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ordinaryschmuck · 3 years

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Top 20 BEST Animated Series of the 2010s-8th Place

It’s funny. Four years ago, there was no doubt in my mind that this show would easily make the top five best-animated series in the last decade. But the more it went on, the more...controversial it got. However, despite all the hate this next series has been getting recently, I still believe that there’s something to be desired within it.

#8-Steven Universe/Steven Universe: Future (2013-2020)

The Plot: For years, immortal warriors known as the Crystal Gems have been defending the Earth from anything that seeks to do it harm. Until one day when Rose Quartz, the Gems leader, had fallen in love with a human named Greg Universe. From that love, Rose gave up her physical form to bring her son, Steven, into the world she was sworn to protect. Taking guidance from the other Crystal Gems-Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl-Steven will try his best to grow up into the same warrior that his mom was. But as he learns more about the Gems and his mother, Steven will soon realize that he’ll have to grow up far faster than he thought.

Right out the gate, I should mention there's a 60%-40% chance that you’re either going to love this show or think that it’s pure garbage. And honestly, I believe it all depends on perspective. Like the quality of most shows, the enjoyment depends on the viewpoints you chose to take with it. Some people will look at specific decisions as well done, where others will see it all as a mess of storytelling. For instance, one person can make a two-hour-long video about how Steven Universe is garbage, and another person can make a video arguing about how it isn’t. Everyone has different reasons why they like or hate something. If you genuinely hate Steven Universe or think you might not like it, that's perfectly fine. I just hope you’ll give me the chance to explain why I personally enjoy it, and why I think it deserves all the adulation it has.

For instance, the main thing I really enjoy about Steven Universe is its style. From the designs, to the animation, to even the music. Everything about how Steven Universe both looks and sounds leave me awestruck. First is the show’s designs of both the backgrounds and characters. Nearly every part of the world in the series looks absolutely amazing, fitting seeing how the Crystal Gems fought for Earth due to its beauty. There are also times when lore and backstory can be seen through the backgrounds, giving some fantastic utilization of visual storytelling. Such as when the Crystal Gems visit war zones and temples that they’ve spent years fighting in, showing hidden secrets that can make much more sense by later episodes. As for the character designs, they all look pretty good. Each character has a dynamic and unique style, making them all fun to look at. It’s even better when the character’s personalities are shown throughout their entire designs. I especially love how the artists managed to get creative with how real life crystals (lapices, bismuths, and jaspers) will look like people when designing the Crystal Gems and their enemies. However, I should first mention that Steven Universe is another show where the art style depends on who’s storyboarding the scene. While not as bad as OK KO: Let’s Be Heroes, it can be pretty distracting given how character sizes and proportions are inconsistent. Regardless, I still like how good the designs look for a majority of the characters. And at a practical standpoint, I think it’s great that the artists kept the figures as simple as possible as it makes animating the characters a lot easier.

Speaking of which, I really like how Steven Universe is animated. It’s not entirely groundbreaking like The Amazing World of Gumball’s or as fluid as Wander Over Yonder’s, but the animation in Steven Universe is still pretty dang good. The characters' movements look believable, and the expressions each one makes is downright amazing to see. It gets more aspiring for the show’s fight scenes. You can almost feel each punch, jab, and slash that the characters trade with each other, and the fights themselves are pretty fun to watch. As for the action itself, Steven Universe might just have the most creative action set pieces I’ve seen from any animated series. Case in point, there is an entire fight scene that’s also a fantastic song at the same time.

On the topic of songs, let the record show that showrunner Rebecca Sugar really understands music. I say this because Steven Universe has some really great music in it. From background music to full-on musical numbers, this show proves how important melodies are in a series. Look at the background music, as it not only does a suitable job at making audiences feel the right emotions but also sounds really good when isolated. As for the character motifs, each note perfectly encapsulates the character's personality that it’s meant for. Like Pearl, who has a piano melody to show off her classy and orderly personality, and Peridot, who has a more 8-bit tune to her leitmotif as a way to show off her tech side. And since we branched into talking about 8-bit, there are times when this show’s soundtrack sounds like it belongs in a really cool video game (Google Lion’s and Obsidian's themes if you don’t believe me). As for the actual songs in the show, Steven Universe has a pretty good selection. As they can be beautiful and downright awesome to listen to. And even though the show uses songs to develop the characters and story, these musical numbers can still be pretty fun to listen to on their own, with no context (most of the time).

But while a show's style is essential, it’s the substance that truly matters. And here is where we go back to the discussion of perspective. To some viewers, you might think that the substance in Steven Universe is handled well, where others...Well, I think it’s pretty obvious how they might feel.

Let’s look at the story because Steven Universe actually has an intriguing and compelling story...Or at least it does when it tries to eventually tell that story. Whether you’re a person who either loves or hates the series, everyone can agree that the slice of life episodes are easily the show’s weakest. Personally, I don’t mind them, and that’s because I view these episodes as giving me a choice between eating a chocolate cake or a carrot. The story-driven episodes are a chocolate cake. Their sweet, delicious, and I’m always craving more after just having one piece. As for the slice of life episodes, they’re like carrots. I can eat a carrot. I can digest a carrot. I might even enjoy a carrot. Hell, there are times when I’m willing to ask for another carrot. But if you’re going to give me the decision of a carrot over a chocolate cake, then I’m always going to pick the chocolate cake. Even if I enjoy episodes like “Laser Light Cannon," “Too Short to Ride," and “Alone Together," they can never hold a candle to “Jail Break," “Reunited," and “Change Your Mind." This is because the slice of life episodes give off a sense of distraction from the main story. After all, they rarely add anything new (read: meaningful) to the tale. And going back to the carrot and chocolate cake analogy, there’s one aspect that doesn’t do the slice of life episodes any favors. You see, where most shows feel like you have to eat the carrots before having the chocolate cake, half the time Steven Universe feels like you can skip most of the carrots and go straight for the chocolate cake instead. And Steven Universe isn’t the only show to try this. In fact, tomorrow I’ll be talking about a show that perfected this idea. But tomorrow's series manages to make both the story and slice of life episode the chocolate cake instead of the carrot. And it has everything to do with the fact that the characters care about the situation they’re in. There are actual moments in the show where Crystal Gems refuse to participate in everyday antics because they simply don’t think those antics are worth their time. Which is something you never want to do. Because if the characters don’t care, then why should the audience? Speaking of the characters--

I want it to be known that I like the majority of the characters in Steven Universe. Greg, Connie, Peridot, Amethyst, and Garnet are all enjoyable to watch in their own way. Not only is their development on point, but their personalities are all likable, and their issues are also relatable. It’s three other characters that things get a little iffy. Those characters being Steven, Pearl, Bismuth and Lapis. If you ask me, I like these characters, and I think it’s fun to study/analyze their personalities. However, these characters make decisions that audiences are either going to hate or love. It’s sort of like that optical illusion of the old lady/young lady (Google it). Some people can see the ugly old hag, where others will see the beautiful young woman. You’re most likely going to see one or the other, and it isn’t until someone else points out what you couldn’t notice that you are capable of seeing both. It’s something very similar to Steven, Pearl, Bismuth and Lapis. One response is that you’re either going to see characters who are selfless heroes that are victims of circumstance. The other is seeing toxic idiots who cause more harm than good to the people they love.

And then there are the people of Beach City. These are mostly hated by both fans and critics of the show. Personally, I don’t hate most of them. Don’t get me wrong, characters like Lars and Ronaldo deserve every ounce of hate they are given (Although Lars does get better). As for the rest of the Beach Citizens, I don’t think they are that bad of characters. In fact, I think they’re good characters placed in the wrong show. Some of them have issues that most people deal with (Sadie, in most of her episodes), where others seem to be slightly layered and almost intriguing (Mr. Smiley and Onion in “Future Boy Zoltron” and “Onion Gang”). In fact, if these characters were a part of a different series, I’m sure people will be more willing to watch their struggles. It's just compared to the Crystal Gems and company, the people of Beach City are not as interesting to watch or dissect. And because of this, the show drags down to a screeching halt whenever it focuses on these characters.

And the most controversial element of these characters is (semi-spoilers ahead) when the show tries to pull off redemption arcs. Steven Universe seems to work off the logic that nobody is evil, just misunderstood. There’s both a right way and a wrong way of illustrating that logic, and Steven Universe, unfortunately, does it the wrong way. And the best way for me to describe how to do this idea is to use the game Undertale as an example (I’d warn you about spoilers, but odds are you already know everything about that game). In Undertale, you play a character who fell into an underground prison full of monsters, and you have to find your way back to the surface. The monsters you run into give the impression that they’re dangerous and want to destroy you (or at least most of them do). However, the game allows the player to interact with the world and characters around them, soon discovering that the monsters are more complex than one might think. In fact, the game allows you to actually interact with monsters who tried to kill you, showing the logic and reasoning as to why. By the end of Undertale, you learn that every character you encounter is not the villains in the story, but rather victims of a war that forced them away from the surface. Steven Universe has a similar idea but fails to do it properly. All it reveals is that the villains have done bad things, realize that they’ve done wrong, and decide to have an out of nowhere change of heart by the end. The problem is that except for one character, the turnarounds don’t feel earned. Instead, they feel forced than anything else.

These elements are what make Steven Universe slightly controversial to enjoy.

(And also the ridiculous amount of hiatuses. But that’s not really an issue I have with the show, but the network running it.)

But if there is one thing I hope we all can agree on, both the pessimistic and forgiving, I think it’s safe to say that the best thing about Steven Universe is how important it is for the LGBTQ+ community. There may have been kids' shows in the past that hinted at same-sex relationships and they deserve some respect as well. But I'd say it’s Steven Universe that popularized the idea with the characters Ruby and Saphire. Not only are these two downright adorable together, but they also manage to be enjoyable characters on their own (Even though it isn’t often you see them apart, but their personalities still shine through). And I’m willing to make the argument that it’s because of these two why children’s animation is less afraid, but still cautious, of being explicit with having same-sex couples. Like I said, most shows decide to hint at these relationships, so they don't get in trouble for doing so. Nowadays? Most of Cartoon Network’s series seem to have more gay relationships than most children’s networks in recent memory. Nickelodeon allowed The Loud House to have gay parents in a children's cartoon, and one of the main characters being canonically bisexual. Hell, even Disney is currently taking steps in the right direction with their smash hit called The Owl House. Now, more than ever, kids can learn at an early age that gay relationships are more than just acceptable, but they’re also completely normal and should be accepted as such. And I’m more than willing to give Steven Universe credit for giving this trend the push that it needed, like other creators for these shows usually point fingers at it as well.

Is Steven Universe a perfect show? No. But that doesn’t mean I think it’s garbage. There are some legitimate faults that this series has, some of which I’m inclined to agree with. But with all the good it does and how much fun people have while watching it, I can’t really say I hate this series. If you think you’ll hate this show, you have every right to. I can’t change how you feel, but I can ask you to keep an open mind. Because who knows? You might be someone who will find the diamond in the rough of this series.

(Now that’s a pun you’ll be willing to appreciate by the time you reach season 5).

