the-amonymous-legion:

Chi blockers withdrawing money.

puzzlegirlsandpoprocks:

pugletto:

Casually emerging from the depths of sleeplessness just to cripple you with feels.

Click on the given source. It goes to my DA page and you can download it to see it as I intended for it to be seen.

And that’s why you are the devil ;______; mah babbies

jhenne-o-lantern:

videogametropes:

My friend Rachel spotted these cuties at this years Comic Con SD

/COMBUSTS

korrawr:

polapaz321:

Korra and Naga.

Two of my favorite girls.

jazzpha:

Been a while since I wrote a piece of Korra analysis, so I figured it was high time to get back on the wagon. As a note, this will not be flattering. Just so you know that going in.

I’ve been thinking about it lately, and in my view the failings of “Korra” as a series stem mainly from Bryke’s refusal to problematize or flaw their protagonists in any major way.

Korra’s privileged status is brushed under the rug with a shrug when she basically says “Poverty? What’s that? I got everything handed to me growing up.” Barring one sidelong glance from Mako, it never gets brought up again.

Korra driving a wedge between Mako and Asami’s relationship is painted relentlessly as Korra putting it all on the line in order to lay claim to her “soul mate”, and most all of Asami’s feelings about this are disregarded as being paltry and insignificant. Mako’s pulling of what I like to call a “Scott Pilgrim” is excused as him being a confused adolescent in the ways of love… despite the fact that growing up an orphan on the streets has clearly aged him into an adult in every other possible way, far before his time. But hey, he’s a protagonist, so he gets a pass from the narrative judgment corner.

Likewise, the designation and rigidity of the protagonists leaves little to no room for well-rounded or sympathetic people on the other side of the conflict. All we see from the Equalists in terms of a leader-figure is Amon, and he’s painted pretty starkly as an extremist terrorist. Not once is a moderate faction of Equalists seen in numbers large enough to stand on their own as a political group. And in the same vein, not once is a moderate Equalist political figure seen vying for a seat on the Republic City Council, or at least preaching reconciliation rather than using destructive rhetoric. Clearly, the massive size of the rally Hiroshi presided over in the finale was meant to convince us that all of the Equalists were in attendance, because surely none of them had issues with the fact that Amon was about to brutally murder a large chunk of Republic City’s civilian (and likely also non-Bending) population with a bunch of high-powered explosives. Not once was there a scene of any Equalists looking on in horror at the carnage caused by said bombing attack, or a moment of pathos as a Bender and non-Bender helped each other rebuild their devastated homes.

Because we can’t have our designated antagonists be sympathetic, now can we? The series only comes close to that rarely, and it hedges its bets even then. There’s the moment when Korra is forced to confront the fact that not all Equalists are terrible people when Tarrlok finally decides to go full-on Fascist in the slums. This moment of sympathy from Korra is quickly brushed under the rug and never spoken of again, however, and the scene shifts instantly back to the ongoing power struggle between Korra and Tarrlok, with Mako and Co. being used as the pawns.

Another moment is Amon’s betrayal of the Lieutenant. Which, although poignant, happens simultaneously with Amon’s assault on Korra and, as such, gets backburnered. We don’t even get a flashback from the Lieutenant’s POV, or an apology from Amon. Lieu just gets chucked into a pile of boxes, and then Amon goes back to terrorizing Korra’s soul. And it says something that that moment of betrayal was far more heart-wrenching than anything that happened to the protagonists, period. And yes, that includes Lin’s Bending being taken away, because the Finale completely ruined that moment for me in hindsight.

In order to get to the core of what causes this dissonance in tone that Korra seems to suffer from so badly, I’m going to bring two other series onto the discussion table: “Game of Thrones” and “The Wire”.

These series might seem wildly different at first glance, but they have one incredibly important thing in common with each other that Korra lacks entirely: they’re written more as tragedies than as straight-forward heroic narratives.

I mean that in the sense that they have casts full of flawed, realistic characters, and no demarcated protagonists or antagonists. Their narrative structures don’t force us to judge any given character in a particular way. Nor does the writing itself bend over backwards to excuse or gloss over anyone’s flaws, as “Korra” is guilty of.

