#I will literally watch korra just for Lin

[crybabylulu]

I have not watched legend of korra yet well I watched the 1st episode when it came out but didn’t stick with it it didn’t grab me but imma try again! My bf says 1st season and part of season 2 is amazing but anyways! I’ve seen some clips and I’ve seen clips of Lin and OMG! I WANT HER TO ARREST ME! BREAK MY BACK LIKE A GLOW STICK! PUT ME THROUGH THE MATTRESS! SHES SO FUCKING HOT OMG!

[aangarchy]

My younger cousin (16!!!!!!! Wtf???) watched season 2 of the legend of Korra, here's her opinion of the characters

Korra: "i have a love hate relationship with her bc what do you mean you couldn't tell your uncle was evil???"

Mako: "i don't like him."

Bolin: "so is he gonna do anything of actual importance ever or?" Me: "he stopped an assassination attempt on the president." Her: "ok sure but like did we really want the president alive?"

Asami: "she's a fucking badass where's HER happy end??"

Tenzin: "his siblings make him look more fun like i don't like him on his own"

Jinora: "literally the best fucking character here Aang would be so proud that's his granddaughter"

Ikki: "i just think she's a bit annoying"

Meelo: "a misogynist in the making jesus christ" Me: "yeah it doesn't really get better." Her: "his own grandmother would smack the shit out of him."

Lin Beifong: "gun to my head i don't remember what she did this season" Me: "she helped bolin stop the assassination attempt" Her: "hm."

Kya: "she's cool"

Bumi: "he's katara and aang's son? Not sokka's son? But then why is he like a new sokka?" Me: "beats me"

Varrick: "he reminds me of kuzco from emperor's new groove"

Zhu Li: "i hope she gets a bigger role than just being the assistant to avatar universe's elon musk"

Tonraq: "i can tell why Korra is the way she is"

Unalaq: "he's so obviously evil i don't understand why no one in the show realized until it was too late"

Eska and Desna: "the twins from the shining but creepier"

Avatar Wan: "why is he the hottest character and why was he in only two episodes"

[nerdycanible1]

Am back! :D

Omg guys! Almost forgot I had this ((joking)) but nah seriously! It had been years since I've posted anything here! 💀

Anyways imma go back to my roots!! Y'all remember the days of Legend of Korra where I've only simped for Lin Beifong? 👀 But I've found a new lady, well not really but I've got a new love!!

So y'all remember (if not don't worry about it) the whole genderbent au thing I've created and it was female Tenzin and male Lin and stuff like that? Well I've got some stuff for y'all!

So first and foremost, this is Tenna. She is genderbent Tenzin (female Tenzin). She is literally so hot and I cannot stop drawing her! Currently working on the backstory and this will be nothing like tLoK, actually it will in some places but yes! A lot will be changed!

But look at her! She's gorgeous! 🥺 Also I just wanted to show y'all my improvement of art over the years! QwQ it has improved so much and I'm so proud! Anyways I'll stop rambling and let ya get to the photo!

Tenna: 55 years old

Tenna in swimsuit enjoy 🗿

Side note: Tell me this isn't the most Tenzin expression ever xD

Anyways, my thoughts are simple. Make hot women. :D I am smooth brained and frankly I've been a simp for my genderbent Tenzin for years.

I wanted to update her concept instead of the one I've created years ago (plz forget that 💀) and frankly I love this version better. She looks kind, soft, hot, and first and foremost Tenzin-ish.

What I have for her so far:

She is 51-50 just like Tenzin in tLoK

She has one confirmed boy that I've come up with and one confirmed girl.

Their names are Jin (Jinora) and Ming (Meelo). I haven't come up with anything else for the kids as of yet.

She is pansexual. No discussion on this xD

She is currently in a relationship with Peng (Pema). But ma'am is known to wander around.

Tenna is also more in tune with her nomadic life style instead of the whole business stuff.

Tenna left RC at the ripe age of 16, leaving Ling (Lin) in the process but no hate. It was a mutual break up. Ling wanted to keep RC safe and promised Tenna that everything would still be up and running whenever she wanted to settle down.

Tenna fell in love with an air acolyte (whom I haven't decided to name as of yet) and stayed there for a year before the world called for her once more. It was a short but painful romance, one that Tenna often thinks about.

Once she was back on the road she fell in love with a non bender (Not Peng yet), got pregnant and went to RC for Air Temple Island. She stayed on the island for a few years raising her newborn son Jin.

Ling helped with all he could, being there for Tenna, taking care of her and feeding her and dealing with her grumpiness. He took care of her and once the baby was born, Ling knew he would protect the child as if he were the one to help make the baby.

Tenna couldn't have thanked Ling enough and felt horrible she was "holding him back" from finding his true love. Ling wanted to confess right then and there that he loved her but knew it wasn't the right time.

During the time of the whole pregnancy and the raising of Jin, Ling and Tenna fell into a romance. Stealing kisses, sharing deep secrets, touches that crossed the very thin line of friendship.

It wasn't until Jin started talking and walking that Tenna thought it would be a great time to start exploring the world. Jin barely being the age of 3 or 4. Ling confessed to her that he loves her and that she wished she'd stay for him but told her it was a selfish request. He instead kissed her goodbye and told her to look at the Northern Lights for her on one of her trips. Tenna never felt such sadness and sorrow but she promised to keep in touch. She watched as Ling got smaller and smaller as the boat began to leave the harbor and leave behind her very best friend and lover.

Sorry friends but this is where imma stop it before I bore you! Let me know if you want more Headcanons or if you want more art of this fine wine of a milf!

Send me asks, or ask simply in the comments or Dms about any of this au. I'm happy to reply and I'm excited to say that I'll be posting here regularly soon! And you know of course that there's gonna be more Lin Beifong art so prepare yourselves!

As usual, all art belongs to me. If reposted please credit. Thank you!

[azulas-lightning-bolt]

fem mako… save me fem mako…

okay so I saw @jade-of-mourning’s post about how makorra would make bomb yuri and I am 100% in agreement so,, how I imagine tlok would go if mako was a girl.

I feel like this would totally affect mako’s backstory n stuff too because life on the street is rough for any kids but like. little girls with no one to run to surrounded by creepy criminal guys. not great! so not only would that add an extra layer of trauma, but I feel like it would also add dimension to mako+zolt’s dynamic when mako and bolin worked w the triads. like, instead of firebending gang leader who wants to shape a mini-me he found into his successor, it’s. hold on let me make another sentence. it’s a girl who’s learned to protect herself and a man she needs to defend herself from offering to teach her better. so there’s less of the straightforwardness of their canon interactions—mako knows she’s being exploited but is willing to play into it to take advantage of learning zolt’s skills and zolt knows she’s clever but wants her close. idk how fucked up zolt would be, but he could probably have some motivations related to trafficking as a backup should mako turn on him that would’ve been less viable with canon mako. idk. thoughts are thinking too quickly for me to type rn.

I’m not gonna go through everything in tlok for the sake of not yapping for 12 hrs like i did in my 100yr war mako post but through the four books in the context of makorra i imagine it would go:

b1: weirdgirl firebender who’s a control freak becomes the avatar’s best friend. she’s totally not in love btw. and there’s literally no jealousy at all when asami befriends korra either cause they’re just chill. just friends, how friends are, yk. amon is a freak but part of her is relieved he took zolt’s bending. thought the thought of her getting her bending taken away feels like a part of her autonomy being taken and that’s terrifying so she’s relieved when he fucking dies.

b2: from what I recall team avatar is more split up during b2 and do you know what that means. so much pining. it smells like a forest with the amount of longing bro. then mako gets arrested and prison as we all know is such a friendly environment for women so. more trauma. then harmonic convergence happens at that is absolutely when makorra realize they’re in loooove. then vaatu happens and it’s like ohhh shit I’m in deeeep.

b3: new airbenders yay! mako is distracted from korra a little bit when she and bolin meet their long lost extended family, until dear old grammy says that korra would make a fine husband for her granddaughter if she were a man. and cue gay panic cause DOES SHE KNOW???? HOW??? I’m being intentionally vague cause I last watched this show like five years ago and I don’t remember the timeline at all but bear with me. airbenders in ba sing se are freed, krew makes their way over to zaofu to meet opal. this is cool it’s fine. lin is literally mako’s mom and she’s still worried the whole time they’re on zaofu. korra is kidnapped. prison for mako and bolin (again). m+b search the desert for korrasami, it’s all mostly the same except more. yk. gay pining. korra is poisoned but the girls have a girl moment on air temple island after Jinora gets her tattoos :3

b4: korra travels for a while, before returning to rc. then she’s gone again to the swamp. kuvira attacks zaofu, korra defends, and then she’s back. mako and asami are. yeah. blah blah blah that one episode of makorra reminiscing gets really gay, kuvira tries to take over rc, mako lightning-zaps the mech and almost dies and then BOOM. they kiss after the battle. and the lesbians win once again as makorra walk into the spirit world hand in hand.

if you’re wondering why this was written so disjointedly it’s because I kept getting distracted mid-sentence. and I also hate how the romance was dealt with in canon, but it’s such a big part of b1 (my favorite book minus romance) and the repercussions lasted throughout all four seasons so obviously that I physically cannot bring myself to rewatch it. and girls are so. thank u lychee ur really super awesome and cool for drawing makorra as girls because I think they would’ve worked out in canon if mako was a girl. sorry I’m really sick rn and I’m a little out of it lmao 😭🙏🏼

[orangepanic]

34, 36 (I am myself a very visual person, and I should say proudly that I have read all your fics during last 2 months, and I visualize Iroh very good, you even told his height, but not for Asami(as far as I can remember) I would love to imagine them beside eachother in your fics, so how tall you imagine her🧐)

39, 41

Please skip any, if you have already answered ❤️

That's such an interesting point! (also you read all my fics???!!!!!🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗) I wonder if I spend less time describing Asami because she has so much more screen time so I assume readers know? Anyway I have Asami as just a hair over 5'9" but as in canon almost always in heels, which puts her at perfect kissing height with Iroh :-)

34. What aspects of your writing are inspired by/taken from your real life?

At the same time everything and nothing. There are no characters who are inspired by real people, but at the same time there are little bits of people I know in so much of my characterizations. Asami has my messy purse and my coffee order. Iroh and I probably have the same number of books, though his are far better organized. His and Izumi's dislike of shoes is the same as my husband's. Some of the settings look like places I've been or seen (like all of Starvation Paradise is inspired by a real place in Russia). It's all cobbled together.

