#basically everything up until the whole... pink diamond shit. | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

realcube · 3 years

Text

❥ HOW HE CONFESSES

characters ❥ mikey, draken & baji

tw ❥ the beach, bad driving, mentions of murder and cursing

cr ❥ requested by anon

a/n ❥ i’ve not read the manga yet :’(

MIKEY

♥ his love language is shoplifting for you <33

♥ like okay.. in writing it kinda sounds pathetic compared to all the other shit he does but like.. he goes through the effort of personally picking up your favourite snack from the grocery store —instead of getting his toman underling to do it for him — and hiding them under his shirt

♥ and he thinks about you the whole time he is sprinting away from security

♥ if that isn’t true love idk what is

♥ today wasn’t any ol’ day tho, snacks and sweets were going to cut it

♥ instead, he went for the big shiny rock on a ring he keeps seeing the window of the rock shop on the high street

♥ it was pretty, for a rock, but not pretty enough for anyone in their right mind to think it’s worth £10,000/$14,000/ ¥1,500,000!!!

♥ however, after hearing that price from a salesperson, he knew that stupid rock ring was exactly how he’d win your heart <3

♥ it was a challenge and it had him working overtime, but after pulling some strings, doing a couple favours, and maybe even inadvertently killing some people (you never know 🤷‍♂️), he managed to get his hands on the pristine stone, which he had come to learn was called a diamond, which was why it was so expensive

♥ the guy who did him the favour of stealing it initially asked if mikey was planning on proposing and mikey said yes —since asking you out on a date is technically a proposal — and the dude didn’t even question it, he just said good luck

♥ and that sort of energy was exactly what mikey needed right now as he stood behind a wall near your lunch table as he mentally prepared himself for what he was about to do

♥ all your friends had left yet you were still sitting there alone since mikey texted you and asked for you to wait behind, and the fact you actually did filled him with hope from the get-go

♥ “(y/n)! there you are!” mikey greeted as if he didn’t know exactly where you were this whole time. why was his heart thumping so harshly in his chest? and why did he suddenly feel overwhelmingly embarrassed? i mean, he’s not done anything worth being awkward about.. yet.

♥ he didn’t understand. he never usually gets this way around people. but then again, he shouldn’t be surprised since he knew you were an exception from the beginning

♥ “hi, mikey.” you hummed, head propped gently on your arm while you slipped your phone away, “why did you want to see me? is something wrong?”

♥ the slight concern he detected in your voice was enough for him to immediately blurt out, “oh, no! nothing like that! everything is great; i am great and i, erm, hope you are too.” he announced, somewhat glad that your only reaction was a blank stare as it meant he doesn’t feel inclined to explain himself

♥ “so, uh, i was just wonder if you..” he started, clenching his jaw as he mentally reassured himself. the fact that he felt embarrassed about feeling embarrassed made things infinitely harder from him. he took a deep breath, and spilled

♥ “do you want to go out on a date with me sometime?” he basically screamed, squeezing his eyes shut tight and emptying his left pocket onto the table in front of you so that his special gift would accompany his proposal

♥ he closed his eyes as if that was going to protect him from rejection, but before he was able to silently rebuke himself, he heard faint sobbing from where he dropped his present

♥ upon opening his eyes, the shock from the sight before him was enough to give him whiplash

♥ in an unfortunate turn of events, he must’ve emptied the wrong pocket because sitting on the table in front of you was not a diamond ring, but rather a sherbet dip he bought to share with you if you said ‘yes’ to his proposal

♥ and his suspicions were correct, you were the one crying

♥ ....

♥ waIT WHY ARE YOU CRYING mikey panicked, frantically looking around for someone who might’ve hurt you, or perhaps someone he’d have to send to A&E

♥ “are you okay?”

♥ “yeah.” you whispered, your light chuckle enough to prevent mikey from worrying any more, “i’m just..” you stuttered, smiling fondly at the blonde, “i’m just really happy. i thought you’d never ask.”

♥ it was impossible for mikey to conceal the sigh of relief he breathed as he slumped down next to you on the bench, “thank god. i thought someone had threatened you or something.”

♥ “threatened me? why would they do that?” you innocently cocked your head to the side, rubbing your eyes as you did so.

♥ oh, yeah. mikey hadn’t been fully transparent with you about his.. current employment. as far as you knew, he was a full-time student at ‘toman academy’ and he had a part-time job babysitting (which was hardly a lie, in his opinion)

♥ so you didn’t really know about how he was the leader of the tokyo manji gang or any of that

♥ originally he thought it was fine to keep it a secret, but now that you were officially his partner it would be immoral to not let you know about his affiliation with the gang

♥ so he decided to tell you over a sherbert <33

♥ “so, are we official?” he cooed, ripping the lollypops out of the bag and popping one in his mouth while offering you the other by tapping it against your lips lightly

♥ “yep.” you smiled, taking the lolly into your mouth with a smile, glad that he didn’t bring up your little waterworks a few second ago

♥ but in all honesty, he was preoccupied wondering what the most appropriate way to phrase ‘i am the leader of a gang of delinquents’ would be

♥ poor little mikey brain working on overdrive

♥ he decided to pull out the ring, since he still had to give that to you, so while you were entranced by the fat gem glistening under the light in mikey’s possession, he began, “so, babe, do you think being a gang leader is hot?”

DRAKEN

♥ he honestly didn’t have a clue how to ask you out

♥ in fact, he didn’t even know that he had a crush on you until mikey pointed out all of his weird behaviours around you

♥ so his first instinct was to go to mikey for advice when thinking of ways to ask you out

♥ but the only idea that mf was to get ‘will you go out with me, (y/n)?’ tattooed onto his ‘thick skull’ and ofc draken wasn’t about to do that

♥ although he did consider it for like.. a minute

♥ (he was like.. hmmmm... well, the tattoo guy does owe me a favour so... maybe i could get it for free?)

♥ (or permanent marker might work???)

♥ anyway, he eventually decided to ask you out the good ol’ fashion way!! by just telling you how he feels

♥ however, once he explained this plan to mikey, he was scoffed and said ‘good luck with that’ in the most condescending tone of voice

♥ draken’s initial instinct was to simply beat up mikey and go ask you out anyway, but this conflict ran deeper than just him and mikey bickering about trivial issues- his whole relationship was on the line!

♥ so after hearing the leader out, he finally decided on the most appropriate way to confess — just like how all the dudes in the animes mikey and him and watched did it

♥ by giving you flowers and chocolates <3

♥ and mikey even offered to come into the store with draken and help him choose the goods since mikey was a self-proclaimed ‘love-expert’

♥ draken obviously denied his offer but he came along anyway

♥ “ooh, ken-chin! look at these ones, they’re on sale.” mikey gasped, happily grabbing a pack of heart-shaped chocolates off the shelf, ripping them open and stuffing his face, “and they are delicious too!”

♥ paying no attention to the fact that mikey had essentially already committed a crime since there was no way he intended to pay for those chocolates, draken mused while eyeing up the rest of the sweets, the bouquet of flowers he had already chosen tucked under his arm, “valentine’s day was a week ago, that’s probably why they are on sale.”

♥ “draken?”

♥ a familiar voice from the end of the aisle caused draken to avert his gaze from the chocolates displayed in front of him and instead search for the source of the voice, which happened to be you standing innocently with your basket in-hand

♥ “ah, (y/n),” draken tensed, immediately shoving the bouquet of flowers behind his back at hopefully out of your sight as he put on a forced smile to distract from them too, “what a nice surprise seeing you here.”

♥ “hm?” mikey chimed in, unable to vocalise his curiosity through the chocolates stuffed in his mouth, but that didn’t stop him from trying, “is that the (y/n) you were talking about? the one you were going to conf--”

♥ “that’s enough outta you.” draken hissed through a fake smile, shoving mikey into the next aisle, which happened to be the snack aisle so, entertained, he decided to stay put

♥ “oh, is that your friend mikey?” you inquired, having only ever heard about mikey through rumours up until now. though none of them exactly matched the image you saw just there

♥ “yep, he’s pain sometimes, but he’s still cool.” draken muttered, awkwardly rolling on the balls of his feet as he waited for a deity to save him from this interaction — not that he didn’t want to talk to you, it’s just that every second you spend with him, the less likely it becomes that his confession will go as planned

♥ and you only confirmed that with your follow-up question

♥ “i see you’ve got flowers, and you’re looking for chocolates. who’s the special someone?” you teased, poking draken’s cheek playfully (which is one of the many things he only finds comfort in when you do it)

♥ “oh, no one.” he hummed, his coy smile doing a number on your heart rate

♥ “how about you? who is that card for?” he inquired casually, gesturing to the classic pink ‘i have something to tell you... <3′ confession card that was only in-stock during valentine’s day season, that was sitting atop the groceries in your basket

♥ a cocky smirk tugged at his lips — as if to say ‘i won’ — while he watched you become increasingly flustered right in front of him. it was adorable

♥ but he thought it would stop there; stop with him winning the teasing battle, you getting all sheepish then leaving but that apparently wasn’t your plan

♥ instead, you lowered your head and outstretched your arms to give him the card (which was still in the wrapping plastic)

♥ “red-handed. i bought these with you in mind, draken.” you said, voice barely above a whisper, “but if you don’t accept then that’s fine too, have a nic--”

♥ “who said i don’t accept?” draken grumbled, almost as if he was annoyed, as he took your card and examined the card thoroughly for a couple seconds

♥ then suddenly, he froze. the shock of the realisation leaving him stunned to the point where the only thing he could do was shift his eyes from the card on to you and utter in a terrified tone, “this isn’t, uh, this isn’t a confession, is it?”

♥ you shrugged, “i guess, it is.”

♥ “damn it.” draken cursed, glaring at the snack aisle and hence mikey, for giving him this stupid idea

♥ “is there a problem?”

♥ “no.” draken said through gritted teeth before pulling out the bouquet his had hidden behind his back, “but i was meant to confess first.”

♥ your jaw dropped, leaving draken concerned for a second until you instantly pulled him in for a tight hug; another thing he admired about you was that you gave hugs like you were in the mafia, strong enough to cut off his airflow

♥ “double confession!” you squealed, absolutely delighted that draken not only wanted to confess to you, but he had the same idea to come to the shop and buy stuff beforehand

♥ “i guess so.” draken chuckled, handing you the bouquet of flower as soon as you pulled away, “these are for you.”

♥ you gasped, smiling at how he managed to remember your favourite kind of flower after a single off-handed comment you made ages ago, “thank you!” you hugged them to your chest, “have you already paid for them?”

♥ “no.” draken replied simply. “but they are still yours.”

♥ sometimes it slipped your mind that draken was part of a literal gang since.. he just seemed so normal and humble

♥ but on some other occasions, it was painfully difficult to consider draken anything close to ‘normal’

♥ and one of those moments was when he was trying to convince security he was pregnant with a flower-baby, and when that evidently didn’t work, he just made a run for it with mikey, whose pants pockets were filled with sweets that trailed behind him where ever he ran

BAJI

♥ he didn’t even ponder about how he was supposed to confess to you for over a second

♥ the idea just came to him instantly and he went with it

♥ the only question he asked was ‘how can i show them how badass i am without bragging?’ and he immediately came up with an answer and rolled with it, no questions asked

♥ and there was no planning or anything done beforehand either, he literally just texted you ‘where are you?’ at like 7PM and when you replied ‘the park’, he hopped on his bike and sped over

♥ like he didn’t even ask which park.. he just guessed.. but he guessed correctly

♥ your heart almost stopped as you watched a chunky motorcycle come speeding towards you at such a rate that all you could do was brace for impact and kiss goodbye to your relatively peaceful live

♥ however, at the very last second it swerved around you and came to a halt, allowing the rider to extend his free hand to you, “hop on.”

♥ the voice was all to familiar and you weren’t surprised at all to see baji with his signature ‘i could kill you’ grin plastered on his face

♥ as your heart rate slowly began to return to normal, you cried, “what do you mean ‘hop on’? you almost ran me over!”

♥ he unclipped his helmet and tossed it to you, “safety first.”

♥ “did you even hear what i just said?” you grumbled, putting on the helmet anyway

♥ “i think you said something about how excited you are to finally go out with me.” he mused, shuffling forwards slightly to give you more space to sit on behind him, like a true gentleman /s

♥ “no.” you replied simply.

♥ though you initially had no intention of going anywhere with him, you still found yourself reaching your leg over his bike to take a seat behind him, “where are we going?”

♥ baji shrugged, chuckling slightly as he felt you gently wrap your arms around his hips, “don’t know, but hold on tight.” he warned, revving his engine and taking off without another word

♥ perhaps you were the fool for getting on a motorcycle with baji and letting him take you to an undisclosed location, but you trusted him enough to know that he wouldn’t try to drive you off a cliff or put you in danger.. or at least, that is what you hoped

♥ however, if it wasn’t a rival gang that kills you, baji’s driving definitely would

♥ he drives like a madman and left you with no other choice but to cling onto him for dear life, since if you didn’t bury yourself into his side, you’d probably fly off with all sharp turns he does around the other cars/bikes

♥ it was like being taped to the top of a vehicle in mario cart

♥ eyes squeezed shut, you yelled over the harsh blaring of the wind, “slow the fuck down! where are you even taking me?”

♥ baji was having fun, but he was getting the feeling you weren’t..

♥ usually he doesn’t care about what other think but this was the first time he was taking you out, he didn’t want you to think of him as a maniac driver, or else you might not want to come with him ever again

♥ “if you open your eyes, you’ll see.” he uttered, slowing down slightly so the noises weren’t as harsh

♥ taking his word for it, you hesitantly pried open one of your eyes and turned your neck so your face was no longer pressed against his shoulder

♥ and honestly, you were glad you did. passed the edge of the road, you had the perfect view of the beach below, the sea gently glistening under the orange sunset

♥ now that your nose was free from only breathing in baji’s sickeningly strong, wild spice body spray, you finally able to enjoy fresh ocean air

♥ “the beach.” you mused, smiling down at the completely deserted sandy shore, which looked so beautifully peaceful in contrast to how busy it was when you usually come

♥ “no shit.” baji chuckled, his eyes remaining glued to road, despite how much he wanted to see your reaction

♥ you let out a defeated sighed, leaning against his back, “but it’s closed.”

♥ baji nodded, “yep, that means we’ve got the whole place to ourselves!”

♥ before you could question what baji meant by that, he steered off the edge of the road and down the steep hillside which led to the beach, though it definitely was not meant to be drove on as there were several warning sign at the side of the road, warning drivers about the hill

♥ “baji, what the fuck?!” you screamed over baji’s amused laughter, similar to the way you’d laugh if you were playing GTA, rather than playing with actual human lives

♥ “isn’t this fun?” he yelled back, enjoying how the wind felt against his skin as he maneuvered his bike down the steep hill

♥ honestly, you weren’t sure whether you enjoyed it or not, but as soon as the bike came to a smooth landing upon the soft sand of the beach, you found yourself silently wanting to do that again

♥ “well, how was that?” baji asked, immediately hopping off the bike on his own only so he could offer you a hand

♥ accepting his hand, you stepped off the cycle only to notice that your legs were shaking, yet you oddly liked it, “that was.. okay.” you murmured, not wanting to feed his ego but also unable to lie to him.

♥ “great.” he uttered, leaning forward to carefully unclip your helmet for you and sling it over the handle of his bike

♥ “so,” he started, looking around the beach for any stray cops or surveyors, “what do you wanna do?”

♥ he felt a light tug on his jacket sleeve, causing him to look down and meet your pleading gaze, “do you think we could go out again? some other time, maybe?”

♥ all baji did was laugh, resulting in you become sheepish for a moment, until he wrapped his arms around you picked you up for a hug, “obviously!”

♥ you smiled, your cheeks heating up slightly, “nice!”

♥ “anyway,” he started, placing you back down and dashing off towards the sea, “loser owes me lunch!”

♥ ignoring how he gets lunch either way, you immediately sprinted off behind him, watching as he dramatically fell over a large shell and face-planted into the the sand

♥ being the kind friend you are, you ignored him and continued running towards the water, only for him to grab your ankle and trip you up too

♥ “ha!” that is how he shows affection <3

#tokyo revengers sano manjiro #manjirou sano x reader #mikey x reader #draken x reader #draken x you #mikey x y/n #baji scenarios #baji x y/n #draken x y/n #ryuguji ken x reader #mikey x you #baji x reader #tokyo revengers #tokyo revengers x reader #keisuke baji

391 notes · View notes

ask-whitepearl-and-steven · 4 years

Text

Alright alright alright

You’ve all been asking for it, so here it is!

This will be (edit: HELLA) long and obviously spoiler-y, so everything is under a cut.

Are you ready?

Before we get to it, I want to mention that for the sake of keeping things organized, I will NOT be talking about my AU (@ask-whitepearl-and-steven) in this post. I want to just analyze the show as a viewer and a fan first. I’ll make a seperate post for AU-thoughts a bit later.

Without further ado:

EP 1: LITTLE HOMESCHOOL

This is a great way to open up the episode and show the changes through the lens of someone who has been a bit out of it for a while (we are all Cherry Quartz, fresh from the hiatus, aren’t we?) but I’m sorry, this post still takes the cake:

Okay, okay, back to the program.

“That used to be a loaded question...“

Right off the bat, Steven is SO much more confident about saying that he’s... HIMSELF! What a good feeling. I’m very proud of our boy.

I love the name “Gemglyph” for the gem language! I’ll need to know who wrote these, though. And who the heck drew the diamonds? Hopefully it was BP.

And I’m not the first one to point this out, but MORE ANIME REFERENCES!

Which can be seen as either a reference to the Chill Low-Fi Hiphop Beats to Study To OR Whisper of the Heart.

And absolutely no one cares but something that caught my eye is the fact that they have an EARTH FLAG at Little Homeschool! How cool is that!

Earth 4ever!!!

Off-note - I love how INVESTED they are in this conversation Pearl is having with Holo-Pearl.

Peak entertainment.

I love Professor Amethyst and I love the random human who snuck in to apparently take lessons on Not Giving A Single Shit About Anything, Ever.

And here we FINALLY are in the FUTURE

Where we FINALLY get Jasper as a functioning character

And

She’s

SO DRAMATIC, I LOVE HER.

This is literally SO funny like she... she was just... laying on top of her house... under a blanket..... FOr WHAT? To stand up dramatically and throw it off when Steven inevitably paid a visit?

Is that just what she dOES?

“It’s FINE I don’t need any HELP, I’m FUNCTIONING, I’m just having a SELF CARE DAY OK”

Also I’m sorry but

Jasper: “It took forever to yank those puny green earthlings out of the ground.”

Steven: “You mean grass...?“

THIS. RIGHT HERE. is peak Jasper.

It’s also curious how INVESTED Steven is in this:

“I’m TRYING to give you [a purpose]!“

Why are you... trying to do that, though? Isn’t the whole idea for gems to surpass their ‘purpose’ and just kinda... do whatever? Isn’t Jasper just kinda... doing whatever?

I mean, sure, it’s not useful to anyone, but she seems relatively happy. Aside from. You know. The whole laying on rocks under blankets until she’s disturbed thing and-- okay, you’re right, maybe an intervention would be healthy.

I’m not gonna talk at length about the rest of the episode - although I think it’s really good, I don’t know what I can say about it that hasn’t already been said. Jasper is definitely poking Steven’s buttons and rephrasing a LOT of what WHITE has said to Pink: “You surround yourself with inferior gems because it makes you feel better.”

And Steven REACTS to this. The taunt WORKS.

And yes, he gains some extra powers for it, but something tells me this AIN’T the only thing he will get. It feels like a two-edged sword. Like it’ll be his own downfall somehow....... maybe at the end of the series.

Ashes to ashes.... hole to hole.

And oh wow I thought they were gonna bond but LMAO

“Consider your fight back there your first and ONLY lesson.“

Basically:

I love you Jasper.

EP 2: GUIDANCE

I LOVE YOU AMETHYST.

sHE’S doing SO much and she’s SO good at it!! Look at her!! Organizing stuff!!!!

RUBIES IN SUNGLASSES. IN SQUARE SUNGLASSES.

I need 20.

And I also need 20 of Larimar because holy shit that’s hilarious.

Larimar: “I want to hear the human screams forever.”

Steven: “Okay that’s kinda troubling.”

I love the reference to Monsters Inc here and I love the callback at the end of the episode when Larimar switches to Human Laughter to get her fill of that particular erm... need.

And honestly the ensuing chaos is equally predictable and entertaining.

I’m SO glad to know that Rubies are just... Like That and that actually Navy is not a deviation from the norm but rather a different flavor of the chaotic energy all Rubies naturally seem to possess.

Amethyst is also super relatable:

“Ah yes, the fool comes crawling back. Come to beg for forgiveness, have you?”

In fact, the episode’s WHOLe HUMOUR is just very much My Brand

“Sometimes you save all the people but the rollercoaster still crashes into the ocean...... and that’s okay.”

Including the Running Gag that is Onion. Who... does not appear to have aged. At all. And that’s okay.

EP 3: ROSE BUDS

Okay where do I even begin with this one. Um.

I have to openly admit that I spent the majority of this episode wheezing with laughter. Let’s start with the Zoomans:

Who are CLEARLY STILL SUPER SALTY AT GREG ABOUT REJECTING THEM??? Which is hilarious.

And also this paradise is fascinating in and of itself.

But the next scene is basically where I started losing my shit.

Okay, okay, alright so. Uh. I have... a few questions.

Like Why. WHY. Does she look. SO MUCH like Rose?

Clearly Rose Quartz differ in coloring and etc. But She literally looks. Like THE Rose. VERY explicitly.

So here’s several options here:

1) Pink made Rose Quartz way before any of the Rebellion happened and Pearl just basically pigeonholed her into THIS specific Rose Quartz appearance because she (???) had a crush? Or somehow saw this specific Rose, thought ‘hot, i can make my sympathetic Diamond wear this exact costume and that would be EXCELLENT fanservice for ME’

2) Pink didn’t have any Rose Quartz until the Rebellion, and thereafter quickly decided ‘I need these gems as an alibi, so we’re just gonna make them” and she and Pearl basically inclubated Rose Quartz like a pokemon trainer hatching for a Shiny until they got one that looked Exactly Like That.

3) There was no Thinking involved because this is Pink we’re talking about, and it was all just a huge coincidence for the sake of this Very Hilariously Uncomfortable Episode.

While we ruminate on that, let’s look at some Relatable Reactions.

And here we have the holy trinity of “I have just seen the clone of my deceased parent/parental figure/lover.”

Featuring: Bonus ‘I’m Almost Over It’ Pearl

Also, I need y’all to make this into a meme:

For example:

Anyway, alright, alright.

