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holydragon2808 · 8 years ago

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Thoughts on The Legend of Korra: Turf Wars (Part One)

Wow, it’s been a while since I’ve posted anything original on my blog about The Legend of Korra (or just anything original period). I’ve reblogged several Avatar related posts and art (as well as things from other fandoms), but I haven’t posted hardly anything myself since the Book 4 finale! I’ll just take a moment to wave hello to anyone still following this blog and my fellow Avatar buddies (Waves enthusiastically!). S’up Peeps! OH and if you’ve yet to read the Comic, don’t read any further than this because SPOILERS! I’m pretty sure most in the fandom have read them but just in case.

I’m a bit late to the party I know, but I wanted to get my thoughts together before I posted anything. I have to say that I was really happy with this comic book overall. They’re off to a fantastic and engaging start with this story. With the ATLA comics I felt like those were just side stories or expansions. Interesting side stories/expansions granted, but really not just vital to anything (just IMO). ATLA concluded pretty soundly overall in its own right. With Turf Wars taking place immediately after the last scene with Korra and Asami walking into the spirit portal (and TLoK having far more loose plot ends to tie up than ATLA in general), this actually didn’t feel like just a comic book. It felt like it could have been a real animated episode. They seriously could have added “Book Five” to the title and gotten away with it.

Korra and Asami’s little getaway was exactly like I was hoping for with the two of them having a good time after everything they’ve both been through. From their friendly competitions and playful ribbing at each other, to their first shared kiss (Korrasami shippers squeal lol) to the two of them confiding in each other on exactly when and how they both realized they loved the other, and so on. That Spirit Mountain or whatever he was acted kind of bitchy though. It’s okay though Korra. In your own words about the Dragon Bird spirit “ I think it can sense where I am. Not EVERY spirit hates me” lol.

Anyway, thanks to the grumpy mountain, Korra and Asami are forced to cut their vacation short and return to Republic City because they lost their supplies in all the chaos. Before that though, Korra wants to take a trip to the South Pole via the Southern Spirit Portal to visit her parents and tell them about their official romantic relationship and their “sounds fun” lol vacation. Asami has a few reservations about all of that but Korra is just too excited to really pay attention at the moment. So Korra and Asami “come out” to Tonraq and Senna. They’re surprised at the unexpected news (from their perspective) at first, but then were all “Yay! That’s cool! I’m so happy for you both! We couldn’t be more proud!” etc., which is pretty much how the fandom expected them to take it so no real surprise there.

I do like that after the argument that took place between Korra and her parents, once Asami pointed out a different perspective on the matter (and provided a better understanding for Korra on what exactly Tonraq and Senna were really trying to get at), Korra was immediately able to step back, admit she was wrong to not take Asami’s feelings into consideration (and admit that Tonraq was right about her overly excitable nature leading to rash outbursts at times) and apologize, a FAR CRY from her Book 1 and Book 2 (pre Avatar Wan) days when she had difficulty accepting criticism/other perspectives until she was neck deep in trouble.

I’m hoping we see more of both the positives and negatives of Korra’s overly excitable, openly passionate nature paired with Asami’s more reserved, patient and logical one in the future (as well as Tonraq and Senna making more appearances and Korra getting the chance to reconcile with them) and how they will work through it overall. Notably, Korra doesn’t just rush off to tell anyone else either without making sure she and Asami both are on the same page about it. They sort of well….”out” themselves to their friends near the end but more on that later lol.

Anyway, the minute our favorite couple steps out of the new spirit portal in the middle of Republic City, the world wastes no time reminding both of them (as well as the audience) of their responsibilities as well as the devastation Kuvira’s attack on Republic City had on the populace. Then this greedy guy named Wonyong Kuem is trying to seize his property back from the spirits. He may be technically right LEGALLY but at this point, he’s hardly the only one who’s life has been uprooted by the unexpected new spirit portal and he’s hardly the only one who’s lost property because of it so he just comes across as a greedy sleazebag (which was basically intentional so yeah lol).

Not to mention that while I do agree that the Spirit World in general should be more welcoming of humans (Heck, before Kuvira’s attack the citizens of Republic City, with Future Industries leadership, completely redesigned the city’s infrastructure just to accommodate the spirits better and welcome them. None of them have done the same for their own world nor did they bother to help with the Kuvira crisis either), a tourist attraction with people like Kuem is not the best way to go about it…Good on Avatar Korra for showing this guy who’s boss, though as she and the Airbenders suspect, he’ll probably be back. His type always comes back….

