#I think very low of Suyin

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

is suyin the OG karen of the avatar universe or does that go to the earth queen?

Gosh the earth queen for sure!

I see Suyin more like that scoundrel child that grew up to be UBER religious and say shit like “every child is an arrow in the lords quiver”

[allgremlinart]

you must decide. you must choose the ultimate MILF.

propaganda/MILF context under the cut

Kya I - Very brave. Died in kind of just a brutal and violent and sad way. Invisible presence of the show. Good mom, from what we can tell. Bagged absolute stud of a husband so good for her.

Ursa - What can I say ? Soap Opera Protagonist. Forced into non-consensual marriage. Killed her father in law. Loved both of her children very much but it still wasn't enough to save them. Unfulfilled stage mom. Magic Gay Grandpa.

Hei-Ran - Refers to her daughter by her military rank. Maybe killed her cousin and others in honor duels on purpose but it's kind of wishy washy. Had a thing with past avatar, new avatar ends up dating her daughter, which has got to feel kind of weird.

Lin Beifong - One of few characters in-universe with family name privileges. Not the mommy issues giver but the mommy issues haver. A cop but hey she's really hot. No social life. Miserable.

Liling - Going to give her children incredibly intense mommy issues. Capitalist. Engaged in corporate sabotage to ensure her own dominance in factory town. On like the worst possible version of an HOA. Prejudiced against own daughter.

Buttercup Raiko - One of few characters in-universe with family name privileges. Only mistake was marrying absolute cuck of a president. Barely on screen but when she was she served I can't lie.

Suyin Beifong - One of few characters in-universe with family name privileges. Kind of weird ex-hippy turned liberal mom vibes. Didn't give any of her five children mommy issues but DID give them to the ethno-nationalist with a mecha.

Kya II - Canonically lesbian. Hippie aunt. Underutilized. Shows up to beat ass and make fun of her brothers and then leaves to go smoke weed or something. Daddy issues but like they're pretty manageable, could be way worse.

Senna - Next to her husband looks about one apple tall. Long suffering mother of Avatar. Loves her daughter very much. Not really sure how she survived living with the personalities that are Korra and Tonraq but I think it has to be weed. Cute hair.

Izumi - Maybe has 30 seconds of dialogue but nonetheless present in plenty of f/f slash. The glasses are hot. We don't really know much about her besides the fact that her dad loves her very much.

Pema - Tenzin get OFF of that woman. I know she was only pregnant for like technically one season but it may as well have been the whole show. She needs to try weed and also abandon her family for a month. Low-key devious.

Tagaka - Self-titled Pirate Queen. Waterbender but also uses cool sword she stole off a dead guy just cus. Humiliates old men in front of their adoptive children. Ok so MAYBE she raids coastlines and takes prisoners/slaves from villages she plunders but she's hot when she does it.

[wilcze-kudly]

A barely coherent ramble on the Beifongs being a family of people with an incredibly high ability to feel things

Toph

I think a lot of people really misinterpret Toph. They see her for her role as powerhouse. However, one of her key abilities is actually her ability to sense her surroundings with earthbending.

But that's not all. Toph is able to sense people's heartrates and tell when they are lying or not.

In fact, Toph is a surprisingly empathetic person. Despite her abrasive and harsh personality, she's surprisingly good at reading people and seems to have very high emotional intelligence. She's extremely good at identifying people's strengths and their weak points. Multiple times, she's able to successfully get under people's skin very efficiently.

Girl is using her empathy to bully people good for her.

Sure, she often uses a tough love approach, however I would argue that it's a self defence mechanism. Toph doesn't like being vulnerable, probably due to the fact that she was treated as weak and helpless when she was growing up. People with higher empathy or sensitivity tend to be percieved as weaker or more delicate, which is something Toph desperately wants to avoid. Toph also carried her parents' emotions and expectations of her for a very long time and it could stand to reason that she doesn't wnat to do that with anyone else.

I think I may make a longer post on Toph and her trauma surrounding her parents and how that affects her relationships and behaviours lol.

Lin

So... Lin is very similar to her mother in many ways. She also puts up a prickly wall of "tough love" to deal with her high sensitivity. However, she seems to absorb and internalise things that hurt her much more than Toph does.

Lin's emotional maturity is heavily stunted, most likely due to her difficulty with bonding with people. She never really allowed herself to grow past a certain point. She didn't grow into her empathy, therefore she feels things, but doesn't exactly know how to handle them. Repressing these feelings is a band aid solution, and we do see how dangerous them overflowing is.

However, on rare occasions we do see Lin allow herself to empathise with others. We see this particularly with Opal and Mako. However, with most people, Lin's guard is always up.

Lin is the textbook example of someone very sensitive who pushes people away out of the fear of getting hurt.

Suyin

I can see some people arguing that Suyin has pretty low empathy. Looking at her treatment of Lin, Kuvira and Baatar Jr. I think it's true that in her younger years, Suyin struggled with her feelings. I'd argue it is due to very high empathy actually. In the flashbacks, Su seems to mirror Lin's emotions back at her, perhaps unable to distinguish them from her own.

However, unlike Lin, Su grows as a person in her time away from Republic City. When we see her as an adult, she is very in tune with her emotions and also able to deal with other people's outbursts without internalising their feelings.

She has a very gentle way of speaking to people and is able to quickly pinpoint what they need to hear, as she does with a young Kuvira and with Bolin. She can make other's feel comfortable and safe. Perhaps due to her own turbulent upbringing.

However, Suyin is also heacily driven by her emotions. Her impulsivity can cloud her judgement, such as when she flew into a fit of rage at the idea of a guard betraying her city, or when she risked not only her own life, but that of her sons, and tried to impulsively save Zaofu feom Kuvira. She also still holds a shocking degree of sympathy for Kuvira, despite her initial anger at her ans her children's visible discomfort with Kuvira's presence.

Suyin feels things very strongly, and, despite getting better at managing her feelings, they still often overtake her.

Baatar Jr

It's interesting when a character who is characterised as a more "intellectual" type is driven primarily by their emotions. Despite being a man of science, Baatar Jr has a habit of disregarding logic completely.

He prioritises his relationship with Kuvira, he has a weird lil rivalry with Varrick, he's incredibly bitter when it comes to his relationship with his family. Baatar Jr is such an underrated character.

Huan

I think most artists are inherently sensitive people. And we very much like to express the things we feel.

Huan seems to use his art to process certain experiences, for example Harmonic Convergence. He's quite sensitive when it comes to his creations. He also values other people's art too and perfers "raw emotional power" over quality.

Opal

I think a lot of people pick up on Opal's empathy on the first watch, especially when you see her interact with Lin. Opal is also very quick to notice that Su still has a soft spot for Kuvira. She also sets boundaries with Bolin very quickly and efficiently and I would credit this to Suyin's parenting.

But Opal is very much like her mother in the sense of having her judgement clouded by her emotions. Especially when it comes to the Kuvira situation. Her strong emotions often act to her detriment, as she almost gets baited into attacking Kuvira and her unchecked anger at Bolin arguably made him retract further into Kuvira's army. This is hardly a new thing for Opal, as we see her lashing out even as a child.

Wei and Wing

Splitting what little screentime the twins have between them yields scarce, but interesting characterisation. Wing seems to be more outwardly emotional, throwing a tantrum when he loses a game and cheering when excited about sparring Korra. While Wei, much like Lin and Toph before him, seems to put up a bit of a prickly wall, for example when he's antagonising Bolin.

The twins are very closely tied to their mother and it wouldn't be a stretch of the imagination to say that they internalise her emotions. Like when Wei yells at Kuvira during the negotiations.

The twins are also very open about their upset at Opal leaving. It's honestly sweet to se that Suyin raised her children to be able to express their emotions rather healthily.

Uh. Anyway. This post was mainly meant to toss a pattern I've noticed out into the open. I might make some more posts elaborating on particular aspects of it (i also wanna make one on kuvira and how she's quite the opposite of the Beifongs). So uh. If you have any suggestions of topics i should start with,just shoot lol.

[yell0wsalt]

50 Character Asks: Toph Beifong

#1, 2, and 3 please.

1. Canon I outright reject

Her height as an adult. Thinking about how small she is as a kid to her being near Aang’s height as an adult, back to her pocket sized self as an old lady?!? 

Oh my back hurts thinking about that height whiplash. Up and down like a horrid slinky

2. A canon or head canon hill I will die on

She never really patched things up with her parents. When she was older she decided (no small part in peer pressure from her friends lol) to try to reconnect with her parents. 

It didn’t go well.

They never completely understood or approved of her lifestyle, despite all her accomplishments and growth as one of, if not the greatest earth bender of her time.

When Toph realized they would always be stuck in their traditional ways, she kept them at an arms length from then on.

They tried to connect again for a chance to know their grandchildren Lin and Suyin. Only for the sake of Toph’s kids, that was the extent of their relationship

3. Obscure headcanon 

Toph is musically inclined. She’s very in tune with her senses, particularly touch and hearing that help in her musical studies. She just doesn’t keep up with it due to low level of interest. If she had to though, she wouldn’t have much of a problem

Random Character Asks

[blackflash9]

Suyin Beifong: The Strategist?

Suyin has a fascinatingly adaptive and acute mind for battle and strategy, which is quite underappreciated by the fandom for the brief time we have known her as a character. She is implied to know rare, obscure styles and techniques like Combustion bending. She is privy to their weak spot, as shown when she calmly and assertively tells the others of P'Li's weakness. That, or she was really into Uncle Sokka's stories as a child, which still hints at her being very attentive and good at retaining information. She is also self-aware and makes remarkably good use of her home turf even when under the pressure of her self-proclaimed impenetrable city being infiltrated. ['The Terror Within' Transcript] Asami: "There's no way to cross that moat." Suyin: [Looks up at the ceiling dome.] "We don't need to cross it. Lin and I can drop in from the dome on cables."

Lin: [Sarcastically.] "That's a great idea. Except we'll get blown up the second that third-eyed freak sees us." Suyin: "She's a combustionbender. If one of you can stun her, her powers will be knocked out temporarily."

