beautiful in rage

[stvrmbxrn]

a beautiful flower has blossomed! hi, you can call me lily ( 21+, she/her ) and this is lady tai haena ( she/her/hers, 23, firebender, the youngest child of house tai in dragonstone ). i have some info about her below the read more! please like or dm to plot, or if you prefer discord ( on god please prefer discord over tumblr ims ), add me at wooloohoo#9998

choi yewon (arin). female. she/her. presenting lady tai haena, twenty three year-old firebender loyal to house ryu and tai. charming yet unforgiving, they find themself apprehensive of fire lord chaesan’s reign. will this be their salvation or their undoing ? - penned by lily. 21+. she/her.

because i believe in tldr’s before the huge chunk of text: 

tldr: your local grief stricken teenager grows up to become a maybe murderess! good luck with that fellas! 

background:

the youngest child of house tai, the beloved and doted upon little lady of dragonstone. dragonstone may have been in the cold northern regions, but it was still a major port city. haena grew up surrounded by bustling port workers and foreign workers, absorbing every story and detail with gleaming, curious eyes. she was always a lover of stories, and the best storytellers always came off the ships in her family’s harbor. 

she’s a bright and vivacious young girl, an adventurer in the making. while she loved to spend her free time climbing up trees and exploring every nook and cranny dragonstone had to offer, she always found her way back home. she used to follow her brother around all the time, playfully called his little shadow whenever he was home. he always had the best stories, and treats hidden for her in his sleeves.

but this wouldn’t be an interesting story if it was all happiness, would it? no, because at eleven years old, the house of tai is shaken by the execution of its second child, then the death of its head of house.

when her brother died, it was like something inside her died too. a break in her body, fractured by grief that was too big for her chest. there was no outlet, no way to process the pain she was carrying around. for the weeks after his execution, she could hardly be comforted. a shell of her former self, she became a ghost in her own home. curled up in tears in his old bedroom, until her muffled sobs turned into screams. 

she learns to live with it. somehow. its a constant weight in her chest that she carries around, a burden she has learned to breathe with. her grief lends to rage, a drive to never feel so helpless again. 

she made a monster of her grief, until it consumed her whole. 

maybe it would have been fine, if her rage wasn’t targeted at the crown. at the royalty their house is sworn to serve. at the whole structure that allowed a king to learn an art from his loyal vassals, only to ban them from the very thing they lovingly shared with him, and years later, sentenced her brother to death. 

yeah, that wasn’t really gonna fly in the fire nation even if she kept it more or less under wraps enough not to be setting off alarms about an unhinged teenage girl who daydreamed about killing the fire lord in various gruesome and creative ways! 

basically, her mom sees all the gasoline she’s filled herself with and was like oh i have a good idea, let’s deal with this is by shipping her off to a foreign nation and marrying her off to a random man she’s never met!

spoiler: it was not a good idea

lord lee kihyun embodied his element. he was steadfast and unwavering, as consistent as the stone he worked. these were admirable traits, ones that lended well to his career and loyalty to the earth kingdom’s royal family. they may have been good ones in a husband, at least, one that wasn’t such a traditionalist. he had a specific idea of what his new fire nation wife should be like. pretty as a picture, quiet, obedient. and submissive. that last one was very important.

and guess which one haena will literally never be!

the long story short is: kihyun and haena did not get along. during the long and lonely days and weeks and months she was there for a ‘courtship,’ he would spend his days either ignoring her existence or micromanaging and criticizing her every move. there was no winning in his eyes, only her sins.

one day after their marriage, kihyun tragically ( and mysteriously hoho ) dies late at night. he was a bit of a lightweight, you know? it was a point of teasing amongst his friends, how the ever stoic and steady lee kihyun would become hazy and easily flustered with just a few drinks. poor haena tried to get him back to their room, but when she left to find someone to help her ( he was just so much bigger than her, nearly twice her size it seemed like some days, she had to have someone help her carry around this massive man who was so much stronger and larger than her!!! ), they returned to find him on the ground outside, fallen from a balcony in his drunken stupor.

people love to gossip, and there was no hotter gossip than the newly widowed lady haena and the lack of witnesses to her husband’s death. everyone knew she wasn’t happy in the earth kingdom. some people thought “poor haena, lost her husband a day after they were married. a widow at twenty three. most of her peers aren’t even wed yet at that age.” most were more cynical, cycling rumors and theories as to what happened. 

between court ladies, they whisper “i heard lady haena murdered him for love. isn’t it just so tragic and romantic? she killed for her lover back home, the one ripped away from her through this marriage. now she returns home to him, hands stained bloody. will the embrace be as sweet as she imagined it?”

