#i know amon's not a bender but i would want him to be involved in a pro bending storyline post book 1 somehow

[army-of-mai-lovers]

Why Amon Should Have Been An Android

(spoilers for LoK and Young Justice season 1) 

If you followed my LoK liveblog at all you may have noticed that I theorized at one point or another that all four major villains of LoK (Amon, Unalaq, Zaheer, and Kuvira) were secretly robots/androids (the term I used was robot, but the more accurate term would have been android.) Now, with Unalaq it was definitely just because I found him boring, with Zaheer it was to make fun of the fact that he was an Airbending prodigy with zero training, and with Kuvira it was because it was a thing at that point for me to predict that an LoK villain was a robot (and I was kind of right that time!!) 

But with Amon? I was completely serious. We never see his face, his cause is stupid (and the perfect way for his programmers to start some trouble in Republic City), and he was able to resist bloodbending, which, if you’ll recall, requires that the victim have blood for it to work. You know who doesn’t have blood? That’s right, androids/robots. 

But there’s another reason that I sincerely thought Amon was going to be a robot (android), and it’s the reason I’m writing this. There was something naggingly familiar about LoK to me, and no, it wasn’t that it was a sequel series to ATLA. To me, LoK doesn’t really feel a lot like ATLA (barring, of course, the very poorly shoehorned in fanservice cameos of Iroh, three times, like he’s a recurring character or something.) I struggled to pinpoint exactly what it was, but in my own observations and the observations of other people that I was talking to while liveblogging, a couple key differences became clear: 

[ID: an image of Korra from the back looking out towards Republic City, which is shown to have large white skyscrapers, a bay, and numerous smaller buildings. Much of it is obscured by fog and clouds. The city is built in the middle of a sprawling bay. /End ID]

1. the setting of LoK is incredibly Americanized and Eurocentric. While ATLA displays a lot of cultural insensitivity towards the cultures it borrows from in choosing how to depict them, LoK...doesn’t really depict other cultures. Republic City to me felt very similar to how 1920s New York is typically depicted in media, and no setting in the Earth Kingdom or Water Tribe was explored enough to really explore the unique cultures of those settings. While you can tell in ATLA that bryke was somewhat interested in (a vague, exoticized, unrealistic vision of) East Asian culture, LoK is very clearly inspired by America and Europe, with very little else influencing how the setting was depicted. 

2. there are no “unimportant” people in LoK. Everybody is related to somebody we know from ATLA (or somebody from ATLA), a powerful business mogul, military, somebody high up in the government, a celebrity, and/or the Avatar. The only character I can really think of that’s an exception to this is Kai, who really does not have much of a role. (I guess you could argue that Mako is an exception but y’know...he was a famous pro-bender for a while there) You don’t just get to meet a regular person living in a village anymore. Every character in LoK has political, social, or cultural power. 

These points, put together with the technological prowess of the world of LoK (which is different season to season and sometimes even episode to episode depending on how the writers are feeling that day), made the show feel very distant from ATLA, but very, very close to another show that I have watched and loved. And that show is Young Justice. 

[ID: an image, from left to right, of Batgirl, Blue Beetle, Bumblebee, Beast Boy, Miss Martian, Nightwing, Superboy, Wondergirl, Robin, and Red Arrow in the foreground, posing together. Above them and in the background are the adult heroes, obscured in shadow. From left to right, Red Tornado, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, Batman, Superman, the Flash, Green Arrow, and Wonder Woman. They are all against a gradient blue background. /End ID]

For those not in the know, Young Justice is a DC animated cartoon focusing on the teen sidekicks, proteges, and relatives of superheroes like Batman, Superman the Flash, Green Arrow, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, and others banding together to form their own superhero team. YJ is set in America, vaguely, with characters residing in cities with names like Gotham City, Star City, and Central City (a naming convention that Republic City fits right into). And as is apparent from the premise, most of the characters you’ll meet in YJ are superheroes, related to superheroes, or otherwise important business moguls, celebrities, or political figures. And while the world of YJ is of course significantly more technologically advanced than that of LoK, there’s more overlap than you’d think. Besides spaceships, teleportation, smartphones, and genetic engineering, there’s really not a lot of tech that YJ seasons 1 and 2 have that LoK doesn’t. 

So you may be thinking, “ok Arthur, we get it, you’re a fucking nerd, what does this have to do with robots?” I’m glad you asked! One of the storylines of YJ focuses on the war between rival tech moguls Tio Morro and Professor Ivo, in which they build increasingly sophisticated androids. Ivo’s are pretty much just designed to kill supers, but Morro’s are expressly designed to mirror the human psyche, and desire to be a part of human society. Amon very clearly also desires a community, and does much of what he does to integrate himself into a community of nonbenders where he really doesn’t belong. Further, Morro’s androids are immune to threats that humans are not immune to because they are not made up of organic matter. For example, in season 1, episode 3, Miss Martian attempts to read Red Tornado’s mind, to no avail, because she can only read the minds of organic beings. In a similar vein, Amon was able to resist bloodbending, and while unfortunately that was not because he was an android, it would have made sense given the conventions of the cartoon android genre. I didn’t realize it at the time, but my previous YJ knowledge very much influenced the way I read that scene. The way Amon’s body was animated very much mirrored the animation of Morro’s androids trying to resist their evil creator’s programming. 

So, I’ve taken you through the what, the how, but I promised that I’d say why Amon being an android would have been better, and I plan to deliver. First, it needs be remarked that while Amon being an android wouldn’t have made much sense, it would have only made slightly less sense than the canon explanation of Amon being Tarrlok’s secret brother. In fact, I’d argue that, if handled correctly, Amon being an android could make more sense and be more impactful. Here’s how I envision it: android! Amon would be pretty similar to Red Tornado, in that he would know that he was an android and be programmed to help people. He was of course, built by Hiroshi Sato (that man designed and likely built all the Equalists’ weapons he has the range), who sees himself as a sort of father to Amon. Hiroshi tells Amon about the systemic disenfranchisement of nonbenders and how a Firebender killed his wife, and Amon, being programmed to want to help people and to desire participation in human society, decides he wants to lead a revolution against benders. However, an android can’t very well openly lead a revolution (you could add a bit in the backstory episodes about how humans don’t trust androids or something), so Hiroshi and Amon come up with the story that Firebenders burned his face and hands, which is what prompted him to lead the revolution. Thus, his whole body, including his face, is covered, and his followers assume that it’s because the burns are so bad, and they follow him. In the latter half of the season, the krew would uncover Hiroshi’s involvement with the Equalists, but Asami would be the one to realize that Amon is an android that Hiroshi built. Amon being Hiroshi’s “son” of sorts would be another element of Asami coming to terms with the evils of her family, as Amon in this case would be a machine programmed to be easily manipulated to follow Hiroshi’s cause and would consider himself her brother, and she would have to reckon what to do with both of them. The nonbenders’ cause would still be legitimate after Amon was exposed as an android (unlike it is when the literal figurehead of their movement is also antithetical to their movement) and the heroes would have to reckon with the realities of bender supremacy and the hurt it caused. Amon could even get a redemption arc and work with world leaders to make a better society for nonbenders and androids like himself (I’m sure there’s some parallel you can draw between nonbender oppression and android oppression, though I can’t think of one atm) As an added bonus, Amon wouldn’t be able to bend, so he couldn’t bloodbend Korra, which would be one less time that an LoK villain took away Korra’s bodily autonomy. Amon could even be a recurring character in the later books, because really, wouldn’t LoK have been more fun with a newly-redeemed android sidekick still learning about what the world is outside of his creator’s narrow worldview? Plus, that would give Asami more to do in books 2 and 3 than meet Varrick and participate in love triangle drama (Amon is of course replacing Varrick’s presence on the show), and getting to know and bond with Amon could be the catalyst for her visiting her father in prison in book 4. 

Remember, I didn’t claim that this would be good, I claimed that it would be better, and since the bar was on the ground with that secret brothers twist that wasn’t too hard to accomplish. tl;dr bryke are cowards, take the plunge and make him an android. 

[chaoticallysapphic]

Oh my heart part two

Summary:  Lin never expected to have a soulmate, in a world where your mark appears whenever your soulmate is born she grew up completely blank. So when she’s thirty and it finally etches itself around her arm, she vows to never be with the one meant only for her.

A/N: one more part after this! Originally I just wanted it to be a two parter but it feels better this way. 

Word count: 3k

Korra was becoming overbearing with her concern for you. Once you come back to air temple island she was there waiting to rant about a theory she had regarding Asami’s father. Usually, you’d reply and give good advice, unlike Pema’s, and would remind her not to get too worked up. But instead, as she opened her mouth to begin her rant, you broke out into tears. You wouldn’t tell her why, you were too embarrassed about the rejection of your soulmate to confess, even though it would help put Korra at ease to at least be in the know. She’d probably hunt Lin down and start some kind of fight with her regarding what happened. 

“Korra,” you say one night when you both are lying in your separate beds in your shared room. “Have you met your soulmate?” 

“I don’t know, I’ve kept it covered” she replies softly, she props herself up on her elbow, her eyes narrowing in the darkness, which you don’t notice. “Even with all these new people we’ve met?” your voice is soft, almost a bit hesitant of your inquiry. 

“I like Mako, but I’ve seen his mark and it’s not what I said to him, I don’t want to confuse myself by looking” she sits up fully, “Is that why you're so sad, did you meet yours?” 

“They didn’t want me..." You roll over so your back is facing your sister. Korra tries to pry it out of you, her voice laced with quiet rage but you simply squeeze your eyes shut and tune her out. 

The next morning, Korra doesn't leave your side, she tries multiple times to get the truth out of you, but you always tell her to drop it and walk away. Later on, she reluctantly leaves to do some avatar stuff and asks Pema to keep you company. Pema was nice and in moments like these when you wished your mom was around to comfort you she was the second-best thing. Both of you are sitting at a table, teacups in your hands as the laughter of the kids can be heard from out the window. 

"Korra told me what happened" Pema finally breaks the silence, it knocks you out of your thoughts and you harshly set the cup down onto the table, some of the contents of the cup sloshing out from the sides. "That was between us" you spit out. 

"Tenzin tells me a lot of things and he's a man so I don't think he's pieced any of it together but… " Pema purses her lips and sets her teacup down onto the table, gently. "It's Lin, isn't it?" Sadness trickles down your throat and wraps itself around your insides, suddenly the door you'd hastily locked to keep yourself from crying in front of anyone busted open, and with it a tidal wave of tears. Pema pushes herself up off the floor and sits down next to you, albeit it takes her a few minutes to get there in her pregnant state. She wraps her arms around you and pulls you in tightly. You let your head fall onto her shoulder as you weep, your shoulders shake as the feeling of loneliness rocks you to your core. 

“She doesn’t want me,” your voice is muffled but Pema hears you perfectly, she shushes you, running her hand soothingly through your hair. For what feels like hours all that can be heard is the sound of your strangled breaths and Pema’s humming. She slowly pulls away from you, panic rises in you and you try to stay within her arms but she places her hands on your shoulders to keep you from doing so. 

Her hands reach up to your face, wiping away the tears that continue to seep out of your eyes. “I think part of Lin’s hesitation has to do with me,” she begins, your brows furrowed in confusion but before you can ask any questions, she continues “A long time ago Lin and Tenzin were together, he hadn’t met me yet but I knew he was it, even without having spoken to him. So when I saw him pulling away from her, I finally made my move and admitted I was his soulmate, the woman who could make him happy.” 

Lin and Tenzin?... jealousy bubbles up in your throat which you try to push down, that was forever ago but maybe, she still loved him. Maybe that was part of the reason she rejected you. Pema pulled you out of your thoughts, brushing some of your hair out of your face in a motherly way. “I think because of that, she doesn’t think anyone else can love her.” 

“But I’m her soulmate” you respond, sure you didn’t love her yet but you knew you felt something, ever since your discovery at the arena you’ve dreamt of being wrapped up in her arms once more, to be so close to her you can see every detail in her gorgeous green eyes. These dreams that fill you with pain and longing when you wake up, feel so unattainable now due to her swift rejection. 

“Lin is a very confusing person, I think you need to try again and show her you won’t take no for an answer.” Pema’s words swirl around your mind as you try to think up a plan, her advice she gave to Korra a few weeks ago may have been bad but this seemed like it might work. If not then at least you wouldn’t stay awake at night wondering what if. 

                                                          ------

Before you can even formulate a plan on winning Lin over, Korra drags you off to help her with something important. She’s talking a mile a minute while Naga weaves past mobiles and dodges anyone who enters her path. The sun is high in the sky, marking that it's roughly midday and families are walking down the sidewalk together, couples are hand in hand, laughing about something the other has said. A part of you wonders what it might be like if Lin does decide to give the two of you a shot. She doesn’t seem like the kind of person to show affection in public, but what about behind closed doors? 

Due to how fast Korra is talking along with you getting lost with the idea of Lin, you don’t pick up a single word she’s been saying, so when the polar dog finally stops in front of a warehouse that is in the middle of getting raided, you're a little confused, to say the least. You both climb down and walk towards the entrance where Tenzin and Lin are talking, that childish feeling of jealousy hits you at the sight of them talking and you mentally scold yourself for it. Tenzin is happily married to his soulmate, you remind yourself. 

“Found anything?” Korra calls out, catching the attention of the two master benders. Lin’s eyes land on you and for a split second a look of sadness and pain crosses through her features but she quickly smothers it down with her usual scowl. It seems only you notice that momentary slip up as Tenzin begins telling you and Korra, even though honestly you aren’t listening, about whatever has gone on since she’s been gone. 

Apparently, Korra believed Asami’s father to be an equalist which seemed a bit far fetched, he did sponsor her pro-bending team, right? But you trust your little sister and so when they find his factory to be empty, you place a gentle hand on her shoulder to offer her some form of comfort. 

“It would appear Hiroshi is innocent” Lin finally speaks up with her arms crossed, since that first glance when you arrived, her eyes have been set on Korra. It stings to know she’s ignoring you but right now is about helping your sister and getting to the bottom of this. Asami waltzes up to the four of you with Mako by her side. “Okay, you did your search. Now you can all leave.” Korra ignores Asami and walks off to talk to Mako, leaving you alone. 

“I can’t believe your in on this” Asami says to you, for the most part, you’ve stayed out of Korra’s drama, only lending her advice in private and helping her out when it came to equalists or Tarlock. You let out a sigh and look away from her gaze “she’s my sister Asami and she wouldn’t do something like this without reason.” 

“Well he’s my father and he’s innocent, your sister is dragging him through the mud over a misinterpreted conversation” she fires back. Asami glares at you, taking a step closer to you to most likely try to get you all to back down. Before you can even think up a retort Lin, surprisingly, speaks up. “Ms. Sato, during these hard times we can’t leave any stone unturned, the warehouse is empty so you don’t need to worry about us anymore.” 

Asami walks off with Mako’s arm slung around her shoulder and Korra all but storms back over with a defeated look on her face, you side glance Lin, who isn’t even paying you any attention anymore. She was probably just trying to keep a fight from breaking out, you tell yourself, she doesn’t care about you. But then Pema’s advice rings through your head, louder than the self-deprecating thoughts and you try to remind yourself that maybe Lin does care about you, hopefully. 

After talking to the mystery man at midnight who ends up giving valuable information involving Hiroshi, a plan is set in place. You're all in a police force blimp, if not for the situation at hand you’d be marveling at the machinery with unbridled joy. You’ve never been on something like this before, sure the South Pole isn’t behind on the times but they don’t have any form of aircraft. “Raiding the Sato mansion is risky with Tarlock breathing down your neck. If we’re wrong-” 

“I know. I can kiss my job goodbye. But protecting republic city is all I care about. We can’t let Amon get his hands on this new weapon” Lin says, effectively cutting Tenzin off. You stand a few paces behind them, fiddling with your hands as you eavesdrop on them. You want to get to know her, and Lin’s words offer you a piece of information regarding her personality and life without even meaning to. She’s a good person, she might have hurt you but she’s good and that warms your aching heart just a bit. 

There are so many horror stories of people's soulmates being monsters, of being chained to someone who doesn’t treat them right that at least the universe decided to spare you on that front. You shake yourself of your thoughts, now is not the time to lose yourself over Lin, and soon enough you land in front of the Sato mansion, once inside Asami puts up quite a fight over her father's innocence which you don’t blame her for. If the roles were reversed you’d probably have already gotten physical with whoever tried to hurt your dad. 

The workshop behind the house is small and empty, the policemen try to find any sort of nefarious plans hidden in drawers or boxes but once again come up empty-handed, the confusing part though is how Hiroshi is also nowhere to be found. There isn’t a connecting room where he may be and there aren't any windows he may have left from. “Chief, the estate has been secured, no one has left since we’ve arrived,” an officer tells Lin.

“Perhaps we just couldn’t see him leaving” she replies as she walks over to the center of the room, you step to the side as Korra had sort of stepped in front of you protectively when you entered the workshop, to see what she’s doing. What she does next you’ve heard of but never seen, many talk about the way Toph Beifong revolutionized earth bending, not only by learning to bend metal but also with her aseismic senses. She bends the metal off her foot and slams it down onto the ground. Lin closes her eyes and for a few seconds remains completely still. 

“There’s a tunnel beneath the workshop running deep into the mountainside.” Your eyes widen at the discovery, maybe sometime in the future, if you and Lin do work it out you can gush about how much you admire her bending abilities, how truly powerful she is. Asami interrupts your daydream with her denial of such a thing, you do admire her loyalty to her father and his innocence and you honestly don’t want to see her reaction if he is an equalist. 

Lin effortlessly bends a piece of metal from the floor and slams it into the wall, showcasing a staircase that leads down, just like she said. You grab onto Korra’s hand knowing she probably wants to race down immediately to find out what lurks below. “Maybe you don’t know everything about your father,” Korra says in an apologetic tone, looking over at Asami, “I’m sorry.” 

Lin orders the officers to go down first and as you make your way to the stairs, Lin stops you. “Uh-uh, you four stay up here, officer so-” you scoff, going to push past her but she clamps a hand down onto your shoulder. “That includes you too.” 

“I am not letting my little sister go down there without me, I can handle myself” You shrug Lins handoff and push past her to make your way down the stairs, her voice stops you as you take your first step down. “I’m the chief of police and I am order-” you look over your shoulder at Lin who looks completely composed, it irks you that right now she’s trying to control you, acting like she has some sort of say over your actions. 

“Yeah and I don’t care, family trumps law enforcement” you reply, effectively ending the conversation. 

“Wait, does that mean we can go down to?” you hear Boin ask from up above, Lin barks out a no as she follows after you, most likely scowling no doubt. On the tram that speeds downward, Lin approaches you with her hands held behind her back, she’s still scowling from earlier, but her expression softens just a fraction when you look into her eyes. 

“Stay in the back and out of trouble” she orders, Korra and Tenzin are on the other side of the tram, out of earshot. You push off the railing and take a step closer until your chests are touching, maintaining eye contact with her. Lin’s breath catches, which pleases you and offers you a bit of hope. 

