with the fire nation to produce equipment

after, a fire nation soldier appears and threatens to destroy the air temple if teo's dad doesn't continue making equipment

i dislike the 5th event the most, as it frames the fire nation as the ultimate evils in this episode. i feel like this was a bad way to shift the heft of the blame on the earth industrializers' actions or make them look more reasonable

what they could've done instead was to cut the fire nation out of the conflict completely, and rework aang's motives for confronting teo's father. teo's father needs to confront and learn from the consequences of his actions, because he's no doubt harmed the temple's essence with his "improving." he desecrated the murals with his pipes, he's potentially contaminated holy water, and he bulldozed the sacred statue of a monk

imo this is disrespectful to the essence of the holy place that's given them shelter. i understand and even commend your point that culture changes, adapts, and evolves — and that the earth kingdom refugees are trying to keep it alive in their own way. but atp, i feel like they're treading the line between cultural appreciation and cultural appropriation

even after they've fended off the fire nation, aang doesn't mention these problems ever again. aang telling his learnings to the audience and his friends is quite literally the last scene we see of the aftermath, before it cuts to the fire nation. the episode frames aang's reaction as a character deficit, feelings he needed to let go of for the greater good

but aang wasn't in the wrong. it's not the earth kingdom refugees' fault that they weren't aware of air nomad culture (who do they have left to teach them after all?)

but even after meeting aang, a living air nomad, they hadn't bothered to ask him for his input? if they truly wanted to turn the temple into a lieux de memoire, they had the means to. they had a source of information and wouldn't just have had access to the place's history, but memory

yet the earth kingdom refugees remain ignorant about the significance of the practices they are trying to replicate, and may still continue in the same direction because aang didn't push for them to comprehend the weight of his culture

my take: i personally don't believe the episode was effective in relaying its message to the audience because the earth refugees lacked the true spirit of the culture, and that they weren't made to learn from their mistakes. yes, places can't hold onto memory forever, but they don't need to push aside what they can still hold onto

(yanna's note: thank you so very much for this meaningful reblog!!! im very sorry if i misinterpreted your points — i focused more on the episode's execution itself rather than the overlying message and heritage preservation. nevertheless i am truly grateful for how you've expounded on its message 🙏

i even ended up finding many connections between pierre nora and the episode itself, though im still a long way from understanding the book completely. but like you said, this is a discussion for another time : } )

[mysticalfolklore]

I'M SO PLEASED AND HONOURED THAT YOU TOOK MY RAMBLINGS SO SERIOUSLY! T-T thank you for that!!

And yep you're actually right to be upset about the refugees' reactions to Aang's very much valid outburst but if I may be so bold, I think that was also intentional. We'll notice this theme plays out a lot. Some aspect that was important to Air Nomad culture is erased or repurposed with good intentions but it ends up being more, as you called it, "cultural appropriation". And the thing is, Aang is quite literally the only person on the WHOLE PLANET that can properly police these things but it adds a layer of loneliness and isolation to his character everytime because no matter how hard the Gaang (and we mostly only see Katara being sympathetic to his dismay most of the times lol) tries to empathize, no one can fathom how much emotionally damaging it is to see your culture's, your FAMILY 'S, relics be desecrated but at this point, it's been a hundred years so what can even be done about it? This is actually something that is brought up constantly too (I'm not sure about the show but in the webtoon I recently started reading, there were the air acolytes who gave themselves airbender tattoos and Aang rightfully lost his mind saying something along the lines of "my people's culture is not your costume". There are other instances as well where we see him as a traditionalist butt heads with those who are heading through the industrial era)

The actions done by the refugees were actually quite hypocritical too in my opinion because, as someone who has been driven from their homeland, they should know how important these wall murals and visual stories would be and the correct thing would have been to archive them either through replication or taking them out and putting plain tiles. But that is unfortunately the most realistic reaction most people have to historical relics and spaces.

AND I LOVED YOUR POINT ABOUT THE ORAL STORYTELLING! It is fascinating that they unknowingly created the ghost impression of Air Nomads but as we see in the episode, to someone who has actually seen airbending, Aang doesn't even need to get close to know that's not airbending and he's immediately peeved. It's like you said, they lacked the "spirit".

