#they see me bolin

[attackfish]

Could you please do another Mama Lin AU post? I absolutely freaking love it!

Continued from: [Link], [Link], [Link], [Link], [Link], [Link], [Link], [Link], [Link], [Link], [Link], [Link], [Link], and [Link].

1. The deciding factor, and there were other things too, but the one that brought them to the breaking point, was that Tenzin needed to have children if there were ever going to be more airbenders, and Lin wanted to be a mother about as much as she wanted to be buried alive. And now she's got two kids? It's a bit of a shock for Tenzin, let's be fair. He's married to someone else, and has children, and he's not unhappy about not being with Lin, but it's a weird feeling, a road not taken feeling, something like, but not really, regret.

2. But whatever mixed and complicated emotions Tenzin feels in regards to Lin's forays into motherhood, he recognizes a potential political ally when he sees one. And he has too few of those to throw one away needlessly. He, of all the Council members, treats Republic City as his home. Air Temple island is right offshore, and the United Republic is part of his father's legacy. Most of the rest of the Council expect to serve out their terms and return home to their respective countries. Tarrlock is the only one who intends to stay, but Tarrlock is slippery as an eel-shark, and anyway, he is two parts smarm, one part corruption, and he has no interest in changing the status quo to improve lives for the poor. Not a man Tenzin can work with. Lin however, Lin he can work with.

3. Technically, Lin isn't officially a mom yet. The official adoption is still about a week away when she has her audience with the Council. They still have to meet in front of a judge and declare that they are a family. Bolin is over the moon excited about it, and Mako is, well Mako has mixed feelings. He can't shake the worry that this is all some kind of trap and everything will change once he and his brother are legally Lin's sons. He knows it doesn't make any sense, but... Lin asked Mako's teacher about that, and she said it's normal, so Lin is mostly ignoring the worry, cautiously trusting that it will fade when nothing actually changes. And nothing does change. They go in front of the judge, the paperwork is filed, they go out to dinner at Mako and Bolin's favorite noodle shop to celebrate, and the next day, Lin signs a paper with their school to officially add Beifong to the boys' names. That's it. They're officially a family.

4. Okay, that's not strictly true. Zuko also shows up a few days later on the boys' day off school with Fire Nation style ginger honey plum cakes, and presents for the three of them, and a mock-stern warning that the boys are his nephews now. Lin pulls him aside later to talk to him about the problems in Republic City, and he promises to talk to Izumi, but it's all he can do not to pinch Lin's cheeks.

5. I just want to give a shout out to Kuvira. It takes a lot of bravery to do what she does next, calling Katara up in the middle of the night (for her, not for Katara) to talk.

[pumpkinrootbeer]

i do think it is legitimately very funny whenever someone tries to make the claim that lavabending is inherently a very slow subbending and therefore not good in a fight. specifically when using that argument against Bolin's skill as a bender.

Sure, I feel like in very specific instances with Ghazan that could be a fair argument to make. It takes him a moment to destabilize the Ba Sing Se wall and for him to kick up enough lava to destroy the airbending temple. (to the point I would argue that if Bolin had been versed in lavabending like he was in s4 he would have swept the ground with Ghazan), but in moments where he's actually in a fight his lava is incredibly quick.

Just the lava frisbee on its own is an incredibly quick move

But making that argument with Bolin in particular is absolutely batshit when outside of lavabending he is an incredibly quick fighter. I would say it is one of, if not the, most defining things about his fighting style. He moves very, very quickly and uncharacteristically agile for a earthbender. This is a known thing. Like

I am not the first person to say this but no other earthbender does backflips like he does. And THEN with lavabending he is just as quick if not more so

Bolin since season 1 has had an uncanny knack for bending incredibly fast, and his lavabending is no exception to that rule. It's honestly something that haunts my brain all the time because how quick he is with it low-key breaks the balancing? a little?? Like earthbending was always shown to be very strong but in turn it was slower than other types of bending, but with Bolin that doesn't really seem to be a hangup he has.

