#actually nikkei

[satellitevenusnine]

The Leaders

18+ explicit, Paya x Tauro, 8k+ words. Romance/Fluff. All the romance. Cozy. My kink is healthy communication. Not hurt/comfort, more like emotional release/physical release. Spoilers for the "Finding the Fifth Sage" questline. Proportionally speaking, 60% of this fic is sex scene. I'm waiting on an AO3 invite but the fic will live here for now. Apologies for any typos, this is my first piece of writing in 8 years. Not looking for critique or writing advice, but if you like it, feel free to send some love my way. I just saw the lack of content and decided to fill the gap, so to speak.

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

When Tauro returned to Kakariko village, he was grinning from ear to ear.

Koko and Cottla ran to greet him at the southwest gate shouting their excitement into the light of the evening sun. Koko offered him one of her ring garlands and he swung her up onto his shoulder so she could put it around his neck. Cottla insisted that Tauro try a recipe she was working on. Grabbing his hand, Cottla pulled the unresisting researcher toward a bubbling cooking pot.

Paya heard the clamor from her loft window. She descended into the main room of the village hall and leaned out the window facing the High Spirits produce store. Tauro would have been hard to miss in most contexts, but her eyes immediately found the curly streak of white in a tumble of dark hair. His head was thrown back laughing and she couldn’t help but smile herself. She noticed the container of scrolls strapped to his back and felt excitement pull her to her toward the door. She slipped on her geta and hurried to meet the welcoming party.

“Lady Paya!” Cottla called out. “Come try my Mommy’s pumpkin recipe!”

Paya bowed to the child. “Thank you, Cottla. I would love to.”

Tauro playfully smacked his lips together and patted his belly. “Hey there, Paya! It’s so yummy, I’d eat up the whole pot if you let me!”

Cottla began to give a small lecture about the importance of sharing, Tauro and Koko on his shoulder nodding along gravely. Paya smiled to herself as she helped herself to a spoonful of nutty, spicy, meat-stuffed pumpkin. She savored the warmth as the flavors suddenly reminded her that she had gone too long without eating that day, lost in her ledgers of village supplies. Hunger to the point of nausea rose up and she had to lean a little against the matsu pine tree next to the pot. Lecture concluded, Cottla asked Paya what she thought of the food.

“You were absolutely right about sharing what we have in times of struggle, but I could eat up every last bit myself!” Paya said. She sighed a little. “Have you ever gotten so focused on something that you almost forget you have a body?”

Cottla frowned and shook her head “no,” but Koko was thoughtful for a moment and said, “Sometimes when I’m making my ring garlands, I want to only be thinking about nice things so the people who buy them can feel good as long as they have the garlands. It feels like that’s the only thing that exists, praying and braiding. Then it feels funny when my hands start to ache or something and it’s like I wasn’t even Koko for a while.”

Paya nodded at the older girl. “That’s exactly it.”

Tauro asked Koko, “Can I give you a hug?” and she threw her arms around his neck. He squeezed her tightly, swung her around once and set her giggling on her feet. “I’m glad you are Koko,” he told her. She laughed, waved, and ran back to her garland stand, but Cottla was still frowning at Paya.

“How are you sposed to take care of the village if you forget you have a body?” Cottla asked indignantly, shaking her ladle at the chief.

Paya bowed her head and folded her hands as if to beg forgiveness. “If I knew what delicious food was waiting for me, it would be much harder to forget,” she insisted.

Cottla lowered her ladle, squinting in suspicion. “You only had one bite! You better take a whole pumpkin and eat it all up!” She insisted right back.

Paya smiled in her gentle way. “Thank you, I will. And I will try to remember that you are counting on me to eat well, little Cottla.”

The little girl nodded decisively. She turned her ladle on Tauro now. “You take one, too. I gotta take the rest to Daddy now.”

Tauro grinned and said thanks, hoisting the box of scrolls off his back and setting his ring garland on top of it before scooping a stuffed pumpkin out of the steamer in the pot. He noticed Paya’s focus gravitate toward the box. “I’m surprised you managed to go this long without asking me about my findings! Link helped us land one of the biggest hauls in MILLENIA of Zonai research,” he told her now that they were alone.

Paya’s eyes lit up and she opened her mouth to ask a question when her belly growled as loud as a lynel. Hand over her stomach, she sighed a big sigh. “Cottla is right. I - I’m famished,” Paya replied. “As my honored guest, it is indelicate of me to eat without you starting the meal yourself. As desirous as I am to hear your news, may we please eat together?”

Something seemed to give Tauro pause for a second. His face was hard to read in a way that had nothing to do with his eyes being hidden under curls. Then his usual cheerful smile split the solemn expression and he tucked into his stuffed pumpkin without wasting another word.

Paya bowed her head and gave thanks, then did her best to match Tauro’s leisurely pace instead of tearing into her dish the way her stomach demanded. They ate in companionable silence and left the chatter to the cuccoos until the last morsel made it to Paya’s mouth.

“May I ask you something, Chief Paya?” Tauro inquired.

Paya nodded, dabbing her mouth delicately.

“Did you used to forget meals before the Ring Ruins fell?”

She glanced up at him in mild surprise. He had never really asked her such a personal question before.

She nodded slowly. “For a while after my mother passed away.”

Tauro made a noise of sympathy. “I’m so sorry to hear that.”

Paya looked down at her hands in her lap for a long, quiet moment. “She would have been chief before me if she had lived ’til Grandmother left,” she heard herself say. “I had to start preparations to take her place under Grandmother’s tutelage immediately after…” She was suddenly conscious of having forgotten to put on her chieftain hat in her hurry to greet Tauro and the children. She felt exposed without it now.

Paya felt a tear slip down her cheek and brushed it away reflexively. She had wished for her mother intensely while the stone ruins rained down on the village and the castle rose into the sky, and it had passed out of her awareness until now. A wave of grief hit her, recent losses calling to old ones amid the uncertainty of the future. She was trying so hard to be what the village needed both now and if the Demon King should return to his full power. She desperately fought back a sob.

Tauro was suddenly on his knees in front of her, blurry from the tears she couldn’t hold back anymore. “You don’t have to hide this from anyone, least of all from me,” he murmured. But Paya had both hands pressed tightly to her mouth and she found that she couldn’t look at him.

“Can I give you a hug?” Tauro asked. Paya felt certain that she would drown him if she let loose, but the need for release was greater and she flung her arms open to his embrace. How long had it been since she was held? Not since she was entrusted with the care of the village, at the very least. Not for many Blood Moons. She poured her tears upon his chest and it felt like she became a wild thing howling. Tauro subtly waved away onlookers concerned for their chief and kept her wrapped firmly in his arms no matter how roughly her wailing wracked her body. Her cries echoed off the cliffsides and it sounded like the mountains cried with her in many voices. When she began to tire out he drew her in closer, rocking slightly, until she relaxed in one big sigh. A breeze clacked the wooden emi hanging above them.

“Thank you,” Paya croaked, face still pressed against his body. Tauro just hummed an acknowledgement and the sound of it vibrated through her skull. She sat listening to the great whoosh of his heartbeat for a minute, relaxing further. When she finally raised her head, she found herself looking for his eyes.

“May I…?” Paya started to ask. “May I pull your hair away from your face? I just realized I have never actually seen your eyes.”

Tauro smiled gently. “Of course.”

What little distance remained between them was closed with great tenderness as Paya tucked long locks behind his ears. She wasn’t fully prepared for the sensation of falling into his gaze once she could finally meet it. The warmth and concern present, the patience and the steadiness disarmed her.

“Oh!” She said, startled. “Oh. This is quite intimate.”

Tauro’s smile grew into a grin, hiding his eyes once again in deep creases. “Yeah.” He replied. One large hand traced slow circles on her back. “Are you ok?” He asked.

She nodded “yes”, unable to look away from his face.

The sound of someone clearing their throat nearby startled her back into the wider world.

“Lady Paya,” Dorian greeted her. “Would you like to rest now that you’ve had your evening meal?”

Paya drew away from Tauro reluctantly. He, in turn, left his hand to linger on her back, a fortifying presence.

“You’ve got a little pumpkin in your beard, friend,” Tauro pointed out to Dorian. The guardsman hurriedly brushed the food from his face as Paya collected herself.

“Please thank Cottla again for her fine cooking and her care for her Chief,” Paya told Dorian, a noticeable rasp in her voice now. “Both your daughters do so much for the village. I can see the future of the Sheikah is bright because of them.” She bowed deeply to her bodyguard.

Dorian’s attitude softened somewhat. “Thank you, Lady Paya. I give thanks for them myself every day.” Straightening his posture, he asked, “Would you like to be escorted to your chambers?”

“Yes, I would,” Paya smiled, “but I wonder if I would be better served if you took the night off to rest and spend time with your family. They reminded me once again that without our health, the village cannot go on. We each must take care of our bodies and our hearts. Mr. Tauro has news of the latest developments in Master Link’s journey that he has yet to share with me and it may be best to relay that information in private. Cado and Olkin have guard duty in front of the village hall tonight so I will be well protected.”

“Tauro, would you be willing to accompany me to my chambers?” She asked.

Tauro beamed, bowed, and said, “Absolutely, my Lady!”

Dorian looked taken aback but bowed as well. “Our Lady knows best. I will enjoy time with my girls and return to my post refreshed in the morning.”

Paya felt the absence of the heat of Tauro’s hand when he took it from her back. The sound of Dorian’s footsteps receded.

She averted her gaze from the play of his muscles as Tauro shouldered the crate of scrolls again and clasped her hands in front of her heart. Grandmothers, see him through my Eye. Is he for the Sheikah tribe or for tonight?

Tauro’s hand lightly grasped her shoulder to let her know he was ready. Paya looked up at him and felt a pricking between her eyes that felt like the day her tattoo was inked. A spreading heat and intense yearning for him soaked into her bones. Her lips parted and she began the meditative breath. If you do this it will be Ceremony. Voiced yet voiceless.

She covered his hand with one of hers and spoke it. “If we join, it will be Ceremony. As Chief of the village, I do not do this casually. Knowing this, would you be willing to accompany me to my bedchambers?”

His lips parted too. With so much of his body bare, when he flushed it was very visible. “Yes, my Lady.”

Fireflies began to glow in the village round.

***

“I would still enjoy hearing what you discovered in Faron,” Paya said as she and Tauro climbed the loft stairs together.

“In my wildest dreams, I could never have imagined we’d find depictions of the workings of these ancient conductors, let alone EXTANT ritual garb made by Zonai for HYLIANS to wear!” He gushed without hesitation

“I almost lost my sea legs when me and Calip found Link WEARING the artifacts under a site struck by lightning that had been directed by Zonai conductors!”

Paya giggled and directed him to set the box of scrolls on her work table. “‘Lost your sea legs?’ Like lost your balance from shock?”

“Exactly right! The conductors were able to channel the energy away from the giant storm above Faron Woods, possibly due to the electricity attraction of metals and the energy absorbing properties of Zonaite!”

Paya shook her head in disbelief. “That kind of power… Truly a fascinating culture, but that kind of capability gives me pause.”

“Oh, 100%” Tauro said with vigor. “But now that WE can access these relics, it’s important that everyone know as much as we can about them. Their effect on the world, why they were put there, who they affected, the material cost to make them!”

Paya smiled. “I agree. Let no one person be considered the master of such relics.”

“Uh-huh. I like that.” Tauro looked around the room, scratching his head.

“Paya, may I make myself more comfortable?”

“Of course, Tauro. Do you need to ask?”

