1132 Handful.

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Well, we’re starting this week off with a bang. Or at least some petting. Boundaries are a thing Jessica has problems with. That said, she has to at least have sensed that Jo has certain leanings. Leanings that are like catnip to her. I’m the last person you need to explain this to. All of the stuff she’s been doing, and continues to do, are a potential recipe for hurt feelings. Sometimes there is strife. It is all part of our adventure as humans. Sometimes, however, you get your ears nibbled before strife, and you always have that to enjoy in your memories.

I think it’s also safe to say that Carol isn’t sure what to make of this dark haired strumpet, but we have seen a glimpse of her as a similar point in her life. Something to ponder maybe.

I finished Avatar this morning. My biggest problem with the series is that it didn’t run for seven seasons. It is an awesome universe that I would love to see explored even more. Hopefully Korra will do a little of that. I have to say it would be hard to pin down a favorite character. That said, Sokka probably gave me the most moments of pure comedy gold.

Pretty much every character was given believable motivations, even the bad ones. They took care to show hesitance and humanity in opposing forces. One moment that stands out is when Azula was gathering her team of hot bitches. She bullied one of them into joining. Mei was pretty amoral so she just went along with things, but she mentioned fear of Azula as a motivator at least once as well. Being brought up by the fire lord pretty much fucked his kids over hardcore. At the end I even managed to feel pity for Azula because although she was clearly a sociopath she wanted the father’s acceptance possibly even more than Zuko. She was badly broken, perhaps from the start, but it was hard to feel like it was all on her.

I was really impressed by the time spent showing the fire nation as people under a strict rule. Led astray, but not evil, just people trying to get by and being fed propaganda.

The series also made a point of showing the heroes losing, screwing up, and having to adjust quickly to problems, rather than just having everything work first try. The two fold ending structure was nice. It was a lot more satisfying than if they had just fought their way in and took down the fire nation on the first try. In my opinion anyway. After all these years of wondering what the deal was with the series I have to say it earned the love people have for it, and it has mine now too.

60 Comments

Okay, I don’t like her. I just don’t like her anymore.

Not sure if I like her, but a darn sure wouldn’t trust her… with anything.

No sir, I didn’t like it. And I wouldn’t trust Jess with cheese, either. I particularly don’t trust her with Brooksie, whom she seems to be using as bait.

I cant say I dont like Jess…but she would make an excellent seductress/vampire villain type. Forget Snow White, shes ready to apply for Evil Queen but a lot cooler.

Careful Jo or you might get pregnant.

Whatever Howard might have told you, “lesbian pregnant” isn’t really a thing.

Nonsense, DiDi. Jess is someone who needs to be tamed by the right person. Plus, I’m guessing she nowhere near as confident and “devil may care” as she lets on to be. People like that tend to hide interesting things about themselves.

Jeez, tamed by the right person… that’s like a strait man trying to tell a lesbian that she just needs to find the right dick.

Now why should she be “tamed”? That comes off as kind of condescending and presumptuous.

Its a very old fantasy… tanning of the shrew a classic Shakespearean play…. I loved helping directing that play during middle school… It was such fun embarrassment to shout out to my actors/classmate “Spank her harder!”. I wasn’t believing their performance…

I have something to tell you about Legend of Korra. It is disappointment.

I thought it was great, but it would’ve been outstanding if they were able to span out the first season. But they couldn’t due to not having the go ahead. Having feedback on the first season, they got permission to do a few more seasons.

I am very excited for Korra as they’re not repeating the “Avatar has to learn this element” plot this time around.

Yes but when they realized that they did not have that option, they should have gone ahead and cut out plotpoints that were not important rather than trying to fit every single one they could into the tiny amount of time alotted.

If it was good enough, they could have ended on a cliffhanger well before the antibender arc was resolved with a nasty little cliffhanger and if the show had good enough ratings, nicelodean would have been beholden to do a follow up season.

When the first season of the last airbender was being plotted out, they certainly did not have any clue whether or not the show would get a second season and despite that, they continued the story at a logical pacing that sold the show on its own merits and the network knew they had to grant that show more for the sake of fan expectations and great ratings.

With Legend of Korra…After the first couple episodes, the show became a terrible mess. Rushed plotlines, storylines that were introduced and dropped within minutes and characters who did not actually serve any purpose in the narative before they exited the scenes…It was riding on the popularity and success of the last airbender which is what alot of its ratings stemmed from.
I have yet to see the second season yet, but I am hearing alot of good things about it so I am hopeful. (On the other hand, the first couple episodes of the first A:LOK season were pretty awesome too before it became messy)

In my opinion, it would be easy to compare Avatar The Last Airbender as being a modern roller coaster, speed ups, slow downs, rise, fall, loopyloops, and all sorts of being intense. Legend of Korra is more like a wooden roller coaster. Wont ever be as fast, no loopyloops, but still fun in its own right. But compared, no where near as good.

