#garrison era

[xtruss]

World: Archaeologists in Turkey have Identified Massive Structures Below a Roman-Era Castle

— September 1, 2023 | By Peter Kenyon, Gokce Saracoglu | NPR.Org

Ruins of housing believed to have been used by soldiers stationed at the garrison. Alice Martins for NPR

Diyarbakir Province, Turkey 🇹🇷 — As part of what was once ancient Mesopotamia, Turkey has long been fertile ground for archaeologists. It's home to significant sites that even predate Mesopotamia — UNESCO World Heritage Sites such as Gobekli Tepe, a Neolithic settlement believed to be more than 10,000 years old with what may be the world's oldest place of worship, and Catalhoyuk, a proto-city dating back some 9,000 years.

Now, more recent sites in the country's southeast are yielding finds that archaeologists say may change modern understanding of this part of the world's past, moving the footprint of pre-Roman activity in the area farther east than was previously believed.

Zerzevan Castle, the site of a Roman Empire military garrison, is providing what UNESCO calls "important information about the Roman soldiers, civilians' daily lives and the battles."

And then there's the Mithras Temple. The Mithras religion — also known as the "Mithras cult" — is believed to have originated in ancient Persia, and the temple, discovered in 2017, is possibly the best-preserved such temple in the world, says UNESCO.

Yet to be excavated are huge, multistory structures that archaeologists have identified thanks to ground-penetrating radar scans. These remain below ground and are revealing layer upon layer of artifacts, some dating back well into pre-Roman history.

A local family visiting Zerzevan Castle archaeological site. Alice Martins for NPR

Archaeologist Aytac Coskun, seen at ruins of an ancient church, says excavations in the area may continue for another three decades. Alice Martins for NPR

Sitting near an ancient church built on a hill high above the temple, Archaeologist Aytac Coskun says the first time he saw the place, he knew he had to excavate.

"I first came to Diyarbakir in 2005," says Coskun, "and when I saw this hill, I saw some pieces of artifacts, and I knew no excavation had been done before. So as soon as I saw it, I knew it had to be a dig because there must be something significant underneath."

Underground Residential Areas May Have Sheltered 10,000 People in Wartime

A tour of the site reveals some what he and his team have excavated in recent years — a sprawling rock altar, an underground church, a water canal stretching for at least several miles.

A member of the Zerzevan Castle excavation and restoration team looks into a microscope while studying a coin found at the archaeological site. Alice Martins for NPR

A Bronze Baptismal Bucket found at the Zerzevan Castle site, currently on display at the Archaeology Museum of Diyarbakir. Alice Martins for NPR

Coskun and his team have unearthed objects including a beautifully preserved and ornately decorated Roman-era bronze baptismal bucket and an Assyrian-era stamp, a kind of official seal carved into rock, that could date back some 3,000 years.

"The digging we're doing inside the castle walls is 57,000 square meters [68,171 square yards]," he says. "It's a huge area. And outside of it...is (something) like 10 million square meters [3.86 square miles]."

Coskun believes some 1,500 people, both military and civilian, lived here during times of peace. In wartime, he says, it's likely that some 10,000 people from the surrounding area came here to seek shelter.

An Inscription seen at the entrance of the Mithras Temple which remains undeciphered. Alice Martins for NPR

Ruins of the Church seen from the south tower. Alice Martins for NPR

That, he says, may help explain the expansive underground living areas. So far, he says they've excavated six residential complexes inside the castle walls, and there are 99 more still below the surface.

That's just one reason Coskun says this site has the potential to change modern understanding of this part of the world and its archaeological and architectural history.

"It's totally open to new discoveries, that's for sure," he says. "We don't know what else we'll find. We've only dug around 10% of the area on the surface within the castle walls. And beyond the castle walls," he adds, "you see more living areas, the canal, a necropolis where the leading families buried their dead, and ceremonial areas. So, there will be more to come."

Excavations, he says, could continue for another 30 years.

The entrance to the Mithras temple seen from inside. Alice Martins for NPR

[bullborn]

OMG ANOTHER EARLY SEASONS TRUTHER thats exactly why i love them the show felt so fun and young and not old and tired

i still love seasons 4-8 but 1-3 are my favorites (i barely watch anything afterwards. late 2000s-modern south park just tends to bore me or feels depressing most of the time but there are definitely exceptions) i still watch the new stuff but i dont really rewatch it usually

i thought this season STARTED great but kinda fell off after like episode 2 (i did like the last 2 more though) the ai episode was astronomically boring to me fsr

anyway apologies for this little rant but i am just happy to finally find someone with similar thoughts as me

Never be sorry for your rants!! I love when people agree with me cuz it makes me feel like I'm right (which I am♡)

I'm such an earlier seasons type of guy. The second chef stopped having an important role in the series everything went dark. 1 to 3 is really just the golden era of SP episodes and yet so many people skip them (just like they skip rpdr season 1 to 3 even tho season 3 is the most iconic in the franchise,,,really makes you think 💔💔). The newer seasons are literally just Trey's projection diary where every character is Trey Jr. Honestly I'm guessing that's why PC doesn't get a lot of screen time anymore, cuz he's an actual good dad and partner and God forbid a male character not hate and despise his wife and kids.

I need more people to discuss SP with like in a socratic circle.

[crypticallylies]

I've been thinking about voltron (LD) again recently and I've realized the one thing that always gets me is when I find a fic that focuses specifically on Garrison-era stuff. Like they need to spend more time on Earth before they go fuck off into space. it just hits different

[inspectorspacetimerevisited]

It’s a bit difficult to believe, but the Thirteenth Inspector’s Associate Garrison Lowe was actually inspired by Aidan Davies’ father, Eoghan.

Both were working-class blokes who liked to get their hands dirty.

[zkvry]

Are You Laughing at My Brother? | Shelby Brothers x Sister!Reader

Summary : Y/N is just a year younger than John Shelby, though her immense instinct to protect her older brothers against their enemies reveals that the Shelby name is not to be trifled with.

Warnings : cussing, misogyny, death threats, guns, descriptions of violence, racism

Additional Information : > takes place in early season 1 ; Billy Kimber era (minor spoilers) > written in third person perspective (she/her) > 847 words | 6 minutes

Author's Note : decided to use some gifs along the way, might be distracting for your reading - I apologise. My first work on here, please let me know how you find it! Enjoy <3

-------------------------------------------------------------------

"Are you laughing, at my brother?" She speaks, appearing from behind the bar. For the first time since they've dared to enter the Garrison, Billy Kimber and his two men flinched slightly at her sternness. This only lasted a split second. Still, it didn't go unnoticed.

Billy Kimber flashes a cocksure smirk, pleased at the presence of something less dreadful than matter at hand. "And what do we have here,"

John lets out a humourless laugh. "I'd be careful with that one. She's feisty," He warns Billy Kimber with an all-knowing look.

Billy Kimber rakes his eyes over her physique. "This is no place for a whore - even a pretty one at that," He tuts mockingly, shaking his head.

Arthur inhales deeply as he fights the very last nerve to not cut the cheeky bastard across the face - to not slice his eyes for looking at his dearest little sister. The word 'whore' bounces around in his head. Arthur's lips twitch, knuckles turning white as he grips onto the arm rest for restraint.

He was waiting for a signal - a sound or nod of approval from Tommy or Her. Hell, he thinks, even John could command it and he would bloody do it. No questions asked.

Nonetheless, She makes her presence known. Almost like clockwork - one of the Shelby brothers stand and holds out his chair. In this moment, it was John. He extends his hand and escorts her to his previously occupied seat with care. Recklessly, he drags a chair for himself from a nearby table beside them, and plops down.

Billy Kimber clears his throat wearily but still as arrogant as before. "Right, he's the oldest, you're the thickest. I'm told the boss is called tommy so it can't be this woman you lot here seem to worship. Then I'm guessing that's you, cause you're looking at me up and down like I'm a fucking tart, " He spits out.

Thomas finally unclenches his jaw, the throbbing pain creeping onto him. He puts on a calm façade. Unmoving, he looks to Her direction.

Only when he saw She hadn't intervene, he spoke. "I want to know what you want. And which one am I talking to, which one of you is the boss?" Thomas breathes out as he takes a puff from a cigarette. His finger darting around from Billy Kimber to the two men that accompanied him.

Billy Kimber shoots up from his seat, knocking it to the ground. "I'm the fucking boss, alright!? Enough parley, you fixed the race without my permission. You fucking Gypsy scum. I run the races. You fixed one of 'em, so I'm going to have you shot against the post!" He declares - finger pointing threateningly to Thomas.

"Pick it up," She leans forward onto the table, hands intertwined infront of her.

Billy Kimber looks at her flabbergasted, "What?" He furrows his eyebrows, offended.

She stands slowly, the men around her straightening their backs in alert at her movement. She stares at him, unfriendly.

"I said," She continues, leaning forward once more, arms stretched out on the sides of the table, dominating the space at the table. "Pick. my chair. up," She repeats.