In “Game of Thrones”, each House has sympathetic and unsympathetic characters. There are people we like and root for, and people we outright despise— but the people we like and root for often have amoral or unlikable characteristics, and the characters we originally dislike very often redeem themselves through their actions in the narrative. By not forcing a particular view on its audience, the series allows for each of us to interpret the characters as we see them, flaws and all.

“The Wire” is also quite similar, in that there are cops and politicians on the anti-drug side of the war on drugs that act just as corruptly and lawlessly as the drug dealers whom they fight against. And there are drug dealers who’re literally just kids, forced into life on “the corner” by social circumstances that they had no way of directly influencing themselves. Anyone who’s seen the show will understand what I mean when I hold up McNulty, Prez, Wallace, Stringer Bell and D’Angleo Barksdale as proof positive that “The Wire” lets its characters tell their stories, and leaves judgment solely up to you as the viewer.

So, why did I mention those two other series, and particularly in a tragic context? Because “Korra” is a series that tries— and fails— to fit a tragic story inside of a heroic mold. It shies away from moral complexity and ambiguity at the same time its core narrative demands a multi-faceted approach. The only time it comes close to embracing a tragic stance on its narrative is in the resolution of Tarrlok and Noatak’s narrative arcs, but even then the conclusion rings false and empty. Are we supposed to get pathos out of Tarrlok’s murder/fratricide/suicide? Is that really a convincing way to wrap up their “sad story”? Wouldn’t a flash-forward scene of the two of them, years later, having a short conversation to show that they’d put their demons behind them have been much more fulfilling?

The closest parallel to this I can think of is Achilles’ reconciliation with Priam at the end of the Iliad: how much emptier would that scene have been if Achilles had chosen to kill himself as penance for his mistreatment of Hector’s body, as opposed to coming to the recognition of what he had done, what it had truly cost, and weeping alongside his enemy in shared knowledge of war’s horror and inhumanity?

The failings of “Korra” stem from Bryke trying to grapple with concepts that the confines of their story doesn’t allow them to properly express. Be it an executive decision from Nick’s overlords not to make things too dark, or Bryke’s own decision not to over-complicate their narrative, the poignancy of the story suffers for it either way. Yes, “Game of Thrones” and “The Wire” are more adult-oriented series than “Korra”. But the fact remains that “Korra” still tried to deal with concepts on that more mature level, and botched it.

If you know going into writing a story that you won’t be able to treat a certain kind of plot point with the gravitas and respect it deserves, the answer to that quandary is simple: leave that plot point out, rather than trying to take the middle road between two choices and ending up with a 7-10 split at the end of the day.

This is the last major piece of “Korra” analysis I’ll be doing, unless someone takes the time to send me an ask specifically requesting my opinion on something.

Thanks for reading!

sherbeeee:

Korra Learns to Drive, now with visual aid!

(this is all completely based on oh-the-linsanity’s post. she’s awesome btw shower her with your praise)

bryankonietzko:

NAGA

I’ve been chipping away at this one, bit by bit, for a few weeks. Living with the official Naga model, my dog, was certainly a big help. He often strikes a majestic, epic pose on the porch, staring into his vast domain. This is a tribute to him, the quiet observer.

writingfail:

bobatea3982:

innerpalindrome:

This was one of the most disappointing elements to me, because ATLA was a very feminist series that carefuly avoided a lot of common sexist pitfalls while creating a large and varied cast of empowered women who could choose to embrace or reject femininity to any degree without being treated as less for it. It wasn’t perfect, but it did a damn good job with the ladies. LOK…was really problematic on this level.

Let’s look at a few points:

- There is not a single significant female character over the age of ten who hasn’t had to compete with another woman for a guy. This plays into that gross old stereotype that women need to view each other as rivals and competition, and prevents strong relationships between women from forming. Hell, Pema even encourages this behavior and Korra follows it. Even worse, Korra only feels guilty about kissing a taken guy when his brother finds out. Asami? Who the hell cares if Asami got hurt! Women are supposed to hate each other, right?

