JadedWriter
Member
Can't wait to see that info dump on Kuvira since she's one of the only people of the cast that I think really could've needed about another two seasons of plotting. Mako as well actually.
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Avatar Community |OT| Live. Die. Repeat.
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JadedWriter
Member
I only remember your Bolin one. I should reread your Mako one but I'm not looking for that on my phone.
I'm gonna write up Korra's. She's the main character of this whole shindig. Unfortunately, I'm not going to be as expansive as I was with the other two simply because I do not have the time to do so, and I've written her in parts with Mako and Bolin's sections.
By going over Mako and Bolin, you already have a rough idea of what her character progression is in the first few episodes. She's the bombastic new Avatar, and the first thing she does as she arrives is break up a crime ring, and then hit one of their warehouses, doing serious damage to their operations, while also forming the beginnings of a strong bond between Mako and Bolin. However, even the beginning, you see Korra's perspectives being challenged. To put it simply, Korra believes she is a superhero, and the bad guys are just bad guys, and all she has to do to fix the world is kick the bad guy's teeth in. Yet already here you have Mako, who is a criminal already being somewhat reformed by her (rather commanding) presence and Bolin, who is a hero that she initially mistook as an idiot. But while these perspectives don't conform to her initial impressions, it is otherwise going pretty much as she expected. She kicked criminal ass, and now was thanked by Lin.
Which is when she finally reaches Tenzin and his airbenders island. It's pretty much unavoidable to explain Korra's character arc without explaining Tenzin's. He's not like Iroh, an unconditionally loving and supportive mentor. Tenzin has his own issues between being on the city council, being the head of the air benders association, and now he's told he also has to train the Avatar. I feel the important part here is that Tenzin's mentorship isn't based in the fact that Korra simply has no other options besides his cranky old ass. If she wanted to learn airbending, Tenzin may be the only airbender left, but there are 3 others who are considered masters of the principles of airbending, even if they can't do it themselves.
No, Korra seeks Tenzin out because she already considers him family. He is the son of Grangran, and her past life. He's been watching over her since she was a child. His kids love her, when they come over. He's just always been so distant. Korra isn't lacking a father figure in her life (family wise, she had a stable and happy upbringing with her average family WHO ARE MOST DEFINITELY NOT SECRET ROYALTY, SCREW YOU LoK), but she expects/needs a certain kind of closeness to the people around her. All her mentors (except for one) became very close to her, and the idea that she goes to train with some random airbending master when she has family for that is just an unpalatable idea to her.
So things go as such: She meets with Tenzin, says she's ready to be trained as an Airbender, but Tenzin refuses. They begin arguing, but Pema comes in and suggests that Korra just came in, and the middle of the night. They're both tired, and in any case they're not going to just send her back to the north pole immediately, so they might as well just welcome Korra for now, eat dinner, and deal with everything else tomorrow. Korra is worried that Tenzin will just force her back. What if he does just refuses to change his mind? How can she be the avatar if she doesn't know the fourth element?
She tries to relax over the next day, playing with the kids, catching up with Tenzin and Pema. Tenzin is mentally preparing for the oncoming headache, knowing that Korra will talk about how great she is and how she deserves to be taught, because she's the goddamn avatar and he has to deal with it. It's not the first time they'll be having this discussion. Then Tenzin reads the news paper and reads about how Korra broke that criminal warehouse. Tenzin kind of panics and demands to know what happened. So Korra essentially explains the events of yesterday (arrogantly proud of her achievement in the warehouse). When she gets to the part about Amon, his powers, and so on, Tenzin's blood runs cold. Korra uses this as her argument. She explains that she needs to learn Airbending to become a fully realized avatar and stop him. Tenzin had heard rumors of Amon, but this is the first confirmation he has of his existence, by the avatar no less. Tenzin considers it strongly. He explains it will be years before Korra truly masters airbending, and Amon needs to be stopped now, which is what he and the police will do. And in any case, if Amon can do everything she describes, they need to get the avatar out of the city as soon as they can. So they were planning on letting her stay a few days, as a small vacation, but it turns out things are serious, and she's leaving tonight. Tenzin leaves no room for argument with the look he gives her.
