#and in the case of dao it just refuses to run at all

[hungee-boy]

more evidence that datv is the new mea is that i feel nostalgia for the past games but when i boot them up i get so bored with combat that i quit and go back to datv

[robininthelabyrinth]

For a prompt how about a scenario where against all odds Nie Huaisang is able to inherit Baxia (maybe it wants revenge for NMJ too?)

After all the funeral necessities are done, Lan Xichen and Jin Guangyao reluctantly depart – each one having pledged their full support in helping Nie Huaisang hold off any threat to his inheritance of his brother’s position, and in helping him run his sect afterwards, and all of that, but of course they have their own sects to tend to; they can’t stay at the Unclean Realm all the time.

Nie Huaisang remained.

He wasn’t alone – no sect leader, presumptive or otherwise, ever was, surrounded by disciples and retainers and petitioners – but it very much felt as though he was, as if there was a window between him and the world that couldn’t be broken no matter what.

There wasn’t a scratch on him, but everyone in Qinghe treated him like he was walking wounded.

It was better that way, he thought numbly, better than Jin Guangyao’s poisonous smiles, meant to comfort, or Lan Xichen’s self-centered attempts to ease Nie Huaisang’s grief by taking steps to ease his own, suggesting seclusion and meditation and gentle music as if Nie Huaisang had ever cared about any of that. If he had to hear one more thing about how his brother’s too-early demise was just the way things sometimes happened, the mysterious ways of the heavenly dao, and out of the mouths of the men that murdered him –

He’d do nothing, of course. He couldn’t do anything about it – he was too useless, a good-for-nothing just like his brother always worried he’d be; his brother who had always wanted the best for him, who’d warned him that if he didn’t take care and make himself strong, he might one day be lack the ability to do what he wanted…

Nie Huaisang had scoffed at the thought, back then. Back then, as far as he was concerned, his only desires were for a bit of peace and quiet, some pretty things, fans and paintings, brushes and books, and absent a complete collapse of the Nie sect, he’d always be able to get those. And if that was the case, why did he have to be strong? What could he possibly want that he’d need strength to get?

It’d never occurred to him that what he’d want was revenge.

Revenge needed strength.

He didn’t have strength, so he’d have to substitute it with time. His brother had once tried to explain saber training to him that way: yes, it was repetitive, yes, it seemed pointless, yes, all yes, but it was a trade with the future. Each minute of training was capital, built up from your sweat and exertion, and with that capital you could in the future afford that little extra burst of strength, that extra hour of endurance, that might mean the difference between life and death.

The cost of strength was time. He’d spent his younger years living free and easy, thinking his brother would always be there for him, leaving him without the strength he needed to avenge him, and the cost of his youthful arrogance would be the next ten years of his life, if not more.

It would take at least that, if he wanted to destroy the men who killed his brother.

And he would. All of them, without fail.

Jin Guangshan, who’d instigated it, would be easy enough to bring down. Nie Huaisang had money, if nothing else, and Qinghe had plenty of prostitutes who wanted better lives for their bastard sons – it’d be a matter of nothing to pay one of them to pack up and move to Lanling, to get Jin Guangshan’s attention, to get him talking on the matter of children…to instigate him to say something unforgivable about Meng Yao’s mother, who had always been his reverse scale; after that, he could just step back and wait for the consequences to fall where they would, to let Jin Guangyao do the dirty work for him the way he’d done it for Jin Guangshan.

(The prostitute’s child would be given a new name and a position as a Nie sect disciple, very prestigious, a proper young master. Every day, Nie Huaisang would look at him and he would think of Meng Yao trapped in the brothel dreaming of exactly that sort of rescue and he would smile, because the man who murdered his brother deserved nothing from him, not even sympathy for the unfortunate child he’d once been.)

But Lan Xichen and Jin Guangyao – that would take time.

Jin Guangyao had a tongue made of silver, capable of turning every situation to his benefit by saying exactly the right thing; Nie Huaisang would need to find solid evidence of his wrongdoing if he was to destroy his life. That would take time, time and patience, years of needing to pretend that nothing was the matter, that he relied on him, that he needed him, that he didn’t see the way Jin Guangyao’s lips curled with sick smug satisfaction as he played the role of older brother that should have been Nie Mingjue’s.

He didn’t need to worry about bringing down Lan Xichen, who valued righteousness but couldn’t recognize it when it stood before him; destroying Jin Guangyao would destroy him, too, and all the better if he realized too late that he would be one of the hands that pushed Jin Guangyao to his demise, just as he’d pushed Nie Mingjue to his.

They would see if all of his seclusion and meditation and gentle music helped him with his grief then.

It would be long and it would be painful and it would have to be that way because he wasn’t strong enough.

Thinking grim thoughts, he walked to his brother’s bedroom, thinking only of seeking some comfort on his sheets before they, too, forgot the smell and weight of him, and that’s when he saw her.

Baxia.

Nie Huaisang’s hand automatically fell to his waist, where his little-used saber still hung in some belated attempt to appease his brother’s spirit – not that Aituan was ever going to be any protection against Baxia. Especially now: she should be safely in his brother’s tomb, placed there like all the other sabers that had lost their masters to fight against fierce corpses for the rest of eternity instead of finding her way out into the world where she would fight against evil no matter what its form. Saber spirits didn’t discriminate: living or dead, evil petty or major, it was all the same to them, and that was what made them so dangerous.

As sect leader, it was Nie Huaisang’s duty to tend to the masterless sabers, something Jin Guangyao foolishly thought meant tomb maintenance and which Nie Huaisang knew meant keeping them from hurting people. That had been the duty the other Nie sect disciples had worried that Nie Huaisang would be unable to perform, and in his heart he’d doubted it, too, but he’d thought it didn’t matter – the masterless sabers hadn’t gotten out in years.

Baxia –

Baxia shouldn’t be here. She shouldn’t be floating in the center of Nie Mingjue’s bedroom, her blade having a dull red shine from all the blood she’d drunk over the years in his hand; she shouldn’t look as if she were keeping a vigil, waiting for her master to return when he never would.

Aituan vibrated under Nie Huaisang’s hand. It wasn’t lust for a battle (Aituan wasn’t the type), but rather almost – an echo.

Sympathy.

Family lore said that saber spirits didn’t understand compassion. And yet, Nie Huaisang would swear that that was what it was: an echo of pain made in understanding, a sharing of loss.

His fingers released Aituan’s hilt.

“Baxia,” he said, his voice breaking – too raspy from all the tears he’d wept, pained from the rage he’d swallowed down. Heedless of his own safety, he stepped forward. “Baxia…they killed him.”

Baxia didn’t attack him, which was already something: Nie Huaisang knew very well that he counted as evil by her standards. He who sees injustice and does nothing to prevent it – he who closes his eyes to truth and refuses to help the helpless, preferring to waste time on indulging himself instead –

“They killed da-ge,” he said, his eyes fixed on Baxia. “Your master, my brother…they killed him, and I’m not strong enough to get them back. Not yet. It’ll take time. But I swear to you, I’ll do it. I’ll avenge him, no matter the cost. I swear it.”

Baxia finally responded, floating over towards him – blade pointed down the ground rather than at his throat, which he appreciated.

Moved by some instinct he didn’t understand, Nie Huaisang reached out and pressed his fingers to the flat of Baxia’s blade. He hadn’t touched Baxia in years, not since he was a child, and suddenly there was a spark of energy that he could feel and –

He shouldn’t be able to feel that.

He shouldn’t be able to – that was the way he felt when he finally mastered Aituan, his soul fluctuating as he became one with his saber, and that was impossible; everyone knew sabers only had one master. At first he thought somehow Baxia had stolen his link to Aituan, but no, he could still fell him there, grumbling a little but not overly worried (nothing worried Aituan, Nie Mingjue had once said, with great displeasure, that Aituan was the capybara of sabers), but Nie Huaisang could still feel her.

Not just her.

The spark didn’t stop at his fingers but flowed inwards, running through his meridians in a sudden cycle that took Nie Huaisang by surprise: he was cultivating, somehow. Without doing anything, he was inexplicably growing stronger, filling up with power from –

From Baxia.

From his brother.

No wonder Baxia had come here to wait for him. She’d come to give him his inheritance, his brother’s last gift to him – his brother must have planned this long ago, wanting his little brother to have at least a little of the power he’d never bothered to earn for himself.

Nie Huaisang’s eyes filled with tears.

It wouldn’t make that much of a difference to his plans – he still wasn’t anywhere near ready to challenge someone like Lan Xichen – but he wouldn’t have to worry, now, about any further assassination attempts by Jin Guangyao: he had enough strength, now, to defend himself.

To raise a saber, if necessary.

“Thank you,” he whispered. “I’ll do him proud – I’ll do you both proud. I promise.”

This time, it was a promise he’d keep.

[sheadre]

Aurora Borealis (Jiang Cheng x Reader) Part Two

Summary: Zhu Ran'En (Reader) the imperial princess, was sent into exile for a crime she did not commit. Meeting Jiang Wanyin, the Yunmeng Jiang sect's leader was not just a chance meeting. Their fates were written in the stars however, her relations to the royal family will never let her live in peace. How will she manage to save the kingdom while trying to keep Jiang Wanyin away from the snakes of the royal family?

Word count: 3281

Warnings: this story contains violence, blood, mindgames, scheming, angst, romance, fluff with Jiang Cheng, awkward flirting.

A/N: If you liked this story, please like and comment or reblog! You may find this story on quotev.com/Vaeri or on ao3. Please check out my other works in the Mo Dao Zu Shi fandom! Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoy!＜（＾－＾）＞

You sat in silence as you sipped on your tea with your face ordered into nonchalance. You got used to having to wear a neutral mask around people in the palace and it was a habit that couldn’t be easily left behind. Your (e/c) eyes looked the sect leader over who was eying you with suspicion. He was handsome as was told by many in the kingdom, his features chiseled and strong, his body lean and tall. You already had time to check him out when you first encountered him but a second glance couldn’t hurt, now could it?

If you would still be a part of the court, your father would definitely try and engage you to Jiang Wanyin. Your father always wished for a strong son-in-law who could protect his daughter. And this time, you wouldn’t protest.

“Imperial guards are asking about your highness all around the other towns in this region” Jiang Wanyin spoke up with a scowl. “You are already spending your time in exile.”

“My dear cousin wishes to secure her place in the court and fears that I will take action” you shrugged. “Not that she is wrong.”

“Your highness, are you planning something?” Jiang Wanyin grumbled, his eyes sparkling with lightning. “I warn you, there will be innocent people caught in the middle of your war against whoever offended you in the court. I’m here for them.”

“And I tell you that those innocent people might all be wiped out if you try and restrain me from taking action. Do you even know why I’m here?” you narrowed your eyes at him, your fingernails rattling against the wooden surface of the small table. It seemed Jiang Wanyin failed to dig deeper than the rumors going on around about the case, his light blush of embarrassment was indicating that. You sighed heavily and picked up the kettle to refill your cups while taking a breath to continue: “I caught my cousin and uncle, the second prince talking about money embezzlement and money laundering. They realized their mistake and now I’m here. To simply put it…”

“There is something more to that if your highness seems to be in such a distressed state” the sect leader noted calmly his eyebrows still furrowed. You wondered if anything would make him smile in his life. You imagined him smiling and hid the picture in the back of your mind. He would give a magnificent sight for sure.

“I advise you to not interfere with my plans… if a commoner like you get caught in the war of the royal family, what do you think might become your future?” you asked. Sitting back down, you pulled your hands in your lap but held his stare.

“Those kind of wars always end up being the public’s demise. Are you planning on sacrificing innocent people?” Jiang Wanyin asked back lifting his chin and you could tell that he was already determined in getting involved.

“I plan to earn the emperor’s favor again” you replied not wanting to argue anymore with him. There was no point, you could just leave him out of everything. You didn’t need his help nor wanted it. He had no idea of the monsters ruling the kingdom and how many people would be devoured by them. You got reminded of the hard times in the palace you spent with cornering people, avoiding corrupt ministers’ hands grabbing onto your sleeves so they could get you involved in their shady businesses. Your cousin always tried to get you in trouble so you would get executed but to her misfortune you were too smart.

“By starting a war?!” Jiang Cheng gritted his teeth angrily.

“Starting one?!” you jumped to your feet from anger. Of course, the sect leader wouldn’t know about anything of your plans but his nosiness annoyed you. “I’m going to end the rebellion the war generals of Wu, Yan and Jin are planning!”

“Rebellion?” his jaw went slack. You rolled your eyes and crossed your arms in front of your chest with a huff.

“If you were sharp enough to notice the imperial guards roaming the area, you should’ve rather noticed the brewing war under our feet” you noted as you sat back down. You didn’t really care about the fact that he left out your title by now. You were convinced that you didn’t need his help but… maybe you were wrong and should consider accepting his hand if he would offer. You had no army, Jiang Wanyin had, you had no connection to the other sects, he had. Then you started massaging the bridge of your nose continuing: “Forgive me for my words… I did not mean to be so harsh, it is only frustrating me so much that I know what awaits us if my cousin and uncle wins. The emperor is old and sickly, everyone is already preparing for the coronation of Crown Prince… however, without me looking out for his highness, I have no idea if he will live long enough to become emperor.”

Silence stretched between you two, him staring you down while you sipped on your tea with the perfect mask of calm. It was quite easy to pull it on by now. You were already planning your next move as you sat there. Perhaps, Jiang Wanyin could be a key character in your heroic story, you just needed to pull the strings in the right way… but that was quite hard.

“Your highness, I am only here to warn you” Jiang Cheng spoke up suddenly and stood up then. “Do not sacrifice innocent people.” His eyes were spitting lightning at you from where he stood before Jiang Cheng turned around and stormed out of the mansion. You smiled at his lack of manners, his temper reminded you of a friend you left in the palace. You wondered how Xiao Pei was doing now that he was by himself. He got a high rank in the military but everyone knew of your good relations. He was like a little brother to you.

You knew that Jiang Wanyin will come back to you in the near future. The news about a rebellion of the three small counties was spreading. Wu, Yan and Jin generals had authority over the three counties closest to where Yunmeng was located. Yunmeng would be the first to meet their united armies once the generals would advance towards the capital. However, you had much to do in the meantime. With a smirk you went back to your study and rolled out a blank parchment.

Jiang Cheng’s PoV.

Jiang sect leader was furious by the way the princess was acting. There was a war brewing under their feet and she was only adamant on getting her place back at the palace. Her position was more important to her than anything else! She was just like the other royals, sacrificing innocent people for wealth and power. He felt foolish for hoping that maybe Zhu Ran’En was different and was rebelling to stop injustice. He was wrong.

For a second he hoped that she was different, that she was using the dark ways of cultivation because she needed to. However, the evil glint in her eyes told him otherwise. Arriving back to Yunmeng gave him a feeling of calm and tranquility. As the days passed, he easily forgot about the princess, work piling up. He spent nights figuring out the financials and counting how much money they needed for the replacements of training dummies and other supplies. Wei Wuxian showed up with his… husband, Hanguang-Jun and was annoying Jiang Cheng to the point he was sporting a massive headache.

“Ah, Jiang Cheng! I heard you went after the Dark Princess!” Wei Ying burst into the study with a large excited grin on his face. Wanyin was already starting to massage his temples but had yet to yell at his brother. “Is she as pretty as the rumors say?! How was she?!”

“Why are you so excited suddenly, ay?” Wanyin asked back as he put down the brush knowing that he won’t be doing any more progress today. “Have you got tired of Hanguang-Jun?”

“Wha-?! Why are you saying such things, Jiang Cheng?!” Wei Wuxian leaned forward right into Jiang Cheng’s face with a scrutinizing gaze before his face lit up like he found the problem for world peace. “Are you being defensive because you like her?!”

“Wha-?! Why would I like her?!” Wanyin jumped up to his feet with his fists trembling by his sides. “She’s evil and vicious! She’s not pretty at all! Just one of the pampered princesses only caring about wealth!”

“Did you get rejected by her?” Wei Ying narrowed his eyes in thought as he tried to guess. “That is why you’re so sour, Jiang Cheng?”

“Who is sour?! Huh?!” Wanyin felt like jumping out of his skin. He couldn’t decide if he wanted to strangle his brother or run away and never look back until he found peace. Lately that term seemed to not exist. People were always finding him for something. A broken practice dummy here, a young disciple in need of a practice sword because the one he had was lost to the river or broken. Was it really such a luxurious request to just be left alone for a while?

What irked the sect leader even more was the fact that Wei Wuxian was not the first person to ask him about the matters of marriage. The elders expressed their concern of a sect heir because other men in his age was already married with at least two children. It wasn’t about him not having any interest in the matter but he was just too busy to think about it. He had no time to court anyone and he refused to just marry a woman he never met before.

“Wei Ying” came suddenly Hanguang-Jun’s quiet voice and just like an obedient pet, Wei Wuxian turned to his husband with a wide smile on his face and hurried over to the entering cultivator. At least, Hanguang-Jun still had manners and bowed to Jiang Cheng upon entering the study. “It is time we leave Jiang sect leader to his duties and do not bother him longer. We have to take care of those ghosts in Chongyang.”

“Alright…” the Yiling Patriarch sighed deflating at the lost chance to annoy his brother further. Jiang Wanyin walked his guests out to the pier with prayers to the heavens for helping him out. His thoughts then turned back to Zhu Ran’En. What was she planning? She was so sure about her success it was giving him chills. She was definitely an enemy he didn’t want to make.

At Chongyang:

The city was quiet. The people were all acting scared and worried, lines were forming on their forehead the second they spotted someone unfamiliar. Fog was encasing the whole city, vendors closed their shops and went to somewhere safe. The small inn which welcomed Hanguang-Jun and Wei Wuxian with reluctance was close to the middle of the city. Wei Wuxian tried to ask around about the sightings of the ghosts but got short replies of the same kind. All of the people were talking about the grey clothed ghosts or corpses who roamed the city at night and killed those who stepped foot on the streets. A few men mentioned that it all started after the appearance of a man in the clothes of the royal officials. No one knew what the man was doing in the city or if he was still around.