[transboysokka]

Okay but Mako having a really embarrassing triad tattoo that he jumps through hoops to keep anyone from ever seeing

[beansterpie]

rewatching LoK, i'm being reminded how much I dislike the.... the brothers, mako and bolin, yanno? they're such underwhelming characters on basically every level. it'd almost be impressive if they weren't in every episode and didn't annoy me so much ugh

[azulas-lightning-bolt]

and I hear him begging someone named god

tw/cw: non-graphic depiction of death/character death

There’s a distant kind of pain registering in Mako, but he’s not sure where it’s from. It really, really hurts. He’s not really thinking about much other than that, so he doesn’t spare much attention to the clogging in his nose or the dripping from his eyes. Something in that burns in a way he doesn’t think tears and snot are supposed to. 

Mako finds he’s too exhausted to really care. He’s sniffling and crying like he hasn’t in years. Something in his subconscious tells him to move his hands, hide his face and wipe away the evidence, but gentle hands are already reaching for him with soothing cool and twitching his arms makes the distant pain much closer. He doesn’t like it. 

Mako’s thoughts drift to his life. He thinks about his first eight years. 

He realizes he might be dying. He can’t seem to pull himself away from the memories to worry about it. Bolin is in almost all of them. Mako thinks he will miss Bolin, if he’s not able to wait up. He’s sorry he has to hurt his brother, but he hopes Bo won’t feel rushed to join him. Mako is patient. 

Toza is there, too. Mako kind of misses him. He knows he owes him a lot for how Toza helped him and Bolin out. He hasn’t seen him in a while. He wonders if Toza might be waiting. 

Then there’s Korra, and Asami. Korra, brash and proud and present in a way that made him present too. Korra who’s saved his life a thousand times over. He feels a little bad her efforts are going to waste. He’ll have to wait up for Asami, too. Hopefully she lingers with Bolin if Korra isn’t able. They could be like Avatar Aang’s friends—meeting two avatars in a lifetime. How incredible. 

Mako can’t quite remember what brought him here. He—he’s a police officer, that’s right (Chief Beifong). Something must’ve happened with that to bring him here. Mako wonders if the Chief is mad one of her detectives got himself killed. He knows she can’t afford any more hits to her narrow ranks. 

Maybe she’s even worried. Mako tries to scoff at the thought, but he only summons more too-thick tears. The hands move frantically to shush him, but Mako really misses his mom and dad and Chief really reminds Mako of his mom. It hurts just a bit, through his idiotic attachment, to think she might not care at all.

The vague lights Mako’s been seeing are getting more tinted. His eyes are burning, though he’s not sure if from his wrong-tears or the too bright lights. He lets his eyes slip shut. 

Muffled sound filters in as his sole point of focus. It’s a strenuous task to process the information his brain is receiving, but Bolin’s voice is frantic and Mako needs to know his little brother is okay before he can let himself sleep.

He’s almost certain Bolin is begging for something. The person’s name sounds almost like ‘God’. Mako hears his own name, but he can’t summon the energy for a grunt of acknowledgment. He hopes Bo knows he’s trying to listen anyway. 

He’s promising to stop running away from his problems, to take care of every street kid and orphan he can find—as long as. Mako can’t figure out what he wants for such a promise. 

He laughs, but it comes out more like a choke. His throat burns like someone’s breathed fire back down it and his lips are crusted in something metallic when he wets them with his tongue. 

Mako tells Bolin not to be silly, in as few words as he can manage. Whoever this God guy is has better things to be doing, and there’s no way Bolin can make good on his promise. 

The snark takes more out of him than he thought. He ends up sounding more worn than anything. He realizes absently that he’s still crying, which isn’t helping add levity to Bo’s distress. He feels bad for crying in front of him, but it really is just all too much to stop. 

Someone screams when his breaths even out. Mako isn’t awake to hear it. 

His chest stills. Seven minutes pass, and Mako sees all the best times of his life. His eyes fall shut one last time and his spirit fades. 

The spirit world is just across the valley where Mako lays, he knows somehow. But he is content to wait until his family is old and withered and can walk the threshold with him in the forms of their youth. 

Mako will wait as long as they need. He hopes they know they were in every single minute. 

