#watching that player count drop is going to be cathartic

[rubixpsyche]

the way this transitioned,,, I really AM on the "Jade is Trans-ed Stalker" truther train rn

[tetsuroyaoyaoya]

BENEFITS

pairing: bokuto x gn!reader

word count: 2,547

warnings: mentions/suggestions of sex, swearing

—

“I don’t think i can do this anymore. I know i told you it was enough but it isn’t.”

Your locker closed with a ‘click’ and you turned to look at Bokuto sadly. You had felt the energy between the two of you becoming more strained over the past few weeks, so it wasn't exactly something you didn't see coming. 

The call of your name became more desperate, when he left your bed to search for his clothes he just couldn't meet your eyes anymore, the kisses he parted from you with ever so slightly lingered now. 

He had fallen in love with you.

You had been friends with Bokuto the entire way through high school, though you had never really planned on the benefits side of things. It had started earlier on in the year, at a party the volleyball team threw for making it to nationals again. Few outside the club were invited, but you were lucky. 

Lucky enough to end up in your best friends bed, seemingly enough.

It felt wrong and yet right at the same time, but you never agreed it wouldn't happen again. So it did. 

Once it became a regular thing, you made an agreement; no feelings, no strings attached. It was just sex, nothing more. It would end when you graduated, but clearly, Bokuto’s heart had other ideas.

“Are you sure?” While you knew the agreement between you and wanted to stick with it, you enjoyed Bokuto’s company, and knew that there was a possibility that your friendship may never recover. He replied with just a nod and a rough swallow, clearly holding something back. 

You reached a hand out to his, taking it in yours for most likely the last time, and giving it a small squeeze.

“I love you,” He blurted out, unable to leave without admitting his feelings to you, even though he knew it was obvious. You dropped his hand, taking in a breath to keep your composure.

“I’m sorry, Kotarou,” Saying his name was a jab to the heartstrings for both of you, but he nodded in understanding, turning his gaze away from you. 

To spare yourself the pain of a goodbye, you left before either of you could say it, leaving Bokuto to wander off to practice alone for the first time since the beginning of high school. 

---

Weeks later, you sat in class, a sick feeling in your stomach and an inability to focus. No matter what you did to distract yourself and move on, you found yourself still feeling as though you were physically missing part of yourself, as if something had been taken from you. It had left you unusually short-tempered, your ever-increasing irritation at whoever decided to torture you with the incessant tapping off the pen. 

Clenching your teeth, you closed your eyes to attempt to block out the noise, but with no success. The tapping only seemed to get louder, creating a throbbing at your temples. 

The bell rang and the tapping stopped finally. You let out a breath as you opened your eyes to see the other students leaving as quickly as possible to get home. You noticed a dull ache in your palms and you glanced down at them  to see small indents where your nails had dug into the skin in the midst of your frustration. You stared at the marks for a few moments before deciding to leave, seen as you were the only one left in the classroom. 

You took your time, even slowing as you neared the gym without realising. Your body wandered towards the open doors to see the volleyball team already practicing, which was expected when you realised how near the nationals qualifiers were. It seemed the year had passed by quicker than you expected.

Poking your head into the gym, hopefully with the boys too distracted to notice you, your eyes immediately landed on the captain, who seemed to be practically stumbling around the court rather than actively playing. It was a stark contrast from the ruthless player you had come to know, but the boy was clearly in the early stage of his infamous ‘emo mode’, in which the team usually just ignored him for a time. 

You jumped as you moved your eyes from the boy only to catch the eye of another. You froze before backing away, trying to leave as quickly as you could so that he couldn’t follow, but Akaashi had always been the swift one, so you weren't surprised when he caught your arm before you could make it very far. 

He pulled his hand away as you turned to face him, meeting his stoic expression with one of your own. 

“Did something happen between you two?” All of the boys had clearly noticed your lack of presence. How could they not when you were the one that was usually there every day at practice, handing out water bottles or towels, cheering out encouraging words as they played. 

Swallowing heavily, you looked away, unable to meet his eyes. He didn't know about the arrangement and Bokuto had clearly kept his promise of keeping it quiet, not even telling his best friend when it was over. Your heart ached as you realised that he was suffering in silence. 

Akaashi let out a sigh as he watched you struggle to find some sort of explanation. He wasn't sure what he was expecting from you if he was being honest. 

“He finally told you didn't he?” You stared up at him in surprise. He knew about Bokuto’s feelings?

“I’m not stupid, y/n, and neither is anyone else. We see how he looks at you.” Oh, wow. It would have been understandable if Akaashi knew, the boy noticed everything, but more people knew? The entire team? More?

“You look at him in the same way, you know that right?” 

“Shut up.” He stayed nonchalant as you practically spat at him. Your response only confirmed what everyone else was thinking. 

You had fallen in love with him too.

It’s not like it was impossible for it to happen to both of you, in fact, you were surprised it had taken this long to realise. It’s possible that there was already something there all the way back last year, when you ended up in bed together for the first time. 

Either way, it didn't matter. Admitting it would just complicate things even further, and you already couldn’t bear the situation as it was.

“It would ruin our friendship.” It was a pathetic excuse, and you both knew that. Akaashi could only shake his head at you in disappointment, filling you with a sense of regret. 

