#OH also the love triangle between korra mako and asami has not been working for me but thats mostly bc i automatically think the answer to

[saturnsuv]

8 episodes into tlok trying to fill the atla hole in my heart again and my impression so far is that it’s aggressively mediocre. sorry

[circlique]

Color Theory in ATLA/LOK: Korrasami Bonus Round

Welcome back to Color Theory in ATLA/LOK! Today’s bonus installment is in honor of the person in the redandbluebracket poll who said “korrasami wear red and blue, but aren’t red/blue coded.” Oh, you dear soul. Please watch the show before you drop such a cold take next time (trust me, you’ll thank me, korrasami are a treasure).

In case ATLA/LOK’s base color-coding by nation/bending wasn’t enough for you, please read on to see why Korra and Asami are undoubtedly “red/blue coded!”

From ATLA, there is a clear effort by the show’s creators to color-code characters based on their nations of origin. Fire gets red, air gets orange/yellow, water gets blue, and earth gets green. Since Korra is from the Southern Water Tribe, so she wears blue. Asami is the descendant of Fire Nation colonists, so she wears red. Pretty simple, right? But this is only surface level. Admittedly, ATLA’s color coding was a bit more in-your-face than LOK’s. By LOK, the nations have started to intermingle a bit more, so the color coding is more subtle, less obvious, but still there. Color theory is important, or we wouldn't be here. This is tumblr, after all.

Let's start with Korra. Korra has been a talented bender from a young age. She was just a toddler when she showed a propensity for bending more than one element, cementing her identity as the Avatar. As a result, being the Avatar has been a huge part of her identity nearly as long as she can remember. She was raised in a compound in the Southern Water Tribe, isolated from most of the rest of the world as she completed her training. She was raised with the idea that she was destined to be the Avatar, the world’s hero.

Imagine her surprise when she travels to Republic City, a melting pot of cultures of all four nations, and finds that things aren’t quite hunky dory like she'd imagined. One of her first encounters in the city is with an Equalist, a nonbender demanding equal rights and the end of oppression by benders. Korra has never encountered anything like this before. A person demanding protections against benders? Korra is the Avatar. She’s the bender. She’s never seen bending as a problem. Her identity is being threatened. 

What colors represent the equalists? Gray…and red.

From the moment Korra meets Asami, there’s some tension between them. Some of this is because of the (stupid) love triangle between Korra, Asami, and Mako. Asami wears a lot of black, because Republic City is a melting pot, and as a result of this, many of the characters who live here wear more muted colors (Mako and Bolin, for instance, wear gray, with accents in their respective bending colors).

But Asami also wears red. She’s a nonbender. And later on? Her father is revealed to be supporting the Equalists. Originally, Asami was intended to be an Equalist! But Bryke decided she worked better as an ally than an enemy. Anyway, it just goes to show, as a nonbender represented by the color red, a color also worn by the Equalists, Asami is what Korra could be fighting against. The scene where Hiroshi Sato invites Asami to join him in fighting the benders? Where he holds out the electric glove to her and she takes it?

She could be like them. She could be an enemy.

But she isn’t.

In the end, she sides with Korra, but if we just want to go based on color theory? The tension was there, undoubtedly. At that moment, Asami was very, very red-coded.

Back to Korra. Her self-identity is wrapped up in being the Avatar, and she is suddenly faced with a world that doesn’t need, and in some cases, outright rejects the Avatar. What is she, then?

In western cultures, blue often represents authority and security. In eastern cultures, it often represents spirituality. Both of these are the essence of the Avatar in ATLA/LOK. With time, Korra’s character arc comes to revolve around what it means to be the Avatar, and, in particular, her spirituality as the Avatar. Blue is featured heavily in both ATLA and LOK in scenes involving spirits and spirituality. Some good examples would be Aang joining with the ocean spirit in the Siege of the North, Aang being represented by blue as he tries to overcome Ozai and remove his bending, the Spirit Portal that Korra opens in season 2, spirit projections being represented as blue, and Raava’s colors being white and blue. 

Over time, Korra’s overarching character arc comes to be about finding her place as the Avatar in a world that seems to not need her and becoming the spiritual bridge between worlds. Korra was not a spiritual character in the slightest at the start, so for spirituality and the color blue to be so heavily featured in her character? How can you say she isn’t blue-coded?

In fact, the only time she doesn’t wear blue? It’s during Korra Alone, when she’s undercover in the Earth Kingdom trying to “find herself.” When she’s ready to be the Avatar again, she wears blue.

Back to Asami. We’ve already talked about how she represented the possibility of being the enemy of season 1, in a way. She acted as the bridge between “the enemy” and “the ally” through her color representation. But what else? Red already has some very strong connotations in both western and eastern cultures.

In western cultures, red is excitement and danger. It can be adversarial. This has been represented already in Asami’s somewhat antagonistic casting as the opposing part of a love triangle and her almost-involvement with the Equalists in season 1.

But it can also be love. Even as early as the love triangle days, Korra admitted Asami was pretty and elegant. The seeds were there.

Furthermore, in Eastern cultures, red represents luck and happiness. Where is Korra more happy than when she’s faced with a challenge? Asami presents and encourages these challenges for Korra. She offers Korra a chance to learn to drive, something Korra has never done and is eager to try. Where Mako held Korra back and argued with her, Asami supports and encourages her. She doesn’t shy away from Korra’s intensity or warn her she could get hurt. She stands next to her and asks what she can do.

And their arcs? Mirrored, in a way. While Korra has to learn what in means to be the Avatar, and has to hurt to realize how other people are hurting, Asami practically loses everything. Her company, her father, Korra. While Korra becomes steeped in her blue, Asami becomes steeped in her red.

So, when Korra is at her lowest, she confides in Asami, the only person she feels understands her. The only person who matches and encourages her intensity, her passion, without holding her back. The red to her blue.

No wonder Korra fell for her.

That’s it for now. I hope you’re enjoying these so far! I’m obsessed with colors, and I’m sorry (no I’m not).

[fanfictionfansmiction]

I Found Your Ring

This is a Mako x Reader, its my first time writing this character so please go easy on me! I finished watching the Legend of Korra recently and the characters are great so if anyone has any LoK requests please do send them my way. So to summarise Mako embarrassed himself in front of you the day before and he runs into you again but this time with a your ring. 

Word Count: 1792

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“Oh, come on Mako you’re being dramatic!” Asami laughs at her ex-boyfriends’ reaction while draping her arm over Korra’s broad shoulders. Who also fails to hide her amusement behind the pink dusting her cheeks. “I’m sure it wasn’t that bad.” She said while swirling her free hand along Korra’s forearm.

“Oh, trust me when I say it was bad.” Bolin interjects booming with laughter only to be wacked in the arm by his older brother who was sat beside him with his head in his hands. Bolin rubs the spot but continued to laugh along with the girls.

