#i have a lot of fucking feelings about mako

[im--never--happy]

Whatever you do, don't think about mako watching his parents burn, helpless, unable to help, frozen in terror. Don't think about mako curling up around bolin on the streets, terrified, alone, cold, sitting up watching and waiting all night so no one tries to hurt or take them away during the night or steal their belongings.

Don't think about him terrified to bend, to wield the element that killed his parents, but too cold to have the luxury of choice. Don't think about him hating his bending, terrified of it, terrified he will lose control of it and become a monster.

Don't think about mako alone and afraid and cold and hungry. Don't think about mako and bolin shivering, huddled together in the freezing cold -- it's too cold for mako to bend and he hasn't mastered the breath of fire.

Don't think about mako curled on the street, unable to get up but knowing if he doesn't, he and bolin will starve and maybe there won'd be a next day. Don't think about him wrenching bread away from somone else, knowing it might mean that person will go hungry, but knowing at least that he and bolin won't starve that night. they'll have enough to make it through to the next sunrise. Don't think about mako taking blankets and forcing himself not to care who will go cold who will go hungry because he and bolin have that blanket and have that bread.

Don't think about him wishing and hoping that they had family that would come for them and loved for them and find them. but as the weeks turned into months turned into years, he knew that they had no family, or any family that they did have didn't want them. don't think about him convincing himself that they were either dead or he didn't want anything to do with them either.

Don't think about mako forgetting the way his parents looked, all he can remember is the burned charred lumps of their faces, the way they looked as they died.

Don't think about Mako turning to the gangsters and the triads because they are the only ones who don't care about child labor laws enough to hire a child. Don't think about what mako had to do to buy his and bolin's way out of the triads, to buy their freedom. because he knew too much, he was an insider, and there's no way they would let someone with that knowledge walk away unscathed. Don't think about his desperation to stay in the pro-bending tournament, knowing that the prize money from each match the only thing keeping him and bolin from the streets, keeping them from the triads. because how else would they pay off the cost of that freedom?

Seriously, whatever you do don't think about mako because it will fucking HURT

#i have a lot of fucking feelings about mako #FUCK #can someone please just write more mako centric fics #i have read them all and i have too many feelings and i can't even #mako #mako lok #legend of korra #atlok #lok #mako meta #lok meta #avatar #atla #avatar meta

[beansterpie]

rewatching LoK, i'm being reminded how much I dislike the.... the brothers, mako and bolin, yanno? they're such underwhelming characters on basically every level. it'd almost be impressive if they weren't in every episode and didn't annoy me so much ugh

#bean talking into the void #also this show in general is very flawed lol #cool things about it but the choice to structure it more like a #prestige tv show #as in each season follows One Story #is... i wouldn't say it was a bad choice but i feel like you can see the growing pains #switching over from the episodic structure of ATLA #s1 while flawed is solid #it knows what it's trying to do even if it doesn't always stick the landing #season two feels like a season-long filler episode LMFAO #which is hilarious because a lot of world-building stuff happens #but tonally it's all over the place #serious political plots interspersed with the B Plot following Tenzin and his family #on vacation??? #so fucking random #but anyway back to roasting the brothers #i find bolin just annoying in general his brand of comedy totally doesn't work for me #but at least he has like #a personality that's consistent #mako is sooooooo blah #the writers have no idea what to do with him and he comes across as having a strikingly boring personality #with no defining traits other than being wishy washy (and a boot licker) #it FEELS like he was meant to remind viewers of Zuko #at least in appearance if nothing else #another broody pretty boy to latch onto #but he has literally nothing interesting to actually get invested in #sure he's got his tragic backstory and he's the 'older brother who took care of his younger brother after their parents died' boo hoo #but that's all just exposition and it's barely shown in a way that feels illustrative or emotional in any way that matters #(other than him comforting bolin in s1 after he KISSES THE GIRL HE KNEW BOLIN HAD A CRUSH ON lmfaoooooo) #(what a good big brother lmfao)

[hotsugarbyglassanimals]

i know im not breaking new ground for saying legend of korra is disappointing but so much of the series is genuinely off putting to me. the setting, the tone, how the narrative tortures korra it feels like

which is a shame because I love korra as a character (even if her writing isn't The best at times). but there are so many aspects of the show I don't like. fuck there's so many characters in the show I dont even like either

#says a lot how even when im not rewatching atla in its entirety i enjoy watching clips of it from time to time or analysis videos on whats #good about the show... #i have not touched TLOK since i watched the show finale when it aired #i cant stand mako. i dont even really like bolin much either #i feel like the biggest aspect of TLOK that holds it back is the fact that it wanted to be more 'mature' #ignoring the fact that the og series -was- quite mature. as in it knew when to take itself seriously! TLOK has a superficial idea of- #-maturity it feels like. like 'ohhh ohhhhh look we showed an airbender do killing isnt that cool!!" what the fuck EVER #I DONT CARE. i dont care when it feels like a slog to get thru the show and when u add things that mess w/ the allure - #- of the og show. I dont WANT to know how the first avatar came to be or why the spirit world exists #THE MYSTIQUE WAS WHAT MADE IT SO APPEALING #THE EXISTENCE OF BENDING WAS EXPLAINED BY PEOPLE OBSERVING NATURE AND IMITATING IT. OR BEING TAUGHT SPECIFIC ANIMALS #NOT BECAUSE OOHH LOOK THE LION TURTLES GAVE IT TO PPL TO TRAVERSE THE SPIRIT WILDS.... lame!! LAME!! #im angrier about this than i need to be lmao #the whole lion turtle thing just sounds like the show runners felt insecure about the finale of the OG series lol

[depresseddepot]

finally FINALLY finished watching the legend of korra. it only took me LITERALLY ten years

#tbh lok doesn't make me feel the same way atla does but that isn't necessarily a bad thing #i wish there was more focus on martial arts and history but i understand why there wasn't #history and tradition was EXTREMELY important to aang in ways that it was NOT to korra #i also wish we had seen more silly things about korras childhood but again they were telling a different story so i understand why not #they introduced a lot of new things w this one and i think pro bending was my favorite #cause it was one of the few things that WAS focused on martial arts it was just focused on like. boxing and mma #which is REALLLY fucking cool to see #i have critiques about mako's character but watching him fight was always so much fun because he is straight up mma fighting #for that to be depicted in a show that focused heavily on traditional martial art is so cool to me idk #bolin did it too but earthbending didn't lend itself quite so visually for the same effect #i also ALSO wish the stuff with amon had lasted longer than one season #a big part of atla is that aang is working the whole show to defeat ONE enemy #it felt like there was a new big bad each season #if they went amon -> the red lotus -> the earth empire -> unalaq in terms of season progression #i feel like the stakes would've been paced better yknow??? like the fight against vatuu should've been a Big Fucking Thing #what do i know tho lol #anyway im very excited for the upcoming movie and also the next avatar series #apparently the movie was set to release in 2025 and the series after that but. we'll see

[victorianbatman]

More ATLA/LOK Incorrect quotes

GN reader, unless stated otherwise

Bolin, propping his feet on the table: So, I heard you like bad boys?

Y/n: What? No.

Bolin, taking his feet off the table: Oh thank God, that felt terrible.

-

Lin: Whats this?

Y/n, hugging her: Affection.

Lin: Disgusting.

Lin:…

Lin: Do it again.

-

Bolin: Wow, your legs look amazing in those pants!

Y/n: You should see me without them.

Bolin: Without.. legs?

-

Sokka: What did you make for Y/n?

Zuko, staring at the burnt food: Regret.

-

Korra, holding kettle: Coffee or tea?

Y/n: Tea.

Korra: Wrong! Its coffee.

-

Bolin, talking about y/n: My crush isn’t picking up on any of my hints.

Mako: What hints have you given them?

Bolin: I think about them.. a lot.

Bolin: And sometimes I think about talking to them.

-

Y/n: Mako?

Mako: What?

Y/n: Are you asleep?

Mako: Who the fuck did you think said ‘what’?

-

Y/n, waking up: Am I dead?

[Sees Asami next to them]

Y/n: Is this heaven?

Korra, bangs on door: Open up, fuckers its me Korra

Y/n, tearing up: I always knew I’d end up in hell.

-

Lin: Having trouble figuring out who knows Korra the best?

Asami: Its me!

Bolin: Its me!

Mako: Its me!

Y/n:..

Y/n: It’s probably not me.

-

Y/n: Time for plan G.

Mako: Wait- don’t you mean plan B?

Y/n: No we did plan B a long time ago. I had to skip over C because of some technical difficulties.

Asami: What about plan D?

Y/n: Plan D was that desperate disguise attempt half an hour ago.

Bolin: And plan E?

Y/n: Im hoping not to use it, I die in plan E.

Korra: I like plan E.

-

Y/n: What the fuck? People actually tell their crushes they like them?

Mako: Well, what do you do?

Y/n: I die? Pfft- What kinda question..

-

Y/n: A mosquito tried to bite me and I slapped it and it died.

Y/n: Then I started thinking. It was just trying to get food.

Y/n: Like, what if I went to the fridge to get something to eat and it slammed the door on me and broke my neck?

Y/n: Howw would I feel?

Mako: Are you ok?

-

Bolin: What does ‘take out’ mean?

Mako: Food.

Asami: Dating.

Korra: Murder.

Y/n: IT COULD MEAN ALL THREE IF YOURE NOT A FUCKING COWARD!

-

Korra: You’re a little obsessed with yourself aren’t you?

Y/n: Well if im not who else is gonna be?

-

[Y/n, throws bread at turtleducks]

Y/n: Do not forget this act of altruism. If I am ever in trouble, I expect you and your brethren to come to my aid. Do not forget.

-

Y/n: You’re the love of my life, I’d do anything for you.

Asami: I want you to take care of yourself and get enough sleep.

Y/n: Absolutely not.

-

Asami: My boyfriend is too tall to kiss, what should I do?

Korra: Punch him in the gut, then when he leans down kiss him.

