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cazimagines · 3 years

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Perfectly Exasperating - Chapter 3

Synopsis: While you have been unknowingly kidnapped Zemo is determined to make the time he spends with you the best that he can

Word count: 5.4k

Author’s note: Hey all! This is sorta a one-month celebration of my account and for all the love you guys have shown this series and my other series 'A Freudian Slip' I can't thank you enough! My editing program decided to screw me over though so if you can see a difference grammatically in the first half and the second half that's why

Masterlist

(Please check out my master list to see what I will be writing next and if requests are open or closed)

Cross-posted to ao3 under the same username

Part 1 Part 2 Part 4

Your eyes slowly flutter open as the warmth from the sun shining through the curtains touching your skin waking you up. Yawning and stretching, feeling the soft duvet move on top of you, you sighed in content, closing your eyes again as you embraced the happiness which had been foreign to you for so long. You reach out to seize the end of the duvet and gradually slide out of the bed; you feel the slight chill of the morning breeze brush against your exposed legs. Crossing over to the wardrobe your hand reaches out to flick through the many dresses, shirts, trousers that hung in there, all belonging to shops such as Gucci, Prada, Valentino. There were clothes appropriate for any event, but today you choose comfortably as you pull out a maroon knitted sweater and dark blue jeans. Though appearing to be rather cheap clothes, you knew Zemo would never have spent less than $100 on them.

When Zemo said he would take care of you, he meant it in every aspect. It was a culture shock going from the relatively poor life you lived, surviving off the small amount of money they paid you for being an Avenger to being treated like royalty by Zemo. Not that you were complaining. It was a guilty pleasure of yours enjoying this luxury, a part of you hoping it would never end. If you had told yourself just a few weeks ago, you would have enjoyed living with Zemo you would have laughed in your face but that man had certainly turned on the charm and you couldn’t help but feel the slightest big thankful for him for everything he has done for you.

You finally leave the confines of your room, something you had only been allowed to do a few times until today. You convinced Zemo yesterday that you weren’t concussed from when John had hit you with the shield and that you would be fine getting up and walking around. He was still hesitant but knew he couldn’t keep you confined in your bed forever.

You close your eyes as you inhale the sweet smell of cooking pancakes, making your stomach grumble greedily. Following the scent, you work your way down through the interior design living room into the lavish kitchen where Zemo currently had his back turned to you as he attempted to flip the pancake he had in the frying pan. His purple turtleneck sleeves were pulled up, exposing his forearms as they tensed, trying to get the timing right to flip the pancake. He does so with perfect accuracy, the golden brownness of the pancake soaring up into the air and landing back down in the frying pan, sizzling.

Zemo giggles to himself, celebrating his minor achievement as he waves the frying pan, his body swaying along slightly with it.

“That smells heavenly,”

Zemo whips around at hearing your voice pierce the air. “Ah y/n! Please, take a seat while I make breakfast,”

His eyes follow you as you take a seat down at the table he had prepared for this morning, then focus back on the breakfast at hand. You pour out some orange juice Zemo had left on the table, then your gaze flickers back to him as he finishes cooking. He stacks the pancakes onto two plates and grabs some sugar, maple syrup, and lemons out of the shelves, giving you a choice of toppings.

You scoff as he turns around, seeing on the apron he had tied around himself the words ‘kiss the chef’ on it.

“Really?” you ask, raising the glass to your lips as you watch him glance down to his apron and then back up to you offended.

“You don’t like?”

“It’s embarrassing to look at!” you exclaim as he places the plates down on the table and sits down opposite you.

Zemo’s eyebrows twitch as he scoffs back at you, “I think it suits me, plus a kiss is expected after I worked so hard on breakfast” he says, tapping his cheek with his finger.

You raise an eyebrow, letting a breath out as you laugh, “Yeah, in your dreams,”

You two settle into a comfortable silence as you readily eat the breakfast he made. The pancakes were soft but delicious, sickeningly sweet but you have always had a sweet tooth and so it seems, does Zemo.

“I thought you would have one of your staff make breakfast, you never struck me as the person to do something yourself when you can make others do it,” you say breaking the silence as you finish the last of your pancakes.

Zemo glances up to you, tilting his head, “Why do you think that? Because I grew up rich?”

You nod, not attempting to make yourself sound nicer, “Yes. It’s common knowledge the rich are always spoilt”

His lips twitch up into a smile at your bluntness. He sighs, leaning back in his chair, crossing his legs as he addresses you.

“You’re right. Even though Sokovia was a rather small country, I grew up with more riches than most people could dream of. But at least I acknowledge my privilege. That counts for something, doesn’t it?”

“Depending on what you use your privilege for. Blowing up the UN isn’t exactly putting it to good use now stop avoiding my original question,”

Zemo bites the inside of his mouth as you see through his attempts at trying to dodge the question. His admiration for you however outweighed any annoyance he might have felt at being called out for it. Leaning forward again to rest his arms on the table he says,

“It’s only me, you and my Butler who occasionally comes in. After I was arrested, there was no work for my staff so they all left and I can’t exactly hire anyone else,”

You nod, satisfied, then dab the napkin that Zemo has set out beside you, on your lips to get rid of any leftover sugar. You place your hands on the table and push yourself up from it.

“Well, thank you for breakfast, and thank you for looking after me this last week… that was nice of you, but I better be going. Do you know where my phone is?”

Zemo’s eyes furrow and he immediately stands up as you walk away from the table. He rushes past you, stepping in front of you to stop you from walking.

“You can’t leave y/n,”

Your head jilts back in confusion, “Why not?”

“We ruined Karli’s plans, so she is trying to find us. That’s why Sam and James are out hiding and why we must remain here,”

“I can handle Karli,” you tell Zemo, trying to step past him, but his hand reaches out and grasps your arm firmly.

“Not a super-soldier y/n. It’s too dangerous, especially after your recovery. James and Sam will reach out to me once it is clear to leave, but for now, we stay.”

You huff in frustration, shaking Zemo’s hand off your arm as you cross them. “Well, at least get me a phone so I can keep in contact with them too,”

“I’m afraid I can’t get you a phone currently, but you are welcomed to use mine. Alas, James and Sam have my number but I don’t have theirs’s so unless you remember their numbers we have to wait till they message first to reach out to them,”

You let out a melodramatic sigh, rolling your head looking to the side of the room then back to Zemo.

“So what the hell am I to do to keep occupied?”

Zemo tilts his head, his eyes flicker to the side in thought as he opens his mouth wordlessly and his eyes move back to yours, his eyebrows raising as he frowns thinking over the idea that has just entered his head.

With his fingers, Zemo, gazing at you eagerly, beckoned you down the corridor, towards a giant door that was at the end.

“I’m not a dog Zemo” you complain as you follow him

“Have you ever heard of dramatic effect?”

Zemo had taken off his apron and replaced it with that coat he loved to wear so much. You firmly believed it gave him a power complex. He strutted to the end of the hallway and placed his hands on the door. His face turns to you smirking, enjoying this dramatic pause as you roll your eyes at him. He pushes the door open and stands to the side, sweeping his arm across the space to let you in.

You walk past him and your eyes widen in amazement as you walk into the most magnificent library you had ever seen. The room itself stretched out almost further than you could see, seeming to go on and on. The shelves looked like they reached up to the sky, each one stacked with thousands of beautiful hardback books. The design of it looked like you had just stepped into heaven, with white and gold being the main colour scheme. On the ceiling was a painted sky with the gods on, looking down at you. On the pillars separating the shelves were little cherubs, their bows positioned to pierce your heart. Everything about this library was beautiful. It felt like a library that should belong to a museum not kept in this private mansion.

“You see why the dramatic effect was necessary?” Zemo says stepping up beside you, looking out at the shelves before you.

“Zemo this is… this is beautiful,”

His eyes flicker to you then back to the library, a smile appearing on his lips, “Yes, I suppose it is. When I was younger, I had always taken things like this for granted, but after my time in prison I believe it’s made me more humble,”

You walk over to the nearest bookshelf, letting your fingers brush over the colourful hardbacks. You pull one book out, stroking the golden platted side. “You must have every practically every book in existence here”

“I have more books than I could ever get round to reading. You can find anything you want to read here,”

After ten minutes you had gathered a rather sizable book pile you were determined to read, full of fictional and non-fictional books, some of your favorites and some you had never read before.

Zemo chuckled as you tried to hold all of them in your grasp. As you picked one up, the book on the very top of your pile slipped and fell to the floor. Panic surged in you, worried you would damage something so expensive, but Zemo’s hand appears and catches it before it could hit the ground.

Straightening up, he gave you an amused smile, “Maybe you should let me help carry them”

Accepting his help, he takes half the book pile off you and guides you over to a place deep in the library where you two could read. There were two light green armchairs facing each other, with a fireplace just behind them. To the side of the chairs were small tables which contained bookmarks, a goblet, and an ashtray, and to the side of one chair was a globe which could be opened, and inside it held a decanter full of whiskey.

Zemo places the books in his arms on the table then walks over to one shelf, browsing till he finally finds the book he was looking for. He returns to find you getting comfortable in your chair, opening the first book.

“Whisky?” he asks, opening up the globe beside him.

A few days ago you would have said ‘no, no way,’ but today you smile and nod your head, reaching out with the glass beside you to gracefully accept the drink.

The next couple of days were spent similarly with you and Zemo spending much of your time reading in the library together. Occasionally you two would even read to each other as he had first done with you when you had woken up here. Though you would never admit it to him, his smokey voice made you very comfortable. If he tried, he could lull you to sleep with that accent of his.

You couldn’t help but try to separate the Zemo you know now as the one you used to hate. Yes, he had torn apart your family, but he had all the reason for what happened to Sokovia, what happened to his family. Plus, this Zemo seemed to try hard to make it up to you. Almost too hard. He was trying everything to keep you entertained while you were stuck here, make your life as comfortable as he could. It was nice.

You strolled into the kitchen hearing the quiet buzz of the radio playing the latest top hits and the sound of someone humming along to the music. In there you find Zemo by the counter, fixated on the bowl he held in his arm and the spoon in his hand as he delicately tries to put the mixture into the cupcake trays before him. You had offered to make food, feeling like he always did too much for you but every day he insisted he would, even on days where it Butler would come around.

“Need help?” you ask, walking over to stand beside him.

He glances at you, then back to the tray he has laid out before him. “I’ve got a handle on this,” he replies just as he spills some mixtures onto the counter, making him swear under his breath.

“Uh-huh, sure,” you say, looking down at the spilled mixture. You turn to face him, letting out a chuff as you place a hand on his arm, “Zemo stop being so prideful and let me help”

As soon as your hand comes in contact with his arm, he freezes. He glances down at the ground, swallowing then his eyes flicker to yours and he smiles gently, his usual arrogance disappearing. “Okay,”

You grab a spoon from the draw and help Zemo scrap off what he puts into his spoon into the cake tray with accuracy. You two stand together, your shoulders brushing up against each other till you finish and put it into the oven.

“We have 30 minutes until we need to get them out. Why don’t you read for a bit while I clean up,”

“I can help clean up,” You tell him already going over to the sink to turn the water on, “You’re not my servant Zemo,”

“Helmut” he suddenly says

You turn back to look at him, confused at the seriousness of his face, “Please y/n, call me Helmut,”

Your mouth moves wordlessly for a moment, then you say, “Helmut,” trying the name out on your tongue. You were so used to calling him Zemo, you had forgotten that that wasn’t his first name.

“Thank you” he whispers, glancing away from you bashfully.

He takes a towel off the side of the rail and dries up everything you washed as you two settled into a peculiar silence.

Attempting to liven the atmosphere again, you put a cup just at the right angle of the running tap that the water splashed into Zemo’s coat. He steps back shocked, glancing down at his coat then back to you. He lets out a laugh, his mouth open in surprise that you would do that. “Oh, if that is how it is”

Zemo quickly grabs a mug, running it under the following water. Realizing what he was going to do you let out a squeal and rush for the door but you don’t get far enough till you feel the water hit your back, soaking your t-shirt.

“Helmut!” you gasp as he chuckles at you. You run forward to grab the nearest thing in front of you to chuck it at him, a piece of bread in this case but he ducks as it flies over him. He fills the cup up again and runs towards you but you get to the table and hide on the other side till you were both poised opposite each other waiting for one of you to make the first move.

“This isn’t fair!” you whine, feeling the coldness of your t-shirt cling to your back. “Who said anything about fairness!” Zemo shouted back, grinning at you.

Eventually, you two called a truce when the oven chimes letting you two know the cupcakes were finished baking. After that day, Zemo always asked if you wanted to help him make meals.

“Is the popcorn ready?” you shout as you jump up from the floor where you were placing the DVD into the DVD player.

“Almost done” Zemo calls out.

While waiting, you settle yourself down on the middle of the red sofa, twisting your back to get that perfect spot as you stared up at the giant screen in front of you.

Zemo emerges from the kitchen holding the popcorn and places the bowl onto the table in front of you. He settles down beside you, instantly positioning his arms on the top of the sofa, resting behind your head.

He leans forward to pick up some of the popcorn, tossing it in his mouth as he asks you what you have chosen to watch tonight.

“Beauty and the Beast,” you say excitingly and Zemo coughs, leaning forward as he accidentally inhaled the popcorn in his mouth.

He wipes the tear from his eye as he leans back and you give him a confused look, “Do you not like the film?”

“No-no, it’s not that. W-why do you want to watch the film?”

“It’s my favorite Disney film,”

He nods his head slightly looking down at the popcorn, “I see…” he then glances back to you, looking you in the eyes, “Why is it your favorite Disney film?”

You lean back sighing as you think the movie over, “Well, I’ve loved it since I was a kid. I always wanted to be like Bell and I found the beast so sweet and gentle”

“Even though he imprisoned her?”

“He let her go in the end, and she came back to him”

Zemo opened his mouth wanting to say more, but you sushed him as the movie started, wanting to concentrate only on it.

Zemo turned down the lights to make the experience feel as cinematic as he could of you. Grabbing the bowel he offered you some of the popcorn and you smiled at him in thanks. He tried to enjoy the movie, but his eyes kept wandering back to you, watching your expressions as you watched the movie. His heart skipped a beat every time you laughed at it when that gorgeous smile would grace your face, even in the sad moments where it looked like you were about to cry. He loved seeing how you reacted to everything. There were so many things he had taken for granted, and it felt like he was discovering them all over again with you. It fascinated him to find out the beauty and the beast was your favorite film. It was almost ironic given your current situation, one of which you remained painfully unaware of. He knew he couldn’t keep you in the dark forever. Sam and James were bound to discover where you two were eventually, which is why he wanted to enjoy every moment he had with you to the fullest before it was over.

As the movie went on, Zemo could feel your body moving closer and closer to him. The heat that radiated from your body made him want to wrap his arms around you, but he didn’t know if that would go too far. Roughly by the end of the movie, your head rested against his chest, moving slightly up and down as he breathed. He could tell by your shallow breathing you had entered the realm of dreams.

Looking down at you, he couldn’t help but admire how peaceful you looked. When on the mission with Sam and James you had always appeared tense, prepared to fight your way out of a situation as soon as possible, but at this moment you were relaxed and it made his heart flutter. He could look at you forever like this and never tire of it.

He had found himself in the past comparing you to his wife. He felt conflicted feeling this way about another woman, but how he felt about you differed from how he felt about his wife. It was new, exciting, addicting. Slowly raising his hand, he brushes a piece of hair that had fallen over your face while you slept. Your skin was smooth against his fingers and so soft. His fingers lingered on your skin before finally, he let his arm rest around your body, holding you close as you slept against his chest.

Your arms were raised, feeling the walls on either side of you as you tried to figure out if you were going and if you were about to bump into anything while Zemo’s hands were clasped around your eyes tightly.

“Don’t you trust me y/n” he whispers in your year, snickering.

“Do you want a pleasant lie or the harsh truth?” you ask, turning your head slightly but Zemo tuts and moves your head back with his hands

“Not long now, just a few more steps,”

“Till what!” you whine

“Be patient y/n!”

Zemo lifts one hand of your eyes telling you to keep them close and you hear the creak of a door open ahead of you. His hand returns to your face and with slightly pushing his body against yours, he urges you forward into this new room.

“Can I finally look now?”

Zemo removes his hands and steps back from you, “Okay y/n, open your eyes”

Opening them you gasped in shock seeing what was before you. On a stand was a replica of Belle’s dress in Beauty and the Beast. Its honey yellow colour shone out, the top of it tightly clung to the mannequin it was on while the bottom poofed out, it hung with no shoulder straps and came with yellow gloves. Everything about it was perfect.

“Helmut I- I’m, stunned,”

“You like it?” he asks anxiously

You turn to him grinning, “Of course I do!”

You hug him tightly, ecstatic, then rushed over to the dress, brushing your fingers along it. “It’s beautiful” you whisper.

“I think I got the sizes right,” Zemo says coming up beside you, a pink tinge to his cheeks, “There’s only one way to know for you,” he adds on, turning to you giving you a gentle smile

He helps you take the dress off and chuckles as he watches you rush off with it to get changed, then leaves to get changed himself.

The dress fitted perfectly on you. Everything from the bust down to the waist. Even the gloves fitted perfectly. When you entered the bathroom, you found Zemo had even found some make-up in case you wanted to use any. He thought of everything.

Finally looking at yourself in the mirror, you couldn’t wipe the smile off your face. You truly felt like a Disney princess. Slowly you walked back down the stairs and enter the room Zemo had to lead you in, to begin with. As you walked in, let out a merry laugh as you saw Zemo, dressed up in a blue jacket, embroidered with yellow roses on the sleeves, just like the beast. He was standing by a record player, putting a disk in as you walked in. He turns to look at you, his mouth opening in wonder.

“Y/n… you look glorious,”

His sincere comment makes your cheeks heat up and you hold your arms out to him, squeezing your hands letting him know you want to hold his hands.

He turns the record on and your favorite song from Beauty and the Beast floats out, making your cells light up with excitement.

“Helmut” you start to say as he walks over to you, holding his hand out, “Why are you doing this?”

He gently takes your gloved hand, bending over to kiss it. “I know it isn’t easy being stuck in here all the time and you said you loved ‘Beauty and the Beast’ so I thought it would make a pleasant treat,”

His arms hesitantly touch your waist as he looks into your eyes as if asking it was okay. You nod and step closer to him, taking his hand in yours holding it up. Getting into the waltz position you two start to move along the dance floor, swaying to the music.

You two slide along the ballroom floor, picking up speed. As you look up to him, he breathes out smiling back down at you happily. His hand on his waist spins your around as your dress flutters out. You squeal in delight as you grasp back onto his hand as you felt dizzy.

You two turn around the floor looking each other deep in the eyes. You could feel his breath on your face as you two were barely inches apart from each other. Zemo pulls you in even closer as your arm goes around his neck, your body pulled into his. He dips you as you cling to him tightly for dear life as the music fades.

He holds you into that position, panting as he looks at you, his eyes flickering from your eyes to your lips. You could feel that pull towards him, your eyes starting to flutter shut. He leans towards you but suddenly you feel your fingers slip and you almost let go of him. His other hand quickly wraps around making sure you don’t fall to the floor.

He helps you back on your feet and you two steps apart. You look away feeling your cheeks burn up again.

“Helmut, thank you. Thank you so much” you tell him earnestly

He looks deep into your eyes, smiling in bliss, “Anything for you y/n”

“Y/n, are you awake?”

You groan as you hear Zemo whisper beside you, waking you from your sleep.

“Ugh, Helmut what time is it,” you moan turning over with your eyes are closed.

“It’s 8, time to wake up”

“Nooooo” you whine screwing up your eyelids.

