skygiants | Entries tagged with avatar

My littlest cousin is about a half-generation younger than me, which puts him squarely in the right age bracket to independently discover Avatar: The Last Airbender now that it is airing on Netflix and very sweetly recommend it to me. He's right! It's a great show! It's not his fault I've been here since 2006 already.

This cousin in fact moved to Boston at the beginning of this year; unfortunately, then, the quarantimes, as a result of which he has just moved back to his hometown where he has a job opportunity and significantly cheaper rent. It was nice having him here while it lasted! Anyway, before he left, he lent me his copy of the new tie-in novel The Rise of Kyoshi, which I almost certainly would not have picked up on my own, having been for the most part very lukewarm thus far on all Avatar tie-in comics materials etc.

However: I really enjoyed it! Thank you, littlest cousin, I completely take back my initial "speak not to me of the deep magic, child" response to this initial burst of Avatar-recommendation enthusiasm.

The premise of the Kyoshi book is that:

a.) the previous Avatar was a fun-loving failboat who died extremely young, leaving all of his companions -- the most talented benders of their generation -- guilt-ridden and psychologically warped by their role in helping him avoid the path of righteousness in favor of the path that rocks
b.) due to complications related to a combo of this plus the fact that Kyoshi was an abandoned street child, she was never properly identified as the Avatar in childhood
c.) after years of desperate Avatar-hunting, everyone has recently assumed that a completely different street child is the Avatar because he spontaneously reinvented a bunch of the previous Avatar's favorite complicated chess moves, and a very relieved world has accepted him into their hearts! which makes it extremely awkward for everyone, especially the aforementioned guilt-ridden and psychologically warped mentors who discovered him, when the other street kid who works in their household begins to demonstrate some clear Avatar signalling...

So basically it's all astoundingly messy from the get-go and I'm extremely into it. Everything escalates very rapidly from there (in ways that are much darker than Avatar-the-show, which I had been told to expect and yet still took me by surprise!) It actually reminded me a little of Frances Hardinge in some ways; the prose and pacing style is not at all similar, but Kyoshi is absolutely a feral revenge-driven heroine with murderous mentors coming out her ears.

Some other things I enjoyed in particular:

- the complexity and affection in the relationship between Kyoshi and the kid who was previously tapped as Avatar
- I already mentioned the murderous morally ambiguous mentors but let me say again how much I appreciate the range
- the way the book brings in the Chinese opera influences of Kyoshi's signature fans + stage makeup
- the unresolved ambiguity around Kyoshi's parents, whom Kyoshi has extremely valid reasons to hate and resent and whom others have equally valid reasons to admire
- yes Kyoshi DOES unambiguously get a girlfriend and yes they DO make out!

The book does end on a fairly significant cliffhanger -- I did not realize going in that this was intended to be the first in a series -- but my littlest cousin has already preordered it and promised to send it to me when he's done, so we're all set on that front.

So I think I mentioned that I made a vid! It premiered at Vividcon so now I can put it here.

Title: Landsailor
Source: Legend of Korra (and Avatar: The Last Airbender)
Music: "Landsailor," Vienna Teng
Content Notes: Implied reference to genocide

Landsailor from skygiants on Vimeo.

(Download from Google Drive.)

'Last airbender': no longer accurate.

Many thanks to

shati for not just betaing but very patiently holding my hand throughout the entire learning-how-to-vid process,

innerbrat for betaing and cheerleading, and

aberration for betaing FROM MONGOLIA which is above and beyond the call of duty.

Crossposts: http://bookelfe.livejournal.com/420531.html

I've been waiting to make this post until I was sure there was not going to be a sharp downturn in the final stretch (CAUTION TAPE ALL OVER MAKO'S LIPS! STAY AWAY!), but I really liked season 3 of Korra! It was extremely good and I really appreciated

( many of the things it did! )

...so of course then

innerbrat and I started thinking about ways that we would have rewritten the first two seasons to get our ideal versions of the show while still getting maintaining the third season intact.

