#is the several ony twice?

[pokedawriter]

winged!reader x Inazuma!Men

Gn!reader

Prompt: You (literally) crash land into Inazuma boys' lives

Itto and Gorou

content warning: asleep for long time/coma, injuries (no vivid descriptions)

Arataki Itto

He's out in the rain looking for the fiercest Onikabuto ("only the strongest beetles will be out during the rain! That's how we know they're the best"). He thinks he's found a good one and is about to grab it when...

*SLAM* You fall out of the sky and crash land onto him

He's thrown onto the ground and he's about to yell at you for "your deal" when he realizes you are completely out and smell a little... smokey?

Damm, you must have been cooking something good (you were zapped by lightning mid-air)

He takes you to Granny Oni and she helps nurse you back to health

When you wake up, Itto is playing with your wings, which earns him a feathered and an actual slap

Granny Oni eventually explains the situation and you apologize, saying you are in their debt

Itto decides to take full advantage of this and drags you to meet with his gang to help them out with "gang stuff" as the newest member of the Arataki Gang (you have been awake for maybe an hour at this point? You have no idea what's going on)

Gang stuff is pretty simple - wander the street playing with the kids, competing for candy

You return to Granny Oni's house that night exhausted from a full day of laughter and fun

Granny Oni invites you to stay for as long as you like and you happily take her up on that offer

Over the next few months, you and Kuki try (and fail) to keep the gang out of trouble (you got arrested once or twice too)

You enjoy your days of eating ramen with the boys, taking odd jobs to earn mora and messing around until sunset

Once you're able to fly again, Itto has you help him find the best Onikabuto and you learn the art of Beetle Battles

You're also a fan-favorite among the kids, as you're great at tag thanks to your birds-eye view

You even take the kids and the gang flying (you don't go very high above the ground, just holding their hands in yours as you glide down a hill)

Several times, Kuki has found the gang nestled under your wings, everyone peacefully sleeping

You can't help but fall in-love with Itto's carefree yet kind nature and you try to flirt with him but he's completely oblivious to it

"I'm looking handsome today? I look handsome everyday! Thanks for noticing. You look great too! Hey, by the way can we reach that Onikabuto up there?"

Kuki eventually takes pity on you and tells Itto straight that you like him romantically

He's never really thought about anyone that way before, but now...

You laughter makes the butterflies in his stomach flutter, your smile makes him blush furiously, and his heart skips a beat when he see your stretch those pretty wings in the morning

Oh, he's got it bad

You've given up at this point (you still love him, but you think he's too oblivious to ever notice), so when he's stumbling over his words while his face his complete red... it's now your turn to be oblivious and confused

Kuki can only smack her forehead with her hand

Eventually, he musters up the courage to get you a bouquet of flowers (wildflowers that he carefully picked) and confesses to you (with the rest of the gang hiding in the bushes near by for moral support)

You, of course, say yes and the gang jumps out of the bushes to celebrate

"It's time to PAR-TAY!!! Let's go get ramen to celebrate!"

Gorou

He's on a patrol with his men when they see something fall from the sky and crash into the shrubbery ahead

They rush over and find you, unconscious with one wing bent at an awkward angle

Gorou and his men carry you back to base carefully, making sure not to run into any specters on the way back, and leave you under the careful care of the medics

Since he found you, Gorou feels responsible for your recovery and well-being, and will check in on your everyday after he's done with his duties or during meals

He'll brush your hair and feathers (he hates it when his fur gets messy, so he bets having nest hair will help you feel more comfortable when you wake up), and he'll always correct the blanket if it has slipped at all

Maybe it's because you're asleep, or maybe its because you're a stranger but he feels like he can tell you anything. He'll chat with you about his day and vent to you about his problems. He knows you're not listening, but it's nice being able to talk with someone

Except... you are listening. You're not able to respond but you can hear him

A couple weeks go by and your eyes flutter open. You have a bit of a headache, but you manage to sit up despite feeling quite week

You look down and Gorou is asleep, sitting next to your bed, hand holding yours

Despite never seeing him before, you recognize him as the voice that spoke to you while you were unconscious (not many people talk about their tails and ears after all)

You gently pat him on the head and he slowly stirs awake

Both of your hearts flutter when you first make eye-contact

He'll shoot upwards and run to get a medic to check on you while he gets you a warm meal

He's a bit too busy (embarrassed) to visit you the rest of the day, but he does check in on you the next day, bringing you your meal

Finally, you're able to chat while you're awake and he's very embarrassed now that you tell him you remember what he said (but he's also very touched that you remember too)

When you're well enough, he'll take you on walks around the camp and introduce you to his soldiers

You even train with him a bit to get your strength back and he helps you come up with a routine to exercise and strengthen your body

You become one of his men and they welcome you whole-heartedly, helping you train (a pack sticks together after all)

When you finally can fly again, the whole camp can hear the joyful yells and hollers of your squad mates celebrating

Though you can't pick most of your team members up, you can carry Gorou on your back, which gives him an amazing birds-eye view of the battlefield

You get the nickname of "the pointy-eared general's wings"

You help him realize that his smaller size can be an asset on the field, since you can pick him up, allowing his men to see him more easily and for him to see the battle better

The more you practice together, the more in-sync and closer you become, the high altitude preventing anyone from possibly hearing your conversations

He loves those flights with you, his tail wagging rapidly (despite his embarrassment and attempts to stop it)

Eventually, you meet Kokomi and she sees the way you look at each other (Gorou's tail will always wag when you come into view)

Gorou will ask her for help coming up with ideas on how to confess to you and they draft up an idea

He takes you mountaineering (he climbs while you fly) and at the top of the mountain peak he pulls out a bouquet of flowers

With a very red face he asks if you will be his partner

You of course say yes and his tail wags uncontrollably

"Thank you for helping me to find the best in me! I promise to take care of you"

#genshin x reader #genshin x you #gorou #gorou x reader #genshin gorou #arataki itto #itto x reader #genshin itto

[qballqueue]

I haven't watched anime (or any show, really) for a while, but fuck man, Undead Girl Murder Farce really got me hooked, and I think it's mostly down to its two lead characters.

Like, yeah, the premise of the show itself is good. It's fucking excellent; a pair of Japanese yokai travel to Europe to solve Monster Crime™ is an instant grab for fans of horror, paranormal, and mystery (of which I am all three), but from episode to episode I keep finding myself drawn specifically to the main duo and their antics.

First you have Tsugaru, a man who, thanks to being half-oni, will have his life cut prematurely. But rather than him being mopey, he's decided to just have a good time while it lasts. If the candle is burning twice as fast anyways, he's going to make sure it burns twice as bright no matter the circumstance.

And on the other hand you have Aya. Unlike Tsugaru, she's immortal, but has decided--now that she's a severed head--that life isn't worth living without a body. It's a cold and logical decision that she only changes her mind about once Tsugaru convinces her that there's a chance to get her body back.

And despite their very, very different circumstances and methods of thought, what makes them the most entertaining to me is how similar they are.

Both of their perspectives give them a sort of detachment to the world, because for both of them (for different reasons) anything that happens, no matter how shocking or tragic, is only temporary. Which leaves them free to react to almost any situation however they want. This is best demonstrated through their shared interest in gallows humour.

That last one in particular is of note, because that bit they're doing happens in the middle of them questioning a man about his dead wife.

And it's not just that they make jokes in dire circumstances; they laugh at each other's jokes too, showing appreciation for the other's sense of humour.

We're only seven episodes in at the time of writing, but it also seems so far like they're both good examples of static character arcs. In other words, they're characters that don't necessarily develop a lot over the course of the story, but do develop the world around them through their actions. Another good example of a character like that is Sherlock Holmes, which is a hell of a coincidence because he's also a character in this show. But it makes sense for Tsugaru and Aya because of their detachment. They can't really be shaped by the world if they're rarely affected by anything in it.

The issue that typically arises from characters like that (at least I find) is that, without becoming interesting over the course of the story, static characters need to start their stories by being interesting, which Tsugaru and Aya both do extremely effectively. We haven't gotten a ton of their backstories yet, but it's pretty clear from everything they do and everything they say what kind of people they are and how they think, and that is fantastic character writing.

TL;DR: watch Undead Girl Murder Farce (or Undead Murder Farce? The anime seems to have dropped 'girl' from the title) because it's really fucking good.

#my posts #rant about something I like #anime #anime recommendation #undead murder farce #undead girl murder farce #tsugaru shinuchi #aya rindo

[blizzardsuplex]

So, I actually made a RS/AC relationship meta post...thanks @christiancagesupporter for the sign that was a live sex celebration joke, and also @scissormedaddyass for not telling me to stop.

So, imagine a relationship that goes something like this: there’re two guys who’ve known each other pretty well a long time. They’re into some similar things, like music and craft beer and their mutual profession, which paved the way for their initial bond despite some initially obvious differences between them (like age and experience in said mutual profession). They have quite a few differences in personality, too—the starkest one being, probably, that one of them prefers to go with the flow, taking opportunities when they come; the other has been on that grindset since day one.

Still, they’re pretty close. When Roddy (the generally more passive one) moves on in his career, the other hugs and kisses him in public. When Adam, the generally more active one, moves on in his career and gets himself into trouble, the other comes out of nowhere to save him. They’ve had their disagreements (explosive ones), but overall things are good—kind of blue oni and red oni, as TV Tropes might say.

Then Adam gets another chance to pull himself up the ladder—not only further, but to the very top of the profession they both hold dear. He wants this (to be the best, and to be adored for it) more than anything, and will do anything to get there. This includes concocting a plan so elaborate it’s almost comedic: get close to the person on the current rung (Max), find out his weaknesses, and destroy him before any official confrontation. When several wrenches are thrown into his plans, he quickly pivots to not only play kingmaker (to someone who now owes him and is someone he's won against before) but get petty revenge on the man now-deposed, who he blames for plans going awry.

Now, as we all know, Adam is a manipulative asshole. He has backstabbed people close to him more than once and will probably backstab many more. In fact, he’s backstabbed or has planned to backstab Roddy himself at least twice. But Roddy is actually a significant part of Adam’s current plan. Adam’s mark, you see, is distrustful and wary about any attempts to get close to him. An attempt at a straight shot through to the heart would probably fail. Could Roddy (and some others) be a smokescreen, causing a distraction while the other pieces fall into place?

And, you know what? Without a second thought, Roddy does it. In fact, Roddy does it with such aplomb people around them genuinely wonder if he’s gone insane—and then outright believe it, after he continues to do it for months. He has a public tantrum in his hometown. He pretends to be delusional enough to outright attempt to kidnap Adam for weeks. Adam, again in public, verbally tears him down and disavows any bond they previously had (in favor of his new “friend”, of course).

But why does Roddy agree to go through these lengths? The simple answer is probably “emotional manipulation”, and you wouldn’t even be wrong about that…to a point. What makes Adam Cole such an effective manipulator is that he makes his feelings seem so real, and he does that by committing to actually feeling them. As Drea @shes-a-voodoo-child has pointed out recently, any love and affection he feels towards those he’s close to is actually kind of genuine—as long as those he loves know their place, which is to say he’s the one on top and running the show (as she said: just ask Kyle O’Reilly). In that case, then, yes: there’s at least some manipulation going on.

Roddy knows this though, doesn’t he? Why, then, does he seem to keep falling for it? Is he forgetful, stupid, or a total simp? I think part of it is his personality; besides being more laidback when it comes to grand-scale ambition, which Adam has in spades, thanks to Personal Issues™ he also craves the love and attention Adam liberally provides (again, as long as the status quo remains how the latter likes it).

But the interesting thing is that this love isn’t just portioned and given to him like treats for a dog, something to ensure loyalty: Roddy decided to be loyal first, and as such actively works for it. It’s more a salary than anything else—which is to say that when he chose to receive it he also knew exactly what kind of person he was going to work for, just like he actively chose to play the fool for months on end. After 10+ years of knowing the guy, he’s not blind to or delusional about Adam’s nature or demands. Definitely I don’t think he wants to “fix him”. He’s just someone whose math of the costs and benefits of being close to and associating with Adam Cole has come out with him gaining more than he’s losing. He’s made his choice, and in that way he’s kind of using Adam, too.

