Observation One

Relevant Background Information:

The Avatar series is set in a fictional world; The Legend of Korra is set in a major
world city called Republic City. In this world, some people can manipulate one of the
four elements being fire, air, earth, and water. These people are known as benders. The
Avatar is the only person with the capability of mastering all four elements. This
observation was season 1 episode 5: The Spirit of Competition. In the episodes prior to
this one Korra, who is the Avatar and currently has control over waterbending,
firebending, and earthbending, has recently moved to Republic city to learn airbending.
She has also gotten involved with a probending team, in order to help further her training
and be as well rounded as an Avatar she can be. The basic premise of probending is there
are three players on each team. One earthbender, one firebender, and one waterbender on
each team. The object is to knock all of the opponents down or out of the ring.

Figured World: A large social environment that has an implied set of regulations for
expected conduct.

Rules and Conventions: The specific figured world in the series The Legend of Korra
and The Last Airbender which are both shows of the same series, The Legend of
Korra being the sequel to The Last Airbender, would be the earthbenders. All of the
bending movements are based of off Chinese martial arts and this is the way that people
interact. Earthbending is a different form than waterbending, which is a different form
than firebending etc. A punch in the martial art would translate into thrusting a rock in
earthbending, same with all the types of bending just with different elements. For
example water is very smooth and flowing while fire is very harsh, passionate, and even
angry sometimes and air is free and unattached being very evasive instead of head to
head. The purpose that I choose the earthbending community is that there are many
different types of earthbenders with different types of values and morals that live all over
the world. The traditional earthbender was originally thought to be very tough, sturdy,
and stubborn. In order to manipulate earth, you have to be like the element itself. As time
progressed so did the culture and it branched off into subcategories of different
disciplines, such as sandbending, metalbending, and lavabending. But just normal
earthbenders vary so much between them. It is the difference between a 300 pound guy
who calls himself The Hippo who just throws boulders around as hard as he can hoping
that he hits something. Or a blind little girl that relies on feeling vibrations through her
feet and being defensive and precise with her strikes. Republic City is a Steampunk
kind of roaring 20s time period city. Technology is booming and people are living life to
its fullest. There are no machine guns or weapons of mass destruction. People use their
bending as a way to interact. Whether it is brothers beating on each other, a sparring
match, a gang fight, a fight to the death, or acts of war. So that being said, obviously
some places are nicer communities than other so depending on the location; it would not
be surprising yet expected for a guy to hold a boulder over your head if you step through
in the wrong part of town. Some of the communities of practice that I will be observing
are the different variations of earthbending such as probending, sandbending,
metalbending, and lavabending, along with the traditional earthbending.

Interview Questions:
Interviewee: Noah, another person who is well versed in the Avatar scene.

How do the traditional earthbenders carry themselves compared to non-
benders? Other benders?

-They have reverence for their culture and the process of earthbending has to be head on
and have a more coarse personality due to the way they have to be to when bending
rocks. They generally have a more masculine ambiance about them, not violent but not
peaceful (down to earth).

When you think of a traditional earthbender, what is the image that comes
to mind?
-6 tall with defined muscles with Granola. Not super tone, but granted there are always
exceptions, also not particularly fat buff either.

How have earthbenders as a whole evolved over time?
-All of their culture has remained the same throughout time but when metalbending came
along, it divided them more and they separated themselves according to what they bend.
Since only select earthbenders have the ability to bend metal, the community of metal
benders, especially the ones that live in Zaofu, which is an entire city, made of metal
inhabited only by metalbenders, consider themselves to be more elite than the average
earthbender.

How do the specific subcategories within earthbending differ from each
other? How much does each of the subcategories identify themselves with
earthbending?

-The sandbenders live in the desert because they can live effectively in the desert, most
metalbenders live in an all metal city (Zaofu) because they can live effectively, and
traditional earthbenders commonly live in relatively earthy towns and villages where
they fit in to the environments; they can capitalize on their abilities so that the highest
level of ease of living is achieved.

-They dont define themselves as an earthbender, they recognize that they can bend earth
but do not consider themselves earthbenders nor do they place themselves in the same
community as traditional earthbenders.

Explain how pro-bending has introduced new techniques into and changed
the style of earthbending.

