#ocean spirit aang

[paragonrobits]

"One thing you will unfortunately have to combat," Iroh says, slowly walking a meandering path around a pond, Aang walking beside him, the both of them moving at a similar steady pace. "Is that far too many people of the age believe that the will to harm, and ruthlessness as a whole, is a sign of maturity."

Aang sighs, tilting his head up towards the stars. His expression is solemn, his face young, and his eyes unbelievably old. There is wisdom there; wisdom from a century ago, and echoes of wisdom even older than that, going all the way back to the foundation of the world.

The wisdom of the Avatar is something built from pain. The pain of past lives, the pain of countless generations that will not learn or are made to forget, the pain that comes from a thousand sources. The world is locked into an endless cycle, he thinks, and that cycle turns on pain.

"I think too many of the world's problems today," Aang says, in the soft and steady tones of one who is stating a fact that he ill likes, but does not ignore. "Is that people keep saying things like 'harmony and spirituality don't matter, all that matters is that we do whatever it takes to get what we want'."

"Indeed." Iroh stops, turning and looking at the water. His eyes seem younger than the Avatar's. For a moment, they almost glow with dragon-flame, or a mirror to the sun. It's a different sort of fire than that burning in most of his countrymen these days.

"I'd guess Sozin thought something like that, back before I went into the ice," Aang says.

The grandson of Sozin nods somberly. "It's one of the great illusions we see in these days," Iroh suggests. Something in tone implies that he may be thinking out loud; wondering, pondering, guessing at things that he cannot definitely say for sure. Pain, and uncertainty; that is the hallmark of the world today. "Thinking that because you are a different one from your enemy, that doing the same things as them doesn't carry a risk of repeating the harm they bring, because its you doing it, not them."

Aang nods. He is silent, for a time, and then he speaks. His words bear the weight of a great distance, and Iroh knows that he has made some kind of a connection, or an old fear. "Do you know the death toll of the Fire Nation navy at the battle of the Nothern Water Tribe?"

"Yes." Iroh gives Aang a concerned side glance. "Do you?"

Aang breathes in deeply. He looks down, calmly, at his hands, and his expression is tired, and looks older than he should.

It was not his will that happened there. He was the channel, that was all. Through him, the Ocean Spirit did as it willed, as was its right.

Nonetheless, it was his hands that had carried the deed. It was hard, to remember it, to accept it.

"Yes," the Avatar says simply.

Iroh is silent, and waits for the Avatar to speak.

When he does, he gives a heavy sigh. Aang continues, "I know that in the future, people are probably going to write about the... the Ocean Spirit being wrong. That it was vicious, or cruel, or that it might have attacked the Water Tribe too if things had been just a little different. Judging the Ocean by human attitudes, by the way humans have to be."

"And what do you think?" Iroh asks.

"That the Ocean Spirit isn't human," Aang says. "That the spiritual rightness of humans doesn't apply to the Ocean. Something like... our ways are not their ways. And in any event, things like how abstaining from the slaying of another liberates people from the ties of the world, or the flow of pain in the world... I don't think that CAN apply to spirits, at least not the world-defining ones like the Ocean. They are what they are. Their natures are tied TO how they are a part of the world. It's not really about making a moral decision for the Ocean Spirit. It's simply doing what it does."

"And as humans, it is our duty to seek harmony with the spirits, and the nations of humanity," Iroh says, stroking his beard; he strikes the image of an old master, and together with Aang he looks the part of a master and pupil. And yet, it is the reverse; there is so much he does not know, and that Aang does. He is the student, and the young man the teacher. "If the Fire Navy had not attacked with intent of conquest, they would have lived, and the Ocean Spirit would have no need to take retribution."

There was a certain way to things; if one wronged a spirit, it had to take retribution. It was like a pendulum; if you pulled it far enough back and let go, it would have to swing the other way just as far. It was simply the shape of the world. It was human error to attribute human morality to gravity moving the way it did. And it was greater human error to expect the most ancient and mighty spirits to abide by flawed human belief that the nations were fundamentally separate.

Aang's expression was solemn. For a moment, a thousand lifetimes of understanding shone forth, and beyond that there was an intelligence far older than that; the world itself in human form, regarding itself.

It was a look of sorrow. Sometimes that was the only response to human foolishness.

#atla #avatar the last airbender #aang #aang atla #iroh #iroh atla #my writing #fics #queued #some of my posts were circulating around the aang critical fandom and that bugged me #and i noticed a trend around some of them was referring to the ocean spirit as being vicious #and it sparked some thoughts

[robinthisbank]

Y’know what gets my fucking goat? What pisses me off? When people say “well if Aang is a pacifist, why did he do [names something he did in the Avatar State]?”