That relatable feel when your (hot) dead lesbian lover’s clone asks you if you’re okay after another one of the (less hot?) clones offers you a whole ass stick of butter to eat.

And then you and your friends all hide in the bathroom to talk about your feelings:

Okay, the rest of the episode gives me FEELINGS and I love how hard Steven is trying, so I’ll just close it off with:

I LOVE THEM. Unironically, they are EVERYTHING I had hoped Rose Quartz would be. They’re SO MUCH like Rose herself - did she model her personality after them? Or are they just like her because she WAS like that, and they’re made from her essence? WHO KNOWS?! They’re adorable!

And the conflict between them and Steven is honestly so gooD! I don’t know if it’s completely relatable but I’m glad they ended up talking it out.

I wonder if we’ll ever see Her again... you know who I’m talkin’ about.

Her....

I’m madly in love with Rose, ok, I don’t need a callout post. Just leave me be.

EP 4: VOLLEYBALL

Alright, alright, alright.

OKAy,.... It’s fine. It’s FINE. I’m fINE.

Confirmed: 8000 years. That’s. UH. A LOT? That puts our timelines quite a ways back. We kind of estimated as much, but still, it’s so jarring to think about. And PP is VERY casual about it.

She’s also VERY casual about the injury.

“This is all Pink Diamond!”

It doesn’t seem like it bothers her to talk about it at all. She’s not even trying to keep it a secret. So I’m almost wondering - was there a connection to her being taken by White and the injury at all or not?

She came to Steven to get healed - she clearly wants it gone. At the time she was injured, did Pink not even attempt to heal the injury?

Follow up question: If she DID care, why didn’t she try to heal it?

Follow up to the follow up: Was it because she didn’t know she could? Or did she simply not have the time to (White removed her before she could)?

When Steven goes pink, she gasps - but makes no further comment. It’s presumably because she’s seen this happen before. She doesn’t try to move away, weirdly enough - she asks him if everything is alright. Perhaps the context is too different for it to be triggering for her. Perhaps there’s more layers to it? HMMM.

What follows is, perhaps, the SALTIEST we’ve seen Pearl since Greg rolled around.

“Did you come to compete?”

This is doubly curious to me because Crewniverse has previously explicitly stated that Pearl was NOT in love with Pink Diamond. She was in love with Rose. So if this is true, why would Pearl care about her place as Pink’s Pearl? She is supposed to be past all that, isn’t she?

And yet as time goes on, the salinity grows exponentially. Alright, you two, I know you’re Pearls but tone it down with the sass.

(Also, I’m sorry but I will NEVER call her Volleyball. That’s all. Bye.)

Also it’s worth noting that... PP is clearly VERY much in love with Pink.

This is, perhaps, where the lack of a grudge plays into it. She’s completely enamoured.

Moreover, she’s VERY casual about how she talks here. This isn’t exactly how one talks of their Diamond. This is how people talk about their romantic partners. She calls Pink silly, calls her ‘funny’. That’s not exactly a term of respect - it’s way more intimate than that.

Also, did anyone else notice how, although CG Pearl’s gem is usually shaded in teal, it’s in Pink in this episode? VEEEERY subtle, Crew.

Also, we can’t quite see Pink Pearl’s expression fully here because her working eye isn’t visible, which makes it hard to get a read on things like

“I’m older than you.“ Is she just saying it casually? Or is she fully aware that she’s poking fun at CG Pearl?

HI SHELL. ISN’T IT FUNNY HOW YOUR VOICE AND YOUR NAME ARE A SUBTLE NOD TO PORTAL, WHICH IS FORESHADOWING HOW BADLY THIS IS GONNA END.

Meanwhile, Pearl continues to be in character.

“No need to be overly... attached.”

And this has nothing to do with anything but

she cute

Aaaand now it’s creepy again.

The rest of this is super important so let’s get to it:

“Oh, no. Pink did this.”

“What did you say?”

“It’s a funny story, really. Once, Pink got tired of asking Yellow and Blue for her own colony, so she went straight to White. Of course, White told her she wasn’t fit to run one... and well! That set her off.”

“Set her off? What are you talking about?”

“You remember how she was! With her destructive powers, throwing tantrums left and right! She had a scream that could crack the walls. She didn’t mean to hurt me! (giggle) I just happened to be standing too close to her that time and--”

And then Steven interrupts.

We get more CG Pearl arguing for how wrong this image of Pink is to her. What CG Pearl knew was a totally different (or, well, same, but VERY changed) Pink.

But what we have to prove our point is Steven himself. He rolls into the EXACT same state as Pink presumably did - and begins to over-use his powers.

(This isn’t the first time we have seen him use this attack.)

The reactions from the Pearls are telling - this is clearly not Pink Pearl’s first rodeo with this type of Mood.

And it’s important to note that Steven clearly didn’t direct any attack AT them. He simply yelled - and the whole dang place literally started to crack. There’s weight to the argument that possibly, Pink really DIDN’T mean to hurt her Pearl - that she was just collateral damage.

Which doesn’t make it any better, obviously. Even if Pink had no direct intention of hurting her Pearl (and there are theories that Pink purposefully hit or threw Pink Pearl or somehow physically acted directly to damage her, which I was skeptical of) the result of it is still the same.

If you raise your voice and yell, even if you’re just yelling because YOU are hurt/have feelings, you might still hurt the people around you. If you throw a tantrum, even if your direct goal was just to let off some steam without aiming to harm anyone, whoever gets in your way is still the victim.

And this is all very much On Brand for Pink’s timeline as we know it. We already knew this about her - we KNEW she tended to throw tantrums (like in the flashback on Jungle Moon) and that she was childish. The fact that she accidentally hurt her Pearl in the process because she had no self-control at that period in her life comes as no surprise.

(Although it’s important to mention that perhaps hurting her own Pearl WAS the breaking point during which she finally realized how her emotional outbursts could have negative consequences on those around her.)

And this is a very beautiful message - even if Pink Pearl still doesn’t want to blame Pink for what was done to her (”But... she didn’t mean to!”) Pearl brings the point of it back around to her (”But you were still hurt!”) The point isn’t the person who did the hurting - the focus is on the victim and how they were affected.

And the rest, I daresay, is history.

I like the fact that they managed to still bring it back around to the main message:

It isn’t about just “Pink was bad”. It’s about how she did bad things. And there were multiple sides to her - multiple stages. And the Pearls who knew her knew different sides of her - the side that didn’t know how to be a good person, who was selfish and childish and unrestrained... and the side that was, arguable, too restrained. Who hated her own past, her own character and her own mistakes so much that she would rather bury them and keep secrets from everyone.

And neither of those things were good, and neither were healthy, but they are a GREAT contrast to a GREAT character arc that is, arguably, still being unearthed. And we have so much more context for it all now.

I, for one, can’t wait to see and discover more of Pink through Pink Pearl - no matter how ugly that side of her might be. I think it gives great perspective to her later growth.

And if you ship the Pearls.. .well, I get why.

Personally I’m not interested in it that way. Call me unromantic - I don’t think their relationship NEEDS to be shippy in order to be satisfyingly deep. I love the idea of them having a deep bond over this - a shared past, a shared experience, and gaining confidence through one another.

Cheers and thanks for listening!

#steven universe future #steven universe: future #steven universe future spoilers #su:f spoilers #suf spoilers #su spoilers #steven universe spoilers #spoiler warning #pink pearl #volleyball

4K notes · View notes

himbohargreeves · 4 years

Text

Could we start again, please?

Summary: After the most hectic three months of his life, Diego finally gets a chance to speak to Eudora again, even if it wasn't the way he wanted.

Word Count: 2176

Square Filled: Funeral

Characters: Diego Hargreeves, Klaus Hargreeves

Warnings: Mentions of death, mentions of alcohol, season 2 spoilers

A/N: The ninth and final entry for @tuacreatorsbingo!!

You can read it here, or on my AO3

It had been eight days now since Diego had found the envelope addressed to him sitting on the mat by the front door. It was unusual for three reasons. One: He hadn’t received any mail in over twelve years. Two: He hadn’t been registered at his childhood home in over twelve years. And three: He didn’t recognise the handwriting on the envelope. Every day since then, he’d woken up, read over the card inside, and put off his decision for another day. Today, though, he couldn’t do that, because now he’d run out of days.

He read over the gold, embossed words for the hundredth time.

Detective Eudora Patch

Dec 1983 - Mar 2019

Funeral Service

Apr 15 - 10AM

He wasn’t going to the funeral service. That at least he was sure about. For starters, people would want to know how his hair had grown five inches in two weeks, and even with the charges dropped, he was pretty sure there was a good number of people who still thought he was the one who killed her. No, the real question was whether he would go to the burial.

Two days ago he’d decided he absolutely, categorically, wasn’t going. Yesterday he decided he definitely was. Today… he wasn’t sure anymore. Part of him felt like he was probably the last person she’d want to be there, another part felt like he owed it to her. He wasn’t there for her when she needed him, so the least he could do was be there now. Still, there were so many other complications if he did go. What would he do when he got there? Should he bring flowers, or was that tacky? What flowers would he even bring? She always had sunflowers in her kitchen… but she also liked bluebells… and daffodils… Okay now he was definitely overthinking the flower thing.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, he tossed the card aside and got to his feet.

He wasn’t going.

He rifled through his closet for a shirt.

Maybe just for five minutes. Just to pay his respects.

He’d slept in his jeans last night. Christ, he needed to get his life together.

No. Nope. Not going.

He tugged his boots on, threw open the door, and headed down the stairs.

Just a quick walk-by, no big deal.

About ten paces down the street he started having second? Third? Twenty eighth thoughts? But he pushed them out of his mind, trying to find something else to focus on instead. It was cold out despite the sunshine, and he was starting to regret not throwing a jacket on before he left. This was always Eudora’s favourite time of year. When the sun was out and the flowers were growing, but it was still cool enough to wear a sweater. Actually, she seemed to love every time of year. She had a way of romanticising everything; of finding beauty in the mundane. She made him appreciate things he’d never thought worthy of appreciating before. That, at least, would stay with him, even now that the rest of her was gone. He could still notice the way the frost on the grass caught the sunlight and sparkled like diamonds, and smile at a squirrel bouncing across the road and into the bushes. Just little things that he’d never thought he was capable of before he met her.

He reached the cemetery a lot sooner than he’d hoped, and he lingered by the gates for a few minutes psyching himself up before finally heading inside. It was a huge place, with trodden pathways weaving in and out of the headstones. He wandered aimlessly until he spotted a small huddle of people gathering further down the path. His latest plan had been a quick walk-by, but he found himself getting closer, leaning against a nearby tree that was close enough for him to see what was going on, but far enough away to avoid being spotted.

It looked like he’d already missed the coffin being lowered, which he was silently relieved about. Seeing her coffin would have made it too real. He could pick out Chuck, and a few other guys from the station in the crowd, Eudora’s mom, who he’d met once and made just about the worst impression possible on, and her sister, who looked like a ghost of Eudora, only with glasses and shorter hair. There was an older man who must have been her grandfather, and a couple standing with her mom who he assumed were the aunt and uncle she’d told him about once. She talked a lot about her family and how close knit they all were, pretty much the polar opposite of his own family at the time, and a few times he’d found himself wondering what it would be like to be part of that. But that possibility was buried in the ground with her, and he was pretty sure the rest of her family would have some choice words for him if they saw him here.

He had no idea how much time had passed when the crowd finally started to disperse, but his fingers were starting to go numb from the cold and his arm was aching from leaning against the tree. One by one the group made their way back down the pathway, filing into waiting cars at the gates, leaving him alone with thousands of headstones and one mound of earth. He should be leaving too, but her headstone looked so lonely without her family there, and now that he was here it seemed rude to leave without at least walking past. So, after checking, and then double checking, that there was nobody else around, he headed over.

“Hey, Dor,” He said quietly as he approached, sitting on the damp grass by the stone and taking a deep breath.

The headstone looked expensive, made of jet black polished granite. He wasn’t sure it’s what she would have picked out for herself, given the choice, but then there were still a lot of things he didn’t know about her.

“I don’t know if you’ve uh… been hanging around these last few weeks, but it’s been pretty crazy.”

Suddenly he wished he’d taken a little more interest in Klaus’ powers when they were younger. He knew ghosts existed, but he didn’t know much about how they actually worked. Were there rules? Could they only stay in certain places? Even if she was a ghost and she could go where she wanted, why would she give a shit about what he’d been doing anyway?

“I grew my hair out.” That was a stupid thing to say. “Saved the world a couple of times.” He sighed, slumping against the stone and hanging his head. “Things have gotten so messed up since you left. You’d think I was making it up if I told you.”

She wouldn’t. He knew she wouldn’t. Somehow, no matter how insane his situation was, she always believed him. Maybe that was why he often found himself telling her things he never thought he’d ever tell anyone.

“Okay, so, those freaks in the masks? Turns out they work for some super-secret time travelling organisation that monitors everything to try and preserve the timeline. And Five worked for them too. And Vanya? My sister with no powers? She does have powers, and she accidentally blew up the moon, so we had to time travel to fix everything but instead we got stuck in the sixties, and I got stuck in an asylum and uh… met this girl, Lila. We had a sort of… thing going on, but then it turned out she was working for The Commission too… and also had powers like us. And uh… so basically Vanya almost started a nuclear war, and we stopped it, and now we’re back here.” He paused, chewing on his lip for a moment. “Oh, and we accidentally screwed up the timeline so bad we created an alternate universe. But we fixed that too so… everything’s fine now, I guess.”

Maybe it was just his imagination, but it didn’t feel as cold sitting with her. The logical part of his brain knew it was probably just the headstones blocking some of the wind, but it was nice to imagine that maybe she was listening, probably rolling her eyes at how ridiculous his life was and lecturing him about what she would have done differently. She’d always had a hidden competitive streak. If he stopped two apocalypses, she’d have to stop three. And she could. She would have stopped ten doomsdays by now if he’d been the one to die instead of her, and then maybe everyone would have been better off.

He should have brought some flowers.

“I really miss you,” He admitted, lowering his voice even though there was nobody else around. “I forgot, for a little while. The last three months have been so crazy I barely had time to think about it. But now I’m back here and… and I don’t know what to do anymore. I thought about going back to the whole vigilante thing, but I don’t think the other guys will be as forgiving about me messing up their crime scenes. And bugging you at work was always half the fun anyway.”

There was a lot more he could say, but he could feel the emotions starting to bubble up so he kept quiet. He ran his fingers over the grass and took in the flowers people had laid over her grave. There were roses, carnations, and a bouquet of bright pink lilies. She once told him she could never have lilies in the house because of her allergies, and his fingers itched to move them away from her, despite knowing how stupid that would be.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by the sound of footsteps approaching in the grass, and he quickly started looking for the quickest exit route. The panic faded again as the footsteps grew closer. He recognised the clumsy pattern of steps, so light that it was as though the feet were barely making contact with the ground, and the faint smell of cigarettes.

“What are you doing here?” He asked before Klaus had a chance to announce himself.

“Speed dating,” Klaus sat flatly, dropping unceremoniously to the ground with a heavy thud as he sat next to him. “I found the invite in your room. Thought you might need some company.”

“I don’t,” He mumbled.

“I thought you might say that too.” Klaus leant back on his hands and looked over at him. “But I’m here anyway, so suck it up, tough guy.”

Diego let out a frustrated huff, though secretly he was thankful for the distraction.

“What were you doing in my room?”

“I wanted to borrow a couple of your shirts.”

“You mean steal them?”

“Tomato tomato.” Klaus shrugged. “Old habits die hard, I guess. And anyway, if you don’t want people to steal your shirts, maybe you should stop buying nice shirts.”

He grinned at him and Diego tried to force a smile back, but it can’t have been too successful because Klaus’ face immediately softened again.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“It wasn’t your fault. You know that, right?”

Diego looked up at him. “I never said it was.”

“No, but I know how your brain works,” Klaus said, waving his hand as he spoke. “You hero types think every tragedy is your personal responsibility, but sometimes bad things just happen. And I didn’t know your friend very well but, speaking from a wealth of experience, I know most dead people don’t want their loved ones to wallow in regret for the rest of their lives.”

Somehow, that made him feel a little better, or maybe it was just the sheer ridiculousness of what Klaus was saying that made him smile. Either way, it eased some of the guilt, and he found himself trying to talk himself out of the question he desperately wanted to ask.

“Have you…” He paused, chewing on his lip. “I mean, I don’t know, can you…”

“I haven’t seen her,” Klaus said, putting him out of his misery.

He felt a strange mixture of disappointment and relief at that, nodding slowly. “That’s good, right? That means she’s not stuck down here?”

“Either that or she’s avoiding me.”

“That’d be understandable.”

Klaus grinned. “There! You sound like you again,” He said, punching his shoulder lightly. “Wanna go get dangerously drunk?”

“It’s noon.”

“And?”

Shaking his head, Diego got to his feet. “I need to get some flowers,” He said, rolling his eyes at Klaus’ desperate, puppy dog expression. “And I’m gonna need your help, because I have no idea what I’m doing.”

He didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to Eudora with Klaus enthusiastically tugging on his arm, but he didn’t think she’d mind. She always used to tell him he should try to reconnect with his family, and this was probably the first time he’d ever actually listened to her advice.

#the umbrella academy #tuacreatorsbingo #tua fanfic #my fics #diego hargreeves #klaus hargreeves #river writes #tua2 #did I almost cry like 10 times writing this? perhaps #[through tears] IVE BEEN LIVING TO SEE YOU.. DYING TO SEE YOU BUT IT SHOULDN'T BE LIKE THIS #THIS WAS UNEXPECTED.. WHAT DO I DO NOW? OH COULD WE START AGAIN PLEASE?#I'VE BEEN VERY HOPEFUL SO FAR.. NOW FOR THE FIRST TIME I THINK WE'RE GOING WRONG #HURRY UP AND TELL ME THIS IS JUST A DREAM. OH COULD WE START AGAIN PLEASE?#I THINK YOU'VE MADE YOUR POINT NOW #YOU'VE EVEN GONE A BIT TOO FAR TO GET THE MESSAGE HOME #BEFORE IT GETS TOO FRIGHTNING WE OUGHT TO CALL A HALT.. SO COULD WE START AGAIN PLEASE?

61 notes · View notes

thedumbguywithaheart43 · 3 years

Text

BoomLords weird adventure

Chapter 5 reluctant companions

Rairty spoke up."excuse me darling what is the crazy stallion saying?"Twilight was spaced out for a moment trying to process what she had just done. Apon realizing Rairty was speaking she snapped back to reality."what oh Rairty. Sorry uh he was talking about me helping him to uh shit"She blinked, wincing as she couldn't get the thought of what she had just done out of her head. She didn't intend to create Rose fire in fact in that moment she had wanted to kill him to render the flesh from his bone, it was as if another creature had entered her head for a moment and fueled her rage."I think I have to go with him."before she could explain why."WHAT ARE YOU TAKING ABOUT HE JUST MESSED WITH YOU AND THE PRINCESSES HEADS!"rainbow yelled."I merely showed them what they wanted to know however to be honest I didn't expect this to happen. I had been looking for the rose fire in every world every terrifying, every cruel, and every unforgiving place in the Omniverse. But it turns out all I had to do was accidentally induced fear and rage into a horse."the pony stared at him for a moment."He's telling the truth and now that we know what's at stake we have no choice but to help."Celestia stated her tone was dark however as if she was doing something she wasn't so sure she wanted to."h-how long until it happens?"Boom and Celestia stared at each other for a moment. It was clear Boom really didn't want to answer this."could be days could be another year time works differently for me but if I had to give a rough estimate maybe a year or two or less."Celestia took a gulp of air as she looked to her fellow ponies. She looked as if she was holding back tears."my little ponies I ask no I beg you all to go with him this is no longer a matter in my control and I cannot force you to partake in this. What he is asking is dangerous beyond anything any of you have ever faced and while he may only require Twilight I would never send my student alone into what I was shown."this time no one spoke not even dash because when princess Celestia tells you shits about to go down it's going to go fuckin down. And in unison without hesitation without regret without fear all the ponies and Spike responded"were in!"boom looked at the group of ponies a look of discontent on his face."fuckin great I'm babysitting a whole party."most of the ponies ignored what he said with the exception of rainbow dash and Applejack."hey no one asked you"dash got in his face while AJ got close next to her."yeah that's right and don't think we're going to take our eyes off you for a minute partner. Not after what you just pulled.

2 spike walked over to the stallion cautiously"so how are we leaving? I mean you said we had to leave."well you see that's why I'm going to need my notepad and Pen also my satchel if you don't mind."a look of confusion re-entered the faces of everyone."oooo are you gonna draw us amagical portal to another dimension?"pinky blurted out as a few of the others started to chuckle."actually that's a pretty accurate assessment of what I'm about to do, in fact spot on."Twilights jaw nearly dropped as BoomLord began scribbling on the paper. Boomlord had drawn a nearly perfect circle on a piece of the notepads paper and in the center of it wrote the words, °home space°as he took the pen off the paper another electric golden ring started to form, the area within beginning to blacken about 10 ft away."okay everybody we're about to leave but don't worry I can send us back to this exact point in time give or take a few minutes so while we may be gone for who knows how long to the princesses it will only be a couple minutes."Boom that hope this comment would calm them however they're confusion only broaden. 'God how are they going to react when they all change'

3 boom was the first to enter the portal then Twilight followed by Pinky, rainbow,Applejack, rarity Fluttershy, and lastly young Spike. Boomlord looked down at himself. He was human again his blue jeans and thick yellow hoodie once again with him. Pulling back the sleeve he saw that the green fur that once covered his body was gone replaced with his light taned skin. Okay I hope everybody's ready for some exposition and descriptions. Boomlord looked back at the ponies first up was Twilight she had grown into a human form unsurprisingly. Her mane or I guess her hair had stayed the same she had fairly pale white skin and a few smalls freckles adorning her face she was also fairly short compared to Boom. Boom knew his height was about 5'7 give or take so Twilight had to be about 5'4 or 5'3 she wore a purple t-shirt and a darker purple skirt with pants to go with it all put together with very nice sneakers which all the girls have with the exception of rarity and Applejack. Pinky on the overhand was definitely much taller than Twilight in fact she was about the same height as boom. She wore a striped blue and pink shirt with a polka dot skirt and light pink leggings she had average white skin no major tan or anything although she did have pink nail polish on. Dash was next she still had her rainbow hair but she was on the shorter end with Twilight only being a inch or so taller along with fairly tanned skin as if she's been spending her days at the beach. She wore a plain blue sleeveless top and jean shorts her wings were also noticeably missing the same with Fluttershy. Speaking of Fluttershy her outfit was rather green she wore a green t-shirt with a yellow peace symbol on it and long jeans. Additionally in her hair she had is a flower crown witch she probably took off, besides that her skin was also fairly tanned. Applejack definitely took the show with her outfit she was wearing thick brown leather gloves and a brown leather vest with tassels on it. Underneath the vest was a plain white shirt covered in bits of brown dirt, and long stylish cowboy print jeans and good old-fashioned cowgirl boots. Applejack skin was also the most tanned being she was definitely the one who spent the most time outdoors. Also she and rainbow dash were the only ones with noticeable er muscle growth as even through their outfits they still kept their physical physique. Applejack and Fluttershy we're definitely the tallest of the group with Fluttershy being 5'8 and Applejack being at least 6'2.Lastly of the girls we have rarity wearing a clean white shirt with stylish blue diamond print in it, and a rather long dress to accompany it. Along her neck was a rather lovely diamond necklace and alot Lower down beautiful high heels. She also had the darkness pigment of her skin when compared to everyone else. Also sorry if that's not politically correct I'm not entirely sure what the correct term is now. Do feel free to let me know. As soon as the girls walk through the portal though most of them with the exception of Twilight who seemed almost familiar with the sensation of walking on two legs fell to the ground."oh no whats happing?"Pinky yelled and she started crawling on all fours along with Fluttershy. Dash and Applejack were occupied with balancing themselves on a desk next to them and rarity had somehow crawled her way to a sofa and dramatically pose."oh darling what has happened to us?"boomlord rolled his eyes as he knew he was going to have to teach them how to be human it also occurred to him where the hell was spike.

