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ges-sui · 4 years

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Wu es amigo de Bolín. Ambos presentes en el momento equivocado.

Según este AU o Semi-AU. Wu es un ciudadano común y corriente de Ciudad República, que se volvió fanático del pro-control, al mismo tiempo, consiguió hacer amistad con Bolín y se enamoro de Mako. Encontrarse con Wu a media salida de la tienda de flores fue una enorme coincidencia, alegrando a Bolín, tenían un tiempo en que el castaño había dejado sus visitas diarias a sus partidos, extrañaba escuchar su voz y frases absurdas, especialmente su mal habito de coquetearle a su hermano. Ambos caminaron en dirección a la arena de pro-control, decidió contarle sobre las ultimas noticias recientes en su vida, especialmente de su cita con Korra, recibiendo por ello un golpe en el hombro y un afectuoso abrazo, sosteniéndolo por los hombros y señalando todos los diferentes lugares románticos en Ciudad República.

- Gracias. - Cuando quieras, amigo. Rieron a la par. Pabu salto a los hombros de Wu, enredándose en su cuello, produciendole cosquillas. Hoy era un gran día para Bolín, tuvo una cita con la chica que le gusta y se encontró con uno de sus mejores amigos. ¡Verdaderamente estaba con suerte! - Una vez que conozcas a Korra la amaras. ¡Oh! - lo señalo, entrecerrando los ojos - Nada de coqueteo, ¿Bien?

- Tranquilo - arreglo su cuello, acariciando la cabeza de Pabu - Lo ultimo que haría es quitarte tu chica. - con el ceño fruncido, Wu continuo sonriendo de lado - Pero no la culparía sino consigue resistirse a mi encanto marca Wu. - guiño un ojo ante lo ultimo, teniendo un codazo en su costado. - Estas loco viejo. - Si, pero igual te agra - La frase quedo a medio decir y los pies de Wu se plantaron en el suelo, su mirada al frente, perpetua y horrorizada. - Oye, ¿Por que pones esa...? - La diversión que la mueca de Wu le causo, perdio sentido ante lo que sus ojos presenciaban. Su potencial novia y su hermano mayor... besándose, luego de su cita, justo frente a él... y lo peor de todo, ¡FRENTE A PABU! Los pétalos del ramo que tan cuidadosamente eligió, salieron volando, al mismo tiempo que la mirada de Korra se encontraba con la suya, reflejando la culpabilidad, seguida por la de Mako al voltearse. - Bo- Con las lagrimas filtrándose por sus lagrimales, dejo caer el ramo, corriendo por donde vino, seguido de Pabu que salto a él antes de abandonar la escena. Estuvo seguro de escuchar la voz de Mako llamándole, incluso la de Wu y como intento sujetarlo de la mano para detenerlo... nada de eso importaba. ¡Lo habían herido! - Maldición. ¡Esto es tu culpa! - grito Mako a Korra. La morena se sintió indignada, eliminando el malestar de haber herido a Bolín. - ¿Mi culpa? - Si, tu me besaste. - Y tu me besaste de nuevo. - ¡Agh!, - despeino su cabello, respirando profundo - no importa, tengo que alcanzar a Bolín. - dando la espalda a Korra, paso a un lado de Wu, frenándose de inmediato por la mano de este en su hombro - ¿Wu?, genial, mira no tengo tiemp- - Lo lamento, Mako, pero no creo que seas el más indicado ahora. - ¿De que estas hablando?, tengo que ir a ver como esta mi hermano - Wu negó silenciosamente, inclinando su rostro suficiente para que su flequillo rizado le tapara la mitad de la cara - ¡Apártate Wu! - grito el jugador pro-control. - ¡No!, ¿Acaso entiendes la gravedad de lo que has hecho? - Su expresión normalmente risueña y despreocupada, se había transformado en iracunda con dolor a punto de estallar por las lagrimas contenidas. Comprendiendo a lo que se refería Wu, apretó sus manos a los costados, retirando con más delicadeza el toque del castaño en su hombro. Pero, a pesar de ello continuaba siendo el hermano de Bolín, ¿Si no era él quien lo solucionaba?, ¿Entonces quién?, negando, miro a Wu frunciendo el entrecejo - Tengo que ir y tu no me vas a detener. - listo para trotar y comenzar a correr, sus piernas frenaron, específicamente sus pies no encontraron movilidad alguna, mirando hacia abajo, noto que ambos fueron encerrados mediante tierra control. - ¿Que? - exclamo furioso, girándose a ver a Korra para reclamar una explicación ante ese errático comportamiento, sin embargo el avatar adopto una posición defensiva, dirigiéndose al otro lado de Mako. - Te dije que no, Mako. - Los una vez brillantes ojos de Wu, se opacaron, causando un escalofrió desagradable por su columna vertebral. - A mi no me importa si me amas o no, soy perseverante, pero... ¿Bolín?, ¿Así es como proteges a tu hermano?, nunca imagine que fueras ese tipo de persona. - suspiro, con la decepción filtrándose por cada una de sus palabras, vueltas dagas al corazón de Mako. Con sus esmeraldas ahora sin brillo, Wu se centro en Korra, atenta a su siguiente movimiento. Inesperadamente hizo una reverencia y al siguiente instante columnas de piedra ascendieron por los laterales de Korra encerrándola - Un gusto conocerte avatar Korra, es una desgracia que no sea en la mejor situación y aun más, dado que Bolín esperaba que nos lleváramos bien. - exhalo, dejando caer sus hombros. Elevando sus manos, movió ambas muñecas atrayendo las lamparas de metal, reforzando el cofre de piedra - Mejor así. Discúlpame. - ¡Dejame salir de aqui! - Wu... ¿Q-que demonios?, eres.. ¿Eres un maestro tierra? - No. Te veré después Mako o quizás no. Da igual. - corrió, abandonando a ambos atrapados por cerraduras de piedra. Entrando al pequeño restaurante, sonrió al verlo encorvado sobre la mesa con varios platos y vasos vacíos, saludo al dueño, pidiendo una nueva orden. Tomo asiento junto a él, recibiendo a Pabu en sus hombros. - Una noche para recordar. - Quiero estar solo. - Dicen que las penas con alcohol son llevaderas - se encongio de hombros, agitando una botella que parecía tener un poco de liquido - ¿Puedes decir que es verdad? - No. Me siento horrible. - Entonces sintámonos horribles, juntos. - brindo, riendo, sin esperar que su broma resultara efectiva. Su plato de aperitivos con botellas llenas de licor y vasos limpios se puso delante, sirvió dos tragos, deslizando uno al frente de Bolín, brindando al aire, bebió el contenido de golpe, sintiendo el liquido quemarle la garganta y deslizarse hasta su estomago. - ¡Bleh!, sabe a rayos. - Jeje - sorbiendo su nariz, seco las lagrimas resecas, dejando ver el rojo de sus ojos - ¿Demasiado amargo para tu fino paladar? - Quizas... pero apuesto a que puedo beberme la botella más rápido que tu. - ¿Estas retándome? - Por supuesto. Quien pierda le invita el desayuno al otro. - Trato - chocaron los puños. Yendo cada uno por las botellas dispuestas en la mesa con su contenido completo. Antes de que el conteo regresivo iniciara, Bolín susurro un quedo gracias, respondido con un encogimiento de hombros y sonrisa ladeada a la izquierda. - ¡Salud! - brindaron con las botellas, iniciando con su batalla de bebidas. Hoy solo serian dos amigos compitiendo por embriagarse en menor tiempo, mañana, enfrentarían la realidad de sus corazones rotos.

Notas finales: Me afecta el drama... me afecta el drama es todo lo que diré.

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upquarkdownquark · 3 years

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Pride month day 11! Queer reads!

yeah yeah i missed some days so what. today’s favorite queer book/manga/fanfic day! (i’m including webtoons in this list so if you don’t like that technicality sorry :) )

Books!

Both Kyoshi books, Rise of Kyoshi and Shadow of Kyoshi. wlw!

Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand

They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera

Eon and Eona by Allison Goodman (not explicitly queer, but there is a lot of unintentional trans vibes and relatable stuff as an afab trans person)

Webtoons!

Boyfriends! Four way poly college story, really cute art!

