Forsan et haec olim scripsisse iuvabit.

In weather news: it's still hot here. Really hot. Like two successive days in the triple digits with dewpoints above 70 hot. Bleah. This is not the time for the new pastor at my church to decide we don't need to move services out of the 1880s vintage church (with accompanying lack of air conditioning) into the 1970s vintage hall for the summer. He may be in touch with his inner camel, but the rest of us aren't so lucky.

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Just doing a signal boost on this one:

Nickelodeon, the number one producer of television animation in the world, has greenlit a new series from the creators of the hit animated TV show Avatar: The Last Airbender, it was announced today by Brown Johnson, President, Animation, Nickelodeon and MTVN Kids and Family Group. The new series The Legend of Korra (working title), from creators Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, will premiere on Nickelodeon in 2011, continuing the evolution of the animated franchise and its mythology ...

"Mike and Bryan have imagined a compelling new story inspired by the Airbender mythology that they so brilliantly crafted when the TV series began," Johnson said. "This new avatar is not only a girl, but also hot-headed, independent and ready to take on the world."

The Legend of Korra takes place 70 years after the events of Avatar: The Last Airbender and follows the adventures of the Avatar after Aang – a passionate, rebellious, and fearless teenaged girl from the Southern Water Tribe named Korra. With three of the four elements under her belt (Earth, Water, and Fire), Korra seeks to master the final element, Air. Her quest leads her to the epicenter of the modern "Avatar" world, Republic City – a metropolis that is fueled by steampunk technology. It is a virtual melting pot where benders and non-benders from all nations live and thrive. However, Korra discovers that Republic City is plagued by crime as well as a growing anti-bending revolution that threatens to rip it apart. Under the tutelage of Aang’s son, Tenzin, Korra begins her airbending training while dealing with the dangers at large.

Full press release here. Spunky female lead? Steampunk? Aang's son? Whee! (I can hear the wailing and grinding of teeth from certain sectors of the fandom already over that last one, alas.) But c'mon, Bryke -- "Republic City"? You've got to be able to do better than that. I expect great things of you, gentlemen!

My copy of Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Art of the Animated Series arrived last week and it's lovely: big, glossy, and filled with character models, background paintings, key poses, storyboards, and random sketches. (And an overhead shot of the entire Fire Nation capital, which is going to be much consulted if I ever get up the gumption to attempt my "Aang and Zuko search for Ursa" novel.) Apart the fascinating "How we came up with this idea" section at the front end, it's light on commentary, which I find somewhat disappointing; then again, if artists expressed themselves in words, they'd be writers, not artists. (And the DVD commentaries probably cover most of what they'd have said, anyway, except maybe for insights such as: "After storyboarding the epic airship sequence, Joaquim Dos Santos said he never wanted to draw another pointy-tipped airship again.") My favorite part is the one on calligraphy, which translates some of the wanted posters and other signage, such as Aang's advertisement:

Have you seen my flying bison? His name is Appa. He has six legs and weighs ten tons. If you have any information, please contact Avatar Aang in the Upper Ring, 96th district, house #217.

Recommended for all fans of the series who want to delve a little more deeply into its construction -- and specifically to my fellow fanficcers, as a hugely useful visual reference tome.

Breaking news from the (racefail-bedeviled) set of M. Night Shyamalan's Last Airbender remake:

Potential spoiler alert: Cliff Curtis [playing Ozai] said he's ready to make two more films in the Last Airbender series, so that probably means Fire Lord Ozai won't be vanquished in the end of the first film.

Shocked, shocked I am that room is being left for a sequel if the first movie is successful. This could be the beginning of [gasp!] a FRANCHISE.

Curtis's comments on his costuming are more interesting: ""Outstanding, the most beautiful costume I've ever had in my career actually. It's sort of like a cross between Roman and kind of Greek, [a] gold, Roman and Greek military/samurai military. It's really, really beautiful." I'm going to be charitable and assume he doesn't know much about the pre-modern clothing styles, not that the production team can't do a thing without using a western culture as its primary reference point. Oh, wait ...