Aang loses control over himself when he is in that state. In fact, Aang is TERRIFIED of the Avatar State. He has active nightmares about it OFTEN. Part of his character is learning to embrace the sides of himself that he fears make him evil or a bad monk. He hates the fact he wants to hurt and destroy things, he more so hates the fact he can.

When he looks back at what he did during the Northern Siege, he feels fear, and hurt, and regret. He is a pacifist, he’s terrified of himself. He hates the Avatar State, he hates firebending. He has to learn to embrace these sides of himself, to love them, so that they can be harnessed for good.

He learns the Avatar State is a beautiful part of himself that connects him to the universe, to his past. He learns that fire isn’t just destruction but life and warmth. Only then is he a realized Avatar.

So yes, Aang is capable of killing, and hurting, but those are the times he despises himself the most. But he’s disgusted by what he can do, what he finds himself wanting to do while in that state.

Aang is a pacifist, but he was also a child who’d lost everything in a war he missed 100 years of. He has to learn to understand his pain, to love it. And when he knows he doesn’t have to kill or injure, he doesn’t. Because he’s a pacifist, he believes in the sanctity of all life

#also that specific example is the most annoying #because Aang only did all that because it was him and the ocean spirit working together #they both were angry and hurt #so naturally #they went crazy #it’s one of Aang’s greatest regrets too #to him that moment is the face of the worst parts of himself #avatar the last airbender #avatar aang #aang #atla aang #atla katara #katara #sokka #atla sokka #prince zuko #fire lord zuko #atla zuko #zuko #atla suki #toph beifong #toph #atla toph #atla #my feelings are big #and my mouth is bigger

[sulkybender]

Okay, you know what's a dropped ball?

It would have been really interesting to show Aang grappling with the consequences of the S1 finale. He certainly killed people while inside La.

Aang coming to terms with that, and figuring out a way to live with it morally, would have had fascinating implications for the the series finale. Would he have chosen to kill Ozai? Or, having been sickened by what he did in S1, would he have made the same decision in the end?

That would've been such a cool arc.

#Aang #atla #utilitarianism #as embodied by giant ocean spirits #and fish

[ereh-emanresu-tresni]

No but fr imagine making an adaptation where you're so desperate to overexaggerate the whole "you were a coward who ran from your responsibilities so must work to make up for it now" melodrama, to the point of sacrificing multiple critical characters' distinct and appreciable personalities into the woodchipper in favor of one-dimensional screamranting, but then also just like... Don't proceed to have him do much if anything to start making up for it. Did Aang literally at any point even consider learning waterbending, let alone actually practice it one (1) time outside of being controlled by the avatar state/ocean spirit? No. Because otherwise how could we shoehorn in another bs "I'm not a waterbender I can't help defend you :c" "tsk guess we still can't count on the Avatar >:/" exchange? uGH

#and yet literally take out the part where he actually even did intentionally run???? ugHkhGuHgGH #Christ the handling of kyoshi and bumi was so bad #and side note but do not even get me started on the ocean spirit lol #most iconic and memorable scene of the show imo swapped for a b list cgi kaiju battle... #zuko/iroh 'what is that?' '*that* is *wrath*' i feel highlights their mishandling of it. like yes it superficially is. fundamentally though #it's raw agonized and desperate grief. hence the washed out grey lighting and slow ost as it silently washes away the fire nation #instead of a faster paced rampage w a bunch of creaking and roaring effects :/ #and the whole bs 'no aang you'll lose yourself!! D:' thing too literally fuck off lol #esp after already flattening koh into a generically dangerous predator how dARE they try to demonize La too aaaAAAA i need to stop now lol. #atla #natla

[comradekatara]

ok smth that's always bothered me abt this scene is that if zuko had the time to do all that katara had the time to run out of the way. he simply had to take the most impulsive, dramatic route as per usual

#he was rly just like 'i need to take this lightning to parallel aang! for thematic cohesion!! the narrative demands it!!!!' #id in alt text #zuko #'its an act of love' doesnt make it NOT an act of stupidity ! #thats how zuko loves: by being stupid #and frankly hes stupid even for ppl he doesnt love #rmr when he tried to save zhao from the ocean spirit? #now why did he do that? #no self preservation instincts whatsoever #and yet somehow he thinks he's unlucky #beloved u should be dead one million times over by now #clearly la fortuna is in ur favor #also sidenote but why did zuko think azula knew that he could redirect lightning? did he really think ozai would admit to azula that he #got one upped by his limp wristed good for nothing traitor son?? lmfao #unfortunately zuko is so myopic he simply thinks everyone lives inside his head at all times and shares his exact perspective #lmao thats why he and katara are besties!!!