36. Do you visualize what you read/write?

Yes, which is often the hardest part. Writing for me is like watching a movie in my head and trying to translate. But it's also filtered through the characters' perceptions. Another reason I might describe Iroh differently than Asami is that they notice different things about one another. For example, I pulled these first re-meeting descriptions from the same fic.

Taller than average, he had thick black hair that he wore slicked back and the typical pale skin and golden eyes of the Fire Nation. Handsome in an angular sort of way, he had the kind of tense, uncomfortable look that she associated only with military men, nuns, and Lin Beifong.

Her black hair was bound up into a ponytail and she’d exchanged her heeled boots for hiking shoes. Even in the flat shoes she was tall, and though clearly younger than him she walked with a surety of movement that made her seem older than Korra and the others. A pair of olive green goggles perched on the top of her head. Iroh hadn’t wanted a traveling companion, but the thought crossed his mind that, if he must have one, he could do a lot worse than a pretty girl with common sense.

While it's only an example, I think Asami is slightly more literal and objective in her internal descriptions. Enter Mr. Tall, Tense, and Handsome from the Fire Nation. Iroh seems to be more relative, so while also noting features like tall and pretty, he's also describing Asami relative to his own expectations and feelings, so you get comparators like "younger than me but seems older than Korra and mature for her age so maybe okay to date?" and "I really didn't want to go with someone but hmmm okay yes I like this."

I can't claim I'm doing this on purpose but maybe I am? It would track with my characterization of Asami as slightly more analytical and Iroh as a big sack of feelings.

39. Is any aspect of your writing process inspired by other writers or people? If so, who?

Oh, all the time! First, I shamelessly steal headcanons. All the time. I see something I like and I adopt it. Second, I'm always reading things that make me want to write better or differently. If I read something I like I'll try it out. For example I just read a trashy mystery novel that, while I didn't love it, hardly used dialog tags at all and I was fascinated by that, so I've been trying it out. It's just fun to play with. Finally, I love chatting with other writers and people in fandom and bouncing ideas and getting feedback. They've all made me better.

41. Link a fic that made you think, “Wow, I want to write like that.”

I love the subtle intimacy of this one and have been trying to write like that ever since.

Fanfic writer asks

[therealnotta]

man ok I took a nap and dreamed just... that i was watching legend of korra? except Different

basically, it was same time period but about Zuko's lineage, and in this one he died as a young adult. became fire lord, got married and had a couple of kids (both boys) and then him and his wife were assassinated. Iroh took over as ruler, they found Zuko's mother, and she raised her grandkids, using it to heal and mourn the motherhood that was taken from her and the fact that she'll never see her son again and kinda pushing these expectations on the kids that was part of The Drama etc. etc. And it was such a bummer! Like I was sitting there thinking about how horrible it was that they did that, like they didn't HAVE to, Zuko could've lived a happy life. And then my rl memories kicked in and I remembered a) watching LoK and b) zuko was in that one and old!!

so then I "wake up" (not really) in the dream, relieved that zuko wasn't killed off like that, but bummed out because of how he was ACTUALLY killed off (not real). Basically, two... "vampire doll girl twins" (i didn't see them, i just described them as that while thinking about the scene in my dream???? dream me thought that explained everything??????? the brief glimpse was like... porcelain doll goth girls it was wild) attacked him when he was old and forced him to drink poison, which was also a bad way to go, and it happened when Korra and Lin Beifong were in a separate corridor (you could see to the one Zuko was in bc there were windows, but it was unbreakable glass for security purposes.) And it served as this like... "the bad guys are awful!!! these two girls are dangerous and powerful!" and gave motivation to really taking them down, but it was still depressing

and then i woke up for real and im like.... 75% sure zuko survives LoK? like i think aang and sokka are dead and that's it? i literally can't remember and now I'm afraid to look it up but man what an emotional rollercoaster

[lostboiking30]

Legend of Korra Rant about queer representation, capitalism and police

Okay...so if you have been following me or liking/reblogging my stuff then you know that I was an OG Korra stan. Last year when Avatar and legend of Korra came back on Netflix a lot of queer people watched, anticipating the queer representation only to be disappointed in the surprising lack of overt on screen queerness As a side, I still just don’t understand how people think that Korra is straight or cis. Idk, there is this theory/head canon I have that Korra is Two-Spirit because she is indigenous, exudes both masculine and feminine energy and literally had hundreds of past lives inside of her for the first 17 years of her life. 

Anyway, a lot of queer radicals that I have met who have watched the show have complained about Legend of Korra being queer bait and pro police-state, and pro capitalism and it kinda pisses me off, because that’s not true.  This show doesn’t take a side. For better or for worse, It shows the complexities of a city in the middle of an industrial boom, but that doesn’t mean it is pro-capitalist. The show wouldn’t have even touched what hoarding wealth does to communities if that were true. There would have been no representation of poverty or how KIDS get caught up in gangs in order to survive, nor would they have shown how Hiroshi Sato’s alliance to the Equalists almost destroyed his company or his daughter’s WHOLE LIFE. Like Asami was straight up on the verge of financial ruin in Book 2. THATS A LOT FOR AN 18 YEAR OLD TO DEAL WITH.  Concerning the Metalbending police force: I don’t know why people tend to forget this EXTREMELY IMPORTANT AND PIVOTAL SCENE in Book 1 where the police cut the electricity to the homes of nonbenders. Police Chief Saikhan was kettling the nonbenders and  threatening them with violence if they didn’t go home and follow that ridiculous curfew instated by Tarrlok that SCREAMED McCarthyism DESPITE the police INSTIGATING the situation. One of the nonbenders says “Please help us, You’re our Avatar too!” and Korra steps in threatening both the police and Tarrlok before he has Asami arrested for breaking curfew and throws Mako and Bolin in Jail for good measure.  That’s police brutality. And that scene in Book 1 should have been enough to show that this show was not pro police or pro police-state (See: Kuvira being an evil dictator -_-) 

The police aren’t shown in a good light in this show. In fact they are almost always seen as an oppressive force, even when Lin Beifong is Chief.  

As far as queer representation goes, it was 2014. Gay Marriage wasn’t legal in the USA. Nickelodeon was fucking with the creators. They gave us what they could without having the show be outright cancelled. Korra and Asami holding hands while walking into the spirit portal was SO important to us! 

ALSO it wasn’t like Mike and Bryan pulled a JK Rowling and was like yep Korra’s gay and then NEVER delivered. Not only did they immediately deliver Korrasami content, they told people that Korrasami was canon and everyone who disliked that could die mad about it. Then They gave us the continuation of the story in comic book form with LOTS of sweet Korrasami moments, and THENturned around and said YOU KNOW WHAT? KYOSHI’S BI TOO! HAVE SOME BOOKS ABOUT IT.  Mike and Bryan and the whole creative Team Avatar have delivered some of the most culturally aware content that I have ever seen in my entire life, and I hope they keep creating more. Avatar the Last Airbender, Legend of Korra and The Rise/Shadow of Kyoshi are gifts that we should be so lucky to have. 

[master-sass-blast]

Just imagine Lin’s reaction to Toph finding out about her relationship with the reader through the vines and her knowing about their sexcapades 

Nonny, you've got the biggest brain of us all.

Okay for some reason my brain decided to take this seriously, so I'm putting my blathering under the cut.

I can see this going a few different ways -and it all depends on your interpretation of Lin's character and whether or not you think Toph actually, properly apologized for putting her eldest daughter through hell as a young adult.

