#... wu speaks for itself

[ninja-boo]

not enough people are talking about these shitty fan castings on Pinterest from like 2016

[no-1-rosalind-lang-apologist]

Taylor Swift Songs That Mention Cars That Are Totally About Phoebe and Silas - Mary's Song (Oh My My My)

i looked at you like the stars that shine / in the sky, pretty lights

"She terrified him. She grounded him. She should have been named after an epithet of the sun instead of an epithet of the moon, because it was inevitable that everything in Phoebe Hong's vicinity would circle her in orbit."

and our daddies used to joke about the two of us / growing up and falling in love

This one isn't really exact. But this has similar vibes to Orion constantly third wheeling with them and being really tired about it. Especially since Phoebe and Orion are pretty each other's only constant family members.

take me back to the house in the backyard tree ... take me back when our world was one block wide

Maybe it's just because we have TPATS or maybe because Phoebe and Silas have such a long history, but I can picture both of them being very reminiscent of the time they spent together in London. Before the trial and both of their recruitments.

i dared you to kiss me and ran when you tried / just two kids, you and i

ok but am i the only one who thinks they would have done this.

well, i was sixteen when suddenly / i wasn't that little girl you used to see / but your eyes still shined like pretty lights

Even though a lot has changed since their initial promise to "do well together," they still have each other. At least in theory, but this song is happy so we'll go with that for now.

they never believed we'd really fall in love

At this point, being around their miscommunication has probably become such a fixture in Orion's life that once they actually get together it might surprise him a little bit.

two a.m. riding in your truck and all i need is you next to me

Obligatory car line + "I just want to do well. That's it." ""Let's do well together."

take me back two the time we had our very first fight / the slamming of doors instead of kissing goodnight / you stayed outside till the morning light

In FHH they are going to fight. I don't think there's a way around that. However, regardless of what either one of them thinks, I don't think either of them would truly leave the other, no matter the circumstances.

a few years had gone and come around / we were sitting at our spot in town / and you looked at me, got down on one knee / take me back to the time when we walked down the aisle

It's either going to be this or an open ending I think.

take me home where we met so many years before

Phoebe and Silas are each other's home in a way that is parallel with every other ship in the Secret Shanghai universe (absolutely insane how this keeps happening). They both feel a ton of pressure to do well while still feeling forgotten by their families. Roma and Juliette both were raised as gang heirs despite not being blindly committed to their sides. Ben and Mars lived together for years. Then there's the whole, "She was not a remnant of his life before who expected a foolhardy version of him," thing for Rosalind and Orion. And the balance between loyalty to a cause and caring about people even when doing so might make you take actions that don't align with The Cause 100% thing for Celia and Oliver.

after all this time, you and i / i'll be eighty-seven; you'll be eighty-nine / i'll look at you like the stars that shine / in the sky, oh my my my

Even though everything will continue to change around them, they will still have each other. Unless Chloe decides to be really mean but shhhhhh

[vampirzina]

Bi han and kuai liamg with a vaternian/vampire reader pleasee how they met how they are together ect

𓆩𓆪 ┆ vaeternian!reader (w. Bi Han & Kuai Liang) hcs

tw: gn!pronouns, sfw, mdni, blood speak, nitara, wu lae and tomas mention

notes: this req wait i’m geeked ?! also quick reminder, requests are closed as of right now! any requests made after jan. 31 won’t be done, this request came in prior to the closing

masterlist

You “met” Bi Han before things got all-around bad for everyone. Though Vaeternus has their own realm to live, it’s known that there is not enough supply to feed your kinds’ severe population problem. You haven’t been there in years, even before the coven decided to scour the realms for food—you were always ten steps ahead. You descended upon the Lin Kuei, and that’s when you met Bi Han.

Initially, you and Bi Han had a deal. You wanted to feed, and Bi Han wanted to keep you from eating up his initiates. Obviously, Liu Kang left this decision up to him, who was determined to make a pawn out of you—he’d let you feed from him if you didn’t drain his ninja and you ran errands for the Lin Kuei. Somewhere down the line he’d become selfish of you… You noticed that when he begins to note when you hadn’t bitten him in a while, as if he’s expecting you or keeping track of your eating habits, and you mention that you’d eaten already (who fed you?).

With Bi Han, there’s no promises that he can keep his temper in check. There’s so many things that upset him; so many things that are on thin ice that one should not hope to fall through. Bi Han’s blood becomes chilled by the cryomancy running through his veins, and, as you guess, can make him a meal akin to gallons of ice cream. Brain freeze happens so easily with him and you have to remind him to chill out.

Once you and Bi Han make it official, he wants you to only feed on him. Perhaps it’s a human thing, but there’s just something intimate about feeding from someone else that a man like Bi Han does not enjoy. He knows you’re loyal and would never do anything to upset him on purpose because you’re just having a meal, but you seeking out someone else to eat from makes it seem like he’s inadequate when he’s far from. In order to make this a reality, Bi Han suggests you just live with him early on.

An unlikely pair Bi Han makes with you, by all accounts. You were the one to suggest the relationship, but that didn’t mean Bi Han didn’t dwell on the thought of having you in his bed. The deal you both struck up was a mere hollow hideaway for his true feelings for you—despite you unable to walk out into the sun, needing to feed on blood and everything that makes you a vampire, you were strong and powerful, and Bi Han liked that. Sure, maybe he likes a submissive partner who does what they’re told, but he’d be lying if he said he wanted a total helpless do-nothing who couldn’t protect themselves if his enemies find out who he keeps close.

₊˚⊹꒷

For the last time, you thank the nurse. Your wings tense at the simple brush of your own fingers against the bandage of your wrist. You’d sprain it on a solo mission and though you would be fine, you let out a little sigh. This’ll be annoying.

You hear the nurse mutter and step aside on the way out. You look up.

The nurse gone, Bi Han is already shutting the door behind him. His brown eyes don’t look at you, but your wrist—and his face paints itself a small frown.

“I did it,” you follow his gaze down to the injury. “You wanted to send a message, right? He won’t be bothering the Lin Kuei for a while.”

“Thank you. You did well,” was all Bi Han said in return. It didn’t even sound thankful but you knew he meant it; he couldn’t seem to stop thinking about something. The grandmaster stops close to you, close enough that he could touch you without strain.

You watch with warm eyes Bi Han inspect the injury.

“If you’re thinking what I think you are, no… Wu Lae couldn’t have laid a paw on me,” you explained in him even though he hadn’t asked. “Just did not quite stick the landing coming back.”

His frame visibly relaxes, and he’s so close to you that you can faintly feel him exhale through his nose.

“Anyway, I had plans to eat when I came back but you look tired,” you rasp, hands coming to massage Bi Han’s arms. You could feel satisfied by just the juicy feel of it, the blood, but you know better.

“I’m not,”

“You are,”

“Eat from me,” he interrupted you into silence, a silence which you honored to hear him. “We’ve been over this. There is no excuse, no reason for you to go looking when I’m right here.”

It took a moment of staring between you two to finally give in. You guide Bi Han’s arms around you and your legs around him, and his breath hitches when you keel him over.

“Fine. But don’t complain when you wake up with a sore body.”

───

Bi Han likes to read you by the way your wings move.

Thanks to Nitara, you and Kuai Liang met. It’s unclear whether or not you two would have even had the chance to meet if she weren’t trying to attack Kuai Liang and his brothers. You’d spotted them long before she was sent by Shang Tsung and his backers, and you were quick to place your dibs. So when she swooped in despite your claim to the food, of course you saved him. It was a short conversation of gratitude and greeting, but the spark of a flame nonetheless.

After watching Bi Han’s betrayal from afar, you couldn’t bear to keep hunting Kuai Liang. You were a vampire, not morally depraved—but now you didn’t know what to do. With your hunger growing and the inability to find sufficient meals to get by running from you, you eventually became weak. You’d only think to go to the very new Shirai Ryu and collapse on their doorstep in a silent plea for mercy. Kuai Liang, the man he is, “sacrificed” himself for you to eat; it was the least he could do after you saved him. He and you formed an attachment this way when he let you keep coming back.

Inadvertently, you teach Kuai Liang to control flares in his temper. Whenever he gets angry or upset, it sounds comical but his blood quite literally boils; his blood takes a while to cool, and you’ll burn yourself if you don’t take caution. Whenever he wants to get angry at something/someone, he thinks of what that’d mean for you. Kuai Liang is almost too mindful of you when it comes to not just his emotions… A lot of his thoughts are about you. The bond you’ve formed with him turned soon into a relationship, and you both hit it off.

While Kuai Liang sleeps at night, you don’t. Because Vaeternians can’t necessarily see the sun (lest they want to die), it only makes sense that your kind is most active on cloudy days and nights. For a while you have to reassure him that you’re fine alone while you hunt; he’s not really the type to get jealous if you find someone else to eat from, because it’s food. However, he subtly suggests that if you’re unsuccessful or unsatisfied, you can come back to him. You remind him he’s your boyfriend. You’d hope so.

Kuai Liang installs blackout curtains in his room when or if you move in. For obvious reasons. He sacrifices getting up on time for a long while and becomes reliant on you to wake him up.

₊˚⊹꒷

You land, beating your wings twice to stabilize you on the grounds of the Shirai Ryu. The sky had turned a deep blue hue to reflect the sun rising east. You fold the wings inwards as you retreat just in time to hide away until nightfall again.

Were you sated tonight? Better than yesterday. But all of that adrenaline wanes when you step foot inside.

You’d fully expect to see Kuai Liang greet you, as he’d usually do—when it’s time to get up and work overlaps when you’re worked out and tired—but it’s quiet. Not eerily so, though. You continue to move silently until you find your shared space.

There, in bed, Kuai Liang hugs tightly a pillow.

It’s so pitch black in here and he’s still so sound asleep that you don’t think he realizes that’s not you. Lucky for him, he needs no longer a substitute. You change into more comfortable clothes than the ones you discard to the side.

Kuai Liang stirs when you slip into bed.

“Good morning,” you quietly singsong, and the sound of your voice has him abandoning the pillow with the quickness—tired eyes search the dark while hands feel for you, to which you humor. Kuai Liang forces you to bunch your wings impossibly further as he pulls you into him.

You shudder at the heat he radiates. “So warm…”

“I dreamt of you, that’s why,” Kuai Liang groggily jokes, burying his face into your collarbone where he sears kisses. “How was it?”

“Enough for now,” you answered, tangling your legs in his to plant yourself further in his embrace. “And I think I know how well you slept, so—ha—there’s that. Now it’s my turn.”

You feel Kuai Liang frown on your neck. He’s been needy lately and wants to stay and cuddle you away the whole day, but he can’t just leave things to poor Tomas. It’s not fair.

“Sorry, flames,” you frown yourself, apologizing for something not your fault. “Don’t rush to get things done, either. I’ll probably be staying tonight.”

“Did something happen?” Kuai Liang looks at you from where he is with light concern.

You deny. “Just want you.”

───

Kuai Liang wants you to wrap your wings around him more often.

@𝐕𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐈𝐑𝐙𝐈𝐍𝐀೨

info

[inactivewattpadauthor]

Liu Kang x Reader: Friendzoned

A/N: Saw something like this a while ago and wanted to make my own version. I couldn't find it again however :')

Warning: Slight angst? ~~~~~~~~~~~~ "You're just going to get yourself hurt, you know." Kung Lao bluntly stated as he shoves another dumpling into his mouth using his chopsticks. "You know he's with Kitana."

You sat across him at the table, your fingers messing up your hair from the uncomfortable tension you had inside you. Of course you knew they were together... or possibly together, but-

"Yeah, well, Liu never confirmed it, actually. And don't you think Raiden would like, I don't know, not allow it?"

The monk swallowed his food and sighed. "It doesn't need to be confirmed. It's obvious. Denial doesn't suit you well, Y/n."

"I'm not in denial!" Your voice raised slightly. "I just..." Words and thoughts were scrambling all over your mind. You couldn't utter out another excuse.

