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lykegenia · 2 years

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Legend of Korra rewrite

So what happens when you cross caffeine-induced insomnia with a brain willing to fixate on the most random shit imaginable? Apparently a remainder that I’m still salty about all the ways Nickelodeon fucked over Legend of Korra by not letting it have a multiple season arc greenlit from the beginning. What’s there is already good considering the parameters Bryke had to work with, but only getting one season ordered at a time with studio execs prodding at various plot elements means a lot of potential was squandered.

My 3am brain decided to fix it.

This isn’t a comprehensive beat-beat-by-beat rewrite, I don’t have time for that. It also might not be entirely coherent because, again, 3am brain. I’ll only be focusing on the main characters since they’re the ones doing the most to drive the plot forward.

Before we begin, let’s talk themes. If we’re going to have an overarching, coherent narrative, we’re going to need to give it themes, for flavour. I really like the way LOK used each season to explore the flaws of different political frameworks (e.g. populism, anarchism) but there’s nothing to tie it all together, and the story becomes less about Korra and more about the world she inhabits. In this rewrite, Korra’s journey will come back into focus, and will (like TLA) explore a theme of balance. Specific to yin-yang, there are a bunch of oppositions that relate to each other – chaos/order, tradition/change, altruism/selfishness, freedom/boundaries – none of which are inherently bad, and neither side better than the other. There is no good and evil, only balance and the lack of it. For Korra as well, there will be the theme of legacy, of forging your own path instead of being defined by people’s expectations, of letting go of self-image, and of finding strength in community.

Here we go.

SEASON 1

· For the most part, unchanged. It’s pretty solid. Could maybe do without the weird double love triangle that was going on for most of it so we could dedicate more time to Korra finding community, and establishing what role the avatar might play in a world that’s seemingly in balance.

· HOWEVER. I would add at least one extra episode to the ending, and change it just a bit. We’re also going to set up season 2.

· By the end of the season, Korra does not get back the elements Amon took from her. At least not yet. Instead of being useless, Katara, whose character is not completely betrayed in this version, does manage to undo the damage Amon did, because she mastered bloodbending at 14 and is the world’s best healer according to everyone in the room. So what’s the problem? Korra won’t wake up. She’s trapped in the spirit world, either because of her guilt at being such a failure (in her mind) or because something is keeping her there, but there’s no way to tell which it is.

· Korra, in the spirit world, is lost. She hears someone behind her, turns with a fire kick ready to defend herself, and… it’s Aang. He points out that bending doesn’t work in the spirit world, he found that out the hard way when he had to walk through an entire forest instead of using his glider. He tells her to follow him.

· In the real world, it’s early morning, the fire’s low, everyone’s asleep. Someone (Mako? Asami?) wakes up and starts shouting because Korra’s gone. There’s a search party. Naga’s still in her pen, but there are footprints leading to a cliff and then… nothing. We’ve circumvented the execs worry about depicting suicidal ideation by making it clear first that Korra is off doing spirity things, and Katara, who is wise, tells everyone that they need to trust in the avatar.

· Repercussions: Unalaq turns up with troops from the North ostensibly to rescue Korra. When it’s pointed out that she’s in the spirit world, he asks how they can know for sure. After all, someone tried to kidnap her once before (“And you couldn’t protect her then, either – could you brother? Someone else had to do it”). Name drop the Red Lotus, but they won’t be important until later.

· This is just a ruse to start the occupation. Aside from Unalaq having shady evil plans, the South has lost its way, they lost the avatar, and they owe the North for all the rebuilding they did after the 100 Years War (sarcastic huzzah for colonialism!) The last shot of the season is a mass of Northern ships advancing on the South in a direct parallel to the shot in the opening of TLA. (This also removes the contrivance of Korra being naïve enough to believe a word of anything her obviously evil uncle says.)

SEASON 2

· Korra washes up on a Fire Nation beach and is found by the priestess lady who in this version is definitely Azula btw. She’s chill after 70 years. The opening of this season is the two-parter where we learn the origins of the avatar because a) it interrupts the story less to put it here and b) it’s a far more organic way for her to relearn how to connect with all her elements that ties into her character growth instead of being another Lion Turtle-ex-machina. She also learns that harmonic convergence is coming, but not quite yet (it won’t be the S2 finale but more on that later) and that she needs to find out where Vaatu’s prison is so that she can keep him there.

· Meanwhile, in the South: Civil war. Katara is among the first to stand up to the occupation and fights back (the South knows how to fight, it spent 100 years fighting while the North cowered behind its high walls and did nothing) because her character is not completely betrayed in this version of events. She will not let her people be subjugated again. The others want to stay and help, but the Southern benders are holding their own for now what they really need is outside help to get the North to back down (and we haven’t seen this much politics in kids media since the Star Wars prequels). Tenzin and family head to the Fire Nation to get help from Zuko/Izumi. Lin, who has her bending back thanks to Katara, goes back to Republic City to garner support from the United Forces. Asami and Mako go with her – Asami to sort out Future Industries, Mako because it sucks being a firebender at the south pole in winter, and because he wants to help Lin. He has to let go of his need overprotectiveness because Bolin stays and joins the rebellion. There is not a weird abusive romantic subplot between him and Eska.

· Korra finally gets back from the spirit world. Hears about trouble in the South from Azula, and her first instinct is to rush off to the south pole, but harmonic convergence is a bigger threat to everyone. Like Aang, she has to choose between her duties to the world and her attachment to her people. She’s persuaded to find Tenzin/Jinora instead, and gets given a sky bison.

· Tonraq gets captured, but not before learning why his brother REALLY wants to get to the portal in the spirit trees. Nobody else finds out. For dramatic irony. And so the audience can get a bit of exposition without it seeming clunky. He’s been weakening the boundary between the spirit world and the waking world in preparation for letting Vaatu out, and that’s why there are spirits running amok everywhere. Fighting is getting worse.

· All the events in Republic City still happen, maybe with tweaks but not enough to change the direction of the plot.

· Korra finds Jinora, and together they set off for the spirit world. Yes Korra still gets lost. Last time she had Aang as a guide but a) without him she doesn’t know how to navigate b) she’s still new to this whole spirituality thing c) since she was last in the spirit world Unalaq’s destabilisation of the boundary means things are a lot more chaotic anyway. Yes we still see Iroh, and he helps her, and we get a showdown in front of Vaatu’s tree. He mocks Raava for being too late to stop him. But at least now they know how to get to him from the real world. Jinora still gets kidnapped.

· The S2 finale is mostly the same, except Unalaq does not join with Vaatu. Vaatu promised that’s what would happen but Vaatu is a spirit of chaos and discord, he is inherently selfish, so instead feeds on Unalaq to free himself. There is no giant battle between spirit Korra and spirit Unalaq, we are not in Pacific Rim. Also, the battle between Raava and Vaatu is not good/evil, but they are in opposition.

· Most importantly, the good guys lose the finale. The big final battle happens to stop Unalaq getting to the Tree of Time, and they’re too late. Vaatu is freed and his prison, the Tree of Time, is destroyed in the process. Chaos ensues. (This is what brings the airbenders back but we don’t know this yet.) Harmonic convergence is looming, Team Avatar’s job now is to find a way to beat him now that the tree of time has been destroyed.

SEASON 3

· Spirits of chaos have unleashed airbenders. Oops, that includes Zaheer. They’re here to fuck shit up.

· Season 3 is generally pretty good and well-paced, and the finale is banger, so most things will be kept the same except the chaos the Red Lotus creates in the Earth Kingdom is directly feeding Vaatu, making him stronger. Korra’s trip to the spirit world to learn the origins of the Red Lotus is slightly different. Instead of Zaheer, she connects with her previous lives. She and Kyoshi get on like a house on fire. Kyoshi explains the Red Lotu’s origin, but Zaheer has been waiting for her, attuned to Raava’s energy. They have a fight, shows Korra is improving in her spirituality by how she can manipulate the world (better resolution for that arc, consistency between seasons is nice), but she’s no match for Zaheer. Tries to warn him about Vaatu but he argues that by fusing with Raava the avatar disrupted the balance of the universe and that he’s helping put it back. The people who are going to die because of this will simply be redressing the balance. This fight is what keeps Korra distracted while the rest of the Red Lotus attacks.

· Finale is banger, keep it as it is.

SEASON 4

· Kuvira’s motivation now isn’t just trying to restore order in the Earth Kingdom power vacuum, she also knows harmonic convergence is coming and wants to impose order to stop Vaatu winning since the avatar is AWOL/not recovered. During the early part of S3 world leaders were warned about harmonic convergence but since it’s traditionally the avatar’s job to deal with spirits, nothing was really done.

· She’s actually making the problem worse.

· Team Avatar and the airbenders etc all fall on different sides of the ‘how to stop 10,000 years of darkness’ discussion, and without the avatar as a unifying voice, it’s making the problem worse.

· Most of the plot beats stay the same, but there is no giant robot shooting spirit plant lasers at things, because. Well. We’re not in Pacific Rim. Kuvira can still be forcing Varrick to build her superweapons, though, as a treat.

· The big finale finale is harmonic convergence. Vaatu manifests, stronger than last time because he’s been feeding on the chaos of the human world, and now there’s no Tree of Time to imprison him. What will Korra do next?

· The avatar cycle is broken. Kora wins, but at the cost of her connection with Raava, because Raava is the only one who can really control him in the end. Their struggle is eternal. Think Ed vs Truth at the end of FMA:B. All the experience of the past avatars feeds into Raava’s power and it counterbalances Vaatu, Korra lets go, and the two “destroy” each other locked together. The explosion of spirit energy brings about a new spiritual age. Maybe Korra keeps her waterbending, maybe she loses her bending entirely (which would be a nice bit of symmetry with the concerns of S1) but she still steps into the spirit portal with Asami at the end.

#legend of korra #lok #korra #avatar meta #legend of korra meta #lok meta #thanks brain #didn't need that sleep anyway

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greatkryptonitesheep · 3 years

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What If Aang killed Ozai

For all of you tumbler fans out there who love He-Man and the MOTU She-Ra and the Princesses of power and Avatar and Korra I’ve always thought since those shows are so popular at Netflix I always thought that at some point there will ever be a crossover between the 2 franchises but it would have to start with one question and that’s the purpose of this fanfic What If Aang killed Ozai and worst What if Aang betrayed Team Avatar and his Air Nomad oath basically it would have to start with Aang running away from the Earth Kingdom and going to the Fire Kingdom to fight Ozai the fight would go like in the show however it ends with a twist once Aang told Ozai that he would pay the ultimate price he proceeds to uses all of his power to ultimately and officially kill Ozai and then like in the show he energybends but once he unleashes his full power of the dark side Aang says one of the most popular phrases in pop culture history “ I Have The Power” while the classic He-man transformation theme song plays in the background. When Team Avatar finds out about this they’re all in shock once Aang tells everyone in the world that he is the Phoenix King he said that it won’t be enough for the Team Avatars since later in the story we will see Korras Team Avatar join in the final battle and shocking enough for anyone that’s a fan of this show he says that it won’t be enough for He-Man and the Masters of the Universe nor She-ra and the Princesses of Power to stop them and says that to prevent the coming crisis that’s coming that will merge Eternia and Etheria with Avatars world and if they want to kill him once and for all and put an end to the war they will have to become someone else they need to become something else they need to become the Masters of the Multiverse and that’s exactly what they’re gonna do young He-man and She ra are going to join the older He-Man and She-Ra from the 80s cartoon to team up with present day Team Avatar Korras Team Avatar which also includes Aang Katara Toph and Zukos kids among them Tenzin & Lin to help finish off the hundred year war but in order to do this they will have to divide in groups one group will have Catra, Glimmer Teela and Man at Arms to help Katara and Zuko defeat Azula Bow Entrapta Scorpia Orko the Sorceress of Castle Grayskull and a redeemed Evil-Lyn helping Sokka Toph and Suki take down the fire nation ships leaving Korras Team Avatar and all the nations which include people of Eternia and Etheria to stop half the Fire Nation soldiers while the other half will be fought by both He-Mans and all She-Ras and Avatars from past present and future and while they’re fighting older Aang watches and younger Aang tells him that it’s too late but older Aang says we’ll see about that leading to the climatic battle between both Aangs and while they hold each other while controlling their powers all the Fire Nation soldiers begin to weaken and while younger Aang says that he has all of the power in the world older Aang says that they and him have the power of Grayskull which then culminates in both Aangs dying but before older Aang is erased from existence he tells She-ra that she is the next avatar and tells her to promise him that he will train Korra to which She-ra accepts and therefore Korras Team Avatar and the future children and the future She-ras all erased from existence the rest will go just like at the end of Atla with Zukos speech however he also says that because of crisis both He-man and She-ras kingdoms have merged with their world and their now the future of the avatars the movie ends with Gimmer and Bow sharing a kiss taking Aang and Kataras place in the show He-man taking the throne of Eternia and She ra standing at Aangs statue with her sword ready to teach future avatars the franchises concludes 10 years later instead of 70 like in the original timeline with Katara having her children without Aang named Tenzin Kya and Bumi just like in the original Sokka and Toph having Mako and Bolín and Zuko and Suki having Asami and She-ra having Korra with a redeemed and human version of Hordak and therefore causing Korras powers to rise and She-ra telling her that her time has come and that she is the new avatar the end I really hope you guys like this and Netflix Dramworks Nickelodeon Kevin Smith Noelle Stevenson Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante Dimartino if you’re seeing this I really hope all of you come to a agreement to make this fanfic come true and FYI I want to see all of this in live action thank you and I hope all of you fans watch this and let me know what will your version of this fanfic be

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loopy777 · 4 years

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the big, big problem with airbending and korra, is the fact that in ATLA, we are told and shown over, and over again that the thing that defines airbending, is freedom. certainly, spirituality is a large part of it, but when push came to show, it was freedom and the ability to not be tied down by any one place, that was one of aangs strengths. its not a coincidence that the moment he loses this with appa, that everything goes wrong for him, and it turns around after their reunion.

by comparison, Korra is tied down to places throughout her entire life, and its not really before season 2 that this is no longer the case. she's tied down to the south pole, tenzins home, to republic city. the girl has never in her life, known true, freedom, with the very, very brief exception of between south pole and republic city. if i had been writing the story, this one brief period, i would have had korra for the first time in her life being able to airbend, showing she was finally free.

then have her immediatly lose this brief single window of progress once she comes to republic city, and once again shackles herself to a place, one that ironically was made to train new air nomads. have this be a source of anger for her, and a point of anger towards tenzin as he obviously(in her view) is doing something wrong, as she lost the little progress she made, while under his tutolage. have tenzin struggle not knowing what he's doing wrong, as he hasnt encountered this problem before.

then at the end of the season, korra realises that the problem isnt tenzin's training, but the scars her isolated and completely sheltered upbringing had on her, leading her to decide to actually travel the world, and learn what it is like to just live. then have season 2 start in the middle of that, korra is resentful against the white lotus and her father, but she is finally starting to learn airbending on her own, and is ready for the spiritual step, and as such goes to her uncle to learn...

then have season 2 be about how korra is now trying to learn the spirtual aspects of being the avatar, and chooses a terrible choice for a teacher, as she simply doesnt trust the white lotus to either train her, or help her find a trainer. this could be a great source of conflict, as tenzin could have had an arc, with him realising how stupid the way korra was raised was, and him trying to make ammends, with the two only reconciling at the very end of the season.