If you think Toph didn't properly apologize, I think Lin would be pissed --and, more than that, I think she'd be hurt. Her mom decided to fuck off, not even speak to her for thirty(ish) years, reconcile with Su but not try to see her (Lin), and it turns out this whole time that she's been keeping track of Lin through the Spirit Vines as some sort of replacement for actually sorting things out with Lin? Like, at that point, Toph knowing the sordid details of Lin's sex life is borderline moot; not only is Lin a private person -I can't see her liking the thought of being watched at all, let alone in her private/sex life--but that's what Toph decides to bring up? Not everything that happened with Amon, or Vaatu, or the Red Lotus, or Kuvira's attack on Republic City --Lin's city--but a throw away comment/joke about who she takes to bed. Frankly, I think Lin would snap... and honestly, it's kind of satisfying to think about. Lin deserves a good bout of cathartic rage sdlkfjlsdkfjsldfjdslkjf.

If you're operating under the premise that Toph actually does properly apologize for being a less than stellar mom and boss to Lin (as Lin DESERVES), at that point --imo--Lin's reaction comes down to the interpretation of her character:

-Irritated Mortification: I think this is the one we probably all lean towards (especially if Toph decides to joke about her daughter's sex life outright). Head in hands, lots of deep breathing, she needs to stay calm or she's going to burst a blood vessel. She'd probably tell Toph to stfu and either change the topic or gtfo as quick as humanly possibly.

-Stoic Refusal: Lin's pretty stone-faced and unflappable when she needs to be; in the whole of the LOK series, we only saw maybe one situation where she panicked, and that was when Pema handed her Meelo for his bath (admittedly, I haven't watched the cartoon series, so there could be something I'm missing, but literally everything else of Lin is her being an unfazed badass; also, I'm not counting her panicking over Katara not being able to restore Korra's bending, because that's kind of it's own trauma response category). Even when faced with Su for the first time in thirty years, Lin wasn't panicky, just pissed off. I could see her taking a very deep breath, counting to ten, then flat out telling Toph (again, assuming Toph decided to joke about it) that she's not discussing her sex life with her, now or ever, then moving on.

-Honest Conversation*: Okay, this one has an asterisk because it requires some special circumstances. One, instead of joking about her daughter's sex life (which, admittedly, I could see Toph doing in jest because she gives precisely No Fucks), Toph merely brings up the reader's existence and connection to Lin. Two, when Lin asks how Toph would know about the Reader, Toph tells her about the Spirit Vines, but Lin's the one to make the conclusion about her mother likely having seen Lin have sex with the Reader (mentally, I doubt Lin would say anything out loud about it if Toph didn't bring it up to begin with). Three, Toph makes some sort of comment about the Reader suiting Lin, and they have a nice, soft conversation about Lin having found love and a partner that cares about her. As much as Lin's a closed book, I could see her opening up to her mom about her life with the Reader --especially if Toph makes a good olive branch gesture by not ribbing Lin over something she takes so seriously and complimenting the Reader/the relationship (I think it would take both for Lin to open up, though; she's a bit of a tough nut to crack).

[krewbies]

can't wait to see some of your writing! can i maybe ask for a bolin x reader who's maybe a tiny, innocent seeming airbender, but is actually insanely impressive at their bending? maybe the avatar gang underestimates their skills and ends up pleasantly surprised (especially bolin 😏) if not, just anything bolin would be amazing ✨❤️ thank you!!

so i decided to combine these two, i hope that’s okay! i also thought that hc format would be best, just because its stretching over a longer period of time. the next thing i’ll be working on is NOT a request but i will get to the requests as well :) anyways, i hope you enjoy!!

•••••••

so like, you first meet bolin at the park in republic city

it was actually really sweet; you’re sitting on a bench and he thinks you’re GORGEOUS and asks if the seat is taken next to you and of course you say no because bolin and pabu are both cute as hell

usually bolin is a pretty straightforward guy but right off the bat he noticed how sweet you were and he didn’t even feel the need to flirt with you like he just felt comfy sitting with you

you guys decide to hit up this little noodle place together after sitting for a while and he’s convinced it’s love at first sight

you were especially endearing to him because you didn’t watch movers and you literally didn’t know wtf the fire ferrets were, and while bolin loved to be loved, he also really liked just feeling like a normal person???

you didn’t have your tattoos (yet) so he first noticed you were an airbender when you did this little spinny thing to mix your tea

the look on this mans face... both hands on his cheeks and wide eyes 

“ooooh! do it again (y/n)!”

you happily obliged because you thought he was adorable

you guys kept in touch after that day, often ‘accidentally’ running into each other in random places

OBviously he told mako, korra, and asami about you. they didn’t tell bolin that he sounded like a lovesick puppy cause they just thought it was sweet

mako got the most of it, like they’d be heading to bed for the night and bolin would whisper ‘i wonder what (y/n) is doing right now’ and mako would just GROAN

anyways, it wasn’t too long before you met the rest of the krew. you had gone to get ingredients for dinner tonight and bolin pointed you out to them cause they were walking down the same street

‘they’re a lot shorter than i thought they would be’

‘shush korra, they’re perfect’ (aww he called u perfect)

anyways, your relationship with all members of the krew grew beautifully after your first meeting

mako actually warmed up to you quickly, appreciating your calmer and innocent personality; you and asami both had very gentle souls that meshed perfectly; korra picked up a sort of ‘annoying big sister’ dynamic with you that you both enjoyed

and oh my god did they get exasperated with the two of you quickly

it was obvious to anyone with eyes (or feet) that you and bolin were SO interested in each other

whenever you talked, bolin would look down at you with this softass smile on his face and if someone interrupted you EVER he got so defensive... like just let his baby speak!!!!

you always listened to whatever bolin had to say and laughed at all of his jokes, even when the other three were rolling their eyes

like even in a silent room you two were always whispering to each other, and he pulled you along with him on all the krew adventures

none of them would ever tell you guys this but they thought you and bo were perfect for eachother

mako actually thought you were a perfect balance for his little bro, and after meeting you he got a lot more lenient and understanding whenever bolin would gush about you

‘did you hear what (y/n) said today! they’re so funny’

‘mako mako mako they’re so precious how do i TELL them!!!’

‘i wish (y/n) were here.... THEY would’ve laughed at that’

one time asami, korra, and you decided to hang out without the boys and you were not prepared in the slightest

‘so how’s it going with bolin?’ korra asked nonchalantly

you almost choked on your drink you were like ???

‘wait are you guys not dating?’ asami followed that up with. she and korra gave each other the most appalled look

‘n-no? should we be? i mean he is, well, i wouldn’t be opposed-’

‘you DO like him. mako said he likes you too. like a lot.’

‘korra ur joking right?’

even after that the looks and red cheeks did not stop between the two of you, asami was this close to just pushing the two of you together

don’t think the three of them didn’t notice you glancing at his lips, his hands, his arms...

and vice versa, he was always making direct eye contact with you and looking at your lips when you talked and every time he saw you, when you weren’t looking, he’d just look u up and down and it was literally this emoji 👀

so a few weeks after that ordeal the five of you were sitting in front of a shop and all of your interests are immediately piqued when you see these 8 super shady guys walk up to the store nextdoor

obviously stuff goes down. you and bolin end up chasing 3 of the guys down a side street while the others are dealing with the other 5

bolin is shooting rocks at these guys left and right but they are LIGHT on their feet and tbh his precision is a little off because ur there

‘bolin i got this’

‘what?’

you release this HUGE gust of air and topple all three of them off their feet and raise them up in the air, basically controlling 3 mini tornadoes and bolin just looks at you

he KNEW you were an airbender but oh my god he’d only ever seen a group of airbenders pull off something like that

korra, asami, and mako run up behind the two of you and mako looks at bolin like ‘the fuck dude?’, korra is straight up IMPRESSED, asami’s just smiling because she knows from experience that the most intense and talented people are the ones you least expect

after that whole ordeal is over (i’d like to mention that lin is also pretty impressed by you), you and the others are sitting up against a brick wall together, j chillin

‘you should kiss me’ you finally mustered up the courage, thinking back to your conversation with asami and korra

‘yeah i sho- wait WHAT?’ bolin looks down at you because your head is on his shoulder and your sides are pressed together, and he’s blushing. this dude is a tomato.

you nodded at him letting him know that he heard you right

he did NOT hesitate after you gave him consent, he wrapped his arms around you and kissed you SO proudly he didn’t even care that you were surrounded by your friends

and, well, the rest is history. i’ll be at the wedding.

(IM SORRY this ended up being so long)

@nancbyers :)

[linsallyworld]

Oblivious headcanon

- When Kya took a napkin to wipe off a sauce stain from Lin's cheek, holding her by the chin, all the teenagers at the table looked at each other. Korra raised her eyebrows at Asami and she smiled at her knowingly. Everyone noticed how Lin's cheeks took on a pink hue no one had ever seen on her. They were so oblivious.

- The next day it was Bolin who set up an emergency headquarters in Opal's bedroom to solve the crisis "Lin and Kya are in love but they still don't know". Yes, he wrote that. Yes in bold letters on a board. Yes, he hung it on the doorstep for everyone to see.

- They discussed the whole afternoon and developed 3 main ideas to deal with the crisis.

- The first idea came from Mako and Bolin. Mako didn't want to get involved in this in the first place ... If Lin knew, she would tear his liver out. But what would he not do to ensure the happiness of the woman he took as his mother? So the next day they managed to get the ferry guy out early. Lin would have to sleep on the air temple island and she wasn't incredibly pleased about that.

