#I wanted to add Korra but it looked weird and I didn’t have another one that I liked enough to make it even

[likeadragonfruit]

Much like last book, anything that doesn’t get its own dedicated post is going into this brain dump post.

Big Picture

Overall flow

This book was a slog from the jump, mainly because how it ended made the prospect of 14 episodes building to that finale daunting

In retrospect, with the entire season finshed, I can say the first six episodes, despite their flaws are “better.” Even though I had such a difficult time watching those on a consistent basis.

I better understand why the “Beginnings” two parter is such a breath of fresh air on the whole for so many people. Even if it does introduce Vaatu, and with him begin the slide in story quality.

But really, there was a precipitous drop in the last two episodes of the book.

Also remember how I said this show had a cast size management problem? Well here’s where it starts worsening. We drop Tarrlok, Amon and Hiroshi… but keep Korra and the rest of the Krew, Tenzin and his family and Lin. Then add Korra’s family, expand Tenzin’s family with Kya II and Bumi II, plus Varrick…

Korra’s spirituality arc:

I- don’t have much to say here

I thought I would, but I don’t

There’s remarkably little to say

Which is odd for an arc that’s supposed to be about rounding out Korra’s knowledge and understanding of spirits and spirituality 

Themes:

The big thing that jumps at me is identity, which Tenzin embodied well. Shame more of that didn’t completely trickle down to Korra

Character opinions

Korra: I’m kind of frustrated and underwhelmed, but less with Korra herself and more how her arc has been handled, and going to be handled going forward 

Mako: I came into this season expecting to hate Mako more than I did in book 1, but that didn’t happen. He, his romance subplots not withstanding, was fine. In fact, his police work storyline was a relative bright spot.

Bolin: frustrates me immensely. Had a good moment or two in this season, but at this point I despise how he’s written.

Asami: she has some good moments, but she’s hurt by barely getting anything to do. In a sense, she’s the Krew’s Toph in terms of having no arc

Tenzin: I’m a little stuck for what to say, here. I guess I don’t hate what they did with him? He does bring up the question of how airbending and spirituality work, but that’s another story.

Bumi II: I don’t hate him, but I don’t particularly like him either. 

Kya II: favorite new addition this season. She doesn’t get too much to do, but she more often than not holds the familial brain cell

Lin: poor Lin. She spends most of the season playing disbelieving boss for Mako’s Cassandra storyline. I still love you tho

Tonraq: meh. 

Unalaq: an absolute mess, but could’ve worked with a clearer sense of where they were going

Eska: don’t hate her but don’t care for her either. She did present a contrast for some franchise weirdness, though.

Desna: I was surprised by how much I liked him. Probably helps that he’s not weighed down by a terrible romance subplot like his sister

Varrick: he’s absolutely awful, amoral businessman and thrives in the role of self-interested schemer who helps when it’s to his benefit

Shipping

sigh yeah, I’m dedicating a section to the messes this time

Even if I wasn’t big on Makorra, the way it’s handled is such a mixed bag. On one hand, when their break up happens mid season, I could see where both of them were coming from. But there are several points of their relationship that feel like they’re written with this air of “women, amirite?” When Mako is having difficulty understanding what Korra wants or needs at the moment

And that’s before getting to the whole amnesia element… 😒

But then I’m not really against or for Masami. They can be cute together, but the way the decided to have them get back together, kinda, felt weird. Then they torpedo that too…

Do I have to comment on Boleska? It was bad, just bad. Made worse by trying to have Bolin get back together with her at the end of the season.

Looking at Varrick and Zhu Li’s dynamic in book 2, and looking forward to the finale, they’re really going to try to pass this off as romance?

Stray observations

Asami and Bolin are actually a good duo and them hanging out before Bolin got swallowed by his dumb plots for the season was nice

Despite generally not caring for the Beginnings two-parter, I did come to find myself coming around on them. I still didn’t think it was a necessary story but it’s well told for what it is.

Also there’s something about Raava saying “we will be together for all of your lifetimes” that just hits 

In “The Guide,” Tenzin brags about the garden at the Eastern Air Temple being the very one that Aang trained with Guru Pathik in. So that’s apparently public knowledge? Oh okay

Why is Unalaq working for Vaatu?

(No really, why is Unalaq working for Vaatu?!)

Despite all my grievances with Bolin’s handling for the book, there’s something wonderfully poetic about Varrick’s plan unraveling due to that “knucklehead earthbender” he underestimated 

At the end of the season, the level of detail for my notes plummeted. Around “Darkness Falls.” I basically gave up.

But I also find it interesting that there’s the decision at the end of whether or not to leave the spirit portals, when Korra is presented with an opportunity to that no other Avatar was: to stop being the Avatar. But there’s not even a debate there, she just wants to reunite with Raava and try to regain her connection to her past lives.

Mind, the “leave the spirit portals open” idea has a lot of ways that it should backfire

The franchise never going to get to deal with the can of worms that Korra’s successor 10,000 years in the future will have both Raava and Vaatu inside them, will it?

From what time I’ve read, this was the most hellish season of either show to finish. It took from May 2011 for the writing process to begin to November 11, 2013 to finish mixing the final episode, which then aired 11 days later. 

And on a personal note, gathering my thoughts on this season was much harder than with the first.

It’s been like pulling teeth to try say what I wanted to about this

Now onto book 3 😬

#the legend of Korra #tlok #TLOK rewatch #book 2 spirits #wish me luck with book 3

[cartoonscreens]

Thank you for coming, thank you for staying, thank you for watching the show

(my favorite cartoon endings)

#I wanted to add Korra but it looked weird and I didn’t have another one that I liked enough to make it even #adventure time #over the garden wall #gravity falls #steven universe #ok ko #the midnight gospel #otgw #okko #steven universe future #adventure time distant lands #midnight gospel #cartoons #cartoon screenshots

[army-of-mai-lovers]

in which I get progressively angrier at the various tropes of atla fandom misogyny

tbh I think it would serve all of us to have a larger conversation about the specific ways misogyny manifests in this fandom, because I’ve seen a lot of people who characterize themselves as feminists, many of whom are women themselves, discuss the female characters of atla/lok in misogynistic ways, and people don’t talk about it enough. 

disclaimer before I start: I’m not a woman, I’m an afab nonbinary person who is semi-closeted and thus often read as a woman. I’m speaking to things that I’ve seen that have made me uncomfy, but if any women (esp women existing along other axes of oppression, e.g. trans women, women of color, disabled women, etc) want to add onto this post, please do!

“This female character is a total badass but I’m not even a little bit interested in exploring her as a human being.” 

I’ve seen a lot of people say of various female characters in atla/lok, “I love her! She’s such a badass!” now, this statement on its own isn’t misogynistic, but it represents a pretty pervasive form of misogyny that I’ve seen leveled in large part toward the canon female love interests of one or both of the members of a popular gay ship (*cough* zukka *cough*) I’m going to use Suki as an example of this because I see it with her most often, but it can honestly be applied to nearly every female character in atla/lok. Basically, people will say that they stan Suki, but when it comes time to engage with her as an actual character, they refuse to do it. I’ve seen meta after meta about Zuko’s redemption arc, but I so rarely see people engage with Suki on any level beyond “look at this cool fight scene!” and yeah, I love a cool Suki fight scene as much as anybody else, but I’m also interested in meta and headcanons and fics about who she is as a person, when she isn’t an accessory to Sokka’s development or doing something cool. of course, the material for this kind of engagement with Suki is scant considering she doesn’t have a canon backstory (yet) (don’t let me down Faith Erin Hicks counting on you girl) but with the way I’ve seen people in this fandom expand upon canon to flesh out male characters, I know y’all have it in you to do more with Suki, and with all the female characters, than you currently do. frankly, the most engagement I’ve seen with Suki in mainstream fandom is justifying either zukki (which again, is characterizing her in relation to male characters, one of whom she barely interacts with in canon) or one of the Suki wlw pairings. which brings me to--

“I conveniently ship this female character whose canon love interest is one of the members of my favorite non-canon ship with another female character! gay rights!” 

now, I will admit, two of my favorite atla ships are yueki and mailee, and so I totally understand being interested in these characters’ dynamics, even if, as is the case with yueki, they’ve never interacted canonically. however, it becomes a problem for me when these ships are always in the background of a zukka fic. at some point, it becomes obvious that you like this ship because it gets either Zuko or Sokka’s female love interests out of the way, not because you actually think the characters would mesh well together. It’s bad form to dislike a female character because she gets in the way of your gay ship, so instead, you find another girl to pair her off with and call it a day. to be clear, I’m not saying that everybody who ships either mailee or yueki (or tysuki or maisuki or yumai or whatever other wlw rarepair involving Zuko or Sokka’s canon love interests) is nefariously trying to sideline a female character while acting publicly as if she’s is one of their faves--far from it--but it is noteworthy to me how difficult it is to find content that centers wlw ships, while it’s incredibly easy to find content that centers zukka in which mailee and/or yueki plays a background role. 

also, notice how little traction wlw Katara ships gain in this fandom. when’s the last time you saw yuetara on your dash? there’s no reason for wlw Katara ships to gain traction in a fandom that is so focused on Zuko and Sokka getting together, bc she doesn’t present an immediate obstacle to that goal (at least, not an obstacle that can be overcome by pairing her up with a woman). if you are primarily interested in Zuko and Sokka’s relationship, and your queer readings of other female characters are motivated by a desire to get them out of the way for zukka, then Katara’s canon m/f relationship isn’t a threat to you, and thus, there’s no reason to read her as potentially queer. Or even, really, to think about her at all. 

“Katara’s here but she’s not actually going to do anything, because deep down, I’m not interested in her as a person.” 

the show has an enormous amount of textual evidence to support the claim that Sokka and Katara are integral parts of each other’s lives. so, she typically makes some kind of appearance in zukka content. sometimes, her presence in the story is as an actual character with layers and nuance, someone whom Sokka cares about and who cares about Sokka in return, but also has her own life and goals outside of her brother (or other male characters, for that matter.) sometimes, however, she’s just there because halfway through writing the author remembered that Sokka actually has a sister who’s a huge part of the show they’re writing fanfiction for, and then they proceed to show her having a meetcute with Aang or helping Sokka through an emotional problem, without expressing wants or desires outside of those characters. I’m honestly really surprised that I haven’t seen more people calling out the fact that so much of Katara’s personality in fanon revolves around her connections to men? she’s Aang’s girlfriend, she’s Sokka’s sister, she’s Zuko’s bestie. never mind that in canon she spends an enormous amount of time fighting against (anachronistic, Westernized) sexism to establish herself as a person in her own right, outside of these connections. and that in canon she has such interesting complex relationships with other female characters (e.g. Toph, Kanna, Hama, Korra if you want to write lok content) or that there are a plethora of characters with whom she could have interesting relationships with in fanon (Mai, Suki, Ty Lee, Yue, Smellerbee, and if you want to write lok content, Kya II, Lin, Asami, Senna, etc). to me, the lack of fandom material exploring Katara’s relationships with other women or with herself speak to a profound indifference to Katara as a character. I’m not saying you have to like Katara or include her in everything you write, but I am asking you to consider why you don’t find her interesting outside of her relationships with men.

“I hate Katara because she talks about her mother dying too often.” 

this is something I’ve seen addressed by people far more qualified than I to address it, but I want to mention it here in part because when I asked people which fandom tropes they wanted me to talk about, this came up often, but also because I find it really disgusting that this is a thing that needs to be addressed at all. Y’all see a little girl who watched her mother be killed by the forces of an imperialist nation and say that she talks about it too much??? That is a formational, foundational event in a child’s life. Of course she’s going to talk about it. I’ve seen people say that she doesn’t talk about it that often, or that she only talks about it to connect with other victims of fn imperialism e.g. Jet and Haru, but frankly, she could speak about it every episode for no plot-significant reason whatsoever and I would still be angry to see people say she talks about it too much. And before you even bring up the Sokka comparison, people deal with grief in different ways. Sokka  repressed a lot of his grief/channeled it into being the “man” of his village because he knew that they would come for Katara next if he gave them the opportunity. he probably would talk about his mother more if a) he didn’t feel massive guilt at not being able to remember what she looked like, and b) he was allowed to be a child processing the loss of his mother instead of having to become a tiny adult when Hakoda had to leave to help fight the fn. And this gets into an intersection with fandom racism, in that white fans (esp white American fans) are incapable of relating to the structural trauma that both Sokka and Katara experience and thus can’t see the ways in which structural trauma colors every single aspect of both of their characters, leading them to flatten nuance and to have some really bad takes. And you know what, speaking of bad fandom takes--   

“Shitting on Mai because she gets in the way of my favorite Zuko ship is actually totally okay because she’s ~abusive~” 

y’all WHAT. 

ok listen, I get not liking maiko. I didn’t like it when I first got into fandom, and later I realized that while bryke cannot write romance to save their lives, fans who like maiko sure can, so I changed my tune. but if you still don’t like it, that’s fine. no skin off my back. 

what IS skin off my back is taking instances in which Mai had justified anger toward Zuko, and turning it into “Mai abused Zuko.” do you not realize how ridiculous you sound? this is another thing where I get so angry about it that I don’t know how useful my analysis is actually going to be, but I’ll do my best. numerous people have noted how analysis of Mai and Zuko’s breakup in “The Beach” or Mai being justifiably angry with him at Boiling Rock or her asking for FUCKING FRUIT in “Nightmares and Daydreams” that says that all of these events were her trying to gain control over him is....ahhh...lacking in reading comprehension, but I’d like to go a step further and talk about why y’all are so intent on taking down a girl who doesn’t show emotion in normative ways. obviously, there’s a “Zuko can do no wrong” aspect to Mai criticism (which is super weird considering how his whole arc is about how he can do lots of wrong and he has to atone for the wrong that he’s done--but that’s a separate post.) But I also see slandering Mai for not expressing her emotions normatively and not putting up with Zuko’s shit and slandering Katara for “talking about her mother too often” as two sides of the same coin. In both cases, a female character expresses emotions that make you, the viewer, uncomfortable, and so instead of attempting to understand where those emotions may have come from and why they might be manifesting the way they are, y’all just throw the whole character away. this is another instance of people in the fandom being fundamentally disinterested in engaging with the female characters of atla in a real way, except instead of shallowly “stanning” Mai, y’all hate her. so we get to this point where female characters are flattened into one of two things: perfect queens who can do no wrong, or bitches. and that’s not who they are. that’s not who anyone is. but while we as a fandom are pretty good at understanding b1 Zuko’s actions as layered and multifaceted even though he’s essentially an asshole then, few are willing to lend the same grace to any female character, least of all Mai. 

and what’s funny is sometimes this trope will intersect with “I conveniently ship this female character whose canon love interest is one of the members of my favorite non-canon ship with another female character! gay rights!”, so you’ll have someone actively calling Mai toxic/problematic/abusive, and at the same time ship her with Ty Lee? make it make sense! but then again, maybe that’s happening because y’all are fundamentally disinterested in Ty Lee as a character too. 

“I love Ty Lee so much that I’m going to treat her like an infantilized hypersexual airhead!” 

there are so many things happening in y’alls characterization of Ty Lee that I struggled to synthesize it into one quippy section header. on one hand, you have the hypersexualization, and on the other hand, you have the infantilization, which just makes the hypersexualization that much worse. 

(of course, sexualizing or hypersexualizing ANY atla character is really not the move, considering that these are child characters in a children’s show, but then again, that’s a separate post.) 

now, I understand how, from a very, very surface reading of the text, you could come to the conclusion that Ty Lee is an uncomplicated bimbo. if you grew up on Western media the way I did, you’ll know that Ty Lee has a lot of the character traits we associate with bimbos: the form-fitting pink crop top, the general conventional attractiveness, the ditzy dialogue. but if you think about it for more than three seconds, you’ll understand that Ty Lee has spent her whole life walking a tightrope, trying to please Azula and the rest of the royal family while also staying true to herself. Ty Lee and Azula’s relationship is a really complex and interesting topic that I don’t really have time to explore at the moment given how long this post is, but I’d argue that Ty Lee’s constant, vocal  adulation is at least partially a product of learning to survive at court at an early age. Like Mai, she has been forced to regulate her emotions as a member of fn nobility, but unlike Mai, she also has six sisters who look exactly like her, so she has a motivation to be more peppy and more affectionate to stand out. 

fandom does not do the work to understand Ty Lee. as is a theme with this post, fandom is actively disinterested in investigating female characters beyond a very surface level reading of them. Thus, fandom takes Ty Lee’s surface level qualities--her love of the color pink, her revealing standard outfit, and the fact that once she found a boy attractive and also once a lot of boys found her attractive--and they stretch this into “Ty Lee is basically Karen Smith from Mean Girls.” thus, Ty Lee is painted as a bimbo, or more specifically, as not smart, uncritically adoring of Azula (did y’all forget all the non-zukka bits of Boiling Rock?), and attractive to the point of hypersexualization. I saw somebody make a post that was like “I wish mailee was more popular but I’m also glad it isn’t because otherwise people would write it as Mai having to put up with her dumb gf” and honestly I have to agree!! this is one instance in which I’m glad that fandom doesn’t discuss one of my favorite characters that often because I hate the fanon interpretation of Ty Lee, I think it’s rooted in misogyny (particularly misogyny against East Asian women, which often takes the form of fetishizing them and viewing them only through a Western white male gaze)  

(side note: here at army-of-mai-lovers, we stan bimbos. bimbos are fucking awesome. I personally don’t read Ty Lee as a bimbo, but if that’s you, that’s fucking awesome. keep doing what you’re doing, queen <3 or king or monarch, it’s 2021, anyone can be a bimbo, bitches <3)

“Toph can and will destroy everyone here with her bare hands because she’s a meathead who likes to murder people and that’s it!”  

Toph is, and always has been, one of my favorite ATLA characters. My very first fic in fandom was about her, and she appears prominently in a lot of my other work as well. One thing that I am always struck by with Toph is how big a heart she has. She’s independent, yes, snarky, yes, but she cares about people--even the family that forced her to make herself smaller because they didn’t believe that their blind daughter could be powerful and strong. Her storyline is powerful and emotionally resonant, her bending is cool precisely because it’s based in a “wait and listen” approach instead of just smashing things indiscriminately, she’s great disabled rep, and overall one of the best characters in the show. 

And in fandom, she gets flattened into “snarky murder child.” 

So where does this come from? Well, as we all know, Toph was originally conceived of as a male character, and retained a lot of androgyny (or as the kids call it, Gender) when she was rewritten as a female character. There are a lot of cultural ideas about androgynous/butch women being violent, and people in fandom seem to connect that larger cultural narrative with some of Toph’s more violent moments in the show to create the meathead murder child trope, erasing her canon emotionality, softness, heart, and femininity in the process. 

This is not to say that you shouldn’t write or characterize Toph as being violent or snarky at all ever, because yeah, Toph definitely did do Earth Rumbles a lot before joining the gaang, and yeah, Toph is definitely a sarcastic person who makes fun of her friends a lot. What I am saying is that people take these traits, sans the emotional logic, marry them to their conception of androgynous/butch women as violent/unemotional/uncaring, and thus create a caricature of Toph that is not at all up to snuff. When I see Toph as a side character in a fic (because yeah, Toph never gets to be a main character, because why would a fandom obsessed with one male character in particular ever make Toph a protagonist in her own right?) she’s making fun of people, killing people, pranking people, etc, etc. She’s never talking to people about her emotions, or palling around with her found family, or showing that she cares about her friends. Everything about her relationship with her parents, her disability, her relationship to Gender, and her love of her friends is shoved aside to focus on a version of Toph that is mean and uncaring because people have gotten it into their heads that androgynous/butch women are mean and uncaring. 

again, we see a female character who does not emote normatively or in a way that makes you, the viewer, comfortable, and so you warp her character until she’s completely unrecognizable and flat. and for what? 

Azula

no, I didn’t come up with a snappy name for this section, mainly because fanon interpretations of Azula and my own feelings toward the character are...complicated. I know there were some people who wanted me to write about Azula and the intersection of misogyny and ableism in fanon interpretations of her character, but I don’t think I can deliver on that because I personally am in a period of transition with how I see Azula. that is to say, while I still like her and believe that she can be redeemed, there is a lot of merit to disliking her. the whole point of this post is that the female characters of ATLA are complex people whom the fandom flattens into stereotypes that don’t hold up to scrutiny, or dislike for reasons that don’t make sense. Azula, however, is a different case. the rise of Azula defenders and Azula stans has led to this sentiment that Azula is a 14 y/o abuse victim who shouldn’t be held accountable for her actions. it seems to me that people are reacting to a long, horrible legacy of male ATLA fans armchair diagnosing Azula with various personality disorders (and suggesting that people with those personality disorders are inherently monstrous and unlovable which ahhhh....yikes) and then saying that those personality disorders make her unlovable, which is quite obviously bad. and hey, I get loving a character that everyone else hates and maybe getting so swept up in that love that you forget that your fave is complicated and has made some unsavory choices. it sucks that fanon takes these well-written, complex villains/antiheroes and turns them into monsters with no critical thought whatsoever. but the attitude among Azula stans that her redemption shouldn’t be hard, that her being a child excuses all of the bad things that she’s done, that she is owed redemption....all of that rubs me the wrong way. I might make another post about this in the future that discusses this in more depth, but as it stands now: while I understand that there is a legacy of misogynistic, ableist, unnuanced takes on Azula, the backlash to that does not take into account the people she hurt or the fact that in ATLA she does not make the choice to pursue redemption. and yes, Zuko had help in making that choice that Azula didn’t, and yes, Azula is a victim of abuse, but in a show about children who have gone through untold horrors and still work to better the lives of the people around them, that is not enough for me to uncritically stan her. 

Conclusion    

misogyny in this fandom runs rampant. while there are some tropes of fandom misogyny that are well-documented and have been debunked numerous times, there are other, subtler forms of misogyny that as far as I know have gone completely unchecked. 

what I find so interesting about misogyny in atla fandom is that it’s clear that it’s perpetrated by people who are aware of fandom misogyny who are actively trying not to be misogynistic. when I first joined atla fandom last summer, memes about how zukka fandom was better than every other fandom because they didn’t hate the female characters who got in the way of their gay ship were extremely prevalent, and there was this sense that *this* fandom was going to model respectful, fun, feminist online fandom. not all of the topes I’ve outlined are exclusive to or even largely utilized in zukka fandom, but a lot of them are. I’ve been in and out of fandom since I was eleven years old, and most of the fandom spaces I’ve been in have been majority-female, and all of them have been incredibly misogynistic. and I always want to know why. why, in these communities created in large part by women, in large part for women, does misogyny run wild? what I realize now is that there’s never going to be a one-size fits all answer to that question. what’s true for 1D fandom on Wattpad in 2012 is absolutely not true for atla fandom on tumblr in 2021. the answers that I’ve cobbled together for previous fandoms don’t work here. 

so, why is atla fandom like this? why did the dream of a feminist fandom almost entirely focused on the romantic relationship between two male characters fall apart? honestly, I think the notion that zukka fandom ever was this way was horrifically ignorant to begin with. from my very first moment in the fandom, I was seeing racism, widespread sexualization of minors, and yes, misogyny. these aspects of the fandom weren’t talked about as much as the crocverse or other, much more fun aspects. further, atla (specifically zukka) fandom misogyny often doesn’t look like the fandom misogyny we’ve become familiar with from like, Sherlock fandom or what have you. for the most part, people don’t actively hate Suki, they just “stan” without actually caring about her. they hate Mai because they believe in treating male victims of abuse equally. they’re not characterizing Toph poorly, they’re writing her as a “strong woman.” in short, people are misogynistic, and then invoke a shallow, incomplete interpretation of feminist theory to shield themselves from accusations of misogyny. it’s not unlike the way some people will invoke a shallow, incomplete interpretation of critical race theory to shield themselves from accusations of racism, or how they’ll talk about “freedom of speech” and “the suppression of women’s sexuality” to justify sexualizing minors. the performance of feminism and antiracism is what’s important, not the actual practice. 

if you’ve made it this far, first off, hi, thanks so much for reading, I know this was a lot. second, I would seriously encourage you to be aware of these fandom tropes and to call them out when you see them. elevate the voices of fans who do the work of bringing the female characters of atla to life. invest in the wlw ships in this fandom. drop a kudos and a comment on a rangshi fic (please, drop a kudos and a comment on a rangshi fic). read some yuetara. let’s all be honest about where we are now, and try to do better in the future. I believe in us. 

