#like episode 46 long hair

[kabr0ztrousers]

Can we get another hucow with some minotaur/bull hybrid action?

(Heavy on the pet play, pretty please!!)

Loving this challenge series, keep up the good fight!

Hucows and minotaurs? Two of my favourite subjects (as I'm sure you've all noticed)

Kabr0z Writes episode 46: Another day in the fields

Find the rest of the Kabr0z Writes anthology here!

This story loosely follows episode 34 - it's not required reading, but it is added context

CWs: enthusiastic consent; petplay; power imbalance; hucows; impregnation; heat cycle; forced creampie; breeding; belly-riding; cockwarming; public sex;

A/N: There's 16 asks in the box right now, so those of you who have submitted please don't lose faith! Also, do asks occasionally change their order in the inbox? I'm sure I'm seeing stuff in the middle of the pack I don't remember 😄 If things get a little whacky with the queue, I apologise

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It's been a year since you joined the herd. Since then you'd settled in with the girls, enjoying your daily milking, lazing in the fields, chewing the cud. Your body had changed too, you weren't trim or fit when you joined, but you never lost the baby weight from your child Aaron put in you when you joined his herd. You'd given birth a few months ago, your daughter joining the herd with you, but now your empty womb wants more.

The barn doors opened and Aaron entered, working from one end of the barn to the other, attaching the machinery to cow after cow. The women's soft mooing filling the barn. You knew how he worked, always snaking the same path through the barn so nobody was ever missed. You'd made sure you'd be one of the first, you didn't want anyone getting to him first, after all.

Aaron's huge hands stroked your hair, his big eyes looking into yours. You stroked his muzzle, eyes scanning his face, the gold ring in his nose, his long curving horns, before sliding down past his broad chest to the noticeable bulge in his jeans.

You relaxed under his touch, nuzzling up to his chest, one hand sliding up his leg

"Do you want something, girl?" He kept stroking, slipping a finger into your mouth, which you gently sucked on "Have you been a good girl?"

You nodded, his finger still in your mouth as you rubbed his crotch through his jeans

"Prove it, girl, be a good girl for me"

You opened his jeans, tugging them down to his knees and exposing his sheath. The end of his cock is poking out and drooling a little precum, a strand running from his tip to the front of his boxers. You stuck out your tongue, licking the sweet fluid from him, feeling his cock twitch as you did. Rubbing his sheath, you took the end of his cock in your mouth

"That's it, girl, that's it" His cock is growing rapidly, getting as long as your forearm. You can only get the very end in your mouth as you tease it with your tongue, wrapping your huge tits around it to rub the shaft.

He was grunting more and more. His cock pops out of your mouth, splattering your face with sticky precum. You want to taste his cum so badly, to drink it down like wine, but there's always going to be more.

You lie back, grabbing one of his horns as you roll. He lets himself be dragged down to you, looming over you on his hands and knees, the tip of him parting the lips of your leaking pussy

"Someone's a needy girl, huh, does my favourite cow want a present?"

You mooed and nodded, pushing your hips up into him, feeling his cock almost penetrating you. His hand brushed your clit, making you whimper and twitch. He tasted his finger, eyes closing in satisfaction "mmm, tastes like you're ready"

He locked eyes with you as he eased himself in, filling you up as you bucked against him, fucking yourself with his cock. He moved slowly, enjoying the tight wetness of your cunt as you used it to jack him off. He hit your cervix, but you knew how to get him deeper. Your hands close around his horns and you wrap your legs around him, using the extra leverage to pull your pelvis up to his, slipping his cock deeper inside.

He sighed as he hilted in you, before starting to thrust like a piledriver. Long, slow, deliberate, he's taking his time, enjoying every inch as he pulls out, then forces himself back inside. He sped up his strokes, driving himself into you. A long moan escapes you as you cum around him, legs holding him in as you tense and squeeze his cock, kissing his muzzle as your blissed-out head spins. His hands are around your waist, he rolls over, the motion forcing your legs to release him as he starts using your cunt, lifting you halfway off him before forcing you back down, again and again.

Your moaning and mooing is attracting attention, all the other cow-women in the barn are looking, many getting themselves off with their fingers, some eating out their fellows as the barn descends into an orgy.

Aaron holds you down, his cock throbbing and pulsing. A familiar warmth fills you, spreading out in your cunt, finally quenching the fire of your needy womb as the thick cum fills every corner of it. He gets up, still holding you to him, twitching cock still impaling you as he finishes attaching pumps to the other cows. You hold on to him as he moves, arms wrapped around his neck, legs hitched over his hips. You're a big lady now, but he still bears your weight like he did when you first met.

When all the other women are hooked up, milk flowing from their tits into the huge collection vat at the end of the barn, he finally pulls out of you. The huge flared end of his cock makes a lewd slurp as it comes free, glistening with both of your juices.

You know you're pregnant after that

And if not, you'll just try again tomorrow

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This one followed on from a previous episode, but I realised I never actually named Aaron in the body of that work, only the postscript!

Anyway, here's your regular reminder that you, yes you, can request basically anything you like as long as it's smut and I'll probably wind up making it! Limits are in the pinned, but beyond that it's all good! And don't feel shy, anon is anon, the worst I can do is not publish it, after all.

I don't shame, and I don't mock (mostly). I just write porn

(Disclaimer: I will shame and/or mock if requested)

[ilk-insolence]

Raph Is A Great Strategist

Numerous times in the show Raph has shown to have a preference for straightforwardly punching his problems away rather than think up a more complex solution. Like how his immediate fix to getting Mayhem out of the mirror in Mystic Library was to punch everything in the bathroom but the mirror. However, when Raph understands the situation requires more in depth strategy, he’s shown to be an incredibly capable tactician.

(long post ahead!)

In nearly all the plot heavy episodes like Shadow of Evil, Many Unhappy Returns, and the season finales, Raph gets moments where he’s highlighted for his strategic thinking. In Insane in the Mama Train, he’s the one who figures out which eyeball-button goes to the front car with the dark armor, because “‘it was the only button [the Foot Clan] didn’t want me to press!’” [21:05]. He’s also the one who came up with the scheme to defeat all the (known) combatants in the train, with Leo specifically attributing Raph as the deviser during their mind meld [19:46]. In Many Unhappy Returns, after spending a single night waylaying the Shredder, Raph formulated a plan using all the tricks the team learned, seamlessly transitioning the mystic collar Leo acquired into it [19:53], to defeating the Shredder. Additionally, he’s repeatedly called for a retreat during fights, like in Shadow of Evil, Shreddy or Not (Finale pt 2), and the movie, when he can tactically recognize that a battle couldn’t be won. Each time, the show/movie implied that that was the right call, for the family to lose the fight but win the war.

And it’s not just that Raph is good at strategy when he’s pushed to be more serious; the show characterizes him as passionate about creating plans, he enjoys doing it. Literally in the first episode, Mystic Mayhem, after the turtles’ initial plan failed of getting Splinter out of the living room to touch his Do-Not-Touch Cabinet, Raph immediately started devising a new plan that involved “ten chickens [and] a gallon of rubber cement” [9:35]. It was convoluted, sure, and they didn’t end up using it, but it was inventive and the opposite of reluctant. This is also shown in Bug Busters, where Raph planned out dousing Mikey in honey to attract the oozequitoes [2:52]; Snow Day, with the idea to freeze Ghost Bear like in Jupiter Jim Pluto Vacation 4; and Raph’s Ride-Along (and also Bad Hair Day), where Mind Raph created multiple schemes to get the criminals arrested. The show wouldn’t have made Raph be so creative with his plans if they were trying to characterize him as someone who didn’t like strategizing.

So does why Raph do stupid shit sometimes where he doesn’t think things through at all? Well, even though Raph is good at strategy and enjoys doing it, it’s clear his immediate impulse is still “punch the problem in the face”. In fact, all the turtle boys contain the fascinating dichotomy of being incredibly smart in some areas, and the dumbest teenagers alive in others. Just look at Donnie. It’s also how Raph is a loving protective older brother, and the guy who shoved Leo into a wall so hard he disappeared in one frame for shits and giggles (The Mutant Menace x). None of this means that Raph is bad at strategy though.

tldr: Yeah, Raph has a lot of dumb and, frankly, insane moments in the show, but he’s still an incredible tactician who’s plans consistently saved his family and sometimes the world. He's a great strategist.

[mylovesstuffs]

100 Reasons Why I Love Seungcheol ! (a.k.a. S.Coups, Choi Leader, Carat Nation’s Dad)

1. The way he manages 12 chaotic kids (men) like a pro. Where’s his Parent of the Year award?

2. When he yells at them but immediately softens like a marshmallow.

3. His laugh can cure seasonal depression.

4. A visual.

5. His habit of acting like the maknae when he’s the eldest.

6. Petty Seungcheol is peak comedy.

7. When he tries to act cool, but the members clown him anyway.

8. His relationship with aegyo.

9. The way he thinks he’s subtle when being dramatic.

10. His iconic “Say the name!”

11. When he stands in the center like he owns the stage. (Because he does.)

12. His “I’m SEVENTEEN’s leader” energy.

13. That time he pulled off blone hair like a literal Greek god.

14. The way he stares into the camera during performances.

15. How he can make a single word sound like a life-changing declaration.

16. The emotional damage from his tongue plays.

17. His airport looks could rival a runway.

18. His tiny, proud smiles when the members achieve something. You can see the love in his eyes.

19. The fact that he knows exactly how to bias-wreck us.

20. How he’s effortlessly charismatic without even trying.

21. The way he protects the members like they’re his own brothers.

22. When he cried during their Daesang speech—who didn’t cry with him?

23. That time he comforted Jeonghan when he was sick, and our hearts collectively melted.

24. How he takes care of Carats.

25. The soft way he says, “Thank you, Carats.” (Excuse me while I sob.)

26. When he got emotional during their first win.

27. His little “fighting!” moments to cheer everyone up.

28. The way his presence alone calms the chaos in the group (most of the time).

29. The way he values teamwork over individual success.

30. His deep, gravelly voice that feels like a warm hug.

31. Knowing he’s been through tough times but came out stronger.

32. When he cried feeling unworthy of being the leader—Cheol, we’ll fight anyone who made you feel like that.

33. Seeing him push through injuries just to be with SEVENTEEN and Carats.

34. His constant worry about whether he’s doing enough.

35. That one hiatus he took, which made us miss him like crazy but as long as he's okay.

36. Knowing he carries so much responsibility on his shoulders but never complains.

37. How he always thinks of the members’ happiness before his own.

38. His bittersweet smiles during emotional moments—why must you hurt us like this?

39. The way he supports his members during hard times.

40. He cried more over Woozi's hard work than their first win.

41. His leadership is unmatched—period.

42. He’s the glue that keeps SEVENTEEN together.

43. His vocals are criminally underrated.

44. His stage presence is absolute legend behavior.

45. How he hypes up the members like their #1 fan.

46. The way he makes sure every member gets their moment to shine.

47. He’s a friend, brother, and protector.

48. His rap go hard.

49. The way he’s always looking out for the younger members.

50. He gives off main character energy without overshadowing anyone.

51. His pout—it’s a lethal weapon.

52. The way he drinks water like he’s in a CF.

53. When he flips his hair mid-dance. Yes, it’s a reason.

54. His Jigeumbuteo. Iconic.

55. His obsession with Shinchan—same, honestly.

56. The way he claps when he’s laughing too hard.

57. His habit of clinging. Mood.

58. That one episode of Going Seventeen where he was scared giggling and wrapping arms with Shua just because he's scared lol.