Also, to be honest? People (myself included) focus a bit more on why Roddy continues to stick by Adam; not a lot of people think about why Adam continues to keep Roddy around beyond a general "he's useful for now". Recognition in a relationship is a two-way street, and so (besides genuinely sharing interests and such) Adam definitely has figured out, and probably even likes, the truth: that Roddy can be as big of a prick as him. It’s not in the same way; Roddy’s brand of dickishness is more out in the open, but because of that they complement each other well. Heel synergy, you might say.

In fact, they just complement each other in general: being gifted at talking versus being gifted in-ring, a leader versus a follower, being evasive versus being direct. That they just “click” in these way probably contributes to the sense they just have fun doing things together—even if that “thing” is “heartlessly destroying Max’s world in front of everyone he knows and those watching at home”. And, of course, they don’t really challenge each other, which does wonders for their egos (both sort of fragile/easily set off in different ways).

Basically: there still a power imbalance/lack of equality in their relationship? Yeah—but the power is more or less being willingly given, and not as one-sidedly as it may initially appear. Do they enable each other’s worst habits/tendencies? Yeah—but in part it’s because they’re so used to and accepting of each other, flaws and all, which can be kind of wholesome depending on how you look at it. Are they toxic bfs as heels? Hell yeah (no buts).

Tl;dr: Roderick Strong and Adam Cole are mutually evil bros. They both know what they’ve gotten themselves into and exactly what kind of person they’ve chosen (for now) to stick with—and they more or less like and/or accept who they’re sticking with. Thanks for coming to my TED Talk that will probably be refuted when we see them interact or something moving forward

#mel's writing tag #wrasslin' talk #fine fine I'll tag the main tags #roderick strong #adam cole

[agereninjas]

Rereading headcanons and I’m really curious about how Oni Lloyd regressing went down.

YESS I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR SOMEONE TO ASK!!!! (also I just recently went through my inbox so sorry I didn't see it earlier)

From the moment he rushed to his room, Kai knew something was up with Lloyd. He watched over Cole and Nya as they played in the living room(They were both regressed, and Jay would be playing too if he wasn't napping).

He waited impatiently until Zane and Pixal walked in, then immediately rushed out of the room, mumbling a quick, "I'm gonna check on Lloyd." To the caregivers as he walked. He headed towards Lloyd's room, and once he was close enough, he heard quiet sobs coming from the room. He knocked on the door twice, getting a little yet animalistic 'eep!' in return. He hesitantly opened the door. "Lloyd...?"

He saw a giant, gold-colored creature with four arms and a long tail with a tuff of blonde fur on its end trying to hide under Lloyd's blankets, it took only a split second for Kai to realize that it was Lloyd, but he was in his oni form. Lloyd's purple eyes were filled with tears, and they only kept pouring as he looked at Kai. He had a thumb in his mouth and a chewed-up pacifier beside his bed, no doubt ruined by Lloyd's sharp teeth.

Kai rushed over, running his hands through Lloyd's fur-like hair. "Shh, shh, Lloyd, it's okay. Shh, oh, baby..." He whispered, kissing the top of Lloyd's head. He faintly noticed the bottom set of Lloyd's arms clutch the blankets, and then Lloyd lifted Kai and held him close like he was one of Lloyd's several plushies. He couldn't find it in his heart to try and get Lloyd to put him down.

"Hey, Lloyd...You doing okay, bud?" He asked. Lloyd shook his head in response, curling into the blankets more. "Aw, you poor little oni...How about we go see the others, and you can relax with them? Would that make you feel better?" Kai proposed, chuckling as he saw Lloyd's pointy ears go upwards in a happy way. His tail wagged a bit, and he wiped away his tears and nodded.

Kai was let free of Lloyd's arms, and so he led the large, regressed oni to the living room of the monastery. Pixal and Zane were the first to notice Lloyd since the littles were too focused on their toys. Before anyone could do anything irrational, Kai protectively stood in front of Lloyd. "Hey, it's okay, he isn't dangerous. He's just...really stressed right now." Kai explained, Cole and Nya turned their heads over and gasped at Lloyd.

"Lloyd's huge!" Nya excitedly said, grinning with joy while Cole stared in awe. Lloyd smiled and hesitantly walked to them. Kai, Pixal, and Zane watched carefully as Lloyd joined Nya and Cole's playing, he was handed some toys and gladly played with them while the three watched.

#fandom agere #ninjago agere #sfw agere #ninjago #age regression #caregiver kai #caregiver zane #age regressor lloyd #age regressor cole #age regressor nya #age regressor jay #caregiver pixal

[juniperjellyfish]

Ninjago headcanons because my alarm goes off in two hours and I don’t think I’ll be sleeping anytime soon

Kai is very hot/cold resistant. If it’s super cold outside, you can watch steam rise from his body

Cole gives everyone nicknames. Kai is HairGel. Nya is WaterLily. Jay is ZapTrap/MotorMouth/HalfStack. Zane is Popsicle. Pixal is just Pix because she doesn’t really like nicknames and Cole respects that.

Lloyd calls everyone Buddy

Zane has the sass of my nine year old little sister who wears her baby crown proudly

Pixal sees herself as a lesser being than the other ninja, and has identity issues

Nya struggles with depression

Whenever Jay gets excited, sparks fly off of him, and there’s been times when he accidentally shocked Nya when he kissed her.

Speaking of Jay, he is covered in lightning scars

Cole can play the violin!

Kai is a homophobic bisexual

Master Wu feels guilty about making the ninja team in the first place because he sees how he has added so much hardship to their lives, he doesn’t realize that at the end of the day, the ninja love what they do

Except lloyd. If he could retire, he would

Lloyd has enhanced hearing, vision, smell, etc because of his Oni/dragon blood

Lloyd suffers from chronic migraines (I have these so he gets them too)

Jay used to be the tallest of the ninja, but now he’s the second shortest and thus the nickname “HalfStack

KAI HAS FRECKLES

Dareth does crack (long story)

Pixal has a smal crush on Nya, but she won’t say anything because of Jay

Jay reads fanfiction about himself

Wu doesn’t allow the ninja to have alcohol, but Kai has secret stash on the hydro bounty

Jay wants kids one day

The ninja got so sick of the electric chicken that they made Lightning chicken nuggets

Nadakhan is gay

Mr. F has a reputation if ya know what I mean

Cole plays DND with the Upply twice a month. Vania is the DM

Ultra Violet and Kilo are distant descendants of Oni and the people from the first realm

Akita thinks furries are cultural appropriation

Cole hates heights and hasn’t really gone mountain climbing since his fall

Skylor and Benthomaar are besties

Skylor had never seen a dog while living on Chen’s island, so when she saw one for the first time, she freaked out and thought it was a monster

Christofern is now Christotree

Jay and Nya are the only ones that can remember Skybound. Whenever they tell someone the story, they forget within the hour because of magic

Lloyd got his blonde hair because of genetics. No one cheated, no hair dye, so sun bleaching. Just basic genetics

Jay’s birth mom cheated on Cliff and got pregnant, so cliff walked out on her and she abandoned Jay because she couldn’t take care of him.

Kai’s brown hair is a recessive gene

Nya doesn’t like drinking water, because she can feel its energy traveling into her body and it grosses her out

Ronin has almost asked Misako out

Pixal likes butterflies

Lloyd loves to read

If pixal was a human, she would have vitiligo that somewhat resembles her purple markings

Cole and forest green eyes

Lloyd loves root beer

Nya’s powers have been permanently weaker since coming back from the sea and it gives her severe anger issues

Cole occasionally walks into walls and doors because he forgets he’s not a ghost

Cole can see ghosts

Cole is the group therapist

Kai realized he was bi when he saw Cole do the glow worm song

Every Friday, the group does a movie night

Jay loves his buff gf

Cole likes to paint

Jay likes to draw

Kai made everyone weapons for their birthday

If Kai is mad, he starts smoking. No- not like that- like smoke rises from his body

#jj hc #lego ninjago #ninjago #lego #ninjago kai #ninjago nya #ninjago cole #Ninjago Jay #Ninjago Zane #Ninjago Lloyd #ninjago pixal #Ninjago Dareth

[ineffable-masquerade]

omega strikers characters: who does and doesn't have ADHD?

Imma tell u who I think does and doesn't have ADHD in omega strikers. This is based off my dumbass opinion so don't take things I say seriously tho if u do disagree plz tell me what u think

Julliete: Yeah she definitely has ADHD. Hyperfixating on corestrike that much must be due to something

Kai: The fact that his secondary is literally just a speed boost makes me think he doesn't like waiting, so I'm going to say probably.

Estelle: Probably does not have ADHD. Very patient and doesn't hyperfixate on anything.

Dubu: Unknown. He is a hamster. Non human or oni characters cannot be described with human mental disorders.

Atlas: Probably the only character who would not be distracted by a butterfly besides maybe Estelle or octavia who would probably be distracted by how pretty it looks rather than the fact that it's moving. The only character that has zero chance of having ADHD.

Drek'ar: Unknown due to not being a human or oni. Again, see dubu for explanation.

Juno: Unknown. She is a literal mass of slime. See dubu for explanation

Rune: Used to have ADHD before being possessed by a demon from obscura. Kinda messed with his brain a little.

X: Probably brags about the fact that he has several mental disorders, most definitely has ADHD.

Era: She likes butterflies. I feel like I don't have to explain further. She definitely has ADHD.

Luna: C'mon, you know the answer.

Ai.Mi: She was born from ADHD. Molded by it. She comes from the very fabric that is ADHD. She is ADHD cuz she is internet.

Asher: Neurotypical people don't just go gambling without reading the laws and win enough that you get reported to the police, likely has ADHD.

Zentaro: Does not have ADHD. He's just a calm, collected, and cool kid with a sword.

Rasmus: Unknown. Serious exposure to omega probably altered his mind a lot, so I'd say the omega exposure gave him ADHD or worsened ADHD that he already had. He is very tunnel-visioned on his experiments and would probably confuse a butterfly for a cup of coffee if he was thirsty enough.

Vyce: Oddly enough I don't think she has ADHD. Just cuz she likes rock and has a very energetic personality, she doesn't really seem like she has it due to being able to focus on stuff and not really hyperfixating on anything. Side note: Though she probably does drink a lot and has likely kissed the entire adult female portion of the cast at least twice. Maybe has kissed X on accident once.

Octavia: This bitch screams ADHD. Constantly on social media and burning bridges to close people in her life just to pursue something she takes extreme interest in? I am 110% sure that she has ADHD.

Finii: A kid who is bored all the time? Hyper obsesses over bunnies as you can see from her outfit? Literally became a magician just so that she wouldn't be bored all the time? This kid needs some medication imo, definitely has ADHD and her parents need to realize that.

anyways das it I tried to go in order of the characters from memory but i probably messed up somewhere before Ai.Mi and after Drek'ar. lmk your thoughts on this if u see this plz

#omega strikers #neurodivergence #neurodivergent #adhd stuff #omega strikers estelle #omega strikers finii #zentaro #omega strikers juliette #omega strikers juno #omega strikers asher #omega strikers kai #dubu #omega strikers rasmus #omega strikers octavia #vyce #ai.mi omega strikers #ai.mi #omega strikers rune #omega strikers luna #omega strikers X #omega strikers era #drek'ar #omega strikers atlas

[onippep]

Oni is trying to deal with the problem before Peppino escalates it. Also, I swear it was Peppino who beat you, twice, if my memory serves correctly.

DUN' TRY TO BUTTER ME UP, SUNSHINE, because as far as I remember, Peppino is the one that repeatedly visited my damn boss gate and got embarrassingly obliterated several damn times before even drawin' a HAIR of luck in defeatin' me! Don't ya pull this "OOOH HE BEAT YOU TWICE" BULLNAGGIN'!

ALSO! I SAID I WOULD HANDLE IT MYSELF! BUT THESE BOYS LEAVE ME NO CHOICE. WHEN I SEE THAT ITALIAN, IT'S ON SIGHT.

