#Bei fong family

[light-miracles]

Just because I know that you love the Beifong as much as I do, do you realize that Lin was the best game and that probably everyone wanted/loved her? Strictly speaking politically *because we all know the other benefits of having Lin as a couple lmao* She is THE heiress of the noble family richest and with good influence of the last centuries fr and does not have the "tie of the crown" like:

Poppy: proposals have just arrived from the water tribe of the north so that our beloved granddaughter is their Chief.

Lao: put it together with that of the Fire Nation to be Fire Lady.

Poppy: Kuei continues to insist that she be a queen consort of her daughter.

Lao: Also the avatar, says that he has a son leader of the Air Nation and the other son Chief of the Water Tribe of south

You can bet Lin was the most in-demand bachelorette in the Kingdom after Toph, only that trying to ask for Toph's hand was a waste of time from the start (Lao and Poppy made quite a collection of origami figures out of the marriage proposals, pretending they didn't even want to marry her off anyway to protect their peace of mind and ears) (Toph would have yelled a lot) (Poppy made a magnificent little origami zoo, Lao only knows how to make flying boars).

Because Lin always said out loud that she wanted to follow in her mother's footsteps, Poppy and Lao never bothered to respond to Lin's marriage proposals. Sometimes they would show them to Lin, who would shrug and ask if there wasn't some way to recycle the paper because she hated wasting resources.

Suyin never received a single marriage proposal and that made her very sad. Poppy used to write her fake marriage proposals so she wouldn't feel so bad. Suyin never bothered to check if the 'Prince of the Flower Country' really existed, though.

#Atla #avatar the last airbender #legend of korra #beifong family #Bei fong family #Lin Beifong #suyin beifong #toph beifong #Lao beifong #Poppy beifong #Loppy #Lin bei fong #Toph bei fong #Suyin bei fong #Lao bei fong #Poppy bei fong

[lazyveran]

they r best friends to ME

#wheres zuko toph besties supremacy where they bond over shitty rich families and being blind and terrible jokes #zuko is always happy when tophs abt. someone is finally throwing rocks at the shadow ministers #zuko #toph bei fong #atla #avatar the last airbender #veran scribbles #these are my political au designs for them. dont tell anyone #political marriage au

[kyoshi-lesbians]

"in your opinion how much longer do you think the war will last?" such good line of dialogue for the head of the bei fong family. they have so much wealth that such concerns like a 100 year war that has destroyed the lives and ways of life for the vast majority of the population just doesn't effect them.

#THIS SHOW IS GOOD! #and then aang having to play along using their impersional polite removed language #'well i'd like to defeat the firelord by...' #spoken like a politican rather than a kid with the weight of the world in their hands

[dollvix]

To quote yourself, since I know you love the Bei Fongs as much as I do, do you realize that poor Baatar had to ask Lao and Poppy for their 'permission' to marry Suyin??? (we know it wasn't necessary but, alas, I bet Baatar didn't)

Just trying to picturing Old And Tired!Loppy being like 'omg someone in this family will ACTUALLY marry' with poor nervous Baatar in the background. Baatar being sure they'll reject him. *Cut to Poppy yelling at Suyin to she better marry ASAP before Baatar changes his mind*

So imagine that they have no idea why the architect that their granddaughter hired (with their money obviously) requested a meeting but they still receive him in the hall even though they can barely climb due to age but they would never admit that and Baatar never felt so much like a small boy before them (smaller than Toph here) but he still asks for Suyin's hand hoping that his guards will not kill him.

Lao's order to his guards is to bring drinks to celebrate, Suyin laughs because she had no idea why he wanted to talk to her grandparents until she heard it and mocks how unnecessary it was while Poppy scolds her and almost orders to bring a judge right then while Baatar looks at his new family in disbelief.

Lao: well at least we no longer have to pay him for his services in the new city Poppy: no but now we have to pay him for keeping Suyin

#beifong family #poppy beifong #lao beifong #avatar #atla #avatar the last airbender #suyin beifong #baatar

[attackfish]

Can we have 5 more headcanons for the "GAang's parents are swapped" AU? Specifically about Toph and her single, elderly dad Gyatso? That sounds absolutely *precious* and I want my fave to have a happy childhood! She deserves it, and more!!

Continued from: [Link], [Link], [Link], [Link], [Link], and [Link].

I haven't talked that much about Toph and Gyatso Bei Fong here, simply because as the recipient of a happy childhood with a supportive parent, Tophs story just isn't as messed up and complicated. In canon, Lao and Poppy hide their daughter away and refuse to acknowledge she might be anything other than a delicate helpless widdle baby. The townspeople of Gaoling don't even know the Bei Fongs have a daughter. She is a secret, and they both are ashamed of her, and hyperprotecive.

