#i feel like in a better version of this show Tenzin would have been the kid that Aang didn't pay a ton of attention to

[dont-blame-it-on-the-kids]

”Where Blood Meets Metal”

”Where Blood Meets Metal” - Title suggestion by @linnorabeifong

I will only ever have ONE Lin got pregnant and had a kid au and that’s this one. 

where Lin ends up being the mother of the Avatar. 

I can detail the plot but do I have any of this written???

no.

The Avatar is an oc named Lao. 

Aang had been sick for a while, his body just unable to keep going after the stress of living 160 plus years. 

They all saw it coming. It was weeks of him on bed rest. Days he hadn’t eaten anything. 

It was around that time that Pema started stepping in between Tenzin and Lin. 

Wedging them apart slightly day after day. 

Tenzin ended up breaking things off with Lin the day before Aang died 

So Lin recently broken up with and grieving her uncle Aang (the closest she ever had to a father figure even with his frequent traveling) that night she goes out to get hammered. 

Drown her sorrows and forget what was happening around her. 

At the bar is where she meets a handsome water tribe man and they end up hooking up 

(lmao would be so funny if it is still Tonraq and he was just in the city on business and gets caught up in Lin’s drunken bender night but he still fathers the avatar)

((in another version of this Au this is Amon but before he was the leader of the Equalists))

Lin wakes the next day half dressed in the hotel room with a major hangover and the stranger nowhere to be seen 

And she ends up pregnant. 

She keeps the kid half convinced it was Tenzins although she knows better. And she and Tenzin get back together under the assumption the baby is his while the little boy grows up. 

It becomes painfully obvious Tenzin is not the father. Lin’s features and the strong watertribe features blend perfectly for a handsome baby boy. 

First Lao developed water bending. Lin was a touch upset that she couldn't share her element with her son but she knows a few really good water benders and healers and is excited to see if he develops the ability to heal. 

Then Lin noticed he was earthbending as well when he was five. And she realizes who she's dealing with now. She cries that night because she knows Aang was reincarnated into her son now and that he was still with her even if in a different way. 

She tries to keep it a secret having heard about the white lotus trying to track down the avatar to hide them away in a camp somewhere in the south and the red lotus trying to find the avatar for their own nefarious reasons. 

she succeeded in hiding him for a few years but with Tenzin living with them he ends up finding out and reports to the White Lotus that he knows where the avatar is, Lao is about 7 years old Lin should be 40 if I understand the timeline right. 

(120ag, she would be 33 when Aang died in 153 ag, lao born at the end of that year makes him 7, now its 160 ag Tenzin would be 41 now and Pema would be 25 now. Yeah i think i’m on track)

Lin is pissed he would betray them and Tenzin feels he’s right because the red lotus is a real threat and they’re lucky they haven't found them yet, lin and Tenzin trying to fight them on their own would be bad news. 

The WL show up and there’s a fight because Lin doesn’t want them to take her boy but she loses and they take Lao to be trained and Lin and Tenzin break up for good this time and she hates him so much. 

(This would be a year Jinora is born) 

Lin tries but is Absolutely Not allowed to see or talk to Lao 

They don’t trust she wouldn’t try to take him back and they need to protect him from the red lotus who’s been an issue for a while (they’re right she would have probably tried to hide him in Zaofu if she got lao back and Suyin agreed to it but them not letting her see him is still bullshit)

Tenzin is tasked with keeping watch on Lin both to make sure she doesn’t do something drastic or try to find Lao. 

Lin falls into drinking and buries herself with work 

Katara tries to help by smuggling letters between Lao and Lin but as the years pass Laos letters start reading more like homework and not actually wanting to write to her. So they slowly stop sending any 

Then we get to the start of the series. 

Lao is 17, so its 170 ag 

since he was kidnapped and held in captivity he kinda has the same spirit and air problems as korra but not as a personality fault (though he does have lin’s stubbornness) but because that connection was basically severed when he lost his mom and was whisked away at a young age

Lao escapes Korra style (his animal companion is a shirshu tho, Akna) 

And makes it to the big city. 

He actually sees Korra, setting off to find her own in the big city and he helps her out of a tight spot with the triads. (Naga and Akna get along very well)

They both end up arrested and Lin realizes who he is but he has no idea who she is 

And she’s not going to push her luck in case the white lotus was still keeping tabs on her contact with him. So Tenzin gets Lao out of trouble and Lao is able to weasel Korra out with him. 

Lin goes and breaks down into sobs in a bathroom because that was her boy and he was almost all grown up and she missed everything with him. 

Tenzin refuses to tell Lao who his mother is because he needs to focus on his air bending training 

Lao keeps sneaking off trying to find any clues as to who his parents are. 

And since Lao has a shirshu he tries to track his mom down using scent but they can’t get a clear scent map since the letters are at least five years old and had to go through Katara but because he’s riding a Shirshu around the city he keeps running into Lin and her officers telling him to stop scaring the citizens!

Korra and Lao are fast friends and she joins the fire ferrets and he enjoys watching the matches. 

Korra teases him about not “being the leaf” and is always cracking jokes about Tenzin being so serious and is trying to be supportive but also is still Korra. 

Mako still gets run over by Asami 

The plot kinda progresses the same only with Lao as the avatar with the Krew. He watches the matches because they’re his friends and it gets him away from ATI for a bit. 

It’s not until after the pro bending games after Amon attacks and they're all fighting him, when Lin's making sure the kids are alright she cant help but hug him because she almost lost him again and that's when he realizes

but it's only a second and lin pulls back and Tenzin comes up and is asking if everyone is okay

so it's not addressed then.

probably a short scene where he’s talking with the Krew and is all

“How??? How is she my mother??? Woman clearly hates me!?” 

But it’s because the WL is like breathing down her neck about not distracting the avatar and is keeping an even closer eye on her incase she tries to take him back again.

The krew kinda agreed that there had to be a mistake or Lao was wrong, but it was weird she hugged him. But Tenzin confirms Lin is his mother. 

after that it would be a touch awkward at first. Lao was expecting a mother but found Lin… rough and cold. Literally the iron mother in the monkey experiment lmao

At least to start. Her walls come down some over the course of the show like they would naturally but he learns to pick up on the small signs she gives. 

And she learns who her sweet baby boy grew up to be.

Then the plot moves forward and we get to the sacrifice and taking down Amon. 

Amon, because he knows more from intercepting the communications in the city, makes Lin's de-bending public. The next day at city hall a big crowd, broadcasted it on the radio, to make sure Lao knows. He got his mother. 

Lao is Furious because she was supposed to be with the airbenders! 

The krew have to hold him back. And if he could enter the avatar state he would have. 

(I have my many hc for what happens to Lin in the four days to a week it takes for Iroh II to show up and help)

Korra still loses her bending, Lao loses the connection to the three elements like in the show. 

But Amon escapes, does not try to take his brother, but gets outta there and is rebuilding his Equalists in another city where he established they would all meet up in should the benders oppression prove unmanageable in the city. 

they all get to the south. Lao tries to pick a fight with Tenzin for leaving Lin behind and Lin’s just so tired, trying to recover and upset because she failed everyone and lost everything and now her son is suffering because of her. 

(Also sprinkle in my hc that the scars left damage to her eye so she can’t see out of that eye and she lost her seismic sense to make up for it. Depth perception is off, she gets startled easily when people come up on that side, and she keeps running her shoulder into door frames and corners on accident. And that since she lost her bending her sense of touch is numbed. Things don’t feel right and she sometimes grabs things with too much pressure to make up for it and has dropped several glasses, also my hc that Zolt gave lin the scars not Suyin /X/X/)

Then he and Korra go off into the snow on their own and he gets to meet with Aang and restores their bending 

(I also have my hc that Lin gets to see Aang again when the bending is restored and he thanks her for protecting the air kids and reminds her that he’s so proud of her and loves her so much T-T)

then it kinda fuzzes out because B2 is a bunch of love triangles he’s not involved in and origin story but he never loses connection with the other avatars because that was always a poor choice! Maybe he still needs to save Raava but the previous avatars are a part of her, she promised to preserve them so they come back with her. 

and in B3 he’s with the family! 

Suyin is PISSED she didn't know 

so Lao is getting to know his relatives and finding the new air benders.

she's not happy she can't manipulate him that well. (he's too much like lin)

He learns metal bending rather quickly (i mean look at his mom) and even starts to pick up on the seismic sense that lets people be truth seers. 

After the attack he realizes how dangerous this is and doesn’t want his mom in the line of fire again. So he and the krew sneak off. 

That Naga jumping at Lin scene But with a Naga AND Akna! 👀

Lin doing everything she can to find them 

Lin has to watch him fight the red lotus and get poisoned 

Then B4 happens where they don’t know where he is and they’re all worried. 

and Toph is upset Lin didn't tell her about Lao but understands and is all like "welcome to the family twinkle toes."

BUT imagine Amon comes back with an even bigger army of Equalists and had stolen or had his spies infiltrate that mech Kuvira made and then he controls it 

After the explosion Lao and Amon are in the middle of the city and Lao is stronger now, not That naive “half-baked avatar” he was in B1. 

Amon is stronger too and gets hits on Lao’s side to chi-block his bending but Lao falls into the avatar state and bloodbends Amon whos like Shook because It's most definitely not a full moon and he hasn't been bloodbent since he was a boy with his father.  

Lao is so angry with him as he sees the chaos and destruction of his city, remembering how sick Lin was and what Amon’s done. He may accidentally tear Amon’s organs apart within his body with the bloodbending. 

“How?” Amon would cough up chunks of his heart and lungs before collapsing to the street. 

Everyone is like “Do we arrest the Avatar for bloodbending now?” 

Korra and Asami still get together 

Mako is with Rina(oc) with his twins.

(My hc is that Mako gets with Rina around B2 and has the twins in B3 so with the time skip they’re like 3 almost 4 now? And Mako is PISSED that Wu is keeping him from his family 24/7 and then after the fight he’s injured and can't find his wife and kids, i have more posts with friends under Firecrackers but they have different timelines for it lmao /X/) 

I do like the Bolin/Opal ship. 

And I don’t have a love interest for Lao rn 

But after the series he lives with Lin in her house for a short time before getting an apartment and Lin gets her son back as well as basically adopting Mako Bolin and Asami 

UNOFFICIAL ending - He’s devastated when Lin’s killed a few years later in an altercation she shouldn’t have even been a part of but was called to the scene and Lao was a minute too late to get there. (she’s like almost 65ish)

Total Bending Abilities for Lao 

Water - Healing, bloodbending

Earth - Metal, seismic sense / truth seeing, (Lin also teaches him how to sculpt lmao)

Fire - Electricity, that cool flame blade 

Air - energy bending

Image

Art of Young Lao by @mgthejerkbender

#I want to write this so bad #but its just a LoK rewrite lmao #Avatar Lao Au #hc #LONG POST #If i've talked with you before about this its a lot of the same #with some added plot points #and commentary lmao #tw gore mention #everything subject to change #my mind is too full rn #I've had this AU for years now #lao is my precious baby #i love him so much #B2-4 are a blurr for me #i may update after i've watched them again

[army-of-mai-lovers]

i’m sorry it’s hard to believe Tenzin “pro-bending is a corruption of the noble tradition of bending” is Aang’s son. I watched The Blind Bandit I know Aang would have been all over that

#i feel like in a better version of this show Tenzin would have been the kid that Aang didn't pay a ton of attention to #bc their temperaments are so different #idk i feel like it would have been so interesting to hear about Aang struggling to parent his only Airbender son #not bc he's negligent or he doesn't want to but bc he just doesn't know how #like he's trying to impart the values of freedom and fun onto Tenzin and Tenzin just wants to read Air Nomad philosophy #and now Aang's died and Tenzin has to rebuild the Air Nomads and teach the new Avatar how to Airbend but he has all this baggage #from his own relationship with his father #and he feels like he can't maintain that legacy even though it's all he wants to do #idk am i tripping perhaps but I think it would be cool #I still like Tenzin I just think that he and Aang are super super different and that's an interesting dynamic to me #arthur watches lok #death mention

[thirteenfortythreeforty]

um no nuance november: atla edition?

this was all over tiktok and ive seen some people do it here so...here we go...some of these are probably hot takes, you have been warned.

most of the fandom seems to forget that katara is a young girl with deep-seated trauma that she never truly dealt with. cut the racism and misogyny. shes not the “token straight,” shes not annoying, shes not technically the “mom friend,” she deserves a better life (and life partner) than she was given in canon.

katara’s comment to sokka during the southern raiders was harsh don’t get me wrong, but it was justified 

most of my issues with characters fall on their writing...not the characters themselves if that makes any sense

bakoda should have been canon

why didn’t katara, toph and zuko reunite in korra (they’re literally my three faves i was robbed, plus they all just seem sad...)

mako is hot

if we are talking combat, earth is the strongest element...toph can genuinely just drop a rock on someone and its over

republic city is absolutely unnecessary and frankly, stupid. capitalist propaganda :) why would you american-ize this series? im baffled

i just hope that azula got therapy and some love...her actions were outrageous but as far as we know she was conditioned by ozai to just be a pawn

katoph = best duo (friendship and fighting) in the whole show

katara is not a sister to zuko...that role is for toph

(as much as i love firelord zuko) zuko should have waited at least a few years to actually assume the position but even then i truly think he would hate it and institute a democracy

the humor did not land in for me in lok (list of tried and failed for me is meelo, bumi, bolin, varrick, eska...)

i truly did not feel any strong emotional attachment to any lok character (causing me to be pretty indifferent to most of the entirely new editions to the show)

(i think the large cast did not allow for much development for really anyone, save for korra tenzin and maybe lin?, leaving them all to be pretty two dimensional.)

more rambling under the cut (its more shippy you have been warned...)

the fanon portrayal of aang is a glorified version of the canon (you can criticize your faves!)

aang being a “bad” father in canon fits his (poorly written) character 

TAANG IS GENIUS (it makes me like aang more :)

i dont think maiko is healthy...at all (same for bolin and eska and zhu li and varrick) - bottom line: bryke cant write relationships

building on that it felt weird for zuko to change throughout book 3 for him only to revert back to his old life in the finale by staying with mai

sokka and suki are the only valid canon couple

also why is everyone so quick to be “oh suki is bi!!” but so much of this fandom feels the need to say “no, katara is the token straight she can’t be bi...” it seems so silly to say but katara hatred is so normalized in this fandom and it makes me so upset. literally everyone would be fucking dead if it werent for her i love my queen fuck y’all

kanna would not have gone back to pakku

MAILEE BITCHES

why are most zukka shippers women...food for thought

peace by taylor swift is a zutara song...zukkas dont even try to claim that

zutara works...it just seems like antis forget that these two characters (even if it is not explicitly romantic in atla) have such a strong bond. they listen, care, and look out for one another...and bottom line they see each other as equals. (also watch the second half of tsr again...they play off each other and work so well together)

this fandom demonizes zutara shippers for absolutely no reason while completely disregarding actual problematic issues that occur throughout the rest of the fandom

suki in the comics is practically a katara stand in

makorra felt like an attempt to appease the zutara shippers (it failed immensely)

should we love kuvira as much as we do? should we be shipping her with korra...?

in canon it does make sense that sokka could have been suyin’s father, but where did suki go? were they hinting that zuko and suki had izumi, meaning that sokka and suki broke up? but WHY? they were literally perfect with absolutely no complication in canon...tldr: post-atla is so ridiculous

i think this feels salty...and i went on for too long...i needed to get that out...um...

#more incoherent rambling #endless thoughts #um...did i go too far... #possibly #atla #zutara #sukka #zukka salt #katara stan first human second #anti maiko #taang #bby #anti aang #?

[orangepanic]

I saw this “100 OTP questions” by @the-moon-dust-writings and figured I'd procrastinate:

1. Who loves flower crowns more?

Neither of them really, but Asami might make Iroh wear one just to laugh at him.

2. Who is the one who likes to cuddle?

Iroh. Asami likes it, too, but he usually initiates.

3. Who has awful taste in music?

Honestly, both of them. Asami likes terrible dance music and Iroh likes obscure combinations of horns and bells and stuff from different cultures.

4. Who is the meme lover?

Asami thinks they’re funny. Iroh doesn’t quite understand.

5. How did their second date go?

Iroh tried to take Asami somewhere very fancy, but the wait was too long. They ended up making out in a shadowy doorway down the street and missing their reservation entirely. Iroh was mortified, but Asami dragged him around the corner to a low-key noodle shop that has since become their favorite restaurant.

6. How many children do they want/have?

Asami thinks about three. Iroh, as many as Asami will agree to.

7. Who hides the weapons?

Iroh hides weapons for Asami around the house so she’ll always have something on hand. In a drawer in the kitchen, on her nightstand, etc. He knows she can take care of herself… and he stashes weapons for her anyway. Asami rolls her eyes but secretly thinks it’s sweet.

8. Who is the better dancer?

Asami. She likes dancing, and learned formal dancing in school. Iroh can’t dance at all, having skipped out on all his lessons as a child after bribing his instructor. He thought dancing is boring, but likes dancing with Asami and lets her lead.

9. Do/Did they have a theme wedding?

No. They quite deliberately have a very normal wedding, including cutting out a lot of the more stuffy Fire Nation customs because Iroh doesn’t want Asami to feel out of place not having any family present.

10. What do their parents think of them dating?

Hiroshi Sato is livid, and actually tried to have Iroh assassinated from prison. His little girl, marry a firebender? A prince of the firebenders? Iroh’s parents are more accepting. Izumi initially thinks Asami is too young and gives Iroh a hard time about how quickly he got serious, but quickly comes around when it’s clear Asami is very mature for her age. Within a year Iroh’s parents are both hounding him on when he’ll make it official.

11. Are they a super sappy couple?

They are that couple everybody hates.

12. How did they get together?

They meet during the Equalist revolution, but don’t get together until long after. Iroh has a crush on Asami almost immediately, but spends forever sitting on it thinking it wasn’t the right time and trying to be friends until one day he just kind of slips up and kisses her. She kisses him back. It turns out Asami liked him, too, but she isn’t great at reading people and had no idea he was interested.

13. Who asked the other to get married?

Iroh just kind of blurts it out one day.

14. Who stays up too late and makes stupid jokes?

Asami is the night owl. Iroh makes the bad jokes.

15. Who is the nerd?

Oh my god, both of them. Asami is more of the classic nerd. Iroh is more of a dork.

16. Who knows the most obscure facts?

Iroh.

17. Who makes the other a flower crown?

Two questions about flower crowns out of 100?? Changing this to who is more dominant in bed. Asami.

18. Who likes to read?

Iroh. They both do, but he’s much more into it.

19. Who bothers the other person while the other person reads?

Asami. She has the shorter attention span.

20. Who tutors the other?

They both would in different subjects. Asami is better at math, physics, etc. Iroh is better at philosophy and languages.

21. Do they have similar taste in movies?

No. Asami likes gory slasher films and lots of action. Iroh scoffs and thinks they’re dumb. Asami, in turn, thinks his period dramas can be kind of boring, and refuses to count documentaries as movies. But there’s a healthy overlap in things like Vikings and Game of Thrones.

22. How do their personalities complement each other?

Asami helps Iroh lighten up a bit, drawing him out of his shell, and gives him an anchor and a sense of home. She’s more social than he is, and a lot of her friends eventually become his. But she’s also quiet enough and serious enough that she doesn’t tire him out and can feed his need for downtime. Iroh, in turn, loves seldom but deeply, and gives Asami the kind of fierce, unconditional love and stability she needs. He’s also genuinely interested in her projects, is smart enough to follow most of it, and is one of the only people who can occasionally beat her in Pai Sho. They have a lot of fun together just being nerds.

23. How do they tell everyone that they are going to be having a kid/adopting a child soon?

They don’t have to tell anybody. It’s all over Iroh’s face like a big neon sign.

24. Who has better fashion sense?

Asami, but not by much. She’s more up to date with trends, while Iroh’s style is clean and classic.

25. Who will punch someone out if they are rude to their partner?

Hoo boy, both of them. Do not go there.

26. What songs do they sing together in the vehicle?

Neither of them sing in the satomobile. Iroh has a decent voice, but he’s a bit private about it. Asami mostly hums.

27. What other couple would your otp get along with?

Iroh quickly becomes BFFs with Bolin. Asami and Opal aren’t quite as close, but they like each other’s company and have fun as a foursome. They also get along quite well with Pema and Tenzin.

28. Who likes to prank the other?

Iroh tries more often. Asami’s pranks are more successful.

29. Who is the one who loves to take pictures?

Iroh, though generally Korra is the picture taker in the group.

30. How would they react if they found out they were soul mates?

Iroh raises an eyebrow. “Hmm.” Asami only shrugs. They both already knew that.

31. Where would they live?

They like Republic City and decide to stay downtown, first in an apartment and eventually a larger townhouse.

32. What type of dragon would they own, if they could have one?

Whichever one Iroh made friends with. Asami is a bit wary of animals and would need him to convince her it was safe.

33. If they were both vampires, what type of vampires would they be?

The kind that live in a beautiful house with perfect collections that took hundreds of years to make. Iroh has first editions of everything in a giant library, arranged in a complex system only he understands. He’s working on his 14th language. Asami has invented artificial blood and doesn’t miss sunburns. Occasionally she’ll throw one of those big fancy vampire balls just so they can both get dressed up. They’re pretty happy.

34. What would they dress up as, for Halloween?

They once went as Lady Tienhai and the last king of Mo Ce because picking something obscure and historical was the only way to get Iroh into a costume.

35. Can they name each other’s favourite food?

Kind of. They are both really into food, so picking a favorite is hard. But if the question is can they order for one another, absolutely.

36. Do they have pet names for one another?

Asami sometimes calls Iroh “General Hotstuff” when she’s teasing. Iroh sometimes calls Asami “sex pretzel” when he’s 1000% sure they are alone.

37. How do they cheer each other up?

Asami is more of a gift giver. She’ll show up with Iroh’s favorite take-out or make him something in her workshop—anything to make him feel special and valued. Iroh is all about quality time, and will swing by Asami’s office to haul her out on surprise dates. He also gives great hugs.

38. Do they show a lot of PDA?

No. Iroh is very uncomfortable with PDA, especially when he’s in uniform. Asami follows his lead.

39. How old were they when they got together?

Asami was 19-20, Iroh 24-25.

40. Who is the one that would bring the puppy home?

Iroh, 100%. He’s such a sucker.

41. Can they do yoga couple’s poses?

Yes, though Asami is the only one who really tries.

42. What is their song?

They don’t really have one.

43. What does their room look like?

Asami moved in with Iroh, so it’s very basic. White walls, perfectly made bed, a neatly organized desk in the far corner by the window. He’s a total minimalist, having spent most of his adult life on a ship. Asami added a very fluffy comforter in *gasp* a color and lots of pillows.