“Well think of it this way, you were a complete asshole to me at first and I still dated you!” Korra offered while looking up at her girlfriend encouraging her to help.

“Yeah, and I ran you over, but you still went on a date with me! What’s more embarrassing than sloppy motor skills?” Asami added stifling a giggle. A small lift of his head and everyone could see just how red Mako had gotten over this little situation which was surprising. Mako hadn’t really shown any interest in dating since the whole love triangle. Bolin was starting to worry about his big brother, working all those extra hours and keeping his distance from anyone who showed any interest. But this was different. Bolin couldn’t believe how much of a bumbling mess he had gotten into not only forgetting how to produce sentences but spilling his drink all down his new shirt.

“Poor Mako is going to die alone.” Wu added dramatically draping himself over the two brothers attempting to get a laugh out of Mako.

“He’s right.” Mako added in a small tone, seemingly out of character.

The group fell silent looking at each other in a way that suggested they should have taken it more seriously than they initially did. But it was still pretty funny. Mako brought his head all the way up taking in the concern of his friends who are close enough to be family. Just as he was about to suggest maybe he had taken it a little too seriously Opal made her way in from cold shaking the snow off her brown hair.

“Does anyone know who this belongs to?” Opal asks lifting up a gold ring with a small ruby. Just as they were about to say no in unison Mako realises that the ring is rather familiar. He shoots a quick look to Bolin who is far too distracted by his cold girlfriend to pay any attention to a ring but Korra notices the look on Mako’s face.

“Is it her ring?” Korra asks leaning back into Asami’s arms.

“Weirdly enough I think it is.” Mako said with hope in his eyes.

“Perfect you can make up for making a complete fool of yourself by returning her property! And maybe then she’ll believe that you are an adequate paramour.” Wu adds gleefully. Mako can’t help but roll his eyes at his comment.

“He’s right Mako, who knows maybe it could be romantic.” Asami adds.

He decides that they’re right and that he should probably return the ring either way. A little more excited by the fact that he’ll be able to see you again than he’d like to admit. A wave of hope crashes through him. It hadn’t really concerned him that he seemed to be the only single person he knew but his life had started to get a little lonelier in these past months. There seemed to be things he wished to do with someone he cared for in different ways. He longed for someone who would care for him and someone who he could care for. He saw the softness that grew in Korra anytime she thought of Asami and he envied it. Mako craved the tenderness he felt to be missing.

“I’m going to see if she’s at the same bar tonight. I’ll probably be back in the next few hours.” Mako said. As he walked out of the apartment, he heard them ‘oooohh’ at him, he couldn’t help the redness from growing up his neck.

It was a short walk through republic city to the small bar squashed between a tea shop and a trinket shop, the warm light illuminates the snow that falls lightly. Taking a small breath in Mako makes his way into building the noise from the chatter surrounding him. Taking small tentative steps, he approaches the bar trying to remind himself he has no reason to be so nervous all he’s doing is return lost property. Focusing so intensely on calming down he begins to frown, creasing his forehead and becoming tight lipped. Just as he opens his mouth to ask the bar tender if he had seen you someone taps him on the shoulder. He turns quickly to see you stood there with a blush creeping its way up your neck. There’s a playful look in your eye which causes Mako to smile releasing all the tension that he was holding in his face.

“I’ll buy you a drink as long as you’re careful with it.” You laugh tilting your head before ordering you both a drink.

“Oh, well that’s very generous of you.” Mako speaks mirroring your body language.

“What brings you back?” You ask with a small smile on your lips.

“The company is definitely a plus and so is the service! I always get what I order and I… um…” he stumbles over his words mentally whacking himself.

“That is always a plus.”

Mako flushes bright red and tuns to the barman asking for another drink. Which only causes you to laugh again, a sound which Mako is growing to love. He feels you brush your hand against his arm.

“This might be a strange thing to ask but were you ever part of a pro bending team?” You ask.

“What gave me away?”

“Your brother came back here yesterday after you left, and he was really chatty. Told me all about you.”

This stops Mako in his tracks flushing an even more aggressive shade of red. Resting his head in his hands he says something, but you cannot quite hear him, so you edge a little closer. Asking him to repeat himself.

“I said did he ask to borrow your ring?”

Now it is your turn to flush red, “Yes, he said he wanted to find something for his girlfriend in a similar style. He said that he’d bring it back to me today in this bar so that’s why I was here. To be honest I was surprised you were in here.”

“He did what?”

“He was really insistent on me waiting here tonight. I am happy to see you though, I like Bolin, but I don’t think I could take anymore talk about your accomplishments on the force. They are impressive Mako don’t get me wrong but also it felt like your brother was doing a job interview on your behalf.” You cackle.

“You know my name? That seems unfair I don’t know yours.” He replies.

You say your name and he repeats it in a low tone that fills you with warmth. As he turns to face the bar you could almost swear, he says it again.

“Can I have it?” You say drawing his attention back to you. He looks confused but takes the silence that has fallen over you to take in your face, your kind eyes and your growing smile. “My ring?”

“Oh of course that’s why I’m here.” Mako responds holding out his hand where the ring sits on the top of his finger where it had been since he recognised it as yours. He had unknowingly been twisting and fiddling with it all evening. “It’s a lovely ring.” He breathes your name again sliding the ring onto your finger. It is so intimate you’re glad when his warm hands linger.

“Thank you it was my Mother’s. I like your scarf Mako it suits you.” You say keeping his hands close to yours.

“It was my Father’s.” He responds keeping inching closer to you.

Moments pass and neither of you speak but it feels oddly comfortable. You hope that he doesn’t move away from you because he has a warmth radiating from him which draws you closer. The seconds pass slower than you are used to, and you can’t stop yourself from really looking at him. He is the only thing you can focus on in this busy room. You admire the shadow his eyelashes cast on his cheek it takes everything in you to not touch him and looking into his eyes it seems as though he’s holding back a similar desire. You can see him inching closer to you so your lips are almost touching, and you can taste the heat radiating off him. Just as you go to crash into each other Mako hears a familiar voice that breaks the spell that seemed to fall over the two of you.

“I’m sure they’re still here!” Bolin booms talking to Opal over the crowd. Makos forehead rests on your bare shoulder. The contact sending a spark throughout you, you can feel Makos face heating up.

“Bolin over here.” You wave him over keeping Mako’s head on your shoulder. Bolin spots you and for a moment he seems confused not sure how his brother couldn’t find you in the bar only to then see his brothers head resting on you. Bolin’s face pales deciding whether to go talk to the two of you or to run out of the establishment and pretend it was all a dream. He was a top-notch actor of course. Before he makes the call, Opal drags him out waving at you moving ‘sorry’.

“He’s gone Mako.” You whisper in his ear. Mako looks up at you with soft eyes. Again, he says your name in a soft tone.

“Would you want to go on a date with me? I promise my brother won’t interrupt.” He asks lifting his face up to meet yours once again.