“If Korra needs me I’ll do what I must to protect her, even if that means being in the frontlines,” you say defiantly. Lin sighs, her scowl diminishing. “You shouldn’t care anyway, remember? This, us, isn’t a thing… unless you’ve changed your min-” 

“I haven’t, I want you out of the way because you’ll be a nuisance to the mission if you end up hurt or in need of help,” she says, taking a small step away from you before stalking off. Your shoulders sag, oh. Pema’s encouraging words seem so quiet right now, you could really use another pep talk from her right about now. For a second it seemed like maybe she’d caved, maybe she’d finally admit at this moment on the tram that she had feelings for you and wanted to give it a shot after this raid. Your hands clench as you try to squash down any oncoming tears and sigh. 

The tram lurches to a stop and you stumble forward a bit before catching yourself. You can’t let Lin be right, can’t give her the satisfaction so you square your shoulders and march out after them. An audible gasp leaves you at the sight ahead. Korra was right, all day it seemed like a wild goose chase but in front of you is a large warehouse that has banners hanging from the ceilings with Amons face on them, fear crawls through you at the memory of being electrocuted at the arena, of the explosion and Korra almost dying too many times to count.

The center of the warehouse is empty, but what lines the walls are towering, mechanical… statues? You squint in confusion at the contraptions “and I’m guessing those are the new weapons” Korra states. You take a step forward from the group but Lin grabs your forearm and pulls you away from the statues and has you stand behind her. A part of you wants to yell at her, claim you aren’t a nuisance or useless, but now doesn’t seem like the time. 

“Hiroshi was lying alright, but where is he?” Tenzin asks, and as if answering his question a large metal wall shoots up from beside you, Lin pulls you away from it and if not for her you probably would have gotten killed as it slams into the roof, locking you guys inside. You look up at her and she immediately drops your arm, tearing her gaze away from you and composing herself once more. Lin steps forward and tries to metal bend the wall back down, but nothing happens, not even a slight tremor, green lights flash on within the statues as they come to life, Hiroshi’s voice suddenly surrounds them, he must be talking into a microphone. 

“I’m afraid you won’t be able to metal bend that wall, Chief Beifong. It’s solid platinum.” The statues make a loud whirring sound as they start to move away from their respective spots and glide towards the group, effectively cornering them. “My mecha tanks are platinum as well. Not even your renowned mother could bend a metal so pure.” 

“Hiroshi, I knew you were a lying no good equalist. Come out here and-” 

“And do what, young avatar? Face the wrath of your bending? No. I think I’ll fight from inside here, where my odds are a little more… equal” he cuts Korra off. Your eyes widen, not hearing what Lin says as he shoots a metal hook out of his tank's hand, you all jump away from it but the other tanks keep moving in on you. 

You look around for any kind of water source, for a moment it seems like a fruitless attempt until you feel it, you whirl around and notice the metal pipe against the wall. You run-up to an officer and shout “I need you to break that pipe for me!” He stares in confusion for a minute before following your pointed finger and realizing your intentions. He rips the pipes open and water comes flooding in, you hope there's some kind of drain around here or you might have just doomed you all. 

There’s no time to worry though and you bend sharp daggers made out of water and aim them at the tank closest to you, it whirls its face around to stare at its attacker and starts to advance on you, but you bend water around its feet and legs, then freeze it. While it’s immobile you send more frozen daggers at it, this time aiming for its chest and two finally penetrate the metal, causing sparks to fly out of its chest as it whirs, you bend water into the two holes, completely breaking it. Without a second to lose you move onto another that the officers are holding down with their wires and do the same to its chest. A loud crash is heard behind you and you whirl around to see that the tank Lin was on fell against a metal beam and onto the floor. 

Your heart squeezes in fear until you see her standing on top of it, completely fine and a breath you didn’t realize you were holding in finally escapes with a strangled noise that probably would have embarrassed you in different circumstances. In your moment of distraction, the officers you helped had moved onto another tank, and you watch in horror as it electrocutes them by using their metal wires. The officers shout in pain as they spasm out of control before dropping to the ground.

That same tank advances on you quickly, you stumble back, slipping on the ice you had created for the first tank and fall onto it with a groan, your head slams down onto the ice and pain begins to spawn from that same spot but you can’t stop now, you can’t be a nuisance. Out of the corner of your eye, you see another one shoot its wire out at Lin and slam her against the wall. “Lin!” you shout, your eyes widening as she doesn’t move. Next Hiroshi’s tanks knock out Korra and soon after Tenzin, you're the only one awake and the tank chasing after you finally stop but doesn’t make a move to hurt you. 

Hiroshi’s tank swirls around from its stance in front of Tenzin and charges at you, you bend water around the floor in front of you to create ice in hopes of stopping his advances, your starting to feel weak from the wound at the back of your head. 

“I have plans for you,” Hiroshi says through his tanks microphone, it comes out a bit staticy due to the attacks but otherwise it moves like it’s still in perfect condition. You try to bend daggers at him but you can’t throw them far enough to hit him, they all fall at his tanks feet and a mocking laugh echoes through the warehouse. Something warm trickles down your neck, you hesitantly raise a hand to the back of your head and when you pull away your met with blood, it drips off your hand and onto the ice. You can’t beat them all, not alone and not in your state. 

The ice begins to melt due to the heat of the room and Hiroshi shoots out a wire of his own, your heart gives out as you know what's about to happen, you close your eyes as you wait for the inevitable and are shortly encased in shocking pain, it's worse than last time, so much worse and you think you might have screamed, you're not entirely sure due to being disoriented from the millions of sharp pinpricks you feel in your bones. All to fast you once again succumb to the pain and your eyes give out. 

[greyfongschemmenti]

Hesitate 10|15

FryeArcana

Chapter 10

Foolish

Summary:

You go through inner turmoil when you heard news about a close friend of yours being involved with the Equalists. You try to be professional at work but it proves to be difficult. Are the rumors true or are you the only one who can see past it.

You metalbend your cables holding the edge of the roof before you launch yourself up the side of the building and land. You walk over to Lin, Tenzin and Korra “Did I hear you correctly that you want to investigate Mr. Sato?” you look at everyone in a shocking voice. “what brought on this?” you try to search for an answer in everyone’s eyes but Korra gives you a question “why are you here?” Lin buts in “if anyone has any knowledge on Mr. Sato it’s officer y/n. Since she’s an officer she has a responsibility to act as such first before being a friend and tipping him off.” Lin eyes you and you give her a nod “I haven’t said anything to anyone, I just want to hear what Korra has to say” you look over at Korra just when you think you finally have a chance to be friends, she pulls this from under you.

Tenzin looks between the two of you before turning his attention to Korra “so you think Mr. Sato manufactured those gloves for the equalists, then framed Cabbage Corp?” he asks her calmly. Your eyes widen “you what?!”

“that’s a bold accusation but what proof do you have?” Lin chimes in right after your exclamation. “well I don’t exactly have proof” Korra slowly says which you roll your eyes and scoff “but I know what I heard. Sato is up to something” she quickly added. “I know I said I think the gloves were planted but I didn’t think you’ll go and accuse Future Industries! what did you hear exactly?” you ask her as you try your best not to sound biased but it’s really not working. Korra thinks back “he was on the phone saying how the Cabbage Corp investigation bought him time, and that he was getting ready to strike.” She balled her fist and smacked it on her palm.  You think long and hard before Lin speaks up “well he does have the means and he does have a motive” you look at her “Come on Chief really, you’re believing this?” you wave over at Korra and Tenzin speak up after her “That’s right.” You look even more shocked as you turn your head over at Tenzin. “a motive? What is it?” Korra looks at Lin surprised that Lin was listening to her instead of fighting against her. “12 years ago, the Agni Kai Triad robbed Sato’s mansion. A firebender killed Sato’s wife during the break-in.” Tenzin sadly retold the story. “that’s terrible” Korra look sadden while you’re looking down at the ground “it was tragic.” You muttered. Tenzin adds in “it’s possible he’s been harboring anti-bending sentiment all this time.” Lin quickly adds before you can talk “maybe we should look at Mr. Sato a little more closely.” You look at everyone surprised that they’re actually thinking Mr. Sato could be part of the Equalist Revolution.

“Are you serious?! You both are buying in to what Korra is saying? Look you brought me here because out of the four of us I’m the one who is close to the family. I’ve worked with Hiroshi Sato closely at Future Industries. Korra most likely was just hearing business talk. Everyone knows that Future Industries and Cabbage Corp are each other’s fiercest competitors. I know that Hiroshi is planning on releasing a new line of Sato-mobiles. That’s what Korra probably heard.” Before anyone else can input their thoughts you continue on your analysis “How can Hiroshi have any anti-bending sentiments when he’s been nothing but kind to me, an earthbender, all these years?! He offered me a job even allowed me to stay at his estate for a considerable amount of time. If I would’ve known he was harboring these feelings I would’ve known at some point, but he hasn’t. Hiroshi and Asami have been nothing but kind, respectable people.” You look at everyone but mostly at Korra.

She looks down “I’m sorry y/n, but I have a strong feeling about this. I can just feel that Sato is hiding something” she looks at you determined in her voice. You step forward “Fine, but seeing as I have a close involvement with the Sato family, it would be best for me to sit out of this investigation” you look over at Lin using your tone of professionalism “I can be professional and promise that I won’t tamper or get in the way of the investigation, but I fear I cannot emotionally detach myself to do a good job at a scene. I’m sorry but the Sato family are practically like my own. But I would ask if you’ll let me join you on the investigation. I just want to make sure everyone is handling this fairly, and not just to point the finger on anyone.” You look at Korra. Lin looks over at you. “I’ll accept your request to sit out, but absolutely no hog-monkey business” she points her finger at you and looks you in the eye. You look back at her then at everyone “you have my word, I want to take Amon down just as much as everyone else, but I want this done right.”

*

Lin, Tenzin and Korra walk in ahead of you into the Sato mansion you walk up the stairs behind them. “what’s going on? Why are they asking Hiroshi more questions?” Mako asks Korra as Asami looks over at you then at Korra. You’re standing besides Asami as Korra explains to them what she experienced. “what? I don’t believe this?! Y/N you’re taking Korra’s side?!” Asami blows up as she turns to you and you put your hands up. “hey, I tried to talk her out of it, but she is adamant on what she heard. I don’t believe this any way than you do. I think this is all just hog-monkey nonsense.” You glare at Korra as you walk besides Asami and put your hand on her back walking away from Korra. “of course, it is” she mutters angrily as she walks to her father’s office, you and Mako follow behind her followed by Korra.

Asami burst thru the door and barges in “My father is innocent! Just because we’re not benders doesn’t mean we support those awful equalists.” Asami angrily speaks out and stands beside her father. While you stand over besides Lin facing Hiroshi with sorry eyes “Equalists? Is that what this is about?” Hiroshi surprised by the comment and looks at Tenzin and Lin. “I can assure you; I have nothing to do with those radicals.” Hiroshi speaks out assuring Asami, Mako, and you look at Korra glaring at you for having to do this in the first place. Korra getting upset points her finger at Hiroshi “I overheard you on the phone. You said the Cabbage Corp investigation bought you time, you’re getting ready to strike. Explain that.” Korra looks at Hiroshi in an accused tone. Hiroshi chuckles at the comment and raises his hand up “this is all just a misunderstanding, resulting from a young avatar’s over-active imagination. My number one competitor was knocked out of the game. It’s providing me an opportunity to strike the market with a new line of Sato-mobile. It’s just business, nothing nefarious.” Hiroshi calmly explained putting his palms together as he rests them on his desk. Lin looks worried that maybe she messed up and that Tenzin and she should’ve listened to what you had told them.

You speak up “see! That’s what I said. It was just business talk that Korra heard.” You glare at Korra. “yes, well y/n helped me designed those new Sato-mobiles a few years past.” Everyone stays quiet half angry at Korra for starting this mess the other side trying to ease out their suspicions. Tenzin speaks up “in order to put all suspicions to rest, might we have a look into your factories and warehouses?”  Asami sighs annoyingly so which Hiroshi quietly stopped her by raising his hand then looks at Tenzin “if you feel it’s necessary, you’re welcome to search all of Future Industries.” He calms and confidently speaks to everyone in the room.

Lin and Tenzin walk out with Korra as they get the elite force to head out to start the search. You and the rest of the gang follow behind in Asami’s car. You and Asami watch as Lin and the rest of the police force open each crate looking for evidence. She crosses her arms and sighs “I can’t believe they’re doing this” she angrily spats out. “it’s better to just let them do what they need to do. The faster the investigation against your father goes the father they will leave and be out of your hair” you talk to her softly and pat her back. “why didn’t you try to stop them, y/n. You know my father better than them. My father isn’t an Equalist supporter.” She looks over at you. You open your mouth “I tried, really I did. I told them what Korra heard was most likely business talk. Tried to explain every possible reason why Korra could be wrong, but they still wanted to keep the investigation going. I was outnumbered.” You look down and sighed, “I’m sorry”. Asami gives you a hug and you return the gesture “it’s okay, I know it’s not you. Korra brought this” she glares over at Korra. Mako walks up and puts his hand on Asami and tries to comfort her. You, Asami and Mako walk over to Lin and Tenzin after the investigation was concluded and Korra comes forward with Naga. “I can’t believe we didn’t find anything.” Korra sounded upset that nothing came up “it would appear Hiroshi is innocent.” Lin looked out. “okay, you did your search. Now you can all leave.” Asami sneered at Lin. Lin looks at Asami eyeing her Mako pulls Korra aside and they end up having an argument. You look over at them but try to pry into their conversation. “I’ll make sure they are staying to the book and keeping it fair against your father, Sami” you look at her putting a hand on her shoulder. Soon Mako comes up and takes Asami then walk out to her car. You turn to Lin and Tenzin “so what’s your plan of action now that you weren’t able to find anything here?” you glance at them neither one knowing the answer. Korra comes up to you three with a piece of paper “I think you guys should hear this, if you want to find the truth, meet me under the north end of the silk road bridge at midnight.”  

*

The four of you walk under the bridge and look for anyone suspiciously standing by who could be the one who slipped Korra that note. Soon an older guy in a long coat walks out of one of the columns and starts to speak when we get close enough “listen I joined the equalists, because I believed in what Amon said. I thought he could make life better for us non-benders., but I didn’t sign up for this – this war.” He turns to look at everyone. Lin speaks up wanting to get to the point “what do you have on Hiroshi Sato?” she asked him pain and simple. The guy quickly responded back without a thought “he manufactured those gloves for the equalists” your eyes widen at his information. “I knew it!” Korra spoke out but the guy continues to speak “and there are rumors he’s working on something even bigger; some new kind of weapon.’

“but we searched all of the Future Industries and found nothing.” Tenzin quickly rebutted the guy’s statement. “that’s because he has a secret factory. Right underneath the Sato mansion.” Everyone’s eyes widen and gasp including you when you hear this information. This can’t be right, Hiroshi Sato conspiring with the Equalist? The man who basically took under his wing and gave you a job, a place to sleep, and treating you kind and fair. You feel glass shattering your eyes when you come to the realization that the man you’ve come to respected is possibly not the man you thought. No this can’t be right; how can you be sure this information is true. You think in your mind trying to come up with any possible explanation. Nothing is making sense. You’re standing in the police airship looking out at the city while Tenzin and Lin talk about raiding the mansion and Korra is sitting on the floor chilling.

Korra slowly gets up and walks over to you, putting a hand on your shoulder. “y/n, you okay?” she softly speaks you continue looking forward out the window not saying anything then look down and sigh “I still can’t believe it. I mean how do we know what that man said was true. He could be giving us false information.” You turn around and look at Korra your eyes filled with hurt, pain, but still angry at her. “you know if we raid the estate and find nothing, Chief will lose her job, both you and councilman Tenzin will be made out like fools. Are you sure you want to go ahead with this plan?” you look at Korra trying to search for some kind of sign that your doubts are right and this whole thing is wrong. Korra sighs and looks down searching for an answer “I just know Sato is behind this. I’m sorry you had to find out about who he is like this, but we have to stop him from giving Amon that weapon.” She looks back at you.

*

The Elite force bust into the house and the four of you walk in, Asami yells out “what are you doing here?” Lin announces to everyone in the room “we have reason to believe there’s a factory hidden below the mansion.” Asami is aggravated with the intrusion of yet again another raid “I think I would have noticed if there was a factory underneath my house. The lies you people come up with just to persecute my father…” She spat out. Asami tells them that her father is in his personal workshop behind the house. “come on, I know where it’s at” you wave to Lin and Tenzin soon everyone follows you and you escort them to the workshop. “that’s the building there” you point at the building and the officers start doing a sweep around the exterior of the building and nearby areas. A couple of officers go inside and bust the door you follow Asami but see no one in the workshop. An officer walks up to Lin “the area has been secured no one has walked in or left since we have arrived.” Lin walks over to the center of the room “perhaps we just couldn’t see him leaving” she wondered and then opened the bottom of her metallic shoe and used her seismic sense, you’ve only seen one other person use that sense, her sister. “there’s a tunnel beneath the workshop. Running deep beneath the mountainside” You and Asami look at each other then she looks at Lin “what? There’s no tunnel.” Lin turns around and metalbends a sheet of metal out from the ground and exposes a metal staircase that leads down a large tunnel beneath the mountainside just like Lin said. Your heart starts to race as you start to think maybe Korra was right after all about Hiroshi. “Sami…” you whispered with so much concern in your eyes as you look over at her and you see that she too has just as much confusion. “I don’t understand. There must be an explanation.” She looks out. Korra look at her “maybe you don’t know everything about your father. I’m sorry” she quietly speaks then Lin starts ordering her officers into the tunnel as she, Korra and Tenzin follow behind them. You turn to Asami, “I’ll go down and see what this is all about. Hopefully there is a reasonable explanation behind all this” you look at her putting a hand on her should then follow the rest of the group. Lin orders Asami, Bolin and Mako to stay behind with Officer Song to watch over. The group take a ride on this large mechanism that runs down the tunnel. You’re holding onto the railing trying to mentally prepare what you’re about to find. Lin walks over to you and puts her hand on your shoulder. “You didn’t have to come, you could’ve stayed back with the other three” she spoke you quickly shake your head “no, I need to see it, or else I won’t believe that everything I knew was a farce” you look ahead of you with a new sense of betrayal.

