#and i felt better after writing it

[starry-bi-sky]

The first time disciple Shen Yuan/Shen Qingqiu meets Liu Qingge, it is during a Bai Zhan peak raid. And what ends up happening is that Shen Qingqiu gets kicked in the jaw with such force he feels his teeth clack together unpleasantly. And frustrated with his situation, the system, and quite frankly a ton of other little things that have been building up over the course of the last few weeks, he feels something snap in the back of his mind like that of a rubber band after being stretched too far.

What ends up happening is that Shen Qingqiu turns and locks onto the very first figure he can see that is dressed in grey-and-white like a homing missile, and then with the force of a twin-tailed mountain tiger, lunges towards said figure with an equally menacing snarl.

He ends up taking the Bai Zhan peak disciple by utter surprise, and they both collide into the ground in a tangle of angry yelling and limbs. What ends up happening is that Liu Qingge gets the subsequent wind knocked out of him and pinned into the dirt by a Qing Jing peak disciple who is filled with the might and fury of a scholar having their peaceful afternoon interrupted and a once-grown-man re-experiencing puberty.

It is with that might and fury that Liu Qingge meets the wild, frenzied eyes of Shen Qingqiu, with his lips pulled back into a truly ferocious scowl. Shen Qingqiu hisses out, with such force it makes his voice rasp, as if he might as well sink his teeth into Liu Qingge's throat and rip it out; "Get the fuck off my mountain."

Liu Qingge is so shocked by -- well, quite a many things, but most importantly the fact that he has been pinned, and the way the sun is bouncing off this boy's face, -- that his brain needs five seconds to reboot. It's five seconds too long, because by the time he registers what just happened, Shen Yuan has clambered off him and disappeared. Gone and thrown himself into the closest dust cloud scuffling in order to unleash the rest of his fury on the other Bai Zhan Peak kids.

Qing Jing Peak experiences an unfortunate uptick in Bai Zhan disciple visits -- specifically of the Liu Qingge variety. Specifically Liu Qingge, actually. Who very much wants to find the boy that managed to get one over on him and demand a rematch. (Or maybe kiss him.)

[crabsnpersimmons]

Miss, it's time to go to bed. Are you on your phone again? Sleeping late will ruin your lovely skin. This is the final warning. If you don't fall asleep now, We are going to dance. - "잘자요 아가씨" by ASMRZ

found this song and i was possessed to draw @starriegalaxy's butler Eclipse dancing to it

(also i apologize in advance for my horrendous hiragana, hangul, and cursive)

Textless, effectless version under the cut!

[i-dare-say]

You know what I love about Binghe's character? His role in the story and the way it changes our perception of him through the narrative.

We first meet him as this poor boy and we, just like Shen Qingqiu, get swept by the image of the white lotus. He's a teenager, and we're told that at this age he didn't have any of the darkness that would reign over his life after the Abyss. We're only shown an obedient and sweet Luo Binghe. He is the "young and innocent protagonist".

But we know about his future. Shen Qingqiu tells us so many times that the Abyss will corrupt him irreversebly, that he will come back and take his revenge on the scum villain. The problem is that we see the story through Shen Qingqiu's point of view, he is our protagonist, making Binghe our villain. So we read about the disciple days with the constant thought that this boy will one day become the antagonist.

And see, there's a slight difference between villain and antagonist. A villain is perceived as someone with bad intentions, while an antagonist is just someone who opposes the protagonist.

When Luo Binghe comes back from the Abyss, he is both villain and antagonist. He goes against Shen Qingqiu (antagonist), and the story tells us he wants to kill him like the original PIDW (villain).

Then it's revealed that it may not be exactly like that. First, we're shown that Binghe has romantic feelings for Shen Qingqiu (which, yeah, it's obvious to everyone but him, but still), giving Binghe a new possible role in the story: love interest. This immediately reduces the perceived danger of his actions. It brings him closer, it makes him a safer character.

Yes, there are stories with villainous love interests that do horrible shit, but we're dealing with the most common way narratives treat this type of character: generally, the love interest is good. And so, the moment this role is put upon Luo Binghe by the narrative itself, it also influences the reader.

But Shen Qingqiu, and consequently we, don't lower our guard. Despite being the love interest now, we also know that Luo Binghe has conspired to take down his master and organized the sower plague. He's attacked Huan Hua Palace, killed Gongyi Xiao and many others, putting the blame on Shen Qingqiu. By the end of book 2 he's villain, antagonist and love interest.

But it all gets proven wrong. That almost everything that happened to Shen Qingqiu was not because of Luo Binghe. We discover that there are other villains in the shadows.

The sower plague and the the attack at Huan Hua Palace was caused by Tianlang-Jun and Zhuzhi-Lang. Qiu Haitang's involvement and Shen Qingqiu's imprisonment was one of the Old Palace Master's schemes. All of this destroys Binghe's role as villain and antagonist.

This is the moment Shen Qingqiu decides to trust Binghe, pushing the reader to do the same. Because he's just "love interest" now and by the standard conventions, he's good. We trust him to be. Shen Qingqiu himself starts to project onto him that same image of white lotus. Since our image of Luo Binghe was so bad previously, this makes it jump way higher. It lulls us into this much better perception of his character.

