#reign of the reptiles

[thienvaldram]

Silurian Speculative Ancestry

Edit: Updated to reference Suminisans

Prelude – Meta-Origins of Silurians

It is of note that the Silurians, upon original development, were very much intended to effectively be ‘dinosaur people’. With their reptilian appearance being indicative of the pre-Avian, pre-Jurassic Park reptilian dinosaur conception. Though with JP-style avian dinosaurs being depicted in both Dinosaurs on a Spaceship and Deep Breath among others, as well as the newer designs of the Silurians themselves, make such an origin retroactively very tenuous in Universe.

Their two names from their first couple of stories, ‘Silurians’ and ‘Eocenes’, reflect two eras of history in which they are implied to originate, though both raise massive chronological problems with regards to how their depicted, especially in later works but even in their early ones. The Silurian era (444-415 million years ago) predates the emergence of reptiles entirely (310-320 million years ago) whereas the Eocene (56-34 million years ago) postdates the Dinosaurs but also still predates humanity (300,000 years ago), the homo genus (2.8 million years ago) and Hominids (22 million years ago).

And the ‘Silurian dating controversy’ only gets worse the more Silurian stories got written over time, as various pieces of media date them anywhere between less than 1 million years ago to 65 million years ago to 1 billion years ago (Which is pre Multicellular life). This exacerbated by the idea that the Moon’s capture was the reason for the Silurian hibernation, a theory that was since superseded by the Theia impact theory in modern scientific consensus and either way would have been dated to the early Solar System.

Thus for the interest of Speculative Biology I have thrown out all specific absolute dates and specific geological events associated with the Silurians in favour of hashing together an origin that makes conceptual sense for the Silurians as a prehistoric sentient Earthbound species based on what knowledge of modern biology I happen to have, as well as what jives with the overall ideas of the DWU.

Speculative Evolution

Speciation

Template

Scientific Name – Colloquial Identifier for this writeup (DWU Name/Origin Story)

Genus

Bipeslacertia – Reptilian Kindred, Suminisans (Credit Tara) (Earth Reptiles)

Species

Bipeslacertia vehemenus – Primitive Ancestor (Primitive Ancestor)

Bipeslacertia volans – “Winged Kindred” (Winged Earth Reptiles)

Bipeslacertia diabolus – Sea Devils, Aquatic Kindred (Sea Devils)

Bipeslacertia homines – Silurians (Silurians, Eocenes)

Mondasian Parallel Evolution

Bipeslacertia diabolus abastrius – Sea Kings (Mondasian Sea Devils)

Bipeslacertia homines abastrius – Lizard Kings (Mondasian Silurians)

Subspecies (Winged Kindred)

Bipeslacertia volans mortuus – “Paleocenes” (Winged Species – Adolescence of Time)

Bipeslacertia volans malakhi – Wyrm Callers (Wyrm infected Paleocenes)

Bipeslacertia volans vivus – Luadans (TM: A Morphology/Reign of the Reptiles)

Bipeslacertia volans aurori – Zori (Reign of the Reptiles/Revelry of the Redacted)

Subspecies (Sea Devil)

Bipeslacertia diabolus sicutsimiae – Late Sea Devils (Comic Sea Devils)

Bipeslacertia diabolus sicuturtus – Early Sea Devils (Normal Sea Devils)

Bipeslacertia diabolus reditius – “Devolved Ones” (Inhabitants of the Nameless City – HP Lovecraft/Faction Paradox)

Subspecies (Silurian)

Bipeslacertia homines malus – Serad-dur (Serad-dur)

“Scholar” Caste

Bipeslacertia homines augurius – Fair Folk (Fair Folk- The Shadows of Avalon)

Bipeslacertia homines sapentia – “Senior” Silurians (Chibnall’s original classic style redesign – Cold Blood)

Bipeslacertia homines rostrata – “Middle” Silurians (Warriors of the Deep Silurians)

Bipeslacertia homines gravius – “Horned Kindred” (Bulky Horned Herbivorous Silurians – TM A Morphology)

Bipeslacertia homines labia – “Early” Silurians (Original Classic Who Silurians)

Bipeslacertia homines venefica – The Silurians from the 30th Anniversary Calendar

“Warrior” Caste (Alternatively “Hunter” Caste)

Bipeslacertia homines anguis – “Junior” Silurians (Silurian Hunters – Supremacy of the Cybermen)

Bipeslacertia homines sapiens – “Late” Silurians (New Who Silurians)

Bipeslacertia homines facultatem – “Alternative Future” Silurians (Rubathon Blue)

Notes

Bipeslacertia vehemenus is considered by the Reptilian Kindred to be an ancestor species and not part of the ‘Reptilian Kindred’ themselves, it is however considered to be in the same genus biologically.

Bipeslacertia volans mortuus was the earliest sapient subspecies to diverge from the Reptilian Kindred and the first to develop a civilisation, but was however rendered extinct by the Wyrm (Alongside the Wyrm mutated Bipeslacertia volans malakhi)

The Reptilian Kindred consider themselves to have five extant ‘Classes/Castes’

Sea Devil

Scholar

Warrior

Winged Kindred

Serad-Dur

And do not consider any greater subgroupings such as the ‘Silurian/Sea Devil two species grouping’ or the ‘Scholar/Warrior single species hypothesis’ as valid, from their perspective, the five main classes are considered the maximal groupings of Reptilian Kindred outside of the sole group that includes all of them, with the term ‘Silurian’ (Alternatively Earth Reptile or Saurian) being used to refer to all five rather than just the Scholar and Warrior castes.

The original Reptilian Kindred diverged from the ancestor of the Helodermatidae family of venomous lizards in the late Cretaceous, with the Bipeslacertia genus itself diverging from the rest of the family with the origin of its bipedal stance in the early Paleocene, just after the KT Extinction Event.

Most accounts of Reptilian Kindred-Dinosaur cohabitation are either later palimpsests (The Reptilian Kindred were a time active power during the Time Wars era, with an individual of Bipeslacertia homines sapiens appearing in the Alliance of Races alongside Rassilon) or instances of Reptilian Kindred bioengineering in the Eocene and Oligocene rather than true Jurassic-Cretaceous era native Reptilian Kindred species.

Their technological civilisation emerged in the Eocene, after the divergence between the “Scholar” and “Warrior” castes of Silurians but before full speciation.

Their full classification is

Domain: Eukaryota

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Reptilia

Order: Squamata

(Potential Clade: Toxicofera)

Suborder: Anguimorpha

Infraorder: Neoanguimorpha

Clade: Monstersauria

Family: Bipeslacertidae

Genus: Bipeslacertia

The emergence order of distinct subspecies was as follows

Cretaceous (145-65 mya)

Split of Bipeslacertidae from Helodermatidae

Paleocene (65-56 mya)

Bipeslacertia splits from the rest of the (extinct) Bipeslacertiadae genera, they are separately characterised by their bipedal stance as opposed to other lizard species.

Spilt of ancestor species from the rest of Bipeslacertia

Bipeslacertia volans splits from the rest of Bipeslacertia

The Zori split from Bipeslacertia volans before the full development of wings

Silurian-Sea Devil Split

“Paleocenes” split from Bipeslacertia volans, “Paleocene” civilisation forms (mostly) above the clouds.

“Paleocene” extinction at the hands of the Wyrm

Reptilian Kindred Civilisations first form.

Extinction of ancestor species

Eocene (56-34 mya)

Serad-Dur split from Silurians

“Early” and “Late” Sea Devils Split

Scholar-Warrior Split, emergence of Scholar Third Eye

Reptilian Kindred Civilisation reaches technological level

Fair Folk Split after Silurians are transported to Avalon

Oligocene (34-23 mya)

“Senior Silurians” split from Scholar caste

 Scholar Caste splits into “Early” and “Middle” Silurians

The Inhabitants of the Nameless City split from the “Early” Sea Devils and devolve, eventually disappearing entirely under the shallow seas of north Africa.

 “Junior” and “Late” Silurians split

Miocene (23-5.3 mya)

Speciation begins to slow down due to civilisation technological advancement

Reptilian Kindred civilisation enters hibernation due to disaster (Either the newest Moon or a planetoid close passage unrelated to the Moon)

Pliocene (5.3-2.6 mya)

Various apes modified and bred by the Reptilian Kindred begin to develop to fill the ecological niche left by the Reptilian Kindred’s hibernation.

Pleistocene (2.6 mya – 11,700 ya)

Evolution of Homo Sapien Sapiens (humans).

Holocene (11,700 ya – 1712)

Various sporadic reawakenings that are almost always killed off by the newly developed humans.

1500 BCE – Atlantis is destroyed, the Nameless City is forced above the ocean in Africa and the inhabitants are rendered (mostly) extinct

Anthropocene (1712 – 500,000 yf)

2023 AD – The origin era of Rubathon Blue of the Fifty Second Hemisphere Hatchlings in an alternative future

(22nd Century) Reptilian Kindred civilisation reawakens and is forced to cohabitate the planet with the human civilisation.

Relinquecene (500,000 yf – 2 myf)

Reptilian Kindred and humanity mostly abandon Earth for the first significant geological time (Previous abandonments had happened temporarily for much shorter timespans), whilst they would make sporadic returns, from this point onwards the Earth was allowed to evolutionarily develop without its previous intelligent species. (This is when the Haemovores evolve)

Perdicene (2 myf – 10 myf)

Earth was lost, and began being known by different names including Ravalox, Orphan 55 and Tellus. This is the point in which the Reptilian Kindred became no longer tied to Earth as a homeworld beyond as a cultural factoid (Unlike humanity who consistently returned and remained conceptually tied to it until its destruction in 10 myf and the start of the Posthuman era).

This document for the most part, only covers the Extant subspecies of Reptilian Kindred and does not account for the unknown species and subspecies that went extinct prior to the Anthropocene (nor the other extinct Bipeslacertiadae genera) with the exception of Bipeslacertia vehemenus, identified only due to Vastra’s devolution into one during ‘The Evolution Episode’ due to exposure to temporal radiation, Bipeslacertia volans mortuus, an early intelligent extinct species documented by Bernice Summerfield and Peter Summerfield and Bipeslacertia homines facultatem caused by the Fifteenth Doctor’s alterations to the evolutionary history of the Earth.