59. How he randomly lifts the members like they weigh nothing (especially Hao).

60. When he plays rock-paper-scissors like it’s a serious sport.

61. Seungcheol is the reason I now find men with leadership skills attractive.

62. He’s personally responsible for ruining my bias list every other week.

63. The amount of time I’ve spent analyzing his fancams is embarrassing.

64. His “leader line” moments with RM and Bang Chan.

65. How he’s secretly a softie who loves hugs.

66. He lives rent-free in my brain, and I’m not charging him.

67. The way I feel personally attacked by his selfies.

68. How he can bias-wreck me with a single smirk.

69. The way he hypes up other members on stage like a proud dad.

70. Why does he make me emotional over a simple “fighting!”?

71. He’s a role model.

72. The way he shows that strength can be soft and kind.

73. How he’s grown with SEVENTEEN from boys to men.

74. His love for Carats—it’s so genuine it hurts.

75. He’s proof that hard work pays off.

76. The way he balances being goofy and responsible.

77. His dedication to his craft—it’s inspiring.

78. How he takes pride in SEVENTEEN’s achievements without being boastful.

79. The fact that he’s never forgotten where he came from.

80. Knowing he truly cares about SEVENTEEN’s legacy.

81. His dimples.

82. The way he flips between being a charismatic idol on stage and a complete goofball off stage.

83. When he said, “I’m SEVENTEEN’s dad,” and it’s both funny and true.

84. How he radiates warmth, even through a screen.

85. His goofy side that he shows when he’s comfortable.

86. The way he makes everyone feel like they belong.

87. His deep, thoughtful words during interviews.

88. How he remembers even the smallest details about the members.

89. The way he leads with both his heart and his head.

90. He’s the definition of dependable.

91. He’s a leader who listens, not just commands.

92. His honesty.

93. The way he reminds us that it’s okay to take breaks.

94. He’s proof that vulnerability is strength.

95. How he brings out the best in everyone around him.

96. His endless love for music and performing.

97. The way he’s stayed humble despite SEVENTEEN’s success.

98. Knowing he’ll always have SEVENTEEN and Carats’ backs.

99. He’s family.

100. Because, honestly, there’s no one else like Choi Seungcheol.

[unitchiefs-blackbirdphoenix]

17x06 Reaction/Spoilers Pt. 1 (aka the Jemily Episode of S17/Of All Time)

TW: not much however, there is a blood/gunshot wound warning (around 03:20-03:46) and drug use (edibles in each jemily scene pretty much)

Also if you want my jemily watch thoughts, I bolded them in this post haha (also thanks to @blackbirdsaltzman for our predictions for jemily stuff this ep haha!) I had to split this into two posts bc I have so many thoughts about this ep especially with jemily haha

Tara and Rossi teaming up together again!

Voit's cell

LUKE! MY BOY!

Tara's voice omg 😭

Noooo nooo omg Emily's singing 😭😭

Fuck it's not what we think!!

Voit fuck off!

You let go of her you fucking son of a bitch

Emily's singing is breaking my heart fuck nooooo

I know it's a dream but noooo Emily's pained singing broke me 😭

Why do they have to repeat her singing on the title card?? Damn it CME

Love Paget's voice but fuck

Aww Penelope leaving a bucket for Emily. She was drinking the other night hahaha

I've been wanting to say this since the promos came out but JJ's hair is wavy again, but her sleeves are still long and covering her hands :(

Rossi's seeing a bunch of Voits around the bullpen, including him as the others

Zach Gilford, I hate your character but I love you as an actor

JJ already being worried about Emily and her looking at Penelope

Not Emily's singing again fuck. I swear if her singing this song is foreshadowing the next eps...

JJ following Penelope to her lair. Omg JJ and Penelope's bestieism in this very lair 🥰 I miss them! It's like the early seasons them!

"You profiled that. I did not tell you" but JJ knows Emily inside and out hehe

JJ's little look at Penelope's keys

"Please I'm a mom. I've seen worse" hahahaha

Oh- Tyler's ex huh? Teresa Campos

Garvez!

Hahahaha Tyler calling Luke to talk to his ex

Exes in a room, whatcha gonna do

"She's the woman I dated.... right before you."

The walls shaking in Rossi's office. I'm sorry but the effects is kinda making me laugh

Tara being the second one to call out Rossi on not going to mandated trauma therapy lol

Tara just being there and holding Rossi's hand and talking him through 😭 I liked that moment

Tara's voice is so soothing, hold my hand next please.

Jemily scene #1 wooo!

JJ's cheetos obsession never dies! Also a mutual and I predicted before this ep on something that happens with JJ with these very things... 👀

Damn it. JJ I know you're making Emily comfortable but I needed the lights on!

The sneak peek!

Emily, although high, loves salt and vinegar chips!

Chopsticks is definitely going to be a jemily thing now. I may or may not have a one shot idea about that 👀

"Sooo what have you been drinking?" AJ's giggle is so cute

"Emily Elizabeth Prentiss, are you high?" "I'm not not high" "Oh my god" god I love them

"I didn't know super-hot Latina was your type. My name is Garcia..." Garcia um... I hate to tell you this...

Teresa's got a thing for army guys oh- is this... Luke's also an army guy

I have a feeling that they might set up Luke and Teresa together to try and stop Garvez from happening I fear 😔

Tommy Yates is all I could think of for Rossi rn

It's risky but I guess it might help Rossi

Tyler did that from last season and it got Penelope somewhat in trouble when her uh... predicament with him happened

"Message in a bottle" title mention!

"Sticky chemistry" omg 😭 Penelope

Teresa and Penelope and Luke and Tyler. Ooooh this should be fun!

Jemily scene #2

"I can feel your disappointed stare on my back" Emily knows her wife so well

JJ eating more... cheetos... omg girly you're gonna get fucked up

"Not disappointed, just... didn't know you smoked" JJ, you already knew Emily had some sort of a past with smoking and yet this surprises you? 😂 But also the way she sounded so amused with a huge smile like ahhhh I love them so much

When you need to focus or contemplate life, you just have a bag of cheese puffs with you, Emily? Like at any time JJ comes over to your place or something, you think she wouldn't try to go for that bag??

"tame the PR beast" liaison JJ hello??

JJ the voice of reason yesss

Not Emily talking about the Catcher in the Rye like she doesn’t know wtf that is omg 😭

"We need to talk"

Oh shit. "Why are the walls closing in?" JJ's realization and Emily's realization 👀

JJ's "Emily?"

That bag was like full earlier. Omg JJ 😭😭

Not Emily taking the last one omg. She said "solidarity" lol

"Those are edibles? 🥺" "You're gonna need to lie down" "Nooo" I just- they're so funny and adorable

JJ's on for a ride (or a trip if you will hehe)

Also I'm taking it that Emily has a bag of edible cheetos and a bag of regular cheetos, and hides the edibles from JJ hahaha

Back to Rossi. And this is the elevator scene from the trailer with the walls closing in on him. Ooooh JJ just said that earlier too

"past paramours" Penelope-

Pheromones? I swear... do not cm

Hahaha that's a long story Teresa

Luke and Tyler oooh 👀

Not to be encouraging ideas... but why do I have a feeling some people might start shipping/making fanfics of Tyler and Luke now? hahaha

Ooh they're bonding over movies now??? I might like this actually

I hate hearing Emily's pained voice :( hasn't she been through enough?? Apparently not in this season or ever

Tommy Yates

"Am I haunting you?" Yes

Subtext ok Elias

So only three people know about Gold Star: Voit, Doug, and possibly Gideon’s ex-wife?

Damn. "We build a profile" Zach Gilford

Sebastian Gasper from 17x03

Jemily scene #3

JJ is soooo out of it omg

Her little dopey (stoned) smile when she hears that Emily's reinstated as unit chief. JJ's still a supportive wife through her high world lol

JJ: "hell yeah let's goo🤘" that was 1000% AJ for sure like girl we know you've been high before irl hahaha

JJ already shaking her head and going "no" when Emily said she’s sending an email to reject the offer back

Gideon, Morgan, and Hotch mention

"the longer you stay in this job, the odds is that you're going to lose yourself or someone you love or your sense of honor. It just takes and takes and takes" Emily :(

Omg BAU-Gate mention!

Oh 😭 JJ's deep-seated fear is exactly what we thought. That Henry or his friends come across the website.

I appreciate the mention and I swear if it wasn't the website, I love AJ's delivery of "yeah I found out" like "yeah duh", that was kinda funny actually

"You know what bugs me the most, is that you- you didn't tell me." JJ wasn't mad at her (or maybe she was but not enough to hate her of course) but she was just more hurt that Emily hid it from her since she found out. JJ just wanted answers!

AJ's little shaking hand when JJ says "you didn't tell me."

"Did you think I couldn't handle it?" I had a feeling JJ would say this when she confronted Emily

"No, I knew you could handle it. That doesn't mean you had to." I know I saw some opinions on how Emily said that, but I don't think she made it about herself tbh. I think given their state of mind rn, Emily was trying to say she thought she could try to protect JJ by doing what she did. Ik there's been discourse on if Emily did the right thing or not and I don't wanna get into that either but I think if they were both sober, then it would've delved into a more emotional conversation about the website and Emily could've explained in full why she chose that decision. That's at least my thoughts on it for now.

"It's not about protecting us. It's about being honest with us. With me." JJ 😭 She was so hurt that Emily had to do that and just wanted her to be honest with her. I might have some thoughts on her saying this

Also the way she says "with me." Ohhh I love them 😭 Also the fact that JJ's more worried about Emily having to lie and hide from her. JJ hates when people lie and hide stuff from her (funny enough when she does the same lol)

[recurring-polynya]

My Top 5 Bleach Filler Characters, Appropos of Nothing

5. Inaba Kagerouza, Reigai Arc

Inaba is, simply put, the pinnacle of Soul Society worldbuilding. He's got this long dramatic backstory and a bunch of rage bottled up in his chest, but also a guy needs a paycheck, so he's just been doing the R&D grind for a hundred years. He knows a shit-ton about the Dangai, which is relevant to his evil scheme, but it's also just his day job (also the Dangai owns, I want a PhD in "the Dangai"). No one else in Squad 12 seems to have the least bit of beef with him, even after he builds an evil duplicate of every person in the Gotei. Unlike a lot of mad scientist characters, he's good with his weapon. Maybe he's weirdly jacked under his villainous smock?? Also, his evil scheme was generally well thought out, and took into account the fact that the Gotei is a bunch of buffoons. ngl, I kinda wish his plan had succeeded, if only for the fact that it would probably really piss Aizen off.

4. Ran'Tao, Bount Arc

Everything about Ran'Tao owns, including:

Sexy glasses

Condemned so hard by the Central 46 that they gave her a kidou seal back tattoo

KIDOU. SHOTGUN.

Stabbed Kariya in the gut

Noped out at the end of the arc because Who Needs the Gotei's Shit?

3. Kuchiki Kouga, Zanpakutou Rebellion Arc I think that when you hear the story about how Byakuya was forbidden from marrying Hisana because she was a commoner, you're supposed to feel this great sense of injustice, like wow! Byakuya actually showed character by standing up for his love! And that's great and all, and then you get the Zanpakutou Rebellion Vintage Kuchiki Bullshit Flashbacks and it's like, oh, the last guy they married into the clan mass murdered a bunch of people and then they had to seal him up in a cave and I feel like that's an important piece of context in the entire Kuchiki Family-Being-a-Bitch-About-Who-Byakuya-Marries debacle.

Which isn't to exonerate the Kuchiki, here! It's very clear that Kouga wasn't that bad before he got pushed over the brink by Kuchiki family machinations. I mean, this is very much an Everyone's The Asshole situation.

I love the fact that they never come out and say that Kouga is Byakuya's uncle, but he's very obviously Byakuya's uncle.

I love the fact that he dramatically cut his kenseikan off with his sword and threw them at Ginrei and they made a gree card of it.

I love that he appears to be exactly Renji's height and has one chunk of hair that is the same color as Renji's and he over-accessorizes horrifically, and at best the Squad Six old-timer's had to be like "Byakuya don't do this to us again" when he hired Renji, and at worst there's a chance that Renji the secret baby that was born after Kouga was banished and he was hidden away in the Rukon so he didn't screw up the succession line but he's actually the true Heir to the Kuchiki.

2. Harugasaki Seizo, standalone episode 313 This dude had a homoerotic rivalry with Ikkaku (doomed, of course, because who could compete with Yumichika?), lost his shinigami powers when he took a blow meant for Ikkaku, and then spent the next hundred years putting his entire pussy into doing laundry for Squad 11. This man invented yearning, even if he did choose the worst possible person in the history of ever as the target of his affection.

1. Amagai Shuusuke, New Captain Shuusuke Amagai Arc He looks like Ross Poldark. He can't hold his liquor. No one knows who witnessed his Captain's Exam. Ukitake and Kyouraku tried to talk him into a threesome. He was nice to Kira. His bankai was a tuba that made a foghorn noise when it belched out fire. His dad was the shinigami equivalent of a narc, who got done dirty by the Captain-Commander. He fought the Dangai Cleaner and won. I love him more than anything.

Honorable Mention: Kenryuu and Enryuu, New Captain Shuusuke Amagai Arc Because they are an important reminder that for all the shinigami buffoonery I am forced to witness, day in and day out, some people graduate from Shin'ou, get shikai even, and still can't get hired by the Gotei.

[wuahae]

Congratulations on the milestone!! So happy for you <3

For the event, I wanted to request something with eric from tbz, in bed at 10:06. Like waking up with him and its all soft And comforting 🥺

[10:46] / in the bed

daylight trickles in through the window blinds, dust particles scattering in the light.

it’s an easy morning, one where your body folds in between the blankets, where your wake-up stretch has you squeezing your eyes shut and relaxing back on the pillows when you’re done. but of course, you think, rolling over to your side, it just wouldn’t be the same without your boyfriend, still sleeping beside you.

and as if on cue, eric stirs, sheets rustling as he turns, propping his head on his pillow to look at you.