#fandom crit #longpost #like seriously long post strap in #misogyny #death tw #murder tw #abuse cw #sexualization of minors #ableism #racism #fandom racism #zukka crit #swearing tw #suki #yue #katara #ty lee #mai #toph #azula

[ravensbug]

what was kuvira and y/n’s wedding like?

Wedding

Fandom: Legend of Korra

Ship: Kuvira x reader

Request: Yes

Prompt: No

Word Count: 5,477

A/N: Anon you are fueling the fluff train. Keep the ideas coming. Did I combine the cat au with this one, absolutely. It makes it so much better. You’re in for a treat my friend.

Summary: You’re finally getting married. After everything that’s happened to Kuvira she still can’t believe it. But here she is planning the wedding, with Su no less. She wants it to be perfect. The day of the wedding is stressful for you both. It feels like anything could go wrong but it doesn’t. You two are finally together.

No one would have expected Kuvira to be the one planning the wedding. Everyone knew you had the mind for these things. After all, you were a designer. But when Kuvira told you she wanted to do this you let her. You also knew that Su wanted to help, so you stayed out of her way.

Kuvira didn’t keep you out of the loop though. She knew you were curious, but you always had to ask her to show you. She felt like you would always tell her to pick something else. But you didn’t. You liked what she chose, it fit both of you so well. You had to admit you did underestimate Kuvira’s ability to plan the wedding. Su must have helped a lot, but you wouldn’t sell Kuvira short.

You were in charge of the invites. You knew that you were going to invite most of your family, which Kuvira was fine with. You had a few friends you wanted to invite that made her nervous, but you made sure she had no need to worry.  The only people Kuvira invited were the Beifongs. It did surprise you, especially since Jr. was on the list. You knew she had worked things out with him, but you still disliked him.

When you had finished all the invites there were around fifty. You felt kind of bad for how big your family was. You weren’t sure how they would handle Kuvira, or how she would handle them. You had hope that it would be fine, but you could never know.

You were so glad to be done for the day. Planning a wedding was way more stressful than your family made it out to be. You didn’t have all of them to help, so that was probably why. But you knew they would have overwhelmed you.

You heard the door open and leaned over to see it was Kuvira. Almost immediately after Jinx hopped off of the couch to greet her. You smile when you can hear her saying something to the cat before she picks Jinx up.

“I hope she’s not the only one who missed me,” Kuvira smiled. She walked over to you and leaned over to give you a kiss.

“Of course not. Any time without you is too long.” You got up from the desk so you could finally relax.

“I brought some things home for dinner,” Kuvira told you as you gathered all the invitations together.

“What did you get tonight?” you asked curiously. You left the invitations on the table, or else they would get lost.

“I got some crab to make crab puffs. I can make some soup to go with it too,” she told you.

“Where in spirit name did you get crab this time of year?” You came into the kitchen.

“Oh, you know, a certain village that has the best crab fishers in the world.” She was referring to your home town. She wasn’t wrong though. 

“You spoil me,” you teased. “Do you even know how to make crab puffs? I’ve never seen you try.”

“Actually, I don’t. I was hoping you’d be willing to help me make dinner tonight?” she asked. It was so sincere and you couldn’t help but smile.

“Of course I would.” You give her a quick kiss before helping her get everything ready.

It had been a few years since you had made crab puffs. The last time was before you left home to join Kuvira to unite the Earth Kingdom. Your family never fully understood why you left and you never had the proper opportunity to tell them why. It’s not that you didn’t love them, but they were always so overwhelming to you. Even without siblings, you had all these cousins running around and dragging you everywhere.

You knew now with your own space you’ve grown into your own person. You’re more outgoing and there are no more days where you mentally and physically exhausted unless you’re sick. Kuvira would be lying if she said she didn’t notice how different you were from when you two first met. She wouldn’t change it for the world though.

You both moved in sync with each other, grabbing what you needed from either the cabinets or each other. You got the saucepan and poured some oil in it. You turn on the burner and place the pan down to let the oil heat up. You move to the counter and you gather the crab meat, cream cheese, and whatever spices you decide to add it. You made the decision to add some Cayenne Pepper powder, which is what your family liked to use instead of garlic. It sounds weird to anyone outside your family, but you all loved it. You wondered if it would be a surprise to Kuvira.

While you were making the crab mixture Kuvira was busy cutting up some vegetables and leftover meat for whatever soup she was making. You’d had so many over the five years you had been living together that you learned to expect something different every night.

“Which one are you making this time?” You didn’t need to turn to ask her.

“Just a simple Miso soup,” she answered. You knew that Miso soup was never simple in her eyes. With all the extravagant meals the chef cooked at the Beifong estate you completely understood why she liked it. It was simple, but also unique to each person who made it. It was never made the same way twice so she never got tired of it.

Once you finished mixing the crab meat you grabbed the wonton wrappers to place the crab meat in. You were glad that Kuvira had grabbed all the correct ingredients. You managed to make twelve of the crab puffs and put them in the oil to cook four at a time. When they were done you plated them and set the plate on the table. You looked over to Kuvira, who was already filling two bowls with soup.

You grabbed a bottle of sake and poured half a glass for both of you. Another thing you learned, Kuvira didn’t have a high alcohol tolerance despite the fact that Su would serve wine to those who could drink it for dinner. It surprised you when you learned she was a lightweight, but that just made things more fun.

She handed you your bowl of soup and a spoon so you can sit down and start eating. She joins you shortly after so you’re together. Most of the time you two eat in silence, you don’t need to talk now. There would be plenty of that after dinner.

“I hope you like them,” you smile when you see Kuvira reach for one of the crab puffs. You decide to leave out the information about the Cayenne pepper, for now. You waited to see her reaction, if she did have one, but she didn’t.

“You added Cayenne pepper didn’t you?” You were honestly shocked.

“How did you know?” you asked.

“I’ve learned my spices from the chef at the estate and I happened to bump into someone who told me it was a good spice to add,” Kuvira told you with a smirk.

“So you’ve met someone in my family then,” you confirmed.

“I guess I did. I suppose you won’t tell me who though.” She raised an eyebrow.

“Even if you did describe them I still probably wouldn’t know. I have way too many cousins to keep them all straight.” You got her to laugh a little.

“It’s true!” you pouted.

“I never said I didn’t believe you,” she laughed more.

You two finished your dinner shortly after. Both of you had finished the crab puffs and you each had more than one bowl of soup. Kuvira stored the remaining soup for another day, whenever you two weren’t together to eat.  She noticed you had left a piece of crab out and knew exactly who it was for.

Jinx was laying down somewhere else in the apartment, but when she heard her food bowl get filled she came trotting into the kitchen. Kuvira placed the piece of crab on top of the food, knowing Jinx would dig it out anyway.

You two cleaned the rest of the kitchen up while Jinx ate. It was nice, even though you never liked cleaning up after a meal. Right now it keeps your mind off of all the wedding thoughts.

When you two finish you both retire to the bedroom, tired after all the day's events. Kuvira more so than you. She’s been walking all day while talking with Su. She beats you sitting and writing invites for the most exhausting task.

You pick up the book from your nightstand and open it to where you had left off. In your absentmindedness, you had begun twirling the metal bookmark in the air. A habit you had to keep yourself distracted from even thinking about what happened during the day. Also something Kuvira has learned over the years. You only realize you’re doing it when you see her grab it from the air and place it back in the book. She knows you weren’t really paying attention to the story anyway.

“What’s bothering you?” her voice is full of concern. She could make an endless list of things that she thought could be wrong and not voice a single one of them. 

“My family I guess. Not in a bad way, but I’m worried about what they’ll think of you. They can get to be a lot pretty quickly,” you explained.

“I survived Opal and the twins. I’m sure your family isn’t nearly as bad as them,” Kuvira tried to make you feel better. It works a little, considering all the stories she’s told you of the three of them and the chaos they caused her.

“I just don’t want them to overwhelm you like they do with me,” you worded your frustration differently.

“I’ll be fine. Plus I can always find excuses to go back to you if they do become too much,” she reassured you.

“Y/N I love you. You know that right?” she asked in a more serious tone.

“Of course I do. We wouldn’t be getting married if you didn’t,” you joked.

“Well, then you should know that the way your family is won’t affect anything between us.” She placed her hand on your cheek to turn your head towards her.

“I know…” you sighed. Words were being frustrating at now of all times.

“It’s ok to be worried. You don’t think I am?” She asked.

“I have to deal with Su pestering me over every decision I make, not that it's abnormal for her to do,” Kuvira sighed.

“I can’t even imagine what she’s like right now,” you try not to laugh.

“Spirits, she is so detail orientated. Every little thing has to match. She keeps trying to change the flowers I chose but I won’t let her,” she complains.

“Oh, why’s that?” you ask. You had a feeling it was a more personal reason than just her own preference.

“She says they don’t match as well as some others will, but I chose your favorite. I don’t want to change that.” She looks away and you can see the blush on her face. You finally place the book back on your nightstand and roll back over to snuggle into Kuvira.

“I love you, Vira,” you smile. You feel her wrap her arms around you to keep you close. The bed dips a bit at the bottom, telling you that Jinx has hopped up on the bed. It was a nice ending to a stressful day even though there would be more stress to come.

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

It was the day of the wedding and you couldn’t be more nervous. Kuvira had gone to the Beifong estate, per Su’s request, to get ready. You were getting ready in your apartment, with the assistance of your mother and Bolin of all people. He refuses to not help because you’re his ‘best friend and that’s what friends do!’ Bolin was also good at keeping you calm.

“Bolin the shawl is fine!” you told him as he corrected it for the fourth time. Your mom was a little skeptical about Bolin when he came to help, but you assured her he was fine. He was fine, but right now he was being a little excessive.

“Now it is! Y/N you have to look your best today! I’ll accept nothing less,” he smiled.

“Thanks, Bolin,” you smiled. “You can go join the rest of the gang if you want to. There isn’t really anything else to do.”

“Well, then I’ll see you at the wedding. Don’t be late!” he joked as he left your apartment. That left you and your mom alone and for once it was nice. You hadn’t really spent time with individual members of your family, because everyone was always home. It was different, but you needed it still.

“How’s my little cherry blossom doing?” She stood in front of you. She was a few inches shorter than you, but refused to stop calling you that. It always made you blush, but you never asked her to stop. The nickname was a part of your unique connection with her compared to the rest of your family. She was the only one who could call you that.

“I’m great mom,” you smiled. There was underlying nervousness and excitement, but you did your best to keep that at bay.

“I know it’s late to ask you this, but does she make you happy?” she asked you with genuine concern. It had been a long time since she had last seen Kuvira. The last time was before you left to join her. Of course your mom was concerned. You knew she was worried about the person Kuvira had become during those three years.

“Mom, of course she does. It may not have always been perfect between the two of us, but we’ve come a long way since then.” She didn’t truly understand how, but she wasn’t going to try and change your mind. You were stubborn to a fault once you decided on something, much like your father.

You and your mother left your house with enough time to get to the wedding venue. You made sure to say goodbye to Jinx before you left just so she knew you loved her. Su, being Su, had chosen one of the open spaces of the Beifong estate. She asked you specifically about this to make sure it didn’t make you uncomfortable.

Your father was waiting for you both outside of the seating area. He was wearing a suit and you were surprised. He never wears fancy clothes unless your mother forces him to.

“Did mom make you wear the suit?” you asked as your father hugged you.

“Only the jacket and bowtie,” he smiled.

“Are you ready?” Your father asked after your mother had left to go sit down.

“Are you ready dad?” you asked. He wasn’t a man of many emotions, but the ones he had were strong. You could see the tears he was trying to fight and gave him a smile.

“Yes, and I couldn’t be more proud.” he smiled.

You two walked down the aisle and the music started to play. Nothing fancy, probably Kuvira’s doing, but it was still nice. The people seated began to quiet down and turned towards you and your father. Kuvira was talking to Opal about something before she heard the music and looked over to you. The adoration on her face was unmatched, even by your father. You both had waited and suffered through too much for this to feel real.

When you finally joined her your heart was racing. Yes, you both had practiced this before, but it was for real this time. You didn’t want to mess up now. You couldn’t mess up now.

“Please join hands,” the minister asks you both. You hold your hands out and Kuvira takes them. You can feel her usual steadiness is gone, replaced with the nervousness that you both feel.

"I ask you each now, to repeat the marriage vows." The minister looks at you both.

“I, Kuvira take you, Y/N for my wedded wife, To love and cherish, For better or worse, for richer or poorer, In sickness and in health. From this day forward.” Kuvira did her best to keep her emotions in check. You saw through the usual stoic expression she gave.

“I, Y/N take you, Kuvira for my wedded wife, To love and cherish, For better or worse, for richer or poorer, In sickness and in health. From this day forward.” You of course didn’t even try to hold back the smile that appeared on your face.

The minister grabs the rings from where they were placed after Naga brought them in. Kuvira thought it was completely unnecessary to have the Polar bear-dog bring the rings, but both you and Korra asked her every day for almost a week.

“May the Spirits bless these rings which you give to each other as your sign of Love, Devotion, and everlasting peace.” The minister held the rings up before handing both of you each other's rings.

“As you place this ring on your partner's finger I ask that you repeat these words.”

“This ring is my sacred gift to you, A symbol of my Love, A sign that from this day forward and always, My Love will surround you, With this ring, I thee wed,” he spoke the words. You both repeated him as you put the rings on each other’s fingers.

“For as much as Kuvira and Y/N have consented together in matrimony and have witnessed the same before the spirits and those present, and have pledged their faithfulness, each to the other, and have declared their love by giving and receiving rings and by joining hands, I now, by the authority committed unto me as a minister and a priest, declare that Kuvira and Y/N are wifes according to the ordinance of the spirits. Those whom the spirits have joined together, let no one put asunder.” The minister went through his required lines. You were beginning to become impatient, just wanting this to be official.

“May the peace and the unconditional love of the spirits surround you and remain with you,” he smiled.

“You may seal your vows with a kiss.”

You practically jumped on Kuvira. There were things about this kiss that felt the same, the feeling of her smiling as you kissed, the warmth it gave you. But there was the one big difference: this meant you two were married now. You never want to forget this moment.

Did you two kiss until you ran out of breath? Definitely. Neither of you minded and you didn’t pay attention to the raised eyebrows and smirks of others.

“Allow me to present Mrs. and Mrs. Beifong.” You both turned to everyone. You see your family all smiling at you, for once not being overwhelming. You see Su, Baatar, and the other Beifong kids smiling. Jr. looks a little upset, but that was a fact you knew.

You notice an older couple, around Su and Baatar’s age, sitting farther in the back. You don’t recognize their faces and you wonder who they are. You think back on the invitations and how you weren’t the one to send them out. You only wrote them, well almost all of them. An idea in the back of your mind made it’s home there, waiting for a better opportunity for you to ask Kuvira who exactly those two were.

The reception was much more familiar to your home life than the wedding was. The kids were chaotic as usual and there were the teens assigned to hunt them down. You missed this a little more than you cared to admit.

Catching up with family members was nice, most of them kept the conversations short so you wouldn’t get bored. You’d probably talked to half the people there by the time you decided to take a seat for a while. Even after years of not dealing with them, your family was still draining.

“Taking a break?” Kuvira had walked over to you after talking with your father about something. They got along surprisingly well and you were glad.

“Yeah. Already overwhelmed again,” you sighed.

“If you weren’t so keen on catching up with everyone as fast as possible, maybe you wouldn’t be so tired.” Kuvira raised an eyebrow. She sipped some of the wine in the glass she held when she saw you give her a mildly offended look.

“Yes, I know you’re far more social than I am,” she rolled her eyes. “But you really don’t have to do it so fast.”

“Habits I guess,” you shrugged. She grabbed your hand that was resting on the table and gently squeezed. It was the silent ‘I love you’ that she’s been giving you in the past few years. You give her a smile in return and she walks off to go talk with someone else. You watch as she walks over to the twins, who both give her a playful punch on the arm. The only two who could ever keep up with her in your opinion.

After she walked off you caught a glance of the older couple once again. They were sitting down and talking to each other. They looked happy, not as happy as everyone else, but simply content with where they were. You finished the glass of wine you had in your hand to help with whatever nerves you had. You were going to talk to them, learn who they were.

You were stopped by only a few family members while walking over to the couple. You kept those conversations short as well, but you took Kuvira’s advice and slowed yourself down. To your surprise, it actually helped you. You would have to thank her later for that.

You finally made it to the couple and they took notice of you right away. You felt a little awkward so you introduced yourself.

“I’m Y/N. I don’t believe we’ve met before.” You held out your hand. The man took it and gave you a firm handshake. His wife, you assumed, just nodded at you.

“It’s nice to meet you. I’m Ruong and this is my wife Keeva.” Ruong introduced himself and his wife.

“It seems like you two go well together,” Keeva pointed out. You could see she wasn’t looking at you, but over your shoulder. You guessed she was looking at Kuvira based on her statement.

“There have been a few ups and downs, but she’s amazing. A lot has happened since we got together. I don’t know how we would have handled it if we weren’t together,” you smiled. Keeva clearly liked you more than Ruong did. You could tell there was some disdain in his look.

“I don’t mean to be invasive with this question, but because I don’t recognize you, you have to be here for Kuvira don’t you?” you asked. Keeva gave you a small nod.

“We are…” Keeva answered. You could tell she wanted to say more. You weren’t sure why she didn’t. You struck a more casual conversation with them to ease whatever tension that had created. You knew they were Kuvira’s parents, they didn’t need to say it.

Kuvira had seen you leave your chair after she was done talking and messing around, a little, with the twins. She looked around for you amongst your family and when she did see you, in the obvious white dress, the feeling of dread crept up on her. She knew where you had gone and wasn’t ready for you to have done that yet.

She grabbed another glass of wine and downed it quickly, numbing her nerves so she could get the inevitable over and done with. She weaved through the crowds to where she knew her parents were sitting. When she saw you standing there with them, laughing and having a good time she was shocked.

She came up next to you and only startled you a bit. You smiled at her and she gave a faint smile back.

“Vira, I was just having a nice conversation with your parents,” you told her. She froze still because you knew. She didn’t blame you and your curiosity, but she wanted this whole interaction to be on her own terms.

“Could I talk to you for a minute?” she asked you. You understood now that talking to them on your own wasn’t what Kuvira wanted to happen. You heard the strain and hesitation in her voice.

“Of course.” You stood up and followed her. About halfway through her taking you somewhere to talk you took her hand. A reassuring gesture that you knew she needed right now. When you two got somewhere more quiet she stopped and turned to you. The look of uncertainty on her face was something you haven’t seen since she surrendered at Republic City.

“Hey, what’s wrong.” You placed your hand on her cheek.

“You mean other than the obvious?” She snapped at you.

“Vira, I didn’t know how you wanted me to meet them and I didn’t even know they were coming. I got a little curious.” It was sort of an apology and an explanation at the same time.

“I know, I just wanted to be there. My father can be a bit...harsh at times,” she sighed.

“Yeah, I think I got that. He doesn’t like jokes very much. Your mom seems to find me very funny,” you give her a small smile. She can’t help but laugh at that fact. Of course that’s how you interact with them.

“I wanted to be there with you when you met them.” You figured that when she dragged you off.

“I’m sorry.” You gave her a kiss, trying to make up for the panic you had caused her.

“No, it’s ok. I’m glad you met them. I honestly couldn’t have stopped you from doing that anyway,” she smiles.

“Yeah, you’re right about that,” you smirk.

“We should go back, I’m sure the music will start playing soon if my mother has anything to say about it.” You rolled your eyes at the thought and heard Kuvira let out a chuckle. You two had never really danced together that often. You were too embarrassed by your dancing skills, or lack thereof. You had some practice, but you felt like a clutz compared to Kuvira. She would always compliment you, which just made you blush and then mess up. 

When you two got back there was already music playing. There were a few people dancing, either couples or adults and kids. You looked over to Kuvira who smiled. She knew that this wasn’t the time to dance yet.

You had a plan for the dancing. You wanted at least a song or two to dance with her, one with your father of course, and then your song. Kuvira had no idea about your song, or that you were going to be singing in general. It was your big surprise for her.

She stayed close to you throughout the first song. You knew she was going to ask you to dance for the next song, you could see it on her face. That tiny smirk whenever she would look over at you.

The song ended and changed to a slower one. A favorite of yours and your father. He walked over to you and took your hand. You were thankful that your father wasn’t a skillful dancer like Kuvira, because he would have embarrassed you with it.

The dance was slower than the last. There was a feeling of peace surrounding you, that whatever stress accumulated throughout the day practically vanished altogether.

You looked over to Kuvira and saw her father walking over to her. You couldn’t help the smirk on your face and she was slightly confused by it. You indirectly watched their interaction, how her father didn’t look confident at all. Reminded you a lot of her trying to dance with you for the first time.

Your father looked at you with a raised eyebrow since he saw that Kuvira had actually accepted her father’s request to dance. You only smiled and shrugged. You didn’t have time to explain it to him and you knew he would ask them questions if you couldn’t answer them.

When you caught a glimpse of them together it was the first time you had seen Kuvira smile with her father. Granted she might have before, but you don’t really know. You would say this night couldn’t get any better, but there was one thing that could and you just had to wait a bit.

The song came to an end and you gave your father a tight hug and you both went to sit down for a bit. You watched Kuvira and her father have a short conversation before she came to sit next to you. You couldn’t tell what emotion she was feeling because there was too much to read on her face.

“Hey, you ok?” You grabbed her hand gently. You must have brought her out of her own thoughts because you felt her hand tense in response.

“What? Oh, yes I’m fine.” she still seemed out of it.

“You sure?” You didn’t want to press for details, but you weren’t going to just leave this be.

“For once I am.” You saw the content smile, that she’s rarely shown to anyone, appear on her face. You guessed her father had said something and you thanked the spirits that it wasn’t something bad.

“Good, there’s one more thing happening tonight that I think you’ll like,” you gave her a sly grin.

“Oh, and what’s that?” she raised an eyebrow.

“You can wait to find out.” You kissed her on the cheek before getting up. You heard her try and say something, but she was fumbling with her words.

You walked over to the band, already feeling everyone’s eyes on you. You had only told Su about what you wanted to do, knowing Kuvira wasn’t good with picking music. You looked over to Su and the smile she gave you made you more confident about what you were going to do.

