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chriscdcase95 · 2 years ago

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“The Ancient World”: Draft Part one

Introductions: So, as I said in other posts, I’ve been revisiting some shelved and unwritten fics of mine for over a year. And one I liked revisiting the most was The Ancient World: A crossover adapting Godzilla into the world of ATLA, taking place a few years after the series.

While it’s unlikely I’ll get to writing the full story, with the numerous WIP’s and planned fics I’m working on, I have been writing segments and scenes for The Ancient World, that I’ll probably post on this blog.

I have also written two layouts for what the full story would include. Here’s ink to the updated version.

Anyways, I have been working on two sequences that would cover the first chapter. I’ll put the whole draft on AO3 but this post covers Godzilla and Ghidorah’s initial appearance and fight in the Water Tribes, as well as peoples initial reactions to them.

The other segment covers the Fire Nation cast (Zuko, Mai, Ty Lee and Azula), and their reactions to these creatures appearing. But that will likely be a separate post due to length issues.

And now for the draft itself; “Godzilla Comes Ashore”.

----

Aang paced back and forth within his quarters aboard the rescue ships, trying to collect his thoughts. The past few hours was a cycle of pacing, and trying to sit down and meditate.

Really, he just needed some alone time to mull things over. He didn't want his companions to worry. At least not as much as he worried. If anything, he hoped they'd take a breather themselves.

The day was simply put, a flustercuck.

----

Actually, it started weeks back; it was one of the first international industries formed by the United Republic Council; The "New Dawn Mining Firm", an operation that offered prosperity to the newly founded Republic City.

When a series of Islands were discovered off the coast of the three nations, initial expeditions showed these islands had no life or culture to speak of. So, it was fair game for the Council. Perhaps to build another city state or foraging territory.

At the initial discovery, Earth Benders among the got a (literal) feel of the place; in their words, they “are walking on either the biggest grave in the world...or the biggest trash pile.”

It's only when the foraging began, did they strike gold, so to speak.

Or more accurately they struck the remains of a city deep beneath the bedrock.

All it took was one look at the ruins, and it brought to mind these stories many heard but few seriously believed in.

Depending on who you ask, among historians or folklorists, it was sometimes believed there was a civilization that blanketed the world; a civilization that once held the power and advancements beyond that of this world.

“The Ancient World” it was called.

A time before spirits, before bending, before the existence of hybrid animals.

Aang personally never paid heed to such stories. Such a period would be a dark age. Though admittedly, you could chalk this up to his upbringing.

As far as Aang knew or was concerned, the world he lived in was so entwined, with the mystical and mundane being adjacent, such a period was too alien to him.

Aang wasn't alone in that sentiment.

Ask any historian at the time, and they'd tell you the Ancient World was more than likely a myth. If such an advanced society and age existed before the time of the Lion Turtles, there'd be more historical accounts.

Believers in the Ancient World would counter that the history of the Lion Turtle's era is also pretty obscured, to the point of being thought of as myth, that such a thing as wasn't out of the realm of possibility.

Of course, recent discoveries proved these stories true, and historians ended up second guessing what they knew to be true or myth.

And with this, the New Dawn Mining Firm struck something greater than gold; they unearthed the keys to civilization's newest advancements. The remains of ancient cities. Relics of a bygone era. And in their quest to bring prosperity to Republic City, they would seek out more.

Bit by bit, pieces of this old world were uncovered.

Though as of yet, the industries are still working to figure out what these items are, how they worked, and how they could be reverse engineered for their own prosperity. Thus far, they were able to wrap their minds around electricity and gas-powered devices.

If only they knew what else, they unearthed.

----

In the weeks that followed, there was still very little the current world learned about the ancient one. They were able to uncover several familiar languages from that period, which would be useful in translating other languages.

Though the more they found out, the more they kept hitting a speed bump.

There was one constant element in these myths; “The Final Wars” - a so-called “mythological” event which saw the destruction of the one world, which gave birth to the new.

Thing is, despite the Final Wars being common in Ancient World “myths”, there was still little known about the event. At most, they could only find cave paintings and tablets from centuries after the fact.

They'd often depict this giant beast. Reptilian in appearance.

Many believed was a sea dragon of sorts. And in each depiction, it would be wreaking havoc, burning cities and fighting other monsters. If the bits and pieces uncovered of this creature were any indication, it may as well be a spirit or god made flesh.

One of uncovered items was a broken tablet dating back at least ten thousand years.

Affixed to this tablet was a depiction of this creature standing in a burnt wasteland city, as other giant beasts bow to him.

Lion Turtles being among these creatures.

While the tablet was broken, what can be translated was “-the fury of the world (...) king of the monsters (...) The destroyer(...)a fire that burned the world(...)The fire will burn again.”

This brought grave concerns to some of the population. The more superstitious and spiritually inclined believed that these were a sign of the times.

To those who got a look at these paintings, one thing was clear; if this thing ended the Ancient World, and they themselves were on the verge of a new one, who's to say something like that can't happen again ?

And if something like that did still exist, what can be done to stop it ?

Could the world see the Final Wars anew ?

Unfortunately, they soon got their answer.

----

They were in the Water Tribes when it first happened.

It was a wedding celebration, and this friend of Katara and Sokka's, an older girl named Matanya was the lucky bride. Her fiancé, Igaluk, being a young commander of the Agna Qel'a' military, brought quite a number of visitors from Katara and Sokka's otherwise quaint little village.

While they haven't been as close to Matanya in a while, what with the two siblings finding the Avatar in an iceberg, but it was as good an excuse as any for Katara and Sokka to wind down, relax and reconnect.

Among the friends Sokka and Katara would invite for the occasion were Aang, Toph, and Suki.

Late in the evening before the wedding, Katara was going about explaining the wedding ceremonial traditions to Aang. She noticed the way Aang got flustered when she said when they get married.

Not if. When.

Katara found Aang's blush, and his stuttering and sputtering, frankly adorable.

“Well, if you're going to be like this at our wedding, it looks like you're gonna need a bit of practice.” She says with a teasing chuckle.

“Practice ?” Aang gulps.

“Practice makes perfect.” Katara winks.

She snuck him to a temple while everyone was busy. Hoping to give him a demonstration of how the groom greets his bride.

She'd have him wait at the altar, as Katara walks down the aisle. She takes Aang by the hands, and has him go over the traditional vows, and she goes over their own, coming just sort of a kiss.

“We can't do that, or we'd actually be married in the eyes of the tribes.” Katara says in a warning tone.

“W-well, we'll have a while to wait for that. I-I mean we don't want to upstage Matanya on her special day.” Aang says, trying but failing to put on a confident front.

Katara beams at him, before she chuckles again “Well, I wouldn't worry about it. We've got years before we worry about that.”

With that Katara and Aang kiss on the mouth on impulse...and then widen their eyes at the realization of what they just did!

“Th-that doesn't count. Right ?” Aang asks nervously.

“No! No one knows but us! There-There has to be witnesses...I think.” Katara insistently says, blushing up a storm.

With nothing else to save them from the awareness of the situation, the two turn to take their leave, but just as they reach the door, Sokka opens and steps in.

“There you are. Look, any other night I'd give you your space and all, but Gran Gran is in curfew mode.” Sokka says, looking back and forth between Aang and Katara's flustered faces “What, uh, what are you two up too ?”

“Counting tiles!” Aang says quickly.

“Looking for my necklace!” Katara says at the same time, before looking down and seeing her necklace is around her neck “Oh, there it is!”

Sokka chuckles and rolls his eyes “Anyways, Gran Gran says dinners about ready and Suki can't stall her forever..”

Katara nods, taking Aang by the hand as they follow Sokka back to Kanna's hut.

Besides the excitement for tomorrow's ceremony, the time Katara and Sokka have spent with their family in the Water Tribe has been few and far between, and they want to make the most of their time with them.

On the way there, they spotted Toph standing on the beach shore, right by the hut, staring out in the distance, even if she couldn't see anything.

“Hey, did you guys feel that too ?” Toph asks.

“I don't think so.” Aang says in a questioning tone “What is it ?”

They knew what she was talking about of course. How Toph always just knew when an Earthquake hit or was about to hit.

Thus far she demonstrated this ability as having the capacity of feeling potential earthquakes as far as 200 miles, which came in handy the year before when four quakes hit. Helped the evacuation effort tremendously.

This time Toph had a more confused, and curious expression on her face "I never felt one that big before."

“Do we need to evacuate ? Should I tell-” Katara starts to ask.

“N-no. I don't think it's a tsunami.” Toph says, in a rare instance of sounding uncertain “It's like something ripped its way out of the Earth and...I don't know. I don't think I should have felt it from here.”

It was rare seeing her this way. It was rare to see Toph uncertain over something, it's even rarer to see her...scared ?

Toph doesn't get scared easily. Aang and the gang can count the times they have seen her so much as nervous the past few years in a single hand.

“How bad is it ?” Aang asks.

“I-I don't know.” Toph says, still trying to wrap her mind around it “It should have been too far for me to feel. It's like it's on the far side of the globe.”

“Then how is it our problem ?” Sokka asks.

This earns a glare from Aang and Katara.

“What ?” Sokka says “All I'm saying is that if it's on the farthest side of the globe, then it's probably nothing we need to worry about. It's not like there's much out there anyways. Let alone anything we can do about it.”

Aang and Katara were about to argue but decided against it. At the time, the known world was the three nations for a reason. Whatever else was there was, at best, a relic of an extinct world. If there was life elsewhere, it would have been thousands of years ago.

Even so, it was enough for the others to accept Sokka's advice, and not worry too much about it.

Just before they took their leave, Katara could have sworn she felt something out in the distance. Not in the physical way Toph could feel things. It was more like she was feeling an emotion, like this empathetic link to something out there.

Was it fear, anger, annoyance ? There was certainly a little confusion. It was the sensation you felt when you suddenly awaken from a long, long nap, and suddenly had a mess to clean up.