#top 20 of the 2010s #steven universe #steven universe future #what i thought about

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akkeyagentofhelheim · 3 years

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Agents’ Imbalance

[1071.03.24 - 02:00]

Trips to the Jaw were kept to a minimum ever since the Rebellion took their residence there. Akkey and Liam had begun experimenting semi-regularly with his newfound ability, but other than that one instance where she went to him--it was perfect timing, truly, seeing Yun and Nala’s spar--, she would ask him to come to Yrus instead, to the cove. Tonight, however, she had a different purpose for visiting. A question that nagged her at the back of her mind for the past few weeks.

A portal stretched open in a place towards the far north of the old god’s bones, where the stronghold was the thickest and most isolated from people other than the scheduled entries. It was well into the night, not a cloud to be seen, swathing the landscape in light.

“I swear to Hel, you’re getting more and more difficult to find.” Akkey grumbled, one boot planting firmly into the bare ground, her arms crossed as she regarded the tall, lean figure that stood underneath a lone tree, perfectly in the guardtowers' blind spot and hidden from sight.

“Language,” Juro turned to give her his usual crooked grin. His scarf fluttered at both the motion and the wind that decided to blow in that moment. He returned her gaze properly, “Is that how you speak about your divine mother?”

“Oh, shut up.”

He let out an annoying chuckle, before sombering slightly. Particularly since they were on the topic of maternal figures. He asked quietly, “How’d that day go? The 13th...” Her mother’s death anniversary and her original birthday was extremely recent after all.

She was slow to reply, but when she did, there was cautious satisfaction in her voice, “...better than usual, actually. Shadowing’s been helping a lot, I think.” Her eyes were cast to the side when she said that, always a little iffy on the subject.

A leaf crunched as his foot shifted, amber eyes watching her carefully, “That’s good to hear.”

“Yeah…”

Their gazes met once again, locked between colleagues that could’ve been friends, but there were too many layers to uncover, a gap between them that couldn’t meet. Physically, Akkey was older, but Juro had an ancient aura around him that seemed to keep people at a big, unreachable distance from him, despite both of them entertaining their childish side more often than average. Two powerful agents contracted under Helheim.

The wind blew again, and her long dark hair and his light fringe moved in simultaneous waves. There was a shift in energy as Akkey opened her mouth in careful question, finally deciding to break the silence, “Why are you here, Juro? Is there something wrong?”

The Bookkeeper raised his brows, smile pleasant on his handsome face despite being in shadow, “...merely enjoying a moment of solitude to myself before returning inside. What’s with the sudden interview?” His tone was low to match her caution.

She shook her head, "No. You know what I mean. Why are you here? Now?” She raised her wrist slightly to motion towards the Jaw, and Juro followed the movement with his eyes. The quiet tension between them remained.

“The battle against the Conclave was progressing. I needed to witness it for the Library.”

“By risking life and limb to save Yun?”

The mutual apprehension tangibly heightened when she asked that, and the wind dropped with it in contrast. Juro blinked. His face remained unchanged, lazy grin and calm regard towards her, but Akkey knew she had hit something. That was why she came here in the first place.

“...no.” His reply was even.

“I saw you, Juro.” She wasn’t letting it go. Unlike their last conversation as agents, when she finally understood timelines and alternate souls, and broached the topic of his neutrality. She let it slide then, but the inconsistency and sheer strangeness of it wouldn’t let her this time.

There was an effort to keep himself steady now. She didn’t miss it, as his smile became stiff. Her ears picked up on something, although she couldn’t put a pin on what it was exactly.

She continued anyway, “I felt your portal. You intentionally opened Virion beside the construct, that was no accident. The sword. The stun. You screamed…” She pressed forward with a step, and Juro involuntarily reacted, taking his own backwards.

“When the construct was finally defeated, you were right beside me. I know what you were up to--I was doing the exact same thing. Every decision you made leading up to that point was for the purpose of rescuing the time jumper, even ignoring Stonegit, who was just as fucked up as Yun was.”

His breath was shallow as his cadence faltered, "I didn't…"

“No help, no harm. For twenty years, you keep preaching that obnoxious mantra to me. Neutrality, and whatnot,” she jabbed a finger in the air, pointing towards the construct that peeked over the canines, “None of that was neutral.”

The sound became clearer. It was metal against metal, linking then pulling at intervals, like they were adjusting and positioning themselves. Juro was becoming visibly agitated, and Akkey could tell he wanted to teleport away. She understood. She would have as well, if it were the past. That’s why she had to be quick.

“Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate it. For fucking once you helped without me having to beg for it with a story. But you don’t get to break your oath, your Bookkeeper code, something that I know for a fact that you follow with every will and breath you have, so much so that you would let innocents die before your eyes--” Akkey grit her teeth at the memory from their old days, but she pushed it away, and went on, “--and then now that suddenly doesn’t matter because Yun was trapped?”

His hand had come up to his chest. Akkey saw it tremble once as the space behind him bent out of invisibility and into Virion’s physical form. Its wings were raised slightly, bristling. Juro shook his head, almost desperately, “It does matter!”

“Then why did you save him? I was right there for Stones! I could have helped him for you, and you fully know that! I don’t go by your dumb rule! What is so special about this kid that you would do that?”

Akkey was less upset and concerned now, and just more confused as she thought out loud, albeit aggressively, “He’s… he’s… we barely know him! Sure, he told us about the Conclave in the first place. And now he’s here to fight Frigga, don’t get me wrong, I‘m grateful, I’m hopeful, I’ll be supporting him any way I can, but other than him and Milae having the same soul, he’s noth--”

Wait… she stopped short upon the realization.

Her head swiveled to look at him, “...Milae.”

Juro jolted at the name, “Don’t…” Virion flapped its wings threateningly, hovering slightly off ground between both agents. The air from the movement blew outwards, and the wind picked up, hair and clothing beginning to flutter wildly.

“It’s because he’s Milae, isn’t it?” Akkey pressed. She eyed the golem with caution, but she was certain now, “You knew that from the beginning. With Milae… you are super--” her hands waved slightly panicked as she tried to settle on a word, “--I don’t know, weird about him.”

She paced as she put two and two together, the breeze turning into a gale with her, “I thought I was imagining things. It may not be by a lot, but I know you better than a lot of people on Aidorin. You don’t stick around one person for very long other than me, and that’s only because of work. It gets in your way.”

“But you did that favour for him, with Frigga, and ever since then I saw you with him more often. Like--like a curious kid. Following him around. You went to the Fallfeast and--” She squinted. The festival was a little hazy, she was drunk, but even then… “--every time I think back to seeing you there you were with him, talking, laughing. And here… after the mass teleportations. He was worried about you. He stayed by your side.”

“Akkey, please--” It was unmistakable now. It was the scrape of chains that filled the air, coming from nowhere yet also everywhere. A raucous cry came from the golem, training all six of its eyes in anger towards the nix. But Akkey didn’t stop, instead her brow creased further in her need for an explanation.

“You like him. Not like Dario does, no, but you--Jin Juro, Agent of Helheim, Bookkeeper of Neutrality… are no longer neutral. You’re attached to Yun Milae. A friend.”

The rush of air, clinking chains, and animal screeching that had continued to build in waves over the conversation suddenly ceased, like the world had stopped to take a breath, going completely white like it was covered in snow. Then like a dam, it broke into a torrent of magic, the golem bending out of its form in streaks of grey-blue and white, twisting in the space between them as Hel’s given magic surged above, before collecting, shrinking, and drawing itself into Juro’s staff that had appeared in his grasp.

The Bookkeeper held the stick in both hands like a sword, in a form with which Akkey was familiar, but only from him, as it morphed into what looked like a mirage of a different weapon, the base staff still in his grip but giving an illusion of a long, sharp, slightly curved blade with dancing cranes engraved into it, and a simple, squarish hilt peppered with golden flecks in the black canvas.

He was right up at Akkey in a sudden burst of speed before she could blink, and she only managed to throw up an elemental blade of her own right on time. Weapon clashed with weapon in an explosion of energy and ice as Juro bore down on her, using his height and raw power to make up for his lack of comparable combat skills. Akkey grunted at the effort to keep herself upright as the pressure from above increased. Virion’s grey-blue and white energy pulsed once, casting Juro’s face half in shadow and half in light. It was a dull amber that stared back at her, lifeless and lacking his usual spirit, his face blank.

It sent a shiver up her spine.

A portal opened below her and she slipped through, causing Juro to lose his balance as she appeared behind him, arms raised high, ready to slash downwards in an attack from above. But he turned at the nick of time, meeting her blade of ice in a wide arc up. Again, magic collided.

The surge of Hel supplemented power blew their hair back violently, whipping Akkey’s dark locks wildly in the air. An olden, intrusive memory of another swordswoman Juro knew that looked like her crossed his mind in barely an instant, but it was enough to intensify the sound of scraping chains.

They were locked in the struggle for another breath, before Akkey twisted her grip and sent out two shards flying from her makeshift weapon. They caught the Bookkeeper on the shoulder, slicing skin in quick succession. The pain shifted his grip and both blades slipped, and they pushed off each other in the momentary lapse, increasing the distance between them once again as power levels continued to rise, sending forceful gales in opposite, outward directions.

“Juro!” Akkey called out in agitation. This was a Juro she had never, ever seen in her life. They had sparred many a time, absolutely, but he always approached it with humour, amusement, a teasing grin pulling at his face. But this… this was nothing.

His hold on the sword became slack for a moment, letting it almost touch the ground as he trained his gaze towards her. Red began soaking the torn fabric on his shoulder as he bled, but it was short lived. Light shone from the wounds, magic pouring from it but in blues and golds instead, until it stitched the cuts close. The dark splotches of blood stopped growing.

Akkey started at the display of energy, uncertain if it was controlled or not. It definitely didn’t look intentional, but the colours and the power from it were familiar… and it wasn’t Hel’s.

“That’s yours,” she breathed, almost nervously, as she recognized it only due to recent events, “That’s from before, you used that on Yun. After the construct…” He lifted his head, and his face was finally illuminated properly by the moon, still completely void of emotion. The scars on his jaw caught light and seemed to glow unnervingly, casting a strange, unrecognizable aura on the blonde man.

Akkey clenched her fist as she approached him again, gradually picking up speed, unable to quell the annoyance in her at his refusal to give any type of straight answers, “You said you didn’t have any! Since when did you have your own magic? Has it always been like that? Why have you never used it before?!”

Juro predictably had no reply. Instead, his enforced weapon slipped into the belt of his pants and out the side, mimicking a sheathed sword, his stance widening as his right hand hovered above the handle, eyes watching Akkey’s approach quickly closing the distance, waiting for the perfect moment.

It came in a flash of silver and a water tendril, shooting out in a dangerously fast streak of light when Akkey threw her left arm forward like she would a ball, but much quicker and much more easily missed. But Juro met it head on. His staff unsheathed at lightning speed, swifter than any sword movement Akkey had seen before, and cleanly knocked her attack away.

But Helheim agents would as agents always would, as both twisted in a second attack hidden behind their first. Akkey threw her right arm up at the exact same point and time that Juro swept his sword arm around and willed his golem to open at the end of his weapon.