4 Then he saw it or well him. Unlike his fellow ponies Spike didn't turn into a human and no he did not turn into a dog. This isn't Equestria girls guys turning into a dog is really dumb and I already have one in the story. Spike's body had remained reptilian however he's noticeably taller now at least about Twilights size inner current form his body seemed to get longer and his claws along with it. His face has narrowed Abit becoming far more similar to his dragon freinds with the exception that he had a much longer neck which allowed him to survey his own body. Put it simply he looks more like what a small dragon would look like in our world if they existed."woah I look really cool!"spike yelled in excitement."ponies don't talk where I'm from so the portal has adjusted your body's to something a bit more familiar to me that I have set and in Spike's case I already had something in mind for dragons." Ponies now began to look around their surroundings. They notice they seemed to be in a rather decent sized living room a few desks a television ,yellow rug, a few lamps. The room seemed mostly normal only the walls and floor and ceiling all looked the same. It looks like the inside of a treehouse and where there was a window there was no... Well anything just an empty void."welcome to my home away from home a little place I made outside of the Omniverse and what I like to call free space, basically this entire place is an extension of a thought everything here with the exception of a few items were made from nothing. No magic and no magical effects can be taken here with the exception of the notepad so sorry girls but your wings and horns are temporarily unavailable don't worry when we go to other worlds you should be able to use them."Twilight rapidly blinked as she didn't expect well boom to look rather nice. He still had rather unkempt hair and the rings under the eyes but here the black in his eyes were gone however his irises remained red and gold. He had a warm smile or a warm fake smile and while definitely wasn't the biggest guy around he still had a rather fit physique. And the rarity was the first to comment on that"oh boom darling you look um..... Better than I would have thought."boom roll his eyes."well im far more comfortable like this."the girls who were having trouble standing took a few minutes to themselves to start copying the motions of Twilight who began pacing."uh hey are we safe here."like asked while moving around the girls who were rather surprised to see him as they did not expect such a change."spike looking badass today."rainbow dash teased.spike blushed slight as Boomlord spoke."well girls work going to have to set some ground rules since it looks like you'll be staying with me for a while."

(Oh one more thing because I know you're all wondering or at least some of you are wondering.

Breasts size from largest to smallest :Applejack dd followed by pinkie and Fluttershy then Rairty.twlight has the average size and rainbow dash is flat but that doesn't make her any less of a woman)

(not sure why I felt the need to put that there but I feel like some people just had to know)

#fanfic #mlp #writing #comedy #slightly saucy

3 notes · View notes

tokoyamisstuff · 4 years

Text

Four Seasons Pt. 1 out of 4 - Spring

After the pretty vague request of a sweet little Anon:

Pt. 1 - Blooming Love

Summary: Collection of shorts about how you spent a surprisingly normal year at the Stark Tower with the Avengers - except for the fact that you somehow got the God of Mischief to take a liking to you.

Warnings: None. No kinky shit, sorry guys. No Angst either. Just pure Fluff.

Words: 2880

(I think I’ve wrote everything gender neutral but I’m not sure. Maybe I forgot sth, let me know!)

Masterlist to my other Fics right ->Here<-

On a morning ike this, it was hard for you to be asleep for too long.

Rays of sun had already softly woken you up, reminding you that this day would be a special one.

Even though you would’ve loved to sleep late on your day off, your racing heartbeat pumped adrenaline through your veins the very moment your lover’s image shot into your head.

He was the last thing you thought of when you’d close your eyes, and the first thing when a new day began.

Still a bit sleep drunk, you did your usual morning stretches and enjoyed a long shower before you tried to make yourself looking as formidable as possible.

Wandering along the still empty streets of New York, you enjoyed the relaxing silence, while whistling carelessly together with the birds in the trees.

Colours, sounds, even thoughts - that feeling when you were in love, it made everything seem even brighter.

It sounded ridiculous, really - but you had been invited for brunch with the Avengers.

When you arrived at the giant sky scrapper, you’d rummage in your bag to get the ID card Tony handed you and shoved it into the face of the security guard.

“Welcome, Y/N” a robotic voice you recognized to be F.R.I.D.A.Y. greeted you, “But I have to inform that you’re quite early. The other team members are still fast asleep.”

“I’m not a team member” you thought to yourself as you smiled into one of the security cameras, as means to greet it back. The lower floors were completely empty on sundays, being mostly offices and other rooms made for Tony’s employees.

Walking through the pomporous entrance hall, seeing so many monitors and advertisment (of which most of it was Tony’s self-glorification), you could only think about how all of this was way too flashy, too modern for your taste, but well...

That’s just Tony’s taste. His home, his rules. And to a certain extend, you thought, giggling audibly, Loki and him were alike - both full of pride and, if you wanted to be mean, you could say they were little showoffs.

And since last time when you invited them to your flat they almost destroyed everithing during their friendly little strenght battles, you thought it’d be better if from now on you’d become the visitor instead.

“I wonder what Loki’s room looks like” you pondered when the lift was making it’s way upwards to the highest levels.

You walked straight through the giant living room, trying to sneak past the God of Thunder, who seemed to have fallen asleep while watching Netflix and playing Video Games the whole night - again.

Letting out a little sigh, you closed the kitchen door behind you and asked F.R.I.D.A.Y. to play some music as you started to collect the needed kitchen utensils.

Good thing Bucky bought everything you asked of him. Going grocery shopping sounded so easy for every normal human being, yet to Bucky, it was part of his rehabilitation process and you knew it didn’t came easy to him to be in great crowds of people, all by himself.

So you were really relieved that your worries seemed to have been unnecessary.

Actually, Tony wanted to just buy something for breakfast. You’ve never heared of a brunch delivery - even though in your mind it was a damn good idea - but you guessed it was nothing unusual for a man that rich.

He could probably get anything he wanted by just waving his hand - another thing he and Loki had in common, only through different ressources.

But well, it didn’t really feel like work to you. Putting a little effort into telling your newfound friends “Thanks for having me”, was almost as much fun to you as actually spending time with them.

You loved showering those you care about with love and attention, which was probably why you were simply made for that touch-starved, affectionate alien.

Soon, your hum turned into loud singing as you swept across the kitchen counter and prepared all kinds of food. Hours rushed past and still no sign of life from the others, but you didn’t care.

Suddenly, you heared a loud snort coming from the doorframe, startling you to an extend that made you stumble together with a bowl filled with strawberries.

You had already protectively covered your head with your hands - but were confused when you didn’t feel yourself hit the ground.

Looking up, there he was, giving you his usual, smug grin - Loki.

He was holding you tight with his one arm, and even caught the bowl with his other, not even one berrie having hit the ground.

“Oh my” he started, “How clumsy you are.”

The god put the plate on the table and gently helped you get back on your feet, holding your hands thight.

Immediately, you felt your head getting as red as the fruit, finding yourself at loss for words.

He still held your hand, leading one of them to his lips so he could place a tender kiss onto it’s back. “I’m sorry, my love. I didn’t mean to startle you.”

Your shocked features relaxed and you gave him a warm smile as response. “It’s okay, darling.” He secretly loved that nickname - but that’d remain his little secret.

“But why didn’t you wake me up?” While you were already working again, having seen the time, Loki would aimlessly walking besides you. “At least let me help.”

Without you even having time to answer, just a flick of his fingers made the silverware reappear at the table.

“I didn’t know a prince would know how to cook. And also, I didn’t want to bother you that early.” At first he thought you were joking, but it seemed like you really didn’t know much about him.

After all, you’ve only been a couple for a short period of time. It’s only natural that you don’t know such details about life in the palace.

All that was part of his past, and you always said that his future was your privilege.

It was love at first sight, if one believed in that kind of thing.

You were invited to one of Tony’s “reputation-boosting” parties. As a member of one of New York’s greatest newspapers, it was only naturally for you to get invited.

There you were, a fresh reporter, standing in the same room as this surreal troup. Since you mostly worked from home, writing columns and being responsible for a small part of the newspaper’s website, working in the field didn’t come quite naturally to you.

But that shouldn’t ruin your evening.

Everything on you looked stunning, and you knew it.

The wardrobe you chose for tonight, the way you made you hair - it all was perfect for a celebration this formal.

Usually, you didn’t really give a damn about other people’s opinions, and neither you were one to judge someone’s outer appearance.

No, you rather did this for yourself. To boost your confidence, make this special occasion worth remembering.

You were shining, like a shooting star or a freshly polished diamond - and someone else noticed.

Many glances got stuck on you that evening, with one exceptional one glued to you without you noticing .

Until you disappeared to the bar, he basically stared holes into your back. And that man was a mastermind at magic tricks, so even though you were watching him as well, you’d never realize that your eyes met so many times before.

On Asgard, Loki had attended countless of such gatherings. Yet this one was sheer boring - not to talk about the fact that estimately 90% of the people in this hall would either want to see him rotting in jail, or worse.

So he just stood there, nipping on his drink as he stood at the edge of the troup, his brother being at the very center. Everyone was giving interviews or talked to fans, while he patiently waited for this event to be over.

“I’m sorry” a voice directed to him all of a sudden, carefully tapping his back. It was you.

“What?” he retorted, raising an eyebrow. He didn’t mind a magnificent beauty as you approaching him, but it was a mistery why you’d do such a thing.

“Could...umm...would you take a selfie with me? Please?”

His eyes widened in surprise as he saw your pleading eyes, shyly trying to avoid meeting his as you crossed your arms behind your back. “Only if you want to, of course.”

When he took in your appearance, he took notice of the journalist pass around your neck - and it was even more interesting than your unexpected request:

“You areY/N Y/L/N?”

“Y-Yes. Why?” Your cheeks changing to a shade of pink, there was only to hope he didn’t read-

He touched his chin, as if hardly thinking about something. “If I remember correctly, ,you wrote that certain article about the attack of New York, right?”

Damn.

You’ve always been a fan of norse mythology, and had a special weakness for so-called “anti-heroes”, too. They were just way too relatable. So it was only natural for you to write an article about that certain event.

In your earlier works, you’d basically write about how that guy’s misunderstood and philosophize about not only seeing black and white, because there was also a lot of grey zones in the clash of good and evil.

There were also parts where you worked together with psychologists and moral scientists to assess the god and his deeds, coming to the conclusion that even though we might learn something from the incident, the objectives of gods were far too great to understand for us mere mortals. And that was only the beginning...

How f*cking embarassing.

“That’s right” you stuttered, panicking and already trying to leave. “Sorry, I didn’t want to be impolite. I’ll make my leave.”

“Don’t be a fool” he whispered out of the blue, pulling you towards him. “I was quite flattered to have at least a single admirer amongst the human race.”

Planning to give his probably only fan a memory he’d never forget, Loki put his palm on your lower back, kneeling down to your height so you could take the photo. “Shall we?”

It felt like an eternity until your trembling hands would finally get that cellphone out of your pocket, but Loki realized your struggle and took it - his arms were way longer than yours anyway. “May I?” “Yeah, uh- Thank you.”

His appearance almost had a childlike innocence to it when he posed for these photos - a personal gift to you.

Turning your head, your eyes met once again, both faces being mere inches apart. It didn’t seem like he was mocking you, rather enjoying himself right now. You could feel it.

And at that very moment, the two of you simultaneously began to laugh, loudly and heartily before getting lost in each others eyes - and to this day, it would be your favourite photo.

“I think the two of us could have very enlightening conversations, don’t you think?” the sorcerer declared as he watched you swipe through the photos, a satisfied smile playing on your lips. “If you want to go somewhere more interesting, I’d be a honour to guide you to a room with more privacy.”

One nod of you and just like that, in the midst of the festives, the two of you disappeared together, without anyone taking notice.

You had found yourself on top of the stark tower, being able to watch the whole city from the roof. Stars stretched far beyond the horizon, making the lights of the city seem so insignificant.

And on the end of that evening, the Prince of Asgard even managed to steal his first kiss from you - even though only on the cheek.

None of you knew what the two of you just started, or what you should await for the future - but Loki could voice both of your hopes very well:

“I think this is the beginning of something unimaginably fulfilling.”

Lokis words brought you back to the present:

“What’s sleeping worth if the real dream is right here at my side?”

While you were standing at the stove, making some more pancakes, Loki would embrace you from behind, his nose nestling against your neck, making you shiver.

“How cheeky” you mumbled as both of you turned your head so your cheeks could touch.

“You foolish humans just don’t appreciate real romance anymore.” With those words, he’d kiss your temple as he changed his appearance into what resembled a cook. “Now finally, by the gods, let me help you!”

“Yeah, yeah, I see. You’re such a gentleman. And a comedian, too. Maybe you could prepare the scrambled eggs?”

“Your wish is my command, my lady.”

While you watched him eagerly trying to crack the eggs without getting all the shells into the pan, your head shifted back to that first night.

If you looked at him right now, no one would believe you that he’s a literal god, a master of the magical arts and a sharpwittted combatant.

But back then, on that rooftop of the Stark Tower, you knew that no matter what exactly he was, and what secrets e’d still be keeping to himself - you wanted to know anything about this man.

And it was set in stone that you’d fell in love with every facade of him.

A little bit exhausted, you let yourself fall onto the sofa in the living room. Thor has probably gone for his early training, and there was no one else to be seen either - all of them seemed to have been sleeping late.

It was a wonder no one had smelled the food and simply annihilate it even faster than it had been prepared. But when you watched the whole scenery at the kitchen table, you were pretty damn proud of yourself.

“Truly magnificent” Loki commented as he sat down next to you, adding “You must value your companions very much.”

“Maybe I was just trying to impress you, you know.” You rested your head at the most comfortable place possible - Loki’s lap, while he gently stroke your hair. “You’ve done well, little one. But you don’t have to go to such lenghts to impress me. My respect is meant only for you.”

He pressed a gentle kiss onto your temple before leaning onto the backrest, wondering “How about we just disappear? A day for just the two of us?”

“Well...” you pondered as you got up, your hand still resting on his knee “I wanted to go for a walk in the park. Maybe you’re up for a traditional picknick?”

Loki’s face contorted in disapproval, which only caused you to blurt out a laugh and pinch his nose. “What’s wrong now, moaning minnie? Not fancy enough?”

“You call that cheap excuse of nature a place someone wants to be? Oh my, I wish you could’ve seen the royal gardens of Asgard.” You knew he missed his home painfully, even though he used to say that you were his home from now on, and he wouldn’t need anything else. It was hard to adapt to an environment that alien to him.

Suddenly, like he did many times before, he cupped your cheeks with his hands, his fingertips only barely touching your temples, assuming “Or maybe, I can show you...”

You felt his magic flow through you, projecting the most beautiful images directly into your head. It was like you could wander those woods yourself, feel the grass onto your feet and smell flowers you’ve never seen before.

There were no words for the bond that two of you shared at that moment, when he let you into the core of his very self, letting you see his memories through your eyes.

Calmness began to settle in both of you, exhaling deeply before your eyes met once again.

“That was amazing, Loki. You are amazing.”

“I don’t have much to offer, my love. But I’m willing to share everything remotely positive with you, Y/N.”

You could feel the cold he was radiating, his fastened breath on your skin. His hands still on your face, you were even able to feel his heart racing through his veins.

Finally, the glimmer in your eyes hinting consent, he’d slowly move himself closer to you, not letting go of you for one second. His hold got tighter as your lips were just about to meet, when-

“Oh my GOD! Guys, they’re finally at it!” Scott yelled through the whole hallway, and you could hear metaphorically a thousand doors opening in response. He was still wearing his Frozen-Pyjama, holding a mug with Natasha’s forbiddenly strong coffee in his hand.

It was so intriguing to them, how anyone could win the heart of the God of Lies -until he met you, they were doubting he even had one. So in an instant, the whole team of superheroes had surrounded you, as if to watch a romantic movie together and waiting for the final sequence.

“I need a coffee before I’m able to deal with you guys.”

“That makes two of us.”

_____

Taglist:

@bepo-is-sorry @fuckthatfeeling @anythingandeverythingmarvel@bucky-fanfiction @blondekel77 @kaneki-fuentes @vxidnik@antboyandbumbblebee @lokis-queen05 @you-like-this-chain@hiei1300 @lilypalmer1987 @andiyholly @elevenismysweetie@uwu-sebastianstan @seasidespecter @you-like-this-chain @your-pixels-are-showing @wildefire @elfprincess81 @escapetheshackles@jellyfishflowers @look-to-the-stars-and-wish @bucky-to-my-barnes @tarithenurse @chennyetomlinson @kenzie-cold-greenkale@jaylarkson @doa1518 @wtfholland @thisgirllikeme @awesome-fangirl-334 @pvnk-bivch @chipilerendi @mandei355 @buckybonky@commissioner23 @remember-padfood @chibiyanai @lost-and-wandering-alone @outcastedghost @cautrida @inumorph@meyoko10 @stargurl16 @trashyemonerd @slutforbuckybarnes@tinytravisty @unknownuserhasjoined @otaku-tater@hiddlestoner3059 @tom-fucking-hiddleston-1981 @lust-for-pan@fruityflies @iamburdened @death-beetles @shaunamart @fire-in-her-veinz @red-writer13 @libbymouse @lokiscure @i-am-always-famished @alexa4444 @4-a-m @indica-witch @lou-makes-me-strong @phasma-trash @hiddlestoner3059 @rocknroll-is-thewaytogo @purpstraw @lovelyangelofasgard @elevenismysweetie@orighami @trashkidsblog @the-resident-demon @littlemartiangurl@thelowkeylokifanblog @za24ever @trubluepensfan @chibiyanai@dsakita @lady-loki-ren @caticorndancingonpainbows @loving-life-my-way @crappyimagines @a-kiddo-with-a-doggo @elwyn7@celestiacq @amor67figment-love @tom-fucking-hiddleston-1981@sweetpeaismylifenow @stanmarvelcu @thewordsinthesky@larryopium @hiei1300 @janepetersonxxx @untoldshortsofthefandoms @lokis-queen05 @saxgirl21 @limedane21 @sparkling-gayyy @lokiscure @getdowntothatfunkysound @emyhonny @randomfandompenguin @marvel-madness @dyanlzbb @inumorph @gian-giannina @chipilerendi @pseudonymfox @neptinite-writings @cautrida @kaneki-fuentes @exhaustedcommonsense @theicecreamhero @killerbumblebee @tarithenurse @sgtbucharest @lokis-helmet @wonderlandteaparty @sweetpeaismylifenow @bionicbishop @red-writer13 @bloodiedskirtts @boohooiamthefool @jackstrenchcoat @chipilerendi @sleeplessnight-pointlessfights @welcomingpayne @crimefightingspiderguy @longlivethereaper @a-wanna-be-emo @lokidoki-e @holy-loki @slutforbuckybarnes @mandei355 @morefics2read @otaku-tater @khatrinaarts

If you want to get on the taglist (or deleted from lmao) feel free to ask! ♡

Feedback is always appreciated!

79 notes · View notes

naturallyweirdedout · 4 years

Text

Okay here I go

The Steven Universe Future Finale Was Not That Great

Just a note this is my own opinion.

Honestly I feel like the finale for SUF was decent at best and lack luster at worst. I’ll break these up into my views on each episode.

Homeworld Bound

Honestly this is one of the two episodes that disappointed me the most in this finale. Intially I went, yay Homeworld! We’ll get to see the Diamonds and Spinel and hopefully they’ll be helpful to Steven. And in all honesty it seemed like, they weren’t even trying. Firstly Spinel. I feel like Rebecca did Spinel really dirty in this episode simply because she was reduced to, comidic relief. And I feel as if that’s such a waste of her character potential. Imagine if every character that had a completed arc was just turned into “oh that goofball who doesn’t know what the fuck they’re talking about”. That’s literally Spinel now. All she does is annoy Steven and well, act like a bafoon. She could’ve offered him some insight, her struggles to change and adjust to her new life and be satisfied with herself. But nope, she simply was there just to annoy the main character and provide nothing useful. Then onto the Diamonds. Another wasted potential in all honesty. Yellow, Blue, and White didn’t even really TRY to help Steven at all. They basically shrugged it off and went ah shit well I can’t do anything for you bud even though we only talked for like 2 minutes and all I did was try to force the only way I know to improve onto you. It feels as if, they were only there just to show Steven “wow look at how these former murders and dictators improved! You sure are shit when compared to them now”. And White. White was the biggest waste compared to Yellow and Blue considering what potential she had. The one who caused all of Steven’s problems and issues. But nope, she was just like “ah Steven just project into me and this is surely to go fine even though you just basically acknowledged you don’t like your Diamond powers and this will most likely not help you”. I feel like this episode would have gone a lot better if the Diamonds and Steven had time to have proper interactions, or even just Steven, Spinel, and White due to the impact those two had on him directly. Just a lot of wasted potential in this episode that could’ve made the episode a lot better in my honest opinion.

