A finale I can approve of and enjoy. Everyone got to shine with many excellent fights, their epilogues are nice and fun, and it all had a good pace. Really appreciate the changes to the OP and closing credits throughout.
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It was the least I could do for this show. It deserves its own Sozin's Comet.
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I know we still have the continuation movies and the production notes in one more update, but this was such a beautiful send off to LOK and Avatar as a whole. Korra's struggling with having to confront her former friend Kuvira and her conservations with Kyoshi were my personal favorite highlights here, although they were lots of other great moments here such as the original Team Avatar getting back together. glad that Korra got to pull Kuvira back to the light-side at the end. It’s bittersweet to see Team Avatar having to go their separate ways after this adventure, but they’ll be back eventually. You definitely weren’t kidding about this season having more shipping than the last season. Happy to see Korra and Assami getting to share more definitively romantic moments here, although I didn't mind the more subtle direction the relationship took in OTL.
Also that recap episode was as hilarious and awesome as the one for ATLA, especially how the characters reacted to it. Poor Unaloq, Varrick didn't have to put him down like that. Funny to see the other characters be embraced and how inaccurately the movie gets things, way better than that movie that must not be named that's for sure.
Izumi's arc is great and I love how it serves as a thematic bookend on the bender/non bender conflict that's been in the series since Book 1, but I must say Gura was great as a foil to Izumi and a delightfully hateable secondary antagonist. It was fun seeing Izumi kicking his ass, such a glorious insult at his and Ozai's bender supremacism.
Also that recap episode was as hilarious and awesome as the one for ATLA, especially how the characters reacted to it. Poor Unaloq, Varrick didn't have to put him down like that. Funny to see the other characters be embraced and how inaccurately the movie gets things, way better than that movie that must not be named that's for sure.
Izumi's arc is great and I love how it serves as a thematic bookend on the bender/non bender conflict that's been in the series since Book 1, but I must say Gura was great as a foil to Izumi and a delightfully hateable secondary antagonist. It was fun seeing Izumi kicking his ass, such a glorious insult at his and Ozai's bender supremacism.
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I also didn't mind what we got, as Bryke did the best they could with what they were given. But I just liked imagining what things would be like if there were no budget cuts or studio interference, and things escalated from there into this. This was my favorite season to write because of the sheer number of plots, themes, and callbacks I worked with and how I wanted to resolve everyone's arcs. The Korra/Kuvira dynamic is the centerpiece of this season if not the whole series as it's been there for four seasons and everything built up to this, so I wanted both of them to get closure on that. The fights might not be choreographic masterpieces, but the emphasis is on the emotion of two former friends forced to fight because of the different paths they walk. Kind of like in Fire Emblem Three Houses
You're mistaken.Also that recap episode was as hilarious and awesome as the one for ATLA, especially how the characters reacted to it. Poor Unaloq, Varrick didn't have to put him down like that. Funny to see the other characters be embraced and how inaccurately the movie gets things, way better than the movie that must not be named that's for sure.
That aside, it was a blast writing that recap. Varrick's recap was the best part about the OTL recap episode, and I went in with the idea to both build on that and write something that can at least approach Ember Island Players. So the end result is this monstrosity of a propaganda movie where Bolin saves the day and Varrick is awesome
Izumi basically became my favorite character while I wrote Book 6, for her backstory, her motivations, her family, and her arc. While it would be very easy to make her a firebender, I realized making her a non-bender would both tie in to ATLA (and her choices of weapons would reflect on her parents) and advance the plot of this series from the very beginning (I seriously maintain that was Izumi in the courtroom during Yakone's trial in OTL). I wasn't totally sold on the idea of having Bumi and Izumi be a couple, but I realized them being the only two non-benders of the Gaang's kids and the oldest of them would probably draw them together eventually. Add in some tension and I got Bumi's character arc as well along with Iroh's and Ta Min's. As I said in the update, I was dismayed when the themes of Book 1 quickly disappeared because I was really interested in that when I first watched the show, so integrating Izumi into the bender/non-bender conflict worked perfectly when bookending the series in her fight with Guan, showing non-benders and benders are, well, equal. And the image of a middle-aged woman in Fire Lord robes whirling around with two swords to defeat a veteran metalbender is too good to pass up. Non-bender Izumi has basically become my headcanon for the real show. Hopefully we'll see more of OTL Izumi now that the Avatar franchise is back and new content is on the way.
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Legend of Korra - Production, Reception, and Legacy
(Spoilers for everything and most comics.)
(Spoilers for everything and most comics.)
Team Avatar/the Krew breakdowns
Korra - Korra is the series' 17-year-old "headstrong and rebellious" protagonist, and Aang's reincarnation as the Avatar. Her transformation "from brash warrior to a spiritual being" is a principal theme of the series. The character was inspired by Bryan Konietzko's "pretty tough" sister and by female mixed martial arts fighters. While her fighting style still uses traditional eastern martial arts forms as in the first series, with a focus on waterbending and firebending, Korra incorporates MMA styles as well. The element she uses the most in fights reflects her personality and its evolution over the series. In Book 1, she relies mainly on firebending. Starting in Book 2 and continuing after she regains her other elements, she prioritizes airbending.
Asami - Asami Sato is the only non-bender of Team Avatar. She is the only daughter of the wealthy industrialist Hiroshi Sato, who is later found to be aiding the Red Lanterns. After learning this, she turns on her father and uses his technology against him. Throughout the series, she balances out her lack of bending with creative applications of technology, her vast financial resources, and quick thinking. Her main weapon is a Red Lantern electrical shock glove she took from Hiroshi and improved on, but she can fight with anything she gets her hands on, including her own hands, and learns to chi-block from Yue, Kanna, and Sakari.
Mako - Mako is a firebender described as "dark and brooding" as a result of his upbringing on the streets after his parents were killed. The character was named after Mako Iwamatsu, the original voice actor for Uncle Iroh in The Last Airbender. Although he is initially introduced as a brooding teenager, Mako is at heart a caring and devoted friend willing to do whatever it takes to protect those he loves. His romance with Princess Ta Min gave his later character arc direction, allowing him to explore his Fire Nation roots as well as show how much he has grown since his breakup with Asami. He was originally supposed to be Korra’s romantic interest, but Bryke decided against including a love triangle in the original four team members and in favor of having Asami be her romantic interest. Traces of this still remain with Korra having some unrequited feelings for Mako which she never acts on out of respect for Asami, who replaces him in her mind shortly afterward. Mako is a lightningbender who has traded the power of his lightning strikes for speed and efficiency.
Bolin - Mako’s younger brother Bolin is an earthbender described as lighthearted and humorous, similar to Sokka’s role in The Last Airbender. Once a pro-bending athlete, he became a movie star to stir up public opinion against Amon. His decision to join Kuvira’s army in the first half of Book 5 forced him into conflict with Mako and Opal and made him question his loyalties. Throughout the series, he struggles with his own identity, having relied much on Mako during their time on the street and not knowing what to do with his life until the end of Book 6, where he finally finds his own path. Bolin has a pet fire ferret named Pabu who befriends Korra’s polar bear dog Naga. His fighting style, especially his use of lavabending, is a mix of MMA, pro-bending, and firebending styles.
Naga and Pabu
Iroh - Voiced by Dante Basco (Zuko’s voice actor in The Last Airbender), Prince Iroh is the son of Fire Lord Izumi and Bumi and grandson of Zuko, Mai, Aang, and Katara. He first appears as a stoic general in the United Forces arriving to liberate Cranefish City with his aide Hua. Originally not planned to be a regular cast member after Book 2, due to Mako already being the firebender for Team Avatar, Iroh proved so popular with fans he was kept on the main cast. His later arcs focus on his relationships with Hua and Bumi and his constantly challenged beliefs on the future of the Fire Nation monarchy. Usually prim and proper in most settings and a very competent leader during battles, he is awkward and flustered when it comes to romance. Although both of his parents are non-benders, he is a powerful firebender who can “jet-step,” or fly with firebending, although he can't lightningbend.
Hua - Although she would be the third firebender on Team Avatar after Iroh and Mako, Bryke realized they could not justify separating Hua from Iroh if Iroh was to stay on the team, so she stayed as well. To differentiate her from the other two firebenders (both with a meta connection to Zuko), she was designed more as the “brains” to the “brawn” of Iroh and “heart” of Mako. While she can’t jet-step like Iroh can or lightningbend like Mako, her firebending is more precise and efficient, and she can process large amounts of information and remember things Iroh can’t. Starting in Book 4, she began questioning her continued status as Iroh’s aide, which drives their relationship in a new direction and ultimately leading to their romance. Their romance intentionally mirrors Bumi and Izumi’s romance as well as Mako and Ta Min’s. Parts of Hua’s backstory and personality are based on the Chinese folk heroine Mulan.
Kanna - Like Iroh and Hua, the first airbender on Team Avatar wasn’t supposed to be on the team at first. However, fans liked the character of Yue, Sokka and Suki’s daughter, very much and asked to learn more about her family, leading to Kanna’s creation as Yue's daughter and the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors. She was named after Katara and Sokka’s grandmother. Bryke wanted to explore the idea of modern Kyoshi Warriors expanding beyond non-benders to include benders of all elements, with Kanna as an airbending warrior. Her battling style takes inspiration from Avatar Kyoshi, who used fans to make up for her weaker than usual airbending, and from Yue’s waterbending style, which incorporates earthbending and Suki's fighting style. Towards the end of the series, Kanna focused on incorporating airbending into not only her use of fans but also her new sword, which she forged with Asami’s help to fight at close range. While Asami gets what the team needs and Hua analyzes information, Kanna is the tactician, making plans during fights and improvising tactics. Her final outfit is a modernized version of the traditional Kyoshi Warrior outfit, emphasizing mobility and stealth. She was originally named Sakari when first created, but her name was later changed to Kanna and Sakari reused for her sister. She inherits Sokka’s cleverness and sword prowess and Suki’s leadership skills and fans. Sakari inherits Sokka’s humor and boomerang and Yue’s waterbending.
Opal - The final member of Team Avatar is the daughter of Suyin and granddaughter of Toph. Originally a non-bender, Opal manifested airbending after Harmonic Convergence. She initially appears to be a quiet but upbeat girl still adjusting to her new abilities, but she soon grows confident with her airbending and embraces the ideals of the Air Nomads, although her desire to protect her family comes first. Opal shares her spot on the team with Jinora or Kai depending on the episode.
Recurring character breakdowns
Tenzin - Tenzin is Aang’s youngest child and initially only airbending son. Although he inherited Aang’s complexion, culture, and airbending, he inherited Katara’s temperament. His family includes his wife Pema and their airbending children Jinora, Ikki, Meelo, and Rohan. Jinora, the oldest child, is sometimes considered a member of Team Avatar alongside her boyfriend Kai for her spiritual connection and airbending talent. Ikki is a fast talker who inherited Aang’s fun nature, while Meelo inherited Aang’s hyperactivity. Rohan was born at the end of Book 1 and barely figures in the rest of the series since he is too young, but he has also demonstrated airbending abilities. Contrary to most older mentor figures in television, Tenzin isn’t perfect, being impatient, dogmatic, and obsessed with being exactly like Aang, to his own detriment. Interacting with Korra means both of them can learn from each other and improve themselves, and slowly Tenxin develops his own identity and becomes more wise.
Kya - As Aang and Katara’s second child, Kya inherited waterbending from her mother and trained as a healer before traveling the world to find herself. She initially harbored a grudge against Tenzin for being favored by Aang as an airbender, but she learned to let go of it. She is one of the first to notice Korra and Asami’s growing attraction in Book 6, having been in similar situations in the past. She gets along well with her cousin Yue as they are both waterbenders.
Bumi - Bumi is Aang and Katara’s oldest child and initially a nonbender. In his youth, he and then-Princess Izumi fell in love and married, but when Izumi became Fire Lord, Bumi distanced himself from her, not wanting his legacy to be solely based on Izumi’s, and fully embraced his career in the United Forces. This led to a rift between Bumi and Izumi and their children, Iroh and Ta Min. Over the course of the series, as Bumi became an airbender and bonded with Iroh during the Red Lantern uprising and later against Zaheer and Kuvira, he gradually mended his relationship with his family and realized he could still build his own legacy alongside Izumi.
