atla/wu pilled

Kuei likes to believe that before knowing what was really happening behind the scenes, he grew up relatively normal. He was a sickly child, and since he had no siblings to speak of, there was a lot of stress in making sure Kuei survived the first few years of his childhood, which further cemented the idea that Long Feng should take over unbeknownst to the young king.

Kuei avoided interacting with people altogether from the ages of 5 to 13, often wandering the gardens by himself or locking himself in the palace's libraries to read or see if anyone noticed that he was gone,they usually didn't. Kuei preferred the company of animals since they were easier to understand and didn't lie, so when he was gifted Bosco (then just a cub) for his 8th birthday, he was over the moon about it because he finally had someone who liked playing with him.

One of the most upsetting things for Kuei growing up would be when he was 18 and searches in hopes his best friend could find a mate came up empty, Bosco was getting older (even if bears would live over 30 years in captivity) and the thought that the one being who truly understood him would be gone one day and there weren't any hopes of bringing that memory with new bears deeply, DEEPLY upset him.

When he was 19, that was when Long Feng (in all his "patience"), told Kuei that Ba Sing Se needed to secure the bloodline. That was deeply upsetting because Kuei (bi king, literally) had a preference for men, even if he couldn't name what the feeling was at the time since he was extremely closeted. He did not find any of the women arranged by Long Feng to be enjoyable to be around, women were just extremely judgemental in his mind that he just avoided them altogether. Back then there was around 50 consorts, but after the war Kuei released all of them from their duties, some consorts chose to remain since it was better off than being with a worse (4 remain (2 of them are his daughter's mother's), but they mostly act like siblings that refuse to move out and bully him, he likes them better as friends).

The most deeply upsetting thing growing up was when he was 24, sure he was a grown man now, but looking back he still needed a lot of growing up to do. That event was finding out about Long Feng's crimes against the Earth Kingdom and having him imprisoned. That set such a deep seated, constantly in the back of his head guilt in Kuei's mind. Because Long Feng regardless of who he really was, raised him, cared for and advised him for nearly 20 years.

Kuei cannot imagine the face of his mother other than the many vague faces of nursemaids and caretakers over the years, he cannot remember the face of his father because the only person that comes to mind is Long Feng. Blood taken out of the equation, Long Feng IS his father and Kuei is the product of being HIS SON. And to find out his father betrayed and engineered his childhood for his own political benefit and for him to be put behind bars, that's something that deeply bothers him, even though he knows it shouldn't.