#group: triple threat triad

[heartilywrites]

enemies to lovers with korra and a blue firebender reader🌚

،، 𝓢tanding Next to You ; Korra

request guide | masterlist

resume: where you, a Triple Threat Triad member, meet the avatar on her first day at the city... and she tries to take you down.

content warning: comfort ; fluff ; a little bit of angst ; Korra x blue firebender!reader ; I THINK I didn’t add any pronouns, but I did this with a fem!reader on mind ; triple threat triad!reader ; taking place in s1 ; reader takes Mako's spot in a lot of things !! ; description of eye color ; no use of y/n

wc: 4.2k

a/n: this has to be my longest fic by far and I feel that to cover good this dynamic I should do a series, but I'll think about it 😋 i loved writing this one ENJOY !!!!

“ One touch and I brand newed it for ya.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “Whose fucking boots are these!?” your voice resounded in the Triple Threats' base, at not receiving any quick answer you were fast to burn them. “Ugh, they smell like shit, it's disgusting.”

You made your way to the group's reunion salon, being met with four sets of eyes. An ironic smile appeared in your lips before doing a small bow.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “To what I owe the honor of being called by our leader?” you asked, both your hands behind your back.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “I need you to go and collect our money for us.” Zolt talked. “Viper and his men will go with you.” you frowned.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “Why? I can do it alone, they will only hold me back.” you were quick to defend.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “Because I say so, idiot. Now go before I change my mind.” a nod was received from your way, holding yourself to not roll your eyes at him and leaving after the three men.

You knew it was going to be a long journey. You've been part of the Triple Threat Triad since you had memory, just as your former friends: you arrived to the group as an orphan. Unlike the Fire and Earth brothers, you stayed in the group feeling that it was the only place were you could be safe, surrounded by criminals. It was all you knew: breaking the law and being a criminal.

It wasn’t like the Triple Threats cared for you because they basically raised you, on the contrary, you were the only known firebender to create blue flames in the modern age, your predecessor being princess Azula back in avatar Aang's time. So it was clear to them, blue flames: stronger fire: an unstoppable firebender and only a bunch of idiots would let a prodigy firebender go, no?

You were behind them all after getting told they would handle the money, looking around if anything caught your eye. Distracted by a necklace stand, the sound of Mushi hitting the ground got your attention back at the same time he screamed your name.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “T–The Avatar!” he exclaimed with somewhat fear in his voice, your eyes were fast to locate the girl when she effortlessly threw Ping to a close-by store.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “Now that's a woman.” you whisper to yourself before running to help, taking advantage of her distraction you threw fire at her, she became alert once more.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “You can make blue fire!?” she gasped after defending herself, you smiled big at her the second you both stood still. “How did you do that!?”

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “Family secret, want me to tell you?” your hand made the expression asking her to come closer.

But the girl wasn't going to fall that easy to you it seemed.

A very heated –pun intended– fight happened between the two of you, Korra wasn't going to cease at any moment and you weren't about to give her the satisfaction to win so easily.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “I gotta say, Avatar,” your voice sounded shaky at the movement, but you were able to make her trip on her own feet and get on top of her with one leg on each of her sides. Both your hands grabbed her wrists in an attempt to not give her the chance to bend. “I thought you were going to give a better fight.”

The avatar growled, there was no way you were winning, she would not let you win without giving a good fight, using her strength she was able to change positions to now being the one on top. Your eyes widened for a second before a flirty smile appeared on your lips, your teeth caught your bottom lip.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “Yeah, well, we can test that if you like.” even if the girl was threatening you, your gold eyes sparkled with emotion.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “Oh, I would love to–” a man's voice screaming your name followed by a 'WE'RE LEAVING!' made you sigh. “But I believe we need to reschedule our date, how about next week?”

The southerner opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by a head bump provided by you, hard enough to make her loosen up her grip. You pushed her to the side so you could stand up and run, instead of jumping in the vehicle you used your fire to propel yourself a couple of meters ahead and take a different route so the avatar had to figure out who to follow and to your bad luck she targeted the three men.

Once back in the base you presented yourself to the leader to tell him everything that went down while getting the money and after a couple minutes of not hearing news from the men you two concluded that they got captured.

Days passed after that and you had almost forgot about your failed mission with the trio, but the girl was impossible for you to forget. You found yourself thinking about her while walking late at night in the city's streets, how was she? Where did her Avatar duties took her? Your questions were about to stay as unsolved until one of day you saw a flyer about a probending match and on the picture you were able to recognize the girl along with your two ex co–workers.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “The destiny smiles at me once more.” you spoke to yourself before making your way to the stadium.

You sneaked into the gym with such caution of not getting caught, before entering the practice room you were able to hear something about some money for some competition, you didn't know, you were there to make a call on the girl. Once the older man left the room you walked in, seeing how Mako was leaving a little smile appeared on your mouth.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “Hey, fellas, is this the meet and greet for the fire ferrets?” you asked walking with your hands behind your back. Both remaining benders turned to you and you were met with an excited Bolin and an annoyed Korra. “Well damn, calm down, no running.” you joked, Bolin was quick to walk over to you.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “I can't believe it! You're here!!” the earthbender hugged you with a little bit of strength, making you complain about the limited air in your lungs. “Sorry, I'm just excited. I thought I'd never see you again!”

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “Now you have me here!” when your feet touched the ground again you smiled with warmth his way before looking back to Korra. “Miss Avatar, good seeing you again.”

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “Wish I could say the same.” she spat with discontent, her feet moved her to look for her stuff. “I'm leaving, Bolin, I need to take care of some things. Catch you later!”

Your eyes followed the southerner with curiosity, she didn’t say goodbye to you, but you sure yelled goodbye to her. Not a single word back, she rolled her eyes even if you didn't see it.

You turned back to Bolin and smiled again.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “So, Bo, I heard you're in need of some money.” you said tilting your head to the side. “I have a security project and we need an earthbender as skilled as you.”

The young man shuffled uncomfortable for a bit. “Yeah, uhm, Mako said I shouldn't get near you guys...”

Your eyes rolled at that statement. “Well, if you need the money in a short time-frame let me tell you that no honest work will get it.” you said, from your jacket you handed him a wad of money, his eyes widened and mouth opened with surprise. “It's yours, think about it and if you want to take the job you know where to find me.”

After that you said goodbye with a tiny hug and walked back to the base. At night a couple of minutes before leaving, Bolin presented himself in the place and you couldn’t be more happy. You'd be lying if you said you didn't miss the brothers by your side, after all you three grew together, so it did hurt a little bit when they left.

You used the opportunity to catch up with the earthbender and to ask about the Avatar without appearing invasive, you had to hide your interest for her as you weren't alone with the boy.

Everything was going well until the group got jumped by the equalists, everyone gave a good fight but the chi blockers were faster and got the group. They made sure to have you neutralize well after seeing your blue fire and got hit to unconsciousness when tried to fight even tied up.

Your body hurt since the very first second you got back into consciousness, trying to move you were able to distinguish how your wrists and ankles were tied up. Scared you woke up completely to see how you were in a stage, Bolin to your left, a large group of people in front of you and Zolt fighting at your right.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “What's going on?” you asked the earthbender, he was shaking with fear. “Bolin...”

The sound of lighting got your eyes back to your leader and what you saw shock you in an indescribable way. You saw on first hand how his bending was taken away and when he tried to defend himself again but was met with nothing, your heart stopped.

Your eyes started to tear up with fear and cold sweat rolled down your face, this couldn't be happening, not to you.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “The so called fire prodigy.” Amon said while looking at you, an electric feeling shook you. “Just as your shitty colleagues, I'll let you fight for your bending right. Prove you are deserving of the name, prodigy.”

One of the chi blockers forced you to stand up, took the ropes from you and pushed you to the center.

The masked man stood still in his place while you prepared yourself. You needed a miracle, something to help you get out of there alive and with your bending. The first attacks his way were insecure, Amon laughed at you and that got you the anger necessary to give him a good fight. The leader was backing up and that had you smiling for a second, you were sure you were about to win until he caught your ankle in one of his hands and your eyes widened.

Amon threw you against the floor with such strength that you let out a hurt moan. You tried to get him off by throwing fire at him and a couple of lightnings, but at the end he was quick to grab you by your shirt collar. And just by seconds, an explosion coming from machines startle everyone and fog began to fill the room. That was your chance, you took Amon's hand that was almost touching your forehead and threw him to the stage floor, using the steam you lost yourself in it so he couldn’t followed you.

While looking for a way out somehow you ended up leaving through an alley, bumping into the Avatar and the brothers fighting with one chi blocker who carried shocking sticks. On a quick move you planted yourself between then making a fire column in just a second.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “Leave now, Avatar, before they emerge like cockroaches!” you screamed at her, the southerner was already on her polar dog. You shot lightnings near him to scare the man and buy them some time.

Korra hesitated before coming closer to you and order for you to jump behind her, without a second thought you did what she told you and after you Mako jump on.

The dog was quick to leave danger and both firbenders were looking back every now and then to make sure no one was following you, once the dog stopped everyone got down.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “Thank you for saving me.” you called for the girl's attention with your voice. “I know I'm not your favorite person, but I'm really grateful you didn’t leave me behind.”

The southerner looked at you serious for a moment before sighing. “I did what I had to, anyone would've done the same.”

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “I don’t really think anyone would've saved someone from the Triple Threats.” you shrugged. “Alright, pretty girl, I need to find a new home now that my old one will be drowned in chaos. See ya!”

Korra watched you walk a couple of steps away before calling you. She knew your name, you smiled big. “If you want, you can stay in Air Temple Island...”

You turned quickly over your heels to her. “Does this means you like me?”

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “It means you need to hop on or I'll leave you in the streets.” obedient to what she said, you got back in Naga's back.

Convincing the master airbender was hard, he knew about you and how you were part of the Triple Threats so it was pretty normal for him to distrust you. It took a bunch of pleading from you and Korra telling him how everything in the equalists rally went and how you helped them for him to accept you on the island.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “But make one wrong move and I will not hesitate to have the authorities involved.” he finished, you nodded with a little smile.

The man left to his own chambers, telling the avatar how he will talk with the council first thing in the morning. Now it was only the two of you.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “Soooo...” you talked taking a deep breath. “Are you planning on taking down Amon? Because I want in.”

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “I got this, I don’t need your help.” Korra started to make her way to her bedroom, you follow since yours would be close.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “I mean, I'm a pretty good firebender if you ask me and I think it would be best if you have all the help.” you tried to convince her. “Listen, Korra, I know we didn’t start with the right foot–”

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “That's an understatement, you got me arrested.” she interrupted, you hold back a little laugh.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “No, that was you alone,” you saw her brow frown. “but I think I could be of great help.” you saw Korra's head shake before she started to walk faster. “I can help you improve in firebending.”

Now she stopped on her own feet, a couple seconds after she turned to you.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “Who knows, maybe you can be the first avatar to produce fully blue fire.” her eyes sparkled with curiosity and there you saw a little bit of hope. Korra wasn't going to lie, she was intrigued about your peculiar color of bending. “I know you have Mako already in your team, but he's only good with lightnings. I can help you be the best at firebending.”

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “Fine.” she said after moments of silence. “But I still don't trust you.”

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “Understandable, pretty girl.” you winked at her and the avatar only turned back around to keep walking, hoping that by the low amount of light in the place you weren't able to see her face blush.

The next events went by quick, Korra had put her guard down around you enough to trust you after a couple of training sessions. You taught her everything you knew about firebending, alongside she taught you different moves from other nations adapted to function for firebenders. The time spent with each other didn’t go to waste, Korra finally saw in you what Mako and Bolin did: a good person doing what was needed to survive.

And when Korra was taken away, the most restless out of the group was you. The brothers knew you well and they could confirm that they had never seen you that way with anyone before, when the girl was found you never left her side in the next days.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “Hey, stranger.” her voice called for your attention, you turned your head her way while putting your plate of... whatever was given to you down. “You're busy?”

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “Not really.” you answered with a little smile. “You needed something, pretty girl?”

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “Come with me to fight Amon.” she was direct, taking a seat beside you. “I don't really want to go alone...”

You blinked surprised at her, before straightening your back. “The guys didn't want to go?”

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “Didn't ask them, I want you to go with me.” for a second, the avatar's tone was shy, but she got the courage to look you in the eyes and not divert her gaze elsewhere. “I believe I need a fire prodigy with me to defeat a crazy asshole.”

Your face started to feel hot, so you look away for a second to control yourself and got back to her. “Alright, let's do this.”

A tiny farewell happened, everyone wishing you two good luck. The plan was to infiltrate and reveal Amon's real history to everyone in the arena, once dressed you follow every step made by the avatar mostly staying by her side as reinforcement when needed.

Everything was going well, she had freed the airbending family when both of you jumped into stage to fight for them and got to distract Amon, but he wasn't going to give up so easily. Using his bloodbending he got the two of you out of the hiding spots you were, it was the worst feeling you've had to the moment.

He managed to pin you down and control the avatar at the same time. “Wait, no! Korra!” you exclaimed with difficulty, there wasn't much you could do other than watch.

Your heart stopped when you realize how he was able to take away the avatar's bending of the elements, the same fear you felt when Zolt got stripped away from his firebending if not more prominent.

A second male voice got everyone's attention, Amon's right hand was there. You took advantage of his distraction to focus, a deep breath in and a breath out by your mouth, a grunt vibrated on your throat when he made you get up. Looking up at him you were sure he was about to talk, but your plan interrupted him. A blue fire breath from you made him take a couple steps back annoyed and then you attacked him with lightning, he was grunting and took him a minute to let you go, but when he did weakly you stood up and shot him with a new lightning to send him all the way back before creating a fire circle arouns him to hopefully keep him occupied while you ran to take Korra in your arms and leave.

Your mouth was mumbling random stuff at the same time your feet made the desperate sound against the floor of you looking for a way out. Again that horrible feeling stopped you so abruptly that the girl fell from your grip, your body hit the roof and then the floor a couple of times leaving you numb for some time, not letting you think of a defense plan. Your eyes forced themselves to focus on the silhouette of the southerner on the floor, you whispered her name and got interrupted with a growl at the feeling of your head being forced to throw itself back.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “I'm impressed.” hoarsely he spoke to you. “It's almost a shame to take away the bending of someone so talented, don't you think, prodigy?”

Panic began to run in your veins seeing again his hand looking to touch your forehead. Korra's voice resounded and both the masked man and you flew because of an air blast, he rolled way farther than you did. Your eyes widened and looked at the avatar who was just as surprised, but also was quick to attack him again with her new discovered airbending.

You let her take care of the man while trying to compose yourself and standing up with a little of slowness since your body began to hurt for all the bloodbending against its will. You were getting ready to attack the northener again when your eyes caught how Korra was being bloodbended again, but she got the power to resist and kick him out of the building.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “Such a woman.” you said again to yourself, walking slowly her way and being able to see the whole spectacle of the city finding out how 'Amon' was really a waterbender. When he submerged himself back into the water, you shot blue fire blasts his way wanting to hit him with no luck whatsoever.

