#and like at least she's a decent one but still

[deviantlair24]

Trading with a Naga (FemHuman x Naga)

You had spent three months searching for reclusive species, hoping to trade for the more hard to come by creature parts. Witches would pay a high price for these things and it was your job to source them, ethically of course. 

You were currently on the hunt for a Naga, they were seclusive creatures of high intelligence. They often lived in mating pairs or on their own, which made them harder to find. 

The one you were tracking lived deep in the jungle, far from convenient but if you were able to trade with the Naga what it gave you could bring you over a million dollars, they were incredibly rare. All you needed to do was find a Naga, and survive of course.  

The jungle was dangerous enough on its own given the bugs, predators, and diseases. The heat alone was getting to you but what was really dangerous would be the Naga itself. 

You were smart enough to be cautious of Naga’s, they were incredibly strong and knew how to use their environment to their advantage, and that’s not even bringing their venom into the equation. One wrong move and you could be dead in minutes. 

Luckily for you, this wasn’t your first go around, you had already found one Naga years prior and traded with her. She had been relatively understanding of your ignorance and taught you the basics of dealing with her kind. 

She had needed medical supplies and a rare ingredient from Alaska so she had been more than accommodating to you. Nagas couldn’t go in cold climates, they were still part reptiles so they were cold blooded making places like Alaska, Canada, and Russia unacceptable to them. 

You had made sure to pack herbs and supplies only found in cold climates in hope of making a decent trade but first you had to find a Naga in this jungle which seemed to go on forever. 

Thankfully you were in luck as you finally found signs of a Naga nearby and tracked them back to their territory. 

Your footsteps were loud as you crunched on fallen leaves and sticks, the last thing you wanted was to sneak up on them. You were so focused on making your presence known you didn't notice as you walked right into a tripwire. 

The world turned upside down as you were strung up in a tree by your ankle. You yelled out in surprise, your bag falling from your arms as you swung back and forth, trying desperately not to get sick as blood rushed to your head. 

You did your best to keep your equilibrium as you reached for your belt, you kept a knife on you for emergencies along with a machete, saw, and ax. But those were in your bag.

You grunted as you pulled the knife from the holster and struggled to reach your ankle. You worked out regularly but this shit was harder than they showed in the movies. 

Eventually you got a hold of the rope and attempted to cut yourself down only to feel a sharp poke in your side. You let out a yelp as you let go on instinct, dropping your knife as you fell back down only to see a tail full of dark purple scales. 

Your eyes followed the tail to see a male chest before a spear was pointed at your face. Well, at least you found a Naga. 

“Ssstate your busssiness” He hissed with narrowed eyes, he had scales covering his lower stomach and his shoulders while the rest of his upper half looked human besides the patch of scales on either side of his face and his fangs. 

You gulped as you tried to avoid the sharp point of his spear “I came to trade with you! I brought plants and medicines that you can’t get yourself” You were hoping he would let you down but he made no move to do so. 

“I don’t need plants” he said simply, his spear not moving from your face.

“Then what do you need?! I only want some of your venom and any shed skin you have! I’ll give you whatever you want, I brought a lot of stuff with me!” You were growing dizzy the longer you stayed hanging upside down. 

It was getting hard to think straight “Please just let me down!” You pleaded as you looked up at him with wide eyes. 

He looked at you for a moment before turning away, you thought he may be leaving you when suddenly you fell to the ground. You groaned at the impact, cursing as you fell onto a rock and cut your arm. At least it hadn’t been your face. 

You grabbed your bag as you stood back up, notably leaving your knife on the ground as a show of goodwill. 

You grabbed a bandage from your first aid kit and tied it around your arm to stop the bleeding from your cut. You would need to properly treat it soon before it gets infected. You could never be too careful in the middle of the jungle miles away from any hospital. 

“Uh, can I?” You asked, motioning to your bag. When he gave a nod you began to pull out the items you wished to trade. He looked them over, his slitted eyes unimpressed as you explained what they did. 

“I want none of thisss” He said simply, putting his spear away on his back as he realized you had not come to fight. 

“Well then what do you want? I need some of your venom” You pleaded, not willing to go back after all you had done to find him. 

He tilted his head and took a deep breath through his nose, you were thankful he didn’t have slits for a nose like Voldemort, it would make it very hard to take him seriously. 

He looked up at you with a smirk “There iss sssomething I want” he said simply, the look in his eyes made you flush. He couldn’t be thinking what you thought...Right?

“Care to tell me what that is?” You asked after a few moments, growing slightly uneasy....and excited. Not that you would admit it and make a fool out of yourself. 

His golden eyes moved up and down your body “I have no mate this ssseasson, If you let me Mate you I will give you what you wish” his words made your eyes widen in surprise. 

You gaped for a moment before snapping your mouth closed, he just waited expectantly for an answer while you both panicked and tried not to show how incredibly aroused you were already. 

As you took a deep breath to gather your thoughts you forced yourself to relax “If I agree I want more than venom. I want your shed skin and nails, alonge with two vials of your blood” You tried to speak with confidence and it must have worked as he nodded. 

He turned away, motioning for you to follow as he slithered across the jungle. The reminder of his tail kept you frozen for a few moments before you scrambled to pick up your things and follow behind him. 

Were you really gonna do this? You knew Naga’s were not only large but had two penises. Were you really going to let him fuck you for a payday?...

If you were really honest with yourself it wasn’t just the money you could get that had you considering it, which to be fair would set you up for life. What other opportunity were you going to have to get fucked by a Naga? 

It was a once in a lifetime chance, and you would be paid extremely well for it. What was there to lose really? Well...Besides some elasticity. 

You followed him to a cave, watching as he put down a pile of shed skin and nails in front of you he looked at you expectantly, holding out his hand. 

Your eyes were drawn to the talon like claws on his hands before you realized he needed the vials for his venom and blood. You reached into your bag and removed the vials you had purchased from one of your clients. They had stasis charms on them along with an unbreakable spell to keep the venom safe and preserved. 

You hadn’t expected to get any blood but the vials would also keep his blood preserved. 

You pursed your lips as he filled the vials with venom before cutting his finger on his spear and letting the blood drip until two small vials were full. 

Once it was done he placed it on the table like surface in front of you ���Isss it a deal?” He asked, his stare intense as he met your eyes. 

You bit your lip as you looked down at what he was offering, even if you wanted to you wouldn’t have turned it down. It was one evening that ensured the rest of your life. But in reality you were already twitching at the prospect. 

“I agree to your terms” you said before grabbing the items and quickly storing them away. 

No sooner had you zipped up your bag did he have you backed against the cave wall. You jumped as your back hit the cold stone as he boxed you in with his arms. 

You swallowed as he stood above you, now that he was so close you could see the light patch of scales on his cheekbones that seemed to glitter against the firelight. 

Your hand tentatively reached up and settled on his face, running the tips of your fingers over his scales as you looked at him in wonderment “You're beautiful” you whispered before meeting his golden eyes. 

He looked at you amused as he pushed his body flush against yours, keeping you pinned against the cave wall “Thank you” he said with a chuckle as he ran his hands up and down your sides. 

At that moment you decided to enjoy yourself, have a wild night and then never speak of this to anyone ever again. In the meantime you were all in as you grabbed his face and pulled him into a kiss. 

He seemed confused for a moment, still against your lips before he began copying your movements. He leaned into the kiss, taking your hands in his and restraining them against the wall before pulling away and kissing down the side of your neck. 

He made a pleased hissing sound as you leaned your head back, exposing your neck to him. You knew it was the sign of submission in Naga culture. 

He licked up the side of your neck with his forked tongue making a shiver go down your spine. 

