#this fandom is sometimes just... ugh

[i-am-extremely-mad]

lol lok is fucking shit

This ask has been sitting here since June 21, 2022. So I will finally answer it...

[i-am-extremely-mad]

Holy shit, this is disturbingly relevant now more than ever!

i just remembered the fire nation post-conquest was canonically homophobic

[i-am-extremely-mad]

girl shut the fuck up lmao

About what?

About how TLOK is a horrendously underrated and misunderstood show?

About how Korra is a horrendously underrated and misunderstood character?

About how the TLOK/korrasami/Korra/Asami haters are disgusting and pathetic?

Because I'm not the one who needs to shut the fuck up.

[nerdygayheretoday]

I don't block every tag that has to do with bbc sherlock and avoid it on ao3 like the plague (even tho that leaves me with approximately 3 acd era fics) bc I hate it so much. I'd actually argue that I would probably still kinda like it if I watched it now after years of not touching it. But it's like my toxic ex that I was too obsessed with and let's me cringe over my teenie self now and if I would interact with it again I would behave like my teenie self again thirsting over this ex lover, getting together again only to break up even dirtier.

Also bbc sherlock has nothing to do with Sherlock Holmes and is actually shit.

[i-am-extremely-mad]

It also comes from the fact that even people who love the show also don't (completely) understand the genre and themes the show deals with, as well as Korra's character and her arc. 

TLOK is DieselPunk fantasy (reason why there are cars, airships and RetroFuturistic technologies like Mechas) and main theme is conflict between tradition and progression and what place Korra as a person and Avatar have in this new early 20th century like modern world. 

TLOK have two story arcs, Book 1 is more or less self-contained mini series, while Books 2, 3 and 4 were simultaneously in production (confirmed by the creators themselves: https://bryankonietzko.tumblr.com/post/50462033888/for-some-reason-this-tight-rough-for-the-second) and make a 3-part story arc that is basically a REVERSE ATLA story arc.

Korra's character arc is reverse of Aang's character arc, Aang's arc was to learn to be the Avatar, Korra's arc was to learn to see herself as a person and not just an Avatar, that it's okay that the world doesn't depend only on her, that it is no weakness or shame to sometimes depend on others or seek advice and support and comfort from others, and that sometimes she can go on vacation with the love of her life (especially after she already saved the world).

In all seriousness though---

Korra got a ton---and I mean a TON---of hate, for daring to be a headstrong, non-genderconforming woman of color. So forgive me if I don't react well to "korrasami doesn't deserve it"

Korra already fought through enough misogyny and racism while it was actively airing. She already got enough criticism for not being the "target audience" of 8-12 age males who buy action figures. She already got enough criticism for having flaws as a woman, for not "acting ladylike". She already got enough criticism for not being white or white passing in a show that has ZERO white characters. So when you come at korrasami fans with "they don't deserve it"? Don't be surprised when korrasami fans look at it with a lens of suspicion, because korrasami already fought through the criticism, already fought through being stuck in the "dead slot" air time in nickelodeon (which they were moved to in season three, when the show runners actively started hinting at a wlw ship), already fought through being pulled off air and onto online viewing only, in 2014, for those of you who are a bit young. (Obergefell vs Hodges, the Supreme Court case which legalized gay marriage nationwide in the US, happen on June 26, 2016). "They only held hands in the finale" because that's all they could get away with at the time. They were the FIRST. Bubbeline came later. Rupphire came later. Catradora came later. There are still no notable mlm ships in children's media, so the work ISN'T done. Korrasami fans "screech and yell" at you for not understanding because you accuse them of "queerbaiting" without understanding that they were the FIRST in their time to OPENLY hint at being gay on a a children's television network. In a time, for most intents and purposes in the US, being gay was still ILLEGAL.

And by the way? The Owl House, a recent, animatec children's show on Disney, was recently canceled for not being "the Disney brand". It features a bisexual woman of color (in an EXPLICITLY wlw relationship) as the main character, not unsimilar to Korra. Misogyny is not dead. Homophobia is not dead. Know your history, and know the work isn't done.

[lizstiel]

@nyang-cheng & @veevil's cherik siren au has bewitched me, body and soul

[i-am-extremely-mad]

I'm still a little shocked that @circlique didn't like how I responded to things that some fans hate about TLOK (the comment they left under the post): 

"How did I know this was someone just looking for an argument lol. Agree to disagree." 

I wasn't looking for an argument, I just feel that these things are pretty underrated in the fandom, especially the love triangle, the fact that it actually was a love triangle, not a love angle, as it really is in most cases, as well as the fact that Korra and Asami weren't hated each other and fought each other over Mako... 

Anyway, I'm sorry if they took this as a personal attack, maybe I should have expressed myself better, I really liked their posts and arts, especially that post where they defended Korra and how much undeserved hate she gets.

https://www.tumblr.com/i-am-extremely-mad/722041973501984768/what-exactly-issues-do-you-have-with-tlok

“What exactly issues do you have with TLOK?

circlique answered:

Many of the same that other people have, just that Korra as a characters is not one of them, like I said.