“Well, that means taking off the clothes I wear to fit in better with the Sheikah and sitting on your bed because my head damn near hits the rafters.”

Paya blushed from her seat next to her work table. “How much of your clothing do you wear to preserve my sense of modesty?” She asked.

“Basically, all of it.”

“Oh.”

Silence.

“Tauro, please make yourself comfortable.”

He smiled but it was one she had never seen before. Teasing. He wore boldness better than any garment.

He uncovered his head and shook out his hair. Paya became very aware of her body as the yearning pull started up again. He was right, his head nearly touched the beams of her ceiling. He tilted his chin, leaning contrapposto, and slid his vest off his shoulders, followed by a shirt he had mostly deconstructed. He untied his arm band, the turn of his head accentuating the tendons in his neck. He ran his hands languidly across his chest, grinning. “Still doing ok over there?”

“Oh, yes,” Paya breathed. Her expression shifted from entranced to curious. “How can you share yourself with the whole world like that?”

“I’ve got nothing to hide and everything to feel.”

Paya’s view drifted inward as she considered what Tauro had said. “That sounds wonderful,” she murmured. “You are truly blessed, Tauro.”

It was his turn to look introspective, stroking his chin and playing with the tie in his beard. “I hadn’t really thought of it that way. Do you want to hide, Paya?”

She looked into his face again. “Not right now. Not from you.”

He put his hand over his heart. “I am truly blessed.”

“Are you as… comfortable as you want to be, Tauro?”

“I’ve got more to show you, Paya.”

“Please, make yourself at home here.”

Another heartwarming grin. Off came his tool belt, his gloves, his research notebook in it’s net pouch, his purely decorative jacket around his waist. He licked his lips and hooked his thumbs into the waistband of his shorts. Paya’s breathing sounded loud in her own ears. Pushing his hips forward slightly, Tauro eased his last article of clothing off his body slowly and gracefully, relishing the sensation of his skin being exposed. He was left in only his Lurelin beads and magnifying lens pendant. He stretched his arms a little and brushed his hair back to make eye contact with Paya. Her mouth was open slightly and the heat in her eyes was intense. Even when he was at half-mast, to borrow a Lurelin phrase, he was the picture of desire.

“I think I see what you mean now,” she said with some awe in her voice. “If I were to visit you in Lurelin, should I wear something like… that?”

The beads draped around Tauro’s hips actually rattled when his cock jumped at the thought. Paya’s breath drew in sharply. “I think that is something you and I can definitely try just for us,” he said in a measured tone, “but most folks in Lurelin these days wear some cloth. They just don’t mind that I like sticking to the old ways.”

Paya let out a scandalized giggle, eyes wide. “I’m glad I asked first.”

Tauro sat down on her bed. “Are you comfortable, Lady Paya?” He leaned back onto his elbows, abs flexing as his torso curled along the length of her bed.

“I, um. I might need some assistance. My hands are a little unsteady right now.” She admitted.

He sat up again and held his arms out to her. She got up out of her seat and crossed the room to him. He was looking up at her face for the first time, but not by much. His hands slid across the sash at her waist and up her back as he drew her between his bare legs. The heavy wool of her garments was velvety against his inner thighs. He stroked her back as she reached for his face. She cupped his jaw with both hands, stroking her thumbs across the stubble on his cheeks. Half-lidded, her dark eyes looked like endless pools he could drown in. She leaned in for a gentle kiss.

A different kind of hunger began to make demands of her body. She moaned into Tauro’s mouth and he gasped, fingers flexing along her spine. The kiss deepened. Her hands were in his hair, tracing the curve of his collar bone, clasping the back of his neck. He grasped at her hips, slid his palms up her rib cage, dragged fingers down her shoulder blades. “Ohhhhh,” Paya moaned again, arching into him.

Tauro pulled away first. “What assistance do you need, my Lady?” He asked.

Her eyes cleared a little of desire. “Oh!” She said, a little breathlessly. “Um, something just occurred to me. Before you help me, um, get comfortable, you should know I may come away from this bed bearing new life. It is our custom to make vows before Hylia should we become family in that way. The bond is forever, in this lifetime and maybe the next.”

Tauro stroked her back again. “The bright future of the Sheikah tribe?” He smiled. She met his smile with one of her own. He put one of her hands over his heart and put one of his hands over hers. “Do I get to be your official consort or something?” Paya’s shy delight practically set her face aglow.

“You get a seat by my side always in all matters. Any children I bear will have the right to wear the Eye tattoo as proof of their unbroken Sheikah lineage.”

“That’s what that means?!”

Paya nodded “yes.”

“Wow. You really want me to be a part of that?”

She nodded again.

He really considered her words, but his hand never left hers, still touching his heart. He interlaced his fingers with hers. Taking in a deep breath and locking eyes with her, he said, “I would be truly blessed.”

Paya’s eyes filled but they were happy tears this time. She leaned in for another kiss and Tauro brought a hand up to her face, touching her tattoo reverently before their lips met again. She began to feel the press of his arousal against her body and her breath escaped her in a long exhale. Tauro moaned a little and let his hands roam down to her lower back and beyond. He used his solid grip on her ass to press her hips against his. “OhhHHHH!” from Paya, than a gasp. Tauro made a noise deep in his throat as their kissing gained a fiercer edge.

“Tauro,” she whispered, “Please…”

He stopped to let her catch her breath. “‘Please’ what, Paya?”

She had to find her words again. “I do not think I can manage knots right now. Will you undo my ties for me?”

He took her hands, kissed her palms, his sure fingers making quick work of the ties at her wrists and forearms. “Easier than untangling fishing line,” he chuckled.

Smiling down at him, Paya reached up to her hair to undo her top knot. Her loose sleeves revealed bare arms and Tauro gulped, realizing that this was the genuinely the most he’d seen of her body so far. She put her hair sticks and vermillion ribbons down on the stand next to her bed as Tauro rubbed her hips. She shook her head now that her hair was free and Tauro saw that in the lamp light, the strands shimmered like silver but had an aura of gold. His breath caught in his chest.

“The knot in my obi tie is tucked into my back,” she told him.

He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her again. “How do you tie it like that?” He whispered against her lips.

“I tie it in front and twist it round to the back,” she laughed. “But I like this way of discovering.”

“Mmm.” Tauro agreed between kisses, “Me too.”

Another quick knot to undo and her obi was on the floor, her great surcoat hanging freely around her body. She pulled it off and Tauro was shocked and delighted to see she was wearing a halter top underneath. When he ran his hands up her back again, they both thrilled at the touch of skin on skin. She leaned into his touch, letting her head drop back while she steadied herself with a grip on his shoulders. Groaning from the pressure of her pelvis against his bare groin, Tauro laid kisses along her collarbone while his hands confidently explored her newly exposed territory. His breath hissed through his teeth when he realized her neck was still entirely covered.

“There are two clasps at the back,” Paya whispered.

In a flash, he had them open. She released his shoulders to pull her top over her head and then it joined her obi and coat on the floor. Unconsciously, Paya clasped her hands over her heart, covering her bare breasts with her arms. Tauro’s breathing was unsteady and his mouth hung open slightly. She could feel the heat and humidity from his breath on her chest. He looked only at her face as she reached a hand to run her fingers through his hair and closed his eyes when she began to lightly scratch his scalp.

“The ties at my waist are the last,” she said.

Tauro hugged her tightly and pressed his face against her throat. Both Paya’s hands were in his hair now and the skin on the back of his neck tingled as her nails traced circles round and round. He grazed teeth against the hollow between her throat and shoulder and she cried out. Massaging her glutes, he kissed and sucked and worked her neck. Her hips began to move against his and he grunted. When she started scratching circles on his shoulders and upper back, Tauro cried out too, muffled against her neck. Running his own fingers through her hair, he brought Paya’s mouth to his and drank of her desire.

A cool breeze came through the loft’s open window and raised gooseflesh on Paya’s fevered skin. Tauro’s hands burned where he touched her.

He drew away first, holding eye contact as he released the ties from the curves of her hips and the thin cotton underskirt fell away.

“Are you comfortable now, my Lady?”

Paya shivered slightly from excitement. Her blush was everywhere. Tauro could feel the warmth and damp from between her legs against his body. “My need for you is uncomfortable. I ache with it,” she said. Tauro felt his own body tighten in response and he tipped his head back. He sucked his breath in through his teeth. “Ah.. yes. Right there with you.” Drawing her into his arms again, he just held her skin to skin for the first time. “I don’t know that I fully appreciated how sensitized you would be with all that cloth and tradition between you and the world.” He told her. Something in her belly unclenched and she let out a breath.

“Oh! Does joining not feel like that to everyone?”

Tauro pulled back slightly to meet her eyes, eyebrows raised. “Beloved, nothing we’ve done so far has felt like joining with anyone I’ve ever been with.”

“I want us to be comfortable together.” He said. “It doesn’t have to be all about tension to get release.”

Her eyelids fluttered a bit as she took that in. “Can you show me?” Paya asked.

Tauro licked his lips and began making slow circles with his hand on her upper back. “Focus on breathing deeply for a bit.” He intoned, leaning in to brush a kiss below her ear.

She could do that. She felt the rhythm of his breathing slow down and began to match it. Tauro massaged between her shoulder blades and planted kisses along her neck while she took in as much breath as she could and released it as slowly as possible. A practiced meditative breath. When she inhaled, he put a hand on her rising breastbone and just rested there, the other hand moving to the curve of her back. A long sigh out and he laid his lips to linger on the junction of her neck and shoulder. He cupped one of her breasts which prompted her next breath in and she pressed into his hand. “Ahhhhhhhhh” Paya sighed.

“Do you feel more comfortable now, Beloved?” Tauro asked, voice buzzing against her throat.

“Oh, yes,” she breathed. The passion she rode began to feel more like a great current than a tempest

“Do you want me to start opening you up?” He asked.

“OH! Oh, yes.”

“Let’s lay you down, Beloved.”

“Mmmmmmmm. Yes.”

Tauro simply splayed both hands across her back and lay down, taking her with him. Stretched out on top of him, Paya took his face in her hands and kissed him deeply, slowly, passing the leading rhythm back and forth between them. Tauro rolled them over so that Paya was on her back and he straddled her hips. More kisses, more sighs, more discovering.

“Will you spread your legs for me, Beloved?” He asked.

She bit her swollen lower lip as he raised himself onto knees and elbows. Running her hands down her body, she squeezed her breasts, traced the curves of her belly, and began to touch her lowest lips as she spread her thighs for him.

“OH!” Tauro gasped and wasted no time covering her face, neck, and chest with kisses. She sighed and kept her breathing steady, but the weight of his body pressed against her vulva made her play with her pussy more urgently.

He cupped and caressed her breasts, sucking a nipple deeply into his mouth, jaw open wide, and laving the underside of her breast with his tongue. “Yessssssss,” she breathed, arching up into him, raining kisses on the top of his head, her free hand tangled in the waves of his hair. He squeezed and massaged, worshipping alternately with hand and mouth, briefly pausing to listen to her racing heart.

Her slit was so slick now, she could feel her nectar dripping like honey over the crack of her ass and soaking into the futon. There was a patch on Tauro’s belly where he pressed his body against her. When he rose up, a string of it followed him.

“Paya, my Lady. Beloved,” he moaned “May I taste you between your legs?”

She whimpered. “Yes!”