It all sounded suspicious to him. So Hanguang-Jun and Wei Ying decided to stay at the inn and see what happens at night. Wei Wuxian sat with his back to his husband’s chest when his ears suddenly perked up at the sound of an erhu. He jumped up and went to the window not caring about his state of clothing. He scanned the area with his eyes narrowed and soon spotted a dark figure standing on the rooftop of the building forty chi distance far from his position. The delicate figure of a woman was sitting on the rooftop with an erhu in her lap. A cold calmness was surrounding her as the wind blew her long dark hair.

“Lan Zhan, look” he mumbled while his husband walked up behind him.

“Resentful energy” Hanguang-Jun said with a low voice.

“Mnn” Wei Wuxian nodded and pulled his robes tighter around himself fixing it before grabbing Chenqing. “Let’s check it out!”

Your PoV.

The city was quiet as the sun disappeared behind the horizon. You always loved to watch life go by under your feet when you observed the world from the rooftop of a building. It was calming, like you weren’t a part of the world and could disappear from sight to watch everything happen without actually taking part in anything. You sat there in silence as the sky turned dark and the stars appeared. The fog around the city only obscured the vision of the starry night sky from those who stood below. However, you could easily admire the beauty of the night. Then you heard it. Otherworldly grunts and moans coming from below.

Liu Minister, who visited the city a few days ago and whom you should’ve met here disappeared when the animated corpses started roaming the city at night. The minister – who was your good ally – sent letter to you about someone following him since he left the Imperial palace in the capital. Pulling out your erhu from your back, you smiled mischievously while you hummed a tune. A tune you learnt from your mother. 恶梦È mèng (Wicked Dream) was the song your mother taught you when her family was accused of treason and got executed. After that, your mother lost the favor of the emperor and was the laughing stock of the people in court. The night you found her dead body, you heard those notes coming from her quarters. You promised yourself to find her killer because even if she was ashamed, even if she lost the favor of the emperor, she would’ve never committed suicide.

The notes were flying in the air as you played. Resentful energy surrounding you before black mist circled the animated corpses and closed around them. You were curious if the culprit would show themselves if you annoyed them with binding the corpses together. Your ears then perked up and before the two newcomers could land on the rooftop you were sitting on, you jumped over to another one.

“Ah, I remember you!” Wei Wuxian exclaimed with a large grin on his face. “You’re the lady who gave up the table for us!”

“Ahaha, nice seeing you again, Young master” you smiled at him.

“You’re using resentful energy” Hanguang-Jun stated but his tone was not scolding. There was no warning in his words, just a simple statement, an observation. You expected a different reception when you thought about meeting this pair again.

“What can this humble one do?” you asked, shrugging your shoulders with a pout. “This is the only way for me to cultivate.”

“Don’t you have a golden core, Imperial Princess?” the Yiling Patriarch asked then. Your smile widened before you let out a mirthful laugh. He was smarter than you thought he was. If he would be your opponent at court, you would have fun for sure.

“A princess is taught to learn embroidery and etiquette, Wei gōngzǐ” you replied squinting your eyes before turning to the corpses. “Don’t you find it interesting that these appear once a minister disappears? Hmn?”

You were well aware of him noticing how you changed the subject but it seemed he decided not to object to it. It was clear you weren’t his enemy which in your opinion was based on where he was standing when your plans were executed. Opinions and interests can change in a matter of time after all. Then you heard clapping from down below. Tap. Tap. Tap-tap. Tap. Tap-tap-tap. It was repeated once more before the corpses broke out of your energy shield. Their angry moans and grunts could be heard as they approached the buildings you were standing on. Soon, screaming was heard from the house and you saw that it was the house of a merchant.

You stamped your foot on the tiles which broke under the force and a hole opened up under you. You landed inside the bedroom of the frightened merchant and his wife who were hiding behind the over turned table. The corpses stumbled inside toppling over each other but you were quick enough the cut them off before they could get to the pair. Hanguang-Jun and Wei Wuxian was soon following you through the hole and before you had to say anything, Lan Wangji grabbed the husband and wife and took them to safety. Unleashing your full power felt like you opened the gate of a dam. Yet it felt even more liberating when the Yiling Patriarch followed you in tow.

You saw the grin spreading on his lips and knew that he felt the same thing. This burst of power was enough to decapitate all the corpses in close proximity. You hurried downstairs and went out to the street to be faced with more animated corpses. Your sword was a simple sword but was your trusted ally in battles by now. It shimmered in the light of the few lampions placed above the street. Otherwise, the fog made it hard to see further than one chǐ. (That’s like half a meter)

You heard someone whistle with the wind from the distance. You cursed under your breath knowing that the culprit was already too far for you to catch up.

“Lan Zhan went after him” Wei Wuxian spoke up from behind you suddenly. Then you heard the dull thud of corpses falling to the ground. The puppet master was too far to control the corpses.

“He’s too far by now…” you sighed with your eyebrows furrowed.

“Your Highness seems to be upset” he noted stepping closer to you.

“The Minister who visited the city before the corpses appeared…” you started staring at the ground as the fog dissolved around you. “He is a good man but I think he is dead by now or at least the culprit took him with themselves.”

“You are familiar with the minister, aren’t you, Your Highness?” he asked.

“Stop calling me that, Wei gongzi” you shook your head with a sad smile. “I no longer possess the title, not officially.”

“The man got away” Hanguang-Jun spoke up once he landed in front of the two of you. “But he tried to obscure my vision with this.” He lifted his hand with a handkerchief in it. Your eyes widened and quickly approached him taking it from his outstretched hand. The fabric was one of the most expensive materials, only the imperial palace had access to something of the kind. It was a pearly white with the symbol of the Huang house.

“That dirty pip-squeak! Cui!*” you spat angrily as your hand curled into a fist with the handkerchief between your fingers.

“I assume your highness is troubled over the matter” Wei Wuxian quipped curiosity shining in his eyes. You turned around and started walking towards the other direction as you said.

“This is an Imperial matter, please stay out of trouble” your voice rang through the street even when the fog already swallowed you. “This is way too dangerous for those who do not belong to the court.”

To be continued…

*Cuì=啐 is a sound for spitting.

[dapple-grey-mare]

atla social media headcanons

(brainstormed with my friend when we were messing around/being completely serious with our love for the characters)

in this modern au, iroh is the fire lord and lu ten is the heir. also, bending and the avatar is still a thing.

beware of shameless sukka and mai lee because those are the only ships i will accept no arguments about. (i’m also a zu/tara and t/aang shipper but you won’t find anything romantic about them in here)

read below the cut because it’s a lot

katara posts aesthetic photos and inspirational quotes on instagram and sokka never stops teasing her about it 

(he won’t admit it, but there are days where he gets super stressed and reads one of her posts and immediately feels better)

sokka keeps posting about suki (they’re not dating yet) and everyone hates it (but also loves it)

he also posts videos of stupid stuff he does alone and with his friends, as well as livestreaming q&a

(katara: sokka you aren’t actually famous)

sokka unironically vlogs

toph posts random pictures (usually of her feet or of the ground) and pretends it’s because she’s blind and can’t take proper pictures and everyone knows she’s just messing with them

but everyone does add alt text to their photos so toph can hear what’s in the photos and captions

the actual reason why toph is bad with instagram is that she wasn’t even allowed to have a phone when she was younger, as her parents thought it would be unsafe for a little blind girl (they were wrong)

the gaang eventually realizes that toph isn’t entirely messing with them and help her through everything

she now knows that she can post videos and will not stop filming her earthbending or her sessions with a blindfolded and vulnerable aang that she beats up in two seconds

aang posts a bunch of pictures of appa (who is a dog? still a sky bison? we don’t know)

zuko and suki don’t have instagram (zuko says it’s because he’s royalty and he doesn’t want to get stalked and suki just likes to do the exact opposite of what sokka tells her to) but their friends continue to pester them about getting accounts

zuko ultimately caves, but as a “fuck you” to all of them, he posts a selfie with suki captioned “say hello to my best friend and the only valid person in my life besides my mother and uncle”

sokka is outraged and he, along with katara because she’s the nosiest, find zuko’s account password, gather all of his friends and family (the valid family members only), take a selfie with all of them, post it with the caption “the best people around” or “the people i love most in the world” or smth uncharacteristically cheesy like that, then wait for zuko to notice

it gets a million likes

he eventually does notice and he swears to delete it but doesn’t

mai also does not have an instagram and she does not cave despite their constant badgering

she does cave, however, when ty lee asks her. she only needs to ask once.

azula is just subtly posting pictures with the royal palace as the background because she likes to flex

every year, katara posts a family picture on mother's day and/or her mom's birthday

also on mother’s day, each member of the gaang (even zuko because he really would do anything for his best friends) posts a picture of katara and very seriously celebrates her as a mother

they do the same with zuko on father’s day

every time aang posts, without fail, everyone in the gaang comments “BABY 🥺🥺🥺” and they refuse to stop

they convince iroh to make an official account for the jasmine dragon to bring in more business, but both iroh and zuko have no idea what they’re doing with it

so the rest of the gaang posts posters and menu items but since they all have different styles, every post is wildly different and customers are really confused

katara is all about the aesthetic and posts pics of her order almost every time, sokka livestreams and sneaks random videos of zuko working, aang actually really tries to help with marketing but it’s all just pictures of the menu which hardly every changes, toph has a schedule for posting pictures of chair legs, suki is the only competent one and with katara’s help, makes cool posters and edited videos

the first time someone tags zuko in a picture on their account, all their followers freak out about the fire nation prince in their game night or cafe outing

since then, they make a point to get zuko in all of their photos

as well as the occasional lu ten or iroh

suki’s first post is a video sokka took of her practicing martial arts with her warriors and at first, she was a little hesitant to exploit the kyoshi culture but kyoshi herself appeared and gave her permission to show off their badassery

since then, she’s posted tutorials and practice/teaching sessions

she’s also a makeup master and she posts standard makeup tutorials too, but she refuses to post a tutorial on the kyoshi makeup look in case people start appropriating it (sokka understands and stops asking her)

katara doesn’t like to show off her bending on social media, especially since it’ll mess up the aesthetic of her account, but once zuko posts a video of him practicing because sokka dared him to (he really can’t resist a dare), katara gets annoyed and does the same

it becomes a competition of sorts, but they never mention it outside of their posts, so the rest of the gaang doesn’t know if they should intervene or encourage it

(toph obviously encourages it, aang is conflicted)

(sokka is secretly rooting for katara, but he likes to annoy her further by cheering zuko on)

it’s pretty neck and neck for a while, but katara is a faster learner and surpasses him

zuko gets really upset with this and decides to post of a video of him practicing with his dao swords, since katara can’t do any fighting outside of her bending

(katara: that’s cheating, you’re a cheater, i hate your guts)

(she doesn’t)

sokka keeps trying to make zuko post a video of the dancing dragon and aang really wants to, but zuko refuses

they all have a shared youtube account with videos of them sparring, playing games, or just chilling

azula is in one of these videos and roasts each of them, and it’s the most liked video on the account

(toph is laughing the entire time but the second azula gets to her, she throws a rock in her face and the video ends)

sokka posts gaming videos and vlogs on his youtube, zuko draws the line at youtube, aang has a camera on his staff and livestreams the view of the ground as he’s flying, katara makes cooking videos, suki is a makeup guru, and toph is their designated guest star when they’re running out of content because viewers love her

every time sokka is in a post with a girl that isn’t katara, he gets shipped with them, so he starts baiting viewers with intentionally vague wording and shots that could be romantic

eventually, sokka and suki start fake-dating to get the extremely pushy viewers off his back, but in pure rom-com style, they fall in love for real

ty lee makes shopping vlogs and makeup hauls and these are the only things mai will say no to her about

one time, suki had toph try and do her makeup... it did not go well

(suki: i swear to kyoshi, you did this on purpose)

a lot of sokka’s vlogs involve him, aang, and toph lounging on the sofa (all of them but zuko share an apartment, zuko is trying to convince his family to let him move out of the palace) watching tv and eating chips

katara and suki hate it but they allow it as long as they clean up the mess

they draw the line once they catch the three of them simultaneously fart

(suki: sokka, i’m dating your sister now)

[fanyiyimdzs]

Mo Dao Zu Shi: Chapter 5

Masterpost

Previous chapter

Only a few days passed before Wei Wuxian realized that he may have made a mistake.

The donkey he had stolen was way too hard to please.

It was only a donkey, but it refused to eat anything other than fresh, tender grass with dewdrops hanging from the leaves, and shunned any blades which showed the slightest hint of yellow. When they passed by a farmhouse, Wei Wuxian stole a few stalks of wheat to feed it, but it only chewed a couple of times before—“pfeih!”—it launched them back out, its spit louder and more resonant than any human’s. Not only would it barely eat, it also refused to move, and if Wei Wuxian tried to make it, it would throw a fit, jumping and kicking at him with its hind legs. His life suffered several close calls. What’s more, its braying was agony to the ear.

It had no redeeming qualities as either a mount or a pet!

Wei Wuxian couldn’t help but think fondly of his sword. It was most likely hanging on the wall of some grand clan now, exhibited by the chief as a trophy of war. 

Dragging the donkey with him come life or death, he ran a few lengths of road toward a large field belonging to some nearby village. The glaring sun beat down from above, and he sought shelter under a big scholar tree on the embankment between the rice paddies. The thick shade beneath the verdant leaves was dark and cool, and there was an old well where the villagers had placed a bucket and a ladle so that passers-by could quench their thirst. Once the donkey had run here, it absolutely refused to budge. Thus, Wei Wuxian  jumped off, slapped its venerable hindquarters and said, “You sure must be a magnificent, prosperous being. You’re even fussier than me.”

The donkey sneezed at him.

While Wei Wuxian passed the time a hundred different ways, a group of people trekked in his direction along the crisscrossing paths in the distance.

They wore bamboo baskets on their backs, linen shirts, and straw shoes; they had the rustic, earthy appearance of rural villagers from head to toe . Among them was an almost delicate and pretty young woman with a round face, who had perhaps walked under the harsh sun for too long and wanted to sit in the shade and drink some water. But when she saw the donkey tied to the tree, braying and stomping discontently, and the wild-haired lunatic with red and white pigment smeared all over his face sitting next to it, she became frightened and wouldn’t approach.

Wei Wuxian had always considered himself protective and caring of women, so seeing her state, he moved to create space for her and went to bother the donkey. Only once the travellers saw he was harmless did they relax and come near. Each and every one of their faces were bright red and drenched in sweat, some fanning themselves and some fetching themselves water. The young woman sat by the well, and, seemingly knowing Wei Wuxian had intentionally made room for her, gave him a tiny smile.

Among the group was a man holding a compass, who gazed out into the distance. He then looked back down, bewildered. “We’re almost at the foot of Dafan Mountain. Why isn’t the needle moving?”

The compass he was using was no ordinary compass; its markings were different, and its needle didn’t point north. It wasn’t a compass of the cardinal directions, but an “evil wind compass”, used to locate fierce, malignant spirits. Wei Wuxian knew then the people he had met were a family of poor, unaffiliated cultivators. Outside of the illustrious, moneyed houses of cultivation, who spent their spare time contemplating the poetry of white snows and sunny spring days, there were also quite a few of these kinds of small, unrefined, closed-off, and self-taught families. Perhaps they had rushed from the village to beg for shelter from a big house that they had some relation to.  Or perhaps they were out on a night-hunt.

The middle aged leader waved everyone toward the well for water and simultaneously said, “Your compass is probably broken, once we get back I’ll get you a new one. We’re less than five kilometers from Dafan Mountain, so we can’t rest for long. We’ve suffered the winds and the dust the whole journey—if we relax here, the people behind will pass us, and all our effort’ll be wasted.”

Indeed, they had come to night-hunt. Many cultivators, fond of literary pursuits, called roaming the four corners of the land, exorcising evil spirits “roving hunts,” and since their prey typically came out at night, the hunts also became known as “night-hunts.” Though there were many houses of cultivation, only a few became truly famous. If their ancestors had not accumulated prestige and prosperity, ordinary houses could only earn respect and reputation through their own achievements, and climb the hierarchy of the cultivation world by their own sweat. Only by seizing a brutal monster or calamity-bringing spirit would their names start to have weight.

Seizing evil things was what Wei Wuxian was best at, but the few days he’d been running around on the road breaking into graves, he had found only minor ghosts. He still lacked a ghost that could help him trample his opponents, so he decided he would also go to Dafan Mountain1 and try his luck. If he found a useful one, he would catch and deploy it.

The cultivators had now rested enough and were preparing to take off. Before they left, the round-faced young woman took a half-green, half-red apple from the basket on her back and passed it to Wei Wuxian. “This is for you.”

Wei Wuxian reached out to receive it with a big smile on his face, but the donkey raised its head, bared its teeth, and bit at the pro-offered fruit. He hastily grabbed hold of it. But when good fortune came, so did clever ideas; seeing the donkey endlessly salivating over the little apple, Wei Wuxian picked up a tree branch and a fishing line, tied the apple to the branch, and hung the apple in front of the donkey’s head. The donkey smelled the fragrant scent of the apple, and lusting after its sweet flesh, chased the fruit that was always just a little out of reach. Head raised and charging ahead, the animal ran faster than any colt Wei Wuxian had ever seen, leaving clouds of dust trailing behind it.

The donkey didn’t stop running, and thus they made it to Dafan Mountain before nightfall. Wei Wuxian only figured out how to write the mountain’s name when he reached its base. From far away, it looked exactly like a venerable, open-hearted, squat Buddha—thus it was Dafan Mountain, and the small village at the foot of the mountain was therefore called Fojiao Village.2

The number of cultivators who had gathered far exceeded Wei Wuxian’s expectations. It was a mixed crowd, like a lake where both dragons and schools of tiny fish swam. The cultivators wore a dizzying, blinding array of colours and resembled a parade of restless flowers as they walked up and down the street. But for some unknown reason, everyone had a nervous expression on their face. They couldn’t even spare the attention to laugh at Wei Wuxian’s ridiculous face.