I like a lot of what this is doing, especially that you’re dramatizing the sense of freedom that Korra needs to attain.

I think this concept could be linked more directly to what the cartoon was trying to do, though, by making Republic City itself into the symbol/manifestation of Korra’s need for freedom. Air Temple Island itself could be the place where she doesn’t feel the freedom, but those early episodes -- where Korra was fighting crooks and running from cops and sneaking away for Probending and hunting down Equalists -- I think do a good job of showing the kind of freedom she needs and wants. Perhaps those kinds of adventures could lead to her spontaneously Airbending to her surprise, but in such a way that there are no witnesses and she’s not sure if she actually did it. Mako or some other compatriot could have been looking away for a second and assumed something else knocked over that crate or caused the Triad attacker to trip, or something. So we could get a moment where Korra laments Airbending being invisible and doubts her abilities when she goes back to Tenzin in the temple and then can’t Airbend again.

She could even lose the sense of freedom she gets from Republic City when the Equalists start really rising up and the authorities rise up against them.

...

Oooooooh, so maybe the big climax where she Airbends unmistakably against Amon could be not to save Mako, but an action to somehow save the city? Perhaps she keeps Amon from setting off a bomb by remote or something; obviously the whole finale would have to be restructured to accommodate this moment. The story could even play up some location in the city that’s symbolic of its ‘good’ side (other than the Probending arena, if we keep the earlier assault on it), and that’s where Amon is going to do his final big damage.

Anyway, those are my unformed thoughts, but I really do like the idea of making spiritual freedom into the crux of Airbending. Perhaps something could even be uncovered that showed that Airbending ability diminished among the Nomad Elders of Aang’s time as the threat of the Fire Nation grew more apparent, hence their heavy investment in training Aang to fight.

And Korra’s background is perfectly setup for this to be a major theme of her story. It could even be tied into her romance with Asami, and the freedom to act on her feelings. The cartoon tried to eventually say it was about Korra learning compassion, but I never felt like that was a problem for her.

Dang, I really wish the LoK creative team had the time/chance to do another few drafts on their overall story before starting the scripting. There were so many good elements in play, and it was just never brought together.

#thekingofwinterblog

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bloodieash · 3 years

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oc trope challenge feb 10- accidental kiss

Nova carefully slid another bobby pin into her hair. Her hair was short enough there wasn’t really anything she could do with it. But she’d curled it and had placed a snowflake studded tiara on top of her head, holding it in place with tiny braids and bobby pins. She supposed it looked alright for a homecoming-esque dance. She actually wasn’t sure what the occasion was, just that it was an occasion with a dress code. One she hoped she met.

Nova tugged self consciously at the hem of her dress. It was a pale blue knee length strapless dress with beaded snowflakes sewn into the skirt and lace snowflakes across the bodice.

God, why had she agreed to this? She’d gone to her fair share of dances and parties and high school and they’d all ended really badly, especially for her. Of course she’d also gotten her fair share of hits in so, maybe this one wouldn’t end like the rest.

Only practiced self control kept Nova from raking her hand through her hair. She’d already spent longer than usual on it and she was not ruining her hard work. Nova held the sides of her skirt tightly in her hands, almost worried she’d tear the fabric.

She had to distract herself. She left the bathroom and padded barefoot back to the dorm. She knocked and when she didn’t hear anything entered. No one was in the room. Everyone else was probably getting ready for the dance.

Nova knelt next to the trunk full of all her worldly possessions. Or at least most of them. She dug around for a little bit until she found black strappy heels that would go okay with the dress. She pulled them out and set them aside for later. Then she pulled out a pouch with the dragon necklace Aunt Kara had picked her up in D.C. On the way back from a dig. She put on the necklace before pulling off the amulet she never took off.

“Sorry Mom and Dad. Just going for a theme right now.” Still she slipped the amulet in the small snowflake shaped cross body back she’d already decided she was taking with her. She closed the trunk and climbed to her feet carefully. She sat on top of the trunk so she could pull on the shoes.

She’d just finished buckling the little straps when the door was thrown open with a loud clatter.

“Help!” Bolin shouted.

Nova jumped to her feet, teetering a little on the unfamiliar feeling of stilettos. “What’s up?” She asked. There needed to be someone with a cool head in any situation and clearly it wasn’t going to be Bolin in this particular situation.

“Tie or no tie?”

“No tie.”

“Red or blue?”

“Red.”

“Does my hair look okay?”

Nova was trying hard not to laugh. “Yes, you’re hair is fine. Are you done freaking out?”

“I have every reason to be freaking out.”

“Nah you don’t. If Opal didn’t want to go with you she wouldn’t have said yes now would she?”

Bolin huffed and dropped into the chair by the desk. “Why are you always so logical?”

Nova shrugged. “Someone has to be. But if you’d rather I could always ask Korra.”

Bolin’s face scrunched as he thought about it. “Korra’s fun and all but I don’t know how good she’d be as a voice of reason.”

Nova nodded with a triumphant grin. “Exactly. Come on.” She crossed the room and pulled Bolin to his feet. “I think we should find everyone else before it’s time.” Personally Nova just wanted pictures of her whole friend group together before everything inevitably imploded. Of which she had no doubt it would.

“Last time I saw Mako he was still fighting with the hairdresser.”

Nova facepalmed. She couldn’t help it. Mako liked to play the serious card, but he was just as if not more ridiculous as the rest of them. Nova swore Asami was the only sane one out of the five of them.

“We can at least find Korra and Asami then. And who knows, maybe Mako’s with them, just being awkward.” Because Mako had dated both Asami and Korra and both relationships had ended badly. Now Korra and Asami were dating each other.

Bolin laughed as Nova led them out of the dorm and across the building towards Korra and Asami’s dorm. Nova knocked on the door and was told to come in by Korra.

Nova entered the room and gasped at Korra and Asami. Asami was in a floor length backless ruby colored dress with her hair piled and curled atop her head, held back with black flower hairpins. Korra wore dark blue pants paired with a paler blue sleeveless button down. Like Nova’s Korra’s hair was too short to do much with but it had been pulled back in a part up part down pinned with a butterfly shaped clip.

“Wow. You guys are beautiful.” Nova said in awe.

“Yeah.” Bolin agreed.

Korra smiled. “You guys too.”

Nova smiled back as she tugged at her skirt a little.

“Where’s Mako?” Asami wondered.

“We were hoping you guys had seen him.” Bolin replied.

Which undoubtedly meant they were going to have to save Mako from himself. Nova turned, ready to go after Mako. Bolin still had to find where Opal was. They were supposed to go to the dance together after all.

“Hey guys!” Mako shouted as he rushed into the room, bumping into Bolin who’d still been in the doorway since Nova hadn’t moved much further into the room.

And Bolin crashed into Nova. And of course it would be lip to lip. It was a really good thing Nova had practice with being rational. She broke the not really kiss and moved quickly around Bolin and Mako. She needed air.

#ocappreciation #oc trope challenge #oc trope challenge 2021 #legend of korra oc #lok oc #legend of korra #legend of korra au #ba sing se university au

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abigailnussbaum · 4 years

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She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, S5

Overall I’d say this was the best season since the first one, and the ending it gives the story is a satisfying and moving one. I really liked how the show gestures back at some canonical She-Ra concepts - the rebels hiding out in the Whispering Woods, for example - while at the same time doing things that are completely outside the original canon’s scope - She-Ra in Space! And I thought the ensemble was well-used, main characters, side characters, and antagonists all getting their own storylines and resolutions in a way that isn’t easy with such a wide cast of characters, but was handled with elegance.

But look, if you’ve read anything I’ve written or tweeted about this show over the last four seasons, you know I have fundamental issues with how it chooses to direct its storytelling and characterization energies. It doesn’t come as much of a surprise that the concluding season didn’t address most of those issues. A big part of that is that the show I wanted She-Ra to be clearly wasn’t the one Stevenson and her team were making, and that’s fine. But I find it genuinely strange that of the three series that are obvious thematic and emotional successors to Avatar: The Last Airbender - She-Ra, The Legend of Korra, and The Dragon Prince - none of them reach the same heights of plotting and characterization, and at least in She-Ra’s case I think this is rooted in an unwillingness to complicate a rather simplistic central theme.

(Also, at least part of the problem has to be that the show’s five-season, 52-episode run spanned only seventeen months. Even if you add in the production period for the first season, that’s a truly bonkers schedule that must have told in the depth and complexity of the final product.)

Take Catra, for example. If you’d asked me where I thought her storyline was going before watching the season, I would have said pretty confidently that she was going to get at least some level of redemption story. After all, her situation at the end of S4 perfectly positions her to switch sides by stripping her of all the things she thought she wanted and placing her in a precarious position that she might not be able to talk or manipulate her way out of. The season premiere establishes those facts even further by making Horde Prime a literal monomaniacal monster. And yeah, it’s pretty clever that in a series that places so much emphasis on the importance of friendship as the path towards moral growth, the villain is narcissism personified, a person who has no use for others except as they reflect himself, and subjugate themselves entirely to his will. So it’s not surprising that, finally cut off from any realistic path towards power and made to feel her own vulnerability, Catra would finally start doing some soul-searching and realize how badly she’d treated the people who cared about her.

(Though if you’ll allow me a snide moment, I can’t help but point out that in the Best Redemption Story Ever, Zuko actually gets all the power and approval he’d thought he wanted before realizing that it means nothing without his honor and self-respect. I think we all know that if Catra had gotten a position of power from Horde Prime, she would have felt no loyalty towards Adora and Etheria, and helped him to conquer them.)

Similarly, I think I would have given you better odds than even that the series would end with some romantic storyline between Catra and Adora. And I don’t want to downplay the importance of depicting a story like that - before the end of the season I found myself wondering why Bow and Glimmer’s romance was being depicted so chastely, before realizing that the writers wanted the first kiss on the show to be between two women. I respect that impulse and the representation the show ends up delivering - we’ve come a long way from Korra and Asami holding hands at the end of their show. But at the same time, I can’t help but feel that the way that the show arrives at this point requires a significant rewriting of Catra’s personality and character arc, not to mention the history of her relationship with Adora.

As the fifth season argues it, the root of Catra’s resentment of Adora is romantic disappointment. She complains that “Adora doesn’t want me. Not the way I want her”, and leaves the team when Adora decides to risk her life by destroying the Heart of Etheria because she takes it as a personal rejection. But this is, to say the least, a massive whitewashing of what we’ve seen of Catra and Adora’s past relationship. In flashbacks, particularly the ones from S4, it’s made clear that even when they were on the same wavelength, Catra and Adora’s friendship was toxic and dysfunctional. Catra may have always loved Adora, but it was a selfish love, one that saw Adora as an instrument for the validation of Catra’s confidence and self-image, and denied her any opportunity for pursuing her own interests and desires.

There’s room for a story about Catra growing past that selfishness and learning to love generously and openly, of course, but we don’t get that story in S5. When Catra complains that in sacrificing herself for Etheria, Adora is refusing to want things for herself, it’s not an honest character moment. Catra has never cared what Adora wants - in fact, her refusal to acknowledge Adora’s right to make her own choices and take a path in life that left Catra behind has been the crux of their enmity since the series premiere. Having her suddenly change tunes doesn’t feel organic, but like a parachuted-in personality transplant.

To put it back in ATLA terms, Catra was never Zuko. Adora is Zuko - someone raised with bad principles who nevertheless has enough innate compassion, and a powerful moral compass, that with a little support - emotional or magical - they can break through their indoctrination and become a hero. Catra is Azula - obsessed with power, possessed of very little compassion for others, and, most importantly, seriously emotionally unbalanced. I’m not saying someone like that can’t be helped and can’t become a better person, but it takes a great deal more than what the last season of She-Ra has given us.

Meanwhile, if you look at Adora’s storyline, on one level it gives us what I’ve wanted for a while. I’ve complained a lot about how Adora has remained static throughout the middle seasons of the show while other characters - Glimmer, Catra, Scorpia - got character arcs and changed meaningfully. One effect of that has been to create a strange disconnect between the show’s central themes and its main character. In a story that is supposedly all about the importance of friendship and personal connections, the heroine is someone who achieves her heroic destiny by rejecting those connections in favor of a more global morality, and who then had to struggle with balancing her sense of global responsibility with personal attachments - to Glimmer and Bow as much as to Catra.