Bolin: Tackle him

Y/n: Dump him, be with me.

Lin, passing by: Kick him in the shin.

Mako: Please don’t do any of those.

-

[Korra, sneaks into house at 2 am]

Mako, turns in swivel chair: Care to explain where you were?

Korra: Uhh.. I was out with Y/n.

Y/n, also turns around in another swivel chair: Care to- [chair wont stop turning] Mako- I cant stop the chair-

-

Bolin, after making Y/n mad: You wont hit me, I have witnesses.

Y/n: Mako. Asami. Turn around.

[Both Mako and Asmai turn around]

Bolin, scared: M-Mako? Asami?

-

Y/n: So whats Zukos type?

Sokka: Y/c eyes, kind, oblivious, good sense of humour, turtleduck lover.

Y/n: Damn, sounds kind of like me. Too bad we’re just friends though.

Sokka: Did I mention oblivious?

Y/n: Yeah why?

Sokka: Just making sure.

#lok #atla #lgbt #atla x reader #asami x reader #zuko x reader #bolin x reader #x reader #mako x reader #korra x reader

[xjulixred45x]

Platonic! Korra Gang x Chef! Reader

This is the Request of @chantillymoon i hope You're doing good with your Cooking, i'm sure it's fantastic😋! I hope this give you a little motivation💞

Genre: Headcanons

Reader: neutral

Warnings: none, pure fluff

Korra

Korra probably met you in the events of book 1 (did you see the Gala where Mako went with Asami? one of those), you were in food service.

and since Korra was a bit moody and in a new city, you were friendly with her and they got along quite well. You tried to entertain her a little with your cooking (like the chefs in certain Asian places, if you're a firebending master or something like that, even better).

Thanks to this Korra was going to see you when she needed to talk and generally let loose a little. You guys became friends pretty quickly.

If you have your own place, Korra tries to promote you when she interacts with important people and the topic of Catering comes up.

She firmly believes that your food is much better than the holidays food honestly. especially those of Unalaq.

I have a feeling that in the water tribe, especially in the south, there is not a very complex gastronomy thanks to literally living at a pole.

It's a more personal hc, but I think Korra grew up eating mainly fish and its variables (maybe rice and vegetables)

Obviously, she ate more things in her training to be an avatar, but it's not like it was food as such to "eat" but rather those for nutrition purposes.

so when she becomes a friend of yours (cutie) and you give her VERY varied and VERY delicious food, she is delighted.

like “FINALLY something that is nutritious and TASTES GOOD!”

Besides, you cook a lot of variety, so Korra doesn't know where to choose. but she has a big appetite, so it's not unreasonable to think that you probably won't run out of leftovers with her.

If you're stressed about a particular recipe, she may try to help you by giving you a hand with things in the kitchen that she knows she can't screw up, like reading you the recipe book or handing you things, all while trying to joke with you to relax you and make you laugh.

If you want a definitive break, flour war! Whoever ends up completely white loses and Naga will have to clean it up!

Now, apart from improvised or high-survival food, Korra doesn't cook shit, she doesn't know how to handle herself very well, so seeing you be so fluent in that habit is something new for her. Of course, she was used to her parents cooking. but not at your level, so there's a lot of excitement on Korra's part about how you learned all this.

If you try to teach her, can she go either very badly or...decent? which cannot be said whether it is good or bad.

Since at first Korra may even, trying to make things easier (or imitate you, if you use your elemental control to cook) use her avatar skills in the kitchen, which since she has no experience ends very badly 😅 with muddy dough everywhere.

or even with BURNT water in some way??

but after a few attempts and several burnt bouls, Korra gets the hang of it and manages to start improving her cooking skills!

She can make simple meals now at least.

but she always prefers yours, you make them much more delicious, according to her.

Korra is not going to tolerate any destructive criticism of you, who does she have to hit?she's going to scare them with the fucking avatar state🤣😅

Sure, she can TOLERATE constructive criticism because it's not malicious, but she doesn't understand why people eat your products if they're not going to like it anyway?

do not understand.

In general, Korra encourages your vocation a lot and encourages you to try new things with her :3

Asami

Asami knows you because of Varrik, he needed as many staff as possible, including the kitchen, so he hired you as soon as he liked one of your meals without thinking about it.

Asami needed a break from all of Varrik's antics, so she went to the staff areas for a while (without realizing it) and you noticed her state.

So you talked to her while you prepared something simple for her to eat and get energy back.

It was kind of nice, since you didn't feel intimidated by her or what had happened with her father, a breath of fresh air, so you continued seeing each other after that (in a platonic way).

Asami is used to eat in High Quality and/or fancy places before this, and still doing it.

which most of the time is not bad, on the contrary, it usually produces rich and delicious food.

but there are also times when for some people (ahem VARRIKahem) it just needs to be prettier and tasteless to be considered "gourmet" and even if it's not high quality food, Asami sometimes misses the feeling of having a normal meal. .

That's when you come into her life, her bubbly friend, to make things way better.

Asami probably never had a home-cooked meal as such (no, it doesn't count if CHEFS make it for you Asami) so it was a new experience for her. In the good sense.

Instead of eating aesthetically impressive but disgusting food, with you I could eat things that were really modest but that TASTED GOOD.

If you are having problems like not finding someone to give you more advanced cooking classes, don't worry! Asami will give you a hand with her contacts and help you find a good tutor.

If you already have your own place, rest assured that Asami (and in general the entire Avatar team) will come to see you and buy you food often no matter what you sell.

Even if you have any financial problems with the place, Asami has your back and helps you as much as possible. You may even become a constant Catering associate for the company!

Asami also tries not to let her friendship with you affect you so directly, especially when scandals arise with her father.

He goes to you for advice when they go out to eat, your food gives him a certain feeling of peace after all, so when you both go out he can be with a cooler head.

It's a feeling of familiarity that she hasn't felt in a LONG time.

You can definitely see Asami especially liking food with meat or more complicated things, but then again, he also really likes it when you make really simple things, like pasta or pizza, for example.

She says that it is because "you do it with love" and it is partly true, that you put so much effort into the preparation makes it much more special and she appreciates it a lot.

but in general I think she doesn't usually give you negative comments.

I mean, if you happen to screw up some food and it tastes REALLY bad, you know it just by looking at her face, even so she will never give you a "bad" word so to speak, she use very sweet constructive criticism and still assure you that you did a good job.

and you can also guarantee that if there is a particular food that she likes, she will pay you to make a couple of reservations for her ;) she can't help it! She loves how you cook!

If someone tries to criticize you in a non-constructive way and is simply Bullying you, she will directly kick their ass and deal with the consequences then why would someone be mean to a little sun like you? It doesn't make sense to her.

In general, a friend who supports you financially, emotionally and psychologically is always willing to give you a hand in the kitchen.

That's right, don't let her cook☠️ she may hace good intentions but she'll burn everything.

Mako

OMFG he LOVES THE FOOD YOU MAKE FOR HIM.

Now, let's get a little sentimental.

Mako and Bolin growing up on the streets probably never really had much to eat, not to mention they probably didn't eat every day.

especially Mako, I imagine that he probably even gave what little they had to eat to Bolin.

It's a habit for him.

So when he meets you and you give him a taste of your food, for FREE, he thinks you're too good to be true.

but he appreciates it very much.

but seeing how much his opinion matters to you. warms his heart.

For the same reason you could feed him the most disgusting thing you could cook and he would eat it like a big child.

He will tell you the truth, but he doesn't leave a crumb.

For the same reason, I have two possible versions of how the two of you met and became close friends.

One, the one I like the most, is that probably when you were younger and trying to cook on your own, Mako and Bolin tried to steal your food, failing miserably.

But from then on you started leaving food scraps on your window for them to grab so they wouldn't die of hunger.

Thanks to this little by little they began to interact more and even began to help you to apply seriously in the kitchen!

and the other possibility is that he knew you thanks to Pro-control, being the one who will be in charge of the food at the events.

In this scenario at first he would be colder but eventually either because of Bolin or because of your adorable personality, you end up liking him.

other than that he can see that you can't swing a fly, and that you're REALLY passionate about your job, so he respects you a lot for that.

We all know that Mako is more of a tough guy or expresses that he cares through actions, so he shows that he cares by showing interest in your hobby and helping you as much as he can.

But when he already has a stable job and can give you a hand.

When something specific goes wrong, he tries to cheer you up in an unconventional way, such as telling you something about his work to distract you a little or even inviting you something to eat to de-stress.

Maybe even Mako himself has learned to cook from you, of course, he is not at the same level but when you are very stressed or tired he has your back.

and when you manage to do what you want, he sincerely congratulates you, he knows that you deserve it after all.

Similar to his other friends and Bolin, Mako is quite protective of you, especially if you can't control any elements.

It's like the dynamic of "Sunshine + Sunshine protector" basically.

It also tries to help you accept criticism well, which is necessary to improve after all.

Although of course, if there is someone who is telling you shit just because and without really wanting to help you, give them the names, they will not tolerate it.

In general, he is a friend who is a bit rude but who defends you, appreciates you and supports you in your tastes, hobbies and career. regardless of how You two met.

He knows that you are as good a person as you cook well, and you are a VERY good cook ;)

Bolin

Again, HE LOVES THE FOOD YOU MAKE FOR HIM.

Bolin, similarly to Mako, has two possibilities for how he met you.

one more painful than the other.

the first, in which he knew you for trying to steal something from your leftovers when he was little, in itself, living on the streets of a republic city is not nice.

but at least you took pity on him and started leaving him leftovers. which left him EXTRACTED because (according to him) YOU COOKED AMAZING. even if at that time you were just practicing.

Even if you try to tell him that he was probably just saying that because it was his first meal in god knows how long, he still thinks the same thing.

and the second way, unlike his brother, is that he simply found you working somewhere he likes.

Maybe even with his amorous nature, at first he had a crush on you, but over time he realized that it wasn't what he really felt.

In general he is your personal cheerleader.

