deernet | video; un:mako

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. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

(Eddie has always been wildly sensitive to other people. It was part of why it had been so easy for his mother to abuse him the way she did. She used his sensitivity against him every single day, coaxing him with guilt trips about how she couldn't stand to lose him. She used his father's death against him almost weekly. He anticipated whenever his friends were upset, feeling preemptively anxious, like a mental flinch from a potential blow that never came from people who actually loved him.

Eddie had never realized before that his mother had done to him what most physical abusers do to their victims. Instead of anticipating a hit, he anticipated someone using their feelings against him to rob him of his own. To force him into a corner.

It has made him agonizingly observant of other people's emotions. It's a survival tactic, mostly, because he needs to be able to tell when someone is about to be cruel.

But over the years, it has also just made him plainly aware of people who are processing something at a deeper level than they might verbally admit. It's just a read, not always accurate, and often times it was even heavily distorted by his own sense of anxiety and uncertainty. Sometimes he read things that weren't there at all.

This time, however, he just listens, just watches, and stares with wide, unblinking gray eyes. It's not like he's never noticed the constant scarf or the meticulously militant style Mako maintained. He knew the guy was stiffer than Wu both emotionally and in presentation.

He expected some push back, so when Mako gets through calling it cool what Eddie did followed by everything else...Well. Eddie knew what Mako was saying even if he couldn't say it explicitly.)

Yeah, I do know.

(Soft, patient.)

When you have everything, it's easy to feel like you need nothing to embellish who you are or where you come from. For other people, we know what it's like to just be defined solely by what we wear or how we look to other people. What our houses look like. People don't give us the chance to prove ourselves beyond that sometimes.

(He tips his head, looking at Mako with slightly brighter eyes now.)

Y'know. If you ever wanted to go shopping with me, I'd like the company. We're not in the Earth Kingdom anymore. I bet there are some cool places you'd like here too?

(It's a tentative effort. But Eddie thinks it's important to try. To at least know Mako was allowed to want to try.)

[ It is, really, a ridiculously kind offer, even if it makes Mako snort and breaks that simmering tension all at once. Eddie understands, and that's why despite everything between them, despite Mako's clear memories of a face very similar to the one in front of him illuminated and uncaring as he stopped Mako's heart—despite all that, he still seeks this kid out. When he doesn't understand, he tries to.

Like Wu. ]

Long as Wu's allowed to come. I don't think I'd hear the end of it if I went clothes shopping without him.

...thanks.

You've been judged a lot, huh?

Yeah, of course, dude. Wu's always welcome.

(This kind of thing was precisely the reason why Eddie tried to keep the murder thing at a distance. He'd never exactly blame the guy for maybe always being wary of him, but Eddie was glad it didn't ruin any chances of a relationship permanently. He liked having Mako in his life - and he liked having Wu in his life too.)

Have you met me? I give people a lot of things to judge for. Some make more sense than others.

I don't know that you're giving them people. People just... judge, no matter what. Like we talked about. It's what they do.

[ Why is this always so hard to explain? Mako is terrible at this. ]

Doesn't make it fun, even if it's normal.

Dude.

(Eddie gives Mako a dramatic really? look. Then he holds up his hand and begins to count everything off with fingers:)

I'm flamboyant, I'm Polish, I'm from the 1950s, I'm extremely annoying to listen to because I get really loud, I never shut up, I cry all the time and if I'm not crying I'm probably shrieking or having a panic attack, I've literally killed people. I like dudes. I am terrible with first impressions. I regularly insult people without meaning to and sometimes meaning to. I'm not nice and I'm not even funny. I'm certifiably crazy. And now I have the weird blood that's literally poison. Take your fucking pick.

(....)

Plus I'm a huge Swiftie and apparently that's a crime in the future.

(It should be criminal to dislike Taylor Swift but that's not the subject.)

I can also be super judgmental and shitty myself so like good people are usually put off. It's not that shocking.

[ Listening to that list in full doesn't mean Mako understands that list in full. "Polish" means nothing to him, and the time period means very little, and what... could Swiftie possibly mean? It sounds like a word Wu would use, but Mako has absolutely zero context to go off here, so he mostly just looks confused and a little resigned, and, strangely, understanding. ]

Half those words mean nothing to me. Just so you know.

[ Just had to get that out of the way. ]

You trying to change those things?

[ Mako could probably list off a hundred things about himself that put people off and end up with a decent amount of overlap, which, again, is probably why he and Eddie get along despite everything. He doesn't know how many of his own list he's trying to change, or what needs changing.

Some of it, for sure. Mako's trying to be a better person, even when it's hard and exhausting and goes against everything he's learned how to do. ]

video; un:mako

MAKO >:OOOOOOO (cw: mental abuse from parent to child)

THESE BOYS THO

THEY MAKE<,,ME HAVE EMOTIONS

no subject

cw: every kind of -ism and -phobia

no subject