Billy Kimber remains stunned, seemingly not knowing what to do. The audacity of such a woman to demand him to pick up a chair? He was shocked to say the least, and outrageously insulted.

Ready to argue and humiliate her, Billy Kimber opens his mouth but She was quicker.

"You swayed your arse in here like you own the place. Guns out like you're flaunting fuck knows what," She speaks fluently, rage settling in. "We fixed your race, you put a bullet in my ceiling. That's fair, but then you had to run that fucking mouthpiece of yours didn't ya eh?"

"Want to put a bullet in my brother's head, is that it?" Like a predator, She stalks closer to him.

As She approaches, one of Billy Kimber's men crouched down and picked up the fallen chair. Just as the chair was upright, She gathered her strength and slammed Kimber's shoulders down onto the seat and held him still.

"Why don't we put one in yours?" She whispers into his ear, patting harshly on his right shoulder.

In an instant, Kimber's two men draw their guns.

The Shelby brothers lurch forward, in efforts to protect their sister infront of them, moving to draw their own guns as well.

However, the men who were supposedly loyal to Billy Kimber pointed their guns at the man himself. A sinister smile creeps onto Her face.

"Let's do proper business, shall we Mister Kimber? Starting off with your races, " She declares, moving to lower the guns that have been drawn by her brothers and the two men working for Her.

She turns abruptly to face Kimber. "Though, they wouldn't be your races any longer after we're done here, would they? " Her face suggestive of diplomacy, but voice laced with threat.

[rendomski]

Omega in the brig

Hunter and the rest of the Bad Batch in the last hours of their Frat Batch era are so clueless about kids that when they find Omega in the brig, they don’t even question why this sweet innocent child was put here, in the same cell with the grim and dangerous traitors. They just are like, “Oh, great, we found her, one less problem.”

I imagine that plenty of time passes before someone, most probably Echo, finally looks back at everything that happened to them after the end of the war and approaches Omega with the question: why exactly was she in the brig that day?

And by this point Omega grows cheeky enough to come up with something like, “Oh, for gambling!”

“What?”

“Yeah, I used to slip away from the lab and gamble with garrison troopers. Not that they could forbid me or anything. I was older than the majority of the clones, after all! Remember this guy who insulted me in the mess hall? He owed me thirty credits. Then the shocktroopers arrived, proclaimed that gambling was illegal from now on, and arrested me when I came down, asking if anyone was up for a rematch today. Urgh, hate the Empire!”

Echo painstakingly processes what he has just heard until Omega takes pity on him.

“Alright, alright, I made it all up! In truth, I sneaked into your barracks, and the shocktroopers arrested me there when they came to investigate your treason.”

“Oh great. It wasn’t gambling then, it was burglary,” Echo deadpans in response.

They both have a good laugh. And after that, Omega tells him how she just wanted to get to know her brothers better when she finally met them face-to-face.

[lifelaughloveharrystyles]

Ross Lynch: givemewhatuwant

*on tour with the driver era 2024*

“Y/N do you know where we are at?” Garrison calls from the back of the bus with all the boys.

The Driver Era has been on tour for about a month now, traveling all over the east coast showcasing their phenomenal songs that they made from scratch. I had the amazing opportunity to come on the tour as one of the equipment managers. This has been my biggest dream in my career, working at “The Doors Rock Shop”. It’s a well known instrument company in Atlanta Georgia where people would go to get a guitar and a crystal at the same time. I got this amazing job with touring The Driver Era with my cousin Poppy who is with us on tour as one of the tour photographers.

“Y/N!” Ryland shouts from the back. I look outside to see we are about to arrive to the venue in Asheville North Carolina. “we are about to pull up to the venue guys!” I said looking to the back of the bus and I see Ross in the hall with just pajamas pants on. “Word! i’m ready to stretch my legs and get out and move.” Ross said stretching his arms looking like he just woke up from a nap.

Ross and I have gotten really close on this tour. i’m normally not on their bus, i travel in a large van behind the bus with the crew. We haven’t stopped talking to each other whether it’s in person while im helping carry his beautiful gibson to him when he goes in for his solos or text. We make these jokes everytime I have to give his guitar to him in a show and I always make a bet with him about how many girls will scream “take your shirt off!”. Secretly I was jealous I couldn’t be those beautiful girls making him smile and shake his hips like that and pleading to take his shirt off for me. Having him as a friend is the best, I just know he could never like me that way. I’m his equipment manager, I lift speakers and drums for a living and he’s a fucking rockstar sex god. I mean look at his recent ex. like how can I compare to Jaz Sinclair. I have to be just a friend to protect myself from that energy.

Everyone ends up scattering across the venue to start their projects for the day. The show starts at 8 so I scramble around to the strings van to transfer the instruments to their spots on the stage so the boys can start soundchecking and tuning their guitars to the songs.

“Y/N why is it you’re always the one carrying the most stuff in the building when Greg is suppose to do that because of your knee.” Riker says from the green room where I walked in with a coffee for myself and him. “Riker i’m telling you Greg is so fucking slow I can’t bear watching him take 45 minutes to set up a guitar stand. I gotta get the shit done so I can actually enjoy myself for the day.” I express to him and i’m frazzled pinging from one corner of the stage to the other figuring out all the wires and amps so they can start their sound check.

“Y/N take a deep breath or a certain someone is going to come in here and see this and raise hell.” Riker laughed as he secretly points in the direction of Ross and Rocky’s green room. I roll my eyes and wave him off not believing a word he said.

Riker thinks he’s slick with trying to hook me up with Ross ever since we started the tour. i’ve seen the small hints of asking ross to come to me when he can’t find the setlist or where his extra picks are. Riker is basically our tour mom, he is making everyone smoothies and making sure everyone is hydrated before every show. Besides Ross, me and Riker have been attached to the hip.

“Shut up Riker before I grab a pair of scissors and cut your bass strings” I jokingly threaten him with a huge smile on my face.

“Oh God Riker what did you do to piss Y/N off again?” Ross said coming out of the side stage with a vintage baseball cap that says “i’m a local celebrity” with a white tee and baggy light washed denim pants. he slings his arm over my shoulder making us sway to the random song playing on the speakers. I look up to see him already looking down at me with that infamous smile he wears. “Nice Hat pretty boy.” i laughed and flicked the bill of the hat. “So which songs are we playing tonight? any newbies?” I smile back at him really hoping he’ll play one of my favorite songs at the show tonight. “Yes Y/N we are playing givemewhatuwant and Natural if that’s what you’re asking.” he chuckles and pulls away from me to pick up his guitar to start sound checking. I squeal and jump off the stage and start jogging to the doors to get the rest of the equipment “YES ROSS YOURE THE BEST” I scream at him and blow him a friendly kiss as I run out the door.

*Ross’ POV*

Y/N is the most precious and loving human I have ever met. she just brightens the room when she walks in. Whether it’s her bubbly personality or just her energy she radiates, it’s one of the reasons why I love having her close by. She makes me feel like life is worth living again. Heartbreak after heartbreak, I felt like love isn’t an option for me anymore. I have thousands of people falling at my feet but it never fills the void of feeling unloved. Hookups and one night stands can only do so much to the point even sex isn’t appealing to you anymore. Ever since Y/N walked into my life, it’s has taken a complete 180. I feel lighter. happier. I wake up excited for the day knowing I get to see and talk to the most beautiful woman I have ever met. She doesn’t compare to any girl I have ever been with or even seen. Befriending her was my first hit in the game and i’m ready for the home run. I want her to be mine. I need her to be my girl. I feel like I can’t live life without her by my side. she completes me in a way I have never felt before. I’m worried i’ll scare her away if I confess what i’ve been feeling inside. I just need to rip the bandaid and just go for it, be a man and express this to this wonderful girl.

*10 minutes before showtime*

*Y/N POV*

“what’s our bet tonight Ross?” I ask him walking up to the band. I just finished helping set up the stage for The Driver Era after Valé’s performance. She did amazing as she does every night. Tonight however the energy feels a bit off. Ross looks like he’s in his head about something and I just don’t know what. Everything went smoothly today and the crowd already has such a good vibe for the night, there’s nothing else to worry about. “Ross? You good?” I asked while rubbing his arm while he looks off in the distance.

“Yeah i’m good, just in my head a bit. Nothing to worry about, probably stage fright.” he has a fake smile plastered on his face to try and not worry me. I know him better than anyone that he is in his head about something and it’s definitely not stage fright.

“Do you need to talk before you go on? you are not good. you can try and fake smile at me but you know it’s not going to work. What’s going on in that head of yours?” I step forward to see his full face instead of the side and look up in those beautiful hazel brown eyes he adorns on his face. he sighs loudly and closes his eyes before opening them he says. “Y/N there’s been a lot of shit going on in my life and ever since I met you, it seems like everything disappeared when you walked in the room. You make me so happy and giddy to the point I get antsy when I don’t see you first thing in the morning. You light up my life and I know we only have known each other for a month but I feel it. My God I hope you feel it too so I don’t feel like the biggest idiot before this sold out show. I like you Y/N, I don’t want to wake up without you by my side. Please tell me you feel the same.” he pleads and grabs

my face in his hands and put his forehead to mine.