The Old Palace Master was a villain and he died, as villains are often destined to. The only obstacle remains Tianlang-Jun, who doesn't harm Shen Qingqiu because of Zhuzhi-Lang's wishes (not an antagonist), but also wants to merge the realms (villain).

So our protagonist and love interest move toward the action, the big battle against the final boss. The villains get defeated easily and after the truth of what happened to Su Xiyan, Tianlang-Jun gives up his plan. His role as villain ends there. But the story has more antagonists to reveal.

Luo Binghe has never stopped being one. The narrative only hid his real motivations and let him cover himself with the role of love interest. And at this moment, he drops the mask and lets all of his feelings out, everything he didn't tell Shen Qingqiu nor the readers. He becomes the final antagonist, the one we've had since the very beginning.

The thing that saves him is his status as love interest, because no, he's not the only one to blame for what is happening. There's Xin Mo, who has fed on his insecurities and negative feelings, and Shen Qingqiu himself. He is the one who has constantly pushed Binghe to the side, believing himself to do the right thing, first by giving Binghe his death and then by trying to keep him "protected" from his father.

In the end, Luo Binghe wasn't a villain. Shen Qingqiu was, and he dies. But since he's not a real villain, he's allowed to come back.

When everything is over, their story comes to an end. The narrative itself leaves them free, to be whoever they want to be.

[captainhysunstuff]

19 more images below the cut (WARNING: Some PG-13 saucy shenanigans ahead)

Part three of their date: an unconventional visit to a nearby alley so Light can clear his head and try to get to the point of the outing. The events lead him to becoming confident enough to move onto the next stage...

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Transcript

[brynnmclean]

saw a post questioning shipping Senua and Thórgestr and started to reblog it with a tag novel-- felt weird about doing that since this is lengthy and potentially derailing, so making my own post instead. Spitballing under the cut:

First off, any time someone is like, "the real reason people ship this is because they find the dude attractive," this is SO funny to me as someone who doesn't find men attractive IRL and has fiercely loved Senua since I played the first game, like-- actually I find the dynamic between those two characters to be compelling and interesting precisely because of all the baggage between them re: their backgrounds, the rough (put mildly!) beginning of their relationship, all the things they don't talk about, and them finding a common enemy/common ground to work with. The explicit parallels between them stated in-game scratched an itch in my brain. The minute they pointed out the dark rot on his arm, it was like, "oh! hello there! NOW I'm interested in whatever your whole deal is" for me. Also, idk man, I too would follow Senua around after she knocked me into the dirt and then showed me a way to fight the giants that I very much wanted to fight instead of appease.

The idea that Thórgestr was part of the Orkney Raid that killed and mutilated Dillion is VERY interesting food for thought, even if I don't personally have that headcanon (surely there are more viking raiding groups than just the Bjorg). I think the Furies or the Shadow said something similar about Fargrimr (his kin murdered yours, you shouldn't save him, etc.) so I completely get that line of thought, but I think the game left it ambiguous enough that it's up for interpretation. Would I read fic with that premise? Yeah, I'd check that out. Could Senua forgive Thorgestr if his people were involved? Sounds fun to explore.

If (ha, when?) I write fic, I'd have to think more about it especially wrt timelines, like when did the Bjorg start specifically raiding for slaves for giant food sacrifices vs. killing people for resources and wealth? How far off are we from the old gods "dying" and the volcano erupting? Was it indeed a different group of raiders who made a deal with Zynbel, attacked Senua's home, and made the sacrifice at that time to Hela?

At the very least, I think there's a time jump between the end of Hellblade I and the beginning of Hellblade II since Senua wasn't alone on that slave ship and at least one of the (brief) survivors knew her by name. I wouldn't mind exploring that gap of time, too.

In any case I do agree that it would take a VERY long time for Senua to consciously catch feelings for anyone let alone Thorgestr with all their collective baggage. The idea of them having a relationship beyond friendship in the far off future of an AU where he survives is the only one that can make sense in my brain, personally. It would take time! Time they didn't get in the game! But I think there are a lot of different roads that could take, and some of them might be healthier than others. Shipping them certainly isn't forgetting or excusing what happened to Dillion-- or even mutually exclusive from still shipping Senua and Dillion. Or, frankly, also shipping Senua and Astridr, because I can see that ship too.

One of the nice things about all the details Ninja Theory didn't expand upon and that they left that ending so open is that the sky's the limit. I'm VERY interested in seeing fandom tackle this game as we get farther from the initial release.

[annoyingcat413]

I got a friend who took an interest in me and I became interested in her after she talked to me, she’s shorter than me, writes things really beautifully, is more social than me

Me: omg this is so johnlock coded

[kaythefloppa]

Enough time has passed to where I think we can openly admit how WK has gone through seasonal rot within its previous 2 seasons and how the hype of Season 7 along with the generally positive reception is a really green flag for the show's quality.

