#welp at least i can edit lmao

[chaosjester666]

When you have to go back and read every chapter you have written in your book to make a stat block for the main character for when magic happens and you were stupid and didn't make one prior and now you are reading 4 1/6 of a book to mark down every skill and ability

[kaythefloppa]

Wild Kratts - Our Blue and Green World: Part 1: Review [Spoilers]

Welp, here it is, the Wild Kratts TV movie (not to be confused with the feature film they've been teasing us with since 2021). There's been a lot of hype around this special and season, especially with how much the latter was being hyped up during the hiatus. Let's see if the blue and green bros were able to deliver: Spoilers under the cut

Well, this is certainly an attention grabber!

This entire live action intro is shot and edited like an animated Wild Kratts episode, it's glorious.

Woah, intro change!

They said the thing! They said the thing!

HELP THIS IS SO RELATABLE. Also, THE BOYS ARE FIGHTING

Lmao I don't think they do it very often, but using animals/nature in their insults is very creative.

Also, whooping crane episode when?

This entire song is mercifully short. Like most character sung songs in Wild Kratts, it's not good, but this at least is clever in its lyrics and its visuals. It feels like a Disney reference at best and I am content with that. I also ADORED seeing the Draco and Walrus Suit return again. It's arguably the best musical number in the series. No, that is not saying a lot.

MARTIN WHY ARE YOU THE ONE WHO'S MIFFED YOU NEARLY MUFASA'D YOUR LITTLE BROTHER

CHRIS WHY ARE YOU MILDLY INCONVENIENCED YOU GOT ACRAPHOBIA FALLING FROM THAT HEIGHT

When I first saw the clip, I thought that they were going somewhere with this, like they'd activate Peacock Powers at the end when they recognized the compatibility and blue and green. But nope. Wasted potential is an understatement.

Also, where the fuck are they right now? In a previous shot there was Target the Chameleon, implying that they've been to Madagascar, but that is an Indian peafowl, and as far as I'm concerned, they don't live in Madagascar. Were they just having an off-day? These animals have little to nothing to do with the plot when they really shouldn't have, so I don't see why they couldn't have just shown a projector image or something.

Remember when I joked about the Wild Pony Power Suit returning in S7.... fuck you Apollo.

Man, they are eating it up with the animation here. It's hard to tell with screengrabs but man, is it fluid.

The first half of this episode is mixed. While it feels like the brothers are incredibly stubborn, it also does make sense for them to be this fixated on their favorites. So I can totally buy this. It could've been insufferable to watch, but it wasn't.

As if YOU haven't spied on them since the first time your dorito-headed ass showed up on screen

Did you find that funny? Because not only do they do a similar joke like that later on, but they follow through on that joke in the most unexpected way you will shit your pants when you first ingest it.

Oh my god if they make a Creature Power Suit off of that bird, I will take back any diss I've made, that is so beautiful.

Good to know that Aviva put the button near the chest and not near the back.

Maybe it's just me but this is kinda pushing it. Chris is literally getting his organs crushed, I think that should matter more than A) being right or B) trying to get 2 people to stop fighting.

I'm loving the callback and what this leads up to but ew, all this does is remind me about how ugly bright the color pallatte in S6. Really glad they fixed it in S7.

HELL FUCKING YES

This episode finds really unique ways of showing how the two different biomes are interconnected. It's like Rainforest Stew's (very brilliantly handled) message only to a larger degree. Kids can learn a lot from this.

I fucking love this episode, man.

Honestly, the way they write Paisley in the first half of the episode is very in-line with her character. Most shows that do what this episode does has them be out-of-character as a set-up, but here, she's just roasting the fuck out of Zach. Once again, recontextualized entirely in the climax.

HOW THE FUCK DID HE GET TO MADAGASCAR FROM THE GODDAMN AMAZON IN ONE AFTERNOON THAT IS LIKE MORE THAN 1,000 MILES AWAY?? ARE ANACONDAS THAT FAST?????

Also, INDRIS!!!!! :D

I was frankly expecting this to horribly backfire but spoilers, it doesn't. This actually winds up working. Common Aviva W.

To be continued.... will the blue and green rivalry end? Will one prove superior over another? And will they be able to stop Zach and Paisley and save the planet earth? And will this change the adventures of the Wild Kratts team forever? Stay tuned for part 2!

Pros:

The live action segments.

The animation of the earth's model.

The musical number not being ass.

Paisely's catty behavior.

The Anaconda Suit.

The inventive ways they show how the stability of the Earth is complex. There are a lot of ways it functions and thus a lot of ways it needs to survive

The comedy.

Cons:

The villains do not do anything until the second half of this episode. In fact, they're left completely in the backdrop. I expected them to make their prescence known and for Aviva to invent the discs to get them together for the SAKE of fighting the villains. But no. It makes the stakes feel hollow, which is the opposite of what they should be gunning for in an hour long special that they hype the shit out of.

CONCLUSION:

It was an "okay" set-up. It did live up to some of the hype it had, but not all of it. Honestly if it wasn't for the second half of this episode, this movie would be mediocre or slightly above average, but no. They do pick themselves off the ground and... they do jump the shark. But we'll get to that next time

[reactionimagesdaily]

The Image Tags Masterpost

(As its own post thanks to a suggestion from @oregano-gremlin! gracias)

Every image is tagged with one of these tags, for organisation purposes! ^_^

(Also It’d be a HUGE pain to go back and re-organise them so, while suggestions for new categories/adjustments to existing ones are appreciated, I’m almost definitely not gonna follow through on any of them.)

(Also I am uh. Putting this under a read-more because it’s longer than I thought it was gonna be when it’s all laid out lmao)

#[undefinable] - for images that don’t really fit into a single mood, or have a mood that isn’t accurately represented by one of the other tags

#;_; - for images that are the big sad

#Hell yah - for celebratory, “nice”-type images

#Hell nah - for images that simply embody the concept of “no”, “no thanks”, “not for me”, e.t.c.

#Frick the frack off - slightly violent images used to tell someone to begone or that they are unimpressive

#Y’all are heathens - images that demonstrate disdain, confusion, or general contempt for your group chat

#Ah shit - images that convey “oh fuck”, “oh no”, “oh heck”, “oh shit”, and so on

#Depression time - for images that can be used to either show genuine sadness, or a weary sort of “oh God” that is less emotive and more resigned than an #Ah shit image

#Huzzah - celebratory images

#w h a t - images which convey just. total incredulity and bafflement

#F - for images that pay respects

#ooh-de-lally - images to be used for things that are exciting, spicy, or generally just make your eyebrow quirk up a bit

#Cursed - cursed images

#Wow - images that either convey a sense of genuine wonder, or demonstrate like. “yeah cool story bro”

#I LOVE YOU!!! - images you can use to show affection to any loved ones you are fortunate enough to have

#Welp - for images that aren’t very emotive or very specific, but rather channel that face you make when someone’s talking about something and you have no real idea how to react

#Genuine mirth - images that express, well, genuine mirth

#Contemplation time - I like to think this one is self-explanatory lmao

#Horny on main - not for NSFW stuff so much as stuff where it’s just a guy saying “hehe boobies” or whatever

#:) - happy pickturs

#Fear - fear

#Called out - honestly this one’s a bit inconsistent but it’s either for when you yourself have been called out (“you got me there”) or for when you’re calling someone ELSE out (“cool motive, still murder”)

#Free Real Estate - for images based off of those legendary seconds

#Gratitude amigo - images that say thanks

#Trans rights - because trans rights are human rights

#Disgustan’ - for when you need to express disgust with an image

#Disney - images @ that specific megacorp

#I am so great - images for when you’re proclaiming your own greatness (or at least an amount of self-satisfaction)

#Stole your meme lol - for those images you see everywhere on twitter indicating that someone likes your meme/image and have saved it for their own use

#Genuine reassurace - images that express, well, genuine reassurance

#[Music stops] - there are lot of parodies of the initial “music stops” image, and I have many of them

#Gweetings - images that say hi

#I will cause problems on purpose - images with those vibes

#Ambivalent - because sometimes you need to visually express how little you care

#Bog Moss - this is actually the tag for images that are like “mood” or “same” - I tag them ‘bog moss’ because of an inside joke lmao

#Mockery - bully your friends with this specific collection

#Please exercise empathy - for images that basically say “I don’t know how to expain to you that you should care about other people”

#Nice music - images dedicated to saying that specifically music is good

#Sic ‘em - for images that carry a similar energy to Mayor Tyler from Gravity Falls going ‘git ‘em! git ‘em!’

#Grooving - images that convey the emotion of dancing

#You are not immune to propaganda - I have no idea where that edit of Garfield came from, but there are LOADS of edits, so they all get their own category

#Think of the economy - for images designed to satirise people who prioritise stonks and the economy (which CAN be important, I won’t knock ‘em) over human life

#Silence! - you know that image of the crab lasering something? Yeah, there are a bunch of those, so they get their own category

#Genuine wrath - images that express, well, genuine wrath

#Pretty sus NGL - images designed to help convey suspect or suspicion

#Gotta go fast - images that go quick nyoom

#Ight Imma head out - parting is such sweet sorrow, as these images will demonstrate

#Case Closed - for image that indicate that some kind of mystery has been solved, or that some kind of question has been answered

#Not-okay cute things - for those images where it’s like, a plush toy captioned with “I can’t fucking take it”. those sorts of images. they have a category

#Oucho - for images that convey pain but aren’t quite in the realm of ;_;

#Ok boomer - Y'all remember ok boomer?

#Chillaxing - for image that surmize a specific chillaxed vibe

#Nice dub - using this one for pics of that one specific guy in all those pictures where he’s congratulating people’s Ws and Dubs

[expiredsoda]

It’s hella late for me so you’ll get a less unhinged ask but multiple edition because you’re the one FCD member I haven’t personally victimized or interrogated

WOULD YOU RATHER

• Face off against Donna in a fist fight (you HAVE to defeat her in order to be released from the ring, she doesn’t want to fight you but she isn’t being given a choice)

• Deal with the stans, Mia, Miranda and Cassandra all over the course of 6 hours (how you deal with them is up to you, do tell how you’d deal with them)

Dealing with them: nullify them so they can cause no more harm

And an additional ask, do you have any pets? What kind of pets?

Do you play any games? Which games? :)

just when you thought the fire wouldn't burn to ya own doorstep 💀

1.) hmm obviously, fist fighting donna is a "hell nah" I mean come on not like I would could ever lay a finger on her, I ain't no wife beater 🗣️‼️

which now led us to face the other option... sigh

I think the stans and mia are relatively easy as long cassandra isn't mentioned in a convo/do something that could endangered the filipino twink. I have plenty of experience dealing with the ✨popular griles✨ for example, just be their dog

ughm I mean ughh yeah what I'm saying is I can deal with these kind of people if needed, as for "nullify" them welp they wouldn't cause any harm as long I'm smart about my mouth 💀

for cassandra herself I think she wouldn't actually be too hard either, at most I got my ear yapp off or get flirt ig 🤷 which both are fine with me 😔(😏) engaging some convo with cass would actually be fun though ngl

last but not least, miranda the bird bitch herself 👏 there no room for me to speak, she's the one to decide how to deal with me 💀. honestly though, I imagine miranda would just be the typical headmistress to npc student, so at most she's just gonna ask me a lot of stuff about my grades 💀

now that I think about it I rather spend the time with donna instead🧍huh what you say? I have to DEFEAT her in order to get RELEASED from the ring? who say I wanna get released 😏 (ayo bro???

2.) I only got one doggo (milo) as for now, another precious old baby just passed away not long ago 🕊️, though I am more of a cat person lmao ':3c

3.) as for games, mostly gacha games rn like hsr/re1999/path to nowhere, they all got good artstyle and amazing plot lines which made sense that I also enjoy some visual novels, or interactive story based game like life is strange etc

[cloudstrifing]

stuff to write masterpost

mostly for my own reference but it is always more fun and motivating to share so!!! perceive if u wish, if ANY of these get written it’s a win actually!!!

fics marked green are done fics marked orange are in progress fic marked blue are on hold for now!! anything else is not started yet!

ffvii:

secret fic for turks fan exchange:

Coloratura

aerti/zakkura/rdrn triptych of au oneshots, tied together by the fact that everyone goes to the same gym

rdrn fake dating for a mission bc i have ALL the confession dialogue ready to launch alrd and it’d be a waste not to deploy..... (i conceived her last winter and was hoping to time it with NYE whihc. that could still happen. lmfao. update: ITS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN BC TIME IS FAKE, update to the update: welp yet another winter is coming up so .)

jjk:

ch 3 (final) of wellness grifter geto stsg au (Let’s Purify ✩ Body & Mind!!) -- posted the second chapter after only (checks watch) a year and two weeks lmao. this one is getting slept on bc i have zero presence in the jjk fandom and my timing sucks. but ill prob finish it someday since *i* think the idea is good so WHATEVER!!

trigun:

drunk and unsexy boys-will-be-boys vw: good old-fashioned lover boy (it ended up maybe a bit more sexy than intended)

less drunk but VERY sexy plant heat vw: Gun Barrel Red Hot

modern au kniveswood ft terrible manipulative relationship dynamics to uncritically emulate in real life: pov: you're the most fuckable person at the grocery store currently in progress; also a bonus little epilogue-like pwp pretty fixation

post trimax livvash, aiming for short but eternally traumatizing: say your name, forever

dark biopunk au for kniveswood bang: oxytocin running

og (finally regaining some urge to work on these):

lesbians caught in a snowstorm but actually caught in the mindscape of the Creature but actually caught in their own inability to do feelings pls god i just need to finish Any version of this -- a finished version now exists! idk if it's my best work but it sure is done :'') if i can get someone to edit it i may start shopping it around after!

hivemind jellyfish slayer turned good dad angst bonanza ditto above -- this is currently undergoing edits after brilliant feedback from from AJ!! i finished a version i was p happy with but after i incorporate AJ's edits it will become so much better

The Necromancers Are All Dead but make it flash fiction in order 2 reclaim my ability to have fun with a concept without spending sixteen months with it first -- speedran a version of this in my little writing illegally at work notebook, i don't really know what this story wants to be yet but at least ive sat with it for a while

novel ideas wanna be attended to; am reattempting some expanded synopses bc given some distance, some of my ideas were perhaps more substantial than i gave them credit for wahoo

updating this periodically for the rush of ticking items off a list <3

[grilledcheese-aspiration]

i wasnt tagged but im bored so here we go:

1. What’s your favourite sims death? Hmm gotta go with classic drowning tbh.

2. Alpha CC or Maxis Match? Maxis match.

3. Do you cheat when your sims gain weight? Nope, I play wants-based.

4. Do you use move objects? Ye

5. Favorite mod? TOO MANY, we'd be here all damn day, phew so honorable mentions are: fway's auto trait randomizer, object freedom, ROS generator and babydilljrs DFR turn on/offs.

6. First expansion/game/stuff pack you got? I got them all in order on release day, so I guess University since it was the first EP. Holiday Stuff was the first SP so...you can take it from here I 'spose.

7. Do you pronounce “live mode” like aLIVE or LIVing? LIVE like living your life, tf?

8. Who’s your favorite sim that you’ve made? TOO MANY omg. right now, basically all me sims in Waverly that ARE NOT premades (minus, Natasha Una)

9. Have you made a simself? Sure I have - dont have one right now tho.

10. What sim traits do you give yourself? Computer whiz, loner, artistic, rebellious

11. Which is your favorite EA hair color? ?! wtf kinda question is this lmaoooo

12. Favorite EA hair? TBH hairfuzzylongcp

13. Favorite life stage? YA/Adult

14. Are you a builder or are you in it for the gameplay? mostly both but can def be mood-depending.

15. Are you a CC creator? sometimes.

16. Do you have any simblr friends/a sim squad? o_O naur, at least, not that im aware of.

17. What’s your favorite game? (1, 2, 3, or 4) 2, binch.

18. Do you have any sims merch? Nah

19. Do you have a YouTube for sims? huehuehueheuhue

20. How has your “sim style” changed throughout your years of playing? Erm, welp for starters I did not watch my downloads folder and clean it out. I would play with alpha and MM and not mind how glaring itd look in screencaps and I'd be ALL UP in their shit. Now I watch my downloads, organize and clean that ish out. I am 99% MM and I went from being all up in their shit to being a distant god to now being wants-based.

21. What’s your Origin ID? Idk lmao, dont use origin (or the new thing that replaced it.)

22. Who’s your favorite CC creator? SO MANY AND ILY ALL, ya talented asf lil beans.

23. How long have you had a simblr? My very first Simblr post was ERRR well I made Narcissims WAY back in 2011 or some shit like that. Deleted bc i thought I was over simming, came back for Sims 4 in 2014 as Grilled Cheese Aspiration and have stayed but am forever faithful to Sims 2.

24. How do you edit your pictures? Photopea lol

25. What expansion/game/stuff pack do you want next? I'm set tbh.

26. What expansion/game/stuff pack is your favorite so far? Pfft probably Bon Voyage, I just dont take my sims on vaca often. They barely roll the wants.

If you wanna do this, DO IT! you can say i tagged ya, these things are fun!

[m1ckeyb3rry]

Oh wait I’ll check on the Noel noa color thing but also FRENCH FLAG LMFAOOOOOO im crying that’s too funny to me you should just use that regardless of character color Edit: ok yeah no character color specification so FRENCH FLAG IT IS

LMAOO otoya fr would be tweaking “you like the fucking donkey suit more than my sheen costume???”