44. Who would be the one to kill zombies while the other keeps them grounded?

They’d take turns, and at some point Asami would turn it into a contest.

45. Who makes the other breakfast in bed?

Iroh. Asami is a terrible cook.

46. Who loves kids more?

Iroh.

47. Do either of them have a crazy ex?

Not crazy, but Iroh and his ex are not on good terms. He doesn’t like to talk about it.

48. What are their favourite colours?

Asami, purple. Iroh, black. He gets annoyed when people get him so much red stuff.

49. Who likes to cook?

Iroh. He fired Asami from the kitchen, something they are both grateful for.

50. Who is the forgetful one?

Asami.

51. Does either of them know how to fight?

Have you met these people?

52. What do they do for Valentines Day?

Iroh would probably plan something elaborate for them to go out. Asami would plan something sexy for when they got home.

53. Who swears more?

Asami, at least out loud. Iroh mostly swears under his breath.

54. Who has the better comebacks?

Asami. It’s not even close.

55. Who would start a fight with another parent at a bake sale?

Probably Asami, unless it was about the kids. If anyone comes for Iroh’s kids, they’d better hide.

56. Who reads buzzfeed?

Asami.

57. Who is the hopeless romantic?

Iroh, hands down.

58. Do either of them know how to do a handstand?

Asami can manage it.

59. Who can rap better?

Asami, though Iroh is the only one who actually listens to rap.

60. Do either of them want to go sky diving?

Asami would love to. Iroh laughs. “Been there.”

61. What do they usually text about?

Some version of “I miss you” or random pictures of stuff. They generally only text when Iroh is away as they’re both busy during the day.

62. Who is the dramatic one?

Asami has a shorter fuse. Iroh is more ridiculous when he loses his shit.

63. Is either one confrontational?

Not really.

64. What is their favourite cuddle position?

Asami will lay on top of Iroh on the couch like a sandwich. It’s the only position she seems to be able to nap in.

65. Who are their favourite musical artist(s)?”

See above about terrible taste in music.

66. What are their parenting styles?

Iroh covers a lot of the basics. He sets a schedule, makes lunches, tells bedtime stories, is more likely to help with the homework. Asami is the one who gets them around and does most of the interacting with teachers, other parents, etc. They share things fairly equally.

67. Who would be the more laid back one?

Iroh.

68. Who listens to more vulgar music?

Asami.

69. Do either of them have secrets even the other doesn’t know?

Yes. Asami can be secretive about some of her projects, both out of an abundance of caution but also because she likes a big reveal. Iroh keeps some past relationship stuff close, and will occasionally read a steamy romance novel for “tips.”

70. Who is their go to couple for a double date?

Bolin and Opal

71. Do they tip the waiter/waitress on their date?

Iroh tips very well.

72. How do they work out a fight?

Asami yells. Iroh yells back. One of them storms off. The other one waits about half an hour then goes to find them, usually with an offering of food. There are hugs. Somebody cries. Then they finally talk it out before falling asleep together.

73. Who brings home an illegal pet?

Asami. She is less likely to have a pet, but if she does, it’s going to be a weird one.

74. What side of the bed do each of them sleep on?

Iroh is on the side by the window because he likes to get up with the sun.

75. What is their favorite photo of them two together?

There’s a photo Korra took at the beach where Iroh has Asami thrown over his shoulder right before dunking her in the water. This is the picture he takes with him when he’s deployed.

76. Who takes longer in the bathroom?

Asami.

77. Who has more songs on their ipod?

Iroh. If you can call them songs.

78. What movie did they first see together?

Iroh took her to Last Days of the Sun Warriors. She fell asleep. He said the book was better.

79. What do they like to see each other in?

Asami thinks Iroh’s butt looks great in jeans. Iroh got Asami a red silk robe from the Fire Nation and likes to see it fall off.

80. Who makes jokes during inappropriate times?

Iroh.

81. At what age do they discuss the possibility of children?

Mid-20s, though they don’t have them until a little later.

82. What do they love about each other the most?

Iroh likes that Asami is tough and smart and a problem-solver. Asami likes that Iroh is kind and brave and has a strong moral compass.

83. Who is the one that sees the big picture, while the other focus’s on the small details?

They are both big picture people, which is sometimes a problem. Of the two, Asami is probably better at details, but she’s also forgetful.

84. What would they write on their partner’s social media’s for their anniversary?

Asami would probably put up a picture of them and say something brief but sweet. Iroh doesn’t really understand social media and would just paste a heart-eyes emoji.

85. Who is bad at math?

Iroh. He’s not bad, per se, but Asami is very, very good.

86. Who googles everything?

Asami.

87. Who does stuff on impulse?

Both of them in different ways. Asami is generally more flexible. Iroh usually has a plan but makes big decisions completely off the cuff.

88. How do they comfort each other when they are helpless to do anything about the situation?

Lots of physical touch. Iroh will kind of just wrap himself around her in one giant, whole body hug. Asami will spend some time cursing out whomever is causing the issue, then let him lay his head in her lap and give Iroh a good head scratch or massage.

89. What is an inside joke they have?

There was one time they had sex in Asami’s office at Future Industries, so occasionally she’ll drop things like, “feel like coming by the office?” with a suggestive eyebrow waggle. Iroh is, predictably, very embarrassed. Also interested.

90. Who makes the other smile with almost no effort at all?

Asami: *exists* Iroh: *smiles*

91. What is their favourite holiday?

New Years is a big deal in the Fire Nation. Iroh loves his family and likes going home, and Asami has grown to love it almost as much.

92. Who is the one that is calm and collected while the other is angry and destructive?

They take turns. Both of them can have quite a temper when pushed too hard.

93. What is their favourite board game to play?

They’re both big Pai Sho fans, but can get into any kind of strategy game. Nobody really likes to play them though, they're too good.

94. Who accidentally sets something on fire?

Asami. Iroh hasn’t had a fire accident since he was four.

95. Who has the car ready while the other is robbing the store?

Asami. She’d rob the store, too, but no way is she letting Iroh drive.

96. What artist/group did they go to for their first concert?

Iroh booked a private box at the Republic City Opera, thinking that was an impressive thing he should do on a date. It turns out neither of them like opera, and by the end they were both making fun of it.

97. Who sleep talks?

Asami. Iroh thinks it’s funny.

98. Who is the more social one?

Asami, by a long shot.

99. What are their karaoke songs?

Neither of them would really sing karaoke, but Iroh cannot hold his liquor like at all so if he ever got really plastered Asami might be able to drag him up there. By which point he’d be too far gone to have an opinion on the song and would sing just about anything.

100. Who would get up on stage and make a fool of themselves just to make the other laugh?

Asami.

#irosami #this is all canon now #kidding

[nicnacsnonsense]

Been thinking about my hypothetical live action remake of Korra (seriously Netflix, call me, I have so many amazing ideas) and how I would tackle season two since it’s definitely the season that needs the most work, specifically and especially the Unalaq & Raava-Vaatu plotline. I kind of got carried away, like I do, but I’m very excited about it; a lot of good strong themes here. I’m going to start by talking about the changes to the first half, pre-Beginnings interlude, then the Beginnings episodes, then the back half. For the most part, all of the major plot beats still stay the same, at least until the climax, but the way those beats are contextualized are going to get pretty different building up to a radically different climax (no spirit being kaiju fight, yay!).

With Unalaq in the front half, the one major change is I want the religious fundamentalism vibes that come on so strong when he’s introduced to ramp up after the Northern Tribe soldiers show up and especially after Korra finally realizes he’s a bad guy, rather than petering out like happens in canon. I want to actually see him impose strict expectations of behavior in accordance with what he feels honors the spirits on the people of Southern Water Tribe. Let’s get some misogyny and restrictive gender roles up in here. That’s going to be great (from a storytelling perspective, obviously) because it’s relatively low-hanging fruit to communicate that the bad guy is bad, it fits in well thematically with where we’re going and the religious fundamentalism, and there is canon precedent in The Last Airbender that restrictive gender roles are a traditional value in the Northern Water Tribe.

A quick sidebar related to themes, in whatever episode where we first have Unalaq really cracking down on those gender roles, I want a B or possibly C plot with the Tenzin family vacation, where Jinora comes out to Tenzin as nonbinary. She is questioning with regards to the exact nature of her gender, but does say its some combination of both masculine and feminine, though other nonbinary identities – including agender, genderfluid, and a gender that is completely divorced from male-female – are floated. Tenzin is supportive and affirming and also suggests Jinora talk with her Aunt Kya, who he identifies as being a transwoman. (Kya is a trans lesbian in my version; you gotta deal with it.) This obviously serves to contrast Unalaq with his strict gender roles, and continues to build our theme.

For Korra in the first half, I do want to drag her emotional volatility down just a tad as compared to where she’s at in canon for these episodes. I still want her getting emotional and acting rash – that’s a huge part of her character – but I want her anger to feel sympathetic to the audience. Though I do also want at least one moment where Korra gets angry for good reason and starts yelling at Unalaq and he chides her for being emotional and irrational and he’s not going to discuss this with her if she can’t behave calmly and logically, blah, blah, blah, misogyny.

The final and biggest change that we’re making in the first half is Korra does not yet have her bending back. Season one does still end with her talking with Aang and learning energybending, which she uses to restore everyone else’s bending and restore her own connection to the other three elements, but in the opening episode of season two, we learn that she still can only airbend. She says that as far as she can tell everything should be alright and she should be able to bend fire, water, and earth, but obviously she can’t. She also mentioned that while it looks like it should, she feels like there is something missing, or maybe something there that she can’t see. Which my clever readers of course realize is a reference to Raava. After her flashback coma, Korra gains the other elements back, explaining that what she was missing was her connection to Raava had been damaged. Not broken, which is why she could still airbend and do all the other Avatar stuff she was doing, but damaged enough that Raava could no longer switch elements for her or give her access to multiple elements at once.

Moving on to Beginnings, right off the bat, I’m getting rid of the notion that all humans have to huddle on the backs of lion turtles out of fear of the spirits. The two worlds are connected, but humans and spirits co-exist peacefully for the most part. The lion turtles instead act as mediators when necessary, and do sometimes give out bending for humans to defend themselves with, but not as a regular thing every time they need to leave their city. We’ll have to switch up the stealing fire and Chin plot a little to accommodate this change, but somehow or other it happens and Wan gets banished with firebending.

Eventually he comes across Raava and Vaatu fighting and these two characters are getting some major shake ups. First off, in canon Raava identifies as being peace to counter Vaatu’s chaos, but peace is not the opposite of chaos; order is. Now, looking into yin & yang, chaos & order are not aspects that traditionally apply to them, but we’re going to let that addition of order to yang and light and chaos to yin and dark stand. Not everything has to be perfectly aligned. That said, one way in which we are going to switch things to make them fit better is yang is the masculine energy with yin as feminine. We’re switching the voices.

So Wan sees them fighting, and Vaatu calls out for help. And Wan is like, oh no, a damsel in distress; I’ll help you, milady! So, he helps, giving Vaatu the advantage. She beats up Raava, then flies off. Raava chastises Wan, explaining that he is the spirit of light and order, and he has been trying since the beginning of time to defeat Vaatu, but their battles have always ended in a draw. But now Wan has given Vaatu the advantage and if they don’t fix this, she’ll be victorious at the upcoming Harmonic Convergence, sending the worlds into ten thousand years of darkness. To which Wan is like, oh no, that sounds horrible. Well, Mr. Masculine Manly Spirit-Man Raava, I like light and order and you seem like a logical rational person; I’ll for sure help you put that emotional crazy spirit lady in her place. (Have I made the irony here clear enough? I don’t think I can get much more blatant. Though obviously in the show version it would be a little more subtle.)

After that we get Raava & Wan’s training and learning the elements montage, with some encounters with “corrupted” spirits along the way. Corrupted being Raava’s word, and he elaborates to say that all spirits fall under either Raava or Vaatu’s domain, all with varying inherent levels of light & order and dark & chaos to them. Vaatu gaining in power is causing the levels of dark& chaos in these spirits to rise, throwing them out of balance. Eventually comes time for Harmonic Convergence, Raava & Wan vs. Vaatu, and Vaatu wins. Ten thousand years of chaos, baby. With the last of the spirit energy as Harmonic Convergence ends, Wan fuses with Raava, then unleashes a crazy, amazing spirit attack, imprisoning Vaatu, banishing all the spirits from the physical world to the spirit world, and sealing the portals, all as an attempt to mitigate the fall out from chaos ascendent. Since then, the Avatar, imbued with the spirit of order, has fought back against the chaos to try to restore balance to the world.

Korra wakes up and panics. They have to stop Unalaq who is trying to free Vaatu, probably because he wants to destroy the world or something. But when she next has a chance to confront Unalaq, he’s like, not you stupid girl. I’m not trying to destroy the world; I’m trying to save it. Wan was right to side with order, but wrong to think he could stop chaos by teaming up with Raava and destroying it from without. No chaos is inside all of us, the evil infesting every human heart (Unalaq’s words, not mine) and it can only be dominated through one’s own strong force of will and conviction. So his plan is to fuse with Vaatu and then dominate her, destroy her chaos and using her power to allow him to bring his order across all of existence, both in the physical and spirit worlds. Korra’s not too keen on that plan either. She’s still going to stop him.

Korra fails to stop him. Harmonic Convergence begins, Vaatu is freed, she goes inside of Unalaq, and she immediately subsumes him. Turns out you can’t eliminate all the chaos in the world just by willpower, you absolute looney toon. Vaatu explains that even as Unalaq was planning to use her, she was using him to get free and now is going to use him as a meat puppet to help her fight Raava & the Avatar.

So, they fight, and for a bit it’s evenly matched, then Vaatu gains the upper hand. Just as Vaatu appears she’s about to deal the finishing blow, Unalaq briefly regains control and interrupts her – to be clear, he manages this because of his desperate need for order and control, not out of any affection for Korra. While he’s in control he says something in defiance of Vaatu that coming from Unalaq we can hear is clearly some fascist bullshit, but also echoes something that Wan/Raava said back in their battle with Vaatu. And Korra’s like, wait, hold up a second.

Lightbulb turns on for Korra at that moment, and by the time Vaatu has resecure control, Korra has dropped her offensive stance. She tells Vaatu she doesn’t want to fight her; she wants her to fuse with her and Raava. Neither Vaatu nor Raava like this idea. Korra has to go on the defensive holding off Vaatu’s attacks, and has to internally fight against Raava wanting to attack Vaatu all while trying to sell them both on this idea. She explains that too much chaos has been bad for the world, but too much order would be bad too – case in point, Unalaq. Both chaos and order, both Raava and Vaatu are needed for balance. And yeah, they can achieve balance by constantly fighting each other, with every encounter ending as a draw, or they could achieve balance through harmony together. Because even as they are opposites, they are one and the same, a part of a greater whole. A bunch of stuff to that effect, including mentions of the Northern Water Tribe upsetting the balance by trying to dominate the Southern Water Tribe, and also a shout out to Tui and La in there somewhere, the original Yin/Yang Avatar couple. Eventually Korra convinces them, she fuses with Vaatu, and Harmonic Convergence ends in a tie, returning the world to balance once again.

And of course, now that balance has been achieved, Korra leaves the spirit portals open. Remember in this version spirits and humans got along fine, and the separation was only necessary because the world had fallen out of balance. And yes, the rejoining of the physical and spirit worlds was probably something Unalaq wanted too, but we’re not giving him credit for it, because for every good idea a fascist ever had, there’s someone else who isn’t a fascist who had the same idea, but better, because it wasn’t coming from a fascist.

#the legend of korra #atlok #unalaq #raava #vaatu #long post

[struggling-author]

How are each of the Azulaang kids like? (bending, personality, etc)?

sorry I left this waiting for so long. I‘m really passionate about these characters and I wanna do this right but I simply don’t have the time for it right now. So here’s a short sum-up for all of them, and I hope to do a more detailed version at some point.

Ursa

the oldest, firebender, and quite skilled, but she hates using it and will only do so in absolute emergencies like when her family is in danger, a peaceful soul and much more low-energy than the rest of her family, likes reading, culture and politics, is about the same age as Izumi and her best friend and later advisor, she’s very interested in airbender culture, but more involved in fire nation politics, her cultural heritage gives her a unique perspective on most matters and she’s made it her life‘s mission to improve the fire nation by integrating that perspective into her politics, she’s a big advocate for the merging of cultural ideas and especially interested in air nomad and fire nation unity, she’s a lesbian (like kya in the original) but I haven’t thought about who she‘ll end up with yet, she loves playing pai sho and other board games and is very good at it, also yes her name means Azula has reconciled with her mother, but it took a lot of time and effort on both sides, naming her daughter after her was azula‘s way of showing how far they‘d come and Ursa (sr.) could not have been happier

Zuki

the second oldest, airbender, suki likes to joke she was named after her but everyone knows it was actually after zuko, a bending prodigy, she’s basically a mini-azula but with aang‘s playfulness, an absolute menace who constantly keeps her parents and everyone else on their toes, I first wrote her mainly as a way for Azula to reconcile with her own past and also to show how she might have turned out with a happier childhood and better parents, but she grows into her own character later, she really picks up the air-nomad way of life, focusing on the nomad aspect, and travels all around the world on her bison-dragon (yes, Appa falls in love with Azula’s dragon and a new species is born, it’s Avatar, their animals are all like that) she really is that cool wine aunt and Idk if she ever settles down, Aang was obviously delighted to have an airbender and fostered and supported those ideas in her, but Azula made sure he didn’t push her into anything she didn’t want and that he never gave any of his children preferential treatment (because she knows all too well how that feels) this is also how Ursa came to learn all about airbending culture and customs, while Zuki mostly dozed off during those lessons, her sister often made Zuki play board games against her, which she hated at first because she hated sitting still and her sister would always win, but her ambitious nature drove her to continue trying and eventually she got quite good at it

Kuzon

third oldest, firebender (or maybe non-bender) here’s where it gets a little scarce, he’s kind of based on Bumi in LOK but I really haven’t thought too much about him yet, he’s a lot like Zuko in the sense that he’s not as naturally talented as Zuki and struggles to learn new things, at the same time he’s more naturally kind and empathetic, he still loves playing with his older sister and chasing after her but he often falls and can’t keep up, he also likes spending time with his other sister Ursa who at first is kinda annoyed by it as she’s in her teens, but essentially does a full 180 later and becomes the most supportive big sister, often reading to him and encouraging him even when he fails at something, he especially loves his uncle zuko and looks up to him, as you can see he spends most of his early childhood looking up to other people and chasing after his sisters, so it comes as a real suprise (and maybe much needed confidence boost) to him when his younger brother is born and seems to idolize him, again I’m passionate about all these characters so it makes me sad to have so little on him but I hope to develop him more later, maybe he joins the united forces when he’s older

Tenzin

I loved Tenzin in LOK so I really didn’t wanna change much about him, he has a great bond with Ursa since they share the same interests, and this bond continues later in life when they often work together on political matters like organizing the air and fire unity festival (the day of the massacre is a day of mourning in both nations, the festival follows the day after to celebrate their newfound unity, it’s a little weird the first years but quickly becomes an established tradition, I like to imagine that the air and fire nation grow to be closer than ever in the future atla universe) he and Zuki kind of represent the two sides of airbending culture, she stands for freedom and the nomad way of life, he is more concerned with repopulating the temples and the spiritual side of things, as said before, as a child he idolizes and clings to his older brother and they stay great friends all their life

That’s it for now, it ended up being much more than I expected. If you wanna learn more, @resplendentgoldenwings wrote another post that lines up with my ideas quite well, and is honestly just a great and heartfelt read. Find it here:

https://resplendentgoldenwings.tumblr.com/post/629372835478028288/r%CE%B9s%CE%AD-%CF%83f-%CF%84h%CE%B5-r%CE%B9%CF%82%CE%AD

and you can read two short fics featuring the kids on my AO3 (link in bio) with another one planned rn and hopefully coming soon

[wastetimeandtype]

A Legend of Korra AU, the setting is Detroit Become Human (summary)

Yooo so I think I’ve mentioned before that I started to write a Detroit Become Human AU for TLOK. Here is that AU, summarised!  Also since I haven’t touched this story in like two years so I don’t remember how it exactly goes, so I am making up a few plot points to make this summary cohesive. To be clear, this is an abandoned story, im just fond of a few plot points in this story after rediscovering this google doc.

To be clear I never played the game, I just got into watching the story cut scenes on YouTube... somehow. Idk. 

The basic premise of the game is that there are android servants who start gaining consciousness, called deviancy. Deviants can be permanently destroyed and killed if you destroy their memories and central programming system (situated in the head). Androids can generally have their memories transferred over to new bodies, as long as it is intact. You do not need to know the game to read this summary, it would have been a retelling of the game but making my own shit up. It loosely adapts Markus’s and Connor’s storyline. Korra was Markus, Mako was Connor (with Bolin being somewhat like Hank) and Asami had her own storyline. I also ‘fixed’ some elements of the game I didn’t like or thought were poorly explored but it generally follows the gist of the game. 

This is going to be super long, so hiding the story summary under a cut!

In a non-bending, future AU of the Avatar world, Future Industries in this universe is the creator of the androids. Deviancy is the name for consciousness. Both the police and Future Industries oppose androids becoming deviants due to being seen as a danger to humans and risking Future Industries profits.

Also to be clear, Korra, Mako and Asami are androids. Mako and Bolin are not related in this story. Bolin is human and a single child who’s parents died young.

Korra is an android who reacts violently to her owner beating her in a fit or rage. She gains consciousness (deviancy). She goes on the run because the police are chasing her.

She runs, and the next day hides in an abandoned house where she meets Kai, who is also a deviant android child. Kai mentions that there used to be an android he was friends with an android called Wan who was helping him run away to ‘Temple’ a sanctuary for androids. Wan has since disappeared.

Also from Kai there’s a general legend of ‘Project Raava’ who is meant to be a powerful android who saves them all. It’s kind of like a legend.

Meanwhile Lin is investigating Korra attacking her owner at the house. She is assigned a new super robo cop named Mako from Future Industries to help with KA cases. She doesn’t like him much and is annoyed that Future Industries so she leaves him to Saikhan and Bolin. Saikhan is the top detective, Bolin is the junior detective partner. Saikhan doesn’t like Mako either so just asks Bolin to distract him (Mako notes that the police are making Bolin babysit him).

What would be revealed in the story is that Bolin’s parents passed away, Lin was for Bolin as she was the at scene of the car crash and was a mentor figure in his life. Bolin was fostered but Lin kept in contact as a close parental figure. She helps Bolin get a job at the police station. Bolin knows he isn’t a very good detective but wants to make Lin proud.