Another example is during "Enter the Void," where she competently disputes with seasoned fighters and established leaders in Lin and Tonraq over the best action to approach the Red Lotus. Here, she makes crucial points about numbers, terrain, and how to safely and efficiently use their assets to their advantage. She even comes up with the plan they would execute later. ['Enter The Void' Transcript]

Suyin: [Places an airship figurine in front of the temple.] "I say we make our approach from the west, drop down from the airship on cables, ambush these Red Lotus low-lives before they know what hit them." Lin: "It will never work. That Combustion Lady will pick us off one by one." Suyin: "You have a better idea on how to save the airbenders?" Lin: "Yeah. We come up from the valley, scale the side of the mountain and take them off guard." Tonraq: "That could work." Suyin: "And give them the high ground? No, if their lavabender spots us, he'll melt the mountainside and us with it."

Suyin: "I think I figured a way to play this so that the airbenders and Korra all come out in one piece." Lin: "How?" Suyin: "Zaheer doesn't know how many of us there are, so we have the numbers advantage. I say we split into two teams: [Places the airship figurine on the temple.] Mako, Bolin, and Asami will take the airship up to the temple. [Places a Metal Clan figurine on a mountain.] Meanwhile, my metalbenders, Tonraq, Lin, and I will get in position below Laghima's Peak."

I believe this is another underlying reason why Tenzin and Raiko were so adamant about her being the person to handle the Earth Kingdom situation beyond just her city's resources and her status as a Beifong.

Even someone like Kuvira emulating her leadership and tactical qualities (and subsequently taking them to their logical extreme) after Suyin speaks volumes of her ability.

[kingwuko]

ooh, i’ve got one!

wu and mako’s relationship with opal? aka their coolest in-law lol

OOOhhhhh Okay so I think Mako and Opal have a very. Just normal relationship. Like very typical brother-in-law sister-in-law stuff. Once Opal and Bolin start having kids, Mako's around a lot helping, so I think maybe that's part of how they get closer? They probably have some laughs over how ridiculous their spouses are.

Opal and Wu both come from more affluent backgrounds. and they both fall in love with these orphan chaos brothers. I imagine they bond a lot over that. I also think Wu gets low key adopted by Suyin so he gets close to all the Beifongs so Opal and Wu get this very like, sibling-esque relationship going on. I think they bond a lot over fine dining. Wu clearly has feelings about upscale food and Opal grew up with a personal chef so they're both very much like, comfortable with fine dining. They probably go to fancy restaurants and wine tastings together all the time.

[stitch1830]

Hiya Stitch!!! I hope you're doing well!

Who would have the more chaotic household, a Taang household or a Kantoph one?

Hi Ronin, thanks for the ask!

Good question…

With Taang and Kantoph, both couples and families are pretty chaotic. Aang and Toph like to wreak a bit of havoc together and always bring out the fun, “immature” part of each other out. They’d both prefer to just have fun and enjoy their lives. They instigate one another (in a good way), so it creates a bit of chaos.

With their kids, I’d say Toph takes on a more responsible role, Aang is the playful one. But that’s not to say that Toph isn’t playful! She just tones the chaos down just a notch.

With the kids, they have a very open, slightly carefree style of parenting. Their kids explore and go on lil adventures, Toph and Aang try to just let them do their thing and not rain on their parade. Of course, they get nervous sometimes, but they trust their kids and their kids know they can call Taang at any point.

With Kantoph, I think their chaos is a little more tactful. Pointed. They’re not really the pranking type, although there are a few occasions where they’ll instigate something. Usually, it’s them running off to do their own thing away from the crowds. And despite Kanto being pretty mischievous, he’s typically the one that mellows out Toph for the most part.

And with the kids, Toph is the calm, chaotic instigator. After work she typically tries to rest and relax with the kids, but if they’re ever wanting to train or do something that’s a little crazy, she’ll be all for it. But Kanto is trying to be the responsible one and it is a Chore. He freaks whenever the girls nearly get hurt or fall, and he just panics at the mere thought of them hurt or in pain. And the girls think it’s hilarious when Baba is Stressed Out, so that’s just chaos on its own. All the girls are doing crazy little things to get Baba to freak out, and it’s turning Kanto’s hair grey, that’s for sure. Whenever he tries to call Toph over for backup, she teasingly brushes it off until she decides to put her foot down and stop the chaos. Usually, though, she makes Kanto sweat it out for a few minutes longer haha!

My Taang AU has four kiddos, and my Kantoph AU has seven. A little more firepower from the Kantoph side of things, but don’t be fooled. The Dunebabies know how to wreak havoc. Gyatso and Suyin are the “troublemakers” in particular. And Lin typically gets roped into things. Kenji is the baby of the family and can do no wrong ;). Although when he started flying around the city and Toph couldn’t find him… that was a stressful day.

If I had to choose one, I’d say that Taang is a little more chaotic! They have a more open style of parenting that sort of leaves the aunts and uncles stressing out about the Dunebabies. Toph and Aang worry, but they do it in a way that still promotes their kids to be adventurous and curious.

The Kantophlets tend to get tracked down by Kanto and he frets a lot over them (hard to not freak out when there are six baba’s girls running around the city and he’s trying to keep track of all of them!). Because he’s a little more protective and worried, the family’s chaos is pared down just a little bit. I also think I tend to think of the Kantoph household as a little less adventurous? They’re a beach vacation kind of family whereas Taang they travel all the time and go to different, a little more dangerous places. Not saying Taang’s day-to-day life isn’t dangerous, but I think as the Chief and Deputy of Republic City, the danger feels a little more targeted and tangible. So, they try to keep their private life on the down low.

So, there ya have it! Taang family a little more chaotic than the Kantoph family :) Would love to hear your thoughts though, Ronin!

Thanks again for the ask, and I hope you have a great day! :D

……

Send me asks about ATLA, LOK, or anything, really! :D

[grumpygreenwitch]

Fanfiction 20-21

Originally posted 10/10/23. Despite what you might think, this was not the original plan. In fact, there was no original plan. Alyss himself is astonished at how well things are going. Well, barring his impending execution, probably.

Buy me a Ko-fi? And please remember that reblogs are about the only way that my stories get out there.

1-2-3 + 4-5 + 6-7-8-9-10 + 11-12 + 13-14 + 15-16 + 17-18-19 + 20-21 + 22-23 + 24-25 + 26-27

20

Dawn found Alyss shivering under the scratchy blanket and the cloak Kliman had left for him. He wasn’t sure if he was awake or not, only that he’d slept enough for the pain to wake him up, and that he was so tired he could’ve kept on sleeping if not for everything else conspiring against it.

His parents had come to see him. He’d been so utterly surprised to see them, let alone having them ask about his well-being that for a moment he’d forgotten the sort of people they were. They were, after all, the sort of people who depended on a specific social image to maintain their lifestyles. The sort of people who couldn’t possibly have a criminal for a son. The sort of people who would ask him to give up all the information he had on the disappearing vampires, who thought angels indulging in a bit of bloody fun couldn’t possibly be so bad, and if it was, well, what of it. They were only vampires. There were always more.

They’d left very angry. Alyss only felt relief; come what may, apparently his parents and him were quit at last. No more dodging suitors for him!

But that had made him think of Jean, and he’d been feeling very low and heartbroken when the next visitor had arrived. The angel identified himself as one of Suyin’s Inner Court. Her questions had been calm and pointed, and had very little to do with the pipeline, which had been a relief, and everything to do with Alyss’ motivations, which had been very soothing. He’d long ago figured out his motivations, all the way back since he’d agreed to run the pipeline for Kliman, back in Maine, on that lovely late autumn morning. He’d answered as thoroughly as he could, until exhaustion made him trip over his words as the interview carried on; at that point the other angel had graciously excused herself and left him to rest.

He’d tried. Being able to wash up, however briefly, having something to eat and drink, a clean shirt, some care to his wings, it had all helped. But he kept thinking of Jean, of those terrible words.

I thought I could!

Kliman had said Jean was mad with worry, perhaps meaning to reassure Alyss. Instead he found himself confused and bereft. He trusted Jean, he loved him. There was no doubt in Alyss. But as the older angels spoke to him, telling him of what was happening and what was to come, he kept getting distracted trying to find the fault in himself, whatever had made his vampire believe he was not loved.

There was nothing Alyss would not do to keep Jean safe. The vampire deserved to have good things in his life after spending so much of it drowning in agony and fear. Had he failed to convey that, failed catastrophically enough that it simply hadn’t come across?

No. Alyss realized, at some point while the Hummingbird and Kliman discussed votes and something or other, that the problem was not with him or with Jean. It was the past rearing up, trying to steal his vampire away. It was frustrating, because Alyss wasn’t there to help him stay afloat, and he had no way of knowing if he ever would be. The Cadre might call for his execution. So instead he’d found a single, solitary feather that had not been torn or bruised or mangled. A little bit of a bloodstain on it, but he couldn’t help that. It wasn’t real amber but it was as close as he was going to get, and he’d sent it with Kliman, trusting her to get it to Jean.

It had been a sobering reminder that, no matter what the older angel might say, things had a very good chance at ending poorly for him. Crushed by doubt and loneliness, missing his vampire terribly, Alyss had settled down to try and sleep the rest of the night away, only to be woken up by the guard at the door arguing in exasperated tones with someone else. He was still trying to figure out why they’d even set a guard on him when the door had opened and another angel had walked in.

Alyss sat up. The stranger had skin so pale and fine that it seemed possible to see the delicate tracery of blood vessels under it. He was short, stocky, with luminous and mismatched brown eyes, one much darker than the other. He had very dark, coppery gold hair pinned back with an elegant, ancient ivory and leather clip, and he wore robes of embroidered linen, rather than more modern attire. He walked with a smooth, silent gait that made not a ripple of motion on the rest of him. His wings were a deep lustrous green at the root, growing darker and becoming completely black at the pinions. He was, inasmuch as an angel could be, a fairly pleasant-looking, nondescript sort of creature.

They stared at one another for a long moment, Alyss too tired to get any sort of coherency out of his mouth, the stranger examining him curiously. It was him who broke the silence, pointing at the door over one of his shoulders. “Why do they have a guard on you? Do they expect you’ll walk out of the Refuge?” He had a lilting accent that Alyss couldn’t readily place.

Alyss felt somewhat relieved; the same question had been bothering him since he’d realized there was a guard at his door. “I must be far more dangerous than I knew. I’m sorry, I don’t believe we’ve met, but I’m hardly thinking straight right now.”