Soon the machine stopped, and you all walk off with the officers in front you walk into this large room and see it covered with banners of Amon everywhere. “not your average backyard workshop” Lin comments at the size of this secret workshop. “I’m guessing those are the new weapons” you hear Korra say as you look up at the giant mecha-tanks your eyes widen. “Hiroshi was lying, but where is he?” Tenzin asks and as soon as he did a large wall burst from the floor and blocks the only exit out of the shop. You and Lin try to metalbend the wall but aren’t successful, you hear a voice call out to everyone “I’ve afraid you can’t metalbend that wall, it’s solid platinum” You recognize the voice immediately “Hiroshi?” you call out in disbelief as you look around and all the mecha-tanks come to life surrounding everyone. “my mecha-tanks are platinum as well, not even your renowned mother could bend a metal so pure.” The comment targeted directly to Lin. Korra taunts Hiroshi to come out of the suit to which he refuses, “I’ll fight from inside here, where my odds are a little more… equal” you look up at Hiroshi and can’t believe the man you’re seeing. This isn’t the man you knew; you wonder if this is some clone or some evil twin no one told you about. Lin looks over at you “you sure you can take on to fight this man?” she already taking in a fighting stance. You’re just in shock standing still but you know that taking down these tanks is the right thing to do. Even if you have to fight your friend to do what’s right. Lin looks over at Hiroshi “that source was a setup. You’re lured us down here” she yelled at him. Hiroshi with a sense of confidence and pride “guilty as charged.” Hiroshi looks at you, his face unrecognizable, filled with hate and evil, “it’s such a shame, Asami is going to lose a friend. Your mind is quite brilliant. Sadly you’re filled with such impurity.” He spat out at you. You look at him taking a stance and your eyes filling with betrayal and anger “I was just some pawn, wasn’t I! You were just using me as some sort of beard. To fool the public and the police that you loved benders, when in actuality you despise them. I considered you a friend, Hiroshi, a father figure!” you yell out trying to withhold your tears. “foolish girl, I hated when Asami brought you to the house, but I figured I’ll take advantage of your mind and make my company successful. Which you did. So for that I give my thanks.” He sneered at you. “enough long talk. I’m done with you benders ruining it for us!” he yells out and shoots out a metal cable with a claw straight towards the group. You and the rest of the group quickly jump out of the way, the officers use their metal cables to grab a hold of the tanks while you and Lin run to take one each to take over. Lin jumps up in the air and launches herself bending out a metal sword and starts stabbing the glass of the mecha-tank. You launch yourself up and do the same, stabbing the glass to create an opening for you to metal your cable through and wrap around the guy. You jump down and pull the guy out the glass piece using all your strength to break him from his seatbelt and grunt as you slam him to the ground. Knocking him out cold, you look over and see Lin still whacking at her tank and see the officers holding down two with as much grip their cable can carry.

That’s when you saw the sparks come thru the tank and watch the officers get electrocuted, then as Lin takes down her tank she gets grabbed him behind and then throws across the room. “Chief!” you call out and make a run to her sliding beside her and check on her. You put a hand on her cheek, your face softening before looking over and see Korra and Tenzin try to fight off Hiroshi. You grit your teeth and start making a run at him, bending out a dagger of your own as you yell out “Hiroshi!”. He looks over at you and gives you an evil smirk as he starts shooting a metal claw at you. You dodge his attacks but get caught by another tank and get throw across the room hitting the ground hard. Korra gets slammed against a large metal pipe and Tenzin helps her land on the ground with some of his air bending, Tenzin tries to tackle three tanks but soon gets overtaken himself.

*

Mako and Bolin sneak their way into the room and see the scene then the four of you nearby on the ground. Mako runs over to you and Korra while Bolin handles on getting Tenzin and Lin. Right when they’re about to grab your arms they get stopped by Hiroshi wearing gloves. You try hard to wake up, but your body doesn’t allow you, you just hear murmurs coming from Mako and Hiroshi. “Sponsoring our team. Supporting the avatar. Letting y/n stay at your house and giving her a job to work for you. It was all just a big cover.” Mako looks over menacing at Hiroshi “yes, and I thought Asami making friends with that girl was bad, but the most difficult part was watching my daughter traipse around with a firebending street rat like you!” Hiroshi raises his voice and turns on his glove looking at Mako as he and another man walk towards them ready to take them down.

“Dad, stop! Why” Asami yells out to her dad with much pain and hurt in her eyes and voice. You finally wake up and slowly lift your head up to look up at Asami. “sweetie, I wanted to keep you out of this for as long as I could, but now that you know the truth, please forgive me. these people, these…benders, they took away your mother, the love of my life. They’ve ruined the world! But with Amon, we can fix it and build a perfect world together. We can help people like us everywhere. Join me Asami” Hiroshi walks to Asami after finishing his monologue and takes off his glove and hands it to her. Asami slowly walks over to her father and shakingly decides whether or not to listen to her father. You try to get up and extend your hand out to Asami. “Sami….” You softly groan out as tears well in your eyes as you see her put on the glove. You close your eyes as you lay your head back down not wanting to see your friend, your practical sister joins her father. “I love you, Dad.” Asami softly tells her father before she electrocutes her father his screams cause you to lift your head back up and watch as she takes down the other man. Asami rushes to you and helps you up “I knew I couldn’t be wrong about you” you softly groan out as she holds onto you. Everyone looks back and sees the tanks powering back up. “let’s get out of here!” Mako yells out and everyone starts running out.

*

You stand behind Asami as you put your hand on her shoulder and comfort her as best as you can trying to process what her father is. Mako walks up and you take that moment to give them space as you walk over to Korra. “Korra, I’m sorry I didn’t believe you. I hope you understand where I was coming from” you look down your fists balled up. Korra steps forward and puts a gently hand on your shoulder. “I get it, you thought you had a friendship with him. You looked up to him like a father figure. He took advantage of your kindness. I don’t know how I would react if it happened to me. I’m sorry this happened to all of you.” Korra comforts you as she gives you a soften look and you look up at her. You extend a hand to her “friends?” Korra looks down at your hand then back at you and gives you a smile taking your shaking your hand “friends”. You give her a small smile before you excuse yourself and walk over to Lin. Tenzin walks over and talks to Korra, comforting her as best as he could as a mentor. “how you are holding up, chief.” You softly speak to Lin as she lays on the cot, you kneel down beside her. “I’ve been better” she groans out in pain, then looks over at you. “I’ve let the force down. I told Tenzin I’m handing in my resignation first thing in the morning.” Your eyes widen and you reach over at her “you can’t! don’t give up on the force.” Your hand over hers as you look at her. Lin’s eyes soften when she feels your hand, her fingers softly move in between yours without holding your hand then scoffs “what is it with you and Tenzin thinking I’m giving up. I need to get my men back, but I can’t do it while wearing a badge.” She muttered and you smile softly “I mean you could just take the badge off while you rescue the men. Don’t have to be extra, but I understand. You’re going off book.” Lin gives you a soft nod “if you’re going after them, then I’m following you. Those men are my brothers. No man left behind. There’s nothing you can say or do that will stop me.” You look her right in the eyes. “even if I have to stow away in or ride my bike to get wherever they are” you add in. Lin groans and rolls her eyes but can’t help let a smile appear on her lips. “now who’s being extra.”

[loopy777]

in your version of republic city, how would you have rewritten the sato family to fit into it? would asamis dad dislike his roots(secretly or openly) and how would that have affected his daughter(i know he essentially started from the streets too, but i cant really say i ever got the impression he was a low class man who rose up to become the highest of the high)? there seems like there was a lot of potential in his backstory and how it would affect his life, but its never really fully used.

For the record, Hiroshi describes his own backstory as, “I, too, came from humble beginnings. Why, when I was your age, I was a mere shoe-shiner and all I had to my name was an idea: the Satomobile. Now, I was fortunate enough to meet someone who believed in me and my work ethic. He gave me the money I needed to get my idea off the ground. And I built the entire Future Industries Empire from that one, selfless loan.“

That’s a fairly textbook version of the Ideal American Success Story, so I don’t think there’s a lot to change with it. But I agree that he’s little more than an archetype, and his rather extreme belief in the Equalistsnever seemed to reallymesh with it.

Let’s see how we can improve things.

Regardless of my new vision of the character, I think it’s safe to say the he dislikes his roots. I mean, who wouldn’t dislike being poor? All those dumb “There are some things money can’t buy!” and “Money is the root of all evil!” aphorisms ignore the fact that being poor is a bad thing, and no one likes it, and all the nice things it’s still possible to have while poor – like family and love and purpose and health and whatnot – are even better with a good income.

So, yes, I think Hiroshi dislikes being poor.

I’m not sure what you mean about getting the impression of him being low-class.  To me, “low-class” is more a state of mind and behavior not tied to actual income class. Plenty of poor people know how to behave or can be taught, and lots of people who start out on the top of the world and get the best education all their lives still somehow wind up behaving like neanderthals.If you mean things like HIroshi having a taste for hotdogs over caviar, I consider those kinds of characteristics to be pretty superfluous.

If you mean that his accomplishments don’t fit with his education, I think it’s safe to say that he’s both a genius and got himself either a formal or informal education. Perhaps he used that loan to take some classes, or maybe he just hung around places where professionals were building things and picked up enough to design a car in his head. I expect he also employed some engineers with degrees, and made sure that Asami got the best education money can buy, and he himself probably picked things up as required to fulfill his vision. Him being a visionary seems to be what made him such a success, and that’s the type of thing that a disadvantaged background can aid; if you have a close-up view of difficulties in people’s lives, you’re well-poised to come up with ideas to solve those difficulties.

I think there was an attempt on the part of the storytellers to portray Hiroshi as not being a snob because of his past, but that was with Mako, and unfortunately that got eaten by his Equalist alignment. Still, no one acted like it was out of character for Hiroshi to give help or opportunity to the disadvantaged. Although I do think poor people who become rich are certainly able to develop into snobs, I think the idea is that Hiroshi isn’t entirely lying when he says he remembers his big break and wants to pay it forward. One could even say that his Equalist involvement, which at least paid lip-service to empowering the disenfranchised, is partially motivated by his desire to help lift up people like him.

So I don’t think the Satos need to be rewritten much to fit into my vision of Republic City; I had Hiroshi’s backstory in mind for it. I do think some more could be made of his savvy; he was portrayed in LoK as being of use to the Equalists mainly as an arms-supplier, but I think more could have been done with him being a Man Of The City, able to advise Amon and make connections on all levels of society. In fact, I could see Hiroshi being at the root of the Equalist movement’s rhetoric. It’s revealed at the end of Book Air that Amon is mainly about self-loathing and a death wish, so perhaps all that stuff about equality and opportunity for nonBenders came from Hiroshi. Hiroshi is the one who wants to transform society, and Amon went with it as a cynical way to lash out and drag people into misery with him.

Something I would change, though, is making the root of Hiroshi’s evil the death of his wife via A Firebender. It’s minimally plausible, but there’s no way to keep it from sounding stupid. At the same time, baking a nonBender resentment into his whole life would make his double-life a little more implausible; racists are usually bad at hiding it.

I think my ideal origin for his hatred should be the organized crime in Republic City, especially the Bender-based gangs. Hiroshi rose up through the ranks of the city the ‘right’ way, and I can see him as being resentful of the criminals who rig the system against honest people. The thing that makes those gangs so powerful is their muscle and money, and their Bending makes both of those things a lot more attainable. It’s a bit less random than A Firebender, because any single criminal can punch above his weight by acquiring a deadly weapon, whether it’s Firebending or a good knife, but a whole underground society of such people who were all born with built-in weaponry is a worrying trend, and I think that would be more likely to inspire the kind of systemic hatred that Hiroshi showed.

So, I think Hiroshi’s origin should be changed so that, when he refused to bow to some demand of the Bender gangs, his family became their target. Perhaps Lightning Bolt Zolt tried to lean on Hiroshi to allow his workers to form a (super corrupt, fully infiltrated by mob stooges) union, adding a little ambiguity to Hiroshi’s supposed commitment to helping the disadvantaged. So Zolt or whoever ordered Hiroshi’s wife killed. Nothing could be proven, but Hiroshi knows what happened. He arranged, by donating to the police and politicians, for the guy who did it (a low-level Firebender gang member) to go to jail for something, but he couldn’t get the bosses. Hiroshi only has money, while the bosses have both money and a ruthless tendency for violence. And that’s eating at him. Society is too corrupt to deal with those fiends. They claim to help the poor, but really they oppress anyone who doesn’t pay and serve them. And it’s all brought about by the power they’re born with, power they wouldn’t have if they had to deal with the same circumstances as Hiroshi. Their Bending gives them an advantage, and they use it to build a city-wide system designed to hurt good people.

Then Hiroshi meets Amon, they inspire each other, and the Equalists are born.

The nice thing about this is that it also lays the seeds for Hiroshi’s redemption. Because if Korra and Mako and Asami take down crime boss who had Hiroshi’s wife killed, while he himself is in jail for his part in Amon’s grand attempt at suicide-by-cop, then what does that say about his prejudices? Hiroshi is smart, and he’s an engineer, so he can’t completely dismiss evidence like that. Perhaps it eats away at him for a few years, combined with his guilt at how he fought against Asami, and then he realizes how wrong he went. (Perhaps the story should be changed so that he didn’t consciously try to kill Asami? That always seemed a bit much to pair with his easy off-screen conversion.) He realizes he went about things all wrong, and the people he tried to kill did what he originally wanted better than he could. Power isn’t what corrupts; it’s hate. And so he relinquishes his hate, devotes himself to love, and winds up sacrificing himself to save Asami out of love.

Except I wouldn’t have it happen against a giant robot. That thing looked stupid, as deliciously ironic as it was for Hiroshi to lose his life against a bigger version of stuff he made for Amon. Perhaps he dies going up against Amon II, some dude who took up Amon’s name and cause.

[armageddon-generation]

Fixing The Legend of Korra - Book 2

I’D LIKE TO CLARIFY THAT I IMAGINE THESE SEASONS TO BE 26-8 EPISODES IN LENGTH, YOUNG JUSTICE-STYLE, TO FIT EVERYTHING IN

ALSO THIS IS LONGER AND I TOOK MORE LIBERTIES WITH CANON BECAUSE BOOK 2 ISN’T THE GREATEST

Book 1 here  Book 3 here,  Book 4 here

BOOK 2

KORRA

When we start 6 months later Korra still doesn’t have her fire, earth or waterbending – but she’s still not mastered airbending because she associates it with her trauma.

This simultaneously justifies how protective Tenzin is, and how frustrating Korra’s airbending training has become – she’s stuck using the element least like her, forcing her to use cut-and-run tactics she hates

This also explains her frustrations with Mako – he’s fighting crime while she’s stuck on the island, feeling powerless. She’s angry at him for doing what she taught him to – embrace his gift. Their relationship is becoming unhealthy.

If Amon was powered by dark spirits it also explains why Korra is so angry her Dad has been hiding the spirit attacks in the South from her – in her head dark spirits are the thing that stole her bending, so she wants payback (which Tenzin is actively against)

This fear Korra will hurt herself also means Unalaqq’s faith in her will mean a lot more – we can see it positively impacting her

All this time we see Korra’s past lives debating what to do with her – Aang is defending her, but Kyoshi is taking a hardline approach – death and moving on to the next life?

After Korra shows herself to be completely useless against the first Dark Spirit attack, Kyoshi has enough and possesses Korra's body (like Roku did to Aang in ATLA 1x09 Avatar Roku). Team Avatar then have to hold off crazy Korra while she tries to reassert control over her own body

Kyoshi and Kurruk argue over who should be in control - the Water Tribes are his people - and Korra literally fights herself, destroying everything, as control switches between them (both Kyoshi and Kurruk try to flirt with Mako, which freaks him out)

Eventually it's Raava (unnamed and unknown at this point) who helps Korra reassert control - all the past Avatars are stunned she intervened

Only reopening the Southern portal gets Korra her bending back – the strengthened spiritual connection allows Raava to heal and reconnect her to the elements – Aang gets to say ‘I told you so’

Unalaqq's plan getting Korra's bending back explains her loyalty to him and desire to prove he’s a good person

Emphasise the familial connection between Unalaqq and Korra – maybe flashbacks to visits when she was a child?

Explore more Avatars' stories while we have the him, to deepen the impact losing her past lives has on Korra (she barely communicates with them in the original) - Aang sees a lot of similarities between Korra and Kyoshi, which worries him

Compare the active Korra to the last waterbending Avatar, Kurruk (the inactive guy who fought Ko the Face Stealer) - Unalaqq disapproves of him. Establish the Avatar was always flawed and prone to laziness

When Korra does get her bending back she’s boisterous and overzealous, driving Mako up the wall

Learning the origins of bending as a weapon against spirits in Wan's time causes Korra to reconsider the aggressive and excessive way she uses hers. She becomes a lot more self-conscious and careful

In Book 1 we established Korra had trouble with waterbending’s emotional side (accepting change and letting emotion flow) and Kya had to teach her using adapted firebending techniques

The conflicts of this book teach Korra (and Kya) to value her culture (the spiritual and emotional lessons it teaches) and she learns how to let her emotions flow from Katara  

In the finale when Korra turns into a kid, have Naga be her guide, not the dragon-bird. It’s an awesome design, but it’d be cool to see Naga do her job as animal guide - she can have a crazy spirit form once Korra grows back up

UNALAQQ

I think this would be a really interesting opportunity to explore theocracies – If Unalaqq is the leader of a spiritual cult who worship Vaatu as a god. If spirits are influenced by human emotion, worship could do some very interesting, dangerous things

Have Katara also clash directly with Unalaqq (not physically, but in terms of ideals and influencing the people) as the South’s unofficial spiritual leader

Explore Unalaqq’s childhood, isolated and jealous of his brother (he’s basically Loki from Marvel, and he’s one of their most sympathetic villains)

Chart Unalaqq’s corruption under the influence of Vatuu – think the One Ring’s influence on Gollum – see him turn from a promising scholar to a scheming Machiavellian mastermind, turn it into a family tragedy

Also touch on the twins’ relationship with their father – I’m assuming it was cold and empty, like Mai’s relationship with her parents. But their parents are estranged (a result of Unalaqq’s fall) and their mother abandoned them, so he is all they have

Draw direct comparisons between this relationship and Tonraq’s relationship with Korra, which is almost too caring, yet at the same time he leys her be her own person in a way Unalaqq won’t let them – the twins don’t really get this kind of affection, though by the end of the season they express a wistful longing for what could have been

Asami relates to the evil father thing, and is a key instigator of their turning against Unalaqq

Lets see more of the actual Civil War in the South, to maintain the urgency of the plot – Tonraqq leading guerrilla warfare. Maybe one desperate moment where Katara comes in for support – not actual fighting, more like the wave from The Last Airbender Movie – something to scare pursuers off

ASAMI

In Republic City Asami is trying to put the Equalist experience behind her. This doesn’t work so well when she’s having to testify at her father’s trial at the beginning of the book

I think it’d be a tragic twist if the same day was the anniversary of her mother’s death, and she had to visit her grave (first one parent – in jail – and now the next – in prison). This compounds how lonely and directionless Asami is

At the same time, the Equalists (the same likeable Chi-blockers from Book 1) are attempting to gain legitimate democratic representation in the United Republic – something Raiko is understandably not keen on. Non-bender rights have actually back-slid in the wake of Amon’s revolution. They keep asking Asami to become their official representative – a multibillion-yuan company would make people take them seriously. Asami keeps turning them down because it’s bad for business, but she’s also not ready to go there emotionally

Asami comes to South Pole separately to Korra and the others – they bump into each other on the dock (which is super-awkward) and Bolin insists on going with her to see Varrick to get away from Makorra

Asami’s arc over the season is affirming she isn’t like her father (a legitimate worry, now she’s inherited his job and the Equalists want her to lead them) or Varrick – she is a good person and she wants to help people.