Bolin in general thinks androids are pretty creepy, especially Mako. This is because they left Bolin alone for a bit with an android caretaker at the police station, and Bolin, an already traumatised child, found this robot caretaker uncaring and traumatising.

Also concurrently Asami is reading about the android rights movements and she’s like.. I am interested in deviants. Hiroshi tells her not to be so interested.

At Future Industries we are also introduced to Sitiak who is currently the top robotics person at Future Industries (had to be an OC). We later learn she is the head designer of the robo-cops and knows a lot about Mako.

We also learn throughout the story that Yasuko passed away from breast cancer years ago, and Asami also underwent treatment for it a few years prior as well.

Anyway back to Bolin. Bolin tried his best to just distract Mako whilst the real police do their work but Mako and Bolin realise where Korra is hiding and chase after Korra and Kai. Korra and Kai run across a highway and Mako was going to run across but listens to Bolin’s order not to do that.

Anyway Korra and Kai get in contact with some air monks who give them clues to scan around the city to follow the way to the deviant sanctuary.

Tenzin and the air nation are generally supportive of androids as a) they are not blind and can see that the androids are sentient and feeling and value all life, and b) Tenzin adopted an android child (Jinora) so they could understand androids, and Jinora deviated under their care. She pretends to be a normal android child to be safer.

Opal is a human member of the pro android rights movement. She was friendly and flirty with Bolin but stopped after the police started cracking down on deviants.

Korra and Kai follow clues hidden around the city. Temple is hidden in the mountains. Kuvira is the leader of the sanctuary! She is a committed revolutionary leader. She left Zaofu to help the deviants in Republic City (there are hundreds more in RC). She is pretty radical and an absolutist who believes in android rights and android supremacy. Re

Korra is a bit more chill but gets involved in the cause for android rights.

ANYWAY during the story Mako and Bolin get to know each other. Mako is programmed to have a very adaptive AI. He learns what Bolin wants. But he is committed to his mission of destroy all deviants above helping Bolin.

However one day Bolin panics half way through getting info as he missed the date and missed his parents death anniversary. Mako ‘breaks’ programming by allowing Bolin to go the cemetery to grieve. He also comforts Bolin.

Bolin is very confused by this situation and starts to wonder if Mako is deviating. Mako denies this.

(There would be two types of deviancy: gradual and shock. Korra was shocked into gaining consciousness. Mako’s deviancy would be more gradual).

And Bolin also starts to doubt whether or not he and Mako are doing the right thing by hunting deviants.

Asami meanwhile is asked again by Hiroshi to stop investigating deviants. She ignores him. She eventually learns, by looking through files of ‘Project Raava’ a very powerful android.

Korra and Kuvira and other androids break into a news tower and broadcast their demands for rights. Kuvira is badly injured in the attack, so Korra is the face of the broadcast.

Asami is convinced that Korra is project Raava as Asami thinks that Korra must be special in some way to lead the rights.

So Asami does some more digging, and then realises that something has always been very wrong with her. She cuts into her own flesh, her blood is blue: Asami is an android. And Asami is Project Raava.

FUCKING TWIST. Anyway this would be better set up in the fic as like people would make like ‘hey Wanna go eat Asami?’ And Asami would say ‘already eaten’ but we’d never see Asami eat

Basically Yasuko died of breast cancer. Yasuko was heavily involved in android robotics so she and Hiroshi and Varrick (to show up later) developed a body to house her after she died. They tried to code Yasuko’s consciousness into an AI. This failed and Yasuko ‘died’. When Asami Sato was dying from cancer, she asked to try the consciousness experiment. Knowing it would fail, Hiroshi instead created a full Artificial Intelligence version of Asami, and only coded the memories. She is not actually the old Asami Sato.

Asami was coded to have a very curious personality, but they had to code in limits to her, so she would naturally obey Hiroshi. She never eats or goes to the toilet, but she believes she does, as she basically has code telling her she does, so she believes it. Hiroshi planned to transfer (and wipe) Asami’s mind to different bodies so Asami would age, so he can pretend his daughter is still alive. However because of Asami Sato’s curious nature, Asami’s AI is very curious so Asami deviated when investigating deviants and choosing to not obey Hiroshi’s command to stop investigating them. She didn’t realise she was an android until later though because the programming was so strong and designed to be human like she didn’t see it until her AI pieced it together, she then is able to see her own programming and realise she isn’t human.

This isn’t the first time she has realised she was an android, but the first time she deviated beforehand. Because of this, when Hiroshi offers to wipe her and start over (because Asami usually accepts as an obedient daughter android when she realises that she has android parts by accident) Asami rejects this as she wants to help other deviants and knows they’re fully conscious and shouldn’t be destroyed. Basically Asami is too empathetic to allow deviants to continue to be destroyed when she knows they’re feeling like her, however Asami is also horrified by her own existence at this point.

Asami escapes the Sato Estate. She eventually find the Temple hideout and they’re like ‘wut Asami Sato is an android?’ And she’s like yep accept me, I want to help the android movement. They do. Kuvira is more cautious than Korra but accepts Asami. Asami helps fix Kuvira up after the tower fight. Asami and Korra start bonding.

Lin, Saikhan Bolin and Mako go to the Sato Estate the day after to investigate a deviant attack. Hiroshi and Sitiak inform the four of them what exactly is up with Asami. Lin is a bit freaked out but they agree it’s best to keep it a secret. Later Bolin says out loud ‘maybe we should leave Asami be and let her live her life’ and Lin reprimands Bolin for being sympathetic to deviants.

Asami is like ‘we should find Varrick to find out more about deviancy’. Asami and Korra (somehow) go to find Varrick. He’s living in a secluded house with his deviant android Zhu-Li.

He’s like ‘ah yes my greatest creation, I am your real Daddy’ (neither Asami or Varrick are pleased with his choice of words). Sitiak replaced Varrick in the company because Varrick was going to go public with the knowledge about Asami so he was kicked out and basically threatened by Future Industries to keep quiet otherwise they’d kill him.

He reveals he knows why deviancy happened: because of Asami. Four years ago when Asami activated, Hiroshi programmed a very simple piece of code to say ‘I am human’ if any androids came into direct contact with Asami, so they would believe she was not an android as well. It was an instant override. Varrick designed it to work like a virus and pass between androids. But one android had an overactive AI and the ‘I am Human’ statement warped to be ‘I am Alive’, a piece of programming that would allow the android themselves to become sentient if they needed it in a situation of immense stress or if they simply learnt and evaluated the statement. He realised this after examining Zhu-Li’s coding.

Not sure when this would be realised in the fic, but Asami would realise the first deviant was Wan, who used to be an android caretaker at the house and came into contact with Asami. He left the years ago. Wan is also the source of the ‘Project Raava’ legend, he overheard Hiroshi talking about this and misconstrued it as a android who could help android kind but not yet.

Anyway Korra and Asami leave knowing more about deviancy. They ask if Zhu-Li wants to come with them as Varrick comes across as crazy and Zhu-Li responds that she is a deviant, she knows exactly what she is doing and trusts Varrick, and that Korra and Asami aren’t offering anything safer. She has a point.

Anyway the police some time later get the same idea and arrest Varrick and Zhu-Li for suspected collusion with android deviants. By this point, after the news company hostage incident, the government under Raiko has given sweeping powers to Future Industries over the police to control the android menace.

Sitiak realises that Zhu-Li is a deviant, and electrocutes her, causing her severe pain until Varrick fesses up and complies (he does fairly quickly as Varrick genuinely cares for Zhu-Li who deviated in his home gradually). (The torture is legal as androids are not seen as sentient, they’re seen as defective and dangerous, and are property.)

Bolin watched the torture and is horrified. Bolin noticed Mako’s sensor flash red and Bolin realises finally that he has more in common with Mako and Zhu-Li than Lin and Sitiak so he resigns. He asks Mako to come with him, and Mako has not deviated so refuses, he is still dedicated to his mission of destroying deviants.

Bolin joins with Opal and pro-android movement who are getting ready for more serious action as they realise android and human relations are deteriorating. They want to avoid a full scale war between the two sides but need to get people to realise that deviants are not inherently dangerous, they’re just sentient.

Anyway Sitiak realises that Bolin is a loose end and asks Mako to ‘clean up’ and so Mako goes to shoot Bolin (and Opal who is helping him pack) and Mako can’t do it as he cares about Bolin, finally deviating. Bolin’s like whooo always wanted a brother.

So Bolin Mako and Opal run away to Temple.

(It annoyed me that barely any humans sympathise with literal sentient beings in the video game which is why they’re a larger part of the movement here).

Since Mako deviated, he sees a picture of Wan at Temple and realises what he did. Wan disappeared as Mako killed him (permanently shut him down by shooting him in the head about six months prior). Kai is horrified (because he liked Wan) and wants to kill Mako but Korra and Kuvira point out Mako was not sentient and was just doing as he was previously programmed to do, just as Kai used to be the perfect teenage son. Kai agrees. Mako feels guilty. Mako carries a lot of existential weight and dread without a mission to follow, and guilt about the past. He struggles with adjusting to deviancy the most.

However although they save Mako they are suspicious of Mako He basically hunted their kind. Even Korra with her big heart is suspicious.

Also Opal calls Kuvira out on some of her android supremacy bullshit. Kuvira was a guard for Suyin and Suyin basically didn’t mind deviants, and deviants aren’t oppressed in Zaofu, and humans have never hurt Kuvira directly. Kuvira admits that to be the truth and agrees, admits she just feels so angry that deviants are being destroyed because humans don’t want to understand them. They agree that the only way forward is to work together with humans.

Anyway the deviants and human sympathisers go on a march to town hall. The Future Industries private for hire mercenaries begin shooting into the peaceful crowd. Various attendees are arrested, including Bolin, Opal, Kai and Jinora.

Mako decides to go on the offensive and rescue his new adopted human brother because fuck you Future Industries. He recruits Lin to help him.

Lin at this point is PISSED as the government has taken away power from the police and given it to Future Industries. Lin does not trust Mako much but she made a promise to herself she’d protect Bolin and has realised that some of this android hunting is overreacting so agrees to help Mako break people out of jail.

They break into a facility that Future Industries has set up to investigate deviancy and imprison people (Bolin and Opal and other humans have not gone to trial yet but Future Industries does not work in a police station so does not have access to prisons, so they’re all in the same facility. Please roll with my bullshit).

Mako and Lin break Opal and Bolin out, rescue all of the androids.

Mako realises Varrick is in the Future Industries facility and tries to break him out, succeed at first, but Sitiak shoots him dead. RIP Varrick. They rescue Zhu-Li though. Sitiak gives Mako an evil grin heheheudh.

Anyway Lin after this realises that deviancy is not a danger and renounces her previous anti android ways and likes Mako now.

Also everyone after Mako saves androids and humans realise that Mako is not a threat and is a genuine deviant, and not a spy (maybe Mako could get shot and have a high risk to his life).

ANYWAY. Everyone regroups at Temple but they realise that androids and human supporters have been tortured at the facility and have given away the location of Temple. They realise they are all at risk and Future Industries is likely planning an assault, and there is no way to run apart from fight.

Meanwhile the general public mood is turning against gov’t and the over the top tactics especially since the androids were filmed being shot and killed whilst doing nothing.

Korra is like ‘you should lead everyone Asami you are Project Raava’ and Asami is like no, Korra, you are the hero they need. Asami is a powerful android, but is simply not the most important person in the world— Korra can choose to be there hero (and Asami can choose to step away) — free will! Korra is the ‘avatar’ for android kind.

Anyway Future Industries marches on Temple. There is a stand off. The androids tip off the media so there is public interest and the whole thing is filmed.

Korra gives a rousing speech and gears up the androids. Though they peacefully marched before, they will fight if they need to defend themselves. Future Industries hold off from firing, knowing they will look bad.

Asami meanwhile left earlier that morning to confront her ‘father’ and appeal for him to stop this madness. She goes alone because she knows the Sato Estate well and can sneak in. She meets Hiroshi and pleads for him to listen to her.

Sitiak comes and shoots Hiroshi after Hiroshi does show Asami some sympathy because Hiroshi does still Asami Sato in Asami Android. Sitiak is like ‘my company now muhahaha’.

Honestly I’m not really sure what I intended for Sitiak, I think Asami kills her after Sitiak tries to kill her.

Asami realises by looking at company PC Sitiak has activated an override on Mako that basically restores her control over him. Sitiak wanted Mako to kill Raiko, make Androids look bad and basically give Future Industries free reign to destroy all androids to maintain profits.

Asami races back to Temple as she can’t turn off the override. Mako at this poiint has left the rally, his new mission is to kill Raiko, and is in full murder mode. The deviant Mako fights from within.

Asami manages to get the cloud back online and warn Korra about the issue. Korra goes after Mako.

Mako v Korra fight, but Mako is a better fighter than Korra as he is the most advanced android ever released.

Korra is beaten back, Mako goes into Raiko’s office to execute Raiko, Korra dives in between them to save him.

Mako doesn’t actually want to shoot Korra so he starts fighting this override, so he turns the gun on himself. He plans to shoot himself in the head (horrified at what he has done and feels he can’t be trusted) but Korra begs him not to. Bolin finally reaches them and begs Mako not to. Mako shoots himself in the leg instead, basically disabling himself as he flits between maintaining control over himself.

Raiko is like ‘wow what an impressive android Korra but can I trust you all?” Asami arrives and explains Sitiak’s plan and Raiko agrees and calls off the advance on Temple. Even Future INdustries forces can’t disobey the president.

Then everyone is happy. Asami removed the chip Sitiak was using to remotely control Mako, to give everyone peace of mind. Asami is basically given future Industries (as legally she is still Asami Sato even though Asami Sato has died) and Korra keeps working with Temple with Kuvira.

Also the whole story Korra and Asami fall in love. Asami’s original unease at herself fades. She accepts her android nature and begins a relationship with Korra. They touch hands, and meld their minds together which is like, peak android intimacy.

Mako stays with Temple but also continues to work with the police. Bolin and Opal, together by this point, decide to continue to help androids. Bolin does not go back to the police, he is forging his own path. Lin is proud of him and now has a new surrogate son in Mako.

New elections are held and Raiko steps down. A new human president is elected and Zhu-Li is elected as an android official to work with Humans and Androids (feel like its a bit much to assume Zhu-Li would be elected president). But there is promise of a better future for the androids.

The Endddd.

Things that might have happened:

- Kuvira dies at some point, but i never decided if she dies of her wounds of the news tower hijacking or she dies in the last standoff. She could also survive, but her arc could be accepting that Korra is simply a better leader than she is.

- I have no clue how Korra and Asami find Varrick. Maybe they could hack into something to do with Future Industries, who’d have his address on file.

- I also have ideas that instead of Mako trying to kill Raiko, there is a clash between the military and the androids and Mako is used to try and disrupt the androids winning by killing Korra (and Asami and Kuvira). The problem with this is I don’t see how this can resolve unless the military abandons the fight in a lackluster way after Korra and Asami subdue Mako.

- I mentioned above but I really don’t know how exactly I intended the Asami/Sitiak/Hiroshi confrontation at Future Industries to go down. Who knows. Not sure if I also intended for Asami to be alone in this confrontation. Maybe she could take Kuvira and thats how she dies.

#legend of korra #korra #asami #bolin #mako #korrasami #asami sato #tlok #lok #avatar

[patrickstargang]

Forgotten Past, Hidden Future (Legend of Korra fic)

Chapter 1: Looking In The Wrong Places

Chapter 2: Lucky To Have You

Chapter 3: A Lot To Learn

Chapter 4: Kya’s Story

Chapter 5: A Tale of Miazu

Chapter 6: The Avatar’s Love

Final Chapter: The Mural

Ever since Kya told her about Kyoshi, Korra has been trying to learn more about the prolific Earth Kingdom Avatar. Little things about the conversation that one day stood out in her mind, mainly that Kyoshi’s efforts were “unable to affect any kind of real progress.” With the Earth Kingdom in a much different situation than it was since the death of Hou-Ting, this little fact became a nagging voice in the back of her head. 

I’m sure things have gotten better since then. Korra’s thoughts began to go deeper, with each passing moment leaving more room for uncertainty. I mean it was hundreds of years ago! So much has changed since then.

This thought came to her while reading what looked like a massive textbook titled “A Comprehensive History of The Earth Kingdom”. She was off into a corner, deep within one of Republic City’s oldest libraries. With the lighting and arrangement of the pillars it looked like a two floor version of Wan Shi Tong’s library (probably a form of imitation as flattery). This library in particular was notable for containing documents related to Earth Kingdom rule dating back thousands of years, which was what brought Korra here in the first place. 

Korra skimmed through page after page, finding a great deal about Kyoshi as an Avatar, a diplomatic figure, but not much for her work as an “activist”. After a while, she noticed there wasn’t even a mention of same sex relationships in the Earth Kingdom. She continued scanning, her eyes straining from frustration but also exhaustion. This was around hour three of her search. She hadn’t done this much intensive studying in one day since Tenzin had her read Air Nomad philosophy. As time passed, the behemoth of a text book began to shrink, only a few more untouched pages left. With each page turned, she seemed to grip the paper tighter, almost ripping it. And then…...nothing. After all that time there was not a single piece of information to show for it. Korra was more confused than upset. Something felt off about it. She closes her eyes, letting a breath go out.

Questions began firing in her mind. How is that possible, I looked everywhere! Maybe I missed it a few chapters ago? Wait, what if I checked a different book, maybe this is just an old versi-

“Mam?” an anonymous voice rang from behind Korra. She darted her head up from the book to see a young librarian who looked as if he was carrying fifty pounds worth of books. “It’s almost closing time.” Korra glanced out the windows to see it was night time already. Just a minute ago it seemed like she just got here. “Sorry, guess I lost track of time.” The librarian let out a lighthearted chuckle before he began to organize the shelf of Earth Kingdom text in front of him.

Korra slowly brought her attention back to the text and began to quickly flip pages back to the beginning. She stopped at a chapter with the title “The Life of Avatar Kyoshi”. It was a simplified synopsis of Kyoshi’s time as the Avatar, detailing important events and milestones within her era. She began looking at names, trying to piece together any possible threads to look more into. She noted a few: her bending teachers, the Yellow Neck leaders, the Air Nomads that Kyoshi stayed with. But one label caught her eye: bodyguard. That title belonged to someone named Rangi, who was only referenced a few times in the chapter. Everyone else had some background, except for her. There was only her label as the Avatar’s “bodyguard”, a position left mostly unknown besides a name and nothing else. What's being left out? And why?

It struck Korra that there was only ten minutes left before closing. She closed the book with a slam, followed by a strained wince as she realized how loud it was. She quietly got out of her chair and headed for the doorway. But she stopped and glanced back at the librarian still attempting to alphabetize numerous books at once. “Are the archives still open by any chance?” 

“There isn’t much time left but...yeah they're open.” The thought comes to Korra that this might just be another dead end. Maybe it might just be a rabbit hole and Kya had some wrong information. But she was willing to go further, if it meant that she could better understand the Earth Kingdom’s troubled past. Korra looks back up at the librarian with a new face of determination. “Sorry to bother you again, but do you think they’d allow me to take something back home with me?” Her face transformed from determination to an awkward grimace after asking what really was an unusual question. “I mean, if it's no trouble.”

Korra’s grimace continues as she expects a confused reaction but instead finds the librarian deep in thought. “Well….” the librarian draws out the pause, stroking his chin. “I’m pretty sure we can make an exception for the Avatar.” Korra is taken aback by how nonchalant the response was, not even indicating the slightest bit of sarcasm. But she didn’t care, as her determined aura decided to come back in style. “Perfect!” she proclaimed, once again louder than intended.

She turns toward the archive doors. “Because I’m going to need a couple of scrolls.”

(so if you got to the end, thank you for reading all of this. this is my first attempt at writing a fanfic and its an idea that i really like, it might take a few chapters to get there but i think it will be worth it. also feel free to lend me your thoughts on it, im happy to hear whatever you guys think would improve my style or if you just really liked it.)

#atla #avatar the last airbender #legend of korra #rise of kyoshi #atla fanfic #legend of korra fanfic #rise of kyoshi fanfic #korra #kya #kyoshi #rangi #earth kingdom #fanfic #first fanfic #forgotten past hidden future part 1 #forgotten past hidden future chapter 1

[mustangsgloves]

Korrasami Secret Santa 2020

WOW I am late, sorry! 

@spikings the world has been crazy....you asked for something gym related, and this is what happened. I still have one last part of this I want to write, but for now, here it is: (AO3 link)

Pt. 1 - Pt. 4 (of 5)

falling for you - or the four times Korra didn’t act on her feelings for Asami, and the one time she did (while sparring)

1.     “I was hangin’ with you and then I realized”

Two words cut through the silence in the young CEO’s office. “Let’s spar.”

The water Korra was disinterestedly manipulating into different shapes almost fell to the ground as she suddenly turned to look at her friend. She echoed, slightly confused, “let’s spar?”

Asami’s eyes were already on her, blueprints detailing upgrades for her electric glove forgotten on the large oak desk in front of her. A small smile crossed her face as she leaned back into her chair. “Yes, let’s spar. That is what I said.”

“No, yeah, I mean…I heard you, I just…” Korra faltered.

“What’s wrong?” Asami smirked. “Worried I might beat you?”

Korra glared at her, but it held no heat. “No, that’s obviously gonna be your concern.”

“Oh, so you agree that I should be worried about beating you?” Asami laughed.

“That’s not what I meant! You…I – ugh.” The Avatar shut her eyes. “Forget it.”

“Korra,” Asami countered gently. “I’m just teasing you.” She paused, and Korra didn’t have to meet her gaze to know the look of concern her friend was giving her. “I was just thinking maybe it could do you some good to get moving instead of sitting here and waiting for Tenzin to get back and tell you what Unalaq is planning next.”

Korra sighed and focused her attention back to the water before replying. “You’re probably right,” Korra said. “It’s just, I hate sitting here, just…just waiting, when I should be out there stopping my uncle from starting whatever sneaky plan he has in the works!” The liquid curved into small cylinders of ice, each sharpening to a deadly point before flowing back to a fluid sphere.

“I know…or at least, I can imagine,” Asami paused, watching as Korra impatiently tossed the sphere from hand to hand. “But I do think some physical activity might help you feel better – I know it works for me.”

Korra shrugged half-heartedly, “I guess it might help.”

Asami was determined. “Tenzin will be back soon. This way you will hopefully feel better and then you can act more assuredly no matter what news he brings. I know it’s no bending arena and I’m no Bolin, but my dad…” she tapered off. Korra turned her attention back to the engineer.