[batsplat]

omgg i started following you because i loved your motogp posts and i did not expect to get emotionally attacked about my tennis fave like this. you've lit expressed everything ive felt abt tennis lately like daniil's return game has developed so well these last few years if only his shoulders were still functional he wld be soo unstoppable (i remember like last 2 year-ish when his serve suddenly went to shit and i was like wtf is going on?? but then it turned out his shoulders don' work anymore😭😭😭) ngl i did not expect him to make it to the ao finals this yr at all but then he did and i started getting hope again and then well uk what happened next... (i actually went to bed when he was up 2 sets because i alrdy had premonitions for what was abt to happen and i didnt need that experience twice 😭) anyways i finally quit watching the men's tour reguarly middle of this yr-ish because mostly because my biggest opp started winning big tournanments/slams consistently and i cld not take it anymore (part of why i got into motogp ig, i needed a new thing to fill in the hole)

also ur thing being having to be the chosen one in men's tennis is soo true but i wld argue it cld even be broadened down to being in the chosen generation... every 90s born player doomed to be seen as the weak links of the sport, both forever destined to be surpassed by those who came before and those who came after...

anyways mostly i also just wanted to thank you for writing all your super information motogp posts!! not only is ur writing style super informative/consistent, all the topics u've written abt feel super unique like i doubt i wld ever randomly stumble elsewhere. i'm not that good w/ words so idk how to fully express my appreciation, but your posts are the main reason i started delving into more past motogp races and interviews instead of just sticking to current ones which has 1000% made my experience of becoming a motogp fan more enjoyable!

🥺🥺 such a nice ask from a fellow sufferer... I actually tried to sleep in for the ao final and managed for like. maybe a set. it's so funny to have a whole fanbase quite literally begging their player not to go up two sets to love, zero hindsight needed I was HORRIFIED by that second set going his way... especially since I noticed the balance of play in the actual games had changed and meddy wasn't winning any return points anymore, just relying on an earlier break to seal that set iirc. and then I started going for increasingly desperate tactics to distract myself when the inevitable happened in the next three sets (including rewatching marc marquez: all in, it was rough man, like I get what you're saying about getting into motogp to escape because generally I too have fled to this sport whenever tennis has most been pissing me off)

and obviously that final was very trauma flashbacks to my definitive sports trauma, a match I'm STILL not over and at this rate have accepted I'll be miserable about until the day I die. but this time I couldn't even BLAME him because it was an insane effort to even get to the final, he'd done such a fantastic job given his tennis really wasn't there at the start of the tournament, he just kept figuring out ways to win... the hurkacz match where he basically ran out of fuel in the fourth, that crazy semifinal where he just refused to know when he was beaten, and then taking two sets off sinner in that final!! the resilience and the grit but also the tactical acumen, like my god when he blindsided hurkacz by radically altering his return position RIGHT AFTER doing that post-match back-and-forth with courier where he explained in detail why he favoured his regular return position. the cleverness and the bravery he showed in clutch points in that semi, something that zverev is completely incapable of (monte carlo 2023 still lives rent free lol), like the psychology of that match slapped. how he took it so sinner, completely caught him off guard by mixing up his game, and it was WORKING. really managed to change the dynamic of that match up... he lost that match first and foremost in his legs. just so cruel after everything. we had the guy who easily disposed of an admittedly rubbish djokovic in the semis on the ropes. and it still. was. not. fucking. enough. one of the best slam final runs in recent memory and it still wasn't enough!! he's already far outperformed what he SHOULD have been capable of in his career and somehow he keeps developing a game style which should have plateaued ages ago and I have so much respect for the work him and gilles have done post-2022... and he really should have more to show for it

anyway yeah I remember the serve decline in 2022, back when I was really in the weeds with analysing meddy's game. and that was also the year it felt like his legs completely deserted him. his deciding set record that year was horrific after ao, very rarely even got it that far win or lose and when he did so almost always lost (karatsev was cramping, let's not talk about the other third set win)

scorelines from the tour finals genuine miracle i did not throw myself into the sea

only one four set match post-ao and he also lost that, incidentally. and obviously that was partly because his brain was fucked, BUT I also wondered whether it was the aftereffects of the hernia operation that year affecting both the physicality and the serve. and I can't remember if he confirmed that anywhere but the theory's certainly cottoned on to help explain the serve decline, even if his endurance obviously has massively improved again. and then add in the shoulder... it's so brutal because it used to be such a key pillar to his game, like the whole magic was tied together by being able to whizz through his own service games while making his opponent's return games hellish

and like,, the thing I really admire about him is that there was a period in 2022 where it did feel like he'd been 'figured out', like there was increasingly a game plan that could be used against him. serve and volley, etc etc. but to some extent, he's managed to resist just being written off when facing elite competition BECAUSE he keeps coming up with ways to throw his opponents off-balance. what he's been doing this year, for all that it hasn't gotten him great results, has been so much fun to watch - really reminded me of his summer/autumn 2019 stretch where he'd played so much he should've constantly been at risk of keeling over of exhaustion but adapted to it by just becoming a completely different player. wawrinka uso 2019 match still goes crazyyyy, one of his most underrated performances. serve and volley in the uso 2019 final I wanna run to u. it's such a wonderfully unique game that's frankensteining all these unique parts together that all sort of shouldn't work but all sort of do, harnessed and constantly reinvented by (let's face it) the smartest top player currently in the game. and it really does piss me off that he hasn't been rewarded more. he's been the best of the rest since 2019, he's absolutely maximised his game for someone who doesn't have that stratospheric big three-level of talent and I WANT it to actually matter. but men's tennis will always see talent triumphing over guile I fear, and meddy has consistently been a victim of poor timing