In the center of the main road, a crowd of cultivators gathered, speaking solemnly. They seemed to be arguing and spoke loudly enough for Wei Wuxian to hear them from a distance. At first the discussion was calm, but it grew more and more agitated as it progressed:

“I don’t think this place ever had any soul-eating beasts or ghasts in the first place. That’s obviously why no one’s compass needle has moved.”

“But if there really is nothing, how could seven of those villagers have lost their souls? They couldn’t have all come down with the same bizarre disease, could they? I’ve never heard of such a disease!”

“Just because the compasses aren’t pointing to anything, does that necessarily mean nothing’s here? They can only point in a general direction. They’re not that accurate, so they can’t be completely trusted. It’s possible there’s something around here that can interfere with the needle.”

“Don’t you remember who invented these compasses? I’ve never heard of anything disturbing the direction the needle points.”

“What exactly do you mean by that? Why are you asking such weird questions? Of course I remember evil wind compasses were invented by Wei Ying, but just because he invented something, doesn’t mean it’s gorgeous and perfect. Aren’t people allowed to question him?”

“I didn’t say you weren’t allowed to question him, or that his things were gorgeous and perfect. There’s no need to spew mud everywhere, your highness!”

They began to argue in a different direction, and Wei Wuxian rode his donkey past them, laughing merrily. Even though so many years had passed, his ability to whip cultivators into verbal duels and tongue clashes had not diminished. “Once you hear the name ‘Wei,’ you’re forced to fight”—so the saying went. If there was a vote on who possessed the most extensive and long-lived fame among all cultivators, who could win against him?

In all fairness, the cultivator who had questioned him wasn’t wrong. The evil wind compasses in use were only the first edition, and indeed left something to be desired when it came to accuracy. Originally, Wei Wuxian had worked to improve them, but who told people to destroy his home before he was done? So he had no option but to inconvenience everyone and continue to force the inaccurate, first edition compass on them.

In any case, most things that eat flesh and chew bone were low level, such as walking corpses. Only refined, elegant, high level beasts and vicious ghosts could eat and digest souls. To consume seven in one go—no wonder there were so many houses gathered here. This prey was no small matter—it was only natural that the compasses made a few errors.

Holding the reins tightly, Wei Wuxian leapt from the donkey’s back, grabbed the apple, and held it in front of the donkey. “One bite, just one bite. Hey! You almost bit off my hand.”

He took two bites of the other side of the apple and shoved it back into the donkey’s mouth. While he reflected on how he had been reduced to sharing an apple with a donkey, someone collided with him from behind. He turned and saw a young woman who, even though she had walked straight into him, seemed to find him beneath her notice. Her eyes were dull and lifeless, her lips were molded into a slight smile, and she refused to tear her gaze away from a certain direction.

Wei Wuxian followed her line of sight into the distance, where a solemn black mountain top lay—Dafan Mountain.

Suddenly without warning, the young woman began dancing.

The dance was wild and violent, as though channeling a beast baring its fangs and brandishing its claws. Wei Wuxian watched the young woman with bright interest, but another woman lifted her skirt and ran towards them, threw her arms around the dancing girl and cried, “Ah-yan, let’s go home! Let’s go home!”

With all her strength, Ah-yen threw the woman off and continued, smile still plastered on her face, as though animated by some kind of hair-raising obsession. The older woman had no option but to chase the girl all over the street, wailing, tears dripping down her face. To the side, a street peddler said, “Hell’s bells, Blacksmith Zheng’s Ah-yan’s run out again.”

“I feel sorry for her mother. Ah-yan, Ah-yan’s husband, and her own husband, not a single one’s in good shape...”

Wei Wuxian strolled around the village, eavesdropping, collecting bits and pieces of idle chatter from the people he walked by, and pieced together the strange sequence of events that had unfolded.

On Dafan Mountain, there was an old graveyard housing the people of Fojiao Village’s ancestral graves, where the villagers would also bury and raise grave markers for unnamed corpses on occasion. One evening several months ago, when thunder rolled and the sky flashed with lightning, the wind and the rain pounded down upon the area, scouring the mountain the entire night. A patch of earth atop Dafan Mountain collapsed, triggering a landslide—this patch of earth happened to be the exact patch on which the graveyard was located. Thus many old graves were destroyed and others were exposed to the elements. Lightning struck, blasting and blackening both the coffins and the bodies inside.

After this episode, the people of Fojiao Village became extremely uneasy, prayed for blessings, and then rebuilt the old burial mound, believing that this would settle the matter. But who knew from that point onwards, Fojiao Village would suffer so many cases of lost souls?

The first victim was a lazy bum who was poor as a rat and spent most of his days loafing about. Because he enjoyed going up the mountain and catching birds to pass time, he just so happened to be stuck on Dafan Mountain the night of the landslide. Though scared half to death, he was blessed with good fortune—nothing happened to him, at least on that night. But strange things began to occur only a few days after he returned. He suddenly found a wife and was married with much fanfare, sparing no waving banners or beating drums, claiming he would live a life of merit and virtue and pass his days with this promise in mind.

The night of the wedding, he drank himself blind, fell into bed, and didn’t get up. When his new wife called his name, he didn’t react, and only when she pushed him over did she discover that her groom’s eyes were blank and lifeless and his body was as cold as ice. Aside from the fact that he was still breathing, there was little that distinguished him from a corpse. He ate nothing, drank nothing, and continued on in this state for many days before finally being peacefully buried. The poor bride became a widow despite barely having been married.

The second was Ah-yan from the family of Blacksmith Zheng. The young woman had just been betrothed, but only a day after, her fiancé was bitten to death by wolves while hunting on the mountain. After she found out, the same fate befell her as befell the lazy bum. Happily, however, her disease somehow cured itself after a period of time. Yet from that point onward, she began to suffer from lunacy. She went outside every day to dance for people, smiling the entire time. 

The third was Ah-yan’s father, Blacksmith Zheng. To date, there had been seven victims in total. 

Wei Wuxian mulled over the matter and determined it was most likely the work of a soul eating ghast, rather than a soul eating beast.

Though the difference between their names was only one word, they were entirely disparate beings. Ghasts were a type of ghost, but soul eating beasts were a type of fae. According to Wei Wuxian, the sequence of events was most likely this: the landslide demolished old graves and lightning split open coffins, releasing a long dormant ghast from among the bodies. If this was the case, the state of the coffins and presence of any seal traces upon them should suffice for confirmation. But the Fojiao Villagers must have already long re-buried the burnt coffins elsewhere, and reinterred the bodies—there would be very few vestiges of the ghast's resting place.

In order to climb the mountain, Wei Wuxian took the sloping road from the village. He hopped on his donkey and slowly ascended. After traveling a while, he encountered some people wearing dark expressions climbing down.

These people had cuts and scrapes on their faces, and seemed to be talking to each other all at once. The sky was dusky, and they all jumped in fright as they ran face-to-face into someone made-up like a hanged ghost riding atop a donkey. They shouted angry words at him, circled around, and continued down the slope at rapid clip. Looking back on them, Wei Wuxian wondered whether they had been defeated by their intended prey and were now returning from their night-hunt empty-handed. He pondered a little more, slapped his donkey’s hindquarters, and the two clambered up briskly.

He had left at the perfectly wrong time and missed the group’s grumbling. 

“I’ve never met anyone so unreasonable!”

“He’s the head of such a big house, why does he have to come here and compete with us for a single soul eating ghast? He must have killed plenty when he was young!”

“But what can we do? We can hardly do anything about him being a Clan Chief. Whichever house you offend, you must not offend House Jiang. Whoever you offend, you must not offend Jiang Cheng. There’s nothing to do except pack our bags, accept our fate, and go!”

________________

Translation notes:

1 Wei Wuxian, having only heard the name of the mountain, mistakes 大梵山 (lit. “Big Buddha Mountain”) for the homophonous 大饭山 (lit. “Big Meal Mountain” or “Big Rice Mountain”).

2 Fojiao means “Buddha foot.”

Next chapter

Masterpost

[bottomlwjrights]

MO DAO ZU SHI REREAD:Thoughts™️....and Stuff

Chapter 40

“They should’ve been able to talk, to say who they were, to shout for help. However, the awful thing was that somebody had cut all of their tongues off before this.” In case i havent said it enough, i hate Xue Yang!!!!

I dont have anything funny or witty to say, this whole situation is just sad

“She instinctively hated him and refused to settle. And so, whenever Xue Yang went out night-hunting with Xiao XingChen, she’d secretly follow them. Even when they were in the same house, she didn’t lower her guard.” She lived constantly on guard for, what, years?

Nobody told xxc stories when he was a kid, which I believe to be a crime

The first disciple to leave the mountain, YanLing DaoRen, was an excellent and renowned cultivator, but suddenly became a villian for some unknown reason and died under thousands of swords, according to xxc (parallels wwx a little)

“‘The second disciple was a girl and also very outstanding.’ Wei WuXian’s chest felt warm. She was ZangSe SanRen.” 🥺

“How would an outstanding and beautiful cultivator settle on a servant. This story’s so cliche. It’s probably made up by some poor scholar.” Oh little A-Qing... (wait this mirrors lwj and wwx’s love story, except of course the death part, because in my eyes they just cultivate to immortality and live happily ever after, together forever)

Shut up, wwx, you’re not a villain

Xxc describing sl makes me uuuh wanna cry “A very good friend of mine.” “A sincere man of noble nature.”

Shut the fuck up Xue Yang, no body cares

SHUT UP XXC CARRIED A-QING TO BED THATS ADORABLE 🥺 BIG BRO XINGCHEN EVEN TUCKED HER IN

Shut up!!!! He went and got her candy!!!! And then gave her candy everyday!!!!

Sl said to A-Qing the exact same the xxc said to her, like almost word for word... hold i...

Also note that wwx said they must have been very good friends to be so much alike 

Why did he hesitate???

“Song Lan answered straight away, ‘His height is similar to mine. His appearance is rather fine. His sword is carved with patterns of frost.’” Dont ask why this drove me crazy 

Sl was looking for xxc for years....

“For some reason, Song Lan’s face was extremely pale. He stared at the door of the coffin home, as if he would rush inside if he could, but was too scared to do so.”

“The instant he heard the [xxc’s] voice, Song Lan’s hands trembled so much that A-Qing could clearly see it.”

Sl was so angry his entire body was shaking

Xy is disgusting

After the attack of Baixue temple, while injured, sl said some nasty things to xxc....sounds alot like the aftermath of Nightless City....

“Who was the one who said ‘from now on, we won’t need to meet again’? Wasn’t it you, Daozhang Song? He listened to your request and disappeared after he dug out his eyes for you, but why have you come to him now?” Shut up shut up shut up

Fuck Xue Yang!!!!

“Song Lan looked down at Shuanghua’s blade, which penetrated his heart, then slowly looked up again. He saw Xiao XingChen, who calmly held the sword.” Im gonna cry

“Slowly, Song Lan fell to his knees before Xiao XingChen.” Yup im crying

“At such a time, if Song Lan passed his sword to Xiao XingChen’s hands, Xiao XingChen would’ve immediately known who he was. He’d be able to recognize the sword of his closest friend with just a touch.” He would have known sl’s sword by just a touch....

Sl didnt pass his sword to xxc so that he didnt have to bear the burden of knowing he killed him.....

“...large drops of tears rolled from her eyes. Although she was scared, A-Qing reached out to close Song Lan’s eyes. She then kneeled in front of him and put her palms together, ‘Daozhang, please don’t blame me or the other daozhang.’”

She kowtowed in front of sl’s body....

A-Qing is smart and quick witted, pulling such a fast lie like that

“Cut a few dozens of times on her face so that she’ll never have the guts to go outside again.” 😧

How xy can say something like that and then offer up a plate of bunny shaped apple slices that he cut himself is beyond me

“Looking at the plate of cute, delicate slices, disgust filled both A-Qing’s and Wei WuXian’s hearts.” Yeah me too

(Chapter 41 & Chapter 42 below the cut)

Chapter 41

A-Qing didnt wanna tell xxc about sl...

“The blood grew more and more and eventually leaked through the bandages, trickling down from where his eyes once were.” God he’s crying ....

“Originally, the injury of his eyes would bleed whenever he had excessive thoughts or emotions, but it hadn’t recurred in quite a long while.” I hate this

“...after Xiao XingChen managed to calm down, he told A-Qing, ‘A-Qing, run away.’” I hate this so much

“I can’t go. I need to find out what exactly he’s trying to do...If I left him here alone, I’m afraid that the people of Yi City would sink into his hands.” Y’all gotta stop with this selfless,self sacrificing, being a good caring person shit man, its okay to save yourselves sometimes

“A-Qing’s sobs weren’t faked anymore. She tossed the bamboo pole to the side and clung to Xiao XingChen’s leg...”

“Xiao XingChen asked coldly, ‘Was it fun?’ Xue Yang took another bite into the apple that was still in his hand. He only replied after calmly chewing for a while and swallowing the fruit, ‘Yes. Of course it was fun.’” I hate him

Even the idea that xy did all this because he was bored...

“My finger was my own, while those lives were other peoples’. They wouldn’t be equal no matter how many lives I killed. It was only around fifty. How could it have possibly been equal to one of my fingers?” I cannot even begin to express my disgust...

This is all so sad....

“… Is that you, ZiChen?”

“Even if the two swords had just clashed, Xiao XingChen should be able to tell who the other was from only the strength of the attack...He turned around slowly and reached out a quivering hand, feeling for the blade of Song Lan’s sword.”

“… ZiChen… Daozhang Song… Daozhang Song… Is that you…?” Im crying again

And he’s crying nonstop

“… What happened…? Say something…”

“Xiao XingChen stood blankly in front of Song Lan. Putting his hands on his head, he wailed as though he was ripping his chest apart.” I cant handle this shit im about to stop reading

Fuck you, Xue Yang

“At this moment, Wei WuXian saw himself in Xiao XingChen. Him, who failed miserably as he stood drenched in blood, who couldn’t do anything except silently acknowledge the critiques and accusations, who was wholly beyond hope, who could only cry in despair!” Yeah i didnt need that in the middle of all this

“He could only whimper in pain, ‘Please. Let me go.’” Im really going through it

They all died in such horrific ways

Thank goodness thats over!!!!

Chapter 42

Wwx really implied that xy killed Chang Ping as revenge for xxc huh....wow no

Even in death, A-Qing is brave. Thank you for your contribution in ending that mf

Lwj cuts off xy’s arm when he reaches towards wwx

There was so much blood on the ground that wwx almost slipped in it, gross

Lmao i didnt think lwj would be the one to just toss a pouch to someone but here we are

Wn just squatting on the ground, chillin

Okay yanno what im still confused as hell as to why the juniors were lead to yi city...

God that makes me so angry, Xue Yang keeping the piece of candy for years and holding onto it when he died, like even the idea that he liked xxc and still decided to torture him to death good lord

“Lifting up the hem of his robes, Lan WangJi stepped over the high threshold in an elegant manner, then nodded.”  Wwx just looks at lwj do literally anything and is just like “he’s so elegant 😍 so graceful 🥰 look at my lan zhan, so pretty 🥰😍🥰”

“When he wakes, say I’m sorry, it wasn’t your fault.” Wow....

“He still wore the dark cultivation robes. Standing alone, he carried two swords, Shuanghua and Fuxue, he brought two souls, Xiao XingChen and A-Qing, and walked another path.” Wow.... i wish for you the best, Song Lan

Lsz standing and wondering if xxc and sl would ever meet again....

I agree with jl, death is too light of a punishment for xy

Lmfnck ljy cried the loudest out of everyone sjnckck

The juniors light incense and burning paper money for them 🥺 they’re so sweet

ItS nOt lIkE yOuVE DiEd HoW wOuLd YoU KnOw iF DeaD pEoPle ReCiEve PaPeR MonEY

PLEASE WATCH YOUR MOUTH JINGYI

“How come? Was I really that much of a failure? Was there not a single person who burned paper money for me? Was it really because nobody burned them that I didn’t receive any?” STOOOOOP

“Looking at his calm face, Wei WuXian thought to himself, Really? Had he really not burnt anything?!” Okay i don’t remember if he actually did or not but nonetheless this shit hurted

The hunter was probably the same person who lead them together to yi city with the corpses, BUT WHY THO

Awwww wwx happy to see Lil Apple

Stop teasing jl, wwx, its not nice

Even though the lookout towers are a good idea, and benefit smaller more remote towns, i cant help but wonder if there was some kind of ulterior motive behind them

“Almost all of the dishes were covered in red. Paying attention to Lan WangJi’s chopsticks, he notes that he ate mostly from the milder dishes, rarely the bright-red ones. Even when he did, his expression remained the exact same. Wei WuXian felt something tug at his heart.” uGGgGgGHhHhH 

[bigbadredpanda]

MXTX interview

This is a partial translation of an interview given by the author in March 2018, it can be found on her Weibo. There are actually 40 questions in the full interview about all three of her books, her upcoming fourth book and also about herself and her writing in general. I’ve only kept the parts pertaining to Mo Dao Zu Shi for the sake of clarity and because I doubt many people have finished reading all three books. Some parts were a bit confusing, hopefully I got it right...

Mild spoilers for the main story.

Original interview: https://www.weibo.com/6049110380/G7RfoEcj9

Where did Wangxian perform their third marriage bow? How did Lan Wangji call his rabbits?

The names of Lan Wangji's little rabbits is a secret that only he knows, even I don't know. 

Anyway, Wangxian's third bow was done before their second time together.

Luo Binghe likes using Immortal-Binding Cable, Lan Wangji likes using his forehead ribbon, what about Hua Cheng? Can the skills of the three be scored? [1]

The most skilled of the three is without a doubt Hua Cheng. He is talented with his words and even more with his actions as well as extremely appealing. Even though Xie Lian is easily embarrassed, he will obediently do anything he is asked.