"morning,” you say softly, smiling. “good sleep?”

he grins in response, sneaking an arm around your waist and pulling you close. “the best. morning, babe.”

and even after years of dating, you find yourself still caught up over the smallest of things, your hands against his bare chest, his legs tangled with yours, your head tucked into his chin, puzzle pieces clicked together.

“what’s the plan today?” eric asks, playing with the hem of your pajama shirt. “lunch date? dinner date? both? movie night after? actually, i think we should iust spend the whole day together.” it’s teasing and it’s silly, and you can’t help but laugh.

“sorry,” you apologize, untucking yourself from him to reach up and tame a tuft of hair sticking straight up on the side of his head. “i got a lot of work i have to finish today. maybe tomorrow?"

eric pouts, pulling your body even closer. “but it’s saturday…”

“sorry, eric.” his thumb grazes your stomach, calluses rough over your soft skin. your breath hitches, just slightly. “let’s have breakfast together though, yeah?”

he contemplates, humming as his hand moves to rest completely on your waist under your shirt. a part of you wants to play shy, wriggle out from his grasp and say some excuse about getting to breakfast or else you’ll both run out of time, but you squash it down, indulging in his warmth.

that was the perks of a saturday morning, wasn’t it? the way you could relax, even if it was just for a few hours before everything in your life became hectic again, the way eric grabs your hand and slows you down before you trip and fall carrying too many things in your arms, the way you let him. so you reach up, wrapping your arms around his neck, and scooch even closer to him, skin pressed against his.

(it’s on saturday morning that you find yourself enjoying this the most, the feeling that you could have a home anywhere, so long as it was with him.)

“movie night tomorrow though, right?” eric asks, squeezing your waist a little. “you know we still need to catch up on the new episodes of the bachelor.”

“of course,” you respond, kissing him on the lips. “wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

[breakerwhiskey]

143 - ONE HUNDRED FORTY THREE

Please visit breakerwhiskey.com for more information or to send a message to Whiskey's radio. Breaker Whiskey is an Atypical Artists production created by Lauren Shippen. If you'd like to support the show, please visit patreon.com/breakerwhiskey.

Transcript under the cut. For more episodes, click here.

[click, static]

They’re coordinates. That’s—they’re coordinates!

I think.

46 degrees 40 minutes North and 100 degrees 52 minutes West. At least, that’s what I’m assuming. Any other combination of North, South, East, West puts me into the ocean or…Mongolia, so I’m just going to go with my gut here.

It’s North Dakota. I would guess maybe a ten hour drive—I’m already on the road and driving fast. Maybe I’m completely wrong and you’re yelling at your radio begging me to pull over and look at the numbers again and understand something but I…

Maybe I want them to be coordinates. I want you to be real—to be someone other than Birdie and to be telling me where to find you. I haven’t been to North Dakota yet, there’s still a chance that people are out there, that you want me to find them. To find you.

(laughs) I don’t know what—what am I gonna say to you? Would it—would it be strange to give you a hug? I’m not even that affectionate of a person but it’s been so long since—

[click, static]

Who is the last person that you hugged? Is it someone that you’re with? Are you with people? Looking through the messages I’ve received, I think you started to talk to me around my birthday. If I had to guess. Which means that you’re the one who told me the tornado system wasn’t automated, which makes sense, maybe Birdie didn’t know that either.

It also means that you’re the person who told me I didn’t belong. But I’m choosing to see that as a…problem with tone. You can only convey so much meaning with dots and dashes and maybe you were trying to tell me I didn’t belong on the West Coast because you’d been hoping I would go North instead of West. I don’t belong where there are no people and you know that—you know I’ve been searching. Maybe you were trying to say I belong wherever you are.

I’d like to hug you for that. For telling me the truth about things, about the warning siren, for giving me something to look for. Maybe you’re affectionate with someone every single day but me—

Well, Harry was the last person I hugged. Obviously. Six years with someone, it’s bound to happen. But that was a few years ago now. She—maybe she is a physically affectionate person naturally but we rarely—

I’d had a nightmare. I get them sometimes, as you know. Or, maybe you don’t know, I don’t know how long you’ve been listening. Maybe everything I said before getting to Vegas was lost to you. Surely you would’ve told me about the warning system before then if you had heard me.

But, well, anyway, I get nightmares sometimes. About…well, it’s not important, but Harry—no matter what she felt about the situation that led to the nightmares, she never judged me too harshly for having them. And a while back, I—I think I woke up screaming. It was a bad one, it felt so real, and she came rushing in, thinking that something was really wrong and then she—-

Human comfort can mean a lot even when it’s given by someone that—that you—someone who doesn’t—

Well, our relationship has always been about as clear as mud, but she comforted me then. Held me until I stopped shaking. And that wasn’t the first time she’d done something like that, but it was the last.

But then again, sometimes, when she cut my hair, she’d…well, I thought…

She lingered. Her fingers in my hair, on my neck. Touching longer and more tenderly than they had to.

[click, static]

Just…when I get there, whoever you are…you can hug me. I give you full permission.

And whoever you are, just…stay there. I’m coming as fast as I can.

[click, static]

[belphegor1982]

Feeling a little bit down today because while Percahlia and Vaxleth are celebrating because the S3 trailer fed them very well, Pikelan got nothing 😭

I’m holding out hope that they’re just saving some good stuff for when the show actually drops (Like they did with Season 2) but it’s kinda rough out here, especially when a majority of the mutuals are celebrating their ships and it’s just crickets for Pikelan.

I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be such a downer about it. I am really excited about this season but it’s just hard to celebrate and I hope me just barging in and “complaining” doesn’t sound too childish

Hey, it's okay! Sometimes we just need to vent. Barge away, I wasn't kidding when I said my door was open 💜 (that's one door that isn't a mortal enemy, lol)

I understand the frustration! But keep in mind that it's just a 1:46-long video, and I'm actually grateful that we (as Critters, broadly speaking) got so little. It's not a trailer that shows so much you feel you've already seen 85% of the thing, and thank goodness! Plus, I was a total wide-eyed show-only newbie then, so I'm not including myself in it, but do you remember how episodes 1-3 had Pikelan fans feeling like :-/ and maybe short-changed a little? And then we got the road trip in 2.07 and episode 2.09 was all about the big and smalls! (literally, the other four only returned in 2.10!) And 2.12 and the kiss!! (and the almost accidental love confession :D Oh, Scanlan. I love this dumbass so much.)

Tl;dr you're not childish, you're not a downer, and it's okay to be disappointed. I hoped for more too, and I'm not telling you to manage your expectations; just that we got not even a slice but a taste of pizza that has delicious smoked scamorza, sweet mozzarella, and peppered pecorino, and we know there's creamy gorgonzola on it too, we just haven't got to that part yet 💜 (can you tell it's almost dinner time and I'm hungry? :P)

Lil' thing under the cut for some wild Pike (and Scanlan) theorising, because TLOVM spoilers - let's get excited and enthusiastic about our gnomes!

So Pike looked exhausted in the Hells, right? Poor darling 😬 I'm really excited that she's going with them (maybe to reclaim Percy's soul after Glintshore?).

Also, I really wonder if the flashback we had of her with dark hair in season 2 was an Easter egg or foreshadowing for S3. You know how 2.09 has flashbacks to Grog's youth and what led to Wilhand (and Pike 💜) adopting him? I'm thinking they might (might!) do something like this for Scanlan's death - bookending his resurrection with flashbacks of Pike's. But I'm not sure, because when Kash brought Vex back to life Pike pointed out she'd never tried a revival rite and Kash said it was super rare. What do you think?

One thing's for sure, though, I am NOT READY for the way this season is going to kick me in the heart through my teeth ^^

[silver138]

Perfectly Flawed - Chapter 46

word count - 2.2k warnings - confession of feelings, discussion of Lila Archer and slight angst, kissing, anxiety and the 5-4-3-2-1 exercise to help ease it Summary: Lina finally tells Spencer how she feels.

A/N: Thank you for sticking with me this long as I figure out my footing! I promise the pacing will go a little faster from here on out, lol.

"Please...please don't leave, Spence. I don't think I can be completely alone quite yet after that case." I whisper, trying to keep from sniffling. I look up at him and he brings his hand down, gently smoothing back my hair. 

"OK, I'll stay if you want me to," he says softly, pulling me closer to him as we sit back down on the couch.

I rewind the episode, blinking back tears. "I don't know if I'll be able to sleep tonight," I say quietly, my words muffled into Spencer's chest. 

He sighs and says, "Well, you know you'll have to try, the human body needs rest..."

"Yeah, but every time I close my eyes, I see the...the hate on his face when he had his hands around my neck. I don't...I don't think that's gonna go away any time soon..." I sigh. 

Spencer's response is to hold me tighter and say, "Whatever you need, I'll do what I can, Lina." 

I nod and focus on the TV, willing the images playing on the screen to burn into my brain instead and try to overwrite what I know will haunt me. After a few minutes, I ask him faintly, "How do you do it?" I look at him as I continue.

"How can you keep going, seeing what you've seen? I've been a field agent for one case, and I'll be happy if I never have to do something like that again..." 

He looks at me and says, "The nightmares aren't fun, I can tell you that. But I keep going mainly because I think of the people I've helped save."

He gives me a small smile and continues, "The friends I have also help." I smile briefly before faltering, then pull back a little, taking a deep breath. 

I look back at him and say, "Spence, I swear I saw my life flash in front of my eyes before you guys got to us, and I really hope I don't mess this up, but I promised myself that if I got through it, I wasn't gonna hold off anymore."

He gives me a confused look, but stays quiet, letting me continue. I take another breath and continue talking. "Spencer, I love being your friend, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel something more for you. Now, I understand if you don't feel the same way, and hopefully, we can still be friends..."

His eyes widen and he quickly says, "W-wait, wait, you...feel something for me?" 

My face quickly reddens. I look away and nod while stammering. "Y-yeah, Spence. I like you. Like, a lot. I honestly thought it was obvious, but..." I'm cut off by Spencer gently turning my face to his.

The smile on his face widening, he says eagerly, "Lina, I like you, too." 

I look at him silently for a moment and say, "More than a friend though, Spencer. Like, I like you, romantically." 

His eyes begin to sparkle as he starts stroking my cheek with his thumb, lightly chuckling and saying, "Yeah, I like you romantically, too."

My breath hitching, all I can manage out is, "I...really?" 

His eyes looking over my face, he nods and hums out an "Mmm-hmm." 

My heart thundering in my ears, all I can let out is an, "Oh." 

Still stroking my cheek, he murmurs, "Yeah, 'oh'. Honestly, I'm glad you told me because I had no idea how to tell you how I felt about you."

I ask breathlessly, "You...how...how long have you felt like this?" 

He gives me a slight smirk and counters with, "You first." 

I smile and say, "OK, fair. I, uh, honestly, this is gonna sound so cliche, but I liked you as soon as I met you. And with each conversation, I just...started to like you more. That's why I was so moody after L.A."

His eyebrows furrow and he starts to say, "Wait, L.A.? You don't mean Li..." 

I hold my hand up to stop him, then say. "Later with that. Now it's your turn." 

He nods and tells me, "141 days ago, on the car ride home from O'Keefe's. That was when I knew. Don't get me wrong, I'd already thought you were beautiful as soon as we met."

He sighs and continues, "But that ride home, when you said you saw me as more than a brain, that...that was it. Now," he gently holds my face in his hands. "Before I overthink this any more than I have, could I kiss you? Please?" he asks softly. 

Grinning, I wrap my arms around his neck as I say, "I thought you'd never ask..."

He slowly leans in and softly places his lips against mine. It's a sweet, gentle kiss, and it's over far too soon for my liking. After he pulls away, he asks, "So, about L.A.? You were upset because I fell in the pool and then Li..." 

I place my finger over his lips with a small frown and say, "Yes, Spencer. That's why I was so upset and out of it after you came back. I thought we were getting along really well, I thought you liked spending time with me, that you liked me...and then I heard you went and kissed...her. It messed me up, Spence." 

He looks at me, slightly stunned. "I...honestly didn't think I had a chance with you, and I...I guess I just...wanted to be wanted, whether it was for me being me, or...otherwise," he says quietly. He looks down, then back up at me and says, "I'm sorry. I...I really didn't know."

Pouting slightly, I say teasingly, "But you didn't think to say anything about how you felt though, hmm? Well, now that that's done with..." I gently grab him by the front of his shirt, "We are done talking about that, right?" I ask, and he nods. Smiling, I pull him towards me and say, "In that case, how about you kiss me again, Doc?"