#;vigilante speaks #;pizzasks #;errands #;pizzaplot #me bringing my horrendous repeated failed attempts at p-ranking him into this))

[purrincess-chat]

Hi I'd love it if you could make an analysis on Adrien and Marinette this season. I've been seeing too many people say that their characters have been ruined and so and so. Your takes and opinions are really fresh and actually smart, so I'd love to hear what you have to say.

I would absolutely love to talk about them. The notion that their characters have been ruined comes directly from a butthurt place of salt, and it just demonstrates to me that people are not watching this show with their eyes open. I know we are missing a lot of context for this season, but so far from what I’ve seen of the later episodes, their characters are maturing and developing in ways we’ve been begging for since s2. And to understand that, we’re going to look back at the last couple seasons up until now.

CAUTION: I will be discussing all of the currently aired episodes, so if you have not watched anything past Elation or Transmission and don’t want to be spoiled for later episodes, go ahead and keep scrolling. I will not be discussing leaks, so you are safe from those. Let’s dig in, shall we?

Firstly, I think we need to address something I’ve seen people claiming in their tantrums about how Adrien and Marinette are “ruined,” and that’s this idea that Adrien’s feelings came out of nowhere/they weren't actually friends before now. They didn’t and they were. They’ve actually been hinting at his budding feelings for her for a while, we just didn’t know for sure that was happening until now. Hell, one of the biggest clowns on his character since s1 was literally “sHe’S jUsT a fRiEnD” when he’s literally making heart eyes at her and talking about how great she is, but I want to focus specifically on the moments that take place after Puppeteer 2 because Adrien himself cited that episode as the point when he noticed his feelings for her changing. And him saying that wasn’t a retcon or random. They actually started dropping mad hints after that episode, we just weren’t 100% aware that his feelings officially changed. I made another post a couple months ago with several instances that hinted at Adrien’s changing feelings, but let’s talk about those a little more.

I’m going chronologically, so not necessarily in broadcast order, but if we look at the production codes, Puppeteer 2 was episode 21 of s3. The next episode after that? Chat Blanc. Everyone clowned on Adrien for “only liking Marinette because she’s Ladybug,” but looking back on it, his sudden feelings aren’t so sudden after all. We’ll talk more about Chat Blanc later because as we know, this timeline got erased, and Marinette is the only one that kind of knows about it. Which brings us to Ladybug, and possibly one of Adrien’s darkest moments as far as things he consciously said and did. Up until this point, Adrien had always been kind of soft and mild-mannered, not wanting to stir up trouble to a fault, but the end of this episode is the first time we see him righteously pissed as Adrien. Another tidbit to point out from earlier in s3 that relates to this moment is from Oni-chan when Adrien tells Lila that he won’t support her or be her friend if she hurts the people he loves. Jump back to Ladybug when Adrien holds that friendship over her head again to restore Marinette’s reputation. Adrien isn’t the type of character to be shady or underhanded, but he is the type of character to fiercely protect the people he cares about, and in this instance, that person is Marinette. That moment was a huge indicator about how Adrien feels about Marinette and how much he values her/their relationship.

Next, we have the first instance where Adrien truly stops and ogles over Marinette in Heart Hunter. We’ve joked in the past that he gives her soft looks all the time, but this is the first time that he full-stopped and admitted out loud that he thinks she’s attractive. And he does it twice in that episode. Not to mention how badly he wanted her to run away with them, and how disappointed he was when she left. Additionally, we have him being conflicted over his feelings for Kagami over the next several episodes. He hesitates and isn’t sure how he feels. We all thought it was because he still loved Ladybug, which he did, but now we can see there was also unconscious feelings for Marinette swirling around in the mix. (RIP Adrigami) Marinette was always an obstacle in their relationship both as Ladybug and as herself, even unknowingly. It’s actually Marinette’s lucky charm keychain that pushes Kagami to break up with Adrien in Lies after all of his erratic and wishy-washy behavior toward her, signaling that Marinette would always be between them.

Season 4 brought forth several small hints, the cutest one being Mr. Pigeon 72. Adrien gets distracted several times by Marinette in this episode, which isn’t necessarily weird when he thinks he sees her during his dive, but the moment in the end when he bumps his head on the car because he can’t take his eyes off her? Boy was falling hard. One thing I find really interesting is that Adrien falls for Marinette at her most unhinged. He tells Kagami in Protection that he just always thought Marinette acting weird was part of her charm and found it cute (think back to how softly he smiles at her in Optigami when she’s freaking out over the elevator or how enamored he is with her acting crazy in Psychomedian). Seeing the context of these moments in retrospect when Adrien talks about how he felt during them just confirms that their relationship was always deeper than it seemed. His side of the story as it relates to their relationship has always been missing, and maybe that's what people mean when they say their relationship was underdeveloped? We always saw things through Marinette's lens, and of course, she freaks out and overthinks and doesn't think Adrien will reciprocate her feelings. It's refreshing to see his perspective and understand what he was thinking and feeling during some of those key moments, and it gives us more insight to the nature of their relationship this whole time.

Next we have Ephemeral, which I know this timeline also got erased, but I’ve always seen the ‘what if’ reveal episodes as a way of checking in on how the love square is doing development wise. In Chat Blanc, Adrien’s feelings for Marinette were still budding, and while it did make it easier when he learned her identity, I think his reaction in Ephemeral was much more telling about their relationship. People have said that Adrinette were “barely even friends” before s5, but I think Ephemeral proves that’s not true. (I mean, watching canon with your eyes open prior to that also proves that’s not true, but I digress). The moment Marinette reveals herself to Adrien in Ephemeral, he tells her how happy he is to find out that one of his best friends in the whole world is also his partner and the girl he loves. By Ephemeral, Adrien sees Marinette as one of his best friends, and that point continues in Risk when he confides in her about his homelife. He tells her that he doesn’t want to tell everyone else his true feelings because “they wouldn’t understand,” but he opens up to Marinette because they are close enough that he deemed she would listen. And people say that one moment was when his feelings changed, but that moment was just when all of the other hints came to a head for him. He didn’t fall in love with her in that one moment, he’d been falling for her slowly all throughout s4, and he was even still falling into s5 and didn’t realize he was in love until Determination.

Risk was just the moment that pushed him over the edge because he realized she was someone he could confide in, someone who would listen to him and understand his feelings without projecting another narrative onto him. And we’ve seen Marinette working on that throughout s5. She’s stepping back and letting him be who he wants to be and encouraging him to make his own choices. Adrien literally says in Transmission that the Adrien everyone else knows is a marketing image. Gabriel states in Pretension that he crafts the perfect images to sell to people, pretty much implying that he is in direct control over how the world sees Adrien and the person everyone thinks he is. Marinette is the only person that sees beneath the surface of that and wants to help him do something about it. And people think that’s “ruining” their characters? By letting them grow closer and fight for and support each other? By letting Adrien figure things out and work toward his own autonomy? Yall want him to stay lonely and miserable under his dad’s control forever? Weird take, but okay. Like it or not, his relationship with Marinette has been building up since the beginning, and we’ve seen them make big strides each season. Nothing about what’s happening in s5 is random, nor was it thrown in casually. The signs were there the whole time, sorry yall missed them.

Secondly, I want to look at LadyNoir, the big source of everyone’s grief, but in the same way the Adrinette hints were all there throughout s4, the LadyNoir hints leading them to where they are were abundant as well in s4. Looking back in the context we have now, LadyNoir and Adrinette had an inverse relationship in s4. The more Adrien fell for Marinette, the more his feelings for Ladybug faded, and their conflict last season had a lot to do with it. Ladybug pulled away from him a lot last season, and I don’t think it was entirely intentional or conscious. She was dealing with a lot and scrambling to juggle her new responsibility with Shadowmoth on the loose, Su Han bitching in her ear, Alya knowing her secret. And unfortunately, the more she pulled away, the more hurt Chat Noir got, so he pulled away more, which in turn made her start relying on other heroes more, which created even more distance, you get the idea. I think there are two key episodes that point to 1. Why Chat Noir stopped loving Ladybug and 2. Why LadyNoir could not have worked romantically. (actually there are 3 episodes about why LadyNoir can’t work romantically, but we will get to those in a minute)

The first episode deals with the reason Chat Noir moved on from Ladybug, and that’s Glaciator 2.0. Prior to this, Ladybug had been softer in her rejection of him, but still firm with the public that there was nothing romantic going on between them. She does care about his feelings, and if we recall the first Glaciator episode, she tells him that she doesn’t want to toy with his emotions or lead him on. She is sensitive to the way he feels, but she also stands her ground that she’s not interested. In Glaciator 2, we have the two of them already being a little at odds with each other from the growing distance between them in s4, and we also have Ladybug at her most stressed. So she snaps. And I think that episode did stick with him and play a huge role in why he moved on. She makes it abundantly clear in that episode that she doesn’t love him, has never loved him, and will never love him. She set very clear boundaries with him in that episode, and we’ve seen those boundaries stick with the way Adrien treats Marinette in s5. He’s not pushy, he’s patient, he lets her lead their interactions. That episode affected him. That episode alone is why it's not surprising that he moved on. She'd been telling him for 3 seasons she wasn't into him like that. He finally listened.

The other episode that points to the big problem with romantic LadyNoir is Kuro Neko. People don’t want to hear this, but LadyNoir does not function effectively when Ladybug in particular is distracted by love. We saw this in Desperada, we saw this again in Kuro Neko. She gets too distracted, and things don’t work. We see teasings of this in Determination when Ladybug gets distracted by Chat Noir, and they almost lose until he snaps her out of it. Granted, she was also still down about losing everything, but the point still stands that she does not do well when she’s in love with her partner. Contrast that with the way they effortlessly work together at the beginning of Perfection. They’re holding a whole ass other conversation while fighting bad guys as if they were doing anything else. Their mojo is back, and they’re getting along better than ever as friends. Romance was always a point of contention for them, and now they don't have to worry about it. They can just do their job.

Now, I know a lot of people are also of the mindset that they should just reveal their identities already, but we have two examples of why that’s a bad idea as well. Chat Blanc and Ephemeral prove that they will work well together post-reveal, BUT the main obstacle in their way is Hawkmoth. It’s too dangerous for them to reveal their identities while he is still around because as we’ve seen, they get reckless and careless and Gabriel sniffs them out. They lose. (yes, I count Chat Blanc as a loss). So long as Gabriel is still around and pulling the strings, they cannot tell each other their identities. They’ve said that on numerous occasions. It’s not a matter of compatibility because we know they’re made for each other, that much has always been clear. It’s a matter of practicality and dangerousness. It’s not safe for them to reveal right now, and I think the writers wanted to push them through the development they’re getting first, which brings me to my next point.

This season is about healing trauma, particularly Marinette’s, but also increasingly so Adrien’s. And the only way they could go about healing the particular trauma these two are dealing with is the way they’re doing it. Adrinette was the side that offered the most opportunity for that development by becoming canon, and I don't care if that pisses people off when I say that. "But best friends to lovers is better-" okay, but you're ignoring a lot of important context that I’ve talked about. Mixing their jobs as heroes with their romantic feelings is actively detrimental to their job. Ladybug loses focus, Chat behaves recklessly, Hawmoth literally learned their identities and took advantage of that. The world got destroyed, the universe nearly got rewritten. But yeah go off about how much better things would be if the heroes got together, especially in the season where stakes are at an all-time high and them focusing on the mission is absolutely crucial.

They needed development as civilians, but that doesn't make them less deserving of love, nor does it “ruin” their characters. That's the biggest crock of shit I've ever heard. Marinette needed to overcome her hesitation and anxiety around Adrien. Because what good would it do them to date as heroes because she ran away from her problems with another boy only to turn around and find out that the boy she was running from is the same boy she ran to? Do people think that reveal would go well with her still not having healed from that? A huge point at the beginning of the season was that she was running away from her problems and throwing herself at someone else instead of dealing with her trauma. Marinette needed to turn around and face her feelings for Adrien. She needed to face the mistakes she made as a result of loving Adrien specifically and heal from that. And ya know what? Allowing Adrinette to date fixed Ladrien without them even having to appear next to each other. It allows Ladybug and Chat Noir to focus on their mission without their feelings getting in the way. It allows both of them the opportunity to be happy and get shit done. And ya know what, since they're healing trauma, they're gonna be ecstatic when the reveal eventually happens. We loved each other the whole time? You're actually my best friend in and out of the suit? You're gonna be at my wedding next to me marrying me? We're gonna grow old together? All sides are benefitting this season, and yes, being platonic is a benefit for some sides. Just because it wasn't what some people wanted doesn't change that. I swear some people just wanted to treat the sides as separate forever and only ever have good things happen for their favorite. I saw it all the time when people would pout about one side getting development in episodes in prior seasons. Personally, I am in it for the whole picture because I know it will be more beautiful in the end if every side gets worked on. I'm here for the love square, not just Adrinette, but it seems like some people forgot we’re all on the same ship.

