#like not to do the zaheer was right but zaheer WAS right

[iidsch]

People who complain about the focus on cop characters in the legend of korra are valid and I agree with them but at the same time it's weird to criticise that when the avatar is a worse version of a cop

[cuteniaarts]

@katkastrofa, circa 40-ish hours ago: Hey, what if our newest bunch of OCs adopted a baby from one of the other brothel girls who knew she couldn’t afford to raise one? That would make for some fun shenanigans :D

Me, with a notoriously non existent sleep schedule, instinct of self preservation or concern for my poor wrist: Alright, bet. Watch how fast I can make you fall in love with this hypothetical baby >:)

Daneli as a gentle and loving caretaker-turned-adoptive-mother is something that can be So Personal, actually, and originally I was going to leave it at this quick sketch, but then I got carried away thinking about what this child will grow up to be like raised by this little gang of misfits, so…

Here she is!! A little older and so, so beautiful, I need more of her in my life immediately, she’s way too precious

And, because I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t also add a sapphic element to this absolute cinnamon roll, a small crack ship that I’m only half serious about for when she’s a little older still:

All in all, we may be getting impossibly far from canon, but I for one already cannot get enough of sweet darling Kumisai <3

(I fully drew three pieces from scratch in 9 hours I cannot feel my brain or my hands anymore send help)

[heartilywrites]

Korra x female firebender reader pretty please 💗

It can start off as fluff and turn into smut AUGHAG <33

Obviously, the time is during s3-s4, reader writes numerous letters to Korra, yearning for her (but ofc they just act as very close friends through the letters) and then Korra comes back from the North Pole, but instead of disappearing to the swamp, she go sees reader instead. I think you and I both know where this is going 😻

THANK YOU HOPE THIS IS ENOUGH HAVE A LOVELY DAY <333

،، 𝓜ake it Better ; Korra

request guide | masterlist

resume: where Korra gives you a visit after three years of being away.

content warning: fluff and if you squint enough there's angst ; Korra x fem!reader ; r is a firebender ! ; ¡¡ MINORS DNI !! ; nsfw ; thigh riding ; fingering ; oral (r receiving) ; scissoring ; switch!korra n' r ; after care i think??? i mean, i believe it is some type of after care what i wrote- ; description of amber colored eyes for r ; no use of y/n

wc: 2.8k

a/n: this is my first smut in like,,, 8 months i think, be nice to me i cry easily /j. i didn’t really mention that r was a firebender that much, i got carried away- hope thats okay 🥺 ENJOY THANK U FOR REQUESTING :D

“ If I could figure it out, I'd take you back to my house so we could meddle about.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “𝓓earest Korra,

It's been a whole week since you left us, can you believe it? Things here are... not the same without you.

How have you been? I mean, it's been just seven days, but it's just weird, we haven't been this far since I met you. I hope you're doing okay, know that I will be writing you eventually! Everyone says hi, by the way, I'm sure you'll get a letter from them too, but just to let you know. Bolin is the most excited to receive a letter back, I've seen him practice his calligraphy, it's cute.

Write me back too when you have the chance! I would like to read about you.

Sincerely yours,”

Blue eyes read once, twice, even three times the letter with a weak smile on her face. Her fingers caressed your letter and streak your name.

Being back in the south by herself sure got the best out of her, she missed everyone, she missed you, but it was something she needed to do to get better. To be better and feel like she deserved you.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “Dearest,

Hey! I'm sorry for not responding back earlier, but it's been hard.

I've been good? I'm starting physiotherapy with Katara and it's something. Thank you for writing me, I can't tell you how much I miss you guys; Three weeks is a crazy amount of time to be away from you, hope you don't miss me much, blaze.

Can I ask you to do me a favor? Don't tell the others I wrote to you, I'm just now finding the correct words to write to you and I don’t want them to feel like I don’t appreciate them. I trust you, commander arson.

Yours always,

Korra.”

A little laugh left your mouth after reading the two nicknames the avatar had always used on you. Your heart skipped at the beginning, how she only wrote dearest without your name... That couldn't mean much, right? She was one of your best friends, even if your feelings for her were strong, your willpower to keep the relationship as it is was way stronger.

Your friends have talked to you about an opportunity were she may feel the same back and it was just a matter of talking it out, but then Zaheer targeted Korra again and all romance–talk went through out the window. It all sank after the result of the war between the red lotus and the whole team, the letter were all you had left of the girl and at that moment you wouldn't risk losing it.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “Dearest Korra,

I'm starting to think that maybe this new job is not for me... The people is boring and I'm running out of ideas to keep the fun atmosphere, maybe I should go and work with Asami, don't you think, breeze? My experience on dealing with disasters may be of help if she needs a test subject for the inventions, I'm good at dispersing fire with more fire!

I can't believe it's been a whole year since we last saw each other... How is the physiotherapy going? I hope is going great, don't be so hard on yourself, Korra, I know you. Healing usually takes time and it's okay to go on your own pace... I lo am sending all of my good energy your way, know that I am always here for you, in the good and the bad, please let me know if you need anything. Hopefully we'll see each other soon.

Sincerely yours,”

The night that Korra was reading again that specific letter from you was the same night were she hit rock bottom with her whole healing process. A couple of tears ran down her cheeks after the last paragraph, only the moon knew how much Korra missed and loved you and having you say such words to her knowing how at some point the girl may get burnout from trying was what made the avatar fall in love with you. You knew her to a point where only if she looked in the back on her brain she may find how you were right and that made her feel warm.

  ‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “Dearest blaze,

Hey... I hope you didn't waited too long for me to write you back. I'm so sorry, it has been a really rough time for me and I didn’t feel like burdening you with my problems.

I did receive the last couple of letters you sent and I read them, I'm so grateful to have you with me. Thank you for not giving up on me just yet, you're the best.

Yours always,

Korra.”

Your hand was moving fast over the new sheet of paper while writing your thoughts on the last letter. How could she say she was a burden? You've make sure she never felt that way! Since meeting Korra you always worked on making the girl trust you with everything, you made your mission being her confident, the shoulder she looked for when she needed to cry and reading how she felt bad with herself made your heart burn with pain.

Even if by then two years have gone by, you felt like nothing has changed between the waterbender and you, hell! you could say that the bond was stronger than ever despite your heart's desire.

The letter just kept going and coming every now and then until at one point after six months over the three years, they stopped from Korra's side. You got worried, of course, but thought that maybe the white lotus was training her again to get her back in the game and that made her time very limited. Your mind found another way to keep occupied from those loud thoughts and you keep it that way.

Humming a melody made your throat vibrate and your index finger made a little little flame to lit up a scent candle and accommodate it on the table at your living room, you were getting ready to read a little bit when a knocking on your door made you stand up again.

When you opened your door, your eyes widened and you felt as if someone had hypnotized you. A short haired Korra was in front of you, wearing earth kingdom clothes and with an eye starting to swell, she smiled with a sad aura, but her eyes sparkled a little bit with excitement at finally seeing you again.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “My spirits, Korra... I'm– I– what happened to you?” you broke the silence, mumbling at the questions trying to come out your mouth all at once. You took her hand to get her inside your house, she just kept her eyes on you.