“Just shut up and kiss me Ross. I’ve been waiting way too long for you to say those words. I just need your lips on mine before you-“ he slams his lips on mine before I could sentence my sentence. I wrap my arms around his neck melting in his arms loving every second of this moment.

“Ross let’s go! you’ll have plenty of time to make out with Y/N after the show, come on!” Rocky shouts from the side stage making us break away from our heavy kiss. I smile and push him towards his brother. “Lucky for you i’m going to be in the pit with Poppy helping her take photos. I promise to get the best angles, I might sneak a couple just for my entertainment.” I smirk and he laughs and kisses my cheek and runs on stage right on his cue.

The boys are rocking out and came out full throttle. I’ve been helping poppy this show because one of the extra photographers called out and couldn’t make it. I can already feel the energy in this knowing it’s gonna be a great night. “ Y/N why has Ross been staring and smirking at you all night? Did he finally have the balls to do it?” She smirks at me side glancing to the stage. I look up and sure enough he’s staring at me with hooded eyes with his hair clinging to his sweaty forehead. He squats down to my level and curls his finger for me to come closer. I take a step towards him and he whispers “you are making it incredibly hard for me to stop this show and take you backstage to have my girl strip that skirt off so I can fuck that beautiful pussy.” he kisses my earlobe and pulls away before I could even react. my jaw drops and I step back and look at poppy and she’s busting out laughing at my reactions and hugs me and squeals in excitement. She always said from day one that Ross will end up falling over me. I brushed it out because of stupidity and insecurities. Now i’m like ‘fuck she’s right…. again’.

“That man is already planning the wedding in his brain and he hasn’t even gotten in your pants yet. I saw the kiss when I was setting up. “ She says while snapping pictures of the band while they play “Natural”. I get excited and dance and sing along. I decide to tease ross a bit, i shake my hips to the beat and drag my palms up my stomach making my shirt ride up a bit. He notices and bites his lip and tilts his hat down and looks at me with sultry eyes. I wink at him and flick him off. he smirks and proceeds to perform the rest of the song.

The show finally ended and the boys are celebrating in the green room with a couple of drinks. I finished my job for the night when I start searching for Ross to actually start my night. I feel hands wrap around my middle and I instantly melt when I smell fresh body wash and sandalwood. “Let’s go to the bus, I promise to keep my hands to myself” Ross mumbles kissing my neck with his hands roaming my hips pulling me closer to his warmth. I chuckle and turn my head to see his face and tease his lips with mine before I dart towards the direction of the bus. I hear his laughs behind me when I get up to the door to the bus.

he meets me inside and starts teasing my neck again guiding me to the back of the bus. He closes the sliding door and locks it in place. I arch my neck towards him in a way to let him know I want his lips on me. He starts sucking on my neck behind my ear. he kisses all the way to my lips and he slams his lips on mine. I moan and run my fingers through his hair and tug at the ends. He groans in my mouth and starts unzipping my corset like top. I gasp when I feel the cold air on my bare back. The shirts comes loose from my body and falls at our feet. “Beautiful” He whispers to himself when he see my breasts in full exposure. He starts peppering kisses all over my breasts and he cups his lips around my nipple and start sucking to drive me wild. I moan a sound that has never escaped from me before and I tug his face up to mine “Just fuck me already Ross. I need you so bad. Feel how wet I am” I whimper grabbing his hand and pressing it to my core. he rubs his fingertips against the sensitive nub and I moan loudly biting my lip. He shrugs his pants off and throws his shirt somewhere while I undress myself as fast as I can. “I wanted this to be slow and make this moment last as long as possible but I can’t bear anything anymore. I need to be inside you baby.” Ross said as he slips on a condom with a groan. He pushes the tip towards my entrance and I close my eyes waiting for the first push. “Look at me Y/N. I need to see your face” he pleads. I open my eyes the same time he enters me and I gasp at the size of him. He slowly thrusts in and out letting me get used to his size.

“Faster Baby. Fuck you feel so good” I scream as his pace picks up. he grabs my leg and throws it over his left shoulder slamming his hips into the back of my thighs. He presses a hand against my stomach and I moan feeling him deeper inside of me. “Fuck baby I can feel it. My god your pussy is perfect. You’re so tight, you were made for me” He groans fucking me harder making me slam a hand on the window beside me. “Ross i’m so close. please let me cum. fuck baby” I moan in his ear and drag my nails down his back. “Yes baby. Let go for me. Cum all over my cock. Make a mess of me. “ he slams his hips into mine as we both hit our climax at the same time. he thrusts slowly while we come from our highs. I breathe heavily and rest my head on the armrest of couch. Ross slowly lays his head on my breast letting some of his weight fall on me. I run my hand through his hair and just smile wanting this moment to never end.

“Whatcha thinking about beautiful?” he asked slowly pulling out making me wince. “Just realizing how did I get this lucky? I don’t deserve you.” my eyes start tearing up looking at his eyes and studying all of his features. “You don’t deserve me? You got it all wrong baby. You are the most beautiful human I have ever laid my eyes on. We are meant to be here in this moment for a reason and I know down the road we will look back at this time and just laugh and smile about all these memories we have made together. I want to make memories with you forever Y/N. l- I love you so fucking much I can’t hold it in anymore.” He rambles sitting up on the L shaped couch and pulling me to his chest. I breathe in his scent and close my eyes. “Ross, I love you so much it makes it hard for me to breathe. I’ll love you to the day I die.” I look up at him and he slams his lips on mine putting a hand over my heart to feel the thumps of my rapid heartbeat. Our lips move and he slips his tongue in and our tongues dance along together lazily.

We finally had the energy to get up after 30 minutes of lazy kisses and just appreciating the moment we just shared. Everyone comes back to the bus after the celebratory shots.

“So where did both of you guys run off too earlier?” Garrison asked slipping on a hoodie and a crochet bucket hat I made for him in Wisconsin. “I don’t kiss and tell but it was definitely fun for sure.” Ross winks and pulls me to sit on his lap.

“They fucked in the back of the bus. there’s a hand print on the window to prove it.” Ryland said smirking into his tequila soda. I roll my eyes and tap the bottom of his cup to make it spill all over his neck and shirt. “Y/N what the fuck dude!” he shouts snatching napkins from Riker. I laugh so hard I snort and then that makes everyone in the bus have a laughing fit. I lean my head back on ross’ shoulder and he kisses the top of my head whispering “I love you” in my ear. my eyes start drooping and I fall asleep on the love of my life and already can’t wait to wake up to experience this life with him.

[spaceaces00]

I know everyone writes Lance to be the one crushing during the Garrison

But I think it’d be so funny if Keith had the crush and absolutely panicked and pretended not to know him during the Shiro rescue. Gotta start this new era fresh and totallyyyy not know that one kid who kept up a rivalry but it was kinda fun and maybe cute 👀

[agbpaints]

Solstice present from my friend- more machines for the CCAF dirty tricks brigade! Eat your heart out @house-liao-official.

The mech, as the package says, is a Gùn- a dark age era infantry support omni that looks like a fat locust and plays like a panther with an iron deficiency. Lots of weight savings tech has been used- an XL-gyro, endosteel structure, small cockpit, and with a frankly pitiful top speed of 86.4 kph and only a half ton more armor than a wasp the mech is devoting all of that to pod space, 10 tons of the stuff.

The prime mounts a plasma rifle with two tons of ammunition and a pair of ER medium lasers, the A packs a single Heavy PPC (making it afaik the lightest mech to mount a head chopper, along with the Stinger IIC 2 and Howler 3), and the B mounts an ER large laser and the most advanced electronics package the Capellans could muster in the form of an Angel ECM system, Bloodhound Active Probe, and TAG. As a direct combat mech, the thing is a miserable failure (most main guns will gut the thing down at the leg) but as a garrison mech to attach to CCAF augmented lanchs as a bipedal IFV for battle armor platoons it aquits itself well with a variety of capabilities.

The stands of bipedal battle armor are the Fa Shih medium suit. Intended as a mine warfare specialist, the Fa Shih found wide adoptance within the CCAF because its new magnetic clamp system allows it to latch onto and ride conventional battlemechs and vehicles without the specialized hard points most battle armor requires to ride omnimechs. The suit moves similarly to IS standard or Clan Elemental battle armor, capable of performing 90 meter jumps, however the armor and weapons capacity is quite lacking, with armor weak enough to fail when hit with a standard inner sphere large laser and only enough weight devoted to direct weapons for an anti-personnel mount and a small modular mount capable of accepting equipment such as a small laser, flamer, or light TAG. The Fa Shih does, however, come equipped with a pair of mine clearance gauntlets and an air launched FASCAM dispenser, which allow teams of Capellan combat engineers to quicky deploy and clear minefields as they move around the battlefield.

