APP: tanagura

[botential]

OOC INFO
_NAME: Dani
_AGE: 23
_CONCURRENT CHARACTERS: N/A


IC INFO
_CHARACTER'S NAME: Bolin
_CANON: Avatar: the Legend of Korra
_CANON POINT: After the end of Book 3- when Korra leaves to recuperate in the South Pole.
_CHARACTER'S PHYSICAL AGE: 17
_CHARACTER'S MENTAL AGE (IF DIFFERENT): 17
_CHARACTER'S HAIR COLOR: Black.
_TANAGURA (elite) OR MIDAS (mongrel)?: MIDAS.
_HOUSING: Neal Darts, no preferences.

_HISTORY: here is a wiki for the series at large, and here is a wiki link for more Bolin-specific involvement!

_ABILITIES:
- EARTHBENDING: Bolin has the ability to manipulate the element of earth (the title of earth extends to cover your basic dirts, stones, sand, and potentially metal) to a certain extent, which includes raising it from the ground and levitating it, along with changing its shape or constructing things with it. Bolin's bending is one of his greatest physical strengths, and using it is second nature in many aspects of his life. That said, having grown up on the streets with his brother, he's lacking in traditional bending training. Earthbending is traditionally a style grounded in- well, in being grounded. It's very straightforward and focuses on blunt, direct power, along with standing firmly in place (a very "meet everything head-on and stubbornly" mentality). Bolin's earthbending is more adapted to suit his pro bending experience: light on his feet and always moving, favoring aerial projectiles over, say, raising a huge stone wall. Though as the series as progressed, he's gained experience and skill with bigger and more impressive feats (tunneling out the side of a mountain, precision distance shots with pebbles, launching people into the air with earth platforms). He is also unable to bend metal.

Bolin also recently discovered that he's capable of another special earthbending subset: lavabending, which is fairly self-explanatory. He can create and manipulate lava. This is an ability he's extremely new to, and while he has the basics of creating/moving it uncovered, he hasn't had any time to train or develop finesse with it.

- ATHLETICISM: He's got quick reflexes and impressive athletic ability outside of bending, too (the product of life on the streets and, again, pro bending training). Bolin moves fast and thinks on the fly, which is his approach with pretty much anything else in his life. It can be especially useful in a fast-paced battle to be all over the place and applying short strategies, but in turn, when Bolin's preferred methods don't completely work, he's left twisting in the wind. He actually has a way of trying to avoid combat/confrontation in general, and the majority of his combat strategy relies on dodging until he thinks he sees an opening he can work with. He's fairly strong physically, able to lift and carry people without much trouble.

_PERSONALITY: The very best word to describe Bolin is "open". From his expressions to his approach with other people, Bolin is largely just an open person. It's never difficult to tell what he's feeling, or if something is bothering him: his emotions are broadcast for the world to see, and he rarely, if ever, makes an effort to conceal them for the most part. With his friends and loved ones, this is especially apparent in his body language. Bolin's regularly the person initiating positive physical contact in his circle- pulling people in for hugs, patting them on the back, putting hands on their shoulders, etc. Being so easy to read also makes him a pretty terrible liar. What he's feeling or thinking is usually all too obvious whether he likes it or not. When he's angry or unhappy in any particular capacity, it can be even more obvious to see in him than more positive emotions because of his penchant for trying to cover it up.

His negative emotions are also particularly easy to see because, compared to his usual personality, they're very out of place. On the whole, Bolin is a remarkably upbeat person, something that can stand out quite a bit in a world as dark and adult as Legend of Korra tends to provide. He's optimistic to a fault, always looking for a silver lining, or pointing out the more positive aspects of an otherwise grim situation. He's got a determined humor and casual chipperness that can make it seem like he doesn't take anything seriously. When he does buckle down and take things seriously, it can come as quite a surprise.

Bolin's almost ridiculously exuberant and cheerful: a regular force of nature in his ability to be happy about something, anything. In fact, it might not be a stretch to say he's just a little shy of being hedonistic. After growing up on the streets with his brother, Bolin is appreciative of basic comforts like regular shelter and food, and has no problem with taking advantage of the chance for real luxury when it's offered to him. When he and Mako are staying in Asami's estate in the first season, for example, he's shown gleefully making use of Asami's butler, just to show Korra how awesome it is that there's a butler who will do pretty much whatever he asks him to do. Bolin appreciates the good things in life in general, regardless of how big or little they are, or where they happen to come from. He has absolutely no shame when it comes to enjoying things, either, and never apologizes for doing so.

He's also a genuinely kind and friendly person at heart. Bolin will talk to anybody who's willing to listen, and has a soft spot for people who are down. Back when he and Mako were running numbers for a gang as kids, he was supportive and encouraging of a pro bender who was being paid off to lose his matches, regardless of the fact that he could get in trouble for encouraging him to win. And ultimately, it was this basic optimism and encouragement that got him and Mako off the streets, training to become pro benders themselves. It was this soft spot that had him save Pabu, their pet fire ferret, from being eaten, and Pabu's pretty much a member of the family now. It's rarely, if ever, that you see him meet a person for the first time with hostility or suspicion at all. In Book 3, he (very determinedly) adopts a young orphan named Kai as his new little brother after hearing his sob story that may or may not have actually been true in the first place. As open as he is in broadcasting his feelings, Bolin's equally open to giving other people the benefit of the doubt, and doesn't have trouble placing his trust in somebody. This backfires on him regularly enough, and you'd think that having lived day-to-day on the streets, he'd be a little less inclined to be so trusting, but Bolin consistently treats people with the same naive, optimistic understanding that they won't turn on him or betray his trust. He takes them at face value and consistently looks for the best in them.

At the same time, as it goes to figure, Bolin has trouble with reading people in general, especially their feelings towards him and whether their motives for something happen to be suspicious. He often says whatever pops into his head without giving the ramifications any potential thought, and will keep doing so until something prompts him to stop (a nudge from his brother or a glare from an entire group, for instance). When he's romantically interested in Korra, it takes catching her kissing Mako and the huge love triangle fallout from it for him to realize she's definitely not interested in him that way, and that's the only point where he stops pursuing her romantically. The co-star of his films in Book 2 plays his love interest in the films, but is not interested in him in real life, and Bolin clearly has a lot of trouble understanding what the difference between those two scenarios is. He has to be told up-front by her that she isn't his girlfriend, and even then, he's still kind of confused. He pursues Eska romantically even though she's a terrifying waterbender of impending death and terror to everybody else: simultaneously a sign of his willingness to reach out to people, but also a sign that he's very slow on the uptake when it comes to basic things like... auras of cruelty and shady motives.

Bolin also tends to be terrible when it comes to confrontation. When he's angry with somebody, he's not the type of person who approaches them directly, explains the problem, and/or punches them in the face. He dances around unpleasant situations and arguments as best he can, preferring not to mention things or being petty and passive-aggressive towards the other person. In Book 2, he feels snubbed and ignored by his brother, but instead of saying as much to his face, he's catty about it and deliberately gives him the silent treatment, trying to fill the void with whatever new luxuries he can afford with his acting money. After catching Korra and Mako kissing in Book 1, he starts sobbing, runs away to get drunk on excessive quantities of noodles, and still doesn't do more than childishly insult Mako when he's found. He's more than willing to apologize and to accept apologies later on, but isn't typically the person making the first approach, either. Heck, once he finally realizes that Eska isn't someone he's enjoying being with romantically, he can't bring himself to break up with her in spite of the fact that he's completely miserable and terrified of her.

Really, the impression you ultimately get from Bolin is that, in spite of the fact that he and Mako lost their parents early on, in spite of the fact that they lived on the streets for years, unsure of when their next meal or warm place to sleep would come by, and in spite of the fact that there had to be any number of terrible things going on in the city around them... he's actually very sheltered. When their parents died, Mako essentially took over raising his brother, and Bolin's long grown to accept that status quo. Mako speaks in an early episode of doing whatever he had to do to survive and to protect his little brother, and it seems like protecting his little brother meant shielding him from the majority of things (with survival as an ultimate goal, after all, it would likely have been easier for Mako to take more dangerous, serious things on himself rather than risk putting a younger Bolin in the middle of it). That theory is admittedly more speculation than confirmed fact, however. Bolin is consistently so happy, trusting, naive, and unsure of what to do when nobody is there telling him what to do with himself, that it's kind of miraculous given his life's circumstances.