You were as beautiful as she remembered, dare to say even more than before. Your fire nation clothes hugging your body and that wonderful scent that characterizes you was what Korra had missed. She took a deep breath in to smell it again and was met with the familiar scent of your house as well, how she missed it.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “I needed to see you.” she spoke, her voice sounded deeper than it was, you felt a tiny electric current travel your spine. “I just... I couldn't be far from you anymore.”

A smile began to creep on your face and your arms were quick to hug the avatar, she swallowed a grunt at the sudden hit of your body on hers as she missed that and hugged you back. A small sob was heard.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “I missed you so much, Korra.” you whispered sobbing again. “You have no idea.”

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “I missed you too.” her hand went to your head where she left tiny caresses. “I'm so sorry for disappearing, I've been trying to feel like myself again.”

You distanced yourself from her and looked at her with concern. Your hand reached hers and were fast to guide her to sit at the couch so you could talk to the girl.

For the first time, Korra let out everything she had been feeling and thinking after so many years and you listened to her cautiously, stroking her hand with your thumb to make her feel safe and to convince you that she was there, that it wasn't another one of your dreams. When she finished she looked back up to you and you smiled at her.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “I can't even imagine how hard it is to you,” you said in a soft tone, your amber eyes looked down to both your and her hands. “You're so strong, Korra. Physically and mentally, you are the strongest person I know and I know you're capable of coming out of this. You will be okay,” your eyes went back to the blue ones. “You won't have to do it alone, darling, I'm here for you.”

The avatar softened her gaze at you, that was all she needed to hear at that moment. She felt fortunate to have you by her side even at the worst moments.

Her free hand made its way to your cheek were she left strokes just as you were doing with her hand, both colored eyes were fixated to each other with such devotion. Both bodies moved unconsciously to be closer together until the breath mixed, warm and hot meeting. Your mind was cloudy at such close distance, you were sure you hallucinated with her eyes twitching to your lips and were about to move and offer her coffee when her lips clashed on yours in such a unsynchronized way that it was almost funny, you pulled away for a moment surprised to the act.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “Shit, listen, I–” she tried to explain herself before you interrupted her with another kiss.

This one was more harmonized than the first one, your hands had left hers and looked to rest on each side of her face, pulling her as close as the anatomy allowed you to be. At first instance, it was supposed to be a sweet kiss of reconciliation with your feelings, but a small moan had vibrated on your throat without your permission and Korra took it as an opportunity to deepen the gesture.

While her tongue was fighting with yours, both her hands moved to your hips and in a quick move she had put you on top of her while still attending your lips. When your lungs burned for air, her mouth was fast to make a trail from yours to your neck.

Your head was thrown back to give her more access, one of your hands tangled with the brown locks on her head. She stopped at a sensitive spot after hearing you sigh with such devotion, smiling a little bit malicious she decided to make a hickey by sucking the skin under her mouth making you do satisfied sounds that vibrated your vocal chords, after admiring her work that she knew would leave a dark mark, she tried to continue but was stopped with the fabric of your superior part, Korra distanced a bit to look at you.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “Can I?” was asked referring to the piece, you nodded a little bit and watch her hands take the belt off your waist and helped her to take off the whole fabric and letting it fall to the floor.

When her lips met your neck again, Korra breathe in your scent, delighted to how sweet you smelled. Your hips under her hands looked for more closeness by rocking a little bit to the front and that only action gave the girl an idea.

She pulled away again and made her hands guide your body to sit on only one of her legs, you followed without any complaint; Korra made you start grinding on her thigh, with tiny moans you were obedient to keep the action she did and when the girl raised her leg to apply pressure to your core making you let out a sigh of relief at how good it felt. Foreign lips went back to your skin, she was attending now your breast over your bra, making more hickeys on her way.

The calling of her name in a shaky voice made her look up to your amber eyes drowned in lust. “I need you, please.”

Her mouth took yours in a desperate kiss and was quick to stand up from the couch with you on her arms to make the well known way to your bedroom. Even if the avatar's body felt heavy by the constant fights she had before deciding to visit you, at that moment she didn’t feel exhausted, the hunger she had for you had substituted her tiredness.

With caution, your body was left on the mattress while the kiss continued. Korra made her way again to your breasts, taking off your last piece on the top her mouth attended your nipples making you moan at the sensation of her tongue moving while her hands were undoing your pants. When she got them off, her left hand slipped under your underwear to your intimacy. Iced color eyes looked at you with a smile at the feeling of wetness between your thighs.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “All that for me?” she raised an eyebrow, you could feel your face burn and tried to look away, but Korra's free hand made you turn your gaze back at her without harm. “Eyes on me.”

Her middle finger was tracing on top of your intimacy, making you moan in complain, you were about to talk again when one of her digits slipped in you now allowing you to moan with pleasure. The way her pace was slow was driving you crazy, your hips moved over her hand like asking for more non-verbally and she pleased by adding a second finger, the way your walls clutched over her fingers made her giggled a little bit.

She continued her action for a couple more seconds watching your expressions and loving the sound of your moans for her before she completely removed her fingers from you gaining a grunt.

She was quick to remove completely your last piece of clothes and move over to be between your legs, your eyes followed her curious to see how she was going down on you and when her lips got your clitoris along with one of her fingers entering again in your core, a loud moan came out of you.

Raising your back from the mattress, one one your hands went to her hair tangling brown locks to your fingers, another finger interfered in you and her pace got faster. Your free hand reached to squeeze your own breast while you were being taken care off and when a knot on your abdomen started to form you tried to call for the girl to tell her but was only able to moan out her name in a scream followed by your orgasm.

Your eyes got heavy but you forced yourself to stay awake when the avatar stood back up with your juices on her chin and a little bit on her nose, you smiled pulling her on a kiss tasting yourself in the process.

Your hands tried to undress the girl in a clumsy way while trying to comeback on yourself so she did it herself. Korra didn’t know what you tried to do, but surely stripped to her underwear. Just as she did, you took of her bottom piece and now forced her to lay on the bed.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “What are you–” you put your finger over your own mouth on a silent expression.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “Trust me.” you said hoarsely with a tired smile.

Your hands made her legs open for you to position yourself between them. Still sensitive after your first climax, you rubbed yourself against the southerner with such pleasure that you now were able to finally hear moans from her that made you smile. Korra was calling for your name between moans and heavy breaths she was giving, you folded over to kiss her and let the moans drown on both mouths. When picking a faster pace, both bodies started to feel the same knot on the lower area and after the waterbender got to her climax you followed her, now completely defeated you fell besides her.

Korra pulled you closer to her with her arms and hugged you tight, letting you rest your head on her chest. A couple of minutes were needed for both to recuperate, the avatar was leaving caresses on your head and tiny pecks on your crown.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “We'll find someone who can help you,” you spat, still hoarsely, now looking up to her. Amber eyes filled with compasion. “Don't give up just yet, I know we can find someone.”

Cold eyes looked at you with such tenderness and love before Korra pulled you in for a sweet kiss. “I love you.” she whispered over your lips, making you smile big. “You have no idea how much I love you.”

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “I love you too,” you said back, leaving caresses on her cheeks. “I always have and always will, my love.”

[aangarchy]

My younger cousin (16) watched tlok season 3 for the first time. Here's her opinion of the characters

Korra: "is it bad that she got more attractive to me when she was suffering?" Me: "idk, maybe?" Her: "... i'll talk abt it in therapy don't worry"

Asami: "i'm so confused is there something between her and Korra???" Me: "you know i'm not gonna tell you" Her: "yeah i hate it when you do that."