As for the presence of the fire nation, I understand what you mean as it was a clear attempt to not fully demonize the refugees but I also think there was something symbolic in the scene where Aang finally opens up the chamber for Teo. Can you imagine approaching a place you hold sacred and thinking that at least this remained untouched only for it to be COVERED in the colours and filled with weapons of the very people who annihilated your people? Devastating. And you know what? It occurs to me (and feel free to tell me if I'm wrong) that it reveals the core characteristic of Teo's dad: he really does shift the blame a lot, doesn't he? Why break the scared statue? Needed a bathhouse. Why build weapons for enemies? His family is being threatened. He is essentially a prisoner of his own perceived helplessness and it isn't until the Gaang shows up that he chooses to fight back (or at least help them fight back) cause guess what? Meekness never shields anyone. But yep the episode very quickly brushes the desecration of a much beloved place aside to deal with the more pressing matter but ig that was their way of hinting at the idea of belonging and an ownership of a place....

Honestly, i wish the show had expanded more on the complexities of this issue but then again, it was a kids' cartoon in the early 2000s and they had a lot to cover in a 30 minute tineframe so it's actually pretty cool that they addressed it all because I can't recall another kids' show ever doing this. It was fun to hear and talk to another fan such as yourself about this though!

P.S. i ended up writing another essay lol. But I enjoyed your insights and it's been a while so maybe I should rewatch the show hmmm

[yanna-the-20th]

OF COURSE OF COURSE !! when i saw that my post reminded u of ur passion for heritage preservation — the last thing i wanted to do was half-ass my response. seeing people passionate about media and storytelling will always have a special place in my heart : }

sorry for getting off-topic lol, and once again thank you very much for responding !

i think you were also right tho lol. i think it was intentional. the more i watch the show, the more i see this theme reoccur. i've just reached s2 ep3: return to omashu, where king bumi's kingdom is taken over by the fire nation. at first, i was pretty surprised that katara didn't sympathize with aang's desire to save the earth kingdom people, especially with how forward her stance was with wanting to liberate the prisoners of the fire nation camp in s1 e6

but tbh now i'm starting to see why this unfolded the way it did. as you've said, the writers wanted to highlight just how lonely and isolated aang's character is. aang desperately wanted to save omashu because he didn't want to lose anything else to the fire nation. and while katara's personally experienced just how devastating the fire nation's siege on her home was, she doesn't have the same attachment to omashu as aang does. just 2 episodes prior, she saw how aang was forced into the avatar state and how much destruction he caused unchecked. i think that was when she truly realized just how unprepared they all were to take on the fire lord, and was why she told aang that he could just find another earthbending teacher instead of seeking out bumi

but aang didn't want to save bumi so he could be taught earthbending, he wanted to save bumi because he was his friend. that's how little people understand him

and actually, you're so right man 😞.. no one can truly fathom how horrible it is to lose your entire culture and family in the blink of an eye. im starting to understand now why you said that, at some point, the earth refugees' sense of ownership outweighed any reverence they may have had. who knows how long they've occupied the air temple for? no one was there to remind them how sacred the temple was. maybe, because the fire nation robbed his people of their autonomy by pilfering their homes, teo's father refurbished the air temple with his own touches was a way of regaining said autonomy

but yes, i still strongly stand by that point — they shouldn't have overriden another country's culture just because they lost theirs, and they should have preserved what was left of the air nomads. unfortunately, as you've said, this was a very realistic reaction 😞

ALSO OH MY FREAKING GEE, WHAT YOU SAID ABOUT TEO'S DAD CLEARS UP SO SO MUCH OF WHAT HE DID NOW! (you are absolutely gosh darn right 😭😭)

i've never been able to put it into words, but he just felt so — irresponsible. and that made me so frustrated. he never took accountability of the things he did, even at the end of the episode, but his character had the potential to be so, so much more if the writers tied up the singed ends of this episode

however yes, for what it was at the time, and even till now, avatar is an incredible show that persists through genres !! if you were to rewatch it, it'd be very worth your while : }

tbh the more you rewatch the show, the more nuances you will pick up. my analysis posts of avatar still need a lot of work since im only on my first watch, and am making these on-the-fly, so i cannot thank you enough for helping me see what i can't

this might be my last response since im a very lazy person lol. but thank you, from the bottom-of-my heart, for having this discussion with me internet stranger : }