The Mondasian Parallel Evolution species (The Lizard Kings or Bipeslacertia homines abastrius and Sea Kings or Bipeslacertia diabolus abastrius) which were documented by both the Homo Sapien contra (Mondasians) and the Mondasian Cybermen are considered to be parallel evolutionary counterparts of their Earth twins and aren’t included, it is speculated their evolutionary tree is identical to that of Earth’s.

Despite being considered distinct castes by the Reptilian Kindred, the ‘Early’ Sea Devils (The Sea Devils), the ‘Middle’ Sea Devils (Warriors of the Deep) and the ‘Late’ Sea Devils (Legend of the Sea Devils) are considered to all be local or climate variations of the same subspecies of Sea Devil, Bipeslacertia diabolus sicuturtus.

I basically ignored most direct years given in DWU sources when doing this in favour of trying to work out something that conceptually made the most sense (IMO). Since DWU sources give Silurian origin or even civilisation years as far back as 450 mya, in the Ordovician, Pre-Reptiles, which is not conducive to trying to actually do speculative biology with, and the less said about 'They predate complex life entirely' the better.

I went with Eocene - Miocene because references to the Dinosaurs can always have been post-Cretaceous genetic engineering stuff (They have the tech) but references to "apes" should be theoretically constrained to early human evolution in the Miocene and Pliocene, and the idea that the Silurians existed for the entirety of the Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous, Permian, Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous, Paleocene, Eocene, Oligocene and Miocene was... kinda ridiculous IMO for this exercise.

Subspecies Visualisation

Bipeslacertia vehemenus – Primitive Ancestor (Primitive Ancestor)

Subspecies (Winged Kindred)

Bipeslacertia volans mortuus – “Paleocenes” (Winged Species – Adolescence of Time)

Bipeslacertia volans malakhi – Wyrm Callers (Wyrm infected Paleocenes)

[No visualisation]

Bipeslacertia volans vivus – Luadans (TM: A Morphology/Reign of the Reptiles)

But the wreck, first seen from the air by a migratory tribe of the flying kindred en route from the tropical swelter of the Oriental Archipelago to the temperate climes of the Austral Spur, had confirmed to the profile of no known vessel from any of the saurian kindred, and Morrahaurm had been the only specialist available. And so, with many misgivings, she had embarked.

(Winged Kindred - The Book of the Enemy)

The globe was held by a creature like a mythical devil incarnate! Its oily green, needle-fanged head hovered just above the luminous sphere, the hellish red eyes darting from side to side in search of the intruder; and where the shoulders should have been were hunched lumps that made the man think of folded wings. The body and shuffling feet were invisible; the claws appeared in silhouette on the surface of the globe that the monstrosity held before it. A little it resembled a gigantic lizard, and the fanged snout, if not the same one, was at least practically identical with the one Sanders had seen in the room of horror. Only now it had lost its super- natural and diabolical aspect, appearing still hideous but only in a reptilian, scaled way. It propelled itself on hissing, leathery wings, and its sinuous body was clad in a blue, silken robe. About its ugly brow was a jewelled diadem; its claws were alight with jewels.

(Luadans - Reign of the Reptiles)

Bipeslacertia volans aurori – Zori (Reign of the Reptiles/Revelry of the Redacted)

He was a Zori, a subspecies of the Reptilian Kindred with vestigial wings on their backs that were useless on Earth, but perfectly adapted to low- gravity environments.

Revelry of the Redacted (The Book of the Snowstorm)

Subspecies (Sea Devil)

Bipeslacertia diabolus sicutsimiae – Late Sea Devils (Comic Sea Devils)

Bipeslacertia diabolus sicuturtus – Early Sea Devils (Normal Sea Devils)

Bipeslacertia diabolus reditius – “Devolved Ones” (Inhabitants of the Nameless City – HP Lovecraft/Faction Paradox)

They were of the reptile kind, with body lines suggesting sometimes the crocodile, sometimes the seal, but more often nothing of which either the naturalist or the palaeontologist ever heard. In size they approximated a small man, and their fore-legs bore delicate and evident feet curiously like human hands and fingers. But strangest of all were their heads, which presented a contour violating all know biological principles. To nothing can such things be well compared - in one flash I thought of comparisons as varied as the cat, the bullfrog, the mythic Satyr, and the human being. Not Jove himself had had so colossal and protuberant a forehead, yet the horns and the noselessness and the alligator-like jaw placed things outside all established categories.

Subspecies (Silurian)

Bipeslacertia homines malus – Serad-dur (Serad-dur)

“Scholar” Caste

Bipeslacertia homines augurius – Fair Folk (Fair Folk- The Shadows of Avalon)

[No Specific Description]

Bipeslacertia homines sapentia – “Senior” Silurians (Chibnall’s original classic style redesign – Cold Blood)

Bipeslacertia homines rostrata – “Middle” Silurians (Warriors of the Deep Silurians)

Bipeslacertia homines gravius – “Horned Kindred” (Bulky Horned Herbivorous Silurians – A Morphology)

Her mass alone would have made Morrahaurm the most conspicuous individual on board, even without the horns and crest majestically adorning her high forehead. Among her own she was known as a beauty, a graceful dancer and no mean athlete: here she was simply a bulky, lumbering target.

(The Book of the Enemy)

Bipeslacertia homines labia – “Early” Silurians (Original Classic Who Silurians)

Bipeslacertia homines venefica – The Silurians from the 30th Anniversary Calendar

“Warrior” Caste (Alternatively “Hunter” Caste)

Bipeslacertia homines anguis – “Junior” Silurians (Silurian Hunters – Supremacy of the Cybermen)

Bipeslacertia homines sapiens – “Late” Silurians (New Who Silurians)

Bipeslacertia homines facultatem – “Alternative Future” Silurians (Rubathon Blue)

Notes on the Meta-history of Earth Reptiles

The natural evolution of most species on Earth was a by-product of the anchoring of the thread, when the Time Lords locked down the rational Universe and rewrote all of history to suit their new rules. In the pre anchoring Universe, humanity was created using Time Lord Looms by the Original Mammoths, a powerful, psychic and magical sapient species that rivalled the Time Lords in the pre-Universe.

Whilst we have pretty much no knowledge of the Silurians from that era, we do know that they were a Time Active power in the Alliance of Races during the Time Wars era, shortly after the anchoring. Implying some kind of time active power, which would explain their appearances in eras of Earth history predating the one in which they originally developed in the Time Lord dominated rational Universe. It is, however, also of note that the vast majority of other more recent (in Universe) accounts depict the Silurians as a mildly advanced mostly stagnant species with very little space travel capabilities most likely indicating at some point between Gallifrey’s ancient past and relative present that the Silurians time active civilisation was erased from history. It is possible they experienced some equivalent of the Ghost Point (The point in which humanity became culturally sterile and stopped meaningfully advancing as a civilisation) though more extreme as humanity was still able to traditionally, if not conceptually, advance whereas the Silurians grew complacent and stagnant for presumably millions of years.

It is of note that New Who consistently depicts the Silurians as both coexisting natively with Dinosaurs and knowing humanities Ape ancestors despite an ~60 million year gap between the two eras. There are numerous potential explanations for this including human evolution occurring over a much longer period in the DWU relative to real life, the effects of the Last Great Time War on the history of Earth, genetic engineering resurrection of Dinosaurs in the Eocene-Miocene and potentially Silurian related dates being actually in months rather than years.

[crispy-bonnie]

crispy's kombatober (pt 1)

day 1 - favorite character (smoke)

day 2 - alternate universe (frosted skies au)

day 3 - favorite intro (omni-man & homelander)

day 4 - the black dragon (kano ft. hikari)

day 5 - khaos reigns (havik's citadel)

day 6 - outfit swap (reptile & ashrah)

day 7 - design your own skin (smoke)

day 8 - the special forces (oia!kenshi ft. johnny)

day 10 - favorite ship (jonshi)

day 12 - crossover (mk1 x rain world)

[legend-mei]

Can this franchise just stop forcing these awful half-baked romances into the cast. They really changed Sektor and Cyrax to women and immediately had it be Sektor and Bi-Han are together and Kuai and Cyrax are exe's. Sektor is also just the most annoying character, the biggest Bi-Han d*ckrider ever. This game also randomly threw in Ashrah/Reptile, and the last game had Jade\Kotal. Even Raiden and Kitana feels lazy because Raiden and Lui Kang switched roles.

Then there's Emperor Rain and Empress Tanya kinda weird that we spend a chunk of time with these alternate versions. The dragon stuff with Tanya was cool tho, nice reference to Armageddon. Johnny cage was also annoying as fuck, like i was getting tired of every single line being a quip. A bunch of Shaolin are being slaughtered and he just throws in a cheesy Game Of Thrones Reference? Overall, Khaos Reigns seems to just exist to bring Noob into the new era but, what's exactly going to happen to Sub-Zero now that Bi-Han is noob and Kuai is Scorpion? Is Frost just going to be the main ice user now?

This was such a huge step down from Mk11 Aftermath. From what I hear, Dominic is the sole writer for Mk1. So either they need to let him go and stop writing for this franchise or add other writers into the room. It's just so sad I can't bring myself to care about Mortal Kombat lore anymore....

[draconic-absurdism]

DESPERATE MEASURES

Story below the cut

An image of a doorway flutters in hir mind as ze shimmies upward ever further, nearing the flattening of the smooth linoleum pane, nearly teetering off the edge. And as hir vision blurs again, surely ze will fall. The wall, crisp and cold, audibly clacks, a desperate grasping with useless hooven fingers, tinged with a pulling at hir fuzzy chest as ze slides hirself up. There's no railing, nothing to grip.

Falling wouldn't be so bad, really. It never is, here in this place. Clouds roll on and on. It's comforting, almost, breaking barriers that, in a sense, are physically impossible, over and over again. To rely on something that contradicts nature. Or is it that nature itself is contradictory?

But ze's never made it quite this far before. As hir fingers crest the corner, ze pulls hirself up, slipping a final time before maneuvering one hoof onto flat land. But as ze huffs in relief, the image flickers again, and hir heart recoils into itself in horror as it realizes the door ze pictures has no stairway leading up, no clouds, no bluish tinge left to the sky. This is all wrong. How hadn't I realized?

