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[nick / name]: Roppie
[personal LJ/DW name]: slaphappy
[other characters currently played]: N/A
[e-mail]: elizabethndhm@gmail.com
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[series]: Legend of Korra
[character]: Mako
[character history / background]: Avatar.wikia: Mako and the series.
[character abilities]: The most notable ability of Mako's is his firebending. Like any other firebender from his world, Mako can spontaneously create fire and generate heat. It is one of the most versatile forms of bending because the fire is inspired from within the bender, and it is almost limitless in terms of shape. Because fire is primarily powerful and offensive, this leaves Mako weak in defense, and so he must compensate in other ways.

As a sub-technique to firebending, he can also create lightning. He is first seen using this as a job to help create energy for a Republic City power plant, but later he uses lightning in battle. Lightning is directed from the user's fingers to his target, and Mako can reach short to medium distances with it. He is also shown withstanding an electric attack in which he redirects the current.

His bending is his primary weapon in battle, but probending has trained Mako to be quick on his feet and versatile with his body. Probending movements are largely inspired by those in boxing, and so compared to benders in the past series, his techniques are more "modern," or at least contemporary to Republic City's time.

Finally, Mako has a good set of street smarts on him. He displays playful trickery with his "fire sneeze" trick, and he can read between the lines in terms of what gangsters are looking for.

[character personality]: Mako is the cool and straight-forward personality of the New Team Avatar group. Having grown up and taken care of a younger sibling out on the streets, he has adopted a maturity beyond his years. He lives to survive, a luxury he does not take for granted, and as such he is typically standoffish and apathetic towards strangers. On the other hand, should an acquaintance break through his initial barriers, Mako can display genuine affection and a playful sense of humor. This person would also have his utmost loyalty and care, his protective tendencies knowing no bounds, if almost to the point of gratuity. His greatest strength is also his greatest weakness: although Mako is "cool under fire" enough to set aside his emotions to focus and perform exceptionally on a given task, he is also insensible when it comes to handling personal conflict as well as the feelings of others.

Much of Mako's personality stems from his childhood spent on the streets. His parents were murdered in front of him by a firebending mugger when he was eight-years-old, forcing him to take on the task of taking care of his younger brother, Bolin, who is about two years his junior. He explains to Korra in the third episode, "I did what I had to do to survive and protect my little brother," which meant getting involved with the wrong crowds and "crunching numbers" for criminal gangs. At this point, he and Bolin have left that way of life, but he continues to display the street smarts he was forced to develop in the past. Mako therefore is used to carrying a heavy load of responsibility on his shoulders, and if he were to slip up his devastation would be immense. He exercises caution where Bolin is friendly and inviting; strangers, even the Avatar herself, must prove their worth to him on their own in order to gain his trust.

Once his trust is earned, however, Mako can be very genuine and kind. His compliments to Korra become more frequent as he gives her credit where it is due, and his other love interest, Asami, is the object of public displays of affection for a short time. He might exercise tough love on Bolin at times, but they share a compatible sense of mischief and humor when they are able to relax or, conversely, work together as a team. He celebrates good fortune, especially as good luck and the finer things in life do not come along very often for him, and he is openly thankful for every bit of it. He also proves to be a tender source of comfort when his friends and brother need him.

Problematically, sometimes Mako's loyalty and devotion leads him to exhibiting over-protective behaviors, especially when it comes to Korra. He goes haywire when he doesn't have a clue where a loved one may be located or what their safety may be. This leads to an impatient disrespect for authority and viewing otherwise helpful members of his team as obstacles in his path. The moment he pins up an Equalist against a wall and threatens his life with a surely fatal blast of fire is particularly telling of the lengths he'll go to get the answers he needs. There is no stopping Mako until his uncertainty is quelled, sometimes making him an ineffective member of a group.

Despite his capacity for affection, Mako still cannot multitask his duties and his relationships. Once he dives head-first into a relationship with Asami, he continually struggles with his feelings for Korra. Mako tries the best he can to stave off the issue until the end of the war with the Equalists, on which he has no problem focusing. Each time Korra and Asami confront him about his feelings, Mako has evasive outbursts that pin blame for the situation on his own confusion or on other people. His behavior inevitably leads to his breakup with Asami, although he never intentionally means to hurt her; on the contrary, he never stops caring about her, but his mistake is focusing on one problem while pretending the other does not exist. The consequences of his actions on the emotional front will sooner blow up in his face than he will even think about them.

