May 2020

reblog and put your results in the tags: i made a “what type of bender are you” quiz (atla) except its one where a lot of effort and research was put into it so that the results could actually be accurate. enjoy!!! 

EARTHBENDER RESULT

At their core, Earthbenders place a lot of value and importance on stability and order, making them quite likely to make personal sacrifices in order to maintain those things in their lives. The best example I can think of is a parent who takes on a job they may not like in order to better support their family. If that parent is of Earthbending nature, this won’t feel wrong to them. They’ll understand that their own personal wants or dreams are impractical to chase when faced with what is really needed to maintain a sense of security and stability. This can be a great thing, but it can also be quite detrimental depending on what the Earthbender associates with order and stability. Earthbenders who associate wealth with stability are likely to remain in a toxic environment longer because finances aren’t a problem whereas if they were to leave, money would potentially be an issue. 

It’s important to know here just how stubborn and enduring Earthbenders are. They’ll do a lot, they can take a lot, so don’t try pushing them around. They’re unmovable forces when they’ve made up their minds.

This being said, Earthbenders living in unstable environments or who simply feel unstable or out of order, will bend over backwards—perhaps sacrificing their own wellbeing or integrity trying to achieve some sense of it. I call these Fractured Earthbenders. An example I have of this would be in Euphoria where Fez and his younger brother are shown as poor and trying to care for their sick grandmother. Fez, who’s kind and has a solid moral code (i.e. refusing to sell Rue drugs), is forced to deal drugs and break into homes in order to take care of his home and his family. He does what he must with what is at his disposal, sacrificing his integrity in order to maintain some stability. Another example would be Daisy in The Great Gatsby, who picks financial stability over Gatsby because she’s not guaranteed the same comforts she gets from Tom. Even though Tom is abusive and cheats on her, Daisy stays with him anyways and it makes sense for her to do so. Other Earthbenders are likely to understand the motives of the mentioned examples and heavily empathize with the idea of destroying important parts of yourself for the sake of something you believe is greater in nature.

It’s true that Earthbenders can be content with what’s already at their disposal, but notably the best of their kind are those who are resourceful without sacrifice. Where a Firebender will sacrifice anything in pursuit of what makes them happy, an Earthbender looks around them and transforms what’s already there. Toph is a primary example of this. When she’s weighed down by her parents, she sneaks away to fight in the arena. When she’s kidnapped and put in a metal box, she invents an entirely new form of bending. They can look like Waterbenders at times because of this great ability, but it’s important to understand the differences. Waterbenders act emotionally with their reactions being impulses and improvisations; Earthbenders are thinkers. They wait and listen, searching for the right moment or opportunity to act. They are progressive as an element, working towards solutions that are innovative and don’t disrupt life. I mean just because earth is a stubborn element doesn’t mean it can’t be creative with what it has. 

This isn’t to say that Earthbenders don’t speak bluntly or make impulsive choices. Toph again is a great example. She schemes, she says what’s on her mind to everyone—except her parents. The conflict Toph faces with her family, a Waterbender would have confronted this issue, placing importance in their immediate emotions, but Toph considers the greater picture. She might feel held down and underestimated, but at the end of the day she’s 12 years old, those are her parents, and they’re much more at ease believing what they want to believe. Yes, she inevitably runs away, but it’s still in favour of greater world order: helping the Avatar and she’s still deeply affected by how she must’ve made her parents feel when she left. Other elements would likely feel the same emotional ramifications but would more easily justify the necessity of their actions (i.e. Sokka and Katara leaving Gran-Gran, Hakoda leaving his children, Zuko becoming a traitor, etc).

Overall, Earthbenders are thinkers, approaching conflict with the knowledge that they may need to make personal sacrifices in order to maintain stability and order in their lives and in the lives of those around them.

If this sounds like you, if you’re an Earthbender, my parting advice to you is to remember to take care of yourself as well. It might not feel wrong to ignore your own needs, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t. Order and stability can also mean making your wants known as communication is always key. As mentioned before, without proper expression, disaster is inevitable. If you’re an Earthbender who’s already mastered this, well I’ve got nothing else for you.