“I’d love to.”

He brushes a stray hair away from your face banishing the shy feeling that grows within him, he places a ghost of a kiss on your lips. Suddenly worried he has been too forward with you. Only to have the worried melt away when he sees the small smile growing on your face. You rest your forehead against his only able to resist kissing him again for a few moments. It feels as though you have found something else entirely this evening. As though the two of you were bound to have a moment like this. Something inside you tells you that you will keep having these intimate moments together.  

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Michael After Midnight: The Legend of Korra

Avatar: The Last Airbender is, without a single doubt in my mind, one of, if not the, greatest cartoons of all time; it’s up there with Batman: The Animated Series, The Simpsons, and all those other time-tested classics. But even as it ended, there was always this feeling like the magnificent world created for the show could be explored ever further, expanded upon, and just in general be given a whole lot of new perspectives.

Enter The Legend of Korra.

The show is set several decades after Aang saved the world (as Katara always believed he could, according to the opening narration). Aang eventually died and a new avatar was born, the titular Korra; the show is all about how she comes into her own as the Avatar.

Now, just from that brief summary, it seems like this show would be an awesome thing right off the bat, right? Everything is there for this to be an epic continuation of an incredible animated work… and yet, it took this show two Books to truly find itself, and even then there were some truly questionable storytelling decisions that leave this show far behind Avatar in terms of quality. And look, I like this show. I really do. I enjoy it, I enjoy seeing the callbacks to the earlier series, I like most of the villains a great deal, I love the mythos they created about the Avatar as a concept by showing us its origin, there is a lot of genuinely great stuff that’s on par with the original series here. But while the original show had weak episodes here and there, Korra had entire weak Books; where the original show had some occasional bad writing, Korra had some truly bad plot points; and where the original show had a dragged-out romantic arc that, while a bit tedious, never really overstayed its welcome, Korra had one of the absolute worst romantic arcs in modern fiction with the most terrible, stupid, pandering, and nonsensical ending imaginable, one that insults me on so many levels.

But I’m getting far ahead of myself there. I’m going to briefly go over each Book and what works about each, and what doesn’t. The best place to start is from the beginning, so… let’s start there.

Book 1 has a sort of reputation as being a Book that was too rushed to really live up to its full potential. And you know what? I’ll agree to that. Nickelodeon really screwed this show over big time throughout its run, but the tiny amount of episodes they allowed the first Book was a big problem. The plot that doesn’t really get going until halfway through, the inane twists, the rushed conclusion… with more episodes things could have been fleshed out a lot better. Here’s the thing, though: even with more time, if they kept a lot of this Book the same… it would still suck a whole lot of ass.

Book 1 is pretty much a trainwreck, evident from the first scene, which shows a toddler Korra bursting through a wall, showing off every kind of bending save air, and saying “I’M THE AVATAR AND YOU GOTTA DEAL WITH IT!” This is our introduction to our main character. This is the first time we see her, our first impression. And they decide to introduce her in the least likable, most obnoxious, and dare I say most Mary Sue-ish way possible.

Now I have gone on record before saying I absolutely loathe the term Mary Sue; I find it to be a term that lacks any real substance to it and is really just shorthand for someone to dismiss a character. But the most common definition - a character who has so much going for them, rarely suffers any consequences, and is just well liked by everyone while getting the world handed to them - actually, sadly, fits Korra in the early episodes. She’s good at all forms of bending save air from when she’s a toddler, she almost instantly becomes a pro playing sports, she gets two cute boys fawning over her, she gets the greatest possible airbending teacher anyone could ask for… One could argue she gets built up so much like this to make her being torn down halfway through the Book more powerful, but it just really comes off as grating and obnoxious to watch.

It’s not like the other characters are written much better. Mako in particular is written to be one of the biggest morons on Earth, and Bolin, while charming, is something of a Diet Sokka. Tenzin is easily the best character of the Book, what with being voiced by J.K. Simmons and all, but his children… yuck. All of them are annoying and just feel superfluous, with Meelo in particular existing for seemingly no reason other than fart jokes. It’s not like Avatar was above using those kinds of jokes, but they didn’t have an entire character dedicated to them. Lin Beifong is pretty cool, a worthy successor to Toph, though be warned: she takes a lot of stupid pills between this Book and the next. Asami is pretty and badass, and she’s also one of the better characters of the Book, but sadly she gets tangled up in the worst aspect of the entire first Book: the love triangle.

The love triangle involves Korra, who is loved by Bolin and Mako, though Mako was in a relationship with Asami after they met, and Korra is with Bolin, but secretly likes Mako and… who cares? This is not what anyone wants out of a show based on Avatar. Just because they’re teenagers doesn’t mean they need to get up in all of this sub-par soap opera bullshit. This here honestly ruins the Book; while some would say Book 2 was the weaker Book due to its incredibly stupid plot and lackluster villain, at least Book 2 had Varrick and the Avatar Wan episodes. This Book really doesn’t have any big plus it can count in its favor. No, not even Amon.

Amon is the villain of Book 1, and early on he is just indescribably cool. His menacing voice provided by the always excellent Steve Blum, his creepy mask that evokes the titular V of V for Vendetta, his ability to remove bending, the fact he manages to scare Korra shitless… it’s all amazing. And then comes the reveal that he’s actually a bender. A waterbender, even. He has been using bloodbending this whole time to remove people’s bending. All of the shit from the big reveal really just leads to defang Amon from a nightmarish force to be reckoned with to a miserable bundle of angst. Noatak, who he is revealed to truly be, feels like an entirely different character. Still, even with his derailment, his final scene is one of the most effective in the entire series: as he and his brother escape on a flying ship, his brother, despite his brother’s words indicating that he wants to start over a new life with him and have things be good between them again, takes an electrical gauntlet and fires into the ship’s fuel tank, causing an explosion which kills them both. This is a murder-suicide that was shown on Nickelodeon. It is emotional, powerful, and truly shocking in a good way. It’s easily the standout scene of the Book, and almost makes it worth it.

Then comes the asspull.

You see, Korra had her bending taken by Amon. This could have led to so many incredible storylines as she worked to gain it back, utilizing only the airbending she was stuck with, the one kind of bending she wasn’t instantly good at. Sure, it may have ended up retreading a bit of Aang’s struggles, but that was good stuff! But instead… Aang’s spirit comes out of nowhere and the past Avatars all combine their powers and POOF! Korra gets her bending back. This is a dreadful resolution; I get they were unsure if they’d get to follow up on this or not, but leaving the door open with uncertainty is so much better than closing a bunch of doors. Why not have her just get a talk from Aang, telling her she can get her power back with enough training? End it on a dark but still hopeful note, with her having to work back up to how she was before. That would have been a hell of a lot better than this deus ex machina crap.