Yue - Yue is the daughter of Sokka and Suki, who married after the Hundred Year War. The two spent their time evenly between Cranefish City, where Sokka served as a councilman, and Kyoshi Island, where Suki continued leading the Kyoshi Warriors. Named after Sokka’s first and ill-fated love, Yue was born in Cranefish City and spent much of her childhood both learning to waterbend and training as a Kyoshi Warrior like her mother. Several years after Yakone’s trial and defeat, Sokka retired from the council to become chief of the Southern Water Tribe. He was killed and Suki severely injured while defending Korra during the Red Lotus’ attack, the memory of which haunts Yue in the background in Books 1-2 and at the forefront in Books 3-4. In Book 1, Yue sits on the Cranefish City council, representing the Earth Kingdom despite being a waterbender since Kyoshi Island is part of the Earth Kingdom. In Book 3, Yue returns to Kyoshi Island to retire from politics, only to be dragged back to duty when the Red Lotus escapes and her daughter manifests airbending. Her fighting style is best described as a hybrid of Southern Water Tribe-style waterbending and earthbending forms with the traditional non-bending techniques of the Kyoshi Warriors, such as chi blocking as introduced by Ty Lee. Kanna attempts to replicate the way Yue integrates her fans into waterbending with her own airbending. Yue’s outfit is a casual Kyoshi Islander dress. She no longer wears a full Kyoshi Warrior uniform but keeps her fans, inherited from Suki, and her father’s boomerang attached to her belt, later giving her fans to Kanna and boomerang to Sakari. Her arc over the course of the series is learning to separate from her parents‘ legacies and overcoming her fears of failing those around her.
Lin and Suyin Beifong - Lin is the eldest daughter of Toph Beifong, founder of the Cranefish City Police Department and mentor of its first metalbenders, and the current chief of police. Unlike her rebellious sister Suyin, Lin tried to emulate her mother, going so far as to follow her into the police department. Her metalbending style, copied from Toph, focuses on manipulating steel cables fired from gauntlets on her wrists to ensnare targets or grapple up cliffs. She was once in a romantic relationship with Tenzin, but they broke up when Tenzin wanted children to carry on his airbending legacy while Lin wanted to focus on her job. After being exiled from Cranefish City, Suyin traveled the world until marrying and founding Zaofu, which she built into a modern and progressive city. While Lin resorts to conventional earthbending when angry, Suyin keeps her calm in fights and focuses on metalbending. Instead of using cables and a conventional earthbending style like Lin, she focuses on mobility and agility, incorporating techniques from the other elements, and makes use of any metal around her to suit her needs. Lin’s arc sees her opening up from her initially cold and gruff demeanor, while Suyin learns, mostly from seeing how Kuvira took her mindset to the extreme, how she shouldn’t always seek to take control of everything.
Raiko Morishita - Raiko Morishita starts out as the mayor of Yu Dao, the oldest of the Commonwealth’s cities and Cranefish City’s sister city. Yu Dao was the first city to be turned into a Fire Nation colony during the Hundred Year War, and a hundred years of colonialism led to the mingling of Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom cultures and peoples, leading to the birth of Kori Morishita, the earthbending daughter of Yu Dao’s mayor and a loyal Fire Nation citizen. Kori convinced Fire Lord Zuko to oppose a plan to repatriate Fire Nation colonists and give the land back to the Earth Kingdom, but when that threatened to start a war, she worked with Avatar Aang to come up with a compromise, in which the colonies would gain independence as their own country, the Commonwealth. Kori became a member of Cranefish City’s council and was remembered as a founding hero of the nation. In the series, her son Raiko constantly fears not living up to her legacy, especially when Amon threatened to overrun the Commonwealth and Kuvira invaded and conquered it three years later. Originally a meek mayor worried about his ability to defend his city, he gradually gained the strength to lead his people, ultimately reclaiming Cranefish City. He was democratically elected as the country’s first chancellor, and he spent his time in office working to rebuild the Commonwealth and forge it into the nation of equals his mother envisioned it as.
Varrick and Zhu Li - Varrick is introduced as a shady Water Tribe businessman in Book 2, where he sells weapons to both the Red Lanterns and United Forces and masterminds the seizure of Future Industries from Asami. While he is outwardly expressive and buffoonish, this is usually a mask for his actual calm and calculating nature, making it hard to figure out his real motives. He returns in Book 3 as Suyin’s head of research before joining Kuvira in restoring order to Ba Sing Se and later the Earth Kingdom. Gradually, his unethical mindset is broken down as he realizes he doesn’t want to create weapons of mass destruction. His one-sided relationship with Zhu Li also breaks down when she grows tired of being overworked and not respected as an equal, forcing Varrick to reflect and become a better person.
Ta Min - Princess Ta Min was named after Avatar Roku’s wife and is the youngest child of Fire Lord Izumi and Bumi. Like both of her parents, she is a non-bender. A quiet and reserved girl frustrated with the realities of court life, she took up writing to pass the time. However, Izumi did not believe she should pursue that hobby as a royal family member. When she arrived in Cranefish City, she and Mako quickly bonded with each other, as Mako encouraged her hobby and appreciated her as Ta Min, not as a princess. After a lengthy courtship and a few near-death experiences for Mako, they entered into a relationship, and Mako made sure to avoid the mistakes he made with Asami. Izumi ultimately accepted Ta Min’s calling as well as Mako as her boyfriend.
Kiyi at a younger age
Kiyi - Introduced in The Search, one of the sequel movies to The Last Airbender, Kiyi is Zuko’s younger sister. At the age of eight, she discovered she was an unnaturally powerful firebender, which she honed over the years. By the time of Korra, she has become one of the Fire Nation’s greatest firebenders, able to bend pure white fire (and is implied to have learned a few things from Azula). She starts the series as Korra’s firebending teacher at the South Pole. Throughout the series, she provides advice and wisdom to Korra as well as airships and other methods of transportation. Her relationship with Zuko remains wholesome into their elderly years, and Zuko is happy to have a sister who isn’t constantly trying to kill him.
Izumi - Izumi was born as the only daughter to Fire Lord Zuko and Mai. Not wanting to end up like his father, Zuko did not care she was a non-bender like her mother. Izumi was raised with love and care from both of her parents as well as a strong sense of honor and justice from Zuko. To make up for her lack of firebending, Zuko taught her how to fight with two broadswords, while Mai taught her how to throw knives. As a young adult, she studied to be a lawyer and was the prosecutor at Yakone’s trial. She fell in love with and married Bumi, Aang’s son, but they had a falling out when Bumi wanted to forge his own legacy, effectively abandoning her and their children. After Zuko abdicated and retired, Izumi spent her reign as Fire Lord atoning for the Fire Nation’s imperialist history and transforming the country into one of peace. During the time of the series, Izumi focused on anti-monarchical sentiments on the rise in the Fire Nation, spurred on by first Amon and later Zaheer. She did her best to modernize the monarchy, like setting up a Legislative Yuan to which people could elect representatives, and during Kuvira’s invasions of the United Commonwealth and the Fire Nation she bravely fought alongside her troops as much as she could, not caring she was a non-bender and her swords were outmatched by modern weaponry. This earned her more respect from her people, especially non-benders who saw her as their champion, temporarily weakening the republican movements, but she would have a long road ahead of her. Izumi's character arc ties into and extends Books 1-2's themes of non-bender/bender inequalities and takes it to its logical conclusion, especially in her rivalry with Guan. Her final victory over Guan proves non-benders aren't inferior to benders and should in fact be treated as equals.
Tonraq and Unalaq- Korra’s father is currently the chief of the Southern Water Tribe, having been elected to the position after Sokka’s death, but he grew up at the North Pole. In his youth, he accidentally destroyed a sacred spirit forest while pursuing bandits, which led to his exile from the Northern Water Tribe. His fighting style focuses on close combat, where he waterbends icicle gauntlets around his hands. Tonraq’s brother and Unalaq is the current chief of the Northern Water Tribe. He hadn't spoken with Tonraq for years until they reunited to deal with the Red Lotus. He is more tradition-minded and spiritual than Tonraq, complaining about the decline of spirituality around the world and the secularization of many Water Tribe holidays, especially at the South Pole (first explored in The Last Airbender movie North and South). Sometimes, hints of jealousy over Tonraq being the Avatar’s father become apparent. But when his family is in danger, Unalaq doesn’t hesitate to help out. Eventually, he and Tonraq work out their differences to defeat the Red Lotus, and Unalaq offers to teach Korra more about the spirits. While Tonraq favors close combat, Unalaq favors attacking from far away, summoning water tendrils to strike enemies at a distance. Unalaq looks very obviously evil to give audiences the idea he may be a villain, but him actually being good (albeit morally gray) would be a pleasant surprise.
Production
The art design of Cranefish City was inspired by the 1920s and incorporates influences from Chinese cities, particularly Hongzhou in Fusang, during that time period. Elements of film noir and steampunk also influenced the city's art concept. The design for the metalbending police force is based on 1920s Hongzhou police uniforms crossed with Japanese samurai armor. As in The Last Airbender, the series adds to its Asian aesthetic by presenting all text that appears in its fictional world in fully accurate and untranslated Chinese. The Chinese dub was meticulously worked on, with many classical and modern Chinese language experts from different regions—the various regions of mainland China, Siberia, Mongolia, Manchuria, Tibet, Southeast Asia, Vietnam, Penglai, Fusang—consulted to make sure the spoken Chinese in the series was completely accurate and authentic. Depending on backgrounds and places of origin, characters speak with different dialects. Hou-Ting speaks in the Classical Chinese characteristic of the Ming imperial court, while Mako and Bolin speak in a fast Hongzhou pidgin Chinese, Asami speaks in a more refined modern Mandarin, Iroh speaks in a mix of the Jinshan dialect and the Classical Chinese of the Jin imperial court, and Korra speaks with archaic phrases and terminology due to being isolated from society for most of her childhood. The written Chinese remained unchanged from the original dub, so Chinese viewers could easily read easter eggs and hints to future plot points, such as Raiko, Kuvira, and the Fire Ferrets’ pro-bending opponents appearing in newspaper articles before they were officially introduced.
Kuvira appears in a newspaper shortly before being introduced. If readable, the Chinese is grammatically correct and makes sense in-universe.
The fighting styles employed by characters in The Last Airbender were derived from different distinct styles of Chinese martial arts. Set 70 years later, the fighting style in the multicultural Cranefish City has modernized and blended, most notably in the unique hybrid techniques used by Yue and her daughters, with the creators incorporating three primary styles: traditional Chinese martial arts, mixed martial arts, and tricking. The pro-bending sport introduced in the series was inspired by mixed martial arts (MMA) tournaments. Chinese martial arts instructor Sifu Kisu consulted on Avatar: The Last Airbender, and returned as a consultant for the fight scenes in The Legend of Korra.
The Legend of Korra was co-created and produced by The Last Airbender creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino (“Bryke”). To illustrate the length of the production process and the overlap of the various phases, Konietzko wrote in July 2013 their team was already developing the storyboards for the first episode of Book 4 while the last episodes of Book 2 were not yet done. Bryke wrote every episode of Book 1 to gain their footing. Starting in Book 2, more writers were brought in so they could focus on design and worldbuilding. Many writers, animators, and composers from the previous series were brought back, although Aaron Ehasz, the lead writer on the original series, was unavailable as he was busy with other projects, such as his own animated series, The Dragon Princess, later on.
The symbol of the Red Lanterns, the Chinese character 平 (Píng) for equality or levelness
The first book features two adversaries for Korra, the Red Lanterns’ masked leader Amon, who has the power to take bending away, and the politician Tarrlok, who resorts to increasingly repressive methods against the Red Lanterns. In Book 2, Hiroshi Sato is present as a minor antagonist for his role in helping Amon, while Tarrlok loses his bending and is briefly replaced by Vaatu, the spirit of chaos who attempts to use Harmonic Convergence to break free and corrupt the spirits of the world into doing his bidding. Amon’s imagery, ideology, and end goal are loosely based on real world equalist movements in the same era, with his focus on enforcing equality between a non-bending proletariat and the bending establishment, although it is a disservice to call Amon an equalist since there is no redistribution of wealth or workers owning the means of production involved. Tarrlok is more based on a stereotypical slimy politician, while Hiroshi is portrayed as a sympathetic antagonist who wants to avenge his late wife, though at the cost of severing ties with his daughter. Vaatu's design and background are based on Taoist ideas of balanced light and dark, instead of the Christian idea of a decisive final battle between good and evil. Vaatu cannot be fully seen as evil, while Raava cannot be fully seen as good. They balance each other out and cannot exist without the other. Whichever of them wins in Harmonic Convergence will only be victorious until the next Harmonic Convergence, in which the loser will reincarnate inside the winner and gain power to restart the cycle.