SHSHSH welp either way character development yk!!! HAVE FUNNNNN but yess I’ve got some halloweekend plans to go out with some friends!! Our group decided on the power rangers LOL so we’ll be doing that I can’t say I can see myself having an event that’s on Mira lore levels but very excited anyways LMAO

True…at least the additional times are popping off….anyways….

Trueee the art style has changed so much LOL plus now that barous more established as Isagis rival im sure they’ll yassify him

I agree especially in the manga lately the eyes are getting huge LMAOO but relatively they are larger but not to a point where I really noticed or let it bother me tbh I think ops eye style is weird but whatever I guess

LMAOAOAOA atp we’re gonna cycle through all the other characters and get converted after their miraverse debuts bllks just gotta trust the process and let Shidou find their soulmates with his antennae LMAOOOO

YES THAT LITERALLY WHAT HAPPENED LMFAOOOOO to date you’re still the only one I ever sent something too either because some people had requests closed or I just wasn’t feeling like I had the balls for it at the moment oops but yeah anyways I haven’t seen AS many Karasu cameos recently but maybe if I find a good one I’ll try another but real glad we’re staying strong!! Also real x2 familial/platonic Barou is SOOO GOOD I LOVE pursuit Barou unironically maybe my fav version wait ikwym though I think I’m the same where I wouldn’t actively wish for Barou to be the male lead and get the romantic plot but Karasu on the other hand…so real for otoya though he’s definitely grown a LOT on me too!! WAITTT OTOYA PURSUIT VERSION??? No way…I would’ve never imagined it being for otoya at first that’s crazy but this is where the side stories/spin offs have their time to shine LMAOO nagi main and then side story branches problem solved but yeah swerving is a struggle because at the same time I feel like having the side characters all be opps would make it less enjoyable too if you just hated the rest of the cast LMFAO

Omg our 1/3 year anniversary?!?! Wow wait I can’t believe it’s been that long this is crazy but YES spread the closeted loser otoya agenda!!! Maybe we’ll get less cheater fics of him because of bfb!!! OH YEAH that giant rec post LOL I did giggle reading seabird though the banter and mini beef was really funny no fr if sae was like that I could see myself converting but alas

The perfect balance between meme and hot edit >>> careless whisper unironically one of my fav audios at this point third selection/u20 yuki in my head forever and always also speaking of the way he’s still benched in the manga….

- Karasu anon

LMAOOO CAN YOU IMAGINE I DID A GRADIENT WITH THE FRENCH FLAG TOO 😭😭😭 idt ibispaintx lets you do that with the free version but it would be hilarious 😫 anyways i always forget noa is french for some reason HAHA maybe because he coaches bm which is a german club OKFJDJD but yeah we may have to go with french flag blue then (or maybe a color will drop by the time i get to that req)

HELPP IMAGINE OTOYA IS SEXY SHREK (somehow) and this is karasu:

the entire time his expression is just like 😒😒😒 because he did NOT want to be the donkey but it was that or lord farquaad but that would’ve entailed having to pretend to be shorter than otoya the whole night and he couldn’t handle that (i’d still take him dressed like that ngl)

POWER RANGERS IS SO CUTE I HOPE YOU HAD FUN!! and that you stayed safe and nothing too crazy happened LFJDJS

the art style has improved sm it’s so crazy to look back at the earlier chapters of the manga and see the difference in all of the characters especially barou nagi and isagi!! those three look the most improved i think LDJDJS but fr the additional times have been slaying they’re my fav parts of the episodes

HELPPP not us turning every bllk opp into wingmen 😭😭😭 tbf shidou was never really an opp though he was just irrelevant kinda like aiku so ig the promotion makes sense 🧐 but so true who’s next…wingman chigiri or smth…chigiri set me up with nagi PLEASE

OADJSHSN FEELING HONORED can’t believe i was your first/only request 🙏🏻 i haven’t been seeing much karasu either (not that i really read fics though) i think that means i need to get back to work 😓 you know what they say if you want to read it you have to write it ☝🏻 but yeah barou and yukimiya are kinda in the same boat for me where i really like both but i wouldn’t SWERVE for them unless the dynamic with them is more compelling than the main lead’s dynamic

YUP pursuit was originally meant to be for otoya that’s why he’s also a ninja in it!! kinda like hollyhock lol it actually predates hollyhock too i came up with the idea for it in the beginnings of the miraeita era so that explains it but yeah it’s crazy to think about how different the story would’ve been if it had been for him…i feel like a lot of very iconic plot lines wouldn’t have been as good with otoya sadly LMAO like the aegislash arc just wouldn’t fit otoya as well as it does nagi sadly 😭 and agreed that’s the thing with writing opps as side characters is i just don’t care abt them so either i’ll be annoyed OR i’ll convert and they won’t be opps anymore

I KNOWWW IT’S CRAZY you sent the req for fwtkac at some point in early june so if you count that then it’s been like five months but if you go by when i actually posted fwtkac in like mid-late june it’s been about four months either way it’s insane KDHDSHA but yeah seabird made the rec post so it got a boost from that ig…ngl i’ve never really been able to figure out why some stories do/don’t get notes because the one shots i think are silly goofy dumb get way more traction than my more serious works 🤷🏻‍♀️ but i also don’t really care that much about notes so it doesn’t bother me it’s just curious 😭 as long as i get one or two people telling me they like a given story i’m happy with it HAHA maybe i can say that as someone who’s blown up on wattpad and ao3 already but I actually had less fun with my writing when i had more readers than less so i’m not the kind of person that really craves getting readers or anything like that…like whenever i see those posts complaining about how those blurb posts/two sentence headcanons get 10x as many notes as well written stories i’m just like eh because it’s true and i do find those fics annoying but at the end of the day what people choose to like/rb doesn’t change the quality of what i’m writing any yk 🤔 i know my stuff is pretty decent so why would i waste my energy complaining about not getting enough recognition when i could just be happy with what i DO get (plus i write for fun and just happen to share it because i can not because i write for validation so there’s no reason to stress)

LMAOOO IF CANON SAE WAS LIKE SEABIRD SAE I’D FR LOVE HIM to be fair i think it’s just that we never get to see him through any lens but rin’s pov so it’s always the most emo version of him HAHAH because tbf i don’t think any character could’ve pulled off seabird the way he did yk so it must be somewhat in character 😰 at least we can hope so

memes aside careless whisper is lowkey a really good song LRJDJSSN but yeah yukimiya truly one of the men of all time…kaneshiro bring him back 😢 GET HIM OFF THE BENCH ASAP

[kaoarika]

In the meantime, week 3 of new laptop:

-I was sooo focused on the whole transfer data thing that I barely remember how the window/thumbnail things on the task bar act, lmao. I am not fan of how in Explorer, now in W11, you can open tabs in the same explorer page. WHICH might work on less stressing stuff... but when the thing is a heavy one (and I often move files and folders... see? this is why I miss having the Docs, Imgs, Pics, Video AND DL folders on the same section and not JUST "quick/fast access") I need windows... not tabs. So, I suppose since I am still using the mouse/trackpad, bugs can happen? I wrongly slided an Explorer tab as a new window, but Windows INSISTED I still had that Explorer window "with another tab", even thought there were two explorer windows :/ Awesome.

-Hence why I was slightly afraid... that thing also affected stuff like the internet browsers ie Firefox (and the tumblr notification of new activity "(x) Tumblr" CERTAINLY didn't help, lol). Hey, do you remember a time where Chrome actually opened a "new chrome" on the task bar when you opened the incognito window? I mean, I have sometimes used the private Firefox window before, but I am still not very used to it as two different entities. Like I said, Chrome did it AGES ago (and if I remember is because this happened in like 2015-ish) so... that.

-Oh, I'm just seeing that Firefox also does that... thumbnail thing with the tabs as well... is this new? I don't remember it having that days ago, :))))

-Still amazed at the speed the laptop turns on and off.

-Since it's also been ages since I took a laptop with wifi to another room of my house where the wifi doesn't reach... I forgot sometimes, VERY sometimes it still picks the wifi router from my room, although in a very weak signal (we have a booster with our Smart TV, but...). I know my phone KINDA does, but it picks immediately the booster most of the times, instead. So, I'm a bit... baffled, to say the least.

-I'm feeling the remorse of doing all that data transfer move now, lol. I say "I move" and I still need to do the check ups on the other in some of my folders (and I suppose, need to open everything I was using in Chrome on FF, as well, lol).

-Not prepared to install the programs I often use (GIMP, FireAlpaca) and heck, I'm not even prepared for CSP. Will my Intuos work, I wonder? I know W10 wasn't too friendly (way too buggy) in the compatibility stuff with Wacom (and all of their products, let's be real here)... so I have a hunch that might not change with W11. I will riot if the "I cannot find Wacom_Tablet.exe" error window manifests later on. BUt I want to draw and I need to edit... SURE, the other laptop STILL works, and all of that... but new laptop, you know... (that or I will wait until late October to do so? Doing the whole "pls, don't let me down in JUST a month because my luck is horrendous". Part of me says I should have done this FIRST before the transfer situation 🙃🙃

-Ah, yeah. There was this. When I was starting to move stuff, Windows Defender detected a "malware" coming from a program that, tbh, I forgot about because it was, well, old (I used it before 2021 for some stuff and that was it), but apparently, Microsoft detects it as "malicious" (although, I feel it's because it's a very old version of the program per se?). I didn't really moved it to the laptop, so all I did was deleting it from the USB folder... and Windows Defender ATTEMPTED to delete it, as well, and "WELP, I cannot delete it SOMEHOW" because, YES, I DELETED IT???? DIRECTLY FROM THE USB???? and now it is there, registered in the Windows Defender's history reminder that it "tried to delete it" BUT... and UGHGHGHFDDfllsds. I haven't had Windows Defender in years, so I barely remember of having this kind of "reminder" and now this is going to hunt me from now on in the "recommended actions" like... Great.

Curiously enough? That Microsoft detects this f*cking program as malware, and archives the mention of it online, makes me question how many ppl ACTUALLY may have used it in the past? Or if it really behaved as malware at some point. Like... I understand if it was a hack tool or whatever... but... ??????

[joltai-showa]

naruto reread third edition chapter three woohoo

welp, it was a good run, manga sucks now lmao

just kidding, of course, but Sasuke is by far my least favorite character in the entire series. He's okay in OG Naruto, but literally every arc with him in Shippuden makes me want to bash my head against the nearest wall. And no, the fight with Deidara isn't the main reason for my passionate hatred of this prick. I've never agreed with a Sasuke fan once in those almost 10 years since I read the manga for the first time, but I do agree that Sasuke's fate is justifiedly dramatic and it's not surprising that he lashes out against those near him, but acting like he's some paragon of virtue and was right in all of his unhindged endeavors, particularly after the Itachi reveal, is first degree clownery at its finest lmao

(also the Uchiha clan sucks too. Not necessary from in-world perspective, but from writing perspective, mid-Shippuden Kishimoto really lost the sauce with those assholes and starting giving them any possible powers that he could think of)

another fun fact but I never found any of the Uchiha members attractive lmao. if you're wondering how the hell did I manage to write 35k from Deidara's pov having hots for Obito, listen, it's her pov, not mine, I just locked the fuck in and did it lmao

last thing before continuing with the chapter, main Uchiha guys from least annoying to most annoying accodring to me: Itachi > Madara >>>>>> Obito >>> Sasuke. Itachi mostly never gets on my nerves, so gotta love him for that, Madara sucks at times because he happens to appear on the stretches of manga when Kishi stopped caring about the plot and started the Uchiha bootlicking 24/7, but at least he didn't get a shitty "rEdEmPTioN ArC" (i guess i should be thanking Kaguya for that, bleh), with Obito I am stuck in a perpetual cycle of "there is no way he is that bad in canon, I must have been overdramatic when reading" -> *rereads the manga* -> "oh my fucking god he is not just bad, he is simply awful", he is just the ultimate victim of Naruto being written backwards and Kishi making a cool twist but never actually properly working on his motivations, a real shame, he's got a lot of potential, but canon Obito has one of the worst character arcs in the entire series, so I can only enjoy fanon Obito and fans' work that actually utilizes many many things this character has to offer. I already said a lot about Sasuke, but at times his writing is much better than Obito's, so he's a little less annoying to me (that's generally not an achievement on his part, it's Kishi writing Obito so badly LMAO)

bish you live like this?

but also again WHY THE FUCK NARUTO LIVED HIS ENTIRE GODDAMN LIFE ALONE??? HIRUZEN WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING? IT'S A FUCKING CHILD, WHY IS HE UNSUPERVISED? DO YOU REALLY EXPECT HIM TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO MANAGE THE MONEY, COOK AND CLEAN AFTER HIMSELF? YOU SORRY PIECE OF SHIT, YOUR GRANDSON HAS A PRIVATE TUTOR, BUT THE CHILD OF KONOHA'S HEROES WHO PRETTY MUCH ENTRUSTED HIM INTO THE VILLAGE'S CARE LIVES LIKE THIS?

Kushina has a full time job of wooping Hiruzen's ass in the afterlife, I swear to god

also let's talk about the absolutely horrendous conditions orphans in Konoha live in? There are more obvious cases like the kids that Root takes in, they are raised into emotionless killing machines since the first moment they become their training (child abuse🥰), but even kids who didn't catch ANBU's eye are just... Obviously, we've got Naruto and he's a case of straight up neglect from both his supposed caretakers (literally any of his future teachers, but particularly Jiraya who is supposed to be his goddamn godfather) and Hiruzen, but this is Kishi rewriting everything there ever was and by Mid-Shippuden Naruto is suddenly a literal prophesied hero, a messiah and loved by everyone and everything and those who hate him are either irredeemibly evil or poor little babies who are waiting for a pep talk by Naruto to turn good again (c) Anyway, we've got some bigger fish to fry and it's cases of Kakashi and Sasuke in particular. I am not really worried in cases of Obito and Neji, because both of them lived somewhere near their clans (even if their clan sucked absolute ass, sorry for your loss, Neji), so we can at least assume that some of the older members of their clans could keep an eye on them and, y'know, fucking FEED them, but Sasuke's and Kakashi's living situations are... oooof. I might be misremembering stuff, but in the manga Sasuke is never shown to move from his house, he in fact is shown to return home and cry over the bloodied floor of the room where Fugaku and Mikoto were killied (Hiruzen is a cleaning service really this fucking expensive jesus christ), so what we have is an orphaned kid who lives in the same house his parents were murdered, in the same house his big brother tortured him psychologically, in the same district where piles of his relatives' corpses were lying. Also completely alone.

Do I need to say anything, Hiruzen?

Kakashi is even worse, because not only he lived alone in the same house his only other living family member aka his dad ended his life, I believe that the blade he carried later also happened to be the family relic that his dad used in his final moments. On top of all that, he continued to live alone in that house even after his teammate sacrificed his life for his sake, gave him his eye and this eye happens to be the only thing that remained of said teammate because he was crushed alive. He continued to live alone in that house even after he accidentaly killed the girl he promised to protect with his life, but ended up using the jutsu he managed to develop after aquiring a Sharingan to end her life. He continued to live alone in that house even after his only remaining team member aka his teacher died in a freak accident when half of the village got destroyed.

God damn. Like, Obito's fate is absolutely horrendous, sure, but you gotta admit at least he had a reason to continue living. The only thing I can say about Kakashi is how the fuck did you live to 27 years.

tl; dr Kakuzu should've opened a therapy service for shinobi and Akatsuki could have simply bought off all of the Beasts simply with that money LMAO

Kishi could not draw girls for the life of him at the beginning of the manga and it shows lol, she's so scrunky

honestly relatable Naruto

also Sasuke's haircut looks like a duck's ass and the resemblances only grows stronger in Shippuden

fucking hell I really am just Naruto, aren't I...

oh look it's the canon event kid :D

the following 697 chapters will be spent attempting to explain to the readers that this scene does not in fact allude to the endgame ship. unsuccessfully, of course lmao.

seriously Kishi is so terrible at writing romance, the only believable and toleralable ship he had managed to produce through the entire 700 chapter run of the manga is MinaKushi and they're fucking dead

i think I'll be mentioning extensively later what I think about Kishimoto writing women in general (spoiler: I really don't think that most of Naruto female cast is even good, most of the time they are decent at best, even if my heart is filled to the brim with love to some of the girls, they simply can not compete with women written by other mangakas), but after 10 years since my first read of Naruto I still stand by the observation that my 13 year old self made at the time: sometimes it feels like Kishimoto not only never talked with a woman, but never even seen them in the first place

"why are you so homophobic Sakura-chan😱"

I swear I'm gonna have an aneurism if these 13 year old numbsticks are called "full-fledged shinobi", BRO THEY'RE GONNA DIE AFTER 5 MINUTES ON A SERIOUS MISSION

Okay, so another weird thing that I'm really not sure if is a rewrite/plothole/whatever, BUT

jonins aka the highest ranking you can be given unless your Kage happens to have a tragic untimely accident and you are chosen as the replacement are supposed to be really rare, like "you can count the number of them on your fingers" rare. Of course, Naruto's plot is constantly revolving around at least one jonin-level character, so we as readers see them in overabundance compared to what realistically should be taking place within the universe

here's a terrible illustration by yours and only on how the shinobi rankings should be spread out in general lmao.

