#it really is tempting though | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

tswwwit · 4 months

Note

Not sure if this has been brought up before but, Billdip with a pet?

Neither of them really seem like Pet guys to me, more like Stuff In Jars kinda guys. But maybe petsitting for Mabel or someone else? I think the minute Dipper showed any affection for something other than Bill he would get really jealous and Dipper would think it's very funny and very annoying. I specifically like the idea of Bill vs a cat bc I think they would HATE him on instinct and they'd definitely hiss at eachother. Bill's very much of the opinion that pets are useless brainless hunks of flesh that eat your food, but he's also got very little competition in terms of Affection coming from Dipper and if HE doesn't get pets and treats, neither does this stupid creature that skulks around the house eating spiders and ripping up the carpet. That's BILL'S job

They really are both kinda Stuff In Jars guys, aren't they?

That being said, Dipper's absolutely the type to get suckered in by something cute if it showed him attention and affection. Likely he found it on the street, or rescued it from a monster; then of course claim he'd only keep it for like a day before bringing it to a shelter. Maybe two.

And he would, too! He is Responsible™ and wouldn't want to introduce a poor innocent animal to the vicinity of Bill.

UNLESS said creature was very Clever and Conniving and wormed its way into his heart, using all kinds of dastardly tricks and loving affection. Then two days turns into three, and to a week, until Bill knows with Dread Certainty that this slimy little hairball is here to stay.

It's probably a cat, let's be honest.

If for no other reason that Bill doesn't seem at all like a Dog Person. If he had to take that thing for WALKS and PICK UP after it, it'd be about two hours before he 'accidentally' left the door open during hours of heavy traffic - whereas a cat is standoffish and independent enough that they can safely spend their days ignoring each other in the same room.

But you just KNOW that he seethes with jealousy anytime Dipper gives that miserable feline a gentle kiss on the forehead.

#answers #See this is where you went wrong Dipper #You shoulda put Bill and the cat in separate rooms so they could sniff each other under the door and get used to each other that way first #So they don't immediately get all hissy at each other #The cat and Bill basically are roommates on chilly terms #Bill sees little benefit to the animal but Dipper really loves it so *shrug*#Can't just toss it in the closest Many-Devourer's gaping maw #Though maybe he does warm up to the thing in some ways!#Gotta admit it's a great accessory to have in his lap and pet while he's giving a menacing villain speech #Since Dipper never agrees to do it instead :(#Bill in turn has such very very tempting sunbeamlike body heat so the cat might Use him for Warmth on occasion #Oh! But Bill 100% warms up quicker if there's something Weird about the kitty #Like if it has scales or breathes fire or has pharyngeal jaws #He very much approves of that

95 notes · View notes

loverofpiggies · 7 months

Note

OmG we getting fresh tHe literal raddest man on the bloCk- in a gamE?! Would the game be accessible or free? Man can’t wait for more content for it!

Ey there! The game isn't planned to be for free, right now the general cost I'm considering is 5-10 USD, somewhere in that ballpark. That isn't final numbers, it just depends on how much content I'm able to put into the game and what not.

And yes! I will say this isn't the Undertale version of Fresh, like the whole parasite idea. The game revolves around kids essentially roleplaying different roles, so in this universe he's more 'nervous socially awkward kid' then 'eldritch abomination'.

He's still Fresh, just another version of him! I was considering having a nod to the parasite idea in-game though.

And he's actually a main character in the game as well! You can't play him, but you'll see him around a lot and be able to interact with him.

#watdg #freshchat #the response from beta testers has been really positive!#I havent been able to properly work on the game in like 2 months though #tempted to take November completely off of cons and just #focus on the game #I just want to work on it yall ;_;

227 notes · View notes

pinkrose05 · 24 days

Text

Sungenti & Robinhill would go on the most terse double dates in history. That's it that's the post.

