Korra season threeeeeeee!
Aug. 30th, 2014 11:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
psocopteraJust watched final eight episodes of season in past two days. WOW. WOW has this show come into its potential.
Am sort of tempted to just write "IT WAS FUCKING AMAZING" forty times here and go with that. But no, some actual thoughts.
EPIC bending. EPIC. Zaheer flying vs Korra in the Avatar state - hahaha, I loved that they're all "we'll just put her in the Avatar state and kill her, I'm sure AN AVATAR IN THE AVATAR STATE won't be any trouble, lala!". Also before that Korra holding her own for quite awhile against the worlds best benders *literally with her hands tied*. Korra Korra Korra. Also I am really psyched that we're cycling back around to the "what if the Avatar is weakened or disabled" question they kind of shortchanged at the end of book one - this is something that I've been interested in for a long time in my own stupid partly-written AU and I'm really interested to see what canon might do with it.
Because in some ways my true loves are still the old guard, the glimpses of Toph we got in Lin's storyline and Zuko's appearances just THRILLED me. Zuko being canonical lifelong best friends with Aang, and trying to give advice to Korra about what Aang would do. OH MY GOD, and Zuko all "you talked to Iroh", oh my god, the feeeeeeeels. (Re: Lin's storyline: I have developed this horrible fear they're going to hook her up with Bumi or something, nooooo I do not want her to Get A Man and that's her happy ending.)
But, okay, except I am also totally in love with the new guard, because Master Jinora with her beautiful arrows made me cry. (Again.) It was a tearful night, given that I sobbed like crazy when I thought Tenzin was dead - I had totally thought it was coming after the previous episode where Zaheer is like "I want to kill the heads of all the nations!" and Jinora is like "I can do every airbending move my dad can do and I know all the history and culture" and I was like "welp, sayonara The Mentor". Still kind of feel like it was cheating that they didn't, actually, I see no reason Zaheer wouldn't have done it.
So much good Bolin this season. I feel like they finally have a good handle on making him the comic relief while not writing him as totally ridiculous or hopelessly stupid. Bolin finding his inner lavabender - YES. Bolin losing sixteen games of pai sho to Asami - I loved that so much, it felt like an original series character moment. (Although I also cannot wait to go dig around in fandom and see who's written the alternative "stakeout orgy" option.)
Also cannot wait to see who's writing villains. Because I LOVED THEM ALL so much. What is the backstory of arms lady, was she born without meat arms or did she lose them somehow? Did she in fact ever hook up with lava guy? (I know they have names, I just don't want to go poke wikipedia right now to look them up.) I have a giant kink for lady-taller-than-the-man so I about swooned over Zaheer kissing his boom-boom lady. (Which, okay, I totally did *not* read her as dead in the battle, I thought Su had put her in some kind of metal helmet and thus neutralized her. And in fact I kind of thought they were leading up to her last-minute reappearance being part of what takes down Zaheer - that if he can only fly when he's abandoned all desire and earthly attachments, he might suddenly lose the ability when shocked to see his presumed-dead love still alive and in the custody of the metalbenders (also sort of turning around the hostage-taking situation).)
Every time they split the party and Asami goes with Korra, I end up just BEAMING at the screen. I mean, I know we're not going to get canonical girlkissing, I haven't, like, lost touch with reality, but I love them as best friends (and I love that the team has figured out that they're the right sub-team-up in the way that Mako and Bolin are). As![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
q10 points out Asami is Batman, and Korra's totally Supes and, I mean, World's Finest, no? (And I guess Mako is thus Wonder Woman, I've read some very good stories along those lines...)
Just... EVERYTHING. The amazing futuristic metal city. RED LOTUS, that is so perfect and powerful. Gorgeous spooky green crystal cave lighting in the finale. Asami welding like a badass fixing up the airship and then cannibalizing it. The airbenders teaming up to make a giant tornado. I am so in love with this show in a way that I didn't think was going to happen after season 1 and the first half of season 2.
Am sort of tempted to just write "IT WAS FUCKING AMAZING" forty times here and go with that. But no, some actual thoughts.
EPIC bending. EPIC. Zaheer flying vs Korra in the Avatar state - hahaha, I loved that they're all "we'll just put her in the Avatar state and kill her, I'm sure AN AVATAR IN THE AVATAR STATE won't be any trouble, lala!". Also before that Korra holding her own for quite awhile against the worlds best benders *literally with her hands tied*. Korra Korra Korra. Also I am really psyched that we're cycling back around to the "what if the Avatar is weakened or disabled" question they kind of shortchanged at the end of book one - this is something that I've been interested in for a long time in my own stupid partly-written AU and I'm really interested to see what canon might do with it.
Because in some ways my true loves are still the old guard, the glimpses of Toph we got in Lin's storyline and Zuko's appearances just THRILLED me. Zuko being canonical lifelong best friends with Aang, and trying to give advice to Korra about what Aang would do. OH MY GOD, and Zuko all "you talked to Iroh", oh my god, the feeeeeeeels. (Re: Lin's storyline: I have developed this horrible fear they're going to hook her up with Bumi or something, nooooo I do not want her to Get A Man and that's her happy ending.)