Everything’s Fine

Now this episode was the better of the finale episodes, but still had its fair share of flaws. Steven comes back, and he has a good ol fashion mental breakdown essentially and tries to talk himself out of it and reassure himself. Good shit. However my problem was when the Gems showed up. It’s VERY VERY painfully obvious that Steven is not okay. I mean, all they commented on was that he looks weird. The dude literally had DIAMOND EYES. The fact that the FUCKING DIAMOND EYES went the ENTIRE EPISODE ignored just doesn’t make any sense. The Cyrstal Gems and the gems on Little Homeworld should have all been shocked at this but they all act like it’s nothing?? Anyways going to Little Homeworld and trying to act like everything was fine and dandy was really well done. I’m a bit annoyed though at just showing us Pink Pearl but not showing us her eye because that’s just a fucking tease at this point. Anyways, no other complaints really. Steven breaking down at the end was really intense to watch and my heart rate was actually speeding up. But then, that lead to the thing I did not want to happen.

I Am My Monster

To be fucking honest, I should’ve known. I really should have known but I just REALLY didn’t want it to be true. Steven turning into a monster literally is just. Oof. For starters, I do not support the corruption theory and I STILL do not, because what we saw wasn’t corruption. Steven shapeshifted. Corruption was shown to have only two causes. Either an attack on a Gem by Yellow, Blue, and White Diamond OR because of fusing with a corrupted Gem. There was no other hint or sign that a Gem could corrupt for any other reason. And there still is not. Yes Gem’s can poof because of extreme emotional stress and yes Volleyball was so damaged that the trauma manifested physically, but those were not examples that could support the corruption theory. Anyways, for starters I hate the design of Monster Steven. I really wish the color scheme could have been darker because that just would’ve been more aesthetically pleasing but I digress. There were so many ways I wished that the monster in the intro could’ve played a role in the series that didn’t involve Steven being corrupted. Perhaps a sort of mindscape battle between Steven and this monster, perhaps Pink Steven makes a return and turns into this monster and it’s a race against time to return the two Steven’s together, perhaps Pink Steven even took over normal Steven! But nope, it just HAD to be this way. Anyways enough of Monster Steven talk. My other issue was with well, everybody else. For starters, the Diamonds showing up? Convinient as fucking hell considering how a whole episode passed before they showed up again. Secondly, I hate the dismissal of Blue asking if Steven was corrupted or not because gosh shouldn’t we as an audience know what the hell is happening to our protagonist?? Also how did Garnet know that Yellow could make her big? As far as we know, perfecting physical forms is a new ability that Yellow discovered. I really liked Greg finally taking a stand in this episode to save his son, it kinda redeems how he was acting in Mr. Universe. But gosh I just hate how, everything broke into a crying fest? I’m gonna be honest and say that tears are a cheap way to invoke feeling in your audience and it can be overdone when EVERYONE ON SCREEN IS CRYING. And I hate the Diamonds blabbering about how “oh this is all my fault. No, no it’s all MY fault” because just, are you all just now acknowledging that you fucked Steven over. You mean in the entire time you’ve been buddy buddy with Steven you haven’t addressed this to him ONCE?! Bullshit. And Spinel, I was taking her a bit seriously until the fucking cartoonish nose blow then I just gave up with her. Way to degrade one of the best characters this show has provided. And the Cluster was just, deus ex machina. That was REALLY fucking convenient for the Cluster to just show up and help restrain Monster Steven. Anyways that’s all my complaints for that episode, now onto the final one.

The Future

The final episode of the series. Several years worth of progression have led to this point. And it was extremely lack luster. Honestly this episode felt like a fizzling end to the series. I’m glad that Steven decided to move out because honestly fuck that entire town it was harmful to the boy. I’m glad he finally got a therapist too. But this episode was essentially just, a good bye episode? And I feel like that alone cannot drive an episode along. Also Jasper’s character arc was ABSOLUTELY WASTED. Basically her entire arc is just being abused and putting that on repeat up until the end where they just disregard her as “hmph I’m angy now”. The only part of the episode I really liked, or can even properly remember for that sake, was Steven leaving at the very end and hugging the Gems. But tbh, Steven doesn’t have a high school diploma, legal papers, he’s not going to college, and he doesn’t have a job. So can someone tell me. How. Is. He. Gonna. SURVIVE.

Anyways that’s all I have left to say about the finale. Overall I feel pretty dissatisfied with it and this picture describes exactly how I feel.

If you wanna complain to me shout at my main @thespiffyspiffiestspif $5 a complaint

Also @salty-sapphire I got inspired to write a critique by you :) thanks for enlightening me to how legitimately bad this show is.

101 notes · View notes

pennylogue · 4 years

Text

theory about the pink!white we see in the opening

was talking with @fanfoolishness re: steven’s controlling tendencies, mind control powers, diamond parallels, diamond mode, and what it would take for him to realize how bad he’s getting, and an idea emerged.

…what if he possesses white diamond, and that’s what’s going on in the opening? and that’s what finally makes him take a step back and realize how bad he’s gotten?

steven’s mind-control powers, until now, have always been the most objectionable part of his power set…and also the least explored aspect. we’ve seen him astral project a handful of times, but we’ve only seen him possess a non-watermelon person once, with lars.

but we’re learning more steven and pink’s offensive abilities, and they tap into steven’s current issues in some very thematic way. and there’s no way that’s a coincidence, especially when steven got his possession powers like two season ago and never really explored them.

diamond powered tantrums and mind control abilities for the sweet kid with some serious repressed anger issues and controlling tendencies. ho boy. diamond mode is going to amp up the pressure cooker. steven’s going to feel like he has to repress his emotions even further, and that’s going to manifest in a hair-trigger that he has even less control over, and it’s probably going to screw up his fusions as well.

but the mind control stuff? that’s a whole nother, very worrying kettle of fish for someone whose motivations in the past four episodes have been a cocktail of:

1. do this thing i think is good for you because i know better than you

2. let’s just completely ignore how badly what i’m doing is messing with me and my family cause i don’t want to hurt these strangers’ feelings, and no matter what happens i’m going to refuse to listen to anybody and stick to the plan until i physically and mentally cannot take it

3. SHUT UP SHUT UP JUST LET ME FIX THIS SO I DON’T HAVE TO THINK ABOUT ALL THE TERRIBLE THINGS MY MOM DID THAT I CAN’T STOP FEELING GUILTY ABOUT

and the worst part? steven is so unaware of all of this. he’s entirely lacking in perspective. he admits in 1.02 that it was wrong for him to just take over the project, he doesn’t know why he thought this was a good idea. and then he just goes right back to doing the same thing in the following episodes, anyway. (This post by @sweetfaerycherry has some interesting insight plus a few more thoughts from me on how steven’s lingering programming as a diamond could be an influence, since as 1.02 and literally all of canon have shown us, gems have a difficult time divorcing themselves from their original purpose.)

so what would it take for him to go too far? what would finally get through to him?

imagine white diamond wants to do something that is either bad, or that steven perceives as bad. considering their history and that she’s…you know, white diamond, i think she’s one of the few people steven could justify purposely mind controlling to himself. this would have serious thematic importance, considering this would be the first time steven has employed the gem- controlling abilities (the zap, emotions, puppetry) the diamonds all share on a gem, and white so far has been the only diamond who’s had the chutzpah or power to use her abilities effectively on other diamonds. so steven controlling white diamond? um…that would layer onto what happened in cym in some very interesting ways.

so let’s say steven tries to persuade her that she’s wrong, but she won’t listen to him, why won’t anybody listen, he’s NOT useless, he’s just trying to help, he helped everyone before and he still can, he knows what to do, why won’t they just listen? and so? he deliberately possesses her. and everything’s fine, nbd–

except blue and yellow find out what’s going on. and are horrified.

i think that could make him snap. as his “steven-knows-best” gets so bad he literally controls the body of an ex god-empress of a space empire, having the diamonds call him out would hit him where it hurts and pierce right through like nothing else. when ex-dictators that you reformed are going “hey steven you might wanna step back and chill”…yeah. i think that would definitely snap him out of it in a “what am i doing, how could i do this, what have i become” sort of way.

i mean, pink diamond parallels are brutal enough–and the controlling tendencies are definitely something pink had as well, they’re something that all diamonds share–but white diamond parallels? fucking save him.

(as this excellent post by @askfordoodles points out, repressing emotions because everything needs to be fine and micromanaging everybody because you know best are very much white diamond traits. and um…

“I can’t deal with one more horrible thing she did, okay? I don’t want to hear about it, I don’t even want to think about it! I just want to fix it!”

sure, there’s pink in there…along with yellow and white. and tell me that doesn’t sound like white’s determination to be Fine, Everything is Fine, because as Long As Everything Is Fine you don’t have to think about how Not Fine things are.)

so, what happens after that? well, at first i was thinking that that shot in the opening could be steven struggling for control with white, but now i’m not so sure.

look at that stance. doesn’t that look…well, like steven, currently in the middle of a meltdown? clutching at his head is a big freaking-out steven thing. from CYM, we have the same posture exactly, and coincidentally(?) a similar palette:

and from volleyball:

what if it’s steven, horrified by this revelation, going diamond mode inside white’s body? the only collateral damage worse than a normal diamond powered breakdown, after all, would be if he was in the body of a lady the size of a skyscraper and his and white’s powers were combined.

where does this lead to? well, it depends on what it’s coming from. steven might be on homeworld for a routine visit, or he might be there because some serious shit went down in beach city with his family and connie, and he wants to put himself as far away from it as possible. they might not even be on homeworld–the diamonds and spinel could be visiting! and let’s face it, if any of the crystal gems, greg, jasper, connie, etc., were around for this and saw steven acting like this, i think it would go even more poorly. they’d try to get through his thick head, but he’d be so unstable and horrified they likely wouldn’t make much progress, and if he accidentally hurt them in the middle of his freakout?! that would absolutely destroy him.

so yeah! basically, some real interesting parallels between steven and the diamonds going on, and i think finally really focusing on conscious use of his mind control abilities would tap into one of steven’s biggest flaws this season and allow him to realize how bad he’s gotten.

(and since corruption theory is so popular, might as well address it: i don’t think this is necessarily incompatible with corruption! steven could be undergoing a slow corruption while this happens and/or or this could be one of the final straws that pushes him over the edge into all-out corruption.)

#su #steven universe #su future #steven universe future #su theory #su spoilers #meta #fun with diamond parallels #someone please help this boy

98 notes · View notes

dirgeofcerberus111 · 4 years

Text

Gray Sapphire - A Gemsona

Okay. So. This is a Gemsona that I’ve had for a LONG time. I have no art for her, which is partially why I never posted anything about her. But I’ve been feeling unproductive and on a spur of the moment I’m going to try to make something of it.

Basically, here is Gray Sapphire, The Crone of the Sapphires, The Mad Oracle of White Diamond.

I made this just before Change Your Mind so parts of her story become canon divergent so bear with me.

====================================================

Gray Sapphire.

The oldest living Sapphire on Homeworld, White Diamond’s most valued seer and oracle. She is almost as old as the Diamonds themselves and has served White Diamond for eons. Normally she is kept in stasis, until times of great crisis, as she is greatly feared for her apocalyptic visions and the Diamonds are loathed to ask for her predictions.

A small, hooded figure, Gray Sapphire has a very wizened, almost crone or shaman-like appearance. Her hair is arranged in two very long dutch braids that hang down and almost touch the floor. You can’t see her gemstone, probably on her eye under her hair, but never confirmed. Just a small detail to give the subtle sense that something is wrong with this person.

Many legends surround this ancient Gem and she is an object of fear to all Sapphires. Indeed, she is known amongst them as the Mad Sapphire and is only spoken of in hushed whispers.

She was actually once a normal Sapphire, one of the first in fact. One day, she and a group of other Sapphires were tasked by White Diamond with combining their power and to see as far into the future as possible. This was to be the first true test of the Sapphire cut, to test the limitations of their power and use.

White Diamond wanted them to go as far as possible, regardless of the dangers, to see where the limits are.

Out of sixteen Sapphires, only she survived. The rest were scattered across the floor, the strain of their collective scry having reduced them all to smoldering burnt-out shards.

“Well, my Sapphire. Tell me. What did you see?” the great Diamond beckoned.

For a moment, the Sapphire did not respond and simply lay there. Then, like a puppet rising on its string, she rose up from the floor. Her entire form had turned from brilliant blue to an ashen grey. As she looked up, her eye was wide with horror and her smile beaming with newfound and terrible insight.

When she spoke, her words came with a horrible mad twisted distortion. They announced gleefully,

“...E v e r y t h i n g !”

The experience actually turned her gray, and gave her her current older wizened appearance. An immortal, ageless Gem had visibly AGED. But she has gained perfect clarity of the future, but it seems that in exchange for this vision, her visions are apocalyptic tidings of doom. What’s more, no matter how terrible her fortunes, they cannot be avoided. And so the Diamonds are loath to call up on her for prophecy.

As Gray herself would later describe it:

“I looked too far, and pierced the veil. Saw what was beyond the horizon. I saw what no other Sapphire has ever seen. What no being was ever meant to see...Everything.”

She is a being who has seen the script of the universe. She knows exactly what everyone will say and do. She even knows what SHE will say and do next, even what she does to try and defy it, all before she even realizes it. This effectively traps her on a linear path, as no decision she makes will actually take her off the path she has foreseen. She is trapped, or "locked" as she puts it.

She has great knowledge of past, present, and future events, even of events she couldn't possibly have been for. She is quite mad now, always snickering and giggling at things only she knows. She is never surprised, knows the names of everyone she meets before they tell her, and behaves like she has known them all their lives. When speaking of the future, she claims to “remember” events even though they haven’t happened yet.

Perhaps her madness is in fact some form of super-sanity, born of a complete understanding of the future and all connected events. Or perhaps it is just the madness of a puppet who can see the strings, but is powerless to act.

However, in truth, she also bears a massive grudge against the Diamonds, for the things they’ve done, to her and to the universe. So she gave them apocalyptic visions, all of them true and unavoidable; Homeworld cracked, resources became short, Gem production declined, the civil war erupted, Pink Diamond “died”, and many other disasters on other colonies. Every horrible thing she ever predicted came to pass.

For an example, she predicted a terrible disaster on one of Yellow Diamond’s colonies that would destroy it, and no matter what Yellow Diamond did to avoid it, it would only make things worse. Of course, Yellow tries to avert this outcome anyway, and of course, only ends up fulfilling the prophecy.

So now Yellow and Blue don't want to call on her, but White keeps her around. But there was still one more terrible vision on the way.

Gray Sapphire predicts the end of the Authority, a great conflict between the Diamonds, and the doom of Homeworld as they know it... ...Which happens to be Steven arriving and fixing all their shit. But White Diamond doesn’t need to know that yet.

“Well, my Sapphire. Tell me. What did you see?” The great Diamond bid the seer before her.

“One...two...three...then four…” the Sapphire droned, dull and dreamy. Then she looked up, expression strangely delirious and giddy. “Three, not-four, and then one again!” she giggled. Her mad smile split widely and she cast a finger at the towering Diamond. “You will stand alone.”

“Whatever are you going on about? Speak clearly, Sapphire,” White Diamond commanded serenely.

“A great conflict is coming. One that will tear the Great Authority asunder. The Diamonds will battle each other until they fall and it will be all your fault. In the conflict, you, White Diamond, will stand alone and at the end, you too will fall!”

Gray let out a great howling cackle of mocking laughter.

“It will be the beginning of the end of Homeworld as we know it!” she declared to the universe, and with those fateful words, sealed the fate of their whole world.

And with that, she was poofed for her heretical prophecy.

But it was too late as the wheels of fate were already set in motion, and thousands of years later, Steven arrives on Homeworld.

Right before CYM was released, I had an idea that he explores the Diamond’s palace and accidentally bursts Gray Sapphire’s bubble.

“Ah, right on schedule! Hello again, Steven. It’s nice to have finally met you in person.” “Who are you?” “I am Gray Sapphire, grand oracle of White Diamond and crone of the Sapphires. And I have waited a very long time to meet you.” “Wait, how do you know my name? Everyone here thinks I’m Pink Diamond.” “Oh, I know lots of things about you...” “Like what...?” “Why, what you are, starling! What you will become...and what you will do.” The old-looking Sapphire was suddenly struck by a fit of cackling laughter. She held her face as her head rolled off to the side, like she was daydreaming. “Eeheeheehee, it has fiiiiiiinally begun…” “What do you mean ‘what I will become’? What will I do?! Will I cure the corruption?” “AHHHHHHHH, but the price of knowledge is silence! The more you know, the less you are allowed to say..." Her countenance suddenly ceased and became deadly intense. "The cosmos tends to frown on spoilers.”

Part of how I decided how freewill and destiny work as that everyone’s fates are the result of their own decisions. She just knows what those decisions will be. Including the ones they make if she tells them that. Gray Sapphire doesn’t tell people she likes the future. Because she knows what it is. But they don’t. And from a quantum standpoint, so long as they don’t know, it can be anything, including a happy ending. But if she tells them, the outcome can only be that.

Gray Sapphire looked so far into the future that she saw the other side. Lives in a world where everything has already been decided. Every word, thought, and action. So her greatest gift to someone is the power to let their choices matter.

To tell them would be to rob them of all agency and doom them to suffer her own fate.

“So what’s my future?”

“Mm, I’m not saying,” the old Sapphire hummed nonchalantly.

“Why?! Is it that bad?”

“It might be good. It might be bad. It might be something in between. I know what it is. But you don’t,” she smiled. “Which means, it can be anything!” She stepped a little closer and said to him. “Nothing can change your fate. But that doesn’t matter if you don’t know what your fate is.”

After all the craziness settles down, back on Homeworld, after CYM, White is sitting on her throne, chin resting on her fist, just thinking about everything that had happened today.

“So, you knew all along.”

“Yup.”

“This was what you meant by ‘the end of Homeworld as we knew it’.”

“Mm-hm.”

“You crafty little devil…”

“Is it not exactly as I foretold?”

“Perhaps.”

White Diamond slumped in her throne. A rare sign of relief from her.

“So. It’s finally over then...”

“Oh, not a chance.”

White Diamond’s eyes snapped open and she sat back up.

“What? But you said this was the end of Homeworld as we knew it! I thought you meant the physical destruction of Homeworld, but now everything’s changing. That was what you meant, wasn’t it?”

“I said it was the beginning of the end. Now the beginning has ended. The rest is yet to come.”

“What…? But I…”

“Congratulations, my Diamond. This was the easy part.”

And yeah, that’s basically that. Just wanted to share. Its really late now so please excuse any errors. Maybe someday when I commission someone I’ll add some art to this old thing.

#steven universe #gemsona #sapphire oc #my stuff #I feel dumb I don't have art for this #but the gemsona makers are SOOOO frustrating to use #and painfully limited #gotta commission someone #some day

17 notes · View notes

artificialqueens · 5 years

Text

Not Nineteen Forever (9) (Branjie/Scyvie) - Ortega

a/n: it’s BA-ACK! hope u guys enjoy this chapter, and as always pls send me love to my blog/to this blog because i love attention xo

please note: this fic contains young adults often behaving in irresponsible/unadvisable ways with regards to alcohol, drugs and sex. if you are someone who feels as if they could be heavily influenced by fic and incorporate what happens in the plot into ur own life, pls steer clear!

summary: Brooke, Yvie and Nina are three flatmates who forged a friendship in their first year of university and picked up some other waifs and strays along the way. Now in their final year, there are feelings that need to be unravelled and confessions to be made whilst navigating drunk nights, hungover mornings, takeaways, group chats, library meetups, cafe gossiping, and the small matter of getting a degree.

last chapter: supermarket chaos, and Brooke found out about the Branjie sweepstake. she didn’t take it well.

this chapter: Brooke and Vanessa talk things out, and there’s apologies to be said.

***

It had started to rain. Brooke was beginning to regret her choice of jacket- a leather one without a hood- but she had been going to wash her hair that evening anyway, and she supposed that was the least of her worries at the moment. As the rain began to batter down, Brooke realised that half the reason why her face was wet was because she was crying. It didn’t make any sense for that to be the case- Brooke was angry, fucking fuming to be specific, but she wasn’t necessarily sad. Perhaps embarrassed was the correct word, she thought, as she swiped at her face with her sleeve. The thought of her entire friendship group having a good laugh at her and Vanessa’s expense made her cheeks burn and the blood in her veins do the same.

Brooke didn’t really know where she was walking to, but she knew where she was walking from, and she was damned if she was going back to the flat anytime soon. Sniffing harshly, she removed her phone from her pocket and called Vanessa, the other girl picking up in about one and a half rings.

“Hey.”

“Hey, baby,” Vanessa’s voice was defeated. Brooke decided it was the worst thing she’d ever heard in her entire life.

“Sorry for phoning. I just had to talk to you after all that shit on the group chat, I mean…how could they fucking do that, Ness, our own fucking friends? I just-”

“I’m fuckin’ raging at them, Brooke, honestly. I went out for shopping then I got those messages through and I’ve not been able to concentrate since. I’ve just been pacin’ and pacin’ around Sainsbury’s like a fuckin’ bear in a zoo. Look, where are you just now?”

“Um,” Brooke began, scanning her surroundings. She’d been walking so fast that she’d barely been taking them in. “In the middle of the park. I’m about five minutes from Sainsbury’s, actually.”

“I’ll meet you halfway, okay? See you soon.“

With that, Vanessa abruptly hung up. Brooke took it more as a comment on her friends and not herself. As she began walking with some purpose at last, Brooke found herself wondering what she was actually going to say to Vanessa when they saw each other. Rant, probably. But there was something that instantly calmed Brooke down knowing she would be seeing Vanessa soon and get to hold her, having her reassure her and placate her.

It ended up being about three-quarters due to Vanessa’s shorter legs rendering her slower and Brooke’s long ones ensuring she took big strides. Brooke saw her coming towards her from a distance just at the park’s edge and as they both reached out for a hug, they crashed into each other with a force that accurately conveyed both their anger and just how much they seemed to have missed each other in the 24 hour period they’d been apart.

“Fuck them,” Vanessa muttered into Brooke’s jacket. She was wearing her massive parka, the one with the fluffy pink hood. To Brooke, it made her all the more cuddly. She gave her a squeeze around her middle and tilted her chin up to press a quick kiss to her lips, coming back again for a second, then a third.

“Let’s go somewhere,” Brooke decided, slipping her arm through Vanessa’s and instantly feeling about 80% calmer. “There’s that new bar that opened up round the corner. Could try there?”

They walked towards it wordlessly, a journey that only took about three minutes but in that time hundreds of unsavoury thoughts had begun to swirl around in Brooke’s head like floating bits of food waste down a plughole. She waited until they had found a booth through the back in relative quiet and until Vanessa had shrugged her damp jacket off before she let rip.

“I just can’t fucking believe it, Ness. Like, I know we kept stuff from everyone but a fucking sweepstake. Jesus Christ. The thought of everyone sitting and putting bets and watching our every move…like how long has it been going on for?! How long have we just been like performing monkeys to them?! I mean Christ, we only just found out we liked each other less than a month ago!” Brooke hissed, Vanessa sitting and nodding rapidly in affirmation as she spoke.