“Are you ready for me?” He asked against your neck, one hand keeping your arms restrained while the other ran down one arm to your chest where he tugged at the fabric of your shirt. 

TO BE CONTINUED ON PATREON (FREE) - HERE

Full Story - 3.3k words

Naga, Double Penetration, Overstimulation, Ovipositor,

[fanganfessions]

I believe Wolfgang was a genuinely good, but misguided character.

And I believe if he hadn't died in chapter 1, he only would've become more misguided. But in a way that's entirely justified from his POV but terrible from Damon's and Eva's.

For example, imagine that he reads into Damon and Eva's speech from chapter 1, and how they think group bonding is only a way to get other people to lower their guard (at least from them). He also sees them being apathetic to idea of murder. He then sees Damon and Eva getting along with the others and participating in bonding moments they themselves basically deemed only useful for potential killers. Wolfgang overthinks this and spends the whole night up awake worrying about everyone else.

Heck, about Eva, he'd be correct in the case of canon, her bonding moments with the larger group (gaming tournament) were only a cover-up for murder. But this isn't canon, and we're basically going off of the AU idea that Eva spends more time thinking about the killing game tuan the postee, gets dragged to the tournament by Diana who isn't busy that day, and has fun and bonds with the group, especially Cassidy with their niche favorite video game (You could also have Eva not bond with the group, but just not commit murder as well for this AU).

But Wolfgang doesn't see this. He only sees people who deemed bonding moments murder opportunities engaging in those exact moments. He overthinks this so much that he distorts his own perception of Damon and Eva, from classmates who accused people of being potential murderers and sabotaged the group's spirit (still a horrible thing to do, but not as horrible as what he thinks they are in this AU), to possibly cold-blooded murderers who are taking their opportunities (big emphasis on possibly here, he doesn't see them as monsters, but he also doesn't really see them as people due to his twisted perception).

And he starts doing what he thinks is right. He begins asking Diana and Kai whether they feel safe at night, whether they'd like to switch rooms to room with eachother or Grace and himself, that its fine for them to ask to do so and no it won't inconvenience anyone in the slightest, he asks Toshiko to stay away for them, as shes in potential danger because of her age, he asks Desmond to keep an eye on them as Desmond's a marksman and he'd surely be able to defend himself incase anything happened, he starts being a little more vocal about them being suspicious then more and more, he keeps an eye on them every time he sees them with the group, whenever they're close to being left alone with only one other person he makes sure to stay behind so nothing happens.

But just because he's the hero of his own story, trying to protect his friends from people he thinks are going to hurt them (to reiterate, this isn't entirely ungrounded in fact, Eva did murder him in canon) doesn't mean he's not the coldhearted villain of another. Damon and Eva don't see these action as "harmless" or "preventative". They see him trying to ostracize him, asking Desmond to basically stalk them, making Toshiko run away, sabotaging their relations with their respective roommates to make them alone and less safe at night, never letting them be alone with one of their classmates and fostering distrust between the group while preaching the exact opposite. They see him as a giant hypocrite who is entirely delusional.

in short, I really think villains who are nice and kindhearted to everyone but the protagonist are cool and should be featured more.

(Most of this is AU but I think it could've had a decent chance to become canon if Wolfgang and Eva were long-term characters)

⠀

[bahbahhh]

A princess on the run, a missing hero, and the sword they share.

Princess Zelda might not be the hero Hyrule needs, but right now, she’s all it’s got. And besides, she’s talking to the real one through a magic sword, and she’s got the healing power of the stars, and a pretty decent disguise. That’s all you really need, right? It’s not like the fate of the world rests on her shoulders. She’s just got to mend a couple rifts and find Link. How hard can that be?

a @zelinktines story / rated T / during EoW / zelink

cw: language and violence

story beta-read by the amazing @mistresslrigtar

chapter 1 “ordinary house” excerpt:

Something coiled unpleasantly in her belly. Heat crept up her neck and behind her ears, causing her pulse to beat like a war drum. She'd felt this way inside that crystal cage. Helpless. Forced to do nothing but wait to be rescued for a week while the blue monster deliberated what to do with her. And then the swordsman—Link, she learned his name from the villagers—had come along and still she could do nothing but watch. Watch him fight, her fate in the hands of a person she didn't even know! At least he'd looked like a hero. Brave and fast and strong…until a rift yawned open under his feet and gobbled him up, too. A goner, for sure.

read the rest on Ao3 - next chapter coming 2/2!

[sirfatcat-mccatterson]

day 1 of @millportisntreal s valentines calender!

read on ao3

♡All You Need is Love, But a Little Chocolate Now and Then Doesn't Hurt♡

Catalina Alverez was a sucker for a seasonal holiday. It didn't matter how cheesy or minor, she enjoyed every moment. The decoration, the extravagance… the presents.

Valentine's was one of her favourites.

The pinks and reds flood the streets in swathes of tulle and crepe, flowers and hearts and teddy bears on every corner. A celebration just for love and appreciating your loved ones. Although Catalina believed that she should show her loved ones that she loved them every day, it was nice to have a day to go all out, shout it from the rooftops and make sure that everyone knew that these were the people she loved.

Every year, she pulled out streamers and glitter and made sure the house looked like cupid threw up all over the place.

Laila got the brunt of her holiday spirit, although Cat didn't think her girlfriend minded the attention. Breakfast in bed, followed by a thousand kisses and squeezes throughout the day. Flowers at lunch, followed by the cheesiest card she could find at Walmart. Hand cooked dinner followed by balloons and a romcom and cuddles on the couch.

Every year, Cat tried to one up herself and bigger and sappier gifts, to see Laila's smile just one more time. Usually planning as soon as Imbolc was celebrated.

Cat wasn't sure which god or deity she had pissed off but this year had already gone off the rails.

It started with a guy in her class who had decided that it was a great idea to come into class whilst sick. He coughed and spluttered and sat right in front of her with his germs. She had hoped that with him facing away from her, that she would be safe, that she wouldn't catch a cold and be benched from the upcoming game and miss Valentines Day, but noooooooo, the gods hated her. They made Derek turn around and ask her for a pen. They made him sneeze right in her face without raising a hand or elbow to block it like any sensible person over five years old would.

Catalina was fuming.

She had to isolate herself. From the team, from her friends, from Laila. They hadn't asked her to, of course they hadn't, but Cat couldn't live with herself if she got everyone else on the team sick. Even with their subs, she would be nerfing their game, just like they did against the foxes last year.

She slept on their couch for a week, skipping classes, laying in the dark, and eating soup. When Friday rolled around, Cat was still too weak to stand up for long, let alone cheer from the sidelines. So her team had left her behind and gone two hours away to play exy without their starting backliner. Cat had even forgotten about Valentine's Day until she turned the television on to try and watch the game she was missing.

The light of the monitor blinded her for a second before she scrambled for her sunglasses lying on the coffee table and rammed them on her face. It was still bright, still mildly headache inducing, but manageable.

A harp played, cutting off the presenters in their pre-game spiel. “Looks like it's time for a Valentine's kiss-cam before the game starts, Brad! Let's see that crowd get riled up for the start of the match!”

Red and pink hearts bloomed across the screen like petals as the camera swung between fans, urging them to share a moment of love with the crowd. Cat's heart dropped as she realised that she hadn't managed to get Laila anything special this year, hadn't even managed to cook her breakfast this morning as she had been so ill.

Catalina found herself drifting, zoning out of the kiss-cam footage and wondering if she could scrounge together something from her decorations that could make a half decent card at least. She stood from the couch and immediately fell back down, her head swimming.

Maybe not.

