Korra discussion post: "The Spirit of Competition"

[loligo]

Spoilers through this episode to be expected in comments.

Also, KORRA!!!!!!

Comments

[sanguinity]

:: 1) A fictional sport. ::

Yah. I have far too many thoughts about that sport. Most of which revolve around it being three-person teams, and the conspicuous absence of the fourth player.

[arduinna]

This. The sport is a fascinating microcosm of just how out of balance the world still is, despite all Aang's work (and despite Pema's steady supply of new young airbenders *g*). And absolutely no one sees anything odd about trios instead of quartets; there's clearly no room for an airbender to join a team even if they wanted to. It's really unsettling.

I can see why pro bending would have been encouraged with this particular structure; it's a great way to get people focused on teams instead of nations, so everyone feels like one people. But man. Even beyond dividing the world into bender and non-bender, it is just cementing the notion that airbenders aren't part of the world, really.

[sanguinity]

Yeah. I keep having thoughts about what happens when there are enough airbenders that you could have pro-bending with airbenders. Or what happens when... Milo? Ikka? Jinora? who would be most likely? ...decide to take after Korra and really really really want to pro-bend.

Because I keep thinking that what happens then with the sport isn't going to be straightforward. Because by then, there's going to be the weight of tradition, both with respect to the airbending temple and from the sport's managers/promoters and fans. Multiple traditions, in multiple directions.

[staranise]

Since we first saw pro-bending, I've had this mental shiny-thought of what happens when Korra's good enough to request a demonstration match as an airbender.

[sanguinity]

Obvs, fic is required!

[staranise]

If I were an artist, I would be ALL OVER IT. I'd have to seriously rethink the idea to make it work with words.

[sanguinity]

It's early days. That fic is coming from someone, at some point, for sure.

Or at least I hope so. :-)