The symbol of the Red Lotus (a red lotus). The red and black associated with the symbol (black is white here because of the image I got) are intentionally opposite to the blue and white of the White Lotus.
The Red Lotus members are anarchists, and their worldview and goals are based on that real world ideology. Zaheer was created out of Bryke’s desires for an airbending villain, and his anarchism resulted from taking the ideals of airbending, as air is the element of freedom, to their logical extreme. The armless waterbender Ming-Hua, like many other disabled characters in both this series and the previous one, uses her disability to her advantage and bends water as an extension of herself, making her extremely dangerous. The lavabender Ghazan uses a unique earthbending style which draws on both firebending, in the lava created, and waterbending, in how the lava is moved. P’li is the second combustion bender in the series, after another one appeared as an assassin in The Last Airbender.
The symbol of the Earth Empire, based on the coat of arms of Zaofu.
Kuvira was introduced in Book 3 as Suyin’s adopted daughter and the head of Zaofu’s guards. She is a gifted metalbender and initially impulsive and hotheaded like Korra once was. She befriends Korra in Book 3 and accompanies the team through multiple episodes until Korra heads off in pursuit of Aiwei. As a result, she was promoted as a new member of Team Avatar, and many fans considered her a team member at this point. When Earth Queen Hou-Ting is assassinated and Ba Sing Se descends into chaos, Kuvira, inspired by Korra, rebels against Suyin and sets out with a large portion of Zaofu’s garrison to restore order. Over the next three years, she builds up an army to restore order to the Earth Kingdom. She is initially motivated by a genuine desire to protect her fellow Earth Kingdom citizens from anarchy, sympathizing with them due to her upbringing. However, she is slowly corrupted with power and establishes the authoritarian and fascistic Earth Empire, culminating in the establishment of concentration camps for non-Earth Kingdom citizens, the revanchist invasions of the United Commonwealth and Fire Nation, research into weapons of mass destruction, and a belief in the superiority of metalbenders due to the technology they have developed. After being defeated by Korra in Cranefish City, she realizes how much suffering she caused and turns herself in to face her punishment. Instead of relying on the very obvious and expected Angeloi fascism parallels, Bryke took heavy inspiration from 19th and 20th century Chinese history in designing Kuvira’s character and the Earth Kingdom’s evolution. “The empire, long divided, must unite” is a phrase first found in Romance of the Three Kingdoms and later adopted as a rallying cry for Chinese unification movements in the 1800s. The period of anarchy following Hou-Ting's death mirrors many eras of warlord rule and civil war in Chinese history. Kuvira herself is based on Wang Jingwei and Chiang Kai-shek, the architects of China’s nationalist military dictatorship from the 1940s to the 1980s. As with the Dai Li, who were named after Wang Jingwei’s feared secret police chief, the concentration camps and brainwashing are based on the laogai system Wang’s dictatorship created. Although the spirit weapons can be seen as analogues to nuclear weapons and the first spirit weapon is more based on an Angeloi artillery gun, there are hints of Unit 731 in how the weapons were tested. The ideology of metalbending technocratic supremacy, although not at the forefront of the series or even a core part of Kuvira’s character (expressed mostly in Guan), is directly based on Chinese Sinocentrism. Kuvira’s desire to conquer the United Commonwealth, seen as an illegitimate splinter state, is based on the post-1868 Chinese government and military junta’s claim of Roman Indochina being rightful Chinese territory. Her invasion of the Fire Nation in revenge for past atrocities is also based on the pre-junta Chinese democratic government and military junta’s animosity and hostility towards the Romans. The idea to make Kuvira the final villain, built up over Books 3-6, stemmed from Bryke’s desire to have an earthbending/metalbending villain (continuing the series’ trend of villains coming from every element except firebending), a “traitorous” member of Team Avatar viewers could initially still sympathize with (Asami was originally supposed to be a Red Lantern traitor, but Bryke liked her too much and kept her a hero), and a reflection of Korra’s hotheaded and impulsive self at the beginning of the series, symbolizing her growth as a person.
Following the success of The Last Airbender’s first two sequel animated movies, production of the series was announced on July 22, 2010. It was originally due for release in October 2011. However, the premiere was eventually delayed to April 14, 2012. Korean animation studio Studio Mir, created by animators who worked on the previous series, was involved in the pre-production, storyboarding and animation of the series, which allowed the studio more creative input on directing the martial arts scenes that the series and its predecessor are known for. The Legend of Korra was produced mainly as traditional animation, with most frames drawn on paper in Korea by animators at Studio Mir and scanned for digital processing. Each episode comprises about 15,000 drawings. The series makes occasional use of computer-generated imagery for complex scenes or objects, most noticeably in the animations of the pro-bending arena or the mechas and other machinery of the later seasons.
While The Legend of Korra was produced in the Reich and therefore not a work of Chinese animation ("donghua") in the strictest sense, The Escapist magazine argued the series is so strongly influenced by donghua it would otherwise easily be classified as such. Its protagonists, its themes, and the quality of its voice acting as well as the visual style are similar to those of leading donghua series such as Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. A notable difference from such series is the absence of lengthy opening and ending sequences set to Cantopop songs; The Legend of Korra's openings and endings are done similarly to The Last Airbender’s, with Tenzin narrating the show’s premise over demonstrations of bending and shots of certain locations while the endings are just the credits set to traditional Chinese-style music against a scene of Cranefish City in the background. The series mostly abstains from using the visual tropes characteristic of donghua, but does occasionally use exaggerated facial expressions for comic effect (like a scene where Ikki tells Mako Korra likes Asami, causing Korra to mentally scream).
Ikki: "Mako, did you know Korra likes Asami?"
According to animation director Yoo Jae-myung, the network was initially reluctant to approve the series and suspended production because, according to Konietzko, conventional wisdom had it that "girls will watch shows about boys, but boys won't watch shows about girls". The creators eventually persuaded the executives to change their mind. Konietzko related in test screenings, boys said Korra being a girl did not matter to them. Concerning the development of the much-discussed final scene of Korra and Asami kissing, Konietzko explained at first he and DiMartino worried they could not show the kiss due to network interference, despite the buildup they had been working on since at least the end of Book 1 with Korra desperately airbending because Asami was in danger (as well as other LGBT representation like Sakari’s one-sided attraction to Hua and Kya and Kyoshi’s sexual orientations). But as they gradually finished Book 6, they approached the network and found they were supportive. The kiss was intentionally animated to mirror the final scene of The Last Airbender.
Music
The Legend of Korra is set to music by Jeremy Zuckerman, who also wrote the music for The Last Airbender. Bryke's concept for the score was to blend traditional Chinese music with early 1920s jazz. On that basis, Zuckerman composed a score combining elements of jazz, traditional Chinese music, and western orchestration. It is performed mainly by a string sextet and various Chinese solo instruments, including a dizi (flute), paigu (drums), a guqin, an erhu and a Mongolian matouqin. Zuckerman cited the music of Bear McCreary, specifically his use of mainly non-Western instruments in the Warstar Galactica and Tianlong remakes’ soundtracks, as major inspirations alongside his own work from the previous series.
Soundtrack CDs were published for every season. Music from Legend of Korra and The Last Airbender was also played in concert at the PlayFest festival in Málaga in September 2014. The series' soundtrack was nominated as best TV soundtrack for the 2013 GoldSpirit Awards.
Release
The first season aired in high definition on Saturday mornings starting April 14, 2012. The next five seasons’ releases proceeded mostly as planned, although the Sentinel scandal’s implication of many network executives led to the series temporarily going on hiatus on a particularly important cliffhanger near the end of Book 4 in November 2015. Starting with Book 5, episodes were also streamed online in addition to being broadcast on TV. In 2017, the Penglai Film Classification Board banned The Legend of Korra (as well as The Last Airbender), from being broadcast in Penglai. The reason was the series “glorified homosexual behavior” and negatively portrayed Chinese culture. All episodes of the series have also been released through digital download services and on DVD. The DVD releases contain extra features such as audio commentary from the creators, cast and crew for some episodes, extra interviews, and “Avatar Extras” for episodes like seen in certain reruns of The Last Airbender.
Reception
The series premiere averaged 4.5 million viewers, ranking it as basic cable's number-one kids' show and top animated program for the week with total viewers. The Legend of Korra also ranked as the network's most-watched animated series premiere in three years.
The series received critical acclaim for its production values, writing quality, challenging themes, and transgression of the conventions of youth entertainment at the time. On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the show has a rating of 93% rating. Reviewers wrote the "visually striking" series is "full of little tricks and nuances that only true fans will notice and savor, but nothing prevents civilians from enjoying it as well." Some highlighted the second season's loose, handheld-style cinematography – challenging for an animated series – and the "weird, wonderful", wildly animated fight against Vaatu, although the Vaatu arc felt like a fantastical distraction from the more grounded Amon plot and the 20-episode seasons felt too long in both Books 2 and 4. Book 3 was described as "easily the show's most consistent season to date, delivering complex themes, excellent storylines and unmatched production values." Some characterized it as a "truly magnificent season of television, delivering loads of character development, world building, socio-political commentary, and heart-racing action, all presented with beautifully smooth animation and impeccable voice acting." The fourth season was also hailed in much the same way, although like Book 2 it felt like it dragged on for too long, while others praised the fifth season for willing to discuss Korra’s trauma in a respectful manner (a first for televised depictions of mental disorders) and the sixth season for the culmination of Korra and Kuvira’s character arcs and Izumi and Guan’s rivalry being the culmination of the bender vs non-bender conflict first looked at in Book 1. The setting’s unique fusion of 1920s eastern and western elements was noted as "beautiful and innovative."
Scott Thill hailed The Legend of Korra as "the smartest cartoon on TV," able to address adults' spiritual and sociopolitical concerns while presenting an "alternately riveting and hilarious ride packed with fantasy naturalism, steampunk grandeur, kinetic conflicts, sci-fi weaponry and self-aware comedy." Julie Beck characterized the series as "some of the highest quality fantasy of our time", appreciating it for combining nuanced social commentary with Avatar: The Last Airbender's "warmth, whimsy, and self-referential wit". Brian Lowry felt the series "represents a bit more ambitious storytelling for older kids, and perhaps a few adults with the geek gene."
Covering the third season, Thill described Korra as one of the toughest, most complex female characters on TV, despite being in a cartoon, and considered that the "surreal, lovely sequel" to The Last Airbender "lastingly and accessibly critiques power, gender, extinction, spirit and more — all wrapped up in a kinetic 'toon as lyrical and expansive as anything dreamt up by Hayao Miyazaki or Georg Lukas". David Levesley recommended the series to those looking for "beautifully shot and well-written fantasy on television" after the end of A Symphony of Frost and Flame's most recent season, noting that in both series "the fantastical and the outlandish are carefully balanced with human relationships and political intrigue".
Several reviewers noted the sociopolitical issues that, unusually for an animated series on a children's channel, run through The Legend of Korra. According to Forbes, by telling "some of the darkest, most mature stories" ever animated, The Legend of Korra has created a new genre, "the world's first animated television drama". Thill proposed the Red Lanterns' cause in the first season reflected the then-recent appearance of the Occupy movement. DiMartino responded although the series was written before the Occupy movement began, he agreed the show similarly depicted "a large group of people who felt powerless up against a relatively small group of people in power." Beck wrote The Legend of Korra used bending to illustrate "the growing pains of a modernizing world seeing the rise of technology and capitalism, and taking halting, jerky steps toward self-governance", while portraying no side of the conflict as entirely flawless. Alyssa Rosenberg praised the show for examining issues of class in an urban setting, and a guest post in her column argued that the struggle between Korra and Amon reflected some of the ideas of John Rawls' "luck egalitarianism", praising the series for tackling moral issues of inequality and redistribution.
