#Yue was so sick of her i know it

[iquirms]

Katara : You're not the only one who draws power from the moon. My bending is more powerful than yours, Hama. You're technique is useless on me.

Hama : 😲

Yue : YEAH BEAT HER ASS KATARA I'M TIRED OF THIS HOE

[malachitezmeyka]

Random Suiren fact:

She looks weirdly good with white hair

[hobunaga]

UPDATED VERSION, thank you @guzhufuren for the additional info!!!

my friend wanted me to make a chart of, Meet you at the Blossom, characters and what their relationship is. Now I don't know everything, I don't even know if I got the names correct but I hope this clarifies a little what is going on here.

here are some clarifications(careful, spoilers)

Xiaobao's parents: Xiaobao's dad found Xiaobao's mom wandering around town one day and assumed she was the daughter of a wealthy family and had lived a really sheltered life(she is). He got her drunk, they slept together and he took responsibility by marrying her and taking care of her.

Tong'en: Now I don't know for sure if she loved any of the men that I attached her to, but they were in love with her so I kinda just added it in case her feelings were genuine or if she was only doing what she had to to survive. The only person I can confirm she truly cared for is Zongzheng Qiyuan and they had a brotherly and sisterly bond only.

Xue Xiaoyu: Now ya'll might be wondering why she has a red line towards Xiaobao and it's kinda given that she has a big crush on him. Her cousin however is his true love so I think she'll put on her big girl pants eventually and move on. Her brother is Xue Lianyu, Xiaobao's best friend. She is also the cousin of Huai'en.

Que Siming and Jinbao: They have 2 names cause in the extra I read, they had changed their names at least once. Jinbao was originally known as Wang Erhu and Que Siming was called Yue Siming. Que Siming was most likely adopted by the doctor whom was caring for him after his father was sentenced for treason and Jinbao was sold to Xiaobao at a young age.

Jinbao and Zhao Cai and Que Siming: Similar to the Xiaobao, Su Yin, and Huai'en jealousy trope, Que Siming's jealousy is mainly centered around Jinbao and Zhao Cai's relationship. Now I don't know if Jinbao has a thing for Zhao Cai, but Jinbao maybe masturbated to Zhao Cai once??? or Zhao Cai ran into him while he was masturbating??? I don't know... if someone can interpret this scene let me know because English is not my first language.

Zhao Cai and Medicine Girl: In Jinbao's side story, Jinbao Marries a Wife, it was stated that Zhao Cai was in a heated relationship with this medicine girl and frequently went out to see her during the time Xiaobao was still sick with the cold needle poison. I don't know if they end up together at the end but it was the only relationship that was mentioned in the story for him.

Shaoyu and Su Yin: So apparently there is a one sided interest in their interactions according to the awe inspiring @guzhufuren . When I read it, I wasn't sure how to exactly interpret their relationship but I can see it now that Shaoyu is just as obsessive and possessive as his older brother is. Good luck getting away, Su Yin!

Shaoyu and Huai'en: Half brothers with a somewhat refreshing ending in the live action that hints that there is a possibility of them bonding later in the future. Now I'm not sure which woman mothered Shaoyu, but I'm going to assume it's the ex empress which makes them half-brothers(well Tong'en only birthed one child so it's a given). Now usually if the mother loses the favor of the emperor to even be demoted out of being empress, that must mean that it heavily affects Shaoyu's standing as crown prince as well. Luckily no other princes were mentioned so it's more likely that Huai'en won't compete for the throne and Shaoyu will still inherit it.

The Zongzhen 4 brothers: Now they're just fucking insane and the only sane one is Zongzhen Qiyuan. Even the emperor is a little cuckoo but hey, that's what stress does to you right? They need to sit down, relax, and chill a little. I'm so glad two of them greatly support Huai'en's decisions.

ps: I'm sorry if I got the names wrong or I didn't name a few of the characters. Either way, I think this is the relationship chart?

[charlie-thewitch]

Chapter II

First

"What are you talking about." Shen Jiu hisses. He does not have the time nor the willingness to entertain this clearly delusional man more than he already has. Honestly, he probably shouldn't have freed his mouth if this is what's coming out of it.

"Gege, I know it's been like 20 years or something, but you couldn't have forgoten about me, could you? This breaks Didi's poor heart." Says the other, batting his eyelashes like a little mistress asking daddy for a new dress and it's making him sick. Fuck this. Fuck all of this.

"You don't even know my name and this one doesn't have any siblings, so shut up. I'll fucking leave you here if you say another stupid thing." Shen Jiu walks to the corpse of the fat man with a grimace. He would prefer to not do this but the prospect of ruining a noble's day by liberating "the merchandise" is too sweet to pass after all.

Taking the sleeve with just two fingers, Shen Jiu brings it up enough to search inside, dropping on the ground the knickknacks the man inexplicably had inside. Well, the money he keeps. Shizun is too cheap with her disciples and inns are disgusting while brothels are expensive. He'll need a good night's sleep after this and his prey will be funding it.

"We didn't actually had names." With the keys in hand, Shen Jiu walks to the largest cage he can see and passes them to the frightened woman inside. Only when she understands what to do and gets to work opening all the cages on sight does he turn around to the nuisance still tied up and sitting on the dirty ground. "What?"

"When we lived with mother; we didn't have names. That man-" He said it with so much venom that Shen Jiu could -for a single moment- believe they were siblings after all. "-never let her name us. He was planning on selling us from before we were even born so she 'shouldn't get attached'. She fought him, naturally, but Mother only could do so much... He took you first, I was too sick to be sold just yet."

Shen Jiu is marginally grateful the other slaves ran as soon as they were freed from the cages because he doesn't need reports of what he'll do to this bastard to reach Shizun. A murder outside of the permitted by the mission will look so bad on his already muddy reputation. "Good story, you should write a book." He deadpans.

"It's the truth!" The guy pouts, as if that helps his case at all and doesn't just make him look crazier. "Gege could easily prove we are related with a talisman, couldn't you? I know fancy cultivators have that type of tools just lying around!"

"You want me to believe you remember bullcrap from when 'we' were, what, 4 years old?" Shen Jiu said mockingly.

"Gege isn't even denying he was a slave like me" A curious head tilt and Shen Jiu suddenly feels like he's missing something, again. He hates that feeling. "He knows deep down that this Didi is saying something important." That knowing look is pissing him off, but he can't deny felling the littlest bit curious. The guy stole his face, that's undeniable. And a sibling relationship could very well explain it.

But is he ready for the implications? Is he ready to have a family, a fucked up one he is sure, but, family?

Qi-ge Yue Qi used to call them brothers, but that didn't stop him at the moment of betraying him for a better life. Is this guy actually interested in Shen Jiu or is this his ploy to be freed? He already saw Shen Jiu give the keys to the others, surely there's no need for him to still be talking to Shen Jiu at all?

Shen Jiu could always just make the test and drop this guy on the streets if it came out negative and... And if it's positive that'll mean there's someone in this world who is his.

There's no way to change one's blood. He knows that very well. His blood may very well be running in this guys veins. An undeniable bond to someone, something unbreakable. This could mean he has a brother, maybe even a mother that... Loved him.

A mother. One that loved this wretched creature. Proof that he didn't came out wrong, twisted.

Is Shen Jiu being too naive? The simple promise of a past loved one has him doubting the most basic instinct of caring for no one but himself. Hope is an ugly thing he thought dead and buried years ago under charred wood and ash.

Shen Jiu returned his gaze to the young man, serious and grave. He can't believe he is doing something so stupid but one thing is true in all street children: If you can take something, do it. And never give anything back. "You will follow me and not say a single word to anyone. Understood? I will have to ask someone back at the sect for a blood testing tool." This guy wants to be his brother? Fine. Let him cope with his horrible personality. Shen Jiu is never diminishing himself for the comfort of others. Never again.

A sly smile is his answer, and he can't quite help the feeling he just got played. "This Didi will do as Gege says..."

Prev - Next

Beta by: @sillygoofyqueer

[yoyowrites]

shen jiu coming across lou binghe when he's out on a mission.

shen jiu is eating sat outside a shop when he spots him. he sees a small binghe begging. he's bad at it. he's smiling and shy and avoiding the best customers. there's no way he'd be able to make any profit. shen jiu considers ignoring him. he some extra coins to spare but he didn't owe him anything.

shen jiu finishes his meal and leaves his bill. he marches right up to the kid, nearly hitting an older couple that was pointedly avoiding looking in the boys direction. shen jiu drops a few coins in the jar, staring cooly at the boy. unfazed, binghe offers a bright smile. up close it was clear how tired the child is

shen jiu lets out a groan. he grabs the child's sleeve and begins dragging him. the child starts to protest but shen jiu glares and shows a pouch of money. it shuts the child up but he's still tense.

"sit, stay," shen jiu commands walking inside the shop and places an order of soup. when he returns the child is stiff but in the same place he'd left him. he sits in front of him.

they stay silent. shen jiu looks over the boy's form. he's thin, not obviously malnourished but who knows the last time he had a good meal. "name?"

the boy didn't respond.

"you have problems hearing?" shen jiu raises a brow.

"is my name needed for what you're going to do to me?"

shen jiu scoffs. "i'm not doing a thing to you other than giving you a meal."

he recieved a speculative look. "...lou binghe."

shen jiu didn't recognize the name. "and is lou binghe an orphan?"

"no," binghe gave a disgusted look that was gone as quickly as it came. he composed himself. "i have a mother."

shen jiu nodded. "but she's sick? she certaintly is not aware of her your boy doing this?"

"my mother," binghe pauses. "is doing her best."

"but it's not enough," shen jiu tapped the table.

binghe glared. shen jiu glared back.

"you're not very good at begging."

"and the honorable cultivator is?" binghe bit out.

then, the shop owner brought out some soup. they nearly set it in front of shen jiu but he gestured for it to be given to the boy. lou binghe began eating without reserve

"i was very good," shen jiu says. "i'll give you some tips."

lou binghe stares suspiciously but shen jiu spares it no mind.

"first," shen jiu began. "if a strange man tries to take you anywhere don't follow. two, if he offers you food, don't take it,"

binghe looked comical then, eyes wide, and cheeks filled with food. shen jiu nearly chuckled.

"anyone could tamper with food. then what are you left with? if a man approaches you, trying to lead you away, you run," shen jiu leaned foward, emphasizing his point. he waits until lou binghe nods to lean back. "next, always let someone know where you are..."

like that, shen jiu imparts his wisdom to the boy. the best time, best places, best ways to beg and to keep himself safe. it's widely out of character for him. yet, he can't help but think of himself, of yue qingyuan, and their bitter situation. of those holier than thou cultivators that preached peace and chivalry and the importance of protecting the weak, only to ignore those in unappealing situations. the sun was setting when they finished their talk.