Coming back to what Iruka says: why is it that jonins are supposed to be teaching the three-man teams of full-fledged shinobi children? Jonins are cream de la cream of the hierarchy, they are pretty much the highest ranking officers in the villages, save for the Kage, of course, I'm pretty sure they should be busy with something more important, like leading their own fully trained squads/divisions, not looking after little Timmiemaru and making sure that he doesn't accidentaly stab himself with a kunai. And come to think of it, the entire system is weirdly skewed, because Iruka is a chunin who teaches Academy kids who are below genins in the hierarchy, so at the end of the day we have Kages who (supposedly) work 24/7 on the external and interal affairs of the village and probably the country, jonins who do the missions and train genins, chunins who do the missions and train Academy kids and genins being genins. Now I am not advocating for 13 year olds to be teaching 7 year olds, but considering the fact that you need to pass a murder exam the chunin exam to get the rank, I think there should be quite the number of people who never pass/don't want to pass in the first place, so genins can be quite old and experienced enough to teach (hi Maito Dai).

Anyway, there's certainly more than 9 students in that room when Iruka announces that they are getting divided into teams. Did the remaining 18 guys got shafted? "We've only got three available jonins, so only the most talented kids/kids from important clans will be trained"? Or did the 18 guys got some sane teachers that didn't decide to send them to the murder exam after 6 months of missions? Wait, the kids are getting paid for the missions, right? I am not sure whether I should be worried about the unpaid child labor or the fact that 13 year olds (who should really be like 10 year olds judging by the amount of times Naruto flunked the Academy exam) have to enter the workforce at such an age.

(now these are the questions that should be raised by people hating on the shinobi system, Kishi, and not twenty flashbacks in a row to the girl they liked 17 years ago)

that's really awfully convinient that the new generation of InoShikaCho happened to have abilities approximately equal to the ones of other teams, huh, Iruka

(Konoha is built on Hashirama's wood and pure fucking nepotism lmaoooo)

jesus fucking chirst that's some choice of words from the translator

was the translator aware at the time that this is a 13 year old girl's monologue they are translating? i know teenagers are freaky, but this is supposed to be the official translation, why are we getting to the upper bound of PG rating

what even in the world is this dialogue

bro really be laser focused on Naruto since his first appearance huh

nevermind Sakura's bashing on Naruto's status as an orphan (which is really weird to me, because not only that 5 years before she and others in Kakashi's, Kurenai's and Asuma's teams were born there was a giant World War and realistically quite of few kids their age should've lost their parents there, but there also was this little incident with Nine-Tails running over everyone in the village the year they were born, so there should be A LOT of orphans of Sakura's age, yet she's being this... mean? I guess, I wouldn't call her cruel, to Naruto), I've got a bigger question: how the hell did you miss the news of Uchiha massacre and Sasuke's living situation? The kids were like 8 at the time, they should have heard of it, I mean, ONE OF THE FOUNDING CLANS AND A LARGE ONE AT THAT got murked in a single night, yet in the 5 following years Sakura never learned about it, being Sasuke's #1 fan? Maybe it's me misremembering stuff, buuuuut...

(anyway Kishi I've got a bigger question but where the fuck is the Senju clan? The poor repressed Uchiha clan by the time of the massacre stiil had dozens of members if not hundreds, but Senju clan, the other founding clan of similar size, just went poof?)

(my personal headcanon regarding this is that Tsunade during her 20 year long depressive episode took all of clans money and gambled it away :D so the remaining members of the Senju clan just kinda scattered through the countries trying to find the money for themselves and just distanced from the whole shinobi business)

THE MYTH THE MAN THE LEGEND!

Holy fuck I almost died laughing at his first interaction ever, like what the fuck is this.

Kakashi: his milk's expired. Hiruzen, nervously wiping away sweat: he's just clumsy! Kakashi: he's 13 and grew up without adult supervision, I'm not even sure if he can read the dates on the milk. Hiruzen: why are you being such a hater, Kakashi?🥺 Kakashi: not as much of a hater as my sensei and his wife are going to be to you in the afterlife, I guess.

also, Hiruzen, you know what is Kakashi even better choice for? VISITING FUCKING THERAPY

"You have a talent for sniffing things out", sniffing out what, the expired milk on mini-Minato? Gods Hiruzen you suckkkkk

that is a fucking threat and you know this, Hiruzen

LMAAAAAAAAAOOOOOO

you've got no idea, Kakashi

raising these dinguses is already an A rank mission bordering S, but how about accidentaly stumbling upon the guy who you assumed died over 15 years ago after being crushed into meat paste? :D

[tonydaddingham]

OKAY RIGHT, LETS DISCUSS THIS?

ive said before that im not necessarily going to consider that any one biblical text is the absolute inspiration for GO, including angelology and hierarchy, but my god the fact that there is at least inference to be made from this confirmation? good, delicious soup.

so my general impression (as someone who doesn't have any authority on this topic but, yk, i can read) of cherubim is:

they are god's little groupie gang, praising god and guarding god's spirituality

guards of the gates of eden (will come back to this)

disputably high rank if considering christian hierarchy, but low-ish ranks if considering jewish (and i think are considered close to humans, as per maimonides?)

as i understand it, cherubim in Hebrew possibly translates to/represents the spirit of god on earth? that god has not abandoned the people?

book of ezekiel indicates that cherubs have two sets of wings, and have four faces: a human, an ox, a lion, and an eagle (however revelations indicates six wings...)

genesis:“After He drove the man out, He placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.” (tree of life, debated as being the same as the tree of knowledge but my impression is biblical texts largely confirm are separate, being capable of healing all ills and ailments, and/or grant immortality)

(ok segue on tree of life: eastern orthodox seems to largely understand that humanity cannot partake of the tree of life until after the birth, death, and resurrection of jesus christ)

i still wonder if given the context of what aziraphale says to AWCW pre-fall if cherubim/he himself in particular was ranked quite highly, and so a demotion (rather than a promotion) occurred. for what, unsure, but im presuming from neil's answer it was for allowing crowley to tempt eve. he didn't seem to be punished for giving away the sword, but we never actually see how or why aziraphale misses (or allows it to happen?) crowley slithering into the garden... that part of the beginning s1 scene is missing, just that it did occur.

so does that explain a lot of aziraphale's behaviour towards crowley? how he's distrustful, acts superior to, and at times is dishonest - because he's similarly hiding that crowley was responsible for the demotion? we never saw crowley ask about this particular part - he only asked about the sword, and aziraphale appears to have been truthful re: god never mentioning it again.

but was aziraphale always meant to return to heaven? return to his post by god's side, possibly even as the favourite (or the highest angel, im not letting go of this theory just yet), but was kind-of cast out, demoted to principality, and given the charge of guarding earth? perhaps aziraphale himself came close to actually falling, but was shown mercy, for what i would infer is the dereliction of his duty?

and also as a side note: when aziraphale extracts his halo?

so what aziraphale says, "i think... i may have just started a war", and saraqael basically echoes this to crowley in heaven? i mean, could be interpreted as them just saying, "he's likely just obliterated loads of demons and they're going to be pissed, welp guess we're at war"...

but saraqael specifically says "declares war", it literally sends a shockwave through heaven, and it appears to be like the angelic version of throwing down a gauntlet... so yes basically might be just the equivalent of chucking a grenade, but it seems to be more than that symbolically... so what if aziraphale actually started the war in heaven? for whatever reason (lmao probably defending AWCW), he precipitated the fall?

edit 14/08 lmao ok fine we'll scratch that theory (although it's only looking more and more like crowley was previously Lucifer 👀) BUT i still think aziraphale was a Very Important Angel you won't take that away from me neil not yet

edit 2: FUCK

edit 3 20/08: this one is good news - a tiny detail, but aziraphale was indeed on his way somewhere to do Creation things before he was waylaid by AWCW :)

what does aziraphale know?

i wanted to have another look through the pre-fall scene because there was something that wasn't feeling Quite Right to me about it, and honestly the below is just a stream of consciousness rather than any coherent theory, analysis or otherwise - so read at your own peril.

so the school of thought for many reasons has been that the Angel Who Crowley Was (AWCW) was a powerful angel, and i don't think that can be argued sufficiently given what we have seen so far from s1 and s2. but after rewatching the pre-fall scene i do wonder if crowley's importance in the Grand Scheme of Things has been overestimated, possibly by noone more than AWCW/crowley himself, and if aziraphale was actually the one with status, however quiet and modest.

when we open with the pre-fall scene, we see crowley alone, and he calls at a passing angel for some help with the map/plan. now this angel seems to rocketing past at the literal speed of light, and i cant help but feel that they were actually intending on going somewhere. and at the below specific angle, that angel looks like they were heading in a downward trajectory.

given that AWCW points up when referencing "Upstairs", we can infer that whilst heaven may not be bound by concepts like upstairs or downstairs, it does seem to have a concept of a higher placement for a higher being (ie god). this is also going on the assumption that in this scene, AWCW and the angel are even in heaven-space (which arguably, they're not), but regardless the angel seems to be heading down, indicating that they've just come down from the Up.

in any case, when aziraphale arrives, has helped AWCW with the cranking, he then says, "was that it?". and the way he says it, his body language, indicates to me that he is being polite, but in a perfunctory way. to me, it almost feels like he has things he needs to get on with - not in any frustrated or impatient manner, but just simply, 'is there anything else you need from me?', because he has things To Do.

(gif quality does not display this lmao but it's the impression i got anyway)

but AWCW puts out there that that was just the starting the ignition, and gleefully says that the next bit is where the true magic happens. which, i think is obvious, is where aziraphale actually reacts in any of the same manner - he begins to really smile, and offers up his name, even going so far as to say hi for the first time in the conversation. and i do think this is because he's just gotten a slam dunk of 'oh shit this angel is cute', but that's almost immaterial.

the part of the dialogue that struck me however is that AWCW says, "ive been waiting for this since... well, always!". it's not particularly revelatory, but to me basically says that AWCW has literally been working on this since he was formed from the firmament, having concept and design meetings with god, but this has been his entire "life"'s work, and he has never known anything else. he could just be being hyperbolic and i could be reading into it, but it would make sense for this starmaker to have only ever been a starmaker.

and heaven is certainly portrayed as being the most desolate place ever conceived, whether its in the dreaded High Rise Penthouse office building or in this vast, empty, dark space (presuming of course that the latter is in fact part of heaven, which it may well not be - and instead be in the space between planes before the universe was actually created)

regardless it gives the distinct impression of being very Lonely. so can we surmise from this that AWCW is not only a starmaker, but The Starmaker? working entirely in a team of one (thinking about the ep6 line of a "team... of the two of us") to create this nebula, possibly even most of the universe? crowley is described as being the only demon with an imagination, and his weapon of choice is literally the same instrument with which he cranked up this nebula... was his imagination in heaven also that revered and that's why he was entrusted with this project? and other similar ones? possibly.

but that spells for loneliness - single genius can be lonely. so it stands to reason that AWCW would be eager to have someone around to get dizzy with him about the wonder that is this new nebula and appreciate him for his creation. but it's not out of it being aziraphale being the one to appreciate it - we can surmise that in the way AWCW brushes him off. is this a case of self-importance? feeling he has status and should be recognised for this achievement? i feel like this is potentially a likely scenario.

in any case, AWCW seems pretty set on creating not only for himself, which he evidently finds fun and self-rewarding - going so far as to preen at the heartfelt but small praise that aziraphale gives him, but because its part of gods plan, and he's doing it for her.

he's even given perhaps one of the most famous lines from the bible, "let there be light". do we even trust that in GO it was god that originally said it - was it in fact AWCW? well either way, he completely believes in her vision, as far as he understands her vision to be.

so imagine how it must have felt then, in this instance, to have this stranger angel tell him that hes fairly certain that god is planning to destroy it in the next few millennia. AWCW, who is entrusted with creating parts if not all of her universe, isn't even clued in on the full facts, but aziraphale seems to be.

aziraphale is even seemingly part of the team (or is the whole team?) that seems to be entrusted with the plan of god's ultimate creation - earth and people built in her own image... but in kind doesn't seem to quite understand the true purpose of the nebula AWCW has built, at least according to him.

do we take this as an indication that god doesn't readily share her plans between angels, or that the nebula doesn't actually have as much importance as AWCW believed it to have? in any case, aziraphale seems to have been entrusted with god's plan, and AWCW - a creator whose creation the plan directly threatens - isn't.

aziraphale then goes on to describe the people they are currently designing; if we went with the notion (ie not sure how true this is in GO!verse) that humanity is god's ultimate creation, aziraphale has been trusted to help with that. i can't imagine just any angel would be, so there must be something in aziraphale that god sees as being fundamental in helping her with building them. from what we know of aziraphale's characteristics even this early on in his arc, he seems to be a kind and selfless person, and these may be the qualities that in building humanity god considers instrumental.

when we further consider that aziraphale then ends up being guardian of the eastern gate, and seems to have gone unpunished in giving away his sword (spelling its own implications for humanity as concerns war, cruelty, and death) and lying to her about it, this really does indicate to me that aziraphale is literally one of - if not the - favourite. given his qualities that it seems the other angels seem to lack (yes, even AWCW to a certain extent), it might just be that aziraphale was god's perfect angel. that would make sense.

the other thing that struck me is that aziraphale warns crowley against questioning god. the fall hasn't happened yet, so what gives aziraphale the foreboding sense of doom if crowley were to directly question her and her motives? "if i was the one running it all, id like it if..." strikes me as being the foreshadowing that it's this exact phraseology that AWCW puts before god and spells for disaster; that crowley intimates that if he were in charge, he would do things better. which is eerie when you again take into consideration the bookend that is aziraphale, "if im in charge, i could make a difference".

i would take the context of this being set pre-fall to indicate that there isn't any concept of actual punishment in heaven just yet (other than what a supervisory angel might order another angel to do, or a general reprimand). so what exactly is aziraphale afraid of? why is he scared for AWCW? doesn't he trust god to be understanding and kind if AWCW were to ask questions? what is it that aziraphale knows that AWCW doesn't?

so this is where i come to wondering if crowley was indeed prince of hell (okay yeah, fuck it, this is now a theory). what if it was actually aziraphale? god's perfect angel, entrusted with creating and guarding her ultimate creation? would it really be implausible that aziraphale went back to god and mused on what AWCW had said to him?

that it would perhaps be beneficial to have further input on how things were being created, especially when all the hard work, the creativity and genius, that was going into making her plans a reality, was just going to be wiped out in a snap? AWCW had 'friends' that fanned the flames of questioning god, doubled down on his resolve, and aziraphale tried to forestall the punishment that would inevitably come for him... but in doing so was punished himself?

but because aziraphale is her Favourite, instead of making him fall, she wiped his memory of it? he evidently remembers crowley as an angel, but beyond that? especially his remark that he's never killed anything (when, even if indirectly, aziraphale actually has? s1 with the french guard and the airfield soldier (perhaps not taking book canon into account here re: soldier) and the demons in s2) - does aziraphale not remember being a soldier? had a hard factory reset and is back to the unblemished, untainted angel he was before?

what if crowley did indeed bargain for aziraphale to be spared? that it was his fault that god was going to make him fall, it was his questions not aziraphale's? i think narratively it could make sense in the way that aziraphale and crowley are put as two halves of the same whole; that crowley did a selfless thing and was damned for it, whereas aziraphale wanted something selfish for crowley but was spared from the consequences. it would also go some way to explaining why crowley always has to protect aziraphale - its literally been his way since the beginning, in recompense for what happened to aziraphale?

i realise that this is completely batshit, but i do like the idea (im a huge fan of a bait and switch), and poetically speaking i think it could work - that instead of crowley being the original fallen angel, it was actually aziraphale? borne out of kindness and fondness for his new friend, the friend that actively seemed to welcome his company and wanted to show him the stars, and wanting to make heaven and the world a better place?✨

[taeyamayang]

Hey hey hey! Sorry for the late reply but I FINALLY WROTE SOMETHING!! literally when you @‘d me the Ray Bradbury quote I was like “welp that’ll do it” and finished the kuroo Drabble. It’s def not my fav but it’s a start! After I wrote that I wrote a Yams story that was originally gonna be a part of a different series that I scrapped. But I really like the idea so I made it a one-shot. I really like it and am proud of it!! I just hope by the time you read this someone else besides me has read it 😅. I don’t Necessarily want it to blow up or anything but starting out as a fanfic writer is hard. How did you do it?

About the books thing growing up I lived with my grandparents and wasn’t really connected to the internet like kids my age were until like 8 (which is still v young but I grew up kinda fast so 8 was like 13 to me I guess) so I just read a lot cause we didn’t have much to do (and talking to people was hard- so books it was) besides watch the same old movies on VHS and play with Polly pockets. A lot of my toys were my aunts who was like a decade older than me as well. All of that was some of the reasons I identified a lot with the gen before me and I remember talking with my (other) aunt whose like nine years older and her friend reminiscing about when they were kids and I was like “ahh I remember those” and she’s like gIRL HOW U WERE LIKE TWO😭 fanfic has ruined actual books for me. Not saying fanfic is way better, and I still like to read actual books, but why get invested in all these new characters when you can read about the ones you already know and love? And plus it’s more convenient then actually carrying a book around.