No matter how many times you fail to make a particular meal, Bolin eats it like his life depends on it. unlike Mako, he doesn't have the heart to say anything even remotely critical of your food :,)

He's also the kind of friend who constantly gives you ideas for new recipes. some good, some not so good, and some quite extravagant.

ex: some dessert based on Pabu.

It breaks Bolin's heart to see you sad when you don't get a particular recipe, but he will immediately move on to a session of giving you compliments and reminding you how you made other recipes to motivate you.

I can definitely see him recommending you to the important people he hung out with when he worked with Varrik, both to do you a favor and to be able to see you in those moments when Mako couldn't pay attention to him.

Bolin's favorite food is definitely desserts. cakes, cupcakes, pies, candies, anything that is sugary.

and if you get to practice making animal food (like for Pabu) Bolin is OVER THE MOON.

I can see Bolin trying to learn cooking things with you, both to spend time together and to be more independent, to help Mako out.

Apart from that, he would have the opportunity to try more of your food :D but he makes a great effort to listen to your advice and follow the instructions you leave him.

The results are quite promising! along with Mako, he is the best cook of the group (hc personal).

Similarly to Asami, he seeks advice from you when he feels left out of the group and doesn't know what to do.

Normally you prepare something hot for him so he doesn't feel so bad. It would probably be his second favorite food of yours, hot soups. In general they remind him of you, a warm and comforting presence.

Bolin is more passive when it comes to criticism and when it is constructive he makes sure to remember it and even writes it down so as not to forget it and thus apply it in his own attempts.

but eventually you can better distinguish between constructive and destructive criticism.

and when someone like that shows up, no matter how strange it may seem, they usually just ignore it. He wants to believe that he is better than them after all...

...only to launch Pabu on the attack in defense of your honor. Although well, didn't you see it coming?

He is generally a very sweet friend, he does not distinguish in social class or how or how long the two of you have known each other. He is convinced that you have genuine talent for cooking.

and he is very willing to show you that you have that talent and support you through everything.

Conclusion: They all love your food but they love the person behind that food more and how you support them in difficult times :,)

Shares, reglogs, and comments are very welcome!

Thank you very much for this Request ❤️❤️❤️❤️

#headcanons #neutral reader #legend of korra x reader #legend of korra #the legend of korra #korra #asami sato #lok #lok mako #lok bolin #lok asami

[comradekatara]

Okay either Mako/that dumb fucking prince, or. Bolin/Korra?

LMFAO I think ive already explained at length why I hate that ship and character generally and the utter tragedy of saddling him onto my poor boy mako (just go into my wu tag) but bolin and korra is not a ship i’ve ever talked about and I do actually find it fascinating. not because I necessarily think that they’d make a good couple, but because of the way in which bolin’s character assassination happened in the same episode that they established him as a contender in the love triangle, and then seemed to immediately realize that two (extremely codependent) brothers fighting over a girl is kind of weird and thus desexualized bolin (at least for the rest of the season) by lobotomizing him.

in the first couple episodes, bolin is actually quite charming and grounded, but you wouldn’t know that from watching the rest of the show, because from the moment he goes on a date with korra forward, they only afford him the mental capacity of a five year old. like, I think that mako is supposed to be the book smart sibling and bolin is the street smart sibling, but bolin is actually unfathomably naive and foolish, and mako is just. both book and street smart. so it’s like. okay. well what is bolin doing here.

remember when he used to be someone with a brain and actual charm? no because his brain slipped through his ears after going on one single date with korra. a date that went spectacularly well, I might add. they never actually give us a reason to believe that korra would sooner have feelings for mako than bolin. all she and mako do is argue, while she and bolin have a lot in common and good chemistry. obviously i’m a korrasami truther, but like. what they did to bolin to justify makorra is just strange. this is what I mean when I say that lok has some of the clumsiest writing i’ve ever seen.

but also, I will say this: it’s very funny to me that bolin is into korra (definitely understandable) but never asami (the most beautiful woman alive). like mako is very understandably into both of them because who wouldn’t be. well, bolin wouldn’t be. because he’s only into brown girls. amen

#ephemeral-phosphorescence #asks #bolin #korra #mako #lok crit #they literally lobotomized him so that mako could fumble two gorgeous girls 😭 mess

[crybabylulu]

That Night (smut)

(Sugar mama Lin Beifong x sugar baby reader)

Minors go tf away!

Warnings: men being weird, fingering, drinking, degrading, fucking in a closet, fighting, lots of hickeys

Remember that party Asami invited you and Lin to? Yeah it’s party time!

I had a glass of champagne in my hand while I watched people dance around at Asami’s party. The more I drink my champagne the more I realize I should have just gotten a shot. I’m not the biggest champagne person but I try so hard to be it’s stupid. I got this itching feeling that someone was looking at me but before I could look around Mako came up to me. “Hey.” Mako said. “Hey.” I said back and gave him a hug and kiss on the cheek. “Have you seen Bolin?” Mako asked. “No I have not.” I said. “Damn, well you wanna take a shot with me?” He offered me a shot glass. “I’d love to.” I said as I took it.

We clinked glasses then tossed our shots back. The liquid burned for a second then the feeling subsided. “I gotta go find Bolin to make sure he’s not doing anything stupid. I’ll come back to check on you in a bit.” Mako said. “You don’t have to check up on me, I'm a big girl.” I told him. “Tell that to chief.” Mako said as he walked away. I shook my head. When I go out by myself Lin sometimes has Mako follow me around which he rather do then paperwork anyways but it’s not like I can’t take care of myself. I started getting that feeling again of someone watching me and it’s bugging me.

I need another shot. I walked off to the mini bar and ordered a shot of cactus juice and then after I took it I said fuck it and ordered another one. Before I could leave the bar some guy blocked my way. “Excuse me.” I said as I tried to get past him. “Why don’t you come dance with me?” The average height man asked. “Actually she’s my dance partner.” Asami said as she grabbed my hand and dragged me away towards the dance floor. “Thank you.” I said. “No problem now, dance with me.” Asami said. I laughed as she held my hand as we danced around each other and on each other.

“I’m surprised you can dance in this dress.” Asami said to me as I danced on her. “What do you mean?” I asked as I moved my hips. “The slits of your dress goes all the way up your thighs at any minute we could have a flash moment.” Asami teased. “Oh shut up I used the tape you invented to make sure this dress don’t move like that.” I laughed. “I’m glad it’s really working, I’m truly a genius.” Asami said. “Indeed you are.” I said. Once the song was over Asami went to go find Korra. I ran into Mako again. “Still no Bolin?” I asked. “He’s in the pool.” Mako told me.

“Oh also you are doing a shitty job at protecting me.” I teased him. “What happened? Are you ok?” Mako asked frantically and started looking over my body for bruises or scratches. I mean he might find a bruise or two because Lin likes to mark me up. “Did someone do this to you?” Mako asked as he poked at my shoulder blade. “That’s a hickey.” I told him. “Oh.” Mako said as he turned me around to face him. “Yeah me and your mom get frisky.” I said. “I don’t need to know about what you and the chief do.” Mako said and shivered in disgust.

I laughed. “Anyways what happened?” Mako asked. “Some dude blocked me from leaving the bar then Asami came to save me.” I said. “I saw you two on the dance floor, you don’t think chief will get mad?” Mako asked. “Why would she?” I asked. “Since she likes to leave marks on you like that and has me follow you around she seems a little possessive don’t you think?” Mako asked. “I suppose so, yes but I don’t think she’ll get upset over me dancing with Asami.” I said. “Anyways stay with me so you don’t get bothered.” Mako said.

Hmmm how about no. “Mako, look , there's a tall buff smart pretty girl over there.” I said and pointed in the opposite direction. “Where?” Mako asked and I took off. I went back to the dance floor. I’m not afraid to dance alone. Is it more fun to have someone to dance with yes but oh well I have to dance alone. As I was dancing I felt someone grab my waist and I wasn’t alarmed at first my brain thought it was Asami or Lin. “Where’s your dance partner?” The male voice asked. Oh hell no! I quickly moved away and turned around.

“Dude what the fuck?” I asked. “Just dance with me.” He said. “No.” I said and tried to walk away from him but he grabbed my wrist. “Hey! Get off.” I snapped and turned back to face him. “It’s just one dance.” He snapped back. Before I could raise my other hand to punch him I was pulled away and then the guy was put on the ground. “You ok?” Mako asked. “Yeah I’m fine.” I told Mako. “You sure?” Lin asked me. “I’m fine baby.” I said. “I’ll get him out of here.” Mako said and dragged him away. “Come with me.” Lin said and we walked off the dance floor. “Where are we going?” I asked.

“Since people wanna dance with my girl I’ll just have to remind them you belong to me.” Lin said. Oh no. Lin dragged me into a closet. She pushed me against the wall and started a passionate make out. Her coming to save me made me horny but now her shoving me into the closet has me even more excited. Anyone could come in and see us but I don’t care. I want them to know, I want them to see, I need them to know I’m her’s. I pulled away. “You gonna keep making out with me or are you gonna remind everyone who I belong to?” I asked. Lin immediately attacked my neck.

I leaned my head back so she could have more access to my neck. “Lin please more.” I begged her. “Don’t be an impatient brat.” Lin growled. “Please.” I begged. Lin turned me around and lifted up my dress. I wasn’t wearing any shorts, it was just a dark red thong with a heart chain under my long dress. Lin smacked my ass and I let out a moan. “Lin.” I whined. She nibbled on my ear and smacked my ass over and over. God this feels so good. Lin pulled down my panties and started to circle my clit. “You’re wet just from me spanking you?” Lin asked.

“Yes, I love when you spank me.” I whined. Lin turned me to face her and pulled down my dress to pull out my breast. She nipped my left nipple and I gasped. She was gonna leave marks all over my tits. “Lin please more.” I begged. Lin slipped two fingers inside of me stretching me out and my back arched. “Yes, more baby more.” I whined. She curled her fingers and did a come here motion. “Fuck keep doing that.” I moan out. “You’re all mine aren’t you?” Lin whispered in my ear. “Yes I’m all yours!” I cried out. Her fingers feel so good inside of me. “You’re sure?” Lin asked.