Finally, the quadruped armor is the Shen Long heavy suit, another post Jihad innovation. While the quad design does preclude the use of mech rides entirely for moving the Shen Long around the field, the armor does acquit itself reasonably in the speed department with a loping top speed of 43 kmph, while the armor is slightly thicker than that of a standard elemental suit. That armor is quite special too- the suit is equipped with a Mimetic Armor System that allows the Shen Long to blend into its surroundings when stationary and fool all but elite gunners even at close range.

Nearly all of the Shen Long's weapons are mounted in the a modular turret behind the head, with some common configurations including a quartet of david light gauss rifles or machine guns, an 4-tube SRM launcher, a 5-tube MRM launcher, and a pair of flamers supported by a battle armor-scale ECM suite. There's also a config I can only describe as a Sommerset Strikers homage which uses a pair of grenade launchers and a pop-up mine system to ape the weapons loads of the early Infiltrator mk 1 and Sloth battle armors. Where the Fa Shih is designed to prepare the field for battle, the Shen Long is designed to take and hold it for the Confederation, galloping into the fight alongside the rest of their augmented lance or melting into the terrain and waging a campaign of guerilla warfare.

[komohine]

Shitpost, and also here’s my headcanon Jaith timeline:

Note that i hc Keith to be a bit older than James, maybe like 3 months.

When they were really young (like, under 9 years old) James and Keith were playmates and were on pretty good terms and decently close. Keith was the shy reserved guy in kindergarten, James was extroverted and charismatic. Fast friends.

Keith’s dad dies when he’s 9ish years old. Keith does a complete 180 mental health wise and pushes everyone, including James, away from him. James, being so young, doesn’t know how to deal with this so, after a pretty long go at attempting to comfort Keith (ex. he would sit by him in daycare and sneak him XL candy bars because Keith had nobody to spend the summer with and because, according to James, “he’s making the whole place miserable”) he eventually resorts to being an asshole to try to get a reaction out of Keith (cue S7 flashbacks where James was… an ass to Keith). His bullying era lasts from middle school to the first year of Garrison cadet training. Then he kinda gets punched out of it lol.

James apologizes for making fun of his parents, I hc its a projection of his own insecurities because thats what ppl said to James since I hc James’ parents as rich and all. Rich, but they don’t gaf abt their son, and view him more as an embarrassment than their child. It’s why he was in some random ass daycare during the summer as a child.

With the help of Shiro, mostly, Keith starts to slowly recover (maybe 14 years old now). A puppy love, crushing situation arises between James and Keith. They never officially date, but it’s pretty clear to anyone paying attention that they’re more than just friends. In the beginning, Keith prob mistook his crush for hatred (hence, the attached image… lol….) but after confiding in Shiro he sorted that out. Secretly holding hands, waiting around corners to pass each other notes, Keith dragging James into possible trouble and James always being the one to get them out (Keith doesn’t care abt being caught but James sure does lol)…

Then Shiro “dies” when Keith is 17. Keith does another 180 in mental health and pushes everyone away again, despite James’ best efforts. He quickly spirals out of control and gets expelled from the Garrison. He leaves without another word to James. James had to find out through the rumour mill that Keith was expelled (he thought Keith just didn’t want to be bothered). Keith then proceeds to be completely untraceable, James prob thinks he’s dead. Keith then does canon Voltron stuff. James is absolutely wrecked by this because 1) the love of his life is possibly dead and 2) he made a promise to Shiro when he was younger that he’d take care of Keith and clearly he has failed.

6 years pass and Keith comes back. They’re both 24-25 ish now (i think?). Cue S7 prolonged eye contact and also the other scenes where James and Keith are together. All his life, Keith was just a bit taller than James. He was always smug abt that. But coming back after 6 years, he finds that now James’ is slightly taller than him.

Throughout these 6 years James has never once gotten over Keith. Neither did Keith, but yk. James is still hurt over the fact that Keith up and disappeared for 6 years, but eventually after many apologies and an actual “I love you” they get back together kiss and are happily ever after 💞

Bruh imagine reuniting with your long lost love after 6 years and then immediately being thrown back into war and nearly dying multiple times id actually lose it

[atlas7seo]

Everytime I think I'm free, Voltron comes and grabs me in a choke hold. So I'm dragging yall down with me. Here's season summaries of the Voltron Rewrite I'm working on that has taken over my life. I call it my Bootstrap AU which will make sense later.

Inhales* yes this happening...

Season 1 -Defenders of the Universe

Garrison student(Lance, Hunk, and Pidge), expelled student Keith, and Lieutenant Shirogane suddenly find themselves in an alien castle courtesy of a giant Blue Mechnical Lion. Upon arrival they stumble into a 10,000 year long war against an Alien Race called the Galra. Voltron, an ancient weapon, is the only way to stop them, however, no one knows where it is. Follow the Crew aboard the Altean ship as they attempt to get the ship operational, track down lions, and discover their destiny as fated Paladins of Voltron all in a fight against the Galra. Season 1 ends with the Paladins forming Voltron for the first time and becoming Defenders of the Universe

Season 2 - The Voltron Coalition

Now that Voltron has finally been found and formed, the Paladins and Alteans attempt to form allies and liberate planets. Follow our crew as they free planets, negotiate with rebel forces, and infiltrate Galra occupation. All the while searching for a mysterious Ulaz who rescued Shiro and Ulaz's mysterious organization. Season 2 ends with the Paladins meeting the Blade of Marmora and one of their leaders, Lotor, disgraced Prince of the Galra.

(Let's address the elephant in the room. Lotor. Okay, so when I was planning my rewrite, I realized that Lotor is both so compelling and so flat. So, instead, in my rewrite, Lotor is a disgraced prince (still like the original). He sees how the empire is hurting his people who are just civilians, and when he tries to reason with his father, he is disgraced. Lotor didn't make the Blade, but he allied with them in an attempt to return the Galra to what they once were. Lotor is somewhat selfish because if it was between Galran citizens or another planet, he'd pick his people. He only rebelled because he saw how his father was hurting his people. He doesn’t actually care about the universe, his people are what he values, but that changes with *character growth*)

(Also Pidge has found Matt by the end of this season)

Season 3 - The Galran Empire

Season 3 follows our crew and the Voltron Coalition as they formulate plans to end the war at its head. They will form an alliance and plan with the Blade and Lotor. This will be an all out attack on Zarkon including the allies in the Coalition. Half the season will be the plan in motion with multiple parts in an attempt to finally stem the problem at its root. The season ends with Shiro and Lotor dealing the final blow on Zarkon and a rogue wormhole begins to pull him through, but in Zarkon's rage drags Shiro with him.

Season 4 - A New Era

With the loss of Shiro fresh in their minds, Voltron struggles to find stability in this new era. First they realize that despite Zarkon being defeated, the Galra empire is still a threat so they must be able to form Voltron again. *Cue lion switches no matter how much I hate them... Now the Paladins will be allied with Lotor as he attempts to claim the Galran Throne. Throughout they will face Haggar, Robeasts, and the dying flames of the Galran empire. During this chaotic period, they will searching for Shiro and Sam Holt. The season ends with the Kral Zera where Lotor ascends the throne.

Season 5 - Fires of Purification

After facing defeat during the Kral Zera, one of Zarkon's top generals, Sendak begins to gather the remaining "loyal Galra" including Haggar to form the Fires of Purification. This season will continue the search for Shiro and Sam while also being stuck in a Galran Civil War. Voltron, Lotor, and the Coalition fight to stop Sendak from gaining control of the Universe. The season ends with Sendak offering a trade. Shiro and Sam for Lotor. (Like in the actual season 5 because I liked what it did for the story). Voltron and Lotor form a plan and rescue them as Sendak retreats with his tail between his legs.

Season 6 - Moving Foward

With the win against the Fires and the return of Shiro and Sam, it seems things are looking up, but something isn't quite right. With little fanfare Sam chooses to return to Earth to prepare them for the universe. This season is mostly made up of interpersonal conflicts and "what now". The universe is mostly free save for a few pockets of Galra uprising that the Coalition can handle relatively easily without Voltron. The Paladins face the problem of what they should do now and if they can even go back to how things were before the war. While also worrying about Sendak and the remnants of the Fires of Purification. Throughout this, Shiro is also acting really weird. Cut to the real Shiro, but on a Space Whale. (Yes I'm bringing back the weird time distortion whale) When Zarkon grabbed Shiro they landed on a space Whale. So Shiro is trying to survive and get back to Voltron by himself with only Zarkon's corpse as company. Shiro is the one who discovers the Altean Colony (in my rewrite, Haggar is the one running the colony) and he then discovers Haggar's plan to trick Voltron with a clone of him. It's a mystery thriller season switching between the Paladins and the real Shiro as he desperately attempts to get back to his crew to warn them before its too late. The season ends with Shiro warning them too late and Haggar's plan succeeds. Voltron is torn from their allies and catapulted across the universe along with a lost Romelle.

