This is gonna be long. 8D

Edit: Dear Tumblr, dear GOD you are awful, you have done horrible things to my formatting and this is like my 500th time editing. Apologies to all who tried to read this wall of text without any linebreaks, augh.

Festival in the SWT. I am just going to spam all this BG/concept art because it is lovely. HOGWARTS?! And then Tahno shows up in Slytherin? Ohyeah House pride Can I just say that I will never be on the crew of haters, because no matter what other issues I may have, I am just so, so in love with the world of Korra and it makes me happy. Nnngh, the Southern Air Temple. I am so glad we are going back there. SPIRIT WORLD! EXCITE.

On

On Korra’s new outfit: the only changes I’m detecting is that there’s a different shirt and her arms are slightly more covered.

Some people have complained that this is supposed to be a winter outfit and she’s still showing skin, but far from sexualizing her character, this is actually an awesome thing that’s usually only done with male characters.

See, in animation/comics, showing a character’s bare upper arms/shoulders makes them seem more physically imposing and powerful. Sleeves make them look more reserved. Korra’s bit of skin that she’s showing isn’t there to advertize her sexuality, it’s there to make her look strong.

The new shirt looks nice. Her old outfit was nice too, so not really much of a change in either direction, but I’m cool with this.

LOL MAKO. WATER U DOIN.

I think the Mako/fashion ship has just been shot down.

I don’t really have any strong feelings about Bolin’s outfit. Is that a fur collar? Looks snuggly.  

MY OVARIES.

DAAAYUM ASAMI. DAT AVIATOR UNIFORM.

Dude since Tahno is probably not going to be back, I’m just gonna put all my energy into shipping Korrasami in book 2 because they’re like the only characters I really care about and want to see naked.

Or just get started on the Tahorrasami in advance.

Looks swank.

lol are those pink earmuffs? Approve.

Also, I hope it’s just the lighting on this projector, because Bumi’s looking hella pale.

Why do I always feel like holding onto melanin in this series is like trying to hold a frog that’s been in K-Y. Like, “YES YES WE GOT SOME MELANI—oh wait it slipped, hold on, I’ll get it.” Like at any moment all the brown people just start fading. I mean damn, it should not be such an uphill battle for brown people to be consistently brown, for their entire lives, and even have brown children!

It’s making me a bit :/, and I don’t want to :/ at this series for race issues, since it’s generally so much more awesome about it than like everything else out there.

Korra’s parents.

You know, I’m hoping we get something dealing with how the White Lotus essentially raised her, and how being sheltered like that and also being deprived of a normal family actually kinda fucked her up in some ways. It’s like the rule of being the Avatar that no matter what you do, you fuck things up for your successor, and I think Aang would be no exception.

Plus, Korra’s shelteredness and naivete was set up as a plot point/obstacle early on, and I just want to see SOME kind of payoff or see it addressed in some way.

Or even have the effect of her being the Avatar not be entirely positive for her parents. Like, I’m sure they’re super proud of her, but in a sense they also kind of lost the pleasure of raising their own child. They don’t seem to have had any others. It’s a strange, painful sort of blessing.

Also, on a shallow note, Tonraq’s lookin’ a bit like Ozai there.

Korra’s uncle. There seems to be some disagreement on the spelling of his name, but based on pronunciation I think it’s Unalaq, which is an Inuit name meaning “west wind.” I got this from the same list that had Noatak and Yakone on it, and it comes right up on Google when you search for Inuit names, so I think it’s a fair guess that Bryke have been hitting up this list and that spelling is likely to be official.

Unalaq is going to be Korra’s spiritual mentor, which is interesting. I wonder why she never learned spiritual stuff from him before? This is kinda supporting my theory that she was deprived of her family, to her detriment, TBH.

(Though I feel like it won’t go there…my theories never turn out to be true, sigh.)

It’s been pointed out that he looks a bit like Tarrlok. Not really sure what to say about that, though this series has tended towards a certain “style” with the faces. Not sure how I like it? They look a lot more angular than they did in AtLA.

KYA!

SO MUCH SQUEE.

But gurl, weren’t you darker on the concept art? Like much darker?

(With dreads?)

Then again, on the concept art, Tenzin was a shade or two darker than Aang, though still the palest of the siblings. He seemed lighter in the actual show.

IDK man.

Also, isn’t she supposed to be like 60?

Well, reserving judgement on this. I’m pretty excited to see moar Kya, anyway.

Korra’s cousins.

OMG.

OMG.

I CAN ALREADY TELL THESE WILL BE MY FAVORITES.

DAT SLUMP.

THOSE FACES.

It’s like with Tahno. An extremely expressive character that emotes even from a freakin’ character design.

I just know I am going to love them so much.

CANNOT WAIT.

Verick. (Do we have an official spelling yet?) I’ve weirdly seen a lot of hate on him for “replacing Tahno” or something? Honestly guys I don’t see him that way. If he’s a flamboyant man, good. The world always needs more of those.

He definitely has a different sort of vibe from Tahno, even from the character designs. He’s less smooth/sleazy and more…well, his face is drawn with kind of a comic relief vibe to it, so I get the feeling he’s going to be eccentric. He’s an inventor, which honestly I’m assuming means he’s a non-bender, because every inventor/sciencey person in this series has been a non-bender. (And before you go all, “But Tahno was a non-bender!,” no. Tahno was an ex-bender. Huge difference. Also, I’m hoping Korra’s fixed that little problem for him.) He looks more, you know, the sort of guy who’s up to wacky hijinks. And I shall enjoy those hijinks.