In the time when Korra doesn’t have her bending she and Asami bond over the frustrations of being a non-bender, and she helps Korra practice airbending – Korra now has much more respect for Asami, and her inferiority complex makes her think that, if it came down to it, Asami would be a better Avatar than her

Asami gradually becomes more involved in the Civil War conflict until by the end of the season she is basically Korra’s right-hand woman, and they have an extreme professional respect for each other – laying the groundwork for Book 3’s friendship/romance

In the finale Asami agrees to fund the Equalists’ political campaign – she is fully committed to righting her father’s wrongs and creating positive change (setting up the next book)

ATLA FAMILY TREE (KYA)

This a personal thing, but I think Kya would be much more interesting if she was Katara and Zuko’s daughter, and not Katara and Aang’s.

Because I’m rewriting Korra I’m taking liberties and declaring everything post-Sozin’s Comet fair game. No offence to any Kataang shippers out there (my first OTP), but I think it’d be more interesting if they broke up soon after the war ended and reality set in (I have many reasons why but that’s not why we’re here) and Katara eventually flalls for and marries Zuko

You could then have Tenzin’s mom be an air acolyte – I personally like the idea of Aang eventually ending up with Ty Lee because their humble monk/crazy flirty girl dynamic would be interesting, and there are loads of headcanons that Ty Lee has a connection to the airbenders.

Tenzin’s mom will have recently died so we don’t have to deal with another character, and we can still have an interesting pseudo-maternal relationship between all of Team Avatar’s kids and Katara

But imagine if Firelord Zuko’s firstborn, heir apparent to the throne of the Fire Nation, was a waterbender? Kya would’ve forfeited the throne as soon as her younger sibling was born (this could be a version of the Izumi character) and her roaming the world trying to find herself would have greater weight

Kya always connected more with Aang and Toph’s kids then her own sister – her arc over the season is reconnecting with them and creating her own family – maybe she and Tenzin clash, because she knows what it’s like to be disappointed by family and wants to tear down his delusions of Aang as the perfect father

ZUTARA + FAMILY

Because he’s now blood-related to Katara General Iroh has greater motivation to help in the war – he takes a leave of absence and goes with Korra to the Fire Nation to appeal for help. When they’re attacked by Eska and Desna, Korra saves Iroh from the dark spirit and he manages to make it home on his own.

He helps Lord Zuko sneak into the South on a small ship (paralleling Zuko sneaking in to the Northern Tribe in the ATLA book 1 finale) to go help Katara (Zuko splits his time between her and his responsibility to Izumi)

Zuko is present when the Krew arrive at the South on the Zhu Li. Zuko is horrified by what Unalaqq is doing to the spirits and explains the story of The Search comics to Korra in flashback – how a spirit gave his mother a new life and then reunited them years later. This story of inspiring positive interaction between humans and spirits is partly what motivates Korra to keep the portals open – tying it to the biggest mystery from ATLA means the choice is more likely to emotionally resonate with the audience

Compare how different Katara’s life is to her daughter’s – Katara settled hard when Kya never stopped running. This is because Katara wanted more than anything to be a good mom, because she knows what not having one is like, and no-one should ever go through that. There’s a suggestion that because of this Katara’s potential as a spiritual leader and figurehead wasn’t fully realised (a deficiency exploited by Unalaqq)  – she feels guilty, for failing both her tribe and Aang’s legacy

Kya reassures her before the final battle that she has nothing to regret – she’s an amazing mom. They reconnect, and Katara gets to make fun of her for her crush on Lin. Tenzin is the one to reassure her about Aang being proud of her, after returning from the spirit world

LIN

At the beginning of Book 2 Lin is being pushed out of the Police Force – Raiko wants her to retire. She knows it’s just because she’s still stuck being a non-bender (because Korra has fixed her own problems yet). Not only does this mean no-one trusts her to be as hands-on as she used to be, but to Raiko’s administration she is a scar left behind by one of the greatest instances of civil unrest in history – she is an unwelcome reminder of Amon

Bolin is drifting - he attempts to join the RCPD but flunks out when he's unable to metalbend - a frustrated Lin sympathises, but she's ha her own crisis of faith desperately drafting and training up new metal benders who have far less skill discipline and respect for the art than her - a teaching role she's clearly uncomfortable with 

Insert flashbacks of Toph trying to teach Lin as a kid (Toph's line about her girls never taking to metalbending in Book 4 implies this wasn't happy). This plays as a tragic parody of Bitter Work - Lin suddenly has a bitter empathy for how her Mom felt

She starts receiving letters from Su, asking if she’s OK or if she needs help – these only make her angry, and she ignores them (Toph hasn’t sent her anything)

By the beginning of the book (I’m thinking we spend a whole episode in Republic City setting everything up, then move to the South in Episode 2) it’s gotten so bad that Kuvira turns up at Precinct One in full Zaofu guard uniform. She’s the only one with enough will and stubbornness to come down and try to talk some sense into Lin. Because she’s looking for the Chief, they send her to Lin’s favourite rookie – Mako.

Mako talks with Kuvira (at this point a complete stranger) and comes away really admiring her. This trip is the first time she’s taken administrative leave from Zaofu. She takes particular interest in how they deal with prisoners, and Mako’s upbringing comes up – she reassures him to hang in there, explaining her own tragic origin as an orphaned nobody. Mako is inspired (she reminds him of the way Korra used to be, the way he wishes she was now)

Lin, of course, kicks Kuvira out as soon as she recognises her uniform. This doesn’t go as smoothly as usual, though – Kuvira is one of the few people who can stand up to Lin, and leaves on her own terms.

Lin’s angry, near abusive reaction to Bolin's incompetence at metalbending makes him concerned about for her, not angry (Build a relationship between these characters!) and Lin realises she's becoming the worst parts of her mother. She needs a break to go find herself

She accepts an invitation (from Katara) to go to the Glacier Spirits Festival (Lin doesn’t really do vacations – she has nowhere else to go)

While in the South Lin’s interactions with the other Team Avatar kids are pretty awkward – she hasn’t talked to Bumi in literal decades – but she has a warm (if reluctant and awkward) surrogate mother relationship with Katara, which bonds everyone together

Kya and Lin in particular bond over both being outcasts, never feeling like they were what their parents wanted – I just really like the idea of Kyalin and want to see them interact – joking about their role reversal - Lin is soul-searching while Kya is the devoted daughter

Once Korra gets her bending back she cures Lin, and Lin comes storming back to the City with Mako, halting Raiko’s replacement plans

She is now a big supporter of non-bending rights, and together with Asami, by the end of the book she’s become an official advocate

MAKO & BOLIN

With benders gone Republic City is still in a semi crisis state, with electricity being rationed and the removal of a lot of triads' bending (and the prison break in the finale) sparking a full-on gang war keeping the RCPD busy

Mako’s colleagues are bitter he is only getting ahead in the RCPD because he is one of the rare benders left, and therefore more effective in fieldwork

Explore Mako’s struggle as a cop with ties to the triad – before he gets framed, establish no-one on the force really trusts him yet. Lin is sympathetic (suggest, when Su’s letters arrive, she’s trying to make up for what happened with Su becoming a criminal – saving Mako is equivalent to making up for her mistakes)

Lin believes Mako’s theory about Varrick after he gives her the evidence (her ignoring him is frustratingly dumb) . When Mako is framed and Raiko demands his arrest she secretly helps him go on the run

The triads nearly catch him and kill him, but he gets to Bolin’s new apartment in time

Have Bolin not be an idiot – after Mako warns him, he recognises who Varrick is. They’re actually really similar – both using a ridiculous personality to distract people

Bolin is the one to turn Mako in because he’s playing the long game, and recognises that in a holding cell Mako is safer than out on the streets where the Triads (and, he fears, Varrick, if the problem isn’t solved) are more likely to kill him

Life on the inside is still rough – explore that, have Mako be confronted by old acquaintances from his childhood, Equalists, and triads he’s put away as a cop. (He tries out some of his corny lines on them as a coping mechanism)

Now the brothers’ original dynamic is flipped – Bolin is the one supporting/protecting Mako as much as he can (sending in mover fan art as moral support etc.) Build the contrast between their lives – Mako in the gutter and Bolin living the high life.

Don’t prolong the love triangle – Makorra breaks up midway through the season, that’s it. Asami kisses him (?) but she feels really guilty about it because at this point she really respects Korra, so they don’t start dating again. No amnesia when Korra comes back. That’s it. Done.

RAAVA AND VAATU

Obviously explore Wan’s story more – maybe a four-part mini-movie like the ATLA finale. Explore Vaatu’s influence on humans, so Korra understands what he did to Unalaqq; have her sympathise and feel sorry for him

Establish the idea of Gaana, the original, primordial harmony spirit that split into Raava and Vaatu

A big complaint about Raava is she overwrites the explanation of the avatar cycle in ATLA as the combination of all the past Avatars’ knowledge. In this version, combine the two – make it clear that everyone reincarnates (Sozin into Zuko, Gyatso into Momo) but the Avatar is the only one who can communicate with their past lives, through Raava

During the finale let's see the chaos Harmonic Convergence is causing - Dark Spirits terrorising the world as in the third act of Ghostbusters

Also Asami goes ham with tons of gadgets she’s been developing with Varrick, and a customised plane, instead of sitting on the benches. She gets Jinora to the healing hut and then gets back just in time to bomb Unavaatu after he’s destroyed Raava, stopping him killing Korra’s physical form too. She takes Korra back to the Spirit World and the Tree of Time.

[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,

[genocider-syo-is-still-my-queen]

Tokomaru week day 5: Magic (specifically, avatar the last air bender au)

Komaru raced over to the scene of the crime. As a member of the police, she had to do her best to solve the mysterious case of Genocider Syo... oh who was she kidding, it was Genocider, she had know that for months. She wasn’t here to investigate, she was here to hide the evidence. Now, was this a corrupt thing to do? Of course, but she didn’t care, she wanted to protect her lover no matter what it took. Besides, Genocider never killed an innocent man. But of course the law didn’t see it that way, especially seeing as the forbidden art of bloodbending was used in the murder.

Komaru carefully searched the area, finding nothing that could incriminate the girl, she was thorough as always. It was surprising really, such a flashy murder was so flawlessly pulled off. This man, Komaru recognised him, he should have been in prison years ago, but always managed to bribe his way out of it. It was to to know he was finally gone. She went back to her office and wrote a full report of the scene, which didn’t require a lot of work. It was mostly just copy pasting the previous report with a different date and name. She finished her work and headed home, first stopping at the girl's apartment.

"Honey, I’m home!" She called as she let herself in. She’d always wanted to use that line.

However it was Korekiyo, not Toko, who stepped out of the kitchen. "Oh Komaru, hello. Sorry, she’s not home yet. I think she was talking to her publisher."

"Ah, of course. So how’s your book coming along?" She was referring of course, to 'Non-benders and how society treats them'. It was a project that was close to his heart, as his sister had been killed, unable to protect herself. Komaru was pretty sure he was the other loose serial killer, who seemed to have a mission to kill 100 corrupt benders as revenge.

"It’s going well, I managed to collect several testimonies from people involved in Amon's revolution. It was extremely interesting, and I’ve been promised an interview with the avatar herself, who will be able to tell me plenty about how life was like 80 years ago."

"The avatar? That’s amazing! I hope it all goes well." Komaru had always admired the girl, especially due to her role in normalising same-sex relationships.

"Thank you." He was about to speak more, when the front door opened.

"Hey Komaru, why are you here?" Toko entered, yawning.

"Well, I just wanted to visit you darling. How are you?"

"I’m good... I did some water bending training this morning."

"And? How’s that going for you?"

"Not well, I’m still awful at it..."

"Hey, don’t put yourself down, many people struggle with bending."

"Consider yourself lucky you have it." Korekiyo called through from the next room.

"I just- how does the monster do it so easily? Even mastering the- the- that awful art..."

Komaru patted her on the shoulder, and sat her down. "Don’t worry, it’ll all be fine. Besides, you already have a special power, what should I call it? Wordbending!"

"T-thanks." Toko seemed a little happier now, good.

After talking for an hour, including a little chat with Genocider about how much she enjoyed taking down that guy, in her usual gorey detail, Komaru decided to head home.

"You can always stay the night, there’s a spare bed. Or... or you could sleep in my room."

"No, I need to get up early. Thanks though."

"Alright. Goodnight... darling."

"Night!" Komaru kissed her, causing Toko to blush. "Haha, if that’s enough to make you blush, imagine what would happen if we slept together, you’d be a tomato!" This caused Toko to blush even deeper. Komaru waved goodbye.

Upon arriving home, she waved to her brother, who was eagerly watching the pro-bending on tv. "Is your team playing?"

"Yep! You know, when I watch this, I wonder if we’ll ever be as good as them..." His favourite team, the ultimates, seemed to be destroying the competition. Mukuro was as calm as ever, managing to produce lightning, even in such stressful conditions. Akane's gymnastic skills, along with her airbending, meant that the opposing team couldn’t land a single hit on her. But Naegi was mostly focused on the girl they shared an element with - Sakura Oogami, one of the strongest earthbenders in the world. She was hit many times, but never even took a step back. It seemed their waterbender - Tenko - wasn’t playing today.

"Well, I’m sure we’ll never be as good as them, but we can try our best."

"Yeah... so, have you found the culprit yet? I’ve been thinking, and I might know who it is. You’d be shocked to find out though."

"Is- is that so?" Crap, had Naegi already figured out Toko's secret identity? He was a student of the head of police, but she hadn’t realised his detective skills were that good already.

"This my sound weird, but I think Genocider and the Nil killer are the same, or at least know each other well." Was that what they were calling Korekiyo now? No wonder he kept complaining.

"Well, their MOs are completely different, so I doubt they’re the same."

"Ah, I don’t really have any evidence for it, it’s just a theory..." Komaru breathed a sigh of relief, her friends were safe for now.

Next week, Komaru was having another boring day, when an announcement was made: "Alert! Genocider has been spotted! Requesting backup!" She got up, and went over as soon as she could. This was serious, and if she messed up, she risked losing her job, and her girlfriend.

"A corpse was spotted there about 10 minutes ago, and we're sure the killer is still in the area. We've been following these footprints, let’s go before she escapes."

Komaru obliged, and kept an eye out, hoping to confront the killer one on one. The group split up, and she ended up travelling with one other cop. She walked around for a while until they saw a suspicious figure covered in blood. Komaru recognised the girl immediately.

"Attention! Please stop in the name of the law!" Her partner yelled, causing the figure to run away down another street. He tried to shoot fire at her, but missed. They ran after her in hot pursuit, but when they turned, they couldn’t see her. Except, Komaru had seen which way she went, and this was the perfect opportunity to 'accidentally let her escape'.

"I’ll go this way." She spoke, and her partner nodded and headed in the opposite direction. She ran along, trying to find her, when suddenly she couldn’t move.

She realised what was happening almost immediately, bloodbending. She desperately tried to turn her head, and saw Genocider smiling at her. "Hiya dear!"

"H-hi. Could you let me go now, I’m not gonna catch you."

"Well, I could do that, but I’m sure Toko would prefer it if I hurt you just a little more..."

"Um... what?"

"Well, if you got injured, you’d have to take time off work, which means you’d have more time to spend with Toko nursing you. She is getting awfully lonely with you working all the time."

Komaru thought for a moment, maybe she did need a break. But in the other hand, Toko would never be able to forgive herself if she got hurt. "No thanks. Please put me down now." Genocider shrugged and obliged, before running off again, leaving Komaru on the ground, terrified. She now understood what bloodbending was capable of firsthand, not just from a textbook, and never wanted to experience it again.

She bent the ground in front of her, to make it look like a fight occurred, before calling for help, which arrived shortly. She explained what had happened, and was rushed to the nearest hospital.

A little while later, she and her partner were questioned about the killer's appearance. Luckily, he didn’t have a perfect  memory either, and thought she had black hair, which Komaru was happy to agree with.

As she left, she made eye contact with the head of police. She had a look in her eye that seemed to know everything. Komaru brushed it off as her imagination, but vowed to never get on her bad side.

[firenationskydominion]

Chapter 14: The Dawn of Ozai

Ozai was woken by his servants. They had prepared and heated the bath chamber and when he emerged refreshed and tidied up they clad him in his ceremonial robes. He was weary of his situation. The temptation was strong to fall back into old patterns and Mya wasn’t there by his side. The thought of her deserting him pained him and his loneliness crippled him even more. He had had little sleep and even the strongest tea did not help. He saw the rings under his eyes. He was 46, divorced with two nervewrecking teenage kids and becoming the Phoenix king had been his midlife crisis. He was over it now, or was he?

His scribe brought him the protocol of the day:

 War meeting

AgniKai between two enemy senior officers

Finding Zuko

He sighed and stepped out to decide. His first decision was to move two Batallions towards Omashu. He would personally lead them, as Zuko was likely there and he was the heir to the fire throne. He needed to talk to his son - if he had survived the ordeal of being a statue.

The Agni Kai he witnessed was well fought and left the younger loser scarred on his back. Ozai prided himself that he who had fought hundreds of these fights and yet had no bad scars to show. He healed fast and he fought even faster.

He left the arena and boarded his war zeppeline and set course towards Omashu.

At dawn both battalions had reached Omashu and so had the Earth Kingdom army.

Ozai heard the voices of Aang and Klaus in his mind and Mya. He meditated to soften his heart. He sent a bird to Bumi with a note:

“Honorable King Bumi, I understand that you are holding my son and my generals. I kindly ask you to free them to avoid any conflict. Eternally grateful, yours Firelord Ozai”

A tad bit passive aggressive, but he was proud of himself.

Ozai was drinking Myas favourite tea, when a bird arrived.

 “Esteemed Firelord Ozai! I, Bumi, King of Omashu, am tired of your aggressions - and of those of Earth King Kuei. Therefore I suggest we meet for tea in the neutral zone. I have decided to define Myas ship as said zone. Mya and her ship are in the skies over Omashu. Zuko and your generals are safe and well looked after. They will depart to the ship momentarily. In eternal admiration, King Bumi”

Ozai had mixed feelings. His people would go berserk if he agreed to peace under any terms. Yet Myas ship was present. Azula had planned to use them for the Fire Nation. Now the ship might be the leverage for peace. Under Firenation terms.

From the window of the Zeppeline he saw how a pod pod ascended to the sky. Shortly after he received a transmission from Mya: Zuko and the Generals were safe.

He penned an answer:

 “Dearest King Bumi, thank you for freeing my son and my cabinet. As you may understand, any action from the Fire Nation needs to be carefully drafted. I will meet my advisors first on the Eternity. Please extend my greetings to Earth King Kuei and that I am always open for dialogue, but I must also represent the will of my people and the future of our nation and its industry. Yours faithfully, Firelord Ozai.”

Bumi scratched his head.

B:         He writes such sweet words, but does he mean them?

Eternity had sent down a pod to get Ozai and he felt at home when he stepped out into the vast entrance hall of the Eternity. Mya came and embraced him:

M:        You haven’t slept, my love...

O:        My biggest worry was not my kingdom, but you leaving me, my love.

M:        I always set duty first. I am here. Let us talk. We need a plan, now.

Mya led Ozai to a meeting room on the pod bay.

M:        So what’s your take on peace negotiations?

O:        Hundred years of aggression from our side will not be forgotten easily by the Earth Kingdom. We must find a way in which each side can save face.

