Some Spider People

TLOK’s Healer Katara: Why does she fail so much?

In Korra, we are reintroduced to Katara as a dedicated healer who seemingly doesn’t care about politics or activism anymore, her focus is on her healing huts. But if Katara is “the greatest healer in the world”, as we are often reminded, why does she fail so much?

Season 1:

We never get any canon explanation as to how Amon’s power works but many fans have theorized that he uses bloodbending to break someone’s chakras and that’s how he takes people’s bending. (This explanation doesn’t make much sense because chakras are a spiritual thing, you can’t access someone’s soul simply by controlling their blood, but whatever)

If Amon can break Korra’s chakras using waterbending, why can’t Katara heal them using the exact same method? Seriously, what’s preventing her?

Narratively, Katara had to fail to heal Korra so that (1) the audience could gauge how dangerous Amon was, and (2) Deus ex machina Aang could save the day. There is no watsonian explanation as to why Katara failed, the writers simply needed her to.

Season 2:

Discussing book 2 of TLOK is complicated because that season is, without hyperbole, one of the most nonsensical pieces of fantasy media I’ve ever consumed. Regardless, Katara fails again this season. Jinora’s soul is trapped in the spirit world and Katara doesn’t manage to wake her from her coma, but she does manage to keep Jinora alive. However, this victory doesn’t really stand out because Kya also managed to keep Jinora alive and she did it for longer than Katara- so it seems that you don’t need to be the greatest healer in the world to accomplish this, it was just a trivial task.

Season 4:

In season 4, Katara fails for a third and final time.

Katara: (waterbends the liquid in the healing pool) The poison did a lot of internal damage.

Korra:  Can you fix it?

Katara:  I can help guide your healing process, but whether you get better or not is up to you.

Katara self-admittedly can’t heal Korra, she can only offer physical therapy. We even get a scene where Korra remarks on Katara’s failings:

Katara:  Whenever you're ready. 

Korra:  What's the point?  We've been at this for almost six months and (looks away from Katara) I can barely take a couple of steps without collapsing.

Katara:  I know you're frustrated, but-

Korra:  Of course I'm frustrated! A crazy man poisoned me,  and now I can't dress myself or cook for myself or do anything for myself, and this whole time my friends have been off helping the World while I'm stuck with you, and you can't even heal me! 

Ouch! This is particularly egregious because we saw Katara use waterbending to heal someone’s psychological trauma:

Katara: Maybe this will help. [Takes water and puts it around his ears, using healing to clear his mind.]

Jet: [looks up from the floor and sees an image of Long Feng standing above a lake. Long Feng stares at Jet, and Jet sinks down under the lake into an underground room. He sees an image of a Dai Li agent shining a spinning light in his face.]

Jet: They took me to a headquarters under the water. Like a lake!

But with Korra, she doesn’t even attempt this technique. Why? Did she forget that she has this ability?

Furthermore, considering that we saw Katara heal Zuko so thoroughly that he was able to stand up and walk after getting shot with lightning on the chest, I don’t understand why she’s unable to heal Korra’s poisoned-induced paralysis. Why can she restore Zuko’s mobility but not Korra’s?

Once again: narratively, Katara has to fail in order to prop up Toph, who will heal Korra’s body, and Zaheer, who will heal Korra’s mind and soul.

So what’s the point of all this?

A lot of people have talked about how Katara’s healing skills are used as a Worf Effect:

“The Worf Effect, from TVTropes:

Want a quick way to show how dangerous one of your unknown characters is? Simple, make them do well or win in a fight with a character that the audience already knows is tough. This establishes them as willing to fight and marks them as sufficiently dangerous.

In Legend of Korra, Katara’s healing abilities aren’t there to demonstrate how awesome a character she is, or that she is the master who taught Korra, because we never successfully see her heal anyone and we never see Korra learn waterbending from her. No, Katara’s so-called skills are only there to show us how much of a threat the villains are. Katara can’t heal Korra’s nightmares? Wow, Zaheer must have been a real threat. Jinora’s spirit is drifting away? Sounds like Harmonic Convergence is a big deal. Even Katara can’t undo Amon’s bloodbending? Oh, no, he must be a dangerous villain!” (source) (emphasis mine)

I’d like to add that Katara’s healing abilities aren’t undermined solely to establish the strength of the villains, they are also diminished to prop up the heroes:

- Katara fails to restore Korra’s bending so that Best Boy Aang can show off his cool energybending powers

- Katara fails to wake Jinora from her coma so that the audience can marvel at Jinora’s resilience when she saves herself

- And Katara fails to heal Korra’s poisoning trauma so that we get to admire Toph’s wisdom and semi-redeemed!Zaheer’s spirituality

Overall, it seems like despite the fact that her arc was about combat while healing was just an afterthought, ATLA!Katara is a better healer than TLOK!Katara whose’s whole story revolves around being a healer. Irregardless of Bryke’s intentions to portray Katara as the best healer of the world, what they’ve actually shown us is a massive regression of her skills.