There was certainly an air of frustration to it, and it all manifested as some imaginary voice in the back of Katara's head.

“He has returned.”

Katara shudders without even noticing it. She's not one who gets cold easily (“The coldest day in the Fire Nation ? That's our summer!” She once said when Mai once complained about an incredibly low draft.)

It didn't escape Toph's notice.

“I just heard that.” Toph says as she and Katara, referring to her shudder “You felt it too ?”

“What you mean ?”

“The rumbling. It's not just in the Earth, you know.”

“What ? You mean, like a tsunami ?”

“I don't think so.” Toph nods, with a shrug “But it like Sokka says, it's too far off for any of us to do anything about.”

Katara shakes her head, but says nothing.

What else can be said ? That apparently there's something in the water that's very angry ? Underwater earthquakes happen all the time, and tsunamis were rarely, if ever, a problem to the Water Tribes.

They reached Gran Gran's hut, just in time for dinner and to overhear Suki being entertained by stories of a Baby Sokka (much to the latter's increasing embarrassment).

That night was largely uneventful, though it was daybreak that things got exciting.

----

To make a long story short ? The wedding didn't happen.

To make a short story long ? The next morning, people were roused from sleep, not by the crack of dawn, but the lack of dawn.

At the time the sun should be rising past the sea, dark blue clouds of icy rain filled the sky.

The usual storm plans were in motion; non benders had to hunker down for the storm to pass, while the Water Benders attending for the groom, had to work to keep the rainfall under control, which as usual was a team effort.

This of course put Katara and Aang front and center for what was to come.

It was a stronger storm than usual. Many Water Benders were nearly taken up into the air, and of course Aang had to work fast to rescue them.

It must have taken the manpower of a hundred just to keep the rain fall clear, while the wind seemed to work against them. Almost as if it were toying with them.

It wasn't long before they saw it at last; emerging from the thick clouds, flying in the air above them was the apparent source of the storm.

To be simple...it was a dragon.

A large one at that. It looked a little different from the kind they were familiar with. Folklorists and anthropologists sometimes talked about differing types of dragons from different times/regions.

But what stood out the most, was that this beast had three heads.

The dragon was golden in color, and it flew at such a height that its wings blocked out the sunlight like an eclipse. When everyone got a good look at it, they saw it seemed to lack front legs, but as it reached the ground level, it seemed its wings were an extension of its forearms.

When it landed just off the snowy beach, adjacent to the village, it used its wings to “stand” on all fours. Everyone saw it had two tails with a spiked ball on their ends.

Each of its heads had a set of horns, but the middle head had three horns, where left and right had only two. The middle heads' horns were larger and stuck out more prominently than its “brothers”, resembling a crown.

As it descended, if the observers had to estimate its size, it had to be seven hundred feet tall, standing up. It's wingspan, they couldn't tell for sure.

Everyone was awestruck. The civilians either hid entirely or watched from a short distance. Its right and left heads were looking down at the people, while the middle head gave them a passing glance.

It was just staring out at the sea, as if it were waiting for something; as it did so, it hissed and snarled. It's already unsettling hissing noises echoed with the wind.

It is here the people noticed something on its right head - a nasty, nasty gash going down the side of its face, and neck. It appeared to be healing, but at a slow rate.

It's also here, people saw its right wing. The membrane was torn and tattered, skin hanging off, its dark blood making a sticky mess.

Aang felt himself clutches his right arm, cringing at the sight. It was like if one saw a deer shed the velvet from its antlers, and clutched their own head in response.

The question on Aang's mind, as well as Katara and presumably the other witnesses, was “What is this dragon ? And what could have done that to it ?”

The dragon spent a moment or two observing the spectators, its oddly expressive face(s) looking as if they were deciding something before they got the answer.

Rearing back, it spread its wings, making itself look bigger (probably eight to nine hundred feet in total). These specs of yellow light running up its torso and necks.

It's here everyone felt a rumble in the ground below them. Following the dragon’s line of sight, they say something disturbing the water. Like two or three blue whales swimming at once at a ramming speed.

On Katara's part, she felt something else as well. That invasive, empathetic feeling once manifesting as a combination of fear and anger, as well as a silent, but niggling voice in the back of her head.

“He is here...”

Right then and there, everyone present could hear it coming; a deep, rumbling, droning growl that reverbed the ground and ice beneath them.

As if on cue, the dragon let out its breath attack. Only it didn't breathe fire. It looked like...lightning ?

The blast hit the water, far off into the bay. And just below the surface, everyone saw a massive blue light draw closer and closer to the shoreline. It appeared to descend as if to dodge the dragon's attack.

Even so, the dragon reared its middle head back. Aang could have sworn he saw it smile, but before he could make anything of it, something else burst from the water.

The thing in the water let out a quick "RAEAEH!!" noise at it surfaced, climbing up onto the shore, with seafoam in its wake.

The rain and storm clouds still obscured it as it rose from the depths, bringing a small tide in its wake. Many water benders, Katara included, spread out the water before it reached the village, even if they were as taken aback by the newcomer as everyone else.

As it emerged, and the storm began to clear, the beast standing before them was clear as it was in the paintings.

What was about four seconds in real time, felt like time stopped, as its orange eyes glanced down at the people.

Standing at the estimated height of three hundred feet, the creature was bipedal, and quite bottom-heavy, with considerably shorter forelegs/arms, almost resembling a bear in its structure and build.

But its actual appearance was that of a crocodilian-like-lizard, with a small but protruding snout, a long crocodile-like tail and greyish green scales all over its body. And finally, a series of large dorsal spikes, resembling the leaves of a maple tree, going down its back, all the way down its tail.

It was the beast of forgotten myths, here to show the world just how “mythical” it actually was.

As soon as time seemed to stop, it started yet again, as the beast's eyes glared at the dragon. In that short amount of time, it became clear the beast had the dragon in its sights. It was also what inflicted that cringe-inducing injury on its right head and wing.

The air was once again, filled with that deep, rumbling, droning growl. It builds and builds, as the beast rears its head back, and lets out a roar that shakes the ground around it.

“R-R-R-R-E-E-E-E-E-E-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-N-N-N-NG!!!”

With that roar, dozens have already scattered.

A few dozen others, stand where they are, frozen in terror as the three headed dragon let's out a call of its own.

It was oddly a high-pitched chirping, and would bring to mind the singing of tree-frogs and crickets.

“BIDIBIDIBIDIBIDIBIDIBIDIBIDIBIDI!!”

All three heads let out a blast of lightning, striking the beast back towards the water. It staggers, letting out an annoyed bellow and snorting as it finds its footing.

As the beast staggers back up, it is hit by another lightning blast. It hobbles a little, before tripping off its ankles and into the sea behind it.

The impact causes a giant splash, creating waves too big and too fast for any of the water benders to counter it; the wave crashes down sucking in dozens of people into the tide, as the beast staggers back up.

“R-R-E-E-E-E-O-O-O-O-N-N-NG!!!”

The beast roars again as the dragon lunges forward; the dragon's two legs grab the water beast by the shoulders and slam it down onto the ice. A couple dozen people weren't lucky enough to get out of the way.

Below the two monsters, hundreds of people try to gather who they can; two young men try to help their elderly mother get to safety after their father was swept up by the waves; three children trip over each other as they try to find their mother; a little boy running back to pick up her stuffed polar bear dog.

Katara lost track of who was where, and how much time has passed in the pandemonium. She calls out for her brother, friends, and grandmother. She spots Aang, doing what he can to pick up anyone he can get too; he's got them on Appa's back, if he can't carry them himself by his glider.

Avatar or no, it was not a one-person job.

While the dragon was busy trying to maul the water beast, Aang spots Katara and lands towards her, with Appa.

“Get on!” he gestures to the Sky Bison, as fourteen people climb onto Appa.

“I can't find Sokka!” Katara protests.

“He's fine!” Aang insists “I got him out with the first few. Suki and Toph too! They're saf-!”

“R-R-E-E-E-E-E-O-O-O-O-N-N-N-G-G!!”

They are interrupted by another roar from the water beast. It's only then they notice how close his head was to them - though it was thirty or so feet away, given its size, it mattered not. They might as well be a footstep away from its perspective.

That's when they hear it again. That rumbling, reverbing sound. When they looked, they saw the creature's tail out of sight of the dragon. There was something blue on its tip.

Did this creature get some kind of substance on its tail ? Why is it glowing ?

It wasn't just the tip of the tail either. The bright blue light travels up the length of the tail, spikes glowing as the light travels up its back. That reverbing sound continues before it reaches all the way up.

BRRRRRRRRHHHHHH

From the water beast's mouth, a bright blue fiery light blasts out, hitting the dragon in the chest and blasting it hundreds of feet into the air.

The dragon lands with a crash, one that shatters hundreds of feet of ice around the spot it lands. Even then, the cracks expand and spread towards the village.

Aang and Katara look to each other with terrified and guilty expressions.

There was nothing they could do. Hundreds have already reached safety, a few stragglers are taking their chances, and are out of reach of Aang and Katara anyways.

With Aang wrapping an arm around Katara's waist, Katara wrapping her arms protectively around Aang's neck, Aang's glider takes to the sky.

They narrowly avoid the creature's tail and find themselves uncomfortably close to its head as it lets out a fearsome roar and steps towards the dragon.

Aang manages to reach Appa, dropping Katara off before turning around.

“What are you doing ?”

“I'm the Avatar.” Aang answers simply, preparing to make his leap “I have to do something.”

Aang!” Katara calls out, getting Aang to turn around “Be careful.”

Aang gives an uncertain smirk and nod, taking off on his glider as he flies his way to the reptilian monster.

The blue light is already running up the water beast's back, as the dragon weakly tries to stand back up.

Suddenly Aang lands on the beast's nose.

“Wait!”