And thats where I think the problem lies. If someone saw Legend of Korra first, THEN watched Avatar the Last Airbender, people would probably like LoK more then they do now. LoK is a let down after seeing just how indepth AtlA was. Deep plot and characters mixed in with comedy and light hearted travels. LoK tries to do all that in a single episode, feels rushed and just underwhelming.

Legend of Korra season one brought the world to a more modern age, fighting isnt what it used to be back in Aang’s days. Much less intense, less dangerous, and that shows. Their bending is very underwhelming compared to what I’m used to. Korra using the Avatar State seems actually WEAKER then Aang without using it, and thats a problem. Its not so much that Aang was so much greater then she is; EVERY Avatar before Aang were very strong and gifted. Korra is the over confident, impatient runt of the family, and she doesnt even realize it because she thought Amon was her huge accomplishment. Amon would have been toast back in Aang’s day. Gifted he certainly is, but just isnt on that level.

I would say Korra was interesting up until the last 10 minutes of the final episode. The Deux Ex Machina was so blatant (and literal), and everything was wrapped up so nicely that it broke suspension.

I started watching it, but I wasn’t able to get through the first episode. It just felt stale in comparison to Avatar to me. Maybe it get’s better later on though?

Also I’d have to agree about Sokka. He’s such good comic release. He also grows a lot as a person, which I like.

Sploosh.

Okay. That was the most hilarious thing. I laughed a teary eyed laugh for a minute, althoght sometimes I coughed.

It’s… it is… it is just that while in one way, I read it as innuendo, which was funny because it was good innuendo, making me think of other good innuendo, but I also heard it in the voice of that dude from Windwaker who makes unconvincing sound effects for the sink-a-battleship minigame, which was also funny, and those two thing together… it just…

Yeah.

I have to say, one of my favorite things about your art is that you make the character’s ears turn red when they blush, too.

Sokka is probably one of my favorites, too. ‘Cave of Two Lovers’ was probably my favorite funny episode because of Sokka’s reactions to the nomads.

Legend of Korra is pretty good, too, though the first seasons pacing was super fast. I think the team wasn’t sure how many more episodes they’d get to make, and tried to cram everything in. Still, I really enjoyed it.

You’re better off not watching Korra for a while, it’ll only tarnish your memories of the original series. It’s not outright awful- the world is well developed and the art is fantastic. But the writing and characters and general vibe of ‘instant love triangles and fillery fun are more important than the plot’ will make you want to smash your face in

“Korra” actually stands up very well with its predecessor, with a kind of “setup” feel to it- kinda like how Book One of “Avatar” is the weakest in the series. Give it time.

I do agree regarding the love triangle. It’s being poorly handled, and should be either reworked or dropped entirely- the latter appears to be the case, considering new content, but it could return much in the manner of Jet.

On the comic: Jess, don’t you dare break the blue-haired one, or I shall be forced to stick you in a box of rocks.

Yeah – that was pretty much my reaction to. “This is So Cool – that’s brilliant! Argh, love triangle stuff…Back to the good bits! Yay!” It was just badly written and messily handled, which is sad, because Avatar handled them so well. ps-To me, the villain got a much more interesting send off, and I liked it more than how Korra’s part ended.

Also, I will help you with said “sticking in box of rocks.”

I watched Avatar with my kid when it was being broadcast, and I’m pretty sure I was more into it than she was. :P

I don’t even want to see the movie they made, since I heard it butchered the story so badly. The cartoon was more than enough. (Although I totally agree that another season would have rocked.)

Well, they did make a thirteen hour season into a 2.5 hour movie – butchering was almost inevitable, really :( Even if you did drop the fillers, there was just to much to cover, even with travel montages…

It wasn’t just the story they screwed up. Dull lifeless acting, miscasting, characters felt all wrong, cutting out important plot points that would explain parts of the current story/future stories, poorly paced story all together. To top it off, as some people who were interviewed after viewing it said “At the very least they could have said Aang at least once”. Hard to explain in text, but they couldn’t even pronounce the names right, giving to the suspicion that Shyamalan hadn’t even glanced at the show before he started production. It wasn’t just a case of the adaptation, it was a case of someone who had no right to be telling this story putting his mitts all over it and chopping it to pieces to make a quick buck.

What’s really disappointing is that supposedly Shyamalan and his kids are fans of the cartoon. He mentioned in in one of the DVD extras for the Book 3 box set, I believe. Him and the creators of the series were talking about how they were excited about the prospect of a live-action movie.

I like Jess. She is straight forwarded and empowered. I can see how that makes people nervous and scared, but I don’t think it should. She is selfish, but definitely not mean spirited. I don’t think she would hurt Jo maliciously. People often get hurt in relationships, romantic, sexual, or otherwise, but in my humble opinion the experience is always worth the risk.