and yeah, the generational aspect is true, where the entire ''''''''nextgen''''''''' cohort has essentially been doomed - partly because they just weren't good enough, but partly because they arrived at just the right time window to still be thoroughly traumatised by the big three without getting any kind of a break before the next super talents showed up. until 2022 I really did naively believe we were getting a chaos era of SOME kind until that decrepit spanish ghoul showed up in australia to trample all over my soul and give me depression, and then immediately another bloody spaniard started going at it. how can you not be a little bit bitter that alcaraz got to swan to his first slam title without having to face a single member of the big three? idk man like sometimes it really is the magic of sports that the anointed few don't just have talent on their side, they are also fantastically lucky. you see it with how the big three all secured their first slams... things just seem to work out somehow. infuriating and existentially horrifying

anyway. lol. as you can see I do always have a tennis rant in me. will always be a major part of my life, obviously something I have a far far better understanding of than any other sport, still keep up with the women's game fairly closely... where icl it helps that the players I'm most invested in have dropped off SO badly this year, partly due to injury, that I can merrily ignore their existence. plus, and this bit is crucial, I don't loathe the players who actually win things. so I'm in a happy place where I just enjoy the sport and (if anything) want Certain top players to do better than they currently are... but also don't lose any sleep over the results. like, have I been massively frustrated with iga this year? yes, but it's also not made me stare at a wall for five hours. also, it's just been a way better product than this predictable basher servebot shit from the men. women's wimbledon semi day THE best tennis day of the year, prove me wrong. they've had actual classic matches, which the men have been noticeably short on. just sort of been an odd season for the men, with djokovic shrivelling and alcaraz patchy outside of two slams and sinner doing his whole 'I'm not a cardboard cut out I'm a REAL boy' routine on his way to fifty hard court titles and everyone else irrelevant. as I've already said... it's fine. whatever. hope the sport enjoys fifty thousand alcaraz/sinner slam wins as the earth keeps turning around the sun and eventually we all turn to dust. it's fine

and seriously, thank you for everything in the ask... always happy to hear I've made someone's fan experience like. better. and that I add something a little bit different to the mix lol, also literally no compliment I like to read more than anything to do with my actual writing. because this ask was so lovely, here's my personal favourite moment as a tennis fan this year:

still think that australian open title should be restored to us

[theflyingfeeling]

...😭

[queenofbaws]

there are already roughly a million posts like this already circulating, but man. just. sometimes you really do have to step away from something you're working on and come back to it later.

creative buds, please. please. no one is worse at taking my advice than i am, believe me, but seriously, if you've been feeling down or frustrated or stumped with something you've been working on lately, take this as your sign to maybe take a little break. a week, a month, whatever. you've been looking at it too long, you've read it too many times, you've erased that same line so many times you've lost count - you need to come back to it with a rested brain and fresh eyes.

however rough it feels to you now, i promise, promise, promise that it'll feel so much better after a little distance. <3

[brisquad-unit-4402]

Congrants on the 100 followers 4402!!! You deserve much more for your amazing writing<3

For the event, can i request 28. princess carry with ikey? If im not wrong, he already said he likes being carried like a princess!!

So maybe after a day out w him he starts complaining about how his feet hurt from wearing heels for such a long time and reader just starts carrying him like the princess he is

thank you for the compliment, i appreciate it!

kyaaaa… does anyone else’s heart lurch and jump and do a sick dance move when they think about being swept off their feet and carried like a princess or is it just me… i’m doing research, like, totally…!

tags: established relationship, fluff, gender neutral reader

#100 followers for 4402 - 28. princess carry

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

“Isn’t it beautiful?” You hold Ike’s hand within your own as the ocean waves lap along the shore. It’s a peaceful beach, with sloping sands and sprouted grass right where you stand, dividing the sand and the stable dirt under your feet. “I discovered it a while ago. It’s hard to find, so people don’t usually visit here, even though it’s so calm. It’s for just the two of us.”

“It is. I love it,” Ike says. He looks contented, but his eyes drift to his shoes. “It’s just that, when you said we were going to the beach, I thought you meant the side with the boardwalk.”

“Oh. Right.” You forgot. Ike usually wears boots with a high heel. Stilettos and sand are sworn enemies.

“Um, don’t worry! I’ll figure something out.”

“But how? You’ll sink.”

“Yeah… You have a point, I guess.” He sours. “My feet kind of hurt from all the walking, too.”

“They do?”

“It’s fine. I’ll manage.”

“But I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“It’s not the first time, and definitely won’t be the last. I’m used to it. It’s not that bad after so long, but still, the sand is going to be a problem – aah!”

Ike’s thought gets cut off as you squat, swing your arm under his legs, and gather him all up in a bundle. In his surprise, he grabbed the first thing his hands landed on – your shoulder – and your hands support him as you hold him gingerly.

He sputters, so small in your arms. “R-Reader! What are you – did you seriously just –“

“You said it yourself, the sand’s a problem, right?”

You readjust. Ike clings to your neck as he bounces once in your grasp, and shoves his head along your shoulder and out of sight. “How can you even carry me?”

You step forward to where the beach starts with a playful grin. “I’m much stronger than I look.”

Your shoes meet the doughy sand at a lower level than the grass. A short breath frosts down the scruff of your neck while you jump down and Ike buries himself closer to you. Out of the corner of your eye, you can see his ears glow red between the gold earrings.

“Look at me, princess?”

