dear_mun | Mun really needs to stop

Woo bad guys!

All we got are stupid animals. Like right now, there's a bunch of things that are like lemurs but not stinking up the place I'm at trying to get outside.

Yeah! Kick some butt, take some names...

Huh? Lemurs? You're fighting.... Lemurs?

These flying monkey things. I think they're like lemurs, but everyone else is like, 'Toph, lemurs don't fly'. Which shows what they know.

Whatever they are, they're a pain in the butt. Even if you try to drive them outside, there's about fifty more trying to knock you over and steal your lunch.

Wait a minute. 'Toph'?

You're Toph Bei Fong?! THE Toph Bei Fong? The greatest earthbender ever? Friend of Avatar Aang?

[And you're... twelve? Well this is awkward.]

I see you've heard of me.

Well of course! You helped Aang save the world!

You're a legend! Everyone's heard of you! Of course I know a bit more than the average person. Master Katara told me all about you during my avatar training!

[Woops. Korra, that was not graceful.]

[waves it off]

So, you're another one of those future people, right?

[She considers for a moment]

Yeah I guess I am. That's about the only way this makes sense.

You are from my past! A friend from my past life!

[That's cool. But weird.]

Hey, easy there.

... D'you... D'you think you could teach me to metalbend?

[She's totally fangirling and really hoping Toph will say yes because OMFG TOPH?!]

That depends. Do you have what it takes to learn it? I take it someone taught you the basics of Earthbending first.

Yes ma'am! [Is it weird to call someone younger than you ma'am?] I was taught by the best the White Lotus could offer!

[Drops down into stance to illustrate, all kinds of eager.]

Good to know those old coots are doing something useful besides drinking tea and playing Pai Sho.

[also, totally going to test your reactions to some Earthbending; Toph does favor the direct approach]

Hahaha I know, right? All they ever do is act too serious and tell me I'm not "spiritual" enough.

[Oh, perfect! The hands-on approach! Her favorite way to learn. She notices right away Toph uses a different style from what she was taught, but says nothing, simply sidestepping and countering. She moves a little too much like a waterbender, but the rocks definitely move the way she wants them too.]

That's a change from Aang, then.

[she is used to Aang, who doesn't always stick to strictly earthbending forms, except in practice]

Well, you got defense, even if you're a bit light on your feet. Try to get something past my defenses.

Don't worry; it's not like you'll hurt me.

What was Aang like?

[She can talk and fight at the same time, don't worry. She's just eager to hear about her past life. He's always been a bit mysterious, her having never had the chance to speak to him.]

All right!

[Oh she's not worried. She's excited! Time to show off, and for one of her heroes no less! She smirks and takes a deep breath. Get into form, visualize. No hesitation, nothing but resolve.

And stomp]

Nice form.

[yeah, this is easy stuff; we can talk while Toph blocks earthbending strikes]

Well, he was totally an airbender. Took him a while to get the knack for earthbending, because he didn't fight like an earthbender. Or even think like an earthbender. And he was all about talking and making friends with people; he tried to ask me to teach him when I was in the an Earth Rumble tournament.

Which made him scary when he did get angry. I mean, really angry, not me trying to get him to confront me by taking his glider and using it as a nutcracker.

Thanks! [Compliments! That's definitely getting rewarded with a cocky smirk]

[Slide her foot again and bring her arms up and together. Back around for another stomp. Try not to fight too much like a probender. Korra, you got this.]

So he's exactly the opposite of me...

[Korra doesn't remember the last time she got uncontrollably angry. She'd been told she had the right a few times, and she certainly got rough and rude. But she was never... scary.

And she was certainly no airbender.

But she was at least good at making friends!]

Well, you're both the Avatar. And I'd bet you're both...

[Toph blocks a few hits, clearly thinking]

Like I said, Aang found it easier to bend than to block. But, when he faced the Firelord -- Firelord Ozai, not Zuko -- he absolutely refused to kill the guy, despite the fact Ozai was trying to set fire to the whole Earth Kingdom and was generally a bad dude. It went against his principles to kill anyone, even if other Avatars didn't have a problem with it.

