#i think this is also why asami is so fond of bolin who is also extremely earnest

[aerithisms]

i like to think one of the things asami likes about korra that starts to attract her to her in book 3 is that korra is so painfully earnest in a way that must be such a relief to asami after all the bullshit she's been through from her lying homicidal father and her lying manipulative business partner and her lying cheating boyfriend. korra's got her flaws but there isn't a dishonest bone in her body and even back when she was kind of rude to asami in book 1 she was incapable of not wearing her heart on her sleeve about it. genuine emotional honesty is something i think asami would value very deeply and find a lot of solace in

[beifong-brainrot]

Ships you like and dislike for a few characters and why ? I’m interested in your thoughts and analysis. Don’t have to answer all of them I would just love to see some. Tysm and have a good day 💗🤍.

Bolin ( obvi)

Wei

Suyin

Lin

Asami

If you don’t ship Bopal who do you ship Opal with ?

Bumi II

Huan

So for Bolin, I don't have many ships I like for him other than weilin? I think a lot of his canon ships share the theme of either enabling his infantilisation or patronising him. Bolin needs a partner that would support amd challenege him into maturing, but the writers won't give that to us because writing character development is hard.

At least with weilin I can work with my own ideas?

Mind you it's not that I can't get behind other ships, in the right setting,I'm just very picky about how Bo is characterised.

As for Wei, he doesn't have a lot of interactions with any characters outside of Bolin, so I really don't have a lot of ships with him.

One thing I'm sick of seeing is Beifong family incest? If my daily scouring of the web for weilin crumbs is interrupted by a threesome between Wei, Wing and THEIR FATHER, I will blow this solar system into smithereens.

I'm pretty vanilla when it comes to Suyin ships. I adore Sutar they're adorable and I wish we could've seen them when they were younger. I adore the idea of Suyin finding someone to build a life with, I adore the theme of carving out and building a place to call home together, I adore how they're the poster children for malewife/girlboss.

Though one of my crackships is Suyin x any member of the Red Lotus. This would probably place itself somewhere in my Red Lotus! Beifongs AU.

I'm not too fond of Suvira? Like I absolutely get the appeal, in theory. And while Kuvira doesn't consider the Beifongs family, she has been under Suyin's care since she was 8. Most mentor/protégé ships aren't my cup of tea. There are very specific exceptions, but as a rule of thumb, I shy away from this theme.

For Lin, I'm very partial to Linzolt, thanks to my wife. Very interesting dynamic. I also like shipping Lin with women of course; Kyalin, Linsuko, Lin x Buttercup Raiko - all bangers. I like Linzin for what it could've been. I also think Lin x Pema is a fun crackship. Maybe they saw Korrasami and were like: 'hey why not?'. I do however like Lin with Tenzin and Pema together? They'd be a cute throuple. I have a tendency to enjoy shipping Lin with married couples because I tend to ship Lin with San and Naoki as well (Mako and Bolin's parents)

Asami. Like most of the fandom, I adore korrasami. Though I'll be honest when I say... masami was kinda cute? Honestly, any ship where Asami is happy gets a thumbs up from me.

That being said I'm always in the market for some toxic yuri, so Asami x Kuvira or Asami x Jargala are both very intriguing to me.

Another one of my favourite guilty pleasure ships I'm much too invested in is Opal x Asami.

Think about it. They're both rich girls who were isolated from the world. Imagine them sharing stories of the wide world. Imagine Asami upgrading Opal's wingsuit and Opal bringing Asami trinkets from all the places her Air Nomad journeys take her. Imagine Asami getting a real family as the Beifongs adopt her. Her getting a father that would never betray her in Baatar Sr.

Idk I think they'd be good for each other. I think I need to make a longer post on Asami x Opal.

Opal is my favourite female tlok character (Bolin being my fave male character) and tbh I hate her being demoted to a love interest.

That doesn't mean I don't ship her with anyone.

Sapphic Opal has my heart and soul. I ship her with most female characters of the show. Korpal? Exquisite, did you see the synchronised airbending scene? Opalvira? Love their divorced vibe in rote! Opal x Asami? Unsung favourite! Opal x Eska? Opal x Ginger? Yesyesyes!

My one straight ship for Opal is Mako x Opal because I think they'd be good for one another.

Bumi II x Suyin Beifong's chef is my horrible creation. I think this post I made months ago explains it perfectly:

I don't have any particular ships for Huan. I'm quite open to most ships with him, since in my personal opinion he's the most romantic of the Beifong siblings. I can see him with Desna or Eska, Tahno or Ryu the airbender. Mako x Huan is also sweet when you think of it. I think if them both as such big brothers.

