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kitchenangst · 4 years

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Before Anything Good pt. 1

Mako x reader (she/her pronouns)

Summary: Barely one month of living on the streets, and Mako has grown skeptical of anything good that’s offered freely to him. When the girl from the other side of town calls him stinky and demands he take a shower, he might just be right about his newfound cynicism.

Word count: 1.9k

Warnings: first time writing a fic so pls feel free to give constructive criticism and say any errors i make! very very slow burn, might have inconsistent tenses

a/n: hi!! This is just my interpretation of Mako and Bolin growing up on the streets, but if there’s any errors of whatever kind pls let me know!!!!!

pt. ii | pt. iii

Mako hated it. The crawling suspicion of stares grabbing him like wisps of fire over his body whenever he walked down the streets never left, even if he was in the faux safety of the dark alleyway he now had no choice but to call home. He couldn't help looking around, trying to find the pair of eyes that pitied him, the sneaky hands that tried to pickpocket the only remaining yuans he had, or the thoughts that hated dirty, useless, rotten children who had nothing better to do than steal for survival.

He unconsciously reached for his little brother's hand and hunched his shoulders to his ears, the red scarf loosely wrapped around his shoulders reaching higher and higher up his face as his eyebrows deepening his scowl moved lower and lower and his legs dragging themselves faster and faster.

He ignored the tugging on his hand until he heard his brother's strained call, "Mako? Ow, ow, ow!"

Mako whipped around to face his brother just as he stopped in his tracks. "Bolin! Are you okay?" His eyebrows undoing the previous tension and raising in concern before realizing Bolin was pulling his own hand free from the bruising grasp he held. "Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to hurt your hand," he lamely responded with a wince despite not being the one in pain. His hand found its place on his brother's shoulder. "C'mon, I spotted those bullies from yesterday. Let's get going."

Mako's eyes continued to flicker around, only returning Bolin's gaze once he noticed the subtle nod of his head. He let Bolin walk ahead of him, his own hand protectively hovering over the younger one's shoulder, and continued to walk at Bolin's pace. Admittedly, it was slower than the one he usually walks. Bolin, at the age of 6, isn't as tall as Mako, doesn't have the will to keep his stomach from growling even longer, and sees walking leisurely as a better way to conserve energy than speeding away from bullies.

The low humming of fire crackling and the unpredictable wisps dancing along his skin returns, and he can't help but grab Bolin's shoulder more firmly, moreso to ground himself from getting lost in the uncontrollable heat than to run away at a moment's notice. He pockets his other hand and busies himself with recounting the yuans he brought today. At the count of 21, his head follows the sudden blur in the corner of his eye, making sure to remember every face that so much as makes eye contact, stare, leer-

"Mako?" Bolin calls when the hand on his shoulder is near a death grip, which, to his relief, immediately loosens. "Can we get dinner? At the place with the nice lady who gives us free tea?"

1358 yuans. That's the remaining amount of currency they had after selling every article of clothing and anything salvageable from their wrecked home once their parents passed. That's enough for about 6 weeks if they keep eating at food stalls for breakfast and dinner and split it between the two. 2 months, at the very least, if they were to live off of apple-peaches, maybe longer if they resort to stealing--

No! They're orphans, living on the streets, having just lost their parents and in no way, able to contact their relatives from Ba Sing Se. Even after being turned away from every door, they still had to be law-abiding citizens and were expected to pay for their needs. Then what had they done for their parents to pay their life for them to end up huddling underneath the worn down cardboard as their blanket? Mako blinks the stinging feeling of tears away before they have the chance to form.

Even after 2 weeks of the unfortunate event, Mako and Bolin still couldn't get used to the hard concrete beneath them, how the cardboard will never be as soft as a blanket or wrap around their shivering forms, or how their dad's scarf that smells like home was starting to smell like sweat and smoke. Although Mako wears it during the day, he makes sure to wrap it around Bolin’s neck, and leaves the ends of it centered between their two forms once they lay down.

Mako thanks his mom for teaching him the basics of fire bending, seeing as Bolin revels in the warmth of the flame lit between them that paints his face in the softest of oranges and reds better than any compliment or praise. He kept the flame lit, reciting his mother’s bedtime stories until Bolin's eyelids grew heavy and were far and fewer in between blinks. With a small smile, he pulls the cardboard over their shoulders once Bolin returns his good night, and lets sleep take over.

Wake, eat, restroom, sleep. Although it wasn’t always in that order, the two brothers were growing familiar with the schedule. Protect their money, check their money, and use it sparingly. Luckily, Bolin was able to earthbend a small chunk of the ground out to place their money. It looked a little out of place… and anyone could bend or dig it out… but it was better than placing it directly underneath anything else (they did put some effort into concealing it by adding more rocks around it). Other than protecting their money, they deal with the bullies who happen to always start the verbal war, and it usually ends with either the brothers running away or with their parents scolding them. Whatever their reason, the two are just glad to see them gone.

“Why are you two just sitting there?”

Speak of the devil, Mako internally groans as he puts himself in front of Bolin. He looks up to tell the person to screw off, but halts at the new face. Just a few feet away, a little further from the alley entryway, the setting sun casts a warm shadow on a girl, no older than him, with her brows furrowed and a frowning mouth to match.

Bolin’s form visibly shrinks at the new person, and in Mako’s legs, the flames grow frantic and set his instincts on fire to run and to leave before her parents would confront them with their pitiful stares and-

“Are you lost?” Her voice lifts in confusion and distracts him from his turmoil.

With a scowl, Mako responds, “Just leave us alone.” To get the message across, he crosses his arms and looks as intimidating as he could.

Not frightened in the slightest, she persists. “Why? Won’t your parents worr-”

“We don’t have any!” Mako's hands gesture wildly, as if pointing in every direction will show her his parents are nowhere to be found.

Her eyes find their way to Bolin’s before meeting Mako’s again, and her brows lift in understanding. “Oh… I don’t know what to say…” Whatever expression she wore turns blue quickly.

“Then don’t,” Mako spits at her with any remaining energy he has. Even briefly mentioning his parents always leaves a sour note in his mouth and somehow drains him of his energy. “Better yet, just leave us alone!”

The next few seconds drag out like months with the way Mako glares at her, and he’s caught off guard when she suddenly grabs his hand and tugs him out of the alleyway, too flustered at the thought of holding hands to yank it out. She looks over her shoulder, making brief eye contact with Bolin as she motions for him to follow her.

“Where are you taking us?” Bolin questions once he catches up. “You’re not taking us to the butcher, are you? To be butched?”

