#ko-li

[yuesya]

Guizhong blinks, staring out at the mountainous terrain that was formerly Malphas’ territory.

… Or rather, what remained of the mountainous terrain.

It’s… a mess. The mountains? Are just not there anymore. As in, they’re just completely gone. Vanished! Like they just up and disappeared into thin air!

Now, there’s nothing but a sea of lapping waves stretching out as far as the eye can see, drowning out what used to be perfectly good dry land. There’s no telling how long this unnatural flood will persist, as if the scale of damage wrought to the landscape and environment wasn’t catastrophic enough already.

The flood reached all the way to the borders of the Guili Assembly’s territory. It was only thanks to the defenses that they’d previously put into place that they were able to defend against the sudden onslaught of waves at all. A necessary precaution, given their close proximity to the Lord of the Vortex. But Guizhong hadn’t expected to be putting their adeptal spells and devices to the test so soon.

Looking back on it, the first sign of something amiss had been Lige suddenly spinning around and staring in the direction of Malphas’ territory, stock-still with narrowed eyes. Ever since they formed their alliance, Lige had been slowly shedding that shell of unfeeling stone, but there were still times when his behavior was acutely inhuman.

It had been the startled reports that Guizhong received from their citizens that led her to realize that Lige abruptly left on his own, shedding details of his human form in his haste and scaring quite a few people in his wake. So Guizhong had taken it upon herself to calm their people and get them to settle down again; it was part of their contract.

Lige would be responsible for taking care of martial and warfare-related matters, while Guizhong would be responsible for governance and civil affairs, maximizing both of their strengths in a fruitful partnership.

…

After Guizhong had finished calming their citizens… It hadn’t taken long before she’d sensed the stirrings of battle on the edge of her awareness, in wake of Lige’s departure. But even then, she’d been confident that her fellow god had things well in hand.

… Which was before the water level had started rising rapidly at an alarming rate, forcing Guizhong to hurriedly rally together the other adepti to put their protective measures into play, in order to protect the Guili Assembly. It was only after the water started receding and Guizhong was sure that the adepti could hold down the fort that she’d left their territory and followed after Lige’s trail.

Which led to where she was right now: Flying above the waves, and trying to make sense of what was going on.

“Just what in the world happened here?” Guizhong mutters to herself, frowning.

The waves below her remain silent, and do not yield any answer besides the obvious: That a cataclysmic battle had taken place between gods here, and this was the terrifying result.

The goddess closes her eyes briefly, silently mourning over the many innocents who were caught up in this conflict through no fault of their own.

Malphas’ people… while Guizhong held no love for Malphas, who treated humans more like playthings and curiosities than actual people to be cherished for their individuality–

The humans who lived in Malphas’ territory didn’t deserve such a fate, drowned in a watery grave that had no business flooding the land like this.

If this was Osial’s work… then the Lord of the Vortex had much to answer for. Guizhong was sure that Lige would agree with her, and he definitely wouldn’t be the only god to do so.

Speaking of–

Guizhong holds out her hand, where a Geo crystalfly alights gently on her fingertip, tingling with a familiar energy signature. The crystalfly flaps its wings, then lifts up into the air again –and begins flying in a very specific direction.

Follow.

“You’d better have a good explanation for all of this, Lige,” she mutters under her breath.

While Lige is not one to shy away from battle, he is not one for meaningless, wanton destruction, laying waste to anything and everything around him. Guizhong trusts that he wouldn’t have intentionally caused such destruction, but if he had really been pushed to this extent by Osial, then… the Lord of the Vortex was far more dangerous than either of them had suspected.

Concern rises in her chest, coupled with worry and anxiety for her partner.

The emotions do not abate until she finally catches sight of him again. Lige looks… definitely more roughed up than Guizhong remembers seeing him this morning. And he’s also injured, with a particularly serious gash torn diagonally across his chest, still bleeding heavily –even though his expression remains passive and unchanging, as if he doesn’t feel the pain at all.

But Guizhong does.

Tears spring to her eyes, “Lige!”

The Geo crystalfly that had led her to him lands on the other god’s shoulder. Lige blinks, some measure of awareness returning to his eyes and easing his stone visage… and he nods in her direction, relaxing slightly at the sight of an ally. “Guizhong. You’re here.”

“Of course I am!” Had he expected otherwise? Just because Guizhong wasn’t a god who was suited for combat didn’t mean that she couldn’t fight. “What in the world happened, Lige? Is this Osial’s work? Should we be expecting an invasion?”