OOH REMEMBER WHEN I TOLD YOU HOW I ALWAYS GET HIT WITH BALLS AND YOU WERE LIKE HEY THAT SOUNDS LIKE A GOOD FANFIC IDEA? well that’s not exactly how it happened but guess what! I’m writting it! I have 630 words down so far so I know it’s at least gonna hit the 1000 mark at the rate I’m going. I’m so excited for you to read it!! Also I may take you up on the editing or what’s it called Beta reading? Where people read it over and give the ok to post? I was gonna do that with the Yams one shot but I was too excited! I will absolutely keep u in mind tho, thank you!!!

And for the thing about the schools and the pillows…I CANT BELIEVE I WAS RIGHT WHAT THE FUCK??? that is so wild to me omg. Also American tv is fucking weird when it comes to sex. Like when I was in high school only a few people had sex and it wasn’t a big deal? I mean I was very introverted and wasn’t popular so I might not be the best resource but still. Maybe it’s a newer thing not to care as much about sex with a more body positive gen or wherever but I don’t really think peer pressure or anything was a big deal. Honestly? Peer pressure in general barely exists anymore. Adults were always like “say no to peer pressure” when it was just one guy offering weed or whatever and a person saying nah and that was IT. I think there was more pressure in feeling left out if anything. The media is so weird portraying teens but we gotta remember- these are old people writting and producing these shows. They also get paid to make it dramatic and not realistic.

I hope everything worked out with your ex boyfriend/boyfriend! And I totally don’t think you are ranting and if you are, shot just call me a therapist LMAO. dating is so fucking messy. Everyone expects it to be certain kind of way and they get anxious when it’s not. People gotta learn that relationship differ for everyone and it’s ok to break up and move on when you feel like things aren’t working out! There doesn’t have to be hard feelings or anything either idk why society has to make breaking up so messy- I know it can be and things don’t always end well but they can end normally and you don’t need to feel bad about doing what’s best for both of y’all. Staying in a relationship that doesn’t feel right Is just bad for both parties. Then again, I’ve never really been in a relationship and I’m still a virgin because I’m demisexual and that strong connection is vital and I’m too fucking busy with my own shit to get that. But I think what I said still stands. Bruh I’ve been reading so much fanfic and while reading I’m like “wow this shit would never happen to me and my shy ass” bUT I STILL WANT A MEET CUTE!!! but I have to remember that I’m reading about anime men who are too good to be real LMAO. I have high standards ig. Finding a partner is gonna be fun. Also I know what you mean when you said being Intimate is hard because girls are taught to always say no to sex for multiple reasons. A. Religion and purity for being a female and slut shaming and B. R*pe and sexual assault. Like I listen to too many true crime stories! I know the statistics! And people just hook up with others??? Wtf??? Idk this might just be my demisexual ass but no thank youuuu

BRO I WISH I HAD SMALL FEET! THEY DONT MAKE CUTE SHOES FOR BIG ASS FEET LIKE MINEEEE. When I was a freshman I learned about how having small feet was attractive in china and how they would bind the feet of women to have small cute feet but I never heard of small feet being lucky. I did hear about big feet meaning big- uh I assume you know where I’m going with that.

I don’t read my journal that much cuz ig makes me wanna cry but I do read it when I feel particularly down. I still have contact with Kylie (I think I called her that- since i used fake names for them both) but we don’t talk much. Sadly I don’t have Daias number which makes me so sad cuz I miss her dearly.

Ok so the murder in my town was kinda on brand for it??? OK LEMME EXPLAIN. I live in an upper middle class town with good schools and such so a lot of wealthy families move here. Some areas of this town are more fancy than others (the farther away from downtown you are- i happen to live pretty close to downtown but ANYWAYS) even some big celebrities mentioned wanting to move here. my town has a pretty uppity spoiled reputation because of that. Like most of the crimes around here are from spoiled brats that get bored and do drugs or rob people. The culprit of this case was spoiled by his mother in every degree as a child and refused to be independent and when his mom cut him off he killed both of his parents and his one sister and her husband (bc the sister kept telling him and Their mom that he needs to get a life.) the sister and her husband live in the town over so technically it didn’t just happen in the town i live in (but!!! My old residental school was IN THAT TOWN! not the same area since they lived in the nice mansion part but still.) I also got lunch with my old teacher (the one with the books) and told her about the case and she original thought I was talking aBOUT A DIFFERENT MURDER! THAT HAPPENED EVEN CLOSER TO ME IN MY TOWN. she’s like “oh is it the case where the lady drowned her kids in the bathtub?” LIKE IM SORRY- WHAT??? she like “oh yeah it happened a lil while ago tho. The college bought the house and now they use it for administration or something since no one wanted to move there.” THIS IS THE SAME COLLEGE RIGHT DOWNTOWN!!! I PROBABLY WALKED PAST IT BEFORE WHEN I GOT LOST GETTING CUPCAKES. ok quick side note- my high school was downtown and we had free lunch where we can go off campus for food and I decided I wanted a cupcake from this cupcake place not that far from the school. Since I didn’t wanna be late I pulled up my old friend google maps to take me back the quickest way- THAT WAS A BAD IDEA!!!!! I ended up wayyyyy out of downtown and into this weird residental housing street soooo far away. I ended up calling my mom like “moooommmm…. I think I’m lost.” And she was like ???? “Aren’t u at school???” THEN I HAD TO SEND MY ADRESS AND SHE PICKED ME UP. I WAS SITTING ON THE SIDEWALK ALL ALONE AND SAD. I WAS LIKE 16!!! my mom wasn’t even mad LMAO. She just sighed and told me to get in. It was a good cupcake tho. ANYWAY BACK TO MURDER- apparently one of her students parents got murdered too or something like a decade ago��� LET ME JUST RESTATE THAT I LIVE IN THE MOST PICKET FENCE UPPITY TOWN EVER. I know what I’m saying makes it look all shady but the town i live in is one of the safest towns in the country- let alone my state. It just goes to show a lot of shady things happen when you aren’t looking for them. A quick google search goes a looooong way if you know what I mean- hopefully that doesn’t scare you if it did I’m so sorryyyy lol.

I’ve heard a lot about some famous cases from Japan, like the one about the little girl that killed her classmate (THAT SOUNDS SO BAD OUT OF CONTEXT WTF) or the Kyoto Anime massacre and the Junko Furuta case. The last two are very interesting to me in different ways. The first because I’ve never heard of anything like that happening before and the outcome is very unique? If that is the right word and just different from other arson cases when it comes to the motive and even the aftermath is different, like the perpetrator being the first person to receive a full body artificial skin graft. And because Kyoto Animations is a very big anime company which produced movies and shows that I- a person so far away- has watched before. And the Junko Furuta case was one of the few cases that ever made me cry and stuck with me for a while (that makes me seem so cold blooded I just don’t cry often because when I do EVERYTHING comes out) - but it was some of the most gruesome shit I have ever heard. I feel like the way I’m mentioning them is kinda disrespectful but I don’t want to go into detail about them because A. It’s really depressing for a tumblr ask and B. I wouldn’t do the stories justice. You also probably know about them anyway since you also like true crime and live closer geographically but if not I heard both of these cases from the YouTuber I mentioned a few times before Elenor Neale. Junkos case is kind of similar to one that happened here about a girl named Sylvia Likens, just in terms of sheer brutality.

OK THATS ENOUGH MURDER! but I wish I lived closer to Japan, since my mom told me she’d take me there after I graduated at some point- but she needs to get on a smaller plane first since she’s never been on one and the first one she’s going on will not be the 14 hour flight to Japan. So now I’m kinda just waiting and saving up lol.

I believe you did tell me about hearing voices in your house! Very spooky indeed. One time in a different house, a doll appeared on my bed out of nowhere (apparently it was my aunts who gave me to Polly pockets so that part wasn’t that weird) but the doll had a gold necklace with a smiley face pendant with a big round nose. Everyone says they never seen it before and honestly? I believe them. I have no idea where it came from and I held it close to me (bc spooky things are cool) until my little sister got jealous and broke it smh.

OOOH IM SO EXCITED ABOUT YOUR STICKER BUSINESS!!! IT SOUNDS SO COOL! I don’t play Genshin myself but my best friend does so I know some things about it. Her fav character is childe so I know zhongli and how he’s a god of some sort that childe buys everything for. I know there is a best friend duo and one of them hunts ghosts (bc my bestie said they remind her of us) and i know that childe calls everyone comrade and he’s a fatui harbringer with a little brother who thinks he is a toy maker. Oh and pimon (I think is her name) is annoying and Klee is cute and makes bombs. Oh there’s also Ito who’s like an Oni that’s a himbo and Thoma (I like him a lot. He’s cute) with the lil doggo! Your Zhongli sticker is so cute!!!

I’m also glad you take time to chat with me!! It makes me so happy whenever I get these messages. I hope you like my writting! By the time you get this my bokuto fic should be out!!!

And here! Take some cat pics as a treat!

i'm back with a communicable brain. dude, would you believe that i am building a sleigh.. a freaking life sized santa sleigh for christmas?? it's for community competition and i was tasked to build a sleigh and 9 reindeers. ugh, it's fun but very tiring i might be able to show you the sleigh the next time i write to you.

i read feline antics and kuroo in your fic is canon!! omg lol and when you mentioned about yams fic i was like "wait...why is the fic not on my dash (considering that i have few mutuals/following)." then it turns out I DIDN'T FOLLOW YOU?? WHAT THE HECK i swear i thought i did last time i read feline antics but my pea brain forgot or thought i did (i'm very forgetful if you hadn't catch on yet. might as well name myself dori ffs) anyway, so i followed you and saw your yams fic and holy shit??? 6k?? DUDE 6K?? woah, i am so so proud of you because i remember you mentioned to me before that you couldn't write anything/one shots because you always tend to drop them off or left them unfinishes bUT 6K?? DAAAMN. i really like the way you portrayed yamaguchi's anxiety because it's raw, heartfelt in a way that i could feel his worries through your writing. i'm sorry if this entire paragraph is a commentary about your recent works gsmsbsns lol and about beta reading... ARE YOU SURE?? ME?? WHAT AM I?? kidding but i'm always down maybe we can talk over it on discord if you have one (i rarely open my dms here bc opening dms means opening notifications and if im not in the right mood to check notifs i tend to forget to reply to comments, ask games, etc. aghh you know that gsnsbs)

how i started out as a fic writer is not actually a plan lmao after watching haikyuu i reopened my dying tumblr blog bc i know that great artists thrive here so i wanted to check out artworks of haikyuu. then, i saw that a number of blogs writes for haikyuu and i was like "wow fics are still a thing here on tumblr, huh." then i tried writing my own and took my tendency to daydream about my fixations to my advantage. i love thinking about how these set of characters react to a situation (this prolly the reason why i took up psychology as a major lol i love observing people and their personality and behavior) then out of whim i posted. not really thinking of numbers or feedbacks, i posted bc i know that only a few people will get to see it so there are less judgments on me since i'm a beginner writer on this platform. then, as i kept posting more and more people came to my blog. and although now, i still am not a huge blog, it's always good to keep a mindset that you're writing for yourself (tho numbers are rewarding, we get that) and that the people who read your works doesn't know you. you can't be judged based on your writing bc that's just one side of who you are and it also comforts me to think that there people who genuinely enjoy my work. i'll be lying if i say that there are no times where my priorities lean towards writing for my audience. i did at one point but ended on a writer's block lol. if you keep it that way you'll end up burntout (this happened to me too before heh). so, in short, i started writing just because i can and i didn't really thought about the negative things people will think of me, i just did bc i enjoyed it. also, i think consistency plays a huge role in thisㅡnot only to keep people engaged but also to keep writing as a habit. if you make it a habit, your writing gets better and better. that's just based on my experience lol. alsooo tho one year of writing here is still a short-time, i have never encountered anyone calling me a shitty writer and to stop writing because my words are useless and childish LOL what i'm trying to say is worries about people judging you and your work doesn't happen often and if that ever happens, they're the problem, never yours. so yeah i keep that in mind too. AND if that ever happens to you, i'll be on the frontline defending you. leave the roasting to me lol.

about the tv shows and sex (i feel like i have to at least give a topic beforeni start a paragraph bc i reply SO LATE that i feel like you might have forgotten what we were talking about) i agree! it's more of the pressure of being left out. one is pressured to hangout after school because of the fear of not being included in a group. tho i was peer pressure to kiss someone in class for fun but i was like "uhm, nope!" so i made a petty (i think wise *wink*) excuse of going to the comfort room first before doing it but what i did was i went straight home without telling anyone. i am not doing that for their entertainment lol 💀and that's cool kids for you 💀

OH! ex boyfriend... uh.. it's a girlfriend 🤣 everything worked well so thanks! we broke up lmaooooo welp it's for the best. im onto finding a better match i guess lol bruuhh i get the strong connection but besides that i also want someone to balance me out. i'm literally just a speck of dust sometimes, you know floating and minding my own business aka my fixations and hobbies in life. kudos to you tho! you give spot on advice. i mean having zero experience is okay when you give out relationship advices bc to me i think that's a fresh perspective.

yeah, small feet are lucky. small faces are pretty. button noses are pretty. small curvy lips are pretty. everything has to be small to be lucky or pretty but eyes... IT HAS TO HUGE AND DOE-LIKE i swear to fucking god the beauty standard here is ridiculous tho people my age dont usuallu give a fuck about it lol but the older generations OH THEY DO but that doesnt matter we were taught to respect elders and their opinions (as part of our culture) but that doesn't mean we will up to their unrealistic expectations. oh just to mention to you! when i was a kid i was pretty active. i play outside a lot and i love ride my bicycle and do races with my friends. one time my aunt (my father's sister) warned me of not "playing too much" bc my calves will develop man like muscles and it's not a good for a girl to have calf muscles because if i wear a dress and heeled shoes it will show. i was i think 8 or 9 and i was like... sOMETHING IS NOT RIGHT so i went to my mom and told her about it and she was like "what?! she told you that?! that's an exaggeration! just keep cycling or running, don't mind her." (my mom doesnt really care about physical looks whereas my aunts-dad side CARE A LOT) they don't even like women wearing clothes that are too revealing so what i did was i wore a tube on a relative's birthday party. they cant call me out bc they know my dad doesnt care (he even buys me cropped tops) and my mom too. anyway, so yes small ankles and calves are a thing too. IT'S RIDICULOUS I SWEAR.

oh god the murders in your town?? THAT SOUNDS LIKE FROM AMERICAN HORROR STORY OR SMTH. is it not weird that the college bought where the murder took place? like if i were to study there i'll be thinking about it a lot... actually... that sounds a bit like my uni... not exactly my uni but the place where my uni sits. so my country was under a colony before (war times and all that) and the city where my uni is the main city where the locals and foreigners interacted during 1800s and since the woke locals are against the colonization, a lot of them were shot, killed, and thrown to the nearby river. and if you take a few strides from my uni there's like an underground tunnel recently discovered that turned into a tourist spot. it's downright creepy because the way down to the tunnel and the tunnel itself is sketchy tight, the way/tunnel leads to a huge boxed underground like a deadend. my friends and i went afterclass and when we reached the dead end we looked up and see like a railing(?) idk how to describe it but other tourists were shock that people are piling underground and they can see us. apparently, that hole used to be a prison for locals who fought for our freedom (and other criminals too) they were kept and stuck undergound, left them there to die (die of starvation and stuff). it was creepy bc i was literally standing where almost hundreds of people died and i didn't know. we only knew of it when we reached the dead end. as it turns out, there are many other tunnels with the same structure near the place. sooo yeah.

omg speaking of the two japanese murders you mentioned i dont know about them so ill check it out!! and about your cupcake incident OMG THATS SO CUTE WTH IM SORRY FOR LAUGHIN but i just think its adorable that you ended up lost for a good cupcake. cant blame you tho i loveee a good cupcake. where you able to get back in class without an earful?

ahhhh i live near japan but i can't fly there yet bc of school (but since i graduated who knows heh). you know how crazy asian schools are? yes, they're crazy. so my family and i barely have time to travel outside of the country without taking a week off from school. we traveled once before to two countries it was hongkong and vietnam but i had to file a one week leave (it was tedious with all the papers i have to submit and all that ugh) and thank god that one week is just school festival week so i didnt miss anything besides the fun. that was in elementary but came middle school and high school.. heckkk after class study sessions is real like the one in anime especially if you're a senior. i remember my mom's friend being a math teacher so every summer i go to their place to train my skills in math and i'm begging my mom not to drop me off to their place 💀 imagine spending summer solving math problems HA! still, i'm never the best in math lol

thanks for the wishes i hope to launch my sticker shop soon apparently i hae forgotten my skills on photoshop HA HA HA and i'm trying to recall my lessons on it BUT FUCKKK anyway you a lot for someone who doesnt play genshin if you ever plan on playing it soon let me know!! i would love to know (its funny how you mentioned almost all daddies of genshin bc saaaame ughh childe supreme sugardaddy and a meme)

here are some haikyuu stickers i made recently it isnt final yet butttt here have a look!

WHY ARE YOUR CATS SO PHOTOGENIC?? THEYRE ALL SO BEAUTIFUL AND SOOO CALMING TO LOOK AT!! THATS UNFAIR bc momo knows when a cam is pointed at her and she just runs away. and the huge pikachu too!! I WANT THAT AAAHHH

here have momo sitting on the sleigh im working on hehe

sorry for the long wait but i lovee writing to you whenever i receive a message from you i get all excited! you're a good communicator and thanks for waiting for my replies since i take eons to do so. i hope you keep writing!! i'll always be here to support a friend and a fellow writer. cheers!

