Essay - The Two Ursas

[loopy777]

Comments

[ljlee]

*applause* Bravo for articulating the reasons why Ursa in The Search just felt wrong. Search-Ursa's story is clearly DiMartino & Konietzko's creature in contrast to ATLA-Ursa's. With The Search we get everything that made LoK subpar: The extreme situations and plot twists that never create a whole lot of emotional resonance, essentially plot at the expense of drama and character. This also seems related to the age of the convoluted blockbuster that Film Crit Hulk decried.

Honestly, the visual breakdown of the credits for ATLA and LoK grow more and more relevant as this franchise grinds on...

[loopy777]

That essay has always gotten mixed feelings from me. I agree with the main point, but I still very much enjoyed Star Trek Into Darkness as a kinetic thriller despite all its problems. And, in general, I love convoluted plots with lots of twists. Retroactive's general plot was very much inspired by such things. I tried to make the focus the character(s), of course, and we've already hashed out my various successes and failures on that front

[chordatesrock]

+infinity

[marusaia]

It's an old post, but I wanted to say this to somebody who is still active in the Avatar fandom

[loopy777]

You know, it's funny that you say this, because I had the same thought when I was originally watching ATLA. I mean, most people probably wanted more Azula, but I had the distinct sense that I really wanted more of the Royal Family, and the conflicts that spring within it. I didn't see the cartoon until after I learned some spoilers on the internet, and I knew going in that there was a feuding Prince and Princess siblings pair, betrayals between generations, missing moms, assassinations, and so on. I went in expecting some kind of Game of Thrones-esque subplot, and while I can't really fault the story that was told, I do miss that conception I had of a much more active and present royal family

[rodlox]

sorry - wrong Parker image

I imagine Azula had a number of teachers...not just for firebending (red flame, blue flame, lightning)...but also for everything else.

I mean, her dad spent the eclipse sitting in a room and waiting for it to end.
...Azula didn't rely solely on the Dai Li to protect her - she demonstrated a level of athleticism third only to Ty Lee and maybe Suki.

(aside from clinging to tree roots and being the Blue Spirit, I don't recall Zuko demonstrating he was paying attention during those lessons, if he was even attending them)

[rodlox]

>I'm still trying to figure out from whom Azula inherited her smarts.
it skipped a generation...or two.

so, in other words, better to buy one of the other Avatar comics, than The Search; yes?

excellent essay. it made for great reading and thinking.

[loopy777]

Thanks! Good to hear that you found this insightful.

As far as the other Avatar comics go, I'm not thrilled with any of them, honestly. I think The Rift is the best of the lot, and the only praise I can give it is that it's fairly harmless. Now that Dark Horse has seen that Avatar comics can be popular, I'd really like it if the fandom stopped buying them altogether, to prompt a change in creative teams.

[rodlox]

welcome. and very much so (re insightful)

harmless is good.

if I may...I never realized that Dock lived in the Fire Nation - I'd thought his community was in Earth Kingdom (yes, I realize clothing is color-coded according to where one lives, but I'd thought Dock's clothes were brown, like soil)

[loopy777]

Brown seems to be a neutral color. It's seen in both the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom. Given Dock's episode's placement in Book Fire, though, I think it's safe to assume it's a domestic Fire Nation village.