Well, That’s Escalated Quickly

fr

hot evil characters who i want to fix but will make me cry if i actually meet them in real life>>>>>>

Standing alone: Why I love Lin Beifong

(Spoilers, a very long piece of personal opinions and interpretations, ahead)

Let’s talk about Lin Beifong. And it’s kind of impossible to talk about Lin Beifong without talking about “LinZin”, but that’s the point. I remember her from way back in Season 1 Episode 6, “And the winner is”, when Lin’s voice and eyes soften when she tells Tenzin they are helping each other out at the Pro-Bending finals “like old times”. What a contrast that was, from the anger and coldness we saw from her before. I remember Lin asking Tenzin not to turn back when she jumps onto the Equalist airship for a battle to the death, all so Tenzin’s family has a chance to escape. I remember Lin turning her battle of words with Su to a real battle when Su flippantly brought up Tenzin in their argument. I know everyone has their own interpretation of the show, but I always thought it’s so painfully obvious that Lin hasn’t moved on from Tenzin, and I love LoK for showing us that despite all this, Lin can survive. 

There are too many stories – books, movies, TV shows – that focus on people finding the one, the one true love of their life, who will make their life and happiness complete. But what if the world doesn’t work like that? What if the world didn’t miraculously pair us all off for a happy ending? What are the stories of those people who end up alone for one reason or another? 

I love the “LinZin” story because it’s one of those stories. As far as I can tell, Lin’s separation from Tenzin was not rooted in a lack of love but differences in what they wanted in a future together. Tenzin wanted children. Lin didn’t. Perhaps they have always loved each other, but they won’t be happy together. In the end, they separated to pursue their own paths, and it doesn’t feel fair because Tenzin ends up with the family and Airbender legacy he wanted but Lin is still alone after all these years. And the loneliness bothers Lin. Lin, who withstood having her face scarred and her bending removed with determinedly dry eyes, broken down in tears when Korra reminds her that she is still a bitter, lonely woman. Although that happened during the “Metal Clan” episode, and the loneliness likely referred to Lin’s relationship with her family as well as her past with Tenzin, the fact still stands – Lin is alone, and she doesn’t really want to be. 

Unlike your typical relationship storyline, Lin’s romantic journey doesn’t end with Lin and Tenzin choosing their relationship over everything and everyone else, nor is about Lin resenting Tenzin for finding happiness with Pema, and nor is it about Lin finding love with someone else. It ends with Lin and Tenzin rekindling a friendship that probably defined their childhood, with the children of heroes becoming heroes in their own right, with two platonic friends fighting side by side to save the world. Lin chooses justice, kindness, and not to sacrifice the sense of self she held onto even as it drove her and Tenzin apart. Lin can bear the pain of losing a love, not by denying love or repeating it, but taking the best of it – the understanding, empathy, and camaraderie – and make something good out of that. Even though it takes a long time, Lin finds a place in the world despite her heartbreak. Maybe she will always feel the heartbreak in some parts of her, bur Lin’s life carries on in a meaningful, positive manner, even as she stands alone.   

(Toph and Suyin are no less pivotal figures in Lin’s story, but this post is getting too long as it is.) 

I love Lin’s story because in the end, it ends well even though it isn’t perfect. Her relationship with Tenzin is such a big part of her, yet she has to brave the emptiness and bitterness of being without him. She seems to have so much less, compared to Tenzin. She seems to have it so much harder, compared to Suyin. She ends up alone not because she wants to be alone, but because she didn’t find the right person with whom to share her life. Many villains in fiction have turned to the dark side for less.  And yet for all the horrible hands fate has dealt her, Lin comes out a hero. 

It takes strength to accept and bear the pain that will inevitably enter into our lives. It takes strength to stand alone in a world that focuses so much on the idea of romance and love. But that’s the kind of strength that helps Lin find peace in the world, and I think that’s the kind of strength that allows Lin the clarity to make decisions that make her a hero. 

Happy anniversary to the time Nandor blocked the Suez Canal!

