#and i still had to do the whole monkey cave thing so i had to walk all the way back 😭

[klonoadoortophantomile]

played some more mother 1 i died to the magicant dragon like seven times in a row . awesome

[try-set-me-on-fire]

Can I do a soft prompt not on the list ? I love your writing 😊 Buck and Eddie driving back from a zoo trip or something with Chris and Chris falling asleep in the back seat.

Going to count this under “road trip” for list checking purposes. Send me soft prompts! Find the finished ones on ao3!

Sometime in May when the end of school was weeks away but felt like eternity even to a kid who liked the place, Eddie had come home from running errands to find Buck and Chris laying out flat on the living room floor marking up a giant piece of paper. Eddie doesn’t know where they got it - it must be 18x24 at least - or why the floor was the best option for putting it to use - a mystery shortly solved by finding the remains of lunch still scattered over the kitchen table - but Eddie is careful not to step on it or any stray limb or crayon as he makes his way through to put groceries away. When anything perishable is safe someplace cold he comes back to sit between them, at the long edge of the sheet.

“What are you up to?”

“Read the paper, dad,” Chris says, exasperated. Eddie makes a face at him, and Buck tries not to laugh from his spot on the floor. The two of them share a look before Eddie puts his attention on Buck and Christopher’s work. Written at the top of the paper in chunky block letters is BIG SUMMER IDEAS, decorated by a smiling sun with cool guy shades and what Eddie assumes is a flamingo judging by the shades of pink. There’s more writing all over the page, half of it upside down because Chris is laying along the top edge. Eddie picks out BEACH DAY and GARDEN WITH PEPPA and NEW PIZZA (RESTAURANT? INVENT?) and, mirrored in both hand writings and circled twice, ZOO.

“You two aren’t sick of the zoo by now?” Eddie asks, and then raises his hands when they both look scandalized.

“Never!” Buck proclaims. “Besides, San Diego and Santa Barbara are both not that far away, we thought we’d maybe try and branch out.”

Chris nods seriously. “We need to expand our zoo repertoire,” he says, confident around the big new vocabulary word.

“Alright,” Eddie gives in, easily. “This is a big list, we gotta do all of these? I don’t know if we’ll have the time…”

Buck pushes himself up to sitting, and shrugs. “Just ideas. We were getting antsy waiting for Summer, huh?” Chris nods emphatically and Buck grins at him, before looking back at Eddie a little less sure. “Thought we’d write out some things to look forward to. We- you don’t have to do all, or any-“

“We’re definitely going to the zoo,” Chris frowns.

“Except for the zoo, of course.” He still has that look on his face, like he’s overstepped somehow, and Eddie wants to say please don’t apologize for finding a way to make Chris happy when he’s feeling down, and of course “we,” of course you’re coming with us, I haven’t the first idea how to invent new pizza.

“It’s a good list,” is what he says. “We’ll see what we can pack in there.”

That was May, and it’s the end of July now, and history books worth of things have happened in between, and Buck and Eddie’s Relationship (capital R, for Romance) is so new it’s stumbling around on doe legs. Eddie thinks they’ve spent years planting a pretty nice meadow for it to stumble around in, though, and taking his hand in public for the first time ever as they trail Chris around the Santa Barbara Zoo is easy as anything. It helps that they both start laughing - giggling, really, he’s a grown man giggling at the zoo - whenever they make eye contact. They hold hands in front of an island full of tiny little monkeys, and in a cave where you can watch penguins swim around, and by the statue of the giraffe with the crooked neck, and on the train that loops around the whole thing and gets so close to the lion enclosure that it’s almost a little frightening. They spend a fair amount of time not holding hands, too, as Buck and Chris pour over every informational plaque in the place. Eddie is perfectly content to watch them have at it and provide sunscreen reapplications and snacks, probably smiling just as sappily at his two favorite people in the world having a good time as he did at holding hands (holding hands!) with his boyfriend (boyfriend!).