It also was somewhat satisfying that the spirits are getting some well-deserved karma thrown back at them. They hate the spirit portal and try to urge Korra to close it but she’s quick to point out that had they helped out with Kuvira to begin with, the spirit portal may not exist right now. They realize that they can’t make her close the portal so in Korra’s own words, they’re just going to have to “deal with it”. Korra seems to believe from the bottom of her heart that Spirits and Humans can one day live together in harmony and she’s willing to stand her ground. I’m hoping the Spirits in general will one day stop looking down on humans on principle and put more effort into making both worlds a place where they can all belong or at the very least be civil. Turf wars (in the plural) indeed….

Meanwhile, even more trouble is brewing on the horizon with the Triple Threat Triads, The Creeping Crystals, the Agni Kais, and every other Republic City gang is on the rise with the Triple Threats gaining ground as we’re introduced to the main antagonist for this trilogy: Tokuga. Let me just say that this guy can seriously throw down (Hooked swords make a reappearance in addition to chi blocking) and is an awesome (but somewhat frightening) reminder that a person does not have to be a bender in this world to be a ruthless and cutthroat badass. I’m glad that the antagonist in question isn’t another bender. Nothing against them (we’ve had some good ones from both series) but it’s just great to finally break the mold here in a way that works. The Triple Threats finally getting a serious chance to shine and show just how badass they can be is a welcome plus as well. Two-Toed Ping is worried about his life being in serious jeopardy just for name-dropping Tokuga during Mako and Lin’s interrogation.

Speaking of the police force, I’m happy that Bolin joined along with his brother. It gives the police force some serious raw power at their disposal with Bolin being a Lavabender and it gives him a chance to truly shine without all the drama of his previous job with Kuvira (and shows he’s earned back his good will with his friends and family). Nice to see the bending brothers back together again. Loved both of the brothers’ interactions with Two-Toed Ping as they were taking him back to the station. Ping is genuinely proud of both of them for making something of themselves. Bolin being Bolin thanks him in stride while Mako just tells him to shut it lol. Good to know some things never change.

Back at the refugee camp we get yet more evidence of the sheer devastation Kuvira’s weapon (and Team Avatar’s attempts to stop it) having irreparable damage on the city and leaving hundreds of people homeless. About the only humorous thing taken from all of this is that President Raiko’s approval rating is -3. That’s too funny! I don’t know about the rest of you but I’m SO voting for either Poki or Zhu Li (or both they should team up!) for the next president lol. Just think of what they could do for the city! Gotta love Raiko’s new campaign slogan “Vote Raiko! He’ll wallop tyranny with a knockout blow! (I’m like Korra….wut? lol). But credit where it’s due. At least even he admits to his campaign manager that the slogan is ridiculous lol. He’s still pretty incompetent though. When you’re required an explanation on how rebuilding homes for the populace would restore your own good will to the common folk after they’ve been rendered homeless…yeah…he’s more concerned with keeping his job rather than actually doing it….I’m seriously hoping for Poki. Zhu Li for a more practical candidate but Poki’s good too. Meelo can be the advisor. Republic City would either have absolutely NOTHING to worry about with this trio in charge, or EVERYTHING to worry about with this trio in charge. There would be NO middle ground whatsoever lol.

It’s also nice to see that despite their newfound hardships, the refugees aren’t blaming Korra for everything this time like during the beginning of book 3. They’re grateful to be alive and know it’s all thanks to Korra and her friends and they’re happy to see her again. She offers to help the displaced refugees in any way that she can and quickly begins to find herself overwhelmed. Just when it seems like she’ll be forced to leave (and they begin to riot or something), she doesn’t want to leave as Tenzin suggests. I’m going to post what she tells the refugees because there’s no way I can say it better and it deserves recognition in its own right:

Everyone! Please Listen! I feel for all of you. You’ve all been through so much and I’m sure you’re all tired, frustrated, and angry that you’re homes and neighborhoods have been destroyed. This is a time for great change for all of us in Republic City! But a wise man once told me that change could be good or bad depending on your point of view. So maybe we could all look at this as a chance for a new beginning.

I promise to work my hardest to make sure everyone has a place to live soon. My hope is that the rebuilt Republic City will be full of new possibilities for all of us. Together, we can forge a bright future, living in balance with our planet, evolving into our best selves, and becoming who we truly want to be!