You hear him chuckle and then you feel something push against your lips. You open your eyes confused to see Zemo beside you, holding a strawberry to your lips.

You smile and take a bite out of it, moaning in delight as you taste its sweetness as you sit up. He sits up beside you and holds out some melted chocolate for you to dip the strawberry in.

“Helmut, you spoil me”

“Not enough,” he whispers back as he puts the chocolate-covered strawberry to your lips letting you take another bite.

“I’m not even surprised anymore to see you in my bed when I wake up,” you tell him

“Technically this is my bed”

“You know what I mean!”

He chuckles as he pushes his head back into the headboard, “I thought it would be a nice way for you to wake up,”

“Consider me impressed,” you tell him, looking over at him smiling. He glances back to you, his lips twitching up. You lean into his side, not caring at the moment you were in a simple nightdress. You close your eyes inhaling his cologne and picking up a strawberry to feed to him.

“I could get used to this,” you whisper to him

You scan the piano music book before looking back down to the notes before you. It had been a while since you had last played so you thought you might as well pick it up while you were stuck in Zemo’s mansion.

You press the notes but every time you tried to play one of the chords you always missed one. You were trying to play your favorite song 'Comptine d'un autre été' but to no avail.

“You need to flow with the music and not worry about hitting the right notes”

You turn around and smile as you see Zemo approach you from behind. “Isn’t the whole point of music to play the right notes?” you say sarcastically

Zemo lets out a huff chuckling, “Well yes but you’ll hit the notes when you stop trying so hard. Now try again”

You turn back around and attempt the music again but hit the wrong notes making you slam the piano in annoyance.

“Don’t damage the piano”

“I’m sorry,” you mutter, “I should give up,”

“No don’t do that” Zemo says, brushing his fingers over your waist, “Here let me help you”

He puts his hands on top of yours guiding them, “Let’s try again,”

You look to the music then back down to your hands which had Zemo’s resting on and attempt to start playing again. His hands moved in time with yours as they guided along with the piano, pressing down on your fingers when you needed to. You got every note. Well, Zemo got every note.

“See, easy,” he says as he pulls back from you. “Now try again”

You attempt to play again but feeling his eyes stare into your back you couldn’t concentrate and messed up the notes again.

“We just went through this!”

“It’s hard to concentrate with you staring at me!” you exclaim turning around to him. Your eyes widen as what you just said as he tilts his head, a smug smile appearing on his lips.

“Oh, I make it hard for you to concentrate do I?”

You groan at his cockiness, looking away from him so he doesn’t see your glistening red cheeks.

He walks up behind you again, his fingers grazing your jawline, stopping at your chin as he raises your head to look up at him. Seeing him look down at you made a knot in your stomach tighten.

“You are awfully red y/n”

“Shut up”

He chuckles and leans down, placing a kiss on your forehead, “I like it when you blush”

The breath gets caught in your lungs as you feel his lips on your forehead, their softness cooling your burning skin.

For the first time in your life, you were rendered speechless, by Helmut Zemo no less.

His teeth flash in his smile as he looks down at you, “Come let’s practice this again” he says, leaning over as his back pressed into yours, putting his hands back on top of yours.

“Zemo do you mind if I borrow your phone briefly to see if that new video has been released?” you call out picking up Zemo’s phone that he had left on your seat.

“Go ahead! Just don’t check anything else on there” he yells back

“Worried I will find your nudes?” you call out as you unlock the phone. Pressing onto the youtube app you sigh in annoyance seeing no new video and so you were about to put the phone back down when a message appeared from a contact simply labeled ‘S’

It read, ‘S: Look just tell us where you have taken her. Whatever you are doing with her it isn’t worth it”

Your eyebrows furrow in confusion at what the hell could that message mean. You click onto the message stream just to see a ton of messages from this ‘S’ contact but with no reply from Zemo.

You hesitate for a moment, knowing Zemo wouldn’t want you to do what you were about to do, but your curiosity got the best of you and you pressed the call button.

It rang for a few seconds and then the line picked up.

“Zemo” Sam’s voice rang out through the phone

“Sam?” you ask back

“W-what, YN/!? Are you okay? Where are you?”

“Woah Woah Sam, calm down, I’m fine! I’m with Helmut-Sam what is going on?”

“What has he done to you?”

“What do you mean he's done nothing, Sam I thought me and Helmut were hiding out here till Karli was done with her plan?”

You hear a sigh down the phone and then the muffled voices of what you could make out as Bucky and Sharon down the line.

Sam picked the phone back up and spoke directly, “Y/n you need to get out of there now. Zemo, he's kidnapped you”

The phone slips from your hand and lands on the floor with a loud crash.

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sokkastyles · 3 years

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Zutara Month Day 10: Oma and Shu

I’ve seen some people point out that Zutara doesn’t necessarily fit Oma and Shu because the Oma and Shu myth is more Romeo and Juliet than enemies to lovers, and those people are not necessarily wrong. Romeo and Juliet, just like Oma and Shu, were never themselves enemies. They did nothing but love each other, but were forbidden from being together because of the feud. Zutara, in most interpretations, is less a “forbidden” romance and more a transition from enemies to friends to lovers. Most people imagine them growing to love each other after becoming friends, often after Zuko’s redemption and the end of the war. Nonetheless, the Oma and Shu story does share several parallels with Zutara that many fans have picked up on. What I want to do is examine some of these parallels from a meta angle, to look at the Oma and Shu story as it appears in the series and other similar stories that appear in ATLA, and to also compare them to similar stories in the real world, and analyze a bit the popularity of these various tales of forbidden love, why they are popular, and what their purpose is, as well as how Zutara fits into all this.

In universe, the Oma and Shu story, in addition to being a love story, is also an origin myth of sorts for the Earth Kingdom. It explains the creation of the city of Omashu, as well as telling the story of some of the first humans to learn earthbending. The message of the story, in addition to being a tale about love thriving between two unlikely people, and a cautionary tale about what happens when love is prevented from flourishing, is also a message about love being an act of creation and a force of transformation.

Love is brightest in the dark.

This sentence is a paradox, but it fits with the theme of balance that the show comes back to again and again, of breaking down barriers and deconstructing dichotomies to create something new, something more whole than the original. Something mirroring the harmony of yin and yang.

The greatest illusion of this world is the illusion of separation. Things you think are separate and different are actually one and the same. We are all one people, but we live as if divided.

The above quote by Guru Pathik is also similar to Iroh’s philosophy, which he tries to teach Zuko.

It is important to draw wisdom from many different places. If you take it from only one place, it becomes rigid and stale. Understanding others, the other elements, and the other nations will help you become whole.

Iroh also says something in “The Crossroads of Destiny” that echoes the Oma and Shu story.

Iroh: Perfection and power are overrated. I think you were very wise to choose happiness and love.

Aang: What happens if we can't save anyone and beat Azula? Without the Avatar State, what if I'm not powerful enough?

Iroh: I don't know the answer. Sometimes, life is like this dark tunnel. You can't always see the light at the end of the tunnel, but if you just keep moving, [Aang earthbends the rocks away one last time. Iroh's fire blows out. He smiles.] you will come to a better place.

Iroh says that Aang is wise to choose love over power, while walking through a dark tunnel, and advises Aang to trust in the darkness to bring him to the light. Meanwhile, Zuko and Katara, two people on opposite sides of a war, share a moment of unlikely tenderness in a cave lit by glowing crystals.

Zuko in the crystal catacombs does what Iroh has been trying to teach him to do, to let go of pride and the need for power, and to instead embrace compassion and humility. Which is what he does when he apologizes to Katara. This is also part of what stories like Romeo and Juliet teach us, that pride and petty grievances are destructive, and that only by embracing love do we become whole.

I know the prompt is Oma and Shu, but thinking about that story and its place in the narrative made me think about other mythic stories that appear in the series, so let’s look at another one that has significance for zutara: Love Amongst the Dragons, Ursa’s favorite play that she took young Zuko and Azula to see every year.

The actual story of Love Amongst the Dragons, according to the ATLA wiki, is this:

The play features the Dragon Emperor, bound to mortal form by the Dark Water Spirit, and forced to adopt the alias of Noren. The humble experience results in Noren falling in love with a mortal, and through this love he is able to break free of his curse. The play concludes with Noren defeating the Dark Water Spirit and embracing his mortal girlfriend, revealed to be the Dragon Empress.

What struck me when I found this description was that this is, with some slight changes, pretty much the Chinese myth of the marriage between Dragon and Phoenix, a representation for yin and yang and harmony in marriage, and which I compared in a meta to zutara as well.

Like the Oma and Shu story, it is a story about unlikely love, and about crossing divisions. It also has a lot of similarities with various myths involving shapeshifting love-interests, often referred to as “animal bride/husband” myths (which beauty and the beast is a subset of).

The symbolism of the tale in-universe is in its connection to Ursa, and thus Zuko’s connection to his mother. Zuko’s connection to his mother is contrasted with his connection to his father, which is representative of Zuko’s destructive side. When Zuko was trying to capture the Avatar, he was searching for his father’s approval, to become someone that would earn his father’s love. Ursa, meanwhile, taught Zuko kindness and compassion, and told him that it didn’t matter that he wasn’t the most powerful or strong. That Ursa took Zuko to see this particular play is significant, a play about a godlike being, the Dragon Emperor, being humbled and learning to love.

Only with your glory hidden in false form could you recognize my devotion.

Though different, and originating in a different nation, this is another tale about love shining through the dark, about letting go of pride and choosing compassion. Animal bride/husband myths are often about seeing past what is hidden to see the truth. They are stories of transformation, and like the Oma and Shu story, are about the transformative power of love.

It’s also from this play that Zuko gets his Blue Spirit alter ego, which Zuko uses as an exploration of his own identity apart from being the Fire Nation prince. In this story the same mask is worn by the villainous Dark Water Spirit. It is very interesting that Zuko uses an identity associated with water for this purpose. Also, like the Blue Spirit, the Dark Water Spirit seems to be a bit on the morally ambiguous side. Even though the spirit is defeated at the end of the story, its motivation for transforming the Dragon Emperor seems to be to teach him humility, and this is a message the play seems to promote.

Zuko and Azula’s dialogue from the above comic pages is interesting because it expands on what we already know about both characters. Zuko complains about always having to play the villain, just as he was made a scapegoat by his father and sister, and his adapting of the Blue Spirit identity is essentially him reclaiming that identity that was forced on him while trying to figure out who he really is. Azula sees herself as the Dragon Emperor, but she misunderstands the message of the story completely, and it’s not a coincidence that she talks over the love scene in the comic above and responds angrily and pridefully to the man who tries to shush her. Similar to Ozai when he names himself the Phoenix King, ironically misinterpreting the actual myth. I also think there’s something interesting to say about gender here, as this post points out. Not only does Ozai associate himself with a female figure, but Azula associates herself with the male Dragon Emperor, while Zuko is associated with the more feminine water spirit (water being a feminine element.) However, by the end of the series, Zuko embodies the transformed Dragon Emperor, while Katara I associated before with the Phoenix/Dragon Empress, as she is associated with healing and rebirth. Also notice the red and blue color coding in the comic page above, both with the Water Spirit and Dragon Emperor and in the coloring of the two lovers.

This also brings me to another play present in the series, the play that the gaang goes to see performed by the Ember Island Players. The same players that Zuko says his mother took him to see. The play we see them put on in the series is a Fire Nation propaganda play, promoting Ozai and the war. I actually can’t imagine that Love Amongst the Dragons, a play about a Dragon Emperor learning humility, was very popular during Ozai’s reign. We hear about it being performed before Ozai became Fire Lord, but we can assume that those visits to the theatre stopped after Ursa’s disappearance. The only other time we hear about that particular play being performed is after the end of the war. This leads me to imagine that it was necessary for the Ember Island Players to find a different play to perform while Ozai was in charge. While the play is not necessarily subverting Fire Nation superiority (the villain is a water spirit, after all), it is confrontational enough that I can imagine Ozai’s brand of narcissism seeing it as a challenge to his authority. Ozai who disdained love in favor of power and control.

“The Boy in the Iceberg” contains another love story between two people from opposite sides in their depiction of Zuko and Katara in the crystal catacombs. I wrote before about how I’ve seen interpretations of this that say that the Fire Nation was trying to portray zutara as an “inferior” Water Tribe woman falling for a “superior” Fire Nation man - essentially saying that the play is in favor of zutara as a piece of Fire Nation pro-colonization propaganda - but the problem with this is that that isn’t how zutara is depicted in the play. The play mocks zutara by portraying Zuko as submissive and subservient to Aang, and Zuko is later killed, as he is currently a traitor and threat to the Fire Nation. Thus, the “romance” between Zuko and Katara is not being depicted as supporting the superior masculinity of Fire Nation men, but rather portraying Zuko, who willingly chose to dissasociate himself with the Fire Nation, as emasculated and submissive to other, “lesser” men and aggressive “foreign” women.

This is a complete mockery of the real connection that Zuko and Katara had in the catacombs, the kind of love that is inherently subversive because it requires Zuko humbling himself in front of Katara and admitting that he was wrong, and working for her forgiveness. It is the kind of love that the Fire Nation under Ozai’s rule rejects. The kind of love that is truly transformative, revelatory, and brings light to the darkness. The kind of love that creates rather than destroys, that unifies rather than divides. That is humble and not prideful. That’s the appeal of zutara.

#zutara #zuko #katara #zutara month 2021 #atla meta #the cave of two lovers #the crossroads of destiny #the ember island players #oma and shu #love amongst the dragons

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masterthespianduchovny · 3 years

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I’m going to be honest: I dislike Nate right now.

And that’s perfectly fine.

I understand that this show loves to redeem people, however, as I said in another post, you can only redeem someone if there are negative feelings and/or you believe that person wronged someone or whatever. If you have positive feelings and excuse what they did, what exactly are they being redeemed for?

Despite loving Rebecca’s character, when I rewatch season one, I don’t like her at times. I dislike a lot of what she did back then. It doesn’t matter that I know she tells the truth eventually, the stuff she did was still fucked up. I’m not going to preemptively excuse her actions because I know the end goal.

Take Jamie for instance, his behavior was not okay. We know why he behaves that way, but it still wasn’t justified. We are still allowed to dislike him and what he did then. We talk about the negative effects of the bullying Nate received from the players, yet some try to excuse Nate’s bullying and his actions?

Wrong is wrong. Jamie being verbally abused by his dad didn’t justify how he treated others just like how Nate’s father (and bullying by others) is emotionally abusive doesn’t justify Nate’s behavior.

Although we understand the context, Nate IS being a fucking backstabbing asshole right now. Some may hate to hear that, but this isn’t an unfair opinion or unflattering light of him. This is exactly how he’s behaving.

There are some who has a ton of sympathy for Nate, but I’m not one of them. Please believe, I do hold some sympathy for him, but I have a limit.

So here’s reasons why Nate is on my shitlist and I’ll wait until he’s actually redeemed to forgive him.

1. Calling Rebecca a shrew. It’s not the fact that he literally called Rebecca this, but that he immediately verbally attacked the woman. We can say, “oh no, she’s the owner so he had reasons to think…”

No, Nate literally attacked Rebecca for no reason at all. She had little to no interaction with him and has never disrespected or harmed him in anyway, yet he has these intense feelings of dislike in the moment based off what exactly?

Nate attacked Rebecca because she is a woman. If you disagree, what other reason it might be? The reason I believe it was due to her gender is because she’s been defanged so to speak. So he doesn’t fear her like he used to. But Nate also practices in casual misogyny ie his shoe remark to Rebecca and Keeley. That may not seem like a big thing, but how is that an involuntary response??? With him believing he got fired, he doesn’t wait for answers, he immediately attacks her. And I had to ask myself, would he have done this with a man? With someone like Rupert? No fucking way. Nate can’t even directly challenge Ted who is a ray of sunshine, but attacks someone who he literally ran away from in fear in the pilot. Although Nate respects power, he respects male power the most. He skipped over Ted and Beard and went straight towards Rebecca. The fact that this even happened has always been disturbing to me. And Nate is fucking lucky that he hasn’t said any of his comments to old Rebecca (not age, but personality. 🥺) because she would have fired him. Only due to her relationship with Ted and him getting to let her guard down and find her old self that she frowned and shrugged Nate’s comments off. Most bosses at the very least would’ve talked to Nate and he didn’t get even that.

2. Projecting his daddy issues onto Ted. I understand that nate is going through some tough shit and has been for literally decades, however, that doesn’t mean make someone your stand in dad because they were nice and kind. Ted treats Nate like he does the other coaches, but Nate wants a special and unique relationship that will never exist. Ted is not his father and he didn’t ask for the job or the responsibilities.

I understand that people go through shit and latch onto those who made the rough times easier. I get that. However, all this animosity, scheming, and resentment because Ted isn’t giving the attention he wants. That fucking unfair to Ted. He didn’t ask or sign up to be Nate’s father figure. Yet he’s being punished for not being something he never wanted to be. Never even thought about it.

And because I’ve seen/partially experienced this shit, people getting mad at you for not being who they projected onto, it makes me upset at Nate. Because people like this really do become resentful and manipulative and that is not okay despite their own hurt that they’re dealing with. Why does the person you projected on have to suffer for something they’re unaware of and have no obligation to fulfill?

Nate isn’t just trying to blow up Ted’s professional career, he’s doing it via one of the cruelest ways: using his mental health against him. Thereby exploiting Ted’s trust in him.

Ted has literally changed Nate’s life for the better and rather than have a man to man talk with him, he cowardly tries to sabotage Ted in one of the worst ways imaginable.

3. His cognitive dissonance about how coaching works!!!

This seriously irritates me because, on some level, Nate knows that the very system he’s criticizing is how it works across ALL team sports and with reason.

He wants to be a damn head coach soooo bad—does he think ideas, plans, plays, etc only comes from head coaches???

What does he think assistants are there for?

For those who aren’t familiar with sports and coaching, literally every team sport has a head coach and then assistants under them. These assistant typically specialize in a given thing.

In American football, I believe there are like defensive coaches, strength and conditioning coaches, etc. there are coaches who watch a lot of tapes to learn the opposition and how to make plays to hold them exploit their weakness and tailor plays around that.

Like on the professional level there are so many types of coaches and, hell, not all of them want to be head coaches. Some of the greatest coaching minds aren’t head coaches.

For example, the American basketball team the Chicago bulls fired their coach Doug Collins in like 1989, I think. He was a good coach, but one of his assistant coaches had a basketball IQ out of this world. Doug refused to listen to him, but management fully supported this assistant coach. Now the other assistant coach they were grooming to take over, Phil Jackson, if you’ve heard of him, DID listen to this basketball genius. So much so that when he became head coach after Doug was fired, he continued to implement The Triangle offense that came from this basketball genius, which Phil was known for until he retired.

Nate’s upset that Ted gets all the credit for if they win, he does realize that Ted also gets all the blame for if they lose. Ted has always highlighted his coaching staff and everyone who helped him. He has always stressed that he wouldn’t be where he is without them. And when he loses, he takes full ownership. He doesn’t pass the blame at all.

Does Nate seem like someone who’d take ownership for losing?

Does Nate seem like someone, at this moment, who’d appropriately give credit to assistant or anyone else who helped him?

Would he even listen?

What makes Ted a great coach is that he gives others opportunities to step up to the plate and if/when they succeed, he allows them to shine.

Ted sees the fuller picture, for the most part, and knows how to address his weaknesses and who’s stronger than him in what area. He realized that the team needed a presence like Roy on the team. He knew he needed someone like beard who could absorb insane amounts of knowledge. He saw that Nate had potential coaching ability.