“It already has.” Someone in the background called for him and you swallowed, knowing the voice all too well. Akaashi stared at you one more time as you did everything you could to resist looking in the direction of the voice. With a sigh he turned back to practice, having to drag Bokuto back into the gym from where he had frozen in place, staring at you with a sense of longing. 

Akaashi had been at Bokuto’s side for almost two years now, and yet, even with  his emo modes, he had never seen his captain look as dejected as he had these past few weeks, especially when playing volleyball. It was worrying, not only because the national qualifiers were right around the corner, but also because Bokuto had never been in such a bad mood for so long.

He had been angry at first, subjecting himself to spiking drills for a straight week or so, hitting the balls with power the team had never seen. Bokuto was strong as it was, but it was very rare anything ever upset him so much to the point of anger. 

The captain had tried to act normal after the first week, but it only took another three days for him to slip into whatever was going on now, and he stayed that way, with everyone else on the team unable to break him out of it this time. 

Along with your disappearance, it wasn't difficult to decipher at least a rough idea of what was going on, but none of the boys could figure out a solution. All Akaashi could hope for was that you would come to your senses on you own, and in the next few days.

---

Mumbling to yourself as you began to throw your dirty laundry into the machine, you cursed yourself for letting your bedroom get so untidy. It had been easy to keep it clean while Bokuto was coming over, but since that stopped it seemed so did your motivation. 

Even so, it was somewhat cathartic to sort through the mess, getting everything back to the way it should be. But still, there was just something missing. 

As you loaded the last of the laundry into the machine, your eyes caught a certain jersey hidden in with the rest. It wasn't yours, but you remembered it well. How could you not when it had his number printed right in the centre of the back.

You had managed to steal it from where it lay forgotten on the floor before he could, knowing he had another in his duffel anyway. He’d apparently made his way straight to you after a match with Nekoma, his ego bursting beyond belief and adrenaline beyond what you could handle. 

Slipping it on as he turned over in bed, you smirked as his eyes widened and his jaw slackened, already eyeing the way the sheets graced his torso as he moved. 

Walking to the mirror, you pretended to pose at yourself, when you were really keeping an eye on Bokuto’s reflection as he rushed out of bed, most likely forgetting that he was stark naked. He wrapped his arms around you the second he reached you, leaning around your body to attach his mouth to your neck as you watched. 

“Is it too much to ask for you to wear this to a game? For me?” You exhaled as his hands roamed your body, tilting your head back to rest it on his shoulder. 

“People would get the wrong idea, you know that.” He moved away from your neck, tightening his grip on you as he made eye contact with you in the mirror. 

His eyes seemed sad, and you could briefly see the hurt on his face, before it was replaced by the smirk he liked to keep well hidden, already dragging you back to the bed.

“I’ll give them the wrong idea.”

You were lucky it was still winter at the time, so the scarf you wore to cover the  state of your neck afterwords went unquestioned, even if Bokuto liked to pull on it every so often to tease you, loving the look of panic on your face when he did. 

Without realising, a smile had crept up onto your face. You frowned, trying to shake off the way your heart was beating at the memory, resisting the urge to call him. 

You threw the jersey in with the rest of your laundry and closed the machine, turning it on and walking away.

Though you still couldn't shake that feeling.

---

You were so stupid. Like unbelievably so. 

You tugged on the hem of your t-shirt, avoiding the stares of the people around you, and hoping you could make it through the arena before anyone important noticed you. 

It was the day of the qualifiers for nationals, and you had decided to do what was probably the most irrational and nerve-wracking thing you had ever done in your life, but now that you were here, there was no point in turning back. 

You rushed through the corridors, desperate to make it before the match started, only to not pay attention to where you were going and run straight into someone. Whoever it was must’ve had amazing reactions, and managed to slip an arm around your torso before you were knocked back, preventing you from falling. 

It was only when their arm loosened from around you in order to set you back on your feet that the familiar scent washed over you, but by then it was too late. 

“Y/N?” You couldn’t help but stare as you looked up to see Bokuto’s face for the first time in over a month. He looked tired, and you felt your heart tug at the realisation that you were the cause, but you could help the feeling that stirred inside of you as you watched his eyes darken as he looked to your jacket. 

You felt the air shift as his teammates scuttles off, leaving the two of you alone in the corridor. 

“You’re wearing my jersey.” It was a statement more than a question.

“...yes.” His hand twitched as he felt the urge to touch you.

“To a game.” There was lust like you had never see swirling in his eyes, and you gulped.

“Yes.” He let out a breath of frustration and averted his eyes. He swallowed heavily, jaw clenched.

“I made a mistake.” He moved his eyes to you slowly, body still angled away. He said nothing, and you took it as a cue to continue. 

“...I love you too.” Once again, he stood shocked, eyes wide as he let what you just said sink in.

“I’m sorry, I fucked up. I should have just-” The air was knocked out of you as he grasped your arm and pulled you forward, before he was pushing your back roughly into the wall. 

His hands explored your waist, tugging at his jersey as his lips crashed into yours, taking you by surprise. By the time you came to your senses and reached up to thread your fingers into his hair, he was already pulling away, leaving you both breathless.

“I love you.” You said it again, relishing in the way his smile lit up his whole face, bringing back the Bokuto you knew. 

“I love you.” He leant in to kiss you again, gentler this time, a hand rested on your neck, thumb stroking your cheek. 

A rough cough interrupted you, and you quickly separated, looking over to see Akaashi stood a fair distance away.