Mako: "alright he got more tolerable this season i'll give you that"

Bolin: "and he got worse. So sorry" Me: "but the lavabending?" Her: oh yeah that was cool. He still sucks tho"

Tenzin: "now THAT is Aang's son right there. That shit was bad-fucking-ass."

Bumi: "again, now THAT is Aang's son. THOSE are his children. Not the shitty adults we saw last season"

Kya: "a lesbian?" Me: "doesn't get confirmed til the comics" Her: "oh for FUCKS SAKE"

Jinora: "i love her i cherish her she's the smartest and most powerful character in this show she beats everyone else"

Kai: "he reminds me too much of my brother and i don't like that"

Ikki & meelo: "they're still annoying i'm so sorry"

Lin Beifong: "she needs therapy"

Suyin Beifong: "of all the characters i expected, i didn't think Toph would get the messiest. Like not one but TWO baby daddies? Man. Suyin is cool as hell tho but she does give awkward soccer mom vibes"

Opal: "does she have more personality other than 'sweet cute girl for bolin to bang?'"

Zaheer: "best villain this universe ever produced only for him te become absolutely pathetic in the end bc bolin pushed a sock into his mouth. They should have kept him stoic and scary. He was so cool until that exact moment and they HAD to have a dumb bolin one liner. I'm so mad about this if you couldn't tell"

P'li: "sparky sparky boom WOMAN. A win for feminism."

Ming Hua: "i still think young Katara would beat her in a fight and i'd pay good money to see it."

Ghazan: "i have a rlly good joke about him" Me: "ok shoot" Her: "he's mista Lava Lava" *burts out laughing*

Lord Zuko: "ngl i screamed when i saw him on screen maybe i do like his character"

Varrick & Zhu Li: "HOW MANY CHARACTERS ARE IN THIS SEASON JESUS" Me: "and we haven't even gone over the president yet" Her: "oh my GOD"

[mister-eve]

things i wish the sonic franchise brought back or implement.

.

Dark Sonic

seriously, i love imagining a fight between Dark Sonic and Eggman inspired by Korra vs. Zaheer ( when she was poisoned ). where he loses the cool attitude, the smile, everything, and goes in with full power, charging himself left and right at Eggman. it'd be even more fascinating to still have Dark Sonic lose. not because of his lack of power, not because of lack of skill, even when blinded by rage, but because of Eggman's ingenuity.

a lot of people, to this day, misinterpret Dark Sonic as a murderous, rampaging monster, but that completely misses the purpose of why he exists to begin with. i believe this is a case of people not exactly knowing where he comes from, or just a lot of fans drawing a murderous Sonic and it took the internet by storm one day, but just in case you don't know:

Dark Sonic is from Sonic X, a TV show that is sort of an expansion on Sonic Adventure 2, adding more lore, character arcs, and overall meaning to the game's original plot. Dark Sonic was revealed in the episode "Teasing Time" in s3, and the reason he appeared is because he discovered his friends ( Cosmo and Chris ) were injured and that one of them ( Chris ) was unconscious.

the whole reason this form exists is Sonic's love for his friends essentially fueling his rage. it's like Darkspine Sonic from SATSR, or has similar formula. Dark Sonic isn't inspired by any bloodlust or desire to kill, but rather by burning anger at seeing his friends be put in harm's way.

Dark Sonic is made from the strong desire to protect his friends.

2. An Actual Arc For Shadow

you guys might be confused, especially if you consider some of my previous posts, but lemme explain.

for a long time, it's never felt like Shadow has actually recovered from his trauma, atone for his actions ( yes, i understand he saved Earth ), or live life really at all. it doesn't help that, to this day, SEGA continues to make Shadow relive the past.

i don't consider the movies to be a part of the problem, as Shadow being introduced to the plot was basically a given, and you can't introduce him in your own take without his general backstory ( unless you're Boom or Prime, i guess ). i believe the movie will be doing taking some creative liberties to his story, as they did so with Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles, and i see no reason that they should stop.

the reason why i have an issue with this is because it's an ongoing issue within the games, specifically. Shadow the Hedgehog ( 2005 ) was a disservice to his setup and the 'first arc' ( considering he's still alive after the fans demanded his return ) to his story.

aside from it just giving 'early 2010s deviantart edge', it's just so...

childishly handled.

for one, you're immediately given a Hero or Dark route, like in SA2, which i feel completely misses the point of SA2's true ending. Shadow has redeemed himself ( or began to ), so to give him complete reign to just become an antagonist all over again defeats the whole purpose of a redemption.

it's like what Prime did with Dread, giving him an already established redemption arc ( sort of ), but then corrupting him again for no real reason other than just because.

another issue i have is Shadow's amnesia and attitude in general within the game. technically speaking, yes, it does make sense for him to suffer memory and // or physical issues from his fall from space, but to completely wipe out every single thing he did just to give him the opportunity to relearn his past, do some fucked up shit, do some less fucked up shit, then throw away everything in the past, Maria and her wish included, is...

amazingly obtuse, for lack of a better word.

again, while it's technically not out of bounds, i feel like giving Shadow complete and total amnesia just disrespects SA2's vision and execution of the story. it's redundant, it's lazy, and overall just really damn frustrating to watch.

Shadow deserves to have a story that allows him to heal from his trauma, discover who he is, and respecting Maria's wish along the way. a lot of people seem to think it's either he forgets about his past ( or buries it ) or full-on dedicates his entire life and doesn't bother picking up a life lesson or two, but it doesn't have to be that way.

Shadow can heal, grow, and change. SEGA just won't let him.

3. The Echidna Tribe & Knuckles' Story

Knuckles is one of my favorite characters in the entire franchise as a whole, but his character and story is sorely dismissed. while Shadow has the issue of repetition, Knuckles suffers from being dropped on the head multiple times and played for a joke ( i think Frontiers is one of the more recent games that didn't do this, but i might be wrong ).

one of the reasons why i love Knuckles is how straightforward, yet reluctant he was about finding out his past. at the end of Sonic Adventure 1, he says something to the extent of:

"maybe i'm better off not knowing the meaning behind all of this. because i feel something terrible will happen if i do."

he is content being ignorant for the sake of his own peace of mind.

but in SA2, he's more or less forced to start facing his fear and learn more about the past. unfortunately, though, we don't actually get to see much after this game, because the tribe is almost entirely forgotten. instead, it's brought up in comics that are more or less canon ( i think ), but not fully aligning with the games. i think it's safe to say the comics are their own canon?

like with Shadow, i would've loved to see an actual conclusion on this arc of Knuckles' story. to see more of the tribe in the past, of their wrongdoings, character moments, more of Tikal or Chaos or the little Chao, and how it all ties together.

but instead, we have lots of media repeatedly insulting Knuckles' intelligence, ignoring his tribe and // or his job entirely ( i guess they forget the Master Emerald is portable? ), and just generally dumbing him down to be a hotheaded moron that apparently doesn't care about being the Guardian!