Lan Er is the hard-working and straightforward type, but that’s all right, Wei Wuxian can tell him himself how to play.

It goes without saying for Luo Binghe. Shen Laoshi, please be a little more patient with him.

What is Wei Wuxian like when he is drunk? Does he act any different than his normal self?

Not really, there's no big difference between him drunk or sober. It's not everyone that has a change of personality when drunk, it's just really over-the-top in the case of the Gusu Lan Sect.

What did Wei Wuxian go through during the three months he spent in Burial Mound? Was there really a mysterious book artefact left there by a master? [2] When Lan Wangji healed Wei Wuxian after the massacre at Nightless City, what did he say to him? How did Wei Wuxian pass the time during the thirteen years he was dead?

Some things that were said were not to be taken seriously, there is no mysterious book from a master. I don't really like the kind of plot where predecessors do the hard work and plant the trees and their successors can just cool off in the trees' shade.

Please do your own research. 

He was in a confused and chaotic state [3], not quite conscious but not completely unable to feel anything either. It's like being stuck in an unending nightmare.

When Wen Ning went berserk at Qiongqi Path and Koi Tower, was that an accident for both times? After changing into a fierce corpse, how long can he live?

When Wen Ning attacked at Qiongqi Path, it was Wei Wuxian losing control.

What happened at Koi Tower wasn't an accident. 

It depends on the maintenance.

Is Jin Ling's courtesy name the one chosen by Wei Wuxian, Rulan [4]?

That's right. But he never ever uses it. Jin Ling dislikes it because it sounds sissy.

What was the relationship between Cangse Sanren and Lan Qiren and why did she cut off his goatee? Does Lan Qiren have prospects for elderly marriage? What are the criteria Lan Qiren looks for when choosing a spouse?

It was because Lan Qiren was not as understanding and sensible during his youth as compared to now. At some point it resulted in Jiang Fengmian and his servant Wei Changze running into trouble while night hunting and they almost lost their lives. But Lan Qiren deemed that he was only following the rules and that the fault was not his so he refused to apologise, angering everyone. Then Cangse cut off his beard to play a trick on him. To tell the truth, beardless Lan Qiren is still very handsome, there's no one bad-looking in the Gusu Lan Sect! 

It's unlikely to happen so there is no criterion.

PS. Why are there people asking for Lan Qiren's spouse criteria…

What is the age difference between Nie Mingjue and Nie Huaisang and how is their relationship? Was the part of Nie Huaisang's partner [5] that was mentioned before deleted from the book or was the design simply scrapped?

Five or six years. Although they are half-siblings with different mothers, they get on pretty well. 

Scrapped as I found out afterwards that the story remained consistent without adding this character. Adding the character would instead make things difficult and the final result might not have been satisfactory.

Translator’s Notes

[1] Skills in bed.

[2] That's how Wei Wuxian explains his demonic powers to Jiang Cheng when he returns from Burial Mound.

[3] 混沌 (Hùndùn) means literally 'muddled confusion' and also refers to the primal chaos that existed prior to the formation of the world and in which nothing could be distinguished or perceived according to Chinese classic texts.

[4] Rulan (如兰) means literally 'like an orchid'.

[5] It’s mentioned in an older interview that the author had planned Nie Huaisang to have a subordinate helping him behind the scenes so the meaning was a partner in crime.

[princess-stabbity]

@demonwrestler​ well, if you mean, “how do you make mods?” then my help is limited. i’ve futzed around a little with dai mod manager to try to isolate assets for export to dao (i found most of the ones i wanted, i just don’t have the tools to export them lmao). there’s an old forum for this stuff. tho the best tutorials i’ve found are from the lovely sapphim

if you mean “how do you use mods w this game?” THAT i can help with. basically, you’ll want the dai tools suite and the frosty tools suite. for dai, i recommend dedicating a download subfolder to daimods u know you wanna use, and then directing the dai mod manager to that subfolder, so u don’t have to do a lot of work checking and unchecking mods (i used to have separate subfolders by inquisitor, but ive recently reorganized so that i have one subfolder for the stuff that’s a) only in daimod format, and b) smth i want for all inquisitors). 

you run the mod manager, everything hopefully goes smoothly, and then it’s frosty time. to make daimm and frosty work together, you need to find the subfolders in origin games/dai/update named “patch” and another one thats titled smth like patchedblahmergedblahwhatever (i am v helpful). rename “patch” to smth else (i use “patch (official)”) and rename the other to “patch.” you need to do this so frosty will run properly w daimods. 

frosty, itself, is very simple. it’s faster and easier to change mods out, since u don’t need to completely rerun the whole process, and you can even make profiles by inquisitor (eg, i am using a profile titled “amell, with daimm” rn). frosty can run daimods, but it can be iffy, esp w texture mods for some reason. i’m not 100% on this, but i think other daimods are usually fine (eg, you might be able to run stuff that changes store stock or ability trees w/o issue)

the benefits of dai mm are that some mods have simply never been updated to frosty. in some cases, they’re just abandoned, in others, even the modder can’t figure out why they won’t work in the other format (discovered recently i’d been bedeviled for DAYS bc my fav cass outfit refuses to work in frosty, despite the modder’s best efforts and other successfully converted mods. v strange!). it also is still better at handling configurable mods (which are rare, but precious to me. i love you, svarty. thank you for all my pretty and op new knives).

the benefits of frosty are that it’s much quicker and easier to change. if you want to change one measly mod in daimm, you have to completely redo your whole setup (esp tragic if you use a lot of configurable mods, bc u have to reconfigure them EVERY TIME). it also makes troubleshooting much easier, bc u can easily test mods in batches to see which one is fucking you. and if you want a mod to keep working in the dlcs (including trespasser), frosty is your best bet.

frosty is also unique in that, after some recent updates, it can handle certain tasks that are simply impossible in daimm. the biggest example, to me, is bundle editing. it’s still kinda new and tricksy (from what i understand), but bundle editing allows for fun stuff like character swaps (see: my many alistairs) and hair editing for npcs and qunari (now us qunari lovers can have the same wildass sims hair as everyone else, and so can the eggman). it’s a bit touchy (bundles don’t play well together), but very fun!

for general troubleshooting: if the game is forever on a loading screen (like 5+min), then there’s probably a daimod at fault (test any loaded in frosty first, then start futzing with daimm). if everything is completely fucking bonkers, it’s more likely (but not necessarily) a frosty mod at fault. generally. i had three separate vivienne mods, both daimod and frosty, that all fucked my game in different ways yesterday, so you never know. sometimes the entire game world just comes apart at the seams bc you wanted to give your favorite first enchanter a snazzy lil gold accent on her casual outfit :( 

[shijiujun]

history3 ep 17 summary - we’ve been kind of robbed, but this was a good ep

okay first things first, this episode was fucking INTENSE like usually i’m laughing out loud and everything but today i was more or less silent even during the romantic scenes between jack and zhao zi - those were cute don’t get me wrong but there’s the underlying shady thing that jack is doing - in any case, you guys will both love and hate today’s episode, and if you wanna turn back now and wait for subs etc. to come out, this is the point to do it, otherwise: SUMMARY TIME BELOW!!

CWH + TY/SF confrontation aftermath

we start off first with the scene in the preview, where TY is facing SF while SF explains that LZ is his mother, and CWH, who’s standing a little bit further away with his back faced to them 

also: thank you line tv, for making hong ye totally disappear without you know, letting us know what happened to TY’S PRECIOUS SISTER WHO GOT KIDNAPPED YOU KNOW?! she literally just disappeared - what happened? where’s dao yi? did CWH get his lackeys to send her home by curfew? you know?!!!!

back to the scene - TY is catatonic and just staring angrily into the distance, and CWH is all: “you must be wrong, you must be lying to me, LZ wouldn’t have lied to me”

flashback to the prison visit by LZ and TGD - TGD turns up to visit CWH and CWH looks to be badly beaten up, and TGD obviously looks very guilty but trying to be smiley, he tells CWH that he cooked some of CWH’s fave dishes and brought it for him today and CWH is obviously pretty mad as he accuses TGD of getting the other prisoners inside the prison to beat him up - TGD tells him to calm down but doesn’t have a chance to explain himself, and one can probably understand CWH because i think he wasn’t expecting to be in prison for so long, and he asks TGD when he’s going to get him out, but TGD says that the other gang, Si He Hui, has a hit on him and it’s safer for him to be in prison, and CWH gets mad and yells: “you’re the damn boss of xing tian meng, don’t fucking tell me you have no way to get me out!” basically

that’s when TGD reveals that he brought LZ with him, and rmb that CWH when he decided to take the rap for TGD and go to jail in his stead, he told TGD to take care of LZ and not let him know where he is? WELL THAT DIDN’T HAPPEN OBVIOUSLY - CWH begs for forgiveness from LZ, saying that he didn’t mean to lie to her etc.... and LZ asks: “how could you lie to me?”

and then she says: “i’m pregnant”, and CWH is so happy, and then he looks to TGD who looks back at him with a smile and approving nod - and like 10 seconds later, LZ says: “i went for an abortion, you and i are from different worlds we can’t be together, it’s over”

then CWH goes ballistic and even TGD looks a bit confused and stunned, and LZ walks off and outside the prison she sobs and cries, while TGD is looking at CWH yelling and being dragged off

comment - srsly?!!! so many loopholes that are with this scene srsly

back to the present: TY thinks that SF is lying to him and that even if it was true this changes nothing - he still killed TGD, and he knows this because CWH was actually the one to shoot TY and he remembers it

TY back on that day, he heard two gunshots while he was waiting for TGD, and when he ran up the stairs, he saw TGD and LZ dead already on the ground and TGD holding a gun, and when he yelled for TGD, CWH shot him

CWH says he really wanted to kill them, but before he could do anything, he heard the gunshot, and the first thing he did was call out for LZ and run over to them both and they were alr dead

TY doesn’t believe him and now pulls a gun on CWH, and SF is so desperately holding onto him and trying to stop him - he reasons that if CWH really was the killer, then why would he be standing here like this? SF: “finding the real killer is more important than you venting your anger like this, right?”

so TY runs off, and SF calls TY a gazillion times but TY doesn’t stop and heads straight for the car - SF catches up to him outside of the car but TY pushes him back and shouts: “why are you doing this to me?!”

heart. break.

he gets into the car and drives off, locking SF out of the car (and this is really inappropriate but i wondered - this remote abandoned place does grab or uber or lyft even reach this area for SF to go home you know)

SF+TY - In the house scene where we hoped we’d get bed scene but...

and SF obviously managed to get a ride somehow because he turns up at TY’s house, yelling for him from downstairs and he finds him curled up in the bathtub

they struggle because TY is obviously mad at SF for doing this and he wants to be alone and the truth is hard to bear and he’s trying to get out of SF’s grasp but SF is holding really damn tight and refuses to let him go, he back hugs him and tells him: “shhh... it’s okay, i know how you feel, i really do” and he tries to calm him down, which TY does for a moment, but he struggles again, and SF kisses him to calm him down, and then TY gets on with the program and starts kissing back desperately, and SF is telling him not to do this to himself as TY kisses his way down SF’s body - and then he kisses SF on the lips again, and then he just... stops

and TY goes back to crying on the floor, falling to his knees against the bed as SF holds him

HEART. BREAK. FUCKING HEART BREAK.

Jack + Interpol Chief

jack passes interpol chief a thumb drive containing xing tian meng’s information and details and says that since this mission is done, they should move on to the next one, i.e. dismantling CWH’s drug network

interpol chief says that CWH’s network in cambodia is difficult to dismantle and at this point i think interpol chief is shady as hell and jack seems to be talking in rounds to him, i really don’t believe jack betrayed XTM and TY

and then jack says that now they can, because CWH just invited him into his group and he’ll take the job, and interpol chief and jack shake hands on it

so we get confirmation: jack is NOT a police officer, he’s a mercenary for hire and interpol paid him handsomely for this ‘job’ with XTM and TY in a sense

Zhao Zi + Jack

zhao zi goes home and sees jack’s motorcycle at his door but no jack in sign, and he looks so confused, and then jack was actually crouching behind the gate and pops up and says hi

ZHAO ZI’S face LIGHTS THE FUCK UP and he goes up to jack with his umbrella and im gonna gif this in detail don’t worry, so i won’t say too much here, but anyway he lets jack into the house and jack cooks for zhao zi

and yes, that preview scene happens here, and zhao zi doesn’t really give him an answer until when they’re inside

REMEMBER THE PHOTOS U GUYS WERE GOING CRAY CRAY OVER? we WILL GET THIS SCENE TMR I THINK!!!!

anw zhao zi more or less tells jack that ever since his grandma died, no one is waiting for him at home and when jack turned up earlier, he felt so touched that someone was waiting for him to come home

ALL YOU FIC WRITERS - YOU GUYS CALLED IT!!!!

so anyway tmr it’s likely zz will accept jack’s confession and then hopefully jack won’t just disappear you know!!!

TY+SF in bed, half naked or totally naked I GUESS WE’LL NEVER KNOW

yeah, so they’re in bed naked and okay i’m gonna do a separate post on this about what i think - in any case, yes, no bed scene, and SF and TY are awake, and SF leans over to hug TY

TY: “I’m sorry”

FUCKING BREAK MY HEART YEAH WHY NOT U DO THAT SCRIPT WRITERS

CHIEF+DAUGHTER+TURNING HIMSELF IN

so yes, this happens - i have to say i totally called this, because it really does fit his character, that he would be overridden with guilt and that’ll make him turn himself in 

the scene with his daughter and the daughter’s fiance was really sweet i think, and it really reflected the dilemma and conflict captain shi has with this entire thing, and @ctl-yuejie mentions this to me as well and i agree, and that is that i wish he would’ve thought about SF as well? because SF... i feel like he treats chief as his dad almost and chief dotes on him a lot

so yes, he also emo walks to the police station and oh god okay i really gotta say, i almost cried - chief you’re damn good

and the next day, jun wei runs into the office calling for zhao zi, and says: “shit’s happened, chief turned himself in!!!”

everyone: “WTF?!” except ah zhi, who literally packs up and leaves

Domestic TY and SF

SF comes downstairs in the morning and handsome TY has cooked breakfast for him, and SF looks cautious and apprehensive, but TY has obviously decided not to think about ytd’s whatever, and just insists on SF eating breakfast with him

totally NOT a healthy coping mechanism but what can they do? anw SF sits down to eat, and then he’s trying to convince TY to not go for revenge on his own and to pass the person to the police, and TY, cryptic, says: “you investigate on your side. i’ll investigate on my side”

and then jack comes in and says they’ve caught He Hang, the asshole dude from the episode before, and SF is all: “tang yi, no, you can’t-”

and tang yi compromises more or less on this at least: “once i’m done with him, i’ll pass him to you, promise.”

and then SF acquiesces for a moment, that is until his phone rings and he picks it up and goes: “what are you saying? chief has been arrested for dealing drugs?!”

tang yi looks up. THE END.

and you can feel the stress and tension and the foreboding sense from this interaction and i hope this does not mean anything bad for our beloved TY and SF!!!! in any case... we’ll probably get jack x zz tomorrow IF LINE TV DOESN’T CUT IT OUT YOU KNOW?!!!! and yeah SF gets shot tmr - we see shots of him in that baseball jacket in three scenes currently: a scene with zhao zi where he’s investigating something, another scene where SF’s in a restaurant/cafe and finally the shooting scene

very likely ah zhi is discovered as the culprit tomorrow - although my theory is that interpol chief is in on it as well!!! it’d make sense because now if u think about it, if CWH didn’t pay police chief off, then who did? it has to be someone higher than him in position and interpol chief has a standard bad guy vibe, and this would mean that jack is moving interpol chief into a trap as well!!!! LOVE IT

this was a frickin good episode i think. thank god it was 30 min. any shorter again i would have rioted. but all remains to be seen for tmr!!!!

[lotusdelusion]

          Wan Kuei ( “vampire” ) verse Complete Sheet!

   ( firstly created as Mo Dao Zu Shi x World of Darkness crossover, but very adaptable to any fantasy setting. )

BASIC INFO

Nᴀᴍᴇ:  Kuanda Yu  ( 宽大玉 )

Aʟɪᴀꜱ:  Jade General  ( Yù Jiāngjūn -- 玉将军 )

Bɪʀᴛʜ ᴅᴀᴛᴇ:  June 6th, ≅ 740 CE  ( Gemini )

Bɪʀᴛʜᴩʟᴀᴄᴇ:  Youzhou ( modern Beijing, Hebei province ), China

Sᴩᴇᴄɪᴇꜱ:  Wan Kuei ( 万鬼 ), an amalgam of supernaturals like vampires, ghosts & wraiths. Loosely inspired by the Jiangshi myth. They feed on the energy of the living, which can be obtained from flesh, blood and, in some cases, even from breathing. While somewhat similar, they rot under sunlight instead of burning like vampires would and are unable to pass their curse forward or form blood-bond.

Fɪʀꜱᴛ ᴅᴇᴀᴛʜ:   ≅ 760 CE, during the rebellions against Tang Dynasty

Oᴄᴄᴜᴩᴀᴛɪᴏɴ:  Soldier / General; Ancestor  ( the formal leader of a Court or a region among the Kindred of the East );

Aʟɪɢɴᴍᴇɴᴛ:  Chaotic Good ( Makes his own way. Has little use for laws and regulations. Follows own moral compass, which may not agree with that of society )

MBTI ᴛyᴩᴇ:  ISTJ  ( Logician )

ABILITIES ( Dispiplines )

Bᴇᴀꜱᴛ ʙᴏᴅy ( ●●●○○ ):  allows them to dominate, control, or make use of the beasts of the field.