- Kya went to bed first. Then Mako sneaked in to change the number of the bedrooms, reversing Lin's room number to Kya's door.

- He and Bolin hid around the corner and waited while Lin entered Kya's bedroom. They didn't know what to expect. But they certainly didn't expect the police chief to run down the hall with a completely red face. Kya appeared at the door, wearing a nightgown and a blue robe around her body, shouting "IT'S OKAY, LIN. DON'T BE SILLY".

- The first attempt was a failure. Then it was Jinora and Opal's turn. They decided to try to be more subtle than Mako and Bolin. It was a sunny day and the beach on the other side of the air temple looked pretty promising. Convincing aunt Kya was easy, she had been thinking about it for some time. About Lin ... They hinted that Opal didn't know how to swim properly and that was the only reason she agreed to stay in the sand with her arms crossed and a frown on her face.

- But all the teenagers were exceptionally conscious when aunt Kya came out of the water in her blue sarong and top and how aunt Lin seemed to be looking at the sun itself. It only took her a few minutes to convince her. It was so easy for Kya. A few smiles, a few words, and Lin was taking off her uniform to get into the water with her.

- Opal raised her hand to Jinora in a high five while Bolin and Mako stared completely surprised at chief Beifong, literally smiling at the waterbender as she pulled her into the ocean by the hand. Korra hugged Asami by the side of the waist and the two smirked. This was already a big step.

- After the afternoon on the beach and every delicate touch, smile and whisper incredibly close to Lin's ear. Korra and Asami knew they just needed one more little nudge.

- Korra said she needed help with metalbending. Lin agreed to. They were training when Asami called Kya for a sparring session. The two girls met glances and smiled mischievously.

- Between pieces of metal and dodging the wires, Korra managed to make the police chief sweat slightly and Kya was doing a certain job to prevent Asami from throwing her on the floor.

- When Asami suggests they should switch pairs, Lin's eyes widen. However, she says nothing because Kya was already moving with a smirk, sweat glistening on her forehead and arms raised.

- Watching the fight of a waterbender and an earthbender was already something exciting. But watching Lin's stunned face and extremely wobbly blows was even better.

- Korra and Asami weren't really fighting when Kya used a simple blow with water to propel herself forward and hit Lin's body. The sound of metal hitting the stone was the only one in the courtyard for a moment and then a "For Spirits' sake! Are you all right, Kya?"

- Kya laughed, loudly while hovering over Lin's face now under her body. "I should be the one asking you that question, chief." It was her reply.

- Asami and Korra walked away gradually and then ran into the temple. But not before they saw Kya pull Lin by the collar for a kiss. Korra was laughing when she pulled Asami down to kiss her as well, eyes sparkling with amusement.

- They had to tell everyone else it truly worked. But they could wait. Her body's heat couldn't.

[boahancock-hebihime]

I’m really worried because of the upcoming Avatar series because of the wasted potential that was TLOK

I really respect Bryke for coming up with Atla but I think they are better at creating a fictional world instead of actually writing episodes and storylines. In Atla they had a lot of talented writers, that knew how to write an interesting storyline. In the Atla Comics and tlok Bryke had more input into the storyline which is why the comics often fall flat and Legend of Korra disappointed a lot of fans with high expectations. I know that Bryke and a lot of Tlok fans say it was Nickelodeon’s fault but it wasn’t.

I’m going to name a few things that bothered me about Tlok that were mistakes by Bryke and not Nickelodeon:

Korras Tream Avatar

Korras Team always had the same problem. They all don’t have any goals, dream values or aspirations. I think it’s really weird that Mako, Asami and Bolin lived their whole live in a big city and don’t have any friends. Imagine how cool it would have been if Mako and Bolin had street friends or even friends from and orphanage to actually show what the life is like living on the streets compared to her sheltered live. Imagine if we had seen the drastic contrast to Asamis rich life with shallow friends. I always imagine what their storylines could have been.

If Bryke removed Pro bending and gave Korras team Avatar friends and a back story I would have been much more invested in their characters.

Asami had almost no emotions. The only time she actually had emotions was when she felt sorry for Korra and not even for herself which is really weird. In season one she had no reason to join the team Avatar. If I summarize the relationship she had with the team was everybody besides Bolin lied to her and cheated on her. It’s not realistic for her to join them especially because she had a great relationship with her father. It would have been better if she joined her father and turned away from him after he went to far and then join the team after they build up a heathy relationship.

Korras team Avatar didn’t really seem like friends. They behaved like work colleagues that have to put up with each other. Every single character is replaceable and it wouldn’t make a difference to the story. If you replaced mako with jinora the story would still be the same. The same goes if you replace Bolin and Asami with any character from Tlok it wouldn’t change the story. If you compare this to the gaang you would notice that they would have been dead if any character was missing. They needed each other. Every single character had their purpose. In Tlok it wouldn’t make a difference if Korra had a completely other team.

Bryke doing too much

Sometimes less is more. Bending is such a cool unique power system which was nowhere to be found in any other storytelling form besides Shounen Anime’s like Naruto, One Piece and HxH. It’s really understandable and relatable to the real world. There was no need for laser shooting and sky beams like every other Marvel or DC movie we’ve seen it already dozens of times. And there was no need for giant robots like dozens of mecha anime. If I wanted to see that I would watch that instead of something which takes place in the world of Avatar.

Tlok really needed younger writers

I thought it was weird that Bryke thought in season one that the biggest problem in a girls live who’s literally the Avatar would be “how do I get the guy that I just met a few days ago even though he has a girlfriend”. The whole plot line with homewrecking someone ok as long as you think you fit better with the person and the talk with pema seemed more like one of the writers got through a divorce and added that to the story to feel better about replacing his wife with someone who’s 20 years younger. Like who in their right mind would think getting the characters in relationships before they even spend time together and got to know each other was a good idea. It seemed really shallow that’s it. If they really thought that this is what teenagers wanted to see they were definitely wrong.

Unnecessary plot lines that didn’t help the plot

Pro bending was used in the first season after that they never mentioned it again. They wasted 5 episodes on something that could have been replaced with establishing the characters and republic city more. Avatar Wan was unnecessary. I know a lot of people wanted to know how the first Avatar came about but tbh that was a bad idea and only pissed a lid of people of because it was contradicting. A whole episode on learning metal bending. Bryke literally just did it to call her the first metal bending avatar. It didn’t help Korra. She didn’t need it. There was no reason for it. Those aren’t the only examples but to get to the point sometimes it looked like Bryke had no idea what they were doing. They started a storyline mid season they changed their mind and did something completely different which made zero sense. Especially in season one and two.

Too much focus on the original team Avatar

I think they probably did it because of fan service but they completely forgot about the established new team avatar and kept focusing on the old team avatar and their kids. How come tenzin and Lin have more character development then Korras whole team avatar together. This show was targeted at teenagers but kept focusing on 40 year olds and their daddy and mommy issues.

Tbh Before I watched Tlok I liked it a lot more because the fandom gave the characters what they deserved and what Bryke didn’t give them. I went in with such high expectations and I was really disappointed because the fans made it look much better then it actually was.

I really hope Bryke will hire a lot of talented writers to make the next series better. And I also hope that the comics aren’t all cannon. Especially the ones with Zuko and Azula in it. The fans wanted their relationship fixed and not a Scar/Mufassa moment.

[aitarose]

SUNSHINE | MAKO

PAIRING: Mako x Kya’s Daughter!Reader [fem]

PLOT: Mako’s always had a little crush on Y/N. After all, who wouldn’t? But admitting it to himself? Yeah, no. Just the thought of admitting it to her? Even bigger no. He’d never consider confessing..right? based on these requests by anons

WARNINGS: fluff, mutual pining, friends to lovers

WORD COUNT: 2.3k

A/N: i love mako sm like you guys don’t even know. this man OWNS me fdjafdlsjk. also i got a little carried away with these requests and i took them to the next level so please enjoy :)

MY MASTERLIST

Mako was living his absolute worst nightmare. 

Stuck aboard an airship with his two exes, his brother, his boss, and his boss’ ex with no opening window to jump out of?

The day was definitely not in his favor.

Every hour seemed to be the same.

Radio a call..hear about a new airbender..find the map..use the map..go to the town..get kicked out of the town..return to the beginning.

While Mako did love having a routine—he was bored of this one.

The only thing that made his day even slightly interesting was Y/N.

It wasn’t long ago when he had met the water tribe girl. They’d first spoken during the Glacier Spirits Festival in the Southern Water Tribe.

He had been introduced to her mother, Kya, through Bolin. His younger brother was so starstruck by Avatar Aang’s only daughter, that he couldn’t help but drag along her own daughter with him for the entirety of the festival.

Bolin spent the rest of the night proudly walking alongside the teenage girl, who had to have been at least two to three years older than him.

He went around and showed her off to all of their friends from Republic City, even if they already knew her.

“Don’t make a show of it, but I know the Avatar’s granddaughter. You don’t need to be wowed or anything, it’s no big deal.”

“Bolin, I’m literally her uncle.”

Mako was one of the very last people to meet the infamous Y/N.

It was right after his argument with Korra about the situation between her father and Unalaq. His emotions were all over the place, confusion and annoyance dominated his mood.