"I'll tell him how I feel. You miss 100% of the shots you don't take, right?" You chuckled uneasily.

Kung Lao shook his head at you before eating another dumpling. "Okay, but don't come to me when your spirit gets shattered."

Standing from your seat, preparing to leave, you nodded at him. "I promise I won't. Thanks for listening to me... even though I probably am stupid for this."

After you rushed out the small restaurant, Kung Lao called the waiter over.

"Could I take an order of mochi and a bottle of sake to go, please?"

---Time skip brought to you by Fujin and Nightwolf braiding each other's hair, because I simply cherish the hell out of both of them---

Each step you were close to the Wu Shi academy, each ounce of anxiety swarmed over you, making your stomach hug itself tightly.

However, you really need to tell him how you feel before it's too late. You held it in from him for a while, and it started to tear at you.

Entering the academy, you located him, finding the champion meditating alone. Perfect for you to just approach and speak to him... right?

"L-Liu?" Slowly walking up to him, your hands mindlessly went to fiddle with your hair. A simple nervous habit.

He opens his eyes to see you. He greets you with a friendly smile, making you feel slightly giddy.

"Hey, Y/n! Here to train?"

"Oh... actually... I wanted to speak to you about something."

Liu's face started turning into one with concern, he gestures for you to sit in front of him, which you did.

"Is there something wrong? Go ahead, you have my full attention."

Taking one, long, deep breath, you forced yourself to talk. For a few silent minutes, you told him how you felt. How you were grateful for your friendship with him, how you enjoyed spending time with him, training or not.

And how most importantly, you always wanted to tell him how you wanted to be more than friends with him. For him to be your lover. Even with the chance that he actually has eyes for Kitana.

You finished your little speech and proposal, looking at him, waiting on his response.

He looked a bit shocked, and then... sorry?

"Oh, Y/n. I- I enjoy all the time I spend with you too. You are a wonderful friend and person."

Your heart felt fuzzy. Was this hope?

"But I can't be with you."

Your heart instantly replaced that hope with dread. "Oh... Maybe I came to you too late?"

"I supposed that since I'm with Kitana now, but I never really thought of you like that. Just a friend. Maybe a sister at most. I'm sorry. I hope we can still be friends."

You looked away, tucking your lips, but nodding. "It's fine... I feel somewhat I still got to talk with you." You were just saying that. You stood up, not glancing at him.

"I shall leave you alone now. See you later..."

"Right." Liu Kang said awkwardly. "Again, I'm sorry."

You didn't respond. Just left feeling detached.

When you got home, you sat down on your couch and did nothing. Just thinking and moping. You knew the obvious outcome of telling him, so why does it still hurt?

'I'm stupid for even having hope. Who even wants to be with me? Stupid. Stupid.'

You gritted yourself and pinched yourself.

You jumped a bit as you heard a knock at your door. You gritted your teeth, feeling more irritated.

"Come in!" You yelled, hearing the door open at your invitation.

It was Kung Lao. Smiling sympathetically, carrying a bottle and small box.

"Heyyy, friend, I brought a little something in case you were feeling sad." He gestures to the items.

You sulked more on the couch at this kind action.

"Sorry, should I just leave these and go?" He slowly sets his gifts down and backs up.

"Stay." You commanded without looking at him.

"Very well." The Shaolin monk smirked and sat next to you on the couch, ready to make you feel better.

[sunny-days-and-warm-mournings]

It is finally finished!! I am done and is so happy!!!

This is an AU exploring the concept of Sūn Wùkōng/Dàshèng as a Yaksha and Tu Di Gong, rather than being a Yaoguai Warlord during his later years reigning as the Monkey King.

This AU follows the beginning (with some changes here and there) up until Wùkōng's shenanigans with Ao Guang, then he went on a separate path from Wu Cheng'en's novel.

In this iteration our favourite Monkey explored the realms as he burned up time, but then he took a particular interest in the humans' ways of producing food. Since Dàshèng was so used to the grandeur and bounties of Huagoushan (being surrounded by such lush forests and mountains that never withered nor died) he sort of took pity on them before deciding to help them grow their crops much better.

But this is just the very much shortened summary of the beginning of this AU, and I have compiled some research and even more lore in my Google Documents just to expand on this idea more.

This— Westward To Tathāgatagarbha Lore Google Documents

This is the Google Document of my AU, which I highly recommend for you to read! It explains all the other details and such on this story! I did my best on making them but there would be still mistakes that I have yet to find, but it should be decent!!

This is a more casual look for Dàshèng/Wùkōng for this AU as well as some brief pointers! I made this before the portrait so some things might have changed.

(Don't mind him holding a cup of beer it's fine.)

Taken from the server (with some hints for the next half of the archives/docs) which instantly kickstarted this whole thing haahahjjjss, but it really was so fun talking about it to others! They gave me more inspiration that I can handle.

And what is Tathāgatagarbha you ask? (Brief)

In Buddhist philosophy, Buddha-nature is the potential for all sentient beings to become a Buddha or the fact that all beings already have a pure buddha-essence within. "Buddha-nature" is the common English translation for several related Mahayana Buddhist terms, most notably tathāgatagarbha and buddhadhātu, but also sugatagarbha, and buddhagarbha. Tathāgatagarbha can mean "the womb" or "embryo" (garbha) of the "thus-gone one" (tathāgata), and can also mean "containing a tathāgata". Buddhadhātu can mean "buddha-element," "buddha-realm" or "buddha-substrate"

The Chinese translated the term tathāgatagarbha as rúláizàng (如来藏), or "Tathāgata's (rúlái) storehouse" (zàng). According to Brown, "storehouse" may indicate both "that which enfolds or contains something", or "that which is itself enfolded, hidden or contained by another." The Tibetan translation is de bzhin gshegs pa'i snying po, which cannot be translated as "womb" (mngal or lhums), but as "embryonic essence", "kernel" or "heart".

The term tathagatagarbha first appears in the Tathāgatagarbha sūtras, which date to the 2nd and third centuries CE.

There will be more to this in the future when I'm finished researching more about it.

Also, speaking of people that inspire me, I'm calling my dear friends here who I think might like this: @digitalagepulao @kaijufluffs @sketching-shark @lavaflowe @sixteenthchapel @jttw-monkeybusiness and @hcdragoncat !!

Special thanks to Pardal and Grandpa Sun for getting me to write more of this too :D I had such great fun!

I have so much more to add to the docs and here but this is all for now :) and honestly this is one of the greatest projects I've started aside from the older ones. I'll come back again soon with more additions and art! And lore (And maybe some interactions with a few West Heaven occupants??)!!!

[kenshimybeloved]

Part 2 of me talking too fucking much about these men!

At this point in the story, we start to see Johnny filming everyone/everything that he finds interesting enough to include in his stories. The first thing we see him film is an interaction between Kung Lao and Raiden at Wu Shi Academy. As pictured, you can see Johnny finds them important enough to the story to film, but his face and body language aren’t exactly giving excitement- he’s more so just doing a task. Again- not that he dislikes Kung Lao and Raiden or that he finds them super boring- but at this point he’s just kinda filming to film. He then approaches the two and starts complaining about how long this all is taking, and how he needs something crazier to happen to include in his movies. This is when Kenshi walks up

[side note: THE WAY HE SHOWS UP ON SCREEN STRETCHING IN THIS SCENE DOES THINGS TO ME]

and immediately begins an argument with Johnny over his motives for being here. Despite training together for months, the two are still butting heads at every interaction- or so you’d think if you were any of the characters in the game. I want to take extra time here just to fully acknowledge the fact that this interaction is not only happening in a public space but directly in front of Kung Lao and Raiden who are the two original people of this conversation (Johnny really saw them having a good time and decided he needed to come in and whine about shit and Kenshi saw that as an opportunity to start an argument with him- can these bitches just let Lao and Raiden be happy together??). The conversation leads to the comment ‘my ex’ll rue the day she gave up on me’ from Johnny which immediately earns an eye roll from Kenshi and the sarcastic reply ‘so selfless.’ I want to note that Johnnys been here for months- he says “ex” casually enough to imply that at least most people know he’s going through a divorce but most people don’t know enough to know her actual name. Or, he’s specifically putting emphasis on the fact that they are very much over and Johnny is very much single in front of a certain somebody. Maybe a healthy balance of both. I also want to note that the way Johnny speaks of his ex wife is very much indicative of the fact that Johnnys motive currently is to redeem himself and prove to everyone that he isn’t a lost cause. These movies becoming a success is his only hope at this time. However, this also means his focus should be shifted from Sento onto his movies now, right? Wrong! You’d think since now he’s putting all of the pressure of getting his life together on these movies he’s be willing to give up the sword that used to symbolize his past life, but no. Even tho his focus is now on something he can do currently/in the future to get his life back on a track rather than fixating on an object from his past, he’s still clinging to Sento. Though he’s now looking forward, his goal is still centered around people from his past (him wanting to prove to everyone that left him that they were all wrong about him rather than fixing himself for his own sake). The argument escalates to Johnny calling Kenshi ‘tattoo’ and tells him he’s only here for his sword anyways.

[side note: him calling him tattoo despite Kenshis effort to cover up the majority of his tattoos means a couple of things- Johnny is studying Kenshi. As mentioned in my previous post, Johnny is absolutely infatuated with Kenshi and wants to know everything he can. It also means he’s poking at Kenshi, letting him know that though he may try to be reserved, Johnny will stop at nothing to get to know him. He’s just going to keep observing the little things about him until Kenshi can open up about the realer shit]

IMO, Johnny very clearly knows what Sento represents for Kenshi and saving his family is much more important than the sword itself (at this point it’s important to remember nobody knows of Sentos powers- it’s just a symbolic thing to Kenshi since it’s his family sword). Deep down he knows objectively this sword should go to Kenshi, but he’s unwilling to admit it. Here’s where a lot of headcanoning happens for me- since this is a new timeline, we can’t guarantee things we know about these characters from previous games are still true. However, based on how Johnny behaves, I think it’s safe to assume his relationship with his dad was still rough as a kid (is this mentioned in this timeline? I can only seem to remember it being mentioned in MK11). I headcanon that while his dad was abusive, his mother was his rock. Unfortunately, living with both a negative and a positive parent in the same house creates instability and often leads to things like NPD, BPD, Bipolar Disorder, etc. I don’t specifically think Johnny has any of these, but maybe just aspects here and there that show up. For example, when you grow up with your needs unmet and never being a priority of your parent’s, you learn to provide for yourself. Sometimes this can be in a healthy self sustaining way, and sometimes this can mean over compensating when you perceive that somebody doesn’t think your problems are very important- like Johnny knowing that Kenshi deserves the sword more than he does, but hearing him say it leads Johnny to double down and cling to the sword with his life. Anyways, this is getting too long so there will have to be a part 2 of my analysis of the scenes at Wu Shi Academy.

[cloudravine]

🪷 The Lotus Flower in Mysterious Lotus Casebook 🪷

i. Growing Deep Roots

As noted by difeisheng, Li Xiangyi is an image more than he is a person. He’s the “symbol” and “beating heart” of the Sigu sect; “he embodies everything [the sect] stands for” and “has become one with every person he represents” in his role as a leader. As such, one might say he doesn’t exist as an individual who’s allowed the luxury of flawed, fluid humanity. Rather, he’s fixed into an object: a shield protecting those under his care, a mirror reflecting those he’s taken upon himself to be the champion for.  

While a heavy burden to carry, this identity as image is also shown to be brittle, hollow, like a hazy mirage which is more dazzling appearance than substance. Even Fang Duobing introduces Li Xiangyi to Li Lianhua by showing him a painting of his shifu — ink on a page, a person turned into a hero to be worshipped and idolated. 

Li Lianhua, over the ten years that pass after the Great Battle of the East Sea, works to plant and cultivate a new identity in the same way one might grow flowers. Li Lianhua forms deep roots and grows out of the mythical hero’s shell he’d been carrying as Li Xiangyi, thus developing an identity which is solid and grounding in contrast — an identity which involves “walk[ing] within a crowd instead of [soaring] above it.”

