video; un:mako

[arclightning]

Uh, hey. Mako here.

[ Nailing it so far, right? Mako's standing in front of a half-blue, half-green wall, dotted with small lunar sconces. Everything looks kind of dusty and half-finished, and the watery afternoon light illuminates yet more dust drifting around him.

Notably, a small dragon, red-scaled and content, is draped over his shoulders like a scarf, watching the Omni with bright eyes.

Mako glances momentarily off the screen, mouths something, and then looks back, clearing his throat. ]

It's come to my attention that a lot of you have been setting things on fire left and right since we washed up here. Obviously, this is dangerous to you and the people around you. If that's you, you need to make an effort to control it immediately before something worse than singeing your clothes happens.

For those of you who just washed up, I'm a firebender. That means I can do—

[ He holds up his left hand (scarred with strange marks) in front of himself and splays his fingers, making a small puff of fire appear and hold over his palm. It flickers there like a candle flame, dancing between Mako's fingers, before he drags it in a small arc and lets it go out. ]

—that, and—

[ Another flick of his fingers, this time producing little purple-bright sparks that zap between the tips and then dissipate. ]

—that. And a lot more.

So. If you need help learning to control your powers, and you do, come to the Raccoon Room in Cellar Door on Wednesdays. You'll see the sign. I've been doing this since I was a kid. Anyone else who wants to help, feel free to drop by too.

[ Finally, he looks up, his serious expression dropping just slightly. ]

Trust me. If a bunch of snotty six-year-olds back home can learn how to do it, you can.

[ The little dragon huffs in agreement, fire puffing out of its nose, and Mako reaches forward to cut the feed. ]

Comments

[laminae]

ok good, i know this is really hard on him

yeah? Ruddiger's like that now
i got a thing that does that too
i guess it's just part of this world?

he's sleeping less than normal
not that he slept much anyways, but yeah
he's doing worse
he's been waking me up at night to talk because he can't sleep
and during the day he's started leaving half-finished science experiments around, like he's forgotten about them

[arclightning]

So is Fritter, apparently. Just another thing to keep track of.

Yeah, he mentioned that. Probably accidentally. It didn't make a lot of sense. How are you feeling? Are you sleeping alright? A lot of people are feeling that way. I'm trying to figure out what might be causing it.

[laminae]

really?? i'm glad Wu's got Fritter here
i wish Hazel was my weird black smoke friend but he isn't, he just showed up with the house

i'm pretty much sleeping as well as i normally do outside of him waking me up
i don't think i have whatever he has
Luz might though, she's been acting pretty weird too

[arclightning]

Who's your weird black smoke friend if it's not Hazel?

Yeah, he mentioned Luz wasn't sleeping that well either. Are you feeling different at all, besides the sparkling thing? I'm starting to think it's something in the food.

Was kind of hoping this place would make a little more sense, since it isn't a dream.

[laminae]

a pink bug
Bloodsomething
i suck at pronouncing her name so i mostly call her B

i'm um
as good as i usually am
which isn't great? but i'm never great
my head's been kind of weird, but nothing like what Luz and Varian are going through

i guess some Deerington stuff didn't happen just because it was a dream, huh?

[arclightning]

Seems that way. We're going to need longer to figure out what's really going on, but something tells me it's connected to our blood and the squid thing. I'm going to talk to more people when I get a chance, try to make a few connections.

What do you mean, you're never great? What kind of weird?

[laminae]

our blood? great, so our problems might be because Varian's got ice blood and i have blood at all
geez, that makes things complicated

i mean i've always kind of had stuff going on with my head
going from being two sentient swords to one person wasn't really a
full transition
if you want to call it that
i'm still two separate things in some ways
and that's hard to deal with

[arclightning]

It might also make things easier. Having an explanation is always better.

Sounds like you're better equipped to handle this squid thing than most of us, with all that going on in your head.

[laminae]

nooo way
i had repressed most of it in my mental vault for a long time because i couldn't deal with it
i'm not who you want to look at when you need someone who can handle the squid thing

[arclightning]

You think a bunch of Sleepers aren't gonna do that same thing?

How did the repressing thing go for you?

[laminae]

uh, good point

well, it got me and someone else killed and Varian lost his leg
so not great

[arclightning]

Yeah. Exactly. So who better to tell people about that so they don't do the same thing and end up minus one leg?

[laminae]

[Wow Mako, that is a very rude, very persuasive argument.]

ok yeah
i can't fight you on that
i don't want to see anyone else do what Varian did

[arclightning]

[ Thank you Fern Mako is a very persuasive person when he wants to be, especially when this is, in fact, very logical in his mind. ]

Yeah. So talk about it and tell people about your experiences. Believe me, it works weirdly well when otherwise people just don't pay attention. It's what Wu used to get a whole city to listen to him.

[laminae]

[It's more than a little intimidating, imagining people beyond his close friends relying on him for support with existential horror....]

i'm not good about talking about that kind of stuff though
Wu's a charming guy, i'm not
what if i screw up and make it worse for them?

[arclightning]

Did Wu ever tell you about the time he passed out trying to announce the first election in the Earth Kingdom?

Believe me. Not everybody gets it right all the time, but you have to try, and if you mess up, you try again.

[laminae]

he what?
no way dude, that sounds like something he would never ever want to tell anyone

i guess
and if i can help, then that's good
it just seems like a lot

[arclightning]

Happened in front of a few hundred people and the media. It's not exactly a secret.

It'll probably be a lot. Teaching everyone like this is a lot. Look, Fern, you don't have to do it, but I think you can, and.

I don't know. I think being a good person kind of means stepping up even when you don't want to. Not easy, but worth it. You know?

[laminae]

but what about here! people here must not know about it aside from you and Korra and everyone else from your world, right?

[Wow, he hates this so much, but Mako is right. This is exactly what a good person would do, and even though he knows he isn't a good person he still wants to try.]

um
ok
i'll probably be a huge failure at it but you're right about all of that
so i can try

[arclightning]

Now it's you, Korra, Asami, and Bolin, so.

[ Helping! ]

Fern. Listen to me. You might fail. You might cause a whole city to panic and it sucks when you mess up. Believe me. I know. I've messed up a lot.

But it's worth it. I know I'm not going to lose respect for you if you mess it up. I'll respect you more for trying, no matter what the outcome is. Got it? You got this.

[laminae]

[He's got this?

He remembers saying that before, what feels like forever ago, when Finn asked him to keep an eye on Sweet P. while he went to slay the Lich. Finn had reassured him the same way, and that's what he had said, I got this.

And then everything proceeded to go to shit and he had a breakdown and then things got even worse and he died.

So. Yeah.]

um you know what
on second thought
i don't got this