Knuckles is one of the most relatable characters in this series for me, as there's a lot of things i would rather not know and stay ignorant to, but have to face head on in order to fully move past it and grow to be better.

he was completely isolated on Angel Island for so long, yet people still make fun of him to this day for being manipulated by Eggman in SA1 ( even though he didn't even fully believe Eggman, it was just a precaution, but who cares about the details- ). he's not just a hothead, he's strong, he's kind, he's pretty blunt and, honestly, really fucking adorable, i love this echidna.

look at him, just standing there. i love him.

anyway, Knuckles deserves a proper story surrounding his tribe, his identity as the Guardian of Angel Island, his relationships, and to have a satisfying conclusion. or, at the very least, more games or media in general not dumbing him down to an angry hothead with nothing better to do but to yell and ignore his responsibilities.

3. Sonic

"what're you talking about, ashe? sonic's meant to be a flat character! what could be wrong with him?"

yeah, but after frontiers, i want more mentally ill sonic that needs to be concerned for by his friends, okay, that's all i want-

4. Storybook Era

now, now, i know a lot of people don't like the storybook games because of their shoddy gameplay and all that, but i genuinely love these games, their flaws included.

i do believe satbk has a better story than satsr, but i still have an attachment to the latter game, so suck it.

it'd be really nice to see a storybook game with switch, xbox, ps, or similar controls. as the era has Sonic diving into different worlds, maybe a world like Alice and Wonderland could be an interesting game. several elements to work with, locations turning into creative levels or even hub worlds. this is sort of a long shot dream that will probably never exist, but i wanna see an adventure-style storybook game one day.

i'll probably die before that idea is even considered, but it's a fun thought and that's all that matters at the end of the day.

there's no real big reason as to why these matter or anything, as i don't believe you need a storybook in order to send off the messages these games try to give, but they're just really charming to me and i love to see how this type of game could be implemented into video games today, with all the new engines and whatnot.

5. Teams

oof, okay, um-

there's a few games that have teams in them, and i guess you can count sonic forces as one of those games, so i should be more specific here.

i like SA1's flexibility with the roulette-like system, where you could play as any character you wished, but i also like SA2's team system, where they all had a close-knit role within the story from a similar perspective ( hero vs. dark ).

SA1 served multiple perspectives, all giving you pieces of the same puzzle that you have to figure out as you go. by the final story, all of the characters ( except Big, but idc, i love him ) have their character arcs and it's with their changes that the story is fully complete.

SA2 served the entirety of two perspectives and merged them together for the final story, heroes and villains having to work together to fight off the greater evil at hand.

overall, i want more games having the characters work together, having different details // information or even moral differences ( it depends on which system they go with, though ) on the situation at large, but maybe still having to come together.

whether or not they use official teams, i want the sonic franchise to bring back using other characters as necessary plot points with their own individual arcs.

it may not be needed, per say, as there's still a few games that work and don't have either of these systems, but i really miss the adventure games and wish for more of their elements to be implemented in future games.

6. CHAO!!!

BRING THESE LITTLE CREATURES BACK, GODDAMN, WHY ONLY TWO GAMES?!

.

anyway, that's all i can currently think of. i think these would serve either character or charm to the franchise, but maybe you have some other ideas of what the games could give! maybe proper returns of characters, other forgotten stories, or even new ideas!

lemme know what you think.

[mah-o-daryaa]

For a show that's progressive, one-of-a-kind, ground-breaking for its time, and relies on "Show, don't Tell" a lot throughout the series, it bugs me how ATLA (or, more specifically, Bryke) preferred to tell the audience that Aang is a master airbender without showing us why. I mean, Toph, Zuko, Azula, and Katara are all shown practicing and improving their mastery in bending (although Katara has become rather overpowered), so why can't Aang have the same treatment?

Yes, Aang may be a child prodigy, and he did get airbending tattoos from inventing the air scooter, but I personally think that inventing an airbending technique (which demonstrates impressive ability and skill) is a way to gain the arrows prematurely, but isn't a requirement. Nothing in the show ever suggests just how far he's mastered his native element, let alone the other three. In the beginning of Sozin's Comet, Part 1: The Phoenix King (3:18), Aang says he thinks he still needs to practice his firebending more (which in hindsight makes sense, as he's just started relearning it from the dragons five episodes ago), and Toph notes that his earthbending could use more work too. Right off the bat, Aang is two elements away from complete mastery of all four, but later on he's seen practicing waterbending with Katara, implying he hasn't mastered it either.

We don't even see Aang practicing his airbending by himself post-iceberg, preferring to show off to random girls (like in Kyoshi Island). He just learns the elements, but doesn't really learn the philosophies behind each element. In this regard, he makes Kuruk and Roku look venerated in contrast. (To be fair to Aang, he had a specific deadline to master the four elements before Sozin's Comet that no other Avatar besides Wan had to deal with, but couldn't he try to make an effort to learn from the other nations?) Additionally, compared to Tenzin and Zaheer, Aang doesn't stand a chance against either of them (even though Tenzin is his son, but since Tenzin wasn't the Avatar, he could focus on upholding the Air Nomad culture and legacy). Even Jinora could go toe-to-toe with him at similar ages. He isn't really that impressive in any of the elements, to be honest; we've seen what a master of any specific element can do in both ATLA and LOK, as well as in the novels.

The main thing people often get wrong is that mastery isn't a final goal; it's a specific mindset. As in Pai Sho, what separates true masters from everyone else is that true masters always look for improvement in their strategy or skills. That's why Aang isn't a real master of the four elements: He always takes the easy way out, never trying to better himself or improve what he can already do.

I think this quote from Zaheer perfectly sums up what I've been saying: When you base your expectations on what you see, you blind yourself to the possibilities of a new reality. Even though it stems from his anarchist beliefs, it is genuinely one of the more insightful pieces of wisdom in the franchise because it promotes progress, a constant theme in life. Toph was able to invent metalbending because she wanted to "see" a reality where she could be recognized for her own talent in spite of her blindness; Zuko could learn firebending from the dragons because he could see a reality where he would regain his honor and fight alongside the Avatar, and so on. By contrast, Aang only takes things from surface-level, not putting any effort into understanding the true meaning of being the Avatar.

Speaking of Pai Sho, guess which Avatar constantly improved his/her abilities? Kuruk. Unlike Aang, Kuruk readily asked his companions, Jianzhu, Hei-Ran, and Kelsang, to continue teaching him, ever after he mastered the four elements that he was required to do, saying they would all benefit from the experience (the "true master" quote I mentioned above was actually said by him). Not only that, it was even inverted; sometimes they taught Kuruk, other times he taught them (which technically makes him the first known Avatar to teach bending to others). He was right, as during their lifetimes, they were the most powerful benders of their respective elements in the world!

Kuruk also had an intuitive connection to each of the four bending philosophies, which to this day remains unrivaled by any other Avatar, and was also one of the first people to suggest the idea that the four elements are connected (homeboy's literally a younger Water Tribe Avatar version of proto-Iroh, I'm honestly not going to be surprised if Iroh actually learned his belief from Kuruk during the former's visits to the Spirit World over tea and Pai Sho matches). If you ask me, Mone, learning the cultures and philosophies of the four nations is way more important than mastering the four elements, because the Avatar isn't just the bridge between the four nations; he/she is also the symbol of a unified world, and the franchise is saying that only one Avatar even bothered to do that? In my opinion, if we go by this rule, that easily cements Kuruk as the greatest Avatar in history!

