Sorry, I Just Couldn’t Resist.  

Bending 101

Lesson 1:  What is Bending

Decide to update my deviantart logo.   The symbol in the middle is the Bionicle symbol for Faith from MNOG II.  

Avatar VS Korra:  Disconnecting to a changing world.

Why do fans complain that there is too much technology in Legend of Korra?  

There have been a lot of fans who are unhappy with how much the world of LOK has technologically advanced in the last 70 years.  

While at the same time, other fans argue that major technological changes in 70 years is completely plausible, and sight recent history.  

The issue here is that people keep comparing LOK to real life. A story isn't meant to be 100% realistic; otherwise we'd have very few "happily ever after".

The real issue is that the world of Avatar has changed so much that many fans no longer feel connected to it. It's going back to a favorite restaurant and the menu has completely changed. Or picking up a favorite game, only to find the rules are so different that you can't play anymore.  

Regardless of how a franchise changes, there will always be people who feel confused or left out.  Fans should be empathetic toward each other, and not try to tear down someone just because they have a different opinion.  

Major changes in 70 years are completely realistic to our modern day, but that doesn’t mean it's enjoyable. If you asked an 80-yr-old what they thought of the present day, You'll find that many are unhappy with how much has changed and the struggle coping with that change.

LOK isn't reality. It's a story. And the main purpose of every story is to be enjoyed.

Korra:  The Airbending Drop-Out

There’s a lot of speculation on who would win in a battle between Avatar Aang and Avatar Korra.  Of course, neither is alive at the same time so this battle would be purely hypothetical.  However, there’s one argument I’ve never seen mentioned.  Korra is an airbending drop-out.  

Korra first came to Republic City to learn airbending.  She learned most of the forms but couldn’t produce a single puff of air until the season 1 finale.  

In season 2, Korra could now airbend but she hadn’t mastered it.  As Tenzin put it, “...you’re still a long way away from mastering airbending.”  “You’ve mastered Korra-style airbending.  Now you need to master real airbending.”  

Unfortunately, Korra stopped listening to Tenzin as soon as she unlocked airbending.  Worse still, Korra dismissed him as her teacher soon after, and that was the end of her airbending training.  

Because of her choices, Korra never mastered airbending.  Instead, she relied on her bending strength and the avatar state to make up for her lack of skill.  

To Korra airbending was just firebending without the burn.  

This became an obvious weakness because airbending relies heavily on skill, dexterity, and agility; skills Korra is in desperate need of.  Therefore, Korra has always struggled fighting against agile opponents like Zaheer or the Equalist.  

Which brings me back to Aang vs Korra.  When it comes to airbending, Aang would demolish Korra.  Aang was a airbending prodigy, Korra is a drop-out.  Even Tenzin could beat Korra in airbending.  

POKEMON GO:  My Issues with Mega evolution and how to fix them.

1)  Mega Raids need to be more accessible:   Mega Pokemon are Very powerful in raids and can be difficult to beat if you live rurally or don't have a strong Pokemon Go community.  Many players can't do 5 star raids because of the same problems.  Mega Pokemon should be lowered to the level of 4 star raids, rather than having a second 5 star raid boss.   

 2) Mega Pokemon should be tailored to help defeat the legendaries:  

Mega Pokemon should help players defeat the incumbent Legendary.  For example, have a water mega featured when Moltres returns to raids.  This will help players and encourage them to use Mega Pokemon.  However, this becomes very difficult if Mega Pokemon are just as hard to beat as a Legendary.  Once again, Mega Pokemon should be a 4 star raid or lower.   

 3)  Un-Mega Pokemon aren't as special as you think:   

Yes Megas are cool and powerful, but you don't get to catch Megas from a Mega raid.  Un-Mega Pokemon such as Charizard and co. aren't very valuable by themselves, and were in 3 or 4 star raids.  Yes, we're raiding from Mega candy, but I still think the Megas should kept at the same levels is their counterparts.  So once again, Megas as 4* raids.   Also, since they already got rid of 4* raids, it would fill a niche that I think people will miss.   

 4)  Re-evolving is Too expensive:

The price to unlock a mega evolution is pretty steep, but I think it's "ok" for now.  However, It is still very expensive to re-mega a Pokemon.    Aside from the initial cost, Mega Pokemon cost a lot to maintain and players will quickly run out of mega energy.  It takes 1-2 Mega Raids to re-Mega a Pokemon, which makes them very hard to use.  Plus, with the end of summer, many people won't have the time to stock up on mega energy.   5)  Megas are seasonal:Also, It's very likely that there will different Megas featured for each month(s).  This means that players will run out of energy and won't be able to mega that Pokemon at all.  After a certain amount of time, the Mega will be useless.  Plus, with how difficult Mega Raids are, you can't just run out and do them like a 1 or 2 star raid, they would require planning which takes time.  And since Mega Raids are difficult, it will be very hard to stock up on mega energy.   

 6)  Change the requirements to Re-Mega evolve: Megas shouldn't need energy 

to re-evolve, but should use a cool down or "Walking Requirement".  A walking requirement is much better because most players can do it and it encourages people to stay healthy.   Otherwise, re-evolution cost should be severally reduced.  Like I said before, Megas are likely to be seasonal and most players won't be able to stores lots of energy.   

