#which i talked about in more detail with Lao

[izzabela]

Hello!! Can you write about Smoke trying to ask fem. reader to be his date for Kuai Liang's wedding?

Plus One - Tomas x fem!reader (5+1 fic)

in which Tomas tries five times to ask you to be his date, and the one time he finally gets it right

a/n: i love weddings guys

ship[s]: tomas x fem!reader

warning(s): post-kanon

1 - Johnny

Tomas had a plan.

Walk in the hosting room, hand you the small bouquet of wisterias, and ask you to accompany him to his brother's wedding.

Easy, right?

Wrong. Especially with a woman as beautiful as you.

You two weren't dating (yet), but Tomas had been pining after you for a couple of months now.

This wedding invite would double as an opportunity to ask you out completely.

Tomas holds the flowers he plans on giving you, stands in front of the door for a couple more seconds as he hypes himself up for you.

"You can do this," Tomas whispers to himself. Gripping on the handle of the door, he slides it open to meet you in a... precarious situation.

Johnny is chasing you around with one of Tomas's masks (elder gods know how that ended up in the hosting room). You were padding around the room in childish joy, but stopped once you saw him.

"Oh, Tomas!" you greet. "Sorry about that, Johnny dropped in for a visit for some research on Japan. Kuai Liang invited him in."

Your eyes drop to the wisteria bouquet.

"Who's that going to?" you ask.

Tomas tosses the bouquet out to the side, smiling tightly as he walks in and closes the door.

"Nothing! It was for sister..." he lies, guilty he's using Harumi as a scapegoat.

As you and Johnny continue playing, Tomas grits his teeth.

He has six days before the wedding. Day one didn't go so well, but he has six more days.

Yeah, he thinks, Tomorrow will go just fine.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2 - Raiden

You and Tomas are greeted at the entrance of the Wu Shi by Kung Lao and Raiden.

"Welcome, our esteemed guests," Kung Lao teases. You roll your eyes, bowing halfway.

"Funny, Kung Lao," you greet with a smile. Tomas does the same thing.

Five days until the wedding and Tomas still has his bouquet waiting for you. Since today was a visit to talk about security for the wedding.

Perfectly stowed away in his shirt, Tomas is by your side as Kung Lao and Raiden talk about the safety of the bride and groom.

A monk suddenly rushes to Kung Lao's side, whispering to him about... something.

"Apologies, everyone!" Kung Lao announces. "I'll be taking my leave, but Raiden will show you two more of the details."

Waving Kung Lao off, Raiden begins to tour you guys around the place and offer more insight to security and what the monks can provide.

You'd think that Tomas would have the perfect opportunity to talk to you about the wedding and going as a couple, but he didn't.

Raiden was stuck to your side the entire day. Literally, glued to your hip as he showed you every nook and cranny about the academy.

It wasn't even about the security of the monks anymore. He showed you everything and everywhere of the academy.

Little by little, Tomas could feel his confidence wilt and waver. It wasn't until the sun set that you finally were able to address Tomas.

"Raiden is such a hospitable young man," you gush, hand on your cheek as you wave goodbye.

"What was it you wanted to speak to me about?" you ask, walking with him as a portal opens back to the compound.

Tomas tucks the bouquet deeper into his shirt, smiling tightly as he glares at Raiden.

"It can wait until dinner, dove," Tomas answers politely. You smile, and Tomas can feel the guilt take bigger bites out of his conscious.

Poor Raiden, he was just trying to be friendly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

3 - Kenshi

Four days.

Four days until the wedding and Tomas's chances have been ruined twice now.

No matter, since he still has time.

Today, Tomas knew no one would be taking up yours, his, or the clan's time at all. His bouquet for you was beginning to wilt a bit, but Harumi supplied him with plant food and a matching vase.

Carrying the flowers in its vase, he walks to the garden and pond in the back of the compound.

In all honesty, the days he got interrupted gave him time to practice his words for you. So this time around, he's more confident and ready.

Rounding the corner, he finds you sitting by yourself on the wooden ledge. The breeze was light and cool, and your hair billowed like a willow tree.

"Good morrow, dove," Tomas greets. You smile, a dust of pink over your cheeks.

Before you could say anything, Kenshi appears from the room behind you (was that always there? Tomas thinks). Though his eyes are no longer useful, his brows do the talking as they're up in surprise.

"Good morning, Tomas. What brings you here?"

A vein pops in his neck, and he bites back from saying "i live here, doofus". Keeping up appearances, he recovers and smiles semi-politely.

"I just finished training my students," Tomas answers.

You look to see that Tomas has the same flowers from a couple of days ago.

"I thought you had given that to Harumi already," you point to the flowers. "Did you not get it to her?"

Tomas mentally curses himself, "Ah, she wasn't in the other day."

Putting the flowers to the side, he sits down next to you and Kenshi, Kenshi to your left and him on your right.

You three are engrossed in conversation, and Tomas is actually okay with not being able to ask you out.

Besides, Kenshi is rational, Johnny was an idiot and Raiden was touchy (no he wasn't Tomas is just getting antsy).

I have tomorrow, Tomas thinks, Tomorrow I'll do it.

The wisterias keep bending over the lip of the vase, almost like a cursed rose counting down the time he had left before he'd be cursed forever.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

4 - Kung Lao

With two days remaining until the wedding, Tomas's patience was running thin.

The wisteria bouquet was losing its color, and the taut petals were shriveling like raisins with the time passing like this.

Still, he remained hopeful. Just as there were wilting petals, there were still some that were bright and healthy.

"Today for sure," Tomas tells himself. "Today is the day I'll do it."

If Tomas had a ten yen coin for every time his allies came through and stopped his advances for you, he'd have three. It isn't a lot, but it is weird it happened three times.

Tomas opens another pack of fertilizer for the the flowers, dumping it in the water of the vase before he stirs it with a wooden dowel.

He's not bringing it today, since it looks like a bit of a mess. To replace it, he has a letter and a bouquet of baby's breath.

Leaving his room, he wanders the compound again to to try and see where you are.

It's a warm evening this time around, and the sun has barely just touched the horizon. Tomas can hear the birds chirp and fill the silence of nature, and he finally spots you.

You're by the entrance this time, leaning on the huge maple wood door frame while talking to someone. Despite the posture you're in, you look as regal as ever. The sun shines and illuminates your very features, and Tomas can't help but sigh like a school boy in love.

He steps closer, rounding the corner to see who could be making you cover your mouth as you laugh, only to find the silhouette of a sun hat.

"Oh, hello!" Kung Lao greets. His dimples are out as he smiles fully, pearly white teeth shining as he waves the smoke ninja over.

"Come join us! Little birdie over here was just updating me about the wedding plans!" Kung Lao yells.

You swat his shoulder and tell him to hush.

"You said you would not tell!" you scold. "This is a secret!"

Tomas hid the letter in his shirt and the bouquet in the pocket of his pants. He couldn't intervene, not now, and not when you were clearly enjoying the laughs Kung Lao was providing.

Still, Tomas remained by your side, back straight and putting up the best front he could. However, the bouquet in his pants portrayed a different story.

Tomorrow, Tomas thinks, I'll do it for real.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

5 - Kuai Liang

The last day before the wedding.

Everything should have been in place so that the bride and groom could have time to relax and be with their respective parties before the day of the ceremony.

So why is it that you and Kuai Liang were together at a flower shop, piecing together his corsage?

It was strange, too, considering a corsage is a western practice- Japanese weddings didn't even need flowers unless it was for the bride.

Tomas didn't want to give up, not when the wedding was so close, but the fact he ended up following you and Kuai Liang to the flower shop in the village near the compound meant he was on thin ice.

And boy was he desperate.

Tomas was ready. His wisterias were healthy, the baby's breath was still in tact, and the flowers worked so well together. The letter was the perfect touch too.

So the fact he saw you and Kuai Liang leave together, he couldn't hide his frustrations any longer.

"Brother, I swear to the elder gods..." Tomas mumbles to himself as he watches you two from a roof nearby.

He was still thinking of a way to come up to you two naturally, and without showing the vase and letter.

At this point, though, and with the wedding tomorrow, he felt defeated. He felt like he had given up.

He keeps the flowers and letter on the roof, telling himself he'll get the later. He takes his mask off and ruffles his clothes to make it look like he ran errands.

Finally, he jumps down on the opposite end of the shop, walking down until you point out to Kuai Liang that you see him.

"Tomas! What brings you here?" you ask gleefully, unaware of the sadness that plagues his heart.

"Nothing, dove. Just running some final errands before the wedding tomorrow."

He spends the rest of the day with you and his brother, the flowers and letter sitting idly on the rooftop- just like his feelings rest idly in his heart.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

+1 - Harumi

You brush Harumi's hair one more time before rolling the hood over her head. Through the mirror, you look at her and offer her words of encouragement.

"Oh Harumi, I'm so happy for you," you say with a wobbly voice, tears lining the bottom of your eyes as you squeeze her shoulder.

You friend of many years, your ride or die, your platonic soulmate, was getting married to the most honorable man in the planet- in the realm!

How could you not be happy for her?

Harumi can sense that something is amiss with you, especially since you've been so excited for this wedding.

"What plagues your mind, my friend?" she asks, turning away from the vanity to hold both your hands.

You shake your head, "Nothing is wrong, just so overcome with joy."

Yeah, no. Harumi isn't believing a word since your tone didn't match the words you spoke.

"Come now, you can tell me," Harumi coaxes you gently. You can't help but fall victim to her charm, and you sit next to her to tell her about the week leading up to today.

From Johnny and his research, Raiden and the Wu Shi visit, even the little meets with Kenshi and Kung Lao, and you can't forget the fact that Kuai Liang took you to a flower shop to get a corsage made for Tomas.

All of these little things, talking to your friends about how to properly ask Tomas out to be your date, Harumi hears everything about your dilemma.

"Well... why don't you hear him now?" Harumi asks. He waves the handmaiden over, telling her that she's ready for the men to come in.

Kuai Liang and Tomas walk inside, wearing the traditional attire of a Japanese groom and best man. While Harumi is practically drooling over Kuai Liang, you can't help but be breathless in front of the European.

"Hi..." Tomas waves awkwardly with one hand, his other hiding something behind his back.

You give him the same salutation, gripping the corsage against your yukata.

"We will be outside getting ready, but the procession can't start until our best man and maid of honor are ready," Harumi tells you both.

Harumi winks at you while Kuai Liang is giving his younger brother a knowing glance. Tomas just waves him out.

"You look... lovely," Tomas finally says, eyeing you up and down. "Your yukata is a flattering color."

He wasn't lying. Harumi went to great lengths finding you the perfect yukata in your favorite color. She even got the best tailor in the country to fit it well against your body.

"I uh, wanted to give you something-"

"Wait! I have something as well," Tomas interrupts. He pulls out the thing you had been seeing through the weekend, the vase with the wisterias and the baby's breath.

"Oh... Tomas they're beautiful," you barely whisper. "For me?"

He nods, pointing to the flowers as he explains, "Baby's breath symbolizes everlasting love, and wisterias represent grace."

He meets your eyes, and you can see a bit of red at the corners indicating his shyness.

"This is my graceful everlasting love to you, not only as a friend, but as a suitor, if you'll have me."

You take the flowers and set them down on the vanity, taking the note from his hand as well and replacing it with the thing Tomas had seen earlier in the week.

Tomas looks down, "The corsage? But I thought-."

You shake your head, "No you goof, it wasn't for anyone but you!"

You then begin to explain how you spoke to each man about your crush on Tomas, and how you were gathering ideas on a gift to pair with your declaration of love.

Kuai Liang's idea was the best, and he offered to go out with you to fulfill that. Silly Tomas.

You take the corsage and pin it to the hem of his yukata. The flowers you chose were a white peonies and dark purple violets.