M:        Hm... there are not two sides anymore but three. The fact that we’re together complicates everything. Also Amons involvement with Azula.

O:        I am ready to step down. This will be a strong sign. And your power will keep Earth Nation in check not to retaliate on Fire Nation once we have left Omashu.

When Ozai got up to leave I caressed his face.

M:        I missed you, my love.

O:        So did I.

M:        When all this is over, we will be free.

We kissed. I longed for his touch, but there was no time.

We went to the big meeting room where all Generals kotaued before Ozai. Zuko looked at his father with disgust.

O:        I haven’t come here to quarrel or to fight. Truth is, our treasury is depleted, we need to invest in research and the war costs us far more than it delivers. Zuko, I know you are angry that I have again taken the crown, but Aang reinstated me and gave me back my bending powers.

Everyone in the room gasped. Zuko went pale.

O:        You want my crown Zuko. You’ll get it back soon enough and will have the rest of your life to sort things out and enjoy the pleasures and pains of being a Fire Lord. I was burnt, but I rose again. Now I can really call myself Phoenix King. Son, you have hurt me, but then I have also hurt you. Violence creates counter violence. Just as trauma creates war and war creates trauma. Let us break the cycle. For the sake of our children, grandchildren and generations to come. Fire nation has always been the first in using new technology. Joining up with Mya and Amon will enable us to look beyond Earth Nation. Let the earth benders play with mud while we take on the stars. My wife, Timelord Mya commands this ship and these ten thousand men. You might ask, why not use them to take over Earth Nation? What did we want from Earth Nation? Ore. Space has a million times more ore and this is what we will get.

 Mya and I have set up trade deals between Fire Nation and the people of the planet Kepler 1765. They will give us ore in return for a team of firebenders to help them build railway tracks on a very volatile planet for four years. You Generals have sacrificed your livelong duty and even your sons and brothers for the siege and I will be eternally grateful to you. Fire Nation is big. Now it will be known on the planetary map. Mya will help us to transition into space age. Once the news is out that we exist the visitors will come. Most of them benevolent. But some of them hostile and technologically advanced. I will lead this transition of the Fire Nation to face these new threats. Until today fire meant destruction, but fire is also protection. Protection of this planet of ours. I order you to follow my command, but I kindly ask you to also unburden your hearts and follow my lead in this.”

The generals were doubtful, but then Amon entered the room. He was weak but he was shimmering again. He was followed by Eternity. Everyone gasped in awe as Eternity extended her arms and tiny rays of light reached out to touch the generals

A:         Generals, I am Amon. And this is Eternity, my mother and one of the powerful beings of Kepler 1765. I speak to you as a General myself who has the authority to sign trade negotiations on our planets behalf. I have twenty megatons of best quality iron ore as a gift of welcome to you stored in this ship. And a fleet of engineers ready to build space ships with you. If you promise not to use the technology against the other people on this planet.

 Amon accompanied the generals to the storage areas. They liked what they saw and promised Ozai their full support. Zuko was still angry, but he had to admit that his father surprised him. Ozai looked at him and smiled.

 O:        Zuko, remember for the future. No matter what you do think of your generals first. If they are happy, Fire Nation is happy.

We went for lunch. Word got around that Earth King Kuei had arrived. Both delegations ate separately.

After lunch we did tours of the ship. It was indispensible that both delegations were in awe of our technology.

Once we had finished the tour we went to the big meeting room.

Both delegations entered simultaneously. King Kuei had brought his bear. Ozai had to smile when he saw the bear and Kuei seemed irritated by it.

O:        Earth King Kuei, I have heard so much about you and your bear, it is an honor to finally meet you. So you are no myth but a real man - and the bear is a real bear!

K:         So are you. Not a demon or a monster, just a mere mortal man.

Once everyone was seated Bumi introduced both parties and participants. Earth Nation was represented by King Kuei, King Bumi and Toph Beifong and a delegation of Kueis Ministers of the Dai Li.

Aang, Amon and I were the third party impartials. I was supposed to lead the negociations.

M:        Thank you all for being here under these circumstances. Please be seated. I have negociated a few peace treaties and we will start with some ground rules. Before we start let me stress that everything said in this meeting shall remain confidential. Any breach of secrecy will be seen as an act of aggression. No bending. Choose your words carefully, concisely and with the utmost sincerity. Everything said is binding, any breech is breech of trust.

At first I would like to kindly ask the Avatar to open this meeting by telling this round what he told me about Avatar Rokus advice.

Aa:       I saw Avatar Roku in a vision when I was in the avatar state. He said that Ozai is the rightful Fire Lord.

M:        Ozai has an announcement to make on this.

O:        Yes. According to traditional thinking I would become Firelord again, or as I have risen from my own ashes as Phoenix king. Yet the times have changed. Mya here showed me that there are vast worlds outside our own and we as Fire Nation have decided to become an active part on this planetary map. We have decided to take up trade with a friendly system. Our interest in Earth Kingdom was an economic one which we wanted to exploit by war. This reason has now become futile.

So far our culture only allows succession in death which creates an atmosphere steering towards patricide which in turn creates totalitarism. It is time to change this. I am ready to step down as Fire Lord and invest my future in finding new trade partners and preparing FireNation to withstand any planetary threats. As my daughter will join me, I am ready to hand over my reign to my son Zuko.

Our proposal is a ceasefire. Fire Nation will retreat beyond Omashu river and Earth Nation will not retaliate. In case of retaliation Myas troops will intervene and enforce peace.

Zuko seemed distrustful. He didn’t believe in what he heard. Earth King Kuei weighed in.

EKK:    My spies have told me that parts of your troops are preparing to retreat and that a new big building site is being excavated in the heartland of your country... how can I be sure that you are true to your word and are not building new weapons to annihilate us? 

O:        I see that you are a wise and cunning man. Your spies did good work. We are in deed building something gigantic: a space dock for Myas ship.

EKK:    So you are building a space port...

O:        If you say so. I expect more visitors to come soon and Fire Nation wants to be prepared. We don‘t know yet how friendly they will be. Our focus is now the sky and foreign aggressors. If we ever have such an incident, we will need every ally that we get. Be assured that Fire Nation will always put the interests of this world first.

EKK:    Great words...but how true do they ring in my ears, Bosco?

The bear roared and lay down to sleep.

The talks went on for hours until Earth Kingdom finally gave in and agreed to work on a peace treaty. The following days and nights both delegations worked feverishly to get a draft of the peace treaty worked out. Ozai was leading the negociations on the Fire side. The Earth King had appointed his General of the Dai Li to deal with the details and had left to teach his bear new tricks.

I did not see much of Ozai in these days. His entourage kept him secluded and I was leading the negociations and had to be impartial. He didn’t even visit me at night and I missed him. A great emptiness filled my heart, a void expanding like a soap bubble. Had politics just laid all my love and hopes to rest? Finally on the fourth day the treaty was ready to sign, but the Earth King was nowhere to be found. It took another two days until he was brought forward by the Dai Li and able to sign the document.

Both parties, as well as the avatar and Mya received a copy. There were no peace celebrations, but just quiet goodbyes. Firelord Ozai, his son and his generals joined Mya in one of the larger transport pods to take them back to Fire Nation. There was no chance to be alone with Ozai. Not even at night. Mya sought Ozais presence but he was elusive or shielded off by his cabinet.

Mya was woken by Elua. “It’s morning, Firelady Mya!” Elua and a few maids dressed her in traditional Fire Nation clothing as it was the day of Zukos formal coronation and Ozais formal abdiction as Fire Lord.

Mya descended the steps to the main street and climbed into the palanquin. The four carriers held it up and started walking. Mya hated this way of transportation, she would have preferred walking or riding a bike even...

I arrived at the palace and was escorted to the terrace overlooking the square. On the other side Ozai approached guided and guarded by his cabinet and followed by Zuko. I hadn’t seen him for days now. He looked at me with an expressionless face. I was chilled to my bones.

The square was full of people, thousands chanting Ozais name. Gruesome but popular among his folk. I felt like running away but there was no way out. They pushed me forward, I was to walk by Ozais side, when he would announce our alliance and betrothal (betrayal?). We walked forward side by side and stopped at the edge of the terrace. He did not even look at me. When we stood up front he closed his eyes to concentrate and bid his gods for favours. I held his hand. He looked at me with a puzzled face.

O:        So are you talking to me again?

M:        I never stopped. I missed you so much, my love. Why did you push me away? I even wrote you notes, without getting any replies.

O:        I didn’t get them. They told me that you had other business to attend to and that you were upset with me and would leave me. That you outright refused to talk to me.

I tried to look calm while I pressed out:

M:        Who told you such nonsense. I have tried since days to get to you, I waited every day and night and they found a thousand ways to hide you.

O:        We are here together. But we are in danger. They must know we are talking.

M:        Shall I send in troops?

O:        No, wait up. Why would they jeopardize our relationship?

M:        They want you to remain Firelord.

 O:        So they’ll kill you.

M:        If they kill me Eternity will blow Fire Nation to bits.

O:        Then they’ll kill Zuko. I have a new wife, new progeny. How sick are these people.

M:        We need to warn Zuko.

O:        But what if Zuko is trying to get rid of me after my speech?

M:        We need a plan, fast. Let me use our SIMs to create a fall-back plan. They will not attack us while we are out in plain sight. We need to exchange with our SIMS in this hallway. Is there a way out from this hallway?

O:        No idea. Let’s have a look.

The crowd outside was getting nervous and the generals in the palace were also getting anxious. I summoned Eternity to have a pod ready to pick us up immediately after the speech and another one as fallback. Ozai found a tiny door in the wall. It had an iron lock. Ozai wanted to use firebending, but I took out a tiny laser gun and cracked it out of its socket. The stairs went down to the courtyard.

O:        This is near the entry of one if my secret passageways.

We went up again und we embraced and kissed.

Ozai stepped forward out of the passageway and he looked carefully at the crowd, the rooftops and the soldiers. He started his speech around the cornerstones of honor, great Fire Nation, greater legacy of the Phoenix king, space, ore, gold... Then about the Phoenix Kingdom of Fire and Sky (which was the Eternity). His people seemed all taken in by this speech. Then he mentioned handing over the Fire Throne to his son. The crowd went silent. He once again emphasized the greatness of Fire Nation and the beginning of a new era. A shadow was cast over the square and a fine vibration went through everyone. Eternity flew in and stood still in the sky above us. The crowd was in awe. I meditated and Eternity took hold of me. I felt her seeing through me. I approached Ozai and I spoke for her, assuring Fire Nation of our friendly intent. The people were fascinated and terrified at once.

Now Zuko approached and the Fire Sages crowned him officially as the Firelord. The crowd cheered.

Ozai smiled at his son and wished him all the best. I gave orders to the Eternity to start fireworks.

The terrace started to fill with Fire Nation noblemen. Everyone was staring up. It was clear that any assassination attempt would be imminent. The Fire sages and Zuko were surrounded by wellwishers. Ozai and I retreated to the hallway. Amon was targeting any suspicious movements in the crowd from the ship. Once we reached the hallway Eternity produced our SIMs which went out to socialize again.

Ozai and I took the tiny door in the passage and ended up in the stables of the Comodorhinos.

O:        I have private secret tunnels we can use. Our SIMs will give us a headstart.

M:        Not in our clothing. We reek of expensive oil and everything on you screams Firelord! Your hair, beard, smell, dress, even the way you talk.

O:        So what do you suggest?

M:        Take off your clothes.

O:        This is not the right moment...

M:        At least your undergarments look like normal clothing of the smallfolk.

O:        These are hundreds of years old ceremonial robes.

M:        Hide them if you must under these loose floorboards then.

Very soon we stood there in our cotton and linen undergarments. Our hair was unkempt and bound back and we looked like peasants. We rubbed ourselves with earth and hay and jumped around in the comodo rhino manure. Now we even smelled like peasants. There was a cart full of cabbages. We emptied the cart and took it with us as a prop. When we went out to the courtyard nobody noticed us. But there was a lot of commotion in the crowd. There had been an assasination attempt on Ozai and Mya and they had been evacuated by the pod. Archers had hit them with poisoned arrows.

Ozai was white with rage and I had to remind him to stay under cover. We left the palace courtyard and reached the outer wall where the entrance to Ozais secret tunnel was. The key was hidden behind a loose brick. Ozai opened the door and we entered a narrow stairwell down which led to a very narrow tunnel. We walked for about an hour when we came out on a hill outside the city. I summoned a pod which approached in stealth mode. A ladder appeared and we climbed aboard.

[stuff-with-ceylar]

I’ve got a lot of thoughts about Legend of Korra (and also the original) so keep on keeping on if you’re not interested in either shows :)

Disclaimer before getting into all this, these are just my personal thoughts and opinions on Legend of Korra and if you disagree, that’s cool and good. Everyone likes/dislikes different things :)

So I’ve been trying to watch through Legend of Korra (LOK) again, having never made it past the second series before. Which is kinda odd, cause I love the animation style, I think it’s got some good story and I loved the Legend of Aang (LOA) and still do. And I think I’ve finally worked out why I can’t get past the second series of LOK. 

The biggest problem is it’s a sequel to LOA. LOA was such an amazing series for so many reasons, and watching LOK over the past few days I’ve realised why it doesn’t work for me. If the LOA didn’t exist, and it was just the LOK, I think I’d love it way more than I do. As a stand alone series and a stand alone universe, it works and brilliantly so. But the problem is it’s not, and like so many sequels it has to live up to the expectations of the original, which in this case is quite widely accepted as an absolutely amazing show. And it does live up to those expectations in so many ways, but for me it still just falls short. 

And the saddest way in which it falls short is the human element. One reason I love LOA so, so much is because of how human it is. Even the villains, who are awful terrible people, are human. You can sympathise with them, relate to certain things about them, and still accept that they are bad people. The final fight between Zuko and Azula in LOA makes me cry every single time I watch it, because it’s heartbreaking watching Azula in that state. She’s evil, manipulative, destructive, yet you know she still has feelings. “My own mother thought I was a monster. She was right of course, but it still hurt.” - that line is so amazing because it solidifies that Azula is a bad person, but she’s still human. She has thoughts and feelings and emotions and you can empathise with her. And at the beginning, LOK has that. You learn about Amon’s backstory (I personally think it should have dedicated more time to that whole arc but I digress) and you end up feeling sad for both him and his brother when they eventually die. They were evil people, but still human. And they had the empathy element. Then along comes Unalaq. And for me, there’s absolutely no human element to him. There’s certainly parallels to be drawn between himself and Ozai, but to me Ozai is still more human that Unalaq. I hate both, but there’s more to Ozai imo.

And sticking with the theme of the human element, LOA does an amazing job of portraying the everyday person. The ordinary people who are just going about their lives. You get the sense and feeling that everyone in that world is human. Both good and bad. They fight, and squabble, and love and connect with one another and to me, that whole aspect is just lost in LOK. We don’t get to see the everyday person in LOK, or if we do they make no real impact on us. In LOA you get the feeling that every person has a story behind them, that the world is rich and diverse with every person having different experiences, and in the two series of LOK I’ve watched, I never got that feeling beyond the main characters.  And I think part of the reason for that is the pacing of the show, which imo feels rushed. I think both the arcs in series one and two have lots they could work with, they’ve got amazing stories to tell and good characters, but they don’t dedicate enough time to either of them. I sort of feel they’re trying to tell too many different stories with LOK. Each series has a different story to tell, which I think would work if the series were longer. LOA had one story. Defeat the Firelord and stop the war. Of course there were smaller stories within each episode, and each series had the arc of Aang learning how to control the various elements, but they all fell within the same overarching plot. And LOK doesn’t have that, at least not that I could tell within the first two series. Once Amon is defeated, we never hear of him or the Equalists again (perhaps they’re brought up in series 3 or 4, but I kind of doubt it) The events of series two have a much greater impact on the world and story, but having seen the first episode of series 3 I get the feeling that Unalaq is probably rarely mentioned or brought up again. 

Another issue, imo, is the personal character growth. To me, Tenzin is the only one who has any real character growth and development across the first two series. He has this profound moment in the spirit world in series two where he realises he isn’t and shouldn’t try to be a reflection or a continued legacy of Aang (again an element I think they should have spent more time on) and then he imparts that knowledge and wisdom to Korra. And Tenzin also realises that Aang wasn’t the great father he always thought he was, and learns to get along better with his family. Korra on the other hand, doesn’t have much character growth imo. Of course, she grows and learns air bending and connects with her past selves and even learns of Avatar Wan, but she always ends up to me, as the same stubborn girl who in some respects, refuses to learn. Don’t get me wrong, I love her character, but she just doesn’t have the personal growth Tenzin has imo. Like at the end of series two, after all her time in the spirit world and connecting with Avatar Wan, it feels like she’s had a real change in heart about the spirits, and how to deal with them. And also how to change other’s opinions on the spirits. And then at the very start of series 3 it feels like we go right back to the beginning, with her butting heads over the spirits and trying to get rid of them. And there’s the whole terror she felt about Amon in series one which is never brought up again. 

And the final problem I have with LOK is the ‘boss battles’, for want of a better word. One thing that made the final battle in LOA so good, was you could see the progress that Aang had made, and it was a battle between people. All the characters had their own personal battles, and it was their skill and knowledge that helped them get through it and eventually win. The final battle in series two of LOK was beautifully animated, and I absolutely adore the sound effects and music that accompanied it (the noise whenever Unalaq/Vaatu shot that beam of energy sends chills through me), but that’s it. After that it almost boils down to a superhero battle; two giant beings battling in a city harbour, the forces of good and evil duking it out. And I almost hate to say it, but in that fight it really feels like Korra has plot armour. Yes, she looses Raava, but then she becomes a huge spirit of herself and that’s the final showdown with Unalaq/Vaatu. Which just feels... a bit off. Yes, the Avatar is a being of great power, but even the Avatar has limits. And to me, that whole fight just seemed to ignore the limits part. Ironically, I was way more invested in the pro bending championship finals. There were limitations in that fight, but that’s what made it good. It’s the whole saying of ‘limitations breed creativity’, and even the battle between Unalaq and Tonraq when Tonraq is trying to retake control of the Southern Water Tribe to me is more gripping and amazing than the battle between the giant spirit Korra and Unalaq/Vaatu. There’s no spirits involved, no fancy powers, no one element being stronger than the other, just two master water benders desperately trying to beat the other.

At the end of all this, I’m just sad really. Because I really want to enjoy LOK, and I do enjoy parts of it. It has some really amazing elements to it, and it’s absolutely fascinating seeing how the world of avatar has evolved in the years past the 100 year war. I even really love the story of Avatar Wan, and those two episodes are probably my two favourite episodes, But it’s just not the show for me. And that just makes me sad, because I feel it could be great. And as much as I want to, I don’t think I can watch further into the series. It just isn’t the show for me.

One last disclaimer if you made it this far, these are just my personal thoughts and opinions and if you completely disagree with them, that’s fine! I just kinda needed to talk about all this and I didn’t want to flood any discord servers I’m in with this absolute wall of text :)

[swanandphoenixsong]

Inhibitions - Chapter 6: Culmination

Fanfic summary: Two months after he lost his bending, Tahno is still uncomfortable with his new way of life. After an intervention from his pro-bender friends, he makes a choice. With the guidance of a mysterious mentor, he learns to cope with the past and build a future.