Maybe this isn't the end of the path. But ze manages to arch hir head back far enough to get a glimpse up at the endless vertical stretch of the architecture, absurd in its scale, vanishing up into a single point in space beyond a layer of clouds so far up that they may as well have been pixels on a screen, and ze sees that this is indeed the wrong place and the wrong time.

I'm going to give up again. I'm going to stop trying again. It wasn't so bad in the water, floating around on the surface but never really breaking through. But even as ze mutters to hirself, the truth of the matter has already been decided, and bile rises in hir throat as ze realizes that an attempt at something so futile as this may not be worthwhile. Or maybe it is. Either way, in the end, you find that despite how gratingly alone you may feel, you aren't in solitude nearly as often as you think you are.

"Come up with me." The voice isn't startling. It's always a new one, but it says the same thing. It's the tone that really gets to hir. Sometimes sincere and sometimes otherwise, not like ze can ever tell the difference regardless.

"No," ze retorts, letting one hoof slip back down the slope.

The creature's slit eyes open up in what appears to be genuine surprise. "Oh."

"You can't help me. I'm in the wrong place."

"I don't think so."

'You don't get to tell me if I am or not."

"That's true...."

It's a nonsense conversation, the dragon lacking the entirety of context surrounding the boar's circumstances. Even if the discussion persisted for quite a while, it wouldn't understand beyond what is mostly universal, would it? But to say anything actually true to hirself would be to risk a level of vulnerability that ze's never quite known how to reign in. If it was called small talk, why did it always feel like hir lungs were set ablaze? A surface tension that can't be broken.

"...I can take you back down, then. So you don't have to fall, at least."

The offer almost makes hir laugh. Almost. "Frankly, I'd rather you just eat me at this point."

"Sure." It opens its maw.

The boar is genuinely surprised to have met someone who picks up on jokes even less often than hirself. Ze goes to scratch hir chin before realizing with a start that ze's still in a rather precarious situation, straightening up hir spine and smooshing her chest back up against the wall.

At some point in the moment of silence that follows, the dragon realizes its mistake and snaps its jaws shut with an audible clack. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry."

This time, the boar really does laugh. "You're fine."

Though the massive reptile's neck quickly disappears into a thick layer of fluffy white cumulus clouds, most of its body completely out of view, the boar gets the sense that its claws are shuffling uncomfortably in the grass so far below. The silence flows through both of their lungs on the next inhale, and the boar scoots up to stand along the edge of the flat plane, where there's a bit more room to shift around.

"I like the sound your hooves make," the dragon huffs.

"Oh, thanks. I liked the click of your teeth."

"Thanks."

There's another ten seconds or so of silence, and the shifting of the beast's claws grows slightly audible. But at least to the boar, it's not an uncomfortable silence, not really. Something about this thing in all its absurdity, its sheer size, the sharpness of its bladed face juxtaposed with its awkward expression, its fangs that jut out and give it a bit of a lisp, is really likable.

"I'm afraid that I like you." Why did I say that? What a stupid thing to say. You don't just tell people you like them. I wish you could.

"You don't have to be afraid of something like that," the dragon replies. This answer, while comforting, isn't convincing.

"I definitely do."

"You don't scare me."

"I'm not scary. I just like people a lot, but I'm not really good at showing it. I haven't had that many friends before, so I don't know how it works. I don't know how to connect with people, I don't know what I'm meant to say most of the time. Every version of myself that I've been before this very moment has been masked by some sort of complacency, some sort of veil of attempted normalcy that plagued me so deeply that I'd lost myself. And now I'm unpacking all these feelings I'd been trained to veil, and I don't know what to do with them. I'm not trying to complain or sound pathetic, it's not a self-pitying thing. I honestly like myself quite a bit, I just don't think I'm equipped for any of the situations I find myself in. I don't feel like the reality I was born into is one I can navigate so easily."

"Despite that, you've survived," says the dragon. "Though, you're kind of holding yourself back, don't you think?"

"Maybe so." I think of it just then, I think of what I have to do. It's the only way, really. Something I'd often been too stuck in my own head to ever really consider, and even on the rare occasion that I had, it didn't work out right. But the only way to find out if this time would be different is to try, and so I do. "Would you like to go sit on a rock with me somewhere?"

"A rock?"

"Yeah. Like, granite or something."

"I would love to. But um." The dragon shifts once more, this time with a bit more purpose as it leans in toward the boar. "I would still have to carry you. To get anywhere that has rocks, I mean."

"Oh." Ze hadn't really considered that, but the possibility of lounging in a dark enclosed space for a while was indeed enticing. "Yeah, that works."

"Anywhere that has rocks?"

"Anywhere that has rocks, yeah. Like a river or a forest or anything is fine, as long as we can both sit comfortably." The boar steps forward, a little cue that ze hopes might prompt the dragon, once again, to open up. Ze supposes its silly to rely on such things at this point. This, clearly, isn't someone who communicates through that muddling series of subtleties, a song and dance for which ze hadn't ever been quite able to get the footwork down, and yet would still attempt at times for the sake of acting as some sort of social chameleon.

It takes a second for the cue to click, or maybe the dragon is just unsure what to do with the near complete freedom of location. Eventually, it realizes it's time to go and opens its maw back up, and for the first time, the boar is able to see what's inside. To really see what's inside. Teal-green flesh and gums, metallic and slightly glittery in texture, accented pale minty green razor sharp teeth. A few are messy and chipped. And with that, the surface tension is broken, and the fluid of the beasts tongue engulfs hir, the wetness seeping into hir fur fully, not simply bouncing off. At first the sensation, alien and new, is unpleasant, and as ze squishes up against the beasts tongue as it closes its jaws around hir, ze shifts along the muscle and adjusts until a pattern settles. The grumbling of the great beast's throat as it lifts off. The relief of no longer teetering on that ledge as ze had so many times before. The fear that this might not last, that any expression of seeking longevity could come off as a bit too much for someone ze'd just met.

Though they hadn't just met, really, as ze recalled all the times before that the dragon had perched along that very ledge. Had it been the same one? Sometimes, probably. Not every time. This didn't really feel new, but it certainly felt more comfortable than times prior. Perhaps to credit this change to the dragon wasn't quite right. Perhaps it was hir own willingness to be vulnerable and ask the risky questions that rewarded hir with an experience that, while not new, didn't feel so scary this time. It feels stupid to admit that to myself in a way. I'd known all along that this would yield better results, so why, pray tell, was I so terrified? Why am I still so terrified?

Hir stomach drops as the beast's wings flap and it picks up speed, soaring through the endless sky, but its head stays mostly steady. And just as hir eyes begin to adjust to the darkness and the ridges along the roof of its mouth gleam a deep emerald jewel tone through the blackness, a beam of light shoots in with a gush of cold wind. The beast's teeth crack open just a bit, just enough to let the clouds enter its mouth and fill the space with dense fog, drenching hir in mist, the heat of the beast's body and the frost of the outside air swirling as one force of nature. The sensation reels through hir, and ze shudders as the beast's taste buds run along hir forearms. After it begins to run a bit cold, the teeth clack shut once again and dark warmth falls in again, that clicking sound of the sets of bones interlocking tingling in hir ears.

Something profound occurs to hir almost every day, it seems, and yet such things make progress only towards goals intangible to others. Something that lives in hir head and slams on a pane of glass and begs to be heard, but out loud it just sits there staring and waiting for an opportunity, waiting to be served something on a platter that isn't coming.

"I've known you for a long time, I think. I love you," says the boar. "I just want to tell you that, in case things go wrong somewhere down the line. I want you to know that, at least now, in this moment, I love you."

The dragon tries to respond, but finds that moving its tongue jostles the boar far too much, so it resorts simply to hugging the tiny creature with its tongue, curling each side up around hir body as a warm, wet blanket.

The silence is welcome this time.

[evilbihan]

Kuai Liang is not "nice"

This is technically the second part of my character analysis for Kuai Liang, so be sure to check out the first part focusing on Kuai Liang's personality, goals and his relationship with his brothers and Harumi.

This part will focus on how Kuai Liang treats other characters and upon closer inspection, the image of the "sweet wholesome guy everyone adores" that the fandom crafted for him starts to crumble very quickly.

Kitana and Mileena:

Mileena: My bond with Kitana can't be broken. Scorpion: I'd once thought the same of mine with Bi-Han.

Why exactly is Kuai Liang trying to make Mileena doubt Kitana's loyalty to her? We have all seen Kitana's tower ending. She has gone out of her way to secure her sister's reign, she defends Mileena fiercely and is genuinely worried about her. It upsets her to see other members of the court conspiring against her sister. Kitana is nothing but loyal to Mileena, in a way Kuai Liang was never loyal to Bi-Han.

"I'm disappointed in my brother's decisions and therefore everyone else's siblings suck too." That's not a healthy or mature mindset. He's projecting his own family issues onto Mileena and Kitana, who actually share a wholesome bond, and tries to create distrust and dispute where there is none. And why? Out of jealousy? It's hard to tell, but this was uncalled for.

It's particularly awful because Kitana is actually trying to help fix Kuai Liang's relationship with his own brother while it seems Kuai Liang is trying to ruin hers with Mileena.

Kitana: You've broken Kuai Liang's heart. Sub-Zero: It won't be the only part of him I damage.

Kitana: I understand congratulations are in order. Scorpion: How did news of my marriage reach Outworld?

Kitana: Weapons. Soldiers. Whatever you -- Scorpion: I have all that I need to defeat Bi-Han.

She's also offering him her and Outworld's support and is really just being nice to him, yet he never once shows gratitude and even tries to plant doubts about her in her sister's mind behind her back.

Nitara:

Scorpion: If you would only feed on lower species -- Nitara: Humans are a lower species.

"Lower species"? What species exactly is Kuai Liang talking about here? What's his definition of a lower species? Tarkatans? Netherrealmers? One could assume he means animals, but then why doesn't he say so? Instead, he's using a term that's often used in f*cist language. Who or what he's referring to isn't specified either, but it's definitely a questionable choice of words regardless.

Let's be honest, the mindset that there's "lower species" that are not deserving of life, as Kuai Liang basically implies by claiming Nitara should feed on them instead, says quite a lot about the kind of person he is. No matter what he's speaking of here, I still think this is pretty fucked up from any standpoint, especially because Kuai Liang doesn't explicitly say that he's talking about animals.