“Yes baby I’m yours.” I moaned. “I thought you’d be Asami’s the way you were dancing on her.” Lin growled and rubbed my clit with her other hand. “No Lin. I’m yours all fucking yours! I belong to you!” I cried out. I guess Mako was right. “That’s right you belong to me.” Lin said. My legs were shaking and ready to give out. “Oh god please chief I’m close.” I whined as I felt a familiar tightness building in my belly. “When you cum you better scream my name.” Lin commanded. I nodded my head and the closer I got to tipping over the edge I kept saying her name over and over again.

“Do you think you can take another finger?” Lin asked. My eyes widened. “I c-can try.” I said unsurely. “Good girl.” Lin said and I felt her add a third finger. I gripped Lin’s shoulders. “Fuck chief!” I cried out. “Your tight pussy is swallowing my fingers up so well baby girl.” Lin cooed. We’ve never done this before but it feels so fucking good and I can feel my juices leaking down my thighs. “I’m so close.” I told her. “Cum for me baby you can do it.” Lin said, pumping her fingers faster. “I’m all yours Lin, I belong to you, I’m yours. I don’t want anyone but you,” I grabbed Lin’s face so she could look at me as I declared her ownership over me.

I could tell her eyes were full of lust but there’s something else there but I had no time to decipher what it was because Lin smashed her lips against mine. Lin plunged her tongue in my mouth and I didn’t even put up a fight. I let her do whatever she wanted to me. As Lin slowly pulled away I felt light headed. “You’re right you’re mine, you belong to me, there will be no one that touches you the way I do.” Lin groaned. Her words pushed me over the edge. “Lin!” I cried out as I orgasmed.

Lin fingered me through as my whole body shook. “Fuck Beifong.” I sighed out. “You ok?” Lin asked. I nodded my head. “You sure?” Lin asked. “Yes baby I’m fine.” I said. “Good.” Lin said as she pulled out her fingers and I put them in my mouth. I sucked them clean for her. “Let’s get out of here.” Lin said. “No, I wanna keep dancing.” I whined. “One more dance then we go.” Lin said as she helped me put on my panties. “You fucked up the tape.” I sighed. “What do you mean?” Lin asked. “There was tape that I put on the strings of my panties to help keep my dress from moving all over the place.” I told her.

“You’ll be fine.” Lin said. I nodded and we exited the closet together. Before we made it all the way back to the party Lin stopped me. “What’s wrong?” I asked and turned to look at her. Lin opened her mouth but then stopped. “Where the hell have you two been? Are you ok?” Kya asked coming up to us. “I was a little shaken up about what happened earlier.” I said. “Aww Linny, look at you taking care of your girlfriend. How romantic.” Kya teased. “Kya don’t you have single woman to mingle with?” Lin asked. “No need to be hostile Linny, but are you really ok?” Kya asked me.

“Yes I’m fine.” I said. “Oh and by the way Mako got into a fight with that guy.” Kya said. “Is Mako ok?” I asked. “Of course he’s ok.” Lin said. “Lin knows her precious son can handle himself but yes he’s ok.” Kya said. Lin rolled her eyes. Kya’s eyes widened. “What?” I asked. “Y’all are nasty! All those hickeys.” Kya gasped. “Oh hush Kya.” Lin said. Kya and I laughed. I was happy that the hickeys were seen. This is what we wanted. We walked back to the party and I got to dance with Lin for a little bit. Lin ran her hands over my body as we danced.

#lin is fine asf #chief of police lin beifong #sugar mama lin beifong #lin beifong smut #lin beifong x reader #tlok lin #korra x asami #asami sato #mako tlok #kya tlok

[greatrunner]

@tododeku-or-bust's post asking for examples of racism (experienced/witnessed) in fandom has got me thinking about how abstract the experience of antiblackness is once you (as in me, because I can only tell you my perspective) 'remove' yourself from the situation or the situation is considered 'settled.'

A lot of that is, obviously, a defense mechanism. If I didn't learn how to dissociate or numb myself from said experiences, I think I would be in a much worse place than I am right now.

But it also highlights how much I spent on Tumblr reading or experiencing antiblackness in different fandoms. Within the moment, the experience is raw and extremely triggering.

Left 4 Dead 2, Pacific Rim, Princess and the Frog, and Star Wars were probably the most active I'd been within a fanspace on Tumblr, and the antiblackness that ran rampant in those spaces was pretty vile.

At every turn, instead of owning up to the acts of passive and active racism, yt and non-Black users would break their backs to defend their position as 'not racist.'

The absolute refusal to investigate why they were so comfortable calling characters like Rochelle and Tiana boring or annoying compared to Lottie or Zoey allowed antiblackness to run rampant because, "I should be allowed to dislike a character!"

Do you know how aggravating it was to watch old-ass shows like Buffy and Angel at 14-then-22 and watch not only the writers but the audience (or LiveJournal or Television Without Pity) demonize characters like Charles Gunn and Robin Wood for doing things they cheered white characters on for doing... on the same shows? All while engaging in some truly racist stereotypes? It feels like you're going crazy when you see it. It made me wanna cry for help.

The fact that I had to remind Star Wars fans that 'DLF didn't mean it that way' wasn't an excuse for how LucasFilm treated Finn or John Boyega. That "actual racism" was benign, passive, uncritical, and often intentional.

The fact that much of my Pacific Rim experience was watching yt fandom call Stacker Pentecost an "asshole" or "control freak" because he was holding Raleigh and Chuck to account, or they wouldn't engage with his and Mako's relationship with the same respect they did with Herc and Chuck's.

I decided not to engage with the media outside of isolation or friend circles. As I moved further and further away from it, and it became vague and less sharp, I'd start to question, "Was it really that serious?" When so many people failed to read the room and centered themselves as victims of 'harassment,' was it really that serious?

And I have to remind myself, "Yeah, it was." Even as it becomes hard to verbalize or put into words to recall, it was and is that fucking serious.

And the worst part of all of this? Most of those racist shitheads knew that too. But they could get away with it, so...

The point ultimately is to drive people who'll challenge positions out of those spaces. That's why so many fanspaces don't promote growth or shifting dynamics. They prioritize anti-intellectualism and infantilization of the self or the work itself.

#greatrunners meta #tododeku or bust #antiblackness

[getvalentined]

What’s your opinions of the various ffvii compilation games?

Oh I am a huge proponent of the Compilation as a whole; I know that opinion is rare for someone who's been in the fandom from the beginning, but I'm an insufferable lore gremlin and I just eat up everything the series has to offer. I have three different copies of Advent Children (the original on DVD, ACC on DVD, and ACC on blu-ray) and even still watch Last Order on occasion.

The series itself is really fascinating and staggeringly consistent (I've talked about how the implied timeline of the Jenova Project as presented in-game is so consistent that it matches up with real-world human gestational science), with the exception of the FF7Re series—which I can deal with, since it's canonically on a different timeline and therefore any retcons there are literal in-universe retcons, which is pretty brilliant.

That said, I'mma put ratings for the pieces of the Compilation individually under a cut!

OG FF7: 9/10. would be 10/10 if the English localization were better. Where it all started, still one of my favorite games of all time.

Advent Children (+Complete): 8/10. Not a game, but part of the Compilation! Anyone who says the plot makes no sense doesn't realize that they're watching a sequel that relies very heavily on people understanding the history and characterization of every single character shown.

Last Order: 6.5/10. Also not a game, also part of the Compilation. Love that this is implied to literally be Tseng's coverup of what happened with Zack, presented in anime form. Makes no sense in multiple places as a result, but if you know that's what it is then you can 100% see why it's portrayed that way! Honestly I really enjoyed it and wish more people would appreciate it for what it is.

Dirge of Cerberus: 7/10. The gameplay kinda sucks but honestly the storyline is super good—or it would be, if the entire fucking prologue hadn't been cut from any release outside Japan, thereby leaving the entire issue with DeepGround completely unexplained to all other audiences. Once you know what is going on, the storyline here is fantastic, and I've never really forgiven SE for not releasing the rest of it. I love that Dirge fills in the lore for Vincent that was cut when he was relegated to "optional" in the OG, and that it also helps to clarify why Midgar could have 9 functional mako reactors while every other reactor in the world is either sputtering to nothing or exploding. (It's Omega. Midgar is built over Omega. It's the place where all lines of the Lifestream converge so that Omega can draw it all in and carry it away at the end of the world, and Shinra never discovered that's why the mako well there is so expansive. I love good worldbuilding, and Dirge is a beautiful example of that.)

Before Crisis: N/A. I want this game so bad man where is it give it to meeeee. Honestly tho I've watched playthroughs and read scripts where available, and while I don't think it looks like much fun from a modern gameplay perspective, I have huge respect for it as far as development goes. This is one of the first really mainstream mobile games ever made, it was made for flip phones, and it's super extensive! Also it gave me Veld, who is one half of my favorite ship ever, which means it automatically gets a 7/10 even if I've never played it.

Crisis Core (+Reunion): 9/10. As fun to play as the OG. When I first played this on PSP over a decade ago, it hit me with such an intense feeling of nostalgia that it almost took me off my feet. In spite of the dramatic difference between game mechanics in CC versus the OG, it felt exactly like playing the OG again, and that feeling never really left. Humanized Sephiroth in a beautiful way that pissed off a bunch of fanboys and made me fall in love with him all over again. Also introduced my second favorite FF7 character ever, Genesis, who is one half of one of my core FF7 ships, so A+ on that too!

FF7 Remake (+InterMISSION): 8/10. Had a lot of fun with this one, and it's beautiful, but it doesn't have a lot of replayability in my experience, which is a shame. Would have been 6 or 7/10 if not for InterMISSION, which was a fucking delight.

FF7 First SOLDIER: 6/10. This applies to both the Battle Royale and the title in Ever Crisis. I am not a fan of Glenn & Co. but I love 14 year old Sephiroth and really appreciate that extension of lore and worldbuilding, so it's a decent balance. I love that the opening cutscene for the battle royale literally filled a 20+ year old plot hole in under two minutes.