The fifth season finally circles back to these ideas and places Adora at its center. I thought her conversation with Mara about having the right to be more than She-Ra, and to do more with her life than sacrifice it for others, was a really powerful moment. I just feel like, once again, the foundation wasn’t laid for it. First because Adora’s growth has been mostly ignored during the intervening three seasons, and second because this is a character arc that clashes with the show’s friendship-above-all message in ways that aren’t really acknowledged.

When you think about it, the moments when Adora has been the most herself are the ones when she rejects toxic friendship and stands up for herself - in her confrontations with Catra, especially over the course of the first season, and when she defies Glimmer’s decision to use the Heart of Etheria and the end of S4 and destroys the sword. So to the already complicated issue of where to draw the line between the things you want for yourself and the things you owe others, you add the thorny matter of when to detach yourself from toxic friends who see you only as a means to an end. Except that She-Ra never really grapples with this extra wrinkle - and again, Catra’s hasty personality transplant plays into this, because we get to pretend that the only problem she and Adora ever had was romantic miscommunication.

In a season that is all about putting aside differences and personal grievances to fight for a common cause, there is a refreshing number of instances that remind us that those grievances are still relevant - the fact that nobody will ever really trust Shadow Weaver, for example, or the other princesses calling Entrapta out on her seeming indifference to the consequences of her actions (though in this case, and yet again, Entrapta’s neuroatypicality is used as a get-out-of-jail-free card from taking personal responsibility). Even Glimmer gets to spend a bit of time in the dog house, at the same time that she and Bow work together and save each other’s lives. But once again, when it comes to the main character, we can’t let pesky matters like a lifetime of toxic friendship get in the way of a happy ending in which lesbian love conquers all.

There was a good story to be told here, one that could have easily ended up in the same place as the series actually did. But it required actually delving into the complexity of a character like Adora, and dealing honestly with the problems in her relationship with Catra. She-Ra ends - as it did throughout it run - by choosing to paper over those difficulties in favor of a friendship-conquers-all message that is a great deal less convincing.

(Also, am I wrong or are there a lot of loose ends still? I don’t think we ever find out who Adora was, what Greyskull is, and what She-Ra actually is.)

#she-ra and the princesses of power #season 5 #is a good season overall #and i had no reason to expect #that the show would suddenly prioritize #the things i wanted it to be #over the things it always was #but i can't help but regret #the better and more complex show we could have had #if there had been any willingness #to complicate the very simple message at its core

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fanwright · 4 years

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Fanwright’s Five! (... other ships besides Sokkla)

@gd2go2 - Very late with this. Apologies.

So, I have five other ships I like as well. Some are more recent than others, some have been near and dear to me for a long time, and some might even surprise you. Here are just a few ships that like, in no particular order of importance.

1.] Alita and Yugo - Battle Angel Alita

This is closest I've ever come across to a cyberpunk Romeo and Juliet story. Besides the couple themselves, this manga (and OVA) solidified my love for the cyberpunk genre and showed me that one could tell story within a dystopian future that could revolve around a tragic love story. There is a reason why the recent live action adaption was made with their particular story arc in mind. Its about a cyborg girl with a mysterious past trying to find her place in a cruel world, about a hard working and desperate boy who’s just trying to find a better life beyond the slums.

Its young love, sometimes innocent, and sometimes gritty, and ultimately tragic. Their story hit me hard and harsh lessons were learned by the main character. Alita became a more mature yet embittered girl after Yugo lost his life, but she kept on going all the same. She met other men, but Yugo, I like to think, continues to hold a special place in her cybernetic heart. Its not a story that’s going to win Oscars, but but man, did it really click with me.

They’re very sweet with each other and on a few occasions they even address the fact about how odd their relationship is. Alita can’t actually feel his hands when they touch. Yugo even comments on the fact that their first kiss was electric. Literally. Like kissing a battery. It got me thinking about how relationships with a few physical hiccups can be possible, but also that they can be overcome in unique ways. As you can probably tell, the little moments between them really resonated with me. Its just very sweet.

2.] Dio and Luciola - Last Exile

Yes, those are two guys. And yes, that would make this a gay ship. In fact its probably only one of two that I ship seriously, the other being Korra with Asami. Surprised? So was I. So let me me explain.

These two have a very interesting relationship. They’re technically childhood friends, but they first met as master and servant. The blonde guy, Luciola, is a servant to the white haired guy, Dio Eraclea. He’s essentially like a one-man retinue for Dio. And Dio is a kind of prince from a mysterious faction called “The Guild” who have a monopoly on technology in the world of Last Exile. Since they were young Dio and Lucciola were inseparable. There are strong hints that their relationship goes beyond being just close friends and its actually very touching to learn in its own way. Dio is very carefree, a bit childish and spoiled, and also sort of enigmatic. Luciola is very quiet, sober, and expressionless, often the voice of calm and reason for Dio.

They have a weird charm that really resonated with me, being both oddly funny yet extremely loyal to each other. They actually got me to thinking that its okay to ship gay ships like this, even if I myself am not gay. If I have no qualms about lesbian ships why should I have qualms about gay ships that I happen to like? Its a learning experience. It is what it is. Same-sex fictional ships don’t really resonate with me, but this one did.

... also Luciola died trying to protect Dio. That kinda sucked. This would be the second ship to have someone die in it.

3.] Jack and Ashi - Samurai Jack

When Samurai Jack was announced to be making a comeback for a final season, I was overjoyed. I had never thought in a million years that the show would ever make a comeback after it was dropped. It was last hurrah for a solid show and I was totally on board with seeing how it would end.

It did not disappoint me. Not one single bit. And if anything reignited my love for this show all over again. Even more so, it actually had a coherent story to follow and really did pull at my emotional stings in some places. Jack finally got to go back home and defeat Aku and he had some help along the way, from one of Aku’s daughters even - Ashi. Yes, Ashi actually a daughter of Aku and its just as disturbing to imagine as you might think.

Jack and Ashi’s journey could be said to be one of the emotional driving forces of this final season. They started off as true enemies, with Jack actually having to kill Ashi’s sisters. She was honestly spared almost by chance. And the deaths actually weighed on Jack a lot, with Ashi bearing witness to an internal struggle that nearly concluded in Jack ending his own life. It was only narrowly avoided with the help of Ashi. It was honestly such an emotional roller coaster ride to see. and the payoff with them getting together and getting married was so good, along with Jack finally going back home after all the harrowing adventures he went through. It was great!

... but then Ashi died because of some time travel mumbo-jumbo shit and that made Jack really sad. I’m still salty about it. I’m starting to see a theme with the ships I like so far lol.

4.] McCree and Asche - Overwatch

Cowboy and Cowgirl. I just... I just really dig it. Its an awesome aesthetic. They sweat bullets and bleed whiskey and they’re like a futuristic Spaghetti Western couple with a bit of history together. I just really like that and I dig it.

I have no in-depth reason for liking this ship. I just do and I love it. Heheheh.

5.] Jaune and Pyrrha - RWBY

This one is a recent ship that really captured my interest as I rewatch the show. RWBY has been a show I’ve been able to follow only very erratically, but from what I’ve seen so far its been a very solid show for me. And I also like the personalties of these two a lot, as well as how they play off each other and how the develop a relationship. Pyrrha takes inspiration from Achilles, while Jaune takes inspiration from Joan of Arc. I’m still trying to get to know them as properly rewatch the show, but I definitely like them together. Its a nice couple.

And yes, to those who already know, I know Pyrrha dies. It seems to be a running theme with the ships I like on this list unfortunately. Its not like I pick these to torture myself! I never wanted her to die anyway!

... seriously why do all these ships on my list have deaths in them!

Anyway, there is my list of five. These aren’t my only other ships of course, I more less chose them at random.

#Battle Angel Alita #Samurai Jack #Last Exile #RWBY #Overwatch

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graveyard-tales · 4 years

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Okay, supernatural (not the show) au!

Bolin is bitten by a werewolf as a kid.

Mako and Bolin have been lucky that they’ve been placed in a foster home together but they’re both away of the very real possibility that they could be separated in the future. So they sneak, steal and hoard away what they can until they finally run away and try living on the edge of the city which borders the woods. Dun Dun Dun, they’re attacked and Bolin is bit.

Panic - hospital - found - separated, but not too far. I don’t know who their separate foster (or perhaps adopted) families are but they don’t have the closest eye on Mako. He spends every moment he can with his brother, even sneaking into Bolin’s foster home to stay the night with him whether or not the adults want him to.

Bolin knows he’s a werewolf, he doesn’t know how and Mako tries and tries to tell him otherwise but he just knows. And he panics when it’s close to the full moon until he can get Mako to promise to lock him up in the woods. Obviously Mako is like “what the fuck, no” but he ends up caving in just to help Bolin relax. Come full moon they sneak out and Mako “chains” him to a tree. (near where they were attacked, they’re young boys, they’re not the smartest)

In this au werewolves are not completely out of control and unaware so Bolin doesn't out right try to kill Mako. But he’s young so he’s wild and not in complete control either and both of them are scared.

In comes grumpy old senior wolf, Toza! (He’s not the one who bit Bo.) Who basically like “fuck ... this is not my responsibility” but he can’t just turn a blind eye to poor little Bolin and his freaking out older brother either. Toza sort of takes Bolin under his wing and by extension Mako. So their eyes are open to the world of magic and monster.

Realizing he is completely helpless in protecting his brother, pesters Toza to teach him all he can about magic. Toza not knowing a lick of magic sort of guides Mako in the right direction. And in that direction Mako find Zolt.

Toza is like “what, no, fuck, not him” but Mako’s in it now and it’s not like Toza really has any other suggestion. (Zolt may or may not play a bigger part in the story because of this.)Mako is more or less self taught in magic. Zolt isn’t exaction going to hold his hand and he’s not going to be patient. He’s not teaching for free either, not sure what the price is but it’s probably not ethical.

Fast forward, Mako has guardianship over Bolin they live in the shabby apartment that Toza live in. Mako mostly does maintenance and handy jobs while Bolin works with people like at a cafe or at a pet store. (Bolin is also 17 and his job options are limited.)((Also Toza is the school janitor, I thought about gym teacher but naw. Bolin is liked by others well enough but also known as the weird kid who spends his lunch with the janitor.))

Asami has a slight interest in the supernatural but she doesn’t actually believe in all that stuff. Her mother was killed in a burglary gone wrong and that’s all she knows. She sort of blocked out that magic fire killed her mother, and father never corrected her. He keeps his studies and hate of the occult close to his chest.)

Asami and Mako had a thing in this au and it wasn’t bad but Mako still has all his crap he needs to work through and doesn’t provide emotionally in a way that Asami craves and needs so they ended it. On much better, less awkward terms than in canon. (Not to mention Mako keeps his magic and more importantly Bolin’s secret close to his chest and has trust issues which is a problem for any relationship.)

They are since great friends and she’s the cheer captain of team “go to collage Mako we all know you want to”. Bolin is co captain. He keeps putting it off saying that he needs to take care of Bolin and that it’s too expensive.

I can’t decide on Korra. What the Avatar with equate to in this world. Maybe Korra isn’t “special” in the world at all but in still born into it. She might be some sort of elemental (water of course), or a medium of some sorts to still associate her with spirits. I don’t have a reason why she moved to Republic City yet.

Korra’s either in her last leg of high school or just graduated (depending on the time of yeah in the story I guess.) Korra and Mako sort of have this mutual “attraction” but it doesn’t actually go anywhere. They’re young and dumb af but have just enough sense to realize that arguing with each other 40 to 60% of the time isn’t a good basis for a relationship.

Bolin jokes about being a werewolf all the time. Like, every chance he gets even in subtle ways that people might not get. So Korra being born into that world realizes pretty quick that Bolin and Mako are playing on her side of the fence. Bolin and Korra are like ... lets tell Asami, it’s cool, she’s our friend. Mako is the only one who is like lets ... not???? ‘Cause you know, paranoid.

To be fair Toza drilled into their heads about people who hate and hunt folk like them. Bolin took it in stride as he does and Mako locked it among his issues, as he does. Korra also had these lessons but she’s in her reckless “god can’t kill me” phase of her life.

Not telling Asami does put them at odds with her a bit, she’s not an idiot and can tell that they’re keeping things from her. It’s not weird coming from Mako, she’s use to aversion to any sort of vulnerability but it starts to become so obvious when it comes to Korra and Bolin. Eventually she gives them no choice but to tell her. When Mako isn’t there of course, not that it matters because she runs to Mako immediately after because she can catch him off guard and he wouldn’t lie to her if she demands the truth.

Depending on what Korra ends up being, Mako is also the more equip to present small examples of magic at least.

Of course the moment she wraps her head around it, Asami is in it 110%. She is researching, asking them questions, trying to be the best supportive friend they have. As she does. It’s also when she realizes that some of the all collections of her fathers aren’t all just rare little pointless knick-knacks but she chalks it up to nothing.

Idk much about the other characters.

Opal frequents the cafe that Bolin works at. They’ve got a whole cute mushy thing going on.

Mako is repressed bi disaster of course. Possibly aro, it depends on my mood.

Obviously Korra and Asami are crushing on each other in that “we just great friends, the best, like sister, just the closest ........... fuck” kind of way. Cause why not get some hopeless gay pining up in this bitch. (I sort of like Korra realizing she’s a lesbian. Like this story aside, she has a realization that her attraction to Mako was less “oh he’s hot” and more “oh he’s cool and I want to be his friend”. And the older she gets the more she really only has attraction to women and had thought she was bi but then later identified as lesbian.)

Maaaybe Amon and whoever the fuck his brother, what’s his face, are vampires???? Keep a semblance of the blood theme.

Maybe the Beifong’s are hunters? Like, not “rah, gotta kill everything that’s not human” kind of stupid but keep the people whacked up on supernatural juice in check and from killing a ton of people just because they can. Maybe not all of them, like perhaps Su is very pro monsters and their rights and thinks they should live and let live while Lin is still all about order and no one, human, monsters or otherwise should be above the regulations and laws. So Su start hanging around the monster and magic crowed, and the not the best kind, which put the sisters at odds in this story.