She looks down at him and laughs. “Silly pig-bear! I don’t think you’ll be very tasty when you haven’t taken a bath!” Mako quickly swipes his hand from her hold to grab Bolin, who was frozen at her blunt statement. “No, no! I was joking,” she quickly explains at the sight of Bolin’s fearful eyes and Mako beginning to drag them away from her. “No, I just wanted to take you to the bakery!” As if timed, their stomachs growl at the mention of baked goods.

With great reluctance and Bolin’s pout, Mako gives in. “Fine, but only if you’re paying.”

She tugs their hands to their destination again, the swinging in her arms, the upbeat humming, and the bounce in her step all indicating her happy mood. Happy for what, Mako doesn’t know. He wouldn’t understand why a stranger would be willing to bring them somewhere to eat unless she had some sort of intentions. Her mood was effective in lowering his guard a bit, though, if it meant that the handholding wasn’t as unpleasant as he thought it would be when it was for something other than life threatening. Even Bolin had gotten over his initial dilemma to ask, “So, how are you paying?”

“How else would I buy the bread?”

“Well, sometimes we steal apples to save money.”

Just when the girl opens her mouth to respond, Mako quips in. “Money that we don’t have!” The weird look she gives prompts him further, “Because… We’re homeless, and we don’t have any…” Right, because any idiot would be dumb enough to say they have money unprotected while they’re away from it.

At her nodding, she stares ahead, expression saddening as she starts to speak, “I’m not going to force you to come and pay, if that’s what you’re worried about… If you guys don’t have any money, how have you been eating when you can’t steal?”

Mako’s shoulders begin to relax at the thought of not paying for food, having hardly noticed that they were tense the entire time, while Bolin faces the ground, as if what he was saying next would bring him shame. “Sometimes we don’t eat at all.”

And they advance to their destination quicker, if her sudden change in pace were any indication of her giving these two food faster would make the dampened mood lighten up. Her grip tightens as if telling them it’ll be okay, and for a moment, Mako believes in the nonverbal reassurance. For the past 3 weeks, Mako has grown accustomed to the nasty looks he’s given when he’s trying to scour for free food, and only knew of a hand that was used to put him in his place, to bring more pain into his life than he needed, to point fingers, and he hated any hand motion other than being motionless by the side of its owner. Now… maybe he can count on this hand as the one that leads him towards the dimming fire that he tried to put out during his time on the streets.

She lets go of their hands to face them. Both brothers look to their right as the crisp aroma drifts into their noses, the scent filling their bodies with the familiar warmth they haven’t felt since before their parent’s death. “Okay, before we eat! You guys stink,” she announces to bring their attention back to her.

Nevermind. I take it all back. Mako’s brows scrunch the same moment her nose does when he opens his mouth. “What do you expect from two homeless kids?”

“We don’t even have washed clothes,” Bolin adds.

“Okay!” Her eyes were as bright as the bulb that lit her ideas. “Because I’m paying, you two have to take a bath. Or shower. Whichever you prefer.”

“And you suggest we do that…” At her confused look, Mako continues, “where?”

“My house, dummies!” Their rigid nodding making her nod along excitedly at the idea of doing good. She opens the door to the bakery, the bell above chiming and the faint aroma from before now assaulting the party’s noses as they take in all the bread on display.

a/n: thank you for reading!! also yeah, you’d think after reading for so long, writing would come to you haha no so make sure you appreciate the writing blogs you follow and read from!! I do plan on fleshing this story out all the way to book 4 but I have no idea how long that’ll take or if it will be done at all. also sorry this ended weirdly but i’m tired and i just wanted to get it out there and the way i planned it would’ve been SO long so I’m splitting this bit into another part! it’s a slow burn like I mentioned in warnings but yeah, be prepared. it’s a LONG time before there’s any romance going on hehe

pt. ii | pt. iii

#source: lok art of the animated series #lok #legend of korra #mako x reader #mako #mako imagine #lok x reader #lok imagine #haha the title abbreviates to BAG #pls dont repost #which i will now proceed to tag as #BAG #cross posted

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tuiyla · 4 years

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She-Ra’s like, really good, people

It’s been over a week since She-Ra season 5 came out and I binged it and this is not going to be coherent but I just want to rant about it a bit before writing some more structured metas. I deffo wanna write about Catradora and how I think SPoP is the true spiritual successor to the Avatar.

But first, let me just scream about how good this show is. I already started rewatching it, pretty much straight after finishing it, and I don’t rewatch tv shows often. The exception is Avatar (seen it like 15 times) and sitcoms. But She-Ra is so layered that I felt like I needed to watch it again just to appreciate the dynamics even more.

I already enjoyed the first season but it kept getting better and better. I’m not in love with the art style and it’s definitely for a younger demographic overall than my other favourite animated shows, but like any good kids’ show it balances tone well. It doesn’t talk down to its target demographic but also includes more traditionally mature themes in a digestible and entertaining way. Not all the jokes landed for me but as the series went on I learned to appreciate the tone and the type of humour She-Ra goes for.

It’s funny to me because this is definitely the type of show I would have rejected as a kid, with all the princesses I would have deemed it “too girly” and therefore not for me because screw gender roles. There’s a degree of internalized sexism to that, for sure, a rejection of the feminine because it’s always been seen as less somehow. But there’s also a truth that, at least in my childhood of the late 90s and early 00s, children’s media targeted at girls often had a poor quality to it, at least when compared to “boys’ stuff”.

She-Ra is not only a clever, heartfelt, complex story, it also transcends that binary of having to be either for girls or boys. I know most of modern animation rejects that as well, but She-Ra embraces so many traditionally feminine qualities while also going beyond gender roles and even the gender binary. This show is so queer, man, and I love it. It’s especially impressive when you consider the source material that was literally just the girly version of He-Man. I have no beef with 80s She-Ra, haven’t seen much of it, but this is such an upgrade.

That being said, I would have loved to watch She-Ra as a kid. I’m so incredibly envious of kids, aged around 10, who get to watch this show as they’re growing up. But I am so, so, so happy for them and for the future of animation that shows like She-Ra can be made now, that they’re being made. I’m going to go into spoilers soon, but just before that: She-Ra’s a perfectly enjoyable show in many aspects. I think the worldbuilding’s pretty cool, the story feels coherent and planned out, it’s lighthearted and so genuine. That’s the word that I ultimately choose to describe the series: genuine.

I feel like so much of TV aims to be dark and gritty nowadays, animation included, and though that’s slowly turning to dark comedy or a balance between fun and serious, it’s still the norm. At some point in the last decade, creators became terrified of being judged as cheesy. Even something like the MCU bathes in bathos to avoid being cheesy. But She-Ra proves that creators shouldn’t be afraid of being genuine, of basing characters and storylines on the simple power of love. Like, it’s such a cliché trope but I think that’s mostly because it has become stale.