[tincanton]

ok i finished binge watching tlok (except for season 2 listen im not getting into that mess again) and like. its literally not that bad????

like excluding the relationship shit (and most of season 2 I hate season 2) its literally not that bad. like I would rewatch that again it was so fun.

i just wish they developed the Friendships between the krew more. i will reiterate this again, the moment even a slight Concept of a found family has entered my mind I will NOT stop thinking about it. (the most memorable part to me was literally the krew just fucking around in a hotel room with a pai sho board while spying on aiwei. i want more of the four of them just doing really random shit together come on. please. please. ple

also the love triangle ruined All of their characters. like it was just not a great time for any of them. can we all agree to collectively forgive all of that shit because clearly they've all mostly moved on from that mess.

ALSO ALSO mako is literally not a bad character what. literally what. he's literally just zuko 2.0 but everyone hates him for some reason huh. all he did was fuck up two romantic relationships huh. wuh. why does the fandom hate him whuh. explain. the math is not mathing. like what. hes literally full of angst and everyone just ignores that in favor of "but he was a bad bf" what. if we can forgive(forgive?? idk if that's the right wording whatevr) zuko for the shit hes done can we also forgive mako for like. handling his relationships in a questionable manner.

he was like 18/19 at that point yall (and he also seems extremely emotionally constipated jesus) I think we can let this one go. or if you still arent happy with that lets forget about all the drama and have them in a polycule LMAO

anyways tlok very fun. very enjoyable like i could rewatch the fight scenes over and over again they're so cool. and also I love the characters sososo much. the fandom is so focused on the ships can we just like. look at the besties. they're best friends fr.

(korra is so pretty in season 4 actually she is everything to me)

[thatonebirdwrites]

Vigilante Work

Prior installments: Romance, Maroon and Blossoms, AO3 link: Is This a Romance?

Asami has always wanted to be a vigilante, but until she'd met Korra and the brothers, it has always been just that a dream.

So when Korra suggested they head out and defeat Equalists despite it very much being against the government's wishes? Heck yeah. Asami, after that failure with Naga, even offered to drive. She's quite proud of how she sent her satomobile flying into a mech to blow it up. How satisfying.

It is so thrilling that when Korra again asks for her help -- this time to save her father and inadvertently cause a Civil War -- Asami immediately says, "Yes please" with no hesitation. She even crashes two planes for Tonraq, she is proud to say.

Is it any wonder she built the airship, gives it to Korra, joins her on the grand adventure to bring back the Air Nation, and then fights to save her from Zaheer? Vigilante Asami will not let Korra die if she has anything to say or do about it.

Now she sits in her boring office, staring at a mountain of paperwork, and wondering why her life has come to this. She has been a vigilante, a force for good and harmony, and she is poring through the notations of her company lawyers, after a lengthy meeting with them, and signing only the necessary documents to file a suit against yet another of President Raiko's annoying machinations. He seems determined to make her progress with her engineering forums and homeless shelters costly.

She ponders how a vigilante would handle this. She knows what Korra likely would have done. Given him a good punch or four. Asami would, of course, be at her side.

That isn't the answer here, despite how badly she wants it. She glares at the offending documents, and considers whether she should take a vacation for a month or ten. She hates politics and bureaucracy. She simply wants to create and build good things.

A knock sounds at her door, and Asami is tempted to toss her empty teacup at the door. She has no idea who it is since her assistant would not be knocking like this. So who could it be?

She glances at her calender, but there's nothing for the rest of the afternoon. Not that there would be. She has it blocked off to wrestle with aggravating paperwork.

When the knock sounds again, she marches to the door and pulls it open, ready to give her assistant a good talking to for not screening out people.

Only to come face to face with Jinora. Startled, she takes a step back and waves her hand at her office. "Jinora, what are you doing here?"

Jinora is wearing the wingsuit -- not the misguided attempt at unlocking chakras suit, no that one is hidden deep underground in the sub-basements of the mansion under lock and key -- but the one Asami has made for the Air Nation. Her hair is windblown, so likely she's flown straight here.

"I... I wanted to ask you something big, and I totally get if you can't say anything!" Jinora shuts the door behind her.