“Oh, no, no, we haven’t met.” The angel lifted a reassuring hand. “I’m Moissani.”

Alyss froze.

Moissani smiled, licking his lips briefly. “Ah, you have heard of me. I very much hoped so.”

At those words Alyss realized how close he was to betraying Jean to the monster of the vampire’s past. “Get out.”

“In a moment. It was actually not very easy to get in to see you.”

“Get out!”

“If you keep on shouting I’ll cry for the guards and tell them you attacked me. You’re on such thin ice as it is, my young friend, and I have questions.”

“If you think I’m going to tell you what I didn’t tell the Archangel -”

“Well, I don’t plan to pry open your mind by force, I figured that might count in my favor. And I don’t plan to torture you, though knowing what I know of Aegaeon, I have to wonder if he clipped you just because Raphael balked him at killing you.” When he saw a flicker of shock go through Alyss’ expression, his elegant black brows went up. “Oh, you didn’t know that? Yes, he has gone rather tender-hearted, the Archangel of North America. Some people think it’s because of his Consort, but I rather believe my lord Charisemnon was right: he’s soft. He’s flawed. He always has been.”

“I don’t know that I have anything to say to someone who thinks kindness is a weakness.”

“No, no, don’t misunderstand me.” Moissani shifted and Alyss immediately jerked away. The other angel put his hands up with a little smile, and moved to sit on the shelf. “Kindness as a tool can be very useful if properly applied. For example, the guard outside has a friend. That friend has a very sick nephew. I happen to have a cure. So, here I am.”

“Kindness would be to give him the cure without blackmailing him.”

Moissani chuckled. “You are confusing humans with angels. We accept happiness as it comes to us. We glory in our nature. Humans… Well, I’m sorry to say, but humans aren’t interested in being happy, Alyss. They strive to be miserable, always unfulfilled. It’s a flaw they carry with them when they’re Made, that flailing, that constant striving for what they can’t have, for what they cannot be. To be fair, who wouldn’t want to be an angel?”

“Leave.” Alyss considered the threat Moissani had made and added through grinding teeth. “Please.”

“Not yet, but thank you for your courtesy. Your parents tell me you’re determined to hang onto your secrets. All those vampires gone, disappeared. Breaking their contracts, writ in blood.”

“Their angels broke the contract first. And you talked to my parents?”

Moissani’s eyes went a little wide. “My friend, you can’t teach a dog not to bite without swatting his muzzle a few times when he does it.”

“They’re not dogs. They’re not sharks, they’re not animals, they’re not beasts. They’re people who are waking up into a world that makes no sense anymore because of what we do to them. Discipline, yes. Cruelty, no. And I’m not your friend. You talked to my parents?!”

“I think we might have to agree to disagree on that one. And yes, of course I did. Guard, friend, sick nephew, kindness, remember?”

“My parents have nothing to do -”

“Your parents are shallow, selfish, and useless. To me, anyways,” Moissani cut Alyss off with casual ruthlessness. “I had better luck with the Guild, and it’s a sad state of affairs when humans do anything better than us.”

Alyss opened his mouth. Closed it. In his mind, a deadly little equation had suddenly solved itself. “You sent them the cloak.”

Moissani shrugged cheerfully.

“Where is he?”

“Where’s who?”

“The vampire. The youngling. Where is he?”

“Oh, I don’t know. I imagine one of my people has cremated the body by now.”

“You killed him.” Alyss felt numb.

“What? No. I put him to use.” Moissani shrugged once again. “But you’re right in one thing, he was very young. Not strong enough. Alyss.” The angel put his hands together as if offering a little prayer. “Do you understand how important, how critical my work is? A hundred, a thousand diseases ravage the human world. I have cures for them. Vampires, they’re a little more resilient, but still the same principle applies. I am not my lord Charisemnon. I cannot spin disease whole-cloth out of thin air. I must work for my results. And my work requires very specific tools.”

“Vampires don’t get sick,” Alyss said with a calm he wasn’t sure was real. “Not until someone makes them sick.”

“Ah, but then we come again to our difference of opinion on the definition of discipline.”

“What you do isn’t discipline. It’s butchery, and torture. You’re a monster pretending to be…” Alyss groped for the right word for a moment. “Kind. Using it like an excuse.”

“Perhaps,” Moissani steepled his hands and smiled a thin, dangerous, predatory little grin. “But now I know that you know what it is I do.”

Alyss felt his breath stutter out of him.

“Where is he?”

“You need to leave.”

“In a moment. Please, Alyss, he is so important to my work. I spent nearly a century preparing him. He was nothing! He was a muddy, grubby, illiterate little ditch-digger from the French Territories. I taught him, I trained him, I spent nearly a century bringing him to peak physical perfection -”

“Did you ask him?” Alyss strangled out. It was the one question Jean had always refused to answer. “Did you ask him if he wanted to be Made?”

Moissani scoffed impatiently. “You weren’t there! You can’t possibly believe someone who embraced vampirism as he did didn’t want it! He simply didn’t know of it to want it.” He rose to his feet and stepped closer to Alyss. “He is my perfect specimen, Alyss. A little time, a little peace, and he recovers, and I can start all over with a solid baseline. With reliable numbers, reliable responses, a perfect control group. I need him back. Think of all the good I could do with him -”

Alyss hauled up and punched him. He hadn’t even known it was about to happen until Moissani went staggering back and crashed to the floor, wings flailing everywhere. The accountant’s hand burst into fireworks of pain. He didn’t care. “You. You are the monster that makes it so I do what I do. And if they let me out, if for some reason I survive this, I’ll keep on doing it, just because of monsters like you. Guard!”

There was blood on Moissani’s mouth and a stunned, disbelieving look on his mismatched eyes. The angel outside opened the door and stared in shock.

“I attacked my guest,” Alyss said politely, even if his voice was shaking. “Please get him medical attention before I’m driven to keep attacking him.”

21

With the first light of dawn, Alyss was summoned before the Cadre of Ten. The misnomer started bothering him terribly the moment he set foot inside the chamber. Outside the sheer panic of being the center of attention of so many archangelic powers, even if many of them were only on a screen, there was the problem that after the Cascade and the War of Life and Death the balance had been broken and too many Archangels were Sleeping, or dead, or hadn’t Ascended or, or, or something. No one was used to having less than ten members to the Cadre. Frantically, the young angel tried to corral his thoughts away from trying to figure out if it would be too hard to change the name to the Cadre of Nine or Eight or something. But then again, he didn’t know that it had ever been done before, so probably it just wasn’t done.

“Aegaeon!” A woman’s voice rose in protest immediately at the sight of Alyss.

“What!” The ruler of Central Europe, who was actually in the chamber, looked ready for a fight. “Raphael wouldn’t let me execute him and he might have fled.”

“And you would have been right to clip him. But this isn’t clipping!” The woman was on a screen, her skin midnight and her hair dawn light.

“Ten copper dinars, one silver as,” Aegeon replied boredly. “He’s not flying, is he.”

There were questions. Alyss was honestly surprised; he’d expected them to try and get the information from his mind, as Raphael had. But the Archangel had apparently warned his brethren of the problem with that. Someone did try; Alyss felt them touch, feather-light, on the surface of his mind, and retreat when they had confirmation of what Raphael had said: Alyss didn’t think in words, but numbers.

They asked him first about the vampires, the pipeline. He would not answer with anything beyond a polite, shaky, “I will not answer that.” He saw several of them grow impatient at that. It was the Archangel of China who, sitting rigidly on her chair, asked, “May I offer perhaps a different line of questioning?”

Suyin faced the young angel before them all. His wings were a ruin, and for that alone she had trouble even looking at him. It had been one of the reasons she’d sent Mochow to talk to the young man. The other being that always, in all matters, no matter how small or larger, she strived never to be Lijuan. And Lijuan would have rejected the young angel’s efforts off-hand. She would have only seen the crime, the defiance. She would have punished it accordingly.

But Mochow had come back with a very interesting report, and a great deal of Suyin’s anger had faded while she’d sat and listened to it, because while she might not want to admit it, she was honest enough to know, in her heart of hearts, that if she’d had a tenth of Alyss’ courage there would have been several vampires she’d have been glad to help escape her aunt’s Court. None of them were alive any longer for that kindness to reach them.

And Alyss didn’t care. He was shaking like a leaf before them all, yes, but in truth he was a pond’s surface, battered by the storm but perfectly still beneath the surface, its secrets safely guarded. Suyin believed he would die, willingly, before he betrayed those he’d helped.

“Child,” she asked. “Do you know that you have committed a crime?”

Alyss shifted warily. “Well, technically, many crimes, lady Suyin. They just happen to be the same one over and over,” he replied primly.

She couldn’t help but smile. “But you know.”

“Yes, I know.”

“And that did not stop you. If I told you, if we told you, that you can go free now, go home, forgiven, if you never do this again, would you?”

Alyss didn’t even hesitate. “No, ma'am.”

“Why? You might die here. You must know that.”

The young angel had gone even paler than he’d been. “I’m aware, yes. But lady, if I may speak freely?”

“One could hope you would already,” Alexander muttered from another screen.

Suyin nodded graciously.

“We have failed them. We, angels, and you, our leaders. I mean, there’s the lying, first of all -”

“We do not lie to them!” someone protested.

“Omission is a lie. Back before the testing we didn’t tell them, ‘oh, this might kill you’ -”

“It wouldn’t have stopped them,” Titus countered, but he looked thoughtful rather than combative as he sat, larger than life, to one side of Raphael.

“No, but they would have known!” Alyss cried out. “And now, we don’t tell them, 'this might destroy your mind’. And yes, they’d still apply, they’d still try, but they’d know! A hundred years of service and if it goes wrong, the angel goes 'Oh, well’ and tries again next year. But the vampire doesn’t get to try again next year.”

“Reparations are made,” Raphael declared.

“No, sir. You make reparations. You’re assuming everyone else does. I can tell you, no. Most angels do not.”

“That can’t possibly be true!” A woman who looked very much like the Archangel of New York protested from another screen.

“Give me access to a computer and I will give you a list of those who’ve simply been discreetly destroyed for the past fifty years. Personal project,” Alyss said with absolute conviction. “To remind me, at times like this, of why I do what I do.” Pointedly, he added, “it’s a long list.”