They only stay at the zoo until about four, but they’d had to get up at the crack of dawn to make it up the coast in a reasonable amount of time, especially with the mess of construction Buck had to white knuckle through on the northbound 101 past Ventura. Chris is starting to wilt a little, and Eddie’s running on several cups of coffee, and even Buck has yawned once or twice by the time they’re eating an early dinner at a sandy little outdoor restaurant close to the beach outside of town. A train goes right past during the meal and all three of them stand up for a good look, Buck hefting Chris up on his back for a better vantage point. If Eddie gets distracted by watching the joy on their faces instead of the train, well, his sappiness was never going to be contained just within the walls of the zoo. He finds it a little hard to believe, sometimes, the amount of happiness he gets to experience. It jostles around inside of him like loose parts, or a bag of treasure. He’s been happy before, he’s been happy for years here in LA with the family of the 118 taking root around him, but it’s felt… more, these days, almost dizzying since he and Buck had either suddenly or finally closed the distance. It bubbles away inside of him, somewhere near Camarillo with Chris falling asleep in the back seat and pink California summer sunset light washing over them all. Buck’s got the windows rolled down just a little, to feel the air, and the radio is on low, and Eddie has been trying to leave less things unspoken, so.

“Thank you.”

Buck glances at him with a little smile, then looks back at the road. “For what?”

Eddie shrugs, because how is he supposed to encompass all of it with words? “For driving. For coming with us. For holding my hand.”

Buck’s laugh is just a soft exhale. “I should be thanking you for all that.”

“Even the driving?”

“Okay, well, the construction was bad, but yeah even the driving. You know I don’t mind it.” Buck’s smile is still small, and it feels important, suddenly, to try and get across the enormity of all this.

“Thank you for- everything, Buck. For inventing new pizza.”

Buck laughs loud, and then sheepishly checks Chris in the rear view mirror. Still sleeping. “I don’t think we’ve quite perfected it yet,” he says, quietly. “Give me a few more tries.”

Eddie shakes his head. “I don’t know how to- the time you give us, the- everything- Do you know? How happy you make us? Make me?”

Buck glances at him, twice, three times, keeps his eyes back on the road. “It feels like…” Buck is almost whispering, and gestures at his chest. “Like that little bag of rocks Chris got at the gift shop.”

Eddie laughs, folding a little closer to Buck, because a bag of treasure, they’re sharing metaphors. “Yeah. Like that.”

“I know,” Buck says, like he can’t believe it sometimes either. “You know? Me- me too?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I know." There's hardly been any complete sentences in this conversation but Eddie thinks they've never really needed words to communicate anyway. He knows. Buck knows. "We've still got 23 items on the list."

Buck laughs, and lets go of the steering wheel to grab Eddie's hand again. "Well, tomorrow's a new day. Summer's not over yet."

Eddie thinks, holding Buck's hand with Chris sleeping in the back, on the road headed home, that with each other summer is never going to end.

[racinginchid3nt]

I’d Probably Still Adore You | Part Seven

Y/N x Lance Stroll, Y/N Best Friend x Pierre

Gasly

In which a night at the club and a game of never have I ever turns into something new

Inspired by 505 - Arctic Monkeys

Warnings: none

Previous | Next

————————————————————————

Pierre had whisked Y/N Best Friend away to Portugal for the summer break. Your weeks had passed in relative normalcy, work, friends, home, sleep. It wasn’t until you got a knock on your door from Y/N Best Friend that things changed.

“What’s up? I didn’t know you were back in town?” You exclaimed while opening the door.

But as she failed to reply, the excited smile slid off your face.

“What’s wrong?”

Y/N Best Friend had never been good at being quiet, so on the rare occasions she was, you knew something was wrong.

“We got in a fight.” She replied.

“You and Pierre?”

“Yes. He’s so great sometimes and then other times he makes me want to pull my hair out.”

“Do you want to tell me what it was about?”

“Can we just have a girls day?” She asked. It wasn’t the first time she had been private about her relationships, both positively and negatively. You knew she would bring it up eventually but until then you decided the best option was to follow her lead.

“Of course.”

————

A girls day had turned into an entire girls weekend. Y/N Best Friend had spent the nights crashing in your guest bedroom, while the days were reserved for movie binges, beach trips, and shopping trips.

It was on one such trip that she went quiet, glued to her phone and texting 24/7. As the day wore the on, you finally asked what was going on.

“It’s Pierre. He apologized. The whole fight was stupid in the first place.”

“Oh um that’s great.” You responded, unsure how a stupid fight meant she hopped on a plane and fled vacation, but kept it to yourself.

“Will you go to the race this week with me?” She asked.

“I don’t know, Y/N Best Friend. I have work.”

But as she looked at you with those sad puppy dog eyes that you never quite learned to resist, you caved.