Gyatso on the other hand, is like, hey, have you heard about my daughter? She taught herself to earthbend when the master I hired for her couldn't keep up with her talent! She's the Earth Rumble champion! She's so clever, and strong, and I love her so much! Everybody knows Gyatso Bei Fong has a daughter that he will not shut up about. They have met this little gremlin child. When she was little, and she had to make an appearance at social occasions, she used to say to people, "Dad says I have to say hi to everybody, and then I can go outside and throw rocks around, so hi. Also bye."

But Gyatso is not an infinitely indulgent parent. He thinks she needs to learn a whole bunch of things that are not nearly as much fun to learn as earthbending, such as manners and etiquette, but also the deeper way we treat people, that other people are just as human as she is, and just as deserving of respect and kindness, and yes, the servants too, especially the servants, because they work for you and do a lot of things for you, so it behooves you to recognize that and treat them as people who are helping you deserve. And yes Toph, the annoying boys in town are also human beings deserving of common human decency. This is not something his own family thought was worth teaching him, like many extremely wealthy noble families, he had to learn it on his own.

He also is a very cultured man, and he enjoys the finer things in life, and wants to bring that to his daughter, music, art, poetry, literature, philosophy. Some of it is easier than others, for example Toph is never going to appreciate a painting or a piece of ink calligraphy. And her tutors think he's absolutely batty for trying to teach her to write, but you know Gaoling is really close by the Si Wong desert, and thousands of years ago, before the cultural expantion from Ba Sing Se, the people in this area developed their own form of writing using clay tablets. Gyatso uses stone engravings, and teaches Toph to make her letters on clay, and he painstakingly copies out poems and stories on the clay tablets for her to feel and read. And of course he reads her poems and stories, and philosophy.

Gyatso's indulgence of his daughter and her interests only adds to his reputation as an eccentric. He doesn't mind, and neither does Toph.

And the Toph who grows up this way is a little more polite and better at teamwork, and a little less brash and a little less boastful. She doesn't need to brag because she knows she has nothing to prove.

#avatar the last airbender #toph #posts i created #do you want to ask a question it doesn't have to be a question #a little toph love

[muffinlance]

Prompt: Scaled Over

Do it! Sink my whole concert weekend; I dare you!

(You’ve already hit Dress rehearsal and Opening night. I have 3 more shows. Can you go 5 for 5?)

I'm coming for you, and your little concerts too.

Chapter 3 preview:

---

The docks stood below the cliffs, the cliffs below the town. The traders’ ships were welcome at the lower markets and exactly no further. The Southern League wished for trade. It did not wish for visitors. Not when the Fire Nation still had a bounty out on waterbenders, and any other nation would be as happy to load up on dragon pelts as on seal-wolves’. 

It wasn’t that Katara didn’t trust the traders; it was that she knew there was no one outside her tribe she could trust. Children with golden eyes learned that lesson faster than most. 

“Master Yuu Lin,” she said, with sugary sweetness, “that was the price you agreed to last season.”

“Yes, yes,” the spindly excuse for a man said, stroking his beard, “last season it was quite fair. But you see, with the war…”

The war had been going for a hundred years. Unless Ba Sing Se had fallen, Katara didn’t want to hear more excuses about the war. Particularly not the same ones every year, used to stiff the Tribe on deals already agreed upon. 

She let the man talk. And talk. And talk. Tried to ignore the way he said things like I know you haven’t much experience yet, but… and Perhaps I could speak with one of your elders? As if her teacher being gone for her usual full moon exploits in any way changed Katara’s competence. Smiled over her gritted teeth as he added Or one of your women, if none of the elders are available— As if they were anything like the North. Let her teeth show when his eyes flicked, again, to the lit flame resting by her hand. Standard procedure, of course: every trading office had one. The docks themselves were lined in them. The traders could not know which of them were dragons, and which weren’t. Not when a respectable man like Yuu Lin, cousin to the Bei Fong family itself, was still prone to avoiding her eyes.

Never stare a predator in the eyes. 

“Master Yuu Lin, we agreed upon this price. I’ve our contract here. Some years, you turn a tidy profit on these deals. Do not expect to take it from our hides on the years you don’t. If you can’t keep a forward contract, don’t sign one.”

He looked at her hand, tapping on the papers next to the flame. He watched her smile, still sharp. He did not meet her eyes. 

“...Of course, child.”

And just for that, she was going to use their set of Omashu weights when measuring out his delivery, rather than the Ba Sing Se ones. 

“Princess,” she corrected. Not because she cared about the stupid titles that Sokka wouldn’t stop crowing over, but because the Earth Kingdom should. Her smile stretched wider. “Now, would you care to negotiate for next year?”

“...Yes, Princess Katara.”

(You can read Scaled Over on AO3.)

