my ideal makorrasami imagines are always like

asami comes home to her girlfriend and boyfriend after a long day of being a genius engineer and fortune 500 ceo

she picks up bolin on the way because it's mako's birthday so they're having a little get-together

they head to the pool because that's usually where korra can be found when the weather is super warm, and obviously mako will be there too keeping her company

she and bolin hear raised voices as they approach. omg the girlfriend and boyfriend are fightinggggg

it's a very sophisticated argument. they're just saying, over and over, "nuh-uh!" "uh-huh!" "NUH-UH!" "YEAH-HUH!"

asami and bolin round the corner to see korra and mako glaring at each other, cheeks flushed, eyes glassy, absolutely drunk off their gourd

asami's just like "pregaming, are we? i hope you left some alcohol for the rest of us" and raises one devastating eyebrow

korra and mako turn to her and their faces light up immediately. "asami!! you're here!!!"

(the eyebrow does nothing to dampen their enthusiasm, which is fine, because they're very endearing drunks and she is very much enjoying this)

then they turn back to each other and are like "SHE'LL agree with me. THEN you'll see. i'm right and you're wrong. you're the wrongest forever and ever. no YOU are" etc. etc.

this of course quickly devolves into good ol rough and tumble rasslin

bolin's like "ooh ooh ooh! what are we talking about? i love being part of conversations! i want to have an opinion!!!"

by which point korra has mako in a headlock and they turn in tandem to look at asami (bolin's input is not required) and very earnestly ask her who the best kisser is

they're looking at her so expectantly and korra has forgotten about the headlock so now they're just hugging as they wait with baited breath for asami's verdict

and asami's like oh well uh guys i can't really...that's not...apples oranges et cetera, you're both extremely good kissers, really top notch, full marks for everyone, i uh always love any sort of kissing that we get to do, um, together,

just digging herself into this awkward hole, right. because no one expects that question

mako's mouth drops open. "woah," he says

"yeah," says korra

as one, their heads swivel toward each other

"the BEST kisser...is ASAMI!!!!!" they say in unison

they stare into each other's eyes for a beat

suddenly their mouths are colliding as they LAUNCH themselves toward each other and begin making out frantically and with great fervor

occasionally coming up for air to say such things as "you're so smart" "no YOU" "no ASAMI is" "asami's the smartest" "i love asami" "she's the best ever for always" amidst the most embarrassingly sloppy kissing known to man

bolin's like "soooo. just to make sure i'm getting this straight"

asami: uh-huh

bolin: the reason korra and my brother are kissing in front of us so enthusiastically...

asami: yeah

bolin: ...is because they are in SUCH complete agreement...

asami: right

bolin: ...that YOU are good at kissing?

asami: that appears to be the case, yes

asami can hear bolin facepalm somewhere off to the side, but she only has eyes for the ridiculously adorable and uncoordinated makeout session taking place in front of her

cousin tu's voice comes from the direction of the house. "oh dude they're done arguing? right on"

bolin: how long have they been arguing?

tu: idk, like half an hour? for a while they were just arm-wrestling but korra let mako win because it's his birthday, and he got all cranky about it

bolin: uh-huh. so how did they get from that...to this?

tu: well obviously then korra said it doesn't matter if she's the best arm-wrestler because mako's the best kisser

bolin: wait

tu: and mako was all, "no YOU'RE the best kisser" and korra went "no YOU are"

bolin: so you mean to tell me...

tu: and i got bored after like, five minutes of that so i went back inside

bolin: ...all this time they were fighting because they each think the OTHER person is better at kissing?

tu: well, yeah. i mean if you ask me they both seem to be pretty bad at kissing lol. but whatever, it's not my problem. no offense, asami!

bolin: they're probably better at kissing when they're sober. i mean, this is just embarrassing. right, asami? please tell me this is not what you're working with on a daily basis. asami? hello? asami?

but asami isn't listening. she's gazing at korra and mako with the goofiest smile on her face. her pupils have turned into heart shapes. without conscious decision on her part she clasps her hands and presses them sappily to her bosom

tu: dude, maybe we should, like, give them a minute

bolin: is this even safe? what if they bite each other's lips off?

tu: korra's a healer, right? like, i'm not worried about it

asami doesn't notice them leave. she's so full of love for these two ridiculous idiots that it's spilling out of her in the form of literal tears. she's crying from how much she loves them

this continues until korra and mako in their clumsy enthusiasm actually fall into the pool. korra bends the water away from mako before he can drown and then immediately tries to punch it for endangering him. asami runs over to get them out and they both see that she's been crying. this is followed by a five-minute sequence of mako frantically petting her hair while she tries to convince korra to put away the fire-dagger, no one has been mean to her, everything is all right, korra, no wait, don't go into the avatar state, you're going to suck the cake into the element vortex -

mako thinks it's very unfair that the day after his birthday, he's the only one who wakes up with a hangover. apparently the avatar, who's been up since the buttcrack of dawn merrily inventing the new field of batterbending to replace the cake she and her past lives destroyed, is above such concerns. asami kisses his nose with great affection and, it must be said, terrible morning breath. "how about this," she says. "on my birthday, korra and i will get drunk and attempt to eat each other's faces and you can babysit. sound good?"

yes, that sounds good, he thinks. after all, taking turns has served them pretty well so far.

🥑🍄🦋 hehehe

Thanks for the ask! Heh heh 😈

🥑 ⇢ you accidentally killed somebody, which mutual(s) do you text for help?

I dunno, man. It sounds kinda FED-y to me! 👀 but ig if I gotta implicate someone *cough* @lilypixels *cough* @zynoox *cough*

🦋 ⇢ share something that has been on your heart and mind lately 

*Holds up a copy of NYT* All of this and so much more.

Lately, it's been the double aged sword of being known, if that makes sense?

Like this blog for example, I love doing it, I love helping you guys where I can and interacting with you all, but we all know the internet can be a very draining and daunting place especially for creators/artists. Not only do you have to do the thing, but then you have to go around waving the thing you did in everyone's face, and many people aren't so nice about it.

I don't know, I have this fun little thing where I want to be loud and start a revolution and take over the world, but also if I talk to stranger for longer than five minutes then I'm ready to move to the woods and adopt a reclusive old hag lifestyle 😅

🍄 ⇢ share a head canon for one of your favourite ships or pairings

Okay, I'm gonna do a couple because I'm not sure if this is about my characters that I ship or others, so I'm going to use it as an excuse to gush about both.

Canon ships v

Others: Korra/Asami (The Legend of Korra)

● They've learned to love themselves through the other's eyes. Korra thinks she's too headstrong, which is what Asami adores the most about her, and Asami thinks she wears her heart on her sleeve too much while that's what made Korra fall for her. Because they know that's what got the other's love, it's made them take pride in those parts of themselves.

Mine: Jared/Jayne

● He thinks her calm balances out his crazy, but she thinks his calm balances her crazy. They have a perfect yin and yang to their relationship but really have no idea. They're just following their instincts, and it's always right. They just know the other is exactly what they need and try to repay it to the other in the best way they can.

Noncanon ships v

Others: Steve/Bucky (Marvel)

● They know everything about each other, the good, the bad, and the ugly and love each other because of it, not in spite of it. If Bucky decided to go on a murderous rampage, Steve would be right by his side. If Steve got excommunicated from the US, Bucky's already packed their bags because it's til the end of the line.

Mine: Conner/Parker (It would, could, and probably should never ever happen but like it's there...)

● They have a kind of synchronicity, in a way. Especially with the hard stuff, like emotions. They're both just so in sync with each other, if Conner's had a stressful day Parker's already rented Ghostbusters and is making popcorn, if Parker's fighting with his family Conner makes it a big deal to remind him that there are people that love him. It's just ahh.

🧡🍊

In Defense of Mako from Legend of Korra: The Avatar Franchise's Unsung Hero (Warning | Does Contain Spoilers for the Legend of Korra as a whole series)

Well this isn't a controversial topic that's going to garner me hate. My main intro to fandom in general started way back with two franchises: Resident Evil and the Avatar: The Last Airbender Series. As someone who is on the verge of turning 26, I realize I'm on the older end of the demographic trend of those who like the franchise (Even though the show first aired in February 2005) and as many people will tell you, The ATLA franchise and especially the original series is widely lauded as one of, if not the best animated series of all time. With the Legend of Korra coming out as the sequel to the original series back in April of 2012, I was a high schooler during that time and was beginning to develop and understand more nuanced and complex topics and character traits. And to me, despite it's multiple flaws, The Legend of Korra was a brilliant sequel built atop a personally flawless universe.

The Legend of Korra was a more adult take on the Avatar franchise. A series well known for not shying away from very real and very adult topics like war, poverty, death, genocide, classisim, etc. To see this world evolve into an industrial revolution and live through its form of Gilded Age was such a unique and engaging twist on a fictional universe I already had a deep love for. We have our new Avatar; Korra, a young woman from the Southern Water Tribe given the title of the next Avatar following the death of Aang, the main character of the original ATLA series. We get to see her perspective and watch her juggle being The Avatar and being a young adult in the same universe we saw the original Gaang work tirelessly throughout their adult lives to create. We get to watch her make new friends and eventually form her own Team Avatar, which is where we get introduced to Mako and Bolin.

That's enough gushing about the universe this is set in but it does help provide context to what I will try to argue in this post. Mako is one quarter of Korra's Team Avatar, the eventual ignored axis of the Korra/Mako/Asami love triangle, and almost 70% of the drama that happens within the party. One of Legend of Korra's weaknesses as a series compared to Avatar the Last Airbender was its heavy focus on romantic relationships as subplot to create tension and drama within the team. To call Mako a fuckboy is like calling the sky blue. That being said, the sheer vitriol that the fandom has against him is astounding. The Legend of Korra holds no punches with Mako in that they are very upfront about Mako not being a generally nice person at best to being a selfish player at his lowest characterization. However none of this detracts from the fact that Mako has saved the world alongside Korra and the rest of Team Avatar MULTIPLE times.

Yet because of a poor reception of his character to the literal world-spanning conflict that was this show's shipping wars. We've seen Mako get cast to the side over and treated worse than the freaking villains of the show, which include but aren't limited to; terrorists who want to commit ethnic cleansing (Among) a religious zealot who wishes to usher in thousands of years of Darkness (Unalaq) an anarchist who literally does not care who he kills and ALSO wanted to commit ethnic cleansing (Zaheer) and a literal fascist dictator who was willing to go as far as putting her own people in concentration camps all because they disagree with her. (Kuvira)

In this tangent I'm not trying to say any of Mako's actions in his relationships with Korra and Asami were justified or good decisions. I am trying in this post to provide context as to why he is how he is and why he, to this day, still is my favorite protagonist from The Legend of Korra. So enjoy! Or don't, you're choosing to use your free time to read this, I'm just infodumping because I'm a LoK fan, a simp for Mako, and a history buff whose favorite time period to study is the Industrial Revolution/Gilded Age/Edwardian Era. So enjoy! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I guess we should give a general history of these two because hey, context. Mako is a mixed-heritage fire bender who grew up in Republic City, a nation-state-city-thing founded by the original Gaang to be a city where all people of all nationalities whether you were from the Earth Kingdom, the Fire Nation, or the Northern and Southern Water tribes could come together and live harmoniously.

Mako and Bolin's father, San, was an Earth Bender and an Earth Kingdom national originally from Ba Sing Se who came from a very large family of grocers/produce vendors and hailed from the poorest economic circle/caste in Ba Sing Se. San had aspirations and dreamed of moving to the fabled Republic City in an attempt to try to better his life. This caused a fallout between San and his father, after which San made his way from Ba Sing Se to Republic City. After an undetermined amount of time, San met a Fire Nation woman named Naoki, the two formed a relationship and eventually had a son who could fire-bend. (Mako) Two years later, they had another son, this time one who could earth bend (Bollin)

We don't know the economic standing that San and Naoki found themselves in but considering how Mako and Bollin had to grow up following what happened, it can be assumed they were lower-middle class at best. However after an indeterminate amount of time, the family took this photo seen above together and sent it to San's family back in Ba Sing Se, like you'd take a picture of your family and send it out as holiday cards, which I assume this is what it was. But it let San's family know that he was alive and now has a family of his own and two sons.

Unfortunately this happiness did not last. As supposedly not long after, in a break-in robbery gone wrong, Mako witnessed as his mother and father were murdered by a fire bender. Making him not only an orphan but now the sole caretaker for his younger brother. Now, I need to stress to everyone reading this of the fact that not only was Mako just a kid when this happened, but Mako was EIGHT (8) years old when he watched his whole world get turned upside down as he watched a fire-bender murder his mother and father. Mako was a genuine child. Most human males don't start the very first phases of puberty until about 10 at the earliest. All of this piled on top of the fact that Mako now has to care for his six year old brother when he himself is just a kid.

People ask, 'why didn't Mako take Bolin and himself to Ba Sing Se?' 'What about Naoki's family?' San was basically disowned by his father, and from what we know about how Mako and Bolin stayed in Republic City it's very likely San didn't tell Mako or Bollin about his family. When Mako and Bolin met their paternal uncle Chow and their Grandmother Yin in Book 3, Chow and Yin didn't even know that San had died. That's how little San and his family communicated. The only reason why they even re-united was that Chow noticed the striking resemblance Bolin had to San. Chow's brother and Bolin's father. We literally know nothing about Naoki other than her name and what she looked like. We don't know her family or her origin or where she came from or even if she was a fire bender. It's implied that she was a fire bender because Mako is a fire bender, but we don't even know that for sure because again, all that we know is her name, what she looked like, and that she was from the Fire Nation. Even if Mako was 8, I feel if he had known about these family members, he would have at least tried to find them or reach out to them. But given what we were shown in S3. Mako and Bolin never knew they had family in Ba Sing Se, let alone they had any family left other than the two of them.

As the show went along we got more details about who the brothers were and how they came to be, and even a short mini-series on how three years prior to meeting Korra they met Pabu and discovered Pro-Bending called Republic City Hustle. It's a cute short that sheds light onto their background and insight to their characters.

It's established pretty early on that Mako is the stern, but caring older brother on the show. He still has his funny moments but in general his main focus is keeping him and Bolin alive. It's stated in the show that Mako did anything to keep him and Bolin fed and alive. A lot of people don't get that this show was taking place during this universe's Edwardian Era (it feels like the Gilded Age and the Edwardian Era get lumped together because it falls right after the industrial revolution and before World War I even though the Gilded Age ranges from 1870-1900 and the Edwardian Era spans from 1900-1914/15-ish. So I guess the Edwardian Era because they had radio broadcasts and early forms of movies/televisions but Auto/Satomobiles were just becoming mainstream/readily available.) (Post update I've come to realize that what they were going for was the Roaring 20's but this honestly changes little) ANYWAYS Child Labor laws really weren't what they used to be, even in the most progressive of countries at the time. I want to circle us back to Mako and Bolin by reminding you that Mako was 8 when his parents were murdered. At that point and time, as he watched both of his parents get murdered by a fire-bender, at that exact moment Mako stopped being a kid and immediately had to become an adult.