The band knew what you wanted to do. They had music for this. The singer simply handed you the microphone and gave you a thumbs up. The band started with a soft, but upbeat sound. Setting you up for when you would come in. You took a deep break and turned around to start singing.

Some day, when I'm awfully low

When the world is cold

I will feel a glow just thinking of you

And the way you look tonight

Everyone had stopped talking when you started singing. It made your heart beat even faster knowing that, but you focused on Kuvira. This was your song for her. You wanted to know how she felt about it.

Yes, you're lovely, with your smile so warm

And your cheeks so soft

There is nothing for me but to love you

And the way you look tonight

You motioned for people to start dancing. It would help with your nerves and it was meant to be danced to as well.

With each word your tenderness grows

Tearin' my fear apart

And that laugh, wrinkles your nose

Touches my foolish heart

Your parents were the first to start dancing. Thankfully that encouraged others to join in. You even saw Kuvira’s parents join in. You were mildly surprised by that.

Lovely, never, never change

Keep that breathless charm

Won't you please arrange it?

'Cause I love you

Just the way you look tonight

You watched Kuvira get up and walk over to you. You were smiling while singing and she gave you that content smile that she had before. She held out her hand and you gladly took it. You knew you weren’t great at dancing, but right now you were focusing on singing. Kuvira didn’t mind either of those things.

And that laugh that wrinkles your nose

It touches my foolish heart

Lovely, don't you ever change

Keep that breathless charm

Won't you please arrange it?

'Cause I love you

Just the way you look tonight

You took the microphone away from your face and leaned into Kuvira, singing the last part just for her.

Mm, mm, mm, mm,

Just the way you look tonight

Everyone was clapping for you because of how beautiful the song was. You were too busy kissing Kuvira to be embarrassed about that. Now you could really say tonight couldn’t get any better.

#kuvira #kuvira/reader #kuvira x reader #kuvira legend of korra #wedding #singing #fluff

[cavehags]

i realize this will probably bring up old drama so you might not want to answer it. but do you ever regret, however on purpose or on accident, bringing all that unnecesary hate towards Katara? i'm really sad and dissapointed tbh. i'm a woman of color and katara was so important to me growing up. my favorite animated woman ever. and then this resurgence comes and theres so, so much unnecesary hatred for her and everyone ignoring everything that makes her a good character.

(2/3) 2- and you know, i expected this from the male side of the fandom. they were misogynistic to her and the others even back then so i would expect it to be even worse with how internet culture is more mysogistic now that ever. and i wasnt wrong. male atla fans had some truly horrible takes and views that just came across as racism and misogyny. but, i expected these circles to be better. to be a safe space for us woc who love this character. but i found the same weird hatred for her.

(3/3) 3-i just, i cant believe i feel less welcome now that i did even back then. and back then i didnt even paricipate really. but at least i could enjoy fandom content without stumbling into misogyny and racism every other post. also sorry for sending this to your personal blog b i just wanted to let you know you controbuted to that too even if it wasnt your intention. at least you realized that and arent contributing to it anymore right? cause honestly the hate has only gotten worse not less.

hey anon. thanks for asking this question, because i hadn’t addressed this topic previously and this gave me an opportunity to do so. 

no, i don’t regret publicly interpreting a character whom i love through a nuanced and human lens. and i don’t regret combating the one-dimensional interpretation of this character, which posits that she’s merely an vaguely defined object of attraction for some boy or another, and a singularly gentle, mature, maternal figure whose sole purpose in life is to nurture others. those interpretations suck. they rob her of the humanity and complexity that make her character unique and they stem from misogynistic tropes that reduce women to the services they can provide to men. the thing in the world that matters most to me is fighting misogyny, and this trend to diminish a proud and powerful and angry teenage girl by exaggerating only her most socially acceptable traits is misogyny. 

unlike you, i did not grow up watching avatar: the last airbender. the shows i watched growing up did not have a lot of girls who felt real to me. the girls i saw on tv growing up were simple. they were the main characters’ crushes. they were simple, desirable, usually sweet and loving, and not much else. if they had a flaw, it was that they were, at best, “awkward.” whatever that means. or if they were the protagonists, which was rare, they were nice enough and tried to do the right thing, but they never had strong feelings like resentment and anger. they weren’t allowed to be unfeminine which meant they weren’t allowed to be bitter, angry or in any way flawed. they didn’t look like the version of girlhood i knew to be true for me personally, which included a lot of anger and frustration and powerlessness. 

that crappy representation left me with internalized misogyny that chased me for longer than i’d like to admit. i did not learn to think of girls as humans who could be as interesting and flawed and messy as the boys were. i did not value myself as a girl, and later a woman, because i thought the best thing a girl could be was... bland. boring. pretty, but empty. passionless.

it would have meant the world to me to see a character like katara. 

because katara is angry. she has every right to be: she’s had so much stolen from her, including her mother, her people, and her childhood. katara has a short fuse. she yells. she snaps. she fucks up. sometimes she makes mean jokes! i never saw a single one of those dreamily perfect cartoon love interests make mean jokes when i was a kid. she is extremely idealistic--it’s her defining character trait--but we see the bad side of that as well as the good. we see that her need to help others  leads her to act rashly, to get herself into danger, to put others in danger too. 

and she has her very own arc. it’s not about her love for another person, either (what a snooze of a storyline); it’s about growing up and learning to break down some of that stubborn black-and-white thinking that we all indulge in as children. it’s a true coming-of-age arc and it belongs to a fourteen-year-old girl. 

when i, to use a phrase i find crass, “entered the fandom,” i quickly realized that other fans’ perceptions of katara did not line up with the things i valued most about her. other fans seemed to valorize her most socially acceptable feminine qualities: her generosity, her kindness, her dedication to helping others. and of course i love those parts of her--i love everything about her--but what is really remarkable about avatar: the last airbender is that katara’s many important virtues are also counterbalanced by equally significant flaws. a good character has flaws. katara is a good character, and a deviation from the characters who made up my formative media landscape, because she has flaws. her temper, her idealism, her stubbornness--these are flaws. flaws make her seem real and human and challenge the mainstream sentiment that girls are not real or human.

it simply did not occur to me that celebrating these aspects of katara that make her a realistic and well-written teenage girl would spark ire from other adult fans. it absolutely did not occur to me that i would then be blamed for somehow causing misogynistic interpretations of this character, particularly given that misogynistic interpretations of this character are the very thing i sought to correct when i began to blog about this television show.

i’m told there are “fans” on instagram and tiktok who think katara is whiny, annoying, and overly preoccupied with her trauma. i do not use instagram or tiktok, so i wouldn’t know, but i’ll take your word for it. respectfully, however, they didn’t get that from me. misogynistic takes on katara have existed since before i came along. i have never, ever called katara whiny. and seeing as i have been treating my own PTSD in therapy for nine years, you can safely conclude that i don’t think anyone, katara included, is overly preoccupied with their trauma. that’s not a thing. do i think she’s annoying? of course not! as a character, she’s a delight. does she sometimes find real joy in aggravating her brother and her friends? yes, because she’s 14. i, an adult, am not annoyed by her. sokka and toph often are, because that is katara’s goal and katara always succeeds in her goals. she’s not “annoying.” 

if there are “fans” who are indeed following lesbians4sokka and somehow misreading every single post and interpreting them to mean that we hate katara and they should too, i don’t really know what you want me to do about that. l4s has over ten thousand followers and we have already posted so many essays disavowing katara hate. our feminist and antiracist objectives in running the blog are literally pinned with the headline “please read.”

furthermore, you cannot reasonably expect my co-blogger and me to control the way our words will be received. we should not have to, and are not going to, add a disclaimer to every post saying that when we critique or make jokes about a teenage girl we are doing so through a feminist lens. our url is lesbians4sokka, and we are clearly women. if that alone doesn’t make it obvious, then refer back to that pinned post. 

it is indescribably frustrating, and really goddamn depressing as well, that people are so comfortable with the misogynistic binary of Perfect Good Women and Flawed Wicked Bitches that they perceive any discussion of a woman’s flaws to be necessarily relegating her to the latter camp. if that is how you (a generic you) perceive women, then i’m sorry, but you’ve internalized sexism that i cannot cure you of. and it’s unjust to expect my friend and me to write for the lowest common denominator of readers who have not yet had their own feminist awakenings. we do not write picture books for babies. we write for ourselves, and with the expectation that our readers can think critically. reading media through a feminist lens is my primary interest; i have no intention of excising that angle from my writing.

as i go through my life, i am going to embrace the flaws of girls and women because not enough people do. as long as the dominant narratives surrounding women are “good and perfect” and “unlovable wh*re,” you’ll find me highlighting flawed, realistic, righteously angry women in the margins. and for what it’s worth, it’s not just katara. i champion depictions of angry girls in all sorts of media. that’s sort of my whole thing. my favorite movies are part of the angry girl cinematic universe: thoroughbreds, jennifer’s body, hard candy, jojo rabbit, et cetera. on tv, in addition to katara, you’ll find me celebrating tuca and bertie, poppy from mythic quest, tulip and lake from infinity train, korra, and more. i adore all these women and see myself in them. i hope you find this suitably persuasive to establish that i have sufficient Feminist Cred, according to your standards, to observe and write about these very flawed and human fictional women. 

what i’m saying is this: i decline to take responsibility for the misogynistic discourse orbiting a children’s cartoon. as someone who writes about that series from a perspective that seeks to add humanity and nuance to the reductive, one-dimensional, overwhelmingly sexist writing that already exists, i am pretty taken aback that i am the one being blamed for the very problem i sought to address. except not that taken aback because i am a woman online, haha! and this is always how it goes for us. 

finally, i think it sucks that you’ve chosen to blame me for a problem that begins and ends with the patriarchy. i can’t control the way this response will be perceived, just like how i can’t control the way anything will be perceived because i am just one human woman, but i do hope you choose to be reflective, and consider why you’ve chosen this avenue to assign blame. 

#anyway! this answer is too long and it's undignified to answer ''fandom drama'' queries on le blog #but here we are in 2020

[popculturebuffet]

Patreon Membership Drive: Turbo Championship Hyper Fighting Edition!

Hello all you happy people! For those wondering “who the hell is this.” I”m Jake Mattingly. I review animation and comics here on this tumblr 5 times a week, and love doing so. I do so by recapping an episode of an animated show or a volume of a comic piece by piece, how detailed depends on the work and how condensed it needs to be, analyzing the episode and sometimes throwing in some jokes because i’m a silly weirdo and tis my nature. 

 So far i’ve been able to scrape by with the help of my patreon’s kev and emma, with Kev suplimenting that iwth various comissions (I.e. paying me to review a specific episode of a show much like someone would comissoin). But I don’t want to place my entire finacial future in the hands of two people so last month I lauched my patreon membership, trying to get people to join my patreon to releive some of the pressure on them. And not a person signed on during the first month. 

But I realize a large part of that is I simply didn’t advertise propertly, not really explaning what it is I do, what they get, or throwing in any extra incentives for signing up apart from “If so many people pledge to my patreon i’ll do X review” Which is still the main thrust of my campaign but I realized I need MORE than that to give you all proper money for your buck, especailly with Tumblr trying to monteize in the most half assed way possible making people presumibly more wary of spending money on me. 

So for this promo i’m going into what it is I review exactly, how to sign up for my patreon and how any of that works, what you get out of it, and various juicy stretch goals i’m hoping ya’ll can help me reach so

WHAT IS IT YOU DO EXACTLY?

As I mentioned above I review animation and comics, more animation than comics. My meat and potatoes are Disney Duck works, primarily the 2017 reboot and the Don Rosa and Carl Barks comics. For the former i’ve done retrospectives on Lena’s arc, the Della storyline from season 2 and ALL the Season 2 storylines, the last one currently in progress. I intend to review the entire series, the lackluster tie in comics, and the this duckburg life podcast, though the last one has some strings attached we’ll get to under my goals.  I”ve also been reviewing various Carl Barks first apperances and most importantly doing a complete retrospective on Don Rosa’s masterwork the Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck. 

I also review certain shows week to week, almost entirely Disney as aside from the True Colors Debacle they have the most reliable schedule and announce release dates farther in advance than Cartoon Network and Nick which just sorta pop up announce things. I covered all of season 3 of Ducktales and season 2 of amphibia (With season 3 coverage coming in october) and i’m currently reviewing Owl House every week till that hiatus hits. 

Finally i’m currently looking at all the Tom Luictor episodes of star vs the forces of evil tracking both Tom’s character arc and the show’s steady decline straight into the dumps. 

Comics wise i’m more sporadic but in addition to duck comics stuff, I’ve also been doing a retrospective on the Scott Pilgrim franchise: all 6 volumes of the comic, those reviews avaliable now and in two weeks from this post, just in time for  the video game and movie anniversaries to finish things up. I recently started another one for the comic book Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye, I intend to finish one I did for New X-Men, and I have a few in my mind’s eye I want to do soon on John Ostrandre’s Suicide Squad run, Justice League International, and Mega Man that i’m going to do pilots for to see if anyone’s interested. 

Finally recently i’ve started doing quick thoughts, quick reviews on recent stuff from trailers to full on movies I don’t have to cover normally. 

So What Is Your Patreon?

Patreon is a site where creators can get paid for work and can put up exclusive content and what not. You pledge anywhere from a dollar a month, and become one of my patrons and help me do this blog for a living. I genuinely love writing about media, analyzing it and making weird jokes, and this lets me do that as my job and my passion. I simply don’t want to put finacing that on the backs of only two people. 

So What’s In It For Me?

Unlike Tumblr itself I feel my supporters deserve to get the most bang for their buck. As such Patreon Membership starts at JUST ONE DOLLAR. That’s right for a dollar a month, 12 bucks a year so the price of a movie, you get access to my occasoinal exclusive reviews, exclusive poles once I get more than two members so that’s actually sensical to do to vote on reviews, and to pick a theatrical short when i review a bunch of them for character birthdays or holidays or just cause. 

In addition to these though i’ve decided to sweeten the pot. ON SIGN UP ANY PATREON OF ANY TIER GETS ONE FREE REVIEW OF ANY SINGLE EPISODE OF TELEVISION OR ISSUE OF A COMIC BOOK. That’s right for just one buck, you get a review of your choice. Whatever you want. You want to force me to watch something you hate so someone else can bitch about it for you? Go on about an episode yo ulove? shine a light on something obscure? Well i’m your man and for ONE BUCK A MONTH, you can get that. Whatever you want put on my schedule as soon as I have room and your payment’s gone through. 

And if you want me to review stuff on a more regular basis, five bucks a month gets you a review a month, same permaiters as above along with said free review. I will PERSONALLY make sure there’s a space on the schedule every month for your patreon review and review whatever you want no matter how good, bad or stuppid. 

But that’s not ALL. 

STRETCH GOALS:

To explain these better than what I did next time: My stretch goals are goals on my patreon: if I hit a certain number of Patreons I will review (Insert Thing Here) And these are meaty projects too: full season reviews, retrospectives and what have you and something’s unlocked with each person who signs up, adjusted from orignally basing it on price. So your dollar a month not only gets you your own review, but also will get my solemn vow to review a bunch of other thigns, and the more people who sign up the more thigns I’ll add to my plate. Not only that but just for this pledge drive i’m adding a bunch of super neat drive exclusvie stretch goals that will VANISH AT THE END OF AUGUST. dosen’t mean I won’t EVER do these reviews, but it does mean i’ll probably sit on them a bit. 

TLDR: You singing up gets me to guarantee to review some extra stuff. 

SO WHAT ARE THE GOALS. 

I”m glad you asked. Each one is based on a person joining, so 

REGULAR PATREON GOALS THAT AREN’T GOING TO EXPIRE BUT ARE STILL PRETTY NEAT:

One goal for each new patreon so

1 New Patreon: Starting off light but still juicy, I will review the complete season one of Amphibia across two posts. I’ve already rewatched the season recently, so all someone has to do is sign up and i’ll get on it in septmeber in time for season 3! And that’s not the only show as i’ll also review BOTH seasons of the birdtastic show after my own heart Tuca and Bertie! 

2 New Patrons: This one’s a big lighter but you still get some neat things: for my scottaholics in the audience I will review the rest of Brian Lee O’Malley’s works so far: Lost at Sea (his first graphic novel) Seconds (his first post scott work) and Snotgirl (his first ongoing and first work he didn’t draw himself), which follow a girl trying to reclaim her soul/cat, an immature restrauntieur who discovers reality changing muschrooms, and an influencer who might of done a murder. For those who don’t really like Scott Pilgrim i’ll review a buch of paramount plus shows first seasons: Kamp Korral, the rugrats rugboot and iCarly. So if any of that sounds good get on the bus won’t you?

3 New Patrons: My juicest one and one that stands alone: I will review the complete first season of the Owl House across two posts. Every episode, every bit of lumity progressoin, every bit of foreshadowing in hindsight, all for you, all if three people join my patron. So if you want more bisexual magic, step up. 

4 New Patrons: Duck Goals Woo-Ooo! This one unlocks a review from Duck Master Carl Barks EVERY MONTH. Not only that I will be taking suggestoins from my patrons , meaning you can help decide which ones I do! And while tha’ts plenty i’m jucing this one up as getting me this far also nets a review of This Duckburg Like, the interquel podcast that’s given us our last ducktales content for what will likely be an eternity. 

5 New Patrons: Gravity Falls Retrospective! I”m not only talking both season of Alex Hirsch’s era defining masterpice, but also the side materials I have acess to: the shorts, Journal #3, and the lost legends tie in comic. I”d throw legend of the gnome gemulets in there two if I had a working 2ds or 3ds bu tas it stands this is what I got. 

6 New Patrons: Avatarverse Retrospective. No not James Cameron the Bravest Pioneer’s movie he wants to turn into a franchise despite NO ONE wanting this please stop James, we’re begging you. Of course i’m talking about Avatar the Last Airbender, the epic franchise that’s blowing up in size. This will include all three books of Avatar: The Last Airbender, All Four Books of the Legend of Korra, and all the juicy side stuff I can cover: the sequel comics for both series, the kioshi novels and the eye gougingly bad M Night Shamlyn Movie. Yes I really will   myself to that. I have not till now i’m happy that way but I will sufer for you. Speaking of suffering:

7 New Patrons: It’s a crapstravaganza!  If i’ve made it this far I clearly have enough fan support that I can fly into the eye of the crapstorm so i’m going to review some of the worst things I can think of:  * Chuck Austen’s X-Men the run that dared to ask the tough questions your coke addleed uncle you don’t let see your kids would like “What if Angel could cure AIDS with his blood and had sex with a minor while her parents watched?” “What if a rouge relgious sect tried to make Nightcrawler pope and then desingrate people with commuiion wafers in a scheme that makes no sense?” and “What if an x-man made a plant horny?”  * America: The comic that has the infamous and oft used by me line to compare it to other bad lines “What in the holy menstration are you doing here”. And it’s still not the most bonkers thing int his somehow 12 ISSUE SERIES tha twastes one of marvels best creations.  * The Prince: Aka that series HBO what farted out onto the service with no intention of renewal after realizing “Holy shit we greenlit this what is wrong with us” which is basically family guy but with the royal family. I’d say it was a somehow worse family guy but Famiily Guy once had an episode that was about 22 minutes of transphobic punchlines so as long as there isn’t an episode of that your good.  * Mordecai is a Bastard Man: Aka that arc of Regular Show that took a ship I really liked, Mordecai and CJ, and then destoryed it with cheating, attempted murder and saxophone.  *Star Vs Final Arc: Aka a look at how a once great show descended into a mess with unfinished plot lines, wasted characters and a finale so terrible it’s only topped by “Kids this is the story of how I really want you to say it’s okay to bang aunt robin” 8 New Patrons: Infinity Train, all four books and any finale movie if it happens. (Please let it happen) All aboard! 9 New Patrons: Two juicy disney retrospectives! The Incredibles (both movies and both comics series) and Darkwing Duck (Both the Boom! and Joe Books runs) Let’s get incredibly dangerous! 10 New Patrons: My highest tier for now and i’ts anothe rdouble feature and two big projects. If you get me this far, you’ve earned em: A She Ra and the Pricesses of Power Retrospective and a Bojack Horseman retrospective. The two greatest things Netflix has made back to back for life. 

And THAT’S NOT ALL... as I said I have some special stretch goals JUST FOR THIS PLEDGE DRIVE. 

SPECIAL DRIVE SPECIFIC GOALS BABY!:

These are a simple five extra projects for hitting the goals within the rest of the drive FROM AUGUST 1ST TO AUGUST 31ST. I will not add these to the regular goals for a full year if you do not reach them, so one buck helps you unlock projects that otherwise might not happen for YEARS. Like the other goals their measured by patrons but ONLY for this month sooooo

1 New Patron: Quack Pack series review! the most hated Disney Afternoon show in one big two part review. God help me. 2 New Patrons: Rise of the TMNT Retrospective: Both seasons, a movie and regular coverage on the offchance a third season hopefully gets greenlit.  3 New Patrons: Peanuts and Garfield Specials retrospective!: Retrospectives for the technicolor years long world of Peanuts specials and the shorte rlived but still neat garfield specails. All the specials plus all the animated movies for both!  4 New Patrons: Craig of the Creek-AThon: Rewatching season one and watching BOTH seasons i’ve missed since then with full reviews as well as reviews of each bomb of episodes as their released on teh app from here on out!  5 New Patrons: Steven Universe Retrospective! All 5 seasons, The Movie, Future, the comics, graphic novels and games. EVERY. THING. 

So if ANY of this sounds enticing 

STOP BY MY PATREON RIGHT HERE IN THIS LINK, SIGN UP TODAY, HELP ME GET PAID DOING WHAT I LOVE AND GET REVIEWS FOR EVERYBODY. YOU WON’T REGRET IT AND YOU’LL BE MAKING MY LIFE BETTER. 

And even if you can’t support it feedback on the goals, reblogs to get the word out and general words of encouragment are appricated so join me as I try to get at least one extra dollar a month in the span of this month. PITTER PATTER, let’s get at er!

#amphibia #tuca and bertie #scott pilgrim #kamp koral #rugrats #icarly #the owl house #ducktales #this duckburg life #carl barks #gravity falls #avatar the last airbender #the legend of korra #x-men #america chavez #the prince #regular show #star vs the forces of evil #infinity train #the incredibles #darkwing duck #quack pack #she ra and the princesses of power #bojack horseman #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rise of the tmnt #cotc #craig of the creek #peanuts #garfield

[fyregrayfong]

In These Arms | Chapter 3: Banishment

Thanks again to TheRoadLessTraveled for editing and Ash for beta reading.

Lost in thought, you notice that Asami and Korra have been hanging out more as of late. Asami was planning to take a drive with Korra in the city when you left Air Temple Island with Lin and Mako. It makes  you happy that she’s making friends with another girl. It was good to have more than just one friend.. Your mind snaps back to the present as you’re giving orders  to the recruits for the day’s group training session. You hand one of your officers the reins as you head in for individual interviews. As you take a seat, a bright eyed  and fresh faced young man sits in front of you as you set your interview papers onto the desk. “Mr. Paq, I just have some questions for you to start off this interview process.” You don’t look up at him before starting, jaded as you are with the process thus far. “Let’s start with the basics…why do you want to work in law enforcement?”.

The remainder of the day was filled with interviews and observing training. Ever since the spirit vines had taken over much of the city, headquarters has been swamped with a spike in gang activity and policing the public tension. Through your open office door, you notice Lin and her officers walking past, and you catch part of their conversation. , “My uncle told me the Avatar almost wrecked that building! It was about to tip over before they braced it!”