But some of the things I didn’t like:

-stupid, unnecessary love triangle

-the Equalists were great and compelling antagonists, but the divide between benders and nonbenders never really got addressed after Amon was defeated.

-Water Tribe Civil War plot was great, and I hate that they abandoned it for the kites. The Avatar and spirits were better left mysterious imo. If they HAD to be included, making both Raava and Vaatu part of the Avatar spirit would have been much better imo because it would have fit the themes of balance and harmony present throughout the rest of the series much better. Light can only exist in darkness, some chaos is good and necessary, etc etc.

-Unalaaq/Vaatu were boring, forgettable villains. Also hated the kaiju fight with laser beams. Didn’t feel like it belonged in the world of Avatar at all.

-season 3 is easily the best season but I still wish there was a bit more buildup to the airbenders coming back. Like, maybe after harmonic convergence kids can be born with airbending instead of people just randomly waking up with it one day.

-season 4 was also pretty good and my only real complaint with it was the mech. Just didn’t feel like it fit in the world. I wouldn’t have minded if it was just limited to the canon and possibly moved by railroad or something.”

i-am-extremely-mad:

Hmm, I see (I sent that anon question). I already answered some of these arguments: https://www.tumblr.com/i-am-extremely-mad/705097614657470464/fandomsandfeminism-im-still-not-really-over

...but I will answer some arguments here:

“-stupid, unnecessary love triangle”  

I've never really had much of a problem with a love triangle. TLOK is, among other things, a teenage drama, love triangles are typical tropes here.

What I actually loved here is that unlike typical love triangles where the female characters fight for the affections of the male character, Korra and Asami never really hated each other, especially Asami. Korra was only jealous for a couple of episodes and even then the worst thing she could think of about Asami was how she is supposedly prissy: "He's all into that prissy, beautiful, elegant, rich girl." But even then, Korra didn't hide that she also saw her as beautiful and elegant.

And the part that's often ignored is that Korra actually stopped trying anything with Mako after she became friends with Asami, which didn't stop Mako from being a total jerk, especially after Korra suspected that Asami's father might be an Equalist, him accusing her that she only did it so he would break up with Asami. And despite all that, when she was proven right, Korra asked him to go comfort Asami.

“-the Equalists were great...”

As I already said in another post (see link) the Equalists were actually non-benders supremacists (I still can't believe that some people consider them communists, but then again when I see supposed "leftists" supporting authoritarian non-democratic regimes in the real world, yeah...), Amon was just a grifter and most of their arguments were bullshit and full of holes.

Especially when you see how successful non-benders actually are in society, Hiroshi Sato (why would the alleged “communists” work closely with the bourgeois?) being the most obvious example, while many benders barely made ends meet, even if they were famous athletes that people heard about on the radio, like Mako and Bolin. It seems that the social problems were not of an ethnic but of a class nature.

“-Water Tribe Civil War plot was great,...”

Fans don't realize that the civil war wasn't important at all, it was just a distraction to hide Unalaaq's true intentions, to free Vaatu and start the apocalypse.

And I think it was mentioned somewhere that Vaatu wasn't destroyed but just weak and is now in Raava.    

“-Unalaaq/Vaatu were boring, forgettable villains...”

Not much different from Ozai, really. Also, as I already said in another post, Unalag is basically Ozai in reverse.    

I have no problem with “kaiju” fight. I could even argue that the last two Godzilla movies borrowed a bit from TLOK (LOL).

Also wasn't there also a "kaiju" fight in ATLA at the end of Book 1 when the Ocean Spirit took over Aang's body and attacked the Fire Nation fleet? It's strange how people forget about such things when they criticize TLOK.

“...more buildup to the airbenders coming back...”

I have no problem with the idea that some people got airbender powers. Also if newborn children were born with powers, it would be several years before they would show any signs of airbending powers. Not very practical for the story they wanted to tell.

“my only real complaint with it was the mech...”

Absolutely underestimated or better said, completely ignored parallel in TLOK:

UnaVaatu, misuses mystical and spiritual powers for conquest and destruction.

Kuvira with Mecha-UnaVaatu, misuses science and technology power for conquest and destruction.

Also, a foreshadowing that many have ignored, that Mecha-UnaVaatu will be made:

Book 4, Episode 6: "The Battle of Zaofu"

Varrick: "Funny story, Bolin. I first got the idea for harnessing spirit power when I watched that giant Unalaq-monster attack the city from my jail cell. That giant monster set me free!" [Turns to Bolin with a meaningful look on his face.]

Also, Mechs are actually a typical and common part of the DieselPunk genre, and I actually answered that under another post:  

https://www.tumblr.com/i-am-extremely-mad/706005529101762560/if-anyone-thinks-the-giant-mecha-in-tlok-is-absurd

[javierduffy]

thoughts about johm marstlin

[i-am-extremely-mad]

And just when I saw this post, I came across several m/akorra and of course anti-korrasami, anti-Asami posts. 

