#CHARACTER:

[radicalgator]

A lil change up now, from usual critters and creatures of the world of aeon to a lil beyond to the god of everything. 

[merlinbingo]

"

“Promise me you won't look back.” by HadrianPeverellBlack Ship: No ships/gen Main Characters: Merlin, Arthur, Gwen, Gaius, Percival, Leon Rating: Teen Warnings: Choose not to use archive warnings, Major character death Major tags: horn of cathbhadh, Angst, Hurt No Comfort, Immortal Merlin (Merlin), Suicidal Merlin (Merlin) Summary: “Promise me you won't look back.” Arthur said, speaking through the fog. Merlin swallowed. “You can't ask me that.” “Merlin, promise me.” Merlin didn't answer, unable to utter those simple words."

[hannasartstudio]

Digital Headshot Sketch Comm - Noma

© Hanna Hammar 2022 (Hanna's Art Studio) Digital Headshot Sketch Commission for F3nghuang Join my Patreon to see new artwork before it's public and get access to exclusive content ❤️ Find me here!

Posted using PostyBirb

[deadnymaster]

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG: HOPELESS FUTURE (page 16 to 21)

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I´ve decided to wait to repost here the comic this time because there weren't that many pages left either. You can still read the individual pages here, in my deviantart

[lycheesodas]

where’s that post that’s like: girls with swords. you agree. reblog.

-

commissions | shop | ig | twt

this is my oc, very early in the works :3c she’s a supernatural hunter and college student. the triangle thingies are like force fields, which is her special ability

[sanguinesophistication]

🦇 [ ANTONETTE ] liked for a starter

“Far be it for me to intrude, but I highly doubt that this course of action will achieve the result you were hoping for. My brother has somewhat unfortunate predilection for turning those who attempt cross him into a series of body parts.” Elijah explained, “I would hate for that to happen.”

@seerkin​

[ahllohehn]

I tried drawing an OC based off my friend’s random moodboard OC and moodboard belongs to @__drewpyy !

[crunchetime]

Undead lady 💚🩸

[horizon-verizon]

Rhaenyra Winning King’s Landing (Excluding Some Events in B/T)

Quote Prime

Quote #1

Quote #2

Quote #3

Quote #4

[linglingartsu]

[ OTA ] FB #034

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[annalysa]

A long but soooo interesting post ! Oh, thr parallels between Hancock and Doflamingo are so interesting !

Donquixote Doflamingo’s reasons and motivation

His motivation is unexpectedly noble for a guy who has suffered brutal violence and was raised by the ruthless killers. We can look into his head for the first time when he has an emotional outburst over the situation in Marineford. When Doffy’s emotions started to outpour, he verbally attacked the World Government.

海賊が悪!!? 海軍が正義!!? そんなものはいくらでも塗り替えられてきた…!!! // Pirates are evil?! The Marines are justice?! Such things have been changed as many times as you want!!!

“平和"を知ねェ子供共と"戦争"を知ねェ子供共との価値観が違う!!! 頂点に立つ者が善悪を塗り替える!!! 今この場所こそ中立だ!!! 正義は勝つって!?  そりゃそうだろ! 勝者だけが正義だ!!!! // Brats who don’t know peace and brats who don’t know war have different values!!! Those at the top decide what is good and what is evil!!! This place is neutral ground right now!!! Justice will prevail, you say?! Of course it will! Whoever prevails is just!!!!

A huge inscription "The Marines” that is shown when Doflamingo is talking about the nature of justice kinda implies.

Justice is the favorite word of the Marines, the World Government army. He directly accuses the Marines of being not very just and defending the world order that brings people suffering. In the pictures from his head, the different values he mentioned are illustrated by the attitude to food. The child soldiers are happy about the canned food they have found (if there were meat on the skeleton, they would probably have gnawed it too), and the rich girl does not want to eat vegetables. Why this particular example is given becomes clear later.