I kept hoping that the more I typed, the more I’d figure things out ... But all this set up and I still can’t find me a plot.

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0marzipan · 4 years

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Legend of Korra Books 1-2

I watched Avatar the Last Airbender and loved it. I really don’t have much to say on it because it hits emotional points well and everyone else can speak on what I love about it. I knew coming into this that no on considers it to be as good as the Last Airbender, but it was surprising for me how easy it was to spot what was different about it and why it doesn’t land as well.

Avatar the Last Airbender was strongly feminist. It was powerful and moving and showed a great dynamic of women and their strength in the main narrative that followed through in every aspect of the plot. Legend of Korra fails to carry this once you look past Korra and Asami.

Cheif Beifong on the surface is a very strong and powerful female character, but as soon as she becomes a character who was slighted by Teinzen, it is used to rob her of her strength and femininity. She becomes the bitter old woman who can’t get over the past and thus her strength and influence mean nothing to the plot anymore. In fact, most problems can point to the way relationships are used to define female characters as the problem. The fact that only the female members of the family seemed interested in Korra’s interest in romance (and how that defined them as characters for the first season). The fact that Asami was basically a romantic plot point to get money and influence on team Avatar. The fact that the team they easily defeat as pro-benders was all-female and the team they couldn’t beat was all male (when bending does a lot to equal the playing field). When all the characters making major decisions in the plot were male and Korra has to rebel to make her own decisions. When the two bad guys end up being brothers torn apart by their relationship with their father. Terribly anti-feminist.

I loved pro-bending and how it showed perfectly that sometimes you need to use pupil’s interests to help them learn a topic. I’ll be honest that I did enjoy the Amon conflict and the worry that the counsel was controlled by Amon. I found Amon to be a powerful and scary villain. I honestly feel like his backstory robbed him of his power. The real let-down in season one was the fact that it wasn’t as feminist as Avatar the Last Airbender.

I think the easiest way to fix that would’ve been to have Teinzen actually be a woman. The only thing that would need to change would be where Teinzen avoids capture by being in labor. I also think that then the Beifong-Teinzen dynamic would be more powerful because Teinzen broke up with her because she needed to continue the airbending line. It would also be a fun tie in to the future Korra and Asami relationship that I’m looking forward to. I also think this means that Beifong should have a secret girlfriend that we can meet later on. Anyway, this fix wouldn’t solve all the problems and plot holes, it would’ve simply felt a lot more feminist with a female-Teinzen being in on all the decisions and control that is not given as freely to female characters.

Season Two: Once again, the conflict was about troubled brothers fighting each other. The twin children of Unalaq were absolutely terrible (including the relationship problems that was very abusive and a female character was doing it to a male character which meant that it was funny and not a SERIOUS problem). I also think that the Verrick plot wasn’t thought out thoroughly enough because it is one thing to want to profit off a war and another thing to use violence to encourage a war that the President really should have supported the invaded nation...also the President’s reason for not supporting them because he needs to defend the city from the spirits seemed out of place when it wasn’t played up that anyone outside of Unalaq felt they were a real threat....which reminds me of the weird thing where once the audience knows something every character in the show seems to know it, removing all dramatic tension or just showing up as terrible writing (which goes along with Korra conveniently forgetting that Mako broke up that was played just for drama).

Season two suffers from the same pretend feminist problems but then adds the overused trope of light versus dark. I understand that they tried to take a different approach than our usual light versus dark and talk about how both need to exist for there to be balance....but the narrative negates all of that and pushes to the traditional western of light = good and dark = bad and must be defeated. As soon as there was a dark avatar and it was clear the call was to destroy him, all of that balance discussion is thrown out the window. They should have avoided making him get that far, have him be destroyed to show that wasn’t the real intent, or let him stick around and be the advocate for the spirit portals to remain open and be a player in advocating for spirit rights in the human world.

Honestly, the best fix would have been to avoid the light vs dark conflict completely. Have the north invade the south. Have either Verrick or the evil northern tribe leader be the one influencing spirits to come in the world and be evil (just don’t have brothers as the conflict again). Have the fight be for the spirit world’s safety as much as it is for the human world because the influence of the evil leader is corrupting the good spirits. Then you can even close the season with the connection of the spirit world to the human world (if that holds any plot relevance as it doesn’t seem to have in the few episodes I watched in season three) and have something in the spirit world affect her connection to the previous avatars (some tricky deal or touching the wrong tree or an effect of the misty valley of lost souls). It also was very slow...which is likely why I won’t be watching it again.

I think the reason Legend of Korra doesn’t resonate as well as Avatar the Last Airbender is because of the inconsistency between what the narrative is telling us is the theme and what the rest of the story is saying. Sure, a strong female avatar and a strong female friend are great characters, but the feminism doesn’t go beyond there. The backstory of the Avatar speaks of how light and dark both need to exist, but then you align the Avatar with the light and have the Avatar defeat the dark spirit both as a man and a woman. Themes only work if they carry through to every level of the story.

#legend of korra #ramblings

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armageddon-generation · 6 years

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Fixing The Legend of Korra - Book 4

AGAIN THIS IS A SOLID SEASON, SO THIS IS MOSTLY JUST CHARACTER STUFF – I ALSO VEER INTO FULL-ON FANFIC AT A FEW POINTS, BUT FUCK IT

I also need to thank @threehoursfromtroy for being a huge inspiration, especially with the korrasami dynamic - you’ll notice I magpied a bunch of ideas from her amazing fics.

Book 1, Book 2, Book 3,

KUVIRA

FUCKING CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT – let’s fully explore her reasoning for leaving Zoafu (the White Lotus is pretty much done, the Dai Li have been disbanded but now they’re individual warlords ruling over Ba Sing Se as a city state, the airbenders are still rookies and she sees them getting injured)

Emphasise the familial connections between Kuvira and the Beifongs – playing sports with Wing and Wei, falling for Bataar Jr.

Besides Bataar, have her be closest to Opal. They were both outsiders – the non-bender and the unofficial adoptee, but Opal, as the only non-bender in a family of historically famous benders, was also jealous of Kuvira the metalbending prodigy, who appeared to be everything Su wanted in a daughter. Kuvira was similarly jealous of Opal, the biological daughter who was doted on despite not doing anything to ‘earn’ it. This complicated relationship evolved into their bitter hatred of each other

Have Kuvira’s isolation in Zoafu parallel Korra’s in the South from Book 1

Without Korra there to push them forwards, everyone has started backsliding – In Kuvira Bolin has found a Korra-surrogate to rely upon instead of taking responsibility for himself (this is the same reason, ironically enough, he was attracted to Eska – she controlled him and he could hide behind her – something a more mature Eska is able to see when they meet at the Corniation)

EARTH EMPIRE

Let’s see Bolin leading the charge clearing out Ba Sing Se, and Kuvira liberating the city and defeating the Dia Li (who are trying to establish their own control of Ba Sing Se as an independent city-state) for good

Explore the apparatus of the Empire a touch more – the propaganda recruitment system – how does fascism work?

Have Raiko supply troops to Su so he doesn’t look like a complete fool. That way when she defeats Zaofu and sees Raiko violated her terms, Kuvira has a legitimate reason to go after Republic City

Also, can we make the Battle of Zoafu a proper siege once they break the ceasefire? Avatar does Helm’s Deep? Pretty please? Kuvira knows all the city’s defences as former Head of the Gaurd, so let’s demonstrate her tactical prowess dissecting the domes’ weaknesses. And have some of Zaofu’s defenders start siding with Kuvira (people she used to command etc), fighting amongst themselves to give her an easier victory

When the Beifongs are captured they go through the camp system, so we get to explore it – take inspiration from true stories and films like Life is Beautiful –The other prisoners either hate them for giving up, hate them for creating Kuvira, or look up to them as their only hope. But in the end they’re just a family trying to hold together on the brink.

Bring in the Red Lotus members hiding across the world – they start trying to move against Kuvira from the shadows. They are the strongest chance the world has against Kuvira without Korra, and Raiko’s willingness to accept their help (as the shady politician) shows how desperate the situation is – Korra needs to step in

ASAMI (& KORRASAMI)

The best part about Korrasami is how opposite they are – The non-bender figurehead, The bender figurehead. Traddition vs innovation, spirituality vs technology, idealism vs realism, faith vs strategic calculation – Asami should by all means be a supervillain, but she’s just too good a person. Play into that divide and conflict in Book 4

Asami is keeping herself dangerously busy, between helping the Equalists and managing the spirits living in the city that are against her industrial company

Without Korra, Asami felt lonely and vulnerable. To compensate for a world without Korra, (much like Kuvira) Asami secretly develops plans for super weapons inspired by a combination of her father’s old Equalist designs – these weapons are designed to artificially replicate bending attacks on the scale of the Avatar state – Seismic waves, artificial flooding, firebombing, weaponised wind machines etc. She has prototypes developed

This gives her attempts to re-connect with Hiroshi more weight – she’s lost, and reviewing his old work makes her feel closer to him than she has in years – she thinks she’s beginning to understand what he went through when her mom died.

When Korra returns the weapons cause major conflict between them – especially when undercover Red Lotus steal Asami’s plans (exploiting their new connection with Raiko) and attempt to use protypes to ambush Kuvira – causing an all-out battle

Because the protypes were so hastily assembled they don’t work particularly well and cause chaos – Team Avatar has to jump in and save as many from the crossfire as they can, and Korra has to ignore a chance to fight Kuvira – they then have to leave the people to be taken by Kuvira, because they can’t save all of them.

These weapons would be key to Korra’s arc, as she doesn’t yet trust or have full control over the Avatar State again – she’s fighting that power as recreated by the person she cares most about, compounding the themes of Korra confronting herself

Kuvira uses the weapons the same way Korra used to use the Avatar state – wantonly and without thought, causing mass destruction.

Kuvira defeats the Red Lotus and takes Asami’s weapons for herself (Asami is horrified – she has indirectly become what her Father was to the Equalists. Varrick is being more morally upstanding than her.)

Korrasami is not smooth sailing in this book – both of them are aware they love each other, but they also have to deal with their own shit first. Korra’s time away let them build up perfect, imaginary versions of each other. Asami needs to stop idolising Korra (the same mistake Hiroshi made with her mom) and Korra needs to stop idolising Asami (as I felt the original show tended to do)

In the finale, Korra is the one to get Hiroshi out of jail, because Asami needs to move past his shadow – the repentant Hiroshi comforts her and assures her she is better than him. So much like her mother. He also expresses gentle approval of Korra before he dies.

Asami is the woman in the chair in the finale, simultaneously helping with the hummingbird suits and coaching the United Republic Forces (Hi, General Iroh) through how to defeat the artificial bending weapons.

I don’t know if it’s feasible, but I think reuniting the OG Team Avatar (Toph, Katara and Zuko) as three of the most powerful benders in the world (plus Zuko has a dragon) against these things the same way the White Lotus took back Ba Sing Se in ATLA would be really cool

The series ends not with the culmination of a relationship a la ATLA, but the tentative beginning of one

MAKO

Mako has let himself become consumed by his work – the only one to visit him is Kai, who’s filling in Bolin’s spot as little brother. (“Stop breaking in to a police officer’s apartment!”). Their relationship has grown a lot stronger, but they both miss Bolin

Mako is caught between both sides of the Earth Empire debate – he works for Wu and knows that deep down he’s actually a decent guy, but he has an established professional relationship with Kuvira, and he really respects her. They joke about his new job together before the Corination.

Kuvira has become a surrogate Korra figure for all Team Avatar – Mako (who admits he’s still in love with Korra) sees the potential for Kuvira to compensate for the loss of Korra, and must learn to let go of this unhealthy dream.

Because he’s no longer a member of the Republic City Police. Mako and Lin finally get to work together as equal partners

AIRBENDERS (KAINORA)

Look, I just want some cute long-distance Kainora stuff, OK? Keeping in contact via astral projection

Kai has been unofficially adopted into the airbender family and acts as a big brother to Rohan and Meelo

(I also think it’d be fun if Rohan was an uncontrollable bending prodigy like Jack-Jack from The Incredibles, bouncing around the house like the Tasmanian Devil – Pema and Kai are the only ones who can control him

Jinora has become the day-to-day leader of the Air Nation, using astral projection t co-ordinate people across the globe, with Kai in support

They express frustration with Air Nomad tradition – they sneak out at night and run around the new Republic City, giving us a chance to explore – Jinora shows Kai the wonders of the Spirit Wilds, while he teaches her how to win at street gambling.

They flirt with breaking the law – practicing pickpocketing the rich to feed the poor, and dabble in vigilantism – until they get caught.

Mako gets them off charges, but this causes a big conflict between Tenzin and Jinora. My problem with Jinora’s characterisation the original Book 4 (she was previously one of my faves) was she seemed too perfect. In this version, that perfection is an act, and she needs a way to blow off steam. Tenzin argues (quite rightly) that by taking the law into her own hands Jinora is no better than Kuvira (or Korra, Jinora points out. “Jinora, you’re not the Avatar.” / “I’m as good as.”)