Heck, they are STILL salty for not popping the BIGGEST bottles after over 8 YEARS! 

But their arguments do not change. 

I guess they think if they repeat them a thousand times it will suddenly become true?

But of course that is not enough for them and they still have the disgusting need to trash Asami. Ugh...

you know a sapphic ship is good when it’s had a bunch of non-sapphics accuse it of being toxic or unhealthy or abusive with ridiculous arguments that they would never use against any ship which wasn’t wlw

[sodaneko]

it's been over a week but i legit haven't stopped thinking about this

[scatterbrainedbot]

THROWING THIS DOODLE AT YOU WITH AGGRESSIVE AFFECTION!!

Wanted to render it but ran out of time :') BUT PLEASE KNOW!! Your Rat son au is my Roman empire. I think about it at LEAST once a week, like the designs and concepts and characterization and UGH EVERYTHING!! ITS ALL SO GOOD!! AND UR STYLE?? IM FOREVER CONSUMING IT!!! Literally peek nostalgia, comfort, even thru the angst its just so perfect im-

and- and splinter just bring me so much joy. Hes so goofy and soft and I sob every time I see him, imagine getting like the most gentle and affirming hug- I would cry immediately.

AHHHH!! ANYWAY STAY AMAZING ZACH!! :D <33333

TRIONA

TRIONA. TRIONA I AM SHAKING.

OH MY GOD???? LIKE OH???? MY GOD??????? THOSE ARE MY BABY SONS OH MY GOD THEY ARE GORGEOUS AND COZY PERFECT AMAZING I AM FULLY EMOTIONAL

LOOK AT THEM LOOK AT THEMMMMM AHHHHHHHHHH I CANT STOP STARING AT THEM BUT ALSO HAVE TO LOOK AWAY BECAUSE I AM LITERALLY TEARING UP?????

I LOVE THAT U CAN TELL A STORY FROM JUST THEIR POSES AND POSITIONS LIKE MIKEY DEF CAME OVER TO PESTER DONNIE AND FELL ASLEEP ON HIS LAP SO DONNIE HAD NO CHOICE BUT TO STAY AND NAP TOO (cause its illegal to disrupt little brothers sleeping in ur laps of course, same rule as cats) AND THEN LEO WANDERED IN AND PROBABLY SMILED THAT AFFECTIONATE BIG BROTHER SMILE BEFORE CURLING UP BESIDE THEM THEN RAPH CAME A LIL BIT LATER WONDERING WHERE EVERYONE WAS AND AFFECTIONATELY CALLED THEM A BUNCH OF BOZOS BEFORE TAKING A SEAT WITH THEM (in a semi blind spot too the protective little baby) AND HE DIDNT MEAN TO FALL ASLEEP BUT IT WAS JUST TOO COZY AND AHHH

UGH AND THEN OLD MAN SPLINTER COMES TO CHECK ON THEM AND THOSE ARE HIS BABIES HIS LITTLE BOYS I AM SOBBING TRIONA I LOVE IT SO SO SO MUCH I AM BEYOND WORDS

[goodness-graceous]

many zel*nk shippers when ANYONE tries to be happy about and enjoy a different ship involving Zelda or Link:

(this is about b*tw/t*tk, but can apply to any of the games if y’all wish 😌)

[i-am-extremely-mad]

Let's not forget that many of those Korra haters are disgusting ableists who called her pathetic and miserable and that she had a "pity party" while going through the worst mental and physical trauma of her life.

Korra gets so shitted on but she's one of my favorite comfort characters because she literally became disabled and they didn't try to hide it by being "oh she's still so strong cuz she's the avatar" or the "lets think about the positive side". They showed how depression hit her and how she alienated herself for 3YEARS, how frustrated she was to feel strong again, the shame she carried, and even how angry she got when others couldn't help her. People compare it so much to Avatar the last Airbender but completely disregard how other people found comfort in her story not to mention the lgbtq community and her progression with figuring things out with Asami. She went through a lot, it was not going to be a perfect story and she was never going to be a perfect person, and she could never be Aang. And that's okay.

[i-am-extremely-mad]

Korrasami fan here. And I get the feeling the haters are going to be complaining about it TEN years on... 😒

Unfortunately, it seems that way. And they will just, as before, recycle the exhausting same old arguments again and again...

[that-was-anticlimactic]

*sprays fandoms with a spray bottle* height is NOT a personality trait!!!

[tenebriism]

// Writing up a drabble so I'm largely scarce everywhere (I can't focus on anything else while I write, else it takes double the time, so I disappear. My bad, y'all, lmao), but on a random note, it's nice to see that I'm not the only one made uncomfortable by certain ships. Sometimes, I feel like I've gone absolutely mad, because I'll see fanart of it, or posts related to it, and I just sit back and go ' HOW/WHY? ' but feel like the ONLY one doing that.

I suppose I'm mutuals with y'all for a reason. Y'all are a vibe.