She would have to find a way to make it up to Laila when she didn't have one foot in her grave.

“Looks like the Trojans have got a special message folks! They’re waving the camera down like crazy!”

“They seem to have made their own fan signs tonight, Tom! Dedicated to their backliner Catalina Alverez, who couldn't be here tonight due to–”

Cat paused the television. On screen were her teammates, posters in hand, waving to the camera. Laila, Jeremy, Pat, Cody… Even Jean was begrudgingly holding a corner of a poster. All of them were smothered in hearts and well wishes, Ananya had heart stickers on both cheeks and Xavier definitely had glitter in his hair which was gonna be so uncomfortable under his helmet.

Her eyes swam with tears as she pressed play, watching all of them jump around and wave like they knew she was watching.

When it was time to play, Cat couldn't watch the game as critically as she would usually. She tried to keep up with all the action, but found herself struggling to keep her eyes open.

The sound of the door closing woke her up seconds later. She blinked at the television and turned it off when she realised it was playing a rerun of an old Tornados game. Her watch told her that it was 2am, which meant that the footfall through the door was probably her housemates.

Cat grabbed her glass off the coffee table to take it to the kitchen to refill with water and check they were not being burgled. An empty glass, thrown by a sick woman, would probably not be the scariest thing for a criminal, but it was all she had on hand and she was 90% sure it was just Laila and the boys getting back from the game.

Stopping to catch her breath, Cat looked through the kitchen door to see Laila, Jeremy, and Jean, huddled around the island in the center, whispering between themselves. Cat felt her eyebrows crease in confusion before a sneeze startled her, and her friends in the kitchen.

“Cat! How are you feeling?” Jeremy said, jumping at the noise before rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. “Probably a stupid question, right?”

“Did we wake you, babe?” Laila whispered, even though everyone in the house was awake and in that room.

Cat shook her head before grabbing the doorframe when brain did a backflip at the motion. “Just getting some water.”

“We're gonna get to bed, feel better soon!” Jeremy tugged Jean towards their room as Cat finally made her way to the sink.

Warm arms snaked themselves around her waist as Laila pressed her body against Cat's and planted a kiss on her shoulder. “You'll get sick!” Catalina protested weakly, half because of how she felt, and half because she missed her girlfriends hugs.

“Don't care.” Came Laila's muffled reply followed by a squeeze of her arms. “We've got a surprise for you.”

“I saw the posters at the game,” Cat croaked. “Missed the actual sport, though.”

“You didn't miss much.” Laila said, unwinding herself from around Cat and turning her around to face the island. “I meant this though…”

Piled on the counter were boxes on boxes of candy. Each heart-shaped, with a little tag on it addressed to Cat from various members of the team. Laila pulled over the biggest, gaudiest box and passed Cat the label.

To My Sugar-Plum-Dearest,

I hope these candies are as sweet as you!

Love, Teddy-Bear-Shnookums

“Happy Valentine's Day, Love.” Laila whispered, her head resting on Cat's shoulder. “Let's go get some sleep.”

[hestzhyen]

Chapter 66 Trepidation Posting

Well, dear void... I begged for Seitei War lore and a finger curled on the monkey's paw. Where to even begin?

Rough TL of the editor's notes:

First Page: 封じられた記憶… [fuji rareta kioku...] "Sealed memories..." Last Page: 妖刀も妖術もなくただその剣技で- [yoto mo yojutsu mo naku tada sono kengi de-] "No enchanted blades, no sorcery, just swordsmanship-"

Iori Lore and Dad Stuff

What a cute creature.

Her fake last name is Yoshiura (吉浦): 吉 (yoshi) for good luck/joy and 浦 (ura) for bay/creek/inlet. Nothing particularly interesting or exciting about it but it has a nice sentiment.

I'm in a better headspace now so I can do some thinking that needed to be done last week. Let's take some notes about the current arc and it's continued focus on one of Kagurabachi's key themes: Daddy Issues™.

Chihiro: lost his dad through tragedy, memories haunt and drive him. Was loved dearly and loved his father back in return. Acting on his grief in violent ways.

Hakuri: lost his dad through abuse, let go of his memories and found closure on that front. Was loved dearly then discarded but never stopped loving his dad.

Iori: lost her dad through his own guilt, trying to recover her memories of him. Was loved dearly and seemed to love him back in return. The memories she had with him were so upsetting that she passed out when she got them back.

Hiruhiko: mostly unknown right now, but clearly special to John and spoiled a bit by him. Surprisingly wholesome relationship despite how unhinged he is. If he was truly adopted like many fans think then John was probably a doting dad from the start.

So the "similar" traits based on what we know are...

Lost Their Dad: Chihiro, Hakuri, Iori

Dad Murdered/Killed: Chihiro, Hakuri

Dad Deliberately Abandoned Them: Hakuri, Iori

Were Always Loved by Their Dad: Chihiro, Hiruhiko, Iori

Dad was Burdened by Guilt: Chihiro, Iori

And the "unique" traits are...

Abused by Their Dad: Hakuri

Clings to Memory of Dead Dad: Chihiro

Dad Forgot About Them: Iori

Spoiled Brat Thanks to Dad: Hiruhiko

Chihiro and Iori are the ones being directly compared right now. They both lost their fathers, but Samura's a real piece of work compared to what we know about Kunishige. He chose to forget her in order to protect her whereas Kunishge went into hiding to stay with Chihiro. One child forgotten on purpose, one clinging to memories because that's all he has left.

Yeah, Samura's not winning any "Best Dad" awards any time soon- but it's hard to blame him when we see what the family was enduring because of his reputation after the war. Any half-decent parent wants their kid to grow up without having to see that kind of stuff. Samura just let guilt have too much influence over his choice on how to manage it, in my opinion. Kids should have a bit of say in how they're raised too. Not a lot but at least enough be able to feel seen and heard.

As for the other two, Hakuri and Hiruhiko are in pretty good shape. Hakuri's still smarting over the loss of his dad most likely, but he got the catharsis he was craving when Kyora finally acknowledged him right before he died. That particular wound can start to close up and heal as Hakuri moves on through the story, unlike Chihiro and Iori's at present. And Hiruhiko seems to be in the best spot out of the four as John's special little guy who can do whatever he wants. Spoiling kids isn't being a good parent but Hiruhiko's in a pretty good state all things considered- probably the best out of the four. We have plenty more to dig in with him so this'll get revisited once development happens or new information drops.

But yeah. Chihiro being rightfully angry at Samura for deciding to sever the parent/child bond so lopsidedly tracks with his unresolved trauma. Of course he thinks he wouldn't want to change a thing about living with his father. He's still deep in mourning and floundering in the morass of grief he uses to push himself forward. I wonder if we'll get commentary on this at some point... it's such a core aspect to his personality and the story that it might be saved for the end.

Iori's choice is left for another chapter but I have a feeling she'll agree with Chihiro and keep the memories despite the pain and danger they bring. Samura's guilt needs to be addressed and the daughter he chose to forget should have the biggest part in confronting him about it! The story can become an escort mission of sorts to keep Iori safe until that happens, which leads to easy action so hooray for us.

Perception and Being Perceptive

Yeah, he is. But that's not all.

And here we go, we're back to how people look at Chihiro and judge him without knowing the truth. Samura, Kunishige, and the other Bearers are "heroes" who seem to have some rather serious crimes buried in their pasts. Chihiro is a "murderer" stricken with grief killing those who try to destabilise society. Simple, no-frills parallels between guys drowning in guilt that anyone can pick up on.