“Fine.” You said defeatedly.

“I’m so excited. Also there’s a sponsorship gala on Thursday night, we need to go find you a dress for it!”

And before you knew it your casual window shopping turned into a much larger production.

She dragged you between stores, searching for the perfect dress. You’d never attended one of these events before, so you trusted her judgment. The theme was starry nights, and the oppressive summer heat meant that the dress code allowed for cocktail length dresses. It wasn’t until you walked past a boutique in the city center that you stopped her. Dragging her inside, you approached the rack near the window display, gently lifting a dress off of it.

“Oh Y/N, that’s absolutely perfect! Go try it on right now!”

When you pulled up the zipper you knew the decision had been made. It fit perfectly, and hit the theme impeccably. It wasn’t until you approached the till that you second guessed your decision.

€3,000 stared back at you on the credit machine.

€3,000 for one dress, for one day.

As Y/N Best Friend pulled out her wallet to pay, you stopped her.

“You can’t spend this much on me.” You stated.

“Nonsense. Besides, it’s Pierre’s money. He said it was fine if it meant that you would come and I’d be happy.”

You knew if you put the dress back she would just go buy it later. She was always stubborn. Even more uncomfortable with taking money from Pierre, you pulled out your credit card, swiping for it. You tried not to balk at the fact that the dress was more than your rent for the month, thankful that you had a relatively lowkey summer because Y/N Best Friend was gone.

You cared home your purchases, spending the time discussing the rest of the coming weekends plans. Y/N Best Friend would be flying out early to see Pierre, so you were traveling in on your own.

You spent the night in, making homemade pasta for dinner before helping Y/N Best Friend pack. And as you saw her off while she loaded up her cab, you tried to ignore your nerves about the race weekend.

————

The work week passed by quickly and without issue. Before you knew it, it was Wednesday afternoon and you were zipping up your suitcase to head to the airport. You called a cab, chatting idly with the driver. When he learned where you were going, he lit up with joy, telling you about his favorite driver and how excited he was for racing to be back after the break.

Your flight was unproblematic. Nerves started to sink in, so you drank one two many glasses of champagne to calm your nerves before settling in for a nap.

————

After exiting the plane, you collected your suitcase from the baggage claims before making your way to the exits. The airport was busy, and you waited near the taxi area for 15 minutes before you even approached the front half of the line.

Arm starting to tire, you set your tote bag down on the top of your suitcase. As you pulled your phone out to let Y/N Best Friend know you would be at the hotel soon, a voice called out.

“Y/N?”

Turning around you saw a black sedan with heavily tinted windows. One was cracked, the top of a head peaking out through the gap. It wasn’t until it rolled down a bit more that you realized who had called your name.

“What are you doing here?” He asked.

“I’m here for the race.”

“Where are you staying? At the drivers hotel like last time?”

“Uh yeah I am.”

“That’s where I’m headed, come on, you can ride with me.” He stated.

Heads had started to turn, others beginning to recognize the voice. You rushed across the lane, the driver having stopped the car and opened the trunk. Loading your bags in for you, he opened the back drivers side door for you, before you slid in.

An arm reached across the space as the car pulled off, dragging you into a seated hug. Making eye contact with those mischievous green eyes, you made small talk all the way to the hotel.

As you pulled up at the front doors, preparing to step out of the car, he plucked your phone from your bag. It wasn’t until you saw he had opened your contacts and added himself with an orange heart after, that you realized what was going on.

“There. If you need anything this weekend, let me know okay?” He stated, texting himself from your phone to save your number as well. Giving you a side hug goodbye, he walked to the elevator.

And as you headed to the front desk to check in, bags in hand, you missed the watchful gaze of the person in the car behind you.

————————————————————————

A/N: I’m trying to be a bit vague with the Pierre and Best Friend situation. While I have an idea of where I want that story to go, I’m not sure if I want to do them at the same time or run the stories separately. What do you guys think?

[hcdragonwrites]

Fruits of the Mountain ( @journey-to-the-au Fic) Part Three to Tea Trouble

Here it is part three ! Thank you @kaijufluffs for looking over the last bit before I posted ! I wanted to make sure it flowed right and had a good enough ending! Here is part three (I may do an epilogue but for now it’s complete !