This shift from image to person is itself rooted in the lotus mantra (written by Buddhist Layman Pang during the Tang Dynasty) which Li Xiangyi first encounters after monk Wu Liao rescues him:

一念心清净 莲花处处开

The heart attains peace with a single thought; Lotus flowers bloom all around.

Although the exact timeline is left to interpretation, it’s implied that the lotus mantra operates as a catalyst of change for Li Xiangyi and that he changes his name to Li Lianhua after reading it. Now what is it about it that speaks to Li Xiangyi so deeply in that moment? As noted in 《 人間福報 》, the lotus mantra teaches us that a pure heart will result in an open and enlightened mind. One subtle, profound thought rife with compassion is enough for a person to glimpse Buddha in a flower, a leaf, a grain of sand or a speck of dust. In short, “if you can find peace within yourself, then you will find peace everywhere.” Perhaps Li Xiangyi, at his lowest point, finds solace in the prospect of stripping his life down to its very core and searching for purity, wisdom and peace within his troubled heart.    

By renaming himself 莲花/liánhuā lotus flower, Li Lianhua takes his destiny into his own hands; he empowers himself into reshaping his identity and laying down the foundations for the person he wants to become. Similarly to The Yin-Yang Master: Dream of Eternity which tells us that “names are the shortest spells in the world,” Li Lianhua’s new name functions as a spell which speaks a new him into existence. It’s a deliberate choice, a conscious attempt at breaking free from the suffocating shell Li Xiangyi was trapped in and become a person of his own choosing. 

The act of (re)naming notably also extends to Li Lianhua’s abode which he dubs 莲花楼 “Lotus Tower.” In addition to this significant choice of name, it’s interesting to note that Li Lianhua starts growing vegetables inside Lotus Tower when he’s left with nothing after his demise at the East Sea and is facing starvation. As such, his home is quite literally a site not only of self-sustenance and survival, but also of growth — a growth which requires hard work, patience and faith and nearly brings Li Lianhua to tears when his hopes are finally rewarded and the seeds he planted begin sprouting. The act of physically planting vegetables and learning to cook those vegetables speaks of a refreshing and grounding simplicity — of something disarmingly vulnerable and human after playing the role of a god-like figure. Li Lianhua has sweat on his brow and hope in his heart; he plants seeds, watches them grow and keeps himself alive by his own hands.

It seems it’s not only Li Lianhus’a home, but also his very person, which steadily grow into a lotus flower. Li Lianhua wears a variety of hairpins directly linked to the lotus, and the colour coding of his garments moves from the red he used to wear as Li Xiangyi to a lighter palette filled with greens and blues — colours which are more obviously linked to nature.

ii. Life Borrowed and Given Away

The lotus, both traditionally and within the drama itself, is closely connected to the theme of rebirth. On a literal level, the exotic lotus flowers of Cai Lian Manor grow directly from the corpses of the victims drowned in the pond, thus embodying life born from death. thawrecka writes in their story that Li Lianhua is “nothing but a lotus nurtured by a walking corpse, a body that doesn’t realise it should already be dead.” On a figurative level, the lotus grows in muddy water but blooms unsullied every morning, thus symbolising rising from a dark place and growing into something beautiful and colourful despite all the odds. The different stages of the lotus’ blooming can be taken to represent the beginning, middle and end of a spiritual path in Buddhism — a parallel to the theme of 趟/tāng taking a journey which underscores the drama in various ways.

Li Lianhua’s journey, more specifically, is that of a lotus being reborn. The soundtrack piece 《 一壶莲花醉 》 “A Pot of Lotus Wine” emphasises this connection in the following lines:

问一句莲花的悲喜 断一柄弃剑入青泥

I ask about the joys and sorrows of the lotus; A broken, abandoned sword is thrown into the mud.

Not only does Li Lianhua keep stressing at different points of the drama that Li Xiangyi is dead and all that is left behind is Li Lianhua; he even breaks his own sword Shaoshi at the end of the story, thereby physically reenacting a process of destruction—death—and rebirth. As Li Lianhua writes in his farewell letter: 

剑断人亡

My sword is broken, and I will be gone.

The significance of Li Lianhua’s action is further intensified here by the fact that the sword in the song is said to be thrown into 泥/ní mud, the site from which a lotus flower grows.

Considering that Shaoshi operates as a device embodying Li Lianhua’s character development throughout the drama, the fact that Li Lianhua decides to break it in the last episode should be taken as a key moment in which he chooses how his own narrative is going to end. Li Lianhua decides to kill for good the glorious image of Li Xiangyi which has become sullied with pain and regret in his heart, so that a simple, fragile peace can begin growing in its place like a lotus flower amidst the mud.

However, the tragedy of Li Lianhua’s narrative is that the rebirth he works to achieve for all these years is not his own to enjoy and never was intended to be. After the Great Battle of the East Sea, as Li Lianhua is reborn from Li Xiangyi and starts planting seeds all around him, he has already accepted that he’s nothing but a ghost, “wandering in the jianghu to close his loose ends and finally [...] vanish without a trace, not even a body left behind.” As mx-myth remarks, even the shift in his garment colours to an overwhelming amount of white as the story progresses makes it clear that he’s resigned to go and has “already started dressing for his own funeral.” 

The lotus flower symbolism permeating the narrative accentuates this bone-deep, unshakable resignation. While imprisoned by Jiao Liqiao, Li Lianhua is full of an aching, bittersweet fatalism when he recites a section of Guan Hanqing’s《 窦娥冤 》“The Injustice to Dou E”:

花有重开日 人无再少年 不须长富贵 安乐是神仙

Flowers will blossom again, But a man can never be young again. Seek not eternal wealth; You only need to be content.

Independently from the original meaning of the lines written by Guan Hanqing, the words seem to take on a sad, wistful quality when spoken with a bitter smile by Li Lianhua. In this scene, while the speaker reflects that rebirth occurs outside of themselves in flowers, they acknowledge that their own reality is one inevitably bound to end in old age and decay. Instead of looking forward to a bright future, the speaker doesn’t express any dreams nor ambitions and is only grateful that they’re alive this minute, this second, without any future prospects awaiting them. Perhaps a similar sentiment is reflected in the following lines from 《 一壶莲花醉 》 “A Pot of Lotus Wine”:

了了心事只 不负众生 而已

After settling my worries,  I just want to live up to all sentient beings.

Li Lianhua’s connection to the lotus flower, in fact, was always meant to be one of non-attachment. While Buddhism believes desire to be the root of all suffering, the lotus symbolises non-attachment due to being “rooted in mud (attachment and desire)” while “its flowers blossom on long stalks unsullied by the mud below.” This explains in part why the lotus is considered pure and noble. For Li Lianhua, this non-attachment takes on sorrowful connotations: it means that he stubbornly refuses to reap the seeds he sows and focuses his purest heart and will into ensuring those around him get to reap them instead. Non-attachment means allowing himself enough (a roof over his head, food on his plate) to survive, but rarely letting himself indulge in the precious luxuries of reciprocated love and care — of carefree joy and thirst for adventure.  

The ten years he lives after his first death at the East Sea are, for him, only borrowed time he didn’t deserve — borrowed time not dedicated to himself, but rather dedicated to others.

In many ways, Li Lianhua’s path effectively goes full-circle by the end of the narrative. When he and Di Feisheng reminisce about the moon they remember from ten years ago, they conclude that today’s moon isn’t any brighter than the one alive in their memory: rather, it remains constant, unchanged, as though the past ten years never existed as anything other than a short pause in the story, a coma, long enough for wrongs to be righted but not  for an already-dead person’s fate to be changed.

It’s interesting and particularly significant that the Styx flower (忘川花, from 忘川 “River of Forgetting” in the original Mandarin) is said throughout the drama to be the only thing capable of saving Li Lianhua’s life. In traditional Chinese culture, the Styx or River of Forgetting is part of the process of reincarnation; only by crossing it (and forgetting everything they’ve ever experienced and everyone they’ve ever loved) can a person finally reincarnate. For Li Lianhua, salvation through rebirth comes at a high cost — a price he’s evidently been ready to pay since the beginning, even if it means turning him into a ghost who must vanish from the story in order for those around him to grow and thrive further.

When Li Lianhua breaks his own sword to allow for rebirth, it’s not himself he’s saving. His sole purpose throughout his journey as Li Lianhua is to use whatever meagre strength he has left, whatever passion and drive are still alive in him, to save the world in any small ways that he can. He becomes a doctor who heals people; he looks for answers and solves mysteries to atone for the sins he thinks he has committed and rectify the mistakes he thinks he has made, so that those he has hurt can finally find peace and comfort.

The most powerful legacy Li Lianhua intends to leave behind by the end of the story has nothing to do with himself and everything to do with the people around him who he never truly admits he loves — the messy, imperfect world that’s caused him so much pain but that he nevertheless insists on saving with everything he has. 

Most strikingly, Li Lianhua chooses—whether consciously or not—to leave the life and future he’s renounced for himself to his companions Fang Duobing and Di Feisheng. The only traces he purposefully leaves behind live in them: in the Yangzhouman coursing through Fang Duobing’s body; the home, dog and recipe book he passes onto him; the worthy opponent he leaves for Di Feisheng to fight in his stead after he’s gone… 

Fang Duobing, by the end of the story, has grown into more than a disciple and a friend to Li Xiangyi/Li Lianhua: he himself has become the lotus flower bringing renewed life after Li Lianhua has left the narrative, thereby taking Li Lianhua’s legacy into a hopeful, vibrant future. As mx-myth mentions in their colour analysis, Fang Duobing notably wears bright pastel tones including a large amount of green/blue — a colour coding which emphasises Fang Duobing’s connection to spring and, by extension, new life and beginnings. “Life will always go on if there’s spring”; and so Fang Duobing’s youth, vitality and optimism can grow in the empty space left behind by Li Lianhua after he fades into the autumn of his life.

While Li Lianhua’s predominantly light colour palette might appear to align him with other characters in the drama who have left the past behind and are looking towards the future, Li Lianhua made peace long ago with the knowledge that he’s destined not to belong in that future. Just as the Lotus Sutra teaches us that “the inner determination of an individual has great transformative power” and “gives ultimate expression to the infinite potential and dignity inherent in each human life,” Li Lianhua focuses all his transformative efforts on creating a future which, despite having no place for him, will be fertile ground for the entire martial arts world to grow deep, healthy roots. In Li Lianhua’s own words:

幼芽生枝 新木长成 武林也一样 这未来如何 谁又能说得清楚呢

The young sprouts and the new trees grow. The martial arts world is the same. What does the future hold? Who can say clearly?

Should we say, then, that Li Lianhua’s story is one of sacrifice, self-renunciation and resignation — of drifting inevitably towards death as a flower carried by a stream? As he disappears on a boat and is asked where he’s going, Li Lianhua gives a response which echoes his first death at the East Sea in a way that feels entirely deliberate:

小舟从此逝， 江海寄余生

From now on I would vanish with my little boat; For the rest of my life on the sea I would float. 

How are we to understand a person being reborn simply so they can pass on that new life to others, and being convinced that their only true value lies in their death?

Perhaps, in spite of it all, we can find some small comfort in the knowledge that, no matter how sorrowful Li Lianhua’s fate, it’s at least one that he chooses — one that he has full control over, even poisoned and robbed of his life force as he is. As the lyrics of 《 一壶莲花醉 》 “A Pot of Lotus Wine” underline, “it’s just a matter of picking an ending that you like.” Perhaps that’s all that truly matters. 

wuxia-vanlifer makes an excellent point when asking: “What would be more tragic? That he never believed he was loved? Or that he did, but vanished anyway?” While I don’t have an answer to offer, there’s one thing I can say. Li Xiangyi, Li Lianhua — they live and die by love. They can’t conceive of themselves as anything other than a sacrificial tool because, for all that they pretend to be aloof and untethered, they actually love others—and the world—in a bone-deep, profound way they’ve never loved themselves. That love is not only the true driving force behind Li Lianhua’s character and the fate he chooses: it’s the beating heart of the entire drama.