Heavy breathing was heard both from you and the avatar and before you could say anything more, her arms hugged you by the shoulders. You both were about the same height, so your hands slipped to her waist and your head turned to face her, she was smiling differently this time.

The whole group had accompanied the girl to the South Water Tribe in looks of getting Korra's bending of the other elements back, but were met with a dead end when Katara said how she wasn't able to regaing the avatar's connection to the other elements.

Leaving everyone inside you follow the southerner when she went outside, winning Mako's spot as he made the movement to follow her. “Hey, Korra!” you called for her making her feet stop.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “Not now, I need to be alone...” she said resting one of her hands on Naga's seat. “I'm not the avatar anymore, there's no need for you to continue here.”

One of your eyebrows raised with curiosity. “Why would that be? I'm not here because you're the avatar, I'm here because I care about you.”

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “Stop pretending! We all know everyone is here because of me being the avatar, well that's no more, you can go and make your life in the city without me.” she sounded frustrated, you took the remaining steps to be near her.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “I don’t want a life without you,” you began to say in such calm tone. “I got so use to you that when you were taken away I nearly went crazy...”

Her blue eyes looked back at you with compassion, one of your hands looked to rest in her face, feeling how the cold in her skin was fast to be replaced by the warmth you emanated.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “We may had our difficult start, but...” you stopped for a second, gathering strength again. “But I love you, Korra. I want to be with you, avatar or not, I love you by you.”

The southerner was taken back by the sudden confession, she excused herself and jumped on the seat to get away from there. You hid your face between your hands. “We need to be patient with her.” Tenzin spoke to your side making you jump a little bit. “It will take time for her to accept what has happened.”

You looked back at him and smiled with warmth, he reciprocated the action your way. “Thank you for letting me stay on the island, Tenzin.” you said taking advantage of the situation. “I will always be grateful with you for that.”

He shook his head. “It's what we do.” a small and soft pat was given to your shoulder, he never stopped smiling.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “I'll go to make sure she's okay.” the bender nodded and made his way back to the tent.

You took your time walking to the southerner, mainly because the cold air hit you way more if you walked faster and you hated that, but also because you wanted to give the girl her time alone before you arrived to call her back to the group.

When you arrived to her, your fire breath stopped suddenly at the sight of the girl in the avatar state bending the elements. Your eyes were bright with excitement and pride for her, when her feet touched the ground again she looked back and her eyes caught your presence, just like her, you smiled big.

Korra ran your way, not letting you talk by pressing her lips with yours on a sweet kiss. “I love you too, I want to be with you.”

More than happy your answer was giving the girl another kiss while hugging her by the waist to get her as close as anatomy would allow you both to be, she hugged your shoulders delighted with the closeness, happy to be in the moment and grateful to the destiny for making both your ways find each other.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “Your nose is cold, pretty girl, how can you live like this?” you asked between kisses with a fun tone, making her laugh and stop the actions.

[wilcze-kudly]

Siblings in turmoil; the Katara+Sokka /Bolin+Mako comparison

So after making this post about the interesting parralels between our two favourite pairs of siblings, I wanna play around more with the parallels and similarities between them. Mind you, this will not be a one to one comparison, since both pairs of characters are simply much too different from one another to perfectly fit into one archetype.

This post serves more to compare these characters, their respective dynamics. You know. For fun. Because overanalysing traumatised children is fun now.

I think the set of similarities that jumps out at us first is the one connecting to Katara, Mako and their respective losses.

I mean, it is very obvious. Kid witnesses horrific, violent death of parent(s), keeps a dead parent's belonging around their neck, acts as their other sibling's parent to some degree.

If we look to the other corner, Sokka and Bolin have some surface level similarities. They act more as comic relief, and seem less affected by their circumstances than their siblings. They also somehow are incredibly popular with the ladies (and guys). It's that ole autistic rizz.

Mako and Katara's losses are the, let's say, centrepieces of their characters. To some extent, the pain and horror they went through as children, guide them through life and influence how they see the world and how they make decisions. You know, as trauma does.

Both of these characters had to step up and fill a void left in their and their siblings' lives.

Katara is on multiple occasions described as "motherly", which does make sense. Katara's loss of her mother impacted her tremendously, and it most likely shook her family dynamic to the core. Therfore, Katara takes on certain maternal characteristics. She also fulfills the chores that a mother would in a traditional household.

It is important to note that Sokka also takes on a typically parental role with Katara. However, rather than filling a void left by a mother, he fills the void left by a father. Hakoda and the men of the village leaving was not only very traumatic for Sokka, but also a very heavy shift for the rest if the village. Sokka being the only man, even only teenage boy leads to him not only taking on this role in his family but also the 'leader, chief, provider' role that men traditionally took on in their environments. This is still emblematic in how protective Sokka is of his companions, often even shielding them with his body, putting himself in harms way.

In Bolin and Mako's dynamic, however, Mako takes on both parental roles. To some extent. Where Sokka and Katara still had a certain amount of adults who could take care of them, Bolin and Mako were completely alone. This leads to Mako's care of Bolin being more focused on literal survival than emotional wellbeing.

Korra: [Side shot; unsure.] So, why is Bolin running around with the Triple Threat Triad, anyway? Mako : [Uncomfortable; evasively.] Well, we ... we used to do some work for them back in the day. Korra: [Dismayed look on her face.] What? Wha- Are you some kind of criminal? Mako : [Defensive and angrily.] No! You don't know what you're talking about. I just ran numbers for them and stuff. We were orphans out on the street; I did what I had to do to survive and protect my little brother.

Now, Bolin is the outlier in this group. Rather than stepping up into a caretaker role, Bolin seems almost intentionally like a child. This may seem counterproductive to Mako and Bolin's survival, but I'd argue that Bolin acting in this hapless, childike role is very important to the brothers' codependent dynamic. While it would seem like the better option for the brother's to both be able to be independent, the leader/follower dichotomy they have may actually have felt safer and more direct for them. Also, by being more easygoing and cheerful, Bolin is able to support Mako emotionally.

I can even make an argument of Mako infantilising Bolin, and stifling Bolin's growth (not deliberately or consciously, of course) because of the comfort this type of relationship brings.

It's also important to note that Bolin's behaviour also had the added benefit of endearing the brother's to people. The whole reason they became pro benders is because Toza took a shine to Bolin and whem the brothers were kidnapped by the Red Lotus, Bolin immediately pivots to trying to befriend them. When you combine this with the fact that the brothers probably lived off of the kindness of strangers as children, his demeanour starts to look like a behaviour learnt in order to survive.

Katara and Sokka aren't nearly as codependent as Mako and Bolin. They do both parent one another to some extent, Sokka has unconsciously replaced images of his mother with Katara. While on the flipside, Sokka often tends to try and steer Katara's actions, not unlike an overbearing father would. Katara, unlike Bolin, however, doesn't take direction well and will often outright disagree with or even mock Sokka.

Sokka: [Camera closes in on Sokka and Katara next to each other.] I know you all wanna fly, but my instincts tell me we should play it safe this time and walk Katara: [Leans forward at her brother and smiles.] Who made you the boss? Sokka: [Points his finger at his chest; to Katara.] I'm not the boss, I'm the leader. Katara: [Amused.] You're the leader? But your voice still cracks!

Both Mako and Katara have strong caretaker instincts. This is mainly how they express affection. You can see this not only in their relationships with their siblings. Another their romantic relationships with Korra and Aang respectively. The difference here being that Aang is quite receptive and willing to reciprocate Katara's caretaker type love, whereas Korra has different needs in her relationship. It's honestly quite fun that Korra's first love interest has a very similar love language to Aang's wife, and Korra and Mako braking up is a very good way to differentiate these two Avatars even further.

So that's it, Mako and Katara have a lot of similarities and Sokka and Bolin have some as well. That's it case closed. Except not so because we I'm here to disagree with myself.

Where Katara and Mako differ, is how well in tune they are with emotions, both their own and those of others. Katara is very, very open about her anger. She's very quick to escalate conflict and she feels emotions very strongly. A stark comparison to this is Mako's very avoidant approach to conflict.

This, once again makes sense with their environments. Aside from the loss of family, Katara has had a huge amount of her culture stripped away from her, a wound made even more painful by Katara being the only waterbender in her tribe. She's also just a naturaly passionate and determined person, I think. While, for Mako, anger and conflict usually could mean that either he or Bolin are going to get hurt, especially at the time when they were running with the triads.

Now, the main thing setting Bolin and Sokka apart, is also the thing that ties Sokka and Mako together.

Mako is... cynical, very jaded by the world. His pessimism and distrust of others shows how broken down he was by his difficult childhood, growing up around dangerous people.

Sokka is similarly jaded, as we see at even the beginning of the show, with his stark oppositon to fun and potty breaks.

Where Mako and Sokka come together, is that they were both tasked with protecting their family members, with Sokka also having to step into that role for the whole village. For them their rolee of protectors force them to always consider the worst possible outcome and any potential danger.

Sokka: I'm coming with you.

Hakoda: You're not old enough to go to war, Sokka, you know that.

Sokka: [Desperately.] I'm strong, I'm brave, I can fight! Please, Dad!

Hakoda: [Lays a hand on his son's shoulder; grimly and sadly.] Being a man is knowing where you're needed the most. And for you right now, that's here, protecting your sister.

Contrasting Mako and Sokka's pessimism is Bolin and Katara's powerful optimism. Hope is what drives these two forward, as well as their huge compassion for others, both human and animal.

Mako: What are you doing? Are you trying to get us in trouble with Shady Shin? Bolin: No! I just ... Maybe I'm not as mean as you! Maybe I just can't turn my back on people when they're down!

This often causes arguments between the respective pairs of siblings. Mako and Sokka wanting to protect their siblings from danger, while Bolin and Katara's need to help others draws them into risky situations.

Katara : Well, what was I supposed to do? Sokka: Leave! Do nothing! Katara: [Angrily.] No, I will never, ever turn my back on people who need me!

The difference between Katara and Bolin, of course is that Katara is able to stand her ground for her strong morals, while Bolin, due to his upbringing, is much more "go with the flow".

But it is still a very interesting and compelling comparison, the younger sibling, full of hope and kindness, and the older sibling who shields them from danger.

I really enjoy these two pairs of siblings, and they easily make for some of my favourite dynamics in the show. I like that while they have certain overt similarities, there's much more to this comparison than meets the eye on surface level.

I think Sokka and Katara's relationship is incredibly wholesome, yet rather deep, watching them both mature side by side is very satisfying, if not a little sad. Bolin and Mako's relationship can be frustrating, but also fascinating. You can tell that they mean everything to one another, despite how dysfunctional their relationship can be.

Avatar has a knack for writing wonderfully complex siblings and the main two pairs of siblings are no exception. This is one of my favourite aspects of the show.

Anyway, that's been me telling you that these two pairs of siblings have both similarities and differences. Glad you sat through the stupid rant. Tune in next time for when my dumbass tells you that the sky is blue and the grass is green.

Bye bye

[chiefbeifongcanrailme]

Chief Beifong and her Affinity for-

Here’s my submission for day 4 of Lin Beifong’s Week. You can also find it on AO3.

Pairing: Lin Beifong x Lightning Bolt Zolt

Rating: M

Art made by JadeLotus💚

Chief Lin Beifong had always been a recurrent patron at the Jitaku hotel just outside of Republic City. She frequented its hospitality through her late teens and early twenties. She basically lived there throughout her thirties, but ever since she hit forty, Lin’s visits to the Jitaku hotel were erratic. Just when the management thought that was their last time hosting the mysterious, porcelain noblewoman and her companion, they would seemingly turn up just to prove them wrong.

But little did management know that their furtive customer was the Chief of Police and what they were hosting were clandestine escapades. They didn’t know that their major benefactor was busy protecting a city infiltrated with criminals- one of which, was their other major benefactor. Triads had always been a very present part of life in Republic City. Over time, their dusty caves had become tourist spots for people from all over the world to gawk at. It was a mockery of justice. Lin didn’t like that Republic City was being celebrated for its wicked infestation. But she knew better than to get involved with the city’s politics.

The Rising Flame triad were, as their name suggested, rising. Their group was growing in number, and they were getting bolder; resorting to murders when organized crime didn’t do their bidding. Most of them worked at the Lucky Cranefish gambling joint- which was also their site of operations. Their leader, Xiaolan, had no idea that Lin Beifong was privy to all this information through a mere former acquaintance.

It had been a few years since Lightning Bolt Zolt had quit the Triple Threat Triad and gone straight. The successor after his successor, Tokuga was doing a horrendous job keeping the flame burning. There was a time Tokuga tried to dissolve the Rising Flame, but it only created a huge mess that in turn, added to the rise in rising flame.  

“Enough with the puns,” Lin had said about twenty-five times when discussing the inner workings of the triads of Republic City with her informant.

This evening, he was more than just an informant. He was a partner. Not the kind of partner the Jitaku hotel was accustomed to accommodating, unfortunately. Lightning Bolt Zolt was going to team up with Lin to take down the Rising Flame Triad, once and for all.

This whole situation was filled with a sense of poetic irony. Ever the philanderer, Zolt was prepared to make the most of his consorting with Lin. They had decided to arrive to the hotel separately and Zolt was the first one there. He waited under the opulent glow of the chandelier for a few minutes before Lin arrived, covered in her brown coat and matching hat.

Together, they made their way to the concierge who handed them one keycard for their room.

Lin gave him a slight glare, prompting him to say, “It’s a suite with two queen beds. It’s all they had for tonight.”

Clearly, that was a lie. Lin rolled her eyes. The hotel was empty. It was cold- nobody was stupid enough to travel to Republic City during its off season.

Without a word though, Lin followed him into the elevator, watching him press the button for the very top, twenty first floor.

She already knew this was a bad idea. But a very tiny part of her wanted to see where this would go.

Once they entered the room, Zolt dramatically cried in shock. Of course, there was only one bed. And of course, Zolt made sure they were in the most expensive suite with the best view of the city.

Lin folded her arms in front of her chest and gave him a look. He knew it meant that she was about to pin him down and kill him Earth Queen style, so, he gave her a cheeky grin. She scowled when he made his way over to her, untying the belt of her coat.

“What? Tell me you hate this.”

Lin rolled her eyes. “We’re not here to fool around, Zolt. If I knew this is what you’d turn this into, I never would’ve asked for your help in the first place”

“Oh, but aren’t you glad you did,” he said, pulling her closer with one arm around her waist.

His lips ghosted over her ear lobe, and despite herself, she closed her eyes to welcome his warm breath on her. He gently stroked her back, lulling her closer into his embrace when, suddenly, she shoved him off.

“Keep it in your pants, Zolt!” she scolded.