But Nate doesn’t understand the importance or value of this. He also doesn’t understand how instrumental Ted’s philosophy has been in transforming the culture of the team. That this is also a reason why the team is playing better.

So like, yeah, I’ll forgive Nate when he’s redeemed. But these three things are what really irks me about him. Just because I understand why he is acting this way doesn’t mean I have to excuse it when he’s being a dick to others, complaining about shit only due to his ego, and doing fucked up shit like leaking someone’s mental health struggles so he can gain an advantage over them.

Does he think that if Ted leaves/gets fired that he’s getting the job??? I mean hopefully whatever he has going on with Rupert works out (before it inevitably goes wrong) because this isn’t going to turn out how he thinks it will.

#ted lasso #ted lasso spoilers #Nate Shelley #I wonder if Rupert is trying to get Richmond back and has some big master plan #I do not want that to happen of course #but what is he planning #probably trying to steal Nate away #and if that’s the case #good riddance #lol #Nate can come back once he calms down and gets himself together

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everythingsinred · 3 years

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Let's Talk About NatsuMikan: Natsume (pt. 6)

Last time, we talked about Natsume's growing crush on Mikan. As the festival continues, his feelings will only grow. Today we'll discuss how these new feelings will affect him, and particularly how they have the potential to create tension in his friendship with Ruka.

Chapter Twenty-One

Mikan is guilty for not having already gone to Iinchou’s haunted house in the latent ability class area. So they end up going together. Although Mikan is easily distracted and wants to try everything in the latent area, Natsume is strict on going straight to the destination with no tangents.

Iinchou lets them in right away without having to wait in the hour-long line. Mikan puts on airs about being a country girl and, just like she’s unafraid of bugs, she’s also not afraid of ghosts. Except she totally is.

Ruka and Natsume don’t seem particularly scared of the haunted house so far, but Mikan is, and she clings to Ruka, desperate not to be left behind, even if it means she hurts him with her grasp.

The person who posted these TokyoPop scans forgot a couple pages so for the longest time the beginning of the chapter was so confusing to me...

Natsume looks behind to see them and is jealous, yet again. Just like with Tsubasa, Natsume is unhappy with his fate to be the bad guy in general. He goes out of his way to look bad to protect people and as a result will not be the one clung to. It’s different from Tsubasa though, because this isn’t some nameless middle schooler that Natsume can take his anger out on: this is his best friend, somebody he’s never felt anything but affection for. Natsume doesn’t want to hurt Ruka; he’s just sad that the situation is so messed up.

Lucky for Ruka, Natsume gives up before there can even be a competition.

It’s for the best this way, after all. For Ruka to be happy, for Mikan to be with somebody kind who deserves her, and even for him, because maybe this way Mikan won’t be used against him like everybody else he cares about.

Natsume makes this decision without talking to anybody and before anyone can even figure out that there’s a choice to be made in the first place.

Then they run into a crawling hag and nobody’s immune to the terror that being chased after by that demon brings. All three of them run for it, but they end up in a new spooky room, which freaks Mikan out so much she screams and faints, foaming at the mouth, causing Natsume to fall and twist his ankle and for Ruka’s rabbit to run off. He chases after it, leaving Natsume and Mikan alone. Iinchou breaks whatever causes the electricity to run in the building and now they’re trapped alone in the dark, unable to get out.

Mikan tries to figure out a way for them to escape, but climbing the wall is out of the question since Natsume’s ankle is twisted. He suggests that he blow up the wall, but Mikan is adamantly against that idea because the latent students worked hard to make the mansion. Natsume acquiesces. That’s fine. He doesn’t mind spending more time with her. It just means she’ll have to stay in the dark for longer.

She is very clingy when she’s scared, and although he complains he doesn’t really make any moves to get her off. I mean, why would he? This is exactly what he wanted, though he did only get it because he was the only person around that she could cling to. There’s a moment where he spooks her, perhaps so she would hug him more, but then she whines for him to stop scaring her and the panels are quite sparkly. Natsume is distressed about his new crush and the effect it has on him. Really her whining and puppy-dog eyes are not any less powerful on Natsume than they are on Ruka. He’s just better at hiding it.

He looks at her softly and then has a moment where he looks almost peeved to have felt so fond at all... but it won't last. These days he has more affection for her than irritation.

Mikan tries apologizing about getting angry with him at Anna’s cafe, but he pretends like he has no idea what she’s talking about. To me, this cements that Natsume wants to look bad to her in particular. He doesn’t really want her to figure out that he’s kind deep down or that he’s selfless 99% of the time. He doesn’t want her to think he cares at all because it’s best for him to continue being the same jerk he has been for the past twenty chapters. He’s okay with her hating him, because that way she won’t become the new Ruka, used by the academy as a pawn to get him to jump through more hoops.

She tries to make him smile and that’s another big deal. Most people think Natsume is cool for being so unaffected. His fans think he’s the man, a tough guy who frowns all the time. Even Ruka’s approach to this issue was to stop smiling too.

Mikan’s approach is to tell jokes.

Of course, it doesn’t work, and the jokes aren’t any good, but Mikan is trying something nobody else has done: instead of looking up to him or going down to his level of misery, Mikan’s trying to lift him up. She wants him to smile and be happy and that sets her apart. She’s immature and childish and that brings out the childishness in him too. And like I mentioned a while ago, childishness in Natsume is a good thing. With her, he can bicker and argue and tease like he used to before he came to the academy. She has no idea what he’s going through and her mood changes so quickly she can’t even stay mad or upset. She’s just a joyful and loud girl who rubs off on everyone she meets and Natsume is far from being an exception.

He can just mess around like a kid for once. He doesn't have to be serious around her all the time.

Thus, the next important thing in regards to analyzing their relationship is that the last page of the chapter has him teasing her and then smiling at her reaction. We’ve only seen Natsume smile twice before: with Youichi for a brief moment, and then with Ruka on the cover for Chapter Sixteen (Natsume's evil smile when Mikan gets bullied by middle schoolers doesn't count as a real smile). This officially adds Mikan to the incredibly short list of people who can make Natsume smile. She’s angry with him, arguing, but being able to let go of all his darkness and just tease a girl and have her act with such strong emotions is enough to make him happy. And that’s what this is: Natsume is happy.

Chapter Twenty-Three

The musical creates some tension between Natsume and Ruka, as expected, because liking the same girl can make rifts between friends. On the other hand, this isn’t your typical love triangle. Usually in love triangles, the two guys are already positioned against each other. Though Natsume and Ruka may be opposites in many ways, they are not rivals at all. They love each other, and that love is not at all damaged by the conflict of falling for the same girl; it just becomes tense between them.

In fact, the beginning of the chapter has some Class B pals eagerly going backstage to find Ruka before the somatic ability class musical. When they find him, Natsume is the only one to not laugh at or tease him, and seems to be the only one really concerned with Ruka’s feelings about being cast as Snow White.

When the sticky ball incident occurs, there’s a lot more damage done than there is in the anime. In the anime, some cast and crew get stuck, but ultimately nobody was in any real danger of being hurt. In the manga, there were potentially catastrophic consequences for the blast and a lot of equipment got damaged in the process. A somatic child playing one of the seven dwarves is about to be hit by a stagelight when Natsume rushes to get him out of the way, resulting in them getting stuck together. If Natsume hadn’t stepped in, that kid could have gotten really injured, at least.

As a result of Natsume’s heroism, Narumi suggests that he dress up as a forest friend. When Natsume refuses, the child is to be kicked out of the play, and the seven dwarves will be changed to six. Natsume sees the kid pout and with absolutely no more need for convincing he goes to get changed into a cat outfit.

This is noteworthy because the cat outfit is humiliating (not that Natsume hasn’t worn similar things in official art… just saying) and it’s something he truly does not want to do, but he does it, even though he doesn’t even know the kid. It’s some random somatic kid, not Ruka or Youichi or even Mikan, and yet he goes out of his way to do something truly selfless so that the kid can perform what he’s practiced. Natsume is kind in quiet ways, and not just with the people he cares about. Like with Anna, Natsume puts the needs of someone he isn’t close to in front of his own reputation.

Now, Natsume is in a horrible mood, embarrassed to be seen in the costume, and Ruka is confused why he’d even bother, until he sees the smile on the little kid and everything snaps into place for him. Mikan is a very intuitive and emotional girl who can sense things about all sorts of people, but when it comes to Natsume, nobody knows him better than Ruka, who can tell right away the motives for any of his actions.

I work at a restaurant and kids Natsume's age will be like, "I don't want a kids' menu" and act all grown up and then see how big the adult portions are, so they end up eating the Cub Pancake anyway LMAO. Do you want extra whipped cream and chocolate chips, Natsume?

Onto the actual NatsuMikan portion of this analysis, at long last, Mikan is overjoyed to see how adorable he is in his costume and she is the only one who won’t hold back from saying so because she’s not scared of him. I’ve seen someone complaining that Natsume says “Don’t call men cute,” but I always found that line funny because Natsume is a literal ten-year-old boy… He is not a man at all. It’s the sort of thing you’d expect a kid to say, especially one who wants to be a grown-up as soon as possible, which makes the line endearing to me, but that’s my personal feelings about it. (Like the above caption, I find it very amusing when little kids pretend they're all grown up.)

Anyway, Natsume is as much an idiot as he is in the anime, volunteering Mikan to be the prince, even using one of his three wishes to make it happen. This is all motivated by his feelings of humiliation, and he’s taking it out on her, arguing that he doesn’t want to wear the outfit for no reason so the show has to go on no matter the cost--but this will bite him in the ass sooner rather than later.

Chapter Twenty-Four

The chapter begins and Mikan is very nervous about playing the prince, particularly about looking the part as she is very uncomfortable with her hair down.

This is actually the first time we see Natsume’s feelings about it, but he’ll only make it more clear in about ten more chapters. Here, Mikan wonders if she should put her hair back up and Natsume snaps, “No!” before walking away in a huff. It’s a small scene, and it’s even told through tiny text, but it’s enough to let any reader paying attention know that Natsume also thinks Mikan looks cute with her hair down. Yes, he’s embarrassed to have said anything, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t say it.

Don't worry about him, he's just in a bad mood.

Natsume mainly observes, and nothing noteworthy happens. He eventually goes and gives his line and his aura alone is threatening enough to discourage anyone from laughing or “aww”ing.

The next important moment is when Mikan sees the stage direction to kiss the princess directly on the lips. Narumi says it’s because he’s trying to make up for the loss of sizzle due to the accident, but knowing him, there’s probably more to it. Naru likes stirring the pot and causing drama, although I can hardly tell what his motives are half the time. Truly, I believe he is the most mysterious character in the whole story.

Natsume does not allow this to happen, so he throws something at Mikan’s head--some random box thing--and Hotaru shuts off the lights.

Natsume does something kind of selfish here. He didn’t want them to kiss, so he stopped it. The fact that he grabbed the first thing he saw meant it was a sudden choice to chuck it. I wonder if he had any intentions of just toughing it out and dealing with it, but eventually jealousy won out and he did the selfish thing.

When I say selfish, I don’t mean “bad”. I just mean that for once Natsume is acting based on what he wants, rather than what will make somebody else happy. When it comes to this kid in particular, I actually want him to do selfish things more often, because he very rarely does. He’s been selfless and heroic enough for one day, having saved a kid from getting injured and then wearing that embarrassing costume. He’s allowed to have done this one thing for selfish reasons.

It’s not like it was a bad thing to do either. It would have only benefited Narumi, and possibly the somatic class to have a spicy musical kiss, but it wouldn’t have been good for Ruka or Mikan. Having their first kiss under such conditions, especially when Mikan was just doing the class a favor by acting in the play to begin with, would have been sad. Natsume essentially saved her from the consequences of his own actions, because it would have been his fault if they’d had no choice but to go through with it.

Moreover, like I said earlier, Ruka can simply tell what Natsume’s motives are from a single look. It’s more obvious in the anime, of course, but I still think manga!Ruka is aware that Natsume intervened. He knows Natsume better than anybody, and he’s too smart to think that box came out of nowhere.

This is just the beginning of a long-standing tension between them, one that they will dance around and pretend isn’t happening for quite a while before actually addressing it properly. For now, they have undiscussed feelings and jealousies that will go unchecked and unresolved for some time, building an even deeper divide between them. After all, Natsume and Ruka have enough of a gap on account of Natsume’s missions and his general feelings of not being able to fit in with anybody. This only broadens the gap.

Chapter Twenty-Six

The dance will be very fun to analyze from Mikan’s perspective, but we’re not nearly finished with Natsume’s, so that will have to wait.

For now, we’ll discuss Natsume’s softening, which Permy points out bitterly on account of being surrounded by closet fans. Previously, she says, they were terrified of him, and why wouldn’t they be? We talked ad nauseam about Natsume’s first thirteen chapters of misery and coldness. He was a scary and unkind guy, definitely unapproachable. Even his admirers in Class B were scared of him, equal parts affection and terror. In a very short time, Natsume has softened and it’s obvious. He even dressed as a cat for the somatic musical! His reputation for being cold and dangerous is softening and the girls who used to fear him are now flocking to him to ask if he’s willing to accept their last dance proposals.

But with all this talk about romance and dancing, Mikan feels left out and can’t relate. Her frustrations only grow when some girls start gossiping about her and she ends up taking it out on Natsume, saying she would never ever wanna dance with Natsume for the last dance. He brushes this off, but he still pouts, obviously affected and a little hurt. Their relationship was on the rise, after all. They were starting to hang out more and were bickering often, something Natsume doesn’t make a habit of doing with most people. But just because Natsume is feeling more fondness for her, that doesn't mean she feels the same way.

He expects this in some way, of course, because it's partially his intention. He expects that she would only tolerate him after everything that happened with them, but that doesn't mean he likes the feeling of rejection.

They're so cute when they pout!

Having a crush is bad enough, but hearing that girl shout that she’d never wanna go out with you is even harder, even if you were maybe purposefully making her angry with you to try and protect her. It would be a tough emotion to bear, especially for a kid unversed in romance. He proceeds to be just as huffy as her.

And as twisted as it is, I’m happy for him.

Natsume was cold and mean and difficult to talk to before he fell for Mikan. Now he’s way more approachable and expressive, willing on occasion to show an emotion that isn’t rage, like hurt or grumpiness or amusement. He can now sit at his desk and pout, something he wasn’t doing before, like a kid throwing a fit.

At the actual dance, Natsume is still hurt, still pouting. It doesn’t help that Mikan glares at him upon spotting him. It’s interesting to see how much this affects him. One girl said something harsh in the heat of the moment and he is taking it so personally. Of course, he gets hurt or angered by many things. Upperclassmen bully him and call him a murderer and he simply uses his alice on them to shut them up. He keeps his face straight, moves on, and forgets it. Naturally, the hurt and resentment sit there in his gut to torment him, because he’s a kid and they’re awful things for anyone to hear, but he’s not acting like that here. Here, he’s grumpy and pouty. His feelings are hurt but they don’t come with urges to punish like being called a murderer does.

And it’s obvious he has no genuine hard feelings because Natsume then shoves Ruka onto Mikan, since Ruka was being transparent about his gaze. He goes on to dance with someone else, anyone else, because Mikan made it clear that she too would rather dance with anyone else, just as long as it wasn’t him. He’s clearly still in a bad mood, though.

He's so used to not getting what he wants that he will do all of Ruka's work for him, so that Ruka can get what he wants.

Later, when Mikan and Natsume are singletons in the middle of the dance floor, they notice each other. Here would be a perfect opportunity to dance, but she made it clear she hated the idea, and he’s not about to embarrass himself to ask. Hence, he huffs again, pouting because there’s no way he’ll ask her to dance once she’s said such harsh things. They stand in silence for just a moment, until he finds some other girl to dance with and leaves Mikan all alone.

They’re both grumpy over the way they’re being treated by the other. Natsume is being immature and petty with his feelings, almost childish (heehee it's all I want for him!). With all the dark and depressing divide between Mikan’s academy life of fun and laughs and Natsume’s life of secret missions and physical abuse, he’s somehow found a way to wedge himself into hers. He’s taking something so minor so seriously. He’s been on the front lines, used his alice to hurt enemies and been hurt by enemies and dangerous ability types alike. He is literally dying and he’s aware of it! But he’s still pouting because the girl he likes was a little mean to him.

But the dance with the girl obviously wasn’t much fun, because Mikan quickly finds him again, away from the party, along a secluded path by some trees. He’s in a pouty mood and obviously needs some time alone with his thoughts.

It shows that he’s done some thinking because he doesn’t even mention her angry words from earlier.

Instead, he just calls the whole festival stupid.

We’re reminded here of a scene from way before they liked each other, when the festival was first announced. Then, she also found him playing with a dog, all on his own, using anger to mask his feelings of hurt. He said the same thing back then, that the whole thing was stupid and it was dumb to get all worked up about it. He’s doing it again now, but it’s a little different this time. Their relationship has changed, improved. They actually care about each other now, and although Natsume starts off just talking through his anger, he eventually turns honest.

The truth is that these periods of childishness will always have to end. It’s just an extended version of the dodgeball game. No matter how much emotion he puts into these experiences, they will be overshadowed by his real life. Now matter how much fun he has, he will always have to stop smiling and go kill himself on Persona’s orders. And even more honestly, the more fun he has, the harder it will be on the people he has fun with. It’s not enough for the ESP and Persona that Natsume completes his missions and does all his work; they find pleasure and relief in his constant misery. The second he cares about something, they use it against him. His joy is never meant to last and will always have consequences for the people he loves.

I hate tumblr's 10 image limit. I hate it. I despise it. I abhor it. I cannot come up with a caption. So instead I'll say again. I hate the 10 image limit.

And so he explains, for once, that he’s simply different from everyone else. The festival is something that doesn’t belong to him. He’s merely been an observer this whole time. He’s never actually been a part of it. And then he tells her that she should stay in the light, stay out of the dark. He calls her naive, but it’s not as much an insult as it used to be.

She is childish and loud and optimistic and annoying and a little sweet and even though he hated all these things about her before, he now realizes that these traits are things to be protected. The more she mingles with him, the darker her life will be. After all, her light is not the only thing that’s contagious: his darkness rubs off on people too, and in his mind it will only hurt her to be involved with him. She should stay in the light--in the shiny, sparkly side of the manga, where everyone is concerned with sports and coming up with ideas for the festival--and keep out of the dark--where there’s murder and blackmail and danger and death. It’s bad enough he can’t keep Youichi or Ruka out of it: Youichi is already in the DA class and Ruka came running after him. He can’t distance himself from them. The most he can do is protect them and raise their star ranks or keep them off of dangerous missions. But with Mikan he has a chance to really protect her, prevent her from being used against him at all. Ideally, she’ll stay away and he won’t need to worry about her as much.

And he wants her to be safe and gone, so when she asks what he means, he changes tactics and decides to be rude and mean instead, telling her to get lost and insulting her. She gets angry and it almost seems like it’ll be another bickering match, where they will both be childish and hurl insults at each other, but he doesn’t take that path.

She is complaining about how he doesn’t seem to know that she has a name, thank you very much--and then he calls her Mikan. He concedes to her demands. He does what he perceives to be the mature, adult thing, ending the argument so she will leave for good. When she has nothing left to argue about, she will have no choice but to walk away, and she does, once he makes it clear that his last command is for her to stop complaining about what he calls her.

Natsume chooses to do the selfless thing again, and gives up the first thing in a long time that made him happy. He barely had any time with her at all, but he lets her go, because she can only continue to be sunny and cheerful away from him. He’s giving up before anyone can tell that something was around for him to give up.

He has no idea how much one word has affected her.