"Of course." Asami leads her to the sofa at the far end of her office. That's when she realizes it's late, way late. In fact, sun is setting late. No wonder her assistant didn't warn her. Tariq heads home promptly at five for dinner, and calls in to verify if she's left at seven.

Jinora remains standing. "Um. You've heard about Kuvira, right?"

Asami settles on the edge of the sofa. "Odd things, yes." This is her way of trying to be diplomatic. She knows Bolin is working for her, despite Asami's attempt to convince him otherwise. She also knows Kuvira's train system, which Asami has reluctantly assisted in building Republic City's portion of it, has helped bring the Earth Kingdom together like none other.

But Asami doesn't like Kuvira. Something about the woman irritates and unnerves her. She only gives Kuvira the time of day because of her rescuing Tonraq's life. Beyond that, she would love to wash her hands of the woman.

"I think she's funding the bandits." Jinora starts to pace. "Opal and Kai got back recently, you know? And they shared how the town struggled to get food. That bandits had been attacking for months. Then Kuvira pulls up in her train! Tries to pressure the mayor to join her. He refuses."

Asami watches Jinora with a slight frown, while she struggles to follow her story. Her words are mashing together with more and more speed.

"Opal and Kai offer to get food. But they're attacked by bandits on planes! And they're way skilled! Opal said she felt certain they'd had military training, and the plane was in excellent condition. Newly painted."

Asami stands and grabs Jinora's shoulders. She is a bit lost at this point. Something about newly painted plans and military training is all she caught of the last bit.

"Jinora," she says gently. "Please sit down. Panicking won't help us." She leads Jinora to the sofa and pushes her down. "Let's take a moment to breathe, okay?"

Jinora nods. "Right, right." She breathes with Asami in the same breathing pattern that Pema had once taught Asami not long after Asami's father had attempted to murder her (Pema had taught her after Asami broke down crying while washing dishes with her, and Asami has used it often to stave off panic since then).

"Better?" Asami lets her go and sits down next to her.

Jinora nods. "Did... you get all I said?"

Asami holds her hand up and flips it up and down. "More or less. Do you have more stories like this? Moments the Air Nation tried to help only to be thwarted by bandits right before Kuvira comes to the rescue?"

Jinora nods again.

Asami is prepared. This is the stuff of vigilante's. She holds up a finger and rushes to her desk. She digs through a few drawers until she finds an old map she kept mostly because Korra had drawn random things on the margins while waiting for Asami to finish a project. They had planned to go investigating the spirit vines that particular day.

In fact, that drawer holds every piece of paper -- no matter if it was scrap paper -- that Korra has ever written a character or doodled upon. It's a trifle embarrassing really, but Asami keeps the drawer locked when she's not in the room for a reason.

She pulls it out, examines her walls, and decides to just tape it to a window. She chooses the one closest to the sofa, but not the one that she has specially made for when Korra returns. Who knows, maybe Korra would want to enter a window to surprise her? Best to make it so it's openable from both ends.

"All right. Let's mark each incident." Asami grabs a marker and gestures to Jinora.

Jinora looks much calmer now that she sees a plan forming. She stands and starts pointing to various spots on the Earth Kingdom map. Asami marks each one until Jinora ends with the latest infraction.

Asami steps back and caps her marker. There's gaps in the data, partly from the Air Nation being spread so thin, but it's far too obvious now that Jinora is likely correct. Every time bandits interferes with the Air Nation, Kuvira steps in, and that sector of the Earth Kingdom joins her initiative.

"That is not good." Asami puts her hands on her hips and glares at the offending map. This is almost as bad as her paperwork. "Forcing states to join is vile." She taps the marker against her bottom lip. "I think we need an analysis of the bandits' forces."

"So you have a plan?" Jinora asks hopefully.

Oh. Is that why Jinora came? Asami is pleased that Jinora trusts her to come up with plans, but in all honesty, she has no idea how to deal with this. Politics is not her wheelhouse. That's engineering and maybe being a vigilante.

Does Jinora need Asami to crash a few planes for the Air Nation? Asami finds such a thought thrilling, even though there's no real reason to waste a plane on such an endeavor, and she's more than capable of not crashing it.

