#I think they should’ve water board him during the interrogation

[oscardobewildin]

This is a canon scene from episode 15: What’s up, Doc? I don’t Make the rules sorry <3

[ihaspoorgrammer]

Legend of Korra: Alternate Season 2

In honor of LoK coming to Netflix, I’ve decided to vomit all my feelings towards that show the best way I can - creative writing - In a “What I think Should’ve Happened” essay for your reading pleasure. For those who don’t have the time, I’ll just come out and say it -- Legend of Korra was created with one season in mind, and that’s how it should've stayed.

All the concepts and ideas they introduced in the first season (and The Last Airbender) were more-or-less abandoned by the sequel so they could flounder and come to a deflating end.

So, I wrote this as a way to actually make use of them in a meaningful way that the creators so casually disregarded:

A few months after the battle with Amon, the Equalists have splintered into different cells throughout Republic City. Amon being revealed as a Waterbender weakened them, but that doesn’t take away from the larger points they championed about Bender/Non-Bender inequality. As a consequence, the United Forces soldiers are still a presence in the city, and Chief Biefong has made use of them as additional keepers of the peace, working with the Metalbending police to help rebuild and establish order, and has benefited greatly from the leadership of General Iroh and Commander Bumi.Korra is still airbending training with Tenzin as well as learning about the Avatar State, and she seems to have done a complete 180 in terms of her training; now dedicating herself to it full time to it. Tenzin is naturally happy about this development, but cautions her that the training will have to come naturally and it’s not something she can force, and is wary of how deeply her fight with Amon affected her.   The Fire Ferrets are preparing for their first match since last season against the Polar Leopards, Mako and Bolin steel their nerves while their new waterbender - Tahno - tells them to "relax" and "prepare to be amazed." After putting up a spirited fight, the Fire Ferrets and their opponents are tied. After ganging up on Tahno - who is at a disadvantage, being more accustomed to cheating - is saved by Mako. With seconds left, Tahno subtly bends the water on the opposing team’s side, and creates an ice-patch, causing an opponent to slip. Tahno takes advantage of this, and wins the match with a “Korra Special.” Only Mako notices the cheat.  After the match, Mako approaches Tahno about the cheating, but lets it slide. At Bolin’s suggestion, the two brothers go out to celebrate and invite Tahno along, but he opts out for "training” (after this, we see that Tahno has a picture of Korra in his locker, hinting that he only joined the Ferrets to make it up to her for restoring his bending).Asami has taken full control of Future Industries and personally oversees the production of new satomobiles and has saved Future Industries from bankruptcy with new airplanes designs. However, the company can't shake the black-eye her father gave it and her name, so business contacts have become scarce and shareholders have started pulling out. Worse, the board of directors have begun flexing their muscles to try and squeeze her out. She needs to come up with something good and fast.Mako, Bolin, and Tahno are in the middle of free-for-all sparring, when Tahno accidentally makes ice and headshots Bolin (which makes his vision comically go double). Mako scolds Tahno about it, causing Tahno to storm off.   Later that night on Air Temple Island, Mako brings Korra a meat dinner (Tenzin has put her on a vegetarian diet), but she declines. They begin to discuss Tahno’s participation in the team, which Mako believes was a bad idea, but Korra reminds him that Tahno has cut back on cheating, worked hard, and overall been a good addition (or stand-in for Korra). They share a nice couple-moment and laugh. We see Asami in the distance looking at them longingly, showing that she is still hurt over Mako leaving her for Korra. She starts to walk back to her room when she hears a strange noise in the distance. The source is Commander Bumi throwing his boomerang back and forth. After talking for a bit (and Bumi revealing that the boomerang once belonged to his uncle, Sokka), Bumi allows Asami to give it a throw. After a successful first try, she accidentally throws it through Tenzin's window. Bumi tells her "I didn't see anything if you didn't see anything." As he hops in the bushes to hide and Asami runs away. Laughing.  Meanwhile, a group of once-small time Triad gangs (they were "little people" before Amon "de-bended" the major families), are attacked by members of the Triple Threat. After a small battle, the Triple Threats win, and take with them a powerful bloodbender (or they start interrogating someone), leaving behind a message: “Lightning strikes twice.” ------

After that, Season 2 is in full swing. The Triads are the major Big Bad of this season because the purpose of the show was to be the opposite of Airbender, narratively speaking. So, that means keeping Korra and the cast firmly in Republic City and no more globe trotting.