Season 7 - Dead Sector 73

(Ok before I continue the summary, I'm going to explain what I did with Earth. So Weblums eat dead planets in order to use that quintessence to make new solar systems and planets. In my rewrite, Earth's solar system and the space sector around it was a series of dead planets Weblums ate a long time ago and Earth is the first planet to begin exhibiting life in this previous dead sector. Earth is the first living planet in Dead Sector 73. Okay now onto the season summary.)

Sam returns to Earth and begins preparing them for the Galaxy. Back to the Paladins, Haggar has successfully removed Voltron from the equation and begins to rally allies to the Galra's previous motives and moves to retake the universe. Voltron finds themselves lost in Dead Sector 73, a section of the universe Weblums have already eaten and has begun the process of life. They realize they can't reach their allies through comms or anything. But they notice they are somewhat close to Earth. So they set off to reach Earth in the hopes of communicating with the Coalition. When they reach Earth, however, they find Sendak has taken over Earth as a last ditch attempt to get revenge on the Paladins for destroying the empire. And on top of that, that they have been missing for nearly a year. (Weird time distortion stuff like the space whale because of the dead space). They also discover that Sendak is the reason they can't use their comms as he's jamming all signals that travel outside the solar system. The season ends with them defeating Sendak and finally getting ahold of their allies.

(Now I'm going to do some more world building stuff. This is information previous seasons would originally have already told, but I'm putting it here. So the Blades have the motto "Knowledge or Death" and I want to use that somehow. So in my rewrite, the Blade sort of stole the philosophy from the ORIGINAL Galran empire. The war began not because of quintessence poisoning, but because the Galra believed Knowledge or Death. It was a disagreement on ethics and how far you should go in the pursuit of science and knowledge. This disagreement about how to handle the quintessence plane between Zarkon and Alfor sparked the initial conflict as Zarkon wanted to save his wife no matter what. However, due to millenia of exposure to quintessence it degraded Zarkon's mind to the point that he became the villain the show knows today)

Season 8 - Tomorrow and Yesterday

When Voltron and Earth finally reach the Galatic Stage, they discover Haggar has been reigning terror over the galaxy using the Alteans from the colony. While the Coalition and the Galra of Lotor's empire are holding ground, they are beginning to lose. This is when it's revealed that after Zarkon lost his mind to quintessence, Haggar was the one running the show. She must have progress, and now Alfor and the Alteans are no longer in the way for it. (Haggar is still Honerva and born Altean). This season focuses on defeating Haggar and freeing the Alteans from her brain washing. In the end, Honerva destroys all universes by attacking the quintessence plane in pursuit of "scientific knowledge." The Paladins kill Honerva but realize that everything is gone. This is when the Lions come to them. They reveal that sacrificing themselves can restore their universe. "Restore our universe? But what about all the others?" The Lions tell their Paladins that they in themselves are a Causal Loop. The Lions must be sacrificed to restore their universe, and sacrificing them in the quintessence plane it causes them to appear in the past as the materials that Alfor uses to create the Lions. The Lions are forever in a perpetual loop being created and destroyed to maintain the universe. However, each time they do this, they are sent back to another universe as well. It's a multiplying paradox. They are created and destroyed infinite times to restore everything Honerva destroyed. (I did this because I wanted to include the multiple universes the show had, but also, according to my rewrite, the original Voltron could also technically be canon somewhat. It just that in that universe. Allura sacrificed herself, causing the Lions to no longer go through the loop). When the Paladins return, they realize the quintessence plane is sealed off. No one in their universe can ever reach it again. The universe is saved, and the Paladins walk forward to tomorrow, knowing that yesterday is in good hands.

The End

Okay so that was a lot. I hope that if you reached the end of this, you enjoyed it. Do you think I improved it? Or maybe it's just as convoluted and bad as the original, but I tried my best to take all the ideas from Voltron and fit them coherently. Since these were just season summaries there's a lot of stuff I didn't include that I am including in my in depth rewrite like Keith being half Galra, and shipping and stuff. But this rewrite has been eating at my brain for two weeks so I had to put it somewhere.

The reason it's called the Bootstrap AU is obviously because of the Causal Time Loop. No real reason why I added it, I just thought it was fun and funky and shows how the Lions are things that the characters can never truly understand.

[discordiansamba]

The people of the Shirogane clan do not live long.

Centuries ago, they thought it was due to a curse- a natural thing to think, given their line of work. But in the modern era, they understood it was actually due to a hereditary disease that ravaged members of their main and branch families alike. Either way, the result was the same- most of those in the Shirogane family die before they turn fifty.

Shiro's grandmother, the head of their clan, is an exception.

His parents were not- and neither is Shiro. He knew from an early age that he was doomed to see the same early grave as the rest of his family. He's not afraid of death- he's more afraid of dying without ever making a mark on this world instead. He's born with the stars in his head, always looking up.

He tells his grandmother he does not want to become an exorcist. He wants to be a pilot. He wants to go to space, defying the odds just like those on the Calypso mission did. He knows that there are many in his clan who do not want to let him do this. They talk about his natural talent, his affinity for his clan's work.

His grandmother just smiles and tells him he is free to do as he wishes.

Shiro enrolls in the Galaxy Garrison the following month.

(But his past follows him anyways.)

[mimiri22-6]

Ok guys, I'm gonna say something controversial so buckle up

Adam = Keith

Shiro = Lance

I take no criticism but I will take comments and questions.

I spent an actual hour writing in the tags. Holy shit I did Not mean for that to happen O_O

I can connect SO many parallels between Lance and Shiro, but I can't connect that many parallels between Shiro and Keith. Personality wize. Sorry, I just really wanted to make this because holy shit idk how it happened but I could have sworn this was universal and then they killed Adam and then everyone started making Adam the jokester between him and Shiro. Like, with what little screentime Adam got I could have sworn, I don't think he smiles. Like, that is not the Lance parallel between klance and shadam (i don't remember their ship name) this is just how it is. I could have sworn Shiro was the type of leader/person that could crack a joke, a dad joke, and lift the crew's spirits just by entering the room. Keith had to pull his own teeth to even get a motivating speech out. Yes yes it was his first time leading, but who was leading Keith through his blind anger episodes? Lance. The right hand man. The leader behind the leader. Lance was the Leader in the first fucking episode at the Garrison!!

☝️AND another point I just remembered, Shiro was the heart of the team before he 'died' he was the bridge for Keith, Pidge and Allura into the team. After he's gone, Lance is the bridge for the Entire team. The glue. The Heart of Voltron. He has a connection with every crew member. Maybe the least with Allura but he was constantly ready to be open with her. His door was open to her to have deeper conversations as shown in that one scene where she identifies his bayard as an altean broadsword. Keith? He left the team for a really long time, especially on his end. 'Keith what is Pidge's favorite band/food/color???'😳🤨🤔🤷 There's a reason there are So many fanfics of Lance leaving/getting kidnapped/dying and the crew falling apart. Sometimes not to the point of total collapse but enough for a noticeable strain stiffness and loose seams.

Like when Shiro vanished.

*sigh* this post started because i remembered the era of black paladin Lance and come across a tiktok along the lines of 'lancestans: he should have been the black paladin. hes a punching bag for the creators. hes a sad boi. he had so much set up. ect. (so on and so forth. I forget the rest) *cut to shiro* what about him, the real tortured, punching bag for the writers?' and I gotta be honest, that tiktok set this whole thang off.

I could go On and On And On! I have so many more examples, but I don't have the time for a 30pg essay rn. PLEASE ask me about my Lance and Shiro parallels/black paladin Lance reasonings! I wanna ramble about my boi touching the stars! 🤩

(also I get it w Keith, sometimes a leader is someone that learns to be one before they even want to be one, but also 1)Lance has wanted this forever 2)Lance is already close with everyone, he's an extrovert(not that introverts can't be leaders, I'm an introvert and I know all about introvert leaders) 3)Lance and Shiro get hurt the most, but still have that calming effect, wether you wanna admit it or not, Lance has those vibes)

[starshower1215]

AOT/SNK Veterans: Academic Headcannons (but Marauders-style/vibes!)

This is from an ongoing idea I had and a post I saw saying that the veterans are just AOT's version of the Marauders Era. It's for that 5% crossover in both fandoms.

Levi Ackerman is the Remus Lupin when it comes to playing pranks on the school. He lived the thug life (ATYD reference), he knows the ins and outs of not getting caught.

Hange Zoë is a bit Sirius Black. She actively searches for ways to prank, unlike Levi, and whenever he has the slightest idea, she is all over it, filling in the details and making the actual plans.

She loves to blow things up in classes and lectures, too. She has a streak for mischief.

Erwin Smith has James Potter's heroic streak, but Remus' study habits. He and Levi always pretend not to be amused by Hange and Mike Zacharias' prank ideas, but they find themselves participating for some unknown reason anyway.

Unfortunately, most Marauders content doesn't go into detail with Peter, because a lot of people hate Peter (young Peter is so innocent, though). Mike is now Peter Pettigrew because he sniffs and Peter is a rat (I just did them so dirty, I'm sorry).

