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avatar-news · 3 years

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

[Artwork by Avatar News; not official.]

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

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

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

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

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

Korra’s close encounters with the land of fire

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Here are both images, from 2018 and 2020 respectively:

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

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

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

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

Are they saving the Fire Nation for an animated movie?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

⛰️🌋 The Fire Nation in the era of Avatar Kyoshi

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

#korra comics #paramount plus #the fire nation awaits

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isnotys · 4 years

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Seamless Part 4

Summary: After being Shane Dawson’s assistant for a year, things couldn’t have been going better. However, Shane had other plans. He has decided that your next move is to jump headfirst into your true passion and with some unexpected partners.

Warnings: None

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Inspiration for the name of this series

It has been a few weeks since meeting the twins and honestly, my mind is still reeling from it. We have kept in touch because Shane made a group chat with all of us in it and they wished us a Merry Christmas. From then on we’ve just shared silly Tik-Toks and funny tweets, nothing too serious.

The Christmas break was great, Ryland’s family is so welcoming and supportive. We had an exquisite Christmas Eve dinner and spent that week disconnected from the internet. Sometimes it is necessary to take a moment and reflect. Life in LA moves so much quicker and the crazier it gets, the harder it is to remember what you are chasing. Maybe I do want something more than what I have allowed myself to want.

But after this great week away, today is the New Year’s Eve party and I’ve been keeping busy preparing the food and helping Ryland and Morgan decorate, to avoid thinking about seeing the twins again tonight. They are great and I genuinely like them, but I don’t know how much we really have in common. I am from a small college town and can only hope to achieve half of what they have done. I have to admit it, I am intimidated. As much as I’d like to think the opposite, they could only ever see me as a fan, not as a friend. Needless to say, I feel very out of place.

However, Shane is low-key (high-key) making me attend this party, going on about “connecting with people” and “giving myself and others a chance.” To be fair, he is absolutely right. However, it has always been hard for me to keep friendships, mostly because people aren't always honest about their intentions and LA seems to be exactly that but multiplied by a hundred. Obviously, not Shane’s friends or the twins, but generally and me already feeling a bit intimidated, it’s clearly not helping. Hopefully, tonight will be different.

“Guys! Are we ready for the best night ever?!?!” Shane asks entering the room. He’s clearly a little tipsy already and oddly enough not wearing his iconic pig shirt. He is wearing all black suit, with a black shirt underneath. Accompanying him is Garret, who is wearing black dress pants and a bedazzled Gucci shirt which Jeffree bought him for Christmas.

“Where is the food?!?!” Garret asks half yelling, but completely serious.

“Nothing is ready yet, Garret. You’re gonna have to wait a few more minutes, hun.” I say to him as Morgan walks up to him and hands a box of Cheez-Its.

“No eating before dinner guys!” I say to them sounding like the world’s most annoying mom and they both just laugh at me.

“Someone is nervous,” Shane teases. “Listen, I get it, but today is just like a family gathering. Except, no one is getting offended although, there’s gonna be some shade thrown for sure.”

“But what about the twins?” I ask nervously.

“Aw, that’s CUTE! I remember wanting to impress my crush when I first moved to LA hopefully, your pants won't rip,” Garrett says unironically.

“You have nothing to worry about, y/n. They’re not typical LA douchebags,” Shane says patting my shoulder completely dismissing Garrett, as usual. He really is a dad to all of us.

“I don’t have a crush on either of them for the record,” I murmur nervously.

“That is like saying I don't like Shane. I’ve seen the way your eyes were sparkling at dinner last time, hunty,” Ryland teases.

“You can’t deny you are a fan at the very least, y/n,” Morgan says with her mouth full of Cheez-Its still. “It is like me trying to deny my life long love for donuts, it’s pointless.” I roll my eyes and keep making my vegan banana bread for dessert. Not just because it so happens to be Grayson’s favorite.

A few moments later, people start to arrive. Sadly, Trisha couldn’t make it, but Jeffree comes in, wearing a beautiful olive green, skintight dress with a Gucci coat, and he is accompanied by boyfriend, Nate. Jeffree’s presence is anything but bland and ordinary. Yet, he oddly feels approachable and humble. The guest list also includes; Drew, Andrew, and my queen, Jenna Marbles alongside Julien Solomita. They really are a match made in heaven.

I am helping Ryland serve some drinks around when I see them. I immediately get this intense rush of feelings that runs through my body, as if Zeus himself had struck me with his lightning bolt. I feel my face burn and my knees weaken out of pure terror.

The night is pitch black and the air smells of expensive perfume and alcohol. Suddenly, my glittery teal dress feels too revealing, too short, doesn't fit right and is definitely not pretty enough. But they look out of this world. Ethan is wearing red pants and an LV t-shirt, while Grayson looks absolutely breathtaking with tight lavender dress pants and a black t-shirt.