THE OC - The Gamble

frosbite studios blessing us with this GORGEOUS fanart, as per usual

Kaz Brekker and Nikolai Lantsov are exact opposites when it comes to the internal-external monologues ab their feelings, like internally Kaz "wants to bottle Inej's laugh and get drunk on it every night" but out loud he called her an investment, whereas Nikolai managed to pull a "I am greedy for the sight of you" when his mind was going "I hope the plane floor opens and I die"

Do you ever think about how, at the beginning of the Cruel Prince, Jude says that she wants to earn her permanent place in the high court, not marry into it? But ultimately, through her marriage to Cardan, that's exactly what she does? And how learning to give and accept that love does not undermine her skill and cunning? How she does both?

Because I do.

Ready for another adventure, Ms. Carter?

PEGGY CARTER APPRECIATION WEEK 2024 day three. favorite friendship

it's extremely critical that you see the photo of the perp walk for luigi mangione as being propaganda. i've seen so many people wave it off and instead fawn over his looks. and trust me, i know it ended up being kind of pathetic and weird - but please don't brush it off as a "modelling opportunity" for him. it's a fucking terrifying message the police are sending.

i want to make a few comparisons here, in case you're not from the US or familiar with why the perp walk thing is something to pay attention to. just to set the groundwork for why this is a purposeful, unusual, and cruel act by the nyc police - for why this is not a common occurrence and for why that matters.

the prosecution alleges the show of force is due to the charge of "terrorism." for comparison, in june 2015, tsarnaev was found guilty for the boston marathon bombing, which killed 3 people and injured hundreds. his actions are considered to be an act of domestic terrorism. i have spent the last hour looking through google for pictures of similar to mangione's perp walk - and so far, i have found zero. i also just do not personally remember a moment like that, despite living in boston at the time.

they allege that luigi is a stone-cold killer who carried out a longterm plan, making him particularly dangerous. again for comparison: in nyc, recently cory martin was found guilty of the killing of brandy odom. the murder was planned and premeditated to steal insurance money. and yet no staged perp walk. why didn't her life matter enough for a "show of force"?

but mangione gets paraded by a veritable army of police officers as if he is a rabid animal. for a single citizen who allegedly killed one other single citizen, the "largest perp walk ever" occurs.

so what is the "strong message" that the mayor and the police were trying to send here? the mayor speaks as if mangione is already convicted of terrorism. there is a very thin number of people who feel threatened by the CEO's death. none of us felt like mangione needs to be under massive armed guard.

the message is that you shouldn't resist. they are trying to "make an example" of him - that if you behave badly and kill a single rich person, you'll be treated as if you killed hundreds of people. you will be treated worse than a man who was found guilty of terrorism. you will be considered guilty without trial. the message is that the rich are a protected class, and you cannot touch them without massive punishment. they are trying to prevent a revolution by showing dominance and force against you.

the message is that the police are a puppet of the wealthy and that the law is not equally applied across class disparity. it is "some are more equal than others." it is "one life is more precious than another."

the show of force wasn't for luigi. it was for us. it was a warning. they are trying to remind us who is really in control.

“Nobody’s going to want to sit on high-speed rail for fifteen hours to get from New York City to LA.”

Me. I will sit on high-speed rail for fifteen hours. I’ll sit on it for days. I’ll write and read and nap and eat and then do it all over again. I’ll stare out the windows and see America from ground level and not have to drive. I’ll see the Rockies and the deserts and cornfields and the Mississippi River and your house and yours and yours too. I’ll make up stories in my head about the small towns I see as we go along. I’ll see the states I’ve yet to see because driving or flying there is a fucking slog and expensive to boot. I’ll enjoy the ride as much as the destination. And then I’ll do it all over again to come the fuck home.