-It has more of a modern feel like quick jabs and not elongated movement like urban
fighting styles more adapt to the time period and not as much of an open playing field.
The fighting styles of earthbenders in probending are more adapt to street fighting
because of the area being a major city. There is a lot of gang activity and if a bender is
caught in crosshairs they better know how to defend themselves. This could be how the
form of probending got started before it became a recognized organized sport.

Actors: The role that is played in a figured world or community, somebody who has a
specific purpose.

Bolin: Bolin is the earthbender on the probending team the Fire Ferrets. He grew
up on the streets of Republic City with his older brother Mako. So he is experienced in
defending himself against gangs and violence on the streets. He does not strike one as the
typical rough and tough manly earthbender; he is more of a goofy, corky, young spirited
guy. Even though he is quite big and muscular for an older teenager, he has more of a
sensitive personality. His style of earthbending reflects his personality and his
upbringing.

Korra: The Avatar, capable of mastering all four of the elements but currently she
can bend all but air. She is a very determined and stubborn young lady no more than 20
years old who acts more like an earthbender even though her natural element is water.
She is obviously most skilled in water bending compared to others. This episode she does
not bend any earth, however, because this episode is mainly about the probending
tournament where she also is on the Fire Ferrets team, where she is only allowed to bend
water due to the rules of probending.

Mako: The firebender on the Fire Ferret team and Bolins older brother. Mako is a
very determined and confident young man who is probably in his young 20s. Since he
and Bolin lost their parents when they were young, Mako assumed the responsibility of
practically raising Bolin. Mako is the type of guy that figures out what needs to be done
and gets it done. He does not fool around or waste time. Firebenders are often determined
and ambitious like Mako is.

Artifacts: Emotions, feelings, ideas, or objects that have some sort of significance in a
culture/community/figured world.

Love Triangle: In this episode it is evident that Bolin is developing romantic
feelings for Korra and Korra has feelings for Mako who is already in a relationship with
another girl Asami, but is not entirely sure if he likes Asami or Korra more. This causes
problems because Bolin takes Korra out on a date just to have fun but then Korra
confesses her love to Mako who conveys that the feeling is not actually mutual. She ends
up kissing him unaware that Bolin was standing right there. This is why they were
slipping up in the probending matches, because none of their heads were in the game.

The Championship Title: The Avatars job is to keep peace and balance in the
world. Korra being the young and rebellious girl that she is does not exactly look forward
to doing the dirty laundry of the world. This probending tournament is a great way for her
to work for something that she knows peoples lives do not depend on it. For Mako and
Bolin it is a very big deal. Since they grew up as orphans, they never were lucky or won
anything. So they are putting all of their time and energy into this. They are dependent on
it.

Communities of Practice: Also referred to as learning networks, thematic groups, or
tech clubs, a community of practice is groups of people who all work together for a
common interest and improve each other along the way.

Pro Bending Teams: This is the most obvious community, especially the Fire
Ferrets. The team that consists of Korra, Mako, and Bolin. They are all very close to one
another and even though there are times where there are conflicts between them, they
always resolve it. They share a common goal, which is to win the championship title,
which would be the first time they ever won. So they all do their best as part of the team
to better themselves as well as each other. The sport of probending is a spectator sport
where two teams each of three members, one waterbender, one firebender, and one
earthbender battle against each other on an elevated hexagonal ring with open backs and
short elastic rope barriers along the sides. The object is to knock all of the opponents
down or out of the ring. All players must wear protective gear as for the intention is not
to hurt the opponents. A referee makes decisions, calls fouls etc. There are usually three
rounds to a match unless it is not decidable by the time the time limit runs out on the third
round.

Domain: A domain does not require membership in a community nor does not have to be
in the same field of knowledge. It is something that links people together whether they
know it or not in terms of a shared interest.

Rival Teams: Even though they might hate or fear each other. Those can and are
used as a great motivator. They see how each play and learn their styles, see where they
are strong, and where they are weak. They might not even realize it but since they are all
working towards the same goal they are in a way helping each other.

Practices of the Community: A collective assembly of knowledge and experiences used
in a community to improve the community.