This morning I wrote and posted my letter about being irked by the whitewashing of The Last Airbender live-action film. It's hard to be pithy when ranting, but I did my best:

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I'm not normally given to writing letters to the editor (or, in this case, the producer), but every once in a while I do. It's not much, but at least it's something. I suppose the trick now is to try to explain my annoyance to my godchildren, big Avatar fans, in terms they can understand. It's never too early to teach people what's right.

EDIT: Oh, snap. Turns out that Mark Bakshi is no longer at Paramount. Must find some way to let aang_aint_white know about this ...

Title: The Core of the Matter
Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Character(s): Katara and Toph
Pairing(s): Canon 'ships in the background
Rating: PG
Word Count: ~2200
Warnings: Set post-series.
A/N: Happy New Year to all in observance of same! May it bring you health, wealth, and lots of goodfic. I'm sure somebody must have had this piece's animating idea before, but since I haven't seen it done yet myself, I did it. Concrit welcomed with an invitation to a highly exclusive little Twelfth Night gathering. Crossposted from nebroadwe to avatar_fans and avatarfic.
Dedication: For artemisrae, with all best wishes for a better year than last.

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( One of the best things about peace, Katara had decided, was the parties ... )

Title: Full Constant Light: A Story in Drabbles
Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Character(s): Ursa and Ozai, with appearances by Iroh, Lu Ten, Zuko, Azula and others
Pairing(s): Ursa/Ozai
Rating: PG-13 (for implied conjugal relations, obstetrical detail, and one ribald joke)
Word Count: 1800 (excluding epigraphs)
Warnings: None, as long as you've seen through "The Day of Black Sun."
A/N: This had the working title of "Ursa's Life Story in Drabbles," which may have encouraged it to grow larger than originally planned. I drafted the bulk of it over Thanksgiving, during which time I discovered how difficult it is to write even implied conjugal relations with a parent sitting on the sofa three feet away. Thank goodness I was riding a largely empty bus when Lu Ten decided to get witty. Concrit welcomed with a "Get out of exile free!" card. Crossposted from nebroadwe to avatar_fans and avatarfic.
Dedication: For juxtaposie, as a bribe to keep prodding artemisrae forward on her Evil Aang 'Fic of Doom. :-)

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( The sages say that the world, which began in water, will end in fire ... )

I stumbled across an Avatar/ST:E crossover today, which was sadly uninspiring ... except to make me think that someone needs to write an Avatar/ST:TOS crossover in which Sokka meets Spock --

      "So, you're saying that we could take out the Fire Lord with a well-aimed whatchamacallit -- phaser -- set on stun?"
      "That would be the logical course of action."
      "'Logical.' You hear that, Katara? Logic. Man, I LOVE this guy!"

-- someone other than me. I've got enough plotbunnies. I could never write Spock properly. Forget I even mentioned it.

Title: Crossing at a Ford
Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Character(s): Sokka and Piandao
Pairing(s): None
Rating: G
Word Count: ~1200
Warnings: Set post-series; contains spoilers for the finale.
A/N: Sokka became one of my favorite characters over the course of this series, so I'm no end pleased to have a chance to show him in action. (I'm less certain I've captured Piandao, though. Concrit welcomed with or without a slice of lemon.) Crossposted from nebroadwe to avatar_fans and avatarfic; my home Internet is behaving oddly at the moment, so I apologize in advance for any delay in responding to comments.
Dedication: For Lucy and Noël, because someday they will be my best beta readers.

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( Like a lot of Sokka's really good ideas, this one wasn't working out in practice the same way it had in his head ... )

Title: Ficlet: More Than Words Can Wield
Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Character(s): Katara
Pairing(s): Katara/Aang
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 500
Warnings: Set post-series, but since I haven't seen the finale, I'm only guessing about who survives it.
A/N: If I shipped any pairing in this fandom it would be Iroh/jasmine tea, but when an older (twenty-something?) Aang popped up in my imagination to tell Katara that she was his first love, I found myself wondering what she would say to that, given their history. Crossposted from nebroadwe to avatar_fans, aangxkatara and avatarfic.
Dedication: For artemisrae, who helped prod me into this fandom and is now another year older. Many happy returns!

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From her wild hair he teases one dark tress
And loops it up beside her seal-brown cheek,
And, smiling, "You were my first love," he says,
And kisses her, and waits for her to speak --
-- but she never knows how to answer him when he trots that one out. ( Read more... )