They smile when they see me and start walking toward me. “Hi, y/n! How have you been,” Ethan says giving me a side hug. My nose is filled with his almond scent and I can’t do anything but swoon.

“Good, great to see you both,” I say trying to sound calm, cool and collected as Grayson hugs me as well. When he pulls away we lock eyes and I am about to lose consciousness, but then I notice Ethan smirking to my right. My face feels warm and I want to run away, but I try to smile through it.

“How was Colorado?” Grayson asks looking at Ethan all serious, “Shane said you weren’t having it with the weather.”

“Yeah,” I have no idea why Shane would be talking about me with the twins, but I continue, “I don’t like the cold. I didn't live long enough in New York to get used to it. However, it was really nice to get away from the crazy LA scene.”

“I get what you mean, it’s like sometimes you can’t even hear yourself think,” Grayson says.

“Yeah, like everyone wants you to do something that might not be what you want and could only benefit them,” Ethan continues.

“That’s how I feel, as if I can’t trust anyone outside of my circle. It’s all so kill or be killed here,” I say feeling like we are finally connecting. Maybe I have been so scared and in my head about my own insecurities that I haven't given them a fair chance.

The twins and I stay together for the rest of the night, talking about the most random things and some deeper stuff too. Turns out they were bullied in school, I was too, but they are so sweet I can’t even fathom the thought of someone truly disliking them, let alone wanting to hurt them.

The night is coming to a close and we are all three outside sitting by the pool. It feels like I have known them for years. Like souls that have known each other from a past life recognizing each other in this one, we are seamless.

“What’s the greatest lesson you’ve learned this year?” Grayson asks looking at me breaking a few minutes of silence after our last deep conversation.

I give it some thought, but I’ve known all along, “That rejection will never hurt as much as regret. What about you?”

“Live every day as if it’s your last,” Ethan says still looking at the dark sky. There isn't a single star out there tonight.

“That you gotta step into the daylight and let it go,” Grayson says smiling at me. I can’t help but smile as well. That dimple is to die for.

“You stole that from Taylor Swift, sir,” I blush furiously and he laughs, which sounds like the laugh of an actual angel.

“I stole that from your Twitter bio actually, but what can I say?,” Grayson laughs again and Ethan just pretends to have been listening to the conversation all along. I just pretend Grayson didn't just say that he was looking at my twitter and try to keep the small amount of dignity that I have left and play it cool.

The countdown begins and I am welcoming the decade with two of the people I have admired the most. What could be better than this?

#shane dawson #morgan adams #andrew siwicki #garret watts #ryland adams #ethan dolan #Ethan Dolan imagine #grayson dolan #Grayson Dolan imagine #the dolan twins #dolan twins imagine #dolan twins #imagine #blurb #fan fic #fan fiction #jeffree starr #seamless #sabrina carpenter

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biofunmy · 4 years

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Kobe Bryant and a Daughter Dead in Helicopter Crash: Live Updates

Here’s what we know so far about the crash.

The retired Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant, 41, and his daughter Gianna died in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, Calif.

Bryant was among the passengers traveling onboard the helicopter on Sunday. Five people were confirmed deceased, with no survivors, in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said on Twitter. An investigation is ongoing

and the National Transportation Safety Board said it sent a team to California on Sunday evening.

The N.B.A. sent a confirmation of Bryant’s and Gianna’s deaths to all teams and league employees Sunday afternoon, according to two people familiar with the document.

Bryant was considered one of the best players in N.B.A. history.

Drafted to the N.B.A. directly out of high school in 1996, Bryant was named an All-Star in 18 of his 20 seasons for the Lakers and helped lead the team to five championships. His hypercompetitive nature led to occasional public disagreements with coaches and other players, but his commitment to winning was never questioned.

The winner of the N.B.A.’s Most Valuable Player Award in 2007-8, and the Finals M.V.P. in both 2009 and 2010, Bryant showed a rare commitment to success on both ends of the court, with a resume that included two scoring titles — and an 81-point game in 2006 that is the second-highest single-game total in N.B.A. history — along with 12 appearances on the league’s All-Defense team. He also thrived on the international stage, where he won gold medals for U.S.A. Basketball in the 2008 and 2012 Olympics.

In 2016, after various injuries had taken their toll on the longtime superstar, he proved to have one more highlight in him, scoring 60 points in his final game while leading the last-place Lakers to a surprising win over the Utah Jazz.

Off the court, Bryant’s legacy was far more complicated. He was arrested in 2003 after a sexual assault complaint was filed against him in Colorado. A 19-year-old hotel employee claimed that Bryant, who was working to rehabilitate his knee following surgery, had raped her. The legal case against Bryant was eventually dropped, and a civil suit was settled privately out of court, but Bryant publicly apologized for the incident.