“It’s time to go.” Bokuto cleared his throat and nodded. You tried to smile at the other boy, only to be returned with a curt nod. You knew you had made a mess and it had impacted on the team, so it wasn't surprising if they weren't happy with you. 

Bokuto reached for your hand, pulling it up to kiss as you blushed. He moved so his lips were at your ear, whispering something only meant for you to hear.

“If I win, you better be ready for me to fuck you in just that jersey, got it?” He could practically hear you swallow as he moved away, giving your hand one last squeeze before joining Akaashi for the match. 

Of course they won. 

How could they not when Bokuto was in the best mood in months, fuelled even more by you in the crowd cheering the team on, most importantly, wearing the captains number on your back. 

And of course, he lived up to his promise.

Benefits were nothing compared to this. 

---

[vadergf]

Memories

A/N: This was purely cathartic to write. It was me channelling all my emotions into Jeyna, as always lol. I ended up crying thrice while writing this one. Taglist and Masterlist at the end of the fic.

Word Count: 951

Playlist: This is nothing definite but these helped me get the right emotions required for writing this fic. In order, it is:

Cardigan - Taylor Swift

If this was a movie - Taylor Swift

Enchanted - Taylor Swift

Haunted - Taylor Swift

Fools -Troye Sivan

Yeah, there was a bit of Taylor involved 

Warning: Nothing, except heavy heavy angst.

It was the memories.

They just wouldn’t stop. They wouldn’t let her be. In her dreams, in her waking hours, when she was in the Senate, when she was with the legionaries. Everywhere she went, the memories accosted her.

The praetor house. His praetor house. Left practically untouched since he left. The air was stale and the floors had a thin layer of dust.

4 months.

4 months since he’d been gone. 4 months since she had lost herself along with him.

But more than the dust, the memories clung to the walls of the room. Or maybe just the walls of her mind.

The couch was just how she remembered it, scattered with old paperwork and documents, only half completed.

“Of course, its half completed,” she muttered, a wry smile on her lips.

She made her way up the staircase, her finger dancing on the various grooves of the bannister. Her fingers paused at a certain cut in the wood.

“Could you stop singing with a dagger as a mic, its scaring me!” Jason called out, from the bottom of the stairs.

“Nope,” she retorted, holding the dagger close to her face as the old record player played a cheesy 90s pop song.

“Rey Rey…” he said, in a warning tone.

She replied, “Jayyyy,” in the same sing-song voice.

“Okay, that’s it!” he said, as he ran up the stairs to where she stood before proceeding to tickle her.

Reyna burst into laughter, and tried to get away from him but his hands had her locked in place. She could’ve disarmed him but she really didn’t want to.

In her fit of laughter, the dagger dropped from her hand, chipping the wood of the bannister before falling to the ground with a thud.

After a few moments of silence, she glanced at him and he caught her eye and that’s all it took for them to burst out laughing again.

She shook herself. She really shouldn’t reminisce.

Making her way up proved harder than she thought. She had avoided his room, and the myriad emotions it would evoke in her.

In a daze, she went into his room. The walls were still the same shade of baby blue and the bed looked slept in. It felt just like the days they spent coming home after a long day at the Senate.

Except he wasn’t right behind her, an arm on her shoulder, with a smile that had melted her frozen heart.

She chided herself, “You’re the only one who’s going to be hurt by this. Stop.”

She gingerly sat down on the edge of his bed, leafing through the comics at his bedside. He had scrawled random doodles in the margins and while it would usually annoy her, now she just stroked it, her usual stoic exterior threatening to crumble.

“God, why am I crying over you? You certainly didn’t?” she asked, to the empty room and the bitter feeling of lost love.

His Star Wars DVDs and his video games lay haphazardly on his desk and she knew, she would never be able to see them again without breaking down.

“We have to watch Star Wars!!” Jason said, clapping his hands excitedly.

“No way!” Reyna said, shaking her head. “That’s childish and dumb. NO!”

Jason pouted. “Rey Rey, this is a religious experience! You have to!”

“I’ve had enough of religion in my life,” Reyna muttered before sitting down on the couch. Jason draped an arm around her as the theme song started playing and maybe… this wasn’t going to be the worst date ever.

It wasn’t childish and dumb anymore. Just painful.

The walls were covered in Polaroids, of Rome and their friends and her. She couldn’t help thinking that they were so happy in the pictures.  Was it an act? Did he never really love her?

She stared at the light pencilled writing in his loopy handwriting on one of the Polaroids of them together: I love you.

“No, you don’t,” she murmured, her voice hoarse. The tears were welling up in her eyes, the tightness in her chest becoming more noticeable. She collapsed on the floor, unable to handle the sheer pain.

Was this heartbreak? Why did it hurt so much when she never did anything wrong? She had given it her all to him. Him and his promises. Promises his sweet voice had convinced her were real.

I’m not going to leave you.

I’m going to be there for you.

You’re my best friend.

I love you, I swear.

He had broken them all. She didn’t know who she was going to be now. She had harboured hope for so long that he would come back, that everything would go back to normal. That she would have him again.

But it never would.

His favourite hoodie lay on the floor and she picked it up, touching the soft material before bringing up to her and holding it close.

It smelled just like him. That stupid cologne and the smell of rain. God, she would give anything to have him back.

But he wouldn’t come back.

No, he had left her. With an image of him showing his beautiful girlfriend, someone she would never compare to; around their city and an impending war.