Overall, Book 1 is just a hot mess. It has isolated elements that are pretty good, but overall it’s kind of a complete mess story wise and character wise. It’s frankly amazing this show got a second Book… but it did. And oh lord is this Book something.

Book 2’s biggest crime is that it is utterly forgettable. I hardly remember anything from the first half of this Book because it is just so bland and uninteresting, and while it’s nowhere near as bad as Book 1’s love triangle, it doesn’t even stick in the mind. The shining gem of this first half - and the Book as a whole, mind you, if not the SERIES - is Varrick, the eccentric inventor, and his beleaguered assistant Zhu Li, who is frequently asked by Varrick to “do the thing.” These two make all the difference; without them this Book would easily be more unwatchable than the first, but with them… well, it still sucks but they manage to carry things.

Unalaq, the villain of the Book, is an utter bore. He’s obviously bad from the get-go and he is easily overshadowed later by the far more intriguing Vaatu, who ties deep into the mythos of the series by being one of the reasons the Avatar came to be at all. Unalaq also has two kids who are just as boring as he is and who spend the series not doing much anything noteworthy.

The real draws of this Book are basically everything to do with the spirits and their realm, as well as the origin story of the Avatar. Avatar Wan’s big two parter is the first part of the series to feel as fresh and epic as the original series, and it shows us just how the Avatar came to be in the first place. The other scenes in the spirit world are pretty great, featuring appearances from Uncle Iroh, Wan Shi Ton, and Admiral Zhao of all people. Then there’s the big shakeup at the end: Korra is now cut off from her past lives, and spirits and humans can now live together. These are some huge changes to the status quo of the series to the point where it feels like an apology for how bad and pointless Book 1 feels in the grand scheme of things. And you know what? Apology accepted. Book 2 is a mess, but it manages to find itself in the end and help steer the show into being the great work it ended up as.

Now on to Book 3.Book 3 is where the show really was able to show off how great it could be, to the point my only issues with the Book are minor. Most of my problems stem from the fact that Korra had very small Book, with about 12 or so episodes per book as opposed to Avatar’s 20. This is kind of a problem, because it gives some characters less of a time to develop, a fate that unfortunately befalls the members of the Red Lotus who aren’t Zaheer. Now don’t get me wrong, I absolutely adore the Red Lotus and think they’re all fascinating villains, and Zaheer is one of the most interesting villains in the series as an evil airbender, but Ming-Hua, Ghazan, and P’Li sadly get very little in terms of backstory. You DO get something, but they end up feeling more like the Cobra Unit from Snake Eater than fully fleshed-out bad guys… which is to say, they’re fun and effective, just don’t expect them to show great complexity. I wholeheartedly believe that they could have been expanded on if Book 3 had those extra seven episodes in it, and it’s a real shame we didn’t get to truly explore these fascinating characters.

My other problems, again, are pretty minor. I didn’t much care for Bumi becoming an airbender, and felt like it sort of cheapened his and Tenzin’s character a bit. Kai, a pubescent airbender scamp, was not a very likable character here, and it was pretty annoying having to put up with him, not to mention his ship tease with Jinora. Zuko also shows up, but it’s in a very minor role and he’s not really focused on at all. There’s a few more nitpicks here and there but these things are really my main issues.

The story is a lot darker and more mature here, especially in its repercussions for the rest of the series. Korra’s near-death experience here leaves her broken and haunted by PTSD, which becomes a major focus in Book 4. This Book is also where they really stopped giving a shit, and there are several particularly shocking and gruesome deaths for the show. We have Zaheer answer that age-old fan question “Could an airbender suck the air out of somene’s lungs?” with a demonstration on the Earth Queen, P’Li’s laser eye backfires and blows her head up, Ming-Hua is painfully electrocuted to death, and Ghazan takes a page from Gollum’s book and dies immersed in lava (and rubble for good measure).

This Book truly delivers the experience this series promised us in the beginning; it truly feels like an evolution of the Avatar series in the best way possible. While there are a few bumps here and there, there’s nothing really brutally bad that could derail the overall quality of the season. It has a great villain, and that villain has a great villain posse; there’s a lot of great cameos and character appearances, including some surprising ones; we learn more about Lin’s past; we get a whole lot more airbenders and an interesting plot going on with them that even in the end makes Kai more likable; and most importantly we have a solid plot with real consequences on the characters.

Oh, and there’s that little Zelda Williams character who appears near the end… wonder what her significance is…

She’s Book 4’s bad guy.

Book 4 is the final season of Korra, and while I don’t think many would say it surpasses Book 3 (which is quite the task, considering), I definitely think it’s a really great final season that wraps up just about everything that needs to be wrapped up. It also does a really good job with character development, like, REALLY good.

This season is where Korra really becomes a character I love, because her struggles are very personal and interesting. She’s constantly haunted by what happened to her in Book 3, and is stalked by a shadowy version of herself wherever she goes. Long gone is the obnoxious borderline Mary Sue character that she felt like in the first season; here, Korra truly feels human and relatable. More impressive than even that may be the transformation of the character Prince Wu, who starts the season as one of the single most unlikable characters in the whole series but ends up as an amusing and even somewhat heroic figure. Frankly I find it hard to hate a character who utilizes his terrible singing to help evacuate a city.

As I mentioned before, Kuvira is the villain, and she’s very much a visionary sort who thinks ruling the world under her iron fist is what’s best for everyone. Zelda Williams really gives her a real air of importance and even a bit of sympathy; she’s definitely a great example of an anti-villain of the quality of Zaheer, though I wouldn’t go as far as to say she’s as good as him exactly. Still, one can’t help but appreciate a woman who creates a massive robot that fires death lasers made out of entirely unbendable platinum. I know a lot of people find this thing to be utterly ridiculous and stupid, with little foreshadowing of its existence and just in general how ludicrously impossible and impractical it could be… but come on, it’s a GIANT ROBOT. I guess it just appeals to my inner Metal Gear fan, even if I do realize and accept it’s the most ridiculous thing in any of the two series.

I think what’s really great about this book is how it really just makes things that shouldn’t work, work really well. Case in point: there was an annoying, executive mandated clip show that, if they didn’t do, would have caused a lot of staff to be laid off. So what does the team do? They use the episode to take the piss out of everything in the show that didn’t work, from the shitty romance subplots to a hilarious scene where Zaheer, Amon, and Vaatu are all on the phone and trying to keep not just Unalaq, but Varrick’s movie version of Unalaq, out of the loop. In fact, the entire thing basically being Varrick doing an abridged series of the show is golden, because everything Varrick does is golden. Speaking of Varrick, his “Do the thing” catchphrase is used interestingly three times: one time it is a legitimately heartbreaking tearjerker, and the other two are just the sweetest, most heartwarming things you will ever hear. This sounds absurd, but again: this Book is all about making the most implausible things end up pretty good.

