LoK Episode 4 The Voice in the Night Review

It's been a while since I wrote a post on my phone. Let's see how this goes...

Tarrlock is annoying. I really hope he isn't in too many episodes because that might drive me a little insane. Also, sending a ton of expensive presents to a 16-year-old could be seen as creepy...

I felt so bad for Korra when she was basically pressured into joining the task force because they made her feel guilty. She definitely does need to work on airbending, and she shouldn't have joined the task force. It really frustrates me that everyone in the city seems to overlook how young she is, but I suppose there are many similar instances in the "real world."

I'm not sure how I feel about Asami yet. For some reason I have very negative feelings towards her, yet I don't see anything wrong with her. I think most of it has to do with the fact I'm already kind of shipping Makkora (even though I keep telling myself it's too early), and I only dislike her because of her relationship with Mako. Asami and Mako's relationship just further complicates the whole romance part of the show though. This episodes had hints that Bolin likes Korra; we know Korra likes Mako; and now Mako and Asami are in a relationship. I have a feeling this is going to get complicated... (Especially when you factor in that Mako and Bolin are brothers.) I'm not sure I like where all that's going.

I'm glad that the Fire Ferrets are going to be able to compete in the championship (even though I knew they'd be able to). Also, random little comment: I keep comparing Mr. Sato to Henry Ford even though there's no reason for it other than a really shallow one. It's just that when Asami told Mako she was taking him to meet her dad, I kind of mentally went, "He's meeting that universe's Henry Ford." I have a feeling that shows how big of a history nerd I am.

I don't even know where to begin talking about the end of the episode. I'm incredibly sure that all three of the people shown in those quick flashes were Sokka, Toph, and Aang (Sokka's the only one I have a bit of doubt about and even that doubt is basically nonexistent), and I'm so happy about that brief scene that it's ridiculous. I just don't understand what it means! Did Amon show it to her? Did Korra see it on her own and it was related to vein the Avatar? I don't know, and it's driving me insane! I have a feeling this question will be bothering me for a ling time...

Next week's episode can't come quickly enough!

Avatar Shipping: Yuokka

This is another post in my Avatar Shipping series.  For an introduction and a list of the others, you can go here.


My Opinion


I wasn't really aware of the online Avatar fandom until right before season three, and I wasn't quite as obsessed with shipping when the season one finale came around as I would be later on.  I was just basically neutral to Yuokka at the time.  I didn't care one way or the other.  Although I can't remember that well, I think I found Yue's death pretty sad, but her relationship with Sokka didn't really matter to me much.  Present day, I enjoy how Yuokka played out on the show, but if Yue had lived and they remained a couple, I imagine I wouldn't have really been interested in it.  I would have probably gotten more and more bored with it as time went on.

Why do people ship Yuokka?


First of all, I don't think Yuokka is an incredibly popular ship.  Whether that's because Yue died or because people just found it boring, I don't know.  Maybe it's a combination of the two.  As for people who do ship it, they may have thought or hoped it would be the final canon ship at first, since there was obviously something between Sokka and Yue and no one knew she was going to die.  I read something the other day where Sokka would have made a great leader of the Northern Water Tribe if he married Yue.  Maybe that's a factor for some people.  There were a lot of cute little moments between Yue and Sokka.

Fan Works


Fanfiction

Here are the results of choosing Sokka and Yue as characters in the Avatar archive at fanfiction.net.

Fan Art

Here are the search results for the most popular Yuokka works on deviantArt.

Fan Videos

Here are the search results for Yuokka on YouTube.

Avatar Shipping: Ty Lokka

For past posts in this "series" you can go to these places: intro, Zutara, Kataang, Tokka, and Teoph.  This post will be about Ty Lee and Sokka or Ty Lokka.

My Opinion

To be honest, Ty Lokka isn't a ship I've really thought about much even though it seems to have a somewhat decent amount of support in the fandom.  Sure Ty Lee flirted with Sokka once, and he kind of flirted back, but I don't think they'd make a good couple if they actually dated.  I don't really care for it at all.  It actually sounds a little boring.

Why do people ship Ty Lokka?

I really don't know how to answer this question.  I suppose it mostly stems from the flirting that happens in The Drill, but I can't see that in itself causing people to ship it.  I guess there's just something about Ty Lee and Sokka that some people like together, but I have no idea what that would be.