Backgrounds: Korra has a very different background compared to Mako and
Bolin. Korra grew up in a safe home where she had master benders teach her the ways of
their elements to prepare the Avatar for her purpose: to restore balance to the world.
Mako and Bolin had a struggle everyday while growing up. Find a place to sleep, where
to get food, who they had to protect themselves from etc. Even though their lifestyles
were different, they both had the same idea, which was be as ready and prepared for
when they were threatened. Korra always had more training type exercises while for
Mako and Bolin it always the real deal every day, if they lost, there might not have been a
second chance to get back up and try again tomorrow. Both of these upbringings have
different values that they can bring to the probending scene.

Literacy Practices: The multiple ways of practicing within a community with many
ways of communication.

Hints/Signs of Affection: From the start of the episode it is easy to tell that these
young adults have a little bit more than just a regular friendship going on. Bolin tries to
move toward the fact that he wants more than just a normal friendship form Korra. She
does of think much of it. When he took Korra out on a date, whether he had romantic
intent or not he just wanted to make her feel like she was a one of a kind girl. She had a
wonderful time but did not see Bolin the same way that he saw her. It made the whole
situation even more complicated when Bolin saw Korra kiss his brother. He felt
heartbreak from her, and betrayal from him.

The Observation:
0:45: The scene starts as the probending team called the Fire Ferrets which consists of
Korra, Mako, and Bolin are practicing in their training room. Korra hurls water at both
Bolin and Mako. Bolin deflects the blow with an earth disc and Mako disperses the water
attack by kicking it with fire then sends two quick fire punches toward Bolin who again
shields himself with earth discs. They playfully battle among themselves until they are
all on the ground on their butts laughing. It is evident that they are more than just
teammates judging by the way the practice with each other. They discuss how it is nice to
have Korra at the practices because in the past her other commitments kept getting in the
way. Bolin mentions that she committed to the Fire Ferrets before she made other ones.
They form a team huddle and the expression on their faces and subtle music in the
background imply that there might be some hint of romance in the air. Bolin looks at
Korra and Korra looks at Mako. They conclude with addressing that their first match is
that night for the tournament.

6:00: The first match of the tournament. The Fire Ferrets vs. The Red Sand Rabaroos.
The bell rings as the first strike of elements collide in between the two teams. Bolin
dodges several attacks then hurls an earth disc straight at an opponent knocking her down
and back. With an assist from Mako, Bolin make a side shot to two of the opponents
putting all three of them down giving the win to the Fire Ferrets for the first round.
Round two Bolin gets pushed back then as a blob of water comes speeding at him, he
quickly pulls up an earth disc to block the attack, then accompanied by Korra to retaliate,
again winning the second round. In round three the Fire Ferrets are working as a Well
oiled machine as the announcer puts it. Each of them sending several quick and smooth
attacks towards their opponents, finishing with Bolin who finishes them off with a series
of flying earth discs.

12:30: The Fire Ferrets enter the quarterfinals as they face a team that is older and more
experienced called the Borqupines. The first round the Fire Ferrets get knocked out of the
ring in a matter of seconds. They are not on their game like they were in the first match.
In round 2 Bolin starts out with summoning three earth discs, strongly cross throwing the
first two and putting a powerful kick on the third one all hitting the same opponent. Bolin
goes on a whirl, launching disc after disc at the Borqupines practically being a one-man
team. Thanks to him, they get the second round. Round three ends up being a tie which
results in a coin toss and whoever wins the toss picks the element that they wish to
choose for those benders go against each other one on one. The Fire Ferrets win the coin
toss and initially Mako volunteers to fight, but Bolin tells him that his head is not in the
game like it usually is so Bolin takes the challenge. It starts out with Bolin and his
earthbending opponent Chang summoning up three earth discs each and swift movements
and rapidly hurling them at each other. Bolin goes in for a grapple, which gets countered
throwing Bolin into the air where he chucks a disc back at Change pushing him back
stunned, when Bolin touches the ground he powerfully kicks to discs at Chang blowing
him out of the ring giving another win the Fire Ferrets.