Now I am imagining that instead of houses, the school is just split into the Military Police, the Survey Corps, and the Garrison. I am not sure what that means, though.

All four of them are known for their smarts, because what are the Marauders if not effortlessly [and infuriatingly] intelligent? Erwin is top of the class every time, and is often seen studying and putting the work in. Mike follows soon after, despite being seen as a slacker (nobody ever seems to be able to find him studying). Levi studies like a normal human being and passes with low A's. Hange doesn't really study, but she goes out of her way to apply the knowledge outside of lectures and classes; she may not have the best exam scores, but she knows the material the best (because the school system is broken).

Erwin always looks perfectly put together; necktie done, buttoned up to the throat like a loser (jk), his hair done as it usually is. He is unerringly civil with his peers and underclassmen, and people look up to him as some sort of star student.

Levi is the same in appearance, though with his blazer thrown stylishly over his shoulders instead of worn correctly (he took Hange's). He's seen as very aloof by his peers, but not unkind. Though I imagine he did bully Erwin (not entirely seriously) when they were younger. This amused Erwin to no end. He didn't care then, but now Levi is made fun of for it.

Mike looks fashionably disheveled, but not in the way that makes it look intentional (though, it may be intentional). His tie is a little loose, top few buttons undone, sleeves rolled up to his elbows. The whole charade.

Hange looks unfashionably disheveled, but as is insisted upon by my biased mind, he's still really beautiful. He's one of those people who are only ever outside with their hair up; only Levi, Erwin and Mike (their dorm mates, I suppose) have ever seen him with his hair undone. It is oddly intimate, but nice.

Each of Hange's friends carries a spare pair of glasses for her, because she always breaks her own in the strangest of ways.

For their lunch hour, the four of them routinely congregate in the same bathroom because Levi makes them all wash their hands before leaving to actually eat.

Erwin and Hange are study buddies! They like to sit in the library as a pair and Hange will quiz Erwin because he cares about studying. He likes to study with her because she always has interesting things to add on, or she might be elaborating on a piece in the textbook and helping him understand better.

Of course, they do all sit in the library together. Erwin and Hange do their studying, Mike gets bored and bothers Levi, and Levi gets annoyed as he drinks his tea and reads a book.

They stargaze as a group in their dormitory, either at the windows or on the rooftops.

They also get drunk together and stumble home laughing on the weekends or on hot summer nights.

[ruanbaijie]

During the Republican Era, Shen Zhiheng, a member of the Tianjin gentry who happened to be a vampire, offended the Japanese and became the target of an assassination attempt. He was saved by a blind young lady, Mi Lan, and his best friend Situ Weilian. When he went to repay Mi Lan for saving him, he discovered the terrible family situation that Mi Lan was in, and so began to pay more attention to her. Meanwhile, Shen Zhiheng’s plan to take revenge on Li Yingliang, the mastermind behind his assassination, fell short of success thanks to Li Yingliang’s Japanese superior, raising suspicions about his identity. Since then, Li Yingliang and the Japanese were in hot pursuit of Shen Zhiheng, determined to dig out the truth about his secret.

Please do not repost this anywhere else or retranslate it!

MAIN DIRECTORY ☾ READ ON AO3 ☾ PREVIOUS CHAPTER

The doors of the private room should not have opened just like that. Li Yingliang was inside hosting, his subordinates were clearly outside, and Li Guisheng was even leading a group of men to hide in ambush. As long as Li Yingliang did not give any orders, those in the room could not leave, and those outside could not enter.

However, someone still pushed the doors open and walked in.

This person was in his thirties, clean-cut and neat. He was dressed in a Western attire, and he sported no hat, revealing an extremely closely cropped buzz cut, like a mature army school student. Li Yingliang glanced at him and was immediately overcome with ecstasy; he knew that he could now live.

This man was the commissioner of the North China Garrison Secret Service, Yokoyama Akira.

Yokoyama Akira arrived with aplomb, yet the second he pushed open the doors and raised his head, he paused. Li Yingliang was seated ramrod straight on a chair with his mouth wide open, and faintly hanging out from it was one end of a tie. Meanwhile, the other person, who had his head buried at Li Yingliang’s neck, turned his head to face him the moment he heard the commotion. He recognised this person with surprise, it was Shen Zhiheng.

He had never seen Shen Zhiheng in the flesh before, but he had seen photographs of him. Grasping this fleeting chance, Li Yingliang hit his head against Shen Zhiheng’s forehead, whining weakly. Shen Zhiheng kept his eyes fixed on Yokoyama Akira, tilting his head to avoid Li Yingliang’s knock, at the same time moaning internally. As much as man could make plans, the plans of the heavens could overturn it in an instant. Originally, he could have quietly taken his revenge and eaten his fill, but who could have guessed that an uninvited guest would fall from the heavens? Picking up Li Yingliang from the side, he stood up. He did not mind if he fell out with the Japanese; they had already fired machine guns at him, what scruples did he have left?

Yokoyama Akira pulled out a pistol. The people outside, noticing that something was wrong, hurriedly rushed in. At this point, Li Yingliang had already been pulled out of his seat by Shen Zhiheng. Everyone first noticed his twisted left forearm, and then noticed that there were a pair of chopsticks sticking out of his thighs. His face was purplish red, and he was suffocating to the point where his eyes were rolling. His two legs could still marginally move, and each step he took left behind a bloody footprint; the blood was flowing out from under his trousers.

Shen Zhiheng conveniently picked up the pistol on the table, asking Yokoyama Akira, “I have invited Chairman Li to send me off, I suppose everyone wouldn’t mind?”

Yokoyama Akira stared at Shen Zhiheng, logic and emotion fighting in him as if it were a battle between heaven and man. When the battle was over, he decided to save Li Yingliang’s life first. His Chinese was not that good, and now that he was startled, it was worse, and he simply took two steps back to clear the path. Shen Zhiheng walked towards the exit, dragging Li Yingliang with him. He went straight down the stairs and into his car.

  Shoving Li Yingliang into the passenger seat, he started the engine and drove towards the French concession zone. Yokoyama Akira and the Development Committee followed tightly behind him in their cars, aiming at the back of his car with their pistols from behind their windshields. When the car entered the French concession zone, Shen Zhiheng pushed the door open, shoving Li Yingliang out.

Li Yingliang’s eyes had already rolled to the back of his head a few times. Shen Zhiheng was not entirely sure if he was dead or alive, but it didn’t matter. He was not addicted to killing people to begin with, he just refused to suffer in silence.

The secret service did not dare to open fire in the French concession zone, and could only alight from their cars in a hurry to retrieve Li Yingliang. Yokoyama Akira rushed over, pulling one end of the tie out of Li Yingliang’s mouth in a flash. He tugged once; the first tug was unsuccessful, and so he gathered his energy, and tugged again.

The secret service agents around them were all stunned. Yokoyama Akira had not expected that the tie would be so long. As he pulled, he began to suspect that he would pull out Li Yingliang’s stomach and intestines as well. When the tie was completely pulled out, Li Yingliang still had his mouth wide open, still showing no reaction. Someone pressed against his chest desperately, and another propped him up, pounding his back.

Li Guisheng rushed over from the dark, grabbing him by his shoulders and shaking him, “Sir, Sir! Don’t scare us!”

  At this time, Yokoyama Akira’s standard of Chinese recovered. He stood at a side and said, “Send him to the hospital. He’s almost out of blood.”

The two chopsticks had been stabbed in with much skill, injuring the major blood vessels in Li Yingliang’s thighs. On the way to the hospital, Li Yingliang finally managed to breathe in a long breath, having managed to escape from dying from asphyxiation. However, he instantly fell prey to the devil of blood loss. They had already entered the Japanese concession zone, but his mouth had yet to close. Li Guisheng, thinking that he had dislocated his jaw, held his lower jaw and tried pushing it upwards for quite some time.

After an emergency rescue at the hands of the Japanese doctors, Li Yingliang finally managed to keep his life. 

His forearm was splinted and bandaged, and he had been transfused with a few big bags of blood. Other than a pair of dry lips and some tear wounds at the edges of his mouth due to having his mouth open for too long, he still resembled an intact person.

 Lying on the hospital bed, he breathed weakly, swamped with both weakness and fear, but mainly fear. His body was drenched in cold sweat. As he had spent quite some time with the Japanese, he could understand a few Japanese phrases. Earlier, the Japanese doctor had given a long speech, the general idea being that his luck was good. It was not just because he had bled so much but was still alive, but also that the tie had not completely blocked his throat. Otherwise, if he had asphyxiated to a certain point, even if he managed to survive, it was highly likely that his brain would have suffered damage and he would have become mentally impaired.

The sky was already bright. Yokoyama Akira stood in front of the bed as he watched Li Yingliang, his entire posture rigid and straight, as if he were an iron plate that had acquired human form.

“Why did you meet Shen Zhiheng privately?” he asked.