Characters: Tahno, Zanami (Buzzard-Wasps Firebender OC), Michi (Tahno’s younger brother waterbender OC), Kokoro (Nonbender OC)

Chapter Notes under the cut!

This next chapter involves a theory surrounding the ending of LoK: Book One. Whether you believe my theory is completely up to you.

I’ve been holding on to this chapter for a long while, partially because life got in the way and because I wanted to finish the following chapter. However, it was also because I wanted to really put as much thought into it as possible. Tahno’s story is very close to my heart and but I also wanted to be conscientious of my own preconceptions. I am of course biased to my own theories and views, and naïve to others’ experiences.

In some ways, losing one’s bending could be seen as a disability, but I do not know if it would really be comparable. Further, I don’t know if I might be ignorant or ableist to have Tahno get his bending back. However, I thought the most important part was his agency and his specific situation. Although in my story he found a way to be himself without his bending, I knew with the background I had given him, he would ultimately want it back. But this was always the plan, and I may have been more inclined to see that through than envision him choosing not to have his bending. So, take it all with a grain of salt.

This is a theory surrounding Amon's methods, and how Korra might have gotten back her bending if Bryke hadn't been originally planning only on one season, or had decided not to go with Aang’s deus ex machina. I acknowledge it is technically canon-divergent and I will not indulge any debating on whether it complies with the ‘rules’ of the Avatar world.

This story will have one more chapter, and I’ve planned a short story for Kokoro afterward. But if you’ve read this far, then you know my track record for updates.

[fictionfromgames]

Routine Concerns (ATLA/LOK fluff)

“Gran, you’re not gonna get arrested!”

Hiyara balled her fists as her grandmother continued packing a bag. The elder didn’t stop.

“Soon enough,” she stated matter-of-factly, “Remember a few years ago when I ‘went to the North’ for a week? When the Avatar was visiting?”

“Yeah,” Hiyara looked skeptical, “Your first vacation in two years at that point. Are you saying you went to jail?”

“Yep,” gran smiled, “Well, sort of a house arrest, wherein they lent me a lush mansion on the other side of the world while Avatar Weiyong was in Harbor City.”

“What could they possibly have against you, gran? You’re a healer.”

Gran turned and looked at Hiyara with a professional smile. She was always good at dealing with belligerent people, patients or otherwise, so she was practiced well enough by the time she had a family. Still, it annoyed Hiyara.

“You know my illustrious career, of course, but do you know much about history?” gran asked. At least she’d stopped packing.

“History is a broad term, gran, what kind of history?”

Gran shrugged, “Oh, like Avatar Korra, Amon. Bloodbending?”

“Some, iittle, and none, in descending according to the legality of each subject,” Hiyara started to frown, “You’re not a bloodbender, are you?”

“Not really?” gran shrugged, though she sounded unsure, “But my thesis on Amon’s ability to take away people’s bending is the theoretical foundation of my practice today.”

“You’re a bloodbender,” Hiyara was stunned.

“No, not really, I promise!” Gran moved closer, “I just... I was fascinated with Avatar Korra since I was little, all the things she achieved and survived even by your age now. But one of the things we’d always hear about in the healing huts was Amon. born Noatak in the Northern Tribe. Bloodbender, bending stealer, everyone knows that part, But no doctor, and no waterbender had figured out exactly how he’d stolen people’s powers. The standing, unimpeachable answer was always “vascular and/or neurological damage caused by bloodbending,” and was not subject to question due to the ethics and, yeah, legality involved. It was generally supported by head wounds that rendered much more than bending unusable, and wasn’t to be investigated otherwise.”

“Can you take bending away??” Hiyara was starting to feel a little horrified.

“Only theoretically!” Gran pointed enthusiastically, “There are a lot of things I wanted to avoid-- being stuck in the healing huts with all the old women back home, being called a ‘guru’, or a ‘mad scientist,’ and most definitely charges of bloodblending. I wanted nothing except to be Doctor Kayada. But... for as much as I wanted to get away from home, I remembered two things. The way Amon would access bending through the forehead, and the old healing dummies I was started on. He was using the meridians we used for water healing, just as conduits to the appropriate chakras through the Light chakra itself!”

“Gran you still haven’t said how this isn’t bloodbending!”

“Oh, that’s easy, I used a saline solution and sort of push that around,” Gran continued, almost ignoring the conflict in the conversation, “It somehow satisfies their strictures. But chakras, Hiyara, they’re opened and closed through emotion, and what emotions govern the Light chakra?”

Gran pointed again, waiting for the answer, but Hiyara just shook her head. She wasn’t in school for religious studies or medicine.

“Insight and illusion!” Gran cried, “Amon created illusory wounds to those areas through the chakra most susceptible to them, which is why no one but the Avatar figured out how to fix them! Lies they and their bodies believed! And he used water healing principles to accomplish it!��

At this point gran’s arms were in the air, as if reliving the revelatory moment. Hiyara just looked at her normally reserved grandmother with confusion and a little fear.

“But why would they arrest you?” she asked quietly.

“Oh, the White Lotus just thinks your genius gran could be a threat to the current Avatar because of the one time I stopped him.”

Kayada returned to packing. It was maybe a bit too hopeful to assume she could have gone to see the rocket launch if Weiyong was going to be there.

“Stopped him from what, gran?!”

******************

Kayada M.D.

Kayada’s theory is not mine, I stole it in whatever form I internalized it from Hello Future Me’s video in this link, but I wanted to have someone in the setting to realize that, as a potential conflict from either Kayada herself or an a new external threat. I imagine Kayada as generally genial, well-meaning, and not as invested in mysticism UNTIL it intersects with medical science. She has a practice in Shaomen, a newer United Republic City in the Hu Xin provinces. Shaomen is not canon except to this setting, and because I am running out of United Republic place names.  Kayada’s clinic is like, 1/3 general practice (water healing is generally very useful), 1/3 sports medicine (pro-benders seek her out in particular because what if their loss was bending related rather than injury or skill related????? Big money there), and 1/3 “psychiatry” (because manipulating positive emotions through waterbending is at least palliative therapy, and at best, an actual ATLA-unique version of psychiatric medicine).

Kayada vs. Weiyong

Why would someone who’s only ever trying to help cross the Avatar and be subsequently banned from any and all contact within a number of miles?

Political Differences

In one scenario, I think of Kayada as having been a witness to some massive infrastructural damage to Shaomen, and going out personally to close off some bending to make it stop, getting mixed up about who’s who and accidentally closing off some of Weiyong’s bending until things are cleared up. This one incident meshes with her standard do-gooding persona, and explains why her family doesn’t always know why she keeps avoiding the Avatar (willingly or by state order). The realization of her abilities by the White Lotus with regards to Weiyong have placed her on a watchlist.

Trade Secrets

A colleague or academic rival has learned Kayada’s methods and has used it to profitable and definitely unethical ends. I am leaving a lot of details ambiguous in this scenario, just because a new bending-stealer could easily be used in “present day.” You could still have Kayada and Weiyong’s now-genial relationship as a background distance between them, and calling off the minimum distance order she has to keep in order to help hunt down your new antagonist. However. I envision this as being Kayada’s “real” backstory. Tesroq, a water bender and Kayada’s number one at her practice, was taught how to heal her way and fill in for her while she was on Team Avatar during the Deep Spirit crises. And rather than open abuse, he’d covertly mess with pro-benders in order to help fix matches, which drew the considerable attention of Boss Shai and the Agni Kai Triad. The technical prowess of Kayada being passed on to someone less incorruptible also drew notice from the Dai Li, who had hoped to recruit Tesroq for some super shady shit regarding the situation of the Earth States, but Tesroq himself was enamored with the metropolitan lifestyle in the United Republic, and refused. Of course, the Deep Spirits crises weren’t constant or all at once, and Team Avatar started heading home, first visiting Shaomen, since Kayada was less combat oriented than the rest. The timing for Tesroq couldn’t have gone better-- with the Dai Li sending alternating offers and threats, the Agni Kais thoroughly pissed regarding an undefeated pro bending team, and Kayada starting to wonder what was amiss, his escape was provided by the threeway battle over his capture. Even with help from the White Lotus, Tesroq was never caught. Weiyong did get some of his bending blocked, but the White Lotus arranged a cover story and confiscated all scholastic papers regarding Kayada’s methods. She was still allowed to practice on the condition that she would be portrayed as the danger to the Avatar, avoiding all mention of Tesroq. She and Weiyong still correspond though, since they were close as comrades and confidants, and Weiyong always sends photos of an event related to his latest obligations. She’s Definitely a Mad Scientist

In this scenario, I kind of see her as morally ambivalent and always chasing the goal of learning more, kinda like Entrapta in She Ra, where the sides don’t matter as long as she keeps Doing the Thing, that maybe she’ll finally unlock something amazing. Her practice is more or less a front for capital, and while she may only take willing subjects, it’s still fucking sketchy, and requires a stronger synthesis between bloodbending and water healing. Perhaps here she’s looking for a way to actually produce bending in subjects that never had it, or add new elements to existing benders, since they already possess energy bending of any kind and it’s just easier or something. I like Kayada as a friend and ally but there are seeds for so much mischief.

Mechanically Speaking

No player character should have the ability to block bending beyond Ty Lee levels, which exists in the game already. But, should your characters have their bending blocked, it should be a several Chi-cost adventure to regain it. It’s also hard to manage since you don’t need bending to access every move in a playbook, so it’s more of a GM fiat move than systematic usage.

You can check out Legend of the Elements on DriveThru RPG and their page full of extra resources, Actual Play links, and essays at the Logbook Project!

[equalmeasurefiction]

Flirting Head Canons

Amorra

Amon to Korra- Too subtle, too smooth, and too sneaky Lines- “Until we meet again, Avatar Korra.”  “What a surprise to see you out and about this fine evening.” “You lack restraint, young Avatar.” “We never did have our one-on-one confrontation on Avatar Island... and you seemed so eager...” Behavior- Mysterious, unmarked gifts on the Avatar’s doorstep; Korra feels that she’s being watched; there’s a strange man who stands just outside of White Lotus striking distance... he’s probably just the paparazzi, right? Effectiveness- -10%: Too subtle.  Korra takes the smoulder for intimidation tactics and responds with violence and terror. Korra to Amon- Starts with Shy, Nervous, Curiosity but quickly progresses to Blunt, Direct, and Brutal tactics. Lines- Starts at: “So... maybe we should talk about this whole... Equalist thing?”  “I am the Avatar for everyone, so... I’m the Equalist’s Avatar too, right?”  “You know, I think we’d probably work pretty well together?  I’m the Avatar... you’re an Avatar...?  It could work.” Escalates to: “So... you doing anything after this fight?”  “Us Avatars, we should hang out sometime.” “You know, I’m a skilled healer, I could take a look at those burns for you...?”  Finally moves to: “You’re hot.”  “Can I kiss you?”  “I want you.” Behavior- Begins with blushing and frequent, quiet glances, and shy smiles.  Escalates to dumb grins, invasions of personal space, and attempts at establishing light physical contact.  Finally, she will corner Amon while he’s alone to confront him and demand answers... Depending on how hard he is to track down this may involve breaking into the Equalist base, locating his office/private quarters, and lounging somewhere conspicuous to wait for him... possibly with flowers and chocolate or something ‘Equalist-y.’ Effectiveness- From 70 to 110%: Her initial interest is easily noted and observed, but can be dismissed as a childish crush.  The escalation becomes troubling... especially as her tactics become more aggressive... The final move may come out of left field from Amon’s perspective... so he may be too surprised/flattered/confused to dodge when she jumps him.  And he never says no to chocolate.

Korrlok

Tarrlok to Korra- Blatant... to everyone who isn’t Korra... Lines- “Avatar Korra, it is an honor to meet you.”  “Join my task force.” “Let me take you out to dinner to celebrate our accomplishments, my treat.” “You’ve been doing such good work, I thought you deserved a reward.  I hope you like jewelry...?” Behavior- Ambush tactics to keep Korra off guard.  Surprise visits at inopportune times (like dinner), walks over to talk to (sometimes) after press-conferences... He keeps her on her toes and never commits/admits to anything.  It’s ‘just business’ or ‘talking logistics’... no one can accuse him of anything... Effectiveness- 25%: Korra suspects that there’s something going on, she knows he’s trying to trick her into something... but she’s not sure what he’s after... Maybe he wants her to stay on the task force?  Maybe he wants to butter her up because he wants her to do something dumb?  Maybe he wants to steal Pema’s secret recipe?  She’s not sure... Korra to Tarrlok- Same general progression... she comes on like a tidal wave.  There’s the cutesy withdrawal and long, longing looks... and then she sweeps in with unexpected and ferocity. Lines- Starts at: “Join your task force?  Okay.”  “I’m, like, the best at beating up Equalists, you’re so lucky that I’m here to take care of things.”  “It’s great to be a part of your team.” Escalates to: “I brought you coffee.”  “We make a good team don’t we?”  “I like your hair.”  “The task force uniform looks really good on you.”  “How do you do your hair?” Turns playful/aggressive:  “Is that something in your pocket or are you happy to see me?” “So... I heard this pickup line the other day- If I said you had a hot body, would you hold it against me?”  “Hey look, that photographer pictured us together.”  “I bet I could do more pushups than you.”  “Do you like pro-bending?” Finally aggressive: “So... we’re alone...” *stretches arms up, lets arm casually come down behind Tarrlok*  “You have a nice butt.”  “So, we’d make a great team... but... romantically?” Behavior- The slow start threw him off.  He suspected that she had a crush on him and that played into his plans... And he liked the flattery.  But it shifted so quickly into an odd ‘buddy-buddy’ camaraderie that he was lulled into a false sense of security/disappointment.  So when she grabbed his butt and made her intentions known (very clearly) he’s taken completely by surprise. Effectiveness- 10-110%: Tarrlok is left confused and disoriented.  One day he was listening to her list off odd pickup-lines and boast about what an awesome asset she was to him (very annoying), the next she came on to him... unexpectedly and hard.  It’s not that he’s not flattered she just came on strong and without warning.  He was not expecting to be groped.

Noalok

Noatak to Tarrlok- Flirting?  What Flirting?  It’s just being a good and attentive older brother! Lines- “You have something in your hair.” “Let me get that for you.” “I missed you.” “Did you miss me?”  “It’ll be just like the good old days, when we were kids...” “You know, if you’re scared or lonely, I’m here.”  “Do you need help with your hair?”  “Are you having a nightmare?  Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.” Behavior- Super mothering.  Also known as Smothering.  Noatak is always one step behind Tarrlok, checking on him... Effectiveness- 0%: Tarrlok is uncomfortable with the attention.  He’s a grown man, damnit!  He’s too old for babysitting... but if Noatak wants to help him with his hair... maybe that’d be okay... maybe!  He needs to think about it! Tarrlok to Noatak- Clumsy, Uncomfortable, Nervous... (you would be too!) Lines- “So... we should... uh... do something together.  As brothers.  Because we’re brothers...” “You look... nice...” *mutters*: “I saw this.  It reminded me of you.  Got if for you.  Don’t think too much about it.” *Flustered* “I’M NOT LOOKING AT YOU!  YOU’RE LOOKING AT YOU--I MEAN, ME!  STOP LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT!” Behavior- Always standing about a foot away or just out of arm’s reach; does not smile; looks supremely uncomfortable/flustered; very, very skittish. Effectiveness- 100%: It takes about 5 seconds for Noatak to figure out what’s going on... Noatak must initiate first contact though, because Tarrlok will never, ever be the first to make a move.

Lieumon

Lieutenant to Amon- Flattering, Sneaky, Subtle... It’s all in the tone of voice... Lines- “Ye~es, sir!” “Is there anything I can get for you?  Do for you?” “Amon, you seem tense... if you need help relaxing I can recommend a few... techniques...” Behavior- Sneaks discrete innuendos into regular comments and conversation.  Sometimes it’s nothing more than a discrete shift in his tone of voice. Effectiveness- 75%: Amon is 75% sure that the Lieutenant is interested, but sometimes he wonders if he’s replacing the lieutenant’s words in his head. Amon to Lieutenant- Subtle flattery, and Frequent Compliments Lines- “It’s men like you that make equalism great.”  “Your skills and prowess are valued and appreciated.” “You look well rested today, I hope you’re ready to work up a sweat.” Behavior- Amon expresses his interest through proximity and promotions.  So, he lets the lieutenant approach him physically and in rank.  He also gives gifts... like Kali-sticks and a personalized uniform... Effectiveness- 65%: the Lieutenant is a little less confident than Amon, but he’s pretty sure Amon’s into him... pretty sure... maybe... he hopes... it’d be awesome... Amon doesn’t talk to other equalists the way he talks to him!

Korrtenant/Lieurra

Lieutenant to Korra- Competitive, friendly, joking... and always a little gentler than he means to be... Lines- *shouted during combat* “Not bad for a bender!” “You’ve got good form!  Too bad you’re on the wrong side!” “Nice moves!” “Careful, or I’ll cut you down, Avatar!”  “Too bad you’re a bender, we could use fighters like you!”  “I don’t normally say this to women, but you’ve got great legs!  Now if only you could land a hit with one!”  Behavior- He’d go easy on her, but he can’t go easy on her, because she’d probably kill him.  But he’d like to go easy on her.  He goes a little easy on her. Effectiveness- 60%: Korra noticed that he went easy on her.  And he noticed that she’s got good form.  That means something... maybe he’s sympathetic to her cause?  Maybe he likes pro-bending?  Maybe he thinks that she’s weak... Maybe they should talk about this? Korra to Lieutenant- Classic Korra... starts slow, builds up to aggressive, but friendly flirtation. Lines- Starter: “You joined the wrong side of this fight.”  “You’re not going to win!” “I’m going to take you down!” Escalation: “Oh, are those some electric Kali sticks you’ve got there or are you happy to see me?”  “I hope you’re ready!”  “If you keep going easy on me, you’re going to lose this fight!  Or do you want to lose? Finally: “You know, it’s my policy to date everyone on my team... I’m just saying...” “That Equalist uniform looks awful on you, maybe you should take it off?” Behavior- It starts with the heat of battle banter and devolves into some very silly flirtation and invitations on dates.  The fighting starts serious and devolves into a ‘though the motions’ kind of deal... Neither are paying much attention to the fight anymore. Effectiveness- 90%: Korra’s typically pretty clear, but when all of your flirtation happens in the heat of battle, it’s hard to gauge how much you mean and how much is ‘in the heat of the moment.’  But the Lieutanant is 90% sure she’s into him...  If they ever meet when they’re not fighting, he should expect confirmation of intent, because Korra doesn’t know the meaning of the word ‘subtle.’