[sethjarvy]

haven't watched ellis' interview yet but i keep seeing people complain about carchidi lmao welcome to philly ryan, hope you enjoy the media!

[summerwritesfics]

🔥❄️Walk With Me, Would You Stay Awhile And Talk With Me

Pairing: Hanzo Hasashi/Kuai Liang Length: 11493 Words Rating: Explicit 🔞 Warnings: God AU, God!Hanzo Hasashi, Mortal!Kuai Liang, Healer!Kuai Liang, Mild Violence, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Tea, Mahjong, Implied Past Abuse, Bad Societal Hierarchy, Sparring, Anal Sex, Anal Fingering, Gentle Sex, Gentle Kissing, First Time, Roof Sex (Sex is just sexier when it’s on a roof idk what to tell you), Fluff, Some tiny bits of angst this is me lmao, Pining, Size Difference, Hand Job, Mentioned Homophobia, Plot With Porn, Porn With Feelings, Not really an arranged marriage but a relationship as part of a deal idk, Hanzo gets stabbed in the chest and has no coping mechanism except to court the person responsible, Hanzo falls for Kuai fast and hard SubScorp Week Day 7: God AU

SubScorp Week 2022 Masterlist

Notes: Welp, looks like this is it once again! ;_; This is probably the longest one shot I’ve ever written lmao, so I mean, a good end to the week I guess :) Hopefully it’s actually good and not just a big bunch of waffle XD I’m 100% sure I’ve probably missed a lot of typos but tbh I’ve been editing this for hours and I just want it out there, so if you see any please let me know TT_TT Title is from “Chivalry Begins” by Big Giant Circles.

Hanzo was really starting to tire of this.

There was a village, not too far from his temple, inhabited by people who preferred to be known as The Lin Kuei. They had been coming before him on this day every year for the last few decades, begging the God of Fire for his protection. He had only ever offered his protection to one village, but that had been enough to make every village within the vicinity come before him hoping he would choose them too. Most had taken no for an answer many moons ago and stopped trying.

Not the Lin Kuei however.

Every year, as if by clockwork, there was one of their kin in his throne room, trying to convince him to help them. He would admire their persistence if it wasn’t such an annoyance. Having to deal with this every year meant he was taken away from potentially more pressing matters, and it didn’t help that ever single one tried to argue against him, eating up more of his time.

At least this years poor fool had the sense to bow and show his respect before making demands.

“Can I help you mortal?” He asked, bored already.

“Lord Hasashi, I have been sent on behalf on the Lin Kuei, to request your protection of our village.” The man’s tone was uneven, clearly nervous about his role in this.

“Have you indeed?” Hanzo pushed himself up and off his throne and ambling towards his visitor. The man seemed to get even more nervous when he realised just how big Hanzo was, he was at least a couple of feet taller, towering over the still nervous man.

Upon closer inspection, this man looked different than the ones usually sent by the village. Usually they sent nobles, generals, people in positions of power. This man was in a far less flashy affair, a simple blue Hanfu, no jewellery or even armour, he had a sword strapped to his back but that was it. It seemed the village had finally realised that Hanzo did not respond to the arrogant pricks they usually sent.

“What is your name?” Hanzo questioned, staring the man up and down. He’d been cordial so far, and while Hanzo had no intentions of negotiating any sort of deal with the village, we was willing to at least do this man the kindness of listening.

“Kuai Liang, my Lord,” he replied, bowing his head slightly.

“Well, Kuai Liang, give me one good reason why I should protect your people?” He knew what the answer was already, it was the same answer every year. And this man seemed so woefully unprepared he doubted it would be a different one.

“We offer our worship and-“

“That is the same thing that is offered to me every year,” Hanzo interrupted, and Kuai flinched at his harsh tone. “Why would I accept it this time?”

“I-“ Kuai hesitated. Clearly they’d just coached him to say what they always said. He had no real answer. “I don’t know, my Lord.”

“Then I will bid you adieu,” Hanzo smuggly said in return, turning on his heel and returning to his throne. He expected Kuai to give up, given the man was clearly not a warrior and wracked with anxiety.

Except he heard the sword being unsheathed.

Hanzo turned back. Kuai was standing with the sword, gripping it tightly with both his hands. His stance was slightly off, not proper at all but not completely wrong. Clearly someone had taught him a few basics, but there was no sign of formal training.

“Do you really want to do this, Kuai Liang?” He asked, narrowing his eyes, hoping his threatening presence would be enough to make Kuai back down.

“I will do anything for my village,” Kuai announced, breathing uneven and hands unsteady.

How adorable. Hanzo felt bad for him, he’d likely not been given any real guidance on what to expect. In that respect, it would be wrong for Hanzo to fight back like he would anyone else. He’d just dodge the attacks until Kuai got bored and gave up.

“Very well,” Hanzo replied with a smirk. “Give it your best shot, Kuai Liang.”

Without much warning Kuai surged forward, swinging his sword at Hanzo with all his might. Hanzo chuckled as he sidestepped the attack. Kuai skidded to a halt, before turning on the balls of his feet. He ran toward Hanzo again, and once more he moved away. Again and again, this pattern repeated, and Hanzo had to admit, he admired Kuai’s stamina. For someone clearly lacking training, he was showing a lot less exhaustion than some of his more battle skilled peers had.

“It helps if you actually hit your target,” Hanzo taunted, rather enjoying the way Kuai bared his teeth in anger. He really was quite precious. This was the most fun he’d had with a mortal outside of his worshipers for a long time.

Kuai swung and missed again. Hanzo got to a point where he was just slowly backing up with every time Kuai went to hit him. Kuai had something about him, there was no denying that. Some would call it foolishness, but Hanzo saw it as determination. Maybe he had judged the man too quickly.

“Are you not getting tired?” Hanzo questioned, really rather amazed that Kuai didn’t seem to have even begun running out of breath.

Kuai swung his sword again, and Hanzo went to easily dodge once more.

Except…

He didn’t.

Hanzo felt the tip of the sword just about catch his cheek and he drew back in surprise. As he touched the area that had been hit, he was surprised by the sting and the wetness on his fingertips. He held his hand in front of his face, blood on his hand. Kuai Liang had managed to land a hit on him. He’d been challenged to battle by every Lin Kuei who had entered his temple, and yet in all those years, not one person had actually managed to hit him.

Unfortunately, he was so distracted by his shock, he stopped paying attention to what Kuai Liang was doing until it was too late. He felt a sharp pain in his chest, looking down, he found the sword buried to the hilt.

He looked to Kuai’s face, tight with valour. Hanzo couldn’t bring himself to feel angry that his momentary lapse of awareness had been taken advantage of. If anything it was only natural for Kuai to capitalise on such a moment. Hanzo was almost proud of him for doing so, but not as proud as him actually managing to get that first hit.

Hanzo brought his hands up to the hilt of the sword, wrapping them around Kuai’s as he still gripped it for dear life. Kuai looked down at Hanzo’s hands, before looking at Hanzo questioningly.

“I hate to be the barer of bad news,” Hanzo started, tightening his grip of Kuai’s hands. “But you can not kill a god.”

Kuai tried to not look alarmed by this revelation, but he was betrayed by the way his eyes widened slightly. It seemed either no one had ever told him or he’d just never really considered it. It was endearing in a strange way. He was so completely out of his depth, Hanzo was almost furious the the Lin Kuei would send someone so unprepared to face him.

Kuai tried to pull away but Hanzo made sure to take a strong hold of his wrists. Kuai let go of the sword, desperate to try and get away. Holding Kuai’s wrists with one hand, he held him in place as he reached for his chains. Despite how hard Kuai was trying to free himself, Hanzo’s grip was strong, no doubt he would leave bruises. Hanzo would heal them later, when Kuai had calmed down, but for now, he wrapped the chains around his wrists and pulled.

He held the end of the chains, making sure Kuai wasn’t going to find a way to free himself. Satisfied that no matter how much Kuai thrashed he wasn’t going anywhere, Hanzo turned his attention to the sword still buried inside himself. He grabbed it, gently coaxing it free. It didn’t hurt anywhere near as badly as it probably would have if he were mortal. Once out, he stared at the blade stained with his blood before throwing it across the floor. Kuai stopped struggling to watch his only defence leave his reach.

Hanzo lit a fire in his hand, taking notice in how still Kuai became. The fire wasn’t meant to hurt however, this was meant to heal. He held it to his wound, feeling a tingling as the fire worked it’s magic and began to stitch his flesh back together. Despite the size of the wound, his work was quick, and he was able to fix himself easily. He could heal the small scratch on his cheek as well, but he decided against it. The hole in his chest had come from an underhanded tactic, the scratch on his face had been a legitimate hit. He decided he could let Kuai have that one.

Speaking of Kuai, he still wasn’t moving, just wearily eyeing up the fire still in Hanzo’s hand. Clearly he was expecting the fire to be wielded against him. Hanzo smirked as he extinguished the fire, seeing Kuai’s shoulders relax at the action.

He didn’t give Kuai chance to begin struggling again, yanking on the chain hard and causing Kuai to stumble forward. Hanzo pulled until Kuai was flush with his chest, and he wrapped his arm around Kuai’s back, grasping onto the fabric of his hanfu and holding him close. Kuai made a strange squeak, his face going bright red as he squirmed slightly.

“You are an interesting one, Kuai Liang,” Hanzo commented, rather delighted by how Kuai’s previous defiance seemed to have been replaced by shyness. “You are the first from your village to actually manage to strike me.” Kuai pursed his lips at that, looking like he didn’t believe it. Hanzo supposed the Lin Kuei he usually dealt with weren’t the types to admit defeat. “You are clearly not a trained warrior, what exactly is your position?”

“I’m a healer,” Kuai admitted, and Hanzo couldn’t help raise an eyebrow. “My brother and Grandfather refused to let me join the armies, but my brother did, and he taught me some basic self defence.” The idea that Hanzo had been taken down by basic self defence was a little insulting, but wasn’t that why Kuai was catching his interest? He did wonder why Kuai had been sent rather than his brother however. As if sensing the unasked question, Kuai added, “my brother came before you last year.”

“Oh that arrogant fool?” Hanzo hissed before he could stop himself. He hadn’t paid much attention to the man who’d come last year. He’d been all bark and absolutely no bite in the end. Threatening Hanzo and claiming he could win with absolute certainty only to have his ass handed to him.

Hanzo was a little surprised when Kuai chuckled under his breath and mutter, “he is pretty arrogant.” His mouth twitched slightly. “I suppose that’s why he told me he had defeated you, and you still refused his requests.”

Hanzo rolled his eyes and commented, “given your reaction, it sounds like that is much the same story everyone tells.”

“No one has never mentioned being defeated by you,” Kuai admitted, squirming slightly again. He stilled when Hanzo squeezed him slightly.

“Of course they didn’t,” Hanzo sighed dramatically. He pulled of the chain slightly. “But for now, the question is, what am I to do with you?”

“I assumed you’d send me back to the village with my tail between my legs,” Kuai said looking down. “It won’t surprise anyone for me to have failed.”

That last statement bothered Hanzo, but he couldn’t place why. He chose to ignore it for now.

“Now why would I do that when you’re so very interesting?” Hanzo moved his hand from Kuai’s back, bringing it to cup his chin instead. “In fact the most interesting thing that’s walked into my temple for centuries.”

Kuai’s eyes looked to one side, Hanzo’s grip on his chin stopped him from turning away completely.

“I fail to see what makes me so interesting to you,” Kuai muttered, chewing on his lower lip.

“Being a healer who managed to get a strike on a God is not enough?” Hanzo teased, and Kuai’s eyes shot back to him to give him an unimpressed look. “You are not like the others that have come before me, and that makes me curious about you.” He pulled on the chains again. “If I undo the chains, are you going to try and run from me?”

Kuai was silent for a few seconds, looking like he was considering it. Finally, he replied with “no, Lord Hasashi.”

Hanzo decided to trust him, reaching to pull the chains away from his limbs. With the chains gone, Hanzo could see that Kuai’s wrists had already begun bruising and there were slight cuts from the chains. He lit a fire in both of his hands and went to take hold of Kuai’s wrists. Kuai pulled his hands away lightning fast, staring at Hanzo’s hands wearily.

“These flames will not hurt you,” Hanzo promised. He felt his hands out flat, deciding to let Kuai take the initiative.

Kuai really didn’t look like he trusted it, and Hanzo almost wondered if he was about to go back on his word of not running. Eventually, Kuai held his arms out, resting his wrists on Hanzo’s hands. He grimaced as the flames touched him, eyes screwing shut bracing himself for pain that would never come. His eyes blinked open in surprise when he realised the burning agony he was expecting hadn’t happened. He watched in awe as the flames licked at his skin, and slowly the bruised skin began to clear, and the small cuts began to close up. When Hanzo was satisfied the healing was complete, his flames died down, and Kuai lifted his arms to stare at the spot the injuries had just been.

He looked back across at Hanzo, conflict written on his face. “Thank you,” he whispered, before adding, “but, what exactly is it you want from me?”

Hanzo tilted his head, staring Kuai up and down. His outfit might have been plain, but he himself was anything but. It had been so long since Hanzo had found himself fascinated by a mortal in such a way. In fact he could only think of one person who had ever fascinated him like this.

“There has only been one other to captivate me the way you have,” Hanzo began, as he slowly began to circle Kuai. “Her name was Harumi, she came to me very much as you have, requesting protection for her village. We made a deal, and I granted that protection.”

“So, what was it she offered you?” Kuai asked, looking apprehensive.

“She offered me her hand in marriage.”

Kuai made a strange noise between a squeak and a whine. He covered his mouth as his face went bright red. It was as adorable as it was endearing.

“Are- Are you suggesting we-“

“Not if you do not want to,” Hanzo replied. As cute a husband he was sure Kuai would make, he wasn’t that cruel a god as to force an unwilling participant into marriage. “But I do ask that you stay with me a while. I would like to get to know you.”

“If I stay, will you consider protection for the Lin Kuei?” Kuai asked, holding his head high despite how flustered he looked.

“You have my word,” Hanzo replied with a bow. Kuai looked at him like he was considering it.

“Okay,” he said in a loud and long breath. “I will stay. But I should let the village know, before they send someone thinking I am dead.”

“I will have one of my acolytes relay a message.” Hanzo held out his hand. “Now, come, allow me to give you a warmer welcome than you initially received.”

Kuai actually gave a small smile, before taking Hanzo’s hand.

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

Hanzo was making every effort to not become overbearing.

Kuai was still skittish, and Hanzo worried that bombarding him with queries would both frighten him and frustrate him. He had left Kuai to his own devices for a day or so, deciding to let the man approach him in his own time while hopefully becoming more comfortable with his surroundings.

It was very different from how Harumi had been. She had been the one to suggest marriage, and as such was very enthusiastic and open to talking with him. Kuai was not Harumi, but he was equally as intriguing. He just had to remind himself that this man required a different approach to his late wife.

The message to his village had been sent, Hanzo’s acolyte had stated the Grandmaster had laughed and made some sort of derogatory comment. The acolyte did not elaborate on the comment, even as Hanzo had pushed for what it was. All he was told was that the actual comment would have made Hanzo burn the village to the ground.

As he sat down at a table to make himself a cup of tea and ponder that reaction, from the corner of his eye he saw a head peering around the doorframe. Upon further inspection, he realised it was Kuai Liang, watching him like he was trying to spy on him.

“Good afternoon,” he greeted, trying not to grin when Kuai jumped and realised he had been spotted. “Would you care to have some tea with me?”

Kuai slowly stepped into the doorway, staring at the table with the tea. He glanced around, as if checking they were alone, before he finally made his way over and sat down opposite, and Hanzo began to pour out the drink.

“How are you settling in?” Hanzo asked, as he pushed the cup of tea towards Kuai Liang.

“I’m fine.” He accepted the cup, taking it in his hands but didn’t try to drink it yet. “Your temple is very beautiful.”

“Thank you, though I can not take much credit for that,” Hanzo admitted, taking his own tea and sipping it. “My acolytes are the one who take care of the upkeep.”

Kuai hummed, finally taking his own sip of tea. Hanzo didn’t miss the way Kuai’s eyes widened, before he very quickly took another couple of sips. He quickly asked between his drinking, “speaking of your acolytes, did they send the message?”

“They did.” Hanzo was hesitant to say anymore. Kuai didn’t need to know the cruel way his Grandmaster had reacted. Kuai was staring at him expectantly however, and Hanzo knew he had to say a little more. “My acolyte mentioned your Grandmaster was not kind with his wording, although would not tell me what was said.”

“It’s okay, I have an idea what the nature of the comments might be,” Kuai admitted lowly, closing his eyes as he did. “The Grandmaster doesn’t exactly have the highest opinion of me, he’s probably angry that I would take more than one day to negotiate with you.”

Hanzo scoffed, “nothing worthwhile is built in a day. It takes time to build a sturdy foundation, and build from there. Your Grandmaster is a fool to think otherwise.”

Kuai just stared at Hanzo silently, looking alarmed. His eyes darted around the room, like he was expecting someone to reveal themselves from the shadows.

“There is no one here but us,” Hanzo clarified, wondering if Kuai was worried about his acolytes overhearing or someone else.