Additionally, it’s not really a big secret that they’re winding down the Agreste plot. This season will resolve that storyline, so they needed to bring the Agreste plot to the frontline, and it wouldn’t have worked with LadyNoir. Marinette needed to see first-hand how bad Adrien’s situation is. We still don’t have all of the pieces, but later episodes show how desperately they’re fighting to be together and to free Adrien from his father’s control. They could not have put her that close to the situation with LadyNoir because they can’t reveal for reasons I’ve already mentioned, and as such, Chat Noir can’t tell her about his home life. LadyNoir being together would have been self-contained. It wouldn’t have propelled the other sides forward in the way they needed to. Marinette would still assume that disasters happen when she pursues Adrien. She’d likely still blame herself for being blinded by love for losing all of the Miraculous. She’d likely still distance herself from him, which would remove Adrien’s confidant about his home situation. The story they’re telling wouldn’t work. And that’s the other thing, we don’t know all of the details about the story they’re telling yet. (I mean, unless you’ve read leaks, but we’re not talking about those rn). Obviously, Adrinette being canon was important to the story, and I am personally just not seeing it as a detriment because I’ve seen all of the positives that have come from it in later episodes. Their characters are growing and maturing. They’re supporting each other. They’re fighting for each other. Is that not what we’ve always loved about the love square? The way they complement each other? How deeply they love each other and how much they sacrifice for each other?

The only conclusion I can come to about anyone saying their characters have been ruined is that they haven’t watched anything past Transmission. And not only that, they’re making a ton of bad faith assumptions about Transmission and the next episode after it in order to justify their outcry. But as someone who has watched every episode officially released right now, their development this season is solid. On all sides. There is a huge difference between not particularly liking something and something being bad. People would do well to learn the difference.

#cat replies #asks #ml meta #ml fandom salt #s5 discourse #ml protection #ml pretension #ml revelation #ml perfection #ml spoilers

[fionnaskyborn]

🖥️,🚢,🥊,🎉,⭐,🎧 for the halo ask?

HEYA PIOTR!!! Sorry for keeping you waiting! ^^"

🖥️ - favourite AI?

Basic answer, Cortana. Honest answer, Virgil (if the combination of the Superintendent AI and Quick To Adjust counts as an answer) and Isabel. Those two are incredibly dear to me. And, of course, I can't leave out my beloved Auntie Dot. I get all in my feels about her because of how much emotion she shows for a "dumb" AI at times. It's not much, and it's very subtle wherever it *can* be seen - outside of her Firefight voicelines, anyway - but it's there, and it matters to me a lot. In a world where your class is severely stunted in the Having Feelings Of Any Kind department, especially when compared to your "smart" peers, imagine being the one urging your commander to get help despite not being... *wired* to do so. One warning is sufficient, yet you warn multiple times. Sorry, in this house we love Auntie Dot. Her firefight voicelines are also quaint and full of charm and I implore anyone reading this to give those a listen if they haven't.

🚢 - favourite UNSC ship?

Oof, this is a hard one. I'll be answering these by subclasses since that's the only way I can start singling out stuff - if you told me to pick an Ultimate Favorite Ship, we'd be here forever. Let's start with the dropships, for example. I *adore* the Albatross' design, and- oh, wait, this is about *singular* ships, isn't it. Oh, well, I won't be erasing my previous words. I am partial to the Spirit Of Fire due to it being a retrofitted colony ship. Reminds me of the Titans in Titanfall, who were used to help with terraforming planets and gathering vast amounts of crops and such before they were turned into war machines.

🥊 - who are you beating the shit out of?

Huh. Another difficult one, but in a different way. If you asked me at the very beginning of my Halo journey, my answer would've been Dr. Halsey. I've seen the light since, though. Halo is a bit of a strange case for me because if we ignore the obvious answer of Captain Ingridson and non-answers like everyone who has ever worked at ONI, there aren't many people that I can name from the top of my head I'd want to throw hands with. Maybe it's time for a re-read of some books or Halopedia pages. With that said, the final answer is Jun. And that one guy from the latest Flood short story who didn't listen to his ship AI. He's pissed me off so bad I don't even remember his name, but fuck 'im in particular.

🎉 - share your favourite character headcanon

Here's a very mundane one, and a personal favorite - Noble Six is very fond of cats.

⭐ - share your favourite piece of halo lore

I'm grateful I got this question twice because I get to discuss various things. At the risk of it being too broad of an answer, I will say that one of my favorite aspects of Halo lore is the politics of future humanity. I haven't seen a lot of people talk about the Koslovics and Friedens and the Interplanetary War in general - though, granted, before the Mythos came out in 2016, they were only mentioned on Bungie's site and the Halo timeline on Xbox.com. I'm glad Mythos gave us some names to work with, but I can't help but yearn for more pre-Human-Covenant War political lore outside of the "Innies vs the UNSC" struggle. Do not get me started on the Colonial Military Authority and how the UNSC absorbed and dismantled them and the differences in the ways the two organizations operate.

🎧 - song you associate a halo character with

My custom tag for Noble Six is "Unknown Soldier". Yes, like the Breaking Benjamin song. Six and that song go hand in hand for me.

#halo #ask/reblog games! #the halo ask game #i'll send ya some questions back shortly! :3

[galionne-speeding]

Okay, since you asked to send asks. I've been trying to get a proper understanding of the Sonic mythology for the longest time.

As in what exactly classifies as gods, demons, demigods etc. I'm still not exactly sure if the Zeti would be classified as supernatural beings or just a species. Like so far they're kinda in between for me.

That being said I would love to know your thoughts on them. Do you see them more as demons/other supernatural beings or more so as just funky rainbow fellas who kinda look like Onis if you squint? (Also I know they're supposed to be Onis in Japanese, but I see it more as just a name in this situation since they're clearly not the proper yokai, so the question still stands)

Species.

The way I see them and with all the headcanons I've written or need to write about them, I see the Zeti as a regular species. There is nothing supernatural about them- at least not in Zeti as a whole. Some of them like Zor can do weird funky magic stuff, but that's on an individual level.

And I agree, in universe they are not Onis or Ogres ; they're not yokai, they're not mythological creatures. They're just a bunch of technicolor dudes (gender neutral) living on their funky little planetoid.

That being said, one of my headcanons is that Zeti and Mobians went to war with each other in the (very) distant past. And with most Mobians averaging around 100cm/3ft tall, you can imagine how terrifying being faced with a roaring horned beast twice their size would be. So I'd like to think that perhaps, if Onis and Ogres exist as tales and myths in the Sonic universe, they were inspired by old stories of the war against Zeti. Descriptions passed down through generations become more and more fantastical ; memories told as stories morph into legends of demons from another world.

So yeah, I view the Zeti as a regular species. However, I think it would be really cool if this regular species that was seen once by Mobians several millenia ago and then disappeared possibly inspired myths and legends and transformed into entirely new creatures in in-universe folklore.

#zetiasking #pleistocene-polina #zeti #headcanoning #sonic lost world

[summerwritesfics]

⛓️You Know I’m Yours So Rip My Clothes Off

Pairing: Hanzo Hasashi/Kuai Liang Length: 2905 Words Rating: Explicit 🔞 Warnings: Demon AU, Oni!Hanzo Hasashi, Succubus!Kuai Liang, Size Difference, Size Kink, Wrestling, Cum Marking, Clothes Ripping, Anal Sex, Choking, Face Slapping, Light Bondage, Nipple Play, Cock Slapping, Anal Fingering, Stomach Bulge, Natural Lube (Idk how else to describe that tbh lol) Kinktober Day 3: Size Difference + Wrestling + Cum Marking

Kinktober Masterlist

Notes: Y’know I draw Kuai as a succubus more than I seem to write him, despite Succubus!Kuai being my like… favourite thing ever lol. Title is from “Bad Dog” by Neon Hitch.

“Well, well, well, what do we have here?”

Hanzo groaned as he looked up from the corpse of the lesser demon he’d just killed. Across the temple, lent against a column, was Kuai Liang. The succubus wearing his usual skimpy clothing that left very little to the imagination, all while giving Hanzo the bedroom eyes.

“What are you doing here?” Hanzo growled, pulling his sword out of the dead demon.

“I asked first,” Kuai pointed out, pushing himself away from the column and sauntering up to where Hanzo was. “But, to sate your curiosity, the Lin Kuei reported seeing a rogue Oni entering this temple and sent me to investigate.” When Kuai was close enough, he placed a hand on Hanzo’s chest, and Hanzo had to stop himself from reacting. He didn’t need Kuai knowing what even just a simple touch did to him. If he ever figured it out Hanzo would never hear the end of it. “Lucky for me, that Oni was you, hm?”

Hanzo raised his eyebrow, “You think that because it’s you, I won’t hesitate to cut you down should you get in my way?”

“Rude,” Kuai said with a pout. “I do need to ask what your doing here.” Kuai’s tail slipped between Hanzo’s legs, wrapping around his thigh. “This is Lin Kuei territory after all.”

“That is none of your concern,” Hanzo snarled, slapping at Kuai’s tail, causing him to recoil it. “And I’m warning you to not get in the way.”

“You never make things easy,” Kuai huffed and rolled his eyes. They were back on Hanzo in seconds though, pushing himself closer and resting his chin between Hanzo’s pecs as he looked up at him. “Why don’t we make a deal?” Hanzo squinted, he knew the type of deals Kuai Liang usually made somehow always looped around to sex. “Let’s spar~ If I win, you tell me what you’re doing here, if you win, I’ll leave you to your own devices.”

Hanzo balked at the offer, laughing so hard it made Kuai’s head bob back and forth from where it rested on Hanzo’s chest. Hanzo wasn’t sure why the idea was so preposterous to him. Kuai was not the stereotypical tiny dainty succubus and Hanzo had seen him bench press people twice his size. At the same time, Kuai only just came to Hanzo’s upper torso, and the idea someone so much smaller thought he had a shot was ridiculous.

“You really think you stand a chance against me?” Hanzo questioned, stepping back slightly so he could grab Kuai by the chin.

“I think I can take you by this point, Hasashi,” Kuai purred, with a tone that indicated this wasn’t about the fight itself. The fight was just foreplay, the main event was something a lot more enjoyable.

“Very well.” Hanzo let go of Kuai’s chin, and took several steps back. As he did, he saw Kuai get into a fighting stance.

Hanzo chuckled, Kuai was going to put up a fight, but he had a sneaking suspicion he would be the one to win. Hanzo threw his sword off to one side, watching as Kuai’s wings flapped in anticipation. Hanzo readied himself, staring Kuai down, the succubus looking at him with a satisfied grin.

Then Kuai was running at him, and Hanzo decided to stay in one spot and await Kuai’s first attack. Kuai jumped up, wings flapping slightly, and arms outstretched. Hanzo caught his hands in his, bringing his momentum to a screeching halt. Hanzo jerked his hands to one side, causing Kuai to loose his balance and begin to fall to the ground.

Before he hit the floor, he gave a powerful flap of his wings. He swung his legs upwards, driving them up to wrap around Hanzo’s neck. Slipping out of Hanzo’s grasp, Kuai threw his body down, the force causing Hanzo to stumble forward. Kuai’s hands hit the ground and next thing Hanzo knew he was being thrown over, his back hitting the ground hard enough to wind him. As he went to lift himself up, he found that Kuai was suddenly straddling his lower torso.

“Hi~” Kuai giggled, placing his hands firmly on Hanzo’s pecs. “Ready to submit?”

Hanzo replied, by grabbing Kuai’s hands and rolling over. Kuai let out a yelp as he found himself on the floor with Hanzo hovering above him. Kuai’s eyes narrowed, clearly not ready to submit himself just yet. He wrapped his legs around Hanzo’s waist and darted forward, forcing Hanzo onto his back again.

“Come on Hanzo, you can do better than this, can’t you?” Kuai teased, rolling his hips to grind his ass against Hanzo’s pelvis.

Hanzo bared his teeth, and snorted. His hand darted out to grasp Kuai’s tail. The succubus made an alarmed sound as Hanzo’s other hand grabbed his throat. Throwing him back to the floor, Hanzo this time made sure he grabbed both and Kuai’s wrists, and pushed down hard as he pinned the smaller demon into the floor.

Kuai struggled against his grip, wriggling under Hanzo like he could escape. Hanzo shifted his grasp so he was holding both of Kuai’s wrists in one hand, while his other snaked around Kuai’s throat again. A light squeeze was enough to make Kuai still.

There was a flash second where Kuai smiled, before he weakly protested, “oh no~ The oni brute has me at his mercy.”

“So, you are submitting?” Hanzo asked, grip on Kuai’s wrists tightening slightly.

“Nope. You need to try harder than that,” Kuai giggled with a smirk and Hanzo growled in response.

Hanzo released Kuai’s throat, instead reaching for his clothing. The one thing he liked about the clothes Kuai wore, was they were so easy to tear off his body. Case and point, Hanzo tugged at the fabric, tearing Kuai’s shirt off.

“Rude,” Kuai said with a gasp. “That was one of my favourites.”

“Maybe if you don’t want me ripping your clothes off, you shouldn’t wear such easily torn clothes.” Hanzo tugged harder on the fabric, pulling it away until he’d gotten a perfect strip. He brought the piece up to Kuai’s wrist, wrapping it around a couple of times before tying it up. Kuai huffed, causing Hanzo to lightly slap his face. “Keep them above your head.”

Kuai rolled his eyes, but surprisingly did as he was told. Hanzo brought his hands down, finding what remained of Kuai’s shirt. He took great pleasure in slowly ripping them apart, smirking as it revealed Kuai’s chest. He took a second to pinch Kuai’s nipples, plucking at them and watching as Kuai arched his back to lessen the pull.

Letting go, he allowed his hands to continue roaming. They reached Kuai’s shorts, the ones that looked more like panties than outerwear, and Hanzo was certain that, once removed, Kuai would not be wearing anything underneath. He grabbed them and slowly begun to rip them.

“Why do you hate my clothes so much?” Kuai muttered staring down with his lips pursed and brown draw together.

“Because they deny me access to your body,” Hanzo simply replied, growling from gratification as he tore just enough for Kuai’s hard cock to fall out. “If you were in my clan, you would have no need for clothes.”

“Aw, but then what would you rip off my body?” Kuai joked, only to be met with a slap of his cock. Kuai giggled under his breath, “worth it.”

Hanzo finally pulled away what little remained of Kuai’s clothes, and wasted no time taking hold of Kuai’s thighs parting them. Looking down, he could see how Kuai’s ass glistened slightly from the growing wetness. Succubus anatomy was confusing, but at least the natural lubrication Kuai’s body provided meant a quick fuck was a lot easier.

“Typical,” he grumbled, reaching down and traced the rim of Kuai’s hole. “Get a little roughed up, and your hard as a rock and wet to boot.” Hanzo pushed two fingers inside as Kuai whimpered.

“Almost like I’m a sex demon or something,” Kuai chimed, moaning slightly as Hanzo used his fingers to stretch him out. “I mean at least I have an excuse, what’s your explanation for that?” Kuai brought his foot up to push it against Hanzo’s crotch, pressing against Hanzo’s own hard cock and making him grunt.

“My excuse is you’re an unrepentant temptress.” He pushed another finger into Kuai’s ass, causing him to bite his lip. Hanzo rutted against Kuai’s foot. “Don’t act like this isn’t what you wanted.”

“Oh absolutely not,” Kuai said in a scandalised tone, but was completely betrayed by the smirk on his face. “This is just a perk of the job.”

“Bet you say that to all the demons you sleep with,” Hanzo hissed pushing a forth finger inside Kuai.

“My dearest Hanzo, what makes you think anyone but you get’s to have me?”

Hanzo actually paused at that. It was something Hanzo accepted eons ago when they first fucked. Kuai was a succubus, a species of demon not known for their monogamy. He knew that in accepting this sort of relationship, that also meant accepting he was not the only dick Kuai was getting. Even if the thoughts of Kuai fucking anyone but him made him simmer in rage, he knew it was just the expected terms of a succubus.

Or at least, he thought he knew those were the terms.

“You… You don’t fuck anyone but me?” Hanzo questioned, watching as Kuai raised an eyebrow.

“Why would I?” Kuai pushed his foot harder against Hanzo’s dick. “Why would I ever need anyone other than you?” Hanzo had stopped his movements to observe Kuai’s body language. He was completely relaxed, and his smouldering look was nothing but affection. “You seem a little tongue tied, dear. Is it really such a shock that you are the only one I want?”

Kuai Liang could have anyone and everyone if he so desired. The idea he only wanted Hanzo was so farfetched and yet he never realised how much he had yearned to hear such a thing.

Hanzo pulled his fingers free, fiddling with his belt and making quick work of removing it and pulling his cock out of the confides of his clothes. Kuai made a happy sounding purr as he spread his legs wider. As Hanzo slotted between Kuai’s legs, he pushed his cock against Kuai’s hole. He gazed into Kuai’s eyes for a second, as Kuai wrapped his legs around Hanzo’s waist.

“Well?” Kuai questioned expectantly. “Are you going to give me what I need?”

Hanzo didn’t need asking twice, as he began to push the head of his cock inside. Kuai groaned at the stretch initially, but practically screeched when Hanzo bottomed out in one long rough thrust. He took a second to look down, admiring the slight bulge in Kuai’s abdomen where Hanzo’s cock lay.

Hanzo had never realised how much a size difference like this could turn him on until he saw that bulge the first time. After that, he was addicted, mesmerised by being able to see his own movements inside Kuai Liang. He patted Kuai’s stomach.

“Fuck, I love the way your body yields for me,” he claimed, pressing down as he pulled out about half way. He jerked his hips again, his hand lifting slightly as he felt his cock through Kuai’s skin. “You were made for me, weren’t you?”

“Ah, yes,” Kuai groaned as Hanzo removed his hand, going to grip Kuai’s hips instead. Fingers digging into the flesh, as Hanzo fully intended to leave bruises there. “Best dick I’ve ever had.”

“Please tell me your not just with me for my penis,” Hanzo groaned, starting to fuck into Kuai at a slow but rough pace. That bulge went up and down, and fuck if Hanzo didn’t adore it.

“Well, it’s not the only reason,” Kuai claimed, using the position of his legs to help him to move his hips in time to Hanzo’s thrusts. “But it’s definitely a big part of the equation.”

“You just can’t help yourself can you?” Hanzo snarled, reaching around to unhook Kuai’s legs from around his waist, before roughly flipping him onto his stomach. “You can’t help but be a fucking brat?”

He wrapped his arms around Kuai’s chest, before going to stand and hauling Kuai up with him, cock still firmly lodged inside. He grapped Kuai’s arms, hooking the still bound wrists around his neck. Hands moved down to Kuai’s legs, and he was suddenly glad for Kuai’s flexibility as he brought them all the way up. He hooked his arms under Kuai’s knees to keep him held up, while his hands went to rest behind Kuai’s head. He pushed down, forcing Kuai to keep his head faced downward.

Hanzo began to thrust again, this time using his grip to bounce Kuai up on down on his cock.

“If you want to act like a brat, I’ll treat you like one,” Hanzo claimed, speeding up his movements. “Do you like this? Being able to see exactly what I’m doing to you?” He felt Kuai’s tail wrap around his torso, his wings flat against Hanzo’s chest. His thrusts were so hard and Kuai was moaning with every movement. “Answer me.”

“Y-Yes,” Kuai just about managed to get out between his breathes. Hanzo looked over Kuai’s shoulder, enjoying the way Kuai’s cock was bouncing with every fall. “A-Ah, f-fuck.”

“Tell me what you see,” Hanzo requested, biting Kuai’s ear lobe, and feeling a full body shudder from the other man. “Tell me what I’m doing to you.”

“I- uh- cock.” Kuai sounded dazed, like he the more Hanzo fucked him the harder it was to think. It was oddly becoming, almost like this was supposed to be Kuai’s natural state. So blissed out on Hanzo’s cock he didn’t need to think about anything except that. “H-Hanzo.”

Kuai began to clench around him, a clear sign he was close to cumming. Hanzo decided to double his efforts. Letting go of Kuai’s head, and letting his legs fall, holding Kuai to his chest. Kuai was limp like a ragdoll, the only sign he was even still conscious was the lewd noises he was making. Hanzo gave one final thrust, and Kuai made a particularly loud cry as he practically clamped down on Hanzo’s dick.

“God, I love it when you cum without me even touching you.” Hanzo removed Kuai’s arms from around his neck, before slowly pulling out. As he came free, Kuai whined at the loss.

He gently placed Kuai down on the floor, arranging him to be on his knees before him. Grasping his cock, he began to stroke, and it didn’t take much to feel himself starting to reach his climax too. He grabbed onto one of Kuai’s horns, tilting Kuai’s face upwards just in time for Hanzo to orgasm. His cum splashed down onto Kuai’s face, and Kuai opened his mouth for some to hit his tongue. Hanzo stroked a little more, this time aiming for Kuai’s chest and leaving his mark there too.

Kuai blinked a few times, seemingly coming out of his haze. He swallowed the cum that landed on his tongue, before bringing his hand up to try and wipe the cum off his face. Hanzo grabbed the fabric still wrapped around Kuai’s wrists before he could.

“Let it dry,” Hanzo ordered, “I want everyone to see that you belong to me.”

“About time you claimed me,” Kuai giggled, voice sounding absolutely wrecked but happy.

“You meant it then? When you said I am the only one who can have you?” Hanzo asked, carding his fingers through Kuai’s hair.

“Of course, why would I ever lie to you?” Kuai purred happily.

Hanzo just continued to pet Kuai’s head, the succubus relaxing from the soft touch. He had half the mind to just sling Kuai over his shoulder and take him back to the Shirai Ryu, to hell with the Lin Kuei. But it was that thought that reminded him why he was here in the first place. He realised if Kuai truly never would lie to him, then he might be able to help.

“The reason I am here,” Hanzo started, and Kuai blinked his eyes open to look up at him. “I am searching for the Lin Kuei’s Kamidogu. Do you know where it is?”

“Oh, that,” Kuai drawled in a bored tone. “Yes I know where it is.”

“Can you show me?” Hanzo requested, raising an eyebrow at the slightly evil grin that emerged on Kuai’s face.

“Oh, well, the Lin Kuei might not be too happy if I did that.” Kuai lifted his hands to grasp Hanzo’s wrist and brought Hanzo’s hand to his mouth, opening to lightly suck on Hanzo’s fingers. As he pulled back a line of saliva connected them. “You might need to do a bit of interrogation to get that out of me.”

Hanzo let out a breath, even though he was smirking to himself about it. Typical. It was a good job Hanzo had a high libido himself and could keep up with Kuai’s pace.

“Very well,” Hanzo began as he grabbed hold of both Kuai’s horns. “Maybe you’ll be more willing to use your tongue for the information I need after I fuck your throat.”

It wasn’t long before Hanzo was feeding his cock into Kuai’s mouth, the interrogation had begun.

#mortal kombat #subscorp #kuai liang #sub zero #hanzo hasashi #scorpion #⛓️kinktober 2022

[whatdoesshedotothem]

Thursday 30 July 1840

3 50/..