He lay his cheek along her belly and brought her wet hand to his mouth. He kissed and licked her fingers, sucked them greedily one by one making little sounds of appreciation, licked the creases between her fingers with the flat and the point of his tongue. Her hips moved beneath him and she sighed. He nuzzled her stomach tenderly, being mindful of his stubbly cheeks. He gripped the prominences of her pelvis and gave kisses like blessings across her womb. Paya intertwined her fingers with his as he kissed the top of her mound. She squeezed his hands and tried to remember her deep breathing as she felt warmth, then cool against her slit as Tauro exhaled, then inhaled, then sighed hot breath against her most intimate of parts.

He kissed her clitoris when he felt her begin an inhalation. Immediately, her legs spread wider, pushing her pussy against his face. He squeezed her hands back and put his whole mouth on her flesh, sucking while his tongue slowly, deliberately writhed and licked between her lips.

“Ahhh!” She cried out, thrusting into him. Her back arched up off the bed as she tried to breathe in slowly through her nose. “ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh,” she sighed out, grinding gently, head tossed to one side.

Tauro made noises of satisfaction between her thighs and her rhythm stuttered. He hummed with her lips in his mouth and rimmed her slit with his tongue. She pressed into him and fell back on the bed. She let go of his hands to massage her breasts and he grabbed a pillow to put under her buttocks. Lapping the length of her with the flat of his tongue, he lifted up her hips and wrapped his strong arms around her thighs, pulling them open further and angling her pussy for a deep drink. Her well had many waters for him. He dipped into her with thrusting tongue and Paya’s voice dropped a whole octave. “UHHhhhh,” she groaned. She scraped her nails across her nipples and reached for Tauro’s head between her legs. He spread her lips wider with rubbing fingers, aiming to relax the muscles of her pelvic floor. He nursed her clit and swirled his tongue inside of her.

She felt like she was melting into his mouth. Her eyes closed and her hips rippled more smoothly against his face, knees dropping toward the futon as she unfurled to him. She made a tender fist in his hair.

“Oh!” Paya sighed, rubbing the space between her breasts with the other hand.

The bed moved slightly from Tauro pushing his own hips into the futon. Her strokes against his tongue started to grip him and he voiced his hunger for her climax. Fingers, lips, suction, pressure, depth. He came up for air with a ragged breath and then sank back into her. With his tongue as deep inside her as it would go, he curled it up toward her pubic bone, moving the point back and forth. Her thighs began to shake. Her toes pointed into his ribs, then flexed. She took as much breath as she could into her diaphragm and felt her Hara, her solar plexus, open up. Then Paya let herself feel it all. His joyful presence after a time of fear and tragedy. The ease with which formality dropped away as they worked together. His enthusiasm and his ability to sit in observation the way she sat in meditation. The way in which he hid nothing and sensed everything.

She rained her sacred waters on him and he did his best to drink them down. His hands roamed her body, touching her everywhere. Her thighs were pressed against his ears. Her cries sounded almost musical, going up and down scales. Tauro heard them as if swimming through the solid conductor of her flesh. He felt like he was being swallowed. Her walls pulsing against his lips and tongue, her hips rolling his head, her hand drawing him in. The smell and taste of sea water. His eyes rolled up. Every sense was filled with her release. Paya moved against him like ocean waves, like something bigger than the bounds of the earth. Thunder clapped overhead. With one hand clutched against her heart, she let go and let the rhythm ride her. It tumbled them both.

When Tauro came up for air again, he was a little wobbly. His lips were puffy. Veins pulsed in his neck. His beard and some of his curls were dripping. His entire face and torso from the nose down were shiny from her gushing waters. Lifting himself up onto his elbow, he burped.

Paya felt like the whole expansive world was her body. She was luxuriating in it when she heard Tauro’s burp and opened her eyes to see a very soggy man.

“Are you well, Tauro?” Her voice sounded resonant like a bell.

A toothy grin appeared. “Beloved, I’m well.”

“Will there be more joining tonight?”

“Mm. The intention is there. Give me a moment, please.”

“Oh, I didn’t mean —“

He nuzzled his face against her knee with as much energy as he could muster and stroked the top of her thigh. “I know. If not now, after a nap. I want you too.”

Her smile was loving. She reached out her arms for him. He belly-crawled up on knees and elbows til her face was within kissing distance. Their torsos were slippery from her fluids and the promise of rain in the air.

Tauro flung his hair back and leaned over her to lace his fingers behind the base of her skull. His eyes explored Paya’s face. He kissed her Eye tattoo and pressed his forehead there, taking a deep breath and exhaling through his nostrils. She met his unblinking gaze and inhaled his breath deep into her Hara.

“Do you know that tradition?” He asked her.

“I’ve not heard of nor experienced it before, but I did what felt right.”

He stroked her hair. “Bright future.”

“Family,” she replied.

“It’s not just for lovers,” he said. “If you share breath, you share life.”

She smiled, reached for the edge of the futon quilt they lay atop of and wrapped it over both of them.

“Do you want to tell me more about your practices, Tauro?”

He sighed happily and flopped to one side, letting his hand play with the curves of Paya’s ribs, waist, hip.

“Where I come from, grandparents and grandbabies do it, parents and children, people you’ve grown up with or survived great challenges with. It’s feeding each other, and it’s like a language that belongs to plants and creatures, minerals and the weather. It all breathes.”

Paya nodded in appreciation. “I feel connected with all things when I meditate, through my breath, because of what you describe.”

“If there’s a name for my practice, I don’t know it. It’s older than names.”

“Is the kiss on the forehead part of it?” She asked

“I wanted to honor where the life in you comes from. It feels meaningful that you have a marker there, where you and I make a connection, too. Some relationships may add kisses, but they won’t mean what ours will.”

Her eyes shone. “We are truly blessed, Tauro”

He drew closer. “I feel it, Paya.”

Closer still. “Beloved Paya, I’m ready if you are.”

She glanced down.

“Well, not ready ready.”

“Tauro, I would enjoy reciprocating. Do you want me to love your body with my mouth?”

A stirring near her hip.

“Oh Beloved…” with some heat.

He drew her mouth to his.

She was mindful of her pressure on his swollen lips. She could taste her own salt on him and his skin had half-dried a little tacky. Some of the urgency had bled off with her release.

Slow, tender kisses expressed her care for him. Paya asked Tauro to lay back and some of the thick quilt fell away. She reached for a basket under the stand next to her bed and got out a jar of oil. She poured a little in her hands and straddled Tauro’s belly. Spreading the oil across her palms, she put her hands on his chest and leaned down to kiss him some more. He slid his hands up to her hips and brushed her skin with his thumbs. Paya sat up and leaned her body weight into the muscles of his chest.

“Ahhhhh,” he sighed. He did his best to keep up with stretches while doing field work, but it was a demanding occupation.

She described big, broad circles in the tissue of his pecs with fists and palms, pressed her fingers between each rib and worked the muscles there. She ran her thumbs in the space between his ribcage and diaphragm while he inhaled deeply. Moving off to one side, Paya rubbed Tauro’s stomach clockwise, no deep pressure on the abdomen. She was careful with his sacred Hara. Her circles got bigger and moved lower. His breathing was deep and regular. She stretched out beside him and kissed the side of his face. He brought an arm up around her shoulders and she leaned her head on his bicep. Her hand slid past the beads on his hips and she rubbed oil into the muscle attachments at his pubic bone.

Tauro brought his knees up to change the tilt of his pelvis and some of his beads clinked as he changed position. His breathing became a little more rapid but still steady. She kissed his throat, his heart, his belly, bringing her hands up to rub broad circles across his nipples with her thumbs. She licked his belly button, circling it with her tongue before pressing inside. He took an extra deep breath and his hips twitched.

Paya looked up at him through silver lashes. “Shall I remove the beads around your middle?” She asked. He pointed to the ties and her fingers were much steadier now. He pulled the strands from under his body and dropped them on top of Paya’s discarded clothes along with his magnifying lens.

The length of his penis lay along one of Tauro’s hip creases. He was swelling but not hard. She reverently rested her cheek against his belly and stroked her oily palm down the underside of his cock, her thumb continuing the motion down his scrotum in the valley between his testicles. She came back up behind his balls and grasped the whole root of him. Tauro began to pant a bit, one knee dropping to the futon to give her better access and his hands coming up to play with his tits. Paya spread saliva around her lips with her tongue and stroked her hand up the length of him. There was enough lubrication from the oil on her palms that she gave each pull a twist at the head. His foreskin began to pull back as blood rushed to his phallus.

Moving her hand to caress his inner thigh, Paya wrapped her tongue around the head of Tauro’s cock and slurped it between her wet lips. His abdomen heaved and he thrust, a little shallowly with no real intention, up into her mouth. “Oh, Goddess!” He yelped.

She sucked gently, pulling up, twisting her mouth around his head now. She swirled her tongue around the tip as he rolled his nipples between his fingers. Paya grasped his hip and began to bob her head slowly up and down his length. He breathed in deeply and rocked his pelvis toward her face. After a minute, she pulled off of him and drooled on his cock. Her hand stroked the base of him with this new lubrication as she caught her breath. When she swallowed him again, she took him as deeply as she comfortably could.

“OHHhhhh, Beloved!!”

Her eyes flickered shut. Her sucking pulsed. One hand made corkscrew motions where his penis joined his body and the other played the valley between his testicles again. Her thighs slipped against each other as her arousal started to spill out again.

Tauro was grunting, groaning in time to her strokes. Paya hummed, fluttering her tongue along the underside of his cock. She pressed his hips down in to the futon when he bucked up toward her, and came up for air. Tauro traced her jawline with a finger.

“Ok, Beloved, I’m ready ready now.” A little raggedy, but with some energy.

Now Paya’s lips were a little puffy as well, and glossed with her saliva. She reclined along side him and they turned to each other to kiss. Tauro’s phallus was hot and slick between the press of their bodies. She threw one leg over his hip and ground her inner flesh against his cock. He rolled her over on to her back and she wrapped her legs around him. He kissed her thoroughly, ardently as he rutted his hips into hers, sliding between her lips and over her clit, driving her desire higher. One hand ran down the front of her body to lavish attention on her breasts. A hand in his hair drew Tauro’s head back and he made eye contact with Paya. She laid her palm at the base of his skull. Tauro did the same for her and kissed the center of her Eye tattoo. Her other hand grasped the slippery length of him and guided him to the center of her heat. Tauro pressed his forehead against Paya’s and stared deeply into her eyes. She exhaled long and slow through her nostrils while he inhaled, then he exhaled long and slow, pushing his cock forward, while she drew his breath in. This time, Taura could feel her drawing his Shen, his spirit, into herself with their breath at the same time he was being physically drawn into her body.

Truly blessed.

He rocked his torso back and pushed his hips deeper. Paya rocked her pubic bone toward him and spread her legs wider. She breathed slowly and evenly, and as she relaxed open, Tauro sank deeper into her body from his own weight. They found each other’s lips, making the sounds lovers make as they explored. Her arms went around his neck like a garland. Then Tauro pushed himself up and the shift drove his cock deep enough that her pussy swallowed him whole. Paya cried out in satisfaction, wrapped her legs around his like vines anchoring him in place. He held there a moment, straining as he felt her hold on him. Everywhere.

“UHHhhhh”

A flash of lighting lit up the room in black and white.

Tauro folded forward seeking kisses. There was an abundance there for him as thunder rumbled in the distance. Paya reached both hands down for his ass cheeks and used the leverage to grind her clit against his pubic bone. Very guttural vocalizations came out of Tauro as he wrapped his arms under and up over her shoulders to hold on. Her head fell back in an arc, her mouth open, exposing the column of her neck. He ravaged her neck with lips and tongue, needing an outlet for the sensations and needing to spur her on. He rocked into her as much as he was able.