But all of his anger dissolved with one look at her smile.

It was at that moment when Mako decided that Y/N had a gift.

She could lift someone’s spirit with a single glance. Her eyes always glowed with positivity and her soul was the purest one he had ever come across.

Y/N could be compared to the rising sun. Just by existing, she radiated more light and goodness than the greatest man on Earth could ever achieve.

It had been a very brief introduction. 

“Mako, my man!” Bolin slapped his palm over the firebender’s shoulder, a cheesy side smile pointed at the teenage girl standing next to him. 

“This is my good friend, Y/N. Y/N meet my big bro!”

Y/N beamed, her teeth sparkling under the moonlight. She held out her hand in a friendly manner and looked straight into Mako’s eyes, unafraid of making eye contact. 

“It’s nice to meet you, Mako.” She spoke whilst shaking his hand. “I’ve only known Bolin for an hour and I feel like I already know everything about you.”

Mako groaned in embarrassment. He was always flattered by how much Bolin looked up to him, but sometimes his little brother went a little too far.

“You had an hour? Let me guess..” Mako pointedly looked at Bolin, shaking his head in amusement. “He must’ve told you our entire life story by now.”

When she laughed at his blunt attempt at a joke, Mako’s heart soared right then and there. 

It was like the fire inside of him had been ignited with gasoline. but instead of her water smothering his flames..they made the grow. Made them stronger.

Though Mako hadn’t realized these lurching feelings at the time. He did have a girlfriend after all, and he liked to think he would never intentionally cheat on her.

That didn’t stop him from admiring her from afar.

Platonically of course.

There weren’t many moments after the festival where Mako found himself alone with Y/N. 

He had chosen to follow Korra to open the spirit portals and Y/N went off to tour the air temples with her extended family—and if he was being honest, he hadn’t had much time to think about her between fighting off evil spirits and breaking up with his girlfriend.

It wasn’t until after Team Avatar defeated Unalaq and Vaatu, that Mako’s mind returned to his unresolved and unrealized feelings.

With the spirit portals open, the world was new again.

Thousands of people were traveling, discovering places they never knew existed, and migrating to different nations.

Luckily for Mako, Y/N had been one of those people.

It had taken her about a week to move into her apartment in Republic City.

Her flat was quaint but cosy. It had views overlooking the busy downtown and bustling people, and she had easy access to stores and shops in the neighborhood.

There was nothing wrong with her new home, but it wasn’t like the South. In fact, it was nothing like the South.

Y/N missed her friends and colleagues. She missed the chilly wind that would slice through the air and freeze her cheekbones. She missed the animals and the overall energy that the South had.

But she was open to new beginnings and new friends—and her open mindset was exactly what led her to join her family and Team Avatar on the search for new airbenders.

Which is right where Mako had left off. 

The airship was dreadful, dreary, and just plain boring. 

His main source of entertainment was watching a cloud disappear from his view, and then preceding to find another one for his eyes to chase.

Luckily for him, Y/N was also bored out of her mind. She had no one to talk to on the ship.

Korra? Tempting, but intimidating.

Asami? Sure if Y/N was less hippy and more business mogul.

Bolin? Yeah, she didn’t want to go down that path again. 

Lin? No way.

Her actual family members? Good option—but Tenzin was boring and all Jinora did was read old scrolls.

Y/N was at a loss, and the only person that seemed remotely interesting was the brooding firebender staring out of the window.

When she approached him, Mako was at a loss for words.

He had been thinking about this moment for awhile now, and had a pun filled pick-up line ready to go, but when it came down to crunch time, he stalled. 

“Hey,” Y/N smiled, gesturing to the seat next to Mako on the iron bench. “Mind if I sit?”

Mako’s mouth opened to respond, but no words came out of his mouth. He sat there like a fish out of water, nodding his head silently.

Y/N shrugged her shoulders and happily sat next to the nineteen year old. 

With her being so close in proximity, Mako’s brain flashed exe.error messages through his thoughts.

They sat in a comfortable, yet also awkward silence for a long time. 

Every time Mako tried to get a word out, he stumbled. His nerves overcame his speech, preventing him from sounding the least bit cool.

Scratch that. They prevented him from sounding like an actual person and not a toddler that just learned how to speak.

After what felt like generations, Mako was saved by none other than his ex-girlfriends.

“We just landed,” Korra said, waving to the former probender and his companion. A confused look flashed across her face at the sight of them so close yet so uncomfortable.

Asami then poked her head around the corner, coming into view. “Are you guys going to come out or what?”

Y/N was the first to jump up, nodding her head enthusiastically.

She nearly sprinted to the exit—not because she wanted to get away from her encounter with Mako, she was just really excited to meet new people.

Mako heaved a deep sigh when she was completely out the door and out of earshot. It felt like he could finally breathe again without the stress of being in her presence.

“You like her?” Korra crossed her arms over one another, leaning against the wall as Asami stood by her side.

“What?” Mako stuttered, his face flooding with hues of red and pink.

“Why would you say that?”

“No Way!”

“I don’t even know what you’re talking about!”

Korra and Asami loudly laughed at Mako’s rambling, while they had both been hurt by his actions in the past, they had come to forgive him—and they wanted nothing more than for him to find his special someone.

“Okay, then.” Korra shrugged, pulling Asami out of the room with her, “Whatever you say, Mako.”

Mako dropped his face into his hands, pulling at his hair as he mentally beat himself up.

“But if it matters,” he looked up to see Korra still standing at the door. A genuine smile shown on her face. 

“I think you two would be perfect together.”

As Korra finally left him to himself, Mako couldn’t help but think about how lucky he was to have a friend like her. 

She was everything he didn’t need in a relationship, but everything he could’ve ever wanted in a friendship. 

Eventually, Mako did manage to force himself off of the airship. He helped with the little show the airbenders put on to influence others to join the nomads and even fought a few bad guys while he was at it. 

He was finally having a good day, until the little punk tried to steal his wallet.

“Wait,” he ordered, pulling Kai back by the neck of his shirt. Mako held out his hand expectantly and gave the younger boy a hard look. 

“I think you might have something of mine.”

Kai smiled sheepishly before pulling out the firebender’s stolen goods. 

“It must’ve fallen into my pocket, my bad.”

Mako glared at the new airbender. The stare he was giving Kai was so cold, it could intimidate a pack of polar bear dogs.

“Now listen here,” he bent down to Kai’s level. His tangerine eyes meeting Kai’s green ones. “I know your game. I used to be the master at it, actually—and let me tell you that it gets you absolutely nowhere.”

Mako sighed, he already saw so much of himself in the kid that he didn’t want him to go down the same hard path that he did.

“All I want is the best for you, kid.” He patted Kai on the shoulder before sending him off to join Jinora on the ship. “Don’t mess up this opportunity.”

There were times where Mako enjoyed being the big bad cop or the authoritarian figure, but this was not one of those times. 

He just wanted Kai to have the best life he possibly could.

The life he had always wanted for himself.

Unbeknownst to Mako, his secret crush had witnessed the whole ordeal.

His pure-hearted intentions touched Y/N. Acts of kindness and wellbeing always found their way into her heart, and his act of good caught her attention in a very positive way. 

It caught her attention enough, that she found herself standing right behind him.

“That was really sweet what you said back there.” She told Mako, who jumped in surprise at her soft voice.

“Yeah, I tried. I’ve been where he is before. I know how it ends.”

Mako felt much more comfortable now that Y/N had started the conversation. He wasn’t afraid to give his thoughts knowing that she was the one who wanted to talk to him.

Y/N let out a low breath. Her hair willowed in the breeze, her eyes shining under the sunlight. She looked like a lost spirit.

A beautiful lost spirit, Mako thought. 

“I try, too.” She whispered to him. Mako could barely hear her voice, it was so faint.

“Sometimes being there for everyone else has its downfall.” Y/N’s sparkling eyes turned dim, sadness drowned her usually uplifting features.

“I spend all my energy making sure that everyone I love is happy, but then there’s never anyone looking out for me, you know?”

Mako did know.

He knew exactly how she was feeling. He’d raised Bolin since they were children. 

If anyone knew the pressures of holding onto another person’s burdens, it was Mako.

“I’ve noticed that,” Mako said, stepping closer to the girl. He could see that her eyes were welling with tears, all he wanted to do was wrap his arms around her and make all the negative energy go away. 

So that’s exactly what he did.

Y/N melted into Mako’s embrace. She felt his body radiate heat, he warmed not only her body, but her heart in an instant.

“I see you, with Tenzin’s kids.” Mako ran his hand down her back, comforting Y/N as best he could. “They look up to you more than they do anyone else. You’re really amazing, Y/N. I’m surprised you don’t hear it more often.”

Right then and there, Y/N realized exactly what she needed in her life—and it was Mako.

If she was being honest with herself, he hadn’t exactly caught her eye before.

She thought he was somewhat bland at the Glacier Spirits Festival and the whole double girlfriend situation definitely didn’t spark her interest in the firebender, but now here she was..

Crying in his arms, confessing her insecurities, and feeling heard.

She had never felt heard before.

“I think you’re really amazing.” Mako blurted out. 