#who wants MARKET ECONOMICS with their DRAGON AU? #Scaled Over #no but really Katara is SO TIRED of Sokka correcting everyone to Prince Sokka #shut up your princeliness #Meanwhile Zuko: YOU CAN'T JUST ADD TITLES TO YOUR NAMES #The Entire Southern Tribe: buddy I have bad news about your ancestors #avatar the last airbender #atla #Zuko #Dragon Zuko

[toph-bi-fong]

New Earth Avatar with the image lightened. The metal is making me wonder if he’s a descendant of the Bei Fong family.

#avatar the last airbender #atla #he looks like he could be related to Bolin and Opal tbh #a grandkid maybe?

[awanderingmuse-ficrec]

Cherry Wine

Fandom: Avatar the Last Airbender

Author: Kaatiba

Rating: Not Rated

Warnings: Violence, Abuse, Sexual Content, Underage

Word Count: 151,452

Pairings: Zutara, Sukka, Tyzula

Characters: Zuko, Katara, Iroh, Ozai, Aang, Sokka, Hakoda, Kya, Ursa,  Azula, Dai Li, Earth King, Appa, Momo, Bato, The Gaang, Original Male Character(s), Piandao, The Blue Spirit, The Painted Lady, Toph Bei Fong, Lu Ten, Roku, Sozin, Fang, Ta Min, Hama, Haru, Teo, The Duke, Ty Lee, Mai, Suki, Sun Warriors, Druk, Katara’s and Zuko’s Child(ren)

Tags: Missing Scene, Episode: s02e20 The Crossroads of Destiny, Pre-Slash, Fix-It of Sorts, Zuko's Scar, Zuko's Childhood, Bonding, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, What-If, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Zuko-centric, Ba Sing Se, POV Alternating, Slow Burn, Fluff and Angst, Fire Nation Lore, Chi Blocking, Zuko whump, Protective Gaang, The Gaang Learns How Zuko Got The Scar, Book 3: Fire, zuko joins the gaang early, Season 3 rewrite, Fire Nation, Southern Water Tribe, Episode: s03e02 The Headband, Hurt/Comfort, Ozai Being a Terrible Parent, Toph Beifong and Zuko are Siblings, Episode: s03e03 The Painted Lady, 'Team Avatar' more like 'Protect Zuko Squad', Episode: s03e04 Sokka's Master, Episode: s03e05 The Beach, Episode: s03e06 The Avatar and the Fire Lord, Episode: s03e07 The Runaway, Episode: s03e08 The Puppetmaster, Episode s03e09: Nightmares and Daydreams, Episode: s03e10-11 The Day of Black Sun, POV Azula, Episode: s03e12 The Western Air Temple, Western Air Temple, Ember Island, Azula has feelings, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck, Protective Sokka, Violence, War, Azula Redemption, Episode: s03e13 The Firebending Masters, Implied/Referenced Underage Sex, Epilogue, Domestic Fluff, Politics, Fire Nation Royal Family

Canon Divergent AU where Zuko joined the Gaang early in the S2 finale: Crossroads of Destiny

 like rum on fire

What if Katara got to know Zuko a bit better in the catacombs, and it altered his choice in Ba Sing Se?

OR

Katara unlocks Zuko's tragic backstory, finally gives him the hug he needs, and the rest is history

the tide of her breathing

(Sequel to "like rum on the fire" but can be read independently)

Zuko makes a different choice back in Ba Sing Se and the rest is history...

OR

A remake of Book 3 where Zuko joined the Gaang early

oh, but she burns

(sequel to "like rum on the fire" and "the tide of her breathing" but could be read independently)

A Canon-Divergent Remake of Book 3 where Zuko joined the Gaang back in Ba Sing Se, and it alters the course of Destiny...

OR

The last half of S3 with 200% more Zutara and Tyzula

cherry wine epilogue

canon divergent book 4 and onward; epilogue scenes from the Cherry Wine series

#avatar the last airbender #atla #zutara #tyzula #sukka #zuko #katara #100k #wip #not rated #book 2 #book 3 #atla:postcanon #atla:angst #atla:team as family #atla: slow burn #atla: zuko joins the gaang early #atla: zukos scar #atla: azula redemption #atla: ozai parenting #atla:fluff #bluespirit!zuko #paintedlady!katara #The Muse's Favs #fic rec

[biscuits-spooky-corner]

zuko is one of them rootin’ tootin’ queers, me thinks

CW/TW: child abuse, homophobia

(i’ll get back to my usual bsd content after these short messages)

he was disowned and burned by his own father, can’t say who he is to anyone without them turning on him and hating him, and just like… look at him!

in that earth kingdom village, that kid, lee, looked up to him like a big brother. he trusted that he would come protect him and his mom went to HIM because she trusted him completely. but all of a sudden when he says who he is, everyone hates him. i know that it’s because of the fire nation taking everything from them and trying to colonize the whole entire world, but it’s kinda like a metaphor… hmm…

i also think toph is a metaphor for being queer as well. first of all, those two boys said “yeah, well, the bei fongs don’t have a daughter.” HMMMMM… she’s transginger, me thinks. she also had to hide a HUGE part of herself from her parents, and so she feels like she needs to handle everything herself and hold her own without any help because her parents would never leave her alone or trust her to do anything herself. luckily for her, she was born into an accepting family family and community.

which is why i think her and zuko are good parallels, in my little autistic mind. toph has the opportunity to prove herself, and when she does, it’s up to everyone else if they support her or not. but zuko doesn’t have the chance to prove himself. people always assume he’s a certain way just because of who his father is and the fact that he was born into the royal family in the fire nation. something he CAN. NOT. CONTROL.