17:00: The semi final match, the Fire Ferrets vs. the Buzzard Wasps. Two teams that are
said to be the most well matched in age, size, and strength. The Buzzard Wasps come out
with well-executed combos and strikes. The Fire Ferrets get knocked back and Bolin gets
hit in the gut causing him to vomit. Just as they are about to get knocked out of the ring,
the timer bell goes off signaling the end of round one. Round two starts and Mako
immediately gets knocked back and accidentally fires on Bolin, which distracts him and
results with him out of the ring. Down 2-0 after round two they regroup and at this point
Bolin and Mako are ready to give up but Korra will not let go of the championship so
easily. Bolin gets pushed back and takes an earth disc directly to his right shoulder
rendering it useless. Mako turns to him and takes a side shot knocking him out followed
by Bolin. Korra being the only one left, dances effortlessly around the ring in an attempt
to not get hit by any attacks. Somehow able to line all three of the opponents up she
blasts a powerful water jet at them knowing all of them out at once.

Observation 2

Relevant Background Information: In Avatar, The Last Airbender which is the
sequel to Avatar, The Legend of Korra Twelve year old Aang is the last airbender and
is also the Avatar, which means he is capable of mastering all four of the elements being
water, earth, fire, and air. In less than a year he has to master all four elements in order to
defeat the Fire Lord so that he does not wipe out the earth kingdom like he did the air
nation. With the help of friends who know different elements, they go on their journey
around the world in order to prepare Aang for his battle with Fire Lord Oazi. The episode
observed is season 2 episode 9: Bitter Work. This episode is about Aang leaning how to
earthbend. This is set in the time period before electricity was discovered. The general
means of transportation was either by animal, walking, or some sort of coal powered
engine.

Figured World: A large social environment that has an implied set of regulations for
expected conduct.

Rules and Convention: The specific figured world in the series the Legend of Korra
and The Last Airbender would be the earthbenders. The purpose that I chose the
earthbending community is that there are many different types of people with different
types of values and morals that live all over the world. The traditional earthbender was
originally thought to be very tough, sturdy, and stubborn. In order to be an earthbender,
you have to be like the element itself. As time progressed so did the culture and it
branched off into subcategories of different disciplines, such as sandbenders,
metalbenders, and lavabenders. But just normal earthbenders vary so much between
them. It is the difference between a 300 pound guy who calls himself The Hippo who
just throws boulders around as hard as he can hoping that he hits something. Or a blind
little girl that relies on feeling vibrations through her feet and being defensive and precise
with her strikes. The world of Korra is set in a Steampunk kind of roaring 20s time
period. All of the bending movements are based off of Chinese martial arts and this is the
way that people interact. There are no machine guns or weapons of mass destruction.
People use their bending as a way to interact whether it is brothers beating on each other,
a sparring match, a gang fight, a fight to the death, or acts of war. So that being said,
obviously some places are nicer communities than other so depending on the location; it
would not be surprising yet expected for a guy to hold a boulder over your head if you
step through in the wrong part of town. Some of the communities of practice that I will be
observing are the different variations of earthbending such as probending, sandbending,
metalbending, and lavabending, along with the traditional earthbending.

Actors: The role that is played in a figured world or community, somebody who has a
specific purpose.

Aang: Aang is the Avatar and the only airbender left, it is up to him to introduce
more airbenders into the world. He is a very goofy young teenager who likes to goof of
and have a fun time. The air nomads who raised him were very free spirited and detached
from a lot of the physical distractions. This characteristic is very evident in Aang. But
when the time comes to be serious and get something done, he will set his mind to it
because he knows that if he is not well enough prepared to face Fire Lord Oazi when the
time comes, the entire world will suffer the consequences.

Toph Beifong: Aangs best friend and earthbending teacher. Toph is blind and she
uses earthbending to feel vibrations in herself and everything around her almost like
sonar to get a 3-D map of her surroundings in her mind. This is how she developed the
technique of metalbending. When she was trapped in a metal box with no way out, she
repeatedly hit the box until she could feel the bits of earth in the impure metal and used
that to bend it. She is definitely one of the most skilled earthbenders in the world. She is
blunt, straight forward and takes on her challenges head on.