soldiers training in the courtyards say otherwise between parries. “she’s fire nation, isn’t she? all that hunger for power, i heard her parents basically let the first person who expressed interest have her because she was so much trouble back home. now they’re getting her back, hungry for more than she’s ever been destined for and cocky enough to get away with murder.”

a palace maid says to another, passing plates of food between bustling hands. “i heard she did it just because. just to know she could do it.”

came back to the fire nation two weeks ago, after three months of “mourning” aka investigation into his death. results? inconclusive. there was nothing to prove she did it. nothing to prove that she didn’t. 

the rumors follow her home, every action another piece of evidence for someone’s personal theory. maybe she didn’t cry enough at the funeral. maybe she wasn’t dressed appropriately. maybe she was too wracked by her grief and shock she couldn’t do anything but be moved across seas. everything was proof for a crime no one could solve.

still. don’t you want to know if she did it?

wanted connections ( these are scant, please dm on discord or tumblr...i guess...to plot and brainstorm! ):

ya girl is back in town just in time to celebrate the new fire lord! would love to plot her previous relationships that she left behind when she left for the earth kingdom and see how they have changed now that she’s back home and has ( maybe ) gotten away with murder!

people from the earth kingdom or were in the earth kingdom for any long period of time in the last year while haena was there. maybe you felt bad for haena, who you could tell her lovely dead husband didn’t really care for! maybe you believed everything he said about her! maybe you think she’s an innocent widow framed by court gossip! maybe you think she’s a murderess who got away with the worst of crimes! let’s play around with it!

someone who was close to her dead brother who maybe has a soft spot for her because of who she is and maybe yall bonded over that grief!

would love for someone to realize girl is unhinged. she’s doing a pretty good job at Not Being Unhinged or Concerning In Public but someone has gotta be able to see her and be like wow look at that ticking time bomb!

just hit me up please i swear i am a coherent human being when i am not half passed out on the floor of my bedroom writing the longest fucking intro i’ve ever churned out because i couldn’t be assed to put this in a beautiful and purple prosed bio

[stvrmbxrn]

forlornmyth​:

oh. while most of the nobles remained quiet, uninterested in those around them, some who were stationed nearby jitae and haena could not help but to peek in curiosity at the sudden appearance of a rivalry that echoed generations before them. and while jitae cared little for his ancestors’ actions or their thoughts on his own life, he could not pretend that vexing tais did not provide entertainment in some way.

he’s sure his mother would scold him, half-heartily on causing a scene, but angering tais had to be a family tradition by now, correct? 

“oh dear cousin,” he furrows his brows in mock gratitude, his right hand moving towards his heart, “it warms me so for your concern.” jitae’s lips twitch, the urge to snicker almost unbearable. “you’re right, i was a bit too impatient, thank you for ensuring that i understood my place in the matter.” 

if anything it would provide a show for those stuck waiting for their turn in questioning. and jitae had nothing to hide, there was no value with him staying here, or any information they give. it’s not as though lady sang met her end at the end of a bandit’s knife. “i suppose since you have so much experience with these sorta things, lady tai” he continues on, gesturing vaguely towards the guards stationed at the throne room. “ you know interrogations and all of that.” jitae did not fault the woman in front of him, he could not imagine being sent across the world to marry a man in a nation you knew little about, born of earth that would suffocate the fire within if needed. “my shortcomings are apparent, please do share some tips.” ah, jitae’s splits into a smile, cruel as it is bright. “i’m eager to learn.”

To be honest, the age old rivalry between the two houses wasn’t something Haena was particularly invested in. With everything that happens on a daily basis, remembering and nurturing an intense hatred for a house they were distantly related to wasn’t really something she found very interesting. 

Still, if Jitae’s ancestors were as annoying as the man himself, she could understand why the Tai’s broke off from the house to make something new. 

Haena smiled up at the man, plastic and sickly sweet as ever. She ignored the way the whispers around them grew in volume as the lords and ladies around them eavesdropped in their conversation. So much experience with these sorta things. What a pain. Maybe a few years ago, she might have flinched, or let her displeasure spill across her face. But not now. She wouldn’t give them ( Jitae, or the bored and whimpering nobles around them ) the satisfaction of it. “Your shortcomings have always been apparent, dear cousin,” she said, voice dripping with honey. “I don’t suppose you have much experience with patience or decorum, with how you spend all your time in the woods, chasing around commoners for fun. The first lesson of an interrogation is it starts before you enter the room.”