#no but hear me out: these pairs have a sitcom-worthy dynamic it's such a funny mental image actually #boothill is like the perfect candidate for sunday's disapproval in every single way #he's crass he's crude and he's getting on his nerves on purpose which is Not helping his fresh brother-in-law status #and sunday is just the sort of silently bitchy control freak that grinds boots' gears too #they keep exchanging seemingly polite banter but it's really just a combo of forced formality and a curse censor #while argenti (who's Bros For Life with boothill) sees this and cheers for a new friendship #“what beautiful rapport you two are building so fast!!”#bless his soul #nobody tell him what's going on #(robin is tempted to do it just so she can commiserate about the suffering she goes through whenever they meet up. press f for her patience #(at least argenti himself isn't bad company though!)#honkai star rail #hsr #hsr sunday #hsr robin #hsr argenti #hsr boothill #sungenti #sunti #(<- i think that's the established ship name? cmiiw tho)#robinhill #pink's musings

69 notes · View notes

tcfactory · 5 months

Text

Please consider: Liu Qingge and Shen Qingqiu role-swap

[LiuJiu, 2300 words]

After the fire, Shen Jiu doesn't sit around, he's aiming straight for Cang Qiong. Wu Yanzi tempts him, but if he is to ever find out what happened to Qi-ge then he can't play around with rogue cultivators, so he ditches the man before Wu Yanzi could take him as a disciple.

He arrives to the sect at a year when they are not doing the disciple selection - the women at the Warm Red Pavilion say it's because the Sect Leader is busy monitoring his cursed head disciple and if the Sect Leader doesn't take part then the rest of the sect has to wait too - but he's tipped off that Bai Zhan is always open to those who are determined enough to climb the mountain and demand admittance.

So that's exactly what he does. The Peak Lord sets him against one of his junior disciples and tells him there are no rules, if he can beat them he's in. It's a test he's not supposed to win, to see his determination and his reaction to failure, as a malnourished slave boy should be no match to someone in good health who has two years of training under his belt. But Shen Jiu doesn't know this, he has come too far to give up now and unlike the scrappy, but well-fed farmer's son he's set up against, he fights dirty.

He sets the basis of his future nickname - The Rabid Wolf of Bai Zhan - that day when he claws the boy's eye out and forces him to yield. His rise among the disciples is almost as meteoric as Yue Qi's and people are on the lookout for when the upstart slave boy will plummet back to the earth, but he never does. When the year is up and the sect is abuzz that Lingxi caves are finally opening again because they are letting the cursed disciple out, he's there in the front row among the curious onlookers and throws himself in his Qi-ge's arms as soon as the other boy steps foot into the light again.

Shen Qingqiu grows up tall and willowy and unpredictable, an unconventional physical cultivator that bends with the wind, but never breaks. With Yue Qingyuan's support as an unshakeable mountain behind his back, he is untouchable. He never bothers to hide what he is, not his scars or his sharp edges or the slave brand burned into the meat of his shoulder, often bared to the world by his choice of outfit; he stands as testament that even the lowest wretches can claw their way up to stand among giants.

Liu Mingqu yields to his rich family and allows himself to be enrolled into Qing Jing. He is not as suited for spiritual cultivation and he has no head for arts, but he is still a prodigy and a really hard working one at that. He learns all there is to learn for a scholar and doesn't rest until he perfects them all - music, calligraphy, painting, poetry - and even if he's ever uninspired about pursuing them, the Peerless Beauty of Qing Jing is a competent teacher who stands head and shoulders over his peers. He masters his temper and his manners and takes to hiding his face behind a fan or sometimes a veil like his sister to discourage people from staring at him.

Their roles may be different, but their nature remains the same. Shen Jiu has always been more clever than he was strong and nothing changed about that now that he's essentially a spiritual cultivator playing at star athlete. He plants a bamboo forest on his mountain - for meditation and ambush practice, he says, but everyone knows he just needed a bubble of calm for himself in the endless war zone of Bai Zhan - and mercilessly beats any disciple who dares to damage the forest. In the serene calm of his little house he hoards books and maps and all the culture he can get his calloused hands on, always thirsty to know more, an endless pit his Qi-ge happily pours obscure knowledge into. He uses the standing feud between Bai Zhan and Qing Jing to spy on them, learn their cultivation methods by sight and listen to the senior disciples do ad hoc concerts, so he can practice music in the brothel or under a silencing array just behind his house.