Mako is often portrayed as this brooding, hard ass type who can be really immature when upset but also gloats and acts even impudent at times. A lot of this stems from the fact that since he was 8, Mako had to learn not only how to survive on the streets of a major city, learn how to make money, how to feed, clean, house, and support not only himself but his six year old brother. Most people in their teens and twenties once they reach the point they can physically have children struggle with this GREATLY. Let alone an EIGHT YEAR OLD. Mako spent the entirety of his formative childhood years and well into his early adulthood having the stressors of a fully-matured adult on his shoulders. I'm not surprised at all he's lacking in terms of the social skills department. Especially when it comes to talking about his emotional maturity around friends and romantic partners. I think it's safe to say outside of what little schooling Mako did receive, his childhood wasn't focused on making friends and maintaining friendships/relationships.

Also yes, Mako detractors, it's proven multiple times that Mako and Bolin both are fully literate. Mako has been made to write NUMEROUS incident reports as a police officer via Lin Beifong, and in probably the stupidest use of the Avatar State ever, Korra used the bright white lights of doom to act as a nightlight for Mako so he could read a book. Infuriatingly stupid? You bet, does it show that a literal street-urchin defying all the odds thrown against him and being someone who is literate enough to enjoy a book on his own free time? You betcha.

In a roundabout way, I'm trying to explain that Mako doesn't have the best social skills based on the fact that he was an orphan in what was essentially the early 1910's for this world's societal timeframe and as such he didn't have much in the ways of a social upbringing. I don't think he really had a good, genuine friendship with anyone outside his brother until he met Korra and Asami. He most likely had to adopt the mindset that everyone who isn't paying him is an obstacle in the way of him earning a means to survive.

Yet at the same time, this is what I grew to love about Mako. Was that despite the literal mountain of trauma he carries on his shoulders, he's an amazingly well-adjusted person considering his circumstances.

When we first meet him in Book 1 he's finally at a bit of an upswing in his life, he works at a power plant that utilizes Fire Benders who can generate lighting to power Republic City's electricity. (Most likely fantastic for the environment, on a meta level thinking about human rights? This is a literal nightmare.) And with this job he's able to keep a roof over his and Bolin's head and he's able to participate in Pro-Bending on the side. Considering not 3 years before him and Bolin were basically wearing rags and on the street doing whatever he can to get him and Bolin food.

Can we also discuss how utterly broken Mako is if we go based on the original lore of the ATLA universe? If memory serves Lightning generation is a thing that naturally not every fire bender is able to do, like it's a genetic thing or something, it has culturally waned in terms of being taught. To the point that at the end of ATLA: The only four humans known to be capable of generating and redirecting lightning were Ozai, Zuko, Azula, and Aang. It became taught by Zuko through the generations and although it became significantly more common again, not every fire bender could generate lightning. Mako already is a fairly talented Fire Bender considering he hasn't had much of any formal training on his bending abilities but the fact that his fire bending is to the caliber as some of the fiercest enemies in ATLA, but having lighting generation skills on par with, if not surpassing that of the literal Fire Nation royal family not even a century ago.

And this is when we just meet Mako when he was just 18. He's able to generate a genuinely powerful blast of lightning at Amon while he's being blood bended and gave Amon a powerful enough blast to temporarily incapacitate him. (Aang was blood bended by Amon's father and was only able to break out by going into the Avatar state) but it gets to the point by book 4, in order to stop Kuvira's Mecha from destroying Republic City, Mako generates lightning at the spirit branch powering the machine to the point he physically burns and disfigures his own arm by just how much lightning this man was generating. The entire power-scaling gymnastics Legend of Korra goes through is already nonsense but this? This is fucking scary. This is some Sozin's comet level shit coming out of some random 22 year old man who grew up on the streets. I don't know how else to emphasize that Mako canonically has killed a person because of his lightning bending. (she was a villain about to murder him but still)

Regardless of his abilities, Mako is a character who has been through an extreme amount of trauma. As a social scientist by trade, Mako had defied literally every statistic placed against him. After losing his parents he not only was able to provide for himself but for Bolin too. He managed to do all of this starting before he even hit puberty. Yet despite all of the years of unresolved trauma. Mako is still a good person.

Back in Book 1 Mako was just as on board with taking down the Equalists as Korra. Mako did this to help people and he did all of this of his own volition. Yes he was at Korra's side and he was technically eating Asami, but Mako had 0 obligation to stay by The Avatar's side. Especially when him and his brother's lives were in danger. Given Mako's background and how he had to live a very selfish life to survive, this shows that Mako genuinely is a good person who went along for the ride and came out on top.

Funnily enough, when you look into the next Book, Mako becomes a cop in Republic City. Our boy here really is just poor Bruce Wayne with superpowers. He got to go on one vigilante adventure with a hot girl paying attention to him and now he's about honor and justice. God, Mako, I want to hit you. He clearly went through a power trip by the end of Book 1 and him working at a Power Plant wasn't going to give him the same kind of rush so he goes to Chief Beifong. And honestly, I'll bet Lin was fucking relieved that the most powerful fire bender she's ever seen is a temperamental 18 year old blue collar worker just suddenly decided to make any potential headache and stack of paperwork disappear by walking to her office and asking her for a job. And as Book 2 would later show us, Mako is literally just an incident report waiting to happen.

Regardless, a large part of his character arc was finding out how to be a good person and be a good friend at the same time. Mako is a character who tears down a lot of personal walls and matures a tremendous amount as the books go on. He starts as an adult at 18 with 10 years of experience to opening up as a friend and love interest, to being confronted with a lot of his own negative traits, him not taking it well, to him recognizing that no, he's not the hero and is actively the problem the majority of the time to bring a fully matured character by the end of the show. Again, Mako really is just Bruce Wayne if Bruce was poor and had to take care of a child once his parents died. I get Bruce's reasoning of being a vigilante hero and beating up "villains" isnt a story everyone likes. But I fuck it, I'm basically 2000 words in and we're still here.

Okay obligatory simp section: people don't appreciate the fact that Mako is INTIMIDATING AS FUCK. Yes the guy is in his late teens and early twenties but Mako is 6'2. And is an athlete who becomes a cop who then becomes the personal bodyguard to the heir of a Queen who was murdered. Wu hired Mako because he KNEW Mako's reputation as a bender. (and as a man) Mako is often portrayed as a stick whereas Bolin is everyone's beefy thick god supreme. Mako isn't thick with 72 C's but Mako is not scrawny and has a very athletic build and is quite muscular.

Add on top of the fact that benders, particularly Fire Benders, had a very negative stigma surrounding them during the events of book 1. Mako, to someone who you've never met, a 6'2 muscular, sharp-faced rough looking fire bender coming your way is a very intimidating site. And this information isn't lost on Mako. He's well aware that he holds the exact same power that many people in Republic City fear. He apologizes to Asami after finding out a fire-bender killed her mother. He carries the exact same power that was used by the very person he watched murder his own parents. And Mako knows how to capitalize on it. Mako has threatened to use his bending to harm people on numerous occasions as a means to get what he wants out of them. Notedly for the greater good but still. I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of a pissed off 18 year old who is pinning me to a wall and has fire superpowers and lightning superpowers to match that of the gods all whilst he's generating a knife made out of FIRE and putting it between my arm and my head. (Don't fucking lie you simp that is your DREAM)

One of the areas where I feel we see LoK succeed over ATLA is we truly get to see these characters evolve over the course of years. There's a big gap between books 2 and 3 and an even bigger gap between books 3 and 4. By the time we re-united with Mako at the start of book 4, he's 22 and a fully established adult. He's now the personal bodyguard for the extremely eccentric Prince Wu, the nephew of the now deceased tyrannical Earth Queen and next in line for the throne of the Earth Kingdom.

They establish very early on that yes, this is the same Mako as before for better or for worse, but Mako has truly come into his own of who he wants to be, a protector. He wants to be someone who defends the innocent and punishes those who are unjust (Insert Bruce Wayne reference here) However when we look at his re-design for Book 4 Mako has one of the most dramatic design changes. He's very non-descript with a toned down style as opposed to his loud and brash style with his rocking up-do haircut. He's now settled for a neat, gelled comb-over that looks like it ages him about 5 years older than he actually is. I feel a large part of this has to do with him working with royalty, as in the follow-up comics to Book 4, when given the choice and not under obligation to protect Prince Wu, Mako will choose to go back to his original hair style.

But Book 4 serves as what I consider a good enough wrap-up to his character. Mako realizes that even though he does still harbor feelings for Korra. That's not what is in both of their best interests and that's completely okay. Him and Korra are still able to maintain a solid friendship based on a deep amount of trust they both have for each other. I cannot stress enough that again, Mako and the rest of Team Avatar were walking into a mission against Kuvira they very likely wouldn't make it out of. And Mako very nearly almost killed himself by just how much he was exerting himself to destroy the Spirit Branch. Hell the actual burst of lighting he generated was so powerful and was so prolonged he literally physically burned his own arm to the point he's physically disfigured now because of it. That is how far Mako was willing to go for the Avatar and for what he believed in.

The Legend of Korra is a phenomenal successor to Avatar the Last Airbender. That being said, LoK had a lot of glaring weaknesses that overall dragged the show down. Its heavy reliance on its romantic subplot has got to be the biggest weakness of the show. As it polarized the fandom very quickly to the entirety of the main team. Mako fell on the short end of that straw because he was the player, the main love interest of the Avatar for the first half of the show and we spent the latter half dealing with the fallout of their relatively messy break up. Causing many in the fandom to immediately subjugate Mako to just being a fuckboy hard ass.

Mako is a character who has seen and lived through an untold amount of trauma from a very early age. I don't need a PHD or MD to tell the people of Tumblr.com that trauma literally changes the way you form relationships and respond to the world. Mako is no different. Yet he doesn't let his trauma define him. I like Mako as much as I do because he's an absolutely ridiculously powerful bender but also this is a man who you can't say no to. You can't tell Mako no or he can't do that because he's smart and creative enough to give it a multiple good college-trys and he's also strong enough to electrocute a quarter of freaking Republic City so he'll find a way to do it and get it done.

I think Mako's key sticking point is that he's a bit too adult of a character for this TV shows. A lot of the decisions he makes are seen as cold and harsh but this guy has spent a decade on the streets trying to keep not only himself but his kid brother alive. And the second he gets a moment to actually express himself emotionally and romantically things go awry because he wasn't properly socialized on how to sustain and maintain healthy friendships and romantic relationships. It almost feels like he was set-up from the get-go to fail in this regards.

Regardless Mako is not the demon the fandom makes him out to be. He's brash, brooding, and a little bit immature, but to call him the villain of the show is both an insult to Mako but to the villains of the show. Because Mako is the man who I genuinely believe would give you the shirt off his back if you were struggling and my single favorite part of this whole series is the villains. Where Korra's Team struggled and felt conflicted the villains were the true highlight of the show.

Anyways long tangent over: I love Mako and his absolute dorkiness and his stupid eyebrows and nice muscles. He's a genuinely good character who deserves his pearls but to be studied as well because why did we need to give him the power of Thor? Why? It was very sexy of them to do it but I'm just confused as to why. Anyways I hope you gained something out of this infodump because boy this took a day and a half.

can't wait to see some of your writing! can i maybe ask for a bolin x reader who's maybe a tiny, innocent seeming airbender, but is actually insanely impressive at their bending? maybe the avatar gang underestimates their skills and ends up pleasantly surprised (especially bolin 😏) if not, just anything bolin would be amazing ✨❤️ thank you!!

so i decided to combine these two, i hope that’s okay! i also thought that hc format would be best, just because its stretching over a longer period of time. the next thing i’ll be working on is NOT a request but i will get to the requests as well :) anyways, i hope you enjoy!!

•••••••

so like, you first meet bolin at the park in republic city

it was actually really sweet; you’re sitting on a bench and he thinks you’re GORGEOUS and asks if the seat is taken next to you and of course you say no because bolin and pabu are both cute as hell

usually bolin is a pretty straightforward guy but right off the bat he noticed how sweet you were and he didn’t even feel the need to flirt with you like he just felt comfy sitting with you

you guys decide to hit up this little noodle place together after sitting for a while and he’s convinced it’s love at first sight

you were especially endearing to him because you didn’t watch movers and you literally didn’t know wtf the fire ferrets were, and while bolin loved to be loved, he also really liked just feeling like a normal person???

you didn’t have your tattoos (yet) so he first noticed you were an airbender when you did this little spinny thing to mix your tea

the look on this mans face... both hands on his cheeks and wide eyes 

“ooooh! do it again (y/n)!”

you happily obliged because you thought he was adorable

you guys kept in touch after that day, often ‘accidentally’ running into each other in random places

OBviously he told mako, korra, and asami about you. they didn’t tell bolin that he sounded like a lovesick puppy cause they just thought it was sweet

mako got the most of it, like they’d be heading to bed for the night and bolin would whisper ‘i wonder what (y/n) is doing right now’ and mako would just GROAN

anyways, it wasn’t too long before you met the rest of the krew. you had gone to get ingredients for dinner tonight and bolin pointed you out to them cause they were walking down the same street

‘they’re a lot shorter than i thought they would be’

‘shush korra, they’re perfect’ (aww he called u perfect)

anyways, your relationship with all members of the krew grew beautifully after your first meeting

mako actually warmed up to you quickly, appreciating your calmer and innocent personality; you and asami both had very gentle souls that meshed perfectly; korra picked up a sort of ‘annoying big sister’ dynamic with you that you both enjoyed

and oh my god did they get exasperated with the two of you quickly

it was obvious to anyone with eyes (or feet) that you and bolin were SO interested in each other

whenever you talked, bolin would look down at you with this softass smile on his face and if someone interrupted you EVER he got so defensive... like just let his baby speak!!!!

you always listened to whatever bolin had to say and laughed at all of his jokes, even when the other three were rolling their eyes

like even in a silent room you two were always whispering to each other, and he pulled you along with him on all the krew adventures

none of them would ever tell you guys this but they thought you and bo were perfect for eachother

mako actually thought you were a perfect balance for his little bro, and after meeting you he got a lot more lenient and understanding whenever bolin would gush about you

‘did you hear what (y/n) said today! they’re so funny’

‘mako mako mako they’re so precious how do i TELL them!!!’

‘i wish (y/n) were here.... THEY would’ve laughed at that’

one time asami, korra, and you decided to hang out without the boys and you were not prepared in the slightest

‘so how’s it going with bolin?’ korra asked nonchalantly

you almost choked on your drink you were like ???

‘wait are you guys not dating?’ asami followed that up with. she and korra gave each other the most appalled look

‘n-no? should we be? i mean he is, well, i wouldn’t be opposed-’

‘you DO like him. mako said he likes you too. like a lot.’

‘korra ur joking right?’

even after that the looks and red cheeks did not stop between the two of you, asami was this close to just pushing the two of you together

don’t think the three of them didn’t notice you glancing at his lips, his hands, his arms...

and vice versa, he was always making direct eye contact with you and looking at your lips when you talked and every time he saw you, when you weren’t looking, he’d just look u up and down and it was literally this emoji 👀

so a few weeks after that ordeal the five of you were sitting in front of a shop and all of your interests are immediately piqued when you see these 8 super shady guys walk up to the store nextdoor

obviously stuff goes down. you and bolin end up chasing 3 of the guys down a side street while the others are dealing with the other 5

bolin is shooting rocks at these guys left and right but they are LIGHT on their feet and tbh his precision is a little off because ur there

‘bolin i got this’

‘what?’

you release this HUGE gust of air and topple all three of them off their feet and raise them up in the air, basically controlling 3 mini tornadoes and bolin just looks at you

he KNEW you were an airbender but oh my god he’d only ever seen a group of airbenders pull off something like that

korra, asami, and mako run up behind the two of you and mako looks at bolin like ‘the fuck dude?’, korra is straight up IMPRESSED, asami’s just smiling because she knows from experience that the most intense and talented people are the ones you least expect

after that whole ordeal is over (i’d like to mention that lin is also pretty impressed by you), you and the others are sitting up against a brick wall together, j chillin

‘you should kiss me’ you finally mustered up the courage, thinking back to your conversation with asami and korra

‘yeah i sho- wait WHAT?’ bolin looks down at you because your head is on his shoulder and your sides are pressed together, and he’s blushing. this dude is a tomato.

you nodded at him letting him know that he heard you right

he did NOT hesitate after you gave him consent, he wrapped his arms around you and kissed you SO proudly he didn’t even care that you were surrounded by your friends

and, well, the rest is history. i’ll be at the wedding.