And the memories.

The hundreds of moments they spent together, the best times in Reyna’s life, that would now become jagged scars in her heart that time would never heal.

And she would never be rid of them.

The memories.

Of him. His smile. His eyes. The feel of his hugs. The taste of his lips. The sound of his laugh. His voice.

The fact that he was never coming back.

His memories.

ADD YOURSELF TO MY TAGLIST ║ MASTERLIST

This broke me. So, please leave a F in the comments and some other feedback as well please. Reblogs are also appreciated. 

Current taglist:

@dragoncreek319 @naerysthebidragon @theliterarymess @rimi-lekak @nyx-is-tired @tothestarsndback @mischiefmanaged011 @kuuhakublank00 @mango-pickle @xstarsarewrong @aureateargentum @aadya23 @fanvergentinanexistentialcrisis @knowitowl @kasoe21  @totallyforgotyouwerehere  @musicalkeys  @angl3s-ao3​ @im-ground-zero​@hitchiker-of-the-galaxy  @lily-the-queen-evans​ @hayliemyers-agentofshield​ 

strikethrough means I wasn’t able to tag you.

[love-takes-work]

Steven Universe Podcast: Volume 2, Episode 10: Garnet

Season 2, Episode 10 of the Steven Universe Podcast, released March 29, 2018, is about Garnet. The official description:

Garnet finally gets her due on the Steven Universe Podcast! Creator Rebecca Sugar and former Executive Producer Ian Jones-Quartey return to reveal why Garnet is especially meaningful to them personally, what hints they deliberately included in the pilot pointing to Garnet being a fusion, and how it ended up that she never asks questions... ever! Co-Executive Producer Joe Johnston and Storyboard Supervisor Hilary Florido also return to speak to writing for Garnet versus Ruby and Sapphire individually, and some of their favorite Garnet moments. Plus, Erica Luttrell, the voice of Sapphire, recalls her audition and offers a great behind-the-scenes look at what it’s like working the voice over booth with Rebecca Sugar!

Since as usual my summary is long, I will provide a highlights list followed by a cut which you can follow for a more in-depth narrative. Enjoy!

Highlights:

Garnet represents Ian Jones-Quartey and Rebecca Sugar's relationship. Like her, they had to maintain their union AND run the show simultaneously.

Rebecca is Ruby and Ian is Sapphire.

Plans to have Ruby or Sapphire show up in "Together Breakfast" were scrapped, though they kept the red and blue lights on the door as Garnet went into her room.

Rebecca and Ian loved checking out fan theories about whether Garnet was a Fusion before it was revealed. Fans once worried that Garnet would unfuse and never come back, or that their fusion was necessary for some dark or desperate reason, but they don't remember seeing anyone conclude that they were simply in love.

Ruby and Sapphire are a classic cartoon couple in many ways and were designed to be adorable together.

A good analogy for understanding Garnet is to think of her a bit like Ruby and Sapphire's child, with attributes of both but completely different from both as her own person.

According to Ian, Garnet is the most impulsive and it's hardest to predict what her reaction to any given situation might be.

Garnet's Future Vision is not the same as Sapphire's. Sapphire's is passive and singular, and with Ruby's impulsive influence, Garnet is able to imagine interfering in the path of fate and creating multiple futures.

Garnet's difficulty in connecting to the present is rooted in her fixation on what might happen and what she'll do or say next. She sometimes deals with feelings of being overwhelmed by blowing off steam with unexpected outbursts.

Garnet's tendency to not ask questions is a reversal of the character trope where a character constantly asks questions to move the story along.

Rebecca describes a pact with Rose associated with her lack of question-asking, which we will get into "very soon."

"Three Gems and a Baby" had an important scene where Garnet unfusing upset baby Steven, which made Garnet worry that Steven wouldn't accept her. The episode once had lines featuring her worrying that she'd showed him too soon.

Garnet's experience in "Arcade Mania" was described by Ian as "soothing" for her--a whole series of predictable futures that she could escape into.

Garnet's stoicism is largely derived from her being frozen into inaction by overload of input from her Future Vision. She can find refuge in her trust and love for someone else, and her warmth in those moments is when she is genuinely present.

A favorite Garnet line from Ian: "We can't fight these things forever. Well, we can, but I don't want to."

One of the most challenging aspects of writing Garnet for Joe Johnston and Hilary Florido is dealing with her no-questions rule.

Joe thinks Garnet is the Gem mom most likely to say something embarrassing.

Joe loved having a chance to look outside Steven's direct POV with "Garnet's Universe."

The Sardonyx arc had to be handled very carefully since it was an episode explicitly about consent in general, but using fusion as a very specific vehicle in the show. Showing how Pearl caused a serious breach by violating Garnet's consent was important, but it was also important to depict a satisfactory resolution for characters who have been through this.

Erica Luttrell originally auditioned to play Garnet.

Sometimes Rebecca has to ask Erica to be more chill in playing Sapphire because she has a tendency to use more emotional, animated delivery sometimes.

Erica gets into character with help from the storyboard images shown during the recording sessions. Her speaking voice is quite different from Sapphire’s voice.

Volume 2 is completed with this episode. The podcast will be back with more mini-recaps in a couple weeks.

You can read the detailed summary below!