Noelle Stevenson has talked about the importance of love in her story and I’m so grateful for that. Through, She-Ra, she’s truly proven how powerful love can be in a story and how it doesn’t have to be cheesy. It’s just so unabashedly genuine. The power of love and friendship literally saves the day several times but it’s always so genuine and more importantly it always makes sense that it doesn’t get boring. If the foundation wasn’t there, then I’d say “well this is just super cheesy”. But the show makes a point of building relationships and making them the focal point of the story.

Alright, so, spoilers because I need to talk about character arcs and THAT KISS and just everything. I really need to write more in depth about Adora and Catra and their relationship but for now I feel like it’s so important to appreciate how they’re developed. Everything from their shared childhood to their trauma with Shadow Weaver and the finding their way back to each other, it’s just *chef’s kiss*. It’s so well-written and believable. Ngl, I do have some minor issues with Catra’s redemption arc. Let’s just say that on a scale from Kylo Ren to Zuko, she’s definitely closer to Zuko. I also appreciate Shadow Weaver’s death scene and how it allows them to move on. I didn’t see that one as Death as Redemption and it shouldn’t be. Again and again the show made it clear that she was abuse towards both girls and nothing will negate that.

From what I can tell, the fandom really latched onto Catra, even when it wasn’t clear whether she’d get a redemption arc. I think that’s important, because unlike some characters in animation, Catra’s actions were almost always framed appropriately. There was always an understanding as to where she’s coming from, how she’s acting from a place of hurt, and yet her actions weren’t justified. They weren’t suddenly all okay just because she’s hurt, too. I especially loved in the season 3 finale when Adora was allowed to finally say no, to say that Catra’s actions were not her fault. That season as a whole was beautiful, like, episode three when Adora’s struggling so much and Catra has the opportunity for a better life but she still fails to choose her own happiness because she’s too bitter over SW and Adora? It’s poetic cinema. I love that angst, so well done.

It would be so easy to misfire in Catra’s storyline and either a) write off all the awful things she does because she’s just “misunderstood” or b) irredeemably stuck in her abusive environment with no hope of escape. They balanced quite well there and managed to handle such a complex character with delicacy. I’m quite happy with how Catra was portrayed because on the one hand, she’s painfully relatable to me and I assume to many others. The audience can see their own mistakes reflected in her character because we’ve all been too stubborn, done things out of spite, refused to acknowledge that we were wrong because we were hurting so much. At the same time, I always felt like the show gave me enough space to judge Catra’s actions and acknowledge that she was in the wrong. I honestly think I would have been a better adjusted teenager is if saw this show just before my angsty years, lol.

I’m going to write more about Adora at some other point but I love how vulnerable she’s allowed to be. Protagonists never used to be my favourite characters because they all seemed the same, with two major categories: the stereotypical male hero who can do no wrong or the angsty boi who can be shitty and the text still frames him as awesome. It’s only recently with series like The Legend of Korra and She-Ra that I go “damn, protagonists can be like that, huh.” Adora is a dumb jock who tries so hard and she deserves all the hugs in the world.

Also, Catradora? Breathtaking, amazing, groundbreaking. No doubt She-Ra needed shows like Adventure Time, LoK, Steven Universe and the likes to pave the way but still, it went there. I saw people be anxious about whether they were gonna be queerbaited, but I always, idk, knew? Trusted? That She-Ra would follow through. I didn’t wait six years for Bubbline to happen for Catradora to not get their big damn kiss. The series has been so effortlessly queer from the get-go that it just made sense that they were always heading there. I did see a gif of the kiss before watching s5 and ngl, that spoiler kind of bummed me out in a way that I wanted to be surprised. But even before I saw that I wasn’t worried. And the context of their journey in season 5? That cannot be spoiled by a simple gif. You have to experience that to fully appreciate it and that is the marker of good storytelling.

I understand that, though this should be the norm by now, Noelle Stevenson still had to be smart about how she approached the execs and she wasn’t sure this could happen. I cannot tell you how happy I am about what she said regarding how Catradora was so integral to the story that the execs couldn’t not allow it. That’s so brilliant, and it feels so natural in the story. Queer love saves the day and it’s not ambiguous, it cannot be censored because you lose a part of the story without it. You did it, Noelle, you funky little lesbian, what an icon. I can’t wait to see more stuff from her.

In other news, I appreciated other characters as well, like how all the princesses got to be different and awesome in their own unique way. Season 5 was great for so many characters, Mermista got so much to work with and Spinnerella and Netossa got so much more characterization than in previous seasons. Glimmer continued to be the third most important character in the story and I’m happy about all the relationships that also got to be canon. Good characters and dynamics all around, no wonder since the show is built on that.

Such a satisfying conclusion and one that makes you feel like this is just part one of a much bigger story. Such genuine, heartfelt moments, well-developed characters, complex themes explored in a respectful and digestible way, and such an unapologetically fun show. Melissa Fumero as a side character? Yes please. Catra’s new haircut? Heck yeah! She-Ra’s new design? Oh my.

I’m not even like, super into She-Ra, and I usually don’t write so much about things I only watch casually. But this show is so good and important that I had to rant. And I will write more about it eventually, but for now I needed to get all of this out. I’d give it a better structure but if I really get into I might never end up posting it so for now here, have this ramble of love. She-Ra, of all shows, deserves that.

#she-ra #spop #she-ra and the princesses of power #catradora #spop spoilers #my thoughts #that's pretty much it for now

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wingsfreedom · 4 years

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Why the style of unpredictability does not work on ATLA

Because it destroys the narrative, plain and simple. To Bryke, something logical is predictable, therefore they have to change this predictability. But Avatarverse, it's world-building and character-writing don't bear the unpredictability, because it tears down its logical connections/connotations.

Bryke compared themselves to Miyazaki Hayao in a LoK interview (the author of studio ghibli), which is the most ridiculous, delusional thing they ever said and prove they're blind to their own weaknesses and strengths.

Bryke aren't like Miyazaki Hayao, they're like Araki Hirohiko the author of JJBA.

“I find it fascinating when readers or viewers are upset by an unexpected turn of events in a story, because this is the very reason we like to read them — to be surprised, to find out what happens next, to have a vicarious experience through another’s eyes. When stories don’t deviate from the expected, they become boring. And no one likes a boring story.” -DiMartino [source]

He has their love for unpredictability, art and visuals. The fans of JJBA are many but they know better than expect a story with little plotholes. JJBA is cool for what it is, not for what the author claim it to be, and Bryke should learn from this and stop projecting a style doesn't work on a story full of logical connections as ATLA, and I think they would be happy to start their own different animation series or comics where they can be themselves and write the way they're passionate about.