(IM SORRY this ended up being so long)

@nancbyers :)

The Transfer Part 9

*This bih is 4k+ long so to read it fully just follow them link*

“What if they don't like me? What if they think I'm annoying? What if-”

“Enough!” Lin raised her voice exasperated.

You had been pacing for the last ten minutes waiting for the ferry. You were rethinking the piercings and the short sleeve blouse. You kept your hands on your arms in an attempt to cover up. You felt too vulnerable for your liking and the anxiety started getting to you.

“Everything is going to be fine Y/N. Stop overthinking it. They are all very accepting of everyone’s differences. You won't be the reason they stop thinking this way.” She offered her knowledge. “The ferry is almost here, come down. Everything will be okay.”

You nodded, you were still nervous but not as much. The ferry arrived and both of you got on and some people started to stare at you. Lin would stare at them back until they got uncomfortable and minded their own business. You placed your hand on your lower back, the stress was making your stitches hurt, Lin saw this and placed her hand above yours.

“Is it hurting?” She asked softly.

“It happens when I get stressed, but if I apply a bit of pressure it helps.” You answer, you take your arm off but she keeps it on. You tried not to think of it too much but the warm blush was already spreading to your ears.

Soon the ferry arrives at the temple's docks and you both get out. You can see the long road ahead and sigh. You start walking alongside the earthbender until you reach a long line of stairs. You took the first step holding tightly onto Lin, a few more steps and you had to take a moment to breathe.

The chief looked at you and used her bending to make a platform under both of you. “Hold on.” She said as the platform started moving upwards. After a few minutes both of you were finally in the courtyard of the temple. A young girl with long hair and two buns made her way to you. She smiled and started asking questions rapidly.

“Are you Y/N? How old are you? Are you a firebender? Do you like animals? Can I see your tattoos? How many tattoos do you have? How many piercings do you have?”

You stood there a moment collecting the information before smiling back at her.

“Yes, 25, yes, also yes, sure, like 15? A few.”

She scanned you up and down and grabbed your arms. She started looking at them and flipping them to see the full picture.

“You're so cool and pretty!” The girl charmed as she stared.

“Ikki, leave her alone, she's tired.” Lin growled.

The girl seemed unfazed at Lin’s antics.

You chuckled “It's alright Chief. So you're Ikki? Nice to meet you, I like your buns.”

“It's my signature hairstyle.” She smirked as she touched her hair. “Come on, dinner's ready.”

You followed the girl inside where a tall man with blue arrow tattoos and a tan woman with short hair greeted you. Your eyes widened when you realized who the people in front of you were.

You bowed deeply and immediately winced. “Master Tenzin, Avatar Korra. It's an honor to be blessed with your presence.” You said formally with a smile.

“It's an honor to meet you officer Y/N, we've heard so much.” Tenzin said softly.

“Yes! But due to your back injury we would prefer you not to bow. It could hurt you more.”

You blushed and nodded. “I'm just in such awe to meet such incredible people.”

“We are very happy to meet you too.” A new feminine voice said.

You look up to see the one and only Asami Sato.

“Miss Sato!” You automatically bowed again and winced.

Asami laughed. “Let's go take a seat, I think your back would appreciate it.”

The heiress took your hand and guided you to the table where Kya, Amara and Pema were sitting. You also saw Mako and another man with green eyes sitting next to him. Lin sat on one of your sides while Asami sat on the other. There were two more kids, another girl with arrow tattoos and a boy with short black hair.

“Y/N this is Bolin, my brother.” Mako said, introducing you.

You reached over and shook his hand. “A pleasure to meet you Bolin, Your brother has told me great things about you.”

“Aww bro really?” Bolin said with teary eyes.

Mako scoffed. “You've already met Korra, Amara, Kya and Asami, so she's Pema.” He said pointing to the woman near Tenzin. “She's Tenzin’s wife and mother to Ikki, Jinora and Meelo, the kids next to her.”

“I'm happy to meet all of you.” You said smiling. The pain started once more and you tried to reach behind you but the position was awkward.

Lin leaned into you. “You need help with that?”

You blushed but nodded, her hand went to your lower back applying steady preaching. You sighed in relief. “Thank you” You could see a blush as she nodded and couldn't help but grin.

“So, Y/N…” Korra started. “Let me start by saying that I LOVE your style.”

You smiled. “Thank you Avatar Korra.”

“Just Korra is fine.” She looked at Asami. “You look really cool, I mean when we saw the pictures in the newspaper it was blurry so we didn't get to see the details.”

“But your tattoos are amazing! It makes you look even more beautiful than you already are.” Asami finished.

You were blushing profusely. “Oh thank you honestly. They are just as much part of me as my hair.”

Kya knew the two women were enjoying flustering you. So she charged in to help you ease your nerves.

“How are you finding the city so far?” The waterbender asked.

“Oh! It's been really cool!” You smiled. “I haven't been able to see a lot since I'm working a lot but there's a cafe I'm falling in love with. It's close to the precinct and they sell the best strawberry and cream biscuits I've ever tasted.” You gush.

“Oh you like sweets? You have to try Kya’s fruit tart, it's the best thing ever.” Korra responded smiling.

“Yeah! Oh and you should go to a noodle place we know, they sell the best noodles!” Bolin said to you.

“I'll definitely try it out!”

You had been in the conversation so long that you didn't even notice Lin’s hand off your back. You looked at her discreetly but she was focused on a conversation with Kya.

“Are you single?” Meelo asked boldly.

“Yup.” You said looking back at him.

“Do you like boys or girls?” Ikki asked.

“Women.” You answer carefully.

Lin looked at you and took a sip of her tea. The gesture didn't go unnoticed.

“Me too!” Bolin said smiling.

“That's nice to know Y/N, we'll have to introduce you our clubs and places.” Kya sais smiling.

“So Y/N, tell us about yourself. What's your story?” Asami asked.

“My story?” You looked at her quizzically.

“Yeah, who is Y/N? What happened that made you end up here as a police officer?” Korra asked.

“Oh well I think that story is far too long and boring.” You chuckled.

“We are listening.” Pema said softly.

You suddenly felt every eye in the room looking at you, your nerves grew and you started feeling anxious again. You looked up at Lin and she gave you a nod.

“Okay well, I'll go chronologically? So it doesn't confuse anyone so much?”

“Sure!” Korra said happily.

You smiled. “Okay here we go. My name is Y/N L/N, I was born here in Republic City but I've lived in Ba Sing Se since I was a child. I'm a firebender like both my parents.

“When I was born my mother moved us to Ba Sing Se, when I was two my father left us. I have no memories of him and can't remember his face, I just know that his departure hurt my mother greatly. My mom was a strict woman, everything had to be perfect for her including me. She would spar with me from the moment I could bend, it was something we bonded over… or I thought we did.

“She wasn't very emotional, hugs and kisses we're definitely not her language. But that didn't mean I didn't love her greatly, she and my father will always hold a place in my heart. I grew to respect my element and be thankful for my life and the things I was given. I loved making friends and taking care of animals.

“When I was seven my mother left and I was all on my own. A farmer took me for a while until a real foster family could take me in. and honestly? It was the worst. I ended running away from them and later on ended running from every single foster family I ever got. I became an orphaned runaway.”

“So you're an orphan?” Mako asked.

“Yup!” You said like it was nothing.

“We are orphans too!” Bolin said.

“Me too.” Asami said more shyly.

“I mean it's not bad, I took care of things.” You responded, taking a sip of tea.

“How did you survive on the streets so young?” Lin asked.

“I joined a local pack of kids. We were all stealing and getting into trouble. I was very slick with my hands, could take your socks without taking off your boots.”

“Literally?” Bolin asked.

“Literally, you’d be surprised.” You laughed.

Lin looked at you sternly.

“Hey, I had to stay alive somehow. Besides, it caught up to me. I would always have trouble with the law and one day Chief Lei Ba got sick of my shenanigans and arrested me after stealing cabbages-”

“Cabbages?! From all the things to steal, why cabbages?!” Mako asked in disbelief.

“It wasn't for me! I found a goat gorilla in a cage! Poor thing looked awfully skinny and someone had to feed it!”

“Okay, okay what happened next?” Kya asked intrigued.

“Well he took me in, handcuffs and everything. It was like every other time. He took me in, arrested me, wrote about my crime, scolded me and sent me off. Only this time he didn't send me off. He took me to his office, sat me down and threw a few logs onto his fireplace.”

Lin wondered if this was the part where something bad happened that made you fear fire. She was on the edge listening to you.

“He looked at me-” You continued. “And took my file that was filled with my transgressions and threw it on the fire.”

“What?!” Amara asked, amazed.

You laughed. “Let me finish! He scolded me about what I did and after that we stayed quiet. He then told me he had found a family in the Fire Nation that would adopt me and give me a new life. They were soldiers themselves but had a few kids and agreed to take me in, per the chief’s request. I guess they were friends or something. Or, he would take care of me and take me off the streets, he was going to be strict and there would be a lot of rules but those were the only options I had.”

“And you chose to stay.” Lin responded.

“Yup, I chose to stay. It was hard at first but I made it out and thrived. He took me in as his own and gave me a new life. I became his shadow and did everything to try and make him proud. I graduated school early and as soon as I grabbed the diploma I was running down to the academy’s door enlisting myself. He almost had a stroke when he found out.”

“But, I was first in my class. Worked my a- buttoff every day. Did extra, worked more, fought more, study more and at the end it was all so worth it.”

Lin could see the shine in your eyes as you talked.

“I remember the day of my graduation. When the chief gave us all our badges, I was the last one in line. The runt of the litter. He shook my hand, placed my badge and looked me in the eyes and-”

You felt your eyes water. “He said… I'm so proud of you Y/N. So very proud.” You wiped a tear that fell from your eye. “I managed not to cry until after the ceremony but when we were walking back home we hugged and I cried for hours.”

“The first day everyone already knew me, I mean, I'm the chief’s daughter so it's not like I was a stranger. But finally, finally I felt like I had a family again. The rest is history.” You smiled.

Bolin was crying like a little kid while Lin looked at you with glossy eyes.

“Wow, that's… it reminds me of my own story.” Mako said smiling. “This job means a lot to me too.”

“It's more than a job, it's who I am. Helping people, being there for the ones in need, it's… it's my calling.”

“Wait wait! What about the tattoos!?” Ikki asked expectantly.

“Oh my tattoos?” You chuckled. “I got drunk one night with the rest of the officers and we got our badge numbers tattooed. I woke up with the ink in my arm, it was just the numbers and it made it look like I was some sort of prisoner so I went back later on to add some flowers around it and that's how it started.”

You showed the old tattoo on your arm.

“What's your favorite tattoo??”

“This badgermole someone very special drew for me.” You said showing your bicep, it was a scribble drawing of a badgermole’s head.

“It looks so ugly! Badgermoles dont look like that!” Meelo said with no filter.

“Meelo!” Pema scolded.

“It looks like it's been drawn by a child.” Asami said looking at it.

“Yup, little Eliah. That kid will stay in my heart forever.”

“Ooh! What's the story?” Bolin asked, resting his head on his palms.

“He was a sick boy that wanted to be a police officer, so I convinced the Chief to make him an honorary officer. He agreed as long as I was the one taking responsibility for him. So I did, made him my little partner. We did traffic stops, tickets, arrests, chases.”

“You took a child to a chase?” Lin asked.

“I always took care of him!” You said quickly.

“He was the sweetest. I remember how happy he was being a police officer. But of course he got worse until he was on his deathbed. We would visit him every day and bring some reports to tell him how things were going that day. He asked for my favorite animal and I told him. He drew this-” You said pointing to your bicep. “And I got it tattooed. My artist even made a stencil so we could have matching tattoos. When I showed it to him he was ecstatic laughing and as vivacious as ever. It made me so happy.”

“He passed away two days later and we gave him an official police burial. With escort and everything. We laid him down with the rest of our fallen officers and we watched over his mother. He was the only family she had so it was hard for her but we stood by her. A year later she died of the same illness.”

“Wow…” Kya said with wide eyes. “That's a lot…”

“You must be proud that you allowed that child to have the life he wanted.” Tenzin spoke.

“He was our little brother.” You said, sighing.

“I'm going to get a lot of tattoos like yours!” Ikki said with a smirk. “It's going to be so cool and I'm going to look tough like you and aunt Lin!”

You smiled back at the young girl. “You can be just as tough as the Chief without tattoos. She doesn't have any and she can strike fear in anyone by just narrowing her eyes.”

The earthbender looked at you in a glare. You chuckled nervously. “See? Terrifying.”

Ikki crosses her arms. “But I want to have cool tattoos like you!”

You thought about it for a moment before smiling. “You sure you want tattoos like mine? What's wrong with the blue arrows? They are super cool!”

“No they aren't! They are so boring!”

“Hey!” Jinora said offended.

“Besides, I want many different ones instead of just one full tattoo.”

You nodded. “You know, when you reach adulthood, I know an artist that does amazing work and has been in the industry for decades.”

Ikki beamed. “Really?!”

“Absolutely-”

As mentioned here are my ideas for the Krew’s love languages:

Makos would probably be acts of service. He’s not good with expressing himself over words or affection and he either overstresses abt gifts too much or doesnt think abt material things. He’s always offering his help to others throughout the series whether it’s taking care of Bolin or telling Asami and Korra that he will be there to support them.

Bolin is easily words of affirmation with a dash of physical touch. He doesn’t mind giving out hugs or invading personal space, but his words are always the key point to his affection and he likes uplifting his friends by telling him the good things he likes and thinks about them (ex: both times he gushed about Korra in s1 and Opal in s3)

Korra, like Aang, is quality time. She likes doing things with other people and after being isolated for so long she’s just really happy to have company around whether that’s in training, having a meal, or just lounging around.

Asami is the most difficult to figure out imo and I’m gonna add a disclaimer as to why I Don’t think her love language is gift giving at the end but: She’s actually very similar to Bolin with a mix of words of affirmation and physical touch, but the second is more prominent. In addition to her multiple scenes being physically affectionate with all of the krew (such as the scenes withmako in s1 when they dated, hugging and ruffling Bolins hair in S2, and every time she hugged Korra + that hand hold in S3)

Now for the disclaimer: Asami’s live language is Not gift giving, despite the various times she has provided supplied others with things. I feel every moment Asami has given something, from getting the Fire Ferrits sponsored to providing a whole ass Airship, came out of a situational need. She has the means for gifts but gift giving is more than just buying expensive items, it’s finding even just the little things that remind you of someone or that you know they’d enjoy and picking it up to express your care for them, which we don’t really see from her. (If I’m really going for the theorizing, the truama of losing her mom cold have resolidified how wealth cannot replace love and actions of love, so she prefers things like words or hugs to show she really cares)

extra, extra, read all about it: searching for my roleplay soulmate-- is it you?!

good morning/night/rotation of the earth, my name's millie, i'm 20 and i'm from the est. i've been in the roleplaying scene since around maybe... 2010-ish, back when chatango was used for that, then i switched over to facebook for the looooongest of times, but now that i have more responsibilities i've permanently switched to discord since it's just easier! so as of right now, i'm looking for strictly discord partners! i've been on the search for longterm partners for the longest of times, and i'm still searching for people who i can gush with and totally fall in love with our muses and their dynamics, someone who will share my excitement when it comes to muses! i only have a few requirements, and they're pretty.... standard.