Conclusion

Natsume is a selfless kid. He gives up on what he wants very easily, but especially because he knows that the second he gets what he wants, those things could be destroyed, just by association with him. He just wants the people he loves to be happy, even if it means he could never be.

In the next segment, we'll talk about what Natsume is willing to do to protect Mikan, even if it means being cruel and hurting her. NatsuMikan is the living embodiment of the "break her heart to save her" trope, and I very much adore that trope with my whole heart, so we're going to be having a LOT of fun with the next essay!

Also, disclaimer: I'm not smart. I refuse to take responsibility for any mistakes I make in these essays. There also are no mistakes. I've never misspelled a word in my life.

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Steven Universe: End of an Era: Outline & Review

I wrote this review in October but never got around to posting it here

Steven Universe: End of an Era is far more than an art book–it’s also a collection of behind-the-scenes material, stories about the experience of working on the show, planning documents and associated background info, and both older versions of developed concepts AND concepts that never made it into the show. It's a huge fusion of all those elements, and it's definitely an experience!

Some low-quality images are included with my review just to give you an idea of what’s there--it’s not a good substitute for getting your own copy, but here’s a tour!

Like the previous concept art book, Art and Origins, I'll be giving you a description of the structure and overview, while also collecting notable information for fans. Obviously just about everything is "notable" once again, but I'll aim for unique insight or perspective on the main source material, keeping the screaming about everything new to a minimum so you can also enjoy something for yourself if you pick it up. My low-quality photos should prevent people from feeling like I'm reproducing the book in any capacity. Please grab one while you can and have your own experience!

[SU Book and Comic Reviews]

OVERVIEW

The book is titled "End of an Era" for a couple reasons--obviously because it is released after the show has wrapped, but also because Gem history recently ended its "Era 2" and began Era 3--an age of prosperity and peace. The author--the person in charge of adapting all of this information into this slick, readable package--is Chris McDonnell, whose work was previously applied on the Art and Origins book.

The foreword is by N.K. Jemisin, a well-known science fiction author who's a huge fan of the show (and wrote a really excellent series that also has a weird geological connection, by the way).

And the cover, like its predecessor, is shiny and decorated with a beach scene featuring minimalistic characters--this time it's the Gems at night in front of the Temple, and on the back cover is a big pink leg ship in a cross-legged pose.

The interior covers are decorated with tons of amazing sketches of Steven and Connie on the front, and a bunch of Gem sketches on the back. Every interior page that most would leave blank is highlighted with some kind of sketch art or character exercise--it's so much to look at, so much to absorb.

The book is dedicated "For Eddie."

Its organization is different from the previous book in that it shares applicable work in chunks associated with groups of episodes rather than pertaining to different aspects of building the show.

FOREWORD

N.K. Jemisin gives us such a great introduction to the book--apparently understanding very well that the audience of this book is full of animation enthusiasts and adult fans more than it is full of kids, and explaining that bewildering journey some adults had from blowing this show off as a silly kid thing to falling in love with it hard and fast.

The important thing, Jemisin says, is being able to trust a storyteller with your heart. And it was clear to her that Rebecca Sugar knew what she was talking about and was saying important things about identity and the radical power that comes with accepting it and demanding respect.

Important also is how we handle heroes and who gets to be one in fantasy. That's part of the reason Steven Universe speaks to so many--because we see ourselves here, and know stories can be about us. Acknowledging the power we all have to MAKE THINGS BETTER with what we fight for is so important--especially if we're going to speaking to the next generation about it.

Highlighting Rose Quartz as a "born leader" who failed and Steven as a relatable scamp who did what she couldn't, Jemisin asserts that we can save the world.

1. END OF AN ERA

We start with an appeal to the audience to think about identity and the formative parts of our childhood--and how different it is if who you are and who you become is restricted, mocked, erased, or Not Allowed. Most people, if not ALL people, can relate to this, but for those of us with a special relationship with Steven Universe because of queer identity, this hits hard.

But it doesn't have to be anything grand to be something we respect--this show's authenticity comes largely from how personal everything is, drawn from real-life experiences and incidental truths from each artist's perspective, leaning hard on childhood and formative experiences.

Rebecca Sugar offers some interview bits to discuss writing philosophy and why "writing female characters" was difficult for a nonbinary person who'd been socialized as a girl and a woman. Rebecca has spoken before about how frustrating it is that marketing for cartoons was SO gendered when she was growing up (and to some extent still is).

The Gems in the story are all "she/her," but on their planet they're defined by their work, not by emotion or relationships (unlike women in our society), so having them be socialized opposite to how she was and be able to claim those emotions through choice and NOT as just an expectation "as women" was revolutionary. Rebecca wants her show to tell all marginalized people that they don't deserve to be in the margins.

Weighing in on other aspects of the show were Ian Jones-Quartey, Joe Johnston, and Miki Brewster. Ian describes feeling like at first doing SU was a thrill ride that meant they'd finally get to do all the cool stuff, but it quickly became a responsibility that he took very seriously--the need to tell a good story now that he'd been given a megaphone.

Promotional art, planning documents, character sketches, and concept art from the lighthearted to the stone serious is included, along with some very cool (sort of famous) timeline charts that track major characters' developments. It's emphasized by Rebecca that the developmental materials ARE NOT CANON (and especially are not MORE canon) compared the final show.

There are concept sketches alongside final art for Aquamarine and Topaz in "Wanted" (with Topaz labeled "Imperial Topaz"), the Zircons in "The Trial," Blue and Yellow Diamond, and the Off Colors (including Pink Lars).

And there's also a spread of "the two sides of Steven's life: Gem Magic and Rock N Roll" featuring Sadie Killer and the Suspects (referred to as "Buck's band")--as well as a cool "Crew Cameos" key and some concepts for short-haired Connie.

And then there's some more "finished" art with stills alongside concepts, including some background art, revision, and really cool "fairytale" art from some of the shadowplay storytelling bits. We get "Lars of the Stars," "Jungle Moon," and "Can't Go Back."

2. THE BEGINNING OF THE END: A SINGLE PALE ROSE

In discussing the huge reveals and Gem mysteries in the show, the pacing is examined, and emphasis is put on the intended "slow burn." One of the most difficult things in the show was to strategize so that every piece that was needed to support another piece in the future was placed properly to seed what it was supposed to.

Some of the ideas they developed were more of a group effort and were fit together collaboratively (like Amethyst's being younger than the other Gems and Jasper being from Earth), while others were intended from the beginning based on Rebecca's vision (the fundamental idea of Pink Diamond's true identity, for instance, as well as Obsidian's design and sword and our Pearl not being Pink's first).

The writing process gets a great deep dive here, including fun tidbits like how the orb in the moon base was inserted by Joe Johnston and they literally had no idea what it was for when they wrote the episode. They repurposed it when they figured out what they needed.

Rebecca credits her detailed timelines for helping keep the order straight, and discusses how other artists are sometimes flabbergasted that a storyboard-driven show can have this much detail and continuity and yet not get wrecked by the free non-scripted boarding process. But Rebecca and the Crew valued that approach and loved the way fresh eyes would handle an idea, making it come back alive, entertaining, vivid.

Several Crew members weigh in on the writing process. Lauren Hecht refers to making lots of incorrect guesses despite being on the inside. Joe Johnston recalled getting briefed on his first day and getting so excited to start working on this massive project.

Miki Brewster remembered being told Rose Quartz is Pink Diamond and being shocked--and also confused about why Ruby and Sapphire would need to be married if they're already basically married. Drew Green talks about being brought in late and getting to watch unaired episodes and a rough of the movie while eating cereal.

Ian Jones-Quartey complains about Pink Diamond's real jester-like form being leaked to the internet through a Hot Topic shirt. Rebecca piggybacks on that and says it was upsetting that the wedding was leaked because of toy fair keychains featuring Ruby and Sapphire in wedding attire. They'd always be worried about leaks, and sometimes Rebecca struggled not to talk about the reality of Pink Diamond before the reveal because she knew it would make so much more sense once the truth was out. And everything associated with Rose makes more sense once you know she's Pink--especially what happened with Bismuth, considering what we know about how Pink Diamond has a habit of treating anyone who no longer serves her interests.

When it comes to visual cues, Rebecca also talks about intentional designs to create a feeling of unity between concepts, like the flower shapes on Pink Diamond's palanquin lining up with the poofs of Steven's hair and the star imagery of the series. Steven Sugar and Mary Nash discuss how the Human Zoo incorporated this imagery, trying to look like Homeworld with a Pink Diamond touch.

Steven Sugar, as a game nerd, liked to throw in video game references from old and modern stuff to feel like he's inserting what he's enjoying and who he is from moment to moment, while Mary Nash, who related to Sadie as a basement-dwelling young person with cult interests, liked to include stuff from MST3K and cult movies. Pearl's hand gestures get a spotlight too--her reflex to cover her mouth when Pink Diamond was being discussed was analyzed here.

A "Top Secret Visual Timeline" from 2016 is included which tells us some Diamond history. It has an earlier version of Pink Pearl's fate and does not include Spinel since the movie hadn't been greenlit. The timeline includes the birth of the Diamonds, the emergence and major story beats for each major character, and some philosophy of the driving force behind each.

We're told that Pink Diamond straightened up, behavior-wise, after she lost her first Pearl, and that Yellow and Blue wanted to give her a planet but White only agreed to it to prove she would fail at managing a colony. Pearl, meanwhile, is so confused to have a Diamond who keeps asking her what she thinks when she doesn't believe she should have opinions.

And when Pink moonlighted as Rose to start conflict, she found herself leading an army to fight Pink's troops--then Yellow's, and eventually Blue's too. Lapis is said to be waiting for the conflict to end on Earth so she can terraform, but she gets trapped instead.

Pearl's love story with Rose is described as "an endless honeymoon" where she's free to love her, while Rose's is more like "I'm now the head of the family and I'm going to give everyone what they never had, so everyone is super special!"

Jasper is described as "adopted" into Yellow's army as the only successful Beta Quartz. And White Diamond knew that Pink Diamond was not dead--she thought she was just running away from home like a brat and would eventually be back.

3. THE HEART OF THE CRYSTAL GEMS

Now we discuss Rose Quartz--the original Pink Diamond. How she was selfish and selfless, never enough and always too much, and how Greg was her first partner who "challenged her" to be an equal. Rebecca describes Rose as being delighted by the idea that both she and Greg reinvented themselves, but when that leads her to want to share her past, Greg isn't interested--he only wants to know who she is now, and doesn't consider the old her to be her.

Rebecca likes Carl Jung's concept of "enantiodromia," which is the idea that extremes lead to their extreme opposite. This is demonstrated in all of the Diamonds. This narrative is interspersed with drawings of Greg and Rose being cute.

But another "heart" of the Crystal Gems is its relationships--particularly, Garnet, the fairy tale romance embodied. More psychological theories are discussed with regard to differentiation in a relationship making the relationship stronger, and how they made sure that happened for Garnet during the appropriate arc. Rebecca has struggled with the idea that she, like Ruby, went straight from a "family" group to a living-with-others situation and never lived by herself. But she also learned that you can in fact develop as a person in the context of a relationship--you don't have to be alone to do it. Ruby learned that too, and chose on her own terms to be with Sapphire.

The wedding made so much sense to Rebecca and the crew that they couldn't imagine a wholesome couple like Ruby and Sapphire not having a wedding episode. They wanted it for years: The wedding concepts always included the tuxedo for Sapphire and the wedding dress for Ruby.

But pushback (often blamed on the conservative standards of the international market) led to negotiations trying to keep Ruby and Sapphire's relationship from being explicit. Rebecca and the Crew were very tired of this double standard, and they were especially irritated by attempts to claim a wedding wouldn't be well received by a core demographic or wouldn't make sense for Steven's character. But other shows had done weddings and Steven had been established to love weddings already.

Rebecca kept adding more elements to the wedding episode to answer all the concerns, but she didn't want to back down from explicit marriage between these characters. They deserved it. And the audience deserved to see this as wholesome, like any other cartoon wedding. Eventually they got their way and were allowed to have the wedding. But the ordered episodes were also coming to a close without promise of more, so Rebecca had to request more episodes to be able to wrap up the storyline!

And of course, there is Steven, the true heart of the team. A very interesting aside discusses Garnet's leadership and how the network pushed the Crewniverse to acknowledge Steven as the leader. This was successfully resisted throughout as well--because Garnet is the leader (unless she's incapacitated, of course). It's fantastic that this concept was preserved because too often a young male chosen one is elevated above people with more experience and knowledge because of that chosen one tradition, so it's really nice to have a show acknowledge that team leadership is more appropriate for an adult.

4. ERA 3

Beginning with a discussion of the Diamonds, this chapter deconstructs the dysfunctional "family" of the Diamonds (who are said to be based on tropes about evil stepmothers and stepsisters), with the thread of dysfunction originating with White Diamond.

Yellow is physical, Blue is emotional, White is judgmental, and Pink is impulsive. Some philosophy on why Pink is naturally manipulative and why she clashes so much with White is offered.

White believes her identity is to be imposed on all because she is the pinnacle of what should be--and therefore, she has the right to make decisions and statements about and on behalf of everyone. But her secret is that she can't do what the others do--act or feel or want. In trying to be everyone, she is no one.

And this becomes very important when she confronts Steven about his identity and turns out to be wrong. The triumph of Steven being totally, fully himself is a beautiful, simple revelation that's described as far more satisfying than the theories about Pink living inside him or Rose returning from his Gem.

Also discussed is Gem architecture. A lot went into this idea, and Steven Sugar weighs in to say he had to think of what it would mean for a world to have buildings but serve no human needs. That's why it's mostly focused on transport and storage. Even the broken planet is meant to indicate a place stripped for its resources, and everything serves a function that is meant to avoid looking like the human equivalents.

And there's another layer, too: a difference between Era 1 and Era 2. Era 2 became more functional to hide Era 1's broken bits, and older Homeworld buildings still have some "ornate and ancient" feel to them. And the fact that props, tools, and even walls and doors could be living was taken from a concept Rebecca thought was horrible from old Busby Berkeley movies, where people were inanimate objects and it was portrayed as lovely. Tom Herpich helped conceptualize these living objects.

Steven dealing with "princess tropes" is discussed here too. The Pebbles (worked on with Pendleton Ward) were sort of his Cinderella's mice, and all the locked-in-a-tower, having supportive tiny friends help you, getting princess clothes made, attending a ball, having to mind your manners stuff was intentionally related to fairy tales.

The point of doing that (besides fun) was to easily invoke the feeling that Steven was being made to be someone he's not, and that he was being treated like THIS is who he really is when it isn't. White Diamond as the "evil stepmother" is discussed with regard to her detailed features and massive scale. They generally didn't put fingernails and eyelashes on characters (especially not to indicate that they were women or girls!), but they decided White would get all of these feminine markers for tradition's sake.

Rebecca also invokes several other references that were included and describes the princess tropes as "chipping away at his integrity" setting him up for the final challenge with White.

There is again tons of concept art: Homeworld architecture, Pebbles, Diamond diagrams, background Jades and Lemon Jade Fusion, Comby, Diamond extraction chambers, and White Diamond.

5. CHANGE YOUR MIND

Now we finally begin to discuss Steven's identity. The "Perfect Steven," discussed in several interviews before this book's release, was an idea back in 2013; the "ultimate Steven," beefed up and shonen-looking, was far from perfect because OUR Steven is perfect, while this alpha hero Steven idea (used in Steven Universe Future) didn't belong being idolized in such a show.

They thought about having Steven fall apart into organic half and Gem half early in the show (during "Giant Woman" after a successful fusion and unfusion, even!), but they didn't try the concept until the last episode. They didn't want the "Pink" Steven to be portrayed as "better" even though he would be more powerful, so they decided he isn't whole without his organic self and he's just as much of a shell as the organic half. They absolutely did not want any ending that required Rose to be inside him or waiting to come back. But the debates were fierce--what DOES it mean to have Rose's Gem?

Ian Jones-Quartey brings in an anecdote about his own family to emphasize some of the immigrant themes that inspired aspects of the show. He had a brother who reinvented himself elsewhere away from family without resolving issues, and all the ramifications of that were explored in the show through Rose Quartz. (He is careful to say he doesn't think his immigrant experience is like being from another planet!) But he did say you can hurt your old family even if they were toxic or didn't know the real you, and you can hurt your new family by hiding your past. The Pizza family of course was also a more direct reference to Ian's Ghanaian family.

In talking about the new Fusions from this episode, Sunstone is largely described by Miki, who also got to board the Sunstone section. Sunstone was described as a cool 1990s character and the evolution just continued into making them a fourth-wall-breaking PSA dispenser. Obsidian is also discussed, with their sword being an early concept. Steven Sugar said they totally knew it would be forged in action. Obsidian being similar to the Temple design is of course another very early detail.

The story of how James Baxter got involved with one of the final scenes (Organic Steven and Pink Steven fusing in front of White Diamond) was shared. His family was fans of the show and Rebecca Sugar took the time to drive to a birthday party for his daughter and give her a drawing. He then owed her a favor, and this was it.

Concept art is again included, this time with sample boards, promo images, a Diamond fight concept, costume design changes for the Gems, new Fusions, the so-called "Mega Diamond" ship conglomerate, some scenes from the White Diamond confrontation, Pink Steven, multiple pages of James Baxter animation, corrupted Gems and their healed selves, and photos from the "Change Your Mind" premiere and some awards. The show has won one design-related Emmy, a Peabody Award, and a GLAAD award.

6. STEVEN UNIVERSE FUTURE

The book doesn't cover the movie because it got its own book, but dives right into Future. Ian Jones-Quartey emphasizes that the movie and Future are separate and different from the original show, which ENDED. After all, after that, Steven has a neck!

Some new names are invoked now: new writers Kate Tsang, Jack Pendarvis, and Taneka Stotts. They were excited to have Steven make HIS OWN mistakes instead of trying to clean up someone else's! Now, instead of doing the usual shonen anime thing and having the final battle be a big physical rumble, Steven has to make peace with himself and take an active role in coping with what all the fighting has done to him and what effect it's had on who he is (and who he wants to be). There is no sudden "I love myself!" answer, either. It's always a process.

Drew Green and Maya Petersen, who came on board as storyboarders officially in Future, also weighed in on writing for a "mature" show, how to deal with Steven being a "moral compass" while being sort of unreliable, and what they learned as Crew that they didn't know as fans. Drew didn't know Garnet never asks questions. Jack didn't realize the show never deviated from Steven's point of view. Taneka was nervous but excited to collaborate. Kate was worried about how established the show was and what to do as a new writer to contribute appropriately.

Maya was on the old Crew but not as a storyboarder, so felt like some of the "old" ideas ended up not being appropriate for the "new" Future in an embarrassing way--and dreaded the idea of dealing with Steven's emotional problems when they were similar to stuff she'd been through. She also was personally behind the idea of Steven wanting to dump his problems by becoming Stevonnie, and got to work with Etienne Guignard on inventing the Pearl creation backstory with Volleyball.

There's some discussion of "depression hobbies," stress, and the show's pacing. And they say Etienne was entertaining at pitches. There's even some discussion of how Greg is taken off a bit of a pedestal because his terrible restrictive life in the suburbs sounded wholesome to Steven and Greg presented it negatively.

And then there is some information about how the Crew felt behind the scenes due to fan reactions and negative press. Ian discusses feeling offended when the Black characters are described as bad examples, as if their cartoonized but realistic-in-context features are automatically caricatures.