“Fine,” he said, clearing his throat. “Xiaolan is currently on the seventeenth floor of this very hotel. You remember Viper? He betrayed Tokuga and the Triple Threats and joined the Rising Flames- they don’t didn’t even accept non-bending fire nation folk, so, I don’t see how Xiaolan is going to let this waterbender go on with them.

“So Xiaolan is going to double cross Viper?”

“That’s right,” Zolt nodded.

“What if we take Viper in our confidence, tell him what we know and”

Zolt waved his hands. “That’ll never work. Viper’s a slippery bastard. If he finds out that the cops know shit about fuck, he’s going to kill all of us. He’d die before he goes to jail.”

Lin smirked. “Quite a colorful sentence you had going there.”

“That slimy guy drove me nuts. He was definitely part of the reason why I quit the triads and went clean.”

“Part of?” she raised one eyebrow suggestively.

“Baby, if only you knew what a big part you have always been.”

Lin shook her head and turned to the door. “Just so we’re on the same page, you’re going to talk to Xiaolan with the recorder in your breast pocket”

“I love it when you talk dirty,”

“And as former triad leader to current triad leader you’re going to establish a friendship and get him to boast all about his crimes. You will keep recording until we have complete admission to illicit activities with names, locations, and everything, okay?”

“And then we get back here and resume our illicit activities?” his eyebrows jumped at the word.

Lin rolled her eyes. “You better not mess this up. You have no idea the migraines I had to endure in trying to get Varrick to make this pin sized recording device.”

“The Chief and her affinity for criminals,” he laughed.

“Zolt, please.”

“Don’t worry about it! It’ll work out fine,” he whined with a limp wrist. “I can initiate and hold conversations unlike some other people in this room- I won’t name names.”

“If you screw me over, I will make sure you’re living in perilous fear for your entire life after I cut your dick off.”

But Zolt laughed. “There’s that dirty talk I like, baby!”

“I’m not kidding,” she snarled.

“Fine, fine. You can trust me, really. I won’t do you that way,”

Lin nodded with relief.

“And you hold up your end of the bargain?” he confirmed, “My identity remains protected. You are not to reveal your sources.”

“Of course, not. I still need my officers to respect me.”

Once he left for the bar downstairs to meet his new friend in the making, Lin sat at the foot of the bed, head in her hands. It was surreal seeing Zolt after all these years in this hotel. Even though the rooms had been renovated since the last time they were here, the memories from then were clear as day. The two of them could spend days and nights together in their room, only leaving it for food if they could help it. They were inseparable when together, but when their baggage and legacies were put between them, it was easier to part ways.

Cards on the table, Zolt always made her happy. Somehow, he managed to properly love her without ever telling her he loved her. She wondered how lucky she was- whether people realized how rare, how unique, and special feeling this way was. How easily feeling loved trumped hearing flat ‘I Love Yous’.

Lin always told herself that she could never be with Zolt because he went against everything she stood for. And suddenly, ever since they started working on taking the Rising Flames down, ever since he gave up on his unlawful ways- Lin was finding it harder and harder to rationalize why she couldn’t just choose to be happy. She knew if she just said the word- he’d come running to her.

Lin had a choice to make. It was a very easy one.

Five and a half uneven knocks on the door meant it was Zolt. They used this back in the day when they were sneaking around. It was the middle of the night by now and Lin had inadvertently dozed off on the bed.

Back in the day, Zolt would’ve betrayed her and tipped Xiaolan off- or maybe he wouldn’t, but he was sure capable of it.

This man in front of her was the same, sexy man she knew all those years ago but now he had this new blood of morality flowing through his veins.

“Here’s everything. He admitted to so much more than what you were suspecting, Lin! Not to spoil your process, but this is going bring the Red Monsoon down too!”

“That’s great news. Does he suspect anything?”

“Not one thing!” Zolt said, laughing. “In fact, he was the one who came to me to ask what I was drinking.” He placed the recorder on the dresser by the bathroom and made his way over to Lin. She was wearing the fuzzy green robe that came with the room and nothing else underneath it. He couldn’t decide if this was intentional, or just that she simply didn’t change after her shower.

“That’s great news,”

“You already said that,” he chortled as she walked over to him.

“I know,” she said, smirking. She placed her arms over his shoulders and leaned towards his body.

“Chief, are you rewarding me with sex for assisting you on a case?”

He was grinning so widely; the lines of his smiles must’ve been eclipsing his eyes. His hands gingerly roamed around her back and then down to cup her ass. His mouth got to her neck- he licked the skin slowly and then closed his lips to nip it. Lin threaded her fingers through his hair and lightly yanked on a chunk, inciting a moan out of him. His hands were still on her ass, when his mouth moved to her lips. “I’ve been dying to kiss you,” he whispered.

“Then kiss me.”

He pulled her closer by her behind and kissed her lips fully. The longing from their love lost was oozing with every beat- it was an epic war of affection with no losers.

“To the bed?” she asked, moving away.

“Aren’t you glad we’re sharing?”

Lin felt herself slam into the cushion as Zolt got on top of her. They were undressed within seconds. His lips immediately encircled her nipple, and she wroth upwards in response. Lin’s hands were back in his hair as his mouth slowly travelled down her body. He kissed her with purpose when his lips met her center.

Minutes later, she came, screaming into glory. He had missed that snap in her voice so much.

He clambered back up to kiss her mouth while his hand slid back down to penetrate her with two fingers.

“You taste so good, you know that?”

Lin chuckled, pecking his lips softly. “You’ve made that pretty clear.”

“Good thing I got us a room with just one bed, right?”

“Actually, it’d be nice if we had two queen size beds. I would've blown you on the other one,” she said with a wink.

[ask-bolin]

Oh oh oh! I’ve got an idea! Could you do a small fic where Bo’s S/O saves him in a fight or something and absolutely demolishes the attackers. when asked why they reply ‘after some of the stuff I’ve gone through? I made a vow to myself that I’d *maul* anyone who tried to hurt my friends again’

I do be craving protective partner content rn🥺

Author: I do be craving as well, I do indeed.

____________________________

You and Bolin had recently established your relationship, and it was great of course. You were going on dates often and getting to know each other better and better. This date had been to a new restaurant that had just opened. You and Bolin had seen it on a previous date and agreed that it would be fun to try out.

Getting a table was easy since the place was not that crowded, but it gave you and Bolin a strange feeling. The meal was uneventful at least, but soon after a small group of customers had entered, with angry looks on their faces. Though the staff seemed to recognize and welcome the angry group.

Bolin kept a subtle eye on them with you, and you had realized why this place had given you a strange feeling. Seeing how the group acted and being able to overhear parts of their conversation, you and Bolin were able to recognize them as members of the Triple Threat Triad.

"I don't want to stay long enough to find out why they are angry, the tab is settled, so we should leave without causing any trouble," Bolin had suggested. You agreed that your date did not need to involve any interaction with them.

You and Bolin got up to leave, minding your own business, but of course, the angry group had found something to be insulted about. Bolin tried to find a peaceful solution and explain that you were both leaving, but one of the Triads took a swing at him. Bolin was able to dip under the swing and counter with an uppercut. After his fist connected, another of the Triads had struck the back of Bolin's head, knocking him down and the rest joined in to kick him while he was down.

Bolin knew he needed to use his bending, a rumble started, but suddenly the kicks had stopped. He looked up to see that you had dove at the rest of the Triads, knocking them over. In an instant, you were back on your feet and swinging. When you had cleared some space to work with, that was when you used your bending to take care of the rest of the Triads.

They had ran out the back and you and Bolin took the opportunity to run out the front. It was time to leave before they came back with any more of their gang.

At a safer location, lit up nicely and away from the Triads, Bolin had asked, "How? Why? I mean, thank you but you could have gotten hurt."

You had been dating Bolin long enough, you felt comfortable sharing, "I have a friend that I let down," you shared, disappointed in yourself for your perceived failure. "It seemed so random, but we were attacked, just like tonight. I froze, and they got hurt pretty bad. They had to spend the night in the hospital to recover."

Bolin saw the guilt you still carried and place an arm around your shoulders to provide support as you spoke.

"I couldn't help then, but I vowed that I would not stand by and be a witness to the violence. I don't want to hurt anyone, but if someone is hurting someone I care about, I will make them regret it."

Bolin felt it was too much of a burden to carry, but this was not the time to change anything, this was the time to listen.

"The world just seems too unfair sometimes, I just want to help," by the time you finished explaining, the tears had built up in your eyes.

Bolin wrapped his arms around you, holding you close, and said in a soft voice, "You did help me tonight and I don't know what would have happened without you protecting me. You deserve the same and I will do everything I can to keep you safe, too."

[phoenixrsing]

tropes: shadow syndicate,  moral event horizon,  noble demon.  

advancing the agenda of the fire nation and protecting its interests in republic city,  from within the shadows,  directly from the belly of the beast.  drawing upon his military experience and leadership skills,  lu ten gathered members—former soldiers,  mercenaries,  and individuals willing to follow orders without objection,  they embarked on a path of order through severity,  specializing in espionage and sabotage to assassinations,  compromising moralities.  their identities are concealed,  known only to a select few who have infiltrated the reigns.  lu ten can count on one hand the number of people who can connect him to the syndicate. agni kai triad, the organization, is not bound by traditional notions of morality or ethics. 

its members are willing to employ morally questionable methods in service of the fire nation,  understanding that their actions may require sacrifices for the greater good of their nation.  they maintain tenuous alliances with certain groups and individuals for mutual benefit, they also have rivalries with competing organizations vying for control and dominance. in particular, tensions run high with rival gangs such as the triple threat triad and the red monsoons, leading to occasional conflicts and turf wars.

dubbed as the dragon head, lu ten is more than willing to bear the burden of dishonor. they preemptively neutralize potential threats, including preemptive strikes against any threats to the crown—from inside fire nation and out. their funding is sourced from a combination of gambling profits, smuggling contraband, and extorting rival gangs. while on the surface, it operates as just another criminal gang, its true roots delve much deeper. influenced by fire nation traditions and rituals, members of the agni kai organization partake in initiation ceremonies reminiscent of ancient fire nation customs. the ceremony unfolds at a sacred shrine dedicated to the fire lord, adorned with flickering flames and offerings of incense. a sacrificial offering, often a boar-q-pine, is presented before the altar as a symbol of devotion and loyalty. initiates then partake in a ritualistic libation, drinking a mixture of spiced wine infused. three fingers of the left hand are raised as a binding gesture, known as the flame oath.

[gaminghubpro]

Looking for the perfect name for your trio group? Whether you're part of a sports team, gaming squad, or just a group of friends, having a catchy and creative team name can make you stand out! Here are some fun, unique, and cool ideas for trio team names that will leave a lasting impression.

Cool Trio Team Names:

The Triple Threat

Triad of Power

The Three Musketeers

Triple Force

Dynamic Triad

Three's Company

Power of Three

Triple Harmony

Tri-Star Legends

The Terrific Trio

Fun and Funny Trio Team Names:

The Triple Scoop

Three Peas in a Pod

Triple Trouble

Taco Trio

The Three Amigos

Tri-Wizards

Triple Daredevils

Third Wheelers

Tri-umph

Gaming Trio Team Names:

Trinity Fighters

Triple Kill Squad

The Three Kings

Tri-Fury

The Tri-Hards

Triangle of Doom

Triple Strike

No matter what your trio is all about, these names will add a spark to your group. Choose one that best represents your squad's vibe!

#TrioTeamNames #GroupNameIdeas #TrioSquad #TeamNames #CreativeTeamNames #BestTrioNames #TeamSpirit #Tumblr

[mskoreodyssey]

[TLOK] Book One: Air (Fix)

Original-Novel: Info [Buy]

First 6 Episodes // Last 6 Episodes

Fix Book 1 by Tim Hickson

Rules

12 episodes // Fixing (not a full rewrite)

3 main issues on Book 1

They didn’t establish or give enough consequences to the oppression of non-benders.

The love triangle conflict doesn’t really work, so we need something else.

Korra’s arc is meant to be about her learning who she is without her bending, and Amon taking it away is a huge part of that, but we don’t get enough time to explore it.

[Episode 1: Welcome to Republic City]

The season opens with Korra living a contained, controlled life under the watchful eye of the White Lotus. She has a good grip on fire-bending, water-bending and earth-bending, but not air-bending, and we see she relies a lot on her passion and anger and independence as she fights and moves. “She's strong”, says Katara, “but she lacks restraint”. Korra, on the other hand, is stoked three elements down, barely an adult and ready to fill face the world. She longs for freedom and to do what the Avatar is meant to do right, fight injustice. This is the foundation for Korra's character arc, she's a prodigy who has had most things come to her in life easily. She's the chief's daughter, the prestige, the power. It's made her impulsive, a little unempathetic and makes her easily frustrated when she can't get things quickly, as well as overly reliant on violence and action rather than listening and understanding. Tenzin and his family arrive in the Southern Water Tribe with Korra, expecting him to teach her about air-bending and the spiritual side of being the Avatar. Only to reveal Republic City is unstable with tensions between benders and non-benders. And because of that, her training will need to wait. Korra insists that just means that's where she needs to be, the place with injustice and imbalance, but Tenzin refuses and leaves. That night, Korra escapes with Naga on a ship bound for Republic City. (...) Upon arriving in Republic City, Korra is astounded she's never seen so many bright lights before. But she soon finds herself in the poorest parts of the city, filled with the homeless, the drug afflicted, the impoverished. She sees a bending police squadron clearing out a city park, first peacefully and then with more of a threat, the non-benders scatter. In another place, one group tries to light a fire and to announce herself as the Avatar. Arriving in the city she conjures a fire for them and cease to sit down. But when Korra asks why none of them started a fire because surely one of them must be a fire-bender, they scoff. “They're all non-benders. You think you'll find a fire-bender down here. Make do, make mend”, an old man says. The others look at her nervously, as if they're a little worried she might come after them. But Korra, confused as to why people aren't excited at her arrival, leaves only for a Triple Triad gang member to begin extorting the group. Korra, inflamed with righteous anger, turns back to save the non-benders and does so, but destroys the surrounding neighborhood in the process. The place these people clearly called home...  and nobody thanks her. Korra then enters a wealthier part of the city, but is stopped by a bender. “I saw where you came from. I don't want thieves around these parts.” The police close in around her, asking if there's any trouble. But when she threatens him with bending, the man backs off. “Oh, I'm sorry, I thought you were one of them.”

(One of the major criticisms of season one was that it didn't show the inequality between benders and non-benders enough. We see a gang exploiting one person and that the council is maybe ruled entirely by benders, but not much else. We don't see real systemic issues that demand real systemic reform. This is one attempt to do that, to show a city divided into pseudo-classes with a deep cultural association of non-benders with stealing and crime. Something we see in the real world, leading to classist divides and creating stereotypes. I also wanted to show a systemic bias from the police to assist benders over non-benders being benders themselves. That it's not like the average bender is going out of their way to hunt down non-benders, but it's a lot more subtle in this society.)