Katara: Katara lived in the South Pole where she learned the very basics of
waterbending until she decided to go with Aang and teach him waterbending. She is a
very caring and loving young girl who takes on the role of a mother in the group. This is
due to the fact that her mother was killed when she was about eight years old while her
dad was off at war. So she had to assume all of the responsibilities that her mother had.
She deeply cares about every person in the group especially Aang.

Artifacts: Emotions, feelings, ideas, or objects that have some sort of significance in a
culture/community/figured world.

Aangs Glider: Every airbender owned a personal glider that is basically like a
kite that only airbenders can use. They bend the air currents around them in their favor so
that they can basically fly. This is one of the only items that Aang has from his home.
Since the fire nation wiped out all of the airbenders except for Aang, this is more than
just a wooden stick with cloth sheets attached to it. It resembles his heritage and his
airbending roots. Aang hold his tradition very close to him since it is his sole
responsibility to carry on the airbending culture.

Tophs Blindness: The fact that Toph is blind only makes the level of her
earthbending skill more meaningful. Aang was told by an old and wise friend that he
needed to learn earthbending from somebody who waits and listens to the earth before
attacking. Because grunting and snorting and hurling huge boulders as hard as you can all
over the place may take a lot of strength, but not much skill. Aang being only a kid going
up against a full grown adult man definitely should not rely on his strength to win, but
instead strategy. This is why Toph is the perfect earthbending teacher for Aang, because
she literally does listen to the earth.

Communities of Practice: Also referred to as learning networks, thematic groups, or
tech clubs, a community of practice is groups of people who all work together for a
common interest and improve each other along the way.

The Earth Kingdom: The earth kingdom consists of most of the worlds
population, especially since the air nation is 99% extinct. They also take up the most land
mass than any other element. The world in The Last Airbender is very segregated and it
is very rare to see a water bender in earth kingdom territory. Although all are welcome
everywhere except only fire nation people are allowed in fire nation territory because
they are waging war against the rest of the world. Oazi plans to conquer the earth
kingdom because he knows that if he can achieve that, then the rest of the world will
come easily. This is easier said than done though, the people of the earth kingdom are
very stubborn and will fight until their very last breath as long as they have hope. They
are a very patriotic people who are strong and will not go down without a fight.
Altogether, they are the strongest and most strong-willed people in the Avatar world.
Domain: A domain does not require membership in a community nor does not have to be
in the same field of knowledge. It is something that links people together whether they
know it or not in terms of a shared interest.

Saving the world: Usually the Avatar is only told his identity when he/she reaches
adulthood. In Aangs case, he has less than a year to defeat Oazi so that he does not
conquer and destroy the earth kingdom. Aangs group of friends and him all work
together, train with each other, and push each other every day to prepare themselves for
what lies ahead of them.

Practices of a Community: A collective assembly of knowledge and experiences used in
a community to improve the community.

Team Avatar: The group of teenagers that live and travel with Aang are
commonly referred to as Team Avatar. This team consists of Aang, Katara, Toph,
Sokka (a nonbender), and Zuko (a firebender). With all of their special talents, skills, and
abilities combined they become an unstoppable team when they put their minds to it.
Sure there are stronger foes out there, but one thing that Aang points out to Oazi as he is
in the midst of the final battle with him is that the one thing that he has that Oazi does
not, is friendship. Aang believes that this is the reason why they work so well as a team.

Literacy Practices: The multiple ways of practicing within a community with many
ways of communication.

Messenger Hawks: The only way to send a long distance message quickly was by
a messenger hawk. Unfortunately these hawks were only available to the fire nation who
was conquering the rest of the world. Not only that, only the upper class wealthier
citizens could afford them. The hawk had a canister strapped on to its back which could
hold a letter and somehow every hawk knew how to get to all of the different mail
stations all over the world.

Past Avatars: The Avatars spirit is reincarnated whenever they die and lives on in
the next baby that is born of the cycle being earth to fire to air to water and so on. If the
Avatar can meditate and concentrate on his/her inner soul, he can communicate with all
of his past lives. Aang always goes to the Avatar before him Roku whenever he needs
guidance or help. All of the Avatars experiences and knowledge are in the current
Avatar as long as they know how to access it.