Li Yingliang answered weakly, his voice so soft it could barely be heard, “Sir, there’s something fishy about this person… and we couldn’t find out what… so I decided to invite him out to talk… if talking didn’t work… we would have dealt with him…”

“You killed him and you still dared to meet him, what an idiot!”

“I thought that he was already scared of us…”

Yokoyama Akira thought hard, and used the foulest Chinese curse he had in his vocabulary to scold Li Yingliang, “You big idiot!”

Then, with his hands behind his back, he walked two rounds back and forth before the bed, before stopping and saying, “If I had not rushed over in time, you would be dead now!”

“Thank you for saving me, Commissioner. How did you know last night that I was at the Grand Pacific Hotel? Did you have something urgent for me?”

Yokoyama Akira ignored him, unwilling to admit that he had heard that Li Yingliang had managed to score a meeting with the Shen Zhiheng who had returned from the dead, and so he had decided on a whim last night to steal Li Yingliang’s winnings and have a chat with Shen Zhiheng himself. Besides being reputable and influential, Shen Zhiheng also controlled many large newspaper companies that were widely distributed. If someone like him did not go against the Japanese, then the Japanese would not necessarily gain anything good out of it. But if he went against the Japanese, then those newspapers would become large trumpets blaring at Chinese society; who knew what slander he would spout?

Yokoyama Akira thought that Li Yingliang was full of zeal but lacked wisdom, and would not necessarily be able to win over Shen Zhiheng’s heart. So, he had personally taken action, but had ended up walking into a blood-soaked drama. He suddenly walked to the front of the bed and stopped, frowning as he asked Li Yingliang, “When I entered, what were the two of you doing?”

Li Yingliang gave a weak “ah?”.

“What was he doing to you? He was at your neck.”

Li Yingliang’s black pupils rolled upwards as his eyelids closed. After shutting his eyes in such a frightful manner, he took a few breaths, then opened his eyes and said, “Sir, I think that Shen Zhiheng… is very abnormal. Back then, it felt like he… like he wanted to bite me.”

Like a buzzing mosquito, Li Yingliang had a private talk with Yokoyama Akira for a while. Towards the end, the two of them suspected that they were going crazy. They had seen no shortage of cruel, ruthless people. But they had never heard of anyone who had the habit of biting their enemies to death, it’s not like they were dogs.

Besides, Commissioner Yokoyama was aware of Li Yingliang’s skills. Shen Zhiheng could be considered a refined gentleman, how could he have brought Li Yingliang under control with so few moves?

“He moved extremely fast, I could not see it at all,” Li Yingliang said softly. “Besides, he could actually stab wooden chopsticks into my thighs.”

It was cold, and he had dressed up in thick clothes. Logically speaking, the chopsticks should not have even pierced through his pants. Besides, the quality of the hotel chopsticks could not have been that good and durable.

Yokoyama Akira and Li Yingliang exchanged glances. The two of them knew that Shen Zhiheng was not something as simple as a martial arts expert. When he had attended the dinner last night, he had been alone, and it was clear that he had gone with murder in his mind. Besides, he had hidden this murder process not just from Li Yingliang’s subordinates, but also from his own men. Why did he have to hide it? Could it be that he had really wanted to bite Li Yingliang to death?

And would biting be the end? It didn’t seem that way. Li Yingliang would never forget how Shen Zhiheng later seemed to be salivating at him, just like a hungry ghost.

“It seemed like he wanted to eat me,” he said softly.

Yokoyama Akira said nothing, knowing that he had already stirred up a large, extremely bizarre hornet’s nest.

That morning, Li Yingliang slept. And in another corner of the city, Mi Lan woke up.

Her body felt light, and she was energised. The nurse came to measure her temperature, and gasped in surprise. Unexpectedly, Mi Lan had recovered surprisingly quickly, her fever receding just like that.

Mi Lan sat up against the head of the bed, rubbing her face. She had just put down the towel when the door opened, and Shen Zhiheng walked in with a thermal container. She recognised his footsteps, and she turned happily towards the door, “Mr. Shen, good morning.”

Shen Zhiheng smiled, “Good morning. I just heard the nurse say that your fever has receded today?”

“Yes, I’m fine now.”

Shen Zhiheng brought a gust of cold air with him. He removed his coat, hat, and gloves at the door. Mi Lan could feel this new coldness in the air, and could hear the rubbing of skin against fabric; this was him rolling up his sleeves.

Holding the thermal container, he sat in front of the bed and said, “It’s congee again.”

“Okay.”

Shen Zhiheng opened the thermal container, using a spoon to stir the congee. “Wait a little, it’s too hot.”

Mi Lan nodded, and heard him asking at the same time, “Why are you smiling? Is there a piece of good news that you’re not telling me?”

She only just realised that she was smiling. “I… I have recovered, and I’m happy.”

“Since you’ve recovered, you have to go home.”

The smile slowly disappeared from Mi Lan’s face. “Mr. Shen, when I return home, does that mean that we can no longer meet?”

“If I visit a young mistress in her teens everyday, it is indeed quite inappropriate.”

“What about if I go to see you?”

“Will your parents allow that?”

Mi Lan lowered her head, as if her thin neck could not support her round head.

“Then I might as well be sick forever,” she muttered softly.

Shen Zhiheng’s laughter rang out beside her ear, and then a large hand was patting her back. “If you don’t have a way, I do. If I don’t save you completely, I will not leave.”

MI Lan wanted to ask “really?”, but just as she was about to, she held back. She believed him. There was no need to ask. 

Shen Zhiheng accompanied Mi Lan for a good part of the day.

Mi Lan asked him softly, “Did you take your revenge yesterday?”

Shen Zhiheng eyed Mi Lan. This young lady was different from others. On one hand, he felt like she was truly just a young, naïve little girl, but on the other, he felt that she was very shrewd. She felt that he was trustworthy, and he too felt that she was trustworthy.

“Children shouldn’t be asking about adults’ business,” he said.

“I’m not a child.”

Shen Zhiheng moved to her ear, and said, jesting and testing her at the same time, “If I tell you, don’t get scared. I killed him.”

Mi Lan sat in the darkness. It was like she was sitting in the long night, and Shen Zhiheng’s voice came from beyond this world. Everything he said felt distant to her, like it was something from another country or another world. So, she did not know why she would be scared.

But she was truly concerned, and so she turned towards the direction of the voice. “You didn’t get injured again, did you?”

“I didn’t. I just got disturbed halfway through, and that person did not die.”

Mi Lan thought for a while, then replied, “Forget it. Don’t kill him. Besides, didn’t you not die either?”

“That’s because you saved me.”

“I saved you, and someone else saved him. It’s the same.”

Shen Zhiheng laughed, “You’re right. But, you must–”

“Keep it a secret,” she finished for him.

Shen Zhiheng raised his hand in front of her face and snapped his fingers. She quickly turned her head towards the sound, then raised her right hand and soundlessly twisted her middle finger and thumb together.

No one had snapped their fingers at home before; she had guessed that action through hearing alone. After snapping her fingers and failing, she hooked her long hair behind her ears. After staying in the hospital for a month, she had become so thin she was just a bag of bones, but her hair had escaped her mother’s poisonous tearing, and had become much thicker.

In the afternoon, Shen Zhiheng left the hospital.

His entire being was riddled with suspicious aspects that no one could find out, so instead of using a fixed driver, he preferred to drive his car himself. As he opened the car door at the entrance of the hospital, he looked around. There were eyes watching him from the darkness, he knew.

In this business, offending people was unavoidable. Even if there were no Li Yingliang, there would be other enemies. His strategy was to meet them head-on and fight poison with poison. Everyone bullied the weak and were scared of the strong. Now, Li Yingliang would not dare to rashly send assassins to attack him.

Bending his waist, he got into the car, and just as he was about to close the door, a young man suddenly ran up to him, huffing and puffing, “Mr. Shen, hello!”

Shen Zhiheng looked at him up and down, but did not recognise who he was. The young man was dressed decently, his face was red, and he carried a camera box with him.

“Don’t you recognise me? I’m a reporter for the editorial section of Haihe Daily, Zhang Youwen.”

 Shen Zhiheng was the sole proprietor of Haihe Daily, but he let the general manager there handle all the affairs and rarely went there himself, and so he did not have much of an impression of this Zhang Youwen. Evidently, Zhang Youwen had come over to greet him before going into the hospital. 

Momentarily curious, he asked, “Are you here to visit someone in the hospital, or for an interview?”

Zhang Youwen’s eyes gleamed. “Mr. Shen, haven’t you heard? Some terribly frightening things have been happening recently. I’m here to visit someone, but also for an interview.”

Shen Zhiheng noticed that this young man could not speak to the point. “What frightening things?”

 “There are demons in Tianjin city. This demon only comes out at night and bites people to suck their blood. Those who have gotten their blood sucked either die or fall ill. I heard that the day before, another person became a victim, and is hospitalised here, so I rushed down to interview them.”