The episode ends with Korra finding the pro-bending arena, this monolithic building that everyone seems to be heading towards. And she also finds one of a man's pamphlets, “Equality”, it reads. At which point Tenzin flies down to interceptor, blocking her path. “You know, word travels quickly when the Avatar is in town”, he says, a little frustrated. We then get a cutaway scene of Amon learning that the Avatar has arrived in the city as well, and that they must accelerate their plans.

[Episode 2: A Leaf in the Wind]

Tenzin takes Korra to Air Temple Island, away from the pro-bending arena. Much to her protestation, insisting that she return home. But she refuses, Tenzin storms away, frustrated. Korra then connects with Pema, Jinora and Ikki, who try to teach her some basic air-bending techniques. She doesn't learn much, but when Tenzin returns and spies Korra trying to learn, Pema comes up behind him and encourages him to let Korra stay. Tenzin goes to her, “I can't believe you followed me all this way when I specifically told you not to, but I'm impressed. So long as we can put that determination to good use with your studies”. Korra punches the air, fire bolts all around ecstatic. That night, Korra has her first dream of Aang in the past. Those flashbacks to Yakone, and like in the show, she's just going to get more of those dreams. The following day, Tenzin takes Korra for her first lesson. He impresses on her that air-bending is about attaining full control over yourself, your emotions, your body, by detaching yourself from the world and the things that affect you. Not holding on to the past and allowing yourself to change, not holding on to one idea of themselves. A freezing gust of wind hits them and Korra shivers. But Tenzin explains that they can even control their body temperature with careful use of their breath, which is why it didn't affect him.

(And keep that in mind because we're just going to set that aside for later.)

Korra tries to air-bend, but she doesn't move with the world around her, she relies on punching and kicking. Asserting herself on the world around her and as a result, she's beaten in that spinning boards test. She tries again and again and again, but fails every single time, getting more and more frustrated. She is not used to taking this long to get what is in her mind a very simple thing. At the end of the lesson, Tenzin tells her firmly that attaching oneself includes things like pro-bending, and he forbids her from going. Better from having tried and gotten nowhere, Korra sneaks out with Jinora to go and see the Pro-bending tournament. As in the show, she meets Mako and Bolin who are down a member, and she fills in. Tenzin arrives furious, but sees Korra putting the lessons he tried to teach her into practice in her own way during the tournament. And he starts to understand that she might have to learn this stuff on her own terms.

[Episode 3: The Revelation]

Tarrlok, another counselor in Republic City watched Korra perform and approaches her after the game. "You must be the Avatar. I've heard you're a natural, a true prodigy". He encourages her to join the council sometime, to sit in and hear about the politics of the city. "With the instability between benders and non-benders, that it'd be good to have the Avatar to help maintain order. I heard you dealt with this yourself first-hand, and I commend you". Korra wants to loving this praise, but Tenzin insists that she stay out of politics. It's here they're also approached by Asami, a non-bender and the owner of Hiroshi Industries.

(So there's no Hiroshi Sato in this rewrite, which I guess makes it Asami Industries, and that's because of our first major change. Asami is an Equalist, though she doesn't reveal that.)

She offers to sponsor them, noting it would be well worth having the Avatar's face for her company. Korra immediately hits it off with Asami, this charming, beautiful girl from a whole other world to her, who admires her skills and says that she sees value in the Avatar. And Mako initially refuses, insisting that they don't need her money. But Bolin presses that well, they're not going to make it very far without it. Reluctantly, Mako agrees. Korra wonders why Mako was so opposed to taking Asami's money, to which they explained that their mother was murdered by a group of Republic City non-benders during the riots a year ago. Apparently when this instability really kicked off, in that since then, Mako has found it difficult to trust non-benders. He describes a non-bender with a prosthetic leg and scarred arm, that he remembers the man's face and swears he will find him one day. Korra asks what he's going to do and Mako says nothing.

(I wanted to introduce this change because to be perfectly honest, Mako isn't that interesting. In the first series, Bolin is likeable and delivers comedic relief and heart to the story. Korra is an interesting conflicted character with a real arc. But Mako is brooding without much of a reason, no obvious flaw or goal to overcome in this story, he's a dollar shop Zuko. Here Mako's trauma in the past, and it's a trauma that does exist in the story, we're just modifying it a little bit. It really plays into the current narrative conflict and it provides a personal bias and arc for him to overcome his prejudice against non-benders. It's just enough to enforce those social divides and give a face to one side of it.)

Taking out Amon's pamphlet that she found at the end of the first episode, Korra insists that they look more into this divide. These equalists, this guy called Amon, especially if Tenzin isn't going to let her get involved in politics. As in the show, they piece together where it's happening and go to find the rally, here Amon reveals himself. He gives this brilliant speech about bending being the source of suffering and war in the world, and removes the bending of those same gang members who Korra fought at the beginning. As well as a couple of the policemen that she saw. Impulsively, Korra leaps up onto the stage to rescue the remaining victims. Horrified at the idea of losing her own bending, she fights Amon and his right hand man, referred to only as the Lieutenant. Who, like Amon, keeps his face hidden. But it goes terribly, and she has to be rescued by Tenzin, Tarrlok and Beifong's police force. In the course of that rescue, though, Korra witnesses some kind of police brutality. People are arrested for simply attending this rally. All of this only hardens Mako's resolve, that they need harsher measures to deal with the Equalists. In the aftermath, Lin Beifong rails against Korra for acting unilaterally like that. That they knew about the meeting and they were monitoring it from afar until she had to go and jump up and ruin everything. She coins it as typical teenage Avatar entitlement and ignorance, not knowing how things really work in a city like this. While Korra says that at least she did something, at least she tried to save people. Tarrlok, however, insists on forgiveness, "It is the Avatar, after all". Tenzin takes her away, but he's also angry, and although he empathizes with her frustration. He insists that the situation is complicated and it needs to be left to the professionals. "Professionals, I'm the Avatar. What's more professional than that?", she cries. But the episode closes out.

Amon’s speech (Fix)

My quest for equality began many years ago. When I was a boy, my family and I lived on a small farm. We weren't rich, and none of us were benders. This made us very easy targets for the water-bender who extorted my father. One day, my father confronted this man, but when he did, that water-bender took my family from me. Then, he took my face. I've been forced to hide behind a mask ever since. As you know, the Avatar has recently arrived in Republic City. And if she were here, she would tell you that bending brings balance to the world. But, she is wrong. The only thing bending has brought to the world, is suffering. It has been the cause of every war in every era. But that is about to change. I know you have been wondering, "What is the Revelation?" You are about to get your answer. Since the beginning of time, the spirits have acted as guardians of our world, and they have spoken to me. They say the Avatar has failed humanity. That is why the spirits have chosen me to usher in a new era of balance. They have granted me a power that will make Equality a reality. The power to take a person's bending away. Permanently.

- -

[Episode 4: To Fight or Not to Fight]

Tenzin tries to teach Korra more air-bending, but Korra can't focus. With everything going on, she just wants to go out and help with this stuff. She insists that the world gave her the four elements for a reason, not just air-bending. And at least she can use three of them to do something good and bring them on to justice, there are also further reports of benders disappearing off the streets. Korra sits down with Bolin and talks about how she just wants to help people, that she hates sitting around when she knows there's so much wrong in the world and she's just not sure how to help. Bolin tells her, “That sometimes you've got to fight, yeah, but sometimes you've just got to listen and learn, and sometimes you've got to wait before you can really make a difference”. Meanwhile, Mako tries to find an Equalist hideout. Asami comes across him while looking for Korra and offers to help, and he refuses it. But after struggling and getting nowhere, he reluctantly accepts the help. Beginning to trust non-benders again, he even flirts with her, and the two get along and laugh. And in turn, she provides a map of the city's underground infrastructure, tunnels and buildings, even the power grid, able to nail down where they might be by an unusual consumption of power. Asami insists that Korra and Bolin go with Mako if he really wants to do this, to help keep him safe. While Asami stays behind, insisting that although she wants to help them, she doesn't want her company to get caught up in a turf war. Sure enough, though, they find a huge weapons cache of these new electric gloves that the Equalists plan to use. But before they can call in Beifong, they're ambushed by the lieutenant who electrifies Mako and Bolin. Korra only just manages to fight her way out with them, and realizing the Equalists must be planning something big if they're collecting weapons like this. Korra challenges Amon on the city-wide radio system to a duel at Big Aang Face Island, which plays out exactly as it does on the show.

(It's a brilliant scene, genuinely one of my favorites in the entire show, with Amon taking her down easily and promising that he won't take away her bending yet because he has plans.)

Amon’s announcement

Good evening, my fellow Equalists. This is your leader, Amon. As you have heard, the Republic Council has voted to make me public enemy number one, proving once again that the bending oppressors of this city will stop at nothing to quash our revolution. But we cannot be stopped. Our numbers grow stronger by the day. You no longer have to live in fear. The time has come for benders to experience fear.

Korra’s Challenge

Amon, I challenge you to a duel! No task force, no chi-blockers, just the two of us tonight at midnight on Avatar Aang Memorial Island. Let's cut to the chase and settle this thing, if you're man enough to face me. Guess you're a no-show, Amon. Who's scared now?

Amon’s speech

I received your invitation, young Avatar. Our showdown, while inevitable, is premature. Although it would be the simplest thing for me to take away your bending right now, I won't. You'd only become a martyr. Benders of every nation would rally behind your untimely demise, but I assure you, I have a plan. And I'm saving you for last, then you'll get your duel, and I will destroy you.

[Episode 5: A Voice in the Night]

Korra is shaken by her confrontation with Amon and returning to Air Temple Island. She's suddenly starting to internalize for the very first time that she isn't necessarily the most powerful person in the world. Tenzin counsels Korra and tells her about how fragile he feels as well that as one of the last air-benders in the world. And at one point the only air-bender in the world, that it was a big responsibility. And for a long time, there was all he could ever see himself as the last air-bender. Until Jinora and Ikki and Pema came along, and he started to see himself as more than that, as a father. He links this in with air-bending by explaining that it's a lot to do with finding peace with oneself, not defining ourselves by what we can do for the world, by the role that we are born into, but recognizing we are valuable outside of that. Korra internalizes this a little and even manages to learn some more air-bending movements but confesses that she doesn't know who she is outside of the Avatar. That is all she has ever been, that is all anyone has ever really seen her as, and she's terrified of Amon because of that. Even pro-bending is based off her powers, she thinks that Mako and Bolin would drop her without them. Mako and Bolin overhearing her, assure her that this isn't the case. “We love you because you're fiery, you're our friend.” And Pabu comes up and sits on top of her head. But following that very escalation, Tarrlok opens a special task force with more powers to deal with the Equalists. Beifong opposes this, but Tarrlok tells her that it isn't her business. This is a council decision, it's for the safety of the city. Mako joins the task force, but Bolin steps aside, saying “No! Hey, this is going too far for me”. That, yeah, he's scared as well. But this will only make things worse between benders and non-benders, and it'll only make him on bolder.

(One of the most common criticisms of Season One is that the love triangle between Bolin, Korra, and Mako is distracting. And to be honest, it doesn't actually take up that much time. I rewatched the series, it's not that invasive. And it does make sense for Korra as someone who is developing her independence for the first time. She wants these kind of experiences, but it is also the only real character conflict within the trio, and I don't think it's a particularly great example of that. And I think that this would be a more interesting conflict. It's drawing on their traumatic history together, but it also deepens that wider conflict, giving more room for growth and personalizing it. Especially because neither of those romances really come too much in the end.)

Feeling a lack of purpose and fearing failure, Korra joins Tarrlok in hopes of reasserting her sense of self-worth, her role as the Avatar. Bolin and Asami are disappointed, and a rift develop in the group. At an operation that night, they burst into an Equalist facility and once again they face the Lieutenant. Mako is initially happy to see some success rescuing several benders who are being kept for Amon. But he begins to question his feelings towards non-benders after watching more brutality at the hands of the special task force. Even targeting people who just happened to be in the building, suspicions of them being Equalists. With a group of harmless civilians also being rounded up for questioning. In the apartment building, their raiding itself also partially collapses during the fight. When Mako goes to Tarrlok about this though, the Council just insists that it's crucial for law and order. That they had intel that Equalists would try to hide like this, hide amongst civilians. Mako looks away, nods, but reaffirms his dedication to the Task Force.

[Episode 6: And the Winner is...]

This episode plays out basically exactly the same as in the show. I think it was pretty good. Amon warns that if the Pro-Bending final isn't cancelled, there will be consequences. Beifong and Tarrlok swear to protect the stadium, the Wolf-Bats with foul play and the Equalists attack. Amon ascends from the sky, removes the Wolf-Bats bending, and though they fight, the Equalists do escape.

(Only one tiny change I will mention.)

In the midst of the fight, Korra tears off a section of the Lieutenant's clothing, revealing a tattoo of a small white lop-eared rabbit. Korra would have gotten a hold of Amon if not for the Lieutenant, shocking her at the last minute. Watching her as they ascend into the sky before they escape.

Amon’s announcement

Good morning, citizens of Republic City. This is Amon. I hope you all enjoyed last night's pro-bending match, because it will be the last. It's time for this city to stop worshiping bending athletes as if they were heroes. I am calling on the council to shut down the bending arena and cancel the finals, or else there will be severe consequences.

Amon’s speech

I believe I have your attention, benders of Republic City. So once again, the Wolf-bats are your pro-bending champions. It seems fitting that you celebrate three bullies who cheated their way to victory because every day, you threaten and abuse your fellow non-bending citizens just like the Wolf-bats did to their opponents tonight. Those men were supposedly the best in the bending world and yet it only took a few moments for me to cleanse them of their impurity. Let this be a warning to all of you benders out there: if any of you stand in my way, you will meet the same fate. Now, to my followers: for years the Equalists have been forced to hide in the shadows, but now we have the numbers and the strength to create a new Republic City. I'm happy to tell you that the time for change has finally come. Very soon, the current tyrannical bending regime will be replaced by a fair-minded Equalist government. You and your children will no longer have to walk the streets afraid! It's time to take back our city.

📖Hello👇Future👇Me✏️’s Legend of Korra

[elexuscal]

so like. let's focus on just season 1 for a sec.

that's the wobby base that haunts the rest of the show. a lot of its issues are no doubt directly caused by the restrains Nickelodeon put on it (e.g. 'oh no this is just a single, short one season, wrap it all up'), while other issues probably can't be excused by that.

what, keeping the generally same structure of the first season we have, could we have done to tighten it up?

Delve more into the backstory of Mako and Bolin. They lived on the street as orphans in Republic City! How does this affect their approach to life? What connections do they have?

Maybe give them a sort of healthy co-dependent relationship they have to work through. That could be an interesting way to re-frame the love square. It's not just "both brothers have a crush on the same girl", it's that for the first time in a long while, they have goals that don't necessarily align

Give Naga and Pabu more distinct personalities, so they don't feel like such copies of Appa and Momo from the original series

Biggest thing: More nuance to the Equalists

We get hints that they might have More of a point. That the extreme poverty in Republic City has a bending dimension. We see on screen at least one job which you need to be a bender to do (e.g. lightning generator) and we can certainly assume other jobs are much easier if you're a bender (e.g. fishing for water benders, construction for earth benders, etc.) How does that effect their economic reality?