He cringed at his confession, hoping that she didn’t take it the wrong way. If there even was a wrong way to take it.

Mako felt Y/N grow still in his arms. His heart pounded in anticipation for what her next words would be.

To his surprise she pulled away..

Before pressing a deep kiss to his lips.

Mako immediately responded. His mouth moved languidly with hers, connecting in the most perfect way, as if they were meant to be.

His entire body nearly combusted. Her bright spirit combining with his fiery one.

Mako felt like sunshine was running through his veins.

She pulled away, giving him one last chaste kiss.

“I think you’re amazing, too.” 

i love feedback pls give me some

[superliz6]

I don't know if that's the right approach. I think what Tenzin did was right, waiting more or less that Lin would come to him, instead of expecting an explanation. Lin was constantly being pushed out of her comfort zone on the show, it was infuriating to watch. I especially noticed that in Zaofu, when Korra literally made Lin cry. Take her to a place she doesn't want to be, take the last person she wants to see into her airship, make her stay 'cause someone has to train Opal, then wonder why dinner isn't going very smooth, only hear half the story, take her niece to guilt trip her, push her into a corner, then get angry because she finally snapped, and last but not least, make a totally uncalled comment about her being a bitter, old woman. I'm sorry, it just rubs me the wrong way, when someone thinks Lin needs to be pushed past her comfort zone. I understand that maturing emotionally is important, but it should always be on the terms of the person concerned. I'm sorry if this came across a bit angry, I love you and your story, how other people treated Lin just makes me angry and sad.

I think us Lin fans have a trigger when it comes to this lol. What Korra did to Lin in Zaofu has no parallel to what Kazuo does when she’s upset about something.

I’m just saying that he doesn’t have first-hand knowledge of her entire life the way Tenzin does so she needs to explain her feelings and the history of where those feelings come from to him directly, which allows for her to recognize her own patterns as she talks through them.

[chaoticallysapphic]

just a scratch

summary: You were always the hero, always the one protecting those around you. So who could be surprised by your honorable death?

a/n: I woke up this morning literally thinking "why not write a death fic," so here you guys go. Here's your Lin fic. I came up with this idea like two days into having this blog and it’s inspired by this art. 

word count: 3k

When you were little your favorite books were those of heroes. Of great adventures and love so profound it would be talked about for centuries to come. The ones now collecting dust on the third to last shelf on your bookcase, the mahogany one situated between your desk and cedar bookcase, is where you place your favorites. 

A recurring theme in them all is self-sacrifice. Loving someone sometimes requires that and you knew if the time ever came, you'd do it all for her. A life without her is not one you could live through, a world without her is dark and full of monsters and crime. Not only would you do it for your own selfish reasons but because she was so important to other people as well. The death of Lin Beifong is the day the heart of Republic City stops beating. 

If you had to choose a way to go, it would be protecting those you love. And if Lin's life was on the line, then you knew it had to be you.

There are a million scares that have happened in the last few years, ever since Korra arrived the number of times you were jumping in front of her was too many to count. After the fourth, after you pushed her aside so Amon would take your bending, she'd all but screamed at you for hours while holding you, scared to let you go. Despite the emptiness seeming to fill you up like a ship sinking, it was worth it. 

After you got it back Lin didn't let you out of her sight for weeks, suddenly you were trailing after her like a lost puppy. You understand her need to have you nearby and you didn't mind, who could mind the company of Lin? 

One night sometime after the eighth time, Lin notices those books on the third to last shelf. She's read one or two and casually asks you how the others end. In your hands is a new one just as heartbreaking and morbid as the others. You don't realize the dots connecting for her whilst you happily ramble on about them, mentioning how you read your first one in the library at the age of seven. 

“I mean it's what you do for love and it's so-” 

“No you stay alive for love so you can live out the rest of your life with them,” her voice is firm as she grips one of those favorites of yours. You frown, slowly closing the one you're currently reading. 

“Well it's not like you'd just do it for anything, it's to protect the one you love.” 

Over the next few years, Lin's heart almost stops a million times as you keep protecting her. She tries to get you to stay in Republic City when she goes off to protect Korra but your stubbornness somehow beats Lin's. 

That break-in at Zaofu solidifies it for you. Lin slips off with Suyin, so they can propel from the ceiling to save Korra. She makes sure you're distracted before sneakily racing off. When you turn around to check on Lin she's gone. She's gone and as you whip your head around to look for her there isn't a trace of where she went. 

You know you're being selfish, that you should push this panic and fear down to help save Korra but you can't. You need to know where she is, people are yelling at you as you continuously turn, hoping to spot her. You don't notice how the combustion bender has turned to you. Your vision is blurring, you need to find her, and little do you know she's watching from above with her heart in her throat as P'li smirks before taking aim. 

The sound her bending makes has you whipping around. Your eyes widen at the bolt of fire shooting towards you, frozen in place. This is not how you want to go down, you’ve had an unhealthy obsession with how you’d leave this world from a young age and this was not it. In the last second before your life ends two arms wrap around your waist as a body slams into you. You fall to the floor with a loud thud and a pained moan as your head smacks against the concrete. The bolt of fire whizzes past the two of you as it burns through a bush. 

The woman above you isn’t Lin. It’s some guard with black hair and a mole under her eye and you can only half make out what she's saying, partially due to the concussion you now suffer from but also from the icy fear that has encased you. Little do either of you know that by Kuvira saving you, your fate has been placed in her hands for another day.

She’s asking if you're okay, by now Lin has saved Korra and the intruders have vanished. She knows your importance to the Beifong family. Kuvira helps pull you up into a sitting position, she watches you wince from the pain, your eyes squeezed shut. There’s a small spot of blood on the ground, and so she checks behind your head and finds a small cut. 

Lin has given Korra to Suyin, bolting to where she sees you hunched over while Kuvira cleans the cut for you. You don’t hear or notice her coming, the only indication is when her arms slip around you as she pulls you against her body so tight it feels like the air is being squeezed out of you. 

“What the fuck was that?” She chokes out between sobs. You slowly wrap your arms around your lover as you suddenly begin to feel tired. 

“I couldn’t find you.” 

After Zaheer when your life quiets down just a smidgen, Lin proposes. She found the ring at a jewelry store in Zaofu the day after you almost died and knew. You become a blubbering mess, it’s entirely unattractive as there’s snot mixing with tears but you rapidly nod as you choke out “yes.” 

A year later you get married and the day is nothing short of a fairy tale. Everything is perfect as you sway to the song with your wife's arms wrapped around your waist. Everyone watches as you both lovingly stare into each other's eyes. Lin thinks that it’ll be calmer now and you’ll be safe. You're her wife and you love her and you're safe. 

You think back on that day often with a fond smile, the cake you smeared across her face and the scowl she sported directly after. How she then cupped your cheeks in her hands, so she could rub the cake off onto you. There are two photo albums worth of photographs from that day and in almost every single one you both stare at each other in this way that feels so intimate. If a stranger took a look they’d be able to tell just how much you loved one another. 

Lin’s been given her happily ever after, those two years that follow are blissful. You open up a bookstore near your apartment, and she forces herself to come home at a reasonable time every night, so she can enjoy your company before you head off to bed. You settle into a routine that neither of you mind, all Lin cares about is that you're safe and you're happy. 

Some people (like Suyin) say it’s almost sickening how much you two love each other but Lin just thinks that’s because she's jealous of not having this kind of heartwarming, never-ending love. Everyone knows her marriage has dulled into one of convenience, and she’s never almost lost the love of her life as Lin has. It makes you cherish every moment in case it’s your last. 

That peace breaks when Kuvira comes to Republic City, her change in demeanor is shocking and her inability to hand over the Earth Kingdom saddens you. She saved your life and the woman in front of you is not the same one who pushed you out of the way all those years ago. Something in her eyes has twisted, she’s become jaded over time and you seem to be the only one who holds out hope. Even Suyin gives up on her. 

When Toph meets you she's nothing short of surprised. “Hi, I’m your daughter's wife, Y/n.” In the background, Bolin can see Lin rolling her eyes as she begins to walk away. You guys are on a mission, and she really doesn’t want you to make nice with her mother. 

But you do because you're you and when Lin snaps while everyone is quietly eating their flameo noodles you softly calm her down. Still, you look over your shoulder at the first metal bender and say “you may have raised the love of my life but you’ve done nothing for her since the day you left Republic City. If she doesn’t want to forgive you for abandoning her then that’s perfectly fine by me.” 

Your words remind Lin of the first time you met, how she was floored by your ability to bite back despite your otherwise quiet demeanor. You’d been this shy woman who bumped into her on your way out of a bookstore and when she went to scold you for not paying attention you stopped her in her tracks with one look alone. It may seem childish and stupid, cringe-worthy even, but she knew she had to marry you one day just with that look. 

The next morning you save the Beifongs along with Zhu Li, you can’t help but watch Kuvira twist around as she continues to try and take Suyin down. If you go up there, will she do the same? She probably doesn’t remember you but as your savior, you remember her. Lin pulls you onto Juicy and wraps her arms around you, she thought the action was over, that her fear of losing you would lessen but it’s back in full force. 

She tries to make you evacuate with the rest of Republic City and that stubbornness she loves rears its head as you put your foot down, claiming that you go wherever she does. 