“I’m just hurt,” she sighed heavily, breaking Brooke’s heart in the process. “I mean I don’t know why I didn’t tell Silk and Kiki, but I just…didn’t. Everything was so new and weird between us. Hell, I guess it still is."

Brooke smiled back at Vanessa across the table, who was shooting a shy one her way. "I guess that was why I never told Yvie and Nina either. I didn’t want them making fun of us. Guess that turned out well."

Vanessa gave a quick laugh that lit up Brooke’s insides. She fumbled around in her jacket pocket for her purse. "What do you want to drink? I’ll get them in."

Too exhausted to argue over who was paying, Brooke conceded. "Gin and lemonade.”

Vanessa gave a wordless nod as she strutted up to the bar. Self-conscious of being left on her own, Brooke took out her phone and flipped it over in her hands. There weren’t any new messages to the chat- it was likely that the girls were using whatever one they had for the sweepstake to talk about what had happened in private- but Brooke had a string of missed calls from Yvie and Nina, and a few from Scarlet. There was a sole voicemail from Nina, which Brooke listened to.

“Brooke, hey, it’s me. Call me when you get this, or Yvie, or any of us really. We’re all really sorry and we’re worried about you.”

At that moment, Brooke could hear Yvie’s voice in the background, panicked and harsh, yelling at Nina about how nobody left voicemails in this day and fucking age and how Brooke was unlikely to even listen to it.

“Uh, yeah, so to sum up- we’re sorry, we love you, call us. Bye.”

Brooke couldn’t help but quirk a smile at that. She loved Nina so much, the girl was so kind-hearted and loving and caring. Which was why it made her betrayal all the more hurtful and so damn fucking confusing. Why would Nina do something like that to Brooke? Unless of course, Nina didn’t see it that way at all. Unless she really genuinely thought Brooke and Vanessa would have found it funny.

Brooke was deep in thought as Vanessa returned with one gin and lemonade, one pink gin and lemonade, and a packet of salt and vinegar kettle chips.

“Fifteen forty-five for all of that. You better buy me some diamonds or some shit and then we’re even,” she quipped, raising her eyebrows as she sat down opposite Brooke. She smiled indulgently at her.

“Can I ask you something?” Brooke began hesitantly, her mind still working overtime. “If I had wanted to set up a sweepstake about like…Scarlet and Yvie. Or Nina and Monet. Would you have gone along with it?”

Vanessa shrugged and sipped her drink. “Yeah, because that shit’s funny. And cute, because it’s them. It’s different with us. We ain’t…you know. We ain’t like them.”

Brooke frowned a little and tried not to dwell on Vanessa’s justification, focusing more on her current train of thought. “But maybe that’s what the others thought when they made that sweepstake for us. Maybe they genuinely thought it was funny."

Vanessa narrowed her eyes. "Nina thinks that Michael MacIntyre is a funny comedian, it don’t make her correct.”

Brooke pulled a face and sipped her own drink. She’d been so angry and quick to judge, but now that she was with Vanessa and she’d had time to calm down, maybe the others were right. Maybe they’d both gone about this whole thing in the wrong way. Brooke hadn’t realised she’d been staring into space until she heard Vanessa drum on the table with her nails.

“So, uh,” she bit her lip and smiled up at Brooke. “You like me, huh?”

Brooke’s blood suddenly turned to ice. “What?”

Vanessa had gone a little bit red. It was out of character for her, and it made Brooke blush as well. “Earlier. You basically said you liked me.”

Brooke felt her speech catch in her throat. “Well I meant…we had that conversation in Liezen-”

“About how we liked kissing each other, yeah. And then we had a conversation about how we liked fuckin’ each other. But we’ve never had a conversation about actually liking each other. You were the one that said that,” Vanessa finished Brooke’s sentence mischievously. Brooke suddenly found herself wishing she was directly above a trapdoor that would plummet her into the Earth’s core and burn her to a crisp. She simply stared at Vanessa with her mouth open slightly, wondering what the correct thing to say was. Vanessa only laughed in response, growing more red as she spoke again. “So you like me?"

Brooke forced herself to look at the table top. If she looked at Vanessa she’d die. This was the moment she’d been waiting basically her entire university career for, the speech she’d been rehearsing for about three years, so why couldn’t she physically speak? She took a sip of her drink and grew a set of balls and locked eyes with Vanessa. "Yeah, I do.”

Vanessa’s face broke out into an uncontrollable smile as she tipped her head back to the ceiling, and Brooke found her heart going into cardiac arrest. “Do you, uh. Do you…feel…the same about me?"

Vanessa burst out laughing, Brooke wondering how what felt like her life hanging in the balance could be so funny to her. "Take a fuckin’ guess.”

Brooke spluttered an awkward, nervous laugh. It seemed like a yes? She felt like Vanessa wouldn’t have taken things as far as they’d gone if it wasn’t. “Yes?”

Vanessa tucked her hair behind her ears, tried to suppress her smile, and failed. In a quiet voice, she confirmed. “Fuck, Brooke…I’m crazy about you”

Brooke felt her heart explode and her eyes transform into love hearts and all of her insides get churned around like a cement mixer. She laughed and reached for Vanessa’s hand across the table. “Jesus. Well. Good. Okay. I really want to kiss you.”

Vanessa rapidly bounced into the seat beside Brooke like an excitable bunny and met her lips with her own. They kissed hard and passionately, and Vanessa had her hands tangled in Brooke’s damp hair and fuck, Brooke would need to pull away before things escalated and they were barred from the pub for doing something indecent. So Brooke pulled back, Vanessa tilting her head up needily, pouting and letting out a small whine.

“Whining,” Brooke simply said, a warning tone to her voice which made Vanessa’s pout get bigger and her eyes flash a little with lust. It shot Brooke back to when Vanessa was writhing underneath her with her face buried in the pillow and her hips squirming and bucking, as Brooke made her beg for what she wanted and the other girl kept up a litany of moans and whines and sighs. Fuck, no wonder Yvie and Nina had called bullshit when Brooke had denied everything. “Bratty behaviour.”

“Yeah well, I like getting my way,” Vanessa shrugged, smiling deliciously and flicking her eyes down to Brooke’s lips. Lowering her voice, she whispered. “And I’m touching myself under the table.”

Brooke almost choked. Rapidly, she craned her neck to find Vanessa’s hands sat against the leather covers of the seat, absolutely nowhere near her crotch. As Brooke sighed in relief and only about 60% disappointment, Vanessa howled a laugh. “Oh my God! Bitch! You are so fucking easy to wind up! It’s too fucking easy!”

“You’re too fucking easy, you big slut,” Brooke deadpanned, pushing Vanessa’s shoulder and letting out a laugh in spite of herself. Sighing, she picked at the crisps. “Speaking of big sluts. Our friends.”

“Yes.”

Brooke exhaled. “You know, now that I actually know you like me, the sweepstake does seem kind of funny.”

Vanessa smiled guiltily. “Yeah. Kinda does.”

Brooke frowned. “I mean they’re still absolute dicks for doing it in the first place, but our friends are dicks. What’s new.”

“True. I’m still mad at them though.”

“Ness. We didn’t tell them a single thing about what’s happening between us. The least they’re going to do is speculate. We did kind of make our beds a little bit here,” Brooke sighed, taking another handful of crisps. Vanessa exhaled and rolled her eyes.

“Can we at least make them feel real shit about it?”

“Yes. Although I don’t know if you’ll succeed with Silky.”

“That bitch could bomb half the Southern hemisphere and she’d still maintain it was the funniest joke she’d ever played,” Vanessa raised her eyebrows, Brooke snorting a laugh beside her. As they both grew quiet, Brooke found herself laying a protective arm over Vanessa’s shoulders.

“Hey. You okay?”

Vanessa looked up at her, her dark eyes and blown pupils making them seem so huge and deep, and Brooke knew they weren’t girlfriends yet but she felt so lucky to even be with her, beside her, knowing that she liked her and Vanessa liked her back. That was enough for now.

“I’m good. I just don’t want to go back to the flat. It’s gonna be awkward,” Vanessa pouted, Brooke pulling a face as she agreed.

“It will. But you’ll be fine. You’ll all talk it out and we’ll all go back to normal. That’s all I want to do at the moment.“

"You want to…oh,” Vanessa’s face looked downcast, and Brooke instantly registered that she’d got the wrong end of the stick.

“No, no, no, not with us! I’m happy for us to still be doing…all this,” Brooke gave Vanessa’s shoulder a squeeze and the other girl relaxed. “This is good. I like it. It’s like an upgraded version of friendship.”

“Right,” Vanessa smiled cheekily, Brooke now able to fully relax.

They finished up their drinks and the rest of the crisps and made their way outside, where it had stopped raining and was now just replaced with cold dampness, puddles on the pavement shining despite the clouds. Brooke’s arm had moved to rest around Vanessa’s waist at her hip, and she didn’t really want to let go. Knowing they were about to leave each other, Vanessa turned and kissed Brooke gently, something almost fragile to it as if she was afraid she’d fracture or break.

Unable to believe it, Brooke asked Vanessa to confirm. “So, uh. You actually like me?”

Vanessa burst out laughing, Brooke feeling as if she was blushing all the way up to her scalp. “Of course I do, you fuckin’ idiot.”

Brooke couldn’t help the dumb smile that spread across her face. The novelty of knowing that would never wear off.

They squeezed each other a goodbye, and Brooke started back to her flat. She suddenly felt the trepidation overtake her, wondering what would happen when she arrived back. Would Yvie be furious at her? She seemed pretty apologetic when Brooke had been shouting at her. Fuck, why did she shout at her? Yvie was her best friend, for fuck’s sake, and things had already been so fragile between them. She’d wanted to make amends, Brooke had known that, and then she’d overreacted and ruined it all. Brooke felt the tears sting at her eyes as she quickened her pace. What if Nina hated her now too? Kind, sweet Nina who had never done anything malicious to anyone in her life. Scarlet had been at the flat too. She probably thought Brooke was a complete and utter dick for the way she’d acted. Jesus Christ, everyone probably hated her. What was the point of going home? Everyone was talking about her on that separate group chat, probably wondering how they could avoid her for the rest of the year. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

By the time Brooke got home and climbed the numerous stairs up to her flat she was hyperventilating so badly that her chest felt tight and constricted, as if a snake had wrapped itself around her ribcage. She immediately stumbled through to the kitchen, filled up the nearest glass (she didn’t care if it was clean or dirty), reached up to her shelf on the cupboard and ripped into the little packet of beta blockers she kept there. She took one every morning but sometimes life called for two per day, even though the packet urged her not to and her anxiety often spiked after the second one anyway as she panicked and worried about heart failure.

Brooke took deep breaths and steadied herself against the kitchen counter. The small living room was empty and Brooke knew exactly where Yvie and Nina would be. She wondered if Scarlet was still here, embarrassment overtaking her and threatening to ruin the tiny, fragile, tissue-paper level of calm she’d managed to return herself to. She took two more deep breaths, pressing her feet deeply into the soles of her shoes and trying to ground herself as much as she could. She had to face the girls at some stage. They were her flatmates, for fuck’s sake.

So Brooke tentatively slipped off her trainers, still absolutely soaked from the rain and the various puddles she’d stepped in on the way home. She knocked on Yvie’s door and waited for the shouts of “come in”- two, not three, she noted. Opening the door, she saw Yvie and Nina tucked up in Yvie’s bed together, both on their phones. They put them down as Brooke came in and smiled- Nina’s was warm and Yvie’s more nervous.

“Hey,” Yvie was the first to speak, Nina opening her arms and Brooke feeling herself flopping down on top of the duvet in the small space between her two flatmates.

“ ’M sorry,” she muttered, the proud side of her hoping that the duvet would conceal most of her apology. Brooke heard Nina tut and felt a body lean over to hug her.

“No, baby, we’re sorry. We’ve been shit friends and shouldn’t have put that pressure on you and Vanessa to do anything. We thought it was just a joke, but it’s your damn potential relationship. We should have thought,” Nina sighed, Brooke immediately consumed with guilt at having ever been angry with her friends.

“I mean, you did still behave like an asshole,” Brooke heard Yvie’s voice, causing her to let out a laugh. Funny cuz it’s true. “But so did we. And we’re sorry.”

Brooke sat up on her elbows and finally faced her friends, her best fucking friends in the world. She realised she was crying again and got annoyed at herself. “Stupid fucking tears.”

“Tears are valid! Crying is valid! Don’t you dare bottle shit up!” Nina chastised her, coming across as more of a mum than ever. Brooke let out a half-sob, half-laugh.

“I should’ve let you guys in, I should’ve talked to you about it. About everything. Maybe you would’ve helped me make sense of the fucking mincemeat that Vanessa’s turned my brain into. I’m so sorry,” Brooke sighed, Yvie opening her arms for a cuddle which she accepted gratefully.

“We’re sorry. You’re sorry. We’re all sorry. Let’s be friends again, bitch, I hate falling out with you,” Yvie pleaded, Brooke squeezing her tight and feeling a soft weight against her as Nina joined in the hug.

“I love you guys so much,” Brooke whispered, Nina and Yvie returning the sentiment and Brooke finally feeling as if something in her life was settled. They stayed cuddled up as Brooke frowned.

“Where’s Scarlet?”

“Went home. She thought we’d need some flat time when you got back.”

“Fuck, Yvie-”

“If you apologise again I’m going to smack you. We’re fine. I also have a fuckton of bolognaise that can’t all fit into the freezer so if you’re really sorry you’ll eat it all,” Yvie deadpanned, then noticed the look of acceptance on Brooke’s face. “Brooke it’s a fucking joke, right, it’s a fucking joke, please don’t gorge yourself on bolognaise trying to prove something.”

Brooke felt a small bubble of laughter escape her mouth, and Nina began chuckling beside her until all three of the friends were laughing in a heap on Yvie’s bed.

“I feel like I’ve missed so much. How is Scarlet? How are you two going?” Brooke asked, staring up at Yvie’s ceiling.

“We’re good. She’s…amazing. She’s funny and dorky and cute and a complete dumbass whilst simultaneously being the most intelligent person I’ve ever met. She’s a fucking kinky bitch though, complete definition of a dark horse,” Yvie let out a small laugh, Nina gasping theatrically.

“Oh my Christ! A match made in heaven if ever there was one.”

“Excuse me, Miss, don’t think you get off easy,” Brooke sat up on her elbow and turned to her. “You and Monet? What’s that all about, you actually got your shit together and told her that you like her?”

“Not exactly,” Nina began to explain, her face already strawberry-red as she spoke about her crush (or maybe girlfriend. Fuck, Brooke had missed a lot). “She took the lead on everything. Told me she’d liked me since we started taking the same modules together this year. Told me I was the most beautiful girl she’d ever met. Basically filling my head with lies.”

“Shut up, you insecure son of a bitch, and accept the love,” Yvie thumped her, Nina giving an exaggerated cry.

“We went for a date the other day. It was so nice, Brooke, she’s a total sweetheart. I can’t believe she actually likes me, of all people,” Nina’s voice grew small, and Brooke felt guilt stab at her stomach. Nina hadn’t had any relationships for as long as Brooke had known her, so of course as she was about to enter into a potential one she’d be doubting herself and wondering and worrying too much. Brooke needed to be there for her.

“Of course she likes you. You’re legitimately the best person I know,” Brooke pouted. “Yvie’s right. Don’t you dare overthink this, bitch. Monet likes you, it’s that simple.”

Nina raised her eyebrows and fixed Brooke with a look of disbelief. “Brooke Lynn Hytes is telling me not to overthink things? Jesus, someone call Trevor McDonald. I want to put this on the News at 10.”

As the girls laughed and Brooke rolled her eyes, Yvie’s phone began to ring. Brooke and Nina listened with interest as she answered, the smile that appeared when she saw who was calling dictating it could only be Scarlet.

“Hey, boo…no, she’s back now…about ten minutes ago. Okay,” a laugh and then Yvie’s face grew red. “Okay…okay, I’ll see you. Okay. Lov- Okay. Bye!”

Brooke and Nina exchanged a look. Brooke knew what she’d heard. Or, almost heard. Nina spoke before her.

“Was that an, um…an L-word that almost got dropped there, Yvelynn Oddly?” she said schemingly, Yvie’s face suddenly appearing as pink as if she’d been smacked.

“What? No? You guys,” Yvie muttered, rolling her eyes and throwing her phone down on the bed. Brooke raised an eyebrow at her.

“Excuse me, I just learned my lesson here. Share shit with your friends. Come on, spill the fucking beans or we’ll start a sweepstake about you.”

“It’s honestly nothing.”

“We want to hear anything! However mediocre,” Nina cried, sitting bolt upright excitedly. Yvie rolled her eyes.

“Fine. I’ll spill the mediocrity and beans,” she sighed, shrugging and pausing before she spoke. “You guys know I love you, because I tell you all the time. I tell all my friends all the time. And I used to tell Scarlet all the time too but now, of course…it means a hell of a lot more.”

“Oh, babe,” Brooke sighed sympathetically. It had never occurred to her before, but she used to do the same with Vanessa, and Vanessa used to tell her all the time too. It was one of the things that used to stab at her heart, a small twist of a knife in her stomach. Since Yvie’s birthday, neither of them had said it to the other. Brooke missed it.

“I keep going to say it when I usually would…at the end of phonecalls…when we say goodbye to each other…when she does something nice for me. And I know all of our other areas of the whole relationship are going fast, like we were already girlfriends and I barely even took her on a date. I’m just cautious, but even though I’m trying hard not to say it, it still threatens to come out at times.”

“There’s a difference between being in love with someone and just loving them,” Nina chimed in thoughtfully.

“No, I know,” Yvie reassured her. “But at the same time, I don’t know what the fuck it feels like to be in love with someone either! It’s never happened to me before. So how the fuck am I supposed to know? Shit, I could be in love with Scarlet and I might not even know.”

Brooke bit her lip, completely understanding where Yvie was coming from. She cast a glance to Nina and felt her stomach tighten. Out of the three of them, none were particularly well-versed in relationships. Yvie had seen a couple of girls over the years and was the queen of one night stands, but nothing had ever come of them. Brooke had dated a couple of guys back in her first year back when she still thought she was bi and then had realised she was 100% lesbian when she’d taken her first girl back from the gay club in town, then after that she’d spent most of her time pining over Vanjie. And Nina was Nina. The girl would have to be waterboarded before she actively made a move on someone. She let out a laugh.

“What’s so funny?” Nina asked, already smiling. Brooke’s laugh got louder and she let out a faux-scream.

“Bitch! Look at us. We’ve all finally got the girls we like to like us back and none of us knows what the fuck to do about it!”

Yvie and Nina joined in with her laughter, soon growing hysterical as the girls screeched beside her. They were soon interrupted by all three of their phones going off at the same time.

“Vanjie’s been reinstated. Shit, I need to change her nickname,” Yvie smiled, pouncing on her phone. Smiling, Brooke checked her phone.

large incongruous silkworm spiced praline added Vanessa Vanjie Mateo.

Vanessa Vanjie Mateo: Alright hoes

Vanessa Vanjie Mateo: Two things

Yvie Oddly set the nickname for Vanessa Vanjie Mateo to Brooke’s Ford Transit Vanjie.

Okay Then: (shrek voice) OH HELLO THERE

Brooke’s Ford Transit Vanjie: Who’s down for film night at ours tonight

Kim Kardashian-West: ALL OF US!!!

Yvie’s bitch: MEEEEE xxxxxxxxxxxx

Okay Then: Okay then

Brooke’s Ford Transit Vanjie: Second thing

Brooke’s Ford Transit Vanjie: Who had Yvie’s birthday in the sweepstake

“Bitch!! Knew it!!” Yvie laughed, thumping Brooke on the arm, the other girl laughing good-humouredly. She shot a message off to Vanessa.

Brooke: Things went well with Silk and Akeria then? xxx

Vanessa: Silk actually apologised wtf

Vanessa: but yeah they were cute and it went well xxx

Brooke: Good. I’ll come over with the girls later xxx

Vanessa: Staying over?

Brooke’s heart gave a jump.

Brooke: Yes! If you want me to

Vanessa: Always want you to boo xxx

Brooke turned her phone over and listened to Yvie, now stressed and talking about their upcoming exams. In contrast, Brooke hadn’t felt this calm in a long while.

#rpdr fanfiction #not nineteen forever #n19f #ortega #s11 #branjie #scyvie #background ninex #brooke lynn hytes #vanessa vanjie mateo #yvie oddly #scarlet envy #lesbian au #university au #college au #nina west #akeria davenport #silky nutmeg ganache #plastique tiara

110 notes · View notes

destiny-smasher · 5 years

Text

I used to be close friends with one of the composers for Steven Universe. I watched them rise from a YouTube remixer living in a cramped bedroom in a shared apartment with nothing but a mattress on the floor and a keyboard beside it to owning a house, happily married with a whole backyard garden and a cat because they found success working on one of the biggest cartoon shows I’ve known. But they broke off that friendship earlier this year and it’s made my biased love for Steven Universe become very difficult to grasp with. Understanding how and why we weren’t friends anymore was likewise difficult to grasp, even after hours of us trying to hash things out and resolve it. And while we DID resolve things amicably (I hope) and peacefully, it wasn’t until Steven Universe: The Movie that I was really able to feel like I could see the forest from the trees and ‘get’ what happened. This will be a kind of review of the movie, but mostly it became more of a personal ramble relating my real life experiences with Aivi to those of characters within SU, especially the antagonist of the Movie. This is lifted from this Twitter thread, so it was originally written stream of consciousness and I’m sharing it here to keep it more readable and archived. This is a bit of a read so tucking it behind a ‘read more.’

"You keep on turning pages for people who don't care about you And still it takes you ages to see that no one's there Everyone's gone on without you"

Time to finally talk about the #StevenUniverse Movie. Strap in 'cause this gon' get personal.

It should go without saying BUT I am gonna be talking about the movie! Dunno how in detail per se but I can't properly say what I wanna say without diving into some of the important plotty stuff. So yea.

Don't read this thread if ya don't want #spoilers #sumovie

First off, I wanna talk about what this movie does well. Going in, I had heard it was framed like a musical. And I wasn't sure how I felt about that idea, though it wasn't surprising. After all, the 'musical' style episodes tend to resonate quite a lot.