Are there biases that impact people view benders in other roles? Like in our world, we rationally know that height=/=competence, but studies show that taller people consistently get paid more. Is there some genuine attitudes like, "well, everyone knows benders are more focused/disciplined/spiritual", as justification for hiring them as a secretary?

So yeah. Don't just have the Equalists be a group of murderous radicals with the goal of genocide, led by a hypocrite leader. Give us some more measured, sympathetic examples.

Like, remember how the season starts with the Triple Threat Triads extorting small business owners? And then later we see the police raid an Equalist self-defense class. Maybe have a conversation with some of those Equalists about why they needed self-defense.

Which brings us to: Asami

I genuinely think we could have had some fun stuff going on with Equalist!Asami. Forget Mako, she could have been this show's Zuko.

Even if we don't want to go that extreme, show that she actually gets where the Equalist movement is coming from. Heart to heart about "you know, it genuinely can be tough if you can't bend" type of thing

Have her fraught relationship with her dad be more of a running theme, instead of something we kind of ignore in seasons 2 and 3

she and korra kiss

(okay seriously though i kind of like the rivals-to-friends-to-lovers thing, i'm happy keeping that waiting till later seasons)

most important thing i'd change: Korra doesn't get her bending back at the end of the season

instead, we end on a more bitter-sweet note. Amon is defeated. Korra has gotten past her block with air bending. she's overcome her first real obstacle as the avatar.

but she did so with a heavy personal loss.

this would be a great set-up for season 2. her clash with Tenzin? whether to better hone her airbending or go on a potentially fruitless quest to restore her other disiplines. her snappishness with everyone? borne out of feelings of weakness and imposter syndrome. reasons she's seeking out the spirits? partially born out of a desire to find a "cure". her learning to commune with Aang and restore her bending could have been a whole arc, not a five minute footnote.

anyway, i have a Lot of thoghts about this, and i'm sure i will have more once i finish season 2. but or now: if anyone knows any good AU fics that use any of these ideas (or other interesting ones I didn't think of!), please let me know.

re-watching season 1-2 of Legend of Korra be like

"i can do it," i sob dramatically, "I could fix her."

[ebonynightwriter]

Got an idea about who I am now, chumps?

[gladerwolfstarkimagines]

Imagine being Mako’s best friend and a member of the Triple Threat Triad.

Requested by @pikachuzoey​

When Mako left the gang with his brother Bolin you were happy for him. You'd all got involved with the Triple Threat Triad as kids and dreamed of a way out and he found one! You only wished he hadn't forgotten about you the second he left. You'd met Mako when you joined the gang a year after him. You'd run away from home and found yourself at the doors of the triad. You weren't a bender but you were a scrappy child and the leaders saw promise in you. So you were allowed to stay and often got sent on jobs with Mako being the same age. You quickly became friends and looked out for one another. You protected Bolin like he was your own and became close friends with Mako. He couldn't really rely on Bolin, he was young and naive but you were similar to him and he grew to really value having your support and friendship. It made him feel less alone and you in turn appreciated having Mako too...but as you got older you realised you liked Mako as more than friends. You'd been meaning to tell Mako for the past five years but then he left before you got the chance. At first you assumed Mako was just laying low that's why he hadn't been in contact. Then you thought perhaps the gang was stopping him from getting messages to you, so you went out in public places to make it easier for him to contact you. Still you heard nothing. You were starting to worry he wasn't okay. What if he'd been hurt or run out of town. That was the only possible reason you could think of to explain his absence. Then you saw him one day coming down the street and he pretended he didn't even know you.

You were with another boy in the gang the same age as you and were doing some surveillance when you spotted Mako hurrying down the street with some bags. "Mako!" you called excitedly and he looked up at the sound of his name. He looked right at you but didn't return your smile. Still you weren't put off and tried to get through the crowd towards him. In response Mako just put his head down and started walking faster. You stopped momentarily stunned at what had just happened. "Mako...it's me y/n" you tried again in case he somehow hadn't recognised his best friend of 5 years. Your colleague snorted "yeah I think he knows that, that's why he's running away". You shook your head "Mako wouldn't do that, we're friends". "You were" he replied "now he's a law-abiding citizen and we're the riffraff he doesn't want to associate with. Trust me you'll only ever see him again if he needs something illegal". "No, Mako isn't like that! you argued but the boy just smirked like he was enjoying this and Mako disappeared out of your sight. After that, you were annoyed by Mako's behaviour but also wanted answers. You tried getting notes to Mako, sending letters to the arena but months later you heard nothing back. So you decided to go there yourself. You bought a ticket and joined all the other fans in the packed arena. You followed them inside and then slipped off easily down one of the corridors. You saw some people who looked like competitors and followed them down to the changing rooms. From there it was almost too easy. Each door had the name of a group on and Mako's was right at the end of the hall. The Fire Ferrets. You knocked on the door and heard a muffled noise inside. "Just a second!" you heard Bolin call and the door was thrown open. "Y/n!" he cried seeing you but you looked past him to his brother. Mako had been wrapping his hands but froze when Bolin spoke. His eyes shot to the door and there you were. Staring at him with all those questions. "Hi Bolin" you said taking your eyes off Mako "nice outfit". "Thanks" Bolin smiled "It's so come to see you, come in". Mako went to stop him but it was too late. You stepped inside and scanned your eyes around the room. Mako could feel the coldness coming off you and it was only broken when Pabu jumped on. You jumped before smiling "Pabu, it's nice to see you too". Your smile was just as nice as Mako remembered and he could feel himself thawing...so you had to go. "What are you doing here y/n?" Mako asked. It was the first thing your best friend had said to you in months. That hurt. You looked up at him and shrugged "I came to see why you ditched me the second you got your freedom. Don't you think after being best friends five years I'm owed an explanation?". Mako sighed "Bo why don't you go look for Hasook" Mako said and Bolin looked worriedly between you both but sighed "okay". He left the room and Mako shook his head "you shouldn't have come here. Bolin and I are trying not to have any contact with the gang". "So I'm just a gang member to you now?" you asked "all our years of friendship mean nothing to you?". Mako struggled to respond and stumbled over his words but you weren't feeling sympathetic. "There's just a lot you don't understand and I'm sorry but this is the way it has to be" Mako said. "Why? Nobodies going to kick you out of the league for being friends with a gang member, half of the athletes are probably taking bribes from them!". Mako shook his head and just kept muttering "you don't understand" and "too dangerous" over and over again. "You're right I don't understand and I can tell something's wrong so Mako please just tell me the truth!" you cried your voice rising to a shout. Mako looked at you and you thought he was going to break when the door squeaked open. A waterbender appeared and looked between the two of you "friend of yours"? he asked Mako. You went to reply when Mako shook his head "no she was just leaving". You were hurt by his tone of voice and shook your head "leaving?". Mako nodded "yes and I think it's best if you don't come here again. Bolin and I are done with everything related to that lifestyle...including you". You must've replayed Mako's words over and over again in your head for weeks. You just couldn't get over him abandoning you or how cooly he'd done it. You were understandably pretty upset for the next few months and decided you were done with Mako. You worked hard for the Triple Threat Triad and were hoping for a promotion. You heard Mako had become friends with the Avatar and even made it to the finals of the tournament. It didn't seem fair that everything had gone right for him after how he'd treated you but what could you do? So you put Mako from your mind and carried on working hard...only for Mako to finally come clean about everything. Everyone in the gang lived close to one another on your side of town and you had a small apartment to yourself. It had taken you years to get this privilege and you treasured it. So much so, you took precautions when you left each day and left traps to indicate if someone had gone inside your apartment. When you came home one of them had been triggered instead of coming in through the front door you went around to the window which you could jimmy open. Once it was open wide enough you slipped inside and grabbed the crowbar you kept under your bed. You inched towards the living room and peered out through a small crack in the door. There was a figure stood pacing back and forth clearly waiting for you to come home. You stepped back and knocked something off your table on purpose. It made a bang and the figure paused. You backed up into the corner and waited. Sure enough the figure gingerly opened the door and came inside. You came out of your hiding place and the figure turned just as you swung the bar. "Y/n!" Mako cried and you froze. You managed to slow the crowbar down and it just gently knocked against his chest. "Mako?" you asked "what on earth are you doing here? I thought you never wanted to see me again?". Mako shook his head "I had to say that, y/n i'm so sorry. Please let me explain". You told Mako he had five minutes and still gripped your crowbar tightly. "I was saving up money so I could afford to buy you out". "Buy me out?" you asked and Mako nodded "before I left I told Shady Shin you were coming with us but he said I didn't have the authority for that. You still had 3 years of service to work off and so you couldn't leave...not unless I paid for your years instead". You shook your head "but how much is that?". Mako shook his head "that's not important, what is important is I finally made enough and can get you out of here! You can start a new life, become a doctor, a teacher anything!" he smiled "you'll be free". You grinned before an idea occurred to you "but why didn't you tell me? Why keep it a big secret and act like you didn't know me". Mako sighed "I didn't want to but I knew I wasn't supposed to have contact with anyone in the gang anymore. I worried if I was still hanging around you he'd move you to another city or punish you for being friends with me. I had to keep the attention off you until I'd made enough and now I have!". You nodded "okay so what happens now?". "Pack your stuff, we're going to shady shin" Mako said beaming. 10 minutes later you were on your way to Shady Shin's headquarters. You didn't have many belongings but that didn't really matter. You felt lighter than you had in months finally reunited with your best friend but the other gang members weren't so happy to see him. When you reached the most popular hangout, the hang members outside stared at Mako and yourself but Mako stared right back and they didn't stop you from entering. You finally made your way to the inner section and one of Shady Shin's men spotted you and smirked. "What do we have here? Did someone get lost?". "I'm here to see Shady Shin, we have business to finalise" Mako said and the man glanced at you. He smiled "sure, go on it" and gestured for you to go into one of the backrooms. You went into a dim room which you figured was an office. Shady Shin was talking to some men but he smiled when he saw you both. "We'll finish this later" he told his men before walking to you and Mako "to what do I owe the pleasure Mako?". Mako didn't return his smile "I'm here to cash in on our deal. I've raised the funds to buy out y/n's contract". "Is that so?" Shady Shin asked and Mako nodded passing him an envelope. "It's all there, feel free to count it". Shady Shin leafed through it and then shook his head "it's no good". "It's all real and I earned every penny!" Mako cried. Shady Shin shrugged "it's not the money that's the problem but the price..it just doubled". Shady Shin smirked and you felt the room get hotter courtesy of Mako. "You can't do that! We had a deal!" Mako cried. Shady Shin just shrugged "did you ever get it in writing? No...then I guess it's your word against mine". "Y/n is leaving with me tonight" Mako said through gritted teeth and Shady Shin smiled "oh yeah? You're welcome to try" and he pressed a button on his desk. Men filtered on from the outer room and blocked the exits. "You really don't want a fight" Mako said and you wondered what on earth he was doing, there was no way he could take on 10 guys. Shady Shin thought the same because he laughed loudly "I think my men are more than capable of dispatching one fire bender". Mako shrugged "maybe but what about her?". Suddenly the skylight above Shady Shin smashed and a short but muscly young woman landed effortlessly on the floor. "So" she smiled "who thinks they can take on the Avatar?". The men paused but of course with their inflated male egos they soon recovered and started heading towards the Avatar. That just made the girl smile though "I was hoping you'd say that and she threw a water whip at the nearest man. Mako immediately sprang into action sending fire at another and not wanting to miss out you joined in too. You'd heard the Avatar was amazing, after all she had stopped Amon and saved the city but seeing her in action was something else. She was amazing and took out one guy with a punch to the chest alone. Mako had also clearly been practising and soon the room cleared. "More will be on the way" Korra said kicking one man to the ground "come on we've got to go" and she earth bent the wall away. You ran all the way to the docks when you finally stopped by the docks. You clutched your sides catching your breath and Mako leaned against a wall but Korra didn't even seem winded "nice to meet you by the way, I'm Korra". "I guessed" you laughed "only the Avatar could fight like that". She smiled looking at Mako "I see why you like her so much". You both blushed before the panic set in "wait what are we doing? Shouldn't we keep moving in case they come after us?" you asked and Korra smirked "after the beating we just gave them? They'll be down for a while". You shook your head "but eventually they'll come for us. That's how shady shin is". "That's why I'm sending you somewhere safe" Mako told you "Air Temple Island is the safest place in the whole city, especially since Korra moved there". The Avatar nodded "you'll be safe with me y/n". You paused "but what about you" turning to Mako "he'll come for you to get revenge, why on earth did you do that?". "Well there is one more thing I should tell you and I want you to let me explain before you freak out...I'm not a pro-bender anymore. Starting Monday I'm a Republic City Police Officer". Your eyes widened "you're a what!" and Mako nodded "I know, I know but trust me I know the chief of police and she's a good woman. Sure there are a lot of crooked cops, we know that but she's a good leader and she wants to root them out just like I do. I'm going to change the system from the inside out and also Shady Shin will hesitate to attack me now I'm an officer". You paused "are you sure...I still don't get why you'd risk all that. Just to help me". Mako shook his head "are you kidding? I can't think of a better reason to risk myself than for you". You blushed and Korra smiled "I'm gonna go check out the water" and she excused herself. You watched her go before turning back to Mako "honestly it's weird to hear you say that after everything that happened...after going almost a year with you refusing to speak to me". Mako nodded "Y/n I'm so sorry for that. I thought it would keep you safe but now I realise I never should've trusted Shady Shin in the first place...but you're safe now and I promise I'll never turn my back on you again. I'll always be here for you y/n". "You say that now but you've left before" you said softly and Mako frowned "I did...". "So what's to stop you from doing it again?" you asked and Mako almost broke at the sad sound of your voice. He didn't know he'd hurt you so badly and he knew he had to do something about that. "Well I know it might've seemed like I left but I always planned on coming back for you...but that did take me a year so I can see how that might not be a comfort. How about if I promise to always be honest with you starting right now?". You nodded "no more lies?" and Mako nodded "I promise and in the spirit of that I should probably confess something...I like you y/n. I have since we were 14 and you took out that bender twice your age and height in one move. I thought you were the coolest, hottest and smartest person in Republic City and I still think that. That's another reason why I'd never leave you, not properly because I wouldn't be able to. I need you y/n". You blinked taking it all in. This whole night seemed like a weird dream and you couldn't quite process it. "Y/n?" Mako asked after you hadn't spoken for a few seconds and you laughed "I...I gave up any hope of this so long ago. It doesn't seem real" you admitted. "Well it is" Mako replied "I'm here...if you want me". You laughed "that's all I've ever wanted" and fell into Mako's arms. You fit together effortlessly and Mako wrapped his arms around you carefully like you were a precious valuable. "I'm so sorry for everything y/n but I promise this is the start of something new for us both...together" Mako told you. You smiled as the fog cleared and Air Temple Island came into view. Korra jumped up from a rock and smiled "you ready to see your new home?". You nodded "so ready" and took Mako's hand, stepping into your new freedom.