There’s so much about this Book that really makes it stand out - from Hiroshi Sato managing to reconcile with his daughter and sacrifice himself to the return of so many characters to just about everyone getting a happy ending… it’s a shame that it all got overshadowed by the most shallow, stupid moment of the entire series. Hell, BOTH series. You know what I’m talking about, you know what it is, it’s the thing that made me want to write this review in the first place:

Asami and Korra end up an official couple.

Now, generally speaking I wouldn’t have a problem with this. I like both characters, I myself am bisexual so it’s nice to see characters represent me in media, and hey, I’ve always championed Dumbledore as a great LGBT character when he was never explicitly shown to be so, so why do I hate this so much? Well, in regards to the latter, here’s the thing: Dumbledore is not the main character of the series, and his homosexuality is foreshadowed. We are not privy to Dumbledore’s private thoughts, we are not even given an in-depth look at his character until he dies in the penultimate book, and romance was never really a focus of the character. In contrast, Korra is in fact the main character of the show and who we follow the most, romance has unfortunately been a major factor in her development since the first Book, and the biggest problem: her being bi for Asami comes right the fuck out of nowhere.

There is like one line earlier in the book where Korra, while wandering, only really wrote to Asami. That’s it. These two barely interact or show any signs of romantic interest in each other until that final moment when they walk into the portal together. It feels like the ultimate ass pull, just a really lame third option to resolve all the love triangle garbage while simultaneously winning brownie points for being such a bold, daring move for a cartoon… but it doesn’t even show them kiss. They stare longingly at each other. THAT’S IT. Contrast Steven Universe, which is wholly and unabashedly filled with LGBT romance, particularly Garnet, who is literally the physical embodiment of a lesbian relationship, or even Adventure Time, who built up PB and Marceline’s past romance before having them get together and even kiss onscreen in the finale of that show. Korra is ultimately nothing`special, and that final moment was not a big step forward for representation or an important moment in TV history. It was a poorly built up shocking swerve that ended a series that had finally risen to the quality of the series it spun off from with the same bullshit that hampered this show’s original seasons to begin with.

Despite this, Book 4 is definitely a good finale to a show that, while it didn’t start out as such, ended up great. Really, the fact the final book was good despite having a lot of stupid elements and bad romantic resolutions is sort of a microcosm of the show as a whole, and showed despite those things the show could still tell an interesting story and be as grand as the original show was.

I don’t think this is one of the greatest cartoons of all time, but as a sort of follow up to the original series, I think it’s pretty solid. It was at its best when it was trying to tell mature stories and deal with darker subject matter than one would expect from a modern cartoon, and fumbled when it tried to shoehorn in the sort of romantic gunk one expects from teenagers. It worked best with its characters when their flaws felt natural and their issues were personal, and its villains worked better when they had simple yet fully fleshed out goals rather than overly complicated backstories or evil for the sake of evil. Korra is most definitely a mixed bag, but it’s a mixed bag I definitely recommend opening up sometime. If you liked the original show or just like story-driven or action oriented shows in general, this is one of the best ones of recent years. You have to slog through some crummy stuff to get to the gems, but boy oh boy are those gems shiny.

Also, I should have mentioned this earlier, but I am just so happy Toph is just a cranky old bad bitch even after all that time. Even while the Avatar world changed so much, it’s nice to know that some things will never change,

[orpelia]

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

[tarisilmarwen]

What's YOUR definition of "forced"?

Essentially, not given proper narrative setup, not being established well, or not given enough narrative justification.  A ship being canon in and of itself–even if it’s obvious–is not forced.  (Also once a ship is together writers can overfocus on it to the point where audiences feel like it’s being crammed into them but this is usually direct overcompensation for one of the first three things.  Writers who’ve done their setup right are a lot more confident and comfortable and make the couple feel much more natural once they’re together.)

For example!  A while back I read–and ranted about–this YA mermaid book that took a sudden left turn into Bullshit Romance Dramaville.  The story started off with the protagonist already in an established relationship.  And it was cute, and he was pretty sweet, and they got along fine but she just didn’t really feel like she was in love with him.  This plot detail was not relevant until the literal last quarter of the book when right the frick outta left field here comes this asshole who she–of course–falls head over heels in love with and is ready to marry after like three months but has to say goodbye to and never see again because he’s a merman and her cranky mer-grandpa says no because ~reasons~.  (To add insult to injury she breaks up with cute established boyfriend because she’s too heartbroken over her ~true love~.  Gag.)

Or another book I read, Prospero’s Children.  (Which quite frankly the narrative was already a mess but this was just the icing on top of the shitcake.)  This one had slightly more justification since he did kinda rescue her from an Atlantian prison but once again he only turned up in the literal last act of the book, she barely knew him before she slept with him–twice–and she was entirely too torn up about his ass after being his girlfriend for like, two days.  Three if we’re generous.

For some less obscure examples… let’s start with Makorra (Legend of Korra).  Now, this one was set up and established just fine.  But the execution and justification was just… terrible.  The Love Triangle From Hell ate up entirely too much of Mako’s supposed affections for Korra in that after mooning over Asami, dating Asami, denying his feelings for Korra for Asami, comforting and supporting Asami, and being a dick to Korra accusing her of being jealous of Asami, he all of a sudden as soon as Korra gets herself into a little bit of trouble decides “Korra I love yooooooouuuu!” and proceeds to spend the rest of the season obliviously mooning over Korra.  It was jarring, it had not been given proper foreshadowing, and it was just not believable.  (And this is all coming from someone who shipped it, mind you.)

Or take Fiyero/Elphaba from the Wicked musical.  (Musicals in general seem to have this problem a lot.  Replace any actual quality interaction and setup with a dramatic love ballad talking about their feelings and voila!)  She doesn’t think all that much of him, he doesn’t even really notice her until she lets her hair down, but they free a lion cub together, touch hands once and APPARENTLY INSTANTLY like each other enough to be sad they’re not together, immediately cue Elphaba’s despondent “He loves her not me, waah!” song.  This could have been fixed with literally one scene inserted inserted in-between their “Oh wait.” realization and Elphaba’s “I’m Not That Girl”, indicating that some time had passed and the incident is still running through their heads and making them uncertain.

Or take Hook/Emma from Once Upon A Time.  (Sorry Gidge.)  While it had been established–much to my personal displeasure–that Hook was a bit of a flirt and a ladies man and may have had a bit of a fancy for Emma she was completely Do Not Want towards him and he was still kind of majorly hung up over his dead previous love, for whom he swore a two hundred year quest for revenge against her killer.  He also only marginally stopped being a villainous dickbag in the Season Two finale, implied out of guilt for abandoning/selling out said previous love’s son.  Season Three rolls around and all of that is promptly forgotten as Hook goes from a useless ineffective dickbag villain to a useless ineffective lovesick puppy who luuuuuuuurves Emma.  The showrunners then proceeded to make the overexposure mistake by dedicating a disproportionate crapton of publicity to Hook in an effort to sell him as a hot romantic lead.  Like with Prospero’s Children this was not the worst or most grievous mistake but by god was it the one I hated the most.  (I ragequit the show as soon as they first kissed.)