Fan Works

Fanfiction

I couldn't find a Ty Lokka community on fanfiction.net,so I just did a search with Sokka and Ty Lee as characters instead.  I'm sure not all of these are romantic, but here you go.

Fan Art

Here are the results from a "Ty Lokka" search on deviantArt.

Fan Videos

Here are the results from a Ty Lokka search on Youtube.

(Comic) Book Review: Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Promise Part 1

ISBN: 9781595828

Published: January 25th, 2012

Publisher: Dark Horse Comics

Read on January 30th, 2012

Synopsis from Goodreads:

The wait is over! Ever since the conclusion of Avatar: The Last Airbender, its millions of fans have been hungry for more--and it's finally here!
This series of digests rejoins Aang and friends for exciting new adventures, beginning with a faceoff against the Fire Nation that threatens to throw the world into another war, testing all of Aang's powers and ingenuity!
* The continuation of Airbender and the link to its upcoming sequel, Legend of Korra!
* Written by Gene Luen Yang, author of the National Book Award-nominated American Born Chinese

(Fun fact: When I went to add the book on Goodreads, there wasn't a page, so I ended up creating one myself.  That's the first time I'd done that.  I'm kind of proud of it even though it wasn't at all difficult.)

Review:

I'm going to start off with the spoiler-free stuff.  I loved this comic.  If you are an Avatar fan you have to read this.  It tells the story of what happened after the television series.  It starts off showing a little inbetween the final scene at Iroh's tea shop and the stuff before that.  In fact, it includes parts of the tea shop scene.  Then, it skips ahead a year later.  It's great, and I found myself reacting to it just like I would an episode of the TV series.  I was actually a bit emotional after finishing it.  It only took about an hour or less to read.  It's not long at all.

Now, on the the spoilers!  (Which will basically be my reaction to every single thing that happened...)

It starts off with the same narration by Katara as the TV series does, which I loved.  The only thing different was the end of her narration where she describes how Aang defeated Ozai and Zuko became Fire Lord.  It was just the beginning, and I was already getting chills.

The first scene is basically everyone talking to the Earth King in his palace.  Zuko and the Earth King decide on the Harmony Restoration Movement, which will remove the Fire Nation colonies from the Earth Kingdom.  I love how Sokka comes up with the name, and Toph asks what's with him and funny names.  I also love how Katara volunteers both herself and Sokka to help Aang.  It's the original group back together!  (Except I want Toph with them.  It's just not the same without her..  If you haven't read it, don't worry she's in the book, but she doesn't travel with them anymore, which I find sad.)

Then, we get to see Sokka freak out when he walks in on Aang and Katara kissing.  I found it hilarious, and it's the first time he tells Aang and Katara that they're giving him the "oogies," a term he uses throughout the comic.  Sokka doesn't seem upset about their relationship though, which I think is pretty accurate.  He just complains when they show any sort of affection for each other in his presence.

The promise Zuko makes Aang agree to is saddening.  I can see Zuko's reasoning though.  I just don't think choosing the celebration was the best time for it.  After that it immediately skips one year later.

Apparently people have attempted to assassinate Zuko multiple times, and he's become quite paranoid about it.  I have to say, I became a huge Zuko fan in the second half of season three, so seeing him in this comic makes me really sad.  He's become so paranoid and worried.  He's not his father (which he's extremely worried about), but he seems to becoming kind of close.  It worries me.  Hopefully, Aang can keep him in check.  I definitely don't want another Sozin/Roku situation.

One thing that shows Zuko is still a good person is that he tries very hard to protect the best interests of his people in this comic.  I don't know if he goes about it in quite the right way.  He should have contacted Aang and the Earth King right away.  Still, he has a good heart, and I'm extremely confident that it will stay that way.  I just hope he doesn't get horrible advice from Ozai that corrupts him.  I'm a bit worried he's going to listen to Ozai a bit too much, and Aang will have to "bring him back" or something.