Cue the audience cheering for her and the future.

This girl….no. This young woman…I just can’t right now. As I said before, she truly believes in this vision of unity and balance between humans and spirits with all her heart and soul and she is willing to work and fight for it. We saw shades of this Avatar Korra in the book 2 finale when she gave the speech about the Southern Water Tribe being independent and forging a new path for the future. But to see her now after the hell she was subjected to in the book 3 finale and 3/4s of book four…Avatar Korra has come a long way indeed both with her own struggles and being able to truly inspire people. And we get to see that here with her words spoken with an eloquence we haven’t heard in over two seasons. Just beautiful and Tenzin’s expression as if he’s holding back tears just seals the deal. Couldn’t be more proud of her.

Anyway, after the refugee camp visit, Korra and Asami are back on Air Temple Island standing in a very familiar gazebo admiring the sunset. Kya’s “officially” out as a lesbian in the actual universe (rather than just Word of God) but of course we already knew that. It’s also nice to note that a few characters in the canon suspected Korra and Asami had feeling for each other either before the vacation or shortly after. Good to know that they’ll have an older confidante. Kya also gives us more insight on how homosexuality is viewed by the Avatarverse at large with the official canon more or less matching up with a lot of fandom speculations before the reveal. The Air nomads didn’t/don’t give a shit (which well, duh element of freedom and all), the Fire Nation didn’t care all that much either until Sozin came along and outlawed same sex pairings. Guess we can add that to his jerkbender list….The Water Tribes don’t disown people for it but are private about family matters in general. Interestingly enough, it’s the Earth Kingdom that’s the most openly against it though maybe things are a bit different now than in Avatar Kyoshi’s time who was revealed to be bisexual and couldn’t really change things on that front. I think Kya said it best regarding Korrasami, it’s ultimately their story and they’ll know when the time will come to spread the news.

Speaking of spreading the news, Mako and Bolin come by to visit them. The core Team Avatar is back together! Korra and Bolin hug a bit while Mako and Asami hug (the Borra shipper in me squealed a bit lol. Those two always had an easy friendship. More Borra friendship moments please lol). However, this time Korra asks Asami if she’s ready to tell the boys (to not have another situation like what went down with Korra’s parents and not taking Asami’s feelings into consideration), showing that Korra does indeed learn from her mistakes. Just when they’re getting ready to tell them Jinora interrupts via astral projection because the Triple Threat Triads are threatening the new spirit portal (Dammit Jinora! Dammit Triple Threats I wanted to see the boys’ reaction (particularly Mako’s) was my initial reaction).

But I instantly forgave it with seeing Team Avatar’s first confrontation with Tokuga (as well as seeing how Korra and Asami out themselves to their friends anyway but again, more on that later lol). Ghazan’s signature Lava Shuriken makes an appearance! Well done Bolin! It was awesome to see this move return, but even more awesome and heartwarming was that this truly being the moment where Mako accepts Bolin as an equal partner rather than just his kid brother he feels he has to watch out for.

Things really get crazy when the spirits show up and start attacking people because apparently Korra and her friends weren’t doing a well enough job protecting the portal. Korra tries her best to reason with the stubborn (serpent, snake?) spirit but before she can gain any ground with that, Asami is overwhelmed by a group of benders and Korra immediately rushes to her rescue. Though, by choosing to aid Asami, the wrathful snake spirit goes after Tokuga and gives the audience a rather frightening call back to the Avatar Wan episodes. Spirits can enter a human body and reshape their anatomy to where they take on physical attributes of the spirit in question. We saw that twice in the Avatar Wan episodes (with Yao and that unlucky hunter). This spirit really screws over Tokuga but it’s not like he didn’t have it coming. Though needless to say, Korra (understandably) choosing to aid Asami and not being able to stop that spirit from turning Tokuga into a mutated freak is probably going to come back to bite her in the ass. The Triple Threats end up retreating afterwards and Korra checks on Asami and they share yet another kiss but this time in front of their friends. They all reacted pretty much how I expected. Bolin being happy about getting his “gossip” fill (and calling for double dates already lol), Opal and Jinora being supportive and Mako being a bit awkwardly out of sorts with it but not against it. Don’t worry Mako. You’ll find your special someone someday. (I’m hoping we get more comics after Turf Wars. Would like to see him paired with the Fire Lord’s daughter as originally intended as well as seeing the Fire Nation and the fractured Earth Kingdom).