Its orange eyes widen and narrow towards Aang. They had the expression of confusion and frustration.

“I don't know if you're a spirit or animal.” Aang says cautiously “But I know you can understand me, otherwise you wouldn't have stopped just now. You are putting these people in danger.”

The water beast breathes heavily, another blue flame boiling inside him, waiting to be unleashed. Aang knows he needs to use his words wisely.

“I don't know if it'll mean anything to you,” Aang starts "But I am the Avatar, and I nee-"

Before Aang can finish his sentence, the monster snorts and bellows, causing Aang to slip and yelp. As he does, the beast let's out another blast at the dragon.

BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRHHH

This one causes the dragon to collapse through the ice beneath it, completely submerging it in water.

Luckily for Aang, when he was around the creature's hips, he got control of his glider, just barely able to keep flight as he felt the shockwave of the blast. He gilded several dozen feet towards Appa, with Katara and two others catching him as Aang landed.

The monster lets out a bellowing roar, staring down at the ice. He pays the sky-bison and the people on it a glance and a snarl.

Katara felt it again. That silent voice in the back of her head.

“You small ones, how often do you have to learn this lesson ?”

The water beast peers down at the cracked ice below it. Something was moving beneath the thick but breaking ice beneath him. Snarling in preparation, it leers down and lets out another challenging roar.

“R-R-R-R-E-E-E-E-O-”

Out from beneath its feet, the ice gives way, and the monster rapidly sinks down into the sea beneath it.

Where the water beasts fell, the dragon emerged from the depths, reaching hundreds of feet into the air.

“BIDIBIDIBIDIBIDIBIDI”

It clicks at it takes flight a storm covering the water tribe The dragon quickly disappears into the storm, reaching an altitude no one can reach.

In that time, the survivors were able to reach a safe distance, and as soon as it came, the storm disappeared.

As it did so, Aang, Katara and the rest looked over the what's left of the village. Half the village was submerged beneath the water, and there was scarcely a spot of ice that wasn't filled with cracks, ready to give way at the drop of a feather.

Right as the onlookers could grasp what just happened, the monster from the sea emerges again, right up to its hips looking towards where the dragon was flying off too. Its frustration and annoyance very obvious.

“R-R-R-R-E-E-E-E-E-E-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-N-N-N-N-G-G-G!!!!”

With a snarl and a glare, it directs its attention at the onlookers, too terrified and exhausted to do much of anything.

The creature snarls at them, before it takes a few bellowing breathes, turns around and submerges itself into the sea.

It was only when the scene was cleared, did people notice the bodies floating into the water. By then people didn't want to look.

Many were silent, many were crying, many of them were in utter shock as fear gripped the collective survivors.

----

As everyone took a moment or two to get their barrings, Katara and Aang felt someone touch their shoulders. It was Sooka, Toph and Suki.

“Sokka!” Katara exclaims, wrapping her arms around her brother's neck in relief and fright. Sokka returns the gesture, while Aang receives a double hug from Toph and Suki.

“Are you alright ?” Aang asks.

“I don't know.” Toph says, her tone indicating she's just keeping it together "I...I think I- I can't even imagine."

“Is Gran Gran okay ?” Katara asks.

“Uh...Yeah.” Sokka scratches the back of his neck, uncomfortable thoughts going through his mind.

Needless to say, his statement the day before of it being “too far off to be our problem” was really kicking him in the stomach.

“I'm not sure if alright’s the word, but she's safe. We think she's in shock.” Suki explains.

Katara looks at Aang.

“I have to-”

“Go.” Aang nods “She needs you.”

With that, Katara made her way to find Kanna, along with Sokka and Suki, leaving Aang and Toph to assess the situation.

A collective fear and despair washed over the hundreds of survivors, all trying to get their barings. Aang and Toph were no exception.

“So...” Toph sighs, sounding a little dejected “What now ?”

Aang pinches the bridge of his nose. Think, think, think...

“Kyoshi Islands.” Aang says, settling on a solution “It should be two days from here, but we can-”

Toph stops Aang with a look.

“On foot or air ?”

Aang pauses, inhaling deeply.

Back when he first travelled to those islands, it did in fact take a few days. But back then it was him, Katara, Sokka, and Momo on the back of Appa. Now it was them, with a couple of hundred or so refugees.

“We can- we can get word out.” Aang nods, gesturing to the sky “I mean, something like that doesn't happen without word getting out!”

“Right. Right.” Toph nods, with a shudder “You know ? I normally don't feel this way, but-”

“It's okay to be scared.” Aang says, putting a reassuring hand on Toph's shoulder "Believe me. I'm terrified."

“I’m not scared!” Toph says, though the expression on her face and tone in her voice isn't doing her any favors.

This was a girl who has heard and felt the destruction of a whole village, and how many people dying. Somehow, this felt worse than actually seeing it.

“Just...I’m just shaken and nervous.” Toph looks ways take a deep breath.

Aang notices Toph trembles a little. Without a word, Aang wraps an arm around Toph's shoulder pulling her into a hug.

By then, Toph didn't care if she lost her cool.

----

The next course of action was soon decided.

Appa would take fourteen of the villages most sick, wounded and vulnerable to the Kyoshi Islands. Suki and Toph were among the first to go so as to get word out over what happened.

In the meantime, the rest had to endure the frigid outdoors and make camp for the night. Help wouldn't come until the next morning.

By then, out of the 400 people in the village before the monsters attacked, there were sixty three confirmed deaths.

It was a sleepless night, the strong and healthy among them barely keeping it together as they tended to the remaining sick and injured.

Some of the especially distressed where looking for some kind of escapism from the terror of the day. Aang would try to cope with what happened by meditation, and it soon started a meditation/prayer circle for people trying to find some inner peace.

Ultimately, it didn’t help much.

When the cavalry arrived from Kyoshi islands, it was learned that Toph was sent to Gailong to get word out to the Earth Kingdom.

So far were no other sightings of the dragon, but many have heard reports of a storm passing through in a beeline towards the Earth Kingdom.

The water beast on the other hand ?

By the time Suki reached her village, it turned out the monster made landfall at Koi Harbor. Earlier that evening in fact.

There was considerably less destruction left in its wake as it passed through the fishing village, but it destroyed six homes, passed through the forests and submerged itself into another nearby bay.

The docks were wrecked by the creatures' entrance, and the forests were wrecked by it's path.

With only six houses wrecked, the Kyoshi village was only in marginally better shape. But as it stood, it was the safest haven the refugees could reach.

----

Aboard one of ships, Aang was keeping to himself, trying and failing to meditate, and find the inner peace that now seemed so out of reach.

Despite his attempts at a brave front, not even Ozai had Aang on this much of an edge. In fact, Aang might have felt a greater anxiety from these monster's attacks than he did at the prospect of facing the Fire Lord.

One was just a man who had too much power than he should, the others were literal beasts - monsters, spirits, animals - Aang didn't know the right word for them.

But what little he knew of “Ancient World/Final Wars” legends...these beasts were signs of the times. Things that have ended the Ancient World and left little, if any, memory of it behind.

He tried taking walks around the deck. He tried to eat and drink his rations. He tried to sleep.

Nothing worked.

And so, in his attempts to relax, all he did was sit around in his quarters and wait out the journey. Everytime he looked out at the sea, he'd shudder, for all he could hear was the creature's roar echoing in his head.

And going about the ship, he had no doubt he was alone in that sentiment.

As Aang sat in his quarters, his attempts to quell his anxiety were once again interrupted when he heard his door knock.

“Come in, Katara.”

The door opens, with Katara stepping in and closing it behind her.

“How'd you know it was me ?”

“Cuz you check on me every half hour.” Aang looks up at her.

“Yeah, sorry.” Katara rubs her arm, looking away with a sheepish expression “I worry.”

“I know. I'm sorry.” Aang replies, getting up from the floor “So uh, how's Matanya holding up ?”

“Don't know.” Katara says, shaking her head “She and Igaluk are on another ship. Probably about the same as the rest of us.”

“Oh right,” Aang nods, looking to the side, before looking back at Katara “Look, sweetie. I'm sorry if you feel like I'm pushin-”

“No. No, that's okay.” Katara says, giving Aang a sad smile, before stepping towards him “I think we all need space to think.”

Aang gives a sad smile of his own sitting back onto the floor in his previous meditation position, with Katara sitting on her knees across from him.

“There's not much to think about...” Aang says “Everytime I try to find my center, it's always out of reach. I haven't been this rattled since-”

“I know,” Katara says, putting a hand on his shoulder, and pressing her forehead to his “I know.”

There's a pause between the two, before the couple wraps each other's arms around their necks, letting a few tears fall in their embrace.

“I'm sorry-” Aang says, letting out an airy sound that was like a mix between a sob and a sigh “I should have done-”

“Aang, there's nothing we could do-” Katara says, wiping her eyes.

“Those people are dea...” Aang can't bring himself to finish the words “That's on me! Just like-”

“No.” Katara says plainly, “Aang, we can't hold ourselves responsible for what's beyond our control. That...thing ? That was beyond any control!”

Aang nods, taking this in.

“I should have been able to do more.” Aang says, stepping out from their hug, to stand up and make his way to the window “If it had been an animal or a spirit, I could have maybe tried to reas-”

“I don't think it matters if it was an animal or spirit.” Katara says, getting up from the floor. She steps behind Aang, and wraps her arms around his waist, resting her chin on his shoulder. “It was a monster.”

Katara and Aang exhale, looking out the window and over the vast and dark sea.

Together, they thought back to those plaques that were uncovered. The images of the water beast drawn by a bygone civilization.

It was just like those plaques uncovered said; his thing was a destroyer, the fire that burned the world. The fire that will burn again.

And above all else-

“The King of the Monsters.” Katara says under her breath.