So, even when he bends, he doesn't break. The scary bits were when he came close, and I think once he realized how close he was, he stepped back. You fight more like an earthbender than he does... did, I guess. And, no one was into the peace and sunshine stuff as much as Aang was; maybe because the rest of us grew up in a war and he didn't.

But I bet you won't break either.

[She nods, listening carefully while also focusing on her bending. It's hard to look like one is paying attention when one is bending, but it actually helps her. Toph was reinforcing everything she'd already heard about Aang. He was a pacifist, he was stalwart in his beliefs, and he was controlled. He was everything she wasn't.]

Maybe I won't... You mean the Avatar State, right? I can't even go into it. I'm not very restrained, though. Not like anyone would let me forget it.

[But maybe that wasn't a terrible thing? Toph didn't seem to think so. That gained another cocky grin and a bold attack. She stopped moving, lifted her arms slowly and then dropped them to the ground. A wall of earth sprung up and she sent it sliding toward Toph.]

You can't go into it, Aang couldn't do it on purpose until... when he fought Ozai, I guess. Maybe a bit earlier; I wasn't sure what was going on when he fought Azula. That's what's scary; seeing a pissed off Avatar in the Avatar State and knowing he's not exactly fully in control of it. Aang wouldn't hurt us, but Avatars got power to throw around.

[Toph ended up using the earth to launch herself up and over the wall, and landed a bit harder than she meant]

Nothing's wrong with your earthbending.

You know how I get around without seeing, right?

[Oh good, subject change!]

Thanks! Means a lot, coming from you!

You can see with earthbending right? [That was how Master Katara described it at least. Korra's earthbending teacher hadn't really done it or taught her about it.]

Something like seeing, yeah.

The thing about metal is that the metal itself isn't earth, but it comes from earth and was purified, but not all the way. So, I can feel the bits of earth that are still in the metal with how I see.

It's a like bending mud. You can't earthbend water, but you can bend the dirt in the mud so the water will follow it. There's a lot more earth in mud than in metal, though.

[More nodding, but with a bit of a confused face.]

How do you... "see" though?

[She's never put much (any) thought into how she bended mud, she just did it and it happened. She never questioned why or worried about the water in it. Sorry Toph, you have a lot of work to do.]

[sighs]

See, this is why I made Twinkletoes practice earthbending with a blindfold on. You people are too dependent on what your eyes tell you.

When something big is coming towards you, you feel the ground rumble, right?

[Not happy about the thinly veiled insult, but this was a Master and she respected her, so Korra set her jaw and listened.]

Well, sure. How does that have anything to do with the things that make up earth?

In order to bend metal, you have to be able to feel the earth within it. Which means being able to feel earth. Maybe you could get by just by knowing the earth is there, but you'd be trying to do it blind. And I know blind.

Feel the earth...

[Okay, sure. But what does that mean? She's going to crouch down and rest a hand on the ground to feel it, to try to understand.]

Feel it how?

Start with just touching it -- eyes closed. Then imagine you're about to bend it, but don't actually bend it.

Just touch it?

[Korra doesn't sound convinced. She smells another frustrating failure of a lesson coming on, like her lessons with Tenzin. Him trying to explain something that just doesn't make sense and her continually failing at it.

Still, she takes a deep breath and rests her other hand on the ground, pressing both of them in, palms wide.]

Feel the earth...

[She tries to concentrate like she was bending it, but without moving her body. It was strange, and she wasn't sure exactly the effect she was after...

Oh.

Was it this? This strange tingling sensation? Like she felt her feet but she also... felt them on the earth.]

WOA!!

[Korra panicked and pushed off of the ground, standing wide eyed and unsure]

That was weird.

It's awesome, isn't it?

Mun really needs to stop

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject