#i don't go here but uh yeah

[bnesszai]

“I’m sorry you loved me, but I will never take it back.” For fyolai perhaps

Stay safe and take care! <3

"I'm sorry you loved me," Fyodor says, but the manic grin never slips from his lips, "but I will never take it back."

Nikolai isn't supposed to survive the plan. They're meant to die for Fyodor's cause. It's beautiful, really, to become some sort of holy symbol in this war to eradicate sin.

And yet.

This is just another cage with an expiration date.

Nikolai laughs. "Pop quiz! Who will not die for the sins of humanity but rather live to soak them in blood?"

Fyodor tilts his head, but doesn't say anything.

"A false prophet! Ah, I gave away the answer."

"I promised to let you free, to let you fly," Fyodor grins, "what better freedom for this world is there than death?"

Nikolai thinks of crumbles bedsheets and a priest, a martyr, and a demon.

Love. Hate. Teeth sinking into their skin. Prayers against their lips, sin against their thighs. The absolute gore of tearing someone apart.

Is freedom nothing but an illusion after all?

[bambiraptorx]

What is your opinion on the mystical magenta goat man? (Draxum)

Good dad? Deserved more screentime/emotional moments with the bois? (they gave us like 2 moments like that in the finale, and I'm sad that it's all we got)

owo

Ooh, I have so many thoughts about Draxum. Buckle up.

First of all, it's worst mentioning that when I started watching Rise, I knew ahead of time that he would get a redemption arc. (Reading the wiki and watching clips/analysis videos is what got me interested in the show, after all.) So admittedly, my view of how his redemption arc went was a little skewed just because I knew from the start that it would happen.

Personally, I wish more of it had been actually shown in the show. We get about ten seconds of him helpless in an alley then a hard cut to him in his apartment being bullied by Mikey, and I would love to see how that series of events played out. Also, his arc from mortal enemy to somewhat trusted by the turtles happened in one eleven minute episode, and I would have loved to see that tension be played with a little more. I do understand that the show was cut short, though, and I'm pretty happy with what we did get.

*looks at all my fics* honestly, I think part of the reason that they're all more or less about Draxum spending time with the turtles one way or another is because that dynamic was so underdeveloped and several things went unaddressed in order to give the show a decently cohesive finale.

For example, the roof incident. Leo is clearly very bitter about it and clearly mistrusts Draxum because of it, but the show just didn't have the opportunity to address it. Another issue that had to go unresolved was Draxum's relationship to Cassandra, because she seriously looked up to/trusted him in their episode together but he more or less threw her under the bus.

Not to mention all the little things that canon hints at but doesn't show. Like, somehow Donnie has Draxum's phone number, meaning they had at least one conversation off screen. How did that happen? Do they hang out or something? And really, the whole story of how Mikey got Draxum to move into an apartment and let him come over is so unexplored, at least within the show.

And speaking of things that canon doesn't show, I find Draxum's position among yokai to be absolutely fascinating, especially given that the only yokai he deals with in the show itself are antagonists to him (Big Mama, the Council of Heads, the cops) aside from the gargoyles.

There's a pretty big hole there about how he interacted with the rest of the Hidden CIty-- did he have friends? DId people know about his research and mutations? What did people think about him? And obviously the narrative doesn't address this because the story is about the turtles, not him. But still.

And why did he choose to create mutants in the first place? Its fascinating that the prophecy that motivates him is never actually shown in the show itself, just referenced. Why was mutating humans the best option to him? Did he try other things? When exactly did the Council tell him not to create warriors?

The timeline is pretty fuzzy, and frankly Draxum's motives aren't actually all that clear. That's probably why there's so many different interpretations of why he's doing what he's doing (and what, exactly, he's actually doing) throughout the fandom-- canon doesn't address it super deeply.

So yeah, his relationships with the turtles are really fun to think about and mess around with, but the gaps in the narrative (not a perfect phrase but the general idea) around him are fascinating to explore in their own right. And whether canon would have explored him more or not, I think its fun so I'm gonna do it lol. I have built so much lore about this man (almost none of which has showed up in my stories) because he's fun.