 7)  Where is the "Best Buddy" discount?: 

 Many players speculated that there would be a discount for "Best Buddies", but that does not appear to be the case.  

8)  There have to be alternate ways to get Mega Energy:  

Megas are likely to be seasonal, so we need alternate means to refuel our Megas.  More mega energy could be gotten from quests, berries, or walking with your best buddy.  Mega energy should be easier to get than candy, because candy creates a permanent change (i.e. evolution or lvl up) while mega energy only causes a temporary change.  

9)  Mega Rare Candy:  

Just like "Rare Candy", we should have rare mega energy that can be used for any mega.  This could be used as a weekly rewards or such.  

10)  More time to invite people to raids:  

Inviting people to raids is wonderful, but it can be difficult.  After you invite a friend, they usually only have a minute to respond.  This isn't enough time for most friends to notice, react and decide if they want to join.  Plus, technical errors make in harder to invite people and waste valuable time.   There needs to be an option for a longer lobby time.  

11)  Can't see how any people are in a distance raid:  

When I'm invited to a raid, I am unable to see how many people are already there.  So I often waste my raid pass on fights I can't win.  The Solution is Simple:  Let us see how many people are joining a raid no matter where you are.

12)  Return raid pass if you fail:  

Just like with the Team Rocket Radar, you should only use your raid pass if you win.  Many people won't even attempt a raid because they are afraid of loosing their pass for the day.  No one wants to waste their stuff.   

 These Raid Problems affect Mega Raids as well as so they should also be considered.  

In summary, I think Mega Evolution can be improved by:   

Decrease Mega raids to the level of a 4 star raid.  

Decrease Re-evolve cost with increased.

Decrease Mega candy cost for Re-evolution or remove it entirely.  

Make walking the main requirement to Re-evolve Megas.  

Alternate ways of making mega energy.  Such as berries, rare mega energy, quests, or walking with your buddy.  

Have the option for a longer Raid lobby.  

Return raid pass if you fail.  

Fantasy vs Science Fiction: The modern dramatic duo

From Greece, to Shakespare, to modern day, Tragedy and Comedy have been staples of storytelling.  The two were even played back to back to help contrast each other.  These two genres also play an important role in the human psyche, which are reincarnated today as Fantasy and Science Fiction.  

There’s an old saying that goes:  

“Comedy makes you feel while Tragedy makes you think.”

Comedy focuses on emotion and entertainment.  Everyone enjoys having a good laugh and Comedy is all about having a good time.  Comedy seeks to create emotional relief and catharsis through good humor.  

Tragedy on the other hand focuses on the mind.  Typically, the audience already knows everything will end badly, so the story focuses on why everything went wrong.  

What makes it a Tragedy is that the characters brought it upon themselves.  This wasn’t some inescapable disaster; the ending was entirely preventable.  For example, if Hamlet and Othello switched places, neither play would have ended in tragedy.   

In our modern world of fiction, fantasy holds a similar role as comedy while science fiction holds a similar role to tragedy.

Fantasy is all about those feelings of Wonder and amazement. The world allows the reader to simply enjoy and experience “The Magic”, no math skill required.  Fantasy usually draws in a younger crowd because it connects to their emotions.  

Sci-fi on their hand wants to engage the mind of the reader. It wants to intrigue you with how things work. Sci-fi usually draws in an older crowd because it engages more of your critical reasoning skills.  

Unfortunately, being depressed is often confused with being intelligent in modern society.  Intellectual writing like tragedy is considered more refined, while comedy and fantasy are considered low tier garbage.  

This is also why all major English classics are about terrible things happening because somehow negativity is more important than feeling happy.

This prejudice is why things like animation, popular books and fantasy are looked down upon, while SciFi and dark literature are often praised.  

However, people aren't just walking brains, they are living creatures. And those creatures have emotional needs.

This is also why I’m not a huge fan of Sci-Fi; because it often confuses misery for good writing. 

Avatar: The Last Airbender is the G.O.A.T. | Video Essay

A love letter to the show.   

Fairies and Conspiracy Theories

For a high school art project I made architecturally sound fairy house.  It was big, it was beautiful, and I was very proud of it.  Eventually, my mom convinced me to make a Fairy House Kit because so many people liked it, and I sold them for a while at fairs and stuff.  

However, I would occasionally have Adults customers come up and ask me, "Do you believe in Fairies."   Now, whether Fairies exist or don't exist is something I really don't care about.  I made the fairy house because I thought is was cool and beautiful, not because I believed in fairies.  Hence, whenever someone asked, "do you believe in Fairies,"  It would get really....  Awkward.   I have a similar reaction to conspiracy theories.  I couldn't care less about them, so talking to people who are really invested is really.....  Awkward.   Now there are plenty of things wrong with conspiracy theories.  They have little to no evidence.  Most of them revolve around speculative reasoning.  And they generally involve some power trying to suppress the "Truth".   But in reality, people really just don't care.  

Flat Earther:  "The Governments don't want you to know the world is flat." Me:  "And why would anyone care about that?"

Bending101

Logo for my upcoming series about Bending in the world of Avatar: the Last Airbender.  In this series, I hope to talk about the basics of Bending.

Feel free to ask me questions.