These are the elite officers of the Donquixote Family as children. As can be seen, they all were destitute. The rest of the Donquixote Family members as children are also depicted in a similar way. Doflamingo felt like saying pirates are not always evil and the Marines aren’t always this shining beacon of justice, because sometimes piracy is a lesser evil than…

妻が焼き殺された…!! どうでもいいんどろお前らにゃ // My wife was burned to death!! It’s nothing to you, right?!

お前らに納める[ 天 上 金 ]のせいで…!! 国が飢餓で滅んだんだ……!!! お前ら腹へったことあるか!? みんな骨と皮になって死んだよ!!! // Because of the Celestial Tribute we have to pay, the country has been ravaged by famine!!! Have you ever had nothing to eat?! Everyone died leaving only a bag of bones!!!

...than death from starvation.

At the time of the Marineford Arc, it was not yet fully revealed how terrible the rule of the WG is, but, to put it bluntly, it turned the world into a giant Nazi camp.

Afficher davantage

[killasims]

The Sims 4 Movie Star Barbie & The Barbie Dahl Body Preset By VTK

VTK Model, "Barbie Actress Dahl"; a.k.a. "Actress Barbie"; or "Movie Star Barbie" has the *new* “Barbie” custom body preset. She's the mother of "The Barbie Twins" of Chestnut Ridge. She's is retired from acting although she still does some guest star appearances. She's cheerful, creative, and outgoing. She wants to be a friend of the whole world! Movie Star Barbie uses: STUFF PACK Luxury Party Stuff (SP01) She also uses 18 cc by me. Enjoy!

Join & Download “Movie Star Barbie” Sim here! https://www.patreon.com/posts/99265973

See also the entire Barbie Dahl Household of Chestnut Ridge here! https://youtu.be/aXWPH5BVrFo THE BARBIE DAHL HOUSEHOLD OF CHESTNUT RIDGE Download here... https://www.patreon.com/posts/96522815 Music Credit: Song Title: "I Can Dream About You" Artist: Dan Hartman

[merlinbingo]

"

Forgiving Yourself Is the Hardest Thing by VikingSong Ship: No ships/gen, Arthur/Gwen Main Characters: Arthur, Gwen, Knights of the Round Table Rating: Teen Warnings: Major character death Major tags: Merlin dies, Gwen POV, Grief, Guilt, No magic reveal Summary: Gwen is intimately familiar with grief; she was prepared—as much as anyone can ever really be—to tread the long, winding road to the place where the sudden rush of loss hits less often, when it will no longer knock the wind out of her at every trifling reminder of Merlin. What she was not prepared for is the invisibility of her grief. She is the Queen now; no one seems to remember that he was her friend, too, back in the days when she was just Gwen and he was just Merlin. Or: Gwen struggles through her grief after Merlin’s sudden death and wrestles with guilt as she reflects on the slow demise of their friendship."

[gravitascivics]

JUDGING LIBERATED FEDERALISM, XV

This blog, which is in the midst of presenting a political model for the purposes of guiding civics curricular efforts, is set to offer the model’s second component. The first is the community and the second is participating entities.  The model is entitled liberated federalism.  This posting describes and explains this second component.

         Entities can be persons, groups, associations (both within and without government), local governments, state governments, regional organizations of states, the national government, or arrangements, including the United States and other nations.  One can ascribe to these entities ideal attributes.

         First, entities have constitutional integrity, i.e., they have moral worth which endows them with dignity and integrity as autonomous actors in the political arena.  They can make decisions, act upon those decisions, and be held accountable for the consequences of those activities.  They, therefore, have rights.  Entities, in terms of this model, are participants in some enterprise in which an arrangement with other entities has been formulated.

         Arrangements are formulated for some purpose or purposes. The entity is in relation with other entities within the arrangement under the auspices of some agreement. The agreement can take the form of a verbal statement, a contract, or a compact or covenant.  Each entity has certain attributes within the context of the arrangement.

         These attributes are:

 ·       Status refers to the degree to which the entity can be considered an elite. Leaders of the arrangement have high status; followers have lower status, non-active participants, usually, have even lower status.  

·       Conscience refers to the individual’s or collective’s ideal domain which contains the notions of desirable states in terms right and wrong behavior.  Of most relevance are the desirable feelings of right and wrong associated with the reasons for the arrangement.

·       Skills include listening, communicating, physical dexterity and athleticism, researching, and political (such as lobbying) skills, and other personality traits relevant to the role of the entity.  Personality can include humor, friendliness, tolerance, accepting disposition, assertiveness, and decisiveness.

·       Roles include leadership roles, followship roles, and other strategic positions.  This can lead to inquiry as to the appropriate types of roles that a particular arrangement should have and what kinds of entities should fill them. Primary in determining which roles and the kinds of entities that should fill them would reflect the purpose of the arrangement.

 Deserving special note is the attribute of character – a more encompassing attribute – that is, it deals with conscience.  It is considered not from its content but from its depth.  One asks in terms of character:  is the conscience of the entity one that is the product of a reflected process?  How well and thorough was that reflection?  And does the entity have the courage of conviction to act according to those reflected ideals? These are the concerns of character.

         Again, associated with conscience but to a more specific level, is what the interests of the entity are. This practical attribute is the list of relevant values, both of material and non-material types, held by the entity.  This attribute is also concerned with whether the interests are short or long term.  A moral perspective is more concerned with long term interests.[1]

         Within an arrangement there can be any number of entities.  Theory can be developed, and study can be conducted to determine the optimal number of entities, given the purposes of an arrangement (beyond the scope of this account). But whatever the number, there needs for a relationship to exist among the entities.  Federalist unions require that the entities, despite their varying statuses, enjoy equality among them.

         Donald Lutz points out that a basic characteristic of American federalism was a belief in the equality among parties that joined compact-al or covenantal associations and based on each member’s abilities to give consent. This notion can be expanded so that, as part of an extended republic, all states were given equal standing when joining a federal union of the United States.  Not all states enjoyed the same status, but all were equal under the auspices of the association.[2]  In like manner, the entities depicted in the model enjoy the same equality.

         The relationship among the entities also has communal links tying them together.  The links can include the elements of the agreement, emotional ties, shared resources, shared interests, and mutual respect.  All or any of these links would make the entities closer and more committed to accomplishing the purposes of the arrangement.

         Again, this relation has to do with what Selznick calls reciprocal advantage.[3]  This concern includes an understanding that a communal sense among the members of an arrangement increases the chances of success; it is sensitive to the whimsical nature of fortune and fate, and it avoids the disruption that a lack of dignity and integrity can cause any collective (communal) effort.

         The last aspect of the model associated with the entities is the relationship between them and the arrangement.  The entity has the obligation and duty to extend to the arrangement loyalty, trust, skills, and knowledge.  Of course, the nature of the arrangement will dictate the exact nature of these obligations and duties.  But loyalty, trust, skills, and knowledge have the very practical consequence of making success and long-term satisfaction of interests appreciably more likely.

         Any arrangement in which its member entities do not meet these obligations and duties to a minimal degree would find it very difficult to meet the purposes of its existence.[4]  This point is important in that it, in terms of day-to-day life, focuses on a basic difference between liberated federalism and the natural rights view.  The former, liberated federalism highlights these obligations and duties and the latter, natural rights, mostly dismisses them as merely the product of individual choices among the populace.

         Picking up on this attribute, in return, the arrangement has certain responsibilities to the individual entities; first, to guarantee the equal standing that an individual entity is entitled to.  This responsibility should be addressed by the arrangement’s policies, by-laws, and other governing attributes, and by the treatment of the entities in the arrangement pursuing its goals.

         Second, in cases when an entity is lacking relevant resources and skills, the arrangement, in relation to its resources and purposes, should make special allowances and possibly distribute some helpful subsidies in order to “level the playing field” among the entities. Public schooling can be seen in this light.  Selznick writes of derivative rights that one can and should associate with equal treatment.[5]

         And that ends this account’s coverage of the first two components of the liberated federalism model, the community and participating entities.  That leaves the last component, the studied association.  The next posting will begin addressing that component as it serves as the center of this model’s concern.  For the purposes of civics education, the studied association is the US government, a state government, or governmental arrangement at the local level (e.g., city government).