( Under the cut! )

SO THERE YOU GO. Mostly though I'm just glad I like and look forward to the show again.

Crossposts: http://bookelfe.livejournal.com/388992.html

In other news,

jinian asked me to write about five cartoon or other fictional characters I've had crushes on for the 25th, and what I think happened to them after canon!

1. Okay, I have to start this one out with Disney's Aladdin, who as far as I can remember was my very first fictional crush at the tender age of six or seven. Look, he's a WISECRACKING PLUCKY THIEF with a HEART OF GOLD and a PET MONKEY who spends much of the movie running around without a shirt. What seven-year-old didn't have a crush on Aladdin? I ask you.

I never watched the Aladdin TV show or sequel films, but I assume postcanon he continued to act as Jasmine's trophy husband, to have nothing to do with politics, and not to wear a shirt.

2. Okay, say what you will about Legend of Korra -- and I have fairly conflicted feelings about Legend of Korra that I really don't feel like going into at this time -- but I think we can all agree that Lin Bei Fong metalbending on her armor in that one episode was basically the hottest thing . . . ever to happen . . . on a children's television show . . . uh. And now I feel awkward.

I have no postcanon opinions about Lin Bei Fong though because her canon hasn't ended yet!

3. Speaking of, I feel really skeevy saying this, because wow, AGE INAPPROPRIATE, the child is SIXTEEN, but . . . uh, okay, let's say age Sokka from A:tLA up ten or fifteen years? But what a perfect cartoon boyfriend. Animated ideal. He even writes haiku!

Postcanon (or in between the two canons, I guess) I believe Sokka maintained a true Renaissance career as a scholar, inventor, politician, and publisher of bestselling and rather terrible memoirs full of bad jokes.

4. You know what, though, I don't know why I should be embarrassed to talk about Sokka when I have already publicly admitted to a crush on an fictional anthropomorphic rat. Wow, Rakushun. What a dreamboat. Rational intelligence is the most attractive thing of all!

I have already written a couple of fics about what I think is going to happen to Rakushun after the canon we have -- which is one reason I have less of a fictional crush on him than I used to, actually; usually the more I write from inside a character's head the harder it is to conceive of them as a crush, per se -- but to sum up, I think he's going to graduate with honors, become a public official, move to Kei, and spend the next several hundred years acting as Yoko's unofficial Queen Consort.

5. All right, guys, I have valiantly tried to keep this to characters who could conceivably count as cartoons for most of these (Rakushun had an anime!), but you knew where this was inevitably heading:

( GRATUITOUS SCREENCAPS OF CHA SONG JOO, MASTER REVOLUTIONARY CHESSMASTER COURTESAN ASSASSIN TROLL, AND MY ETERNAL FICTIONAL LOVE )

After canon, I firmly believe Cha Song Joo came into possession of a magical time-traveling device and went around coordinating revolutions all over the space-time continuum LA LA LA I CAN'T HEAR YOOOOOOOU

Crossposts: http://bookelfe.livejournal.com/363121.html

Well, it seems increasingly likely that tomorrow's episode of Korra is going to completely ruin my headcanon that everyone from Avatar: the Last Airbender lived to a happy old age of being cranky curmudgeons, so I am hastily posting this UNDER THE WIRE while it could still conceivably have happened!

Title: How It's Done
Characters: Toph, Katara, Zuko, Sokka, Lin
Word Count: 2008
Summary: Toph really wants to try out this pro-bending thing.
Notes: Set about ten years before Korra. Spoilers for . . . the existence of pro-bending? The existence of Lin?

( Do I look like I'm here to play pai sho? )

Crossposts: http://bookelfe.livejournal.com/294578.html

Title: The Host Club's Refreshing Interdimensional Tour!
Characters: The entire host club, plus assorted special guests
Word Count: 3351
Summary: Does what it says on the label, guys. In other news, this is quite possibly the silliest thing I have ever written.