"The peony represents beauty and the violets represent faithfulness. You are the faithful, beautiful, dutiful man who has captured my heart."

Tomas is wide-eyed, and you recover yourself before your shame can eat you alive.

"If you'll have me..." You don't need to ask twice before Tomas takes your hand in his, kissing the back of your hand as he nods to the door.

"Are you ready to accompany me, my consort?" Tomas asks.

You nod, "Gladly, my loving suitor."

=====================

5+1 fics are so funny, this also makes me miss weddings

see you guys in the next fic!

[accio-victuuri]

CPN: Mister Snowman ❄️

it’s such a busy monday! i got freakin nervous cause i woke up and saw zz’s post which was like an hour ago. then my notification pinged and it’s wyb’s weibo. 👀👀👀 it was him reposting the redmi lab video. my heart wouldn’t be able to take it if he shared a snow related post too. 😂😂😂

anyway, about the snowman. as mentioned in my previous post, it had all the symbolism that is related to xz and by extension — bjyx. the red cape & little prince. the mole and heart. his version of the snowman, based on the emoji he used is the one with a hat on “⛄️”. which is just so cheeky of him, knowing how cpfs speculated about the hat. why don’t you just let it wear the actual hat?

we may never know the true intention, if he was really basing it on the emoji or was this actually inspired by wyb’s. his own way of trolling lol. or maybe someone was with him while making it. i can imagine him going: “lol lao wang it’s you!”

one person pointed out that the heart is a shock absorber used in playing tennis! it’s a nice detail cause we are aware that xz is into tennis, in addition, wyb has been lowkey taking up the sports too. was he playing and then at some point went outside and made this? who was he with? this is cpn territory so we think it’s wyb. what kind of cpf would i be if i didn’t find it cute that they experienced the first snow of the year together and made this. 🥹🥹🥹

xzs also reposted this and their caption is the same as what they wrote back in 2019 for the snow video. yes, the same one that was heavily CPNd xz saying lao wang it’s snowing. we couldn’t hear it cause that bit was muted in the video which made it more sus. is this a clue? or are they too lazy to think of a new caption? 🤣🤣🤣🤣

the file size of the photo is also very small, 52 kb which leads people to think that it was sent from we chat or taken by wechat camera. so is this a leftover? it’s fine. we’re used to it.

this made me think that it’s the reason why he went online earlier today. but the thing is, he didn’t post it that time but in the afternoon. did he queue it somehow? oh well. i will continue to clown that it’s because he was checking out wyb’s photos 🤡

P.S : I see other cpfs talking about the heart shaped snow too since we’re in the topic of snow and bjyx. here’s the cpn for that if you haven’t heard of it or you wanna know the full story.

END.

[deadbydad]

What if Mortal Kombat...Was Turned Into A Show?

Look, I know that they already did something like this, but let's be honest it sucked.

The lore in Mortal Kombat is so interesting yet confusing, and I feel like that's what makes that game so special. And I think that, if done right, it could be made into a show and do well!

But I don't mean that the show needs to like show the whole plot or storyline because we've already seen that. Instead I want to see episodes about different characters and/or their relationship with other characters.

Here's a list of the characters I would like to see get an episode about them:

Kung Jin - He's one of the most underrated characters and it doesn't help with the fact that he was literally in only one game, and even in that one he didn't have that much of a chance to develop his character a lot. He's one of the first confirmed gay characters in the game series, and that's great we love to see great LGBT representation in games. In an episode I want to see more about his past, his parents and who they were and what happened to them, and especially his relationship with Kung Lao. I also want to see his relationship grow stronger with the other Kombat Kids Cassie Cage, Takahashi Takeda, and Jacqui Briggs. We hear about this character yet I feel like he has so much more potential and they could prove that with an episode just about him and how he develops.

Takahashi Takeda & Takahashi Kenshi - One of the father and son duo's, I feel like Kenshi gets way too much hate for doing something to protect Takeda from getting hurt or even killed like his mother did. Any father would do that for their family and their child. At first when Kenshi comes back to see his son after Hanzo Hisashi trained him as a Shirai Ryu warrior, Takeda hates him and says that Kenshi had no right to walk back into his life just to be a proud dad, but after Hanzo explains why Kenshi did it, Takeda tries to forgive him and give his father a second chance. And he does, later on in the game we see that they have a great father and son relationship. I want to see how that happened and how that developed in an episode. It definatly wasn't talked about enough in the game and I feel like in a show it would be better explained.

Hanzo Hisashi & Takahashi Takeda - Hanzo Hisashi had taken in Takeda when Kenshi asked him to take care of his son and train him until he was strong enough to fight. Hanzo did, and it seemed that Hanzo and Takeda had developed a father son relationship in some shape or form. Again, this wasn't really shown how it happened, and I feel like it would be greatly explained better in an episode instead of in a game.

Cassie Cage & Jacqui Briggs - Cassie and Jacqui are best friend that grew up together due to their parents, Sonya Blade and Jax Briggs, being close friends for many years. Not a whole lot of how their friendship began and formed was shown on MKX or MKXI, which is a shame. I feel like it would be interesting to see how these two grew up together and became friends over the many years they've known each other.

The Kombat Kids - Cassie Cage, Kung Jin, Takahashi Takeda, and Jacqui Briggs are the next generation of fighters and defenders against Shinnok. And basically the whole MKX game we see these four get to know each other and become closer. But that's it, we really don't know what happened between the four of them except that Jacqui and Takeda are married or engaged, but other than that we don't know exactly what happened to this group. It seems like they're all still friends which is a good thing but I feel like that an episode could be a great way to explain what happened and give us more details.

Kung Lao & Kung Jin - Okay NetherRealm make up your damn minds because in MKX it says that Kung Jin is Kung Lao's cousin but in MK11 it says that he is Kung Lao's nephew. Why make that change I have no clue, but that's besides the point on why I think these two deserve in episode of their own. The episode could show stuff that we haven't seen clearly in the games and stuff that we've heard through dialogue intros. The episode could show us them training or sparring, getting to know one another as family and hell maybe they'll fucking help each other with their damn egos, but that's what I love about these two to be honest. Not much is said about these two's relationship with one another and that is a damn shame if you ask me.

Kotal Khan & Jade - This couple really came out of nowhere, and the game did give us like a small hint about these two and how their relationship started, but it still just came out of nowhere. NetherRealm Studios could explain this and how these two got together and the whole back story of these two with an episode and it would be better explained than in a video game.

Johnny Cage & Cassie Cage - I love this father and daughter duo so much, but I want to see an episode about these two. Maybe how they're both dealing with Sonya's death and how they're navigating that together as a family, maybe Johnny helping Cassie with how to handle and use the green magic that they have, or maybe even just how Johnny is feeling about seeing his daughter growing up and how he deals with that too.

Kuai Liang and Bi-Han - I want to see an episode about these two growing up together, so badly. I want to really see how these two brothers interacted with each other before everything went to shit. I just want to see that. No like sad shit, I've seen enough of that, I want happy memories.

[cadeloverforever]

Hello!, maybe today or tomorrow I will write one from Kano?(mk11) or another character idk, even if there are few people who read this I am happy, thank's! (La versión en español está en esta misma publicación!)

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

Kung Lao headcon!

∆ You almost always walked past him watching Raiden and Kung Lao harvest their harvest, you greeted them both almost daily, some days you approached them both with boxes of food and gave them to both of them so that your feelings wouldn't become too obvious. towards Kung Lao, although there was a bit of favoritism in the food boxes since Lao's box always had a little more food

∆ If Raiden had not told him that you were in love with him he would never have confessed his feelings to you, he always believed that only he was in love but his surprise was that you also had the same feelings of love! Clearly after that he literally spent a whole month planning (and practiced) since he was going to ask you to be his partner, he planned to go to Madam Bo's restaurant, (just don't ask why, it just seemed like a good place to him, it was actually his first choice, he couldn't think of any other places) , he plan down to the smallest detail! Besides, he brought you gifts, some chocolates and a HUGE pink bear, you don't know how he managed to hide that for so long.

∆. Kung Lao would tell you everything that happened on his missions! He literally tells it so animated that it seems like he was going to explode! While he tells what happened to him, you listen carefully, sometimes getting lost in his smile which looks like that of a child. clearly excited about what he wants to say

∆You would cook for him, he loves it when you cook, in his own words your meals have a "special touch", he will always say that your meals are delicious, they really are a glory for his palate, simply a feast

∆Dates for the two of you would be going for a walk anywhere that looked calm and pretty while you held hands or talked and told him funny stories that you told him. On one of these walks you realized that they are afraid of spiders.

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

¡Hola!, tal vez hoy o mañana escriba uno de Kano?(mk11) u otro personaje no sé, aunque sean pocas las personas que lean esto estoy feliz, ¡gracias!

Kung Lao headcon!

∆ Casi siempre pasabas junto a él viendo a Raiden y Kung Lao recoger su cosecha, los saludabas a ambos casi a diario, algunos días te acercabas a ambos con cajas de comida y se las dabas a ambos para que tus sentimientos no se hicieran demasiado obvios hacia Kung Lao, aunque habia un poco de favoritismo en las cajas de comida ya que la caja de Lao siempre tenia un poco mas de comida

∆ Si Raiden no le hubiera dicho que estabas enamorada de él nunca te habría confesado sus sentimientos, siempre creyó que solo él estaba enamorado pero su sorpresa fue que tú también tenías los mismos sentimientos de amor! Claramente después de eso, literalmente pasó un mes entero planificando (y practicando) ya que te iba a pedir que fueras su socio, planeaba ir al restaurante de Madam Bo (pero no preguntes por qué, simplemente parecía un buen lugar). para él, en realidad era su primera opción, no podía pensar en ningún otro lugar), ¡planificó hasta el más mínimo detalle! Además te trajo regalos, unos chocolates y un ENORME osito rosa, no sabes cómo logró ocultar eso durante tanto tiempo.

∆. ¡Kung Lao te contaría todo lo que pasó en sus misiones! ¡Literalmente lo cuenta tan animado que parece que fuera a explotar! Mientras cuenta lo que le pasó, escuchas atentamente, perdiéndote a veces en su sonrisa que parece la de un niño. claramente emocionado por lo que quiere decir

∆Cocinarías para él, a él le encanta cuando cocinas, según sus propias palabras tus comidas tienen un “toque especial”, siempre dirá que tus comidas son deliciosas, realmente son una gloria para su paladar, simplemente un festín.

∆Las citas para ustedes dos serían salir a caminar a cualquier lugar que se vea tranquilo y bonito mientras se tomaban de la mano o hablaban y le contaban historias divertidas que le contaba. En uno de estos paseos te diste cuenta de que les tienen miedo a las arañas.

[the-monkey-ruler]

If Master Puti had not kicked out Sun Wukong, would he have been able to learn to control samadhi fire and samadhi wind? Is it possible for Sun Wukong to learn it? I don't remember what aspects were necessary to learn those techniques.

It could be possible but we have to think about the origin of Samadhi and what it means. I would like to say that @ryin-silverfish was the one to tell me this information!

The word Samadhi comes from Buddhist practice methods, which means to eliminate all distracting thoughts and calm the mind. How to concentrate can be divided into two types: one is the innate ability, that is, "being born with concentration", and the other is the "increased concentration due to acquired efforts". The former is achieved through the accumulation of virtue, while the latter is achieved through practice.

"Ten Abodes of Vipassa" 十住毗婆沙论·卷十一 records that "Samadhi is the four meditations (the four meditations), Any concentration other than the eight liberations; and also talks about the three doors of liberation (Emptiness without leakage, formlessness, wishless samadhi) and samādhi (There is awareness and concentration, there is no awareness and there is concentration, and there is no awareness and no concentration) It's called samadhi." In original Buddhism and Mahayana Buddhism are not exactly the same.