I think that Jo is all about growing as a person and pushing her own boundaries. You see her do it all the time. The little victories add up in the long run. Jess could take the initiative and help nudge Jo along. I also think that people underestimate Jo’s sexuality, due to her adorable nature. In a way, it is the same as underestimating Jo. I used to be deeply and painfully shy, so I understand how much strength of character it takes to overcome that. Jo is made of tougher stuff than you-all might suspect. And at the end of the day, if she ever falls down, she has an amazing group of friends who love her very much. They will help pick her back up.

No fear Jo! Go for it!

The truth of the matter is that my feelings on the original Avatar are mixed. I just didn’t think (and still don’t think) that Aang was a very interesting hero (truthfully I preferred Zuko in that role,) and the ending was a copout. It would have been so much more interesting if Aang actually had given up his feelings for Katara in order to access the Avatar state. It’s not like he would have to give up on her completely, but it would have made the whole “sacrifice” aspect of the Avatar’s role come into perspective, plus it would be genuine character development for Aang. I would have loved to see Aang genuinely have to question his people’s way and wonder whether or not bringing them back in whole was the right way to go.

Instead, the Universe provides Aang a copout. I really think the writers liked Aang too much, not so with the rest of the cast, who where, sadly, much more interesting than the lead.

Well the point was that Aang did not believe in killing and believed there was an alternative to murder and that he did not have to forsake his beliefs in order to do the right thing.
Not a bad moral for a show aimed at a young audience while appealing to its older audiences too.

Personally, if I had to name one contrast between the last airbender and legend of korra that dissapointed me, it is how little focus the villians got in that first season. The big bads are given quick runovers regarding motivation and we see a number of faceless mooks who support these bad guys but we did not really get much to go on.

In the Last Airbender, we had a flurry of characters good and bad who were from the fire nation. A number of episodes dedicated to showing that the people within the fire nation are not all huge jerks, that the war effected everyone pretty badly and that the one who started the whole thing was all to human.

With Legend of Korra…We have a growing population who feel subjegated and enslaved by benders who claim to be suffering at the hands of the bending populace and they are treated as pretty one dimensional bad guys throughout. We don’t get the chance to find out why they feel this way, get to see someone within the faction who is relatable. Instead, we get a finale that leads to a big reveal and we are expected to believe that all of the anti benders were deluded morons who imagined the whole opression and second class citizen status and that it was all just one big misunderstanding.
Which is really lame by comparison.

Overall, I would say Legend of Korra’s first season was very good, but it did not quite achieve the heights of the Last Airbenders.

Avatar the Last Airbender quickly became one of my favorite shows, and watching it on Netflix still feels me with the highs and lows of the emotional range. Love the characters, the good and bad. Love the world, how creative and fun it is. Love seeing the different sides of each person, why they do what they do, when they fail, when they succeed, etc.

Favorite part of an episode is when we follow Uncle Iroh around in the Earth Kingdom city for a day. That and Zuko getting a (brief) chance to be a normal boy for once and go out with a Earth Kingdom girl.

I’ve enjoyed Legend of Korra so far, but it’s definitely got a different feel than Last Airbender. Sort of faster, maybe more mature? But definitely things move faster with plot points and relationships, imo.

Run, Brooksie! Use your ninjo powers to escape.

As for Korra…it’s less about story and more about love triangles. More or less, it was created for the Zutara fans who were upset with the ending of A:TLA.

Rather than watching Korea (which I tried to do and regretted after the first couple episodes) you should try reading the comics. They’re made by the same creators and follow Zuko starting where the cartoon left off. For the most part it’s supposed to resolve the question about Zukos mom but there’s a lot more happening in the story. They’re really great.

As for the comic…. I don’t think I like Jess and Jo together. I like both of them (No is my favourite character) but I don’t see things going well between them. I guess it’s always a blessing or a lesson though. Something will come of the experience.

The fun part about Jess is, even though she’s dressed up like Sleeping Beauty in this arc, she’s just as much Queen Grimhilde. Deliciously evil.

Well whether people like Jess or not, I must say I’m extremely jealous of her current position! I mean seriously, could you make Brooksie any more adorable? Is that even physically possible?!

Great pairing and concerning legend of korra I’m sticking with it because its good but I would have liked the korra/ bo ling pairing but I guess the whole love triangle had to bring conflict I suppose. I do hope they touch on anti-benders in the future seasons, it was a good concept to play with and they should keep it around because the guy may have been a bender but the idea can’t die because ideas are bullet proof :)

Bit hard to see the little blush lines against Brooksie’s skin tone. I kind of have to pick my laptop up and look at the screen from less than 10″ away.

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