I think they work great when it's one song in a 10 minute episode, but an hour and a half of songs? I wasn't sure how well that would go. Turns out, pretty well. This is due to many factors but primarily the variety of song styles and art styles used throughout. Basically every scene has a primary song that drives it home, and basically all of them have a different genre/tone as well as visual presentation style. A lot of work went into getting it all to work together and feel cohesive. TBH for me personally the main highlight of the movie was honestly the animation. Average TV goers might just see "yup sure looks like a cartoon" but on the whole, on average, the movie is CLEARLY animated and framed with much more dynamism and detail than the majority of SU. Getting to see these characters we've gotten to know over the past few years a couple years in the future, generally at peace with things, but animated with more detail than ever, THAT is the true highlight of the film for me. Naturally, there was a lot of bits of comedy, often relying on knowledge of what the characters have been through, and I felt a lot of bittersweet smiles throughout as this felt like a good send off for Steven and his Space Moms. It managed to work in cameos from basically everyone you'd expect, some of which...didn't work out as well as others (specifically, the Diamonds bookending the movie was a bit forced and weird IMO but they ARE important to the lore even if I find them boring tbh) It was nice getting to 'catch up' with everyone, and the plot itself uses a generic 'gotta save the world again' thing (bleh) in a creative way, at least -- it all becomes an excuse to "re-live" the four primary heroes' stories through song. Cool enough. Something the movie inadvertently highlights, however, is the fact that SU as a series really started spinning its wheels a lot for its second half, in particular. Much has been said about how and why and why or not this doesn't matter, etc. etc. I was just along for the ride. I've repeatedly expressed my personal bias in the series' favor for a long time, and now? I kinda don't really have that personal bias anymore. I still love the show, I still think it's one of the best cartoons I've ever seen. But those rose-tinted glasses are off now. Taking said glasses off and actually listening to and looking up what critics of the show had to say kind of unearthed a bunch of things I had kept sweeping under the rug for the sake of personal bias/support of someone I loved and cared for a lot. We'll get back to that. I say all of this because the movie ironically failed to do much of anything NEW, something the series itself kind of struggled with for a while until it finally got around to the conclusion of Steven's story arc. The film ultimately kind of ends with "yeah Steven can change!" Which, um yea? Obviously. He's a completely different person than he was in S1. But he's kiiiiinda been the same person for....some while now. The weird irony of SU as a series is that about halfway through the narrative, the protag has essentially grown up, done. The last half or third or so of SU's narrative was basically Steven having to cheer everyone around him up and help them deal with their shit, and...kinda just going about that essentially the same way every time. The power of love, the friends we made along the way, etc. To be clear, there's nothing BAD about this, and in fact it's what sets Steven apart from most every other narrative of this type. The protag is almost always forced to change in ways they don't want, do things they don't want to do, etc. But when you put it side by side with something like Avatar or Gravity Falls, those series saw everyone growing alongside each other. There are clear arcs for everyone, almost all of which get resolved in ways fitting each character. It's imperfect but it's varied. SU has a tendency to just...hammer everyone's character flaws and arcs with ONE option: just love yourself and be nice, and everyyyyyyythinggggg 'll work out in the end! Which is fine, but when a story does it for so long, over and over, always the same, it gets a bit weird. I specifically LIKED in the film, at the end, that Steven actually does have to fight, because THAT is what Spinel needed to do. She needed to let out all of that anger, and that violence was her own way of doing it. 'you can't just sing a song to make everything go away' etc. It's typical, perhaps, for protagonists to have to tackle problems in different ways because that's LIFE. The fact is, Steven's approach will NOT save everyone. Lapis stilllll kinda stands as an example of this but an as of yet unresolved one. I liked that at the end of things, Spinel still doesn't come into the same fold as everyone else. Basically "sorry, I already fucked this up too much, I can't really deal with this," and that is IMPORTANT and I really liked it. Before really digging into the personal angle, I want to bring up how fascinating it is that the movie essentially had a real BUDGET and so they deliberately seemed to design an antagonist that would take full advantage of that animation budget. EASILY, by far, Spinel is the most interesting-to-watch antag in the whole series imo, in terms of how she moves and fights, etc. They really just wanted to flex and they did it, but like any SU antag there's (somewhat predictable) motives. This gets back at what I was saying before -- how the series spins its wheels a lot -- but Spinel's motivation/back story isssss kiiiinnndaaaa a lot like many many characters' issues and, like, I get it. We get it. Steven's Mom was Not The Best does that have to be the basis behind kinda EVERYONE who goes against Steven? Or the Gems? Lapis, Bismuth, and Peridot all offered more varied motivations, and even THEN, Bismuth was still essentially in the same boat? Anyway, I digress. I DO appreciate the way the series set up Rose as this wondrous lovely lady and has severely dissected and broken that down to the point where I really do not like Rose, in any of her ID's, as a character or a fictional person, and it did so gradually. A lot of what the movie did was kind of expected. Right? Songs, singing, check. Steven going about things the same way, check. Re-living/celebrating how far he and his moms have come, check. What I didn't expect was -- OK, well, there WAS that one fusion...which, um

But the actual thing that really latched onto me was how much I conncted with Spinel. As is the case with any story that has well presented characters, you can attach to SOME part of just about all of them. I associate most closely with Pearl overall but can relate with just about anyone prominent. I see parts of me and Jenny in Steven/Connie, in Ruby/Sapphire, in Peridot/Lapis. I see what kind of woman I might've become in Amethyst (and sometimes am). Spinel, though, is a really weird case because I see my adolescent self in her SO MUCH and yet fairly recent events in my life -- directly tied TO the show itself, mind you -- make that connection weirdly poignant and present. For some context, I used to be good friends with Aivi, one of the musicians who works on the series with their husband. Spring 2018, Aivi and I vocalized to each other that we considered one another one of the closest friends in each other's lives. We're no longer friends. To make sure this is clear, I think Aivi is a wonderful person, and our breaking apart wasn't violent or dramatic or anything, Aivi just...decided they weren't interested in the relationship anymore. And neglected to tell me this until like a year later. The context is of course not at ALL as severe or dramatic as Spinel/Pink, so please don't assume there's some one-to-one there. But OOF are there some harsh similarities and it really made Spinel's backstory sting in a very confusing way. I say 'confusing' because, as I mentioned, I see my adolescent self in Spinel. The way I was going about making friends matches her 'happy' self. The way I acted in my senior year of college matches her 'angry' self. There was no single person that created any of that, though. In high school, I was like Starfire, in college, I tried to nurture that, play to my strengths. I failed miserably. And what I feel is a big part of why is inherently tied to my transitioning (which is, still, something I feel I am failing miserably at). By the end of college I was more like Raven, and there I remained through the duration of my first long-term romance, into a very weird and atypical marriage and breakup, and then I moved to CA and started changing. Fittingly, my current self can't quite ID with any single Teen Titan. I'm not a teen anymore, after all. Throughout a lot of my friendship with Aivi, they really seemed to fixate on comparing me to Pearl. It sometimes made me uncomfortable the particular ways they did, though. I strongly identified with Pearl's flaws and strengths in personality (though we're obviously different people), and so seeing Pearl go through redemption via self-love and self-acceptance meant a lot to me. "It's Over, Isn't It?" I was IN THE ROOM listening to Aivi and their husband work on the chorus to that song. Obviously they couldn't talk about it but I knew damn well what it was about, and anticipated that piece for a long time. Now it's even more weirdly painful. I met Aivi because they made Mario arrangements they put on YouTube and they happened to live a few blocks away when I was subletting my first summer in CA. They seemed very kind and caring and eager to Be Nice and at the time I really needed that at a very vulnerable and fragile time in my life so I latched onto that. -In The Garden- The week when the LiS terfs freaked out on me and that Bad Spinel side of me lashed back, and I found myself suffering from being gaslit and facing the fact that the worst part of myself that Trigon in Raven's mind that Angry Spinel was still THERE was still ME It was too much For the first (and thankfully, only) time in my life, I experienced suicidal thoughts. And Aivi REACTED to that shit. Strongly. In a way no one ever had for me before, ever. They drove across the Bay to my house, picked me up, had me over, and helped me process it. And in the months to come, as I was healing and coming to terms with how That Worst Part of Me That I Wanted to BE RID OF was still THERE and apparently could just fucking show up, through all of that, Aivi helped me work through things, and we really bonded. In retrospect, though, it's SO damned hard for me to tell if Aivi and I became so close because of mutual respect or pity or just conditioned behavior to Be Nice and Keep Up Appearances. I dunno. What I know NOW is that apparently Cost More than I would've thought. I'm not Aivi so I don't want to really dig into 'dirt' (again, Aivi is a great person who works very hard and that's WHY their work is so good) but looking back, it's wild to see their progression into SUCCESS and fame while I just stood by, floundering The thing is, Aivi was a super busy person. We barely got to spend time together -- when we DID, it was a multi-hour affair and apart from like, Jenny, Aivi is prolly the person I've had the deepest, most vulnerable conversations with. They were next to me when I realized 'oh huh I'm maybe trans??' because they were there when I was at one of the lowest points in my life. I never ASKED them to be there, to Be So Nice and as it turns out, Being So Nice is harder than it looks. So to kind of loop this back to the movie, I wasn't some Skullgirls Peacock Cuphead grinny goof or anything like that but I AM WILLING to bet that from Aivi's POV the way Happy Spinel acts toward Steven is prolly how I felt in Aivi's life at points, at the least. The irony is that we would go weeks, months, barely interacting. But looking back, the way Aivi talked about things, the same phrase keeps dominating my mind: Aivi got bored of me. I wasn't 'useful' to them anymore. Aivi said that day in spring 2018 was like 'the climax' of our friendship, or something like that. Way they talked about it was like...the finale of a season of TV. Our character arc together was over. Even though we TALKED about it, came to mutual understandimng of The Logic behind Aivi's decision to cut ties, I don't think it ever REALLY made sense to me, how Aivi must've felt about our friendship, until Spinel. By spring of 2019, my role in Aivi's life -- from what they have told me, from what I can perceive -- was more like I existed in a separate space from the rest of their life. I was that one interesting person always waiting in The Garden for them to visit when they felt like it Because while Aivi had gotten BIG, gotten MARRIED, gotten a HOUSE, found legitimate SUCCESS in their creative field I was still poor still stuck in retail still unable to find an audience still unable to understand the pressures of Success And OOOOFFF in those last couple years, interacting became more and more strained for both of us, from opposite ends of things. Aivi had responsibilities, PEOPLE vying for their attention, people wanting to hire them, projects to complete, a house, a spouse, etc etc My life was (and kiiiinda still is?) nothing like that, and as our Mutual Creatives Struggling to MAKE THINGS and Get By transforming into Yep I Am Still Here but you are SUCCESSFUL I think that really put a lot of strain on things I never accepted until Spinel. After Aivi hit it big with SU, in particular, they gradually started...acting differently. Acting in ways that made less and less sense to me. They were a Diamond now. And I was still just what I was. When drawing comparisons to characters on the show, Aivi persistently compared me to Pearl. A fact I once took pride in. They repeatedly compared themself to Garnet. Which...always kind of didn't make sense to me. Aivi wasn't really like Garnet. They are more NOW, though? In the sense of how they act, I suppose. Specifically, one of the last things Aivi said to me was that trying to be friends with me had started feeling like Pearl trying to force Garnet to fuse with her. This was problematic because from my POV nothing of the sort was happening. All I was looking for was occasionally hanging out a few times a year. Like. Ya know. Actually a lot less than what I was looking for with basically all of my other friends. And that was still Too Much? But when I start looking at things like Pink Diamond and Spinel instead of Pearl and Garnet, somehow things make a lot more sense. I was probably too clingy, too exciteable, and what amusement or relief I could provide eventually stopped being useful. Aivi eventually didn't even want to spend time with friends to just...spend time with them. Everything had to have some kind of practical Purpose to it, it had to be contributing to a Goal. I still don't get that, tbh. But I'm also not A Diamond. I'm not Successful. The most responsibility I have right now is fucking hanging up the laundry to dry. I have college loans that have and continue to feel pointless to try and repay. I have severe dental problems I haven't been able to fix. My body fell out of shape because of retail hell, and what energy I’ve had to spare from that always ends up going into the people I love, and trying to keep Making Things. Let's not forget The Complications of coming out and wanting to transition but not possessing the resources to do so. (Aivi was actually super supportive of this btw and was the first person to make me feel comfortable wearing feminine things so yea) Anyway, the point I'm trying to make is that MY LIFE is not together. My personality is? I feel like I am finally Myself in terms of mental/emotional stability. And that is largely because Jenny helped me get there. But Aivi helped a lot with that, too. But I think Aivi got to a point where Success was more of a measure of how Grown Up and Healthy one was because despite my behavior, my personality, my mood, what I was asking for, and what I was giving, all changing DRASTICALLY after being with Jenny, I think Aivi still...looked at me the way Pink Diamond looked at Spinel during that song. Like, "yeeeaaaa ok kiddo it's time for me to go now, kinda done here" This is what's so confusing about all of this metaphor/etc. I'm not...like Spinel anymore? My current, post-coming-out self doesn't really relate with Happy OR Angry Spinel. It's almost like Aivi couldn't see me for who I became, and could only see me for who I had been. And maybe that's like why Spinel can't be friends with Steven at the end. It's too painful. I used to take pride in being associated with Pearl because "I'm enough" and "being strong in the REAL way" but now it's more like "oh you just think I'm still hung up and needy and clingy?" which uh don't feel so great a comparison. I can't help but wonder if while working on the movie, Aivi saw some of themself in Pink. Because I'm not the only person who apparently wasn't 'useful' to them anymore. And I'm not saying we should've kept forcing something that wasn't working. Not at all. What we had was good for both us, but it also entailed a lot of patience on my part and effort on theirs. And unlike any of my other long term friends, I often ended up waiting weeks, months, "Happily wondering night after night, Is this how it works? Am I doing it right?"

Years and years of broken friendships, one after the other, most lasting merely 6 months, MAYBE a year at most, with a handful that have lasted since middle school (but which are so much harder to maintain) took a toll on my Adult Self until Jenny, anyway. For quite a long time - the majority of my life, currently - I assumed I just was Too Different and that was why my friendships didn't seem to last, didn't seem to extend to the depths I was looking for. That's perhaps one critical difference between Spinel and I: she's looking for FUN, for smiling faces, for attention, for creating smiles, I just want some fucking consistency. At this point, I'm not even sure WHY I still reach out to people. I don't NEED friendships in that desperate way I used to, back in the Happy/Angry Spinel times. And I've come to terms with that Other Max part of myself and integrated it, accepted it. My worst parts are still me and instead of suppressing them (often by relying on bids of deep friendship with others) I just have to let them EXIST and let them do their thing once in a while. This is ALL why Celeste hit me as hard as it did. Because even if I'm not actually much like Spinel anymore, and Aivi's not really like Pink Diamond, even if I don't actually share much in common with Madeline (other than the subtle 'I drink sometimes to deal with my problems' thing, which I don't anymore) I still comprehend and resonate so much with that concept of just needing to accept the worst parts of yourself and work with them rather than trying to keep them caged up and then they escape and rampage every 5-10 years or so and ruin your life As I felt myself coming to all of these Good Feelings I FINALLY felt like I could help Aivi in the ways they had helped me. That I finally had something to offer I didn't before. Turns out, I didn't, apparently. Aivi had More Important Things to do than visit me in The Garden. And I couldn't blame them. Not a bit. Especially if they had gotten bored of visiting me. I didn't like feeling like a burden on them, either. Can't really argue with that. During the last time we talked, Aivi didn't use the WORDS, didn't literally say them, but I finally could see it: I wasn't Useful anymore. I couldn't Understand, either, because I wasn't Successful. Our friendship was rewarding, but because it required effort. And that effort was still worth it to me, but no longer to them. I was no longer worth it. And despite that, despite starting to feel those hunches, I spent those final months -- as had been the case before, they were afraid to hurt me so avoided actually confronting the problem -- I remained "Happy to listen, Happy to stay Happily watching her drift away" I have no idea if any aspect of our friendship impacted anything Aivi had worked on creatively. TBH Aivi seemed to approach even relationships themselves with more of a logical, pragmatic style -- it was entirely unique compared to anyone I had ever connected with. But if you've read @lis-allwounds then it might not surprise you to know that a lot of what I expressed through Stella and Max, as well as Other Max and Another Stella, channels a lot of these things. I even quoted Aivi directly in the story's end (perhaps foolishly optimistic) And yes, that epilogue moment of sorts is gonna be entirely different if I ever do finish the visual novel. The fact is that we were ALWAYS very different people and our friendship was weird and complicated and hard for one or both of us throughout its, what, 8 year duration? Ironically, I think I took away the opposite 'Character Arc Lesson' they did from all this. But that's just the thing, nothing is permanent for a Human Being. We aren't Gems, we don't actually fuse, we can't just change our appearances when we feel like it, or project ourselves to look how we want to look, or exist for thousands of years. But we DO all have different needs, different ways of understanding those needs, and different ways of needing to adjust or change ourselves or our environments in order to pursue what we want to pursue with the limited time we have here. We tried, hard, and it lasted long enough. If I'm not useful, I'm not useful, I guess? I don't have any ill will toward Aivi, I loved them as a friend and I know they loved me, too, and were better at showing it than most any friends I ever have had. If I'd been better at reciprocating in ways that were actually useful, that would've been good -- but then maybe we wouldn't have become friends in the first place if I hadn't needed 'saving' in the first place, I don't fuckin' know. And I hope my saying all of these things doesn't make anyone think any less of Aivi because your relationship with them is, very likely, not at all personal like mine is. And you know as well as I do how good they are at what they do. Aivi took the time to ease me out of things. Aivi did NOT suddenly up and vanish for thousands of years. While the dynamics of the situation might bare sharp points of similarity, Aivi is not like Pink Diamond and I'm not like Spinel -- not in the present, anyway. Stories help us because they share THREADS with reality but it's always important to recognize those threads for what they are and not confuse them for ropes. And me ranting and tossing all of this out there is something part of me has wanted to do for months but needed to take the time to grieve and process and accept. And maybe it's selfish to be posting all of this, I don't know. But it helps me accept myself and them a lot more. "Finally something finally news about how the story ends" Aivi likely has brand new friends, better ones than me, and I'm willing to bet some of them worked on this movie. And it turned out pretty good, all things considered, probably in part because Aivi was able to focus on it That person I became friends with, she doesn't exist anymore. Just like how who I used to be when Aivi first me, he doesn't exist anymore, either. We both changed, and grew in opposite directions, I guess. We've found happiness and growth and relief in different ways. In the end the Movie helped me come to terms with all of this in a way Angry Spinel younger me couldn't have still hurts yo

"Isn't that lovely?

Isn't that cool?

Isn't that cruel?

And aren't I a fool

to have happily listened,

happy to stay,

happily watching her drift away"

#Steven Universe The Movie #Spinel #Personal #SU #SU Spinel

13 notes · View notes

machaaoo-blog · 5 years

Text

Most likely to become an AO3 if it is as liked as I hope it to be.

Multi-chapter

Bad Lemons (Rated M) - Drugs, violence, language, etc.

It will have very touchy subjects that relate to very serious problems such as addiction and mental health -- if you can't handle it please don't read! (It'll come up in future chapters if I continue)

Description: Living it rough can really change a person, for better or worse. She became strong, bold and unbothered. Nothing could shake her back into a world full of untrue realities.

Fallin' Out

Chp 1 - Walk

"Where is Mina?" She hated waiting, she hated the train station even more. It's loud and obnoxious, which regularly interrupts her sleeping schedule. She would usually settle for a nice bench in the park or even the sidewalks that lead through a deserted alleyway; sadly both were taken by others who had her current living situation or rats. She'd rather her chances living amongst the rodents, maybe even be blessed with their sickness for the rest of her sad life than go back to a broke home. Of course she had other ways or options to get out of this predicament, she's full filled them, yet she never got the pay she deserved. Her welfare officer had an utmost disdain for her existence. He had and would go to lengths to make her life harder, and therefore couldn't be trusted. Then again her worse enemy yet had to be the people who she lived with: a drunk for a step father and a whore of a step mother, not to mention her elder step brother who doesn't pay a lick of rent allong with his crack sniffing wife. The female laid her head back abit and let out a single, "Fuck." How could she get adopted into their family, where the hell was child protective services when you needed them?!

She rubbef her bruised up limbs and does her best not flinch, and doesn't even bother to spare a glance at her wounds. She doesn't have enough bandages for that mess. Placed her pink fingertips on her cheek which was a mix of green and purple. She paid it no mind though. Not that she ever cared too much, but she why stress the luxury of caring about your appearance? Initially, even as a child, she always presumed that what truly mattered more than anything else about a person is personality. Hypocritically, however, she couldn't care less about either. Right now all that seemed to be on her mind was getting through her problems, with or without help.

You could say this makes Uraraka Ochako a rebellious teen. But yet that's not the case. She'll go wherever as she pleases, but she evades at all costs in the name of self-preservation. Put yourself in her shoes. How can someone last a day with her mentally unstable home? Truthfully when she was adopted into it, everything was dandy, until they went into a debt things just seemed to get out of hand. So she left and decided to break free, they never look for her, so who cared?

Ochako glanced up the clock. Though her chance to escape this time would depend on Mina's miraculous connections and genius planning, her fate rested in her best friends hands.

With a sharp inhale she slaps a bandaid on quickly and smooths it out tightly on the bridge of her nose. Placing her hand on the edge of the sink she looks up at her reflection. Curvaceous, petite, ghostly pale skin with contrasting pink cheeks with cuts and bruises scattered all over. She rolled her eyes and became resolute. Opening the door, then spamming it closed, she made her way out the bathroom she walks towards the bench, but is immediately halted when she sees a guy sitting in it. Her eyes narrow. A tall guy at that. Broad-backed with weird sand-blonde hair, why is it so...spiky? She stuffs her hands into her pockets and sits opposite the bench on the far side of the station waiting for him to leave. She wants to dictate it as a personal problem, but if he's depressed...well then she supposes he won't he moving a muscle any time soon meaning won't be getting her bed back for a long time.

20 minutes had passed and it was already 8:30am and he finally left his seat when a certain green haired boy hoisted Sparky off his heavy ass. They were total opposites and Ochako choked on her spit when the blond suddenly bitch smacked the other boy while both boarded the train.

"Ochako, it's me~!" Mina shouted, waving her small pink hands side to side.

"A private school...U.A? Mina, I know you see me as some Fallen Angel who could possibly be saved but they would never let me step foot on their grounds." Ochako placed her hand on her chest and gave a sly smile, "Look at me, all bruised up because some punk wouldn't lend me a light and look at him now." She pointed at the park bench across from them, "Knocked his ass out straight and now I'm stuck with his lighter that doesn't even work."

"I'm just trying to help you and give you a better life, Ochako. As your only friend take my offer. You know there's nothing for you here and you also know you have allot of pent up pride- let it go, and just come with me to U.A."