HMMMMMM

anyways iroh runs the gsa in the school au cause you know he’s a teacher and his nephew is all “UNCLE! all the kids HATE ME! because i’m GAY!” and iroh’s like “i gotchu kiddo” and starts a gsa for him

#ramblings #avatar the last airbender

[paintingcranes]

the poison leaves bit by bit: chapter 8

Chapter Summary: 

Katara accompanies Toph to the Bei Fong family home.

Story Summary: 

After the war, Katara struggles to breathe.

She’s always known who she is and what her duty was - now she hasn’t got a clue. She didn’t realize that learning to live, after just surviving for so long, would be this hard.

OR: Katara falls in love with Zuko, but first she learns to love herself.

OR: Katara travels the world, Zuko supports a political revolution, Aang faces his trauma, Toph accepts help from her friends, Suki inspires other women, Sokka leads, and everyone heals.

Chapter Link: 

https://archiveofourown.org/works/27828256/chapters/110981334

#my writing #zutara #katara #toph

[light-miracles]

Lao: What on Earth is she doing now?

Poppy: I think she has finally reached that phase in which she sings everything she feels.

Toph: *breathes in deeply*

Toph: 🎶If you love me let me-🎶

Toph: 🎶GOOOOOOOOOOOO🎶

#beifong family #Bei fong family #toph bei fong #toph beifong #Lao bei fong #lao beifong #Poppy bei fong #poppy beifong #Atla #avatar the last airbender

[lazyveran]

ask about your arranged marriage au you say >:) :evil_hand_rub:

So. to begin with. Why and How is this what happened? is it a postwar diplomatic treaty thing, and Zuko is already too married to Mai to be the one wed? How much Hell did Azula and Katara put whoever suggested it through, and how did it end up happening anyways? What were each of the girls up to prior to the engagement? how do they feel about it? What does the world look like at the time of this AU, both in terms of the big worldwide stuff and the roles and relationships between the Gaang, whatever side characters are around, and their political positions? Be warned: highly likely that I will continue to enquire

you have unleashed the most self indulgent lore dump. thank you so much for asking. my long winded rambles under the cut

the setting of this au has two major changes; aang is never discovered (im so sorry my baby boy) and iroh is a much more active player within the fire nation. essentially, iroh begins consolidating the white lotus almost immediately after azulon's murder. as such, the fire siblings become terribly co-dependant in both ursa and iroh's absence as he's constantly away scheming against ozai. zuko doesnt get burned at 14. he gets burned at 19! and azula kills ozai for it, setting off a domino effect that lands an underprepared iroh on the throne trying to end the 100 years war as per his agreement with the white lotus members (before azula jumped the gun)

the azutara marriage occurs for like 2000 reasons but the main one is that iroh is forced to make several concessions in order to end the war as his ministers are terribly pro-ozai, thanks to ozai's scheming before azula prematurely offed him, and that the northern water tribe refuses to sign and end the war with the FN, unlike the other nations. azula, having been the princess-general ravaging the earth kingdoms in a five-year long campaign, therefore didnt get to show her face in the water tribes, gets chosen as the one to marry into the southern water tribe. as both a savvy diplomatic move to solidify the peace and to work with said wife towards peace with their sister tribe. iroh has no choice but to agree, and azula as a loyal princess with duty to the throne, also has to agree. (she is terribly, extremely unhappy with this due to ursa-parallel related reasons. and its azula.)

katara is chosen both for her position as the daughter of the chief, and for her prowess as a master bender (to match azula's known reputation). katara herself has been working as a sort of renegade freedom fighter away from the south pole, mostly working against the admiral-prince zuko and his three year campaign against the water tribes. sokka and herself work with an elite team, the black tail wolf pack (extremely indulgent name please forgive me) as guerilla fighters against the fire nation essentially. katara is EXTREMELY unhappy about the marriage alliance that her father has signed her off to, but like azula, her duty to her people and to peace overrides her extreme dislike of the situation.