11 ¾

very fine morning – put on my fur cloak and boots and rain into the little church (prayers) for 10 minutes – perfectly plain but neat little church inside and out – quite ready at 5 20/.. – no horses – ordered for 4 – but George said the Jew had told him they would not be here at 4 – waited impatiently till 6 ½ and then said little but lay my little switch stick once or twice over the Jews shoulders and set the Cossack to give him a good beating which he did, (did not hurt him) with his little switch stick till the man roared out, and then left him to put the baggage on and be more punctual (or give some reason for delay) another time – George seemed anxious for me to give something – he never gives anything? the monk, George said, was the head, came to me for something – gave him 3/. (4 coming out of my purse) and seemed going to take them all – but appeared satisfied with what he got – it was enough for our 2 boiled poulets and bread and 10 or 11 eggs and ½ dozen little pears and our little bottle of wine – but no knowing what the servants had – however tho’ the monk said they were not rich, they are very well off – there are several little corn and pasture fields north side of pyramid in the bottom and some nice bits of Indian corn and garden ground on the top – saw 3 of their cows in coming away down the zigzag descent – off at 7 5/.. at 7 ¾ from high ground above the monastery 1st sight of the Rion again (since leaving it at Pichari on Tuesday) for and deep below us – at 8 5/.. stop on the hill for George and Adam and wait 50 minutes – A- asleep on the ground – I reading – thought them lost in the wood – no! they had gone almost to the village of Saïemi as agreed last night and we had taken another road – why? always difficult to get things explained – it seemed this road a great roundabout but was better road – made the guide (from the monastery) turn back, and go the picturesque if occasionally rocky and steep and bad road by Saïemi – and en route again at 9 3/.. – beautiful view of valleys or combe upon come from the high ground where waited for George and Adam – but our nearer and worse road infinitely superior to the other in the picturesque – at 10 50/.. stop in the good, but scattered and very picturesque village of Saïemi for water at the one of the

cottages or farmhouses because a nice court fenced off and entered by large folding door (head-covered as usual) – gave 3 paras to be given for the water as A- and I filled all our bottles – throw away the monastery rain-water – at 10 25/.. on the hill wood in mountain side just over (high above) the confluence of the thread-like Ladsanouri having just before escaped from its écluse (deep narrow Gorge) and see on right bank of Rion 5v. (says Dubois ii. 439) below the 1 large and 1 little white square towers of the Krepost (old castle) of āl-lă-pān-năh as pronounced by our guide Albana of Dubois ii. 439. – the large village of Dsogichi scattered on hillside left bank of Rion – magnificent view of high wooded limestone mountains all round accidentées dans toutes les manières – snow-streaked and patched and capped mountains close the head of the fine village of the Ladsanouri on our right and we turn right and wind up high hill mountain side – what a magnificent view – Rion winding tranquilly its yellow-milky waters diminished by irrigation or something since Oni – apparently not much or deep water – but too far off and too high above the river to judge – a singular wall of rock facing towards us and bearing on its back a richy corny slope down to the Rion forms an angle between the Rion and Ladsanouri – after the confluence of the 2 rivers – very singular – but everything is singular here and magnificently fine – at 11 50/.. come down upon good picturesque village of Sourmouchi from which the guide said we were distant one hour when we turned back at 9 3/.. – the people cutting (sickling) their corn here bearded wheat – in large fields along the hillside sheltered by pollard trees at regular distances (chiefly ash) – good plan – otherwise the corn would be burnt up – vine entwined hedges and trees all along – and treēmĕlēe which I pulled and rubbed in my hand for the smell – very agreeable – only discovered this and the aromatic nature of the inner bark in riding along on [?] – at 12 5/.. stop a moment (scattered village of Sourmouchi) under high vine-covered alders to inquire about Natchaluik and breakfast – for man and horse – steep ascent up white limestone hill to Lailache, 100ft. above level of Ladsanouri says Dubois – probably enough – hot sun – at 1 20/.. stop at wood house of Dadians’ at Laïlache – under an enormous lime tree – shew our paper – shewn immediately to a nice comfortable room convenient wood house near – very neat plafond to our large room divans and 2 tables – one tolerably European and the other tho’ long and bench-like, high enough to write at in comfort – breakfast – but George had left behind our bread and capital large linen cloth it was wrapt in! I said I had given it him – he denied this – I too quickly said he le jure (meaning I could swear it) he still repeated vous voux trompez – annoyed at the stupid fellow for ever – sat down to eggs and cheese and I had bread enough for myself in my bag – I had picked 5 bunches of green sour grapes in coming along – pressed out the juice with my drinking tumbler glass on my trencher and made 3 glasses of [?]juice and water almost as refreshing as lemonade (1st time of trying this) – breakfast over at 3 5/.. then slept ½ hour then till now 4 50/.. wrote the last 9 lines of yesterday and so far of today – soon arriving here (at 1 ¼) R28° - and now (4 50/..) lying on the table by me with a nice cool air blowing over it R26° and F90 ½° - but I get rather more accustomed to the heat – ate one cucumber just at the last before arriving – 1 at breakfast and 2 cold hardboiled eggs and a little bread and much of the hard white cheese I bought at Oni – salt and savoury and good – A- had 2 eggs beaten up with wine and about a lb. of Tiflis Sultana raisins – just tasted my cucumber in coming – she bears the heat with much less thirst and much better than I – but I am improving – left off my woollen sleeves this morning because found a louse in them last night  and have found dit[t]o two or three times in my flannel waistcoat - Adam and the Jew had been loitering in the Room while I wrote the last few lines – then came George to say that Adam said his month was up, and I would not give him money to buy another horse he would leave us – leave us (said I) c’est à rire – that cannot be – as for giving him money to buy a horse – no! another horse is my affair not his

SH:7/ML/E/24/0168

Castle of Orbeli

tell him he must go with us – George persisted that he would not – said his friends were here – he had been drinking – he came himself – of course I understood merely a few words of what he said and merely answered pashō, pashō, meaning we are ready – be quick and be off with us – I saw he took it differently? by his manner of Otchen blagadarioo – I [?] told George that if he did leave us, I would pay him nothing more till Koutaïs and then what the commandant ordered – I once thought of keeping his horse – then immediately gave that up – that would do no good – off in all my astonishment at 6 25/.. for after this nobody seemed ready to pack – we could not get off – it seemed we were too late for Mouri – could not get farther that the castle of Orbeli 2 hours or more from here – mused as we rode along – wished I had staid all night in our comfortable room at Laïlache – the business about Adam might have been differently settled – quite persuaded it is Georges’ doing – beautiful ride along the hills sides – fine views down into fine valley of Ladsanouri – broad shallow clear stream – the whitewashed 3 towered castle very picturesque high-seated on fine projecting mass of rock – our guide said we could not go up to it on horseback! how get the baggage up? determined to sleep in the picturesque little village of............prettily seated on the left bank the Ladsanouri – no appearance of many places to sleep at till espied a good looking place at the far end of village – passed our guide and baggage, and rode up to the gate and up to the door – not the property of the Dadian but a prince........ not allowed to stay there – [?] – George said he would fouetter les gens, and get us entrance – true enough he did threaten and bully till we were allowed to settle ourselves for the night very comfortably – large good wood house our large room opening into wicker cabinet d’air and into a good room, but smelling as if lately used as a stable, at the side – broad good gallery ŏtāch front and along our side where our people were very comfortable – we had divans and a table and benches and all in mingrelian luxury a good kitchen house for strangers stable etc. etc. at a little distance and the court shaded by immense walnut trees – we had arrived at 7 50/.. and A- had boiled my rice and we had a very comfortable meal from 9 5/.. to 10 ½ - George found a man for us – sold by his master to a Russian – 10 years in Russian – his Russian master killed or died in 1812 during the French invasion, and the man returned to his old master here – very fine day – R20 ¾° at 10 ½ p.m. and R23° in our room on arriving – or at 8 p.m. we found the room very hot –

[the-deeds-to-shibden]

Thursday 30 July 1840

[up at] 3 50/..

[to bed at] 11 3/4

very fine morning – put on my fur cloak and boots and ran into the little church (prayers) for 10 minutes – perfectly plain but neat little church inside and out – quite ready at 5 20/.. – no horses – ordered for 4 – but George said the Jew had told him they would not be here at 4 – waited impatiently till 6 1/2 and then said little but lay my little switch stick once or twice over the Jews shoulders and set the Cossack to give him a good beating which he did, (did not hurt him) with his little switch stick till the man roared out, and then left him to put the baggage on and be more punctual (or give some reason for delay) another time – George seemed anxious for me to give something – he never gives anything? the monk George said was the head, came to me for something – gave him 3/. (4 coming out of my purse) he seemed going to take them all – but appeared satisfied with what he got – it was enough for our 2 boiled poulets and bread and 10 or 11 eggs and 1/2 little pears and one little bottle of wine – but no knowing what the servants had – however tho’ the monk said they were not rich, they are very well off – there are several little corn and pasture fields north side of pyramid in the bottom and some nice bits of Indian corn and garden ground on the top – saw 3 of their cows in coming away down the zigzag descent – 

off at 7 5/.. at 7 3/4 from high ground above the monastery 1st sight of the Rion again (since leaving it at Pichari on Tuesday) far and deep below us – at 8 5/.. stop on the hill for George and Adam and wait 50 minutes – Ann asleep on the ground – I reading – thought them lost in the wood – no! they had gone almost to the village of Saïermi as agreed last night and we had taken another road – why? always difficult to get things explained – it seemed this road was a great round about but better road – made the guide (from the monastery) turn back, and go the picturesque if occasionally rocky and steep and bad road by Saïermi – and en route again at 9 3/.. – beautiful view of valleys or combe upon combe from the high ground where waited for George and Adam – but our nearer and worse road infinitely superior to the other in the picturesque – at 10 50/.. stop in the good, but scattered and very picturesque village of Saïermi for water at the one of the cottages or farmhouses because a nice court fenced off and entered by large folding doors (head-covered as usual) – gave 3 paras to be given for the water as Ann and I filled all our bottles – throw away the monastery rain-water – 

at 10 25/.. on the hill wooded mountainside just over (high above) the confluence of the thread-like Ladsanouri having just before escaped from its écluse (deep narrow gorge) and see on right bank of Rion 5 versts (says Dubois) ii. 439 below the 1 large and 1 little white square towers of the krepost (old castle) of Āl-lă-pān-năh as pronounced by our guide Albana of Dubois, ii. 439 – the large village of Dsogichi /Zogishi/ scattered on hill side left bank of Rion – magnificent view of high wooded limestone mountains all round accidentées dans toutes les manières – snow-streaked and patched and cupped mountains close the head of the fine valley of the Ladsanouri on our right and we turn right and wind up high hill mountain side – what a magnificent view – Rion winding tranquilly its yellow-milky waters diminished by irrigation or something since Oni – apparently not much or deep water – but too far off or too high above the river to judge – a singular wall of rock facing towards us and bearing on its back a rich corny slope down to the Rion forms an angle between the Rion and Ladsanouri after the confluence of the 2 rivers – very singular – but everything is singular here and magnificently fine – 

at 11 50/.. come down upon good picturesque village of Sourmouchi /Surmushi/ from which the guide said we were distant one hour when we turned back at 9 3/.. – the people cutting (sickling) the corn here bearded wheat – in large fields along the hill side sheltered by pollard trees at regular distances (chiefly ash) – good plan – otherwise the corn would be burnt up – vine entwined hedges and trees all along – and trēēmĕlēē which I pulled and rubbed in my hand for the smell – very agreeable – only discovered this and the aromatic nature of the inner bark in riding along on Tuesday – at 12 5/.. stop a moment (scattered village of Sourmouchi) under high vine-covered alders to inquire about natchalnik and breakfast – for man and horse – steep ascent up white limestone hill to Lailache /Lailashi/, 1000 feet above level of Ladsanouri says Dubois – probably enough – hot sun – at 1 20/.. stop at wood house of Dadian’s at Laïlache under an enormous lime tree – shew our paper – shewn immediately to a nice comfortable roomy convenient wood house near – very neat plafond to our large room divans and 2 tables – one tolerably European and the other tho’ long and bench-like, high enough to write at in comfort – breakfast – but George had left behind our bread and capital large linen cloth it was wrapt in! I said I had given it him – he denied this – I too quickly said je le jure (meaning I could swear it) he still repeated vous vous trompez – annoyed at the stupid fellow for ever – sat down to eggs and cheese and I had bread enough for myself in my bag – I had picked 5 bunches of green sour grapes in coming along – pressed out the juice with my drinking tumbler glass on my trencher and made 3 glasses of verjuice and water almost as refreshing as lemonade (1st time of trying this) – breakfast over at 3 5/.. then slept 1/2 hour then till now 4 50/.. wrote the last 9 lines of yesterday and so far of today – 

soon after arriving here (at 1 1/4) Reaumur 28° – and now (4 50/..) lying on the table by me with a nice cool air blowing over it Reaumur 26° and Fahrenheit 90 1/2 – but I get rather more accustomed to the heat – ate one cucumber just at the last before arriving – 1 at breakfast and 2 cold hardboiled eggs and a little bread and much of the hard white cheese I bought at Oni – salt and savoury and good – Ann had 2 eggs beaten up with wine and about a pound of Tiflis sultana raisins – just tasted my cucumber in coming – she bears the heat with much less thirst and much better than I – but I am improving – left off my woollen sleeves this morning because found a louse  in them last night   and have found dit[t]o two or three times in my flannel waistcoat – Adam and the Jew had been loitering in the Room while I write the last few lines – then came George to say that Adam said his month was up, and I would not give him money to buy another horse he would leave us – leave us, said I, c’est à rire – that cannot be – as for giving him money to buy a horse – no! another horse is my affair not his   tell him he must go with us – George persisted that he would not – said his friends were here – he had been drinking – he came himself – of course I understood merely a few words of what he said and merely answered pashō, pashō, meaning we are ready – be quick and be off with us – I saw he took it differently? by his manner of Otchen blagadarioo – I had told George that if he did leave us, I would pay him nothing more till Koutaïs and then what the commandant ordered – I once thought of keeping his horse – then immediately gave that up – that would do no good – 