And he is genuinely a fun character, whether pre or post redemption. He's dramatic, he's arrogant, he makes bad quips (seriously, he has a line about "how very NOT NICE to see you" at one point, and that's how my sister used to talk before she figured out how to actually be sarcastic). He, the big bad of season one, ends up as a lunch lady at one point, which is frankly absurd and absolutely in tone for the kind of show that Rise is. He's a powerhouse at times and completely out of his element at others.

And once he's no longer actively fighting the turtles most of his screen time, there's a goofiness to the nature of his character, a powerful alchemist/warrior trying to live a normal life (mostly because a thirteen year old will yell at him otherwise) and not even trying that hard. Season 2 especially does a lot of fun things with his character, and I only wish that they're been able to do more.

TLDR: Draxum is probably my favorite character, and also I want to hit him with the hammer of 'forced to deal with teenagers'.

[gurorori]

haha oh no im definitely not at all disturbed by the prevalence of leftists on all platforms who are loudly 'anti-genocide' when it comes to the palestinian cause (and a couple others at best :3c) yet the only time ukraine [ʊkrɐˈjinɐ] leaves their mouths is in critique, in stark comparison to the former or in complaint about their (american) government sending aid.

at first what i saw often was pointing out the differences in western media framing [ukraine vs palestine], and that's fair (until the words and the agenda of western journalists are used to paint, as a whole, ukrainians who have been actively going through genocide as some kind of white supremacists hogging the blanket of global attention when they kinda just want to live and have the rights to their own land, culture, names and families)

but no one is even caring to do that anymore, today bitches just invent metaphorical scenarios and people to get mad at and to throw an entire ethnos away because wahhhh i decided that you care for X but not for Y!!!.... all while doing the exact thing they are condemning. the exact absolute same and they don't even hide it but do lack the self-awareness to realise

[hyper-cryptic]

(I DIDN'T FORGET A CAPTION... YOU DID!)

He pop'd in my brain and some demon took over my body to draw him n' other sillies from this au. :3

[dollypopup]

i hope to god the 'penelope rejects colin's marriage proposal' trope isn't in the season. i hate the idea that he would completely break her boundaries after she says no. i hate the idea of penelope telling him something and him disregarding it when their whole thing is that he listens to her. i hate how this trope is a complete misread of his character. i hate the lack of recognition that colin respects penelope too much to go 'nah, she just needs some convincing'.

and i think the 'well??? are you gonna marry me or not????' scene in the carriage when penelope falls flat on her face from shock straight onto the cobblestones is cute, actually, and i will never be sorry for it

[crow-with-a-pencil]

Them theatre kids

[storfulsten]

You know what would be good? A SpongeBob SquarePants movie reference with Patrick in heels and small SpongeBob but instead it’s Whitty as Patrick and BF as SpongeBob!

Good idea right? 😉

hmmm yeah sure

they r goofy goobers yea

[indydrawsstuff]

i was not even going to upload this here then things happened.

Personally? Tori would totally rock the red, I think. She's a party animal, after all, and definitely has a wild streak. BUT… she's also an absolute queen and would have some class. At least… to a certain point.

Alternately…

She's pretty in this color too. xD

[fountainpenguin]

One very specific thing I find funny is that prior Hermitcraft Season 10, I'd drafted some worldbuilding for a Life series fanfic where there's a mail system based on phantoms (who are fast, and as a nod to Impulse's phantom sanctuary from Season 8 because I thought it was cute).

But the mail system was regularly disrupted by Etho because he was on Red life. He'd just torture and kill phantoms for their membranes because it's useful material, but mostly because he hated people checking up on him after he cut them off. He HATED mail.

So it's funny to see him play postman in Hermitcraft... Redeemed.

Also, here are some images of Impulse's phantom sanctuary because it's a fun / inspiring build to me:

He worked hard to catch those guys, did the job while they screamed at him, and redesigned the roof three times so they could see outside without burning in the sun. Not only that, but it's a decent size enclosure for a mob display (compared to Grian's magical menagerie, which is a pet shop so it's a different vibe).