“In this life, I have loved and I have been loved. That is enough.”

Shoutout to the following authors and bloggers whose brilliant words and ideas inspire me, as well as this gorgeous video 💖

ao3: @extraordinarilyextreme @thawrecka

tumblr: @difeisheng @extraordinarilyextreme @mx-myth @wuxia-vanlifer @xinyuehui

[quitealotofsodapop]

Wukong: Can you not call my old friends and troop assholes in front of their own rejncarnations!?

Macaque: Peaches... they used a torture device on you. I know you keep saying you deserved it, but they still used it on you! Worst. The pig and the monk abused it!

Wukong: They... they changed! They stopped doing it, and they aren't around anymore, so it's still disrespectful to speak of them like that!

Macaque: Just because they stopped doing it means it was right that they did it at all! Guanyin herself said the purpose of that was only in defense of the Monkey, in the event you were to turn on him, not to be used as a disciplinary action for "chewing too loudly!"

The family is just watching this argument going down with that feeling of they need to stop this, but also, this is clearly a conversation that needs to be had out after millenia of these two arguing over Wukong's asshole friends. Secretly, Pigsy and Tang agree with Macaque and definitely lost any and all respect for their so-called ancestors after hearing that bit about the monk abusing Wukong, something Tang can actually confirm from just opening any random page of the freaking book set after Wukong got the filet! They especially are upset about that since Wukong clearly doesn't see it that way, and that somehow makes it worse. Because now the Monkey King isn't just some character in a book or a myth. He's real, he's right in front of them, and he's Qi Wu. Their silly, goofy, somewhat oblivious to social norms Qi Wu! He's a person, a real person who can actually bleed and hurt and feel emotionally vulnerable. A person they love as a son, weird as it is, once they realize he's actually thousands of years old.

referencing this post.

An arguement like this is probably what led to Wukong and Mac having their Big Fight during the au that led to their brief separation.

Tripitaka I feel wasn't conciously abusive towards Wukong, but he was still a mega-stressed out young adult who had the reins to a murder monkey. He was reared in a super strict buddhist background, and likely thought physical punishment was "normal" to an extent. He also didn't know how the fillet's punishment felt. He def had some major regret at having used the golden circlet/fillet sutra when Wukong was undeserving of it (but not the times Wukong tried to kill him at the start) - I feel that he used a few times when Wukong was acting uncouth at a fancy dinner or a holy site and it was only afterwards that he felt so gotdang bad about it.

Zhu Bajie on the otherhand literally goaded the monk into using the circlet as punishment out of spite toward Wukong (seen during the White Bone Spirit arc). He saw it as funny. Did he ever regret it? Maybe. He'd never admit it either way.

And even if both pilgrims eventually found the punishment unnessary or cruel, it doesn't change that they did it and the fact that Wukong ended up being conditioned into believing that he "deserved it".

Not only that, but the Macaque chapter itself is a turning point where Tripitaka realises (with Guanyin telling him off for banishing Monkey) that he'd been mistreating someone who considered him a father figure.

Ironically, it was likely Macaque's "death" that made Tripitaka stop using the fillet entirely since he had his own revelation on how badly he treated Wukong in the past and how devastating it would be to truly lose him.

If the Tang Monk could go back in time, he wouldn't have agreed to the fillet at all... even if left him with a few minus body parts when Wukong acted violent in the beginning. If he could, he'd also apologize to the Six Eared Macaque - he never wanted to hurt someone's spouse, that was the crux of his and Wukong's arguement in that chapter after all.

[behindthesoul]

Constricting Bonds

Shang Tsung x gn!reader

Masterlist

Characters - You, Liu Kang

Summary - In the shadowed tapestry of a world where love and darkness entwine, a soul finds itself captivated by the allure of a man steeped in shadows. You, a seeker of light, surrender your heart to a figure whose essence is shrouded in malevolence. As your love blossoms in the moonlit garden of forbidden desires, an impending storm brews on the horizon.

Or - you’re upset your father says no to you dating.

Word Count - 1136

Warnings - none

A/N - Thanks to @zodiacqueen0123 for giving me this idea. <3

“I need freedom now, in this beautiful and mysterious world.”

– Tsunku

I’m A Lady Now!

Sometime in the forgotten, distant past…

Liu Kang’s new era brought many changes; the biggest being his new and very much unwanted godhood. Seeing familiar names with unfamiliar faces took a long time to get used to. He found much comfort in one constant: the sound of a bird. He listened to their cries each morning, sometimes accompanied by his friend Geras, or by a nice cup of tea.

Today he finds himself in an unfamiliar place, walking in a field of trees and enjoying whatever songs the birds decided to sing. It clears the mind and allows him to have a moment of relaxation from his ever so tiring job as Earthrealm’s Protector.

It’s faint, gradual, the new song Liu Kang hears. Contrasting to the birds’ out of key cries, the voice is soft and tiny; qualities he’d give to the voice of a child. The song is beautiful and Liu Kang is surprised to realize it’s one he’s never heard of before. His legs move slowly so as to not interrupt the song and the person who’s singing it. Soon, he approaches you, the small child singing.

“You sing a beautiful song,” he starts, smiling apologetically when you jump, startled. “I can’t say I’ve ever heard it.”

You’re silent, unsure of what to say, if you should say anything at all. Liu Kang speaks again in an attempt to ease your nerves.

"I'd surely remember a face as distinct as yours. You seem out of place. Are you lost?"

You shake your head and continue to stare at him. Liu Kang takes in your appearance: dirty, tattered and torn clothes; a frown that makes his heart hurt. He decides to ask another question in hopes you’ll finally answer him.

“I do hope your parents are around. You should not be out here alone-”

“I don’t have any.” You interject. You stand and dust off your clothes before turning around and walking away. Not wanting a child walking off alone, Liu Kang calls out after you, a rare moment where he speaks before thinking.

"I know a place where you can find refuge, away from the chill of the outside. Warm meals, a shelter, and even clothes are waiting. You're welcome to join me." He extends a kind hand out to you and gives a faint smile. “Forgive me, I’ve gotten too far ahead of myself. I am Liu Kang, may I have your name?”

You’re silent for a few moments more but you do eventually say your name. The strange man in front of you repeats it, testing your name out on his tongue. You finally take his hand. Walking off into the distance with a stranger isn't smart, but you didn't have anything better to do.

So, thus began your relationship with Liu Kang, raised by him and the monks at the Wu Shi. You were trained under many watchful eyes, conditioned to become the best possible warrior. Your proximity to Liu Kang could prove deadly should the wrong person discover your existence - he had to make sure you could defend yourself. It wasn’t long before he learned you weren’t an average child. It took hundreds of years for you to resemble a teenager, hundreds more to reach adulthood. You obviously were not of Earthrealm, yet when asked (questions which forced him to reveal his godhood), you had no knowledge of other realms like Outworld. You were brought to Outworld once and only once; for a Mortal Kombat tournament. He kept you hidden with only Empress Sindel knowing who you were.

Outworld was beautiful, its vibrant colors having an almost psychedelic effect on the brain. It made you feel at home. You suffered through the heartbreak of outliving any friends you made over the years. But Outworld was a place where aging slowed, you felt much more comfortable forming friendships with its residents. It was frustrating how Liu Kang would never let you go. It is far too dangerous to let you go alone, and I prefer you stay in Earthrealm were his favorite excuses. It was the main source of tension in your otherwise peaceful father-child relationship.

“I don’t understand why I can’t visit - just this once!” You remember saying to him. Liu Kang was nursing a cup of tea in his hand. He lets out a barely audible sigh and turns to you, white eyes boring into your skull.

"I have my reasons for not wanting you in Outworld. I truly wish you would understand that my answer is no."

“Name one.”

Another sigh. "Beloved,” - a nickname he grew to love calling you - “I've faced the dangers of Outworld firsthand—the treacherous landscapes, the dark forces that lurk within. I wish to shield you from the perils I've known, the violence that stains its soil, and the political quagmire that engulfs the realm. It's not just my wish; it's my duty as your guardian to ensure you're spared from the harsh realities of a world that I know too well."

You roll your eyes and huff. “I think you’re exaggerating. Sun Do was so beautiful and the festival was lovely. Aside from a small pool, everyone was friendly. What perils do they face?”

“Your eyes have only seen the festival that preceded the tournament. While Outworld has seen a golden age under Empress Sindel’s rule, it does not mean the realm is danger-free.” He does have a point, you have never seen a normal day in Sun Do, but you refuse to back down. You can twist it into furthering your own point.

“You’re right, so allow me to visit Outworld so I can see a normal day. You taught me to defend myself! I’ll be fine.” Liu Kang opens his mouth to respond but you interrupt him. “Besides, I am an adult. I only ask your permission because I cannot open a portal myself…please, I’m begging.”

As silence envelops both of you, he meets your gaze. There's nothing left for you to say; you simply hope he'll give in.

And he does.

“I will send you to Sun Do and you will head straight to the palace to greet the Empress. Wherever you go, I will make sure you’re accompanied by guards. “You visit for a few hours, then you come back to me.”

Your eyes widen and you have to stop yourself from screeching in delight. You hold your composure as best as you can and smile. You hug Liu Kang tight and he returns your embrace. He rubs your back and frowns, though you can’t see. You mumble something but he chooses not to hear; too occupied in his own thoughts.

“My child, just what am I going to do with you?”

[ramspatula]

Zinnias | Lloyd Garmadon x reader

This is how our lives worked. We both had such different roles in this life. But I know we can make it work.

I crept through the woods. Hiding behind every tree I needed too. I was tracking this rogue beast that was apparently harbouring a dragon egg. An object from a realm that wasn’t this one. Being the master of realms meant I had to keep everything in order and objects being in the wrong realm could mean the whole foundation of the different realms could be broken and ultimate destruction. Finally I had reached its nest. I loaded my bow and arrow and listened, apprehensively. Then I heard its footsteps cause some leaves and twigs to crunch and instantly moved to shoot at the beast only to gasp and immediately point my bow at the floor.

“Hey, peaches.”

The man in front of me grinned and shuffled the dragon egg into one hand to allow me to charge at him and wrap my arms around his neck. He spun me around in a princess twirl with one arm and kissed the side of my head as I squealed in glee. I looked up at him in shock.

“What are you doing here?! I thought you were-“

“Tracking some gang members- I was! But I finished early so I got pixal to send me your mission info and I thought I’d come join you for our anniversary.” He said and I gasped.

“Oh my god- first of all, deep voice -second, it’s been that long?” I asked and he nodded, arm wrapping around my waist as we headed out the woods. Leaving the peacefully sleeping (knocked out) beast at its nest.

“It’s been that long…” he said, deflated.

“I’m guessing no leads on Master Wu then.” I said and he nodded.

“Jay and Cole are going to investigate one but I can place all my bets on it being a lost cause.” He said and I leaned on him.

“Hmm… 5 years though. What an accomplishment!” I said and he smiled.

“I’m proud of us… from 17 to 22, well 18-23 for me. How have you stuck with me for so long?” He asked and I laughed.

“It’s not been easy.” I said and he looked at me offended.

“Oh really?” He asked and I laughed.

“Oh yeah.” I said and I moved in front of him and started walking backwards so I could still face him. “Especially when you told me that I was actually in a relationship with a 14 year old.” I said and his face dropped.

“No! No I was not 14! I’m not 19 either. Everything about me says 23- almost 24! The time- if that’s how we’re arguing it works then that would make the others 16 with how young they were turned.” Lloyd defended and I laughed.

“I know, I know. Although, you do sound like you’ve just gone through puberty.” I said and he smiled.

“Y/n, I’ve gone months at a time without speaking.” He explained and I shrugged. He used to be the only who could say my name without me glitching. Now anyone could say it but Peach has stuck for too long now.