Off in all my astonishment at 6 25/.. for after this nobody seemed ready to pack – we could not get off – it seemed we were too late for Mouri – could not get farther that /than/ the castle of Orbeli 2 hours or more from here – mused as we rode along – wished I had staid all night in our comfortable room at Laïlache – the business about Adam might have been differently settled – quite persuaded it is George’s doing – beautiful ride along the hills sides – fine views down into fine valley of the Ladsanouri – broad shallow clear stream – the white washed 3 towered castle very picturesque high-seated on fine projecting mass of rock – our guide said we could not go up to it on horseback! how get the baggage up? determined to sleep in the picturesque little village of . .  .  .  . prettily scattered on the left bank the Ladsanouri – no appearance of many places to sleep at, till espied a good looking place at the far end of village – passed our guide and baggage, and rode up to the gate and up to the door – not the property of the Dadians but a prince .  . .  .  . not allowed to stay there – parley – George said he would fouetter les gens, and get us entrance – true enough he did threaten and bully till we were allowed to settle ourselves for the night very comfortably – large good wood house one large room opening into wicker cabinet d’air and into a good room, but smelling as if lately used as a stable, at the side – broad good gallery ŏtāch front and along our side where our people were very comfortable – we had divans and a table and benches and all in Mingrelian luxury – a good kitchen house for strangers stable etc. etc. at a little distance and the court shaded by immense walnut trees – we had arrived at 7 50/.. and Ann had boiled my rice and we had a very comfortable meal from 9 5/.. to 10 1/2 – George found a man for us – sold by his master to a Russian – 10 years in Russia – his Russian master killed or died in 1812 during the French invasion and the man returned to his old master here – very fine day – Reaumur 20 3/4° at 10 1/2 p.m. and Reaumur 23° in our room on arriving – or at 8 p.m. we found the room very hot –

 Anne’s marginal notes:

village of Saïermi

Laïlache

Adam leaves us at Laïlache

village below Orbèli Ach-hālt-sāhă-răh where we slept.

WYAS pages:  SH:7/ML/E/24/0167       SH:7/ML/E/24/0168

#anne lister #ann walker #anne lister code breaker #gentleman jack #diary1840unannotated #russianempire1840 #georgia1840

[ksfnmoments]

The Tide Rises ~ Chapter 18

When Fade had been told Drift was around and was looking for him, he was more than a little annoyed.

Actually, annoyed was a complete understatement. He had succeeded and pushed the thoughts of his home into the corners of his mind for some time, but now, just the mention of Drift had forced them to resurface. The person who he had initially trusted to help him find a way home, who had talked to him about training and channeling his strange powers, the person from the same world hadn’t shown his face since their talk, and suddenly, he was here looking for him.

So, Fade was more than a little pissed off upon setting out to find him first and seeing him lingering near the power plant, having stopped to talk to a henchman. His kitsune mask, pink jacket, and glowing cape were discernible from a distance. Fade marched over to him, but despite his frustration, he awkwardly stood to the side in wait to be noticed. It took the henchman glancing at him several times for Drift to finally turn around. Fade spoke before he could even try. “Why did you lie to me about going home?!”

Drift was physically taken aback, enough so that he actually took a step backwards. Had he gone too far, he would have fallen into the sea. He cleared his throat, and instead of trying to avoid the question, he asked, “who told you?” He knew exactly what he was talking about.

Fade hadn’t actually expected that. Drift was the only one to not avoid the topic upon being caught. “Some agents ended up telling me on accident, and Jules showed me the storm, but why didn’t you tell me?”

Drift fidgeted with the sides of his mask and pulled it off. “Look, I just… didn’t want to get you down,” he muttered after a beat of silence. He cleared his throat and spoke louder. “I mean, I know I should’ve told you, but home, it’s… not a big deal for me. Not to say it isn’t for you, of course, but…”

Without realizing, they had begun to carry the conversation down the dock. “I’ve only been homesick twice, and it wasn’t even for SoCal,” Drift admitted. “It was for Athena, our old island. I didn’t have a lot going on for me in our original world, so… it doesn’t bother me ever. But I should've told you about the island, because I know you’re eager to get back.”

“Yeah, well now I can’t,” Fade huffed. Somewhere inside him, however, he wasn’t too eager to leave just yet. The more he got used to it, the more he didn’t mind this strange island. If GHOST were to win, he would be able to find his own adventures again without limitation, and what he was eager to do was explore the entirety of the island.

The only thought really holding his thoughts hostage anymore were the thoughts of his family. His parents, his sister… he had been gone with no contact for weeks. Somewhere in his world, he was a missing persons poster. For all his family knew, he was dead, and that thought alone hurt.

He would give anything to tell them he was alright. Alas, he could not, and most likely never could.

He sighed. “It’s… fine, though. Everyone says they just wanted to keep my hopes up, so I get it.”

The conversation again turned to silence. Drift looked around. “How did we get over here?” He mused, earning a chuckle from Fade. “Well, if you want… we can try and see what you’ve got. With the rift powers and whatnot.”

Fade glanced down at his white oni mask, which was pinned at his waist. “Sounds like a plan,” he said, letting a smile pull at his face.

They followed the dock into an empty corner and sat down before each other. “So, I’m pretty sure Luminos and Dream do something similar to what you have,” Drift explained, sliding his mask back on. “They say Luminos has really strong rift powers, but he stays hidden and doesn’t use them, and I’ve actually seen Dream do some maneuvers, plus she has a really strong connection to rift butterflies. But otherwise, yeah, no one can ever find them.”

“Maybe they hang out in the In-Between,” Fade said, though he was only half-joking. “You think they would be able to help out?”

“Don’t know, but they kinda scare me, not even gonna lie. Anyway, let’s try this out.” Fade watched in awe as immediately, pink lightning sifted through the threads of his cloak, flowing through its gold and pink highlights. In his gloved hands, he conjured pink sparks of energy, which crackled, expanded, and split into several lines of lightning that bounced around and off each other if they got too close. “So, try to focus, try to channel whatever energy you feel within yourself, and maybe something will happen. I don’t exactly know, when I figured out my own powers it just kind of… happened. And now I’m used to it.”

Fade donned his mask and did exactly that, sitting in silence as he searched himself for a spark of anything, but… he felt nothing. Not even a spark. He opened one eye and peered at Drift, who was staring straight at him.

He closed his eyes again. Maybe if he thought hard enough, he could send a signal to his hands to conjure up at least a fragment of his powers as Drift had done for his own. But, as they sat in silence, there was nothing. “This… feels like a weird yoga class,” he couldn’t help but comment.

“Yeah, I get what you mean,” Drift said with a laugh. “Worst I could say is, ‘listen to my voice. Find your center yada yada yada.”

Fade laughed as well and went back to his mind, but truth be told, he couldn’t concentrate in silence. His thoughts had already begun to wander. Where has the rift butterfly been, anyway? What if Dream somehow sent it for me, and that’s why I’m here? What if-

Before he could think too deep, there came a bout of laughter from a short distance away along the path, as well as two familiar voices. He and Drift both looked up as Jules and Ocean ambled about, talking and laughing together with wide smiles on both of their faces. Jules was recovered enough to move around freely, and it was a wondrous sight to see her spirits lifted, especially compared to the constant state of apprehension she would be in prior to GHOST’s latest battle, which had already been a week ago. An entire week without any sign of SHADOW activity…!

“Jules!” Fade called out, bouncing to his knees a little more enthusiastically than he had aimed for, and he casually regained his composure just before she turned his way. He felt a light elbow at his side, and he looked at Drift, who raised a teasing eyebrow at him. Fade shrugged, trying his hardest to look like nothing had happened. He removed his mask and set it aside, smiling as Jules and Ocean stopped before them.

“Hey, how’s the training or whatever? That’s what you’re doing, right?” Ocean asked, glancing one last time at Jules with a small smile.

Fade and Drift looked at each other again. “It’s, uh, it’s going great,” Fade started. “We-”

“Yeah, considering we’ve done absolutely nothing,” Drift cut in, earning another bout of laughter from the girls.

“We’re not intruding or anything, are we?” Jules asked.

Fade shook his head immediately. “No, ‘course not. You guys can stay and watch if you want.”

Drift raised another eyebrow at his offer, and once again, Fade shot down whatever suspicions he was still having with a shrug. “We have to be quiet though,” he urged as the two sat down.

“Oh, yeah? Well, I’m a master at that, trust me,” Ocean said. This earned a collective laugh from the other three, who all knew the opposite. She elbowed Jules, who was closest.

Closing his eyes, Fade tried to concentrate, but he still couldn’t. Truthfully, he wasn’t trying at this point. He was only awkwardly sitting here to appease Drift, who didn’t even seem to know what he was talking about. He can help me, she said, he said sarcastically to himself, recalling everything Jules had told them on his second day on the island. He’s just like me, he can help me understand my magic, he said. Knowing no one could see his face, Fade opened his eyes and ended up staring at a seam in his cloak, watching as his own purple energy flowed through.

There was another snicker from Ocean’s direction, and he looked up to find her covering her mouth with her fist, trying to control herself. “Sorry,” she said between quiet wheezes, “keep going.”

Fade himself chuckled from the absurdity of their whole situation, which only prompted Ocean to completely laugh aloud. Drift took to staring at her incredulously, as if it would urge her to shut up. Of course, that only intensified her laughter again and encouraged Jules and Fade to join in, which finally earned a chuckle from Drift.

“What’s so funny?”

Kit had found his way to the scene, and once again, he was sitting atop of his mech, which had been successfully retrieved and rebuilt, as well as given a new shine and some quality of life upgrades, such as a better motor, some brand new headlights, and stronger gears. Upon seeing him, Jules’s eyes lit up and she stood up to give him (well, his mech) a hug and a quick scratch behind the ear. “Hey, Kit.”

“What are you guys doing?” He asked, sitting down to join them. Normally, he would have settled in the center of the circle or in someone’s lap, but he enjoyed having his mech back and didn’t want to leave it any time soon. “It sounded real fun.”

Ocean shushed him. “We gotta be quiet. They’re doing some important training or whatever, so we can’t distract them.”

Kit narrowed his eyes at the group. “You didn’t sound so busy when I came over here.”

That was a big enough pebble to set off another ripple of laughter, and this time, they were all in. Kit only watched in confusion, quite literally using the hand of his mech to scratch his head. Jules finally got a hold of herself enough to encourage him to power off the mech for the time being and physically join them, and from there, they abandoned the thought of training completely. Rather, they stuck to sharing stories, whether they were the backstories of their pasts or memories of their former memories of past missions and expeditions.

It felt good to have a true break.