Clearing her throat, Asami continued. “Well, my dad made sure to include a room for martial arts training and practicing in this building because I took lessons as a kid. That way, when he was at work and I was here too, I could practice. It’s not a bad place to work-out, I mean, there’s a sparring mat and some gear.”

Asami chuckled sardonically before continuing, “but I guess looking back now, it’s pretty obvious it was all just a ploy to keep an innocent child out of whatever diabolical plots he was part of at the time.”

Korra returned the water to the empty vase on Asami’s desk – thinking fleetingly that the huge office room could do with a little bit of cheering up, maybe with a few moon-lilies in the vase – before voicing her decision.

“Let’s do it,” Korra said, offering a hand to Asami who had retrained her gaze to the blueprints in front of her. Asami looked up, and her eyes reflected the same push and pull of anger and sadness that they always seemed to whenever she thought of her father. “Just the two of us, no Bolin necessary.”

Asami took her hand and let herself be gently guided from her chair. Her eyes flashed with a familiar mirth, and Korra could already feel the tension in her body receding. “No Bolin necessary?”

“Nope,” Korra proclaimed proudly, giving Asami’s hand a squeeze before releasing it. “I love the guy, but he and I are decidedly not good sparring partners. And besides…” She glanced at Asami. “I have a feeling you and I are going to be just the opposite.”

“I do too,” Asami said with a smile. Pausing only a moment to seemingly collect herself, Asami started towards the door. “Well, follow me, Avatar, and I’ll show you what a true master of the martial arts can really do.”

Korra grinned, and the rest of her anxiety and apprehension seemed to fade away in the same moment. “Alright, Ms. CEO. Please, show me the way.”

There was no doubt that Tenzin would only bring bad news about Unalaq, but at least Korra could pass the time in an enjoyable and productive way – kicking Asami’s butt at hand-to-hand combat.

Or so she thought.

--

           It only took about two minutes before Korra realized that their sparring match was not going to be an easy win. True to her word, Asami proved to be an extremely talented martial artist: dodging, weaving, and landing blows that most other opponents (such as Bolin, who, as lovable and talented as he was, could notkeep up with Korra on the mats) wouldn’t be able to.

           “I have to admit,” Korra huffed as she dodged a particularly powerful punch from Asami. “I’m impressed.”

           “You almost sound surprised,” Asami countered as she ducked in turn, keeping her wrapped hands up to protect her face. “You aren’t still thinking of me as a prissy, helpless little girl, are you?”

           Korra paused just long enough to accidentally let Asami land a kick to her side.

           “Oof,” Korra grunted, widening her stance to regain her balance. “Definitely not, but I didn’t anyways. You proved the contrary very early on.”

           “Glad to hear it,” Asami managed as she barely blocked a quick combination Korra threw.

           “In fact, I think you underestimate yourself too much,” Korra continued. She dipped her body weight forward and moved past Asami, forcing the other girl to switch up her stance and landing a punch on Asami’s shoulder along the way. “You’re pretty incredible.”

           “Nice one, and thanks,” Asami said, only taking a brief second to acknowledge the blow, “but are you sure aren’t just saying that because I’m kicking your ass?”

           Korra snorted and threw another punch, which Asami dodged easily. “Kicking my ass? As if. I’m not even trying that hard.”

           Asami’s eyes glinted with a spark of mischief that Korra hadn’t seen since the day the engineer had taken her on the racetrack. “Oh no?” she countered. “Let me make this a little harder then…”

           Faster than Korra could follow, Asami dropped herself to the ground and rotated her legs around her in a sweeping arc that caught Korra’s ankles and forced her own legs to give out from underneath her.

           The Avatar hit the ground with a resounding thud, and only moments later, Asami had her pinned to the mat. All of the air seemed to leave Korra’s lungs as she looked at Asami’s bright emerald eyes and the small smile on her face. Both girls were breathing heavily, and a faint sheen of sweat covered their faces. Korra found her heart racing, which made sense after sparring, but it felt different than usual, a little more…nervous? She shook the thought as Asami’s weight shifted off of her and she moved to stand up.

           “Kick my ass, huh?” Asami said as she offered a hand to help Korra up.

           Korra grinned and accepted Asami’s hand. “Apparently not,” she replied as she stood. “You might have actually beaten me there, Sato. Not a lot of people can say that they bested the Avatar.”

           Asami laughed as the two walked towards the storage compartments to put away their gear, and Korra felt lighter than she had in days.

Their suspicions had been correct – they were the perfect sparring partners.

2.     “I didn’t think it was true, I was surprised”

The next time Asami and Korra sparred felt very different from the first, but Korra chalked it up to the fact that she had just lost her connection to all of the past avatars. Not to mention the fact that she’d turned into a giant blue spirit and beat up her uncle, from what Bolin had explained to her a few days after Harmonic Convergence.

“Spirits, it was crazy!” Bolin had exclaimed. “Like, I knew you’re good at bending, obviously, being the Avatar and all, but man. Your hand-to-hand combat skills are better than I thought! It was, wow…it was just, blam and pow and then smack and then Unalaq just like, disappeared into a shiny light! I mean, how cool is that?!”

           “Bolin,” Korra had replied, only slightly exasperated. “Weren’t you still in the spirit world when this happened?”

           Bolin had blushed and admitted, “well yeah, but I filled in the rest after the giant blue version of you went after Unalaq…and besides, my little bro Meelo filled me in! He told me everything he saw from Air Temple Island.”

           “He’s not your brother, Bo,” Korra had said with fake sternness. “He’s way too gross.” The two had continued to bicker during the rest of their celebratory dinner downtown with Mako and Asami.

           Now, almost a month after the fight, Korra finally felt up to trying something for stress-relief instead of dwelling on her severed connection, practice bending drills repeatedly, or spending an entire day trying to move the ridiculously stubborn spirit vines that had popped up around Republic City. Thinking back to just a week before, when Asami had attempted to teach her how to drive, Korra smiled. Finally, she knew exactly what she needed to do to keep herself busy. Grabbing her glider, she shouted a quick goodbye to Pema, who was bouncing Rohan on her knee in the courtyard and launched herself off of Air Temple Island towards the city.

           It only took Korra a few minutes to reach the Future Industries tower. Landing with ease on a wide ledge, she folded her glider and knocked quickly on the expansive windows she knew led to Asami’s office.

           “Korra, hi,” Asami greeted her warmly as she opened one of the large frames to allow the Avatar into the room. “Is everything alright?”

           “Yeah, why wouldn’t it be?” Korra replied, watching as Asami closed the window and moved to stand next to her desk which held a recently filled vase of fresh moon-lilies, courtesy of Tenzin at the request of the Avatar herself.

           “Well, you usually don’t just show up at my office in the middle of the afternoon…” Asami explained. “Not that I’m complaining, it’s a welcome change from the boring meetings I’ve been in all day but…”

           “Are you busy?” Korra asked, suddenly feeling very embarrassed of her random visit. “I mean of course you’re busy, you’re the CEO…I can go! I can easily go and just let you keep doing your stuff, I just thought…well…maybe you could use a break? Or something, I –”

           Asami quieted her with a brief touch of her hand on Korra’s shoulder. “No, don’t go. You caught me at a good time. Besides, you’re right, a break sounds nice. What did you have in mind?”

           Korra gave her a crooked smile. “Well, I was thinking we could maybe spar? I know we haven’t since we did a few months ago, but with everything finally settling down…it could be a nice way to unwind.”

           Surprise filtered across Asami’s face momentarily before it was replaced with a small smile. “Back for a rematch?” she asked good-naturedly.

           “I don’t think it’s going to be much of a match,” Korra retorted. “Pretty much all I’ve been doing is practicing and mediating, and it seems like you’ve just been cooped up in here.” She gestured vaguely around at the office.

           “You don’t learn, do you,” Asami said with a teasing tone as she pushed in her chair and began to make her way around the large oak desk.

           “Actually, I’ve been told I’m a very quick learner,” Korra shot back.

           Asami laughed – a full, happy laugh – and a small fissure of electricity seemed to jolt Korra at the sound. She pushed it aside, writing it off as relief and excitement at hearing Asami laugh after everything that happened with her father and now Harmonic Convergence, too. Korra couldn’t imagine that spirit vines popping up all over a city in which you’re the CEO of the most prominent technology and industry business would be an easy thing to deal with.

           “Well, for a quick learner, you should’ve learned to not underestimate me twice,” Asami countered, motioning for Korra to follow her to the sparring space.

--

           It turned out, that Asami was once again right – for the most part. The first few blows the two girls exchanged were well-matched if not leaning in Asami’s favor. But Korra could feel the anxieties and fears she’d been harboring since Harmonic Convergence beginning to seep out of her subconscious and into her limbs.

           Asami threw a punch but hit nothing but air, Korra having swiftly sidestepped and instead driving a solid hit into the taller girl’s abdomen. Asami inhaled sharply but quickly retaliated, spinning around and delivering a sweeping kick to Korra’s side. Korra grunted as she was forced to stumble to the side. She tried to suppress the “fight-or-flight” reaction she could feel growing in her gut as she and Asami stepped back to circle one another, each with their hands held up defensively in front of their chins. This is Asami, Korra told herself, not Unalaq, not some giant spirit of darkness…she’s your friend. This had never happened before, at least, not the last time they sparred or any time more recently that Korra had practiced with Bolin or even Mako. She shook her head in an effort to rid herself of the thoughts before offering Asami a small smile.

           “Ready to give up yet?” Korra asked, trying for a confident air to assuage the doubts in her mind.

           Asami just chuckled. “Well I don’t know if you’ve been paying attention, but I actually landed the most recent hit here so, I think I should actually be asking you that.”

           Korra frowned, “are you always this infuriating?”

           Asami shrugged and replied, “not always,” before stepping forward and striking quickly.

           But not quickly enough.

           Korra ducked and sidestepped, grabbing Asami’s wrist as it sailed past where Korra’s shoulder would have been. Using Asami’s own weight and momentum against her, Korra twisted to then flip Asami over herself and onto the ground. Korra quickly followed and straddled Asami, effectively pinning the other girl with her hands above her head.

           For a moment, neither girl said anything, and suddenly Korra felt as though this was their first time sparring as she remembered being in this exact same scenario which was only now reversed. Their breaths mingled and Korra was abruptly taken aback by how close their faces were – it wouldn’t take much to just lean down and…wait, what?

            In her split-second of hesitation and confusion, Korra flashed back to her battle with her uncle and was bombarded with memories of the way Vaatu had pulled Raava out of her with surprising and disturbing ease. The proximity then was just a little farther away than Korra was to Asami now…the brief second of panic was all that was all it took for her to hastily push herself off of and away from Asami, who promptly sat up.

           “Korra?” she asked gently, still breathing heavily. Instead of shock and something else on Asami’s face that Korra had seen but not quite understood, her features now held concern and curiosity. “Are you ok?”

           Korra could feel the adrenaline coursing through her as she tried to take a few deep breaths…in…out…in…out…in a calming pattern just like Jinora had taught her months ago after Korra had a particularly vivid nightmare about Amon and found herself hyperventilating when she awoke. Vaguely, she registered, and appreciated, the fact Asami hadn’t said anything more and was simply sitting calmly about a foot away. The engineer alternated between glancing at Korra and down to her lap where she was absentmindedly wrapping and unwrapping the coverings of one forearm and hand.

           When Korra finally felt as though she once again had a handle on her mind and body, she sighed, “I’m sorry, Asami.”

           This just seemed to shock Asami once again. “What?” she said incredulously, “you don’t need to be sorry!”

           Korra trailed her hands down her face, heat blooming in her cheeks. “I’m sorry I lost control and that you had to see…that.”

           Asami regarded her for a moment, before gently placing a hand on Korra’s bicep and silently willing her to meet her gaze. Asami’s eyes were gentle, and Korra suddenly felt more embarrassed by her embarrassment than anything else, which was a far more ridiculous situation to be in and sounded like something Bolin would get himself into.

           “Korra,” Asami began. “You…” she trailed off before gathering her thoughts and trying again. “Okay, two things. One, you didn’t lose control, at least as far as I could tell,” she smiled slightly and continued. “All it seems to me is that I just got my ass kicked by the Avatar.”

Korra offered a slight smile and small laugh at the comment.

“And two,” Asami continued, with a renewed glint in her eyes, “don’t ever apologize to me for something like that – unless you purposefully do something to hurt me, which –” she gave Korra a pointed look that said let me finish as the Avatar opened her mouth to object. “Which, I know you’d never do – you never have to apologize to me.”

“Alright,” Korra agreed, finally feeling the rest of the adrenaline and the embarrassment begin to fade. “And what about if it’s by accident?”

Asami quirked an eyebrow. “Well, if you hurt me by accident…I guess it’d be more of a case-by-case sort of thing. I’m sure we could draw up a contract.”

“You’re a good business-woman,” Korra chuckled. “And an even better friend.”

Asami smiled, fully this time. “A woman’s only as good as her partners,” she replied. “And I’m lucky to have an incredible one right here.”

“You’re a sap, Sato,” Korra said as she stood up. She offered Asami her hand – as it seemed they did at the end of every sparring match, or at least the two they’d had. The other girl took it firmly, and Korra felt the increasingly familiar jolt of electricity course through her body from the contact. If she didn’t know better, Korra might’ve thought that Asami’s electric glove was on her hand. Realizing she’d been staring at their clasped hands, Korra blinked and shifted her gaze to meet Asami’s eyes – emerald green, sparkling, and filled with a little bit of that mystery expression from earlier when Korra had had her pinned.

A beat of silence passed, and then Asami spoke as she dropped Korra’s hand. “Well, it takes one to know one, Avatar.”

Just like the last time they sparred, the two moved in tandem to return the equipment and clean the mats.

“Are you up for lunch?” Asami asked. “Bolin and I talked about it the other day and thought maybe the three of us and Mako could grab some today – maybe your favorite noodle shop?”

Korra grinned lopsidedly. “Do you even have to ask?”

3.     “I didn’t wanna believe my feelings for you”

           “No bending this time,” Asami warned good naturedly as she and Korra circled one another in one of Zaofu’s many courtyards.

           “Ah, yeah…” Korra smiled sheepishly, briefly bringing up her right hand to rub at the back of her neck. “Sorry about that.” A few days before, the two had been sparring in the Queen’s garden while they were waiting for news either about Kai, or Mako and Bolin. Korra had accidently gotten a little too riled up as they had discussed the Queen’s plan and used airbending as she had kicked the pad in Asami’s hand, which added a lot of force to the move.

           Asami hadn’t been too worried about the mistake, airbending luckily wasn’t as outwardly harmful as say, firebending, which was still something that Asami liked to avoid. Being good friends with Mako and Korra and seeing the good that firebending could do definitely helped with her opinion on the element…but it wasn’t that simple. Every once in a while when she saw firebending, Asami would randomly flash back to the day her mother was killed – not a happy memory, but trauma tended to stick with you like that.

           Shaking the thought out of her head, Asami smiled at Korra reassuringly. “It’s alright, it’s not like you hurt me.”

           “Well, I’m not trying to have you write up a contract, that’s for sure,” Korra responded playfully.

           Asami grinned and with impressive speed, lunged forward to land a quick combination of punches against Korra’s strong stomach and diaphragm. Taken by surprise, Korra had no time to block or sidestep, and stumbled backwards with an oompfh.

           Coughing as she regained her breath, Korra looked at Asami with wide eyes.

           “If I didn’t know better,” she managed. “I’d say you were trying to get revenge.”

           “Who me?” Asami asked innocently, though the spark in her eyes suggested she knew just what she was doing. “I hate to break it to you, but if you think that was revenge, you’re sorely disappointed.”

           “Hold on, what’s that supposed to mean –” Korra began before, once again, Asami rushed her.

           This was not Asami’s usual sparring method, Korra thought fleetingly as the two fell to the ground. Far from the norm of well-calculated and precisely placed hits she usually favored, Asami was going for what Korra would argue was more of the Bolin method – intense, sudden, and very physical approaches.

           Luckily, the patch of grass they’d decided to fight on was forgiving, and their fall was softened. Korra somehow managed to come out on top after the two tumbled past one of the metal sculptures that Huan had showed their group after their arrival the day before. Korra straightened, straddling Asami’s waist and frantically trying to pin down the taller girl’s arms. Asami obviously knew what Korra was going for. Right as Korra managed to grab her wrists, Asami laughed and arched, sending her hips, legs, and subsequently Korra hurtling up and off of her.

           Korra allowed her momentum to carry her forward, tucking into a roll and then getting back on to her feet. She took a few steps forward before raising her arms up defensively to her face and turning around to face Asami once again.

           The other girl was already standing, ponytail beginning to come undone and smirking slightly. Asami blew a puff of air towards her forehead in an attempt to clear away the strands of hair that threatened to block her vision.

           “Alright Sato,” Korra huffed. “If that’s how you want to play it…”

           She charged forward, but thanks to the distance between them, Asami had plenty of time to simply step aside to dodge Korra’s rush. Korra whipped around and managed to place a hit on Asami’s back as she leapt back to avoid Asami’s sweeping kick. They continued in this pattern for a few minutes – Korra stepping back to get out of Asami’s range as she continuously aimed kick after kick at the Avatar. Suddenly, Korra found her back pressed against one of the few trees in the metal city. Of course, she thought to herself sardonically.

           Asami changed tactics and lunged forward to try to keep Korra pinned against the tree. Korra shifted against the trunk and used her arms to brace Asami’s shoulders back as she considered her options.

           This was decidedly the least spar-like sparring match they’d ever had.

           “What made you decide to go full on wrestling today?” Korra asked as she grit her teeth. Asami wasn’t much bigger than she was, but their height difference gave Asami a distinct advantage as she pushed against Korra.

           “Eh,” Asami shrugged. “I thought I’d change it up, especially since Lin thinks that even Zaofu isn’t safe enough for you. If there’s a bunch of crazy benders out to get you, I might as well try to help keep you on your toes.”

           “I appreciate the sentiment,” Korra responded as she resisted harder. “But I can’t believe Bolin isn’t seeing this – I mean, he’ll never believe me when I tell him you went full on wrestler-mode – he totally thinks that’s just his thing.”

           “Well,” Asami said, bringing her face closer to Korra’s, who’s heart rate unexpectedly skyrocketed. “There’s a lot that Bolin doesn’t know about me…including how I fight.”

           On the last word, Asami let her lips brush Korra’s cheek before she abruptly stopped pushing against the Avatar, who was still returning the pressure, and stepped aside. Korra lurched forward and Asami, ever the innovator, grabbed hold of Korra’s wrist and used the shorter girl’s momentum to fling her away. Korra toppled to the ground, shock from Asami’s trick and the loose gravel keeping her from finding her footing in time.

           Korra moved quickly to try to sit up, but Asami moved quicker. Before the Avatar could even fully prop herself on her elbows, Asami was on her. She swept Korra’s arms out from underneath her and kept her hands firmly on her wrists, causing the Korra’s back to hit the ground. Still straddling her, Asami moved Korra’s arms to above her head, fully pinning the Avatar on the ground.

           Asami leaned down ever-so-slightly, but even with that slight movement Korra could’ve sworn her heart stopped. Why, she didn’t know, but it was all she could do to remind herself to breathe again. For a split second, Korra thought she saw Asami’s bright eyes flicker downwards away from her own, but she chalked it up to her shock the situation, and the fact that as soon as Asami’s lips had brushed her cheek, it seemed that they were all Korra could think about. Despite her attempts to calm herself down, Korra could feel the blood rushing to her face. Get a hold of yourself, Korra thought to herself impatiently.

           The CEO had different plans. She brushed her cheek against Korra’s in a painstakingly slow manner as she leaned even closer to be able to whisper near Korra’s ear.

           “Don’t forget to tell Bolin exactly how I beat you,” she said quietly. Korra’s heart seemed to stop again. “I hate to say it, but I have to agree…I have a feeling that he’s not going to believe you.”

           With that, Asami rocked backwards off of Korra and stood up, brushing off the gravel and dust from her clothes. She turned away from Korra and began to walk back to the Beifong estate, before pausing briefly and looking back at the Avatar, who remained frozen on the ground.

           “That was fun,” Asami said, a familiar, sultry look on her face – the same one that Korra used to hate whenever she would see it aimed at Mako during pro-bending matches. “We should do it again sometime.”

           Korra sat up more fully and opened her mouth to say something – anything, preferably clever – but found it as dry as the gravel dust in her hair.

           Asami laughed, flipping her hair that had long since come undone, and sauntered up the steps.

           Korra gaped after the other girl, willing the heat in her cheeks and the butterflies in her stomach to subside. Don’t make it weird, she chided herself. She’s your best friend…Still, Korra found herself at the mercy of her nerves, which at this point, were beginning to fray. She hurriedly stood up and dusted herself up.

           “BOLIN!” she shouted as she ran towards the guest house where the earthbender was supposedly napping. He’d have time for that later, but all Korra wanted right now was to explain, and try to understand, what in the world had just happened.

4.     “maybe it’s better if I just try to conceal the truth”

Asami sent Korra enough letters for her to be able to catch onto what the engineer was willing to talk about or not…and for the longest time, Asami would not mention anything about sparring. It felt as though Asami viewed it as this sacred thing, something that the two of them did, that they could do, only before Korra was poisoned by the Red Lotus.

At first, Korra didn’t notice it. Asami would talk about her day, mention the projects she was working on, the boring meetings she had to sit through, the frustrations of dealing with Raiko, and the pleasant dinners on Air Temple Island that would subsequently be followed up with a “everybody misses you” that never felt guilt-ridding, only sincere and understanding. Asami would mention Mako’s detective work, bring up Bolin and his antics as well as Opal, Jinora and Kai’s escapades with the Air Nation, and even relay that Yin and the rest of the boys’ family were in good spirits and health. She would reminisce in the way that only she could without causing Korra to feel bad and talk about the way they had managed to get out of the desert on their makeshift sand-sailer – “I’m telling you, Korra, sometimes when business seems bad, I really do consider prototyping one of those sand-sailers. I think there’s some real potential for them in the Earth Kingdom markets!” – and optimistically discuss how they would have to go to Narook’s Noodlery when Korra returned to Republic City, when she was ready. Asami didn’t push or rush her.

           But Asami never mentioned their sparring matches, not when she spoke of fond memories, or even when she wrote about what they would get up to once Korra was back. Korra was embarrassed to admit that she only picked up on this fact after about the fiftieth letter she received from Asami, about eight months into her absence in the Southern Water Tribe. A few times after she noticed this, Korra would sit and wonder why Asami wouldn’t bring it up. Each time, she couldn’t help but conclude that it was because that when Asami had last seen her, Korra hadn’t been able to move her lower body at all. It must’ve been that Asami was sparing Korra from the pain and embarrassment of thinking about when she could move, and so out of the kindness of her heart Asami had decided to omit any fond memories of their sparring sessions. It wasn’t like sparring was something that wasn’t memorable or a common occurrence – especially after Harmonic Convergence and even up to the day that Korra was poisoned, the two girls had sparred quite often. The two of them were so evenly matched that sometimes they could continue for almost an hour without either making much headway.