The sanctuary is one of my main inspirations when I think about worldbuilding for mobs in 'fic, just because I think it's cute to have a big, pretty building for something so violent. It makes me laugh that Impulse tried to give the tour while being "hugged" and screamed at by the phantoms.

Looking forward to Scar's zoo in Season 10. I'm sure he'll build many lovely enclosures! <- Me, who is also a Planet Zoo watcher and loves seeing animals thrive in an environment designed for them :)

[itsahotminuteinbetween]

Okay so I'm seeing a lot of 'Sun sucks at cooking he he can't make cereal properly leave the cooking to Moon he's the best at it' in domestic aus

And that's great! I love that idea! But consider the following: absolutely none of you know anything about cooking.

I mean, sure, Sun's been cutting apple slices with peanut butter for so long he's got it down to an art, and his PB &J sandwiches are to die for. Moon's got directions to make tea and applesauce and instant jello for the kids that they share in their headspace. But that's pretty much the limit for their cooking expertise. So put them near a toaster? Yeah, they can figure it out. A microwave? Moon put a fork in it to see what would happen after Sun saw something about it online and got to 20 seconds before you slam into the kitchen and shut it off. And then talk their audio receptors off by scolding them for putting metal in the microwave and being in the kitchen without your supervision.

All you have to send them is a look and they decide to leave the oven alone.

Speaking of your skills...

Well.

While you're no 'master chef', you've picked up enough to scrape by. A few years on your own will do that to you. Compared to what your boys know, you're practically a god in the kitchen.

So you, with your grand total of maybe 15-20 recipes (half of which have cottage cheese or yogurt incorporated into them) are appointed head of the kitchen.

You're really only slightly better than the boys, but you at least know how to turn on a stove. Still, your skill level is really only enough to make the same few meals throughout the week. So, you all decide to figure it out together.

You look up some recipes online, grab some stuff from the store and dump it all onto the counter. The ingredients are nothing you haven't seen before (the boys regard the flour as some foreign and ancient play-doh from the stone ages), but you can't remember the last time you bought some of this stuff.

After you take in the wonders of vanilla extract and brown sugar, you pick something hopefully easy enough that it'll be impossible to mess up. Cookies aren't that hard. You remember making them when you were younger, and they usually came out alright.

You also remember that you were 9 and had adult supervision to make sure you didn't screw up.

And now you're the most competent adult in this operation.

You try not to picture the apartment going down in flames.

It doesn't actually go terribly. You manage to handle it pretty well, all things considered. Moon grabs your wrist before you pour the eggs into the flour, reminding you that you're supposed to do your dries, then your wets, and then your chips. You're pretty sure he only reminded you so he can keep sneaking chips into his cheeks when you're not looking, but you let him have it. You also elect not to say anything when you catch them pouring more chips into the bowl when you're not looking.

Sun spends the entire time obsessing over the shape of the cookies, making sure they're all perfectly rounded and spread out on the pan. Moon wedges a chocolate chip deep into the center of a few of them, watching his brother panic over the now 'ruined' cookies. He gets over it eventually, though, joining his brother in front of the oven to watch the dough rise and expand as the torturous waiting for them to bake begins. You pull out the tray and inspect your work.

They're...not that bad, in all honesty. There are little things that could be improved, but otherwise, you're pretty proud of your guy's progress.

You're not as happy about the mess, though. It looks like a hurricane has stormed through your kitchen, a fact that is quickly brought to the attention of your boys as they scramble to wipe down countertops and toss eggshells away.

...

I dunno how to end this cuz my endings suck so there it is, thank you for attending my ted talk.

[musical-chick-13]

Regarding the previous post, I think the way I approach trying to evaluate a piece of art is asking "Do I think the positive things I get out of it outweigh the parts of it that I don't like?" And when I call something a "guilty pleasure" song/show/book/piece of media/etc. it's really more in the sense of, "Given who I am as a person, the flaws I've found in this should be complete dealbreakers for me, but somehow they aren't, and it makes me feel like I'm having an identity crisis."

[pocketramblr]

Pretty please, an AU where Manual is a descendant of one of the past holders and hiding from AFO.