Rebecca Sugar felt beaten down by some of these narratives and began to access mental health services, inspiring some of the content of "Mindful Education." A long reflection from Rebecca discusses people's infighting about her show and what she had a responsibility to show or not show in the story. She learned a lot about bullying from Cartoon Network's anti-bullying program and learned that bullies thrive on whatever attention you give them--unless it is made clear to them by a peer group that no one is impressed by their cruel actions. Also, not all negative feedback is bullying. Constructive criticism is different. Self-awareness can help you avoid internalizing what bullies might do or say to you.

Segueing from the discussion of how people are affected by and connect with the show, we then discuss how they chose as a team what should be covered as the show came to a close. They didn't have time to do quite a few stories they wanted time for, like a Rhodonite story, a Lars side story, and Diamond "prehistory" and religion; all of it was put aside for the main arc with Steven.

They thought people would find those stories about Homeworld and Off Color history very interesting, but so much of the show had been about Steven's Gem adventures, so keeping him mostly on Earth seemed appropriate. The acknowledgment of his battle damage, of his trauma, was necessary and real, and helpful in an important way to the core audience.

Oh, and there was some stuff about a cheeseburger tree. Don't ask.

In discussing the "reverse escapism" of the original show (Gem aliens are intrigued by everyday human culture, and realism is necessary), Rebecca says her views have changed on escapism and gets why some people want a soothing feel-better show. She acknowledged also that her own escapist dreams-come-true fulfilled in the show didn't feel like escapism because they were givens to the majority of mainstream culture, but were never guaranteed to marginalized people.

Rebecca ties in her several-times-told story about "Love Like You" and how the middle bit was when she didn't feel she was worth looking up to, and the realizations she had to tie the beginning to the end. Feeling like someone will like you less if they know you more is terrible. So sometimes a show like this can be helpful in telling people that they belong when their fantasies are things like "I want to be loved" and "I want to know I exist."

In Future, Steven has to connect to who he is and love that person--and understand that person enough to finally feel that even if he's not fixing their problems or saving their world right this second, Steven deserves his family's love and support, and they WANT to give it to him.

There's a huge amount of supplemental material in this section so there's no way I could name it all. The charts for Future's timeline are pretty straightforward, though a few episodes like "A Very Special Episode," "Why So Blue," "In Dreams," and "Bismuth Casual" aren't specifically represented and a couple are in a different order ("Prickly Pair" was conceived as happening after "Fragments" and "Homeworld Bound").

Steven feeling like a monster, having intrusive thoughts, having not forgiven the Diamonds, and getting help/moving on--it's all there.

We have keys, color scripts, and boards for the new opening and some various backgrounds and storyboard art from episodes. Model sheets for Shep, Nice Lapis and Mean Lapis, Jasper, Steven Tag Gems, Pink Steven Powers, Monster Steven. New house concepts, Era 3 Homeworld concept art for the Diamond environments, and background art for the Reef.

New Connie and Greg designs. Concepts for Mega Pearl, the Rose Quartzes, Bluebird, and Morganite (who didn't get used). And there are some photos from recording and the conference room. There are even some extras from "Crossover Nexus," the crossover with OK K.O.!--including an unused cut scene that included Ruby and Sapphire fighting. The rest of the book is a bunch of adorable Crewniverse art--extras, blog drawings, promos, and gifts to each other.

NOTABLE

The first timeline chart in the book features a cool sketch of the original Off Colors, which at the time this planning document was drafted included unused Off Colors Flint and Chert.

We knew of their existence already because of an episode of the podcast, but these two unexpectedly appeared as incidental characters in the Steven Universe Future episode "Homeworld Bound," identified only in the credits. Sad to think that instead of banding with the Off Colors, these two were probably shattered for their crime (being Quartzes who don't want to fight) and that's why we see them being repaired in this episode. Later, there's some brainstorming for types of Off Colors and "a Ruby that wants to wear limb enhancers" is mentioned as well.

It looks like there was also originally more juice to the story of tracking down the events of the war culminating in Pink Diamond's assassination.

One of the timelines talks about Steven thinking it makes sense that Pearl can't talk about her involvement because she might have been a double agent, explaining why Rose Quartz always knew what Pink Diamond was doing. It seems like that bit was supposed to be included in Garnet's version of the story she believed in "Your Mother and Mine." Seems like they originally conceived Garnet's story to inspire the Off Colors to become pirates and freedom fighters, though in the show's canon this storytelling happened after Lars had already reinvented himself the way he did.

Sadie was also supposed to be sending letters to Lars via Steven, which is funny since the "Letters to Lars" episode is just a montage Steven letter. And of course it's specified that Steven was supposed to get Pink Diamond flashbacks by going to the Palace on Homeworld.

The second chart in the book makes references to Sadie's reinvention of herself as a parallel to Lars, Greg, and Pink Diamond all doing the same thing, and how positive it is to embrace such a thing--a version of yourself that YOU create.

I love that Yellow Diamond's arm ship arm-wrestling the Cluster was always part of the plan.

There's some more explicit direction to have Connie help Steven understand the Diamonds as "strict parents," and a lot more emphasis on everyone realizing Rose had been inspired by THEM rather than them all following her.

White Diamond is presented here as if she thinks of Pink Diamond as a "daughter" (whom she now understands she has "lost"). There are notes on how the Diamonds have a responsibility to their children and should attend to it before just continuing to make more.

One of the concept art images for the Off Colors features Rhodonite crouching by Padparadscha saying "Don't worry, I won't let them hurt you." It's very interesting because she DOES seem to protect Padparadscha in the show, but doesn't seem confident about it in her final version, even though it does seem like she'd be "programmed" to guard aristocratic Gems because of her Ruby and Pearl makeup. Cool.

A "Crew Cameos" spread was included, which is of great interest to some of us who loved seeing the Crew insert themselves into the show. Not every SU Crew person who's been represented in a crowd was there, but this crowd included Amish Kumar, Kat Morris, Amanda Winterstein, Angie Wang, Lamar Abrams, Emily Walus, Mary Nash, Joe Johnston, Christy Cohen, Danny Cragg, Hilary Florido, Danny Hynes, Matt Burnett, Ben Levin, Elle Michalka.

The official national flower of South Korea, Hibiscus syriacus, is the name of Pink Diamond's flower.

One of Steven Sugar's comments about the silhouette difference between humans and Gems points out that humans have ears. This seems to be pretty good confirmation that they are not supposed to have ears, despite that sometimes we'll see ears drawn on them in some frames.

Rose Quartz/Pink Diamond is characterized in this book as "self-hating" in a really interesting way, saying that because she believed she was not capable of compassion, she practically worshiped those who demonstrated that ability and thought they were so much better than her--which is described as "intoxicating" and resulted in others being drawn to her. How interesting is that!

Timelines reveal that early plans for Pink Diamond's first Pearl originally had her getting destroyed by Pink during a game, and then her destruction was rewritten as a punishment from the Diamonds after Pink Pearl defended Pink Diamond to the other Diamonds. They went back to the idea of her getting hurt by Pink for the final version, though the cracked face and control by White Diamond was not on the agenda until they started writing "Change Your Mind."

10.

The approximate ages of the major characters, based on emergence, are revealed on these timelines. It begins with a cracked-planet-looking graphic depicting four tiny Diamonds emerging at 20,000 years ago. Some suspicious "blacked out" redacting surrounds a long timeline tail that goes back before that, which may mean there are secrets they still don't want to reveal. But the dates go like this:

20,000 years ago: The Diamonds emerge.

11,000 years ago: Pearl is custom-made for Pink Diamond.

8,000 years ago: Sapphire emerges (on Homeworld).

6,000 years ago: Ruby emerges (on a colony).

5,750 years ago: Garnet is formed.

5,600 years ago: Lapis is poofed and put in the mirror.

5,200 years ago: Jasper emerges (on Earth).

5,050 years ago: The Cluster is planted.

5,000 years ago: Amethyst emerges (on Earth).

4,500 years ago: The Crystal Gems found Amethyst.

3,000 years ago: Peridot emerges (on Homeworld).

40 years ago: Pearl found Lapis's mirror at the Galaxy Warp.

And of course we know 14 years ago Steven is born!

11.

Originally the Diamonds were based on a quartet of themes: Love, Fear, Pride, and Sorrow. It got too complicated to keep and it was abandoned, with Pink's identification of "love" being described as "particularly outdated."

12.

Notes on a sketch say that Pearl was inspired to become bold and unashamed because Pink's questions drove her to have opinions, and it's said that Rose "fell in love" with her boldness.

13.

Rebecca tells the story of driving off a ridge and getting stuck in the desert, comparing this to Ruby's tumble during her Wild West adventure and using it as inspiration. She's told this story before but here it is in print. She also included the story about using the flowers from a friend's wedding to put in Ruby's hair.

14.

Rebecca describes having to "fight" notes she was given when it had to do with Ruby and Sapphire's relationship. One she describes as NOT fighting was for a signing card depicting Ruby and Sapphire dancing. It was called "too romantic" and she decided not to worry about it since it wasn't the actual show content.

She was also scolded over her book The Answer because the powers that be expected her to downplay that relationship. She always argued that queer youth deserved these things.

15.

Tom Herpich describes being inspired to name Blue Diamond's comb "Comby" because he was watching the news about Comey getting fired from the FBI. It's also a mineral-related term and I always assumed that reference was intentional, but maybe it's not and this is the only intended significance to Comby's name?

16.

Rainbow Quartz 2.0's design is not discussed, though the other two new Fusions from "Change Your Mind" (Sunstone and Obsidian) were. RQ2 has some sketches included, but no accompanying narrative in the text.

17.

A sheet of corrupted Gems and their healed selves is offered, though it doesn't appear to be final. The obelisk in "Serious Steven" is labeled Albite. The unnamed Worm Monster, Desert Glass, and Watermelon Tourmaline are included. An unnamed birdlike Gem represents the Big Bird monster from "Giant Woman." The crab monster from "Arcade Mania" is labeled Blue Chalcedony. The Tongue Monster is drawn uncorrupted but not named. The Flower Monster from "Back to the Kindergarten" is labeled Grossular Diopside or Titanite. The invisible monster from "Island Adventure" is labeled Moonstone. The Lighthouse Gem is labeled White Topaz. A form for Larimar that was used in "Change Your Mind" but changed in Future is there. The Slinker is listed as Chrysocolla. And the Crab Monster is listed as Aventurine.

On the next page, this is changed to Bixbite (as it was in Steven Universe Future), and we then also have Lace Amethyst, Blue Lace Agate, Crazy Lace Agate (Fusion), Ocean Jasper, the Mother Centipeetle Nephrite (Facet 413 Cabochon 12) and three other Nephrites, Angel Aura Quartz, a hooded Jasper, Zebra Jasper, Biggs Jasper, Watermelon Tourmaline (labeled as Fusion of Gem * Onion--huh?), Snowflake Obsidian, "Little" Larimar, and Orange Spodumene (who was the Worm).

18.

The Rhodonite side story would have been about the love story of a Ruby and a Pearl working for Morganite. Images of Morganite and her servants, unfused, are in the book. We do not get this additional information, but Rebecca said in a panel shortly before the book's release that Rhodonite's story would have been about finding out that she had been Rejuvenated 17 times because her components kept falling in love and needing to be reset.

19.

Referring to the Diamonds on one of the charts, Steven's perspective is "I can't believe I helped these" and then there's a censor bar. Welp.

20.

Some included art by Hilary Florido features Kevin with a souped-up Koala Princess car and another where Kevin is staring at himself in the mirror in front of an altar to himself.

21.

Rebecca's sweater collection is included in the Crew art.

[SU Book and Comic Reviews]

#steven universe #steven universe end of an era #su spoilers #long post #su merch #myblog

151 notes · View notes

hopeshoodie · 3 years

Text

I just realized how helpful reposting things is because @ariendiel posted screenshots of twitter threads that I couldn’t read in their entirety because I didn’t have a twitter account. And I realized that the Fusebox glassdoor reviews are also behind a ‘make an account’ screen, so maybe not everyone can see them.

So here are all the Glassdoor reviews for Fusebox Games

Image descriptions below the cut

5 Stars review from a current employee of less than one year, posted Jun 8, 2021

Title: Great people, company is indeed in the process to transform and that upsets some who got used to way things used to be.

Pros

People are great! I worked before in big companies with terrible culture and know what bad is. Salaries are matching the industry and have recently been increased quite a bit. The game, even though old and people are bored, is the leader in its genre. Very flexible working, half day Friday.

Cons

The company is rebranding and changing course and that is upsetting some who want things to be as they used to be. I think they need to understand that game companies need to make money if they want a job. So…I wouldn’t listen to all this people complaining. Come and join, now there opportunities for people to advance as old people leave and help us all shape a new future us all.

1 person upvoted this/marked it as ‘found helpful’

1 Star review from a current employee of less than one year, posted Jun 30, 2021

Title: A company killed by managers

Pros

None now, but the workers are amazing human beings. They are being pushed out one by one by upper management.

Cons

Upper managers have set the company towards failure. They stonewalled any attempt at bettering the production process, giving teams more structure and improving the tools, and now are set on the path of outsourcing everything to external partners, while they reap the benefits by owning the IPs. This company had some of the best workforce culture I have ever seen, but the CEO, together with current managers, have sacked key workers and managers that were fostering a collaborative and inclusive culture. They replaced these with corporate behaviour and a complicit newly hired HR department, using the bad financial position the company was in (and for which their decisions and actions were completely at fault for) as an excuse to force workers who wanted to better things out of the door.

7 people upvoted this/marked it as ‘found helpful’

1 Star review from a current employee of less than one year, posted Aug 17, 2021

Title: Corporate gaslighting

Pros

None now, but the workers are amazing human beings. They are being pushed out one by one by upper management.

Cons

7 people upvoted this/marked it as ‘found helpful’

1 Star Review from a former employee, posted May 23, 2021

Title: Proceed with caution

Pros

Flexible hours Work from home Fair pay rises recently introduced

Cons

Extremely poor communication from the Senior Management. The team often don’t know what’s going on with decisions made in a haphazard way. There’s a rapid ‘hire and fire’ mentality - members of the team ‘disappear’ suddenly and without logic when it appears that their ‘face doesn’t fit’ or expressed an opinion to the top level of management that they didn’t want to hear. Hiring is random - ‘friends’ and ‘friends of friends’ get hired rather than those with suitable qualifications and experience. Bullying exists here and if reported you might be asked to leave rather than the complaint being dealt with properly.

14 people upvoted this/marked it as ‘found helpful’

2 Star Review from a former employee of more than one year, posted May 20, 2021

Title: Toxic place full of wonderful people

Pros

Fusebox is a company full of wonderful, caring and talented people that will make you feel at home.

Cons

Management doesn't care about employees and their opinion/feedback. Redundancies happen out of the blue and without clarity of reasons. False values get sponsored as a honey trap. There is no structure in most of the departments, no clear career path and people get squeezed until they have a breakdown.

14 people upvoted this/marked it as ‘found helpful’

2 Star Review from a former employee of more than one year, posted May 27, 2021

Title: Helmless ship -- with the best worker crew you will ever interact with

Pros

Genuinely the greatest workers you may ever have as colleagues. The workers are fun, helpful, energetic, passionate, skillful, witty and an incredibly friendly fellowship.

Cons

Management, or lack thereof. Driven by pseudo-corporatocracy: those who are quite happy scapegoating or throwing capable colleagues under the bus to distract from their own mistakes.

7 people upvoted this/marked it as ‘found helpful’

2 Star Review from a current employee, posted May 20, 2021

Title: A Blowing Fuse

Pros

- Very diverse, inclusive, friendly and respectful workforce.

- Good work-life balance, very understanding of needing personal time and generous with it, including for physical and mental health matters.

- Good benefits (occasional Fridays afternoons off, duvet days, training time and budget, private healthcare...), good salaries (much improved from a few years ago, although there might still be discrepancies between the teams).

- Promotions happen regularly, either to higher seniority levels or to different departments, which is nice, but can also be a con (see below).

- Give chances to graduates/people looking for new roles (which can be a con, see below).

Cons

In summary: most of the management and staff is either incompetent, indecisive or not listened to, which makes the development of current and new games nigh impossible and the atmosphere increasingly negative. The management is attempting to make things better, but so far they have not actively listening and communicating with their workforce, and don’t seem to care much about them since they arbitrarily lay-off competent and appreciated employees.

- Indecisive and disorganised management, leading to slow or frozen project development, especially for new projects.

- The staff is not listened to; upper management makes decisions without consulting their teams, even the leads. Leads are often as clueless as their teams, if not more, about what is happening in the company.

- No creative direction/vision owner, no one seems to know what to do nor how to do it.

- Huge tech debt, the Unity project of the live game is almost unusable.

- Upper management does not understand how games are made, therefore can't provide the development teams with what they need.

- Somewhat exploitative towards junior staff, hiring straight from uni without proper mentoring/management; they abuse from their lack of experience and expect them to do all the work without any manager properly helping them, and/or expect them to do multiple jobs at once. There's a fine line between encouraging graduate/junior hiring, and hiring graduates because they're cheap and won't speak up because they have no other experience.

- Seniority is not always representative of the industry level, junior staff is sometimes being misled into thinking their skills and workflow are at industry level, because they get promoted without proper mentoring.

- Repeatedly make empty promises for years on, keep the staff motivated by promising new game development but it never happens, go back on their words, say everything and their opposite whenever it suits them.

- Mislead on hiring about what the role will be or can't always deliver on it; don't provide adequate support to get the job done or don’t give them the opportunity to do the work they were hired to do, don't understand game development workflows. - Poor communication across the different departments, there is no or very little aligment between the teams, teams often discover other teams have done work relevant to them long after the fact.

- The teams are not treated equally, some are treated as better than the others (which leads to very different experiences of the company between teams). The upper management does not understand the real impact each team has in the making of a good game.

- Sharing publicly feedback and questions with teammates and managers is reprehensible, many of the staff and managers can't take criticism; they say they want to improve that but they don’t put their money where their mouth is, the company communications are out of touch if not dishonest.

- Used to pride themselves on inclusivity but removed it from their values, and the teams are forbidden from making the game stories as inclusive as they want to; there are concerns of homophobia/transphobia with the product direction despite a good part of the company being queer. There is also a history of sexual harassment from higher-up.

- Office culture used to be good but company reorg led to a colder, impersonal communication with the staff. Live, honest communication is discouraged (even if they say they do want it).

- HRs don’t have genuine talks with the staff, leading to a feeling of hypocrisy and disconnect between the company’s values and what the staff really wants.

18 people upvoted this/marked it as ‘found helpful’

1 Star Review from current employee, posted Jul 2, 2021

Title: Management do not know how to make games at all

Pros

Decent pay, lots of benefits, decent office, remote work if you need it

Cons

They do not care about their workers, full of people who don't know what it actually takes to make games, repeatedly lie to and ignore their employees' concerns, then blame those same workers when things go wrong, full of yes men and ideas people and led by people from outside the industry who have no idea what they are doing, avoid at all costs

9 people upvoted this/marked it as ‘found helpful’

5 Star Review from a former employee of less than 1 year, posted May 7, 2019

Title: Loved every minute, fantastic company to work for

Pros

Fun, relaxed environment and culture.

Fantastic team. Everyone is so friendly, approachable and easy to talk to, including management. We had some great laughs. You'll make friends for life here.

Beautiful new office in a handy location, although the company has almost outgrown it already within just a few months.

I really enjoyed the work. The role is something I enjoy anyway, but the projects are a lot of fun and it's so satisfying seeing the fruits of your labours coming to life.

Management has been ramping up efforts to be attentive, respond to and act on employee feedback and concerns as the company grows.

The company's in a pretty good place, so job security is good (considering the industry's reputation). Fusebox ain't goin' nowhere. It's a particularly good place to get your start in the industry.