“It’s okay, I dig it.” I said and he shook his head in amusement. “Say my name again.” I said and wrapped my arms around his neck and he shook his head and leaned his head against me. “Say it. C’mon.” I said and pretended to bite his nose which made him laugh.

“Y/n, my Peach, Peaches, the Apple of my Eye, my literal prophesied soulmate- your turn.” He said and I laughed.

“My voice isn’t any different?!” I questioned and he pretended to bite my nose this time.

“Just do it, cmon.” He said and I giggled.

“Lloyd, Pookie, love of my life, my literal prophesied soulmate.” I said and he hummed.

“I’m going to ignore the fact you used Pearl’s nickname for us.” Lloyd said and I groaned.

“Pearl! I miss my Pookie!” I said and he rolled his eyes.

“This is the only mission you’ve had without her in a whole year!” He argued and I pouted.

“Still.” I said and he shook his head before remembering the egg in his hand. He moved it towards me. I smiled in thanks.

“What you going to do with it?” Lloyd asked and I smiled.

“Send it home.” I opened a mini vortex into the realm its energy has came from but when I went to put the egg through it almost was destroyed and the vortex closed itself in rejection.

“What was what?” Lloyd asked and I looked at him, perplexed.

“It’s not supposed to go home. I think it’s meant to stay with me.” I said and he frowned before looking from the egg to me.

“I don’t think we can really have pets right now.” He said and I looked at him with big eyes.

“But imagine a baby dragon-“ I said and he deadpanned.

“I can imagine. I can also imagine when it turns into this.” He said and Pooch burst to life in front of us and immediately started nosing around the egg. He then nuzzled me the best he could with his giant snout and I held the lower side of his jaw and leant my head next to his eye. He was a gorgeous dragon. Big and full of glory and power. 4 legs and a wingspan of 340ft. He was giant and powerful but such a beautiful dragon. His scales were green and the shades of the colour varied on all parts of his body with Gold accents and highlights also on his body. His red eyes matched Lloyd’s when he wasn’t hiding them behind his normal green and I kissed next to the dragon’s eye.

“See he wants to keep it.” I said and Lloyd rolled his eyes and he pulled his mask on.

“Get on.” He said, fed up but with a playful tint in his voice and I smiled at him before putting the egg into the large satchel I had with me and pulling my mask and hood on. Mine and Lloyd’s gi’s were a little different. Pooch bent down to allow me to climb up his neck to the saddle and Lloyd followed soon after. I leaned against his back as he grabbed the reigns. “Seriously, we don’t need a massive dragon that cant just poof out of existence.” He said and I looked up at him.

“Please?” I said and he rolled his eyes.

🪺. *. ⋆

One, two, three…

One, two, three…

Four, five, six…

Seven, eight, nine…

Four, five, six…

One..

Eight, nine…

Four, three, Ten!

“Wow!” I’d managed to shoot a target right in the middle of the head before it could even pounce at me. I smiled in relief at finally completing this stupid training sequence. Unlike Zane I didn’t have built in targeting system so I had to train mine. “I’ll never get how you do it, Peaches.” Pearl said and I laughed. Supporting me in my inability to hear my own name. Pearl had started going by Pearl instead of her name and it stuck. Cole called her Doll more than anything.

“It’s literally your bow, dickhead.” I said and she shrugged.

“You’re better with it. I just know the basics. Only Zane has ever got this far in the simulator with a bow before.” She said and I shrugged.

“One of us has to train.” I said and she gasped in outrage before nodding.

“True.” She said, immediately giving up her fight and I laughed.

“Heard from Cole yet?” I asked and she shook her head.

“Not since he said there was a massive snow storm they had to pass through- it’s like he knows exactly what to say to me to get me to freak out!” She said and I smiled, raising the bow and shooting at a random target that was launched in the air. It hit it. I was so proud of myself.

“Well, you’d get a vision of it if you knew he was about to die.” I said and she deadpanned.

“Thanks. Now I’m going to be questioning whether that’s a reoccurring nightmare or vision now.” She said and picked up a strawberry from the fruit platter that she had made and eating it.

“Please, the biggest threat to him is Jay’s blabber mouth. Those two will be lucky to come home together and not take separate ways home.” I said and put down the quiver of arrows and the bow and went to grab the katanas.

“Fair enough… what are you going to do with that egg?” She asked and I shrugged. The simulation began and I started slicing through different images as she watched.

“I don’t know… wait till it hatches-!” I said and quickly deflected a laser that was supposed to imitate a real laser shot.

“That was close- anyway! We’re not allowed a puppy because it’s too dangerous for it but a dragon can protect itself!” Pearl suggested and I smiled before blocking another shot and slicing through a target.

“Lloyd already said no but I’ve never been that great at following his orders.” I said and dodged another shot.

“True, true.” She said before pausing. “We’re technically not elemental masters and I’m not even technically a ninja. Well I am but I’m more the medic. I’ve perfected basic ninjitsu but I’d become a flump if I even tried that thing.” She said and the simulation ended giving me a score of 14/15. I nodded. Taking the 90% for now. My form on the last stretch slipped and I know that. “90%! You didn’t even get hit or slip!” Pearl said in outrage for me and I laughed. Panting.

“I got a little sloppy at the end…” I said and stole a piece of fruit from her platter. “You heard from Kai? Heard he was back in Ninjago last months whilst I was away?” I said and she nodded.

“Oh yeah. He’s got a new girlfriend. He’s actually had one for a while surprisingly. It was their 2 year anniversary a couple months ago.” Pearl revealed and my eyes widened.

“That long?!” I questioned and she nodded. “God, I must’ve stopped listening to him too early.” I said and Pearl laughed.

“I also spoke to Skylor! Happier than ever. Enjoying the quiet life. Good for her.” Pearl told me and I nodded in agreement.

“Must be nice.” I said and helped myself to more fruit.

“Girl I’m going to make you a sandwich in a minute-! When was the last time you ate?” She asked and I shrugged.

“A few days ago. I got used to going without food for a few days when I was doing all those tracking down wrong real objects missions.” I said and she nodded.

“I’m ordering takeout then because they never make me pay when I answer the temple door in my gi and mask.” She said and I rolled my eyes.

“Go ahead. Although don’t order me much- I don’t know how much my stomach can handle.” I said and she deadpanned before turning to the fridge.

“Zane’s frozen left overs then.” She said and I laughed.

“Sorry I ruined your binge.” I said and she stared at me.

“It’s okay, you’ll make it up to me when you can stomach things everyday again.” She said and I rolled my eyes.

“But those days you won’t want to do it. You’ll decide it’s ‘my body is a temple’ season.” I said and she looked at me like I was crazy.

“No! That’s Cole’s thing at the moment. Plus I’ve managed to keep the physique! No one can beat me at basic ninjitsu simulator all around.” She said and I laughed.

“What even is that?!” I laughed and Pixal cut in.

“That, title, is to commemorate the fact that Pearl is the only one to complete the standard ninjitsu simulations 40 times.” She sounded exasperated and I smiled.

“Wow, proud of you Pearl.” I said and she smiled.

“Thank you!” She said before putting the now plated frozen food in the microwave. “Anyway! Speaking of anniversaries-“

“That was 2 conversations ago-“

“-Speaking of anniversaries!” She cut me off and I just shook my head in amusement. “How was yours and Lloyd’s? 5 years.” She asked and I smiled.

“Well…”

🪺. *. ⋆

“-but that lead to another dead end. I stopped by to see my Dad and Pearl but Pearl, for once in her life, was actually on a mission-“ Lloyd ranted and I laughed.

“Without me?!” I gasped and he nodded.

“That’s what I thought!” He said and I smiled. “So I check the date and I see that our anniversary is in 2 days!… Sorry, I haven’t got you any flowers or anything- I was kinda focused on just getting here.” He said and I smiled before grabbing his hand.

“I don’t mind. Just you is enough.” I told him and he laughed.

“You sure I’m worth it?” He asked and I nodded without hesitation. “I don’t feel like it sometimes.”

“Of course you are. I wouldn’t put up with all this bullshit if my heart wasn’t full of you and only you.” I told him and he smiled.

“I’ve really missed you.” He admitted and I nodded.

“Missed you too.” I said before taking a deep breath. “This isn’t very happy conversation for an anniversary.” I smiled and he did too but it didn’t have any warm behind it. My face dropped. “What? What is it?” I asked and he sighed and leant back onto his elbows. I was laying on my side and resting on my hand as we both were ontop of this cliff that overlooked the whole forest.

“I-I can’t stay for too long.” He admitted and I felt my eyes drift away.

“I guessed that.” I said and he sighed before pulling me up into a hug and I settled into his chest before he gave up and decided to just move me between his legs so he could have a better grip on me too. Lloyd way of showing love limited itself to touch and the way he looks at you. But I always knew when he needed more than other times.

“I just wish we could find Wu and end this search.” He said and I nodded.

“Me too.” I agreed and rubbed his hand that interlinked with his with my thumb and he nuzzled into my neck. He always said that I smiled nice.

“You smell really good.” There it was.

“I’ve been in forest for a month and showering in waterfalls- I can’t smell good at all.” I said and he chuckled before kissing my neck.

“You smell really good.” He repeated and I rolled my eyes before he buried his face again. “Really good.”

“This is addictive for you, you know this.” I said and he just licked my neck. I laughed before he started kissing my neck as well and I could help but laugh, it tickled. There was a scar along my collarbone from where he had accidentally bit me too hard once. We were deep in a moment like this one and he forgot he had little fangs gifted from his father. Said dangers grazed my skin and I shuddered.

“Somehow, I can’t help myself.” He said and continued until I shoved him off and moved my neck to rest on his shoulder so I was looking up at him. It took him two seconds to kiss me. With one hand still interlinked and I lifted the other to hold his lower jaw.

“Wow… we should do this again some time.” I told him and he laughed.

“Agreed… you’re going to keep that egg, aren’t you?”

“You know I am.” I said and I could feel him roll his eyes before he looked up at the night sky. “Do not start spurting your astrology bullshit at me-“

“That’s the bounty.” He said and I groaned to his amusement. He continued pointing at stars. “That’s the green ninja.”

“That’s just stars! I don’t see shit!” I yelled and he chuckled but continued.

“There you-! Oh! And a dragon!” He began laughing through his sentence as I tried kneeling up to cover his mouth yet he escaped all my attempts to before we were both sent tumbling down the cliff into a clearing. He was laughing his guts out as I breathlessly laughed and clung to him. “I think there’s a thorn in my ass!” He laughed and that caused me to burst out.

“I didn’t think we were that close to the edge!” I said and he nodded.

“Neither did I.” Lloyd said before sitting up. “So… you gonna take me back to your place? Show me where you’ve been staying whilst it’s taken you a month to track down this beast.”

“I wasn’t just tracking the beast! And I’ve been gone for longer than a month! Just everything to do with this forest has taken me a month!” I said in offence and he laughed.

“Oh sure.” He said and I made my way back up to the cliff and grabbed the satchel with egg in before carefully sliding down. “This is a great view.” He said as I climbed back up.

“Shut up.” I said and he just smiled, mischievously before grabbing me when I was almost down and pulling me off causing me to yelp. “The egg! Be careful!” I told him and he just smiled before taking my hand as I led him to my camp.

The camp consisted of a small crater in side of the flat cliff that you had to climb down some vine to get to. When Lloyd saw it he made the rocks shift and move to form stairs. I looked at him gratefully as I led him into the crater that I had covered the front of with vines. He immediately lit one of the candles and then looked at me to say something. Multiple various things were in the crater.

“This is where I’ve been for a month.” I said and he nodded before sitting on the make shift bed as I placed the egg in a pot above what normally is my fire. “A little help please.” I said and moved out the way when he sent a little green fireball to the bottom and it lit up. “I usually use it for cooking but it can house this for now.” I said and he nodded.

“When are you heading back to the monastery?” He asked and I shrugged.

“Soon I guess.” I said and he nodded. “I’m going to check in to that village at the bottom of the forest. See if they need anything and then I’ll go home…. Wow. Home.” I said and he chuckled.