“One could object that, if a vampire’s mind breaks on Making, it is a mercy to end their life before it becomes misery for them, for others,” Raphael replied.

“And I would agree with you, sir. If they’d been informed of the possibility. But they never are. And that doesn’t even cover those who didn’t choose to be Made -”

The chamber erupted into chaos. Not one of the Archangels present was willing to accept the possibility of such a thing happening, not in their domain, not under their watch. Vampires without contracts were a thing of antiquity, a problem of the past, not for the civilized present. Suyin saw Alyss stagger under the onslaught of so much power swirling like a storm all around him, and her wings spread with a sharp snap. “We did not come here to bicker!” Her voice carried over the rest. “We came here because we had questions. We do not get to shy away from the answers just because we do not like them. Life is not that easy, not for anyone, least of all for us. We are Archangels. We are leaders of our people and more. The world looks to us for guidance. If we have missed something so basic, so critical, so important, then I for one would want to know of this shortcoming so I may correct it.”

The chamber went silent. Alyss had curled down in a little ball in the center of it, and Suyin suspected he’d be wrapped up in his wings like a child if he still had them.

“Alyss,” the Archangel of China asked, her voice very gentle. “Are you alright?”

“We could adjourn -”

“I want answers,” Aegaeon overrode Caliane. “The whelp would accuse us of losing control of the very angels in our territories. I want to hear him spell it out if he’s so sure of it.”

“I can get a list for the Archangel. Again, I just need a computer. I can get a list for all of you, sorted by territory. All you’d have to do to confirm is go there.”

“Go there?” Alexander and Titus both perked up.

“These are not vampires who can be brought out of their circumstances, not easily. They were coveted as humans, even more as vampires. They’re closely watched at all times,” Alyss explained, his tattered wings working restlessly in mute testament to his impotent anger. “They are trapped, and unless a real miracle happens there’s nothing we can do to help them,” he admitted, a noted of despair in his voice.

“How do you claim to have better records than the Hunter’s Guild, the VPA?” Raphael protested. Alyss hesitated visibly, and despite the seriousness of the situation, the Archangel’s mouth twitched at the corners. “Alyss, you are still alive. That ought to be proof my Consort is not here.” Elena was back in New York maintaining a presence of command. “Speak freely.”

“The Guild has spent nearly every moment since its inception fighting the VPA, sir. And by and large they’ve won. Don’t misunderstand me; their job is so incredibly important. I have seen, I have met, so many vampires that just… They glut on the world just because they can. They want to be the sun in their universe and nothing, no contract, no authority, no discipline gets through to them.” Alyss drew himself up very straight, because he knew what he was about to say would hurt, and likely offend, and probably anger, everyone listening to him. “I understand there is an uncontrolled hunger inside every vampire. We tell them than a hundred years of service will teach then to control the monster of bloodlust. But everything I’ve seen, everything I’ve learned is that we spent that century teaching them to be afraid. Nobody expects a newborn human to mind human social mores. No one expects a baby angel to fly flawlessly. But from the moment they’re Made, which is how they count their age, we don’t teach them self-control. We just expect them to be perfect and destroy them if they’re not. They’re babies, and we are not doing right by them. ‘Oh, congratulations, you woke up from being a zombie into a screaming hunger you don’t understand. Figure it out or we’ll send the Guild after you. If you’re lucky.’ And the Guild… The Guild’s been so busy hunting monsters that they forgot the victims. Here and there, one Hunter might help. But that’s not their job. I don’t expect them to, I don’t blame them for not helping. I blame them for seeing one rotten apple and setting fire to the entire barrel. No one wants to believe vampires might need help because the Guild has made sure, for decades, that all everyone sees is the rotten apple. They parade it around the news, online, every chance they get, 'oh, look how rotten it is’. And when the VPA tries to say, 'but what about the good apples’, they get their nose rubbed into the latest rotten apple. By now no one believes there were good apples in the barrel.”

There was silence once again in the chamber.

“I desire that list,” Suyin said in the quiet.

“So do I,” Titus rumbled.

“As would I,” Caliane said. “But more importantly, I would like the names of those who know of the transfer process and are helping these angels get away with this atrocity.”

“I do not want him near a computer,” Aegaeon protested. “Who knows what other critical evidence he’ll destroy if we give him a chance.”

“And I want that list,” Alexander said evenly. “Careful, Aegaeon, you’re dangerously close to getting outvoted.”

“Alyss.” Raphael’s voice was a low thrum of power. “This information does not obviate your crimes. If anything, you’re piling evidence upon evidence against yourself.”

“I’m aware, sir,” Alyss admitted.

The Archangel leaned forward, and something very like admiration flickered over his beautiful profile. “This was never about you, was it. You came here to face us and you had absolutely no plans to defend yourself.”

“No, sir.” Alyss wrung his hands, wings twitching. “I know, as our laws are written… I know what’s going to happen to me. But I’m never going to get a better chance to tell you all that this, the way we handle vampires, it’s antiquated, it’s obsolete, and it’s wrong.”

“It’s worked fine for as long as there’s been vampires,” Elijah pointed out mildly, looking immensely curious. He’d made the trip to the Refuge exclusively because Raphael had asked him to act as a neutral party, and he was beginning to be very glad he’d listened.

“No, it hasn’t. They died and we didn’t know why. We fixed that. They ran off and we couldn’t stop them, we fixed that too. The process has changed but it’s only ever changed when it benefited the angel. It’s way, way overdue for it to change so it benefits the vampire, too.”

“Surely changes have been made in the contracts to that purpose,” Alexander protested. “I Slept for four hundred years, that’s enough time for progress to be… made.” His voice trailed off as he watched Alyss shake his head, and the Ancient frowned.

“That can’t be right,” Caliane protested. “We might both be immortals, but life, the world, it moves on, it grows. Any relationship needs to grow and adapt accordingly.”

“Why should it.” Qin spoke for the first time since the beginning of the meeting. “It serves angelic society just fine.”

Raphael ducked his head to hide his chagrin and his amusement. He didn’t for a moment believe that Alyss had meant to trap the Council into considering the unthinkable, but he’d done so all the same. There was no guile to the young angel; he just didn’t think that far. But all the same he’d dragged them all to face a terrible realization. “I would like to ask the Council to adjourn for the moment.”

“What the hell for, now?” Aegaeon protested instantly.

“Several reasons. To ask Keir to provide the names of any angels that he suspects might be capable of betraying the transfer process. To ask Jessamy for a history of any changes made to the vampiric contracts. And to have Alyss provide the lists of vampires made against their will. I would like one as well.”

“As would I,” Elijah declared.

“If I may,” Titus said, a note of dry humor creeping into his voice. “I have someone who wishes to speak on Alyss’ behalf. Since he apparently has forgotten to do it himself.”

Aegaeon simply launched himself out of the chamber. They watched him go, and Caliane shrugged cheerfully. “Meeting adjourned. Noon at the Refuge, then?”

[buckybarnesss]

mako propaganda of 2022 continues

hear me out. 

i think there’s really valid reasons as to why mako ended up being wu’s bodyguard. 

ramblings below cut

ignoring how mako is wasted as a cop and spent a large part of the time he is a cop he’s doing vigilantism than lets talk about the reasons mako was likely chosen to be wu’s part bodyguard part bodyman because it doesn’t appear that wu has any other personal staff at all. at least that we saw. i really wish we’d gotten more as to what was going on there, you know.

i also think book 4 had some silly writing choices because you will not convince me people in positions of power did not see kuvira for what she was by the time of the coronation even if raiko had his head up his own ass about it.

and if we ignore the commentary that wu found mako in the newspaper and asked for him specifically which is very funny and also very gay, wu, goddamn.

reasons why mako was the best choice for wu’s bodyguard and lin did it on purpose because lin beifong is not a stupid woman but was probably salty about handing over one of her best.

mako is a skilled fighter. he had pro-bending history which says a lot to thinking on his feet and adaptability. he fought against the equalists and the red lotus. he has experience against the type that would come after wu because they didn’t know if there were any red lotus still out there after the events of book 3. 

mako has some decent political connections even if he’s totally oblivious to them. raiko definitely used mako as a political pawn in his aim to get wu as a puppet king. mako’s connection to korra and him being on fairly friendly terms with other leaders such as suyin beifong, tonraq, and tenzin was another boon for raiko. he’s also good friends with asami sato who is a rich heiress running the company that’s improving republic city to the point where his extend family lives long term at her estate. i think it’s an interesting idea that people encouraged wu’s behavior so that he’d not be interested in the throne. it’s a more low key version of what happened to kuei. 

mako isn’t going to be bribed or bought. mako have too much integrity for that to be a possibly he also takes a lot of pride in his job. lin knows this and know she doesn’t have to question mako’s loyalty. there’s gonna be no sneaky business and kuvria’s people won’t get an inside man. 

mako is good at his job and an independent thinker. he’s lin beifong’s star pupil. he went to lin beifong’s school of fuck around and find out. mako’s not above doing what needs to be done even if it doesn’t necessarily fit with the letter of the law. he’s no stranger to lethal force but it’s rarely the go to. 

he’s definitely more likely to not put up with wu’s shit or become a sycophant. his own history makes this even more so. he raised bolin while being homeless since the age of 8. he’s tough and practical. while asami is wealthy wu is literal royalty and mako already has a built in bias against the earth kingdom and that level of obscene wealth. (mako’s relationship with wealth and how asami fits into that is pretty fascinating to think about).

lin totally used mako’s pretty face against wu and counted on mako’s obliviousness to it. wu is not a straight person and he totally has a crush on mako. i don’t care what the show tries to say about it because the show uses heavy queer coding for wu.

in short, while mako clearly wasn’t thrilled about being wu’s bodyguard for a majority of his stint and he certainly wasn’t ruminating on the whys it was smart to put him in the position. he’s got skills and qualities that made it work even if he was pissy about it. 

it was probably a minor miracle that wu was so tolerant of mako’s mako-ness but wu seems affection starved and we also really didn’t see how they were for a majority of the time skip. they were probably fine and got along decently tbh because wu is not above melodrama and mako may be a people pleaser but he would walk backwards into hell facing god before staying at job he genuinely hated for that long.

another sticking point for me has always been that the writers had mako sulk so hard he neglected to do his one job. mako exists in a constant state of hyper vigilance and while i thinking the sulking and petulance were pretty par the course they could’ve gone a better route than make mako fail so that they could have korra be the hero. they wanted her to have something of a win so they had her succeed in finding/saving wu but it was at the expense of making mako look incompetent and foolish. i’m still of the mind that they should’ve approached wu and mako’s relationship differently.