This is just my opinion, but even if he were to "only" be talking about animals here, I think it's downright wrong to say any animals are a "lower species", given the fact that we very much depend on certain animals for our own survival. Even if we give Kuai Liang the benefit of the doubt, he still sounds incredibly uneducated and ignorant. To not value the life of other creatures is not a good look on him, but then again we've seen how much he values his own brother's life so the bar is quite literally in hell.

Raiden:

Scorpion: Liu Kang's revelation has shaken my faith in him. Raiden: Understandable, given what he chose to hide.

Reptile: Am I right to put faith in Liu Kang? Scorpion: He's always proven worthy of mine.

Oh, has he now?

Kuai Liang is beginning to sound two-faced. He's certainly not conflicted because he still continues to follow Liu Kang and advices others to do the same. He also doesn't openly criticize or doubt Liu Kang like Tomáš and Bi-Han do. But he himself has lost some of his faith in Liu Kang, yet he judges Bi-Han for having done the same thing? Where does any of that make sense?

Bi-Han:

Scorpion: You would shed your brother's blood? Sub-Zero: Because you choose to stand in my way.

The first blood shed was Bi-Han's, not Kuai Liang's, but because Bi-Han doesn't bear a visible scar, no one acknowledges that.

Kuai Liang is once again showing manipulative behavior here. Blaming everything on his brother and pretending he did nothing wrong. Guilt tripping Bi-Han for something he himself has done.

Kuai Liang's actions are not even the biggest problem here. You can somehow justify what he did with him being hurt/angry when he found out about the true circumstances of his father's death. It's the fact that he refuses to take any responsibility for what he did and acts completely innocent although he's anything but, that shows he's not who the fandom makes him out to be.

Even Bi-Han stands by what he does. Kuai Liang can't even own up to his actions.

Liu Kang:

Liu Kang: You allow vengeance to consume you. Scorpion: I should not punish Bi-Han for his crimes?

So, Liu Kang seems concerned with Kuai Liang's thirst for vengeance. What's even more noteworthy is that we have Kuai Liang, a mortal, speak to Liu Kang, a literal god, about punishing someone else as if he's entitled to do so? Should it not be up to Liu Kang to decide whether Bi-Han deserves forgiveness or punishment? Do we need to add a god complex to the list of Kuai Liang's flaws?

There's nothing honorable about vengeance. It's honorable to be the bigger person and to forgive.

As Chinese philosopher Confucius said:

“Love thy neighbour as thyself: Do not do to others what thou wouldst not wish be done to thyself: Forgive injuries. Forgive thy enemy, be reconciled to him, give him assistance, invoke God in his behalf.”

Kuai Liang has none of that honor he claims to value.

Tanya:

Tanya: Liu Kang says we can trust you. Kuai Liang: As long as Outworld's goals don't conflict with Earthrealm's.

Let me translate it: "No, you can't. I'll stop being a reliable ally and might betray you as soon as our interests no longer align." Which is fair enough, he doesn't owe Outworld his loyalty. It's, however, funny that that's exactly what Bi-Han did with Liu Kang/Earthrealm too, but for some reason Kuai Liang is still delusional enough to think he's a more honorable man than his brother?

Kung Lao:

Kung Lao: I bet I could be Shirai Ryu. Scorpion: First, you must learn humility.

Also Scorpion:

Ashrah: I'd do well to follow your example. Scorpion: Then start by studying my kombat.

Quan Chi: Your brother told me of all your weaknesses. Scorpion: A short conversation, sorcerer?

Kuai Liang is a hypocrite who doesn't practice what he preaches. These are just two of many dialogues in which he comes off as overly confident and boastful. He will try to force his own values and ideals onto others but will not uphold them himself. These dialogues are not even the only example of his hypocrisy, but more of that to come later.

Smoke and the Shaolin monks:

Scorpion: Was it worth it, training with the Shaolin? Smoke: Let me show you what I learned.

Yet another example for Kuai Liang's arrogance. "Was it worth it?" What's that even supposed to mean? Admittedly, this might not sound as bad compared to everything else he's said but I invite you to go and listen to this specific intro and pay attention to the tone of his voice. To me, it very much sounds like, as a former Lin Kuei, he thinks there's nothing the monks can teach him and Tomáš anymore and therefore he sees training with them as a waste of time. Overall, Kuai Liang seems to hold little respect for his allies. He might not outright say it, but there's definitely a superiority complex there.

Johnny:

Scorpion: Your mansion was unduly extravagant. Johnny Cage: It came with the megastardom. Package deal.

What gives Kuai Liang the right to judge Johnny for what he does with his money that he's earned from his movies? Judging people and acting like he has the moral high ground over them in any situation is something Kuai Liang does a lot. That alone might not automatically make him a bad person, but it's tasteless and impolite nonetheless.

Johnny Cage: With your skills you'd be a hit, Kuai Liang. Scorpion: Do I look like an entertainer?

Again, if you listen to the actual intro, the distaste in his voice is obvious. He seems to not have much respect for Johnny's profession or for most of his allies' professions, really. Remember his reaction to Tomáš training with the Shaolin monks?

Rain:

Scorpion: Like a dog, you bit the hand that fed you. Rain: You've no right to judge me, Earthrealmer.

He doesn't -- because did Kuai Liang not do the same to Bi-Han? It doesn't matter that Bi-Han chose the wrong side, Kuai Liang's oath was to his grandmaster, not to Earthrealm. Bi-Han broke his oath to Earthrealm and by breaking his own oath to his brother, Kuai Liang is no better. And as I already explained in the first part of my analysis, Kuai Liang always meant to overthrow Bi-Han, even before Bi-Han abandoned his duties to defend Earthrealm. Bi-Han gave in to corruption and became a traitor, Kuai Liang was always a traitor in disguise. Kuai Liang is yet again being a hypocrite in this situation and displays double standards.

Kenshi:

Scorpion: Do not let Sento become a crutch. Kenshi: I could win this fight with or without it.

Does anyone else think this comment sounds a lot like ableism? Who is he to tell a disabled man how to handle his disability? Kenshi is a badass, he's proven that countless of times and he doesn't need Kuai Liang's advice, but Kuai Liang has a habit of acting like he knows better than others.

Bi-Han (again):

Shang Tsung: It was all too simple, pulling your brother's strings. Kuai Liang: It sickens me that he was so easily exploited.

Bi-Han fell victim to Shang Tsung's manipulation, yet here Kuai Liang is, blaming the victim. Meanwhile, Tomáš:

Smoke: I rue the day I ever met you. Quan Chi: No sense dwelling on the past, Tomáš.

Tomáš regrets ever meeting the sorcerers because he rightfully blames the people responsible for this whole mess, Shang Tsung and Quan Chi, not Bi-Han. Kuai Liang is miles away from the same level of emotional maturity Tomáš has.

Scorpion: "Bi-Han's trail has led me to Sun Do." Li Mei: "I'll abide no vigilante justice, Kuai Liang."

Scorpion: If you know where he is, tell me. General Shao: As if I would spill your brother's secrets.

Scorpion: I need help to find Bi-Han. Johnny Cage: Y'know I was only a TV detective, right?

Kuai Liang is making his own family feud everyone else's problem.

SPOILERS: At the same time, when Bi-Han will crash Kuai Liang's wedding in the dlc according to leaks, Kuai Liang will "apologize" to those who attended that they got dragged into his war with Bi-Han, once again painting his brother as the villain. Could he be any more duplicitous? I think the main reason why Smoke is not mentioned in any leaks is because the writers might deliberately not want him to be there because the way Kuai Liang acts (wanting to kill Frost, leaving Bi-Han to suffer and die) would go against everything Tomáš believes in and they can't have someone make Scorpion look bad, so they decided to just have Tomáš not be there at all. If that doesn't say it all, I don't know what will.

Kuai Liang:

Scorpion: I won't be consumed by vengeance. Scorpion: How can your father's death not burn you.

You know it's bad when your own alternate self starts judging you and criticizing your ways.

Geras:

Scorpion: I want to see the moment my father died. Geras: You are not ready to receive that knowledge.

I wonder why Geras denied Kuai Liang's request. Is he concerned that actually witnessing the event will make Kuai Liang lose his mind completely and he will make even more of an effort to kill Bi-Han? He surely seems to think Kuai Liang is too unstable to receive that information. But then again, Kuai Liang already wants to kill Bi-Han, he already tried to do it and he already knows what happened. When will he be ready in Geras' opinion? Once he already forgave Bi-Han (which seems like it won't happen at all)? Would that not just reignite his old hatred? Could it be that there's more to the death of Kuai Liang's father than we know? Is there something Geras is trying to hide from Kuai Liang on purpose?

Ashrah:

Ashrah: Bi-Han can be redeemed. Scorpion: I don't see how that's possible.

It sounds a lot like Kuai Liang doesn't want it to be possible. He wants to deny his brother a chance at redemption. He's also once again acting like he knows better than everyone else. It's getting to the point where he seems self-righteous and out of touch with reality.

So, tell me again, after all that, why are we calling Kuai Liang a nice guy?

To conclude this, Kuai Liang only appears "nice" in direct comparison to Bi-Han, not necessarily because he's a better person, he's just the more agreeable one of the two. Take Bi-Han out of the picture and it's plain to see Kuai Liang is really not that nice. I also don't see how Kuai Liang is the poor, traumatized victim that never did anything wrong in his life, as fans like to describe him as. Yes, he suffered as well, but victims can also become aggressors. There are plenty of situations in which that's the case for Kuai Liang. Again, this is not hate or an attempt to completely demonize him, just to show that the fandom has a wrong idea of who Kuai Liang is and what he's like.

[spinnysocks]

hey *throws toxic tragic kiburi x ushari au at you*

kiburi wants to become the leader of his float. a snake has some bigger ideas for him. ushari says that kiburi can become leader of the pridelands too, then crocodiles will finally be respected to his standards. ushari wants respect for all reptiles. kiburi doesn't mind that. he believes him.

the plan fails, and he has nothing but his friends now. kiburi finds ushari, who offers him something in return for keeping his life. kiburi should kill him, but he doesn't.

kiburi meets scar, who ushari has complete trust in. if he follows scar, he could rule someday. with ushari by his side, reptiles could finally be respected. trusting him is working in his favour.

the army never wins. kiburi can feel every bruise, cut and scrape that doesn't have a chance to heal. he can see the weariness in his float from fighting every day. the pressure is destroying them all. ushari never gains a single tear in his perfect scales. scar rants and rages about how the army isn't good enough. ushari never has to face scar's wrath. maybe he was wrong to trust him, but there's no turning back now, there is nothing else. and traitors are no better than dead.

janja turns against them. he survives their attempt to kill him and finds happiness somehow. there is no peace for the army, so they're sure he was never really one of them. kiburi doesn't feel any guilt. scar promises this is the last battle to win the pridelands. ushari is sure of it, so kiburi is too.

and he was right. the army wins the very moment that ushari's venom infects kion's mind. there is nothing that the pridelanders can do. for once, there is victory for the army. for once, there is peace.

fire quickly takes over every patch of land in sight. all of it is theirs. kiburi's float will never have to get another wound again. they will never have to go hungry again. they will never have to share again. they will never be unhappy again. kiburi is glad he trusted ushari.

until all the lands had nothing left. there isn't enough water. his float are gone. kiburi barely manages to get by. this is all ushari's fault. such a smart snake should have known better.

ushari tricked him. those comforting words of ruling the lands were all false promises. everything was a lie, it must have been. scar's reign meant nothing could survive. such a smart snake should have known that.

ushari betrayed him, so kiburi makes sure he brings justice.

[cityofmeliora]

Help I'm somewhat new to the fandom WHO is Bishop Necropolitus and why is he shipped with Terzo I'm so fucking confused sorry😭😭😭 please give me all the lore I'm so lost I thought the whole fandom agreed that Terzomega was endgame

Bishop Necropolitus Cracoviensis II is an obscure canon Ghost character who represents Zbigniew Bielak, a Polish artist/architect who draws the album art for Ghost.

he is shipped with Terzo because his only official lore is him recalling the time he spent with Terzo in Kraków, where Terzo served as a cardinal. they had a lot of fun together, partying and studying. and Necropolitus has a lot of admiration and respect for Terzo and speaks of him very very fondly.

Bp. Necropolitus Cracoviensis remembers: “…our relationship goes a long way back to the times before his papacy, that is when he was still a cardinal in my hometown, in Cracovia…(…) Although we had our share of juvenile recklessness - be it indulging his beloved cream pies - allegedly verging on six hundred sixty six portions a year but that must be a rumor I believe, or wild parties at the attic of seminary school (laughs) - even in his formative years, he remained a focused man of vision, looking far into the future, always addressing his people’s needs and longings to keep our church together in those turbulent, rapidly changing times (…) there were so many temptations to syndicate among our good people (…) (…) We would sit down to studying exciting Futurist manifestos, sketched the blueprints of utopian metropoles, spiked with shiny skyscrapers stabbing at the heavens belly�� Wantonly swollen zeppelins would to carry our gospel of indulgence to the farthest corners of the globe to summon and enslave. (…) Forged in nostalgia of steam and fire, this brave new world of ambition, vice, lust and greed - all so inherent to the enlightened modernity, was always with him through all these years. And it is now - when our church continues to grow stronger and wealthier under wise reign of Papa Emeritus III - that these visions may finally be witnessed and embraced in the preachings of ‘Meliora’ - his most contemporary and humane Encyclical.” (https://www.facebook.com/thebandghost/posts/994031900615606)

idk seems kinda gay :/

we don't know what he looks like. there are a few pictures of him at his work station, but all you can see is that he wears all black and wears black gloves. he seems to be fond of reptiles, having a taxidermied snake and an alligator head that he uses as a pen holder.

via Facebook / via Instagram

during Terzo's album era, Necropolitus was in Poland still serving as a bishop. and he still does the album art for Ghost.

that's all of the canon lore for Necropolitus.

[scientistservant]

I have never heard of the Dark Crystal until I saw your posts. What is it about, and what do you like about it?

Oh ho?

Sit down, anon, and let me tell you the tale of... The Dark Crystal.

*theme music plays*

In a world called Thra, there exists a powerful gem called the Crystal of Truth. It is in tune to all of Thra, including the planet's most civilized race, the Gelfling.

A thousand years ago, new beings came to Thra: the Skeksis. The Skeksis, wise, hedonistic and benevolent, were tasked with protecting the Crystal of Truth by Thra's avatar/mother-nature of sorts, Mother Aughra. Because of their wisdom the Skeksis also ruled over the Gelfling and their seven Clans, while Aughra journeyed the stars and space.

But one day, the Crystal cracked, causing the Crystal to become corrupted, and a miasma, the Darkening, to spread throughout Thra. In an attempt to fix the Crystal, the Skeksis discovered Essence - the soul or life-force of every creature on Thra. Instead of taking life from the Crystal, they decided to take life from something else - the Gelfling. Because the Gelfling are the closest creatures to Thra, their Essence is pure, more potent.

The Skeksis became obsessed with Essence, and obsessed with draining Gelfling, killing them and drinking their Essence to obtain eternal life and youthfulness. All Skeksis, but the Emperor especially, were terrified of death. For when Skeksis die they do not return to Thra.

And so, a genocide occurred, and all Gelfling perished.

All but one. For there was a prophecy, told of a young Gelfling named Jen, who is destined to heal the Crystal and bring the Skeksis reign to an end!

What I love about The Dark Crystal is its world-building and characters. Its cast isn't just black and white in morality, it's more than that. The protagonists can make mistakes, and so can the antagonists. The Skeksis were good once upon a time, they once cared about the Gelfling, but their greed and fear of death overtook them. Thra is beautiful with many different settings and wildlife, even the Castle of the Crystal is gorgeous with it's fantastical and alien gothic architecture.

I'm mainly talking about the prequel series, Age of Resistance, here. It was made almost 40 years after the original 1982 film, but unlike many modern sequels and prequels it's not a cash grab at all; it was made with love and respect to the original, expanding on the world of Thra. Not saying the original film was bad, it's a wonderful piece of media! I just think it's lacking a bit in world-building and context, and Age of Resistance helps immensely.

As for characters, I'll be talking about the Skeksis, Gelfling, and Mother Aughra. There are other characters and creatures too, but I don't want to venture into spoiler territory!

The Skeksis

As I said above, the Skeksis are not from Thra. They are reptile-like alien vultures with a very hedonistic lifestyle. They adore food, various forms of entertainment, the most lavish of robes, and being praised for their wisdom and status as Lords of the Crystal.

Each Skeksis has a title and role they must uphold. For example, the Ornamentalist makes his fellow Lords' robes and decor for the Castle, while the Scroll-Keeper is in charge of the Castle library and keeps records of tomes and scrolls going back a thousand years of Skeksis rule.

All the Skeksis are important and unique, but the most popular and well-known by far is the Chamberlain. He has a "whimper" as a tic and speaks in slight broken English, yet is the craftiest, manipulative, and cunning of the Skeksis. A very Starscream/Littlefinger-type character, he's fantastic to watch. (He's one of my favourite characters, but not my top favourite, that honour goes to the Scroll-Keeper.)

The Gelfling

The Gelfling are small, elf-like humanoids that vary in looks, culture and skill between their seven different species/Clans. There is the Stonewood, Vapran, Drenchen, Spriton, Dousan, Sifan, and Grottan. Unfortunately, many Gelfling tend to be xenophobic and untrustworthy towards other Clans, though some do manage to become friends despite their differences. Most Gelfling are also illiterate, but there are a very small few that can read and write.

Gelfling are the closest beings to Thra, and have the special ability to Dreamfast with one another - a rather intimate gesture that allows them to share their memories and thoughts by touching hands.

They also differ between genders; female Gelfling have wings, while male Gelfling do not.

Because of their small noses and large eyes and ears, some of the fandom tend to call Gelfling "fairy mice", even giving them whiskers and tails!

Mother Aughra

Mother Aughra is Thra, and Thra is Mother Aughra. She is as old as the planet itself, and perhaps as old as the Crystal of Truth, too. She is connected to the Crystal, able to tell when it is healthy and when it is not.

She and the Skeksis used to be friends, admiring their wisdom and beauty, yet that all ended when she discovered what they had done to the Crystal of Truth.

Aughra is sassy and somewhat grumpy, yet she loves and cares for all the creatures of Thra, especially the Gelfling, who see her as a mother-figure. She has the ability to remove her one eye and use it to spy on others or to see things up close, even from far away.

If you enjoy the fantasy genre, puppets, practical effects, and alien worlds, I highly, highly recommend The Dark Crystal and The Dark Crystal Age of Resistance! There are also graphic novels, and YA novels by J.M Lee.

The world of Thra must never die!

[sinimake]

MK1 is such a bizarre experience bc on one hand some characters have benefited a lot from the "universe reset" (Baraka, Reptile, even arguably Shao who is less than a muahahaha conquer villain but someone who actually seems to care about his realm?). Others kind of raise interesting questions, like Shang Tsung : is he doomed to be bad or can he be good for a change? (In the story he choses to become a snake-oil salesman before joining the imperial family + there is an Union of Light Shang Tsung so him being good is a thing that could happen).

But then, instead of using that full reset NRS just leaves some things the same? Like. It's a reset. In 2023/2023. That was the perfect moment for implementing some (maybe not lots) changes. Perhaps starting making Johnny canonically bi? Just a small ripple towards a bigger change? Instead of getting stuck in same old ways?

YOW EXACTLY

Things i loved about Mk1 change:

Mileena and Kitana sibling relationship

Rain's character design

Tanya and Mileena!!!!

Sindel being badass empress and outworld thriving in peace under her reign

Baraka and Syzoth on the good side!!

Kenshi's yakuza past

Geras and Liu Kang's friendship! Liu Kang actually treating Geras as his equal 🥺 and Geras being so loyal to him 😫😭

Shang Tsung's zitsy behavior

Lin Kuei brothers 🥺

What i hate:

Hanzo being a kid and essentially everything about him being handed to Kuai Liang

Kung Lao being the second best again

Raiden and Kitana romance

Mileena and Tanya having the barest screen time

Controversial opinionated rant down below

I hated that they essentially just switched Liu Kang and Raiden's places. I started MK1 right after MK11 that i was furious to see Raiden chosen as the champion (IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN MY BOY KUNG LAO LET HIM SHINE ISTG) and then flirting with Kitana with Liu Kang's exact line (I hope we meet again under different circumstances)??? Tf??