"listen, kid-"

"why ask for my name just to refer to me as kid?"

"so mouthy," shen jiu frowned. "you sure have gotten comfortable quickly binghe."

"does the esteemed cultivator wish for me to be more formal?"

"lou binghe doesn't need to bother," shen jiu shakes his head. "we likely will not be meeting again. however, if you are ever in dire need. go to the Daisy's and give them this."

binghe was slightly mortified as shen jiu offered him an odd looking coin. "a brothel?"

"relax, they'll keep you safe. safer than with any of these dogs that call themselves men atleast, and they'll contact me."

"and you'll help me?"

"this one is a cultivator," shen jiu spreads out his fan to cover most of his face. "why wouldn't I be able to help you?"

binghe opened his mouth, then shut it again. he took the coin and nodded.

"it's only if you have nothing else. don't think i will show up just for the whims of a boy."

with that shen jiu stood and walked away. he didn't look behind just strolled out of the shop. he was late enough that he could hear the jabs the others would say of him. he doesn't expect to hear from the boy again. weeks pass and he's mostly able to put lou binghe out of his mind. between the terrible liu qingge, the always apologetic yue qingyuan, and his own misfailings, he didn't have time to worry abut anyone else.

then, early one morning, a disciple from another peak stops him. he looks uncomfortable and holds out a letter for shen jiu. "at least have the decency to not drag the rest of us down with your perversion."

shen jiu felt hot rage build inside him. but he took the letter before reacting. they wouldn't be contacting him if it weren't important. blood rushed out of his face as his eyes scanned the note. he left the unruly disciple with no comment.

shen jiu didn't return until nightfall. the peak was buzzing with rumors and talk. people awaited with bated breath to see what he'd done this time.

that night, shen jiu returns carrying a young boy, no older than ten, wrapped in a blanket and tightly holding on to shen jiu's robe. he paid the crowed no attention, only stopping before a befuddled mu qingfan.

"well," shen jiu says expectantly. "are you not a doctor? can you not tell when a patient needs help?"

that causes mu qingfan to jump to action. he reaches his arm as if to take lou binghe from shen jiu but one icy look stops him.

"he wouldn't let you carry him even if you tried. just lead the way mu- shidi."

[oneatlatime]

The Painted Lady

Air Bison, Sea Bison, and now Sludge Bison.

I have no idea how Aang is swimming through a solid. Must be an Avatar thing.

I bet there would be time for more potty breaks if Sokka hadn't spent 100+ hours of their time drawing up the schedule. A very Sokka thing to do though.

Because hills often have horns. Great disguise.

You can't tell me that a factory that close to their town wouldn't also become the town's primary employer.

That is a lot of town.

I sense a return of preachy Katara. This episode is going to suck.

I'm with Sokka on this one. Buy fish, move on, defeat Firelord, return to help with environmental remediation if time permits.

I like Doc. And Shu. Nice people.

Writers: if you have to make one of your characters an entirely different person to set up the episode's lesson of the week, maybe the lesson doesn't fit your chosen characters. This is the Warriors of Kyoshi all over again. Funny how that's happened to Sokka twice.

We are all Sokka.

And where exactly did this mysterious painted lady get the food to deliver to the village, if the reason the Gaang stopped in the village in the first place was because they needed food?

Let the record show: I lost the last of my patience with this episode 8 minutes and 9 seconds in.

Waterbending healing has never thrown off that much light before. Even the spirit oasis water wasn't that bright.

Also where is the water she's healing with? Usually she has a big bubble of it.

Impersonating a religious figure. That won't end badly.

"Well I hope she returns every night otherwise this place would go right back to the way it was." YES!!!!!! THAT'S THE POINT!!!!!

What was Katara's plan? Forget about the eclipse, forget about fighting the Fire Lord, we're going to stay here for the rest of our lives so that the painted lady can put in a nightly appearance. THIS IS WHY SOKKA DOES THE PLANNING.

Spirit magic is more doing the worm than doing the wave. Good to know.

Bold of a kids' show to advocate for ecoterrorism.

Aang's like "Hey spirit lady! Here's my resume! Here's my connections on LinkedIn!" Why did Katara think that faking being a spirit within two feet of the bridge to the spirit world would be consequence free? Actually that presupposes that Katara thought. Which she didn't. Sokka does her thinking.

"I don't get to meet many spirits. But the ones I do meet, not very attractive." I am OFFENDED on Yue's behalf. And Sokka's. I guess Aang doesn't like Water Tribe girls after all.

"I guess I just became her." No. That's an excuse and a deflection. I don't want to hear it.

What was I saying about Aang and Katara enabling each others' bad tendencies?

Sokka is horribly out of character this episode, but Aang is as well. In what universe would Aang be so unbothered by Appa being sick, and then so unbothered by the reveal that Katara had been faking Appa being sick? Like, this is Appa. He nearly skinned a bunch of sandbenders over the guy. And he finds out Katara's been messing with him and calls her 'great' and 'a secret hero.'

So this factory, despite being operational 24/7, has no night staff, not even a night guard? Because if it does (which it absolutely does - automation is a problem for factories in our world, not the ATLA one), Katara and Aang just killed A LOT of people.

And so she follows up one short term solution with another short term solution, which causes a third problem she will no doubt solve with a short term solution. You think there won't be reprisals for the only obvious suspects to this industrial sabotage? You think they won't rebuild the factory?

Sokka was kidding when he said that the Spirit Lady had better blow up the factory, but not in the way Katara thought he was kidding. Katara thought he wasn't being serious. But Sokka was serious, in that blowing up the factory is as short term a solution as appearing every night. He thought the joke - exchanging one bad solution for another - was obvious.

Somebody's enjoying himself a little too much.

Unfortunately, serving as Exhibit A is the most Toph has had to do all episode.

It is cathartic to see someone finally call Katara on her nonsense. But I'll bet everything I own that the narrative is going to side with her anyway.

Welp. I won that bet.

"You need me." Correct! Katara unsupervised needs bailing out after five minutes. "And I will never turn my back on you." A much more realistic goal than never turning your back on anyone who needs you, and also Sokka summarised in one sentence. Impressive for an episode where they had to Flanderise him beyond recognition to make Katara somehow the good guy.

Oh for fuck's sake. It's not about having a heart. This late in the game it's pure damage control.

So that's where the Painted Lady's food came from. I guess Fire Nation factories count as pirates?

I like the jetskis. The seem far more stable than actual jetskis.

It never occurred to Katara to obscure the evidence even a little bit? At least rub some dirt on the emblem. Look at me assuming Katara has thoughts.

Actual reprisals for once. About time.

This kid is annoying.

Toph gets to be a haunted house sound effects machine.

That's awfully waterbendery for a Fire Nation spirit.

I don't buy for a minute that anyone would be able to stay perfectly upright and balanced after an air blast from below without extensive trampoline training.

This won't work. His superiors, or the next shift change, or the first recruit wanting to climb the ranks quickly, will rise to the challenge presented here by the "painted lady." And as soon as one FN attack goes unchallenged by the "painted lady," the village is toast. I give them a week, tops.

Kudos to some clever in-universe bending special effects. Doesn't save the episode though.

Katara's preachy speech here makes absolutely no sense in light of the rest of the episode. Scolding them for not saving themselves, when waiting around for someone to save them appears to have worked perfectly? And having little miss I-must-save-the-whole-world-on-a-weekly-basis-otherwise-my-sense-of-self-implodes deliver that scold?

Who are these people wearing the Gaang's skin?

Yeah, nothing screams undercover in enemy territory like an entire village knowing that you're a waterbender. Good thing the only competent tracker in the Fire Nation is Zuko, otherwise these kids will absolutely be dead long before the eclipse.

Hi Bushi! You're about the only part of this episode that doesn't drive me nuts!

At least the animators had fun with this one.

Is this guy mopping the river?

Exactly how many days did they take out of Sokka's schedule to restore the ecosystem? I don't care how overlevelled these kids are at bending, you cannot mechanically separate an entire river's worth of dirt from water in an afternoon.

Well that's just he piss icing on the shit cake, isn't it? It wasn't enough for Sokka to lose all reason and come around to Katara's very flawed way of thinking, it wasn't enough for Aang to call her a hero, it wasn't enough to have a village worshipping at her feet, Katara needs affirmations of how right and special and correct and perfect and morally justified she is from the spirit world itself. This is Mary Sue stuff.

Final Thoughts

This is the first time an episode of Avatar has felt like a waste of my time.

It's also the first time I've felt like an episode has gone out of its way to insult the audience.

Katara talking about how she knows what she's doing is wrong is worth absolutely nothing when a) she goes right back to doing it; and b) literally every other part of this episode trips over itself to assure Katara that she's in the right.

Katara is downright punchable this episode. Sokka is Flanderised; Toph is non-existent; Aang is just there; poor Appa is an unwitting accessory to crime; and Momo has as much impact as a housefly.

So the execs forgot about the existence of The Spirit World Part One and demanded a save the environment special episode. The writers responded by forgetting that they'd already established that Katara was ride or die for literally anyone with a pulse in Imprisoned, and gave us this to remind us of that fact. They also forgot that they'd already established that Katara has no moral code whatsoever the minute her personal interest is involved in The Waterbending Scroll, so they decided to recycle the "narrative sides with Katara endangering them all over Sokka being reasonable" plot from that episode and hope we wouldn't notice. We did.

At least with Imprisoned, Katara kind of sort of caused the problem that she fixed. She was super tangentially involved in that kid's arrest. Here, she causes problems by trying to fix problems that she didn't really have any business getting involved in.

The more of this I watched, the more I wanted someone to slap Katara. What I wouldn't give for an episode where she is wrong (has happened a lot) and the episode doesn't pretend otherwise (has never happened). For god's sake, LET HER BE WRONG AND FEEL IT. How else is she going to progress past being self-righteously fourteen? Why is she being so consistently insulated from consequences? Aang chooses power over family at the end of season two and gets actually murdered for it. Katara steals, lies, skirts dangerously close to being a false prophet and does a nifty little ecoterrorism (with Aang's help), and she gets villagers being a bit shouty before big brother comes in and fixes it. Then she gets divine sanction for her actions so even the shouty bit is negated.

There's an interesting contrast in Katara's "I will never turn my back on people who need me" and Sokka's "I will never turn my back on you." It shows which of the two doesn't have their head in the clouds, and has actually formulated realistic expectations of how much a single person can do. It also speaks to the fundamental difference in how they operate. Katara acts; Sokka mitigates. Sokka does Katara's thinking for her; Katara outsources her thinking and then gets pissed when rational thoughts don't conform to her emotions' view of the world.

Why haven't the villagers moved away? If the water was poisoning them this much, why are they still here? Was the early 2000s too early to have a theme of climate refugees? Or the pollution equivalent? That would have been more interesting than this.