Bʟᴏᴏᴅ ꜱʜɪɴᴛᴀɪ  ( ●●●●● ●○○○○ ):  Derived from godbody of water used by the first Wan Kuei, allow them to control and alter properties of their and/or a target’s blood. 

Gʜᴏꜱᴛ-ꜰʟᴀᴍᴇ ( ●●●●● ●○○○○ ):  Ghost-Flames are not real flames, instead they are spiritual fires fueled by Qi. To access the energy, a Kindred learns to handle the searing pain involved in channelling the spiritual energy through their body.

Iʀᴏɴ ᴍᴏɴᴛᴀɪɴ  ( ●●●●● ):  drawn from its strength and rage, it grants the Wan Kuei the ability to resist all kinds of damage ignore or resist injury, even from magic, fire, and sunlight.

Oʙʟɪɢᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ( ●●○○○ ):  overwhelms another person’s mind with the Wan Kuei’s will, forcing victims to think or act according to the Wan-Kuei’s decree ( will not be used unless otherwise plotted! ).

Pᴏᴛᴇɴᴄᴇ ( ●●●●● ●○○○○ ):  this discipline defines the superior strength that Kindred possess. Allows them to leap great distances, lift massive weights and strike opponents with terrifying force.

Note¹:  Almost at a Bodhisattva level on the modern nights, this sheet is loosely based on the sheets of Lucita de Aragón & Sascha Vykos. However, in the first centuries of his life, he only possessed Ghost Flame 2, Iron Mountain 2 and Potence 3.

Note²:  The majority of these Disciplines relies on “strength” and “stamina” attributes. I have also included “potence” which is not a discipline described on the original KoE corebook for I refuse to use any kind of “exoteric” power. 

CHARACTERISTICS

Dʜᴀʀᴍᴀ :  Thrashing Dragon                •    Rᴀɴᴛɪɴɢ:  8

Nᴀᴛᴜʀᴇ:  Adjudicator                             •    Dᴇᴍᴇᴀɴᴏʀ:  Bravo

Dɪʀᴇᴄᴛɪᴏɴ:  South ( known for their vicious tempers, south-aspected Wan-Kuei are the dynamos of society, challenging old beliefs. Although their fellows often consider them insufferable, they are tolerated by their Elders for their formidable intellects and fighting prowess. )

Rᴀɴᴋ:  Ancestor                                    •    Sᴇᴄᴛ:  Laughing Rainbows

Aʟʟᴇɢɪᴀɴᴄᴇ:  His own Court first and foremost, but more open to negotiations and deals with Camarilla due to conflicts with the Sabbat.

Disclaimer: Conceptually I’m trying to add my own twits on White Wolf’s World of Darkness’ universe, in order to avoid any kind of problematic themes and contexts. I do acknowledge that, while seemingly innocent world-building for entertainment, the Kindred of the East supplement has a lot of problems, and I’ll do my best to avoid any kind of controversial inconsistencies.

PRELUDE

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Ever since he can remember, Yu has always felt that people around him were prone to being weaker, sometimes mentally sometimes physically, sometimes in various aspects combined. This, in one way or another, was perhaps one of the reasons why the young man, in addition to nourishing a certain arrogance and distancing, also developed a strange sense of responsibility towards other people, even in a relatively simple peasant community ----------------- or at least that's how he remembers it. Right at his early years of living, social disparities and disregard for simple people from the lower classes began to arouse the fury of this already hot-blooded and short-tempered young man.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Thanks to his physical strength and willpower, it was not long before the young man was noticed by an important general who was on the rise at the time, looking for new strength and willing men to join the rebellion against those who held power ------------------ just to take power for himself. However, the beautiful words and a cause for which he was able to fight quickly ignited a flame in the young Yu's heart, causing him to quickly join the rebel forces against the empire. Proving to not only be a promising soldier, battle after battle, conflict after conflict, the young man was soon able to ascend to the prestigious position of a General, using his cunning on the battlefield and his strength to crush enemy forces without failing. His strength and performance on the battlefield quickly became a reason for both fear and fascination, granting him the nickname “Jade General”, who fought with all his soul’s power.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ However, the glory wouldn’t last as long as he expected and soon the general who first noticed him began to grow paranoid and to become a potential threat to his own allies. And one of them was young Yu himself, who was from time to time victim of attacks within the rebel forces. Still, due to his loyalty and even bluntness, he was unable to see the real reasons for these attacks, how could he have known his beauty, strength and charisma could be a problem for his superiors to ascend to power? Until finally the very general he trusted so much ended up handing him over to the imperial forces on a suicide mission, where Yu ended up being captured and tortured for days until finally meeting his first death. Little did any of his opposers that, instead of having him dead, this only caused him to accumulate too much resentful energy, and instead of going to the spiritual world, his souls actually got back to his body, making him reborn as a completely different creature a fallen warrior Wan Kuei. 

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ At first, he rose from the pool of war cadavers like a ferocious corpse, devouring living creatures on the way, and after a few comings and goings, he was finally able to regain some consciousness just to realize that he had become the same monster his enemies feared so, having to run away from his own thirst for blood, even if he wanted to continue walking among mortals. He did try to go back to his family, but after the rebellion, his family was forced to either flee to a safer place or they were killed during the war; He was never able to find out which. After realising there was no chance of finding again them, Yu eventually gave up and sought for high priests and cultivators for help and little by little start to understand empirically the idea of becoming an actual living corpse and all its implications; Rotting under sunlight, the conjuration of chi-fueled magic. Things that no mortal would be able to do. 

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Weeks became months, months, became years, years became centuries in a blink of an eye, and since no answer was obtained he decided to move forward and to travel to other places for answers, only for Yu to realise he had awakened in a completely new world, full of creatures that only mortals would only dream about --------------. or rather, have nightmares about.

[veshialles]

Dragon Age Questions

I wasn’t tagged for this or anything, but I saw @danaduchy do this and thought it was neat, so I figured I’d do my own. 

This feels like it has good potential as a tag meme, so I’ll go ahead and tag a few folks that I think might be interested. @rogue-lavellan @fallout-and-dragon-age @feeshies @dancing-flamingo-pirates @vulpestwinkulta @life-is-no-sugarlicking I’m not really sure how many of my mutuals are Dragon Age fans, but if anyone else wants to do this as well, have at it fellas!!! Go wild! (maybe tag me so I can see! I love hearing about others’ DA experiences!)

01) Favourite game of the series?

As much as I love DAO and DA2, I’m gonna have to say Inquisition, because it’s one of the few games where I put off the ending. I got to that Wicked Grace scene, and it just really dawned on me that I was near the end, I ended up putting the game down for about a week because I really wasn’t ready for it to be over. So yeah.

02) How did you discover Dragon Age?

A few of the blogs I followed for their Mass Effect content posted (and still post) about Dragon Age fairly often, so I’d heard of it and seen stuff about it, but for whatever reason I only really had a passing interest in wanting to play it. I guess I just thought I didn’t have time to get into something new?? My brother is also a Bioware fan, and he’d gotten some money for his birthday, so he ended up buying DAO, but he went to bed while it installed and my sleep schedule was messed up, so I ended up playing it before he did lol. whoops?

03) How many times you’ve played the games?

About 1.5 times? I’ve played through the whole trilogy once, I’ve started a second playthrough with some more mods, but I’m still on Origins for my 2nd playthrough. Any other “playthroughs” that I’ve started have basically just been replaying the intros of the games to get decent screenshots of some of my OCs and get a better idea of what they’ll look like.

04) Favourite race to play as?

I know this feels incredibly basic, but I like playing as an elf. I don’t really have a reason, I just kind of default to elves in just about any fantasy RPG. I also enjoyed playing as a Qunari (from what little I’ve played of that race so far) and I look forward to doing a proper run of Inquisition with my Adaar.

05) Favourite class?

Mage and Rogue. I haven’t really given Warrior a proper try yet, but it tends to feel a bit clunky.

06) Do you play through the games differently or do you make the same decisions each time?

I try to play differently as much as I can. I’m trying to make a point of having my 2nd run be fairly opposite to my 1st playthrough. But I really just cannot commit to some of the more purely evil options. 

Like, there’s strategic choices I’ve had my characters make, like killing Connor to save everyone in Redcliffe, or allowing the Anvil of The Void to be used because Ferelden needs as strong an army as possible, or conscripting the Templars for their expertise in combating weird fade stuff, but there’s still some choices that I absolutely refuse to make (siding with Meredith, or executing Alistair, for example). 

So for those choices, I just have a “Worst Case Scenario” world state on the Dragon Age Keep website.

07) Go-to adventuring group?

DAO: I kind of played favourites with Leliana and Alistair, switching out Morrigan and Wynne. But I’ve gotten better being fair with my 2nd run, and I actually really like taking Sten this time around.

DAA: I’m actually pretty even with them all, but my favourite combos were Anders, Nathaniel, Oghren, and Justice, Sigrun, and Velanna. Next time, for lore reasons, I guess I should take Anders and Justice together as much as possible

DA2: Aveline, Merrill, and Isabela. The girl squad(tm). Also Varric.

DAI: I’d like to think I was fair with my party selections, but Solas was there a lot. So was Varric. And Iron Bull, love him.

08) Which of your characters did you put the most thought into?

To be honest, for most of them, I went in blind and made up stuff about them later. It’s only been on my 2nd playthrough here that I’ve put some more forethought into my characters. (Like how my Amell has a good mind for strategy and risk assessment, or my Adaar is afraid of bears and was born on a boat crossing the Waking Sea). But in order from most to least developed I would say; Kieshara Tabris,��Tamara Amell, Ilmanith Adaar, Valyhra Lavellan, Reuben Hawke, Juliana Hawke, Myrtle Trevelyan, Jerindeth Aeducan, Nellassan Andras, Mihya Nolahari.

09) Favourite romance?

DAO: Leliana. One of the few times I’ve legit crushed on a fictional character. Like, she compliments your hair, and she awkwardly flirts back and I just- wow, love her!

DA2: I really liked Isabela’s romance, but I accidentally locked myself out of it or the game glitched and I ended up with Merrill instead? Which is fine, she’s cute too! I’m gonna try romancing Fenris next, wish me luck!

DAI: Cullen. I just??? Love him?? Like, he’s attractive sure, but also relatable? I dunno, maybe I just bonded with his character over struggles with trauma/addiction/mental health. It feels like a story of growth and acceptance  and moving on, and I really love that about his romance tbh.

10) Have you read any of the comics/books?

I’ve read a few of the comics at least (The ones with Alistair, Varric, and Isabela) I’ve also started on Magekiller, but I haven’t picked it up in a while because I’ve been preoccupied.

11) If you read them, which was your favourite book?

Honestly, I really loved the Silent Grove series. Though it did bug me a bit that it relied so heavily on Alistair being the king of Ferelden. I guess I can always just handwave his involvement in the story as “official Grey Warden business” when placing it in the context of my 2nd world state. 

12) Favourite DLCs?

DAO: I’d probably say Awakening. Shame they haven’t really expanded on a lot of the concepts it introduced though :/

DA2: Legacy, really gave me those ancient mystery/cosmic horror vibes.

DAI: The Descent was a fun one, kinda for the same reasons I enjoyed Legacy to be honest. 

13) Things that annoy you.

Across all three games, there’s stuff like plot-holes and loose threads that have been left untied (so far), but as for other things that annoy me, I dislike most of game mechanics in Inquisition because they’re so different from the other games. 

Instead of using the Tab key to highlight every point of interest in the area, you gotta use echolocation or whatever the hell that radar ping is. And unless you have 7.5 headphones, you’re left just guessing wildly where the thing is you’re searching for.

You can’t interact with anything that’s more than 3 feet away from your character, so you have to manually walk right up to things instead of just clicking on the door at the far end of a room and letting the AI handle it. 

Gotta pull up the map every 5 seconds because they replaced the minimap with a compass, and I don’t know where the fuck I am going! Oh hey, the thing I need is right there, oh nope there’s a mountain in the way. Gee, would have been nice to know that ahead of time!!! 

I cannot tell my save games apart at all, so when I have to go back a save or two, I have to make a wild guess based on date and time, how long it’s been played for, and the general area it gives you. No more custom thumbnail to show you exactly where you were, can’t name your saves. ugh.

Hopefully they fix some of these things in DA4, but hey at least I can finally make my character jump!

14) Orlais or Ferelden?

Ferelden, it’s got that fantasy-grunge aesthetic that I love; grey stones, browns and green everywhere but not in a lush-jungle way, colder weather, fur cloaks and steel. It’s like Skyrim, with less vikings (well, except for the Avvar tribes). 

I like Orlais’ aesthetic too, with the ridiculously fancy decor everywhere, but living there would basically just be like Game Of Thrones; Thedas Edition. Trust nobody, anyone and everyone could be ready to kill you if you get in their way.

15) Templars or mages? 

Personally? Mages. I think they deserve to be free. I should clarify; free from towers and cages, not free from responsibility. After all, their abilities can potentially become dangerous if not treated with healthy caution and care. 

The only game I can really see myself siding with the Templars intentionally is in Inquisition, and even then I still plan to disband them. I accidentally sided with the Templars in my first run of Origins because I couldn’t figure out the Litany of Adralla and the mages died as a result :(

16) If you have multiple characters, are they in different/parallel universes or in the same one?

I feel like most of them definitely co-exist in the same universe. However, I view the different playthroughs as alternate timelines, with my 1st playthrough being my “canon” timeline. That being said, I’m still working out the placement and fates of my other OCs in the different timelines though.

The only characters that I’m fairly sure don’t/couldn’t exist in the same universe are my Hawke’s because they’re from different ethnic backgrounds, with Juliana being of Antivan heritage, and Reuben has some Rivaini blood in him.

17) What did you name your pets? (mabari, summoned animals, mounts, etc)

For my first playthrough, as a dumb nerd joke, I named the dog “Dogmeat”. I changed it later to Pariel, but Kieshara calls him “Parry”. She also had the Ranger spec, and she named those animals too: Tilly was the spider, Vessa was the wolf, and the bear’s name was Oursin (Leliana might have helped with that last one when asked what the French Orlesian word for bear was. Kieshara thought it was funny). They didn’t respond to the names, because they weren’t really “pets” per se, but it helped Kieshara to organize them in her head.

Tamara named the dog Marco. There’s no interesting story there, she just liked the name.

The Hawke’s family dog is either Gaius (for Juliana) or Chester (for Reuben)

Valyhra had a horse named Ilrian, who sadly perished during the Assault on Haven. She later received a Hart as a gift from her Clan and the City of Wycome as thanks for the Inquisition’s aid, she named her Melothra. And of course, there’s Pepper, the mabari hound that she and Cullen adopted together.

Ilmanith has a Mountain Dracolisk that she named Ozurak. Overall, she’s never been especially fond of animals, but she’s unusually protective towards her Dracolisk.

18) Have you installed any mods?

A lot honestly. Mostly cosmetic mods, like hair or improved textures. As well as a few gameplay ones (like one that lets you bring the dog as a 5th member of the party in DAO, or another one that makes the combat not slow as hell also for DAO). Also, I use a mod that lets you complete the war table missions instantly, thank the maker. I can’t remember them all right now, maybe I’ll make a list later.

19) Did your Warden want to become a Grey Warden?

Kieshara wasn’t too keen on the idea. To start with, she absolutely did not trust Duncan when he arrived. Having grown up uneducated in an isolated community, she’d never really heard of the Grey Wardens. All she knew was that humans who showed up in the Alienage wearing armour and carrying weapons had bad intentions more often than not. She’d seen templars, city guards, mercenaries, it rarely ended well. She eventually warmed to the idea during the week-long journey from Denerim to Ostagar, as Duncan revealed what little information he could, putting Kieshara through a brief crash course of the Grey Warden’s history.

For Tamara, it was almost too good to be true. Life in the Circle Tower was a bit dull at best, and life-threatening at worst. So Tamara often found her escape in the many books that could be found in the tower’s library, especially historical documents and non-fiction. She enjoyed the accounts of the Grey Wardens most, thinking them to be a very brave organization to face something as menacing sounding as the darkspawn. So a chance to leave Kinloch Hold and join the ranks of the heroes she’d read about? It was a dream come true. Well, almost, except for the whole childhood friend becoming a blood mage apostate part.

There was nothing about Jerindeth’s situation that was ideal, with Trian dead, and Bhelen using Jerindeth as a scapegoat, and being tossed to the Deep Roads and left at the mercy of the darkspawn or whatever horrors awaited them there. But they had a grudging respect for the Grey Wardens, and it was either follow Duncan or die in the Deep Roads (imagine what a horrible shock it was to them when they eventually learned that most Grey Wardens ended up going to the Deep Roads to die anyhow)

20) Hawke’s personality?

For Juliana; She was mostly diplomatic, but she cracked jokes every now and then. Cover the pain and fear with humour I guess?

For Reuben; I imagine he’s gonna be mostly humorous/sarcastic, maybe gradually adding a bit more fire and rage when things start going to shit.

21) Did you make matching armor for your companions in Inquisition?

I barely even made armour for myself, honestly. I don’t tend to explore the crafting element much in games. At most, I think I crafted a magic-bladed sword, modified a few weapons and armour, but apart from that I only really used the tinting option, because some of the default colour schemes and materials are ugly as hell.

22) If your character(s) could go back in time to change one thing, what would they change?

Kieshara has many regrets, but the one that haunts her most were the events at Kinloch Hold. She found the templars’ attitude towards the mages despicable, it reminded her of how herself and the other elves were treated back in Denerim. When Cullen told her to slay any remaining mages in the upper level of the tower, Kieshara refused his pleas. These were living people, she couldn’t simply kill them. But when she got up there, she froze. Facing abominations was one thing, but actually seeing them created before her eyes deeply disturbed her, and in her terror she couldn’t hear Wynne shouting at her to activate the Litany of Adralla. By the time she got her focus back, it was too late to save any of them.