This puts a bigger emphasis on the characters and their interpersonal relationships (which was the big draw of the show to begin with), rather than having to build up and explain the geo-politics of a new setting.

If they did stay for at least one more season, it probably would have emphasized a larger untapped well; the city was designed to be a 1920’s New York-style “melting-pot”, a place where all cultures come together and mix (Mako and Bolin are a product of a Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom union, and Tahno seems to be the a product of a Fire Nation and Water Tribe union). So, essentially, it’s the architectural equivalent of the Avatar. Just as the Avatar is the synergy of the four nations, Republic City does the exact same thing, just on a larger scale. One more season would better emphasize this fact, and show that despite what people think, it is possible for the four nations to co-exist as long as it’s based on mutual respect and sharing of differences, not domination of differences. This imaginary second season could also be used to address multiculturalism in any number of ways. 

Maybe the new Big Bad could’ve been a terrorist group dedicated to keeping the nations separate and "pure," and see the City as an affront to the Avatar’s “true responsibility.” And maybe Korra can see that, despite its flaws, the city and what it represents is worth saving. It also would have emphasised the “super-hero” aspect of the show; Korra being a Superman-figure who constantly has to protect her Metropolis from ever-constant calamities.  Another aspect that could’ve been added, was that the people of Republic City could’ve helped the Krew. You see, the citizens of Rep. City are constantly infantilized to the point of helplessness until Korra and co. show up to help. The opposite approach would have emphasised the multicultural aspect of the city, and how when push comes to shove, they are all one big family.Maybe even having a scene like from the original Spider-Man movie where the citizens actually help the Krew out, saying “you mess with one of us, you mess with all of us!”

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

From my perspective, there’s no better way to kick this off than introducing this monkey-wrench into the Krew’s system -- the return of Lightning Bolt Zolt, Mako and Bolin’s adoptive father.

See, in the backstory that the show never did anything with, after their parents died, Mako and Bolin became part of the Triads. Though Mako stresses to Korra that he only "ran numbers" for them during his time there. . . So either Mako is a mathematical prodigy, or he's lying. Because I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say he probably received no formal education on the streets that would enable him to work for the Triads in that capacity. So that begs the question: why would he lie? What did he do during his time working for the Triads, that would make him leave and never speak of it again? It’s because he was specially trained by Zolt personally. Learning Lightningbending in the process.

Now, Zolt will use this connection to manipulate Mako for his own purposes, which involves getting his bending back, which will of course drive a wedge between him and Korra.

Zolt may be a bastard, but he was arguably more of a father to him than Mako’s actual father, and that kind of emotional connection is hard to ignore. In fact, it’s such a shock to his system that his Lightningbending stops working.

Which brings him in contact with General Iroh.

When we first meet Mako, he’s determined, blunt, stubborn, and reserved. Understandably so, seeing as how his parents were murdered in front of him Batman-style and was forced to basically raise his little brother on his own, on the streets. As a consequence, one of his most defining characteristics is his inability to relax. He’s constantly trying to fix everything, constantly trying to help everybody, and constantly trying to remain in control. So, Avatar-style development demands that he gradually realize that he can’t control everything and learn to relax, allowing Bolin to become his own person, and learning to go with the flow. Which is something they actually didn’t do in the fourth season. He was largely extraneous to the story and they actually took every opportunity they had to show how useless he was.

Meanwhile, Bolin starts being approached by Lin Biefong, who believes the young man has the potential to be part of the Metalbending police force, despite his claims that he can’t Metalbend. However, Lin eventually realizes why he never could; he’s never had to apply himself. You need to have an unrelenting drive to force the minerals within to move, and that’s not something Bolin has ever needed. In Season 4 of the actual show, I almost applauded it for having Bolin sign up for the army because I thought that’s exactly what he needed -- a place to apply himself. Mako being such a mother-hen accidentally stunted Bolin’s emotional growth, never allowing him to mature and become independent. Which could lead into a very Sokka-like confession:

B: “Do you want to know something really terrible; I don’t miss them. Mako was the one that really knew them. I remember bits of things, but … They’re just … People I didn’t get to know. Mako’s the one that’s always been there for me.”