FF7 Rebirth: 9.5/10. The only things that could make me like this game more would be if Vincent were playable (although I understand why he's not and, in spite of him being my favorite fictional character ever, I agree with this decision), and fewer required minigames. Just cut like one or two. Or fix the controls, maybe. Glide de Chocobo is even more broken now that it's been patched.

#fandom ramble #ff7

[rottenpumpkin13]

Your body dysmorphia post has me Thinking.

Sephiroth and Genesis bodies are ultimately, very much for show.

Sephiroth is built for precision and agility, his blade and skillset meant for quick efficient culling of large groups of enemies or getting to weak spots on monsters. Like a scalpel. His muscles are mostly for his image, rather then from actual training. The mako makes sure he doesn't need as much physical mass for strength.

Genesis is similar. He's naturally slender, and his image is VERY much appearance focused. I mean hes a magic caster above all, so he's built for speed and dodging.

But Angeal? Angeal is all brute fucking force. That man is STRONG and built for it. You see wrestlers and professional strongman with his build, people meant to hit hard and move weight around. He's like an ox. He puts weight on differently then the other two, and he's a foodie! (Also there's probably something with growing up in relative poverty and then not being there anymore.)

And it is honestly inevitable that they're going to be compared. Their the three Firsts, they're seen together a LOT in pr events and such. And its even more inevitable Angeal is going to compare himself as well.

Angeal's phisyque is impressive and I don't doubt Genesis envies him for it sometimes. He's strong and puts on muscle easily, which I imagine is extremely valued in SOLDIER. I agree, the comparisons are inevitable and I could see it affecting all three of them (even Sephiroth, who could favor Gen and Angeal's more "human" looks over his own).

I beg you to forgive my mini rant under the cut. I fell down a rabbit hole, got keyboard-happy, and want to share my thoughts with you lol.

Assuming the east-Asian male beauty standards are the same in the FF7 world, Angeal is essentially friends with two of the most⏤if not the most⏤attractive men on the planet. He would have grown up seeing Sephiroth and Genesis receive praise and admiration for their looks and constantly being compared to them.

I’m not sure what influenced Angeal’s character design exactly, though we can say that Sephiroth and Genesis’ designs are in contrast to the Western ideals, Genesis more so because he was based off of Gackt (specifically Gackt in the 2000s), which means his design adheres to the east-asian male beauty standard. The two are so contrasting because the east-Asian male standards promote more androgynous and softer looks as opposed to the West’s fixation on hyper-masculinity.

I would say Sephiroth is a mix of both. While his design is inspired by Japanese historical figures and features that give him that “bishonen” appeal, his overall design is pretty masculine. He’s tall and muscular. His body, overall fits into the West’s standards while his face is ethereal enough for us to fit it into the east-Asian standards. Aspects that the West would consider effeminate such as the long hair actually used to indicate a warrior’s class. Funnily enough, long hair as a symbol of masculinity used to be a thing across many cultures, not just in Japan.

The thing about Angeal is, he is attractive. He fits the Western male beauty standard down to a T with traits such as being tall, having a muscular build, square jaw, and facial hair. But if indeed the FF7 world’s equivalent of male beauty is the same as Japan’s… Well, maybe getting compared to Sephiroth and Genesis gets to him.

Don’t get it wrong, the comments about his appearance are usually positive, but they’re always about how “strong and ripped and big” he is. Not to mention he constantly gets told how much older he looks than Sephiroth and Genesis despite being the same age as them.

He doesn’t feel attractive, he feels useful. He sees his body as a tool to get his job done. He has the body of a warrior, a Soldier. It’s built for fighting. The problem is, he’s constantly compared to his friends—the same friends who get compared to angels. They stand out, they’re pleasing to look at. He may be at an advantage with his brute force and ideal masculine physique, but—and I cannot stress this enough—men are not immune to body image issues and eating disorders.

I’ll admit that this headcanon partially stemmed from comments I’ve seen about Angeal’s appearance within the fandom. Some people think he’s ugly, which is fine, no one is forced to find anyone attractive. But I imagine the hurtful comments and the constant comparisons to his “more attractive” friends could hurt Angeal if he were to see them in his day to day life. He may be an enhanced super-soldier, but he's still human.

Again, please forgive the word vomit. I just have so many thoughts on this lol

#angeal hewley #ffvii crisis core #ff7 crisis core #ff7cc #asks #tw body dysmorphia #tw body image #tw body issues

[asura22zoro]

In Mako's defense, I don't think we should blame the whole love triangle fiasco solely on him

www . reddit . com/r/legendofkorra/comments/j42qua/in_makos_defense_i_dont_think_we_should_blame_the/

A lot of things came into play for that triangle to happen but it just so happens that Mako's need to NOT disappoint anyone (but ending up disappointing everyone) is a huge factor.

Let me just point out that whenever Mako initiated a kiss to either Korra or Asami, it was never while he's "officially" dating the other. If anything, it was often the girls who would kiss him first while knowing he's dating the other, which they both know that it is their fault too.

In Book 1, he just simply confessed his feelings for Korra while also pointing out the fact that he couldn't act on those feelings because he's dating Asami (whom he also has feeling for but possibly not to the same degree as with Korra). But Korra kisses him anyway.

In Book 2, Asami kissed him first at her warehouse when the guy is simply cheering her up and saying he believes in her even when she doesn't believe in herself. At the time, he just broke up with Korra. Sure, it was pretty recent and he's trying to not dwell too much into that by busying himself with police work but can you blame the guy for giving up trying to put up with Korra's spitfire?

Then of course, we know what came after when Korra and Mako saw each other again and Korra's memory was wiped.

Now, notice how Asami pretty much didn't try to make a move on him again after that? Even after he and Korra broke up the second time (for good)?

I think Asami pretty much realized that Mako's too not into disappointing anyone and too emotionally awkward to pursue a relationship with again. Because not only would it be awkward but going from one girl to a other twice could ruin their dynamic as a team as well as her friendship with Korra, both of which she cherish.

So, yeah, both girls ended their romantic relationships with him. (Or in Asami's case, the possibility of it.)

And this sets up to what I like most about their relationship with each other after, especially in Book 3.

Now in Book 3 starts between three of them with Korra and Asami witnessing how Mako treats their interactions like a land mine, like any moment some hard feelings might come up, and how much he wants to avoid that from happening.

Hence why he declined Korra's offer to have him live in Air Temple Island and both ladies' help with the investigation.

What Mako doesn't realize is that there's zero to no hard feelings between the two because they pretty much had an idea that both of them made a move on him while he was dating either one of them.

Asami for sure knows that Korra kissed Mako in Book 1 and Korra probably had an idea that something happened between Asami and Mako while she was away and felt embarrassed that she kissed Mako right in front of her and everyone who knew about their break up. Probably why she laughed when Asami admitted that she DID kiss him.

Because both women knew they had feelings for Mako and that the dude also reciprocates those feelings and thought "Yeah, that was awkward but maybe we can bond over that fact instead of being at each other's throats because we're also at fault and if there's a female version of bros before hoes, Mako is that emotionally awkward hoe and we won't let his people-pleasing ways get between our vibe."

( or I would put

So they both poke fun at Mako's awkwardness to loosen him up. None of that "you hurt her and you hurt me, and now you're gonna pay for it" revenge plot. I guess Mako picked up on that during their airbending performance because he wasn't uncomfortable around those two since. And I guess Mako finding out that they got away safely from the Earth Queen's airship and out of the dessert reassured him their team dynamic is still intact.

The Korra-Mako-Asami love triangle is not exactly what I would call toxic.

Fucked up? Yes. Messy? Yes. Toxic? No.

Maybe it would be toxic if, say, Mako actively pursued both women while he was in a relationship with either of them without any inhibitions or conscience to stop him from acting out his feelings for both. Like, literally cheating on them.

Instead the canon love triangle is just a clusterfrick of three developing young adults emotionally stunted by dead parent/s, becoming a parent, parental issues, and basically being sheltered for more than a decade in the middle on an icy nowhere with limited contact to the outside world.

reddit comments

Ngl I chuckled at "Mako is that emotionally awkward hoe" lmao.

After reading some of the comments... people still don't get it. The point isn't that Mako is innocent, he is far from it. But so many people just pretend like the girls didn't have an active part in the drama, especially Korra. ALL three are to blame, even if we say not equally, then Asami is still the one carrying the least of it.

If the writers had given more spotlight to Mako or at least equally as much as they did to Bolin, it would've been more apparent but I think Mako's core flaw was that he was often very indecisive in anything that wasn't bending related (he was acknowledged as talented af by Amon), or keeping his brother's ass alive. We see him mostly going with the flow, which is a problem.

But in the end he without a hesitation decides that he is willing to sacrifice himself to bring Kuvira down by overloading the spirit bomb.

As for his stick in the butt. It's for a reason. He watched his parents get killed by a firebender (missed opportunity to make him conflicted about his talents as a firebender imo). He and his brother were oprhaned and became homeless and he sacrificed a lot to keep Bolin alive. They joined a gang and I would assume that he carried most weight there, since he wanted Bolin to retain more of his innocence than he did. Their life, for Mako, didn't start turning upwards until they got to leave the triads and move into the probending scene. He shielded Bolin from a LOT in those years more than likely, just to allow him to remain his cheerful self.

So basically, Mako sacrificed his own innocence so Bolin could have his. Him being less animated, more no nonsense and more serious, makes sense because he HAD TO BE to keep themselves alive.

( I edited a few parts that I disagreed with out

so people wouldn't assume I agreed with those takes

to be frank the b2 breakup was due to their mutual flaws not incompatibility neither of them were ready for a relationship with anyone. it was asami and korra who were incompatible with each other while makorra overcame those mutual flaws

I never really thought of korra and asami as becoming friends until b3 ( before you go but asami said she liked korra you dont need to be friends with someone to like themq

#lok #legend of korra #anti korrasami #mako defense squad #mako #lok mako #asami sato #lok korra

[enemyoflactose]

I finished Battle City

So for my redemption arc, I have finished both Duelist Kingdom and Battle City.