“This is a test,” Kuai said. A statement, not a question. He was certain of this. “He has asked you to test my loyalty.”

Hanzo couldn’t help but screw his face up in disgust, “even if he had, I would not have approved of such a thing.” There was something concerning about this reaction. Why would this even be something he would be afraid of? “What makes you believe this is a test?”

“We are not supposed to speak poorly of our Grandmaster,” Kuai told him, still wearily eyeing up the room. “We do not question his will, and we certainly are not supposed to criticise his ways.”

Hanzo knew there was a reason he didn’t like the village. He had a feeling he wasn’t going to get Kuai’s true feelings on his Grandmaster without first assuring him that his words would not make their way back to the Lin Kuei. So, baby steps. Make Kuai feel more comfortable, and then later figure out how long the Lin Kuei Grandmaster would burn for.

“I see this is an uncomfortable topic for you, so we should move on.” Hanzo lent across the table and offered a sly smile. “Besides, it is you that I would prefer to speak of.”

“I am not sure what else there is,” Kuai said quietly, grabbing his wrist with his hand and rubbing it. “I am not really as interesting at you seem to think.”

I vehemently disagree. He did not voice that thought, it was often hard to convince someone of their own worth. Instead he just lent his head on his hand, trying to think of a topic to help coax Kuai into talking more freely about himself.

“I am sure you must have some stories to tell from your work as healer,” Hanzo pointed out. It was a topic he’d talked about before, and always found everyone he asked had different stories to tell. “For instance, how exactly did you come to walk that path?”

“Like I mentioned, my Grandfather and Brother refused to let me join the armies.” Kuai finally let go of his wrist, but it wasn’t the end of his nervous fidgeting. He now just seemed to not know what to do with his hands. “I still wished to be of use however, which is when my Grandfather took me to the healers and requested they take me under their wing.”

“Do you like being a healer?” He questioned. It seemed almost like he’d been forced out into the role. He could imagine that could foster some form of resentment.

“I do,” Kuai said, the most chipper he’d sounded since he’d arrived, so Hanzo was inclined to believe this was true. “I enjoy helping people, even if my patients in particular are not always so grateful.”

“Some people do not appreciate these things until they are gone,” Hanzo commented, a sad truth he had learnt from millennia of watching the lives of mortals. He’d seen entire societies ban utilities they considered wrong or useless, only to discover how much they did for them after. “I do hope you do not receive too much backlash.”

And if he did, Hanzo would very much like the names of the perpetrators so he could have a word with them.

“Backlash, not so much, snide comments, maybe,” Kuai said somewhat deadpan. “I don’t really care, the other healers are kind to me, and I know they appreciate me, so that’s all I need.”

Hanzo was glad to hear that at least Kuai’s colleagues weren’t so dismissive. It did make him wonder what Kuai’s other relationships were like though. And whatever people thought of his work, there was no denying that Kuai was a very good looking man. Hanzo could imagine he had many suitors fighting for his affections.

“Do you have many other relationships with your fellow villagers?” Hanzo went to pour himself a second cup of tea, noticing Kuai’s cup was also now empty he went to fill that too. “I can imagine you have numerous people enamoured with you.”

Kuai let out a strained laugh, as he replied “oh, no, not really.” Hanzo didn’t believe that for a second. “I have friends, but no one interested romantically.” Kuai pursed his lips and looked like he was thinking. “I mean, I always suspected my best friend had feelings for me, but when I asked him for a relationship, he turned me down, so I suspect I misread his intentions.”

Hanzo wondered if that was really the case, or if this friend had instead turned Kuai down in a panic or for fear of judgement from their peers.

“I am a bit of a black sheep, I suppose,” Kuai continued. “Not many people really care for me, except my healer brethren, my brother, and my best friend.” Kuai looked away, staring out the window. In the distance, you could just about make out his village. “Our village values fighters, above all things. Those who do not take that path are seen as outsiders and generally regarded as useless or cowardly.”

“That seems an unfair judgement towards you for something you did not choose for yourself.” Hanzo watched as Kuai continued to look wistfully out the window.

“That doesn’t really matter, it is just how our culture is, I guess.” Kuai finally turned back to him. “I think part of why they sent me this year was a form of punishment and humiliation. They expected me to come back with nothing so they could use me as an example of why no one should be like me. Despite the fact no one else has succeeded either.”

Hanzo had no idea how he kept his composure. The idea they might have sent him here to fail was despicable. It made him wonder just what the Grandmaster had said to his acolyte. Bastard does not deserve my protection.

But refusal put Kuai in a bad position. It would “prove” he was as useless as they seemed to think he was. Damn them. This had nothing to do with the village itself at this point, and everything to do with what Kuai Liang wanted from him. If Kuai asked him to kill them all, he would do so without hesitation.

But he hadn’t.

So Hanzo silently resolved that he would earn Kuai’s trust, and he would stand by his word to offer the village protection.

And he would make sure those ungrateful wrenches knew exactly who had brought such a gift to them.

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

Kuai was slowly becoming more comfortable around Hanzo.

It was little things that Hanzo noticed. Kuai no longer traversed the temple like he was trying to remain unseen. He walked into rooms without sticking his head around the door frame before entering. He stopped acting paranoid that some omnipresent force would swoop in and reprimand him for speaking poorly of the Grandmaster.

He was being more open with his interests as well. He didn’t have much outside of his healing, more out of lack of availability than want however. One of the first true times he felt Kuai had begun to bond with him, was when they sat down and Kuai tried to teach him how to play mahjong.

Even if the game did frustrate Hanzo a little, given he kept getting into situations where he had no more valid moves, Kuai was patent with teaching him how to play. If Hanzo was honest, he was more captivated by watching Kuai play. He looked so relaxed as he paired up the tiles with ease. He left the table set up should Kuai decide he wishes to play during moments where Hanzo was busy.

His acolytes had needed advice on an issue, meaning that so far today, he had not yet been able to speak with Kuai. When he was finally done, seeking out his guest was his first priority. As understanding as Kuai was of Hanzo’s position, it still felt rude to leave him unattended for long periods of time.

He made his way to the room they’d had their tea in, it seemed to be Kuai’s favourite place in the temple and thus the first place he would check. Indeed, when he walked in, there Kuai was, sat at the mahjong table. However, he wasn’t alone, two of Hanzo’s acolytes were sat with him. They hadn’t noticed Hanzo yet, so he stood and observed the interaction. Kuai seemed to be listening intently to what the acolytes were saying, occasionally nodding, smiling and laughing.

Hanzo hadn’t realised before that he was worried how his acolytes would treat Kuai and vice versa. The relief that they were getting on well was immeasurable.

Hanzo coughed lightly, making his presence known. All three men turned their heads to see who was there. When Kuai saw Hanzo, a blush came across his face.

“Are things well?” Hanzo questioned, walking towards them. The two acolytes stood up as he approached.

“Yes, Lord Hasashi,” one of his acolytes replied with a bow. “Kuai Liang was just teaching us how to play Mahjong.”

Hanzo chuckled at that. Seems he was not the only person Kuai was going to rope into this. He wasn’t going to complain, he definitely liked to encourage his worshipers to take time for themselves, a nice fun game to play would be beneficial to moral.

“Do you need anything Lord Hasashi?” The other acolyte questioned.

“Not right now,” Hanzo replied, walking past them to settle opposite the table to Kuai Liang. “You do not have to leave solely because I am here, you may join us, if you wish.”

The two acolytes shared a strange knowing look between them, before the first one replied with, “it’s quite alright Lord Hasashi, there is work we should be doing anyway.”

The two acolytes bowed again before excusing themselves. Hanzo turned back to Kuai, who thankfully wasn’t upset that his conversation had been cut short. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to check.

“I do apologise if I interrupted your conversation,” he offered with a smile. Kuai smiled back, before turning his attention to the Mahjong table.

“No, it’s okay, I’m glad you’re here.” Hanzo tried not to scream from the sheer joy that sentence brought him. I’m glad you’re here! He’s happy to see me! It was a big sentiment from a man who only a few weeks ago was scared to enter a room without being invited first. “Your acolytes are very interesting.” Kuai took a pair of tiles, before looking expectantly at Hanzo. Ah. Hanzo stared at the board, realising that it was his turn. “They talk very highly of you.”

“A lot have given up much to assist me, it is only right for me to provide them a good life in return,” Hanzo replied, taking two of the tiles, still unsure if he was playing this game right. He did smirk though as he looked across at Kuai and said “so, you were talking about me then?”

Kuai squeaked and his face went bright red and he looked away, while stammering “I- I- Well- I- You see-“

Hanzo cut him off with a laugh and commented, “you’re adorable when you’re flustered.” Kuai shot him an unimpressed looked. “Relax, it is only natural that you would ask questions to those who know me well.”

“Grandfather always told me, that the way to check the heart of a God was to check those of their followers.” Kuai took two more tiles from the board. He’d barely even looked at what he was doing, Hanzo was in awe at how he was able to memorise where tiles were with such certainty.

“Your Grandfather was a wise man,” Hanzo noted. “There are many deities who rule with fear, but that does not inspire loyalty.”

“There are many humans who rule with fear too,” Kuai stated sadly, looking through the window, in the direction of his village. Hanzo had no need to question who he was talking about. “You are right. It inspires obedience rather than loyalty. The second that things are bad, those you tried to lead will leave you to be eaten alive.”

“Precisely.” Hanzo turned his attention back to the board. He was determined to win this game, if only in an attempt to impress Kuai Liang. “Loyalty is earned, not given.”

“Out of curiosity,” Kuai began, turning back in time to watch Hanzo staring intently at the Mahjong board. From the corner of his eye, he could see Kuai’s amused smile. “Is this the sort of thing that would be expected of me?” Hanzo made a confused huff, not sure what he was actually asking. “Loyalty, and worship.”

“Loyalty, yes, but as I already said, that is earned. Though you should know you already have mine,” he commented as he took two more tiles. “As for worship. No.” He looked Kuai in the eyes. “I would never expect that from someone I am equals with.” Hanzo felt his mouth split into a grin, as he figured another way to fluster Kuai further. “If anything, I intend to be the one to worship you.”

It worked, Kuai looked away in embarrassment, although to Hanzo’s surprise he was softly laughing this time.

“You truly are audacious,” Kuai commented, pushing some hair behind his ear. He quietly took another couple of tiles without looking at the board. “I’ve never heard of something so preposterous. A God worshiping a mere mortal.”

“Not a mere mortal,” Hanzo replied, realising that there were only a few tiles left, and it looked like they would be able to clear the board. “You are not a mere anything.” Hanzo watched as Kuai turned back to the board and seemed to realise they would clear it. The first time since Hanzo had begun to learn how to play. “Besides, if it were not for mortals, the Gods would have nothing.”

“How so?” Kuai asked genuinely. Hanzo didn’t miss the small smile as he continued to take the tiles.

“They are the ones who chose to give us their time, they built our temples and tend to our world.” Hanzo saw the way Kuai’s face scrunched up. “Is there a problem?”

“I am curious, if you truly feel that way, how come you so seldom offer your protection?” Kuai asked, tilting his head.

“Despite being a god, I still can not be in multiple places at once.” He reached to take the last pair of tiles. “I can not offer protection to every village that requests it, and I’ve found offering it at all lends to arguments as well as feelings of favouritism and unfairness.” Despite himself he smirked at the empty board. He felt a heat in his chest when he saw the look of pride Kuai was giving him. “Individuals who come to worship me are free to do so, and they are free to make requests of me, within reason.”

“So, why are you willing to consider protecting my village?”

“Because you are not like anyone else they have sent. Similar to Harumi before you, you did something that surprised me.” It was strange. Harumi and Kuai were different people, in terms of personality at least, but very similar in ways that mattered. Their opinions, their beliefs, their intelligence, their determination. Hanzo wondered if it was possible that Kuai Liang was her reincarnated and brought back to him. “Granted what she did to surprise me was very different.”

“Well, you can’t tell me that and not say how she won you over?” Kuai said with a cheeky grin.

“She walked into my temple, looked me straight in the eye and demanded that I marry her.” He felt justified in the giggle that came from Kuai. Honestly, it still made him laugh thinking back. She had come in so confident and so sure, and yet seemed surprised that her plan had actually worked. “It was such a bold move I naturally had no choice but to comply.”

“Naturally,” Kuai said with a smirk. “I think I understand why you liked her.”

“Yet you can’t seem to understand why I like you?” Hanzo pointed out, and Kuai sighed softly in return.

“Like I said, I have never had anyone really express interest in me, it has been surprising that the first person who has is a God.” To Hanzo’s surprise Kuai reached over to take his hand. “But… I also think I understand why she liked you too.”

Hanzo tried not to completely loose all composure. He was sure he was failing given the look Kuai was giving him.

“You’re adorable when you’re flustered,” Kuai parroted back at him, and there was something about the smug grin Kuai had on his face that was making Hanzo’s heart race.

“Now who’s the audacious one,” Hanzo countered, trying to remain impassive, although he knew he was absolutely failing. “And after I cleared the Mahjong board.”

“Yes, you did,” Kuai said, finally retracting his hand. Hanzo stopped himself from reaching for it again. “I’m quite proud of you for picking it up so quickly.”

“Well, I had an excellent teacher.” The modest laugh from Kuai only fuelled his admiration for the man. Hanzo picked up one of the tiles, and held it up. “Care for another game, Kuai Liang?”

“I think I have another round in me, Lord Hasashi,” Kuai replied, accepting the tile from Hanzo.

Hanzo passed the rest of his tiles over, and watched eagerly as Kuai set up a new game.

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

Kuai was getting bolder.

A lot bolder. Hanzo was genuinely pleased with how far out of his shell Kuai had come. Everyday, he got more and more open, begun to smile more, laugh more, flirt with Hanzo more.

He was even getting more bold with requesting things.

Even so, Hanzo hadn’t expected the words that came from Kuai’s mouth when he entered the throne room that morning.

“Lord Hasashi,” Kuai addressed, as he approached the throne. Hanzo was surprised, Kuai had barely been in this room since their first meeting. It was yet another sign of how comfortable Kuai Liang was getting, feeling more at ease with traversing the temple. “I was wondering if you could help me practice sparring.”

Hanzo blinked in surprise.

“Of course, but, may I ask what brought this on?” He was curious, aside from when they’d first met, Kuai hadn’t really shown much interest in fighting.

“I just wish to get better, should I ever be in another situation where I need to defend myself,” Kuai admitted, bowing his head slightly. “And I have seen the way you teach your acolytes to fight. You are a far more patient teacher than my brother was.”

Ah. Hanzo could understand that, and depending on how their relationship went, Kuai had a very valid reason for wanting a way to shield himself. Consort’s and spouses of deities tended to be targeted by those with grudges, and Hanzo wouldn’t always be able to save him. He had taught Harumi how to fight all those years ago, it would make sense for him to do the same with Kuai Liang.

It also somehow was not surprising to him to know that Kuai Liang’s brother wasn’t too good a teacher.

Kuai had potential though, Hanzo had seen that for himself already. With a little more honing Kuai could be a very fearsome warrior.

“Very well,” Hanzo replied, pushing himself off his throne. It felt like a strange repeat from only a few weeks ago, except there was a lot less at stake this time. He mentally compared how Kuai looked now compared to their first meeting. In the beginning he’d been so rigid, on edge and unsure, and now he was stood relaxed but head held high. It was wonderful to witness.

He walked over to where he kept the training weapons. While he wouldn’t be hurt by any strikes, the same couldn’t be said for Kuai Liang. He figured that injury would be quite counter productive to his current goal. He took two wooden training swords, and made his way back to Kuai.

First things first, he needed to try and correct Kuai’s form slightly.

“Here,” he handed a sword to Kuai, who accepted it without question. “To start with, your form was good, it just needs a bit of refining. Can you get into position for me?“

As Kuai positioned himself, Hanzo came up behind him. Kuai made a small huff when Hanzo touched him, but didn’t voice any complaints. Hanzo nudged Kuai’s feet with his own, making the gap between them slightly bigger. He gently pushed on Kuai’s back, straightening him out rather than hunched over like he had been.

“I know it seems like the best idea to hunch up, and make yourself small,” Hanzo explained as he grasped Kuai’s wrist to fix his hands. “But you loose a lot of movement that way.”

“I see.” Kuai made no complaints as Hanzo stepped away. He moved in front of Kuai, bringing up his own sword into a position.

“First, I’d like to see how you block,” Hanzo stated. “Your offence can only be as good as your defence, knowing when to strike is key.”

“I always wondered about that,” Kuai spoke as Hanzo went to strike. Kuai just about brought up the sword to block him. “Bi-Han always encouraged me to be more aggressive.” Kuai managed to block another attack, and Hanzo had to admit his reflexes were extremely sharp. “But I always thought just rushing someone wasn’t the best strategy.”

“What strategy would you use?” Hanzo asked, silently getting into a defensive stance and seeing if Kuai would take the chance. He did, bringing his sword down against Hanzo’s.

“Stealth, if I’m being honest,” Kuai replied, as he chanced another strike. Hanzo managed to push back, and Kuai stumbled slightly. Hanzo took another swing, feeling very pleased when Kuai managed to bring his sword in time to block the attack. “Use the element of surprise to get an upper hand in the beginning, and then use a mix of blocks and strikes to hopefully keep up the advantage or attempt to disarm my opponent.”