[yanna-the-20th]

sorry man. no disrespect to elizabeth welschz but i dislike how s1 e17: the northern air temple played out

its like the issue of the earth kingdom refugees industrializing a sacred place was pushed aside for more fire nation conflict

these air temples are sacred places. this is one of the last things that aang has to connect him to his culture

but its like nobody sees the place's cultural significance. not even katara, who said that exploring the southern air temple was a chance to learn about air nomad history back in the earlier episodes, stepped in to defend aang's position

and dude — i get sokka's impressed by their level of technological development because he likes how much intricate work is involved, but even he would get mad if someone disrespected the water tribe's culture and practices. this is the equivalent twin; they're defiling air nomaf cultural heritage by vandalizing it with their equipment

wouldn't both katara and sokka understand just how much this means to aang? especially because they witnessed his crash out back in the southern air temple?

and the way the ending plays out makes it seem like aang's fault too:

i don't find the message or aang's learnings very fitting, esp. because that's not even what aang was angry about in the first place

he was angry that:

he wasn't overreacting either bro 😭😭 they destroyed the STATUE of a MONK

right in front of ANOTHER MONK???

that wasn't the only damage they did to the temple:

i understand that the refugees possibly had nowhere else to go after the flood, and it was absolutely okay for them to use the southern air temple as a last resort

but they had no right to overhaul it. that place has been here longer than they were

if teo's dad wanted to pursue his passion of inventing things, that is no problem in and of itself. but he needed to do it in a way that didn't alter the structure of a holy place. he needed to restrict his inventions to useful equipment that helped them get around (because the temple obvi wasn't built for non-airbenders) or make their day-to-day life easier without destroying existing structures

the finger knife sharpener prosthetics, the wheelchair, the makeshift glider, the candle with spark powder — these are all great inventions that can exist independently

main takeaway: they do not need to sacrifice cultural preservation for development. technological advancement should go hand-in-hand with progress

(p.s: aang letting teo see the northern air temple vault bcs he saw how free-spirited teo is, when he's already seen how much damage the industrializers have inflicted on the holy temple site, just doesn't make sense to me...)

[mysticalfolklore]

Hmm you make a fair point and that honestly has always bothered me but there's a whole discourse around heritage preservation. I would highly recommend reading Pierre Nora's Sites of Memory!

So anyways from my understanding, this episode dealt more with the idea that the air temples (and by extension, the air nomad culture) cannot remain stagnant or preserved pristinely because then it loses its value and becomes nothing more than a historical artifact. Memory and Culture are said to be entities that rely on a constant reinterpretation and engagement because when you pass on traditions and spaces, there is bound to be changes and that's ok! The core ideals remain but it's healthy for traditions to adapt and for places to gain new meaning by inhabiting new people that still respect the memory of those past. The lack of awareness of this fact is what this episode highlights IMO.

The earth kingdom refugees didn't know ANYTHING about air nomad culture. So they improvised and learned from what they found. There was no one to tell them this was wrong so they carried on and then there came a time when their sense of ownership towards their new home outweighed any reverence they may have had for the architecture of the temple because well they had needs, right? but I think by the end of it, they do learn to be more mindful but that can't mean they just pack up and leave. Because then the air temple will lose the life it has learned to inhabit again. So this is where the idea of "architectural rehabilitation" comes in which really is a fascinating but highly still debated discourse. The refugees continue to inhabit the space but now they know what it means to the person who basically saved them, I'd like to think that there was cut scene somewhere before the Gaang left where they talked endlessly about what held sentimental value and what didn't. Maybe even a scouting of a nearby area for a separate structure to be made! But this is all of course my own headcannons and we don't know what happened.