I’m sorry what?! “Yeah heard about it from my brother, he was there!” another officer joined in on the conversation. “Get back to work!” Lin barked to the officers and soon all chatter ceased. You rose from your desk and walked over to Lin’s office, knocking on her doorframe “Chief…”

“Captain” she returns as she motions you to come in

“So, word on the streets is Korra caused a building to tip over?” you fold your arms as you lean against the wall.

“Word travels fast…” Lin rolls her eyes and  groans.

“Anyone in the building?”

“We got them all out safe” Lin pinched the bridge of her nose as she started to pick up another folder of reports.

“What abou—”

“Chief…Captain!! There’s a call of a possible 10-56A over at the Kyoshi bridge, it’s the airbender Mako was talking about earlier!” Officer Song reports. You snap into action and Lin jumps from behind her desk, both of you making way out the bullpen.

“Song, gather the task force and meet us at the bridge. Further orders to come once we get there.” You bark to the retreating officer.

“Understood captain.” Song gave you a salute and ran off to scramble a metalbending force. You and Lin head down to the Chief’s squad car, sirens blaring as you peel out of the garage towards the latest crisis.  

*

Lin took control down at ground level while you and the metalbenders scaled up the bridge supports to surround the man. As the squad gets into position, you order your men “On my command  and ONLY my command. Do not engage. I repeat, DO NOT engage.” The officers acknowledge your orders with nods as you look at the man desperately clinging to a column of the bridge.

“Come down immediately, or we will be forced to take action.” Lin’s voice can be heard from a megaphone.

“Stay back! I'm dangerous!” the man yells out as he hyperventilates, looking out at the scene in front of him.

“Sir, it’s okay! We’re not here to hurt you! We ju—” you try and calmly talk to him when an officer shoots out a cable from his armor towards the man. He spreads his arms, reflexively airbending outwards, blowing all the officers off the bridge. “Sorry!” the man yells out. You yell back as you shoot out a cable to grab onto the side of the bridge and pull yourself up - gathering your footing and landing on the bridge safely. You stalk towards the officer putting a finger on his chest, growling under your breath “What the FUCK did I say, officer” You avoid making a scene, what with the press watching their every move, but you resolve to tear into the officer later.

Your eyes catch Korra flying up to the bridge and you walk away from the officer to stand beside Mako and Lin.  

“Think Korra can talk some sense into him?” you look up and watch Korra and the man you’ve learned from Mako is named Daw.

“Would help her reputation if she does” Lin comments “He’s not listening to reason. Hopefully Korra can talk him down.” You all turn to watch the scene above.

After a couple minutes of talking, Korra stretches her hand out to Daw and he attempts to take it. As he does, one of his feet slips off the ledge and he starts hurtling towards the pavement with a scream. Korra immediately throws herself off the bridge and dives after him. Catching him by the waist, Korra opens her glider just in time and they drift upwards for a moment before landing safely near the police cordon.  Tenzin walks up to the new airbender, welcoming him with genuine excitement. The police force stays back as Korra and Tenzin talk to Daw, only to be interrupted by Raiko.

“We have a crisis every other day now, thanks to you.”

Korra, surprisingly taking a calm approach, talks to Raiko while he keeps digging at her in response

“Well, you know who's not here to stay? You! I order you to leave this city. You've caused nothing but trouble since you arrived!” The crowd including you gasp with shock

“That’s a bit much,” you whisper, making a step forward, but Lin grabs your arm to stop you and shakes her head.

“We can’t interfere, it’s between the two of them.” She lowers her voice as you look at her, incredulous.

“I’m not going to talk to Raiko” you walk over to Korra and Tenzin. You listen in to her plan and you chime in to tell her that you and Mako will search for any reports of airbenders in the city and other nations. Korra and Tenzin thank you for your support and help before you turn around to walk back to Lin.

“Do you always need to meddle?” Lin groans folding her arms and you get a bit ticked off.

“When it concerns friends and loved ones, yes” getting an eye roll from Lin

*

You walk into Lin’s office after the whole banishment thing and ask Lin’s assistant to bring in some lavender tea. The assistant looks over at the chief and she nodded her assent as you take a seat across from her desk. Rubbing your temple as Lin takes a seat at her desk she pinches the bridge of her nose and you look over at her, “You do agree that Raiko’s decision on Korra’s banishment is fucking stupid?”

Lin looks up at you and gives you a glare “Language, captain. I don’t need to start hearing any more of that around the bullpen then I already do.” she breathes in and sighs “But yes… his decision was indeed stupid.”

You were about to start your rant when the assistant walked in with the tray, so you keep quiet as you thanked him as he bows and excuses himself out of the office closing the door. “I always wondered how Raiko even got the presidency but now I’m not surprised. It’s all about schmoozing and kissing ass - I mean flattery will get you anywhere in the political system.” you correct yourself before Lin can give you another look as she pours the tea into the cups and hands you one. You thank her and carefully blow to cool it down then take a sip, taking a moment to breathe in the stress-relieving tea.

“I’m not happy about it either. I can’t keep the Avatar safe when she’s not going to be within the city limits.”

“Raiko always needs an ego boost in front of the press which doesn’t help the public, so he had to make a spectacle to get back into their good graces” you spat as you take another sip of the tea.

“No use sulking about it. Don’t let it interfere with work.”  she takes a sip of the tea and you nod as you finish your cup

“Right, like I would let Raiko do that.” You roll your eyes and set the cup on the tray and stand up. “Well since Korra and Tenzin are leaving us. I guess I should get started with sorting through reports on other Airbenders. That should help them, I’ll get Mako to assist.” you voice your thoughts aloud as you walk to the door, Lin waves you off as she reads a report.

*

Mako brings over several reports from Ba Sing Se about a sudden rise of airbenders. You think up an idea, get up from your desk and walk over to the wall - taking down your map and laying it on your desk. “Wherever there’s been a report, we’ll mark it on the map.” Grabbing a marker and putting circles around the areas so far you’ve heard of reports from. Mako mentions a report in the lower ring of Ba Sing Se “That’s where I’m from” you mutter softly causing Mako to join in

“My dad was from there too”.

“Have you ever visited your family?” you ask while you go over the reports.

“No, never had the money and I was too busy trying to keep Bolin and I alive” you shrugged as he added another mark on the map, “You?” he asks.

“No, it’s been years since I’ve last visited. It’s not a place I’m particularly fond of.”

“how come?” Mako looks over at you as you read a report.

“It reminded me of what I’ve lost, my parents” you mutter, not giving much emotion as you said those words.

“I didn’t know… I’m sorry” Mako mutters softly.

“It’s okay, I’ve come to terms with it” you assured him as you walk back to the map to add another mark watching the number of reports spread, “Woah there have been this many reports?” you put your papers down and move the map towards you.

“Yeah, maybe we can give this map to Tenzin and Korra” Mako says and you nod

“Yeah, that’s a good idea” you roll up the map and hand it to Mako - he looks surprised and confused “Care to do the honors, detective?” you give him a smile as he shakes his head.

“Uh—no, you should do it since you’re captain” he gives you back the map in your hands.

You sigh and smile softly “How much longer are you going to be weird around Korra and Asami?.” You look at Mako and when he doesn’t say anything you add “As captain, I have pressing matters to attend to at the academy. You can do this…just don’t be so stiff around Korra. She’s still your friend after all.” You give him a soft smile and a pat on the back of his shoulder as you escort him out the office.

*

Dropping off the week’s patrol schedules and new inspections on personnel onto Lin’s desk, she just gotten done signing her name on a report. You take a seat and groan laying your head back, “Rough day?” Lin mumbles not taking her eyes off the papers. “Though I agree and support Korra’s decision on keeping the portals open. The rising rate of crime is something I don’t support” you groan as you rub your eyes a slight laugh escapes Lin’s lips “A price to pay it seems”. You rub your face as you lift your head and look at Lin, a slight rise builds inside you as you flick your finger and quietly lock the door as you get up from the chair and walk around the desk.

“y/n?” Lin softly speaks your name and notices you walking over to her but continues to go over her pile of papers.

You stand behind Lin and lean down, moving her hair aside and whisper, “How about we stay in tonight…” a kiss behind her ear “…watch a mover” another kiss down her neck “…or enjoy some music...a glass of wine” a kiss lower her neck as Lin sighs at the touch of your lips “Just the two of us” you softly peck Lin’s neck. “The door…” Lin whispers and you smile “It’s locked….” you kiss her neck as Lin closes her eyes and bites her lip “Just the two of us? I… like the sound of that” a happy sigh escapes her lips.

“Me too” you whisper, kissing behind her ear then grabbing the arms of her chair and turning her as you start kissing her. You pull back and something catches your attention and you look down at her desk “Wait what is that…” you sound confused “Get up…I think there’s something on your desk” you lean down and check under Lin’s desk “On my desk? What are you talking about?” Lin stands up and looks over your shoulder. “Yeah there’s something on your desk” you state, then get up and smirk as you put your hands on her thighs and lift her up to sit her down on the desk “Oh wait it’s you” you smirk while you wrap your arms around her “That wasn’t funny or cute” she glares at you and you smile pouting your lips “I’m sorry, let me make it up to you” grinning as you lean in and slowly start kissing her. She kisses you back running her hand up into your hair.  Your tongue swipes over her bottom lip, tasting her. Her lips part, your tongues dancing against one another until you pull back for breath. “I should sto….” You trail off in a whisper as your eyes stare back at her lips and you lean back in as you tug Lin’s waist closer to yours, standing between her legs.

           Her phone rings and she groans before pushing away, putting her hand over your mouth as she composes herself and answers “Chief Beifong” managing her usual tone. You peck your lips on her palm and your ears pick up and recognize that it’s Mako’s voice. You want Lin to keep working, but you're just craving to put your lips on her skin. It’s just Mako . You grab onto Lin’s hand and kiss her hand before dipping your face into her neck and start kissing it while listening in on the conversation. Lin bites her lip as her hand grips your waist while she listens to Mako. “Spit it out already, Mako” she groans - a mix of aggravation of wanting Mako to say what he wanted and also by her reaction from your lips. Mako asks her for permission to go to Ba Sing Se with Korra and Tenzin. Mako tries to give her reasons to let him go but Lin cuts him off “Yes, fine. Go” she accepts quicker than Mako thought because he stutters on the other side of the line. She tries to focus on the conversation as your teeth graze against the back of her ear, causing Lin to put her hand on the phone to muffle her little moans “y/n…” she breaths trying to compose herself again while putting the phone back to her ear “Are you done, Mako?”

“Yeah—I mean—” Lin hangs up on him and runs her hand up your arm.

“What did Mako want?” you mumble as you bring your lips to her jaw.

“A trip to Ba Sing Se with Tenzin and Korra” she breathes out as she pulls your lips to hers and you continue to  make out with her “That’s nice...” you mutter against her lips.

“Mhmm” Lin nods as she bites down on your lower lip causing a groan to escape you, “We’ll be alone in the city” you add pulling your lips back and pressing your forehead against hers “Yeah…” she breathes and lifts your face up giving you a deep searing kiss before pushing you away “That was completely inappropriate.”

“I wouldn’t have done it if it was an important call…”

“I would mark that as harassment. Back to work” she wipes her lip with her thumb and pointer finger as she slides down the desk. You groan hanging your head down, “Fine, Sorry chief”. You look over at Lin’s small mirror and fix yourself back up, you notice Lin giving you a smirk causing you to look down not feeling as bad. Making sure to wipe your lips to remove the lipstick stains then look at Lin getting back to her chair. She pulls open her right hand drawer and takes out a tube of lipstick, reapplying before you open the door “I’ll get those notes to you, chief” you spoke back in your work voice as you leave the office, surprised you just got away with that.  

*

Stepping onto air temple island after leaving work early and not wanting to be at the apartment alone you run into Kya, Pema and the kids. “Hey everyone, I bet it’s getting pretty exciting here on the island” you smile as you slide your hands into your pockets. “Yes, we are over the moon about the new rise of airbenders” Pema gleams as she holds Rohan. “I’m sure dad would be so happy” Kya adds, and you give her a sympathetic nod “I’m sure he is”. Rohan starts to get fussy and Pema turns to Kya and asks her if she can watch Meelo and Ikki while she attends to Rohan.

Meelo and Ikki notice your presence and come running over to you and start tugging on your shirt and cuffs. “Oh hey, you nibblers, I thought I was safe” you laugh as you kneel down and give them hugs. Kya steps forward “Careful guys, you can’t just attack everyone who comes to visit” she puts on her ‘aunt voice’ and you smile looking up at her, “It’s fine”.

“Come on let’s play, y/n!” Ikki jumps as Meelo does his usual jump up to piggyback on your shoulders “Yeah!”

You laugh and look at Kya “Well I guess it’s playtime, want to join?” you ask Kya and she nods “Best I come in case of injury” and you chuckle “Good idea”

           Meelo and Ikki start jumping rope while you and Kya hold the rope for a couple of minutes before the kids get bored. “How about the launching game?!?” Meelo suggests which got you a look from Kya and you wince “Uh what launching game?” Kya questions and you try to stop the kids. “Oh, y/n launches up in the air with her earthbending columns” Ikki smiles.

Kya jerks her head at you, and you put your hands in the air “I don’t launch them up high! Just enough for it to be fun, but safe” you try to explain yourself. Kya shakes her head but smiles “Well show me miss catapult” folding her arms. You sigh as you unbutton your uniform jacket off and set it gently on a tree branch before walking over to the kids and ask if they’re ready and get into position. They do so and you inhale deeply and stomp your foot down earthbending two columns and launch the kids up in the air, hearing them laugh as they start coming down. “This time launch us at each other!” Meelo runs at one side while Ikki runs to another and you shrug “Uh, okay…sure” you look at the both of them and launch them up in the air and watch as they grab their other’s forearm and start spinning around each other.

           After about an hour of playing with the kids you sit down beside Kya and catch a breath. Kya is taking in the sunset enjoying the rays as she watches Meelo and Ikki run around, “I miss having that kind of energy”

“Yeah, they always seemed to be at full charge all day.” You laugh and get up to grab your jacket before sitting back down. Kya notices the scar on your arm and her eyebrows furrow as she concentrates “Can I ask… Where did you get that mark? ” she takes a moment to ask and you glance down at it and tell her the story. “Huh…I met someone with a similar experience except the person I ran into would have had a mark on their back too…”

“On the left side” the both of you finished in unison. Kya looks at you surprised, and you turn your back towards her and lift your tank up to show her.

You turn back around and your eyes widen as you look at Kya “I knew your eyes felt familiar - you’re the healer that saved me!”

“My eyes? Such a small world” Kya says as she lets out a laugh of disbelief.

“You’re telling me.” you laugh, joining in.

“Wow, and here you are.” She motions to you.

“Here I am” you smile and rub the back of your neck “Your eyes were the only thing I remembered. They were the brightest blue eyes I saw. Trusting."

"Thanks" Kya blushed slightly and smiled you nodded and looked down fumbling with your hands "I never got to thank you, by the way. I tried looking for you when I got better, but was told you had already left Ba Sing Se” you put on the uniform jacket and buttoned it up.

“I was only there for a few days. I ran into you as I was leaving, and you were beaten and burned badly. I had to help” she spoke softly as she remembers that night.

“Well thank you. I owe you my life” you sit back down beside her as you pull your knees up and rests your arms on them.

“Nonsense, anyone would have done it” she waves and brushes off the sentiment.

“I don’t know. The lower ring is a different place. Most of the time people are just left out to die with how bad the living conditions are there.” You look down as you stop talking - silence settles between you both before you talk again “Sincerely though, I’m grateful. I’m in your debt”

“And you helped save Jinora. That debt is well paid off.” she smiles and then adds “I’ve always wondered what happened to you - if you were well. I’m glad you are. That’s all a healer hopes for.”

You smile softly as you look down slightly before glancing out at the scenery “Yeah, I’m well. Just like I told Tenzin, I would have done it no questions asked”.

Pema calls the kids inside for dinner as she walks towards you and Kya “Dinner’s ready, Kya. y/n would you like to stay for dinner?”

“Sure, why not. Thanks for offering” you smile as you get up, dusting yourself off and join the women inside.

“How’s everything at the station, y/n?” Pema starts the conversation as everyone eats their dinner.

“Hectic in all honesty. With the spirit vines there has been rising tension in the city, but that’s what’s to come when change happens. We all just have to adjust to it.” You smile softly as you push some veggies around in your plate before munching on a steamed carrot.

“What about everything here on the island? I bet it’s getting hectic here” you look at Kya and Pema.

“We’re all very excited to start receiving the new airbenders,” Pema smiles as she cradles Rohan in her arms.

“I bet” you smile as Meelo jumps up “We’re going to whip those benders to shape!” he poses as a commander “I’m sure you are, Meelo” you chuckle “What about you Ikki?” you glance over at her and she smiles excitedly “I’m so excited to be a teacher! Daddy says I get to keep my room too!” she clasps her hands together. “Well the new benders are going to need a lot of guidance, but go easy. Airbending is new to them.” You give them a smile as they listen attentively. Dinner continues on and soon Pema calls for the kids to get ready for bed while you and Kya help with the dishes.

“You have a way with kids, y/n” Pema comments as she washes the dishes while Kya checks on the kids.

“Yeah, I love kids.” You smile softly as you dry the dishes.

“Ever thought about having kids of your own?” Pema asks and you sort of drop a dish in the sink filled with water and pick it back up “Kids? Of my own? No... I think I’m too young to think about kids” you laugh as a slight blush creeps on your cheeks.

“Really? I guess to each their own. So you never thought about it?”

“No, not really. Not kids of my own anyways. I’ve been busy working and living to think about the possibility of raising kids” you shrug as you set the dishes up. “Plus, your kids are a handful. I think they kill any thought of me wanting kids…I’d miss the quiet” you laugh but quickly apologize to Pema “I’m sorry, it was a joke. I care for your children, but—”

“It’s okay, y/n. I agree sometimes they are a handful, but I don’t regret the life I chose” she smiles assuring to you then sets down her wash rag “I should check on the kids…and Kya”

“Right, I should get back to the city. Thanks for everything tonight, Pema. Everything was delicious.” You started to head out when Pema stops you and hands you a bamboo basket “I had plenty leftovers, so I made you a takeaway bag”

“Thanks, you shouldn’t have, but it’ll make for a good breakfast” you smile and raise the box a bit in gratitude before leaving the island.

*

“Lin?” you call out into the empty apartment and sigh “Even when I hang out at the island and have dinner I still somehow make it back before her” you mutter as you smile putting the food in the ice box. You grab a cup and fill it with some ice, then measuring out a finger of whiskey before sitting out on the terrace and looking out at the night sky. After fifteen minutes of gazing at the stars your attention is back on the room when you want to listen to some music. You stand up and grab the radio and bring it outside and turn the knob on. A lovely jazzy melody plays as you sit back down and enjoy your nightcap, looking out over the city skyline. The faint sound of the door opening has you stirring, and Lin’s voice calls out your name as you tell her where you are. She walks over to you as she slowly settles out of work mode as she leans over and gives you a kiss, “Hi” she whispers on your lips and you smile “Hi” you whisper back and kiss her back. “You’ve been here the entire time after work?” Lin heads back inside and starts changing into her house clothes. You turn down the volume and bring the music inside as you close the door behind you, following Lin, “No, I actually had dinner over at the Island. I was hoping to catch Tenzin and Team Avatar before they left, but they were long gone. So I ended up spending time with the airbending kids, Pema, and Kya.” You sit down on the couch as Lin continues the conversation in the bedroom. “Pema had you look after the kids? Don’t let her do that if you don’t want to.”

“Oh no, the kids asked me to play. I didn’t mind…” You smile as you take a sip of your whiskey. Lin comes out in her white tank top and sweats as she fixes her hair and changes into her house shoes.

“I brought leftovers from dinner if you’re hungry. I can heat them up for you” you get up and kiss the left side of her temple before heading to the kitchen. “You don’t have to, y/n” Lin remarked “I want to. I just didn’t know when you were coming home, go sit at the table.” You smile as you start heating up the food Pema made. Once they were done you make a plate for Lin, bringing her to the outdoor couch on the terrace as you grab a throw blanket and hold each other as she eats and you watch the sky, “Why do you like being out here so much?” Lin mumbled on your shoulder as she pulled the blanket more on her. “It's peaceful, the sky, the noise from the city as it starts to quiet down as people fall asleep.” You speak softly, holding Lin close as she huddles to you looking at the sky, not understanding, but content nonetheless. You put an arm behind your head to prop it up on the arm rest while you’re both laying down. “Also, It’s become my favorite time of day because it’s when I know I can be with you without anyone looking.” You look down and she lifts her head up to look at you and you dip your head down and slowly kiss her. “I love being with you, Lin” you whisper against her lips as you share another kiss with your girlfriend. Lin lifts her head up and slowly moves herself on top of you and straddles on top of you as you kiss each other, your hands moving onto her waist, so she doesn’t fall off of you. Hands slide up her sides as you pull her waist close to yours while you kiss her deep and slow, “Let’s go to bed…” Lin mumbles against your lips and you nod slowly as she crawls off of you, you sit up and hold her hand as you walk to the bedroom and lay down wrapping your arms around her. Your legs intertwine as you kiss her shoulder. Lin smiles in your arms and runs her hand up and down your back, you’re dozing off from her soothing touch and she slowly falls asleep along with you. In peace in each other arms.

#lin x reader #linbeifongxreader #linbeifong x reader #lin beifong x reader #TLOK3InTheseArms #fyrefics

[pokeblader3]

Reimagining ATLA's Water Tribes and Air Nomads:

I love Avatar so much you guys, it's a masterpiece in writing and worldbuilding, but over the years I've sat and thought over it, I've thought up some ideas. In the show, the Air Nomads and Water Tribes aren't as fleshed out as the Fire Nation or Earth Kingdom, so as a worldbuilding exercise, I fleshed them out some more, with some slight rewriting.

The Water Tribes:

There are 2 types of Water Tribes - polar hunter-gatherer icebending tribes who developed waterbending as a result of being surrounded by ice and water(and use it to mass-hunt sea life and build ice houses, like the Arctic cultures they're based on), - and tropical seafarers who navigate a large ocean filled with islands, based on Austronesians and other Pacific peoples, who used ocean currents and star maps to navigate the vast oceans, and diverged into a number of different Pacific nations with the Austronesian expansion(being surrounded by a vast ocean, they'd develop waterbending separately than the poles).

The Pacific Water Tribe would have a large number of smaller "tribes" like how the polar tribes are divided into North and South, with some being inspired by Aboriginal Australians and Mississippians(hence boomerangs and other Oceanian influences in the polar Water Tribe, and also the swamp tribe), and as the Fire Nation is a tropical island nation that colonized nearby coastal territories, a number of these Water Tribes will be colonized by the Fire Nation, similar to the Earth kingdom, some of the earliest colonies in the Fire Nation's expansion.

Given both of their cultures have the shared art of waterbending(and more recently, both being colonized by the Fire Nation), the polar and tropical tribes have a kinship with each other, and welcome other Water Tribe people and assist them in their voyages(better explaining how polar tribes can cross the entire earth from pole to pole, going through vastly different climates, in ships made from just bone and animal hide). Given Water is the element of change and adaptability (a large number of tribes united by a common bending style developed in different occasions to suit their environment) and heart and community (resisting the Fire Nation and cultural camaraderie and hospitality to other Tribespeople even if they aren't a part of your tribe, along with the theme of indigenous unity forming in the wake of colonization, which could be tied to the element of Water), these would fit pretty in line with what Water represents in Avatar.