Tamara doesn’t really have a whole lot that she would change. The Blight was growing fast. If she hadn’t made the tough calls, there might not have been a country left to save. Though, she does wish that maybe she had kept a closer eye on her friend Jowan. Ironically, she herself ended up turning to blood magic in the last few months of the 5th Blight, but she was never so careless as he had been, and she certainly would never have poisoned someone for money.

Juliana would have tried to save Bethany. Her and Bethany were usually in sync when it came to fighting and training together, but the one time Juliana slipped up, Bethany paid for it with her life. However, Juliana has no regrets about leaving Carver at home, even if he ended up joining the Templars.

Reuben’s biggest regret is that he didn’t keep a closer eye on those around him. Maybe if he’d kept a more keen eye, he could have foresaw some of the more horrible things before they’d happened; like all the betrayals and murders.

If Valyhra were to go back and change things, she would probably be just a bit more rude to people who turned out to not deserve her kindness. That’s really about it.

There really isn’t much that Ilmanith would change, except maybe she would have dropped the tough lady act for a bit and gotten medical attention, amputating her hand instead of letting the Anchor fester and grow for 2 years past its usefulness. It surely would have made matters easier on Dagna, only having to design a hand instead of a full arm replacement.

I can’t really think of anything for my other OCs right now.

23) Do you have any headcanons about your character(s) that go against canon?

Not really? I usually try my best to take what canon gives me and work within that, maybe bending a few things here and there when needed. I have a few headcanons that are maybe a bit unconventional, but most of the time there’s nothing in canon that explicitly says I’m wrong lol

24) Are any of your character(s) based on someone?

The only one of my Dragon Age OCs that I intentionally based on a person would be Myrtle Trevelyan. I based her appearance (and maybe some aspects of her personality??) off of this alt model that I’ve low-key been crushing on for the past month and a bit or so. Any other OCs likeness to real people is purely coincidental (which makes trying to do those Face Claim memes I was tagged in especially difficult)

25) Who did you leave in the Fade?

Stroud. It was a fairly easy decision honestly, given that Juliana Hawke met him for a whole 30 seconds in DA2 while the Qunari were attacking the city and he just skipped out. My 2nd playthrough won’t be as easy of a choice though, because I’ll likely have to choose between Alistair or Reuben Hawke and I’m just...not sure. Thankfully that decision is a whole 2 games away at this point lol.

26) Favourite mount?

Anything goes, really. There aren’t actually a lot of maps where I liked using the mounts?? The only map where I used the mount fairly often was...one of the desert ones I think? I found most of the maps were perfectly fine to travel by foot, because they had a lot of ups and downs, things to climb, things to go explore inside of. Can’t really do a lot of that easily when you’re riding on a horse/elk/dracolisk/giant nug. So I usually just went without a mount unless I was feeling particularly impatient.

[jlalitac]

Freedom, Humanity and Democracy

Thai Democracy was stolen 6 years ago by the currently military government. 

What led to Thailand’s 2020 protests

A timeline ; while a full account of what led to 2020 protests would go back nearly a century, here are the events and incendiary episodes that led to today from the past six years of military rule.

2014

Bangkok Shutdown : The year opened with whistle-blowing protests paralysing Bangkok in response to a political amnesty bill. Organisers from the opposition from the military to intervene. 

Coup XII : Army chief Gen. Prayuth Chan-o-cha staged a coup to ‘restore stability’, suspended the constitution and granted himself absolute power. He said democracy would return within a year.

Martial Law : Protests against the takeover grew creative after public gatherings were banned. Soon, the Junta had forbidden eating sandwiches and  reading George Orwell’s 1984. Activists, journalists and former politicians were taken into secret detention for ‘attitude adjustment.’ 

Corruption : 'Restoring stability was replaced by rooting out corruption' as reason to remain in power. Nepotism, graft and scandal ensued as Prayuth filled his cabinet with checkered figures, some of whom refused to even disclose their assets. The millionaire general struggled to explain his own wealth.

2015

Hard Time : The military regime framed the monarchy as being under existential threat, and August saw a record number of lese majeste cases. One man got 30 years in prison, while a Chiang Mai woman received a 28-year sentence. Their offenses? Facebook posts.

Single Gateway : After the junta's bid to controle online speech was refused by all major internet firms, it looked to reroute all traffic through a single gateway it would control. Netizens rose up, Anonymous attacked its infrastructure, and the authorities backed off again.

Rajabhakti Park : An early spending scandal came after the army skipped normal processes to spend 1 billion baht on a monument to past kings. Leaked details exposing unusually high costs invited accusations of graft. Complaint-filing activists were arrested. The army said it looked into the spending and found nothing wrong.

2016

Facebook : Eight people involved in producing social media content criticizing or satirizing the authorities were seized from their homes in dawn raids. Dubbed the "Facebook 8," two were later convicted and served brief jail sentences.

Super Cyberlaw : Revision of a controversial cyber crime law sold to the public as dialing back its abuse actually resulted in an even broader and vaguer law that gave the Junta cover to prosecute speech and retaliate against critics. It would also replace the lese majeste law in cases of royal defamation.

Rama X Ascends : Vajiralongkorn took the throne after the death of long-reining and revered King Bhumibol. He quickly placed the palace's vast wealth and portions of the military under his personal control and changed the constitution after the public had approved it.

Promises, Promises : As the years went by, the Junta's broken election promises became almost a running gag. Every few months, a new date was set only to be set aside. Hopes ran high in 2017 - everything would go "according to plan," a Junta spokesperson said. They didn't.

2017

Expensive Toys : With the military in power, it went on a massive buying spree, acquiring new fighter jets, tanks, weapons systems, armored carriers and, most infamously, several submarines from China.

Dismantling Democracy : Icons to the 1932 Revolution which ended absolute monarchy were secretly dismantled or destroyed. Most notably, a small scuffed brass marker commemorating its start vanished overnight and was replaced with one hailing the monarchy.

Vanishing Critics : Anti-monarchist and fugitive Wutthipong "Ko Tee" Kochathammakun was living in exile in Laos when he was reportedly abducted by armed men wearing hoods. A body later turned up in the Mekong River that DNA confirmed to be his.

Jailed for 'Sharing' : Activist Jatupat "Pai Dao Din" Boonpattararaksa was sentenced by Khon Kaen provincial court to two years and six months behind bars, guilty of insulting the monarchy and cyber crimes after he shared a BBC Thai biography of Vajiralongkorn. King 

2018

Dem Watches : Observers noted in a year-end photo that Deputy PM Gen. Prawit Wongsuwan wore one helluva expensive watch. Armchair detectives went back and found different ultra luxury timepieces worth millions on his wrist in many photos. He'd never mentioned them among his assets, leading to an investigation which cleared him he famously of wrongdoing as I declared he'd "borrowed" them from a dead friend.

Art Under Attack : A street artist painting under the name Headache Stencil said he was hounded by security forces after they painted over his mural about Deputy PM Prawit's watch scandal.

Cave Rescue : Despite being criticized for mismanaging a rescue that was pulled off thanks to foreign volunteers, Thailand's government received good press for the resoundingly successful rescue of 12 footballers and coach trapped in a cave.

Black Panther : A powerful construction tycoon became another icon of impunity after he was apparently caught red-handed eating a poached big cat inside a wildlife sanctuary along with a number of other dead, protected animals. Despite intense conviction, public pressure and a a Premchai Karnasuta has yet to spend time behind bars.

2019

An Election! : Going into the first vote since early 2014, Gen. Prayuth's ongoing rule was fait accompli under the new constitution, which solidified military rule by handing it the senate. Gerrymandering and Rewritten election rules did the rest. 

Nothing Changes : After a delay of 45 days, the military proxy Palang Pracharath Party came to power with the help of the military-controlled senate. Hopes for reform were pinned on the new third-place Future Forward Party and its progressive leader. 

Future Blocked : The Future Forward Party's charismatic leader was denied his seat in parliament based on a technicality: He'd once had shares in a company that printed in-flight magazines, and media owners cannot run for office.

2020

No Future : One of the last straws for those frustrated by years of military rule came when Future Forward was summarily disbanded by a political court. Denied any avenue through the system, its young supporters soon launched the largest rallies in years - just as a new virus was arriving from Wuhan, China.

IMDB Scandal Shadows : Years after accusations that PM Prayuth Chan-o-cha was tied up in Malaysia's massive IMDB scandal, the allegations were resurfaced by the Future Forward Party in the Parliament. Thailand had jailed a whistleblower, and the junta was accused of doing so as part of a "dark alliance" to protect Malaysian PM-turned Najib Razak, who was convicted in July 2020.

It's just ‘ flour ' : A key player in Prayuth's cabinet turned out to have spent four years in Australian prison for smuggling heroin. The regime said laws preventing ex-cons from serving didn't apply; he insisted the heroin was just "flour" and survived.

Eternal Emergency Decree : Conditions that defined five years of junta rule were reinstated with the stroke of a pen when Prayuth declared a state of emergency granting sweeping powers to enact curfews, limit travel and censor the media. It has remained in place months after the outbreak faded.

COVID Strikes : An economic force that once led the region only to be surpassed by its rivals, Thailand's outlook by July fell to last place in ASEAN and all of Asia as lockdown measures smothered growth which had already been languishing. Painful times led to a surge in the already- high suicide rate.

Another Critic Abducted : Pro-democracy activist-in-exile Wanchalerm Satsaksit was abducted near his apartment in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. He's thought to be the latest in a series of dissidents murdered on orders from the kingdom's highest authorities.

Protests Erupt, Taboos Teeter :  Massive crowds of between 10,00O to 20,000 people converged on the Democracy Monument to call for the government to step down and the constitution to be rewritten. Decades of longstanding taboo were shattered when campaigners issued 10 demands calling for royal reforms.

[clairetherose]

Draecember2017 Day 17 - Overcoming an Obstacle

Wow I’m so sorry this is 1, so late, and 2, so LONG. This was one I’ve wanted to write for a long, long time, and I guess I just WENT for it. Apologies for over 4300 words. Maybe I’ll finally get caught up, after this. I have a week!

A week had passed since Kelci had mounted the peak of Mount Neverest. She had gotten to know Daolong, at least to a point of casual friendship, over that time. Most of the days had been spent resting, though he did instruct her on ways to better meditate. She’d been practicing that, most of all. “It will help with the training,” He said, every time with a knowing tone in his voice. “Just trust me. It is important that your body and mind are at peace when we begin.” Though she had asked around the town, nobody could give her a straight answer as to what Master Zhao’s training would consist of. The only whispers she could get were that his last pupil had died from it. None seemed very hopeful that they would see her again, after it began. At her own request, she tried to converse as much in Pandaren as she could. If she were to live here for an extended time, it would be best if she learned the language.

Finally, the long awaited day had arrived. Kelci hugged a heavy blanket about her shoulders as they trudged back up into the mountains of Kun-lai. She’d grown more accustomed to moving about in the snow, and her hooves found more purpose with each step. She bore a look of confidence, and was eager to finally begin.

“Nearly there, Kelci.” Daolong called out from just ahead. “We will be going off the path, up here. Follow the sounds of my footsteps.” It was easy enough to do. Daolong wasn’t small, even by Pandaren standards, and his steps were heavy and clear.

Kelci nodded back, “Where are we going, Dao?” She asked, curiously. She’d grown to see him more as a friend than anything else, falling back into a casual, familiar tone.

Daolong clicked his tongue. “Ahh, you forget yourself. I am Master Zhao, to you. Today, your training begins.” He chuckled, heartily, “Do not forget your place, my young pupil.”

Kelci frowned, “You do remember I’m older than you by nearly three thousand years, yes?” She paused, but added, “...Master Zhao.” If it meant her overcoming what she’d lost, she was willing to swallow her pride. Not that she had much left, anyway.

“Mm, good.” Daolong continued to chuckle. The sound of his footsteps stopped, replaced by him grunting and stone grinding against stone. “Ahh, this will do. Come here, Kelci.” He spoke loudly and clearly, so she could find him. “And tell me, what do you know of the Mogu?”

Kelci followed the sounds of his voice easily, stopping when she figured she was very close. She gripped her staff in both hands; the same one she’d cut that first day in Pandaria. “Ahh, not much, really. I’ve heard only a little, since I got here. From what I understand, they’re like… evil, animated statues, right? Something like that?”

Daolong took a few moments to speak again, rolling over the thoughts in his mind. “Hm, close enough. Just know that if you do ever meet one, it will try to kill you.” The rest of the story could come another time. “And also, they have tombs scattered across the mountains. Like here, for instance.” He gently led Kelci forward a little ways. Her hooves started to click on stone beneath, rather than snow, and the air grew musty and dull. They’d likely entered a cave. Kelci wrinkled her nose at the smell of the old air.

“Right, so they’re bad. I got it. What does that have to do with anything?” Kelci didn’t mind the history lesson, but since they were supposed to be training, now, it seemed less relevant. “Also, are we underground?” Though he had grown much quiet, Kelci was still able to stick near Daolong.

This seemed to delight the Pandaren. “Yes, we are underground. And I make sure you know, just in case you meet one.” There was the sound of air moving around his arms and a soft, soothing feeling filled the air around Kelci. “I want you to feel this, right now. Hold onto it. Remember it. This is Chi.” He moved to be directly in front of her. “When you think you can sense the orb I’m holding, I want you to grab it.” An easy task, for someone who could see. “Usually, I blindfold pupils for this part. So you are at no disadvantage. Yet.”

Kelci breathed in the more refreshing air from his weaving. “Chi. Huh. I mean, I can feel it on my skin and in my lungs, but am I supposed to be able to… see it? Or is this something else?” She tried to concentrate on the feelings that the Chi had given her, focus inward on it, as he had said. Daolong refused to answer her questions, remaining silent. Kelci glowered. “...fine. Alright. I’ll try to just… sense it.” She took a deep breath. Her brows knitted upon themselves, and she grew still, going into one of the meditative trances Daolong had showed her.

There was nothing but the usual blackness. In her focused state, the air around seemed to pound inward. Her breath was laborious and filled her chest with tension. The feeling of the Chi she had been given was all that remained, and she poured her whole mind into it. There had to be more to it than what was on the surface. It was cool and soothing, but it had carried another feeling, deeper beneath. One of energy and life. It was on that feeling she concentrated, drawing herself further and further toward it. And then, there it was. A spark.

She reached out and swiftly reached for the space directly above Daolong’s hand. She had sensed the orb he was holding. She even picked up on the faintest outline of his hand beneath. Though not really sure how to do so, she took the Chi in her own hand. She could feel it, sense the movement of energy between her fingers. The warmth spreading from it. She continued to concentrate on that feeling, and brought the orb to rest near her chest, holding it with both hands. “...sorry that took so long.” She said.

Rather than his usual silly nature, Daolong was, in a word, dumbstruck. “No, Kelci, I’ve… never had a pupil so quickly perform that. And certainly never on their first try. And to be able to not just maintain the orb, but grow it…” He sounded legitimately impressed, and laughed. “You will be fine. You may do with that orb as you wish, but I wouldn’t recommend spending too much of your energy on it. You’ll need it for other things.” He turned in place and began to walk.

Kelci balked at the idea, “What? No way, surely you’re not serious. You just say that to motivate new students, right? It’s okay, you do--” The Chi orb abruptly dissipated in her

Daolong turned back and said rather sharply, “I don’t lie about anything. Nor do I paint things as anything less than they actually are. None of what I said is untrue. The first step on your journey is going to be to stop doubting yourself.” He sighed, “But I know how hard that can be. It will likely be the last step of your journey, as well.” He turned again. “I am going to lock the door. I will come back for you in three days. If you are alive, then we can begin. Water can be found somewhere in this cave, as can some limited food. And also Mogu.” He chuckled, “So be cautious. Remember the sense of that Chi you held. That will save your life.”

“Wait-- three days?!” Kelci sputtered, running for him. Her hoof caught on an edge of stone and she stumbled, instead, having to halt. “Master Zhao!” She was too late. The sound of stone on stone told her that the door had been closed. A heavy sound against it told her it had also been locked. She reached it just in time to pound a fist against it. It was in vain, however. She couldn’t hear anything through the stone. Several minutes went by before she could drag herself away.

She had to fight back a feeling of dread building up in her. She wasn’t ready for this, not by a mile. “Three days in a cave full of stuff that wants to kill me.” She sighed out, softly. Having put it to words, she realized it might not be the best idea to speak aloud, anymore. Three days could feel like a long time, or they could pass in an instant. Her best option was to give herself purpose. First, find the water Daolong had spoken of. Thankfully, in the musty air, her hoofsteps didn’t echo as loudly as they normally might have. Likely that the ceiling was lower to the floor, as well. By finding purpose, she could make the days seem shorter.

It took nearly an hour of searching, but through sense of smell and careful movements, she found water. Another hour after that, the bottoms of some hopefully not poisonous root vegetables. For a reason she couldn’t quite place her finger on, she just kind of knew that they were safe to eat. The same with the mushrooms she found. Some gave her a bad feeling, while others felt safe. She gathered up as much as she could, taking it back to a makeshift shelter, near the water source. All of the going was slow, as she had to grope her way around the walls and be careful with her hooves along the rough, stone floor. The first day went by rather quickly and uneventfully. Maybe there was no threat, after all.

On the second day, she awoke to a sinister laughter coming from deeper within the cave. It made the hairs on her arms stand completely on end just by the sound of it and sent a shiver of dread down her spine. Whatever calm had set in after the first day was quickly pushed aside in favor of a gripping, gnawing sense of fear. She stumbled awake, hooves scraping on the stone floor, and she reached for her staff, gripping it tightly in both hands. If there was any advantage she had, it was that whether it was light or dark made no difference, to her. Although, she had no idea if Mogu could see in the dark. Assuming what she heard was Mogu and not anything else. It took effort to force the negative thoughts from her mind, but one remained above the others: doubt. Kelci doubted herself. Doubted her ability to survive, doubted her very nature. As much as she pushed it down, it kept surging back up, biting into her mind. “I’m going to die here,” she whispered to herself. She almost believed it.