We knew Toph started a metalbending school from the information we got from Korra, but I wasn't expecting her too start it so soon!  There are only three kids, so it's not like she's teaching a large group.  Still, two of them seem to be a bit older than she is.  Watching her boss them around was a bit amusing.  While I love the idea of her running the school and bossing the kids around all day, I'm still sad that it's implied she hasn't seen Aang, Katara, and Sokka for almost an entire year.  Why didn't they write (or have someone else write in Toph's case) letters to each other or something?  Sokka makes it sound like the heard about her school from someone else.  Their reunion is cute though.

I also want to know why Toph's metalbending school is there of all places.  Why didn't she choose Gaoling or Bai Sing Se?  Later, her police force is stationed in Republic City I think, and I'm pretty sure this city is going to become Republic City.  (I can't be the only person thinking that.)  I just don't understand how Toph got there in the first place.

I wasn't expecting the Freedom Fighters to show up!  I'm glad to know Smellerbee and Longshot are alive though, since we never learned that before.  (I also just noticed Toph and Aang hugging in the background of one of the frames on page 40.  That is absolutely adorable!)  It doesn't seem like the Duke and Pipsqueak rejoined the others though.  Also, Smellerbee is sitting on Longshot's shoulders.  That'll please the people who ship them together.

Aang and Katara constantly calling each other sweetie...  The part of me that absolutely loves them and fangirls them as a couple wants to go on about how cute it is.  I mean, I waited so long for them to be together, and now they're being all "cutesie."  I love it.  There is, however, a small part of me that agrees with Toph and Sokka's reaction to it.

I'm not going to lie.  I was a bit worried when Zuko grabbed Katara.  I didn't know what was going to happen.  I was slightly preparing myself to hate him again.  Thank God that ended well (for now).  I also love Zuko showing Aang and Katara the city and seeing how it's such a mix of both Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom.

I'd noticed a large lack of Mai in the comic (She wasn't even in the firework scene for some reason...), so I was thrilled when she showed up.  I'd almost started worrying that her and Zuko weren't together anymore.  I love how she gets onto him for leaving without telling her, and how she reminds him that he needs to talk to her.  I also absolutely love the fact that Mai called the Kyoshi Warriors (including Ty Lee!) to come protect Zuko instead of his own guard.  This also gives us the only glimpse of Ty Lee and Suki (aside from Suki being in the tea shop and firework scene with no lines).  (I really want to know how things are going with Sokka and Suki since they probably have seen each other just as much as Toph has seen Sokka, Katara, and Aang.)

Then, it cuts off with Zuko going to Ozai for advice.  I need Part 2!  I'm honestly worried about what Ozai's going to tell Zuko.  I've never freaked out about a comic book before.  I think there are about four months until we get that one, and I'll be coming up with crazy theories until then.  (Guys!  I just realized I can actually theorize about Avatar again.  I mean, Korra isn't the same.  This is the same characters and everything.  This is like J.K. Rowling realizing a new Harry Potter short story or something.  I'm so excited!)  If you're an Avatar fan, you absolutely have to get this.

Avatar Shipping: Teoph

This is the fifth of my Avatar shipping posts.  You can read the introduction and find a list of all of the other posts here.  This post will be about Teoph or Teo/Toph.

My Opinion

I'm not a Teoph fan.  To me, it always seemed like a horrible idea to pair the two disabled characters together.  I know that's not why a lot of people ship it.  Some people just like their personalities together, but the idea of it still irks me.  It becomes even worse when you consider what exactly each of their disabilities are.  Toph's blind and can only "see" when her feet are touching the ground.  Teo can't walk and loves to use his glider.  Toph's happiest on the ground.  Teo's happiest in the sky.  You could use the opposites attract argument, but I just don't like it.

Why do people ship Teoph?

While I don't like it, I'm sure there are some that ship Toph and Teo together because they're disabled.  I've heard some people mention things about how both were able to overcome their disabilities, and that would help them relate to each other.  I can see that to a certain degree.  Other than that, I haven't heard many reasons about why people ship them.  It's not an insanely popular ship, so there probably aren't too many reasons why people ship it.  Although, I'm sure you could find a few people who ship it and think Toph and Teo just make a good couple.

Fan Works

Fanfiction

The Wonderful World of Teoph:  This was a community I was able to find on fanfiction.net that has 21 Teoph fanfictions in it.  In fact, it was the only Teoph community I could find.

Fan Videos

Here is a search I did for Teoph videos on Youtube.  I'm sure some of them are really well done.