She felt so full. Not only full with her lover, with Tauro’s body, but full of vitality, full of pleasure, full of emotion. It felt so good to be in this body and to share it with someone who could honor all of her. She kneaded his buttocks and they both moaned as he flexed inside her. Tauro pushed himself on his hands so the balance of his weight was in his pelvis and he felt his shoulder muscles tense. Paya gasped, gripped his ass harder, circled her hips — mortar and pestle. She pushed him right up to the edge in her own release. He took a deep breath in, wrapped his fingers around her breasts, and rode the sensations. She gushed around him, pulled him deep with her internal embrace as they churned together. She lifted her knees around his ribs and, free to move his hips, Tauro began to move by millimeters in and out. The thinner, watery fluid of her release eliminated friction. She let go of his ass cheeks, put her hands over his on her breasts, and just let their bodies pulse together.

Tauro flexed himself inside her again and her torso rose off the bed. Kissing her. Kissing him. Kissing each other. He rested on his elbows and Paya wrapped her legs and arms around his back. This was an old language too. They matched breath, chests pressed together, and heartbeats hammering in synchrony. He moved in and out in time to their deep breathing. Push, pull, pressure, vacuum.

“Tauroooo…” Paya moaned

A hitch in his breath. Now in and out in time to their pounding hearts. “OhHH Paya!”

She could feel him growing fuller and firmer too. She was stretched to her capacity and she engulfed him. She kissed him, suckled his tongue, and pressed her heels into his sacrum at the base of his spine.

A scratchy gasp burst from his lips. His fluid movements were not under his intentional control anymore. He could feel energy building up in his Hara, in his guts, in his balls.

Paya spilled over first, calling his name again. The bed was rocking like a boat on the ocean. Tauro’s beads clicked in time to his thrusts. She was milking the core of him and he felt his energy expand outward. He rutted into her welcoming body, back bowed, and he felt like he was bursting apart like the birthing of a star. In a rush, his Jing, his essence, flowed from his root and poured into Paya. He poured it deep, deep into the well of her sacred waters. They cried to each other like cranes taking flight across the skies.

Lifegiving rain poured down on the village.

***

“…are you well, Tauro?”

“y- ye —ahem. mm. yes, Beloved.” murmured threads of voices.

“shall we rest just like this?”

“mm. don’t think… i can move anyway.”

sighs. rustling of bed linens. yawns. kisses. sleep.

***

Tauro cracked one eye open as sound of cuccoos crowing carried across the village despite the muffling blanket of rain.

Paya was still fast asleep. He’d moved off to one side of the bed at some point during their rest. Pulling the futon quilt up to his chin, Tauro snuggled up to her again. This definitely beat a bedroll or a cot in this kind of weather. He supposed there were some material advantages to staying in one place where you could cultivate things. His focus drifted around the room as he felt sleep starting to take hold again.

Sitting bolt upright in bed, Tauro asked, “Paya, is that an ORIGINAL tapestry depicting the Calamity??”

She startled awake, rubbing sleep out of her eyes and staring confusedly up at him. “mmmph?? Y-yes??? You didn’t notice it last night?” Her scratchy voice asked blearily, squinting at him.

“I was focused on OTHER THINGS, Beloved!”

Laughing, she put her arm over her eyes. “You took all your clothes off right in front of it!”

Mouth agape. “And you DIDN’T POINT IT OUT??!”

“I have looked at that tapestry every day of my life, sweet one. It started to pass beyond my notice when the Hero won against the second Calamity and we were no longer charged with keeping it safe for fate of the world.” Paya took his hand. “Have you learned much about Sheikah relics?”

He was considering her. “Not enough, apparently.”

Lying back down, Tauro wrapped an arm around Paya’s shoulder. “How many of your ancestors have had the tapestry?”

She brought a hand up to her Eye. “Including the weavers, I am the 108th generation to serve in this way.”

He started to play with the tie in his beard. “How old were you when Link reawoke the first time?”

“Mmmm, do your people count the year of pregnancy?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“I was twenty years of age.”

“… was your mother already…?”

“yes. I was being educated to become Chief after my grandmother.”

He squeezed her lightly. She placed a hand over his heart and snuggled into him.

“Paya, Link and the Sages are going to win.”

She curled her fingers. Sigh. “Tauro, I trust you. I still fear for my village, though. Where does your confidence come from?”

Considering in silence. “So much has been laid down before you and I were born. So many things have had to go right over thousands and thousands of years for us to have the tools and information we have at our disposal. You called me here at the opening of something new, each of us carrying this wisdom from the ancients, and then when we joined, it felt like we blessed the whole valley. Maybe we can’t see the whole story yet. But I think it has to mean that we have the best possible chance to succeed.”

Closing her eyes, Paya listened to the great whoosh of Tauro’s heartbeat. “I feel it, Tauro.” Her voice resonant, like a bell.

He kissed the crown of her head and turned to encircle her in his arms. They matched each other’s breathing and lay listening to the rain on the thatch.

[satelliteearthtenthousand]

nishidake family makeover!

look. i just wanna talk to whomever did the east asian townies...

kaori's not so dramatic, but here's the before (default skin and eyes are cc but nothing else):

and after (makeup is actually maxis, but skin details are obviously cc)

sachiko before

and after

shigeru before

and after

i would have like to keep sachiko's double eyelid because that is an common feature of japanese folks that is underrepresented in the west, but when people start getting older, the eyelid droops and starts to look like a monolid anyway. i feel like the eyelid highlight was able to somewhat imitate that effect.

[autisticidolfan]

Top ten worst veggies:

Number one: None! I know my dislike of most vegetables is thanks to autism and how inconsistent they can be in texture and flavor!

Number two: cucumber, if I wanted to get hydrated I would just drink water not eat that watermelon-rind-tasting motherfucker

[tamapalace]

Yuki Kadota Reveals Woopatchi was Created from Overseas Sales Team Member

In the recent Nikkei MJ’s Tamagotchi in 100 Countries article, there was a little gem that you might have looked over! Recently the translated version was provided to us, so now is a good time to read it over in English like we did!

Yuki Kadota, Bandai’s Global Toy Planning Department comments on several things include the popualirty of the Tamagotchi Original in the Western market, the excitement of the Tamagotchi Uni, and how truly unites people from around the globe, and the origin of Woopatchi!

That’s right, the fan favorite character that premiered on the Tamagotchi Uni, Woopatchi was actually created by a member of their overseas sales team. How awesome is that? They were invited from overseas to help develop the new character!

[mariacallous]

Just after Christmas, the People’s Republic of China’s increasingly authoritarian leader-for-life Xi Jinping celebrated Mao Zedong’s 130th birthday. Xi led the Politburo’s Standing Committee in a requiem in the Great Hall of the People for the infamous Red Emperor, the greatest mass murderer in modern if not all human history. The members thrice bowed before the grand killer’s statue and remembered his “achievements.”

Mao’s thoughts are a “spiritual treasure” and would “guide our actions in the long term,” Xi said. The Chinese people must “work to enable our party to adhere to its original mission … maintain vitality and vigor, and ensure that our party never degenerates, never changes its color, and never loses its flavor.” Under Mao, Xi said earlier last year, the Chinese Communist Party developed a “brand new form of human civilization.”

Ironically, by strengthening his arbitrary rule, Xi is actually making an eventual counterreaction more likely. Ever-tightening repression poisons the entire system. Fear exiles honesty and accountability in policymaking, leading to more and bigger mistakes, including at the top. State centralization and politicization are reversing the very forces that spurred economic growth. The determination to indoctrinate as well as regulate already has spawned antagonistic youth movements that challenge authority. Political stability is likely to be only temporary; when Xi passes from the scene, the succession fight is likely to be more bitter and fraught.

Not everyone agrees with Xi. On a recent trip to China, I met an academic colleague who expressed profound pessimism, which he said many intellectuals and others shared. In the past, he observed, they at least could look forward to some change every five or 10 years, when a new party general secretary (and president) was chosen.

But no longer. Not only is Xi president for life, but the party is also rapidly reverting back to the habits of the Maoist era.

Yet Xi was not alone in reveling in the supposed achievements of the Great Helmsman. Mao’s birthplace in the southern Hunan province, which I’ve visited, has long been a major tourist destination. Today, it may be the one place in China where a dissident can covertly promote revolution. As a Nikkei report on the anniversary observance noted, “The younger attendees on Tuesday seemed particularly inclined to chant slogans considered more extreme in their rhetoric. Those included such slogans adopted by China’s Red Guards during the Cultural Revolution as ‘No crime in revolution!’ and ‘To rebel is justified!’”

However, as Xi concentrates his power, I wonder who these young visitors think they’re rebelling against.

Right now, Xi’s power seems unshakeable. But so did Mao’s during his lifetime. Almost immediately after he died, policies began to change—and had shifted on the ground even beforehand. Within a decade or two, the country was almost unrecognizable.

Some of the devotion to Mao was real, and he retains some fervent fans. When I visited his impressive mausoleum in Tiananmen Square a few years ago, the lines were long. Many people bought flowers from vendors before entering to set before Mao’s massive bronze statue in the entryway. Some visitors seemed genuinely overcome with emotion. However, capitalism ultimately triumphed: On exiting, everyone passed by stalls marketing overpriced Mao tchotchke.

That the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) continues to cling to Mao to maintain its revolutionary credentials is embarrassing, but hardly surprising. Mao remains one of China’s most recognizable symbols. His portrait hangs on the Gate of Heavenly Peace on Tiananmen Square’s northern edge. His mausoleum dominates the space and is much more impressive than Vladimir Lenin’s dark and dank resting place. And Mao’s face adorns China’s currency.

All this was built on a pile of corpses. The CCP consolidated power with campaigns against so-called counterrevolutionaries, landlords, and other enemies, killing 5 million or so Chinese. In 1950, Mao made the decision to enter the Korean War to save North Korean leader Kim Il Sung. Some 200,000 Chinese soldiers died, along with untold thousands killed by them in a war prolonged by two-and-a-half years. In 1956, Mao initiated the Hundred Flowers Campaign or Movement, in which he encouraged the people to speak freely. Apparently shocked after receiving criticisms rather than encomiums, he responded with the Anti-Rightest Movement, in which millions were killed.

In 1958, Mao’s fertile mind came up with his worst idea yet: the so-called Great Leap Forward, simultaneously collectivizing farming and decentralizing manufacturing. Estimates of total deaths vary widely, but perhaps the most comprehensive account came from a party member and Xinhua reporter. Yang Jisheng figured: “[T]he Great Famine brought about 36 million unnatural deaths, and a shortfall of 40 million births.”

Mao’s final flight into pure madness was the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. The murderous mix of party purge, civil war, and social collapse may have caused as many as 2 million deaths.

Mao’s death was almost as consequential as his life. Pragmatic revolutionary Deng Xiaoping won the resulting power struggle and moved China down the course of economic reform. However, Deng, like Mao, rejected political liberalization and orchestrated the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, which was followed by purging millions of party members.

The CCP recognized that Mao had made mistakes, but it was unable to let go of the legacy of the national founding father altogether. Mao was still 70 percent right, the official verdict decided. (Contrast the Soviet Union’s Nikita Khrushchev, who was able to take Joseph Stalin’s legacy down entirely, in part because Lenin provided a convenient alternative state founder.)

Even after Tiananmen, China remained far freer than under Mao. However, that was then. In almost every way, Xi has shoved his nation backward.

Independent journalists and human rights lawyers are gone. Internet controls are tighter. Repression of churches is more intense. Academic exchanges are more limited. Controls over Tibetans, Uyghurs, and Hong Kongers have metastasized. Companies host party cells. Business is being made to serve the CCP.