FIREBENDER RESULT

Firebenders are interesting in that they’re the most personally driven of the elements. Where Earthbenders crave stability and Airbenders wish for freedom, Firebenders are driven by their unique desires, binded by their willingness. It’s why we see Uncle Iroh, who’s kind and thoughtful, easily leave the tea shop he was originally working at–where they treated him well–without second thought. Another bender may have been humble, may have favoured loyalty, but firebenders most likely wouldn’t. Inside every Firebender exists a sun that burns brightly and fiercely. A Firebender on a mission is someone you do not want to get in the way of as they are the pinnacle of an unstoppable force.

This isn’t to say Firebenders don’t have morals or that they’re always willing to bypass others for anything. No, actually Firebenders are very efficient and selective. They know what’s worth their energy, which fights are worth the trouble. Firebenders, at their best, are best exemplified through, oddly enough, Azula. She’s calculated and as strong as she is, what makes her so threatening is that she knows which fights she’ll win. When Azula enters a battle, it’s on the hypothesis that she’ll claim victory and she typically does. Through her, we can understand that the best Firebenders don’t follow the stereotype of being impulsive. The best Firebenders carefully pick the places they choose to spend their energy on–especially when faced with conflict. Iroh is another example of a Firebender at their best; someone who isn’t impulsive, but someone who works purposefully.

Don’t get me wrong. There are impulsive Firebenders. These Firebenders are often struggling emotionally. We see this with not only Zuko during Book 1, but with Azula by the very end of the show. In Book 1, Zuko is impulsive and angry, determined to regain his honour. At the end of the show, Azula has an extreme mental breakdown. Most of the time, these types of benders are repressing something emotionally that transforms itself into volatile anger or just general uncontrollable emotion. That selectiveness found in the best Firebenders is no longer available and the people around them will likely feel the repercussions. They don’t care who sees, they are at their worst and they can no longer hide it. Calculated control is thus an absolute necessity otherwise your fire may turn destructive rather than productive.

Once again, Firebending is unique in how personal it is to the given bender, but as Firebenders are driven by their desires, they’re also bonded by their intuition. Firebenders feel it in their gut when something is wrong and they use that as a guide when faced with conflict. Even if everyone around them thinks differently, a Firebender won’t succumb to the pressure without the sense of wrongness eating away at them.

This is what I call a Doused Firebender. This is a Firebender who compromises what they really want in favour of appeasing other people or being convinced that what they truly want isn’t right. A good example of this is none other than Zuko in the beginning of Book 3. For Zuko, trauma had deluded him into believing his father’s love and respect would make him happy, but when he seemingly gets everything he wants, he’s still not happy. It becomes apparent then that it’s not actually what he actually wants, what he really believes. He worked on the external problem–his banishment–as a Firebender would, placed all his energy in fixing that, only to find it didn’t fix the internal issue. The determination he’s felt since Book 1, the one that made him impulsive and volatile, then transforms into an innate sense of wrongness. He gets what he thinks he wants, but in doing so, he’s compromised who he really is and what he really wants in favour of what he’s been made to believe is right. This is what leads to his explosion on the beach.

It’s quite possible for a Doused Firebender to look like an Earthbender. Earthbenders are quite likely to sacrifice personal wants in favour of a greater sense of order and stability. For Earthbenders, this will never or rarely ever feel wrong to do, but with Firebenders, that sense of wrongness will grow and build inside them until they figure out what they really want or risk imploding or putting their own fire out altogether. Another example of a Doused Firebender would be Daniel Le Domas from the film Ready or Not. Daniel, who’s been raised to follow certain traditions, is shown to be deeply unhappy with his family. While at first he participates and follows the lead of his parents, when it counts, he disobeys them and follows his heart.