Sokka and Katara would meet other Water Tribes and the people that make them up in Book 1 as they travel from pole to pole, and learn about things like seafaring by sensing the ocean and looking to the moon's astral companions, along with have small bits of community and hospitality when they enter Water Tribe territories along their way. There would be a recurring character a la Jet or Suki from one of these new tribes.

Lastly, in real life, day and night cycles behave very differently in polar regions: at the poles of the earth, an entire year is 6 months of darkness and night, followed by the sun rising and not setting for another 6 months. This is called the midnight sun effect(and is something Sokka actually references in the first episode of the series, despite the sun and moon rising and setting in normal 24 hour cycles in the show). Given how Waterbending and Firebending are given strength by the sun and moon, this would be a great detail to add to Book 1, perhaps with the eventual sunrise/set in the Northern Water Tribe being a timeframe they need to reach the tribe before it occurs, as it would be such an important event.

Also, as mentioned in a previous post I made, I like the idea of the spirit portals on each pole being connected, and how the Polar Water Tribes became 'sister tribes' before they could circumnavigate the globe, along with how the Ocean and Moon spirit moved between the North and South Water Tribes on a cycle, before the Fire Nation severed the portal with the spiritual wound they inflicted on the world with their genocide of the Air Nomads and Southern Water Tribe, a visualization of the spiritual damage they are doing on the world, and one that would eventually heal decades later in Korra's era after reparations are made.

The Air Nomads:

The Air Nomads were not wiped out entirely in Sozin's genocide - Aang is not the last person of his culture. In real life, genocides do not destroy a culture or people entirely - they are still alive, often with their culture critically endangered and their presence erased and suppressed so that many people do not think they even exist anymore, see how Americans treat the original inhabitants of our continents that White Europeans tried to wipe out(and never fully succeeded in). I didn't mind the Air Nomads being revived and Sky Bisons miraculously surviving in Korra for this reason, a more realistic tragedy for Aang(aside from having ran away and not been able to interfere when the genocide of his people started and losing all his friends and family over the 100 year time skip) would be dealing with the actual effects of genocide and being a member of a culture that the Fire Nation drove to endangerment and is deeply wounded and scarred from a systemic genocide against them.

Aang would meet other Air Nomads, and we'd get a character who was an Air Nomad too, possibly showing the cultural differences between the 4 temples(which don't have that weird worldbuilding about gender segregation, also, not every Air Nomad would be an Airbender like the creators have stated). This would also help explain why the Sandbenders knew what specialized equipment to use to capture Appa when airbenders and sky bisons haven't existed for 100 years, and how Long Feng and other Earth Kingdom people knew about Sky Bisons, with an Earth Kingdom commoner saying Appa was probably being sold for bison steaks(a market that apparently still existed 100 years after Bisons were driven extinct).

I'd want to see how Air Nomads who couldn't airbend would be accommodated in their culture - every kin group can still have a flying bison and make their nomadic travels, but how are non-benders accommodated? This could connect to the inventor's son in the Northern Air Temple, who showed how disabled people could have accomodations made for them in gliders. Maybe the Western Air Temple could be a little more OSHA compliant, so you wouldn't fall to your death if you trip near a ledge, too.

I feel like we didn't get to see enough of the Air Nomads in ATLA, after Gyatso and Aang, is the only other named Air Nomad Yangchen, who appears like twice throughout the original show? I'd love to see Air Nomads migrating and raising herds of bison(they are nomadic pastoralists, after all). Tibetan culture has a unique element where many young boys are expected to live at a monastery for a few years to learn discipline and mature, which would be interesting to represent in the Air Nomads' spirituality and temples that are already present in the show. Would there be any Air Nomad settlements or homesteads outside the Air Temples? Would there be many nomadic herds of bison herders in the mountains and islands the temples are situated in?

Lastly, Air Nomads surviving the genocide would heighten ATLA's important message about reparations and healing from genocide and violence: after the Fire Nation is de-programmed and reparations are made to restore and help the Air Nomads and Water Tribes heal, the sky bisons will return to roaming the world, and the Air Nomads would be able to rebuild their culture and the Water Tribes would be able to rebuild their tribes and regain autonomy of their territory when the Fire Nation returns their land to them, with the spiritual scars left on the world after the Fire Nation's war eventually healing, with the portals in the Water Tribe being restored again and the Ocean and Moon spirits being able to return to the Southern Water Tribe's spirit oasis again after years of being severed from them.

#avatar #avatar the last airbender #sokka #katara #aang #worldbuilding #rewrite #atla #air nomads #water tribe

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

2010s Art: Music, Games, and TV

So I love all forms of art. It may not seem like it since I tend to stick mainly to movies, with the odd cartoon or video game thrown in, but that’s really because movies are more my thing due to not being massive time investments. Like, don’t get me wrong, I gamed, I watched TV, I listened to music, but it was a lot more casual than my deep dive into becoming a major cinephile.

With games and TV, it was mostly issues of money and time respectively. I have a few consoles, mostly Nintendo and Sony ones, and my wife helped me experience Xbox games, but I just don’t have the money needed to experience every good game that comes out. With TV, the time investment is the biggest roadblock, especially when all the best shows have hour-long episodes these days. With movies, I just have to spend 90 minutes to two hours on average; for TV, it’s countless hours I could be watching movies. As for music… well, I listened to a lot, I just don’t feel totally qualified to properly rank and list songs and albums.

So instead of the big decade-spanning list for movies that I’m doing, I’m going to go over some things I enjoyed from the past decade and maybe a few things I didn’t in music, TV, and video games. Here’s a little guide so you know what stuff is something I consider one of my absolute favorites in any given medium - if it’s from this decade, it will be in bold, and if it’s from a previous decade but I experienced it this decade, it will be underlined.

Television

I figured I’d get this out of the way first since it’s the medium I have the least experience with. Let me put it this way: I have seen only one season of Game of Thrones, the first one (and by all accounts I dodged a bullet by dropping that show). I also had the misfortune of jumping in to The Walking Dead right as it was gearing up for its abysmal second season, which turned me off that and led to me only watching an episode here or there. 

I had better luck watching live action shows on streaming. I managed to get through almost all of Pretty Little Liars on Netflix, which was a chore in and of itself; it’s a good show, but boy could it ever get arbitrary and frustrating. Speaking of Netflix, I think it goes without saying that Stranger Things is their best effort; from the likable cast of kids to the awesome soundtrack, even though it never really surpasses season one the show always has something cool going on in one of its plots. My other favorite from Netflix would probably be their take on A Series if Unfortunate Events, which is how you do adaptation expansion right; everything they add feels like it’s in service of fleshing out Lemony Snicket’s dismal world, as well as giving Patrick Warburton an incredible dramatic role as the Lemony narrator himself.

Amazon managed to score two hits in my book. The first is the unbelievably fun and charming Good Omens, a miniseries that somehow got me to love David Tennant and Michael Sheen more than I already did. The second was the gory joyride that is The Boys which while not the smartest or most original superhero satire is definitely the most fun.

While I didn’t watch the whole show and would not consider it one of my favorites, I do want to give props to Hannibal for introducing me to Mads Mikkelsen. As far as I’m concerned, he’s the only person aside from Hopkins worthy of playing everyone’s favorite cannibal. Another show I DO consider a favorite despite slacking on keeping up with it is Ash vs. Evil Dead; I only needed to see a single season of Bruce back with the boomstick to know this show was a masterpiece.

On the animated side I have much more to talk about. Not since the 90s have we been spoiled with so many genuinely great and varied cartoons. We got Adventure Time, Regular Show, Steven Universe… really, Cartoon Network raised the bar this decade and made up for an awful 2000s. They even finally gave Samurai Jack a conclusion, which despite the mixed results, was still a real exciting phenomenon to experience.

Of course, my favorite CN show came from Adult Swim. I am of course referring to Rick & Morty, a fun sci-fi adventure comedy that attracted the most obnoxious fanbase possible in record time. While certainly not a show you need a high IQ to understand and having an atrocious third season, it still manages to be funny and thought provoking in equal amounts. Seriously though. Fuck season 3.

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is another great show that I sadly fell off the wagon of around the fifth or sixth season. It never got bad of course but it never really engaged me like the older episodes, though what I’ve heard of the last season makes me wish I’d kept up with it. It was a great show with a lot of heart and character, and I’m not sure we’ll ever see a show like it again.

Netflix did not slack in the animation department; I didn’t catch their most famous show (it’s the one about a certain Horseman) but I did catch their fantastic take on Castlevania, which as a huge fan of the series was a real treat. Where the fuck is Grant though?

My two favorite shows of the decade, however, are what I see as the pinnacle of East and West: Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure and Gravity Falls. 

JJBA is a series I had vague passing knowledge of, only knowing its existence due to seeing Stone Ocean referenced on the Wikipedia page for air rods when I was younger and, of course, the memes that spawned from Heritage for the Future, which were inescapable back in the day. As soon as I got into the series, it became one of my biggest inspirations, teaching me you can be deep, complex, and filled with great character interactions while also being so batshit insane that every new and absurd power is incredibly easy to buy (looking forward to the rainbows that turn people into snails, animators). They managed to get through the first four parts and start up the fifth over the decade; so far my favorite part is four, mainly due to the magnificent bastard that is Yoshikage Kira (played time perfection by D.C. Douglas) and in spite of serial creep Vic Mangina playing the otherwise lovable asshole Rohan Kishibe.

Gravity Falls on the other hand is just a fun and engaging mystery show that manages to excel at being episodic and story-driven all at once. There’s only one or two “bad” episodes across two seasons, and it lasted just as long as it needed to, wrapping things up with a satisfactory ending that still gave fans a few mysteries to chew on. It also gave us Grunkle Stan, perhaps the greatest character in all of animation, the pinnacle of “jerk with a heart of gold” characters who is hilarious, badass, and complex all at once. This is my favorite western animated show…

...but then the last year of the decade threw a curveball and, if I’m being honest, is on par with Gravity Falls: Green Eggs and Ham. Netflix really wanted us to know 2D animation is back in 2019; between this show and Klaus, the future is looking bright for the medium. It’s a fun, funny roadtrip comedy that knows when to be emotional and when to be funny, and it’s all filtered through the wubbulous world of Dr. Seuss. It’s just a wonderfully delightful show.

And on the subject of JoJo, I had a kind of love-hate relationship with anime this decade. The attitudes of anime fans turned me off from anime for a long while. Sure, I checked out stuff like Attack on Titan and Sword Art Online, but neither series really clicked with me. The main anime I loved this decade were ones that started in the 2000s and ended in the 2010s, like Dragon Ball Z Kai and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. I suppose I did enjoy My Hero Academia, which is a really fun show with an awesome and varied cast and great voice acting. Love Froppy, best girl for sure.

One of the most unfortunate things about this decade was how many great shows got screwed over by their networks. Sym-Bionic Titan, Thundercats, and The Legend of Korra were all great shows in their own right but were treated like shit by their respective networks. It really makes me upset that stuff like that not only happened, but continues to happen to this day.

But let’s not end on a bad note; let’s talk about the astounding returns old shows got. Invader Zim got a movie as did Hey Arnold, with the latter in particular finally wrapping up the dangling plot threads, but those are actual TV movies so they don’t really fit here; what DOES fit is Static Cling, the triumphant return of Rocko’s Modern Life. A forty minute special, it follows Rocko and his friends as they navigate the modern age, trying to bring back Rocko’s favorite cartoon. Rachel Bighead’s arc in this in particular is pretty groundbreaking and awesome. 

Also awesome was the first few episodes of Samurai Jack’s return, though it did end up petering out halfway through the season and ended on an anticlimactic note. Still, Tom Kenny’s Scaramouche, the sheer amount of continuity, and the awesome final curbstomp battle against Aku are worth giving this a watch. And if nothing else, stuff like this gives me hope for future revivals. What will we see next? Gargoyles comeback? Batman Beyond continuation? KENNY AND THE CHIMP REVIVAL?! Chimpers rise up!

Music

Much like everyone, I listened to a lot of music this decade. There was a lot of shit, and I definitely used to be one of those “wow no one makes good music anymore” morons, but I grew out of that and learned to look in the right places.

Let’s start with the albums I loved the most. Continuing her meteoric rise from the 2000s, Lady Gaga drooped her magnum opus, Born This Way, an album that successfully showcases her skills as she takes on numerous pop styles. No two songs sound the same, and with a couple of exceptions every song slaps. While we’re on the subject of pop stars, Gaga’s contemporary and lesser Katy Perry managed to hit a home run with the fun bit of pop fluff that was Teenage Dream.

Weird Al was sorely missed for most of the decade, but what albums he did drop featured some of his best work. While Alpocalypse doesn’t hold up quite so well, it’s still solid, but even then it is blown out of the water by Mandatory Fun, an album that just refuses to stop being funny from start to finish. And that’s not the only funny albums this decade; aside from artists I’ll get more into later, George Miller AKA Filthy Frank released Pink Season as one of his last great acts as his character of Pink Guy. The album is as raunchy and filthy as you’d expect. And then for unintentional comedy, Corey Feldman dropped Angelic 2 The Core, an album so musically inept that it ends up becoming endearing; it’s The Room of music.

As I gamed a lot this decade I got to experience a lot of great video game soundtracks, but the two I found to be the absolute best were Undertale and Metal Gear Rising’s. I couldn’t tell you which soundtrack is better, and I’ve actually made a playlist on my iPod containing my favorite tracks from both games. Pokemon had solid soundtracks all decade, but they definitely were better in single tracks such as Ultra Necrozma’s theme from USUM and Zinnia’s theme from ORAS.

And speaking of individual songs, there were a lot I really loved. The disco revival in the easel ide half of the decade lead to gems like “Get Lucky,” “Uptown Funk,” and… uh, “Blurred Lines.” The controversy to that one might be overblown, but it sure isn’t anything I really want to revisit.

Corey Feldman may be the king of unintentional comedy, but this decade was seriously ripe with so bad it’s good music. The crown jewel is without a doubt the giddy, goofy “Friday,” but I think the equally stupid but also endlessly more relatable Ark Music production “Chinese Food” is worth some ironic enjoyment as well. 

Meme songs in general were pretty enjoyable, though it came at a price. Remember when everyone tried to be funny by ripping off “Gangnam Style?” Remember when people took that Ylvis song at face value? Irony and satire were lost on the masses. I think the best mene song of the decade, though, is “Crab Rave,” a bouncy instrumental dance track with a fun music video and an absurd yet hilarious meme tacked to it. And then we have “The Internet is for Music,” a gargantuan 30 minute mashup featuring every YTMND, 4chan, Newgrounds, and YouTube meme you could think of (at the time of its release anyway),

Then we get into artists. Comedy music was great this decade, with Steel Panther and The Lonely Island putting out great work all decade, but by far my favorite funny band is Ninja Sex Party. Dan “Danny Sexbang” Avidan and Brian “Ninja Brian” Wecht are pretty much my favorite entertainers at this point, with them easily being able to go from doing goofy yet epic songs where they fuck or party to doing serious and awesome cover albums where Dan flexes his impressive vocals. A big plus is how all of their albums are easily some of my favorites ever, with not a single bad CD, and that’s not even getting into their side project Starbomb. These guys are a treasure.

Then we have Ghost, a Swedish metal band who play up the Satanic panic for all it’s worth. These guys captured my interest when I heard the beautiful “Cirice” on the radio, and despite that song rocking the fuck out, Imagine my surprise when it ended up being only middle of the road awesome for this band! With killer original songs like “Rats,” “Mary in the Cross,” and “Square Hammer” to a awesome covers like “Missionary Man” and “I’m a Marionette,” it’s almost enough to get a guy to hail Satan. I think they appeal to me mainly because they have a style very in line with the 80s, most evident on tracks like “Rats.” 

While I’d hesitate to call him one of my favorite musicians yet (he is really good so far though), one of my favorite people in entertainment is Lil Nas X. From his short but sweet songs that crush genre boundaries to his hilarious Twitter feed, this guy is going places and I can’t wait to see what those places are.

And finally, the guy I think may be one of the greatest creative geniuses alive and who has nearly singlehandedly shaped Internet culture with everything he does… Neil Cicierega. While it’s not like I only discovered him in the 2010s - the guy has been an omnipresent force in my life since Potter Pupper Pals debuted - he definitely became the guy I would unflinchingly call the greatest artist of our time over that period.   Whether he’s releasing the songs under his own name or as Lemon Demon, you can always be sure that the songs are going to burrow into your brain. His Lemon Demon album Spirit Phone, which features songs about urban legends and the horrors of capitalism, is easily my pick for album of the decade. And then under his own name he released three mashup mixtapes: Mouth Sounds, Mouth Silence, and Mouth Moods. All three are stellar albums, but only Mouth Moods has “Wow Wow,” the bouncing track about homoerotic bee-loving Will Smith and outtakes so good they deserve to be on the next album.

Video Games 

Having a PC this decade was great because it let me experience a lot of games I probably wouldn’t have otherwise, like Half-Life, BioShock, Earthnound, Mother 3, and Final Fantasy VI and VII. All of these and more are among my favorite games of all time now, but we’re here to talk about the stuff from this decade I consider great.

It’s hard to talk about this decade in gaming without mentioning Skyrim. Yes, it has flaws and the main storyline is a bit undercooked, but there’s so much fun to be had dicking about in the wilderness it’s hard to be too mad. And if you have mods, there are endless opportunities to expand the game. The same is true for the other game I have sunk countless hours into, The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth. Not only is there a thriving modding community, but it has been supported and encouraged by the creators and some mods have even made the leap into becoming fully canon! It’s always a blast to revisit and see how far I can break the game with item combos.

Surprisingly, Batman managed to get not one, not two, but THREE awesome licensed games this decade! Arkham Asylum, Arkham City, and the unfairly maligned Arkham Origins all kick as much ass as the Dark Knight himself. The former two reunite Mark Hamill and Kevin McConroy as Joker and Batman while the latter features numerous stellar boss battles. The combat in these games is so graceful and fluid, you WILL feel like Batman at some point, be it after flawlessly clobbering two dozen mooks or silently eliminating a room of thugs before they even realize you’re there.

Pokémon had a bit of a rocky decade; it started out strong with the fifth generation, the best games in the series with a great story, region, and sidequests and then just went downhill from there. Not incredibly so, of course - the games were always fun at least - but gens VI through VIII were not the most graceful steps into 3D. Still, every gen managed to produce some of my all-time favorite Pokémon. Gen V had Volcarona, Chandelure,  and Meloetta; Gen VI gave us Hoopa, Klefki, the Fairy type in general, and a gorgeous mega evolution for my favorite Pokémon, Absol; Gen VII had the Ultra Beasts and Ultra Necrozma, some of the coolest concepts in the series, as well as Pyukumuku; and Gen VIII gave us Cinderace, Dracovish, Dracozolt, Polteageist, Hatterene, Snom, and Zacian. And those are just samplings mind you, these gens are full of hits.

Bringing back old franchises yielded amazing results. Look no further than the triumphant return of Doom in 2016, which had you ripping and tearing through the forces of Hell with guns, chainsaws, and your bear fucking hands. This game is HARDCORE. Less bloody and gory but no less awesome was the return of not just Crash Bandicoot, but Spyro as well in remakes that are easily the definitive ways to experience the games. And don’t even get me started on the remastered DuckTales!

Platinum games did not fuck around this decade, delivering Bayonetta 2 and Metal Gear Rising. The former is a balls-to-the-wall sequel to the amazing original Bayonetta that, while lacking in bosses quite as impressive as the first game’s, is more polished and has a fun story and a better haircut for Bayonetta; the latter is an action game so insane it makes the rest of the Metal Gear franchise look tame in comparison. The latter in particular is in my top ten games ever, with every boss battle feeling epic, all the music kicking ass, and Raiden truly coming into his own as a badass.

Speaking of Metal Gear, the divisive The Phantom Pain easily earns its place here. While much fuss has been made about the game being “unfinished,” it still has a complete and satisfying ending even if it doesn’t totally wrap up the dangling plot threads the young Liquid Snake leaves behind. The overarching themes as well as Venom and his relationship with characters like Kaz, Paz, and ESPECIALLY Quiet make this game, with his and Quiet’s being particularly beautiful and tragic. The Paz quest, Quiet’s exit, and the mission where Snake has to put down his men after they get infested with parasites are all some of the most heartbreaking moments in the franchise. But it’s not all tears; there’s plenty of fun to be had harassing Russians in Afghanistan while blaring 80s synth pop from your Walkman. Oh yeah, and fuck Huey.

The Ace Attorney series also thrived, with both Spirit of Justice and Dual Destinies transitioning the series into 3D a lot more graceful than some other franchises while still maintaining the with and charm the series is known for. And if that wasn’t enough for my point-and-cluck adventure needs, Telltale had me covered with The Wolf Among Us and the first season of The Walking Dead. The stories and characters of those games are so good, it’s enough to make you sad they never got a timely sequel or sequels that weren’t shit respectively.

This decade is when I really got into fighting game, though I’m not particularly good. I supported Skullgirls (and am even in the credits!), and got into Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle (and I also got into its spiritual predecessor, Heritage for the Future). But by and large my favorite fighting game of the decade and the one I’m actually pretty good at is Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the most ridiculously ambitious crossover in video game history. The fact that the game is STILL getting more characters added is a testament of how insanely great the game is because instead of being mad that there’s so much DLC, people are going rabid waiting for news of more. It’s such an awesome, complete game out the door that the DLC feels earned rather than half a game being held hostage. Other devs, take note!

A lot of franchises put their best foot forward for sequels. God of War III was an awesomely bloody finale to the original journey of Kratos, with more epic bosses than ever; now he’s off fighting Norse gods, and I hear that game is even better! Portal 2 is just an absolute blast, and easily surpasses the first game on the merit of having Cave Johnson alone; the fact we get Wheatley and the malfunctioning personality cores honestly feels like overkill. Then we have BioShock… 2. While it’s certainly not as good as the first game, I think it was a lot of fun, and it got way too much flak.

 I think it definitely aged better than Infinite which, while still a good game in its own right (it’s hard to hate a game with a character as endearing as Elizabeth), definitely was not warranting the levels of acclaim it got with such a muddled narrative. “Overrated” and “overhyped” are not words I keep in my vocabulary and I certainly would not describe Infinite as such, but I do feel like people got swept up in the gorgeous visuals and the story bits and characters that are effective and so weren’t nearly as critical of its flaws. It’s still a good, fun game with an interesting world, but it pales in comparison to the other two BioShocks. I feel like The Last of Us is in a similar boat. That being said, I couldn’t tell you why; it has a great story, good characters, plenty of replayability, and fascinating enemy design. But despite all that, I appreciate this game more than love it. It’s the Citizen Kane of video game sin that regard at least.

I’d be remiss to not mention the big indie successes of the decade. Shovel Knight is easily one is the greatest platform era ever made, taking everything great about the platformers on the NES and SNES, removing the bullshit, and delivering numerous bonus campaigns with unique playstyles. Then there was Abobo’s Big Adventure, a marvelous mashup of all sorts of games starring the beloved Double Dragon mook as he goes on a bloody quest to save his son. It’s a blast and there is tons of variety but some sections are definitely as hair-pullingly difficult as the games that inspired them. And then there is Doki Doki Literature Club, the free visual novel that brutally subverts your expectations. Sadly, I do feel the game loses some impact on subsequent playthroughs, but it’s still a great, effective story that skillfully utilizes meta elements.

