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Subject: "SOON: S5DSE02 Avatar Storytime"     Previous Topic | Next Topic
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Conferences Symphony of the Sword Topic #438
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Gryphonadmin
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Jun-28-14, 09:40 PM (EDT)
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"SOON: S5DSE02 Avatar Storytime"
 
   We're closing in on finishing up the other side story from Goodbye & Hello, which started life as an unfinished scene we cut for length and then couldn't bear to discard. Hopefully that'll be up tomorrow or Monday.

In the meantime, here is a tiny, tiny teaser.

        "Eh," said Garnet, unpersuaded.  "That's all very well, but I
can set stuff on fire -myself,- I don't need the -help- to be able to do
that," she said pragmatically. Then, with a wry little dragon grin, she
added, "I'd keep that one around to oil my scales, mind, but the short
one's clearly the more useful minion," and the room broke up in a laugh.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.


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  Subject     Author     Message Date     ID  
  RE: SOON: S5DSE02 Avatar Storytime Willard Jun-29-14 1
     RE: SOON: S5DSE02 Avatar Storytime Gryphonadmin Jun-29-14 2
         RE: SOON: S5DSE02 Avatar Storytime Willard Jun-29-14 4
             RE: SOON: S5DSE02 Avatar Storytime Droken Jun-30-14 5
                 RE: SOON: S5DSE02 Avatar Storytime Gryphonadmin Jun-30-14 6
  RE: SOON: S5DSE02 Avatar Storytime SpottedKitty Jun-29-14 3
  RE: SOON: S5DSE02 Avatar Storytime Willard Jun-30-14 7
     RE: SOON: S5DSE02 Avatar Storytime Gryphonadmin Jun-30-14 8
  RE: SOON: S5DSE02 Avatar Storytime Gryphonadmin Jul-01-14 9
     RE: SOON: S5DSE02 Avatar Storytime McFortner Jul-01-14 10
     RE: SOON: S5DSE02 Avatar Storytime Zemyla Jul-01-14 11
         RE: SOON: S5DSE02 Avatar Storytime Gryphonadmin Jul-01-14 12
     RE: SOON: S5DSE02 Avatar Storytime Bodhi Jul-01-14 13
         RE: SOON: S5DSE02 Avatar Storytime Gryphonadmin Jul-01-14 14
             RE: SOON: S5DSE02 Avatar Storytime Astynax Jul-02-14 15
             RE: SOON: S5DSE02 Avatar Storytime Bodhi Jul-02-14 16
             RE: SOON: S5DSE02 Avatar Storytime mdg1 Jul-02-14 19
             RE: SOON: S5DSE02 Avatar Storytime BobSchroeck Jul-02-14 20
             RE: SOON: S5DSE02 Avatar Storytime StClair Jul-02-14 21
     RE: SOON: S5DSE02 Avatar Storytime VoidRandom Jul-02-14 17
         RE: SOON: S5DSE02 Avatar Storytime pjmoyermoderator Jul-02-14 18

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Willard
Member since Jun-20-14
4 posts
Jun-29-14, 01:53 AM (EDT)
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1. "RE: SOON: S5DSE02 Avatar Storytime"
In response to message #0
 
   I am quite glad that Garnet isn't taking after her Mom. ;-)

But I admit that I may be doing Dread Matalde an injustice. She's cranky but we haven't seen her be, well, Nax's role model or something.


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Gryphonadmin
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Jun-29-14, 02:05 AM (EDT)
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2. "RE: SOON: S5DSE02 Avatar Storytime"
In response to message #1
 
   >I am quite glad that Garnet isn't taking after her Mom. ;-)
>
>But I admit that I may be doing Dread Matalde an injustice. She's
>cranky but we haven't seen her be, well, Nax's role model or
>something.

Matalde is a very ancient dragon - much older than Nax - and the ancients tend to get a bit strange, particularly if they spend most of their time in isolation. She dislikes company intensely (how she ever managed to mate even once is a question virtually everyone in Draconia has considered, but none of them has ever dared ask) and can be very territorial, but she isn't especially evil. She's even been known to protect the Jotun villages in the vicinity of Ortrûlcánd - not because she has any particular love for the Jotun, but because she sees it as a duty to be performed. It's her territory and she has a responsibility to look after it.