Anyway, apparently the Triple Threats and Keum (again his type always come back) were working together. The latter was trying to reclaim his land by getting the Triple Threats to intimidate the Airbenders to leave. Tokuga is rightfully pissed about what happened to him and takes over Keum Enterprises as retribution. Mutated or no, this guy is not one to be tried. Looking forward to seeing where all the plot threads will meet.

Overall, I’d say Mike and the rest of the team here are off to a great start with this comic. Korrasami is prevalent, but without pulling focus from the main threat/plot (THANK YOU). They clearly learned from the Book 1 and 2 days. Everything seems to be tying together and paced rather evenly and everyone is in character. Korra is depicted as the inspirational Avatar she was born to be if still a bit impulsive at times, Asami is the calming, rational presence in their relationship and out, Bolin is still the loveable goofball (but badass Lavabender), and Mako is still the socially awkward but competent cop (even with a bunk arm right now) and so on. The artwork is incredible to me. Irene Koh outdid herself IMO. The vibrant colors, the characters, (the spirit world pages were some of my favorites), it really does feel like a legitimate continuation on exactly where the show left off. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m looking forward to part two.

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itsdaggerandsheath · 5 years ago

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An Introduction to Sex (Part 3)

I made my personal Tumblr account when I was twelve years old, and I only made it so that I could follow the blog posts of my favorite singer at the time. That’s it. The singer in question was, at the time, known for writing Bible-length diary-like posts about his thoughts on certain topics, answering fan questions, and so on. So, I originally thought that Tumblr was a website for writing long blog posts and occasionally posting pictures. I now obviously fully understand the hellscape that is Tumblr in all of its weird ass glory, but at the time, it was brand new territory for twelve-year-old me. This story will slightly overlap with the timeline of Part 2 (and really, there’s no order in which you have to read these as I’m pretty sure they’d make sense in just about any order) as I was beginning to learn about sex as an activity rather than just for the sake of reproduction. I’m sure anyone out there reading this that has a Tumblr account will know where this is going.

I began to explore Tumblr a bit more to see what else there was to it besides following my favorite singer. This was in the middle of 2013, a good four and a half years before The Great Tumblr Porn Ban on December 17th, 2018 (which I could probably write a whole other post about). I was just on the cusp of turning thirteen, had just discovered a band called Motionless in White (still my favorite band to this day) and was just dipping my toes into the world of emo and goth culture. So, I decided to follow as many people who seemed to fit those molds as humanly possible on Tumblr, and fully immerse myself in their ways.

Now, here’s the thing: I’m sure that there are plenty of vanilla goths/emos out there and plenty of kinky people in the world that do not subscribe to the goth or emo subculture. However, there definitely does seem to be some overlap. A lot of the people that I followed seemed to have an affinity for kink and BDSM. Now, I’d just begun reading some kinky band fanfiction at the time, but I was only able to conjure up images in my head using the little knowledge on the subject that I had. Seeing pictures and GIFs was something else entirely. I very vividly remember being thirteen and seeing a post that simply said “reblog if the idea of getting gagged makes you wet”. My answer to that would be very different now *wink wink nudge nudge* but at the time, I was horrified. Just below that post was a picture of a person with a ball gag in their mouth – a black strap and a red ball – with a string of saliva hanging off of it. I was disgusted (at the time).

These things were new territory for me and were therefore scary, but can we just talk about how easy it was for a thirteen-year-old to have access to content like that? Not to mention that as I began to explore the site more, I was very easily able to find videos of people having sex on my timeline. Now, I get it, young teenagers are likely to explore their sexuality through the Internet and pornography, but I was still a child. Shouldn’t that content be a little bit more difficult for children to have access to?

I was an innocent smol bean at the time and porn was still something that I thought was “gross”, so I unfollowed the blogs that posted that kind of content and went on with my life. As time went on and I became more involved in the Tumblr community, I soon realized that having porn on my dash was kind of inevitable. I once saw a post that said something along the lines of “You could follow only Disney blogs and porn will still end up on your dash somehow” and boy was that true. I eventually learned to just scroll past those posts really fast in case anyone around me may have been looking at my phone. I did garner some knowledge from Tumblr porn, like, “Oh! So that’s what a penis looks like!” but it wasn’t something that I looked into regularly as a young teen.

However, as time went on, I got more curious.