He gives me a shy smile and nods, slowly leaning in again. I lace my fingers in his hair and give a tug as I place my lips on his, causing a slight groan from him. His arms quickly go around me, and he pulls me closer, prolonging the kiss.

I sigh happily as I run my fingers through his hair. Spencer takes in a sharp breath, then whimpers and melts into me. Spurred on by his sounds, I tug his hair again, yelping when we shift and he lands on top of me.

He quickly breaks apart from me, squeaking out a "Sorry! I-I didn't mean to..." 

Biting my lip and pressing a finger to his lips to stop his apology, I say, "It's ok, Spence. But I was just, um, hoping we could go...slowly, though?"

He swallows and says, "Y-yeah, I'm ok with going slow. I just didn't mean to...um, go too far or anything..." and then sits back up, extending a hand to pull me up as well. 

I shake my head and hum. "Huh-uh. No, you're good, Spencer. That said, I am getting a little tired, and I was hoping we could maybe try to get some sleep?"

"Uh, yeah, yeah, that sounds good. Did you want to get ready first, or..." he asks anxiously. 

I smile and say, "Yeah, I'll be right back, I won't take too long, promise." I turn off the TV, then get up and head into my room, pulling out a pair of shorts and a tank top as I go, and head into the bathroom to get changed and ready for bed.

After tossing my clothes into the hamper, I pad back into the living room, to see Spencer already changed and setting up on the couch. "What are you doing?" I ask, and he jumps slightly, blanket in his hands.

"I-I was getting ready for bed," he says cautiously. 

I lean against the door jamb and raise an eyebrow, asking him, "Out here?" 

Blinking at me, he stammers out, "W-well, yeah." 

I tilt my head and walk over to him, asking, "But...how would that help, if you're out here?"

He watches me speechlessly as I grab his pillows and say, "Spence, I meant it when I said I didn't think I'd sleep tonight. I'm...pretty sure I'm not gonna be able to sleep the next few nights. I truly am gonna need your help. And I don't think you sleeping out here's gonna do it."

Spencer breathes out an, "Oh." Running a hand through his hair, he puts his glasses back on and folds up the blanket, holding it in his hand. I reach out and take his free hand, pulling him into my bedroom. 

"Go ahead, do whatever else you need to get ready for bed, Doc. I'll get ya comfy...well, as comfy as I can," I tell him with a slight chuckle.

He looks at me uncertainly, then sets his mouth in a line and nods, heading into the bathroom. I chuckle lightly as I start to set up the bed. "Hey, do you have a side preference?" I ask him, waiting to place his pillow until I get an answer.

I hear a sound, and then Spencer's rushed voice, slightly higher than usual, tells me, "Um, n-no, I do-don't think so. I ca-can't really say I've thought about it too much, honestly. I'll, um, I'll be ok with whichever side I'm on."

Grinning, I set him up on the side closest to the bathroom door, making it easier for him. I then slide in on 'my' side and wait. After another minute or two, he comes out, walking slowly, tentatively, almost as if he's afraid to spook me by going any faster.

I pull back his blanket, patting the empty spot in bed next to me, and smile as gently as I can. He gives me a nervous smile back, sliding into the bed. I ask him softly, "You ok?" 

He nods and asks me the same. "Y-yeah, I'm alright. How about you?" 

I laugh softly and say, "I'm fine now, but I'll let you know once the light's off."

He nods, and I turn to the nightstand and click off the lamp. I take a deep breath as darkness falls in the room, sliding closer to Spencer. Flashes of memory streak across my vision, and I unconsciously whimper, pressing against Spencer, shaking in panic.

"Hey, hey, it's ok, I've got you. You're ok now, you're safe," he says quietly, wrapping his arms around me, and holding me closer. I breathe in deeply to calm down, picking up the familiar scents of my apartment, as well as hints of Spencer. Coffee, books, and the mint from his toothpaste drift in as well, and I slowly cease trembling.

Pressing myself against his chest, I sniffle and whisper, "I'm sorry, I know it wasn't that bad. I just...th-the fear I felt when I couldn't breathe was..." Tears start flowing, causing me to cut off my sentence. I feel Spencer stroke my hair and I hear him quietly ask me something.

"Wh-what did you say, Spence?" I ask, hiccupping slightly. 

"What are 5 things you can see?" he says softly in my ear. 

I squint in the darkness, saying, "It-it's dark, Spence, I can't really...um, the numbers on my clock, the light from the streetlamp outside, the shadow on my wall from the blinds, th-the blanket around me, and y-your face."

"Good," he breathes out, continuing. "What are 4 things you can hear?" 

"Um, my voice, your voice, the, uh, the buzz from th-the streetlamp and, um...th-the tick of the clock in the kitchen?" I say, thinking. 

"Mmm-hmm, and what are 3 things you can feel?" he says quietly.

"I can...I can feel...the sheets, how soft they are, I can fe-feel my shirt, um, it's-it's silky, and I can-I can feel your arms around me, you're warm and strong." I say, focusing on trying to list everything asked of me.

  "OK, now, how about 2 things you can smell?"

  "I, uh, di-dinner, the Tandoori chicken you got, and the butter chicken I got. Um, a-and coffee, the coffee you drink, that's always half-full of sugar." I say, laughing a little. 

Spencer chuckles lightly, then asks me, "And what's one thing you can taste?" 

I breathe out and say calmly, "Mint. The mint from my toothpaste."

I can sense more than see Spencer looking at me carefully, as he asks, "Good. D-did that help at all?" 

I nod, not really knowing why, then say, "Yeah. Yeah, it did, thank you, Spence." 

He kisses me on my forehead and says, "You're very welcome, Lina. Just remember, I'm here, I'm not going anywhere."

I gently place my hand on his cheek, and look into his eyes. I slowly lean in and place a soft kiss on his lips, whispering, "Thank you," then snuggle against his chest, and slowly drift off to sleep.

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@written-in-the-stars06

[lovelypurplefox]

Urusei Yatsura (2022) Final Thoughts - spoilers!:

Boy, this post is gonna be long.

It was… okay. The final scene in this episode almost made me cry, though. I rarely share my opinions on anime because I’m scared of starting a flame war or something, but I have a lot to say after finishing this series.

I say that this newer UY series is okay because I started watching the original series last month. There’s a charm to the original series - the expressions, the backgrounds, etc… I’ve been talking a lot of UY on my socials after starting the og series 😂.

I remember an online friend I follow saying that the new series is bright and flashy, and I have to agree on her. I know that this is animated by the same studio that did Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure (maybe I should make fanart of Lum in a JJBA outfit in the future on my sideblog, wimbearn), but I wish they made the characters more expressive like the original series.

You know, it’s sad that some characters are missing. Kintarō and Ten’s Mom, for example (I recently watched the episode where she debuts in on Tuesday and I loved it and it gave me a laugh).

As for character designs, I think it’s cute. I like both Lum designs (original and new). The only one that I’m not a big fan of is Ten’s design; I don’t know what about it I don’t like: the hair color or the way they drew his eyes or face. I can’t seem to put my finger on it.

I really wish they remade some of the songs from the original series. Especially Lum no Love Song. You can hear bits of it in some episodes and in the final episode near the end.

Overall, I wish this wasn’t 46 episodes short 😅… they should’ve animated some more chapters (by the way, I have yet to read the manga!). Would I recommend it to newcomers of Urusei Yatsura? Yeah, I guess. But, I still would recommend watching the original series. Like I said, there’s a charm to it that the new series is missing.

I’m gonna watch episode 77 of the original series next week as I’m taking a break from binging it. I’ll post some more Urusei Yatsura maybe next week as I’m on break from social media.

[drawing-way-outside-the-lines]

➖ Mature content, 18+ ➖ check the trigger tags each time ➖      

Chapter 46 - Lost in thoughts again. Episode 4. Congo: I woke up early that morning by some noises in the garden, sounded like…. Daniel and Robert? I moaned softly and stretched quietly looking to my side, getting quite surprised as I found Evan already looking at me.

Evan: He blushed softly Oh…

Congo: I chuckled softly What?

Evan: He chuckled shyly Nothing…

Congo: Judging by his blushing he got shy I had caught him starring at me, so I chuckled again and planted a tiny kiss on his forehead Good morning. I stretched my neck a bit to look behind him Andy's still asleep?

Evan: Yeah he nodded he's sleeping like a stone!

Congo: I chuckled softly As always. How long time has that been going on? I pointed towards the big window in front of us, clearly gesturing towards the noise in the garden

Evan: Hm… about 15 minutes, at least… it woke me up.

Congo: What are they doing anyway?…. it's only I looked at my watch 8.12? I frowned softly Why on earth are they up so early roaming around the garden?

Evan: It's Daniel…. who really knows what's going on in Daniels head?

Congo: I nodded You might be right there I smiled at him softly Alright, I guess I'm gonna go down and see what the fuzz is about I made a move as to get up, but Evan quickly wrapped an arm over my chest, gently pressing me to stay down Or not? I smiled softly

Evan: Please stay here a bit… just a couple more minutes…. it's so cozy.

Congo: I tried my best to hold back a giant smile, which resulted in a shy chuckle instead Okay… I can do that.

Evan: Mmmh… he snuggled his face at my chest and breathe me in I like your smell…

Congo: I smiled softly And what do I smell of?

Evan: Mmh.. I don't know… wood? There's always this mild scent of wood on you, even after you shower. There's always a tad of coffee… Whiskey… he sniffed again mmmh… some spices, and some sort of perfume I can't quite make out. And warmth… just warmth and comfort.

Congo: Mmh I kissed his hair, sniffing him in as I closed my eyes, smiling happily I like your smell too.

Evan: He smiled bright And what's my smell?

Congo: I chuckled warmly Musk… always musk and sometimes a dash or myrrh… other times there's a hint of Amber… but always just a lot of Evan…. and that's my favorite one.

Evan: Mmmh… kiss me He smiled at me warmly, how could I say no to that face?

Congo: I bend my head down to him, planting a few loving kisses on his lips, smiling at him warmly as I stopped Did you sleep good?

Evan: I slept better than I have in a long time…. I was so relaxed…

Congo: That's nice… that's really good my voice was warm and deep

Evan: Yeah… how about you?

Congo: I slept like a dream… having you in my arm all night, is always a great pleasure… knowing you're safe…

Evan: Yeah… I really love hiding by your side…

Daniel: YAWN!!! He walked into the room fast, heading towards the kitchen there's only so much soap opera mumbo jumbo I can listen to before my ears falls off! He chuckled hoarse and opened the fridge, searching for something

Congo: I sighed deep and shook my head Maybe you shouldn't listen in on other peoples conversations then?

Daniel: Maybe so… but it was either that, or walking in on you two kissing, and I assumed Evan might just turn into a tiny mouse and run and hide in a hole in the wall if I were to see forbidden deeds like that, although I have seen you two kiss in the kitchen already, but hey details like that seems to be forgotten, and we all know I always remember who kissed who, and most importantly who fucked who! He grinned with a chicken leg in his mouth as he for a second peeked at us from behind the kitchen door Anyway… he mumbled due to the chicken leg I jusssht came up heeer to tell you two Akn isshhere to talk with you about the resssultsch ofthe testreshulsts.

Congo: No one understands half of what you say with that chicken leg in your mouth.

Daniel: Pardon me he slammed the kitchen door and grinned us again, then took the chicken leg out of his mouth, munching it a bit. Akin, test results of your blood, sick boys, he has words for you… go go… you find big man in garden! Big man make fire! Big man has news!

Congo: I chuckled deeply and shook my head Alright alright…. I shook my head again and grabbed Evan's boxers, quickly handing them to him, then managed to locate my own, and grabbed those as well, getting them on under the blanket. I'll quickly put some coffee on and go get dressed… let's take it to the balcony so we don't wake up Andy, hm? I assume you want to be a part of it, as I expect him to have news about you know what as well?

Evan: He nodded at me and sighed softly Yeah… I'll go get dressed… meet you in the balcony 5 minutes from now? I'll pick up Akin on the way.

Congo: 5 minutes later, Evan, Akin, Robert, Daniel and I were gathered on the big balcony where also the hot tub and the big barbecue grill plus outside dining table were located. We all had something to drink. Most of us coffee, while Daniel had settled for a beer.