Shen Zhiheng frowned. “Biting? Sucking blood?”

Zhang Youwen nodded his head solemnly, and added, his voice lowered, “They all say that it’s a weasel demon. Don’t weasels like to suck blood?” 

“Weasel?”

“Exactly! Weasels suck chicken blood, but if weasels become demons, maybe sucking chicken blood isn’t as gratifying anymore, so they suck human blood instead.”

Shen Zhiheng nodded slowly at him. “This piece of news… is very interesting.”

Zhang Youwen bade him farewell, rushing into the hospital. Shen Zhiheng closed the car door, uneasiness settling in his heart. The blood-sucking demon was definitely not him, but precisely because it was not him, he was uneasy.

If it was not him, who was it?

After the uneasiness, was an uncontrollable ecstasy, to the point where he had to sit in his car for quite some time to regain his composure. When he had finally calmed down enough to control his hands and legs, he drove off.

These few years, beyond just surviving, he had always been searching for those like him. If not, if he remained alone, how could he deal with the increasing number of changes to and mysteries surrounding himself?

That night, Shen Zhiheng waited at home for Situ Weilian.

Situ Weilian arrived, utterly besotted. The previous night, he had finally gotten what he wished for, and had gone out with Second Young Mistress Jin to watch a film, which was followed by a sumptuous meal. He liked Jin Jingxue too much and refused to leave her no matter what. After much begging, he had walked around Quanye Bazaar [1] and its environs together with her. In the department store, he had bought an Omega watch for her. But feeling that this was too much of a courtesy, she had refused to accept it; although she personally did not think much about the sufferings of mankind, she knew that Situ Weilian was just a young doctor in a small hospital. And since she did not intend to accept his feelings for her, she did not want to take advantage of this poor man.

Situ Weilian all but wanted to fall to his knees and kowtow to her, and force the watch into her hands. The cheque that Shen Zhiheng had given him that day had gotten completely spent just like that. Now, he sat in front of Shen Zhiheng, placing the canvas satchel onto the coffee table with some sort of empty satisfaction in his chest.

Spending money for Jin Jingxue was equivalent to burning incense for the gods and Buddhas. He did not dare to expect the luxury of having his wishes come true, he just wished that there was something by her side that was related to him.

Shen Zhiheng did not retrieve the bottles of blood in the canvas satchel. Instead, he tossed a copy of the evening newspaper into his arms. Baffled, Situ Weilian opened the newspaper and took a look, noticing one headline in particular. Sitting upright, he read the entire article, then raised his head to look at Shen Zhiheng.

He snickered, “Your own newspaper has started to publicly spout nonsense?”

Shen Zhiheng crossed his legs, his hands clasped in front of him. “This is the latest news, it’s not nonsense.”

Situ Weilian snorted in contempt. “How can there be blood-sucking demons–” His face suddenly changed. “Don’t tell me it’s you? How can that be? Have I not been feeding you full?”

Shen Zhiheng sat upright, not moving an inch. “Do I have that big an appetite? Even if I do, is there a need for me to describe it in such morbid detail?”

Situ Weilian inched closer to him, his voice lowered, “Then, could it be that brother you’ve been trying to find?”

“I don’t know, I need to investigate.”

“What if it really is?”

“Then it plays right into my hands. After all, he’s purebred, while I became this halfway through. He should know more than I do.”

“But his mother and your family have a blood feud!”

“That was years ago. Now, my family is long dead. Even if there’s still enmity, by this point, it’s about time it disappeared entirely. Besides, those were the grievances of the previous generation, and my generation has nothing to do with it. I’m very open-minded and wouldn’t fault the younger generation for the previous generation’s mistakes.”

“You’re open-minded, but what if he isn’t? Your family’s previous generation made his mother suffer so much. What if he has been harbouring the grudge all along, and suddenly descends from the skies to take a bite out of you?”

“Then isn’t that better? There can’t be anything worse than my current situation. It’s not like he would bite me and I would become a mountain spirit or tree monster. If he fights poison with poison with me and causes me to regain a human body, then that’s even better.” He smiled at Situ Weilian. “I will immediately stop fighting and retire in an apartment in the concession zone, comfortably waiting to die of old age.”

Situ Weilian leaned back, disapproval written all over his face. “Aren’t you being too positive? What if he’s a prodigal son and a troublemaker, and after acknowledging you, he keeps pestering you for your entire life?”

Shen Zhiheng smiled. “Prodigal son, troublemaker, pestering me, aren’t you describing yourself?”

Situ Weilian curled up on the sofa, unconvinced. Shen Zhiheng stopped exchanging nonsense with him, changing the topic.  

“Your younger sister is in some choir, isn’t she?”

Situ Weilian nodded. “Yes, she’s been going for a few years.”

“Then, do me a favour.”

Shen Zhiheng assigned a task to Situ Weilian.

When it got later, Situ Weilian bade farewell and left. When he left, the brightly lit Shen mansion became quieter, like a splendid tomb. Shen Zhiheng sat beneath the chandelier, drinking the two bottles of blood slowly. To him, the icy cold blood was sweet. He slowly leaned his body backwards, closing his eyes as lightheadedness took over him. In this moment, drowsy and satisfied, he was in complete bliss.

His thirst for fresh blood had long overwhelmed his desires for food and sex. 

Appetite and lust are only natural [2] . It was a pity that this no longer held true for him.

------------------------------------------------------------

A department store in Tianjin that opened in 1928, and was the largest department store in north China at the time. It still exists today.

A saying by Mencius.

[feministsouthpark]

South Park Filler Guide - Season 9

Link for Seasons  1   2   3   4   5   6   7 8

My analysis will have spoilers, if you’re a first time viewer, just scroll to the bottom and read the list and only read full text if you are familiar with the content of the show already! S9E1 Mr. Garrison's Fancy New Vagina is CANON

For the first scene of course, you just can't miss that one! Since that's the one scene that holds the event that shifts a character's story arc! That's right, I'm talking about Mr. Slave. His loved one changes in ways he can't comprehend. S9E2 Die Hippie, Die is FILLER

No events carry over. S9E3 Wing is FILLER

No events carry over. Does anyone else have déjà vu? S9E4 Best Friends Forever is CANON

We see Satan moving on from Saddam. His new boyfriend is Kevin, and the Heaven team has a lot of upgrades as well. S9E5 The Losing Edge is CANON

I bet this is confusing for someone who doesn't instinctively remember You're Getting Old anytime this episode starts playing. Yes, this is an important part of the Randy storyline. S9E6 The Death of Eric Cartman is FILLER

You could tell me about how funny or heartwarming and inspiring this episode is. But for my purposes it's just a day of the boys ignoring Eric. S9E7 Erection Day is FILLER

Our annual Jimmy episode! Although I can't imagine many people upset over this one getting shafted. S9E8 Two Days Before The Day After Tomorrow is FILLER

Stan and Eric make a great duo. Or do they? Canon followers will never find out. S9E9 Marjorine is CANON

Mostly because of Heidi Turner's proper introduction and her parents as well. However I love including Farmer Fred's episodes, and I hope I can include most of them, even if some are already unlikely. S9E10 Follow The Egg! is CANON

This one is for the relationships. Stan and Wendy get development for the first time since "Raisins". Mr. Slave moves on from Herbert aaaand Heidi Turner gets a team-up with Eric? S9E11 Ginger Kids is CANON

The ginger kids organization will return in a major way. Also, some interesting in-series lore about Kyle's and Eric's genes. S9E12 Trapped in the Closet is CANON

This is a big one in meta-storytelling, since Tom Cruise did later try to sue South Park (and an episode was made around that case), while Isaac Hayes, the voice of Chef also left because of this episode (and an episode was around that case). S9E13 Free Willzyx is CANON

Ok, there's three episodes in a row that will play an important part in 201, so it's safe to say Trey got really inspired by this era. S9E14 Bloody Mary is FILLER

This one is a character-study of Randy and Stan. It works, and all the specifics to their relationship is here, the events though are again, self-contained.

SPOILER-FREE RUNDOWN

Again, CANON means you should watch it, FILLER means you can skip it. S9E1 Mr. Garrison's Fancy New Vagina is CANON S9E2 Die Hippie, Die is FILLER S9E3 Wing is FILLER S9E4 Best Friends Forever is CANON S9E5 The Losing Edge is CANON S9E6 The Death of Eric Cartman is FILLER S9E7 Erection Day is FILLER S9E8 Two Days Before The Day After Tomorrow is FILLER S9E9 Marjorine is CANON S9E10 Follow The Egg! is CANON S9E11 Ginger Kids is CANON S9E12 Trapped in the Closet is CANON S9E13 Free Willzyx is CANON S9E14 Bloody Mary is FILLER

CANON counter:

S1: 9 out of 13  S2: 3 out of 18  S3: 6 out of 18  S4: 10 out of 17  S5: 8 out of 14  S6: 11 out of 17 S7: 6 out of 15 S8: 4 out of 14 S9: 8 out of 14

Overall: 65 out of 140