And Xi has greatly strengthened party and personal control and uses both propaganda and coercion to insist that everyone thinks like him. He has tried to control history, presenting an idyllic version of the party’s bloody past. There is a burgeoning personality cult, though it seems perfunctory, lacking the ardor and intensity that more often surrounded Mao, at least during the latter’s life.

An important problem with Xi’s retreat to Maoism is the absence of Mao. Give the latter his due: Charismatic and driven from the start, he took a weak and divided movement from defeat to triumph and cast off centuries of Western and Japanese imperialism. In contrast, Xi is a colorless apparatchik who carefully ascended a party structure created by others. He wants Mao’s control without having earned, brutally and bloodily, Mao’s power.

Opposition exists but is futile. Wall Street Journal reporter Lingling Wei reported on a meeting at which a forlorn liberal administrator who had worked on stock market reform “signaled me to a corner of the venue. … ‘The whole thing about getting listed companies to set up party committees,’ he said, ‘is a reversal of what we had tried to do.’ Then he walked away without saying anything else.”

Indeed, China may be slipping back toward the Soviet Union in terms of political sentiment, if not economic achievement. People are still much better off than before, but a sense of ennui, even despair, afflicts those who desire personal freedom to enjoy their material bounty and personal opportunity to shape the social order around them. Xi, like Leonid Brezhnev, insists that soulless apparatchiks are the center of society.

It appears to be the fate of every nation that the worst will get on top, sometimes. However, as Friedrich Hayek predicted, they will do so more often in communist systems.

China is proving the rule. There was Mao. Now there is Xi. With Xi celebrating Mao, hopefully there won’t be another.

[threeais]

AU MAZTERLIZT [zighz...]

thiz wil be in order of oldezt to newezt [THIZ WILL BE UPDATED IN THE FUTURE!!]

[Mozt of the namez/plotz are ztupid ok blame me in 2020/2021/2022/2023- itz juzt the namez but ZTILL.]

zome auz may NOT be here due to me either forgetting about their exiztance or not writing it in my ACTUAL au lizt.

feel free to zend an azk abour ANY of theze auz to know them!!

alzo i zhall be adding extra noted abt the auz... maybee

-

1. Betrayed au

2. Future au

3. AAIS au [Angie And Iroha's Swap]

4. TalentSwap au

5. NTPYW/Not The Participant You Wanted au

6. Disaster au [aka the au where my zdra2 oc came from!]

7. Yoruko and Emma swap au

8. idk au [thiz auz name iz litreally called idk im not joking here)

8. RealSwap au [uzed to be called irl zwap!]

10. Dearest "Mistake" au

11. Voided au

12. The Fuck? [2020 kiv waz bad at naming auz dont blame him]

13. Huh? [i wanna quit doing thiz already😔]

14. Gun au [ZIGHZ...]

15. Nikei Survives au [YAHHOO]

16. Necklace au [ZIGH oh well i ztarted thiz time to not complain]

17. Past Travel au

18.. No More [Voids] au

19. They Lived au

20. If You Seek Nikkei au

21. Betrayal au

22. Your Little Mistake au

23. Operation V.O.I.D au

24. Protagonist-Swap au

25. DanganLab au [the lab [oratory] au, but mikadoz a lab expirement too /j]

26. Turkish au

27. Yamatsuro Swap au

28. Uh bad?? au [ZIGHZ...]

29. OMORI X SDRA2 au

30. Your NextDoor Voids au

31. Biki's Realization au

32. Mr Kasai au

33. Void's Mistake au

34. What if, Taira? [Orginally uzed to be called "what if"]

35. Spy's in Disguse au

36. Innocence au/TWI au

37. Never Wanted au

38. Sora's Plan au

39. Utsuro's Curse au

40. what au [zobbjng rn]

41. Utopia au

42. Welcome To The Show au/ WTTS au

43. Be More Chill x SDRA2 au [wanna know the funny thing? my BMC hyperfixation ended after thiz au.]

44. GameSwap au

45. Our Lives au

46. Yuki's Future au

47. Ais Never Forget au

48. Loop au

49. Dream au

50. 16 Years au

51. Three and Thirteen au

52. Kindergarden au [lizten i needed at leazt ONE wholezome au back then]

53. Revived And Loved au

54. Beta au

54. Fake Foundation au

56. The Ghost Of Utsuroshima au

57. RoleSwap au

58. MindSwap au

59. Lab [Oratory] au/Lab au

60. Swapped Au

61. Fake Fantasy au

62. Survival au

63. Perfction au

64. Simulation au

64. Mistake au

66. Roleplay au

67. DreamCatcher au

68. One Wish au

69. Safe But Free au

70. SDA:RH [Super Dangan Another: Revived Hope] au

71. YTWUL [Your Turn With Utsuro's Luck] au

72. Old Friends au

73. Forever Utopia au

74. Your Safe Now au

75. VocalSwap au

76. False Hope au

77. Fatal Insanity au

78. Expirement au

79. Infinite Life au

80. Inverted au

81. Puppeteer au

82. DOF/Deal Of Fate au

[ 82.5 Beta!DOF au ]

83. Elemental Guardians au

84. ABINH [ A Body I Never Had ] au

85. ADUMC au/A Day Under My Control au

86. Angel's Luck au

87. Silent Murder au

88. Not My Voice au

89. Scarf Of Evil au

90. Choice au

91. Wiped au

92. YTTD X SDRA2 au

93. Protect Your Fate au

94. Memory Control au

95. Weird Party au [thiz au waz zuppozed to be a joke back then😔]

96. Actor Au

97. CandyMaker au

98. DeRealization au

99. Merchant's Despair au

100. Nikkei's Safety au

101. Apocolypse au

102. Dark Renaissance au

103. Trapped au

104. Isolate au

105. Voidination au

106. Akane's Roulette au

107. Closed Love au

108. Broken fate au

109. Safe Place au

110. LoveStruck au

111. DollMaker au

112. RedCult au

113. Guardian au

114. Survived Guilt au

115. Time Keeper au

116. Despaired Trust au

117. Royal Au

118. Despaired Disaster au

119. Survived Love au

120. Portrait Of The Future au

121. Shadow Trust au

122. Combo au

123. Holy Room au

124. Future Line au/Futuristic TimeLine au

125. Pixel Ghost au

126. Gone au

127. Broken and Controlled au

128. Secret Fortune au

129. Uninvitation au

130. Nightmare Hour au

131. Hacker au

132. High School au

133. Model au

134. Fears Of The Future au

135. Criminal au

136. Scene au

137. Faceless Mikado au [ itz an inside joke i guezz ?]

138. Minecraft au [ayo tehyre in the craft game]

139. Discord au [i dont wanna talk abt thiz one /neg]

140. Guilt au

141. Ais Mistake au

142. LC x SDRA2 au

143. Masked au

144. Vintaged au

145. Island Of Pleasure au [thiz iz not nzfw btw the "leazure" part iz zuppozed to be happinezz- wow i actually have alot of wholezome auz what]

146. Dark Town au

147. Ringleader au

148. Plush au

149. Regretted Luck au

150. VAFO [Voidless and Fearless Otonokoji] au

151. Dark Prom au

152. Fake News au

153. TFOF [TalentSwap Future Or Fate ] au

154. Safe Death au

155. Mikado's Utopia au

156. Shape Of Life au

157. Bought for Enjoyment au

158. TalentSwap: Scene Of Stars au

159. Kavra au

160. Test au

161. FolkLore au

162. Safe and Perfect au

163. TalentSwap: Money Or Luck au

164. Alcoholics Dream au

165. Fable au

166. SCP au

167. Hell Parade au

168. Fixtionate au

169. OtherWordly Investagations au

170. DoodleVerse au

171. WonderLand au

172. ColorSwap au

173. Flower Meaning au

174. Denial au

175. Personal au

176. Alter [ Ego ] au

177. WizardCorp au

178. Demon Rizings au

179. Object Show au [yup]

180. Disaster TimeLine au

181. UnDead au

182. God au

183. Controlled Deceit au

184. The Dark Manor au

185. Kingdom Of The Heart au

186. Forceful Love au

187. Truth au

188. Quiet Replacement au

189. Effortless au

189. Bloom au

190. Planted Trust au

191. SuperNatural au

192. Corrupt Future au

193. Sacred Reality au

194. Voidful Revenge au

195. Fault au

196. Tasty Despair au

197. Swim For Escape au

198. divorce lawyer tsurugi au [THIZ WAZ AN INZIDE JOKE]

199. TalentSwap: Revival Of The Cards au

200. Expiremented Fantasy au

201. Lived UnFortunate Luck au

202. Granted For Who/You au

203. Witchism au

204. Wheel Of Despair au

[Thiz au iz a joke but itz in the au lizt zo-] 205. Weed au

206. Mikako Medicine au

207. RoleSwap/TalentSwap: Broken Despair au

208. Project Voidifacation au

209. Au: Crossover Mania/Alternate Connection Multiverse [BAZICALLY juzt a au to make au crozzoverz ok]

210. Angelic Human au

211. Hunted Trusters au

212. FreakShow au

213. AC au

214. Town Of Divine Eternity [TODE] au

215. MemoryWipe Otonokoji-San au

216. RoboNikei Lives au

217. Phantom of The Hashimoto au

218. Goodbye Mikako, Hello Mikado au

219. Future's Deceit au

220. TalentSwap: Past's And Fortune's au

221. Sea Creatures au

222. Nameless [<-for now lol] au

222. Lost And Found au

223. Relaxation For Our Mind au

224. Royal au

225. Yargı au

226. Lobotomy Archives au

227. Talentswap: Souls For Undeemed Holyness / Talentswap: Saints Unseen

228. Talentswap: Guilt Or Love

229. Luckless Magic

230. Risk au

231. Talentswap: Blood On Our Hands

232. Solace au

DONE BUT IT WILL BE UPDATED..

233. Facade au

234. Ignominy au

235. Virtuoso au

TIME FOR A BREAK HOOOLY ZHIT.

[fangirlsovertoomanythings]

I've been having a massive Goemon brainrot, and you can feel free to ignore me because this one is going to be 100% self-indulgent: I think he should be half-brazilian because I am brazilian and I said so

(I actually do have reasons why it would genuinely be interesting other than my own amusement, alright, I'll talk about them)

For context as to why I even began to think about it, we do an anual celebration of Japanese immigration due to the intensive flow in which it happened and how it affected brazilian culture overtime. It is, after all, the country with the biggest numbers of Japanese people outside of Japan (though, to be fair, Brazil is often the country with the biggest x out of x_motherland) and you can see the influence of the immigratory flow in places such as Liberdade, a neighbourhood of São Paulo:

There's a lot to say about the Japanese immigration to Brazil over the years and how it affected the culture surrounding both countries, but there's also a second wave of immigration that does the exact opposite: brazilians with Japanese background going back to Japan

Although that second wave only happened in the 1980s with the economic crisis (if you want context, research about Plano Collor, it's absolutely ridiculous) and we can assume that most of what we would consider to be the "Lupin III very blurry timeline" happens sometime around the 1970s to 1980s, there still lies the possibility that one of the nikkeis decided to come back to Japan. Contact with the country returned after WWII ended and it was clear to many people that the economic situation in Brazil was significantly better, despite the setbacks of being in a land with a hard language to learn when your first language doesn't have most of the phonems needed to master it and the problem of racism (there's a reason why there are a bunch of European immigrant descendents here, and trust me, it ain't good)

Now, I will say that it is a highly improbable scenario, because most of immigrants had immigrated with their families and would therefore be more willing to stay. But it is not impossible.