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Fluidum! Futuristic ‘what-if’ where everybody has two bodies- one of each sex, and they can switch back and forth until they turn 21! Really relatable as a nonbinary person myself!

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Not so Shoujo Love Story! wlw high school story, really cute

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Messenger! Shorter story about this messenger girl on a bike who was picked up for interdimensional deliveries! Haven’t read it in a bit, but if I remember correctly, the MC is in a relationship with another girl.

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There’s a lot more wonderful queer oriented stories on here, but these are just my favorites.

And... Fanfic! Because it’s always gay. Couldn’t be gayer!

slo-fi hip hop radio-(heart)beats to listen/fall for - ATLA, Zukka. Both Zuko and Sokka are musicians online, and start to talk to each other through their profiles. What they don’t know is that they happen to be neighbors!

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the undeniable homosexuality of higher education - ATLA twoshot, zukka/wuko. Zuko and Sokka are both professors at Boiling Rock University, but refuse to admit they’re husbands. Wu and Mako keep anonamously writing each other in the school paper, but nobody can figure out who it is that’s writing it!

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5:27 pm - MHA oneshot, momojirou. Lots of angst in this one, prepare to cry. Momo recently passed in an accident, and Jirou uses Momo’s inbox as a way of coping

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the small weird loves - MHA oneshot, Denki and checks Shinsou, Jirou, Bakugo, Sero, Todoroki... Midoriya... Monoma... Denki explores sexuality basically! It’s not what I’d usually read, but I’m glad I read it, because it really is beautiful. (it was based off of a poem to be fair) ok now i wanna go read it again...

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imitation//expression (and the rest in the series!) - MHA, kiribaku. qpr in this one, the second has some angst, but its all really good!

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the way we love - MHA, looooonnnnggggg oneshot! kiribaku. just the two of them, being boyfriends, and breaking up and getting together again. aged up characters

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the way you used to do (and when the chips are down, but that one isn’t finished yet and isn’t anywhere near the magnitude of the way you used to do) - MHA. Long for a longfic. This boy is so long, he scoffs at even regular long books. (seriously tho its longer than the longest book i’ve ever read, which is like around 960 pages?) kiribaku. Bakugo and Midoriya are suddenly soulbound, and a lot of angst and emotions ensue, even after they are unbound. This thing kept me trapped for almost a full week, reading nonstop. Highly suggest.

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And that’s it from me! Sorry most of this is mha, i’m really into an mha phase rn and i cant get enough fanfic atm- and these are some of the things that i’ve really liked! might do a generalized fic rec list, cause i cant seem to shut up about these things... theres a lot of midoriya gets a different quirk in my stash rn... that could be a good fic rec list... idk if you want it say so

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spookytenko · 4 years

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(this started off as a tiny headcanon and then i rambled about them OOPS)

i just think that prince wu knows that mako is absolutely smitten with him, but he doesn’t want to say anything. mako never came out to him officially, so he doesn’t want to force him into anything.

he can tell the little signs though, like mako being extra gentle with him and staring at him from across a room or sitting with him when he doesn’t need to.

wu has been crushing on him for a while now and tries to hint at it a lot. not just for selfish reasons, though. he remembers when he came out and he felt lighter than he had, so he’s hoping mako can tell him eventually.

eventually, he realizes mako might not know that he’s bi. he tries to push him in the right direction, ask him about what he thinks about certain guys and slyly adding he wouldn’t mind being with a guy. less stressful, probably. mako just shrugs.

it takes months of wu trying to court mako before his bodyguard even mentions anything about the fact that he might like men too. wu is ecstatic but doesn’t say anything, saying that he’ll be friends with him no matter what.

they start to become more comfortable with each other after that, mako going as far as wrapping an arm around wu whenever they’re out around town. wu has even held his hand a few times under the table when they’re out with the rest of team avatar.

wu goes to korra and asami at some point, asking for help on what to do. korra acts like she knew asami liked her the entire time, but asami rolls her eyes and tells him korra didn’t realize how many “dates” they went on that she thought were them hanging out until they were officially dating.

wu, feeling even more confused, asks bolin advice for mako. bolin is delighted to help, whether it’s his brother or not. they plan an event together, which is a small dinner at mako’s apartment. bolin had a spare key to get inside, so they go in and decorate the place with cheapy little decorations. normally he would go all out for mako, but this was a special occasion and he didn’t want to overwhelm him. wu is a sweetie, even if he acts, well, like that.

mako was having an off day, as per wu’s request. korra had him distracted with some workout thing. wu didn’t ask for details. the mere mention of a workout had his skinny arms sore.

when he finally arrives home, he’s surprised to see wu there, only vaguely hearing bolin climbing out the side of his window and yelling good luck to wu. he’s a little confused, to say the least. he asks him what’s going on, but wu just leads him to the kitchen by his head, showing off the meal he and bolin prepared, along with the decorations.

mako doesn’t know how to react at first. he’s frozen in place, and wu worries he did something wrong.

“i’m sorry if it’s too much, i can take it down if you want-” he barely finishes his sentence before mako tackles him in a hug, nearly taking both of them down.

mako pulls away for a split second, his eyes falling onto wu’s. wu is swooning harder than he ever has as he winds his arms around his neck. he doesn’t remembers the events in between, but mako’s lips end up on his, his arms around his waist. wu’s never been happier to be around mako before.

“it’s perfect. i love it.” wu smiles as mako says this, their lips mere inches apart. they go in again and again, until they can’t breath and their hair is messy. the food is cold at this point, but wu is too wrapped up in mako to care.

mako asks wu how he knew he liked him, and wu has to laugh out loud. “mako, my dear, it was so obvious! you stumbled on your words all the time and kept scooting closer to me whenever we sat together. not to mention you picking me up all the time whenever the streets were busy.” mako flushes bright red, a sheepish look on his face.

“i didn’t think you liked guys..” he mumbles, looking off to the side. “mako, i literally told you i was gay. multiple times.”

wu is joking, of course, trying to get mako to calm down a little. everything is fine between them. at least now the tension was clearing up and mako wasn’t confused about wu anymore. they laugh it off, each wearing wide grins.

“in that case,” he starts, pulling wu closer towards him. once he regained his confidence, it was easy for him to return to his normal self again. “do you want to actually go out with me? not just walking around the markets and occasionally holding hands?”

wu answers him with a kiss, hugging him tighter than ever before. it’s a while before they’re sitting down together, eating the cold food, and talking like there’s no tomorrow. wu asks if he’s allowed to tell the rest of the team about it, to which mako eventually agrees after a week or so of mulling over it.

korra and asami are excited, of course, especially because they don’t have to see wu doing anything he can do to make mako realize he likes him, and mako shyly asking how they knew they liked someone of the same gender.

nobody is more excited than bolin, though! he claps mako on the back, squeezing him in a tight hug and spinning him around. he starts calling wu his little brother after that. it’s very sweet. wu loves having a family again, especially after years of having no one.

anyway i don’t know how to end this but i believe in wuko supremacy. this was just supposed to be a little headcanon but i forgot how much i love them so i just went on and on. toodles!

#the legend of korra #korra #mako #tlok mako #prince wu #tlok prince wu #tlok wu #wuko #tlok wuko

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meteor-sword · 4 years

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wuko fic outline 🥺🥺

ok this is probably a wuko fic i’ll write sometime. 3 parter >:D

chapter 1:

post season 4, wu sends a letter to the police station in republic city for mako (beifong gives it to mako and suggests he give wu his address or beifong will have to start screening them)

it’s a basic update letter, but mako is surprised by wu’s eloquence in writing. maybe he’s a little intimidated by it and he doesn’t want to sound bad in writing so he doesn’t respond

so a second letter comes two weeks later kind of rehashing the same thing but saying he hoped to hear back, hopefully this letter made it to the right place!

so mako writes back (after having anyone willing read over what he wrote) (and yes i think he had a similar process for writing to korra)

so every week they’re getting new letters from each other, both expanding discussion topics to more and more personal.

and then wu drops “i miss you”

and mako didn’t consider that? that looking forward to getting these letters and taking it so seriously to write back might mean he misses wu too?

and it evolves from there. maybe mako never considered feelings other than like. resigned obligation to wu-- but he thinks about it after sending another letter and realizes he is not replying to wu out of obligation?