zuko is the admiral-prince, heir to the throne, burned and shamed by the late firelord ozai, and... marrying toph bei fong. NOW PLEASE hear me out on this. stay with me. as part of the peace agreed by iroh, and the fire nation's precarious position now that expansion and pillaging cant fund their economy, an agreement is made with the earth kingdoms to marry into the wealthiest family in the world. its purely an economic marriage, but since the bei fongs are essentially the only homogenous earth territory ''royals'' that aren't strictly attatched to one kingdom but all of them, and have a daughter to spare, well. their relationship is the funniest to me, they're very much a platonic-married-besties situation. zuko himself is conducting a dreadfully obvious affair with mai, and his siege-weapon of a wife does not care in the slighest. in fact she actively encourages it, as being wife to the heir to the fire nation throne gives her freedom away from her family to be herself. there will be rising tensions between the bei fongs and the fire royals, naturally, as well as toph's own character clashing with the 'no fun allowed' fire nation.

azutara's relationship is an EXTREME slow burn, enemies to enemy-wives to friends to lovers. they're both 20 at the time they're married, but both have been child soldiers for years. azula spends a week acting like an arrogant prat and treating her wife like a peasant through politicking power plays before katara just kicks her ass three times over and azula realises theres actually no power imbalance to play off of. she promptly begins acting like mr darcy. katara has to grapple with the very alien culture of the fire nation and stumbles through all the subtlties of both court and royal life, as well as having to deal with her enemy turned wife and the absolute paradox of a woman that azula is. AND negotiating with her hostile sister tribe into trying to broker peace after a generation of war. i think marrying azula is harder than the whole 'world peace' affair really. they're both miserable and angry and cant understand each other but still see each other

sokka will be an intermitten character, as he becomes a diplomat for the southern water tribe as well as a member of the three nations peace council set up in the wake of the war. im trying to add in suki but im unsure on how, perhaps as another representative or something. ursa will have a plotline and azula will NOT be happy about it at all. iroh is frankly wracked with guilt that in order for peace he has to make the last of his family utterly miserable. all their relationships are complicated and messy and everyone's a little awful

i think a really fun aspect of this au is my odd ideas about azula and gender. azula is, in the eyes of the fire nation, both male AND female. female as a princess, a woman who's royal duties involve marriage and so on. but her status as a master fire bender legally classifies her as male. honestly the fire nation cannot afford to disregard azula on gender lines, since she's the most powerful fire bender on the planet at this point. she's a general in the military too, a traditionally male held role, and so azula herself becomes a grey area in terms of legal gender. as such, azula is technically kataras HUSBAND, not wife. and with that comes all the expectations of a husband over a wife in a royal imperial court. very very indulgent of me i fear

i hope this lore dump/word vomit makes some sort of sense. please feel free to ask more abt this au!!!! i have many many worldbuilding hcs for the fire nation and this au <3333

#political marriage au #im just gna make that its own tag now #azutara #azula #katara #veran speaks #ask #starrdio #i wont go into specific plotlines as i am actually writing this into a fic that will most likely become. very long #but i love to talk abt it. please let me talk abt it

[mixelation]

21 and 41 for the ask meme?

fanfiction questions ask meme

21. What was the first fanfic you ever wrote?

I think...... I think it was just a series of skits featuring random characters from whatever anime were on toonami at the time. I wrote it in a notebook while on a family road trip and then typed it up later and put it on FFN. u_u

41. List and link to 5 fanfics you are currently reading:

i will admit i have not had time for much reading lately (also I don't subscribe to any fics or writers because i do not use the internet properly, so I can't just look at that), but i will try.

Kabu by @tozettastone - Itachi survives his fight against Sasuke and fucks off to be a (very bad) farmer. There's a cat. And baby geese. An elderly woman bullies him. He accidentally poisons himself with undercooked vegetation. It's great.

Nidaime Haruno by thinknicht - Okay so my history page is tons of fics I just stopped reading after one chapter because of the Time Issue. But unlike a lot of other fics, I didn't delete this one from my history while I was scrolling because I want to go back to it. Tobirama reincarnated as Sakura. You will be lectured on Konoha law.

Killing It by dawnstruck - An oldie but a goodie. Years after Jiraiya's death, a new Icha Icha volume is published. Kakashi reads it.

Mamihlapinatapai by FM_White - An Itachi Lives AU where, after Sasuke dips out of Konoha and leaves his wife and kid behind, Itachi starts getting involved in Sakura + Sarada's lives. It is eventual ItaSaku so while I'm enjoying it, I'd avoid if you don't like stories about affairs.

kintsugi by discordiansamba - AtLA AU where, instead of being allowed a ship and his uncle, Zuko gets straight up abandoned in Earth Kingdom after his Agni Kai. He's hired by the Bei Fongs.

#ask meme answer

[lindalung]

The Queen of News - Review

The Queen of News recently swept the TVB awards (well-deserved), namely Charmaine Sheh's 3-time best actress in 3 different areas for this role. Her acting is subtle at times but chillingly good, conveying something with the smallest eye twitch. I went back to really rewatch it in depth and wow I'm just obsessed and blown away at how good it is. I forgot how damn good dramas can be when they're serious about the production and having a thoughtful creative process. There are a number of things that I want to talk about, so where do I start?