Akin: So, the news are good. You are both cleared now… no more to find in your blood samples. It seemed to be a minor virus infection you got, due to the bonds. I guess both your bodies needed to adjust a bit, that's all. I have no answer as to why Andy didn't get affected, once again I guess it's just the magical mystery of Andy? He chuckled warmly You should both be okay, and no need to worry about affecting others any longer either. You might still experience some tiredness, but beside that everything should be normal. As for the mate bonds and getting married. We have after much searching been able to find one other case like yours, back in the early 1700… where a young woman got married to two male mates. Neither bonds broke. Actually the quite opposite happened. The bonds got re-enforced and seemed stronger than any mate bonds ever made. Creating some very unusual strong connections between the people involved. Nothing bad, so please don't worry. It was more like a certain awareness of the people in the bond, such as detecting their mood better than you would normally detect a partners mood. A deeper understanding of each other. A deeper connection so to speak. It's hard to explain really, as it didn't explain in details. But I would expect it to be something in the same direction of what you and Andy used to feel back when Andy still had a bit of supernatural blood and you two exchanged blood. He nodded at me Back when Andy could feel your feelings… But nothing quite as intense as that, so you should be able to breath freely and not feel buried under supernatural things again, as I know you wish to have as little to do with that as possible. He smiled softly Let's take it easy, and if something becomes too overwhelming, we will work it out somehow, okay? We can do lots of things, you will not be left alone in it. But the clan and I have agreed, it should be perfectly safe for you guys to get married he smiled warmly at Evan So all that's left, is to pick a date for you and Andy… or all 3 of you, if that's where you're heading? He winked at both of us and smiled cheekily

Evan: Coughed in his coffee and blushed bright red Ehh…

Robert: Who already had happy tears in his eyes from the news of the marriage, looked at us with a small squeak-like sound Is there something going on between you two?

Congo: I looked at Evan a bit hesitating, chuckling nervously Akinnnn I chuckled nervously again that was not supposed to be public….

Akin: I apologize… I thought everyone knew? It's quite obvious anyway.

Congo: I smiled a bit forced Perhaps. But we both prefer some privacy around this, so things wont be too overwhelming. Besides, there's no reason to steal the spot light from the upcoming wedding, right? So can we just keep it around this table and not let it reach more ears? Please?

Akin: He nodded agreeing Absolutely. And I apologize. I just thought everyone knew.

Robert: So… that means…??

Evan: Yes dad! He sighed deep and grabbed my hand, sliding his fingers between mine… a bit irritated, but he did it, And that was a great start Can we just… he blushed softly and sighed deep I don't want Andy to know about anything…

Robert: Andy doesn't know about you two?

Evan: I give up on you he shook his head lightly and sipped his coffee

Robert: I'm sorry, I'm trying to keep up with all of this… it's hard son.

Congo: I chuckled softly I apologize Robert, it's not your fault. Evan didn't get quite right out of bed today. I smiled softly at Evan and stroke his hand with my thumb Yes Robert, Evan and I have… found each other, and I guess we are sorta

Evan: We're a couple yes! His voice was still irritated and he only blushed more by the words, seemingly trying to focus on something on the ground, not to have to keep eye contact with anyone

Congo: I smiled softly I hope everyone is okay with that, cause that's how it will be from now on. We are all 3 a couple. And let's keep it like that for a while before talking about marriages and such I glared a bit at Akin and chuckled softly But, Robert, I assure you I love your son very much, and I will do my very best to be as good to him as possible.

Robert: Sniffled his nose as few tears fell from his eyes I know you will..

Daniel: Robbie! OI!!! He threw a pack with paper towels to Robert you're leaking!

Robert: Chuckled softly and grabbed the pack of towels Thank you.

Akin: He observed Daniel with an amused smirk on his face What happened to you anyway?

Daniel: Sighed softly Feisty Sparkle.

Akin: So what did you do?

Daniel: Why do you assume I did something wrong?

Akin: Looked at him with poker face

Daniel: Yeah, okay, you're right. I messed up. She told me she would like to take this guy, Danny, to the wedding… I had assumed she was gonna go with me. So… I guess I said a few things I shouldn't have…. and…. punched Danny? He frowned and sipped the beer And then I made fun of him for not fighting back… And then… the little one got pissed he pointed at his face and sipped his beer again

Congo: Yesterday you sai…

Daniel: Frowned softly I didn't want you to worry… you were relaxing with the long haired one he gestured towards Evan you both looked so cute… just because I'm a social fuck up who can't make a relationship work, doesn't mean I have to ruin others as well, right? He pulled his shoulders and searching his pocket for his joint tin It's fine… let her take Danny, if that's what she

Evan: No one is going to that wedding, except our family and closest friends. He looked at Daniel with an intense gaze, that somehow said 'she wont bring him as long as it's my wedding, I got your back'

Daniel: Smiled softly and lit his joint Well, that was an unnecessary pile of bullcrap drama we didn't need…. will everyone please light the fuck up? There's a wedding to be planned!

Congo: We all laughed, and for the next hour we all planned together, how, when, and where the union should take place.

[phoenixofthestars]

1. lesbian

2. currently hyperfixated on Harley Quinn and Harley Quinn x Poison Ivy

3. nope

4. I’ve got two holes in each of my earlobes, good enough for me tbh

5. cabin in a forest. or just a forest. I’m tigerkin lol

6. two. technically. we ignore the first one.

7. rn anyone with hair long enough to braid 😩

8. Vox Machina, Harley Quinn, Avengers Assemble (literally just the episodes with Natasha and Clint lmao, if it doesn’t have them I get bored)

9. no

10. sort of?? it’s unadvertised on my main, but I have my main url listed in the bio

11. depends on if I can bring someone with me. if so, then teleport me and my gf to a forest. if not, just to wherever she is <3

12. I daydream a lot about something I’m really scared of, always with Nat, Clint, and my gf featuring heavily. there’s probably a lot of other psychology bits to it, but at the base of things, I know that I consider Nat and Clint very good friends—my gf even more so—and they make me feel safe, which helps.

13. no

14. I genuinely have not a clue

15. yes!! my gf, as I’ve already mentioned lol

16. no

17. no

18. ohh, a sleeve. maybe even both sleeves!! lots of purple and black, Wicca vibes, probably my tigerkin somewhere. hh pretty pictures <3

19. already done!! that’s private though

20. uh… well, Nat’s definitely one of my special interests. I don’t think I’m obssessed with anything though? other than what I mentioned in #2

21. she’s my gf lmao. she’s quiet, funny, forgiving. she’s AUDHD like me, which can often make it hard for her to communicate when she has a problem. if I got stabbed, she would hunt them down without question, and it would be very hard for me to convince her otherwise. she’s possessive, but well below the level of toxic, which is honestly very hot

22. I don’t know the appearances of anyone on here so @bloodbird2024 (what my gf’s username would be. can you tell that I Fucking Adore Her)

23. Imagine Dragons, Neoni, Faun

24. forest.

25. halfway through! at home with my gf watching a movie, or maybe exploring a forest if it’s nice out

26. spring! I don’t have any allergies, and I love watching the leaf and flower buds come out :) plus it’s warm, but not summer hot

27. people who use So Much perfume/cologne

28. I’m going to do the Thing. my gf. she’s also a writer, but while we’re both good at generally everything when writing stories, she’s really good at coming up with the most absolutely random shit during our roleplays. it trickles over to IRL too, which means that every time I see a seagull, I laugh, thinking of Jeff the Killer

29. uhh

30. uhhh

31. paper books. it’s just… a better Book Experience, you know? and I know e-books are so much more transportable, but I don’t have the money to pay for e-books, or anything to read them on

32. uhhhh

33. pretty much just what it is now lol. more baggy clothes though

34. I don’t really order coffee, I mostly make it at home and bring it in a travel mug

35. does my gf count

36. I don’t have any exes

37. no :(

38. nope

39. yep

40. if my gf were on tumblr, would she count?

41. 57!!

42. please see #21 and #28 lmao

43. honestly?? indulging my weird scary daydreams and writing scenes out

44. I’ve read romance, and I’ve read romance with sex, but I don’t think I’ve read erotica

45. none yet!

46. 235 😳

47. a) I’m demisexual/demiromantic, b) i consider my gf to be a celebrity :3

48. please see #42

49. uhhhhh

50. foggy if I can stay inside where it’s warm. if not, sunny lol (but not hot!!!)

Be nosy

1. What’s your sexual orientation?

2. What are you obsessed with right now?

3. Ever done any drugs?

4. What piercings do you want?

5. How many people have you kissed?

6. Describe your dream home.

7. Who are you jealous of?

8. What’s your favorite show to binge?

9. Do you watch porn?

10. Do you have a secret sideblog?

11. If you could teleport anywhere in the world right now, where would you go?

12. What’s one of your fantasies?

13. Do you have/would you get your nipples pierced?

14. How would you spend a million dollars?

15. Are you in a relationship?

16. Do you follow porn blogs?

17. Are you angry with anyone right now?

18. What tattoos do you want?

19. If you could change your name, would you? What would you change it to?

20. What is something you’re obsessed with?

21. Describe your best friend.

22. Tag someone you think is hot.

23. Who are five of your favorite bands/musical artists?

24. What are three places you want to travel?

25. Describe your perfect Friday night.

26. What’s your favorite season?

27. What’s your pet peeve?

28. Who is the funniest person you know?

29. What’s the most overrated movie?

30. Tag someone you want to talk to but have been too shy to message.

31. Do you like paper books or ebooks better?

32. If you could live in a fictional world, what world would you pick?

33. If money was no object, what would your wardrobe be like?

34. What’s your coffee order?

35. Do you have a crush on anyone?

36. Do you still have feelings for any of your exes?

37. Have any tattoos?

38. Do you drink?

39. Are you a virgin?

40. Do you have a crush on any of your mutuals?

41. How many followers do you have?

42. Describe the hottest person you know.

43. What’s your guilty pleasure?

44. Do you read erotica?

45. What’s the worst date you’ve ever been on?

46. How many people do you follow?

47. If you could marry any celebrity, who would you pick?

48. Describe your ideal partner.

49. Who do you text the most?

50. What’s your favorite kind of weather?

[hellohimawarihana]

My Thoughts about Wonderful Pretty Cure Henshin

Pretty Cure, My Evolution! Welcome to animal-themed Pretty Cure, Wonderful Pretty Cure!

Like what I said in ending clips in final episode before, I'll post all of my overall thoughts here. Series-wise, it’s somewhat an improvement compared to the previous series. Why? It’s because the characters are treated equally, and there is some plot points that are foreshadowed earlier rather than waiting for the very end to know the said plot. But the most complaint we have for the series is the battles are more like… a chase scene. The staff of the series said in the beginning that there will be less combat like usual which has turned off many fans, but personally? I’m gonna also complain but at the same time, I say that as a good thing. The monsters are corrupted animals that were ordered against their will, and keeping the same trend of the usual Pretty Cure series will cause animal abuse and that would be the last thing the staff wanted to teach children and everyone else watching this. Anyways, back to the topic.

While shorter transformations are pretty much fine for normal anime, Wonderful states that things can be rushed, the most notable is Wonderful Pact user where their henshin process is too fast that first watchers like me could barely catch on. In execution, Shiny Cats Pact users does it better. The roll call was also alike DeliPa and I’ll explain that later. But thankfully they’re not as worse as Healing Stick users in HealinGood, because they did gave some energy and dynamic despite that. It does feel surprising that compared to past Pretty Cure series, this only lasted for third quarter of a minute as opposed to 1+ minute long, and now that I think about it, Kimi to Idol is 50+ seconds long...

Anyways, let's start to the details in the cut.

Cure Wonderful

(As stated in this post, I’m referring her as C. Wonderful to prevent confusion to the word unique to this series’ title.)

Yeah, pretty basic. The elephant on the room (no, not the real elephant) is the lack of ‘ping’ on her hair that comes first during transformation process, but thankfully it was added in Episode 4. The detail where the tiara becomes side crown is nice and the decoration did become part of the outfit.

Cure Friendy

The change of her eye color was good and her hair-changing is nice too. But the decorations are pretty busy and distracts the audience to see most of the process, and it’s either didn’t become the actual outfit like C. Wonderful did, or actually is but very vague that frame-to-frame is needed to appreciate it. In fact, I have to rewatch few times before knowing that her dress and shoes appear at the same time.

Cure Nyammy

I know it’s still Wonderful-style of transformation but wow, I really love how Itaoka (the one who does henshin for Rosetta, Princess, Twinkle, Ruby style, Gelato, Macherie-Amour, Milky, Earth, and previous three lead Cures before C. Wonderful) put so much effort towards this previously mysterious girl who is actually a cat! Her jumping, how her shoes are formed, the use of the full moon and snowflakes, it’s really stunning that it must be seen to be believed!

Cure Lillian

Still kinda good, I like the use of curtain in the beginning and white background representing the stage during the roll call that matches her character development and how she removes her ponytail and her clothes’ ping is used pretty well. And somewhat her roll call in the end is somewhat like Friendy.

As a Whole

Now for the real stuff. As I said before, the henshin process was too rushed that the first watchers can’t keep up of what’s going on. It is notable for Wonderful Pact users, but Shiny Cats Pact users makes it interesting despite that.