All of that, in turn, leads me to Goemon and how I think making his mother a nikkei who returned to Japan would be an interesting way to showcase this complicated History both countries share with one another through a character. I think he'd enjoy these anual festival São Paulo does, and to wander around the streets of Liberdade to see a part of Japan existing elsewhere. To see that there are a lot of people in a foreign country with familiar names. Lastly, I think it'd be a multicultural experience to him, aswell, since this culture is not the only one deeply connected with brazilian History and part of the historical figures, tragedies, music, nursing rhymes, literature and food found wayyyy outside of what he's known also belongs to him

(And I just think it's funny to imagine Goemon looking at pastel de sushi - pastel was most likely created by Japanese immigrants, and for the hispanohablantes, NO, it is NOT a cake - and wondering whose idea it was to put salmon in there. I want him to feel that shame. And I want him to enjoy eating it)

(Also, I may find the way that he sounds in the PT-BR dub of The First hilarious. He literally sounds as if he's in a novel, while brazilians are informal and "eat vowels". He doesn't. Eu amo ele)

[missmyloko]

Hi Justine I hope your are doing great. Thank you for your previous answers to my questions.

Today I don't have a question I just wanted to share some interesting stuff I found walking nearby that remind me to the Karyukai and are kind of rare to find over here and wanted to know what you think about it.

First I found this cute hairpin that even if is not so detailed really make me think I some pins that I have seen in maiko or Japanese women's and girls in some photos. So I believe was a cute accessory and quite rate in style over here

There were some others hairpins of flowers as well but didn't find them that cute for me to buy them.

The other thing I found in the same store is this fan that even if is big and of course is more Chinese than other thing. I found it beautiful for how is decorated, and is really hard so it can kind of work to dance. However is too big for a Mai in my opinión

As you can see, it has two beautiful faces one with a writing and the other with a common painting.

And the last one that I was super surprised to find but couldn't afford yet. Is this Kimono, this one was found on internet in a web that is like an eBay but local.

Here kimonos are super rare in my country, actually this is the second one I ever seen here (the first one being an uchikake in a Japanese exhibition of the embassy) Is gorgeous and come with 3 pairs of gets and one or two tabi socks, but unfortunately doesn't have an obi belt for women which is rare taking into consideration that comes with many other accessories

What do you think about them? Especially about the kimono.

I know the first two are simple and maybe common. But I get excited because here these kind of details are quite rare even having a great political relationship with japan an a good Nikkei Population. and I feel more stuff are coming and people like me that love these kind of stuffs are going to be more able to see them in person and also own them, and well I just wanted to share it with this lovely community. My apologies if is a bother for you.

Thank you very much Justine. Best regards:)

The kimono is an export kimono (ie: one that was made for the export market and not for actual use in Japan). It's pretty decent for an export one as it has the correct sleeves, but it does have a matching belt and that design pops up every so often on the export market. The zori are nice though ^^

[transhawks]

I read one of your metas on my way to work and retold it to my kids who were all so invested. and to me it's funny because they are the reason I even restarted the show. I had dropped it on season 2 but it's what the 8th graders I'm teaching talk the most about and they got excited finding out I like anime. and I thought 'I can talk about being basic and liking Deku this will go great' except they hit me with "what do you think Horikoshi's view on police truly is? because Hawks narrative is happening but it's still a superhero story of Deku's foretold success" (I fucking love children) and I was speechless like "the emo goth bird??? what the fuck did he do?" but this boy hits me "oh no they now have this guy who is such a new money asshole they should admit that's a nipo-brazilian" (this is Rio he can say it) and that I had to see. but when I say they talk about it it's stuff like "does Shigaraki truly believe in nothing or is it because of AFO's presence and how will that play with Deku saving him?". not like. any doubt that Dabi's need to be seen is meant as conflicting feelings victims have for their abusers. I'm not sure what my point sharing here is but 1) BNHA hits its target audience a lot better than tumblr adults I think and 2) know that a bunch of brazilian 14 year olds think you're sooo cool and smart

Wow, let me respond through my tears... First off, I burst out laughing at the kid who called him a new money Nipo-Brazilian. My limited knowledge of Nikkei/Sansei/Yonsei history in South America is actually more of knowing the Peru history but like Brazil famously has a bigger Japanese community and I remember reading a lot of forced assimilation efforts. But, as for Hawks, I've always been fond of "post-canon" ideas for him leaving Japan and likely going to other Japanese communities. I'm guessing current day Nipo-Brazilians have gained a lot of money in the past generation? Truly, his "new money"ness is cross-cultural.

I'm just floored by your kids. They're so smart and so right and I'm absolutely fucking loving that they're having these conversations. And out of all the instances people have told me that they shared my work/discussed it IRL, I've never been... as happy as this. This is such an honor. It's humbling you found something in my work that spoke to you and your children and then proceed to discuss it like a teaching tool? Like that's... like my work is helping those kids learn? That's uhh, well, I want to weep. I'm just... I've spent the last ten minutes crying.

It's honestly really something that a lot of the complex conversations and nuances are just readily understandable to teens rather than adults. Fascinating, actually. I wonder why. I'd love to hear about any conclusions they've come to.

And yeah, I'm just... You've made my entire month, or year. I just... reading this ask was a balm for my soul. Thank you so much.

[laugtherhyena]

How would Chapter 3 go in Voidswap? Would it be the same as the canon Chapter 3 or would it be like totally different??

Voidswap chapter 3 got reversed just like the other cases + Hibiki lives, she's actually one of the survivors in the au

The case starts basically the same as canon chapter 3, but Setsuka wakes up earlier than Kanade had anticipated and attacks her in self defense, which accidentally kills her. From here on out it becomes V3 trial 5 where Setsuka makes the body unrecognizable and the whole trial is them trying to figure out who's actually dead and who's the killer.

There are more details but i figured you can read for yourself! Your question reminded me how i have a shit ton of notes for this chapter from back in the day, so enjoy! Tho keep in mind these notes are very rough and messy + they're like 2 or 3 years old now.

Ch3 daily life

-Nikkei telling shinji that the idea of seeling of the balcony is bullshit, shinji replies by saying he is just complaining due to being too much of a wimp to help them

-Sora drags iroha to the ghost house in ch3 just to see her being a cry baby but ends up getting scared herself when they see someone else at the house

-Mikado getting his handbook snached by Syobai

-The twins find the mistery box alongside the parade dolls at other stuff at one of the storage rooms. Sora enters it to test out how it works and a CG shows up

-Nikkei and Yuki exploring Satsuki land together

-after the motive videos Sora watches everyone freak out then turns to iroha, who looks upset but it's not actually crying or anything, she tries to talk with her but iroha just leaves

-later same night she finds iroha while going back to her room and they talk. Truth is, iroha doesn't have anyone she considers her "most important person", as such, she had no motive video at all.

-this leads to Iroha finally telling sora the truth about her family and how her life has been, sora then comforts her and they part ways to go sleep.

[Hey! Present Carol here! This was written before i had even came up with Hitaru, Jiro and Akemi. Wow, it's been a hot minute. Tho i guess it could be kept the same since this Iroha how she was in her teens so it's not like she appreciated her siblings back then?]

-The satsuki land parade is going around and iroha talks about hibiki not being in the parade and sora teases her about having a crush on her

-everyone having fun at the parade until a fucking explosion happens and everyone goes "HOLY SHIT-"

-Shinji being the first one to get to the pool area after the explosion, helping to pull off the fire before the bda starts

-Kanade's bda starts with a ton of smoke covering the whole sceen, when the smokes starts to move/fade we see a destoryed pool area. The pool itself is a little visible despite the damage. The burnt body is next to one of the walls (now almost all broken) with parts of this same wall and prices of the roof over it. Not a lot of parts of the body are visible and the corpse itself is unrecognizable.

-The place is all fucked due to the explosion and because of that not only is the body very rough but they can't get really close to it which add on to why they couldn't identify the body.

-the file is very unhelpful this time which leads to the characters questioning monocrow about it, in the meantime he just says it's because this case is very special.

-Hibiki and Setsuka are missing during the investigation which worries the team, when they get to the elevator and they're still not there Nikei talks about the possibility of them being dead as well just not found.

-This worries the others a lot until Hibiki comes in, people question her but she is oddily quiet and ignores most of them.

-They try to talk more but all of the sudden a parade/satsuki doll enters the elevator which causes everyone to get confused including teruya which gets the others also very confused since he is the mastermind.

-Before they can say much the elevator starts going down, when they get to the trial grounds they question the doll and later the fact that Setsuka and Kanade's portraits have a question mark on them.

-Monocrow explains how not even he knows who the culprit is because the culprits purposely tried to make the case unsolvable, possibly have a CG of the doll while he talks(?).

-Teruya shows his angry side to the students for what i assume can be the first time(?), he screams about how ridiculous this is and demants that Monocrow makes the person on the costume reveal themselves.

-Monocrow replies by saying that even if this isn't what he had planned, it is still a valid class trial and he will just have to go with it. Teruya is still super angry but he notices everyone looking and him and brushes it off with his happy-looking personality.

-Teruya is way more active than canon Mikado in this trial, as losing could mean the end for his plan. He kinda replaced canon Kanade in a sense that he is helpful and has the crazy expressions during the trial.

-Sora would have to work together not only with Syobai but also Teruya! Isn't that fantastic to her

-At some point in the trial Yoruko would accuse Hibiki of hiding information from them, since she barely talked to them and wasn't anywhere to be seen in the investigation.

-Teruya backs her up and proposes the theory of Hibiki being the real culprit of the case and that the person in the suit is actually just an accomplice for her, as such their identity doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things.

-People keep talking and the majority of the class seems to believe on the theory, Hibiki counters by saying that Teruya is the mastermind and they shouldn't believe him in the first place, in which he responds by saying that losing this trial could ruin his plans so why would he try to sabotage it (he would probably be screaming this at her and calling her stupid too).

-After Hibiki's TTS she goes silent for a while, Sora talks and asks hibiki to confess already to which serves as a last straw for her.

-Hibiki lends out a loud scream and breaks down crying, we get a CG of her like that as she screams about how she has no idea of what is happening and how this is the worst moment in her life. Since she is not only worried about her parents due to the motive video, but this trial means that either her sister ot closest friend is dead and the other is the culprit.

-After witnessing this scene everyone is in shock and the trial goes silent for a second before they decide to start voting.

-However before they can do it Iroha yells at them to stop and starts defending Hibiki, a few would ignore her since it's Iroha, she is not smart. But this is enough to make Sora question if this is really the correct answer, so she proceeds to back up Iroha and tell the others that they should discuss this case more before voting.

[I couldn't find any more notes on the trial itself :(, not sure if i even wrote any others? so let's go straight to the aftermath]

-At the post trial, the mood starts tense as no one thought Setsuka would ever kill someone, they start by questioning if she is a void and her support on their group was solely a facade

-Teruya confronts Setsuka about messing with his plans and spying on him to figure out his problems (the glitch on the mass executions that crashes the game, tho he doesn't say what it is) being her motivation for this case. She admits she was investigating him but is cut off by hibiki before she can say much

[Ok so i had to read this part again a couple times to figure out what i meant here, but basically: Setsuka, while spying on Teruya, figured out that there was a glitch involving the mass executions, meaning that if one was triggered the game would shut down and everyone would return to the real world. That's why she made the trial the way it is, she wanted them to get it wrong so that she'd be able to save everyone. Why didn't she just told them that? I honestly don't know, maybe she thought they wouldn't believe her?? Again this is VERY rough.]

-We get a cg where Hibiki screams at Setsuka and yells asking why she murdered her sister before being told the truth about Kanade.