I'm not very into Huan x Ikki. Like, I do get why people like it. And I'm not that against age gap relationships. One of the healthiest relationships i know irl has a huge age gap. I just see Ikki and Huan as having such a big brother/little sister relationship it's very hard for me to swap to seeing them as anything romantic. Perhaps as a onesided puppy crush on Ikki's side but anything more is a big big no no

Thanks for the ask, anon, I had fun answering this one! And if you want me to elaborate on any of the mentioned ships, I'll be happy to ramble!

[tamras-shieldmaiden]

Random thoughts on Baatar Jr. (or why I don't really like him much)

Note:

Although this could be construed as anti-Baatar Jr., this is me voicing my reservations about the character and in no way this clashes with my position of defending his role as romantic partner to Kuvira in canon continuity. I do not agree in erasing or undermining this fact when justifying headcanons about her preferences.  I believe both positions can coexist without one contradicting the other.

So on to the topic. I've seen some people ask around these parts why Junior is a disliked character among some TLoK and Kuvira fans so I wanted to give it a shot by answering from the perspective of a Kuvira fan who has previously expressed her lack of fondness towards the Kuvira/Junior pairing. I'd like to start off by stating that, unlike others, I do not hate the character, just as I do not hate Suyin Beifong. They both are instrumental in Kuvira's story and both serve a purpose in the overall story of Book 4. Suyin in particular can be quite fascinating in all her complex and flawed glory, and I would've preferred to see their complex family dynamics better portrayed in Ruins of the Empire but alas, that didn't happen and what did happen left me disappointed in its rather superficial approach.

Anyway, back on topic. My personal discontent with Jr comes more from the fact that he is an embodiment of a child of *privilege with the negative connotations this term implies. He acts like one throughout the series and I wonder if he has realized how much this fact played out in his favor, from having his role as collaborator conveniently overlooked, to being embraced back by his family and receiving a rather lenient sentence compared to Kuvira or Zaheer. But Asami is also a child of privilege, you may say justifiably so. Well, yes, she is, but I personally believe there are striking differences between them that I will point out a bit later. I think Jr. would be in the same bracket as Wu since both are members of influential families in the Earth Kingdom.

So, why I do not particularly empathize with Jr.'s plight? I mean the guy was shot at with a weapon of his own creation (talk about irony) and had his sentimental relationship shattered in the cruelest way imaginable you may say, and from a romance standpoint, I would agree with that statement. But we have to talk about context, which shows that the circumstances dealt with far more than his romantic woes.

Let's get some facts straight. Like I said before, this guy is a child of privilege. Unlike many other characters who were dealt a crappy hand at life by being orphaned or abandoned, some literally growing up by themselves in the streets (Mako, Bolin, Kai), Jr. is the firstborn child of the granddaughter of Lao and Poppy Beifong. He was raised in what looks like a caring, loving family in a progressive, stable nation with his material needs met. Compare his situation to Asami's who witnessed tragedy firsthand in childhood and again, saw her progenitor and role model break bad before her very own eyes, and almost lost her livelihood to Varrick's schemes in Book 2. The Beifong family has been influential in the Earth Kingdom since the times of Avatar Kyoshi as we learned in the Kyoshi novels, and to this family of prestige is where Junior was born into. We're talking silver spoons here, unlike the Sato's who would be considered in comparison a new money family. I'm not sure if Varrick was born into money or if he built his business empire so I can't account for him in this comparison. But Baatar boy had everything going on for him from the start. He wasn't raised in Gaoling or Ba Sing Se. He was raised in the utopia his mother built from her own design and vision, a city where she ruled. That's a pretty impressive leg up in life if you ask me, but it seems that wasn't enough for him. Living under the enormous shadow his parents cast, inside what felt like a gilded cage made him feel unsatisfaction with his role in the family and made him fester resentment towards them, a resentment that found an outlet when Kuvira rebelled and left Zaofu for good. Did he care for the stabilization cause to contain the chaos that threatened to collapse the Earth Kingdom? I don't think this wasn't explicitly stated in the series but I might not be remembering certain details. What is explicitly shown is that he cared for his happiness which was manifested in his desire to marry his fiance. This is what brought him in a collision course with the person he believed corresponded to his feelings in the same way, but didn't because their values weren't aligned towards the same priorities and goals.