It’s all a blur really, there’s so much to do and such little time as you all try and try again to take her down when finally a reprieve comes in the form of Hiroshi’s sacrifice. Inside you stick with the Beifong sisters as you all work to destroy the weapon whilst Korra tries to distract Kuvira. 

It’s a split second filled with too much to process. One second you succeed and destroy the ammunition and then the arm in which you're all in is being flung across the city. You push Lin and Suyin towards the wall, your wife bends metal around the two of them and tries to do the same for you but it’s flimsy as you're so far away and everything is moving so fast. The force of impact successfully knocks you out.

When you come to there're three things you notice. 

Number one: You are so cold and yet you can feel sweat beading down your forehead. 

Number Two: The metal wrapped around you is gone, it must have broken off from the impact. 

Number three: It feels like you can’t breathe, there’s something inside you and when you try to move a pained scream scraps up your throat, it sounds gurgled and wet as something warm drips from your lips. 

When you finally manage to open your eyes you notice that you aren’t in the arm anymore, with your blurry vision you can make out the faint shape of it against a broken building. There’s so much distorted noise around you. You can faintly make out your name being shouted and when you try to speak nothing comes out. 

You make a mistake in your painful haze, you try to move. It’s then you finally look down as another scream rips out of you, this one slightly quieter, and notice the steel rod sticking out of the upper half of your stomach. You know it’s stupid but the only thing you can manage to think of is ‘that’s not meant to be there.’

Lifting your arm up you try to find a source of water, maybe you can heal what's around you as you slowly pull yourself off, but your call goes unanswered. Your arm gives out and falls onto the jagged pieces of concrete that cut into your skin but your brain is too focused on the pain in your stomach. 

Where is she? Is she okay? Will this pain have been worth it? You don’t know, you're alone and you know what’s about to happen and you're alone. In all the visions you had of saving her, the last thing you saw was her. But now it’s the dilapidated storefront that must have been broken in the collision as you lay where a wall once used to stand. The ceiling is moldy and only half of it is still intact. You don’t even get to see the sun at the end. 

Just as you're about to close your eyes to try and think of happy memories to go out on, you faintly hear someone say in a voice full of sorrow and desperation “No… No, no, no!” 

This site right here is Lin’s worst nightmares all wrapped into one. There’s so much blood pooling underneath you as it drips down the broken concrete of the building. You're pale, so pale she thinks you almost look like a ghost and blood drips from your mouth. 

She surges forward and falls to her knees, the bricks and rocks cut into her pants as pain sears through her legs, but she doesn’t care nor notice. All she notices is how your eyes are closed and how you're shivering in the middle of summer. Two warm hands cup your cheek, bringing you out of your pleasant memory of your wedding day as you open your eyes. A pair of bright green eyes stare down at you, she looks so scared. 

“Lin…” You wheeze out. She shakes her head as she begins to sob. You feel so tired, so weak and if you had the energy it’d anger you but you can’t find it in you to care anymore. She’s here and you can see her eyes, her beautiful face and you know that what you’ve just done to protect her and Suyin was worth it. If not for you pushing her out of the way she would have fallen out of the arm and you’d be the to find her amongst the rubble. 

“No you're fine, we’re gonna get you a heal- Korra can heal you it’s fi-” she’s stumbling over her words as she tries to wipe the blood off your face, it just smears the red liquid down your cheek and onto your neck. You shake your head. 

“I love you…” 

“Stop it, don’t say that you’ll be fine. You are going to live.” 

“Please say it back…” You know you won’t live, no one will find you in time and you’ve lost too much blood. It’ll happen any second now and you want to hear it one more time. 

“I’m not ready for this… You’re meant to grow old with me…” She sobs out. “You’re meant to live.” 

“Please Lin…” you stop as you cough up more blood. It’s close. “I’m scared, please jus-” 

“I love you, I-” she gently rests her forehead against your own, your skin is like ice now, “love you.” Lin feels so warm and comforting, you want to lean forward to wrap yourself around her but you can’t. 

 Tragedy struck within a matter of seconds. Life deemed her unworthy of a happy ending. 

The shivering that let her know you were still there stops. She’s too scared to open her eyes afraid of what she might find. Maybe if she keeps them closed you’ll come back. You were like a cat with nine lives and surely you had one left. She doesn’t know how long she sits there leaning over your lifeless body with her hands cradling your face and forehead against your own, her back begins to hurt from the position, but she does not move an inch.

Everyone is looking for the two of you. They’ve won, victory is finally theirs and everyone can rest easy now with the great uniter being dragged by Suyin and Korra. Lin left the second the blast had cleared, screw victory all she cared about was you and Suyin was worried by the quietness of the streets, by the fact that neither of you came stumbling out of an alley with your hands all over each other as relief radiates from you. 

It’s eerily silent as they turn down that fateful street Suyin and Lin woke up in, and she spots something out of the corner of her eye. A broken storefront that was slightly concealed by a large chunk of concrete. She sees the black of Lin’s suit and hears the faint whisper of someone murmuring something. 

Tossing the injured Kuvira towards Korra to fully support her, she races over to her sister. Everyone stops as they see what's transpiring. No one says a thing, breath being held as they make out Lin leaning over something. Even Kuvira watches because what else is there for her to do? 

Suyin stops a few feet behind her sister, her shoulders dropping when she sees a sight so tragic, so heartbreaking that even she begins to sob. Lin is too focused on you, she doesn’t even realize that she’s repeating something like a mantra, like some kind of prayer that will go unanswered. 

“You're going to be okay.” It’s all Lin can say, eyes still squeezed shut. Hesitantly, Suyin takes a step as she tries to stifle her cries. 

“Lin?...” 

She stills at her sister's voice, those same four words dying in her throat. Suyin braves another step and then one more before placing her hand on her sister's shoulder. She can see the blood now and there’s so much of it. It reminds her of the rushing river right outside of Zaofu. Lin tenses at the touch. 

“She’s fine.” Lin spits out and spirits it is such a useless lie. “She’s going to be fine.” Suyin grips her shoulder and pulls, in that moment of panic at being ripped from you her eyes finally open. You're so limp and without her hands to hold you, your face lulls to the side. Suyin finally spots the cause of your death with the detachment of Lin. Nothing could have saved you from that, not even if they found you immediately. Only spirit water could have fixed that and it’s too far away. 

“Lin…” Suyin starts as she continues to pull her away. Fear grips her so tightly she can’t control herself as she whips around to push her away. Her younger sister catches her arms before she can try to bend her away and Lin struggles to break free. Everyone sees you now.  

“Get off of me!” She screams, her voice cuts through the air like a knife and neither of the sisters notices the display of grief behind them as every person who knows you understands the gravity of the situation. You were like a second mother to Korra, you made sure Mako was fed and healthy during his brief time staying at the station. When Bolin doubted his bending in Zaofu you cheered him on. 

You were everyone's ray of sunshine. No one knows what to do when the sun finally goes out. 

“She’s fine!” Suyin just nods as she pulls Lin into a tight hug. The chief wails as she finally begins to realize that you aren’t fine, that you won’t wake up. It settles into her bones and drags her down until she’s collapsing. Suyin struggles to hold her sister as she gently kneels for them. 

In her defeated, injured state, Kuvira remembers you. She remembers cleaning up the bit of blood from the back of your head, and she thinks ‘that’s too much for me to clean.’  The great uniter remembers the sob that left Lin when she barreled into you. The sound of her voice as she choked out “What the fuck was that?”

Lin can’t breathe, she feels her heart die with you as she wails into her sisters shoulder. The icy cold grips of grief latch onto her like a parasite and make itself a nest inside her now empty chest cavity.

That day victory is not what anyone on that street feels. The sunshine has vanished from this world and replaced it with darkness that’ll loom over everyone’s life for the rest of time.

That day is the day Lin Beifong truly dies.