Korra is devastated. She came here, so many plans. She was supposed to be an airbender, a probender...she was supposed to be the avatar. She stays in her room...turning over the events in her mind. The ship to send her home arrives sooner than she could have believed. At the dock, Tenzin and his family is saying goodbye to her, and then she's on the boat. And the boat is beginning to move...
Which is when she jumps off, saying she's staying. Tenzin repeats himself that he's not going to train her because she wants to be a gungho badass and try to take down a deadly enemy she has no idea how to fight. She tells Tenzin that it isn't about that. If he doesn't want to train her, she understands, but she just can't wait to be the avatar any longer. There is something about Amon that scares her to her bones, but the avatar's entire purpose is to keep the world in balance, and she wouldn't be doing her job if she went off somewhere while the world was in danger. He doesn't have to train her, but she knows this is where she needs to be. She expects Tenzin to continue arguing, but instead he says "About time you figured it out. Your training starts tomorrow."
This is the first real lesson as the avatar that Korra recieves. The fact is that she isn't ready. That's something she's been told all her life, why they stuck her in a gated community so that she can be trained by masters that come to her. It's something that Katara and Tenzin realized was a mistake only when it was too late. For all the fierce personality that Korra possessed, the White Lotus Society's policy had made her passive and sheltered, dependent on the validation of the masters. Korra here was defying the WLS by using her authority as the avatar to declare that there was a problem in the world and she needed to fix it. That was what she was there for, and Tenzin has no right to impede on that. Even though she's under his tutelage, she's ultimately his master, not the other way around. And her defying him like this, for these exact reasons, mean she is ready to take her first step as the avatar and not a super bender that they've been training in a distant land.
So as you might guess by now, Korra has a lot of personality to struggle with. I wanted to keep a lot of the same flaws she had before, but complicate her personality by adding noble traits that she has to struggle with. She wants to be a hero, partly for the sheer glory of it, but also because she legitimately wants to help people. That she is relatively innocent about the true nature of the world doesn't mean she's wrong in that there is a balance that needs to be maintained. There is a lot of growing up she has to do, but her heart is in the right place. As the main character, I don't feel her story arc can be summed up as easily in general terms as Bolin and Mako's who are important but ultimately supporting characters. My vision of Korra would have her explore various aspects of Republic city itself along with development of her relationships with the cast. So it's more complicated. But it's a starting point.
And thus the first tentative Team Avatar is born, composing of Korra, Tenzin, Bolin and Mako, though Korra herself is unaware of it. This would be the last of the 'introduction' episodes, though obviously Asami and Kuvira have yet to make their appearances. However, it sets up the villain, the bigger social issue of the gangs going on, the personalities of the main characters, and the overarching goal. So, not that bad, if I do say so myself.
By going over Mako and Bolin, you already have a rough idea of what her character progression is in the first few episodes. She's the bombastic new Avatar, and the first thing she does as she arrives is break up a crime ring, and then hit one of their warehouses, doing serious damage to their operations, while also forming the beginnings of a strong bond between Mako and Bolin. However, even the beginning, you see Korra's perspectives being challenged. To put it simply, Korra believes she is a superhero, and the bad guys are just bad guys, and all she has to do to fix the world is kick the bad guy's teeth in. Yet already here you have Mako, who is a criminal already being somewhat reformed by her (rather commanding) presence and Bolin, who is a hero that she initially mistook as an idiot. But while these perspectives don't conform to her initial impressions, it is otherwise going pretty much as she expected. She kicked criminal ass, and now was thanked by Lin.