I understand that some plot elements are too good to change but character romances? Don't replace one side of the pairing, then try to serve it to the audience again! Reboot should give us more variety of character designs, stories, dynamics, and relationships. Give us the genderbent, queer, poc characters BC YOU'RE NOT EVEN SACRIFICING ANYTHING when we literally have infinite alternative timelines you can recall classics from. For example, we have our human Raiden and old man titan Raiden. We can do variety. I wanna see female Fujin, i wanna see Scorpion Harumi and fighter Suchin, i want actual deserved queer representation in Kung Jin, and i. wanna. see. canon Johnshi!

My hypothesis is that NRS is gonna bring in mk children through dimensional travel so that they don't need to age up our current characters. I'm saying this to push my point further that we don't need to repeat romance plotlines (dont come at me. I have bais just as you have bais for ur fav old pairings)

Listen, i loved Sonya and Johnny in previous games, her and Cassie were a huge part of Johnny's character arc, but since Johnny is already maturing by the end of mk1, i don't see a point in Cageblade anymore (very controversial but it's my blog so i will yap as much as i want) We are not erasing anything by possibly making Johnny queer. Johnny and Sonya can be married in different timeline and Cassie is still their child. If anything, we are enriching the character, expanding the universe. Really, I don't wanna buy the exact same game story in different graphics. I don't want to see Suchin die again just to serve Kenshi and Takeda's dynamic.

And don't even get me started again on heteronormality of the game. We have 6 realms that have diverse variety of biological and sociological configurations AND YOU'RE TELLING ME THEY ARE ALL HETEROSEXUAL?? NRS is a fucking pussy for not having enough queer representation. They think they can give us vague "blink, you will miss it" moments and move on. There are so many high selling good games with good lgbtq characters. Literal 2023's the game of the year, BG3 is so fucking gay that it's off to space and you're telling me that NRS is just going 🥺👉👈 but our fans 🥺👉👈

Anyways, NRS can eat shit and Johnshi for the president 🤘

[dalekofchaos]

I am not happy about Sektor and Cyrax's change from Cyborgs to power suits.

I am very excited for Khaos Reigns.

But I am not a fan of the redesign of Sektor and Cyrax.

I could care less that they changed their genders. But.... Jade, Sareena, Jataaka, Kia, Skarlet, Cassie & Jacqui and Khameleon were all right there.

I'm all for new interpretations of the characters, especially since this game is all about the multiverse, but MK1 has been building up to Countess Jade and Sareena has this great redesign that's wasted as a cameo.

Also? We have the perfect design from MK11 that they refused to let us play as and the new designs feel like a downgrade

And honestly MK9 did this better. Cyrax resisting automation while Sektor was fully prepared to lose his humanity to be a more efficient assassin. Cyrax gets his redemption in MK11(pointlessly killed because Ed didn't want us to play as him 🙃)

But we're doing this AGAIN for the sake of multiverse bullshit that I'm already tired of.

Also, if this is Sektor

Who the HELL is this from Sub-Zero's ending?

But what really bothers me is the change in design and going from Cyborgs to Iron Man Suits.

They took away all the depth and tragedy that came with the cyber initiative program and just made it....people in bodysuits...

So much for "gore is an important part of MK"…… Cyber Initiative was one of the biggest body horror elements of MK

It was such a traumatic event that left people scarred for life. The process of having no say in it then getting dismembered and replacing your body with machine was pure horror. Now it's just Iron Man army.

The main elephant in the room, the gender swapping, doesn’t really bother me. But taking away that fact that they’re cyborgs is mind boggling. That’s the main thing Sektor and Cyrax are known for!

It was such a terrifying and important moment in Lin Kuei history and really spoke to the lengths that Kuai Liang went to reform the Lin Kuei. It was one of the most scary and gruesome aspects of Mk, which is what mk is all about. I'm tried of these sterile and watered down versions of these characters.

If I'm being honest, storywise. The "new era" sucks in almost every way. There are good things like redeeming Sindel, Mileena being good and having a proper sisterly relationship with Kitana, Li Mei, Reptile and Ashrah. But everything else? No. Making Kuai Liang Scorpion was bafflingly stupid. Like why couldn't they just have the Lin Kuei and Shirai Ryu be at peace? Liu Kang's new era amounted to changing but the same shit happens anyway.

It just tells the same beats over and over again. It would've been really cool if they actually told a new and different Mortal Kombat with actually different versions of the characters or entirely new characters altogether. But in every way it's just the old story but with at best slight, insignificant alterations and at worst alterations that fail to account for what made the old stuff actually cool and interesting. It should have actually did something with Liu Kang making The Great Kung Lao his champion and that should have resulted with a new story in an early era. But they refused to take risks.

[starboltz]

Since a new TADC teaser came out, I really wanted to do an analysis of this post by gooseworx.

To start off with, in the quick flash of new characters we see in the trailer, 3 of them are seen in the teaser image - those being the cowgirl ghost, the candy princess, and the bubble man. The only character we don't see is the frog-looking character.

While not obvious by the reflection, the round part of the ghosts head is likely a hat, as seen in the teaser on the cowgirl ghost. I am fairly sure that both of these ghosts are the same character based on the dress silhouette of the reflection, and the design of the upper body of the ghost in the teaser. (If I am wrong about the ghost's gender and/or pronouns, I will edit this post.) I find it incredibly interesting that this is the most humanistic character yet on TADC.

The next character, the candy princess, has a silhouette that is very easy to match to the reflection. The only major difference is that her gloves and upper part of her skirt are a darker pink, but that could be due to lighting. She is very likely the princess of Candy Canyon Kingdom. If not, she's definitely royalty of some sort because of her crown. I did see a few people think that she was going to be similar to a betty spaghetti toy, but now that we see her in her natural setting, it seems like her arms are more like cake pops. The rest of her body seems to be a neat amalgamation of cake and other candies.

I don't have much to say about the bubble man, other than he appears to be a customer at Spudsy's - where Jax is being forced to work for minimum wage. If you look closely, you can see Jax's reflection in the bubble man's face. His (or it's? again if I'm wrong I'll change it later) reflection counterpart is a much darker blue, which again could be lighting, but it could also mean that other customers at Spudsy's are bubble people. (Also I love how Spudsy's is a ripoff/homage of McDonald's, hopefully it'll make for some good satire of the fast food industry).

While we don't see the frog character from Gooseworx' teaser image, a lot of people theorized that it is some sort of gummy frog or reptile, which makes sense when it comes to one of the other characters announced in the teaser trailer.

The gummy gator appears to be in the Candy Canyon Kingdom, and looks to be some sort of cowboy or guide. He has a white belly similar to the frog, which is why I think they exist in the same storyline/location. Something hard to see in the trailer is that he starts fading to green from yellow around his shoulders. It's hard to tell what he's holding, but it's very possible it is reigns.

Another character from Candy Canyon Kingdom is the chocolate ooze monster, who looks similar in style to the gloink queen. I love the details of candy corn teeth and jawbreaker eyes. It's difficult to tell if this will be the big boss of Candy Canyon Kingdom, or just an obstacle for the TADC crew.

A fourth character from the Candy Canyon Kingdom is revealed in the teaser, and that is the periwinkle drawing mannequin. It seems to be the only character from the CCK that is not made of candy, which leads to some questions. In the teaser it is screaming its head off, so it's likely it is running from the chocolate ooze monster.

Going back to the cowgirl ghost, another cute little ghost appears. It doesn't really have any defining features other than its puppy-like face, but its a ghost, so it works. This is the only other character in the western ghost town story revealed in the teaser. Though the gummy gator looks like a cowboy, I think the ghosts appear in a different location from the Candy Canyon Kingdom.

The last character I haven't talked about is the tape recorder. It doesn't really look like an animate character, but if TADC has taught me anything, inanimate objects can always become animate characters. It's hard to tell what storyline it's from, but based on the lighting, it's from the western ghost town storyline. One of the most unnerving things about it is that it is one of the most realistic looking characters in the entire show.

Overall, 4 characters were revealed for the Candy Canyon Kingdom storyline, 3(ish) characters for the western ghost town storyline, and 1 character for the Spudsy's storyline. I personally don't think all of these storylines and characters will appear in the same episodes, unless the TADC crew is split up like in ep 1. The Candy Canyon Kingdom and the Spudsy's storylines definitely don't, because Jax can be seen in the wagon, along with (at least) Pomni, Gangle, and Kinger, in the large image shot of CCK in the teaser. (I have no clue what kind of gummy animal is pulling the wagon.)

I also wanted to briefly talk about the unfinished location that Caine showed in the teaser. My first thought was that it was a baseball stadium, but after further inspection the field seems a bit off to be a baseball field. Regardless it definitely is set up to be a performance space, whether it be a theatre or arena of sorts. From the design, I don't think it connects to the other locations revealed in the trailer.

If you've made it this far, thanks for reading my theories on this teaser! If you have any thoughts, please comment or reblog to let me know!

[kombatkid]

Animalities are back!

I’ve already raved about them but I thought I should compile all the ones shown so far…

Confirmed animalities:

Mileena - Mantis

Smoke - Gorilla 🦍

Kitana - Hummingbird

Takeda - Octopus 🐙

Sektor - Rhino 🦏

Cyrax - Wasp 🐝

Noob Saibot - Crocodile 🐊

Reptile - Venus Flytrap (no idea why)

Johnny Cage - Shark 🦈

Homelander - Griffin

Omni Man - Kaiju

General Shao - Bear 🐻

Reiko - Ram 🐏

Peacemaker - Eagle 🦅 (for obvious reasons)

Rain - Blowfish 🐡

Sindel - Spider 🕷️

Kenshi - Wolf 🐺 (my fave character as my fave animal)

Sub-Zero - Mammoth 🦣

Li-Mei - Panda 🐼

Scorpion - namesake 🦂

Liu Kang - Phoenix

Havik - Hyena

Geras - Hippo 🦛

Kung Lao - Tiger 🐅

Quan Chi - T-Rex 🦖

Ashrah - Unicorn 🦄

Tanya - Giraffe 🦒

Shang Tsung - Snake 🐍 (for obvious reasons)

Baraka - Porcupine

Raiden - Electric ⚡️ Eel (for obvious reasons)

Nitara - Bat 🦇 (for obvious reasons)

Ermac - Locust swarm

Ghostface - Vulture

We have all our animalities! We just need the other guest characters to complete the list…

Today, Let Khaos Reign!