It's during one of these trips when he discovers Liu Qingge behind the Qing Jing Peak Lord's manor, restlessly shuffling through the steps of a formal dance. Liu Qingge yearns to move, he yearns for the exertion of his wild youth, but there are only so many acceptable options for a scholar and as a cultivator he can't channel his restlessness into hunting or horse riding. That leaves dancing, but Liu Qingge is not a creative person. He sticks to the dances he half-remembers learning as a rich young master and maybe asks his sister for some more, but that's where his resourcefulness runs out on this venture.

Shen Qingqiu watches him go through the steps of the same dozen dances, swap to a few rounds of sword forms - perfectly executed and ethereal, an immortal beauty that earthbound Shen Qingqiu will never be able to replicate - and then swap back to the dances, increasingly frustrated and restless.

"If Peak Lord Qingge wants to learn some better dances, this shidi can introduce you to someone." Liu Qingge startles and almost turns him into a pincushion with a barrage of bamboo leaves.

"What do you want?!" They are secure in their respective positions, but they still don't like each other.

"Peace, shixiong. I'm just looking out for the sect. How would it reflect on me if I let my fellow Peak Lord work himself into a qi deviation and didn't step in?" Shen Qingqiu shrugs and smiles with an easy, predatory grace that makes Liu Qingge wish he had fangs to match the Wolf of Bai Zhan, but there's no malice in the offer. "Come now, shixiong. There's nobody else here. We don't need to do this stupid game of social posturing. Tell you what, as a sign of my goodwill I'm going to teach you a meditation technique to calm your qi after exercise, free of charge."

Almost everything with Shen Qingqiu is a transaction, so Liu Qingge knows better than to pass up the chance to get something from his shidi for free - and the meditation does help settle his roiling qi.

"What do you want in return, then?" It's almost terrifying how intensely Shen Qingqiu's eyes light up.

"That trick with the leaves - teach me how to do it."

Liu Qingge doesn't bother to point out that it's a spiritual technique. It's an unspoken secret that they would be better suited to each other's cultivation styles than that of their own peaks. Shen Qingqiu has a storm of razor sharp leaves dancing in the air before Liu Qingge is even done explaining.

He almost regrets agreeing when Shen Qingqiu takes him down to the brothel, but the women his shidi introduces him to are truly masters of dance - they were stars of an imperial dance troupe before their owner was executed for offending the Emperor and they were sold to the brothel. They take him to the back and teach him dances he could never have imagined, dances that make his heart soar and his blood rush hot in his veins, while Shen Qingqiu lightly dozes among the women in the main reception area, his very presence frightening all but the most unruly patrons into behaving.

Liu Qingge is an honest man and he knows, deep down, that he got much more out of this exchange than his shidi. He’s on the lookout to see how he could repay him, but Shen Qingqiu seems to want for nothing. What he can’t get on his own Yue Qingyuan gifts to him, doting relentlessly on his sharp-edged little brother. So when he hears that Shen Qingqiu is to set out to assist in a night hunt against a particularly dangerous demonic beast that made its way over the to the far shore of the sea, he hops to the opportunity to compile a scroll of all the unspoken rules and etiquette of the island, as well as a short history on the ninja clan that asked for their aid. It’s all information that Shen Qingqiu has no way of learning otherwise, but should ease his time on the hunt.

When he can’t find Shen Qingqiu at the bamboo house he goes looking for him and that’s when he finds the silencing array, that’s when he sees his shidi sitting with his guqin in a clearing, composing music. Liu Qingge’s mouth goes dry, his heart skips a beat - his shidi is like a vision from the heavens and for the first time since he started this scholarly lifestyle, Liu Qingge wants to paint. He wants to etch this scene in his heart and condense it into a poem.

He slinks away before his shidi can notice him and leaves the scroll in the bamboo house. In the three years Shen Qingqiu is gone, hunting that elusive monster that decimates one village after another, he becomes a man possessed - or more accurately, a tender hearted young maiden yearning for her first love. He paints picture after picture, sometimes of a wolf stalking among the bamboo, sometimes of Qingqiu with his guqin as the scene lives in his memory. Rarely he paints his shidi stretched out on a couch in the brothel, languid with feigned sleep and one eye opened a crack as he vigilantly watches over his sisters - he gifts one of those to the brothel, much to the ladies’ delight. He starts writing poetry, yearning, horrible poetry his sister mocks relentlessly, but slowly he finds his words and his latest attempts are almost good. He is the first to hound Zhangmen-shixiong for news on Shen shidi and learns every word of every letter by heart, no matter how short or impersonal the progress reports are.