My most special-ist boyyyy

1- ok so, Second's quirk is the most based in telekinesis and he's got red brown hair with an undercut even, so I think he's a shoe in for the connection here. Plus, I don't think AfO would really care to hunt down like, Banjo's great great great grand kids or whatever, but Second's? Yeah...

Ok so Manual is Second's great grand nephew, the descendant of Second's older sibling, who was also in the freedom fighter group though less for action. Second led on the field, and his sibling led in information gathering- they actually got the Intel that lead to busting into the vault and getting Yoichi out.

2- so... With that reason for Manual to still be firmly in "AfO's 'crush with great prejudice' list", let's say down the line the telekinesis quirks get mixed with his grandma's water quirk on the other side, and Manual figures that his grandpa's stories about the crazy ancient boogyman that hates their family and would kill them all are just that- crazy stories.

Until one day in middle school, and he gets the news that on that side of the family there was a kidnapping, a house fire, and a train crash that took out all those cousins on the same day.

3- Masaki gets sent to the other side of the family to hide, and the thing about this guy is he's smart, and he's kind, and he just wants to help people. So he's going to be a hero, because - well, if AfO finds him, better to be able to fight back, right? And better to have helped other people first if he's gonna get brutally killed, than just hide, right?

His grandma sighs, says she'll sign the papers for the hero school, and they go back to weeding in her garden

4- Manual believes in hiding in audacity. His brightly colored hero costume covers most of his body and his hair, so even if he looks like whatever ancestor pissed off a demon villain au much, his appearance won't give him away. He knows his water quirk won't, and so sticks to that- even though he's perfectly capable of other things like bloodbending, nothing to make his quirk look appealing to someone who can steal it. And he even calls himself the normal hero because surely no one who is actively hiding from afo would do that.

5- the reason Manual keeps showing up in places you don't think he would in Vigs is because he's in involving himself- being nice and networking to be included in as many meetings and case briefings as possible in order to keep an ear out for AfO - and so he can pull back at the first sign of him. As soon as he realizes who's behind the Villain Factory, he pulls out and makes sure he isn't invited to more briefings, and suggests other heroes to Tsukauchi who'd be great to handle it. Tenya accidently making sure Manual wouldn't be involved more in the Hosu investigation of the nomu and league? Manual is so relieved.

That is, until Jakku, but at that point Manual knows there's no avoiding it- and then, what the hell, if AfO is going to finally kill you anyway, the best thing to do is to keep Erasure going against him as long as you possibly can.

[amoneki-ramblings]

this is a pass to do a couple things:

finish the manga!!! u can do it so u can follow all the other blogs without getting blindsided by a spoiler

do the ship ask thingy for amoneki :]

Gahh I'm trying !! I'm so busy with school and life stuff so it's hard to squeeze in time to read but I'm trying! I'm getting through volumes very slowly but hey, I'll get there ! Just. Well. There's 16 volumes so. Okay it might take a bit orz

For now I'll just be in my little fandom limbo corner I suppose orz, as for the ask thingy:

when I started shipping it if I did: Several months ago, probably a few months short of a year? It's a bit complicated, Basically I decided to rewatch the anime (because my original exposure to tg was. the anime :') ) and vaguely remembered that I really liked Amon (honestly the encounter at Kanou's Lab/Cochlea was one of the scenes I remembered the most), and after rewatching and seeing Amon and Kaneki's interactions they piqued my interest again. Then I got into the manga and. Yeah that interest turned into insanity and now i'm here

my thoughts: Well I have a 119-slide 15K+-word google slideshow for starters. But I'm taking that to my grave so I guess I gotta condense that somehow. On one hand I feel like everything needs to be said about these two to the point that there's too much to talk about but also nothing needs to be said at the same time. They parallel each other in just about every way possible, it's impossible to ignore the ways that they foil each other. They also have had irreversible effects on the others' character. Kaneki finds resolve in Amon's words ('the world is wrong'), and turns to them at pivotal moments (when he leaves Anteiku, Kaneki's own mantra is also basically a derivative of Amon's, wishing to take out the "bad/wrong" things in the world, and he basically takes them to his grave, "The world is wrong", Amon's own words, being his opening to his final dialogue in the last chapter of the original series)