[thisonehere]

can you write a fluffy, romantic sfw ashrah/reptile? maybe they horseback ride to somewhere secluded for a date or something, or you can have complete free reign over the plot if that idea isnt interesting to you

A Moment Away

Angelscales fic

A/n: Of Course! I love the idea, it's so cute!!! 🥺

Tags: Request, MK1, SFW, Fluff, Drabble, One-Shot, Unicorns, Syzoth is a horse-girly and none of you can convince me otherwise!!!

C/W: none

"Are you sure it's necessary for me to wear this" Ashrah asked.

"You don't have to," Syzoth felt his face burn red with blush as he looked at the blindfold. "I just heard Earthrealmers do this for-you know-surprises." It was noon at the Wu Shi Academy, and the sun had already begun to set. Ashrah had planned to turn in for the night, perhaps do some light reading. That was until Syzoth came. She had thought she wouldn't see him for another month, his duties with the Empress kept him busy like that. She was so happy to see him. She greeted him with a smile, and he greeted her with a blindfold, saying he had a surprise.

"We could try it I suppose." She gently takes the blindfold from Syzoth. "Do I just..." She looks at it unsure. "Um, yeah. Here, let me just-'" he takes back the cloth and goes behind her. The cloth is a random ripped piece of fabric he found. Syzoth didn't think much of it at first, but now that he was about to use it on Ashrah, he felt bad. He should have gotten her something nicer to use maybe the Empress would've given him some silk. This occasion isn't that big, but perhaps she deserves something nicer, or that would be too much, Syzoth didn't know at the moment.  "It's not too tight, right?" an anxious Syzoth softly whispers into her ear. "No," Ashrah returns his question with just as soft a voice. "It's just fine."

"What now?" The world was dark for Ashrah now, she felt the cool breeze tickle her skin. "Now,"  She feels Syzoth's hand takes her. "Now you just follow me." For a moment, they stand there holding hands, the warm sensation of his hands, as they touch her, brings a smile to Ashrah's face, what a strange feeling, Ashrah if she likes the feeling or hates it. When he felt she was ready, Syzoth began to lead Ashrah away. He took great care in leading her, making sure not to get too fast, not too slow, being cautious where he had her step as he guided her up and down stairs and courtyards. "What exactly is this Surprise, Syzoth? Surely it can't be worth all of this."

"Oh, but it is, and If I told you, then it'd ruin the Surprise." If she could see Syzoth, she'd see a giant grin on his face, a face filled with so much excitement that you'd think it'd burst. "It's just a little further." He muses as he is careful through the Academy. a while later they find their way nearly outside the Wu Shi at its gates. A second later, Ashrah can feel the satisfying crunch of grass and leaves as they continue to trudge along. The familiar scent of pine trees and the sound of birds told Ashrah that they were in the woods now. Just where is he taking me? Ashrah thinks to herself, she couldn't lie that the anticipation was eating at her.

"Are we almost there?" She asks after a few more minutes of what feels like neverending walking. Syzoth remains silent for a second, then she feels his hand slip out of hers. "Yes, we're here. Uh, just a second." She hears him quickly shuffle around something as if he's fixing something. Then there's a quiet shushing noise like he's shushing something. "Alright, you can take it off."

Gently, Ashrah took off the blindfold and she was met with two dark eyes like hers, a main of white hair, and a glistened iridescent horn at the centre of the forehead. "Syzoth," Ashrah gasped. The Unicorn tilted its head at Ashrah. She took a single step forward, the beautiful creature nearly took her breath away. "She's beautiful." She sighed, a her face lit up with awe, it made Syzoth smile.

Her white mane was decorated with wildflowers Syzoth picked from a nearby meadow. Soft Blues, pinks, reds and yellows as well as some violets complimented the stead's white coat well, making it all the more enchanting to look upon.

Ashrah took another careful step forward. "Where did you find her?" Ashrah stared into the unicorn's black eyes, she was entranced with the mare. She stood there unsure what to do. Syzoth took Ashrah's hand and he gently guided her hand to the neck of the unicorn and he showed her how to pet her. The Unicorn didn't protest this, she gave a low knicker as it felt Ashrah's hand caress her neck. "I didn't, she found me. I was on my journey back to meet with the Empress, she followed me all the way to the palace." Syzoth beamed at the unicorn as he continued to guide Ashrah's hand.

The unicorn's mane was soft, so soft. Ashrah wondered if this was what the clouds of heaven felt like to be touched, an elated laugh escaped her mouth, and the smile on her face got wider. "Shall we?" Syzoth tenderly whispered to his demon. "Shall we what?" Her ears twitched as she looked over to him. "Mount her, I have something else I'd like to show you." Syzoth's voice is warm and low. "Another surprise?" She mutters as she eyes the lack of the second horse, they would have to ride together.

"Allow me." He takes her hand and guides her to the side of Lo. His hands are tender as he places them on her hips. He lifts her up and places her onto the back of the horse, surprising himself with how smoothly he did it. Once Ashrah is situated, Syzoth pulls himself up and places himself on the horse's loin.

“Where to?" Ashrah strokes the neck of the mare with care, still amazed by the fact that she is in its presence. Its rainbow horn glows softly in the rays of the evening that breaks through the trees, it mesmerizes Ashrah, and she pauses for a moment to admire it. "Actually, Lo knows where to go. She’ll take us there.” Ashrah stops caressing the unicorn and sits upright. “You named her 'Lo'?" Ashrah asked surprised. "It's...a long story..." A sheepish smile finds its way onto Syzoth's face, he lovingly pats Lo with a chuckle as a brief memory flashes before his eyes.

"Shall we?" Immediately, Lo springs into a trot, causing Ashrah to gasp and grip the mane a little too tight. The most riding Ashrah has ever done were demonic stead's of the NetheRealm, they had curling horns like rams and a vicious attitude, not a long flowing mane with rainbows spilling out of it. This felt like a whole new experience. She feels the warmth of one of Syzoth's arms draped around her in a protective embrace while the free arm grips Lo's mane.

"I'm a demon from NetheRealm, Syzoth. There's no need for that." Ashrah insisted. Despite this, Syzoth didn't stop holding him. Frankly, it inspired him to squeeze a little harder Lo navigated through giant twisting trees and their large tree roots sitting through the ground. "That won't stop me. I care quite a great deal about your safety."

"I hadn't noticed." Ashrah lets go of the mane, her hands rest themselves onto Syzoth's arm as she leans back into him.

Lo gets more confident as she picks up her pace ever so slightly. After a few more moments of winding in between trees and leaping over low-hanging vines, she makes her way to a clear. Before them now are miles and miles of lush green grass with tall and proud trees standing on either side providing shade. Lo slowed her gallops to a relaxed amble.

It was evening time and the sky above showed it. The clouds were dyed soft pinks and oranges as they drifted through the sky. The evening light painted the tips of the trees a similar colour to the sky, giving Ashrah and Syzoth quite a lot to admire as they rode. Especially Ashrah. Syzoth had lived most of his life on the surface with his circus family. He has seen thousands of sunsets just like these. Ashrah was just now given that luxury. When she was younger, when looked up to the skies all she saw was darkness and cinder. Now she sees the blue sky as it slowly fades to purple behind pinks and oranges.

She closes her eyes and takes in the scent of cool, fresh air seasoned with pine. This beat the scent of sulfur, brimstone mixed with the blood of the tortured damned by a long shot.

Ashrah enjoyed the scent of fresh air, but Syzoth enjoyed the scent of Ashrah. It had been so long since he last saw her, too long. It's been too long since he enjoyed a moment of peace. It is an honour to serve Empress Mileena, but it can be quite a troubling task. It often feels like he has to be in 100 places at once. He leans his head back and savours the silence, he enjoys the chance to be alone, and he loves the fact that gets the chance to hold Ashrah so close.

The ride carries on for what feels like almost an hour. The path Lo follows twists and turns, the trees sometimes cover the road completely with shade and other times recede giving way to the evening sun. Ashrah thought they'd be going on this path longer until she saw something in the distance, the path ended before a curtain of low-hanging tree branches.

Syzoth's eyes lit up at the sight of it. "We're here!" He lets go of Ashrah and jumps off the unicorn. He turns to Ashrah and gives her a hand to help her down. "I'm guessing beyond those branches is my surprise?" She says as she takes his hand and slides down off Lo. "Will I have to again wear the blindfold?" Syzoth just laughs as he guides her to the branches. He reaches out and part then opens, enough so Ashrah can pass through.

What meets her as she gets to the other side nearly takes her breath away. In a lake, the sun's light bounces off causing it to shimmer and shine. Just before the lake is what looks to be a small, abandoned temple that overlooks the lake. Perhaps it was made by the monks and then they forget about it. Ashrah walks towards the temple, once inside, she gasps when she finds it. "D-Do you like it?" Syzoth asked as he caught back up to her. "I didn't remember which one was your favourite...or if you even have a favourite, so I got as many as I could."

Before Ashrah, on the temple floor, was a picnic basket and loads upon loads of bouquets. Roses, lilies, marigolds, and even some collections from Outworld. Ashrah admired the rainbow of flowers, she remembered when she first escaped the Netherealm a flower was one of the first things she saw. But when reached out to touch it, it burst into flames the moment she got near it. "I-I love them!" She hesitantly picks up a bouquet from Outworld, she breathes into them and devours in their sweet scent.

As she enjoyed the flower Syzoth quickly went to work setting the picnic up, he laid down the blanket and went to prepare the food. He got the chefs of the palace to make the finest meals imaginable for this occasion. Unfortunately, he didn't know what the finest meals were so he looked at foods dumbfounded as he took them out of the basket. He didn't know what half these things were, he didn't even know if they were food, he was pretty sure they were moving. Syzoth just forced. A smile on his face as he pretended he knew what they were in hopes of impressing Ashrah with how refined he had become.