LieuLin

Lieutenant to Lin- Light, friendly, just a part of conversation... maybe it’ll go somewhere... Lines- “Chief Beifong, it’s an honor to meet the legendary chief of police.  You should fire those photographers.  They don’t do you justice in the papers.”  “You’re alone tonight?  I find it hard to believe that a woman such as yourself is on her own on a night like this.” Behavior- They’re regulars at a bar, where they sit around and talk about their lives, loves, and losses.  The lieutenant seems comfortable and unbothered by the beautiful chief of police who sits next to him, though he does look at her quite a lot.  Lin notices, but she doesn’t let on.  She likes the attention and the reminder that she’s beautiful.  She hasn’t felt beautiful for a long time... Effectiveness- 85%: She knows he’s interested, but she’d like him to make a move.  She did all the legwork during her last (disastrous) relationship.  She isn’t going to jump the gun again and get overly involved. Lin to Lieutenant- Subtle and cautious, she’s not looking to get hurt again, but he’s easy on the eyes... Lines- “Is there room at this table?”  “Nice mustache.”   “What’s a nice guy like you doing in a place like this?”  “You single?  I’m just surprised.  Guys like you are hard to come by...”  “Looks like you’ve had a rough day, can I buy you a drink?” Behavior- Wry humor and a seductive glint in her eye.  But she doesn’t touch.  She always sits just far enough away to keep the object of her intentions guessing.  She will not make the first move, so she waits and watches and checks for reciprocity. Effectiveness- 99%: The Lieutenant knows she’s interested, but he can’t gauge how serious she is.  Does she want to ask him out on a date?  Are they just friends who flirt?  Does she want him?  He knows he should ask, but he’s kind of intimidated.

Verdicts

Amon- Too subtle for his own good.  Everyone assumes he’s just talking to them... no one is sure that he’s interested him, unless they’re very attentive.  He always catches onto what others are feeling... unless they go from 0 to 100 too quickly... Tarrlok- Needs to be less of a Tsundere and just say what he wants.  He isn’t as good at reading people as his older brother, but he’s not dumb... just self-absorbed. Lieutenant- Causes confusion, but he gets the point across.  So, he’s pretty effective.  He’s also better at reading people than Amon. Korra- Starts slow, escalates quickly, leaves her targets disoriented and shocked...  That said, she’s dense.  She needs explicitly stated intent in order to get a solid understanding of what’s going on... or compliments about her combat form... Lin- Mellow and casual, but blunt and hard.  She makes her intentions clear, but doesn’t leave her heart on her sleeve.  And she’s played this game many times before.  The only one the lieutenant can’t read.

Do you want more?  Yes?  No?

Which Couples?

[fyasamisato]

LoK Book One (Equalist Asami) AU Question: If Asami was raised to be a VERY loyal Equalist by her dad years ago and Amon have her to spy on Korra and her friends while she was with them, how would things play out in the Avatar Universe if that turn of events happens (especially if, later on, Asami knocked out Korra before she can use her air bending on Amon)?

Hmmm, that’s a good one. Like in a world where he was able to indoctrinate her in the ideology before she could form her own moral’s and ideas. Well i know the cliche answer would be the kind of fall in love with the enemy story but I don’t think that would happen. At least within the time frame of book one. Because even when they were on the same side they didn’t fall in love right away, at least that’s my opinion. And then there’s the common equalist Asami trope of her still becoming friends with them in basically the same way we saw, only this time as a sleeper agent and spy. That would foster a distrust after it’s revealed that would be very difficult to overcome. 

My opinion on this depends on something though. If Hiroshi indoctrinated her young and did it well, to the point she was simply an agent of the equalists and that’s all she cared about, then it would take some pretty major things to turn her. But if he didn’t micromanage every single detail in her life, then I think something else would happen. I think she’d still be a very compassionate young woman. And that would actually feed in to being an equalist. She wouldn’t simply be doing it because that was the way she was brought up. She’d be doing it because she would see the families crushed under the boot of gangs and simply benders at large. I think what would happen is she’d be this kind of figure that does the equalist assignments at night, and by day she would be going among the victims trying to help them on a more ground level. What’s more i think she would inevitably find a family who maybe lost a father or a mother to the violence of a bender and kind of grow a special attachment to them since she could relate so personally. She’d become protective of them however she could and become very involved in their lives. Especially if the family had members her age, like she’d become friends with them the same way she did with team avatar. 

So from their, she and team avatar would come to blows cause eventually her identity would be revealed because of course it would be. Drama and all. And words in anger would be shouted and both sides would make their case but not be able to sway the others mind. And i think honestly at this stage in her arch, korra herself would right her off. Like “No, she played us, and she’s a terrorist, she’s wrong and that’s all there is to it.”

But they wouldn’t be able to catch her and she wouldn’t be able to take them all out either so both sides get away. Then frankly a lot of little things could happen, they could confront each other again and again and always there will be this deep personal stake involved as Asami did genuinely like them when they interacted. And she would not be someone who especially liked the idea of taking their bending away, it would just be her kind of begging them to see reason. “Please, so much pain has been brought to the world by people like you and you don’t even do it on purpose.” that sort of thing. And none of it would get through and none of their rhetoric would get through to her.

Then what would happen, is they’d meet in kind of civilian hours. The group or maybe just korra would see her taking care of that family i mentioned earlier. That would start a change of opinion in her. Like oh i guess she’s not evil sort of thing. Maybe they could even interact, and like agree not to fight here. I don’t want to go through all of this bit cause I think you get where i’m going. Korra and team would she that she’s a genuinely compassionate and sweet person, and that she’s not just some enemy combatant. And what’s more is interacting with families who have been ripped apart by benders would even cause them to second guess their own position, or at least not be so gung ho. 

Then, maybe they would bring up some of the dirtier things the equalists have done, and maybe Asami didn’t know about them. Like the worst aspects of the movement were kind of hidden from her and that shakes her faith a little. And so the seeds are planted for both sides to reconcile though that won’t happen yet. But this is the kind of path i see this taking that would make her turning to their side have more impact and not just be a “Oh i guess i’m evil better switch” turn. Like this would have to be played very nuanced to work otherwise it would just be cliche. Then this could build up the whole season (If the season was like 24 episodes cause there’s a lot here) until basically she makes the same choice she made in The Aftermath. Korra and friends would be in serious danger, about to lose their bending or be killed, Asami would click into this is wrong, what we’re doing is wrong mode and try to reason with her father. When that failed she would fight them, and so on. I was about to say not that she could take Amon in a fight but then i thought about it and I don’t know could she? He’s advantaged against benders. His chi blocking wouldn’t really would against her. 

So hey maybe that’s a thing that could happen. The two have showdown of hand to hand and equalist techniques. Maybe buy Korra enough time to unlock her airbending. Oh maybe we could kick of the the korrasami earlier, and seeing Asami in danger is what brings Korra to unlock her airbending instead of Mako. So yeah they reveal Amon to the people and then Asami interacts with her father in some manner saying she believes in equality and helping the people but that this isn’t the way to do it and it will just cause even more harm. She could still have her confrontation with him like in the finale somehow. Hmm, that would bring a lot of weight to their meeting their. And it already had a lot of weight lol. But yeah “You really are a terrible father” would take on new meaning cause in this AU, she would be saying that having believed in him and his message, so it would be even another hurtle for her to overcome in fighting him. Lots of drama. Lol

So I know that didn’t really answer the what would happen if she knocked Korra out before she could fight Amon, but the way this played out in my mind it would never have reached that point. Like by the time Korra and Amon came face to face, Asami’s faith in the equalists would already be shaken and she’d already be in the process of turning on them to join Korra.

But that’s what I think. It wouldn’t be something that lasts till the other books. One cause of how that was all networked and planned, the equalist plot was meant to be done by book 1 so the only effect it would have later is maybe in certain scenes in the rest of the series she would kind of see maybe the other three throwing their weight around with bending and disapproving. Oh my god in this AU she would have hated the Earth queen. Like “You’re a nonbender and still your ruling over people like their trash? How dare you.” that sort of thing could pop up time to time and when I think about little character moments like that I get kind of excited to think about more. But anyway, I hope that answered your question in a somewhat coherent manner. I’ve really enjoyed thinking about this though and it may be time for some fanfic lol :) Thanks for asking.

[danguy96]

i agree with that voltron statement like volton the characters grow alot while in kora they grow but not well and what i mean is in voltron it shows them slowly learning and being better paladins, while in kora it was ya shes trying but failing to learn air except for at the end when she suddenly becomes a master of it right after achieving bending because it was a dire situation, also it starts out here she is as kid a master of everything while ang never started as a master he had to learn

I can see what you’re trying to say (I apologize, but the grammar here isn’t the best, and I had some trouble making it out, and I understand if it’s because English isn’t your first language), and yeah, that is one of the many, many problems I have with The Legend of Korra, at least when comparing it to what we currently have with Voltron. I know I’m probably going to rephrase or reiterate a lot of stuff that’s been said before, including what’s been said by this guy I occasionally check up on at DeviantART here and here (they’re actually good summaries of what I think of LoK), but I still think they contain some bit of truth as to why I think Voltron is a better successor to Avatar than LoK was. 

In fact, I think I can separate the reasons as to why Voltron works where LoK didn’t into four main categories (yes, there’s several reasons, but I feel like these are the main four which are the most important to me): 1. The Main Character (or Main Characters, in Voltron’s case), 2. The Villains/Antagonists, 3. The Characters and Their Relationships, and 4. The Story Itself

Firstly, as you said, I get what they were going for with Korra when they made her a bending prodigy who needed to learn that was more to being Avatar than just being the chosen one, rather than learning how to control all four elements but it just isn’t pulled off very well, at least to me, anyway. I get that she’s supposed to be a flawed character, but her development felt rushed and sloppily handled most of the time to me, some of her arcs either go on for too long or just end up going nowhere and being abandoned (Dark Avatar Korra, anyone?), she becomes more than a bit too grating and arrogant at times, and she kind of keeps learning the same lessons over and over again. Not to mention, it feels like we spend less and less time on her own personal character with each passing season, and instead focus more on either what new, big central threat we get (which takes away the personal time we get with the characters, which was made Avatar so great) or which character Korra is gonna end up banging in the end (I’ll get to that part later, and why it felt detrimental to the show, including the end result). 

With the Paladins, we have to see them grow and develop as a team, and learn the clear goal of mastering how to control Voltron during the series, much like how Aang learned how to control the four elements throughout Avatar. And each of them have their own straightforward goals and characters, which do develop as the show goes, and will hopefully continue to develop as the show goes on.

Secondly, although it’s pretty early in Voltron’s case, so we still have to wait until other villains and characters appear, the villains in Voltron so far feel a bit better than we mostly got in The Legend of Korra. The villains in LoK try to present a more grey morality approach with the ongoing archetype of “person with good intentions that went too far”, but they get weaker and more predictable after Amon, and they fail at grey morality by having the villains end up acting so obviously evil near the end to the point of it being ridiculous. Some people may think that revealing that he was a bloodbender may have spoiled Amon, but at least he was intimidating, charismatic, and the fact that we didn’t see his face most of the time added to his intimidation level. Same could be said with Ozai, because even though he was mostly power-hungry and selfish, he was still intimidating enough to leave an impact, and Azula was charismatic and manipulative to make up for that as well. With antagonists like Unalaq, he was just a bad Ozai wannabe who claimed that he wanted to bring balance between the spirits, yet he was going to merge with what was the Avatar equivalent of the freakin’ devil, and that he would become the “Dark Avatar”, so any grey morality is thrown out the window. Vaatu kind of gets a pass since he’s basically evil incarnate, so I’d expect just that. Zaheer may have been better, but I still think there was room for improvement, and I would’ve liked more personal time with him and his companions, so that we could better understand him and his motives. Finally, with Kuvira, it seems that they were running low on ideas for villains, so they used a minor character from season 3 and turned her into a villain without showing us how she came to that point or why she wanted to conquer the world other than power and “order”, but even then the latter may have just been a lie she told in order to gain support. And like many have said before, she feels like combination of Ozai and Azula, the way she ended up basically being rule 63, metalbender Hitler is just silly (the concentration camps for non-native Benders didn’t mesh well with was established about her earlier, I feel that she borders on being a boring, invincible, villain sue, and, in my personal opinion, she’s kind of a poor choice to have as your final villain when comparing what we previously had. In fact, I think that Vaatu should’ve been the final villain, due to him being end-all, be-all evil of their universe. 

With Voltron, we have more of a straightforward set of bad guys with Emperor Zarkon and the Galra Empire, but like Ozai and the Fire Nation, they work because we have a clear singular enemy which the heroes will face throughout the series. And like the Fire Nation, since we have a single main threat to deal with over the course of an entire series (instead of having to deal with one new main threat per season, squeezed in over the course of 12 to 13 episodes), it allows for a bit more time for personal character interaction and development, which actually is rather good place to segue into my next point.

The third thing I would like talk about is the characters and their relationships. Avatar is very well-known for it’s excellent character development, and the relationships built between the characters, both platonic and romantic. LoK, to me at least, felt rather lacking in that department. While they started off well in that department (and, to it’s credit, they did carry on with it for some characters, since I liked most of Tenzin’s interactions with his family), a lot the character subplots and interactions kind of felt rushed at times (you can see that there’s theme with things being rushed), and some characters were even pushed aside or forgotten about. For example, while I don’t he’s as bad as people say, and that could’ve been more well-received if his character was written better, Mako sort of almost became a non-entity by the end of the series, and while I didn’t mind it at first, I look back and think that it would’ve been better if they just went and redeemed his character by writing him better, and not just shoving him to the side (in fact, I heard they were originally going to kill him off in Book 4, but they figured that would to some unfortunate implications for Korrasami, and I don’t know about some people, but even I think that’s just plain bad writing, no matter how poorly handled Mako was). And poor Bolin, even after getting some spotlight in Books 3 and 4, I think he’s been forgotten about for the most part. And that’s not getting into the side characters, which I think there eventually became too many of, and there were just not enough episodes per season to flesh them out, so they just ended up disappearing aside from the occasional cameo, or showing up for the final season (General Iroh II, Hobo Man, Mr. Sato, Eska & Desna, Spirit Iroh, Kya, Ginger, Zaheer, Kai, etc.). Finally, I believe many of us can agree that one of the most annoying parts of LoK was that stupid love triangle/square/dodecahedron/whatever, which plagued the series until the vey end (and possibly even after that, depending on who you ask), and also reduced all the characters involved into merely being love interests for one another, by both the staff and the fandom. 

Speaking of reducing characters and their personalities into being nothing but being an item by the staff and the fandom (and I hope you don’t think I’m going off on a tangent a little), another thing which I felt was detrimental to the rest of the characters was making Korrasami canon. Now, I have nothing against the rational people who ship Korrasami, but I personally feel it’s done harm than good for the show. Ever since it became canon, the Korrasami fandom became a haven of obnoxiousness and toxic-ness, only surpassed by the Steven Universe fandom and, ironically, extremist Voltron yaoi shippers. As seen here and here, not only did the Korrasami fandom harass and cyberbully people who didn’t like or ship Korrasami (with two internet memes, “Feudal Lord and Handmaiden” and “Poppin’ Bottles”, being the direct result of harassing people), but the show to the fandom (and, to some extent, the show’s staff and creators) became less and less about the adventures of the new Team Avatar and the ongoing fight between good and evil, and more about constantly yammering on about a single same-sex pairing and how “look how gay Korra and Asami are!!” (seriously, tell me the last piece of fan content you remember which doesn’t bring up Korrasmi or imply it), obnoxiously bragging about said pairing to every single person, and eventually forgetting and shoving aside almost everything about the show that’s not Korrasami. And if you didn’t like it, the fandom would just say that you’re homophobe/”lesbophobe” (never mind that that’s erasing bisexuality) for not shipping it or not liking the way things turned out, and even one of the staff (I believe it was Bryan) more or less said that if you didn’t think their relationship was really that developed, you were just a homophobe and “looking through a ‘hetero-lens’”. All the show seems to be now is just a singular pairing, with so many characters stories tossed aside in the name of leaving some sort of legacy behind and being “progressive”, and to me, it just all ends up feeling hollow. Also, on a unrelated note, I think short hair doesn’t suit Korra at all.

Going back at last to Voltron, the cast of characters is (as of this writing) much smaller, allowing for more focus on individual characters and their relationships in a way similar to that of the original Avatar, and with the more straightforward plotline (that’s another theme going on with Voltron being more “straightforward”), they can spend as much time developing the characters as they can focus on the main threat. Also, as far as canon goes (and in spite of the previously mentioned extremist shippers and the Social Justice Warriors), there’s hardly any romance in the show, aside from the occasional ship tease and any moment of Lance flirting. And, in all honesty, I’m kind of with @celticpyro that there probably shouldn’t any too major canon pairings, because not only do I think that Voltron just isn’t the type of show to do anything too romantic (don’t get me wrong, shipping can be fun, and I do have a few Voltron pairings myself, but I don’t think Voltron’s the type of show for anything too major, unless it’s done well), I also think that, again, while shipping can be fun, it can also easily corrupt a fandom, and making certain ships canon can unleash a whole new can of worms. Basically, I want Voltron’s legacy to be based around a great show about a battle between the forces of good and evil, and not solely based on a same-sex pairing made solely to please the fans.

But the biggest and most important area which I consider Voltron to have done better is this: the story itself and how it was planned out. You see, while Voltron is clearly being planned out ahead with certain twists and an ending in mind, LoK was basically written by the seat of Bryke and company’s collective pants, mostly because they originally planned and wanted it to be a mini-series, but Nickelodeon ordered at the last minute for it to be a full series. And honestly, I think it would’ve been better as a mini-series. But as is, it’s more than a little apparent that a lot of behind the scenes difficulties went on (hell, they had to create clipshow just to save on the budget near the end). I can handle having a storyline that’s not overarching across the seasons, but with the amount of stuff that was going on in each season, I think that most of the series would’ve benefitted from at least having more episodes per season (18 to 20 at the most), that way they could spend more time on the rest of the characters’ story arcs, as well as the main threat. Also, they seemed to have sort of a case of “tell, don’t show” with stuff like the time skips explaining things at the beginning of each new season.

With Voltron, even though the storyline is more straightforward and overarching, it works in a similar way the original Avatar’s overarching story did; they had an end goal in mind, but the journey to that end was filled with twists and turns, and the characters felt fully developed for the most part by the end. I just didn’t get that feeling of being satisfied that I did with Avatar as I did with Korra.

And I know that there are those saying I’m being unfair, and that I should judge LoK on it’s own merits and not compare or contrast it with AtLA so much. My response to that is that I hold LoK, AtLA, and Voltron: LD on the same level of standards I set for nearly every piece of media I partake in, no matter what it is, and comparisons to both AtLA and Voltron: LD are most likely going to happen, since LoK is literally a sequel to the former (and keeps reminding us about that with nearly every other episode), and the latter at least has a couple of people who’ve worked on both AtLA and LoK. To put it more clearly, I judge LoK both on it’s own merits as well as on it’s merits as being a sequel to Avatar, and the merits of both, I think it’s a show that ranges from above average at best to slightly irritating at worst, and while I sadly think it got screwed over by the powers that be, I also felt it was too overhyped, especially the ending, and I just don’t see myself coming to it as much as I do with Avatar and probably will with Voltron. 