so when wu’s next letter confesses feelings for mako, he internally combusts and coolly takes 2 weeks to write a response and admit he felt similarly (this time he does not have anyone read it over, which adds to how long it takes him to send it)

(CHAPTER 2 + 3 OUTLINES UNDER CUT)

chapter 2:

wu is visiting republic city

mako has not spoken to anyone about the revelations their correspondence has brought up, and he doesn’t know what will happen when he sees wu

mako meets wu not far from where he comes off the train and they go to wu’s favorite fusion restaurant in the city and it’s weirdly normal. wu’s new bodyguards are seated at the table and wu keeps the conversation very... shallow. maybe wu changed his mind about mako? :/

they go back to mako and bolin’s apartment for tea and the bodyguards stand outside the door, and it’s instantly easier to talk. mako puts the kettle on to make tea. they stand in the little kitchen together

"so, our letters...” wu starts as the kettle starts burbling. mako grabs it off and puts it on a heat pad

“what about them?” mako asks, pouring the water into the teapot, and wu isn’t looking at him but he

he says “well i was wondering if” and he puts his hand on the handle of the teapot next to mako’s “you meant everything you said”

AND THEY’RE STANDING SO CLOSE AND MAKO LOOKS AT HIM SURPRISED AND WU LOOKS UP AT HIM and then they are making out in the kitchen against the counter in the way only 3 years of constant contact followed by 6 months of long distance pining can inspire

[fade to black] so then they’re in mako’s bedroom chillin and mako goes “oh no the tea!!!” and grabs it and they drink tea in his room and wu sleeps over :)

chapter 3

mako wakes up cuddling with wu :) and then remembers the krew was getting brunch together and wu was invited, and bolin might have stayed out late the night before but he was definitely home and awake now so shit

shakes wu awake “hey how comfortable you climbing out a fire escape because you have to do that and we can’t let anyone else know we already met up”

so um yeah wu climbs out the fire escape and mako gets up and eats a big breakfast with bolin and is entirely totally completely cool and does not give off any odd vibes

[here’s a secret. this apartment may be the first time mako and bolin lived together but had separate rooms, so there are very tenuous boundaries. maybe bolin read the newspaper that morning and went to mako’s room to show him and saw a mess of brown and black hair and froze in the threshold before turning tail and running or maybe not]

so the bros pick up opal from the docks and go to the restaurant they’re getting brunch at with korra, asami and wu. those three are already there, chatting away

so there are at least 2 silent conversations struggling to happen between all 6 of them (mako to wu “have korra and asami figured anything out??”) (bolin to opal “holy shit i have to tell you something”)

brunch goes smoothly though, and then they’re just hanging out chatting. wu mentions something about the restaurant he and mako ate at the day before and korra points out that she thought he arrived late last night or early this morning

cue panic

bolin sees his opportunity and is like “yeah mako i thought you worked yesterday early morning shift but i didn’t see you at all yesterday?”

essentially they catch them in the lie, but also bolin isn’t cruel so they leave it at “wow so wu arrived early and only visited mako? i didn’t realize you two were such good friends. ig there were those letters i proofread for you. good for you guys” [bolin doesnt know about the more sensitive letters mako wrote later]

-- probably cut to the end of wu’s visit, after two weeks of almost constant dates to make up for the 6 months they didn’t see each other and the next 6 months before wu will be able to visit again, and they decide to tell their friends that they’re an item.

sorry i literally just love the image of wu having to sneak out of their apartment LSKDJF

#wuko #ask #anon #lok #also bolin probably eventually tells mako what he saw AFTER mako and wu 'go public'#Anonymous #meteor answers

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aroace-mako · 4 years

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submission by @manbun-zukka:

alright so i wanted to put this in an ask but it got too long, so i'm submitting it instead.

So, I just saw your answer to an ask about Mako having a different job, instead of a c*p. And, hear me out on this one, but I kinda think he'd become a lawyer.

Why I think this:

In my mind, Mako became a c*p so that he could help people. He wanted to be more than just the Avatar's boyfriend, more than just a probender, but above all else he wanted to help people. So he became a c*p.

But, really, Mako didn't like the job. He hated the violence that came with it, and as much as he loved to take the bad guys down, he hated that some of his fellow officers would harrass the good guys too.

Then, he got put on the bodyguard assignment. He was practically taken out of the force, and yanked by Beifong into Wu's world. So, for three years, he spends all of his time with a guy that he thought he would hate but ends up kinda sorta maybe loving, and not helping people whatsoever.

But, as much as Mako finds that he misses the helping people part of his job, he misses absolutely nothing else about it. None of the violence, or harrassment of the good guys.

Then all of a sudden, Korra comes back, they win the battle against the megaship (is that what it's called? i can't remember.), Mako nearly gets his arm blown off, and then everything is over.

Wu still needs a bodyguard, but Mako chooses to pass off the position to someone else. He and Wu stay close friends (boyfriends, soon after that), but he needs something else.

He goes back to the station. He hates it. In his third week back, he tells Beifong that he's quitting. She lets him go quickly, doesn't even ask for a two week's notice, just tells him to clear out his desk and be gone by the end of the day. (she lets him keep his badge, too, mostly as a memory more than anything else.)

The day after he quits, Mako goes to Lin's apartment and asks her for a reccomendation of a law school. She's quick to point him in the direction of the law school at Ba Sing Se University.

(She and Tenzin both write him letters of reccomendation, and Mako does not cry when he reads them, thank you very much.)

Mako gets into the next year of applicants at BSSU Law, and he moves into a small apartment in the upper ring (Wu has gotten rid of the class systems, but the names still stuck), where the university is located. He likes having his own apartment, rather than living in the dorms. It's peaceful. (read: it makes it easier for his king-turned-president boyfriend to come and visit him.)

Four years later, Mako graduates from law school at the top of his class, a golden wedding ring shining proudly on his finger. He starts off at a small firm in Ba Sing Se, and when Wu's second term is up they both move back to Republic City, and Mako gets himself an associate's position at a well known firm. By the time that they adopt their first kid, Mako is one of the leading domestic violence and abuse lawyers in Republic City, and one of the youngest ones too.

(After his terms as president, Wu did persue a singing career and actually became quite popular throughout the UN and ER. Mako trieds to make it to each and every one of his shows, and makes it clear to his husband that he will always be his biggest fan.)

Mako's favorite part about being a lawyer, is also the only thing that he like about being a c*p.

He gets to help people.

cj this is SUCH a good submission thank u sm🥺

this is more fleshed out and well written than anything i could have done!

also the wuko👀

#mako #wuko #submissions #cj tag #submission

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is-that-another-soulmate-au · 4 years

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@mypureessence

Korrasami/wuko/oc insert soulmate au part idk at this point

"No, no, Tahn, here" Lee shifted his stance so it was closer inward "take a breath and imagine your fire not as a flame but as boiling water coursing through your veins" she then reached her hand to his face "now close your eyes and imagine it"

Tahn nodded and did as she told him, taking a deep breath before shifting his stance and punching out a blue flame just as he opened his eyes, his face turned from doubt to unfiltered glee as he punched out two more blue flames. Turning to Lee who was smiling ear to ear "I did it"

"Im so proud of you" she said only to be caught in a tight hug. Which was broken apart once Tahn realized his mistake and clearwd his throat.

"Sorry, captain"

"It is not a problem, you deserved a little hug for that. Now, everyone else, do just as Tahn did just then" she had been demonstrating fire basics for a good week and a half now and Tahn was the first to accomplish lighting a blue flame, but by the end of that week every single firebender in that room was capable of bending blue fire and blocking small explosions.

Lin was incredibly proud of her and went to say as much by asking her to join her for dinner that evening. But Lee's smile and excitement to say yes faded into a look of fear with an attempted mask of irritation "Im flattered, and I understand we're soulmates but we should really focus on work right now. I'm sorry."

Lin stuttered for a couple seconds, honestly shocked at the response "I figured you'd be excited to go out to eat as a celebration, it doesn't have to be a date"

Lee sighed "but you'd look at it as one"

"No, no I wouldn't, its just... two colleagues who happen to be soulmates going out to eat as a celebration for reaching a goal" Lin offered a hand "what do you say?"