Ochako tilted her head to the side, her expression softened by the smile of Mina, her best friend.

°°°

"Ochako." She states. The receptionist looks up at her through her glasses with a look that says a first name like that wouldn't even slightly cut it at such a high-class school. The woman does some typing, and looks at the computer with no change of expression. This school held some of the finest and wealthiest, Ochako was out of her eliminate.

"Come with me."

Ochako followed behind the lady, her eyes looking out the school widows once in awhile to spot preppy teens. Even amongst the worst schools she's attended the students stuck out and looked different, they dressed and did as they pleased. Though her past schools were practically full of fights and no learning, gosh how she missed those days where her small gang ran amuck, when she felt empowered and dominating. She let of a tsk, it still felt that way, but those people she once addressed as family were quick to turn their backs. Clearly everything here is different from what she is used to. Designer brand bags, diamond watches and shoes she couldn't touch with her commoner hands. These damned rich kids all looked alike, she couldn't tell any apart, they all owned the same type of fashion and don't get her started on all the goop plastered on the female students faces. "Yuck." She stuck her tongue out at the window before entering another room with the serious, quiet receptionist.

°°°

Katsuki growled. "Aren't you supposed to be helping out the teachers or some shit?" She laughs as he intercepts her lips and responds immediately in the most favorable way. He pushes her against kitchen table, and slowly presses onto her receiving a deep moan in the process. She looked up at him with a gaze full of lust and want. "Who cares, someone else is can take care if it for me." She whined, pulling out out a condom with a smirk.

°°°

Ochako stared at her I.D with a look of disgust. Mina on the other hand slapped her knee and held her stomach, laughing like her life depended on it. "You look so ugly! EWW!" Mina pointed at the picture, "You flenched and your eyes are barely open!" She cackled. Ochako slammed open the window and held her arm back, "To hell with that." But before she could launch her arm and send that I.D flying Mina grabbed her arm. "Calm down, we got things to do, We gotta get you to your room."

"Well then take me to my room, please."

"But wait we gotta capture this moment!" Mina pulled out her phone and jumped back, getting on her knees and began to tap, flashes going off blinding the poor Brunette who stood before her.

"M-Mina please, my eyes-" Ochako placed her hands out covering the camera which signaled to her friend to stop; which, she did. "I wish you wore something cuter though." Mina pouted as she went through her photos, "You always wear the same thing Ochako."

And she wasn't wrong, her wardrobe was small, she never owned anything more than a phew shirts, jeans and underwear. Why by hundreds of dollars of clothes when she just needed seven pairs to last her throughout the week.

"What's wrong with how I look?"

"Well," Mina coughed, as they began to walk, "For starters...."

Ochako had wore the basics: A red baseball cap, a grey top and loose jeans that bagged from her waist abit to reveal her boyish underwear. Don't even get Mina started on the belly button piercing and tattoo. (which is located on her right arm, a whole sleeve so she constantly wears long sleeves when needed.)

"Alright but Mina remember you wanted to get these body modifications with me? And remember what you did? You chickened out because of your dad." Ochako placed her hand on her school dorms door, "You can't criticize what I wear either because you know I'm poor as shit." She unlocked the door and Mina stood behind her, a constant sorry escaping the pinkettes mouth, she opens the door, and stops in her tracks.

The sweaty bodies laid on the kitchen table, the blonde held a tiny naked waist with one hand whilst tugging at her short blonde hair. Ochako rose an eyebrow at the scene, this timing was horrible because those two were at mid-climax.

"Ah, yes! Katsuki-"

The blondes head falls in between the crook of the males neck. Her feet had become weightless.

"Ochako? Can we go in alrea-" Mina stops as she makes her way to the entrance. Ochako held her arm out from keeping Mina from entering any further. It finally took a few seconds for the two sexually tensed weirdos to notice the presence of two others.

"W-what are you doing here? Mina?!"

"What do you mean, what am I doing here, Toga?!" She shouted and covered her face, seeing a half naked Bakugou made the poor pinkettes hurl.

"Who the hel-" Toga was cut off.

Ochako walked into the room, unphased to see a naked man and woman, she lived in the streets and has seen this and much worse multiple times. Everyone in the situation just seemed to watch. As Ochako picked up their clothes she walked back to the nearest window opening it,

"This is my place, so get out."

Ochako threw their belongings out the window, their clothes slowly fluttering onto the schools dorm field. Toga and Katsuki grimaced, Mina slammed her forehead on the door and as for Ochako... well, she took a seat on the couch and flipped on the TV and began to watch animal planet.

#kacchako #anime #fanfiction #bnha uraraka #bnha #bnha bakugou #katsuki bakugou #uraraka ochako #kacchakofanfic

24 notes · View notes

70swonderpoisonstark · 5 years

Text

Poison ( III )

Villain’s are people too, are they not? (Y/N) is taking the “home grown” terror title a little too seriously. You’re really really bad, until you meet a certain super soldier who makes you consider a career change. It’s a lengthy process, but you’re willing if it’s for the right reasons. Maybe you’re not so bad after all?

//basically poison ivy and a little bit of bane but with marvel characters?? I’d be original but I love her and them so much so sorry. also some changes, idk I’m making them my own but completely based of the DC characters SNS. Nickname Ivy, real name, yours duh!//

***this is my first attempt at fanfic so any feedback is welcome! I love all these characters dearly so, here goes nothing! Hope you enjoy***

A/N: Violence, language, crime. I’ll update these as the chapters come out

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The charity auction was the perfect place to snag Green. They knew you frequented places of high wealth, and always took a chance when it came to diamonds. After another couple months of stake-outs, recon, and blackouts from various team members, they'd finally discovered a pattern.

"You've got to hand it to this girl, she sure knows how to stay under the radar. I bet everyone who's ever came into contact with her just see's a pretty girl in a known hang-out for wealthy men and just written her off. Brilliant, if I'm allowed to say that about a villian." Tony made multiple points. Green, as you were coded, were so stealthy, that until further investigation, they never realized you had been at this for years. Stealing from the wealthy for whatever reason you chose, causing entire buildings to erupt into chaos, you were good, really good. And the man you always had with you had no record, absolutely nothing. No address, occupation, they could only pull up a name and a birth month and that was it. Viktor Alexeev, April. The only way they could link him to any of the crimes at all was through his ring. It had a giant emerald in the middle, with a black snake curled around it, almost like a family crest, but different.

They walked in to the grand ballroom in pairs, Nat and Steve, Tony and Wanda, Bruce and Thor, and Bucky all by himself coming in last. They scattered around the room, sitting, standing, examining vantage points, and checking for alternate routes of escaping if the entire place went to shit.

"Everybody in position?" Natasha said over the coms. Five checks and yes's later, they were ready to mix and mingle, and wait for the main event to start.

Once everybody had a couple drinks in them, and had finally began to settle down, a mic BOOMED throughout the room.

"Ladies and gentleman, tonight's host, Andante Forester!" A gorgeous blonde in a very tight pink cocktail dress introduced a tall, dark skinned man in a white suit. He took long, slow strides up to the mic, being sure to wave and acknowledge multiple people in the ground on his way. He took the mic, raising it to his towering height, and spoke.

"Thank you Mindy. Good evening everybody, as you now know I'm Andante and I've decided to gather you all here to raise money for a very charitable cause. I have always had a need to serve others, my whole life since I came over from Egypt has been about ensuring my family's safety and stability. It wasn't until I realized that the same dedication to them, was also involved with my schooling that I realized I was so much more than just a caretaker. My journey has been long, and vast, and trying, but now I'm here, talking to all of you, harnessing your attention and persuading you to donate to a movement that has our best future in mind. I'm simply a man, with the means to do something for the world, and the will to see it through. So tonight, I've gathered a few lovely ladies, and a very sizable jeweled necklace deep from within the vaults of cartier, for you to take out. The man, or woman, who places the highest bid on each of our willing participants will be allowed to take our lovely ladies on a date to a public location, escorted by my own personal security of course, with this dazzling piece of jewelry hanging from her neck." And on cue, the necklace was wheeled in by three armed guards. It was massive, Andante explained it was 70 carats of the highest quality diamonds and sapphires ever crafted. Each girl was named after a gemstone, all dressed accordingly. There was Ruby, Jade, Opal, Onyx, Amber, Pearl, and Sapphire.

"Any of the seven girls on stage look like our target?" Facial recognition was good, but with the talents of this particular pair, they could never rely on that alone.

"Negative, Natasha. Our girls a (your race) red-head, these girls are either blonde, brunette, asian, white, african, or middle eastern, either one or the other, never our combo." Steve spoke.

"Any one of them can be my target. The kinky curls on Sapphire, with the bright blue dress, dark skin, and that confident smile? If she's not already a model, I'll figure out a way to make her one." Tony utters longingly into his radio.

"According to facial recognition Tony, she's a Harvard grad that owns and runs one of the most successful law firms in New York. If only you weren't already in love, huh?" Natasha and her facial recognition, she always new everything about everybody she sees, the constant paranoia probably helps too.

"Back on topic ladies and gentleman. I've got suspicious activity on the edge of the crowd, men and women alike are in a dream like state, still conscious, just... swaying." The bidding was still going like crazy, every girl had at least $100,000 bid on them, but Bucky was right, the crowd was slowly becoming dazed and disoriented, no chaos this time, everybody just seemed... high.

"She's here, keep your eyes peeled, we can't lose her this time or Fury will...." Natasha trailed off for a moment before she continued. Her tone this time much more serene, and her speech slow. "Guys, the jewels from here are just so, sparkly. They look so clean.. I want pretty necklace.."

"Natasha? Natasha? Nat. I need you to snap out of it, we need to focus and... you're right Natty, gem sparkle, lots of gems pretty together." Steve and Nat were dosed, completely taken in by the calm wave that broke over the two of them. It wasn't long before it hit the others. Soon every member of the team was high as a kite, talking about clean gems and bright lights, pretty dresses, anything and everything that DIDN'T pertain to the mission.

Bucky was slightly more resistant to whatever it was making them act like fools. He watched as the same dazzling red head came in, charmed everyone on stage, blew rose colored dust from the palm of her hand and waltz off the stage with a ten million dollar necklace hanging around her neck. As you passed by Bucky, he attempted to reach out and grab your arm, only to realize he was succumbing to your love inducing air additive. You paused briefly before looking him up and down, recognition fluttering in your eyes as you walked to stand in front of the super soldier you had previously met.

"Hiya there, sugar. I see you remember me. Don't worry, I remember you too. Thanks for the necklace." You said before presenting your jeweled chest, "I really do think it compliments my eyes, whatdaya think?" you winked and posed, pulling the slit in your dress to the side, exposing your beautiful thick legs.

"I think they..."Bucky tried hard to fight the high as he spoke. "Don't match... your.. outfit." He smiled weakly, hoping his joke came across that way and he wasn't about to get knocked out again on one of these missions. He had became unconscious more on these missions than anybody else on the team, barely remembering anything at all, except for what came back to him in dreams. To Bucky's surprise you giggled at his little joke and placed yourself closer to him.

"Bucky, baby, I wish you did remember all the times we've met. I've grown to be quiet fond of our little chats." You raised your opposite hand and blew something directly into his face. "If you don't hurt me, I'll let you remember this time." You placed your back up against Bucky's chest and wrapped his metal arm across her throat. "You wouldn't hurt me, would you?" You looked up at Bucky with your sad (Y/E/C) eyes and he shook his head no. He had hurt many people in his life, and you just couldn't be one of them. The effects of whatever made him dreamy slowly wore off, and he finally felt the cold your body seemed to radiate.

"If you're noticing the temperature difference, you've said it reminds you of Christmas morning in Brooklyn when you were younger. 1936, younger I think." Bucky memorized every feature of your face, it was soft, your nose was short, with a crooked bridge, big rosy cheeks, and, freckles? Definitely freckles underneath the makeup you were wearing. Your eyes shined like the moon as you glanced up at him. You appeared so gentle, how did you ever become SHIELD's most wanted. You removed yourself from under Bucky's arm and allowed him to regain his senses.

"I like you, Bucky. You never seem to quit, but every time I give you the upper hand you never take it." Your seductive demeanor paused as you spoke, Bucky had a nagging feeling that this was actual honesty coming from you. He felt things too, but you had your ways of making him feel certain ways, so it probably was just another affect. "If you're wondering if you're still under my spell, you're not." Well there goes that idea. "There's something weird about you. I don't like it, not one bit." You circled him slowly, trailing your perfectly manicured finger across his torso. "I know you still see me as the bad guy and all the other cliches; however, if you want to arrest me, good luck, but, if you're willing to talk to your super friends, I've left a list of the REAL charities in this area who have received sizable donations every time I've 'made a stop' in your jacket pocket." A soft grin manifested over your cherry red lips. "I know you won't remember all of this, but I'm sure y'all are smart enough to figure it out." You kissed him on his cheek, leaving a faint lipstick mark in its place, blew a low dose of plant hormone in his face and spoke one last time. "Everybody's effects will wear off in about fifteen minutes, yours won't, but they'll know what to do with you. And I go by Ivy, by the way. Your friends can stop calling me green." You adjusted yourself, and spoke not to him, but to your henchman. "Viktor darling, it's time for our grand exit." A large blast was then heard on the east wall, crumbling a hole large enough for the hulk to walk through, you turned to look at Bucky one last time, and then slipped away into the darkness of the night. Leaving Bucky unconscious, yet again.

"I'm starting to worry about the long term effects of him being unconscious this often. We have no idea what he's being dosed with or what it's doing to him."

"Well Cap, I'd say it's knocking him out entirely, wouldn't you?" Bucky was slowly coming too, the arguing voices of Tony and Steve rarely stopped after these missions.

"Weren't you in charge of making sure things like this stopped happening? She's taking us out at the same time and stealing millions of dollars right in front of our faces and you can't seem to do a damn thing about it Tony!"

"Right, because tossing that metal frisbee at her in your drunken state was a much better contribution. Thank you for your service, you truly are a patriot Steven." Bucky could no longer tell if his head hurt due to his possible concussion, or Steve and Tony bickering like old maids.

"Could you two can it? What's a guy gotta do around here to get some peace and quiet?" Bucky groaned as he sat up. The whole team crowded him in about .5 seconds, basically suffocating him again with the same questions they always asked after he fell. Only this time, he actually remembered what happened.

"Yes." The room went silent, all eyes were bulging and staring directly at Bucky, gazes unwandering, he could feel the tension between everybody. He knew they all thought he'd caught a lead, that Green, Ivy, had made a mistake, but he didn't have a lead, he just had a name, and an uncomfortable feeling in his stomach.

"Yes what? You, remember? Like the whole everything?" Memory loss was common after interacting with Ivy, the whole team could barely remember bits and pieces of all their interactions. If it weren't for security cameras and Tony and Rhodey's body cams, they'd know absolutely nothing about who and what they were dealing with.

"Yes all of it, she let me remember, made sure I did, even gave me a name." Stunned, every single person in the room had shock written on their foreheads. She had always been very discreet, moved in the shadows but always did the dirty work. She was cunning, and ambitious, they'd never gotten more than an appearance, and even that was spotty. Now they had a name, something was going on and they all knew it. She wasn't an ordinary villain, this was something unique. Bucky explained the entire scene, never once interrupted. As he finished, he saw the wheels turning, everybody had questions, nobody understood, why had she basically given up? And why to Bucky?

"So she said she likes you, gave you her name, and actually put herself in a chokehold with your arm?" Bucky nodded yes, not really believing it himself.

"Where's the list?"

"The what?"

"You said that she slipped a list of places in your pocket, where is it?"

"I'd assume in my pocket since I've been unconscious till now, Steve." Bucky rifled through his pockets, starting with the lower ones, he checked his jacket pockets and nothing. It was until he checked the breast pocket of his jacket behind his handkerchief that he found the list. It was three pages long, and had the names of over a dozen charities, families, and street corners.

"I'd say that's a lead there Barnes." and it was. Just, not how they imagined.

// How’s it doing so far?? I’m really liking how it’s all going so far! P.S. if you guys want to throw random vocab words at me I’ll try and find a way to incorporate them and tag you! Thanks for reading! May Odin bless you! //

#bucky x reader #steve x reader #you're a bad bitch #bucky barnes #steve rogers #captain america #winter soldier #soldat #Poison Ivy #avengers fanfic #avengers

3 notes · View notes

geek-gem · 5 years

Text

Edit shit I seriously can't put a title. But basically please be warned this is my extremely stupid take on why SU Criticals want Steven to kill the Diamonds. It's very stupid but I try to make sense of it. Please correct me on stuff please.

This is something I've been thinking about. Especially I wanted to write it at first. But I decided just in case even though I was inspired to make this but wanted to look at @ankle-beez his tagged stuff of anti su critical. Seriously man you are awesome and hope you don't mind the mention because this is something I think I've pieced together.

Including this is kind of related to the joke of Michael Bay if he was in charge of Steven Universe. I've pieced together something remembering the idea of if Steven were to literally kill the Diamonds then home world would basically be in a way dead. Especially chaos would ensure if he decided to do such extreme things.

The take here is this.

Basically SU Criticals the ones I keep hearing about basically want in a way a Michael Bay version of Steven Universe.

How does that make sense you ask? I'll explain including this will help if you have seen mainly the first four Bayformers films I haven't seen the fifth and I'm not gonna. Yet it's basically the sequels that have the most of this thing I'm talking about.

In a weird way these criticals literally want Steven to turn into Optimus Prime as he was becoming in the later sequels.

With the character of Optimus Prime being this peace keeper who would go into combat unless it was absolutely necessary. I'm being honest I'm a ex Transformers fan but let me explain. Optimus Prime I almost all of his versions is someone who would fight but he would try to find a peaceful rather then straight up to combat. Especially being a soft and understanding guy and all that shit.

Optimus Prime especially later in Revenge Of The Fallen, Dark Of The Moon, and the most infamous one Age Of Extinction. He is literally the opposite of that. It's Age Of Extinction where it's most prominent. While yes he's being hunted down by humans, his Autobot friends are being killed.

His actions and words and do much else seriously.

It's scenes like where he says shit like threatening Grimlock by saying, "Help defend my family or die" before that he smacked the shit out of Grimlock to get his point across. Including during that Dinobot charge he is literally saying shit like, "I'LL KILL YOU!".

Including even in scenes in Revenge Of The Fallen, he literally rips the face off of the Fallen or something saying, "Give me your face", and literally ripping his heart out.

Then we have Dark Of The Moon he's becoming more done with this shit, where even when Megatron saved his life from Sentinel Prime, even if Megatron might of attacked him, he fucking kills him by ripping off his head and spine. Especially after that he literally kills Sentinel who is so weak after being attacked by Megatron, especially shooting him with Megatron's own gun.

I'm sorry I'm getting off topic. This is me talking too much about Bayformers. Now let's get back to Steven Universe and why criticals keep thinking of Steven killing the diamonds.

They basically want Steven to become like the Bayformers version of Optimus Prime.

I've been wanting to write these seriously. They literally and I thought of this shit and this is perfect in line up with new episodes coming up. Basically and I imagined this scenario is what they want.

Steven after, "Together Alone" is done with this shit. He's fucking done or whatever remember this is all imaginary but it could be anytime. Some how Steven brings back the corrupted Gems. Especially brings back Jasper who is still corrupted. He asks for their help also he got a new sword from some where. Jasper won't listen, he beats the shit out of her, threatens to shatter her. Then he and the corrupted Gems with any other gems joining them do a literal charge against home world.

They and Steven are literally shattering, murdering any Gem on home world that goes against them, Steven is straight up saying, "I'LL KILL YOU!" a loud for everyone to hear. Doing these God damn battle cries and yelling, "CHARGE!"

Especially adding to this Aquamarine is around that little bitch, despite she's so powerful, Steven literally over powers her because he's all raged up, he says to her, "Give me your gem" and stabs Aquamarine's gem and takes right through her head.

Next he's some how fighting the Diamonds, even White, really Gems are made of light just thinking of those moments from those Bayformers films. Basically he fucking murders them. Especially add the Diamonds how about both Blue and Yellow asking her mercy, and Steven literally tells them they did this to themselves. Maybe White I don't know wait no she is the one that's killed first by having her gem ripped off of head by an axe some how.

There you have it, Steven snapped basically, he just killed the Diamonds. What do criticals expect? A celebration but no it ends up worse and this is what people talked about. Remember Jasper and how she was emotional about Pink's shattering. You see how she turned up, now while it's maybe under different circumstances but imagine many Gems who have been taught their way of life was normal....imagine their reactions, how scarring would that be. How much imbalance and chaos their would be. Everything is out of control you might of started another war you have maybe some Gems invading my Earth now.

You know why because their were actually people thinking and what I think and I'm being extreme but certain criticals want this kid.

To probably become this.

Listen this is a very stupid take. Especially the Bayformers version of Optimus is a different take. But still considering the consistency of Optimus as a character. It's just bothersome. I feel other Transformers fans can explain this better since again I'm an ex fan.

Including if this was a Michael Bay Steven Universe thing you have explosions everywhere, sexualized Gems everywhere, lots of stupid jokes and some racist jokes to have a added bonus, the action is just insane, shit is getting fucked up like buildings and so much more.

But just seriously I understand the Diamonds and people's thoughts on how the fucking hell is this gonna end up, because again the Diamonds have done some fucking awful shit, and even possibly White like seriously. Yet do you seriously think Steven is gonna just drop all of morals because you keep thinking he's a Nazi now which is absolute bullshit. Seriously he and the Gems can't take the Diamonds head on they can kick their asses easily. Especially Steven is a kid who doesn't even wanna do violence and he wants this to be good for everyone. He's trying to get to heal all of the corrupted Gems.

Listen I may be a psychopath and I like violent shit I like slashers and other shit like Doom, Mortal Kombat, and so much other shit. But Steven Universe isn't the place where we have that. Unless it's necessary or whatever. Is that seriously the message even if have problems myself, murder the enemy until theirs nothing left. Even if their are some Gems that are having a secret relationship or something like the new fusion we saw in, "Together Alone"

Especially long ago I thought SU Criticals want Steven to become Doomguy and I have this image in my head of his face he made in, "Together Breakfast" on Doomguy's head in the Doom 2016 cover. The idea he should go all Doomguy on home world I even thought they want that but this makes sense.

Including the Bayformers is a whole different I'm talking about characters. Including both franchises are different I'm sorry.

Decided to put the tags now and I'll put the title after this again this is my very stupid take on this idea of what they want.

#steven universe #anti su critical #michael bay

22 notes · View notes

studpuffin · 6 years

Photo

Sex, Money, Murder ch3

Read on AO3

Paramount, LA County, 2014

Eddie passed the bottle of Jose Cuervo to Richie who took a hardy swallow and sat down across from him on the floor of their empty apartment.