Mike Hoffman noted how the series respected its younger viewers by explicitly showing but also giving emotional weight to the death of major characters, including "some of the most brutal and sudden deaths in children's television" in the cases of Tarrlok, Amon, Hou-Ting, and P'Li. By portraying Korra's opponents not as purely evil villains (like Ozai was), but as human beings with understandable motivations corrupted by an excess of zeal, the series trusted in viewers to be able to "resolve the dissonance between understanding someone's view and disagreeing with their methods". And, Hoffman wrote, by showing Korra to suffer from "full-on depression" and post-traumatic stress at the end of the fourth season, and devoting much of the fifth to her physical and mental recovery, the series helped normalize mental health issues, a theme generally unaddressed in children's television, which made them less oppressive and stigmatized for viewers.
Summing up the final season, Joanna Robinson described it as "the most subversive television event of the year", noting how much of the season and series pushed the boundaries of what is nominally children's television by "breaking racial, sexual, and political ground": It featured a dark-skinned female lead character as well as a bevy of diverse female characters of all ages, focused on challenging issues such as weapons of mass destruction, the legacy of imperialism, the balance between tradition and modernity, PTSD and fascism, and was infused with an eastern spirituality based on tenets like balance and mindfulness. Levesley also highlighted the "many examples of well-written women, predominantly of color" in the series (particularly the five women in Korra’s group). Oliver Sava noted the series had "consistently delivered captivating female figures"; he considered it to be first and foremost about women, and about how they relate to each other "as friends, family, and rivals in romance and politics".
According to Robinson, the series' portrayal of Korra and Asami’s romance (“Korrasami”), culminating in their kiss in the finale, "changed the face of TV" by going further than any other work of children's television in depicting same-sex relationships – an assessment shared by many other reviewers. Hoffman felt Korra and Asami's romance was not intended as particularly subversive but as something the writers trusted younger viewers, now often familiar with same-sex relationships, to be mature enough to understand. Megan Farokhmanesh wrote by portraying Korra and Asami as bisexual, the series even avoided the error of assuming sexual orientation, as many other TV series did, to be a strict divide between gay and straight. Janet Varney called her role as the voice of Korra "the most profound and meaningful part of my career" on account of the impact the ending had on LGBT fans. Many fans have compared Korra and Asami’s relationship to that of Alyssa and Cassie in the video game Fire Emblem: The Exalt’s Duty, which was released during Book 5 of Legend of Korra. Coincidentally, Alyssa and Cassie share the same voice actors as Korra and Asami.
Fandom
Like its predecessor series, The Legend of Korra has a broad fandom, including on social media and at fan conventions. Most fans are young adults, but many are children and teenagers. Few series "boast as vocal a fan base as The Legend of Korra", including such popular live action series as As Symphony of Frost and Flame. In 2017, after the series ended, the media reported on a fan petition to have Netflix produce a third series in the Avatar universe garnering more than a hundred thousand signatures (ultimately leading to such a third series).
Legacy
As with The Last Airbender, The Legend of Korra is continued in an animated movie series overseen by Bryke. The first few are discussed below.
Road Trip - The first movie takes place immediately following the series finale and focuses on Korra and Asami’s vacation and romance. The two travel around the world, visiting new and familiar locations and helping people out. The movie also offers an in-depth look at the status of same-sex relationships in the different nations and gives more backstory for Kya, a lesbian. Raiko taps Zhu Li to be his running mate in his re-election campaign after his previous vice chancellor destroyed his career by collaborating with Kuvira. His opponent Tokuga, a Commonwealth nationalist calling for harsh reparations against the Earth Kingdom for its role in Kuvira’s rise, hires Varrick to run his campaign. Tenzin and his family lead the Air Nomads across the Commonwealth and Earth Kingdom to deliver food and supplies to people displaced by Kuvira. Lin fights against resurgent triads and Red Lantern factions taking advantage of the devastation of the city and which may have ties to Tokuga.
Kuvira before a war crimes tribunal
Legacy of the Uniter - Soon after the election campaign, Wu begins planning his kingdom’s first democratic elections, but some Earth Empire remnants, having transitioned into peaceful political parties, declare their intention to participate in the election. Wu and Yue try to keep the elections orderly and the Earth Empire supporters marginalized without being seen as meddling in the political process. Kanna visits her mother in Ba Sing Se and finds herself investigating a conspiracy by Guan’s supporters to free him and kill Wu. A failed attempt on his life causes him to experience a nightmare in which Hou-Ting calls him weak and cowardly for delegating responsibilities to the people instead of ruling. This leads him to doubt if he is doing the right thing and begins backpedaling. While trying to convince him to continue his reforms, Kanna fails to notice very obvious signs Wu has genuine feelings for her. Bataar II is transferred to house arrest in Zaofu to be tried before the war crimes tribunal, where Kuvira testifies against him and Guan. At Korra’s request, Kuvira is temporarily released to help Kanna stop Guan. Suyin and Opal reflect on their family, wondering how Kuvira and Bataar II ended up like this. Everyone tries to convince Toph to run for office in Gaoling against a popular Earth Empire general who has become the face of the movement, but Toph is disgusted by politics and refuses to meet and reconcile with Kanto. Wu asks Korra to talk to Avatar Szeto, who was a highly successful bureaucrat in the Fire Nation, for help writing a constitution. Seeking help demobilizing her army and deradicalizing her followers, Kuvira reaches out to a certain Earth Empire general who was once her greatest opponent, successfully fighting against her campaigns for over a year before he was defeated and offered a spot in her inner circle for his talents.
Family Ties - Bolin goes to the Fire Nation to help Mako rebuild the country after Guan’s invasion as well as meet their family on their mother’s side. Iroh and Hua return from their wedding honeymoon and adjust to court life, although Hua can’t pick up on royal etiquette. Mako and Ta Min’s relationship hits a hurdle when she develops writer’s block on a particularly important book which will benefit the reconstruction effort. Bumi and Izumi work on their own relationship while dealing with the cutthroat world of Fire Nation democracy, discrimination against non-benders, and lingering republican and nationalist sentiments. Zuko muses on the irony of Kiyi’s granddaughter, Noriko, becoming an airbender after Harmonic Convergence when his ancestors were responsible for wiping out the airbenders. After learning how Korra met Uncle Iroh in the spirit world, he tries meditating into the spirit world to meet him. When he finally does, he appears to Uncle Iroh as he did at the end of The Last Airbender. Asami bonds with Noriko over their love for engineering and gets in touch with her Fire Nation roots.
The original Cranefish Town in Yangchen's time, before its destruction
Jinora the Airbending Master - This relatively self-contained movie is focused mainly on Jinora as she works with her family and Kai to refurbish the Eastern Air Temple for the airbenders to live in. While digging through the temple ruins, she uncovers ancient relics dating back thousands of years, as well as old chambers and passages not on Aang’s or Tenzin’s maps, teaching her much about the Air Nomads’ history. Korra learns more of the life of Avatar Yangchen and her connection to the land Cranefish City was built on.
The occupation of the South and the bombing of the Southern Water Tribe Cultural Center
Civil Wars - Unalaq is overthrown by hardline traditionalists, angry at him for not intervening to restore the South’s spirituality and relaxing some strict cultural laws. Simultaneously, Northern Water Tribe fleets loyal to the hardliners attack the South and occupy it while Tonraq’s fleet is busy elsewhere, intending to place it under the North’s direct control. Korra is forced to go home to save her parents and negotiate a settlement between the two tribes. But decades of animosity between the North and South can’t be resolved easily, so she consults Avatar Kuruk for guidance. In exile, Unalaq finally has a heart to heart talk with his brother, reflecting on their relationship since Tonraq’s exile and talking about what the tribes need to do to remain relevant into the modern era. Yue returns to Sokka and Suki’s old house for the first time since Sokka died. Katara falls ill from complications due to fighting at Yu Dao, and Kya is tied up healing her. Asami leads protests in Cranefish City calling for Unalaq’s release and the South’s freedom, while Bolin stars in Varrick’s movies to stir up public support. After the South’s embassy and cultural center is bombed during a protest and Varrick is framed, Mako suspects a conspiracy and learns the hardliners have deep pockets in the Commonwealth and two tribes. With Raiko’s secret backing, although he is politically unable to help due to being tied up fighting the resurgent Red Lanterns, Bumi and Iroh unilaterally take their fleets out to break the North’s blockade of the South. Meanwhile, Kanna finds Sakari challenging her for leadership of the Kyoshi Warriors.
The success of the series led to a massive expansion of the Avatar franchise out of just animated series and movies over the next several years. Graphic novels and comics focusing on mundane events in Aang’s and Korra’s lives were released. A series of young adult novels telling the story of Avatar Kyoshi was also released to much praise. Attempts to produce a live action movie or series for either show were immediately shot down as impossible to do, as always. In 2021, as part of the newly established Avatar Studios and a renewed push for new Avatar content, a third animated series would premier, moving the setting another few decades in the future to a 21st century setting and focusing on the next Avatar, an earthbender.
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Lovely continuation and closure to Korra all around. Nice to see a look at how the show was produced and it’s legacy, I especially liked the descriptions on how the show’s Chinese dub was done and the analysis of each villain's' ideology and design. Also liked how several characters arc resolved in the show continued in the movies, with Unalaq’s arc about reconnecting with his brother and reconsidering his conservatism being my favorite example. All in all, I had a blast reading these summaries from being to end. It was wonderful seeing how an already good albeit flawed show can become greater without worrying about production issues.
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I still find it hard to believe (yet not surprising) that ATLA and LOK weren't released in China (that I know of), given the cultural material.
Continuing some arcs past the series shows characters still grow even after the series ends, and Unalaq has a lot of baggage to unpack given his history with Tonraq and Yue. Of course, his attempts to address this will lead to backlash from the more reactionary members of his government, which leads to further conflict and forcing him to choose between his family and what's right or his tribe and traditions.
Agreed. Korra was a great show, but it was held back a lot by Nickelodeon's corporate shenanigans.
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A nice way to cap things off, showing Korra's legacy. I'm quite happy with it. The highlights from the films for me would be Zuko meditating to see Iroh, and Unalaq mending things with Tonraq.
Got a good chuckle from the bit of live action films and series always be shot down immediately. Such a terrible idea, I can't even imagine. Like, just think if they mispronounced names for some silly reason.
Got a good chuckle from the bit of live action films and series always be shot down immediately. Such a terrible idea, I can't even imagine. Like, just think if they mispronounced names for some silly reason.
Or if they made Katara the older sibling. The horror!
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The show's legacy here certainly turned out for the better, especially in regards to the LGBT themes and how it spearheaded such a bold move. Corporate meddling really does hold back in a work's attempts to see its visions fullfilled. I liked that movie focusing on Unalaq coming to terms of his views too. Fleshes him out more and makes him a flawed human being instead of the generic moustache twirling villain in OTL. Zuko meeting his uncle again certainly was a nice touch too. I'm just sad he never got to do that in OTL.
All those mentions about the ASOIAF series makes me want to continue my updates on them too. But between finishing up the Monsterverse entry and me having a very bad case of writer's block it's probably not gonna happen anytime soon. That said I can tell you that the whole battle in winterfell (Or fall of Winterfell in this case) would certainly be better. All I can say is that its Stannis Baratheon staying behind to hold the castle while the rest of the North flee to either White Harbour and Moat Cailin. Not only that, it takes roughly two to three episodes for Winterfell to finally fall to the Others/White Walkers. In Winds of Winter it took several POV chapters (plus two featuring Stannis) and with said book ending in a cliffhanger with the Others slowly marching to Moat Cailin. Euron Greyjoy unleashing a Lovecraftian monster in Old Town (destroying the High Tower in the process) and Daenerys and the Yi Ti Ruby Emperor (the protagonist in Hymn) facing off against the Lion of the Night in the Five Forts.
All those mentions about the ASOIAF series makes me want to continue my updates on them too. But between finishing up the Monsterverse entry and me having a very bad case of writer's block it's probably not gonna happen anytime soon. That said I can tell you that the whole battle in winterfell (Or fall of Winterfell in this case) would certainly be better. All I can say is that its Stannis Baratheon staying behind to hold the castle while the rest of the North flee to either White Harbour and Moat Cailin. Not only that, it takes roughly two to three episodes for Winterfell to finally fall to the Others/White Walkers. In Winds of Winter it took several POV chapters (plus two featuring Stannis) and with said book ending in a cliffhanger with the Others slowly marching to Moat Cailin. Euron Greyjoy unleashing a Lovecraftian monster in Old Town (destroying the High Tower in the process) and Daenerys and the Yi Ti Ruby Emperor (the protagonist in Hymn) facing off against the Lion of the Night in the Five Forts.