This is important because original book 4 Jinora felt super stuck-up and full of pride, not good traits for an airbending master. Here we’re emphasising then confronting that big-headedness. Kai helps her realise she’s still just a kid, and that’s OK. Her family (and Korra) help her realise she’s stronger when she embraces the strength of others

I also like the idea of air nomads roaming with herds of bison, like Bryke originally envisioned for Aang

ZUKO, IZUMI AND THE FIRE NATION (This part veers into full-on fanfic territory and doesn’t really contribute to the plot, but I need to get the idea out there so sorry)

Use flashbacks to explore how the unrest in the Earth Kingdom parallels the unrest in the Fire Nation after Ozai was defeated

These could adapt elements of the Smoke and Shadow comic, where Mai’s father leads a rebellion against Zuko. This would take place when Zuko is in his early thirties, just after Kya was born (her waterbending was a trigger for nationalists)

The opposition find Azula after she ran away at the end of The Search, and manipulate her mental state to use her as a figurehead against Zuko – an alternate legitimate heir

Zuko and Katara have to flee with the toddler Kya, and go underground in the Fire Nation as the Blue Spirit and the Painted Lady respectively, fighting the coup from the inside (with Mai and Ty Lee, allowing us to explore everyone’s interesting relationship history) while everyone else tries to fight from the outside

During her wanderings Azula found the Sun Warriors and the dragons Rin and Sha – she uses her new followers to storm the temple and capture the blue dragon (just like her great grandfather before her). Azula is now riding around on a huge blue dragon. You’re welcome.

This is how Zuko gets his dragon – he and the Gaang liberate the Sun Warriors and the red dragon partners with him in order to save its mate

In the final battle between the two factions Azula inevitably snaps and the coup leaders are unable to control her – she goes nuts and tries to lay waste to both forces.

Zuko and the red dragon save both the blue dragon and Azula from herself. He is able to reassert control over the nation and get Azula back to hospital. This explains Kya’s extreme guilt and Izumi’s extreme reluctance to get involved in the Earth Empire situation

TOPH, LIN AND SU

Kyalin are already a thing by the time Book 4 starts – Korra is flabbergasted, and they set an example she wants to follow with Asami – things are very casual and domestic, which is a new and weird experience for both of them

When Lin meets up with Toph to free the Beifongs and then they free Su, have the idea of motherhood come up a few times – Toph suggests Lin has waited this long to re-enter a relationship because she doesn’t want kids, because she’s scared she’ll end up treating them like Toph. Toph encourages Lin to make her own choice uninfluenced by her – Lin can learn from Toph’s mistakes, and Su has made a great mom

The subject of Lin and Su’s dads come up. In this version, Sokka is Su’s father – hence her darker skin – but the brief affair was secret because he was married and Toph was with Lin’s father – one of those regretful one-night stands you always knew was a bad idea

This is a bombshell for Su, who never realised – it completely recontextualises her relationship with both Sokka and the Red Lotus (she almost joined the people who killed her father) . It also forces her to reconsider both her political and personal responsibilities – she accepts responsibility for her part in creating Kuvira, and understands her abandonment issues a little better

Lin, however, the aspiring detective from a young age, figured it out a long time ago (she always assumed Su knew). This is why Lin resented Su so much when they were kids – her arrival caused Toph and Lin’s dad to end things, because she was proof Toph never got over Sokka

Now Su is the one angry at Toph, and Lin is there to apologise and comfort her. Opal recognises what Toph is trying to do; throw herself under the bus to get rid of any lingering resentment between her girls and strengthen their sisterly bond – she’s forcing them to move on

Through Opal’s intervention everyone manages to patch things up

DARK KORRA/KORRA’S TRAUMA

In the original series it was never explained what that creepy vision of Korra in chains actually was. Sometimes it was just in her head, other times it physically attacked her, and then it just disappeared.

My explanation links to the Book 2 finale – Jinora was able to bring Raava back because she still existed within Vaatu. By the same logic, though Vaatu was destroyed, he (and Unalaqq, now forever bonded with him) exist with Raava’s light. In Book 3 we established Raava was directly feeding off of/reliant on the light within Korra. Now that Korra has been through all this trauma, that light has been replaced by negative energy, which allowed Vaatu to grow within her.

The Dark Korra hallucination is a manifestation of Vaatu’s dark power growing within Korra, feeding off her trauma and attacking her from the inside-out. It is both psychological and spiritual. When she goes to the Tree of Time, she sees echoes of Vaatu are there. He has stolen Unalaqq’s voice and face, completely taken him over – the ghost of the family member Korra failed to save.

When she finally reconnects with Raava, Korra defeats the Dark Korra; she can’t destroy the darkness inside her, but she can move on

Korra has to find alternate energy source for the Avatar State now her past lives are gone. She learns to channel the energy of the spirit world through Raava (a spiritual extension of Toph’s root connections, possible thanks to the open portals)

During the finale Korra’s appeal to the spirits to protect the world is heard – as the spirits attack Kuvira’s weapon, simultaneously the swamp halfway across the globe demolishes the Earth Empire’s vine harvesters – all the spirits come out of the woodwork and attack, claiming the area as a new Spirit Wild, like in Wan’s time

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orpelia · 6 years

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Air: “Endgame”

Eleven episodes and a two-week hiatus later (oops!)~~

My praise, my wishes, and my feelings of the season finale of Book I.

[Heart eyes.]

Oh, Bo. What would we do without you.

As always, he gifted us with his silly and endearing humor,

but he also starred in some fantastic collabs.

Bolin x Naga

Bolin x General Iroh

Honestly, Bolin x Any Character <--- now that’s my kind of ship.

General Iroh is just as stupidly fearsome and heroic as his grandfather.

This is fact.

His stunt with the planes?

Cray.

I’m looking forward to seeing more of him in the future, preferably in the same scene(s) as Zuko because that’s something I desperately need in my life.

My favorite Mako: protective and powerful.

Let’s not forget, he can break free of Noatak’s bloodbending!!!

Korra---the freakin’ Avatar---couldn’t even do that! At least, not at first.

Amon admits it himself: “I'm impressed. No one has ever gotten the better of me like that. It is almost a shame to take the bending of someone so talented.”

I hope Mako’s talents become focal points in the next books. Please, oh please don’t revert him back to a frustrating, lovesick puppy who can’t make up his damn mind. It really doesn’t do his character justice.

Speaking of lovesick puppies...

Without a doubt, Mako and Korra had the most compelling scenes of the entire episode (and not because they were fighting Noatak).

Canon couple or not, these two make a great team. They obviously care about each other, but they’re fiercely protective of one another as well, and that’s what makes their chemistry so palpable.

Although I wasn’t over the moon about dropping the love bombs, even I recognize how heartwarming their moments were.

Take, for example, the penultimate scene of the finale:

Recap: Mako tells Korra he loves her, Korra dramatically runs away with Naga, and Tenzin tells Mako they have to be patient with her, which is old people code for “give her some space.”

If you ask me, that’s shitty advice.

In real life, I want someone to go after me, even if I say I want to be alone or I tell people to go away.

Yes, I am that person.

So you best believe my heart SOARED when the boy chased after the girl:

At first, Mako’s shocked.

No surprise there.

He just witnessed Korra in the Avatar State, which means 1) her bending is back and 2) the Avatar State is no joke!! The glowing eyes!! The command of the four elements at your fingertips!! That’s hardcore, bro!!

But then he fondly smiles at her, which I wholeheartedly interpret as “Ah, yes. That’s my girl.”

And look at her face!!

These two aren’t endgame, so I’m allowing myself to savor in the swoon.

FYI: If there’s anything you should know about me, it’s that I’m a sucker for cheek caresses.

Twirling hugs also make me a lil weak in the knees.

Running to someone and barreling into their arms is just stupid cute.

[Heavy sigh.]

I was really rooting for Asami.

After Chapter 7, I thought we were going to see how Asami was coping with the reveal of her father’s conspiring nature. Instead, her character seemed to revolve more around the love triangle (or whatever shape you want to call the ridiculous Asami x Mako x Korra situation). When Asami does mention her father, it’s only a sparse comment every other episode or so.

Thus, the showdown between father and daughter lacks an emotional weight, and it’s partly because we haven’t explored enough of their relationship to truly feel for these characters.

That isn’t to say their sequence doesn’t have powerful moments.

I just want to take a moment to holla at ma boy @Jeremy Zuckerman, sole music composer.

Your music is always stunning, but the accompanying track in Asami and Hiroshi’s showdown (plus the music in the boat scene and everything in the third act) is what carries the entire segment.

Your melodies tugged at my heartstrings in ways the story couldn’t.

Their final fight, for instance:

Asami is so caught up in the battle---defending herself against her father, no less---that you think she might actually do it, she might actually hurt him.

But then he’s looking at her like this,

and she starts to hesitate (this is her father after all),

which is the exact moment Hiroshi strikes.

In the end, Asami captures her father, but not without remorse: “You really are a horrible father.”

Dear Creators,

Please give your characters the emotional depth they deserve and explore the nuances of their relationships.

Trust me: they can lift the weight of their stories just fine.

I am unbelievably disappointed in Noatak’s arc.

I just---

I mean---

How?

How are you going to build the foundation of a character on a lie?

How are you going to develop that character’s arc for ten episodes, then discredit almost everything with deceit??

How are you going to completely undermine your character like that???

And to add insult to injury, Noatak keeps lying, going so far as to reveal a fake, painted scar:

Here’s the thing: Zuko is my world.

Of all the characters from Avatar: The Last Airbender, I found pieces of myself in his story the most. Scars, then, are sore subjects for me; sometimes, I feel like I’m as sensitive about his scar as he was.

Yes, I jumped in my seat upon first seeing Noatak’s “scar,” but make no mistake---I’d rip that lie off his face in a heartbeat.

Undermining your character with lies is bad enough, but this shit felt like mockery, and while I’m certain that wasn’t the creators’ intents, I’m taking it personally anyway.

However, attention should be paid to Noatak’s last scene:

Again, the music is so beautifully somber, but the dialogue here is probably some of the episode’s best.

From Noatak’s “I had almost forgotten the sound of my own name,” to Tarrlok’s "It will be just like the good old days.”

From the tear that rolls down Noatak’s cheek,

to Tarrlok's decision to sacrifice them both.

It doesn’t make up for butchering Noatak’s arc, but this was, quite simply, a beautiful ending to a sad story.

Dear Creators,

Please don’t make the same mistake twice.

You compromised the integrity of your character the moment you sacrificed a fleshed out plot for woaw!shock factor.

Villain or not, he deserved better.

Also, I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU.

It was at this moment that I wanted to jump into the screen and rescue Tenzin and his beautiful children myself.

LOOK AT THEIR FACES.

I WAS SO MAD.

LIKE:

HOW COULD YOU.

It should be said: I loved Korra in this episode.

I mean, she was pretty daft to think that hiding under a table would keep her safe from a bloodbender. A bloodbender (a psychic one at that) can feel your blood, Korra, of course he knows you’re under there.

So just for that:

Yeah, don’t you look all silly and fuzzy.

Aside from this idiotic little slip, she was pretty badass, unlocking her airbending and fighting against Noatak’s bloodbending:

What a crappy screenshot of her airbending, haha. Would you believe me if I said this was genuinely the best I could do?

And unlike Asami and her father, I actually felt for Korra. I was devastated when Katara couldn’t repair her severed connection to the other three elements.

Though I wonder if I felt more for Korra because she acted just as I would. That is, she’s clearly distraught over losing her bending, but she wants to spare her friends and family the trouble of making a scene:

So she waits until she’s alone to let it all go:

:’-(

As I said, I loved and felt for Korra in the finale, and I don’t have a problem with her...

I have a problem with the writing.

Korra’s airbending was very badass, but I completely forgot about her airbending struggles.

The first four episodes show Korra’s conflict with the element (i.e., it’s literally the plot line of Chapter 2). If anything, these episodes have small moments that remind us of Korra’s airbending training---practicing in the temple’s courtyard or doing exercises with the kids, to name a few examples.

Then, in Chapter 8, Tarrlok insults her with the “half-baked Avatar” comment, snidely remarking on her less than satisfactory airbending. It’s in this same episode that Korra reminds Tenzin---and the audience---that she’s never been able to connect with her spiritual side. (More on this later!)

And... that’s it.

After the eighth episode, she’s kidnapped by Tarrlok, who reveals himself as a bloodbender; she’s rescued but then Amon and Hiroshi attack Republic City, separating Korra and the teens from Tenzin, his family, and Lin; Korra decides to take Amon on her own (but not really because Mako decides to tag along) and the two of them bump into Tarrlok, who reveals that Amon is actually his long-lost, waterbending, psychic bloodbending brother, Noatak.

It’s not necessarily a bad thing. If the creators were prioritizing awe! and shock! and woaw!, then unlocking Korra’s airbending this way definitely did the job. But it felt a little too... convenient? Plus, there was no explanation for why her airbending worked when it did.

I mean, saving Mako obviously had something to do with it, and they didn’t have time to get into the details because, duh, they were trying to restore Korra’s bending.

Still, the audience shouldn’t have to interpret everything.

(Or perhaps I’m just being petty, lol.)

For a book titled after the element, I guess I just expected more.

Ultimately, I wish we saw Korra practicing more airbending; I wish we got an explanation for how and why she airbended when she did; I wish her success in unlocking her final element had not been overshadowed by the loss of her water-, earth-, and firebending.

Which brings me here, to this special moment:

I cried.

100%.

And the gentle, yet all too familiar Avatar theme playing in the background? Yeah, I was a puddle of tears.

However, as nostalgic as this was, I wasn’t too pleased at how quickly Korra’s bending was restored because it felt like the creators were taking shortcuts again.

For the record, I like that Noatak took Korra’s bending away (though I would have liked a more epic battle?), as it debunked the whole “the Avatar is invincible” concept. But, really? A quick touch of Aang’s fingers and her bending is restored, just like that?

Maybe it’s just me, but I would’ve loved to see Korra struggling to get her bending back. Perhaps we could’ve seen her retraining and relearning the other elements, which is something I still feel we were robbed of.

Furthermore, as much as I enjoyed seeing Aang and all the former Avatar reincarnations, I didn’t like that this was also the moment Korra connected with her spiritual side. Similar to her airbending moment, I forgot about her spiritual struggles; the issue is last mentioned in Chapter 8 and, before that, all the way back in Chapter 1. But, honestly, I think the ease and convenience of this moment lends to the problematic pacing of Book I as a whole.

Dear Creators,

While I thank you for restoring Korra and Lin’s bending, please don’t resort to convenient endings. I recognize that you only had twelve episodes, but please, no more shortcuts.

