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heavensenthearty · 3 years

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Number 6 for the salty ask game.

Hi, Bouncy!! 👋🏽🤗 Thanks for the ask! 💖

6. Has fandom ever made you enjoy a pairing you previously hated?

Mmmmmm... I hate very few things, and I don't know if mild dislike counts, but I used to be pretty "... meh 😒" when it came to Makorra in TLOK, but I was like that about the whole show, not the characters or the dynamic between them 🤷🏽‍♀️

I mean, I know I have said TLOK had some trouble giving characters depth, but in the very early stages of Book 1, Makorra seemed kind of promising because I have always liked ships like that. Belligerent sexual tension, banter, different upbringings, drama, I'm even one of the few people that don't mind love triangles; but then it became a love square (a rhombus? 🤔) and Book 2 happened, and they make it seem like Korra was a selfish brat, and Mako was a womanizer, and Asami was a plot device who was cheated/dumped again — (is it cheating if your boyfriend's ex-girlfriend kisses him in front of you because she lost the memory of their breakup, but he doesn't tell her about that break up either?) — and... ugh! 😫

I felt so sorry for Mako, he's not a bad guy. And they put him to live under his desk to top? Geez, give him a break!

All relationships and the treatment of the characters in TLOK put me so off that I couldn't get invested in any of them. Even now I like the idea of Korrasami, not the canon build-up for the ship. But then... one day I was wandering through Tumblr and I came across anti-Korrasami meta written by bisexual fans, one thing led to the other and I stumbled across Makorra meta. They pointed out all the things that made me intrigued about the ship before everything went downhill, and they explained how their relationship, while strictly platonic, had a very nice development towards the end of the show. I didn't always see it that way, and the more I read, there were more little things that gave away the bond between Korra and Mako, and I liked it, and that last Mako line in the finale "I'll always be here for you" and Korra's happy teary eyes always gets me. Besides, I was annoyed that everybody refused to acknowledge Korra and Asami as bisexual.

After all of that I am... I don't think you will see me writing anything for them, TLOK left such a bad taste in my mouth that I don't think I can engage in anything other than the aesthetic, but maybe I'll come around to make Makorra, Korrasami, and Makorrasami art one day ☺️

Salty asks!

#ask games #angel answers 🤍#about me #makorra #antikorrasami #just in case

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cosmiccartooonjunkie · 3 years

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The Legend of Korra: Breaking Bending and a Beautiful World

I think it is safe to say that Avatar: The Last Airbender is one of, if not the greatest animated television series of all time. You could ask a multitude of people what their favorite part of the show was, and various answers are guaranteed to return. Maybe it was the deep mesmerizing worldbuilding that kept a viewer engaged. Or, it could be the lovable and compelling cast of characters viewers could easily relate to. And, it is safe to mention the themes the show presented about war, forgiveness, and growth that taught viewers valuable lessons that they are still applying to this day. Regardless of the reason, there is one unifying factor as to why all of those parts of the show are excellent, and that is because of the expert and meticulous writing. Praise must be due to Aaron Eshaz and his talented team for making such a tightly written and nearly flawless show.

Now, there should be no misconception. Aaron Eshaz is not the creator of the series. He is merely the head writer. The creators are two separate people, Mike DiMartino and Brian Konietzko. They certainly have a hand in the creation of their masterpiece, but it is important to acknowledge that the duo did not refine Avatar by themselves. No, without Eshaz and most of his team, another creation was made. Another series that is not regarded with nearly as much universal acclaim as their last. Together, the creators of Avatar made The Legend of Korra, airing on Nickelodeon in 2012.

This particular show is not met with the same universal love that its predecessor receives. In fact, the community is quite divided on the synopsis on its quality. Some believe it to be just as good, or even better than the original. Others argue that it’s less than a fraction of the greatness of ATLA and refuse to call it a sequel. Unfortunately, my opinion on the series leans more towards the latter, and it is not due to blinding nostalgia. In fact, there are certain critical and fundamental changes and writing decisions that make the show flawed beyond repair, and as a result, pales in comparison to its predecessor. The Legend of Korra is a prime example of a story crumbling apart due to a failure of its creators sacrificing important worldbuilding for convenience.

It is easy to start somewhere for an example, because one can be found at the very start of The Legend of Korra. In this scene, Korra, the main character, is seen bending three different elements as a child, proving that she is the next Avatar. On its own, the scene is cute and entertaining. However, when knowing the context and information that Avatar: The Last Airbender established, this scene breaks fundamental rules that were set for its universe. According to A:TLA, an Avatar is not supposed to know they’re the Avatar until they’re a teenager. Then, they learn the elements in an important cycle. All of this is ignored in Korra’s introduction, and it is baffling as to why this writing decision was made.

In the show and creators’ defense, this could have been a creative choice to make Korra different and unique from the past Avatars. However, when doing this, Mike and Brian should have kept their world’s rules in mind. Kirk Hamilton, a journalist for Kotaku describes it as “The show chose to portray bending more as a magical power than a spiritual martial art.” This statement perfectly sums up the drastic difference in bending. Bending in A:TLA was not magic, it was a practiced art that was learned from the world’s nature. It is important to not forgo what was already there to maintain consistency. The show hasn’t even started, but The Legend of Korra is already showing little promise in it’s writing. And as the season continues, this specific issue remains to be a problem.

Later into the first season, the antagonist, Amon, is introduced. He is a “freedom fighter” who believes that non-benders deserve the same rights as benders. A main drive for him to equalize others is to take a bender’s ability to bend. He does this to strike fear into Korra and her friend group of benders. However, his immersion of a threat is shattered during the season finale. It is revealed that Amon is actually a waterbender who used blood bending (a rare and powerful subset of waterbending) to erase bending.

Outside of the Avatar universe, this would have been an exciting twist. Unfortunately, that is not the case for TLOK, and for that this twist suffers. Hamilton calls Amon’s bending a “retcon” meaning that blood bending was not used as intended, and rewritten to fit the current narrative. In A:TLA, blood bending is only used during a full moon, and does not take one’s bending away. Hamilton’s remarks reflect that this change was both a failure in writing and a failure in consistency of the world that was built before.

These examples are just from the first season, but they prove that DiMartino and Konietzko failed to understand the world they set their show in. On several occasions, the power system of bending was manipulated for an attempt to make a more exciting narrative. Because of these changes, the connection between A:TLA and TLOK hardly exists. There is no consistency, so it’s hard to enjoy new stories from the same universe when that can’t actually be true. My, and many others', loss of immersion in the show prove how important it is for a series to remain consistent within its world, even across different series. Changing anything important to the world’s structure is bound to weaken a series sequel, just as The Legend of Korra will always be second to its predecessor.

Source:

Hamilton, K. (2012, July 3). 5 ways The Legend of Korra Went Wrong. Kotaku. Retrieved October 5, 2021, from https://kotaku.com/5-ways-the-legend-of-korra-went-wrong-5923014.

#tlok #tlok salt #atla #rant #wishitwasbetter

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