Now, forcing or artificially prolonging the unresolved part of a couple’s Unresolved Romantic Tension is another problem entirely.  Touching base with the characters’ feelings and relationship constantly but never actually putting out and letting them be together (or in the worst cases outright sabotaging them) can be very annoying and frustrating but it is not the same thing as “forcing” the romance.  (If anything it’s forcing the lack of romance.)

With RobStar, since this whole discussion started with them, outside of the specific “filler” episodes dedicated to exploring their relationship (and really the show was like 80% filler, the story arc episodes were the odd ones out) they were still very clearly shown to be mutually affectionate best friends who enjoyed each other’s company and mutually cared about each other a lot.  That it was narratively obvious that they also liked each other doesn’t make their relationship forced it means… that they were narratively obvious and very clearly what the writers were going for.  Like, I’m sorry, but the writers don’t owe you ambiguity and subtlety; if they want to shiptease a particular romance and tell you, “Hey these two are a thing.” their only obligation is to not screw it up.  RobStar had plenty of setup and justification for their feelings.  The only thing that can be considered marginally forced about them was perhaps the fact that they arguably earned the right to get together during the show’s run instead of being hamstrung along season after season because they weren’t allowed to because the writers didn’t want to do it.  But again, that’s really more of an overeagerness to enforce the Status Quo and keep the characters out of an explicit romance rather than forcing them together into a romance when they haven’t earned or justified it, which I remind you is a completely separate issue.

Tl:dr– A forced romance is too much, too quickly, too soon, with not enough effort, supposed to be played seriously.

About the only time it works is when it’s done on purpose for the lolz, with the humor deriving from other characters’ reactions to it.  (I.e. Captain America kissing Sharon, to the approval of Bucky and Sam, or Ant-Man Hank Pym’s WTF reaction to catching Scott make out with his daughter.)

[girlwiththeglow]

Continuation of LoK Rewatch/Recap Book 1 Eps 6-12

One of the first things I did when I started this blog back in 2013 was to do a LoK rewatch/recap while waiting for Book 2 to begin (the wait for that was BRUTAL as hell btw) I had done up to episode 5 I believe in separate posts.

As I just finished rewatching Book 1 yesterday (20th time? lost count) I felt a small push within me to continue where I left off as I did have every intention to finish it but BOOK 2 excitement pushed that aside and well.... I never ended up finishing them. I suppose I’ll just sum it up briefly in one post just so I can get all my thoughts out of the way.

With 5 already written (check my first archive July-August 2013) I’ll just continue with 6-12. SPOILERS ahead....

EPISODE 6:- “...And The Winner Is...”

~ So, the standout of the episode is of course the REAL MVP that is Korra. Moments spanning from that sneaky power move to Tahno’s face with that water kick (slo-mo camera and separate angle and her “SUCK IT” expression); where she was hanging off the ring, holding up herself AND Mako and flinging him back in there and last but DEFINITELY not least, that badass fight between her and Amon’s Lieutenant where she held up her own and generally kicked ass in a proper one-on-one fight. There was also so much determination in her eyes when she saw Amon (and this was AFTER her last encounter where she was really scared that time he ambushed her) even in the face of that, fierce Korra unleashed that fire punch knocking Amon’s henchmen OUUUTTTT. That’s my girl!

~ Did I mention Tahno was a little bitch? Even though karma came calling for him and his cheating teammates...  THAT FACE still haunts me. Generally, this episode raised the stakes where Amon’s plans are concerned, where the public (and audience) is now well aware of his growing power and the ever-increasing threat he brings to benders. Lin Beifong too I remember just being like HELL YEAH, she and Korra teaming up - Lin especially showing off that she is quite capable with her metalbending - and her quietly growing respect for her was also a big highlight for me. I definitely remember feeling so tense and this exhilarating rush after this ep. This feeling of anything can happen and it was amazing overall.

EPISODE 7:- “The Aftermath”

~ A lot also happens in this eventful episode... Hiroshi Sato revealed to be the Equalists’ benefactor, Asami uncovering the truth and truly realizing the deep hatred and bigotry he has been harboring for benders all this time and... that tense moment where we weren’t sure if she was gonna join him or turn against him and ultimately making the latter decision... maybe it wasn’t too surprising but I feel like how it was executed with her just zapping them and using her self-defense to quickly take them down was kind of a jaw-dropper. We were never really sure and then it just kind of happens. (Part of me wonders if Bryke had stuck to their original decision to have Asami indoctrinated all this time and only befriended the team in order to betray them - and possibly, having to make the decision to become good and redeem herself throughout - if that would have made her more interesting. I feel like it would have given her a better arc throughout the Books and then the love triangle would have been handled differently for sure.) The unexplored angles JUST MAKE ME WONDER....

~ It was cool to see Korra accept that there was more to Asami than what she originally perceived (and for us too) and just added another compassionate layer to Korra, as she genuinely felt empathy for her in this unfortunate situation, even when she didn’t want to be right. At the end of the day, it was her duty to carry out her suspicions for the safety of Republic City... even at the cost of her friendships... it’s a tough call. In the end, Korra selflessly looks out for the team  with the open invitation for all of them to stay at Air Temple Island.

~ Action scenes in this ep, once again, just great. Tenzin using his airbending to dispatch the mecha-tanks, Lin using her metal spikes to crush them... they were on point.

EPISODE 8:- “WHEN EXTREMES MEET”

~ This EP. OH EM GEE. This ep! It was one of those heart-pounding episodes that actually kept giving you chills especially after the end. Noone could have foreseen the way this ep was gonna go... and it was frickin’ crazy/nerve-wracking.

~ The new Team Avatar was formed for the first time and it was really cool to see Korra have her friends’ support after she felt like a failure for not mastering airbending and feeling alone and burdened. The look of hurt and helplessness when Tarrlok called her out... she deserved a hug. They all worked well together and I enjoyed their action scenes in the car. Tarrlok’s plan to arrest them in order to get to Korra... how snaky can this one man be? I was about ready for his ass to be handed to him. Korra was about ready to let him have it then, with some pavements aimed to “say hello” to his face, however Mako was able to eventually talk her out of it before she too got arrested. The man was going after innocent people, locking off their power and trying to arrest them because they were out of their houses after curfew. Wicked man I tell ya.... and Tarrlok was well aware this would play right into his hands as we see when she goes to eventually confront him, frustrated with the inactions of the WORST CHIEF OF POLICE EVER...!!