Fan Art

Here are the search results for the most popular Teoph artwork of all time on deviantArt.

Avatar Shipping: Tokka

This is the third (or fourth if we count the intro) post in my Avatar: The Last Airbender shipping series.  You can also read the intro, Zutara, and Kataang.  This post will be about Tokka (Toph/Sokka).  (This might not be as good as my other shipping posts.  I just got home from work, and it's late.  I'm kind of having to rush this.)

My Opinion

In my Kataang post, I mentioned that the one exception to me shipping something that condradicted a canon couple was in Avatar.  Tokka happens to be that exception.  They're one of the only couples I ship that aren't canon, and they're definitely the one I'm most passionate about.

I didn't start shipping Tokka on my own.  I just accepted Sukka (Sokka/Suki) although I wasn't incredibly into it like Kataang.  Then, I was listening to a Tokka shipper talk about why they ship Tokka on an Avatar podcast, and I realized that it really was a cute ship.  (This was around the time the first half of season three was airing I think.)  It didn't take long before I was shipping Tokka.

I love how they interact.  As with Kataang, I love their relationship as friends first and foremost, so I wasn't incredibly bothered about them not ending up with each other.  I never really thought it would be canon anyway.  I hoped (a lot), but I didn't fool myself into believing it had an incredibly good chance with Sukka.  I love their interactions though.  I think they're personalities make for incredibly amusing moments.

Why do people ship Tokka?

I think a lot of people like Tokka because of how Toph and Sokka interact.  Their sarcasm and senses of humor just mesh together to make all of their interactions amusing (at least in some people's opinion).  Then, there's Toph's crush on Sokka.  In the end nothing comes of it, but it's still there which helps give some credibility to the ship.

Fan Works
(I'm not going to put many of these right now.  Hopefully, I'll come back and add more later.)

Fanfiction

I'd Lie:  This is an AU (alternate universe) fanfiction, which means it takes place in our world.  I know that's not going to be everyone's type of story, but I think this was the first Tokka fanfiction I read and really enjoyed.  The author also has quite a few other Tokka stories.

The Escapades of the Blind Bandit and Meathead:  I think I posted about this author on my Kataang post.  This is another Tokka story that was one of the first I read and enjoyed.

The View From His Back:  This author has several Tokka fanfics.  This is the most recent one (although several are currently being written).

Fan Videos

Here are search results for a Tokka search on Youtube.  I've watched and enjoyed several of them (of the ones that came up when I did the search).

Fan Art

Here are the search results for the most popular Tokka art of alltime in deviantArt.

Anticipating Korra

I just want to make a quick post ranting about how exited I am for The Legend of Korra to air later this year.  I just wish we had a release date!  Nickelodeon tweeted the other day and confirmed that it will be airing this year, so at least that's something.  They've actually been tweeting about Korra a fair bit the past several days.  I think it's because so many Avatar fans have started bothering them about it.  It is great to hear that it's being worked on though.  I just want a sooner rather than later release date.  If they're making it  as perfect as possible I guess I can't complain though.

I'm sure it's going to feel like forever before the show actually airs.  Come to think of it: if it airs in the fall (and I have a feeling it will), I'll be off at college.  I'm not even sure how I'll watch it...  I have no idea if I'll have a TV or cable in my dorm.  I will find a way though!  I'm seeing it when it airs.  And on a TV.  There's no way I'm watching a crappy version online.  That's not the same.  I guess it'll be interesting to see how I end up watching it...

Avatar Shipping: Zutara

Remember how I said I would be starting a "series" on Avatar shipping?  Well here it is!  As I said before, I'm starting with Zutara.  I'm going to do this by dividing the post into different sections: my opinion on Zutara, why people ship it, why some believed it would be canon, and fan works.

My Opinion

I do not ship Zutara.  It never appealed to me.  Actually, it never even occured to me until I found Zutara shippers online.  From the very first episode I thought Katara and Aang were meant for each other (but that's for another post/video), and Katara and Zuko even being possible never crossed my mind.  After discovering Zutara, I still didn't see it in the show.  I guess I can kind of see what others like about the pairing, but I don't like it.  I've never really been someone who likes the bad guy turns good and gets the girl storyline.  It doesn't interest me.

Why do people ship Zutara?