The Observation:
2:30: Aang is very anxious to learn complicated earthbending moves, but Toph suggests
that he just starts with moving a rock. She explains to him that the key to earthbending is
the stance, since earth is a stubborn element; you have to be steady and strong to impact
it. Toph demonstrates by moving a boulder at least four feet high with ease slamming in
to the cliff fifty feet away. When Aang attempts it, he accidently airbends himself
backwards away from the boulder instead of pushing it away from him.


4:20: Katara questions why Aang failed at moving the rock because from her perspective,
he did it the exact same way as Toph did. Aang starts to say that it might work if he
approaches the rock from a different angle. Toph cuts him off and explains that there is
only one way to move the boulder and that is by facing it head on. There is no clever
solution or trick to move it. Tophs boldness in telling Aang what he is doing wrong
catches him off guard and discourages him a little. Katara explains to Toph that he really
responds to positive encouragement and gentle nudges in the right direction. Toph
thanks her and the next scene is Toph pushing Aang through a series of very strenuous
and obviously very difficult earthy exercises. As Aang progresses through them it is
evident that the more he trains the more sturdy he is and earthbender material he is
becoming. Since Toph is blind, she is teaching Aang earthbending by feeling the
vibrations in the ground like she does. This is shown by all of the exercises she puts him
through. One of them being having him being blindfolded and trying to hit rocks that
Toph is raising from the ground like a game of whack-a-mole.

8:40: Toph decides to try a different method to teach Aang earthbending. This time,
instead of trying to move a rock, he is going to attempt to stop a rock. Aang looks up the
cliff in front of him in fear and he sees a long path leading right to him with a boulder
sitting on top. Katara intervenes because she does not want Aang to get hurt so she asks
Toph if she really thinks that this is the best way to teach Aang earthbending. Toph thinks
about it and then blindfolds Aang explaining that this way is better because now he will
really feel the vibrations of the boulder coming toward him to stop it. Toph sincerely
thanks Katara and Aang sarcastically thanks her. At the last second Aang jumps out of
the way and Toph runs up to him angry telling him that his stance and form were perfect
but he wimped out at the last second. He says that he just panicked and he didnt know
what to say and yelling at him if he thinks he has what it takes to be an earthbender, to
which he replies with a somber no.

12:25: Aang and Katara are practicing some simple waterbending techniques to help him
relieve some frustration due to his inability to grasp earthbending. She assures him that
this is only a temporary block and he will eventually get it. Aang admits that he is not
able to move a rock and acknowledges that he needs to face the rock and the situation
head on. Katara, trying to comfort him explains that earth is particularly difficult for him
to learn because it is his opposite element, just like fire is to water.

20:00: Aang goes looking for Sokka since he has been gone hunting all day. He finds him
stuck in a crevice in the ground and Aang tries to airbend him out of it but it does not
work. Sokka suggests he tries to earthbend him out so Aang tries to do that only to be
unsuccessful again. The next thing they know both of them are face to face with an angry
saber-toothed moose lion. It charges at them several times and Aang airbends it off to the
side a few times then finally delivers a powerful wind gust knocking the beast back on its
butt, it then gets up an walks away. When the dust clears, Toph is sitting on a rock off to
the side slowly applauding Aang. He asks her why she didnt do anything to help them
face the beast if she was sitting there the whole time. She responds with a nonchalant I
guess it just didnt occur to me. Aang agitatedly gets up in her face and she demands
him to earthbend and tells him that if he can defend his ground against a crazy beast then
he has the stuff it takes to be an earthbender. He determinedly gets in his stance and
powerfully punches a rock next to him sending it flying into the cliff. Toph congratulates
Aang and tells him that he is officially an earthbender now.

Observation 3:
Relevant Background Information: Korras objective is now to go around the world
searching for newly activated airbenders and recruit them to move to the air temple and
learn the ways of the air nomads and become an airbending master. One of the newly
activated airbenders is Opal, who is Suyins daughter. The episode depicted is season 3
episode 8: The Terror Within. Not everybody wants what Korra wants though, she
learns that there is an antagonist group called the Red Lotus that is trying to prevent her
from recreating the air nation along with other things.

Figured World: A large social environment that has an implied set of regulations for
expected conduct.