Lee looked at her hand and then at Lin and let out a sigh "Lin, I appreciate the offer, but I have to decline. I'm sorry, maybe another time"

They managed to tiptoe around eachother until the day that Amon announced his demand for the probending tournament to be canceled. That day Lee marched into the council hall with Lin who interrupted the gavel drop Tarrlok was about to do.

"And what exactly does little mousey have to do with this?" Tarrlok mused

Lee smirked "firstly three tails, its Foxy, and this is what I have to do with it," she nodded to Lin and then Korra who both nodded back.

She tossed up a remote controlled bomb and Lin pulled out the remote for it, catching the council members off guard just as Lee jumped up onto Korra's palm, then Lin's shoulder and finally off Korra's head to light a blue flame as the small explosions started. She quickly engulfed the explosion with her own blue flame and slammed it onto the ground as she came back to the floor with a bang.

Lifting up the hand that deflected the explosion she crumbled a small box into ashes and stood, dusting off her jacket "With Lin's metal benders and my bomb squad, the arena will be perfectly safe."

That is certainly what they thought. The night of the championship came and Lee was about to do rounds on her floor with Tahn but was stopped by Lin grabbing her arm. "Lee, I know you've got this, but please... if anything happens to you and you can't get out, kick, flail, scream do anything you can to get the attention of my metal bendersz Tahn or myself"

Lee gave her a smile and a nod "alright, you got it chief" and with that they had separated and Lee went with Tahn to their floor.

She was expecting a quiet walk but Tahn had other plans "say, Captain Fox, I noticed you and Chief Beifong are soulmates" Tahn leaned forward while he was walking and gave her a look.

She flushed and cleared her throat at the mention of the obvious "you didn't notice, I announced it the first day of training with you lot"

"Right right, but I did notice that you've been avoiding being affectionate towards her, and I also spotted a gold speck in your other eye when I hugged you that one day"

Lee froze in place, she forgot that others could see it if they got close enough "that-"

"Was from a soulmate passed? I know, I have one too, and I was in a similar situation with you and the chief, only, He didnt back down and made me open up about why I was avoiding giving him love." Tahn reached out a hand "I know you care about her and you know she cares about you, she's never been gentle with any one as she is with you."

Lee sighed and looked up at him "I dont want to ask how they died for you, but do you mind me telling you?"

"Of course" and with that response she took his hand and then linked arms instead as they continued to walk

"The bar I worked at is owned by a father and son, and they pulled me and him off the street when we had nowhere to go. Things were okay, I already sang as a comfort and they taught me how to properly sing while teaching him tap dance. He was a nonbender and thats why is parents put him up for adoption like my parents did for me." She paused "thats how we met in the first place"

"At the orphanage?"

"Yeah, before it blew up with only him and I surviving on the slim chance that I managed to develop blue fire on a survival instinct." She took a breath "anyways, while we worked at the bar I earned the title white fox and him the title of black fox, for obvious reasons, there were and still are alot of people there that had a strong distaste for either me or him." Turning to Tahn she frowned "and there were many attempts on our lives, they assumed he was a firebender and I a nonbender and often times went for him first but we normally had body guards and what not."

"Except for one night" she looked at her feet "one night after we both turned 19 they let us have a night without a body guard to fool around. When we finished we went to sleep. I dont know all of what happened because its kind of blury, but all I remember was waking up to him covered in blood and attacking and killing the woman who hurt him." She released his arm to wrap herself in a self hug sort of move.

"I can still smell it" she whispered

"Smell what?" She shook his head to the question "I cant talk about it anymore, Im sorry"

"No no, youre okay, Im glad you managed to talk about that much, but you'll trigger a ptsd attack if you keep up, hey, would a hug be alright? You look like you need one"

She did need one, so she nodded and was wrapped in a tight hug, that somehow was just what she needed to relax. She smiled "thank you Tahn" he pulled back and gave her shoulder a pat.

"Anytime, I dont have a big elaborate story on how my soulmate passed, she was hit by a car and died in the hospital with me there holding her hand" he gave a sad smile "Im sorry about what happened to you Captain, but just know I'm always here to talk, and so is Lin."

And thats when it clicked in Lee's head. She was running from accepting the fact that she found Lin in an effort to never love her and lose her, but in that effort she was already failing. She already loved her and she could lose her either way. She nodded "I'll keep that in mind"

They managed to get to their separation point and Lee nodded to Tahn "stay safe and remember to keep an ear, eye, and nose open at all times"

"Yes captain" he nodded back and they went their separate ways

Walking down the hall she could still hear the championship going down and she smiled knowing Lin was there with Tenzin and she was safe. However when she passed a set of doors she felt a zing of electricity hit her fingertips and she turned quickly to open the doors and took an attack stance.

"Well well!" A man said while standing up from the small box he had in his hands "guess a little mouse found me, I wonder how you managed to, I was so quiet, and only firebenders can sense that electric shock I used just now" hs smirked but only his mouth was visible, so she couldn't read the rest of his expression. She just narrowed her eyes and coughed out a small bit of blue fire while not breaking her glare at him

"Ah! So youre not a little mouse" he chuckled "a little fox then, oh what a trickster you benders are" she lunged at him but he just dodged and spun around and out of the room "have fun blowing up dear, I have somewhere else to be" and with that he ran off.

She spun around when she heard a click and managed to deflect the explosion from the box he was by in time but it sent her back into a large filing cabinet the started to tip. "Shit" she yelped and went to run from it but it still fell and pinned her by her left leg. She screamed when it fell and a loud crack could be heard. Her eyes welled up with tears and she tried to get out but it was useless, she was pinned and her leg wasn't going to budge. "Lin! Tahn! Korra! Someone! Help!" She cried out, but it was a fruitless cry. There were very audible explosions happening elsewhere and they were preoccupied.

She turned to look at her pinned leg and quickly turned away from the sight, there was a good amount of blood pooling around and she bit her lip. She had to cauterize the wound soon or she'd bleed out before anyone had the chance to find her. "Okay Lee. You got this" she moved her hand down and took a breatj "this is gonna hurt" was all she whispered out before lighting a bright blue flame on her leg for a good ten seconds before extinguishing it and resting her head on her other arm. "Hury Lin"

By the time the whole Amon performance went down and everyone was safe and evacuated from the building Lin found Tahn helping a young lady calm down. "Tahn, where's Lee?"

Tahn looked up from the girl confused "what do you mean? I heard the explosions start and thought she had already joined you guys, wait-"

their eyes went wide "She's still in there" they said in unison and hurried towards the building

"Korra! Come with me! Lee might need a healer" Lin shouted as they reached the building. She lifted her leg and slammed it back down to locate her, once she did they were off, running up stairs and down a hall. Where they heard sobbing. "Lee!" Lin shouted as she slammed the doors open.

"L-Lin?" Lee's strained voice came from the floor.

When Lin's eyes finally settled on Lee they grew wider than before and she gasped "Lee!?"

Lee gave a half hearted chuckle "you found me" immediately after the words left her mouth Lee collapsed and blacked out to Lin, Korra and Tahn shouting her name.

She was set up with healers for a good two days before she woke up, the entire time Lin either stayed by her side or had Bolin watch her if she was busy, and Tahn took over the bomb squad as temporary captain. The morning before she woke up Tahn came to check on Lin and her.

"Chief?" Tahn called quietly, managing to get her attention enough that she turned to look at him "may I come in?" She nodded and he entered the room with a bowl of soup in his hands "here. You need to eat.. I also wanted to tell you something"

He sat down and set the bowl on the small table beside Lin "what is it?" She asked in a grumpy but attempted gentle voice.

"There's a reason she had walls up for you" Tahn said softly while looking at the sleeping Lee "Im sure you've seen that speck of gold in her eyes"

"Yes, I have"

"And you've seen my blue right?" With a nod as a response he continued "you both were meant to have another soulmate, she had met them and lost them. Just like I had known another soulmate but lost them. I lost mine to a car accident, but she... she had them killed right beside her while she slept."

"I- why didn't she just tell me?" Lin narrowed her eyes at Tahn "and why would she tell you?"

"Because I asked and I managed to put two and two together and show a connection with knowing" he sighed "Im not saying this to act like I know more about her, Im saying this so you understand why she's hesitant to let herself fall in love with you. Just, be patient with her, she'll come around"

Lee stirred in the bed and made a small whine "bright" she whispered

"Lee?" Lin whispered

"Lin?" Lee slowly opened her eyes to look at Lin and Tahn "I can't.. I can't feel my leg" she looked down "Oh my gods! Where's my leg!?" She sat up quick and held her head when it started to pound

"Woah now, easy there Captain, you were aleep for two days, let me get you some food and water"

"Tahn? What... what happened to my leg?"