When Jr. relented to Korra's bluff in the warehouse, to me it looks like an extension of the privilege he experienced his whole life. What's years of planning and the hard work and effort of the troops under his command and Kuvira's worth when his personal happiness was threatened? It apparently was expendable enough to acquiesce to Korra's demands after a brief show of defiance. His fear was that he would be kept apart from Kuvira. As long as he could secure his personal happiness, everything, including finalizing the last step of the unification campaign could be set aside as long as he could marry Kuvira and be left alone in their Empire. Notice that the change of heart that he experienced after the warehouse is blown away is not because he suddenly realized that the invasion was wrong either strategically, politically, or morally, but because with her actions she chose the Empire over him. Once he cast himself apart from his family when he declared his fiance his only family (rather callously) and not having the Beifong clout as a source of privilege, he feared being cut off from Kuvira who was now that source. It might outwardly look like a demonstration of his love and devotion towards Kuvira to halt the invasion so the Avatar wouldn't keep them apart but it also showed a dereliction to the mission and his duty as second in command and at least to me, it showed a disregard to his troops and their collective effort and success which brought them to the last step of their **goal. Say what you will about Kuvira but she had the respect of the troops and was a source of inspiration to them, to the point of attempting to rescue her from the hands of the Avatar herself after Kuvira's rendition. Maybe because I served in uniform, I pay more attention to these things, and perhaps that's why I think Jr.'s decision could have felt like a betrayal to those under his command, and to Kuvira herself who valued the goal of unifying the country more than her own personal happiness (something I've talked about before). Apparently, he wasn't aware of that, even though he was the person closest to her for three years. That is pretty telling of his priorities and it is a rather big oversight to have about the person with whom you plan to spend the rest of your life.

The nail in the coffin in demonstrating that he is, along with Suyin, embodiments of privilege, is how rather easily he is forgiven and for his role in all the dictator business, he is given a leniency Kuvira wasn't offered, at least until the end of Ruins of the Empire, but his role is never really questioned, and the protection of the Beifong power and prestige comes back to protect him again.

So in summary, I believe this might be one of the reasons this character isn't that well-liked, and although ROTE tried to portray him in a more positive light with his role in defeating Guan, unfortunately, and this is a critique of ROTE in general, we can't say for sure if he regretted his role and actions as co-leader of the Empire. That introspection would have given him much-needed depth and would've served to present him as a character more self-aware of his acts.

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_privilege

**the justification or the merits of said invasion are not being analyzed. That's subject for other lengthy analysis and are not relevant to the point being made.

[melzula]

Sup. may i request a Mako x reader where they are childhood friends who have romantic feelings for each other but haven't confessed due to them thinking they like other people and the rest of the new team avatar are trying to get them together and in the end it works.

a/n: I hope you don’t mind me doing this as a hc, it’s just a bit easier :’) ♡

Anytime you met someone new they immediately assumed you and Mako were together, not that they were wrong to do so

You could never find one without the other, always attached at the hip and always looking out for each other, you and Mako were two peas in a pod

You first met when Mako was seven and you were five, just two little children running through the streets together and getting into all sorts of trouble. Your parents didn’t approve of the friendship, but you found ways to sneak past them in order to see your friend

You grew close almost immediately, Mako always quick to protect and defend you whenever the occsssion arose. He would swipe your favorite sweets from the stands in the streets and you’d often sneak him into your house so that he and Bolin wouldn’t have to spend the night on the streets

You were like the sister Bolin never had, so when his new friends started to notice just how close you and his brother were the earth bender knew he’d have to get their help and get you two together

Which is surprisingly tougher than they originally imagined

Because despite how much you and Mako obviously like each other, you’re both too afraid of rejection to speak up

Both of you have dated other people despite the feelings you harbor for one another, and it is because of this that you both assume you’ll never be more than just friends

Until you get a message from Bolin urging you to come to the training room and see an injured Mako. You dropped everything to see him, but when you arrive no one is there

“Y/n?” A voice calls from behind. “What are you doing here?”

“Mako?” You retort, confusion clear in your tone. “I came because Bolin said you were hurt, which.. obviously isn’t true in the slightest. Why are you here?”

“Bolin told me to meet him and Korra here for an impromptu training session but they’re not here. And now I’m starting to think they’re up to something.”

“It doesn’t take a genius to figure that out,” you reply sarcastically with a small laugh, Mako shooting you a wry smile in return. “But now that we’re here... it’s been a while since we’ve spent one on one time together.”