[Archive of Steven Universe Podcast Summaries]

McKenzie opens the podcast by acknowledging that everyone's been asking for a Garnet episode, and brings up how Garnet's status as a Fusion was hinted at as far back as the pilot. She gives us an overview of the guests for this week and what they'll be talking about, and then she begins with Rebecca and Ian.

Rebecca Sugar and Ian Jones-Quartey:

Kicking off the discussion of Garnet, Rebecca and Ian start with Garnet's origin as they conceived her character at the beginning. Garnet represents Ian and Rebecca's relationship, so she is a mashup of what the two of them wanted. As they began to make the show together, Ruby was Rebecca's avatar of sorts, while Sapphire was Ian's. Since they were together 24/7 as they put the show together, they got very in sync so they felt they were thinking as a unit, and the way they handled it was very much like Garnet because they had to maintain their relationship's stability WHILE also being in charge of this huge creative process.

Ruby and Sapphire were always a planned aspect of Garnet, though they evolved as characters behind the scenes before they were put on the show. They had initially intended Garnet to split up more often than she does, and wanted to show Steven seeing one of them in the Temple as far back as "Together Breakfast" but not knowing who she was. They dropped that plan, but still included the red and blue lights on the Temple door as an early clue. They really enjoyed watching people try to figure that out, and try to figure out the silhouettes in "Fusion Cuisine."

Ian and Rebecca were pretty amused by how dark the theories were about whether Garnet was a Fusion and what that meant for her character. Many worried that if she were revealed as a Fusion, she would unfuse at some point and not come back, or that maybe there was a terrible reason Ruby and Sapphire stayed fused (like, to keep one of them alive or something). No one seemed to hit on the right answer--that they fused because they were in love. They were actually kind of surprised no one seemed to pick up on it since they showed Garnet being so ecstatic about Stevonnie in "Alone Together." 

In Ian's imagination, Ruby and Sapphire are totally classic cartoon characters, like the adorable characters of "Love Is..." or an angel/devil, ice/fire dynamic. Rebecca brings up characters that are designed to be a couple, like a Mickey/Minnie combo where they look identical except one has eyelashes and a bow. She wanted her characters to still have that classic totally-in-love vibe without having that look. They're super cute.

Ian enjoyed getting to explore Ruby and Sapphire's extremes in "Keystone Motel," and they discuss how this was their last episode they finished together, which felt really cathartic. They tiptoe around discussing the way Ruby and Sapphire fight, warning against going too deep since this does represent their relationship as well, but so much of what they fight about is caused by external factors and the way they try to make something bigger than themselves work smoothly. McKenzie points out that the focus on Ruby and Sapphire has distracted them from talking about Garnet herself, who is after all the intended focus character of this episode!

Ian begins by contrasting Garnet with Opal; Opal is a fragile union because the characters who form her can't keep their balance for long, while Garnet is a much more balanced relationship. Rebecca emphasizes that she is her own person, and Ian suggests she holds so much responsibility as an individual. Rebecca says it helps to think of Garnet as sort of a child of Ruby and Sapphire, with aspects of both of them but functioning as a separate entity. Rebecca says the Gems all struggle with their sense of self, but for Garnet it's a specific type of struggle and when she's on top of it it's more stable than anyone. Ian thinks she's the most impulsive, the most mysterious, and the most difficult to predict her actions. Rebecca says her inner world is very complex.

In discussing Garnet's Future Vision, Rebecca says it's different from Sapphire's ability because Sapphire sees "one future" and is a passive player in that future. Ruby is so impulsive that her actions can interrupt those predictions. So Garnet can see options of what will happen if she interferes. She's always caught up in her own mind pondering these things. She's often overwhelmed by this, and that's why sometimes you'll see her blow off steam doing weird things or being unable to connect with the present. But love keeps her in the here and now when she works on it, and she can bring it forward with warmth and focus.

One "rule" for Garnet is that she does not ask questions (in her present state, that is; she certainly asked many questions in "The Answer," before she was sure of anything). Ian and Rebecca knew about the character trope of someone who's there to ask questions and push the narrative along, and they wanted her to be the opposite. She acknowledges that the phrase "Can't you see that my relationship is stable?" counts as a rhetorical question and she takes responsibility for that.

(Chronicler's note: Garnet HAS asked several other questions that are sort of like this, but like Rebecca is saying here, they are in some way not exactly questions. In "Laser Light Cannon," Garnet says "Ready?" to Amethyst and she nods as if answering before getting thrown at the Red Eye, but you could take that to mean she's telling her to be ready. In "Cheeseburger Backpack," Garnet asks "What've you got?" to Steven as an invitation for him to pull out his raft, but you could see that as a prompt for him to show her. In "Rose's Room," she says "Guess what?" but immediately answers her own question with "We have time to hang out now." In "Watermelon Steven," she's included in the couple of "What??" reactions the Gems have when Steven bursts in with his news about his living watermelons, but it’s not really a question so much as an exclamation of surprise. And besides "Can't you see that my relationship is stable?" there is also the recent episode "Pool Hopping" which features Garnet saying "Who knows?" when Steven asks how long they'll be posing for, but she’s not really asking for a who.)

Garnet's refusal to ask questions is an expression of her sureness, but it is also representative of a pact with Rose--we saw it in "The Answer" ("never question this! you already are the answer!") but Rebecca says we'll learn more about the pact "very soon."