I was told that in the annotations of xiyouji from the Qing Dynasty, the Samadhi Fire was a metaphor for Qi deviation during the cultivation process that is 走火入魔, literally "overheating the crucible and becoming spellbound. There is also a book called 治禅病秘要法, "Secrets to Curing Meditation Sickness" where the Samadhi Fire is actaully a sicknesses, and also mentions Samadhi Wind, Samadhi Earth, and Samadhi Water. They have only the four Buddhist elements instead of the five Chinese elements, so no Samadhi Metal or anything.

I was told that the Samadhi sickness are kinda like hallucinations that affect the body, and the book is about using meditation to fight meditation sickness. Like the cure for Samadhi Fire related sickness is visualizing a crystalline vase full of water and letting the water quell the flames burning in one's intestines. The cure for the Samadhi Wind is visualizing a dragon sucking up all the wind coming out of one's pores. The visions of Samadhi Earth are less about Earth, but more about being trapped in between great mountains that were overrun by Yakshas and Raksasi and demonic beasts until one is frightened into madness. And the cure for Samadhi Water is visualizing a monk riding a Garuda across the oceans, frightening dragons; the Garuda starts eating dragons, and in response, the dragons siphon water that turns into 4 snakes, which are then snatched up by the Garuda and burnt with flames coming out of its eyes. Then, visualize 2 flaming pearls in one's stomach and rectum, as well as a deity of the snowy mountains giving one a miraculous medicine.

So hypothetically since Master Puti is one of the ten principal disciples of the Buddha, he could have the information to pass it on to Wukong if Wukong wished to learn it besides just being immortal. I'm not sure which aspects Xiyouji uses as we only see Lao Tzu use it in his furnace and Red Boy mastering it after 300 years of training himself. I know that the Yellow Wind Demon stole the Fragrant Blossoms Precious Candles at Vulture Peak, and learned the Taoist arts, but they never really went into detail of their studies. Which is to be expected as Xiyouji isn't focused on that.

[den-kunn]

Raycoon Lore

because I will never finish the fics I have for him.

- × - Basic Data - × -

Timeline: Inception (combination of 1st and 2nd)

Set: After Shao Kahn's invasion (MK3)

Involved Characters: Dennis "Raycoon" Raymond, "God of Thunder" Raiden, "God of Wind" Fujin, Kung Lao, Liu Kang, Commander Hotaru, The Senate.

Additional Info: Alternative Universe, Implied Character Death, Backstory, H/C, M/M, Reboot, Self Insert.

The story begins with Den waking up inside a pool in the Temple of Water, Chaosrealm. He suffers a slight amnesia as he follows a bright orange light, growing slightly conscious when he comes out, noticing his clothes are damaged and his body feels different. Nonetheless he ventures outside the temple asking for help, where he comes across a group of soldiers not so far away. Den approaches the soldiers carefully but stops the moment they draw their weapons at him, speaking japanese. He attempts to communicate but is interrupted when the soldiers surround him and knock him out.

Den wakes up in a prison cell, attempting to gather his thoughts until his memories begin to return, wondering what happened to himself as the guards take him to court.

He's given two translators, for hearing and speaking, while the gods of Orderrealm and Earthrealm join the trial. Den is charged of disrupting the guardsmen's mission and trespassing, sentenced to death by the Senate, until Fujin protests and Commander Hotaru intervenes. Hotaru suggests to keep Den alive as a test subject to develop a cure for chaos, explaining it could protect the citizens of Seido and possibly get rid of Chaosrealm entirely once and for all.

The trial changes in favor of Den staying in Earthrealm with the condition of sending him to Orderrealm regularly for examination and experimentation. Raiden signs the contract and both gods and the chaosrealmer are free to leave, not without putting an electric collar on Den.

The first week consists of Den getting to know the gods and their responsibilities. They ensure Den will be safe as long as he does what the scientists want.

The first examination is a checkup to gather every single detail of him, trying a few some tests to determine approximately his old human resistance.

The second week is about Den learning how to get used to live with Raiden and Fujin, how to keep himself busy as well as helping around the temple. It isn't until he watches Raiden and Fujin spar that he wants to train as well, noticing his body is weak and bringing up it could benefit both himself and the researchers.

The second visit to Orderrealm is a short one about getting samples.

Training starts in the beginning of the third week but is Fujin who wants to be in charge of it. It's evident Den is frustrated with his lack of progress through the week as Fujin wants to take things as slow as possible. After Den meets with Raiden during meditation, he starts to develop some feelings.

The third day of examination is about testing Den's regeneration, instructing him with the knowledge of the guardsmen who faced other chaosrealmers.

Fourth week is a more productive one as Den has motivation after the examination, asking Fujin to make his training harder to continue testing his new abilities. Throughout the week, Fujin is worried Den might feel bored of only talking with him and Raiden, so he brings Kung Lao to help him during the training.

Den instantly bonds with Kung Lao during and outside of training, both realizing they have some similarities that connects them, causing Raiden to get a small hint of jealousy.

In the fourth day in Orderrealm, Den is required to give more tissue for testing, amputating a whole arm and leg (which he immediately regenerates) and is later told next week he only has to sign up his weekly attendance.

Once he returns, the gods offer Den a training schedule involving Fujin, Raiden, Kung Lao and Liu Kang, which the chaosrealmer accepts.

As the week progresses, Den begins to feel comfortable around the gods and seeing them as friends instead of power authorities, acting more like himself.

Kung Lao introduces Liu Kang to Den and the shaolin duo teach and bond with Den, telling stories about the Mortal Kombat tournament, causing Raiden to supervise them (as well as teach Den about the history of the shaolin). Liu and Lao immediately notice how Den looks at Raiden.

During the checkout of the fifth day, Den overheard some of the scientists talk about doing tests with his brain tissue, leaving him worried.

Throughout the first days of the sixth week he has been distracted, thinking if the test could leave some permanent damage (as he never once tested if his head could regenerate) or straight up kill him. Growing fond of the friends he made these past weeks, he fears he could lose them forever after that test, getting increasingly anxious as days pass.

The last day before the examination is when Den's worries were clouding his judgment. Thankful he was alone that day, he tried to get his mind off it, being unsuccessful. At the verge of panic, he spots a familiar figure outside, meditating. It takes Den some time until he finally decided to approach Raiden to talk, hoping he would understand his situation and his worries. Assured everything will be alright, Den feels slightly less anxious.

In the sixth day of examination, Raiden takes Den to Orderrealm himself and insists on watching the procedures, stating it's his right as his god to know what is being done to him.

The checkup goes as usual up until Den is strapped to a chair. He struggles once he notices the machines approaching his face, making loud noises which the chaosrealmer tries to cover from.

Raiden asks what test will they perform on him as Den begins to visibly panic. Some of the scientists call the guards once Raiden demands an answer, which they later respond with brain examination.

Seeing Den in such amount of distress is what drove Raiden to completely overcharge the energy until the electricity was fried, leaving the entirety of the district without power. The god quickly releases Den from the room and both exit the laboratory, but they're quickly surrounded by the seidan army. Leading them is Hotaru who tries to persuade Raiden into giving Den back to the realm, reminding him of the deal they made, which Raiden complains the tests could've killed Den.

Hotaru, astonished by Raiden's boldness, reminds him the specifics of said deal, which makes the god furious. Attempting to keep a cool head, he realizes the consequences of fighting Orderrealm could be catastrophic, so Raiden did what first came to his mind: flee with Den to Outworld, where he releases the chaosrealmer from the collar with tracker, and both go into hiding.

[gaybd1]

How does it work to talk to the love god?

Ok so if you want a lot of details you can Google about Taiwanese folk religion which is basically like Taoism Plus

But basically there’s a bunch of gods here like for business, farming, love, travel, it’s kind of like catholic saints?? Even cities have their own god who’s like the mayor?

Anyway you go to a temple and burn incense and pray, and if you want to ask a god something maybe leave an offering first. Each god likes different things so Yue Lao, the love god, likes candy and stuff. So I’ll go bring him some candy and pray to him.

If you have a question for a god, there’s these red banana things called moon blocks you throw and it’s how the god tells you yes or no (or uncertain) based on how they land. You can also ask a god to give you a fortune which is more specific but honestly they’re so mysterious and hard to understand I don’t usually bother lol

Anyway if you ask a god for something and it works out you gotta make sure to go back to the temple and thank them!

[jasper-book-stash]

May 2024 Reading Wrap-Up

Alright, I can finally work on this, after being a full week into June. I read 11 books in May - one religious text, one occult/witchcraft book, two romances, two nonfiction books, and five poetry books.

Religious Text

Los Agvinaldos del Infante: Gloda de Epifania // The Child’s Gifts: A Twelfth Night Tale | Tomas Blanco

I found this book on the free books table of the library I work at, and I yoinked it immediately. I'm utterly fascinated by translated works, so being able to look at both the Spanish and English versions of this story was really neat. It's a story about the Three Wise Men heading to Jesus's birth and it talks about the gifts they brought from each of their kingdoms. It was neat.

1/10 - Why Did They Publish This?

None applicable.

2/10 - Trash

None applicable.

3/10 - Meh

None applicable.

4 to 6/10 - Mid-Tier

Echoes from the Orient: Wisdom of Lao-Tse With Parallels in Western Thought | Robert Wood

This is a book I found in a secondhand book store for dirt cheap, and my main complaint with it was that the comparisons were usually weak and drew from too many places. Not bad, but not good either.

Confessions of a Reluctant Optimist | Phyllis McGinley

Remember this post? This author is who that was about. This compilation of poems was a fascinating look back into the author's time and place.

7 to 8/10 - Good With Caveats

Bending the Binary: Polarity Magic in a Nonbinary World | Deborah Lipp

I went back and forth so much on this book, but ultimately landed at 8 out of 10 with the caveat being that you're going to go back and forth on if the book is worth reading for quite a few chapters. There are a lot of places where it was like "Bestie, what the FUCK does this mean?" but most of those instances were explained in more detail. We love seeing elaboration on wild claims, at least. It delivered exactly on what was promised. AN IMPORTANT NOTE: The author is cisgender, and this is very apparent in many places, and not just in the places that the author outright says it.

Love For All Seasons | Kitty Clevenger, Fred Klemushim, Rick Cusick

This anthology was put together by Kitty Clevenger, and honestly, my main complaint is that they could have done better. Sure, the artwork is gorgeous, but not every poem felt attached to that central theme - it just felt like the compiler just grabbed whatever poems mentioned one of the seasons in them. And the font (by Rick Cusick, apparently) is difficult to read at times - some of the letters are hard to decipher/identify.

Yesterday I Saw The Sun: Poems | Ally Sheedy

Apparently this author is known for other things. This is my first instance of hearing of her. And I enjoyed the book. Not much to say, other than giving a warning that it gets heavy. Which is a good thing tbh.

Swimming Shelter: 100 Days of Coronavirus: An Exercise in the American Crawl | Al Ortolani

Nothing like reliving the coronavirus (and, in some of the later poems, murder and police brutality) through poetry. My main complaint about this one was formatting. I feel like I could have done better. Let me edit your book and fix your formatting, PLEASE.

9/10 - Very Very Good

February Poems | John Mooney

This was gearing up to be a deeply middling zine of poetry until the fucking clown poem hit me. 9 out of 10, no notes.

Pounded By The Classics: Seven Literary Tales Of The Tingleverse | Chuck Tingle The Lesbian Classics Get Me Off: Seven Ladybuck Tales Of The Tingleverse | Chuck Tingle

Chuck Tingle's tinglers literally never miss.

Ancient Egyptian Literature, volume II: The New Kingdom | Miriam Lichtheim

I didn't get volume two read in time for the May book club meeting, much less volume three, but this was still a damn fine read. I love analyzing old literature told through a modern lens.

10/10 - Unironically Recommend To Everyone

None applicable.