I hated this. Why isn't this the episode that gets hated on like the Great Divide? Its sins are nothing compared to this.

Doc, Shu, and Bushi were the only good thing in this episode, but they weren't enough to make this one remotely rewatchable.

One out of Three so far on season three episode quality. No other season has had this bad a ratio this early. This does not bode well for the rest of this season.

[sweet-evie]

No, but think about putting SaShiSu in an Avatar: The Last Airbender AU... 🥴

Waterbender!Gojo, Waterbender Healer!Ieiri and Firebender!Geto Imagines😭 Hear me out!

They go on adventures together, get in trouble together.

Plus, if SatoSugu friendship blossoms into romance, it's so Romeo and Juliet-coded ✨💖

I like the idea of the three of them being childhood best friends.

Imagine this takes place during peace time, and there's no war (YET), and it's just the four nations being normal.

So Satoru, Shoko, and Suguru definitely met as children during an official visit to each other's country or something.

Suguru Geto is Fire Nation nobility who knows a thing or two about manipulating body heat and more...

🔥 Listen... It's the bun istg... Because why does his hairstyle remind me of Ozai, lowkey?

🔥 He's a talented firebender, martial artist, and adept scholar.

🔥 His mom and dad are political figures and I imagine his mom is a lady-in-waiting to the Fire Lord's wife, while Suguru's father actually sits in the Fire Lord's council. The man is an admiral in the Fire Lord's navy.

🔥 Suguru would be a nerd about Wan Shi Tong's library. 🦉

🔥 Suguru would be good at war strategy. It comes from his obsession with Pai Sho.

🔥 You know, his uncle may or may not rope him into joining the Order of the White Lotus at some point in his life.

🔥 Suguru in RED Fire Nation armor~ 🥹🥴🤤

🔥 Also, if I was skilled in photoshop, I will not be above photoshopping Suguru's head on top of Ozai's body. As in, I just need that image of Suguru Geto as a Fire Lord. 😩

Shoko Ieiri is a talented and renowned waterbender for her healing prowess and knowledge in human anatomy.

💧 She is from the Northern Water Tribe, like Gojo, and was raised alongside Satoru, so they're basically siblings.

💧 Her knowledge of human anatomy is unmatched. As in, yes, there are skilled waterbending healers, but Shoko is iconic because she goes beyond practicing healing on human mannequins. Our girl does autopsies and often ponders how the human body works. She's a legit doctor, okay?

💧 She practiced healing on Satoru a lot while they were growing up too, because Satoru acquired plenty of scrapes and bruises and dislocated bones through the years. He was a rambunctious child who had way too much power in his menace-causing hands. (more on Satoru later).

💧 What Satoru lacks in healing prowess, Shoko makes up for in buckets and buckets.

💧 Shoko is a decent waterbender in combat, but she would really rather her two friends do most of the fighting.

💧 Not like Satoru or Suguru would let her on the field that much anyway. She's too valuable to risk. Shoko knows it and plays that up to her advantage A LOT.

💧 Aside from escaping the arranged marriage her parents set up for her, Shoko eagerly ran away from home with Satoru at 18 in pursuit of scholars who eagerly studied human anatomy like her.

💧 Shoko is interested in how the other nations tend to their wounded and sick when they can't find a waterbending healer.

Satoru Gojo is blessed by the spirit of the moon and the ocean.

🌊🌕 He is literally Yue 2.0, but better! Still the Honored One in any universe. 😍 The white hair and blue eyes... Need I say more?

🌊🌕 Okay, so... I'm thinking... Satoru Gojo in ATLA universe is just like his JJK counterpart. He was highly favored by the spirits from the moment he was born.

🌊🌕 His parents look like typical Northern Water Tribe people. Dark-haired. Satoru is the only one in the family who is pale and white-haired.

🌊🌕 He's a Prince, of course... Prince Satoru of the Northern Water Tribe sounds hell'a good.

🌊🌕 He grew up sheltered, he's a waterbending prodigy, and he's still a menace.

🌊🌕 Gojo is also definitely a blood-bender, but I like to think he learns that skillset later on in their adventures or something (kind'a like how Katara learned it, but with less guilt). Also, Choso definitely taught him right?

🌊🌕 Satoru does not know how to heal other people. It's one of his greatest flaws. He can heal himself just fine, but using water to seek out illness and heal it for other people? Yeah... He sucks at that... (Not different from JJK in other words, where Gojo can't output Reverse Cursed Technique to heal other people. He only knows how to use RCT on himself).

Their Adventure Backstory...

➼ At 18, Satoru starts to get antsy about seeing the world and whatnot. He's sick of the family politics and the arranged marriages about to be shoved down his throat.

➼ Shoko is in the same boat. If the arranged marriages are suffocating for a prince, it's even worse for a talented young woman of noble birth.

➼ Shoko's situation is what pushes Satoru to say "Fuck it!" and run away from home.

➼ So against their parents' wishes, these 2 reckless teenagers devise a plan to run away for a much needed world tour. Satoru's reasoning is that they won't be gone forever... He and Shoko will come back eventually.

➼ First destination in mind: the Fire Nation... to see Suguru and rope him into their grand plans, of course!

➼ Satoru and Shoko steal a ship from the Water Tribe fleet and go on their merry way. (I like to think they got there fast because Satoru was manipulating the water underneath the ship to propel them faster to where they need to go).

➼ By the time they reach the Fire Nation, word has already spread of the Northern Water Tribe's runaway Prince.

➼ Shoko thinks Satoru is being stupid, but hey, according to Satoru, "What can my parents do about it at this point?"

➼ Sure, Satoru is a highly valued individual that could fetch a high price if kidnapped by pirates (he's a Prince, after all), but he's also an insanely powerful waterbender and combatant. I'm sure he'd say something like, "I don't need my bending to win."

➼ Satoru and Shoko make it to the Fire Nation unscathed, meet up with Suguru, and convince him to come along on a grand adventure.

➼ They switch out the Water Tribe ship for something a little more discreet from Suguru's own father's fleet. (Side-eye the kiddies using their parents' resources carelessly to do whatever they want. 😆 They're nepo-babies... all 3 of them.)

➼ I like to think Suguru's parents don't mind though. His mom, in particular, thinks it's a good idea for Suguru to go out and see the world and shit.

➼ Where are they going? Satoru didn't actually know.

➼ Suguru suggests a visit to the legendary knowledge spirit's library, since he's a nerd about that, but also, Shoko wants to see if she can find anything that indulges her curiosity. So that's where they're headed first.

➼ It would be a cute idea for a coming-of-age story... where SaShiSu grow up through the experiences they've had and they realize they have responsibilities to attend to or something.

➼ Because as much as they would want to, there's no such thing as traveling the world as nomads forever. Satoru is a Prince, and Shoko and Suguru are of noble birth. They have stuff to do...

➼ OR... OR... OR.... They're 3 stupid teenagers who ran away from home right on the brink of a war happening. Like, they had no idea conflict was rising, so shit hits the fan and Suguru just receives word from his father via messenger hawk, telling him to come home because there is a war.

It's embarrassing how I'm thinking about their combat prowess + the trouble the three of them get into too...

➼ Gojo and Geto enhance each other's combat. They're so in sync.

➼ Of course, they started out pretty rough... Water vs Fire and all that.. But as they train together more and inevitably encounter situations where they had to fight their way out, they learn to work together and be so in sync.

➼ Watching them fight each other, or fight alongside one another is a treat. It's like a dance -- a perfectly choreographed movement of legs and limbs.

➼ Suguru's fire can burn hot enough to evaporate water. It burns hot enough to destroy tightly packed walls of stone. He is not a stranger to carrying out executions on the most heinous criminals in the Boiling Rock, so yes, Suguru has burned a man alive and/or electrocuted a criminal in prison in the name of justice.

➼ Satoru is the perfect support to Suguru when Suguru launches a lightning attack.

➼ At some point in their adventures, Suguru pointed out how Satoru could try sucking moisture out of plants or draw water from the air and Satoru figures it out.

➼ I like to think Shoko put the idea of bloodbending in Satoru's head. It was a hypothetical thought that led to Satoru actually trying to figure it out and eventually running into someone who does that.

➼ It all started with Shoko randomly saying, "Hey, did you know that water takes up 3/4 of the human body?" as they sat around their campfire one night.

➼ Also... something something shenanigans happen where Satoru keeps waterbending boiling water out of a pot to fling at something -- the little shit that he is.

➼ After they left the Northern Water Tribe, Satoru has become Shoko's impromptu combat waterbending teacher.

➼ Shoko always complains about it during training days because Satoru HAS NO CHILL. He's also banking on the fact that Shoko can heal herself, so he finds little use in holding back.

➼ Shoko and Satoru have definitely pulled water-based pranks on Suguru multiple times. This is gross, but.... piss-bending. Satoru did it once as a prank. 🤢🤮

➼ On a brighter note, Satoru definitely makes silly water sculptures/giant puppets in the middle of the ocean for his and his companions' begrudging entertainment. Suguru and Shoko roll their eyes at it, but honestly, it's kinda cute when a water serpent or a water squid rises out of the sea to greet their ship once in a while. Yeah, it scares the shit out of ocean wildlife and maybe nearby ships and such, but at least Satoru is having fun. 🥴😁 (the unhinged wittle baby)

➼ Shoko thinks the Moon and the Ocean Spirits regret blessing the Prince when he was born. Suguru agrees...

➼ But hey, they make each other proud in their own ways.

➼ Shoko once stalled their trip and stayed in a remote fishing town for a week to heal the sick, and Satoru and Suguru were there as her assistants. (Satoru was complaining about the poor amenities and Suguru had to remind him all over again that though he was raised in a noble household, it was his duty to protect and care for those who cannot do that for themselves).

➼ Satoru once helped mediate a political issue that was severely affecting several neighboring towns in the Earth Kingdom.

➼ Suguru cracked a criminal case that was unsolved for months in a town in the Fire Nation, and was personally responsible for delivering the serial killer to the Boiling Rock. (Satoru saw the boiling lake and definitely played around with it, much to the chagrin of Suguru and Suguru's uncle).

Side note for my peeps who are familiar with ATLA lore:

You know how they say no prisoner has ever escaped the Boiling Rock? Suguru told Satoru and Shoko about that, and Satoru definitely bets that he could do it.

Prince Satoru argues it's only because, "None of you waterbend."

They're visitors to the high security prison, but it doesn't stop Satoru from doing dumb stuff, like sneaking out without alerting the guards.

To prove his point, Satoru did what Sokka and Zuko did to escape the Boiling Rock: Use a cooler as a boat.

So in the dead of night, Suguru, Satoru, and Shoko do it, and Satoru successfully ferries the three of them across the Boiling Lake.