What else is going on here? Well, those who were saying the hotel was inspired by John Wick are almost certainly correct with sorcery and fights being forbidden within it's walls. The Manager and his staff/followers enforce this with his own sword technique: Reigen One Sword School/Style (no relation to Reigen Arataka of Mob Psycho 100 fame). 礼 (rei): salute, thanks, gratitude, etiquette 玄 (gen): mysterious, occultness, profound

How... polite?

No, that's not Kumeyuri, and anyone who asks gets a bonk on the head for not paying attention.

Small note that wasn't kept in EN: Hiruhiko refers to Toto as "Toto-san", which is cute. He respects her and/or she's older than him.

Of course Toto summons Hiruhiko in so he can begin his own training arc by facing off against the hotel's staff. The bloody pin being used to tie his hair back will definitely not inspire a ton of fan art, trust me. It will be a Hiruhiko-free week everywhere (RIP my feeds). But Hiruhiko's really racking up the service industry experience between being bonded to Kumeyuri with it's geisha spirits and learning how to fight from hotel employees using a polite sword fighting technique.

Other than that, it's not clear if Kuguri's in this hotel or not but chances are extremely good that we'll get more hot-blooded action next chapter as Hiruhiko and Chihiro both learn by doing. Maybe they'll meet again, maybe not. The only guaranteed thing is that Sumi and Moku are wasting their time by prepping the seal on the roof because Iori's not going to want it even if it's finished before another dramatic escape is made.

Desperate cope theory while I'm here: maybe we can see Hakuri again soon since he and Hiruhiko have that "what is friendship, anyway" thing going on with Chihiro. That cut from Hiruhiko yapping about battling to the death as "equals" to Hakuri on the page turn in chapter 54 is still eating at my brain, yes. And Chihiro just reminded us that he feels inferior to Hakuri (he's gonna become his samurai it's canon no one can take this from me). Depends on how the next chapter plays out but I'm hoping. Dying. I'm dying without Hakuri. Please I miss him so bad just one new panel is all I'm begging for.

"Truth"?

OK. Time to let the brain worms squiggle freely over about two pages' worth of Seitei War information.

So, first... a translation note (sigh). The subject of how the war ended will probably come up now that the beginning of it was given to us (or at least, a particular version of it).

Chapter 9, if you forgot. Thank you Hella for catching this when I was all set to yap about the implications of an armistice vs. other ways to end a war.

How the war ended is still a mystery but it might not have actually been an armistice as implied by the English translation of the signboard. The word used in Japanese to describe it is 終戦 (shuusen), simply "end of war/cessation of hostilities" in a formal and pretty final way. The method could have been anything: surrender, peace treaty, and so on. An actual armistice would use 停戦 (teisen - temporary ceasefire for negotiations), 休戦 (kyuusen - a short-term truce/suspension of fighting), or 偃武 (enbu - mutually laying down arms but without the finality of shuusen) to describe both sides agreeing to pause the fight. So there might not have been mutual feelings that the war needed to stop for both sides' benefit like an armistice would imply, leaving a lot of room for the losing side to build up resentment.

Of course we all know that peace treaties coming from armistices can do the same thing if they are crafted poorly- The Treaty of Versailles used to end WWI is probably the most well-known example in the West. But the ambiguity exists in Japanese and should have stayed in English in my opinion. Folks who remember this signboard from early in the manga might be confused if it turns out the end of the war wasn't so peaceful or mutual after all.

With that out of the way, I want to talk about how fucking suspicious the story of how the war started is.

Keep in mind that Chihiro, Iori, and the Masumi don't know the truth of what actually happened- they're only recounting what they were taught or read about.

"But that all changed when the Fire Nation attacked" this is not.

小国 (shokoku): small country. NOT the actual name of the place, just describing it for what it was. "Twenty-two years ago... a 'small island nation' appeared in the south-east seas..." would be more accurate. (Thanks as always, Hella.)

So, right out of the gate, a whole damn country appearing out of nowhere full of people using magic rocks to attack the mainland sounds like something straight out of a child's fairy tale. You're telling me that Japanese Atlantis rose out of the ocean and became hostile right away, completely unprovoked? That's the kind of framing used to justify showing a foe no mercy. It's an essential part of successful propaganda- dehumanise the enemy, make them seem unknowable, monstrous, and imminently threatening.

The datenseki bit is especially interesting. How did these undersea people have natural compatibility with a stone named as if it came from a meteor?

雫 (da) - drop, trickle 天 (ten) - sky, heavens 石 (seki) - stone

And in such quantities that they could wage a war with it, despite it being rather scarce? (Only 250kgs exist per Sojo in chapter 11; same weight as nearly 12 average-sized countertop dishwashers in Freedom Units.) I suppose a giant meteor could have dropped in the ocean on their territory, or they could have mined it from the seabed, but I don't believe this conveniently simplistic version of events for a second. Not after so much emphasis was put on how shady the Kamunabi is and that they are hiding a lot of shit from the general public.

I doubt an island rose out of the sea as the story claims at all, honestly. While Japan does sit on the Pacific Ring of Fire and sees little islands pop up then vanish back beneath the waves all the time, one big and stable enough to have a whole nation's worth of people on it would not have gone undetected for so long. It beggars belief that the mainland didn't know they had a whole bunch of people living off the coast underwater unless they were using sorcery to hide from sonar and exploratory/research missions.

My bets are on this "invading" nation to have been a populated island that existed for a while and for some reason -probably related to the datenseki- war broke out between them and the mainland. Classic grab for resources, discontent with the mainland rulers vs. the island's own government, everything's still on the table. Maybe they were a long-lost fragment of society that tried to reintegrate, who knows?! But does anyone really think a war that started with such one-sided aggression out of the blue would have the population reacting to the people that saved them like this?

Not exactly a "hero's welcome".

"Disappear", "Atone for your sins", and "mass murderer" painted on the side of someone's house with garbage dumped in front is not reflecting the sentiments of people who are happy that the threat to everything they know and love was dealt with. That's outrage! Probably something to do with how the enemy was "wiped out" (JP:掃討 [soutou], cleaned up/swept clean/mopped up, specifically of enemies.) Sounds like the so-called invaders from Japanese Atlantis were thoroughly eliminated...

Iori is very young here, probably elementary school age. So this is a few years after the war in an unknown location- there's a chance this was on the enemy's island, but why would he live among the remaining enemies? He doesn't need more guilt than he already has, seriously. Also, since he was reputable as the fastest swordsman alive when the blades were being handed out, he most certainly wasn't a defector from the enemy's side. Thus I believe this scene takes place on the mainland.

It seems to me like it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows after the war so the Kamunabi came up with a publicity campaign and squashed the truth somehow. But that doesn't erase the memories of the people involved, either as participants or witnesses. I'm extremely curious as to how other members of the war generation remember things. The blades themselves were only used in empty fields (according to Azami, ch. 9) so the Kamunabi could spin that any way they wanted and likely did. But if that was the case, then who saw what and told others to kick off the harassment campaign? Are there mainlanders who dissent to the Kamunabi's rule because of that information not being completely suppressed and thus help out the Hisaku- like Kyora and the Sazanamis were implied to be doing? Remember, Kyora wasn't quite manipulated as thoroughly as Chihiro recounted to Uruha in chapter 48. He definitely had some personal and/or political sympathies with our favourite group of silly bad guys:

Chapter 22. "Dissidents" aren't business rivals or competitors- they're specifically political opponents against the current regime. The term used in Japanese (異分子 [ibunshi], outsiders/alien elements) has slightly different connotations but can mean the same thing.

This is what I meant by the monkey's paw curling at the start of this post. We got crumbs that only really raise more questions instead of answering anything. For now I am still clinging on to the theory of the Seitei War being a civil war... mostly because I don't know if the author intends to tell a story with blunt commentary on the misdeeds of Imperialist governments.

