deernet | Video; UN: Korra

Entry tags:

Video; UN: Korra

[It's her first time on the network. She has been, to put it mildly, avoiding this moment. The woman on the screen certainly looks better than she had in Deerington. Better rested, more attuned with herself. Those that know her well may have talked to her about this, or seen it in the way she moves. Instead of running about trying to catch up, instead of being dragged along by events - this is what the Avatar is, and who Avatar Korra is, specifically: ready, confident, and radiating inner strength.]

[The other part, of course, is hidden away, as it always is - she knows, now, just how far her powers extend...and in a world that runs on blood, is working to keep the knowledge of bloodbending - and her ability to do it - strictly secret. Such an ability has the potential to be...well, an ultimate weapon, in her conception. But the scope pales to her view of it as a violation, and she - having been bloodbent herself - knows the agony that comes with it.]

[So, she keeps that hidden. And the normalcy can be layered over top until it is pushed down and, hopefully, forgotten. Though...arrangements have to be made.]

Well, hello everyone!

[She waves, with a gentle smile.]

So I made it over, bit late getting on here. For those of you who don't know me, I'm Korra and...well, I'm here to help. We'll see what this place throws at us, but if you ever need support, please let me know.

[Then there is a shuffling sound down by her feet, and a muffled sort of noise.]

Oh, right. To those who do know me - I finally figured out the omen thing.

[She bends down out of sight, before coming back up...and holding her tiny omen:]

So this is a turtle-duck. They're pretty common where I'm from. Her name is Toph. She's got a hard shell, is probably sweet underneath, and just sort of does what she wants. Kind of like her namesake. But what really put the naming over the top was just finding her eating some bread, and that's how I knew she existed. It also explains where various other bits of food have been going. I thought it was mice.

[The turtle-duck quacks at the camera.]

Anyways, that's about it. To the friends I haven't seen yet, I look forward to seeing you. To everyone else, greetings and I hope this place is better than the last one.

[Private to Mako]

So you know how we were talking the other night. I've...been thinking. And I need a favour from you. It's not an easy one, either. But I've been doing a lot of thinking and you're the only person I trust with it.

[Private to Asami]

So you know how we were talking about living spaces? I think I may have found a spot. Come look at it with me?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[She looks down at the dragon, offering it little fingertip strokes.]

Yeah...it is. [Her eyes come up.] Mako, if I can...tap into that, in a place that apparently runs on blood? Where people are affected by blood control already?

[She shakes her head.]

I'm never, ever going to bloodbend. Not in my right mind. But that's the problem with this place. It...corrupts. Corrupted, I guess, if this place is really different. And I remember what happened to Sam.

[She sighs, rubbing a hand over her face.]

Before, in Deerington, I had a plan for...if something went wrong with me. Or someone...controlled me, made me a danger to my friends and everyone else. If I wasn't going to come back from that. My plan was Vira-Lorr.

[ Mako wishes he could tell her she didn't need a plan. That he could say you'll be fine, you'll never do that, because she's Korra, and he knows that in her right mind, she never would.

But she's right, and in a weird way, Mako is grimly proud of her for thinking of it. How many times has Mako lost himself? How many times has he watched people lose themselves, been on the receiving end of exactly that—Eddie, Sam, some other version of himself?

He meets Korra's eyes and nods. ]

What's your plan now? Vira's not going to cut it?

She's been depowered.

[She offers Zuko a hand up, to get a better look at the dragon.]

So I'm out of people I can trust...who can stop me if...

[She trails off, squeezing her eyes shut.]

I'm sorry, Mako. You're the only person who has the power to do it and knows me well enough to out-think and out-fight me. I hate to...I really, really hate to ask...

Korra.

[ Mako cuts her off before she can continue that, holding her gaze for a long moment. Zuko clambers up onto her arm, her eyes locked on Korra as well. For a moment, there is only the crackle of the fire and the howling of distant voices on the wind, echoes of the things whispering in Mako's ears for the last month.

He shifts closer on his stone seat, shaking his head. ]

I told you I'd follow you anywhere, into any battle. I meant that.

[ The thing she's asking him to do is the thing that's been shadowing him since he woke up in the dream: hurt a friend. Hurt Korra, who's a part of him, except if she goes bad for some reason beyond her control he knows without a doubt what the kindest thing is. It's the same thing they did for Cynthia. ]

I won't let you hurt anyone.

[And that's the nub of it. She's a fighter, but not violent. She doesn't crave it - and she hates the idea of hurting anyone. She would rather be hurt herself.]

Thank you, Mako.

[She leans a bit, reaching into the rucksack.]

I knew you'd...I knew I could count on you. But I've written...letters. To Asami, Wu, and Bolin. So they'll know it's what I asked for. In case of...well, the last extremity.

In case I have to kill you?

[ His voice is a hard-edged thing, blunt to soften the impact, because dancing around this isn't going to help either of them. He hates it: hates that she's asking, hates that it's absolutely necessary, hates that he knows he'd be able to do it, even if he'd never forget it afterwards. ]

[She says nothing to that, just nods, slowly.]

I don't want them thinking it was your fault or that you made a choice you didn't have to.

...got it.

[ Mako sucks in a tiny little breath, glancing down at his own hands for a moment.

The thing is: he knows very well that he'd do it. Of course he will: Korra asked, and Mako has done it before, killed someone in the service of protecting other people. He knows what it's like to make hard choices, to stand up under that weight and grit his teeth and bear it, even when it hurts.

And it would. It will. Mako's almost not optimistic enough to imagine that he won't, at some point, be forced to follow through on this promise. It's like Korra said: this place isn't trustworthy any more than Deerington was. ]

How long have you been thinking about this?

[And that's the thing for her - she knows all that. They've both been there. It's what life has demanded of them, in different times and in different places. She knows he can do it, he knows her well enough - but he wouldn't make it worse than it had to be.]

Ever since I met the Waste version of me. I'd made other arrangements, back in Deerington - but here, of course...we have to start over.

[She looked him in the eye.]

I don't want it to happen - and we'll have to make sure everyone who knows bloodbending is a thing doesn't talk about it. Because if someone here takes control of me, or makes me misuse it...

[That's the worst of it. She doesn't know what she can do with it, here. But she knows she could hurt nearly everyone, and in ways that are like a coat hanger being slid along someone's veins. Given how important blood is here, the scale could be...terrible.]

Or figures out how to do it on their own.

[ Mako adds solemnly. Korra turning would be the worst-case scenario: she's the Avatar, she's incredibly strong, and she's seen it before. She's had it happen, same as Mako. She knows, somewhere inside herself, exactly how to do it.

That's terrifying. The prospect of other people figuring it out is also terrifying, but in an abstract kind of way. ]

Korra, how... easy do you think it would be? To learn? Could someone figure it out?

They'd have to know waterbending, or something like it. [She nods firmly at that.]

Even then, it's like...well, lightning-bending from fire-bending. Not a given. The best hope in any event is that however things work are completely separate...my biggest fear is that I could...tap into the blood magic. Like, in the Avatar State, I don't know that I couldn't just feel and manipulate all of it. At once.

[She's had nightmares about that. In it, instead of a giant version of herself made of spirit, it's a dark, writing creature in her shape, made of blood and viscera.]

So you're the problem here, you think. Not everyone else.

[ That's putting it bluntly, maybe, but Mako needs to wrap his head around the scope of this thing, add it to the list of things to watch out and worry for (it's a long and comprehensive list.) ]

Do you know anything about your blood here? What kind it is?

Not that I don't think that somebody with the magical sort of abilities here couldn't figure something out, but I'm definitely more immediately worried about what would happen if I tried it.

And warmblood. Nothing special, thankfully. I think you'll understand more than anybody that I...really didn't want to gain any more abilities.

[Being the Avatar is enough of a thing - she doesn't want to contend with anything new in that vein.]

[ Mako can't resist the brief moment of humor, or reaching over to nudge at Korra's knee. ]

Being the Avatar's enough for you, huh? Can't imagine why.