Obviously, I can't directly answer this since I don't fully understand it myself, but I did "research" for this post and have heard tons of reasons over the years.  If you're a Zutara shipper and disagree with anything I say here, just let me know, and I'll change it.  I'll also add anyone's opinion in here if they want.  Oh, and I can't forget: opposites attract.

I think Zutara is mainly appealing to people because Zuko starts as a villian, but it's clear he's not really a bad guy.  As every Avatar fan now knows, Zuko does end up switching sides before the end of the series.  It has the whole bad boy thing, and I think that appeals to a lot of people.  Some just find that kind of pairing to be interesting.

Why did some believe Zutara would be canon?

Before I even start, I want everyone to know that I realize not every Zutara shipper thought Zutara would be canon, but this section is focused on why some believed it would be.  I've seen quite a lot of "evidence" for Zutara over the years, and this section definitely won't include all of it.  I'm trying to include the evidence that I could actually see as being evidence.

I think a lot of canon Zutara shippers thought the opposites attract thing was valid evidence for the ship.

Do all of the Avatar fans reading this remember when the trailer for the second half of season three aired at Comic Con?  (I still love that trailer.)  Remember when Zuko and Katara hugged?  I definitely do.  I can still remember the screams from the Comic Con video.  I think that definitely gave a lot of canon Zutara shippers hope.  (I still think that was a slightly mean thing to do actually...)

I couldn't come up with much evidence that made sense, so that's all I'm going to go into here.  (I'm not saying there isn't anymore, but as a Kataanger, I'm not entirely aware of canon Zutara arguments.)  I will, however, leave you with this Zutara manifesto.  I didn't read all of it, but it seems very well written and in-depth from what I skimmed.  They also have the view points of multiple Zutarians.

Fan Works

I tried to find good Zutara fanfiction, fanart, and fan videos.  I haven't read or watched all of these, but I only put them here if they seemed to be of good quality.  If you want to recommend your favorite (or some you've written or made yourself) fan works just let me know, and I'll add it here.

Fanfiction

I'm going to list this Zutara community on fanfiction.net.  According to their description the community was made in 2005.  That would mean they've been collecting Zutara fanfiction since Zutara fanfiction was being written.  I'm sure you'll be able to find some good Zutara fanfiction on there.

Fanart

This link should lead you to a search for the most popular Zutara fanart of all time on deviantArt.  They all look extremely well drawn.  There are so many beautiful ones.

Fan Videos

This link will take you to a Zutara search on Youtube.  There are tons of Zutara videos on Youtube, and while I've never watched many Zutara videos, most of the Avatar videos I've watched in the past have been really well done.

I'd love to add more fan works here, but it would be helpful to get actual recommendations from Zutarians.  If you'd have anything you'd like me to add to this post, just let me know in a comment below

Avatar Shipping: Introduction

This is going to be a sort of introduction post to something new I'm going to be doing both here on the blog and over on my Youtube channel.  I'm going to be writing a series of blog posts and filming a series of videos on Avatar: The Last Airbender ships.  If you don't know what ships are, ship is short of relationship.  A ship is a couple, and shipping is wanting that couple to be together.

Each blog post or video is going to center around a different Avatar ship.  Some of them will be canon, some fanon, and some crack ships.  (Canon happened in the show.  Fanon didn't happen on the show, but people wish it did and some probably believed it would happen.  And crack ships are ships that are just odd and completely unbelievable, even compared to fanon ships.)  Sometimes I may even throw two random characters together and just talk about what they would be like as a couple.

I may also mention some fanfiction, fanart, or fan videos that I like that feature the couple.  There are several problems with this though.  1. I only read fanfiction for couples I ship, so I don't really have any for any other couples.  2. I've looked through fanart some, but not much.  I don't really have any to show for any couple.  3.  I used to watch fan videos but haven't in a while.  The ones I do know of her kind of old.  This means I'll need to search for stuff in order to show you guys.  That may take a while, so I'm not sure if I'll do this part or not.  If I do, it probably won't be for every ship.

I will probably do this for other fandoms in the future as well, but I'm just sticking with Avatar for the moment.  If you have any Avatar ships you want me to talk about, just let me know, and I'll add them to the list if they aren't already there.  Feel free to let me know of your favorite shipping related fanfic, fanart, or fan videos as well because I'll probably use it later.