Still, the greatest indie success of them all is Toby Fox’s masterpiece, Undertale. Charming, funny, emotional, and populated by a cast of some of the most fun and lovable characters ever conceived, this game was an instant smash and is still talked about to this day. Sure, things like Sans have been memed to death, but it’s hard to not just love and cherish the beautiful world Toby Fox managed to create. This game may not be the greatest game of all time, but for what it is I wouldn’t hesitate to name it the game of the decade.

There was a lot of great art in the 2010s, and while I couldn’t get around to all of it, I’m so happy with what I got to experience. Here’s hoping that the 2020s can be just as amazing!

#Music #video games #TV

[darkspellmaster]

Anon Asks in my Inbox as of 10/29/18 –Afternoon edition

Updated link of the Master Guide: http://darkspellmaster.tumblr.com/post/179532344635/update-and-edit-and-master-post-to-the-fokker

1.       i(.)imgur(.)com/2UHctWY(.)png this picture works if you paste it into your address bar and just remove the ( ) symbols around the dots. It's his left hand since you can see the overside. Wether you find it weird to hold someone at the waist when kissing them or not is irrelevant, the arm and hand does not vanish which is the main point. Add it to your post so people can see for themselves.

 Thank you for the picture Anon, due to the blanket removals of BTISudio related things I’m holding off putting the image up and I’ll use something as a representation of the arm motion that you have up. Again apologies for not being able to put the picture up. But I see it, and you’re right the arm is there, but it’s a really weird way of placing it as the natural cure of a kiss like that would have it where one person would have their hand higher than the other. Like I said it’s a weird position. 

I’ll link your said picture so others can look at it. It’s in the main one. 

 2.       You say in 4 that the studio leak image is that of a cropped shot of the previous leak as they cut off the other mouse - but that's not true. You can clearly see the mouse on Pidge's shoulder.

 Added the Edit to the post anon. Thank you. I explained why I missed it. It’s still a bit odd that the mouse has not moved at all.

 3.       The voiceline thing that one anon was talking about was, somebody took lines Lance’s VA said in other shows/games he worked on and they also picked some lines from the 1 voltron VR game and put it together in one clip. The person included some random lines from the other characters too. And claimed it was “leaked audio” they got. Never said how they got it. Clearly fake, and a whole bunch of K/L fans obsessed with it for a bit before they lost interest.

 Okay so they claimed to have data mined. That’s interesting because normally you would only be able to do that with games, since there is a lot of dialogue that is recorded and then left in there when they choose not to use it. Actors will record hours of dialogue for a game and then studios may change plans on how they are going to use it.

 For example, Yuri Lowenthal, who voiced Yosuke, for Persona 4 had lines that indicated that at one point in the game they were planning to have Yosuke be a love option for the MC, but then dropped that plan for whatever reason. This was later data mined by fans from the finished product. But I’ve never heard of a way to data mine for recordings via a tv show, since the extra tracts would be left off the final disk, and you would have to have access to the main audio recordings of the show, and I don’t think Andrea would just go leaving them out there.

 I’m sorry that the fans had to deal with that. That’s also a low thing to do because it cuts into issues with the whole audio department and such. Also it sucks for the fans because it’s a cheap way to get attention and isn’t fair to the listeners nor the actors.

 4.       I didn't see this added yet, but there was a Plance fake "leak" that got a DMCA takedown here on Tumblr from DreamWorks 3 days ago. The artist admitted it was fake when posted, it was meant as a joke and to show how easy it was to make a "leak." This kind of takes validity away from "posts are getting taken down so it must be real!" Sounds to me Dreamworks just wants all of this to go away (since it's upsetting fans or whatnot.)

 Yeah I got one too way back on the 24th, and realized that that was probably why my first post was taken down. I’m trying to be more cautious out of respect for the BTIstudio. But yes, using any form of intellectual property:

 Name of studio, logo of studio, art, dialogue, written words, even plants and other items.

 Can be subject to claims. So even if it’s something made to debunk, if it so much as has a whiff of anything that could be connected to the actual studio, then that stuff has to be taken down for copyright reasons, and I completely understand that.

Next time I go to my convention in May, there’s a lawyer group that shows up and I’m going to try to ask about leaks and fake leaks and blanket take downs and the rules of it all. 

 5.       Honestly Shiro's sight lines in the first 2 pics make more sense if someone shorter was standing next to him. In the third, (I) it's a profile shot so it'd be easy to rotate or tilt the head up/down if this Fokker is a dummy stand-in for another character and (II) Shiro's hand is literally on Fokker's ass due to hand position and the dude's height which is A LOT for a Y-7 show. Now if it were a shorter character, Shiro's hand would be at his waist. 🤔

Interesting catch there. In the original art where the head shot seems to have come from, the eyes are pointed down and to the left away from where Roy is looking.

This would leave us with the question of who is shorter than Shiro right now, as the only ones I can point to are Pidge, Romelle, Allura I think, or one of the Aliens. Keith, Hunk and Lance are all about the same height to him, and since he is looking slightly sideways it makes me think he’s looking at someone who is not the person with him. It’s a weird line of sight that is for sure for the shot.

6.       Apologies if I misread this, but I think you implied the crisscross watermarks were a function of VSI Chinkel software and therefore would only appear on their studio's work. However in the other Chinkel studio shots, that crisscross isn't there. Watermarking is done by the originator (I.e. Dreamworks) not by the recipient. Also the pause | | in the upper right hand of the wedding is from the program the leaker is watching it in (VLC media player, specifically)

 Yeah I thought that it could be something that happened there. But you’re right that the other image clearly shows that it’s not happening on the main one. I’ll have to edit that factor. Still the actual dubbing equipment, according to their website is one of a kind.

 The thing about the VLC is also right, since we use it at my college. However I don’t know of any dubbing studio that would use VLC when they have access to more expensive and better software to watch media on. Also most get it in some digital form that they could play on Adobe or other media player that is far more useful for pausing and doing scripting, and seeing where the audio track is and what it’s doing. So I find that someone using an Open source tool is strange, at least to me, when it comes to a professional workplace.

 7.       that dude isn't roy, i think, he has the same skin tone as adam.

Oh anon, bless your heart here. Your right in that it’s not Roy himself, because that would land them in real hot water. He’s a look alike or representation. I don’t know if the character has a name at this point, but I’m calling him Roy as it’s easier than calling him “The dude that’s clearly a homage of the guy from Macross that was an inspiration to Shiro himself as a character.” Because that would take way to long. As I said before, this could be what someone thinks Adam without glasses and longer hair would look like.

8.       I also thought Roy's arm disappears through Shiro, but in another pic of that kiss that's in a google doc going around debunking the leaks, his arm is very much in that photo and around Shiro's waist like you'd expect. Ngl, that threw me off because I'm starting to think I imagined things and only saw flaws where there weren't actually any at all.

 And this is kind of the purpose of leaks that are not clear, or are not right, or have bad resolution. They are there to cover up the mistakes or things that make people realize they are false.

 It’s one reason art forgers will be very careful to not make mistakes, but the issue is that there are always tells. Some are very very tiny and you have to take them under a microscope and look at them with the eye of someone trained to find them out.

 As for the situation, take a break from it Anon. Go outside, enjoy the fall weather, watch another show or find something else to do. As I keep telling people, relax. No one has a horse in this race, I certainly don’t and nether should you. Our focus should be more on the real image that came out from JDS and LM and figuring out what was up with the table and, hey, on the plus side we have a “The End” shot. XD

 9.       Saw an anon point out that the “missing arm” is there and they are right. It is mainly behind shiro’s new arm and the hand is on his waist. It is a very normal way to hold someone, just because you can see the majority of it, doesn’t mean it isn’t there at all.

As I said I edited the post to reflect that info. The arm may be there, but there’s still something off about the whole thing to me. And again, if I’m wrong, oh well, if I’m right, oh well. I have no horse in this race and honestly am not into the ships.

10.   Lotor’s statue isn’t 3D.... it’s very clearly painted... I think you’re starting to reach a bit with some of your debunking.

 Changed the statue to an actual screen shot that I have to reflect it better. The thing is to me it looks like what you would do with a matte painting over a 3D image to create a more statue like approach to things. Since we have the white light filter over it, it makes it harder to see if it has the same 3D like rendering as Aang’s statue. Also between the time that Korra came out and now, they may have made the program smoother so it’s harder to tell if it’s 3D or not.

 While I agree that they do some statues in normal drawings, the other ones, like Lotor, seem to need details, and I feel like a 3D rendering would be a better way to do it than, a 2D drawing.

 11.   I so want to believe they’re fakes. So much points to it, but one thing bothers me: this is an awful lot of trouble that someone has gone to, for a cartoon!? I mean finding photos on I’m assuming private Instagram accounts or other social media to highly edit? No one can actually find the originals. Plus Chinkel do actually use the multiple watermarks thing. So? Maybe those ones with the cast in them are real. They seem like far too much trouble to fake unfortunately 1/2

2/2 and I’m gonna stab a guess here and say that DreamWorks and whatever other studio it was, aren’t taking any real action besides silently removing the images but not saying anything because they feel like the images don’t give away a huge plot spoiler? Just the supposed one year later thing? Like I said it’s far too much trouble to go to. Someone would’ve had to literally scour the ENTIRE French VAs’ personal social media to find that cast pic, because no one else can find the original.

 To be honest Anon, you would think that right? But the thing is that there are people out there that do this for fun. Namely because they know that it upsets a fandom and they’ll try to stir up the fans and then sit back and laugh at them.

 Given the incident with the actresses and the cloud leak, it can be done. Seriously you can hack anything that has some sort of connection to the net. There’s always a back door, and it’s something that the “White Hats” have been trying to deal with for years. Social media isn’t a safe place when it comes to keeping pictures and such because people can and will break in, all the time. Remember the Sony leak not that long ago?

 The photo with the cast is real, I just think the image on the screen is not. BTIStudio was sending takedowns, I got one on the 24th of October from them from a Mr. Rachel in the IT department. So my guess is it was a blanket take down regarding the name being used, since BTIStudio is now owned by Investors Shamrock and Altor, who just got the studios recently so there may be business reasons, or intellectual reasons “name being used” to pull it down. As another anon pointed out a Fake debunking image got pulled too because of them showing how to do it.

 It's work, but for someone who has the time and skills it’s not insanely hard to do. Because of digital media and how good Photoshop, illustrator, and several other programs are now, it makes it easier and easier to copy art and make forgeries. It’s something artists are dealing with right now because people are finding ways to copy and sell fakes of their digital paintings.

 12.   Something else I noticed about the fake leaks - Ezor's eyepatch. So far, none of the galra with missing eyes wear eyepatches. They all have some sort of cyber prosthetic. Like Sendak, Ranveig, Branko, and Janka. Why would Ezor have a normal eyepatch while the rest of them don't? Doesn't make sense

That’s an interesting point there too. Given what we’ve seen previously, it doesn’t make sense to change up how a character is shown to have a wound like that covered. Unless she couldn’t’ get it done, but that doesn’t make sense either since if she was working with the Blade they would have set her up with stuff on earth by now. And Ezor doesn’t strike me as the type to be all “No I won’t have something cyber put on me” that’s more Zethrid.

13.   The photo with JDS and Lauren are from His official Twitter account.

Thanks Anon, I think I’m going to do some Theories about that when I have a moment. After I finish sewing my costume’s sleeves, and getting done with the prologue to my novel.

I did see it, and it’s interesting, especially with the Red ribbon of fate, the candles and the silver piece on the side. Though that could have been there from another event. XD

14.   I saw that apparently the joke fake "pl/ance leak" was taken down by DW because of copyright as well? if so that proves that the leaks don't need to be real to be taken down.

Yup! As long as it has something that equates to “Intellectual Property” studios and copyright owners can take anything down. It’s a huge issue with Youtube and their review groups and such. That’s why the Essay’s have evolved so much to only put shorter clips in and other aspects.

Fan Art can be copyrighted if it’s too close to original works, or even fake fakes like the Plance art. Most studios just go “Anything that has our name on it, take it down” even if it’s not a real leak.

15.   I think that the anon who mentioned the "fake Klance voicelines leak" is talking about the fake audio leaks that were taken from Jeremy's line from another show and claimed to be about Klance and also a fake picture of Keith with Lance's jacket on .

 Well that’s different. As I said, data mining is a bit hard to do from a tv show since there would be no additional tracks. It’s why most people don’t do that when it comes to creating fake info about a show and typically stick to art, or altered scripts since it’s easier to do. Typically all tracks that are recorded are edited and the ones that are not used are stored on a server that’s not easy to access and isn’t even on the net, it’s in an in house server.

 As for the picture, huh, I think I heard of that one but never saw it.

#voltron #vld #voltron legendary defender #fake voltron leaks #voltron leaks #ask darkspellmaster #anon asks #answered questions #hope this helps people

[arcadian-rhythms]

Arcadian Rhythms

I’ve been working on this project for over a year now (since December 2017) and I am FINALLY ready to start rolling out weekly updates for Season 1! Arcadian Rhythms will be a long-form fan-fiction project similar in scale to what I’ve done in the past with projects like Life is Strange: All Wounds and What I Learned at SRU. Unlike previous fic projects, however, I won’t be posting chapters as soon as I write them. Instead, I will write a “season” of chapters, edit them, make revisions, and tighten them up more than I usually do with fanfic. Then, I will post every “episode” of a “season” once a week on a regular schedule. That way, folks will know, reliably, when to expect more, and they will be able to follow things week to week, or binge it in a big chunk, like a TV series. I’m aiming for each “season” to be about 10-15 “episodes” long, probably looking at three or four “seasons” in total, depending on how much I get involved.

[+ Poster by @mollifiable​ +] (she’ll be helping me with character designs and story revisions)

It’s not long now. _̴____ w̨i͠ll ̛let ͝u͜s͝ go. ̛_____̸ ͠wil̸l̷ g̷ive͝ ̛u̵s̨ ̶hope҉. ͢_̷_̸___͢ ͟w̵ill şave u͝s ̶a̛ll. You should be smiling, too. Aren’t you excited? Aren’t you happy? You’re going to be free.

So, then, that will be the format. What is the story about, though? That’s…actually kind of hard to quantify, as it’s unlike anything I’ve written before. It will most closely resemble my old project What I Learned at SRU, but where that was a modern college AU featuring characters from Avatar: The Last Airbender (and eventually its sequel, Legend of Korra), Arcadian Rhythms will be a modern supernatural crime drama featuring AU adaptations of characters from multiple modern video games. Some of the more prominent games’ cast/ideas to be featured early on will be Undertale, Overwatch, Oxenfree, Life is Strange, Night in the Woods, The Last of Us, VA-11 HALL-A, and Horizon: Zero Dawn, to name a few, but many characters and ideas across multiple fandoms will be adapted to blend together into this single fictional world. To be clear, this isn’t a situation of crossing-over from their respective stories – this is a complete alternate universe. Rather than just re-telling a narrative you may already know, I’ll be incorporating pieces of that narrative and remixing them with pieces of other narratives, forming connections and plot points that tie together in ways that just don’t exist. As I’ve written over 100k words at this point, I feel I could kind of compare to the Netflix Marvel shows -- multiple stories, crossing over into one another, set within a single city, featuring adaptations of pre-existing characters. Yet you could enter the narrative without any knowledge of the original source materials.

So the plot will be an original story centered around strange, supernatural events happening in a single city, weaving together and remixing different concepts and supernatural elements across many different inspirations, tying them together into one, cohesive narrative. It won’t be “well here’s the Life is Strange characters’ story, here’s the Night in the Woods characters’ story” but rather all of the characters’ stories will be interwoven together, mixing in references and elements of where you might know them from, but going in a different direction than they originally do. Most characters will be around 30 years old, with some in their early 20′s – they’ll have day jobs, they’ll have romances that couldn’t exist within their own stories (Aloy Nora and Lena ‘Tracer’ Oxton being one of the core romances, for example), they’ll be friends or rivals with one another, but they’ll all be connected by the same phenomenon going on, much like the characters in Stranger Things (only this will be more of an interwoven plot rather than separate plots conjoining). What if you haven’t played some of or any of these games? No worries – this will be an original plot. Like some of my previous work, it’s more that if you are familiar with the source material, you may pick up extra references or foreshadowing. Like What I Learned at SRU, I’ll be writing this in such a way that even someone who hasn’t played any of these games will be able to enjoy the story. But if you happen to know about some of the gritty details? That might flavor your experience differently.

In terms of tone and inspiration, I’d say the stories that have inspired this project most are The Wolf Among Us, Stranger Things, and Mr. Robot, as well as a pinch of Black Mirror. The plot will revolve around a cast of characters all interconnected by supernatural goings-on in a city inspired by 80′s retro-wave aesthetics, though it will feature modern day technology (and a bit of sci-fi-fantasy stuff).

As an example (skip this paragraph if you just don’t want to know anything about the plot), . . . Think of characters like Max Caulfield, Tracer, and Frisk, (and others) who all possess the ability of short-term time travel – in this world, that is still the case, but their abilities are all connected by the same phenomenon here. Think about what kind of situation the cast of games such as Undertale and Pyre are stuck in and trying to overcome. Think of the interesting things with ‘consciousness’ or ‘the Soul’ that happen in Transistor, Undertale, or Oxenfree. . . . Basically, I’ll be mixing together different supernatural elements I like from games I’ve fallen in love with, games I’ve had plot bunnies for with fanfic, but ultimately just never wrote anything about. For example, I adore many of the characters in the games featured above, but their stories felt…complete. I didn’t feel I had anything to add to them, really, nothing felt “missing.” But when recontextualized, I can express new things. If you’ve read All Wounds you saw some of this intertextual storytelling bleeding through the latter portions in particular, and I really liked this and have a strong passion for that kind of storytelling, and figured this could be a great outlet for that, where I can take my time and just have fun with it.

While I did plan on All Wounds being my last fic, my life hasn’t really changed since I made that decision like I had hoped it would, and I really just need to keep writing things I can just have fun with. I am still working on the visual novel for All Wounds and do plan to finish it eventually. But this has definitely become my new passion project.

So! In the meantime! Season 1 is, at last, underway! Expect updates every Friday! You can follow this blog for updates, including artwork and music-sharing, as well as possibly more “GIF-teaser-trailers” (as my gf put it). The blog also has a lengthy playlist of tracks inspiring the story which I will add to over time. I recommend this track as a starting point to set the tone. I’ve also been curating a playlist for inspiration on YouTube. Thanks again for the support folks have given me over my strange fanfiction projects. I have a weird feeling in the pit of my stomach that this could be a fitting culmination of everything I’ve learned over the past 15 years of writing fic – if I can pull it off – while simultaneously being an expression of my passion for my favorite medium and the steps it has taken in recent years under the direction of passionate developers.

#Arcadian Rhythms #multifandom #Fanfic #Crossover

[avatarsymbolism]

The Full Avatar Trek AU

I  felt bored, so I decided to do a follow up on all of @yinza​‘s awesome Trek/Avatar crossover art by creating a timeline (with episodes) of all the Avatar Trek shenanigans. Also because I’m a huge nerd and there are just SO MANY THINGS that kind of parallel each other in really weird ways despite their differences.

I’ll start off with ATLA and make a post later for Korra. 

Anyway, let’s begin!

Note: This was made pre-”Star Trek: Discovery” so, unfortunately, there won’t be any Lorca/Zhao parallels…yet. I did add one “Discovery” related thing though. 

Avatar

Avatar is the story of a Vulcan-Trill hybrid named Aang who commands the Appa, one of the most prized ships in the Vulcan fleet. Aang himself is a prodigy of sorts, so much so that only he was deemed worthy of the Avatar sybiant–one of the oldest symbiants known to the trills–despite not being fully Trill himself. And, to make the Klingon’s hunt for the Avatar make more sense, I guess we can maybe say that because it’s an old symbiant the Avatar has access to some kind of higher plane of power? That, or maybe the Avatar just tends to be very powerful?

He was merely a Lieutenant Commander serving as first officer to Captain Gyatso when the Klingons attacked the Vulcan homeworld. After Gyatso was fatally wounded in one of the Klingon’s initial assaults on Vulcan, Aang took the initiative and tried to steer them towards safety. 

But, as luck would have it, the Appa got caught in some kind of space anomaly which forced Aang to land on the nearest planet–a small Bajoran colony–which is where our story begins…

Book 1

The Man in the Anomaly 

Katara and Sokka are two Bajorans hunting for food to bring back to their village. The situation on Bajor (and the Bajoran colonies where Katara and Sokka live) is a mix of the ATLA and DS9 canons While there are no signs of camps, the Klingons have frequently raided the Bajoran colonies and tried to harvest their resources in order to weaken Bajor Prime. 

Anyway, Katara and Sokka are out hunting when a space vessel decides to land a few hundred feet away from them. Sokka cautions Katara to stand back, fearing that it might be some kind of Klingon trick. But, when the doors open, the only person to step off the ship is an exhausted looking Aang. 

Meanwhile, on a worn out looking Klingon warbird, Lieutenant Jee informs Zuko that they’re receiving a strange signal from a nearby planet. Zuko investigates. This is rather odd, since last he checked the Vulcans began masking their signals to protect them from the Klingons long ago. Hell, he didn’t even know how many of them were left alive–unless…

And that’s when Zuko decides to head a course to the planet. 

I guess I shroud probably also add that the space anomaly that Aang encountered whipped his ship through time and space. 

The Avatar Returns

The kids’ grandmother informs everyone that a Klingon ship is coming their way. Everyone panics, and Aang is banished from the village by Sokka, who still doesn’t quite trust the guy. 

Enter Prince Zuko and his awesome bat’leth. Zuko demands to know the location of the Avatar–basically a similar situation to what actually happened in canon. Aang appears, offers himself up on the condition that Zuko leaves everyone alone etc., etc. 

Back at the village, Katara and Sokka investigate the ship–a few canonical things happen–and they end up taking control of the vessel to go and save Aang. 

Canon stuff happens–and Katara and Sokka end up managing to teleport Aang back onto the ship. 

As they make a run for it, Aang thanks his new friends and appoints them as officers aboard the Appa (Later on, Katara becomes the chief medical officer and Sokka becomes the science officer).

Also, I just realized that there should technically be a ton of dead bodies on the ship…no idea when/how they’d be removed yet. 

Return to Vulcan

The Gaang travels to Vulcan (just go with it) where they try to look for Vulcan survivors, knowing that not all the Vulcans were actually killed in the Klingon attacks. This leads to some Aangstig when our captain voices regret about not tending to Gyatso when he had the chance, and not being there when his people needed him. Katara assures him that that was nothing he could do anyway (which makes this episode a mix of “The Southern Air Temple” and “The Storm.”).

Meanwhile, Zuko meets Gul Zhao (Yes, he’s a Cardassian and you can’t tell me otherwise. Also, there’s been a long standing alliance between the Cardassians and the Klingons and Ursa was a Cardassian which is why Azula looks like  a Cardassian and Zuko looks like a Klingon in @yinza‘s fan art), and some canon taunting happens. Also, Iroh is not a fan of red leaf tea. He does like prune juice through. “A warrior’s drink!” That, and blood wine.

[filler stuff and exploration I guess] 

I guess instead of a waterbendding scroll, the Gaang could be after some kind of prized Bajoran manuscript?