Aang, on the other hand, never does this. Instead, he puts the Air Nomads on a high pedestal (which in turn causes him to place Katara on a high pedestal), and doesn't respect or learn from other nations' philosophies. He openly disrespects SWT culture and actively makes sure Tenzin doesn't have any exposure to the culture that Tenzin still belongs too, and worse, he pushes his own culture on other people's throats (remember the time he forced a homeless couple to "give up on hope because it's a big waste of time"? Or the time he forced Katara to not murder Yon Rha?) and values his own nation and values above the rest of the world (like the time he refused to kill Firelord Ozai because "all life is sacred", even though he has actually killed before, but if he doesn't kill Ozai, the latter's going to burn the entire Earth Kingdom to the ground!). That doesn't sound like something the Avatar is allowed to do, but Aang gets away with it anyway because ... hero?

There's actually another Avatar who focused on his/her own nation above the rest of the world. Avatar Szeto, Yangchen's predecessor, became a government official in his homeland, the Fire Nation. Under his tenure, the Fire Nation transformed from a fragmented, disaster-stricken state to the centralized, technologically-advanced nation we know of today. Unfortunately, this led him to neglect the other nations and, shortly after his death, the four nations were caught in a political event known as the Platinum Affair, which Yangchen had to deal with, eventually kick-starting the cycle of the current Avatar fixing their past lives' mistakes, while leaving problems for their future selves to fix. This problem might have even led to the growing ambition of Firelords Zoryu and Sozin as dictators, with the latter starting the Hundred Years War.

Aang not only valued his own nation's values above the others, he also forced said values on his non-Air Nomad companions; signed anti-miscegenation laws and tried to forcefully deport Fire Nationals from the colonies to return the land to the Earth Kingdom, even though they had already blended in with Earth Kingdom citizens, didn't wan to be separated from their families, and Zuko perceived the citizens of mixed heritage as his own subjects; refused to let his family practice SWT culture, even though his children could benefit from being members of both cultures, not just one or the other, and set an example for mixed-race families around the world; refused to teach Kya and Bumi Air Nomad culture because he thought they weren't airbenders and therefore "not real Air Nomads", even though they were just as Air Nomad as Tenzin was, if not more; and forced Tenzin to uphold the legacy of an entire nation on his shoulders. The fact that this was all written by complete accident is the cherry on top, representing just how badly Bryke screwed up.

... On a completely unrelated note, The Other Side of Paradise by Glass Animals (which is also one of my favorite songs) is definitely a Kuruk song. The last third of the song in particular sums up his tragic journey as the Avatar so well, and I always think of him while listening to it.

[wilcze-kudly]

Why do I get so attached to minor/side antagonists in tlok, especially Aiwei and Baatar Jr?

Like Aiwei is, from what I know, the first confirmed gay man in the franchise (we all hype Kya up where is Aiwei's gay clout huh), a member of an anarchist syndicate, and spent years undercover. And he has a slay nosering!

Tbh Aiwei gives some autism vibes with how he constantly calls people out for lying and is very blunt with his opinions and feelings, like when he told some random noodle seller that he was a liar bcs the guy claimed to be selling "the best noodles" or when Mako was trying to be polite and Aiwei called him out for lying too.)

But he's also so mysterious. Like he's been in the Red Lotus for years presumably, unless Zaheer could reqruit from a jail cell, and also has been infiltrating Zaofu for years, long enough for Su to consider him family. But like man I need details.

And he seems.... genuinely nice? To some degree. Like he helped Lin out when she was sick from stress and shit, even though it would probably be beneficial to him to have an enemy in a weakened state, and I think he genuinely cared for the Beifongs, at least to some degree.

I need to know more about him, his relationship to the Beifongs, his reasons for being in the Red Lotus.

And Baatar Jr is also so interesting but people only bring him up when they're trying to make Kuvira look better by being like: "oh Baatar did this shit too." Like yeah bitch but he's also a surprisingly interesting character on his own. Like if you're gonna talk about his warcrimes let's talk about his wonderfully crafted inferiority complex.

Like he's if Bumi had an engineering degree and also was evil. He's the firstborn child of TOPH FUCKING BEIFONG the greatest earthbender who ever lived. His other brothers are metalbenders, and especially the twins are clearly carrying on the family legacy. His only fellow nonbender is Opal who is then ripped away by RANDOMLY SPAWNING AIRBENDING. And he's lived in his father's shadow, literally carrying his name and simply engineering his father's projects instead of inventing anything ot his own?

And his love and dedication to Kuvira is genuinely devastating. Like how he prioritised her over everything, his family, the Earth Empire... and the bravery? He stared down at Korra who was in the Avatar state and holding him up with one arm and he laughed. HE LAUGHED IN HER FACE AND HER OTHERWORLDLY GLOWING EYES THE AUDACITY. Thw only think he feared was being seperated from Kuvira agh

He looks so unimpressed wtf [its bcs he's dating Kuvira right they provably do way scarier shit in the bedoom huh]

And the fact that he invented the avatarverse version of nuclear warfare FOR THE LOVE OF A WOMAN. A woman who then tried to kill him with it omg the drama! And also his VA did give a really good performance especially in the moments when he wames up after Kuvira's betrayal (even though he does kinda sound like Nazeem from Skyrim).

I also admire his "Wing and Wei will never forgive me. And Opal." Vs. Kuvira's "I said sorry why are you guys still mad at me". We love a king who takes responsibility for his war crimes and betrayal. Like yeah he still got of wayyy to easy but he's at least clearly not expecting forgiveness. And I do kinda love him just completely swerving Kuvira in the comic she does kinda deserve it lol.

[cy-cyborg]

Hot take (maybe) but Korra should have stayed in a wheelchair in season 4.

Now that I'm done with the original Avatar, I'm rewatching Korra too and this was my biggest gripe with season 3 and 4. I'm not up to that point in the show yet but it always bugged me.

I don't usually like the whole "I'm in a wheelchair now, oh I'm so sad" thing but I could have excused it had she actually stayed in the chair because grief is real, especially for people who's identities centre on their body and what they can do like Korra, but the fact they got her out of the chair just makes it another "woe is me" story until she "gets better". The last episode of season 3 drills it in so hard too, "who will protect the world while the avatar is in a wheelchair?" As if the last show didn't have a 12 year old non-bender in a wheelchair activly involved in the fight with the fire nation and an even younger blind girl taking down airships with (mostly) just her bare hands who went on to found your whole police system. You're telling me none of the people of this world could fathom how the most powerful bender in the world could do her job just because she has to sit now?

It makes sense that Korra herself might not make that connection right away, and be unsure of her ability to do it, especially when facing off against a villain like Kuvera, but I do honestly think the whole plot of her mentally recovering from what Zaheer did to her would have been more impactful if it had left her disabled permanently. The origonal show had its issues with oversimplifying/supercripping disabled characters but at least it was creative with its depictions and went against the disability tropes of its time. TLoK had a few opertunities to show some genuinly nuanced and depictions of disability, but every time it just went for the safe old stereotypes.

Don't get me wrong, I really like TLoK, I'd go as far as to say I enjoy it as much as the origonal show, but it really dropped the ball on the disability front. Probably going to write some longer posts about korra too eventually lol

[doyouevenshipbr0]

u know what. im in the mood to piss ppl off. heres my ranking of the 10 strongest waterbenders in atla and lok (not including avatars, and im not including anything from kiyoshi or yangchen’s era. i havent read those hehe. sowwy. strictly going off the shows).

now im doing this bc waterbending is by FAR my fav form of bending. and in MY OPINION!!!!!,,, people overlook some pretty important facts and feats and decide based more on who their favs are. this is my opinion anyways so im sure i inevitably did that too! but anyways. here we go.

