589 replies to this topic

[~~Megan~~]

BOLIN. OHMYGJAKJKDDFAJFKDSJF BOLIN.

LET ME HOLD YOU, CHILD. I WILL WIPE AWAY YOUR TEARS.

Korra, you heartless wench, how could you do this to meeee?!? Not to mention Mako and Bolin???? UGH EVERYTHING IS KORRA'S FAULT.

[J/C AVA]

Bolin: Pssh. Girls.

Mako: I know, right?

[~~Megan~~]

TOO MANY FEELS. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

[Mara=^.^=]

My thoughts on this episode: Pema and Tenzin, a romance for the ages.

That was sarcasm, in case you were wondering. She STOLE him away from the woman he was dating? And then she recommended to an emotionally confused, EXTREMELY tactless teenage girl that she do the same thing, without getting any of the background information? Stay classy, hun.

There were some major infidelity issues in this episode that were NOT addressed. At all. Maybe I'll write a full rant on it later.

~*Mara*~ = ^.^ =

[~~Megan~~]

But what are your FEELINGS Mara? Lol.

A small piece of my heart died for Bolin this morning. That poor baby. All my feels are for Bolin. Korra and Mako can go be stupid somewhere else.

And now that we know a bit of Tenzin and Pema's story, I WANT MORE. I NEED to know what happened. I also need to know if the "other woman" was Lin

[SweeneyxxTodd]

I also need to know if the "other woman" was Lin

THAT WOULD BE...THAT WOULD MAKE ME LOSE THE ABILITY TO CAN.

Other than that...Bolin cries? Soooooo saaaaaaadddddd! Now I wanna cry. Poor Bolin! He needs a big bear hug.

[Mara=^.^=]

But what are your FEELINGS Mara? Lol.

OK, you guys know that I am a HUGE fan of A:TLA and so far am liking LOK a lot. So take this as an individual episode critique, not a series critique. It's still too early for that with Korra.

So. Pema and Tenzin. A romance for the ages. With their relationship comes my first major problem with ep 05: the way the romantic elements were handled. Let's get this straight. Like I said earlier, Pema stole Tenzin away from the woman he was dating, and then she recommended to a tactless teenage girl that she do the same thing, without getting any of the background information? Stay classy, hun. We weren't given enough backstory on Tenzin and his former gal (was she mean to him? Was their relationship completely stagnant? Did the girl and Tenzin want to break up and just couldn't think of a reason why they should?) Without any sort of additional info, the story is reduced to the following moral: all you have to do is confess your feelings, and the object of your affections will drop his current lover like a hot potato and fill you up with babies! I really liked Pema's character before this episode, but now...I'm not sure. Honestly, I think Jinora had the better advice with her dragon and volcano story.

Because of Pema's bad advice, I can kind of forgive Korra for being so romantically douchey in this episode. She's 17, she's probably never had a crush on a guy before, and the only way she's learned to deal with things is by charging in head-on and just grabbing the bitch. Not so effective in matters like these :XD: Obviously she's going to have to learn to be less thoughtless and impulsive, but it looks like that's what her character development arc is going to entail, so we'll get there eventually. (Still, "you think about me when you're with her, don't you??!!" Korrapist. Not cool).

And Mako, seriously? Dude. This is probably a pet peeve of mine, but when you have a crush on two people, YOU DON'T DATE ONE AND TELL THE OTHER ONE YOU LIKE HER. You date NEITHER until you can make up your goddamn mind. Unlike Korra, Mako thinks things through (probably too much), so he should have the good sense to man up and choose one permanently or choose neither. Maybe I'm just being harsh because so far I'm not a fan of his character. In A:TLA, I always felt like the characters were real people. I almost never got the sense that they were, you know, written. With Mako, I constantly see the writers behind him. He feels...crafted somehow. It's like they wanted to make this brooding sexy guy for the fangirls.