...i think this got away from me.

[audreydoeskaren]

Thank you for that nice review. Let us hope that "Story of Yanxi palace" is a start in C-Drama historical costumes. May I suggest for your next review two films. The 1st is "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan" (2011) . As well as "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing" (1955). Now the full movie on YouTube is not of very good quality so , to find a clear and full version of the latter search in "love is a many splendored thing 1955 ok ru" and click the 1st result.

I'm having massive writer's block with the guzhuang series at the moment so I'll return to answering asks while adding to it bit by bit. I couldn't find the full movie for Snow Flower and the Secret Fan easily and from the trailer it doesn't look like that the costumes were anything special. The time setting is a bit vague (the period scenes are just described as "19th century"), and the main female characters are shown wearing 1900s clothes when they were children and still shown wearing 1900s clothes when they grew up, suggesting that the costumer couldn't really tell the difference between the different decades of the late Qing Dynasty. For that reason I don’t think it’s worth it to write a whole review for it. Love is a Many-Splendored Thing, however, looks fabulous and I would love to review it.

Love is a Many-Splendored Thing 1955

Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing is a 1955 Deluxe color American drama-romance film in CinemaScope. Set in 1949–50 in Hong Kong, it tells the story of a married, but separated, American reporter Mark Elliot (played by William Holden), who falls in love with a Eurasian doctor originally from China, Han Suyin (played by Jennifer Jones), only to encounter prejudice from her family and from Hong Kong society. (copy and pasted from Wikipedia) 

So this is an old Hollywood movie I wasn’t expecting that. The female protagonist who was supposed to be Chinese was played by Jennifer Jones, a white actress, which would be unacceptable nowadays but I assume for this movie it was because of the Hays Code and the inability to show interracial couples at the time. Since this is a period original movie there should be fewer problems with accuracy, though there is still the discrepancy between Chinese fashion popular in China and Chinese fashion popular in the West. The late 40s and early 50s was also a key transitional period when the center of cheongsam making switched from Shanghai to Hong Kong, and many new styles were being experimented with.

The screenshots are from the upload on ok.ru

When we are first introduced to Han, she wears this stunning Hong Kong style cheongsam in a light blue color with a matching shawl. Honestly these 1950s Hollywood cheongsam might not be the most accurate but they all look so fabulous. The construction of this cheongsam resembles the mid 50s, when this movie was made, more than it does 1949-50: it uses darts and has an hourglass shape, the collar is low with rounded edges as was popular in the West in the mid 50s. Around 1949-50, cheongsam in mainland China was still without darts and had a tall collar with no gap at the front, a short lived fad that didn’t make it to the mid 50s.

Source

Mid 1950s Western cheongsam sewing pattern.

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Cheongsam with tall collar from the 1948 mainland movie Spring in a Small Town.

Source

Tall collar cheongsam in the 1951 Hong Kong movie  Red and White Azaleas.

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Hong Kong cheongsam of the mid 50s, you can see the collar is taller than the Western style.

This evening dress is gorgeous and standard 50s. I particularly love the width of the shawl at the back; it’s worn exactly the same way as on fashion runways.

In this scene Han wears a perfectly tailored Hong Kong style cheongsam with a light jacket without any shaping. This silhouette was probably inspired by contemporary Western haute couture, where you often had a very tailored and hourglass sheath dress underneath a flat and untailored jacket.

Source

Photograph from British Vogue. I was thinking something like the outfit on the left, I feel like this is something people associate with the 60s more (like Jackie Kennedy’s iconic ensemble), but it was definitely alive and kicking in the 50s.

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Same idea, from Seventeen magazine.

I appreciate the extra here wearing medical style aoku ahaha.

Swimsuit is cute, very 50s (duh).

Source

1956 Sears swimsuit catalogue.

This bathrobe which is maybe going for a yukata impression looks very cool!

Doctor Han your uniform is highly fashionable uwu It has the flat, tubular silhouette popular for 50s coats.

Source

More flat outerwear representation.

This open front coat with a standing collar and a large, decorative pankou was more likely a Hollywood invention since I haven’t seen any Chinese people wearing something like this in real life, but in the 50s “Chinese fashion” was no longer a solid, closed system so nobody cared anymore and Chinese inspired Western fashion designs were very popular.

Flat outerwear strikes again and I’m living for it.

This center front closing nightgown with a standing collar was also a Western invention. Chinese style center front closing garments seem to be very popular as loungewear and pajamas in the mid 20th century.

Source

1950s Chinese inspired pajamas.

For the rest of this movie there are no any other special outfits, Han just wears the hybrid Hong Kong-Western style cheongsam in different colors, fabrics and designs and with different accessories. And boy does she have loads of them.

Sheesh how big is her wardrobe

Overall the costuming in this movie is standard 1950s Hollywood procedure, prioritizing fashion and glamor over characterization (well there also isn’t much to characterize it’s a very simple romance). The clothes are well tailored and fit very well, not to mention the gorgeous fabrics and colors. I do appreciate that the Chinese extras all look quite properly dressed and convincing, not really offensive or stereotypical. The plot is cringy at times, like the sudden weird jab at communists took me off guard, but I guess that’s unavoidable for a 1950s Hollywood movie. The costuming is very pretty and solid save for the time travelling and use of Western styles rather than Hong Kong ones, I’d rate it 7/10.

[princess-of-the-corner]

I mean, TOPH becoming a questionable parent because she overcompensates to try and avoid becoming like her parents is something I can actually see.

(I'm not going to lie, I originally thought that her daughter became a cop SPECIFICALLY as an act of rebellion against her mother.)

And Aang favoring his Airbending kid, even unintentionally, makes a tragic amount of sense considering his situation in canon. If he wasn't the last Airbender, that might not have been an issue.

So like. That’s why I said I /low-key/ agree with this criticism of LOK. 

I completely understand why Aang and Toph would lean toward being that type of parent. 

With Toph, yeah she’s compensating for her own trauma! She hated the way her parents raised her. It was a bad situation. And while she might have eventually repaired things, it was after 12 years of that bad situation, and at least two years of her being on her own with a found family and creating a life where she didn’t need them before she even /started/ to find some way to repair things. Far too late for them to really be her parents, but at least she might’ve been able to talk to them later on. 

So I can absolutely see her compensating in the other direction. Giving her kids the type of freedom she wished she had and encouraging them the way she would’ve loved to get. But then pushing too hard with it. Freedom to the point of not seeming to be involved with them at all, words that are supposed to be saying ‘I believe you can do this’ but come across as pushing them to be the best. 

And Aang! My boy!

Within Canon, there was so much pressure on him. On creating new Airbenders, on rebuilding what had been destroyed, on all of that. It is perfectly understandable that he would focus on the only kid to be an Airbender and teaching him everything he could. It makes sense that, in doing so, he might accidentally sideline the other two kids because while he loved Bumi and Kya just as much as Tenzin, he wasn’t the only person who could teach them about things and what he did.

Though honestly I really do think the rest of the Gaang would have smacked some sense into them at some point. Especially Zuko because he’d go ‘If your kids remind me of my childhood then maybe you should rethink what you’re doing!!”, but also just like. With Aang, if he was fucking up, Katara should’ve said something because she is his wife and mother of his children and would know better as well. 

However I just....

I feel like these issues would have worked better as something /in the moment/ rather than in LOK. 

By the time of LOK, Aang is dead. Even if his kids come to terms with each other and how he fucked up, he can’t really do anything to fix it other than maybe have Korra channel him and be like ‘Lol sorry guys’. 

Toph is still kicking in LOK, but like. Her kids are grown ass adults. Hell, Toph has /grandchildren/ who are grown ass adults. It’s so far afterthefact that even if Lin and Suyin did work their shit out, confront Toph on how she accidentally fucked them up, and she did decide to fix things, it’s so late for her to be the mother they need and honestly who knows how much longer they’d have because while Toph is a stubborn fuck she will die eventually. 

So I think that if we were going to get plots about them being not-the-best parents, I very much would’ve prefered it if we saw them struggling with it while they were alive and still raising said children. If there was time for them to bounce back. 

And I think like

On the whole, I like the idea of ‘flawed yet trying to be good’ parents. I like seeing that dynamic, and how the kids are affected, and all sorts of things. 

But it hits different here because this isn’t just ‘our character’s parents’. The parents are characters we saw and loved as main characters in the previous series. And we don’t want that ‘anger at parents who, even if they were good, still fucked up’ feeling aimed at them. 

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

That’s a fair point that Su seemed to really be intent on Lin joining the family. But as you said. Lin would have to join in a mold, and follow Su’s orders like everyone else and that’s not something she’s put up with at all.

And with how I’ve seen people like Su play out irl. When Lin actively fought against her she’d turn. Subtly. Sometimes outright.

She turned Korra against Lin as soon as she could and helped her go behind Lin’s back when she knew the danger Korra was facing.

She threw a decades gone relationship in Lin’s face. She withheld information to make herself look better.

(It’s been a while since I’ve seen B3 but I’m fairly certain they never address in the present that Su ripped up Lin’s face. That was a flashback Lin had for the audience.)

Lin would be the one who encourages the kids to not be under Su’s thumb and Su would hate that. The loss of control. Them possibly liking Lin more than her. The kids finding out what she did and thinking she was wrong. She could never be wrong.

She would act out. Sharp words meant to start prying them apart because Lin Isn’t Working. She isn’t following the plan Suyin laid out. Lin isn’t listening and needs to be controlled or removed.

Lin may have started to get close to them but when they started talking about moving away or even worse. Telling Suyin No. that’s when Lin finds they’re talking to her less and less and she figures they’re just becoming adults and didn’t need Aunt Lin since they grew up without her anyway.

Like I said I have a very low opinion of Suyin and control freak mothers with a ton of kids haven’t ever played out well.

I do enjoy reading different takes tho! One of my best friends is a Suyin Simp so we’ve gone back and forth a ton lol.