“An invasion…” Lige mutters, amber eyes hardening. “It is possible. Although it won’t be happening for quite some time, I’d imagine.”

Guizhong frowns. “Are you certain?”

“Yes,” Lige nods. Then, in that infuriatingly unchanging cadence of his, “He just lost five of his six heads. I’d be surprised if he regains enough strength to lead an invasion and wage war anytime soon.”

The Lord of the Vortex is one of the oldest gods! One of the most powerful Hydro gods on this side of the ocean! And he just–?

Guizhong gapes at him, “You–?!”

Lige shakes his head. “I claimed two heads. The other three were her work.”

And so saying, the god gestures to the side. At this point, Guizhong finally focuses on the others who’d also been present this entire time –a heavily injured bird spirit who watches the two of them separately, clutching tightly onto an unconscious girl in his arms.

No, not just a girl. That was… another god?

The bird spirit shifts uneasily under Guizhong’s attention. Were it not for his wings being all but shredded, she has no doubt that he would’ve taken flight perhaps the very instant that she’d arrived–

“There’s no place for you and your new god to go to even if you run,” Lige says. “Osial may have been dealt a grievous blow, but his armies remain. His influence stretches wherever the water reaches, and it will be quite some time before the waves subside. You’ll only be endangering the both of you, if you run.”

The bird spirit says nothing in response.

“We’re not going to hurt you,” Guizhong says gently, crouching down to the young spirit’s height. Lige’s words might be a little scary, but Guizhong can read him well enough by this point to know that he’s legitimately concerned for these two. “Let us help you and your god, please?”

The bird spirit still says nothing. But his gaze wavers, flickering between them and the bloodied god that he clutches in his arms.

“I promise that we will not harm you or your god. Come with us to the Guili Assembly, and we will get you treated,” Guizhong tells him. Then, reaching out a hand and pointing towards Lige, “You know who he is, right?”

“… The Groundbreaker.”

“That’s right,” Guizhong says encouragingly. “He’s also the God of Contracts. So if I make a promise before the God of Contracts, then know that my words can be trusted, and that I will not act in bad faith to you or your god, alright?”

[summerslushies]

some icons lol

[skania]

Let's talk about Aqua "using" Akane

So Aqua makes a very big deal about "using" Akane, but... did he actually use her at all?

I mean, he makes it quite clear that he is only keeping her close because she's useful, right?

So, what is Akane useful for, exactly?

Aqua's entire premise is that Akane understands Ai better than he does. He can't lose Akane because she may help him figure out Ai and find out who his dad is.

But we never, ever see Aqua asking Akane questions about Ai. At the contrary, most of his time with Akane is spent either on Aqua and Akane helping each other, or on Aqua talking to Akane about himself rather than about Ai.

(Spoilers for the entire manga below the cut!)

Let's take the TB arc for example, since this is the arc where Aqua and Akane interact again. What do we see?

First, Aqua helps Akane voice her concerns about the script:

Then he helps solve the disconnect between the ones in charge of the script and the original author, thus doing Akane and everyone involved a big service:

Then he helps Akane win against Kana, going as far as to agree to do emotional acting in order to accomplish it:

And then he helps Akane draw Kana out into the spotlight:

In other words: Aqua spends the entire arc working as a team with Akane. He makes no effort to use her at all.

What's more, all the occasions he had to get Akane's insight about Ai? He uses them to give Akane insight about himself instead.

Which is ironic, because we eventually find out that he even went as far as planting a GPS on her sometime after Love Now, in the off-chance Akane came in contact with the culprit. He obviously was pretty serious about making the most of Akane's deduction skills...

... but how was Akane supposed to deduce anything when Aqua never gave her any info? After all, Aqua only shares that information with Akane after he thinks his revenge is over and he has no use for her anymore.

Which means that, up to the point where Aqua temporarily drops his revenge plans, we don't actually see him using Akane at all.

Despite this, we still see Aqua going on and on about how he has "used" Akane.

So, let's take a closer look at all the ways he has "used" Akane, shall we?

• "About my father" is the simplest one, since that's what Aqua wanted to use Akane for in the first place. Except that, as we saw, things don't go quite as planned and he literally doesn't do anything to have Akane find his dad.

So yes, Aqua did intend to use Akane to find his dad, but he doesn't actually put her to use. In fact, Akane finds him all on her own by pure chance much, much later.