So here, Lin takes it upon herself to be his teacher and actually show his true potential. They grow closer as a result, and she and Bolin start developing a mother-son relationship. When we first meet Bolin, he’s immature, a show-off, something of a womanizer, a shameless flirt, and a goof-off. The unifying detail with the Bending Brothers is that Mako was sort of holding them both back; Mako’s over-protectiveness never allowed him to choose what was best for himself, and stunted Bolin’s emotional growth into becoming a more independent adult. What they could’ve done - if they wanted to save time - was to have their character arcs work off of each other -- while Mako becomes more relaxed and free-spirited, Bolin becomes more responsible and goal-oriented.

The only other place that the phrase “wasted potential” belongs besides in association with Tahno we’ll get to in a minute, but for now let’s focus on him. The creators once said that they “care about all the characters … except Tahno,” which should show the lack of imagination that was rather systemic in the thinking process there (and what liars they are).

From the start, Tahno is clearly deeply affected by Amon stripping him of his bending, even if Korra gave it back to him. And while he still resorts to cheating now and then, it’s not entirely because he’s a natural cheater … it’s because his bending hasn’t completely come back, and neither has Korra’s for that matter.

They’re both so traumatized by Amon’s Bloodbending that they’re experiencing “hiccups” in their powers.

Korra has tried to deal with it by doubling-down on her Airbender training to “find inner peace,” while Tahno is just trying to ignore it.

Eventually, their arcs cross paths, and they bond of their attempts at healing, having to come to terms with the fact that the “body heals only after the mind heals.” Which further draws a wedge between her and Mako.

Now, there is still a love-triangle here, but it’s in service to why Mako and Korra were brought together in the first place: they aren't supposed to be like Katara and Aang, where it was love-at-first-sight. They’re supposed to be the more realistic couple that have problems and have to make compromises because they love each other.

Love isn’t something that just happens, you have to work hard at it and make the other person happy without looking for the advantage. Relationships - both platonic and romantic - need to be built on mutual trust and understanding, and with understanding means taking a person for both their good and bad qualities.

Infatuation is the kind of love that is more shallow and doesn’t last.

Under direct orders from Fire Lord Zuko himself, General Iroh has started staying at Air Temple Island to watch over the Avatar, which leads him to becoming an unofficial therapist to the people staying there, namely Korra, Tahno, and Mako.Iroh is unique among the cast because he’s inherited Uncle Iroh’s position of someone who already has everything figured out themselves.

He grew up with loving parents and loving grandparents, and we learn that he had the honor of being one of the first firebenders taught by the Sun Warriors, who Zuko spent most of his life helping reconstruct (where he gained the nickname, “The Young Dragon”).

This new living situation makes him a part of the Krew later on, and brings him closer contact with Asami, who he develops a rapport with. And finally, we come to Asami, who is still dealing with losing her father and potentially losing everything else.

You don’t have the founder of a company be linked to a terrorist organisation and expect that company to survive, no matter what financial magic you can conjure. Which is something Asami is learning all too well.But in this madness, she meets two people -- Commander Bumi and General Iroh (who’s under an official Fire Lord order to watch over the Avatar).

She soon becomes Bumi’s ward, eventually, Bumi will act as a surrogate father for Asami, and she will help him organize, and win, a blimp race. From then on, she starts exclusively referring to him with the honorific, "commander."

They become so close that he starts teaching her everything Sokka taught him. You see, because Aang spent more time with Tenzin and Katara more time with Kya, that meant that Bumi ended up bonding with his non-bending uncle, (who later in life became master Piandao’s best student).

That’s why Bumi carries around Sokka's boomerang; Sokka was probably more of a father to him than Aang was.

So Sokka, never having children of his own after Suki tragically died, taught Bumi everything he knew, including how to recreate Space Earth Metal.And, after they grow closer, he decides to trust Asami with this sacred technique. … 

Which she immediately tries to patent and market in order to save Future Industries. However, when she learns how deeply she hurt Bumi by doing this, she finally cuts her losses and sells the company. After that, she decides to pursue a different career, perhaps by joining the United Forces. 