The Women

This drama is women-centric, with its 5 main women as some of the most 3-dimensional, complex, morally-grey characters that I've seen in a while. It's easy to make a shallow drama with women fighting (usually over men), with some typical "women are catty" misogynistic tropes. Though this show doesn't have a female director I'm glad it still handled the women's storylines well in my opinion. They're women doing some awful, questionable, morally grey things in the name of news, in the name of the truth, or in the name of gaining power. You end up gaining sympathy for them nonetheless.

You have the queen herself, Man Wai Sum "Man Tse" (Charmaine Sheh), who's at the top now and she's a tough girlboss, using everyone around her as chess pieces, but you come to find out that she too has weak spots and vulnerabilities. She also has regrets, she wasn't born with a silver spoon in her mouth. She had to lose a part of her soul in exchange for her spot, in a very Faustian way actually.

Cheung Ka Yin (Selena Lee) is a very very interesting character. In the beginning she's the only one with morals, a heart, and real news in her best interest. She's stubborn but resilient in her beliefs, but you watch as her hope in Man Tse and humanity in general, dwindles over time, until it reaches a breaking point. When she snaps, she becomes a different person and she's had enough. I was fully rooting for her up until the incident with Slash (Mark Ma), but that’s the whole point. None of these characters are fully good or evil, and that’s what keeps them interesting.

I didn't find the character of Cathy Hui very compelling personally, but that’s just me. She’s also devious, starting out in George (Kenneth Ma)’s side, before switching over to Man Tse’s team. The audience is pretty much made to hate her until we gain a little sympathy when we find out that she does all these things to be Prime Time host, not for fame but so her dad with worsening dementia can remember her again. She’s a woman who is portrayed to feel comfortable with her sexuality and uses it to her advantage, and that’s liberating for her. Good for her.

I ended up having the most sympathy for Tsui Hiu Mei (Regina Ho), not just because of her mental illness but come on that girl went through so much trauma on the show. Loyalty is supposed to be her forté, but she's also the most treacherous, playing both sides. At the end of the day she just wanted to feel useful, as that gave her purpose in life. She grew up poor and wanted a better way of life, but the system is rigged so she had to cheat the system, and can anyone blame her?

The only character who might actually be “good”, is Lau Yim (Venus Wong). She’s the fresh faced newbie who Ka Yin takes under her wing, and she may be “Stupid” but she has a fierce passion, she’s headstrong, and remains just despite how bad it gets around her.

Of course, there’s also other supporting female characters like the ever mighty Mrs. Fong (Mimi Kung) who is the real queen of the game, the only woman who can make Man Tse tremble. Then, there’s Wa Tse (Stephanie Che), a has-been, a woman who once was in a high position but gave it up for the sake of family and children, and now struggles to keep up with the times. 

There’s compelling though maybe shallow surface-level explorations into questions of women balancing their careers with motherhood, and the role of being a wife whilst being a working woman. 

The Women’s Relationships with Women

Watching this from a sapphic perspective, it’s really hard not to put a yuri spin onto these female relationships. Just look at the supertopics of the top 3 f/f ships on this show - Man/Yin , Man/Hiu Mei, Ka Yin/Lau Yim. Man Tse and Ka Yin are my favourite pairing, two very headstrong women and Ka Yin is probably the only one who could get near to Man’s level. When they collaborate, they work really well together, and have some great moments, like the volleyball case for example. Yet, they’re always in some argument because Ka Yin doesn’t agree with the way Man Tse works. 

On the other hand, Hiu Mei is essentially Man Tse’s maid, she does everything she says even though she’s also kinda secretly dating George. Man Tse will tear her down and be the cause of her breakdown, and then also be the first one to comfort her. The toxic yuri potential is there. It’s even wilder to think that when Hiu Mei was attempting to end her life, she hallucinated Man Tse, who she took out her rage at and then eventually gave her a pep talk to continue to live strongly. Man Tse obviously cast a huge shadow over her life, and she’s sick of being her chess piece, but you can tell deep down Man cares about her.

Finally there’s Ka Yin and her mentee Lau Yim, who she’s slightly annoyed by at first but slowly grows to care about. They’re endearing to watch, and she gives her tough love. It’s a little like Man/Hiu Mei but not as toxic. She also does care about Lau Yim, but Lau Yim’s morals are in check, and she chooses not to blindly follow Ka Yin down an unethical path towards the end. 

The Women’s Relationships with Men

It’s clear that this show centres the women’s relationship with other women, since the men in their life are very much background noise. She’s everything, he’s just… well. George is supposed to be Man Tse’s greatest opposition, but he’s not really all that threatening. Fei Ye (Eric Tang) is supposed to be an exec in a high position but is honestly pretty useless and has a non-threatening aura. 