Portal collided against portal.

The characteristic hums turned into a high pitched, ear grinding whine, two frequencies twisting, looping, turning into one, then booming into a massive roar, deafening with the sound of chains that continued to scrape against the back of their heads. Agents strained as gravity and dimension warred against each other in immense tension, churning, curling, each unwilling to give in, contracting smaller and smaller into a disc as it pushed into the other, surging and fighting in a nauseating twist of magic. It crawled against skin and bone and muscle, bending, warping, pulling space and water unnaturally to its extremes in their struggle for power, building higher and stronger and bigger over the other in suffocating layers--until it could no longer hold itself in.

It exploded.

The pressure that contained it fractured, an eruption of energy flooding from between them. There was an outpour of light and colour many meters high into the darkened sky, splashing against each other then cascading with a perfect split in the middle-- blues and golds towards Juro, purples and bluey-greens to Akkey. It was bright, blindingly so, as it shattered the landscape and blew them apart, sending them flying fast and far, bouncing and rolling painfully against the cold, hard ground as the air was knocked out of them, bruising and scratching their skin.

Akkey cried out as she landed heavily on her side, covering her head while the force of the detonation of energy kept her down, a cacophony of chaotic magic that gushed across the flats of the Scrublands and crashed against the side of the Jaw like a wave of ocean water on the shoreline, but immediately dissipating upon impact. It was many seconds before it died down, the wind calming itself and the overwhelming light finally fading back into darkness, leaving only the moon and stars behind.

The sounds of the sudden short battle disappeared, and she got to her feet painfully, cautiously observing her surroundings as it cleared, searching for her colleague. Juro was nowhere to be seen at first, but finally she saw him in the far distance, his prone figure on the ground.

Shit--! “Juro!” She immediately appeared a few feet away from him, running as quickly as her thin legs would take her.

But she couldn’t reach him before Virion burst from the weapon he used, which had fallen out of his grip and returned to its mundane pen form when the impact rendered him unconscious. It rose to its twelve foot form and surged forward in a blur of feathers, catching her torso and arms cleanly underneath one talon and dragging her into the ground, dirt piling up around her as its weight had her completely trapped.

“Gah!” She grunted as her back hit soil once again. Virion bent its head down, six beady eyes glaring into hers as his wings bristled in anger at the provocation the nix had brought onto its master.

“V-Vir.... Let her go…” a rough voice strained to make itself heard from behind the golem as it screeched its vexation over her head. Virion twisted its long neck around to regard its master questioningly, as Juro stirred, carefully picking himself up. It bristled again in disagreement for a few seconds, but relented soon after, lifting its leg off her and sweeping its wings to land beside him, helping him up to a sitting position. He shook his head, a tiny smirk slowly creeping its way back onto his face, “I was the one who attacked first…”

Virion could only croon in dissatisfaction, nudging him to lean against it as he caught his breath. The Bookkeeper obliged, without the energy to put up a fight, as he turned inwards for some introspective examination.

The initial attack was a haze to him, in similar fashion to the incident with Sylar's body. The barrage of questions as Akkey had gotten closer and closer to the truth placed an intense amount of pressure on him, and her realization regarding Milae finally voiced things he had been denying, ignoring, finding loopholes around, and it escalated into that uncontrolled surge of emotion, forcing him to turn all senses off and let body take autonomy. 'Friend' echoed unwillingly in his mind and he threw it aside in a panic, hurriedly bringing his attention to the seal instead.

It was dangerous for a while there, but it seemed intact, starting with the Modern Bookkeeper first, his direct opposite yet the closest copy there could be that wasn't an offshoot from his timeline. Lines to several broken and jittered timelines had unfortunately snapped a little early, snuffing out their Bookkeepers' lives, but frayed threads like those were due for fracturing soon. Every time his seal was threatened, especially as of late, they were the first to go, to keep all other unbroken, stable threads unharmed. It would have ended much more disastrously if this happened to anybody other than Akkey. It was a close call.

He sighed in relief to find everything still in place, then slowly turned his head to face her, who was sitting up with great care, feeling where she would expectedly be sore in the morning. She groaned and cleared her head, “What the fuck, Juro…”

Green locked with amber, and it was a tumultuous range of emotions, anger, shock, confusion, and concern--but it was all one sided. Juro’s break in character was expectedly temporary. His mask had returned, with a lopsided grin and a raised brow, and Akkey let out a long, annoyed exhale at that, "My confusion is valid, alright, if I have to work with you until one of us dies--probably me--and you've begun acting like this, with magic of your own, then I deserve some sort of explanation--"

“My answer hasn't changed, Akkey...” he interrupted. His cadence was even once more as he referred to their conversation up in the rafters, "My Helheim contract, the Library and the Bookkeepers, my neutrality… I still won't explain. Even if you ask."

She felt a wave of unexplainable sadness wash over her when he said that. The light in his eyes went empty for a moment, a deep loneliness crossing in them, resigned to his fate of solitude and silent suffering.

Resigned? To describe it like that was slightly incorrect, but she couldn't place it as accurately as she would like to. Intensely dependent… Unhealthily so…

Her brow creased in further worry, "Juro--"

He shook his head, wincing slightly as pain flared up down his back, yet firm in interrupting her thought, "There's a disturbance on the timelines right now, and my involvement in the battle was in the interest of that. Hence why I'm here, why I appeared near the construct." That was only half the truth, and both were highly aware. That's why Juro said it almost forcefully, unarguably the end of that conversation.