-Setsuka stops her and begs them to just let her explain what happened, Hibiki and a few other students (Iroha and Yuki possibly??) don't agree and keep yelling at her. But then Sora tells them that they should at least listen to what Setsuka has to say, Nikei backs her up by saying the need to know what was going on.

-Setsuka starts talking about how things went, she talks about being called to the pool by Kanade and then faling unconscious, she stops for a second and then as she continues a flashback scene starts.

-The scene starts with a black screen as Setsuka slowly regains consciousness, a CG of Setsuka on the pool floor, her face facing away from kanade so she doesnt notices she woke up, with a terrified expression as Kanade monologues about her crimes and how her plan of making Hibiki a puppet is close to becoming a reality.

-Kanade comes closer to Setsuka (probably have it being the same cg as before, just with kanade kneeling down close to Setsuka) to turn her body to face her, Setsuka punches her. She is surprised and angry that she is up and attacks Setsuka, despite her trying to make kanade give up on the plan.

-A fight breaks in and the scene ends with Kanade falling in the pool as setsuka runs to check on Hibiki (maybe have a CG for that too?? Unsure).

-After the flackback Setsuka talks a little more and tells them that it was never her intention to murder Kanade, but she went as far as she did to make a good use out of her death by making a case that would end the killing game.

-Everyone is surprised and some doubt her but we then turn to hibiki who is just standing there in shock, people try to talk to her and the cg of her remembering Kanade's actions shows up. While she slowly talks about how she remembers things now.

-After the CG Hibiki screams and cries, the other students try to calm her down. Setsuka talks about a note she has on Teruya but realizes that the note is missing and when she realized why it's missing we get that cg of her and the ghostly Kanade.

-Setsuka panics a little and Monocrow decides that it's death time and starts dragging her away before she can tell them about what was in the note. Hibiki tries to run up to her and hold Setsuka in a failed attempt to stop Monocrow from killing her friend.

-That causes Setsuka's hairpin to fall down, something noticed by Hibiki after the trial. She pickes it up and puts it on her pocked, when the elevator doors open she is the first to go without saying any other words to the other students.

[Just to be clear, we were NOT using Setsuka's unused execution here. I wrote one for her back in the day but I can't find any notes for it, from what i remember it was her inside of a giant billiards ball that had the inside walls of it coated in spikes and there were some giant monocrows playing billards using the ball she was in. By the time they're finished with the game the ball opens up and Setsuka's turned into mush in there]

Ch3 case rundown

-Kanade wakes up before anyone else and puts sleeping drugs in iroha's coffee, that ends up being taken by Sora so she sleeps through most of the afternoon.

-Kanade calls Setsuka to the pool and ambushes her, knocking her out with a taser and pouring blood over the body to make it look like she was dead. (note that kanade already had all the itens she would need in her murder plan at the pool)

-She calls Hibiki to the scene and makes her enter using her monopad (Kanade's monopad), that makes it seem like she had left the pool.

-Hibiki sees Setsuka and enters the puppet stage, Kanade starts preparing to kill her and monologues about her crimes and plans, not knowing Setsuka had woken up and listened to all of it.

-Setsuka punches kanade in the eye as she gets close to her, she tries to make kanade give up on the plan but kanade attacks her. In the end setsuka pushed kanade to the poll and she hits the back of her head on the edge, failing unconscious and then drowning.

-Setsuka runs up to Hibiki to see if she is ok, she notices Hibiki's puppet stage and going from what she heard kanade said deduces that she can only wait for her to go back to normal. She notices how quiet kanade has gotten and only then she notices kanade had drowned.

-She takes her out of the pool and after confirming she is dead, starts working on her plan.

-Setsuka makes an improvised coat using some of the bags kanade had brought to the pool, as to walk around the island witouth being recognized she also makes sure ro avoid people and cameras as much as posisble. The coat also limits her movements.

-Setsuka leaves to the mart to get things she can use to destroy the cameras and later explode the pool. [Teruya would later notice the itens being gone, as he doesnt join the parade with the rest of the gang, this brought up at the trial]

-While she is away Hibiki snaps out of her puppet stage and sees all the blood on the floor that Kanade had poured over the place [Setsuka had hid Kanade's body somewhere in the pool area before leaving so Hibiki didn't see her when she woke up] she freaks out thinking someone had attacked her and runs away out of fear.

-Hibiki running back to the monocruise is witnessed by yoruko while going to reunite with the group before the parade. [This is later brought up in the trial when she accuses Hibiki of hiding information]

-When Setsuka comes back she cuts off kanade's hair and takes off most her clothes, as to start making Kanade not recognizable, she puts these itens in one of the bags to dispose of it later.

-She proceeds to starts destroying the cameras which causes a fire at the pool that starts to damage the place, she also sets Kanade's body on fire, Setsuka leaves with what she will need and runs straight to the nearest storage room

-On her way she disposes of Kanade's clothes and hair she leaves the medicine kit behind, it's remains are found in the explosion site and becomes an important clue later on.

-Once she is the storage room setsuka puts the itens she kept inside the doll and enters it too, she uses Kanade's finger to open her monopad and send a mesaage to the group that are going to the parade.

-pretending to be kanade she tells people she is not feeling well and won't be able to join the parade.

-The parade starts and the other dolls start to move, Setsuka decides to go along with them as to not look suspicious. Tho she does leave in the middle of the parade to get back at the pool. [The students don't notice where she head to, they just point out how one of the dolls is acting weird]

-She gets back to the pool where the fire has already been put out by the sprinklers. She takes off the costume and uses the tools kanade had brought to use in her dismemberment to damage the pool area as much as she can. [????????]

-Using itens she got from the mart earlier, Setsuka makes a potassium bomb alongside some smaller improvised bombs. She puts back the doll costume and sets these around the area so they can explode once the main explosion goes off. [Remants of these bombs are found and brought up by syobai during the trial]

-Setsuka catches up to the parade again before the pool explodes and ends up in the opposite side of the park as the explosion goes off.

[beardedmrbean]

Vladimir Putin has lost more of his top commanders in the war in Ukraine than previously reported, according to Japanese and Western intelligence.

The estimate of Russian generals killed increased to 10 this week after former retired Major General Dmitry Ulyanov, 44, reportedly died in a firefight in the Donbas region. A top paratrooper and commander of the elite 98th Guards Airborne Division, Ulyanov's death was the first among Russian generals reported for several months.

Ukrainian sources claimed in July that 14 Russian generals had been killed although some claims have been rebutted. While there have not been reports of Putin losing generals for several months, the scale of losses of such high-ranking officers is rare.

However, Japan estimates that 20 of Putin's generals have been killed in the war, based on intelligence gathered by Tokyo in cooperation with the United States and Europe.

Retired General Kiyofumi Iwata, the former chief of staff of Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force, described the tally as "unbelievably high," while speaking to Nikkei Asia, especially when compared with the U.S. which has seen almost no combat deaths of officers ranked that highly.

"The death of a general weakens troop morale," he said.

The news outlet reported that one theory for such high losses was that Ukraine located commanders by tracking signals from their cell phones, which were used due to communication shortcomings earlier in the war but have since been banned.

Iwata believed that the cyber warfare capabilities of Ukraine's forces enabled Kyiv to find the locations of the generals, who are typically sent into the field.

A Japanese intelligence official told Nikkei that another reason that the generals' whereabouts were known was due to "informants" in the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, much of which are controlled by Russia.

Newsweek reached out to the Russian defense ministry for comment.

"What is interesting is not so much that they're losing quality, but what they will be losing is people who are confident because the generals have got that far because they're loyal and are used to bullying people," Glen Grant, a military analyst with the Baltic Security Foundation, told Newsweek.

"What you can't tell is that it might actually have a positive effect for Russia," he said. "You lose these people who've been selected not because of their ability, but because of their loyalty."

"Maybe some of the people who come in behind some of the officers are better and less on the greasy pole," he added.

[whatisonthemoon]

What Was Japan’s Lost Decade? How Did It Happen?

What Was Japan’s Lost Decade? How Did It Happen? (December 12, 2022) Japan, stuck in a liquidity trap, faced a particularly deep economic crisis between 1991 and 2001.

What Was Japan’s Lost Decade?

Between 1991 and 2001, Japan’s once red-hot economy was in trouble. An asset bubble had formed in both its housing and stock markets, and when the Bank of Japan implemented a series of steep interest rate hikes as a way to tame inflationary pressures, you could almost hear the bubble pop.

Japan’s stock market tanked, and asset prices fell. Several big banks, which were overleveraged with speculative investments, either failed outright or needed to be bailed out by the government. Businesses folded, and unemployment rose. Japan became mired in a decade-long recession.

The country was actually experiencing a liquidity trap: It seemed like everything Japan’s central bank did to help didn’t work. Interest rates were cut, but fearful for the future, Japan’s citizens sat on their savings instead of spending them.

The government tried instituting large-scale public works projects, similar to what U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt implemented during the Great Depression, but that only increased Japan’s budget deficit. Finally, its central bank injected huge supplies of yen into the markets through quantitative easing, which lasted for five years. This, along with the resultant inflation, effectively got Japan’s citizens spending again, and the country began a slow recovery.

What Caused Japan’s Lost Decade?

The poster child of 20th-century economic growth, Japan had transformed itself from a largely agricultural nation in the 1960s to the world’s second-largest economy by the 1980s. Japan had figured out ways to make high-quality products cheaply, and these products found their way all over the world.

People sported Sony Walkmans on the street and drove Japanese cars around town. Kids watched Japanese cartoons on Japanese-made televisions. Movies like Shogun dominated the box office, and corporate success manuals extolled the virtues of “Japan, Inc.” Everyone wanted to know Japan’s secret.

A lot of it had to do with how Japan’s businesses were structured. They followed the traditional concept of the keiretsu, a close-knit network of business interests centered around a main bank. These groups took majority shareholder interests in one another instead of being financed through stocks or bonds, and as such, this “socially controlled” investment provided the perfect conditions to nurture, test, and perfect new ideas before they were brought to the larger market.

One well-known keiretsu is the Mitsubishi Group, composed of the MUFG Bank, Mitsubishi Electric, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and the Mitsubishi Corporation. Together, it employs over 80,000 people in the automotive, energy, chemicals, and food industries—essentially acting as its own supply chain.

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, the Japanese Ministry of International Trade & Industry allowed easy credit to the keiretsu, in addition to a period of protection from foreign competition, so that their businesses would have time to become cost-effective production powerhouses. Once they gained dominance in their respective industries, the businesses would embark on export programs, which is how Japan’s electronics, computer, automotive, and aircraft industries grew so quickly.

Growing hand-in-hand with Japan’s successful businesses was a booming stock market. The Nikkei Stock Average hit an all-time high of 38,916 on December 29, 1989. In addition, real estate grew incredibly valuable—commercial land prices rose over 300% between 1985 and 1991, and it was said that one square mile in Tokyo’s government center was worth more than the entire state of California. A bubble had formed; that was plain to see.

As asset prices grew, so did speculation, particularly in real estate, which was financed largely by corporate stock profits. Banks were lending and not looking twice. Sometimes, collateral was not even required.

Depositors thought they were in safe hands because Japan’s banks were backed by the government, and in turn, the banks believed the government wouldn’t let them fail, so they bundled these deposits into packages of ever-higher rates of interest and risk, and sold them to speculators.

Worried about inflationary pressures, and attempting to quell the bubble, the Bank of Japan began a series of steep interest rate increases from 2.5% to 4.25% at the end of 1989, and then to 6% in 1990. But since rising rates made borrowing more expensive, speculators quickly defaulted on their investments.