"It was crushed under a filing cabinet and the healers couldnt save it" he frowned "Im sorry. I'll be right back with some food and water"

"Just get her water, I'll share the soup" Tahn nodded at Lin and headed out to get the water while Lin pushed some pillows behind Lee so she could sit comfortably.

"Lin... I.." Lee stared at her hands, trying to form her words "I'm sorry"

"Your apology is accepted, though Im not sure what you're apologizing for"

"For.. avoiding you as a soulmate? I don't.. I dont want to tell another person the whole thing, but I just... we had another and he.. he was" she held her chest while she tried to breathe

"Hey, hey, its okay, Tahn told me, you don't have to retell it. But Im glad you felt safe to try. And don't worry, I'll be patient with y-"

"Can you kiss me?" Lee blurted out

Lin blinked a couple times and stammered for a moment before managing out a "are you sure?"

"More sure than I've ever been, I know youre not too touchy feely and what not, but just once can y-!!" She didn't manage to rant much more because she was silenced by a pair of lips against her own.

Lin held her cheek when she pulled back and grinned. "You talk too much" and sealed the distance once more.

#tlok oc #tlok spoilers #tlok #tlok korra #tlok lin #tlok bolin #i will die on my endless soulmate au hill #soulmate alternate universe #soulmates #soulmate #RayMakesSoulmates

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ourimpavidheroine · 6 years

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quick question how canon is your wuko stuff?

Quick you say? Quick? Heh. I don’t really do quick.

Well, if we’re going to get technical…none of my work is strictly canonical because Wuko is not actually a canon thing. I mean, people can go on about subtext and how well the characters suit each other and such but the reality is that Bryke clearly accepts and indeed even includes openly same-sex couples in canon (see: TLOK comics) but have chosen not to make Wuko canon. I don’t know what to tell you, you’d have to take it up with them. (Yes, I’m salty.)

But I am assuming you mean canon outside of the whole Wuko is actually a headcanon thing, so moving on!

For starters, none of my fic is comic-compliant - which, by the way, I’ve tagged on AO3. That’s because I wrote the first one over 3 years ago and obviously there were no comics to be compliant with. Since I have not, for the most part, enjoyed the TLOK comics at all I will not be going back into my previously written fic to edit it into being comic-compliant. None of my fic takes the TLOK comics into consideration at all.

I also wrote some of my fic - most notably, Please Excuse My Penmanship - before Bryke’s commentary about Prince Wu was released on Book 4′s DVD. Specifically, the parts where they threw out vague references to him being in either boarding school or at Republic City University when the Red Lotus killed Queen Hou-Ting as well as the fact that he requested Mako to be his bodyguard after seeing his picture in the paper. In all of my fics the assumption is that Wu was raised as the Crown Prince and lived a very sheltered life in the Palace until the day that Hou-Ting was assassinated and he was spirited away to Republic City by the Dai Li; also in my fic Lin Beifong assigned Mako to Wu for reasons of her own. So if you are looking for fic that adheres to those two bits of commentary by Bryke then you’ll be disappointed in mine.

If you are looking for fic that takes place during the show and is canon-compliant (short of Wu being in RC at school before Book 3 and demanding Mako specifically as his bodyguard) then my collection The Prince and the Bodyguard will probably appeal.

If you are looking for fic that takes place immediately after the finish of Book 4 then Please Excuse My Penmanship will probably appeal. (The notes about the comics and the Book 4 commentary still apply, obviously.) There are some Beifongs involved, most notably Huan Beifong, whom I headcanon as autistic.

If you are looking for fic that takes place during Wu’s two years of putting together the abdication he discusses during the final episode of Book 4, then Dear Diary or: How I Had a Second Coronation and a Dalliance with a Detective might appeal. It does include some OCs and takes place in Ba Sing Se; there are also many other canon show characters involved. Is it canon? Well, as much as you can get when you are writing about something that happens 2 years after the show ends and that isn’t based on the comics and/or Bryke’s commentary.

The rest of my work? There’s stories that focus directly on the Beifongs (where Wuko exists but is in no way the focus of the fic) and stories that focus on Wu and Mako, but are they canon? That completely depends on what your definition of canon is.

Is your definition of canon as something only taking place during the source material’s timeline? Then the rest of my work isn’t for you.

Is your definition of canon taking into consideration only what the showrunners have said and/or done? Then you’ll be moderately disappointed with my work. I do keep it firmly lodged in the world that Bryke created, but I do take some liberties (including ignoring all of the heavy-hitting only a straight person could write this homophobic world dealing with Korra’s coming out in the comics - my world isn’t homophobic, because as a pansexual damn near in her 50′s I’ve got zero desire to write that).

In my mind, there are three different categories when it comes to Fanfiction:

CANON

Filler fanfic: The kind of fanfic that focuses on scenes that were implied but that we weren’t shown in the source material and sticks to pure canon as closely as possible

HEADCANON

Broadening fanfic: The kind of fanfic that runs parallel to canon but delves deeper into the source material and broadens and expands on it through giving agency to minor characters, creating OCs and/or is set in either pre- or post-canon time periods

Fix It fanfic: The kind of fanfic that stays in the canon world but is there to “fix” the source material by taking a major thing that happened in the source material and either ignoring it or changing it; a major character death, for example, or a major plot point (like writing that Su Beifong was the one to attack Republic City and deploy the Colossus rather than Kuvira, for example) or, yes, creating a romantic relationship between characters that is not canon

CANON?

What Is The Source Material Anyhow fanfic: Korra and Asami are here on Earth and Korra works in a coffeeshop where Rich Girl Asami the Korean Pop Star flirts with her and they wear cute sneakers and lacy bras and have mobile phones and bending what’s bending?

Crossover fanfic: Korra and Asami meet the kids from Scooby Doo and have adventures in the Mystery Van where Korra bends at the Bad Guys and Velma tries to get into Asami’s pants, much to Daphne and Korra’s utter jealous rage

Smut fanfic: Fuck characterizations, fuck the source material, this is porn, all we’re here for is fucking, preferably as nasty as possible

In all but The Prince and the Bodyguard my fic is solidly in the Headcanon category, and straddles the Broadening/Fix it border. Fix It because Wuko is not actually canon, after all. Broadening, however, because I really do stick to the world and canon events, even though most of it takes place in the future.

I can tell you that I am a 49 year old woman who was in a same-sex marriage with kids (and who was widowed three years ago) and therefore has not only a whole shit-ton of life experience but also has previous fanfic writing experience under her belt. I can also tell you that I have done exhaustive research on certain aspects of Imperial China, for example, so that I can write Wu’s background as a Crown Prince of the Earth Kingdom in a way that I think is not only canon but goes far, far deeper than Bryke were ever able to do on 23 minutes a week on Nickelodeon. Some people appreciate this sort of epic novel approach I have to my fanfic; some people just want to see Wu and Mako holding hands and having a sweet little kiss in the turtleduck boats and could not give a shit about all of my research and efforts to enrich the source material. Which is fine, by the way! It’s just not what I am writing.

I have two kinds of readers: the kind that read the first couple of fics I linked to above who enjoy them and leave nice feedback and go on their merry way without bothering with the rest and my RIDE OR DIE readers who inhale all of my work over a couple of days barely coming up to eat or do anything else and who send me these amazing heartfelt (and sometimes delightfully incoherent) letters about it and who loyally follow my work after that. There doesn’t seem to be much middle ground! I appreciate both kind (although I confess to really loving my RIDE OR DIE readers).

So really, it’s up to you, as the reader, as to what you want to read.

The sad truth about it is that there is so little Wuko fanfic out there that I think your choices are pretty limited. It’s a show that ended over three years ago that was aired on Nickelodeon, written for adults but aimed at kids. I loved TLOK - obviously, I’ve written close to a million words about it - but in many ways it was kind of a mess. A well beloved mess! But mess, nonetheless. With very little exception most of the fanfic out there is based on Korrasami, and most of that doesn’t really give any real thought to how canon it is or isn’t. It is what it is.