Ike shoots up at the pet name, and sure enough, the rest of his face glows in the same blush all the way down to his neck. He doesn’t even want to fight how that name runs straight through his veins and into his heart. He’s too set in your arms to resist.

He melts like a sigh as you hold him higher. Ike tastes like ocean against your lips.

The sticky, salty air glues his mouth to yours for a blink longer than intended. “Let me treat you like royalty,” you murmur.

Ike nods, transfixed.

For Ike, you are eternal. Your face is every reflection off the bubbling sea and every sparkle shed by the sun. To be held like this is enough. The kiss is enough. You are enough. The minutes pass but the world is stuck in a selfish pause, and he replays all your love on loop.

For you, he is loyal and love, and you know he is too precious to last another moment like this. The second goes by. You let it go.

So you hoot and holler, the quiet broken, and he squeaks in response as you run along the shore. “Incoming, please make way for Your Royal Highness, the lovely Princess Ike!”

Your princess cracks into songbird chirps and a red-faced smile. “What are you doing, there’s no one around!”

“Sorry, can’t hear you, too busy spreading the good word of my beloved princess.” You stop to stare at the ocean. The seafoam rises and falls flat against itself, and rustles out the music of the waves as the whitewater dies out on the wet sand. “YO, OCEAN, YOU’RE NOTHING COMPARED TO MY IKEY!”

You spin around, and his earrings swing with the motion. Ike squeals. The sea breeze picks up a spray of water that flicks against your faces, but his laughter is high-pitched and uncontrollable, and persists even when the saltwater gets in his mouth.

Bubbly like the ocean backdrop, but he’s far more breathtaking than the beach could ever be. Especially at this angle, where his eyes can barely stay open because he’s smiling so wide, and the tousled ends of his hair matches the bottle-blue waves behind him, and he is so close that his giggles breathe life back at you. Your hands are flush along his back where they belong. The sandy grasp treasures the tide.

[the-busy-ghost]

Me normally: Let people love what they love

Me, after a Test Match Special commentator expresses their belief that the new All Creatures Great and Small is somehow "better" than the 1978 version: This is pure insanity and TMS can no longer be trusted on anything, how can they even be trusted to know about cricket, do they have no TASTE

[thevegetablewhichnoonedaresname]

I'm starting Mission to Zyxx Season 5 now, and I have feelings about that.

First, it generally scares me when people hype anything up at all because there is no guarantee that anyone values the exact same thing I do to the same degree. Even if I trust the creators of a thing to value something and try to do right by it, that doesn't always necessarily mean it will be successful, especially if that involves doing something wildly different than what made it good in the first place (I have been burned this way before). I guess I'm just hoping they continue the format of goofy improv shenanigans for the majority of it with something more planned and emotional in the finale if they want, like they've been doing all along. I'd think they would, and I've heard nothing bad about the ending, but I guess it still makes me nervous because I'm so close to the end and I want it so badly to stick the landing. I'm setting my expectations on the floor so I can be surprised instead of disappointed, but honestly, I don't need it to be better, I just need it to be on par with the rest.

Second, and more briefly, I'm happy it's (hopefully) ending before it has a chance to decline. I am so on board with that philosophy. But on the other hand, finishing a thing that I really, really like and knowing there's not another one out there gives me a special kind of heartache. Like, I know there will be other good media, and stuff that's good and unique in other ways, but I know for a fact that there are no other podcasts out there that have the same mix of a balance of off-the-wall improv and structured narrative, quality comedy, fantastical sci-fi setting and loveable characters, and high quality production. There are other things out there with many of those qualities, but nothing that checks every one of those boxes. It's a lightning-in-a-bottle thing that very much feels like the right people had to be in the right place at the right time to do it. Attempts to do it again would feel hollow because it had to be born out of necessity and passion and the talents of the people involved, so if you switch out the people it loses the reasons it's great, and if the same people tried to do it again it'd feel tired. That makes me so, so grateful it exists, but also so, so sad that it doesn't, and I'm 80% of the way done. When it's over, it's over.

Anyway. Now that that's all out there, I'm just gonna finish listening and have fun. Wish me luck.

[kaidanalenkosprmanager]

THE BEST OF PRIORITY: SUR'KESH

Featuring: Cmdr. Sophie Shepard, Lt. James Vega, EDI, and Urdnot Wrex With: Lt. Steve Cortez, Dr. Mordin Solus, Major Kirrahe, and Urdnot Bakara And a Special Guest Appearance by: Adm. Steven Hackett Alliance R&D has officially begun construction on the Prothean device. The team has dubbed it: "Project Crucible". We're throwing everybody who knows how to throw a hammer at it. This is gonna be the most ambitious undertaking in human history. I'm not saying it won't be a challenge- but we can do this, Shepard. You can do this. Never doubt that. Mass Effect 3: Legendary Edition (2021)

+BONUS (the smirk™️)

[zmzebra-writes]

Title: The Wrong Amagi Wedding Chapters: 3/? (start, previous) Genre: Comedy Summary: After being invited to their father's second marriage, Rinne and Hiiro find themselves having to temporarily return to the village. Not wanting their friends to be alone, the rest of Crazy:B and Alkaloid join them on their journey back, but these "city folks" might not be the only ones learning something new during this visit.

In this chapter.... The hike towards the village continues! Follow Alkakurei as they traverses the trees and rivers, meet old friends, and take their first steps into the village.

CW for vulgar jokes. Nothing cruel, just a tad dirty.