Afterwards, Suguru's like, "You've proven your point, Satoru. Let's head back."

Satoru is laughing and flashing his friends that cheesy, cocky grin he's known for and brags, "'No one escapes the Boiling Rock, highest security Fire Nation prison' my ass. All you needed was a waterbender!"

Shoko rolls her eyes at her friend's antics and speaks to him in a matter-of-fact voice, "Sure, but it wouldn't make sense for waterbenders to be kept here anyways or to be stuffed in coolers as punishments. It's meant to hold a firebender, not for people from the Water Tribe... and especially not for you."

Suguru is smirking at them both, "Theoretically speaking, precautions would be in place to prevent you from bending water. So that means pumping dry air and probably suspending your hands and feet before you're given anything to drink."

Shoko was nodding. "It'll take more than getting stuffed in a cooler for you to escape actually, so this little plot proves nothing, Satoru."

They got caught regardless because they lingered on the edge of the Boiling Lake on the opposite end of the island for far too long, and a watchman saw them and alerted Suguru's uncle.

Needless to say, SaShiSu were thoroughly scolded when they made it back to the prison.

Satoru's paying for damages to one of the dismantled coolers that were used as boats.

➼ I seriously need to stop, but yo...

Somebody please write a JJK X ATLA AU for real... 🙏

[shanastoryteller]

Happy holidays! Could you do something with Sokka/Zuko/Yue? <3

a continuation of 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21

Sokka likes them both, but he likes the differently.

He thinks that they make a good contrast, filling in for the other. Yue's softness hides her sternness, and for Zuko it's the opposite, he knows that if he'd never met either of them then they would be perfectly content with each other. That makes him - not nervous, exactly, but sometimes he worries, because of it. What if they get sick of him? What if he's difficult or cross and they decided they'd rather just deal with their own company? At the end of the day, she's a princess and she's a prince, set to one day rule the whole Fire Nation, and he's just a chief's son. He knows that if there's a piece that doesn't fit, then it's him.

Later, after Yue and Zuko are married and he can lie in their bed between them rather than moving between their separate rooms, he whispers his fears into the smooth silk of their pillow.

When the silence stretches out too long, he risks peaking up at them, and finds both of his lovers looking down at him in exasperation.

"And what am I to you two?" Zuko demands. "You are Water Tribe, and I am not. Half the court thinks you're both planning to slit my throat in my sleep and run off with each other."

He sputters, but before he can say how ridiculous that is, Yue adds, "And what about me, in love with two warriors when I have no skill to claim myself? Both the Southern Tribes and the Fire Nation put a value on being dangerous, something you both are and I am not. What can I offer two warriors after battle besides words of comfort, words you are both better equipped to provide each other than I ever will be?"

Sokka snorts, Zuko echoing the sound a moment later. He and Zuko are definitely not the ones that are good with words.

Which is probably her whole point.

"There's no framework for a second spouse," Zuko muses, "but I suppose I could make you concubine."

"Do not," Sokka squawks even as Yue loses herself to giggles and Zuko smiles at him, so wide it's nearly crooked.

[waterfire1848]

A little twist on the nonbender!Sokkla -AU with a Azula being a prodigy in archery instead of a swordfighting-prodigy. Hit us with your headcanons, please :)

Hello, @subterraneanwatcher !!!!

(Side note but I'm loving the nonbender!azula asks) (Also, changing this up just a bit so that it doesn’t seem like a copy and paste of the sword AU)

1. When Azula was born a nonbender, Ozai wanted her dead or thrown in an orphanage. Ursa and the Fire sages intervened on her behalf though, arguing that she had some promise. So, Ozai allowed her to live but she was forever treated as the unwanted child. Ozai wasn’t fond of either of his children so Ursa did her best to split up time between the two but Azula still felt left out most of the time. She would often wander the palace alone, as the child servants and nobles would look at with disgust or pity, and try to find something to fill her time. One day, she saw the Yuyan archers practicing in the court yard and asked if she could try. The archers decided to humor her and helped her use the arrow (because again she’s a child) and Azula fell in love with the craft.

2. She begged her mother and father to let her enroll in archery classes and while Ursa was worried about her (because Ozai’s words about her being weak were getting to her) Ozai decided to let her so that he could have an excuse to not have his nonbending daughter around. When Azula started her lessons, she excelled. She was a natural and very fast learner. When she turned 11, the archers asked Ozai if they could take her with them. He gladly agreed.

3. Azula officially became a member of the Yuyan archers when she was twelve, the youngest member, and grew to love her little family. Most of them treated her like a younger sister or daughter. They joked around with her, brought her into the circle when they ate, gave her tips and praised her (all things she was missing from her bio family). Azula started going on missions at the age of twelve as well and became known as one of the Yuyan archers most accurate hitters at 14.

4. Azula was annoyed when they were hired by Zhao (who didn’t recognize her thanks to her makeup) but didn’t complain because the task of capturing the Avatar seemed like an interesting on. Azula remained with her brothers and sisters until the Avatar escaped and she attempted to stop him. Aang accidentally hit her head and she slammed it against the stone and was knocked out. Feeling guilty, he takes her with him and runs off, leaving the Yuyan archers devastated and believing her to be dead (don’t ya just love Fire nation propaganda??)

5. Aang brings her back to the cave where Sokka and Katara are still sick and lets her rest because she’s still knocked out. When Sokka and Katara wake up, they debate about taking her with them or not: Aang wants to because he doesn’t feel right about leaving her here alone so they decide to do that. After getting her onto Appa and getting in the air, Azula wakes up and demands to know what’s going on, yelling about her arrows and bows and the other archers. Aang explains what’s going on and that they can’t take her back but are more than happy to set her down and let her walk back (which isn’t an option because they’re in deep EK territory and Azula would very quickly be captured). Azula agrees to come with them until she can find a way back to her own people.

+1 (because there was no room for Sokkla) - Azula takes a notice in Sokka’s weapon and asks him to show her them. He gladly does which leads to a conversation about Azula’s archery skills. (Sokka: Wow! Your family must be really proud! Azula:…Not exactly. Sokka: What do you mean? Azula: My father only wanted benders as children. I’m a nonbender so he pretty much threw me away before I could even crawl. I don’t care. I stopped trying to impress him years ago.) Slowly but surely, the two grow closer and closer until the North Pole happens. Azula refuses to return with Zhao and (with a bow and arrow given to her by Yue) stops him from killing Tui (Azula: I’m not called the sharpest Yuyan shot for nothing. Sokka:…Do people really call you that? Azula: No, but I want them too, and I just saved the fish. I think I’m entitled to a cool nickname). Yue remains alive and in the North Pole but agrees to get them to start participating in the war. Azula, having killed Zhao, officially sides with the Gaang and her relationship with Sokka grows. All of them unaware that Zuko, who was trained under Ozai, is now after them.

[centuryberry]

I've seen many of your AUs of Queen of The Mountain and I couldn't help but ask myself over this possible AU: What if Sangshen, after giving birth, goes through something like postpartum anxiety and after a few choice words callously said by her in-laws that trigger a massive fight or flight response, runs away with newborn! Yue in tow?

I don't know how Yue's birth went in specific terms, but what if after several days of resting and visits from the Zodiac Clan members, Sangshen was exhausted in more ways than just physical and starts secretly freaking out over her daughter's future due to the stress of having given birth, which escalates to the point of just planning to running away from the clan to protect Yue from their callous schemes? And what puts her impulsive plan to action was when one of the Zodiac Clan members (her father-in-law) makes a snide remark about how Yue would do for future plans, going as far as to decide how much use she'll be for the Clan in front of her mother? Those words alone were enough to convince an addled Sangshen to run away with Yue as soon as she's able to.

When she was deemed fit to be fully recovered, she secretly packs a small bag of essentials and in the middle of the night when she knew everyone was sound asleep, she snuck out of the compound and just ran off and would use what abilities she had to keep herself and Yue hidden out of fear of being followed, tracked or hunted, and she didn't stop traveling until she got to FFM.

She hid amongst humans and raised Yue as best as she could until she learned about FFM, the monkeys that live there and the paradise it was. Hoping they would take her in, she decided to move herself and Yue there. But it was around that time she got sick.

While she managed to get into FFM territory without raising suspicion (in her mind, but realizes her mistake soon after), her illness gets worse and while she tries to be strong and withstand the worst of it, she soon realizes she's dying and to protect Yue, she warns her to stay away from her body because animals would be attracted to her corpse and she needs to keep away from them.

Yue understands as best as she could at her age and tries to keep away, both from her dying mother (which she's really reluctant to do) and from the monkeys with weapons she saw searching nearby.

Eventually, General Beng finds her. Being a father himself, he has no problem letting Yue know he means no harm. It wasn't until he asks her why she was all by herself in the forest that she tells him that she has to stay or animals would come (she tries to explain what her mother told her to do, but she could only manage to say that). She even pulls him in the direction where her mother is, telling him she couldn't go there, which he took as a means to investigate, by which he finds her mother, not dead, but barely conscious. He immediately sends out an emergency signal and keeps Yue close to him as Wukong and Macaque show up before anyone else. He explains the situation to them as the other soldiers get Sangshen to the infirmary. At Yue's protests at her mother being taken away, the three monkeys follow after while Beng looks over Yue with what medical knowledge he knows.

Sangshen wakes up in a bed, feeling just slightly better, but nonetheless still dying, with her daughter passed out next to her. Because she was too weak from her illness, she didn't have enough strength to keep her glamours up, so when Wukong and Macaque arrive for questioning, her ears are exposed. This, of course, catches Macaque off guard enough for his glamours to flicker, just so that Sangshen notices. That's how she ends up reuniting with her brother for the first time. She explains her story as much as she was able to, with her daughter waking up and immediately clinging to her as she talked with Wukong and Macaque.

With what medical attention was available, Sangshen manages to live bedridden for almost two weeks until she eventually passes away peacefully. During this time, she got to know her brother and a select few monkeys, other than Wukong, just enough to entrust them with her daughter's care along with telling Macaque and Yue both how grateful she was to have them in her life and how much she loved them.

Yue knew that her mother was dying and, at first, seemed to have accepted it, but she was unable to stop crying when she got the news that she died in her sleep. Both she and Macaque grieved her loss while Wukong arranged for a simple funeral, choosing to have Sangshen buried at a place she liked when she was able to move on her own.

It was a painful time, but it was after the burial that Yue was approached with the offer of staying on FFM, by Wukong and Macaque. Even though she had barely known them, she knew that she trusted them, especially since she overheard her mother asking Wukong and Macaque to look after Yue when she was gone.

I know this idea is a lot more sad than I thought it would be, but I think it makes for a good AU for if Yue wasn't abandoned but had run away with her mother.