- must be 18+, not negotiating this whatsoever, since my plots will all have some form of nsfw themes within them. - have proper grammar and punctuation. i'm not big on capitalization, etc, since i literally never use them, but a grasp on the english language just so that i can understand what you're saying, then you'll be good in my book! - no-one liners. i understand that some scenes require less sentences, but i just want a happy medium, so between one paragraph and three is the best for me! - don't be creepy, just have fun! - contribute and communicate! i just want someone that i can feel like we're both giving in and putting effort towards our plot! i don't want someone who's response to everything is 'oh that's fine with me!' i want someone who i can talk with ooc about everything.

now onto the juicy stuff, the plots! i have many plots in mind but for me i want them all to include romance and nsfw themes, i don't do fade to black. i play both m and f and i prefer if my partner can play both, or plays mainly m. i've had terrible experiences with those who play just f, so i tend to avoid them, if that's a deal breaker then sorry, i'm not the one for you! when it comes to faceclaims, etc, i only play people of color, and i very very VERY rarely use white faceclaims, unless i can't find an alternative for a canon character, my muses range from 19-28, so i try to keep them as diverse as possible.

when it comes to fandoms i'm only in a few, and if there's a fandom that you're interested in playing that isn't listed there, just ask me about it and i'm sure that i'll be able to try and get into it! the only fandoms i won't get into are supernatural, doctor who and riverdale, they've just... a hard no. anyways, the fandoms i find are the ones i love are: marvel, dc, steven universe, transformers, boku no hero academia and avatar: the last airbender/legend of korra.

my favorite/most wanted pairings for each one are listed below! - marvel: miles morales + mj, peter parker + mj/liz, bruce banner + oc, storm + tchalla, frank castle + oc, venom + annie, venom + oc, killmonger + oc, deadpool + spiderman, deadpool + oc, cable + oc. - dc: batman + wonder woman, bumblebee + cyborg, poison ivy + harley quinn, batman + oc, aquaman + oc, beastboy + raven, wonder woman + oc. - transformers: sam witwicky + oc. - bnha: deku + bakugo, yaoyorozu + iida, deku + todoroki, jiro + kaminari, kirishima + oc, todoroki + oc, ochaco + deku. - a:tla/lok: korra + oc, korra + mako, korra + asami, bolin + oc.

plots i've been craving (if i don't use gendered pronouns for that specific plot, then any pairing is okay!): - a figure ice skater and an ice hockey player who meet during the winter olympics. they maybe bond during training and it ensues with maybe them sneaking out at night to go out into the town to be with each other and overall cuteness. bonus points if they're from different countries who often compete against one another. (ie, a japanese hockey player and a usa figure skater, etc.) - an alien who's brought down to earth due to being chased by some intergalactic force or is the last of their kind and decided to leave their dying world for a chance at something new. i absolutely love the dynamic of someone getting used to an entirely different world (and species) and learning a whole bunch of new things. - something along the lines of leon: the professional, with characters of age. they'd be taken in by an older, grumpy muse who's an assassin and is willing to train them so that they can take care of themselves and maybe they go into business together, becoming a duo of mercenaries who are hired to kill. maybe one of their targets is high profile and after completing the job they have to learn to escape those who want them dead, so a life of constant hiding and crime would ensue. - a drag racer who's also a tough girl who falls for a nerdy boy who attends one of her races. they grow closer after maybe the nerdy boy's been studying her technique for a while and finally musters up the courage to tell her, and they end up going out. she's not all tough and he's not all soft, so they find solace in one another; she teaches him to stand up for himself, and he teaches her that it's okay to be sensitive some times. - a ballet student is forced to take a summer long trip with their parents to a foreign country, where one (or both) of them are teaching at a university for the summer semester. the ballet student decides to enroll, to keep their studies up and whilst there, they fall for a teaching assistant who's older than them. the ballet student is introduced into the world of love and all the pain that sometimes goes along with it.

if you've made it this far then bless your soul, i know i wrote a whole bunch, lol. if you think we'd be a fit then please don't hesitate to message my discord! when i add you just state your name, preferred pronouns and a mini writing sample for whichever pairing/plot stuck out to you the most! this way i know you actually took the time to read my post and gives me a great first impression of you. my discord is: [ violette#3627 ] i hope to see a lot of you guys soon!

Politicians are jerks (chapter 18)

Book 5: Absolution

Asami and Korra return from their vacation to an irate president and a physical world on the verge of more conflicts and few answers.  There’s also a bit of LinxKya just because that’s what I felt like writing.

This is Chapter 18 of a canon-compliant (the show, but not the comic) Korrasami story about how the Earth Empire can’t take a hint and leave Republic City in peace.  Oh, and Kuvira get’s the backstory the show didn’t give her.

Chapter 1 Birth of a Genre

Chapter 17 Fires Everywhere

So tired . . . Need to sleep, but too excited.  Jeong looked around the dining room trying to relax.  Beside her, Bolin had fallen into a light doze as they waited for Mako to wake the chief of police.  I could really go for some tea, really strong tea.  In front of her on the table was the weapon, gleaming and unassuming.  What about this thing makes Detective Eyebrows so nervous?

“Let’s have a look at it then,” an irate voice said from the hallway.

She turned and saw Mako leading an older woman into the room.  “Chief, this is Jeong.  She’s been our contact in the camps.  Jeong, this is Chief Lin Beifong.”

“It’s nice to meet you, ma’am,” she muttered hastily as she jumped to her feet.

Beifong frowned in her direction.  “Hello,” she said shortly.  “The detective tells me you were the one to take this weapon from a suspected gang member’s tent.”

Unease filled her empty stomach.  “Um . . . yes, I did.”

“Did he also tell you that stealing is a crime and how irresponsible it was putting yourself in that kind of danger?”

Spirits, she’s worse than my mother.  “Yeeess . . . he mentioned that on the flight over,” she said staring at her feet.

“Yaaaawn!  Oh, hey, Chief,” Bolin said sleepily from his seat.

The older woman pinched the bridge of her nose the same way Mako did when he was frustrated.  “This is the weapon?” she asked tightly pointing to the table behind Jeong.

“Yes,” she said excitedly.  “It’s really heavy and-”

“That’s enough,” Beifong said shortly.  She picked it up and inspected it slowly before lifting it to her shoulder and staring through the mounted telescope.  “This is not good,” she muttered to herself.  “And none of you have seen this in use?”

“No, ma’am.”  “No, Chief.”  “Nope.”

“Hmm . . . I agree with your conclusion, detective.  We need to have the geniuses take a look at this.”

“Ooo, are Asami and Korra back yet?” Bolin asked.

“No, but they’ll be here in three hours if they want to stay in the president’s somewhat good graces.  Until then, I suggest you all get in a nap,” she said lowering the weapon, but not setting it down.

“Good idea,” Bolin said hauling himself to his feet.

“Where should I . . .” Jeong asked nervously.

“I’m sure we can find an empty room in the women’s dorm,” Mako said helpfully.  “Follow me.”

As they walked to the hallway, Jeong looked back to see the chief frowning at the weapon in her hands.  Stealing or not, I’m pretty sure I did the right thing.

“Korra, we’re going to be late,” Asami laughed as the avatar hugged her from behind.

“It would totally be worth it,” Korra muttered against the engineer’s neck.

Asami turned in her arms and backed her up to the edge of the bed before giving her a hard shove on the shoulders.  “You think so?”

“Yep,” she said after bouncing from her fall, looking up at her with a hopeful smile.

The engineer gave her a smoldering look before bending down to brush her lips against Korra’s.  “I’m going to have to disagree,” she whispered with a small grin.

“What?!”  Korra huffed out a breath and laid spread eagle, “Fine, have it your way.  This meeting had better not be about Raiko’s re-election campaign.”

“If it is,” Asami said as she dressed, “I’ll be first in line to slap him.”

“That I would love to see,” Korra grinned as she got up and rummaged in her bag for clothes.

“Lin?  It’s kind of early, unless you were looking to cuddle before breakfast?” Kya asked with a sleepy smirk.

The chief of police felt her face warm, “I need someplace safe to store something dangerous.”  The gentle rocking of the watertribe boat was doing little to calm her nerves.

“And here I thought you were here to see me.”  Kya moved to let Lin into her room.  

“I . . . uh - it is nice to see you,” she said awkwardly carrying her bundle.

“Relax, Lin.  What are you hiding?”

“I’m not hiding it.  I just don’t think Tenzin would appreciated having a potentially deadly weapon left in his dining room.”

“And I wouldn’t mind?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.

“If it’s okay with you, of course.”  Lin stared at the bundle.  “Your room has a lock at least.”

Kya sighed and held out her arms, “I assume that’s it?”

Lin quickly unwrapped the weapon and handed it to her.  “It’s a long range weapon from what I can tell without using it.  I want Varrik and Asami to look at it.”

Lin turned it over and measured its weight in her hands.  “That’s a lot of metal.”

“Platinum, at least the barrel.”

“And this,” she asked pointing to the telescope, “makes you think it’s long range?”

“Yes.”

They stood in silence while the waterbender continued to examine the weapon.  “Okay, I’ll keep it in here as long as it’s not for long,” Lin finally said.  “Where did it come from anyway?”

“Mako and Bolin met a young woman in the camps with more initiative than brains who lifted this from the tent of a Triad member.”

“Oh, I like the sound of her,” Kya said with a grin as she stowed it under her bed.  She bit her lip and stared at the younger woman.  “Lin, about the wedding . . . I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable-”

“It’s fine,” she said quickly.

“You’ve been avoiding me since then.”

“I’ve been busy doing my job - protecting the president.”

“It’s not a 24/7 job, Lin.”  Lin opened her mouth to argue, but Kya shook her head.  “I’m sorry, okay?  I read the situation wrong - I shouldn’t have kissed-”

“It’s not that . . . I mean, it’s part of that, but I-”  She ran a hand over her face.  “I’m not good at this - explaining feelings.”

“I’m in no hurry,” Kya said simply.

“It’s been . . . a long time since I’ve been with anyone.  I might have . . . panicked.”

“We can go back to the way things were before if that’s what you’d like,” the waterbender offered, “but if you’d like to try again I’d be open to that, too.”  She took a step closer when Lin remained silent.  “Even with all of your gruff, scary cop exterior, I know there’s more to you than that.”  She took another step closer.  “I won’t tell anyone you have a soft side if that’s what you’re worried about.”  A snort of nervous laughter escaped her guest.  “I just need to know what you want,” she finished simply.

Lin opened her mouth, but words wouldn’t come to her.  She looked away and pinched the bridge of her nose.  “I-”  She dropped her arms and stared hopelessly at Kya.  “You-”  She closed her eyes and sighed.  “Spirits, what is wrong with me?” she mumbled to herself before she met the waterbender’s eyes again.

Kya was about to reassure her, but stopped when she felt Lin’s calloused hands on her bare arms.  Lin had never touched her without her initiating it - she felt a smile grow on her face.  The metalbender, on the other hand, looked like she was steeling herself for battle.  Let her work it out for herself. . .

“I’m probably going to mess this up,” she said seriously.

“You aren’t in this alone,” Kya reminded her.

“Right.”  Lin felt like her body was about to combust as the waterbender smiled at her.  Stop trying to explain it and do something!  She moved her hands to the waterbender’s shoulders.  You were ready to die to save the city less than two weeks ago.  You can do this.  Her hands moved up Kya’s neck to cup her face and stared at her smiling lips.  I can do this.  

Kya let her eyes slip closed as Lin finally closed the distance.  It wasn’t a dam of passion finally breaking like she suspected the woman had locked away, but it was something so much sweeter.  She pulled her closer by the hips and let the moment be controlled by the metalbender.

“ASAMI!  KORRA!”

The girls shared a quick look and braced for impact as they stepped into the dining room of the temple.  Korra stumbled backwards as Meelo and Ikki jumped into her arms and Asami was lifted off her feet by Bolin.  “Guys, we weren’t gone that long!” the avatar laughed.

“You two left without saying goodbye!” Ikki complained.

“Yeah!  And we didn’t know when you’d be back!” Meelo added.

“Well, we’re back now,” Asami laughed as Bolin set her down.  

“And it’s a good thing, too,” Jinora said as she walked Rohan over to the older woman.  “President Raiko wanted this meeting yesterday.”

“I guess it’s a good thing we weren’t late,” Korra said with a quiet smirk as she watched the engineer scoop up and balance the youngest airbender on her hip.

“Yes, it is.”  Though the temple was usually busy, this morning seemed even more so with members of the RCPD, United Forces personnel, and even a few high-ranking Fire Nation officers crowding the dining room.  The kids led the way through the maze of people, many greeting the women as they passed.

“Ladies, you’re looking well rested and - wait, no you don’t,” Wu said suspiciously after they greeted him.  “Busy fighting off rogue spirits in the spirit world?” he asked putting his hands up in a comic attempt at a boxing stance.

“Um, yeah - something like that,” Korra muttered as they stepped around him to get to the food at the table.

“That’s so cool,” Ikki gushed.

“It wasn’t,” Asami said with a laugh at Korra’s panicked expression at being caught in a lie.  “There were a few that were rude, but we mostly just explored and relaxed.”

Wu looked confused, but was prevented from asking more by the arrival of Mako.

“Hey, I was wondering when you two would get here,” he said as he gave them both one armed hugs.  

“How are you?  You look like you could use some sleep,” Asami said as she pulled away.

He laughed and nodded, “Yeah, Bolin and I had a long night and we brought someone back from the camps with us.  We have a lot to go over at the meeting.”

Uhhh - Why did I even bother trying to sleep? Jeong thought exhaustedly as she stared blankly at the food in front of her.  Fortunately, it was so loud and crowded in the dining room there was no possibility of her nodding off.

“Wow, I forgot how much I missed Pema’s cooking,” a young woman said as she dropped heavily into the seat next to her.  

Jeong blinked and stared at her - something about her seemed very familiar, but her sleep deprived brain refused to put in the effort to figure out why.

“Hi,” she said when she noticed the other woman staring at her.  “Oh, you must be Jeong!” she said with a triumphant grin.  “Mako mentioned you were here.  I’m Korra and this is Asami - and that’s Pema’s son, Rohan.”

Korra and Asami . . . Who is Pema again?  Wait a minute - Korra as in Avatar Korra?  And, she paused her train of thought as another woman, one she more easily recognized, leaned around the avatar and said good morning.  Spirits, that’s Asami Sato, head of Future Industries.  I’m sitting next to two of the most influential women in the world.  What do I do?  What do I do?!  Damn it, I haven’t said anything yet!  “Um, good morning,” she stammered before reaching for her tea to hide behind.

“Oh, good.  You’ve met Korra and Asami,” Mako said as he sat down on her other side.  “You’re going to want to eat something before the meeting.  I’m not sure how much of it you’ll be needed for or when.”