And, while all of this is happening, Tenzin is informed by the White Lotus that global bending birth rates are going down with the modernization and mechanization of the world. Signifying that people's disconnection with nature and spirituality is robbing them of their bending.

Just like what happened to the Fire Nation.

And if this rate continues, in a few generations, bending might completely disappear.

------

Avatar: The Last Airbender was aimed primarily at children and early teens, because those are big transitional times in young people's lives. But late-teens and early 20's are also big transitional phases in young people's lives. Perhaps even more so, because those are the times where you have to learn how to be an adult. A very alien concept.

So, Legend of Korra seemed primed to tackle the challenges of this time, but for one reason or another, they never did.

Despite having a golden opportunity to say some meaningful things about interracial families and multiculturalism, they instead, did nothing.

This is a quote from a Tumblr post who I sadly can’t track down, but it speaks volumes to what AtLA represented to people:

“You need ALL these things to survive and grow, to hold up your community and push yourself forward. You need to unlearn myths and lies, reform them to fit new realities. You need to respect the past but mold it for the future. In short, you have to “draw wisdom from many different places” while keeping true to who you are and where you come from. IDK if the creators of AtLA thought about these things when crafting this story; I think when a story is well told, with authenticity and love, it has the potential to illuminate many perspectives and strike empathy in many different people. Diasporic consciousness is incredibly valuable because it teaches us a different way of being, a way of interconnectedness and mutual love. The Gaang symbolizes this perfectly: it took all of them with all their different skills, to end the War and restore peace and balance. A diasporic consciousness has the same power: to model a newer, more just, more empathetic way of life.”

Tying into this, I think all the Avatars were wrong in their assertion that the four nations needed to be separated. Think about it. Every single nation failed, in their own way, because they were isolated: the Fire Nation became too proud of its own accomplishments, and became a fascist regime. The Air Nomads' loose and "free" nature allowed the Fire Nation to easily wipe them out. The "go with the flow" attitude of the Southern Water Tribe - similar to the Air Nomads - made them easy targets for the Fire Nation; while the Northern Water Tribe "froze over," becoming rigid in their doctrine and tradition, and could never stand against the Fire Nation alone; and the Earth Kingdom fell too far into its "virtue" of endurance, and became a military dictatorship with a puppet king, cutting off any ties to the outside world. 

“It is important to draw wisdom from many different places. If we take it from only one place, it becomes rigid and stale. Understanding others, the other elements, and the other nations, will help you become whole.”

While the "separate, but equal" stance towards the Four Nations may have been a good idea in the past, in recent years, it's proven to be a recipe for disaster. Most, if not all, of these failings could've been avoided if there had been more open dialogue between the Nations. There is a saving grace in the form of the Order of the White Lotus, but seeing how they all kindly fucked off until the shit really started to hit the fan, I can hardly see how they were a solution to the problem. Now, I really don’t know what else to say. I wrote this entire thing as an exercise to show how Legend of Korra failed in its duties to be an equal to its predecessor, because I was a fan.

Not just of AtLA, but of Lok as well. I watched it, I invested in it, and I was disappointed by it.

Others may have had all their hopes answered by the ending, but I was left with a pit in my stomach over how far the mighty had fallen.

And I don’t look forward to the show being adapted into live action because I don’t think I can take seeing all the lapses in creativity and common sense all over again.

[dontcallmecarrie]

Maybe it’s too early to ask, but I was wondering about what would happen if Maria managed to win against the Winter Soldier? Specifically, how would Howard react to the realization that he doesn’t know his wife (or son) at all?

So, this is entering kinda spoilery territory if you haven’t read the outline [it’s under both my LTTR and fic ideas tag, if you’re don’t mind said spoilers], but I will say that Howard’s survival was never in the cards, and neither is his finding out until the cold and bitter end. 

Also, this can be interpreted in various ways, thus the cut because I get rambly and you guys get multiple shatterpoints because there’s so many what-ifs to play with. Heads up for major spoilers, too, for the main AU, and at this rate I might end up playing with some of said shatterpoints too. 

Howard’s reaction to the reveal:

I kinda touched on it in his POV, but suffice it is to say that between his distancing himself from his family, alcoholism, and his lack of relationship with his son, Howard’s not exactly read in on the situation. Like, sure, he’s aware that his wife is from a small town somewhere in the Southwest, and she passed her tolerance for insanely hot food onto their son, but that’s about it. 