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Hey, Zuko’s still alive in OTL, and Iroh does reach out to him from the Spirit World in Legacy of the Fire Nation, so it’s still possible with the new content coming and all.
That sounds like it’ll be amazing when you get around to it. Take your time
University Life
Strasburg - August 25, 2021, 3:12 PM
The subway train hurtled down the tunnel at breakneck speed, its wheels clicking and clacking over the ancient rails. Lights flashed by in the darkness out the window, while Alex used his feet to guard his suitcase. His aunt Anna sat across the aisle, not fazed by the quick twists and turns.
“I don’t remember riding the subway,” Alex said.
“They’ve done a lot of reconstruction since you were last here,” Anna said, “The first time’s always rough. You’ll get used to it.”
“And if I don’t?” Alex said.
“Well, you’ll have to,” Anna said, “It’s the fastest way to get around Strasburg. The traffic here is ridiculous. Was twelve years ago, still is.”
Alex looked around the rickety train car.
“They should at least get a better car then,” he said, “This thing looks like it’s your age.”
“Probably even older than me,” Anna said, “Looks wartime. Second World War, I mean. And I’m not that old!”
"Okay boom..." Alex began.
On cue, the train screeched to a halt, slamming Alex against the wall in front of him. His suitcase slid out from between his feet and hit the legs of the man in front of him.
“Sorry!” he said, pulling it back.
“Great, not again,” Anna said.
“What happened?” Alex said. “Why did we stop?”
“They must’ve found another bomb,” Anna said, “This new extension’s known for them. They’ve been finding them for years.”
“Bombs?” Alex said. “God, do they know who planted it?”
Anna casually shrugged. “The KL?”
Alex was confused.
“The KL?” he said. “Never heard about that terrorist group before.”
“No, Alex, the Kaiserliche Luftwaffe,” Anna said.
“Why would the KL drop bombs on their own…oh,” Alex said.
“There’s this old joke I remember Walter used to tell me,” Anna said, “Back in the 1960s, this old war pilot was getting a hard time from Frankfurt’s air traffic controller. The controller asks, ‘haven’t you flown to Frankfurt before’? The pilot answers, ‘yeah, in 1943, but I didn’t land’.”
“Heh,” Alex said, “I wonder how many bombs are buried here, just waiting to be found.”
“The KL dropped a lot of bombs during the war,” Anna said, “But not as many as the Heer shelled in the previous war.”
“How many did shells did they fire?” Alex said.
“Nobody knows,” Anna said, “But at the current rate of extraction, it might take seven centuries to clear the remaining unexploded ordinance on part of the Lithuanian border alone. They call it the Red Zone, which is completely uninhabitable due to chemicals leaking into the ground. It covers half of what used to be prewar Grodno.”
“Let’s hope Strasburg doesn’t end up like that,” Alex said.
Anna looked out the window, as if she remembered something. “Yeah, let’s hope it doesn’t.”
5:33 PM
The train finally pulled into the station and stopped. The doors opened.
“College Station,” the intercom said.
Alex got his suitcase and followed Anna out. Alexandra waited for them on the platform. She wore a lab coat and looked like she just came straight from class.
“Hey,” she said, “You guys are almost three hours later.”
“We were held up by an old bomb,” Anna said, “You look like you just got out of work.”
“Well, I was ready to take you to the dorms on my break, but you were held up, so I went back to my work,” Alexandra said, “Things are busy these days.”
“Yeah, yeah, physics stuff, been there, done that,” Anna said, “Let's hope the same doesn't happen to Alex.”
Alexandra rolled her eyes.
“How are things?” Alex said.
“As I said, things are busy these days,” Alexandra said, “I’ll tell you later. But first, let’s get you settled in the dorms.”
They left the underground station and emerged on a sidewalk running along the Rhine. Cars sped by to their right on a busy street. To their left, the majestic Rhine gently flowed by, as it had always done. Ahead, Alex noticed the street veering to the right to make way for a riverside park filled with students. The modern office buildings gave way to older Imperial Century-era lecture halls with classical-style pillars and roofs. They entered the park, and Alex looked to his right to see a domed pavilion reminiscent of Rome’s Pantheon with three words on it: Lothringen Institute of Technology. This was the center of the university he would be studying at for the next four years.
“I love this park,” Alexandra said, “I spent so many days studying here, on the grass.”
“I preferred the library,” Anna said.
“Well, you were never a true student, Aunt Anna,” Alexandra said.
“I am now,” Anna said, “Got the degree.”
“An honorary one for faculty, auntie,” Alexandra said, “FACULTY.”
Anna didn’t say a word.
“Okay, so let’s go to the dorms,” Alexandra said.
After a quick walk across campus, they reached the dorms. Alexandra used a keycard to let Alex and Anna inside.
“The orientation would’ve given you your keycard, but sadly it ended an hour ago,” she said, “But don’t worry, you can always tell your RA you missed orientation and they’ll work it out. My RA was very helpful. Now, your room is on the fifth floor, right?”
Alex checked his phone. “Yeah.”
They got into the elevator and went up to the fifth floor. Alex found the room he was given and went inside. It a little smaller than his own room back in Constantinople, but that didn’t take into account the three beds, two of which were for his roommates.
“Here we are,” Alex said, setting down his suitcase.
“This brings back a lot of memories,” Alexandra said, “I stayed in the building across the street, eighth floor. The room was much smaller.”
“That’s because you didn’t have a roommate,” Anna said.
“You didn’t even stay in a dorm,” Alexandra said.
“I was a professor,” Anna said, “Of course I wouldn’t stay in a dorm.”
Alex began unpacking his things. He didn’t bring much from Constantinople aside from a few sets of clothes and some school supplies.
“Excited for school?” Anna said.
“Stop asking me, auntie,” Alex said, “You asked me ten times already.”
“Don’t worry, auntie, he’s definitely excited,” Alexandra said, “I know I was.”
Alex finished unpacking and laid back on his bed to relax.
“Well, I feel like I’m settling in already,” he said.
“Guess we’ll leave you to it then,” Alexandra said, “We’ll let you settle in first and swing around in an hour.”
“We’re still doing dinner right?” Anna said. “I know this great place.”
“Why would I forget?” Alex said.
“No, Alexandra, we’re not going to the Alsatian,” Anna said, “He’s under drinking age.”
“We don’t need to drink,” Alexandra said, “Besides, it’s the closest thing to the Arcadia.”
“Oh, I almost forgot,” Alex said.
He dug a poster out of his suitcase and put it on the wall. It was his father’s old UFO poster, still saying “I Want to Believe.”
“Where’d you get that?” Anna said.
“Dad gave it to me,” Alex said.
“He did, after spending so long restoring it?” Anna said. “Why’d he do that?”
“He said it was for good luck,” Alex said.
Anna looked at the floor.
“Well…” she said. “You’ll definitely get some luck.”
9:00 PM
Somebody knocked on the door. Alex wasn’t expecting visitors, although he knew his roommates would be joining him soon. Speaking of which, that probably was one of them waiting outside right now. He opened the door. There were actually two boys outside, one Indian and the other Arab. They were dressed plainly, more plainly than Alex. The Indian guy had curly hair, while the Arab’s hair was long. Alex swore he smelled something funny coming from their vicinity.
“You must be my roommates,” he said.
“Room 420, right?” the Indian said.
“That’s it,” Alex said.
“Then I guess we’re your roommates,” the Arab said.
“You guys were even later than me,” Alex said, “Orientation was this afternoon.”
“I was busy helping my father with a job in Odessa,” the Arab said, “He does construction.”
“Fun,” Alex said.
“I don’t have an excuse,” the Indian said, “I was exploring the city.”
“Well, you’re here now,” Alex said, “Come in.”
The two students entered the room and began unpacking. Compared to Alex, who brought an entire suitcase, they only brought small backpacks with them.
“Oh, I should introduce myself, since I already introduced myself to Chris in the lobby,” the Indian said, “Rahul Sakamuni. I’m from Mombasa.”
“Chris al-Daoud,” Chris said, “From Bayreuth.”
“Alex Humboldt-Frank,” Alex said, shaking their hands, “Nice to meet you.”
“Humboldt-Frank?” Rahul said. “Would your mother happen to be…”
“Yeah,” Alex said, “Not something I like to talk about.”
“I understand,” Chris said, “Pretty big weight on your shoulders. Also, that poster…”
“A gift from my dad,” Alex said, “Cool, huh?”
“I like it,” Chris said, “‘I Want to Believe’…fun motto. Looks like it was burned.”
“Yeah, it was in a fire,” Alex said, “Among other things. My dad fixed it afterward. Said it had a lot of sentimental value.”
“I see,” Chris said.
“Rahul, you said you were exploring the city, right?” Alex said. “Why don’t I take both of you on a tour? I lived here for a little bit as a kid.”
“That sounds great,” Rahul said.
“It’s a little late, isn’t it?” Chris said.
“The city’s safe,” Alex said, “Don’t worry. We won’t take long.”
And Anna was no longer here to stop him from going where he wanted.
The Alsatian - 9:30 PM
“I can’t believe it,” Rahul said, “You were seriously a hostage for a terrorist?”
“I don’t like talking about it,” Alex said.
“That must have been rough for you,” Chris said.
All of them sipped their drinks.
“I don’t remember much,” Alex said, “It was over really quickly, thanks to my mom.”
“I’m so sorry,” Rahul said, “Suffering like that…no child should have to go through it.”
“At least it’s over now,” Chris said.
“Yes, it’s long over,” Alex said, “I can finally move on.”
“Our lives are not defined by what happens to us,” Rahul said, “But by how we respond to it.”
Alex looked around the bar and tapped the counter.
“Yeah, how we respond to it,” he said, “How we move past it. And yet I’m here again.”
“Didn’t you say you wanted to come here?” Chris said.
Alex looked around the venue. The Alsatian was very different from when he last visited. The patrons were different. The music choice had changed genre. The food tasted off, somehow. The tables and seats had all been replaced and weren't as comfortable as he remembered. Or maybe they never were that comfortable. The bartender was of course different, after Jessica (who always came up with some very hilarious tales about his dad and Aunt Olga) joined the Constantinople Philharmonic. Last he heard, she had moved back to Russia and returned to the Bolshoi.
“At first, it sounded like a good idea,” Alex said, “But seeing it now…it feels so empty. It’s not the same as the one I remember.”
“Maybe it’s not the one you remember,” Rahul said, “You could’ve remembered something that was better than it actually was.”
That was true. Alex may have been seeing the old Alsatian through a nostalgic lens.
“Yeah, I was young, I guess,” Alex said, “I didn’t come here often too. It was mostly my parents and close family who hung out here. I mostly hung out with my uncle and cousins. He was shot during the whole hostage thing. I can’t explain it. Maybe that’s why I don’t remember this place that well.”
“If you’re not comfortable, we can head back to the dorms now,” Chris said, finishing his wine, “We have school tomorrow.”
“Says you,” Rahul said.
“You didn’t even eat dinner,” Chris said.
“I couldn’t find a good vegetarian meal,” Rahul said, "I'll eat something at home."
“Let’s get going then,” Alex said.
Alex paid the tab. They headed for the exit, but the doors swung open, and a group of young men in oversized leather jackets sauntered in. The other patrons stopped talking. They quickly got out their phones and averted their gazes. The music abruptly quieted.
“Oh great,” a bartender whispered, “Them.”
The gangsters sat at the counter. One of them waved at the bartender.
“Hey, lady, get us the usual!” he demanded.
“Let’s go,” Rahul said, “We should avoid conflict.”
“Agreed,” Alex said.
They continued heading for the exit, but the lead gangster stood up.
“Hey,” he said, “Where are you going?”
“Don’t answer,” Alex said.
“Showing disrespect to the Lions, huh?” the gangster said. “Going off to snitch to the cops?”
“Let me handle this,” Chris said.
He walked back to the gangsters.
“Oh, you came back,” the gangster said, “You want to fight?”
“No,” Chris said, “I’m here to tell you we’re leaving.”
“Says who?” the gangster said.
