The Legend of Korra

Because for the entire duration of her poisoning she was either tied up, raging in Avatar State or nearly dead from its effects. That aside, it wouldn't be inconsistent with how bending is portrayed as a whole, either. Like how you can't fly by earthbending a rock you're standing on because it'd be like trying to lift up your own legs.

You can't do that?

Yeah, I've always thought about that too.

It's never demonstrated to be an ability earthbenders can do, which actually stands in stark contrast to a variety of other shows. A lot of stories assume people who manipulate earth should be able to fly by levitating a rock they're standing on.

In keeping with its more grounded nature, however, earthbenders are never shown to levitate earth. When they get earth airborne, it's by launching it. For instance, pounding the ground to make a rock shoot up into the air, then punching the rock to make it fly. Sustained rock levitation is never shown to be possible, IIRC.

Weirdly, metalbenders do get to ignore gravity in ways that regular earthbenders don't. We do see metal actively defying gravity under their power on occasion. The mercury poison, for instance, levitates in midair just fine.

edited 23rd Sep '17 5:46:47 PM by TobiasDrake

I mean, Air, Water, and Fire benders can hold themselves in the air with their element. I also remember rocks floating in the air with Earthbending longer than gravity would normally allow.

Firebenders use their element as jets. Airbenders' element is literally the air. Waterbenders can only hold themselves up through a funnel of water connected to the larger body; they can hoist a section of water upwards and be in that section, but they can't, like, sit in a shallow pool and float the pool around the world.

Earthbenders can hoist themselves upwards in the same way waterbenders can: by standing on the ground, then lifting it upwards as a pillar, still connected to the earth.

edited 23rd Sep '17 5:54:54 PM by TobiasDrake

To be fair, my initial "you can't do that?" post was referring to your claim that people can't fly by lifting their legs.

Bending sticks to some pretty strong principles (that are never stated because they don't need to be, as they're conveyed by the choreography and animation). One of them is that elements are bent by the muscles, and so, with reference to the bender's own body. Note how almost every expression of bending is used in bursts — there's very few instances of sustaining a bending motion for any length of time (including Toph hovering rocks as Melon Lord). Almost all of bending is pushes, pulls, shoves, blows, blasts. And almost every instance of motion using bending is done in short bursts, with the exception Comet-empowered firebenders (who can sustain bending period for a long time) and arguably Aang and the new airbender's gliding, which is done via aerodynamics rather than holding themselves in suspension. When Toph has to get overland quickly, she does it by riding a wave of earth, and the most anyone not named Zaheer ever does towards flight is propelling themselves with quick bursts of power (mostly firebenders, whose fire seems to obey Newton's laws selectively).

Didn't King Bumi "levitate" a boulder over himself and Aang during their fight?

...I am almost certain that if we all looked hard enough we could find an example of Earthbenders levitating rocks.

...there's the slowly hovering rock in The Last Airbender...

Levitation of rocks seems to be possible but only in a held stance not something you can propel under yourself for Not Quite Flight.

The Last Airbender, and I feel like the Dai Li did it at some point. And that's not me spit-balling because they were the most prominent Earthbenders in the whole show who weren't Toph.

As I mentioned, there are instances, but they are rare and, as noted, they usually require a held stance. Rather like holding a heavy weight above your head.

Someone did a review of Legend of Korra, and elaborately outlined all the things that are wrong with it. Its about 90 minutes long.

I suggest you sit down before watching, because its a lot to take in and digest.

(I swear I'm still a Korra fan...)

edited 5th Dec '17 1:33:23 PM by Redmess

The clickbait is strong with that title.

I know, but I promise the actual analysis is pretty good.

I hate to be that guy, but could you PM me what the video's about?

Analysis isn't bad actually. He makes a strong start with the lack of Breather Episodes because I definitely thought that was a weakness. I think he's being a little harsh though.

edited 5th Dec '17 1:55:21 PM by Sigilbreaker26

The reviewer is a she, Lily Peet.

And I am not going to summarize a 90 minute video, sorry.

edited 5th Dec '17 2:26:51 PM by Redmess

Link discuss is passe.

Who cares what is "passe"?

I'm so glad to hear this video. This is going to be useful elsewhere, both for own personal creations and something I need to discuss for things like, say, RWBY.

Oh? Do tell.

On a personal level, who knows? It's just how I operate as a creator. I don't like just consuming, well, anything. I actively think about stuff, how I can use it, how it fits well with other things I already know, how it challenges thoughts, how it supports other things, etc.

Anyway, there's two great examples in that video which I feel RWBY suffers from the same issue. First, going to serialization and how it works. I plan to bring this up in a way more elaborate post there, but more when you're doing a serialized work and the endless "to be continued" approach, how you need to have everything on point during these things than you would with an episodic since its one continued storyline, among some other stuff. I plan to develop on this way more, particularly from the idea that if we're to judge things within installments of storytelling on any level for it, and we can't within an episode in itself for serialization, we must do so within the season as a whole. If I'm to compare it to books, it means each episode is a chapter and an entire season a book. ...As was how they labeled things in Avatar with the seasons. I'm free writing my thoughts, so not as structured.

The second involves The Equalists brought up and my issue with The Faunus. This touches on so much on things. Just...everything. The Equalists and The White Fang are so very similar in the issues of how they're written. The most important quote being "So there's a shitload of context that nonbenders might be looked down upon by benders, but they never once actually show it to you. This fundamental lack of any explicit context places The Equalists in a very strange position as far as antagonists go. Remember, all the other information surrounding the characters is expecting the reader to believe that nonbender oppression is a real thing and that The Equalists were forced into this position, but because none of this core world building is presented directly to the viewer, it instead plays out like the strawman version of social justice that internet conservatives like to pretend exists."

edited 5th Dec '17 5:20:39 PM by Prime_of_Perfection