[ladycatofwinterfell]

okay so i liked a few of the changes the live action atla did (oma/shu lesbians❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️) and really hated others (a lot of examples there) but they absolutely massacred katara and therefore i can’t get behind it no matter how decent it was

#also the dialogue was so fucking annoying #it was like they couldn’t do any storytelling without a character telling another character #LIKE I CAN SEE THAT AANG FUSED WITH THE OCEAN SPIRIT YOU DON’T HAVE TO TELL ME FIVE TIMES

[chaotic-neutral-knitter]

my partner has never seen avatar: the last airbender besides a few season one episodes and so we're watching it together and damn this show holds up. like I know some of it for me is pure nostalgia, but damn! it's just a good show!!

#L was like 'this show is so pretty 👀' and we haven't even gotten to the Northern Water Tribe yet #v excited for her reaction to Aang + Ocean Spirit kaiju time #next ep is The Blue Spirit and I'm so excitedddd #she was also like !!! when iroh conducted lightning in The Storm and I was like 'oh don't worry that'll come up again' #my nonsense #atla

[forestbirdmakesart]

Spoiler for the Life Action Series of Avatar the Last Airbender

The ocean spirit and avatar fusion seems so weak compared to the cartoonish one. They take WAY to long to wreck havoc on the firebenders and just straight up fall because of some bombs. The cartoon version just wiped their hands and the fleet sunk. I just think the rage and grief and pure power just falls flat on the new one.

#avatar the last airbender #live action #atla #ocean spirit #avatar #avatar aang #netflix avatar #avatar live action #my opinion #power #power of nature #rage #atla 2024

[billycaplans]

like personally, if i was on the natla casting crew, i would make zhao the only white person in the show and it would be hilarious

#personal #why does ocean spirit aang souf like cloverfield ik fuciingjfjjdjfjf

[aangarchy]

Incredibly specific moments in atla i think about ALL the time (i am Not normal)

Zuko's eyes slightly widening when witnessing Katara's bloodbending for the first time

Aang and Katara just missing each other looking back at the other after their argument in The Warriors of Kyoshi

Toph holding onto Sokka's arm once on Appa when he didn't have a saddle and once on the boat bringing them to the lake town

The moon being in full view as Suki tries to kiss Sokka in the Serpent's Pass, and the shadow returning as Sokka leaves

The "four seasons for love" motif coming back throughout the episodes of the Northern Watertribe and specifically as Sokka gives himself up to serve in the battle against Zhao's seige and Yue turns away and quietly cries as she watches him walk off

Longshot talking for the first time ever as Jet lay dying

In that same breath, the way Toph says "he's lying" as they walk away from Jet knowing that he's going to die

Aang looking back at the Southern Airtemple ruins along with Momo as they fly away from it, seeing it disappear behind the clouds (this one specifically makes me cry so much)

The chants as Aang gets summoned by the Lion Turtle in book 3 being the SAME as the chants when Aang fuses with the ocean spirit in book 1 (there's other moments with these chants i think but i can't remember them off the top of my head)

Aang taking down Ozai's airship in the finale as his first attack and Sokka cheering him on like a proud older brother

Katara immediately without a shadow of a doubt responding "Aang won't lose" when Zuko questions if he'll be able to take on Ozai

Aang knowing Zuko was gonna fire at him in the crystal catacombs as soon as Zuko laid eyes on him (he gasped before Zuko even made a move) when even Azula wasn't sure what Zuko was gonna do in that scenario

#idk if 4 seazons for love is the correct name of the song #but it's the one iroh sings on music night before zhao interrupts #avatar the last airbender #atla #avatar #aang #avatar aang #zuko #sokka #katara #suki #toph #toph beifong #prince zuko #firelord ozai #azula #princess azula #princess yue

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

Can you give examples of Aang showing Empathy? Oh wait, you can't.

Actually, I can - because unlike you, I base my opinion of the characters on the actual stuff that happened in the story, not the bad faith takes dumb people on the internet come up with.

Zuko literally only survived past book 1 because Aang was the ONLY person amongst the heroes that gave a single fuck about his well-being. Aang offered to be FRIENDS with him as early as episode 13, even though this dude is trying to kidnap him.

In the first damn episode we see him realize and try to remedy Katara's struggle with no longer being able to act like a kid and have fun. He wants to travel with her so SHE gets to learn waterbending. He willingly lets Zuko take him into his ship because he understood that a conflict could lead to the people of the water tribe getting hurt or killed.