Liu Qingge knows that his martial siblings are not blind to his obsession - he has caught Shang shidi muttering “bro, really?!” under his breath more than once. He’s not familiar with the expression, but he can understand the sentiment. Yue Qingyuan watches him with patient exasperation, but he knows that the man doesn’t disapprove from the mild comment about how Shen Jiu will need a new ceremonial robe for his return celebration because his old one is ten years out of fashion.

Embroidery is, technically, within the skill set of the Qing Jing Peak Lord. He hounds An Ding until someone supplies him with Shen Qingqiu’s measurements and the finest materials he can bully Shang shidi into acquiring - “That’s the same stuff demon royalty wears, try not to waste it, my contact had to go through the royal seamstress of the northern kingdom to get it in that color.” - and sets to work. Bai Zhan’s color is steel blue, but that never fit his shidi, so he picks greens instead to match his striking green eyes. He creates a design that accentuates the deceptive slimness of Qingqiu, then embroiders the robes with bamboo patterns and a wolf on the hunt and when they are done he crafts a matching fan - Shen shidi hides from nothing and nobody, but Liu Qingge thinks he might enjoy being a little mysterious.

He is daydreaming about his shidi during the next Peak Lord meeting when the Sect Leader breaks the news: the beast has finally been slain and Shen Qingqiu will be on the next ship back home. Liu Qingge stays barely long enough to not be impolite at the end of the meeting before he rushes off to finish the last touches on the robes. He wants to leave it all set out for his shidi in the bamboo house.

In his haste he misses the look Shang Qinghua and Yue Qingyuan exchange behind his back.

“So, about those arrangements we made…”

“Yes, please. Let’s get Xiao Jiu home before Liu-shidi pines himself into a qi deviation.”

“Yeah, he’s down bad isn’t he?”

“Are you certain your prince doesn’t mind? If you are in any danger, shidi…”

“No! It’s fine, I’m fine, he already agreed to it! In fact, my Xuebao likes your brother so much I’m almost a little jealous.”

“Really now?”

“Zhangmen-shixiong, please stop looking like you are plotting murder. It’s not like that. As the Mobei prince, he really doesn’t have a lot of friends. Of course he misses A-Jiu.”

“If you say so, shidi.”

Liu Qingge is all jitters when he walks down the path to the bamboo house. He can’t understand why because Shen Qingiu won’t be back for months, but he still feels like a maiden on her way to ask out her love on the first date.

He almost drops the package with the robes when he opens the door and finds Shen Qingqiu standing there in the sunlit room. His shidi is too solid, too real to be an apparition, his clothes worn from travel, his heavy pack still unpacked by the table. He stands with a letter in one hand - Qingge recognizes his sister’s wobbly, childish handwriting - and with Qingge’s notebook in which he wrote all his stumbling, horrible poetry in the other and Liu Qingge wishes nothing more than for the ground to open up and swallow him whole.

“Are those my new robes?” Shen Qingqiu asks, as if they have only met this morning, as if that was a reasonable thing to ask when Qingge’s heart is about to explode from nerves. He can only mutely nod at his shidi. “You know shixiong, I can see that you have put enormous effort into courting me. I would have loved it if it happened when I was here to experience it.”

Shen Qingqiu sets the notebook and the letter down and stalks up to Liu Qingge, his eyes sharp with an emotion he can’t interpret, but it makes Liu Qingge want to bare his throat to his teeth and be devoured.

“So, Liu-shixiong. Are you going to help me try on my new robes?”

#svsss #liu qingge #shen jiu #shen qingqiu #liujiu #tc writes #I'm tempted to draw something for this ngl #not putting this under readmore bc there was no good spot to cut it and it doesn't feel that long...#LQG going 0 to 100 in love like the nerd he is #Bai Zhan SQQ takes a more direct approach to protecting the sect #so of course he found out about Moshang #and beat Mobei's ass when they were still teens for treating hamster-shidi too rough so he got promoted to best friend status #that's just enough context for airplane to remember what he wrote about violent demon bonding #and clean up that no humans don't find physical violence directed at them sexy #mobei is a security risk to the sect but a calculated one #no other sect has a way to go to japan and back in five minutes so he can live for now #they are still pretty young here btw #Mingyuan is just old enough to write #she's old enough to bully her big brother for being a really bad poet though #tough crowd

131 notes · View notes

cleumuu · 9 months

Text

bunner epel doodle days agoo💜💜

#cleumuu art #twisted wonderland epel #epel felmier #i really love the event😩💜💜#tempted to draw everyone like this #though the rhythm game gave me motion sickness #still i love it!!!!!

