SO i finally have some semblance of a backstory (it’s mostly headcanons but) and im kind of :/ with it but it’s the best we’re going to get (sorry!)
this is just p’li because wow she’s so interesting to come up with
ok first off she’s genderqueer? like that’s just her vibe
she uses she/her and neoprounons
has arm muscles but shit at hand to hand combat
second oldest out of the red lotus
bitter at the original gang because they killed someone like her who could’ve been her mentor
and because they’re not like her and great at traditional bending
went to fire nation academy because technically she can firebend
her parents wanted a fire bender and somehow they got this and they’re ashamed but p’li is used to it so she shoulders through and is annoyed at her parents a lot because normal parents love their kids don’t they?
of course she couldn’t really keep up because the school wasn’t tailored to her and focused on the people who COULD firebend traditionally (no im not projecting my school hatred to her whaaaat)
she couldn’t really control it and she got bullied a lot because she’s different
learned how to brush off insults and always stayed up super late to focus on her combustion bending and start shooting at specific targets
takes her a LONG time to figure it out
had one teacher who applauded her and she lives for validation because her parents are ashamed of her
one day, she’s practicing her combustion bending late at night and sets fire to her house.....with her parents inside
....it’s bad...she can still hear their screams and they’re blaming her and everything
so she runs away to the earth kingdom (and really she struggles...no one to turn to, left with scrounging for scraps)
kind of like a foil to mako??
it’s there where she chooses the name p’li because she doesn’t trust anyone here with her birth name
the name grows on her and now it’s her forever name (?)
the earth kingdom, running from some owner after stealing where she meets zaheer and the rest of the gang
she helps them and for once she has a family (one of the red lotus has parents don’t ask me which one im still figuring it out)
for a few years (3-5 maybe?? does that fit the timeline??) she’s happy
then they die somehow because of the monarchy...right now they’re young adults maybe late late teens and suddenly everyone is fueled on anger for the monarchy, anger for the privileged
and zaheer is like “what if we became anarchists?”
and p’li is all for it and she hones in on all of that rage and fear and sadness and disgust and hatred and she focuses and she lets it out in one scream which is how the house catches on fire yet again....but this time..
this time she’s laughing and she’s not scared
and that’s how she finally masters combustion bending
(that’s all i have so far)
YEAH I LOVE THIS everything w the school and her parents feels perfect, exactly how i’d want a red lotus fic to go
i kinda want to write this except i never finish anything... screams
thank u so much i owe u my life now