However, this much I can tell you about my fanfic: I love Wu and Mako as a couple. I loved them together in the show and I continue to love them. I am currently writing 12 years into the future from the end of the show, so they are not exactly the same people they were when the show ended. (God, I would hope not. Most of us do mature and change.) They have a life, they have kids, they’ve gone through a lot. They are still together. In my fanfic they will always be together, end stop. Is it canon? Well, obviously Wu and Mako living in Republic City and having three (soon to be four) children together is not canon. That is not in the show. But then again, neither is Wuko itself. So take that as you will!

#my fanfic #is it canon?#who the actual fuck knows #Anonymous

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lokgifsandmusings · 7 years

Text

Definitive Ranking of Book 4 Episodes, #2/13

2. 4x13 The Last Stand

Kuvira tears off her arm. Mako makes a Heroic Sacrifice and no one will heal him. Korra and Kuvira fight, until Korra freakin’ bends pure energy, rips apart the city, and demonstrates her growth in one quick spirit world conversation. Hasook fulfills his clarinetist destiny. We get the most ambiguous ending everrrrr.

You know, after going back through this whole season, I’m realizing that there were a lot of flaws with Book 4. A lot. It’s not to the point where I feel this episode ranking as second highest is unearned, but it is making really wonder about “what would this have looked like had Bryke been given more time?”

The thing is, with this episode, the emotional beats are nearly perfect for Korra. And that’s really what matters, given that the show is...well...the legend of *her*. Even for most other characters, this conclusion was (dare I say it?) dramatically satisfying. Thematically satisfying, too.

But at the same time, what didn’t work is only more and more glaring with each revisit, and especially after thinking through it.

Kuvira is probably the hardest character to reconcile, because she’s the primary antagonist, and yet up until Korra dropped the “oh you’re an orphan” truth-bomb that explained ~~all~~ of Kuvira’s actions, there was every indication that her guiding motivation was much more about her perceived rejection by Suyin, or a desperation to prove her wrong, or a mentor’s fall from grace when an inherent hypocrisy was shown...

Honestly, from just the perspective of Kuvira’s arc, dismissing everything as “you were sad about your parents (who you never talked about once) leaving you with the creepy thought-policing matriarch and you didn’t want to ditch the EK in the same way” is almost insulting. Kuvira like...made compelling points in the Suyin-filtered flashback about why Su should accept Raiko and Tenzin’s offer, and it seemed to be coming from a place of pure pragmatism, not compensation for abandonment or a way of gaining control. Actually, she framed it about sharing prosperity:

Kuvira: Suyin, I know this isn't my place, but I think you should do this. Zaofu has always been a beacon of modern progress, and now you can share that with everyone.

Suyin: What would you have me do? March into Ba Sing Se with an army? We'd be seen as conquerors and greeted with nothing but war.

Kuvira: There are already wars. The Earth Queen nearly destroyed our nation. This is our opportunity to change things.

Also, fun fact: Suyin didn’t even tell Korra that Kuvira was an orphan; she barely even implied it.

Korra: How did things get so bad between you and Kuvira? I thought she was your protégé.

Suyin: She was more than that. She was like a daughter to me. I took her in when she was eight years old and nourished her talents. Kuvira was smart, a natural leader, and quickly rose through the ranks. I saw myself in her.

Like, this could have meant anything. Maybe she took her into her School of Metalbending Dancing and Narcissism. Maybe this is a nitpick, but it just amuses me if there was some version of this scene where Korra is like “it must have been so hard being an orphan,” and Kuvira goes, “...wtf my parents are FINE.”

Back the main point here, the difficulty in parsing out Kuvira’s guiding motivations and meaning of her own arc is not made better by the fact that her political position and military campaign were incredibly poorly defined. This is nothing new for Bryke, but with regard to this episode specifically, there’s still the question of why Kuvira was even interested in reclaiming UR land when she was supposedly just a technocrat that opposed the Earth Queen’s unjust rule, and had spent a painstaking amount of time laying down tracks to connect the two nations in what seemed like a cooperative measure and to truly bring the EK up to speed with the rest of the world. Was storming Republic City always her plan? Would she have been able to without the super laser that she didn’t know was being invented (Varrick was just looking for clean energy, remember)? After successfully taking Republic City, was she going to lock up every citizen there not of EK origin?

The general idea is that she was supposed to be earnestly committed to restoring stability in the Earth Kingdom, while also pushing forth innovation, and that when Korra pointed out how horrible and out-of-balance she was, it was a comeuppance and reality slap. I guess in this respect, the broader strokes make sense, but then there was so much that seemed so personally motivated, like...everything to do with Zaofu (she even made a point of saying “when I return I’ll be greeted with open arms), and then wrecking all of Republic City.

Even ignoring motivations, there’s logistics, because Kuvira’s disappearing army (and the disappearing United Forces) was still very much evident here, especially since mecha tank officers came clomping back into view at the end, and she needed to instruct them to stand-down. It kind of makes me giggle to think that Varrick powered down these suits, and the morons just lay on the ground helplessly until they were up and running again. But there were also all those ground troops and shit, so...

Oh yeah, and Raiko formally surrendered. There should have been an entire platoon sent to the island as soon as Kuvira realized Baatar had been captured while traveling there.

None of this is a specific issue to “The Last Stand,” but it does make the resolution feel a little...convenient. As though all these things were just dismissed and swept under the rug. This is best exemplified in Suyin’s line as a response to Kuvira’s apology, where she goes, “you’re going to answer for everything you’ve done!” Like, that didn’t even follow what Kuvira had said! Though there’s also a chance that this was a place-holder line they never bothered to change (or ran out of time to change). It’s not the only one with this vibe.

At the end of the day, Kuvira worked fine for Korra. But the way she had been scripted herself, there was really no telling how she’d react to a given situation until after the fact. I could have seen her, stirring from the rubble, having the same exact spirit world conversation with Korra, rather than running away to find Chekhov’s very literal gun. She trashed an entire fucking city and nearly died already just with Mega Maid’s explosion, after all.

Most of the other challenges of this episode have to do with the wrap party, because it was pretty clear that Bryke had a case of “we have X minutes to conclude all of this.” Enter bizarre conversation after bizarre conversation.

It’s not exactly a secret that I’m currently writing on a fic that tries to make sense of “why the hell does this wedding feel as though it is simultaneously the day after the fight, and two months down the road?” Word of God is that the wedding is 2 weeks later, which may or may not have been made up by Mike on the spot. But it’s just all so wonky. Korra is acting as though she hasn’t talked to anyone, Wu and Mako certainly haven’t seen each other since the evacuation, Tenzin only just talked to Raiko, and yet Zhurrick planned an entire wedding and somehow world leaders were able to travel to the still utterly destroyed city to enjoy it.

It’s WONKY, I’m telling you. The worst case offender?

This is a terrible fucking idea. I get that it’s a Y7 American show and we have to be pro ~~democracy~~ as a general concept, but the logistics behind it make no sense. I suppose in the context of Wu’s arc, him stepping aside because he doesn’t feel qualified is fitting. Granted, I thought the whole “you were calm during the evacuation and also badger moles like you” stuff was to show how he does have leadership potential, so long as he plays to his strengths and allows those more informed than him to take the lead on other matters. But I suppose we can say it was part of a bigger picture: Wu learning to be less of an entitled asshole. He pushed himself and stepped up when the world needed him to, but in the end “sometimes a good evacuation is its own reward.” Nice.

Now go and create a horrible panic by tossing the EK’s political and legal structures out the window!

The Mako/Korra conversation was a very nice endcap to Mako’s season-long arc, and the series long relationship between these two characters. They were incompatible as romantic partners, but Mako found meaning in their platonic friendship, looking to Korra as inspiration to be more selfless. It’s just nice. And it’s nice to see exes being nice and not jealous or still hurt or pining or whatnot. Nice.

That said, Wu’s role in Mako’s arc is a headscratcher. Mako definitely had an influence on him, but the other way around...I’ve got nothin’. Unless we consider Wuko a possibility, because IT IS THERE, DAMNIT. Except, I really don’t think Bryke meant for it to be there. Which means that Mako played a bit more of a supporting role for Wu than the other way around. Wu had diddly squat to do with Mako feeling inspired and self-sacrificial...that was a decision Mako reached inside Mega Maid as a result of watching a clip show about his relationship with Korra.