Which is when she finally reaches Tenzin and his airbenders island. It's pretty much unavoidable to explain Korra's character arc without explaining Tenzin's. He's not like Iroh, an unconditionally loving and supportive mentor. Tenzin has his own issues between being on the city council, being the head of the air benders association, and now he's told he also has to train the Avatar. I feel the important part here is that Tenzin's mentorship isn't based in the fact that Korra simply has no other options besides his cranky old ass. If she wanted to learn airbending, Tenzin may be the only airbender left, but there are 3 others who are considered masters of the principles of airbending, even if they can't do it themselves.
No, Korra seeks Tenzin out because she already considers him family. He is the son of Grangran, and her past life. He's been watching over her since she was a child. His kids love her, when they come over. He's just always been so distant. Korra isn't lacking a father figure in her life (family wise, she had a stable and happy upbringing with her average family WHO ARE MOST DEFINITELY NOT SECRET ROYALTY, SCREW YOU LoK), but she expects/needs a certain kind of closeness to the people around her. All her mentors (except for one) became very close to her, and the idea that she goes to train with some random airbending master when she has family for that is just an unpalatable idea to her.
So things go as such: She meets with Tenzin, says she's ready to be trained as an Airbender, but Tenzin refuses. They begin arguing, but Pema comes in and suggests that Korra just came in, and the middle of the night. They're both tired, and in any case they're not going to just send her back to the north pole immediately, so they might as well just welcome Korra for now, eat dinner, and deal with everything else tomorrow. Korra is worried that Tenzin will just force her back. What if he does just refuses to change his mind? How can she be the avatar if she doesn't know the fourth element?
She tries to relax over the next day, playing with the kids, catching up with Tenzin and Pema. Tenzin is mentally preparing for the oncoming headache, knowing that Korra will talk about how great she is and how she deserves to be taught, because she's the goddamn avatar and he has to deal with it. It's not the first time they'll be having this discussion. Then Tenzin reads the news paper and reads about how Korra broke that criminal warehouse. Tenzin kind of panics and demands to know what happened. So Korra essentially explains the events of yesterday (arrogantly proud of her achievement in the warehouse). When she gets to the part about Amon, his powers, and so on, Tenzin's blood runs cold. Korra uses this as her argument. She explains that she needs to learn Airbending to become a fully realized avatar and stop him. Tenzin had heard rumors of Amon, but this is the first confirmation he has of his existence, by the avatar no less. Tenzin considers it strongly. He explains it will be years before Korra truly masters airbending, and Amon needs to be stopped now, which is what he and the police will do. And in any case, if Amon can do everything she describes, they need to get the avatar out of the city as soon as they can. So they were planning on letting her stay a few days, as a small vacation, but it turns out things are serious, and she's leaving tonight. Tenzin leaves no room for argument with the look he gives her.
Korra is devastated. She came here, so many plans. She was supposed to be an airbender, a probender...she was supposed to be the avatar. She stays in her room...turning over the events in her mind. The ship to send her home arrives sooner than she could have believed. At the dock, Tenzin and his family is saying goodbye to her, and then she's on the boat. And the boat is beginning to move...
Which is when she jumps off, saying she's staying. Tenzin repeats himself that he's not going to train her because she wants to be a gungho badass and try to take down a deadly enemy she has no idea how to fight. She tells Tenzin that it isn't about that. If he doesn't want to train her, she understands, but she just can't wait to be the avatar any longer. There is something about Amon that scares her to her bones, but the avatar's entire purpose is to keep the world in balance, and she wouldn't be doing her job if she went off somewhere while the world was in danger. He doesn't have to train her, but she knows this is where she needs to be. She expects Tenzin to continue arguing, but instead he says "About time you figured it out. Your training starts tomorrow."
This is the first real lesson as the avatar that Korra recieves. The fact is that she isn't ready. That's something she's been told all her life, why they stuck her in a gated community so that she can be trained by masters that come to her. It's something that Katara and Tenzin realized was a mistake only when it was too late. For all the fierce personality that Korra possessed, the White Lotus Society's policy had made her passive and sheltered, dependent on the validation of the masters. Korra here was defying the WLS by using her authority as the avatar to declare that there was a problem in the world and she needed to fix it. That was what she was there for, and Tenzin has no right to impede on that. Even though she's under his tutelage, she's ultimately his master, not the other way around. And her defying him like this, for these exact reasons, mean she is ready to take her first step as the avatar and not a super bender that they've been training in a distant land.