As I said, some of these will be posted here on the blog, and some I'll make Youtube videos for.  I'm not sure how often I'll do these.  I think I'll do the first in a week or so.

I'll go ahead and tell you that I'm doing Zutara first.  (Yes, I am a die-hard Kataang shipper.  I randomly selected one and Zutara one out of all the ships on my list.  I'm still slightly bitter about it.)  So, let me know of any Zutara fan-made content you'd like me to mention.  And definitely throw out some couples I may not have thought about.  Even ships that seem strange since they could probably be even funner to talk about.

Edited:

I just thought of something fun.  Since I don't ship Zutara, getting a Zutara shippers point of view would be fun.  If you ship Zutara, and want to write something up, I could post it as part of the blog post or, if I make a video, read it in the video.  If you want to film a video, I could even edit that in.  I doubt anyone will take me up on the offer, but I thought it was a cool idea...

Completed Posts/Videos

Zutara (blog post)
Kataang (blog post)
Tokka (blog post)
Teoph (blog post)
Ty Lokka (blog post)
Sukka (blog post)
Yuokka (blog post)
Jinko (video)
Taang (video)
Maiko (video)

TV Shows I Watch Over and Over

I think everyone has those TV shows that they've seen every single episode of countless times.  When I was younger, I constantly had Nickelodeon or Disney on, and I'm sure I saw every episode of all of their shows a million times.  The shows that I watch over and over have changed a little over the years (I haven't watched one of my Barney tapes in quite a long time), but there are a lot of shows that I've grown up watching, and I still watch all of the time.

Friends.  My parents always watched Friends when it first aired, so I grew up watching it.  I had to watch it every single week, and I now own almost all of the seasons on DVD (my sister owns the ones I don't).  My whole family loves the show.  In fact, my brother and sister watch it even more often than I do.  Ji's currently borrowing half of the seasons, so we can't watch any of the later seasons at the moment.  It's worth it though because Ji hadn't seen Friends much before, and it's nice that she can watch all of the awesomeness.  I've heard every joke in every episode a million time, and I still find them insanely funny each time I watch them.

Avatar: The Last Airbender.  Avatar, of course, is my favorite TV show of all time.  I've been watching it since the first episode aired back when I was eleven.  (I remember watching the first two episodes for the first time and laughing at all of the jokes...)  I gathered all of the DVDs as they came out, and I rewatch the series all of the time.  I have several things I do when I feel sad: read Harry Potter, watch Friends, or watch Avatar.  Those are the things that never fail to make me happy.  Avatar's a great show, and the episodes never get old.

Little House on the Prairie.  Even though I've been reading the books since I was ten or so, it took me a bit longer to get into the TV series.  I think I started watching it a year or two after reading the books.  I rented some of the episodes, and then I started watching it on TVLand until they stopped showing re-runs, which made me really upset.  I also watched them on Hallmark for a while, but I think they quit showing them too  I'm in the process of collecting the DVDs, but there are some episodes I haven't seen in quite a long time, since I can't find a TV station that shows them anymore.  (It's been a while since I checked.  Maybe I should look for them again.)  I've been watching the seasons that I do have on DVD though.  I just love how happy this show is.  Even during the sad times there's a happiness there.  It's a somewhat cheesy show, but I love it.  (Although I do enjoy the books even more, and for anyone who doesn't know, the books and TV show aren't really alike at all.)

Rugrats.  This was one of the Nickelodeon shows that I watched over and over on TV as a kid, but I (or my family rather) also own tons of Rugrats tapes that I watched a million times.  (I think our Rugrats tape collection is second only to our Barney tape collection.)  I was so insanely happy when they started showing Rugrats on the 90's Are All That, and I've been recording and watching them all.  (I've been recording most of the shows on there.  It's like reliving my childhood.  Do you know how long it had been since I'd seen Hey Arnold?  It brings back so many memories.)  So recently I've seen a ton of Rugrats episodes that I'd basically forgotten about.  It's amazing.  The 90's Are All That is one of the best decisions Nickelodeon ever made.  It's amazing.  Occassionally I'd go on these nostalgic kicks were I look up old cartoons online.  Rugrats was always one of the first I'd search for.  Now I just have to go to my DVR!  (I was also a fan of All Grown Up.  I've never understood why so many people seemed to have hated it.)