Fire takes many forms. It can be soothing like a campfire, warming you on even the coldest of nights. It can be a small flame burning on a candlewick, lighting your way. And yes, it can be a destructive wildfire, burning through a forest. Fire is, in the end, dependent on the bender and how they choose to use their energy. I can only caution control and self-assessment for those of you struggling to figure out what you really want and who you are.

WATERBENDER RESULT

Waterbenders, as a whole, are incredibly emotional beings. Perhaps the most emotional of all four elements. What they say, the decisions they make–it’s all based on what they feel in that moment. This isn’t to say that Waterbenders are incapable of thinking through their problems. They absolutely are, but only after they’ve calmed down. Waterbenders have to work through their emotions internally before they can reach a level-headed decision. We see this most frequently in none other than Katara. As compassionate as she is, Katara has a temper that throughout Book 1 initiates her most powerful bending (at least at the beginning of her training). Throughout the show, especially when her and Toph have their arguments, she is shown reacting like a harsh sudden wave, not considering her words as she typically does. 

Waterbenders also place an incredible amount of value in their community. They want to take care of the people around them. Now this doesn’t mean that other benders don’t or can’t feel the same; it’s just especially important for Waterbenders. They protect their own first. This is shown across every water tribe. From the Northerners to the Southerners to the Swamp People, they all focus on their own before considering others around them, doing whatever they can to protect the people they care about. Huu crafts a seaweed monster to keep outsiders away. Katara, as Sokka and Aang are being forced to attack each other, sacrifices her own morals in order to protect them and bloodbends Hama. This is what makes Waterbenders stand out. It’s their need to do whatever it takes to protect the ones they love. Other elements can imitate this need, but there are unique factors to each one that could interrupt such a desire. Nothing interrupts a Waterbender.

Now, as Earthbenders are progressive, Waterbenders are adaptive. They evolve and change with their surroundings, preferring to go with the flow rather than combat it. It’s important however to note that Waterbenders aren’t always pacifists in this respect. While they willfully respond to change, they’re also incredibly capable of enacting it. Avatar Kuruk even confirms the value of this as his parting advice to Aang is to be attentive and active. However, it is possible for Waterbenders to remain stagnant without a trigger that elicits any form of change. This is seen in the Northern Water Tribe. For generations, they followed the same rules, separating the men from the women, training one side as warriors and the other as healers. It’s only when Katara arrives that this changes. She challenges the system, going so far as to fight Pakku herself, but still this isn’t enough. Not until Pakku picks up the betrothal necklace. This ties back to the loyalty of a Waterbender. Only when Pakku has a personal connection to Katara through her grandmother, does he begin to legitimately consider Katara’s stance.

So what happens to Waterbenders without a community, who’ve shut themselves off emotionally? I like to call them Frigid Waterbenders. These are Waterbenders who crave a community, who are inherently emotional, but for one reason or another, they’ve shut themselves off. The community they may have had once is gone or lost, and now it feels like caring for anyone only leads to heartache. A good example of this type of bender can be seen with The End of the F*cking World. James is a traumatized boy who convinces himself that he’s a literal psychopath, that the emptiness he feels is something intrinsic to him. This is until he meets Alyssa. Alyssa quickly becomes his community and he’ll do anything to protect her including getting shot in order to secure her safety. If you believe yourself to be this type of bender, try to open yourself up. Closing yourself off isn’t the solution to your problems. You’ll find your people one day.

Water is unpredictable and overall, Waterbenders are emotional beings, approaching conflict with what they feel and this can change. Storms can be weathered and above everything else, the ocean will always be there. It will change currents and so will you, but you will always be there for the people you care about. 

AIRBENDER RESULT

Waterbenders value community. Earthbenders crave stability. Firebenders are made of willpower. So what about Airbenders? 

Airbenders want nothing other than freedom. The freedom to express, to choose, to love, to breathe, to exist, to be. It’s quite simple, really. An Airbender will do anything to be free, to exist as they wish to exist without conflict. For this, you’ll find many incredibly understanding individuals within this particular element and you are likely one of the many. Somebody who respects the opinion and choice of another person because as an Airbender, you place so much value in freedom. Generally, these benders work with life rather than against it, using the wind currents to guide them across the sky.