In Warriors of Kyoshi he apologizes to Katara for letting all the praise and admiration go to this head. He makes sure to put out the fires Zuko and his crew started in Suki's village.

He tries to help remedy the Hei-Bai situation, even though he is unsure of himself and even scared, because he knows he is the only one that has any chance of helping - and the thing that allows him to connect with Hei-Bai is the fact that he is ALSO upset about the destruction the Fire Nation has caused AND hopeful that the world would eventually heal.

He thinks Jet is awesome because he wants to help people that are being oppressed by the Fire Nation - and then is horrified when he finds out his intension is to "free" them by killing everyone

He wants to help the two rival groups not only safely cross the Great Divide, but also stop hating each other.

He confesses that he hid the map to Hakoda because Bato, Katara and Sokka are showing how much they appreciate and trust him and he feels unworthy of it after what he did because he knows it'd hurt him if the roles were reversed.

He is so devastated by the fact that he ACCIDENTALLY hurt Katara that he swears to never firebend again. He is also able to recognize the same principle behind his mistake in Zhao's fighting style, allowing him to win the battle against the bastard.

He accepts the fact that the Northern Air Temple is now occupied by people who not only don't belong to his culture but also don't understand it and unknowingly destroyed something sacred to him (and that one of them had been forced to make weapons for the Fire Nation) because these people have nowhere else to go and he doesn't want them to suffer.

He is furious at Pakku for refusing to teach Katara waterbending, because he knows how much it'd mean to her and how unfair it is that she can't learn it just because of her gender.

He is so devastated by the death of the Moon Spirit that the Ocean Spirit latches onto him to avenge it and save the day - and the leve of destruction it causes haunts Aang, even though the violence was against his enemies. And still, he tries to go into the Avatar state again because people are dying and he can't accept that.

After the fall of Omashu, he wants to rescue Bumi, not because he needs a teacher, but because they're friends.

He felt empathy for Toph when she was explaining to her parents how lonely and unappriacted their over-protection made her feel.

He and Katara both feel bad for snapping at Toph during "The Chase" and wanted to apologize for not understanding that being part of a group was a radical change to her, even though she had refused to even try. He also didn't have a problem with fighting alongside Zuko and Iroh against Azula, AND he looked concerned when Iroh was injured.

After Katara comments on the fact he called Toph Sifu but not her, he calls her Sifu while bowing, to show that he respects her both as his master and friend.

The hopelessness and downright depression he was feeling after Appa was stolen only starts healing because he saw a couple being happy with their newborn baby - the same couple he decided to help cross the Serpent's Pass, even though he and his friends had just been allowed to take a much safer route to Ba Sing Se.

His understanding and sympathy towards Jet, even after everything the guy did, was so strong that it freed him from literal brainwashing.

He doesn't want to push his love for Katara aside to gain power because he cares about her too much - and then does it anyway because, even though not making her his main focus 24/7 offers the risk of her being hurt, him neglecting his mission guarantees she'll get hurt.

He is devastated to learn that the world thinks he is dead because he knows he was everyone's last hope - and yet in the end he still accepts the burden of failure because he understood that, at that moment, everyone would be safer if no one else knew he was still alive.

He goes to a Fire Nation school and bonds with the kids, wanting to give them a taste of freedom and joy, as well as trying to understand what the war is like from their perspective. The same episode also has him pull Katara for a dance because he noticed she was feeling left out.

The boy felt empathy for, and understood the mistakes of, both Ruko and Sozin. SOZIN. Aang could see the humanity in the monster that is responsible for him losing his entire culture and everyone he loved.

When Zuko spoke about wanting to control his impulses so he wouldn't accidentally hurt anyone, Aang explicitly connected with that struggle and saw them being teacher and student as fate, and Zuko agreed because that's how deep their connection was.

Aang is not happy about Katara wanting to murder a man, but he still lets her take Appa on her mission and is not disapproving when she ultimately spares the guy but does not forgive him and makes it clear she never will.

He feels empathy for freaking Ozai, to the point that refuses to kill the guy - even as he has the balls to say that Aang's family, his people, deserved to die. He spared that guy - but only after he had a way to do that without it meaning the death of more innocents. Aang, the pacifist, was going to turn his back on everything he believed in just to avoid more human suffering.

So yeah, miss me with your bullshit and don't come back until your brain is developed enough to understand a cartoon aimed at kindergarterners.