Your story will suffer.

Your characters will suffer, too.

p.s., I’m sorry for being so mean to you. I have a lot of feelings, is all.

Cheers to Book II, though!

Parting Thoughts

Before sitting down to write the finale’s review, I took a two-week break.

In that time, I rewatched (and re-rewatched) the entire first book.

I even had time to indulge in the fifth season of The Great British Baking Show.

Shameless Plug:

I absolutely recommend this charming baking competition.

You learn quite a lot about the science and precision of baking, endure (but also adore) countless baking puns, and witness what true competition looks like. That is, genuine camaraderie, rooting for your fellow bakers to succeed, and sometimes, lending them a hand if they’re pressed for time.

Warning: do not watch late at night. You will reach for a baguette.

And yet, I still feel meh about Book I.

The season has its share of success: the music is as impeccable as ever and the technological and industrial components of the Avatar-Korra universe are developing and expanding nicely.

However, it will always come down to the story, and the writing just wasn’t up to par.

Truthfully, the real triumphs are the characters, who---after only twelve episodes---have built a home for themselves in my heart:

Although, our bright, blue-eyed Avatar still has much to learn.

(i.e., how to stop being an impatient little dumdum)

But take heart...

Her story’s only just begun.

From Beginning to End:

“Thanks for looking out for me, Aang.”

credits

#legend of korra #book 1 #1x12

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holydragon2808 · 6 years

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What’s the best moments in Lok for you?

Thanks so much for asking! Actually I made a similar topic on reddit asking other people this very question. I’ll go ahead and link it here but I’ll also copy/paste my response from that topic. It’s a pretty long response so I’ll undercut (because apparently I don’t know how to shut up lol).

For me, I’d have to say these are my favorite moments (two from each book in chronological order): Trust me, this list was pretty hard to narrow down but I think I got it and these are hardly my only favorite moments. Believe me the entire series for me was just awesome)

Book 1 Chapter 1 (Welcome to Republic City) Katara passing the torch on to Korra and her generation. Obvious call back to Katara and Sokka having their “destinies intertwined with [Aang’s]” with their own Gran-Gran sending them on their way. We don’t get a lot of moments between Korra and Katara on screen but it’s pretty apparent that the two of them share a deep bond.

Book 1 Chapter 2 (Leaf in the Wind) during that moment where Korra was about to get knocked of the Pro Bending ring, she finally has her first break through with her Airbending lessons. Just that moment when that triumphant reprise of her theme starts playing and she saves her new friends livelihood was just awesome. I think Shiro Shinobi said it best “Hold the phone! Stop the presses! She’s still in the game folks and she’s moving like an entirely different player! All of a sudden the Polar Bear Dogs’ strikes are only striking air!”

Book 2 Chapters 7 and 8 (Beginnings Part 1 and 2) I’d be remiss here not to mention Avatar Wan’s story. It added SO MUCH depth to not just The Legend of Korra but for Avatar: The Last Airbender as well. From learning about how humans were able to gain the knowledge of the elements (Lion Turtles) to seeing little call backs to the original show (Wan learning the true ART of BENDING the element of Fire from the Dragon Spirit with the Dragon Dance rather than just merely being a guy who can toss fire around becoming the very first true Firebender), to his journey with Raava and his battle with Vaatu and everything. It really does hammer home what Avatar Yangchen said (ATLA: Escape From the Spirit World) about the Avatar being reborn human in order to better connect with humans and their emotions. Before Raava met Wan she didn’t really hold humans in high regard despite being the spirit of light and was very disconnected with them. By being reborn as a human over and over again, she is reminded of how precious ALL life is and can be better connected with humans. It really was a beautiful story and it helps Korra truly realize that there’s more to the Avatar than being cool and powerful. I always felt that in a way this was the true start of Korra’s spiritual journey.

Book 2 chapter 14 (Light in the Dark) That moment when Tenzin can finally be the spiritual mentor for Korra that she needs. He tells her all about the tree of time and for the first time is able to help her start seeing the power and value of her OWN life and inner spirit. That she isn’t just good or valuable simply because she’s the Avatar and that he refused to not give up on her and more importantly refused to let HER give up on herself.

But my favorite moment came when she sat down and meditated herself with that beautiful musical piece playing in the background and then she energybends her OWN spirit (with the power magnified by the massive flow of spiritual energy caused by Harmonic Convergence) and basically hands Unalaq his butt (at least until she stopped to look for Raava). Basically this entire episode was one of my favorites because it shows Korra truly beginning to step out of the shadows of her predecessors and opting to forging her own path for the world (similarly to how Aang eventually had to learn that the old regime of having the four nations separated wasn’t going to work for the world anymore). Korra finds some balance with her own personal relationships too and both she and Mako realize that they weren’t right for each other and decide to end their romance for good. I also loved how her speech mirrored Avatar Wan’s. Wan’s decision to close the portals didn’t go smoothly either as we see the montage of people constantly fighting and raging war and disrespecting the spirits and what have you. Then at the end we see Wan died lamenting the fact that despite his best efforts he really couldn’t do anything for the world and that there “wasn’t enough time”. I’m just pointing out that laying out the ground work for a new era is never easy and just like Wan before her, Korra will have (and did have by the looks of books 3 and 4) a hard time getting things going in a favorable way for people (and spirits) too.

Book 3 Chapter 11 The Ultimatum Just Tenzin, Kya, and Bumi vs The Red Lotus! EPIC! They were all holding their own until Zaheer separated Tenzin from his siblings. Then Tenzin vs Zaheer showed us very clearly who the master airbender was and had Zaheer not lured Tenzin in P'Li’s line of sight (and the other Red Lotus members gaining up on him) Zaheer would have been completely owned. Just his utter conviction in this fight was just awesome and shows just how much he cares about Korra.

Book 3 Chapter 13 Venom of the Red Lotus This entire episode was just as awesome as it was heartbreaking. I can’t really pin point a “favorite” moment in this episode because the entire thing was just…from poor Korra sacrificing herself and enduring an immense amount of pain just to keep the newly formed air nation alive (and showing both the audience and Zaheer that the latter REALLY should be grateful that Korra was weakened by the poison in that berserk avatar state mode), to Jinora finally being recognized for the airbending master she’s been looking SO MUCH like her late grandfather when he was a child was just….I still have to fight off tears every time I hear the musical piece service and sacrifice both for Korra and her terrible ordeal and Jinora and her newly acquired (official) airbender master status.

Book 4 Chapter 2 Korra Alone was just a beautifully told story about recovery and how long and frustrating the process can be. This is probably my favorite episode in the entire LoK story. Right up there with Beginnings for me. We were able to see Korra’s “strong, unyielding and fierce” spirit in action (quoting Tenzin from book 2 finale). Just her sheer determination to get better and rise back to the top no matter what hurdles were thrown her way was just phenomenal. With this episode we were able to see just how far she’s come from the book 3 finale and just how far she still has to go. From her struggles with learning to walk again, from her psychological struggles with fighting, to her reaching out to Asami willingly about her struggles, to Korra journeying all over the world to find some way to reconnect with Raava. Just that drive to get better was just nothing short of amazing.

Book 4 Chapter 13 (The Last Stand) Korra TANKING the Avatarverse equivalent of an atomic bomb explosion single handed to save her enemy in the ultimate display of empathy when hardly anyone in universe would have blamed her for letting Kuvira die. Korra’s always been a compassionate person but she’s never been able to truly empathize with her enemies by seeing bits of herself in them. Just compare her denial of her and Tarrlok having anything in common to her directly declaring that same notion herself to Kuvira in her finale. Shows just how much she’s changed over the years.

I also liked her official relationship upgrade with Asami. For me, it wasn’t because of LGBT+ representation (though despite being straight I understand why it’s significant) but because of what it meant for both Korra and Asami and how organically interwoven it was throughout the latter two books. It’s something I went in more depth about here and here.

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adoranymph · 4 years

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You know I’m really less than thrilled about a story when even the father-daughter hook isn’t enough to get me to fully invest in its entirety. And that’s how it is for me with Legend of Korra, the sequel series to Avatar: the Last Airbender.

And a shame too, because on top of father-daughter relationships in stories, I love sequel series and spin-offs. Or, I guess I should say, I do love the idea of them. The ones that I’ve had actual experience with are hit-or-miss and, like with anything, are only a hit for me based on how meretriciously they stand on their own as stories. To the point where I haven’t even gotten my first book published, the first book of the YA series I have planned, and already I have plot points and characters in mind for the next-gen sequel series. Kind of like imagining my grandchildren when I haven’t even had children of my own yet.

Avatar: the Last Airbender was yet another great series that I was one of the last ones to board the hype train for (at least of my generation I’m sure), for many reasons. Not because I didn’t appreciate it, because I love anything to do with working with the four elements (considering that’s what my own YA debut series is centered on), and never mind that it was only anime-esque, because that was still good enough for me.

But I missed out on watching it in full when it aired. I was in high school back then and just didn’t make time for it. When I did get around to watching it, through to the end of season one, I was so depressed by a plot point I was spoiled on (that being that Sokka was going to lose his first love, Princess Yue) that I stepped away from it. And that was back when I was brave enough to stream off illegal streaming sites on my laptop. Then I got wary of that practice, (barring resorting to find shows I can’t find anywhere else on those sites via my phone instead) and moved on to other things, anime, etc. With the passing of time, I knew that if I was going to fall hard for Avatar in the end, I wanted to do it on a legal streaming platform that I could watching on my laptop, not my phone. And, if I loved it enough, purchase a hardcopy of it.

If this was available all along, to this day, on Nick.com for free, then someone feel free to let me know. But, as far as I was concerned, I didn’t see my window of opportunity to binge it until Netflix brought it onboard their streaming platform this past summer. Yes, the series was also available for purchase through YouTube and of course there were the available hardcopies, but I was still hesitant to make that purchase until I had seen the show in full. Sometimes I take a risk on shows and buy them without seeing them first, and I hit a jackpot (like with the anime, Psycho-Pass), and sometimes I take that risk and regret my purchase (like with the anime film, Fireworks). In this case, even though I could smack myself in the head in hindsight, I decided to not take the risk until I was 100% sure, watch-through included.

So, stuck inside like we all are right now, I told myself, “No more excuses, you are finishing this thing.” Next thing you know, I’ve bought myself the full series on blu-ray (having been reassured that I loved the thing as much as the world promised I would) and I’ve rewatched it twice now. I freaking love it. And predictably with that love came the price of the “void”: that depressing post-watch feeling when it seems as though nothing will ever be as good again as what you just finished watching. When all you want is more, since you know you can’t ever actually reexperience the feeling of watching it for the first time.

Which brings me to Legend of Korra, which I had also heard about. And heard that it had issues writing-wise, and didn’t quite live up to the legacy of Avatar. And well, to be fair, expecting it to would have been a bit naïve. Rarely do most things in this world get their version of Rocky and Rocky II winning Best Picture at the Oscars back-to-back years.

I thought about watching it, going back and forth since before I had even finished the original series. I was happy to see that we were getting a female main as the new Avatar in the cycle, and, again, there’s that thing I love about sequel series, revisiting old characters marked by the progression of time, as well as seeing new characters, both the next gens of the original cast and new originals alike. I love seeing them rise and carry the torch that’s been passed onto them.

And in this case, we not only get a female Avatar, Korra, but she’s paired with character growth in part with her father, so there’s that father-daughter trope box ticked. Actually, we get two, with Aang’s son Tenzin, and his daughter, Aang’s granddaughter, Jinora.

Yet, I was also given to understand that the romance subplots were a complete mess, and then the overarching storylines in general were also somewhat botched in places. I mean, they name Korra’s first main love interest Mako (in honor of Mako, the actor who originally voiced best-uncle-in-the-universe Iroh in the originals series), and yet, writing-wise and romance-wise, he kind of gets the shaft from what I’ve seen. That aside, I wouldn’t have had a problem with the Korra x Asami ship itself, if it weren’t for how the writers got them together. That being not only via the worst kind of love-triangle nonsense from what I’ve been given to understand, but one that involves cheating on one person for the other because, “Oh, we have something more.” No excuses for cheating in my book.

All of this due, in no small part I’m sure, to Nickelodeon mucking things up (like you do) in hedging on allowing any of the show to be made, and then on whether there’d be more seasons, and with the writers, all the while, having to work with that uncertainty. One could argue that the best writers find ways to work around that to the point that those problems don’t show in the writing of the final product, but if there was all that grief, I give the writers some slack. Just the same, it was also enough to put me off watching the show.

And it still is enough. Barring everything else watchable in the universe disappearing and this being the only thing left, I, at this point, do not see myself ever watching it in full. At this point, I’ve watched a few clips and bits of episodes in the first three seasons, because I was still curious about certain things and I love free samples. But those things in connection with the rest of the story isn’t enough even now to get me to invest my time in watching the whole thing through when the series joins Avatar: the Last Airbender on Netflix.

However, I did in fact get something out of watching those disparate few clips and bits. And not just evidence for the case that Aang and Katara’s son Bumi clearly takes after both his Uncle Sokka as well as his own namesake, the “mad genius” King Bumi, or Zuko having a grandson named Iroh (and the fact that they had him voiced by Dante Bosco, who voiced Zuko in Last Airbender), or even the fact that now-old-guy Zuko himself is riding a bleeping dragon.

I got perhaps the most powerful and emotionally engaging origin story for a fantasy world that I can ever recall getting in any type of media. That being the story of Wan, the First Avatar, as told in episodes seven and eight in season two, Beginnings: Pt. 1 & 2.

I loved these two episodes so much that I keep playing the reworked Avatar theme, The Avatar State, from the Korra soundtrack, on repeat. And can’t get enough of rewatching the moment when Wan becomes the first fully realized Avatar. Barring the stuff with the present-day storyline of the show bookending the beginning of part one and the conclusion of part two, there’s a complete, and rather satisfying story here, made doubly enjoyable by anyone familiar with at least Avatar: the Last Airbender.