Ashrah's face was buried in a bundle of Datura when Syzoth looked over to her. "If you enjoy that, just wait until you try...um...this." he gestured to the food, trying to look as proud as possible. Ashrah looked down at the meal, and she gave a questionable look to Syzoth. She walked over to him and sat across from her. She laid the bouquet on her lap and went to work scanning the food hesitantly. "Is this what you eat when you dine with the Empress?" Ashrah asked as she poked at the food, she could've sworn she saw one of them move.

Syzoth blush, "I-It is...? And it's amazing!" I think, he wanted to complete the sentence. He takes a spoon and dips it into...whatever the stuff on the plates is, and he offers to feed it to her. Ashrah obliged, she leaned forward and let Syzoth feed her the spoon. "Hm..." Ashrah gave a blank look in response to tasting the food. "What do you think" he asked anxiously waiting for her to respond. "It's...alright I suppose. I don't think I have much of a taste for....whatever this is.

The pair began trying each of the dishes to varying results. Some they thought were okay, others they thought were terrible. But they both agreed the grey stuff was delicious. It all was a nice laugh though, Syzoth did his best to restrain a laugh whenever Ashrah scrunched her face in disgust at whatever he fed her and Ashrah liked to return the favour by purposely feeding him the worst dishes. "By the Elder Gods, that is foul!" Syzoth said as he spat out what Ashrah fed him, it looked like an animal egg embryo delicately covered with a line of sauce.

Ashrah laughed uncontrollably as Syzoth spewed it out onto a napkin. "The Empress eats this filth!?" Syzoth stared in disbelief at the food. "I suppose we just aren't suited for the cuisine of Outworld nobility." Ashrah took the food and dumped it back into the basket.

Syzoth shook his head in disbelief as he stared at the basket ashamed and disappointed. "I'm so sorry, Ashrah, I wanted this to be special...and I ruined it."  Syzoth wanted to crawl into a hole and never be seen again with how embarrassed he felt. "Don't be silly, this was special." Syzoth felt the brush of Ashrah's hand as she squeezed his shoulder. "How so?"

"I got to see you again?"

At that second, Syzoth could feel his face become red. He turned to look out at the view to avoid Ashrah's eyes. It was much later now, the sky fully transitioned to a soft purple and then darkness and the clouds slowly were replaced with stars. The moonlight now glowed onto the lake causing it to shimmer white. Syzoth had taken out candles to give them some extra light, as well as to set the mood. He looked back at Ashrah, her face glowed from the candle it illuminated her smile even more. She looked beautiful.

"Did you really enjoy yourself?" He asked softly. Ashrah took his hand and guided him to his feet. "Of course I did. Being alone with you, getting to feel your hand in mind, that is a greater feeling than any unicorn or dinner could ever grant me." She took his other hand and smiled into his eyes. Syzoth lowered his head in hopes of hiding how hard he was blushing.

"Now, I believe it is a customary tradition to end a date with a kiss. Would you do me the honour, Syzoth?" A warm smile found its way onto Syzoth's face. He squeezed her hand tighter and stared into her eyes. "Certainly, it would be my highest honour. "

The kiss was short. Not a wild passionate one. But it was everything it needed to be. He held him against hers. He pressed his lips against her and held her close for a second, Ashrah did much the same and she kissed him back. Their lips felt electric for a brief moment. They pulled away but the buzz of the other lips was still warm. He can't take his eyes from hers, there's something so magical in them. "Ashrah, I lo-Whao!" Before Syzoth could finish, he lost his balance and fell into the lake with a hard splash.

"Syzoth!" Ashrah gasped as she looked down at him. He eventually resurfaced, spitting water out of his mouth. Okay, now he wanted to crawl into a hole and never be seen again. Maybe Lo can help him find a nice one? "Are you alright?" He heard Ashrah call. Even from there, he could sense the laugh she was trying to suppress. "I'm fine, just help me back up." He stretches out his hand for her to help. Ashrah gets on her knees and takes his hand, but before she can help pull him, he pulls her down with all his might. "Syzoth, wai-!" She cried as she slammed into the water with another hard splash. should go, Lo is probably waiting for us.

Ashrah erupts out of the water, whipping her hair out of her face. Syzoth's stomach hurts with how much he laughs. "Ugh, Elder Gods damn you!" Ashrah frowns as she splashes him. He splashes her back. The two soon go into combat, Water Kombat to be exact as they begin splashing each other with as much water as they could gather. Ashrah tries to pretend she's upset, but she breaks down and begins laughing alongside him.

"We should get going, Lo's probably waiting for us," Syzoth said as he walked out of the water and onto dry land. He looked down at his wet clothes, he'll have to wear a different set of clothes until these dried. He wondered how he'd look in an orange monk attire. Another laugh for him and Ashrah to share.

"About that, why do you call her Lo?" Ashrah stood bent over the lake as she wrung her hair out. "Lo was the name of an Earthrealm man she trampled to death," Syzoth said as he dumped out the water from his boots. Ashrah stopped ringing out her hair as she spun on her heels to face him. "She did what?!"

"I'm joking!" Syzoth out his hand defensively. "She merely broke his legs, almost tore them off had I not stopped her." Ashrah shook her head and took a heavy breath. "We'll have to address that...just not tonight though." She went back to the temple and grabbed a bouquet, the one that looked like the first flower she ever saw. She took in the sweet scent as she walked back to Syzoth.

His eyes stay on her as she walks ahead to the branches. He held the basket firm in his hand, this date didn't turn out quite as he initially hoped., but Ashrah was right. Getting together was better than anything else he could've done... he's still going to have a word with the chefs when he gets back to Outworld.

"Syzoth..." Ashrah stopped in her tracks, she looked back at him with an anxious look. "I wanted to say I lo..." She freezes for a second. She looks even more nervous. "...you too." She finally said. "I-I love you too" and with that, she quickly disappeared into the branches.

His eyes fall to the ground for a second as he thinks about that. He groped the basket tighter as a grin drifted onto his face. With a newfound energy, he chased after her.

[t0xicbugz]

Why do people complain abt sareena x kabal so often-

Like..their excuse is always that it was random and out of nowhere but most things in mortal Kombat are? Reptile and ashrah was, in my personal opinion ships are supposed to be random, to me Sareena x bi-han is random because from what I've seen there isn't anything hinting toward it in the story etc and- tho I love this ship more than anything, Sekhan was also random, tho there was sorta a build up to it in khaos reigns it's still a bit random.

So My whole conclusion on this is: you all ignore every other random ship jst to hate on this one(and it'd be so wonderful if u left the Sareena x kabal tag alone without ur complaints❤)

After thoroughly searching I've realized...there isn't a kabal x Sareena tag, AM I SCHIZOPHRENIC?!?!!!!?

[varianlikescheese]

Okay so here we go again

The 1st Sanctus-

(1855-1925) ~70year reign

i dont have much on these guys right now, though i will put names to species at some point.

The 1st Sanctus went remarkably well, the Yokai involved volunteered for the 'peace for all' program. They were randomly selected and given their powers, then all of them became the 1st Sanctus, serving their purpose with pride.

Once they began dying out, the heads constructed the tombs all around New York, as well as one in the Hidden City.

Domum Reptilian (home of the reptiles) is located deep in the sewers.

Domum Mammalia (home of the mammals) can be found in the basement of Central Park Zoo.

Domum de avibus (home of the birds) is built on the 4th floor of a forever abandoned building in New York.

Domum picis (home of the fish) is submerged at the bottom of a lake Ontario.

Domum amphibii (home of the amphibians) is

Domum de invertit (home of the inverts) is in a large forest, somewhere behind a tree.

So ya- this has been in my drafts for TOO LONG and now i have actually put names to species and made a proper group for Sanctus 1 but ill do that in a diff message.

Edit- i just realized there's nothing for Domum amphibii and thats because I HAVE NO IDEAS FOE WHERE TO PUT IT SOMEONE HELP ME

[shouldaspunastory]

For @dreadfutures and @dadrunkwriting

June Lavellan x Dorian Pavus (SFW, Pre-Relationship) 477 words

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

Dorian grins as he spots June from across the courtyard and makes his way over to him. The elf is kneeling down near a small hedge beside the small backstairs that lead to Skyhold's kitchens.

"Hello there," June speaks softly into the hedge, slowly extending a hand towards it. "Shh, no, it's alright," the soothe to the unseen thing they are speaking to. "I won't hurt you." Dorian smiles, hanging back to lean against the nearby stone wall and watch the interaction with interest. "You didn't mean to scare the cook, did you? You were just looking for somewhere warm. Maybe catch a couple of mice," June smiles fondly. "That's it. Let's see if we can't find you someplace safer, hmm," the elf coos pulling back and straightening up once more with a small snake coiled neatly around his wrist and arm.

June manages to have the self-control not to jump and startle the creature he's just coaxed to him, but Dorian sees the way he momentarily tenses in surprise as he catches sight of his unexpected audience. The elf blushes a little at the tips of his ears where they poke out from beneath his dark hair, which the necromancer thinks is frankly so cute it out to be illegal.

"The, um, the Alienage used to get a lot of snakes. They came after the rats," the elf offers softly in explanation. "I was always the one they called on to catch them. Kept a few of them as pets, for a while, at least. Most animals don't mean any harm. They get scared and can lash out the same as we do," June says, smiling down at the snake.

"Sorry," the elf apologizes, blushing again as they seem to catch themselves. "Did you need something? Just let me find a safe place for this handsome fella, and I'm all yours."

I am not jealous of a fucking snake, Dorian thinks, doing his best to reign himself in as he watches the reverent way June handles and speaks about the reptile. He might, Dorian thinks, be slightly envious of the way June seems able to zero in on and find such simple joy in the smallest of things. In rescuing some poor scared little snake from the wrath of the cook. If more people could do that, find the beauty in everyday things, in not assuming everyone and everything is out to wrong or hurt them, the world might be a far happier and better place. Perhaps, with June leading the charge, one day it can be, Dorian thinks, falling into step beside the elf, a fond smile turning up the corners of his mouth behind his mustache as June begins seeking out a new home for the creature. Dorian can't remember why he originally sought him out anymore, but he finds he doesn't really mind.