I think I may have gotten worse.

I'll start by talking about voice acting and which one I prefer:

Bakurae: I like both Ted Lewis and Rica Matsumoto's performances. They both did amazing and I am so bi for their voices.

Marik: His goofy ass skeletor voice is not it. It's funny as hell, but he just sounds better in the sub.

Odion: I like both

Ishizu: I like both

Everyone else: could go either way

Characters:

Yugi didn't really do a lot at the start, and everything I want to say about him happens in his duel with Joey. Honestly, I don't like how in the anime he doesn't play much of a role.

Yami Yugi: this man... This man.

Téa: I love her. Honestly. She gave like zero friendship speeches this season and didn't really do much except help Yami find Ishizu.

Joey: I LOVE JOEY WHEELER.

Tristan: he's there. I don't like how he treats Serenity.

Serenity: I actually really like her. She's not the most realistic sister character, but I still like her.

Duke: my guy, leave the girl alone.

Marik: I can't take him seriously. I just can't. He sounds like Skeletor, his plans are stupid, he can barely duel, he's a coward, he dresses ugly, mother fucker uses Revival Jam, this happened

How am I supposed to take him seriously?! Also, his backstory didn't do anything for me. Like, yeah what he went through was awful, but it just feels like an excuse. It felt like Ishizu and Odion were trying to justify Marik's behavior and say he did nothing wrong and should be forgiven. (Also, I saw a post about how Joey should have showed Marik sympathy. They blocked me when I said that was stupid)

Ishizu: she's such a great character. Her love for her siblings feels real, she's a snarky dork, her duel with Kaiba is fantastic, and she's pretty.

Odion: Am I supposed to feel bad for him? Not because he was horrifically abused I do feel bad about that, but with the way he was treating Marik... My guy was an enabler. Of course Marik is still evil under your care, you haven't done anything to help him be good. He just rolls over and lets Marik do what he wants because he doesn't want to betray his oath or something.

Mai: literally so cool. I'll actually get to talking about her in a bit.

Kaiba: iconic.

Mokuba: he takes his duel commissioner job so seriously it's adorable. He just pops up out of nowhere to catch people cheating and then Kaiba comes along to scare the cheater when they don't listen to Mokuba.

Regular Bakura: B-baby boy???

Yami Bakura: I'd literally bend over for him. He can have all of my possessions. Anyway I feel like he went through some character assassination this season. He just doesn't seem like a threat, but I guess that's how abusers get ya because he stabs Regular Bakura.

Arkana: I've said it once and I'll say it again, I am a sap. I felt so bad for this guy. First his magic show goes wrong, then his face gets mangled, then his wife leaves him, then he gets indoctrinated into Marik's cult, then he almost dies by saw blade, then he actually dies.

Lumis and Umbra: these two are gay and dating.

Strings: there is nothing there.

Mako and Weevil are pretty much the same.

Espa Roba: he's a cheater.

Duels:

Bandit Keith vs Yugi Moto (Duel 1)

The first duel of the season introduces us to Marik. We learn that he wants the puzzle and has a magic rod that can mind control people.

This duel shows off that Yugi is not yet as good a duelist as Yami because this loser gets fucking cooked.

Yami Bakura shows up and breaks Keith free. This makes Marik a little annoyed.

Marik makes Keith break the puzzle.

Bakura comes in and helps Yugi fix it, but he puts a little piece of his soul in the puzzle because of reasons that are never explained.

Bakura leaves and Keith burns the building down.

Joey and Tristan save Keith and Yugi.

Yami Yugi vs Jonny Steps (Duel 2)

I am not talking about the duel you suckers. I'm talking about what happened before the duel!

Yami and Téa go on a date. During this date they go on wacky high jinks and Yami gets Light Force Sword.

After dueling Jonny Steps, they go to the museum and meet Ishizu. She tells them that Yami is actually an ancient Egyptian pharaoh and he needs to save the world by joining Kaiba's tournament and winning it. Also he needs three Egyptian God Cards.

Joey vs That one guy (duel 3)

Joey gets Exodiad and feels so bad that he doesn't go and visit his sister in the hospital.

He also lost his Red Eyes Black Dragon.

Tristan finds him on the beach and shows Yugi and Téa who he found (fuck you 4kids)

Kaiba vs the machine (duel 4)

OBELISK, FIST OF FATE!!!!!

Yami vs the one guy(duel 5)

Yami beats Exodia and wins back Joey's Red Eyes.

Joey declined it.

Joey vs Espa Roba (duel 6)

In this duel Joey faces an alleged psychic who had already defeated Rex Raptor.

Rex tries to help Joey for a little bit, but stops like half way through the duel.

During this duel, Espa is talking about the universe and how he can't lose and shit like that and Joey's just clowning on him.

Espa Roba has his brothers up on a building helping him win duels.

Joey figures this out.

Joey wins the duel.

Some guy in the audience says "Espa couldn't predict he'd be a loser", and I think that's funny.

Joey got a Jinzo!! The only good card he'll get this whole tournament.

Yami vs Arkana (duel 7)

Yami faces a magician who's all like "Aren't you SO sad that your precious Dark Magician is in the deck of another duelist???!"

Some bullshit happens, Dark Magician is sentient and saves Yami, Dark Magician Girl is summoned by Dark Magic Curtain, there's shadow blades, guillotine-chan is here, apparently there's no service in the tent.

Yami wins.

Arkana dies or something it was really unclear.

Joey vs Weevil Underwood (duel 8)

Joey got his deck and Duel Disk stolen by some mustache and had a card put In it.

Joey and Weevil duel ata fountain.

During this duel Weevil calls out to the Parasite Paracide card in Joey's deck and turns all of Joey's monsters into insect cards.

Weevil brings out Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth. Joey destroys it.

Weevil brings out his Insect Queen and talks about how much he wants to fuck it. Joey destroys the Insect Queen and wins it.

Joey gained the worst card of the season.

Yami and Kaiba vs some guys (duel 10)

Kaiba uses Lord of D and two Flute of Summoning Dragon to summon three dragons and then he summons Obelisk and then he wins the duel and takes some locator cards.

Joey Wheeler vs Mako (duel 11) ft. Marik falling for the Bakura sham.

Joey and Mako duel.

Joey is putting on the world's greatest show, and is told to stop because it's "embarrassing and taking to long"

Joey tries to use Parasite Paracide, but flip monsters haven't been invented yet.

MEANWHILE

Marik almost runs over Bakura.

BACK TO THE DUEL

Mako is telling a son story about his dad and how Legendary Fisherman is his dad and he loves his dad so he has to win the duel for his dad because he loves him ever so much.

MEANWHILE

Yami Bakura is talking mad shit and Marik's all like "This idiot has NO idea that to open the door to darkness he needs the Egyptian God Cards."

What if my guy was talking 'bout Kingdom Hearts?

BACK TO THE DUEL

Mako used a ritual card 🤮

Now Joey has to find the fisherman and attack.

Joey finds the fisherman and attacks. Mako gets sad. Loser deserved it tho for using rituals.

Joey uses some gambling cards and oh no

MEANWHILE

Bakura puts his scam into action and says he's a strong duelist (He's aight.)

Marik doesn't even fact check this and makes a deal with him.

The rod for a god card.

BACK TO THE DUEL

Joey uses Panther Warrior to wipe out the ritual card 🤮, and wins the duel.

Joey has gained Legendary Fisherman! Not as bad as the last card, but Joey you have a shitty deck how do you keep winning???

Seto and Yami vs Lumis and Umbra (duel 12)

THERE'S ANOTHER FUCKING RITUAL CARD!!!! AND IT'S NOT EVEN A GOOD ONE!

It's awful, it sucks, it's worthless, they should have just used level cards

This duel is not worth my time.

Yami and Seto win.

We interrupt this essay to talk about important stuff that happened out of duels:

Bakura got stabbed

Mokuba, Téa, and Joey got kidnapped

Tristan ran for an hour with a teenage girl on his back

Duke hit some guy with dice

Mai met Serenity

Joey got mind controlled

Téa girl mind controlled

Joey vs Yugi/Yami (duel 13)

I cried during this duel

Joey got mind controlled by Marik and is evil and dueling Yugi for the puzzle and they're also strapped to this anchor that's gonna drag them to the bottom of the ocean in an hour and oh my God this duel

Téa's life is also being threatened but she's a badass who doesn't care.

Kaiba can't help because then Téa will die.

Joey was given all these rare cards and is using them against Yugi.

Yugi is so scared to attack because he doesn't wanna hurt Joey.

Yugi is so fucking sweet I love him so much.

Yami is just in the corner like "you good Yugi?" And "Oh no!!! Joey!!" I love them so much

Yugi ends up giving the puzzle to Joey so he can fight Marik better, he summons R d eyes black dragon to get through to him, this shit is just barely working I HATE THIS DUEL

Marik is being a whiny little bitch ass loser because his mind control is failing

Joey breaks free after attacking Yugi then he uses the effect of some mirror card to attack himsefl

Joey and Yugi both plummet to the ocean, Yugi is saved by Joey and Joey is saved by serenity.

I LOVE JOEY WHEELER

Meanwhile at the hospital

Yami Bakura vs Bonz (duel 14)

This episode is so fucking good. The animation, the duel, BONZ IS HERE

This duel starts off with Yami Bakura already being kinda annoyed. He just got jumped so it makes sense.

He summons a headless knight and it gets destroyed.

He destroys Bonz's cards.

Bonz fuses Medusa and crawling dragon to get... An elephant?

Then Bonz activates that one card that makes you lose life points for every card sent to the graveyard. Yami Bakura responded by fucking cheating and just tossing his hand to the graveyard.

Then he summons Earl of Demise and Bonz puts him in a cage.