269 notes · View notes

bonefall · 6 months

Note

speaking of. would cats like Blackclaw and Greenflower and other members TigerClan fandom be sent to Dark Forest? or have a trial? or would they somehow repent enough in life during Mistystar's regin (im pressing x to doubt that though)?

i want Stonefur, Primrosepaw and Pikepaw to personally roundhouse kick Blackclaw, but i can understand if they would want to stay away from him too (at least the kids. Stonefur should be the first to throw.. a stone.)

A lot of them are going to get recruited, even if they may have won a trial. Those who die in the WindClan Civil War willl get damned immediately; StarClan is FURIOUS that trecherous rebels in other Clans tried to take advantage of the political situation.

Mudclaw the Hypocrite, who accuses Onestar of being a puppet of outside influences, promised power to a RiverClan warrior in exchange for mercenaries to brutalize his own Clanmates. HELL! Hell for ALL of them!

Those that survive probably don't have enough time to make up for it. They would also have been supportive of TigerClan, so they're earmarked already. Even those who didn't throw their weight behind the Civil War have quite the tally of sins to manage.

(And... at least one of them, I'm unsure of who, were involved in the "disappearences" of Primrosepaw and Pikepaw. Whoever they are, StarClan will not hold a trial nor send a fetcher. They can find their own way to the Dark Forest, without even a Sharing of Stars to fix their mortal wounds.)

Also for the record let me just clarify something; StarClan judges based on if you are "worthy" of joining them. They do rule in neutral-favor for an unremarkable warrior, but if your life is enough of a question to trigger a Trial at all, you are guilty until proven innocent.

More specifically, "unworthy" until proven worthy. StarClan Trials are not held with "fairness" as a value.

#Duckfur is probably going to be fine though #Xey're persuasive and live the rest of xeir life in 'repentance'.#(Not really repentance but the political tide changes and it's no longer the most convenient option to support Thistle Law)#(But xey sure can make a good enough case to pass it off as such)#I like Ducky lmao.#Though I can absolutely see xem being tempted to join the civil war...#Not as readily as xeir sister Green though. Green is just waiting for an excuse to stab kill murder #Duck meanwhile is thinking about how fuckint awful life under Tiger was and calculating what the best way to Not Die Horribly is #Better bones au #BB!TNP

93 notes · View notes

burnthatbridge · 6 months

Text

still not sure what inspired the software update {made using this template by @jessource}

#buck buckley #evan buckley #911 #911 fox #911 abc #911 edit #taylor swift #the eras tour #taylor swift eras #cw: flashing #myedit #i cannot look at this anymore #please excuse how wiggly 6b buck is #i am but a photoshop noob and i did not have the skill (or patience) to cut him out better #i have tried to go for important things/pivotal moments for each season/era but more on the positive side #though i was very very tempted to just do all the bad things #in my obsessed with templates era #found this cool one and really wanted to use it #i cannot overstate how excited i was when i realised that there are 10 eras and if you split the As from the Bs 911 has 10 parts of seasons

119 notes · View notes

vellichorom · 4 months

Text

ok this is the year we retire the old template & start using new ones hello

( & SO, this template credit to @ necromosss on twt! (( date edited slightly by me, in case you're confused )) )

WHAT a year, am I right?

2023 opened the door to a lot more experiences, events, fandoms, people, & all KINDS of hectic craziness for me, but it was REALLY fun, & while I don't think I really made HEFTY leaps & bounds in terms of doing something different with my art, every day - with every small change & improvement, I come to love my art all the more.