“Been awhile, huh?” He said and I nodded.

“Doesn’t really feel like home anymore though.” I said and he just looked down. “I don’t like sleeping in an empty bed, Lloyd.” I told him and he sighed.

“I had a feelings that’s why you keep going on these stake out missions.” He said and it was my turn to look away.

“It’s… at least I know no one else is supposed to be sleeping next to me.” I said and he nodded.

“No I get it…” Lloyd paused before continuing. “I freaked out when I learned you were here.” He said and I frowned. “I came back to the temple for you and you weren’t there… I got scared.” He admitted and I paused before moving to sit on the makeshift bed with him. He let himself rest his head on my shoulder as I held him and rested my own head atop his.

“What did you do?” I asked, softly and he took a deep breath.

“I immediately got Pixal to send me your mission logs and access your last known locations.” He revealed and I smiled and shook my head at his antics. “From your logs I could figure out where the beast was heading and where the nest would be.” He said and I let out a breathless laugh.

“Oh my god.” I said and I felt him hold me tighter.

“I had this moment where I realised I didn’t know where you were and it really freaked me out because if I didn’t know where you were? How could I come find you if you don’t come back?” He asked and I kissed the top of his head.

“We’ll find him.” I said and he scoffed.

“How can you be so sure?” He asked and I smiled. “Not everyone comes back.” He added and I leaned off him to look at him.

“Because Ninja never quit.” I told him and he looked at me for a second before shaking his head in a startled laugh.

“Did you really just use that on me?” He asked and I shrugged. “Oh wow, you did.” He said before grabbing and pushing me down onto the bed as I laughed. He was on top of me as soon as my back was on the floor and I laughed as he held my hands down. “I can’t believe you.” He said and I laughed.

“Hey I like this position! You always manage to get me into it during training.” I said and he shook his head.

“This is a little different than training.” He said and kissed me. “How long again?” He asked and I smiled.

“Since we’ve seen each other? 5 months? Since we’ve done anything? 9.” I told him and he frowned.

“Well that’s just not good enough, is it?” He said and started kissing me. “How the hell have you held up?” Lloyd asked and I giggled and he nipped at my ear.

“I haven’t.” I told him and his face turned into a devilish expression before…

“Damn you, Peaches.”

🪺. *. ⋆

“Yeah I’d say it went pretty well since we haven’t seen each other in forever.” I told Pearl who nodded.

“How was yours and Cole’s? 3 years. Thats the changing point there. That’s when a relationship becomes for life in this world.” I said and she laughed.

“We missed it.” She admitted and I said nothing. “It’s okay though because we promised to do something when he comes back. He got Pixal to schedule an order of flowers and chocolates though.” She said and I smiled.

“Carnations?” I asked and she nodded.

“A singular pink carnation for everyday he’s been with me and loved me.” Pearl said and I deadpanned.

“You were watching friends with him again, weren’t you?” I asked and she nodded.

“Thankfully he’s not actually like Ross.” She said and I hummed.

“Joey, maybe.” I said and she placed the microwaved food in front of me and I smiled in thanks.

“Have you spoken to Garmadon yet?” Pearl asked and I shook my head.

“No I’m going to straight after this I just needed a moment to process that I’m home.” I said and she looked at me with understanding.

“Are you doing okay?” She asked and I shrugged.

“It is what it is.” I said and she smiled. “Is everything completely wrong and not normal? Yes. Can I do anything about it? No. So it’s just dealing with it, step by step.” I said and she nodded.

“I get it. I just wish I had more to do sometimes.” She said and I smiled.

“You will. Garmadon not got you training the monks? Since you’re so good at standard ninjutsu?” I asked and she rolled her eyes.

“Garmadon lets me get up late nowadays.” She said and I chuckled. “He’s actually not doing so well… I can see it in his eyes.” Pearl admitted and I looked up concerned.

“Misako still isn’t telling him anything, is she?” I asked and Pearl shook her head. “Her search for Wu is probably as successful as her search for a way to stop the ultimate battle… it wouldn’t be the first time she’s left her family.” I said and Pearl’s eyes widened.

“He cheered up a bit after Lloyd came and saw him… granted I didn’t know he had visited until after but- he has been better.” Pearl said and I smiled.

“That’s probably my cue to go see him, isn’t it?” I asked and she nodded.

“Yeah…” She said and I stood up and bushed the bowl towards her. “You barely ate anything.”

“Thank you.” I said and moved towards the doors that led to the rest of the monastery.

I walked through the halls steadily, with a heavy heart. Seeing how tall some of the young monks had grown in only a couple of months was tugging the strings on my heart. I successfully disrupted a meditation class by walking past the room and waving. When I finally got to the living quarters of the monastery, I knocked on the door of the ‘office’ area which consisted of two arm chairs and a desk with a few scrolls on and a coffee table with a tray of tea on.

“Come in.” I heard his voice and smiled. I pushed open the door and was greeted with a pleasantly surprised man. “Well if it isn’t my star pupil!”

“Miss me?” I asked and he nodded.

“Yes, come, sit.” He gestured over and I gave him a genuine smile as I got comfy on the arm chair and made a little dramatic out of it.

“This is so much better than the forest floor.” I said and he chuckled.

“Never forget where you began, nature’s child.” He said and I laughed.

“Yes, sensei.” I said and he smiled.

“So, tell me of your adventures.” He told me and I sat up and leant over the arm of the chair to talk to him.

“I spent 5 months sleeping on the ground.” I said and he smiled. “Pearl joined me on some of the things I was doing so I wasn’t alone for the whole time but I would’ve been on my own for the last 2 months if Lloyd hadn’t of visited me and helped me to get this dragon egg.” I said and Garmadon lit up at the mention of his son.

“Lloyd came and saw you?” He asked and I nodded.

“Yeah, we spent a few days together over our anniversary and last I heard he was heading towards Ninjago city.” I told Garmadon who nodded.

“Do go on.” He told me and I smiled.

“The dragon egg doesn’t want to go home so I think I’m going to keep it.” I said and Garmadon chuckled.

“Of course you are.” He said and I smiled at the similar response to his son.

“Have any of the others came back?” I asked and his expression dimmed.

“Kai and Zane were here not too long ago but other than that, no one has really been back. Lloyd was here a while ago but I assume that was before he came to see you.” Garmadon said and I nodded.

“He did say he had been.” I affirmed. “Heard anything from Misako.” I asked and he shook his head.

“No.” He sighed. “I’m afraid Misako won’t contact any of us unless she needs to. Whenever she goes on her own journeys, she does it completely alone.” Garmadon said and I nodded.

“Lloyd’s like that… it’s frustrating to be honest.” I admitted and he nodded.

“I am well aware.” He told me and I we shared an empathetic stare. Me and Garmadon were very similar in some parts of our character. I’d always taken better to him than I had Wu. I had met Lloyd not long after he turned older. We met at Mystake’s tea shop. Pearl had wanted to try all these different teas for her birthday and I bought a selection from Mystake as my present to her. I was nervous and didn’t know what I was even talking about. He had asked me what my favourite tea was and I said green with no hesitation even though I had never had it. He looked smug and said that was his favourite too. Before I knew it, I was on the dark island with him and it was where we had our first everything. Everything. I smiled at the memories.

“You know it’s not your fault.” I said to him, I was referring to Misako leaving and Lloyd being Lloyd.

“After being alone for so long, a man begins to wonder if the reason he is left behind is simply himself. I am not the man who wonders but I am the father who wishes he could’ve done more.” Garmadon told me and I took a deep breath.

“Being trapped in an underworld can prevent such things… like being involved in your child’s life. Or knowing he exists. Lloyd doesn’t blame you and his anger is not pointed towards you.” I reassured and Garmadon looked ahead, the desperation in eyes made me feel sick. “Lloyd’s angry at Misako. He struggles with the fact that she left him,… twice now. He cried after telling me he doesn’t understand how to accept her and how he feels so guilty because of it since almost everyone on the team is practically parentless or can only rarely see them.” I said and Garmadon and nodded.

“We’ve had a similar conversation.” He admitted and my eyes widened. “Lloyd’s emotion are that of a dragon. Unpredictable and fierce. The amount of control he has over them, especially for his age, in itself is impressive. The same could be said for you.” He told me and I frowned.

“My life hasn’t been nearly that complex.” I said and he looked to me.

“Even after the dragon has soared over and conquered the world, it doesn’t forget its time in its shell.” Garmadon told me and I frowned. “You need not explain yourself, nor comfort me.” Garmadon told me and looked at him unsurely. “Your mere presence in my son’s life brings me comfort. He trusts no one like he trusts you, my daughter.” He said and I smiled, genuinely. The nickname from my father in law had been established early on and I loved it.

“There’s nothing that means more to me than him.” I assured and Garmadon nodded.

“Then you are lucky that this sentiment is reciprocated.” I smiled and nodded in thanks.

Because it’s true, I love Lloyd Garmadon like no one else could. Because there is truly no other person I could ever be with. In this realm or any other.

[sarah-yyy]

Sorry to bother you, is My journey worth watching?

what: period cdrama // completed // 24 eps, roughly 50 mins each where: iqiyi (i think most eps are still vip-locked) (standard disclaimer that i don't use eng subs so i don't speak to the quality of the subs) why: ngl, i was in it purely for zhang linghe to start, but then got !!! over cheng lei and lu yuxiao, and was too invested to quit even when the plot got sloppy. extremely gorgeous cast, extremely gorgeous set. the cinematography?? chef's kiss. you can see the budget for this show was good. the relationship between the characters? v interesting.

story revolves around the Gong family who is v prominent in jianghu even though they live up in the mountains and keep themselves sequestered away from the rest of jianghu. the Gong family itself is split into 4 different factions: Shang, Jue, Zhi, Yu.

Yu 羽 - the Yu household deals with internal affairs. the head of the Yu household is the head of the Gong family (the title is Sword Wielder or zhiren)

this is our male lead, gong ziyu (a baby). second son of the Yu household. his dad is the zhiren and his big bro (gong huanyu) is the named heir who will inherit the zhiren position. has a v lukewarm relationship with his dad. introduced as being quite useless. his martial arts is :/ and he sees no need to improve his skills etc because his brother will be there to protect him.

is quite suddenly thrust into the position of zhiren when his dad and his brother die under ~mysterious circumstances :(

Jue 角 - the Jue household deals with...external affairs, they are the ones who leave the mountain to Get Things Done outside and manage all relationships/partnerships outside

gege step on me this boy is gong shangjue, head of the jue household. he is The Man. the pride and joy of the gong family. everyone (*cough*i say everyone but really yuanzhi-didi does it enough that he counts for everyone*cough*) worships him. martial arts skills?? loyalty to the gong family?? incredibly attractive resting bitch face??? he is a 10 no matter how you assess him.

missed out on being the zhiren by virtue of him not being home when tragedy struck the old zhiren and gong ziyu's brother. doesn't think gong ziyu has what it takes to be zhiren and take care of the Gong family. my boy gong shangjue would make an Excellent zhiren tbh

do i have to seduce y'all into watching this i think i have to:

Shang 商 - the Shang household develops/produces weaponry

for most of it, the show has a p dark vibe, BUT whenever gong zishang shows up, we know we're in for some laughs. this zishang-jiejie is the eldest daughter of the head of the Shang household.

her father doesn't take her v seriously because she's a girl (also because she's always following behind gong ziyu's personal bodyguard jin fan like this: 😍💖🤞🏼; valid life choices tbh because same) but she does take her craft v seriously! ride or die for gong ziyu.