It was that ‘almost’ that kept her going. She only almost thought she was going to die. Something sparked in her. This doubt wasn’t natural. She had plenty of doubt, to be sure, but she never fell this far into it. Something one of the passing Monks had said came back to her. A legend.

“The last breath of the ancient slain,

Which breeds one’s doubt to fear in vain,

And though despair may take the mind,

It is only anger found in kind.

And soon from anger hatred breeds,

Where after are only violence’s seeds.

Each of these falls prey to pride,

The last breath, from which one cannot hide,

Where in darkest depths they draw,

They wait beneath in caverns deep,

The Sha.”

“Sha,” She whispered the name to herself. It was a name she’d heard before, in some of the stories travelers had told about Pandaria. Nobody seemed to say or know very much about them, beyond that they were terrifying. She ran through the lines of the legend in her head, again. “Doubt.” She hissed, shutting her mind to its influence as best she could. This wasn’t her doubt; this was something from some creature, deep beneath the stones. She tried to push herself back to her meditative state; of a clear, balanced mind. Like how Daolong had taught her. And slowly, as she sought that feeling of serenity once more, the doubt started to trickle away. Furthered in her resolve, she only focused more, until she found herself wholly at peace.

A long exhale escaped her lips. “You will die here, mortal!” A wicked sounding voice echoed off the walls, startling Kelci out of her trance, “And your soul will feed the rebirth of the Mogu empire!” Heavy steps that sounded like stone on stone carried just as much as the voice did, and Kelci scrambled up to her hooves, heart beating through her chest.

That sense of fear threatened to break through her mind, but she managed to push it back down. She stilled her breathing as much as she could, and tried to step as lightly as possible. Back and away, she moved, using her staff to feel the wall behind her, looking for a place to hide. It would be difficult to fight. She hadn’t fought anything in many, many years, though her body seemed to remember the stances and grips of doing so. Staves weren’t her preferred weapons, but she had trained with them all the same. She shifted into a defensive stance, holding the light bamboo keenly out before her. As if she could see any of the attacks coming.

Then suddenly, an opening. There was a small inlet in the wall and Kelci scrambled inside. She hunched in as much as she could, trying to still her breathing. She hadn’t been followed as she moved; she would have heard something. What she could hear, however, was her makeshift sleeping area being ransacked. The scrape of metal on stone filled the cave with the same sinister laughter from before. “So you’re trapped here, little one!” The same voice called out, “And now, you have no food. Or water. How long can you survive, hm?” Heavy footsteps drew closer and Kelci halted her breathing, completely. “Better to die by my axe than suffer!” More laughter followed and Kelci had to brace a hand over her mouth to stop from crying out.

After what felt like, and very may have been hours, the footsteps passed by, then retreated back into the cave. Probably trying to lure her out of hiding. It would be hard on her resolve, but she had to stay here, for the time being. Stay still, and stay silent. Finally, just as she thought she might finally be safe, the footsteps returned. “Clever.” The voice cackled, “And so brave, in the face of doubt. But no matter. You can’t hide in the dark forever. You will come out, eventually.” Kelci didn’t move from that spot.

Another long, indeterminate period of time passed. Kelci was thirsty. And hungry. She’d been thirsty and hungry for more hours than she knew, by now. She had no idea how long it had been since she’d hidden here, or even how long she’d been in the cave. Daolong said he would be back in three days, but it was all but impossible to tell how much of that had passed. Whether or not he had come, decided her to be dead, and left her. Her back and hooves were hurting from this cramped space. She’d tried to adjust into a more comfortable position, but it was of no use. Even for someone as small as Kelci, this was a tiny space. “Going to have to face it, eventually.” She murmured to herself, and nodded. She had a plan. Head for the place she’d stayed, try to scrounge up what food she could, get some water down her throat, then make for the exit. Even if it wasn’t yet time, it had to be close. If time had already passed, maybe he’d left the door unlocked. “Move, Kelci.” She told herself, and carefully pushed out of the shelter.

The cave was silent. Kelci sighed. Gripping her staff, she made her way back in the direction of her camp. Her hooves were louder on the stones than she wanted them to be, but there wasn’t really anything she could do about it. Draenei aren’t quiet on hard floors. She reached the spot without incident. It was slow going, as usual, but something about it seemed easier than before. Just before her staff would connect with something, she sort of knew it was going to happen. To the point that at the spot where she’d slept, she didn’t need to tap her staff against anything. She just kneeled down to examine the scene with her hands. Her heart sank a little.

All the food was crushed. Inedible. It would be near impossible to find any more with the Mogu about, so she’d have to just go without. With the emphasis on haste, she moved to the water, only to discover a foul stench coming from it. Poisoned. “So no water, either.” She whined, slumping against the wall and thumping her horns into it, repeatedly. “Damn it. Come on, Kelci, you’re not dying in here.”

“And that is where you’re wrong, mortal!” The booming voice returned, very nearby. Kelci hadn’t heard anything. Was it just laying in wait? Her only instinct was to jump backward, away from where the voice had come. It was just in time, too, as the sound of something heavy and metal hitting the stones rang out with cacophonous fury. “Ooh, you’re a quick one.���

“My people aren’t mortals,” She retorted, as if that was going to get the Mogu to back off. “We’re ageless. We existed long before you, and we’ll exist long after.” The staff was steady in her hands as she faced the direction from which the voice had come. She was far enough away, now, that she should hear any action. Any move to attack her. The darkness of the cave was of no consequence, to her. There was no escaping the fight, this time. She shifted her stance to a defensive one, ready to react to the first sound she heard.

And hear she did, the brute just calmly strode forward, heavy footfalls thumping against the stone floor. “Not mortals, hm? You can still die.” Kelci heard stone move and the sound of air being pushed past something. That same feeling of instinct thrust her to move, as well. She dodged to one side and struck with her staff. Somehow, it rang true. The hardened bamboo connected with the Mogu’s leg, and it stumbled. Stone scraped across the floor. She was faster than it. Much faster. An opening. She struck again, this time aiming for what she hoped was just below its neck. Once again, her staff rang true, beating into the Mogu hard enough to send it sprawling. Her mind flowed and roared, focused on the feeling of Chi, like she’d been told. But it wasn’t just her mind. She could feel something surging through all of her. Energizing her. She could win this.

The Mogu roared in angry defiance, pushing itself up and spinning back toward her with an arc of its blade. Kelci’s dodge was just barely quick enough, and she now sported a thin slash on one arm, though it was only deep enough to hurt and to bleed a little. The Mogu’s movements were filled with anger. They lacked any control or form, and were easy enough to reason out where he might strike next. Something in her head willed Kelci to try another attack.

Skidding back from the dodge, her hoof caught something on the stone for support and she used it to leap forward, turning with her hips to deliver a sharp kick to the monster’s chest. If there were lungs in it, they would have emptied. Instead, it staggered back, stumbling over itself, and the blade fell from its hand with a loud clang on the floor. Kelci dove for it. It was good she was faster; she got there first. Much to her dismay, the Mogu’s spear was almost too heavy for her to life. Three hundred years ago, this would have been easy. She grunted. All she could manage to do is pull it out of the monster’s reach, but she stumbled in doing so. And her hoof stepped on a panel in the floor that clicked.

Whether it was luck or instinct that saved her, she dove out of the way again, just as a flurry of arrows shot from the ceiling and pounded into the stone where she’d stepped. Not quite fast enough, though. One of the arrows pierced her leg, just above the hoof. Her shrill cry of pain filled the echoing cavern. She tried to put her weight on it, but nearly toppled over, again. This was bad. How was she supposed to keep fighting like this?

The Mogu just laughed at her. “Poor little girl. Finally out of tricks?” It probably didn’t need more than its fists to kill her. She attempted to strike, but her balance was so off, the staff carried no weight behind it, and the Mogu simply knocked it aside, the gripped her about the neck and lifted her off the ground. It must have been full foot or two taller than her. “I told you that you would die here, though you made it much more fun than I thought it would be.” His grip tightened, “Goodbye, little goat.”

This was it. Nearly three thousand years and she was going to die, alone, in a tomb. Her breath was fading and it felt like her skull might crack if it gripped her any harder. This wasn’t the life she had promised. To Anu and to Ki. “No…” She gasped, tugging at the Mogu’s arm with both of her hands.

“No?” it laughed back. “You’re alone, trapped in a Mogu vault. You will die here and your soul will awaken another of my brothers.” A he, then. Kelci hadn’t been able to tell until now.

“No!” She repeated, more firmly, and something burst from her. The energy from earlier, the Chi, it welled up within her and she somehow knew that she could force it out. With the strength of will she had left, a burst of Chi and force came from her hands and into the Mogu’s arms, blasting them apart. The sounds of a million little stones raining on the floor beneath were a sign of her victory. Though she fell on her wounded leg, she didn’t feel any pain.

The beast roared in fury. “You little-- You’re a Monk?!” He sounded incredulous, still staggered from the blast. He fell to his knees.

“No,” Kelci repeated for the last time. She was smiling, even though it was likely too dark to see. “I’m only a pupil.” She put her hands together right by the Mogu’s face. Another burst like the first one came from it, and the monster’s head shattered like a dropped vase. She breathed out, heavily, and whatever that rush of power was, left her. The pain in her leg returned in force, and she fell to the ground. Her tail coiled in pain close about her and she began to fumble around for wherever her staff had gone. Her hand touched cold bamboo. She sighed in relief. “At least you’re intact.” With whatever purpose she could muster, she began to head back toward the direction she believed to be the door.

“Kelci!” Daolong’s voice called out. It seemed like she need not struggle to get there and a flow of overwhelming relief toppled through her pain. “I felt a terrible sense of dread when I opened the door. A feeling of doubt flooded me--” He stopped short when he saw the scene. “Yu’lon’s breath… a Mogu war-captain. And you brought him down, all on your own?” He noticed her injured leg. “...I am sorry. I chose the tomb poorly. I have not scouted this one in many years, and I assumed it still empty. There was a possibility of lesser Mogu, but not something like this.” He crouched down and fussed over her leg.

Kelci was too shaken to protest. “I’m fine,” She lied. Daolong poked the arrow, gently, and she cried out in pain. “...okay maybe I’m not. But I’m alive.” She laughed, knowing that she was safe had pushed out all else. “Has it been three days?”

Daolong laid his hand near the arrow, still run all the way through her leg. “You’re alive. And it has been three, almost to the hour.” If he had noticed anything about how she defeated the Mogu, he didn’t say. “This is going to hurt a lot.” He gave a warning with just enough time for Kelci to brace herself as he pulled the arrow out of her leg in one smooth motion. Though she didn’t cry out, this time, a wincing moan escaped instead. She whimpered. “You’ll be alright,” Daolong reassured, “We will get you outside and I can heal a wound like this,” and without even asking, he lifted her like a child.

“Did I do well enough that you’ll train me?” Kelci asked as she was being carried. The pain had lessened, but only somewhat. She was surely leaving a trail of blue blood behind.

Daolong just laughed, “You accomplished far more than I could have ever expected of you. It would be my absolute honor to be your Master.” He sounded genuine, even in his surprise at what she had done. “No pupil has faced a first challenge so difficult, and most of them have failed or died on the easier ones. You might be something special.”

Kelci relaxed and closed her eyes. “Thank you for your kind words. It would be my honor to train under you, Master Zhao.” She smiled. “Though, first I could really use some food. And water. And a bath.”

A hearty chuckle overtook Daolong. “I could never say no to that!” He grinned and led her outside of the tomb. Her first real training. She probably should have died, but somehow, had come out on top. Only the first challenge of many more to come.

[cryptocoingrowth]

Telegram Attacks Apple, Musk on Crypto, WEF Debrief: Hodler’s Digest, Jan 20–26

Hodler’s Digest Coming every Sunday, Hodler’s Digest will help you track every single important news story that happened this week. The best (and worst) quotes, adoption and regulation highlights, leading coins, predictions and much more — a week on Cointelegraph in one link.

Top Stories This Week

World Economic Forum debuts framework for central bank digital currencyIt was a c-c-c-cold week in Davos, but Cointelegraph’s reporters wrapped up warm to bring you all the news from the World Economic Forum. One particularly big announcement saw the WEF unveil a central bank digital currency policymaker toolkit. The framework, created in tandem with central banks, is designed to help policymakers understand whether deploying a CBDC would be advantageous. In other developments, a global consortium has been formed to focus on developing interoperable, transparent and inclusive policy approaches to regulating digital currencies. At the start of the week, the European Union and five major central banks — the United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, Sweden and Switzerland — announced they were planning to team up on their research for CBDCs.WEF: Facebook’s Libra pushed world to reconsider USD as global reserve currencyElsewhere in the snowy hills of Davos, global economists begrudgingly admitted that Libra had played an instrumental role in getting the world to evaluate CBDCs — and to challenge the U.S. dollar’s role as an anchor currency. On a panel exploring the issue, Brazil’s Economy Minister Paulo Guedes said new technologies like blockchain are paving the way for future currencies to be digital. Others, such as the International Monetary Fund’s chief economist, Gita Gopinath, cautioned that the dollar still remains attractive because it “provides the best stability and safety.” David Marcus, the head of Facebook’s Calibra wallet, was speaking at another WEF panel. He questioned whether “wholesale” CBDCs would solve any problems in the global economy, and argued that a retail-focused approach is the best way to tackle an “unacceptable” situation where 1.7 billion people are unbanked and another 1 billion underserved. Whether Libra will be that solution remains to be seen.WEF: Ripple CEO hints at IPO, says more crypto firms will go public in 2020And we’ve just got time for one final morsel of gossip from Davos. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has predicted that initial public offerings will become more prevalent in the cryptocurrency and blockchain space in 2020 — and he hinted his company would be among those seeking a public flotation. “We’re not going to be the first and we’re not going to be the last, but I expect us to be on the leading side,” he said. Such a move could be instrumental in building confidence with mainstream investors and secure a pivot away from controversial initial coin offerings, which have seen young startups suffer often expensive run-ins with regulators such as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Tether launches gold-backed stablecoin and begins trading on BitfinexOf course, plenty of news has been happening away from Davos. Tether has announced it is now supporting a gold-backed stablecoin, where one token represents ownership of a troy ounce of physical gold. The funds are said to be backed by physical gold held in a “Switzerland vault” — and the product is available as an ERC-20 token on the Ethereum blockchain, as well as a TRC-20 token on Tron. Plans for commodity-backed Tethers have been in place for some time, but the company has often been criticized for its opaque approach to reserve management. A high-profile class-action lawsuit recently accused the company of market manipulation in 2017. Tether reserves were also allegedly used to cover a liquidity shortfall.Elon Musk reveals his true opinion on Bitcoin and cryptoTesla’s CEO may be constantly cryptic on his attitudes toward crypto, but this week, we got a little insight into Elon Musk’s thinking. On a podcast, the billionaire said he’s “neither here nor there on Bitcoin,” acknowledged Satoshi’s white paper was “pretty clever,” and warned his stance on cryptocurrencies often “gets the crypto people angry.” Musk added: “You must have a legal to illegal bridge. So, where I see crypto is effectively as a replacement for cash. I do not see crypto being the primary database .” Musk has been known to write short tweets about crypto that were widely interpreted as jokes. Last year, he unexpectedly declared himself as the new CEO of Dogecoin — a gesture that helped the joke coin clock short-lived gains of 35%.

Winners and Losers

At the end of the week, Bitcoin is at $8,450.74, Ether at $163.88 and XRP at $0.22. The total market cap is at $233,388,704,913.Among the biggest 1,000 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers of the week are Polybius, Prometheus and Eureka Coin. The top three altcoin losers of the week are Q DAO Governance, OVCODE and CannabisCoin.

For more info on crypto prices, make sure to read Cointelegraph’s market analysis.

Most Memorable Quotations

“I think there's a lot of things that are illegal that shouldn't be illegal. I think that sometimes governments just have too many laws about the missions that they should have, and shouldn't have so many things that are illegal.”Elon Musk, Tesla CEO“So then there is the new technology, the digital, the blockchain. The Libra episode is just evoking a future digital currency.”Paulo Guedes, Brazil’s economy minister“When we started this journey almost six months ago, the whole idea was not around a certain way of doing things, but more around ‘let’s come together and try to figure out how we solve a problem that is unacceptable’ — 1.7 billion people who are currently unbanked, another billion underserved.”David Marcus, Calibra CEO“Given the critical roles central banks play in the global economy, any central bank digital currency implementation, including potentially with blockchain technology, will have a profound impact domestically and internationally.”Sheila Warren, World Economic Forum head of blockchain“In the next 12 months, you’ll see IPOs in the crypto/blockchain space. We’re not going to be the first and we’re not going to be the last, but I expect us to be on the leading side… it’s a natural evolution for our company.”Brad Garlinghouse, Ripple CEO“My #Bitcoin mystery is solved. I mistook my pin for my password. When Blockchain updated their app I got logged out. I logging back in using my pin, which was the only ‘password’ I had ever known or used. I also never had a copy of my seed phrase. Honest but costly mistake!”Peter Schiff, crypto skeptic and gold bug“iCloud is now officially a surveillance tool. Apps that are relying on it to store your private messages (such as WhatsApp) are part of the problem.”Pavel Durov, Telegram founder and CEO

FUD of the Week

Greece extradites alleged launderer of $4 billion in BTC, Alexander Vinnik, to FranceA Russian national accused of heading a group that laundered $4 billion in Bitcoin has been extradited from Greece to France. Alexander Vinnik formerly operated the now-shuttered exchange BTC-e and is believed to have a direct relationship to the infamous hack of Mt. Gox. The case has risked triggering a diplomatic row, with Russia filing several requests to bring him under its jurisdiction. Lawyers writing on behalf of Vinnik’s young children had submitted a complaint to a Greek court at the start of the week in an attempt to prevent the extradition. Reports now suggest that Vinnik is being held at a hospital in Paris. His legal representative Zoe Konstantopoulou said: “In every way the government is trying to scare him, terrorize him, in a moment of great agony, while his health has worsened.”India’s central bank says it hasn’t banned cryptoThe Reserve Bank of India has said restrictions on regulated entities offering crypto assets do not equate to an overall ban. In a document submitted to the country’s supreme court back in September, which has now been made public, the institution said: “The RBI has not prohibited VCs (virtual currencies) in the country. The RBI has directed the entities regulated by it to not provide services to those persons or entities dealing in or settling VCs.” All of this comes as a landmark case against the RBI concludes its second week. Hearings are set to resume on Jan. 28.Peter Schiff bungled wallet password, solving “Bitcoin mystery”Long-running crypto skeptic and gold bug Peter Schiff is likely to be even more skeptical after losing access to his funds. At first, he believed his wallet was corrupted — but he later found out that he mistook his PIN for his password, and he was unable to log in after an app update because he had never taken a copy of his seed phrase. Many in the crypto community have criticized Schiff for making a rookie mistake, with Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao quipping: “I can’t believe I am about to say this, but maybe ‘stay in fiat?’” In recent days, CZ has said that keeping assets on an exchange is often safer than keeping the keys themselves — but those who have fallen victims to hacks on these platforms may not be so quick to agree.