Bryke know rationally that this style doesn't fully work on Avatarverse but their whims keep getting in the way as much as they stray from what they're good at, which explains their lack of passion, vision and creativity for ATLA anymore despite it has so much to offer. ATLA wasn't free from plotholes but everything was perfectly connected and make sense for theories. However, the twist Bryke handled Kuvira's backstory with in LoK comics (their latest work) is a stark examples that their stance towards writing did not change.

Bryke are not necessary bad authors objectively, they're good at visuals and world-building, some character concepts with enough knowledge to make it work, but their strengths are pretty much has little to do with depth or honest appreciation to complexities. The other authors of ATLA covered that weakness.

#atla #bryke meta #depth and logic are what should rule ATLA's narrative

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webgeekist · 4 years

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Hi, please don't be hurt by this comment, but in the future, please be mindful of illustrating white features on your fan art of people of color. There are so few characters that we (POC) can call our own, so it kinda stabs when we see fan creators whitewash our representation. Thank you for reading.

Yeah. Let me have this conversation, because the literal post I made after that portrait of Asami that most likely prompted this comment was a tags-only frustration post about how I actually tried to back that way off and really failed at it. There’s a strong Megan Fox vibe there that just stubbornly refused to go away, and as much as I really don’t think Asami Sato would look like Megan Fox in real life, I also didn’t completely hate the final product.

I apologize if that failure hurt you personally, anon. That was not my intention with it.

There’s a practice element to that kind of work that I just don’t have under my belt for a lot of ethnicities. Part of it is familiarity (I live with a south Asian, and her features are very different from my target here, and though I’ve got my own mixed heritage my family is pretty disgustingly white). Part of it is past interests. My past portrait subjects have been pretty monochromatic in that regard, and honestly not that complicated. There’s no room for interpretation for how much deviation from a base is enough when the character you’re trying to draw is physically portrayed by someone. That’s easy. Conjuring features, either from a series of models or from some base face and then making subtle and increasing alterations for ethnicity? Hard. At least, for me, a hobbyist artist with limited time and divided attentions.

I’m not going to pretend that starting at “classic Hollywood,” having read that line in the season 1 art book comments, and moving from there wasn’t a mistake, but I did. I went looking for Asami’s nose and lips in a finite catalog of potential starlets because I knew that WAS a starting point for her character, and made that my base. That was my first mistake, and one I immediately acknowledged. But torn between actually liking the product and realizing I didn’t do enough to it (and constrained in this program on this device/program to a finite number of layers, which drives me nuts in portrait work as it turns out), I called the experiment complete, and posted it.

It’s an attempt, and part of the struggle I’m going to continue with is that an animated character’s features are fairly simple compared to that of an actual human being, and one of the reasons I want to keep trying is there’s not a lot of portrait work out there that I see and think, “oh, that’s Asami.” (I definitely get Korra more in what I’ve seen, but even with her there’s one feature I’ll debate you over because it’s so important to recognition and that’s very likely the least Asian feature on Asami’s face, as well). What I’ve seen is highly interpretive by virtue of the source material being iffy, probably (and definitely more skillfully) representative of at least one of the cultures Asami or Korra’s heritages are based on, but often not terribly reminiscent of the original concept, to me. That’s fine. Fanart is interpretive, evolutionary, and personal, and these are the kinds of representation most often (and rightfully) criticized in LoK. That art needs to be made.

Some of us are just not very good at bridging that gap at this particular point in our art careers. I’m aware, and I’m trying. There will hopefully be better attempts to come. I like to think of my work as something that evolves.

But I’m four years out of practice with portraits. That’s the first thing I’ve started AND finished since 2016, and I’m proud of that accomplishment. I’m not going to hide my art away because it’s not perfect, and I’d be horrified if anyone thought that was necessary because their first or second or fifteenth or two hundredth attempt wasn’t perfectly representative of the character they’re trying to portray. I understand the concern that drove you to this comment, and encourage you to very gently nudge artists toward accepting the criticisms as a point of necessary improvement. I also ask that you have some degree of patience with people. Improving one’s art is a matter of practice, and muses are fickle creatures. I’m old enough and mature enough to understand that, and take criticism. Just be gentle with others who might not be.

#anonymous #now...if tou’re actually talking about korra’s skin tone then come back for another conversation #but honestly I expected something like this ehen I posted it so don’t apologize for anyhting here #just try to be patient. i’ve got a meager pinterest board of better references and a supportive spouse helping me scout #it’ll get better #about art #asks

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velvetinewitch · 4 years

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Happy Storyteller Saturday! Are any of your WIPs inspired by anime/TV/video games? If not, what's something that has inspired a WIP?

happy sts Char! thank you for the ask!! here are some quickfire inspirations for FaF, most of which are taken straight from childhood favs:

-Harry Potter: (the obligatory mention). the magic schools. the idea of aging with the characters and watching their progression. a secret society of magic users with their own systems. the worldbuilding that just absorbed multiple generations.

-Percy Jackson: amazing incorporation of real issues alongside fantasy issues. great diversity. progression of Percabeth was well done. when Nico came out, i cried (i was 8???). magic that varied with the person! started out innocent, killed Zoe and Bianca in book 3 and said “these are children in a war because of adults” while still being funny and easy to read for younger kids. sarcastic narrator. side characters with fun characterization. meddlesome gods. prophecies and destinies that annoy characters.

-She-Ra Reboot: time resets were already majorly important to the plot of FaF, but the episodes with time resetting were so good it inspired me to keep writing FaF! also the relationship between Catra and Adora is... similar to a major relationship in FaF (i like finding parallels and crying)

-ATLA and LOK: avatar was such a huge source of inspiration for me! redemption arcs. Korra’s story in season 4, her suffering from PTSD and facing a villain who is similar to her. Azula’s arc. large amount of lore! a character with powers passed down from past lives. characters were all very well-written.

-Merlin: Morgana’s arc inspired a main character! also, a main character who feels the need to shoulder everything on their backs.

-Oneshot videogame: it’s not majorly known but it has this energy to it that really sunk into FaF. maybe it’s the mc’s need to save the world, but the conflicting choices between dong that or having their own happy ending. it’s also... so pretty... it makes me want to write every time i see anything from it. just, journeying through the world with it’s fate in your hands, growing to love it and the people in it, and then having to make the final decision... wow.

-Oxenfree videogame: the time loop in Oxenfree!! it’s such a fun game- my girlf and i played through it twice to get the closest thing to the good ending you can, and it's super fun to see how one little choice can offset everything, until you have to go back to the beginning, and try again. it’s very trippy at some points, and it also has so many small details to notice.