#anti zutara #pro aang

[narrativelysignificantturtleduck]

aang just fused with the ocean spirit and sokka's like "what just happened" and yue's like "aang fused with the ocean spirit". this is what this show's dialogue is like

#nina's personal log #natla blogging #natla spoilers

[sausage-rolll]

There's something painfully funny that Avatar Aang, master of all 4 elements and protector of the world doesn't even attempt to nudge a single fucking drop of water for the entirety of the season dedicated to him learning how to bend water!!!

Like fuck. By the end of season 1 in the OG Aang was a master at airbending, was decent at water bending and had even attempted some fire bending a few times. But this time I don't think he did any water bending at all (The ending of the season doesn't count imo since it was the ocean spirit bending the water, not Aang himself.)

I'm pretty sure even the movie dedicated some time to showing Aang practicing water bending but this time he just doesn't fucking bother I suppose (despite the fact that everyone keeps telling him how important it is that he becomes stronger.)

#atla #aang #avatar aang #avatar the last airbender

[flilisskywalker]

My favorite thing about Netflix's ATLA was how they explicitly paralleled Katara and Aang with the moon and ocean spirits.

Now, having rewatched the original Book 1 after the live-action, I can't help but associate "Tui and La have always circled each other in an eternal dance." with this scene.

#natla #netflix atla #atla #avatar the last airbender #kataang #katara x aang #aang x katara

[thethiefandtheairbender]

will say one of the only things the live action did that i enjoyed was how they made zukaang even gayer. aang stealing and reading zuko's diary. their extended talk post blue spirit (even if it was too soon). zuko and katara's reactions to losing aang in the ocean spirit being paralleled one after the other. the ribbon fight scene entangling them like a thread of fate in omashu, who are also gay enemies turned lovers. so many sentences out of zuko's mouth "you ruined everything. the avatar was mine!" "this isn't about zhao. this is about us." but also aang's, i.e. "that's why zuko's so hot to catch me?" and treating him already as an ally he wants to help (even if again, it's Too Soon). gay as hell. thank you goodnight

#zukaang #natla #natla spoilers

[wileycap]

Okay, so I had a thought (and I'm about 300% sure I'm not the first one, but I was too lazy to check, I also don't know if canon has adressed this already):

When Wan Shi Tong was dragging the library into the Sprit World, how was Toph able to hold it?

Because Toph learned from the badgermoles.

Let's back up a little. The Ocean and The Moon are explicitly spirits. Fang, Roku's dragon, is able to traverse the Spirit World (and on the Solstice, even the physical world) freely, even though Roku isn't. Appa is spiritually connected to Aang and able to perceive it (with help) and follow the connection to Ba Sing Se.

I think all of the original benders are either spirits, or animals that crossed over from the Spirit World. And all of the bending styles we've seen have distanced themselves from the original sources of bending - even Airbending, because Aang and the historical benders don't fly freely, like Appa. Firebending is fueled by rage, that's explicitly stated, I don't have anything good for Waterbending so the source is firmly trust me bro, and in Earthbending, Toph's moves are based on a different martial arts style (Zhujia/Chugar family kung fu rather than the Hung Gar style used by other earthbenders*) than the other earthbenders we see - there is explicitly something different about learning from the original source. I also think all of the original benders, when crossing over, used their bending to anchor themselves into the physical world. For dragons, fire was life and the sun, for Tui and La, their eternal dance was their life and power, etc.

That's a long paragraph to say that no other earthbender could have held up the library. Toph learned her bending from the badgermoles, not as a fighting style, but as a way of interacting with the environment - the same way they do. I don't think she's necessarily aware of it, but I think that, because badgermoles are spirits that crossed over a long time ago, as Toph learned, she also unconsciously learned a style of bending that is much more spiritual than human-taught bending.

This also weaves nicely into the show's themes of destiny. Aang was destined to find Toph (he saw her in a vision, after all), and Toph was destined to teach Aang. But not only that, Toph was the only person who could have held up the library. She wasn't just holding up a big rock. She anchored it into our world.

And I think that's beautiful.

*BUT NOT WING CHUN THO THAT INFORMATION WAS LITERALLY ONE GOOGLE SEARCH AWAY ALL THIS TIME I THOUGHT IT WAS WING CHUN I SWEAR I HEARD IT SOMEWHERE AND INCORPORATED IT INTO MY BELIEF SYSTEM FOREVER thank you dear person in the tags i don't know if it's polite to @ you considering it was in the tags but thank you srs

#atla spoilers #atla #toph beifong #atla toph #toph #earthbending #fan theories #fan theory #avatar toph #avatar the last airbender #spirit world #i really like that #i really like that you can make up fan theories for this show without breaking canon at all #it shows a depth of writing and worldbuilding