Now, I was very young at the time and didn’t have the knowledge of ethical porn like I do now. I thought that all porn was pretty much the same and didn’t know that there was a difference between what you may find on PornHub and what constitutes as ethical, feminist porn. I knew of websites like PornHub and Brazzers, but I really only went looking for it on Tumblr. What really sparked my interest in the matter was that the singer of another band that I followed at the time started a side blog called “kinkyculture” which no longer exists (at least, I’m pretty sure it doesn’t). Seeing as this blog was run by someone I admired at the time, I decided to check it out. It was through this blog that I really got to see what BDSM was. I learned that some people like to be hit with paddles, leave marks, pee on each other, gag each other; I learned about foot fetishes, calling your partner mommy/daddy, tying each other up, pulling hair, biting, leaving hickies, or even straight up hanging your partner from the ceiling by their wrists and whipping them until you draw blood.

With consent, of course.

But I had so many questions! And none of them were being answered. What was the difference between squirting and peeing? Could you get pregnant from ejaculating into a female anally? Why did oral sex feel so good? What else felt good? How did people have penis-in-vagina sex without condoms and not get pregnant? So, I decided to venture out and find other sex-related blogs to see if any of them would answer my questions.

Luckily, I found sex education blogs. My favorite was called “fuckyeahsexeducation”, which I also unfortunately believe no longer exists (or is at least no longer running).

I learned. So. Much. From this blog. I showed it to all my friends, and it felt like a world of possibilities had been opened to us. We learned about condoms and dental dams and how sexual encounters with someone of the same sex worked and we learned about squirting and orgasms and that sex is supposed to feel good and be fun. It was around this time also that a friend of mine messaged our groupchat with this amazing YouTube channel that was dedicated to sex education.

The channel is called “My Tiny Secrets”, run by a woman named Adina Rivers. She was the first of many sex education YouTubers that I would come to follow, and I still follow her to this day. I learned about oral sex, what to expect the first time you have intercourse, anal sex, squirting, what to do with your hands to make your partner feel good, kissing, breasts – the list goes on and on.

(school?

I mean, I can understand why they don’t teach fourteen-year-olds about BDSM in school, that’s not what I mean (not to say that BDSM is bad – but there is a particular age group that it belongs to, which is 18+). What I mean is – why is sex painted in such a scary, intimidating light at school? Is it our parents? Is it religion? Is it just old-fashioned ways seeping into the twenty-first century? Why was I never taught that sex was supposed to feel good? That sex is one of the purest forms of human connection? Why was I never taught that females could orgasm? Why was I never taught how to communicate with my partner and to negotiate my romantic and sexual needs? Why was I never taught about having sex with someone that has the same genitals as me? Why was I never taught about transgender people and how they have sex and the surgeries that they may choose to go under? Why did I have to go out and find all these things myself? And, most importantly – why did it seem like I was the only one who saw the problem with that?

It was when I discovered the YouTube channel “Sexplanations”, run by clinical sexologist Dr. Lindsey Doe, that I decided that I personally began my sex-education journey. I guess I didn’t know that a career in sex education was really possible! I thought that you either had to be an OB/GYN or be a one in a million kind of person that gets lucky and finds fame and credibility by writing a good book or something in order to be taken seriously when it comes to giving advise about sex. It was through Dr. Doe that I discovered there are so many people who are as fascinated by sexuality and have as many questions as I did – and still do. There are so many people in the world who are as passionate about the subject as I am! I then began to immerse myself into this community, the sex education community. I changed my major from biology to sociology (I was pre-med for a while and hated it) and spent my spare time making pictures for what would become the “Dagger and Sheath” Instagram page.

Side note – let me know if you guys would like me to write a short post on what exactly “Dagger and Sheath” means. I know my Instagram bio says “It’s a Shakespearian euphemism” but if you’d like more context, I’d be happy to provide some!

Anyway.

I’m still not an expert, and there is still so much to learn. I just finished my sophomore year of undergrad, so I’m just getting started. But I’ve learned so much as it is, and I’m hoping that you all have learned a thing or two from following me on Instagram or on here. My page just hit a thousand followers, which is small in comparison to some of the other sex education pages out there, but I hope to continue to grow and I want to thank all of you for sticking with me thus far.

Right now, my mission is to educate you all about sex through the power of the Internet. However, my hope is that one day, the sex education system within schools will improve, and pages like mine won’t have to exist. Until then, I will continue to educate where I can, and be an advocate for better school sex education around the world.

Thank you if you’ve read this far and stay safe.

- Dagger and Sheath

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