Beyond that, she has no interest in raiding or mayhem or any of the other petty amusements often indulged in by younger dragons. She knows she's powerful. She doesn't need to demonstrate it to herself by making lesser being suffer. In her eyes, that's more than a little bit pathetic.

(She's also almost completely uninterested in treasure, which is considered deeply weird among Westerns.)

In other words, they don't call Matalde the Terror of the Tindalos for nothing, but there is one distinct difference between her and the way Nax operated: Matalde is terrible when roused. Nax was just terrible.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.


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Willard
Member since Jun-20-14
4 posts
Jun-29-14, 08:59 PM (EDT)
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4. "RE: SOON: S5DSE02 Avatar Storytime"
In response to message #2
 
   Ok, I understand a little more about Matalde now. :-)

I seem to be a little racist against red dragons. Probably too much time playing D&D. :-)


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Droken
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Jun-30-14, 01:04 AM (EDT)
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5. "RE: SOON: S5DSE02 Avatar Storytime"
In response to message #4
 
   Perhaps a bit. But to be fair, I don't know that I've ever encountered a Red who wasn't all too happy to plot outlandish evil schemes and bite the heads off of anyone on little to no provocation.

On the other hand, I don't know that I've ever tangled with a Red quite so august and ancient as Matalde either...

-Droken

"Trust me, you don't really want
to know."


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Gryphonadmin
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Jun-30-14, 01:09 AM (EDT)
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6. "RE: SOON: S5DSE02 Avatar Storytime"
In response to message #5
 
   >Perhaps a bit. But to be fair, I don't know that I've ever encountered
>a Red who wasn't all too happy to plot outlandish evil schemes and
>bite the heads off of anyone on little to no provocation.
>
>On the other hand, I don't know that I've ever tangled with a Red
>quite so august and ancient as Matalde either...

N.B. UF's dragons are not constrained to alignments by color like in AD&D. There are stereotypes around them (coppers are brisk and efficient, greens are slovenly and conniving, reds are vengeful and greedy, blues are such friggin' slackers, oh my gods - but they are, well, as true as any other national or racial stereotype. The old AD&D "all reds are chaotic evil, etc." rules don't apply.

--G.
White dragons are aggressive and arrogant. Well, all dragons are stereotypically arrogant, but those guys, good grief.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.


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SpottedKitty
Member since Jun-15-04
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Jun-29-14, 10:40 AM (EDT)
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3. "RE: SOON: S5DSE02 Avatar Storytime"
In response to message #0
 
   You've done it again, I'm making that <squee> noise...

I'm really beginning to like Garnet as a character, too; looking forward to seeing how she fits in with the rest of the gang when they get back from Dìqiú.

--
Unable to save the day: File is read-only.


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Willard
Member since Jun-20-14
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Jun-30-14, 10:30 PM (EDT)
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7. "RE: SOON: S5DSE02 Avatar Storytime"
In response to message #0
 
   Story's up!

Sorry no deep deconstructions from me but I liked it. Helps give a deeper understanding of Dìqíu to those (like me) who haven't seen the source material, and also shows how it has changed from that source.

Also I think Ryo should spend some time in New Avalon or something, get away from his sister and
accomplish something on his own.


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Gryphonadmin
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Jun-30-14, 10:43 PM (EDT)
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8. "RE: SOON: S5DSE02 Avatar Storytime"
In response to message #7
 
   >Also I think Ryo should spend some time in New Avalon or something,
>get away from his sister and accomplish something on his own.

I'm not sure Ryo could function that far from his command signal transmitter. He might just shut down and await new instructions.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.


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Gryphonadmin
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Jul-01-14, 08:32 PM (EDT)
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9. "RE: SOON: S5DSE02 Avatar Storytime"
In response to message #0
 
   LAST EDITED ON Jul-01-14 AT 08:33 PM (EDT)
 
Well, shit, I guess you guys weren't exaggerating about how sick you are of Diqiu.

Gonna be a quiet goddam summer in here, then...

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.


