LAST EDITED ON Jun-29-14 AT 05:17 PM (EDT)
 
>>(which
>>was a prereq for my own conception of the third-century Air
>>Commonwealth in UF before this shit hit the fan),
>
>Tangent: it isn't entirely problematic for you to just stick with
>that, you know.

Counter-tangent: Oh ho hooo, you have no idea what you are talking about with that statement. :)

>A bunch, that's how many. Hell, most of the definitive Azula fanfics
>have been well and truly destroyed by canon, and lets be honest here,
>that's almost certainly going to happen to Desolation Angel at
>some point.

You think? I'd be pretty surprised if we ever saw her on TV again, and frankly I don't think even Phil gives a damn about what the comics have to say about her any more after The Search. :)

>(Although I do feel that Lhakpa's arc is easily salvaged by making it
>less "fuck living like an Air Nomad just because I'm an airbender" and
>more "fuck the expectations leveled on me as being a Real Live
>Descendant of Aang, I'm not defined by my bloodline.")

You're not alone in that regard. In fact, I agree with the core of that statement insofar as it goes, with or without the context of Airbender Proliferation. However, it may or may not actually be that simple. I'm still working on it.

>I think the show bears me out on this. Look at how absolutely enraged
>she got at Basement Dweller, for being all "Whatever. You don't gotta
>do anything you don't want."

Keep in mind that, since we've both just spent the last two days agreeing that the show is badly written, you're not really doing anything to persuade me by pointing out - rightly! - that The Show Bears You Out On That. :)

>That wasn't just frustration at another
>recruit not signing on, that was personal offense; the guy was
>basically calling her a total idiot for living her life the way she
>has.

... he's not wrong.

>... maybe you shouldn't view every single scene from a standpoint of
>whether or not Korra is "winning" it.

That'd be dope, if the show didn't make it virtually impossible to view them in any other way, by placing such constant, massive, crushing emphasis on how she's always losing. Trying to perceive it otherwise, at least for me, is like trying to ignore the cowbell in "Honky Tonk Women".

>>Sure it was. It was going to go to the place where Korra won an
>>argument for once and the press were there to report on it.
>
>Except that wouldn't have been the story. The story would have been
>"President and Avatar at each others throats, city in chaos."

I notice you cut the part where I did acknowledge that this is actually what would have happened. :)

>Regardless, I think my point stands; if Churchill and Atlee has given
>a joint presser during the war, and suddenly Atlee undercuts Churchill
>right there in public, and Churchill got right up in his face and was
>all "It's on, you fancy motherfucker"

Well, yes, but see, my point is that if that had ever happened, it would have been better than actual reality, and so I want that kind of stuff to happen in what is supposed to be an epic fantasy adventure, because it's epic fantasy adventure stuff, not boring, frustrating realpolitik bullshit. Real life is already full of that. I don't need more of it in my cartoons. Sorry if I didn't articulate that clearly enough before. :)

>(Note that I do not mean to imply in any way that Raiko is Clement
>Atlee's political equal. Because he is not.)

Raiko isn't fucking Neville Chamberlain's political equal. At least Chamberlain (however stupidly) meant well, was sincerely appalled when it all went totally wrong, and literally worked himself to death trying to do what little he could toward putting right the mess he had made after he was out of power. I'm not even convinced Raiko really thinks he's Doing The Right Thing rather than just waving his cock and screaming at anyone who he thinks is fronting on him, like an enraged rhesus monkey.

>I'm usually prepared to defend Korra trying something and failing at
>it, but the second vines scene crossed the line for me not because her
>plan didn't work, but because it actively made things worse.

Exactly.

>Well, I mean... you're right that Korra's character arc has been
>supremely badly structured. I'm just not sure I'd put it in terms of
>wins and losses the way you would.

FFS, man, that's an illustrative example, not the entire body of my objection.

>But I
>think of it in terms of them either not having her learn as quickly as
>she really, really should (Korra is nothing if not self-reflective)
>or, if their intent is to portray her as someone who is going through
>life at the School of Hard Knocks, they're executing that really
>badly.

Yes.

>I get the feeling that we're actually meant to think Korra has
>been achieving superlative triumphs.

Fuck, I hope not. That would mean the show is even worse than I think it is.

>Come to think of it, that's the root of my issues with Mako as well.
>The show very clearly was saying "Look at Mako and Korra! Aren't they
>just meant to be?"

I have seen it speculated that that happened at the end of Book 1 specifically because someone in a suit said, "Hang on, why isn't the Romance Plot resolved? Kiss goes here, then the happily-ever-after bit is set if this turns out to be the end of the whole show." (They did, after all, not entirely know the show was going any further than that at the time.)

That seems plausible to me, if only because that's how TV almost always works. Which also means that I'm 92% sure they won't be able to go to the end of the series without fixing her up HEA with some dude* - possibly some dude we haven't even met yet, what with the various burnt bridges - and I have already put the team on notice that I do not have a blank on my mental org chart for that.

>That's just poor writing.

You know what, I think we've got this thing entirely battened down with just those four words. Everything else is just quibbling over the trim colors.

And yet I remain. It's like I said last year - it's like being hopelessly in love with a girl whose entire family you cannot stand,** and who all hate you too. :)

--G.
* realistically, because network, much as many of us wish it could be otherwise
** So we sent her to 24th-century New Avalon instead! What'd you think of that?
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Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.