Rules and Convention: The specific figured world in the series the Legend of Korra
and The Last Airbender would be the earthbenders. The purpose that I chose the
earthbending community is that there are many different types of people with different
types of values and morals that live all over the world. The traditional earthbender was
originally thought to be very tough, sturdy, and stubborn. In order to be an earthbender,
you have to be like the element itself. As time progressed so did the culture and it
branched off into subcategories of different disciplines, such as sandbenders,
metalbenders, and lavabenders. But just normal earthbenders vary so much between
them. It is the difference between a 300 pound guy who calls himself The Hippo who
just throws boulders around as hard as he can hoping that he hits something. Or a blind
little girl that relies on feeling vibrations through her feet and being defensive and precise
with her strikes. The world of Korra is set in a Steampunk kind of roaring 20s time
period. All of the bending movements are based off of Chinese martial arts and this is the
way that people interact. There are no machine guns or weapons of mass destruction.
People use their bending as a way to interact whether it is brothers beating on each other,
a sparring match, a gang fight, a fight to the death, or acts of war. So that being said,
obviously some places are nicer communities than other so depending on the location; it
would not be surprising yet expected for a guy to hold a boulder over your head if you
step through in the wrong part of town. Some of the communities of practice that I will be
observing are the different variations of earthbending such as probending, sandbending,
metalbending, and lavabending, along with the traditional earthbending.

Actors: The role that is played in a figured world or community, somebody who has a
specific purpose.

Lin Beifong: Otherwise known as Chief Beifong, Lin is the chief of police of
Republic City and one of Tophs daughters. She took over the police force after Toph
retired. The Republic City police force consists mostly of metalbenders. She is one of the
best metalbenders there is considering that her mother invented the technique. Lin has a
very hard and bitter outside that has a complicated past and has a reason and a memory
for every characteristic that she has. She is rash, merciless, and unforgiving. Her
personality fits perfectly with her job being the chief of police in a big city. Allowing her
to be not held back by personal feelings and emotions is a key requirement to be as
effective as she is. She followed in her mothers since she was a teenager and always felt
like she had to be the mother of Suyin.

Suyin Beifong: Sister of Lin and daughter of Toph. Suyin is the leader of Zaofu.
She is almost like the alter ego of Lin. She is very jovial, welcoming, generous and
pleasant to be around. She is also a metalbender, about as equal skill level as Lin. When
she was young she was always the rebellious teenager, thinking that she could get away
with anything because her mother was always so caught up in her job.

Artifacts: Emotions, feelings, ideas, or objects that have some sort of significance in a
culture/community/figured world.

Zaofu: Zaofu is said to be the most secure place in the world because it is made of
all metal, has 24 hour security, and is a completely closed metal done at night. A team of
metal benders bend enormous wedges up over the city to metal a completely closed metal
dome, protecting it from any foreign invaders. Metal is thought of as the element or
substance that cannot be affected by most other things. So the importance of safety and
security in the city is of utmost importance. The metalbenders that live there are very
proud to be who they are and where they live.

The Avatar: The most important component to the Red Lotus vision. Since they
believe that the world should return to its natural state where everything is equal and
fair and power is distributed evenly between everyone, they believe that the Avatar
disrupts this vision and must be disposed of.

Communities of Practice: Also referred to as learning networks, thematic groups, or
tech clubs, a community of practice is groups of people who all work together for a
common interest and improve each other along the way.

The Red Lotus: An anarchist organization whose identity, along with their goal
was completely anonymous to the public. The Red Lotus' goal is to have all the benders
and nonbenders coexist again in a way of life that does not include positions of power
and world leaders. They believe that this is achievable by giving all power to the people,
in other words, chaos. The only presently alive members of the Red Lotus are Zaheer; a
powerful airbender their leader, Ghazan; a lavabender, PLi; a combustion bender, Ming-
Hua; an armless waterbender that uses water as her limbs, and Aiwei; a metalbender and
truth seer. Together all of their abilities combined makes them very capable of
accomplishing the most difficult tasks.

Domain: A domain does not require membership in a community nor does not have to be
in the same field of knowledge. It is something that links people together whether they
know it or not in terms of a shared interest.