You know what upsets me but also like I get it lol

In the comic About the Beifongs

This is all you see of Lin.

That’s it. Back of her head and her shoulder.

In one hand it would have been nice to actually see her work it out with Toph and Su but in the other

Lin’s like “this bitch is Your Problem. You handle it.”

[itscalledbisexualcrisis]

Legacy

Request: Hii! Could you do a angst/fluff with Kuvira where r is like from an important family and they meet when they're young but then r joins the avatar? Finish how you'd like! Thank youu

Thank you to depressed-bi-bitch for the request, this was a lot of fun writing!

When Suyin was creating Zaofu, she knew she needed a dependable supply of metal. The valley, where eventually Zaofu would be erected, was a small mining village. It had an abundance of precious metals, but were predominantly used in trade with neighboring villages. There, Suyin met your family, the esteemed owners of one of the largest mines of the village. Suyin was eloquent with her ideas and clear passion for leading people. Her husband, Baatar, had already made a name for himself as an architect from Ba Sing Se. Meanwhile your family was one of the established families of the village, producing most of the metals and negotiating with outsiders trade deals. Together, your family and the Beifongs created Zaofu, a technological city of the future.

Growing up in a sprawling metal city was like living in a story tale. Big spiraling metal structures, an abundance of art and culture blooming all around you, and spending most of your childhood with the Beifong family were your earliest memories. You were surprised one day, while playing with Opal in the Beifong estate, to find Suyin bringing in another child. The girl seemed older than both you and Opal and she had a firm pout on her lips. Her clothes were more plain compared to what usual Zaofu citizens wore and she wouldn’t make eye contact with anyone. 

“This is Kuvira. She’ll be living with us and be part of our family now, Opal. Think of her like your sister,” she introduced.

From being the adored only daughter to having to share with another little girl was not easy for Opal to adjust. Including sharing you, her childhood best friend.

“I don’t want a new sister!”

The way Kuvira’s face was already apprehensive, turned into a scowl quickly as she looked between the two of you before running off.

While Suyin sat down with Opal and tried to explain Kuvira’s situation, you went off to find Kuvira. She was sitting down under a low hanging awning by the river. You could hear small sniffles coming from her. Six year old you approached her without caution, bumbling up to her with the perkiness only a child could contain.

“Hi.” You introduced yourself to her with a wide toothy grin and a welcoming outstretched hand. She jumped and turned around, quickly wiping away a stray tear. Her deadpan glare penetrated your outstretched hand left open. Being a child, you didn’t let it affect you. Instead you asked, “Do you want to come to my house? I have a dollhouse we can play with!”

Kuvira hesitated, looking from your still extended hand to your beaming face.

“Opal doesn’t like me.”

“Opal’s not coming.”

Oh to grow up with Kuvira. She was quite hot tempered as a child. And you admit, some days it was hard being her friend. She let her emotions take control, most of the time not realizing that she was bending until the dolls were disfigured under her metal grip. You never blamed it on Kuvira though, and you always came back to each other at the end of the day. It took a long time under Suyin’s guidance for Kuvira to gain a better understanding of her own earthbending. But once she did, it was like a flip switched.

While gaining more control, she became more reserved. She pulled farther from the Beifongs and moved out of the estate, choosing to live with the guards in the dormitories instead when she became a teenager. It didn’t change your close relationship though. From running around your estate playing games to her joining you in your metals lab in your research to helping her study for her test to join the Metal Guards; you and Kuvira supported one another through everything.

In the back of your mind you always knew things weren’t great for Kuvira at the Beifongs. But it was always something so hard to bring up to Kuvira whenever you tried to get her to talk about it. It also complicated your friendship with Opal, navigating between their polar personalities was always a challenge. So you opted not to, instead playing mostly neutral grounds and after she moved out, things did get better. 

As you got older, there was more pressure on you to take on the family business. Your whole life you’ve studied metals and how different properties of metals work together to create new things. An inventor, truly gifted, but there were always parts of you that wanted to leave Zaofu.

“I don’t want to study rocks my whole life. I want to learn from other cultures, get a bigger insight!” you confessed one day to Kuvira. You lay back on the soft grass of the lawn. You were visiting the Beifongs casually one afternoon when you ran into your favorite guard. It took minimal convincing for her to take a break from duty to lie with you. It was known that Kuvira always had a soft spot for you. It took one big smile to get her to crumble to you.

But seeing you smile was something she could never get enough of. “You wouldn’t leave me here alone, would you?” Kuvira semi joked.

“I’d take you with me, of course,” you laughed. “See the world together. Maybe fight some bad guys, who knows?”

Kuvira knew that would never be possible. Not with how Suyin ran things, but she didn’t say that, choosing instead to have a lighter hearted moment with you.

Going through the ranks, she saw potential in the Metal Guards, in the people of Zaofu actually. The fact that Suyin rejected most international requests, slowly infuriated her over the years. She watched as her fellow soldiers grew in strength, but all of it went to waste within the metal domes. Kuvira had long surpassed everything Suyin taught her, choosing to go off in her own studies to continue growing as a bender. When not on duty, you’d find her studying different types of bending in the Zaofu library or coming to your lab to practice with rarer metals. Sometimes it seemed like Kuvira never stopped at bettering herself.

You were mesmerized every time you saw Kuvira use her bending. Something as simple as making casual shapes from a slab of meteorite could keep you entertained for hours. It was times like these that were your favorite. She had her armor off and was sporting a long green sleeved spandex shirt with her dark green uniform pants. Her braid was slightly disfigured and helmet thrown off to the side somewhere. She was playing with a piece of meteorite, leaning forward on the bench as she manipulated it with firm concentration. The way her hands moved delicately through the air with precision; every crook and bend of her fingers and knuckles; how soft yet also strong they looked as they bent the metal into a small flower. It rested perfectly in her slender palm as she handed it to you.

It made your stomach flutter and a heat build in your chest. You reached out to take it from her and suddenly feeling nervous. Almost immediately, a gust of wind blew Kuvira over the bench making her tumble down and the metal flower scattering somewhere on the ground.

You both were left gaping. You were born as a non bender, so suddenly being able to airbend made you freak out. Kuvira grabbed your wrists, telling you to breathe as you started rambling off about never being able to bend before and not being the daughter of Avatar Aang and what if your mother had secretly had an affair with the AVATAR and oh god what would your father think-

“We need to find Suyin.”

Learning that Opal also gained airbending made you feel better, and it was something you two could bond over. Suddenly you were spending more time with Opal, trying to learn more about this new weird power to Kuvira’s dismay.

When Avatar Korra and her crew came to Zaofu to rebuild the Air Nation, you laughed off the idea of becoming an Air Nomad. Your future was set in the metals your family mined. You were supposed to live your life in Zaofu, continue your legacy here to grow the city.

“This is where I belong,” you said sheepishly. Korra seemed disappointed, but if that’s what you wanted there was nothing she could do. Although she did debate dragging you on to the ship, kidnapping an heiress to an empire would definitely cause an international crisis that Korra frankly couldn’t afford.

Kuvira was relieved to say the least. The fear of losing her closest friend didn’t sit well with her. But she also saw how you were with your new bending, carefully exploring what your bending could do; how it frustrated you when you couldn’t gain your own footing straight or when wind would blow back in your face.

“Maybe you should consider it.” Kuvira’s response surprised you. It was another day at your estate this time laying on the grass. It was one of Kuvira’s few days off. When she became the Captain, her free time became very limited, but this afternoon was a peaceful rarity. Tonight would be Opal’s farewell dinner, where you would be saying your final goodbyes before she boarded the airship to the Northern Air Temple. You were casually bending a circle of air above your heads, watching as leaves swirl around in a hypnotizing way. It immediately dissipates upon Kuvira’s confession, leaves slowly falling around the two of you.

“What?” you snort. “I thought you’d be the first person to ask me to stay.”

It left a lump in Kuvira’s throat. She never wanted to be the reason you held back your potential. She knew how talented you were as an inventor, but to bring that strength as an airbender? And the opportunity for you to build a nation that was up until recently deemed extinct? Kuvira knows an honor like that is something you’d thrive in, and the only way you could do that is to leave Zaofu.

So with some more convincing from Kuvira, you came around to the thought of being an Air Nomad. Sure shaving your head wasn’t the most appealing thing, but to be able to explore the world outside of Zaofu? It felt like this was your true calling all along. And Kuvira was the one to help you realize that. You gaze softly at her face, trying to find any hint of doubt you could. But she wholeheartedly believed in you and that in the end is what had you knocking on Korra’s door before the big dinner.

“Avatar Korra, I’ve changed my mind. I will join Opal to the Northern Air Temple and help rebuild the Air Nation.” Korra’s face broke into a wide grin and she gave a big cheer, deeming another success in her Avatar duties. You smiled back, feeling giddy at the thought of finding something more than rocks and metals for your future.

Seeing you and Opal boarding the aircraft shattered Kuvira’s heart. Her face is stone and her back is straight, watching the two of you talk wildly about your new adventures to come.

It seemed like at the last second, you pulled away from Opal and turned around, catching Kuvira’s unwavering gaze. You bite your bottom lip and tell Opal to go on without you, that’d you catch up momentarily. She was confused, but realized what you were doing when you ran back down the ramp and towards Kuvira.

Before she knows what’s happening or can ask what in the spirits you were doing, you nearly plow Kuvira over with a bone crushing hug, knocking her helmet right off her head. Burying your face into the crook of her neck, you feel her muscles tense under your touch, and then melt right into your hug. Strong arms wrap around you and clunky armor gets in the way.

But Kuvira can’t picture something more perfect.

She is speechless and squeezes her eyes shut, willing any tears to hold back. This was a momentous day for you, and she didn’t want your potentially last moment with her to be a sniveling mess. Instead she tries to memorize the way your hair smells, how firm your torso feels under her arms, how soft and warm your skin is. Everything she possibly can in these fleeting seconds with you.

“This isn’t goodbye,” you whispered in her ear. The way your breath fanned across her neck made Kuvira’s eyes flutter. She could stay in this embrace forever. “I will see you again.”

“I know,” she breathed out, suddenly finding it hard to find her voice. “I know.” It was something she had to tell herself more than to you.