Being an engineer, fixing things is her lifeblood. Building something as perfect as possible to avoid explosions and other potential problems is her specialty, and partly why she's a bit obsessed with pouring over designs and testing their products before they hit the market. She must make sure they are perfect.

So to have a chance to join Korra or the Air Nation in a destructive moment for a good cause? It flies against all of Asami's instincts, gives her a sense of wonder, and for a moment, Asami can pretend to be someone else. Someone not so obsessed with building and repairing everything to perfection. To experience the thrill of adrenaline at the epic explosion caused by her. It's a relief to let her important responsibilities go for a little while.

"Too bad I can't go full vigilante and sabotage her train," Asami says, mostly to herself. Flying a plane into the tracks could do that however.

"Some villagers tried that. They vanished," Jinora says, uneasily.

Asami turns to stare at her. "What?"

Jinora rubs the back of her necks. "Yeah, Opal, Kai, and some of the other teams keep hearing stories of people speaking out against Kuvira and then they vanish. Most claim its bandit attacks, but..." she taps her fingers against the map.

Asami presses a hand against her temple. She wishes Korra is here. Her hand drifts to her pocket and pulls out Korra's last letter to her. The one where she promises to return to Asami. Has Korra found the Avatar spirit yet? Asami reads through the letter for the millionth time, only to tuck it away with a sigh.

"What's that?" Jinora points to her pocket.

Asami blushes. "Uh. A letter."

"From Korra?" Jinora looks excited. "You've heard from her? Maybe she can help!"

Asami sighs. "Jinora, this letter is five months old. I also can't say where she is or what's she's doing. Promised." She looks at the map.

"Wait." Jinora narrows her eyes. "Wait, she writes you? Tells you where she is?"

"Did. Though we exchanged a few letters before that."

"What?" Jinora jumps up and down. "Asami! Why didn't you say something! Korra hasn't written anyone and then she only writes you?"

Asami shifts from foot to foot. "Jinora, it's hardly proof that she feels the same." Asami wonders if perhaps her tearful confession in the meditation pavilion ten months prior is a mistake. She has not calculated in how excited Jinora would be at these crumbs, almost as much as Asami has been.

Being an engineer, Asami relies on data, and three letters, no matter how Korra signed them or the content of them, is not enough data points to prove conclusively that Korra is in love with her. This is why Asami has told no one except Jinora her feelings for Korra, and Jinora only learned because out of all the people in her life, the younger girl is the only one who consistently talks to Asami.

"Right." Jinora gives her a disbelieving look. "Only writes you. Only tells you what's she's doing."

"We're best friends," Asami protests, weakly. She thinks of how Korra had signed the last letter with love, while the others had been signed with yours. She wishes she knew for sure what that meant.

Jinora gives her an exasperated look, her hands on her hips. "Asami."

"Jinora." Asami crosses her arms. They have done this before several times, mostly when Asami confesses to feeling alone or friendless. JInora then gets all exasperated and says her name as if Asami is the silliness person on the planet. Asami suspects that Jinora is quite right, but she will never admit it.

They hold the standoff for a bit before Jinora gives in and turns back to the map. "Dad was a bit dismissive of Opal's story. I think this would convince him we're right. Especially if he knows you helped me. He respects you a lot."

This startles Asami. "He does?"

"Asami." Jinora gives her that exasperated look again.

Asami manages a rueful smile. She will give Jinora that much.

"He's worried about Korra too. Everyone is I think. Do... do you think you can give me a clue? I promise to not tell anyone it was you."

Asami frowns. "I promised, Jinora."

"But what if we need her?"

"Korra promised me she'd return to me..." Asami realizes how that sounds and turns to the map. "I mean... when she is ready to return, she will." She knows without looking that Jinora is not fooled, especially with that exasperated sigh. The third one that hour! Asami has definitely broken a record at this point. Jinora is never going to let her down.

"So, about this?" She gestures to the map, in hopes of changing the subject. "Do you need assistance on how to handle?"

"Can I take this to Dad?"