[1] Philip Selznick, The Moral Commonwealth:  Social Theory and the Promise of Community (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1992).

[2] Donald S. Lutz, “The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, 1639,” in Roots of the Republic: American Founding Documents Interpreted, edited by Stephen L. Schechter (Madison, WI:  Madison House, 1990.

[3] Selznick, The Moral Commonwealth.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Ibid.

[jolienjoyswriting]

The Maiden in the Mist (ft. Riku (the-minuscule-task), Ch. IV

Chapter 4 of 4 for "The Maiden in the Mist," a fan fiction story.

In the morning after a peaceful slumber, the ryū and kitsune discuss the future of their newfound relationship.

Word count: 2,620 – Character count: 15,228 Drafted: April 5th, 2023 Revised: April 6th, 2023 –

“Everybody wants a big dragon wife. uwu”     – the-miniscule-task

The more I wrote in this story, the more I found myself in full agreement with these words.  I… haven't fallen for a character so hard since jayrnski's Maple.  I guess… that's just my preference; I really like sweet, cute, innocent girls.  And, honestly?  While I'm not sure who's sweeter or more innocent between Riku and Maple, I do know that when I wrote this story… I was completely head-over-heels for the big, cuddly ryuusei waifu~ (Yes, I'm still aware that means "shooting star", not "nature dragon" or something.)

Riku and related characters and concepts created by and © the-minuscule-task Joseph Lithius and related characters and concepts created by and © Jo Li

[ ← Prev. Chapter | Next Chapter → ]

    "Mm…  Mmmmm…"

    My body moved and I felt short of breath.  Consciousness was coming back to me, slowly but surely.  My eyes fluttered a little… then they focused on something… green.  I tried to talk, but my mouth wouldn't cooperate.  I squirmed a little and found that I couldn't move very much.  Eventually, I started to realize… I was bound on the spot and my mouth – or rather, my lips – were being used.  By the time I'd fully understood what was going on, all the things locking me in place were released all at once.

    "Yozefu-san!"     I blinked several times in a row.  A familiar, green set of eyes was looking at me.     "Yozefuuu…"     And they were wet…

    "Oh…  H-hey, Riku," I whispered as I stretched.  "What's up?"     Riku, the lizard… dragon… uh… the cute thing from the hot spring was leaning on her arm next to me.  She looked ecstatic, beaming at me and half-crying.  As I looked around, I noticed that… we were still in that room at the hot spring.  That kind of made sense.     "I fell asleep…" I commented, sitting up.  "What time is it?"     I looked around for my phone… only for Riku to turn my head back her way.  She leaned in and offered a hard smooch before drawing back.  It was enough to get me blushing…     "W-well," I said with a nervous smile, "someone's affectionate this… morning?"     I looked toward the nearby window.  Yep.  It was morning…     "God… I don't know how people in Oedo did it…" I said, popping some joints as I stretched more.  "These straw mats are brutal on the back…"     I sighed, then I smiled.     "So?" I asked, gesturing to her.  "What's up?"     Riku looked like she was bursting at the seams to tell me something.  I'm pretty sure she'd been waiting for me to stop talking and pay attention…  I felt a little bad about that.

    "Yū sutēitto uisu mī!" she said with the usual amount of Engrish.  "Sankku yū…"     She gently stroked my cheek and looked at me with enough warmth to melt even the coldest of winters…     "Ai rāvvu yū, Yozefu…"     My brain hadn't quite caught up to what she was trying to tell me.  Something about staying with her?  As she leaned in and gave me another kiss, though, my brain finally translated her words.  And… I pulled away.     "Riku…?"  I stared, wide-eyed and red-faced.  "W-wait…  What do you–"     I paused, then I grabbed my phone.     "What do you mean you love me?" I had it ask in Japanese.     "Mm!"     Riku reached over… and drew a little heart over my heart.     "Rāvvu!" she exclaimed, beaming with pride.  Oh, crap…