“Not a bad idea,” Hanzo commented, watching as Kuai tried to do a similar push back move. It didn’t work as well, mostly because Hanzo was a lot heavier than any man Kuai was used to. “It is a shame your family did not allow you to become a warrior, I get the feeling you would have been a magnificent tactician.”

Kuai laughed at that, once more trying to push Hanzo away when their swords collided. It was at this point his eyes narrowed, and Hanzo could practically see the his mind working out a new way to get the sword off his sparing partner. He was curious what Kuai would do, how he would come up with a plan in the heat of the moment.

So Hanzo just continued to alternate between attacking and defending, giving Kuai chance to practise both and come up with his plan to disarm Hanzo. Granted, this wouldn’t happen on the battlefield, but if Kuai could think and adapt his plans in the middle of a fight, it would give him an invaluable skill.

It didn’t take Kuai long to set his plan into motion, when as Hanzo sliced forward, Kuai ducked. The sword just went over Kuai’s head, missing him by a hair. Once it had cleared Kuai’s head, he jumped back to his feet, and struck a hit at Hanzo’s hand. There was no pain but the surprise of the move was enough for Hanzo unclenched his hand and let go.

Hanzo watched the wooden sword fall to the floor, and before he could even think about going to grab it, he found the point of Kuai’s at his neck. He looked over, not even bothering to hide how elated he was.

“Do you yield, Lord Hasashi?” Kuai asked, and he looked as serious as he had that first day they met. He looked so handsome when he meant business.

Hanzo broke out into a grin as he said “you’re so beautiful.”

“I’m starting to think you might have a thing for getting your ass handed to you,” Kuai commented, taking Hanzo’s compliment to mean an admittance of defeat.

“Only when it’s you,” Hanzo replied, because it was true. Sure he had been defeated in the past, but absolutely none of those defeats felt fulfilling. That was a feeling reserved solely for Kuai Liang. “I am serious though, with some more training, you would make a formidable foe.”

“Well, it’s a good job I have an excellent teacher.” It seemed Kuai’s favourite way to flirt was throwing Hanzo’s compliments back at him. “Would you care for another round, Lord Hasashi?”

Hanzo walked over to where his sword lay on the floor, picking it up and holding it out.

“It would be my honour.”

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

The comfort of night was soothing to Hanzo. As a god he did not need to sleep, so he often went to watch the sun set and then rise again. The majority of his acolytes were asleep, as well as Kuai Liang, and there had only ever been a handful of nighttime emergencies over the years.

He liked to sit on the roof of his temple and look up at the moon and stars, the lunar gods and goddesses took such good care of them. It was sad that only the most dedicated of mortals ever got to see them. Hanzo appreciated them though, and often let them know by way of gifts from his temple to theirs.

“So, this is where you hide at night.”

Hanzo turned in surprise at the voice, to see Kuai clambering up to the roof himself.

“You should be sleeping,” Hanzo commented, although really, he would not argue against spending more time with Kuai.

“I couldn’t sleep, I’ve been thinking too much,” Kuai explained as he carefully made his way over the tiles to sit next to Hanzo. “I was hoping I could talk to you.”

“Of course.” Hanzo worried if it was too cold out here for Kuai. He wasn’t wearing his usual hanfu, instead donning a kimono one of the acolytes had lent to him. “Is there something wrong?”

Kuai cleared his throat, “it has been a month since I came here.” Ah. It has, hasn’t it? To Hanzo that was barely any time but he acknowledged that for Kuai it was a lot longer. “I think soon my village will want an answer.”

“I see,” Hanzo hummed. He agreed, the Lin Kuei would start to get impatient. If Hanzo had his way, Kuai would stay indefinitely without fear of having to go back, but he knew that was not to be. “Well, the answer does depend on what you want.”

Kuai opened his mouth, before quickly closing it. He smiled shyly, before reaching his hands to Hanzo’s face and cradling his cheeks careful, as Kuai lent forward so their faces were directly in front of each other. Hanzo wondered for a moment what he was doing.

And then Kuai’s lips met his.

Hanzo gasped in surprise, it took a few seconds for him to really take in what was happening. His own hands worked on instinct, one wrapping around Kuai’s back and pulling him close while the other cradled the back of his head. He tried not to feel disappointed by Kuai pulling away.

“Does that explain what I want?” Kuai said, suddenly looking shy and biting his lip. Hanzo wanted nothing more than to bite it for him.

“Hm, it might need a bit more explanation,” Hanzo teased, and it was completely worth it when Kuai lent in to kiss him again. This time, Hanzo opened his mouth, using his tongue to encourage Kuai to do the same. As Kuai silently agreed to the request, Hanzo let his tongue slip inside. It was clear Kuai did not have as much experience as Hanzo, but it didn’t matter, it was still wonderful. Hanzo pulled away long enough to whisper “Will you allow me to make love to you?”

“Yes, but-“ Kuai shifted back slightly, brow furrowed and lips tights. “I’ve- uh- I’ve never been intimate with anyone before.”

“That’s okay,” Hanzo assured, using his grip on Kuai’s back to guide the man to straddle his lap. “We will go at whatever pace you find comfortable, and nothing will continue if you do not wish it to.”

“Thank you,” Kuai said gently, settling himself on Hanzo’s lap. “I- Ah- I guess this is the part where I start to take off my clothes?“

Hanzo’s hand reached for the Obi cinched around Kuai’s midsection, pulling it off. Kuai’s own hands went to Hanzo’s armour, trying to unclasp the various clasps holding it in place. Kuai huffed in annoyance as he struggled to figure out how to do it. Hanzo took pity on him, taking his hands to his chest armour and unclipping everything. As the armour fell away, he discarded it, before taking the fabric of his undershirt and removed it too. Hanzo tried not to have an ego, but god the way Kuai’s eyes widened at his bare chest, particularly his abs, definitely stroked it.

“You seem impressed,” Hanzo noted, gently taking Kuai’s hands in his and placing them on his chest. Kuai’s face went that beautiful shade of red it tended to go. “You were so bold moments ago, it’s cute that you can go from that to so shy.”

Kuai’s hands began to explore his chest, squeezing his muscles, fingers brushing against Hanzo’s nipples. Hanzo’s hands reached for the kimono, pulling it away but letting it remain over Kuai’s shoulders. The weather was mild after all, and at least this would Kuai would have something other than Hanzo’s body heat to keep him warm.

Kuai’s body was beautiful, a work of art. He’d suspected Kuai had some sort of muscle, given how powerful his strike could be, but he didn’t expect them to be quite as defined as they were.

As if sensing the silent question, Kuai explained with, “being a healer requires me to carry the injured.”

“I see,” Hanzo purred, reaching his own hands forward to start to feel for himself. His hands squeezed at Kuai’s pecs, before his thumbs went to circle Kuai’s nipples. Kuai immediately groaned and arched his back. “So sensitive.”

Kuai made a cute whimper as Hanzo pinched lightly. This was definitely something Hanzo wanted to explore more, but it might be a bit much for a first time. He let his hands go lower, fingers trailing along Kuai’s skin. His hands hooked into Kuai’s underwear and began to pull them down, enough for Kuai’s cock to spring free. Kuai looked flustered by the fact he was already half hard.

“Don’t feel embarrassed,” Hanzo tried to gently assure, wrapping his hand around Kuai’s cock and giving it a slow stroke. “This is a compliment.” Just Hanzo’s hand seemed to be overwhelming for Kuai, if the way his hands reached for Hanzo’s shoulders was anything to go by. “Are you well?”

“Y-yes,” Kuai replied with a groan. “Please don’t stop.”

“I won’t,” Hanzo whispered, pressing another kiss to Kuai’s lips as he begun to pump his hand in a steady rhythm, the lovely feeling of Kuai getting harder with every stroke. Kuai gave a gasping moan. “Does that feel good?”

“Yes,” Kuai whispered, his hips thrusting in jerky unsure movements. “Ah. No one’s ever touched me before.”

“Have you ever touched yourself?” Hanzo questioned, twisting his hand and enjoying the way it made Kuai shudder.

“No. We were discouraged. Too high a chance at being caught,” Kuai said between laboured breathes while shaking his head.

“A shame,” Hanzo grumbled. Exploring ones own body was such a natural urge, Hanzo had no idea where mortals got the impression the gods disapproved of such things, but he cursed whomever spread that misinformation.

Hanzo pulled out a vial of oil from his lower pocket, and with one hand still on Kuai’s cock he undid the lid with his other, trying to apply some to his fingers.

“I see you’re prepared,” Kuai said with a sly smiled. “Did your godly powers tell you I was coming?”

Hanzo chucked, he knew how it looked. Truth was, the oil tended to come in useful for other emergencies, it just happened to also be safe to use as a lubricant.

“Maybe,” Hanzo snorted, happy that he’d gotten at least one of his fingers coated in the oil. He reached behind Kuai, using the digit to search for his entrance. As he pressed against it, he felt Kuai stiffen a little. “Relax, and let me know if I’m hurting you.”

Kuai nodded, as Hanzo slowly began to press his finger in. Kuai clenched his hands, fingernails digging into Hanzo’s skin.

“I’m okay,” Kuai stated before Hanzo could ask. “It just feels strange.”

“It will at first,” Hanzo replied, pressing a kiss into Kuai’s neck and starting to pump his cock a little harder, hoping the sensations would help distract from the unusual feeling of the finger. “But I have to open you for me, otherwise I could hurt you.”

“I understand.” Kuai’s body began to settle again, Hanzo slowly began to push his finger in and out, trying to spread the oil and encourage Kuai’s entrance to relax. “My brother explained some things to me, but with women.” Kuai’s face screwed up a little, but not from discomfort. “He doesn’t know I…”

Kuai’s voice trailed off, but Hanzo had a feeling he knew how the sentence would have ended.

“He doesn’t know you are attracted to men?” Hanzo questioned, as he realised Kuai was probably ready for another finger.

“No,” Kuai said with a shake of the head. Hanzo slipped his finger free, reaching for the oil to apply some on a second finger. “Our village doesn’t think it’s proper. If my friend hadn’t turned me down, we would have had to keep our relationship secret.” Hanzo wondered now if that had been the true reason for the rejection. “But I’m not scared of their reactions with you.”

“Oh?” Hanzo prompted, pushing his two fingers back inside Kuai. Kuai jolted slightly in surprise, but to Hanzo’s astonishment seconds later he was pushing himself down, trying to take more of Hanzo’s fingers inside him.

“You are a god, who are they to refuse your desires?” Kuai sighed, his voice starting to sound blissed out. “If those that made our world what it is do not find it shameful, then can it really be as wrong as the Grandmaster says?”

“You should never have felt ashamed of your feelings,” Hanzo hummed, gently pressing a third finger inside. “I will make sure you never experience those fears again.” He used his thumb to circle the head of Kuai’s cock, causing the man to buck in his lap. “Anything you want can not be wrong.”

Kuai made a small content purr, leaning in for another kiss, as his hands continued to explore Hanzo’s body. They made their way to Hanzo’s biceps, and lingered their for a lot longer than anywhere else. He could feel Kuai smiled against his lips, and those fingers traces the definition lines.

Hanzo chanced a forth finger, Kuai showed no resistance. It was soon after that Hanzo decided Kuai was ready for him. He pulled his fingers free and let go of Kuai’s cock, holding in a laugh when Kuai made a short needy sound at the loss. He brought his hands to his own belt, pulling his trousers down just enough to bring out his own cock. Kuai gasped and bit his lip.

Hanzo took one of Kuai’s hands off his bicep, bringing it up to his mouth before kissing the knuckle, before guiding it down. Kuai immediately got the assignment, and once his hand was low enough, he wrapped it around Hanzo’s cock. His inexperience showed, as he didn’t seem sure what to do, but Hanzo was more than happy just having his hand on him.

He grabbed the oil again, pouring a generous amount over his cock. This prompted Kuai to begin to move his hand, using it to spread the oil over. Hanzo groaned, the feeling was pure bliss, but he knew it would be nothing compared to being inside Kuai.

When he was satisfied, he went to grab Kuai by the waist. Kuai moved both his arms around Hanzo’s shoulders, as Hanzo lifted him and brought him closer. He lowered him again, reaching down to his own cock and guiding it toward Hanzo’s entrance.

“Stay relaxed, and tell me if you need to stop at any point,” he instructed, before slowly letting Kuai sink down onto his cock. Kuai let out a breath as he was penetrated, causing Hanzo to pause with just the tip inside. “Are you okay?”

“Y-yes,” Kuai said in shaky voice, “just, slowly, please?”

“Of course,” Hanzo assured, kissing Kuai’s forehead. “Just let me know when you’re ready.”

It was a slow process, every so often Kuai would tell Hanzo to keep going, before asking to take a pause. This was fine, the last thing Hanzo wanted to do was hurt Kuai Liang. It took a few minutes, but finally he bottomed out, Kuai comfortably sitting on Hanzo’s thighs with his cock buried deep inside him. Hanzo kept him there, letting him get used to the feeling, rubbing circles in Kuai’s hips to reassure him.

“I’m ready,” Kuai finally confirmed.

“Okay, we’ll take it slow,” Hanzo assured, moving his hands slightly to grab Kuai’s ass.

He used his grip to encourage Kuai to lift himself using his knees. It was only a few inches, before he guided him back down. Kuai shuddered slightly, and Hanzo knew he had probably just brushed up against Kuai’s prostate. To his surprise, Kuai took in initiative to lift himself up again.

“That’s it,” Hanzo encouraged, “just do what feels right.” Hanzo squeezed his hands, Kuai’s ass was wonderful to just knead and play with. “Do what makes you feel good.”

“Hanzo,” Kuai breathed out. Hanzo had to hold back his joy. He called me Hanzo. Not Lord Hasashi. Hanzo!

It was amazing how quickly Kuai took to this. Soon he had started a rhythm, lifting himself up and down, his breaths coming out in quick pants and moans. Hanzo took a chance to buck his hips up as Kuai dropped, and the loud groan that came from Kuai’s lips was heaven.

Hanzo finally let go of Kuai’s ass, one hand reaching for his chin and the other going down to his cock again. He kissed Kuai once again, stroking his cock in time to the thrusts. He eagerly swallowed every desperate sound that came from Kuai’s lips. He could feel the other man trembling, and he knew he wouldn’t last much longer.

His assessment was proven correct when minutes later, Kuai made a particularly loud noise, and Hanzo began to feel his hand growing wet. Kuai clenched around him, and Hanzo brought Kuai all the way down before allowing himself to reach his own climax. He kept stroking Kuai’s cock, making sure his love was fully satisfied before anything else.

Hanzo let himself gently fall back, pulling Kuai with him. Kuai lay atop him, not yet bothering to remove his cock, the connection feeling too nice to break from for now. He wrapped his arms around, holding him close.

“Are you well, my love?” Hanzo asked. If there was anything he could do to please Kuai Liang, he would in a heartbeat.

“I am better than I’ve ever been,” Kuai whispered, his eyes closed and nuzzling into Hanzo’s chest. “You are wonderful.”

“You are the wonderful one,” Hanzo assured, trailing his hand along Kuai’s spine. “I am blessed that you graced the walls of my temple.” The smile of Kuai’s face was beautiful. “How are you feeling about our courting?”

“I love you, and I would love to be your husband one day,” Kuai admitted, “but the prospect of rushing into it still scares me.”

“That is only natural,” Hanzo assured, “like with everything, we can go at your pace. I would be honoured, however, if you agreed to be my consort.”

“I would like that,” Kuai said, sounding half asleep.

Hanzo kissed Kuai’s forehead again, feeling him begin to fall asleep in his arms. He lay back and gazed at the stars, the flames of his love ignited to a degree he had not felt since Harumi.

I truly am blessed.

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

Hanzo couldn’t help smirking to himself as he followed behind Kuai. He had never actually been to the Lin Kuei village, and given everything he knew about how Kuai Liang was treated, he couldn’t wait to see the other villagers faces when they saw the two of them together.

He could see the gates to the village, two guards stood out on post. Hanzo decided to hold back a few seconds. He wished to observe the interaction first. Kuai glanced behind him, sensing that Hanzo had stopped, and just nodded. He loved how Kuai just instinctively knew his plan.

“Well, well, well, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes,” the one guard started, his tone harsh and mocking.

“Can’t help but notice you’re alone,” the other taunted, crossing his arms and looking so very smug. “It took you a month to come back empty handed. Looks like the Grandmaster was right, you are useless.”

Kuai said nothing, just turned his body to look behind him. Hanzo took the queue to walk out of the shadows. Oh, the way those smug looks dissolved from their faces was so satisfying. The two men stared at him with open mouths, before they looked at Kuai again.

“Hanzo would like to speak with the Grandmaster regarding the terms of our agreement.”

The two guard’s didn’t move a muscle, their eyes had widened when Kuai had referred to him as Hanzo however. As much as their reaction was amusing, Hanzo was growing impatient with their incompetence. He made a circle motion with his hand, and this warning seemed to be enough to snap them into action.

They led the way through the village, Hanzo always staying a few steps behind Kuai Liang. It was customary usually for a consort to follow their God, but Hanzo wanted to make a point. That Kuai had earned his loyalty, where all others had failed, and as such, Hanzo would follow him to the edge of the earth.