Several of Japan’s biggest keiretsu banks began to fail, threatening to take entire industries down with them. The stock market nosedived. By December 1990—just one year from its all-time height—the Nikkei had lost over 43% of its value.

What Happened During Japan’s Lost Decade?

Between 1991 and 2001, Japan’s economy entered a deep recession. GDP declined, and borrowers became insolvent. Big banks failed, including the Hokkaido Takushoku Bank, the Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan, and Nippon Credit Bank. The days of easy credit from banking networks were long gone, and to a large effect, the keiretsu unraveled.

Some businesses went under; in others, production simply slowed, but they lost their competitive edge as a result. The country, which once had guaranteed employment for life, now struggled with unemployment—which affected recent grads and young workers most significantly.

Consumer confidence plummeted, demand declined, and deflation took hold—it was a dangerous mix.

How Did Japan Recover From Its Lost Decade?

It seemed like everything Japan’s central bank tried to do to help didn’t work: Interest rates were slashed to zero, and kept there for a very long time; still, the recession continued. Land prices dropped 15% in some of Japan’s largest cities, which meant that homeowners owed more than their homes were worth.

The Japanese government tried to instill confidence through large-scale stimulus packages. It built new roads and bridges, even when they weren’t completely necessary, and by doing so, created new jobs. These efforts helped boost the economy, but it wasn’t enough to lift it out of the malaise—in fact, they just added to the country’s deficit in the long run.

What finally helped was the quantitative easing program Japan’s central bank began in 2001, which would last until 2006. By 2003, GDP reached a healthy 2% clip, and exports grew once again, due in large part to China’s emergence into the global marketplace, since many of China’s products depended on Japanese parts.

What Lessons Can Other Economies Learn from Japan’s Lost Decade?

The 2007–2008 Financial Crisis had shades of Japan’s Lost Decade written all over it: This time, the asset bubble was created by the U.S. housing market, fueled by toxic subprime mortgages. When the Federal Reserve began a series of interest rate hikes, many subprime borrowers, whose loans were tied to adjustable-rate mortgages, quickly saw their monthly bills shoot up, and millions of homeowners defaulted as a result.

Banks had made profits by pooling these loans into mortgage-backed securities, which were traded by investment banks around the world, and as the mortgages imploded, a series of dominoes began to fall, which affected investors up the ranks of the securities markets: Banks experienced a credit crunch, and investment banks, such as Lehman Brothers, declared insolvency. The crisis affected financial markets around the world and would usher in the Great Recession.

With Ben Bernanke at the helm, the Federal Reserve took notes from past crises and acted swiftly—and by doing so, some say Bernanke helped to avoid deflation and the economic stagnation that had plagued Japan for so long.

The Fed cut the Fed funds rate to 0% for an unprecedented 6-year period between 2008 and 2014. It also implemented a series of quantitative easing measures. The U.S. Congress approved a $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), which provided emergency aid to banks as well as underwater borrowers. In 2010, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act was passed, safeguarding consumers from predatory home lenders and limiting banks to the amount of speculative trading they could undertake.

The U.S. economy was jump-started again by the middle of 2009—quite a speedy turnaround compared to Japan’s.

Related links below

Reverend Moon Rises Above Ailing Businesses (1999) Washington Post: Moon’s Japanese Profits Bolster Efforts in U.S. (1984) Japan & US at G7 can bask in multilateral momentum (2023)

The Lingering Tragedy of Japan’s Lost Generation by Roland Kelts (on Tetsuya Yamgami and the "lost generation") US, Philippines, Japan set to hold first-ever joint naval drills (2023) Japan to join Salaknib drills between PH, US armies (2023) Even in South Korea, Few Know Extent of Rev. Moon’s Empire (1988) US-Funding in Post-War Japan Why do these Japanese UC women agree to these brokered marriages?

[nikkeisimmer]

Rounding a bit over the half year 2022 mark; a little over five years after starting this blog and I’ve been doing a bit of thinking:

My blog has pretty much consisted of “fluff”. Pictures, nothing really pertaining to what’s going on around the Sims scene and generally what one might not consider unique content.

So there is going to be a bit of a focus shift and moving away from the “just toss up a picture and call it a day” kind of posts that are a big part of what I used to toss up here. I’m going to try to lean towards unique, informative content to try and he helpful, maybe funny and all in all take a deeper dive into the Sims, Cities Skylines, FSX, and SWTOR and relate my experiences with the games, trying to actually put some forethought into my content before posting it up.

A part of this revamping will be getting rid of “fluff” posts (spring cleaning) and shoving non-informative posts out to pasture. If I plan to make this blog what I want it to be: a gamer’s blog, I’m going to have to step up the informational content a lot more which means until I get the hang of this new focus, my posts ain’t gonna be coming fast and furious. Right now this blog is going to be in a holding pattern while I prep the new content so that I can hit the ground running (and hopefully not trip over my feet) when I get the bew computer.

Likewise, I’m gonna have to map out a roadmap of how I’m going to focus on gaming content and on photography content - and try to figure out how to organize it so it doesn’t get confusing, learn how to tag my posts so that things are able to be found and make my user interface on my blog a bit more interactively friendly since right now it’s a godawful mess.

…and frankly it’s a wonder anyone can find anything here.

[fonecablecom]

BoJ's decision today is a good lesson on source reports

June 14, 2024 at 04:59AM Today's BoJ decision is a good lesson on source reports. We've seen this happen so many times, where info is leaked to markets on what the BoJ is planning to do at an upcoming meeting, only to then see the BoJ not follow through or do something different. There were a few participants expecting the bank to announce a reduction in bond purchases today after a report from Nikkei on the matter. But as Eamonn rightly mentioned here, there is a big difference between considering something and actually doing something. So, there are two lessons here. The first is to take source reports with a pinch of salt, especially when they deal with the BoJ. The second lesson is to always be weary of the BoJ. This article was written by Arno V Venter at www.forexlive.com.

[oliverfinalmajorproject]

Final Major Project - Thoughts 3

If I were to change my idea I would explore music within the shoe gaze genre. It aligning within my current taste in music but also to my last project where I explored All About Lily Chou-Chou and the soundtrack which is considered a shoe gaze & pop fusion.

I have explored the genre within this project when considering the music that would inspire the design of my type. I was led to Death Metal within a discussion within a tutorial and I sort of just ran with it even though I am not really interested within the genre of music. This is why I feel to have lost interest within the project as it pivoted into a very different direction.

If I were to change my project I would explore a range of albums however right now I am heading towards I Am Not Shinzo Abe by Xinlinsupreme which is one of my favourites and holds a very strong message.

Mentioned within the name Shinzo Abe was Former Prime Minister of Japan. He was the longest-serving prime minister in Japanese history, serving for almost nine years in total. On the 8 July 2022 Shinzo Abe was assassinated while delivering a campaign speech in Nara.

On Xinlinsupreme's website they say: There was no other prime minister like this who was such a liar and dictator. Shinzo Abe emerged with his tough stance against the North Korean affairs, etc. and took office as the prime minister in 2006.  He called for the creation of a 'beautiful country' by departing from the postwar regime to amend the Basic Act on Education, etc; however, he resigned the following year to take responsibility for defeat in the Upper House election as well as for health reasons.  In December 2012, Shinzo Abe returned as the prime minster upon the LDP's substantial victory in the Upper House election.  Claiming the necessity of nuclear power for Japan, he declared promotion to resume operation of nuclear power plants and raised the basic philosophy of constitutional amendment onthe premise of 'asserting foreign policy' on the axis of the Japan-U.S. alliance, education rebuilding by focusing on public spirit and moral senses, and maintenance ofthe self-defense forces; however what gathered attention at the time of the Cabinet's inauguration was the economic policy known as Abenomics. Departure from deflation was attempted with 'three arrows' of fiscal stimulus, monetary relaxation, and growth strategy, aiming at renewal of the Japanese economy. 

The Nikkei Stock Average recovered to the20,000 yen level with Abenomics, and the business recovery of large corporations became evident in particular. On the other hand, the actual wage of workers decreased, domestic consumption cooled, the number of public assistance recipients continued to renew the record high, temporary employment increased even more than the beginning of Abenomics, and disparity and poverty expanded.  Especially, 40% of females earn two million yen or less per year with which economic independence is supposed to be difficult, comparing with approximately 10% of males who earn two million yen or less.  

Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution prohibits intimidation with military power or use of military power as a method to resolve international conflicts and was interpreted as not possible to exercise military power for purposes other than defence of one's homeland.

The postwar Cabinet in the past had prohibited exercise of the right of collective defence that uses military power to protect other countries, and only allowed military power as the right to individual self-defence to protect one's homeland under the Constitution; however in July 2014, the Cabinet of Shinzo Abe made a cabinet decision to change interpretation of the Constitution and approve exercise of the collective defence under certain conditions.

On July 15, 2015, bills relating to national security including approval of exercise of the collective defence were railroaded through the Lower House special committee.

A Japanese record label canceled the production of Xinlisupreme`s works and terminated the contract with Xinlisupreme because Xinlisupreme created a protest song 'I Am Not Shinzo Abe' to criticize Shinzo Abe, a prime minister of Japan. It has now become a taboo in Japan to criticize Shinzo Abe in music and other creative activities. In 2015, Southern All Stars, a popular band in Japan, was made to apologize for publically ridiculing him on TV.  Also in 2016, there were fierce repercussions on the internet against the appearance of Aki Okuda, a leader of SEALDs, a student group to protest against Shinzo Abe, in the Fuji Rock, the biggest music festival in Japan. Even the phrase 'Do not politicize music' became a top trend on Japan's twitter. We all have the right to freedom of expression when criticizing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, an extreme right-wing politician who allows discrimination, social gaps and nuclear power plants.

With this Album, Xinlisupreme want to criticize Shinzo Abe and also change the atmosphere of the Japanese society which does not allow music to become political. Xinlisupreme hope is that this album will stimulate a discussion for the change.

I believe that the album is really powerful and designing for the album would be an interesting topic to explore.

[zooterchet]

Moonraker (Hugo Drax)

Actual Politics Revealed ("CHET", David Michael Charlebois, "DC85", "NASH"):

Supported:

CIA Analytics.

NSA Game Theory.

World Bank Hungary.

Diner's Association.

Sinn Fein.

British Labour Party.

Lucas Arts.

Korean East Asia Friendship Association (Korean Yakuza).

Chinese Communist Party.

John Warren Freemasonic Temple.

Hanoi Secret Intelligence Services.

Van Meter Specialists.

United Kingdom.

British Commonwealth.

Australian Parliament.

Berkshire Hathaway.

FBI DC Comics.

House of Saud.

Opposed:

Confederate Southern Army.

Chinese Tong.

Japanese Diet.

Nikkei Farm Average.

Hse-Sang Exchange.

Goldman-Sachs.

Iranian Worker's Rally.

Students Revolution Iran.

Ba'ath Party Judaism.

Israeli Likud.

United Nations Mossad.

Paul Revere Lodge.

Irish Pride Boston.

Law Professor's Union (al-Qaeda).

Marvel Comics.

GI Joe Magazine.

United States Marine Corps.

Los Angeles Water Department.

German Sheriffs.

Canadian Freemasons.

Hell's Angels.

Insane Clown Posse.

Russian Mafia.

CIA Russian Federalist.

Irish Republican Army.

OPEC Jordan.

Ghost Shadows Triads.

British Conservative Party.

Gueveran Labor Services.

Cuban Intelligence Services.

Chi Omega.

Phi Beta Kappa.

KGB Ukraine.