Telegram CEO: Apple’s iCloud is “now officially a surveillance tool”Pavel Durov, the founder and CEO of Telegram, has claimed that Apple’s cloud service iCloud is “now officially a surveillance tool.” His stinging rebuke followed reports that the tech giant dropped plans for end-to-end encryption on iCloud two years ago — apparently following complaints from the FBI. This ultimately means that backed-up texts from iMessage, WhatsApp and other encrypted services remain available to Apple employees and authorities. Telegram has been positioning itself as a global fighter for privacy — and in 2018, it refused to give Russian authorities the encryption keys to user accounts, prompting as-of-yet unfulfilled threats that the app would be blocked “in the near future.”

Best Cointelegraph Features

SEC goes head-to-head with Telegram, makes a guinea pig of TONThe Chamber of Digital Commerce submitted a legal document to the court overseeing the hearing between Telegram and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Shiraz Jagati looks at what it says.Effect of CME futures options on BTC price depends on halvingCME Group has launched new Bitcoin options — further uplifting the institutional infrastructure supporting the asset class. Joseph Young writes that it’s a net positive for the crypto community, and the upcoming “halving” could make things more interesting.Adam Back on Satoshi emails, privacy concerns and Bitcoin’s early daysCassio Gusson has caught up with Adam Back to discuss the early years of Bitcoin, his emails with Satoshi Nakamoto and privacy — 11 years after BTC’s release.Original Article - CoinTelegraph.com Read the full article

[thecounterplan]

What the United 3411 Incident is Really About

by Brice Ezell

If you've followed the news at all in the past week, a recap of the events of United Express flight 3411 is unnecessary. For those who limit their news intake or even avoid the news – in this political climate, not an unreasonable move as far as stress and mental health are concerned – here's a recap: 3411, a plane leaving Chicago's O'Hare Airport for a short-haul flight to Louisville, Kentucky, was overbooked the day of its departure, Sunday 9 April. Overbooking is problem enough for paying customers, but in the case of 3411 there was an additional complication. United had several employees that needed to be on the plane, as they had to work on a flight in Louisville the next day.

With the flight being overbooked, United offered to give a night's stay in a hotel plus $400 USD to any customer willing to give up their seat. When no one took that offer, United upped the offer to $800. No one was enticed by that, a clearly considerable sum that likely outweighed the cost of the original plane ticket. According to some reports, United ended up offering $1000. When no one accepted these cash incentives, United randomly selected four passengers to be removed from the plane to accommodate the United staffers that needed to be in Louisville the next day. Three left the plane, undoubtedly frustrated, but without making much of a scene. The fourth, one Dr. David Dao, a practicing physician, refused to leave on the grounds that (a) he paid for his seat and (b) he needed to be at the hospital the next day to tend to patients. Despite the reasonability of those claims, United called the airport police on Dao, who was physically yanked out of his seat and dragged off the plane, leaving him bloodied.

Since then, United has faced a hailstorm of media criticism, and with good reason. As it turns out, using state-sanctioned violence to take from someone a service he had paid for makes for bad PR. It didn't help that the official Twitter statement by Oscar Munoz, the CEO of United, sounded like it was drafted by a corporate jargon bot, like horse_ebooks attempting to give an apology. United presumably compensated Dao and the other individuals removed from the plane, and in a surprisingly classy move, the airline did later refund all passengers on the plane the price of their ticket. Yet in examining how this thoroughly terrible event came to pass, it doesn't take long to figure out that this is but a single manifestation of a much larger problem, and that United could have saved itself a lot of grief by acting sensibly.

Before getting to the crux of what 3411 represents, there is one particularly bad argument that is worth addressing right out of the gate. I've seen it crop up across social media, but one grating iteration of it appears in the post called "I Know You're Mad at United but… (Thoughts from a Pilot Life about Flight 3411)", by Angelia J. Griffin. An early paragraph in Griffin's post features this confession, "If a federal law enforcement officer asks me to exit a plane, no matter how royally pissed off I am, I’m going to do it and then seek other means of legal reimbursement. True story."

This kind of argument is popular any time there is an instance of accused (or even likely) abuse of power by a law enforcement officer. "If only that unarmed black man who wasn't doing anything wrong at all simply did exactly what the officer told him, he would still be alive today!" This mindset is a curious thing to exist in America, a country founded on rebellion from the government that’s also home to the most guns per capita by a long shot – almost one gun per American (skip to page 47 of that PDF). Thee "if an officer says, you do" mentality is a whisper away from total fascism, if not an outright capitulation to it. I know that in the era of Donald Trump it's popular to bandy the word "fascism" about the minute something bad happens, but I do not use the term lightly here.

Just so it is crystal clear: a badge and a gun do not prima facie put an officer in the right. The presence of a badge does not mean that everything an officer says or does is correct. Asserting the high standing of the law does not negate the fact that many officers of the law fail to uphold their obligations to the law, and in some cases even abuse the law. Respectfully questioning an officer, or standing your ground when you know you are within your rights, does not make you a criminal or a degenerate. It makes you a human being, one that does not let the mere presence of power take away your dignity. Griffin's tone in her piece turns her seemingly "I don't want to cause any trouble" point into something closer to, "Shut up and obey orders when you're told." I and I don't think most Americans want to live in a society where that is the default response to authority figures.

Dao was not in the wrong for insisting that he needed to tend to patients the next day. I'm willing to bet that his reason for needing to be in Louisville the was better than most of the others' on board.

While the initial response to Dao's injuries was widespread sympathy and outrage, it wasn't long before a certain disingenuous brand of argumentation reared its head in opposition to the outrage. Basically, it boils down to this: "But the rules!" United Airlines, like all airlines, has each passenger sign a contract of carriage with each ticket – though, of course, most passengers click "I accept" on this contract without ever actually reading it. One stipulation of most if not all contracts of carriage is that airlines can in fact deny boarding to paying customers, given a particular set of circumstances. This brief primer by USA Today illustrates some of the myriad reasons why one might be denied entrance to a plane even after she has bought a ticket. (The article also notes that a contract of carriage runs up to 37,000 words.)

Descriptively, the "play by the rules" argument is valuable, for it reminds airport passengers of just how much legal scaffolding exists for the process of air travel. United and the other major airline carriers have their asses covered, and the minute you cry foul, they will let you know of that. Given that most customers don't have time to parse through 37,000+ words of text every time they need to buy a plane ticket, it is good to know what stipulations come in the contract of carriage.

As a claim against Dao's sympathizers, however, the "play by the rules" argument – espoused by Griffin and many others – is nothing more than pedantry. Yes, it is true that airlines have contracts of carriage that come with certain rules. Yes, it is true that people should be better informed about these things. But the fact that rules exist isn't the substance of the matter for those angry about what happened on 3411. In the battle of Single Paying Customer versus Giant Corporate Airline With Its Army of Lawyers and Whatnot, everyone knows that the latter will always win out, even if slight concessions are granted. The outrage isn't that rules exist at all; it's that the rules set by the airlines are fundamentally unjust and result in pernicious outcomes like 3411's.

It is first of all worth noting that the "rules are rules" line of reasoning might not even exonerate United in the case of 3411. As many have already observed, there is a distinction in contracts of carriage between being denied boarding and being refused transport. The former is what the "rules are rules" crowd is leaning on: if a plane is overbooked or there are airline employees in need of transportation, it is true that passengers can be denied boarding. However, being denied transport – that is, an airline's refusal to fly a customer to his destination after she has boarded the airline – is a different situation. Were Dao denied boarding prior to getting on the plane, legally United would have been in the clear, but since Dao was violently removed from the plane having already been boarded and seated, United's legal footing is a lot less sure. There is ambiguity in the contract of carriage on the line between "denied boarding" and "refusal of transport," but in contract law, ambiguity in a contract stipulation works against whoever drafted the contract – in this case, United.

United also promised federal regulators in 2014 that all ticketed passengers were guaranteed seats, but unsurprisingly a "promise" from a large corporation without any legal apparatus behind holds as much water as the notion of Southwest Airlines being a budget carrier.

Furthermore, there is a practical consideration in the case of 3411. Given that the flight was full of paying customers and the airline did have a need to send employees to Louisville for work the next day, the easy solution would have been to rent a car for the four employees and have them drive to Louisville, a four and a half hour trip which would have put them in Louisville with time enough for sleep. Airline employee's unions do require certain standards of accommodation for employees, and considering that I am unaware of them I might be speaking out of turn here. But on the surface, at least, this solution would have met the airline's need of getting its employees to their next work location without depriving paying customers of their seats.

But suppose United was legally in the clear, and that at best Dao would get a tiny settlement in going after the airline through legal means. I'm not one to elevate late night talk show hosts as beacons of reason, Jimmy Kimmel made an excellent point in his televised remarks on 3411: in no other industry would customers tolerate the policy of overbooking. Imagine, Kimmel suggests, going to an Applebee's and after having ordered your food, you are removed for other paying customers who wanted to sit down. Applebee's would be out of business in a heartbeat. (That is, unless people really love riblets.) Yet for some reason, with airlines overbooking comes with the cost of soaring through the skies. No federal or state law prohibits overbooking.

In the first instance, it makes sense why airlines overbook flights. Air travel, even when an airline has economies of scale, is an expensive enterprise, and all airlines have the financial prerogative to ensure that every seat is filled. Any unfilled seat represents wasted space and lost revenue. Hedging on the possibility that some travelers won't make the flight for which they've bought a ticket – which given the expense of a plane ticket strikes me as a low possibility – air carriers overbook flights such that if a seat becomes empty, a passenger on the wait list can board, and the airline is then ensured of its revenue. I am thinking in the aside of that last sentence that most travelers wouldn't outright skip a flight; I am aware there are other reasons to miss flights, including the not insubstantial number of people who miss flights due to TSA security delays. However, I have yet to see compelling statistical data that shows that missed flights pose such a profit problem for airlines that the practice of overbooking becomes necessary.

It is incumbent upon airlines to prove the financial need for overbooking. Even with the practice of overbooking in place, airlines remain almost systemically unprofitable, and it is implausible that missed flights by some customers would constitute absolute financial ruin for air carriers, above and beyond the harms caused by the already problematic standard operating procedures in the industry. But logical scrutiny and good business are not correlated, so for the time being it appears that the outrage over 3411 will fizzle out in the short term, and airlines will go back to doing whatever they want in the long term because they know air travel is a necessity in a globalized business world.

The fact that airlines know that necessity has in large part enabled the industry to become anything but the free market many would like to think it is. Alex Pareene puts it directly and astutely in the title of his article “Airlines Can Treat You Like Garbage Because They are an Oligopoly.” An oligopoly (think “oligarch”) is a market controlled by a few core players, in this case the “Big Four” of commercial American aviation: American, United, Delta, and Southwest. 

Central to an oligopoly is the limitation of competition, and in the aviation game, there is little of it. If you go on Kayak or any airfare aggregator like it, you’ll find that with few exceptions, most airlines stay within a predictable cost range for their flights. For example, I can fly to New York City from Austin round-trip -- if I buy well in advance -- for around $200-$250, and in most cases I can have my choice of American, United, or Delta. (As for Southwest: see my previous comment about it being definitely not cheap.) I could go to a budget airline like Spirit (or Frontier if I was heading west), but those airlines are only deceptively cheap. The budget flights on those airlines usually only exist for select airports, and even for those fares that are comparatively lower than those of the Big Four there is a well-known nickel-and-diming that occurs after the initial ticket purchase. (For reasons that remain opaque to me, it costs more on Frontier and Spirit to bring a carry-on bag -- which the major carriers don’t charge for -- than it is to check a bag.) This may seem odd on face: wouldn’t each member of the Big Four want to stake out the most competitive rates, thereby ensuring that they draw more customers?

Well, as it turns out, no. The Big Four appear quite happy with the sky oligopoly. (Skoligopoly?) As Pareene puts it,

This is called oligopoly, and, for airline shareholders, this is great! It truly is a new golden age of aviation, for people who fly in private jets but own stock in airlines. For the rest of us, this is most of why flying sucks now (the rest of it is the ever-expanding and largely incompetent security state), and also why United is not that worried about you sharing that video of a man being brutally dragged off their plane. They are not embarrassed, and you will not embarrass them. Airlines feel no need to perform the dance of corporate penitence. If you’ve chosen to fly somewhere, it’s probably because you don’t have a good alternative to flying...

What does United care if the internet is mad at it? The airlines divvied up the sky between themselves, and if you live or work in United territory, at some point you’ll face the real “choice” offered to consumers in a post-consolidation industry: flying with them, flying a more time-consuming and circuitous route with some other, probably equally horrible airline (if such a route is available), or not flying anywhere. Do you need to get from Fargo to Denver in a hurry? Congratulations, you are now a United customer.

So long as each airline can generate profit and earn regional advantage in certain places, these companies have no incentive to compete for the purpose of lowering prices. The utter hilarity of the “trickle-down” notion of profit-seeking is also illustrated by the airline oligopoly. Writing for Vox, Alex Abad-Santos points out,

Flights are still expensive, even though the cost of jet fuel, a reason commonly cited by airlines for raising prices and adding fees, has gone down — in 2016, jet fuel prices were a third of what they were in 2014, but ticket prices didn’t decrease in kind. It’s cheaper for airlines to operate now than it was a few years ago, but they haven’t passed any savings on to customers.

To boil it down to its essence: United, along with the three other members of the Big Four controls the skies. Who cares what passengers want? What power do they have against the airlines?

In response to the outrage following 3411, many in the “rules are rules” crowd also touted the classic “hit ‘em with your wallet!” line of reasoning. “If you don’t like it, don’t give your money to United! That will show them what their customers prioritize, and if enough people do it United will change its behavior.” This argument is predicated on the notion that the airline industry resembles anything like a free market, and that airlines are responsive to customer inputs in the way a market competitor theoretically would be. But since the skies are ruled by just four airlines, corporations like United don’t have to care about customers in the way a business freely competing with others would. Many have touted the heavy airline deregulation instigated under the Carter administration in the late 1970s -- prior to that, airlines were highly regulated by the government -- as an example of giving choice and lower prices to the consumer, thereby making air travel more democratic. In seeing the corporate merger-driven oligopoly that now controls the air, I cannot help but think of the classic line from the film No Country for Old Men, a question I think well applies to more than one stipulation of United’s contract of carriage: “If the rule you followed brought you to this, of what use was the rule?”

This is the heart of the matter when it comes to 3411. The anger following Dao’s horrible mistreatment is not about what the rules are, but rather why the rules are, why the airlines are in such a place that they can treat customers in this way. The airlines are able to implement policies like their overbooking practices because there is no regulation that forbids it -- or, seemingly, even tempers it -- and there is no means by which customers can hold these companies to account. This compounds the initial frustration of 3411 further: it’s not just that airlines behave in a way anathema to good customer relations, but they also have no incentive to change. 

Some will instinctively backpedal at the slightest hint of regulation, suggesting that deregulation led to lower fares and greater choice for consumers when shopping for plane tickets. Given the increasingly non-competitive airline marketplace, one wonders how competition will be fostered by the status quo. But more importantly, knee-jerk anti-regulation relies on a fundamental misunderstanding of coercion. Matt Bruenig writes,

What’s amusing about libertarians and laissez-faire people (and the loose way certain economists talk) is that they will describe my choice to pay rent as non-coerced and voluntary while describing my choice to pay income taxes as coerced and involuntary. But there is no neutral construction of “coercion” that would ever support such a distinction. As [Robert] Hale aptly demonstrates, coercion occurs when there are “background constraints on the universe of socially available choices from which an individual might ‘freely’ choose.”...

...When we talk about the economy, we are not arguing about whether we want coercion. We are arguing about what coercion we’d like.

The same holds true for airlines. There will always be rules for flying on a commercial airliner, and customers should know those rules. But wanting a different set of rules isn’t tantamount to a new imposition of coercion; instead, it’s a question of how coercion ought to function in an airline-to-customer transaction. Looking at how United’s overbooking policies -- which are similar if not the same to the other contracts of carriage in the Big Four -- resulted in Dao being yanked out of his seat and bloodied in the process, I think it’s high time those rules be reconsidered. So long as things stay the same, let’s not pretend that the air is just another competitive marketplace.

In thinking on 3411 and all the follies of American capitalism it represents, I've come up with what I call the Greenspan Rule, the name of which is inspired by this classic observation of Noam Chomsky's, which he delivered in response to one of former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan’s characteristic panegyrics on the free market. The Greenspan principle is simple: if you hear a businessman, CEO, corporation, or pro-corporate politician singing the praises of the free market, you can almost be certain that the market they envision is anything but free. 

Some further reading on Chomsky's response to Greenspan's claims about the virtues of the free market can be found here. See specifically the section "Saint Greenspan and the transistor."

[askariakapo90]

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