[fourseasonsfigs]

Wu Ti Music Box + Good Sword

Today is day two of our music box extravaganza!

If you haven't read yesterday's post, I highly recommend it, if only to hear all about my tragic backstory 7-month long Attack of the Nerves over getting this music box and it's two sisters to me.

Anyway, the original Tian Ya Ke music box sold very well, and so encouraged the maker to expand into additional offerings. After all, there's a whole soundtrack, right? She added Tian Wen next, and then this one, offered for sale with this listing and name: Untitled - Dry Ticket Run 1.3

Unlike the original Tian Ya Ke and Wenzhou figure, which came together, this listing was for the music box only. She did offer a separate fig set called Good Sword, which I did in fact pair with this set. Since the figs are all removable though, you could easily swap them around to different music boxes or even no music box at all. I know some people just buy the music box and put figs of their choosing on it. That's a super cute look too.

Same pic of the music box storage boxes from yesterday! I try not to re-use pics, but in this case I'm hiding the fact that I don't quite remember which box color went with which. I'm almost positive Wu Ti is the teal one, but I couldn't 100% swear by it.

I really, really love this music box - it's incredibly detailed and very beautiful. The gold chasing on the patterns makes it seem even more intricate and gives it an inlaid feel to it. I hate to use the phrase, 'it's even more beautiful in person', but it really is.

Without further ado, here is your White Glove Figthusiast Special 360 Degree (tm) video:

Once again, my apologies for the dust (and piece of lint! what the heck!) on top of the music box. I'm now displaying this in a glass cabinet after giving it a stern talking to with a feather duster.

Gosh the jianghu looks beautiful on this box. You wouldn't even know what dastardly events are going on from this peaceful and scenic tour of it.

I really love this music box - it's incredibly detailed, and the gold on the patterns gives it a beautiful inlay look to it. Makes it seem even more intricate. I hate to use the phrase, "it's even more beautiful in person", since that's not very helpful when I'm posting pics and video, but it really is.

Here's the removable key for the box - just like the other one, you wind the box by turning the base, not with the hairpin.

Alright, on to the fig set! The name of this set, Good Sword, is of course from this iconic scene:

And because we all deserve a closeup of Gong Jun's elegant and beautiful hand pose:

Many thanks to the Weibo user credited on the pic, you're elegant and beautiful yourself, as well as brilliant for this excellent pic!

Here's the full view of the figs on top of the box. Like the whirling Wenzhou from yesterday's post, these figs also have magnets on the bottom. These don't click on quite as sturdily as the Tian Ya Ke ones do. Either the magnets are less strong, or it's due to the much narrower foot base on these, where they are casually flirting standing vs in motion. The figs will definitely fall off this base if I walk around just holding the base at any kind of speed (don't ask me how I know this, and yes, I caught both the figs and my breath, I swear I never was this nervous before figs came into my life!), so now if I have to move them I either take them off the base, or carry them with one hand on the base and the other cradling the figs (much like Lao Wen's arm cradling A-Xu's waist here).

Alright, here's my best attempt at a 360 degree photo set so you can see how this fig would look spinning around on a music box:

There we go! I will note this is the only fig set I have of Lao Wen in this first meeting / rich young master outfit that absolutely nails the ginko hairpin, it's beautiful. Frankly all the details here are gorgeously done.

As you can see in the pics, the fig maker rendered our wealthy philanthropist very bright white all the way around to provide contrast to our scruffily disguised wanderer friend. I personally would have preferred either a slightly warmer skin tone for Lao Wen or else perhaps a little less blush - or both! Some minor adjustment would make the contrast still there, but a little less stark. But I'm not the artist here, and I think the execution was pretty true to the artist's original sketches:

Hehe Lao Wen and his smirky smile!

The fig maker also included a bonus of self-inking Wenzhou stamps in this set, which was the bonus I accidentally briefly included in yesterday's post (instead of the washi tape!), before a lovely reader's timely comment saved me from further embarrassment!

I should have known because the faces are exactly the same as the Good Sword art sketch, not of the whirling figures, but who knows where my brain was floating around yesterday. Please do go back and check out the very beautiful washi tape bonus with the Tian Ya Ke set, it's gorgeous.

These bonus stamps are super cute! It's hard not to go around stamping everything. Although, now that I think about it...I got a refill of the ink in a different Junzhe stamp set (totally unrelated, but also a blue and red set just like this style), so I guess I could keep stamping away!

The fig maker doesn't do box cards, probably because she both customizes the boxes and gives us these very cool bonuses in each set instead. I'll happily take it.

Speaking of the box, once again we have the excellent protective plastic clamsheet for the figs inside of a paper box:

Material: Metal (for the music box) and PVC (for the figs)

Fig Count: 195

Scene Count: 15

Rating: This person's voice is like a phoenix singing, and his appearance is beautiful.

[link back to Master Fig Index for more posts]

[lifechanyuan]

Life Guide with Philosophical Dialectics

Xuefeng

 (Translated by Transn and Edited by Kaer)

Philosophy is the abstract theory about the nature of the universe and its developmental law as well as the relationship between thinking and being. Dialectics is the theory of the unity of opposites, the contradictory movements of things, and the universal connections and characteristics of them. In terms of properties, dialectics is part of and resides within the category of philosophy. It is like consciousness and thinking. Thinking is part of and resides within the category of consciousness. Speaking metaphorically, philosophy is the human body and dialectics are its eyes. Philosophy deals with the broad sense while dialectics deals with the narrow sense. Philosophy is general while dialectics is specific.

It is my opinion that philosophy is science and should be understood and reasoned with real evidence, without which it would not be logical, and that would in turn lead to wrong conclusions.  For instance, both the absolute idealism and absolute materialism sever the unity between the two sides of the contradiction. Such as, religion, which emphasises more about the idealism and ignores the value and meaning of real existence.and pragmatism which stresses more about existence itself, but less about its causes.

The theory system of Lifechanyuan is mainly based on real evidence, although I have previously expounded more about the teachings and instructions of Gods, Buddha, Celestial Beings, and Saints in human history as the core, which is somewhat empty for the faithless, and not only lack operability, but also lack the cognition of the scientific nature of the spatial-temporal universe, Life, and LIFE. It is like Lao Tzu’s descriptions of Tao: “An image of what existed before God”, “The Tao that can be discussed is not Absolute Tao”, “Evasive, elusive, yet latent within it, are forms. Dark and dim, yet latent within it is the life-force”, too specious to be understood by anyone who is not extremely wise.

How do we guide our Lives with philosophical dialectics?  

“Buddha has no settled rules. Buddha’s rules always vary according to the situation”, “Keep the main and change the others according to the situation”, “To be selfless is to achieve self”, “To be free from ego is to achieve ego”, “To own nothing is to own everything”, and so on which I summed up conforms to dialectics in the philosophical sense and can guide Life. Now we will talk in detail about how to understand the world and how to guide our Lives with philosophical dialectics.

First, let us see the universal law of the unity of opposites in a philosophical sense. This law is to say that all things in the universe consist of pro and con factors which are opposite, incompatible, and contradictory as fire and water. But paradoxically, it is precisely this organic unity of contradictions that makes the world complex and colourful. Specifically, positive balances negative, light balances dark, true balances false, good balances evil, yin balances yang, male balances female, up balances down, the rise balances the fall, death balances life, the tangible balances the intangible, and so on. How can this analysis be significant to guide our Lives?

The law of the unity of opposites tells us that there is the physical world but also the spiritual, heaven but also hell, material structure but also the non-material, and the tangible human but also the intangible God. As such, our consciousness and thinking are not limited to our mortal Lives and will not be limited to the material world that we see. Our field of knowledge can expand to unlimited space and time, to the afterlife, to the nonmaterial world which we can neither see nor hear from our current place. What a remarkable leap of faith this is! Thus, as human beings, we should not only value the present, but also consider the future, not only pay attention to reality, but also consider nothingness, not only cherish life, but also pay attention to the afterlife.

Let us now look at the law of mutual change of quality and quantity in a dialectic sense. This law says that any change of quality must be based on an accumulation of quantity. When the accumulation of a quantity becomes saturated and passes a critical point, its quality or qualities will change. This law has immeasurable value and significance in guiding our Lives. From the law of the unity of opposites, we understand that while there are humans, there must be Gods. Since there are Gods, the existence of Celestial Beings and Buddha become reasonable. Humans, Gods, Buddha, and Celestial Beings are LIFE of different natures. People have human nature, Gods have divine nature, Celestial Beings have theirs, and Buddha has Buddhist nature. If human nature is to be sublimed to divine nature, there must be an accumulation of quantity and the accumulation must develop towards the divine nature. “A thousand miles can not be covered without an accumulation of steps and there will be no rivers or seas without the integration of small streams.” If one gradually accumulates a divine nature, then in accordance with the law of mutual change of quality and quantity, they will eventually become Godlike.

Based on the dialectic law of the negation of negation, we can conclude that, “New things must conquer old things”. “‘New things’ refers to those which are in line with objective law and posses strong vitality and broad developmental prospects. Old things are those that run counter to objective law and will die out”.

To determine whether a thing is new or old is to look at its nature, not its form or appearance.

For example, many new religions have sprung up like mushrooms with new forms and manifestations, but their natures are variations fermented in old nests, and they are not new at all.

Now let us look at the new methods, new measures, and new channels, with the aim of earning money across the globe, such as the transformation from traditional manufacturing industries to service and info-tek industries which appear new when seen from their form and appearance, but are still, essentially ways to make money. Thus, they are not new because the nature of their profit motive has remained the same.

“As in the Yangtze River, the waves behind ride on the ones before, new generations excel the old.” This is a reflection and portrayal of the law of the negation of negation. From the phenomenon of the global rise of the divorce rate and the growing number of singles, we can surmise a law such that the family as a traditional production and life mode will be gradually replaced with a new form of production and life mode. This is an objective law which will not change by people’s subjective wills and will not stop advancing just because people resent it or rebel against it. This new mode is replacing the traditional production and life mode, is a new thing, and no force can prevent its development and growth once it happens. However, the growth and development of new things is bound to suffer and will have to overcome arduous and tortuous processes. When you invest yourself into the development of new things, you must be psychologically and spiritually prepared to suffer difficult times or the new things will eliminate you. The prospects of old things are dark but the prospects of new things are bright, so the farther you walk on the way of old things, the narrower it becomes, but the farther you walk on the way of new things, the wider it becomes.

It rises here but sets there. It increases here but decreases there. “Two extremes are connected but will go in different directions when pushed too far.” “The rise is sudden but so is the fall.” “Ill gain brings ill fate.” “Karma is the shadow following a body.” Extreme joy begets sorrow, out of the extreme misfortune comes fortune. All these conform to dialectics, so we have to remain alert and have confidence all the while. After we understand the universal law that positive and negative energies always balance out, we can deal with Life affairs skilfully and easily. We know that when we constantly give and contribute rather than take and consume, we will accumulate many treasures, but where? They are reserved in the afterlife or the nonmaterial world. Who will enjoy these treasures? No one can, other than the one who has accumulated them. Otherwise, the universal law that positive and negative energy always balance out would be violated. As it is a universal law, it is a necessary procedure. When you pay, you must receive. When you receive, you must pay. If you have given but have not received in the mortal world, then you will undoubtedly receive in your next life or in heaven. Otherwise, the universe would be unfair and untrue. 