Similarily Amon is just haunted by Kaneki. Like. In general. He thinks about him constantly (even under more mundane circumstances, in the novels he gets reminded of Kaneki just by staring out a window because it reminded him of the Aogiri raid. lmao). Kaneki is basically the catalyst to his character development, and Amon is constantly bothered by his presence/existence, and even comes to recognize how they always encounter each other at important moments. Amon is so haunted by This Guy (creature) it's both a little funny but also makes me very insane. He's basically being a failure of a ghoul investigator, and it's even more ironic, given his hatred of himself for being raised by and potentially caring about a ghoul (also he's catholic, something something religious guilt), yet he seems to have a lot of faith in Kaneki, even to a faulty degree (I'd daresay it's almost to the point where he puts Kaneki on a bit of a pedestal/idolizes him to an extent. I have a whole other ramble about Just that on the self-rb'ed half of this post. Like I'm sorry but Amon definitely fell hard for this guy I'll die on this hill and I'm going to poke fun at him endlessly for it, he could've done so much better, he starts off the manga hating ghouls with a passion and his mentor's disdain for ghouls runs ten times as deep but nope now he's chasing after the dangerous somewhat unhinged (/affectionate) half kakuja guy and it's not even to fight/kill him like okay, sure.) They have affected each other in irreversible ways. They reflect each other so much even if they don't know it. They just want to sit down and have a conversation. They didn't get to. And instead They Killed Each Other (okay not really but it was very close and they absolutely could, not that they want that) ((It's also partially Kaneki's fault for losing control of himself and he feels awful for that (sidenote but any scenario with Centineki and Amon make me lose my mind))). They're also married by first-encounter marriage bite, apparently. I think we should talk about that more that's kinda?? Donato approves btw

What makes me happy about them: Everything that makes me miserable about them makes me simultaneously happy about them because I am an Angst Guy but honestly just how much they clearly respect each other. While they're not allowed to understand each other because of their circumstances they still very much Want to. They recognize that they probably share a lot of views and could really have a meaningful conversation with each other, and it really shows, even if they're fighting. Amon again has a surprising amount of trust in Kaneki (not assuming he's fighting for Aogiri when he saw him during the ward 11 battle, having faith in Kaneki as a person even if he just saw him potentially killing his superior and being presented with the possibility that maybe he was just being fooled all along, when he's nearly dying at Kaneki's own hands but says he won't die because that would make Kaneki a murderer, having faith still that he hasn't turned into one). They recognize that they're equals (well technically they're not, obviously Kaneki is much stronger objectively, being a ghoul, and a kakuja at that), but they treat each other as equals and that's what really matters. I just think it's a very neat dynamic and their roundabout way of caring about each other despite their positions makes me happy :)

What makes me sad about them: I was gonna put images but then I quickly realized that I'd basically be pasting almost all of chapter 133-134 just uh. The fact that Kaneki really lost control of himself and the parallel with him biting Amon's shoulder escalates to him cutting off his entire fucking arm, the way that Amon's first thought in regards to that is simply that Kaneki is strong, how he doesn't reprimand him for it whatsoever (also Amon's blow pretty much takes out the entire area of where Kaneki's kakuhou should be, which is a detail I find Extremely Interesting and I think it should genuinely be talked about more). This fucking line that happened literally the panel before all of that despite their mutual wishes for the other to simply Not Die:

Amoneki divorce. Absolutely life ruining :thumbsup:

(Also just. Again Amon Please. This guy bit your shoulder (probably gave Amon rabies honestly) and almost ate one of your colleagues; when he loses control of himself for the second time you just tell him to take a break, and now he's cut off your whole damn arm and you're Still not complaining and are instead praising him by calling him strong. I just. Yeah that's Not Normal. It's kind of impressive, really /derogatory)