First off is Wonderful Pact users (C. Wonderful and Friendy). They spent too much on the item introduction and countdown, and the actual transforming part, let’s be harsh, is too unclear and rushed, with only 15 of 46 seconds spent on it! The ‘decoration’ on the beginning of transforming part was distracting at first but gets point of disappears (Friendy) after finishing or them becoming part of the outfit (C. Wonderful). But I like the pun of their countdown of “3, 2, 1!” with the last number is replaced by “Woof!” which is referred as “Wan!”, the sound dog would make in Japanese and also what “One!” sounds like in the same region.

For Shiny Cats Pact user (Nyammy and Lillian), it’s an improvement. Some are still rushed, but at least the staff make sure they felt less distracting than the previous duo. I like the dark background and something to match their personality: the full moon for Nyammy and the theater curtain for Lillian. Also, due for the item being a make-up compact, they need to apply the feature on that, such as Lillian’s eyeshadow and Nyammy’s lipstick. Oh, and because the real-life product is purely a make-up kit and no voices on it, the henshin voices are instead kept into Amity Ribbon Tambourine, the weapon version of Shiny Cats Pact.

The beginning process of their transformation is unique too. The animal Cures, C. Wonderful and Nyammy starts with hair change (though the latter starts with blush but it’s one-time thing), while Friendy and Lillian starts with their eyes. In terms of process for human Cures, Friendy starts with eyes right before changing her hair, then Lillian apply the eyeshadow to do that, and her hair changes alongside her dress.

Then there’s roll call. Like series such as Futari wa series, DokiDoki!, GoPri, and DeliPa, Wonderful Cures has two lines than one after transforming. The first being their usual Cure name, and the latter is the compliment or approval to the animal, which makes sense due for the animal theme and since their first enemies are corrupted animals. In terms of the second line, they went to mid close-up shot like those of Sailor Moon. For animal Cures, look at their mouth at the end pose from the individual sections above, while the human Cures reach their hand to the audience.

Speaking of individual transformation, don’t forget the team ones. It reuses the individual footage with some split-screen on it. But it would take until later episodes for it to happen: the Wonderful duo has one in Episode 8, Nyanderful duo is in Episode 21, and it would take until Episode 30 for the duos transforming as a quartet. Between this time, C. Wonderful and Friendy has solo henshin in order early on, while in 20-ish episode it’s Wonderful Pact user followed to Shiny Cats Pact user (or reverse in one part), and finally as a full team they shift music on whichever Pact users is the main. If Shiny Cats Pact users was the main focus in one episode then the music is their own theme, and so does Wonderful Pact users if they’re the focus.

For team poses in both dual and team henshins, C. Wonderful and Friendy has cheerful vibes on their pose, Nyammy and Lillian has eye-to-eye scene and has some cool vibes on it. As full team, I like the first duo kneel down with dog poses while the second one join hands.

There is also short transformation sequence where the animal Cure will turn into human or vice versa. Thankfully it’s just for the mirror scene from Wonderful Pact like Himitsu no Akko-chan because if they’re going too real they might scare the children, including me. It’s not always shown everytime though, as in Episode 4 where Komugi transforms instantly into human just by her will alone before becoming C. Wonderful, also it’s a good way to become less repetitive. Only Komugi has the footage where she goes from dog to human, or vice versa like it was shown once in Episode 3. Strangely enough, this was abandoned after the Cures switch into midwinter clothes (starting from Episode 40), so no wonder that there are no summer clothes for the team like previous two series did? But they did have the version where they changed into their movie clothes...

Power-Ups (Boost and Form)

Since this team is about animals, there are times where the Cures need to boost their capabilities to help with their chase action. This mode is Help! Kirarin Animal and they are nine to choose from.

(from top left to bottom right: Bear, Fawn, Lion, Swan, Penguin, Hamster, Fox, Rabbit, Panda)

Let's start with the order the Kirarin Animal debuts after they were purified. Rabbit gave a pair of bunny-ear headphones to enhance their hearing (this is predictable since I watched Anyamal Tantei Kiruminzoo where one of the team is rabbit-themed). Penguin gives sliding capabilities while also creates ice on the ground. Lion can enhance their speed. Bear increases their strength to carry heavy things. Fawn increases their jumping capabilities. Hamster can shrink the users. Fox can shapeshifts the other Cures into anything they desire, but the movie reveals that they can also do this to themselves. Panda gave the user glasses to put the target to sleep, and lastly, Swan gave purple wings to the user for flight capabilities. For their frequencies, only six out of nine are used the most, while Rabbit and Panda are used less and Hamster is only used once.

After Hirogaru Sky ditches power-up forms in favor of the new Cure, the series revisits its roots once again with the power-up form called Diamond Ribbon Style. The transformation shows more detail on their new forms as opposed to DeliPa who doesn’t show their full appearance of Party Up Style forms. Both series has the mascot that help them gain their new form, but compared to the two, I think Wonderful does better in terms of how they treat the footage, even though the attack is straightforward and to the point. And... Eternal Tie Shower attack footage does show that they probably won’t bother with any actions outside the ultimate attack in this form. But the close-up of the power-up outfit... I think it would be better if it was only shown at least once or occasionally rather than every time the stock footage attack is used. And the only out-of-stock footage moment is Episode 49 where they reach their hand to the final villain (but only during the attack, though). Anyway, I have the Henshin GIF post dedicated to this, so you might want to check if you’re curious.

(seriously, this is the only time we got a special scene in this form outside stock footage)

Of course, there’s not just that! Aside for the main Cures, we have...

Nico

Hm... the time when she actually does this for the first time is fine and there is also the time where she can do out of footage moments, but she has multiple version of Eternal Tie Shower. In Episode 39, Nico fades from unicorn to human-like form. But not too bad, especially if there are three versions of this ultimate attack (or four if you count the movie attack).

Also, in Episode 40 she can either intentionally or unintentionally turn humans into animals as seen for Iroha and Mayu, and later Satoru through dark pink 'poof' smoke. I guess you can watch the episode for that alone if you so wish. Otherwise, you can check their animal form here and with the keychains alongside their respective pet.

Toyama duos

Yes, I say Toyama duos because Satoru and his pet rabbit Daifuku share the same surname, and it’s quite unique too. The movie version (left) is rather... non-existent at least, but I guess they want to save it as a surprise for movie viewers in the cinema. Then in Episode 49 (right) we got a more proper sequence. It’s short, but also quite awesome. I know that many aren’t too happy about the main quartet is the main Pretty Cure team in the season, but the movie and second-to-last anime episode are our saving grace for this bunny duo. As many would say, better late than never. According to this tweet, their transformed forms are called “Mirror Stone Style”. For those who want to see Daifuku turned human and later transforming together with Satoru, here's the Henshin GIF for you.

With that said, time for rankings! Here's mine for the main Cures:

Nyammy

Lillian

C. Wonderful & Friendy

(the Inukai duos are a tie, I can't choose which one is better than the other)

How's your thoughts about Wonderful Pretty Cure henshin? I'd like to see one from yours. As always, see you in my next post!

[dojae-huh]

127 on "The seasons"

Kick It+Fact Check, Meaning of love, Walk

I haven't watched the full episode yet, so I don't know which performance was the last one.

"The seasons" has low viewership raiting, ~0,9%. The videos uploaded on YT also don't usually get that many views (Do's still have only 100-120k), however, there is a chance to surpass 1ml, even 3mln. A video needs to be picked up by a fandom and YT algorythm for that. Evenso, the format of the show allows for making cool content that can be uploaded and distibured on other platforms. Make Doyoung viral again! Haha.

127 showing ther live vocals and ability to hype the crowd is self-explanatory (honestly, as a long time NCTzen, it's nice to see members progressing, especially Jungwoo upgraded). Koreans discussed at length weak vocals in k-pop this year, as such, there is a lot of attention on groups who can sing. Thereofore, such performances can be a boost and very good promo.

For now I want to talk about Doyoung in "Fact Check". Going into the audience was his idea (confirmed by the members during the interview with Zico). They practiced, of course, but he still kept an eye on the process and directed other members ("Go~!" command (2:45) and gesturing to go further to Woo`(2:52)).

3:26 - aunties in the upper middle row asking for a high-five

3:46 - white hair finally playing their role, adding power to a moment (black hair wouldn't stand out as much)

3:50 - look at the man right behind Doyoung shaken by the vocals

Doyoung was very into his leader role of a glee conductor, he should tap into this hidden ego (self) more.

This programme shows why it is not catastrophic when a member has little screentime in an MV. Music shows upload fancams of all members, if a member is a good dancer, he will go viral (how it happened with Shotaro). If a member is a good vocalist, he will have moments like Do on Mama or here on The seasons.

After watching "Walk" performance I realised that the song was chosen with absence of Taeyong in mind. There are some concepts where Tae blends in with the group, and there are concepts he is front and centre as the main drive force. Tae is not essential for the hip-hop concept. 127 looks complete without him.

[tetsunabouquet]

Tetsuna's Followers Milentstone Event: The Q&A

Alright, I just checked my follower count and saw I achieved a 202! Thank you so much! I always do a q&a after I hit a certain number of followers so people can get to ask me questions about me if you're curious to get to know me better. I decided to update the list of questions from my previous events. Per usual, any questions asked previously have been replaced with other ones, and so are any questions I answered in other ask games/posts. On top of that usual shtick, I added 20 questions, including ones related to my fanfic projects! 

1 What's your favorite movie? 2 Do you prefer pizza or a burger? 3 What inspires you? 4 Summer or winter? 5 What's your favorite color? 6 Favorite Hyperdimension Neptunia character? 7 What's the last thing you've eaten? 8 Do you have a favorite shampoo brand?  9 Your first kiss? 10 Which popular musician do you find overrated? 11 Do you look more like your mom or your dad? 12 Which friendship dynamic from the Seirin basketball team do you think is underrated? 13 Would you ever want to get married? 14 What do you think is the most underrated ship in the Shadowhunter Chronicles? 15 Do you believe in true love?  16 What is an animal you dream of owning? 17 Do you get angry easily? 18 What are your fears? 19 Which KNB characters would you like to go to karaoke with? 20 What is your favorite fantasy creature? 21 Are you related to a celebrity? 22 Which of your cats is the laziest? 23 Have you ever walked outside completely in the nude? 24 What's your favorite memory? 25 Your number one Vampire Knight husbando? 26 What's something you enjoy learning about? 27 Do you believe in aliens? 28 What's your favorite flower? 29 Favorite neon color? 30 Do you like lemon (as in the fruit flavor)? 31 Who was your first same-sex crush and the beginning of your bisexual experience? 32 If you could own a planet, which would you claim and why? 33 What animal do you look like the most? 34 Which events from Basic Instinct and what you have written of Can’t Stop Falling In Love With You so far, were inspired by your own background? 35 How do you think you'll die? 36 Do you consider yourself romantic? 37 Have you ever had a crush on a teacher? 38 Do you smoke? 39 What’s one of your struggles (neurodivergent related)? 40 Who has the better soundtrack, Shaman King, Hyperdimension Neptunia or KNB? 41 What's your favorite non-animated show? 42 Do you have a dark side? 43 Which ElfQuest character is your favorite? 44 Do you enjoy going to the beach? 45 If you were stuck on an abandoned island, which character from the Shadowhunter Chronicles would you want to be your support buddy? 46 Can any of your cats do tricks? 47 Favorite Shaman King scene? 48 Which Dutch celebrity annoys you the most? 49 What's a pet peeve of yours? 50 What is a trend in pop lyrics you hate? 51 Your favorite Mukami brother? 52 Least favorite tea? 53 Aside from your haunted home, are there any other supernatural phenomena you’ve experienced? 54 You mentioned having 4 cats and that your mom has two, did you grow up with many pets? 55 What do you think is one of the most harmful books in children’s literature? 56 What’s an icky moment from elementary school you’ll never forget? 57 Which scene in the Hyperdimension Neptunia franchise never fails to make you cry? 58 Favorite Diabolik Lovers crackship? 59 Cringiest female protagonist in the Shadowhunterverse? 60 What’s a random funny fact about your household? 61 Could you tell us the name for TWP book 2? 62 If you were a character in Shaman King, what would your theme song be? 63 How long is your hair? 64 Which TVD character do you think doesn’t deserve the hate? 65 Least favorite AOT ship? 66 What is the Miraculous Ladybug episode you hate the most?⁰ 67 Which clubs did you join when you were in secondary school? 68 What is a book series you enjoy reading for satire purposes? 69 Underrated YA series? 70 Wild card (ask me any question)

[aoawarfare]

The Creation of the Central Asian Soviet Republics

During the last few episodes, we’ve discussed the Russian Revolution, the fall of the emirs, the Basmachi insurgency, the destruction of the Kokand Autonomy and the neutering of the Musburo. Unsurprisingly, all of this upheaval was horrible for everyone in the region and made governing almost impossible. Frunze, who was responsible for a lot of the upheaval, left in the fall of 1920, and did not see the outcomes of his explosive decisions.