What do you think? I'd like to hear your thoughts about it.

My AUs never have Sangshen escaping on her own no matter how anxious she gets over Yue’s safety (believe me, if she could she would) because of her weak body. Without someone’s help, she wouldn’t make it half way before collapsing and dying. And that doesn’t even cover how Yishan would catch her before she even got too far. Sangshen knows all of this and never takes the risk since it would spell a certain death for Yue too.

I also try to avoid any AU scenarios that has Sangshen go through all that effort to escape and go to FFM only to die. It’s just cruel for her and Macaque. They’re already so tragic. For Macaque, he discovers he’s no longer alone but loses that same family. It’s like dangling something so important in front of him only to have it snatched away. It’s also just too sad for Sangshen. She already suffered so much during her time as a slave. I don’t like putting her character in more pain than necessary, especially not to give Yue (and Macaque) a new flavor of trauma.

[tytangfei]

now that In Blossom is over...

i'm going to briefly compare ju jingyi's version of yang caiwei versus zheng hehuizi's version (the first actress) to answer the question of 'is ju jingyi's verson in character according to what we know of yang caiwei in the first two episodes and in childhood flashbacks?'

why? because a lot of people have a reluctance to start this drama due to ju jingyi. i get it, she's not everyone's cup of tea. also, she has a harder task in this drama as the actress that plays the second version of female lead, and many think that she didn't step it up.

but i wanted to throw my thoughts out there in case anyone was willing to give her/the drama a chance. does ju jingyi's version feel in character, and thus, tolerable?

yeah, mostly.

zheng hehuizi's version is just, mature, and sensible. but we know from flashbacks that she wasn't just serious all the time; with her friends, she was cheerful and bright. even at the little kids who bullied her in episode 1, she played a prank on them--showcasing a silly sense of humor and ability to shrug off judgements after years of discrimination. the main reason why she was serious in the first two eps was because she was trying to push pan yue away. (and also she was worried about her sick master.)

ju jingyi's version also was pretty much the same. she was just, smart, and wary of pan yue (rightly so). the reason why she acted extra super cheerful was because she was trying to show to pan yue that she, shangguan zhi, had changed. by doing this, she was hoping to draw his eyes away from her so she could investigate. that's why i accepted the fact that ju jingyi's version could be almost too much with the quirky acts; it was initially for a good reason. once she believed in pan yue, her character wasn't so quirky anymore, because she didn't need to be over-the-top about everything. once the quirkyness disappeared, she felt more attuned to the first version we saw.

so, in terms of whether it's in character and coherent, i would say yeah, it feels enough. it's not perfect, but it's just enough to get through (though the last parts of the drama didn't give much to her character...i say more on this near the end.)

the reality is we really didn't get to see much of zheng hehuizi's version so we really don't have that much as a frame of reference. in fact, we barely get flashbacks to when yang caiwei struggled after her parents died, and her learning coroner skills from her master. because of this, i'm forced by the story to just accept that ju jingyi's version is accurate/correct.

which isn't all bad. ju jingyi's version have several shining moments. (one of my fav scenes of her is when she's drunk and confesses she's not "shangguan zhi" but pan yue doesn't believe her, so she stares at pan yue achingly with these wide regretful sad eyes. we know her conflict, we know why she can't tell him the truth yet! it's heartbreaking.)

but what i've noticed, especially toward the end of the drama, is that ju jingyi's version actually doesn't get that much time to show her character's interiority. we don't get to see her, just by herself, thinking and feeling. the most obvious example of this is when she's in jail! and has been tortured!! and we see NOTHING except she's leaning against the wall and ignoring the food and jail guards. no thoughts, no words about her situation or reminiscing about her family or her master or concerns about her friends or pan yue??? she might die, does she not feel regretful that she hasn't brought justice to her family???? she just silently endures. that might be a testament to her strength of character, but as a viewer, i'm scratching my head. i'm not that compelled by her just sitting there. i need her to say or do something.

now, with the drama all wrapped up, i can definitely say that pan yue has so much more growth and growing than yang caiwei. even his relationship with his father gets a little redemption arc. pan yue becomes the biggest main character. yang caiwei, on the other hand, kind of stops growing once she and pan yue gets together.

whether it's by writing or her own acting or editing, yang caiwei ultimately is an underutilized character. we could've seen more of her character's growth to perhaps appreciate ju jingyi's version more. but we didn't get that, for better or for worse. i liked both versions of yang caiwei in the end. just wanted a bit more for her.

[timextoxhajima]

Sonder: Part I

Parts: I II III IV V

member: enhypen heeseung! x oc! woo ki yeom [3rd person pov]

genre: coming of age, slice of life, angst, romance

w/c: 5k

warnings: topics on religion, distressed relationships, mental health (I want to leave an a/n here that I grew up with my maternal family being Buddhists so what I've written is based off what I researched online and the way her family practised Buddhism. I'm personally a free-tinker and this narrative is not in any way meant to offend nor support any particular religion.)

synopsis: after being kicked out of her home, Woo Ki Yeom is forced to live life on her own. struggling to find herself in the midst of her chaotic life, she meets lee heeseung, who, like her, can't give any more fucks to life than she does.

"n. the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own."

That word. That keeps coming out on Instagram pages and TikTok videos.

It's a strange feeling to know that everybody else in here was living their own lives. Maybe they were going through a breakup, or someone in their family had just passed away. Perhaps their pet ran from home or a trip just got cancelled because their travel buddy fell sick.

It's fascinating at first - but you get bored by it after some time. And even if you didn't, Woo Ki Yeom did.

It's not like it was difficult to figure out how to vacuum your room or do your own hair. Nor was it difficult to figure out how this washing machine operated, though Ki Yeom must admit that it took her a couple of minutes to get it down. But now, all she does is give it a good smack to the side when it doesn't start up.

"wo gen ni jiang (I'm telling you), one day you're going to smack it until it's spoilt!" The owner of the laundromat nags from the payment counter. He's a man in his 50s - Ki Yeom likes to think Mr Hsien is an alternate-dimension version of Eve from the film, Everything, Everywhere, All At Once. He clearly hates this life, and the only time Ki Yeom has seen his wife was when he was sick and couldn't run the place himself.

Mrs Hsien is just about ten times sweeter than he is - which Ki Yeom recalls - she didn't respond that well to.

She must think Ki Yeom is an asshole.

Then again, Ki Yeom knows for a fact that she is one.

"Then you'll finally come around to your senses and get it changed. I just found a coin from the 1930s the other day in my load."

"Do you know change washing machine how expensive?" Mr Hsien rambles on, looking through his glasses that were so far down his nose bridge, Ki Yeom thinks it might just slide right off. In his hands were dollar bills. "shi yi ge yue de qian (It's a month's worth of money)! From everybody that comes here."

She doesn't bother responding - no need to, unless she wants to start a debate.

"All day gloomy," Mr Hsien mumbles under his breath. She dumps herself in the row of chairs right out the door as he aligns the dollar bills and goes to unlock the door. "My wife say gloomy not good. tai duo yin (too much yin)."

His voice is slightly muffled, since his entire body is hidden behind the counter as he hides his money. After a few moments, his hand comes to grip the edge of the counter as he pulls himself up to stand, then he takes a deep breath and sighs as if it took him a bountiful amount of energy to get up. But he looks outwards at Ki Yeom and wiggles a finger at her.

"Are you listening to me?" He shakes his head, processing Ki Yeom just looking down at her phone.

Yes.

"You know, Chinese people always think young people who don't respond are very rude. If you were my daughter, wo yi jing hui ma si ni ah (I would've already scolded you to death)."

He grumbles as he pushes himself out the little door by his counter and waddles for the storage door.

"You shout for me if anything weird happen outside. I'm going to da bian (poop)."

Ki Yeom connects the bluetooth headphones to her phone and adjusts it over her head as the door swings shut.

It was a quiet Wednesday night.

Ki Yeom liked to do her laundry in the middle of the week because there aren't many people around, and she didn't have to wait for strangers to come clear the washing machines before she could use them. She didn't have to talk to strangers - which came as a surprise to her when she first moved here. She never understood why people would just randomly strike up conversations.

What was the point of knowing so much about someone's life when you're probably never going to see this person again?

But it's ironic that Ki Yeom has found comfort in a familiar place, enough to fall asleep. Even if Mr Hsien were to walk right out that storage door and finds her nodding off in her awkward sitting upright position, she knew he wouldn't wake her up. She knows, because it's not the first time she's passed out from a day's work.

Sometimes, Ki Yeom gets her inspiration from her dreams. One would be surprised how much she dreamt - because that meant that she could wake up feeling like she never slept. At some point, Ki Yeom was convinced that she was part of a cult by blood, because strange symbols, shapes, and creatures kept appearing in her dreams. She would draw them out and then go to the library to find anything on them, but to no avail.

Sometimes she blames this on her family.

But this 'gift' does her well at work, especially when the clientele of the tattoo parlour she works at are avid fans of the rare and uncommon.

Because of the number of clients who have grown fond of her artistry, she's been requested more than the average tattoo artist at the parlour she works at. Ki Yeom had been advised not to bite off more than she can chew, but it's not like she has any financial help or alot of money in the first place, so why not?

At least, not after she was kicked out of her own home.

In her busiest week, she spent four nights sleeping in the parlour, and had licorice and coffee for breakfast, a chicken salad for lunch and instant noodles for dinner on one of those days. And that wasn't even the worst meal combination she's had.

Some of her colleagues are kind - the ones who leave her blankets and buy her coffee and bread in the morning when they clock in. Others? Not so much.

"Too young." "Inexperienced." "Greedy." "Hard-up."

She's heard those too many times to feel a thing. It's also because she knows they're true. But it's not her fault she's greedy.

What's wrong with it?

Greed usually comes hand-in-hand with desperation, even if it weren't for a good cause. Greed comes with knowing how it feels when you lack something. Ki Yeom's greed stems from her lack of money, and is that her fault?

No.

She finally jerks awake from her evening nap when a loud thud manages to get past her headphones. Blurry vision still taking some time to clear, she's able to make out Mr Hsien frantically grabbing a rag and cleaning off the counter top. Tea was dripping off the edge.

Just by the movement of his mouth, she can tell he's rambling off about being such a clumsy old man.

She sits up and stretches her neck, feeling the ache when she pulls it the opposite way she was dosing off in. A slight frown, and then in the corner of her eye, she notices someone had taken a seat on the other end of the five-seater row of seats.

It was someone probably her age, maybe younger. But she returns her attention to Mr Hsien finishing the rest of his tea and walking round the counter, grabbing some dry tissues to clean up the remaining on the floor.

Then she catches the stranger glancing in her direction, as if wanting to say something - and then she realises that her music isn't playing. 