[wishingforatypewriter]

Everyone knew that the ideal headquarters for a triad was the back room of a mediocre restaurant. It had to get enough foot traffic that the bank deposits looked legit, but still be quiet enough on a weekday afternoon that the lieutenants could sit down to a meeting in peace. This was common fucking knowledge and common fucking sense, but did it stop Zolt from poaching the assistant chef down at the Four Elements? Of course not.

He always said it was for the sake of the banks—to make bigger deposits without raising suspicion, but Viper knew it was really because the old man would rather die than be associated with bad food. He would have set up shop in the private lounge of Kwong's Cuisine if they'd let him. 

Viper shook his head as he shouldered past the line of people waiting to be seated by the hostess. Two in the afternoon on a tui damned Wednesday and the line was still stretching out the door. 

"We're moving," he announced to the group of lieutenants playing cards and day drinking at a table in the lounge. "Someplace low key. Make it happen by the end of the month." 

He didn't wait to see their reactions before finishing the walk up to Zolt's office. No, his office. The old man had left willingly after Amon took his bending, but Viper liked to think he would have forced the matter if it had come to that. 

He looked through the platinum lock box Zolt had given him the combination to, reading up on all the secrets and side deals that had kept the Triple Threats on top for well over two decades. He took his first two meetings as boss—one with the accountant, one with their guy on the RCPD—before finding himself utterly in need of a distraction. 

He picked up the phone at the edge of the desk before dialing a familiar number. 

“Status report,” she said in a commanding tone. “Are the shipments in the bay?”

“Jargala, it’s me.”

She sucked her teeth. “I should have never given you my direct line,” she said. “What do you want?”

Viper chuckled. “I can’t call just to talk to you?” 

“I’d greatly prefer it if you wouldn’t.”  

“Come over, then,” he said. “My new office could use breaking in.”

Jargala scoffed. “You’re inviting a rival boss into your headquarters just so we can fuck on your desk?”

Viper started clearing the documents off said desk in anticipation. “And on the couch and against the wall and—” 

“It’s a work day.” 

“I’ll do that thing with my tongue that you like.” There was a pause on the line and Viper knew he had her.

“I’m not staying long.” 

“See you in twenty, sweetheart.” 

She took an hour to get there, likely out of spite, and pinned him with a look of derision when Ping and Miki escorted her up to his office. 

“You want the lieutenants in here for this meeting, boss?” Miki asked from the doorway. 

“No. I want absolute privacy,” Viper told her. “Don’t so much as knock on this door for the next two hours, even if the place is on fire.” 

“Two hours?” Jargala repeated, one eyebrow raised and arms crossed over her chest. 

“Better make it three,” Viper said and then waved a hand, dismissing his people. 

“This is nice,” she said, taking a seat at the edge of the desk once the door closed. “Too nice. Zolt must’ve been fucking Chief Beifong herself to keep the cops from raiding this place.” 

“Who are you telling?” he asked, deciding not to run his mouth this time. “It’s too risky. I’ll have my people out of here in no time, though.” 

“Down to some dungeon in the Dragon Flats, I’m sure.” She took a moment to inspect her manicure. “Boring.”

“Then come here and let me entertain you,” he said, taking her hand pulling her down onto his lap. 

Jargala rolled her eyes and let her hips rock against him. “You’re intolerable,” she murmured against his lips as they descended on hers. 

“And you’re irresistible,” he said close to her ear, while his hand skated up her inner thigh. “Where does that leave us?”

“Mmm…right there,” she breathed.

I am like two daydreams away from shipping Viper and Jargala for real.

[avatarelkie]

okay i’m actually really invested in a wuko role swap au now. sorry for how long this is gonna be

read part two here!!

wu was orphaned as a kid, has no idea who his parents are. he grew up in an orphanage in ba sing se but as soon as he was old enough he ran away with basically nothing, not a dollar to his name

so he was a street rat for a while, eventually he got mixed up with a triad (not the triple threat triads, just…another triad group man idk), and while he is an earth bender (he can also lavabend but that’s not important now) and was pretty decent at it he was still scrawny so mostly he just ended up running scams for them

eventually he gets into some trouble with the triads, books it out of ba sing se and straight into republic city

i’d imagine he’d run into toza like mako and bolin did, and that’s how he gets into probending!! eventually he forms a team with hasook and…well, some random firebender, and names it the ba sing se badgermoles :]

during his time as a probender, he bonds a lot with the probending announcer…opal!!! ((thank u @lavabenderz for this idea))

opal is there bc wing and wei decided to move to republic city to become probenders, and since she’s very close with them she follows them there ((again thank u saturn))

canon stuff still happens, korra goes to republic city, etc. wu and korra are like. instant friends so the match that hasook is out korra fills in as the team’s water bender. that becomes a permanent change, however it isn’t long before something happens to the firebender (whatever u want, injury, quitting, idk)

HOWEVER while korra is in republic city asami almost runs her over with her moped…cue korra getting angry before instantly becoming flustered by Pretty Woman. asami is like “omg you’re the avatar right??? i am so sorry”

they go out for dinner that night

future industries still agrees to sponsor the team, so korra introduces asami to wu and opal!! they all get along well and quickly become friends

u might think that wu would flirt with korra and asami but in this au he is Gay and just not repressing it at all

ANYWYAS once the fire bender leaves the team korra asks asami to join the team. it takes a lot of convincing but she joins!!!

side note about asami:: she may be a fire bender in this au but she’s still an inventor/engineer. i believe a fire bender killed her mom in canon so she has a lot of angst about it…not to mention her dad hating benders,, she’s really hesitant ab her bending but she’s basically a prodigy at it, also outside of pro bending she tends to rely on lightningbending

wu is ESTATIC about having both the avatar and future ceo of future industries on his team

anyways actual canon stuff happens dhdhshdhdhdhdhdhfhdbdb

canon goes on as normal in this au it’s just that wu and opal replace mako and bolin, opal still gets airbending, also asami and korra both quit pro bending when they did in canon

in that 3 year time gap wu is scouted to be the crowned prince of the earth kingdom’s bodyguard!!

anywyas that’s all i have for now thank u for coming to my tedtalk

[orangepanic]

Baby Korra dies in a tragic accident at age one.

Avatar Bolin.

Or, an AU where no one knows Bolin is the Avatar because he's some street kid until he gets picked up by the Triple Threat Triad -- who happen to be the perfect group to train him up. Ah, but for what?

[tvandenneagram]

The Legend of Korra: Mako - Type 6w5

Mako is serious, responsible and hardworking. Mako has always felt like he has needed to look after his younger brother Bolin and Team Avatar.

At his best, Mako becomes more flexible and kinder to the people around him. He stops being so serious and has meaningful relationships with other people, despite some of the problems they had in the past.

At his worst, Mako can be very aggressive and closed-off. He can also be very reactive, especially towards Korra and Bolin. He has a tendency to feel like he knows best and can be dishonest towards the group.

Mako wants to protect Republic City as we see when he becomes part of the police force. 6s often go into law enforcement because they like to follow rules and to make the community safer. They also tend to be very dutiful and loyal towards belief systems and authorities they have faith in. We see this in Mako when he turns Korra into the Mayor for her plans. He also breaks up with Korra because he feels he needs to focus on his work in the police force.

6s are often very suspicious of new people and do not like to let new people into their circles. For example, he is very standoffish when he first meets Korra and is hesitant to let her into the pro-bending team, whereas Bolin is very open to new people.

Mako had a very strong connection to his parents and became emotionally closed-off after their deaths. We can see this as he constantly wears his red scarf because it makes him feel connected to his parents and his home. Likewise, Mako is deeply protective of the people he cares about and will do what it takes to help them. He will try to keep his emotions at bay, but his emotions are often clear to those who know him well.

When he was young he had to mature quickly as he had to take care of Bolin alone. As a result, he was concerned with keeping them both safe as they grew up on the streets. Mako would sometimes resort to means that were unethical to do so. For example, he fell into crime and joined the triad and would often resort to stealing when he was younger.

He shows his wing 5 as he is very reserved and a bit withdrawn. In contrast, 6w7s are more energetic and expressive with their feelings. He is also more introspective and introverted like a 6w5.

Tri-type: 6w5 - 3w4 - 9w8

Some quotes to describe Mako’s motivations

“Enough! Look, I have a job to do! I can't constantly be worrying about keeping you from making another huge mistake!”

“And you're the rookiest of us all. We gotta get you up to speed if we wanna survive in the tournament. Deal with it.”

“They've been paid off; it's the only explanation. Someone wants us to lose.” “We got your back Korra, and we can save this city. Together.”

“You're safe now.”

“Unalaq wanted your dad out of the way so he could become chief. It was a setup.”

“I don't know. I don't want to go behind Beifong's back. If she finds out, I could get kicked off the force.”

“Something doesn't make sense about this bombing. I just don't buy that the Northern Water Tribe was behind it. Wait a second! That's him! That's the guy that attacked the center! I gotta go show this to Beifong!”

“I'm not here on police business. I'm running an off-the-books operation, and I thought the Triple Threats might want a piece of the action.”

[ihaspoorgrammer]

Legend of Korra: Alternate Season 2

In honor of LoK coming to Netflix, I’ve decided to vomit all my feelings towards that show the best way I can - creative writing - In a “What I think Should’ve Happened” essay for your reading pleasure. For those who don’t have the time, I’ll just come out and say it -- Legend of Korra was created with one season in mind, and that’s how it should've stayed.

All the concepts and ideas they introduced in the first season (and The Last Airbender) were more-or-less abandoned by the sequel so they could flounder and come to a deflating end.

So, I wrote this as a way to actually make use of them in a meaningful way that the creators so casually disregarded:

A few months after the battle with Amon, the Equalists have splintered into different cells throughout Republic City. Amon being revealed as a Waterbender weakened them, but that doesn’t take away from the larger points they championed about Bender/Non-Bender inequality. As a consequence, the United Forces soldiers are still a presence in the city, and Chief Biefong has made use of them as additional keepers of the peace, working with the Metalbending police to help rebuild and establish order, and has benefited greatly from the leadership of General Iroh and Commander Bumi.Korra is still airbending training with Tenzin as well as learning about the Avatar State, and she seems to have done a complete 180 in terms of her training; now dedicating herself to it full time to it. Tenzin is naturally happy about this development, but cautions her that the training will have to come naturally and it’s not something she can force, and is wary of how deeply her fight with Amon affected her.   The Fire Ferrets are preparing for their first match since last season against the Polar Leopards, Mako and Bolin steel their nerves while their new waterbender - Tahno - tells them to "relax" and "prepare to be amazed." After putting up a spirited fight, the Fire Ferrets and their opponents are tied. After ganging up on Tahno - who is at a disadvantage, being more accustomed to cheating - is saved by Mako. With seconds left, Tahno subtly bends the water on the opposing team’s side, and creates an ice-patch, causing an opponent to slip. Tahno takes advantage of this, and wins the match with a “Korra Special.” Only Mako notices the cheat.  After the match, Mako approaches Tahno about the cheating, but lets it slide. At Bolin’s suggestion, the two brothers go out to celebrate and invite Tahno along, but he opts out for "training” (after this, we see that Tahno has a picture of Korra in his locker, hinting that he only joined the Ferrets to make it up to her for restoring his bending).Asami has taken full control of Future Industries and personally oversees the production of new satomobiles and has saved Future Industries from bankruptcy with new airplanes designs. However, the company can't shake the black-eye her father gave it and her name, so business contacts have become scarce and shareholders have started pulling out. Worse, the board of directors have begun flexing their muscles to try and squeeze her out. She needs to come up with something good and fast.Mako, Bolin, and Tahno are in the middle of free-for-all sparring, when Tahno accidentally makes ice and headshots Bolin (which makes his vision comically go double). Mako scolds Tahno about it, causing Tahno to storm off.   Later that night on Air Temple Island, Mako brings Korra a meat dinner (Tenzin has put her on a vegetarian diet), but she declines. They begin to discuss Tahno’s participation in the team, which Mako believes was a bad idea, but Korra reminds him that Tahno has cut back on cheating, worked hard, and overall been a good addition (or stand-in for Korra). They share a nice couple-moment and laugh. We see Asami in the distance looking at them longingly, showing that she is still hurt over Mako leaving her for Korra. She starts to walk back to her room when she hears a strange noise in the distance. The source is Commander Bumi throwing his boomerang back and forth. After talking for a bit (and Bumi revealing that the boomerang once belonged to his uncle, Sokka), Bumi allows Asami to give it a throw. After a successful first try, she accidentally throws it through Tenzin's window. Bumi tells her "I didn't see anything if you didn't see anything." As he hops in the bushes to hide and Asami runs away. Laughing.  Meanwhile, a group of once-small time Triad gangs (they were "little people" before Amon "de-bended" the major families), are attacked by members of the Triple Threat. After a small battle, the Triple Threats win, and take with them a powerful bloodbender (or they start interrogating someone), leaving behind a message: “Lightning strikes twice.” ------

After that, Season 2 is in full swing. The Triads are the major Big Bad of this season because the purpose of the show was to be the opposite of Airbender, narratively speaking. So, that means keeping Korra and the cast firmly in Republic City and no more globe trotting.

This puts a bigger emphasis on the characters and their interpersonal relationships (which was the big draw of the show to begin with), rather than having to build up and explain the geo-politics of a new setting.

If they did stay for at least one more season, it probably would have emphasized a larger untapped well; the city was designed to be a 1920’s New York-style “melting-pot”, a place where all cultures come together and mix (Mako and Bolin are a product of a Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom union, and Tahno seems to be the a product of a Fire Nation and Water Tribe union). So, essentially, it’s the architectural equivalent of the Avatar. Just as the Avatar is the synergy of the four nations, Republic City does the exact same thing, just on a larger scale. One more season would better emphasize this fact, and show that despite what people think, it is possible for the four nations to co-exist as long as it’s based on mutual respect and sharing of differences, not domination of differences. This imaginary second season could also be used to address multiculturalism in any number of ways. 

Maybe the new Big Bad could’ve been a terrorist group dedicated to keeping the nations separate and "pure," and see the City as an affront to the Avatar’s “true responsibility.” And maybe Korra can see that, despite its flaws, the city and what it represents is worth saving. It also would have emphasised the “super-hero” aspect of the show; Korra being a Superman-figure who constantly has to protect her Metropolis from ever-constant calamities.  Another aspect that could’ve been added, was that the people of Republic City could’ve helped the Krew. You see, the citizens of Rep. City are constantly infantilized to the point of helplessness until Korra and co. show up to help. The opposite approach would have emphasised the multicultural aspect of the city, and how when push comes to shove, they are all one big family.Maybe even having a scene like from the original Spider-Man movie where the citizens actually help the Krew out, saying “you mess with one of us, you mess with all of us!”