[bloodbenderz]

humaniterations (dot) net/2014/10/13/an-anarchist-perspective-on-the-red-lotus/ this article from oct 2014 is very dense — truly, a lot to unpack here, but I feel like you would find this piece interesting. I would love it if you shared your thoughts on the points that stood out to you, whether you agree or disagree. you obv don’t have to respond to it tho, but I’m sending it as an ask jic you feel like penning (and sharing) a magnificent essay, as is your wont 💕

article

i know this took me forever 2 answer SORRY but i just checked off all the things on my to do list for the first time in days today so. Essay incoming ladies!

ok im SO glad u sent me this bc it’s so so good. it’s a genuinely thoughtful criticism of the politics in legend of korra (altho i think its sometimes a little mean to korra unnecessarily like there’s no reason to call her a “petulant brat” or say that she throws tantrums but i do understand their point about her being an immature and reactionary hero, which i’ll get back to) and i think the author has a good balance between acknowledging like Yeah the lok writers were american liberals and wrote their show accordingly and Also writing a thorough analysis of lok’s politics that felt relevant and interesting without throwing their hands up and saying this is all useless liberal bullshit (which i will admit that i tend to do).

this article essentially argues that the red lotus antagonists of s3 were right. And that’s not an uncommon opinion i think but this gives it serious weight. Like, everything that zaheer’s gang did was, in context, fully understandable. of course the red lotus would be invested in making sure that the physically and spiritually and politically most powerful person in the world ISNT raised by world leaders and a secret society of elites that’s completely unaccountable to the people! of course the red lotus wants to bring down tyrannical governments and allow communities to form and self govern organically! and the writers dismiss all of that out of hand by 1. consistently framing the red lotus as insane and murderous (korra never actually gives zaheer’s ideas a chance or truly considers integrating them into her own approach) 2. representing the death of the earth queen as not just something that’s not necessarily popular (what was with mako’s bootlicker grandma, i’d love to know) but as something that causes unbelievable violence and chaos in ba sing se (which, like, a lot of history and research will tell you that people in disasters tend towards prosocial behaviors). so the way the story frames each of these characters and ideologies is fascinating because like. if you wanted to write season 3 of legend of korra with zaheer as the protagonist and korra as the antagonist, you wouldn’t actually have to change the sequence of events at all, really. these writers in particular and liberal writers in general LOVE writing morally-gray-but-ultimately-sympathetic characters (like, almost EVERY SINGLE fire nation character in the first series, who were full on violent colonizers but all to a degree were rehabilitated in the eyes of the viewer) but instead of framing the red lotus as good people who are devoted to justice and freedom and sometimes behave cruelly to get where theyre trying to go, they frame them as psychopaths and murderers who have good intentions don’t really understand how to make the world a better place.

and the interesting thing about all this, about the fact that the red lotus acted in most cases exactly as it should have in context and the only reason its relegated to villain status is bc the show is written by liberals, is that the red lotus actually points out really glaring sociopolitical issues in universe! like, watching the show, u think well why the fuck HASN’T korra done anything about the earth queen oppressing her subjects? why DOESN’T korra do anything about the worse than useless republic president? why the hell are so many people living in poverty while our mains live cushy well fed lives? how come earth kingdom land only seems to belong to various monarchs and settler colonists, instead of the people who are actually indigenous to it? the show does not want to answer these questions, because american liberal capitalism literally survives on the reality of oppressive governments and worse than useless presidents and people living in poverty while the middle/upper class eats and indigenous land being stolen. if the show were to answer these questions honestly, the answer would be that the status quo in real life (and the one on the show that mirrors real life) Has To Change.

So they avoid answering these questions honestly in order for the thesis statement to be that the status quo is good. and the only way for the show to escape answering these questions is for them to individualize all these broad social problems down into Good people and Bad people. so while we have obvious bad ones like the earth queen we also have all these capitalists and monarchs and politicians who are actually very nice and lovely people who would never hurt anyone! which is just such an absurd take and it’s liberal propaganda at its best. holding a position of incredible political/economic power in an unjust society is inherently unethical and maintaining that position of power requires violence against the people you have power over. which is literally social justice 101. but there’s literally no normal, average, not-politically-powerful person on the show. so when leftist anarchism is presented and says that destroying systems that enforce extreme power differentials is the only way to bring peace and freedom to all, the show has already set us up to think, hey, fuck you, top cop lin beifong and ford motor ceo asami sato are good people and good people like them exist! and all we have to do to move forward and progress as a society is to make sure we have enough good individuals in enough powerful positions (like zuko as the fire lord ending the war, or wu as the earth king ending the monarchy)! which is of course complete fiction. liberal reform doesn’t work. but by pretending that it could work by saying that the SYSTEM isnt rotten it’s just that the people running it suck and we just need to replace those people, it automatically delegitimizes any radical movements that actually seek to change things.

and that’s the most interesting thing about this article to me is that it posits that the avatar...might actually be a negative presence in the world. the avatar is the exact same thing: it’s a position of immense political and physical power bestowed completely randomly, and depending on the moral character and various actions of who fills that position at any given time, millions of people will or won’t suffer. like kyoshi, who created the fascist dai li, like roku, who refused to remove a genocidal dictator from power, like aang, who facilitated the establishment of a settler colonial state on earth kingdom land. like korra! she’s an incredibly immature avatar and a generally reactionary lead. i’ve talked about this at length before but she never actually gets in touch with the needs of the people. she’s constantly running in elite circles, exposed only to the needs and squabbles of the upper class! how the hell is she supposed to understand the complexities of oppression and privilege when she was raised by a chess club with inordinate amounts of power and associates almost exclusively with politicians and billionaires?? from day 1 we see that she tends to see things in very black and white ways which is FINE if you’re a privileged 17 yr old girl seeing the world for the first time but NOT FINE if you’re the single most powerful person in the world! Yeah, korra thinks the world is probably mostly fine and just needs a little whipping into shape every couple years, because all she has ever known is a mostly fine world! in s1 when mako mentions that he as a homeless impoverished teenager worked for a gang (which is. Not weird. Impoverished people of every background are ALWAYS more likely to resort to socially unacceptable ways of making money) korra is like “you guys are criminals?????!!!!!” she was raised in perfect luxury by a conservative institution and just never developed beyond that. So sure, if the red lotus raised her anarchist, probably a lot would’ve been different/better, but....they didn’t. and korra ended up being a reactionary and conservative avatar who protected monarchs and colonialist politicians. The avatar as a position is completely subject to the whims of whoever is currently the avatar. and not only does that suck for everyone who is not the avatar, not only is it totally unfair to whatever kid who grows up knowing the fate of the world is squarely on their shoulders, but it as a concept is a highly individualist product of the authors’ own western liberal ideas of progress! the idea that one good leader can fix the world (or should even try) based on their own inherent superiority to everyone else is unbelievably flawed and ignores the fact that all real progress is brought about as a result of COMMUNITY work, as a result of normal people working for themselves and their neighbors!

the broader analysis of bending was really interesting to me too, but im honestly not sure i Totally agree with it. the article pretty much accepts the show’s assertion that bending is a privilege (and frankly backs it up much better than the original show did, but whatever), and i don’t think that’s NECESSARILY untrue since it is, like, a physical advantage (the author compares it to, for example, the fact that some people are born athletically gifted and others are born with extreme physical limitations), but i DO think that it discounts the in universe racialization of bending. in any sequel to atla that made sense, bending as a race making fact would have been explored ALONGSIDE the physical advantages it bestows on people. colonialism and its aftermath is generally ignored in this article which is its major weakness i think, especially in conjunction with bending. you can bring up the ideas the author did about individual vs community oriented progress in the avatar universe while safely ignoring the colonialism, but you can’t not bring up race and colonialism when you discuss bending. especially once you get to thinking about how water/earth/airbenders were imprisoned and killed specifically because bending was a physical advantage, and that physical advantage was something that would have given colonized populations a means of resistance and that the fire nation wanted to keep to itself.

i think that’s the best lens thru which to analyze bending tbh! like in the avatar universe bending is a tool that different ethnic groups tend to use in different ways. at its best, bending actually doesn’t represent social power differences (despite representing a physical power difference) because it’s used to represent/maintain community solidarity. like, take the water tribe. katara being the last waterbender, in some way, makes her the last of a part of swt CULTURE. the implication is that when there were a lot of waterbenders in the south, they dedicated their talents to building community and helping their neighbors, because this was something incredibly culturally important and important to the water tribe as a community. the swt as a COLLECTIVE values bending for what it can do for the entire tribe, which counts for basically every other talent a person can have (strength, creativity, etc). the fire nation, by contrast, distorts the community value of bending by racializing it: anyone who bends an element that isn’t fire is inherently NOT fire nation (and therefore inherently inferior) and, because of the physical power that bending confers, anyone who bends an element that isn’t fire is a threat to fire nation hegemony. and in THAT framework of bending, it’s something that intrinsically assigns worth and reifies race in a way that’s conveniently beneficial to the oppressor.

it IS worth talking about how using Element as a way to categorize people reifies nations, borders, and race in a way that is VERY characteristic of white american liberals. i tried to be conscious of that (and the way that elements/bending can act in DIFFERENT ways, depending on cultural context) but i think it’s pretty clear that the writers did intend for element to unequivocally signify nation (and, by extension, race), which is part of why they screwed up mixed families so bad in lok. when they’ve locked themselves into this idea that element=nation=race, they end up with sets of siblings like mako and bolin or kya tenzin and bumi, who all “take” after only one parent based on the element that they bend. which is just completely stupid but very indicative of how the writers actually INTENDED element/bending to be a race making process. and its both fucked up and interesting that the writers display the same framework of race analysis that the canonical antagonists of atla do.

anyway that’s a few thoughts! thank u again for sending the article i really loved it and i had a lot of fun writing this <3

[zukkaoru]

legend of korra :)

Favorite character kya ii <3

Second favorite character jinora!!

Least favorite character tarrlok. i hate him i hate him i hate him i literally had to stop watching s1 for a bit because i could not stand him

The character I’m most like probably jinora skjdgfj

Favorite pairing i gotta go with korrasami bc they're just. absolutely iconic and adorable and i love them

Least favorite pairing i'm gonna go with tenzin x lin

Favorite moment when kya ii and bumi ii fight against ming hua and ghazan at the northern air temple

Rating out of 10 mmm probably like a 6.5/10?? obviously part of that was just the fact that nick absolutely screwed over the production but there was also a lot of things i think they could have done a lot better