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McFortner
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Jul-01-14, 09:36 PM (EDT)
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10. "RE: SOON: S5DSE02 Avatar Storytime"
In response to message #9
 
   I'm not tired of it, it's just that I have never watched Korra. I dropped my dish service just after AtLA ended and missed about half of that as it was. I haven't had the big desire to reacquire the TV habit. I watch a few old shows I like either on DVD or my computer, but a lot of what's new just doesn't interest me.

And while I could post, I'd probably go all fanboi on you and I'm trying hard not to do that. I limit my posts to what I'm sure isn't over the top and enjoy the ride. So don't take it personally, I'm just trying to annoy people.

Michael

p.s.: Toph rules. 'nuff said.

Michael C. Fortner, B.Sc.
"Maxim 37: There is no such thing as "overkill".
There is only "open fire" and "I need to reload".


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Zemyla
Member since Mar-26-08
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Jul-01-14, 09:59 PM (EDT)
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11. "RE: SOON: S5DSE02 Avatar Storytime"
In response to message #9
 
   It could just be that this was a SOON: thread, and people didn't immediately realize that it was also for posting impressions.

I'm kind of wanting to see more of Korra's trip to Yue. That sounds potentially amazing, though it leads me to wonder what happens if a spaceship flies too far from Diqiu.


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Gryphonadmin
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Jul-01-14, 10:17 PM (EDT)
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12. "RE: SOON: S5DSE02 Avatar Storytime"
In response to message #11
 
   >It could just be that this was a SOON: thread, and people didn't
>immediately realize that it was also for posting impressions.

It wasn't really, but that often happens nowadays, with teaser posts that happen very close to release. (And even if it wasn't, nobody's made one of those either, so... shrug.)

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.


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Bodhi
Member since Jan-19-09
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Jul-01-14, 10:57 PM (EDT)
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13. "RE: SOON: S5DSE02 Avatar Storytime"
In response to message #9
 
   LAST EDITED ON Jul-01-14 AT 11:06 PM (EDT)
 
>Well, shit, I guess you guys weren't exaggerating about how sick you
>are of Diqiu.
>
>Gonna be a quiet goddam summer in here, then...

Well, to be honest, there just isn't a lot to comment on. The story is well-written, but I think a lot of the RCW's were hoping for you to keep the momentum of An Avatar in New Avalon or something leading up to Taken by Storm. This one just didn't seem to move the plot, provide any depth to the story, or keep the aforementioned momentum.

I mean AAiNA was one long action sequence. Not one fight scene stacked on another, nicely written though the fight scene is, but action, movement, and the heretofore-only-alluded-to details of Corwin and Len being unleashed on an unsuspecting universe. And it was damn nice to see Kei "on-screen" again. And Kaitlyn, pre-badass samurai/rockstar, is just really awesome and cute. And Ragnar, I really like Ragnar and Garnet.

Compared against all that, parts of Avatar Storytime feel like filler. For the record, I cringe as I write that, and filler isn't always a bad thing. The sequence with Naga just didn't capture my interest, it reads well but it gives little to care about. It could have been half as long, say just start the flashback here:

"..."You did that on purpose!" she accused the dog."

Run with it just as you did, that conveys the upshot of the picture without drawing out the scene. The references are made, the joke carries well, and doesn't seem like an overly-drawn out scene.

Conversely, the reaction to the last picture (Corwin and Len two days old, Kate on Korra's lap, Nall being Nall) is just perfect. Korra mussing Corwin's hair as his ladies (and Minami, who'd like to be one, or vamps really well) tease him is great, as is his reaction.

"...Korra nodded. "Two days! We met the day Corwin was born," she
added, reaching over to muss the young god's hair. "... Man, that's
just addictive," she mused after a moment, then did it again.
"I know!" Utena said. "It's my favorite thing about him."
Corwin arched an eyebrow at her. "I dispute that assertion."
"Ha!" said Minami.
"ANYway," said Korra, "it's true, I met Gryph in New Avalon that
day - wanted to talk to him about the really loud noise we'd heard in
the Spirit World nine months before."
"Wonder what -that- could have been," said Minami mischievously.
Corwin coughed.
"


It's ultimately your story and we are fans. Hell, most of us think of you as a friend. As a fan, I won't bitch and moan that the part of the story you've chosen to share isn't the part I was waiting for. As a friend, I'm just happy you've kept writing the UF stories. It was just akin to being psyched-up for a bowl of mint ice cream and getting vanilla. In no way bad, but not what was expected.