“I can’t believe this is ours,” he whispered, kissing Eddie’s forehead, “I can’t believe you made this possible for us Eddie Spaghetti.”

Eddie smiled softly, “I did it for us. Because I love you. It was an easy choice to make.”

“Was it?”

Eddie nodded, “So easy Rich. And it felt…” he looked up and grinned, “It felt amazing. It felt… god, Richie, it felt good.”

Richie nodded thoughtfully, “Would you do it again?”

“I… It scares me but yeah,” Eddie whispered, “Yeah I’d do it again,” he looked up, squeezing Richie’s hand.

Richie nodded again slowly, “I… I want to do it. I think I can do it. We can… It’s gonna get us rich Eds.”

Eddie grinned, leaning in to kiss him softly, “You really wanna do this Chee?”

Richie nodded, “Yeah. I really want to,” he murmured, “You know I’ll do anything for you princess.”

Eddie nodded, “Then I’m doing it with you,” he sounded resolute. Determined, “But if we’re doing this then we’re gonna make some rules.”

“Rules?”

“Yeah. Rules,” Eddie nodded, “We can just go around killing anyone. We need ground rules,” he held his pinkie out.

Richie hooked his pinkie around Eddie’s, “Lay ‘em on me, baby.”

Eddie locked eyes with him, “Rule number one. We get a team. The rest of the Losers.”

Richie nodded, “Deal.”

“Rule number two. No killing kids. No killing animals.”

“Deal.”

“Rule number three. We’re judge, jury, and executioner. No outside targets. We do this our way,” his eyes sparkled maliciously.

Richie took another sip from the bottle passing it to Eddie so he could drink too then pressed a kiss to his knuckles, “Deal.”

Beverly Hills, LA County, 2018

Richie looked up from his laptop at the knock on his door, “Come in.”

Mike pushed the door open and dropped and folder onto his desk, “I have a new one for you.”

Richie grinned, “Already? We just knocked off Bowers a few weeks ago.”

Mike nodded, “He’s been flying under the radar for a while but I finally managed to get a hold of some concrete leads on him.”

Richie nodded, flicking through the folder, “Patrick Hockstetter… He’s an agent with Robert Gray,” he flicked through the small stack of papers, “Holy shit… This guy’s a major creep,” his eyes narrowed, “How old was this girl?”

Mike shook his head “It was more than one girl. But they were all about 15? The oldest was 16? They all reported but Gray never did anything about it and they never filed formal police reports. I’m guessing they just got bought out.”

“Of fucking course Gray settled. Low life piece of shit,” he grumbled, “So… we take this guy out. That puts us closer to Gray how exactly?”

Robert Gray had been on the top of Richie’s list since day one. The man was power himself on the West Coast, controlling everything from talent agencies to real estate to computer tech.

It was an absurd amount of power.

And Richie lusted for it.

“He’ll be looking for a new number two,” Mike replied easily, “He has no kids. Rumor has it you become his number two and he’ll leave you everything he has.”

Richie’s eyes widened, “Fuck…” a wicked smirk crept across his face as he pressed an extension on his office phone.

“Hello?”

“Ben Handsome! How are you doing today you beautiful specimen?”

Ben’s laughed echoed out of the phone’s speaker, “I’m fine Richie. You sound chipper.”

Richie was practically vibrating with excitement in his seat, “That’s one word for it. I’ve got a fun little side project for you. Got time to do some light tailing?”

The sound of computers keys clicking and then Ben’s voice again, “Lay it on me.”

Richie leaned back in his desk chair, hands coming up to rest behind his head, “Get me everything you can on Patrick Hockstetter.”

Hours later, Richie’s phone rang, jerking him out of his work, “Tozier,” he sighed as he answered.

“Hey, Richie it’s me,” Ben’s voice sounded muffled from the woosh of cars passing outside of his own.

“Hey Benny boy,” he grinned, “What’s the update?”

“I’ve been following him all day and doing some poking around and I found something… but you’re not gonna like it.”

Richie’s brow furrowed, “What is it?”

Ben gave a heavy sigh, “He’s um… He’s a regular at the Black Diamond Club.”

Crack . Richie’s pen snapped in half in his hand, “Eddie’s not gonna like that.”

“I… yeah I know he’s not gonna like that,” Ben grimaced, “But I think that’s the easiest way to lure him out.”

Richie dropped his face into his hands, “You’re sure?”

“Positive.”

“Babyyyyyy,” Richie sing-songed as he came round the corner into their bedroom, “Baby?”

“I’m outside!”

Richie followed his boyfriend’s voice out onto their balcony and smiled at the sight before him. Eddie stretched out in their hot tub, head resting on the side. Eddie rolled his head to the side and smiled softly.

“Hey,” Eddie sighed, “Sorry I wasn’t up when you went to work,” he yawned, “I’m still jet-lagged.”

Richie kissed the top of his head, “It’s ok angel. Want me to come in there? Want cuddles?”

“Always want cuddles,” Eddie smiled scooting over for Richie to slide in next to him. Richie stripped off his clothes and climbed into the warm water.

“What’d you do today Eddie Spaghetti?” Richie hummed, stroking his fingers down his arm.

Eddie giggled softly, “You haven’t called me that since we were kids,” he snuggled into his arms, “My day was ok. I slept until like 11. Went for a run with Diamond and then went to the gym. Edited the videos from our trip. Walked Diamond again and now… here I am,” he kissed his neck softly, “Cuddling with my favorite man,” he kissed him softly, “How was your day?”

Richie smiled sleepily, “Work was ok. Lots of paperwork. Mostly people looking for investments,” he sighed softly, “Mike found us another guy.”

Eddie grinned, “Already?”

Richie nodded, “Patrick Hockstetter. That creep from Gray’s firm. Basically his right hand in the company.”

“What!” Eddie squealed happily, “Chee! That’s amazing! This going to be huge for us…” he kissed him, then pulled back, face clouding in concern, “Wait you should be thrilled. Every other time you’ve come in and been completely thrilled. Why aren’t you thrilled?”

Richie leaned in and kissed him softly, “I am thrilled baby. I just… there’s…” he huffed out a sigh, “There’s a catch. He’s a regular at the Black Diamond Club.”

Clammy, pudgy hands gripped his arms and shoved him backward into the changing rooms.

“Get the fuck off of me!” He struggled, kicking wildly, “Adrian get the fuck off of me!”

The wet pop of his car keys digging into the man’s stomach. Running from the club as the sound of sirens closed in.

“Richie…” he warned.

“Eds you say the word and I’ll call this whole thing off but I’m gonna be right there this time. You won’t be by yourself.”

“There is no way they’re gonna let me perform,” he snapped, “I basically ghosted them after killing the fucking manager ,” his voices rises high and panicked, “Richie I can’t go back there alone after what happened with Adrian.”

Richie took his face in his hands, and rested their noses together, “Do you trust me?”

“With my life,” Eddie whispered, letting his eyes close as he took a deep breath, “You know I trust you.”

“Then trust me when I say it’ll be different this time ok? I’m gonna be in your ear the whole time. You just need to get Patrick to follow you. You don’t have to even speak to him if you don’t want to.”

“Promise me I don’t have to be on stage,” Eddie held out his pinky for Richie, “You have to promise me or I’m not doing it. I can’t get back up there Richie.”

Richie hooked their pinkies together and kissed his knuckles softly, “Deal.”

“Eds? You ready Princess? Can you hear me ok?”

Eddie adjusted his tight pink t-shirt and nodded, “Yeah. I’m ready. I can hear you fine baby. Can you see ok?” he pinned the little rainbow flag pin onto his denim jacket.

“Clear as day,” Richie paused for a moment, adjusting where he was sitting in the car, “You sure you’re ok?”

“I said I’m fine Richie,” he hissed as someone walked passed him outside, “Just… let’s get this over with. Let me know when you’re in the spot.”

“You know what he looks like?”

“Yes, I know what he looks like dipshit. Now shut up. I can’t focus with you talking in my ear like that,” he grumbled as he pushed open the heavy black glass doors of his own personal hell.

The inside of the club was smoky and dark apart from the stage, where a scantily clad young man was swinging around a pole. Eddie shivered, sense memory taking over. He paused at the top of the stairs, scanning the room for Patrick.

“Eddie?”

Fuck

He turned slowly and plastered a grin on his face, “Evie! Hi.”

The petite blonde threw her arms around Eddie’s neck, “I missed you! Where have you been? We thought you died! How’s Richie?” she squealed excitedly.

Eddie gingerly hugged her back, “My youtube channel sorta took off and after what happened with Adrian I just… I didn’t feel safe you know?” he laughed nervously, “It made me sick to my stomach.”

She nodded, blue eyes wide, “Oh god it was awful. I can’t believe the police never caught the man who did it. It’s so scary to think that that maniac is still out there,” She shuddered.

Eddie nodded, biting back a smile as Richie practically howled with laughter, “Crazy, isn’t it? Sorry to cut this short but I’m meeting a friend,” he squeezed her hand and flashed her another easy smile, “See you around Evie,” he pulled away and ducked around the corner by the bathrooms.

“Asshole shut up! You’re not helping!” he hissed.

Richie giggled, “Eds I can’t help it. She has no fucking clue it was you.”

“And we’re keeping it that way. Shut up or I’m turning off the bluetooth,” Eddie came back around the corner, taking the stairs two at a time into the main lounge, still scanning the room for Patrick, “Ok I see him. I’m going. Start moving.”

Eddie settled onto the black leather couch feeling his skin heat up as Patrick turned his head to look at him.

“You here alone cutie?”

Eddie flicked his eyes over towards Patrick and he rolled his head over towards him, “Unless you wanna join me handsome. Buy me a drink?”

“What’s your poison princess?”

“Oh, he did not just fucking call you that,” Richie snarled into the phone.

Eddie chuckled softly, “Jack and Coke.”

“Classy,” he grinned, waving down a waitress, “You are 21 right?”

Eddie laughed, “Almost 23. All sorts of legal,” he winked.

Patrick threw his arm around Eddie, stroking his fingers over his bicep, “So, what’s a cute little thing like you doing here alone?”

“My boyfriend’s out of town and I needed a night out,” he sighed, “It gets so lonely by myself,” he leaned into Patrick’s side, trying not to gag at his cologne.

Patrick smirked, “Well… I’d be glad to keep you company gorgeous,” he leaned in a little, the tips of their noses brush together.

Eddie grinned, “Bet you would…” he trailed his fingers along his jawline, “Follow me?”

Patrick smirked, “Lead the way baby.”

Eddie stood, taking his drink and loosely lacing his fingers with Patrick’s, “There’s a good place out back.”

“You’re not new at this then,” Patrick teased.

“Not by a long shot,” Eddie winked, pushing the metal door near the back of the stage open.

Patrick looped his arms around his waist and pushed him back against the brick wall, “Where were we?”

“You were about to get your hands off my boyfriend,” Richie dug the point of his knife into his back, “And I was gonna go easy on you…” he sighed, “I was just gonna shoot you and put you out of your misery,” he smirked, yanking Patrick away and holding him by the collar, “But then you called him princess,” he leaned in, “And no one,” he pressed the knife into his neck, “calls him that but me.” Richie snarled slashing his neck. As Patrick collapsed to the floor Richie followed, pouncing in him like a wild animal. He dug it into his stomach and ripped upwards, still practically growling as Patrick’s insides spilled onto the concrete.

“Richie that’s enough!” Eddie grabbed his shoulder, “Come on enough! He’s dead already,” he pulled him away, “Richie come on!”

Richie ripped around and pushed Eddie up against the cold brick, “I wanna fuck you. Right here. Get the smell of him off of you,” he kissed him roughly, “You look like sin baby… you’re fucking stunning.”

Eddie gasped, latching onto him, “Car. Not here. Car,” he whispered, “The cops come by here still. We can’t be back here,” he whined as Richie latched onto a particularly sensitive spot of his neck, “Car you idiot,” he moaned, giggling as Richie tossed him over his shoulder.

“Bossy,” Richie whispered, tossing him into the back seat and snuggling up next to him, “You ok? It took a lot for you to go back here.”

Eddie kissed his neck softly, “You’re here with me. I know I’m safe with you,” he rolled on top of him and cuddled into his chest, “I’m tired. It just… this one was hard. Took a lot out of me,” he whispered.

Richie nodded, stroking his hair, “You were so brave, sweetheart. You did amazing,” he promised, “I’ve got you now,” he whispered.

Eddie nodded, “I know you do,” he buried his face in his neck, “Just… Let’s go home? I think I just wanna go home,” he whispered, “I don’t think I wanna have sex right now. I just wanna shower.” he whispered, “Can we just go home?”

Richie nodded, “Yeah baby,” he whispered, kissing his forehead softly, “Let's get you home.”

Tag List: @tinyarmedtrex @dyslexictozier @sunflowertozier @richietoaster @jem-carstairs-is-perfection @totaltozier @richardxtozier @reddie-for-anything @aizeninlefox @reddiepop @oldguybones @its-stranger-than-you-think @yallreddieforthis @richardtoz @areyoureddie4it @inthebreadbinwrites @takeourpure @derrylossers @fandom-dhaddy @darling-richie

#reddie #reddie fan fiction #reddie fanfiction #richie tozier #eddie kaspbrak #it 2017 #it 1990 #it stephen king #sex money murder

35 notes · View notes

monkey-network · 6 years

Text

Steven Universe is Anime Garbage (And That’s Okay)

WARNING: This is gonna be a very weebish brain fart. I didn't come into writing it for any purpose, I just decided to write out my general stream of thoughts to see where it took me. This was the result. Thank you, take care out there, and enjoy.

A key to enlightenment is the severance of attachment

Can’t deny it. Steven Universe is a cartoon practically on the boundary with its many fans. Some find it engaging and wonderful, others find it wasted potential and struggling, and others are terrible fans with no sense of control or integrity, like most fandoms really. But I, a fan since its beginnings, wish to make a case that could potentially bring everything and everyone together in somewhat reasonable understanding (a stretch, somewhat). Steven Universe is a trash anime....and it is the best trash out here. Now I’m not saying this because it has an anime look, or that Jasper is a tsundere, or especially...

“Hey it’s a reference to that one anime that’s also very aesthetic™ and sad with lesbians and allegories!”

Nah, I’ll be real with you here. Now we really can’t deny that Steven Universe has its major flaws, not a hard pill to swallow way I see it. Wishy washy in tone, seldom in world building, basic animation, off putting character models, and so forth (though the last point is a malleable nitpick tbh). Furthermore, we can’t deny that the “plot” is up in the air and really not in the mood on coming down with anything truly shaking yet (putting a pin in that). But, I won’t deny that it looks good, some characters are worth my investment, and there is some development to be had in all this, for better or for worse. You could say it’s down the middle, so where am I going with this? Well, I think I found something that may be able to bring this together: Sword Art Online

*imitating Austin Powers* YEAH, BABY!

For those unaware, Sword Art Online is a light novel turned RPG Game turned full series anime about thousands of people getting trapped in a VR game with one seeking to escape by beating the 100 levels of the game. It has action, death, good game feel, wonky gameplay, and fanservice.... I do not and will not recommend this to anyone, nor am I just comparing this to Steven U because both have OP protagonists, a myriad of female characters, and how one character is generally Lars if a better person initially. To repeat, I’m not saying these shows are the same in plot and such. Though the similarities certainly come in their perceptions and reactions.

Also dual wielding

Let me sidetrack a bit and do understand, at the time SAO premiered, otakus, anime fans, and even esports fans were hyped! This was before My Hero Academy blew millions away, before Attack on Titan throttled its theme music onto people, many were stoked and kept up that stokeness for this for quite a bit. This was SAO’s keepsake: Mass Appeal and timing. Then people started seeing the cracks of the show’s true faults, and now we’re at the point where more of the franchise is coming and the fandom is dragging between people that find it sucks or never should’ve been invested in the first place, people that continue to make the lemons into lemonade regardless, and the creeps (you know who they are). Sound familiar?

I mean we could say the same thing for the current Star Wars fandom, but that’s a tad more complicated

But this isn’t enough to say this is trash anime. No, like SAO, there is one thing that can tie everything together to implode into an enveloping infinite wormhole of foolishness and cleverness. One moment that just brought everything together and is gonna put everything together in the end. The definitive proof that...

Rose Quartz was the Origami Killer all along!!

But seriously, this was a twist that certainly cemented itself into being on par in writing with SAO and similar trash series. I mean, from a meta perspective, it’s pretty hilarious that the biggest twist the show presented was mostly considered a joke in the same way people thought The Simpsons could predict the future with the absurdist jokes they made. And really, all the symbolism and foreshadowing from every episode previously doesn’t excuse the blue balls I felt with the recent two seasons. I’m sorry guys, the eye opening revelation can go so far with someone who was only glad something actually came together after so long (even if the episode leading up to it lacked that “special shit”).

But as for Pink Diamond being the real Rose Quartz, the twist admittedly lack that impactful-ness and really shows how they’re twanging a string in the efforts to make you take the story seriously. For one thing, it’s pretty stupid to believe that nobody questioned the abilities the one Rose had compared to a typical quartz, not to mention that it felt pretty convenient that she never lost her form revealing her gem to anyone beside Pearl. Secondly, it kinda bait and switches not just the ideal, but a reasonable idea of Rose Quartz for just being the ambitious dictator turned anti-villain bent on liberating the Earth from her bigger than thou parents and more or less her own armada. Like, “Ha ha, you thought Rose Quartz was an ordinary gem that had to make genuine sacrifices in her efforts to best the higher ups and liberate her kind. But in reality, she had the abilities to win all along and generally did everything for the sake of not being a dictator anymore. MWAHAHAHAAAA” We can examine the complexities behind her motivations all we’d like, but that just feels like rewriting the already stupefying concept to make it sound more sensible.

Funny enough, Rose could’ve definitely working as the Charles Xavier of this series but they never delve into that reasonably valuable concept*

Lastly, it sort of--lack of a better term--irons out the whole show up with Steven being Pink Diamond, if that makes sense. In the back of my mind, I’ve generally lost my suspension of disbelief in believing that a fourteen year old child is not only the reformation of a failed rebel leader, but said failed rebel leader actually being the supposed antagonist and jumpstarting source behind everyone’s frustrations, ambitions, and tragedies. As if Steven wasn’t special enough on the fact that he can revive the dead, like Sword Art Online, it’s already apparent that he’ll generally win in the end due to him being the Special, the Ninetail, the Last Jedi, the Hollow, and the Fullbring all in one. It’s kinda hard getting invested in your story when I can’t care about your protagonists! Maybe he might actually suffer long term consequences, but I don’t have much in the future since it now feels hard to relate to the protagonist, who by the way is the central protagonist meaning no episode can go without his presence apparently.

He’ll enter your dreams if he must

And I’m afraid that Steven Universe has officially sunk to trash tier anime. And frankly, it’s always been anchored to this. I mean with SAO, as much as I saw before quitting, there was plot variety, not plot flips. It is one thing to have your series shift from light villain of the week slice of life to something like Oedipus Rex, but to get this far, nose diving into this belly flop of a reveal, to then ask to be taken with a modicum of seriousness, what? To put so much ambition into your work, that you’re essentially believing your own hype, barely exploring a big handful of your own ideas, until now, trying to make sympathy and reason coincide with the villain(s) instead of making them somewhat real. One could say “Monkey, it’s not about taking on villains, it’s about achieving resolve within the group’s personal struggles.” And while that is a reasonable and pathetic way of saying violence can’t resolve things, it doesn’t bear the fact that the Crystal Gems were essentially fighting villains beforehand while achieving resolve, so why change things up now? Especially when the villains before don’t bear any quirk of their own besides being relative to the plot. Or a plot, since again, it wants to be taken seriously with the “story” it has, but juggles way too many things that it can feel hilariously jarring when the show actually gets somewhere.

And as a character drama, the establishment of its world and idealogies don’t feel as valuable when the importance and passion to them are continuously muddled or dull

And this is the way of trash anime. People shouldn’t have to continuously think of how things could’ve been better, why plotlines and characters don’t mesh well, why it can just feel so contrived. Yeah it’s unfortunate that an SU Critical community exists, and yeah sometimes they deserve scrutiny because some try to make it deeper than it is, but we can’t deny that this all appeared from a vacuum. With criticisms can come a consistent string of logic that some things have turned up wrong, something that the series failed to grasp previously. Like SAO, most Shonen works, and “those” shows that I won’t speak of, this series was and has become a glorified gamble on your interests and the anticipation to see where it lands, how cathartic it’ll be, and what’s to look forward to and look back on.... has somewhat slimmed. While it is most certainly its own thing, it doesn’t bear that evolutionary yet timeless nuance Avatar and Adventure Time has, nor the continually captivating hook the best anime can have with its episodes and characters. This series has gotten stupid...and I say it’s not wrong to think that way.

Anime isn’t that big of a mistake, you guys. Come on.

If there’s anything I learned as one of the smartest idiots around, it’s that stupidity can be enjoyable; trust me, I know. So while I say SU’s anime garbage, I’m not saying it’s the bad kind that kills your mood/investment like the shit I found. it’s the Rocket Raccoon of Cartoon Network (and if you’ve seen Guardians 2 and get where I’m coming from, I love you for it). It’s still enjoyable, for the most part, and I’m not gonna ignore the influence it had on its fans. Hell, Black Panther is a movie I find flawed as fuck, but I and the millions (and the millions) still recognize and appreciate it for what it provided, for black people especially. While it can be predictable, there are some good moments to think over, for better or for worse, like how the Rose Quartz was subtly hinted at throughout the seasons. It’s still competent in some aspects, there are a few characters I still love and, to unpin, things look like they’re finally heating up. It still has that “Fuck yeah” spirit buried underneath, like many anime good and trash. It’s certainly better than Star vs th- Point I’m getting at is that this series sure as hell ain’t bulletproof, but I’ll gladly bandage it up and see it through to the end. Not as some guilty pleasure, but as a series that staggers constantly and consistently but makes up in keeping it compelling (in a way). That’s a quality only the best trash anime achieves, shooting itself in the foot while proudly making that run to the finish line. I’m not just blatantly criticizing it or supporting all the hype it makes, I’m embracing it for going this long with this many bruises, willing to take more hits, all the while never really losing sight of what it set out to do. I’ll still smack it upside the head for the stupid shit it might pull, because I know it can and will, but that smack is delivered with love. And really, is that not a reasonable feeling to have?

Steven U is anime garbage... and I’m fine with that.

#steven universe #su #su critical #su criticism #rose quartz #pink diamond #cartoons #anime #reviews #analysis #long post #Good Stuff #Roy Macintosh #awesome #brain fart #sword art online

73 notes · View notes