This studio doesn't believe in crunch/unpaid overtime, which is... pretty rare. Management is dedicated to ensuring that Fusebox is as positive and non-exploitative a company as possible; for example, they take a great, understanding attitude to things like mental health. I always felt like I could talk to them.

Overall, I had a brilliant experience at Fusebox and would 100% have stayed if I hadn't been offered something career-changing, which in itself would not have happened without the experience I got from this studio. Particularly for narrative designers, this role provides fantastic opportunities to develop your branching narrative skills. I've never written such a positive review for a former employer in my life and I would definitely work there again.

Cons

Lacking process and structure in some areas, though I believe this is something the company is actively working on tackling and it's definitely just a teething issue given the company's rapid growth.

The pay is about average/maybe slightly on the lower end, but it's technically a startup, so...

It's gradually growing slightly cliquey as the company grows, which is unfortunate but also to be expected, and everyone is still perfectly friendly and nice. Again, I believe management has been taking steps to mitigate this as much as possible, for example by introducing Slack integrations to encourage people to get lunch together at the same time rather than just in their friendship groups.

Opportunities for upward/sideways career movement need improving/illuminating, especially for teams like integration.

1 person upvoted this/marked it as ‘found helpful’

1 Star Review from a current employee of more than 1 year, posted Nov 20, 2019

Title: Not a great company

Pros

Flexible hours

Nice team

Ability to work from home

Cons

Management not decisive

Staff take advantage

Senior member of staff sacked trying to make decisions

No transparency

Impossible schedules

10 people upvoted this/marked it as ‘found helpful’

5 Star Review from a current employee of less than one year, posted May 27, 2019

Title: Amazing place to work!

Pros

Really friendly environment, surrounded by talented, fun people who are passionate about the work, lovely office space.

Cons

No cons! A great environment.

No one upvoted this/marked it as ‘found helpful’

5 Star Review from a current employee of less than one year, posted Jan 24, 2017

Title: The most marvellous mobile games company in London

Pros

Fast paced, super creative business working in partnership with some of the biggest names in entertainment. Making huge games for TV shows loved all over the world.

Cons

It all happens very fast and very professionally- keep up! (Sometimes less is more, don't you think? Not here though)

No one upvoted this/marked it as ‘found helpful’

#fusebox layoffs

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lupinblacktheone · 3 years

Text

War games

Notes: Hey, guys! This was based on @dedlit's amazing art! You should check their fanart out prior to reading this. (I would like to post the link to the specfic fanart in which this work is based on, but it doesn't seem possible for some reason. I highly recommend you follow their blog too!)

***

Robby managed to escape Kreese's claws - by properly telling him to fuck off - and is willing to join Eagle Fang Karate. Daniel welcomes him back with open arms and is putting a big-time effort into getting Johnny and his son to get along, which is going great, the students, on the other hand, still haven't figured out a way to be friends (or at least, hate each other a little less). Johnny and Daniel have lots of brainstorming sessions, trying to come up with ideas.

"C'mon, guys, just give them nerf guns and they will shoot the tension out", Anthony suggests, taking a bow of Doritos to his room.

“You know... maybe he is right", Johnny says, putting his pencil down. "Nothing can bond people better than a healthy war game."

"Ok, how about you sort out the teams while I buy the guns?"

"Yeah, sure."

A few hours later, Daniel and Anthony come back home with four boxes full of all kinds of nerf guns and Johnny shows them the line-ups. He has made sure to mix up former Cobras and Miyagi-Dos in both sides.

"I even got Robby and Miguel to be in the same side!"

"Huh, babe, I thought you wanted to get on Robby's bright side", Daniel makes a confused face.

"I do, indeed, but I couldn't miss this chance. I'm planning to take him out for dinner later."

Daniel shakes his head, imagining the war game's outcome. Anthony wants to be an assistant sensei during the game, since Johnny and Daniel will be busy as hell. He even dresses up in army-printed sweatshirts and makes a face painting.

When everybody is at Mr. Miyagi's old house, Daniel explains them the rules.

"You must work together to achieve an objective, which is getting the other team's flag and shooting as many people from the opposite team as possible. You got it?"

"Yes, sensei", they answer in a loud, strong chorus.

"Step up and choose your weapons", Johnny invites. As they pick the guns, he tells them which team they'll be in. Miguel makes a slightly annoyed face when he's told to team up with Robby. "The rules are the rules, Diaz."

"Those are your rules", he mumbles, standing by Mitch's side.

The teams will have some time to organize a strategy and hide their flag. Sam's team elects a leader and puts the flag between the twigs of a tall tree. Of course, Robby and Miguel are arguing, because the first one wants to set the flag in the bottom of the pond and the latter wants to put it on the roof.

"It's too visible!", Robby complains.

"Kind of, but it'll be easier for us to shot them when they try to get up there."

"Did you forget Demetri's on their side? He only needs a hop to get on the roof."

"So what? We shot him and he's out."

"And then, he throws the flag down and they win!"

Chris would like to complain to the senseis and maybe, they will let the team play short on two players – which good could they do, anyway? – but before he can get to them, someone, probably Nate, solves the issue by grabbing the flag and hiding it in a corner of the fence and yelling orders to split the group in offensive and defense.

A whistle blows. The game is on.

Johnny and Daniel watch it drinking lemonade and holding hands.

“Hey, Danny.”

“Yes, honey?”

“I love you. You know that, right?”

“I sure do”, the man leans over to peck the other’s lips.

The kids start joining them, grumbling about unfair shooting. Daniel rests his head on Johnny’s shoulder.

Johnny would bet some money on Samantha’s team, since they had come up with such a brilliant plan that included a circle of fire around their tree and hidden snipers, and it is really surprising when he hears Robby screaming:

“We won!”

He’s sitting on Miguel’s shoulders. Them both look so happy and proud that Johnny’s heart melts.

Daniel lectures the kids a bit about teamwork’s importance. With an evil smirk on his face, Anthony declares:

“Get ready for round two! Senseis versus the students!”

Johnny does the most rational thing he can think of: grab Daniel and three plastic guns and then, run as hell. Maybe it would be smarter to take separate ways, but Johnny won’t leave his boyfriend’s side, not even when they are being hunted down by a mass of angry teens – and two of them are their real children!

They are cornered. Now, Sam, Demetri, Robby and Miguel are standing in the front line.

“Sorry, dad!”, Samantha says. If you look into her eyes, you’ll notice that she’s having a good time and might be not that sorry.

“Now we got you, Mr. L!”, Demetri raises his gun at the level of his eyes.

“No mercy, sensei! Your rules, not mine”, of course, Miguel wouldn't hold back from that little revenge.

“Well, sensei Lawrence, I guess the ‘enemy’ has us surrounded”, Daniel points a gun at Sam’s direction while the other is pointing at someone behind them.

“Ready to go down together?”, Johnny points his gun at Miguel.

“With you by my side? Always.”

“Come on, Demetri, let’s finish them!”, Robby urges and then, everybody shoots as if the world was about to end.

Yeah, summer was never this perfect.

#cobra kai #lawrusso #daniel larusso #johnny lawrence #fanfic

38 notes · View notes

chayacat · 3 years

Text

Devil’s Sweet Star (44)

Fandom: Dead by Daylight

Ghostface x Female Reader

Rated M for Violence, Language and Smut

***

When you work the next day... it’s better to avoid spending an entire evening having fun. I'm not saying you don't have the right! but only... avoid returning home at 2am. You were already sleeping in the van, Danny had to hold on until he reached his bed. And it only took him 5 seconds to fall asleep. He wasn't drunk, just exhausted. And the awakening... was not the most pleasant. Between the rays of the sun that came to heat his skull and the phone that vibrated, his heart swayed as best he could towards the most bearable.

Surprisingly, he wasn't late. But it wasn't going to take long if he didn't rush a little. He still sent a message to Melina so that she could warn the boss. He got up, took a shower, and then took medication to calm the onset of a headache that hit him. Then he went to the kitchen where he found a note from you next to a plate where breakfast was resting. Danny smiled as he took the piece of paper in his hand.

“To help you get back on your feet for the day. Thank you again for last night I had a lot of fun. See you tonight. I love you. (Y/n)”

“Wow... it's an adorable message. That's the base, but coming from her it makes it even cuter.” said a main voice which Danny knows very well. He raised his head to see Jed, his alter ego, leaning against the kitchen worktop. “It's even amazing that she reacts like this by knowing who you are.”

“Better that it happens like this between the two of us rather than reluctantly sticking my knife in her throat, don't you think?” Danny responds, sipping his coffee.

“I hope you had a great time last night. And that you thought about finding an excuse for Hembrook in case we were potentially late. Because don't count on me to blow you one.”

“I warned Melina and don't worry, I have a valid excuse. And in a way, since you're in my head, you had fun too.”

“It's true.” replied Jed putting his glasses back on his nose.

As he took another sip of coffee, Danny suddenly heard whispers... whispers that he has already heard. that very night. And obviously, Jed hears them too. Actually... he has been hearing these whispers for a little while. Since McKellan's murder to be more precise. And it never stopped, quite the contrary.

“I've heard these noises before... that night in my dreams.” said Danny looking at Jed.

“You quickly forget that I’m part of your mind. What you hear, live or dream, I feel it too. But I confess that compared to you it’s less.... precise. Blurrier. So let the mental psychologist that I am... help you analyse what you saw. Tell me about this dream.” responds Jed.

“Tsk. Fine. I was... in a kind of... mist. I could barely see the trees around me. I walked, for a long time, but the more I walked the more I felt like I was standing still. Suddenly I hear screams. (Y/N’)’s screams. And when I turn back to her screams, I see like... giant spider legs grab me and take me into the mist. Then nothing.”

“Mist... giant spider legs... If I remember correctly, you don't have arachnophobia? Because I don't see how she can appear and see in a mist. Less how she could catch you.”

“Thank you very much it helps me a lot nerd. Don't you have something more interesting to say? You're supposed to be as smart as I am.” Replied Danny annoyed.

“Well in this case... I would say that you may have attracted a mystical entity to you. And that she is looking for different way to reach you. And Only God knows what she wants from you.” responds Jed.

“Don't tell me you believe in all this mystical stuff. it's just bullshit to attract people and take their money.”

“I remind you, Danny, that I’m the opposite of you. What you don't believe, I believe. We don’t know if hell and paradise exist, if there is an infinity of dimensions... or if our world... isn’t connected to another. Mystical things are not to be taken lightly. Be careful. Your dream may be a sign, a proof.”

Danny sighed before doing the dishes, taking his belongings and leaving the apartment, while Jed shrugged his shoulders shaking his head and sighing before disappearing. It has always been very difficult for these two opposites to get along, and when that happens, it’s to be noted with a white cross. Danny got into his van and set off for the newspaper. Despite the way he got up a little late, he arrived at work with only 2 minutes late. Without depressing the accelerator, just driving normally. Either there was no one on the road, or he wasn't that late.

He climbed the steps, arrived at the offices, greeted his colleagues, and settled down to begin writing his article. As soon as he starts writing, Danny is unstoppable. A bomb could explode, he would not move an inch. After 2 hours, he stopped, stretched his arms and back, and then got up for coffee. And a part of Neptune's pie that you had delivered with other pastries.

While he was in the break room, drinking a sip of coffee, Danny heard whispers again, the same as those in the apartment. He turned his head to the door at the back of the room, leading to the stock of coffee and other food. What surprised Danny wasn’t the whispers, but a kind of black mist that looked like it was escaping from the door. There are no electrical appliances in this room, nor are there any flammable products. So where does this mist come from? The whispers became clearer, becoming voices. voices... distorted, impossible to say if it was a man or a woman who spoke.

“Danny... Danny... Come with us. Come and join me in the mist... Soothe my hunger... for eternity.” Said the voice.

“What? How do you know my name?” responds Danny approaching the door.

“Come with us. You will be able to extinguish your thirst for blood... and mine.” replied the voice as the door slightly open letting the tip of a giant spider's leg come out of it. The same as that of his dream.

“Jed? Is everything alright?” said suddenly a woman voice.

Danny turned to see Melina in front of the coffee machine, raising an eyebrow at his colleague's strange action. The latter nodded, pretending to have heard noise, but that it may have just been a lack of sleep. Melina nodded, she was obviously aware of the little evening you both had, before having her coffee and leaving the room. Danny glanced again at the door that seemed normal again. No more mist. No more whispers. Maybe it was just his imagination.

Danny returned to his desk and resumed writing his article until he finished it. He took it out and went to his boss's office to show it. As usual, nothing to complain about. Then, Mattew came to present another article he was writing on his own. He and Danny left the room to return to their posts. Melina joins them a few minutes after.

“Tell me both. I know it's going to sound a little weird, but do you believe in mystical stuff? You know premonitory dreams and all that stuff.” asks Danny suddenly.

“No, not really.” said Mattew.

“My grandmother believed in it; besides she had a gift of Shamanism and communication with the dead. As far as I'm concerned, I believe in it a little, but let's say that I will look for a more rational explanation before going into the supernatural. Why?” said Melina.

“I thought it was just bullshit...have you changed your mind?" Said Jed with a smile in Danny’s mind.

“Shut you’re f*ck up.” responds Danny mentally before looking at Melina: “Well let's say I've been having a pretty weird dream lately. And I'm looking for someone who could explain to me what that means.”

“Tell me more. Maybe I could enlighten your lantern.” said Melina.

Danny recounted his dream in detail. Mattew listened without understanding too much, sometimes leaning his head to one side or the other and sometimes raising his eyebrows. Melina, didn’t move an inch, listening attentively, closing her eyes from time to time, as if to think on the meaning of all this.

“OK...the reasoned side of my brain would say that... You're worried right now about (Y/N). With everything that has happened... it wasn't easy for both of you. I think the mist and the legs of spiders... represent the dangers that can arise at any time to attack you. And the fact that you get dragged and hear (Y/N) screaming, it would mean that you're afraid of not being able to protect her. My mystic side says that you attract some...negative spirits. Negative entities which try to...get you in their sides. Something so powerful that neither you or (Y/N) could resist. Maybe the revenge of a dead man... Hoggins or McKellan... or Mike. They all had a tooth against you because you were rummaging through their businesses while others would have given up.” said Melina.

“How amazing. I've already heard that somewhere... Oh, yes! I was the one who told you that just this morning.” said Jed in Danny’s mind.

“f**k you.” responds Danny mentally. “Well, thanks Melina. I hope it’s just fear and not some mystical thing...”

The rest of the day passed not without Danny hearing the whispers again. But he ignored them. It wasn't real to him. He returned to the apartment and went to his office to observe the now striped photos of Mike, McKellan and Hoggins. Vengeful spirits huh... Ridiculous. And why not death itself while we're at it? It was your turn to enter the apartment slightly tired but happy. Danny left his office with his bag for his... second job. Ghostface is going out tonight.

“Wasn't it enough for you to kill Hoggins? do you always need more?” you said looking at him.

“Always Honey, always. Did you really believe that I was going to stop and become a model citizen? No no no... Once you dive into it, it's like a drug. You can't stop. But if it can reassure you, it will be a quick and painless death. He or she will not feel anything.” responds Danny with a sneaky smile.

On his last words, Danny sent you a kiss before leaving. He set out in an uncrowded area of Roseville, making sure he was not seen and annoyed. He put on his Ghostface’s outfit, went up to the roof of a building and with his binoculars he observed the surroundings. He thought back to Melina's word. What if she was right? after all, he had to admit that these voices he heard, manifested themselves when McKellan died. But until now, he had never paid attention to it, it was tiredness for him. That’s all.

“Tsk. I'm not going to start believing these bullshits... it will eventually pass.” said Danny to himself.

“You should believe it.” said Jed.

Danny grumbled before looking through his binoculars again. He eventually catches a glimpse of his next victim. Poor little thing who lives her life peacefully, imagining what she will do tomorrow. Unfortunately, tomorrow will never come. After all, it's not as if the inhabitants of this neighbourhood are saints. But what Danny didn't know was that he was being watched. Not by someone. But by something. A thing that, the more Danny killed, the more the desire of this thing to have him in his ranks grew.

Until the day he will take him...and you too.

***

(There you go! We are still approaching the end of DSS little by little and I saw that you were 71 people to follow me! I could never thank you enough for following me all this time! When I compare the first chapters of DSS with the latest writings, I feel like my way of writing and telling has changed. For the better, I hope. And I hope I will continue to offer you stories that you will like! I hope you’ll like this chapter like the other ones! Well, it's time for my brain to rest! Have a great weekend to you all! See ya! )

#dbd #dbd fanfic #dead by daylight #ghostface #danny johnson #jed olsen

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mcheang · 4 years

Text

The critic

Sometimes restaurant owners are aware there is a critic among them, but they don’t know his identity. Sometimes they are unaware they are being visited at all. This is for @edeniz001

Meet Alain Ego. A youthful young man admitted to Ms Bustier’s class as an exchange student from Provence.

Here’s what you need to know about Alain. He is smart, responsible, but he’s dull. He is a wallflower. His appearance is unremarkable, his voice is softer than Nathaniel’s. And his social life is generally shy. His hobby is writing stories and taking photographs.

His deskmate is Ivan.

Predictably, after class was let out for lunch, Alain was surrounded by his class. Well, most of them.

Chloe and by extension Sabrina; could not be bothered to waste her time with a wallflower.

Marinette and Alya introduced themselves as the class president and Vice President. They warmly asked him to come to them if he needed help.

Nathaniel invited him to meet Marc since they both seemed to love writing.

Lila had never been to the French countryside but was inclined to boast about the Tuscan landscape. She seemed annoyed that Alain did not ask her for more details and that the rest of the class were paying more attention to the new student than to her.

Thankfully Alain would only be here for one semester. That was enough time for like...what, 25 akumas to show up?

Hope the new kid was fast. Dupont tends to be an akuma hotspot.

And was it ever...

The majority of the akumas were from Caline’s class. And that was remarkable considering how they had already been akumas. What is up with that?

Are they an emotional class?

Why is Hawkmoth out for them?

Granted some akumatizations happen outside school. But Alain happens to be there thanks to being invited to class activities.

Part of the blame belongs to Chloe.

A real bully that one. Alain can understand why the principal would be cowed by a corrupt mayor. For a so-called hero, he was a coward.

But Alain has noticed some students standing up to Chloe.

Namely the class president and her Vice President.

And yet for some strange reason, instead of telling Chloe off for being rude and mean, they just brush her off and redirect everyone’s attention.

Alain shyly asked Marinette why she lets Chloe get away with that.

Marinette: Because Ms Bustier told us to be good examples and forgive Chloe.

Alya: it’s why Chloe likes her so much. She lets Chloe get away with everything and tries to get her to be nice.

Alain’s eyes were wide at such a scandal.

When Alain’s witnessed his first akuma, he was at art class, making a photo collage of the students.

Let’s just say Chloe didn’t take criticism well at her first attempt at fashion design. Let’s also just say there’s a reason she stole Marinette’s design instead of relying on her mother’s genes.

Point is, Fashion Critic could make her harsh criticism a reality.

During that time, Alain had run for cover.

Unsurprisingly, Alya had run in the opposite direction.

Frightened, Alain asked for help as to where to run to.

Alya: There is no safe house or bunker. Akumas usually blow those up. Here in Paris, just run for cover.

Alain: any ideas?

Alya: not really. I don’t hide.

Alain: ....

Nino: don’t worry, dude. I know where the guys like to hide. Follow me. I’ll take him, Alya.

As they were running, Alain pointed out it should have been Alya leading him to safety.

Nino: she would have delegated it to me anyway. That girl loves to get her scoop.