“My father,” Chris said, “He wills it.”
The gangsters looked at each other nervously and whispered in hushed tones, their bravado suddenly gone. The leader stepped back in fear.
“Your father?” the gangster said.
“Yeah,” Chris said, “My father. Now please let us be.”
The leader noticed the determination in Chris’s eyes and quickly realized he wasn’t kidding. In the span of a few seconds, his attitude softened, and he backed away.
“Go,” he said, “Just go! Tell your father we don’t want a fight!”
They left the restaurant.
“Tell me what all that was about?” Alex said.
“It was nothing,” Chris said, “I told them the truth, that was all. We should be getting home.”
Well, that was a weird few minutes, Alex thought. Just who was Chris exactly?
LIT - August 26, 8:15 AM
The quad’s grass folded under his shoes with a satisfying and calm crunch. It reminded him a lot of his childhood at Reiden Lake. He spent his first few years almost exclusively there, exploring the lake and the forest around it. What he most remembered was the grass under his feet, the water rippling on the shore, and the sun streaming through the trees. Those were peaceful times. He was satisfied with the quad’s grass, the nearby Rhine, and the sunlight passing through the gaps in the buildings, but nothing would replace Reiden Lake.
“Excuse me.” A jogger ran past.
Alex shook himself back to the present and stepped out of the way. He looked around the quad, taking in the other students walking to class. A few stood near the various entrances, handing out pamphlets or managing booths. He was well aware of the many activist clubs who regularly ran booths promoting their views. He didn’t really care much for politics. That was his parents’ job, not his.
“Are you tired of the erosion of family values in the Reich?!” one of the students shouted through a megaphone. “Are you concerned of the moral decay of the Roman people? Of the oppression of the few remaining moral Romans left? Worried the university impede on our rights to free speech as others have done to many of our other chapters across the nation?”
Alex stopped, frustrated and confused.
“Then join the Society for a Moral Restoration!” the student shouted. “We aim to promote family values and a new moral foundation among younger Romans, so they can grow into productive and good citizens. Join our cause, and we can end this decay and decadence!”
“What do you mean, decay?” Alex said.
The student looked at him.
“Decay?” the student said. “Don’t you see it? It’s all around us.”
“All I see is broken infrastructure and incompetent bureaucracy,” Alex said.
“Exactly!” the student said. “But it’s caused by us. We are leading immoral lives. Partying and drinking with no regard for the future, tolerating immoral lifestyles, celebrating celebrities who don’t deserve it, all while the planet burns. God intended for us to do better. For too long, the elite of this country have ignored these problems and led us to decadence and decay. Join us, and together we will tear down the establishment!”
“What are you implying?” Alex said.
“We have to change ourselves,” the student said, “Our way of life. We are too sinful. We’ve forgotten the ways of our ancestors. And because of it, God has punished our nation. The frog is boiling in the pan and doesn’t know it. We are that frog. It’s time we realized and jump out! It's time we took matters into our own hands and show the party cartel what the people can do!”
"What are you talking about?" Alex said. "I don't see any party cartel going around like Sentinel."
"Oh yeah, let me guess," the student said, "You're part of the establishment."
"If you say I am, then maybe I am," Alex said.
"Then I bet you'd just love to knock me down and shut me up, huh?" the student said.
"Now I'm seriously thinking about it," Alex said.
"This is what's wrong with this country!" the student said. "People like you only use your privilege to silence and censor god-fearing Romans!"
"Yeah!" a few students around him agreed. "You're just as bad as the equalists!"
"I...I..." Alex stammered, not knowing what to do. "I'm not censoring anyone! You're...you're censoring yourself!"
"That doesn't even make sense!" the student said.
“Hey Alex!” Chris said.
Alex turned around just as Chris walked up to him.
“Hey, Chris,” Alex said, relieved to see his friend, “You’re up early.”
“Indeed I am,” Chris said, “I see you’ve met the Society for a Moral Restoration.”
“I have,” Alex said.
“Pay them no attention,” Chris said.
“I’m sorry?” the student said.
“No offense,” Chris said, “But actually, I do take offense with everything you say.”
“Aha!” the student said. “Yet another example of how the mainstream persecutes us honest and faithful Christians! I knew the university hive mind suppresses dissent! You are as bad as Chairman Varennikov!”
“Weird,” Chris said, “I never said your point of view should be banned or you shouldn’t be allowed to share your opinion. All I said was I take offense with what you say. I’m entitled to share my own opinion, am I?”
“You’re probably one of them, aren’t you?” the student said. “You help the gays.”
“Nothing wrong with their lifestyle,” Chris said, “My father always told me to love your neighbor and to treat them as you’d want them to treat you. Don’t know how they do it here, but I assumed it was very universal.”
“Sodom and Gomorrah—” the student said.
“Get your scripture right,” Chris said, “That story’s moral is don’t be a jerk to your guests. And before you bring up Leviticus, I should say the same book also says you should be put to death for mixing fabrics in your clothes, and I’m very sure your shirt has mixed fabrics. So under biblical law I should be well within my rights to kill you right now. Oh wait, almost everyone here wears something with mixed fabrics I guess. Including me. And you too Alex, so terribly sorry. This might get very bloody. I hate blood, but my dad wants me to do it, so...”
He turned to Alex. “We should get to class.”
“Yeah,” Alex said.
They walked away.
“Where do you think you’re going?” the student said.
“To class,” Alex said.
“Going to continue your indoctrination, huh?” the student said. “Is that what your Jewish masters paid you to do?”
Alex spun around and clenched his fist, but Chris held him back.
“Don’t,” he said, “It’s a trap. He wants you to hit him so he can sue and prove his point. Don’t let him win.”
Alex thought it through. He remembered what happened with Josh many years ago. Was he really going to repeat it with this random student? He reflected for another few seconds and then lowered his fist.
“It’s not worth it,” he said.
“Exactly,” Chris said, “Now let’s get to class.”
University of Ancyra - August 27, 10:43 AM
Professor Bledel flipped through her lecture notes. Josh sat near the back, listening patiently even though he was really bored out of his mind.
“Alright, here’s where cell biology gets personal,” she said, “Now, it’s only our second day, but I believe there’s no better way to get into the course material than to jump right in. I want you to smell yourselves.”
The students looked at each other. Josh looked awkwardly at the classmate next to him.
“I’m serious,” Bledel said, “Noses in armpits. It won’t hurt you.”
The students reluctantly smelled their armpits. Josh obliged and took in the stench from his sweaty armpits, smelly from the morning run he took an hour ago. He should really shower more often. No, it wasn’t manly of him. A real man would just ignore the stench and soldier on. If anyone had a problem with it, that was on them.
“Can you smell that?” Bledel said. “That is the smell of your microbiome. Bacteria, fungi, viruses of all kinds live in it…”
She noticed a classmate raising her hand.
“Yes, Jenna?” Bledel said.
“Sorry, ma’am, but how do the different species of bacteria compete?” Jenna asked. “And what about archaea and protists and all that? Do—”
“There aren’t archaea in the human microbiome,” Josh smugly interrupted, “They’re only found in extreme environments, like salt lakes, not your armpits. It’s right there in the textbook if you would just read it.”
Jenna glared at him. Josh simply leaned back and didn’t make eye contact. It was true. He was only helping her, even if it hurt. It wouldn't look good on him as a man if he didn't help out.
“Uh…” Bledel said, leafing through her notes. “Actually, they have found archaea in the human microbiome. In the skin, the colon, and nasal cavity. There’ve been some recent papers.”
“Uh...I didn’t know that,” Josh said.
“I’ll send you a reading list, if you’d like,” Bledel said.
“Sure,” Josh said.
The rest of the class passed by in a blur. As soon as the bell rang, Josh packed up and left in a hurry for his next class. He noticed Jenna making her way to the door too, her head down. Bledel noticed Jenna’s dismay and intercepted her.
“Hey, wait up,” she said, “Jenna?”
“Yeah?” Jenna said.
“You got a minute?” Bledel said.
“Sure,” Jenna said.
“It’s okay,” Bledel said, “Look at me.”
Jenna slowly made eye contact with the professor.
“Don’t be discouraged,” Bledel said, “You’re smart. That’s why you’re here. You belong here.”
“Uh, thanks,” Jenna said.
“It’s the truth,” Bledel said, “All I’m saying is, don’t let some guy make you feel like your questions aren't valid.”
“Okay,” Jenna said.
“It’s only the second day,” Bledel said, “Things will be better.”
“It will get better, right?” Jenna said. “Like in grad school?”
“I always hope it is,” Bledel said, “Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn’t. But you have to keep hoping. Stick with it.”
Jenna meekly nodded.
“I’ll try,” she said.
“I’ll see you in class tomorrow,” Bledel said.
“Thanks, Professor,” Jenna said.
Pathetic. Why was there such a bias towards helping women and not men? Everybody should get the same amount of help, or they should all just not get any help at all and soldier through it on their own. Like real men.
Jenna disappeared into the crowded hallway. Josh entered a courtyard to take a shortcut to his next class. Several booths and tables run by the college’s clubs and various activist groups had been set up on either side. Josh took a quick stop at the green Shepherds’ Brotherhood booth, which his uncle manned.
“Join us!” Gustav said. “Together, this land of dirty industrial mills will give way to a New Jerusalem on a hill, a shining beacon for the world to follow!”
“Hey, Uncle Gustav,” Josh said.
“Morning, Josh,” Gustav said, “Enjoying college?”
“Sort of,” Josh said, “So why are you here? Thought Argus kept you busy.”
“I’ve got the next couple weeks off, so I decided I’d spend today helping out the local chapter,” Gustav said, “It’s nice at Argus. Benefits are great. They really do care about their employees.”
“Maybe I should work for Argus,” Josh said.
“Oh, no, no, no,” Gustav said, “You do not want to end up like me.”
“Why not?” Josh said. “You love your job.”
“Doesn’t mean you’ll enjoy it,” Gustav said, “When you’ve seen the things I’ve seen, done the things I’ve done…I’m not sure if you can handle it the way I have. Just focus on your studies. Do what you really love.”
“And if nobody wants to help me get there?” Josh said.
“Who’s saying nobody wants to help you?” Gustav said. “I’m here for you.”
“Well, it’s just that…” Josh said. “I’ve been noticing recently, how a lot of people get help, but never me. Like it’s always the girls who get help, or some other groups, but not me.”
“That’s how things are, sadly,” Gustav said, “It’s like you have three kids of different heights trying to peer over a fence to watch a football game. Only one kid can watch because he’s taller than the fence. So you’d think they’d fix that by letting the other two kids stand on boxes to make up for the difference in height. But they’ve taken it too far with their affirmative action and the other new laws. They’ve given too many boxes to the other two and actually dug a hole under the first kid to make up for it, in their twisted sense of equality.”
“Can’t we just get around the whole thing by removing the fence itself?” Josh said.
“Remove the fence?” Gustav said. “Josh, you have to remember the fence is there for a reason. Tearing down the fence…now that could cause a whole lot of new problems.”
He shook his head.
“Anyways, I’ve gone off track,” Gustav said, “What matters is you do what you love. Don’t worry about the people who don’t want to help you. There will always be those who will. Work with them, and you will get far in life. Probably farther than I ever will.”
They both chuckled. The bell rang, warning class was about to begin.
“I’ve kept you here too long,” Gustav said, “You should head to class now.”
“Thanks, Uncle,” Josh said.
“Anytime,” Gustav said.
August 28, 1:00 PM
Josh passed Gustav’s booth again.
“You’re still here?” Josh said.
“Yep,” Gustav said, “Turns out plenty more people are interested in the Brotherhood than I would’ve thought.”
“That’s great,” Josh said.
Gustav showed him a ledger filled with names and contact information.
“Here’s the sign up list for just this morning,” he said, “I’m starting to feel optimistic for the future again.”
“So the climate rally next week is still on?” Josh said.
“Hopefully,” Gustav said.
A young man approached the desk.
“Oh, good afternoon,” Gustav said, “Uh, Joachim, was it?”
“Yes,” Joachim said.
“What are you here for?” Gustav said.
“Uh…I need your help,” Joachim said.
“Anything,” Gustav said.
“So, about the gig at the dealership…” Joachim said.
“The one I called in a favor for?” Gustav said.
“A favor?” Josh said.
“I know some people,” Gustav said.