They were about half-way to the village when Rinne decided to stop for lunch. He had been pointing out edible plants for Niki to snack on, but everyone else wanted to eat a proper meal. It was around lunchtime anyways.

“On the other side of the river,” called out Rinne, “There’s a good space for us to have a picnic. Is everyone confident in their balancing abilities?”

Everyone made noises of agreement, but Aira and Mayoi looked unsure. 

“What do you mean by that, Rinne?” asked Aira.

Rinne held up two fingers. “If you don’t want to get wet, there are only two ways to cross the river to the village: balancing on an old fallen log or balancing on some high river rocks.”

Rinne gave a sly grin. “Unless you want me to test how far I can throw you, Aira-chan~...”

Aira squeaked and rapidly rejected the idea. 

“Kyahaha! Don’t worry, it’s not that bad,” reassured Rinne, “The water isn’t that deep or strong at this part of the river. If you’re nervous, you can walk on through.”

“Really?”

“Yeah! You’ll just freeze your nuts off instead!”

Aira’s face scrunched up. “...I think I’ll take the log.”

Rinne whistled and skipped ahead. “Rotting log it is!”

“Huh?? What do you mean rotting??”

Mayoi looked sick as he watched Aira chase after Rinne. “... I think I’ll just let the river take my balls.”

Tatsumi gave a look of concern. “But your balls are so lovely, Mayoi. It would be a loss for the world.”

“Tatsumi?!” shrieked Mayoi.

Tatsumi giggled. “Kidding~! Just a joke.”

“You are disgusting, Kazehaya,” said HiMERU as he pushed himself ahead of everyone.

“Aw, HiMERU, your balls are cute too~...” 

HiMERU turned around to murder Tatsumi for uttering such slander.

“Can we please stop talking about balls?!!” yelled Kohaku, thoroughly done with his seniors.

“Yeah! Don’t worry, Mayoi,” said Hiiro, aiming to be a beacon of comfort today, “You’ll still have your balls after crossing the river! It’s just cold.”

“Not helping, Hiiro!” There was no refuge for Kohaku.

“Hey are you guys done talking about your balls or are we going to cross this log?” yelled back Rinne, “Aira’s too much of a pussy to go first so Kohaku you need to get over here and hold his hand.”

“Brother, can’t I hold hands with Aira?” asked Hiiro.

“Nah, there’s only so much this old log can handle at a time, but you can go first and help them off the log.”

“On it!” Hiiro zoomed forward, crossing the log with light, deft steps. He leapt off, and started waving from the opposite bank.

“Come on, Aira! It’s perfectly safe!”

Aira still felt nervous, but Kohaku came up from behind and grabbed his hand. 

“Don’t worry, Love-han. I’ll be right behind and keep you from falling,” said Kohaku. 

Aira smiled.

“OK now chop chop, loverboys, get moving,” said Rinne, “We still have a lot more people to get through.”

Kohaku glared at Rinne, but let Aira lead him to the log bridge. Slowly, but surely, they made it to the other side where Hiiro helped them down.

Next was Niki, then HiMERU, and lastly Tatsumi, until only Rinne and Mayoi remained.

“Alright, Mayo-chan~, you’re up.”

Mayoi began to fidget. “... I really think I should just take the river.”

Rinne swooped down and lifted up Mayoi in a single, quick movement. Mayoi squeaked. 

“Come on, scaredy cat. If this ol’ log can hold up a fatass like Niki, it can hold up your flat ass. Unless you want to see if it can handle both our weights at once when I carry you across…”

Rinne held Mayoi so he was barely standing on the log before letting go. Mayoi quickly and gracefully crossed the log in one fell swoop. 

“Now that wasn’t so hard, was it?” Rinne followed behind on the log at a relaxed pace. 

Niki greeted him on the landing. “So lunchtime? You have the cooler, right?”

“Am I only a piece of meat to you, Niki?”

“Nyahaha, of course not, Rinne. You contain many different types of foods. Now open up!”

Rinne grumbled, but unzipped his bag. “A ‘please’ would be nice…”

He looked up at Kohaku. “Do you still have that messenger bag of snacks, Kohaku?”

Kohaku huffed at the obvious as the bag rested in front of him. 

“Are you an idiot, Rinne?” he said as he opened the bag, “Obviously I still have the— huh?”

Kohaku took off the bag and shook out a pile of trash. Only a few of them still contained food or drink. “Where did it… Niki!”

Niki carefully slinked out of sight. Kohaku dropped his luggage to increase his speed as he moved in for the kill. The rest of the group began setting up for lunch as Niki ran for his life.

A few minutes later, a sudden thud and shriek from Niki and Kohaku had Rinne dropping the sandwiches he was taking out of his bag and swiping his knife. Both Amagis hopped to action, running towards the sound of the shouts. 

Niki was sitting on the ground behind Kohaku who stood on the defense. In front of them stood a large beast in the shadows of the trees. Its massive flat face was only rivaled by the size of its soaring humpback. Smoke appeared to surround the beast, hiding its features as it breathed heavily. 

“Rinne, what is that thing?” asked Kohaku, unsure of whether his fists would be enough to take the monster down. 

“Stay still, Kohaku,” said Rinne as he creeped closer to the beast with a hand out to tell Hiiro to pause, “We don’t want to set it off.”