10 strongest waterbenders:

honorable mentions: kya- listen. she is my GIRL. and also she is very strong, but at the end of the day, shes a healer. she has very little combat experience, and she was up against some real monsters in tlok. and shes known to be a great healer, but we dont even see that much of that. for this reason, she cant be top 10:/. eska and desna- they are GOOD. and their synchronized waterbending is super interesting. unfortunately i just kinda think everyone else in the top 10 is stronger. and i feel like the reason they are so strong is because they’re a unit. if they were separated, i have doubts.

10. tonraq- right off the bat im wondering if im going off biases LOL. but i love him. i love his style of bending. he is arguably my fav waterbender to watch waterbend. but unfortunately, in most of his fights, he’s kindaaaa getting worked (im on s2 of lok rewatch now. so i may be forgetting some stuff. but the big fights that stick out for me are him vs unalaq where he gets worked and him vs zaheer and korra where again, he gets kinda worked.) very clearly strong, but does not have all that much to show for it in the show. but he fights with all the big shots for a reason, and he led the water tribe army or something like that. so. hes good.

9. huu- i honestly don’t remember a whole lot of him, but swamp style of water bending is super interesting, and he clearly does it the best. i know we dont see a whole lot of him, but i cant overlook that he is THEE swamp bender.

8. pakku- obv. hes a member of the white lotus and was the master waterbender of the northern tribe. a slayer for his time but i do think he is outclassed by most waterbenders we see in tlok. cannot deny his strength tho. he was the goat at one time for a reason!

7. hama- as far as we know, she is the first blood bender. aka the strongest aspect of waterbending. she is a LEGEND. but again, i think she was a master for her time, but would have trouble holding her own in modern day bending esp without a fully moon.

6. ming hua- the way she uses waterbending as an extension of herself is clearly masterful. and i feel like we never see anyone utilize waterbending anything like how she does. unfortunately, she cant be any higher bc we dont see any extraordinary sub-water feats (healing… i think???? don’t remember lol. bloodbending, spirit healing). but clearly, she was an insane threat to everyone around her.

5. unalaq- so like. MAYBE he should be 4, but i really hate him lol. but i cannot deny he is an EXCEPTIONAL waterbender and pretty much no other waterbender (that we see in s2) can even TOUCH him. hes got the spirit healing, and hes got the skill. somethin somethin vaatu vaatu. idk. i hate him and i dont rly like this season lol. moving on.

4. katara- ok. she was the best in atla. no ifs and or buts. HOWEVER. she gets outclassed in lok and i think we know why. BUT. she was a complete prodigy as soon as she started training with pakku. there was no extension of waterbending that she could not do. she clearly thrived learning waterbending how she did, in such a fast paced, high pressure, and high stakes situation, and thats not even HER PRIME! she was waterbending for under a year when we see her. and we still got the greatest waterbender of that time. there was no one like her, and no waterbender could hold a candle to her by the end of atla. and once again, was only 14. only waterbending for a year. whos doing it like my sis?!

3. tarrlok- unfortunately for katara, the bloodbending family, without a doubt, outdoes her. bloodbending without a full moon? done and done. sorry! i believe katara COULD bloodbend outside of a full moon given the extensive training tarrlok and noatak were given but unfortunately, we will never know, so i cannot in good conscience put her any higher than 4. tarrlok was a master waterbender in itself and pretty much a master blood bender.

2. yakone- he bloodbent. a whole courtroom. with his mind. we dont see anything else from him, and we really dont need to. sorry. it is what it is.

1. amon- he bloodbends with his mind. and learned to take away someone’s bending ability with blood bending. katara, the best healer in the world, could not restore korras bending. granted, she was probably going about it wrong, but the point is, she couldnt do it. taking away someones bending with bloodbending just takes the cake. that aside, even in a combat setting, when he wasnt even trying he was wooping on all other benders of all kinds bc he was controling their movements w his mind. imagine him openly using waterbending AND having his mind control technique?! he would be unstoppable. im ngl i dont love how lok handles waterbending/bloodbending in general. i kinda think they made it TOO strong with little reasoning). also we do see him do an awesome lil water tornado at the end. so. not that we needed that, but its a cute lil cherry on top to his waterbending. hes the strongest waterbender. sorry!

want to finish this by saying had katara learnt to bloodbend outside of a full moon, she would be number one. and i do believe she could have learned. but she didnt. so she cant be first.

[fuzzykidney]

Take on airbending and how it relates to spiritual stuff.

I know Jesa supposedly lost some of her bending because of her choice in becoming a career criminal. And it interfered with the ideals of Air nomads. But so did Zaheer murdering people. I’m thinking the biggest difference would be their own guilt or connection to themselves. Zaheer was sure of himself. Meditated all the time. And centered on what he was doing. Jinpa is shown to be pretty strong but he still strays ideals from the Typical air nomad teachings. Part of being free like the wind I would think is accepting who you are, even if it’s slightly different or way different than who you are “supposed” to be. But maybe Jesa struggled with that. Got her tattoos early and was most likely dedicated to her cultures teachings until she found Hark. I’m sure it confused her and she wasn’t sure of who she was at that point or where she belonged. Like she didn’t know what was right or what she deserved. Almost like what one could consider a struggle of faith. That I think might have been more detrimental to her power.

Zuko lost his power in firebending and had to find it again. Within himself (with some help). Jesa just compensated instead. Dealing with anger and some hidden self hate for who she turned out to be.

Or it was just A rumor and she liked the fans as weapons.

My take.

[ur-frndly-neighborhood-memer1]

A THEORY ABOUT OZAI-

Why was Ozai so cruel?

Fire Lord Ozai is the absolutely malicious and tyrannical main antagonist of the Avatar: The Last Airbender. In the series, he comes across as a cruel, ruthless, and a megalomaniac dictator. Which is why he is often considered as a 2 dimensional cartoon villian with no rich background compared to the other villains like Azula, Zuko (formerly), Hama; Amon, Zaheer...

We never really see his inner struggles or anything complex about his character at all. His only motivation is like "Evil for sake of being evil". That's why some fans complain about his character being too shallow and too cartoonishly evil. And this really stands out when we compare him to rest of the characters, and arguably, they're all more complex characters than Ozai.

But... is this really true?

Could there be something more interesting and tragic about Fire Lord Ozai's character? Do we only see the only a small part of the iceberg? Well, let's find out!

There's literally nothing we know about his childhood or his early ages. All we know is that he was married Ursa when he was 30 and Ursa was 21, Ursa was specifically chosen because she happens to be the granddaughter of Avatar Roku. So, they could have powerful heirs for the Fire Nation. And it actually happened because Zuko and Azula really are exceptionally powerful firebenders.

Another thing we know about him is this panel,

They actually look like a normal, ordinary family here and it hurts. They're on a vocation; Ozai and Ursa just sitting calmly, baby Azula playing with sand, little Zuko running to save a turtle-crab... And when when the wave washed over Zuko, Ozai ran to save him.