Possible Real-World Influences

Hakuri has nothing to do with this, I just miss him.

So, I know a lot of people have Attack on Titan's swerve into "What the Hell, Author?!" territory still fresh in their minds and I do too. What Hokazono-sensei's setting up here has some eerie similarities with a corrupt government hiding a lot of shit and the mysterious enemies being more sympathetic than they should be... I just hope we don't take the same route of "both sides were bad, so the military needs to protect us all and destroy the worse evil" that seems to happen a lot in these WWII allegory stories.

Not to get political about an action manga, but the discussions in Japan over how to teach younger generations about what went down in the WWI and WWII eras are pretty tense right now. A great deal of emphasis is put on the suffering of the people that happened after Japan was nuked twice -which was a tragedy- but the real story is lost in the debates about what and how much to teach. There's a lot of folks who want to minimize and omit lessons about the war crimes the nation committed in China, Korea, the Philippines, and the rest of the Pacific. There are even a handful who vociferously defend them as "necessary" things that happened during wartime.

I see a lot of this reflected in Kagurabachi's arc right now. We've been told several times that the Kamunabi's version of events can't be trusted and that there's something awful that was covered up. The Hishaku want some secret to come to light and it will almost certainly have hugely negative impacts on the Kamunabi, the Bearers, and likely Kunishige too. Chihiro needs to know what happened as a core part of his character arc, and it will probably come with the realisation that the conflict he's embroiled in is much more complex than a simple revenge mission can solve. Whatever the truth of the situation is will shatter his worldview.

Where Attack on Titan failed in executing this sort of plotline was making the Titans a genuine threat that needed to be put down after revealing what they really were. You don't set up obvious real-world parallels to groups that have suffered greatly in the past just to say they were a real threat all along. You don't downplay government's corruption and cruelty with "well the other guys weren't great either". But this isn't an AoT blog so I'll stop there.

I don't see a reason to be nervous about Kagurabachi making the same mistakes right now after the sensitive writing around difficult topics from previous arcs. I'm paying close attention to where the Seitei War information crumbs lead us, though. I'm interested in most things the author has to say if it's well-told but I'm not going to stick around for justification of jingoist ideology. I also hope that the author will be able to tell the story he wants even if it happens to go against the government's prevailing sensibilities.

We don't know yet where this will go so I'll just wait and watch with a bit of trepidation. I trust Hokazono-sensei to not repeat mistakes author authors have made, but he could well make new ones as an author writing his first-ever serialisation. I just want whatever comes of this plotline to have something interesting to say like the others before it...

We'll leave it here for today, dear void. Thanks for reading all this if you got through it and let's sit tight for some awesome hotel fight action next week! Say something nice about yourself once a day in the meantime. Every other or even just one day is fine if that's all you can manage too- we all start somewhere.

[moonylovegoodsposts]

Back To You | David!Clark Kent × Plus Size OC!

Wordcount: around 4K

Warnings: fluff, no use of Y/n (no matter how hard I try, I just can't get myself used to write using the Y/n thing, I'm so sorry about that!). Plus sized Oc, because why not? and Latina(Brazilian) Oc, because again, why not? Suggestive ending.

Oc! Lianna Torres

ps: guys I AM SO SORRY for being late with this one, I really lost myself. english is not my first language so im sorry for any mistakes.

faceclaim for Lianna Torres: Brianna Marquez (@/brimarqz)

I drop the last box on the porch, sighing as I watch the moving truck drive away. What trouble have I gotten myself into... actually, they have gotten me into. I love my family very much, but did they really need to leave me with... this?

Okay, let me explain. My grandmother died a while ago and, well, like every decent American, she had a will. What I didn't expect was that I would be forced to leave Brazil to inherit a farm that is falling apart. She hadn't lived here for a good few years when her illness began to take over, so the farm was left empty and the animals were given to someone who could take care of them, probably to a neighboring farm, from what I remember.

I stare at the large wooden door, the key in my hand. I take another deep breath, walking to the door at once, turning the key, trying to get it to open. Well, as everything that is great can get better, what is shit can get worse too. "Shit!" I exclaim, kicking the door, more to try to relieve stress than to try to open it.

And I thought I was the favorite granddaughter...

I roll my eyes, my head falling forward and my forehead hitting the door. "Holy shit... Why didn't you leave this to Matthew, huh, Grandma?" I ask, as if she could hear me, wondering why she didn't leave it to my cousin, who lives, like, two hours away.

"Do you need help?" I hear a voice that makes me turn back to the entrance of the farm and see a ridiculously tall guy wearing a blue flannel shirt and jeans, standing in front of the porch steps. "Excuse me?" I ask, not understanding where the man came from. I look a little behind him and see a blue pickup truck parked at the entrance of the farm. How did I not hear him coming?

"My parents said you came to live here permanently, so I thought it would be a good idea to come and help you... and it's summer, I have nothing to do on my parents' farm, so..." he continues babbling, as he walks up the steps, looking nervous about something but only one thing goes through my mind: Who is this guy?

"Excuse me, who are you again?" I ask, very confused, making him stop on the last step, his expression changing a few times. "Do I look that different?" He asks with a smile, staring at me. I open my mouth to reply with some ironic shit, but my brain freezes when I finally recognize the bright blue eyes. "Clark?"

It all seems to make sense now. I mean, why on earth would a random guy show up at my grandmother's door? Which is now my house...

Clark and I used to play together when I came here, in the summer when I was a kid. And sometimes in the winter too. And not just when we were kids...

I watch him smile and climb the last step. "I thought you forgot..." he says, pulling me into a tight hug that I return. "You look different, but I could never forget you!" I say, pulling out of the hug and he walks to the front door, touching the doorknob.

"It's stuck, you won't be able to open it that easily..." I say, trying to warn him, but when I see him he's practically broken down the door. "What the..." I stare at him, who seems to have made the minimum effort to open that door while my toes are still sore from the kick I gave him. "Ladies first" he says, gesturing for me to enter the house and I do. My heart skips a beat as the first wooden plank creaks beneath my feet.

The house is in a state of disrepair, that's for sure. Cobwebs are the least of it. All the furniture is falling apart and the musty smell is unbearable. All the wallpaper is peeling and everything is a mixture of mud, dust and bugs. I reach for the light switch, trying to turn on the light. The light stays on for a total of five seconds before the bulb simply explodes into sparks. "Shit."

"Okay, so... we have a lot of work to do..." Clark says, crossing his arms beside me and I glare at him "You don't have to..." I try to argue but he interrupts me "I'm not going to let you take care of this house alone. Are we going to start now or not?" He says, rolling up the sleeves of his button-down shirt.

Oh my God, when did his arms get so... huge...?

Holy shit, Lianna. Focus!

"Okay, let's go..." I say, taking off my own jacket, throwing it over some boxes outside.

_

I sigh, sitting on the porch steps, trying to regulate my breathing. Most of my boxes are still outside and it's already the third day, but every hour there seems to be a new problem with the house.

Why does it have to be me?

The sound of the pickup truck pulls me from my thoughts. I see Clark getting out of the truck in his boots, jeans, and green flannel shirt.

I've really been away for too long... when did that teenager I knew get so...

I guess I'm thinking too much. I'm definitely thinking too much, thinking so much that I almost didn't notice the clump of white fur getting out of the truck and running towards me. The dog circles me, smelling me and wagging his tail, stopping in front of me, tongue out, as if smiling. "Oh, hi!" I greet the dog, my hands going behind his ears, the look in his eyes bringing back memories of my teenage years. "Wait, is that Krypto?" I ask Clark, who approaches the porch.