I was also going to suggest that, with Rene Auberjonois playing one of the tribal leaders in “The Great Divide,” that that episode could be about Bajoran orbs but, that would still be a very boring episode, I think. 

The Storm

BACKSTORY TIME!

After some asshat spouts bullshit, Aang and Katara find themselves in a cave where Aang recounts the events leading up to his landing in the future.  

Meanwhile, the crewmen of Zuko’s ship are threatening mutiny and bringing up the prince’s dishonor. Iroh intervenes and explains Zuko’s story because everyone respects General Iroh (I feel like he’d get along well with General Martok for some reason…man, I need that au now. Meanwhile, Zuko and Worf can talk about how they restored the honor of their families.). 

Cut to Aang’s story. Aang’s busy serving under Gyatso when the Klingons attack. Everyone’s on red alert. Gyatso is busy captaining and trying to get the Appa away from the Klingon flank. Gyatso gets hit, but instead of tending to Gyatso, Aang takes the helm. Aang voices regrets about leaving Gyatso to die saying that he should have been by his side. Katara assures him that that there was nothing he could do (Hmm, since this is partially a repeat of “Repeat to Vulcan,” this may need some work).  

Cut to Iroh and the story of Zuko. Zuko is a young, enthusiastic youth eager to learn how to rule. He wants to observe a war meeting etc., etc.

(Oh, and fun fact: Daniel Riordan, the guy that voices General Bujing–the guy that Zuko speaks out against–played a Klingon in Star Trek: Enterprise. What kind of Klingon lets someone else fight his own challenge!) 

Zuko speaks out of turn…dual…Zuko gets a quarter of his face cut by his father’s bat’leth and is discommendated and banished from Qo’nos until he manages to find whoever holds the Avatar symbiant. 

The Blue Spirit 

Similar premise to the actual episode, although it may need a better name (btw, instead of being a theater geek, the Zuko of this universe is a big fan of Klingon opera). I keep re-imagining Aang’s speech from this episode as something that sounds like it may have come from Captain Picard. (Hmm…Kuzon and Kurzon…).

The Siege of Bajor

Zhao’s plot in the latter half of this season is basically the final arc of Gul Dukat’s plot. I have a few words for you all:

I AM A LEGEND NOW. CARASSIA WILL FOR GENERATIONS TELL STORIES OF THE GREAT ZHAO WHO CONQUERED BAJOR! THEY WILL CALL ME ZHAO THE CONQUEROR, ZHAO THE GODSLAYER, ZHAO THE INVINCIBLE! 

Zhao tries to destroy the orbs or something like that, but Aang manages to get the Prophets to intervene and Zhao is killed the same way as Dukat. That, or Aang just shows up, doesn’t intervene with the Prophets and it’s Zuko that watches Zhao get destroyed by the Prophets…or maybe Aang. I don’t know how Zuko fits into all this. 

Book 2

So, after the Siege, Pakku decides to travel from Bajor to some of the settlements to help them rebuild, and gives Katara some kind of special Bajoran poultice thing…I don’t know–something like the spirit water that Pakku gives Katara in ATLA canon. 

Meanwhile, Zuko meets up with Azula, who tells him that Ozai has apparently decided to restore his honor. Canon stuff, big fight. I can’t decide how Iroh and Zuko would try to disguise themselves. Maybe they just try to blend in, somehow? There’s no way they could just do reconstructive surgery or something since they’re fugitives. 

I’m also wondering if there could be some stuff that makes the Avatar symbiant more significant. I don’t know what though. 

The Cave of Two Lovers

The Gaang’s plot would probably play out differently, but the cave could be some kind of alienish thing that the Gaang encounters. 

The idea of having Chong and co being hippie aliens makes me laugh though for some reason (Oh, I bet it’s because of the drug psa episode of TNG). 

The Swamp

I feel like this could be a variant of “If Wishes were Horses,”  or better yet “Where No Man has Gone Before.” Huu could even be a traveler or something that the Gaang meets. Maybe this planet has some sort of alien property that connects them to the universe in such a way that they almost become enlightened just by being there for a period of time. 

Katara sees a vision of her dead mother, Sokka sees Yue, and Aang has a vision of a girl wearing a VISOR, standing beside a flying boar. 

(Another fun fact: Buck Bokai is Jeong Jeong, Also, Wesley Crusher is the pet shop owner in “City of Walls and Secrets,” and the circus trainer that hurts Appa? Yeah, that’s Lt. Barclay.)

The Blind Bandit

So, the Gaang is trying to find their  way to Earth when they meet Toph in some kind of arena.While there, Aang tries to talk to her but, Toph doesn’t really give a shit. 

Later they manage to find the Beifong household, and Aang meets Toph. Just like in canon, Toph’s parents try to shelter Toph s much as possible, not thinking that she could manage anything on her own, even with her VISOR. 

Later, Aang and Toph talk, and she tells him about the VISOR. By the episode’s end, Toph decides to join the Gaang as their engineer. 

(Wait, this now brings up the valid question of who’s running the ship before all this and whatnot. Maybe we can have a few episodes about the crew and whatnot like we had in TNG? Granted, I don’t think Aang’s crew would like it all that much if he just randomly approved two Bajorans as his science and medical officers. Maybe there could be some other officers and Sokka/Katara/Toph can eventually work their way up? That, or somehow Aang is the only one left on the ship.) 

Zuko Alone

Zuko disguises himself with a hat (yes, we’re doing that), and enters a small village in one of the Earth colonies. There, he gets in trouble with some Terran officers (since we can’t really do Starfleet at this point. Although, Starfleet being like the URN would be cool–Oh, so THAT’S why Raiko is so incompetent. He’s one of those asshat Starfleet command types that knows diddly squat about what he’s doing.)

Zuko meets Lee’s family, and we get some nice character development an some flashbacks.

In this universe, Zuko’s family has a monopoly on the Chancellor position (that or it has become hereditary). General Iroh has laid siege to Earth for 600 days when his son is killed in a Terran counterattack. Devastated by the death of his son, Iroh ends the siege.

Meanwhile, Ozai meets with Azulon and asks that he be made his father’s heir instead of Iroh. Azulon is offended by Ozai’s request and orders Ozai to kill Zuko.

Ursa intervenes, and thanks to some chance events, Ozai is made Chancellor after Azulon;s death.

(It is also at this point that I’ve come to realize that Zuko would basically be the Avatar equivalent of Alexander Rozhenko…I hated that kid. Zuko is 1000 times cooler and less lame. Although, Zuko’s lack of fighting skills as a kid and his empathy probably puts him on par with Alexander…somewhat.)

Lee’s mom meets up with Zuko and tells him that the Terran soldiers are threatening to take Lee away. So, Zuko decides to help her get Lee back, and we get some canonical stuff with a fight.

Well, Zuko’s hat comes off (man, that just sounds really stupid. I’ll come up with something more clever, eventually…maybe) and everyone find out that Zuko is a Klingon. Also, prejudice just like the actual episode.

The Chase

I feel like this would be another fun episode to Star Trekify. You get lots of action, fighting, wisdom etc. Maybe Toph still meets up with Iroh, and she doesn’t realize that Iroh is a Klingon so the two of them drink tea and share wisdom (wait, the VISOR would tell her he’s a Klingon. I’ll have to fix that sometime.). . 

The Serpent’s Pass

This will probably need a name change. But, this could probably have the Gaang traveling through an asteroid belt or something. Meanwhile, Zuko and Iroh are ALSO on their wa to Earth, and Zuko meets Jet. I’d love to see a Star Trek version of their relationship. It would be interesting. 

(Ok, this now brings up the question of: if Jet realizes that Zuko and Iroh ar Klingons, why doesn’t he just remove their hats? This hat problem is now sounding ridiculous.)

City of Walls and Secrets

The Gaang arrives on Earth and tries to meet with the United Earth Council Finding that they’re having difficulty meeting some of the higher ranking officials, the Gaang decides to sneak into one a gala hosted by Kuei. 

However, things don’t go quite as planned when the Gaang gets taken captive by Long Feng, the head of Section 31. Long Feng tells Aang to stop distrupting the state of peace that’s been maintained by him and his agents. For here they are safe. 

Meanwhile, Jet tries to reveal Zuko and Iroh’s identity and fails, being taken prisoner by Section 31 and is brainwashed. 

(Also, what if, in this univrse, Long Feng tries to steal Aangs ship so he can better keep tabs on him or something?)

Ok, the Book 2 plot definitely needs to be reworked so ‘ll just skip to the finale. 

The Earth King

(Or, rather, the equivalent of)

The Gaang manages to show the Council that Long Feng and Section 31 have been running a massive conspiracy, and Long Feng is arrested. 

Meanwhile, Azula (Cardassian), Mai (Klingon), ad Ty Lee (a human presumably from a Klingon colony or something), infiltrate the United Earth Council and are ‘caught’ by Long Feng. 

The Crossroads of Destiny

Plotwise, this episode is pretty much the same as canon.

The Star Trekified differences are that the Appa, Azula’s ship, and Zuko’s eventually meet up. 

Zuko and Kaara were busy having their canon conversation when Katara is beamed away to the Appa, and Azula takes her place. 

The Gaang waits anxiously, all the while wondering what the hell is going on. 

Azula teleeports back to her ship..

Zuko’s ship readies to fire…and the Gaang realizes that they’re about to to get attacked!

Katara is heartbroken! A hit surges through the circuits and Aang gets zapped in his captain;s chair!

Madness endues!

The Gaang just barely makes it out alive, and Katara ends up using some Bajoran medicine to revive Aang 

Book 3

Book 3 pretty much follows canon, so I don’t think I need to explain much. The Gaang travels from place to place, meets different people,there’s an equivalent to “The Day of Black Sun” (not sure what exactly it involves, but maybe they use the cave systems mentioned in “Star Trek: Discovery”) and then the finale. 

#aang #zuko #katara #sokka #iroh #toph #suki #admiral zhao #long feng #king kuei #azula #atla mai #au headcanons #avatar trek #star trek

[t-oresama]

"A Celebration in Animation: The 100 Greatest Cartoon Characters in Television History" by Marty Gitlin and Joe Wos

Synopsis: Few morose thoughts permeate the brain when Yosemite Sam calls Bugs Bunny a "long-eared galoot"or a frustrated Homer Simpson blurts out his famous catchphrase "D'oh!". A Celebration in Animation explores the best-of-the-best cartoon characters from the 1920s to the twenty-first century. Casting a wide net, it includes characters both serious and humorous and ranging from silly to malevolent. But all the greats gracing this book are sure to trigger nostalgic memories of care-free Saturday mornings or after-school hours with family and friends in front of the TV set. 

Published: 2018 (Lyons Press) Genre: Non-fiction, pop culture, ranked list Rating: 3.5 out of 5

WARNING: There are some spoilers in this review (they don't mention the ranking of the shows I'll mention, just the shows themselves). The cover of the book already spoils things in this regard, but just in case you want to read this yourselves, you may want to skip reading this review until then! :D

Reader Review: Okay, so at this point, I'm literally going to start making a new tag/sub-series of reviews called "judging a book by its cover", because yet again, that's what I did. Heck, I'll even go back to my old reviews and tag them as such I went back to my old reviews and tagged them as such. Working at a library is a blessing and a curse in this regard... Anyway, my allure to this book's cover came from Teen Titans' Beast Boy being smack-dab on it. And with my undying love for the original Teen Titans series, I was instantly curious as to what ranking he'd been awarded (THAT, I will spoil; it'll be in the tags). And I've always had a love of both cartoon history and countdown lists, so this book was right up my alley anyway. 

Now, as much as the internet likes to make fun of WatchMojo on Youtube ("Top Ten Anime Betrayals" memes, anyone?), you have to admit that you yourself have watched at least one of their countdown lists, or a countdown list from someone else (ScreenRant, Looper, etc). There's something inherently interesting about putting things, specifically things we see in pop culture, in a ranked order, and the possibilities of the subjects of these lists are limitless so there's something for everyone. That being said, it drives me crazy when people get so mad or defensive about the entry order of a top 10/ top whatever number list, whether it's "How could THIS be #1???", "How could this NOT be #1???", "What about ___???", you get it. So going into reading this list of the top 100 cartoon characters in all of cartoon history, you really have to understand that these are the, albeit well-thought-out and industry-knowledgeable, OPINIONS of two people. This is not the Mayan calendar, the end-all be-all of lists. If anything, it prompts a dialogue, inviting you to hop on discussion train and talk about cartoons yourself. 

Both Marty Gitlin, a pop culture author, and Joe Wos, a cartoon illustrator, have both the professional and personal insight of the vast history of cartoons. What is very apparent, though, is that these two have come together for more of their personal love of cartoons than anything else. This didn't bother me personally, because no matter how unbiased a ranking list claims to be, there's always a little bit of bias. The two authors try to base their rankings in fact more than personal preference, and for the most part they do stay unbiased, in both obvious and non-obvious ways (for example: there is one Disney character that ranks decently higher on the list than another Disney character, which was backed by reasonings both personal and professional by the authors, since the initial reaction from anyone would probably be "...Wait, really?"). Their choices do a great job in ranging from the dawn of cartoon history with "Crusader Rabbit" and "Astro Boy" to much more recent cartoons like Archer from "Archer", Tina from "Bob's Burgers" and Korra from "The Legend of Korra", all with the same logic applied to each for why they deserved to be recognized in this book, and not necessarily why they deserve spot number whatever (although they do emphasize the rankings DO matter, but it didn't really matter a whole lot outside of the top 20). I genuinely enjoyed learning about cartoons I wasn't too familiar with, getting little blurbs and fun facts out of it, and just generally getting into the heads of Gitlin and Wos. It's clear they did their research and really applied a lot of thought to this list. After all, it's hard with ALL the cartoons characters that have existed since the early 1900s to simply pick 100. Some liberties are taken for duos, like Sylvester and Tweety and Cosmo and Wanda, but it makes sense because some exist as foils of the other to play off of each other, and their partnership is what made them stand out individually in the first place. In that regard, it's more like a top 125-ish list, but again, the authors take care in making the reasonings make sense. Plus there's a foreword from SpongeBob voice and overall voice-acting marvel Tom Kenny, which is a nice treat that whets our appetite for what this book will unveil.

That being said, this book is very much a first draft that should have had some more time to be edited before release. It's enough sometimes to be overlooked; in the beginning of each new ranking, there's a bio for each character (Created by:____ Debuted in: ___ Voiced by: ____), but rather than a new blurb starting on a new line, there are sometimes two blurbs that exist on the same line. Again, not the worst thing ever. But then there are some that are just impossible to let go; there's literally a ranking (within the ranking) of Pinky and the Brain's most ridiculous "Take over the world" schemes, and there's randomly a line about Racer X of "Speed Racer" fame that is clearly not supposed to be in this ranking, let alone in this ranking's ranking. Consistency is also an issue. For a book about cartoons, there's a big lack of them in this book. Every ranked character, I assumed, would have its own picture to visually show the reader who the character is in a "show, don't tell" kind of way, but that was very much not the case for a large amount of characters. The most logical answer to this could've been that there were copyright issues where the authors couldn't obtain permission to use their images, but several Disney characters appear visually in the book, despite Disney being notoriously stingy about sharing their characters in mediums they don't helm themselves. And where we get a cartoon character visually for #1-45, we don't get any pictures at all for a straight 15 rankings afterwards. For a ranked list about a visual medium, I would've loved to have seen who they were talking about, instead of Google image searching who certain characters were (like I had no idea who Beany and Cecil were before this book, and had to provide my own visual representation). It's just an odd choice for a cartoon book to exclude... cartoons. Though what's more odd are some images they did include. There are a couple of weird choices of photos, like the French TV poster for "Pokemon" that says "Le Film" under a screenshot of Pikachu, and the tiniest picture ever of "Crusader Mouse" obscured by the title sequence. Again, Googling these characters myself showed me better results than the book did. 

Finally and most importantly, character information is straight-up wrong. I know I said they do their research-- and they do-- and the authors are obviously not expected to know everything about every character offhand, but where they get tiny details and industry notes spot-on, they get the absolute simplest character information so unusually incorrect. There are two notable examples in my copy of the book. The first one is in Fat Albert's entry, where it states "Cosby Kid Tito is killed by a stray bullet intended for his older brother, who had joined a gang" (Uh... Fat Albert spoilers?). But it's actually Tito's younger brother Fernando who is shot and killed because the older brother who joins a gang is "Cosby Kid Tito". I know the piece is about Fat Albert the character and not Tito, but why bring this up if you don't even use the correct character to mention how progressive the show was to justify Fat Albert's place on the list? The second one is for the Powerpuff Girls regarding Blossom's physical description. It reads: "Blossom boasted light brown hair with a large blow and featured a short cape tied behind her pink dress and black belt." UMMMMMMM. I was so absolutely confused by this one line I had to look up various shots of her character model in case I somehow forgot that she had a cape, and to clarify, she absolutely does not have a cape (unless for specific episodes where's she dressing up outside of her normal attire). Did the authors think her hair was a cape? Did they mistake one episode where she wore a cape for the entirety of the series where she doesn't wear one? NO CAPES (CHECK OUT INCREDIBLES 2 IN THEATRES JUNE 15TH). Also... light brown hair? What adds insult to injury, besides the well-established fact that she has RED hair, is that this character description is written RIGHT NEXT TO A PICTURE OF THE POWERPUFF GIRLS TO PROVE THAT THAT IS NOT TRUE. Honestly, I'll give leniency where it's due for taking on the task of ranking and going in-depth on the origins and noteworthy points of a character, but no one prompted them to make this list. If you're going to talk in-depth about a character, fact-checking is your best friend. This is simple research, or simple picture-looking.

Overall, it's a fun book that helps you brush up on your cartoon history and send you into a state of nostalgia. I do wish there were more than the ten or so characters from Japan, Canada or the UK that appear on this list, but again, it's a book written in America that tends to look at the influence of said cartoons in American history, and asking someone to examine every cartoon character in the WORLD is a daunting, if not impossible task. I do also disagree with the fact that the list starts with #1 and descends from there. I find it more fun to build up to that #1 spot, because who really wants to read who #100 is when you know who #1 is already? I actually read this book backwards because of this, and found it much more satisfying to see the #1 spot by the "end". But I don't think there will be any dispute with who the top 30 or so cartoons are, but even if there are, that's the fun of ranked lists like this: if you disagree, just make your own list! It's all in good cartoon fun.

#book reviews #books #tory reads #a celebration in animation #the 100 greatest cartoon characters in television history #beast boy is number 82 on the list #which is honestly higher than i expected #i'm like a proud weeb mom #marty gitlin #joe wos #non-fiction #pop culture #popular culture #rankings #lists #ranked list #top 100 #cartoons #cartoon character #cartoon history #animation #it sounds like i complained more than praised but it's a really nice list? #i'm not mad about any of the rankings and they were overall very informative #but gosh #they desperately needed an editor #10/10 would recommend if you like cartoons #or lists #judging a book by its cover #ttfn ta ta for now

[a-halfblood-named-coin]

With Korra coming to Netflix, there’s been this whole WAVE of “no more korra hate!” And I’m gonna be honest here, I do, I do hate the legend of korra. Not because it’s more sexual or because Korras a headstrong women but I feel like they tried to be so different from ATLA, more mature and realistic that it lost a lot of the charm. It has other charms but I just don’t like them as much. So to prove I don’t hate the show without reason here are 3 things I liked in concept that they handled poorly in my opinion.

1. Korra herself

Having a headstrong, egotistical, women waterbender with lots of muscles and bravado was AN AMAZING choice to constrast from Aangs pacifist, peaceful and calmer mindset. I loved that part of Korra. But my problem is in her character development, or how I don’t think the writers remember what development means, development =\= pain porn. A lot of Korras ‘development’ was her getting beat to a pulp, having her bending removed, being wheelchair bound, etc. and by the end of the show she becomes more wary and scared of everything around her. Instead of what I personally wanted, which was for her to be underestimating the effort and work it takes to be a good avatar, get knocked down a few pegs by Tenzin or someone and come back stronger and more grounded. Still cocky but now she has the power AND understanding to back up her claims. I never wanted her to lose her ego entirely, or to fall so far she never comes back the same. Speaking of avatar stuff...

2. The removal of an avatars journey

This one is hard, because I understand why they did this but also removing it took a lot away from what made avatar so good. I think they removed the journey as to not just repeat the structure of the OG show, they didn’t want to seem like it was just Ctrl+ v with a new lead. But a big part of ATLA’s charm came from the world building , expescially since it drew so much from different parts of Asia and other groups, making a fantasy world with that backing and exploring it was SO cool. In Korra most of the show is set in Republic city, they leave a couple times to visit the various bending nations but they always go back to that damn city. I don’t hate the idea of modernizing bending, I wouldn’t place a show there but the thoughts are cool. Stuff like electric benders being 9-5 workers is funny and pro bending is an interesting thought but I think the overall setting is...tired. I have read/seen so many pieces of media set in either 1920s America or INSPIRED by 1920s America it isn’t even funny. It was an aesthetic time that’s for sure but I have seen it before and I’ll see it another million times. I don’t know why they would take a fairly unique setting and make a mainstream, Americanized version of it that is arguably more boring and less compelling. But this point is supposed to be about the avatar journey I hear you say and yourre right. The lack of a journey adds to the boredom, in ATLA they could continually have new locations and new people to keep the interest of that episode because they were almost always on the move. In Korra everything comes back to republic city, I got bored of looking at those city streets after the first season! Plus I think Korra as a character could have really benefited from a journey of her own, less focused on bending and more on connecting with the people she’s supposed to protect. In my dream version of this show, Korra gets knocked down but tenzin or smth and as a last ditch effort he sends her on a shorter version of the avatars journey to help her connect with the people and the spiritual realm. She could bring her merry band of idiots (except you bolin) and they could bond over their travels, learn about each other and actually have some meaningful conversations outside the parameters of the weird love thing they all have going on. We could see an updated but familiar world space, run into some familiar places and get into plenty of trouble and Korra could really bond with her people. Learn that understanding and listening are important skills for the avatar to have just as much as bending all four elements. It could all culminate in a trip to an air temple, she could speak her piece in a cool but honest rant about herself and her life and maybe as she leaves the wind could pick up and it would just...click. She would get her air bending in a hopefully more satisfying way than what was shown in the show,speaking of...