& that, I will contribute some to YOU! yes, YOU - reading this right now! to casual viewers, to those who have been with me since the premiere of this blog, to those who've come around in 2023 for one thing or another; to those of you of whom I've never spoken with, to those who have made me something or complemented my work, to those who've become my friends, my gratitude is IMMEASURABLE.

this last year, while its had its bumpier moments - I will confess, it's been truly incredible, & I thank you, every single one of you, who's had even the slightest hand to make it so. you are all TOO KIND, & I appreciate you sticking by & enjoying what I do.

hopefully, I can continue to make things that grab your attention, AWE & AMAZE YOU, & beyond anything, make you smile, if only to repay you some for all the joy you provide me.

HERE'S TO 2024! with hopes & prayers & wishes aplenty that we'll be better people in better situations before it's over!

2023: JAN / FEB / MAR / APR / MAY / JUN / JUL / AUG / SEP / OCT / NOV / DEC + BONUS PIECE.

#uwu art #& MY HAPPY ASS GOT AN ANIMATIC DONE FOR ONCE I MADE LAST YEAR'S RESOLUTION HAPPEN LET'S GOOOOO #I couldn't NOT include it no matter what #ALSO interestingly - this is the first year in which i've begun to transition to using sai paint almost entirely over ms paint #WHICH IS KIND OF A SHAME REALLY #i'm getting rusty at ms i don't wanna be rusty at ms #oughta do something with it again soon.... hmmmmmm...#ANYWAY god it was a lot of tsp this year ( to nobody's surprise )#& shoutout to wordgirl for always making it into my summary for the past. what- 3 years #TOUGH CHOICES FOR BEST CANDIDATES THIS YEAR THOUGH I WILL SAY #can you believe i hardly posted anything in july because i can't #i was SOOOO tempted to make the face of march just that one image that started the tsp salad thread #my magnum opus #but nooo.... no.... i'll save that for march

54 notes · View notes

cienie-isengardu · 5 months

Note

There's some people who simply think Bi-Han never really loved Kuai in either timeline. Some people say Kuai adored Bi-Han but Bi-Han simply didn't feel the same way and that their relationship was one-sided, where Kuai loved Bi-Han where Bi-Han...simply didn't.

I don't believe that but I think the writing could use a bit of work here because in story mode Bi-Han's interactions with his siblings are pretty much him telling Tomas he's not one of them and then saying 'btw I let Dad die' to Kuai in some deluded hope that his brother would see his point of view. The only noticable moment he shows concern is when Nitara ambushes Smoke from above when they are scaling the walls and most say that doesn't count because he seems to have kicked that rock at Smoke whilst he was scaling the wall.

The falling rock while someone is hanging over the abyss is so popular I can’t even remember a similar scene not using this motif to present the sense of tension/danger. So I guess there is no point in blaming MK1 for going with that visual storytelling choice - though if it was intentional choice of creators to cast a doubt on whether Bi-Han on purpose kicked the rock or not, it is impossible to say. Definitely that moment could be better presented to avoid the confusion, especially since Bi-Han’s foot is clearly placed on the ground before the rock is even shown,

so it is rather impossible for him to kick it on purpose? I mean, the rock would need to start failing before Bi-Han stopped in his tracks, as kicking requires movement of the whole leg and as can be seen, Bi-Han’s boot was firmly touching the ground while the rock itself appears a few seconds later, like out of nowhere (and in later scene, there is no rocks only snow around Bi-Han's feet, especially compared to where Kuai Liang was standing?) I assume, when Sub-Zero was leaning out, his weight must have caused the loose element to slide, especially since he was the one standing the closest to the edge and once rock slid, he took a step back.

(Yes, I’m that dedicated to do the slow motion rewatch to make sense of what really happened.)

But you know what is more surprising than the rock failing scene? The whole fact that a man who mastered magic and was capable of using his powers to literally fly didn’t use the same powers to save himself, instead panicked and relied on his hands (failed attempt) and knive - and the game subtitles literally describes Tomas' struggle as “panicked screaming”.