"That's him!" He sits down next to me, his hand stroking the dog's head. "Wow! He's what? 15 years old?" I look at Clark, seeing his blue eyes looking between me and Krypto, stuttering a little "Yeah... yeah, I think so... about 15 years old, yeah..." he says, coughing a little, looking a little nervous. "Uhm, my mom sent this" He hands me a paper bag "for your lunch".

"Oh, she's so sweet!" I smile, taking the bag "I miss her!" I say, looking inside the bag, the incredible smell of food reminding me that I didn't have breakfast.

"She misses you too, she asks me every now and then if I've heard from you..." He looks at me as if he wants to talk about something that I know exactly what it is. "I'm sorry I disappeared... life got a little more complicated when my dad died and coming back here..." I try to explain myself, but Clark puts his hand on mine, interrupting me. "It's okay... I mean, you could have sent me an update, but you're okay, that's what matters," he says, looking into my eyes.

I take a deep breath, enjoying the feeling of his hand on mine and those sky-colored eyes staring at me.

"I wish I had called..." I say, a feeling of not having done what I should have taken over me "written, I don't know... sent you an update..." I laugh, without any humor. "I didn't call either..." Clark says, shrugging, but looking at me with a little guilt in his eyes "I could have called..." he says, intertwining his fingers with mine, looking at the rain that has started to fall.

"Things were as they were supposed to be..." I say, letting my head fall to the side, resting it on his shoulder, smiling when he rests his head on mine.

"What do you think about changing that wallpaper? It's kind of cheesy, right?" He suggests completely changing the subject, in that way he always did to distract me from difficult subjects. "That would be great!" I chuckle, leaning into his touch.

_

"So, I brought the best ones I could find..." Clark says, entering the house with many rolls of wallpaper. Many. "There's this blue one and there's this one with flowers..." he shows me "I think you'll choose the one with the flowers, but I needed to bring the blue one in case you changed your taste in prints..."

I laugh, looking at him, finishing sweeping the dusty floor. I put down the broom and walk over to him, looking at the options he brought me. He really knows me well. He still knows me well. I smile, picking up one of the rolls of wallpaper with a white background and flowers in pink, blue and violet. "I loved this one!" I say "Thanks, Clark!".

"You're welcome! I'll return the blue ones to the store later..." he says, dropping the box of blue wallpaper on the porch. "You're amazing, you know that?" I say when he stops in front of me, holding the box with all the rolls of wallpaper in one hand. He smiles at me, with that smirk as he says: "You've told me that a few times..."

I can barely contain the smile that tries to appear on my face, as he places the box on the new couch, identical to the old one, but without rat piss. Krypto doesn't take long to climb on the couch, watching as we work, enjoying his nice little life. It's quite possible to say that Clark's more excited about this renovation than I am. He's been here every day for almost two weeks, without fail. I have nothing to complain about, but it's funny and gratifying to see how much he's dedicated to making this house at least decent.

I see him enter through the back door with a ladder, his perfect hair dragging on the doorframe and I notice that he slightly lowers his head to get through.

"So..." he begins, positioning the ladder on the wall near the door "my mother invited you to dinner at my house today..."

"Today?" I ask, incredulous. "Today." He answers me simply, as he begins to install the wallpaper.

Is it wrong to find the guy I've had a crush on since I was a teenager extremely attractive while he's installing wallpaper? Ah, the wonders of adult life...

"Oh, I..." I try to say, but he interrupts me. "You know she doesn't take 'no' for an answer, right?" I confirm, knowing this very well. "And also, she's already started thinking about the dinner menu, so..." he argues, leaving me with no way to refuse.

"I have nowhere to run, right?" I ask, just to confirm.

"No."

_

And here I am, standing at the Kents' door, wearing a dress. A dress! A white sundress with blue flowers. My God, I haven't worn a dress in years. I ring the bell next to the door, taking a deep breath. The door opens and I see Clark on the other side, smiling, wearing his denim jacket and the white t-shirt underneath, and his glasses askew. "Hi! You're early!" He smiles, making room for me to pass. "My mom's in the shower and my dad's out back finishing fixing the back door." I walk into the house, slightly embarrassed to be back after so long. "I brought this..." I hand the dish to Clark, "I didn't have much time to make something better, so I made it with what I had at home..." Clark takes the container from my hand, removing the cloth from the top, revealing the sweet treat my mom taught me to make. "Lily, you didn't have to..." he begins with a smile forming on his lips and I feel a shiver down my spine hearing my old nickname come out of his mouth after so long. "I did need it, Clark. I wasn't going to show up here empty-handed." I smile "It's called 'pudim', it's typical in Brazil..."

"You're amazing, you know?" He smiles, taking the pie to the kitchen, gesturing for me to follow him. I close the front door behind me and head to the kitchen. "You've told me that a few times..." I smile, watching him finish setting the table.

There's still a small feeling of being home hidden in my chest. Everything seems as comfortable as I remember, the couch in the same corner as always where Clark and I used to watch all the cliché Christmas movies and romantic comedies – because he always let me choose what to watch.

"So..." he approaches me, drying his hand on a dish towel "here hasn't changed at all, has it?"

"Even the couch is in the same place... it seems like it was yesterday..." I say, trying not to sound too nostalgic.

"It really does!" I hear a familiar voice at the kitchen door and turn around, finding Martha, smiling, coming to hug me. "Martha, I miss you so much!" I hug her back, smiling.

"I was so happy when I found out you were moving here for good! I called Clark right away, he was in Metropolis, putting off coming to spend the break here!" she says, ignoring her son. "Mom..." Clark says, a warning and a little embarassment implied in his voice. I look at him, curious, since he had made me understand that he was already here.

"Lianna! My God, you're such an adult!" Jonathan appears next to Clark, smiling at me, repeating Martha's action when she hugged me. "The last time I saw you, you were wearing glasses and pigtails!" he says, not even humorously, making me laugh. "That's true!" I agree. "Thank God for contact lenses!"

"Come on, let's sit down and eat!" Martha gestures to the table. "Mom, Lianna brought a typical Brazilian dessert, it's called 'pudin'." He says, with his cute American accent. "Pudim." I correct him playfully, emphasizing the 'm' with my Brazilian accent.

"Pudi-m..." he tries again, making me laugh. "Almost that..."

We finally sit down to dinner, Clark in front of me, next to his father and his mother next to me.

Dinner goes by peacefully. There's never a lack of conversation with the Kents, even after so long. His parents ask me how things are going in Brazil, how my mother and brothers are doing, what I do for a living, if I like what I do. That's the kind of thing you talk about when you haven't seen each other for many years.

"I'm a journalist..." I say, as Martha cuts a piece of the pie she made, placing it on a plate with the dessert I brought. "Are you a journalist too?" Jonathan asks me. "I am! I used to work in audiovisual journalism in Brazil..."

"That's really cool!" Clark says, picking up his own plate of sweets that his mother placed on the table, "Do you have a job around here yet?"

"Not really... I dropped everything to come and take care of the farm..." I say, taking a bite of the pie.

"That's really nice of you..." Martha says, "We kept some of your grandmother's horses when she got sick... the cows went to another neighbor, but they're all well taken care of!"

I look at all of them, sighing in relief, "That's good to hear! I admit I was worried about the little animals, I loved them!"

"I remember! I even thought I was going to be a vet..." Clark says. "I almost was... but I don't think I would have..." I laugh.