Just get the water and let them stay for half hour more. She made her way to the kitchen, gathering the ice they kept on the cold boxes in the floor and gathering cups from the plethora of stone cutlery the cave had to offer.

“Granma Willow!” A tiny little voice called, making Willow jump. She almost dropped the stone cups. Willow turned, eyes landing on a tan patch of fur and teal eyes.

“Oh hello Pear, my little love.” Rin Rin and Lius daughter beamed at Willow as the celestial bent down and opened her arms, inviting her in. Pear leapt, cooing in joy as she burrowed into Willows hair.

Willow loved Pear. When Rin Rin had brought this little bundle into the world, Willow had been there, helping the other matrons. Willow had swaddled the tiny little girl and passed her to Rin Rin. The tiny baby had been perfect. Child birth was not pretty or a glorious thing but… Pear was a gem- a glorious gift to all. As babe had grown and Willow had eagerly volunteered to watch her, to babysit, to hold at every opportunity.

Willow may never have her own children but Pear and all the little babies from her friends were just as much hers as she was theirs. And the Littles knew it- they knew they had Willow wrapped around her finger. If the babes wanted a a bit of sweets or a little bit of snack they would come to Willow. If one had a tumble and couldn’t get to their parents they would come for comfort from Willow. If they wanted a lullaby, Willow will be happy to sing them to sleep. Willow was besotted with each tiny hand that tugged for her attention, for each little monkey that came to her.

“What are you doing here ?” Willow asked Pear. She tapped the little one on the nose eliciting giggles from her. “Shouldn’t you be with your mamma?”

Pear looked down and out to beyond the crash of the water. “I want papa…”

“You are a daddy’s girl.” The first time Pear had scampered off had been a memory. Rin Rin had come bursting into Willows room, pulling at her fur and crying.

“Rin Rin?” The tears and hiccups and fear in her friends face and voice crushed any understanding out of Rin Rins words as she blubbered. Willow had to set Rin down, rubbing circles on her back to calm her. When finally the tears had been tamed and the words came out less rushed and flushed with sound, she blurted “Pears gone!”

Now that had set the whole mountain aflame.

The troop was out, calling and racing through trees and groves, seeking the little baby. She couldn’t have gone far -

How wrong they all were. When Rin Rin, distraught and crying, made her way to Liu who was on an outpost far from Water Curtain Cave, they had been surprised to see a very tiny Pear clinging to her daddy’s silk kerchief.

“I …” Liu looked wretched. His face seemed torn between nervous worry and tearful oh my god my daughter is so cute. “She just came up… and I was on duty. I … I didn’t know what to do… I couldn’t leave…” Rin Rin had rushed forward and kissed Liu, kissed her baby and the three had crumpled over the still sleeping Pear in relief.

Pear had been told to always ask before leaving the safety of the inner mountain- from both her father, mother, Wukong and Willow. At least Pear was not the most rambunctious of the tiny Fruit named babies her friends had to corral. That title belonged to Lychee.

Seeing Pear looking out after her Dad had Willow think of something.

“How about this?” Willow said “You sweet little treat can come with me and meet my sisters.”

Those bright eyes seemed to glow in surprise. “Grandma has sisters ?”

“Yes. I have six.” Willow counted them off on her hand so little Pear could see. “There’s me, then Summer, Winter, Autumn, Cloud, Sea and Little.”

“LITTLE?” Pear excitedly gasped. She gripped the last finger Willow had counted on between her fingers. “Is she like me?”

“What do you mean?”

“Small?”

Pear may be the eldest of her friends children, but Willow had begun to notice as the rest of her friends grew Pear remained the same size. It bothered the sweet little girl who saw how Mulberry and Pomelo passing her in size now. Other babies of the troop must have begun to point this out to Pear- and Willow made a note to talk to Wukong about it.

“Oh Pear who has been bullying you about your size again?”

“Some of da other monkeys. They say I’m too small to be as old as I am.” Pear held Willows finger in her pawed hand, wiggling it back and forth and avoiding looking up. “…why am I so small Grandma ? Why can’t I be as big as Daddy? As big as you?”

Willow gently chucked the little under her chin, blowing raspberries into her ear. Willow chased the sad little look in Pears eyes with laughter and play. It may not fix the problem but seeing this little sweet babies bright mood being dampened just because she was tiny.

“Let me tell you.” Willow grabbed a stone pitcher, setting Pear on her shoulders. The little baby climbed happily up, setting to fiddling with the hairpins and baubles Willow had in her hair. “Size is not everything.”