So as you might guess by now, Korra has a lot of personality to struggle with. I wanted to keep a lot of the same flaws she had before, but complicate her personality by adding noble traits that she has to struggle with. She wants to be a hero, partly for the sheer glory of it, but also because she legitimately wants to help people. That she is relatively innocent about the true nature of the world doesn't mean she's wrong in that there is a balance that needs to be maintained. There is a lot of growing up she has to do, but her heart is in the right place. As the main character, I don't feel her story arc can be summed up as easily in general terms as Bolin and Mako's who are important but ultimately supporting characters. My vision of Korra would have her explore various aspects of Republic city itself along with development of her relationships with the cast. So it's more complicated. But it's a starting point.
And thus the first tentative Team Avatar is born, composing of Korra, Tenzin, Bolin and Mako, though Korra herself is unaware of it. This would be the last of the 'introduction' episodes, though obviously Asami and Kuvira have yet to make their appearances. However, it sets up the villain, the bigger social issue of the gangs going on, the personalities of the main characters, and the overarching goal. So, not that bad, if I do say so myself.
JadedWriter
Member
Korra is still a head strong diva in your version, damn. How would you go about changing Amon?
Of course. The idea of the antithesis of Aang is a fantastic idea. Especially considering the legacy Aang left. The avatar was always considered an important force in the world, but when Aang went on his journey, the avatar coming in to save the day was a desperate, last hope of a people who have been long subjegated by a tyrannical regime. I got the impression that people hoped the avatar would save them because there was no one else that could. That's not the environment that Legend of Korra finds itself in. The world, 80 years of no war, has stabilized itself and the avatar is viewed as an absolute giant of a presence for allowing it all to happen.
So, when the next avatar comes along, if they want to make their own mark....well, shit. What the hell can they do to possibly compete with literally saving the world? It isn't even because Korra doesn't have the theoretical ability, but there's nothing to compete with the impact that stopping a 100 year old war can do. So Korra having the core desire to surpass her predecessor is a nigh impossible goal that is befitting a main character. She wants her time as avatar to be as epic and grand as the adventures she was told of Aang growing up...But how the hell can she do that? She doesn't want to be the avatar that wasn't as impressive as the last one. I think it's a very effective dynamic and one of the best parts of the otherwise shakey decision of 'Make her everything Aang wasn't".
So yeah, my problem with Korra wasn't ever that she was a diva. My problem was that she was shallow. That's what I'm hoping would be more depth. But depth is found in the actual writing of the story. The best what I'm doing is doing some somewhat refined outlining. It isn't the same, but atleast I'm getting it out of my system.
I'll get to amon after I write up Asami and maybe Tenzin. I can tell you this much though. The villains of LoK were...random, and I didn't like that. I'm instead going to unify them, not under a single campaign, but they make them tangentially related, the same way nearly every villain in TLA has been related to the fire nation in some tangential way. In Korra's case, the organization is the Red Lotus, so Amon has some ties to them. Otherwise, I can't say more.
JadedWriter
Member
But from what I remember Kuvira wasn't a Red Lotus member in a synopsis you wrote months ago, she was a childhood friend of Korra...the unifying of the villains should be interesting actually.
Yup. Ironically, the only villain other than the Z team that was part of the Red Lotus in the show is the one I'm kicking out.
JadedWriter
Member
Nobody likes fucking Unalaq any way...except that giant douche owl.
He's ultimately a minor character in my version so....
He's Hughes, basically, from FMA. He is super affectionate (in a not creepy way) about his kids and Korra. It explains why his kids decide to be robots. So yeah, no grand scheme, no evil spirit control, no nonsense conflict with his brother, no making Korra royalty for no reason. He might play some part if and when Korra decides to visit the North Pole, if only because I dislike entirely flat characters with no substance, but he's essentially nothing like his show version. He's goofy, loving, energetic, embarassing really.