-Girls Made of Snow and Glass, A Thousand Nights, Graceling Realm, Eragon, Gods and Warriors: the writing, the plots, the characters, the diversity, the worldbuilding, all of it. these are books and series that are must reads, seriously. especially the Graceling Realm books, they are just gorgeous

-The Unwanteds: a book series about magic based on the arts? huge inspo for FaF, just vastly different worlds and plots! it’s a good series, one i loved when i was younger

it’s not a super impressive list, but it was fun to try and think of some major inspirations of FaF! thanks again for the lovely ask!

#sts #storyteller saturday #charvaughn writes #faf inspo #faye and fate #faf #asks

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blue-rose-89 · 6 years

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The Dragon Prince: What we know so far.....

With The Dragon Prince coming out next week, I felt that it would be a good time to write about what we know so far about the plot and the characters.

Please take note that this post is based on what I’ve read and heard (twitter and those who were lucky to watch the first episode at SDCC), so if there’s anything I’ve missed or gotten wrong feel free to correct me.

So here’s what we know so far.......

Background on the world of the Dragon Prince

-The series takes place in a fantasy world filled with humans, elves, and magical creatures.

-In this world there are 6 types of magic: Sun, Moon, Stars, Sky, Earth, and Ocean. That is until a new type of magic was discovered, a magic type called Dark Magic.

-According to this interview (jump to 3:40), Dark Magic is described as ‘short cut magic’ for two reasons:

1. Magic is said to be difficult to study and master because the art is ancient. To me this sounds like the magic in this world can be picked up by anyone instead of it being genetic like bending is in ATLA/LOK.

2. The source of its power comes from the life force of magical creatures. In a world filled with magical creatures this is obviously problematic.

Plot

Years before the events of the series, the man who discovered Dark Magic was causing trouble amongst the lands and the elves and mages tried to stop him. At some point the Dark Magic man kills the Dragon King and steals its egg and heir, the Dragon Prince. The death of the Dragon King and the presumed death of its child led to the elves blaming the humans for years.

Cut to the present day, the humans and elves still hate each other. One day a group of Moonshadow Elves send one of their own to assassinate a King and his sons only to fail. At some point the elf and the princes discover that the Dragon Prince is alive and the three of them embark on a quest to return the Dragon Prince back to its kind. This will be a task that’s easier said than done because again, there is tension between the humans and the elves.

Characters

So what do we know about the characters? So far we have.....

Callum

Callum is the prince of Katolis. He’s not good at being a prince but he’s a great artist. He will also be learning magic in the series so my guess is that he will be incorporating his artistic skills with magic. That’s creative.

Ezran

Ezran is Callum’s younger brother and heir to the throne (Callum has no claim to it because he is a step-brother). He likes animals more than people.

Bait

Ezran’s pet glow toad. Bait is one of those creatures that I find to be ugly and cute at the same time.

King Harrow

The King of Katolis and father Ezran and step-father of Callum.

Rayla

Rayla is a Moonshadow elf that was sent to kill the Royal family because of the “Humans killed the Dragon King” incident. She learns along with the princes that the egg of the Dragon Prince is alive and she agrees to help the boys in their quest to return him to the dragons. Based on the name of her tribe, I’m guessing that Rayla uses Moon magic.

Soren

He’s a knight from the Crownsguard that will help out the trio. He has also trained Callum in sword combat.

Claudia

Soren’s sister, a practitioner of Dark Magic, and Callum’s crush. At first I thought that Claudia is or will turn evil because of Dark Magic but I now I think that Claudia will be our window that shows us what Dark magic is and how it works.

Runnan

Runnan is the leader of the Moonshadow elves. I’m not sure if he’s related to Rayla because of the resemblance but I think we all know that he will not be happy to learn that Rayla has “betrayed” the group to help a bunch of humans.

Thunder

Thunder was the Dragon King. He’s dead but the Dragon Prince is alive.

And that’s all we have right now. The show will premiere on Sept 14th but if I hear anything new I’ll add more.

#the dragon prince #the dragon prince trailer #the dragon prince callum #the dragon prince ezran #the dragon prince rayla

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sol1056 · 6 years

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i keep getting this weird sense that the world building in vld is 'make it up as you go along'. especially with the galra with the completely different sense you get of what they are as a species in every season. like.. the fire nation is a chocolate cake, and you were given slices throughout the series until you had a complete picture. the galra empire is a cake where every slice is a different flavor, and every flavor is a mystery. not an awful cake, just a really really weird one.

Perfect analogy. Especially since all the AtLA/LoK fans, the mecha fans, the old-school Voltron fans, just about anyone interested in a combination of animation and science fiction, were like

cue jokes about the cake being a lie.

Okay, now I’ve got that out of my system, a more serious response.

The thing with AtLA is that the EPs/writers used a short-cut: they looked across a variety of earth-based cultures and picked what they’d use as analogues. This meant ready-made references for food, architecture, clothing, even political systems. They didn’t have to do reams of world-building details; they could just refer back to the source culture and lift something from there.

(Note: there’s plenty I’m not unpacking here, ‘cause it can be problematic when a bunch of white people in the dominant paradigm use someone else’s culture to prop up a story. But that’s for another post.)

The disparate and incoherent cake-slices in VLD tell me that the EPs/writers don’t really care to consider the Galra as a culture. Other than the mandatory Big Bad (Zarkon, Haggar), the Galra people are nothing more than disposable minions. No need, then, for what I’d see as foundational aspects of a culture: what people eat, how they build or decorate their residences, what they consider a family unit, etc.

Here’s the thing about world-building a culture: it’s characterization on a grand scale.

To me, characterization is the art of humanizing a fictional character: the character is made human enough to resonate with us. Thus, creating a solid fictional culture means humanizing an entire fictional people, in broad strokes.

That means questions like: how do they feel about their children? What are their holidays, and how do they celebrate them? What do they consider ‘traditional’ food? How do they mourn? What’s their idea of a conventional relationship? Do they embrace newcomers, or always keep them at arm’s length? What are the stories they tell themselves about themselves, their nation’s founding, their heroes?

Asking those puts the writer through the same shift as a reader, to a state of resonance. The culture takes on depth, no longer a cardboard cutout. You end up with a fire nation–while still the ‘bad guys’–that also has a remarkably egalitarian understanding of gender roles. Or an earth nation, despite its totalitarian leanings, that has a vibrant culture of festivals, popular entertainment, and people enjoying tea after a day of work.

In VLD, the EPs/writers didn’t dig into any culture, really. They didn’t want to bother, or didn’t realize the need, or – and I think this is where my suspicions lean – they knew and skipped it. They wanted one culture as the villains, one as the heroes, full stop. (The few cultural notes – like May Chan’s episodes featuring the Balmerans – seems to be entirely thanks to one writer independently adding small cultural hints.)

For the Alteans, the EPs/writers seem to have said, “ambassadors, that sounds peaceful,” but never asked what impact that would have on the culture, itself. Frex, the only food we see is not only bland and boring, but always and only that one thing. Have these writers never even met someone who worked at State? Diplomats are like packrats, picking up new foods everywhere they go.