~•~

Sorana huffed in sheer annoyance as she stepped onto the top floor, searching to no avail so far for SHADOW’s missing leader. For half the week, she had been forced to play boss, and it was more than tiresome when faced against such an unruly team of henchmen and agents, who were completely restless and apprehensive over yet another loss.

They were on top! SHADOW was winning the war; for all they knew, they already had won. It was so effortlessly amusing watching their little pawns struggle at their tiny base, their tiny corner of the island where it didn’t seem possible they could garner any control. Then, the unthinkable happened: Jules of all people had risen up and opened a small passage of light, and the resistance had grown stronger. Jules, their submissive hostage who had doomed the island, had opened up GHOST’s tunnel of hope, and thus, given them access to their strength.

How had SHADOW come to lose everything so quickly? They had finally gained total control over the island, free to do their own bidding, only to have their victories slowly reversed by who they thought was their weakest link. Their base was a mess, they were beginning to run low on henchmen and recruit waves, and their leader was on a downward spiral.

Sorana glanced around his office, which was completely darkened save for a small sliver of sunlight shining through the tiny crack under the exit door to the helipad. She could barely make out piles of paperwork spilt across the floor, several broken writing utensils and minor office supplies, and the rough surface of his desk which had definitely seen better days. They were the remnants of a man who thrived off destruction, who had too long been accustomed to some strange sense of order that came with ruling this disorganized island.

“Sir?” She whispered, in case he happened to be lurking in the shadows, one of his best talents. There was nothing, though, so she approached the final location in the building, now the only place he could possibly be. She slowly pushed open the door to the helipad, and there he stood, staring off into the distance, surrounded by a strange aura of… solemnity. Despair.

She cautiously advanced forward and stood next to him, though making sure to keep her distance from the being who she absolutely despised, whether he was her boss or not. She gazed with him at the distant docks, sneaking a glance at him in the midst. She noted how tense he appeared as he clasped his hands tightly behind his back.

It was interesting how he had changed. Years ago, she had been hired, and he was much more stoic and cruel. He would not hesitate to kill or let his recruits fall to their own failures; he would never care if they lived or died. He wanted power, and whatever happened along the way simply happened. All that mattered in the end was the fall of Midas’s empire, and once they had achieved that, there was no point to anything. Midas was basically gone, and they had nothing to do but make sure the remnants of his monarchy never saw the light.

But they had. And now, Chaos Agent was a molten being not of destruction, but of simple unbridled uncertainty and disorganization.

Sorana thought back on their two months of their thriving glory, when they were free to do as they pleased without facing an uprising. Though now, their freedom wasn’t restricted, it was no doubt that GHOST would be on their trail the second they tried anything outside of The Authority that would help their destructive urges and motivations. She missed those two months of complete freedom. “Where did we go wrong?” She pondered aloud, hoping to finally catch a reaction from her boss. “How the hell did we lose like this?”

For a moment, Chaos Agent was still, until finally, he waved his hand dismissively and immediately went back to his tense, brooding pose. “GHOST can never recover what power they had,” he simply said.

That wasn’t an answer. She must have said that aloud this time by accident, because Chaos Agent took a glance back at her before turning away again.

That wasn’t an answer either. In fact, Sorana was surprised by his lack of one, or lack of even a retaliation to her comment. “You’re weak, you know that?” She taunted again, this time in actual hopes of spurring some sort of negative reaction. Again, nothing. Not even a hint of anything; he continued staring into the distance.

This was not Chaos Agent.

She remembered this scenario, actually. It had been the same with Toxin’s death. He had disappeared completely from Steamy Stacks, and when he did return, he was silent and brooding. Then, however, he was at least snappish and even more petulant than his typical stoic mien.

It was Rue. It had to be. And the person who he kept around who showed similarities to his former best scientist had been the cause of Rue’s demise. Rue was his most trusted, and though he never explicitly stated it or showed any indication of it whatsoever, he loved her like his daughter, everyone knew. They had history when she was but an infant, all before he had been transformed into The Chaos Agent.

He couldn’t even grieve his losses. Whatever heart he had had been destroyed in his transformation, and his care for Rue and eventually Toxin were the only remnants of a loving man he was able to hold on to.

Sorana herself couldn’t be bothered to care for anyone or anything… but, somewhere deep inside her, she felt sympathy for this destroyed being. Their losses, his losses were only sending him on a downward spiral, and truthfully, she hated to see it.

With a heavy sigh, she stepped just a bit closer (but not too close). “GHOST’s gonna rue every little thing they’ve tried to do. They don’t stand a chance.”

The pun was only half-intended, not that she expected him to laugh anyway. When he continued to stand in silence, she turned to leave. Perhaps she could handle being in charge for just a bit longer.

~•~

Oh, how he hated those sharks.

It was still ironic, really, that things had turned to this. GHOST’s oldest beloved base was modeled directly after those particular sea animals, yet here the actual beings were now, dancing around the waters as if to taunt him while they swam around the vicinity. It was a threat he had been forced to be wary of every day for two months straight, and he wasn’t sure he would be able to stand his conditions any longer.

He was getting desperate.

Promises, he realized long ago, were hard to keep, yet he had made multiple. A promise to tear down SHADOW alone, a promise to save his sister from their wrath, a silent promise to save GHOST… and a promise to every island inhabitant that he would defy reality and unlock their freedom, a new path of life. He hadn’t been able to uphold any of those promises thus far.

Coming up with a quick plan under pressure was one of his specialties… was. In the two months of survival his luck had scored him, he had done nothing but mope and wallow in his failures. The second he had escaped SHADOW’s grasp and wiped himself off the radar, he was lost. He had no idea how to hatch a new plan to reclaim his empire, he had no idea how he would thwart and dismantle the name SHADOW had made for themselves in the island’s center fortress.

The only resources he had to work with was a small boat stationed between the beach and a whirlpool that he dared not advance towards; a series of routers pulled from The Shark’s remains that half of the time would not power on in their waterlogged state; and a poster bearing his face that he hoped would instill in him some pride and confidence, a pride that had long since been gone. It was pride that seemed like it would stay long gone, because he hadn’t felt it since The Device’s initial success.

He was stranded and forced to peer at the remnants of one of their former bases in shame. It was all because of him that he was in his state, that his agents were adrift. All because he had the genius idea to fight the storm. All because his greatest epiphany that the storm could be fought in the first place was a complete miscalculation. All because he had counted on his sister to unlock the answers for him, all because she had failed.

No. He couldn’t pin the blame on her. He knew he couldn’t blame her, but he needed someone to throw it on so it wouldn’t fall on him. The cold truth was that he had failed, but he would not stand it. He had failed his empire. He had failed his sister.

At the very least, his agents were holding their own, as Sparkplug had informed him. He trusted them. They would take SHADOW down as he was currently failing to do, and perhaps he would one day get to call for their help and return to praise them.

…he could call for their help and return to praise them.

He had always despised the idea of asking for others' help, but he couldn't win the war on his own. That left him with a new problem, however—he was, by now, the most hated person on the island. Everyone looked at him and only saw a traitor. When everyone had counted on him, he had left them all in the dust.

There was a certain device that hadn’t left his pocket since his disappearance, however. A device that would give GHOST his location and give him the chance to assure them that he was still on their side. They would listen to reason, wouldn’t they? It wasn’t like he was waltzing in unannounced.

It was worth a try, and so he dug an earpiece out of his pockets and attempted to power it on for the first time since Doomsday.

#fortnite #i forgot to post this here smh #‘everything is 10x funnier when you’re not supposed to be laughing’ #filler-ish chapter #fortnite chapter 2 #SHADOWs of GHOST #kayvi0’s fortnite storyverse

[crimsononiarataki]

Some time had past and Noah had recovered somewhat. Enough to clean herself up and get dressed but still sore. Hey, at least her legs were working right? Though you wouldn't tell by the fact she was laying on Itto's or rather their bed again. She glanced at Itto before speaking up softly. "About before. I'm um, sorry about asking you to claim me. I know that is a very serious thing to ask, like marriage proposal serious. I lost my mind. N-not that I would want that! Just, well, maybe give it more time." She apologized.

"You don't need to apologize, sweetheart, there's a reason I didn't claim you despite you askin' me to do so twice."

The Oni would smile at her, there was no rush for that, especially since it was incredibly serious. He'd explained what it meant before they ever slept together. Of course, he knew neither of them had expected that to happen as soon as it had. He was glad they'd had that time together though, he really did genuinely love her, it didn't matter that she was human.

"Yeah, claimin' is prett-y serious, it'll be a while yet if it happens. Y'never know if you'll change your mind about wantin' that with me in the future or not."

He knew she loved him, she'd made it pretty obvious, but he couldn't, in his right mind, claim her without her being one-hundred percent serious about it. Oni mated for life, unlike humans, who could have multiple partners through their lives. Once an Oni claimed someone that was it. They were their one and only, even if the human decided to leave them at some point, they'd never be able to move on, unlike the human.

Even though he had human blood in him, he was more Oni than human, which showed through his severe bean allergy, among other things.

#theshytigergirl #The Traveler from Mondstadt Noah #You Showed me Acceptance and Love #The One and Oni (primary)

[catsvrsdogscatswin]

Higurashi Month 2023, Day 20: Without

Being given to a Catholic private school with all the expectations of a human sacrifice –never to return, never to be thought of again– had had some… effects, on Shion as she grew up.

Nothing too damaging, of course. Just…

Displacement.

That, she thought, was the right word for it, and oh, what a wretched and insidious thing it was, how clever Oni-Baba's plan to sever her from her legacy.

Shion was sent to a place where Western thought, Western ideas, Christian religion predominated. She was taught to kneel when approaching the holy part of a sanctuary, using the right knee to genuflect before the sacred image, rather than bow twice, clap twice, and then bow again. She was as adept with fork and knife as she was chopsticks, knew the proper way to wear skirts and knot a tie as well as how to fold a kimono and obi.

She knew of her own cultural rituals, of the proper way to approach a shrine in her family, but they were like leaves from a past autumn in her memory, faded and fragile.

These two worlds ran through her like the foundation lines of a loom, and Oni-Baba sending her to St. Lucia's year after year thickened one and thinned the other, patiently wearing away Shion's connection to her home. If Oni-Baba had her way, by the time Shion graduated she would be garishly Western in all her ways and thoughts, unable to take over the deep, subtle intricacies of the family tradition even if she tried. When she returned home, no one would know her ways, and she would not know theirs.

Shion is not particularly resentful of this –no more and no less than she resents nearly everything Oni-Baba has done to her out of that damn sense of familial duty– but she does resent, in some small way, the persistent subtle effort to rob her of her heritage. She is Japanese, born and bred, and yet Oni-Baba and St. Lucia's are trying to turn her into something she's not.

This place –this stuffy little miniature garden of a school– is trying to snip the line between Shion and her past, erode the differences between her and them. Those from elsewhere, the outsiders that even now Hinamizawa still hates: that is what they're trying to turn her into.

And it's working.

It's working, because Shion will be graciously allowed to return to Hinamizawa for school breaks or family holidays and she will briefly feel strange, alien inside her own home. For a scant few days or hours, until she slips back into her own skin, she will feel displaced, like these people with familiar faces are putting on some strange paper façade of customs and history that she does not quite understand anymore.

Did she ever truly know these ways, or has she merely forgotten them due to long years away?

Shion doesn't know, and that is almost worse than the confusion and displacement. Are these sights and actions familiar because she remembers a dim, dim ghost of them from her childhood, when she was still allowed to stay at Oni-Baba's side and guided gently through the steps, or are they merely familiar because she's seen them from a distance several times before?

She doesn't know.

She doesn't know, and she hates the not-knowing as a microcosm of all that this has done to her. Shion is not a member of Hinamizawa anymore, not fully, not truly, and yet where else is she supposed to belong? Not the school, where she is shunned by her peers and looked down upon by her teachers. Not outside Hinamizawa, because the place still calls to her all the same, as haunting and persistent as a siren's melody beneath the waves.

She is displaced, cast adrift, and there is no healing that severance inside her.

#Higurashi Month #Higurashi Month 2023 #Higurashi no Naku Koro ni #Higurashi When They Cry #When They Cry