Zhi 徵 - the Zhi household develops poisons

YUANZHI-DIDI!! this boy loves two things: poisons and gege. #1 gong shangjue fanboy at least 10 years in a row. parents died when he was p young, and gong shangjue took him under his wing. whiz at poisons and v fight fight fight (ง •̀_•́)ง. is suspicious about everything and VERY protective of his gege.

alright that's the main Gong sibs all sorted. there's also an assortment of Inner Mountain (houshan) characters that are v interesting but i won't get into because 1) spoilers, 2) this post will get too long if i get to talk about hua-gongzi and xue-gongzi/xue-tongzi.

okay so the Gong family live in p much a fortress up in the mountains. no outsiders are allowed in, and only a select few are allowed out of the Gong family territory at all. we learn that this is to protect the Gong family from Wu Feng, a spy organisation which has p much taken over jianghu. Wu Feng learns that the Gong family will be holding a bride selection contest thingy for gong huanyu, and sends:

yun weishan, a low-ranking assassin in Wu Feng (Chi, the lowest out of 4 ranks chi, mei, wang, liang), disguised as a bride.

her mission is to be picked by gong huanyu as his bride, and become the next zhiren-furen so she can p much feed intel to Wu Feng. when gong huanyu and the old zhiren both croak, her attentions turn to gong ziyu who is by that point already 😍🥰😘 over her anyway NO SURPRISES. the 恋爱脑 on that boy istg, absolutely head no thoughts only yun weishan at least 20 hours in a day.

shangguan qian, a higher-ranking assassin (Mei, one rank above yws) in Wu Feng

my love my wife her mission is a little different from yws. her target isn't anyone from the Yu household but gong shangjue instead. the goal is to get her hands on this secret weapon (this is also a v HMMM part of the plot but no matter we endure what we have to) that the Gong family is safeguarding.

the relationship between these two wu feng spies is so interesting too!! they're not friends, not exactly allies, but also not quite enemies. they will help each other out if they really have to (and only if it doesn't jeopardise their own positions and there is adequate compensation), but will also not hesitate to stab each other in the backs if it serves their respective missions.

i needed like 100000 more scenes of them together ngl

ANYWAY the plot revolves around the Gong family trying to Catch The Spy, the Wu Feng spies trying to Complete Their Mission, gong ziyu trying to Prove Himself as the zhiren, and ofc there's romance sprinkled around. that's p much the gist of the show.

listen listen listen... i know this show has a bad rep in the cdrama circles, i agree. the plot is......HMM and it tries to hard to be one of those clever mysteries when it should just be what it is which is p much an idol drama?? i mean...it is a guo jingming show, we weren't going in expecting to be wowed by the plot. i think if they'd just stuck to the basics, this would have been a stronger show, but imo this wasn't bad bad. the worldbuilding was good and the characters were interesting, and like i said, the whole thing is shot really beautifully!!

the ending was......but i'll keep this spoiler free and just say that it was HMMMMM and v unnecessary what they did.

with the preface that i watched it without much expectations as to the plot, i enjoyed a lot of parts of the show! it's an incredibly easy watch, and because it's only 24 eps, the pacing is quick and conflicts don't tend to drag on for too long. if you're looking for some easy entertainment, i'd say go for it, but if you have Standards regarding plot etc, this is probably not the show for you

[aninspiringwriter]

Too much loving - Gn!Reader x Raiden

You and Raiden decide to be... Adventurous.

Warning!: Afab!reader, P in V, First time, Caught masturbating, Minors DNI

Words: 1.4k

A/N: Sorry for the wait but, EARLY CHRISTMAS GUYS!!!

Part 1

Part 2

It has been almost a whole month since you and Raiden have started dating. But for some reason, your mind had started to dream things with you and Raiden. First normal date ideas, but then the dates in your mind started to get more and more, horny… At first small things. Raiden's rough hand gently rubbing your thigh so softly, him kissing your neck softer and sometimes in multiple places. But your most horny dream was when you and him were just… Making out with so much passion it felt so real… Everything within it was just so… realistic that when you woke up, you woke up in a sweat.

The way you constantly just thought of Raiden in both ways, non-sexual and sexual, made you act like a Zaterrian during breeding season… Maybe tonight you may ask Raiden to… Maybe.

Tonight you and Raiden didn't see each other that day as Raiden was in the farm, but oh man, you don't know that day but you were way too horny for your own good. As soon as you got to your room, you closed the door and layed down on your bed, you just wanted to get out of your clothes. Throwing them all in one corner of your room within the Wu Shi Academy, and you just get under the covers, all you wanted to do is pleasure yourself, you truly couldn't handle your sexual frustration anymore. 

As soon as you start it feels good, but what makes it feel better is just thinking about Raiden.

"Raiden, Raiden…" You softly moan out as you slowly pleasure yourself, making sure to enjoy every second. Then you hear a knock at your door only a minute after you moaned out Raiden's name, you quickly wrap your naked body in the thick blanket before speaking, this time not in a moan. "Uhm… Who is it?" You ask sheepishly.

"It's me, Raiden. Is it ok for me to come in?" Raiden asks back, now it's getting really awkward…

"Sure, come in." You respond, Raiden's face smiles at you while he walks in, luckily closing the door behind him. "Oh I'm sorry, were you gonna go to sleep?" Raiden asks, seeing you wrapped up in that thick purple blanket not knowing you are currently completely naked under the blanket. "No… no, just getting comfy." You lie, well kind of lie. Raiden smiles, taking off his hat and placing it on a desk near your bed, his hair slowly unraveling itself. 

But then Raiden looks at you, his face turning to shock and his face turning a bright mix of scarlet and pink blush, looking away from you like a gentleman. "A-Are you… Naked under there Y/n?" Raiden asks, pointing towards you, then you realized your blanket starts to slip more and more off of you, so much so that your chest was visible to Raiden. "Yeah," You start to say, getting more comfortable, "you like what you see?" You say flirtatiously, more of your body getting more exposed as you lean back on the headboard.

You note how awkward Raiden had become at that time, then goes over to the door and locks it, which made you smile. "Of course, but isn't it too soon for me to be seeing you like this?" Raiden asks, looking at your body, most of it in the frame of Raiden minus some of the blanket hiding the bottom part of your body. Should you confess the fact you have been having wet dreams for almost 1 or even 2 weeks? Maybe… But then maybe you should keep what you were doing to yourself.

"No, in fact I would love it if you just came here and kiss me." You say, your finger suggesting that Raiden comes closer and kiss you on the bed. "Uhm," Raiden thinks, his foot tapping nervously, trying to be a gentleman by not staring at your naked body, "Maybe… Maybe Y/n I'm just nervous, that's all." Raiden says, finally looking at you, his face having a beautiful scarlet blush caused by embarrassment, and its fair, you were considered fairly beautiful by earthrealm standards and Raiden is also fairly attractive, but not many people find him attractive, except you of course.

Raiden then just gets closer to you, then lays next to you. His body on the side of where the blankets hide your naked body. Despite the fact of his total nervousness, he does eventually grab your side, the side that doesn't have a blanket over it. "Oh… Uhm… Am I doing this right?" Raiden asks, his hand rubbing your side and stomach, the side that has that scar. You then chuckle, nodding as Raiden rubs your side. "Well," You say, removing the blanket completely and revealing your entire naked body, you can just see Raiden's eyes stare you all up and down, "we could go further~" You say seductively, your starts to spread open as an invitation but Raiden closes your legs with his pants and leg that has a silk-like feel against your naked skin. "Y/n, why… Why are you so… Lustful?" Raiden asks softly while his hand just rubs your scar now. His eyes are trying to just look at you, but it's hard when you have such a great body, it's hard not to stare at your body especially when it's naked. 

"I… have been just," You start to say, trying not to sound too desperate, "I don't know Raiden, I started to have dreams of us like. Maybe a week ago, it started as normal like just date ideas, but they started to get… more and more risky, to say the least." You say, looking away from Raiden. While Raiden's face gets redder as he had just heard his partner was starting to have very horny dreams about him. You thought Raiden may be a little weirded out but instead he pulls your naked body close to him. His face while embarrassed he does confess one thing. "I… Y/n I have been having those same, well less lustful dreams, about us." Raiden confesses, looking at you lovingly and kind of embarrassed.

You and him sit in solemn and awkward silence for almost 2 minutes before you get adventurous with your own hands on his clothed body. "Mind if I… Take off your shirt and maybe even, more than a shirt?" You ask as your hands go to Raiden's shirt on him right now, his blue decorated shirt now seeming more vibrant than usual. You wait for Raiden's response, but his nod made you very confident. You sit up, and like a hive mind, he sat up too. You start to take off his shirt, revealing Raiden's nice toned chest, his abs, everything. 

"Wow, your body is… perfect." You say breathless, your hands making sure to touch all of his body. "But, that isn't what you want truly… Isn't it Y/n?" Raiden asks, leaning closer to you before he starts to remove his belt and pants, and you just stare with the greatest need for one thing… him. You start to lay down on your bed again, your face starting to deepen red with blush as you don't know what to do now. Raiden's cock springs out of his pants. "Well, uh let's start…" Raiden says nervously as he positions himself in between your legs, then he slowly pushes his cock in you, your body starts to reacts all weirdly as Raiden goes deeper in your pussy. 

Raiden starts to steadily thrust in and out of you, your wetness already coating his cock fully. Raiden's breath deepens and your body tenses up, and you start to moan louder. You know that Raiden's tender love does wonders to your pussy, and to your mind. Raiden starts to go faster, making your body start to move more on the bed. Raiden groans as he keeps it up for at least 5 minutes, having spurts of going rougher or lighter.

"Y/n," Raiden says breathlessly and with haste, "I'm close… I'm getting closer to…" Raiden says, as his breaths quickens and his hot cum fills you up.

Raiden pretty much collapses on top of you, his now soft cock slips out of you. "We should do this again, Raiden." You say, stroking his hair as he regains his composure and his breath. "Maybe Y/n, but maybe we plan ahead further and… Use protection next time." Raiden replies back as you lean forward and grab the blanket, chuckling all the way as you cover Raiden and you under the blanket.

"You… read my mind Y/n, I think I would much rather lay here with you." Raiden says, leaning in to kiss you tenderly, your body starts to untense as you realize you and Raiden just… Did it for 23 minutes, without even realizing it.

[honeyspotpie]

Okay so I wish the Ninjago fandom made more names for platonic duos/trios :/ maybe I'm just a spoiled MonkieKidder who's used to every single character combination to ever be conceived in someone's head having a name lol... So as a gift to you all enjoy some of my Dragons Rising platonic (mostly duo) name suggestions! (I'm giving explanations for them just in case, even if most are obvious)

Arin + Sora = GrapeFruit Duo (I talked about this before but grapefruits are orange and (kinda?) pink just like them! Plus fruit themed duo names are my favorite ever :3)

Lloyd + Arin = ApplePie Duo (apples are associated green (like Lloyd!) and pies are Arin's thing! And I adore them and apple pie in general <3)

Lloyd + Arin + Sora = Hibiscus Tea Trio (this one just makes sense to me okay... The hibiscus flower is very Sora-Arin coded in my head and tea alludes to Master Wu therefore Master Lloyd blah blah you get it!!!)

Wyldfyre + Kai = Blaze Duo (speaks for itself)

Wyldfyre + Arin = Flicker Duo (just warmth, spark, light and all that... themcore... And simply calling them "Flicker" is so so cute)

Wyldfyre + Sora = PyroTech Duo (like pyrotechnics!! Kinda iffy on it I will see... Wyldcat is really cool too but it's more so their ship name^^)

Arin + Sora + Wyldfyre = Sunset Trio (I struggled with this one the most but I decided on Sunset because a) it reflects their colors (orange, pink and red are all sunset-y colors) and b) the sunset can represent the old ninja "setting" like the sun to let the new generation "shine" instead :D)

Sora + Nya = CatFish Duo (catfish are extremely silly I love them so much... cat because Sora's cat motif and fish because water/ocean so Nya!)