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

From my perspective, there’s no better way to kick this off than introducing this monkey-wrench into the Krew’s system -- the return of Lightning Bolt Zolt, Mako and Bolin’s adoptive father.

See, in the backstory that the show never did anything with, after their parents died, Mako and Bolin became part of the Triads. Though Mako stresses to Korra that he only "ran numbers" for them during his time there. . . So either Mako is a mathematical prodigy, or he's lying. Because I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say he probably received no formal education on the streets that would enable him to work for the Triads in that capacity. So that begs the question: why would he lie? What did he do during his time working for the Triads, that would make him leave and never speak of it again? It’s because he was specially trained by Zolt personally. Learning Lightningbending in the process.

Now, Zolt will use this connection to manipulate Mako for his own purposes, which involves getting his bending back, which will of course drive a wedge between him and Korra.

Zolt may be a bastard, but he was arguably more of a father to him than Mako’s actual father, and that kind of emotional connection is hard to ignore. In fact, it’s such a shock to his system that his Lightningbending stops working.

Which brings him in contact with General Iroh.

When we first meet Mako, he’s determined, blunt, stubborn, and reserved. Understandably so, seeing as how his parents were murdered in front of him Batman-style and was forced to basically raise his little brother on his own, on the streets. As a consequence, one of his most defining characteristics is his inability to relax. He’s constantly trying to fix everything, constantly trying to help everybody, and constantly trying to remain in control. So, Avatar-style development demands that he gradually realize that he can’t control everything and learn to relax, allowing Bolin to become his own person, and learning to go with the flow. Which is something they actually didn’t do in the fourth season. He was largely extraneous to the story and they actually took every opportunity they had to show how useless he was.

Meanwhile, Bolin starts being approached by Lin Biefong, who believes the young man has the potential to be part of the Metalbending police force, despite his claims that he can’t Metalbend. However, Lin eventually realizes why he never could; he’s never had to apply himself. You need to have an unrelenting drive to force the minerals within to move, and that’s not something Bolin has ever needed. In Season 4 of the actual show, I almost applauded it for having Bolin sign up for the army because I thought that’s exactly what he needed -- a place to apply himself. Mako being such a mother-hen accidentally stunted Bolin’s emotional growth, never allowing him to mature and become independent. Which could lead into a very Sokka-like confession:

B: “Do you want to know something really terrible; I don’t miss them. Mako was the one that really knew them. I remember bits of things, but … They’re just … People I didn’t get to know. Mako’s the one that’s always been there for me.”

So here, Lin takes it upon herself to be his teacher and actually show his true potential. They grow closer as a result, and she and Bolin start developing a mother-son relationship. When we first meet Bolin, he’s immature, a show-off, something of a womanizer, a shameless flirt, and a goof-off. The unifying detail with the Bending Brothers is that Mako was sort of holding them both back; Mako’s over-protectiveness never allowed him to choose what was best for himself, and stunted Bolin’s emotional growth into becoming a more independent adult. What they could’ve done - if they wanted to save time - was to have their character arcs work off of each other -- while Mako becomes more relaxed and free-spirited, Bolin becomes more responsible and goal-oriented.

The only other place that the phrase “wasted potential” belongs besides in association with Tahno we’ll get to in a minute, but for now let’s focus on him. The creators once said that they “care about all the characters … except Tahno,” which should show the lack of imagination that was rather systemic in the thinking process there (and what liars they are).

From the start, Tahno is clearly deeply affected by Amon stripping him of his bending, even if Korra gave it back to him. And while he still resorts to cheating now and then, it’s not entirely because he’s a natural cheater … it’s because his bending hasn’t completely come back, and neither has Korra’s for that matter.

They’re both so traumatized by Amon’s Bloodbending that they’re experiencing “hiccups” in their powers.

Korra has tried to deal with it by doubling-down on her Airbender training to “find inner peace,” while Tahno is just trying to ignore it.

Eventually, their arcs cross paths, and they bond of their attempts at healing, having to come to terms with the fact that the “body heals only after the mind heals.” Which further draws a wedge between her and Mako.

Now, there is still a love-triangle here, but it’s in service to why Mako and Korra were brought together in the first place: they aren't supposed to be like Katara and Aang, where it was love-at-first-sight. They’re supposed to be the more realistic couple that have problems and have to make compromises because they love each other.

Love isn’t something that just happens, you have to work hard at it and make the other person happy without looking for the advantage. Relationships - both platonic and romantic - need to be built on mutual trust and understanding, and with understanding means taking a person for both their good and bad qualities.

Infatuation is the kind of love that is more shallow and doesn’t last.

Under direct orders from Fire Lord Zuko himself, General Iroh has started staying at Air Temple Island to watch over the Avatar, which leads him to becoming an unofficial therapist to the people staying there, namely Korra, Tahno, and Mako.Iroh is unique among the cast because he’s inherited Uncle Iroh’s position of someone who already has everything figured out themselves.

He grew up with loving parents and loving grandparents, and we learn that he had the honor of being one of the first firebenders taught by the Sun Warriors, who Zuko spent most of his life helping reconstruct (where he gained the nickname, “The Young Dragon”).

This new living situation makes him a part of the Krew later on, and brings him closer contact with Asami, who he develops a rapport with. And finally, we come to Asami, who is still dealing with losing her father and potentially losing everything else.

You don’t have the founder of a company be linked to a terrorist organisation and expect that company to survive, no matter what financial magic you can conjure. Which is something Asami is learning all too well.But in this madness, she meets two people -- Commander Bumi and General Iroh (who’s under an official Fire Lord order to watch over the Avatar).

She soon becomes Bumi’s ward, eventually, Bumi will act as a surrogate father for Asami, and she will help him organize, and win, a blimp race. From then on, she starts exclusively referring to him with the honorific, "commander."

They become so close that he starts teaching her everything Sokka taught him. You see, because Aang spent more time with Tenzin and Katara more time with Kya, that meant that Bumi ended up bonding with his non-bending uncle, (who later in life became master Piandao’s best student).

That’s why Bumi carries around Sokka's boomerang; Sokka was probably more of a father to him than Aang was.

So Sokka, never having children of his own after Suki tragically died, taught Bumi everything he knew, including how to recreate Space Earth Metal.And, after they grow closer, he decides to trust Asami with this sacred technique. … 

Which she immediately tries to patent and market in order to save Future Industries. However, when she learns how deeply she hurt Bumi by doing this, she finally cuts her losses and sells the company. After that, she decides to pursue a different career, perhaps by joining the United Forces. 

And, while all of this is happening, Tenzin is informed by the White Lotus that global bending birth rates are going down with the modernization and mechanization of the world. Signifying that people's disconnection with nature and spirituality is robbing them of their bending.

Just like what happened to the Fire Nation.

And if this rate continues, in a few generations, bending might completely disappear.

------

Avatar: The Last Airbender was aimed primarily at children and early teens, because those are big transitional times in young people's lives. But late-teens and early 20's are also big transitional phases in young people's lives. Perhaps even more so, because those are the times where you have to learn how to be an adult. A very alien concept.

So, Legend of Korra seemed primed to tackle the challenges of this time, but for one reason or another, they never did.

Despite having a golden opportunity to say some meaningful things about interracial families and multiculturalism, they instead, did nothing.

This is a quote from a Tumblr post who I sadly can’t track down, but it speaks volumes to what AtLA represented to people:

“You need ALL these things to survive and grow, to hold up your community and push yourself forward. You need to unlearn myths and lies, reform them to fit new realities. You need to respect the past but mold it for the future. In short, you have to “draw wisdom from many different places” while keeping true to who you are and where you come from. IDK if the creators of AtLA thought about these things when crafting this story; I think when a story is well told, with authenticity and love, it has the potential to illuminate many perspectives and strike empathy in many different people. Diasporic consciousness is incredibly valuable because it teaches us a different way of being, a way of interconnectedness and mutual love. The Gaang symbolizes this perfectly: it took all of them with all their different skills, to end the War and restore peace and balance. A diasporic consciousness has the same power: to model a newer, more just, more empathetic way of life.”

Tying into this, I think all the Avatars were wrong in their assertion that the four nations needed to be separated. Think about it. Every single nation failed, in their own way, because they were isolated: the Fire Nation became too proud of its own accomplishments, and became a fascist regime. The Air Nomads' loose and "free" nature allowed the Fire Nation to easily wipe them out. The "go with the flow" attitude of the Southern Water Tribe - similar to the Air Nomads - made them easy targets for the Fire Nation; while the Northern Water Tribe "froze over," becoming rigid in their doctrine and tradition, and could never stand against the Fire Nation alone; and the Earth Kingdom fell too far into its "virtue" of endurance, and became a military dictatorship with a puppet king, cutting off any ties to the outside world. 

“It is important to draw wisdom from many different places. If we take it from only one place, it becomes rigid and stale. Understanding others, the other elements, and the other nations, will help you become whole.”

While the "separate, but equal" stance towards the Four Nations may have been a good idea in the past, in recent years, it's proven to be a recipe for disaster. Most, if not all, of these failings could've been avoided if there had been more open dialogue between the Nations. There is a saving grace in the form of the Order of the White Lotus, but seeing how they all kindly fucked off until the shit really started to hit the fan, I can hardly see how they were a solution to the problem. Now, I really don’t know what else to say. I wrote this entire thing as an exercise to show how Legend of Korra failed in its duties to be an equal to its predecessor, because I was a fan.

Not just of AtLA, but of Lok as well. I watched it, I invested in it, and I was disappointed by it.

Others may have had all their hopes answered by the ending, but I was left with a pit in my stomach over how far the mighty had fallen.

And I don’t look forward to the show being adapted into live action because I don’t think I can take seeing all the lapses in creativity and common sense all over again.

[greyfongschemmenti]

Under Pressure 6|15

FryeArcana

Chapter 6

Rei

Summary:

Tensions are rising but not in the city this time it's at work when a certain coworker make advances at you right when things aren't going great between you and Lin.

“sure doesn’t seem that way, she seems to like you a lot” Lin smirks, enjoying how upset you’re getting. “that’s her fault, not mine. besides it’ll never happen.” You rebutted as you turn around and take a couple steps away “why is that?” she asks noticing your shift “Cause she’s not you, Lin!” you burst out turning around to face her. You breathe deeply slightly panting “she’s not you…” you breathe out.

You’ve been feeling like yesterday was too weird for you being all professional at your job around Lin, so you felt cutting back and go back to how it was before but keeping some boundaries. You’re taking your helmet off when you notice Lin walking beside you “Morning, Chief” you greet her. She stops at her tracks and turns around to watch you mount off your bike and you ruffle your hair since it got flatten by the helmet. “morning, Lieutenant” she grumbles “you got that plan ready for my desk?” she asks you flatly as the both of you walk inside the building you open the door for her. “just about, got new information last night. Want to discuss the plan in my office?” Lin stiffens up a bit unsure on what to say “sure, now?” she looks up and watches the elevators rise as they go up to the upper floor. “whenever you’re available, chief” you give her a soft smile as you wave then head to your office.

You turn on the lights and take your jacket off as you’re in a buttoned up shirt, since you didn’t come back to the office you left your uniform jacket here. You go to your closet and change out, unbuttoning your shirt you hear a knock and quickly buttoned yourself back up and go to the door, “oh Rei, morning. Something wrong?” you look around confused to what she’s doing here in front of you. “oh no, everything is fine. I was coming up to hand Saikhan his queries and since you’re on the way I thought I could offer some coffee?” she sheepishly smiles as she offers you a cup. You look down at her then eye her “oh…nice. I appreciate it, thanks, Rei” you give her a smile “I should get back to work though, busy day” you step back trying to pull away from this “oh sure, you and your detectives are always constantly working.” She giggles as she tugs on her papers to her chest. You softly tap on the cup and nod curling your lips to a smile “yeah, we are. Well.. thanks for the coffee again, I’ll catch you around, bye” you nicely excuse yourself as you wave at her and close the door.

You set the cup of coffee on your desk and head back to the closet and unbutton your shirt and hang it in the closet as you grab your uniform jacket. You hear another knock at your door, you think it’s Rei, so you don’t answer. There is another knock, you groan as you button the bottom ones up “you know I can sense you in there” you hear Lin’s voice as she opens the door and let’s herself in closing the door behind her. She watches you button your uniform jacket up; you would’ve missed the blush creep into her cheeks if you weren’t looking at her. “Sorry, Chief. You’re always welcome in. Not like I have a choice” you smirk as you straighten out your sleeves and collar then walk over to your desk. “Right, well if you’re done doing whatever it is you’re doing we can get on with the plan on these triads.” Lin looks you over then sees the mess of paper in your office “what the flameo is all this?”. Now it’s your turn for a blush to creep up as you rub the back of your neck “my investigation, well Chief I’m a visual learner so it helps to spread out the information. Though I should’ve cleaned up, but it would mess with my process.” You walk over to crouch down and gather the papers in their stacks, cleaning up a bit. “leave it, wouldn’t mess with whatever process you have.” Lin orders and you stand up and walk back to your desk “very well, I know this looks like it makes no sense, but I’ve actually made a report of my findings that explains all this” you motion towards the area of the board, map, and papers. “you want to come around here and check this out” you motion her to come to your desk and offer your chair as she sits down as you lean over and point at a smaller version of the city’s map and an outline of your findings. “so as I said yesterday on the plans the Triple Threats have on this shipment. I’ve learned that it’s going to happen Friday night, 10 to be specific, during the pro-bending match. It’s going to happen at this dock here…” you grab a red fine tip marker and lean over Lin as you circle around the location. “I figure we would get two unmarked cars to stakeout and 3 boats on the ready until the opportune time to have them surrounded and strike.” You make marks at where each satomobile and boat would be placed to hide then you continue to draw arrows in the direction they would come in on the attack. You’re into the report that you don’t catch Lin’s glances as she listens to you work, until you finish and look over at her and see her eyes. Just now noticing how close your faces are to one another, your eyes glance down at her lips before looking back at her eyes. you lean in a bit but catch yourself, frowning a bit and pull away. Standing up straight, clearing your throat “well that’s the plan… hopefully it’s to your approval, Chief”. Lin looks down at your plan and looks it over once more taking it all in, “yes, it sounds promising. Very well in 3 days’ time, Friday we’ll move in. Is that all you have?” she stands up from your chair and makes her way towards the door “yes, Chief. Anything else you’ll be the first to know.” You state as you gather the papers together, but you don’t hear Lin leave yet “I didn’t know a secretary’s job description was to deliver coffee.” You quickly look up glancing over at the coffee then at her “I’m sorry?” your voice confused by her sudden comment “I saw that girl yesterday and again this morning both instances having to do with coffee.” She coldly states as she turns back around to face you “oh, that. It’s nothing. Nothing but an act of kindness between one friend to another” you calmly explain without giving it another thought. “some friend she is….to come several floors just to give a “friend” a cup of coffee.” You smirk “I understand how it must look to you, but despite your jealousy. Nothing is going on between Rei and I.” Lin huffs out “Jealous? please” she opens the door and walks out closing the door.