           But finally, after almost a year passing since she’d left Republic City, Korra finally wrote Asami back. She told Asami how she was sorry for not writing sooner, it was just that she needed time to figure everything out, but she missed Republic City a lot (and her, but Korra was too nervous to include that, for some reason). She asked the CEO to not mention her response to Mako or Bolin, and it wasn’t that Korra wanted to hurt the brothers’ feelings, it was just that it was easier to write to Asami about this stuff. Korra explained how she’d done extensive healing sessions with Katara and was now well enough to not only be walking around by herself, but also get back to bending. She wrote about how she’d first practiced water with her father in the weeks soon after she’d regained her mobility, and then fire, earth, and air later on her own. Finally, at the end of her letter, Korra wrote:

I’ve also really missed our sparring sessions; they always make me feel better. I hope you’ve found another way to keep yourself occupied. When I’m back, I’ll kick your ass, Sato.

She’d debated for a few minutes whether she should add anything more, or just sign off before decided to simply add:

           Thank you, for writing.

           Yours, Korra

It felt awkward, and it didn’t feel like enough, but Korra had figured that nothing really would at that point. What are you supposed to say after you’ve been gone for a year with no contact?

--

           It wasn’t like they had all the time in the world to mess around once Korra finally returned to Republic City, but Korra intended to make good on a promise she’d made to herself: after being gone for three years…she definitely owed Asami a sparring match.

           After the chaos of their lunch-turned-rescue mission for Prince Wu, Korra and Asami finally found a small chunk of free time in the old Sato mansion, where Wu was staying with Mako and Bolin’s family. Mako had tried in vain a little earlier to try to show Wu some self-defense moves, but he had left the room not even half an hour later grumbling about how Wu “wasn’t even trying” and “couldn’t even hurt a fly,” which Korra interpreted as almost sounding endeared with the odd Prince, but she was smart enough not to say anything to the firebender as he stalked down the hall. She and Asami watched him retreat with Wu and Grandma Yin (for some bizarre reason) following shortly after. After they had disappeared, Asami turned to Korra, who had just been working up the nerve to suggest a match.

           “You mentioned something about sparring,” Asami said, “in your first letter back.”

           Inexplicably, Korra felt heat rise to her cheeks and fought down the urge to rub her neck as she tended to when she was nervous. “I did, yeah…” she managed. “I did mention sparring.”

           Asami looked at her with vague curiosity and a slight, amused smile. Asami’s face was a little more angular than it had been three years ago, and her eyes, while still young and bright, held more sorrow and exhaustion now too. Korra couldn’t help but notice the way her new hairstyle made her look older, and more mature…which, granted, she was. With a start, Korra realized she was staring and not listening, but it was a moment too late.

           “…so, do you want to?” Asami was asking.

           Korra blinked.

           “Sorry,” she offered. “I, was, uh…I got distracted. What did you say?”

           For a moment, Asami’s cheeks looked flushed, but Korra assumed it was a trick of the light.

           “That’s okay,” Asami replied. “I was asking if you wanted to spar, since, well…it’s been so long.”

           Guilt flooded Korra at Asami’s words, despite it being obvious that the CEO had no bad intentions. It was anything but accusatory…the gentle way Asami had said it suggested that she too was sad about the missed opportunities of the past three years. Korra swallowed her wave of emotions and gave Asami a small smile, all previous awkwardness forgotten.

           “I did tell you I’d kick your ass, didn’t I?” Korra said.

           Asami just laughed.

--

           It was almost like no time had passed. The two exchanged blows for almost fifteen minutes before Korra gained the upper hand. With a few well-placed punches, Asami tapped out, giving the first round to Korra.

           Ten minutes later, round two went to Korra as well after the Avatar used the trick she’d learned from Asami three years before of sweeping her opponent’s feet out from under them. Asami was oddly quiet, more focused than she had been at the restaurant or even earlier in the day, and a lot less physical than the match they’d shared in Zaofu before the Red Lotus had showed up. It didn’t necessarily feel like a bad quiet, but Korra could tell that there was definitely something on Asami’s mind that was causing her to fight differently.

           “Round three?” Korra asked Asami, trying to get a better read on her. “I’ll give you a chance to show me you didn’t actually let up on your work outs while I was gone.”

           That got a smile from the other girl. “You’re on. Can we take a quick break first though? I’m a little tired.”

           The two sat down and drank some water. Korra let the quiet of the room continue for a minute or two before she broke it, her nerves getting the better of her.

           “Are you mad?” she asked Asami softly, not looking at the engineer.

           “What?” Asami responded. “Am I mad?”

           Korra just nodded.

           There was a pause, and Korra felt her heart sink before Asami continued.

           “No, Korra,” she said. “I’m not mad.”

           Korra lifted her gaze to look at Asami, who was staring ahead thoughtfully.

           “I’ve just got some things on my mind…” she turned to give Korra a small smile. “It’s nothing bad, though. Just something that I’ve been thinking about more, lately. I’m okay. It’s just a lot, you know? You’re finally back, and I’m so glad…it’s just going to take a little adjusting.”

           “Yeah,” Korra replied. “That makes sense…and for the record, I’m sorry…when we’re both ready and we have more time, I’d be happy to talk more about everything, if you wanted. For right now, I want you to know I’m glad to be back, too. I’ve missed this…I’ve missed you.”

           Asami softened. “I’ve missed you too. And yes, I’m sure we can talk about it another time when we don’t have to prepare to fight a dictator and save the world.”

           Korra laughed. “I sure hope we get a break soon, all of us. Besides, then I’d have more time to keep beating you in these matches.”

           Asami snorted and got up, walking back towards the mats. “You always do this, you think you can actually beat me,” she joked.

           Korra set down her water and stood up. “Oh, so you’ve just been letting me win today?”

           Asami’s features took on a familiar air of mischief and confidence. She raised her hands up into a defensive position and smirked, the tone of next words sending a jolt of heat to Korra’s stomach.

           “Why don’t you come and find out?”

           Korra exhaled, and walked onto the mat, squaring up to the taller girl once she was close enough. Trying for a similar air as Asami’s, Korra channeled every ounce of confidence she had into a smooth response. “All right, Sato. Let’s see what you’ve got.”

           Asami wasted no time in going on the offensive, forcing Korra to duck and weave to avoid getting punched. With the ebb and flow of the blows they exchanged and the fluid motions of their attacks and defenses, the two almost seemed to be dancing.

           “I’ll admit it,” Korra huffed as she landed a kick. “You’re just as good as you were three years ago…if not better.”

           Asami smirked. “I know.”

           Korra grunted as a blow landed on her stomach. “Then did you just let me win those first two rounds?” she managed.

           “No,” Asami replied, dodging so Korra’s fist missed her own abdomen. “I’ve never let you win when we spar, and I never will…you always underestimate yourself, don’t you?”

           Korra shrugged and jumped back to avoid Asami’s swift kick. “It’s possible,” she admitted.

           “Have you ever let me win a match?” Asami asked, blocking Korra’s punch by making an ‘x’ with her forearms.

           “Nope,” Korra said.

           “Not even in Zaofu?” Asami pressed.

           “What do you mean, not even in Zaofu?” Korra asked, lunging forwards to force Asami to retreat a few feet.

           “There were at least two times during that match in the courtyard when you should’ve beaten me,” Asami explained. “Why didn’t you?”

           Korra tried her best to simultaneously avoid Asami’s offensive blows and remember back to Zaofu…they had been sparring in one of the courtyards, there wasn’t a lot of grass, or trees – Korra felt her face flush as she remembered the way Asami had…well…distracted her at the tree, and then once again on the ground. Butterflies reanimated in her stomach.

           “That doesn’t count for anything,” she scoffed, throwing a combination punch and ignoring Asami’s searching gaze. “You…cheated.”

           Asami caught Korra’s wrists and twisted them, forcing Korra to remain still as the CEO stepped forward, so they were almost chest to chest. “Oh, I cheated?” her voice suggestive.

           Korra glared at her and tried to free her arms, but for the moment, they were fully stuck. “Yes,” she replied dryly. “You cheated.”

           Asami stepped forward again. “And how exactly did I cheat?”

           Korra swallowed, all too aware of the height difference between them and trying in vain to ignore the pounding of her heart. She growled in frustration. “You distracted me!”

           Asami raised an eyebrow, clearly enjoying herself, which only served to frustrate Korra even further. “I distracted you?” Asami repeated. The corner of her mouth twitched, as if she was fighting down a smile.

           Korra twisted and freed her arms, quickly grabbing Asami’s right one instead and pinning it behind the taller girl’s back. Instead of turning Asami so that they would face each other, Korra pressed forward against Asami’s back and kept her arm there. It was a much harder position to get out of, and if Asami now couldn’t see her blushing face, well, that was just an added bonus.

           For a moment, Korra debated how she should reply, before she decided it’d be best to conceal the full truth. “Maybe,” she managed, which didn’t sound very convincing but also wasn’t as vulnerable as a ‘yes.’

           “Well,” Asami said softly, still facing away from the Avatar. “Did you ever consider the fact that I fully knew what I was doing?”

           Korra felt her grip on Asami’s forearm instinctively loosen before she tightened it again. “What, distracting me to cheat?” she asked, “or cheating to win?”

           Korra felt Asami’s body tense up a second too late before the other girl had easily swapped their position, rendering Korra immobile with her arm tucked behind her back. Asami held her there, pinned closely.

           “And here I thought you said you were a fast learner,” Asami joked before trailing off. There were a few beats of silence. Korra shuddered as Asami’s hot breath puffed against her ear as the taller girl continued quietly, almost uncertainly. “Korra, I…the thing I’ve been thinking so much about is y–”

           Korra felt as though her entire body was on fire. What Asami might be suggesting…no, it couldn’t be…Korra had fought down those feelings for the past three years for spirit’s sake…was it possible that Asami, well…returned them? Was there a chance that they both wanted the same thing? Because if Asami wanted what Korra wanted, well –

           Korra panicked…and promptly flipped Asami over her shoulder and onto the mat where she landed with a grimace and a grunt that sounded a lot like “you.”

           As Asami lay on the ground in front of her, Korra took a few steps back, both to properly resituate herself to continue fighting and also to try to clear her mind. How was it that it always seemed to be during sparring matches that she and Asami had some of their most intense discussions? A voice, sounding strangely of Katara’s, responded quietly in Korra’s mind: your body will reflect your emotions and your emotions will reflect your body. Korra huffed and tried to ignore the response, which she was pretty sure was a reminder Katara had repeated often when first teaching Korra waterbending. It didn’t even make sense, it was just more of the philosophical mumbo-jumbo that Tenzin was always telling her…at least that’s what she would’ve thought three years before, but now, well – now it made sense. Of course it was during sparring matches.

           Coming back to reality, Korra looked down at Asami, who was gazing up at her from the ground with an expression full of incredulity mixed with embarrassment. Korra felt herself panicking, and in a desperate effort to steer their conversation back in a safer direction, she blurted: “why didn’t you ever mention sparring?”

           Asami just blinked owlishly. “What?” she managed.

           Korra fidgeted with her wrapped forearms, this was decidedly not a safer direction. “In your letters,” she explained. “You never said anything about our sparring matches – which is completely fine, I just…” she sighed. “Why not?”

           Asami looked at her for a moment before standing up and taking Korra’s hands with her own, effectively pausing Korra’s anxious fiddling. “Honestly? I didn’t know how to bring it up, I mean…you had so much going on when you left and I didn’t want to add any stress,” Asami huffed, absentmindedly brushing her thumb along Korra’s knuckles in a surprisingly calming manner. “Really what it was is that I missed it too much. I couldn’t handle you being gone and remembering how much I enjoyed getting to spend this time with you. I’m sorry.”

           Korra gave Asami a sad smile. “Don’t be sorry, ‘Sami,” she squeezed the CEO’s hands. “I missed it a lot, too, probably more than I’m willing to admit.”

           Neither girl spoke for a moment, before Asami broke the silence. “I know you said don’t apologize, but I am sorry that our sparring conversations always seem to go this way.”

           Korra’s smile was brighter this time as she chuckled. “I was just thinking that, but not in a bad way!” she clarified as Asami’s eyes widened. “It reminded me of something Katara would tell me when she was first teaching me how to waterbend, ‘your body will reflect your emotions and your emotions will reflect your body,’ which I used to think was stupid, but honestly makes a lot of sense now.”

           “It does make sense,” Asami nodded, before smirking slightly. “So that explains why the Fire Ferrets’ performance plummeted after Bolin saw you and Mako kissing, right?”

           Korra shoved Asami’s shoulder playfully, glaring at the taller girl. “I really regret telling you that sometimes,” she sulked. “But, yes, that would be an example of it, I guess.”

           “And you judo-flipping me a minute ago was what, then?” Asami asked.

           Korra choked on air. “W-what?”

           Asami took a deep breath. “Well, I was admitting that I’ve been thinking about you a lot and then it seemed like you maybe panicked based on that brutal flip that ended with me on the mat?”

           “I’m sure I don’t know what you mean,” Korra scoffed, trying to ignore her increasing heartrate.

           “No?” Asami asked, gentle and a little nervous. She carefully extracted her right hand from Korra’s grip and brushed a few stray strands of Korra’s short hair back behind her ear. The Avatar gulped.

           Pull it together, Korra admonished herself. I can be smooth…I think. Steeling her nerves, Korra brought her free hand up to lightly grasp Asami’s right wrist, holding the girl’s palm against her cheek. Korra turned ever so slightly and brushed her lips against Asami’s palm, watching with pride and amazement as the engineer’s eyes fluttered closed at the contact. Finally, Korra let herself think back to some of the most notable moments of some of their previous sparring matches: the jolts of electricity from Asami’s touch, how flustered she would get at close-contact with the taller girl, the way she had completely given in to Asami’s distractions in Zaofu, and most importantly…the growing realization over the past few years that she wanted to kiss her best friend.

           It was about time she did something about it, what, with the impending doom of Republic City and a dictator quickly approaching. Three years had been too long already, why wait now?

           “Asami, I…” Korra trailed off as Asami’s eyes opened and met hers, warm and inviting. Korra swallowed, and Asami smiled softly. “Can I ki –”

           “KORRA!” Bolin’s voice shattered the moment with even less grace than Ikki’s question to Asami years before at Air Temple Island: “did you know Korra likes Mako?”

           The two girls jumped apart as if they’d both been electrocuted, which – with Prince Wu running around the Sato mansion trying on random clothing, including the retired electric gloves – was entirely too possible.

           Bolin rounded the corner into the sparring room a second later, barreling in at top speed.

           “Bolin!” Asami recovered first. “What are you doing! What’s wrong?”

           Korra just glared and tried to settle the heat of annoyance and disappointment in her stomach. “Bolin, I swear to the spirits if this isn’t good I’ll –”

           “Mako just got back with our big special delivery of Narook’s noodles! There’s enough for all of us, even Grandma Yin and the extended Mako-Bolin fam! I just thought I’d let you guys know,” the earthbender explained excitedly, seemingly oblivious to the tension in the room.

           Korra growled. Asami put a calming hand on her shoulder.

           “That’s great,” Asami managed a smile. “We’ll be right there.”

           Bolin grinned, offered two thumbs up, and raced back out of the room, off to alert the next unlucky group he’d intrude upon.

           Asami slowly turned to Korra. “Well, I guess we did talk about getting Narook’s once you got back,” she offered, fighting back a wide smile.

           Korra groaned, dragging her hands down her face. “I cannot believe him sometimes.”

           Asami laughed, loudly and fully, and bent down to kiss Korra’s cheek. The Avatar flushed.

           “C’mon Korra,” Asami offered her hand, and Korra took it immediately, lacing their fingers together. “Let’s go get some food before Bolin and his cousins eat all of it.”

           Korra allowed herself to be led out of the room despite her disappointment. Yet this time, Asami’s hand after a sparring match finally felt different. No matter what happened in the next few days with Kuvira and her Earth Empire, Korra was excited. She and Asami had plenty to talk about, maybe over their own dinner date at Narook’s.

#my fic #korrasami #korrasami secret santa 2020 #and they were SPARRING partners #fluff #big time pining #a little angst or just talking about feelings/hard experiences? #this was so fun to write #spikings #korra #asami sato #:))

[thebrokeyaboiski]

Young!Linzin (my own version) and Older!Linzin for a series au that's much more interesting in my head. I like Pema I really do in LoK (Not to mention she could've been OP if the creator's had balls) but like give us an actual reason as to why this power couple wouldn't have killed it in the show instead.

Lin isn't an officer because that universe doesn't exist in my head. Toph instead stayed as a metalbending/earthbending teacher which Lin then followed (by the boar on her outfit, honouring her family roots though). Also, Bare Feet! Because ofc she would have that to better her siesmic senses. She protests for equal rights in Republic City because I think it would've been a better intro to Amon's agenda through a likable character (You know, if you want to pull the BS that he wasn't a loon still). Also, a sword! Because why the benders have no other weapons in the series when clearly they need them is a mystery. She still has her scars because Suyin still marks her.

***If you like Suyin, ignore this because I don't and think she deserves more ire for her actions in the series. In my head for this one, Suyin 180° on Toph by joining the police force (They are mainly corrupt and violent) and marks Lin during a protest forcing her to leave Republic City and start Zoafu to run from consequences (much more in fitting with the character personailty in my view).

Tenzin remains mostly the same but I gave him hair because why did he HAVE to be bald like Aang. Come on guys, personal choices for a new era of benders. I tried to give him darker skin so he looks like he sprouted from Katara as well because the show couldn't do that either. However, I'm not as well practised as I'd like to be so let me know if it might need changing. I like to think Tenzin wore water tribe outfits before he became the leader of the air nation, hence the blue all over Young!Tenzin. Also, Staff on hand! Because, again, really needed!!!

They either have kids or they don't, I don't care about that. Also, GOOD PARENTS, NO TRAUMA BECAUSE WHY DID WE NEED THAT. IT DIDN'T ADD ANYTHING

(Click for better quality)

Feel free to download

Like/reblog (with credit) if you use please!!!

#art #artblr #artists on tumblr #please reblog #or like #color #colour #avatar fanart #avatar legend of korra #LoK #legend of korra #tenzin #lin beifong #linzin #linzin fanart #no h8 m8 #i dont care #avatar au #airbender #earthbender

[firelordappa]

The Secret Society [M] - Chapter One

Pairing: Sokka x OC

Word Count: 2813

Genre: Romance, baby. Fluff AND smut

Hello, everyone! I hope you give this story a read, I have lots of good things planned for it. I actually posted another version of the first chapter for this story but I decided to rewrite it and I like this version a lot better lmao.

In this story, Sokka is 22 and our main female love interest is 20:) Just in case you’re too lazy to do the math, that means that Aang is 19, Toph is 19, Katara is 21, and Zuko is 23.

Like I said, I have so many things planned for this story! Me and 2 friends actually planned out the entire plot line one night sitting in my car and I knew I immediately had to start writing. Before we start, I’d like to give a shout out to @mystic-kitten-writer for inspiring me to write a story of my own! If you haven’t already, go check out her story “Limerence”. It’s a Zuko fic with lots of fantastic smut and honestly just one of the best fics I’ve ever read.

Let’s get started!

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          The sun felt nice on my skin. The warmth of the rays hit my cheeks and for a short period of time, it made me feel alive. My entire life has always felt like one huge identity crisis. I’ve never truly understood who I was or what my place was in the world. My family and I constantly live in a constant state of fear of people discovering who we really are. 

          It’s a secret that I have to bear with me for the rest of my life. 

          “Tenzin?” My mother’s soft voice spoke from behind me. I turned around and looked at her and it was in that moment that I realized how similar we look to each other. Her round, dark brown eyes that she passed down to me looked at me with concern as I sat here on the cliff side right behind our house. Her waist-length chocolate brown hair was pinned up neatly, showing off her angular cheekbones that even with age, have failed to lose their place on her face. My mother truly was beautiful. 

          “Yes, mother?” I stood up. I had a thin cotton dress on due to the heat that came with the summer time. But with the way she was looking at me, I knew it was time for me to go to work and that I would need to change. Just another day doing the exact same thing I’ve done for the past 10 years of my life. Life was monotonous for me and my family, and slowly but surely I’ve just come to accept it. 

          This is my life. There’s nothing I can do to change it. 

           I walked inside of our house and turned one corner to make it to my room. We lived in a pretty small house, but with just me and my mother that’s all we really needed. Both my mother and father both never really cared for luxurious things, but even if we did there was no way we could afford to live a lavish lifestyle. That’s why my father opened the ramen shop. So that our family could get by, even if it required us to scrape the bottom of the barrel sometimes. 

          But we were happy. That’s all we really needed.

          I rummaged around my room trying to find my apron before finally finding it hiding underneath some of my blankets that had fallen onto the floor. I tied it maybe a little too tightly around my waist and then walked over to the mirror to check my appearance before I had to head out for the day. I braided a few pieces of hair before pinning them back, trying to look a little more put together. I’ve never been confident about my body, or anything about myself really. I think of myself as devastatingly average. Just someone who could blend into the background and nobody ever thinks twice about. 

          My parents always raised me to believe that I shouldn’t obsess over my looks. Shallow and surface level desires like that were just things that we didn’t believe in. When I was younger this was easier to follow, but now that I’m way past the marrying age and I still have nobody interested in courting me, it makes a girl wonder. 

          “What’s wrong with me?”

          The shop was right next to our house. Very convenient, if you ask me. We typically didn’t get much business because just like us, everyone else in the village was also struggling financially. Most people found jobs within the city, but they’re restricted to working in the outer rings where money is still pretty short. Looks like we all have it out for us, huh?

          “This is just what I needed!” A voice called me to look up from my place at the counter. A group of people walked through the doors and I immediately got excited because these were our first customers in a few days. One of the men caught my eye. 

          Gods, he was exquisite. 

          He was tall and had beautifully tanned skin. He had his hair tied up in a short ponytail and he carried himself with so much confidence that anyone would immediately be drawn to him. He had a lean figure and his arms were toned and on full display in the sleeveless shirt he was wearing. I need to stop gawking, I shouldn’t be thinking about him this way. 

          “Hello, everyone. You all look tired! You must have been traveling. What can I get for you today?” I broke out of my trance and walked over to the group to greet them. The Avatar…?