It’s interesting that Man, Ka Yin, and Cathy all have younger love interests. Man Tse has her situationship Ivan (Matthew Ho), a man who is much younger and her subordinate at work, plus she makes him leave her house by 11pm. It’s clear who’s in charge in the relationship. Her ex Kit (Shaun Tam) is a bit closer to her age, and honestly they were a really cute couple until that incident changed their lives forever, but in present day he’s still the only one that she can be herself around. He is the only one who Man is vulnerable, chill, and funny around, which I think is important to show that she also has a weaker side. Ka Yin’s romantic storyline is evidently about how she won’t succumb to patriarchal ideals of marriage, and throughout the series showed zero interest in her boyfriend-turned-fiancé-turned-ex Lawyer Siu played by Matthew Ko. She refused to quit her job and settle as a housewife, and she’s a modern feminist through and through. One line I remember is when she said “Women aren’t war trophies” ( 戰利品), it made me love her so much. Cathy also dates a much younger man, Wong Wai (Niklas Lam), who she also seems to be kind of playing with this feelings sometimes. He also has a super boyish and dorky look to him that really highlights their difference. I feel like these relationships are to show that the women are the ones in control for once. 

The Themes

CW: Sexual assault 

I was nervous to watch sexual assault storylines cause I didn’t know how the show would handle them. The first case with #MeToo called out for George was kind of iffy for me with how they handled Debbie (Judy Kwong)’s storyline. The incident kind of becoming a tool for Man Tse to do some manipulation made me worry it’d be bad for victims if they highlighted the false accusations too much, but I suppose they tried to show every side. It was a good segway into the volleyball team SA storyline, which I think was handled really well (surprisingly). Nicole Wu’s character voices the struggles of victims, about how no one believes them, not even their friends sometimes, the isolation, and why they’re afraid to speak up. Roxanne Ho’s character also shows that unfortunately sometimes even women aren’t stepping up for other women, until they become victims themself. The way Man Tse handled it despite being an old friend of the assailant also shows how sometimes people may know someone for many years, and swear “they’d never do something like that!” or “they never did anything to me, so that can’t be true” but still be wrong. 

The rest of the themes and symbolism is quite self-explanatory and even on-the-nose sometimes. The constant Chess pieces, the Queen piece (I don’t play Chess but I suppose the point is that they’re the Queen), Hiu Mei referring to herself as Man’s chess piece, etc. Yes, they’re all making sneaky moves at each other, also shown in the many Mahjong scenes. 

I feel like overall, this is a very excellent series. Of course, I went in with low expectations as I always do, and I understand that there are certain things they can’t really touch on. Nonetheless, a very well made series that I will be thinking about for a long time. 

#the queen of news #新聞女王 #TVB #hkdrama

[phoenixlionme]

Fav Tropes and Why

All Loving Hero - Many people in the fandoms and IRL think someone who believes in kindness and love is “weak”. I call BS on that statement. It’s easy to believe being cruel and/or edgy is “mature” but it’s not. Willingly choosing to be good in a world where others tell you to stop is the pinnacle of strength and resilience.

Amazon Chaser - Seeing a (usually male) character be smitten with a female’s character battle prowess and/or fiery attitude is *chef’s kiss*.

Babies Ever After - What can I say? I love seeing my favorite OTPs having a child and/or children together. It makes me think back to the beginning and progress of their love.

Badass Family - The family that kicks ass together is the family that will ALWAYS worm their way into my heart.

Beware The Nice Ones - Seeing a normally nice and gentle character go APESHIT when pushed too far will never get old.

Big Brother (Big Sister) Instinct - Protective siblings for the win.

Bittersweet Ending - Sometimes you want a straight up happy ending but life doesn’t happen like that. In reality, the best you can get is half happy and half sad. It’s bittersweet for a reason.

Childhood Friend Romance - It’s just a sweet concept. Two people who have known each other all their lives, falling for each other, and then forming a romance is absolutely wonderful. Marrying your best friend and true love at the same time? PEAK ROMANCE.

Cool Big Sis (Bro) - Having caring, loving, encouraging older sibling figures is PEAK SEROTONIN.

Dark And Troubled Past - Hearing a person’s troubled life can better humanize them to the audience. Me included.

Feminist Fantasy - In short, this trope is about a fantasy and/or scifi story featuring a female protagonist and/or large female cast. And many of people’s favorite shows/movies fall into this category.

Handicapped Badass - I believe I was introduced to this trope when I was graced with ultimate presence of THE best earthbender of ATLA/Tlok, one of THE well-written characters in history (animated or live-action), and one my ultimate fav characters: Toph Bei Fong. She was a blind girl but she was able to use what people perceived as a weakness to be her greatest strength.