Which brings me to the two people who were shafted by Korra and Mako's behavior: Bolin and Asami, even if she doesn't know it. It really bothered me that they treated Bolin's heartbreak as a form of comic relief. It kind of cheapened what could have been a serious moment of character development for Korra (seeing how her rash decisions and selfishness hurts her friends). It also felt like a wasted opportunity for development between Mako and Bolin - is Bolin so upset because Mako frequently captures the attention of the girls he likes? Is Bolin always like this after a breakup? Or does he just REALLY like Korra? There's no real way of knowing what other factors, if any, contributed to Bolin being so upset. It was improperly explored, in my opinion.

And poor freaking Asami supports their team financially and personally, displays consistent generosity, congratulates Korra on being a badass, and is rewarded by eternal hatred from the fandom for the crime of "coming between" Mako and Korra. Mako CHEATS ON HER (intentionally or not), and she's left none the wiser, and the episode doesn't treat this as a problem. Things just go right back to status quo. She just exists as "the other girl" without getting any further character development. I know there's only so much room in one episode, but by making her so peripheral, it positions Mako and Korra as the "righteous couple". We in the audience don't have enough information to feel what Mako is feeling (the struggle to choose between two very different but equally attractive girls), so the assumption is that he should choose Korra. Where's the complexity and moral ambiguity in that? I thought this series was supposed to stride into uncharted gray areas, but I guess romance is exempt from that.

The fact that the plot was secondary to the romantic elements made them feel even more rushed and melodramatic than they already were. There was this sense that the creators were like, "you want ship wars, fandom? Well here you f*cking go." I felt like I was watching an episode of Degrassi. It glossed over dealing with real issues like rejection and infidelity in favor of a rollercoaster shipping ride, and it made the episode seem...weirdly immature.

I just feel like there's this assumption on the part of the show that Korra and Mako should like each other and be together, but there's no FOUNDATION for that. Yeah, so Korra has a crush. So what? They spend most of their screen time together being...well, not nice to one another. Particularly Mako. It's the typical "headstrong girl and aloof boy conflict but secretly like each other oooooh" dynamic. I am just SO tired of this kind of pairing. I feel like I see it in everything nowadays. Maybe I'm just a weirdo, but I like to see relationships where the two are NICE to each other and actually ENJOY being in each other's company (that, and relationships between intellectual rivals, but that's a story for another day ;P ).

I think that's what made me like Aang and Katara so much (an opinion which hasn't always made me very popular with the Zutarian Avatar fandom). They actually CARED about each other openly and were always there for each other. They built a friendship fathoms f*cking deep, allowing trust and mutual support to carry them through difficult situations. Yeah, so the kiss at the end felt minutely forced (mostly because we didn't get to see enough of Katara's state of mind leading up to her realization that she liked Aang romantically), but you as the viewer KNEW those two people had an amazing foundation to build on. I mean, this is the pair that freaking embraced and CRIED after a baby was born in the midst of a worldwide war. Next to that, a crush on your pro-bending teammate just seems hollow.

I wish I could be more articulate about why this episode made me so mad, that it wasn't the events that took place so much as the way they were HANDLED, but I think I've written enough. To conclude (and to answer the original question), I used to ship several couples, but now I pretty much ship none. This episode lacked any semblance of subtlety and almost felt a little like trolling (if it was meant to be a giant shipper troll, well, props). I want everything to get back to PLOT now, thanks. Moving on.

...Actually, no. I know what I'll ship. Amon x Korra. There we go, fandom, eat your heart out!!

P.S. I loved the flameo instant noodles joke, though.

[~~Megan~~]

Tumblr's idea of how Bryke comes up with episode ideas:
Bryan: So Bolin's gonna see the kiss right?
Mike: Yup, horrible right?
Bryan: Yeah...but it's not emotionally heart-wrenching enough...
Mike: Are you sure? Maybe it needs something else...
Bryan: LET'S MAKE HIM HOLD FLOWERS.
Mike: YES. OH MY GOD. YES. OH. OH. AND CAN HE RUN AWAY CRYING TOO?
Bryan: OH MY GOD YESSSSSS ANGST ALL OF THE ANGST.
Mike: ..................what have we done?
Bryan: .........we're monsters...
Mike and Bryan: HIGH FIVE.