Could the whole thing be true or Ozai was lying? I personally don't think it was a lie, because Zuko seems to remember some rare memories of his family being happy once and coming to Ember Island all together. Yes, you can say that Zuko could be an unreliable narrator here since he kinda romanticized those memories... But again, it's what happens with memories. Don't we all remember our childhood as purely innocent and happy? Because we like to remember those happy times and often forget about the bad ones. But the bad times don't erase the good memories! Also, in the "Beach", when Azula came to comfort Zuko, she also seemed a bit depressed. It means she was also missing those happy and innocent times of their life. So no, Zuko's memory was correct and Ozai probably wasn't lying either. Their family had some good times once.

Could it possibly be a redeeming quality for Ozai? Perhaps. However, we all know that it didn't last long. And we also know that Ozai was always sort of like that and Iroh comfirms it in "The Legacy of The Fire Nation" novel

And something interesting here... Iroh admits he sort of blames himself for not being a better guide for his brother. Which makes me think... Did Ozai really ever have a positive influence on his life?

You can arguably say Iroh, but i'd disagree. First of all, there's a huge age gap between Iroh and Ozai. And Iroh was a general who was busy with fighting in battle, such as the siege of Ba Sing Se. So I imagine they didn't really have a chance to spend time together and bond as brothers.

Also, Iroh wasn't exactly a positive influence before the death of Lu Ten. He used to be more ruthless and hungry for glory. Yes, he still was a caring guy towards his family, but he only realized the terrible side of violence and terror after losing his dear son... This is when he finally developed empathy towards everyone, not only for his family. So I don't think he would be able to be a better influence for Ozai when they were younger...

And if not Iroh, who could possibly be a good guidance for Ozai? Azulon? Pfft, yeah right! He definitely favored Iroh over Ozai, and was seen to be cold and harsh towards his son. So nope, he was an abusive father and far from being a good guidance.

But... What about his mother? What happened to her?

The only thing we know about Iroh and Ozai's mother is her name, Ilah. And she was married to Fire Lord Azulon. There's literally nothing else we know about her. So, we don't know what kind of a relationship she had with Ozai either.

And that's why I have this theory in my mind! Could it be that Ilah died when she was giving birth to Ozai? And maybe that's why Azulon was cold and cruel to Ozai?

The death on childbirth was a common incident during middle age and in the earlier ages too. Unfortunately, it still can happen in modern world too... But thankfully, it's a rare incident now due the modern advantages.

So yes, it's very possible that Lady Ilah to die on the childbirth. Because we never see her in the series nor in the comics. If she was alive at the moment, she would totally show up on Ozai and Ursa's wedding. But she didn't, which means she was long gone, at least for like 20 years. But since neither Iroh or Ozai mentions her for once, we can assume that she died very long ago.

Could this be why Iroh turned out to be a caring and compassionate person towards his own family? Because he had maternal love and support? Well, he obviously didn't get that from Azulon (even though Azulon seemed to care for Iroh and Lu Ten in a certain level). And that might be why Ozai became a cold and cruel jerk, because he never had this kind of love and support in his life.

And it also explains Azulon's bad treatment towards Ozai, reminds me of how Tywin Lannister despised his son Tyrion Lannister from Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire. Tywin hated his son Tyrion because he was a dwarf and also because he "killed" his mother in childbirth

So maybe Azulon was going full Tywin on Ozai and blamed him for "killing" his own mother.

If that's the case, it makes a ton of sense for Ozai's character! Because he never really had a chance to redeem himself and grow up in a healthy environment. He was being told that he was a killer since he was born and accused with killing his own mother. I can totally imagine Azulon telling him that he is "An ill-made, spiteful creature. Full of lust and low cunning" (Quote from Tywin Lannister), or maybe even calling him a "monster"?

If this theory is true, then it makes sense for Ozai's character and why he became a brutal, ruthless and narcissistic person.

And let's not forget, narcissism isn't only a personality disorder but also a coping mechanism. Narcissists actually have fragile egos and low self-esteems. That's why they fake confidence and a false sense of grandiosity as a self-defense mechanism. The exact reasons of narcissism is not known, but researchers show that both genetic and environmental factors are in it. And it's very possible to occur because of a trauma or abuse too.

So maybe Ozai was crushed under the abuse and pressure of being "guilty" for killing his mother in childbirth, and he found comfort in creating a false sense of superiority.

And this also might be why Iroh and Ozai became distant towards each other. Ozai was probably jealous of Azulon's nicer treatment towards Iroh. So he didn't want to be around him and see how their father treats him better, because it would remind him of the fact that he was the unfavorite child. And from Iroh's aspect, maybe he was devastated after the death of his mother and wanted to distance himself from Ozai for it? Yes, it doesn't really sound like something that the Iroh we know would do. But again, we really don't know the Iroh before Lu Ten's death, but he surely cared about his family so much. And maybe that's why he distanced himself from Ozai because he took away a part of his family? And because of Azulon, Iroh probably didn't have a chance to accept Ozai a part of his family at this point. And when he did, it was probably too late. The damage was done. Ozai already became a narcissistic jerk and a potential tyrant.

So, that's my headcanon about Ozai's evilness. You can agree or disagree with it. If you have different thoughts, please feel free to share them with me

[btheleaf]

"Fine, I'll go with you." - Pemeer

TW non-con elements 587 words

All eyes turned to the mouth of the cave when the Red Lotus guards shifted aside. Zaheer and Ghazan strolled in. Chains rattled as everyone turned to get a better look at them. The pair marched right up to the nearer group of captives and made a beeline for Pema. Zaheer reached for Rohan.

“No!” Pema pulled the infant as far away as she could in her chains and screamed when Ghazan grabbed her by the hair.

“Mommy!”

“Mom!”

“Stop!”

The group protests stopped and sweat broke out over Pema’s skin when Ghazan quickly formed a spinning disc of lava and held it near her face. She tried to pull away, but his hold was steady and strong. Zaheer reached back down for Rohan.

“No! Please!”

Pema cried out again as the heat from the lava seared her cheek as it was brought closer. She moved her hand over Rohan’s head to protect him. A cacophony of shouts for them to stop filled the cave. Zaheer pried Rohan from his mother’s arms and held him for a moment, regarding him almost fondly, before handing him over to the young man who was chained up next to Pema. Zaheer pulled out a key from his belt and began to unlock Pema’s handcuffs.

“What are you doing?” Pema’s voice shook. She closed her eyes tight against the heat from the molten hot rocks.

“You’re coming with me,” Zaheer said flatly.

Ghazan dropped the lava once Pema was freed, leaving it in a burning pile on the cave floor. He pulled Pema up to her feet and she tried to shove him away. He forced her arms behind her back.

“I’m not going anywhere with you!”

“Stop it!”

“Get away from her!”

Zaheer looked out over the riled up group and his eyes landed on Opal. “That’s fine,” he said to Pema and moved to unlock Opal’s handcuffs. “This one looks old enough.”

“What?” Pema screamed and pulled with all her strength to get away from Ghazan. “No!”

“W-what are you doing?” Opal trembled and tried to move away.

Zaheer pulled Opal back towards him by yanking on her chains and moved to stick the key in the lock. “You and I are going to have some fun since Master Tenzin’s wife is refusing me.”

Pema’s eyes widened. “No! No! Stop!” Her struggle ceased and her breaths came quick and shallow as she looked at Opal for a moment before returning her fear-filled eyes to Zaheer. He seemed to be waiting for her to make up her mind. “Fine, I’ll go with you. Just—leave her alone.”