[stvrmbxrn]

forlornmyth​:

IN THE CROWDED MARKET ROADS IN THE GOLDEN CITY,  MINSTER HAN YOONSUNG MEETS LADY TAI HAENA @stvrmbxrn

the capital during the name day festivities was unlike any other time. the sounds of merchants selling their wares, the smell of spices from the various street foods, the chatter of children as they ran through the booths. yoonsung couldn’t help but wish that besides the stress of ensuring all went off a hitch, the capital city would be this lively throughout the year as he walked through the market, it was a rare but enjoyable affair. 

a young woman in ruby passes by the minster — his eyebrows furrow, the faint sense of familiarity lingering as she continued on. it takes a moment, the memories of various scrolls detailing the various noble families and their eligible sons and daughters for marriage, the whispers from the shadows of something sinister happening aboard. a widow before she turned twenty-five, a shame they said — so young to have been tainted by death. not exactly a proper fit for any of the great noble han family, which leads to yoonsung quickly closing any idea for marriage between the youngest tai daughter with his dear brother.  

but the minister was not the type to throw away a potential connection due to mere gossip  — after all, there is usefulness to be found with anyone. and it seems that faith had brought them on the same path — in a way that would not cause whispers around the capital. leisurely, he steps closer to haena, an amicable smile on his lips as he calls out, “lady tai, hello, i see you’ve returned to the capital just in time for the festivities; how are you fairing?”

Although coming back to the Fire Nation had not quite felt like coming home, there was something comforting about the familiarity of the festivities surrounding her. The familiar smell of street food she could never get her hands on in the Earth Kingdom, even from the most boastful Fire Nation expats who tried to make the most of how few spices actually made its way to the foreign nation. Even the colors, bright flashes of scarlet and gold, coloring her vision in a way she hadn’t realized she had missed. 

She always did look better in red than green. 

She glanced to her side as someone walked closer to her side. Minister Han Yoonsung. She remembered flashes of him in her memory, a face she would see in her childhood in brief moments in passing. A former middle child, who was raised into his title as minister following the tragic, mysterious death of his older brother. 

Haena tilted her head forward in greeting. Somehow, she doubted he was walking by her side out of friendliness and familiarity. “Minister Han. As well as I can be. I’ve missed the heat. Are you enjoying the festivities? Or does your work keep you too busy for that?”

[lhzthepoet]

and who prays for a storm? who prays for the rage of the sea?

Excerpt from Myth Untold // L.H.Z (via lhzthepoet)

[stvrmbxrn]

forlornmyth​:

TUCKED AWAY IN A CORNER  OF PALACE — LORD DO JITAE WAITS AMONG ( OPEN STARTER / Capping at 2!)

jitae never cared much for dramatics. 

sadly as the man leaned against one of the giant columns of the palace, his eyes gazing at the sea of nobles, great and small, gathering around the flames of the royal throne, he felt as though he was the only one in this nation that felt that way. 

would the theatrics bring back lady sang? jitae did not know much about interrogation but wasn’t the person who was courageous enough to poison one of the great houses skilled enough to skate past some pointed questions? the man did not understand the point of this — a scowl coming over his neutral features, this event had already delayed his return to his homeland, anymore he’s sure that the bandits would gain more ground.

and he would never admit it out loud but before the events of name day occurred, jitae did not have the slightest clue about what lady sang looked like. he’s sure his presence was not needed. sighing, the man shifts his posture, straightening up and turning towards an individual not too far from him.

“do you think they’re going alphabetically?” he at least tries to sound sheepish, but his impatience is evident as he fidgets slightly. “or by household? i’m in a bit of a rush. i have to travel quite far to return home.”

The crowd around her tittered nervously, shifting eyes as they all waited with bated breath for the next name to be called. The idle chit chat was nearly insufferable, careful words reluctantly making their way from one noble to another, everyone too afraid to say the wrong thing to the wrong person and have the eyes of the fire lord and all their guards turn to them.

Maybe it was because Haena was no stranger to the posturing of an interrogation. The stiff-backed guards, the stern voice asking pointed questions, needling for a weak spot, for something to exploit. Trying to crack open a case as cleanly and easily as possible. Maybe giving everyone the day to mourn was by design. Maybe gathering them all in the same space, where they could all exchange their own witness statements and blur each other’s memory of the night of and color their biases of who was acting suspiciously that day, was also by design.

Who was to say? Haena did not sit on the throne, nor did she stand by the fire lord’s side, beady eyes staring down noble after noble in hopes someone would snap. She doubted it. If someone was brave enough to poison the lady of a great house on the fire lord’s name day, they likely had a plan for the fall out.

She turned to look up at the person who spoke next to her, watching as he fidgeted, impatient. “Do you think you’re the only one? They will take as much time as they want, because they can. You’re welcome to try and leave though, I imagine it will move you up on the list of suspects to interrogate.”