He was slightly curious about it a while back, but between his own demons and it sounding like some backwater place that’s probably nothing more than a corner store and a handful of buildings, well, he’s never really looked into it. Especially when he could be looking for Steve instead.

If you’re willing to deal with spoilers, then I will say that was more stunned by his wife showing her true colors than the discovery of the Winter Soldier. 

Because assassins, okay, comes with the territory, he’d known the risks that came with founding a Vague Yet Menacing Government Agency, plus makes sense that they’d go after one of the top weapons makers in the country. Sure, he was still not expecting to go out via an assassin who he recognized, but still.

On the other hand, he was not expecting his wife to throw a fireball singlehandedly. At all. And where the fuck did that machete even come from?! 

Howard knew his wife wasn’t like a normal civilian, not when she was all-but-running his company’s PR department with an efficiency that Peggy had commented on, not when she’d taken down that mugger the second time they’d met, but…he’d thought she was a civilian. He’d spent decades with her, had argued when it’d come up, thinking she was normal. 

So when Maria shoots him an apologetic look but continues fighting, continues doing her level best to give their attacker hell even if she’s pinned by the wreckage of the car, even if she’s already bleeding out as is, Howard’s in shock.

 The rug hasn’t been pulled out from under his feet, it turns out that rug didn’t even exist, and he doesn’t know what to do because suddenly he’s remembering how she’d reacted during dinners, reassessing every time she’d warmly hugged their son, and he’s coming up short. He sees the way she’s baring her teeth at the slowly oncoming assassin, and can’t help but make parallels to her smile, and the ease she’s commanding the shadows tells him more than words could ever say, and Howard just….can’t.

[If the Winter Soldier hadn’t killed him, he might just have died of a heart attack instead, is what I’m saying.]

Again, it was never in the cards for him to survive, when I started playing with this AU. 

However, if he had, they would’ve had a...talk, afterwards, which may or may not have devolved into a fight. 

If things had gone anther way and he’d reacted badly, and essentially rejected Maria:

 she would’ve packed up and taken her son, a change of clothes, and headed to Night Vale. Jarvis, of course, already had his own suitcase packed when he heard the raised voices. [The captured Winter Soldier also might or might not be tagging along, too.]

Of course, this one’s incredibly AU and we’d never see canon, since Howard’s paranoia would’ve skyrocketed after the double-reveal of both Maria’s more dangerous side and the Winter Soldier, which would’ve then led to HYDRA being discovered and eradicated. 

Especially since he’s diving into his work because there’s no one to go home to anymore, and he doesn’t know the first place to look because there’s no mention of Night Vale in any official registers and it’s like Maria and the rest just became ghosts. Part of him really regrets that fight, regrets how he’d treated his wife, the woman who saved his life, and another part of him hates her for taking his son from him [even if they’d never connected and how he’s wondering just what secrets Tony had] but he doesn’t know what to do anymore.

Steve would’ve been found and woken up to a Howard who was far older, hardened, and bitter than he last found him, and Stark Industries would’ve still been making weapons. 

Meanwhile, back in Night Vale, Maria and Tony and Jarvis are settling in just fine, and the Winter Soldier’s learning how to be human again in a place that by all rights should’ve been nothing less than re-traumatizing but is instead exactly what he needed. 

All in all, they’re kicking ass and taking names. 

Both literally and figuratively, because everyone in town knows Maria Carbonell and she doesn’t correct them on her last name [she’s pretty sure that last fight counts as a divorce, anyway, because Shit Went Down], Tony doesn’t either, and the Winter Soldier oscillates through various names as he’s figuring himself out, including Rami, Yakov, and Zosimos. 

They don’t really want to leave town, but when Thanos rocks up to try taking on Earth, the Carbonell household mobilizes. 

The Terror of the Time of Knives, plus a Tony who’s had even more exposure to Night Vale weirdness, plus a ready source of Librarians and a Woman From Italy, means the poor Mad Titan doesn’t stand a chance.

…then again, this might as well be another shatter point. uh-oh.

If Howard took it relatively well:

Yes, they still get in a fight. 