    "Riku!" I cried.  "Hold the phone– I mean put on the breaks– ah…  Chottomatte!"     "Eeehh?"  The girl flinched, looking like I'd just struck her.  "Yozefu-san…?"     She smiled again… but tears were starting to build in her eyes.     "Rikaidekinai…  A-anata mo watashi o aishite i… iru to omoimashita ka?  Otagai-sukinara… d-dō shita no?"     I didn't know what she was saying.  I never did.  But I didn't need to.  She was huffing and trying desperately to keep from breaking into loud sobs.  I hated making her cry…     "No…" I whispered, reaching up and stroking her cheek.  "I…"     She closed her eyes, immediately calming as she leaned into my hand.  God… how could I deny such a warm, sweet, sensitive girl like her…?

    "Marry me."

    Riku's eyes slowly opened and she looked at me like a confused child might.  She was still leaning into my hand and her tears had calmed, but something was still wrong.  When my phone translated those two words into Japanese for her… she didn't seem to process them.  Then, without warning…     "Eh?  Eeehh…?  Eeeeehhh…?!"     She whipped back and looked at me like I'd gone insane!

    Okay, so… I don't exactly know how to transcribe what she said at that point…  It was… a lot of syllables.  I'm sure there were some whole words in there, too.  I'm just not entirely sure she was saying anything coherent.  She was in a full-blown panic!  Apparently… I'd… misunderstood her.  Like… severely.  And the worst part?  I'd only "proposed" to her as a joke…

    "Riku!  Riku, calm down–"     "Chottomatte, Yozefu!  Watashi wa anata–"     "I didn't mean– I was only–"     "Kekkon shitakunai!!  Wa-wa-watashitachiha otagai–"     "I-I'm sorry!!  I'm sorry… I…"     Riku was going to say something else, I'm sure.  When she saw me break down crying, though…     "Yozefu-san…?"     She snapped out of her panic… and went into full "comfort mode".

    I sniffled and shivered as she pulled me into her arms, rocking me and singing some Japanese… lullaby, maybe?  Whatever it was, it was the sweetest thing I'd heard in a long time… and it helped me stop panicking.  Heh.  I guess she just had that effect on me.  And I clearly had that effect on her…

    "Rāvvu…"

    Once we were both pretty sure I was calm, I leaned back and looked at her.  She spoke again, but in a softer voice than normal.

    "Rāvvu…" she almost whispered, holding up her hands in a heart shape.     "L… love…" I answered, returning the gesture.     "Dokidoki…" she continued, moving her hands forward and back like a heartbeat.     "Bump-bump…" I replied, doing the same.     "Suriru…"     "Um… 'thrill'?"  I wasn't sure about that one.     She nodded.  Then, she brought a hand up and gently poked in the middle of where my curled hands rested.     "Rāvvu yū, Yozefu…"     "I… I love you, too?"  I was starting to get confused, again.  What was she getting at…?     The dragon girl held a finger up.  She said a bunch of stuff into her phone.  Then, I listened as it played back in English…

    "There are many kinds of love in this world.  Conjugal love.  I love dogs and flying discs.  Love between friends.  Joseph, I love you as a friend.  You have come very close to me in a very short time and in a very meaningful way.  I hope we can get married someday.  Until then, I want to share love like the one we shared.  Cuddle.  I hate tea.  Say you will remain my friend."

    We both sort of… looked at each other.  Then, we looked at the phone.  Mostly in confusion.  Even though Riku's knowledge of English was about as limited as my knowledge of Japanese, she was pretty sure that a lot of what she said got lost in that translation.  Instead of trying again, though, she just sighed and tried something different.

    "Rāvvu yū, Yozefu," she repeated.  "Kawaii kitsune furīenddo!  Etooo…"     She paused, looking down as she desperately tried to "convert" words in her head.     "Hāguzu!" she chirped.  "Kishizu!  Dakishimeru…"     She gestured to me as she spoke.  First, she wrapped her arms around the air, squeezing.  Then, she brought a hand up and blew a kiss.  Lastly, she laid down and seemingly nuzzled the straw mat, scooting closer to some… thing?  I didn't get it, at first…  But, then…     "Riku…?"     She sat back up.  When she saw me smile, she smiled, too.