“What do you mean by needed?” she asked in a panic.  “I’m not going to have to actually talk, am I?”

Mako shrugged.  “Raiko might have questions about the situation in the camp I can’t answer, so I might need your input.”

“WHAT?!  No one said I’d have to talk in front of anyone, let alone the PRESIDENT!  I can’t do this-” she hissed in a panic.

“Jeong, take a breath,” Asami said in a calm voice.  “Would you care for a bit of advice?”

The younger woman nodded quickly.  Yes, please.

“Think of someone you can talk to easily, a family member or friend,” she said as she shifted Rohan in her lap, “and pretend you’re talking to them, not a room full of intimidating strangers.”

“Do you do that?” Korra asked between mouthfuls of sticky bun.

“Yes,” she said simply.

“Who do you pretend to talk to?” Mako asked in surprise.

“Korra usually,” she said with a small smile, “sometimes Bolin.”

“Not Mako?” Korra asked.

“Only if I feel like I’m going to have a fight to deal with,” she muttered with a hint of mirth.

Jeong laughed weakly until she remembered the gangster poking fun at Mako’s love life.  He’s dated both of these women-  A snort of laughter escaped as she tried to rub the tiredness from her eyes.  She saw Mako’s grumpy expression and felt a wave of giggles overtake her.  This is going to go terribly, but I’m too tired to care.

“Everyone take a seat, please,” Tenzin called out.  “Let’s get this meeting started.”

Korra felt Asami pull her away from General Iroh and move to sit next to Zhu Li.  “How have things been going with the submersible?”

“Steadily,” she said simply.  “The pressure regulation system is surprisingly advanced, but Varrik has already thought of ways to improve it.”

“But has he tested any of those ideas?” Asami asked with a raised brow.

“No, and at least two of his ideas have a high probability of being lethal, so perhaps we could benefit from your input,” she said with a muted smile.

The engineer shook her head and laughed, “Of course.”

“Everyone quiet down,” Raiko said shortly.  “We have a lot to cover today.  Beginning with reconstruction efforts.  Miss Sato, now that you’re back from your vacation, perhaps you can give us an update on the housing situation?”

Someone is in a bad mood this morning, Korra thought as she poured tea for herself and her girlfriend.  

“Of course,” Asami said simply, refusing to take his bait.  “For those of you who were not present at the President’s meeting with my head of development yesterday afternoon,” she nodded to Mr. Yang, “construction crews broke ground in the southernmost region of the new development.  If plans remain on schedule, the first units should be habitable in seven to eight weeks.”

So if Raiko knew all of this why did he ask?

“And the eastern and northern regions?” the president asked.

“Groundbreaking within the next two weeks.  Right now our what’s limiting our progress most is manpower.  All of my employees are residing in the refugee camps without an efficient way to move from the camps to the construction sites and many are hesitant to leave their families for days at a time to get around the transportation problem.”  

“Then perhaps you should hire men who are willing,” Raiko stated.  “The hesitation of a few should not be the reason many go without a permanent home,”

I agree, but you don’t need to be a jerk about it.

“Advertisements have been running over the radio and fliers are posted at all the aid stations around the camps.”  Asami paused to sip her tea.  “Our recruiters are reporting the increased gang activity around the camps as the primary reason people aren’t applying.”

“We’ll get to that in a moment,” he said drily.  “What about infrastructure?  When can we start moving people back into their homes away from the gangs?”

Korra shift in her seat and gripped her cup tighter.  Why is he being so rude to Asami?!  If he keeps it up-  

“Between the efforts of the RCPD, city contractors, and Future Industries, all of the water and sewer lines around the city have been repaired.  The problem is the structural integrity of the buildings-”

“These buildings can’t be repaired, there just isn’t enough time or money,” Raiko interrupted.

Okay, someone needs to call him out on his crap.

“I agree, which is why my crews are only attempting to repair those with minimal damage.  Those demeaned too damaged will require an escort when residents are allowed in to retrieve their belongings.”

“How long until we can start moving people back into their homes?”

“In the neighborhoods unaffected by the battle, tomorrow if the city can organize transportation,” the engineer said simply.  “But the people need to understand things will not be going back to normal right away.  Tests on the water lines should wrap up by the end of the week - I would wait until then to begin moving people.”

“Your opinion has been noted,” he said disdainfully.  “It’s far from ideal.”

“If you’d like crews assigned to something specific-”

“No,” he snapped.  “Moving on-”

Korra opened her mouth to tell him off, but felt Asami squeezed her knee under the table with a satisfied smile on her face.  Suddenly everything clicked.  Raiko was trying to catch her unprepared - that’s why he made that comment about her being on vacation.  Well, he failed miserably.  What an asshole!

“The situation in the camps is stable for now, but we’re on the verge of an all out gang war,” Mako stated, drawing Korra back into the conversation.  “The boundaries between them are actively being redrawn and most if not all of the gangs are recruiting in large numbers.”

“Is anything being done to combat the recruitment efforts?” Raiko asked patiently.

“Aside from increasing patrols, some areas have implemented neighborhood watches that have had some success - the head of one is here with us.”  He pointed her out, “This is Jeong.  Bolin and I have been shadowing her and investigating the gang problem in her area.”

The young woman gave a nervous smile and a small wave.

“On behalf of the city, let me say thank you for going above and beyond for your neighbors,” Raiko said just a little too graciously.

The shade of Jeong’s face resembled the raspberry jam in her pastry that morning.

“While working with Jeong,” Mako said somberly, pulling attention away from the embarrassed woman, “we came across a weapon in possession of a Triad member that none of us have seen before.  We’d like Miss Sato and Varrik to take a look at it.”

Korra frowned in confusion until she saw Lin carrying something in her arms.

“Hey, step aside!  He was talking about me!” Varrik shouted as he elbowed his way past those standing behind the Korra and Asami’s table.  

“We want you to look, Varrik,” Lin said as she deposited the wrapped bundle in front of Asami.  “Now is not the time to poke and prod it.  We just need your first impressions.”

The engineer carefully unwrapped it and inhaled sharply.  Korra looked over at her, but Asami had her eyes glued to the weapon.  

Varrik stretched out his hand to grab it.  “That’s one heck of- Hey!” he shouted when Asami slapped his hand away.  “What gives?!”

“I know what this is,” she said quietly as she lifted it into her arms, settling one end against her shoulder and the other pointing at the floor.  

“How?” Raiko asked tensely.

I definitely haven’t seen anything like this, Korra thought as she watched her girlfriend click a button and eject a something out of the bottom of the weapon.

Asami took a deep breath and let it out slowly.  “In the years my father was working for the Equalists, he came up with many weapons that were never, for whatever reason, utilized during their coup.  This bares a striking resemblance to a blueprint that, to my knowledge, was never fabricated.”

Asami, I’m so sorry, Korra thought as she squeezed her knee.  

“Could this just be a coincidence or is this an exact fabrication?” Lin asked, arms folded across her chest.

“Can I see those blueprints?” Varrik asked grumpily.

Asami ignored him.  “I’d have to check to be sure, but everything seems identical . . . except this,” she said removing small cylindrical piece of metal from the part she ejected earlier.  

“I’m sorry,” Raiko blurted out impatiently, “but could you explain what this thing does?”

“My father’s version fired a high speed projectile, about this size,” she said hollowly, showing the small piece of metal, “but this is different.”  She looked to Korra.  “Could you open this for me?”

“Sure.”  She easily found the seems and bent the metal flat, letting black powder spill onto the table.  “What is that?” Korra asked prodding a greyish green lump mixed in with the powder.  It looks kind of like-

“That is a dried piece of spirit vine,” Varrik said in confusion.  “And that’s some type of explosive powder . . . nooooo,” he muttered quietly.

“This is a miniaturized spirit cannon,” Asami said with surprising calmness.

Spirits, that’s really not good, Korra thought as the room stayed silent at the engineer’s statement.

“I don’t think I fully understand how that’s possible,” Iroh said to break the silence.

“What’s not to get?!” Varrik roared angrily.  “Spirit vines just need a little bit of energy to explode into a purple deathray!  This black powder ignites and so does the vine, then boom!  You have a weapon that can be fired from nearly any distance!”

“This is a long range weapon,” Asami clarified.  “One that would make the best archer in the world irrelevant.”  

“This wasn’t produced by any of the gangs,” Mako muttered.

“I agree,” Asami said.  “I think it’s likely the Earth Empire is supplying the gangs with weapons . . . probably in an attempt to distract us from them and whatever they’re planning.”

“So how did the Empire get their hands on you father’s blueprints?” Raiko demanded.  “You said it yourself, the weapon is too similar to your father’s design to be a coincidence.”

What the heck is he suggesting? Korra wondered uneasily.

Asami’s jaw clenched as she fought to remain calm.  “I don’t know.  After I received everything irrelevant to his conviction from the RCPD, I placed it in a platinum safe-”

“Why didn’t you destroy it?!  Something with that much potential to cause harm-”

“I kept it to prevent him from ever being released on parole!” she hissed, the first sign of anger and impatience she’d shown all morning.  “I knew his lawyers would push for an early release for good behavior and I had to have something to show just how deeply his hatred went.  There is no non-lethal application for a weapon like this and he came up with many more I was ready use against him in an attempt to keep what I thought, at the time, was a man beyond rehabilitation behind bars.”

“That’s not what it looked like at his funeral,” Raiko spat.

“THAT’S ENOUGH!” Korra roared over the others that also jumped to Asami’s defense.  “You have been a callous jerk all morning to her!  You owe her an apology!”

“My job is to do what’s best for my city, not be a sympathetic ear for a woman lying-”

“Did you not hear the last bit of what she said?  What I thought at the time - her opinion of him changed before he died!  What kind of monster wouldn’t feel something when they lose a parent?!”

“Whatever her reason for not destroying it, the fact that it was allowed to exist has led to the monstrosity be for us!” he snarled.

“You don’t know that!  We don’t know who saw the blueprint while he was still an Equalist and we don’t know who had access to it at the police department,” Korra reasoned before shooting Lin and apologetic look.  “If the Empire can infiltrate the White Lotus, who’s to say they couldn’t do the same to the police force?”

“As much as it pains me to agree,” Lin said stiffly, “Korra has a point.  The Empire likely had a copy of the blueprints long before the department released the original back to Miss Sato.”

“The more important question is how do we deal with this?” Iroh said gravely.  “If this is anything like cannon on Kuvira’s mech, our army won’t stand a chance.”

“Varrik and I can begin tests on immediately,” Asami said in an emotionless voice.  “We may need to work with Baatar Jr. on this-”

“No, we won’t,” Varrik cut-in shortly.  “Mr. Great Uniter can focus on the sub.”

“Just figure something out!” Raiko shouted.  “If this is the type of weapon they’re giving out to criminals, what are they saving for themselves?!”  He let the room settle into silence as he recovered from his outburst.  “If the gangs are battling each other with these, we can’t let civilians get caught in the crossfire.  We need to put all out efforts on solving this gang problem.  Chief Beifong, let General Iroh know what extra help the United Forces can provide your department.  Varrik, Miss Sato, find a way to combat this thing!”

“Given the nature of the current situation,” a Fire Nation general said grimmly across the table, “our ships will remain in Yue Bay at least until the situation with the gangs is dealt with.”

“Thank you, general,” Raiko said.  “Now unless there are anymore concerns to bring up, this meeting is adjourned.  I would like a private word with Miss Sato, the Avatar, Mako, Bolin, and the others Tenzin has informed.”

As the room cleared, Korra glanced at the engineer and tried to offer her a smile of support, but Asami was focused back on the weapon in front of her.  “Are you okay?” she whispered.

“I’m fine,” Asami said shortly before taking a breath and covering the weapon.

“So, partner, where are we going to be testing this thing?” Varrik asked as he squeezed between his wife and Asami at the table.  “I can’t imagine our gracious host will let us fire that thing on the island.”

“I have a R&D facility near the mountains we’ll use.”  Her voice was back to its calm and collected tone, as if the last ten minutes hadn’t happened.

“Bumi, is the hallway clear?” Raiko asked.

The airbender poked his head out of the room before shutting the door.  “Yes, sir.”

The president nodded and closed his eyes for a moment before addressing the room.  “The situation with the Earth Empire is escalating, even more so now that we have evidence of their attempts to destabilize our refugee camps and reconstruction efforts.  The Fire Nation’s support is still contingent on our lack of military retaliation, but if we don’t act soon, I fear another invasion is imminent.”

“What we’re proposing,” Su continued, “is a continuation of what Kuvira claims she is trying to accomplish - capturing strategic locations in the Empire to weaken them before bring the fight to Ba Sing Se.”

“That sounds like a good plan,” Mako started tentatively, “but what happens when the Empire decides it wants its captured territories back?  We’ve seen the size of their army in person.”

“We can’t expect the liberated territories to protect themselves,” Zhu Li said stoically.  “The most important territories were turned into labor camps.  The citizens there will be in no condition to fight.”

“I’m getting to that,” Raiko growled.  “The idea is to stretch the Empire’s resources thin by liberating many of these labor camps in a short period of time.  They won’t be able to retake every camp immediately.”

“It’s a waste of energy and resources to capture a position you don’t intend to keep,” Bumi said, frowning.  “If anything, we should pick the most important location outside of Ba Sing Se and hold that.”

“That would make sense,” Su said, “if the Empire were a small country with few resources, but it’s not.  Simply capturing one manufacturing center would be a waste because they have at least three more capable of making up for the loss of one.  The Empire is on the verge of something big, we just don’t know what.”

“Every day we allow them to work unhindered is one day closer to what will be a fight worse than the last,” Raiko said solemnly.

Korra looked around the room in confusion, wondering if General Iroh was sitting out of her line of sight before concluding he was absent.  “Whether we believe the plan will work or not, we’re still missing the army we’ll need to do this.”

“That’s where you all come in,” Raiko smiled almost fatherly.  “Everyone in this room has the experience necessary to infiltrate and liberate these labor camps.”

Bolin perked up.  “Wait, so do you expect us to each to take a camp by ourselves?!  ‘Cause I know I’m good and I know everyone else is good, but we’re not that good.”

“The tentative plan is to split into two teams and attack two camps a night,” Tenzin said gravely.

“A night?!” Korra barked.  “How are we supposed to know what we’re up against at each camp?  What about injuries?  What if something goes wrong?”

“Tenzin, are you really on board with this?” Asami asked.  

The airbender sighed, “It’s the best solution we’ve come up with do deal with the situation.  We don’t have the numbers or the arms for a direct fight and our allies will not support us if we act preemptively.  If you have another Idea, we’d be open to hear it.”

“Less than a dozen people can’t cripple an entire nation,” Korra said weakly.  

“Mr. President, you said yourself our top priority needs to be stopping our gang problem-” Asami started to say.

“Our gang problem will never disappear.  The priority is removing the Empire weapons from their possession and hoping their turf war does more harm to each other than the city,” Raiko said.  “The Empire wants us to focus all of our energy on this and we can’t if we want to be ready for their next attack!”

“Hey, here’s an idea,” Varrik shouted, pounding his hand on the table suddenly.  “What if when the Empire comes we pretend to fight them, let them win and then spring a trap?!”

“That’s pretty much what we did last time,” Bumi pointed out.

“Yeah, and it worked great!”

“I wouldn’t call half of the city getting destroyed great,” Mako said.