-Bodhi


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Gryphonadmin
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Jul-01-14, 11:30 PM (EDT)
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14. "RE: SOON: S5DSE02 Avatar Storytime"
In response to message #13
 
   LAST EDITED ON Jul-01-14 AT 11:31 PM (EDT)
 
>This one just didn't seem to move
>the plot, provide any depth to the story, or keep the aforementioned
>momentum.

Hmmmm. I'll grant you the first and possibly the third, but that second one? If that's what you think, that's troubling, because I thought this whole thing was largely an exercise in what we used to call "deep background" in the journo biz. There are lots of little details in there about Korra and the great span of time that has led her to this gathering, and about the people and places that have shaped her life and are no longer around for her present-day "big universe" friends to have experienced directly. (And more than one allusion to the fact that in some cases, Corwin has anyway, which is leading somewhere over in the main DS story arc.)

>Compared against all that, parts of Avatar Storytime feel like
>filler.

Well, in that sense it is - it's an expanded version of a scene that wasn't, in itself, critical enough to leave in the main story. I therefore realize that it's not exactly one of the poles holding up the tent... but we've done stories like that before, collections of character moments and little background details, and I've never once seen nearly two whole days go by with no reaction at all. It was startling, and disheartening. And speaking of disheartening,

>The sequence with Naga just didn't capture my
>interest, it reads well but it gives little to care about.

This breaks my heart, because to me there's so much in there. It's a glimpse into a part of Korra's life that even the canon has all but completely ignored. It's the first moment at which she and Naga go from "girl with awesome pet" to "adventurer and faithful steed", which is an important moment in any paladin's career. Heck, it's the first time Korra ever managed to break out of South Pole State Penitentiary, even if she didn't really mean to and only made it about a hundred yards. :)

There's a lot going on there, is what I'm once again getting at, and it makes me sad that I conveyed that so poorly that it was easily overlooked. If I had started with Korra already on the ground, the entire background of it having been her first test ride, and the transcendent moments when she a) got into sync with Naga and b) experienced her first taste of proper liberation would've been omitted altogether, and, wow, that I didn't bring across how important those are? That's a serious fail for me. They're the whole point of the scene, not the How to Train Your Dragon 2 reference-slash-cuddly moment at the end (fond of that thought I am).

>Conversely, the reaction to the last picture (Corwin and Len two days
>old, Kate on Korra's lap, Nall being Nall) is just perfect. Korra
>mussing Corwin's hair as his ladies (and Minami, who'd like to be one,
>or vamps really well) tease him is great, as is his reaction.

Well, thank you. That, too, is one of my favorite moments, albeit even I acknowledge that it's not too hugely significant. (Well, Minami might disagree. :)

>It was just
>akin to being psyched-up for a bowl of mint ice cream and getting
>vanilla.

Ideally, it would have come out closer to Goodbye and Hello - it's set before Fire Hazards, even, within that movement - but the way things ended up shaking down, maintaining that sequence would have meant delaying Familiar Spirits until, well, now-ish, and that didn't seem ideal.

For the record, we are also working on Chapter 2 of Book 6 (The Great Ziggurat Zeppelin Raid of 2391) and the foundational materials for Taken by Storm - as well as another project that I'm not quite ready to tell you about yet, but which a number of people have been expressing an interest in. It's just that this is the order the bits happened to get finished in. It's a bit of a tying up of loose ends, and yes, in a sense it's extraneous, but at the same time, it's not complete fluff and even if it were, past precedent suggested that someone should have said something by now.

The Forum pop in general seems to be trending toward lurking lately, and that's every user's prerogative, but at the risk of coming off as a bit needy, I have to say, from the standpoint of the person handling the content, lurkers just aren't much fun. One tends to start feeling as if one has either displeased everyone, or there's nobody there in the first place. :)

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.