However, there’s also a lot of soul-searching going on, and Jarvis ends up making several liters of tea because the talk afterwards takes hours and the poor man is hearing his wife and son talk about all the assassinations attempts and kidnappings they’ve thwarted, and turns out he had nothing to worry about on that front. 

Tony and Howard’s relationship slowly goes from ‘hi, provider of y chromosome!’ to ‘you care about me? sounds fake but okay. at least mom’s happy now’ because Howard’s relearning everything he thought he knew about his son and it is a trip. 

Part of Howard’s horrified to realize the only reason Tony cares about him is because of Maria, and, on top of that, honestly thinks Howard doesn’t care for him. The rest of him is full of Regrets because how the fuck did he miss this?! 

Tony, for his part, is kinda indifferent. Sure, the guy who made a token appearance in his life is acting weird, but he’d get over it, right? 

Jarvis is in the back, debating about downing an aspirin or something for the headache he’s getting from the spectacle.

HYDRA gets found a lot earlier, especially since Maria’s degree in Communications is a bit of a misnomer and interrogating the captured Winter Soldier leads to a lot of shit going down very fast. 

Steve wakes up to a bored-looking but strangely familiar young man looking down at him and saying “hey your son’s awake” at—is that Howard? And…was he dead? Because there’s no way Bucky could be there swatting him on the arm, what was going on?

aka Steve’s introduction to the world is via the Stark-Carbonell household. 

also, Tony’s skewed idea of things means he honestly thinks Howard considers Steve his son, and Howard has yet to disprove him because the way he’s acting is only giving him more proof. Family showed their love in different ways, after all, and Howard’s constantly searching for Steve got interpreted accordingly.

Howard, meanwhile, is headdesking in the back because how the fuck did things get so convoluted? Where’d the signals get crossed?

Tony doesn’t resent Steve, because he doesn’t really care for Howard. 

Things happen, time passes, and miscommunication and headaches abound. 

Steve’s idea of the modern world gets pretty warped because he’s not leaving Bucky, and Bucky’s part of the household now too.

Thanos rocks up. It doesn’t end well. 

For Thanos, I mean.

As for if Maria had won:

Howard still died, seeing as you now have two shatterpoints where he didn’t. 

So, Maria wins, ever-so-narrowly, because she’s the Terror of the Time of Knives and she’s taken on assassins since she was a teenager. 

However, she’s also furious, and grieving, because she won but her husband was dead. And sure, they’d had their rough moments, had fought time and time again, but she’d caught the look of shock and betrayal on Howard’s face, and she’d been so, so close to him but hadn’t been able to protect him, what sort of wife was she? 

And what was she going to do now? Howard was dead, it was just her now, left to run the company and manage his affairs and everything. There’s so much that needs to be done, and she can’t just leave it all to Tony, he’s not even of age yet!

Tony, for his part, feels slightly guilty in how little his father’s death hurt. Because his mom was hurting, but…he never really knew the man, and his death doesn’t really impact him?

Like, when he’d gotten the phone call about the car accident, all he’d cared about was that his mother was alive and everything else had been secondary. 

So, Howard’s dead, and she’s managed to capture the assassin, but that’s not everything she needs to worry about now. Suddenly Maria’s scrambling to keep everything together, keep everything running smoothly, and she’s happy she trained the PR department well because right now there’s blood in the water.

After all, Howard Stark’s trophy wife is now the owner of the company, should be easy pickings, right? 

The discovery that no, actually, Maria Stark was as formidable as her husband in the board room was a nasty shock to many of their competitors [even if the company took an unexpected turn at times].

Not just there, either—because someone wanted her husband dead, and succeeded, so Maria Stark née Carbonell is on the warpath because she failed once at protecting her family, like hell she’s about to do it again.

aka HYDRA burns in short order, and Obadiah Stane vanishes mysteriously because this is supposed to be a happier AU

Tony’s working on his second doctorate and helping the man currently calling himself Yakov and laughing at everyone who’s shocked by how competent his mom is. 

Time passes, Tony takes up the reins under less pressure than he was under in canon. Maria finally takes her vacation, and Tony becomes the Merchant of Death. 

aka the world discovers he actually takes after his mother, and goes “oh shit”

In all universes, however, Thanos arrives and regrets trying for the Earth in short order. [Turns out that invading a place that’s been gearing up for a Blood-Space War does not end well.]