Power Disc: This is a metalbending sport created by Suyins sons. The object of
the game is to get a metal disc into the opponents goal by bending it to ricochet off of
surrounding walls and pillars. This is a competitive game between two metalbenders that
creates unity whether they realize it or not.

Zaofu Guards / Republic City Elite Police: Standard uniforms consist of all
metal. It works exceptionally as armor, and can also be used for offensive attacks by
taking pieces off of it and shaping it differently into a weapon. Metal cables are used as
the main way of capturing and restraining a criminal. These are a very lightweight
weapon so it is very easy to bend and control by a metalbender but almost impossible to
counter by anyone else. Every guard and police member is disciplined in the same
metalbending technique and work toward the goal of making the community a safer
place.

Practices of a Community: A collective assembly of knowledge and experiences used in
a community to improve the community.

Metalbending: Every single person that lives in Zaofu is a metalbender. They all
use this as a way to relate and connect to each other. It is not as big as other cities since
few earthbenders have the ability to metalbend, this makes the city relatively close knit.
The majority of metalbenders consider themselves more advanced or higher up in the
food chain compared to regular earthbenders. Although not necessarily in a pompous or
smug fashion. They see it as a way and reason to create community between themselves.

Literacy Practices: The multiple ways of practicing within a community with many
ways of communication.

Radio: The radio is the most common way to communicate. It can be programmed
to just be a two-way radio, a broadcast signal, etc. It is very effective in terms of military
communication especially over long distance.

Aiwei: Aiwei is a metalbender who has a very unique ability called truth seeing.
What he is able to do is feel a persons heart beat slightly speed up if they are lying. He
can use this to his advantage by not telling a person that he knows they are lying or not.
He can also lie to other people about somebody else lying to hide something. He does this
and says a guard in Zaofu is part of the Red Lotus after interrogating him when really it is
Aiwei himself that is betraying Korra. He betrayed her by letting the Red Lotus into
Zaofu via an underground passage.

The Observation:
0:00: Korra is metalbending sparring with Wei and Bolin is trying to metalbend with
Wing. Korra tries to attack Wei with metal cables, but being a more experienced
metalbender, he counters her attack and puts her on the ground. He exclaims how
awesome he thinks it is to train with the Avatar. Wing complains about indicates by his
tone of voice that he does not want to be training with Bolin since he is not a
metalbender. Wing sandwiches Bolin in between two metal tiles and says that the best
way to learn metalbending is Trial by fire. Mako makes fun of Bolin for not being able
to metalbend to which Bolin responds with Mako, metalbending is extremely difficult,
no one gets it right away if they can get it at all. Its not normal. Korra does a fancy
spinning move lashing out her cable taking Weis foot and tossing him up in the air, then
exclaims Woohoo! Metalbending champion!

5:30: The Red Lotus is in the midst of kidnapping tranquilized Korra when Mako and
Bolin see them and alert the Zaofu guards. Lin, Wei, and Wing and numerous guards put
up a barrier of metal walls surrounding the Red Lotus. They think that they have won and
demand for the Avatar to be released when Ghazan lavabends a moat all around them
melting the metal walls entrapping them. Zaheer then attempts to airbend steam all
around them to create cover so they can escape. As he is twirling his glider around a
guard binds his wrists together with a cable and throws him away separating him from his
allies as PLi shoots a combustion beam at him which is blocked by a metal wall held up
by another guard. The metal barriers are being used as cover and shields from PLis
explosive attacks. They realize that there is no way to retrieve unconscious Korra from
the Red Lotus with all four of them guarding her. Suyin and Lin drop down from the top
of the dome over the city by cable to try to rescue Korra. In order to do this Bolin has to
stun PLi by shooting a small rock at the center of her forehead which is the source of her
combustion blasts. Between all of the lava plumes and water flying past his face he
manages to hit her exactly dead square in the middle of her forehead right as she looks up
at Suyin and Lin and begins to blast, rendering her neutralized. They land down on the
island in the middle of the lava moat, grab Korra, and start to recoil up when Zaheer flies
on his glider up toward them and tries to attack Lin but Suyin shoots her sharp metal
pieces from a gauntlet she is wearing through Zaheers glider sending him spiraling
toward the ground. He creates a tornado of smoke with which the Red Lotus uses to
escape unseen and without the Avatar.