She fumbles her lap for her phone, then finds it on the floor right under the seat. The stranger seems to sit with ease now that she's picked it up. She almost finds it embarrassing when she tries to reconnect her bluetooth, but is interrupted by the washing machine she was using finally beeping to indicate that it was done. 

Ki Yeom clears her throat and gets up to the washing machine, yanking the worn-out door open. Gathering the damp clothes in her arms she tosses it into a dryer. She instinctively feels around her pockets to find the token she had paid in exchange for it, but her mood is slightly ruined when she can't find it. 

Mr Hsien is no longer in the counter, so she assumes he had gone to the back, berating himself for being clumsy, so she looks around the floor. Perhaps she might find a stray one sitting somewhere. 

She returns to the dryer, defeated. No, actually, she's too tired to be annoyed. Sliding the headphones off her head, Ki Yeom sighs to herself and rolls her eyes. 

But a soft 'tick' rings quickly across the surface of the dryer, and she looks up to see the stranger turning his back on her. The token sits on the white-turned-grey surface of the dryer next to the one she was throwing her mental tantrum at. 

Ki Yeom builds up the care to speak.

"It's fine but I'll just wait for him to come back out." 

He sits anyway, leaning back coyly and looking at her with a lack of expression. "I'm trying to collect karma points, so don't take it personally. Maybe another day if we see each other."

As if I'm going to see you another day. 

But Ki Yeom is not someone who rejects something when she needs it. 

"Thanks," The word is almost reluctant to come out. Without hesitation, she chucks it into the coin slit of the dryer and it tumbles down into a bed of tokens. She hunches over the dryer and jabs the buttons - sometimes they don't work very well either.

Ki Yeom hadn't always been like this. In fact, she was one of those kids who could plug in her earpieces over dinner and watch her favourite shows and her parents wouldn't say anything about it, because she knew to take them out when the food came.

Sometimes, her parents would join in on the fun of watching whatever show it was she was watching.

But what truly set her family apart from the average family was that her parents were devoted Buddhists. Karma, Liberation, Meditation... Honestly, Ki Yeom never understood what it truly meant until she hit her teenage years, and even then, her understanding of it didn't last very long.

It was a unique, and an admittable forceful, way of which Ki Yeom fell out with her family. As individuals who believed so much in karma, they had the tradition of donating large sums of money to the temple they frequented. They went vegetarian, prayed, kept a kind heart to whomever it was they met - and then her father was left jobless when the company he was working for got involved in an embezzling scandal.

Ki Yeom, at the age of sixteen, had witnessed her father go from the proud family man he was, to someone who stayed in bed all day, afraid to go out, in fear that he would have to open his empty wallet.

The anxiety became crippling and her father had developed depression upon the rippling news that he couldn't be accepted into other jobs because of his niche and limited experience and that he was too old.

At sixteen, when you've spent most of your life trying to understand and believe the ways of which your family has led their lives by, you'd be confused. Why was this happening? Have we not done enough?

What was once a home filled with laughter, comfort and encouragement, turned into a home that scrimped and saved every penny - even spending some nights without any electricity and relying purely on candles.

There was a gradual build-up of resentment on Ki Yeom's heart.

She had gone three years living off the meagre five dollars a day - and when you're in school with friends who find going to Starbucks and getting bubble tea an enjoyable past time, it's difficult. Even if they were understanding and chose not to go to either of those options, it was inevitable that Ki Yeom felt like it was her fault they couldn't go.

Just where in the world did all that money go? All the good karma points they were trying to accumulate? What happened to my God?

Ki Yeom had just graduated from pre-u. She wonders how she even managed to graduate, in the midst of all that falling apart at home, when it happened.

She had reached home after a day's work at the restaurant. As a waitress, she's grown numb to all the ridiculous comments and issues that customers bring up to her, if she were even paying attention.

So, all Ki Yeom wished was for a quiet dinner, a quiet evening and a quiet night to herself. She could crawl in bed and hug her pillows and scroll on her phone until she passed out, and then her day would start from scratch again.

But upon reaching home, she's not given enough time to respond - Especially when the things in her room seemed to be in the midst of removal. By strangers.

"What's going on?"

Her mother follows them out of the room as the movers trudge past her - and out of the house. "Ki, I'm sorry, we'll have to make do-"

"With... what? The floor?"

"You know how hard it's been, we just had to do this for the extra cash."

"How long is this 'cash' going to last us?" Ki Yeom puts her tote down, pushing past her mother and looking into the room. What used to be a cozy room with a bed, a desk, a standing lamp and even a beanbag was now a mattress, a makeshift table and a table lamp.

Ki Yeom turns around, at a complete loss of words. "You literally sold my room."

The elder stands, facing the door because she cannot face her daughter.

Ki Yeom gulps, feeling this intense heat coming up from within her. It feels like she's about to cry, but also wants to vomit and scream at the same time. "How much is selling my room going to make?"

"Ki-"

"How. Much?"

A pause. There's some knocking and rustling outside as they wrap the furniture in bubble wrap. Someone yells at someone else to hand her the money.

"Enough for a couple of weeks."

Ki Yeom sighs heavily, not knowing she was even holding her breath. Then, she coughs and almost hyperventilates. A scoff. Then, a strangled growl, like she was about to throw herself out the window, and the tears start to clog her eyesight.

She watches as her mother receives the thin stack of fifty dollar bills, and the man doesn't give them one last look before leaving.

There's a painful silence in the house when Ki Yeom squats. And when her feet become numb, she drops to the floor with her back hitting the wall.

"I'm sorry, Ki," Her mother turns and sniffles, shoving the fifty dollar bills into her backpocket. She squats, trying to look at Ki Yeom. But her daughter's head is hung low, for she has taken her final sanctuary.

"I don't understand... how this was an option. I'm working. And aren't you and dad trying to find jobs? Aren't you working?"

"I know... and we are... we just... we have nothing."

"What about grandpa? Hasn't he offered to help? At this stage... you want me to believe he hasn't offered any type of help?"

Her mother goes quiet, only taking a deep breath and sitting on her rear as well.

"What? What does that mean?" Ki Yeom frowns, tears finally dribbling down her cheeks as she struggles to understand. "Is he so heartless... that he cannot give us some to get by until something... better comes along?"

"Ki, we've been like this for years..."

"Which makes me wonder why he hasn't helped?"

Silence.

Ki Yeom frowns. "Does he even know?"

Her mother looks up at her through disheveled hair.

"How could he not know?"

"Ki, he knows. We just... you know the rules we live by."

Ki Yeom audibly gasps and chokes in horror. Her stomach drops in disbelief. "Rules? We are sleeping on the floor, our lights are candles and the table lamps are on the floor... we eat instant food two out of three meals and you're telling me... that out of filial piety... you did not accept his help?!"

Silence.

There's an eerie quietness in the home. Of course, atop the screaming in Ki Yeom's head and the traffic outside her home. Her vision is blurring from the tears, but she looks around her dark home, once brightly lit, and her vision ends on the orange-red glow eminating from the altar right next to the front door of her house. It's wide open, so the wind coming through was making the little flames on the candles flicker.

It's been untouched, only routinely cleaned and the oils thrown and replaced. Ki Yeom clenches her jaw, trying for a moment to resist the urge.

But to everyone's devastating shock and surprice, Ki Yeom harshly swipes her entire arm across the reachable counter top, spilling the cups of oil holding the candles and the incense sticks out of their packets.

Her mother quite literally screams and rushes over, yanking her away from the mess.

Smack!

The ringing is sharp in Ki Yeom's right ear as she processses the sting on her cheek, jaw and head. In the corner of her eye, she can see her mother is more surprised than she was. But this surprise is quickly replaced with anger and intense disapproval, so much to the point that her mother pushes past her and squats to pick up the items.

Ki Yeom's heart shatters.

She gulps, thinking if she should help. But her mother shoves her off, as if scared to be touched by her.

"Mom."

The clatter on the floor is gentle and quiet, and her mother is careful not to touch any of the shattered glass. Ki Yeom grimly squats by her and reaches for it, but rejection shoves her backwards on her rear when her mother pushes her away. She loses her balance and falls backwards, hands on the floor and her tears dribbling down her cheek.

Her mother's face is like rock - expressionless, tired. Helpless. Speechless.

Ki Yeom's face was starting to burn up.

"Mom-"

"Get out," She stops her cleaning and stares at the floor.

Honk.

"What?"

"You want so badly to do things your own way... and cannot agree with what we believe in... so pack your things and get out."

She resumes her cleaning up, taking the smaller, shattered pieces and placing them on the altar. While Ki Yeom remains on the floor, her mother squats, picks up whatever her hands can carry, and returns them to the altar. Again, and again.

"Mom, I- Please. How can you live like this?!"

The weight in Ki Yeom's knees start to shake her thighs when she kneels, dragging herself to her mother's feet. She hangs her head low, vision blurry and her head in a whirl. "We prayed to a God for years... my entire life... and we believed in everything we studied... Why were we not returned with the karma we always thought we've been collecting? Why did we pray and pray and yet nothing came along to help?"

Ki Yeom looks up, hair in her mouth and in her eyes as she manages to make out her mother placing the shattered cups back into position.

"Do not speak of Him that way," She whispers under her breath, opening a drawer and pulling out a lighter for the incense sticks. "He is always watching us... and He will help when the time is right."

Ki Yeom finally breaks apart in her own demeanour, sobbing and releasing her mother's clothes.

How can she choose a God, a deity... over her own daughter?

Her mother bows thrice, and sticks the incense stick in the incense pot. "I didn't sell your luggage. You can use that."

Ki Yeom looks up from the floor again, in disbelief those exact words came out of her mouth.

"I expect you gone by tomorrow morning," She turns and walks away, but stops and turns around for a second. "Nobody in my house will disrespect Him."

Ki Yeom had completely blocked out whatever her client was talking about - something to do with work. Her colleagues. Ki Yeom couldn't give any more fucks.

But she sits up to stretch her neck and back and notices in the reflection in one of the mirrors in her workspace a familiar back and a bald head.

She finishes up quickly, not bothering to acknowledge anything that her client has said. "Jun Yeol, can you help me tape her? I- yeah."

Instantly, the pink-haired boy turns around to look out the window. "Go. I got it from here."

"Chargeable list is on my desk. Thanks."

The bell on the door rings as she pushes her way out. She sucks in a deep breath, thinking of what to say again when their eyes finally meet. But out comes a rude and unnecessary: "What are you doing here? I told you not to look for me here."

For a moment, she feels bad. But her grandfather's retort is a reminder that she inherited her attitude from someone.

"I go wherever I want to!" He struggles to get up from the chair they've placed outside the tattoo shop for when there was a queue.