----

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potteresque-ire · 4 years ago

Note

Hi I posted an ask regarding your view point on GGDD's safety by people shipping them openly by bus designs, digital hoardings in their country and various other ways. I am not sure if you have already replied because I can't seem to find it. If not, please notify in case you would be interested in posting, there is no pressure or complaints if the answer is not affirmative. Also, I am hoping to read your piece on current issue DD is facing in relation to Nike. I am sure a lot of people enjoy your straight, detailed and analytical thought process and information presentation. A lot of people especially ifans needs to understand the perspective and position an actor or any national level influencer/celebrity is in when they are a citizen of totalitarian regime.

I would love to read, if you decide to write.

Thank you for your blog. It is highly appreciated and welcomed.

Hello Anon! I sincerely apologise ~ my ask box has been very full, and I answer based on time availability (which isn’t much) and “urgency” of the matter (for example, the recent post on Dangai/WoH skipped the line because it’s current). My whim too, occasionally and admittedly; sometimes I’d like to take a breather and talk about something a little more fannish and fun (like window cleaning robots!) Above all, I prefer giving delayed but responsible, or even no answers over irresponsible ones, given some of the subject matter I touch upon. I’ll ... probably have to write up an ask box policy at some point.

Now, my thoughts about Dd’s current situation ... or maybe, my thoughts about the things around it ...

I should explain where my highly disorganised thoughts this time come from first. I’m a Hong Konger by birth, and I grew up at a time when it was still conventional for Hong Kongers to refer themselves as Chinese, following the tradition of referring to the (believed) origin of one’s paternal family as our own origin. I’ve never, however, sworn allegiance to the Chinese government; the two citizenships I’ve ever held are 1) United Kingdom (Hong Kong was still a British crown colony when I was there), and 2) United States.

The distinction between China, the country, and Chinese government, as the country’s rulership, has therefore always been clear to me. You can love, feel a bond with the country, its people and culture and its 5,000 year old history, without having feeling anything with its 71 years-young government with foreign (soviet) roots. To quote Hamilton: Oceans rise, empires fall, and just the central plains of China alone went through a total of 13 recorded dynasties, during which its border waxed and waned, often splitting what is now Chinese territory into multiple countries under different rulership that sometimes split along ethnic lines—China, in that sense, isn’t even historically a country as we define one today; it’s a piece of land in East Asia where different countries have taken over, risen and fallen. And the major ethnic group, Han, which also includes the vast majority of the current political elite, wasn’t always in control. The Yuan dynasty (1271–1368) was famously built by Mongolians; the Qing dynasty (1636–1912), Manchurians. Beijing, the current capital of China, began its illustrious history as The Capital City for the non-Han based, north-of-central-plain dynasties of Liao and Jin. Liao people were believed to be either Mongolic or Tungusic. Jin people were Tungusic, and would eventually become Manchurians. Xinjiang (新疆), meanwhile, was only under the influence of the ancient Chinese empires sporadically, and its formal conquest / incorporation by a Chinese dynasty didn’t happen until ~ 1760, and by the (Manchurian) Qing dynasty. Its late incorporation is also reflected in its name that means, literally, “New Territory”.

What does this all mean? It means: 1) Loving China =/= loving the Chinese Communist Party; 2) Chinese culture =/= Han culture; especially the Han culture infused with “Core Socialist Values” as defined by the Chinese Communist Party; 3) X dynasty’s territory (where X = one of the ancient Chinese dynasties) =/= What has to be People Republic of China’s territory.

And by writing down these three =/=, which I’d argue are simply conclusions from historical facts and logic, I’ve committed an act of subversion in the eyes of the current Chinese government. Remove the “/” in “=/=“, and you’ve got three of the most important talking points of Chinese propaganda.

The sacred, un-violatable rules the Chinese government tells its people.

Why do I mention them? Because the scrutiny, the attack on Dd read familiar to me, and is probably familiar too to all those who’ve kept even a brief eye on Hong Kong and Taiwanese entertainers who work in China. When a topic that violates one of these propaganda points makes news (for example, the HK protest, Hong Kong/Taiwan Independence), entertainers from Hong Kong / Taiwan—anyone who’ve achieved name recognition—are often placed under immediate scrutiny by Chinese netizens to see whether and when they’ll confirm their loyalty towards the Chinese government. The argument is that only those who display absolute loyalty to the Chinese government deserves to earn China’s money, and the main motivation behind this scrutiny, in this case, is mistrust: Hong Kong, after all, is crawling with British loyalists and rioters according to Chinese propaganda, with separatists who’re conspiring with foreign governments to overthrow the Chinese government; the democratic island nation of Taiwan, meanwhile, is supposedly a rogue child who has escaped its mother (China) ’s arms for the past 70+ years—the child who, by the way, shall be brought to their knees (along with into their mother’s arms) by military intervention. Both places, in other words, are serial violators of =/= 1) and 3), and not to be trusted. If their entertainers fail to affirm their loyalty towards the Chinese government, or if the timing of their patriotic display is perceived as off, vicious accusations—similar to those Dd has endured—will fly, and calls for boycott begin.

Here’s a related observation, while I’m at it ... no one in c-ent is really allowed to keep their political views quiet, even if they’re not particularly well-known. No one can say, politics isn’t for me, it’s too ugly/too complicated/doesn’t fit my image and shove it under the proverbial carpet. Under an authoritarian government, control is exerted via politics, via propaganda that seeps into day-to-day language. It’s an oil slick that taints and swims in even the smallest crevice of life—there’s no where to hide.

And Dd is far more famous than almost all of these HK and Taiwan based entertainers. 表態 — a public announcement of his stance — is the only option left for him when he becomes the centre of a sensitive political issue such as this one. And there’s really only one stance he can take.

In that sense, what happened to Dd isn’t something I’m too worried about—this kind of attack under the guise of a “loyalty check” isn’t new; and the motivation behind the scrutiny of Dd is the safer to-take-down-his-career rather than political mistrust. I believe this storm shall pass soon, as long as his team doesn’t make an unexpected, big mistake. His non-fan fellow country people will probably view him with a more positive light as well: he walked the walk and did what he believed is patriotic — breaking a contract like this is no lip service when in China, performative patriotism is often lip service — reportedly even among the top Chinese Communist Party officials.

If I must find more defence for his stance ... please forgive me, Anon, but I don’t have much more to say than what I said last night, what I said before about China’s access to information—

—because, admittedly, following, talking about this incident is difficult for the Hong Konger in me, even if I’ve expected this kind of incidents from the moment I joined this fandom, even if I’ve expected, as I’ve learned from RL experience, that most people I adore in China will at some point support causes that I deeply disagree with. The online patriotic rally by c-motors and c-turtles under the associated Weibo tag, while impressive and good for Dd, is nonetheless heartbreaking/frightening for me to watch. Why? Because I know this can easily turn into a call to persecute all Hong Kongers involved in the democracy movements sometime in the future. Because I know the rally will probably be as impressive if this has been a call to persecute all Hong Kongers involved in the democracy movements. Frankly, I stopped thinking about Nike as I scrolled through the posts — I was thinking about the now impossibly wide gulf that separates most Chinese and a Hong Konger like myself; I was thinking about why a Gg / Dd performance can trend on Twitter in 10+ countries all over the world but makes almost no noise in Hong Kong or Taiwan, places that should’ve most easily fallen in love with Gg / Dd with their closeness in language and customs.

As it turns out, the closeness has only driven HK and Taiwan away; the closeness only brings them more insight of the beast—the government that looms over, cast a long shadow over everything that lives under it, including Gg and Dd.

I was reminded of the fact that many young Hong Kongers probably see me as a traitor just for being a turtle — young Hong Kongers who are n>1 generation immigrants from China, who never spend years reconciling the conflicting viewpoints, the even more conflicting emotions when it comes to this ... almost irreconcilable difference now in political beliefs north and south of the China-HK border. Unlike the older generations who often have immigrants/refugees from China for immediate, un-severable family, who often don’t have the option to walk away from the conflicts, to simply point to the other side and call it evil.

And here are my even-more-conflicting emotions:

While, over the years, I’ve learned to harbour no ill feelings to the vast majority of supporters of pro-CCP causes—I reserve blame for those who conceal the truth, who’re involved in its policy making, or people who live outside the Firewall and should know better (such as every HK entertainer who’ve expressed support)—I’ve also learned, over the same years, to be fully, painfully aware that every endorsement is still an endorsement for the regime to carry on its ways, and the damage is real, is significant even if the endorsers may not know about the true nature of their endorsements.

A simple thought experiment: the sheer size of China’s population means it can easily control the narrative on English-speaking social media. The Chinese government already has a history of mobilising its people to scale the Great Firewall and spread its propaganda on, for example, Twitter. It has also mobilised fan circles for propaganda purpose. Again, as a thought experiment *only* (ie, SJD!), imagine the Chinese government mobilising Dd’s Weibo supertopic fans to spread misinformation about Xinjiang.

Dd’s supertopic has 5+ million members—all savvy social media users and many skilled in the art of comment control (a collective effort, performed by fans to bury critiques/dissent on message boards); the total number of Uyghurs in Xinjiang is ~12 million, but their communications are heavily scrutinised and they can’t really talk. Just for the sake of argument, we’ll add the ~ 70% pro-democracy HK population to Uyghur’s side: that’s another 5 million, but most of them aren’t good at raging a battle on social media.

Which side will control the narrative in the end?

And so: I understand why Dd’s statement is what it is. I don’t fault him for making it. Still, I can’t in good conscience say to anyone, myself included, that the statement is a personal opinion and doesn’t matter. It matters a lot. His announcement is another stab to the Uyghurs, and the knife is sharp because of Dd’s social influence.

(Today, I saw Dd’s name for the first time in a Hong Kong pro-democracy online news site.)