"lesser evil"

And also they make Hannibal is so perfect and fbi so dumb. Even the smartest fbi agen became cannibal T_T

anyways

Buttercup (Invincible)

Author’s note: as someone who lost my mom, I had to write for full mask mark losing his mom. Different circumstances, but still has grief all the same

Warnings: Death, grief

(Technically a short story for the Invincible AVRP AU but can be read by itself)

Characters: Full Mask Mark Grayson, Debbie Grayson

💛🕊💫🌼☁️ 💛🕊💫🌼☁️ 💛🕊💫🌼☁️

“Mama!” His high pitched child voice squeaks out, running to her with open arms as if he forgot she was there with him. She smiles wider as he kneels down to his level, opening her arms wide. He giggles and crashes full force into her, knowing that she will always be there to catch him, to break his fall. He laughs as she hums “woah!” At his enthusiasm to ses her. She lifts him up into her arms, wrapping them around his tiny body to make sure he’s secure. Nothing will hurt him.

“Look mama!” He hands her the flower, and she gasps and takes it from his delicate hands.

“Woah, thank you, sweetie.” He beams at the praise.

“Do you know what flower this is?” He shakes his head in return.

“This is a buttercup, if you hold it under your chin and your chin is yellow it means you like butter” he gasps in return and lets his mother hold it under his chin.

“Oh, looks like someone likes butter” she teases and lightly tickles his tummy. He giggles in response before chuckling out, “now you try mama!”

She hums and holds it under her chin with a smile, the buttercup glowing a yellow hue under her chin, “is my chin yellow”

He gasps and nods, like this is some sort of witchcraft he’s never seen before.

“Let’s go see if your dad likes butter” Mark cheers as she lets him down, holding the buttercup as his tiny legs run to his dad.

—💛🕊💫🌼☁️

“Do you remember that, mom? After that I have always picked you a buttercup or two on Mother’s Day until I was able to buy my own flowers. Always of a yellow variety though, it has to be in theme,” he chuckles weakly before talking again, “Happy Mother’s Day, Mom”

Mark pressed a soft kiss to her temple, as tears dropped onto her pale skin. He pulls away, as he stares at her lifeless body. He can’t let go though, they haven’t had enough time together. They never got to go on a mother-son vacation, she will never see him have children, she will never get to even reach the age of 60. In his head, he hopes by some miracle she will gasp for air again, but he’s tried all he could. CPR didn’t even work but crushed her ribs.

He carried her over to the couch, hugging her close and he pulled a blanket over her. He doesn’t want her to get cold, she always hated the cold. Out during sunny days was what she loved. The yellow lilies, daffodils and buttercups were wilted on the floor, the water spilling, the vase shattered.

He runs a hand over her cheek, feeling her body slowly get cooler. He clenches his teeth, thinking of all the times she said I love you, and he wished he said them back. Or the times he would rush out of the house to play at a friend’s house and she looked disappointed that he didn’t stay to eat her cooking. Or when he would play with his dad more than her. What if she hates him for that? He’s sure hating himself right now for that.

He hums a tune to an old song they used to play in the car as he braids her hair. He knows she’s dead, even if he doesn’t want to accept it, but she deserves to look beautiful even after she lives.

—💛🕊💫🌼☁️

“Mama?”

Debbie turns, she hadn’t heard Mark use that name in a while. He looks in shock, on the verge of tears, and he wraps her in an almost crushing hug- literally.

“Mark?! What’s gotten into you? We had dinner together yesterday. Are you happy to see me?” She chuckles it off.

“Mom, oh god- I want you to know I love you, you mean the world to me. You raised me better than this” He rambles as his voice quivers, his eyes watering and ready to overflow.

“Mark? Seriously, what’s wrong?”

“I got you these”

He hands her a bouquet of lilies, daffodils and buttercups, with specks of dirt on them like he found them and pulled them from the dirt himself.

“Happy Mother’s Day, Mama…”

Karl Marx really hold onto his principles until he died :) i would even panick if i was him.

history + last words

Okay, that's cute moment

boba: would you slap your best friend in the face for a million credits?

fennec: i’d roundhouse kick you in the face for free.

boba, tearing up: i’m your best friend?