3.Changing up the bending/AS . Listen the way the treat bending in Korra is so fucking weird. 1st of all I cannot come up with any reason why a 5 year old Korra would be able to bend 3/4 elements. The thing about bending is that it is a lot harder than some of the characters make it seem (because they are all using their skills at an extremely high level) part of bending is innate skill, that’s true but you would be awful at it if you only relied on instinct. Take Katara from season 1 of ATLA, she can bend of course but it’s shaky and poorly balanced, she can’t do it for long and can barely move any water. This is because she has never been properly taught, once she gets some teaching she becomes one of the best waterbenders in existence, it took training to get her there. So I could buy (kind of) baby Korra bending them innatly when she is found by the white lotus, but a 5 year old who has only ever interacted with water benders should be bending all the elements as if they were water. Bending is all very different, each form is based on a different form of martial arts. The styles are different and require different points of concentration and movements to execute properly. Our little tyke is seemingly doing actually fire/earth moves...now where the hell did she learn those?? Anyway continuing into probably my biggest gripe with Korra is the treatment of Air bending. I like the fact that it is emphasized how much of air bending is about spirituality, more so than other bending forms. I like the struggle there for Korra. But I feel like she never actually listens to Tenzin, never admits he is right and takes on his teachings properly. She ignores his advice and fucks of during training (which is very Korra behavior) but there is never a point when she has to listen to him. She gets all her bending taken in another form of pain porn and when she gets it back, instead of having her realize how much her bending means to her and finally fucking listening to Tenzin and learning air bending the real way, she just goes into the avatar state (which is the least satisfying version of that display) and just...has airbending. And now for my last point, wtf was up with the avatar state?? In ATLA the AS was a dangerous state to be in for Aang and everyone around him, it caused him to lose control, kick ass yes, but lose his sense of self and him struggling with those complicated feelings about his biggest trump card was amazing. Korra however uses hers to beat children in racing games...I am not joking. They toned down its abilities so that Korra could use it more often but not beat the crap out of everyone... you could have just not had her use it for stupid reasons and kept it a power level at 3000?? Like why? Why does the fucking avatar need to have weakened avatar state so she can use it more often, should she be powerful enough on her own?? Maybe it could be harder for her to activate (because Korra does seem like the type to use it too often) maybe she has to talk to her past lives to figure out why she’s having such a hard time using it and it’s revealed that Aang in specific locked it away because she couldn’t be trusted. It could be a whole thing!! But no she just uses for stupid shit and never learns...

So that’s the end of my rant, 3 things I could get behind in theory that, in my opinion, they handled pretty horribly. If you like Korra, that’s great! Tbh I’m kinda jealous, I wish I could enjoy it more because I love ATLA it was a huge part of my childhood and I’d love to have more of that world. I have so many other feelings on Korra if anyone cares. Like the romance fucking with the show, the half assed rep, explaining the magic, side characters being wet paper towels with 1 character trait or Bolin being highkey romantically abused and no one caring but that’s for a different extremely long tumblr post.

[lokgifsandmusings]

Definitive Ranking of Book 1 Episodes, #12/12

12. 1x12 Endgame

Amon stands and lets Korra expose him for drama, Asami and Hiroshi are just like Kevin Bacon, let’s hide in an empty room from the bloodbender, people weren’t all that into justice anyway, and Aang brings the funk.

What? It hasn’t been over 4 months since I last did one of these...get out of here!

For those who don’t know, I’ve been going back and rewatching each LoK episode, then definitively ranking the entire season with a series of metas, starting from “worst” to “best.” Wait, no quotes because it’s DEFINITIVE.

I began with the beautiful, heart stopping, breathtaking, life-changing shitshow that was Book 2, because its flaws in some ways became the show’s greatest strength, so it felt very worth the dive. Then I went to Book 4 probably because that’s the time period that interests me a ton, and it was a solid season, but one that sort of felt like it needed some polish. Book 3 is damn near perfect in my opinion, and the one I want to end on for that reason.

So yup, we’re in Book 1! And here’s the thing: rewatching this show, the first season is the one that gives you the least back. It’s not particularly deep or nuanced. And that’s fine! It did a good job expanding the world building, the aesthetics were beyond on-point, and I’ll stand by the characterizations as pretty dang compelling, even if Mako never landed for me until Book 3.

At the same time, had this been the one season mini-series it almost was...I just don’t see still talking about it. And yes, I say that knowing the end game (you see what I did there?) would have been a bit different. But it doesn’t really change that the greatest success of Book 1 was its set up and potential. So, I guess it’s not a shock that the episode at the bottom of this list is its finale. Which is best depicted here:

Yeah, it sounds harsh for something that was ~fine~, but each time I rewatch it, it gets even less fine. However, there’s also been a lot on this already. If you haven’t already, read @got-your-back-always-will’s piece on why it was so damn disappointing. Or you could read my words where I call it a narrative beer fart (I think I use this term a lot, to be fair), point out the leaps in logic and reasonable action necessary for it everything to occur, and then talk about kind of shitty, sexist, ableist implications. Hell, even my photo recap touches on this.

Yes, it was all unintentional, but just imagine a character as intersectional as Korra being sent off with her depression having been magically healed by a male character (yes I know Aang is her, but imagery matters and she was passively sitting while he did his thing) and then hooking up with the guy who treated another woman as something stuck to his shoe.

And I mean, add to that the way the main plotline just FIZZLED. Oh man, people aren’t oppressed anymore because the guy who wanted to help them was actually a bender? WHAT. Everything Amon and the Equalists were set-up to be, and it just ends with a crowd shrugging and looking sad.

Like...this ending isn’t the worst thing that’s been on TV. It’s just formulaic and feels not well-planned, which is kind of weird because wasn’t this the only season that *had* been fully scripted? I really don’t want to pile on as if it’s the most toxic thing ever (not by a long shot), but would this have actually been satisfying to anyone?

I feel like I’m going to just end repeating myself, and I really don’t want to pile on. So instead, I think it’s important to zoom out and look at what the season was supposed to be accomplishing as a whole.

Korra is the opposite of Aang. Not in a moral sense, but in the sense that Bryke’s process in creating her was literally, “instead of a spiritual, not-super-physical, reluctant male hero who was not happy about his role, what if we had a girl who was super into it, non-spiritual, and kind of a hockey-kid type?”. They talk about this on podcasts and stuff. Aang’s narrative was about how he needed to embrace his role since the world needed him. We’ve seen this before (though Aang and ATLA was very unique, don’t get me wrong) with stories like Harry Potter, or LOTR, or the Star Wars OT, and so on.

That kind of arc is sort of best summed up by this quote from our pal Dumbledore:

“It is a curious thing, Harry, but perhaps those who are best suited to power are those who have never sought it. Those who, like you, have leadership thrust upon them, and take up the mantle because they must, and find to their own surprise that they wear it well.”

But when you have a character that WANTS to be the hero, what do you do? You write a world that doesn’t want *them*. You write a struggle in their quest to find a place for themselves when the role they’re so ready to take on doesn’t really make sense anymore.

This is the point of the Equalists. Benders are the privileged minority, extorting the oppressed masses in the nonbenders. The Avatar in some ways represents the ultimate bender (with her inherent abilities), and is now in a world skeptical, scared, and teaming for revolution.

Specifically against her and her power structure. There’s the spiritual aspect to her role, but she was out-of-touch with it in the first season, while also facing a very here-and-now kind of problem.

The conclusion that Korra needed to reach as a character, and where she gets at the end of Book 2 actually (and then spends Books 3 and 4 fine-tuning that role while also going through a very powerful healing arc) is one where she stakes her OWN claim in the world. She defines her role in a way that’s significant to her and the meaning in her heroism comes from her assertion of that agency, and the way she basically screams for her right to exist into being. The world will find it *does* need her, and here’s why, damnit.

Book 1 didn’t get there at all. Fuck, it didn’t even address things like how Korra’s actions out of bravado were because of her horrible fear of appearing weak. That fear...it’s only something she got over after her healing arc, when she learned that being afraid isn’t a weakness, and she can recontextualize that fear and find a kind of strength in it. Now, it’s possible that whenever it was decided that Book 1 would be 1 of 4 seasons, they made sure to keep room for Korra’s character growth. Except...in 2x01 she’s rather backdialed, so it’s a difficult case to make.

Then, remember how her solution had been (more or less) to punch things? Which is why @projectvoicebend has been referred to as “biting satire” thanks to their exaggerated depiction of that? But in Endgame, she literally saves the day with brute force. Not that Amon *shouldn’t* have been knocked out of a window, but this is rather bizarre messaging.

She unlocked airbending in a time of desperation, and used it aggressively to get rid of the threat. Like...okay. But, we didn’t need to see an entire season to buy this kind of thing happening. Hell, if she had been de-bended in 1x04 and someone else was threatened, I could still see this happening.

Was the implication that it’s the power of love? Had it been Bolin or Tenzin there, just sucks for them? I kind of find that hard to swallow, too. Really, they just needed Amon to be unmasked, and this is the way they contrived Korra to do it. It wasn’t exactly a huge character moment as much as it was leveling up in a video game.

Now, I do think overall it’s good that Korra didn’t find a place for herself in the world at the end of the first season. That was hard-earned, and even creating the new spiritual age wasn’t the endpoint of that theme since people were resistant to change—of losing control. However, could there have at least been an indication that REFORM WAS GOING TO HAPPEN? Yeah, the revolutionaries aren’t exactly blameless here seeing as they bombed an entire city, but Endgame literally reset the tensions in Republic City. Well, until Shiro recapped the creation of an entire democracy for us in 2 sentences.

It was like...the set box that Bryke had created at the beginning of the season needed to stay perfectly intact. And it wasn’t organic at all for Korra to be the person upholding that, because she is inherently such a transgressive character. This is why I’ve called it a round peg in a square hole, and this is why had *that* been the ending to the series, my own reaction would have been as dejected as the people who realized Amon painted a scar on his face.

Hell, what does this even mean on a thematic level? Desperation breeds education? Never idolize anyone who promises simple solutions to your problems? Reincarnation has its uses if you’re in enough pain?

Really, this show is supposed to be about Korra’s growth and trajectory, and...I just am struggling to see much of anything here.

Frankly, it gets worse the longer I think about it too. Equalists are like, bad and junk. Bombing cities and brutalizing your enemies (while evoking genocidal language with that whole ‘impurity’ thing) is not good, mmkay? But from another entirely valid angle, isn’t part of what Amon stood for really about disarmament? Should they have been so cartoonishly evhul that they suddenly needed to de-bend the pacifistic airbender children?

The only thing that kind of worked in this plotline was Asami and Hiroshi. And yeah, I know I’m the ultimate Asami fangirl so it’s going to read biased, but I’m serious: she was the only nonbender we really heard from about this. She was the one who had the same pain that her father had (her mother’s death at the hands of bending gangs), and experienced the same type of oppression he did, and still resoundly rejected violence. I’m not sure what she saw as a pathway to reform, but she could tell that Hiroshi’s actions weren’t coming from a place of empathy any longer, even if it might have begun like that.

Rewatching everything today when nazi punching discourse is disturbingly not theoretical, there is something a little frustrating about how simplified even this conflict was made. I’m not saying the Equalists are fascists at all, but can we at least try and position ourselves in the nonbender perspective, when there’s a lot of valid grievances, and Amon is just doing exactly what Aang did to Yakone (initially, back when he was targeting just triad members)? That’s worth a conversation! Sure, we got Asami standing up to Tarrlok in 1x08, sure, but her drive to take down her father was so clearly personal thanks to the years of deception, that the nonbender oppression sort of got swallowed in it all.

I still think it worked better than anything else, especially how Asami was not able to bring herself to harm her father the way he was willing to do. It’s tragic, and I don’t even begrudge Bolin swooping in for the save for that reason, even though the whole passive-woman/active-man thing is what I’m bitching about for Korra. But it’s different. Right?

I also found Tarrlok and Amon’s ending perfectly fine (and VERY jarring for a Y7 show) given that it was another exploration into abuse, the cycle of violence, and a kind of poetic self-fulfilling prophecy. But that’s more for 1x11.

God, you know what it is? Bryke never figured out what they wanted to say with Book 1. They had great worldbuilding ideas, and the tensions set up were quite compelling. It just lacked a *point* beyond “this might be cool to explore.” It was, and then the time came to tie it up, so it splatted.

In the end, they’re just damn lucky that Korra had something to say of her own.

Book 2 ranking/essays found here

Book 4 ranking/essays found here

#book 1 ranking #lok meta #korra #korra 1x12 #endgame

[iishipallthethings]

Three is (Not) a Crowd

Story Summary: Two months after Kuvira was defeated, things have finally settled down in Republic City. For better or for worse, Avatar Korra is ready to talk to Asami about the Unspoken Thing between them, however there's something Asami had been hiding from her friends. And that something is Lin Beifong.

Chapter 9: Confessions

It was half an hour before five when Korra rapped her knuckles on the door of Asami’s mansion. She could feel her heart thump in her chest as her stomach twist and turn as she waited for the duchess to open the door. The Avatar had to wait for five minutes, her stomach so tight she thought she won’t be able to keep down lunch, before the door opened. Korra wiped the sweat from her palms on her sash at the sight of the duchess. She could do this. She was the Avatar after all.

“Korra?” Asami had grease stains on her clothing and Korra knew at once that the older woman was just as nervous about their talk as she was. Asami opened the door wider and Korra walked inside, spying the dirty washcloth resting on a nook near the door where guests hung their coats. She wondered if the duchess had ran from her garage to the door thinking it was Lin on the other side.

“Hey, Asami,” Korra smiled softly. “I know I’m early but I, uh, wanted to talk to you alone first.” She glanced at the hall and noticed that nobody was there doing the mundane tasks of keeping the Sato Estate in prime condition. Asami must have given the help the day off again.

Apprehension was on Asami’s face as she nodded in understanding. She grabbed the dirty washcloth from the nook and wiped off a stain on her right hand that she missed. “Where do you want to talk?” she asked Korra.

Korra pretended to think about it. “The balcony,” she answered. “It’s a nice day out.” And if Lin tries to kill me, I can make a quick get away, Korra thought to herself. Asami led the way to the balcony that looked out over her gardens. Several spirits were milling about amongst the hedges and flowers while two chased one another in a game of tag. Korra smiled as the blue one in a shape of a fox with a lion’s head jumped over a hedge and an orange spirit that looked a lot like Bum-Jun crashed into the leaves. It got out unscratched and resumed the chase. Korra looked back at Asami and noticed that the older woman was watching the same scene with a smile. “Do you know what I want to talk about?”

The words wiped the smile from Asami’s face. “I think so.” She pushed her bangs behind her ear and faced Korra. “I know things have gotten weird between us but I don’t want our friendship to end.” Korra frowned, this wasn’t what she wanted to talk about at all. Asami saw the frown and hurried to continue. “You’re one of the most important people in my life and I don’t want to lose you.”

“Wait, stop.” Korra grabbed Asami’s hand and the duchess’s fingers curled to grip at Korra’s hand. “I don’t want to stop being friends, Asami.” The relief on the duchess’s face made Korra remember that the older woman had lost so much. Asami had lost her mother to a firebender, almost her company to Varrick, and most recently her father to Kuvira. And now she thought she was going to lose Korra. The thought brought a soft, sad smile to Korra’s lips. “I don’t want to imagine my life without you Asami but there’s something you need to know.” She gave Asami’s hand a squeeze, treasuring the heat from the hold. “I like you.”

“I like you too.” The words came to Asami easily.

“You know what I mean,” Korra whispered.

Asami let go of Korra’s hand. “Yeah, I do,” she admitted. “But, Korra, I’m with Lin an-”

“Just let me finish, okay?” Korra interrupted Asami. The duchess wrapped her arms around herself but didn’t say anything. Korra took that as a sign for her to continue. “When I first met you, I wanted to hate you for being with Mako because I liked him too. I wanted to be mad at you but I just couldn’t. It was like I could be angry with everyone else except you. For a long time I didn’t know why but now I do.” Korra laid a hand on Asami’s arm and conflicted green eyes met hers. “I like you,” she repeated.

Asami looked down at the hand touching her but she didn’t move away like she knew she should. She was with Lin. She was happy with Lin. So why was the simple touch able to set her heart racing? “I wanted to hate you too,” she confessed. “I saw how Mako felt about you even though I was dating him. He didn’t even try to hide it, or at least not very well. It was like a slap to my face every time I saw how he acted towards you.” Realization made Asami’s face pale and a hand covered her mouth in shock. “Oh spirits, were me and Lin like that!?”

“Sort of,” Korra drawled.

A look of horror took over the older woman’s face. “I am so sorry, Korra, I swear we didn’t mean to.” Asami considered the look Korra was giving her and amended her words. “Well maybe Lin did but that’s only because she’s intimidated by you.”

Korra raised an eyebrow. How could the Chief of Police, badass, metalbending, look-at-her-wrong-and-she’ll-destroy-you, Lin Beifong be intimated by her? She had to know. “How?”

Asami chewed on her bottom lip and sighed. “Do you know about her and Tenzin?”

“Yeah,” Korra had a feeling that what she knew wasn’t the whole story but she still said what she knew. “Tenzin and Lin were dating and were growing apart. They broke up and Tenzin started to date Pema.”

“For the most part, yes, that’s what happened.” Asami didn’t say anything else on the matter and Korra knew that she wasn’t going to add any new information that Korra didn’t know about. “Lin hasn’t said anything but I know she’s afraid that it’s going to happen again with us.”

Korra was quiet for a bit and glanced at the sky. The sun had moved a bit and she realized that she didn’t have much time. “It doesn’t have to,” she said softly.

Asami’s eyes were wary. “What do you mean?”

Korra opened her mouth to say why she was really there but the sound of knocking made it snap close. The two turned to see Lin at the doorway with her hands on her hips. Too late.

“Am I interrupting anything?” Lin asked. Her eyes were narrowed in suspicion but Korra was relieved to see the usual stoicness that the woman wore like a second armor.

“No,” Korra answered with a soft smile. “You look better.”

Lin huffed lightly, aware of that Korra was referring to the last time they had met. “I’m the Chief of Police, I need to be able to bounce back quickly.” The way that she didn’t say what she had to bounce back from showed how she didn’t bounce back completely. “Does this talk require drinks?” she asked, moving the conversation from the explosion that took the lives of her two officers and several civilians to the matter at hand.

“Yes,” Korra answered for herself and Asami. She needed a little liquid encouragement.

“Okay,” Lin said and left the two women with a quick turn on her heel.

The Avatar looked at Asami and jerked her head towards where Lin was a moment before. “Shouldn’t we go with her in case she gets lost?”

Asami shook her head with a blush. “Lin’s been over enough times to know where to go. About before, what were you going to say?”

Korra licked her lips and tried to get the images that suddenly took over her mind out of her head. She needed to concentrate and be level-headed for what she was about to do. “Look, Asami, about those three years.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Asami quickly said. “I shouldn’t have snapped at you before. You were hurt and I should have been supportive instead of yelling at you and being bitter.”

The older woman looked ashamed and it caused Korra’s heart to squeeze.  “No,” Korra argued. “I was the asshole. I should have sent you more than one letter or invite you to the South Pole and I- wait I don’t want to talk about that.” She wanted to comfort Asami but she needed to get the words out in the open before Lin returned. “What I want to say is, now that things with Kuvira has cooled down and actually during it, I’ve been thinking a lot and, I uh.” Korra couldn’t say it, the words were on her lips, begging to be let out, but they refused to leave.

Asami placed a hand on Korra’s arm and Korra’s moved to cover it. She looked at Asami and took the plunge. Korra leaned forward and pressed their lips together. She felt Asami jerk in shock at the kiss and moved her free hand to cup the older woman’s cheek. Korra’s heart sped with fear and elation.

The sound of glass shattering made Korra take a step back. She turned to face Lin and gulped, her heart now pounding only in fear. The bottle of whatever Lin had picked and the three glasses were all shattered on the floor but no one paid attention to the wet shards. She thought that she saw Lin angry when the Chief confronted Su all those years ago but she realized even then Lin was holding back. Now she looked absolutely livid. Any thought of turn tail and running was gone as Lin took slow deliberate steps towards the Avatar, her fingers curled into trembling fists. Lin reached Korra and grabbed the collar of her shirt, a fist raised to punch Korra. Lin was so mad she forgot that she could have simply bent earth and metal against the Avatar. “How dare you.” Lin’s voice was calm but that only made Korra more fearful.

“Lin,” Korra found her voice, raising her hands in surrender. “It isn’t what it looks like.”

“Isn’t what it looks like!?” Now Lin was yelling and she once again raised Korra off the ground in her rage. “You’ve crossed the line!”

Korra grabbed at Lin’s arm for leverage and glanced at Asami. The duchess met Korra’s gaze and sprung into action. She dashed behind Lin and grabbed at her raised fist, pulling it down. “Let me explain!” Korra yelled out.

“Fuck you!” Lin roared, unable to throw the punch now that Asami was holding her arm down.

“Lin, please, just listen to me.” Korra could see pass the walls of wrath that was shielding Lin’s eyes. She could see the tears building at the corners and the betrayal in the back of those green eyes. The guilt that ripped into her heart was more painful than anything Lin could possibly dish out. Desperate, Korra used one hand to grab at the collar of Lin’s uniform and jerk her closer. The other hand grabbed the back of Lin’s head and smashed their lips together. The shock in the action made Asami let go of Lin’s arm but the Chief didn’t take the opportunity to attack. Korra pressed their lips together harder and felt her feet touch the ground as Lin lowered her back down in her stupor. She broke the kiss, unable to stop her heavy breathing as the Chief and duchess stared at her. “Sorry,” Korra mumbled. “That was messed up of me.”

“What the hell was that about?” Lin asked. She didn’t let go of Korra’s collar but she didn’t look like she was about to throw a punch.

Korra glanced away. “I like you too,” she admitted. To buy herself some time, she moved Lin’s fingers away from her collar. They left the abused clothing without resistance, likely due to the shock of the sudden kiss. “I want to go on a date with you. Both of you,” she added to make it clear what she meant.

Asami and Lin looked at each other. Asami could only shrug helplessly, she had known Korra longer but she didn’t know what to make of this. Lin looked back to Korra and rubbed at her eyes. The eldest woman might have tried to make it look like she was doing it to express her exasperation but Korra noticed that when her hand left her face, the tears that were building were gone. “When did this happen, Avatar?” The gruff Lin was back but Korra and Asami could see the tension in her shoulders.

“Well, you already know about the Unspoken Thing between me and Asami,” Korra began. Lin grunted to show she knew about it.

“What about you and Lin?” Asami asked. She was trying to fit the pieces together like she would a car but they wouldn’t match. “Don’t tell me there’s an Unspoken Thing you two too?”

Lin shook her head. “No.” The two women turned their attention to Korra so she could answer.

A light blush spread across Korra’s face as she coughed into a closed fist. But she made herself look Lin in the eye, the older woman deserved that. “Honestly, what I feel for you is more physical than anything else. You’re really beautiful.” Her words caused Lin to flush lightly but the tension in her shoulders stayed.

It was quiet between the three women after Korra gave her side of things. Not even the sound of crickets and spirits going about their business seemed to reach them. Korra could feel her nervousness rise up as the silence stretched on. “So, what now?”

Lin and Asami once again looked at one another. Even though no words passed between them, it was clear that the ball was in Lin’s court. The Chief crossed her arms and sighed, her shoulders slumping in defeat. “One date.” Both Korra and Asami stared at Lin with slacked mouths. Lin hardened her eyes as she jabbed a finger into Korra’s chest. “But if you do something I don’t like-”

“You’ll throw me in jail?” Korra finished for the older woman. She saw Asami grin at the jest from behind Lin. She wondered how the two could keep their relationship a secret for so long.

“We can go to the watertribe restaurant near the Probending Arena,” Asami suggested. Her lips still tingled from when Korra kissed her and she was a little lightheaded from the turn of events. The other two agreed after some thought.

It was after Korra left the two, figuring that they would want to talk alone, and was standing outside of Asami’s mansion that it hit her. The talk went better than she could ever dare hope. Korra turned to stare at the door in awe. Slowly, a crooked grin made itself known on Korra’s face as she jumped up and punched at the air, two blasts of fire coming out of her fists in her excitement. “WOOHOO!” She didn’t care if Asami or Lin or anyone else heard her. She had a date!

#lok #legend of korra #korra #avatar korra #asami #asami sato #lin #lin beifong #chief lin beifong #korrasami #linorra #linsami #linorrasami #three is (not) a crowd