I didn’t need to (personally) watch the episodes prior to these two parts to understand anything that was going on or appreciate it any more than I already did, or what I’d already floating around about Raava, the Spirit of Good and Light and Peace and Sunshine and Rainbows, serving ultimately in part as the means to create the phenomenon of the Avatar and the Avatar Reincarnation Cycle. The change in art style to something reminiscent of the works of Hokusai’s woodblock paintings was beautiful, and Wan’s characterization was beautiful, from diamond-in-the-rough street rat just trying to get by to developing such a relationship with the spirits that he lays the foundation for becoming “the bridge between the human and the spirit worlds” that the Avatar is meant to represent.

A journey of a simple human who screwed up, and atoned for that through bitter work and forming a meaningful bond that would come to transcend millennia, all for the sake of trying to keep the world in balance, striving to better humanity. And from that, the lives that are relived through that of the Avatar echo meaningfully from the distant past to the reflective present.

And it only took two episodes. With concise writing, emotionality, and characterization, we got what fell like an entire epic story in just a matter of less than an hour or so of screen time. I watched them both on my phone, and when Korra comes onto Netflix, I’ll revisit those two alone on there and be more than satisfied.

All that said, there is a very good argument against being able to enjoy it as its own thing, never mind its flaws in terms of consistency with the established world of Last Airbender. Which I totally understand, and would probably understand more if I took the time to watch Korra in its entirety, and even in regards to the fact that I’ve seen Avatar: the Last Airbender. In which case, I could see how these two episodes actually undermine and even outright retcon a ton of story and world elements.

That said, I personally don’t agree that it ruins the spirituality inherent and or implied by the relationship between humans and the art of elemental bending. If only because after all that, I still felt a catharsis at the conclusion of Wan’s story. I’d call that doing something right with the writing at least.

What I think I works for me in particular compared to Korra as a whole, apart from my affinity for guys with flooffy anime hair who go on penance journeys toward enlightenment, is that it feels like a return to its roots, to that feeling that the original Avatar series gave me, and also something more. Not to say that I think that Korra should have been a retread of the plot structure of Last Airbender by any stretch, that would have made it worse, and I applaud it for pushing towards different themes and conflicts from that of its predecessor (it’s just that the payoff for a lot of those were less-than-stellar). That said, the moments that I came across that were awesome and moving were patchworked together by plots that didn’t always come out the most coherently or compellingly when laid out in the light of day.

And yes there is the argument that Wan’s story lacks anything compelling. I suppose, because you know how it’s going to play out, and it derails from the main plot, somewhat, save for explaining the whole Raava vs. Vaatu, good vs. evil spirit conflict. But, again, for me, I’m watching these more completely than I have any other episode of the show, and as a separate spinoff from the rest of the series. So while technically it can’t be a self-contained story, as the series it is a part of would undo that possibility, I still enjoyed it regardless for what it is on its own, and genuinely at that.

I enjoyed that it was something of a mix of a fable and an actual historical account, adding to that sense of expanding the mythos in that way that distant histories like that of ancient civilizations in our world have become fuzzy and fragmented with the passage of time. I enjoyed how simply it was able to establish a young man who started out as a ruffian who had to steal to survive, but was still fundamentally good in that he cared for those close to him, and that he had the capacity to care for the well-being of spirits after he’d been banished for stealing the power of firebending and was banished to live in the spirit wilds.

Then take that, and develop him into a man who rises above that, to become one who takes on the burden of fighting for peace, especially in the wake of mistakes he’s made that caused things between humans and spirits to grow worse, regardless of whether or not he intended such. To see him grow through his friendship with Raava, and how they come to work together to restore the balance he inadvertently put out of whack when he was tricked into separating her from her eternal struggle with Vaatu, Spirit of Darkness and Chaos and Corruption and All the World’s Evil. Concluded with that final culmination between him and Raava fusing together permanently, mastering all four elements, getting knocked down by Vaatu over and over and still getting up and standing to fight again every time, his efforts to bring peace to the world foiled only by his short human lifespan, and with his death beginning the Avatar reincarnation cycle when its clear that maintaining balance in a world full of humans takes thousands upon thousands of lifetimes.

To me, that was a beautiful simplicity for an origin story told within the larger story of a larger world. Which I think is a great tool for anyone who looks to insert those sorts of things in their own writing (including myself, who has her own origin storyline in mind for that YA elemental series, if I didn’t already mention before that I’m writing that).

Retcons and undermining aside, I’m happy that I discovered this little gem within the great world of The Last Airbender, and like all things in media that affect me this way, you can be sure I’ll carry that feeling further into my work. Threading it through into the grander tapestry of the art of storytelling.

Right. Back to me waiting for season four of The Dragon Prince.

Keeping this link up to their donation page!

A Concise, Emotional Origin Journey You know I'm really less than thrilled about a story when even the father-daughter hook isn't enough to get me to fully invest in its entirety.

#avatar #avatar the last airbender #dragon prince #fireworks #hokusai #netflix #nickelodeon #origin story #oscars #psycho-pass #rocky #rocky ii #sequels #the dragon prince #the legend of korra #YA #YA fiction #young adult

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loopy777 · 4 years

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following up on your wastly superios republic city, how would you rewrite asami's role in this new city, the city related plot, and her relationship with korra?(i cannot imagine you'dd want to keep the terrible love trialngle for this story). do you think opening their relationship on a romantic note with clear attraction from the start or have it develop more slowly over the course of the first book would better?

I don’t usually talk much about Asami here on Tumblr because I have lots of criticisms of her character and Korrasami, and this site enables such things to be passed along out of context and co-opted for agenda-driven bashing. I don’t think Asami or Korrasami are any worse than any of LoK’s other failures, and at least it’s bad writing for a good cause. Unlike Iroh II, who's just bad writing. Heyo!

Also, I’ve mainly been thinking about Book Air with all my talk of Republic City, but discussing the development of the dynamic between Korra and Asami is going to take us beyond that, and so outside of Republic City.

So let’s see how much I can answer this question without stepping over my self-imposed line.

First of all, I would introduce Asami independently of Mako, and you’re right, I wouldn’t bother with a love triangle. I don’t like that LoK ended on a romantic moment for either Book Air's climax or the finale finale, because the whole first episode is completely devoid of romantic matters or potential suitors. It’s one thing for AtLA, where Katara provides the opening narration and Aang’s crush on her is established at their first meeting; their getting together is the culmination of their respective coming-of-age arcs, which is why Book Fire stretches Kataang out so much and so nonsensically.

Korra's journey is never really about romance. It’s about seeing the world and making connections; Tenzin, her guide into the wider world, is the one who narrates the opening to her story. So I’d expect her final scene to be about all the friends she’d made and her place in the world, not a single romance and a vacation to the Spirit World. But Korra’s main character arc is over by the end of Book Spirits, anyway, so I can understand just ripping off AtLA for something feel-good. Also, considering the limitations in what could be shown, I guess they wanted as many parallels to AtLA as possible to make sure everyone got that Korra and Asami are romantic.

So, with the benefit of hindsight and the goal of endgame Korrasami, we can introduce Asami earlier to give her proper prominence. In the first episode, while careening through the city, Korra encounters Asami. There is no blushing or giggling or anything when Korra and Asami meet, because that's not how Korra or Asami react to attraction. I'm thinking we can replace the whole thing with the hobo and the illegal fishing, since that material can be covered later; perhaps Asami buys Korra food when she sees Korra has no money? But before they can exchange names, something happens that sends them off on a short adventure, and then they get separated.

In episode 2, instead of encountering Mako and Bolin while trying to break out of Air Island to see Probending, Korra encounters Asami again. Asami is likewise sneaking out to see Probending, and she’s a parallel to Korra in that she’s a victim of social isolation. Asami recognized Korra, gives a shout, and they exchange names and bond as fellow probender-geeks. Once that’s done, the girls somehow wind up meeting Mako and Bolin, Korra gets the chance to join the team, etc. Asami would help convince Mako to let Korra play. The end result is Korra with a big group of friends, no romantic hints about anyone (other than maybe Bolin having the hots for her, a situation that will be temporary), and an explicit connection between Korra starting to ‘get’ Airbending and the perspectives offered by her new friends. Perhaps Mako or Bolin shout some advice that gets the circle-walking to click for her, or it could be another thing for Asami to do.

This would be explicit foreshadowing for the Book Air finale, where Korra uses Airbending for the first time to defeat Amon. But instead of Mako being the one in danger, it’s all Korra’s friends, and the scene would be set up as an explicit parallel to the one in the second episode. Korra achieves freedom through her connections, people who show her new sides of herself and the world.

But we're getting ahead of ourselves. For most of Book Air, I think Asami and Korra can be partners in discovering Republic City. The Bending Brothers can introduce them to some new element, and the girls react to it in similar but disparate ways. Asami can sometimes be a bit of a snob, while Korra can be more into getting dirty or eating nasty food or belching or whatever. But they still do get moments of going to a dance hall together, getting pulled into street racing together, helping each other chase the corruption out of Probending, etc. Still, a little distance comes between the two, as Korra starts to see herself connecting better with the boys, especially Bolin. If we want to deal with Bolin trying to woo Korra and it not working out, this is the place to do it.

However, rather than romance and a love triangle, the main conflict between Korra’s Krew is Asami being courted by the Equalists. As I said in my other post, rather than the Equalists kicking things off with criminal activity and a direct confrontation with Korra, I’d like them to be a running subplot that only explodes at the end of the season. I think Asami could be a good viewpoint character into that, as she starts to learn and hear about the Equalists- and it will eventually be revealed that Hiroshi has been setting this up for her, to manipulate her. Remember, in my vision, he’s the one who got Amon to adopt the rhetoric of saving the oppressed by eliminating Benders.

It starts with Asami thinking it’s silly, then she starts to acknowledge that they have some good points even if they’re wrong about being against all Benders. Perhaps Asami explains to Korra about some of the good points, and Korra is skeptical but admits that the Bender gangs are a problem. I think this should come to a head in a similar manner to the cartoon when Hiroshi comes under some kind of suspicion. Instead of getting tangled in the love triangle, Mako and Bolin side with Korra right away, and Asami starts to wonder if the Benders really are oppressing her. She knows she’s sheltered and naive, and Hiroshi puts into her head that Korra and the Bending Brothers have been taking advantage of her sweetness and wealth. Asami's been paying for all their adventures, after all, and the others seem closer to each other than to her.

It still ends with Hiroshi’s villainy being revealed, and Asami siding with good guys over him. But here, it’s about Asami siding with her friends, rather than just Mako. This is all still without romance, but it’s laying the seeds.

Things continue on from there, and the only major change I feel the need to call out is that the team doesn’t split up for the final battle. They’re all together, and as I said, Korra has to save all her friends with Airbending. And there's no Iroh II, because he's just boring pointless fan-service who detracts from the other characters.

For Book Spirits, I’d toss out Asami’s whole subplot. I used to have an epic post on ASN (which I saved) describing how it doesn’t make any sense whatsoever, but you can just take my word on it for now. If we do something similar to my Spiritual Eco-Terrorist Unalaq idea, then we can turn Asami’s part of bringing Korra back away from extremism into a parallel of Korra convincing Asami to turn against the Equalists. This book also sees a minimizing of Mako and Bolin, since part of the story is going to take place outside of Republic City. Asami has more reason to leave, so she emerges as Korra’s strongest friend in this book. Bolin could still get mixed up Varrick, if we want to do that subplot, but we’re completely skipping the whole thing of Varrick trying to steal Asami’s company. It's just filler, and the themes of Book Spirits deserve more focus.

Instead, we say that Asami has been steadily rebuilding up Sato Industries in the background of Book Spirits, so she’s in a position to leave it running when she goes with Korra on the Airbender Recruitment Tour. Again, I’m thinking we leave Mako and Bolin behind. Or, if Bolin went off with Varrick at the end of Book Spirits, as I suggested in that Unalaq post, either just Mako is left behind or else he goes with the girls to try to get over his brother being gone. They support him during his loss, and he maybe develops a real bond with Jinora’s future boyfriend, Whatshisname, rather than that subplot being unceremoniously dropped. Eventually, Bolin and Varrick would come back into the story, although maybe not until Book Balance.

Also, Book Change is where we start to have Korra and Asami blushing at each other and making surprising vows of devotion to each other. As Korra explores romance, in parallel to Jinora, we could get some advice from Tenzin and maybe even discussion of how Aang changed the nature of Air Nomad culture by accepting the idea of family units. At the end, when Korra is injured and Asami practically proposes marriage, it won’t come out of left field; it will feel like a culmination. And Korra gives an explicit refusal, our cliffhanger for that subplot.

Hm, perhaps we can also properly introduce Kuvira while we’re here? She can join the Krew as an ally and friend, and part of what has Asami starting to think about Korra as something more than a friend is that Kuvira is explicitly trying to seduce Korra for fun. That might be amusing. Or it could be stupid. It is a love triangle, after all. It's easy enough to cut if we can't make it work, even if the voice actresses have already recorded their lines.

Anyway, as we launch into our final season, Korra starts to recover to find that the Metalbending chick who was (maybe) trying to seduce her is now leading an imperialist conquest of the Earth Kingdom, and also a new Amon is back in Republic City trying to bring down the government. This new Amon is a creation of Kuvira, to give her an excuse to invade the United Republic as a pacifying force. Korra and Asami have to bring down Amon II, and then also Kuvira. It’s very tragic that they have to beat up their former friend, but not too tragic because it turns out that Kuvira is a real jerk.

Timing-wise, as I mentioned in my Hiroshi post, he dies saving Asami from Amon II. This happens before the final battle, so we get to see Asami mourning for a bit as she and Korra go after Kuvira in a new sub-arc. She emerges ready to confess her love to Korra. They get together, and then Korra rallies all her friends and allies across the world to defeat Kuvira and restore freedom to the galaxy. The end sees Korra and Asami together, as romantic partners, amidst all their friends. The End. Huzzah!