The statement carried this sentence:

國家尊嚴不容侵犯，堅決維護祖國利益 The dignity of the country is not to be violated; the interest of our motherland is to be resolutely defended. Firstly: it’s character-for-character propaganda language. Secondly: even if we do not consider the labor camps, this is the condition in Xinjiang’s city of Urumqi. Where’s the dignity of the people who’re living there and who’s preventing that from being violated? The interest of the motherland—what kind of motherland answers an allegation of human rights violation with “interest” (利=profit, advantage; 益=benefit)? What kind of motherland has “protects its interest” being synonymous with surveillance and abuse of its own people?

I have a motherland, but it’s not the one in this narrative.

The issues of Xinjiang and the Uyghurs have also become even closer to Hong Kongers since 2019, when the fates of Hong Kongers and the Uyghurs became intricately tied—as dual examples of Chinese government’s human rights violations and indeed, these two populations who previously had very little in common have shown solidarity with each other against all odds. Their connection being this one simple, awful fact: both having what they value most stripped away by the same government—the traditions, religion and culture for the Uyghurs, the promised freedoms and hopes for democracy for Hong Kongers. As an online meme goes: “Today’s Xinjiang; Tomorrow’s Hong Kong” — expressing the fear that Hong Kongers may soon be subjected to the same surveillance as the Uyghurs today, for the same reason of having put up a fight against who they saw as their oppressors (this article offers an objective summary of what led to the 2009 clash between the Uyghurs and the Chinese government, which precipitated the former’s treatment as will-be terrorists today)(Note the role the US played in this.).

As such, I cannot look away from Xinjiang. As such, I cannot look at our two beautiful stars, Gg and Dd, without also seeing the flag with its blood red looming behind with its own five stars—the biggest of them symbolising the Chinese Communist Party.

How do I reconcile all the feelings? As I said, it’s a constant work-in-progress, possibly a lifelong one. Re: Gg and Dd, that’s what I tell myself at the moment: that my being an i-turtle shall not sway my view or silence me on any sociopolitical issues, that my being a fan of anything, anyone shall not mean any other human life is suddenly worth less to me, or its suffering, something I shall suddenly look away from. The moment this becomes true—that I find myself depreciating human lives, or ignoring the pain of others for the sake of my fannish pursuits—that’s when I must leave my fan identity until I find my discipline (I do understand the lure of a happy fandom bubble, and I’m far from immune to it). I’m a person before I’m a fan.

These are the rules of my world.

我的世界不退讓。

#pie answers #pie metas #yizhan #bjyx

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neptunesdaughtr · 3 years ago

Text

Rediscovering Mamajuana, the Legendary Drink of the Dominican Republic

Caribbean spiced rums aren’t particularly exotic — there’s hardly a bar in America where you can’t order a “Captain and Coke,” for example. But there’s one unique variety of Caribbean spiced rum that you may not have heard of, even though its origins date back more than 800 years: Mamajuana.

As originally made by the native Taino people, mamajuana (or Mama Juana) was prepared as a tea with a mix of herbs, tree bark, and — if legends hold true, the private parts of a turtle.

The latter is important because all through its long history, mamajuana has been touted as an aphrodisiac (its local nickname is ”the baby maker”) as well as for its medicinal qualities, such as improved digestion and blood circulation.

The recipe for mamajuana endured even long after the Taino disappeared from the Caribbean, decimated first by the rival Arawaks and then enslavement and disease brought by Europeans. The latter added spirits and red wine to the recipe, and gave the concoction its modern name (which comes from a nickname for the type of squat, wicker-covered bottle the drink was traditionally stored in).

Today, mamajuana is considered the national drink of the Dominican Republic, although until recently you were more likely to find it served at a local bar than at a Caribbean beach resort.

Mamajuana also has endured as a variety of the “bush rum” found throughout the Caribbean, especially on islands with a strong Latin influence.

For example, on St. Croix, which has strong cultural connections to Puerto Rico, tourists may flock to the Mount Pellier Domino Club to feed cheap beer to the resident pigs, but savvier visitors know the superior attraction is sipping owner Norma George’s homemade mamajuana.

Never made exactly the same way twice, mamajuana retains its air of mystery, but in recent years it also has begun to show up on liquor store shelves, with somewhat more refined versions produced under brands like Candela and Kalembu.

Candela mamajuana, available in the Dominican Republic as well as more than a half-dozen U.S. states, is marketed as a premium product: a 750-mi bottle sells for $25-$35.

Alejandro Russo, Candela’s founder and CEO, says the spirit starts with aged Dominican rum distilled directly from sugar cane juice. Spices and organic honey are added next, and the blend is then aged again in American white oak barrels.

The complete ingredient list for Candela (the name alludes to the Spanish idiom for “sexy” or “too hot to handle”) is a secret — but rest assured, turtle is not an ingredient in the mix.

Also missing is the red wine traditionally used in mamajuana, but Candela does include the main traditional herbs used by the Tainos, including Bohuco Pega Palo, Clavo Dulce, Anamú, Palo Brazil, and Maguey leaves

“Everything is as authentic and natural as you can find,” Russo said.

Mamajuana can be sipped neat, on the rocks, or used in cocktails. Different drinkers will experience different flavor notes, but I found Candela’s mamajuana to have a taste reminiscent of root beer or birch beer, and — bottled at 60 proof — a smooth finish.

Resort bartenders in the Dominican Republic have used mamajuana in place of rum to make mojitos, Pina coladas, and daiquiris, for example, and the Cuprum Miami bar at South Beach’s Beach Plaza Hotel uses Candela as the base for a variation of the Negroni cocktail.

Russo himself prefers a mamajuana Old Fashioned.

“Even though people in the Dominican Republic often drink it for its medicinal properties, we focus on its mixology aspects,” he said

Like a lot of people, Russo — a native of Chile, not the Dominican Republic — first encountered mamajuana on vacation.

“I was at the Bavaro Palace in Punta Cana and everyone was drinking this stuff,” he remembered. “I met a good group of friends at the pool bar and it turned out to be a wild night. I went to the bartender the next day and asked him, ‘What was that?’ And he flexed his arm and told me, ‘This is ‘Dominican Viagra.’”

Hooked, Russo searched in vain for mamajuana to take home from his trip, “but I could only find it in DIY form” — bottles filled with herbs but requiring buyers to add their own spirits, wine, and sweetener. Despite having no background in the spirits business, he left determined to bring his new, favorite drink to a wider audience.

“I loved the taste, how it made me feel, and it is very cool culturally,” said Russo. “Mamajuana is to the Dominican Republic what tequila is to Mexico. Latin people have a certain ‘spice,’ and Candela really embodies Latin culture.”

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avatar-news · 4 years ago

Photo

The Fire Nation Awaits 🌺 An in-depth look at the ever-elusive islands in the era of Korra and when we will finally pay them a visit

[Artwork by Avatar News; not official.]

Note: This article was published before the official announcement of Avatar Studios at the Paramount+ investor day.

“Water. Earth. Fire. Air. Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked.” We’ve all heard those words a million times. The four elements, and the power to control them bestowed by four subspecies of giant lion-turtles, are at the very heart of the world of Avatar. The balance between them was once upon a time broken by one of the four, the Fire Nation, forming the main conflict of Avatar: The Last Airbender. For much of Aang and the Gaang’s quest at the close of the Hundred Year War, the Fire Nation was a forbidden, far-away location, until the curtain was finally drawn back in the aptly-named Book Three: Fire when our heroes entered the inferno, undercover behind enemy lines. A dramatic tropical destination! New outfits! Culture shock! Needless to say, it was a big deal.

→ 🌺 The big reveal of the Fire Nation in Book Three: Fire had its own marketing push, matching public anticipation.

When the Hundred Year War ended, the newly-instated Fire Lord Zuko dedicated his life to righting the wrongs of his forefathers and working with Avatar Aang to bring the Fire Nation back into the fold under peace. By the time Aang’s successor debuted as the next Avatar in the titular The Legend of Korra, Zuko had abdicated the five-pointed crown and his daughter, Fire Lord Izumi, took the stage leading a reformed, rebalanced Fire Nation.

There was no more war, no more enemy lines, yet the Fire Nation became more distant and mysterious than ever before.

Korra’s close encounters with the land of fire

To this day, Korra has never visited the Fire Nation, nor has it been seen at all, nor do we know anything about it in her era. In fact, practically the only thing we do know is that its leader is a noninterventionist, which conveniently gets it out of the way of making an appearance in Korra’s journey as the Avatar so far.

The closest we have come to seeing the Fire Nation in The Legend of Korra was in Book Two: Spirits, Chapter Five: Peacekeepers. In the midst of the Water Tribe Civil War, Korra sets out across the sea to get help from the royal family, however, she is intercepted by a dark spirit and never makes it to her destination. In the next episode, she washes up on a secret island home to the Bhanti sages, which probably technically counts as Fire Nation territory, but as we know from The Shadow of Kyoshi (more on that later), this faction predates the Four Nations themselves so it doesn’t really count.

→ 🌺 Korra washes up on the beach of Bhanti Island in Book Two: Spirits, Chapter Six: The Sting.

No, as cool as that location and the events of the Beginnings two-parter that happened there were, it wasn’t the main draw of seeing the Fire Nation that we’re still waiting for: seeing how the Fire Nation, which was already industrializing in Aang’s time, changed over the decades, compared to places like Republic City and Ba Sing Se; meeting new characters; visiting new and familiar locations; worldbuilding both new and expanding on what we already learned.

After this aborted tease in Book Two, we never come close to the island country again (at least not with this Avatar and in her era; yes I’m leading up to something...). Instead, the focus turns strongly to the Earth Kingdom in the third and fourth Books, and beyond.

Keep in mind that The Legend of Korra aired for about two-and-a-half years total from 2012 to 2014. Since then, the story has continued in comics. The comics era has lasted from 2015 to present-- seven years to the animated series�� two. In that time, there have only been two comic trilogies due to various production troubles, and neither have touched the Fire Nation. Instead, they directly continue the Earth Kingdom-focused threads started in Books Three and Four of Korra, both originally airing in 2014. Or, in perspective: we had a focus on Republic City in 2012, the Water Tribes in 2013, and the Earth Kingdom from 2014-2021.