[Mara=^.^=]

Tumblr's idea of how Bryke comes up with episode ideas:
Bryan: So Bolin's gonna see the kiss right?
Mike: Yup, horrible right?
Bryan: Yeah...but it's not emotionally heart-wrenching enough...
Mike: Are you sure? Maybe it needs something else...
Bryan: LET'S MAKE HIM HOLD FLOWERS.
Mike: YES. OH MY GOD. YES. OH. OH. AND CAN HE RUN AWAY CRYING TOO?
Bryan: OH MY GOD YESSSSSS ANGST ALL OF THE ANGST.
Mike: ..................what have we done?
Bryan: .........we're monsters...
Mike and Bryan: HIGH FIVE.

That's not tumblr's idea, that's WHAT REALLY HAPPENED

IT IS FACT


~*Mara*~ = ^.^ =

[~~Megan~~]

That's not tumblr's idea, that's WHAT REALLY HAPPENED

IT IS FACT


~*Mara*~ = ^.^ =

I had to resist searching for a gif to accurately describe my reaction. I've been abusing them lately lol.

The Legend of Korra is a view of things to come...TV people will finally begin to understand and exploit the limitless possibilities of the Internet...and the show/fandom relationship will never be the same again. That is the real cause of the upcoming apocalypse.

That makes an interesting comparison between MLP and Korra...you have two different interpretations of "listening to the fandom" and how it affects the show.
MLP: You're doing it right.
Korra: You're doing it EVIL

[Mara=^.^=]

Korra: You're doing it EVIL

LOL, it is pretty much the fault of the fans. They're giving us what we ourselves have created in the past.

I question the wisdom of this.


~*Mara*~ = ^.^ =

[Mara=^.^=]

I KNEW IT. They are trolls. Bryan Konietzko just posted this on his tumblr:

You guys have the shipping names all wrong: It’s Koko and Kolin. Love, Brychael.
EDIT: Oh! And of course Mami.


~*Mara*~ = ^.^ =

[~~Megan~~]

OMG I'M DYING

TROLLS
TROLLSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Lol so Korra's name comes first in the ships with the brothers, but Mako's name comes first with Asami?

Are you insinuating something Bryke?

[J/C AVA]

Y'know, Mara's pretty much said everything problematic I've had with this week's episdoe perfectly and spot on (plus why I too LOVED Aang and Katara's development) so I'm not gonna try to add anything. Despite my enjoyment of it, I did feel it was rushed and I didn't get ANY sort of connection or development from the characters at all with this episode. Hopefully they can slow it down, like, ALOT and let the relationship grow in a natural pace.

Other than that.... BRAYN!!! MIKE!!! WHHHHHHHHHHHHY!?!?

[Mara=^.^=]

BRAYN!!!

Brayn? OMG LOL best typo ever

It's Michael and the Brayn Brayn Brayn Brayn Brayn Brayn Brayn Brayn Braaaaayyn!

~*Mara*~ = ^.^ =

[J/C AVA]

Brayn? OMG LOL best typo ever

It's Michael and the Brayn Brayn Brayn Brayn Brayn Brayn Brayn Brayn Braaaaayyn!

~*Mara*~ = ^.^ =

*virtually falls over laughing til I gasp for air*

[Mara=^.^=]

[Mara=^.^=]

For all its insanity, I really do admire the creativity of this fandom.

[SweeneyxxTodd]

I found this on Tumblr today...






I wonder how that will pan out with yesterday's crazy relationship drama..

[SweeneyxxTodd]

/double post

I also found this and I thought you'd appreciate it Mara (and anyone who agrees with the opinion that Bolin's heartbreak was poorly executed)