Oh yeah also the fight at Kanou's lab also kills me and takes over my brain constantly but I wouldn't classify that as making me sad I would classify that as making me lose my mind, laugh hysterically and start climbing up and clawing at the walls (like Centineki, actually)

things done in fanfic that annoys me: Maybe I'm just extremely picky but I feel like people tend to fumble Amon's characterization a lot. It's kind of a fine line, and Amon has a lot of conflicting feelings as is, so I get it, but I'm especially bothered when Amon is written as way too harsh. When he's first introduced he has a strong hatred for ghouls, and it's not like that just goes away, but when he's written as especially harsh or even cruel towards Kaneki, especially if it's just because for him being a ghoul it feels like it kind of defeats the point, as Kaneki is supposed to be the reason why Amon starts changing his mind. When Amon sees him for the second time he doesn't think about fighting him at all, even that early on he decides he wants to talk instead, 'cause He's Different. I don't see this kind of characterization too often but I don't really vibe with it at all when I do (Also this is definitely just a me-thing but I wish there was more angst in the tag. Which is ironic considering these guys are surprisingly normal most of the time and have so much potential to be actually Happy but uh *vague hand gestures*, hurt-comfort would also be a decent compromise)

things I look for in fanfic: I love pre-:re fics that explore the complicated-ness of their dynamic. I'm really fond of fics where they kind of dance around each other in a sense, they won't just straight up completely directly interact because that's Still a bit dangerous but they see each other in passing, maybe Kaneki watches over Amon sometimes, etc. Also you probably saw this coming a mile away but yeah religious references mean instant bonus points from me. I could go into some (too much) detail but. uh. stares down at my feet look I'm normal I swear

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other:  Saying Amonhaise is definitely cheating but I'm not really invested in any other Amon ships. I'm not particularly against any I'm just neutral. As for Kaneki, like I mentioned in a previous post, I see potential with Etoken, and it's pretty hard to go wrong with Hidekane, though neither drive me to insanity like these two do at the moment

My happily ever after for them: Let them finally officiate their marriage ghsfdljbhf

who is the big spoon/little spoon: Well that's pretty easy huh. Kaneki small spoon he is a Little Guy just let him feel comfortable and secure y'know? Kaneki is probably someone who runs very cold and Amon is very warm so it works out :) If he's super tired he very carefully (and cautiously) wraps his kagune around Amon he will now be Trapped there until Kaneki wants to get out of bed (good luck)

what is their favorite non-sexual activity: Well I would say that Kaneki loves cooking for Amon probably. He makes food at home and tries to make new sweets following recipe books. It's a bit of a mess because y'know, he's a ghoul, and at first Amon tries to hide that, unfortunately, his previous experience with cooking does Not, in fact, hide the fact that he cannot taste or smell human food, but eventually Kaneki is able to get a hang of it (with Amon's help) and it's very nice :) That's what I would say but. well. Amon is Also a Ghoul now so that doesn't really work :')

[coquelicoq]

my ideal makorrasami imagines are always like

asami comes home to her girlfriend and boyfriend after a long day of being a genius engineer and fortune 500 ceo

she picks up bolin on the way because it's mako's birthday so they're having a little get-together

they head to the pool because that's usually where korra can be found when the weather is super warm, and obviously mako will be there too keeping her company

she and bolin hear raised voices as they approach. omg the girlfriend and boyfriend are fightinggggg

it's a very sophisticated argument. they're just saying, over and over, "nuh-uh!" "uh-huh!" "NUH-UH!" "YEAH-HUH!"

asami and bolin round the corner to see korra and mako glaring at each other, cheeks flushed, eyes glassy, absolutely drunk off their gourd

asami's just like "pregaming, are we? i hope you left some alcohol for the rest of us" and raises one devastating eyebrow

korra and mako turn to her and their faces light up immediately. "asami!! you're here!!!"

(the eyebrow does nothing to dampen their enthusiasm, which is fine, because they're very endearing drunks and she is very much enjoying this)

then they turn back to each other and are like "SHE'LL agree with me. THEN you'll see. i'm right and you're wrong. you're the wrongest forever and ever. no YOU are" etc. etc.

this of course quickly devolves into good ol rough and tumble rasslin

bolin's like "ooh ooh ooh! what are we talking about? i love being part of conversations! i want to have an opinion!!!"