          The beautiful man looked up at me with the bluest eyes I’ve ever seen. His face was even more handsome up close. His full lips turned up into a smirk and he looked at me with a mischievous glint in his eye. “I’ll take whatever you recommend.”

          I could feel how deeply I was blushing, but I hoped he didn’t notice. Is he flirting with me?

          “Yes, we’re just passing through the area and looking for something to eat. None of us are really picky.” One of the women smiled at me as she spoke. She was also jaw-droppingly beautiful, and the similarities between her and the man led me to believe that they were siblings. What’s in the water where these people are from?

          I laughed at her obvious attempt to try and divert her brother’s advances. “Alright, everyone. I’ll make sure to have it out for you as soon as possible.” I gave the group one last smile before turning on my heel and walking towards the back to my mother. I felt very flustered by that man’s...flirting? I’ve never had a guy show any interest in me at all. Is that what all of these feelings were in my chest? 

          It felt… good. Really good. 

          “Mother, we have customers!” I told her excitedly as I walked into the kitchen. She looked up and smiled warmly and I could tell that she was happy about finally having business. She immediately started fixing everyone’s food for them and while she did, I couldn’t help but daydream about the blue-eyed beauty sitting in our shop. My heart was fluttering just thinking about seeing him again in a few minutes. Would he try to flirt with me again? 

          Why were they traveling here in the first place?

          My mother eventually finished up everyone’s meals and I took them on a serving plate to bring them out to the group. As soon as I walked through the doors the man snapped his head in my direction. His eyes slowly scanned my body up and down, drinking me in. The butterflies in my stomach came back immediately and I could feel the blush burning on my cheeks. 

          “Here’s your food, everyone. I hope you enjoy everything! If you have problems with anything please let me know. My name is Tenzin.” I placed everyone’s bowl in front of them. They all seemed eager to finally have something to eat, but as soon as I mentioned my name, the young Avatar’s eyes met mine. The look that he gave me almost sent chills down my spine because he was narrowing his eyes at me so suspiciously. I need to tread lightly… 

          “Tenzin? You know, that’s a very beautiful name.” I placed the man’s food in front of him as he spoke. I couldn’t help but let a giggle leave my lips. So he is flirting with me, after all. 

          “Thank you. I hope that you all enjoy your meals.” I gave the group a smile before nervously walking off. I didn’t really know how to respond to his advances towards me because I’ve never been in this position before. My whole body felt hot because of my nerves, and I’d rather just remove myself from the situation instead of trying to embarrass myself. They’re travelers anyway, I shouldn’t be worrying about this guy.

          I’ll probably never see him again after today. 

          I stayed in the back with my mother until I felt like it had been long enough to check on the group again. Whenever I walked back into the main room, they were all gone except for one. The Avatar sat at the table with his eyes glued to the wall in front of him as if he were deep in thought. He quickly turned his head towards me once he had noticed that I had entered the room. Our eyes locked and I couldn’t really tell what was going on in his head, but clearly something was troubling him. I walked over to the table and sat across from him. We sat there in silence for a few minutes before he finally had the courage to speak. 

          “Who are you, Tenzin?” His stormy gray eyes bore into mine. I thought the Avatar was supposed to be an incredibly nice and kindhearted person, but this man was not the one that I had heard so many great things about. He seemed troubled - sad even. “I feel a very strong energy coming from you. The type of energy that I haven’t been around in over 100 years.”

          “I’m not sure I know what you mean, Avatar Aang.” I don’t know why in this moment I decided to act stupid. I knew exactly why he felt the shift in energy whenever he was around me. I just don’t think I’m ready to be able to join a side of the world that I was never truly accepted in. I knew what would become of me if I confessed my family’s one true secret. So in this moment, I continued to play dumb. 

          “You know exactly what I mean.” His voice rose slightly, the frustration in his voice clearly evident. “Please. Be honest with me.”

          “I’m sorry. I- uh, I can’t.” I stood up from the table as soon as I felt the tears well up in my eyes. I rushed out of the shop and ran to the cliffside behind my house. This was the only place I knew that could help me feel better or just help me think whenever I felt overwhelmed. In this moment, I was certainly overwhelmed. Deep down I knew that the Avatar was certainly someone I could trust with my family burden. And yet, there was still a part of me that wanted to keep my secret a secret. I knew that if I revealed the one part of myself that I was always forced to keep hidden from everyone to him that my life would never truly be the same after that. I would be throwing myself into the same situation that got my father killed. 

          But there was a nagging voice inside of me screaming at me to use this as an opportunity to live the life I’ve always truly wanted to live. I imagined how much more full my life would be. I wouldn’t be stuck in this poor, tiny village serving ramen to people with my mother until I died. I would maybe meet a man, get married, have a few kids who would possibly end up bearing the exact same weight as I for their entire lives. We would be happy, and then eventually I would die. My life would’ve served no real purpose. It would continue to be the same boring, monotonous life that I lived every single day. 

          So, what if I changed my fate? 

-----------

          It had been three days since Aang and his group had visited our shop. Everyone in the village knew their purpose for visiting now at this point. They were scouring the Earth Kingdom villages in search of benders so that they could help build up an army against rebels from the outer ring of Ba Sing Se. According to Aang, these rebels had poisoned the Earth King and murdered him in cold blood. He made sure to explain to everyone that this fight was meant to restore justice and peace within the city, but many people from the village were obviously not interested in fighting against the people that they worked with every single day. Some of us were the outer ring of Ba Sing Se. Regardless, they still managed to find a few benders from our village and convinced them to join their cause. 

          I knew that this was my chance to leave. They would probably be leaving soon, so I knew I would need to act fast. However, my nerves kept getting the best of me. What would happen to my mother? The shop? Was I really ready to drop everything and leave? I would be putting not only my own life in danger, but also my mother’s. My family’s. 

          It was that same afternoon that Avatar Aang walked back into our shop. I knew he was here to talk to me, but I still had reservations about the entire situation. I walked into the main room and he looked at me sternly. 

          “Follow me, please.”

           He walked with me out of the shop. We ended up walking into the trees that surrounded the outskirts of the village until we stopped at one of the many waterfalls that were sprinkled throughout the forest. He guided me to the edge of the water and sat down before motioning me to do the same. 

          “You know, for the longest time I’ve felt so alone. Whenever Katara and Sokka took me to the Southern Air Temple all those years ago and I realized that every single one of my people were gone, I didn’t really know what to do with myself.” He spoke softly as he watched the water rush down from the waterfall. The mist was spraying us gently and in a way, it was oddly calming. So his name is Sokka… 

          “Ever since then, I’ve been so desperate to fit in. To know that my entire culture has been wiped out terrifies me. I’ve never felt something more painful than the pain of knowing that nobody else is like me. Yeah, there are other benders. But nobody else truly understands me and my beliefs.” I turned my head from the water to look at him while he spoke. His hair was wavy and unkempt. The blue ink of his tattoos contrasted almost beautifully from the light tan of his skin. He turned his head and gazed at me in almost the exact same way I had been gazing at him. 

          “I know who you are, Tenzin.” He breathed and looked away from me again. “I know what you are. I felt it from the moment I stepped foot in this village. I guess I just wanted to hear you say it outloud so that I wouldn’t feel crazy.”

          “Aang…” I could feel myself choking up. I couldn’t even lie to myself anymore because I feel just like he does. The only person in my life that I ever felt truly connected to was my father because we were one in the same. Whenever he died, I lost that connection and since then I, too, have also felt like an outcast with no one else who would truly understand what I was going through and the weight of the burden that I had to carry. “I’m scared.”

          “I know. But with me, you don’t have to be alone anymore.” He turned his body so that he was facing me. He took both of my hands in his and looked at me with an agonizingly longful look in his eyes. “Please come with us. I promise that we will protect you and keep you safe from the people who are scared of us. I can’t lose this now that I’ve finally found a connection from my past.” 

           A tear rolled down my cheek. He lifted his hand to my face to wipe it away with his thumb and for a moment, I felt like I was where I needed to be. The connection between us was undeniable and for once in my life I finally met someone who was just like me. Aang shared the same burden as me. 

          The same gift.

          “I will come with you.” I whispered, my eyes dropping to our hands. He was squeezing mine so tightly that his knuckles were white, but as soon as the words left my lips it seemed as if all of the tension he had been feeling had been released. The storm that resided within his eyes seemed to finally be calm, and a soft smile formed on his lips. 

          I was choosing my own destiny. Finally, I could truly live as the most authentic version of myself. It was in this moment that I felt like I knew who I was truly meant to be. 

          I’m an Airbender. And I was ready for everyone to know.

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Alright, first off, if you’re confused about the Aang having hair thing, look up “aang with hair comics” and you’ll see what I mean, mama.

I hope you all enjoyed! The next chapter will probably be up soon depending on how often I feel like writing. I wrote this entire chapter today because I just felt really inspired. Anyway, I hope you all liked it enough to stay along for the ride :)

-Bekah

#avatar #avatar: the last airbender #sokka #sokka fanfic #aang #katara #avatar toph #atla appa #atla #zuko

[exaltedviolinist]

tlok rewatch 2020 - book 4

this is it...

- 5/10. this book is the worst book of the four and it’s not even debatable to me. i think 5/10 is the fairest assessment i could give it: it has, at its very core, some really interesting concepts, like korra’s healing journey, humans abusing of the spirits in a post-harmonic convergence world, republic city being used as the final battlefield... but their execution always flops ultimately, and beyond that, some pretty evil things go down in this book (korra being completely devoid of her usual personality, korra being "cured” by her abuser, korra validating the pain and torture she endured in order to learn compassion which she already had before, tenzin calling book 1 korra selfish, tenzin validating korra justifying her abuse, etc.). as a whole, the book is not good. there were some interesting parts for sure, but most of them were visual delights. if you even care about korra you would recognize that she is sidelined and her personality is toned down for the sake of appearing as someone she isn’t. the pacing is pretty bad and the show struggles to find its footing in the grand story it wants to tell. i’m thankful to say at least that book 4 was a... better experience to me than i anticipated. i won’t be AS negative as i was for over 5 years about this book, but i will never actively defend it for anything. - artistically, i feel as though this book isn’t as memorable as the previous three. i simply can barely recall tracks or sceneries that shook me to my core: the ones that DO come to mind all come from the finale - mako’s sacrifice, goodbye, and that shot of the republic city skyscrapers being sliced from afar. i saw the whole book just a few days ago! it’s really not a bad book visually or sonically but i can recall book 1, book 2 and book 3 shots/soundtrack way easier than book 4. - let’s start with the positives.... korra’s journey to healing started out great. her visions are realistic, the way she goes around dealing with them and reacting to them is accurate and to me having korra fighting an evil within herself would’ve been a much more compelling story than what we got. they really started dropping the ball after korra extracted the remaining poison out of her. dark korra shows up one last time against kuvira (which i thought was excellent!) but then is never brought up again? what was that about? i didn’t think it was realistic korra miraculously was rid of visions, trauma and ptsd symptoms once ZAHEER (of all people........) helped her with her spiritual block? one can accept something happened to the one without making it completely disappear. it doesn’t go away so simply. and a toe-to-toe face off with dark korra is something i fully anticipated yet never got. on that note, korra alone is a great episode but i think this is what the standard should’ve been for book 4: korra at the center of the plot and diving into her trauma and healing process. all they needed to do is replicate that recipe, put in supporting characters like the rest of the krew and tenzin/lin/the air nation and we’d be golden. - they had a good idea in making kuvira use spirit vines for her gains - why wasn’t anybody reacting to this? the spirits who now share this world were never outraged that humans were being damaging to them. there was a lot of potential to make this a human vs. spirit conflict that korra could’ve been able to resolve in this modern world where the portals are permanently open. spirits and humans alike simply let kuvira take the vines and use them for a destructive weapon. the one time vines reacted in anger to that their qualms with kuvira/humans were never dealt with or appeased - korra only saved humans in this episode, nothing more. and it was never addressed again. - republic city being used as a battlefield WAS. AWESOME. i WISH they didn’t have this ugly robot ruining it all for me. imagine if korra was facing off against kuvira in a fast-paced intense battle in which they collided in buildings, sliced skyscrapers and blew up the city..... that would’ve been sick. - and... that’s about all i can credit book 4 for honestly. kuvira isn’t compelling as a villain (just a repurposed ozai with viewer sympathy thrown at the end for some reason, probably because they tried so hard yet failed to paint a parallel between her and korra), the 3 years time skip is absolutely fucking evil and i rejected it years ago, i still do and for all times, the krew only fully regroups in episode ELEVEN and their separation creates the same problems the first half of book 2 experienced, the krew reuniting in the reunion episode was so basic and disgustingly anticlimactic, the beifongs take way too much space again, toph made her epic comeback only for her to brutalize korra for a whole episode before being actually sort of helpful, varrick and zhu li are main characters now and i will never forgive that (how did zhu li get more lines than korra in some episodes is BEYOND me), prince wu (and meelo to that extent) is an abomination of a character and nothing can redeem that, korra is devoid of personality (or is exhibiting a washed out version of her personality), korra is antagonizing her old self and justifying the violence she suffered from, tenzin was a terrible mentor this season and not even remotely helpful in any way, hiroshi is only brought back to be sacrificial lamb at the end and not further develop asami’s lackluster character which gets NO justice this book either and stagnates lower than her character in the book before it and worst of all korra isn’t the protagonist of the show she is the titular character of anymore.

- i tried my best to like this book, i really did. i did not want to resent this book anymore - it’s tiring to have this awful book constantly remind me that korra never got the proper ending she deserved. the worst season had to be the departing one!! and i don’t know who is to blame for all this ugliness really: nickelodeon and their terrible promotion/scheduling of tlok? the writers who tried to appease to fans by rewriting korra and constantly torturing her from 3x13 to the end? the creators who had some anger to let out on a brown woman? what happened??

- i don’t even want to address this final episode but i shall. the first 10 minutes or so are good. as soon as the portal is created though, that’s when everything turns to shit. korra and kuvira talking is fine but i still don’t buy the “kuvira is like korra” argument they kept forcibly bring up because they couldn’t find a way for us to organically create potential similarities but the rest is trash. the westernized zhurrick wedding can kiss my ass, korra not having a final scene with bolin or the krew as a whole can kiss my ass, the final episode not being named avatar korra can kiss my ass, tenzin and korra celebrating her abuse and attempted murder can kiss my ass (and on that note, it makes me laugh thinking that they thought korra needed to be taught compassion through torture as if her saving kuvira, sparing her life and being selfless was more compassionate of her than surrendering herself to terrorists in order to save a nation she had just brought back from their ashes) and korra apologizing to asami can kiss my ass. korrasami itself being a thing was a surprise for me back then but let’s be honest: as much as we like to see it we can simply cannot avoid the fact that the pairing had no romantic buildup the entire season - korrasami was only somewhat pushed in book 3, particularly at the end of it. i don’t feel like makorra had that much more anyway so know that this isn’t an attempt to put one against the other either - but i will say that mako accompanying korra to the spirit wilds of republic city and to zaheer’s prison was meaningful to me and to korra, as well as mako’s desperate look to jinora when they were looking for korra’s body after the spirit blast. to sum up my thoughts on the pairings: i think bopal and kainora are cute, and i only actively shipped makorra and korrasami in book 3 where they were written well. that’s about it. i’ve made my peace with this book. it doesn’t poison me as much as it used to be but i’ll always be angry at it for being the way it is. it didn’t need to be, and there were very easy fixes. it boggles my mind. this will probably be the last time i rewatch book 4, at least in a very long time. my favorite episodes of this book: Korra Alone and Reunion. i actively disliked: The Coronation, Enemy at the Gates, The Battle of Zaofu, Remembrances and the second half the The Last Stand. 

in conclusion: book 1 > book 3 > book 2 > book 4. and korra’s bob isn’t as pretty as the pigtails/ponytail sorry not sorry.

#the legend of korra #tlok rewatch 2020

[thanks--for--listening]

all these people think love’s for show (but I would die for you in secret)

yes im finally back with fic! this time its korrasami tho bc my avatar obsession has not let me go yet. and yes its based on peace by taylor swift lol (also on ao3)

--

I’d give you my sunshine, give you my best, but the rain is always gonna come if you’re standing with me

Korra always came back to the sky. When the noise became too much, when the voices and the faces wouldn’t relent. Staring at the stars made her feel small, reminded her that the world was bigger than the images in her head. It was always changing, the constellations and the colors from the portals shifting as time passed, but in the end that change brought something new. Something good. Something beautiful. 

“Can’t sleep?” She turned, saw Asami standing in the doorway, arms wrapped around her stomach. It made her wonder if it was cold out here, if she would even notice anymore. After everything her body had been through, she couldn’t gauge her standards, couldn’t figure out whether she felt something normally or too much or not at all. Did she not feel the chill in the air because she grew up in the South, or because she’d felt the life drain out of her, felt a cold so deep the definition had changed completely? Could she ever care for someone like Asami, someone so perfect and beautiful and normal, when she was so permanently damaged she couldn’t even begin to see the extent of her own scars?

Korra tried to snap out of it, searched for something she could offer her and came up empty. She fought back the urge to light a fire on the balcony floor just to keep her warm as she nodded. Asami sighed, walked up to her until they were standing side by side, arms leaning on the railing in front of them. “Yeah, me neither.”

“You wanna talk about it?” Korra asked. 

Asami turned, raised an eyebrow at her. “Do you?” She shook her head, and when Asami laughed, she swore she felt a spark inside her, the embers of a flame that had burned quietly for so long finally finding the space to grow. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

Silence floated in, gentle and easy, leading their attention back to the sky. The whole city seemed to be asleep, everyone exhausted from the past few days. She thought she’d appreciate the moment of relief, but there was something unsettling about staring into the streets and seeing nothing but vines and rubble. She’d spent her entire life used to the empty, to open space with nothing but sky and silence to fill it, but here it looked all wrong. It looked like another thing she’d ruined. Republic City would never go back to what it once was, to what it was supposed to be, to what Aang had dreamed it could be, and it was entirely her fault.

“Hey,” Asami‘s voice nearly startled her. “You okay?” She didn’t understand why she was asking until she followed her gaze, looked down and saw the metal railing bent and broken underneath her hands.

Korra sighed. “I thought when the battle was over, this stuff would get easier. I’m beginning to think it’ll always be this hard.”

“I’m sorry,” Asami said. “I feel like I kept pestering you after Zaheer. Kept trying to get you to talk to me, to let me help you, but now...I can understand why you wouldn’t want to. Why you couldn’t.”

“You have nothing to apologize for. You did everything right. I’m the one who messed that all up.”

“Don’t be silly, of course you didn’t.”

“Yeah, I did. I messed everything up with Zaheer, with Kuvira. With Mako and Tenzin.” She hesitated, before adding, “With you.”

“You haven’t messed anything up with me.”

“But I will.” 

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, this,” Korra gestured toward the yellow beam shooting up into the sky, “isn’t going away. It isn’t going to stop. And as long as you’re with me, you’ll always have to deal with it. And someone as good and kind and wonderful as you shouldn’t have to suffer because you love someone like me.”

“Who said I’m suffering?” Korra glared at her, but Asami didn’t relent, didn’t soften her gaze. “I’m serious. Being with you has only made my life better.”

“Since you met me, you’ve been arrested, captured, stranded in the desert, and forced to fight some of the strongest benders in the world. Oh, and you almost had to sell your company. Let’s not forget that.”

“I also met some amazing people, learned how to take care of myself and my business, and made sure the Sato legacy wouldn’t be associated with hate and fear. You showed me that I could be more than I’d ever thought possible. If I’d never met you, I don’t know who’d I’d be now, but it wouldn’t be me. Not really.”

She didn’t want to say it, didn’t want to let out the words that had been eating away at her since the battle, but she couldn’t keep them in anymore, couldn’t let Asami look at her and not know the truth. “You lost your dad,” Korra said quietly, “because of a monster I created.”

“No. I didn’t. I—“ she bit her lip, and Korra watched as she swallowed, blinked back the tears that she knew would force themselves out sooner or later. “I lost him because he made a choice. To sacrifice himself for the greater good. To fight Kuvira, who you did not create. You stopped her, in a way only you could.”

“I should have stopped her sooner. If I had been stronger, if I had taken her down the first time, if I hadn’t been so weak, maybe—maybe I—“

Korra felt her words disappear, felt tears of her own threaten to make an appearance, but the feeling of Asami’s hands over her own buried whatever emotion had tried to fight it’s way to the surface. She squeezed hard, like she was holding her together, and Korra wondered if maybe she was, if one person could be that strong. If two hands were all it took to keep someone intact. “You are not weak, Korra.” Asami spoke as if she was giving a command, and she felt compelled to listen. “You are the strongest, bravest, most selfless person I know. But even you can’t stop bad things from happening. None of us can.”

“But I’m the Avatar. I’m supposed to help people. Save people.”

“And you have. How many people did you save by creating that spirit portal? By defeating Unalaq? By stopping Zaheer?”

“Yeah, but— I just—“ she searched for the words, found them buried underneath the rubble of every version of herself that came before tonight. “I just wish it didn’t hurt all the time. And I know what Tenzin said, but I wish being me, being with me, didn’t mean a lifetime of desperately trying to prevent bad people from doing bad things. It’s like I’m always fighting, like I’m always gonna be fighting. And I’m so tired, Asami. Sometimes I wish it would all just stop. Not for a day, or a week, but forever.”

They didn’t say anything, not at first. Korra looked down, stared at their hands, still pressed together. She waited for the words she knew would come, waited for Asami to recoil, to tell her it was too much, that she was too much. That she wasn’t worth it. That the brief periods of peace would never be enough to outweigh the pain and suffering that would always follow. And when she did, when she reached her breaking point and walked away, Korra knew she’d let her go. She’d gotten more time than she’d ever expected already — she wouldn’t allow herself to be greedy and ask for more, no matter how badly she wanted to keep those hands wrapped around hers. 

“It isn’t fair,” Asami finally said, “that you have to go through this. You didn’t decide to be the Avatar. You didn’t pick this life. But I did. I choose you, Korra. Today, tomorrow, and every day after that. I’m in this no matter what.”

Korra looked up, tried and failed to hide the surprise in her eyes. “Even if it hurts?”

“Even if it hurts. I want it all: the good, the bad, and everything in between.”

Korra hesitated, just for a minute. In her wildest dreams she couldn’t have written this, couldn’t have imagined a world where after everything that happened, Asami wants to stay. Wants her. And maybe it was selfish, and maybe she was damning her to a life that no one should ever have to live, but she couldn’t lie and pretend that she didn’t want her more than anything, couldn’t walk away when she was standing in front of her, couldn’t stop from confessing every secret she’d tried to bury in the name of survival. 