Or the Galra mantra, “victory or death.” For starters, it’s not sustainable, on a sheer numbers scale. It’s also phenomenally stupid: it ignores the value of learning from mistakes, because military mistakes (defeats) are seen as a moral failure. With that mantra, the Galra should’ve been defeated by a smarter, savvier opponent about 9,999 years ago.

If you view the story at arm’s length, there are major holes. When the story starts, Allura has no ties to the here-and-now, no awareness of current events other than the fact that Zarkon is still alive. She is literally an ignorant figure from the ancient past, inserting herself into the present, and her motivation lies entirely in a personal grudge and the desire to recreate a world everyone else has forgotten.

Meanwhile, either Galran-subjugated peoples have been forced into near-total isolation to prevent alliances (contradicted by the space mall), or enough peoples benefit in some way that Galra domination is tolerable, if not outright supported. Not once do we see any non-Galra shrug at the rebels and say, “naw, we’re good,” but given how empires work, we absolutely should be seeing that.

If Zarkon-as-evil weren’t underlined repeatedly throughout S1, it would be reasonable to see Allura – and the paladins – as tilting at windmills. More than that, they offer nothing beyond, “we have this massive weapon, therefore we’re the good guys.” Seen from a distance, the only difference between Voltron and the Galra is that the Galra currently have the upper-hand.

To offset that, the writers could not humanize the Galra in any way, shape, or form, and that meant the writers could not show any hint of a cohesive Galran culture. Because if a culture is humanized, you’ve got a risk that the audience will sympathize, and become frustrated that there’s no chance of redemption. And more, you’ll have to address the fact that your heroes are indiscriminately slaughtering thousands of living beings over the course of so many battles. Because culture takes what were endless faceless drones and makes them human, and human loss matters to audiences.

So, if your story is that weak that it’d fall apart if the antagonists have a motivation of equal-but-oppositional value, then the easiest way to avoid that is to simply refuse to humanize those antagonists. And the easiest way to do that is to avoid any depth in the antagonist culture that might elevate it out of that cardboard, evil-without-question, unbuilt state.

#worldbuilding #characterization #writing #voltron legendary defender #voltron meta #analysis is my chocolate cake #sol thinks about stuff

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mazarinrouge · 7 years

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BS Bending in TLOK

Watching The Legend of Korra is so disappointing in a lot of different ways. So if you ignore the plot, you’d expect at least some good action scenes with the effort and consistency from the old show. Ehhhh. The bending in LOK is strikingly idiotic and a degradation of the gem from the old show. Maybe if I weren’t comparing it to The Last Airbender, I wouldn’t mind it. But the fact it is so blatantly off from its predecessor makes for another highlight of Korra that I can’t un-see. From how elements are manipulated to even more complex shit with specific kinds of ~special people bending~, Korra, if I can put this politely, fucks everything up.

Right from the start you can tell that Korra definitely dumbed down the movements of the characters. It’s odd because the martial arts expert from Avatar worked on Korra as well. However, he only worked on 22 episodes of Korra, compare that with his 61 episodes guided in The Last Airbender. It’s probably a mix of Kisu’s lack of involvement, and an overall decision from the writers that maybe it wasn’t as important? Which is sad, because it really disassociates the audience from the complex spirituality and intricacies of the world. Styles benders seem to have spent years mastering are lost, and replaced with a modern, boxing type “PUNCH PUNCH PUNCH!!!” Hollywood action situation. Here’s some pretty (MS PAINT) pictures to do the talking for me.

And a bonus:

If the simplification of normal bending hasn’t gotten to you, there’s still a lot more I have to sift through. There’s so much shit pointing to how bending’s complexity was reduced for coooool moments. I’m even going to make nice little subheaders.

Lavabending

So, in ATLA we see lavabending is a feat only the Avatars are capable of. Roku does it, Kyoshi does it. Avatar cool kids only. But then in Book Three, Bolin suddenly has the ability to lavabend at the tip of the hat. Which, by the way, is another thing stupidly prevalent throughout this series. Both Korra and Bolin in times of crisis suddenly have the ability to do things they couldn’t do, but really wished they could’ve. Hooow convenient.

So the discrepancy here is how Bolin can lavabend, and so can this random Earthbender guy, wouldn’t that mean all Earthbenders can? Metalbending makes sense, but lava is so hot it’s going to set stuff on fire. Technically, it counts as two elements, and has been confirmed as such by making it an Avatar-only thing in ATLA. But now these two random guys can just do this. Apparently it may even be easier than metalbending, which is also ridiculous. If lavabending is just bending the Earth to “go fast”, that’s a lot easier than metalbending because there’s more mass to bend. Just make it go zoom zoom and blamo everyone’s a lavabender.

Some people like to claim that because Bolin had an Earthbending dad and a Firebender mom, then that means he can control both elements to control lava. Which is dumb because then that would make him a fanfic-esque Dual Bender. And we really don’t need any of those. It’s never explained or justified, and is so different from the original show, it feels...sacrilegious. How dare you dishonor the lore. /s

BALD AIRBENDING MAN

What’s his name?

I don’t really care, because he’s dumb too. I feel like I don’t have to elaborate, though. It should be pretty obvious. ~Harmonic Converge~ (weird af plot device) gave him airbending, and because he studied it before and read a book by an Airbender Lady, he’s a master at it now. His powers are so innate, he worked so little to get to where he is. Hell, he didn’t work at all.

Unless you want me to believe that all his days in prison, he anticipated becoming an airbender and practiced all the moves beforehand. Granted, there are no official moves anymore. I’m sure he’s experienced in reckless punching. That’s all you need to bend, right?

If he can read a book and be great at airbending, why can’t Korra. Why didn’t Aang read THREE books to go defeat Ozai. Aang just should’ve read Earthbending for Dummies. Then he could bend the entire world off its axis. And This Bald Guy can jump off a cliff after quoting some “deep airbending lore” and he can FLY. Not even propelled by anything or even (AGAIN I REITERATE) moving his arms to BEND the currents around him. He’s not flying. He’s floating. And floating characters have always seemed like pretty bad animation, seriously. He looks like a late-stage yuri on ice character. Super out of place, and moving oddly across an undefined plane.

MAKO IN GENERAL

Mako does a couple things I’m not a big fan of. Ok, a lot of things. But in terms of bending, I have a few choice picks.

In Legend of Korra, lightning and its redirection has a lot less of an impact. Being electrocuted no longer hurts anyone unless the writers want us to feel bad for a character being hurt (usually Korra). But half of the time, it’s just there to look really COOL and not really do anything. This is proven by two things. Mako shoots lightning right on Amon at point blank, and Amon isn’t affected. The same is true for Mako. He HOLDS ON to the lightning and ISN’T AFFECTED AT ALL. Let me make another ATLA/LOK comparison.