Opal shivered as Zaheer eyed her up and down, but he stood and went back to Pema to grab her by the arm and pull her from the cave. “A wise decision.”

Pema tried not to shake too much as he pulled her away from the others. She glanced back to make sure Ghazan was following almost tripped over her feet seeing him so close behind. Just past him she could see everyone looking at her in varying degrees of shock and horror. She hoped her children were too young to understand, but everyone else likely knew what was about to happen. Pema turned away and forced her legs to keep moving. Rohan was safe with the airbenders. Opal was just a child. Although her heart pounded in her chest, she knew she was making the right decision. The airbenders were too important. One non-bender was nothing in the grand scheme of things.

[cuteniaarts]

@katkastrofa: *writes a single throwaway line in one chapter of Lost and Found that is never referenced again*

Me, completely randomly and with no prompting: Alright, bet–

[burst-of-iridescent]

so i just went through your entire anti-lok tag and everything you said in it was SO WELL WRITTEN. i wanted to ask if you might have any analyses or anything (or just good old rants! we love being bryke haters) - about something that i noticed, which is this sort of... ATLA/TLOK dichotomy between how all aang's villains seem to be focused on gaining power/dominating the world or whatever, but the villains in TLOK seem to revolve around very pointed targeting of korra and specifically stripping her of her agency/bodily autonomy, but i don't know how to expand on that point.

(idk just. TLOK has a whole list of scenes that make me VIOLENTLY uncomfortable in a way even the worst of ATLA doesn't? and i thought you might have some input to share about it, if you don't mind me asking)

thank you sm!! i'm glad you enjoy my lok and bryke salt <33

i know what you mean, because it's something that struck me when i was watching lok as well. korra's villains are far more personal to her (particularly in what they do to her, or want from her) than azula or ozai or even zhao ever were to aang, and while that isn't necessarily a bad thing (in fact it can often be good to have a personal relationship between your hero and villain; just look at how much more impactful and meaningful zuko and azula's arc was compared to aang and ozai's), there is a way to do it right and that was... not what bryke did.

we didn't need to see korra brutally bloodbent and stripped of her bending, or brutally attacked by unalaq, or brutally tortured by the red lotus or - you got it - brutally beaten up by kuvira (over and over again, might i add). i'm not saying that violence never has its place in storytelling, but it needs to have an actual purpose that's not just shock value. atla, for instance, knew when and how to utilise violence: the sight of gyatso's skeleton in the southern air temple, aang's murder by azula, even katara bloodbending... the violence in all of those scenes was necessary either to communicate vital information to the audience, or drive home the emotive and narrative significance of the moment, or both.

in lok though, bryke hardly, if ever, achieved either of these objectives - especially because it was mainly only ever korra who got the brunt of the violence. no other character is repeatedly targeted and assaulted and violated even half as much as korra is, even when they're facing the same antagonists. tenzin's fight against the red lotus in book 3 gets a tasteful pan to black (one of the few times i think bryke did use violence purposefully; knowing what not to show is just as important as knowing what to show, and leaving the audience with the dread of tenzin's fate was actually sadder and more terrifying than letting us see what happened to him) but korra's agonizing torture at the hands of the red lotus is so long and drawn-out that it begins to veer into torture porn.

imo, this can probably be attributed to two things: 1) bry.ke thinking trauma = character development because they don't know how else to write a good character arc (and they still somehow fucked it up - i will never forgive them for making korra thank zaheer, of all people, for helping her overcome her trauma, like what the absolute fuck bry.ke), and 2) they wanted lok to be "more mature" than atla, which shows both that they fundamentally didn't understand atla, or what constitutes good storytelling, and also that someone desperately needs to tell them that simply upping the violence and hamfistedly handling "complex" topics does not maturity make.

(given the way bryke has written women, i also have to side-eye the fact that the strong-willed, independent, brown female protagonist is beaten and battered and torn down far more than the peaceful, affable light-skinned male protagonist ever is, even during an actual war.)

and of course, contrary to what our dear bryke probably expected, simply brutalizing korra season after season in the name of shock value and development did not, to anyone else's surprise, make lok the better show in the end.

[ultfreakme]

Bad Guy Sokka would also be such a menace because i feel like he would betray people left and right unless the ones he actually cares about (strictly family, friends who are like family) because he has trust issue & no-bullshit attitude when he's being serious so if he needed to stab this, idk, water tribe general he met 8 months ago in the back to get things done, he would. much like azula just like you said where her true loyalty only reserved to a few people

Bad Guy Sokka would know what his limits are and he'd never go in without a plan. And yeah he'd absolutely betray people to get where he needs because he's the big picture guy, and what's a few betrayals for the end goal?

I also think, unlike Azula, he'd very personable. You meet him once and he seems like a really sweet and funny guy with a killer sense of comedic timing. He acts like he's just like you, and he does think everyone's the same! He doesn't see the world in hierarchies the way Azula does so when he betrays a person, or does something, it's not even from a place of condescension. This is what he has to do, sorry buddy.

I think....he might be like Zaheer a little in that way. And also yes if someone hurts the people he considers family, he's going to make a highly elaborate plan to bring them down and he won't even flinch about it.

[roleplayfinder]

((Forgot to add my age, sorry!)) ⚠️💋 Heyo!! 18+ roleplayer here!! I was wondering if anyone would want to roleplay with me? I have a number of fandoms and I will list them and who I can play!! I would prefer a OC x CC double up, but I will also take CC x CC! I do not do OC x OC!!!

☆Fandoms☆

☆Criminal Minds☆

Who I can play: Spencer, Aaron, Derek, Emily, JJ, Struass, David, Gideion, Luke, Matt, and Garcia

☆Avatar the last airbender☆

Who I can play: Anyone from the Gaang, Jet, Azula, Ty Lee, Mai, Iroh, Ozai, Roku, Hakoda

☆Legend of Korra☆

Who I can play: Korra, Asami, Mako, Bolin, Tenzin, Pema, Lin, Iroh II, Bumi, Kya, Zaheer, Gazahn ((idk if I spelled that right)) Jhu Li, Varrick

☆Teen Wolf☆

Who I can play: Derek, Peter, Chris, Stiles, Scott, Lydia, Allison, Jackson, Ethan, Aiden, Kira, Malia

☆Helluva Boss☆

Who I can play: Blitzø, Moxxie, Millie, Stolas, Striker, Crimson, Barb, Ozzie, Fizzie, Loona, Verosika, Vortex, Bee

☆Hazbin Hotel☆

Who I can play: Alastor, Angel, Charlie, Vaggie

☆Glee☆

Who I can play: Quinn, Brittany, Santana, Finn, Rachel, Sebastian, Artie, Puck, Marley, Kitty, Will, Emma, Sue

☆Stardew Valley☆

Who I can play: Sebastian, Alex, Haley, Shane, Harvey, Abigail, Robin, Demitrius, Gus, Pierre, The Wizard

☆The Flash☆ ((CW show))

Who I can play: Barry, Cisco, Caitlin, Iris, Joe, Harry, Hunter, Henry, Nora, Wally

☆Supernatural☆

Who I can play: Dean, Sam, Benny, John, Mary, Bobby, Rufus, Garth, Castiel, Crowley, Jo, Ellen, Anna

I can roleplay on discord or tumblr! Like this and I'll come to you!

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