McKenzie brings up Garnet's visor and under what conditions she tends to take it off, and asks what this has to do with Steven being slowly let into Garnet's world. Rebecca says that Garnet is so much happier now that Steven knows she's a Fusion, and that before she was always guarding the secret, worried about upsetting him. They bring up "Three Gems and a Baby," when Garnet unfused for baby Steven and he cried, which made her worry that the truth about her will upset him and she needs to keep it hidden. Originally Rebecca thinks there were lines about Garnet being hurt that Steven as a baby couldn't handle that revelation and that she showed him too soon. His opinion of fusion is really important to her, and she worried about it a lot, but for a long time Steven didn't truly understand fusion. He just thought it was something exciting they could do. But she loves that fusion makes Steven happy, since it's got such negative connotations on Homeworld.

Ian brings up how Garnet sees things differently than any other character; similar to how they discussed Stevonnie's hallucinations in the podcast about fusion, Garnet is always seeing these splitting realities and possibilities, and in "Arcade Mania" that's one reason Garnet found the game "soothing." It was full of predictable futures she could master, allowing her a comfort and an escape. 

Her way of being socially awkward, in contrast to the other Gems, is in her hyperawareness; she's so focused on how others might react to what she says that she will often say nothing. She's frequently drowning in all the input and seeming stoic because it's paralyzing, but what brings her out of those loops is trusting and loving someone else. That love and trust can cut through all the potential ways something can go wrong. It's really hard for her when she's wrong because she so wants to believe in someone, like when she believed Steven wouldn't go on the roof in the episode "Future Vision" and then he did.

One of Ian's favorite Garnet lines is from "Marble Madness": "We can't fight these things forever. Well, we can, but I don't want to."

Joe Johnston and Hilary Florido:

McKenzie welcomes her next guests and asks them to discuss how they approach writing for Garnet. Hilary pipes in about how she actually doesn't get many Garnet episodes because her specialty is the characters who are self-deprecating and Garnet is so the opposite. Joe says Garnet is straightforward but soft-spoken, and ready to dive into any situation on impulse if that's needed. Joe brings up the "no questions" rule as a challenge in writing Garnet. Joe says it's more than just a wordplay issue with writing her dialogue; it forces them to keep her direct and definitive. They've sometimes spent a lot of time trying to get Garnet's lines clear of questions.

They move on to discussing writing for Ruby and Sapphire. Hilary again tends not to write for them. Joe says Sapphire is the calm and collected aspects of Garnet, while Ruby's the impulsive and direct parts of her. Hilary says Fusions are always those parts plus more. Because they didn't reveal Ruby and Sapphire for a long time, Garnet as a gestalt was established as an individual far before they started deconstructing Ruby and Sapphire's personalities on screen. Joe felt it was "a fun time" to explore them. Joe actually compares the situation to writing for Opal, who's an "amazing superhero" like Garnet made up of two almost complete opposites. The balance makes a really impressive combination.

In a convoluted discussion of how "fire and ice" (Ruby and Sapphire) sound cool but also sounds like a bad school dance theme, they conclude that Garnet also has the potential to be the coolest mom but also the most embarrassing mom, considering how goofy she gets when she's happy. She completely can't talk on the phone and really can't interact with humans.

McKenzie brings up "Garnet's Universe" and how it revealed the way Steven thinks about his most mysterious mom. Joe really enjoyed the change of making a "different show." Breaking out of Steven's POV is fun. They also bring up, as an aside, how it was fun to have Michaela and Deedee as sidekicks in that episode, but swapping them so Michaela got to play the cool one and Deedee was silly. They proceed to express confusion over whether Hoppy is the frog or the bunny, and the same for Hopper. (Yes, they got it backwards. Hopper's the frog, played by Deedee; Hoppy's the bunny, played by Michaela. Considering Garnet got it confused once in the episode itself, this is awesome.)

McKenzie moves on to "heavier" episodes, invoking the Sardonyx arc. Hilary said the pitch for "Cry for Help" was handled very carefully. How to "honor" all the characters was very important in trying to do something acceptable with this episode. Joe refers to fusion as a "visual allegory for relationships," which Hilary specifies are "of any kind." Joe wanted to make sure their focus on the importance of consent was handled appropriately for a show that can be consumed by kids, and he felt very gratified by how people totally understood why Garnet was so upset with Pearl. 

Hilary said it was important to get it to work within the show's framework as well as making it resonate with people on a level relatable to their own lives. And then, of course, they had to create a resolution--to show how the characters dealt with mending the break. Having an actual fissure in the team so it can't work was huge for Joe. Hilary really wanted to emphasize that this was not a simple mistake, and that you really have to face mistakes of this magnitude while still figuring out how to move forward.

Erica Luttrell:

McKenzie introduces Erica, voice of Sapphire, and asks her how she got the part. Erica says she actually originally auditioned to play Garnet. Rebecca had seen her singing videos on YouTube, which surprised her; she likes to sing but doesn't like to do it in front of people live. Those videos only exist because a friend insisted she should make them so people would tell her she could sing.

Then Erica discusses her initial understanding of Sapphire, saying she interpreted her as feeling a bit heavy because of that burden of knowing the future, and also that she would read as a little cold and icy, and reserved because of her aristocrat background. But Sapphire comes to fall in love with someone who serves her, and Erica thinks that must have been sort of a relief. And she agrees with McKenzie's assessment that it must have been great to have something unexpected happen.

In discussing fusion, Erica says she really loves that fusion increases positive attributes for Gems who combine, but that for Garnet specifically, it's about love and Estelle's delivery conveys so much peace--evidence of genuine love.