A low rumbling came from the beast as it scraped the ground with its wide hoof. 

“Easy, fella, easy,” said Rinne. He had a bet on what this mystery animal was, but he needed to take a risk to let everything end peacefully, “Don’t you recognize me?”

The beast huffed as more smoke billowed through the trees. Hiiro and Kohaku tensed up. Rinne was now only a foot away from the being. He held out a hand for it to sniff, his knife stored secretly in his back pocket. 

“I know it’s been years, but do you remember? The apple from that time.”

The beast stilled. The ever growing smoke began to thin to everyone’s relief. The beast moved into the light to press its face into Rinne’s outstretched hand.

Niki and Kohaku looked shocked at the sight of the now clearly visible strange creature. 

Hiiro’s eyes lit up in recognition and he tensed up to attack. “Volcano bison! You returned to destroy us!”

“Calm down, Hiiro,” replied Rinne as he patted Volcano Bison, “I’m friends with it. I think Volcano Bison was just curious.”

“Rinne, what the hell is that?” asked Kohaku with a slightly horrified look. The beast appeared to break several laws of existence with its large eyes and what appeared to be smoke coming from the peak on its back.

“It’s just Volcano Bison, Kohaku. It’s not that complicated.”

“It is Incredibly complicated, Rinne! Niki, back me up here.”

Kohaku turned to look at Niki who was ignoring the conversation in favor of observing the newly revealed creature. “Hmmm… I wonder how it would taste… Since it’s friends with Rinne, we probably won’t be allowed to eat it, but still…”

Kohaku’s face dropped for a moment until he recovered with a face palm. “Right. I don’t know what I expected.”

Rinne moved to the side to introduce his new friends to Volcano Bison. “That over there is Hiiro, my younger brother who I told you about. The pink shorty is Kohaku, and the guy on the ground is Niki, my wife.”

This caught Niki’s attention. “I’m not your wife, Rinne!”

“Can we not argue in front of my friends, Niki?”

Volcano Bison let out a low rumble (that Kohaku pretended he did not jump at) before appearing to bow its head. In a way. It didn’t particularly seem to have a visible neck or bendable knees which made it rather unsettling to watch.

“Any friend of my brother is a friend of mine,” said Hiiro with a smile.

“We were about to stop for lunch, if you would like to join us, Volcano Bison,” offered Rinne. He had packed a few apples for this exact possibility.

Volcano Bison smiled with its eyes and nodded.

“Follow us then!” 

Niki used Kohaku (against his will) to stand up, and together they watched the beast gallump after the two brothers. 

“Please tell me you think this is weird too, Niki,” begged Kohaku.

“Maybe a little, but this is a big world we live in Kohaku,” responded Niki before following after them.

Kohaku stared at their disappearing backs. He huffed. 

“HiMERU and Love-han wouldn’t treat me this way,” he said before walking back to the picnic site.

Thankfully for Kohaku, the rest of the group seemed correctly shocked by the beast joining them for lunch. The apple Rinne passed to it appeared to somehow be eaten in one gulp like a :3-faced toucan. Kohaku and Aira pretended they weren’t hiding behind HiMERU and Tatsumi as Volcano Bison stared directly at them. Mayoi also hid behind Tatsumi, but he didn’t try to hide it. It made for a very surreal picnic.

Later, as they were cleaning up, Rinne passed it another fruit before speaking quietly to it. “If anything happens in the village, I want you to cause a diversion and get as many of them out as fast as possible. I’ll call you if I need you.”

Volcano Bison nodded.

Rinne smiled and patted his old friend on the back. “Thanks.”

The Amagis waved goodbye as Volcano Bison disappeared back into the woods in a cloud of smoke. Kohaku, HiMERU, and Aira wondered if some of those road trips snacks had been laced with something.

The rest of the hike to the village was quiet until: “Oh be careful of the twine there,” warned Rinne as HiMERU paused his gait. On the ground was a thin piece of string tied across the path.

“Thank you for the warning, Amagi,” said HiMERU as he and the rest of the party carefully stepped over it.

“No problem,” waved off Rinne.

“What would have happened if the trap went off?” asked Aira.

“A bunch of arrows would get set off and kill MERUMERU instantly,” said Rinne as he glanced around the trees.

Aira went pale, but now was Hiiro’s time to shine: “That’s not true! That trap only lets the village know that someone is walking down the path towards us,” he explained.

Rinne booed him. “Why’d you have to ruin the joke so quickly, Hiiro? Let your little girlfriend hop around worried for a bit first.”

“But the arrow traps aren’t on this path, brother!” said Hiiro, “I don’t want to lie to Aira.”

Aira frowned, but Tatsumi patted him on the back in reassurance. “Don’t worry, Aira. If any arrows come towards you, I’ll protect you from the arrows with my life.”

“Tattsun?!” 

“HiMERU will help Kazehaya if the event occurs,” said HiMERU as he walked towards the front again.

Rinne hit HiMERU on the back. “That’s the spirit, MERUMERU. Glad to see you getting along with Tatsumi.”

HiMERU frowned as Tatsumi smiled.

Rinne looked up at a tree and smiled as his eye caught a glint of metal in the light. “Hey, Hiiro, do you want to do the honors in letting everyone know we’re here?”

Hiiro lit up as he rushed over to climb up a nearby tree and pull on a similar looking piece of string.