As they made their way, passers by stopped what they were doing to watch. He could hear disbelieving whispers that Lord Hasashi had finally graced their village. Some even followed them, clearly hoping to be witness to what was about to happen.

As they came to a village square, a crowd began to form around them. Two men in particular pushed their way to the front. One Hanzo recognised as Bi-Han, the other was unfamiliar but given he had grey hair, Hanzo matched it to a description of Tomas that Kuai had given him. Both men were looking at Kuai like he’d just accomplished an impossible feat. On the other side, a few people gathered who wore similar hanfu’s to Kuai had worn. One in particular, a man with dark skin and wearing yellow, looked at him with a proud smile on his face. They must have been Kuai’s fellow healer’s and Hanzo made note to get Kuai to introduce them later.

It wasn’t long before the Grandmaster was approaching, and his face was the most delicious of them all. He looked like he had seen a ghost.

“Lord Hasashi,” he started, sounding like his mind was scrambling to make sense of what was happening. “You have actually heeded our calling.”

“I have,” Hanzo answered, waiting for the excited and surprised mutterings from the crowd to go down. “I think you will find that Kuai Liang has negotiated a very fair deal.”

“I… See,” The Grandmaster said, straightening out as he looked towards Kuai with a very disbelieving look. Disgusting, even with the evidence in front of him, he doesn’t think Kuai capable. Hanzo was going to enjoy making him squirm with his conditions. “What exactly is this deal?”

“I will offer your village the protection you have been craving,” Hanzo began, reaching to place his hand on Kuai’s shoulder. “And in exchange, Kuai Liang shall be my consort.”

There were a few shocked gasps throughout the crowd, and the Grandmaster’s face looked somewhere between disgusted and scandalised. Hanzo glanced around the crowd, looking towards the healers just in time to see the man in yellow whisper to his colleagues “that’s our Kuai”. The other healers seemed happy. On the other side however, neither Tomas or Bi-Han looked happy with this news. Tomas looked devastated, and while Hanzo had some sympathy regarding his situation, the other bitter part of him couldn’t help thinking, good, you lost your chance.

Bi-Han though. Bi-Han looked furious. It looked like he was using all his strength to hold himself back from just walking over and punching Hanzo in the face.

“Is there a problem with this proposal, Grandmaster?” Kuai asked innocently, tilting his head. Hanzo couldn’t quite see his face, but he could imagine the faux smile on his face.

“I-“

“I would like to establish, that the protection is your choice Grandmaster,” Hanzo began, his voice low and threatening, “Kuai Liang has agreed to be my consort, regardless of if you take my deal or not, so it really matter’s little to me what you decide. I would however advise you to make the right decision, Grandmaster.”

The Grandmaster stared at Hanzo in stunned silence, although there was another ripple of whispers surrounding them. It seemed to be sinking in that Hanzo was serious, and that none of this really matter to him. The only reason he was here was because of Kuai Liang.

“Okay,” The Grandmaster finally spoke in a resigned voice, looking like he also realised that if he didn’t take this deal, then Hanzo would never offer another chance. “I agree to your conditions, Lord Hasashi.”

“Excellent. I will send some of my acolytes to make the arrangements of my protection.” Hanzo brushed his hand like he was done with it, but there was one more condition he needed to make clear. “Of course Grandmaster, you do realise that as Kuai Liang is now my consort, I expect him to be treated as such.” He reached down to stroke Kuai’s cheek, enjoying the purr that came from Kuai’s throat at the contact. “He is to be given the highest level of respect. If I even so much as think that he is being disrespected or mistreated in any way, by you or any of your followers, then I will revoke my protection, and you will rue the day you invoked my wrath.”

Hanzo did not give chance for reply, he bent down lifting Kuai into a bridal carry, as he turned on his heels and began to walk away. Kuai softly giggled in his arms, and once again he thought of how this man had brought the light back to his life.

He was complete again.

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

“Hanzo!”

As Kuai entered the temple, Hanzo felt his mouth turn up into a smile. Two nearby acolytes giggled and cooed softly over how lovesick Hanzo was. Sometimes he wasn’t sure who was more enthusiastic about the relationship, Kuai Liang and himself or the acolytes.

It had been a few months since they had made their conditions clear with the Lin Kuei, and things had only gotten better. Kuai had so much more confidence, it allowed everyone around to truly take in what an outstanding person he was. They had no more troubles with the Lin Kuei, although Hanzo got the feeling Bi-Han was still not happy about things.

But he didn’t matter. Only Kuai did.

And Kuai was flourishing!

“My love,” Hanzo greeted warming, getting off his chair to go and greet his consort. It still felt so unreal to call this man that. He gave him a peck on the lips. “How was the Lin Kuei?”

“They are doing well,” Kuai said with a smile, while he went into his satchel and pulled out a glass bottle of red liquid. “Cyrax sends his thanks for the ointments,” Kuai began, giving the bottle to Hanzo. He frowned at it. “Apparently, he has taken up brewing alcohols in his spare time, this is his first attempt at wine. He thought being the first to taste it was a fair gift in return.”

Hanzo chuckled, he hadn’t intended to recieve anything in return, but well, who could say no to a glass of wine?

“Well, why don’t we taste it together,” Hanzo offered his arm, and Kuai gladly linked up with him. “Say, over a game of Mahjong?”

Kuai’s face lit up even further, “I couldn’t possibly say no to such a tempting offer.”

And off they went, arm in arm, and Hanzo knew that he had made the right choice in asking Kuai Liang to be his own.

[whetstonefires]

Welp you have officially gotten me into batfam fics (via that Jason Todd hallucinations post). I didn't even realize Robin wasn't the dude's name 😅. And there's like three (four?) different ones?!

So thanks ig but also, how in the heck am I going to navigate a fandom with like ten movies, a hundred tv shows, and a million comics??? Send help!

Haha you're welcome, maybe, and welcome to the fandom! Always happy to have one more. Also lol about Robin's name being Robin. 😆 That's not how you secret identity!

Technically there's five; the blonde girl Stephanie who's Batgirl at present was Robin for a hot minute like 16 years ago. (And there's a reddish-brown-haired girl in goggles from an alternate timeline I'm very attached to, but she doesn't Count.)

Which leads into how the trick to navigating this space is accepting that you can't compass all of it, and nobody does, and the people who pretend to are usually being assholes.

You just figure out which parts of canon to learn and/or care about as you go, and build your own machine of optimized pieces.

It can be pretty annoying sometimes because you're sharing 'a fandom' with people who don't actually refer to any of the same canon as you to base their takes on, and you just have to live with that. And sometimes they don't want to let you live with it lmao.

But ultimately, learning tolerance of people who think i.e. the Young Justice cartoon show is the best relationship reference for Dick Grayson and his friends is good practice, and helps when you have to level up to tolerating the people who are Just Objectively Wrong. Which is a vital life skill well beyond fandom!

So honestly in some ways, especially if you're not planning to write fic yourself, it can be more fun to just. Not bother with the canon.

That said, let me see if I can give you some navigation tips.

Elements from popular shows and games, and even more from big films, always percolate both into the comics and the fan interpretations. It's understood a new film will sort of set a tone for the next few years at least.

But at the same time these non-comics properties are recognized as having their own sub-fandoms where they do their own independent things, while 'actual DC comics' are all sort of bundled together in a mass of internal conflict that DC the corporation keeps trying to disambiguate and making more confusing somehow.

The wikis are an essential reference but can be deeply frustrating because a lot of the people who work on them try to keep them 'up to date' by trying to edit them to keep up with every retcon and make long-running characters' lives sound like things that could really have happened to one person, which limits the interpretive scope of the fan trying to rely on the wiki page as a launch point to dig into a subject or check their work.

Generally, the oldest and the most recent pieces of canon data on a subject where there's conflict are considered to have the highest...realness status, unless one of the intervening versions is just vastly the most popular.

A lot of people's favorite Batman is the one from the 1990s Batman the Animated Series, for example, so anything that's not compatible with his character core as shown there gets thrown out when they're customizing.

But basically you can choose to believe anything you want. It's more fun for most of us to believe things on the basis of it having appeared in print, and being able to pull a citation generally gets you more clout, but this is not required. We're at a sufficiently high level of build-your-own-canon that a sufficiently cogent headcanon is basically at the same level of ontological power as anything that only happened once.

So do whatever you want, pretty much! Superheroes!

Have fun! :DDDD

[dying-suffering-french-stalkers]

Finally watching Goodbye Partner!  I’m watching the dub, but I have the subs on so I can read the date/location popups and signs, so I’m getting a bit of dialogue comparison.  I’ll probably go back and watch a few scenes with the original audio as well (Kiyoshi Kobayashi my beloved).

Here begins the liveblog, but all in one post and under a cut so it’s not as insufferable:

Starting strong with a heist escape sequence as per usual!  As far as openings go, it’s hard to go wrong with that.

Oh, hello, literal actual Chopin courtesy of a timeskip/flashback.

What are these RWBY-ass CGI piano hands??  Y’all warned me and you were not kidding.  Traditional rotoscoping would never hurt me in this way.

CUSTODY_OF_CHILD.JPG

Lupin playing in those see-through inflatable “hamster” balls skdfjskjdflsl

Intricate Rituals.  Jiglup gunplay confirmed

Epcar’s delivery here was so much more aggressive than Kobayashi’s.

“Area 61, Colorado” just say Cheyenne Mountain

EDWARD ZNOWDEN

Fujiko really is terrible with kids

Listen, I love a good Dutch angle, but I’m starting to feel like I should set up a CinemaSins counter at this point.  I’m glad to have some shot variety but there are other compositions, you know.

Motorcycle Jigen returns!!

Loving this little Morricone shoutout, which I unfortunately cannot seem to find on YouTube.

[strangled Goemon voice] “MISTAKE.”

God. GOD. Tony Oliver’s delivery in the betrayal scene is so good.  Lupin is clearly not buying it at all and is quite willing to play along with whatever the hell this is - until Jigen shoots him right in the heart.  That’s going to hurt a lot more than literally when he wakes up, though 1) given that the movie’s barely begun, I’m guessing he’s still not completely buying it (rightfully so) and is gonna look into this and 2) unfortunately this franchise isn’t known for actually digging into all the delicious angst and implications it likes to sling around.  Cowards.

Also, I like that Lupin seems to be wearing a navy shirt and pink tie like he had in early Part 2 instead of the blue shirt/yellow tie he has in the other Red Jacket movies.  Not sure why that’s what they went with but I’m down.

Okay, I went back and watched the betrayal scene in Japanese and OOF, it hits DIFFERENT to hear Kiyoshi Kobayashi deliver those lines.  He’s so utterly casual about it and it’s all the more angsty since he’s, y’know, a million years old, so here his Jigen sounds much more tired/resigned compared to Epcar’s brasher gunman.

The way that the shots focus on not only Jigen, but also Fujiko when the boss asks about the betrayal...nice.  Fujiko doesn’t know for sure if Jigen killed Lupin, but I imagine such a possibility would shake her at least a little - not just because she cares for that silly monkey man, but because that partnership has been a surprising constant in her life.  If even that could finally crumble, her natural cynicism is about to get a whole lot deeper.  Morbidly, she wants to know if Jigen had the balls to do it.  It’d be a hell of a lot more kindred spirit between them than she ever expected if so.  It’s a shame this plot wasn’t used in a Koike movie; it would’ve been great to see the deliberate parallel/foil from TWCFM continue.

“Why don’t we talk about your future?” the boss says as Jigen’s whole demeanor screams What future?  Even though Lupin isn’t dead and Jigen has his reasons for why he did this, Jigen hardly expects forgiveness after all this.  Lupin may be alive but Jigen has just killed the best thing he ever had and he can never get that back (except he can, because movie and long-running franchise, but y’know, Watsonian vs. Doylist).

The Dark Crystal (1982)

HATSUNE MIKU???  ACTUAL HATSUNE MIKU????? (just her voice but aksdjfkajsdkfjaklsjdfljasjdflajsdf)

Ohhhh, the Lupin & Clarisse / Jigen & the kid’s mom (still haven’t heard her name lmao) parallel was just uncalled for, my heart

Let Jigen wear burgundy more often

...Mr. Epcar, I love and respect you, but is it too much to ask that you vary your inflection a little more?  Where’s the PATHOS?

Slightly cried instantly, “The Wendy lady lives.”  Then Peter knelt beside her and found his button.  You remember she had put it on a chain that she wore round her neck.  “See,” he said, “the arrow struck against this. It is the kiss I gave her.  It has saved her life.”

BLACK JACKET

Burgundy suit + round glasses Goemon!!!

There’s no way Pops is getting his job back after this one

Goemon: [turns his usual hot girl swordsmanship up to 11]

Lupin: Well mark me down as scared AND horny! dot jpeg

Again with the CGI hand crimes.

Wow he straight-up said Jigen was cheating on him

Ah, see, that “waste of oxygen”/“huge mistake” bit of dialogue is the kind of inflection I like to hear.

WarGames (1983)

It took me entirely too long to realize the president was supposed to look like H.illary.

Goemon: [slices open a door for Fujiko]

Fujiko: “Oh, you.” <3

This is all very action-heavy and surprisingly decent for a Lupin film so far, but uh. why is Jigen once again a side character in his own movie?

Ayyyy, nice reference to Zantetsuken’s composition from Part 1.  Still insane that they melted down three awesome swords to make a different sword though.

Goemon snarks back to robots confirmed.  Not that Lupin would ever be stupid enough to buy an Al3xa/etc. but can you IMAGINE

JAZZ PIANIST FUJIKO!  Fujiko having actual interests and hobbies!!!

Comrade Emilka

TRIPLE PARALLEL WITH JIGEN & ALISA NOW

They just?? left Jigen in the middle of the desert after the absolute minimum discussion of All That????  That’s...on-brand actually but give me the angst this plot device deserved >:(

Michelle Ruff I would die for you

This variation on the main theme is my favorite.  I’ve probably listened to it about a thousand times at this point but I finally got to hear it in context.

Welp, that was one of the better Lupin movies I’ve seen, but I do wish they’d done more with the whole Jigen betrayal thing that ended up being more of a subplot.  Thank goodness for fics that do the work.

Edit: “There are about four different plots going on at once in this movie, and they forgot to focus on the one that’s in the actual title.” - @theimpossiblescheme

[geminihalos]

My experiences with Capricorns and their energy lmao:

✨ At a very young age Capricorn’s are more reckless, filterless, and wild than the ones that you witness at adult hood and older. They’re generally more into doing stupid stuff than most think but hey everyone has their moments😂

✨Capricorn moons... omg they’re very wise and they know how to handle their emotions, but at worst or even generally, they’re emotionally constipated, so they have a hard time truly getting a grasp on their emotions and feeling them through.

✨ cap stellium tho dude... are very ambitious and they have some cut throat energy. If they are manifested positively it would make for an amazing leader and businessperson, but if manifested negatively you will see many jake Paul-like actions (if you know you know) and immaturity for the sake of it.

✨ some caps I know have a lot of sag energy in them, which makes them unattracted to bad vibes and a being jokester while being prone to having depression (sag being benefic and optimistic while Capricorn is malefic and pessimistic).= dark jokes

✨ Saturn asc and Cap asc are very reserved and very modest or aloof. Their senses of fashion can either be so extremely simple like t-shirt and jeans or looking like a they just walked outta their $100,000,000,000 mansion.

✨Capricorn in the third house often aim for the AP classes and want all the challenge bc of the ambition in their high school life. (3rd house being the house of communication and also academics before college which is 9th house job).

- the way they deal with school is that no matter what they try to get it done and are very structured with school. (Ex: me and my dad lmao)

- “weird flex but ok”: we also tend to procrastinate till the last minute and cram our studies only to pass the test. (Hit 90% or miss completely tbh)

✨ caps sense of humor are vary all the time for me at least despite others saying it’s always satirical or sarcastic (no joke). Some of them like sex jokes, others like practical pranks, others like stupid shit, and stupider shit,etc. like the vibe is mature but all their preferences are either innocent or down right dirty.

✨here’s some basic patterns among all caps I’ve encountered: light-hearted, chaotic, quiet at first, ambitious, TIME- oriented, strict planners, and actually very good cooks (they all love to make food, experiment with it, and eat loads in general)

✨Capricorn in the decsns share basic cap-ness but each of them are chaotic in their own way bruh.

Capricorn: 1st decan (Capricorn)

- these ppl are more serious and tend to be more quiet, but they are goofballs once they let you in. They have the greatest work ethic I’ve ever seen, and they honestly are the most cut throat out of all caps. But they’re sweet and they are protective and extremely domestic and Frugal.

Capricorn: 2nd decan (Taurus)

- yo I’m always surrounded by this decan the most. Stubborn and will argue with you to no end. honestly the goofiest and chillest. They are heavily into memes out of all the decans and I get bombarded with very random memes and video edits that are just ._.. (I’m speechless man). Very good looking tbh all of em are easy on the eyes. Good work ethic too.

Capricorn: 3rd decan (Virgo)

- sheesh bro these ppl are neat freaks (my mom and my uncle). Are very virgo at times and at the same time still Capricorn. The most detail oriented out of the cap decans and nitpicky over a lot. Are easily irritated but know how to manage and organize. Has the I ain’t here for your Bs energy while at the same time looking innocent. The most careful and the most nurturing I’ve seen.

Welp that’s all I have on my experiences. This may not apply to all of y’all but this is my personal experience and observation. Enjoy !! 😊