It was several moments of stubborn egos that played tug of war, but she huffed in eventual surrender. Still, not before Akkey added a final thought, "Fine. I'm sorry for prying. I won't ask anymore," The slight insult at being kept in the dark remained, but only temporarily as she softened, regarding him with care and worry that was almost motherly, if the nix were even capable of instincts in that vein.

"But suppressing it and running away like this will only bring you greater pain later on, and you'll end up regretting it," she said. They both knew she spoke from some experience, "There is no comfort in living like this, faltering, wavering, walking the neutral line. You'll hurt a lot more people than you want to."

Her eyes bore into his this time, and he took it, unchanging, two souls who end up finding each other sometime, somehow, across timelines, in a ripple of cause and effect.

The moment was interrupted with a shout from above, and they broke their gaze to see several guards and their dragons flying towards them, as they had noticed the explosion of power from their positions. Their fight wasn't exactly subtle, no matter how short.

"Ah shit," Akkey cursed, feeling the familiar wash of meek regret at the constant consequences of her impulsive actions. There was barely any physical damage, thankfully, but it was light and sound that definitely was not inconspicuous, "Lila might kill us…"

"And this is where I take my leave," Juro cracked a wider, cheekier grin, the previous tension forgotten, "The Commander will have my head before yours." Virion immediately swirled into a portal for a place Akkey knew she couldn't follow.

"Hey! You bastard--!" she whirled around in indignation as the Bookkeeper escaped, "Don't you fucking dare run!"

She stomped up to him, standing taller than where he sat, when his smirk lessened slightly as his tone became serious, "I am not. I think I might have some more information about Frigga, but I have to research a little more. If anyone asks… I'll be at the Library," he tilted his chin up to meet her eyes again. Akkey paused, then nodded in understanding, "Alright."

It was another heartbeat before he split his face into that exasperating smile once more, and fell backwards into the open portal, "See you later, Chief." He disappeared from sight as the dragons landed behind Akkey, who was massaging a temple in annoyance, left to deal with the aftermath by herself.

#agents' imbalance #juro #akkey #virion #2-3 pages i said #turned into 7.5 #in which akkey Pushes Things Too Far Again

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kpopisthereasonihavenolife · 5 years

Text

Breathe

BTS

Kim Taehyung/Reader [F]

Genre: Sea Prince Taehyung, Fluff, Implications of Sexy Times

Words: 3.2k

Part 3 of Hold Your Breath / Previous: Now Exhale

It had been two weeks since Taehyung fled with you under the ocean waves and hid you away in the underwater cave he’s known since he was a child. After he had bitten you, you just remember feeling light headed as you passed out, only to wake up the next morning with Taehyung sleeping behind you. Seeing the new markings on your shoulder, they spread even further than he thought they would. Over the course of time, the more time you spent with him in the water to adjust to the trait changes of your body, the markings grew.

Now, as you stand with your feet in the ocean water that leaked into the cavern with your jellyfish inspired skirt with your bikini like top the markings were easily covering you. The most obvious of them were of course on your shoulder where Taehyung’s teeth markings were still just barely visible. However, the markings also wrapped around your back onto your hips and lined your ribs and rested on your chest. Taehyung hadn’t seen them spread so much before.

However, he knew it wasn't necessarily a bad thing. If anything, the fact they were so spread out was a good thing. It was physical proof that you really meant it when you allowed him to bite you and you accept him and the ocean with all of your heart.

As you let the ocean brush over your bare feet, you looked down at the minuscule scaled at your ankles. You smiled as you felt the ones on your ribs as well. It wasn’t the easiest process, practically seeing your humanity slip away from you day after day, but it didn’t matter to you anymore.

Your hair had also started to shift in color. The tips of your hair had started to fade out into the softest of blues, not nearly as bold as Tae’s, but just as beautiful. Maybe it was the ocean blessing you, or maybe it was just more of Taehyung’s DNA taking effect.

Now, there was a reason you were stood at the edge of your cavern. Taehyung had left you, telling you he was going to return to him home and try and talk to his parents once more about bringing you back. Now that you were bitten and nearly capable of living under the ocean just as he and his people, he was ready to fight as much as he could. If he couldn’t, he was willingly ready to relinquish his title to the throne as the crown prince and live in this cavern with you until you both turn to sea foam.

You didn’t want him to make such a choice, so you hoped that he could get something to work from instead of giving up everything for you.

A smile broke your face when you heard the ocean call to you, telling you that your lover wasn’t far and on his way back. He was swimming back, and when your eyes caught sight of the glimmer of his scales, you dove into the ocean.

Swimming out of the cavern, you saw him swimming towards you as he smiled, stopped swimming and allowed you to come the rest of the way towards him. Wrapping your arms around his neck, the ocean moved you both in a whirlpool of bubbles as he laughed into your hair that floated around like seaweed.

“How did you know I was coming?” He chuckled into the water. Voice carrying like he was above land. You moved away from him, keeping your hands on his shoulders as you kissed his forehead.

“The ocean told me,” he rolled his eyes.

“Gossiping with the waves again, are you? Careful, they have a knack of being tricky. They may even lie one day,” he playfully warned as he swam back to the cavern, pulling you in tow.

“I trust them. Besides, if they lie, the fish never do.” He pouted his lips as he nodded, not denying that. He had yet to meet a fish in the ocean that had lied to him. Though, he was a bit skeptical on Clown Fish, even if you said they were nothing but sweethearts.

The two of you resurfaced on the rocky land of the cavern, you whipping your hair out of your face as Taehyung stood up and pushed his hair away from his face, wiping the water off his forehead with his forearm. You remained seated, legs dipped in the water as you watched his back. He was wearing only half of a tunic today. Wearing the pants of royal blue and forgoing the shirt and boots.