The evening continued as pleasantly as before. Clark's father was the first to leave while Clark and I worked together, washing and drying the dishes. His mother tried to stay a little longer but soon followed her husband, claiming that she no longer has the same energy as before. Clark and I finished putting away the dishes and I was ready to leave when he took two bottles of beer from the fridge and handed me one, inviting me to stay a little longer.

And here we are. On the roof of the Kent house. Looking at the stars. Just like when we were teenagers and used to go up here, sneaking drinks from the adults. Now we are two adults and it's so weird to think about.

"Can you believe that nowadays we don't have to smuggle a bottle of beer here anymore?", I ask, breaking the comfortable silence between us. "I was thinking the same thing!" he says, letting out a laugh.

I hear a few small pops and look to the side, seeing Clark sitting down, resting his arms on his knees, staring at the trees behind the house. I sit down too, trying to adjust my dress to cover my thick thighs. Damn, this is why I don't wear dresses!

"Is everything okay?" he asks, seeing me struggling with the dress. "It's okay, it's just... that's why I don't wear dresses... I'm too big for them..." I say, taking a deep breath, finally managing to keep the skirt in place and I see Clark frowning. "I think it looks great on you..." he compliments and I can't help but laugh humorlessly. "I know it doesn't." I reply. "I guess I was trying to impress, or something... I don't know..." I say, laughing at myself, taking a sip of beer.

"I think you should wear it more often..." he says, looking at me with an intensity I haven't seen in a long time. "You look beautiful..." he smiles with that sideways smile, his blue eyes staring deep into my soul, and that's enough to make my heart beat faster, as if I were that teenager again.

He looks forward again, as if coming out of a trance, shaking his head a little, his curls bouncing cutely. I turn back to the front, staring at the trees and the stars. "Thank you..." I say, "For helping me with the house... and for the compliment, too..." I lower my head, trying to hide my flushed cheeks. "I think you're the only person who can compliment me so... openly...".

"I just told the truth." I see him shrug, taking another sip of his beer and I look at him, searching for some sign of joking or lying in his eyes. Nothing. "You know, I missed you in the summers. And in the winters too..." he admits, leaving the bottle leaning against a tile.

"I missed you too." I confess, hugging my legs, feeling the cold night breeze chill my bones. "You were by far the best company to spend the holidays with..." I smile without showing my teeth, remembering the chaos that the holidays became as soon as all the grandchildren arrived at the Farm.

"I guess I can say the same thing... your cousins ​​were very..." he smiles, unfolding a blanket he brought when we went upstairs. "Chaotic?" I suggest, feeling him place the blanket over my shoulders, our faces being inches apart for a few seconds, making me hold my breath until he was back in his place.

"Yeah... 'chaotic' is a great description for them..." he laughs. "I'm glad it's just you now... I can visit you without fear of leaving all covered in paint..." he remembers one of the last summers I spent here, when my twin cousins ​​played a prank on him. Well, the victim wasn't really him, but rather anyone who walked through the door at that time, and well... Clark was the first. "Maybe I'll call Fred to help me prank you, one of these days..." I laugh, teasing him a little.

"Oh, I'm sure he'll love that!" Clark says sarcastically, making me laugh even more, and I barely notice the way he's staring at me.

I take a deep breath, wrapping myself even tighter in the blanket, and my heart skips a beat when Clark keeps staring at me in that intense way he's had before.

Something in his gaze reminds me of the last time I was here. On this roof, just the two of us. The first time we kissed. I almost let out a laugh, a slight snort escaping my nose as I look straight ahead, avoiding his gaze.

They always say that the first kiss is always bad, and... yeah, it kind of was. We came up here, smuggling some cheap liquor I found at my grandmother's house. We were trying to get away from my cousins, obviously, but we ended up drinking too much and kissed. And it was really weird. We got down from the roof, and he took me home without saying a word. The next day, when I wasn't drunk anymore, I could barely go to town with my grandmother to go shopping, afraid of running into him and afraid that he would never want to look at me again because of that horrible kiss. But of course, Mrs. Celina dragged me with her to the market and made me hold all the bags while she picked out the things. That's when Clark showed up to save the day, as he always did. He helped me with the bags and walked us to our farm. And then, when my grandmother came in, he kissed me again, at the front door. Infinitely better than the day before, I must say.

"What's wrong?" I hear his voice next to me, pulling me out of my trance of memories. "Nothing..." I answer with a smile, but he raises his eyebrow, not accepting my answer. "It's just..." I start, looking at my hands holding the blanket "I was remembering...".

"First kiss?" he asks, his eyebrow raising a little higher and I suddenly feel so shy around him. "Yeah..." I say, looking straight ahead again.

I hear a laugh beside me but I don't dare look at him, the embarrassment making my skin flush.

"I always remember that when I come here... and I come here a lot..." he says, looking down, his arms resting on his knees, his tone almost like a confession. "I think... maybe I missed you more than I care to admit." he says, his voice almost in a whisper, as if he were saying it only to himself. But I hear him, and I look at him, my eyebrows furrowed and my gaze too curious, too hopeful, waiting for him to continue, but he doesn't. He just stares at the roof, as if he's said enough for now.

"Me too." I admit. It's not a lie. In fact, it's the honest truth. "I love Brazil, but spending my vacation there, alone, isn't the same... and by alone I don't mean without my cousins..." I say, a small laugh escaping, but my smile slowly disappears when he looks at me again. Those bright blue eyes. "I missed you. A lot." He presses his lips together in a thin smile, playing with the empty beer bottle in his hands. The subject seems to disappear between us, but it's not an unbearable silence. It's actually quite pleasant. In fact, everything is quite pleasant around Clark. I used to think it was all in my head, from when I was a teenager, but... the feeling is still the same.

I take a deep breath, staring at the stars, imagining what it would be like to fly among them, as if all the weight of my body were null. I smile at the idea of ​​a small and light body, as if it were even funny. Me, small and light.

"It must be cool, right?" I ask, out of nowhere, still looking at the stars, and Clark looks at me with a question mark on his face. "Flying," I clarify. "Like Superman. Being so powerful that you can just jump and fly around... or being so light that your body simply floats near the stars." I say, smiling, but I can see the gears in his head turning and turning and turning.

"I wrote and directed a video journalistic report about him, you know?" I ask, more to tell him something I think he'd like to know. "Superman is a huge hit in Brazil, everyone loves him. That neat little hair, the blue eyes and the underwear outside his suit. The kids love it." I laugh, taking a last sip of my beer while looking at Clark.

He's still, staring at me. I frown at him, as if to ask "What's wrong?" But the gears in his head seem to keep turning. "Clark?" I call to him and he swallows hard, looking down and then back at me. "Is everything okay?"

"Oh, sure, it's great!" he says, shaking his head and looking at me with a little smile. "It's just that you reminded me of an article I need to write about Superman too... but... but what about this video journalistic report of yours? Can I watch it any time?"

"Sure! Tomorrow, if you want I'll show you... speaking of which, it's getting a little late, right?" I ask, staring at the phone screen. "It's almost midnight... I think I should go..." I say, worried about the time.

"Oh, yes! Of course, it's late!" Clark agrees, standing up, offering me his hand and I gladly accept, following him slowly, avoiding making too much noise on the tiles.

He goes down the stairs first, reaching the grass. I go down soon after, foot by foot, step by step, suspicious of the old wooden stairs. But even so, I think I trusted him too much. When I was almost on the grass, with a few steps left, a damn nail broke, making the wood give way under my feet and all my balance disappear. My body falls backwards and I feel like it's in slow motion as I try to reach the stairs to hold on and balance myself, but at the same time, I embrace my fate that I'm going to fall backwards on the ground. I just close my eyes, waiting. But the thud never comes. In fact, there is a fall, but on two strong and enormous arms that are now surrounding me, somehow, saving me from falling on my ass. I open my eyes, wondering how and when Clark became so strong, but as soon as I open my eyes, I see him. His eyes. So close. After so many years.