But, okay, except I am also totally in love with the new guard, because Master Jinora with her beautiful arrows made me cry. (Again.) It was a tearful night, given that I sobbed like crazy when I thought Tenzin was dead - I had totally thought it was coming after the previous episode where Zaheer is like "I want to kill the heads of all the nations!" and Jinora is like "I can do every airbending move my dad can do and I know all the history and culture" and I was like "welp, sayonara The Mentor". Still kind of feel like it was cheating that they didn't, actually, I see no reason Zaheer wouldn't have done it.
So much good Bolin this season. I feel like they finally have a good handle on making him the comic relief while not writing him as totally ridiculous or hopelessly stupid. Bolin finding his inner lavabender - YES. Bolin losing sixteen games of pai sho to Asami - I loved that so much, it felt like an original series character moment. (Although I also cannot wait to go dig around in fandom and see who's written the alternative "stakeout orgy" option.)
Also cannot wait to see who's writing villains. Because I LOVED THEM ALL so much. What is the backstory of arms lady, was she born without meat arms or did she lose them somehow? Did she in fact ever hook up with lava guy? (I know they have names, I just don't want to go poke wikipedia right now to look them up.) I have a giant kink for lady-taller-than-the-man so I about swooned over Zaheer kissing his boom-boom lady. (Which, okay, I totally did *not* read her as dead in the battle, I thought Su had put her in some kind of metal helmet and thus neutralized her. And in fact I kind of thought they were leading up to her last-minute reappearance being part of what takes down Zaheer - that if he can only fly when he's abandoned all desire and earthly attachments, he might suddenly lose the ability when shocked to see his presumed-dead love still alive and in the custody of the metalbenders (also sort of turning around the hostage-taking situation).)
Every time they split the party and Asami goes with Korra, I end up just BEAMING at the screen. I mean, I know we're not going to get canonical girlkissing, I haven't, like, lost touch with reality, but I love them as best friends (and I love that the team has figured out that they're the right sub-team-up in the way that Mako and Bolin are). As
q10 points out Asami is Batman, and Korra's totally Supes and, I mean, World's Finest, no? (And I guess Mako is thus Wonder Woman, I've read some very good stories along those lines...)Just... EVERYTHING. The amazing futuristic metal city. RED LOTUS, that is so perfect and powerful. Gorgeous spooky green crystal cave lighting in the finale. Asami welding like a badass fixing up the airship and then cannibalizing it. The airbenders teaming up to make a giant tornado. I am so in love with this show in a way that I didn't think was going to happen after season 1 and the first half of season 2.
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no subject
Date: 2014-08-31 03:48 am (UTC)but please not Bumi - that is not quite the worst pairing imaginable, but it's up there.
no subject
Date: 2014-08-31 05:47 am (UTC)I could totally write the Lin/Bumi story if I like got that pairing in a fic exchange or something... he was always jealous of Tenzin blah blah blah, there's basically a script for the "dating the wrong brother" trope. I mean, ugh, I'm not saying I want to see it on the show, just that it doesn't actually seem too far outside the realm of possibility for the show that thought that the Makorrasami triangle and Bolin/Eska were good ideas.
Haha, if someone told me I absolutely had to pair Lin with *somebody*, I'd write Lin/Mako, I've seen that story a zillion times in slash (the grizzled older warrior melting despite themself for the young idealist etc) and we almost never get it in het. Either the comedy version where he keeps trying to fix her up and they post-mortem all her terrible dates or the serious version where they're hurt/comforting in a cave or whatever.
no subject
Date: 2014-08-31 06:15 am (UTC)Sorta relatedly - I love what Su's remarks about neither her nor Lin having known their respective fathers say about the kind of life Toph has been living. Both because a lot of other mainstream programming, especially children's programming, is crazy-conservative about that kind of family structure stuff, and also because that is so totally in character for the Toph we know.
Hey! Maybe Lin's version of getting past her human connection issues can be more about casual hookups and/or short-cycle serial monogamy. I can see Lin and Mako making a good weekend of it a lot more easily than I can see them working as an item.
no subject
Date: 2014-08-31 01:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-08-31 04:51 pm (UTC)totally. also ‘heteronormativity’.
although you might want to find a wording other than ‘triple bonus points’.
no subject
Date: 2014-09-06 12:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-08-31 05:36 am (UTC)... possibly I want to rewatch some of these episodes with a higher framerate.
no subject
Date: 2014-09-02 09:03 pm (UTC)Agreed completely on everything you say above. I really *really* liked so many things about this season, and just hope that the whole Nickelodeon-putting-no-Avatar-online followed by Avatar-will-only-be-online-and-not-on-tv doesn't effect when/if we are getting more seasons, because I am really interested in seeing where they are going (the ending was amazing).
I would totally love it if they have side a comic or something about Zaheer's gang before they were caught, I though they were all great, especially the two female characters.
no subject
Date: 2014-09-03 01:41 am (UTC)I really want to write something with some glimpses of the Red Lotus gang... have a bit of a bunny even, although it doesn't quite have enough detail to write anything yet. If you want to hear me blather about fic ideas, I could send you an email...
no subject
Date: 2014-09-05 04:35 pm (UTC)It's good to know that they were planning on next season being the last, makes me feel like there is A Plan and that it is not just ending because.