• "The corpse" is a very interesting one, because by Aqua's own admission, he trusted Akane's capabilities enough to think she may be able to find his corpse, and fed her information to help her achieve this.

This is indeed true, except for two things. One, when Aqua starts looking for the corpse, he actually tells Akane to stay behind. She's the one that chooses to follow after him. Aqua makes it sound like Akane finding his corpse was his goal from the get-go, but his actions are at odd with his words.

Secondly, Aqua stops looking for the corpse the moment Akane suggests it may be buried, but he still takes her to Goro's house either way.

Nothing he tells her about Goro is relevant to the search of his corpse. It's completely irrelevant, in fact. But Aqua still opens up to her, sharing everything about Goro, from his upbringing to his goals to his feelings.

Once again, his words say one thing, but his actions tell a different story. Akane is the first person Aqua has opened up to about Goro, and he does so without any ulterior motive.

Which leads me to the way Aqua has "used" Akane:

• "And many other things."

This is what Aqua means by "many other things". Ever since that day, Akane has been giving Aqua emotional support and he has come to treasure it, so much so that it "saves him little by little".

I'd even say he has come to rely on it, as his monologue later shows.

Now, you may say, but isn't receiving and giving emotional support a normal part of every relationship?

And you'd be completely right! But Aqua isn't a normal guy.

Aqua is guilt-ridden to the point he is in pain whenever he enjoys anything. Since the guilt he feels colors basically everything he sees, it permeates his relationship with Akane as well.

Instead of seeing all the good he has done for her, he just sees all the ways he ties her down.

Instead of seeing how much of himself he has shared with her, he focuses on what he has kept from her.

He is such a guilt-ridden, self-deprecating person that he even apologizes when Akane finds his corpse. As if getting murdered and not being found for 20+ years was his fault!

Akane puts it best: Aqua is always trying to carry the burden on his own, always acting like every wrong is his fault.

It's no surprise then that Aqua feels guilty over allowing himself to cherish Akane's support. It's also no surprise that he tries to paint it negatively as him "using" her, because Aqua has been trying to convince himself that his relationship with Akane is a lie.

If he repeats it enough, if he makes his every action about using Akane, then it will be easier for him to let go of her — even when that becomes the last thing he wants to do.

This all comes to a head in Chapter 98, where we see Aqua cutting ties with Akane to keep her safe. This was the perfect time to use Akane, for real this time — but "using" Akane has become a lie that he can't keep up any longer.

Akane has become too important to him. So important in fact, that leaving her side marks the moment he makes a wrong turn and gives himself into the darkness of his revenge.

TL;DR Aqua did want to use Akane, but he never gets around to it. He comes to rely on her emotional support and feels so guilty for it that he sees that as "using" her. Ironically, by the time Akane becomes the perfect "tool" for him to use in his quest for revenge, she matters too much to him and he lets her go to keep her safe. In fact, Akane only makes herself "useful" to him by pure chance! lol

[darkopsiian]

thumbnail for me fucking dying in Jackbox

[ladychunli68]

Chun-Li & Hsien Ko by @ichizen_nue

[yuseirra]

if anything, this work has really made me think a lot about lies

it can really be love, it convinced me on that

[u3pxx]

gonna be an online learning website hater again i HATE it when they don't allow you the option to submit after the timer runs out on a submission bin. like cmon man, deduct me the points when i pass it or whatever orz

[its-to-the-death]

Glasses Swag Sequel Preliminary Round #1

Only one of them will make it into the bracket!

[bornetoblood]

This is what you wanted, isn’t it? To live forever?

[lobotheduck]

I love how Benimaru sees his dad, and is like, oh this must be hell.

[anzuhan]

[smallartiststuff]

Lies of P

- Shop Update

They’re here and they turned out so cute! If I may say so

I took some nice pictures and there are now up in my ko-fi shop for you 🦋

More pics under the cut ✨️

[blooming-periwxnkle]

Umm, so..what happened in the latest chapter is sad... but I think..KanaKane kiss can heal this world..

[winding-maze]

The September 2022 journal is now public!

Detailed process of my first Lies Of P fanart (I can't believe it's been two years!)

The process of another painting that I don't really show anymore because I'm unhappy with it, but you can see it here!

Read the blog.

[ladychunli68]

Capcom Fighting Collection

[yuseirra]

lies are love!

I've always thought it was interesting how she lied to love, not lie to be loved.