Taehyung always found it easier to swim without a shirt and he hated any type of footwear to begin with. It was rare to see him in them at all.

“How did the meeting with your parents go?” You asked a bit sheepishly. He dropped his hand as he made a noise in his throat. It wasn’t a bad one, nor was it a good one. The noise was mediocre at best, a sound of uncertainty- but not negativity.

“Iffy,” was his one-word response. He sighed, “Y/n,” he started. “Come here,” he spoke as he rose his hand out to the side, his back still turned. You moved to get up, but squeaked when you felt the ocean wrap around your waist and carry you, your toes just barely brushing the rocky ground. Moving you until you were at Taehyung’s side and his outstretched arm circled your waist as he pulled you to his chest.

His eyes, that were closed, opened with a smile on his face as he looked down at your pouting up at him. The ocean retracted it’s hold on you as it returned to the ocean. Your eyes, that were just as beautiful and blue as his, shone. He swore that you were the oceans prime definition of what a personified wave at sunrise, shining with foam and mist just right would be. Breathtaking and pure.

“When will you stop using the ocean to move me around?” He tottered his head around, bouncing thoughts in his head with a playful look in his eyes.

“Hmm, how about never?” You slapped lightly on his chest.

“Just because I can’t control the waves doesn’t mean you can all the time!” You whined as you pulled a laugh from Taehyung’s belly. He finally let himself rest against you. Pushing his lips to the crown of your head, he tightened his arm around your midsection and ran his other hand through your hair. His fingers twined with your blue locks. It was like this when he found peace.

He had told you that he would only abandon his duty as prince if his parents rejected you, a human born being, being his wife. They couldn’t change what’s happened, and as much as they dislike it, you were bitten by him and thus they knew he wouldn’t leave you no matter what. If they said no, they’d lose their son and their heir. However, it was moments like this that made him second guess and almost abandon it altogether regardless. He simply wished for this peace to continue with you in his arms.

He sighed in content as he rocked back and forth, feeling warmth in his chest blossom as your hands rested at his back, hooked together as you embraced him back. He smiled, kissing your head and staying like that for a little while longer. He sighed once more as he pulled back a bit.

“I have another errand to run tonight at the palace. I’ll be gone likely until early morning.” You nodded.

“I understand. You’re a busy prince, so take responsibility for it.” You teased. “When do you leave?” You asked with a tick of your head.

“Not for a while yet, Koi.” He had started calling you after the beautiful fish not too long ago. It just started out of the blue, yet you hadn’t the heart to stop him. At least he doesn’t call you after a cuttlefish.

“Do you want to rest beforehand? You’re always so tired when you come back? Maybe you should stay there tonight and just wait to come and visit me. I’m alright on my own, you know that.” He watched as concern bled into your magnificent eyes and crinkled your brow. He smiled, kissing your forehead.

“You can rest with me,” he softly slurred. Guiding you both back against the wall, he sat with you at his front, arms refusing to release you as you leaned against his chest. He almost laughed when you fell asleep even before he did. He brushed your hair that had latched onto your eyelashes away and traced the outlines of your face gently.

With light touches, he traced your tattoos and markings. From your shoulder to your hips and navel and back. They were the symbols, the words that told him that you loved him. Lovers of his kind had a few markings along the body, yet yours were relentless and part of him almost wanted them to spread even further. He wanted to mark your body as you continued to love him.

Taehyung only woke you once, slightly stirring you before he left. It was dusk when he shook you awake before you sent him off with a kiss and a wave before he walked below the ocean surface and swam off with speed almost too impatient to return to you.

You don’t know what time he returned, but it was indeed very early. You were sleeping easily on the best in which supported you. Towards the back of the cavern lay your ‘room’. Your best was sat on a slab of stone before a plush type a of material lined it. It felt like laying on a real bed, and your not quite sure how Taehyung managed to even create or find such a material in the ocean, but you never asked questions.

Your blankets were layers upon layers of the softest silks in the palace, according to the prince who snuck out a spare kept in the palace’s storage unit for you. You did reprimand him a bit on that.

You slept in nothing but a soft, thin bikini top with thick, cloth straps that hooked rather than tied. It was like a cheap, yet effective bra in a way. Along with a pair of hip-resting bikini bottoms. It was much easier to sleep like this than in a skirt.

You felt Taehyung flop onto the bed before you heard him, a low, slurred singing leaving his mouth as his echo bounced off the cavern walls. You groaned, slowly stirring before he weaved his arms around you from behind and pushed his nose into your neck, moving your hair aside. He chuckled lowly as he breathed in your fresh sea scent.

“Koiii,” he slurred as you hummed, almost more awake now. “I’m baack,” he added with a chuckle. Squinting open your eyes you twisted around, facing him as he lay with his eyes closed. He almost looked flushed? He opened his eyes, and you could see a small amount of lavender laced in the brilliant cerulean in his eyes.

“Taehyung, are you alright?” He giggled, moving to nose your ear. His warm breath huffing around it sending a shiver up your spine and tightening to your chest.

“They had a loooot of freshwater at the palace tonight.” Oddly enough, what made his people drunk wasn’t anything alcoholic. In fact, he once told you that he had tried human alcohol, and he described it as ‘sea dust that somehow liquified’. Obviously, not a fan, you asked if he was able to get drunk. He kept it a secret until once you offered him a hefty gulp of water from a bottle you drunk out of a lot on land and he was then significantly buzzed.