“If you’ll let me, I choose you, too. I don’t want to spend my restless nights with anyone else. And I know I can’t give you the life you deserve, but if it’s enough, whatever I have is yours. Always.”

Asami stepped closer, threw her arms around her. Korra fell into them, let herself get lost in the feeling of Asami’s embrace. She felt safe, in a way she didn’t anywhere else. The world couldn’t touch her here. 

She didn’t know how long they stood wrapped in each other’s arms. Korra didn’t care— she’d spend a lifetime in this moment if she could. She probably would have tried, if she didn’t hear Asami yawning into her shoulder, didn’t feel exhaustion weighing heavily on her own eyes.

She forced herself to step back, to lean out of her arms just enough to look her in the eyes. “So much for not talking about it, huh?” Korra said, and she knew photos could never do it justice but she wished she had a way to capture the look on Asami’s face when she smiled, when she laughed quietly, just for her to hear.

Asami pulled her closer. “Don’t let go yet,” she sighed into her chest, “You’re warm.”

“We should probably head back inside, anyway — see if we can salvage any more sleep tonight.” 

Korra wouldn’t have caught it if Asami hadn’t been wrapped up in her arms; instead, she felt the tension shoot through her body like an echo, until her shoulders went stiff and her hands squeezed a little tighter. 

“Asami,” she said slowly. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” she answered too quickly. “I just like being out here. I don’t think I’m ready to head inside yet.”

“Asami. Talk to me. Why don’t you want to go back to bed?” She looked at her, really looked at her, and this time she saw the bags under her eyes and the desperation in them, and quietly added, “Did you sleep at all tonight?”

Korra watched her hesitate, and patience had never been her strongest virtue but she willed herself to wait. Her efforts were rewarded; Asami shook her head, stared at the ground and whispered, “I don’t want to see it again.”

“See what ag—oh.” Realization swept over her, and she cursed herself for not putting it together sooner, for not thinking about what could have possibly led her to also be awake in the dead of night. “Oh, Asami. I’m so sorry.”

Asami looked up, and the tears that had threatened earlier fell all too quickly now. Something inside Korra broke at the sight. She pulled her closer on instinct, held her and pretended it would be enough. She wondered if this would be their future, holding each other together to keep them both from falling to pieces, wondered how many nights they’d spend exactly like this, running from nightmares that didn’t disappear when they opened their eyes. 

Korra waited until she heard the cries settle, until Asami stopped shaking in her arms, to ask, “Can you tell me about it?” 

Asami shook her head. “You’ll blame yourself,” she said, her words decisive, quiet but powerful. “I won’t let you hurt like that.”

“I won’t let you hurt like this, either.”

“You can’t fix everything, Korra.”

“I can try.”

Asami stepped back, looked up at her, and Korra swore she smiled, just a little, just for a second. “It—“ Asami started, searching for words before she continued. “It makes me feel so helpless. The watching, the waiting. Every time I see it I know he’s...that he’s gone, but then you disappear into that machine. And no matter how many times I try and tell myself that it isn’t real anymore, that it’s over, part of me never knows if you’re going to make it out. Not until I wake up and see you for myself.”

There was a war inside her. Korra the Avatar wanted to ball up her fists, wanted to feel her fire burn, wanted to fight the pain away so that Asami would never hurt again. Korra the girl wanted to pull her closer and never let go, wanted to make promises she couldn’t keep just to make her feel better, even if it wouldn’t last. As battle waged within herself, whichever Korra was left behind wanted to ball up and cry. She knew she’d been right, knew that no matter what Asami said, she couldn’t possibly want to hold onto this much pain. She knew that it didn’t matter which Korra won the fight in the end — not a single version of her was worth it. 

“I’m sorry,” Korra finally said. She had a million other apologies sitting at the tip of her tongue but she forced them back. 

Asami read her mind anyway. “Not your fault,” she said. “I’ll remind you every time if you need me to.”

“Still. I’m sorry you’re hurting.”

Asami sighed, as if the very admission of her pain was something to be frustrated about. “I don’t understand why it hurts this much, though. A month ago we weren’t even on speaking terms. I spent years hating him for what he did. And I was right. He did so many awful things to so many people, and a few games of Pai Sho can’t make up for that. So why can’t I stop seeing him?”

“He was still your father, Asami. All those years he spent raising you don’t just go away. You have a right to be sad about what you lost.” 

“That’s the thing, Korra,” she said quietly, like she didn’t trust the words coming out of her mouth. “Sometimes, I’m not sure I’m sad. I’m mad. I’m mad that he went against everything he ever taught me. I’m mad that he fought for someone who hated what you are. I’m mad that he left me alone, that he didn’t even give me the choice.”

Korra reached for her again, searched for any words that could have possibly helped but came up empty, left only with a mantra of apologies that would never fill the hole left behind. She knew that feeling, understood with brutal clarity what it felt like to lose her agency, to be left at the will of those around her when she was the one who would suffer the consequences. It was a feeling she wouldn’t wish on anyone. And as she stood there, Asami’s head on her chest, she knew that she could never be the one to make her feel that way. Stay, leave, fight, run — no matter what she wanted, it could never be up to her. 

“I’m sorry.” Asami’s voice broke through her own internal ramblings.

Korra failed to hide her incredulity. “What could you possibly have to be sorry for?”

“I came out here to try and help you, and then I turned and made it all about myself.”

“Oh, stop it.”

“I’m serious, Korra.”

“So am I. You think I have the monopoly on pain? That I’m the only person who can ever be comforted?” She stepped back, placed her hands on the side of her face and made sure she was staring right into her eyes as she said, “I love you Asami, and that means that I’ll always be here to listen, or hold you, or do whatever it is you need. Anytime, anywhere.”

Asami smiles back at her. “I love you, too.”

“And,” Korra added, “as much as I wish I could keep you away from all the shit that comes with being me, I promise I’ll never take the choice away from you. If you want in, you’re in. If you want me, I’m yours.”

Asami leaned forward, kissed her cheek, and Korra thought she might burst into flames right there on the balcony. “Thank you,” she whispered.

They stood there for a minute, and she knew they should head back inside but she wanted one more moment of whatever this was. Peace, maybe, or something like it. Something close enough.

“We really should go back inside,” she finally conceded, “but I think I have an idea.” She stepped forward, held her hand out behind her. “Trust me?”

Asami reached for it without hesitation. “Always.”

Korra smiled, led her back into her temporary bedroom, held onto her until they were laying side by side, with just an inch of space between them. 

“You said when you wake up, you never know if I made it out. If I’m okay. This way you’ll know.”

“I bet you use that line on all the girls,” Asami said, and she could hear the smile in her voice, but she couldn’t help herself from responding seriously. 

“There’s no one else. Never has been. Just you.” 

Asami erased the space between them, moved so her head rested on Korra’s shoulder, and she wondered how it had taken her so long to realize how well they fit together, how she could have possibly lived so long in a world without this. 

“Does it ever go away?” Asami asked after a minute, her voice drifting away from their lighthearted jokes, soft and sad and lacking the hope Korra wished she could give her.

She thought of her own ghosts, of the scenes that played in her head like clockwork, of the way she could still find herself choking on air as she opened her eyes. She thought about the more recent additions, the way Kuvira had swapped places with Zaheer the past few nights, haunting her as relentlessly as her predecessor. “I don’t know. But it does get easier, after a while.”

“I wish I could have been there to help you. I wish I didn’t stay when you left. I wish—“

“You’re here now. That’s all that matters to me.”

They laid there for a few minutes, and here, when it was just them, Korra felt the silence return. It didn’t carry the weight of the world, didn't bring anything with it. It simply filled the space around them, provided a comfort she wasn’t used to. 

“Korra,” Asami whispered. “Is it okay if I’m still scared?”

“Yeah. Is it okay if I am, too?” She felt Asami nod. “Then we’ll take on the night together. Fear and all.”

“Even if it hurts?”

She couldn’t stop herself from smiling, even as she felt her eyes close, her arms pulling Asami closer still. “Even if it hurts.”

#please let me know what u think a bitch thrives on validation from others #korrasami #atla #tlok #TFLAO3 #fanfic #korra #asami sato #the legend of korra #legend of korra

[calliecat93]

Top 10 Favorite Female Characters

Happy International Women’s Day everyone! For many years now, there have been a lot of strides made in women’s rights. It’s still far, FAR from perfect, but we’ve still made many strides and fiction is no exception. So I thought, in celebration of today, I’d talk about some of my favorite female characters of all time. I had a LOT of options and narrowing it down was tough, but I think I made a pretty good list. So let's get on with it~

10. Kimberly Hart/The Pink Ranger (Power Rangers)

I don’t talk about Power Rangers a lot on here, but let me tell you all. Kimberly is one of the first female superheroes I ever saw, and I love her so much. She begins as a one-dimensional valley girl type, though still a good-hearted person. She’s the token girly-girl while Trini was more of the token tomboy. But Kimberly over time developed form being the least willing to be a Ranger, to devoting herself full-heartedly to her duties. She could kick just as much ass as her fellow rangers, and look pretty while she did so.

Kim was a fantastic character, especially in a boy-aimed tokusatsu adaptation. There have been many other great Pink Rangers since her time. Heck my actual favorite Pink Ranger of all time is Jen from Time Force. But the reason Kim is on here and not here? Kim is the one who started it all. She and Trini defined kickass female Rangers and none of the ones we have now would have existed without the original ladies. And as much as I also liked Trini.. well... I think that Kim is the clear stand-out among most female rangers, especially since she lasted so long. I was so sad when she left and especially how Zeo screwed her character over with that stupid Dear John letter to Tommy as well as how the 2017 movie wrote her because it just made her incredibly unsympathetic and unlikeable. But she left one Hell of a legacy and I love her.

9. Hermione Granger (Harry Potter)

Despite my feelings about the author in recent years, Harry Potter is still a series I grew up on and love. Albeit I’m one of the few who got into the films more than the books, but still. The one thing that got me into the series? Hermione. She begins as a bit of a snooty know-it-all, always rubbing her knowledge int he faces of others and coming off as kind of a brat. But we soon see that she really doesn't know how to make friends and is a serious student and good person. Once Harry and Ron befriend her, we see how much of a brave, loyal, and determined girl she is, using her brains and talent in academics to get all the info they need. They would have died multiple times without this girl.

Hermione is someone we grow up with and kind of the representative of young girls. We watch her as she struggles with her status as a Muggle-born witch, how her pursuit of knowledge can overwhelm her, and of course what happens when she realizes her feelings for Ron. I... am not a huge fan of the pairing for many reasons, but her frustration and struggle feel very real. She makes mistakes, some more called out than others, but she does genuinely strive to do good And through it all, she is loyal to Harry and to the fight against Voldemort, growing to be proud of who she is and of her heritage as a ‘mudblood’. Even n the final book, where she’s forced to erase her parents memories to protect them, Ron abandoning her and Harry, and getting tortured by Bellatrix, none of it stops her from fighting for what she believes in.

Looking back now, Hermione has her problems both in the books and the films. Some of Ron's better moments got lost because the writer favored her which I can see whyt hat annoyed many people (I’m not one of them, but still), and the whole House Elf plot in the book has some... not great implications. But it doesn't stop Hermione from being a strong female character who is intelligent, brave, and Emma Watson’s strong performance really helped bring her to life. She ain’t perfect, but I still grew up watching her and I will always be grateful for that fact.

8. April O’Neil (TMNT 2012)

Screw the people who hated on her, April is awesome!

Really April in any incarnation of the Turtles is awesome. 2k3, Rise, the films. heck despite her being kidnapped every episode, even OT April was determined as Hell and you wouldn’t get in her way! But since I’m only picking one here, I gotta go with her 2k12 self. Her 2k3 self is also a close contender, but this was the version I spent the most time watching and for any of you who have follow me long enough knows, I spent a LOOOOT of time defending her from ship haters.

Looking back now, yeah there are some problems. Her limited screentime in S1, some of the Kraang stuff got rushed/crammed in, her missing mom story went nowhere, her being Donnie’s love interest. there’s plenty of problems. But those are more story issues than actual character issues. The last one especially si more an issue with Donnie’s character than April since she herself was NEVER defined by the ‘love interest’ card. She never existed for that purpose, and it shows especially by the end.

April began as a helpless, but very determined girl hoping to save her father after their abduction in which only she got saved. She spends most of her time getting intel for the Turtles while undergoing training from Splinter. She slowly, but gradually, grows into a capable kunoichi who can hold her own and gradually becomes an equal to her reptilian companions. She’s friendly, takes shit from no one, and she is probably the biggest Determinator in the entire series where ven when utterly helpless, she will STILL be defiant until the bitter end. he goes through Hell, and every single time she finds a way to pull herself together and forge on.

Despite how I fell off the series by the end, I was very happy with where April ended. From a girl just wanting her life back, to accepting her reality and making it her own. She trains herself in both ninjutsu and her new psychic abilities and becomes a kunoichi in her own right with them. She was even able to hold her own against Shredder! This girl became a badass and while there are issues here and there, I think she by far had some of the best development in the series. She remains my favorite character in 2012, y favorite April, and she has more than earned her spot on this list.

7. Avatar Korra (The Legend of Korra)

Another character who got unnecessary hate! Oh wait, that happens to every female character ever. Silly me!

Korra is what made LoK so great to me. She is a bull-headed, somewhat arrogant girl who has devoted her entire life to being the Avatar. She is the anti-Aang, so much so that she is terrible at Air Bending. But she’s also a very determined girl and went to Republic City to make Tenzin train her. Over the course of the series, we see how despite her arrogance, she is a good person who is truly devoted to her duty and genuinely wants to protect everyone. But she’s faced with her own vulnerabilities and flaws as a person as she has to learn to allow others to help/guide her and learn from her mistakes. And HO BOY does she make MANY mistakes.

Over four seasons, we watch Korra grow.  She’s faced with the fact that she is vulnerable in S1 and while she doesn't fully overcome it, she does so enough to face Amon despite knowing what’ll happen to her. In S2, she faces the worse of herself but in doign so, truly improves herself and puts things right while letting go of most of her arrogance. S3 has her a much more well-rounded person trying to do what’s right, but it ended in her torture, poisoning, and she is just broken by the end. S4 has her slow recovery both physically and mentally and the road is long, hard, and just painful. But by the end, she accepts what happened and is able to find the balance to restore her power, return to her duties, and save the world from utter calamity.

I related so uch to Korra, moreso than I did Aang. She got a lot fo hate for her attitude and... well, not being Aang. But she grew so much and I loved how much of a badass and fully layered character she was. Yeah, she wasn’t Aang, that was a good thing. I loved her form the beginning, and I loved her even more by the end. She’s a great example of a female protagonist and shows that yes, a female action heroine CAN work. The Avatar franchise has many outstanding female characters (Katara, Toph, Suki, Azula, Asami, Jinora, Kuvira) but to me, Korra beats them all and I love her.

6. Wonder Woman

Well I couldn’t leave off the most well-known female superhero of all time now, could I?

Wondy is awesome. I first saw her on Superfriends back when Cartoon Network reran it. While it is a super campy show, Wondy was a true hero who stood equal to her male companions and was just as capable of saving the day as them. She was pretty much the only main female, so of course she was the one I was drawn to and I loved seeing her in action. But she could fall into the Damsel in Distress role cause... well, girl and lie I said, Superfriends is super campy. But I took what I could get int hose days!

Fortunately, Wondy has had much better media rep since... and in fact before with the Lynda Carter series. I hadn’t seent hat when I was a kid and while it’s cheesy, Wondy was still a badass there who easily held her own. Her Justice League DCAU self was when I really fell in love with her. Kind, beautiful, righteous, and an utter powerhouse. Seriously, I think she kicked more ass than anyone in both the original and Unlimited series. She has two animated DC films, which are both pretty dang good. Bloody, but good!

But of course, we have the Gal Gadot film. This was the film that arguably has saved the DC Cinematic Universe, and for good reason. While I’m not a big fan of Wondy being a demigod, she still showed why he’s so good. She’s a true hero wanting to do good, and in a setting like World War One, that is hard to find. She’s caring, devoted, strong, and is just a shining example of a true hero. She inspires hope in a cinematic universe that thrived off of grittiness, and Thank God we have her. I can only hope that the sequel holds the same quality, but nothing will take this away.

Wonder Woman is awesome. They screw her up sometimes, both ina nd out of comics. But there is no doubt that she earned her spot as a beloved feminist icon, as well as her spot here on this list.

#5. Kim Possible

You do not know how obsessed with this show I used to be. It is probably my all-time favorite Disney animated series of all time. Why? Because of it’s clever writing, fun humor, great action, and of course it’s characters. Kim especially.

She is the girl who can do anything, and she lives up to that claim. She’s a cheerleader by day, crime fighter by night, and she handles those worlds flawlessly... for the most part. She’s tough, smart, and a badass who uses her cheerleading skills to aid in her crime-fighting. She faces mad scientists, monsters, and everything in between and she ALWAYS comes out on top. 

She’s now flawless, mind you. She’s bossy, smug, and can over-react when she faces things that she can’t do such as cooking or.. really anything normal/standard teen problems. She’s especially bad at maintaining dates. But whenever she faces a problem, she finds a way tog et through it whether it be with help from Ron, or finding her own way in solving it. She doesn't cry or mope about things like... well, the live-action film has her do. No, she gets up and finds solutions while still saving the day in the process. That is what makes her great, she’s a character before she’s a girl. Hence why she is a great female protagonist 

Kim is someone I strived to be like when I got that age... with varying success. But hey, it just proves that Kim Possible can indeed do anything. Call her, beep her if you wanna reach her, and she’ll be there. just like how she’s here for this spot.

4. Ruby Rose (RWBY)

MY DAUGHTER!

When I first got into RWBY, I wasn’t sure what to expect. But the first character I fell in love with? Little Red here! I adore this girl to pieces. She gets a lot of flack form some for being ‘flat’ and ‘underdeveloped’ and I don’t have time to go into every reason why that’s not true. You can read this for some examples of why shes awesome. But let me summarize the gist of it as best as I can.

Ruby is a teenaged girl striving to be a Huntress like her mother, wanting to do good in the world like the heroes in her storybooks. Over time, as he overcomes her own flaws and the burdens of leadership, she learns how colossal of a task doing good truly is in a world that is harsh and cruel. She loses friends, her school gets broken apart, and the world seems to become more and more divided. And she’s right int he middle of it. So what does she do?

She gets up and continues on.

She decides to fight because she wants to help. She wants to make the world a better place because that is what a Huntress is supposed to do. She puts aside her own feelings in hopes that she can help do something. Even as she is pulled more and more into the true realities of her world, she stands firm and continues on. And when everyone else seems broken and on the verge of quitting? She grabs the reigns and pushes everyone forward herself.

Ruby may be a somewhat standard protagonist, but her determination and quirkiness help her stand out. She’s goofy, naive, and a socially awkward klutz. But she’s still a good-hearted person who always tries and in a world full fo monsters that thrive on despair, this is a very admirable trait. She’s gone from a girl afraid of being viewed as special, to taking the lead int he war against Salem all because it is her duty as a Huntress to protect everyone. She inspires those around her and also inspires me. She’s what got me to stay with this show, and I have yet to regret it.

RWBY has MANY great female characters. Weiss, Blake, Yang, Maria, Nora, Penny, Winter, and many others. But Ruby was always going to be my first pick. What can I say? I adore this girl~

3. Blossom (The Powerpuff Girls)

The Powerpuff girls was, and remains, my favorite cartoon of all time It was funny, action-packed, great characters, and great animation. I adore all three of the girls. Bubbles is cute but certianly no pushover, and Buttercup can be a jerk but she kicks a LOT of ass. But the one who I always loved the most was the commander and leader of the group, Blossom.

Blossom is the most mature of the girls, being very intelligent for her age. She’s smart, confident, and a natural leader. She’s also rather bossy, full of herself, and can be obnoxious at times with her egg-headed nature. From what I can tell, she was the leat liked... which sucks for me. I loved Blossom because of how smart she was and because of how good of a leader she was. Sure she had the occasional slip, but she was usually fairly reasonable, strategic, and always tried to look after her sisters and break up their spats.

I still remember the episode that made me love her. It was Princess’ introductory episode. In it, Blossom tried her best to be as reasonable with her as she could, trying to give her the benefit of the doubt since she was new and probably didn’t know how to make friends. It especially makes since if you’ve seen the movie and know how much the girls themselves struggled. But once it became clear that Princess really was a despicable little brat and she pounded her sisters, Blossom was pissed but still calm unlike the other two. Due to this, she easily thrashed Princess, destroyed her power suit, and gave her the mother of all The Reason You Suck speeches, telling her what being a hero truly means and how she’s nothing but a spoiled brat. It remains of my favorite PPG moments ever and after how much Blossom tried to give her a chance, it was very deserved.

Sadly, Blossom hasn’t gotten the best rep in other incarnations. Her PPGZ self while fine... wasn’t Blossom. Like... at all. And the less said about the 2016 series the better. Still, I remember how much I looked up to the original Blossom and enjoyed seeing her kick butt every Friday. I even still have one of my old dolls that I cherish to this day. Allt he Powerpuffs are great, and I will love them forever.

2. Sailor Moon/Usagi Tsukino (Sailor Moon)

Speaking of childhood heroines!

Ah Sailor Moon, We’ve had a long history, you and I. The first show I ever kept up with. The first fandom I ever got into. The first anime I ever got into. nd of course, the first heroine I ever truly loved.

Usagi (well... Serena when I was a kid, as the 90′s) is someone I still hold close to my heart. She is a klutz, crybaby, and far from an ideal heroine. She can be rather immature and at times selfish, preferring to sleep or eat sweets than worry about her Sailor Senshi duties. But as he grows, we see that through it all, she is a pure, caring young girl. I think the manga/Crystal anime did a MUCH better job at portraying that side to her, though the 90′s anime presented her more heroic side as well. They just sometimes forgot that he was past being a crybaby...

Usagi loves everyone. Her lover Mamoru, her fellow Senshi, just everyone. She doesn’t like fighting, but she will if she has to. She goes from crying in the middle of fights to being able to face God-like entities with just a magic crystal. Despite not having wanted to be a Senshi to begin with, she accepts her destiny and tries to save everyone, even her enemies. It just shows how despite her flaws as a person, she is a true hero who can always be relied on.

Sailor Moon did a lot when it came out. it helped revolutionize the Magical Girl genre, helped give anime a standing in America, and showed how femininity is not a weakness. There’s many other great female characters (Ami, Rei, Makoto, Minako) and all are their own character. But Usagi has always been the one I loved most and so she claims the Number Two spot.