Of course, this means Airbenders are naturals at avoiding conflict. They don’t enjoy it and they will do anything to keep fights from happening. This isn’t to say they’re never angry or that their emotions never get the better of them. Airbenders are still human after all; They have needs, things they need to get out like any other element as they’re unavoidable, but they’ll always consider alternative methods that won’t cause a fight. Notably, it’s not uncommon amongst Airbenders to be quite skilled when it comes to personal responsibility. Their actions are their actions and they know this. What I mean is that they are much like Earthbenders in some respects. Where Earthbenders will stifle their own wants to maintain order, Airbenders are likely to lie or quiet themselves in favour of maintaining peace and this doesn’t feel unnatural or wrong for them to do. It helps that they’re also known for letting go of negative emotion easily once the immediate moment has passed. It’d take something truly painful for an Airbender to hold a grudge. Aang is a prime example. He wants conflict to be resolved quickly with the least amount of damage done. When faced with two warring tribes, he creates an elaborate lie that completely ceases the argument they were having. Even when dealing with the genocide of his people, he never goes so far as to blame everyone in the Fire Nation. He feels his immediate anger and then chooses to instead honour and maintain the legacy of his people.

Just to be clear, an Airbender isn’t incapable of defending themselves or will simply never enter a fight. They absolutely are capable and can fight. When backed into a corner, when there’s no other option, many Airbenders will defend themselves, but it’s only as a means of protection–whether they’re protecting themselves or protecting another person. It’s a matter of necessity. Just because they prefer to avoid conflict doesn’t mean they’re less fierce or dangerous than the other elements. Consider Monk Gyatso for a moment and the haunting image of his skeleton surrounded by dozens of other skeletons. Or even Yangchen. The words she imparts to Aang also speak of operating on necessity, of sacrificing her spiritual needs in favour of selfless duty. She was the Avatar. She needed to be proactive. Airbenders will do what needs to be done when there is no other choice, but truthfully, it’s probably best for all of us to never push an Airbender so far.

Now, as said before, Freedom–whether it’s personal or worldly freedom–is the most important thing to an Airbender and without it, they can feel bogged down or like they’re being suffocated by everything around them. I like to call these Caged Airbenders. Without the freedom to choose, to be who they are, these benders will lash out and it won’t be pretty—especially when they aren’t naturally inclined to conflict. When Airbenders are angry, boy, are they angry and they will go to any lengths in order to feel like themselves again, to feel like they have a choice. Consider, again, Aang as an example. When it’s revealed he’s the Avatar, his entire life changes. The people he called his friends at the Air Temples started to treat him differently, his teachers—aside from Gyatso—became much stricter, and they tried to forcibly separate him from the only person who still treated him like Aang the child rather than Aang the Avatar. Out of desperation, because he feels like he’s being suffocated and forced to be something aside from himself, Aang runs away. When weighed down by expectation and when they’ve finally had enough, Airbenders push back like strong winds and transform into destructive tornadoes in their attempts to regain their freedom. This isn’t to say every Caged Airbender will turn self-destructive, but their actions in retaliation will most likely be thoughtless and desperate. They simply do so because they feel they must without thinking about the consequences of their actions.

In the end, Airbenders understand that what really matters is the freedom to choose. Without this, they feel like they can’t breathe. This is partly why Aang struggles so much as Sozin’s Comet gets closer. The idea that he must kill Ozai removes any autonomy he has over the matter and also greatly contradicts the values taught to him by his old teachers–the ones he swore to uphold in light of their genocide. As any Airbender would, he exercises any possible option and you, as an Airbender, are most likely the same. 

Air exists all around us. Imagine if it suddenly decided when and where we breathe? It’d be impossible to live. Without freedom, an Airbender knows it’d be just the same, just as impossible. So, as the wind shifts direction, you know there’s always another way. There’s always another choice to make and you want the freedom to do so. You just want to breathe.