And yeah, let’s actually talk about that moment, because it was probably the second most emotional point of the episode. For those who don’t know, it’s also the point where I realized, at 5:50 in the morning, that I was going to start bawling in the middle of Planet Fitness if I stayed, so I cut that short and went home to finish out the episode.

It was touching, even if Bolin’s “This isn't the time to prove how awesome you are. I already know how awesome you are... you're awesome.” lines were incredibly odd. However... Looking back, this was probably the dumbest thing Mako could have done in this moment.

The weapon was disabled (he knew Su and Lin were taking care of that), and Korra was in the “head” having a fight to the death. There was no pressing need to power down Mega Maid at that point (Kuvira initiated lockdown as soon as they got in, actually), and the only thing he knew was that he could probably get it to explode. With everyone still inside. All things considered, how Mako didn’t just kill everyone inside the tank is beyond me. How Mako didn’t die is equally beyond me, cause dude got shot squarely in the chest. I mean yes, Bolin came back for him (where did he even dump the other bodies? The legs?), but Mako has a heart and stuff.

I don’t want to detract from the message of “Mako is an incredibly selfless hero,” but the logistics get in the way. It’s like Bryke wanted him to have this moment, but they didn’t take the time to figure out a realistic way it could unfold, so it just happened. Which is jarring, especially since this immediately followed Hiroshi’s sacrifice from the previous episode. Snaps for Mako, but 10 points from Brykendor for the contrivance.

Also as a side note: poor Bolin, this episode. I mean yes, he’s in a good place, and he got to marry Zhurrick (I can confirm: officiating a wedding is mad fun), but the dude didn’t even get a Conversation of Significance with anyone. Needless to say I’m going to be fixing that with my final chapter...

Let’s just round out the Krew then and discuss Asami. And I 👏👏don’t👏👏fucking👏👏know👏👏 what to do with her.

I mean, you know what Asami means to me as a character at this point. And Korrasami. But going back through and watching this season, there’s a few things that are blindingly clear.

1. The scripting is bizarre. Not just for Asami—across the board. There are lines that feel outright unedited. For instance:

“When the queen fell, and everyone was asking you to help keep the Earth Kingdom from falling apart, all you wanted to do was hide in Zaofu, and let others deal with the consequences.”

It’s not as though lines like that don’t work, but it’s the kind of thing where if that were in fic I was beta-reading, I’d highlight “fell” and “falling” so the author would know to take out one of the repetitive phrases.

For characters with a lot of lines, the lack of polish can be overlooked, for the most part. For Asami, who had an incredibly limited screen presence during Book 4, things stick out.

2. Seychelle Gabriel’s voice acting was...different. It wasn’t bad, but some of her lines had a certain stilted quality to them. I’ve actually noticed that with just about every character in Book 4 that wasn’t Varrick or Bolin (that’s just John Michael Higgins and PJ Byrne falling back on their comedic chops), with a big exception in Korra. I sort of think Janet Varney didn’t settle into a consistent voice for her *until* Book 4, but that’s a whole other story, and yes, deeply subjective.

The best example I can point to for Gabriel is the way she delivers, “Thank you. I'm just glad I was able to forgive him.” It just had this awkwardness about it, and a good thing too, since I’m 95% certain that’s what spawned @progmanx’s entire fic, as well as my own views on her characterization (oh hey, we’re of one mind with that).

3. There really could have been more to Korrasami. Even with Russian TV restrictions. But I already talked about in my “Reunion” piece, so I won’t rehash here.

4. Asami’s scripting was pure *convenience*. I touch on it here for “Enemy at the Gates” and here for “Day of Colossus.” But it’s not really hard to recap.

Asami needs to open the lines of communication to her dad, so she does, and it is wonderfully, realistically hard on her. Then in a ridiculous scene, she spots a happy father and daughter, and decides she wants to work to forgive the man who tried to fucking kill her. We can assume she’s feeling conflicted about it because she snaps at Korra over it, but really, we have to just assume, because this shit is never talked about on-screen. Then Hiroshi pops in to save the day with his oddly specific technical knowledge of stuff he wasn’t working on. Then Asami tells him that she loves him before they go into a flying mecha suit to battle potentially to the death, and then Hiroshi dies.

And yes, I’ve talked a lot about what an internal character Asami is, so it would have just been odd if she suddenly started expositing on why she was feeling the way she did, but at the same time... When *did* she decide to forgive him? Was it just because he was willing to save the city? Does she even know if he’s changed his opinion of benders, or if he just regrets not having her in her life? Does she regret not seeing him sooner? Did she ever READ THOSE DAMN LETTERS?

So for her to sit her ass down next to Korra and say that she’s super sad but glad she forgave him... Well yeah, of course she’s sad. But she’d probably also be confused and conflicted and angry and guilty and a million other things just by how inherently fucked up this situation is. The last time she and her dad were in a mecha suit at the same time, he TRIED TO KILL HER. This isn’t hyperbole. He also saved the city from being destroyed *this time*, despite being the man who bombed it before. You see what I’m saying???

I think this is coming at a bad time, because I am working over and beyond to make sense of Asami’s headspace during this specific point in the story right now with ‘Half the Pieces’. I even gave her and Hiroshi another pai sho match so they could talk this shit over, and am kind of getting at the idea of her forgiving him as more of like, she really wants to have forgiven him and to have that closure after three years of incredible pain relating to him. But for what we got on our screens, it feels rushed, there’s just no other way around it. Rushed and simplified.

The most frustrating thing about Asami’s character is her wasted potential—the way they could have been using her as a foil to Korra so much sooner, the way her unique position as an industrialist went largely untouched, the way there is so much packed into her and given a little space, she will come and wallop you with a bag of feels (“you tainted our past and destroyed our future together”).

Yes, she’s in a support role, and I’m not advocating her being foregrounded over anyone else on the Krew, and certainly not over Tenzin. But keep in mind, this was the season that gave a very complete and detailed arc to Varrick and Wu, while also pushing Kuvira & the Beifong Family Drama as the main tension. So excuse me for just a little annoyance with what could have been.

What *was* for Asami here was...fine. It’s not like I can’t remember what her conversation with Korra felt like the first time, or how could it felt that for once in her craptastic life, she was getting to be happy for a little. And for Korra too, realizing she had been disconnected for too long, realizing through her letters and the distance that she was in love, realizing she can take time for herself—it just all made for a beautiful moment, even if I do think that it felt a tad clipped. Given how much ground Bryke needed to cover here, it’s not shocking.

As a last note before I get to Korra and begin explaining why this episode is #2, I want to briefly touch on Tenzin. He was simply not a major player in this season, and I guess that’s fine. His relationship to Korra was in focus for Book 2, with her becoming *her own Avatar* at the end, and then his relationship to his daughter and the Air Nation at large was Book 3. I don’t feel like anything was incomplete with Tenzin here on a larger scale, though it was a notable decision. I wonder if Book 4 had been given another pass, would there have been a more imaginative way to utilize his character?

I think that may have detracted from the impact of his final conversation with Korra, too. Or maybe that’s why it almost felt like it had bizarrely romantic undertones for a second, because it was hard to have a handle on where *they* were at with how they related to each other. Also he said the phrase “big bumpy ride” so...

And that conversation was the most, “let’s wrap up this Y7 show yup yup” that fell victim to extremely unfortunate wording. The idea was to show that Korra had found meaning in what she had been through, harkening back to Katara’s remark that Aang “chose to find meaning in his suffering and eventually found peace.” What Katara did not say was that Aang NEEDED TO EXPERIENCE THE GENOCIDE TO FIND PEACE. Because who the hell would say something like that.

There are negative implications of Korra saying she “needed” to suffer to be more compassionate, especially since compassion was never a department she was lacking in before. However, as a result of what she went through her approaches to situations did change, and her “go-to” mode of operation, altered. We saw her trying to fight against the “old me” in Zaofu, and that was simply ineffective. In this final chapter, we saw her take action as she needed to, only to finally talk the antagonist down in the end. It wasn’t an increase in compassion, but it was a result of her empathizing over the fear of being vulnerable—a fear we’ve seen Korra struggle with since the start.