You gasped, “You drank freshwater! You know you start feeling sick in the morning because it counteracts all the sea salt in your system.” You scolded him lightly. Though it was harmless, Taehyung’s immunity to freshwater wasn’t as high as the rest of his kingdom’s. He just brushed it all off with an air of overly confident nonchalance as he continued to hold you.

“I don’t care,” he sighed before he chuckled again. “It was good. You should try it,” he mused before you move to brush your hand through his hair.

“I have. Or did you forget I was human 2 weeks ago?” He took a moment before he made a noise of ‘Oh, yeah!’ and laughed more before he started rambling on about how it was so nice for you to be like him now.

You let him rant on and on about how the life at the palace was too strict and frankly unfair. He complained about how they needed to be more open minded before he promptly declared he wouldn’t be going back until they said they’d let you into the palace too. He whined, pouted and even kicked his feet like a child until he quieted down and somehow ended up laying on your chest with you facing the ceiling.

His face was resting sideways over your heart as you pet his head. His arms were raised on either side of your head as his eyes were lidded. You assumed he had finally wore himself out when he lifted himself up, moving to brush his nose against yours. The lavender that clouded his eyes was just barely there anymore, the drunken buzzed more than out of his system as he finally became coherent.

“Do you want to go to sleep yet? My drunken prince,” you teased before he slipped his lips up.

“Y/n,” he called.

“Yes?”

“I love you,” you laughed, caging his cheeks in your hands before you pushed your nose to his, scrunching them both.

“I love you too,” you giddily told him back. He quickly captured your lips with his as your hands slid from cheeks to the back of his head, slightly tugging on the blue locks that made him stand out. Pushing his knee between your legs and slightly pushing the blanket more and more off your body, you lay beneath him.

Keeping his lidded eyes on your as you gasped and moaned under his roaming hands and relentlessly kisses until he removed his lips from your own and moved to bit and nip at your jaw until he bit your ear. One of his hands moved to your back, teasing the strap of your breast cover, a grin on his face as he breathed a deep, breathy chuckle into your ear.

“Let’s see how much.”

The next time you woke up, you woke with a slight shiver followed by Taehyung rubbing his open palm over your arm. Legs intertwined and tucked into his chest, you slowly woke up to him peppering your face and neck in small kisses. When your eyes finally opened, he smiled and pushed your hair out of your face, pushing his forehead to your own and nuzzling his nose against yours.

“Good morning, Koi,” he happily greeted. Keeping his hand on your naked waist and tracing your back with his finger, you smiled as you wanted to go back to sleep against him. “Are you feeling alright this morning? Any soreness?” He questioned softly, thumbing along your thigh. You nodded slightly.

“A little bit, but that’s okay.” He chuckled.

“I’ll be easier next time,” he teased as he knew you grew red with how you shrunk into his chest. Laughing he pushed himself out of bed, resulting you to whine when he dressed in his lower tunic and leaned back over the bed to kiss the side of your head. “I brought something from the palace last night. Come see it,” he softly spoke.

With a groan and a few more pleas from him, you were up and stumbling around in a daze. Seeing a small, black bag in the entryway to the cavern, you yawned as you rubbed the sleep out of your eyes. He smiled as he grabbed it and walked it over to you.

“Why don’t you open it?” He ushered as you nodded and slowly opened the back before a soft rose color was presented in front of you. A dress.

Looping around the neck to rest on a person before framing their chest and the skirt stopping in the front of the thighs and running in the back down to the ankles. The skirt was ruffled in layers as the soft coral rose from the top deepened to a deep rose red by the bottom of the skirt. Covered in the most gorgeous of seashells, your fingers lightly traced them.

“It’s beautiful,” you breathed. Taehyung smiled as you continued to marvel at the dress.

“It’s yours,” you looked up to him.

“What?” He pushed the dress into your arms, turning you around to go and change into it. You didn’t fight too much, obviously very much wanting to wear the breathtaking piece. Soon changed, you came back out to him to show it off as he smiled warmly.

Quickly pulling you to his side, he linked his fingers together behind you as you stood in front of him.

“You look wonderful my love,” he mused.

“But, Tae, you said it was mine. I don’t understand. Why would you go through the trouble?” He smiled as he removed his hands to grab yours, pushing your knuckles to his lips.

“There are two reasons if you would like to hear them.” More than eager, you nodded. “First being, we never properly became wed,” you opened your mouth in an ‘oh’ fashion. You had forgotten that the bite mark in your shoulder was significant to that of a proposal. “Secondly, I figured you should have a perfect dress for when you enter the palace.” You pushed on his chest, looking up at him with a ticked brow.

“Excuse me? I thought you’ve been fighting with them for days now to let me in!”

“Yes, that is partially true. Though they did agree to allow you passage through the gates I’d say, 4 days ago?”

You gasped, slapping his arm. “Taehyung! Why didn’t you tell me!”

“Because the dress I had asked to be committed wasn’t finished. I had to keep you here until then. You can’t show up to a marriage ceremony in a two-piece, sorry sweetheart.” He teased. Your cheeks warmed as you pinched his nipple, earning him a gasp and playfully offended look.

“Sure, and you can show up half nude. Not fair,” you pouted.

“I have a closet of clothes back home. You do not.” The playful banter continued as he soon was leading you out of the cavern. With promised to come back and visit, you felt a bit sad leaving your 2 week home behind. Though soon you were swimming through the water, Taehyung guiding you until you were face to face with a coral reef that beyond the great colors was his home. A hidden world below the sea.

You took a breath, knowing things would be different. Taehyung squeezed your hand and kissed lightly at your cheek. You breathed easy, knowing it would all be okay so long as Taehyung didn’t let go of your hand.

Taehyung just couldn’t wait to officially place the crown of his people on your head as his princess. Finally.

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