Then McKenzie asks Erica to discuss the difficulty of portraying a character who's cold like Sapphire but also imbue the role with emotion. She sometimes has to be told by Rebecca to chill Sapphire out because she thinks she might be letting some goofiness and emotion creep in.

In portraying a character who can see the future, Erica says it can be challenging--humans can have intuition but can't see the future like Sapphire can, and it must be a totally different life to have a voice in your head that is always telling the truth.

And then McKenzie points out that Erica's speaking voice is quite different from Sapphire's and asks how she gets in character. Reading the script helps, and they can get the tone from the storyboards up on a monitor while they record.

Outro:

McKenzie lets us know that this is the last episode of Volume 2, and we'll return with some more mini-recap episodes in a couple weeks.

[Archive of Steven Universe Podcast Summaries]

[youre-on-a-starship]

Prompt: “Reader and Scotty are best friends! Just a bunch of fluff!! Crew fluff, teasing fluff ,mischievous fluff! The fluff that makes you so happy, that you giggle and get so much cuteness overload that your heart literally hurts. :3″ - Anon

Word Count:  1,733

Author’s Note:  I’m not sure how “fluffy” this is, but it certainly seems like the kind of friendship I’d love to have with a guy like him. I hope you like it Anon, thank you for your patience! (And with this post I am officially DONE with all the requests from November!! Thank you all so much for your patience, I really appreciate all your support, love, and feedback.) And as promised: gratuitously Canadian reader to follow. Enjoy!

“Don’t do it.”

“I’m gonna do it.”

“Don’t do it.”

“I’m gonna do it.”

“Think about me, just this once,” Scotty pleaded quietly, watching as you carefully organized a ball of mashed potatoes on your fork. “I’ll do literally anything to make you put that down.”

“Sorry, Scott, this is happening,” you breathed with a smirk, placing the tip of your finger on the tines of your fork and applying pressure to the handle with your opposite thumb.

“He’ll be on me about this for weeks, please don’t, Y/N,” he laid a palm flat on the table and covered his eyes with the other.

You took aim at the back of Keenser’s head, three tables away.

“What are you doing, Lieutenant Y/L/N?” Spock’s voice broke your concentration.

In one graceful pivot you got out of your chair, turned, and tucked the fork behind your back.

“Nothing, Commander,” you said in your best dead-pan.

“Mr. Scott?” Spock raised an eyebrow and didn’t break eye contact with you.

“It’s nothing, Mr. Spock, really,” Scotty said, clasping his hands firmly in front of him.

Spock quirked an eyebrow and nodded, turning on his heel before walking away. You exhaled heavily before retaking your seat.

“You’re going to get caught one of these days,” Scotty growled.

“Where’s your sense of adventure, Scotty?” You grinned, popping the forkful of potatoes in your mouth.

“It may be a wee bit on the conservative side, but at least no one catches me,” Scotty hissed. “And anyway, I dinna involve other officers!”

“Oh, am I not another officer now?” You raised your eyebrows before shovelling another bite in your mouth.

“You bloody started this!”

“And what an idea it was!” You grinned and laid your fork on your now empty plate. “Anyway, B-grade jokes aside, what are we doing tonight?”

“Who says we’re doing anything?” he asked, crossing his arms over his chest and sitting back.

“Well, if you don’t want to hang out with me like we have literally every other Friday night for the last ten months -”

Scotty rolled his eyes.

“Where else would you go?”

“Kirk’s been trying to get me to join poker night -”

“Oh no! Not with him,” Scotty shook his head vigorously, tipping forward to rest his elbows on the table. “You get one too many drinks in him and it goes straight from fun and games to strip poker.”

“Now, see, strip poker doesn’t sound all that bad.”

“For Christ’s sake,” Scotty buried his head in his hands. “I’ll find us something to do.”

“Jee, Scotty, it almost sounds like you care,” you winked at him before gathering up your tray. “I’m gonna be late. I’ll come by yours?”

“Aye, aye, I’ll make sure I’ve got something.”

“I’ll bring that rye, eh?”

Scotty peeked through his fingers with a shining eye. You laughed and sketched him a loose salute before sauntering away with your dishes.

--

You tapped the panel next to Scotty’s door and waited with your hands twisted together around the neck of your bottle of rye, your PADD tucked under your armpit. You raised yourself up onto the tips of your toes before easing yourself back to the floor.

“You know this is open,” Scotty said when he finally opened the door.

“I know, but last time I just walked in you got all snippy about it,” you said, bouncing through the door.

“Last time you didn’t even bother announcing yourself AND you were five minutes early. I wasn’t even dressed,” Scotty grumbled.

“Oh come on, you had a towel on; you’ve seen me in as much,” you waved him off and set your bottle and your PADD down on the table. “Glasses?”

“Aye,” he said, reaching into a cabinet in the kitchenette.

“So what did you find for us to do after all?” you asked, tossing yourself down on the couch and accepting the tumbler Scotty handed you.

“I got sidetracked,” he admitted with a wince. “I was hoping you’d follow through with the rye.”

“Well I’m nothing if not reliable,” you stuck out your tongue as you started to pour. “What was so important that you couldn’t figure out what you wanted to do for your Friday night? Also, what am I smelling?”

“I thought far enough ahead for supper,” he held up a finger and stepped back to the kitchenette. “Shepherd’s pie.”