Bottom line, rehabilitation of any old structure is always a bitter pill to swallow but a place cannot hold memory forever and i think Aang would prefer to have the temples become safe havens for people rather than having them sit empty because that would just remind him of the absence of the Air Nomads. I mean, was Aang too forgiving of what happened? YEP. But the fact that grief we felt for him was so profound means the episode did what it was supposed to do. Too bad some people still enjoy destroying historical and sacred sites for funy tiktoks in today's age but oop that's another matter

[yanna-the-20th]

----------------------------------

hello !! first off — thank you so much for your perspective ! i'd been so troubled with how they executed the episode that i neglected what they were really trying to say haha

i read a few chapters of pierre nora as per your recommendations. im not very bright nor as well-versed as u are in heritage preservation, so please please do correct me if im wrong. i am willing to learn !

yep, ure very correct, and id like to reinforce ur ideas! the episode wanted to tackle how culture can't stay the same forever, and how people keep it alive through reinterpreting it. i believe this passage from pierre nora's between history and memory to be the best fitting:

"Consider, for example, the irrevocable break marked by the disappearance of peasant culture, that quintessential repository of collective memory whose recent vogue as an object of historical study coincided with the apogee of industrial growth."

how i understood this was that industrial growth hindered the intimacy of peasant culture. the value of memory was reduced into an interesting object to study, no longer something that's precious or memorable on its own. the next line follows it up with how mass media plays a role in watering down culture through influencing public view. i find this especially fitting with how the episode's exposition plays out: aang and the rest learn about the windwalkers (what they called the flying earth kingdom refugees) in the northern air temple through a storyteller (a form of media)

i believe they've even touched upon how culture survives through oral communication during this storytelling scene! the earth kingdom refugees, in spite of how they've marred the air temples, were able to keep the perception of air nomads alive. their wind gliders and giddiness were enough to imprint an accurate enough impression of what the air nomads were like, which even aang compliments:

AANG: So what? I laugh at gravity all the time too!

but you are correct, the earth kingdom refugees weren't truly preserving the essence of air nomad culture because they lacked the core idea: spirituality. interacting and living with spirits

it's why when the gaang arrived at the air nomad temple and realized the earth refugees weren't real airbenders, aang said they lacked spirit. i don't think he was talking about the fun kind — he was talking about literal spiritual connection. after all, spiritualism is what powers airbending and is the root of airbending traditions

to aang, seeing those refugees flying without that same kind of spirit, is a mockery of airbender culture

this would be such a beautiful issue to discuss and teach in a kids show if only it was resolved and developed properly

because in the episode, teo's father is dismissive of aang's concerns

—

TEO'S DAD: "We're just in the process of improving upon what's already here. And after all, isn't that what nature does?"

AANG: "Nature knows when to stop."

TEO'S DAD: "I suppose that's true. Unfortunately, progress has a way of getting a way from us."

TEO'S DAD: "Look at the time! Come, the pulley system must be oiled before dark."

—

after that, aang's problems aren't given closure. the events that lead up to the climax of the episode are:

aang finds a spot untouched by the industrialization. it's blocked by a vault which can only be unlocked with airbending, and aang rightfully refuses to show teo because he doesn't want it to be

aang and teo get closer thru wind-gliding because apparently the earth refugees have the same spirit in them as the air nomads do (which is why they're still able to fly with the makeshift gliders)

their bonding time makes aang change his mind. he opens the vault for teo, and inside they discover fire nation equipment

now that the writers established a new conflict, aang doesn't confront teo's dad because he's approaching reinvention of air nomad culture the wrong way, but because he's working with the fire nation to produce equipment

after, a fire nation soldier appears and threatens to destroy the air temple if teo's dad doesn't continue making equipment

i dislike the 5th event the most, as it frames the fire nation as the ultimate evils in this episode. i feel like this was a bad way to shift the heft of the blame on the earth industrializers' actions or make them look more reasonable

what they could've done instead was to cut the fire nation out of the conflict completely, and rework aang's motives for confronting teo's father. teo's father needs to confront and learn from the consequences of his actions, because he's no doubt harmed the temple's essence with his "improving." he desecrated the murals with his pipes, he's potentially contaminated holy water, and he bulldozed the sacred statue of a monk