    "'Love'… 'friend'?" I asked.  She nodded, so I then asked, "You love me as a friend?"     Yes.  I know.  The phone had said that clearly.  Still… I wanted to confirm it.     She sort of understood what I was saying.  There was a look of confusion, followed by a bright smile… followed by another confused look, and an "Etooo…"     "Riku."     She perked.  When I leaned in and kissed her nose… she giggled, then she pulled me into a hug.  Okay, I think we were on the same page, finally…

    "So, I guess sex is off the table for now?"     I made sure my translator was off before I made my dumb joke.  However…     "Dainamaitto Sekkushī, ban-ban."     I had to stifle a swear.  She'd whispered to me, then she very gently kissed the base of my ear.  She was teasing me!  Luckily for us both, she stopped almost immediately and giggled.

    "Hey, uh…"  I turned my translator back on and asked, "Please don't be upset, but when I asked you to marry me, I was only kidding."     "Mm…"  She softly nodded, giving me a thumbs-up and a wink.  "Nō purobaremu!"     She brightly smiled at me.  What a relief…     "Also…"  I paused before asking, "Did you understand the last thing I said?"     "What you said when I replied, 'Dynamite sexy, bang-bang'?" she answered through her own translator.     I nodded.  "Yeah."     "I heard…" she began, her translation app skipping the word "sekkusu" for some reason, "but I didn't understand.  Was it important?"     I paused…  "Can I ask you something personal?"     She blushed, but she nodded.     "Why did you offer your body to me at the hot spring?"     I'm… not sure my translator did its job correctly.  Riku tilted her head as if processing what it said that I said.  After a few seconds, she talked into her phone and it translated.     "What does 'offering my body' mean?"     "You… seemed like you wanted to have sex after you checked to see if I was okay.  But, you seemed apprehensive, too…  Were you just being nice?"     The girl deeply blushed before the second thought got translated.  Apparently, the translation had worked that time.     "Etooo…"  She bit her lower lip.     "You don't have to tell–"     My translator tried to process that as she cut me off.     "I wanted to have sex," her translator told me as she uncomfortably shrank, "but I was scared.  We were strangers, but you seemed nice.  If you had tried… I would have let you…"     I felt a little tense.  There was a question I wanted to ask… but I wasn't sure I should.     "Did you want to have sex right now?"     I blushed as she suddenly asked the question for me, instead.  Well… not verbatim.  Her translator didn't relay the inflections, stammers, squeaks, or pauses very well.  Regardless, it still made me blush and fold my ears.     "Did you want to have sex?" I asked through my translator.     She shivered, blushing and looking… uncomfortable.     She whispered something that translated to: "U-um… if– if you want me to?"     Yep.  That was all I needed to make a decision.

    "E-eto– ch-chottomatte…!  Ah– mm…"

    I scooted over and knelt beside the girl, wrapping my arms around her shoulders and hugging her.  As I nuzzled her cheek, she changed from a nervous wreck into a warm, dragon-shaped kind of putty, heavily leaning into me and closing her eyes.  We were still tense, no doubt, but I think she appreciated the fact that I didn't want to just… use her like that.  What worried me, though, was the fact that she wasn't trying to cuddle back…     "Are you okay?"     She softly nodded in response to my translator.     "Do you want some water?"     She nodded again and I got up.  When I came back with a full teapot of cool water, she gently accepted it and put her lips to the spout, taking small sips.     "I'm sorry for upsetting you…" I whispered.     My phone picked it up despite my quiet tone, then Riku looked at me.     "Yozefu-kun?"  She looked… hopeful.  "Kissu me?"     I smiled.  "Okay."     The girl set her teapot down and turned to face me.  When I leaned in to kiss her… she pulled me in tight!  I blushed hard as she wrapped her entire snout around my muzzle and held me in place.  Was she going to tongue-kiss me…?!  I got my answer almost immediately… as she blew into my mouth.  Hard.