“Although I truly believe this encounter between us was consensual, I recognize now that she did not and does not view this incident the same way I did,” he said in his statement. “After months of reviewing discovery, listening to her attorney, and even her testimony in person, I now understand how she feels that she did not consent to this encounter.”

In retirement, Bryant became something of a champion for women’s sports and expanded his purview, winning an Academy Award in 2018 for his animated short film “Dear Basketball” while also creating the web series “Detail” for ESPN in which he analyzed current players. He was scheduled to headline the 2020 N.B.A. Hall of Fame nominees.

Players at the N.F.L.’s Pro Bowl reacted and fans chanted “Ko-be.”

News of Kobe Bryant’s death reached the N.F.L.’s Pro Bowl game in Orlando, Fla., where public address announcers asked the crowd at Camping World Stadium to observe a moment of silence to commemorate the Lakers star, which the crowd interrupted with chants of “Ko-be, Ko-be.”

In an ESPN interview, New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees spoke about Bryant during the second quarter of the game.

“I had so much respect for him as a competitor. I know he inspired so many people in so many different ways,” Brees said. “I mean, one of the great competitors of any generation, not just with sports, but I think just the way he approached a lot of things and what he was doing now after basketball. So I pray for him, I pray for his family. I know we don’t know all the details yet but it’s a tragic loss.”

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, also interviewed by ESPN, said that Bryant sent him a signed jersey when he was drafted. “That meant a lot,” Jackson said. “That’s one of the GOATs. Him, M.J. and LeBron, them the top three.”

The governor of California says Bryant “made history.”

California’s governor said the state was mourning “the tragic and untimely death of a California icon and basketball legend.”

“In his 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers, he made history with raw talent and unparalleled dedication that raised the bar and paved the way for a newer generation of players,” Gov. Gavin Newsom and his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, said in a statement that also cited Bryant’s charity work.

“He was taken too soon and he will be missed,” they said.

Fans reacted swiftly to the news.

Some 200 people had huddled together in the foggy Calabasas at the foot of the hill closest to the crash. Several people were wearing Kobe gear and had basketballs.

Paolo Santos, 27, had looked forward to catching a glimpse of his childhood idol at the Lakers game on Tuesday. “I’ve been watching him since I was a kid,” Mr. Santos said. “My stomach just hurts.”

“He’s a figure. He’s a legend. He brought L.A. back. He’s an L.A. icon,” he said. “He was a competitor. His drive, shooting in the gym at 4 in the morning. He’s what everyone wants to be.”

Philip Gordon, 45 of Winnetka, who was wearing a Kobe bathrobe over a Kobe jersey, Kobe shoes and socks, said he was watching the NFL Pro Bowl when he heard the news. “It’s so surreal,” he said.

“For 20 years I looked up to him. I became a fan of his as a person. It’s a huge loss for the city. He’s an icon beyond any Laker. We love Magic, we love Kareem, but Kobe transcends generations.”

Over in Echo Park Lake, joggers ran past residents of the cluster of tents on the lake’s northwest corner who were gathering around a table of donated food.

One man joined them and asked if the others had heard the news about Kobe Bryant. Immediately, expressions of disbelief rang out.

“No way!” someone said, punctuated with an expletive.

The man insisted it was true.

But slowly the reality set in.

Davon Brown, 29, wearing Lakers purple warm-up pants and a matching knitted beanie, said he moved to Southern California from New York years ago to play basketball. He saw Mr. Bryant as an example both on the court and off.

“He was way beyond” Michael Jordan, he said. “He was more omnipresent.” His game, Mr. Brown said, was more like dance.

Basketball, Mr. Brown said, has been a lifesaving force for him. And Mr. Bryant represented a powerful ethos.

“He had a killer instinct,” he said. “That self-love, that confidence transmutes into play.”

Bryant had been a subject of the conversation among N.B.A. fans this weekend.

On Saturday, the current Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James surpassed Bryant on the league’s all-time scoring list in a game against the Philadelphia 76ers.

Bryant congratulated James in a tweet, with a hashtag, #33644, referring to the number of points James had scored to surpass Bryant’s career total of 33,643 points. Before Saturday, Bryant had stood second only to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Karl Malone on the list of career points scored.

After the game, James, who joined the Lakers in 2018, spoke at length about what Bryant meant to him, to the team and to the league.

“He had zero flaws offensively,” James said.

James described his long history with Bryant — how he had admired Bryant’s ability to go from high school to the N.B.A., how the two had met in Philadelphia where Bryant had insisted upon the value of hard work. Later, Bryant gave a high-school age James a pair of his signature shoes, which James wore in a game even though they were the wrong size.

“I’m happy just to be in any conversation with Kobe Bean Bryant, one of the all-time greatest basketball players to ever play,” James said. “One of the all time greatest Lakers. The man has two jerseys hanging up in Staples Center. It’s just crazy.”

Marc Stein, Louis Keene and Jill Cowan contributed reporting.

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