"Sit down!" Ki Yeom rushes over and pushes him back down by his shoulders, making sure to take a seat next to him so he didn't need to stand up again.

"I figured out how to make your mum's soup. The melon wolfberry one."

Ki Yeom looks down as he hands her the cotton bag that perfectly fits a thermal flask.

"You don't like cooking."

"I don't. It gets everywhere and there's a ton of pots and bowls and spoons to wash."

He shoves it into her lap, and huffs while wiping the sweat off his forehead.

"Let me call you a cab."

"Cabs are expensive, don't you dare."

"I'd rather have someone send you home safe than have you pass out on the way back."

"And if I'm destined to die today, I will pass out anyway, won't I?"

The harshness and brutality of his words summon a glare from her. She wants to berate him for being so careless with his thoughts - afterall, she did grow up around the theory of manifestation of karma. And she knows for a fact her grumpy old grandfather might not have that much good karma left.

"Are you earning enough? For yourself? For your rent?"

She sighs and hugs the thermal flask to her stomach. The doorbell rings and her client walks out, turning to say thanks and goodbye.

"I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

"Is it safe? Where you're staying?"

"We've been through this. There's a security guard on the first floor and you can't go up without a keycard."

"People out there nowadays are terrifying, have you seen? All these gadgets and hidden cameras!"

"I know, I know, but the estate is safe. Don't worry about me," Ki Yeom rubs her eye. Both of them go quiet for a minute. She's listening to the grumble of the asphalt as the cars go by, and she knows her grandfather is thinking about the other questions he had prepared before coming out to meet her. 

"If you're wondering whether they've reached out... they haven't. And I'm not planning on doing it first."

"I didn't ask you to, and I know you wouldn't."

They go silent once more, but the silence is broken by the bell hanging on the front door of the tattoo parlour. 

"Ki, a client called and said she's on the way but she's early for an appointment."

She looks down at her phone for the time. "Yeah, she's supposed come in at 4pm."

"Aight, call me if you need anything," Soo Min smiles at the elderly man, who seems awkward when he tries to return the acknowledgement. The bell rings again when she returns back into the parlour.

"Thanks," Ki Yeom waits for her to go back in before she smiles to herself. "You can just say 'hi'. She's a nice person."

"Her short hair scares me abit. Reminds me of the gangsters and hooligans that run around on the street and in back alleys back in my time," He pauses, realising Ki Yeom's disapproving looks. He clears his throat. "Do the people here treat you well? The last time you told me some of them aren't fond of you."

"Well, it's still the same. It's not like I'm going to try and change their minds about me. I earn my share and they earn theirs."

Grandfather nods and hums in acknowledgement. "You know... sometimes I think you're meant to come out and live your life on your own. I believe you were made for the streets - in a good way - and that you learn and meet so many new people outside of a comfort zone. It's something that the rich and wealthy don't get to have."

There's a gentle gush of wind that rushes through the corridor. The rows of shop along this road were in their not-so-busy afternoon period, but Ki Yeom could still make out that barista who got her order wrong a couple of days ago cleaning up the table along the corridor. And that hair stylist who supposedly cut someone's hair too short and almost got sued.

"Right," She responds first. "But I wasn't given a choice. Would've loved to have one."

Ki Yeom turns back to look at her grandfather. His wrinkles have gotten deeper, longer. She knows he won't be around much longer to be the parent that she lost. Unlocking her phone, she opens the taxi cab.

"Oi!"

Since her 4pm client had come early and Ki Yeom had gotten the job done early, she'd decided that she no longer had the mental capacity to stay anymore - besides, she works on appointment-only basis now anyway.

So amidst all the skanky, judgy looks she gets from the other tattoo artists who don't get as many requests as she does, she bids Jun Yeol and Soo Min goodbye. The evening sun greets her as the evening crowd begins to fill the surrounding cafes, coffee shops and other places that people go to.

She walks by the coffee cafe, and catches the eye of that barista who fucked up her order. She waves.

The barista, of course.

But Ki Yeom feels obligated to at least offer a smile, so she does, and proceeds on her way.

Finally in the comfort of her home, she drops her bag and opens her fridge, eyeing the half-eaten packet of frozen dumplings, miso paste and frozen udon. Ever since she's moved out, she had the freedom to test out whatever stupid recipes TikTok and Instagram had to offer that required three ingredients.

Well, provided she had the equipment - which was a pot, a pan, a mini rice cooker and an air-fryer that the tattoo parlour wanted to get rid of. Honestly, she hasn't used it because she's been afraid it would explode if she did, but it just seemed like a waste if she let them throw it away.

She prepares the miso soup while waiting for the dumplings and udon to defrost first - then the unusual happens.

Knock knock.

Ki Yeom frowns to herself, and mentally checks through all the bills and finances she has to settle. Rent? Not due in another three weeks. Credit card? Haven't touched it. Delivery? Haven't ordered anything.

Knock knock knock.

She turns the stove off and goes for the door, looking through the peephole.

It's the kid from the laundromat.

Perhaps he came to even out the debt.

Ki Yeom opens the door.

"Oh," He seems surprised. "It's you."

"If you're here for the token, I don't have any extra to return. I can pay you a couple of cents or a dollar for it if you're insistent."

"Uh," Gently shaking his head, he simply lifts a hand, and in it, there was an envelope. "This came in my mail. I think they wrote the address wrongly."

She looks at the envelope, and sees her name but with the unit 07-33 instead of hers, 07-38.

"I figured eight just seemed the most similar to three, so. Are you... Woo Ki Yeom?"

"Yeah, thanks," She blinks and reaches out for it.

"Mail's not that common nowadays," He nods towards the envelope. "They don't have your number or email?"

There's an attempt to chuckle, or make a joke. But Ki Yeom doesn't bother responding, only tearing it open and pulling the letter out.

"Yeah, they don't have my number or my email."

The boy clears his throat out of awkwardness. "Oh."

Ki Yeom straightens out the letter right infront of him. As much as she wants to forget that her parents ever existed, she knows she can't. She's been trying - which is why she changed her emails, her phone number, and didn't provide their names to the building's management for "allowed visitors".

Futile efforts - that's what they were. She might be able to change the way she thought but her heart can't forget. Her father used to tell her that the heart always knows what's right, but what he didn't tell her was how to deal with it when she doesn't want to.

Dear Ki,

I'm writing to share that I've gotten a job.

Instantly, she folds the letter back up and shoves it back in the envelope. Her blood boils.

Why did it matter if her father got a job now? It doesn't change what her mother said to her or what happened. It doesn't change-

"Um. You... alright?"

Ki Yeom looks up, remembering that this stranger was still infront of her. Vision blur, she clears her throat and shoves the letter back in his hands.

"It's not mine."

He looks down at the shredded envelope and haphazardly-returned letter. Her eyes are red, so he's not dumb enough to believe it's not hers.

"Are... you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure," Ki Yeom closes her eyes and rubs them over her lids. "Sorry, I was just busy making dinner. I have to go."

"Right," He clutches the envelope to his side and nods subtly.

With pursed lips, she looks at him one more time for acknowledgement. He's quiet, and careful, as he takes a step back and turns to leave. Ki Yeom gently swings the door shut, feeling her nose sour all over again.

Sucking in a deep breath, she looks over in her mini kitchen and stares at the slightly-cooled soup sittin on the stove. Then her eyes travel over to where she had dumped her bag, and remembers the thermal flask.

She walks over to it and picks it up, opening it and carefully sipping the warm soup.

PART II

[princess-of-the-corner]

Wait a second what are we doing with Lu Ten in Miraculous Gaang?

Is he alive? I know he got like really sick at one point, but are we letting him live? If so, how old is he and what is his relationship to the Gaang? Because I imagine him being quite a bit older and seeing the Gaang as his much younger siblings that he has to mentor. He's probably away at university during most of the events of this, but Zuko and Azula call him in to save their hides for some of their civilian problems. Assuming he's alive

And how did he get sick? Did he like use the peacock or did he just get really ill and it woke Iroh up to the fact that he was being kind of a neglectful parent?

Also, other named kids you can use for miraculous if you want:

Song, the chick that saved Iroh from poisoning, tried to bond with Zuko over being hurt by the fire nation, and then he stole her ostrich horse

June, but she's probably a bit older than the rest of the crowd, maybe even Lu Ten's age.

On Ji, the girl that Aang talks to when he goes to Fire Nation school and consequently gets into a fight with her boyfriend Hide.

Shoji, another kid from the fire nation school, very nervous type.

Chan, the guy that Azula tries to flirt with in The Beach, and then they burn his house down.

Meng, Aunt Wu's assistant who keeps trying to flirt with Aang in The Fortuneteller, and who gets utterly blown off, only to eventually tell Aang at the end of the episode that Katara is really pretty and they deserve each other, and also gives them the cloud-reading book for their plot (because she's been stalking Aang, and HEY that's on brand for ML).

Of this selection, the only ones I have any particular attachments to are Meng and Song. I think I'd give Meng the goat if we keep your usual Dreamwalking powers, due to her fortune teller associations. Song could honestly have any of them, but I'm leaning Dog. But yeah, it's interesting that most of the Gaang's allies seem to be adults. Between the white lotus, various world leaders, and assorted other Randos, the significant adults in this show probably outnumber the significant children.

Yes! So!

We decided that since this is taking place in a Miraculous-esque Universe, a chunk of people get to live. Like, there's no war fucking up the world and we're axing the Bending (like if they had Bending on top of the Miraculous then OOF.) and also this is a modern world with better healthcare capabilities.

So yeah some people live. Lu Ten was never on the frontlines of a war. Kya never had to protect Katara from raiders looking for a Waterbender. Yue won't have to sacrifice herself to save the Moon Spirit, etc.

Not to say everything's perfect because there's going to be injuries and close calls and some of these fuckers can get killed off.

So since I can change things and let characters live, I am!

Anyway. Lu Ten!

So we're going with some kind of car accident type deal for him. He was in a coma for a few months. (During this we had the drama of Iroh falling apart with worry, Azulon 'dying', Ozai taking over the family company, and Ursa disappearing).

He's alive but has some medical problems. Mostly mobility issues. Usually in a wheelchair, though he can use a cane for short distances if needed. His hands are bad too, but he can still get stuff done.

He's a good decade older than the Gaang. Like in his mid-to-late 20s.

Between the age and mobility thing he's probably not getting a Miraculous himself (I mean the mobility isn't stopping Teo but he's the 'I'm gonna use the Miraculous Transformation to give my wheelchair jet rockets and fly' type of guy).

He's very much the older brother figure! Especially once Zuko gets kicked out.

As for the other character suggestions!

June is too old for the group, as much as I love her. Ji, Shoji and Chan never vibed with me. Song vibed with me more but we're also getting to the 'wow huh there's not a lot of kid characters that consistently appear huh?'.