imo this is disrespectful to the essence of the holy place that's given them shelter. i understand and even commend your point that culture changes, adapts, and evolves — and that the earth kingdom refugees are trying to keep it alive in their own way. but atp, i feel like they're treading the line between cultural appreciation and cultural appropriation

even after they've fended off the fire nation, aang doesn't mention these problems ever again. aang telling his learnings to the audience and his friends is quite literally the last scene we see of the aftermath, before it cuts to the fire nation. the episode frames aang's reaction as a character deficit, feelings he needed to let go of for the greater good

but aang wasn't in the wrong. it's not the earth kingdom refugees' fault that they weren't aware of air nomad culture (who do they have left to teach them after all?)

but even after meeting aang, a living air nomad, they hadn't bothered to ask him for his input? if they truly wanted to turn the temple into a lieux de memoire, they had the means to. they had a source of information and wouldn't just have had access to the place's history, but memory

yet the earth kingdom refugees remain ignorant about the significance of the practices they are trying to replicate, and may still continue in the same direction because aang didn't push for them to comprehend the weight of his culture

my take: i personally don't believe the episode was effective in relaying its message to the audience because the earth refugees lacked the true spirit of the culture, and that they weren't made to learn from their mistakes. yes, places can't hold onto memory forever, but they don't need to push aside what they can still hold onto

(yanna's note: thank you so very much for this meaningful reblog!!! im very sorry if i misinterpreted your points — i focused more on the episode's execution itself rather than the overlying message and heritage preservation. nevertheless i am truly grateful for how you've expounded on its message 🙏

i even ended up finding many connections between pierre nora and the episode itself, though im still a long way from understanding the book completely. but like you said, this is a discussion for another time : } )

[yanna-the-20th]

waitt was princess yue inspired by the tale of the bamboo princess?? THIS IS SO PEAKKK

[yanna-the-20th]

sorry man. no disrespect to elizabeth welschz but i dislike how s1 e17: the northern air temple played out

its like the issue of the earth kingdom refugees industrializing a sacred place was pushed aside for more fire nation conflict

these air temples are sacred places. this is one of the last things that aang has to connect him to his culture

but its like nobody sees the place's cultural significance. not even katara, who said that exploring the southern air temple was a chance to learn about air nomad history back in the earlier episodes, stepped in to defend aang's position

and dude — i get sokka's impressed by their level of technological development because he likes how much intricate work is involved, but even he would get mad if someone disrespected the water tribe's culture and practices. this is the equivalent twin; they're defiling air nomaf cultural heritage by vandalizing it with their equipment

wouldn't both katara and sokka understand just how much this means to aang? especially because they witnessed his crash out back in the southern air temple?

and the way the ending plays out makes it seem like aang's fault too:

i don't find the message or aang's learnings very fitting, esp. because that's not even what aang was angry about in the first place

he was angry that:

he wasn't overreacting either bro 😭😭 they destroyed the STATUE of a MONK

right in front of ANOTHER MONK???

that wasn't the only damage they did to the temple:

i understand that the refugees possibly had nowhere else to go after the flood, and it was absolutely okay for them to use the southern air temple as a last resort

but they had no right to overhaul it. that place has been here longer than they were

if teo's dad wanted to pursue his passion of inventing things, that is no problem in and of itself. but he needed to do it in a way that didn't alter the structure of a holy place. he needed to restrict his inventions to useful equipment that helped them get around (because the temple obvi wasn't built for non-airbenders) or make their day-to-day life easier without destroying existing structures

the finger knife sharpener prosthetics, the wheelchair, the makeshift glider, the candle with spark powder — these are all great inventions that can exist independently

main takeaway: they do not need to sacrifice cultural preservation for development. technological advancement should go hand-in-hand with progress

(p.s: aang letting teo see the northern air temple vault bcs he saw how free-spirited teo is, when he's already seen how much damage the industrializers have inflicted on the holy temple site, just doesn't make sense to me...)