“I may not have been an orphan, but believe me, I understand what it feels like to be afraid. [Sits down so she is at eye level with Kuvira.] After I was poisoned, I would have done anything to feel in control.”

Look, there’s a wonderful narrative here, and it just...fell over itself on the way to our screens, and that’s unfortunate. Because it would have required so little to fix.

If you’ll allow myself and @progmanx to be hubristic here, we actually did rewrite this for my upcoming chapter (not finalized yet, but it will be something along these lines):

“I know I was in a pretty dark place after I was poisoned; all I wanted to do was feel like myself again. And I think it took seeing Kuvira being so angry and scared of letting everyone down, just like I used to be, for me to finally realize what I already knew: I can never just go back and to being that person again, and I don’t want to be. I’ve seen now what fear can do and what it can drive people to...what it drove me to do, even if it didn’t hurt as many people. That’s a part of me, and there’s no undoing it. I don’t think I want to undo it, either. Your mom told me that Aang found meaning in his suffering. I guess if I’ve found mine, that’s it. We’re all afraid sometimes, but that doesn’t make us weak. In fact, it’s what makes us stronger.”

It’s almost as if I like A Song of Ice and Fire, or something.

Would a more diverse writers’ room have resulted in a different end line? Who can say. But this at least demonstrates why a diversity of voices and a willingness to think through the implications (something Bryke aren’t incapable of) is helpful.

If you’ve been paying attention, you’ll notice that #1 on this list is going to be “Korra Alone.” So I’m going to save fully gushing about Korra’s healing arc there.

But what I will say is that “The Last Stand” brought the series to a thematically apt, and rather uplifting conclusion. The season was about balance, but you could just as easily say that the series was too. This also tapped into “light in the dark,” only Book 4 took the time to explore that darkness rather than blow by it.

Seeing Korra so...at peace, was truly remarkable. We’ve seen her so insecure at many points in the series, and it really was just heartening to watch her be so decisive, so proactive, and also so *effective*, even if that meant switching approaches on the fly or, idk, leaping in front of a giant cannon and ripping open a hole in the universe and by doing so being so impressive that there was an instantly humbling effect on the megalomaniacal dictator to the point where Korra was able to talk her down with words alone.

It kind of makes me laugh, thinking of some of the Discourse™ as the finale ended: that Korra was “neutered” or “tamed.” Yeah those are great adjectives to attach to someone who threw themselves in front of a firing spirit cannon on an instinct. What we saw is a deeply matured and strategic Korra.

Remember, she was the over-eager hero who was told that the world didn’t need her. Her narrative was never going to be “I saved the day therefore I am,” but rather “Who am I when I’m not saving the day, and does that matter?”

Yes.

As for Korra, the world’s most powerful bender/spiritual leader of the masses/ with her ancient wisdom and sheltered upbringing ending up with the wealthy nonbending driver of modern innovation from the world’s biggest metropolis, well... that’s just the perfect endcap to the all-subtle balance theme. Nice.

Edit: 4/11/2017:

This entire piece wound up a little more focused on negatives than I wanted, so please read this reblog commentary for clarification/a few more notes on what was really great here.

#13: 4x08 “Remembrances”

#12: 4x11 “Kuvira’s Gambit”

#11: 4x09 “Beyond the Wilds”

#10: 4x07 “Reunion”

#9: 4x06 The “Battle of Zaofu”

#8. 4x12 “Day of Colossus”

#7 4x01 “After All These Years”

#6 4x03 “The Coronation”

#5 4x04 “The Calling”

#4 4x05 “Enemy at the Gates”

#3 4x10 “Operation Beifong”

Book 2 ranking/essays found here

#lok meta #korra #korra 4x13 #the last stand #book 4 ranking

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ourimpavidheroine · 8 years

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1/2: I started reading your Wuko story (The abdication of Hou-Ting LVI) a week or so ago. It's fucking awesome. Seeing Qi making a conscious effort to correct Qi's speech to make it more proper? Tears every where. I'm an English major that grew up in poverty and my speech very much reflects that. I'm more than capable of speaking "proper" English but for years I didn't because that's how I talk. But people thought I was dumb and crude because of how I spoke.

2/2: It made me cry to see that some one else gets it. I've tried to explain that people treat me differently because of how I talk but no one seems to get it. Seeing it put into such a beautifully crafted story and centered around a non-cis character that I could relate to as agender? It made me feel like I wasn't just over reacting for the first time in my life. Does your understanding of how speech effects the perception of the person come from experience? Personal or otherwise?

First of all, thank you so much for taking the time to not only let me know you are enjoying the stories but also for sharing such a very personal connection to them. Your words were very beautiful and very very moving. It meant a lot to me to read them.

To answer your question...yes. My understanding of how speech influences perception is 100% personal.

As a small girl, I had a stutter. I was already a strange, awkward child - it was only in my 40′s that I was diagnosed with Asperger - and the stammer made it so much worse. I was in speech therapy for two years getting rid of it. The bonus of this was that I learned to mimic my speech therapist’s voice perfectly.

I also grew up in and around poverty. When I was 10 my parents moved us from the San Francisco Bay Area to a tiny town located in Northern California, a town that relied on the timber trade to survive. My parents were blue collar people who hovered on the brink of poverty my entire life. I was the first person to go to university in my family. And when we moved to this small town? I got beat up more than once for emulating my old speech therapist’s accent. Because I sounded stuck-up, don’t you know.

I got the fuck out of Dodge when I left for University (never to return) and I studied theater, where I specialized in acting, and especially voice work. I spent a lot of time perfecting my accent when I was there, losing the rough sounds of my background. I knew first hand how different I sounded. I knew first hand how differently people treated me when I didn’t sound like who they expected.

Fast forward many years. I met and married a Finnish woman and moved to Finland. Now being an immigrant is part of my identity, and the fact that I cannot speak fluent Finnish continues to impact me every day. Finns make a lot of assumptions about me because of my accent: I’m stupid, I’m uneducated, I’m not funny (humor in a second language is difficult), etc. People get impatient, angry, dismissive and are often very rude to me because of it. And I’m the “right” kind of immigrant, a white cis woman (who isn’t Russian). It’s so much worse for my fellow immigrants here who are not white. My life is full of constant small humiliations because of the way I speak: the man in the shop, brusque and impatient, the receptionist feeling completely free to yell and humiliate me because I misunderstood the time of my appointment over the phone, the looks on people’s faces when I mispronounce a word.

Because of the Asperger there are also times when I struggle with communication, where my spoken words jumble up and either come out tangled or refuse to come out at all. Do I get judged for this? Of course. People don’t know what is going on, and they assume the worst.

I teach English for a living. I’ve taught myself to speak what I call Teacher English: I speak clearly with excellent diction, slowly, I avoid slang and idioms, use phrasal verbs very sparingly, etc. It is an extremely conscious way of speaking, done in order to help my students understand me and gain the confidence to speak aloud (a problem that many Finns have). I am 100% aware of what I am doing. It is very deliberate. Because I know how it works, I know how speech has such an impact on how we live our day to day lives. (In fact, just this week I did a voice meme here on Tumblr; you can listen if you want to hear me speak!)

So yes, Anon. Yes. When I am writing about Qi trying to improve their accent, when I write about Wu trying to fit in, when I write about Mako’s struggle to make sure that he and Bolin keep their lower middle class accent, when I write about Nuo’s treatment at the hands of her schoolmates for her Lower Ring accent and then her treatment at the hands of her family when she finally comes home with an upper Middle Ring one, when I write about Huan’s struggle to make himself understood - his use of formal rote language when he is unsure or doesn’t know someone, his word salad when he’s starting to melt down and/or shut down - all of these things come from my long years of very personal experience. I get it, I really do. I know exactly what you are saying to me; let me assure you that I hear you, and I know. And I want to hug you, because I also know the kind of emotional toll it takes from you, trying to make those changes. It’s slow and frustrating and yeah, it hurts. It’s frustrating that most people, like you said, have no idea of the assumptions they are making about someone based on their speech. Classism is a real thing, and it is revolves around how we talk. (And hooo-boy, there is so much to unpack about it with regards to racism, too, because race and speech? Holy shit. But that’s another post.) So let me say right here and now, Anon, that I’m acknowledging all of your hard work and I don’t have to know you to tell you how brave you are. I salute you, one poor kid to another.

#personal #Anonymous

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