Will we finally see the Fire Nation in the next graphic novel trilogy?

This question comes to mind every time new Korra content is supposed to roll around, and the powers that be know it-- it’s a pretty obvious gap in the world of Avatar right now. This franchise is iconically built around four elements and the Four Nations based on them, so one of them being MIA is quite glaring, and for that reason everyone is understandably always asking about it.

The most concrete confirmation we’ve gotten was this AMA answer from franchise co-creator Michael Dante DiMartino in 2016, two years after the show ended and a year before the first graphic novels did come out:

“Yes, hopefully in the [Korra] comics, we’ll have a chance to go to the Fire Nation and see how it has changed since A:TLA.”

Since then, as previously discussed, two comic trilogies have come and gone, obviously not getting closer to the Fire Nation-- and I would actually argue entrenching themselves further away from it.

I want to make it clear that I’m against fan entitlement. Creatives telling the tales they want to in service of the story and the artform is how the industry should run. I’m just hoping to offer some perspective on how we got to where we are almost a decade into the era of Korra and the metatextual pacing of the franchise itself.

Either way, the next Korra comic trilogy has been official confirmed by the editor for Avatar at Dark Horse Comics in this informal statement on Twitter:

We’re not ready to announce any details yet, but we are working on the next trilogy. I really appreciate your patience and hope it’s worth the wait! ✨

There’s currently some kind of holdup for which we really have zero context or information, and we of course have no idea what this next trilogy will be about. (I do speculate a bit on what it could be a few paragraphs down.)

But, like what turned out to be Ruins of the Empire before it, I faithfully made a mockup graphic for my post announcing the confirmation of the next The Legend of Korra graphic novel trilogy. And like before, I chose to completely speculatively and blindly make it Fire Nation-y, as if the next comic could/would(/should?) feature it. This is mainly because I feel like that’s what most people’s eyes would be caught by and thus result in the most successful post (hey, at least I’m honest), but also because it’s just fun.

Here are both images, from 2018 and 2020 respectively:

→ 🌺 Speculative edits I made for my posts on the announcement of previous and upcoming Korra comics before we knew anything about them.

In both cases, the response was huge, and people were super excited about the prospect of Fire Nation content just from my quick speculative mockups. I am of course hoping that the new artwork I made of the Krew for this post will have a similar effect (it’s the first time I just straight-up drew it instead of editing existing images) but again it’s really mostly just for fun.

Anyway, until the next trilogy is properly revealed, we’ll just have to wait and see.

However, that’s not the only place this could happen.

Are they saving the Fire Nation for an animated movie?

With Avatar’s HUGE success on Netflix last year, interest in the franchise rocketed to an all-time high. The streaming wars have begun, and Avatar’s owner and its parent company, Nickelodeon and ViacomCBS, have finally started to notice.

ViacomCBS is launching Paramount+ on March 4th, a relaunch of its existing streaming service CBS All Access. Paramount+ is meant to be a big expansion and refocus to compete with the big hitters: Disney+, HBO Max, and, yes, Netflix. (There’s quite an entanglement there, with Netflix being the home of Avatar’s big year and the upcoming live-action series.)

One of the keys to a successful streamer today is high-profile originals to drive new subscribers. ViacomCBS knows this and they know Avatar has just become among the highest profiles a property can have, breaking records and going toe-to-toe with other big-hitting sci-fi/fantasy/genre franchises. This knowledge goes right to the top of the food chain: the CEO of ViacomCBS mentioned Avatar by name when discussing potential originals for Paramount+.

I have previously discussed how The Search relates to this. The Search was the second ATLA comic trilogy, focused on the search for Zuko’s mother in the thick of the Fire Nation, and if you didn’t know, it was originally pitched by Bryke as an animated movie after the original series ended.

I just want to be clear that what I’m discussing here is purely speculative, but this is the only other piece of the Avatar franchise that we know was optioned for animation besides the shows themselves. It’s possible they would be interested in going back to this idea as a Paramount+ original (and it would certainly be popular among audiences), but it is of course set during the era of Aang and thus covers both a time period we’ve already seen, and also by nature of already being released as comics, events we’ve already seen too.

However, the whole point of this article is that there is one major, huge thing we haven’t seen yet, with massive anticipation building for a decade behind it: the Fire Nation in the era of Korra. So, again, this is just speculation, but it’s also possible that they could return to the very smallest seed of the original idea for a The Search movie, and do a Fire Nation-focused Korra movie now.

→ 🌺 ATLA’s Fire Nation-focused The Search was originally pitched as an animated movie.

You can skip this next part if you don’t want to see me embarrassingly promote my fan idea 😆 but this is where the artwork I made for this article comes into play. The general idea for it, and the reason I tried to replicate the show’s style as much as possible, is that it’s what a Fire Nation-focused movie could maybe look like. Something as standalone and unrelated to Earth Kingdom drama as possible, with fresh new looks for the Krew to get people excited for something fresh and new! I really feel like the Avatar franchise has so much potential for expanded content like this, that’s why I have high hopes that Paramount+ will make the most out of it! You can see the individual characters’ artwork in larger size here. Ok I’m done back to business.

If the idea of a movie seems too impossible to you, we can also take a deeper look at Bryke’s involvement with upcoming comics instead.

After Korra ended, they officially each went their separate ways. They vaguely consulted on Avatar stuff, and Mike of course wrote the Korra comics, but Bryan was planning on writing and drawing his own original non-Avatar comic series and Mike was releasing his own non-Avatar novels. This all appears to have come to a stop when they signed on to showrun the live-action retelling of ATLA at Netflix, officially reuniting the partnership and committing to Avatar again in a big way. Of course, they ended up leaving that project over creative differences, but it did result in a big, lasting change: this time they remained official creative partners and have indicated they’re still working on Avatar now, together. This is a far cry from the official breakup after Korra, so it begs the question what exactly they’re working on. I of course have my fanciful predictions of a sprawling expansion of the Avatar franchise at Paramount+, but what if it’s actually a combination of the ingredients from before the live-action series...

More speculation, but what if the reason for all the mystery behind the next Korra comics is because they will be made by Bryke, with the two of them co-writing and Bryan doing the art for the first time? If that’s the case, they could want to make them a bigger deal than the other Avatar comics have been so far, and maybe that’s why it’s taking so long to iron everything out, have a more significant story, have more of a marketing push, etc. If they’ve been saving the Fire Nation for something big, this could be it.

I personally think this is less likely than a show or movies or something, but it is possible. Anything is possible right now since we know so little about the large-scale direction of the franchise moving forward, just that it’s gonna get big.

⛰️🌋 The Fire Nation in the era of Avatar Kyoshi

We’re not done! Despite everything I’ve written here, believe it or not, the Fire Nation was actually the star of the show in the last year.

With the debut of the Avatar franchise’s first original novels, Kyoshi made a huge splash (in a way only she can). If you haven’t read them yet, you NEED to-- they’re some of the best Avatar content EVER. The Rise of Kyoshi hit shelves in 2019 and The Shadow of Kyoshi followed in 2020. The latter is of particular interest here, because it was almost entirely set in the Fire Nation and featured practically everything and anything you could want from a visit to elusive islands. Though obviously set in a historical period some four hundred years before Aang’s time, Kyoshi’s sojourn in the Fire Nation gave us a huge amount of new information, a depth and breadth of worldbuilding, culture, and character we’ve never really seen in Avatar before. It truly makes the most of the literary medium, so hats off to author F. C. Yee for the passion and effort he put in.

In The Shadow of Kyoshi, we learn about the era of the previous fire Avatar before Roku, Avatar Szeto. Through Kyoshi and her own Team Avatar, we learn about the different clans and islands of the Fire Nation, as they experience the fraught early reign of Fire Lord Zoryu and the conflict between the Keohso and Saowon clans, culminating in the Camellia-Peony War. We get a multitude of fleshed-out perspectives from the upper crust to the flea-bitten underworld, matching the heights of the worldbuilding quality of Republic City. It’s such cool, intricate stuff, and really shows Avatar’s potential (and that’s all just the worldbuilding-- the character work is also top-notch).

That’s not the only place the Fire Nation has shone recently. One of Insight Editions’ awesome scrapbooks, Legacy of the Fire Nation, gave us a tour through the royal family’s history, including never-before-seen looks at young Iroh and Ozai and much, much more.

All this just goes to show that the Fire Nation has been a hot ticket throughout the ages and there’s one conspicuous gap in that history: the era of Avatar Korra. With so much recent expansion and development of the Fire Nation in our world, it would be perfect to see the culmination of it all in the current time period in the world of Avatar too.

If this made you excited for the potential of what the Avatar franchise could look like in the coming years, same boat!

The next concrete date where something could be announced is February 24th, when ViacomCBS will host their investor day and present their streaming strategy, including Paramount+ originals. There’s no guarantee Avatar is mentioned, but I’m keeping a hopeful eye out.

As for comics, Dark Horse’s schedule marches to its own beat, so there’s no way to know when the next drop of information is coming our way.

Could this finally be the comics that take us to the Fire Nation, or could the much-anticipated visit be in another medium like animation? Stay tuned-- as always I’ll post as soon as we learn anything new!

#korra comics #paramount plus #the fire nation awaits

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bumirang · 3 years ago

Text

Turtle, Duck, Dragon, Horse: Ch. 8 excerpt

It’s a chilly afternoon when Bumi sits in on Hana’s worst training session since she arrived at Air Temple Island.