- Femininity is treated as inferior. Asami is easily the most feminine of the cast, and Korra judges her for it and thinks she’s ‘prissy.’ She doesn’t earn Korra’s respect until she shows that she has a traditionally masculine interest in racing cars. Until that point, Korra acts like a total brat around her, making faces behind her back, assuming the worst of her, being ungrateful and rude and hostile when Asami had never been anything but nice to her. This plays into the ‘other women as competition’ trope, but Asami has to do things that are unfeminine to make Korra be even remotely civil to her. It should not fucking matter if Asami wanted to take her shopping instead of car racing. And Korra’s judgement of her really isn’t treated as problematic! The most you get is, ‘don’t judge the girly girl, because maybe she does non-girly stuff too!’ Bullshit. There is nothing wrong with enjoying feminine things, and Asami certainly isn’t less for it.

- There aren’t any really strong female relationships. The best we get is Korra and Lin, but this is vague and poorly developed. Hell, they bond in episode six and then hardly interact until the finale. I have a hard time buying this relationship. Korra and Asami is even weaker; as previously mentioned, Asami has to earn a teaspoonful of Korra’s respect and friendship by showing her something masculine. Korra is decent to Asami for all of five minutes when she tells Mako to go to her, and then she appears to forget that Asami exists as anything more than the person who drives the car. They never talk, they don’t even say goodbye to each other in the finale. Calling that a friendship is downright laughable. Korra gets along with Pema, but the only time they actually really talk involves Pema indirectly encouraging Korra to ‘steal’ Mako. Similar with Korra and Tenzin’s girls; I can’t recall the three of them ever talking about anything other than Korra’s love life.

- The only main protagonists to lose their bending were women. We are given physically strong women, but it really undermines it when they have their power taken away and, even worse in Korra’s case, have to be saved by a man. The ending was downright insulting; we’re expected to read Korra as a strong, independent woman, but in the last episode she’s more of a damsel in distress who has her happy ending given to her by a man without having to work for it herself.

I’m hoping the second season will be less gross on this level, but my hopes are just not very high at the moment.

You would think a series centered on a young female Avatar would portray women alot better. Nope, ATLA is still better when it comes to female relationships/dynamics etc. Seriously, Bryke, wtf?

jhenne-bean:

masterarrowhead:

kokoro-beat:

jazztea6:

Korra dancing sistar’s “Ma Boy” (K-pop) :D - By Kwang Il Han of Studio Mir

Original Vid- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luSB7CstoYo

Those moves…..0_0 

DAYUUUUUUM So sexy, look at her movements, shit 

and just wow this animation is amazing omg <333

Hahaha, let me just leave y’all with this image of Korra getting her bodyroll on~<3

jhenne-bean:

crispycroissaunt:

Everything is sailormoon,

credits to Anny for the idea c:

Tenzin has like…

the perfect characterization for Luna ._.

tumbl-down:

kit-kat-o-graham:

justanotherphoenix:

depth-of-a-labyrinth:

So I was watching Sweet Spy again because it’s been a long time since I’ve watched it, and um…

I now declare that Dennis Oh is Mako. 

HEAADCANNNONNN ACCEPTED.

I also found Shady Shin but like I don’t want to find pictures of him since I don’t know the actor’s name? LOL. Guys just go watch the Korean Drama Sweet Spy. 

omg

Yes. Yes perfect.

Yasssss. I see it.

(Source: analyticritic)

minuiko:

A Noatok/Tarrlok and Mako/Bolin comparison piece commissioned by heyyou3333 :)

korrawr:

courtoonxiii:

I made it very clear I don’t know how to drive

Bolin - AvatarZara
Korra - CourtoonXIII
Asami - Hythe
Mako - George D 
Skoochy - Solo-Forever (Costume by Me) 

THIS IS THE BEST THING EVER

(Source: itscourtoon)

cviperfan:

That Brief Shining Moment When Non-Bender Oppression Was Actually Acknowledged And Korra Had Her Views Challenged For About Five Seconds Before Going Away And Never Being Brought Up Again

(Source: daffyloins)