 Everything has its destiny. The total energy in the universe is constant. This is consistent with the law of the conservation of energy (and of matter). In terms of philosophy, yin cannot exist without yang and yang cannot grow without yin. “Yin and yang are the law and order of the changes of all things”–Huangdi Neijing. As we know from the water on the earth,regardless of the surging rivers brought on by rainstorms or the increase of snow cover on mountaintop, its total volume remains constant. It is destiny. This is to say that the quantity of LIFE in the universe is constant. It increases here but decreases there. It rises here but falls there. Well then, where does the increase in human population come from? Are new Lives born out of thin air? People who have explored and studied anything about reincarnation know that human reincarnation happens several days before birth. Therefore, an embryo or fetus does not contain LIFE. It can only be called LIFE when a reincarnated soul enters into it. Thus, we know that a new LIFE will only be born when an old one passes on. There is no LIFE without death and no death without LIFE. That is it! In this case, we know that the increased LIFE on the earth must have come from somewhere. If a new LIFE is born, then an old one must have ended. If we analyse carefully, we may wonder about the many animals on the earth that have died. Where have they gone? Have they become human? Where will their LIVES go if the earth has a mass extinction in the future? Please refer to 36-Dimensional Space for the answers.    

Philosophical dialectics can guide our Lives. We have just discussed how to guide our Lives by philosophy from the perspective of philosophy. This enlightenment is only the tip of the iceberg. You may draw general conclusions about other cases from specific ones. I hope that each one of you will lead a smart life and that you will have wonderful LIFE prospects.

[izzabela]

Mortal Kombat Headkanons

in which i talk about certain characters

a/n: the success of my short!fem!reader x bi han canons made me want to make a couple of hcs for some of my other favorite characters

ship[s]: none

warning(s): bi!johnny?

Johnny:

- he misses his wife. more than words could say

- he doesn't prolong the divorce, signing the papers and immediately giving her the required settlement without issue

- Johnny and kung lao definitely have drinking competitions. like, they drink to see who can handle more (Kung Lao often loses and pays Johnny)

- Johnny talks to kenshi about his divorce, a lot (does it count as talking if he wakes up next to him in bed?)

- Johnny does really good research when he's creating his mortal kombat cinematic universe. like, really good research. i know the kanon end for him is a director, but if you really examine that clip, it's incredible how much thought he put into this

- you know how johnny tells tomas that if he wins their spar he gets a part? i think even if tomas lost, he'd still give him the part

- Johnny takes up journaling as a coping mechanism. i'd say that it would've been introduced to him by Raiden, but he uses it to vent about his PTSD in Shang Tsung's lab

Raiden:

- i believe Raiden reassures Kung Lao a lot. we know that Kung Lao often is compared to Raiden, but it never affects Kung Lao in a negative way- and i think it's because of how kind Raiden is

- he hypes Kung Lao up in different ways, and Kung Lao takes them as genuine compliments

- Raiden. loves. hugs. no, i won't be taking criticisms

- a part of me thinks Raiden does have a twisted darkness to him, remained untapped of course because of how Liu Kang made him. i headcanon that this darkness grows bit by bit when he trains with the Shirai Ryu

- speaking of the Shirai Ryu, Hanzo definitely has taken a liking to Raiden. if Hanzo looks at Takeda like an older brother, and Tomas maybe as an uncle/father figure, Raiden is def another older brother

- i think Raiden dotes on his sister a lot. he definitely takes good care of her, always praising her and patting her head and whatnot. he does the same to Hanzo for sure

- Raiden still visits Fengjian to help with chores. no, i won't be taking any criticisms on this

Kung Lao:

- as mentioned above, Kung Lao doesn't have a hating bone in his body for Raiden because Raiden himself keeps him grounded

- however, i still think Kung Lao struggles with identity issues. i think he has days where he really thinks about him and Raiden, and how Raiden is branded as the "better version" of him

- Kung Lao is a cuddle bug. no, i will not be taking any form of criticism at all on this take

- for some reason, I can see Kung Lao making wordplay jokes. i'm filipino, and wordplay is a huge thing in our culture and humor, and I'm pretty sure the Chinese language dabbles in good wordplay humor as well

- Kung Lao absolutely plays boardgames. i can see him introducing Johnny, Kenshi, and the other monks to games he and Raiden played when they were younger

- if Kung Lao had a phone, he'd so be into memes, dank memes, tiktok memes, and the gen z slang business. i can hear him say "i fw that heavy" or the other stuff that's been trending. i'm so bold as to say his favorite type of meme might be vine humor

- i think Kung Lao is an only child. idk, y'all can debate me on this one

Kenshi Takahashi:

- he sends letters to Suchin. since she's still part of the yakuza, and he against, he can't exactly be near her. he writes in great detail, and he'll even send a picture or sketches for Suchin as a visual aid

- i think pre-blindess, Kenshi would have been a major sketcher. he wouldn't be really good at it, but he'd create amazing (and quick) scenery stills of different places he's been to

- Kenshi is such a good listener. no, i'm not trying to be funny since he's blind- i really believe he listens well and gives good advice

- Kenshi would so fight with Takeda. just like how Raiden and Kung Lao fought to settle their bets, those two would also duel

- part of me imagines Kenshi waking up early for training. i think he'd train the best with Raiden, then Kung Lao, then Johnny. i'd go as far to say that Kenshi likes Raiden's company post-spars

- post-blind Kenshi most definitely deals with PTSD, no doubt. he and Johnny talk about it, and I'd like to say both he and Johnny developed insomnia and stay up to talk over the phone

- i hc that Johnny goes to Japan to do research for a "Kenshi Takahashi" solo film, and that he takes Kenshi with him to act as a tour guide and a cultural master (pls go look at @/heyachow on IG! she draws MK1 art and there is a JohnShi post that pertains to this idea)

- he's confused on how he feels for both johnny and suchin

Geras:

- as a fandom, we do not talk about this man enough

- as much as Geras is a loyal follower, i'd like to think that there are times he does doubt Liu Kang. however, when a kanon event comes to pass, his faith in him is restored and he continues with life

- i know Liu Kang said that Geras isn't one for social calls, but i can't shake the feeling that Geras does pop into the Fire Temple for tea. Liu Kang 100% put him on it too (ginseng tea would be Geras's favorite)

- there's a voice-line of Geras and Takeda talking about the dinosaur's extinction, but i think i get why Geras would be traumatized over that. i think he sees it aslife being wiped out in the blink of an eye, and since he was part of the process in creation of it, he feels guilty

- Geras would give firm handshakes if he wasn't so opposed to mortals. you can all argue with the wall on this take

- when Geras talks to others and they ask about their futures or pasts, the people like Tomas, Tanya, or even Takeda make him sad because he (once again) feels responsible. of course, it's part of the course of their fates, but he looks at them a little longer compared to others

- since Geras would be the Keeper of Time after Liu Kang, i think he likes to use the hourglass to view his favorite memories of his friends (though he does not call them friends)

- this might be a fanon, but Geras absolutely makes sand sculptures when he gets uber bored

Liu Kang:

- i think the characters misinterpret the intention Liu Kang had for the timeline. his whole purpose was to make it so that humans had free will to create their own destinies and endings- choose your own adventure

- i think Liu Kang beats himself up from time to time when thinking over the paths of certain people. Bi Han, Tomas, Shang Tsung, even General Shao, he thinks of these people and wonders if he could have made better choices in terms of their lore and origins

- i know it's canon that Liu Kang wishes he made Johnny more humble, but damn do i believe he really regrets it at times. like, he'll openly talk about it to people like Raiden, or Kung Lao

- speaking of them, he looks at his pupils and sometimes sees the visages of his former mentor and best friend. he's content with his life as the protector of Earthrealm, but can a man dream

- Liu Kang would absolutely use the Hourglass to see his Kitana again. i'm not entirely sure how that works, but i imagine you can use it to see into the other timelines as the flow of time continues. he'd smile fondly at the image of his love training her pupils

- this plays into the Geras tea headcanon, but Liu Kang would absolutely (and proudly) ask for Geras to join him for tea. instead of talking, though, they'd sit in silence- a comfortable one

- since Liu Kang's ending in the game means he is no longer immortal, but will live rather long, i imagine him to be scared of losing his life. in previous timelines, he's died and resurrected, but this time it's permanent. that is what scares him

Sindel:

- she's the epitome of "i won't apologize, but here's a bowl of your favorite fruits"

- as she watches over her daughters through Ermac's eyes, she most definitely regrets the harshness she had towards Mileena. though she cannot personally come through Ermac due to the amount of souls it houses, Jerrod tells Mileena for her

- this might borderline fanon, but i think the reason Sindel chose blue and red/maroon for Kitana and Mileena was because blue+red=purple. kind of poetic in a sense, that her daughters make up who she is as a woman, mother, and a queen

- when Li Mei is seen through Ermac's eyes, Sindel cries. she can't hug her friend anymore, and she most definitely can't give her the proper apology she deserves after her years of mistreatment against her

- Sindel hates spicy food. idk, she just looks like she does

- Sindel definitely knew that Mileena was a lesbian before Mileena could even name it. i'd like to think she knew when Mileena shaved her head like that when she was maybe 8000 years old?

- Sindel was definitely proud of Mileena with her stance on Tarkatans and people infected with Tarkat. she definitely regrets how she treated them, and her hypocrisy, especially since they had the power to provide people with a semi-cure

Shang Tsung:

- there's a voice-line on Shang Tsung and another character saying that he was actually doing research on Tarkat and finding a cure. while the characters don't believe him (i don't blame them), i actually believe that he was doing good

- part of me still believes he brews his potions and experiments with Tarkat remedies on that island he found

- Shang Tsung is a cat guy. wave your pitch forks all you want

- Shang Tsung looks like the type of guy to visit his old home just to burn it down. with his fire powers, he absolutely would watch his childhood home burn until it became nothing but ash

- i think Shang Tsung would take leisure walks. if he's in a village, he'll take precaution to shift into a different form, but he will still make time out of his day to take a walk

- he has stacks upon stacks upon stacks upon stacks of journals and scrolls on medicine

General Shao:

- i think there are times where Shao does regret turning against the crown. his military lineage and history, and all the lessons he'd been indoctrinated with make him think like that sometimes, especially since his father had watched him overcome his illness

- i think Shao is ticklish at his horns

- Shao views Reiko like a son. he'll take care of him personally when he is sick or injured

- Shao likes nightly walks

- Shao would absolutely fuck with spicy food

- before Shao was on the run, he snuck back into his family home to grab his father's heirloom. i don't know what it would be, but it would be important enough for him to take from you

Tanya:

- if she misses a day of prayer/temple days, she is visibly dejected

- Tanya absolutely writes love notes to Mileena. sometimes it accidentally gets sent to Kitana, and she receives response notes along the lines of "please, get a room"

- she's the type of girl to stick by the schedule, and it's not just because she is Umgadi. i believe her personality to be "stick to the books", always following the rules (except for Mileena of course)

- the sisters know Tanya is jealous when they spar against her. Tanya would see Mileena on a date with a potential suitor and she'd take it out on the sparring field

- Tanya visits Li Mei for coffee or a meal. it serves as both making new friends and repairing bridges

- i think Tanya is a clean freak. you guys can talk to the hand on this take

Kitana:

- since Kitana is now a movie lover, of course she's excited when Johnny and his film crew are in the palace. she definitely asks questions on what the cameras do, what the clapperboard is, and what the editors do

- i think Kitana was a crier growing up. i could see a little Kitana telling Mileena that someone called her ugly, and Mileena would sock that idiot's face in without wavering

- Kitana and Mileena used to be close, and Kitana does whatever she can to always remind Mileena that she does love and support her

- Kitana thinks about Raiden. if she gets lucky with Mileena's schedule, she talks to her about her feelings towards him. usually it ends up with Kitana denying her feelings about him

- Kitana is a mama's girl

- Kitana secretly wishes the best for Tanya and Mileena. in public, she cannot say anything about their relationship. in private, though, she'll talk to Mileena about all the little thing she saw going on between them

=====================

and that's a wrap for that hc list

i got eight reqs i havent started, and three finished lined up in the queue, you guys are so sweet!

i can't wait to keep writing, and i'll see yall in the next fic!