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Astynax
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Jul-02-14, 00:02 AM (EDT)
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15. "RE: SOON: S5DSE02 Avatar Storytime"
In response to message #14
 
   >
>The Forum pop in general seems to be trending toward lurking lately,
>and that's every user's prerogative, but at the risk of coming off as
>a bit needy, I have to say, from the standpoint of the person handling
>the content, lurkers just aren't much fun. One tends to start feeling
>as if one has either displeased everyone, or there's nobody there in
>the first place. :)
>
>--G.
>-><-
>Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
>Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
>zgryphon at that email service Google has
>Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

Been here for about as long as this place has had a forum, and likely to be here until the lights go out. So I can assure you personally, we're out here. For my part, I've always been deeply annoyed with literary deconstructionists (far too many classes involving "and what do the blue drapes symbolize in the scene where they are mentioned in passing only once?" I suspect.) So my posts would fall into either me-too-ism, or ex-rectum plot speculation (which I have given a trial run or three to in my own head, and been wrong sufficiently large number of times to learn that I have no talent in that regard.) So I mostly lurk until something really rouses me to put fingers to keyboard, but I read it all, and appreciate it as a good counterbalance to the "put our protagonists through all 9 layers of Hell twice" school of writing that seems so popular in entertainment these days (and I say this as a fan of Song of Ice and Fire, The Dresden Files, and even Torchwood, which are all fine entertainment, but ye gods something upbeat is necessary after that sort of thing to avoid opting for a shotgun mouthwash.)


-={(Astynax)}=-
"Authors these days seem to believe 'we always hurt the ones we love' is an immutable commandment."


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Bodhi
Member since Jan-19-09
18 posts
Jul-02-14, 01:04 AM (EDT)
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16. "RE: SOON: S5DSE02 Avatar Storytime"
In response to message #14
 
   >Hmmmm. I'll grant you the first and possibly the third, but that
>second one? If that's what you think, that's troubling, because I
>thought this whole thing was largely an exercise in what we
>used to call "deep background" in the journo biz. There are lots of
>little details in there about Korra and the great span of time that
>has led her to this gathering, and about the people and places that
>have shaped her life and are no longer around for her present-day "big
>universe" friends to have experienced directly. (And more than one
>allusion to the fact that in some cases, Corwin has anyway, which is
>leading somewhere over in the main DS story arc.)

Well, you have some idea of where you're going with it. I don't. And you're right, the "deep background" is important. I'm just not privy to the unpublished parts that provide more of the context to make it important.

>Well, in that sense it is - it's an expanded version of a scene that
>wasn't, in itself, critical enough to leave in the main story. I
>therefore realize that it's not exactly one of the poles holding up
>the tent... but we've done stories like that before, collections of
>character moments and little background details, and I've never once
>seen nearly two whole days go by with no reaction at all. It
>was startling, and disheartening. And speaking of disheartening,

>>The sequence with Naga just didn't capture my
>>interest, it reads well but it gives little to care about.
>
>This breaks my heart, because to me there's so much in there.
>It's a glimpse into a part of Korra's life that even the canon has all
>but completely ignored. It's the first moment at which she and Naga
>go from "girl with awesome pet" to "adventurer and faithful steed",
>which is an important moment in any paladin's career. Heck, it's the
>first time Korra ever managed to break out of South Pole State
>Penitentiary, even if she didn't really mean to and only made it about
>a hundred yards. :)

See, that's what I didn't get. I didn't feel like she was in a constrained to stay put in any manner, a guest in a minimum security Avatar-retention-and-training facility or that this was the first time Korra and Naga became "adventurer and faithful steed". I mean, yes, it did indicate this was a new, untested idea, but it didn't feel like a step on the Hero's Journey.

So I read it as a cute scene between a girl and her companion/pet/sidekick. My failing for not glarking the nuances.

>There's a lot going on there, is what I'm once again getting at, and
>it makes me sad that I conveyed that so poorly that it was easily
>overlooked. If I had started with Korra already on the ground, the
>entire background of it having been her first test ride, and the
>transcendent moments when she a) got into sync with Naga and b)
>experienced her first taste of proper liberation would've been omitted
>altogether, and, wow, that I didn't bring across how important those
>are? That's a serious fail for me. They're the whole point of the
>scene, not the How to Train Your Dragon 2
>reference-slash-cuddly moment at the end (fond of that thought I am).