I want to add Dawson's Creek to this list, but it wouldn't really fit since I haven't watched it in forever.  I used to watch reruns all the time, but they quit showing them.  (Why must all of the reruns of good shows end?)  Now I can't find reruns of it, and I don't own the DVDs (yet).  If I could I would watch it all of the time though.  I got really into watching the reruns back in middle school, but I never actually watched it when it aired.  I think I was a bit young for it then.

Avatar Leaks (The Promise and Korra)

If you're an Avatar: The Last Airbender fan, you're probably aware of all of the leaks going on recently.  For those who don't know, there are currently two exciting things in the works that are Avatar related:  a comic book called The Promise that is set right after the TV series ended and a new TV series set in the future.  Pages from the new comic books AND clips from the new TV show were leaked recently.

I have only seen some of what was leaked.  The first things to be leaked were a couple of pages from The Promise.  I looked at them because the curiousity overwhelmed me.  Now even more pages have been leaked, and I refuse to look at them.  I don't want to see the entire book before I even have the book!  From what I did see, it looks like I'm really going to enjoy the book.  I'm shocked by some of it, but that just means it will be an interesting story!

As for the Korra leaks, I've seen the opening and that's it.  I am going to talk about it a bit now, so if you don't want to know about it, don't read this.  First of all, we got to hear Tenzin's voice!  When he said "my father Avatar Aang" I freaked out.  I still haven't completely gotten over the fact that Aang and Katara have kids and we actually get to see at least one of them.  That was really the greatest part of the opening for me.  I love Aang and Katara so much.  I will be so dissapointed if Tenzin isn't an amazing character.  There's no way Aang and Katara could have an unawesome kid (who is no longer a kid).

I didn't watch whatever else was leaked of Korra.  (I don't know if it was one clip or multiple clips.)  I want to be able to watch the whole episode for the first time as one whole episode.  I don't want to see bits and pieces.  Plus, the quality of those clips probably aren't so great.  It'll be so much more satisfying to wait until the show airs.  Speaking of an airdate, I hope we get one soon!  These leaks have done nothing but make me want new Avatar stuff even more.  We know The Promise is coming in January.  (Mine's pre-ordered!)  Now we just need a Korra release date...

Book Review: Avatar The Last Airbender: The Lost Adventures

ISBN: 159582748X
Published:  July 27th, 2011
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Read from October 16th to November 11th, 2011
Synopsis from Goodreads:

One of America's hottest shows returns! For three years, millions of eager fans tuned in each week to watch Nickelodeon's hit animated series, Avatar: The Last Airbender. Ever since, fans have been hungry for more - and now their wait is finally over!



This volume collects the long-out-of-print, fan-favorite comics previously published in Nickelodeon Magazine and with the Airbender DVDs, plus over 70 brand-new comics pages. That's over 26 stories set in Airbender continuity, by a host of top-notch talent, many of whom worked on the original animated series itself.

My review:

Fangirling Over Korra Info

Last weekend was big for Avatar:  The Last Airbender fans.  We got so much new information about the new series, Korra, and I, for one, was absolutely freaking out.  People who follow me on Twitter had to put up with my constant retweeting of people who were there.  It's been a week, and thinking about all of the new information still makes me excited.  Fair warning:  This post is going to involve a lot of fangirling.

The show is going to be two seasons long!  Granted that's still not very long, but last I heard there was only one season planned.  If they wanted to go for a third season, that would be perfectly fine with me.  I wonder if the seasons will be called books like the last season.  Wouldn't it be cool if the first season was called Air?  From what I've heard, that's the only element Korra has to master, and we didn't get a Book 4:  Air in the last series.  I don't know what they'd call season two after that though.

Aang and Zuko founded the city, United Republic, where the show takes place!  I absolutely love the idea of them founding a city together for some reason.  It probably has something to do with my love of Zuko's friendships with all of the members of the Gaang.  That's one of my favorite parts of the second half of season three.

I love that they named one of the characters after Mako, Iroh's original voice actor who died before the first series was over.  Who doesn't want to have a cartoon character named after them?  I find it interesting that Korra will be traveling with two brothers especially since they seem to be very different.  That should make things interesting.