Alain frowned in disapproval but said nothing. But perhaps he could try to talk to Alya later.

He did, and even Marinette took his side, when they both said she should stop running after akumas.

Alya: the public needs to know!

Alain: can’t you just post the location and powers and physical description? Why do you need to record the whole thing?

Alya; how else will my blog be popular?

Marinette: it’s still not safe, Alya.

Alya: oh relax, it’s not like the Teachers are complaining.

Ok, so Ms Bustier not only lets bullies run rampant without correcting their behavior, she also does not stop dangerous habits.

Curious about the students, Alain decides to be nosy. He visits the bakery and tries their delicious breads. He talks about animals with Mr Cesaire. He explored Juleka’s boathouse. He even babysitted Chris.

One day, Alain just so happens to visit the embassy building where Mrs Rossi works, at a time when she would be leaving for home.

Alain: Hello, excuse me, are you Mrs Rossi?

Mrs Rossi: Yes. And you are?

Alain: I’m Alain. Lila’s classmate. I thought I recognised you from her photos.

Mrs Rossi: oh. How nice to meet one of Lila’s friends. But I’ve been so busy with work, I barely have the time to spare.

Alain: I understand. But it’s nice to see you include Lila in your work.

Mrs Rossi: excuse me?

Alain: you know...you brought her to Achu last year to help out Prince Ali.

Mrs Rossi: I never went to Achu.

Alain: um...Lila was gone for months and FaceTimed us from there.

Mrs Rossi: when did this happen exactly?

Alain nervously tells her.

Mrs Rossi: Lila has been lying to all of us, it seems. She told me the school was shut down because of akuma attacks.

Alain: what? Akumas last only a day. The school has been disrupted by them, yes. But everything goes back to normal the next day. Didn’t you try calling the principal?

Mrs Rossi is stiff and she thanks Alain. She needs time to think. More than that, she wants another person’s opinion and confirmation about akumas before she decides on what else to do.

The next morning, Lila is at school. She makes no reference to Alain meeting her Mother. In fact she prefers to avoid him because he is so annoying. He rarely asks about her adventures and the questions are obviously and disinterestedly polite. What teenager isn’t excited by Jagged Stone?

In the middle of class, Lila is asked to the principal’s office. She returns fuming, with Mrs Rossi and the principal by her side.

Mrs Rossi ordered her Daughter. “Tell them the truth Lila.”

Lila is forced to confess her lies. In addition, for forging her mother’s signature and truancy, she is hereby expelled.

An akuma arrived to target her. As Caline rushed Lila away from the akuma, Marinette actually ran out and used her purse as a makeshift butterfly net. Since she wasn’t feeling negative (actually she felt pretty good about Lila getting exposed), the akuma was just fluttering around in her purse until Tikki threw a macaroon on it and proceeded to sit on it.

Alya is already posting on her blog about it, hopeful Ladybug will arrive to cleanse the akuma.

Marinette rushes out to the roof to wait for her there.

In the aftermath of Lila’s exposure, the class is certainly feeling wounded and guilty.

Caline is trying to advise them to forgive Lila who probably felt shy of their accomplishments.

Alain: Um, she asked me to carry her school bag because her arm was supposed to be sore from planting trees.

His words were a spark.

Kim: I bought her lunch.

Alya: I posted false information on my blog. Ok, technically I didn’t fact check. But Lila was not innocent!

Rose: I donated my summer job cash on her fake donation! (She proceeds to sob)

Caline: but she has already been punished, shouldn’t we extend our friendship to her now that she is alone?

Alain: She didn’t look all that repentant if you ask me. Didn’t you see her smiling at the akuma?

Adrien: Lila wouldn’t have hesitated to hurt us.

Alix: what a psycho.

Caline: that is enough. I want you all to forgive Lila and try to reach out a hand in friendship.

Ivan: But she’s dangerous

Max: and clearly not well if she keeps on lying that she can call Ladybug right after admitting she lied about knowing her.

Alain mutters to Ivan, “Wanna bet that Ms Bustier becomes Lila’s puppet if she actually does this?”

The next morning, Caline actually tries to order the class to say one nice thing about Lila and to write her a nice letter. Never mind that she clearly heard Alya report that Lila was exiled from Paris after Chat Noir admitted she had been working with Oniichan to endanger Ladybug. Apparently he had somehow heard how Lila was smiling at the akuma and suspected she was in league with the terrorist.

Alain so couldn’t wait for the term to end.

When it finally did, he gladly reported to the school board his investigation on the akuma class.

He blames Caline mostly for her redundant perspective that people need to forgive bullies and liars instead of educating them and correcting their behavior. Like seriously, how else would the victims get justice? She also lacks a sense of responsibility in that she refuses to correct Alya’s lack of self-preservation.

His advice: fire her or suspend her indefinitely, send her to get proper training. Get the class a strict and just teacher with a sense of fairness.

Once his job was done, Alain sighed and emptied his bag of textbooks. He could really go for some wine.

#miraculous ladybug fanfic #miraculous ladybug fic #ml fanfic #ml fanfiction #ml fic #miraculous ladybug fanfiction #lila gets exposed #lila karma #lila is exposed #ml salt fic #bustier salt #chloe salt #alya salt #lila salt #lila bashing

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elcorhamletlive · 3 years

Note

Top 5 Mass Effect companions? Your meta posts have me pretty tempted to pick up the remastered trilogy and try it out 😊

Ooooh i'm glad to hear it! Mass Effect has such a special place in my heart and I'm always happy to encourage other to play it. I actually haven't tried the remastered edition yet, but I've heard only good things about it.

Onto the list:

5. Samara. Number 5 is hard to choose because I seriously like everyone in ME, and Samara is far from being one of the squadmates with most content, but still, she is such a striking presence and I treasure every scene with her through the trilogy. I love her status as this super powerful extreme moralist and how it contrasts with her relationship with her daughters (she is kind of a terrible parent, which I love). I love her voice acting and her dramatic but also serious and intimidating dialogue. Her loyalty quest has some bits of wonky writing, but it's different from other quests and carries such a mysterious and epic vibe that I can't help but adore. I love her.

4. Garrus. It's an unpopular opinion to have him so low, but I guess because people worship him so much I never had to justify liking him, so he's not a character I'm particularly protective of, which justifies this ranking. Anyway. Garrus is popular for a reason: He's just a great guy with one of the best character arcs of the entire trilogy, and the fact that Shepard can actually shape his moral compass and the person he becomes is really an awesome bit of writing and helps to reinforce how important their friendship it. I always have a weakness for characters trying to do the right thing and be just in a fundamentally unjust setting, even if they mess it up terribly, so there was no question I'd love him from his introduction. No Shepard without Vakarian, indeed.

3. Mordin. It's funny that Mordin is technically only a squadmate for one game, because he's one of the most memorable characters of the franchise and, in my opinion, the one with the best character arc. When he was first introduced I was wary of him because the Genophage is one of the bits of ME lore that always struck me the hardest, I wanted to cure it since finding out what it was, so having the guy who was responsible for it on my crew wasn't something I was looking forward to. But from his introduction Mordin is such an interesting character with so many layers, and the way the writing deals with his own sense of guilt and how he represses it, and how in ME3 he finally gets to admit to himself and to the world he made a mistake and work towards fixing it, is just so, so well done. His final scene in ME3 marks the ending of my favorite mission of the entire trilogy, and in both the full Paragon and the full Renegade playthroughs he gets one hell of a fantastic send off. Just... really, really good.

2. Kaidan. Kaidan is kind of the opposite of Garrus to me, in that I feel like I've become a lot more attached to him because I find myself having to defend him so often. People tend to dismiss him as "boring" which I find so unfair and part of general fandom trend I hate - to view any character who isn't quippy and funny as someone with no personality. With Kaidan I find it specially absurd because you literally only have to talk to him a few times and you get a sense of who he is, and who he is is a very great guy. He has his issues, he bottles stuff up a lot, but in general he's introduced as pretty much the only member of your crew with a good moral compass (his story about Vyrnnus is a perfect example of a person who is actually managing to deal with meeting new species without falling into a racist, defensive posture). He's not a doormat either - people get mad at him for lashing out at Shepard during Horizon but he was right! Cerberus sucks and it's sketchy as hell for Shepard to suddenly be working with them! And I think the fact he openly disagrees with that makes his relationship with Shepard more interesting, because he's not afraid of challenging them. It's great tension and the way it builds up and blows up in Mass Effect 3 is something I love (and which works fantastically for his romance with M!Shepard).

1. Liara. I mean... What can I say? One of the defining moments of my very first Mass Effect playthrough was the "wait, can I be gay in this? oh hell YES i can be gay in this" moment, and I fell in love with Liara from her very first scene. My OG Shepard never had eyes for anyone else, and why would she? Liara is such a loveable character from the start, with her awkward flirting and her dorky excitement over the historic implications of what you're discovering (that no one else seems to give a shit about lol). Her romance comes across as believable, being so sweet at first and then taking a tragic turn in the second game, which is dealt with amazingly in the Shadowbroker DLC. And what I love most about it is that Liara as a character grows so much while you're apart, and yet we also get to witness some of it in the DLC. Then in ME3 she's already a far cry from the inexperiened scientist you met in the first game, but she's still very much her, still attached to an overly romantic view of the protheans, still caring and compassionate and brave. People complain about her reaction to Thessia which annoys me so much, because it's such a realistic reaction, it's a moment of vulnerability that makes perfect sense and it helps to keep the stakes of the war feeling high. And I love that even near the end she's thinking ahead, trying to help future generations who might face the reapers if you fail, but also preserving Shepard's memory because she loves her so much. I adore Liara.

#sorry for the dissertation but you did say you liked meta posts! lol so here you have it

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peaceoutofthepieces · 4 years

Text

Sink Or Swim

tag list: @cleocc @feeling-kinda-so-so @hopelessromanticvirgo @dreamy-slytherin @adora8 @lockerfivethreefive @painfully-oblivious @poeticinemaa @hischbabe @suckerforsobbe @tayspots @starmansander @theah0lt @zoenneforever @invisibleme @chibibanane

~^~

Friday, 20:02

Songs: ALMA - Chasing Highs; Topic ft. A7S - Breaking Me

Lucas is on a high.

He’s also maybe just high. Just a little bit.

He’s spent the past four hours with Jens. Smoking, and skating, and talking and laughing and together. Jens had taken him to his favourite cafe after school to avoid having to split up to get dinner, and Lucas only realised his intentions when he whipped his phone out to snap a photo of the food in front of him. A week of knowing him, and he’s already introduced Lucas to his most cherished tradition. He hadn’t made much of a deal out of it, beyond a wink towards Lucas and a simple, “Voilá. Vettige Vrijdag is your last round of initiation. Welcome to the Broerrrs.”

It was good food, and Jens had seemed pleased with how happily Lucas wolfed it down, and with only some wheedling, Lucas also managed to get dessert out of him. Jens buying him a smoothie was enough to send his heart soaring, and Lucas is on cloud nine after the first hour.

Only, it doesn’t stop there.

They followed up by going to the skatepark, because it’s Jens’s hangout of choice. They had spent two more hours racing each other down the ramps with laughter ringing between them, both landing on their asses on more than one occasion as they tried to one-up each other. Still, neither could find it in themselves to voice a single complaint. They’d even attempted to go down the slope at the same time, hands latched onto wrists, only to end up sliding in opposite directions and collapsing together in the middle.

Lucas’s stomach and throat still ache from laughing, but in the last hour they’d soothed it over with the bottle of beer Lucas had bought them and the blunt Jens had been hiding. Lucas had spent the whole time trying not to focus too much on the fact that they were sharing, Jens’s lips on the same place his had been not even a second before. He’d spent the whole time trying not to focus on Jens’s lips in general, wrapped around the bottle, blowing out a gentle stream of smoke. Talking to Lucas. They’d spent the whole time talking. Joking and teasing and explaining. Lucas had told him about Kes and Jayden and Isa and the others, as well as a few things about Utrecht in general. Jens had told him about the Broerrrs and his sisters and Antwerp in return, listing all the places he has yet to take Lucas. He hadn’t asked Lucas any questions or pushed beyond what Lucas was willingly telling him, and Lucas could only express his gratitude by extending the same thoughtfulness and teasing him a little more.

He’s been managing the smoking and the drinking and the laughing and the talking. It’s the touching he can’t quite deal with.

The whole evening, there have been small instances of contact. Elbows knocking and arms bumping and hands brushing. Light punches to shoulders and claps on the back and grabs of wrists. Never much, never long, never anything but innocent and friendly. Always burning, always surprising, always something. Leaving Lucas with a constantly stuttering heartbeat.

Now, walking into the party with Jens’s arm tossed casually over his shoulder, Lucas is on a high.

Amber greets them at the door with a cheerful smile, pecking them both on the cheek before ushering them inside. Lucas keeps his own hands stuffed in his pockets and lets Jens steer him through the house, following Amber, who leads them directly to the Broerrrs before disappearing back to her post at the entrance. For a party that has just started, it’s already fairly full, with a small group of people in each corner, spread out along the walls, with a few brave souls already dancing around the center of the room. Moyo and Aaron have managed to claim the sofa. They sit watching the couple heavily making out on the armchair across from them, Aaron with a studious expression and Moyo with a face of mild disgust.

Lucas and Jens share a look, and their laughter comes quiet below the sound of the music. It’s still just enough to capture Moyo’s attention, who gives out a small cheer when he catches sight of them.

Jens pushes Lucas forward first, setting his hands on his shoulders with a wide grin. “I’ve only managed to grab him for an hour, so enjoy him while he’s here.”

Aaron finally drags his attention over at the sound of Jens’s voice as Moyo frowns. “What? Why only an hour?”

“I’m going home after. I really should have left after school, but—” Lucas eyes Jens’s grin and returns it with a smile of his own, “—he’s persuasive.”

Jens happily tugs a lock of his hair before finally letting him go and perching himself on the arm of the couch next to Moyo. “Where’s Robbe?”

“Ditched us. Do you ever pay attention at lunch man?” Moyo raises a brow at him.

Jens heaves a sigh. “He couldn’t have just brought Sander with him?”

Moyo shrugs, shaking his head, before tapping Lucas’s leg. “It’s chill. We have this one instead.”

Lucas grins down at him and just manages to sidestep the kick Jens aims at his ankles. “Glad I’m a good second choice.”

“No way, you’re definitely first choice,” Moyo snorts. “At least you’re not ditching us in an hour to go make out with your boyfriend.”

Lucas can’t help the way his eyes flit to Jens, just for a split second. He can’t help but hide a smile when he realises Jens is already looking back. He looks around them for a distraction and eventually comes up with, “Amber has a pretty nice house.”

“Oh, it’s not hers,” Aaron says, and Lucas and Jens turn to frown at him. “She’s the host, but it’s Luca’s house. Amber didn’t have a free house.”

As Lucas nods in understanding, Moyo suddenly bounces to his feet, causing him to take a startled step back. “Okay, newbie. As a show of solidarity and to cement this friendship, you’re not gonna let me dance on my own, right?”

Lucas gives him a wide-eyed look. “Dance? Oh, no. Sorry, but no. I do not dance.”

“Everyone dances,” Moyo rolls his eyes. “Some people just do it better than others. And you’re pretty, so if you suck, no one cares. Like Jens.”

“Hey,” Jens butts in, literally kicking Moyo’s ass with a quick stretch of his leg. Then he slides to his feet, too, as his lips slip into a challenging smirk, and Lucas understands that he’s in trouble. “Then I’ll only dance if he does.”

He nods at Lucas, and Lucas bites back a groan. He can’t seriously be suggesting what Lucas thinks he’s suggesting. Surely, he can’t be.

“There you go.” Moyo looks much too excited, now. “Come on, you gotta come dance with your two new best friends. It’s bro code.”

Lucas raises his brows, not feeling swayed. “Since when is dancing bro code?”

“Since I became your bro and I’m asking you to dance,” Moyo shrugs.

Jens waves a hand and purses his lips in agreement, as if it’s that simple. It isn’t, until Jens heaves a sigh and sets his hand on Lucas’s shoulder another time, giving him a tiny shake. “Come on, Utrecht. I’m only all yours for another hour. Offer won’t come again.”

Lucas is almost tempted to say ‘good’ and leave it like that. It’s just that...well, the offer may never come again. He knows if he said no, the moment would move on, and Jens would either sit back down with him or be coerced into joining his friend anyway. Lucas would either be left to talk to him more or to watch him, and both sound like fairly appealing options.

But doing it with Jens is suddenly a hard offer to pass up.

Plus, it’s for Moyo. Bro code. Lucas should stick to that, right?

“I thought I’d already completed my initiation,” he complains anyway, giving Jens a pointed look.

Jens just gives his shoulder a squeeze. Lucas feels the touch right down to his toes. “Think of it as...a bonus challenge.”

Lucas can’t help it. He snorts.

It’s enough for the boys to know they’ve won. Jens releases a quiet cheer as Moyo outright whoops, and then he’s being dragged into the middle of the small crowd with a persistent hand on each arm. Lucas only groans once as he lets them pull him along, belatedly wondering how Aaron managed to escape their torture before realising he’s escaped the room entirely. Off to find his girlfriend, Lucas realises, understanding. Lucky.

The people around them part enough to leave a small circle of space, and Moyo starts moving instantly, falling into an easy rhythm. Jens isn’t long joining him, and while his movements aren’t quite as smooth, Moyo is right in that it doesn’t matter. There’s more movement in his head and shoulders than in his legs, but he manages to look good even next to Moyo. Comfortable.

Lucas does not feel comfortable. Everyone else’s limbs feel too close. The music is suddenly too loud to actually listen to, more of a pulse than an identifiable score. The room is too dim and too bright all at once, the ridiculous disco light in the corner making his vision blur red.

“Come on, no just standing there,” Moyo coaxes, and Lucas awkwardly shuffles on his feet, too tense to move the way they are.

Moyo chokes down a laugh and goes to move a step closer, but before he can judge him any longer, a girl with dark bangs and deep red lipstick appears next to him with a smile. “Hi,” she greets cheerily, setting a hand on Moyo’s arm and giving Jens a wave.

Before Lucas can worry about introducing himself, Moyo is asking her if she wants a drink and disappearing from the floor. Lucas lets out a sigh of relief, thinking he’s been let off the hook, and then Jens is stepping right up to him and grabbing his hands. He shakes his head with a cheeky smile, already beginning to rotate Lucas’s arms in some form of a dance. “Nuh-uh. I can see you getting ready to run. But I gotta see this now.”

“Jens,” Lucas warns, though he does nothing to pull his hands away. Jens is so close, so warm in just his red sweater, the heat seeping right through Lucas’s grey one.

He steps even closer, swaying as he goes, and moves his mouth to Lucas’s ear to speak over the music. “Just relax, Luc. Trust me. Okay?”

Lucas can do nothing but nod and hope Jens doesn’t notice how his breath hitches and his cheeks redden. Jens entwines their hands easily, fingers slipping through the web of Lucas’s, and Lucas’s heart gives a sharp stutter as Jens’s breath washes over his cheek.

Jens begins to exaggerate the movement of their arms, pushing and pulling back and forth at their sides, twisting to the rhythm as he does so. Urging Lucas to do the same. Lucas still can’t manage to do much more than tilt his shoulders back and forth in time with Jens, hoping he doesn’t look too ridiculous, not used to this in the slightest. Kes and Jayden aren’t big dancers, either, and they usually stay out of this, unless they’re incredibly drunk or high or both and intent on joking around.

It’s different, looking stupid in front of Jens, who apparently can’t look stupid even if he tries.