*

“almost done” you grunt as you tightened a screw, then put the object up in front of you admiring your work. Ever since the Equalist Revolution you didn’t want to be left without some sort of armor without having to rely on the police armor. After work, you decided to work on building your own, Asami let you use some of her scraps of metal sheets. You’ve easily bended some sheets to create forearm sleeves added a metal pipe for the cables to run through along the sleeve. You don’t have enough metal to make a full chest plate so you decided to make a back brace to which you can attach spool in the similar fashion that Lin wears hers on her back. You’ve spent the remainder of the day on this personal project of yours.  Once you were almost done you head outside and tested it out on the side of your apartment building. You bend out the cable and scale up the side of the building, there is some coiling issues, and a couple loose bolts but you it’s a quick fix. You scale back down the building and fix the issues before putting up your protective armor in a locked cabinet. “this looks so cool, especially over my clothes” you mutter then yawn, “damn I’m tired” you head up to your bedroom and shower getting ready for bed.

*

Next Day

           You groan as you push yourself off the ground and get back in a fighting stance. Wiping the bead of sweat from the tip of your eyebrow as you start charging Rei dodging the fire she’s sending down at you. You start bending rocks at her before you launch yourself up and punch the ground sending columns out of the group sending Rei down to the ground. You breathe hard catching your breath as you see Rei knocked on her back, you walk over and look at her “yield?” she nods and laughs taking your hand as you pull her up. You smile as you massage your fingers and start unwrapping your wrists from the bindings, “you’re good at sparing, Rei. Thanks again for agreeing” you breathe out as Rei has a towel dabbing on her neck “oh no problem, glad I could help.” She smiles at you “thought may I ask why me?.” you look up at her as you slowly stop unwinding the bindings “oh, I would’ve asked Mako or avatar Korra but he’s out of the office. Since you’re the only other firebender I know. I figured I should ask.” You explain to her as you look down at your wrists flexing your hands “but why fire?” Rei turns her body in your direction, “hmm? Oh well I had this incident with a firebender when I was a kid. Where I got burned pretty badly. It’s how I got this mark on my bicep, I have another on the left side of my back” you show her your arm where the mark is. She reaches over and touches your mark and you step back moving your arm away. You don’t feel right having her touch you like this. “sorry” she is quick to apologize to you and you shake your head “it’s fine…I’m a good fighter. Though I do have some timidness fighting against fire. I guess I still have some reservations on that incident, so I want to get better. A better understanding on a firebender’s fighting style.” You state as you pace in the training arena “that’s smart. You say you have reservations, but I didn’t notice any during the sparing.” Rei looks at you while you walk and grabs a drink of water. You smirk “well I trust you enough to know you’re not going to do anything below the belt.” you chuckle a bit and a silence comes between the two of you as you unwrap the other binding from your left wrist. Rei walks up to you and lifts your chin with a finger, so you’ll look at her “I’ll never hurt you, y/n” she whispers slightly biting her lip as she leans in and presses her lips on yours. You’re in a state of shock by her sudden advance, gently put your hands on her shoulders and push her back, “what are you doing?” you look at her in disbelief. “a kiss, silly” Rei smiles as she reaches over to move some hair away from your eyes and you grab her wrist and pushes her advances off. “Stop. I know what a kiss is, the question is why?!” You put more of a distance between the two of you. “I mean it’s pretty obvious that I like you.” Rei states as she takes a step closer to you. You take another step back, “well quit it. I don’t like you like that. We’re just colleagues. Nothing romantic is going on here.” You glare at her, standing your ground as you create more boundaries. “but the glances, the talks, the flirting…” Rei stammers about confused. You look at her confused “flirting? What flirting?! There has been no flirting. I’ve joked around but there wasn’t any flirting!” you stammer over your words then sigh deeply rubbing your temple “… Rei, look, I’m sorry. You’re a nice girl and all but I’m not interested in you. At All” Rei rubs her forehead trying comprehend what’s going on “I’m sorry, I could have sworn you were gay. My gaydar is usually not wrong.” She puts her hand on her hip in disbelief.

Lin would never admit it out openly to you, but the thought of you being with someone else or anyone stepping in between, boiled her blood. She was looking for you, to ask questions about the leader Viper, but didn’t find you in your office, she asked around the hall wondering where you went off to. She heard from Detective Gang that you decided to go spar in the training ground during your lunch break. As she was about to walk in the room she see Rei go in to kiss y/n, Lin back away from the area and has her back against the wall. Balling her fists she was about to go balls blazing and her mind goes to one thing She’s closer to her age, you’re old. You’re better off alone. Yet again you get left for a younger woman. What has Lin done that not once but now twice has her romances have been taken away by a younger attractive more feminine woman. Lin was so focused in her career and had been with Tenzin for almost a decade she never thought of anything whenever Tenzin teaching that new acolyte Pema. It was part of his whole keeping up the Air Nation legacy after all. It wasn’t until she was starting to notice little things like Tenzin, coming home later than normal and drifting apart. Until he broke up with her to be with Pema, she realized how foolish she was to not notice it sooner. At least it has only been six months of her time with y/n and not ten years. You’re not going to fall for this again. Cut it off right now before anything builds further and you won’t get hurt. Build your walls back up and shut it off. Never again will you lower your wall for them. She balled her fist

“I’m gay, yea. I’m attracted to women. I’m just not attracted…to you.” You stand unsure how she going to react to that last bit it sounded a bit harsh. Her eyes glared at you “what’s not attractive about me? I’m quite the catch” she walks up to you. You quickly take steps back “I’m sure you are. You’re just not my type….” You try to ease her down gently. “oh so beautiful women aren’t your type?” she crosses her arms not taking you serious at this point. “it takes more than looks to get my attention Rei” you roll your eyes as you cross your arms, turning your back away from her, “you should leave, breaks almost over”. You sense Rei about to say something else that you ball your fists getting tired of this banter that your outburst “I like someone else! Okay. I only have eyes for her. I’m done talking about this. Get out.” You look at her wave your hands out the door as you walk away going to your gym bag. “Does she work here?” she asks, and you shake your head annoyingly “no, you don’t know her. Lunch break is over.” Before Rei can push any information out you get interrupted by none other than Lin.

Fuck

Lin was going to just walk away to prep the official break up after work until… she heard your outburst. She stood still when that bitch asked if the person you liked worked in this station and she felt your heart pulse quicker than normal before denying it. Lin grew annoyed of this bitch talking to you, so she stepped in to save you anymore torment and to just get this slut away.

“what is a secretary doing on the training grounds, only officers are permitted, Lieutenant.” She barks out to which Rei quickly grabs her things and runs out the room. Leaving you standing by the benches as you put your wrappings in your bag and grab your uniform jacket. “are you going to give me an explanation.” Lin walks into the room and closes the door behind her as she walks over to you. You look up at her as you step back to the back of the room over by the water station, “where are you going” she barks out. “what, can’t grab a drink of water” you bark back as you grab a paper cup and swig some water. You walk inside the training room intentionally getting as farther away from the door away from any wandering ears putting on the jacket, but you don’t button it up yet. “I thought it was fine since she works at the station. I didn’t think it was a problem, Chief.” You finally talk, looking down at the ground as you rub the back of your neck. “the sparing match or the kiss?” she spat out as she crossed her arms you look up fast you almost take out your neck “you saw that?!” you lower your head as you groan out lowering yourself down as you bring your hands up your hair. How the fuck, are you in this situation right now. “I think I saw plenty” Lin states. You bring your head up to look at her “oh so you saw me shove her off, then proceed to tell her that nothing was ever going to happen between me and her.” You state as you look up at her while you’re crouched down Lin rolls her eyes “I can’t take you seriously when you’re crouched down like some coward.” She snarls. You ball your fists as you stand up straight and walk right up to her, “what about now, Chief” you enunciate the last word “how is this for coward” you glare at her. “this is your place of employment not your space to mix business with pleasure” she states as she has her arms behind her back. You roll your eyes, “you know more than anyone that I take my job seriously.”

“maybe, that little shit show earlier says otherwise.” she shrugs as she hides her emotions well and takes control of the room.

“oh come on! Rei is nothing. She’s no one to me.” you raise your voice as you throw your rag to a wall. You starting to lose control of your emotions.

“sure doesn’t seem that way, she seems to like you a lot” Lin smirks, enjoying how upset you’re getting. “that’s her fault, not mine. besides it’ll never happen.” You rebutted as you turn around and take a couple steps away “why is that?” she asks noticing your shift

“Cause she’s not you, Lin!” you burst out turning around to face her, slightly panting “she’s not you…” you breathe out. Lin’s eyes widen as she takes a step back from your outburst. “control yourself Lieutenant” she says coolly undeterred by your statement. You give her a face, how the fuck is she so calm yet you’re the one on the brink of breaking you stand up straight. Lin gives yourself a moment to control your emotions and breathing “you’re right. I was out of line. This is clearly not a conversation to be having at work. Excuse me, chief” you rush pass her as you button up your uniform “take the rest of the day off, Lieutenant” Lin calls out. You shake your head as you get your belongings “I’m fine, Chief. I’ll manage” you respond back. “it wasn’t a suggestion.” She walks out of the water station as she looks at you while she walks past you “it’s an order” you look up to see her as she walks out the room. You drop your bag in defeat before you pick it up again and rush out the station, not stopping to talk to anyone especially not Rei as she’s sitting behind the lobby counter.

*

You’ve spent the afternoon at a bar drinking your thoughts away, you’ve probably been there for 3 hours until Chen recommended you go home and offered to call you a cab. You wave him off and told him you’re fine and barely even drunk. You made sure to drink enough water and one you got somber enough you stumble out the bar and buy yourself a packet of cigarettes and a lighter from a nearby corner store.

You lean against the oak bark and breathe deeply closing your eyes as you focus on the clashing of waves of the water. How could you even allow yourself to drink because of a woman. It angered you, you take a cigarette out and light it, taking a puff and smoke. Opening your eyes as you look out at the horizon watching the sunset. You’ve given up smoking for years after learning of other ways to relax and get rid of your stress, but nothing seems to work now. You don’t understand the pull between you and Lin, it almost seemed magnetic since the first time you met. There was always this underline chemistry between the two of you. Everything seemed to click and make sense when you two spent those two days in the compound. How perfect your lips met and melded together when you shared your first kiss. You subconsciously brush your lips as you think back to that moment just know. Then close your eyes to force yourself to think of something else and take another smoke. Putting your hand on your face bringing your knee up to your chest. “Wow I am pathetic” you mutter and laugh at yourself. You don’t have anyone to talk to about this, everyone is out with Korra. Tenzin is with his family visiting Air Temples. Asami went back to the south pole to talk with Varrick. Well at least I haven’t cried. That’s one good thing. You laugh again as you take another puff. You notice a band of teens meeting up near the center of the park and start playing their instruments. You listen to their jazz music and lean your head back and enjoy it. The music and the smoking seem to allow you to let go of all your bad energy.

*

“hey…..hey you… you alive?” you feel a hand on your shoulder as they shake you. You wake up suddenly and grab their wrist about to bend it back, “woah woah, I’m not here to hurt you, kid” you hear the voice as you regain your eyesight rubbing them to see clearly. You see an impoverished man “uh hi” you mutter out your throat dry, “hey you look familiar, you come here often?” he asks you as he hands you back your now put out cigarette. “uh thanks for putting that out and yeah, I usually sit at this tree often” you croak out “Oh yeah, I’ve seen you here multiple times. oh here, this might help” he takes out a canteen and hands it to you and you cautiously eye him as you reach out to it but stop yourself “It’s not poisoned or anything. It’s just water.” You take his canteen and slowly bring your lips to it and take a sip and drink the water “thanks” you gave him a smile and sit up “so who are you?” you ask him as you look around, you must’ve been asleep for half an hour to an hour. “I’m Gommu, I live over in that bush” he pointed towards it and you scratch your head Gommu, that name sounds familiar… “wait, are you the same Gommu that helped Team Avatar?” you look at him. He smiles bright and proudly “the very same” he points to himself. “so what’s a fella like you doing passed out here don’t you got a bed” he changes the conversation back to you. “huh? Oh yeah I do, but I just really enjoy the scenery here. The sounds of the waves, the feeling of the earth, the wind, I guess all there is missing is the fire and you’ll have all the elements.” Gommu smiles and nods agreeing with you “yup, which is why I live like I do. The nomadic vagabond culture is the best” he falls back putting his arms behind his head and smiles gazing up at the first starts appearing in the sky. “I remember nights I would go camping, I traveled a lot in my youth and gaze up at the stars, but I like sleeping in a bed, it beats the hard ground” you laugh then look around once again “hey Gommu, you hungry?” you look over at him “eh, I can eat. You want to fish in the river?” he asks excitingly, you chuckle “um, I don’t think we that’s legal, Gommu. No, there’s a diner close to here. My treat.” You offer as you begin to stand up and dust yourself off.

*

You and Gommu laugh over his silly stories of having to run away from a guard while he and Korra were fishing in the river. “it was weird seeing a water tribe girl frying up some fish with fire bending, but who am I to judge. All I wanted was them tasty-smelling fishies” he told while he munched on some rice and veggies. You laugh “I can’t believe Korra was fishing in the river, well now that you mention it, I can totally believe it.” You laugh some more as you put some duck into your mouth. Gommu tells you all about his time with Team Avatar down in the sewers. “wait you were a former telegraph operator for the United Forces?!” you almost choked on your food. “yup!” Gommu smiles “that’s so cool! I’ve always wondering how to send a message, but never got the hang of it” you remarked “eh it’s a trade and a skill to practice, but once you got it. It’s stuck in your brain” he poked at his temple as he squinted at you. You smile and nod as you pay for the meal and the both of you head on back to the park. “thanks, Gommu” you say to him quietly as you make way to his bush. “for what? If anything I should thank you for that meal” he rubbed his belly as he picked at his teeth. You smile “I was feeling sort of down earlier, but you helped distract my mind away from it. All my friends are out of the city at the moment. I’m glad I have at least one friend still in Republic City” you pat his shoulder. “eh don’t mention it, kid. Whenever you need a talk or got any tasty-smelling fishies. You know where to find me” he fingers guns you and winks. You wave at him then put your hand in your pocket and feel the packet of cigarettes then stop Gommu “Hey Gommu, you want this carton? I don’t really need it nor want it. Trying to break the habit. Maybe you know someone who wants it” you hand it to him, and he puts it in his pocket “sure, I know some folks” he gives you a salute as he runs over to the bush and dives in and you walk away out the park. You inhale and exhale deeply feeling a new sense of peace wave over you, something you felt lost without. But you stop dead in your tracks, where the fuck is Nox?!