Zuko: Tries to redirect lightning, gaurding his torso so hopefully it doesn’t hit him. In the end it does and he’s pretty much out of the fight.

Mako: Doesn’t even really care if he’s hit by the lightning at all. He holds on to it for a good few seconds, because it’s not like electrocution hurts or anything. Only after getting a REFRESHING SHOCK for a good bit does he decide to toss it back at the Robo Man.

Maybe this would make sense because Mako is supposed to be a cool, all-powerful Firebender. But then even that theory breaks down, because he can withstand the strongest forms of raw fuckin’ Bending Power from all elements, apparently.

He does another of these dumb moves when he’s being bloodbended by Amon. We see Amon being bloodbended, but he escapes the grip, and the audience assumes it’s because he’s a bloodbender. But then suddenly MAKO CAN DO IT TOO. What a great guy.

Also Amon’s fine from this shock as well. And this kind of encompasses everything I’ve touched on. There’s Amon bending without moving, Mako having unrealistic powers never touched on before, and powers that are nerfed to all hell just to add ~drama~ in replace of actual sense.

TL;DR: LOK’s bending is saturated action filler written in for wish fulfillment, sacrifices old techniques and inner consistency for cool looking moves and scenarios, and shows a disappointing lack of passion or misunderstanding of the source material

#anti lok #anti-lok #anti bryke #anti-bryke #rant #my posts

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kitchenangst · 4 years

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Before Anything Good pt. 3

Mako x reader (she/her pronouns)

Word count: 2.3k

Warnings: language, implied abusive relationship, incoherent thoughts, really badly described analogies

a/n: why is it so hard to get to the mAIN STORY LINE LMAO I am neglecting my hw so hard right now anyway lmk if there are errors

pt. i | pt. ii | pt. iv

Bathroom, bathroom, bathroom, Mako, Bolin, bathroom- her feet bring her to her destination, hand on the knob, ready to burst in- wait, no, knock first.

The door opens slightly, revealing a part of Mako’s face before his hand sticks out expectantly. Yn stares at his open palm before slapping it with her own.

“Sorry! Forgot the towels!” she calls tersely as she hurries to the towel cabinet, just as she heard the bathroom door shut. Running back to the bathroom at the same pace with the towels in her arms, she freezes halfway as she realized she had forgotten their clothes. Fuck, where were the clothes, that’s the whole reason why she went to ask her mom in the first place. They had to be in the basket in her father’s room or something, she concludes, whatever that something is. She breezes by the bathroom on her way there, leaving the towels on the doorknob with an urgent knock, not noticing that they had fallen to the ground before she returned to the room.

Clothes, clothes, what were their sizes. Frantically digging through the basket, all she finds are her father’s garments. Turning to the dresser, she urgently starts pulling the drawers out one by one, lifting and throwing the folded clothes until she can find the pair of clothes, the uniform, she realizes, that was always provided in faux hospitality.

As she continues to shuffle through the clothes, she can’t help but think that she should’ve just left the two in the alleyway (sympathy be damned, this was much more harmful than helpful) if she had known her father was going to mug them of the only money they had left.

Is that why they had so many clothes uniforms for various sizes? To rob the other orphans she had insisted on bringing home for dinner as well? Wasn’t it counterproductive to spend money on them when these orphans barely had money to spare?

She finally finds 2 sets of clothes uniforms: one roughly her size and another just slightly smaller. Without wasting a moment, she gathers them in her arms and races to the bathroom, rushing to stop her father before he leaves. However, she barely makes it out the door without him in the way.

“Spirits, sweetie, what animal did you release in my room this time?”

Finally sparing a glance around the room, Yn finds the state of the room just as messy as her mind. The clothes strewn everywhere and unorganized, thrown at rapid fire just like her thoughts. It dawns on her that he’s about to leave when he grabs his coat and hat… leave to mug her new friends (if she was even allowed to call them that at this point), just like he had every time before today.

“Father, where are you going?” she tries to ask normally, as unsuspectingly as possible, but the shaky pitch as she calls for his attention might as well have given away that she discovered his scheming.

“Just picking up some money,” he responds coolly, sending a shiver down her spine and goosebumps in their wake.

“From where?” Her fingers twitch in anticipation of his answer, hiding underneath the uniform.

He way he forces a chuckle out to alleviate where the conversation is going, sickens her as he crouches down to her height. “My boss, of course.” The tight lipped smile he gives is all she needs to know he’s lying.

“You-you’re not stealing from them, are you?” The very thought of it felt absurd, but saying it out loud left a bitter note on her tongue. She clutches onto the clothes, the fabric the only thing stopping her nails from digging into her palms. “They don’t have any money!” She whispers harshly, unsure if she wanted Mako and Bolin to hear from the other side of the hall. She couldn’t tell what was worse: knowing that stopping her father will impact the household or that this would affect the brothers for worse. Was picking one over the other any better? Did she even have a choice?

“Sweetie, we need the money, too, so just keep them occupied while I look for it.” An order, and one she had no choice but to follow.

His hand snaking around the back of her neck is enough to stop her from protesting. The firm squeeze making the words lose themselves in her throat and forced to be swallowed down if she didn’t want to choke on air. His smile was cold in comparison to the unspoken threat in his eyes, his nostrils flaring just slightly to serve as a reminder that someone will bear the punishment in her stead, and the slight raise in his eyebrows almost daring her to challenge him.

Somehow, it scares her more than meeting the back of his hand.

He finally releases his hold when she doesn’t say anything. “Well? Better get those clothes to those boys,” he reminds her while standing back to his full height. “It’ll be the only nice thing they’ll have in awhile!”

Her face pales as her feet drag her back to the bathroom, hardly registering that she left the room in the first place. Knocking on the door once again, she merely shoves the clothes in Mako’s face before he can stick his hand out the open door. “Dinner will be ready in a bit,” she mechanically says, looking away. She turns back at Mako’s thanks, immediately regretting it because her eyes speak of conflicts louder than she can say, regret written on her face clearer than a sunny day, and she fears that he catches on. She opens and closes her mouth, unsure if she should tell them. Before she decides on an answer, she promptly shuts the door on him and returns to the kitchen to help her mother.

Hearing her mom’s upbeat humming with a large pink print donning her face as she sets the table nearly breaks Yn’s heart. How could she pick between her mother and these two boys she just barely met? How would there be any way to satisfy both parties? She sighs at the conflict, her shoulders sagging at the thought of being unable to do anything for both of them.