Then Yami Bakura uses ectoplasmer and wipes out Bonz's life points and sends him to hell the Shadow Realm.

Mai vs Jean Clawed Magnum (duel 19)

I am not talking about this duel other than

Joey x Mai supremacy

We love polarshipping

Stuff that happens before the finals

The gang is shocked at the idea of Regular Bakura dueling (rude)

Tristan can't flirt

The gang raid Joey's pantry

A bingo machine

Yami Bakura pretends to be Regular Bakura and messes with Joey by saying shit like "Cheerio" and "fellows"

Marik does stuff

Odion gets threatened a few times

Ishizu shows up late

Mai drinks censored wine

Yami Bakura vs Yami (duel 15)

This shit is so hype

It starts off with Yami Bakura being dog shit and summoning weak cards (it's for a plan), and Yami and the gang just ragging on him and insulting him.

Then Bakura summons Dark Necrofear, but he doesn't attack because he's scared that Yami's face down card is a trap (reasonable)

Dark Necrofear gets destroyed by a buffed Dark Magician Girl, but this was all part of the an because now Yami Bakura can use not only his Destiny Board (worst win strat ever), but he can also use Dark Sanctuary.

At this point in the duel, Yami Bakura is cooking. He is dominating.

He got out his Dark door, Yami can't attack more than once. He got his spirit redirecting attacks at Yami. He's cooking something delicious.

Then Yami special summons Dark Necrofear and now Yami Bakura can't use his strategy.

Unless he summons Jougen the Spiritualist!

Now the sanctuary is back and he can keep up with his shitty win strat.

Then Yami summons Slifer and he contemplates death.

Marik makes Odion walk over and go "I release Bakura from the spirit" and Bakura starts dying and at this point my shipping senses start going nuts.

This duel has become a love triangle between Regular Bakura, Yami Bakura, And Yami Yugi.

But that's not important.

Bakura doesn't like this strategy because it's for cowards and he's worried Yami will attack his host. (Reasonable. The Yami he knows probably would've)

Yami meanwhile doesn't wanna attack Regular Bakura because that's his friend.

No one has told this boy to just surrender.

Yami Bakura takes control of Regular Bakura again and tells Yami to attack him

Then Yugi tells Yami that he did that because he needs Bakura, not because he liked him. (This is untrue if I believe hard enough)

Regular Bakura is knocked out and the ring is gone.

Joey vs Odion (duel 16)

Joey is talking shit.

Odion keeps setting and passing

And oh what's this?? FLASHBACK

Odion was abandoned on the door step of Marik's and Ishizu's parents. He was raised by them but never truly accepted.

He wanted the tomb keeper initiation to become accepted, but he was adopted. So that didn't happen.

DUEL

Joey's losing

FLASHBACKS

Odion was Marik's best friend and watched their mother die immediately after Marik was born.

He vowed to protect Marik.

DUEL

Odion has trap monsters and Joey is surprised by this.

A massive scorpion monster thing is summoned and Joey says

"Are you really Marik?"

Then Marik has a temper tantrum and tells Odion to summon Ra. Odion summons Ra and fucking dies.

Then Joey dies.

FLASHBACK

Odion watched as Marik got his tomb keeper initiation and afterwards he did his own initiation.

DUEL

Odion tries to get up, but he doesn't.

MEANWHILE IN JOEY DREAMLAND

Joey is having a dream about his friends helping him get ready for a tournament and he can't get up.

DUEL

Joey gets up and wins the duel.

Marik is having a migraine and then becomes Yami Marik.

Mai vs Marik (duel whatever I don't wanna check)

Marik got a fashion upgrade and looks better!!

During this duel Kaiba is edging himself waiting for Ra to be summoned.

Marik makes the duel a shadow duel and starts to erase Mai's mind.

Mai loses one memory and almost gives up immediately.

Marik continues his mind games while Joey and the gang try to help Mai out.

Mai is having non of this.

Mai steals Ra

Marik is cooking

Mai summons Ra, but Marik broke a rule because Ra is written in a foreign language without a translation.

Mai loses because she can't summon Ra and Marik attacked her, Joey, and Yami.

Final duel, Kaiba vs Ishizu

Ishizu should have won

Kaiba and Ishizu keep milling each other's deck.

Ishizu has a plan though. She saw it in her visions

Kaiba defys those visions tho and instead of summoning Obelisk, he summons the Blue Eyes White Dragon and wipes out Ishizu.

I forgot to talk about the Yami vs Strings duel

Marik is a pussy so he uses some murderer to duel

During this duel Marik is using cards like Revival Jam and Jam Breeding Machine.

He uses them to summon Slifer.

Yami is trapped in a cage.

Yami uses Revival Jam against Marik and uses it to cause Marik to lose by DECK OUT.

DECK OUT

That's embarrassing.

So yeah, I think this journey of redemption is becoming a journey of derailment instead. Wish me luck and health.

#yugioh #yami bakura #ryou bakura #marik ishtar #ishizu ishtar #yami marik #yami yugi #seto kaiba #joey wheeler #tristan taylor #tea gardner #odion ishtar #my redemption arc

[azulas-lightning-bolt]

guys I just want you to know that azula is my fav atla character (right above katara/toph/suki can you tell I like girls) but I’m actually going insane about mako right now.

also for the like,, five people who liked my last mako post please please please go look at @/jade-of-mourning’s blog. they’re so cool. they make such super awesome mako posts and his writing is really good and she also posts some stuff on ao3 so like. yeah. I’m obsessed with them.

anyway back to losing my mind over mako,, (a LOT more under the cut)

so okay I’ll admit I’m not typically a fan of angsty male characters (zuko is the exception. he’s too funny to not, and his character and development are really well done) because they all feel like copy-pastes of each other and they’re generally uninteresting.

but mako. mako is the female experience. not sure if I reposted it (as I tend to do with,, everything on here) but I saw a post talking about how what happened to mako’s character (all potential being discarded after romantic plot) is what happens to the vast majority of female characters. and as I’ve probably said at least fifty million times, he’s SO eldest daughter coded. I’m trans (they/he) but I grew up an eldest daughter and he’s like?? literally me??

as I was yapping about in a reblog—I just checked (lol) and it was in fact the post about mako having the female love interest treatment and tags about his eldest daughter syndrome—mako is somewhat made more ‘relatable’ than katara even when sending a similar message for the general audience. I think people should just be less brickheaded and appreciate my wonderful waterbending girl but mako being a guy makes people not immediately put his character into the lens of ‘ugh, dumb feminism’. (which, again, should not happen)

okay so why does this redeem him so much? I said I hate copy-paste angsty backstories meant to exacerbate a character’s edgy mysteriousness and mako is literally batman with a more violent aang for a little brother. he was basically the messiest character on the show, cheated on both his gfs with each other and fucked them up so bad they turned gay for each other (which was funny as hell of the writers by the way. his reaction to them coming out in the comics was GOLD. ik my boy was fighting back tears.) so, logically, I should hate him like 90% of the fandom, right?

well obviously 90% of the fandom HAS NOT WATCHED THE FUCKING SHOW is MISOGYNISTIC or HATES CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

I have. so much to say about this.

for one. did we watch the same show. mako is one of the most selfless, hardworking, and considerate characters, which he shows multiple times—it’s a major point of his character, actually. he’s the protector, the nurturer (*cough* the eldest daughter). down to his backstory, he shielded bolin from the worst bits of the underworld as best he could while still providing. from eight years old, all alone, he provided. that’s honestly what sets mako apart from literally being Batman (lmao) and why I don’t actually mind his backstory. he was put in an impossible situation, and told to figure it out. he was given no reprieve from the extremely traumatic event of watching his parents die by the element he wields, the one that he has to learn on his own to use to protect bolin.

the other thing is that a lot of his actions are selfish in a way. he doesn’t really care much about the street rats in the same position he was once in the beginning. but even that selfishness isn’t in his own interest—it’s selfishness for the sake of bolin’s well being. one thing that really hits me hard is the brothers’ relationships with food while on the streets. I’m going to make another post about that soon because I don’t want to ramble too endlessly on here. it’s really personal because. eldest daughter who grew up poor. yeah.

second, fandom misogyny. this makes like. no sense but I swear I know what I’m talking about. okay so misogyny is about gender right? but let’s step away from the cutout copy idea of gender, like genitals or fem/masc presentation or pronouns. think of gender as a set of inherent preconceptions, ideals, or societal expectations. that’s what it is but specifying that makes more sense. mako is a dude who is referred to with he/him and he looks like a guy but he represents a girl. mako is expected to be nurturing but not overbearing. present but not annoying. a provider, but don’t ask for anything in return. mako can’t cry in front of bolin, it’s not right for a little boy to look up to someone fragile. mako needs to work, but tiredness is not allowed. don’t be overly cheerful, it’s annoying and unfitting, but too much gruffness is just haughty.

did you feel like you were reading the transcript for that scene about how hard it is to be a woman in the barbie movie? good, because that was the intention. mako, to me, represents the idea of a sibling who is forced to also be a parent, whether or not they are the eldest, and often a girl to a boy. it could be because parents are absent or dead or bad at parenting or just foolish and inattentive. mako is hated (aside from that messy ass romance plot) for almost all the same reasons as katara and that just. infuriates me. like I have this one perfect representation that reminds me of my own background (sorry katara ily and you represent my rage) while aligning with my identity and everyone is shitting on it?? fuck mako haters he’s my special boy

last point. have you never heard of character development in your lives. did you not all love Zuko’s redemption arc, and then as soon as a dumb teenager who’s never had romantic relationships fucks up JUST AS BAD AS THE OTHER TWO PEOPLE INVOLVED (sorry korrasami ily but y’all were nasty for not asking to kiss mako) you’re all like ‘unforgivable’?? like he didn’t even have a redemption arc because HE WASNT AN EVIL CHARACTER. he was a poor kid looking for a sense of stability and he fucked up. he felt bad. I don’t think any of them apologized, despite the fact one was needed all around. he grew as a character because he let himself find stability and mature before seeking someone new to use as a life raft who was already sinking themselves. I truly believe that korrasami—had it not occurred at the end of the series—wouldn’t have worked out either.

all of them were unstable and lost and scared for their lives almost constantly. that’s not a healthy place to be in to seek a relationship and they none of them were good for each other until they gave themselves time to step away from romance and heal.

anyway stan mako to not be a bigot (im unwell about him)

#mako lok #lok #tlok #legend of korra #mako tlok #mako

[korrasamibottles]

I just reread the space between heartbeats and I suddenly need you to tell me everything about it! What gave you the idea for all the story beats and details???