Asami hesitates. Why did she have to use the one that Korra has drawn on? She ponders the dilemma, then goes to her desk and grabs scissors. She cuts off the Northern and Southern Water Tribe portion of the map, where most of Korra's doodles are located. These she carefully tucks back into her desk.

Except her hand brushes up against a carefully hidden stack of letters. Ones she has refused to open. The ones from her father. Asami yanks her hand out as if scalded and shoves the door closed. She keeps her back to Jinora, and breathes the way Pema has taught her. In through her nose, and out through her mouth. She is safe here, her father is in jail, and it is unlikely he has means to make an attempt on her life again.

"You okay?" Jinora lightly touches her arm.

Asami sighs and manages a smile. She'll have to deal with her father, which she'll do tomorrow. "I just... got reminded of a painful personal thing, that's all."

"Your Dad?"

Jinora is perceptive as always.

"I recall not telling you he's writing me," Asami says with a frown.

"Oh, he's writing you? Wow, that's worse than I thought." Jinora looks worried.

"Wait." Asami is very confused and a bit lost. "Then how did you guess?"

"Personal thing always means your father," Jinora says as if this is a fundamental theory of the universe.

Asami is a trifle frustrated that she's that transparent. Or maybe more accurately, Jinora is far too perceptive than she has any right to be. Frustrating.

But at the same time, it warms her to know that she has a friend that isn't just Korra (and maybe Mako and Bolin if they would actually stay in contact, but then men aren't known for being that thoughtful).

For some reason, this gives her a rather ludicrous idea. "Jinora." She turns back to the map and looks it over. "There's a region that Kuvira hasn't hit yet." She circles Zaofu and the province next to it. Not far from that region is another one that has no known villages -- it's the Foggy Swamp. She feels pulled to that region, as if it is important. Crucial almost. Along its edges are several towns. She circles them as well. "I don't think she'd bother with the Swamp, but..."

She looks at Jinora and wonders what she can say. For Korra to not be found or seen by anyone in the last six months, she must be traveling incognito, but even then, there would still be sightings of look-alikes. She's not in the North or South. Asami is fairly certain of this based on her own quiet investigation (she can't help it. Her worries for Korra's safety gets more intense with each passing month), which leaves the Earth Kingdom.

Or rather the area of the Se Wong Desert or Foggy Swamp. She wants to tell Jinora to start there, but she can't. She promised Korra, and this would be a direct violation of that trust.

So instead she writes a character near the Foggy Swamp, one she hopes will give Jinora a clue. Untaping the map, she rolls it up and hands it over.

"I suggest we wait for Kuvira to show her hand. She will at the coronation. When she does, the Air Nation will need to act fast. I will assist in what ways I can, such as provide any technology you may need. I suggest doing patrols to search for any evidence of missing people. I also suggest tricking Bolin."

"Tricking Bolin?" Jinora says, confused.

Asami nods. "Don't reveal the plan to him. However, all you will need to do swap his jacket and belt. Stop by after the coronation and I'll give you his new jacket and belt."

"What's special about it?"

Asami rubs her hands together, gleefully. "I figured out a way to make a small recorder! It'll record what he hears. Though battery is an issue." She taps her bottom lip. "Hmm. I'll install three battery sources. We only need enough to catch him talking with Kuvira. And if Kuvira goes full on evil, I don't believe he'll stay with her. He'll want out. We can retrieve it from him then. Should give us insight into her next move."

Jinora's eyes widen in amazement. "I knew you'd think of something!" She bounds forward and wraps Asami in a hug. "I'll do just that!"

Asami pats Jinora's back. She has no idea if this plan will work, and in all honesty, she suspects it won't. That isn't the point of it however. If it helps relieve Jinora's worries to have a plan -- no matter how ludicrous -- then Asami can provide that.

Plus, she's always wanted to do a field test. She's positive that Bolin will get a kick out of being that field test, once he comes to his senses and leaves Kuvira's team.

This gives her another idea. One that is definitely petty.

It involves dressing in all black with a face mask and egging President Raiko's home. Juvenile, maybe? Yes. Satisfying? Also, yes.