( Nobody will own up to having made the terrible decision to show Tamaki a science-fiction film, which is probably wise, since, whoever that person was, Kyouya seems quite likely to have them quietly assassinated as soon as their identity is revealed. )

Crossposts: http://bookelfe.livejournal.com/238381.html

moonyazu9 asked me for my top five animated animals. This is actually easier than most of these top fives, as there are a few that come to mind pretty instantly.

( Adorable animated animals under the cut! )

And now, oh flist, it is your turn to bring to me your favorite animated animals! Preferably with screencaps, because I'm sure it will be useful to someone on some bad day to have a handy link to a comments page entirely filled with adorable and/or hilarious animated critters, and that someone may well be me.

Crossposts: http://bookelfe.livejournal.com/236962.html

TODAY IS THE MOST MAGICAL DAY. My wishes are coming true as soon as they are spoken!

Yesterday I said that I wished for the world to give me Kyouya/Azula,and lo and behold, I came in this morning to find that

ivy_chan had delivered unto my LJ the beginning of a fic with the promise of more! Azula might murder people at Hogwarts! I AM EXCITE.

Then today I mentioned that I would quite like a Pride and Prejudice revolutionary AU! AND LIKE MAGIC,

nextian descended with A PERFECT GEM of a fic, Pride and Prejudice and Napoleonic Occupation, which EVERYONE SHOULD GO READ IMMEDIATELY.

("Perhaps you assume that one of the servants has found your hiding place," she said, sharply. "I am happy to tell you that it is instead the purveyor of your information and the smuggler of your weaponry. You may now be pleased or displeased as you choose." SO MANY STARS IN MY EYES. A MILLION STARS.)

I don't know where this magic power came from (maybe from having an awesome flist?) but I am NOT COMPLAINING. I do not even need a pony now. (Also I could not feed or stable it, so, universe, I'm serious, you don't need to send me one. A plastic rocket would be okay.)

lacewood asked me for my Top Five OTPs! As with everything else, this is a difficult question to narrow down and will leave out many many things I love, but I WILL DO MY BEST, etc. etc.

( Top Five OTPs )

Oh my god, that was the longest I have ever talked about shipping ever. EVER. Distract me from how embarrassed I feel by telling me why you love the relationships you love the most!

Drabble roundup, part 2!

For

oneechan19:

( Howl's Moving Castle/Young Wizards crossover: Howl as a YW!verse wizard )

For

varadia:

( Milliwaysverse: That time Dave walked by when Mary and Galadan were discussing her future career path )

And also for

varadia because that was terrible:

( Homeward Bounders/Ouran crossover: Jamie stuck in Ouranverse )

For

shati:

( Avatar: Dangerous ladies! )

And then I felt bad, so I wrote

shati another:

( Avatar: Appa )

And then somehow that still did not quite work out to cheerful, so, also for

shati:

( Avatar: Zuko attempting to write poetry for Mai, and Sokka's reaction )

For

elspeth_vimes:

( Monster/20th Century Boys crossover: post-series Tenma meets Kenji )

Also for

elspeth_vimes:

( Sun Sword/20th Century Boys crossover: Kallandras gives Kenji singing lessons )

And, since that one was very short, also for

elspeth_vimes:

( Sun Sword/Fullmetal Alchemist crossover: Serra Teresa and Hawkeye discuss political strategies )

For

lacewood:

( Fullmetal Alchemist: Mustang/Hawkeye shippiness or UST, OH TWIST MY ARM )

LAST ONE. Also for

lacewood:

( Fullmetal Alchemist: Team Mustang hijinks, also Briggs hijinks, CUNNINGLY COMBINED )

AND OKAY THAT IS ALL.