So if Bi-Han (and Kuai Liang) rushed over the edge and may accidentally cause a rock to fall, I think him being concerned for a brother who could die is enough good reason to give Bi-Han the benefit of doubt he did not do that on purpose. If he didn’t care, he would not bother to come there in the first place, especially since the enemy was already out there to get them all. Frankly, there is a lot to say about Bi-Han’s claims about Tomas (your blood will never be Lin Kuei), Tomas actually panicking to the point he was unable to use his magic and the fact that Sub-Zero still took him on this top priority mission when he quite likely had more warriors with real battle experience and skills than untested Tomas. On one hand, we could argue Tomas joined because Liu Kang said so, but the Fire God literally not even once acknowledged Tomas in any specific way and as the meeting scene proved, Bi-Han had a say in who is allowed to accompanying him for the mission, as he refused take Kung Lao and Raiden while Liu Kang did not try to force them on him. So I tend to assume that whatever Sub-Zero said about Tomas in regard to his Lin Kuei status did not stop him from including the adoptive brother in his duties. And the falling scene proved he had a point about Tomas’ training and battle experiences (or lack thereof) - even if voiced in a brutally straight up way.

Generally speaking I think what (and the way) Bi-Han speaks should always be compared to his actions. Tomas not having a true Lin Kuei blood =/= taking him on top priority mission commissioned personally by worried Fire Lord.

That said, yes I agree that story mode should handle better both Bi-Han as character and the whole brothers dynamic but for that the story would need to give them more focus and screen time to establish well written balance between their flaws and virtues instead of the more or less one-dimensional characterization game started with (Bi-Han the angry & ambitious/power-hungry brother, Kuai Liang the honorable “never did anything wrong”, Tomas the loyal sidekick, basically). As the Lin Kuei subplot seems to exist solely to set up the conflict between Sub-Zero’s clan and Scorpion’s Shirai Ryu, I assume that was the authors' goal to achieve, but with such approach to klassic characters can’t say I’m surprised by fandom negative opinions about Bi-Han.

I can understand the never-ending fan dispute about how much Bi-Han truly loved Kuai Liang, as Mortal Kombat lore is more than three decades old already and we still only got glimpses of their relationship from Bi-Han’s perspective. Considering how many games, books, comics, movies, animations and cards the series spawned in such a long time - and how different media present different “timelines”, it is both impossible and unfair to demand from new fans (or any fans in fact) to be familiar with all possible nuance, details and stories almost forgotten before they will speak their mind. Not everyone has the opportunity, time, energy or interest to expand their knowledge about characters and that is fine, even if we don’t agree with said opinions. I know it is hard to be Bi-Han’s fan, as the man, both as Sub-Zero and Noob Saibot barely gets the proper recognition, be it from fans or source material and this has been happening for many years now - even though he is the first Sub-Zero on whose popularity Kuai Liang grew to be character in his own right.

I do not have a doubt that Bi-Han and Kuai Liang shared true brotherhood and I’m right now truly tempted to write an essay on why elder Sub-Zero is not - and in fact has never been - inherently evil character and why we should not doubt that Kuai Liang’s love to him is not grounded in some delusioned idolization but for now I wish point out to all doubters this: original Bi-Han and cryomancer Kuai Liang were first and foremost survivors above any simplified fan idea of good or evil nature. The only person that tried to give them a normal (safe) life was a mother and the woman was presumably killed alongside their youngest sister by their own father. Ice brothers were just kids when that happened - and even if the mother somehow managed to save herself and the daughter and hid from Lin Kuei, she was still removed for good from her sons’ lives. They were abducted by their father, brought from America (their place of birth) to China, a totally different land and culture, to be raised in secrecy and isolation from the world they knew. None of them choose to be raised as assassins and as their respective stories showed, Lin Kuei would easily turn against them at any moment if any stepped out of line. In Mythologies, Bi-Han was called the most cunning assassin of Lin Kuei, but in the same game Sub-Zero outright said if he did not fulfill the task, he would be killed for failure. This comes from a man who was openly praised by the Grandmaster personally and yet his life was the constant fight for survival, the “perform perfectly any impossible task” or “be killed”. If to survive Bi-Han needed to be a cold-blooded person he became one. If because of that he won’t fit into the cozy fan ideas and the silly labeling either “good" or "evil” without taking into account what shaped said character in the first place, then frankly, that is the problem of fans, not Bi-Han.

#mortal kombat #my repies #bi han #sub zero #kuai liang #smoke #tomas vrbada #i won't lie i'm still not sure what is truly going on with the failing rock #tomas panicking was a surprise though #you people really tempt me with writing about bi-han and kuai liang brotherhood...

57 notes · View notes