Hopefully, that showed how a functional Korrasami arc could be done that makes good use of their characters and frees them from the really janky storytelling that plagues most of LoK. Most of the problem is that LoK seemed intent on giving Asami something separate to do, rather than properly integrating her into things. For all that the storytellers claim to like Asami and Korrasami, it's stunning how little of either -- even in terms of friendship -- there is to the plots and story arcs.

Ah, but there's the line. I shall now back off, rather than crossing it. Yay for me.

#thekingofwinterblog

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lokgifsandmusings · 7 years

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Definitive Ranking of Book 1 Episodes, #11/12

11. 1x05 “The Spirit of Competition”

So much probending. So much love quadrilateral.

Need I say more?

I’m back in a totally timely fashion (*coughs*) with the next definitive ranking of Book 1.

Now, I started out this list by explaining my frustration with “Endgame,” and how the biggest issues of the first season are that aside from setting up something ~cool~, there was really no follow-through from the perspective of the plot, or Korra’s development. Bryke seemed wholly unaware of what they were trying to say, and ended up with a season that stood for nothing.

With that in mind, it would seem logical that episodes such as “Turning the Tide” or “Skeletons in the Closet,” where the main plotline quite obviously began to lose its way, would be right at the bottom the list next to “Endgame.” But “Spirit of Competition” is just a special mid-season clunker. The Equalist plotline doesn’t even exist here, and it’s also probably solely responsible for every single complaint about probending since we get THREE matches, none of which are particularly meaningful.

Oh hey, Bolin feels good about himself, so he does well!

The focus is, instead, on the love quadrilateral. Sure, one of the points of this polygon is more or less missing the whole episode, but Asami’s viewpoint being dismissed as a mild inconvenience is kind of the theme of the season.

Look, I’ve never made a secret of the fact that I found Makorra wholly uncompelling from the start. In “The Revelation” I guess I saw some potential because they actually like, interacted and their differing backgrounds came up? Sort of? But the biggest reason why their scripting left me drier than a desert was that it never seemed much deeper than “you’re hot and I want on you,” largely because of episodes like this where their interactions focused on ~~feelings~~ without Bryke realizing they never established them.

And it’s not like I think giving Korra a romantic subplot was necessarily a bad idea. Girl grew up completely isolated, and there’s actually a lot to be explored as to how that might manifest with her navigating the social space for the first time, particularly with people her own age. I just don’t really see why this is how they went about scripting it. I mean, this episode was coming hot on the heels of “The Voice in the Night,” which not only moved the plot pretty significantly, but it put Korra’s bravado and insecurities front and center. Her interaction with Amon made the stakes feel more personal, especially the way he was so clearly toying with her, and how he promised that her time would come eventually. She finally allowed herself the space to feel scared.

So why not follow it up with...a team huddle of sexual tension? 23 solid minutes of Korra trying to figure out what to do about the boy she liked? You could pretend this was her compartmentalizing and purposely not dealing with things, except that’s not really in evidence at all. Like, I don’t even think Amon is referenced. It’s okay; it’s not like he JUST HAD HER CHAINED UP.

Instead, what’s *really* important is the probending. Clearly. Now, Griffin has tried to defend probending to me a number of times. And I grudgingly understand it as a framing device for Korra’s airbending progress in Episode 2 (as heavy-handed as that was), as well as showing her learning to work with others. You can argue that’s exactly what this episode did, but really, I just don’t see the *entire* episode devoted to it as being justified.

Not to mention, this was more just showing us that pissing people off doesn’t make for the group dynamics, which...yeah? We didn’t need Korra and Mako not communicating in a probending match to understand that Korra and Mako were having trouble communicating.

Oh Jonny...

It was all very basic cause-and-effect, and combined it just seemed as though Bryke had time they wanted to burn. Except then “Endgame” was rushed and sloppy, so that’s a hard case to make. Still, recapping:

They play well in their first match

Korra asks out Mako and it’s awkward, so she goes on a date with Bolin

Mako yells at Korra for going on a date with Bolin

Mako and Korra play poorly in their second match, but Bolin wins it for them

Korra kisses Mako and Bolin sees

Everyone plays horribly for the third match, but then Korra wins it for them

I think every time we found ourselves back in the stadium, I let out a groan. But what’s even the takeaway from this? Why does Korra magically pull her head out of it? Did she have a mid-match epiphany about the value of platonic friendship that we weren’t privy to?

Mako and Bolin agree to not let girls get in between them, which is a nice brotherly moment, though I would have liked Bolin to point out that Mako should kind of shit or get off the pot here. And still the whole thing is undercut by the fact that feelings weren’t really developed between any points of this quadrilateral.

Perhaps ironically, Asami and Mako had the most depth to them of any pairing at that point, with their bonding over shared trauma.

Man, she really fed his ego...

I can’t track this for Korra’s development at all. She took the world’s worst advice from the world’s most problematic relationship coach in the form of Pema. But there’s actually something wildly endearing about how she asked Ikki and Jinora for advice in the first place, since it highlights just how much of a fish-out-of-water she is here. Of course the 11 and 8-year-olds would know this stuff! I also happen to love how blunt Pema is and could gush about the sordid Pelinzin dynamics for some time. Slay the “other woman” trope, girl! I honestly think her POV would be super compelling around the time this all went down, and one day I’ll get to writing it. One day...

What was I saying? Right, Korra’s romantic development in this episode. I just don’t even know. The way she asks him out is cringe-worthy, but supposed to be. Then she goes on a date with Bolin because she was sad about being rejected and for some reason didn’t say “sounds good, let’s go as friends.” Then when Mako calls her out for toying with Bolin (kinda? They did just get noodles), she has the nerve to say it’s so clearly his jealousy. Then they play a shitty match and Mako tells Korra he does like her, so she kisses him (honestly, reasonable). Then she’s in such a pissy mood about Mako probably yelling at her for that, that her next match she literally waterbends at the ref? But then is the person who wins the whole thing? And somewhere in that time realized she should be super thankful that Asami secured them a tournament spot in the first place?

Yeah, no shit, Sherlock

Look, navigating the world of teenage hormones is tricky, and I guess there’s something realistically dramatic and infantile about it all. But this is a scripted show, and I honestly have no idea why Bryke would think this is the compelling way to write a romance. If the idea was to force Mako into admitting he liked her, and using Bolin as that wedge, then why was Asami also necessary as a love triangle device? Couldn’t just one love triangle had sufficed? I’m also struggling to see the point of the repeated conversations between Mako and Korra, or how probending became the visual metaphor to hammer home how they’re not getting along. WE GET IT. I PROMISE.

Truly, I think the main issue is that this nonsense was all condensed into one episode. In isolation, each individual beat is fine, especially as a learning moment for Korra. I actually really liked the Borra date, not in a shipping way, but as what it was: Korra had a very good time with someone she only had a platonic attraction to, and Bolin put romantic weight onto it (for perfectly valid reasons). Then he found out in a harsh way that Korra wasn’t interested, but she apologized to him and he moved on more or less instantaneously. Their dynamic is still based on affection, and I like that the show recognized that sort of romantic incompatibility and unrequited feelings (it happens) without giving Bolin a whiff of entitlement about the whole thing.

two episodes later

I know I said I was struggling to see Korra’s growth in Season 1, which is still a complaint that’s there. But I can at least say that Korra learning to consider others was something that happened. Not as in like, “that uppity girl needs to learn empathy!” or any bullshit like that. But in the sense of, she was raised in an isolated compound and had attention on her 24/7. Everything she did was about her growth and development as the Avatar. Then she ran to the city, and quickly learned that hey, you can’t just beat people up even if it’s “justice” in your mind. You can’t just agree to dates with people you don’t want to date and not expect some hurt feelings. And you can’t just be antagonistic to your crush’s girlfriend, because she’s like...a human. I mean, you can, but Korra is a rather nice person, and didn’t want to do that after 1x07.

In some ways it’s a touch on the uncomfortable side of things, because we’re talking about a specifically brown female protagonist learning to more or less restrain herself? But it really is just about her navigating the overwhelming social space for the first time, and there’s something to be said about that as well. Aang was a fish-out-of-water in the sense that he was missed the events of the world for 100 years. Korra was a fish-out-of-water because she hadn’t gotten to experience the world at all. It’s kind of just a different way of giving us that, to a different level of success.

Like all the classics

However, I do feel like her isolation wasn’t deeply explored? Like we watched her mature and we saw her viewpoints evolve, but no one ever really talked about it, in the same way Mako and Bolin being orphans was rarely discussed too. It’s ~there~, but I do think given some of the less wonderful implications, a bit more explication would have helped.

Also, we didn’t see Korra like, having to learn greetings and slang or anything. You know, things you’d expect if this is the kind of story you’re digging into. Instead, we got Korra learning how to navigate specifically romances. Then there was her more general worldview and how she saw her fit as the Avatar, which as I said, was something heavily unresolved in Season 1 (and that’s fine). But it makes the hammering of romance all the more just...why.

I know some people watch shows for ships, but I’m not one of them (which is why I love this piece by Gretchen), and I also happen to think that [relation]ships are the most compelling when they’re not relegated to this sort of separate sphere. Book 1 was written kind of like, “oh now we’re doing the shipping episode!”

But instead of Mako and Korra yelling about the concept of dating each other, maybe we could have had them interacting so we’d have an understanding of why they wanted that. And if they were only meant to be attracted and wow, it didn’t work out ‘cause we’re incompatible (you know...what actually happened), then why focus on it like this and build it up all season as some kind of ~~true love~~?

I guess what it took me 2000 fucking words to arrive at is that “Spirit of Competition” was telling-and-not-showing storytelling for the romance itself (which sadly is "in" these days), and given that it was the only focus of the episode, it’s just not very good—not as an artform, not as a way of getting audience engagement, and not as anything that served the larger Book 1 picture.

Honestly, what follows makes me wistful for this

But at least it didn’t collapse under itself like the damn dying star that was “Endgame.”

Before I get out of here I’d like to nitpick for a second about the probending. IF YOU ATTACK THE REF, YOU SHOULD BE OUT OF THE TOURNAMENT! God, what the fuck. She didn’t even get a red card for that...just a yellow. Really violated the suspension of disbelief. Also, the random Tahno rivalry that they realized they had to build up for the next episode was so badly done. “Here’s this jerk! Hate him now!” I guess it kind of works to make Amon’s point, but the fact that we only get him in 1x05 and it’s resolved by 1x06 is very odd.

I suppose “Spirit of Competition” has merits in terms of ironic enjoyment, and there is some downright fun silliness (“you’re a bad idea!” and my favorite, “you look great, champ!”). But in that department, I’ll take “The Sting” any day.

Next time, I’ll rip into what is probably a perfectly fine episode, other than it just didn’t do it for me.

#12 1x12 “Endgame”

1x05 photo recap found here

Book 2 ranking/essays found here

Book 4 ranking/essays found here

#book 1 ranking #lok meta #korra #The Spirit Of Competition #korra 1x05

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gizkalord · 7 years

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Finished Book 2 of LoK - overall impression, it felt pretty uneven and scattered. I started off the season getting annoyed with Korra, then getting annoyed with Bolin, then getting annoyed with Mako in the last third, and Asami was just not really there as a character. There was also so much (unrelated) stuff going on at the same time - I literally forgot that the civil war was happening for a while until we suddenly returned to it. There was just so much bait-and-switch that I felt like I was losing track on what everyone was doing and what their goals were. Then, the central theme was about everyone forging their own paths and choices, which worked very well for Tenzin and Korra (and Jinora), but when it applied to every single character in the cast, they all just felt very disjointed and distant from each other, until plot needed them together.

I don’t even want to talk about the romance, or what in the hell Desna and Eska were. The only ray of light is that Mako and Korra ended their relationship on a quiet and mature note, so HOPEFULLY we can move past that mess.

Wan’s origins were interesting, well done, and well animated, but at the same time I kind of don’t like that it retcons some AtLA stuff? I guess you can still argue that even though people could bend via the lion turtles, they didn’t have proper technique/control/philosophy, and that’s what the “original benders” (dragons, air bison, moon, badgermoles) taught them, and later history simply forgot the lion turtles. Still, it invalidates the Oma and Shu story of them being the first earth benders, and it makes the AtLA lion turtle’s statement about “in the era before the avatar, we bent not the elements but the energy within ourselves” a bit puzzling. I always assumed from this that the advent of the avatar resulted in the sealing of humans’ ability to energy bend for some reason (eg. too much energy bending was too dangerous and upsetting the balance of the world). I’m a bit disappointed that wasn’t the case, as the idea of Harmonic Convergence shifting the balance of energy plays in well with the whole concept of energy bending. Oh well.

I’m also not a huge fan of blatant dark vs light fights, and the giant glowing laser people was a bit much for me. Vaatu/Unalaq and the dark avatar was underwhelming as a villain. There was nothing really threatening about them aside from characters telling me to be afraid of them - I would contrast this with Ozai, who was a looming shadow and pressure on Aang (and Zuko) for 2 whole seasons before being revealed, and even Amon, who was menacing to Korra in a way that was very personal to her. The nature of obvious dark vs light fights also takes out any moral dilemmas, which I’m not really about.

Tenzin’s family stuff was really good and interesting though - I think that was definitely one of the bright spots of this season, and it made me fall in love with Kya, Bumi, and all of his kids (especially Jinora!) Definitely hope to see more from them in later seasons.

tl;dr So while the animation and dialogue/screenplay was much improved, I feel that Book 2 still carried many of the same flaws that I saw in Book 1. However, Book 2 feels like we are moving to something bigger story-wise (probably because Nickelodeon gave the OK for more seasons), so I get the sense that there will be follow up and consequences to come.

#mags watches lok #long post #lok #legend of korra

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