happy crying about korra day
There are a lot of stories that have actively influenced my life. There are two that have influenced my life in such a powerful way that I can't actually separate them and my experiences with them, from who I am as a person, from so many important things that have happened to me. The first is Lord of the Rings, aka The Less Said About It The Better, the second is Avatar: The Last Airbender.
They both came along at what were big turning points in my life, which I didn't recognize until later. And maybe part of their importance comes from that. LOTR, with its traumatic and emotionally intense fandom experiences, broke me a little of my ability to love a story as much as I once loved it. I kind of fandom-hopped for years, but I never committed to anything in quite that same way. I never got excited about anything in quite that same way.
The thing about those turning points is - stuff comes around when you need it to, on occasion. There is such a thing as perfect timing. You have to be in the right place, and the right mood, and the right situation, to let something into your heart like that. And I realize this sounds like I'm talking about relationships but you know, I kind of am.
I wasn't actually "in Avatar fandom" for that long, or with the level of intense participation a lot of people had, which is something people are always surprised to hear? I put off watching it for a long time and finally over I think winter break my freshman year of college, I marathoned books 1 and 2. The first episode I watched that was newish was Western Air Temple, which I saw maybe a month after it was leaked. The hiatus was actually good for me, it gave me a chance to find my bearings and catch up.
Something happened. I don't really know what. It was the best year I had in school, in terms of grades and friends and wanting to be there and doing okay. I started to write fic again, regularly. It wasn't good fic, but it must have been at least okay, because that is how I met
peripeteia, and by extension, almost everyone on the internet who is currently important to me.
Things got worse. But Avatar was this wonderful, sustaining, important thing that was a source of just pure joy for me, and still is. It sparked my actually thinking about writing seriously, and thinking about narrative seriously, and frankly being a more positive, engaged, better person. These fictional animated children are my heroes the way real people are my heroes. It gave me so much of what makes me life worthwhile and important.
I know Korra is never going to be Avatar. It is a different show, and a different thing. My expectations are in fact totally realistic. But oh my god, I am SO FUCKING EXCITED. I am excited to be this excited! It is still this world, that I love so much, and so no matter what it will be important to me too. And I remember thinking in the period after the finale, how much I just wanted more, and was more ever really going to happen? That was FOUR YEARS AGO. I can't believe this is a thing that is happening and I am going to watch in a couple of hours?!
I am really glad it is a thing that is happening now.
This entry was originally posted at http://aquamirage.dreamwidth.org/4313.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
They both came along at what were big turning points in my life, which I didn't recognize until later. And maybe part of their importance comes from that. LOTR, with its traumatic and emotionally intense fandom experiences, broke me a little of my ability to love a story as much as I once loved it. I kind of fandom-hopped for years, but I never committed to anything in quite that same way. I never got excited about anything in quite that same way.
The thing about those turning points is - stuff comes around when you need it to, on occasion. There is such a thing as perfect timing. You have to be in the right place, and the right mood, and the right situation, to let something into your heart like that. And I realize this sounds like I'm talking about relationships but you know, I kind of am.
I wasn't actually "in Avatar fandom" for that long, or with the level of intense participation a lot of people had, which is something people are always surprised to hear? I put off watching it for a long time and finally over I think winter break my freshman year of college, I marathoned books 1 and 2. The first episode I watched that was newish was Western Air Temple, which I saw maybe a month after it was leaked. The hiatus was actually good for me, it gave me a chance to find my bearings and catch up.
Something happened. I don't really know what. It was the best year I had in school, in terms of grades and friends and wanting to be there and doing okay. I started to write fic again, regularly. It wasn't good fic, but it must have been at least okay, because that is how I met
peripeteia, and by extension, almost everyone on the internet who is currently important to me.
Things got worse. But Avatar was this wonderful, sustaining, important thing that was a source of just pure joy for me, and still is. It sparked my actually thinking about writing seriously, and thinking about narrative seriously, and frankly being a more positive, engaged, better person. These fictional animated children are my heroes the way real people are my heroes. It gave me so much of what makes me life worthwhile and important.
I know Korra is never going to be Avatar. It is a different show, and a different thing. My expectations are in fact totally realistic. But oh my god, I am SO FUCKING EXCITED. I am excited to be this excited! It is still this world, that I love so much, and so no matter what it will be important to me too. And I remember thinking in the period after the finale, how much I just wanted more, and was more ever really going to happen? That was FOUR YEARS AGO. I can't believe this is a thing that is happening and I am going to watch in a couple of hours?!
I am really glad it is a thing that is happening now.
This entry was originally posted at http://aquamirage.dreamwidth.org/4313.html. Please comment there using OpenID.