[ It is possible he's stalling. It's possible there is a terrible question he knows he has to ask but doesn't yet want to: lightening the mood slightly is easier than thinking about it just yet.

Zuko lets out a small whine and curls herself properly into Korra's lap like a preemptive apology. ]

Too much, and you know it. It's why I had to get the best friends in the world, right?

[She sighs, smiling down at Zuko and starting to stroke the dragon.]

[ Some best friend he is, sitting here watching Korra pet his Omen with a fire crackling happy between them and thinking about— ]

Hey. I'm only asking this because... you asked me to do this, but. What happens if you die while you're in the Avatar State here? Do you have any idea?

[She sighs, seeming to fold in on herself a little bit.]

I don't know. I have to hope that I'm...isolated, somehow. Then again, maybe it wouldn't be so bad if I was the last Avatar. Vaatu's defeated, right?

In ten thousand years, if he did come back...I don't think people'd need someone like me.

What?

[ Without missing a beat, Mako leans forward on his stone, frowning over at Korra. At the same time, Zuko thwaps her tail into Korra's arm. ]

We wouldn't even be here if you weren't here the first time he came back. That's stupid, Korra. The people are always gonna need an Avatar, whether they like it or not. Same goes for this place.

Ow!

[She lifts her arm, rubbing at the spot Zuko hit.] Not fair teaming up.

[She sighed.]

Will they, though? I mean, look how far things have come since Aang's time - In another ten thousand years...

[She shook her head.]

I'm just saying I think things will be alright if there wasn't an Avatar, given how things are going.

Do you... want there to not be an Avatar?

[ He doesn't think Korra's right at all, but he's also trying to say the right thing. He can't tell what Korra wants him to say here, what kind of support she needs, and rather than barrelling full-steam with his own opinion, he wants to ask. To know.

The shapes of him have been fracturing at the edges, crumbling into something softer. Mako wants to argue, but he bites his own tongue, watching her. ]

[She pauses to really consider the question. She owes him that much. Finally, she shrugs a bit, with her shoulders.]

I think...I think I want people to not need the Avatar? I want there to be enough peace, and enough technology, that the threats we're dealing with...won't be, anymore?

[There's a small smile as she thinks through things.]

I mean, imagine if I could just live my life with Asami. Sure, keep the Avatar around and trained, I mean, like, in case? But...I'd like a full life, like Aang had. Longer, if I can manage it.

...huh.

[ Mako considers that for a moment: a world where the Avatar is a figurehead like the Earth King, with no real power.

He wants that for Korra, too. He wants the world to leave her alone, to let her just have her life and her girlfriend and her dreams. She doesn't deserve to have the world's problems dumped at her feet over and over again, Raiko's whiny insistence that it's her problem, she's the Avatar, she should fix it. Korra didn't ask for that power any more than Wu did.

Finally, Mako looks back up with an edge of a smile. ]

You sure you're not just trying to live a life of luxury? Let Asami spoil you without any responsibilities?

[She can't help but giggle a little bit at that last.]

I mean, if I could get away with it...but you know me, I can't relax that much. But..a little bit of spoiling...

Which of you two is the spoiler? Or are you both spreading bad habits?

[Said with a lopsided grin.]

What, of me and Wu?

[ It's... it's weird that she's asking about his current relationship, right? Or maybe that's just in his own head—is there a right answer here? Does Mako need to be lightly panicking? It's fine that she knows, and he doesn't exactly hold back around her but also she's his ex and that's

That's weird.

Unless it's not weird, and Mako's making it weird with the kaleidoscope of expressions making their way over his face as he thinks. ]

It's. Uh. I mean, Wu's pretty—

[ Be cool, Mako. ]

Me. It's me.

[To her mind, it's the only way forward - either they're going to be exes forever or they can move past that into a better future. So it's strange, and not without awkwardness - but it has to be done.]

[She nodded.]

That tracks. Have I said how happy I am you found each other? And how proud I am of all the work you've done here?

Video; UN: Korra

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)