You hesitated, wanting to say more. But how could you tell Kuvira that most nights you fell asleep thinking about what her lips would feel like against yours? How could you tell her that you still dreamed of traveling the world with her one day? How do you tell your childhood best friend that you’ve been in love with them when you’re about to board a ship to a new life?

Instead you take the chance and lean in, placing a soft quick kiss on her cheek just below her mole under her eye. With one last watery smile, you turn and board the ship. Your future terrified you, but you know for certain that you will keep your promise and return to Zaofu for her. One day.

If you had turned around you would’ve seen Kuvira steeled in stoicism, seemingly unaffected by your gesture. Meanwhile, inside she was on fire. Her cheek was burning where your lips touched. She had to replay the moment again and again in her mind to make sure it wasn’t her own imagination making it up. But it was real; the feeling of your hesitant lips pressed against her cheek made the flush in her chest grow. Her breath comes out in one shaky stream as she lifts the radio to her ear for the guards to close the domes.

And as the metal flower-like structure enclose her in, Kuvira can’t help but let her eyes linger on the sky where your ship disappeared.

This isn’t goodbye.

[justanotherexlover]

Anonymous said:

reader x lin of her meeting suyin and her family?

The Metal Clan (Part 1) (Lin Beifong x Reader)

Warnings: None

Word Count: 1,300

Notes: Part 1 of 3, season 2 LoK spoilers, female reader

“We just got a call from the radio about another Airbender,” Asami said suddenly. Your head perked up from its spot on Lin’s shoulder, finally glad to have an actual direction.

You knew Lin didn’t want to keep traveling, and would rather protect Korra from the Red Lotus, but you were happy to be helping in the search for Airbenders. It was a noble and worthy cause, in your opinion.

“Finally!” Korra exclaimed, “Where?”

“A city called Zafou,” Mako said, and you instantly felt Lin tense up as he continued, “The home of the Metal Clan.”

You could see the discomfort on Lin’s face, but your heart was soaring. You’d been with her for years but had never met any of her family. You’d brought it up a few times, but she never budged. She was as stubborn as the metal she bent.

Korra noticed the look on Lin’s face, then glanced at you, then back to Lin, “Either of you know the place?”

You stayed silent, deciding to let Lin take this one. You’d dreamed of going to Zafou for years and meeting Lin’s family--your family, now.

“Uh,” She said, “I’ve never been. But I don't want you going. I would rest a lot easier if you were in Republic City.”

You felt frustration flood your senses for a moment, so utterly tired of Lin avoiding her problems. You looked at Korra, “I’ve never been, but I’ve always wanted to go. I think it’s a good idea.”

You could see Lin glaring at you in the corner of your eye, but you ignored her and smiled at your friend.

“Thanks for the vote of confidence, (y/n),” Korra said, “We’re going to Zafou.”

Korra walked back into the airship, and Lin pulled you aside, ignoring Naga’s whine to play.

“What was that?” Lin demanded.

“It’s time that I meet my sister-in-law!” You spat back, standing your ground. Lin glanced around to see if anyone else heard, but it was just the two of you and Naga. 

Suyin might even be married with children--Lin hadn’t shared much information, and what she had shared hadn’t been positive. You knew little to nothing about her family.

“I’ve told you before, it’s not important!” She insisted, putting a hand on your arm. You yanked it away, crossing your arms.

“It is to me!” You said angrily, and stormed off.

---

Zafou was stunning from above, and you found yourself in awe of it even up close. The statue of Toph(my mother-in-law, your mind whispered) nearly sent you into a state of shock. This was… a lot to process.

You’d never considered metal to be an element that could be so beautiful, but watching the dancers and seeing the city had certainly changed your mind.

“Is this some form of combat training?” Korra asked curiously as the women bent the metal carefully to form a flower.

“Not exactly,” Aiwei said, “They’re rehearsing for a dance premiere next month.”

You watched as a woman with grey hair descended, and your mind recognized her instantly. Lin wasn’t a sentimental woman, but she did have a handful of pictures from her childhood. Suyin.

“Allow me to introduce the matriarch of a Metal Clan, Suyin,” Aiwei said as Suyin walked forward. She looked so much like Lin, you had no idea how Team Avatar couldn’t see it.

“Please call me Su,” She said, pressing her fist into her palm and giving a short bow. She turned to Korra, “Great to finally meet you, Avatar Korra.”

She then turned to where you and everyone else were standing, “And this must be Mako, Bolin, Asami, and…. I’m sorry, I don’t know who you are.”

Su seemed apologetic, but it still stung. Your own sister-in-law had no idea who you were, and it hurt more than words could describe, “I’m (y/n) Bei--sorry, just (y/n)”

You smiled innocently, bowing to her. You were used to introducing yourself by your full name, but of course, you had to keep off Beifong. It added to the hurt you were feeling. Korra looked at you funny, but didn’t point it out.

“You’ve done your research,” Mako said, then glanced at you, “Mostly, at least.”

“I make it my business to know who’s visiting my city,” Suyin said cordially, looking over the group. Her eyes lingered on you for a few extra moments, and your face heated up under her gaze. It felt unfair that you knew who she was, but she didn’t know you.

“So, you’re a dancer,” Korra said, changing the subject.

“Dancer. Leader. Wife. Mother. Collector of rare meteorites. You’ll find that people here have many skills and interests,” Suyin said as she pulled off her glove. Aiwei leaned in and whispered something discernable into her ear, and her eyes widened as she glanced at him.

Her eyes turned to your group and narrowed unhappoly, “Korra, why did you lie when Aiwei asked if there was anyone else with you?”

Korra looked surprised, and Bolin slapped his hand over his mouth. You felt your heart begin to race, knowing what was coming next. Aiwei turned his eyes to you, as if he could hear your heart beat pick up.

“What?” Korra asked, “I, uh… How did you know I was lying?”

“I’m a truth seer,” Aiwei explained, “When people lie, their heart rate and breathing increase. I can sense the most subtle of changes.”

His eyes focused on you, and you felt like you were about to start sweating. So he could feel your heart palpitations.

“Thanks to Aiwei, there are no secrets in our city,” Suyin said. Your shoulders sagged slightly, unsure of how she was going to react to the information she was about to find out. Lin had told you that her sister could be immature and flighty, and you hadn’t prepared yourself for it properly. Maybe Lin had been right--this was a bad idea.

“We came with Lin,” You spoke up, your voice breaking the silence.

Korra and the rest of Team Avatar looked confused, obviously not understanding that Lin and Suyin knew each other. Honestly, how did they get through the day with such low observational skills?

“Lin’s here? I would love to say hello,” Suyin said pleasantly, and your eyes widened. Lin spoke of her sister and mother with such contempt that you hadn’t been expecting warmth from Su.

“You two know each other?” Korra asked, and you sighed, bracing yourself.

“You’re joking, right?” Suyin asked, looking everyone over, “I guess Lin never told you about me.”

Suyin seemed sad at that revelation, and you felt empathy wash over you. You knew what it was like for Lin to keep you a secret.

“They’re sisters,” You explained to Team Avatar, your eyes never leaving Suyin.

“Wait, so that means-” Bolin started, pointing to you, then to Suyin. Your fist connected with his arm, and he yelped, his mouth closing.

“What?” Suyin asked, her eyes moving from Bolin to you. Her green eyes looked so much like Lin’s that it was almost painful.

You took a deep breath and offered a small smile, “I’m Lin’s wife. (Y/n) Beifong.”

Suyin reeled back as if she’d been slapped, and her eyes looked you up and down. You felt small under her gaze and averted your eyes to the floor.

Suddenly an arm reached out and pulled you forward into a hug. Startled, you glanced up at Suyin, then hesitantly hugged her back.

“It’s very nice to meet you,” She said quietly, low enough for only you to hear.

“It’s nice to meet you too,” You responded, squeezing your eyes shut to cut off any potential tears. You’d dreamed of meeting Lin’s family for years, and she’d vehemently refused, citing how rude and unruly they could be. But it was completely unfounded, you were sure of that in this moment.

Lin’s family was your family too. And you were going to have a relationship with them.

[ravensbug]

hi! could you write something kind of au where the reader is the avatar, and during the battle of zaofu she and kuvira are flirting with/teasing each other to the point they’re not even fighting by the end anymore?

Tease

Fandom: Legend of Korra

Ship: Kuvira x Avatar!Reader

Request: YES

Prompt: ^^^^

A/N: Thank you for being the first request. You have no idea how excited this makes me. You will forever hold a spot in my writing heart. I hope this is some of what you were looking for. I got excited and didn’t want to wait for my brain to be fully functioning with ideas.

Summary: You confront Kuvira after Suyin tries to assassinate her. She challenges you to battle for Zaofu. Being as stubborn as you are, you accept, knowing full well you’re still recovering from Zaheer. You two are evenly matched for a while until you hear her make a snarky remark. You two begin teasing back and forth as you fight.

“Avatar Y/N, you are interfering with internal Earth Empire business, and letting your personal feelings get in the way of reason. Zaofu cannot continue to rule itself. They have been hoarding their riches and technology too long. I'm here to distribute those resources fairly throughout the nation. This is about equality.” Kuvira calls out as you stand across from her. Her army is behind her, ready to attack if need be.

“You don't care about equality! This is about control!” Opal yells from her spot beside you. You both turn to each other and she speaks again. “Just take her down! You know it's the right thing to do! You have to stop this!”

“The only way you're going to keep me from marching into Zaofu is if you physically stop me. Now what are you going to do?” There is a hint of arrogance in her tone. This Kuvira was different from the one you met in Zaofu three years ago. That Kuvira was the captain of the guard and had to follow Su’s orders. Now she was free, although you knew she was taking things too far.

“It looks like you're not giving me a choice.” You step forward, separating yourself from Opal and Jinora.

“Fine.” Kuvira turns to address her troops. “I want you all to know that I would never ask any of you to do something that I'm not willing to do myself. So, rather than risk your lives, I will fight the Avatar one-on-one.” She turns to face you again. “Y/N, if you win, then you can do whatever you want with Zaofu. But after I beat you, I want you out of my business for good. I'm the one who brought peace to the Earth Empire, not you. You're not relevant here anymore.”

“Fine. You wanna fight the Avatar? Then let's finish this, right here, right now.” You roll your shoulders. Now you sounded like the arrogant one.

“Are you really ready to fight her?” Jinora asks you.