“It didn’t work out,” Joachim said.
“I’m sorry,” Gustav said.
“Not a good fit,” Joachim said.
“Don’t worry about it,” Gustav said, “I’ll ask around, see if I can get you a job elsewhere.”
“Thank you so much,” Joachim said, “Honestly, with the economy, and my situation…I’m glad people like you are around.”
“No problem,” Gustav said, “Need anything, just ask.”
Joachim nodded.
“I’ll talk to you later,” he said.
He walked off.
“So…what’s his deal?” Josh said.
“Joachim’s the first in his family to go to college,” Gustav said, “Brother was disabled while on active duty in Mexico. Father worked at an old steelworks place in the Saar before the recession shut it down, he now works as a janitor. Mother died of an opioid overdose when they were young. Joachim’s trying to support them as best he can, but it makes it hard to work a schedule. Bosses don’t like it.”
“I didn’t know,” Josh said, “He must have a rough life.”
“Well, he knows what he has to do, and he’s doing it,” Gustav said.
“Idle hands are the devil's workshop, as the good book says,” Josh said.
“You know it's not actually in the Bible, right?” Gustav chuckled.
“Of course it's not,” Josh said.
“But there is a verse about idleness making the house fall apart,” Gustav said, “He’s a good soul, taking time out for his family. Unfortunately, it’s hard for good souls to make it in a society that only cares about profit.”
“Yeah,” Josh said, “Guy like him shouldn’t be punished.”
“No wonder God has turned His back on us,” Gustav said, “And who can blame Him?”
“There's nothing we can do about it, can we?” Josh said.
“Now, there you're wrong,” Gustav said, “The Shepherds’ Brotherhood is working to set things right and clean up our society.”
“And I’m excited to be part of it,” Josh said.
“With people like you, Josh, we can really turn things around,” Gustav said.
“I should help out here sometime,” Josh said.
“Join us tomorrow,” Gustav said, “Man the booth for a couple hours. See what it’s like to really help people.”
“That would be great,” Josh said.
“Afterward, I can take you to a real Brotherhood meeting,” Gustav said, “Meet more people just like you. I’m sure you’ll love it.”
“That sounds great,” Josh said.
LIT - October 18, 2:00 PM
Alex slumped into his usual seat in the middle of the lecture hall and took out his notebook. While he waited for the rest of the class to be seated and for the bell to ring, he continued doodling a schematic he had been occasionally working on since maybe middle school. Or high school, he couldn't remember when he started this. He quickly realized half of the schematic had been done completely wrong and the machine itself would not work. He crossed out the offending parts but stopped himself when he tried to think of what to replace them with. He didn’t know what to do. He knew what he had was wrong, but he didn’t know how to fix it. At that moment, the bell rang. Oh well. Maybe he’d ask Alexandra later.
Right now was history class, and his lecturer, a man in a plaid shirt and khakis, entered through a side door and put down a stack of papers on his desk. Professor Karasi was a pretty chill guy who gave easy assignments, which was probably why his class was so popular. He preferred everyone to call him Jared, so that’s what Alex called him.
“Alright,” Jared said, “Now, before we get started with today’s class, where we’ll talk more about the causes of World War III and Chinese war crimes, I want to address the elephant in the room. You know what happened over the weekend, right?”
Alex knew. It was all over Dikastirio on Saturday. The Society for a Moral Restoration infiltrated an LGBT club and released a secret recording of it. The university reacted as expected, and by Sunday there were flash protests everywhere, with crowds on both sides filling the quad and shouting over each other. The lab was closed that day. He was still angry today. And that wasn’t even getting to the ridiculous manifesto those kids posted in the common area of his dorm building.
“What we did was journalistically justifiable. Unlike every other group with a college grant, they refused to publicize its membership or budget. We wanted to know how they spent their funds to demonstrate a double standard. So we adopted an intentionally inflammatory tone, such as using the term sod...”
He realized Jared was now holding up a copy of that manifesto.
“No doubt you’ve probably seen one of these on the doors to your dorm,” he said, “An attempt to disguise the perpetrators’ actions as ‘journalistic accountability’. There are easier ways of going about this. But calling certain members of the LGBT community…that? No, that’s definitely not who we are. Yes, this school’s imperfect. I know. But everybody’s doing their best to fix it. I certainly am.”
“They were joking,” a student interrupted.
“How do we know that?” Jared said. “No, actually, go beyond that. Is this an isolated incident? Does this group have a history of pulling similar stunts? Have they done this before?”
“There really is a double standard though,” another student said.
“Maybe there is,” Jared said, “And if there is, I’m all in favor of getting to the bottom of it. You should know the university has launched an investigation into both the club and the perpetrators of this stunt. Proceedings will be public and anybody can contribute to it.”
“You’re here to teach us, not talk about campus matters,” another student said.
“You’re right,” Jared said, “My job is to teach you history. But I also encourage you to seek out the facts behind every event. It’s a key part of studying history that can be applied to real life. If you don’t know the whole story behind something, you may see it the wrong way. You’ve all heard that history is written by the winners, right? I have a lot of problems with that statement, but the fact remains history is written by people who are flawed and biased. It may not always be accurate. There are historians who twist the facts of an event to suit their own purposes. It’s never stopped. You can see it continuing around you. I apologize for sounding preachy. I’m not trying to push an agenda. I’m not telling you to believe exactly what I say. In fact, I’d rather you question what I say. You deserve to know the full story, but you have to find it yourself. Because the full story can say something completely different from a story built on a few facts, to say nothing of stories built on lies and falsehoods. As this investigation continues and we all think about who we are as both students and individuals, I ask you to step back, calm down, and look at both the individual pieces and the big picture they make up. That’s all.”
He stepped back and took a deep breath.
“Alright, I’m done,” he said.
In an instant, his entire demeanor changed, and his somber and serious expression changed to a cheerful and eager one.
“I want to add we’ll be having a special guest next week,” Jared said, “My brother-in-law, Minister Boris Bradziunas of Livonia, will be visiting to talk to us about his experiences. Now, I hope you're ready for Economic Warfare 101!”
The class laughed. That wasn’t really the name of this course. But it was a running joke.
“Let’s finally get to today’s topic, the Soviet regime under Trotsky, which we’ll compare to the Wilson administration’s policies,” Jared said, “So we all have this notion of Trotsky as a diehard ideologue who neglected pragmatism in favor of his beliefs. That is true, to an extent. Trotsky definitely was an ideological fanatic. He suppressed the kulaks, the landowning farmers of absolutist Russia, and constantly purged many within the Party to achieve ideological purity. But he was more pragmatic than history remembers him as. He left some of the old regime’s capitalists in charge of the economy. The goal was that the capitalists would run the economy while the Party focuses on promoting equalism.”
“How did letting capitalists run the economy fly with the rest of the Party though?” one of the students said.
“Don’t get me wrong, Trotsky still limited what they could do,” Jared said, “But he gave them limited autonomy so the country could industrialize faster and keep its finances in order. At the same time, he imposed his idea of permanent revolution on them. Trade was forbidden with the capitalist nations. Resources and food were redistributed as the Party saw fit, given to the rest of the country hand in hand with promotion of equalism. Permanent revolution was integrated into all aspects of the new regime. The economy, as we just talked about, but also military doctrine and diplomatic stance. Trotsky had wanted to use the early Red Army to conquer his neighbors while they were weak and impose equalism. This allowed him to overrun Yavdi, but he also wanted to expand into Turkestan, Scandinavia, and even Siberia and the eastern Reich. His generals convinced him the last two targets were too dangerous, and by the time the Red Army was freed up from the pacification of Yavdi, the first two had stabilized too much as well. So Trotsky instead turned to espionage. He ordered his capitalists to ship equipment and funds into neighboring states such as the Baltics and Scandinavia. He supported likeminded equalists in China, the Reich, and North Eimerica, although only the movements in the last one succeeded. But this exhausted him financially, and he spent much of the 1930s recovering from these efforts. This left a toll on him personally as well, leading to his retirement in 1935.”
He then put up a picture of Roland Wilson.
“Now how does this compare to Roland Wilson, who at one point declared himself Trotsky’s polar opposite?” Jared said. “Well, they were more alike than he would admit. Both were ideologues who had a charismatic optimism of the future. Trotsky saw equalism as a path to a truly free and equal world. Wilson saw capitalism and meritocracy as the only way to protect world peace and Roman hegemony. Trotsky wanted to bring Russia into the modern age and lead the world into an equalist future. Wilson wanted to bring the Reich back to simpler times when it protected capitalism and led the world order Adenauer established after 1946. Trotsky genuinely believed what he was doing would protect the Russian working class from the predatory actions of both national and international capitalists. Wilson saw it as his duty to protect Romans’ freedom and rights from equalism. Trotsky’s permanent revolution mirrors the Wilson Doctrine. While previous postwar chancellors did intervene in foreign conflicts, none did so with Wilson’s zeal and eagerness. Our centuries-old policy of neutral interventionism, only intervening in foreign conflicts to maintain the global balance of power, changed to one of ideological interventionism. If any area showed even the slightest chance of equalist takeover, Wilson wanted boots on the ground. He directed the Athanatoi Foreign Division to fund, arm, and train anti-equalist groups, even if they were Paulluists or hostile to Roman interests. Even before he formally took power, as part of Schmidt’s cabinet he deployed the military on campaigns in East Indonesia, Tawantinsuyu, and Fusang. Like Trotsky, he vastly increased his country’s military spending, but unlike Trotsky, who did it to modernize his army and prepare it to spread equalism to the rest of the world, he did it to spur the Soviets into spending so much on their own forces they would go bankrupt. They both didn’t hesitate to shut down labor movements they didn’t like. Wilson was swept into office due to lingering resentment over the massive oil strikes of the early 1970s and Schmidt’s unpopularity, which was Wilson’s doing. On the domestic side, he shattered the power of unions to prevent such an incident from happening again and to further his privitaization and deregulation plans, leading to the current economic climate. There was a change in national attitude during his administration. Although Kohl is remembered for truly destigmatizing Roman patriotism and nationalism, he couldn’t have gotten there without Wilson laying the foundations. This is similar to how Trotsky built on Lenin’s foundations and firmly rooted equalism in Russia for Molotov, the man we consider to be the quintessential Soviet general secretary. Ironically, Molotov has a lot of similarities with Saint Wilhelmina, the woman we consider one of the quintessential Kaisers, in that they both spearheaded very oppressive deportation policies early in their rules but later repented and realized the error of their ways. But that’s another story.”
He changed to the next slide. “Alright, any questions?”
After class, Alex approached Jared as he packed up his notes and erased the complicated web of relations between important historical figures of the 1980s.
“Professor, Jared, sir?” he asked.
“Yes, uh…Alex, is it?” Jared said.
“That’s me,” Alex said.
“What do you need?” Jared said.
“You’re Professor Karasi right?” Alex said.
“If I’m not Professor Karasi, then who am I?” Jared said.
“Of the Karasi family?” Alex said.
Jared paused for a moment.
“You’re the first person to ask that,” Jared said, “Normally people just ask about my music or ‘I Remember You’. But nobody’s asked about my family.”
“Yeah, sorry,” Alex said, “I was just interested in learning more. The Karasis did pop up occasionally in our textbook.”
“No, it’s not your fault,” Jared said, “I’m just…not really one to talk about my family. My father used to take us to the Kaali Crater near our house. There, he told us how his ancestors were called the ‘eastern Vikings’ and once held a title called ‘Tietaja’, which was what the old Suomenusko head priest was called. They stopped using that name long ago, and they don’t even have a head priest these days. Sounds crazy, huh? Especially since we were just poor Antras šansas farmers from Saaremaa. My dad could barely read, and he took to drinking. He got increasingly violent. Maybe he couldn’t reconcile his current life with those of his supposed eastern Viking ancestors. My mom had to kick him out. She died when I was 15. I had to work on the farm since 6 to help pay the bills. And remember, the actual Suomenusko high priesthood hasn’t had a Tietaja in centuries. We aren’t even Suomenusko. So I was never interested in those crazy stories. And far from being eastern Vikings, it always felt like we were the ones being attacked by Vikings from the east. I was lucky I got out of there.”
“It must’ve been tough for you,” Alex said.