Hard Truth Aesop - Something needed in a lot of media. Sometimes the moral of a story isn’t as straightforward as meany would like it to be. It makes life more complicated and nuanced.

Interspecies Romance - I think my liking of this trope aka “Monster Boyfriend/Girlfriend/Romance” started with one of my favorite disney movies: The Beauty and The Beast (the OG one). Seeing a huge, monstrous being (who is ironically still quite good looking) having a tender and loving romance with their human lover is peak romance. Like Guillermo del Toro, I am all for monster romances.

Mama Bear - The woman who birthed you for roughly 9 months, is ready to go through all hell to protect you. Good parenting.

Papa Wolf - Similar to the Mama Bear trope, a dad going beast mode to protect his child/children is good parenting at its’ finest.

Platonic Life Partners - Despite popular belied, it IS possible for male and females friends to be and stay just like that: FRIENDS. And it’s not “lesser” than

The Reason You Suck Speech - Whether they’re the hero or villain, a rant meant to call them out on their shortcoming and how said shortcoming keep hurting the goal and/or other people is great. It makes either the hero grow or makes the villain get their final comeuppance.

Took A Level In Badass - Watching the progress of how a wimpy, unskilled character transform into a badass is freakin’ awesome. Either they become badass in skill, personality, and/or both are all equally awesome.

Watched It For the Representation - I don’t care what some pretentious, attention0-seeking jerks say...Hearing another person reveal how empowering and validating it felt seeing someone similar to them (i.e., race, sexuality, body type, etc.) is great to see.

#tropes #fav #links

[attackfish]

5 hc from your favorite au right now? i love all your writing ❤️❤️❤️

Continuation of the Garth Nix Old Kingdom fusion AU, which could use some love: [Link], [Link], [Link], and [Link].

1. Let's talk Toph, Suki, Mai, and Ty Lee. I've barely touched on Mai and Ty Lee, and I haven't mentioned Toph or Suki at all. Toph was the daughter of a wealthy family from Belisaere, who had the good sense to flee to Ancelstierre when Ozai first killed the royal family a hundred years ago. Perhaps they were the last of the family to have any sense. Certainly Lao and Poppy Bei Fong have never shown any. They have done everything they can to assimilate into Ancelstierre society, and have kept their daughter close, not allowing her to attend school, but only study with a governess. It probably doesn't matter anyway because Toph is blind, and it's not like she's ever going to find a husband anyway. And this is probably why Lao allows it when his wife, in a fit of superstition, has their daughter baptized with a charter mark.

2. Toph comes from no great family tradition of strong charter magic, and the only charter instruction she gets is from slimy old Master Yu, who is there to teach her little spells to amuse and delight, nothing useful or powerful. But he teaches her a charter spell that can read books aloud to her, and with that, he unlocks the world for her. Her parents have books on charter magic hidden away in a dusty corner of her father's office, and one by one, they find their way into a hole in her bedroom wall, hidden behind a painting. Soon, she has far surpassed Master Yu, and she has to work hard to keep her power secret.

3. Neither Mai nor Ty Lee remember their parents. They know the vague outlines. Their parents never gave them a charter baptism, but instead traded them to necromancers in exchange for temporary safety for their villages. It happens all the time. Usually it's poor and orphaned kids, but not always. Their parents almost certainly think they're dead. That's what usually happens to kids like them, it's not like a necromancer has much use for a living child. But they were lucky, or maybe very very unlucky, because their parents traded them to a necromancer in Ozai's service, and he decided they would be good playmates for his host's children.

4. It wasn't like there was ever an adult who is responsible for them. They grew up on the edges of Ozai's forces, scrabbling and clawing their way through life. There were other kids too at first, but one by one, the other kids disappeared, killed as necromantic sacrifices. But somehow, it was never their turn to die, maybe because Azula liked them so much, or maybe because they picked up enough free magic to start looking like they might be useful. By the time Zuko makes his great escape, both girls are powerful free magic sorceresses. And both know that there is a dangerous trade they make every moment of their lives, because the more power they have, the more useful they are to Ozai, but the more his other sorcerers and necromancers see them as threats. There is no safety for them, only the constant watchfulness of wolves in a cage.

5. Suki is the daughter of the leader of the Kyoshi people, one of the many northern peoples called barbarians by ignorant Old Kingdomers. She leads a band of warriors, and it's she who first finds four Old Kingdomers trespassing on her people's territory. And one of them, an old woman, carries a dark and unsettling power, and sometimes, deep in her her eyes, Suki swears she can see a fire burning her up from within. She wants this woman off her land, but almost more than that, she wants to shield the three children with her from whatever this woman has planned for them.

#avatar the last airbender #toph #atla mai #Ty Lee #atla suki #abhorsen series #posts i created #do you want to ask a question it doesn't have to be a question #five headcanons #a little toph love #mai doesn't hate you #circus freak is a compliment #suki fans