Thank you so much for asking (and for re-reading?? Such an amazing compliment wow)!! I'm still completely floored by how sweet everyone has been about this fic....I wrote it from the heart so the positivity really means a lot😭 Also sorry this got so long oh my god lol.

Before I even started writing, I knew I wanted to come at the whole thing from Mako's perspective. He's such a complicated and fascinating character to me, and there's so much potential to explore how the trauma of witnessing his parents' murder and the depersonalization of having to be brother-father-protector-provider to a younger sibling while also still a child led to him being SO detached from his own wants and needs and feelings, and so used to thinking of himself as a tool rather than a person, that if somebody asked him point blank what he wanted his head would pop.

But maybe...after spending a lot of time around somebody who isn't afraid to openly want things and ask for them....Mako could start thinking about what HE wants, so that when somebody finally does ask him he's able to untangle his feelings enough to actually put them into words.....?

Mako's character has such a strong presence and I didn't want Wu to feel flat in comparison, or for it to seem like he was only there to further Mako's development, so I decided to give Wu the benefit of having the setting be all about him.

This also gave me an opening to show how Mako's influence could give Wu the push he needed to shake off the spoiled prince persona and become the more mature, compassionate man he always had the potential to be. We saw the beginnings of that in the show and in Ruins of the Empire, and I like to think they'll continue on that trajectory even though I'm not getting my hopes up for any wuko crumbs whatsoever in the Mako solo comic.

(Everyone already knows this because I never shut up about it, but what makes me so bonkers about wuko is the potential for them to bring out the best in each other. That kind of dynamic is fucking gold to me.)

Anyway. Once I had the POV and setting figured out, I had to give Mako a reason to be there, and I thought, well, he hasn't yet reached the point where he's able to admit he has feelings for Wu (even inside his own head) so the pretext of him deciding he had to keep Wu alive to protect the fragile democratization process felt right and seemed plausible.

The first two scenes came together from a few lines I poached from an unfinished korrasami wip....

"That's not–I'm not–we're just colleagues, Asami," he splutters convincingly.

"Yeah? So everyone at the precinct just hand-feeds each other moon peach slices in the morning, then? That's standard 'colleague' behavior?"

"Asami–"

"And right at the breakfast table," she whispers dramatically, shaking her head in mock disapproval and relishing how the blush has spread from his ears down his neck. "We all saw you practically purring into his hands, Mako. Like a damn octocat."

....and this bit of dialogue from the closet scene

“What kind of closet locks from the inside!?”

“You tell me! You grew up here!”

“Not in this closet!”

I turned the peach lines into a whole scene because I loved the idea of Wu being like "teehee I am getting him to try something new and fun" meanwhile Mako's like 3 seconds away from just snapping and sucking on Wu's fingers. Except it's rated T so. You know. Gotta be more subtle about it lol.

As for the closet dialogue....I'm a simple woman and I will never ever get tired of closet-themed jokes and accidents. My personal headcanon re: Wu's sexuality is that it was kind of like an open secret among the royal family. Like he'd flirt with women in public just to keep up appearances but really, everyone knew. Hence the "not in this closet!" line. To be clear, I don't think the royal family was ok with it, and I'm sure he suffered for it, but in this fic I positioned him further along in his own self-acceptance journey than Mako.

The next scene didn't unfold as easily, and I really, really struggled with it. Mako was a bit of a ticking time bomb by this point in the story–the tension had been rising for a while, and I knew it had to break eventually, but I wanted it to break in the right way.

I wrote several different versions, but every time the dialogue got away from me and it always ended the same way: with them getting into an actual argument and Mako storming out the door. And that was Not the vibe I was going for. I wanted more of an "oh fuck" moment rather than a "this guy is pissing me off and I have to get out of here" one. Mako has a tendency to get snappy in emotional situations, and that combined with him being an acts-of-service kind of person made the "it's my job to worry about you!" line finally click into place.

Deep down, Mako knows he's more than just a bodyguard to Wu, he knows how Wu feels about him, but he can't let himself really think about it. Because if he's more than his work, more than just a tool to be used, if Wu wants him around simply because he enjoys his company and not because Mako is providing a service, then that means Mako's entire sense of self is built on a lie. That's a terrifying realization, with or without the added element of internalized homophobia (and I had to add it. For maximum angst.)

I knew I wanted the fic to end with Mako realizing that the way he'd been operating simply wasn't healthy or sustainable, followed by a dramatic confession of feelings, but how to get there? Well why not invent a weird old bug woman. I thought a sort of grandmotherly figure might be somebody Mako would take seriously, and also I selfishly just wanted a woman in the story lol.

I honestly don't know where the ant spiral idea came from–maybe it's something I learned about as a kid that's been haunting the crevices of my brain for years. But it felt like an interesting way to symbolize how Mako was on a self-destructive path of repeating the same harmful behaviors over and over. If he kept depriving himself of meaningful connections, never stepped outside his comfort zone, continued avoiding learning how to process his emotions, and kept letting his fear and his pain decide what he was and wasn't allowed to want, he'd only keep inadvertently hurting himself and the people he cares about. That sort of thing. But he's stubborn, and needed to figure it out himself, so I let Qin Li give him the pieces (dare I say peaches?) so he could put it all together.

The final scene was written in its entirety at the auto shop, because apparently that's where my muse lives. Great place to write, can't recommend broken cars highly enough. Anyway, I wanted his eventual admission to feel like removing a giant splinter, which is to say: extremely painful and strained, but a huge relief once it's out. Difficult as it was, he needed to actually verbalize that shit not only for himself but also because it wouldn't have been fair for Wu to have to be in a relationship with somebody who couldn't even admit the feelings were real. And of course I had to have Wu jump into his arms at some point. Couldn't resist :)

One other thing I just thought about (and can't figure where to put it in this post, so I guess I'll just stick it here) is that I had fun giving both of them weird little quirks. Like Mako being an anxious/compulsive skin picker and Wu being fidgety and refusing to wear his glasses.

OH YEAH ONE MORE THING. Mako yanking on the doorknob in the closet was 100% a euphemism. For something.

#seriously thanks for this it was fun thinking about why i did what i did!!! #asks #sweetorangepoptart #wuko

[swaps55]

Please tell me something about that Noveria First Kiss AU! <3

You may not like it, which is why it has remained a WIP. I toyed with making something happen with everyone having a night off at Port Hanshan, but what came out was some drunk teasing that escalated much faster than anyone (even me) guessed. Sam reacts badly when he doesn't have time to chew on his feelings first, and when he's up against a wall he lashes out. And, uh. His choice of targets was not ideal.

I didn't know how to fix the spot I got them into, or how the fuck to get the actual kiss out of it, so I haven't returned to it. Part of me wants to, just to explore it, because it feels in character enough to be worth poking at. But with Fugue and Mezzo being such angst fests, I haven't had the mental fortitude to give to it.

~

“You’re jealous,” Ashley informs him.

“Of what,” Shepard scoffs, giving her the same look he gave the NCD inspector who grounded the Mako.

“That woman is hitting on him, and you can hardly keep your butt in that chair.” She bops the leg of his seat with a foot. His eyes narrow.  

Garrus swivels his head between them, mandibles flaring, and Tali sets her cards down. Joker sits back in his seat and crosses his arm, like there’s a show about to happen and he’s got a front row seat. Wrex shoves another glass of ryncol towards her, and like an idiot, she takes it.

“He hates being hit on,” Shepard informs her.

“Yeah,” she says with a snort, “because it’s never you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean.”

Amazing how much nuance in the human – alien – whatever – voice gets lost when you’re drunk, or maybe she would have noticed how flat Shepard’s sounded, or how little humor was in it.

She grins. “It means he’s wanted in your pants since probably five minutes after he met you, and somehow you haven’t noticed.”

“I notice plenty,” Shepard says, leveling her with a stare. “We’re close. Why does everyone assume it has to be about sex?”

[more stuff]

“Leave it alone, Williams,” Shepard growls. “We are what we are. Stop trying to make it something it’s not.”

“Tell him that,” Ashley says, gesturing towards Alenko, who is now glancing over his shoulder while he waits for their drinks. “I have never seen someone so desperate over someone as that guy. Pretty sure if the two of you just got a room and fucked each other’s brains out you’d both be a lot better off.”

Shepard shoves out of his chair with enough force Ashley actually jumps. Just as she starts wondering if maybe she pushed him too far, Alenko chooses that moment to return with his drink. Garrus swivels his head between them, mandibles flaring, and Tali sets her cards down. Joker sits back in his seat and crosses his arm, like there’s a show about to happen and he’s got a front row seat.

“What’s going on?” Alenko asks, cautious.

Shepard meets his gaze like a rail gun lining up a target.

“So, what, you want to fuck me?” he demands, eyes flashing, and Ashley sucks in a breath. “Is that what we’ve always been about? Is getting in my pants what friendship is to you? Because if it is, fine. I’ll go fuck you in that corner right now if that’s the price of doing business.”

Alenko stares at him in incomprehension that erodes into something Ashley can’t even name, before it fades completely and all that’s left is a slate so blank it hits harder than any bullet she’s ever fired.

“Go fuck yourself,” he says, quiet, indifferent, as he sets his drink steadily on the table and walks out of the bar while everyone at the poker table stares after him.

He’s only made it a few steps before Shepard’s expression to shift to shock, then horror, but it’s too late.

#swaps replies #cr-noble-main #mememe #meme replies #snippet