A spirit.

I know everyone else thought of Kingdom Hearts too, lol.

And I just…this is actually a problem, guys.

We’ve talked before about how Korra was set up as having to learn subtlety and shades of gray and non-violent forms of problem-solving, as well as spirituality. Knowing that this book is going to be called “Spirits” sounds exciting on that front, doesn’t it?

But this spirit looks like a random encounter monster from a video game.

I hope I’m coming to entirely the wrong conclusion here, but it also says that a spirit interrupts the festival, and Korra solves that problem. You know, by punching at it.

Is that really how we’re going to do Korra and her spirituality? Spirit monsters attack? Just another enemy for Korra to punch?

This isn’t a video game, you know.

I’m really worried that this is just going to be like…how she deals with EVERY problem. And problems will deform themselves to be better suited to being solved by an Avatar Punch.

I’m also really concerned that Korra seems to have mastered the Avatar State sufficiently to use it in any old fight or even TO BEAT A TEN-YEAR OLD IN A RACE.

I defended the finale. I said that Korra hadn’t really mastered the Avatar State, that she’d just unlocked her ability to reach it at ALL—essentially putting her where Aang was at the beginning of AtLA. Access to the Avatar State and mastery of it are two very different things.

When Aang was not a master of the Avatar State, he did still use it/his Avatar powers at times—like when he glowed it up to find Appa and Momo in The Swamp, or when he entered the Spirit World at the North Pole oasis, even like, when Kyoshi possessed him in Avatar Day. Then of course there’s the emergency Avatar State we saw him use the most, where he had no control and just smashed everything up.

Roku talked about this difference in Escape from the Spirit World. He tried to force himself into the Avatar State, and got the uncontrolled rage version. It wasn’t until he was older that we saw him use the mastered Avatar State, which is a brief flash of the eyes followed by a short period of extra power.

We see Aang use the mastered version only once in AtLA—after defeating Ozai, when he raises the ocean to put out the fires Ozai and his crew made on the Earth Kingdom shore. He uses it again when fighting Yakone in the Korra flashbacks.

Korra’s Avatar State in the finale looked more like the uncontrolled kind to me. She had a sustained glow, and wasn’t really in control of herself. Aang was being gentle with her, but she wasn’t mastering it. Even though she glows when she energybends, Aang did some voluntary glowing things before he’d mastered his Avatar State, so I figured it could just be that.

But.

If she’s REALLY just been handed mastery of the Avatar State.

Something Avatars are supposed to have to work for years for in their spiritual training.

Just handed to her by her past life.

Even though none of the other Avatars got that just handed to them by their past lives.

I mean just.

Seriously?

Please tell me I’m misinterpreting something.

Or that there’s going to be some kind of repercussions.

*sigh* Moving on….

[This picture is being irritating and not showing up! Try here: http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m74jd6Q8sv1r6jeoio1_500.jpg ]

UH WOW. HELLO KATARA. *_________* HELLO.

[This picture is also being irritating and not showing up! http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m74jd6Q8sv1r6jeoio2_500.jpg ]

I like that Zuko grew his hair out again. I was so hoping for that, you have no idea. I was scared they were going to keep it short, after he seemed to get a trim after The Beach, despite the fact that like NO ONE had a short hairstyle in that world.

Also, I’m really rather sad at all the short hairstyles in Korra. :/

On Mako being a cop: I am just really disappointed at how this show lionizes the police. First Toph and Lin, and now Mako.

I know this is like old news and I keep harping on it, but I’ve been subject to police brutality. Several times. The first time I was only fifteen. There is no love in my heart for the police. I don’t give a shit if you think there are some good cops, if your uncle or your mom is a cop, if a cop was really nice to you once, if a cop saved your life.

Don’t. Just don’t. I have never had a good experience with the police, not even when I was the one calling them for help, and I could show you stories that would make your blood run cold. Finding those links would probably be pretty upsetting for me, so don’t make me do that!

I can’t stand them. It’s a personal feeling that’s the result of trauma. Do not fucking tell me I’m wrong for feeling that way.

So this development makes me a bit uncomfortable. I don’t hate Mako as he is, but cop!Mako? I might start to.

:/ Don’t do this to me, show.

Asami taking over a bankrupt Future Industries: this could be interesting. I like the idea of having her deal with money problems instead of being a plot device to just bail everyone out when they need cash. Plus the world needs more Asami in charge of things.

Bolin as captain of the new Fire Ferrets: is any of this going to be relevant to the plot? I mean seriously, we got that whole long pro-bending arc in book 1 that turned out to be irrelevant. Now we’re going to spend time on a character who was sidelined for most of book 1, had no real connection to the plot (other than being the protagonist’s love interest’s brother?) playing sports? Sorry, Bolin lovers, Bolin can come along if he finds a way to make himself relevant. I’m just not feeling this.

Tahno’s absence: I don’t know whether to feel completely crushed (I was SO SURE he was going to be a major character. You have no idea.) or relieved in a sort of backhanded way. At least they can’t fuck him up if he’s not there?

Oh, my bb Tahno. ;____;

….anyone want to just strike off with me and make our own show? I wonder what Rami Malek’s rates are. >_______>