Maybe if that scene had been it's own Mini-story it would have tracked better for me. As a standalone, you could've given it more fleshing out. Perhaps entitled something like Avatar Jailbreak or Korra's Test Ride. As it is, it just read as slightly awkwardly placed, to me. But, a writer I am not, so what the hell do I know?

>>Conversely, the reaction to the last picture (Corwin and Len two days
>>old, Kate on Korra's lap, Nall being Nall) is just perfect. Korra
>>mussing Corwin's hair as his ladies (and Minami, who'd like to be one,
>>or vamps really well) tease him is great, as is his reaction.
>
>Well, thank you. That, too, is one of my favorite moments, albeit
>even I acknowledge that it's not too hugely significant. (Well,
>Minami might disagree. :)

You're welcome. No, it isn't hugely significant, but it does give a scope to the length of the association that has been referenced before. It was directly referenced by Corwin earlier that part of her likely still thinks of him as the Great Sky Bison Hijacker, but that picture of a scene with him and his new-born brothers (Len and Nall) also reinforces that she has known him his entire life. Which isn't news. The picture and the groups reaction to it clarifies that she is more to Corwin (Kate, Nall...) than a friend, that she is shared genetics or not, family. That distinction wasn't entirely clear to me prior to the ice-dodging trial and Kate giving her a Duelist's ring.

Additionally, I just found the sense of easy friendship the scene evoked to be well considered.

>For the record, we are also working on Chapter 2 of Book 6
>(The Great Ziggurat Zeppelin Raid of 2391) and the foundational
>materials for Taken by Storm - as well as another project that
>I'm not quite ready to tell you about yet, but which a number of
>people have been expressing an interest in. It's just that this is
>the order the bits happened to get finished in. It's a bit of a tying
>up of loose ends, and yes, in a sense it's extraneous, but at the same
>time, it's not complete fluff and even if it were, past
>precedent suggested that someone should have said something by
>now.

You're right again, effort was spent and reaction was lacking. I can only speak for myself, but I just wasn't sure where this was going, what loose ends needed seeing to. As stated before, it seemed to stop the momentum built in the last several pieces. Later pieces will no doubt give this more context and meaning.

I'm not a writer, and critique of your efforts feels cheap when I cannot do half as well myself. The "those that cannot do, bitch at those that can" syndrome.

Your fans are definitely still out there, trust me on that.

-Bodhi


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mdg1
Member since Aug-25-04
1005 posts
Jul-02-14, 07:40 AM (EDT)
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19. "RE: SOON: S5DSE02 Avatar Storytime"
In response to message #14
 
   There's a simple reason you may not have considered, Ben:

It's hot, and people aren't inclined to be online as much. ;)

Mario


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BobSchroeck
Charter Member
2030 posts
Jul-02-14, 09:13 AM (EDT)
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20. "RE: SOON: S5DSE02 Avatar Storytime"
In response to message #14
 
   LAST EDITED ON Jul-02-14 AT 09:14 AM (EDT)
 
>The Forum pop in general seems to be trending toward lurking lately,
>and that's every user's prerogative, but at the risk of coming off as
>a bit needy, I have to say, from the standpoint of the person handling
>the content, lurkers just aren't much fun. One tends to start feeling
>as if one has either displeased everyone, or there's nobody there in
>the first place. :)

I'm sorry to have contributed to that impression, but I only got the chance to read Avatar Storytime yesterday afternoon, in between tasks at work, and after work I had entirely too much on my plate to even check the forums. I, too, suffer from insufficient canonical Korra exposure (though Peg and I shotgunned all three seasons of AtLA after seeing the live-action movie some years back, we never got our act together on watching TLOK), and this has no doubt contributed to my lack of things to say. I frankly did not have the context to understand what you were doing with the Naga scene, for instance. Overall, I found the story to be a pleasant respite in the midst of everything else happening at this time and, as you intended, a background-builder, but I would rather have a bit more to say than "I liked it".