He puts me back on my feet, without any apparent effort, but he continues to hold my waist. And now that I realize, I continue to grab his biceps – which I don't even remember how I started holding in the first place.

I let go of his arms, a little embarrassed by the situation, but his eyes don't leave me, they don't stop studying my face, and it may have been my imagination, but I'm almost sure I felt his hands squeeze my waist lightly, making me look into those eyes again and for a moment, I almost don't realize how close we are. I almost don't notice when he leans a little more towards me, and the way my body simply responds, even after so many years.

But it's impossible, impossible, not to notice when he presses our bodies together. The way his eyes wander to my mouth every now and then. The way our breaths mingle as the tips of our noses touch as we continue to lean into each other.

And it's almost otherworldly when he finally kisses me. When my eyes close as my arms instinctively wrap around his neck. And when his arms wrap around my waist, pulling me closer.

I almost let out a moan in the middle of the kiss when he tangles his fingers in my hair, angling my face better as the kiss gets deeper and deeper.

I don't know how long we stay there, or anything like that. I just know that we need to break the kiss when the need for air becomes greater. Our breaths, still mingled, and completely out of control, almost make me laugh. But nothing really matters to me now, when all I feel is wanting more.

More, more, more.

I tilt my face again, searching for more and he obliges. The kiss now feels more desperate, more passionate, more... hotter.

"I think you can stay here tonight..." He murmur against my lips and in a few seconds I feel his hands going down to my ass, squeezing a little and then going down to my thighs, making me wrap my legs around his waist, and I almost let out a little scream at the way he holds me so easily.

"Yeah, I think I can..."

[kit-just-kit]

Even though it madeher heart sink just a little, Kit knew that this was the time that she had to lay her cards out on the table - figuratively speaking at least. Because Eddie was a good, decent man. And you didn't fuck about with guys like that. You were honest with them, right from the get go. About everything. So she took a deep breath in through her nose, then a sip of wine, swallowed it and fixed him with a smile that belied how much she was dreading what was going to come next.

"No line. Not even one, in actual fact. I sort of.......took myself off the dating market a while back" she admitted, still smiling, though it had faded somewhat now and her eyes dropped to the basket of bread. "I was married you see. Well......I've been married twice. The first was great, fifteen years, two kids, we're still friends so it ended amicable. Then there was the second and it was just a disaster. I was a mess for quite a bit but, I got through it, so I thought, started seeing people again but then......". Kit stopped, back up at him and trying to gauge if all this emotional unburdening was too much. It seemed not - Eddie was still listening, still looking right back at her.

"Well I realised that the men I was seeing weren't really......doing anything for me. I mean, the sex was okay, sometimes great in fact but.....they didn't make me laugh, they werent interesting or engaging. I didn't get the butterflies, you know?". Right as she said it, those damn lepidoterans began fluttering in the pit of her stomach again. Which was highly ironic.

Eddie felt as if he had been pulled into a warm hug as they settled into their table. The warmth of the restaurant was in contrast to the chilled evening air and the candle added to the cosy feel. He was relaxing more by the minute as they made their orders and wine and bread arrived and nothing, apart from sitting opposite the most stunning woman he had ever met, was particularly outwith his comfort zone.

Reaching for his glass he suddenly paused at her question. His lips curled momentarily into a panicked anguish before he found his stride again and he gave his most charming smile. "Well for starters I know I would not find any prettier woman because none exist, nor would I want to have dinner with anyone younger because that would basically be illegal." He was on a roll and feeling pretty good about himself as he finally took a sip of his wine. "However I would always make time for someone who clearly has such excellent fashion choices themself since it's really not my forte and...." He leaned in to whisper his secret, "I've been invited to this very important party and I really do not want to screw it up so I am eternally grateful for your company and advice." He sat back up, his confident smile still stretching across his face just as her choice of words finally registered in his brain. "I do find it incredible that someone as beautiful, talented and organised as you had time to accompany me though. Surely there was a line of people vying for your time this evening."

[zoe-oneesama]

Also, curiosity, what’s your take on Amelie’s personality for Scarlet Lady? Just curiosity. Cause siblings in canon are usually opposites. So, this mean SL!Amelie, instead of main character syndrome, has background character syndrome? Or low self-Steem?

I'd put SL Amelie as So Normal. Like she's born into this bizarre English family that still does arranged marriages in this day and age (not totally knocking the practice, but it's definitely implied it's being done against Emilie's and Amelie's wishes), has a super dramatic sister who runs off with her equally dramatic husband (who Amelie barely likes) to become a fashion mogul's actress wife, rubbing elbows with the Mayor of Paris and a bunch of weird rich people who throw bizarre Diamond Dances to show off their kids as if they're a spectacle and holding Eyes Wide Shut parties in their house.

And Amelie's just like "anyway" on the sideline.

[bacchuschucklefuck]

[sysig]

Let him dad her!! (Patreon)

[keeps-ache]

sigh. i think i just do not like dogs very much lol

[o4o41]

About Sunita, bib mom, Cammy and Cyntia.

from Rise of tmnt, Mutant Mayhem, Mutants Unleashed.

The problematic portrayals of female characters.

Taking bad examples of underhanded, narrow-minded and negatively wired creators.

While I'm glad they made more females in Rise of tmnt like Kendra, box-comentator girl, Tailor Swift-alike

I can't help but think about how both Sunita and Big mama where following tricky-by-appearance or temporary ones syndrome. Idk, both females.

Separately, another problem that I had is how mutant unleashed game made a female character who's a threat who was also having that temporarily female character syndrome (1. Laird-fever as in "she was never seen again" trope (except when nobody forced you to do that, the way he had creative rights like before. To about fridge female characters like in an ugly gwen-stacy syndrome mentality, narrowminded and negative strawmen approach since the 70s)), 2. Ciro's-antifan/antishipper toxicity tendencies (treating their core fans poorly since being called out on their poor and OOC portrayals on female and minority characters. Typical.), 3. Model Minorifying or Narutifying traumatised characters, *insert a LOTR meme* smb simply doesn't like the people, that's all, that's ok, that's totally fine)

We need to get out of that mold really. This pattern to fem charas. Since 2012 irma and 1987 Mona.

Sunita can be written as a troubled girl like 2003 Quarry who really stuck as a rock-monster underground but would really want to be a human. (Or talisman has ben10ability but that's another story). Or can be an Earth-originated human alien just crazy stuff happened there so she is no longer a human.

Added with big ma and Frida. Make their dynamic not so on the surface level. And if keep the tone of the rise with pure motives and dignity. Maybe if you can't make Frida strong and independent, Lara Croft level smart and baddie maybe make ma and Fri aquintances who (falsely)have a common aim or interest.

[girls-and-honey]

.

[brionysea]

this man is pissing me off

[deus-ex-mona]

ok but. my flamin’ hot take is that hw’s tendency to lock lore/character/relationship info behind a paywall kind of does more harm than good when gen 3 (particularly lxl, hiyori, and chizuchan) is involved

[babieken]

Guys is this a safe space?👀

Just stumbled upon a st*y k*dz concrt (2023 i think) on tv and ig it was time for solo perfs bc there was 1 one member on stage singing,(vocals, not rap) standing with a mic stand (so there wasnt any dance or jumping, it was a loud ballad) singing OFF KEY the ENTIRE TIME without any backing vocals...

Out of curiosity, was that a one time thing or do they suck in vocals?