~ That fight tho. Sure, we saw that steely, take-no-prisoners look when Korra confronted Tarrlok and we knew one way or another, she was gonna make sure she got her way. HOWEVER, Tarrlok was clearly SO rattled by her comparing him to Amon, he was OUT FOR BLOOD attacking her first. It was looking bad when she was getting scraped up his icicles and boy it just escalated from there.... ideally though, Tarrlok was NO MATCH for Korra’s sheer power and when we saw her use her earthbending and firebending and he had no water... I wondered if she was gonna burn his face off..... AND THENNNN.....THAT PAUSE. We knew SOMETHING was off, and then when he started moving her like a puppet and her groaning in pain, it allll became so clear and it was horrifying. Those final scenes were unsettling... he threw her like a rag doll against the wall and she was helpless to do anything. And that whole part about “never seeing Republic City again” and her just screaming in the back of the truck while he drove off.... And that whole camera panning up to the sky showing that it wasn’t a full moon..... and credits. CHILLS.

EPISODE 9:- “OUT OF THE PAST”

~ I really liked this episode. There were some surprising revelations and familiar appearances with flashback scenes that served to connect the past to the present. I liked that while Korra was meditating on Aang’s past (loved seeing the Gaang btw) to uncover what he had been hinting from earlier eps, the other subplot was spent focusing on everyone trying to find and rescue Korra.

~ Loved seeing Korra use her natural intellect and instincts to discover the truth about Tarrlok (being Yakone’s son) through finally connecting to Aang and of course when she overheard Amon tell his equalists not to underestimate her and electrocute the box before they opened it. She takes the cloth from her wristband and uses it to hold herself up thus preventing her from being shocked. Genius. Then she firebends with such immense power and successfully uses that opening to incapacitate them AND (narrowly!) escapes from AMON by herself. Then Naga being the best damn tracker there ever was being the first one to find her, never giving up on her master.

~ Tarrlok also had his bending taken away by Amon. It’s only until later we find out how significant this will turn out to be....

~ Seeing Yakone bloodbend the entire courtroom with just his mind.... Freaky as hell... Didn't like seeing him bloodbend Toph and especially Aang... That scene disturbed me because it looked extremely painful and maybe he had lasting damage after that who even knows.... :O Aang went into the Avatar State and finally ended his reign of terror by energybending his abilities.

~ I liked that when everyone was searching for Korra, Mako was the one who expressed his anxiety and worry the most. We’re talking about someone who was so guarded, he didn’t trust anyone else he met... until Korra. He was worried out of his mind, believing that Amon had done the worst to Korra. Mako witnessed Amon’s power for himself, watching his brother’s bending almost being taken and he also understood the threat he posed (it doesn’t help that he was personally affected by watching his parents being murdered, therefore he grew up becoming hardened and more cynical to how harsh life is) He may have been a little brusque, but that was brought on by the stress of potentially LOSING another person he cares so much about. (I don’t believe he would have hurt that Equalist either... honestly he just wanted to intimidate him into talking so he knew how serious he was.) This was an eye-opener for Mako himself (even though it won’t be revealed until the finale) how much he couldn’t stand to lose Korra.

They really shared a sweet moment when they reunited, and it warmed my heart when I first watched it.

EPISODE 10:- “TURNING THE TIDES”

~ This ep had a lot of great moments, ones that either made you laugh, made you gasp, and a few that left you pretty down.

~ You would think after Korra’s capture and rescue in the previous episode that this one would kinda be a breather right? Yeah.... not so...much.... turns out that this is the takeover. When all of Amon’s plans come to fruition and he pretty much acts on his plans like he promised. All the council people are captured, except Tenzin who is left as the default leader of RC, and while he manages to send out a distress call to the United Forces (contacting General Iroh - Zuko’s grandson!) he too is ambushed, with mecha-tanks subduing the rest of the police metalbenders and leaving Tenzin to defend the rest of the members. Team Avatar proceeds to come in at the right moment to save him and kick some booty..... unfortunately, Amon’s airships are at Air Temple Island (!) leaving Lin and the airbender kids to utterly dominate the Equalists. Shoutout to Meelo, you cute lil stinker you.

~ Pema gives birth at the wrong time (HOW INCONVENIENT PEMA) - Rohan is adorable though. So it’s a bright, hopeful moment in a heavy ep. They find out they have to evacuate right after or else the entire airbending legacy will be in jeopardy if Amon captures them. Tenzin and Korra share a hug before he urges her and Team Avatar to hide and to be safe. It was a nice moment and shows how they worry and care about each other, despite their occasional disagreements.

~ Lin Beifong (heroic and badass lady that you are) makes a huge sacrifice to hold off the rest of the airships from reaching Tenzin and his family.... in the end, she is captured and..... loses her bending as well! I remember just reacting to this with a “nooooooo damn you Amoonnnnn!” This was the downer part of the episode. Just never expected it to happen to Lin...

EPISODE 11:- “SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET”

~ I remember feeling shocked by the huge revelation in this episode. And funnily enough, I remember reading a fan theory online before this ep aired which actually predicted one of the major revelations but I dismissed it. It was the reveal that Tarrlok and Amon are brothers and the sons of the bloodbending crimimal, Yakone. Before we get here... let’s backtrack....

~ I have to point out the reflective quiet scene that was shared between Korra and Mako... which really speaks to the volumes of how much their relationship has evolved since they first met. Korra leans against Naga (contemplating on all that has happened and what will occur for tomorrow) and Mako goes over to check on her. She opens up about how she didn't believe she'd end up in the middle of an all-out war since four months ago she was at home practicing for her firebending test. Mako then says how they didn't know each other then and now he can't ever imagine his life without her in it. (quietly swooning over here, sorry). This is coming from the same guy who when he first met her he thought she was a crazy fangirl and barely even raised his eyebrows at the fact that she was the Avatar and now he then proceeds to share that "she is the most loyal, brave and selfless person he's ever known" - this is the closest admission he's ever come to so far hinting at how he feels about Korra and she, feeling touched, reciprocates her admiration for him too. While it is cut short due to the magnitude of what's happening, it is definitely a significant turn in their relationship and it shows how much Mako supports and appreciates her for who she is, and the positive changes she has brought to his life.

~ So General Iroh finally makes it to RC with his fleet reinforcements, and ends up joining Team Avatar to take down Amon’s forces. This is where the team splits up: Korra decides to stop hiding from Amon and wants to face him head-on; Mako (following up on their last scene and fully aware that he loves Korra) volunteers to aid her as there was no way in hell he was gonna let her do this alone if he could help it. The rest of the team will try to intercept and destroy the mecha-tanks/destroy runways etc. You can see from Asami’s expression (silent acceptance) that she understood now where Mako’s heart truly was once he expressed going with Korra. Their breakup was...real subtle and implied... though I do think that Bryke could have made it a bit more obvious what with certain parts of the fandom misunderstanding that scene...  Korra and Mako then leave in their stolen Equalist uniforms (which I have to say, they look pretty damn good wearing them) and sneaks into the arena...