[vees-strangeworld-omniverse]

ARGONUS INFO: a map of the planet:

(NOTE: description copy-pasted from DA where i normally post my works. any context that is missing here on tumblr can be found on my DA [linked here and on pinned post] )

[image best view when opened in a new tab. for any context about "copy-planets", they follow the weird "earth-like planet" trope where everything identical to earth, except for some noticeable differences dont worry, you'll se why that is later on...]

[re-uploaded due to original being posted from main]

NOTE: THIS MAP DOES NOT TAKE INTO ACOUNT SOME OF THE SMALLER ISLAND THAT ARE TOO SMALL TO DRAW IN. 

_____________

don't you just hate it when you think you're doing a tiny side project that starts turning into a whole ass world building universe?

..anyways, i decided to expand upon argonus a bit more; more specifically, make the biomes more clear and add some geography. i already made a map of argonus once, but now it's time for the (more full) details.

are you ready for my nonsense rambling? ALRIGHT HERE WE GO!!!!

first of let me just say this: i am crap at making maps. I literally just googled "literal translation of countries' names" and went from there. i also just grab a photo-to-linear converter on google and then made nessisarly changes to make it workable (because converting a photo of a colored drawing to linear creates messy results), plus a few misspelling here and there. but I'm happy with the results, cause now i really got a frame of references for when i start making more exclusive fauna and potentially stories.

anyways, as a copy planet of earth, it's not just the flora, fauna and biomes that are near-identical to us, but also the continents as well, even there's an "old world" and "new world". however, when it comes to countries, that's where it ends, because they have different names than ours (and different-looking countries).

but, before I go listing off countries, i should probably talk about language first:

so, because I lack some creativity, the elkinets do speak "common human" (aka human languages). common human, contrary to what one may believe, is not specific to humans; it's called "common human" because it's the most commonly spoken languages among humans, and has been developed independently by other sophonts across the omniverse.

some of the most common and predominate of the common human throughout the planet include: -English -spanish -Korean -Russian -Chinese -Hindi -Japanese -French -Italian -German -Arabic -Greek

however, their original language is known as "true elkinish", which has nouns, pronouns and adjectives in Latin and the rest in greek. here's how it works and sounds (example text taken from Butte collage):

[tumblr edit: italics represent latin]

english (what's latin and what's greek) The young girl brought me a very long letter from the teacher, and then she quickly disappeared. Oh my!

true elkinish (greek & latin): O puer pue efere ego poly longo littera apomagister, kai meta puella grigora. O thee! if this is too complicated, that's ok. most humans (and other earthfolk that come here) usually learn the Latin parts. most countries speak common human (which correlates to where they live, ie Chinese in center kingdom), however true elkinish is still taught and spoken throughout the planet. most developing countries/indigenous tribes still use this original language as their primary language.

finally here are what the continents called, and the countries that make up them:

OLD WORLD

EROON(europe), 10 countries: 1-Geranc 2-Ben Ital 3-Maronus 4-Isle of Smainx 5-lagusain 6-Talta Island 7-Dirus 8-Brith 9-Rishin 10-Scalvania (Note: brith, rishin and scalvania all are part of what's known as the "brithian kingdom")

SONIAS (asia), 7 countries: 1-Northernland 2-Lruss 3-Center Kingdom 4-Sunrise Lands 5-Kingdom of Laos (KO laos) 6-Indus 7-Swauda

NYLUS (africa), 9 countries: 1-Islangia 2-Libu 3-Gwagir 4-Sothepio 5-Central Lakerealms 6-Mussa 7-N'gola 8-South N'gola 9-Lemura Grasca

OCEANANA INDUS ISLANDS (indonesia), 8 countries: 1-Isle Indus 2-Rogdeginta 3-Lesser Indus 4-Guinea Centura 5-North Minor Centrua 6-Major Centrua 7-South Minor Centrua 8-Milva

ASTRA (austrailia), 7 countries: 1-Northern Lands 2-West Astra 3-Kingland 4-Swoth 5-Victon 6-Moaland 7-Tasmuth

NEW WORLD

NORTHEST AMERIGA (north america), 11 countries: 1-Y'uckta 2-Kiakdika 3-Hihiuantius 4-Villageda 5-Nation of ameriga 6-Nucklon 7-Rhadnol 8-Pwatubu 9-Gulf Islands 10-Kalaallit 11-Naveloon

SOUTHEST AMERIGA (south america), 8 countries 1-Redender 2-Guwanill 3-L'twends 4-Silvy Eenda 5-Isla Nywo 6-Eenda Isle 7-North Archus 8-South Archus

THE POLES: -nolerth -soleouth

expect this to be subject to change, since it's long post that needs to be updated when new lore/info comes out.

[j-graysonlibrary]

The Xiang Chronicles: Book One Chapter 31

Title: The Xiang Chronicles: Book One

Author: Jay Grayson

Word Count: 83k

Genres: Fantasy, adventure, drama, LGBT+

Available on: my website

Synopsis: Every few centuries a hero is born—one chosen by the God Tiandi to carry out his will in the mortal realm. The Xiang. Whether it is to quell a war instigated by the forces of shadow—of Shakti herself—or whether it is the miasma that poisons the world, the Xiang is born to bring the world back into balance.

Shu Pangu Min knows what his purpose is and he does his best to fulfill it even if he doesn’t fully understand all of the details. He must travel from city to city—lord to lord—to clear out the miasma. Along the way, he is to enlist the aid of four disciples. Each is to be of a different country and each must have high resonance and deep faith.

The holy men who raised him have great confidence in his future successes and they leave him to begin his journey on his own. But, can Pangu live up to the expectations of those around him? Can he really save the land like all other Xiang before him or will his unconventional methods doom them all?

Full chapter 31 under the cut

Chapter XXXI

Weeks had gone by and, while Pangu and Kira had both woken up from their unexpected naps, they were still weak and hazy. Kira had started to reintroduce training into his daily activities to force his body to jumpstart and work properly again while Pangu spent the majority of his time in bed or at the writing desk in his room.

With the proposition that Viren had made, he had a lot to think about. Three different drafts of a letter to Lord Lao sat on his desk and he was completely undecided about which to go with.

He knew much of what Viren said was right—Lao would never concede to him and it was up to Pangu to convince him to step down from power. Whether he listened to Pangu was yet to be seen but he still had the best chance out of anyone else to make things happen.

Tone was important. He could not afford to come off as too judgmental even if he did disagree with nearly everything the man did in Sun-Shi. But, being too kind and accommodating might not force the man to step down and could be seen as a simple suggestion instead of the request it truly was.

There was a delicate balance that needed to be reached which the Xiang had not quite figured out yet. He chewed over his lip and looked between the three letters again, reading each through.

Then a knock came to his door.

“Come in,” he said.

Oli poked his head in. “Are you busy, Pangu?”

“Not especially,” he answered and crossed his arms. “Just…indecisive.”

“About your role going forward?” The young man guessed as he walked further into the room.

“More or less, yes.”

“My cousin will not hold it against you if you decide not to help him in his endeavors, you know.”

Pangu smiled a little and looked away. He and Viren had spoken since the incident but the Lord refused to talk to him about the kiss. He acted as though it had never happened and, while Pangu saw the benefit in that mentality, he could not help but seek some closure.

All he had was Kira to talk to about it. Though his disciple had less useful advice than he had previously hoped for. Still, it was a relief to get the event off of his chest even if it still was not resolved in his mind.

“I know Viren will support whatever decision I make,” Pangu said after a moment, “It is precisely for that reason that I am thinking so deliberately about all of this. My decision will affect the entire country and I need to make the correct choice.”

Oli smiled and nodded. “Well, you know where I stand on the matter. My cousin’s rule over all of Terra would be a wonderful thing. He cares far more about people than most of our family does and, while I do not claim to know everything about the Feng or Meala territories, I find it hard to believe there is anyone out there that works as hard as Viren does.”

His love for his cousin was incredibly sweet to see but Pangu had to remain practical. “I have yet to meet those Lords myself. I suppose I should go and see them before going to Enlil.”

“Would you be an emissary for Viren or…?” Oli tried to coax more out of him.

Pangu chuckled. “We will have to see.”

“Hey, stop trying to bully my Xiang,” Kira said as he walked into the room. He was still a bit pale but some of his color had slowly started to return.

“Bully?” Oli opened and closed his mouth a few times.

“He is not bullying me, Kira,” Pangu said and laughed a little.

“I know,” Kira responded before ruffling Oli’s hair, “I’m just messing with you.”

The boy grumbled and slapped his hand away. “I’ll be taking my leave now.” He rushed off before Kira could continue to bother him any longer.

“Aw, Oli,” Kira called after him and then laughed. He turned his attention to Pangu before gesturing back to the door. “I like him.”

“I do not think he’s aware,” Pangu said with a chuckle. “You really should not toy with people when you are trying to make friends. It scares them off.”

“I don’t toy with you,” he pointed out.

“And for that I am grateful.”

Kira snickered before pulling the Xiang up from the desk. “Come along, we need to get to stretching and exercising.”

Pangu wanted to stay and look over his letters some more but he also figured giving himself a break might be good for his mind. Maybe he could return to the letters, look at them with fresh eyes, and finally make a decision.

Since they woke up, he and Kira had spoken only briefly about the vision they shared. It was one of many things taking up space in the back of Pangu’s mind, preventing him from fully focusing on any one thing. Kira, however, insisted that it was just a trick of the miasma and nothing to worry about.

He could only hope his disciple was right.

***

Outside the palace, off to the side of the gardens, Baiya and Raine walked side by side. They had just finished a sparring session out in the barracks and were cooling off by taking a lap outside the perimeter of the plaza.

“I cannot wait for Kira to rejoin our sparring matches,” Baiya mentioned as he stretched his arms up over his head. He let out a small groan and then dropped them back down to his sides.

“What, is it too easy with just me?” Raine raised an eyebrow, feigning offense.

“Yes,” Baiya answered before laughing.

He and Kira were too similar sometimes. Raine rolled his eyes and decided to ignore his jab at him. Instead, he reigned the conversation back in, “Kira needs to rest some more. It will probably be another month until he is back to where he was before.”

“Will we really be staying here another month?” the other man asked with a frown. He appreciated the hospitality but he was more than eager to see different scenery. And not just because he wanted away from Viren. He wouldn’t say he was necessarily over his issue with the man but he had spoken to him more at length and decided that he wasn’t all too bad.

At least, he could say he understood why everyone else liked him so much.

“We still do not know what exactly our next move is,” Raine pointed out, “At least we are able to plan for the future in a lavish palace with everything we could ever want at our disposal. We could be in a dank cave, scrambling for resources.”

“No, I get it. We’re lucky here,” Baiya said and shook his head. “I am just anxious about our lack of progress I suppose.”

“Would you push Pangu before he was ready?”

He promptly shook his head again. “No. I would not.”

“So then relax. We will get to the next step in due time.” Raine smiled a little.

“Those are interesting words coming from the man who pushed himself so hard he fell out from illness and had to be cared for by my family.”

Raine laughed. “I learned my lesson.”

“Fair enough.”

Their walk was cut short by the sound of yelling. “Get your hands off of me!” A woman’s voice sounded. It was coming from the entrance to the plaza so they hurried over.

One of the guards was trying to grab hold of a young woman who looked very irate. She seemed familiar in a strange way—not as if either Raine or Baiya had seen her before but as if they had seen someone similar to her.

She had tan skin, long dark hair and purple eyes. She also had a gigantic axe strapped to her back.

“I know the Xiang is in there! I am his sister!” she yelled.

“And we are supposed to believe that? Based on what? Your word?” The guard responded and tried once more to grab a hold of her. She swatted him away.

Raine stepped forward, placing himself slightly between the two. “Miss, what is your name?”

She looked up at him and seemed to struggle with her words for a moment. “I-I’m Shu Heidi Min…my brother is Shu Pangu Min, the Xiang.”