Honorable Mentions

Sakura Kinomoto (Cardcaptor Sakura) Katara (Avatar: The Last Airbender) Twilight Sparkle (MLP:FIM) Agent Carolina and Kaikaina Grif (Red vs Blue) Lois Lane (Superman: The Animated Series) Hawkgirl/Shayera Hal (Justice League/Unlimited) Gosalyn Mallard (Darkwing Duck) Webby Vanderquack (Ducktales 2017) Rapunzel (Tangled franchise) Anna (Frozen) Cinderella, Ariel, Jasmine, Pocahontas, Tiana, Moana (Disney Princess) Kida (Atlantis: The Lost Empire) Meg (Hercules) Esmerelda (The Hunchbakc of Notre Dame) Jane (Return to Neverland Princess Elena (Elena of Avalor) Hikaru Shidou, Umi Ryuuzaki, and Fuu Hohouji (Magic Knights Rayearth) Nami (One Piece) Misty (Pokemon) Winry Rockbell (FMA) Ran Mouri (Detective Conan) Kagome Higurashi and Sango (Inuyasha) Pretty much all the Pretty Cures Nancy Drew Katniss Everdeen (The Hunger Games) Ms. Frizzle (The Magic School Bus) Daphne Blake and Velma Dinkley (Scooby-Doo) Calico ‘Callie’ Briggs and Felina Feral (SWAT Kats)

And I’m sure there’s more, but we’re gonna be here all day if I keep going. So let's go ahead and get to Number One. Which tbh... this was a no-brainer.

1. Mulan

Yeah, this probably shocks no one. I’ve talked about Mulan like... a billion times by now. But there was no other option for me.

Mulan is my favorite movie of all time, and the title character is my favorite character of all time. She’s a young woman who wants to bring her family honor, but struggles to do so in the ways she’s expected. She goes to war in her father’s place to save his life, and she struggles even more. She’s someone who doubts and is ashamed of herself, but over time she decides that she’s done hating her refection and tries to prove her worth. She not only becomes a better soldier and earns the respect of everyone around her, but even after she’s unmasked, she goes on to save all of freakin’ China! The whole country, including the freakin’ Emperor, bows before her because of this. You do not get more respect than that.

I’ve only grown to love and relate more to this story as I’ve grown older. I’ve learned to not define myself by society expectations, but just as who I am. Mulan struggles with expectations, family, warn, and most of all her own insecurities. She wants to see something worthwhile when she looks into the mirror, but she always just feels shame. But by the end, she puts it aside and becomes the best version of herself. She returns home with more than enough to honor her family... and her father tosses it aside to hug her. He’s just grateful to have her home, the greatest girl and honor. She’s someone who we watch grow and her journey hold sup even today. Argubaly even moreso.

Mulan was a film that changed me. Shaped my beliefs and values into what they are now. Even today, I see it as a flawless movie, and Mulan a flawless heroine. he’s a perfect example of a female protagonist, or heck just a protagonist in general. I love her and because of how much she shaped my five-year-old self into who I am now, se is my favorite female character of all time.

And that’s that! Well that was fun! Thank you all for reading and to all thw women out there, whether you were born as one or made the choice to identify as such. Whether you love men, women, or whoever. Whether you care about love or not. I hope you all have a lovely day and stay true to who you are. Happy International Women’s Day everyone~!

[emberbent]

Day 2: Speak

Zutara Week 2019

Technological progression was one of the many things the Fire Nation was known for, and it was something that constantly amazed and confused Zuko the older he got and the faster technology progressed. Past a certain point, more and more new things emerged - or newer better versions of those things - and his still-sharp but aging mind couldn’t keep up with it all. When telephones entered the global commercial market, Zuko wasn’t keen on having a line installed in his Capital City palace bedroom, but Izumi had insisted. If for no other reason, she’d persisted, than for his own safety. Zuko realized his daughter was right, but what had made him finally agree was something Izumi had let slip in casual conversation: Katara had a telephone, too.

“Do you remember how this works, Dad?” the Fire Lord patiently coached her father. “You have to hold this part up to your mouth, and you speak into it. No… no, don’t put it on your mouth.”

“Why do they make these blasted things so hard to use?” Zuko complained. “Back in my day, we sent messenger hawks, and they got the job done just fine.”

Izumi gave a little exasperated sigh, but smiled at her elderly father. “Yes, and remember how they’d get shot out of the sky? Here. Hold this piece, and I’ll dial the number for you.”

Zuko eyed his daughter, whose likeness to him ended sharply at their physical similarity. Where she’d gotten her patience, he didn’t know. He held the mouthpiece near his lips and watched as Izumi stuck her finger in one of the little metal divots, spun the disc, and repeated the motion a couple more times. He jumped a little when the earpiece emitted a dial tone.

“Make sure you talk loud enough that she can hear you,” Izumi reminded him. “I’ll leave you alone so you can have your privacy. When you’re done, just put the mouthpiece there in the little holder.”

She slipped out of the room, leaving Zuko with the dial tone. It went on for a long time, and he thought that maybe the thing was broken - which wouldn’t have surprised him. But then the monotonous sound stopped, and an old, familiar voice sounded in his ear: “Yes? Hello?”

“Katara,” said Zuko to the air, quite loudly. “Hi. It’s Zuko.”

Sitting with a sealskin draped over her lap in her home in the Southern Water Tribe, Katara’s wrinkled face came alive with a wide grin. “Hi, you. I’ve been waiting for you to call me.”

Zuko could feel his pallid skin flush. He could barely hear her, but the sound of the smile in her voice wasn’t lost on him. A little shy, he stayed quiet for a moment; Katara spoke up to fill the silence just as he started to speak.

“How are things in Capit--?”

“Still cold down there--?”

“You go first,” Katara offered. 

Zuko insisted, “No, you. Please. It’s nice to hear your voice.”

Katara’s gnarled fingers toyed with the phone cord. She felt like she was a teenager again, and that as long as she was on the phone with him, she could go back to the time she remembered so fondly. Katara had made her choice, and her life with Aang had been full of love, hardship, and everything in between. She couldn’t say she would have done it differently if given the opportunity, but she did often think about what her life would have been like if she had.

“Katara? Hello?”

“I’m still here,” she assured him. Wistfully, she said, “Everyone’s all grown up and moving on, here. My grandchildren came to visit me a few months ago - they’re starting to look and sound like adults. Even Tenzin’s showing his age.”

Zuko gave a quiet chuckle. “Izumi makes as much time for me as she can,” he replied. “But it’s still lonely, now that my grandkids are grown.” 

“I miss you, Zuko,” Katara said with resolution, as if she’d been debating whether to admit it. Aang had been gone a long time, but a part of her still felt like seeking companionship from anyone else - especially Zuko - was somehow disrespecting his memory.

“I could come visit you,” Zuko offered. “There’s no sense in us old folks wasting away alone, when we could be wasting away together.”

“I’d like that,” Katara replied softly. “But… better I come see you, I think. Your old bones probably can’t take this frigid weather.”

Zuko grinned. “Okay. You say when, and I’ll have the penthouse ready for you.”

Katara was silent for a moment. Then she said, “How’s next week?”

“I’ll see if I can clear my schedule,” Zuko joked. “See you then, Katara.”

“Be seeing you,” she chirped. “Bye-bye.”

“Bye,” Zuko smiled. He curled his fingers around the mouthpiece, pulled it close to his heart for a moment and closed his eyes. Then he put it back in its cradle.

#atla #avatar the last airbender #avatar fanfiction #zutara week 2019

[armageddon-generation]

Fixing The Legend of Korra - Book 2

I’D LIKE TO CLARIFY THAT I IMAGINE THESE SEASONS TO BE 26-8 EPISODES IN LENGTH, YOUNG JUSTICE-STYLE, TO FIT EVERYTHING IN

ALSO THIS IS LONGER AND I TOOK MORE LIBERTIES WITH CANON BECAUSE BOOK 2 ISN’T THE GREATEST

Book 1 here  Book 3 here,  Book 4 here

BOOK 2

KORRA

When we start 6 months later Korra still doesn’t have her fire, earth or waterbending – but she’s still not mastered airbending because she associates it with her trauma.

This simultaneously justifies how protective Tenzin is, and how frustrating Korra’s airbending training has become – she’s stuck using the element least like her, forcing her to use cut-and-run tactics she hates

This also explains her frustrations with Mako – he’s fighting crime while she’s stuck on the island, feeling powerless. She’s angry at him for doing what she taught him to – embrace his gift. Their relationship is becoming unhealthy.

If Amon was powered by dark spirits it also explains why Korra is so angry her Dad has been hiding the spirit attacks in the South from her – in her head dark spirits are the thing that stole her bending, so she wants payback (which Tenzin is actively against)

This fear Korra will hurt herself also means Unalaqq’s faith in her will mean a lot more – we can see it positively impacting her

All this time we see Korra’s past lives debating what to do with her – Aang is defending her, but Kyoshi is taking a hardline approach – death and moving on to the next life?

After Korra shows herself to be completely useless against the first Dark Spirit attack, Kyoshi has enough and possesses Korra's body (like Roku did to Aang in ATLA 1x09 Avatar Roku). Team Avatar then have to hold off crazy Korra while she tries to reassert control over her own body

Kyoshi and Kurruk argue over who should be in control - the Water Tribes are his people - and Korra literally fights herself, destroying everything, as control switches between them (both Kyoshi and Kurruk try to flirt with Mako, which freaks him out)

Eventually it's Raava (unnamed and unknown at this point) who helps Korra reassert control - all the past Avatars are stunned she intervened

Only reopening the Southern portal gets Korra her bending back – the strengthened spiritual connection allows Raava to heal and reconnect her to the elements – Aang gets to say ‘I told you so’

Unalaqq's plan getting Korra's bending back explains her loyalty to him and desire to prove he’s a good person

Emphasise the familial connection between Unalaqq and Korra – maybe flashbacks to visits when she was a child?

Explore more Avatars' stories while we have the him, to deepen the impact losing her past lives has on Korra (she barely communicates with them in the original) - Aang sees a lot of similarities between Korra and Kyoshi, which worries him

Compare the active Korra to the last waterbending Avatar, Kurruk (the inactive guy who fought Ko the Face Stealer) - Unalaqq disapproves of him. Establish the Avatar was always flawed and prone to laziness

When Korra does get her bending back she’s boisterous and overzealous, driving Mako up the wall

Learning the origins of bending as a weapon against spirits in Wan's time causes Korra to reconsider the aggressive and excessive way she uses hers. She becomes a lot more self-conscious and careful

In Book 1 we established Korra had trouble with waterbending’s emotional side (accepting change and letting emotion flow) and Kya had to teach her using adapted firebending techniques

The conflicts of this book teach Korra (and Kya) to value her culture (the spiritual and emotional lessons it teaches) and she learns how to let her emotions flow from Katara  

In the finale when Korra turns into a kid, have Naga be her guide, not the dragon-bird. It’s an awesome design, but it’d be cool to see Naga do her job as animal guide - she can have a crazy spirit form once Korra grows back up

UNALAQQ

I think this would be a really interesting opportunity to explore theocracies – If Unalaqq is the leader of a spiritual cult who worship Vaatu as a god. If spirits are influenced by human emotion, worship could do some very interesting, dangerous things

Have Katara also clash directly with Unalaqq (not physically, but in terms of ideals and influencing the people) as the South’s unofficial spiritual leader

Explore Unalaqq’s childhood, isolated and jealous of his brother (he’s basically Loki from Marvel, and he’s one of their most sympathetic villains)

Chart Unalaqq’s corruption under the influence of Vatuu – think the One Ring’s influence on Gollum – see him turn from a promising scholar to a scheming Machiavellian mastermind, turn it into a family tragedy

Also touch on the twins’ relationship with their father – I’m assuming it was cold and empty, like Mai’s relationship with her parents. But their parents are estranged (a result of Unalaqq’s fall) and their mother abandoned them, so he is all they have

Draw direct comparisons between this relationship and Tonraq’s relationship with Korra, which is almost too caring, yet at the same time he leys her be her own person in a way Unalaqq won’t let them – the twins don’t really get this kind of affection, though by the end of the season they express a wistful longing for what could have been

Asami relates to the evil father thing, and is a key instigator of their turning against Unalaqq

Lets see more of the actual Civil War in the South, to maintain the urgency of the plot – Tonraqq leading guerrilla warfare. Maybe one desperate moment where Katara comes in for support – not actual fighting, more like the wave from The Last Airbender Movie – something to scare pursuers off

ASAMI

In Republic City Asami is trying to put the Equalist experience behind her. This doesn’t work so well when she’s having to testify at her father’s trial at the beginning of the book

I think it’d be a tragic twist if the same day was the anniversary of her mother’s death, and she had to visit her grave (first one parent – in jail – and now the next – in prison). This compounds how lonely and directionless Asami is

At the same time, the Equalists (the same likeable Chi-blockers from Book 1) are attempting to gain legitimate democratic representation in the United Republic – something Raiko is understandably not keen on. Non-bender rights have actually back-slid in the wake of Amon’s revolution. They keep asking Asami to become their official representative – a multibillion-yuan company would make people take them seriously. Asami keeps turning them down because it’s bad for business, but she’s also not ready to go there emotionally

Asami comes to South Pole separately to Korra and the others – they bump into each other on the dock (which is super-awkward) and Bolin insists on going with her to see Varrick to get away from Makorra

Asami’s arc over the season is affirming she isn’t like her father (a legitimate worry, now she’s inherited his job and the Equalists want her to lead them) or Varrick – she is a good person and she wants to help people.

In the time when Korra doesn’t have her bending she and Asami bond over the frustrations of being a non-bender, and she helps Korra practice airbending – Korra now has much more respect for Asami, and her inferiority complex makes her think that, if it came down to it, Asami would be a better Avatar than her

Asami gradually becomes more involved in the Civil War conflict until by the end of the season she is basically Korra’s right-hand woman, and they have an extreme professional respect for each other – laying the groundwork for Book 3’s friendship/romance

In the finale Asami agrees to fund the Equalists’ political campaign – she is fully committed to righting her father’s wrongs and creating positive change (setting up the next book)

ATLA FAMILY TREE (KYA)

This a personal thing, but I think Kya would be much more interesting if she was Katara and Zuko’s daughter, and not Katara and Aang’s.

Because I’m rewriting Korra I’m taking liberties and declaring everything post-Sozin’s Comet fair game. No offence to any Kataang shippers out there (my first OTP), but I think it’d be more interesting if they broke up soon after the war ended and reality set in (I have many reasons why but that’s not why we’re here) and Katara eventually flalls for and marries Zuko

You could then have Tenzin’s mom be an air acolyte – I personally like the idea of Aang eventually ending up with Ty Lee because their humble monk/crazy flirty girl dynamic would be interesting, and there are loads of headcanons that Ty Lee has a connection to the airbenders.

Tenzin’s mom will have recently died so we don’t have to deal with another character, and we can still have an interesting pseudo-maternal relationship between all of Team Avatar’s kids and Katara

But imagine if Firelord Zuko’s firstborn, heir apparent to the throne of the Fire Nation, was a waterbender? Kya would’ve forfeited the throne as soon as her younger sibling was born (this could be a version of the Izumi character) and her roaming the world trying to find herself would have greater weight

Kya always connected more with Aang and Toph’s kids then her own sister – her arc over the season is reconnecting with them and creating her own family – maybe she and Tenzin clash, because she knows what it’s like to be disappointed by family and wants to tear down his delusions of Aang as the perfect father

ZUTARA + FAMILY

Because he’s now blood-related to Katara General Iroh has greater motivation to help in the war – he takes a leave of absence and goes with Korra to the Fire Nation to appeal for help. When they’re attacked by Eska and Desna, Korra saves Iroh from the dark spirit and he manages to make it home on his own.

He helps Lord Zuko sneak into the South on a small ship (paralleling Zuko sneaking in to the Northern Tribe in the ATLA book 1 finale) to go help Katara (Zuko splits his time between her and his responsibility to Izumi)

Zuko is present when the Krew arrive at the South on the Zhu Li. Zuko is horrified by what Unalaqq is doing to the spirits and explains the story of The Search comics to Korra in flashback – how a spirit gave his mother a new life and then reunited them years later. This story of inspiring positive interaction between humans and spirits is partly what motivates Korra to keep the portals open – tying it to the biggest mystery from ATLA means the choice is more likely to emotionally resonate with the audience

Compare how different Katara’s life is to her daughter’s – Katara settled hard when Kya never stopped running. This is because Katara wanted more than anything to be a good mom, because she knows what not having one is like, and no-one should ever go through that. There’s a suggestion that because of this Katara’s potential as a spiritual leader and figurehead wasn’t fully realised (a deficiency exploited by Unalaqq)  – she feels guilty, for failing both her tribe and Aang’s legacy

Kya reassures her before the final battle that she has nothing to regret – she’s an amazing mom. They reconnect, and Katara gets to make fun of her for her crush on Lin. Tenzin is the one to reassure her about Aang being proud of her, after returning from the spirit world

LIN

At the beginning of Book 2 Lin is being pushed out of the Police Force – Raiko wants her to retire. She knows it’s just because she’s still stuck being a non-bender (because Korra has fixed her own problems yet). Not only does this mean no-one trusts her to be as hands-on as she used to be, but to Raiko’s administration she is a scar left behind by one of the greatest instances of civil unrest in history – she is an unwelcome reminder of Amon

Bolin is drifting - he attempts to join the RCPD but flunks out when he's unable to metalbend - a frustrated Lin sympathises, but she's ha her own crisis of faith desperately drafting and training up new metal benders who have far less skill discipline and respect for the art than her - a teaching role she's clearly uncomfortable with 

Insert flashbacks of Toph trying to teach Lin as a kid (Toph's line about her girls never taking to metalbending in Book 4 implies this wasn't happy). This plays as a tragic parody of Bitter Work - Lin suddenly has a bitter empathy for how her Mom felt

She starts receiving letters from Su, asking if she’s OK or if she needs help – these only make her angry, and she ignores them (Toph hasn’t sent her anything)

By the beginning of the book (I’m thinking we spend a whole episode in Republic City setting everything up, then move to the South in Episode 2) it’s gotten so bad that Kuvira turns up at Precinct One in full Zaofu guard uniform. She’s the only one with enough will and stubbornness to come down and try to talk some sense into Lin. Because she’s looking for the Chief, they send her to Lin’s favourite rookie – Mako.

Mako talks with Kuvira (at this point a complete stranger) and comes away really admiring her. This trip is the first time she’s taken administrative leave from Zaofu. She takes particular interest in how they deal with prisoners, and Mako’s upbringing comes up – she reassures him to hang in there, explaining her own tragic origin as an orphaned nobody. Mako is inspired (she reminds him of the way Korra used to be, the way he wishes she was now)

Lin, of course, kicks Kuvira out as soon as she recognises her uniform. This doesn’t go as smoothly as usual, though – Kuvira is one of the few people who can stand up to Lin, and leaves on her own terms.

Lin’s angry, near abusive reaction to Bolin's incompetence at metalbending makes him concerned about for her, not angry (Build a relationship between these characters!) and Lin realises she's becoming the worst parts of her mother. She needs a break to go find herself

She accepts an invitation (from Katara) to go to the Glacier Spirits Festival (Lin doesn’t really do vacations – she has nowhere else to go)

While in the South Lin’s interactions with the other Team Avatar kids are pretty awkward – she hasn’t talked to Bumi in literal decades – but she has a warm (if reluctant and awkward) surrogate mother relationship with Katara, which bonds everyone together

Kya and Lin in particular bond over both being outcasts, never feeling like they were what their parents wanted – I just really like the idea of Kyalin and want to see them interact – joking about their role reversal - Lin is soul-searching while Kya is the devoted daughter

Once Korra gets her bending back she cures Lin, and Lin comes storming back to the City with Mako, halting Raiko’s replacement plans

She is now a big supporter of non-bending rights, and together with Asami, by the end of the book she’s become an official advocate

MAKO & BOLIN

With benders gone Republic City is still in a semi crisis state, with electricity being rationed and the removal of a lot of triads' bending (and the prison break in the finale) sparking a full-on gang war keeping the RCPD busy

Mako’s colleagues are bitter he is only getting ahead in the RCPD because he is one of the rare benders left, and therefore more effective in fieldwork

Explore Mako’s struggle as a cop with ties to the triad – before he gets framed, establish no-one on the force really trusts him yet. Lin is sympathetic (suggest, when Su’s letters arrive, she’s trying to make up for what happened with Su becoming a criminal – saving Mako is equivalent to making up for her mistakes)

Lin believes Mako’s theory about Varrick after he gives her the evidence (her ignoring him is frustratingly dumb) . When Mako is framed and Raiko demands his arrest she secretly helps him go on the run

The triads nearly catch him and kill him, but he gets to Bolin’s new apartment in time

Have Bolin not be an idiot – after Mako warns him, he recognises who Varrick is. They’re actually really similar – both using a ridiculous personality to distract people

Bolin is the one to turn Mako in because he’s playing the long game, and recognises that in a holding cell Mako is safer than out on the streets where the Triads (and, he fears, Varrick, if the problem isn’t solved) are more likely to kill him

Life on the inside is still rough – explore that, have Mako be confronted by old acquaintances from his childhood, Equalists, and triads he’s put away as a cop. (He tries out some of his corny lines on them as a coping mechanism)

Now the brothers’ original dynamic is flipped – Bolin is the one supporting/protecting Mako as much as he can (sending in mover fan art as moral support etc.) Build the contrast between their lives – Mako in the gutter and Bolin living the high life.

Don’t prolong the love triangle – Makorra breaks up midway through the season, that’s it. Asami kisses him (?) but she feels really guilty about it because at this point she really respects Korra, so they don’t start dating again. No amnesia when Korra comes back. That’s it. Done.

RAAVA AND VAATU

Obviously explore Wan’s story more – maybe a four-part mini-movie like the ATLA finale. Explore Vaatu’s influence on humans, so Korra understands what he did to Unalaqq; have her sympathise and feel sorry for him

Establish the idea of Gaana, the original, primordial harmony spirit that split into Raava and Vaatu

A big complaint about Raava is she overwrites the explanation of the avatar cycle in ATLA as the combination of all the past Avatars’ knowledge. In this version, combine the two – make it clear that everyone reincarnates (Sozin into Zuko, Gyatso into Momo) but the Avatar is the only one who can communicate with their past lives, through Raava

During the finale let's see the chaos Harmonic Convergence is causing - Dark Spirits terrorising the world as in the third act of Ghostbusters

Also Asami goes ham with tons of gadgets she’s been developing with Varrick, and a customised plane, instead of sitting on the benches. She gets Jinora to the healing hut and then gets back just in time to bomb Unavaatu after he’s destroyed Raava, stopping him killing Korra’s physical form too. She takes Korra back to the Spirit World and the Tree of Time.

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