Luckily Mako performs very well outside of the emotional arena. His ability to bend lightning is a reflection of that, because the skill requires a calm and collected mind. He thinks quickly on his feet and he fights effectively. At his most focused, Mako can take on multiple opponents at a time (shown in his series introduction at a probending match), and he isn't one to brag about it. He does whatever he needs to do to get where he needs to be. Those moments where he gets distracted, such as when animosity with Korra almost loses his team their rank in the tournament, do occur, but the likelihood of that happening in a dire situation is slim.

Although his actions are primarily motivated by personal circumstances, Mako is a good and just person nonetheless. Not only does he stick out his neck for Republic City, but also he becomes an officer for the police force after the war is decided. He has a distaste for the city gangs, he earns his keep fairly, and he condemns cheating. When he gets riled up or calls someone out on their performance or behavior, he thinks it's justified. Because his heart is in the right place while being unafraid to tell it like it is, Mako is a solid and reliable leader figure.

He is overall a person one would want to have on his or her side. Although he is cold and aloof, he is devoted to what impassions him, because beneath his barriers is a very caring character.

[point in timeline you're picking your character from]: Post-season 1

[journal post]:
video
Hey, this is— wait. Hello? Piece of junk.

[He gives it a few whacks with his palm.]

Alright. I've been looking for my friends for the past couple of hours, and someone told me I should try using this gizmo to get in touch with them. So, I need your attention. And I'm Mako, by the way.

I'll start with my little brother first. He's a growing kid, kind of stocky, and he may or may not be wearing a fake mustache. And I guess he's handsome. I don't know for sure, but girls seem to like him, so there. [A sharp shrug.]

I'm also looking for the Avatar. You guys probably know what she looks like, since she's the Avatar and all, but in case you don't… I don't know, she's a girl and she has three ponytails. Her shirt's always tight but her pants are always saggy. Also, she's usually coated with polar bear dog fur because she always has Naga with her; so if you can't find her, just keep an eye out for a large white animal.

Other than that, one of my other friends has long black hair, and… I'm guessing she washes it every day.

[He clears his throat. That should probably do it.]

If you come across any of those people, tell them I'll be waiting by this fountain for as long as it takes for them to find me.

… … … [Uh.] Bye.

[third person / log sample]:
The worst part of tracking down Korra is sitting in Oogi's saddle while the team is sky bound and Mako can't move on his own two feet. His mind is so active that he thinks his body is restless, even though he's perched for maximum visibility and everything but his eyes are as still as a statue. Rationally, he knows they need the flying bison to seek Korra, but he just might take his chances and jump right off anyway. Maybe if he can feel his feet pound the dirt beneath him, he'll know for sure that he's actually getting somewhere.

It's not a bad idea, really. He's a street rat. He knows Republic City like the back of his hand.

The only thing stopping him is the fact that he can't withstand the jump. Even if he could, he's trained himself to this point to abide by reason, no matter how excruciatingly hot his blood boils beneath his skin. He already lost sight of that enough today; his vision became dark with fear at the periphery, and he snapped at his girlfriend for the first time, and he held up a human being tight against a wall, and he actually geared up to pummel his face with a fist of fire. He doesn't know whether or not he would have done it, but his heart raced and his muscles ached enough at the time that it could have happened. He almost became that guy, the one who delivered the final blast of flames on his father.

Yet he has the audacity to sit up here and hold his father's ragged red scarf to his lips like a gesture of prayer. He wasn't in control of himself then, and he isn't in control of the situation now. This is the desperate feeling of powerlessness he hasn't felt since that day. He pinches the fabric and silently begs fate to let his eyes pinpoint that girl who confuses him to the end of the world.

That's sort of the kicker: something like this isn't supposed to happen to somebody like Korra. Maybe she does wear her heart on her sleeve, and maybe she struggles and bleeds just like anyone else Mako has ever known, but she's also the Avatar. She's some god brimming with more strengths than even she can handle, and it's only those few flaws in her personality that compel her to be friends with a guy like him. It's easy to keep a girl like her at arm's length when he thinks of her like that.

He needs to see her again, touch her, feel her breathing, promise her it'll never happen again. That chance never existed with his parents, but maybe, just maybe it does now. So spirits help him, it's so hard to sit like this. Something inside has ignited and he can't let it go out.