Arin + Nya = TidePod Duo (this was, no joke, my first thought when coming up with a name... I was thinking of orange and blue things and Tide Pods were the first thing that came to mind... Guess my humor is just forever stuck in 2019 haha)

Sora + Euphrasia = KittyKite Duo (kitty for Sora and kite because it flies in the wind so Euphrasia! This one rolls off the tongue :P)

Arin + Euphrasia = Tornado Duo (because Arin's Spinjitzu - spinjitzus are just mini tornados and tornados are air/wind disasters it just makes sense :0)

Honorable mention goes to the Geo + Sora duo (I JUST LOVE THEIR CANON INTERACTION AND THE WAY THEY PARRALEL EACH OTHER^^) I would probably call them something among the lines of "Repair Duo" or "RepairShop Duo" :]

Anyhow if you have any suggestions or ideas yourself, feel free to rb or comment!!!

[yanderefantasies]

hi! hopefully requests r still open when i send this,,, can i request some hcs of wu chang with a darling who cries when faced with any sort of danger? even if the danger was like,, big or small (hopefully this was worded right)

I sorta kinda just realized I haven’t written anything in a hot sec so here’s this and a few more oncoming hcs that are being written as we speak bois

-Wu Chang have already been established as protective and obsessive before, but I haven’t really mentioned how manipulative they can get.

-They rely heavily on you needing them, that’s the whole point. They in love with you, but feel wrong if they don’t know whether you need them or not. So when they found out you were basically an easily scared individual? It made them happy, if anything.

-Xie and Fan would gladly help you in whatever situation you’ve gotten yourself stuck in, whether that be another hunter/survivor harassing you, or something as small as a bug- they’ll be by your side in what feels like seconds.

-Don’t get me wrong- They appear as normal as they usually are, swiftly dealing with whatever scared you and then comforting you shorty after. But they’re pleased. Pleased that you called for them to help you. These types of situations make them happy, rather than empathize with you- (unless you’ve been hurt, which is an entirely different story in of itself)

-You may start to notice that these things seem to happen more frequently. Someone’s claims you spread a rumor about them and and trying to start a fight with you? Well, wouldja lookat that! Fan is ready to fight in your place and Xie is already holding you, trying to calm you down.

-Eventually it will get to the point where you rely so heavily on them, they’ll need to stay by your side almost 24/7. You’ll feel as if you can’t do anything without them, and that if they were gone- then you’d be ruined. You cant help yourself.

[blu3cl0v3rs]

•u•

Guess what I gott!

A) something actually useful for my future

B) diagnosis I've been meaning to get for multiple years now

C) new Morro AU

D) finished day of Morrotober

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If you guessed C, YOU'RE CORRECT!

Yeah, so in scribbling my Day 25 prompt and doing a little bit of research (looking at a fandom wiki page) on Euphrasia, I stumbled upon the line of her hiding her wind powers so she won't get exiled.

Now I, someone who has not watched Dragon's Rising because I hace yet to finish Crystalized (I'm so scared based on other's reviews), immediately went "but why??? Why would she fear being exiled??? Unless, someone else * cough Morro cough * who also had the Element of Wind * cough cough hack Morro cough * got exiled as well?" So, of course I had to remember that one person whose user I can't recall who had a theory/AU that Morro was exiled from Cloud Kingdom and I took that, shoved big brother Morro into the mix, and shook that bitch until some word vomit came out.

So, now I've got my thought process out on how I got here, let the brainrot speak!

Morro was created. Yayyy!

Since I'm delusional, all Destiny Writers are part dragon because I said so, they just hide their ears, horns, and tails under robes (well, not necessarily hide bc they don't care abt being part dragon, but they're all covered by the robes). Also, dragons can reproduce asexually, because I also said so!

Mama made a biiiig oopsie, and the punishment was her son's exile, marked by the distinctive dark green streak in his hair.

Specifically, the punishment she got was "Lifetime of Guilt", which takes the most cherished person in the offender's life and essentially puts it through hell until they are dead, forcing the offender to feel a literal lifetime's worth of guilt for causing all of that pain.

Baby Morro is set free in the world of Ninjago, in which the Destiny Writers make a pointed effort to make his life miserable, as is the punishment.

However, destiny rewrote itself, throwing the kingdom into a panic. Morro defied destiny and started leaening under Wu.

The Writers tried for years to fix this mishap, which failed again and again and again.

Until, one day a decision the Writers could control came upon them; the choosing of the Green Ninja. They rejected Morro without a thought, and lead Morro to his burning painful death in the Caves of Despair. Since he was exiled by the Cloud Kingdom, he was sent to the Cursed Realm.

At this point, Mama had died, so the Writers ignored Morro until he defied destiny again by escaping the Cursed Realm.

Season 5 happens, but I make it better because I can. Oh yeah, and Garmadon fucking lives because fuck canon.

Morro lives, and tensely lives with the Ninja until post Season 7, where he ditches because Wu is lost to time.

In the time that Season 8 and 9 would take place, Morro sneaks around in Cloud Kingdom to learn why his life sucked so much. Insert him discovering what Mama did and her punishment.

He gets angry and is about to destroy all of the Destiny Scrolls, but meets little tiny Euphrasia.

Poor baby was abandoned by her parent and no one wanted to take her in.

They talk and bond and Morro decides she's now his younger sister, but due to plot convenience, he discovers Season 10 spoilers.

When the Ninja are debating what Garmadon meant by his whole cryptic ass warning, Morro bursts in being like "holy shit these evil smoke Oni things from the First Realm are gonna try to destroy everything" and shoves the scroll in their face for proof, completely ignoring the like 7 year old girl clinging around his neck

They kick ass, and Morro rewrites destiny for Lloyd because I don't care about Lloyd's little trip to grandpa's and decided I'm gonna do something more meaningful, like Morro yet again sticking it to Cloud Kingdom, this time to help the Ninja.

The Ninja, Morro, Euphrasia, Wu, and Garmadon do the bonding thing over the months between Seasons 10 and 11.

Speaking of Season 11, the Ninja fuck around and find out, Zane kinda dies like in canon, the Ninja all kinda kill themselves like in canon, Season 11 basically just plays out like it would if Morro and Euphrasia were chilling there as well and on Pixal and Wu's plotline.

During Season 12, instead of being fucking hunted down like the Ninja, Morro and Euphrasia are just vibing in some wholesome area, roleplsying and playing dress up. They're having the time of their lives, then they leave the game and talk with the Ninja and holy shit that's why there was a bounty on your heads???

During Season 13, Euphrasia does some windy stuff, and while the Ninja are busy stopping slavery, Morro teaches her some basic control of her powers (to him. It's actually decently complicated, Euphrasia's just a fast learner and Morro can teach well). They show up with Vania last minute to kick ass.

In Season 14, Morro's powers go out of wack, Euphrasia kind of lost her powers, and Nya's are over amplified. It is not fun for them. Morro is questioning his worth and all that jazz, but this time he has a bit of a support system (Euphrasia. Also the Ninja kinda all go "dude, you have worth outside of your powers. Been there, done that, it's fine," just nicer). Ends with Morro and Nya merging with their elements, but due to Morro's precise control of his element he can return, but Nya loses herself and joins the sea.

I will add another post here that covers Crystalized because I haven't watched it yet 😋

Also, I'm calling this AU "Cursed by Destiny"

[saelterlude]

link click musical list pt.6, (longer bcs i keep accidentally posting these early, gotta make up for the short pt.5)

also hi, this one took a while bcs i keep getting sad over not finding a Wang Yifei-Zhu Hanbin LG uppies clip :')

(pt.1, pt.2, pt.3, pt.4, pt.5 here)

81. 24/03/2024 night, Zhu Hanbin wore his shirt inside out lol, there's a good chance it was like that the whole performance since LG actors don't change costume. Also, I love how Zi bowen shouted his name, it's cute.

82. Cai Lu's short vlog, includes Guo Hongxu and Ji Xiaokun karaoke, JXK being bad at basketball, and chilling in the dressing room.

83. 28/03/2024, Cao Muzhi getting manhandled by Cai Lu (I drew it hehe) and also giving the biggest laugh when he won first round of RPS against Zhu Hanbin plss.

84. 01/04/2024, Wu Hanglu bullying Bai Zhuoming, Du Guangyi being aggressive, and BZM being confused and overwhelmed in RPS. If you're asking why DGY shouted his line, it's bcs BZM and WHL were too busy bickering to beckon him to the couch like they're supposed to do. Also, they sing 'Dive Back in Time' together.

85. 29/03/2024, Wang Yifei, please stop bullying Wu Hanglu, don't squish her, look at her, she's tiny. See? Now she's bullying you back.

86. 05/04/2024 night, piglet is back!! Wu Yihan, Cai Qi. WHY ARE YOU BOTH SO MEAN TO THE PIGLET?? WYH does not let CQ play around with RPS (by not doing them at all)

87. 05/04/2024 night, bonus to the performance above. WYH does not hug in "Pursuing Light" for once.

88. 06/04/2024 day, New Cai Qi pair unlocked with Guo Hongxu. Awkward eye contact and GHX just assumes he won RPS when he didn't lol, don't you know CQ cheats? Also, Zuo Yiping looks so short between them, helpp.

89. 30/03/2024 night, Wu Yihan going *finger points* "whos singing the sofa song?", and Qian Dongyue's birthday!

90. 13/04/2024 day, I think, Wang Yifei scared Guo Hongxu with that overly enthusiatic jump hug.

91. 13/04/2024 night, Jing Yanqiao 21st birthday!! Let's go! There's actually a full video of your encore now.

Also, #90 and #91, both GHX and JYQ caught off guard by WYF and ZHB's mic cupping habit during 'Dive Back in Time'

92. 06/04/2024 night, I can't find a clip showing Wu Yihan drinking vinegar, but I can show you Cao Muzhi being cute as he walks across the table. And saying 'be careful' in 'Dive Back in Time' bcs something happened with WYH offscreen, i think he hit a camera.

93. 06/04/2024 night, nevermind! Shimmer to the rescue! Here is Wu Yihan drinking vinegar! (he Du Guangyi-ed himself (#19 and #31))

94. 14/04/2024 day, Guo Hongxu has successfully been influenced to cup their mics. Also, I'm now declaring that Guo Hongxu and Wang Yifei is the perfect disgruntled cat-oversized puppy duo, just look at their hug.

95. 14/04/2024 day, another POV of the performance above so you can see Wang Yifei nod approvingly once GHX uses his method.

96. 14/04/2024 night, just a shortclip of Wang Minhui putting Cai Qi in a headlock.

97. Event clip, mostly just explaining the basketball event itself but I wanna show you all Du Guangyi being bad at basketball in the last 10 seconds.

(speaking of event, the theatre is gonna count which actor scores the most during basketball scene/"Faith of Friendship". me and the musical brainrot gang over in the lc 18+ server are doing bets on which actor is scores the most by the end of the month)

98. 19/04/2024, poor Deng Xianling just wanna tie her shoes, stop bothering her lol.

99. 19/04/2024, same performance as above. English boy Teng Chunpeng is very excited abt basketball.

100. 20/04/2024 night, have Jing Yanqiao, shamefully losing 2-8 to Zhu Hanbin

101. 21/04/2024 day, Bai Zhuoming won the match, he teases Wang Minhui about it the whole encore to the point he messed up the entirety of RPS song lol. (Also, they got 15-12, they were conspiring together)

102. 22/04/2024, Shu Rongbo getting startled by Cai Lu's leg and Du Guangyi adding to the leg jenga is very precious, I wanna draw that. SRB also won basketball 36-0 bcs DGY is a softie granpa, I guess we knows who wins this month.

(and no, as much as i favored him, i did not bet on srb :') )

(also, did i wait for the 22nd so i can get at least 1 srb video this post? yes.)

*Please give a big round of applause to @shimmeringweeds for all xhs clips. I could not navigate that site at all.

Bonus time! Made a list (here!) of Zhu Hanbin and Jing Yanqiao performances the other day, thus that's the bonus clips you're getting for this part. Please check them out, they're really cool.

But I guess I might as well add this funny video of Cai Qi and Cao Muzhi performing 'Mia Famiglia' from Apollonia musical. It's gold, just for the fact that CQ acts as if he's in a drama while CMZ acts as if he's in a comedy.