“She is telling the truth,” Raine stated. “That is indeed his sister’s name.”

“And she looks like him too,” Baiya noted, finally realizing why she looked so familiar. The shape of her eyes, her skin tone, and the color of her hair were all exactly like Pangu’s.

“Are you sure, Disciple Raine?” the guard asked, deferring completely to him.

Raine nodded. “Yes.” He turned to Heidi. “I can take you to your brother.”

She walked past the guards, giving them a nasty look on the way. Then her attention was solely on Raine. “They called you disciple. You must be the Kyrie disciple then, right?”

“That is correct,” he said and smiled down at her. “Beside me is Baiya, the Agni disciple.”

Heidi nodded briefly before looking back to Raine. She didn’t say anything, she just kept her eyes on him as he led her to Pangu’s room.

On the floor, Pangu and Raine were facing each other, doing stretches. Pangu hadn’t realized how much he had really needed to stretch but his back already thanked him. When there was a knock at the door, both stopped and looked up.

“Who is it?” Pangu asked.

“Raine and Baiya,” Raine answered, “And a guest.”

“Come on in,” Kira said and pulled his legs up underneath him.

Pangu looked over at the door, curious as to who this guest was but, in the blink of an eye, he was on his feet and stuttering, “H-Heidi? What are you doing here?”

His sister, who he hadn’t seen in over a year now, stood in front of him with a smirk on her lips. He would have never guessed, even if given infinite guesses, that she was the “guest”.

“I came to see you, obviously,” she said and walked past him. Her gaze shifted to the desk with the letters and she skimmed over the top one. “What is this? Are you becoming a diplomat or something?”

“Hey, don’t read those,” Pangu scolded without really meaning to. Her presence had left him flustered. “Why are you here and not with mother and father?”

She turned back around. “It was not my intent to follow you from the start.”

“But you did follow me?”

“Wait…you are Pangu’s sister?” Kira interrupted as he finally stood up. Their conversation and the way they spoke certainly suggested they were related not to mention how similar they looked. Still, Pangu did not mention his family much.

“That’s right. The non-special one.” Heidi smiled and set her hands on her hips. “And who are you? The third disciple?”

Pangu introduced him, “This is Kira, my disciple from Terra. I see you already met Raine and Baiya…”

“Only handsome men, brother?” she questioned with a pointed look at him.

“I do not know what you mean,” Pangu said immediately, “Can we get back to why you’re here?”

Heidi shook her head. “I initially left home to pick up medicine for mom and dad at a harbor town in Kyrie. While I was there, I heard about your deeds and became curious. After making sure our parents were healthy, I decided to venture off and see what all you had really done as the Xiang.”

“That cannot possibly be it,” Pangu argued, “Why have you followed me this far? Do you have something to say to me or…?”

“I cannot simply wish to see you? I heard you and your disciples had been staying here for some time now so I figured I could try and catch up with you.” She sighed. “You’ve done such a good job so far, I thought you should know that mom and dad would be very proud of you.”

That still did not explain what she was doing here, Pangu wanted to say. He suspected there was a lot more she wasn’t telling him but he doubted he would get it out of her.

“How about we go on a walk around town and chat?” he suggested instead. “We can swap stories and see the sights.”

Heidi nodded. “I could go for that.”

[cienie-isengardu]

A very good list!

@evilbihan, I hope you won't mind if I will seize up the provided opportunity to rant a bit over the weird fanon idea how Kuai Liang is the protector of Tomas, usually against mean Bi-Han, or how close those two were because the storyline did not build up that feeling of brotherhood between Smoke and Scorpion as they did not interact in any direct way before Sub-Zero was removed from picture and I have a strong urge to talk about it. So in advance, sorry for inviting myself to your post but otherwise I may not have the motivation to sit and write it in the nearest future.

And just for clarity’s sake, I’m here to talk about the visual storytelling of the game, not to judge which character was or wasn’t a good brother.

The first outstanding detail that catched my attention about Tomas is that he was not acknowledged at all by Liu Kang in the first chapter. Fire Lord called Sub-Zero and Scorpion by name and thus those two were singled out to join him while Tomas was left behind. As it will turn out, Tomas won’t be acknowledged by Fire Lord at all through the whole game. The first person to actually address Tomas on screen by his birth name is, surprisingly Bi-Han.

When awaiting together for Liu Kang, the main interaction carried through the scene is between Tomas and Bi-Han or Bi-Han and Kuai Liang - and the way the camera focuses, we usually see only the speaker or two brothers involved in the current dialogue. During that scene, Smoke and Scorpion did not share any dialogue between them. Tomas was looking twice at Kuai Liang:

at the beginning of the scene

--> and please note how it looks like Tomas was looking at Scorpion (and maybe even talking to his brother), but Kuai's face is turned in opposite direction than Smoke, giving the impression of ignoring him.

2. before saying "Were he here, Father would advise us to wait without protest."

When Bi-Han said in frustration "Mind your place, Tomas. Father may have taken you in, made you one of us... but your blood will never be Lin Kuei.", Tomas did not glance at Kuai Liang for support. Scorpion looked at Smoke but said and did nothing else.

It is understandable that brothers dropped their talk once Kung Lao and Raiden approached but there is a long pause of silence (~5 seconds) between Bi-Han finishing his harsh words and brothers acknowledging the newcomers and Kuai Liang did not even start to utter any protest at Sub-Zero’s comment.

During the war meeting with Fire Lord it makes sense Tomas and Kuai Liang did not talk between themselves nor to Sub-Zero or Liu Kang. They stood together, as they were officially Grandmaster’s subordinates.

During the war meeting with Fire Lord it makes sense Tomas and Kuai Liang did not talk between themselves nor to Sub-Zero or Liu Kang. They stood together, as they were officially Grandmaster’s subordinates.

But once the three of them were again alone, we come back to the previously established interactions, either between Tomas and Bi-Han or Bi-Han and Kuai Liang, while Scorpion and Smoke look at the other here and there

and share one(!) long glance after Bi-Han remarked "That is our past. It won't be our future."

Again, no real dialogue between Tomas and Kuai Liang while at the same time:

Bi-Han and Tomas talked about how to infiltrate the fortress

Smoke: "The only way in is over the walls." Sub-Zero: "We must find a less guarded section before attempting an ascent."

Kuai Liang's only addition to that scene is talking about duty ("Glory? We fight for duty.") and father ("We must honor his vision Bi-Han.")

once Bi-Han left the scene, there is an empty space between brothers, showing how far away they stood - more than at arm's lenght.

During Nitara's attack, both Bi-Han and Kuai Liang showed concern for falling down Tomas (and no, the failing rock was not kicked on purpose)

and after Bi-Han won against Nitara and Ermac, he asked both brothers if they were unharmed.

Scorpion answered for himself and Tomas that indeed they are fine. Again, Kuai Liang did not like Bi-Han's enthusiasm for fighting / different attitude than his own and had no real interaction with Tomas besides a quick shared glance.

Further, we could see Tomas and Bi-Han again talking about mission:

Smoke: "That's Quan Chi. The other sorcerer Liu Kang described." Sub-Zero: "Kuai Liang and I will capture him. Stay here. Do not let them activate the soul stealers."

and again, Kuai Liang had nothing to add to the discussion.

From here brothers are separated. Through Bi-Han's chapter (Band of Brothers), Tomas interacts directly with Bi-Han alone, while he and Kuai Liang mainly cast a glance at each other and that is all. There was only one (1) Sub-Zero’s harsh remark toward Smoke but he snapped at Kuai Liang too a few scenes later. Beside that, he twice showed his care toward Tomas and though it is clear Smoke was the least battle-experienced out of the three brothers, it was him who talked with Bi-Han about their plan of action twice, while Kuai Liang's dialogues are focused at "duty", "tradition" and "father" but not about the job at hand.

And what is also important to note, through the story mode up to Bi-Han's betrayal, Tomas is constantly showed at Bi-Han's right side - a side with symbolic meaning and often reserved for the "second in command"

admittedly, this is one of reasons why I don't believe Tomas is the youngest brother.

Once Bi-Han sides with Shang Tsung and is "removed" from their group, we finally get a direct interaction between Scorpion and Tomas, as they talk about what happened. This is also the first time Kuai Liang on screen confirms to see Smoke as a brother and touching his arm - a contrast to lack of response to Bi-Han's harsh remark from a few scenes ago.

I admit, I can see why some people considers Scorpion!Kuai Liang to be manipulative, if we see him on screen being supportive and reassuring toward Tomas once he needs his brother's support - personally I'm willing to give all Lin Kuei brothers the benefit of doubt here, as none of them get in physical contact with others that much outside of the fight. Which is why I think it is more a matter of Lin Kuei training than them withholding the comfort of gestures like the ones above.

At the same time, I find it weird the story mode went with Scorpion touching Smoke's arm and not shoulder, the way previous games went with that gesture of comfort/solidarity:

Also, what is important to note, Kuai is saying a lot "we" when talking with Tomas or answering Bi-Han during their fight

"We may not share blood, but we are brothers."

"Not when it betrays Lin Kuei principles. We won't sacrifice them to serve your ambition!"

"We must chart a new course. One that both honors our Father's legacy and serves Earthrealm."

"Help me. We can't leave him here to aid Shang Tsung."

but won't allow Smoke to inference with his fight against Bi-Han.

"Stay back! This is my fight."

and in later chapters, Tomas again will be pushed into background and barely interacting with Scorpion - granted, this is due to other characters playing main role and how storyline went, but it is standing out how any closer bond between Tomas and Kuai is shown only during Scorpion's chapter, while before that Tomas interacted directly mainly with Bi-Han.

Which I admit is so weird that fandom at large is set to demonize Bi-Han as the abusive brother toward Tomas over one(1) remark and to present Kuai Liang as the always supportive one because of one(1) gesture/scene, when story mode alone showed us that for majority of time, Tomas and Bi-Han worked well despite their ideological differences and arguments. Maybe it is just me, but Tomas felt more like Bi-Han's second in command during the mission than Kuai Liang. That is not something that could work, if Bi-Han hated or on purpose hurted Tomas or didn't want Smoke at his side at all.

MK1 story mode didn't build the feeling of close bond between Smoke and Scorpion BEFORE Bi-Han was removed from their group, yet people will demonize one brother and make the other Tomas' angel guardian while ignoring the rest of source material. Which I admit, is not that surprising as it should be but not any less irritating either.

A guide to writing Tomáš

This is a Bi-Han centric blog, but I really want to talk about the mischaracterization of Tomáš too because it irks me to no end and I believe he deserves better. Not to mention that most of his mischaracterization usually comes at Bi-Han's expense as well.

Tomáš is not the sad, broken, overly sensitive crybaby the fandom likes to portray him as. Every time I see yet another version of the same fanart where poor Tomáš is bawling his eyes out and running into Kuai Liang's arms because Bi-Han was being "mean" to him, I immediately unfollow the artist. Tomáš is a grown man, it's disgusting how the fandom keeps babying him. Not to mention it's getting boring and on top of that, it's completely wrong characterization of both Bi-Han and Tomáš. In the scene where Bi-Han snaps at him, Tomáš barely even bats an eyelash. He looks confused and annoyed if anything, not heartbroken, and he certainly doesn't break down in tears either. Tomáš literally chose to talk back to Bi-Han, he's not afraid to say what he thinks, which is proven by the fact that he even confronts Liu Kang for letting his family die. Tomáš is courageous and he stands up for himself. This man watched his entire family get murdered in front of him and chose not to let it haunt him. ("Their ghosts no longer haunt me.") Of all three Lin Kuei brothers, he's the one with the highest emotional maturity, choosing not to let emotions cloud his judgement, unlike Kuai Liang (blind anger/hatred) and Bi-Han (frustration). Tomáš is so much stronger than people give him credit for. He's not some damsel in distress that needs saving and he definitely doesn't need Kuai Liang to defend him, especially not from Bi-Han who respected Tomáš and his skills enough to let him join them for important missions when he had everyone else in the Lin Kuei at his disposal. It's awful how some fans deliberately paint Tomáš as weak and Bi-Han as cruel, so they can make Kuai Liang look better.