I MAY change my mind and make him head of the water tribe if it turns out to be convienent to do so, but if that happens, but then he's unrelated to Korra and is just chief. Who treats her like a daughter anyway because he's an affectionate toward kids (though, again, not in a creepy way).
JadedWriter
Member
So he just runs around beating the cast to death with pictures of his kids, Tonraq is probably Colonel Mustang then?
Without the PTSD because he never went to war and just wifed Riza and had a kid that coincidentally happened to be the world's only reincarnating superman, sure.
Korra's upbringing by her parents was mundane. I won't say they have no character, or don't take pride in what they do, but they're not heroes of any kind. Or rather, they are, but only in the same way that a parent is a hero in any well raised kids eyes. On some level, this bothers Korra, who wants her whole life to be grand and epic, so as a kid she liked to imagine her parents were great warriors who were just waiting for the right crisis to strike, at which point they'd reveal to be super skilled water bending warriors or something. But Tonraq is essentially the water bending equivelent of a nurse, while her mother is a painter. After receiving a great deal of fame for having birthed the avatar, they kept getting donations from across the world, so they set up a charity dedicated to helping rebuild the southern water tribe. They're decent folk, just not bombastic.
JadedWriter
Member
Well that explains away Tonraq getting constantly jobbed mercilessly in the original series. Her mom was pretty boring in the show though. I honestly hope in your rewrite Kuvira is uber jealous of Korra actually having a relationship with her biological parents though. Does Korra ever talk about her childhood in the show though? I don't remember her talking about much.
Basically, no, other than bitching Tenzin out for having her locked away.
Anyway, Kuvira's relationship with Korra is...complicated. I feel I have some really good ideas for her and she might be the best character of my version of the show. There's a reason I'm saving her for last.
Well, last of the 'main characters'. Zaheer and his team and Vaatu and so on might come after her, probably even Su, but she's going to be the last of the Krew. We did Mako, Bolin and Korra. Left is Tenzin, Asami, and Kuvira. After that, who knows.
JadedWriter
Member
Kuvira being the sixth ranger is best version of the show.
Icyflamez96
Member
Can't wait to see the Amon one, whenever you get to it.
Barnes & Noble Signing event in LA with Bryke and Janet Varney
Next Tuesday at 7pm.
Of COOOURSE I can't go due to work. Why are these events always on worknights for me? ;_;
Next Tuesday at 7pm.
Of COOOURSE I can't go due to work. Why are these events always on worknights for me? ;_;
TangerineCloud
Banned
Dang, is Bryke ever gonna come to the east coast? We don't bite, brehs. ;~;
JadedWriter
Member
Probably not unless they want to speak at RISD.
NipplesAndToes23
Member
Who would win in a fight?
Child Aang vs Korra
Child Aang vs Korra
JadedWriter
Member
Korra's the Star Platinum of the Avatarverse though Aang really did have the better technique. I think Korra is only better than Aang using the fire and earth elements and she was the worst water bender on her show.
The section that discusses his love triangle with Jinora and Ikki needs to be elaborated upon.
JadedWriter
Member
Yooooooo. He better pick Ikki over head up her ass but still can't smell her own shit Jinora.
That's just like mine.
FeenixRising
Banned
I love the part where you expertly break down his backstory.
The Scollard
Member
Hey guys, I'm currently working on a LoK fanfic, and I was wondering if any of you would be willing to give me some feedback on my story.
It's called "The Darkest Flame", and takes place in the six month gap between Books 1&2. The plot involves Korra, Mako, Lin, and Tenzin hunting down a mysterious serial killer who seemingly kills his victims using energybending.
If any of you are interested in reading it, it can be found here. (Since this is an Avatar thread, and the story isn't monetized, I assume it doesn't break the TOS.)
I'm also looking for anybody interested in maybe being a beta-reader. I'm trying to make the story the best it can be, as its a plot I'm interested in seeing through.