~ The last half of this ep is spent on the revealing tragic backstory about Tarrlok, Amon (Noatak) and their father Yakone. As soon as they encounter Tarrlok locked in a cage, he simply lets the bombshell drop. BOOM.  Yakone was an obsessed, revenge-driven and abusive father who raised his sons to be exceptionally skilled bloodbenders so they can take over RC and avenge him due to Aang energybending his powers away. (he pretty much RUINS their childhood and scarred his sons for life) Noatak became Amon, this cold, detached, master PSYCHIC bloodbender and ended up carrying on what his father wanted... taking over RC and wanting to destroy the Avatar, with the added bonus of equality for non-benders. Tarrlok, on the other hand, ended up becoming something he hated... realizes this too late and urges Korra to stop him. It was just the saddest backstory we’ve seen thus far in the whole series and despite everything they had done, you did feel sorry for them. Korra comes up with the great idea to expose Amon to his followers thus ruining all he had built up.  And now it’s time to stop Amon once and for all....

All of this leads to the conclusion that is wrapped up in the Book 1 finale....

EPISODE 12: “ENDGAME”

~ Endgame - such a fitting title for the finale. I remember feeling so hyped waiting for this episode, and it blowing all my expectations out of the water. Several moments had me gasping, screaming, shouting, feeling ALL kinds of emotions. I’ve rewatched it several times since and it always brings out SOMETHING in me, that’s how much it still resonated. So let’s go....

~ Firstly, quick talk about the minor sub-plot. Bolin, General Iroh and Asami are captured by Hiroshi (I believe it’s the first time she’s seen him since she rejected him) and are saved by Naga (the BEST polar bear-dog that has ever existed). Asami and her father go head-to-head in mecha-tanks and they’re doing some serious damage to each other - I admit that I did feel bad for her that her own father sees no problem in attacking his own child... he is really off his rocker. Bolin, I agree that he is a horrible father. In the end, Hiroshi is taken care of and that’s pretty much it. Iroh-man (this was actually a meme created by the fandom back then) does some crazy stunts shooting fire from his feet and hands and jumping on airplanes, and throwing off Equalists, and ... man, Zuko you must be so proud of your grandson. Iroh should have joined the team... would have created a lot of possibilities...

~ The most nerve-wracking and intense parts of the finale involved Korra and Amon. EVERYTHING about it was a nail-biter, and I was constantly on the edge of my seat wondering what next and I was genuinely SCARED for Korra. 

When Korra and Mako hide in an empty room and Amon starts walking around ominously looking....  this part felt like a horror movie. You could see the close-up angle on Korra’s face and eyes and the sweat dripping down her head... some detailed animation there. Then....Amon is just bloodbending her (sharp note moment!) and Mako comes out of hiding to firebend him once he hears her in trouble but unfortunately, Amon was just too strong and paralyzes them both. Pretty much everything after that is .... *explodes* When Amon took Korra’s bending away, the sheer look of terror on her face.... with Mako, just watching helplessly unable to stop it... it was just so crazy and I just remember feeling so shocked in that moment... that this happened to our heroine. It had been building up to it from the beginning of the season but to actually see it happening was a huge blow....

I love how tightly packed the pacing and scenes were executed here because everything that happened after was so significant I can’t even skip over anything. So I’ll try to sum up my standout moments by character breakdown as best as I can without going so much into detail... (otherwise this will be an extremely longer post than I planned...)

- -  Mako’s actions in this episode all served to show his dedication and love for Korra and bravery in the face of danger. He musters up enough energy while Amon was distracted to lightning-bend him, thus completely blindsiding him, causing him to release his grip on the two long enough so that Mako could stall him further, carry Korra and run like hell before he got to them. Even while he is incapacitated by Amon, he gets praises from the latter for getting the best of him when no one else has and being a talented firebender. After Korra saves him, he supports her and tries to stop Amon while he’s escaping. When Korra is devastated at the loss of her other bending elements, in a heartwarming moment, Mako runs after her letting her know he is there for her, and assuring Korra that he didn’t care whether she was the Avatar or not, that almost losing her made him realize that he loves her. Even after she runs away, he follows her all the way up to the cliff determined not to have her deal with her grief alone, witnesses her going into the Avatar State where she shows all of her bending in a display of absolute power.  He’s so much in awe yet so genuinely happy for her that all he does is walk up to her with his arms out, wanting nothing more than to share his relief and joy with her that she’s whole again. The look on his face said it all… 

- - Watching Korra being brought down to her lowest point (the very thing she’s feared all season) and seeing her rise to overcome that and have the will to keep fighting was nothing short of inspiring. She is weakened by the loss of her bending, however she comes to and upon seeing Amon about to take Mako’s bending, reacts instinctively throwing out a punch full of air from a distance NOT KNOWING that she would unlock her airbending in an attempt to save the man she loves. (Cue shocked looks from everyone) Now realizing she can finally airbend then proceeds to knock the breath out of Amon with a series of punches in such a satisfying way (*cheering like crazy!!*) She breaks free from Amon’s bloodbending grip with a forceful air-kick flinging Amon out the window and into the water causing him to inadvertently expose himself, thus proving her right. I felt it for her when she believed that she was no longer the Avatar and that she gave off the impression that she didn’t feel she had value to others as just herself. She needed to hear that admission from Mako even in her state of grief. I honestly got very emotional watching her cry like that. When Aang appeared (cleverly done) and restored her bending with the appearance of the decades of past lives, and we just see her open her eyes connected to the Avatar State at last, it was honestly such a cathartic moment (*cue “The Greatest Change” playing, music swelling and Korra bending ALL the elements in such a powerful moment) and then she senses Mako’s presence, proceeds to jump into his arms and tells him she loves him too. That kiss to me was the icing on top of the cake, reaffirming that these two were indeed meant for each other.

And of course, last but not least, Korra displaying to everyone her newfound energybending in her Avatar State (Tenzin’s face was the best) and restoring Lin’s bending. Loved that whole scene and then Tenzin looks at her, tells her how proud he is of AVATAR KORRA.

Other STANDOUT MOMENTS:-

- Amon’s lieutenant catches him in the act bloodbending, and proceeds to denounce him as a traitor/fraud even attempting (and failing) to attack him. (Brave, yet foolish)

- Noatak and Tarrlok agree that their life in RC is over and try to repair their fractured sibling bond… Tarrlok realizes with detached resignation that their lives can never be normal again and…. kills them both… (shocking moment)

- Everyone who loves and cares for Korra gather in the South Pole, awaiting word from the best healer in the world, Katara, only to find out that she cannot restore her other elements.

 *Well, this is the end of my Book 1 recap/rewatch. It was fun rewatching my favorite Book and seeing the original vision that the creators intended to stick with... ya know, considering that this was SUPPOSED to be the original ending they planned. (*side-eyeing*) I guess I’ll come back and cover Book 2. As for the other books, well.... don’t know about those.