I have only read an infinitesimal number of Yuletide fics so far, all in the As - aside from my own brilliant gifts which I can never ever glee about enough (Which World and Brush Contact, guys! I will fangirl until the COWS COME HOME). I regret this especially because there were a few of your fics I wonder if I would have been able to guess if I had gotten to them pre-reveal! But I am super looking forward to reading them all as I get to them. :D :D :D

I wrote three stories this year - one assigned, one pinch-hit, and a Madness drabble. My goal was to write more stories than last year so I am moderately pleased with this. Next year perhaps I will write FOUR! Though let's not get crazy in our ambitions.

My assigned story was for Joie de Combat (

joiedecombat) in Baccano! fandom: While Recognizing the Importance of Luck in Certain Situations, Eve Genoard Continues to Disapprove of Gambling. It's about Eve Genoard and the Gandor brothers and Mafia politics, and features Luck Gandor getting kidnapped because it amuses me. I almost never write anything involving action, so this was epic amounts of fun for me to write - kidnapping! arson! assassins! severed fingers! dramatic games of billiards! - which is possibly also why it grew RIDICULOUSLY long. Also,

genarti and

areyoumymemmy are to blame for any and all horrible puns in the title and the chapter headings.

My pinch-hit was for Katrick (

kindness_says) for Tamora Pierce's Tortall books: Armiger, a series of vignettes about the changes that take place in the friendships between Alanna and Jon and Gary and Raoul and Alex over the course of In the Hand of the Goddess. It was a bit bizarre writing fic in this fandom because the last and only thing I ever wrote for the Alannaverse was, um, my thesis, which meant I constantly had to remind myself that I was not allowed to get on any hobbyhorses about crossdressing and gender roles and Judith Butler. But fun!

And the one Madness ficlet (and the only DWJ fic I wrote this year, shockingly!) I wrote was for MiraMira (miramira.dreamwidth.org) for Homeward Bounders: Jamie Hamilton's Rotten Luck. I wrote this in half an hour in my towel on December 24th when I was struck by an idea that made me giggle in the shower, so I don't take much responsibility for it, but I never turn down an excuse to write dorky Homeward Bounders crossovers.

Also, while I am linking things, it strikes me that I never linked back here the fic I wrote ages ago for the Avatar: The Last Airbender Ladyfest ficathon. It was Jailhouse Rock for

escalove and was about Mai and Suki not doing the insta-bonding thing postcanon (OR DO THEY???) I was quite pleased with it until I read it right after posting my Baccano! fic and realized I used at least two of the exact same turns of phrase. Uh. YOU NOTICED NOTHING.

genarti,

areyoumymemmy,

varadia and

dictator_duck were all marvelous about beta-ing; thank you all so much! Special thanks goes to Emmy and Gen, however, for not only beta-ing an epically long fic in a fandom they knew not much about, but then patiently listening while I explained every little reference to them, usually while cackling maniacally ("NO SEE IT'S FUNNY IF YOU KNOW ALL ABOUT CLAIRE STANFIELD HERE LET ME TELL YOU!")

Some cool things for a Monday -

For New Yorkers: It's already August and I have not taken advantage of any free New York outdoor movies yet, which is a fact I am somewhat shamed by. The Bryant Park Film Festival is showing The Magnificent Seven next Monday and Brooklyn Bridge Park has Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid on that Thursday; both of these are high up on my list of 'Great Movies I Should See Someday', so if anyone's interested, let me know! I also might go see Twilight in Central Park SHUT UP IT'S FREE AND HILARIOUS.

For Avatar fans:

atla_ladyfest! Not everything for the fic/art exchange is up yet, but if you like Avatar and you like stories and art that focus on awesome ladies, seriously, go check it out! I told myself I was not going to rec anything specific until everything goes up in the interests of not spamming, and I will hold to that (but I am full of joy about the Hama-centric fic that was written for me, also the Azula story and both Yue stories are AMAZING, and and and!) but regardless, I get way too much joy even just from looking at the info page of the comm and seeing all the great female characters that are represented and thinking about all the amazing fics that could be written about all of them. SO MANY.