A lot of the traits that define Tomáš are usually taken away from him in fanfics and fanart and given to Kuai Liang instead. Tomáš is the loyal, brave and kind brother who wants peace above all else, who wants his brothers to reconcil, who is truly selfless and respectful, even towards some of his foes. Believe it or not, Tomáš is not the "soft" brother. He chooses to be kind and fans mistake it for weakness. Despite being angry at Bi-Han, Tomáš doesn't want vengeance against him. He wants his brothers to stop fighting, for Earthrealm's sake and because they're family. Tomáš might be the youngest of the brothers but he's wiser than them. He has seen enough death and bloodshed to know no one will come out of this war as a winner.

Tomáš used to idolize Bi-Han, not Kuai Liang. Bi-Han, who is known to be cold and ruthless. As I said before in another post I made, Tomáš is no less ruthless than his brothers. He is not sweet and innocent. Just like Bi-Han and Kuai Liang, he was trained to be a lethal and stealthy warrior. Even before joining the Lin Kuei, Tomáš was a hunter. He grew up in a family of hunters. Listen to his taunts at the end of each round and the way he giggles while performing one of his fatalities. Tomáš enjoys hunting, he enjoys the thrill of it.

There is no part of the story or any intros that indicate that Kuai Liang and Tomáš were ever close before their falling out with Bi-Han, but it is said that Tomáš used to admire Bi-Han. I don't know why the fandom made up the wholesome bond between Kuai Liang and Tomáš because of that one scene in which Kuai Liang conveniently tells Smoke that they're brothers because he needed him on his side. Kuai Liang doesn't even bother interrupting when Bi-Han reprimands Tomáš. He even questions Smoke's resolve. What brought them both closer are a few shared ideals, such as the wish to honor their father's legacy and continue their duty of protecting Earthrealm. Kuai Liang is now the only family Smoke has left, which is why he's doing everything he can to prove worthy of his trust. He calls himself the Shirai Ryu's second in command, he's the one who recruits Hanzo, he's supportive of everything Kuai Liang does and never contradicts him despite having different opinions than his brother, possibly out of fear of losing his family yet again.

Tomáš is a very curious and open-minded person. Unlike Bi-Han and Kuai Liang who are both equally disgusted by the idea of fame and stardom, Smoke seems eager to play a part in one of Johnny's movies when Johnny suggests giving him a role in a film he made. He's also the one reaching out to others to try and bond with them, to make friends. He tells Raiden that he wants to visit Fengjian, he asks other characters questions about themselves etc.

Tomáš is without a doubt traumatized from what he's seen and been through. Similar to Bi-Han in the previous timeline, Smoke is concerned that he's tainted by evil due to his nightmares about the Enenra. Ashrah reassures him that her kriss can't sense any evil, but there's a chance he might still become corrupted.

I hope this makes sense and will help writers and artists out there to portray Tomáš more accurately in their works. Too many people in the fandom have a wrong idea of who this character is.

[cathartes-aura-shitposting]

ARGONUS INFO: a map of the planet:

(NOTE: description copy-pasted from DA where i normally post my works. any context that is missing here on tumblr can be found on my DA [linked here and on pinned post] )

[image best view when opened in a new tab. for any context about "copy-planets", they follow the weird "earth-like planet" trope where everything identical to earth, except for some noticeable differences dont worry, you'll se why that is later on...]

NOTE: THIS MAP DOES NOT TAKE INTO ACOUNT SOME OF THE SMALLER ISLAND THAT ARE TOO SMALL TO DRAW IN. 

_____________

don't you just hate it when you think you're doing a tiny side project that starts turning into a whole ass world building universe?

..anyways, i decided to expand upon argonus a bit more; more specifically, make the biomes more clear and add some geography. i already made a map of argonus once, but now it's time for the (more full) details.

are you ready for my nonsense rambling? ALRIGHT HERE WE GO!!!!

first of let me just say this: i am crap at making maps. I literally just googled "literal translation of countries' names" and went from there. i also just grab a photo-to-linear converter on google and then made nessisarly changes to make it workable (because converting a photo of a colored drawing to linear creates messy results), plus a few misspelling here and there. but I'm happy with the results, cause now i really got a frame of references for when i start making more exclusive fauna and potentially stories.

anyways, as a copy planet of earth, it's not just the flora, fauna and biomes that are near-identical to us, but also the continents as well, even there's an "old world" and "new world". however, when it comes to countries, that's where it ends, because they have different names than ours (and different-looking countries).

but, before I go listing off countries, i should probably talk about language first:

so, because I lack some creativity, the elkinets do speak "common human" (aka human languages). common human, contrary to what one may believe, is not specific to humans; it's called "common human" because it's the most commonly spoken languages among humans, and has been developed independently by other sophonts across the omniverse.

some of the most common and predominate of the common human throughout the planet include: -English -spanish -Korean -Russian -Chinese -Hindi -Japanese -French -Italian -German -Arabic -Greek

however, their original language is known as "true elkinish", which has nouns, pronouns and adjectives in Latin and the rest in greek. here's how it works and sounds (example text taken from Butte collage):

[tumblr edit: italics represent latin]

english (what's latin and what's greek) The young girl brought me a very long letter from the teacher, and then she quickly disappeared. Oh my!

true elkinish (greek & latin): O puer pue efere ego poly longo littera apomagister, kai meta puella grigora. O thee! if this is too complicated, that's ok. most humans (and other earthfolk that come here) usually learn the Latin parts. most countries speak common human (which correlates to where they live, ie Chinese in center kingdom), however true elkinish is still taught and spoken throughout the planet. most developing countries/indigenous tribes still use this original language as their primary language.

finally here are what the continents called, and the countries that make up them:

OLD WORLD

EROON(europe), 10 countries: 1-Geranc 2-Ben Ital 3-Maronus 4-Isle of Smainx 5-lagusain 6-Talta Island 7-Dirus 8-Brith 9-Rishin 10-Scalvania (Note: brith, rishin and scalvania all are part of what's known as the "brithian kingdom")

SONIAS (asia), 7 countries: 1-Northernland 2-Lruss 3-Center Kingdom 4-Sunrise Lands 5-Kingdom of Laos (KO laos) 6-Indus 7-Swauda

NYLUS (africa), 9 countries: 1-Islangia 2-Libu 3-Gwagir 4-Sothepio 5-Central Lakerealms 6-Mussa 7-N'gola 8-South N'gola 9-Lemura Grasca

OCEANANA INDUS ISLANDS (indonesia), 8 countries: 1-Isle Indus 2-Rogdeginta 3-Lesser Indus 4-Guinea Centura 5-North Minor Centrua 6-Major Centrua 7-South Minor Centrua 8-Milva

ASTRA (austrailia), 7 countries: 1-Northern Lands 2-West Astra 3-Kingland 4-Swoth 5-Victon 6-Moaland 7-Tasmuth

NEW WORLD

NORTHEST AMERIGA (north america), 11 countries: 1-Y'uckta 2-Kiakdika 3-Hihiuantius 4-Villageda 5-Nation of ameriga 6-Nucklon 7-Rhadnol 8-Pwatubu 9-Gulf Islands 10-Kalaallit 11-Naveloon

SOUTHEST AMERIGA (south america), 8 countries 1-Redender 2-Guwanill 3-L'twends 4-Silvy Eenda 5-Isla Nywo 6-Eenda Isle 7-North Archus 8-South Archus

THE POLES: -nolerth -soleouth

expect this to be subject to change, since it's long post that needs to be updated when new lore/info comes out.

[wbwoqlqxoxxms]

Yishun Revengers Episode 3 "Triple murder double burger single mother case"

"Snickers! *removes the n* Sickers! *removes the s and puts back the n* Sikers! *removes the s* ni-"

-random man on the internet

"Uh....actually, good sirs and mams...or furries and pillars...can you help me with one more thing?" Stefen Hua like 有点不好意思地说.

"What lah," Esse asked, as he moved the queen to a position where it would confirm plus chop get eaten one.

"Actually ah...there have been cases of...um...something weird happening in Sengkang Public Library...I'm just gonna pretend it's Yishun and gaslight the viewers...ehehe..." Stefen Hua laugh it off like very sus liddat.

"Why don't you just film at the actual cursed places of Yishun instead of gaslighting the viewers?" Sunda questioned and then ate Esse's queen with his rook.

"I...scared mah, whatever happens in Sengkang is definitely less scary than Yishun what..." Stefen answered truthfully.

"Mm. Whatever. We'll go with you later." Esse mumbled before checkmating Sunda in a trap he didn't realise when he ate his queen.

"Damnit! Ok fine let's go now, Stefen!" Sunda like sore loser liddat.

(Also August, Mendax and Laju who bet all their life savings on him 💀)

"AH AH AH WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT FOR ME I WANNA GO TOO!" That 9/11 HIHS Sec 1 boy just popped out of nowhere and subtly not-so-subtly demanded that they bring him as well. Kiefer, was it?

"Yeah yeah yeah whatever, you've got our protection anyway, nothing bad will happen one lah!" Mendax took one look at him and spoke dismissively.

"Go back first, ok?" Stefen like UWU told the assistant to go back, cos the boys (and girls) are about to get into serious business now, ain't no space for a random camera assistant guy here!

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

"Bruh...Sir, for the gazillionth time for the love of SPF, NO, THE LIBRARY IS UNDER LOCKDOWN, I DUNNO WHY, YOU CAN'T JUST GO IN, STOP ASKING WHY, STOP ASKING TO GO IN!" Wa lao eh, the library staff like so tok cok liddat leh, say no means no. We got business to get done here, buddy!

"What a pity...that was supposed to be my last...friendly...attempt to get in before you so rudely turned me down...then, don't blame me," Esse talked like a badass powerful guy-in-charge.

Then before anyone could say anything, his eyes flashed bright red, and then he stepped forward and covered the staff's forehead and eyes and his eyes flashed bright red again, then suddenly all the people in the vicinity got on their knees and kneeled down, like they were in a trance.

"Um..." Codeine questioned, despite not literally being Esse's disciple.

"Walao, you know I have hypnotising powers one lah, don't act like you dunno anything leh!" Fentanyl then affirmingly replied.

"Siao ah, the Pillar or Psychological Defence, hypnotising people...sure, sure, we can leave our country to these people to defend..." Kiefer side-remarked.

And so, with the security disabled, in our heroes went...

and in they would soon find something much worse than your average Yishun cat.

In they found...the entire library turned upside down (or upside-down depending on where you live but honestly who cares about that).

Actual, turned completely upside down. Books literally flying all around and scattered messily across the entire library, the shelves are arranged disorderly and left over the place (in fact, the only reason why they aren't flying around is probably because they're too heavy for that), the walls are scribbled with numbers and drawings like it's a kid's artwork, the CD players are all carelessly placed...the list goes on and on...

And in the heart of the library-a man sitting comfortably on a table, engrossed in writing data onto multiple messy papers on his desk. From afar, it seems hard to tell the man's bodily details, but a few things are clear-he's wearing a white mask covering his entire face, which is rather lacking in details save for the two holes for his eyes, a black top magician's hat, and a black trenchcoat (probably the reason why the air con is set so low here) with black gloves.

All that was really hot and entrancing, but what really caught the attention of our friendly neighbourhood heroes was the man in the animal cage-knocked unconscious, with multiple IV drips attached to his body.

The masked man then clicked his pen away and took out a syringe, and stabbed it in the blood vessel of the man-to reveal his blood being absorbed in the syringe. It was white.