Under Jinora’s supervision, she and six other novitiates were walking the circle in a coordinated effort to create a sphere of solid wind nearly twice her height. Intimidating, but she’d managed it before. She actually wasn’t doing too terribly, until she caught sight of him out of the corner of her eye. Maybe it was excitement or performance anxiety or just the distraction, but that’s when it all went wrong. She immediately fell out of step with the others, but the more she tried to correct for it, the more unstable their formation became, until the sphere was a roiling squall-ball they were struggling just to contain.

Master Jinora stepped forward and summoned a gust with thought alone. “That’s, uh, impressive, but if you’ll slow down and back away, I can safely disper—”

Then it exploded, with a roar like a thunderclap in reverse. Thankfully, they were shielded from the worst of it by a barrier whipped up by their teacher, but it was a close thing.

Hana’s ears are still ringing when she makes in Bumi’s direction, ignoring the accusatory glances from her fellow novitiates. It’s obvious to all of them who messed things up, but they can’t prove anything, so whatever. Bumi, in contrast, just waves happily, absentmindedly petting Bum-Ju on his shoulder.

She stops five feet away from him and plants her hands on her hips. “What’re you doing here?”

“Hi to you, too,” he replies, slightly offended.

“Sorry, that sounded… I mean, did you need me for something?”

“Nope.”

“So, what, you popped by to watch me be a screw-up?”

“Well, I like to get a feel for where the newbies’re at. Didn’t think you’d be out with ‘em.”

She deflates a bit. “You saw how hopeless I am. I’ll be stuck with the newbies forever at this rate.”

“Nooo, no… Your bending’s just, uh, chaotic.” His smile is wide but not very convincing. Oh no. He’s trying to be nice. Her face burns at the realization. Pity is the last thing she wants from him, of all people.

He continues, “Form was great, though. Right, buddy?” He glances at the dragonfly-bunny, who shrugs. “Yeah, he thinks so, too.”

“…Thanks.” She stares past him, at the ground, wishing she were anywhere else. At the same time, Bumi’s easily her favorite person on Air Temple Island, and it’s usually such a treat being the focus of his attention. If only she could be anything other than a pathetic misfit in his eyes.

He puts a hand on her shoulder. “Hey, kid, don’t get hung up on it. We’ll figure it out.” His voice has gone all serious, worried.

“You don’t have to… be nice to me.”

“…Huh?”

“Because you feel sorry for me. I don’t want…” She feels her eyes flood with hot tears. In a panic, she slaps a hand over her face, harder than she intended. “Ow.”

Bumi clears his throat and calls over her head, across the courtyard, “Hey, Jinora, gonna steal Hana for a bit!”

“Oh, we’re all done!” she calls back, sounding less rattled than she probably feels. “No theft required.”

“Great! Seeya at dinner!” His hand slides down to Hana’s arm, sending a wave of goosebumps shivering along her shoulders and neck. She almost jumps when he mutters into her ear, “I know a good place to talk. No lookie-loos.”

Then they’re hurtling through the air, and she forgets about her shame for a sweet thirty seconds. His grip on her arm is firm, but she latches onto him anyway. Just survival instinct, she reminds herself, as she hears him laugh with her ear against his chest. He wraps an arm around her then, and she feels safer than she ever did on the ground.

Bumi sets them down in a little grassy clearing on the eastern edge of the island. It’s not far from one of his favorite places to have class, but without any obvious paths to it, you’d have to survey the island from the air to even know it exists. Or just know its layout like the back of your hand. It’s late afternoon, leaving most of it in the shade from nearby trees. What sunlight there is glows gold on dead grass. Framed by two stunted trees jutting from the cliff’s edge is the skyline of Republic City, painted gold as the grass. Bumi pulls a little ta-dah pose in front of it, which gets a smile out of her.

“That’s more like it,” he says, wearing his own smug grin. “Now what was that about you not wanting me to be nice?”

“I just meant…” She grasps at the air, like the words she needs to complete her thought are buzzing around her. “I don’t want you to feel like you have to go out of your way. For me.” It seems like a moot point now.

“Why not you?”

“I’m not cut out for this. You’re wasting your time.”

He laughs softly to himself and crosses his arms. For a moment, Hana’s terrified that he might be mocking her, but when he looks back up at her, his eyes are kind, and a little sad. “I know how ya feel,” he says with a shrug.

“How could you poss—”

Bumi just raises an eyebrow at her, and she slaps her hand over her face again. It stings worse than the first time, but she figures she deserves that.

“Fu— Nngh! I’m such an—” Hana drops down onto her haunches, holding her throbbing face in both hands. Maybe with enough pressure, she can shove the tears and snot back where they belong. “I’m sorry. Please don’t be mad.”

She hears him sit down across from her. “M’not mad, kid. Like I said, I’ve been where you are. More or less.” She steals a glance at him, seated maybe a foot away and wearing the city itself like his own personal aura. “I see you busting your ass to do what comes so easy to others, and I know what that does to ya. Shame and doubt. Anger. A lot of anger. It can make ya feel worthless…”

She nods and eases into a cross-legged sit, mirroring him.

“S’not true, though. Everyone’s worth something. You’re worth a lot. Trust me, I’ve got an eye for talent.” Bum-Ju, who’s been hovering at a respectful distance, picks that moment to park himself on her head. “See? So does he.”

Hana wipes her runny nose, trying to hide it at first, but Bumi’s expression is so genuinely affable that she feels silly for thinking he might judge her. He’s on her side. A goopy face won’t change that. For lack of better options, she wipes up with a sleeve.

Hands dry, she reaches up, tentatively, to pet the dragonfly-bunny. “Is it okay if I…?”

“That’s up to him.”

The spirit doesn’t flee at her touch. In fact, he leans into it. She gasps as she runs her fingers through his fur, which is easily the softest, silkiest texture she’s ever felt, like yarn spun from cloudstuff. To her surprise, he gives a happy little chirrup and plops into her lap, landing on his back.

“He says to tell you he wants belly rubs.”

“Heh. Okay.” Petting Bum-Ju is supremely soothing, like lemonade on a summer’s day. His quiet little chirps merge and blend into a purr, and she smiles again. How could she not?

“It… It’s humiliating. I knew training wasn’t gonna be easy, but this is like being a little kid all over again.” She runs a finger along the edge of one of the spirit’s strange insectoid wings. Like the fur, it doesn’t feel entirely substantial. “I was supposed to be an earthbender, y’know.”

“Yeah? Says who?”

“…My dad.”

“Hah! Ain’t that always the way?”

“Heh…”

“You don’t give me earthbender vibes at all. You’re too… squishy.”

Her head shoots up to glare at him, and she notices how the sunlight’s shifted since they arrived. Twilight’s creeping up fast. “Did you just call me squishy?”

She’s caught him off-guard, and he blushes at the unflattering implications of such a word choice. “That’s to say… Well, the way rocks aren’t, right? Does that make sense?”

“No…?”

“You’re, I dunno, airy.”

“So I’m squishy like air…?”

Bumi runs a hand through his hair in actual frustration. “Forget I said you were squishy!” He looks relieved when she giggles and clues him into her teasing.

“My point being,” she continues blithely, “I may be the worst airbender here, but I had no earth talent whatsoever. Dad was not pleased. I never even wanted to do it, except to please him.”

“Sorry.”

“I have a little brother, though, and he’s brilliant with earth. Stone, glass, metal. You name it. Guess it worked out for Dad in the end, but I always… Even though it was crazy, I always wanted to fly. Not in an airship, but like the birds do. It never seemed fair.” She winces at how naive that sounds. “After Harmonic Convergence, I thought, y’know, finally. This is who I’m supposed to be.” Sympathy fills the lines around Bumi’s eyes and mouth, and she looks back down at the fuzzy spirit in her lap. She gives him some experimental chin scritches, which seem to go over well. “But it’s been more than three months now, and I’m still… I’m just a screw-up.”

“You’re the best teaching assistant I’ve ever had.”

Hana blinks. “Aren’t I the only one you’ve ever had?”

“Nah, I used to spend summers teaching new recruits arts ‘n’ crafts.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.”

“Says somebody who has no idea how boring it can get on a tour of duty! Keeping your hands busy staves off Sea Madness. And fistfights… Well, that is until somebody badmouths another guy’s macramé. I’ve been called as a witness at some crazy court martials, lemme tell ya.”

“I… Wow, okay. I guess you’d know.”

“And before I forget, let’s get one thing clear,” says Bumi, leaning forward and pointing right in her face. “I like being around you. Aren’t we friends?”

What’s the appropriate response to that? “You… friend… with me?” Well, it’s definitely not that. “I guess I didn’t… I thought you were just trying to figure me out. What’s wrong with me, I mean.”

“That, too, but hey! We have fun, right?”

“Yeah?”

“There ya go! Friends!”

She laughs. She can’t help it. Seeing the way Bumi’s face lights up only makes her laugh harder. Bum-Ju launches clear of her lap as she doubles over. Collapsed on the grass, she finally admits, “Okay! We’re friends! I guess!”

“So…” Only when she sees his shoulders relax does Hana realize how tense he’s been this whole time. “You always wanted to fly, huh?”

“Oh, yeah. More than anything. Thought I could grow up to be a bird if I put in the effort, but I was forced to develop an overactive imagination instead.”

“Sounds like a fun story.”

She pushes herself back into a sitting position and picks bits of grass out of her hair. She could do with a trim, now that she’s thinking about it. “Not a whole lot to tell. I was basically a toddler, and I don’t remember much.”

“Yeah?” Bumi’s grinning at her. He grins a lot, to be fair, but he has a different style for every occasion. Goofball, smart-ass, encouraging, nervous, and so on. This is a pure look of amused contentment, just for her. It makes her feel all gooey inside, but in a nice way, no snot involved.

“Hm. Well, okay. Mom did tell me about one time she found me eating worms out of the garden.”

“Hah! What’d it taste like?”

“Slimy dirt, probably? I only know it happened from Mom. Like I said, toddler.”

Bumi scratches his neck and looks off to the side, like he’s debating something with himself, then says, “I jumped off cliffs a lot.”