Instead, it was up to the Communist officials and the Indigenous actors to create a new Central Asia. Unfortunately, they could not agree on the methods they should use, the ideological foundations of their new creation, or even what that new creation would look like. They didn’t trust each other; the Bolsheviks believed the indigenous actors weren’t proper Communists and the indigenous actors were annoyed that the Bolsheviks thought they knew best and purposely ignored all of their proposed solutions.

Things were worse for the people of the region. The Jadids were never popular even before the wars and this distrust grew as they sided with the Bolsheviks and tried to create a new world for the region. And so, as a farmer or merchant or just regular person in Central Asia, you had three choices: side with the Basmachi and risk death or losing everything to their raiding bands, side with the Jadids and Bolsheviks and support something that seems incompatible with one’s culture and religion, or try to survive on your own and at the mercy of all different factions and sides.

The core struggle can be best described by this quote from Lenin.

[Image Description: A colored gif of three men sitting together in a bowling alley. Two men are facing the camera and the third man is between the two men with his back to the camera. The man on the left has long hair and a long, scraggy beard. He is wearing a green shirt with a beeper hanging from the color. The man on the right is a bigger white man with short hair and beard and mustache. He is wearing light brown sunglasses and a short sleeve purple stripped shirt. The man in the middle has shoulder length hair and is wearing a green t-shirt. The bowling alley is pink and has blue star decorations on the walls.]

In 1921, he wrote:

���It is devilishly important to conquer the trust of the natives; to conquer it three or four times to show that we are not imperialists, that we will not tolerate deviations in that direction” - Adeeb Khalid, Making Uzbekistan, 165

Not sure if Lenin even noticed the stark contradiction between “conquering” someone’s trust and somehow proving you’re not an imperialist or conqueror. Maybe he meant well, but we’re already off to a rocky start.

Communist Paranoia

A big source of tension between the Bolsheviks and the indigenous actors of Central Asia was the difference in ideology and goals.

We’ve talked a lot about the Jadid’s ideology and their goals. The Jadids in Bukhara and Turkestan wanted to create a modern state built around the principles of nationalism. They wanted to create a state that enjoyed full sovereignty and membership amongst the world of nation-states. They wanted to develop their own economy but maintaining control over their own resources and they wanted to education their citizens to combat “ignorance” and “fanaticism.” They wanted to preserve Islam, but also modernize it by bringing Muslim institutions under control of the government.

The Communists, however, wanted to create a perfect Communist society which required loyal and ideologically pure cadre. The only way they could do this in Central Asia was to recruit the population into the party. They knew their best demographic were the youth, the women, and the landless and poor peasants. The children they recruited into their youth group known as Komsomol and the brought the women’s organization, Zhenotdel to Central Asia. They also created the Plowman union for the poor. They would use this union to implement the land and water reform of the 1927, but were disbanded after serving their purpose.

Political Cadre of Turkestan Front. Frunze is seated in second row, two from the left

[Image Description: A black and white photo of a large crowd of men and women sitting together outside. Behind them is a clear sky, a stone building, and trees. The people are wearing a combination of white shirts and dresses and grey shirts and dresses]

Yet, the Communists couldn’t see through their own racism and chauvinism when it came to accepting local actors to the Communist Party. The Communist Party was the key feature of public life. It was the center of all political activity and thus membership was highly coveted. However it required an impossible ideological purity requirement which made many Communists paranoid. Their inability to a pure Communist a hundred percent of the time, or even to define what that meant, made them reliant on frequent purges to ensure the party remained pure.

[Image Description: A colored gif of a bald, naked white man wearing nothing but white underwear, lying on the floor, and looking up at the camera, saying "I just want to be pure."]

One Communist official complained that he was dissatisfied after talking to a Turkmen member of the Merv Communist party in 1923. He wrote:

“We started asking [him] why he had entered the party, to which he answered that he himself did not know, and to the question whether he knew if a Communist is a good person or bad, he said that he knew nothing. And to the question of how he got into the party, he answered simply that a little while back a comrade came here who said, “You are a poor man, you need help, and you should join the party; for this will get you clothing and matches and kerosene.” - Adeeb Khalid, Making Uzbekistan, pg. 170

While the rank and file were often uneducated, the local leaders tended to be part of the modernizing elite who wanted to use Soviet institutions to bring about reforms, they often came from prosperous urban families, graduates of Russian-native schools, and had been active in Muslim politics in 1917. Some had been recruited by Risqulov before he was ousted, had caught the eye of various Russian Communist officials, or even fought against the Basmachi and earned the Soviet’s trust that way. By these leaders were hard to find and so from 1920-1927, the Soviets were forced to rely on “impure” and “nationalistic” local leaders while building a cadre of “pure” communists they would be able to rely on in the future.

Turar Risqulov

[Image Description: A black and white pciture of a man standing at an angle. He is looking at the camera. He has bushy black hair and a short mustache. He is wearing round, wire frame glasses. His hands are in his dark grey suit pants. he is wearing a white button down shirt, a grey tie, and a dark grey vest and suit jacket. A flag is pinned to his suit lapel.]

What made things worse was that the Soviets didn’t even treat the Central Asian as equals within the Communist framework. When the Bukharan Communist Party tried to join the Comintern, they were accepted as a “sympathetic organization” and then merged with the Russian Communist Party.

This desire for loyal cadre and the educational efforts pursued by the communists and local reformers, contributed to the creation of a group of men who called themselves “Young Communists.” They challenged the supremacy of the KPT, accusing them of compromise, patriarchy and careerism. The Young Communists claimed they were the most “Marxistically educated” of the Muslim Communists and demanded the “total emancipation of the party from the past [which] had not yet been accomplished and that KPT be cleansed of all members who were “factional-careerist” and “patriarchal-conservative.” In 1924, they launched a campaign to ban the heavy cloth and horsehair veil customarily worn by women. They were equally frustrated by the Russian Communists, claiming:

“Historically speaking, the last conquerors of Turkestan were the Slavs, and Turkestan was liberated from their oppression only after the great social revolution. But this liberation is only formal. Because the proletariat is from the ruling nation, the disease of colonialism has damaged its brain. This fact has had a great impact on the revolution in Turkestan” - Adeeb Khalid, Making Uzbekistan, pg. 175

The Soviets were wary of the Young Communists, but would recruit them into the governments of the different Central Asian States after they were created in 1924.

Crafting a Governing Body

In order to make the region more manageable, the Soviets broke the region into several different Soviet republics. The Bukharan Soviet People’s Republic managed the territory that once belonged to the Bukhara Emirate. Similarly, the Kazakh Steppe became the Kirghiz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, the Khivan Emirate became the Khorezm Soviet People’s Republic and Turkestan became the Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. These republics were governed by chairmen.

Map of Central Asian Republics in 1922

[Image Description: A colored and simplified map of the different Soviet Republics. Russia itself and the surround countries are pale peach. The Kirgizistan A.S.S.R. is a flesh color. The Aral and Caspian Sea and Lake Balkhash are bright blue The Bukharan P.S.R. is red. The Khorezm P.S.R. is light green. The Turkestan A. S. S. R. is a dark peach.]

For the rest of this episode, we’re going to discuss the many difficulties and opportunities facing the Bolsheviks and the local, indigenous actors in the Bukhara Soviet People’s Republic and the Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. The reason we’re discussing those two republics specifically is because their development is unique while also being representative of the many issues faced by the local actors and Bolsheviks of the region.

Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (ASSR)

While the indigenous actors were grabbing real power in Bukhara, the indigenous actors of Turkestan were recovering from the ouster of Risqulov and the dismantling of the Musburo. Instead, the Soviets purged the Turkestani Communist Party, transformed the Turkkomissiia into the Central Asian Bureau with an expanded authority over the Bukharan, Turkestan, and Khorezm republics. They also created the Central Asian Economic Council whose responsibility was to merge the economies of the three republics, leaving them open to control from the Central Committee in Russia.

The biggest challenge facing the Turkestani Republic was the tension between the Bolsheviks and the indigenous actors. Like their Bukharan counterparts, the indigenous leaders of the Turkestani Republic learned to speak the Communist language, but their goals were very different. However, they didn’t have the limited freedom that the leaders of Bukhara had, and this created deep tensions not only between the Communist leaders and indigenous leaders, but also between the Russian settlers and the Communists and the local people of Turkestan with the Jadids.

Bukharan Soviet People’s Republic (BNSR)

The Bukharan Soviet People’s Republic was a Muslim republic filled with Jadids who used it to champion their reforms with reluctant support from their Bolshevik counterparts -- and, sometimes, even without it. Unlike their Tashkent counterparts who never had a chance to gain equal power with their Russian counterparts, the Bukharans had placed themselves in the perfect position to be slotted into power by the Bolsheviks. This meant they actually had more power than indigenous actors in their neighboring republics. Even though this only lasted until 1923, the BNSR attempted a lot during its short lifetime.

When the Bolsheviks took over Bukhara, they created the Revolutionary Committee (Revkom) that included Russians, Young Bukharans, Communists from Bukhara and Tashkent. The committee assigned Mirzo Abduqodir Muhiddinov as head of state and Fayzulla Xo’jayev as the Chairman of the council. These ministers would send reports and negotiate with their Communist counterparts using Communist language and ideas, but internally they focused on their nationalistic, Islamic, and reformist ways.

While the Bolsheviks forced the Young Bukharans to merge with the Bukharan Communist Party and the Young Khivans to do likewise, this did little to actually bridge the gaps between the two approaches to governance. Instead, it gave the former Young Bukharans/Khivans/Jadids a chance to learn the Bolshevik language so they could placate their Communist counterparts while still pursuing their own goals.

One of the first things Revkom did was to create a regularized and centralized form of government. They divided the territory into provinces, then districts, and then towns and appointed a soviet apparatus at each level. They also created several ministries led by several “people’s ministers” (Abdurauf Fitrat would be a minister for several of these ministries). Revkom and later its successor, the Central Executive Committee, would regulate the workings of the Qazi courts, placed the maktabs and madrasas under the oversight of the Minister of Education, and placed mosques and their waqf property under the control of the Waqf Administration.

They also created a Ministry of Foreign Affairs and established consular representatives in neighboring countries. The representatives to Kabul and Moscow were ambassadors while the representatives to Petrograd, Tashkent, Baku, and Tbilisi were consuls. They also hoped they would enter the Comintern as an independent party instead of a satellite of the Russian Communist Party.

Creating different administrative centers and functions was one thing, but exercising that power was a different task. First, the Young Bukharans had to settle scores with several enemies while also denying them the ability to challenge their right to power. They forced those who sided against them in 1917 to clean toilets and sweep the streets for several days before having them executed. They took property from the ulama who resisted their efforts at modernization and restored property to supporters in exile. Those they didn’t kill or exile, they assimilated into their new government.

As we mentioned before, the Bukharan government took over the collection of waqf revenues and put it towards cultural and educational purposes. This gave them the ability to control the hiring and firing of instructors and the reformation of the curricula. However, they ran into a problem with trying to implement control over the property, because the bureaucracy of distributing the lands was handled by middlemen. Many who fled the violence of the civil war, so there were many pieces of property that slip through their fingers. In 1923, when the Soviets were reinforcing control over the region, the Waqf administration came under the most suspicion. The Soviets actually raided the Waqf offices and took all of their papers to review as they laid strict guidelines on how the collected funds could be used.

Internal Divisions

If trying to create a government in a region that had endured a civil war, the ouster of an emir, a famine, and an ongoing battle against an insurgency wasn’t enough, the Young Bukharans had to contend with internal divisions. There was the well-known divide between the ideologically corrupt Young Bukharans and the Bukharan Communists, but there was also a bitter rivalry between Fayzulla Xo’jayev, the chairman of the Bukharan Soviet People’s Republic, and a fellow minister, Abduqodir Muhiddinov. Their rivalry had more to do with personal grudges and a long history of economic competition between their families.

In April 1921, the Cheka found out that Muhiddinov’s brother Isomiddin held a secret meeting to plot against Xo’jaev and his supporters including assassinations and the planting of incriminating evidence. In August 1921, a pamphlet with the name of “Committee for Truth and Justice” proclaiming that the Bukharan Republic was being governed by “a company of thieves and traitors” who were addicted to prostitutes and alcohol. This culminated into a putsch attempted by people loyal to Muhiddinov that briefly placed members of Xo’jayev’s administration under arrest. Xo’jayev had to flee to Kagan and the Soviets sent in armored cars to crush the rebellion and the rebels fled to Samarkand.