Besides, that's what vigilante's do. Stunts to make the powerful understand their power has limits, and it's been awhile since Asami has been a vigilante. She thinks she deserves this. Especially if she has to visit her father tomorrow.

She'll buy the eggs as soon as Jinora heads out with the map.

[skinyogurt]

reading homestuck the way god intended by actually reading all of jailbreak, bardquest, and problem sleuth first

[depresseddepot]

finally FINALLY finished watching the legend of korra. it only took me LITERALLY ten years

[zincbot]

i like mako's character best when he's not taken 100% seriously

[orcelito]

On LOK season 2, episode 3. Things turning out interesting now 🤔🤔🤔 don't know the angle they're going & I'm looking forward to seeing. These new characters r really good, overall!!!

Also just wanna special mention Bolin's joke to Mako, "I'm lucky you're so good at breaking girls' hearts. Korra better watch out!" Bc he's so fucking RIIIIIIIGHT he called that bitch out!!!!!!! Two timing asshole!!!! Mako and Korra are just not good together!!! The fuck!!!! And he left Asami out of nowhere?!?! Did he even actually break up with her?!?!?! SUCH an asshole. At least we have Bolin to call his shit like this 😂

[attackfish]

Lin adopts Mako and Bolin, five HC?

Continued from: [Link], [Link], [Link], [Link], [Link], [Link], [Link], [Link], [Link], [Link], [Link], and [Link].

0. Katara does in fact track down Toph and yell at her. It feels good. Toph yells back. That feels good too. It's cleansing. It's a bonding experience. Then Toph asks how Katara found her, and Katara is like, I've got good relations with the swamp benders, and Toph's like, oh yeah. But anyway, Katara has almost a week before she has to get back to the Southern Water Tribe and Korra, and she spends it crashing at Toph's place and catching up.

1. Several months later, Lin has to go to parent-teacher conferences. These would probably be less of a hellish ordeal for everyone involved if Lin had any ability left to trust teachers after what happened at the last school. She goes in fearful and defensive, which is a terrible frame of mind for these sorts of things. And it's fear, this thing she carries in with her, because Mako and Bolin seem to be doing really well at this new school, and she's afraid to find out it's not true.

2. Mako and Bolin's classroom teachers sit across from her, and both are smiling. Lin shoots them suspicious looks. They ask what concerns Lin has, and what she wants to know, and she turns it right back on them. What concerns do they think she has? Bolin's teacher, a man named Master Bao says at this school, most parents want to know two things: how their kids are doing academically, and what the school is doing to fix their children. The first, he says, is easy, because Bolin is doing well. He likes story time, and is memorizing lots of characters, and writes them mostly neatly, as neatly as any little boy. He has a wonderful imagination. The second is harder, because he doesn't need to be fixed. No child does. He just has some problems he needs to work on, and they want to help him with. Bolin wants everybody to like him, and he wants to entertain them and make them laugh, and when they don't like him, he tries even harder, even when those other kids are mean to him, so we're working with him on how to stand up for himself, and when to walk away. Lin is startled, because yeah, this is what she's noticed too.

3. Then Mako's teacher, Master Nira, a small, fast moving woman, pipes up. Mako wants to take charge. He wants to always be there to protect Bolin, and he doesn't always trust us to take care of him and his brother. We're working on building trust, and getting him to trust his brother to keep himself safe too. Also, he is very very good at math. Yeah, well, he needed that math when he was doing numbers for the Triple Threat Triad. She doesn't know why she said it, she was planning on keeping that back, on not telling their teachers anything. Maybe she wanted to shock them, which is probably why she tells them next that Mako kept the boys fed when they were on the streets. Mako's teacher nods, and says, that's good to know.

4. Lin is furious. What difference does it make, she wants to know. Are they going to judge them differently, because they were street kids? Is it going to be like the other school all over again? Master Nira smiles and says but it's always important to know where kids came from, what they knew before they got here, because all of the behaviors that are problems now, are things they learned to keep themselves safe, and it's important to honor that even as they're learning new things that are more helpful in their life now, to respect that these behaviors were good and important, even if they make things more difficult now. Master Bao asks Lin if he's right in thinking Mako acted like a parent, and like all kids acting as a parent, it was too much for him, so Bolin learned to play the clown to make Mako laugh and take away some of the stress. Lin nods. Master Bao laughes. Don't worry, he says, they're dealing with kids who have way worse and scarier problems then Mako and Bolin have. They're going to be fine. Lin's doing great with them.