Animals!  The fire ferret, Paboo, sounds cute.  I can't wait to see what he looks like.  Naga, a female polar bear dog, also looks really cute.  I really love the fact that there are more sky bison and lemurs.  Too bad we have to wait until season two for them to be important.

Toph's daughter is chief of police!  I honestly wasn't expecting to see Toph's kids or anything.  It really makes me wonder who she married.  If we never find that out, it will bug me immensely.  I want some information on him!  I also love that Toph trained a bunch of metalbenders.

Of course I get excited over every little bit of Kataang news.  They had three kids!  I hope we get more information about them as well.  Plus, I definitely want to see Tenzin's kids.  They should be cute.  His oldest, Jinora, is apparently a bookworm.  I can see myself liking her.

Tenzin lives on Air Temple Island.  Does that not sound cool?  I can't help but wonder if they just named the island that or it's an island that an actual old Air Temple sits on.

That was the biggest of the news for me.  I can't wait for the new series (or at least an airdate)!  I'm so excited!

DVD Review: The Last Airbender

Rating: PG

Running time: 1 hour 43 minutes

Release date:  November 16th, 2010

Distributor:  Paramount Pictures

Directed by: M. Night Shamalan

Written by:  M. Night Shamalan

Synopsis from Rotten Tomatoes:

Based on the hugely successful Nickelodeon animated TV series, the live-action feature film is set in a world where human civilization is divided into four nations: Water, Earth, Air and Fire.

Review:

For those of you who don't know, I'm a huge fan of the Avatar: The Last Airbender TV series.  When I heard about it being made into a movie, I was excited but worried about how good it would be.  Before going to see the movie in theaters, I had extremely low expectations, and because of that, wasn't really dissapointed because I was expecting to hate it.

My biggest complaint about this movie is how they pronounce a bunch of names wrong.  It's not based on a book series where different people could read a name and pronounce it differently.  It's based on a TV series that clearly pronounces each name a certain way.  I don't know how you can mess that up, but somehow they managed to.  They even pronounced Avatar wrong.  It made me cringe throughout the whole movie.

Watching it for a second time, I noticed a few things I didn't notice when I watched it in theaters.  I actually like the movie a little more now.  Not that much more, but my hate has gone down a bit.  It could have been worse I guess.  I did think a few of the actors did a good job (I've been a Dev Patel fan ever since Slumdog Millionare.), but I think a lot of the characters could have been cast better.  For one thing, they could have been Asian.  I have an Asian friend who was extremely annoyed that so many white actors where cast when all of the cultures of the show are based on Asian cultures.

I did think the bending looked pretty cool although I didn't like the air bending too much.  I understand that they wanted the audience to see the air, but it just looked really fake to me.  I also thought Momo and Appa looked pretty cool.

One thing that only occured to me when watching it for a second time was the difference in the relationships between the characters.  I'm mainly talking about Katara and Aang (and Sokka and Aang too really).  In the show season one (which the movie is based on) covers several months, and by the end of the season, Katara and Sokka have become extremely close to Aang.  In the movie, it's implied that this movie has actually taken place over a whole year, but at the end of the movie it still feels like Aang has just met Katara and Sokka.  They get along and have become friends, but they don't really seem that close.  I guess the actors just didn't have good chemistry or something.

(This is the first time I've ever really ranted about everything I think is wrong with the movie other than a video I filmed right after seeing it the first time, but I missed a lot then.  I left out a few minor complaints in here, but I think I mentioned all of the major ones I had.  It actually feels pretty good.)

Special features:

Origins of the Avatar:  I think this was a nice interview with Mike and Bryan (the creators of the awesome show) for people who aren't Avatar fans, but many fans will already know everything they talk about.

Deleted scenes:  I always enjoy watching deleted scenes.  I can see why all of these were cut from the film, but I enjoyed watching them.

Outtakes:  I was greatly amused by the outtakes.  Most of it was pretty funny.  I noticed that a lot of people on the set liked to randomly start dancing, and everyone seemed to fall down a lot.

I kind of wish that I could have gotten the combined Blue-Ray/DVD, so I could have the extra special features (I love special features), but we don't own a Blue-Ray player.  Oh well, I didn't like the movie much anyway, and I don't care to buy a BLue-Ray player just so I can see some special features.