I am totally spoiled now; I want ladyfests for EVERYTHING. bsg_ladyfest! tutu_ladyfest! dw_ladyfest! YOU KNOW THEY WOULD ALL BE FABULOUS. Time to get on that, fandom!

So last week I went with my roommate to see Vicky Christina Barcelona. The narration introduces Vicky and Christina by explaining that they are best friends, see the world the same way, and have identical tastes in everything except romance. This is the one and only time the idea that these two best friends, who have identical tastes and interests and have chosen to spend a summer together, might have a conversation about anything other than romance is even obliquely referenced in the film. And it is not a conversation, it is narration.

I wish that I came out of the movie more surprised by this.

More cheerfully:

shoroko tagged me for the top seven character 'ships meme! I am not a hugely 'shippy person and my 'top' anything tends to vary wildly depending on the day, the hour, and what color top I happen to be wearing, but I will give a shot at providing At Least Some 'Ships I Like. The rules of the meme are:

1. List your top seven character ships
2. Put all of them in order of your love for them; 7 to 1, 1 being your main fixation.
3. Name the movie/show/book that they're in.
4. Supply photos for said people.
5. Tag seven people.

( I reserve the right to ignore these, most especially 2. and 5. I also occasionally reserve the right to make stuff up. )

LAST AVATAR POST REALLY. (Spoilers ahead.)

( Epic finale! Thoughts, with 12 hrs. distance )

Um, all I have to say is BEST RECAP SHOW EVER.

So anyone else watching the new Avatar episodes as they come out?

( SPOILERS. Of the allcapsy sort, not really the meta sort! )

Books books books okay. These three are each part of a different series that I am slowly working my way through. Variety is good?

Ellis Peters' Monk's Hood: I do not love the whole 'Brother Cadfael's Old Girlfriend NEEDS HIM NOW' subplot, although his squirming is kind of hilariously awkward. I do love Brother Mark and the not!twins - interesting characterization is really where the Cadfael books excel.

Philip Reeves' Predator's Gold: This is the sequel to Mortal Engines, and Badass Hester continues to be the best thing about the books - although I did get very frustrated during the first half of the book, which involves a Love Triangle and Hester being angsty and possessive. Understandably so, but still. Also, Professor Pennyroyal is like a carbon copy of Professor Lockhart. However, I LOVE the end, in which both Hester and and to a certain extent new girl Freya get down with their ruthless and morally ambiguous badass selves without a backward look. Tom, meanwhile, continues to fill me with profound ennui, which was not helped by

( spoiler! )

L.A. Meyer's Under the Jolly Roger: Being an Account of the Further Nautical Adventures of Jacky Faber: Someday I will do a full proper pimp post about the Bloody Jack books, because I love them, and my love continues untarnished even after devoting a significant part of my thesis to one - which is something, I think. I adore Jacky and her moxie and the fun she has with everything. She's just enjoying herself SO MUCH with the taking over ships and flirting with boys and becoming fabulously rich that even when the most implausible plot twists pop up, you just kind of grin and go along for a ride. And the constant play with gender and class boundaries never fails to make me happy. Further joy: it looks like the series is going to have seven, and I have only read three, which means many more books to go!

In other news, GUYS HOW EXCITED AM I ABOUT NEW AVATAR SOON. I am going to NY this week for apartment-hunting, so the trouble will be convincing my mom to let me turn her TV to Nickelodeon on Thursday night.

( I LOVE YOU AVATAR. )

So, noticing that I only had one Avatar icon, and that there were plenty of screencaps available on the web, I decided to try my luck at some icon-making.

( . . . all right, a lot of icon-making. Icons through S3; spoilers for, um, new hairstyles? (BUT NO FACE-EATING BEARD.) ) Screencaps from Water-bender.com