“Better be some pie,” you flopped down on the couch and sipped your drink. “So what happened?”

“Ach, I don’t want to get into it,” he muttered, bringing two plates of steaming food to the coffee table. “Some garbage about dilithium decomposition rates fluctuating -”

You raised your eyebrows and set your glass under your nose, smelling your drink.

“It doesn’t matter,” Scotty waved his hands and sat down next to you. “Point is, I didn’t get anything ready for tonight.”

You smirked and leaned forward, pouring a few fingers of rye into his glass.

“Drink,” you ordered, setting the bottle down on the glass. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Scotty did as he was told and took a generous sip of his drink before raising an eyebrow at you.

“I don’t think you’d quite… well…”

“I probably wouldn’t understand, no, but that doesn’t mean you can’t vent.”

“No, it’s a’righ’,” he decided after a moment, taking another sip before picking up his plate and leaning back into the couch. “I already shouted at Keenser about it, I don’t need t’ get all riled up again.”

“Suit yourself,” you shrugged. “I’m sure it would’ve been more cathartic if Keenser could have yelled with you.”

“Aye, but he’s a great listener,” Scotty grinned, digging his fork into his food.

“I think I’ll have had enough potatoes today to last me the month,” you mused, taking a bite. “Anyway, you’re lucky I know you as well as I do. I brought something along.”

“Oh?” Scotty laid his fork down, nearly a quarter of his food having disappeared in the last few seconds, and sat up straighter.

You picked up your PADD and waved it triumphantly.

“I got the semi-final.”

Scotty’s jaw dropped.

“You don’t have!”

“A little birdy told me it’s a hell of a match.”

“What the hell are you waiting for then? Put it on!”

Grinning, you tapped a few commands on your device and propped it up against the rye.

“No, we’re gonna need that, here,” Scotty stood up and strode to the kitchen and retrieved an empty bottle from the counter. “Use this.”

He tossed you the bottle and you set it on the table, propping your PADD against it. You put the rye on the floor and curled up as the video started.

“That friend didn’t happen to tell you who won?” Scotty quipped as he settled back on the couch.

“No, they were kind enough to keep it a secret,” you said, popping another mouthful of pie into your mouth. “This is great, by the way.”

“Aye, aye, now shhh,” Scotty waved his hand at you as he kicked his shoes off and crossed his legs on the couch, settling his dinner in the bowl of his lap.

You snorted and mimicked him as the announcer began speaking.

“It’s a cold one here tonight in Quebec City as we prepare to get underway at the 2264 World Women’s Curling Championship semi-finals -”

“Hey, Quebec City!” Scotty cried. “It’s weighted for you already!”

“What? Worried your girls won’t make the cut?” you caught your tongue between your teeth, watching as the screen flashed the names of each team’s players.

“Nae, my lassies have this all tied up, ‘s unfair’s wha’ I’m saying,” Scotty exclaimed, waving at the screen.

“Please! Have we been watching the same games? Canada’s going to the finals this time.”

“Tha’s wha’ you said last year and look where that ended up!”

“Shut up and watch the damn game, Scott,” you nodded at the PADD and shoved more pie into your mouth.

--

“Jesus feckin’-” Scotty bit his tongue and stood up, gathering the dishes. “One more stone-”

“And you’d be going to the finals,” you beamed. “But there wasn’t one, so I’m going.”

Scotty grumbled and took the plates to the kitchenette.

“That was really damn close,” you sighed, reclining down the length of the couch.

“And don’t you forget it,” Scotty raised a finger in the air as he set the dishes down. “What do I owe you?”

You looked at your bottle of rye, sitting half-full on the floor.

“I know you’ve go’ another one o’ those in your footlocker, so don’ even think about it,” Scotty pointed at you warningly, handing you a cup of tea as he made to sit back down. “Can I sit?”

“Nah,” you said cradling the cup on your sternum.

“I’s my room!”

“Aye, but I just won,” you winked at him, mimicking his accent.

Scotty pursed his lips. He hated when you did that; you spent enough time with him that you were pretty accurate and it was “disconcerting,” as he put it.

“You’re no’ using this as your victory prize, are ye?” he smirked.

“God no!” you sat bolt upright, protecting the teacup with both hands. “I’ll get back to you on it.”

“You know where to find me,” Scotty said as he sipped his tea, hissing at the heat. “I s’ppose bronze isn’t tha’ bad.”

“It’s good enough,” you shrugged. “And you can definitely take Sweden this year, it’s a miracle they even made it this far.”

“Aye,” Scotty nodded looking down into his cup. “When’s that match?”

“It’s happened already.”

Scotty snapped his head to look at you.

“Please…” he said hesitantly.

You grinned at him.

“Ye dinna have it…”

“I do.”

“Please?” he nearly whined.

You laughed out loud and leaned over to your PADD.

“Ye haven’t watched it yet, have ye?”

“No, of course not. Then I’d’ve figured out who won our match and then I’d’ve known I’d win, which wouldn’t be fair at all.”

Scotty squinted at you, pulling his head back.

You stuck your tongue out and tapped the screen.

“You migh’ve just forfeit your prize.”

“Honest, I didn’t watch it!”

“You’re lying.”

As you sat back on the couch, you placed a hand over your heart.

“I’m offended that you’d even think that of me.”

Scotty made a low growling noise but cut it off when the announcer began to speak.