“I think we need more information before we start attacking the Empire,” Korra said more confidently than she felt.  “Let me try contacting Kuvira and find out if she’s made any progress with her plan.”

“We don’t have time-”

“We can’t just walk into their camps without a real plan either!” she shouted.  

“Fine,” Raiko spat, “you have three days to come up with a plan of attack.”

“I do?  I still think it’s a terrible idea!”

“I will send members of the United Forces in based on intelligence from Baatar Jr. with or without your support,” he stated.  “The idea was that if we sent a group outside of the military, we wouldn’t be breaking our agreement with the Fire Nation.”

“But we’d be acting on your orders,” Korra pointed out.

“Something I would deny if asked.”

“Great.”  Hopefully Kuvira will be more helpful than Raiko.

“I think we’re done here,” Su said as she stood.  “As flimsy of a plan as you think it is, Korra, something needs to be done.”

The room emptied until only Korra, Asami, Mako, and Bolin remained.  

“So that was exciting,” Bolin said uneasily before perking up.  “I am sooo glad you guys are back!  It’s been fun being a cop with Mako, but it wasn’t the same without you two.”

“Was there not enough arguing?” Korra asked with a grin.

“Oh there was plenty of that,” Mako muttered.

“No, it was missing the . . . quirky group dynamic!  The ribbing and the laughing - everything is too serious without everyone,” Bolin said.

“Mako - serious?  I can’t imagine,” Asami mused with a smile.

“Yeah, yeah.  Laugh it up,” Mako pouted.

“But, guys, seriously, what are we going to do?” Bolin asked.  “This sounds like classic Team Avatar stuff, but taking out an entire nation on our own is crazy . . . right?”

Korra sighed and stared at her cup.  “I understand why Raiko and Su want to act, but if this doesn’t work . . . there’s just too much that could go wrong.”

“Bolin and I will work on the gang problem,” Mako said.

“And I’ll focus on finding a way to stop the Empire’s new weapon,” Asami stated, glaring at the covered spirit cannon on the table.

“I guess I’ll try to find a way to work with Kuvira on destabilizing the Empire.”  Korra took a breath and set her jaw.  “This might be the first time someone has asked me to intentionally start a war.”

“Technically, you’re just continuing the one we’re in.”  Mako stiffly stood.  “There was never an official treaty signed to end the fighting.”

Korra rolled her eyes and led the way from the room.  “Thanks for the reminder, Detective.”

A/N: Was this a filler chapter?  Yes, but depending on your point of view aren’t all chapters filler chapters except the last one.

I’m not sure why I put the bit about Lin and Kya - it seemed weird to mention a possible relationship an then never go back to it.  Maybe I’ll get to writing a bit of backstory for them to flesh things out - I haven’t decided.

Even though I’m not following the comics with this story, I will pull things from them occasionally like names of gangsters or the fact that Raiko is a self absorbed prick bent of blaming his problems on others.  I like the idea that he’s in full panic mode about the upcoming election because he surrendered to a tyrant.  I’m seeing him causing a lot people headaches in the chapter(s) to come.

As always, thanks for reading.

Chapter 19 A Short Calm Before Storms

Definitive Ranking of Book 1 Episodes, #11/12

11. 1x05 “The Spirit of Competition”

So much probending. So much love quadrilateral.

Need I say more?

I’m back in a totally timely fashion (*coughs*) with the next definitive ranking of Book 1.

Now, I started out this list by explaining my frustration with “Endgame,” and how the biggest issues of the first season are that aside from setting up something ~cool~, there was really no follow-through from the perspective of the plot, or Korra’s development. Bryke seemed wholly unaware of what they were trying to say, and ended up with a season that stood for nothing.

With that in mind, it would seem logical that episodes such as “Turning the Tide” or “Skeletons in the Closet,” where the main plotline quite obviously began to lose its way, would be right at the bottom the list next to “Endgame.” But “Spirit of Competition” is just a special mid-season clunker. The Equalist plotline doesn’t even exist here, and it’s also probably solely responsible for every single complaint about probending since we get THREE matches, none of which are particularly meaningful.

Oh hey, Bolin feels good about himself, so he does well!

The focus is, instead, on the love quadrilateral. Sure, one of the points of this polygon is more or less missing the whole episode, but Asami’s viewpoint being dismissed as a mild inconvenience is kind of the theme of the season.

Look, I’ve never made a secret of the fact that I found Makorra wholly uncompelling from the start. In “The Revelation” I guess I saw some potential because they actually like, interacted and their differing backgrounds came up? Sort of? But the biggest reason why their scripting left me drier than a desert was that it never seemed much deeper than “you’re hot and I want on you,” largely because of episodes like this where their interactions focused on ~~feelings~~ without Bryke realizing they never established them.

And it’s not like I think giving Korra a romantic subplot was necessarily a bad idea. Girl grew up completely isolated, and there’s actually a lot to be explored as to how that might manifest with her navigating the social space for the first time, particularly with  people her own age. I just don’t really see why this is how they went about scripting it. I mean, this episode was coming hot on the heels of “The Voice in the Night,” which not only moved the plot pretty significantly, but it put Korra’s bravado and insecurities front and center. Her interaction with Amon made the stakes feel more personal, especially the way he was so clearly toying with her, and how he promised that her time would come eventually. She finally allowed herself the space to feel scared.

So why not follow it up with...a team huddle of sexual tension? 23 solid minutes of Korra trying to figure out what to do about the boy she liked? You could pretend this was her compartmentalizing and purposely not dealing with things, except that’s not really in evidence at all. Like, I don’t even think Amon is referenced. It’s okay; it’s not like he JUST HAD HER CHAINED UP.

Instead, what’s *really* important is the probending. Clearly. Now, Griffin has tried to defend probending to me a number of times. And I grudgingly understand it as a framing device for Korra’s airbending progress in Episode 2 (as heavy-handed as that was), as well as showing her learning to work with others. You can argue that’s exactly what this episode did, but really, I just don’t see the *entire* episode devoted to it as being justified.

Not to mention, this was more just showing us that pissing people off doesn’t make for the group dynamics, which...yeah? We didn’t need Korra and Mako not communicating in a probending match to understand that Korra and Mako were having trouble communicating.

Oh Jonny...

It was all very basic cause-and-effect, and combined it just seemed as though Bryke had time they wanted to burn. Except then “Endgame” was rushed and sloppy, so that’s a hard case to make. Still, recapping:

They play well in their first match

Korra asks out Mako and it’s awkward, so she goes on a date with Bolin

Mako yells at Korra for going on a date with Bolin

Mako and Korra play poorly in their second match, but Bolin wins it for them

Korra kisses Mako and Bolin sees

Everyone plays horribly for the third match, but then Korra wins it for them

I think every time we found ourselves back in the stadium, I let out a groan. But what’s even the takeaway from this? Why does Korra magically pull her head out of it? Did she have a mid-match epiphany about the value of platonic friendship that we weren’t privy to?

Mako and Bolin agree to not let girls get in between them, which is a nice brotherly moment, though I would have liked Bolin to point out that Mako should kind of shit or get off the pot here. And still the whole thing is undercut by the fact that feelings weren’t really developed between any points of this quadrilateral.

Perhaps ironically, Asami and Mako had the most depth to them of any pairing at that point, with their bonding over shared trauma.

Man, she really fed his ego...

I can’t track this for Korra’s development at all. She took the world’s worst advice from the world’s most problematic relationship coach in the form of Pema. But there’s actually something wildly endearing about how she asked Ikki and Jinora for advice in the first place, since it highlights just how much of a fish-out-of-water she is here. Of course the 11 and 8-year-olds would know this stuff! I also happen to love how blunt Pema is and could gush about the sordid Pelinzin dynamics for some time. Slay the “other woman” trope, girl! I honestly think her POV would be super compelling around the time this all went down, and one day I’ll get to writing it. One day...

What was I saying? Right, Korra’s romantic development in this episode. I just don’t even know. The way she asks him out is cringe-worthy, but supposed to be. Then she goes on a date with Bolin because she was sad about being rejected and for some reason didn’t say “sounds good, let’s go as friends.” Then when Mako calls her out for toying with Bolin (kinda? They did just get noodles), she has the nerve to say it’s so clearly his jealousy. Then they play a shitty match and Mako tells Korra he does like her, so she kisses him (honestly, reasonable). Then she’s in such a pissy mood about Mako probably yelling at her for that, that her next match she literally waterbends at the ref? But then is the person who wins the whole thing? And somewhere in that time realized she should be super thankful that Asami secured them a tournament spot in the first place?

Yeah, no shit, Sherlock

Look, navigating the world of teenage hormones is tricky, and I guess there’s something realistically dramatic and infantile about it all. But this is a scripted show, and I honestly have no idea why Bryke would think this is the compelling way to write a romance. If the idea was to force Mako into admitting he liked her, and using Bolin as that wedge, then why was Asami also necessary as a love triangle device? Couldn’t just one love triangle had sufficed? I’m also struggling to see the point of the repeated conversations between Mako and Korra, or how probending became the visual metaphor to hammer home how they’re not getting along. WE GET IT. I PROMISE.

Truly, I think the main issue is that this nonsense was all condensed into one episode. In isolation, each individual beat is fine, especially as a learning moment for Korra. I actually really liked the Borra date, not in a shipping way, but as what it was: Korra had a very good time with someone she only had a platonic attraction to, and Bolin put romantic weight onto it (for perfectly valid reasons). Then he found out in a harsh way that Korra wasn’t interested, but she apologized to him and he moved on more or less instantaneously. Their dynamic is still based on affection, and I like that the show recognized that sort of romantic incompatibility and unrequited feelings (it happens) without giving Bolin a whiff of entitlement about the whole thing.

two episodes later

I know I said I was struggling to see Korra’s growth in Season 1, which is still a complaint that’s there. But I can at least say that Korra learning to consider others was something that happened. Not as in like, “that uppity girl needs to learn empathy!” or any bullshit like that. But in the sense of, she was raised in an isolated compound and had attention on her 24/7. Everything she did was about her growth and development as the Avatar. Then she ran to the city, and quickly learned that hey, you can’t just beat people up even if it’s “justice” in your mind. You can’t just agree to dates with people you don’t want to date and not expect some hurt feelings. And you can’t just be antagonistic to your crush’s girlfriend, because she’s like...a human. I mean, you can, but Korra is a rather nice person, and didn’t want to do that after 1x07.

In some ways it’s a touch on the uncomfortable side of things, because we’re talking about a specifically brown female protagonist learning to more or less restrain herself? But it really is just about her navigating the overwhelming social space for the first time, and there’s something to be said about that as well. Aang was a fish-out-of-water in the sense that he was missed the events of the world for 100 years. Korra was a fish-out-of-water because she hadn’t gotten to experience the world at all. It’s kind of just a different way of giving us that, to a different level of success.

Like all the classics

However, I do feel like her isolation wasn’t deeply explored? Like we watched her mature and we saw her viewpoints evolve, but no one ever really talked about it, in the same way Mako and Bolin being orphans was rarely discussed too. It’s ~there~, but I do think given some of the less wonderful implications, a bit more explication would have helped.

Also, we didn’t see Korra like, having to learn greetings and slang or anything. You know, things you’d expect if this is the kind of story you’re digging into. Instead, we got Korra learning how to navigate specifically romances. Then there was her more general worldview and how she saw her fit as the Avatar, which as I said, was something heavily unresolved in Season 1 (and that’s fine). But it makes the hammering of romance all the more just...why.

I know some people watch shows for ships, but I’m not one of them (which is why I love this piece by Gretchen), and I also happen to think that [relation]ships are the most compelling when they’re not relegated to this sort of separate sphere. Book 1 was written kind of like, “oh now we’re doing the shipping episode!”

But instead of Mako and Korra yelling about the concept of dating each other, maybe we could have had them interacting so we’d have an understanding of why they wanted that. And if they were only meant to be attracted and wow, it didn’t work out ‘cause we’re incompatible (you know...what actually happened), then why focus on it like this and build it up all season as some kind of ~~true love~~?

I guess what it took me 2000 fucking words to arrive at is that “Spirit of Competition” was telling-and-not-showing storytelling for the romance itself (which sadly is "in" these days), and given that it was the only focus of the episode, it’s just not very good—not as an artform, not as a way of getting audience engagement, and not as anything that served the larger Book 1 picture.

Honestly, what follows makes me wistful for this

But at least it didn’t collapse under itself like the damn dying star that was “Endgame.”

Before I get out of here I’d like to nitpick for a second about the probending. IF YOU ATTACK THE REF, YOU SHOULD BE OUT OF THE TOURNAMENT! God, what the fuck. She didn’t even get a red card for that...just a yellow. Really violated the suspension of disbelief. Also, the random Tahno rivalry that they realized they had to build up for the next episode was so badly done. “Here’s this jerk! Hate him now!” I guess it kind of works to make Amon’s point, but the fact that we only get him in 1x05 and it’s resolved by 1x06 is very odd.

I suppose “Spirit of Competition” has merits in terms of ironic enjoyment, and there is some downright fun silliness (“you’re a bad idea!” and my favorite, “you look great, champ!”). But in that department, I’ll take “The Sting” any day.

Next time, I’ll rip into what is probably a perfectly fine episode, other than it just didn’t do it for me.

#12 1x12 “Endgame”

1x05 photo recap found here

Book 2 ranking/essays found here

Book 4 ranking/essays found here

“Badger Mole,” Korrasami and BDSM part 1

Change had always been a constant force in Korra’s life, but the years since she first came to Republic City had made it come to the forefront. It came in small and large, wide reaching and locally isolated. On the large scale, she was a better, stronger, wiser avatar. Though she’d lost her connection to her past lives, she’d connected the human and spirit worlds, and saved them both twice over. Most notably though, she’d fallen in, out of and then back into love, the last time for good and with someone she never expected to. On the smaller scale, her hair was shorter, home was now a rebuilt, somewhat more modest Sato manor, and the morning was not quite so evil anymore. Because now, every morning started with Asami.

Even Korra, queen of sleeping in couldn’t be grumpy when the sun touched her face and she woke with her cheek pressed to warm soft cloth and a steady heartbeat in her ear. A drowsy smile came to her lips and she closed her eyes again. She took a deep breath, Asami always smelled so sweet. *th-thump, th-thump, th-thump* went her heart. Korra pulled her close, taking care not to wake her. She didn’t so much sleep as snooze, she was too happy to drop back off.

Her sleepy haze melted slowly away some time later with familiar fingers exploring her hair. Korra hummed and rolled onto her back. Asami followed her, resting her head on Korra’s chest. “Hey sleepy ‘sami,” the avatar mumbled.

Asami giggled and kissed Korra’s neck. “Morning.”

Korra buried her nose in Asami’s long black hair and hugged her tight. “When do you have to be at work again?”

Asami turned her head to glance at the clock. “In an hour or two.”

“Can’t keep you in bed this morning?”

“Mmm, not today. You can go back to sleep if you want.”

“Nnn, it’s no fun without you.”

Asami turned over and looked deep into Korra’s eyes. Whenever she did she looked at Korra like she hadn’t seen her in years. Asami took Korra’s shoulders, Korra took Asami’s cheeks and they sank into an adoring euphoric kiss. Asami held her close, Korra moved her hands, tucking them around Asami’s waist. They kissed over and over, hearts light and cheeks flushed. At last Asami reluctantly separated from her, brushing her long raven tresses out of the way. “Mmmf, I really do need to get up. If we keep going like this I’m just gonna blow off work,” she teased.