I know this might be a sort of strange request, but Avatar-GAF is probably the biggest Avatar community I know, so I decided to try to get some feedback here.
It's called "The Darkest Flame", and takes place in the six month gap between Books 1&2. The plot involves Korra, Mako, Lin, and Tenzin hunting down a mysterious serial killer who seemingly kills his victims using energybending.
If any of you are interested in reading it, it can be found here. (Since this is an Avatar thread, and the story isn't monetized, I assume it doesn't break the TOS.)
I'm also looking for anybody interested in maybe being a beta-reader. I'm trying to make the story the best it can be, as its a plot I'm interested in seeing through.
I know this might be a sort of strange request, but Avatar-GAF is probably the biggest Avatar community I know, so I decided to try to get some feedback here.
I'll review it here when I get the chance, but that won't be until way later. Very busy with lots of stuff right now.
Interesting premise though. A serial killer is a wierd thing that would fit with LoK's noir-esque world (atleast when it was that in the first season), but would be a sort of story you'd never see in a childrens show. I look forward to seeing what you do with it.
Thanks for this, I'm gonna get book 4's art book digitally.
What made it suck?
Ambition
Member
I felt the ending was rushed. I also didn't see that pairing coming at all! There's zero build up to their relationship it's just BOOM! Korra and Asami happen to be bi and like each other! So random
FeenixRising
Banned
You should try to put it on AO3 if you haven't already
Yeah that sounds about right.
There will be a Korra comic that continues the story coming out at some point probably next year.
Also both Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino statements about that final scene. Really great read.
Ambition
Member
Thanks for this! Also a comic? Oh well I really wish they'd animate it :|
JadedWriter
Member
I agree. That and Kuvira getting half a sentence of characterization was dumb as fuck.
You know you want to. Even though the conversation now has devolved into "LoK sucks, AtLA the only show that counts," which is an infinitely more boring conversation. the more you don't think of them as versus threads rather than opportunities to look at either character in comparison, the better. It's not so much who would win the "fight," but how or why and what that could mean.
I've been in enough vs threads to know that that kind of examination is only a rare one.
Most of the time, people compare characters regarding 2 things: Power and success rate.
Power is the whole "Duuur, how can superman possibly lose to batman" idiocy. This isn't even a character comparison because they are just trying to measure the objective levels of force output that both characters have, ignoring that they need a reason, circumstance, and rules for how and why they fight. In the Avatar example, I can't really imagine why Korra would want to fight Aang, and even if she would, it's not in Aang's character to go full out and kill, especially a relatively benign character like Korra. This gets in the way of the power comparison. And how would they fight? What decides who wins/loses? What are the conditions in which fighters enter the match? Where? How prepared are they? All these things can make a difference of who wins and loses, and they're pretty much all ignored for comparison of sheer power, without paying attention to how it is applied.
Second is the success rate, which is even dumber. This is even less relevant than the power comparison, because it mostly boils down to who the person likes more. For example, I've heard people argue in a comparison thread that Daredevil is a better hero than Batman because he got more tragedy in his life, while getting over it more, therefore is 'stronger' (as a character?), or Captain America being a better hero because he doesn't have personality flaws like Iron Man and saves more people. Other than this being nearly always irrevelent because never do heroes undergo the same 'test' so as to have their 'scores' measured fairly against each other, it never explains how that makes for a better story. For the record, if we count only the TLA vs LoK story, Korra stopped 4 major villain schemes vs Aang stopping 1 that's really huge. Is Aang the winner because his was the biggest, or Korra for doing multiple ones consecutively? It's a real apple vs oranges question that has no real winner. I can tell you which one was better written, but not about whether it makes Aang or Korra the stronger avatar.
A good vs analysis would pretty much never come to any definitive answer, but that's not what people want. People want a 'winner'. They want to hear how X would wrek Y. It's a nonsensical shouting match. It's a thread of endlessly spinning wheels, and I've participated in enough of them to stay the fuck away from any more.