She begins filling the bowls with rice, her movements sluggish from dreading what will happen to Mako and Bolin. How will their opinion of her change? Will they forgive her? Will her mom forgive her if she makes the other two leave before her father could find their money, if they even had any? Was it like this every other time before?

She hated it. The feeling of being tugged between two equally wrong decisions; the feeling of seeing the surface of the water while chained to the bottom, only barely being able to have the tip of her nose reach the surface for air; both of which her body would readily succumb to the dark.

“What’s wrong, sweetie?” She looks up from her spot to find her mother’s concerned face. “You’re piling the rice,” she says with a playful grin. She gently takes the bowl and rice scooper out of Yn’s hands, pushing the rice piled past the bowl’s rim back into the cooker. She can’t help but think her mom could have pushed it into the last remaining bowl instead.

She merely stares at her mom filling the last bowl, proceeding to frown at her mom. “Will you be eating tonight?” Yn’s voice comes out much smaller than she hoped, the lump in her throat making it hard for her to speak any louder.

Her mom stares blankly at her, pondering for a few brief seconds before concluding, “I would hope so. I made plenty for all of us.” Hope so. The fact that she had to think if she would eat, if she even got to, made Yn’s stomach lurch, stones piling in her abdomen, making it hard to filter out the guilt. “Those boys are nice. They should be able to take back any leftovers they want.” Her mom’s smile falters to a grimace, as if she was compensating them for their loss, for the misfortune she brought to them. At least she was doing something to balance the bad. What about Yn? What could she do? Her feet stay frozen to the ground, unmoving just like her problem.

“Mmm!! Smells so good!!” Bolin’s call from the hallway snaps her out of her reverie. His head pokes out from the corner shortly afterward, eyes darting until they finally land on the table. “Mako! There’s food!”

Bolin races to the seats at the round dining table with Mako shortly behind him, both unable to resist the enticing aromas of the meal and reach for their chopsticks, manners forgotten. Their mouths water at the sight of grilled fish and sauteed vegetables, and start piling it onto their bowls before scarfing it down with a wholehearted zeal that could light an entire town.

“Doesn’t it feel nice to eat without being stinky,” Yn teases with good nature as she approaches the table with her bowl in hand. Climbing onto her seat, she begins piling the food into her own bowl as well, making sure to sneak the vegetables she liked less into her mom’s bowl. Dinner is quiet, save for a few chuckles from her mom at how Bolin practically squeals in delight at every bite, the crisp ring from chopsticks hitting the ceramic bowls or plates, and the dull thud of the cups tapping the wooden table whenever someone drank from it.

This is nice, Yn thinks. She grins at the small smirk Mako gives Bolin when he puts more vegetables in his bowl, at the wide eyes that take up half of Mako’s face when her mom wipes the sauce off his mouth with a napkin, at Bolin’s little dancing when he thinks she didn’t notice he stole her favorite part of the fish from her bowl. It’s one of the more heartwarming dinners she hasn’t had in awhile, one where her mom’s eyes gleam from pure joy instead of unshed tears. The whole scene makes her almost forget about her dad, until she hears the doorknob shake.

And like a crack in glass, the screeching of Yn’s chair scraping against the floor as she abruptly stands, ruins the whole atmosphere. Everyone stops mid-bite as they stare at her escaping the table. Mako and Bolin carry on after sharing a look while her mom struggles to swallow her food.

Her feet slam against the floor, almost getting hit by the doorknob as it swings open. She cranes her neck to look at him in the eye, simply holding her hands out to gather his coat and hat for the second time that day.

His hollow chuckle does nothing to warm her as he says, “What? No bow this time, sweetie? Did you forget how to greet people at the door?” The smile playing on his lips a menace and an indicator of his good mood as he recalls how successful his catch this time is.

“No…” Almost shamefully, she bows slightly, her arms stiff as she brings them back to her side only to raise them again for his coat and hat. “Welcome back, father.”

She dashes off to his bedroom the moment she retrieves them, patting the jacket and emptying the pockets for any signs of coins or bills, only to come out with a few yuans. Making sure to take it, she wedges it between the wall and the back of her dresser in her own room for later.

She returns to the dinner table on time to see him seated between her chair and mother. The grilled fish she ate flops aggressively in her stomach when he mentions picking up money from his boss. A small bonus, he calls it. She catches Mako looking towards Bolin for a few brief seconds, eyes wary, at the amount.

About 1,300 yuans. It’s a whole lot more than the amount she found in her father’s coat.

Is that how much they had? How were they able to have so much money despite being orphans? Where were they able to hide that amount? How was he able to find it? Where is he hiding their money if it wasn’t in his coat?

Dinner is silent once again, yet the tension is enough to ruin her appetite. It doesn’t feel as heartwarming anymore, the table flooding with anxiety and defeat at the mere presence of her father. His attempt at small talk is choppy and near condescending. Mako’s posture had stiffened since her father sat down, but if the stoic expression resting on his face showed any discomfort at his tone, he didn’t say anything about it. His choice to make dry responses doesn’t deter her father, doesn’t stop the fact that they’re in his household, doesn’t hinder his good mood from robbing.

The plates are eaten clean with leftovers packed neatly into containers for Mako and Bolin to eat for tomorrow. Before they leave, Yn makes sure to carefully tuck the yuans she stole from her father’s coat earlier into the pockets of their washed clothes, leaving a messily scribbled note saying she was sorry. She returns the folded clothes to them just as they enter the carriage.

“Will I see you again?” It’s a stupid question, she thinks, yet she can’t help but be a little hopeful. Of course she can see them, but they might not want to see her again, especially once they find out their money was stolen.

“I don’t know. We don’t really have anywhere else to go, so maybe?” And it’s a naive response that’s bound to change soon enough.

Bolin’s face becomes the more dopey with every passing second he tries to stay awake, likely tired from digesting all the food he devoured. Once they secure their seats, Mako says their thanks as the carriage rides off. Yn watches it as it grows smaller and smaller in the distance, yet it does nothing to quell the growing guilt in her gut.

a/n: yall know I had to sneak in one last stinky before reaching the end of this chapter LOL i had to split this part AGAIN because it was too many words, and the next part will likely be the end of what i originally intended to have as part one,,, also updates may be slower from now since school is picking up the pace :(( anyway pls stay hydrated it’s like 100F where i am and it sucks

edit: i tweaked the last few paragraphs a bit bc it was a tad confusing since i wasn’t very clear with my wording, so i’m very sorry about that ;( also i hope any questions you guys have will be answered in next few updates!!

pt. i | pt. ii | pt. iv

taglist! (if you’d like to be tagged, pls DM or send in an ask!)

@welovediaaxx

#lok x reader #mako imagine #mako x reader #lok imagine #legend of korra x reader #lok #legend of korra #mako #BAG #j writes #source: lok art of the animated series

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