Korra gave her a sly look. “Darn, you figured out my evil plan.”

Asami smiled sensually and lay back down on top of her, putting a hand to her cheek and whispering in her ear. “We’ll pick this up where we left off later. I promise.” She kissed her cheek and Korra blushed bright, grinning ear to ear.

“I love you Asami.”

Asami got reluctantly out of bed and looked back at Korra with a smile she saved only for her. “I love you too Korra.” She left their bedroom and Korra looked up at the ceiling, still beaming. This just felt so, right. Her love for Mako had been a brilliantly bright spark, intense but brief with no fuel to keep burning. In fact, she still loved him, just not in the same way. Her love for Asami had grown from a smoldering ember to a perfect gleaming flame. There wasn’t a moment they were together when she wasn’t glowing with joy.

Asami was thinking all but the same thoughts as she worked on breakfast. She smiled fondly into the pot she was stirring as she thought back. Despite all the horrible things that had happened, she’d found love and it had found her. In a way, it had only happened because of some of the horrible things. She’d grown increasingly fond of Korra the longer they’d known each other, but in her head she’d always said “it’s because we’re great friends!” But that had changed when Korra was hurt. When she’d needed her. The day of Jinora’s ceremony, she’d wanted more than anything to take Korra into her arms and let her cry. Be her rock in the storm to cling to while she let it all out and hold her until she felt better.

When Korra disappeared it only made her feelings stronger. It had been receiving her letter that made her realize just how and what she really felt. The trash bin beside her desk was full of half written responses the next morning, but in the end she decided not to send any of them. She didn’t know if Korra felt the same way, and even if she did the last thing she needed was another layer of confusion while she was trying to piece herself together.

Things had changed the night of Verrick and Ju Li’s wedding. A little warm glow they each held in their chest had grown and enveloped them like a blanket, and it had only gotten warmer over time. Soon they were living together, and even the little domestic headaches never lasted long. Sometimes they argued, sometimes they made mistakes, but they never stayed mad very long. Usually they both said they were sorry, no matter who’s fault it was or even if it wasn’t anybody’s fault. At the end of the day, they went to bed snuggled up together, never angry.

Arms wrapped around Asami’s waist and familiar soft brown hair tickled her neck. “What’s cookin’ good lookin’?”

Asami giggled. “Bolin give you that line?”

“You can thank Milo for that winner. Give Bolin some credit, that was too bad even for him.”  

“Mmmhmhm!” Asami leaned her head back. She was very tempted to turn off the stove and curl up in bed with Korra, rebuilding the city be damned. “What’s cookin’ is steamed buns. Want some?”

“Mmm!” Korra pecked her cheek. “Yes please!” She returned to the bedroom and started to change.

“So what are you up to today?” Asami asked.

“*sigh*, Air Temple Island to talk to some new students, police headquarters to wrap up some stuff with Lin, take Naga for a run, hopefully find some time to meditate...” Asami turned to find a strainer and felt a familiar gush of air as Korra glided over on a pocket of bended air to rest in front of her. “And I think I’ll find some time to distract you at work.” She tapped Asami’s nose.

“Hmhm! Sounds like a busy day. I don’t have any meetings, come by whenever you like.” She started to return to the stove and Korra hugged her from behind again.

“Five minutes after you start?”

Asami sighed affectionately. “Sweetie?”

“I know, I know. You’ve got a city to fix.” She nuzzled her neck and did her best to soak up as much warmth as she could.  

Asami turned and embraced her. They both let out a longing sigh.“Tonight I’m all yours.” She held her shoulders and looked deep into her eyes. “I don’t care if Vatu resurrects firelord Sosin and they try to take over the city by inventing wood bending. After dinner we’re going into that bedroom and locking the door behind us.”

“Mmm!” Korra gave her a playful look. “One more kiss to hold me over?”

Asami winked and gave her a noisy smooch. “Mmmmwah! There.” She stroked Korra’s cheek. “Now, go protect the city by putting on some clothes, that tank top is slowing down the reconstruction effort.” She gave Korra’s rear an affectionate squeeze and returned to the stove. Korra blushed and went back to the bedroom, already fantasizing about later that night.

