This is a static copy of In the Rose Garden, which existed as the center of the western Utena fandom for years. Enjoy. :)
satyreyes wrote:
I didn't mind bending-and-cars. There is this idea, going back at least to Conan the Barbarian and Lord of the Rings, that if you have fantasy elements then you must be in a medieval setting, and certainly a pre-industrial one. But that's an artificial restriction, as the rise of the urban fantasy and steampunk movements have proven. What LOK tried, and I can't think offhand of another piece of fiction that's tried this, is to do serious urban fantasy in a basically lighthearted tone, in contrast to the grittiness of something like Perdido Street Station or the Leviathan trilogy. For you that didn't work, but for me it was mostly a lot of fun, and I enjoyed the shift in setting from ATLA.
I really liked that one city, the metal one that chief Beifong's sister founded (can't remember names). Somehow that one struck me as the perfect urban-fantasy-meets-bending atmosphere. Republic City, not that there's anything wrong with it, the setting simply rubbed me the wrong way.
Last edited by YamPuff (02-26-2015 08:47:10 AM)
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Of the arc villains, I really only found Kuvira to be compelling. I got while I was watching the show that the writers were trying to make the villains nuanced and interesting. Toph even spelled it out for us when she said that they all had good ideas, they were just out of balance. But I have to say I don't really buy that. I think the villains were plenty villainous, and hiding behind a mask of reasonableness (is that a word?).
Amon is a cult leader. Until they were shown in the same room together, I was convinced that Amon was Councilman Tarrlok in a mask. I think I would have liked it better if he had been: play to the non-benders' very real feelings of disenfranchisement to create unrest, then capitalize on that unrest to seize progressively more power. More subtle than Ozai, but unambiguously villainous.
Unalaq was a second son of the king who managed to secure the throne, then decided that wasn't enough for him. But his daughter was Aubrey Plaza, so I can't entirely hate him.
Zaheer is that kind of person who thinks that the only true freedom is anarchy because he's always been strong enough to take what he wants. For all of his lofty ideals, he's just a bully who resents law and order for getting in his way.
Kuvira is capable of great evil because she truly believes that all of her actions are for the greater good.
As to the heroes... I'm all kinds of smitten with Lin. I like the teenage characters, but it wasn't until Book 4 that they really came into their own.
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If they make comics for Korra, I really hope they spend a little more time on Kuvira. There is still a lot I want to know about her. One season of being in the spotlight didn't do her justice.
Asami turned out to be one of those stealth favorites for me. Didn't care for them for the first two seasons and suddenly BAM. Detailed metas and other posts breaking down her scenes made me enjoy her character a lot more. Lin and Kuvira are close behind for favorites.
Korrasami.... It's been a few months now and I'm still amazed. The amount of support Mike, Bryan, Janet, and other folks that have worked on Korra really have been heartwarming to see. I wish I could have gone to the Gallery Nucleus opening.
Last edited by Arreat (03-19-2015 12:26:52 AM)
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So I watched all of Korra in about 4 days since you guys made it sound so interesting. NGL, when I heard about Korrasami being a thing I was like "I need to."
While I started for the lesbian-ship, I stayed because HOLY IT WAS SO GOOD WHAT DO I EVEN.
Book 2 with Won as the first avatar was like. So amazing. It really brought new meaning to what it is to be the Avatar. I really like how they made all the leaders signify an extreme ideal, but Shattered put it better above, so I'll leave that alone.
And uhm, excuse me, I'm pretty sure Bolin and Toph carried it all to victory. I'm a total sucker for hilarious one-liners and they delivered in spades.
I just loved everything. Except Korra. She turned out OK. But it took like 3.5 books.
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ShatteredMirror wrote:
Of the arc villains, I really only found Kuvira to be compelling.
I love Kuvira because she just FUCKING OWNS.
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I heard a theory that Kuvira is Azula reincarnated, given similar circumstances and then the chance to make it turn out better for her.
If that's not cool, I don't know what is.
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That is extremely cool. And also somewhat melancholy, because Kuvira made so many mistakes.
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Source: http://glamourweaver.tumblr.com/post/11 … the-avatar
I wonder about reincarnation in the Avatar universe beyond the Avatar - since effectively we assume that anyone who doesn’t transcend and become pure spirit (like Yue and Iroh did) reincarnates, but the Avatar is special because there’s the ability to know who’s the reincarnation (since that person is the Avatar), and there was the access to past lives the continuity of Raava provided (and will provide again for Korra’s future reincarnations). But everyone else reincarnates too.
It was a truth in the original series bible that never came up on screen, that Momo was the reincarnation of Monk Gyatso. I assume he spent the 100 years reincarnating into various animals at the Southern Temple to wait for Aang. My headcanon is that that soul, deeply tied to the element of Air, is now Jinora in Korra’s time.
A thought occurred to me on Azula, if she isn’t still alive somewhere in Korra’s time. What if what her soul needed above all else was a second chance? Not peace, not punishment, but a second chance to not go down the path she went down in her life as Azula. And so she was reincarnated into someone dotted on by a father who would craft her into his weapon, just like before, but when her father’s darkness revealed itself, this time she could choose “No” and not follow him into the infliction of suffering on others - and that’s just what Asami did.
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That is awesome and I love it.
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Anthiena wrote:
Source: http://glamourweaver.tumblr.com/post/11 … the-avatar
I wonder about reincarnation in the Avatar universe beyond the Avatar - since effectively we assume that anyone who doesn’t transcend and become pure spirit (like Yue and Iroh did) reincarnates, but the Avatar is special because there’s the ability to know who’s the reincarnation (since that person is the Avatar), and there was the access to past lives the continuity of Raava provided (and will provide again for Korra’s future reincarnations). But everyone else reincarnates too.
It was a truth in the original series bible that never came up on screen, that Momo was the reincarnation of Monk Gyatso. I assume he spent the 100 years reincarnating into various animals at the Southern Temple to wait for Aang. My headcanon is that that soul, deeply tied to the element of Air, is now Jinora in Korra’s time.
A thought occurred to me on Azula, if she isn’t still alive somewhere in Korra’s time. What if what her soul needed above all else was a second chance? Not peace, not punishment, but a second chance to not go down the path she went down in her life as Azula. And so she was reincarnated into someone dotted on by a father who would craft her into his weapon, just like before, but when her father’s darkness revealed itself, this time she could choose “No” and not follow him into the infliction of suffering on others - and that’s just what Asami did.
This made me so happy
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