And I am aware that there may be some people out there who may rudely tell me that I’m apparently an unwashed idiot who “doesn’t get” LoK and what it tried to do, and tell that I’m a moron if I don’t agree with them and think it’s some sort of revolutionary series which “broke boundaries”. And to those people (and no, in case anyone is wondering for this case or the previous case, I’m not vague-posting about anyone), I say, congratulations, you’ve missed the point of a little something called “subjectivity”, and you automatically assume that I’m one of those people who mindlessly bash the show, when I’m just saying that it’s not my own personal cup of tea, and that I don’t think it’s as great as other people think it is.

Now, that is to say that didn’t want The Legend of Korra to be a complete clone of Avatar, and that I get what they going for in many instances, but I just personally don’t think they pulled it off that well, and calling me stupid or insinuating that I am stupid and saying that I “can’t see it” isn’t going to change my mind.

TL;DR: I personally don’t really think The Legend of Korra is that great of a series either on it’s own merits or on the merits of it being a sequel to Avatar, as well feel that it was overhyped, and I much more enjoy Voltron: Legendary Defender to LoK, as well as feel that Voltron better captures some of the spirit of Avatar. That’s just my personal opinion, and you disagree with me on some or even most of it, but just don’t tell me or insinuate that I’m idiot who doesn’t “get it” because I dislike something you like.

I really didn’t mean for this to become an essay. I apologize for that.

[equalmeasurefiction]

You’re Oppressing Yourselves: An exploration of interpretations, bad writing, and missed opportunities

Responders and Writing Techniques

There is a method to my madness.  Part of that method is to introduce an idea and then bring it up again only a few posts later to help me explain my logic.

So let me begin this meta by explaining that I’m a #4 in terms of how I engage with a piece of media—I’m a responder.  So, my first instinct is to try and make sense of a work within the framework that has been provided by the creator, or to provide my own framework in order to achieve a better understanding of what I’ve just absorbed.

This is why I tend to write fanfiction before I start writing metas.  I can’t actually ‘see’ a work until I’ve chewed it up and reprocessed it/responded to it.

As a result of this particular quirk, I’m less likely to point out ‘bad writing’ right off the bat.  When I come across something ‘inconsistent’ or ‘out of character’ for a given character in a fictional work, my first instinct is to try and figure out what the writer is trying to tell me about the character.  Now, most of the time, my approach falls flat, because there are many inexperienced or rushed or frustrated writers in the world and when a character does something dumb or out of character it’s usually because the writer didn’t think things through, didn’t like the job, or is simply lazy.

That said, my tendency to try and read into inconsistencies isn’t entirely unfounded.  Creating character inconsistencies is a valid writing technique, and it can be very effective when properly deployed. This technique can be used a foreshadowing, a means of setting up backstory, or even a proverbial Chekhov's gun.  Character consistency and inconsistency is immensely important to character development, so any action that is ‘out of the ordinary’ for a character is a big deal.

Okay, now that I’ve put a bit of framework in place, let’s dig into Legend of Korra.  This is, after all, a show so full of character inconsistencies that it’s the only standard character trait.  We’re going to be focusing on a particularly inflammatory line from Season 1, Episode 1.

I’m going to provide a bit of critical analysis before digging into my perspective as a responder, because it’s important to point out bad writing in all its forms.

The Scene

Equalist: Are you tired of living under the tyranny of benders?  Then join the equalists!  For too long the bending elite of this city have forced non-benders to live as lower class citizens!  Join Amon, and together we will tear down the bending establishment!

Korra: What are you talking about?!  Bending is the coolest thing in the world!

Equalist: Oh yeah?  Let me guess, you’re a bender!

Korra: Yeah!  I am!

Equalist: And I bet you’d just love to knock me off this platform with some water bending, huh!

Korra: I’m seriously thinking about it!

Equalist: This is what’s wrong with the city!  Benders like this girl only use their power to oppress us!

Crowd: *General Outcry and Agreement*

Korra: What?!  I’m not oppressing anyone!  You’re-you’re oppressing yourselves!

Critical Analysis

When I look back on this scene, I can’t help but think that everyone should have realized that Legend of Korra would never really be able to measure up to Avatar: the Last Airbender and adjusted their expectations accordingly.  There are some very serious writing problems in this first episode and, for me, this scene captures them perfectly.  All of these problems stem from one incredibly important, but often ignored fact: this is the first episode.

First episodes are ‘introductory’ episodes.  They’re the ‘first chapter’ of a story and it’s important to set the status quo.  While it’s certainly possible to drop a group of characters into the midst of crisis in the first episode, it’s important that you establish character during the crisis.  Unless a writer is pulling some big, fancy flash-back sequence, it’s too soon to start including character inconsistency moments (unless you want to establish ‘inconsistency' as a core character trait, which is what LoK did).

This scene is a character inconsistency moment.  It is built up over the course of several previous scenes and comes to a head in this particular character interaction.  The sequence begins with Korra trying to buy food off a food vendor and being told off for not having money…

It continues the thread with Korra meeting the homeless man and being surprised by his poverty...

These two scenes both set a thematic tone and reveal important information about Korra’s character.

The thematic tone that’s been set by these first two interactions is ‘money and poverty in a city.’  The audience is watching as Korra stops, listens, and learns from the people she encounters.  Korra is surprised at what she encounters, revealing her ignorance of the greater world, but at the same time, she does not become combative with the people who are ‘educating’ her.  She accepts what she’s being told as truth and places her trust in the locals…

In light of the thematic setup and the characterization provided by the previous two scenes, I think it’s readily apparent that this scene makes no sense in the context of episode.  Korra was not confronting non-bender oppression in the scenes leading up to this, she was encountering economic realities.  This scene disrupts Korra’s characterization as someone who is capable of listening and growing an awareness of the problems of others.

Even Korra’s interjection in this scene, which opens her conversation with the equalist is completely out of left field.  The equalist is talking about benders oppressing non-benders.  Korra, however, ignores the discussion of oppression (which is surprising considering her temperament and approach to ‘solving problems’ in the very next scene) and argues that the act of bending is great and amazing.  This has absolutely nothing to do with the point that the equalist was making, which goes against everything that we had been shown about Korra’s character up until that point.

All the same, this scene would have been fine if the writers had actually done something with Korra’s reaction in the course of the series.  But there is no exploration or examination of Korra’s behavior in this instance.  They gave the audience Chekhov’s gun and then did nothing with it—that’s one of the biggest sin’s a writer can commit.  A good editor would have nixed this scene before it made it to production.

So, this is a scene that is thematically inconsistent and creates character inconsistencies and traits which are never resolved in the course of the series.  Why does this scene exist?

I think it all comes down to one line: ‘You’re oppressing yourselves!’

That line carries a huge amount of emotional and psychological baggage for anyone who has ever been part of a minority group and has been shouted down by someone else.  Many have been conditioned to react to that line negatively because their lives have been flooded with it and similar sentiments.  That line is loaded with ‘shock value’ and was probably included to provoke a reaction.

Its inclusion isn’t just bad writing, it’s a blatant attempt at making a ‘statement’ through a character.  And making a statement through a character without ‘follow-through’ (making sure that Chekhov’s gun goes off) is bad form.

Responder Analysis

But this scene can make sense in the context of the series.  However, making it make sense would involve Bryke actually writing a loving family and exploring the dynamics of that family.  I’m not convinced that Bryke knows how to do that.

I’m going to pull a little from personal experience here.

Now, I’ve seen ‘you’re oppressing yourselves’ tossed around online for ages, but I’ve only ever heard anyone say anything remotely close to it in real life once.  A friend made the comment after we left a lecture that discussed theories on civil liberties and the development of certain aspects of oppressive language in regards to a specific group.  We ended up talking about it and I was really surprised to learn that they had a close relative who was part of that ‘you’re oppressing yourselves’ group.

This relative was a family matriarch, had a lot of power within their community, and was a financially successful business person.  For my friend, the idea that someone who was like that might suffer any form of oppression seemed absolutely ridiculous.  How could one of the most influential and powerful people in my friend’s life possibly suffer any form of oppression when they commanded so much power and authority within their community?

Back to Korra.  Up until this particular scene, Korra blindly and blithely accepts what she’s told, because she doesn’t know much about Republic City.  The writers are showing her lack of knowledge.  If Korra accepts what she’s told when she has no knowledge on a topic, then why would she argue against the idea that non-benders were oppressed unless she felt that she knew a thing or two?

Now, I doubt that the White Lotus took the time to explain bender/non-bender relations to Korra (one of the many, many baffling holes in her education…), so that means that whatever understanding that Korra has about non-benders comes from personal experience.  That means that there must have been a strong, non-bender in Korra’s personal life who informed Korra’s understanding of the relationship between benders and non-benders.

The first and most obvious strong non-bender in Korra’s life is Pema.  The wife of Aang’s son, Tenzin, who has no fear of her husband and who, on occasion, bosses him around.

But Pema and Korra don’t really share much screen-time and they rarely share much time talking about anything (outside of ill-fated romance).  So, that means that the tough-as-nails non-bender might be a little closer to home.

Let’s talk about Senna, the Avatar’s mother who is never shown to have any bending ability in any existent season of Legend of Korra.  Tonraq is a powerful bender, and someone that Korra clearly respects and admires.  If Senna, his wife, were a non-bender and Korra spent the first five years of her life in a household where her non-bender mother actively argued with, bossed around, and was respected by a powerful and formidable water bender what conclusion would she naturally reach?

This is why I favor the theory that Senna is a non-bender.  Korra’s outburst is out of character for her, unless it’s a defensive reaction to having her understanding of a close, personal relationship with a non-bender disrupted.  It can be painful and difficult for a child, particularly a sheltered child, to be made to recognize the vulnerability of a parent or provider, especially when the child is put on ‘the side’ of the oppressor.

But Senna is not a non-bender.  This scene only serves to tell the audience that the lead character is an ignorant, unlikable brat.  And it really bothers me that this scene, which could have set up for some incredibly powerful mother/daughter moments and an exploration of family dynamics, was nothing more than a pointless dig at the audience…

Which why I’m ignoring Bryke’s canon and going with my own head canon where Senna is concerned.  So, tough non-bender Senna is my jam.

[equalmeasurefiction]

Birthday/Humorous Astrology Headcanons

Silly, dark-side astrology head-canons folks.  Nothing to take seriously here.

Some More Head-canons...

Amon Birthday: October Sign: Scorpio Best Traits: Charismatic and Capable Worst Trait: Control Freak Weakness: Chocolate Comments: Always just far enough away to avoid a restraining order... It hurts to leave lovers unfulfilled, but loves to show how in-control they are... Refuses to give up personal power for a few baubles... Modes: 3- Crime Lord, Corporate Boss, Messiah.  Loves being in-charge, morality may vary... Favorite Kind of Relationship: Long-term, but requires someone with immense reserves of physical and psychological stamina. Amon-Centric: Plays at hot-eyed celibacy as Amon, but sneaks out of the base at night sans-game-face to do shameless things with young, attractive equalists and anyone else he probably shouldn’t be messing around with.  If he refuses to *stoop* to certain levels *cough* Avatar *cough*, fantasy is always guilt-free in the moment with the bonus of an ashamed afterglow. He enjoys all vices as thoroughly as possible.  Alcohol, gambling, smoking, sugar... If it’s addictive and dangerous, he’s done it.  The more likely it is to destroy him/kill him the better, but he has had to scale back as the Revolution takes precedent.  He’s also getting older and all that risk is hard on him, but he tries not to think about that. That said, his self-denial benders are epic and give him just as much of a high as indulgence.  Because control is everything and being in control is better than anything.  Cheating death, shutting down addictions because he can, all the risks he takes are just a way of reminding himself/showing off how in control he really is... His worst enemy, romantically-speaking, is his own self-loathing.  Long-term relationships don’t last, because whenever he gets emotionally invested, he starts thinking about how much he doesn’t deserve them.  His best relationships are the ones where the other party died tragically, so he can mourn them as the love of his life, without ever facing the reality that he would have probably driven them off anyways for being ‘too good for him.’  And he always drives them off.  He will never leave them willingly. Because ‘feelings are weaknesses that one should never give into’ he doesn’t cheat.  He loves being tempted though.  But if he thinks someone is cheating on him (and the relationship has previously been established as exclusive) he will go through all their belongings and stalk them until he has irrefutable evidence... and then he destroys them.

Tarrlok Birthday: January Sign: Capricorn Best Traits: Charming and Gregarious Worst Trait: Vanity Weakness: Money/Power Comments: Hires the private investigator to check the other party’s finances and social standing... Will never pass up an opportunity to get nasty; does not see the point of teasing/denial... Being financially secure is very important... Modes: 2- Respectable / Not Respectable.  While they favor the outward appearance of being an upstanding and enviable member of society, deep down (just beneath the surface) they’re very naughty. Favorite Kind of Relationship: Long-term.  Love is nice, but marrying into a position of power is what this is all about... that or achieving power through their own ends, but marriage to someone established can help. Tarrlok-Centric: Appears respectable, acts respectable, but is secretly down for anything and everything and makes routine visits to the red-light district when he thinks no one is watching (Amon is always watching).  Tarrlok approaches romance and love the same way he approaches everything else... hard work, pragmatism, and a willingness to do whatever it takes to land himself in the best position possible. While love is nice, it doesn’t really factor into the equation.  Tarrlok wants someone safe, secure, suitable, and who will help achieve even more power and glory.  In order to increase his odds, he is engaged in at least one entanglement at any given time.  He is at heart a ‘career man’ who expects everyone, especially his partner(s) to know he is married to his career... that way they don’t suspect after-work visits to the red light district or drunken orgies in the capital building... Really, Tarrlok only engages in three types of relationships.  There are the ones he can be seen with, the ones he would prefer not to be seen with (scandals aren’t his cup of tea), and the ones he can’t be seen with, because he’d lose his job (conflicts of interest can be quite damning for a politician).  He moves from ‘keeper’ to ‘keeper,’ leaving the ‘undesirables’ behind as he continues his climb to the top. But he’s not really a player.  He’d be more than happy to settle down with the right wealthy, well-connected, debutante or international political figure (Ms. Avatar?) for the long haul.  Unfortunately no one seems to appreciate pragmatism or strategic alliances these days.  Once committed to a sound investment, he won’t cheat.  Too much risk for too much work and not enough gains...

Korra Birthday: December Sign: Sagittarius Best Traits: Generous and Affectionate Worst Trait: 0 Tact Weakness: Adrenaline-Addiction Comments: Lacks the patience, stealth, an attention-span, and the ability to pull off long-term planning... Withholds favors because they know it’s much more fun when they let go, even if the other party is becoming irritated... freeloads without guilt or mercy... Modes: 1, but on a sliding scale depending on the time of day- It ranges from sleeping (0%-adrenaline) to inciting an international incident (9,000+% adrenaline).  Always remember, the more action the better.  If their surroundings are not on-fire or in a state of chaos, they are not awake. Favorite Kind of Relationship: One-night stand.  Anything that lasts longer than a year can feel constraining... unless there’s constant travel involved or it’s long-distance or both. Korra-Centric: If Korra is a Sagittarius, the Aries is strong with her.  When she sees someone she wants, she goes after them, does not take no for an answer, and loves them until she’s won/has them.  Then she moves on to hunt the next attractive target who’s playing hard to get and competes for their attention.  Sure, the objects of her affection can *try* to fend her off, but that’s like trying to fend off tsunami--it is coming for you whether you like it or not and if you can’t get out of it’s way, it will have you. That said, she has few standards beyond the fact that they must be attractive and willing to join her in charging recklessly into a dangerous situation.  It’s all fast-cars, fireworks, and make-outs on a fast train that’s jumped the track over the edge of a cliff... while saving the world.  Korra always leaves her partners breathless, and not in a good way.  If they’re not panting from physical exhaustion, then they’re gasping desperately to keep themselves from going into shock from the immense danger she put them into. That said, she is capable of settling down (even explosions get boring after a while) and adores children (having baby-sat the air bender kids pretty regularly, she knows her way around little kids and is surprisingly responsible).  The trick is finding someone who can stand her awful, punnish jokes, irritating attempts at teasing and flirtation (if you can call the litany of awful pickup lines flirting...if and when she uses them, she might not even bother with innuendo or suggestion), or her brash, tactless overconfidence... But if she keeps her mouth shut and looks soulful and cute enough, inevitably some tall, sexy person with dark hair and a fire-nation complexion will wander over apparently...

Bonus- Korrasami: Asami seems like she’d be a mellow air sign or a loving water sign, but she revealed her true nature when she displayed her love of fast cars and her willingness to tie grown men to planes and use them to drop bombs on people.  She likes going fast, getting her hands dirty, and defying authority (she thinks it’s fun)-- all hallmarks of a fire sign.  She’s gasoline on the lit-flame of Korra’s wild-fire. If Asami is a Leo to Korra’s Sagittarius, then the biggest fights they’ll have will involve the lack of beauty accoutrements during their wild hikes around the world or Korra punching the police-officers in the face before Asami can explain who she is.  As long as Korra keeps telling Asami she’s the prettiest girl in the world and Asami compromises on the beauty regime for a little adventure, they’re good. If Asami and Korra share Sagittarius then every date will inevitably involve a drunken dare that lands them in peril/jail/the spirit world/the middle of  a war/handcuffed to a satomobile within spitting distance of an active volcano that’s about to go off... and loving every minute of it.  And if she is a Sagittarius, it means that Asami will secretly share Korra’s secret love of really, really bad jokes and puns... What I’m saying is that Tenzin may want to separate them before they burn down Republic City. Aries Asami + Sagittarius Korra is a tale of two pyro-maniac risk-addicts having the time of their lives in a perpetual war-zone of their own creation.  As long as Korra doesn’t destroy too many of Asami’s precious machines and as long as Asami doesn’t tell Korra what to do they will remain on the same side of the conflict. However, Asami has green eyes, which typically means ‘earth bender.’  Since earth benders are typically born in the springtime, it’s unlikely that she’d be an Aries (the first of the three ‘spring time signs’).  Besides, the Beifongs rule the Aries sign... I don’t think anyone wants to compete with them.

All astrology stuff is based on/paraphrased/pulled from the delightful book Darkside Zodiac in Love.  Would recommend this book and the original, Darkside Zodiac (both are by Stella Hyde) if you’re into astrology, or even if you just like to use it for character creation and development.  All comments are tongue and cheek and should not be taken too seriously.

>For the record, I was going to make Korra a Leo, but apparently she went from 17-18 during that 6 month stretch, making her either a Sagittarius or an Aries. And, if I recall the differences between the two signs correctly, one of the core ones is that Aries doesn’t forget a slight, they just burn out on being angry after a while.  Sagittarius gets really, really angry for a bit, howls about it and then gets distracted and forgets why they hated that person... but that’s dark side for you... Oh!  And she’s mouthy and tactless... another famous Sagittarius trait... says horrible things to people without thinking of their feelings... no filter... even though she does care...

Korra to Tenzin: “I’d be happy to find another air bending master, but you’re the only one.”

Remember that gem?

Also, running away is a classic Sag. move, Aries would have burned the compound down... Aries would just burn everything down... as opposed to Sagittarius who just likes lighting things on fire for fun... ...what I’m saying is that it’s really close on the Darkside...