-- Bob
-------------------
My race is pacifist and does not believe in war. We kill only out of personal spite.


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StClair
Charter Member
532 posts
Jul-02-14, 11:14 PM (EDT)
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21. "RE: SOON: S5DSE02 Avatar Storytime"
In response to message #14
 
   Still here, still reading and enjoying pretty much everything, the "slow" character development stuff as much as the "fast" action scenes. Even though, as has been the case several times before, I have only a by-fandom-osmosis knowledge of about half the source material. :)

... it's been just about 25 years, hasn't it? And yes, you've improved considerably with practice - though the old stuff is still fun to read sometimes, too. Not unlike classic Trek or Who, even though the sets are cardboard and the FX are cheap. ;)


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VoidRandom
Member since Dec-9-02
55 posts
Jul-02-14, 02:47 AM (EDT)
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17. "RE: SOON: S5DSE02 Avatar Storytime"
In response to message #9
 
   >Well, shit, I guess you guys weren't exaggerating about how sick you
>are of Diqiu.

I am not sick of Diqiu. I am a touch confused and am gradually working my way out of the confusion.

The confusion is mostly because I have not watched TLoK (and only 1/2 an episode of AtLA) and to appreciate much of the admirable salvage work you are doing really needs one to have watched the show(s). All of the background I have is what is in these here forums and various wiki sites as I google for stuff I need to know. To use an example from a different part of the thread of how background can affect the interpretation, try reading the "escape from the avatar prison" while suppressing the knowledge that that is what it actually was...or read it assuming that that description was a teenage exaggeration.

This was much less of a problem with the RGU material in SotS, the NGE material in NXE, or even the Azula storyline in SotS. I wish I could tell you why, I'm thinking on it some more.
(Dammit Jim, I'm a hacker not a literary critic!)

I'm pretty certain I don't want to actually watch TLoK. Your attitudes towards the show are well established. Merc is more positive if provincial, but even when he's supporting the show he doesn't make it sound like something I want to watch. Even Phil, who is the closest thing to a serious fanboy of the show that we seem to have here, doesn't make it sound that appealing.

-VR
Three Cheers! For the St. Spyridon Sanctuary for Battered and Neglected Characters! Hip Hip Hooray! Hip Hip Hooray! Hip Hip Hooray!
"They copied all they could follow, but they couldn't copy my mind,
And I left 'em sweating and stealing a year and a half behind."


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pjmoyermoderator
Charter Member
1294 posts
Jul-02-14, 07:26 AM (EDT)
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18. "RE: SOON: S5DSE02 Avatar Storytime"
In response to message #17
 
   >I'm pretty certain I don't want to actually watch TLoK. Your attitudes
>towards the show are well established. Merc is more positive if
>provincial, but even when he's supporting the show he doesn't make it
>sound like something I want to watch. Even Phil, who is the closest
>thing to a serious fanboy of the show that we seem to have here,
>doesn't make it sound that appealing.

I am, indeed the serious fanboy here, and a lot of my positivity for the show comes from the fact that I read a lot of blogs that go deep into the whys and wherefores about what happens in Korra, which causes me to rethink my position on a lot of things and see them in new lights. http://ikkinthekitsune.tumblr.com/ is probably one of the best for that. (in fact http://ikkinthekitsune.tumblr.com/post/90542802769/im-trying-to-establish-an-overview-of-korras is a three-step summary of just what Korra's learned/learning over the three Books!)

I am not here to force anybody to watch the show, but I do get a LOT of enjoyment from it (as do a lot of other people), so maybe it's just not other's cup of jasmine tea.

--- Philip
"If you look for the light, you will often find it, but if you look for the dark, that is all you'll ever see." -- wise words for any situation, courtesy of Uncle Iroh.






Philip J. Moyer
Contributing Writer, Editor and Artist (and Moderator) -- Eyrie Productions, Unlimited
CEO of MTS, High Poobah Of Artwork, and High Priest Of the Church Of Aerianne -- Magnetic Terrapin Studios
"Insert Pithy Comment Here"
Fandoms -- Fanart -- Fan Meta Discussions


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