“It has, and I’m really sorry about that. It’s just been so busy with pro bending tournaments and my work for the police. But you know you’ll always be my number one girl, right?”

“I do,” you reply with a meek smile. “Hey, you wanna get a quick bite to eat? My treat.”

“I would.”

So after purchasing some delicious barbecue meat skewers from a nearby street vendor you and Mako both take a moonlit walk in the park. The sky is beautiful, and you don’t notice that a certain Avatar is blowing wind into the trees so that the flower petals from above fall gracefully upon your figures

You also don’t notice a certain earth bender make a small hole in the ground for you to trip over so that Mako can catch you in his firm grasp

“You okay?” He asks. His eyes twinkle as they stare down upon you and you gulp. You’ve always loved the color of his eyes, warm and safe.

“Yeah,” you breathe out quickly, your fingers digging into the fabric of his shirt and clutching tightly at the material as if your life depends on it. “I umm.. does this feel weird to you?”

“N-No, not at all. It’s uh, it’s actually really nice... of course, unless you don’t think it is.”

“No, no, I think it’s great. Lovely. Really nice,” you stutter with an awkward smile.

“Oh for the love of spirits, just kiss already!” A voice in the distance shouts, once that forces sheepish laughter from the both of you.

“Maybe your brother has a point,” you tease, instantly recognizing Bolin’s exasperated voice.

“Sometimes he makes very good points,” Mako notes with a small smirk, and before you can say another word he pulls you in for a long awaited but much appreciated tender kiss

Cheers erupt from behind the bushes as Bolin and Korra high five at the scene before them, Asami watching on with a fond smile

Their work is finally done, and you and Mako are finally together

[seyaryminamoto]

So imagine this: Aang, Katara, Sokka, Toph, Zuko and Azula meet Korra, Mako, Bolin, Asami, Opal and Jinora. They’re in their late teens or early 20s. How do you think this meeting would go? Add anyone else if you’d like!

Ummm… that’s tricky xD too many dynamics, too many characters.

Aang would probably get along best with Bolin. Despite I think Bolin would easily gravitate towards Toph because of obvious reasons, Aang would suit Bolin’s personality better.

Katara would probably adore Opal, Asami and Jinora. Truthfully she’d be ecstatic to meet all of them, and I’m sure she’d get along well with them. Probably best with Opal, though.

Sokka… he’d definitely want to talk about engineering matters with Asami, but I also get the feeling he’d be alright with Mako. As Mako is the kind of serious older brother Zuko was, and Sokka got along alright with Zuko, stands to reason Sokka would be fine with Mako.

Toph and Korra. Toph and Korra. Do I need to say it again? Toph would have loved meeting Korra in their younger years. Just imagine the bending battles they’d get up to: a few broken bones later they’d be making pacts of blood to be best friends forever xD

Zuko would easily get along with Mako, honest to gods, we can’t even kid ourselves about who Mako was modeled after. So yes, Zuko would be happy with Mako, for sure.

Azula… oh, she’d be quick to antagonize everyone, pick her favorite one depending on their reactions to whatever she says or does. Going by how self-righteous most the LOK characters are, I think Azula would roll her eyes at pretty much all of them xD maybe the only one who wouldn’t lash out on a long dissertation on why you should be nice is Bolin, therefore she might like him best x’D Though Asami might not do that either, but she wouldn’t be too fond of Azula being a little shit either way. Korra… eh, maybe she’s caught between total disapproval and tolerance when it came to Azula’s antics.

And now the other way around…

Korra would likely adore Toph, yes, that’s a two-way street. But she’d be fascinated with Katara too, and would admire Azula but from a distance, likely.

Mako’s definitely going to drift to Zuko, yep, but he wouldn’t reject everyone else outright. Though I’m sure he wouldn’t like Toph much, nope.

Bolin’s a problem because he’s too friendly and he’d want to be friends with all of them. So yes, Aang probably suits him best, but he’d try to reach out to all of them anyways.

Asami’s possibly going to admire Azula from a distance as well because of everything other than her moral code, but probably going to bask in conversation with Sokka. She’d probably enjoy all anecdotes about airship slices and crazy inventions he came up with.

Opal would no doubt be happy as a clam with Katara, but she’d probably like Aang too. Her airbending interests would likely make her want to learn whatever she can from him.

Jinora actually might end up being interested in Sokka too, given he’s the only one here who wanted to spend his vacation in the library xD she’d get along well with Zuko too, though, I feel… and well, obviously with Aang, goes without saying.

Anyways, that’s just me making my crazy guesses!