Fayzulla Xo'jayev

[Image Description: A black and white photo of a man with thick black hair. He is wearing a black collared, button down shirt, a black tie, and a black suit coat]

People loyal to Xo’jayev wanted to oust Muhiddinov from the presidency of the Revkom, but the Soviets convinced them not to. The Soviets found Fayzulla more favorable because of his local support, his businesslike attitude, and he was a Russophile, while Muhiddinov was considered to be politically weak, more difficult to deal with, a nationalist, pan-Islamist, and Russophobe. It seems they kept him around so they could take advantage of the rivalry between Muhiddinov and Xo’jayev.

While Xo’jayev was reliant on the Soviets for power, he consistently tried to maximize his independence and the independence of his government. He argued in 1921 that

“while it is impossible, of course, to deny that the work of our organization has many defects, we should not be judged too harshly for them. Soviet Russia, having far greater forces at its command, is also not in a position to organize everything all at once…We know very well that any obstinacy on our part or coercive measures on yours [to force the pace of change in Bukhara] will be fraught with pernicious consequences.”

He threatened the revolution in the East and argued that the reason for the weakness of his government was because the people didn’t have their own sovereignty. He argues that

“In order to strengthen a sense among the masses of the independence and the complete liberation of Bukhara it is necessary for the Russian Government to broadly demonstrate its attitude in Bukhara, proclaiming publicly Bukhara’s complete independence and the inviolability of its sovereign rights.” - Adeeb Khalid, Making Uzbekistan, pg. 141

After Enver Pasha died and the Basmachi were broken, the Soviets turned their attention and ire on the Central Asian Republics. They were interested in bringing the republics to heel and integrating with the Soviet Union. They saw Bukhara’s need for independence as evidence of remaining bourgeois nationalism sentiments.

In 1923, the Soviets felt powerful enough in Central Asia, to purge the Bukharan government of several administrators such as Abdurauf Fitrat, Atovulla Xo’jayev, Sattor-xo’ja, Muinjon Aminov. Other Central Asians picked up the need to attack these leaders and expanded their attacks to include Fayzulla Xo’jayev “for having assimilated itself to nationalism” (Adeeb Khalid, Making Uzbekistan, pg. 156). The Soviets weren’t ready to get rid of Xo’jayev, but the purge threw ice water on the Bukharan desire for independence and taught them their place.

Economics

All of this social and political change was occurring during economic devastation. The war ruined cotton cultivation and destroyed the irrigation networks, and whole districts were now ghost towns. It didn’t help that Russia was also in the midst of its own economic devastation and famine and needed Central Asia’s resources to survive. This created a tension between the Communist’s ideals of redistribution and liberation and their need to exploit and extract as many resources as possible. Turkestan also had to deal with the tension between the settlers and the indigenous people. Again, Communist ideals of decolonization and anti-imperialism took a backseat to Russia’s need for resources and enforcing a communist mindset on the region.

BNSR Economic Interests

Economically, the Bukharan Soviet People’s Republic focused on the importance of collecting taxes properly and effectively. They argued that:

“The incorrect policies of the emir had left our state among the most backward in the world in terms of science and technology, industry, agriculture, or commerce. As a result, today two percent of our people can read and write, and the remaining 98 percent cannot, and as a result are completely ignorant of the world. Because our commerce was based on old principles, there is no real commerce in our state. Instead, our merchants have become middlemen between Russian merchants and our peasants, i.e., our commerce sells the wealth of the peasant to other countries…[and] all the profits from the commerce go to other countries…It is well known that a state that is unable to find the proper path of commerce cannot have industry either.” - Adeeb Khalid, Making Uzbekistan, pg. 130

The Young Bukharans were not interested in class warfare or redistributing wealth from the rich. The most they did was expropriate the property of the emir and those who went into exile with him and grab control over the waqf property, but that was all.

In 1923, the Sredazburo tried to harmonize the economies and currencies of the three republics, Xo’jaev resisted it. He believed that the unification of the economies of the three republics would rob the republics of their own sovereignty. He wrote

“We are against one principle ­­­— that of the unification of the Central Asian republics. If you take that off the table we will go along with your proposition” - Adeeb Khalid, Making Uzbekistan, pg. 142

He fought hard for Bukhara to retain its own currency and complained when Soviet officials who managed Bukhara’s border with Afghanistan arrested one of Bukhara’s customs officials. None of his efforts achieve much, but that didn’t stop him from trying.

Cotton Is King

One of the Soviets’ goals was to reinvigorate the cotton industry. As of 1920, the cotton industry had collapsed on itself because of war, famine, ruined irrigation, the disappearance of buyers, and the Tashkent Soviet’s decision to nationalize cotton. The Soviets used a labor tax to repair the irrigation system, replaced requisitioning with a cash tax, and implemented Lenin’s New Economic Plan in Central Asia. In 1921, the Soviets created the Main Cotton Committee which was charged with buying up the entire cotton harvest in the Ussr, supply it to textile mills (which were mostly in Russia), organize credits for growers, and maintain the irrigation system. It also got involved in the grain industry, since grain is how they paid the farmers to grow cotton. The Main Cotton Committee’s myopic focus on cotton angered many of the local leaders and even caused tension with the Central Asian Bureau who were trying to implement a policy of Korenizatsiia — providing that Soviet rule was different from Tzarist rule by bringing the people into the system. However, this was an expensive policy as it required educating the local population not only in Communist thought, but teaching them the basic skills they would need to work in different administrative capacities as well as teaching Non-Central Asian communists the local languages in order to communicate with their Central Asian counterparts. Additionally, there was already a skilled Russian minority living in Central Asia who felt they should be given these opportunities instead of the locals. In 1927, a group of unemployed Russians shouted at the Korenizatsiia commission:

“Russians fought and won freedom for you devils, and now you say Uzbeks are the masters in Uzbekistan. There will come a time when we will show you. We’ll beat the hell out of all of you.” - Adeeb Khalid, Making Uzbekistan, pg. 187

In 1925, the Central Asian Bureau was forced to create an economic plan that accounted for shipping grain into Central Asia so the people of Central Asia could focus on producing cotton. Additionally, the Main Cotton Committee indexed the price of cotton to the price of grain so that one pood of cotton bought 2.5 poods of grain, but Risqulov argued that it barely covered the costs of production. Instead, the Soviets should pay Central Asia world prices for its cotton.

Local leaders, like Fayzulla Xo’jayev, wanted to bring industry to the region. In 1925, he announced that

“our current policy…is we will establish new factories only in places that produce raw material for the industry i.e. we want to avoid the economic awkwardness of sending cotton thousands of miles away at great expense to have it processed in Moscow, and then to have the finished product brought back here” - Adeeb Khalid, Making Uzbekistan, pg. 160

This went against Soviet interests who wanted each region to have their specialties that could by brought together by the center and so Central Asia remained an agricultural focused economy, one the Soviets could exploit as they wished.

In the end, economic considerations and the ability to “trust” fellow Europeans versus Central Asians would always come first, exasperating existing tensions between the non-Central Asian Communists and the Local leaders. This led to great disenchantment with many Central Asian communists and local leaders.

Resistance

Secret Society Milliy Ittihod

Between the destruction of the city of Bukhara and Xo’jayev’s failed attempts to win some autonomy from the Soviets, several Young Bukharans began to search for another way to govern beyond the Soviet’s control. This discontentment with the overall situation turned into an explosive situation when Bashkir nationalist, Zeki Togan Velidi arrived in Bukhara and created his own secret society.

Bashkir Nationalist: Zeki Togan Velidi

[Image Description: A black and white photo of a man with a short hair cut and mustache. He is wearing round wire frame glasses and a grey military frock.]

Zeki spent most of his young academic life in Kazan and Ufa and during the revolution he became the president of the former Bashkir Republic. He sided first with the Whites and then switched sides but grew fed up with the Bolsheviks because of their controlling nature. He even sent a letter to Stalin and Lenin complaining about their “colonial” policy to the East and demanded that they stop persecuting national intellectuals, consider locals as candidates for Soviet positions, and allow greater local involvement in the organization of Soviet power and party in the Bukharan republic. Stalin and Lenin ignore the letter and Velidi broke from the Bolsheviks.

He traveled to Bukhara and, in April 1921, he and several members of the Bukharan government created the Union of National Popular Muslim Organizations of Central Asia also known as Milliy Ittihod. This secret society's goal was to secure the “independence” of Turkestan (which consisted of Turkestan, Bukhara, Khiva, the Kazakh Republic, and areas of Bashkir) and place its destiny in the hand of “Turkestanis” with freedom of religion and the separation of state and religion. They wanted Turkestan to have its own economy and army and direct access to European education without going through Russia.

There seems to have been another version of the goal crafted by the members who still believed in Communism, but still wanted greater autonomy. Their demands were similar, but the main difference was that they wanted full autonomy of the Eastern soviet republics united as a federation while remaining within the Communist framework. They wanted broad national rights, the withdrawal of all Russian troops except for the borders of the federation, their own national army, and a new government led by Milliy Ittihod.

This differences between goals illustrate that some people wanted to maximize their independence from Soviet control while others wanted to create a pan-Central Asian platform.

Milliy Ittihod was led by a Central Committee and held period congresses to tackle big questions. The Soviets feared this secret society and would later used its existence to send many Central Asians to their death during Stalin’s purge.

In terms of what Milliy Ittihod actually achieved, it doesn't seem to be much. However, the Cheka were able to intercept several letters to other governments asking for money and support against the Russians. But since the secret society wasn’t able to infiltrate the army and their reach into government was stifled, their usefulness was limited. They existed more as a nightmare in the imaginations of the Cheka then any real threat.

Usmon-xo’ja

Fayzulla's cousin, Usmon-xo’ja took a completely different approach.

He was elected head of the Central Executive Committee of the republic in September 1921, but he defected three months later and joined an assault on the Soviet garrison at Dushanbe. During the assault, several high-level Soviet commanders were taken hostage. He called for a general war against Russia and recruited people for his army. The Soviets broke the siege, but Usmon-xo’ja escaped, fought with Enver Pasha, and after Enver died, he fled to Afghanistan before permanently immigrating to Turkey and becoming center of the Central Asian émigré community.

Economic Resistance

When physical resistance was impossible or undesirable, people resisted through the marketplaces. Many Bukharan and Turkestan markets refused Russian currency and preferred trading with Afghanistan and India. The Soviets tried to disrupt these markets because they wanted access to Central Asian goods without having to pay world market prices or compete with other buyers.

The Soviet proposed Central Asia send grain and cotton to Russia either in payment for all the money the USSR was already funneling into Central Asia or through a barter system. This was potentially life or death for Russia, because in 1921, they were in the death grip of famine, and they desperately needed the food from Central Asia. Nevermind that Central Asia was also in the middle of a famine and the Soviets didn't seem to care.

For some fucking reason, the Soviets thought the republics would gladly subordinate its economic policies to the interest of the Soviet federation. Instead, Bukhara refused to put all of its supplies up for barter with the Soviets. A Soviet official wrote:

“During my stay in Bukhara I found a completely unexpected situation. I had expected that they will speak to me in a Communist manner, from the commonality of the interests of the two republics, but that there is not much in common is clear from the fact that the Bukharan republic has “declared private property sacred’" - Adeeb Khalid, Making Uzbekistan, pg. 152

Another Soviet official complained

“As before, [Bukharan leaders] continue to sabotage us with bread and to beg for money. The more one finds out about the political lines of the various ‘Communist’ groups here, the worse it gets. They try to outdo each other in their Russophobia. They make a very good use of their own position and godlessly swindle us both politically and economically.” - Adeeb Khalid, Making Uzbekistan, pg. 152

By 1923, the Basmachi were neutralized as a threat, the Soviets had been in Central Asian long enough to get a better sense of its needs and how to speak to its people, and they were seeing the sprouts of a loyal Communist cadre. They were feeling powerful enough to teach the region, especially troublesome Bukhara, it's place.

In 1923, the Soviets forced Fayzulla to purge his own government of four ministers, including the tireless Abdurauf Fitrat. Once they were ousted, other Central Asians realized the best way to earn Soviet favors and prove they could be trusted running their own government was to attack these "disgraced" ministers and soon expanded their attacks to include Fayzulla Xo’jayev for being a nationalist. The Soviets weren’t ready to get rid of Xo’jayev or the other "nationalist" chairmen of the republics, but the purge threw ice water on the Bukharan desire for independence and taught the rest of the region the limits of their power as Communist republics.

References

Making Uzbekistan: Nation, Empire, and Revolution in the Early USSR by Adeeb Khalid