Oc shit

"Wolf! Rae! Margo!" Shouted Gared. Margo appeared before him with Rae and Wolf came behind them. "What is it?!" Wolf asked frantically. His eyebrows furrowed, he was covered in blood and dirt and bruises. He looked so tired and so done with everything. "Its.. Angel...!!" He whispered. Wolf stepped backwards and covered his mouth. His eyes shone with tears as he saw the girls injuries. Her eyes opened meekly and she smiled, a soft baby smile.. She was only seven. Margo kneeled next to Gared and put a hand on his shoulder squeezing it softly. Rae concentrated on extracting the venom from most of her wounds. "Mamar... Rae.. There is no need.. For Im going to perish..." She shuddered coughing violently. Pink blood sputtered onto her clothes and Rae's face. Tears spilled down Rae's face. Rae translated it for all of them in their respective languages. Margo shook and Gared held onto her tightly. She pointed weakly to Rae. "Bright purple.. Ressilience in numbers.. Kind,warm hearted a bombshell.. Rae.. Never forget.. Who.. Loves you.." Rae choked and rested her head into theg irl's shoulder. Angel layed a hand on margo's hand. "Grey.. And black.. Your soul shines with mistrust and grey areas.. Yet grey.. Means a sharp power source.. Youre great.. Margo.. Never forget." Rae translated it with great difficulty. Angel looked up at Gared. "Gared... Neon pink.. With a bit of black.. And emerald green.. You love someone... You love them with all of your heart... Bright,love,kind, a big heart... Dont forget.." Angel coughed again. She finally stared at Wolf.  She smiled. Rae had finished translating for Gared. Gared blushed furisouly. "Wolf... Gale.. A huge heart of gold.. You are a complicated kid... Not one to admit your love for someone.. But loyalty and kindness spills over in you... When you love.. You love with all your soul and being.. Treat.. Him.. Well.." She finally lost light in her eyes and closed them.. She stopped breathing. Rae glanced at Wolf, who flushed visibly. She was shooken to reality by a yelling Gared. He screamed and cried and sobbed. He shook the little girl in his arms but could not wake her up. Wolf ran. He ran hard. Rae took the little girl from gared as margo made to hug him tightly. She lay her down beside her little cousin. She then prayed for both of them. Margo held gared tightly.  --------------_____________________>€\+|+.'dowksnjcocndowowjdncjownskcdonwosn ndjsd "Hey mom hi dad!" Korra greeted her parents enthusiasticly.she hugged both of them and they all sat down. "Korra! You look so beautiful and healthy! My how youve grown.." Her mother gushed. "My beautiful daughter." Tonraq said with love. Korra blushed and waved a hand. "Oh you guys... Its been a really long time since I saw you.." She said and looked towards the doorway. Outside Asami stood waiting patiently for her que to come in. She filed her nails and looked up occassionaly. She blew out a sigh and looked at the beautiful landscape. "Well, anyways, I uh.. Have some news for you." Korra admitted putting her hands out. Asami smirked and came out from her hiding place. She strode to where Korra sat and took a seat beside her. Korra blushed and took a deep breath. "Now I know.. This might be a shock? Cause.. Like.. I was dating Mako.. But .. It isnt that way because.. Well.." Korra stammered. She glanced to Asami. She mouthed 'help me' "What is this about.. Girls? Dont tell me.." Asami and Korra sat up straight and gulped. "Ugh, korra, how many times have I told you not to destroy my kitchenware.. You know how many times Ive had these remade?" Senna said exasperatedly. Korra let out a nervous laugh and Asami let out an audible phew. "I dont think thats what.. Theyre getting at.. Come now Korra, tell us. You and that Mako kid are.. Getting married.. Thats it isnt it." Tonraq said with a glint of dissaproval in his eyes. "Good spirits! Youre not pregnant are you?!" Shouted Senna covering her mouth. Korra blinked. She looked to Asami. "Korra.. Is trying to say.."  But by then Korra had met her lips in a passionate kiss. Asami was so shocked she fell over in her chair and Korra came right down on top of her. They both spluttered and then they erupted in laughter and giggles. Senna had stood up and Tonraq looked...  "Dont be ridiculous." Tonraq said in a firm tone. He walked around the table and held out hands to them both. Asami flushed and looked down. She avoided eye contact with him as they both stood up. Senna had come around the table too. Korra looked fearfully at her father. She felt ashamed.. Because now.. Her father wouldnt accep-- Senna and Tonraq both smiled and pulled them in for hugs. "Asami, welcome to our family." Asami was shocked and Korra was too. When they pulled away Asami was at a loss for words. "Youre not mad?" Korra asked quietly. "Of course not. Why would we be?" "Cause.. Shes.. Shes not a he?" Korra said. "Look, you two. I could care less. Plus, if its any consolation, we knew." "You knew?! How did you?! How!?" Asami felt herself asking. "Korra you gaze at her more often than friends do. Youre happier around her, and.. I may or may not have caught you two making out before you came.." Tonraq said. Korra and Asami both looked at each other. Then they burst out laughing and crying. "We love you two. May your happiness be forever." Bap u party favor The used "Hey This is my general partner. She was there when Crazed took us over... This is Margo and Rae." He introduced them.  She shook both of their hands and smiled. "I'm Yorse." She said. Margo snorted. "What?" He asked. Rae glared at him. "My name is Yorse. Y-o-r-s-e. Ancient to my culture and clan." "Yeah you stupid fuck." Rae growled at Margo. He only surrendered his hands up and then got serious again. "All joking aside though, we'd really like to know your power ability, I know little of your specific clan but.. I believe you all differ in strength?" Rae said. "Well, I can suck the life out of anything I come in contact with. I can crush bones with my fingers and on tuesdays I can get high out of my mind." Margo whistled and Rae only gulped. "Of course, anybody on my side or for a good cause or who are my friends, dont die. So you two are all g." "Excuse us, but we arent really all that used to english.. Margo can barely string two sentences together.. But I can be the translator." "Of course Rae. Constabel. Where is Furio?" "I saw her on the other side of the party last. She said something about the children." He creased his eyebrows and then took another swig of the alcohol. He saluted them with the drink and then made for the rest of the party. "You'll have to excuse, Colen. He's been hurt by the war quite a bit. Im going to go see to the children." She took a deep breath and then bowed her head. She pulled her gloves off as she walked away and Margo caught a glimpse of beautiful tattoos the likes of which he hadnt seen in his life. But.. He recognised them from somewhere... Rae sighed and pushed him away from her. "Personal space, Marg. Lets go and find the healers. Come to think of it.. I need to see Juke." Margo nodded. Most of the children were very scarred by what they had witnessed and most were injured. They varied in all ages but a lot were kids. "Cranire. This one needs immediate attention, his arm is burned.. But that can be recovered. His face is just scratched up.. Nothing a little healing cant help buddy." She said. She smiled a reassuring smile and then began to talk to him. "Whats your name?" She asked while activating her powers. She sucked out the bad blood and curse and then expelled it. Her eyes glowed a soft pink and then she restored the melonin to his skin. "Seran..." He said quietly. He looked at his arm and his eyes grew wide. "It doesnt hurt anymore!" He croaked. "Of course, little buddy. Healers, we attend to any wound, and we do what we can. Youre a brave little boy, you know that?" Seran grimaced a little and looked away. Cranire glared at Gus. "Im sorry.. Did i say something wrong?" Seran looked up. "I let him go.. I dont know where he is.. And.. I dont know if ill ever find.. Him.." Gus met cranire's stare. "Who?" Cranire asked. "Huse... My baby brother." CrNire bit his lip and Gus choked a little. "I-I m sure youll find him.. Seran." Seran's eyes were sad but a little hope sparked in them. "Cranire. Do you need help? Extra bandages?" A man in bright pink asked. "Ginkr..." Cranire stood up and glanced at the sad little boy. Then he looked at his partner, Gus. She was healing his bruises and staunched the bleeding in his knee. The reslove in his eyes showed as he switched his regular language on. "This little boy's baby brother.. Huse.. Is he anywhere to be found?" "I'd love to assist you anyway I can... Ill go and find a finder." Cranire smiled and then kissed him. Ginkr pulled away after a second and returned the smile. "I love you. Go." He said pointing away. Ginkr nodded and then dissappeared. Cranire sat beside gus and then healed Seran's feet. "Cranire, i think im fine here, can you go and heal another kid? Ill catch up to you after."  Cranire nodded and then got up again. He waved at seran and seran returned it. He left for an open spot. Everywhere he looked there were crowds of healers and helpers. The most damaged kids were being attended to by groups and clusters and the immediate okay ones were helped by groups of two and three. The ones with little scrapes and bruises were patched up and sent to the feast with a buddy from a different clan. It was sweet seeing two clans mixing together in ways of friendship and it warmed his heart. They were so young. While he walked to find a kid he saw a two little girls, spenick and Half hero by the looks of it, walking hand in hand. Cranire continued on and eventually found a little girl by the looks of six. She opened her eyes at him .  He sat next to her. "Are you okay?" He asked simply. "If I wasnt okay, Id already have five swarming over me." He nodded. "Whats your name?" He asked in her language. "Kratinel, yours?" She replied. "Cranire. I am a healer. Im going to heal your injuries." "You dont look like a healer." She said abruptly as soon as he layed hands on her leg. "Really? Im very curious, what does a healer look like to you?" She considered the question while he concentrated on turning his powers on. He had a little difficulty because he was such a new recruit. He knew he could do it though. "Youre a very honest and down to bussiness person. Honest to a fault. You dont take any shit from anyone. But youre kind. Loyal to anyone who respects and treats you well. Plus, you dont where the uniform." He looked down at himself and then back at her. "Youre a reader, from the Graren clan. They value knowledge and perception above all else." She nodded. "Most healers ive come across.. Well.. From here.. Theyve all been very off point and warm hearted." He snorted. " wow thanks ,Kratinel,i sometimes need a reminder im not a very sensitive person, especially from a six year old." "You seem to be having trouble healing me, are you sure youre a healer?"  "Of course, wait look!" He said and she did. Turquiose and purple shone dimly before them and swam in and out of her cuts and bruises leaving them sealed off and clean. He then saw her cut off arm and winced. He touched that part very sensitively and it sealed off and cleaned itself.  "I am sorry Kratinel.. I am not a very good healer.. Not like the great Juke.. I cannot restore limbs.." She shook her head, "nonsense.. I am glad and greatful for your service Cranire." He nodded and then began to heal the minor wounds. "I'll get an arjor to fasten and make you your very own arm. Arjors are very skilled craftspeople. They can take anything and make something out of it.. From what i hear." "That is true.. Arjors... They dont get along with my family..." "Look, Kratinel, from all thats happened, its very foolish to think we can go back to hatred and animosity between clans. We need to unite and serve and come to one anothers defence, in order to take down Crazed. We are all the same inside." Kratinel considered those words. "I suppose you are right. I had you pegged wrong. I may be a Graren.. But.. I am young." He smiled. "Alright.. Kratinel.. Im going to take you to the overseer and get you a partner. Then Ill get the arjor." She smiled and he helped her up. "Thank you. Cranire." "No problem." They walked away to the overseer. "Fryn, we have a little girl here." "Ah, Cranire. Youve done a good job on her injuries. I do expect alot out of you, you hear me?" He saluted to her. "Ill see you at the feast, good luck Krat." She smiled and waved. He then left for the arjor. It was only then that he noticed the gashes going up and down his hands. They revealed themselves and he gasped. "Shit." He swore. "You dreyt! You know, youre not supposed to feel for anyone. You know that! Thats the first rule of being a healer! You feel too strongly, too connected and.. And.. " she lowered her voice. "You wind up like Juke Snake." He nodded. "I know! I know, im sorry.. Ill try harder next time. Really, I will." "Look, injuries sustained in these circumstances dont heal. Let those be a reminder to you. You may pretend to feel while you are healing. But do not feel while actually healing." He nodded solemnly. "Those will seal off though." "The notions there then.. Look, Ginkr.. Have you found him?" "The little boy's brother? We have reason to believe he is still in his village... We sent a squad over to evacuate him without Crazed noticing." "What? Hes a baby! Im going." "Are you fucking crazy? You think im going to let you leave?! Theres kids who need healing and you... Youll get hurt.." "Im not a good healer.. I need to rescue that boy.. Ill never forgive myself if i let him die.." Ginkr sighed heavily. He rubbed his temples. "Fine.. Hurry though. Please come back to me alive." Cranire nodded solemnly and kissed him again. He ran off at a fast pace and bulleted past healer groups. He arrived at the tent and found six girls standing there. "Who are you?" "Cranire.. Searcher." He panted out. He grabbed for his knife and staff but was cut off. "You dont look like a searcher. Who sent you?" "Girls, he wants to come.. Let him. Come on Cranire. We dont have all day." He swallowed and slipped on some armor and sweatpants. He grabbed a mask and they all nodded approvingly. "Im Saniteu, Dreyn origins. Grew up in a forest all my life." "Oh, good to meet you." They were all walking briskly and when they got to the forest they would vishere to the point village. "Inere. Graren clan." "Laylpa, Spenick" "Crandiy, Gale."  "Sincu, Kechin." "Mari, Half hero." Cranire gulped and bowed to them. They were all so advanced... He didnt even know where he came from. "Theres a little boy and We believe a couple other kids." "Good. The more to rescue the easier escape it will be." They transported and arrived just outside the village. "Alright.. Alright.. We're all good? Watch out for his guards.. We havent seen what he has for servants. They could be deadly." "No match for us though. Right girls? And Cranire." Cranire smiled bleakly. Saniteu rolled her eyes and gave the signal. They snuck in and split up different directions. All was well and quiet in the village. All say except for fire and wood snapping. They heard laughter and horrible noise. Cranire tip toed closer for a good look at what they were facing and almost fainted. At least half a dozen Half hero people all holding the kids in place as a punisher? Lashed at them. "Customs!!! When Crazed is done with you, youll all be equal! No more silly cultures and silly clans!!! All the same in the eyes of Crazed! Bow!!! Do you not see youre resistance? Its useless! Bow Girl! Bow!" He whipped at her but she refused to kneel. Tears sparkled in her eyes as she bit her lip. Whip lashes adorned her arms and legs. She stood in front of all the trembling bowed children. She glanced back at them and smiled a little bit. They were all safe and okay. They werent dead as long as she kept up her torture they would be fine. They wouldnt be hurt. She closed her eyes. 'It will all be alright. Do not listen to this liar. Be safe. Do not be stupid. Ill protect you all.' She thought it and they only nodded slightly. Cranire blazed with fury and seven searchers popped out and it was a frenzy. They had the upper hand because of their surprise attack. Cranire smashed the half hero girl in the back and she let go. The little boy in her grips ran for the trees not looking back. "Keep fighting!" Crandiy yelled. She ran for the kid and dissappeared. Laylpa took on four half heros at once. They overwhelmed her and Cranire ran for her backup. "Mari! Fight back! No! What are you doing?!" Cranire turned around and was hit by the punisher. He saw stars erupt in his vision and he swam in and out of conciousness. Mari was frozen to the spot at the sight of her clan members. She did not move and was eventually the target for all the half heros. They stopped fighting the others and instead walked to her. Cranire was about to be stabbed but Saniteu had slammed the punisher in the head and he wrnt down like a bag of rocks. She slapped him and he came to his senses. He was helped to his feet and she pushed him to the others.  The girl with the whip lashes was pushing the other kids to safety and yelling at them to run. To run for their lives and to not look back. They all obeyed except for a little baby who couldnt walk yet. He shook and she limped in agony over to him. She lifted him and ran for the forest towards the others. It couldnt be helped. They all pried at the swarming half heros but were overpowered. Cranire pulled Saniteu away from the crowd. "No!!! Not mari! Not her!" She sobbed. He managed to kick one of them off. And then they fled. Inere and Sincu shouldered their greiving leader and ran for the forest. Cranire took one look back. All he could see was Mari's blank, dead stare. Laylpa shoved at his back and he ran. Crandiy yelled at them all to gather. They found her a moment later and saw the group of scared traumatised kids. The girl was shaking holding onto the baby boy. Crandiy sighed and panted. Inere and Sincu held Saniteu in case she decided to run back and help Mari. Crandiy grabbed Cranire's hand and he grabbed for the girl's she held onto his grip like a vise. And thats something he will never forget. Is the grip like a vise. The kids all held hands with the group and they vanished. They appeared in the campsite ready for healing. Inere and Sincu carried the sobbing form of Saniteu into the tent. Cranire gasped and panted for breath. To gather words for what he had just saw. The girl collapsed but the little boy caught the baby. He kneeled beside her. Cranire dropped to his knees and then yelled. Laylpa had already deserted them to gather help. She returned with groups upon groups of healers all lifting kids off into the tents for emergency healing. For arjors and to take the little boy. They took the girl last upon her frantic request. "Takrt them first! Take the-'m fi-first!" She said quickly in her language. The kids all screamed and cried and yelled and sobbed. They clawed at the air to not be left alone. They had no parents.. All they had was each other.. And to bd even torn up like that.. Even for healing? Cranire shook his head. Ginkr ran to his aid upon hearing the news. "Ginkr.." He stuttered. "Yes?! What is it?!" "Dont split them up.. Dont split them up.. The kids.. The girl.. Dont spkit them upp,,,," he stammered and then.. He fainted. He awoke. He blinked and then sat up quickly. He wished he hadnt. His spine groaned and his bones protested. His limbs were on fire from his injuries. He blinked away the sleep and blurriness. He was in a tent. He was next to Saniteu. She sat holding her arm. It was bandaged. She clutched a photo of her and Mari. He winced at the pain. He looked around. On the other side of him was Inere. She had horrible claw marks down her arms and legs and part of her stomach was bleeding. Healers were working on her. Upon attempting to roll off the hard cot her stumbled. He glanced at Saniteu. It did not faze her. He stood up and limped over around. Sincu was rolling around in pain on her cot. Healers and helpers were clustered around her. He coughed and choked. He stumbled out of the tent. "Where are you going?" Demanded Laylpa. She was trying to br tough.. But failed. She choked up wigh tears and began to bawl. She held onto him. He held her. She evetually let him go and didnt question him. She just sat down because it hurt her legs to stand. He limped into the weapons tent and grabbed his staff. It helped him walk and he coughed up blood. He made it to the healers row. A huge row of kids who needed help just lay there and waited for healers to save them. He walked down the row. He stopped when he saw the girl. She opened her eyes when he collapsed next to her. "Youre very brave" he choked out. She didnt answer. Instead she sat up. The whip marks were all but healed up. They were only faded scars. Her hand was bandaged and so was her head. Her eyes were a fiery golden amber. And her hair was messy, but they were dreadlocks. It was shoulder length, her hair. And she wore new clean clothing.. Not the usual traditional garb she would wear. "The others... Theyre safe?" She asked him. With great difficulty because her mouth was still healing. He shrugged and stood up. "Ill find out. Wait here." She nodded and looked down. He stumbled off and found one of them. He was around five. He had bright red hair that was shaggy. His grey eyes stared off at nothing. His body was thrown into remission and he was bandaged up. He didnt wear much except for a big shirt and little shorts. He carried on and found another. A little girl around six. She had beautiful shiny black hair that was now matted and tangled. She had black obsidian eyes that looked everywhere tearily. She wore a bright yellow flower dress with a bow on it. Healers had already helped those two. He found another. A boy who looked nine. He had long brown hair that was tied up in a ponytail. His brown face was dirty from the dirt and blood and sweat. He had orange unusual eyes and wore a wool sweater with a dragon on it. His pants were red. He was sitting up and was self aware. He found another. A girl, age seven. Blonde hair that was cut short. She had faded healing bruises but nothing major. She had blue sky eyes and wore a sheet. Another. A boy age thirteen. He had big black eyes and black black hair. He wore a baggy dress shirt and baggy dress pants. Black face paint covered and smeared his eyelids and neck. There was one more. He looked up and down the row... Until eventually he spotted him. A chubby little boy around the age of eight. She had curly black hair and turquoise eyes. He wore a blanket and a board around his chest. He finally breathed. He didnt know how long since he had been relieved. He turned away and walked back to the girl. She looked back up at him. He nodded and she sighed in relief. She finally stood up. "Thankyou.. Im ready for the feast. As long as i have my kids." His heart warmed in ways he couldnt explain. He held her shoulder as they walked down the aisle. She beckoned for the boy with shaggy red hair to come and he staggered over to them in a hurry. She hugged him tightly and kissed the top of his head. They held hands. They both waved at the girl with obsidian eyes. She crawled over to them. They held her up as they walked. The nine boy spotted them and ran over to them he hugged them all and he held the girl with obsidian eyes. The sky eyed girl walked with them. The thirteen boy almost tripped in his hurry to hug them. He picked up the red haired boy and the seven girl. Finally the chubby boy walked over. He smiled a cute smile and hugged them all. Cranire teared up and staggered over to the overseer. "Cranire. Oh dreyts... " she hugged him. She let him go, and spotted all the kids. "Arjor Trane!" She bellowed. She ran over as quickly as she could. "Mamar?" "Wheelchair." She nodded quickly and wheeled a chair over. The nine boy kissed the little girl on the top of the head and sat her down in it. "Crutches. Iron braces. Leg. Arm. Thats all." She handed the crutches over to the red head. The iron braces went to the thirteen boy. The arm to the sky eyed girl and the leg to the nine. "Beautiful.. Youre all happy with what youre wearing?" They nodded. She smiled and finished fastening and screwing the metal and finally stepped back. "Great. Thanks Trane." She nodded and walked off. Cranire said see you to all of them and staffed it back to the tent where he kissed his boyfriend. ////////3456§2:&.92&2'sovlmfsoqkmcjdkdksmoskdmcmfkdodmcmkfkdmsokfmfkdoskcmfkeo "Sirius, why do you have to rush off without thinking properly? Dumbledore said, Harry would be fine.. Jame's son.. Hes going to be fine without us." Remus said trying to stop Sirius. Sirius scoffed, "Dumbledore knew I was an innocent man, Remus. He knew.. And he did nothing.. So that Harry would grow up to kill you know who. Raising him like a lamb to slaughter... But.. We are going to stop that from happening." "Ugh.. Alright.. I'll trust your judgement. But only is once. Lets hurry up. We will attract unwanted attention." "When have you ever, doubted my judgement?" Sirius asked with a smirk on his face. "Come on." Sirius and Remus apparated into the sleeping dormant Dursley's house. He heard loud snores coming from one room and nothing from the other. Remus pulled his wand out and tip toed into the loud room. He expected to see Harry being cuddled by the family and loved. But what he saw was a very very large man and a very very skinny woman holding a huge baby boy. Remus blinked, 'this is harry?' Sirius tapped his shoulder and Remus followed him out. He glanced back and with further investigation saw bright blonde hair. He blew out a sigh. "I knew that couldnt be him... He has black hair." "Jet black untidy hair, and green eyes, Remus, just like James..except with lilly's eyes." They entered the room and saw a sleeping baby boy. Sirius let a breath of relief out and went over to his side. "Odd, youd think he would have a crib.. But its just.." "A cardboard box. Is that napkins at the bottom?" "I think so... Merlin.." Remus gasped. At second examination he saw his ribs and little frame having trouble breathing. "How long has it been?" Remus asked. "Four years.." "Hes really really small for a five year old.." "Oh god are those bruises?" Sirius flared with anger. He took a step but was stopped by Remus. "You idiot. Dont blow our cover, we are going to get Harry out of here, you hear me? Dont think about revenge now." Sirius was furious but obeyed. He picked up Harry very gently and then he held him out to Sirius. Sirius's expression softened and changed to one of great affection at the little bundle. "My godson.." He whispered. "Our godson, Sirius." Remus corrected him. Sirius smirked at Remus and then kissed him. They pulled away and took Harry with them. Two years later. "Dad..?" Harry asked. He was seven now and going on eight. "Harry, Im Sirius. Okay? Sirius, and thats Remus." "Ok... Can you come and show me this spell again?" "Of course, Harry. Which one are you trying to do?" He asked him. "Oh, well... Im trying to get this to.. Float!" He said. "Well, lets see your stick." Harry handed him the small stick and then he shook his head. They both held it and Sirius showed him how to wave it. "Repeat after me. Wingardium..." "Wingardium.." "Leviosa.." "Wingardium leviosa.." At the sound of the spell it levitated powerfully. "Great job Harry! Keep practicing." I once thought i could break bonds just as fast as i built them But i guess i was wrong because it was a rose stem Thorns and beauty all in one Sometimes I think I can run Faster always gaining speed, just as my demons catch up to me Im breaking barriers and haunting ghosts These are the things that hurt the most and its tiring some of the time Im catching sleep or spitting lies right through my teeth Grey areas in my mind send me to space and through time Kings and queens rule the land of a horrible mime Moneys always scarce and friends always betray  But at least some of my abusers stay You see Im always getting hit around for one thing or another Sometimes its because of my 'awful' mother My abuser always tells me Im bad if i go, im worse than scum if i think of the better And I guess thats why i stay true to the letter of dont dissapoint, always be there Even when the lady at the daycare stares Shes always askin me.. What my abuser and i do but its not that easy To repeat the mean things they say. Im talking hung on a rope like im strung out on dope Flying through clouds through the galaxy i cope Im always beggin to a god any if they hear me to grant me new hope but Im falling through lines ingrained into my grave i swear They shouldnt have called it a razor if im splitting the veins On new years when my abuser came home i could smell the twinge and sour smell of alcohol on their breath You see I guess its better than meth but Im not so sure alcohol is the alternative My abuser gave me a black eye on christmas and a bruised lip on valentines I guess somewhere along that line i called it quits I strung out the pieces and bits That werent already smashed and mamed. I remained to this day a survivor and Ill be damned if thats going to happen anymore. Seth ran a hand through his hair and sighed deeply. He was glad to be back in Malice, but he missed Kady deeply. "Seth, mate... Youre gonna see her again. So just in the mean time.. Focus on getting through this forest." "Yeah.. I guess.. I really love this world Justin. Its just... I wont see her for a long time.." Justin lay a hand on his shoulder and brought him in for a hug. "We narrowly avoided death back there and youre thinking about your girlfriend?" "She isnt my girl-" "Dont even want to know. My point is if youre so miserable... Then.. We can grab you a ticket and you can go and visit her. But you have to come back." "Its been three years... And my mind would get wiped." "No it wouldnt. Now that Tj is gone, kids who leave can keep their memories, cause it was all part of the comic." Seth thought of that for a moment before deciding., that yeah. He needed to see Kady. "You gonna come?" "Nah.. You two lovebirds can kiss it up all you want. Goodbyes arent my department." Black out days Adolesents