by which point korra has mako in a headlock and they turn in tandem to look at asami (bolin's input is not required) and very earnestly ask her who the best kisser is

they're looking at her so expectantly and korra has forgotten about the headlock so now they're just hugging as they wait with baited breath for asami's verdict

and asami's like oh well uh guys i can't really...that's not...apples oranges et cetera, you're both extremely good kissers, really top notch, full marks for everyone, i uh always love any sort of kissing that we get to do, um, together,

just digging herself into this awkward hole, right. because no one expects that question

mako's mouth drops open. "woah," he says

"yeah," says korra

as one, their heads swivel toward each other

"the BEST kisser...is ASAMI!!!!!" they say in unison

they stare into each other's eyes for a beat

suddenly their mouths are colliding as they LAUNCH themselves toward each other and begin making out frantically and with great fervor

occasionally coming up for air to say such things as "you're so smart" "no YOU" "no ASAMI is" "asami's the smartest" "i love asami" "she's the best ever for always" amidst the most embarrassingly sloppy kissing known to man

bolin's like "soooo. just to make sure i'm getting this straight"

asami: uh-huh

bolin: the reason korra and my brother are kissing in front of us so enthusiastically...

asami: yeah

bolin: ...is because they are in SUCH complete agreement...

asami: right

bolin: ...that YOU are good at kissing?

asami: that appears to be the case, yes

asami can hear bolin facepalm somewhere off to the side, but she only has eyes for the ridiculously adorable and uncoordinated makeout session taking place in front of her

cousin tu's voice comes from the direction of the house. "oh dude they're done arguing? right on"

bolin: how long have they been arguing?

tu: idk, like half an hour? for a while they were just arm-wrestling but korra let mako win because it's his birthday, and he got all cranky about it

bolin: uh-huh. so how did they get from that...to this?

tu: well obviously then korra said it doesn't matter if she's the best arm-wrestler because mako's the best kisser

bolin: wait

tu: and mako was all, "no YOU'RE the best kisser" and korra went "no YOU are"

bolin: so you mean to tell me...

tu: and i got bored after like, five minutes of that so i went back inside

bolin: ...all this time they were fighting because they each think the OTHER person is better at kissing?

tu: well, yeah. i mean if you ask me they both seem to be pretty bad at kissing lol. but whatever, it's not my problem. no offense, asami!

bolin: they're probably better at kissing when they're sober. i mean, this is just embarrassing. right, asami? please tell me this is not what you're working with on a daily basis. asami? hello? asami?

but asami isn't listening. she's gazing at korra and mako with the goofiest smile on her face. her pupils have turned into heart shapes. without conscious decision on her part she clasps her hands and presses them sappily to her bosom

tu: dude, maybe we should, like, give them a minute

bolin: is this even safe? what if they bite each other's lips off?

tu: korra's a healer, right? like, i'm not worried about it

asami doesn't notice them leave. she's so full of love for these two ridiculous idiots that it's spilling out of her in the form of literal tears. she's crying from how much she loves them

this continues until korra and mako in their clumsy enthusiasm actually fall into the pool. korra bends the water away from mako before he can drown and then immediately tries to punch it for endangering him. asami runs over to get them out and they both see that she's been crying. this is followed by a five-minute sequence of mako frantically petting her hair while she tries to convince korra to put away the fire-dagger, no one has been mean to her, everything is all right, korra, no wait, don't go into the avatar state, you're going to suck the cake into the element vortex -

mako thinks it's very unfair that the day after his birthday, he's the only one who wakes up with a hangover. apparently the avatar, who's been up since the buttcrack of dawn merrily inventing the new field of batterbending to replace the cake she and her past lives destroyed, is above such concerns. asami kisses his nose with great affection and, it must be said, terrible morning breath. "how about this," she says. "on my birthday, korra and i will get drunk and attempt to eat each other's faces and you can babysit. sound good?"

yes, that sounds good, he thinks. after all, taking turns has served them pretty well so far.

[dawntheduckrb]

I'll stop posting wips eventually but it's been five days since I've said anything and I don't want anyone to think I'm dead/dying/stuck in a ditch and withering away, so here's 10% of the reason I disappeared (the duck is stuck in rendering hell) (and my little baby laptop is screaming at me every time I open up this file)

I might still be mostly lurking for a little bit so please be patient with me in the meantime 🙏🙏

[deeisace]

..