“Just stay back and let me handle this. It's been a while, but I got a lot of pent-up rage.” Yes, you were very arrogant. You also had a lot of steam to let out.

“Don't mess around! Kuvira is too good! Just go into the Avatar State and get it over with!” Opal’s resentment towards Kuvira was clearly evident.

“No, I'm only going to use that as a last resort,” you told her. You wanted to win this fight fair and square. To show Kuvira you could still stand up for yourself and the world.

“Use whatever you want: all the elements; the Avatar State; anything you need,” she smirks as she takes up her own battle stance. “I know you're a little rusty.”

“Enough talk!” You yell at her. There would be plenty more talk.

You send two boulders at her first, using them as cover to come at her from above. She anticipated this and moved to the side, rather than backward as you wanted. She took a shot at your exposed side with her own boulder. It hits you in the gut and changes your path to the ground. You barely land and have to catch your breath.

“Looks like the Avatar’s a little off her game!” You hear her chuckle and spirits it had been a long time since you heard anyone laugh. This still makes you frustrated that she thinks it’s so easy.

You send another boulder her way, which is easily dodged. Now that you are upright you send two blasts of air at her. You get closer with each attack, having Kuvira on the defensive with how fast you were going.

You swipe the earth under her feet, standing only a few feet in front of her. Now it was your turn to laugh. You weren’t as rusty as you or she thought. Maybe you did have a chance at winning.

“Now look who’s off their game,” you sneered at her. Kuvira did not like you teasing her with her own words.

She sends two metal strips on your wrists as an answer, forcing you to fall with your arms behind your back. This allows her to get up and dust her uniform off.

You send a large gust of wind at her using your feet. This knocks her back again and releases your wrists from the metal. You rub your wrists from the familiar feeling, holding back the remaining flashbacks from Zaheer’s torture.

“Don’t like being restrained?” Kuvira asks jokingly as she gets up again. Her hair is starting to become undone. She doesn’t pay too much attention to the loose strands.

“I’d like to see you try it some time,” you called back at her. Your remark was mostly meant to help your bruised ego, but when you saw Kuvira’s face go red you knew you hit a nerve.

She snaps out of whatever thoughts grip her mind and send more metal strips at you. They aren’t as precise as the other two, but they’re still on target. You still have to either dodge or deflect them to avoid being restrained again. These little discrepancies would go unnoticed by anyone else, but you knew that Kuvira aimed for perfection. Clearly, something was distracting her.

You two traded blows for a long time, her with her metal or earth and you with mostly air and fire. You figured out earth bending wouldn’t be much use against someone as skilled as her. These blows you each traded were either dodged or deflected. The fight was about evenly matched now.

“Are you holding back? Or are you just too scared to use the Avatar state?” Kuvira took a low blow at your ego and trauma. She knew what Zaheer had done to you, that you had been struggling since then. That was her point though. Get you riled up so you make a mistake.

And you made a mistake.

You often used earth as your anger element. Most people would have assumed fire, but earth was much more willing to cooperate with your anger. And so it did that very well.

In your rage, if you would call it that, you created a fissure in the ground, going from where you stood to where Kuvira stood. The earth was great at conveying your emotions. Your reaction caught Kuvira off guard, again. She did not expect such anger, or this amount of power to come from it.

The fissure cracking caused Kuvira to stumble and you sent a boulder in her side, knocking her down to the ground. She was dazed. Trying to get up was much harder than before.

The gasps from everyone were heard. Kuvira’s soldiers were shocked at how much power you showed without the Avatar state. Jinora and Opal were surprised at how many times you had knocked Kuvira down at this point.

You sprinted over to her before she got up, grabbing her by her collar in her dazed state. Turning her head to face you, you saw your own face with eyes glowing rather than Kuvira’s face. You threw her back as a reaction, terrified that she would trample all over you at this point.

Kuvira had expected another smart ass response from you and when she didn’t get one she knew something was different. The way you looked at her with fear and emptiness made her wonder what you saw. She could guess it had something to do with Zaheer, but there were so many faces you could have seen.

“So you are scared?” she chuckled as she got up.

“The Avatar, afraid of her own shadow!” Kuvira yelled for all to hear. Her soldiers cheered and laughed. Opal and Jinora glared at Kuvira.

“Don’t make me put you in your place, Kuvira!” You yelled back, trying to push the growing fear and doubt in your mind.

“I’d like to see you try,” She smirked. She began her onslaught of metal and earth again, immediately putting you on defense.

As she continued to attack, you continued to back up. There was no other way for you to go. If you moved to the side you would get a boulder thrown at you to keep you in line. Kuvira was practically ordering you to keep going backward. Her attacks were precise once again, which allowed her a wider range of movement.

You had heard the boulders you manage to dodge hit the large group of rocks behind you. You didn’t expect to be pushed against them so soon. But you were and shortly after that four metal strips restrained you to said rock. You were in a vulnerable position and under Kuvira’s will.

She stared you straight in the eyes, holding a strip of metal next to her head. You knew what she was going to do with it, so you waited. But Kuvira hesitated.

“Oh don’t get all attached to me now, Vira,” you tried to hold a smile. You really were still terrified, but what was one more tease going to do?

She grabs you by the collar and leans in to whisper in your ear. “I don’t know, Avatar. I’m not so sure I’m the only one getting attached.” A chill was sent down your spine.

“Surrender Avatar!” Kuvira backs up, ignoring what just happened between the two of you. You knew what she would do if you said no. But it was your job to stop her from taking Zaofu.

“N-” You were cut off when Kuvira was sent flying. Once she was out of your way you saw that Opal was the one to move her.

“Opal!” you yelled. You still pull yourself from your restraints and look over at Kuvira. She was lying on the ground unconscious and bleeding.

“Shit!” you cursed. You wouldn’t have put it past Opal to have done this on purpose.

You ran over to her body and looked for where the blood was coming from. There was a gash above her right eye that would surely leave a scar if not healed by water. Sadly you had no water.

“Get a medic over here!” you yelled out. Opal and Jinora hadn’t come over to help you. Why would they? Kuvira’s the bad guy.

You saw a soldier and, who you assumed to be, the medic run over. The medic was carrying a bag in his hand. You adjusted Kuvira so she was laying on you, allowing the medic to work on the wound.

“I need to take her back to our camp, Avatar,” the medic told you. Under normal circumstances, like Kuvira losing the fight fairly you would have said no.

“Take her.” You moved so the shoulder could take her from you.

You stood up and walked away, not looking at Opal or Jinora. Zaofu would be free for a little while longer. If only Kuvira hadn’t been such a tease things would have been different.

[shewhotellsstories]

I understand the Suyin-Hate, I really do. But you portray Tenzin worse than he actually is.

Tenzin didn't cheat on Lin, at least not in canon, nor did he ask her to babysit his children. He asked her to protect his family, because they are friends and he trusts her. Lin was a good friend in this situation and was not taken advantage of by him or something like that.

The two are definitely not good lovers, but they are good friends. Was the breakup messy? Probably. Did he hurt her in the process? Definitely. But I think Tenzin has tried to make things right with her over the years and he was always very worried about her, like in S1E6 when he warned her about Tarrlok and didn't want her to be hurt during the finale. Or in S1E7, where he was worried that she might lose her job. Or in S1E9, where he scolds her for leaving the hospital to early. Or in S1E10, where he shouts after her, when she jumped of of Oogie.

Yes, Tenzin made mistakes, but at least he tried to stand up for them.

Believe it or not, I don't want to dislike Tenzin. I really don't. He's Katara and Aang's son, that alone makes me want to like him. I tried so hard to put myself in his shoes. I was really into doctor who a while back and the last of your kind(ish) thing is rough. That being said that man got on my nerves. Actually he got in, on and around my nerves as my grandma would say.

Pema tells Korra when she's pining for Mako, who is attached, that she declared her feelings for Tenzin when he was with Lin. It doesn't seem like Lin and Tenzin's long-term goals were compatible and that's fine, but still that's really disrespectful.

If you wanna get technical about it I said he asked her to babysit Pema. That was salty on my part, but I'm annoyed with the lack of consideration for Lin's feelings. That's a big, uncomfortable favor to ask of someone you'd only just started being friends with again after years of estrangement due to you drop-kicking them for a younger woman. But in fairness, some of this situation can be blamed on the writers' limited ideas about womanhood and motherhood.

It doesn’t seem like Tenzin and Lin talked much after they broke up tbh. Tenzin asks Lin to do this very uncomfortable favor and then Pema gets an attitude with her and literally dumps her son in Lin's lap and tells her to give him a bath. It wasn't cute or funny. Save the smoke for your husband. Would it have killed her to show a little respect to the woman who was there to keep her and her children from being murdered? And after all that degradation and a physical fight to protect his family, what does Tenzin do? He yells at Lin for endangering his kids. He doesn't even apologize after Lin explains what happened. Nor does he thank her. Can you understand why I don't have a charitable opinion of Tenzin? Maybe he did love Lin, but the way he treated her post-break up told me he cared for his own comfort a lot more.

Then there's Korra and the Air Nomads. He's a lousy teacher. He's impatient, low-key domineering, dismissive and withholds important info from her which left Korra ill-prepared to be the avatar. It seemed like he learned from his mistakes, but then he repeats them in season three. And I get that he was excited that it wasn't on him alone to repopulate the air nomads but it went right over his head that the new air nomads had lives and cultures of their own they might be attached to.

That's a nice segue into one of my biggest gripes with Tenzin: his lack of consideration for his siblings' feelings. It's not all his fault, unfortunately he seems to be follow Aang's lead on thinking Kya and Bumi weren't a part of Aang's legacy but his whole attitude bothered me. I understand that part of it was likely a defense mechanism, but it was still annoying and made me feel bad for Kya and Bumi. Again I understand that it was Aang's mess and Tenzin didn't deserve all their anger. But his behavior towards them wasn't great either. He didn't mention their existence to the air acolytes either. Tenzin behaved like he was Aang’s only child, but again, he didn’t get that idea from no where.

In the end Tenzin just feels very lacking on the emotional intelligence front. I just always got the impression he wasn't able to put himself in other people's shoes. When you've had it drilled into you from a young age that you're the future of a civilization maybe that's an inevitable consequence, but it was really frustrating to watch.

That got really long but I hope it explains my feelings.