Meng is actually a great idea and I love the Dreamwalker thing I'm keeping that.

[expertnuerodiver]

Random Songs that remind me of MXTX characters

Smooth by Santana (feat. Rob Thomas) reminds me of Hua Cheng and Xie Lian because of the lines that say

"And if you said, "This life ain't good enough" (Implying Xie Lian says that) I would give my world to lift you up I could change my life to better suit your mood (yeah) Because you're so smooth" (The rest of the line being Hua Cheng)

Something about that line just fits them perfectly to me (Note that I only have read up to the end of book 2 lol)

2. Government Hooker by Lady Gaga reminds me of Hua Cheng because you cannot tell me otherwise that is is not a Lady Gaga or Britney Spears fan

3. Smooth Operator by Sade reminds me of Xie Lian but it is directed to Hua Cheng some way (I do not know why, I do not make the rules though)

4. I Won't Say (I'm In Love) in Hercules the Disney movie reminds me of Shi Qingxuan. She would sing her heart out to this and nail it. (The message is probably directed to either FengQing or Xie Lian.)

(She would also sing Scars to Your Beautiful by Alessia Cara to Lang Ying. He is probably scared by the singing.)

5. Noel's Lament in Ride the Cyclone is also Shi Qingxuan. Moving on!

6. Sex With a Ghost by Teddy Hyde is, you guessed it, Hualian. Cause like- never mind...

7. Tongues and Teeth by The Crane Wives reminds me of Beefleaf or FengQing

8. 1812 Overture Op. 49 TH 49 by Tchaikovsky reminds me of Mobei-Jun I just know that that man listens to classical music and SQH is sick of it. (SQH actually likes hearing it.)

9. Mess is Mine by Vance Joy reminds me of Hualian. Imagine it as Hua Cheng comforting Xie Lian, or even vice versa.

10. Walk You Home by Sir Chloe reminds me of Shen Qingqiu and Luo Binghe or even Shen Jiu and Yue Qingyuan. (Shen Qingqiu and Yu Qingyuan are the ones asking to walk the others home aka comforting Luo Binghe and Shen Jiu.

11. Let It Go in Frozen reminds me of Shang Qinghua because of him possibly poking fun at Mobei-Jun (Mobei-Jun doesn't understand what Frozen is.)

12. Literally any vocaloid song reminds me of Shang Qinghua.

If you want more of these, I will make a part 2 eventually.

[awkward-txrtle]

fun. x ATLA

Idk if anyone else in the fandom listens to fun., but I'm a big fan of pretty much the whole Some Nights album. I was listening to it last week (yes, even the Some Nights - Intro, which I don't vibe with) because it was speaking to me in terms of ATLA characters (certain songs reminded me of certain characters).

"But Turtle, Nate Reuss wasn't focused on ATLA when he was writing this album"

Ok, and? I'm gonna have some fun with this!

So here's each song and the character I think it fits (not all are exact fits & not every song is included, but most are)

1. Some Nights - Sokka

"This is it, boys, this is war/what are we waiting for?" feels very Sokka to me, especially since he considers himself a warrior and is the protector of Wolf Cove after Hakoda and the other men leave to fight the fire nation. Also "I still see your ghost" could reference Kya, but more likely Yue, since Sokka says that he sees Katara's face when he tries to remember his mother. The line about the martyr reminded me of Suki. Ok also the "miss my mom and dad for this" line?? Come on. Ok BUT "my heart is breaking for my sister and the con she called love/and then I look into my nephew's eyes" is just SCREAMING a Zutara or Kataang fic of some sort. Come on, right?? It's just begging to be written. Overall, this is very existential crisis-Sokka to me.

2. We Are Young - Katara

Ok so I wasn't fully sure what song to give Katara and it just didn't feel right to leave her out so I deadass just gave her this one like 5 minutes ago, but it still works. It would also be AU-based, but hear me out. I'm assuming y'all are most likely to know this song out of all of them. So Katara's at a bar after breaking up with her boyfriend (Aang) and the Gaang's all here. "My seat's been taken by some sunglasses askin' bout a scar" would be Zuko asking about the scars on Katara's hands that she couldn't fully heal after Aang's firebending accident. "But between the drinks and subtle things/the holes in my apologies/you know I'm trying hard to take it back" feels very Aang to me, especially since he's immature. Then right after, I feel like it switches to a more Zutara vibe for most of the song. Also "the moon is on my side/I have no reason to run" with Katara is such a sick combo omg.

3. Carry On - Zuko

The lyrics are very angsty. "You swore and said we are not/we are not shining stars/this I know, I never said we are" feels like a very Zuko & Iroh interaction to me. And also "though I've never been through hell like that/I've closed enough windows to know you can never look back" !!!! Like that feels very Season 3 Zuko to me. Also, no matter what, Zuko is forced to carry on, whether it's with Ozai, Azula, the Gaang... Although don't get me wrong, Zuko does take back his destiny, but I'm referring more to how he can't give up. Also Ursa tells Zuko and he later says how he struggles and fights, even though it's hard. "And we talked and talked about how our parents will die/all our neighbors and wives" Zuko is very familiar with the concept of mortality, he nearly died and he loses his mother at a young age. I'm sure he worries about when Iroh will die, as well as his friends. I feel like Zuko has a line about people leaving him, but I can't find it. Ok next point "and it's nice to know when I was left for dead/I was found and now I don't roam these streets/I am not the ghost you are to me" is very reminiscent of Zuko's relationship (or lack thereof) with Ozai. Also "may your past be the sound of your feet upon the ground" feels like a very Iroh line. Last point, "on our darkest day, when we're miles away/so we'll come and we'll find our way home" is very reminiscent of Zuko's redemption arc and how he returns home and retakes his place in the line of succession and becomes Fire Lord.

4. It Gets Better - Katara?

Honestly the "yes, I know it hurts at first/but it gets better" reminds me a lot of Katara. I also liked the line about fire in the sky and snow on the ground. Not too much else to say.

5. All Alone - Mai

I really encourage you guys to listen to this song, it was really interesting. The lyrics reminded me of Maiko, especially how Mai seems to not care about anything. The girl's voice reminded me a lot of Mai throughout the series, especially her interactions with Zuko. "I gave her to you/I don't need a toy/I thought you might appreciate it/I don't like the way it moves" reminds me of their interaction when Zuko tries to give Mai the shell on Ember Island. "How do you cry with inanimate eyes/you're never gonna smile/with the way that you're wired" also reminded me a lot of Mai's character throughout the series.

(I really like All Alright, but wasn't sure who it would fit well with)

6. One Foot - Toph

"I put one foot in front of the other" is very Toph, she is a fighter first and foremost. "I don't need a new love or a new life" also feels very her, Toph doesn't care as much about the more material things compared to the rest of the Gaang. I'm sure there's more that can be said about this connection, but I didn't really vibe with the song so much. Sorry Toph.

7. Out on the Town - Aang

Okay, Aang fans, I'm asking you to stick with me here. "Cause I know I'll never take the time/to unpack my missteps and call all of our friends" feels very much like season 3 Aang, where he doesn't face consequences for his actions and Bryke kinda places him on this pedestal of sorts. Also, this is a kataang breakup song to me. The chorus really feels like Aang to me, putting his feelings before those of other people, causing a scene, there being consequences (that he somehow gets out of, but that's not today's discussion). "But I'm waiting for the day you come back and say/'hey maybe I should change my mind'" reminds me of the first 2 times Aang kisses Katara and how he expects her to change her mind on how she feels about him. Also the repetition of "open up your heart".

Overall, I found the entire album to be very Zuko-coded.

If you read this far, I appreciate you!

[silviakundera]

Because I adore him, some novel Cui Yulang from recent episodes...

Li Rong was hesitantly thinking about Cui Yulang's words. When Cui Yulang saw Li Rong's hesitation, he snorted and said leisurely, "Does Your Highness think that there is nothing to gain from this case?"

Li Rong raised her eyes to look at Cui Yulang and could not help but smile, "What, you still have something to offer me?"

"Most of what I can give to Your Highness is not of interest to Your Highness, there is only one thing, let's see, does Your Highness want it?"

"Tell me more?"

Li Rong raised her eyebrows, Cui Yulang smiled and leaned forward, approaching Li Rong while untying his sash, and said in a low voice, "Your Highness is a powerful woman, and now that you are on a night cruise, I wonder if you need a guest? If Your Highness does not mind, Yulang would like to offer himself as a guest ......"

Cui Yulang and Li Rong turned around at the same time and saw Pei Wenxuan standing at the door with his sword.

Cui Yulang and Li Rong both froze, Cui Yulang's hand still resting on his half-untied belt, the already somewhat loose clothes on his shoulders slipping down from his shoulders as he tilted.

Pei Wenxuan laughed in exasperation...

Cui Yulang was so scared that he rolled on the ground and hurriedly started to fasten his belt. Pei Wenxuan chased Cui Yulang all over the boat and chopped at him, Cui Yulang panicked and said, "Consort, listen to my explanation ......"

**

"If Your Highness agrees to all of them, just let me know, Your Excellency." Cui Yulang said, "In three days' time, I will be waiting for Your Highness in a private room on the top floor of the Deshun Inn. But before you come, please make sure that your Highness does not let the Prince Consort know."

"I am no more than an ant to this son-in-law," Cui Yulang bowed respectfully, "I hope Your Highness will have mercy on me."

Zhao Chongjiu: "......"

He didn't know why, but he always felt that there was something mysterious in this matter. But he still nodded, and when he saw that Cui Yulang had nothing else to say, he folded back and conveyed Cui Yulang's meaning.

Zhao Chongjiu repeated Cui Yulang's words almost word for word, Li Rong soaked her feet and listened. Jing Mei listened to Zhao Chongjiu's report and couldn't help but say, "Your Highness, what is he doing mentioning the consort for no good reason? What is he trying to get Your Highness to pity?"

Li Rong faintly glanced at Jing Mei and said in a tone that was forgiving, "He is sick, we have to tolerate him."

With that, Li Rong turned her head and instructed Zhao Chongjiu, "Go back and tell him to wait for me at Qing Yue Teahouse in three days' time."

Zhao Chongjiu nodded and retreated to deliver the message, but as soon as she turned around, Li Rong still couldn't help but add, "Also, tell him to stop thinking nonsense all day long and be normal!"

Zhao Chongjiu agreed with this, he also felt that this Lord Cui's brain did not seem too good.

Li Rong's words reached Cui Yulang, he heard that the venue was at the Qing Yue Teahouse. After a brief daze, he couldn't help but have a few moments of emotion, "Your Highness really knows how to play."

Zhao Chongjiu raised his eyes to look at him and said lightly, "His Highness also said," which made Cui Yulang nervous again, "for you to be normal."