“Wow. Dark.”

“Into the water! Got pretty good at climbing. Diving, too, but that’s just, y’know, falling with style.”

“Umbrellas.” He looks at her expectantly, eyes glittering like chips of ice. They might be the palest she’s ever seen, and if they aren’t the most beautiful, they’re definitely in the top five. That’s a strange thought. Despite his age, he’s actually quite handsome. In fact, the wrinkles themselves emphasize his features in a way she didn’t realize she appreciated until just now. They tell a story of a life well-lived.

A quirk of his eyebrows reminds her that she’s in the middle of a conversation, during which she’s just said “umbrellas” and stared at him for ten seconds.

“W-well. Um. I saw this character in a storybook who flew around with an umbrella, so I found the biggest one I could and ran down the street, screaming my head off the whole time.” Hana feels herself blush at the admission. “That part seemed important for some reason. I was, like, five.”

“How’d that go?”

“As I recall, I broke the umbrella, and several people called the cops. They thought I was escaping from a murderer or something. Can’t imagine why.”

Bumi just laughs. Hana revels in it until he quiets enough to keep telling him embarrassing things about herself.

“Then there was the time I spent a month collecting loose feathers around my neighborhood and stuffed them all in my shirt,” she says, with a bit of added pantomime. “Was gonna jump out the apartment window, but I chickened out.”

“So… it worked?”

“Shut up. You are horrible, and I hate you now.”

“Minus 57 points for disrespecting your elder.”

“Hey, it’s not my fault they dress me like a giant baby.” She tugs at a corner of the scarlet shawl sewn around the shoulders of her standard-issue Air Nomad pajamas. They both snicker.

Then Bumi sits up straight like he’s been struck by lightning. “I got it!”

“Hm?”

“A wingsuit. Try one on!”

“That’s not really allowed unless you’ve qualified, though.”

“Eh, if you get in trouble, I’ll smooth it over,” he says with a little hand wave. “It could be just the confidence boost you need to get over whatever mental block is tripping you up.” He gestures at his own outfit. “Think about it. The right uniform can totally change how you see yourself. And I should know.”

“That’s a good point, but…” Hana shrugs and makes various non-committal noises. What she doesn’t mention is her discomfort at the snugness of the wingsuit’s fit. As ridiculous as the pajamas look on her, they’re at least loose and comfortable. Squeezing into a skintight flight suit to practice—probably clumsily as ever—is just another humiliation waiting to happen. It does give her an idea, though.

“Remember when I told you how I’ve had a bit of Kyoshi Warrior training?” she asks with a little smirk.

“I remember you not flipping me, even after I asked nicely.”

“Well, I might still have my fan lying around somewhere…”

#text #bumi ii #lok bumi #lok fanfic #fanfic #tddh #oc hana #hana #hanumi #yes i'm shipping bumi with my oc fight me

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smylealong · 4 years ago

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I have long debated whether or not I should write this, but @rain-hat convinced me that I should. So here I am, penning this diss meta about The King: The Enternal Monarch. Starting off with the disclaimer that I love this show. This is the show that introduced me to the wonderful Woo Do Hwan and for that I can never be thankful enough. But I have issues with the show, and I will enumerate them here. Brace yourselves for a tirade.It’s long, so putting a “keep reading”.

1) Manpasikjeok: Let’s start with the basis of the series. The Manpasikjeok. The series never delves into what the Manpasikjeok is. It’s a flute, yes. But it doesn’t delve into the background of this all-powerful plot device. I understand that the Manpasikjeok is a part of the Korean folklore and thus, probably the makers did not feel the need to delve deeper. But for non-Korean viewers like me, it was very confusing. So, before I speak about the details of what exactly bothered me about the flute, I will present the story itself.

After the death of his father King Munnu, King Sinmun of the Silla Dynasty heard the rumors of an island floating toward the temple that he had built in the honor of his father. A fortuneteller told Sinmun that the late King had become a sea dragon and his loyal General, Kim Yu-shin, had become a heavenly god. The fortuneteller also said that if he were to visit the island, he would get an incredible gift. When Sinmun went in search of this floating island, it looked like it had a turtle’s head and a bamboo tree on its back. In the mornings, the bamboo looked to be split into two while at night, it would join. After braving through seven days of storm, the King reached the island. There the sea dragon told him to make a flute out of the bamboo tree. This flute was said to provide magical properties. When the flute was played, enemy forces would retreat, and diseases were cured. Also, the magic flute would bring rainfall if there was a drought and stop the rains in floods. Ever since then, the bamboo flute was called ‘Manpasikjeok,’ meaning a flute that calms down ten thousand waves and it became a national treasure. This is the folktale.

If I am to nitpick, time travel and parallel universes are not mentioned in the folktale. But that is something I am willing to let slide, because you need something to make the story work and the makers chose a mythical object from the folklore. People do it all the time, so I am not going to penalize the makers for it. What I am going to diss them for is the way they spoke about the spirit of the flute. Was it a demon? A spirit? A god? What? Why did it not allow Lee Lim to age? If time passes differently for the owner of the flute as Lee Lim claims, why did Gon’s time seem normal for the most part? The only difference in time seemed to be when the portal was opened and time stopped. So, before Gon opened the portal, time did not stop for Lee Lim. Why then did he not age?

2) Post series events (part I): Which brings me to the second problem I have with the series. Post-series events. I understand Ta Eul retaining her memories of the alternate timeline because, she was in the portal and thus, remained untouched by the effects of the changed timeline. Fair. I get Gon retaining memories, because he was the owner of the flute. Granted. Why did Jo Yeong retain the memories when everyone else forgot about it? The only explanation I have is that it was because he was in the past timeline when the timeline changed? But the show never bothers to give an explanation for it. Also, if the events in altered timeline happened almost exactly as they did in the original timeline, then Yeong came to Republic of Korea. If Yeong came to Republic of Korea, then he met Jo Eun Sup. As did Gon. Why then did Eun Sup not recognize Gon at the end? Why does Yeong say that Eun Sup will not remember him? Is it because Yeong retained memories from the altered timeline and hence believed Gon when he said that he was going to the other world? Then, it stands to reason that Yeong did not go to Republic of Korea. Then things changed! They did not go exactly the way it happened in the series. Ah! My head hurts.

3) Corea and Korea: They are parallel worlds. I get it. But at times, they were nigh indistinguishable. This is @rain-hat’s input and I agree with it completely. Why are the people in Corea dressed like Westerners and why are we not seeing more Hanboks? Why are court ladies the only ones dressed in traditional garb? Also, what is the official religion of Corea?

4) The characters: This is going to be a long one, so brace yourselves. I have issues with the characters. I’m going for bullet points, because I have LOT TO SAY.

· Kang Shin-jae: Other than messing with him in all possible ways, what was the purpose of this character. As my editor once said, you must ask yourself what purpose does a character serve to the overall story? The litmus test of it being, if the said character is removed from the equation, does it impact the overarching plot of the story in any significant way? And much as I love this character, I’m sorry to say, his removal would not have impacted the story in any way. Yes, I’m aware that even Meyong Seung-ah does not pass this litmus test, but she does not occupy nearly as much screen time as Shin-jae. I wish they had utilized the character more than just use him as a material to evoke emotions.

· Koo Seo Ryeong: She is portrayed as a villain/b*tch. Why? Because she has political ambitions and is a woman who is not above playing the ruthless game that the men around her seem to be playing? She is a woman who has clawed her way to the top in a man’s world. Can we please stop demonizing women like this?

· Jo Yeong: Yes. Surprise, I know. He is the reason I (and many others) kept watching the show. The man who stole the show, the one who carried the show. A startlingly pretty face backed by a phenomenal performance, Jo Yeong is a treat. BUT, for a character as spectacular as Yeong, he was not utilized enough. I wish the show had actually given him something to do when he was in Korea. They wasted a talent like Woo Do Hwan.

· Jeong Ta-eul: I loved Ta-eul when she first came on screen. Badass, no nonsense, tough as nails cop in her thirties as out leading lady? HELL YEAH! But then she meets Lee Gon and all the things that I loved about her seemed to evaporate. She became a cry baby and I just could not handle that. K-dramas, can you please stop turning the badass female leads into a prop for the leading man’s “bravery and heroism”. (Fervently hoping Nine Tails doesn’t do that, because I love Jo Bo ah’s character there).

· Lee Gon: Oh, I hate this character with a passion. TKEM gave me SLS like no other drama before or since. I sincerely want to ask Lee Min Ho; just how many versions of Gu Jun Pyo are we going to see from him? Rich, powerful, privileged man who does whatever he wants? I’m getting really tired of it. I like Lee Min Ho, but really, you need to branch out, dude.

5) Post series events (part II): Speaking of Lee Gon, my man, you posses the all powerful tool to travel through parallel universes and time, and you use it to go on dates? WHAT THE F***? AAAHHGHHKSJJGFHVJHMDSYFHJVHKJNSKLJHG. Lee Lim was right. You’re WASTING it. Ugh. Personally, I felt as though the entire romance plot could have been done away with.

6) JoGon: The series teased heavily about this relationship and the fandom lapped it up. Beautiful fanart and fanfics emerged. But, I have issues and no, it’s not because they’re a same sex couple. My issue comes from the power dynamics of the couple. It is skewed beyond belief. The dynamic works perfectly when it is a king-bodyguard relationship. But the second it becomes a romance, there’s problem. All the power in the relationship is with Gon and Yeong has almost no agency in the relationship. And I love Jo Yeong too much to subject him to a relationship like that.

7) Product Placement: Yes, it was tough, but there was a series somewhere between all those product placements.

In closing, this series had the potential to be so much more. Yet, it failed. Spectacularly. I liked and enjoyed this series, but I have so many issues. SO MANY. Do you have any issues you would like to add? Please feel free.

#tkem meta #tkem

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