“Hey, Rinne?” asked Kohaku, “So what’s the difference between that trap and the one your brother is setting off?”

Rinne turned back to look at Kohaku. “Hm? The one Hiiro is setting off is the hidden village doorbell so that no one thinks a sneak attack is happening. That one MERU was going to set off is the stupid loser doorbell because only the ones not in the know or not paying attention set it off. I think Hiiro set it off once and no one let him live it down for a month.”

“I see,” replied Kohaku, thinking of his own family’s secrets.

Hiiro climbed back down the tree. “Hey guys, what are we talking about?”

Kohaku looked at Hiiro’s bright eyes and decided to spare him. “Oh we were just talking about the different traps on this path.”

“Yeah! We got a lot of them around here to do all sorts of things,” said Hiiro, “My brother is well versed in a lot of them since he set most of them off when we were kids.”

“Oh really?” said Kohaku with a cat’s grin. 

Rinne sped up his walking to race ahead. “Wow! Look at how close we are to the village. We should be hitting the village border any second—”

The more observant of the group spotted a blur racing towards them. “Rinne, look out!” called out Kohaku as he realized the attacker’s target. Rinne braced himself as he stood alone on the forest path, the rest of the group farther behind.

“I was wondering when you were going to show up,” said Rinne through gritted teeth.

The attacker dove for Rinne, starting a brief brawl as the two fought using moves Kohaku had never seen before. Kohaku and Hiiro raced towards Rinne, but they were too late, and soon Rinne was taken down by what appeared to be a large woman with short red hair in blue and tan clothing. 

“Hiiro,” she said flatly, and that was all the warning they got before she attacked once more.

This time, however, Kohaku was close enough to lend his aid. The two of them worked hard to down this strange opponent, but somehow Kohaku kept finding all his moves to kill swiftly disarmed. It was worse than fighting Madara, who had a tendency to enjoy preventing Kohaku from actually connecting any hits over fighting back. In the end, Kohaku and Hiiro found themselves both hanging upside down, one in each hand, as the woman wrangled the two teenagers at once.

The rest of the party caught up and stared in horror as they found themselves helpless against their surprise opponent. 

Aira looked at Hiiro’s serious eyes, but found himself confused by his friend’s smile.

Why was he…?

“Haha! You got me again, father!” laughed Hiiro as he swung himself in the woman’s grasp.

“FATHER?!?” yelled the rest of the party.

“You must be the friends Rinne spoke of,” the woman said, continuing to hold Kohaku and Hiiro by their ankles, “He spoke very highly of all of you.”

A distant voice called out ahead from where the woman came from. “Leader! Leader!” an out of breath voice cried out, “You are supposed to be resting!”

Rinne groaned from where he lay on the ground. “Even while sick, you are still causing trouble, old man,” he grumbled to himself.

Rinne sat up and leveled his father with a flat stare as the villager came closer to them. “Can you put down Kohaku and Hiiro, father? Kohaku’s hair is going to turn red from all his blood rushing down and you’ll confuse him for another Amagi.”

The elder Amagi let go of her opponents. Hiiro tumbled down quietly while Kohaku yelped before both landed softly, used to breaking their falls. Aira rushed forward to their sides and grabbed their wrists. He dragged them both back to stand behind Tatsumi. Kohaku glared while Hiiro smiled. His father cocked her head at the sight, but paid them little mind.

“Hey,” called out Rinne, pulling her attention back to him, “Aren’t duel greetings reserved for martial arts students?”

“You will always be my student, and there will always be more to learn. I needed to see if your skills have rusted in your absence,” she stated.

“Just admit you wanted to take a swing at me and Hiiro after all this time,” said Rinne as he glared upwards at his father.

She pointedly looked away from Rinne towards the oncoming aide. The woman huffed as she bent her head forward in deference. “Sir, I apologize for cutting your reunion short with your sons, but you must spend more time saving your strength for the wedding.”

“It is traditional for the monarch to greet guests to the village before they arrive, Ayasato,” she said.

“It is traditional with a team of bodyguards present, sir,” the aide emphasized, “We had a welcoming team prepared to meet them in your absence led by your wife to be.”

“I deemed them unnecessary. As the only main branch Amagi remaining in the village, I deemed it necessary for myself to be the one to greet these outsiders.”

Ayasato’s face remained blank to avoid showing her true feelings on the matter, but Rinne frowned at his father’s intentional dig.

“Now are we going to stand here all day or shall we return to the village?” their father asked, “We’ve prepared a big dinner for you all tonight, and we have much to explain to you about the rules during your stay here.”

Ayasato bowed. “Lead the way, sir.”

The senior Amagi began walking back towards the village. Ayasato leaned down and offered a hand to Rinne. “It’s good to have you back, sir.”

He ignored it and stood up on his own. “Keep the fake praise to yourself.”

Ayasato frowned, but nodded before she turned to the rest of the party. “Everyone, follow us and I will inform everyone of our basic rules as we walk to the village center.”

With no other path, but forward, the idols followed them deeper into the forest.

[acheronist]

giving myself a solid B+ grade overall for this month's apprentice tattooing event...... i did more last-minute appointments this time so instead of my scheduled 15, i ended up doing about 18 tattoos in total over three afternoons, and i only started getting clumsy and really mean to myself during the last three appointments on the last day. so that's pretty good i think????