“It was,” Jared said, “So forgive me if I don’t want to talk about my past much. You’re better off talking to my sister when she and her husband show up next week. Me…I’ve been spending my entire life getting away from Saaremaa and making sure my students don’t have to go through what I did. But thanks for asking. It’s not often I get to share this story.”
“I think you should be more open about it,” Alex said, “You can’t run from your past forever. Maybe it’s best if you acknowledge it happened.”
“Perhaps that’s the case,” Jared said, “Maybe that’s true. I’ll think about it.”
He finished packing and began walking to the door.
“I have to get to office hours now,” Jared said, “I’ll see you in the next class.”
“Sure thing,” Alex said.
October 25, 2:00 PM
Boris walked into the lecture hall and shook Professor Jared Karasi’s hand.
“Thanks for inviting me, Jared,” he said.
“I couldn’t have it any other way,” Jared said.
“Unfortunately, Helen couldn’t make it,” Boris said.
“That’s okay,” Jared said, “I know my sister’s always busy.”
They sat.
“Would you like to introduce yourself to the class?” Jared said.
“Of course,” Boris said, “I am Boris Bradziunas, a general in the Livonian army. I grew up in Aegyptus and graduated from the Imperial War Academy in Constantinople. I helped lead coalition forces in North Eimerica until the withdrawal and Federation handover, and now I’m currently serving as Livonian Minister of Defense. But to Jared here, I’m his brother-in-law who always one-ups him at everything. Even the guitar.”
The students chuckled at that.
“I swear you could become a rock star if you just focused on that,” Jared said.
“Nah, I’ll leave that to you,” Boris said, “I mean, whose ever heard of a history professor rock star before?”
“It’ll be a long time before I even get there,” Jared said, “But anyways, let’s begin. So, you’re one of the youngest Romans or Livonians to have reached the rank of general, right?”
“In a way,” Boris said, “While I’m not quite the perfect picture of youth, the fact remains I’m on the younger side of both the Roman and Livonian officer corps. Everyone compares me to Gebhard Remmele.”
“Does that ever feel weird to you?” Jared asked.
“Sometimes,” Boris said, “I’m not General Remmele. I’ll just follow my orders and carry them out to the best of my ability.”
“Which brings me to my next question,” Jared said, “How was it like working with the likes of Gebhard Remmele and Huicton Ollin during the last few years of the Mexican war coalition?”
“We had our share of disagreements, I have to say,” Boris said, “Gebhard and I had different ideas on how to defeat MSC, and we argued a lot. Felt like both of us expected Ollin to step in and be the moderating force, since he had more experience than us, but turns out he wanted to do his own thing instead.”
“What own thing?” Jared said.
“Ollin and Zolin, the MSC leader, had a history with each other,” Boris said, “Zolin also humiliated Ollin early on in the MSC insurgency. Since then, Ollin’s always tried to get back at him at all costs.”
“Did he temper down after Zolin was apprehended?” Jared said.
“A little,” Boris said, “But he’s still…distant.”
“How so?” Jared said.
“Nothing against him,” Boris said, “But it feels like he’s lost his drive after capturing Zolin. Whereas Gebhard was relieved to go home, Ollin…looked like he was bored. Not to say anything against him, as I have a lot of respect for the man who held together his country almost on his own for the last twenty or so years.”
“And what about you?” Jared said.
“It’s nice coming home to Livonia,” Boris said, “That chapter of my life is over. I’ll spend the next one helping my country.”
“Alright, let’s open it up to the class,” Jared said, “Anybody have questions for him?”
A student raised his hand.“What do you do as Minister of Defense?”
“As Minister of Defense, I’m tasked with overseeing the Livonian military and protecting the Livonian people against national security threats,” Boris said, “I work closely with King-Emperor Gediminas I as part of Chancellor Valiulis’ cabinet, suggesting changes to the military budget and advising them on possible threats and ways to counter them.”
“What kind of threats?” the student asked.
“Well, there hasn’t been a conventional war in Europe since World War III,” Boris said, “But that doesn’t mean the continent is at peace. Russia is unstable, and Yavdi recently succumbed to a Paulluist resurgence, as you know. With the threat of a hostile neighboring army long gone, the focus of the Livonian military is now on patrolling the border and maintaining Tiger’s Defense. The army helps secure the Russian border, cracking down on the black market drug trade and human trafficking. Meanwhile, I’ve overseen the expansion of the Computer Emergency Response Team, or KALK, to protect our Internet and online infrastructure.”
“What is Tiger’s Defense?” another student asked.
“Tiger’s Defense is the Commonwealth’s network defense system,” Boris said, “It was founded in the afermath of the 2007 cyberattacks in which Mongol cartels targeted much of our country’s Internet and other essential infrastructure. Following that attack, the Livonian government prioritized securing and improving Internet infrastructure, considering cyberattacks a major national security threat. We’ve trained up an entire agency dedicated to monitoring the Internet and protecting our nation and its people online.”
“How different is it from being in the field?” another student asked.
“Well…it’s very different,” Boris said, “It’s certainly no Mexico. I’ve spent many of my days in my office, reading Tiger’s Defense status reports and consulting with Gediminas and Valiulis. I don’t miss field command as much as I expected.”
“What’s your proudest achievement?” another student asked.
“I think it was eventually stabilizing Mexico,” Boris said, “I can’t take the full credit for that as Generals Remmele and Ollin helped alongside me and Thordarsson wrote the peace deal, but I can count myself as one of the people who put an end to the long insurgency. My efforts are part of the reason why the Eimerican Federation has restored peace to the continent.”
“What is your opinion on Kaiser Wilhelm?” another student asked.
“Uh…” Boris said. “I’d rather stay away from that, but to briefly answer your question, I’m not that involved in Roman politics. Especially now that I myself am a Livonian minister.”
“As a Roman citizen, why did you decide to work for Livonia instead?” another student asked.
“I have relatives in Livonia,” Boris said, “It’s almost like a second home to me. I decided I wanted to help out the country my family came from. Although to be fair we settled in Alexandria several centuries ago.”
“Are you worried at all about the new equalist administration or the far right reaction to them?” another student asked.
“Valiulis is a good man,” Boris said, “He is not like the Soviets. While he and his cabinet come from an equalist party, they have sworn off revolution or deposing Gediminas. The only thing they share with the Soviets is the party name at this point. His main priority are combating the ongoing drought and helping farmers overcome crop failures. The nationalist riots are being monitored as a potential threat, but I can’t say more about them.”
The discussion continued for a while, but it eventually died down.
“So… any more questions?” Jared asked.
Alex raised his hand.
“Yes,” Boris said.
“Thank you for coming here today, Minister Bradziunas,” Alex said, “I’m wondering, what was the reason you entered the military?”
“Good question,” Boris said, “I think I went into the service for a couple reasons. I grew up during the later weeks of the war. I was fortunate to live in Alexandria, far from Russia. Even so many of my family members were caught up in the war. I lost a lot of them. It felt like there was a funeral every week. That image stuck with me as a kid. I decided I wanted to honor the memory of those who died in the war.”
“That was a surprising conclusion,” Jared said.
“It was,” Boris said, “You’d think I’d swear off war after seeing so many of my family die. But as I grew older, I had the opposite reaction. I wanted to fight in their name. To serve my nation and prevent more people from losing loved ones like I did…that was my life’s work.”
Outside Frankfurt - November 9, 8:00 AM
Alex got out of the car first, followed by Anders and Diana. They stepped off the recently paved road and made their way through the tall grass. The grass came up to Alex’s neck, making his nose itchy. Sometimes it got so bad he wanted to sneeze. He peered over the tall grass as best as he could and saw it continuing for miles around him, like it was a great green sea of grass. Behind him, the old Frankfurt skyline silently loomed over his family. There was no wind today, which was good, because he did not want more pollen in his face.
There was a small hill ahead of them. At the top of the hill sat an oak tree, the only one for miles and miles. Mementos hung from the branches and lay around the roots. Alex approached the tree and stopped in front of a simple plaque, nested between the roots. An Athanatoi portrait of his grandmother from decades ago lay next to it. He reached into his pocket and took out a smooth river stone he got from the Rhine in Strasburg, which he put in front of the plaque. Anders and Diana put more stones around the plaque and bowed their heads.
Alex never knew his grandmother. She had died twenty years ago, two years before he was born. All he knew were the stories his parents told him. He didn’t need to repeat those stories to himself now, since he already knew them. He wished he could’ve known her. He wished she’d lived long enough to see him. What would she say? Would she be proud of him? Would she approve of what he was doing? He didn’t know. Maybe he would never know. Maybe it didn’t matter at all.
While Alex and Anders said nothing, Diana whispered a short prayer Alex couldn’t understand. His Hebrew and Yiddish were really bad. But he knew what it meant since they recited it every year they came here instead of going to the crowded memorial services in the cities. It was an old funeral prayer his mother was fond of, passed down from her own mother. Just hearing it made him sad. He always associated it with his grandmother he never knew. So hearing it always made him think of what could’ve been. If 11/9 never happened, would his grandmother still be alive? Would he have actually known her? Would she have lived to see him? What would she think of him?
He shook the thoughts out of his head just as Diana finished her prayer. No real use dwelling on any hypotheticals, he told himself. Things happened, and there was no changing it. What mattered more was him remembering and moving forward. He would do that. His grandmother was gone forever. But he would always remember her and continue with her memory.
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What a good tale and life for Alex but I really don't love how these "moral guardians" are going out and ruining things for people just because they are different from them even if they are one hair different they will still send out the dog whistles and bully them so they can suck my ass! Yes, I said it. They can't arrest saying that because of my free speech. Free speech for the win!
Alex's new roommates seem nice enough, certainly could be worse. Speaking of worse, Josh continues to just not understand how people view what he says and does.
That's the vulture in him talking. Sadly, it looks like the vulture is on the rise and the smart kid we knew in middle school is on the decline, egged on by people who only enable his worst instincts and discourage his best.
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Good to see Alex is finally making friends, although their might be more to Chris than he's letting on. Good easter-egg to Eastern Vikings with Jared, I'm sure @RedTemplar would be proud of the reference. Good to see a tribute to Anne at the end of this update, I miss her a lot.
Wasn't expecting a Korra reference in this arc so soon after the summaries in the form of Alex and Chris' scene with those religious right students, but I dig it. I also consider the history lecture a second LOK reference in a way, at least thematically. I kind of see some resemblances between Wilson and Trotsky with Tarrlok and Amon in terms of ideology with that comparison, even if Amon is not an Equalist here (boy does that sound weird to say out of TTL's context).
Wasn't expecting a Korra reference in this arc so soon after the summaries in the form of Alex and Chris' scene with those religious right students, but I dig it. I also consider the history lecture a second LOK reference in a way, at least thematically. I kind of see some resemblances between Wilson and Trotsky with Tarrlok and Amon in terms of ideology with that comparison, even if Amon is not an Equalist here (boy does that sound weird to say out of TTL's context).
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He’ll be glad to hear Jared will be making more appearances to come!
I definitely wanted to make the Korra reference in Alex’s dialogue (with more references sprinkled out over the rest of the arc), but the Wilson/Trotsky parallels to Tarrlok/Amon also work. Each pair is ideologically opposed to each other and works to undermine the other, but they really are two sides of the same coin.
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Good to see Alex is finally making friends, although their might be more to Chris than he's letting on. Good easter-egg to Eastern Vikings with Jared, I'm sure @RedTemplar would be proud of the reference. Good to see a tribute to Anne at the end of this update, I miss her a lot.
Wasn't expecting a Korra reference in this arc so soon after the summaries in the form of Alex and Chris' scene with those religious right students, but I dig it. I also consider the history lecture a second LOK reference in a way, at least thematically. I kind of see some resemblances between Wilson and Trotsky with Tarrlok and Amon in terms of ideology with that comparison, even if Amon is not an Equalist here (boy does that sound weird to say out of TTL's context).
I love it!
As a certain senator would say, "Both sides are the same!"
Seems Alex is making new friends despite all the stuff that's been going on, Josh though, that might not be the case. I almost didn't get that easter egg to the Eastern Vikings megacampaign till I had to reread that Crater bit again. Guess I gotta reread that megacampaign. By the way, that bit on Chris telling the mobster guy that it was the will of his father set off vibes on a certain anime for me. Not sure if that's what you were going for Zen but I really gotta keep an eye on Chris. Seems there's really more to him than what he lets on.