    As I jerked away, sputtering and coughing, she just laughed and laughed…  Eventually, I started to smile, then I laughed a little.     "Well, now I can tell people you blew me…" I joked.     "Sate," my cell phone repeated in Japanese, "ima dewa anata ga watashi o fukitobashita koto o hitobito ni tsutaeru koto ga dekimasu."     My ears fell.  "God damn it…"  Luckily…     "Yū burō mai mainddo, bēbī!"     Riku just winked and fired "finger guns" at me before giggling.  Apparently, my app had translated that sentence as something like "you blow me away".  We both laughed, then, as my phone picked up her Engrish and tried to translate it into Japanese.  I had no idea how close it was, but again… she seemed amused.

    "Anyway…" I began anew, "I really like you, Riku."     She smiled as my phone translated for me.  "I like you, too, Joseph!" her phone helpfully answered.     "I'd like to spend more time with you… if– if that's okay?"     She blushed and squirmed when my phone finished.  Then, she nodded.     "Kissu?"     Her face brightened and she smiled.  "Kissu!"     I leaned in again before telling her, "No burō."     "No burō!" she giggled.     I smiled, then I scooted closer.  We held each other close as she shared another long kiss…  God, she was good at kissing.

    "Mm…"     I blushed, my ears flicking as the kiss ended.     "Reddoroketto?"     "Wh-what?"     Riku giggled and tried to hide her face… but she asked again, "R… reddoroketto?"     Oh… my god.  Was she… was she asking if…?  I shyly nodded… and she squirmed, giggling.  Then, she leaned over, whispering something in my ear that I'm not quite sure I heard correctly.  Unless I'm wrong, though… I swear… swear… she whispered in her cutest voice… "Hoonī foo yuū, bēbī…"     I… I froze.  When she noticed me freeze, though, she gently placed her hands on my cheeks and leaned in, softly rubbing noses with me.     "Riku wa bakada…  Rāvvu yū, Yozefu…" she said.  She grinned, then, leaning back and opening her arms their full length apart.  "Ai rāvvu yū chiiiiisu māchu!!"     I couldn't take it.  I immediately burst into laughter!  When she did, too, we both fell over and continued laughing for a while.  She could be so damn cute…

    "Man… I never thought I could have this much fun with someone I don't understand…"     "Nani o itta no ka wakarimasenga, totemo umakatta ni chigai arimasen!"     "Same…"     We chuckled as we cuddled a little more, just happy to be there with one another.  It didn't matter that we couldn't properly communicate.  Friendship was something that went beyond the boundaries of things like language.  So long as we could look into each other's eyes… so long as we could touch each other's arms… so long as we could be open, honest, and sometimes even affectionate… I'm pretty sure we understood each other perfectly.  That's… probably why we never did end up having sex.  I know…  That's probably really disappointing – especially after all the build-up and tension.  But you know what?  Sometimes, it's nice to have just made a friend.  Especially one that's as amazing as her…

    Riku apologized on the morning that I was heading back to the States.  She apologized… like… a lot.  She begged forgiveness in two languages, even!  It wasn't necessary, though…  I understood… dragon or not… she just… wasn't comfortable in big towns.  She was amazing, though…  Not just because she might've been a magical creature thought to be extinct or because she was so tall and beautiful… but because she was honest.  Because she was pure.  And… because she loved unconditionally.     "Dorīmu avvu me, bēbī?" she asked, only half-serious.  She could tell how sad I was…     "I'll dream of you every night, Riku…" I answered, unable to stop myself from crying.     "Rāvvu yū tsū, Yozefu…" she whispered back, pressing her forehead to mine.     "Love you, too, Riku…"  I hated making her cry…

    I left Kurama Village feeling morose.  I managed to avoid crying on the plane as I remembered the almost two weeks I'd spent with that warm, beautiful lady… visiting springs, shines, and small villages as we got to know each other.  It hurt, knowing I wouldn't be able to see her again until my next vacation.  But, well… as the universal saying goes…

    "Shouganai"…