This sheltered sort of outlook on the world can be a godsend to people as easily as it can be annoyingly grating to them, and serves to balance out his brother's more sober, practical attitude on a daily basis. At the same time, though, being protected and looked out for, being a little more childish, leads to Bolin and his ideas being dismissed off-handedly. It's rarely something that's intentional or hurtful, but when he's dismissed, Bolin kind of takes it to heart. He has a deep appreciation for being appreciated, and laps up praise no matter where it comes from. He seeks validation in whatever ways he can find, though the opportunities he has the luck of coming across are rarely ones that pan out right (like becoming a film star and subsequently letting it distort his ego to hell and back, or getting involved with a gang to prove to Mako that he can contribute in a meaningful way to their financial problems, only to end up abducted by Equalists and needing rescue). At the end of Book 2, after rescuing the president from an untimely kidnapping and fighting alongside everybody to save the world, he seems slightly more surefooted in this regard. As book 3 played out, he made some significant improvements in stepping up to the plate with ideas as well, good or bad, and with challenging people (responding to Mako's "I have a life" with "you sleep under your desk" immediately springs to mind).

Bolin is energetic and all over the place, not really wise to the ways of the world, and incredibly hard to keep down, but he does also have a more serious, focused side. It isn't one that he shows a lot, but it does exist. His capacity for focus is especially noticeable during pro bending matches: he keeps his expression serious and his attention on his surroundings, responding quickly and efficiently. In the Book 2 episode "Night of a Thousand Stars," he puts his game face on to save the president of Republic City and defeats 3+ waterbenders in the pro bending arena without taking any hits to his body. So he's very capable of being to-the-point and serious if he feels it's called for: he just... doesn't often seem to feel it's called for. As time progresses, he sees a need to act grown up and responsible just a bit more and more, and while he occasionally has trouble handling that call to face things (avoiding arguments, pettily lashing out at his brother, etc.), Bolin can ultimately be counted on to rise to the occasion when he's really needed.

Because when it comes to his loved ones, there's nothing that Bolin isn't willing to do. He's always there to say something ridiculous, or to pull them into a bone-crushing hug, or to offer whatever kind of support he can. It doesn't always work (a great example being that when Korra lost three of the four elements she's supposed to be able to bend, he just kind of popped in like "at least you unlocked your airbending!"), but he's consistent in trying to be there for them. Of course, he's also afraid of ghost stories, comically respectful of authority, can't be trusted to know who to bribe in a court case presided by a judge, and is pretty convinced that he speaks fire ferret. So it's kind of understandable that he doesn't always go about things the right way.

Ultimately, Bolin is a goofy, friendly, kind-hearted, young-spirited, all-around good guy. He has his troubles with reading people and situations, and his tendency to avoid confrontation causes more problems than it solves. He's a little too quick to place his faith and trust in people, to give them the benefit of the doubt, and it often backfires, but that well somehow never seems to run dry. Bolin's got a deep desire to prove himself useful, and seeks out validation from who or whatever seems willing to provide it. He's confident in himself and his skills in situations that he understands or can control (in the pro bending arena, for example, where there are set rules and limits), but struggles to know what to do with himself if his brother isn't around and giving him guidance. Moving quickly and doing his best to think on the fly is more his method of operation than sitting down to strategize beforehand, which can be equally as useful as it can be an obstacle in important situations (speaking without thinking is what got their group so quickly wrapped up with Varrick in Book 2, and he was a major player in the plot, but then oftentimes that tendency to blurt out whatever's running through his brain just makes things uncomfortable or awkward instead of helping).


_ITEMS: Just the clothes on his back!


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I ACKNOWLEDGE THAT MY CHARACTER IS THE FOLLOWING:
_SENTIENT: yes
_MENTALLY ADULT: yes
_CAPABLE OF CONSENT: yes
_CAPABLE OF SEXUAL AROUSAL: yes