He seems to notice that Lucas’s stiffness isn’t easing up, and pulls back, extending their arms between them. He tugs Lucas back in and pushes him away again, and Lucas finally feels a laugh slip out, that only intensifies when Jens guides him into a spin. Lucas lets himself be twirled under Jens’s arm, unable to stop his giggles, and he comes back around to find Jens grinning. Pleased with himself.

Lucas raises a brow and then mimics his movements, lifting his arm and dragging Jens’s with him, pushing forward until the other boy is forced to twist around. Jens spins with slight dramatics, but when he comes back, he drops Lucas’s hands. Lucas doesn’t even have half a second to be disappointed before Jens is right back in his space and settling his hands on his waist.

“Relax,” he murmurs again, and now he’s really, really close. Lucas is gearing up to tell him there’s no way he could possibly relax now, but his shoulders are already drooping, his hips following the guide of Jens’s hands. His body reacting automatically to Jens’s command, the combination of his voice and his touch, and well, that’s interesting.

Lucas’s heart surely shouldn’t survive beating this fast. He’s surprised he hasn’t fainted already, with how quickly his blood must be rushing.

He sets his hands on Jens’s shoulders, because he isn’t sure what else to do with them and he needs the balance. Jens doesn’t seem to mind, keeping them moving, smiling with his face only inches away. “There we go. Now you’re getting it.”

“I absolutely am not,” Lucas snorts, but he’s smiling too. Uncontrollably.

“You are,” Jens insists. “A foal on his new legs, but he’s getting the hang of them pretty quickly.”

Lucas shakes his head, grinning, giving the other’s shoulders a light push, regretting it instantly when Jens actually steps back. Still, he keeps his hands on Lucas’s waist, ensuring he keeps moving. It’s only now, with a bit of breathing space, that Lucas remembers where they are. He remembers the people around them, right next to them, Moyo probably only gone to the kitchen, Amber and Luca and Aaron hovering around somewhere.

He takes a quick step back, doing his best to be natural about it. To not make it appear so sudden and fearful. He doesn’t want to make things weird with Jens. More than anything, he doesn’t think he could handle being teased and watching Jens easily shut them down. He’s sure he just imagines the way Jens’s expression falls for a moment, thinks it must just be minute surprise at the adjustment, because the smile returns to his face just as quickly as it had slipped. He’s dancing into Lucas’s space again in seconds, though now he keeps his hands to himself. Now he lets some of that familiar silliness creep back in. Pulling a face, bottom lip tucked between his teeth, swiveling his head to the beat, utterly ridiculous. Lucas allows himself to laugh at him as he keeps up his own awkward swaying movements.

It’s then that Moyo comes back, alone, cheering at the sight of Lucas finally putting in some effort. He immediately joins in on Jens’s antics, shimmying up to their sides and still coming across as oddly talented.

Lucas surprises himself by having fun, but they make it easy. He even manages to pick up a few steps Moyo insists on teaching him, executing them even better than Jens, much to his chagrin and Moyo’s amusement. They don’t last long, though, barely making it ten minutes before Moyo is collapsing back into his seat on the sofa and Jens is perching on the arm again. Before Lucas can just plop himself down on the floor, Jens gently grabs his wrist and pulls him forward. He sits sideways to allow Lucas to sit on the spot in front of him, propped up against Jens’s leg. Lucas smiles back at him gratefully and ignores the flutter in his chest.

Aaron has returned with Amber and Luca already, Amber comfortably tucked into his lap while Luca has taken up residence in the armchair. She winks at Lucas when he catches her gaze and Lucas grins back, sticking his tongue out at her.

They strike up an easy conversation, full of Luca and Moyo bickering as Aaron laughs along. Lucas allows himself to relax, focusing on Jens’s heavy breathing behind him, still cooling down. After a moment, Jens puts a hand on his back to keep him steady as he slips out from behind him. When Lucas looks up at him questioningly, he simply raises a brow. “Beer?”

Lucas nods, and Jens ruffles his hair before going, slipping around the mass of people and out the doorway. Lucas shifts back into his place, leaning his elbow next to Moyo’s head, and tries to catch up on the conversation.

It only takes a few minutes, however, for Luca to pull him into it anyway. “You’re already ditching us? And here I was thinking we had something special.”

Before Lucas can respond, Moyo snorts. “Jens said the same thing, so get in line.”

Lucas flushes. Luca just points at Moyo, undeterred. “Jens can kiss my ass. I was here first.” She looks to Lucas. “You still like me better than Jens, right?”

Lucas hesitates, lips parting as he searches for what to say. He can’t exactly tell her the truth, which is that he already isn’t sure there’s anyone he likes more than Jens.

Moyo is already cackling next to him. “He hesitated.”

“No,” Lucas rushes to deny, but he can’t quite prevent a small smile from slipping through, and Luca’s jaw drops in disappointment.

She heaves a sigh, shaking her head. “Whatever. I’ll never understand you boys. One day, you’ll come to your senses. One day.” She winks at him again, and Lucas can’t help but laugh, grateful for the soft smile he spots underneath her teasing.

“No, you’re still my fave, Luca,” he ends up reassuring, smiling wide as Moyo laughs again in response.

“Don’t let Jens hear you say that then. Where’d he go, anyway?”

He directs the question up at Lucas, and Lucas shrugs, looking towards the door as if Jens will magically appear. “Just to get a few drinks.”

“What, back in Utrecht?” Moyo laughs. “How fucking long does it take? I bet he saw a pretty girl and forgot all about it.”

Lucas frowns at that idea, feeling suddenly unsettled. Restless, at the realisation Moyo could very well be right. Jens has every reason to go off with whatever pretty girl he runs into and forget all about Lucas.

He rolls his eyes to mask this particular thought process, patting Moyo’s shoulder as he pushes himself up. “I’ll go check and get something myself.”

Moyo nods in acknowledgment and Lucas is off, slipping easily through the small crowd in search of the kitchen. Luca’s house really is nice, the walls all painted in neutral tones and the floors modern, doors clean cut and smooth, not yet worn by decades of age. Lucas only checks one before finding the kitchen behind the next, only to instantly stop in his tracks.

The kitchen is fairly full, groups packed around to talk and laugh in the quieter space, almost all with some type of alcohol in hand, but it’s easy to pluck Jens out of the mass. He’s off to the side of the table, two beers already in hand as he talks animatedly to a girl with long auburn hair.

Jana.

Lucas watches as Jens laughs at whatever she says in response, and then Jana is pulling out her phone and wrapping an arm around his neck, pulling him in until they stand cheek to cheek. Still with massive grins. Both breathtakingly beautiful. The picture perfect couple.

Jens doesn’t step away from her after, just twists his head to look at her and say something else, and Jana tosses her head back and laughs and Lucas’s heart drops into the pit of his stomach.

Before he has even thought about it, he’s making his way back to the other room to collect his coat. He registers Moyo’s concerned glance and questioning, asking where Jens is, and Lucas mutters out an ‘I don’t know’ as he shoves his arms into the sleeves. At Moyo’s further questions, he manages to mumble some excuse about a text along with an apology, followed by a louder goodbye to the whole group before he’s gone.

He almost forgets that he has to walk home and he isn’t really sure where he’s going. The streets at least aren’t too dark, lit up by various streetlights, but it is cold. Lucas pulls his phone out of his pocket and opens his maps, typing in what he thinks is the address of his apartment with shaking fingers. His head is spinning, even though the only substances he’d consumed have long since worn off. His chest gives a sudden heave as he turns off the street, and then his eyes are prickling, and he feels more stupid than ever.

This is almost worse than his years-long infatuation with Kes. At least he’d known Kes for years.

He’s only known Jens a week. Has been his friend for even less time. He’s barely been given a chance to even set their friendship in stone, yet.

Yet here he is, about to cry over him already.

At least now, he’s completely ready to go home.

He fishes out his key once he makes it to the apartment, and it takes him a few tries to get it in the lock and jiggle it open. His nose and cheeks are frosty and surely red, and his hands are numb from having to carry his phone, but at least he didn’t get lost. He’s prepared to go straight to his room to collect his bag, but he isn’t prepared for the sight of his father in the kitchen, waiting for him at the table.

Lucas stares at him as the door falls shut and his father stands, taking a few quick steps to close the distance. Lucas just has time to register the anger in his expression before something is being shoved in his face.

It takes another moment to realise it’s his weed.

“What is this?” Hugo demands. “The slamming doors and ignoring me isn’t enough, so you decided to become a stoner too?”

Lucas can only blink at him.

The man snaps his fingers in front of his face, voice raising. “Answer me, Lucas. What the hell is this? Where did you get it?”

Lucas’s mouth is dry. He has to coerce the words out. “Why the hell were you even in my room?”

His father releases an incredulous <i>ha</i>, tossing his hands up in exasperation. “Nothing, Lucas. Nothing I’m saying is getting through to you! This is hard for everyone involved, but if you think I’m letting you off the hook with the pity card you are out of your damn mind. Is this what you hoped to do, going to live with Jayden? Get out of your mind on drugs?”

He waves the small bag in Lucas’s face, and Lucas scoffs, shoving his hand away. “It’s weed. You wouldn’t even get glanced at at home for carrying that around.”

Hugo drops his hand back to his side and stands up straight, staring at Lucas like he’s never seen him before. Lucas feels suddenly queasy. The pressure returns to his chest all at once, intensified by a dozen, and his breath hitches as he feels the panic creeping up. Don’t, he thinks. Don’t be ruined.

“If you think I’m going to tuck this into your pocket and send you off because it’s just weed, you can think again. What’s going on? This isn’t you, Lucas.”

“How the fuck would you even know?” Lucas demands, the pressure making his voice crack as it builds behind his eyes.

Hugo just shakes his head, filled with a disappointment he shouldn’t be capable of feeling. Since when does he care enough about Lucas, or have enough faith in him, to be disappointed? Since when does he have any faith at all?

“You can just stay here for the weekend then. Right here, in your room. Consider the same rule applying for the next week, and however long after that it takes for you to sort yourself out.”

No, Lucas thinks desperately. The thought is pleading, but he refuses to let his expression waver.

He knows it’s useless.

He marches to his room without another word and makes sure to slam the door behind him. His hands find their way to his hair and give a grounding tug as he leans back against the wood, cursing under his breath.

His phone pings in his pocket, and he doesn’t have the strength to immediately dig it out. He’s sure Kes is asking if he’s on his way, and Lucas doesn’t want to tell him that he can’t come at all. That the only plans he’d been looking forward to are canceled indefinitely.

He shrugs out of his jacket and kicks off his shoes before crawling onto his bed still fully clothed, pulling his phone out of his pocket. He holds it above himself as he thumbs open his messages.

His throat tightens when he realises the notification had been Jens.

jensrolt: hey, Moyo said you left already? I was serious about walking you! have fun this weekend though. don’t miss me too much.

Lucas tosses the phone aside and pulls his pillow over his head.

#van der stoffels #vds #wtfock #skam nl #sink or swim #vds season fic #sos clip

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thotsforvillainrights · 4 years

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Mun will you pretty pleeeeeease write a nsfw scenario of kai's s/o domming him in bed?? I just think sub Kai is neat😩💦💦

~Impulse~

-Kai Chisaki smut-

(Warnings: pegging, dirty talk, edging, cumshots, bound sex (bdsm?)

Impulse: sudden spontaneous inclination or incitement to some usually unpremeditated action

Wake up, eat, shower, work, sleep. Wake up, eat, shower, work, sleep. Wake up eat, shower...it was a brutal repetitive, and far too tedious schedule lately. Pops was away on a vacation of sorts and he left work for Kai to do that the man had never even seen before. Nevertheless, Kai agreed because if he were to fully take over for Pops then he would need to know how to do everything by now at the least. The down side to this was more work meant less time with you. Now on your end, you were more patient with the situation. Besides, Pops would return tomorrow. The old man had only been gone for 5 days prior and you knew Kai was under a lot of pressure so you didn’t complain. Being with Chisaki required a certain level of independence all in its own. But on his end, he was going to go insane without you. He was only a man of course, and he still had his needs. Right now he badly needed to hold you (which wasn’t as rare as you would think). On top of this, he missed just relaxing with you, talking, and even sliding a few scandalous make-out sessions in as well. On the same subject of scandals, Kai was at his wits ends sexually as well. 5 days plus the 4 days beforehand, all of which spent outside of that delicious body of yours...it was his personal hell not being able to make love to you at the moment. In frustration and exhaustion he had fallen asleep with you in his arms.

He could’ve slept the entire night had it not been for his urges. His dreams about you were less than pure right now. In short, his resolve was crumbling and the once gathered Kai Chisaki was reduced to that of a horny teenager or a dog in heat. His eyes popped open and he shuddered at the disgusting sweat on his forehead. His hard-on was particularly painful, and his mouth was dry. Most of all, he was absolutely desperate to feel any sort of relief so he began grinding up against you in the hope that you’d wake up soon enough for him to fuck you into the mattress. It wasn’t long before your eyes gingerly opened as well. You were still a little sleepy, but it didn’t take much to assess the current situation at hand. The way Kai ground himself against you so firmly, and those heavy breaths of his in your ears told you everything you needed to know...

Kai Chisaki was in the mood.

With such an aversion to touch most people would assume at first thought that this particular activity might be rare for you, but it was the opposite. Kai wad a fairly sexually active man when it came to you. Lately with his tight schedule you couldn’t deny that you missed him too, but he wasn’t getting off the chain so easily this time. No no no...he would have to pay the price for not even attempting to touch you. Your patience for his job could only go so far, you still had needs too after all. “Mmmmm, Chisaki~ What exactly do you think you’re up to at this hour, hmm?” You teased him as he shifted to grope you as well. “Angel, I think you should already know what I’m doing. Now why don’t you be good for your master and roll over to your knees. I need you~” He growled the last part and nipped at your ear. You smirked and rolled away for him to the far edge of the bed. Then you turned to look at his shocked/annoyed expression. He was now determined to wipe that damned smirk off your face. “So you wish to play rough tonight, huh? Don’t make me get my tie from the closet and bind you before I fuck you into submission. I can promise you won’t be able to walk after wards. This is your last warning, Angel.” He mirrored your smirk with his own. You smiled in false innocence before standing from the bed. “Lay on your back and close your eyes, Kai~” He was skeptical at first, squinting at you in speculation but he couldn’t root through your innocent expression. Kai simple did as told because he figured you must be planning to taste him. Being a bit cocky he began to speak on it while his eyes were tightly shut to prevent peeking. “Come now Angel, do you really think I don’t know what you’re up to? I know you by now my love. If you want to have my cock in your mouth then you don’t have to write it off as some sort of grand surprise.”

While he was busy talking his shit, you had already made your way to and from his closet. This would take some speed and effort, but you could pull it off if you continued letting him think this was simple an appetizer blow job before the full meal fucking.

“Angel...what are you doing?” You simply silenced him with a deep kiss while your hand worked above you to tie him to the headboard posts flawlessly. When you were sure of your work you pulled away and looked at it with pride. Even if he wanted to use his quirk to break down the binding, he couldn’t move to do so because of the way you tied his wrists up. “Relax because you’re under my control for once tonight.” You kissed his cheek and moved to sit beside him on the bed. He seemed annoyed but that wouldn’t stop you just yet. “Y/N cut it out. I can only tolerate this so much but you know I like to be the one setting the pace. Untie me right now.” You fake gasped at his words and shook your head in shame. “Wow Kai, I thought you knew better than to try and call shots with me taking over like this. The more of a brat you are, the more needy I’ll leave you.” You shrugged as if it were no big deal. He suddenly jerked his arms down in a feeble attempt to get loose but it was all in vain of course. “Damn you...” He hissed in annoyance. “Ask me nicely and maybe I’ll have a little taste of that cock of yours. C’mon Kai, I know you must be in pain by now by how hard it is. Why don’t you just ask me, hmm?” You smiled innocently at him and he just glared back at you. “Fuck off.” You gasped in fake shock. “Chisaki, such cruel language!” You knew he wasn’t mean to you, but he was simply just so horny and never has he been put in this situation before. However, after watching you begin to settle into bed beside him and leave him like this, realization set in that you weren’t bluffing. “A...angel wait.” He quietly whispered and you stopped your motions. “Oh?” You tilted your head and waited. He sighed and turned his head away from you. “I said...please. Please suck my cock, Angel.” He huffed and you could clearly see the red that adorned itself on his face and even the tips of his ears. He was admitting his defeat reluctantly, and that was all you needed for now.

You dipped your head down without warning and immediately began putting in just the right amount of pressure and tongue work that made his head spin with pleasure. He was putty in your hands and you knew it. He certainly wouldn’t last long with the way you were doing what you were doing. Just as quickly as you started you suddenly stopped and pulled away just to revel in the way he looked at this moment. “Wow Kai, who knew you could pull off the fucked out slut look so well.” He would’ve told you to watch your tongue had it not been for the fact his words wouldn’t form out loud. He was a sweaty and sticky mess, face burning red, gasping and groaning at the the way you so quickly brought him to the edge before pulling him away once more. This carried on 3 more times until he could barely take anymore of it. “Pleeeassse Angeelllll...” He drawled out in a long groan/whine. He was desperate to cross the line, and was finally willing to beg you if that was what it took. “Aw Kai! You look a disgusting mess right now. Isn’t this normally the time that I look like that? Right before you fuck me right? Let’s go ahead and put a spin on this too, shall we?” You stood up to search through your closet for something you were too scared to introduce to him 3 months ago when you impulse bought it. Meanwhile he was taking the time to recover from your assault, silently praying to God that you’d let him finish. You smiled and returned, carefully tightening the straps around your hips. He was too weak to lift his head and peek, but curiosity was driving him insane until he felt a smooth and cool silicone firmness at his entrance. “Angel...what the hell is that?” He gulped in fear.

This was a subject you talked about in the past but he had forgotten the stance on it because it was buried in the piles of ‘maybe’ for sex. Now it was coming back to haunt him at this very moment.

“That’s not what I thi-UGHHHH f-fuck! Angel!?” He gasped and nearly choked back on his own saliva. You shushed him gently as you stroked the side of his sweat soaked face and gently guided the strap on into him until it was buried as deeply as possible. “Dear God...” He gasped once more, but there was no denial in his tone so you took it as an invitation to continue. As you laid firm strokes into him he was silent at first and you almost wondered if you were bothering him more than turning him on, until you looked up at him and saw the expression he held. Kai was biting on his hand for dear life, and his eyes were screwed tightly shut, with a single tear threatening to leave his eyes. You picked up pace just a bit and finally he couldn't help himself, giving you the reaction you hoped to receive. “Uggghhhhh, more...please ANGEL! More~more, more, more...fuck...ugh~” You smirked in triumph and picked up pace, enjoying fucking him for once. It had gotten to point where he was vocal than he’d ever been during sex.

And it was rewarding as Hell.

Between the gasping, moaning, groaning, and borderline whining, he had reached a point where he reached down and started to jerk himself off while you fucked him. That was too much apparently because he came hard shortly afterwards, painting his own stomach with his cum, and letting it run off the sides of his body onto the blankets, effectively staining it with your sins. He was barely able to gain his breath but once he did, he was exhausted and oh so satisfied. For once, you were the one bring him the towel to clean himself up with instead of the other way around. Once that was all finished, and Kai helped you take care of yourself as well, the two of your were sent off into a sex induced slumber that would prove this impulse sex to be the best you’ve ever had so far.

»—————————–———————————————————–✄

TIp Jar: https://cash.app/$YuTakeyama

#bnha #my hero academia #mha #boku no hero academia #overhaul #kai chisaki #chisaki kai #bnha overhaul #yakuza #mha overhaul #smut #kai chisaki smut #overhaul smut

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