5. Lin wants to know, what do they mean by worse problems. Master Nira looks uncomfortable. She says they can't talk about specific students, but they can say that they have students who are violent, and aggressive, or who lie, cheat, and steal, and they have to learn how to help these kids, and honor the way these behaviors kept them safe once, and help them feel safe enough so that they can change, because if they don't, not only is it bad that they feel that scared all the time, but also because it can mean that someday it's going to be Lin who's going to have to deal with them. It reminds her of the way Aang used to talk. She was always very close to Aang, but she always kind of thought he was hopelessly naive too. But this doesn't sound naive. And it kind of makes her think, that maybe her idea that if they just took all the bad people and put them in jail, the good people would be safe, that this might actually be the truly naive way to think. She leaves shaken, but feeling better about her boys.

[pumpkinrootbeer]

no bc the lavabending nerf in the comic was CRAAZY like actually insane. In the series the lava disc was this like, clever way for Bolin to keep such a devastating power under control in a closed off environment.

In the comics it's all he uses?? EVEN WHEN HES BEING MIND CONTROLLED TO BE EVIL??? like.

why would that be all he goes for and not say.

This.

I hate it this is something I am always going to bitch about they're sooooo afraid of having to address the implications of what giving Bolin a power no one else possesses does. also ur telling me after being brainwashed to be EVIL and trying to KILL AND MURDER his friends he's going to hold back??? JAIL! JAIL FOR 1000 YEARS

[transboysokka]

tboys spotted

[cold-neon-ocean]

2, 9 for LOK?

✨ love your fandom ask game ✨ 

2. A headcanon you weren't sure about at first but have come to like!

Ooh this one is kinda tough~ I'm generally rather removed from the fandom at large so I actually don't really know of a lot of popular headcanons out there, let alone ones I initially didn't like and came to like~ I really only ever consumed content about Baatar and Kuvira as they're my favorites, and with them I'd either like a headcanon outright, or dislike it outright. I will say, at least in the limited fan content I've consumed, there is a common idea of Baatar having gone to university in Ba Sing Se for a period of time. I've seen at least 3 folks use that in their writings for him, and while it was never something I was "unsure" about, I didn't initially include the idea in my version of him. I don't know who penned that headcanon first but I was always hesitant about being seen as "copying" anyone lol. I do like the idea though, especially with my very codependent versions of Baatar and Kuvira, some time apart like that during their "good years" would be rather interesting, since they have been in each other's lives for most of their lives, Baatar choosing to go where Kuvira can't follow- even for a short period of time, I can see her holding against him for a little while. Especially with her preexisting abandonment issues.

9. A ship that isn't your OTP but you enjoy

Once again I'm pretty singularly invested in Baatar and Kuvira but there are definitely some canon and fan ships that I like! Canon wise I'll always have a soft spot for Bolin and Opal, just because they're cute and I like the potential dynamic it creates with Baatar specifically. A lot of it is pretty contingent on my rewrite versions, but what can I say, I'm a bit of a sucker for puppy love. Lyn and Kya was an early ship I'd see in the fandom that I always was like *Kermit nodding gif* ooh yeah I like that, and I've also seen Lyn and Bumi which I also really like, but I never really delved into fan works of either admittedly. I'll confess that lately the crack ship of Baatar and Zhu Li has been on my mind, but definitely not as a positive ship in any way, more like a mutually waged psychological warfare that they aren't even trying to hide from each other kind. I don't remember what sparked the idea- I'm not usually one for crack ships as I tend to be pretty single-ship through and through, but it's been a fun dynamic to think about, especially the kinds of conversations they'd have.

[wilcze-kudly]

There's just something i find really appealing about the concept of Bolin being unable to metalbend and then getting a metalbender boyfriend