“It’s not ?” Pear leaned into Willows face from above. She looked skeptical. “Mulberry and Pomelos Dad is big. People treat him nicely.”

“They treat Beng nicely because he is the healer of the mountain- not just because of his size.” Willow filled the water for the pitcher from a water pump set in the side corner of the kitchen. It was amazing that there was a way to have fresh water available easily in the kitchens.

“They do? But Mulberry and Pomelos dad is so big he could sit on an elephant and flatten them.”

“Don’t go telling Beng that!” Willow poked the still peaking primate on the nose

“You are twice the monkey any of those bullies are. You want to know why?”

“Why?”

Water retrieved and filled Willow set the pitcher on the counter. She reached up and Pear clambered down into Willows arms. One of Willows combs was in one little hand, playing with the comb teeth.

“Because you are my precious Pear.” Willow took the comb and tucked it behind Pears ear, the bright little bud of the flower shining against her tan fur. “You are twice as quick and twice as lucky. You teach those other Littles that you can just as easily best them- with wit and with strength. Because you are strong little Pear. Don’t let them tell you otherwise.”

Pear touched the comb, her little eyes watering as she wrapped her arms around Willows neck. “THANKS GRANDMA!”

Willow felt something in her click then. As she gave advice to her friends little child, she felt the dawning of her realization slide over her like the first rays of morning. Maybe Willow had to stick up for herself as well. Her sisters may make jabs and think her decision wrong to leave the Pole Star Palace, but she wouldn’t let them continue trying to undermine her. I should tell them straight.

Something crashed and tumbled just outside the corridor as Apple and Lychee came tearing into the Kitchen, Mulberry in tow. The three little monkeys looked all scuffed and dirty as if they had just come from a closet full of dust.

“Grandma has sisters!?!” Apple asked.

“Can we come too Grandma!” Lychee grabbed the edge of her sleeve, hopping up and down. “Please please please!”

“We’re you all spying?” Willow asked, her brow raised. The three littles looked away guiltily. A sleepy looking Pomelo came tumbling after them, flopping down weakly. The poor dear… Willow scooped the tired Pomelo up. The poor baby could and would fall asleep if he got comfortable enough. Wherever this little fruit troop had been hiding out in must have been comfy enough to trigger another napping episode.

“We weren’t spying.” Lychee grumbled. “Just … listening.”

“Lychee that’s spying sweetheart.” Willow told him.

“Oh…”

“Don’t spy. You don’t want to become mischievous.” Or at least more mischievous, Willow thought. She could see Ba in the little boy before her. Another little Ba on the mountain may be too much for the monkeys of Huaguoshan to live through again.

“Yes Grandma.”

“I want uppies !” Apple begged, hands reaching up.

“Can we come with you though?” Lychee asked, also reaching up.

“Of course you can all come.” At this invitation, everyone clambered up Willow as if she were the tree her namesake came from. Tiny hands and feet found purchase as the littles settled into their places. It was common practice to climb onto Willow- all the babies upon Huaguoshan made a habit of finding perches upon their grandmother tree. But the little fruit troop were the ones that claimed designated spots.

Lychee liked to snuggle onto her shoulder and braid little ropes into her hair, calling out to the other monkeys and sometimes turning Willows head to look at a dragonfly, a neat cloud, a fruit. Apple liked to settle on her other shoulder or cling to her arm, snuggling in. Pomelo had to be held against her hip as the poor boy would fall into a deep sleep as soon as he was comfortable. Mulberry and Pear usually snuggled onto her other side and arm- one or the other clinging or scampering about on ground nearby or climbing up and over the other.

“Pear can you help me by grabbing some cups ? I’ll need to carry the water pitcher.” Willow said. “I’m sorry Mulberry - it’s only until we are back on the blanket.” Mulberry looked up into Willows eyes and nodded, understanding and stepping down. He grabbed Willows gown in one hand, instead to walks beside her.

“Yes grandma !” Pear leapt down, gathering the stone cups back up and into her arms. As they all walked back onto the bright spring day, Willow felt her spirit soothed. It was like a balm pressed against a burn, soothing the discomfort of her worries away.

Willow felt Lychee climb off of her head, hopping to the ground.

“Lychee what are you—“

The cheeky little babe took one look at the sleeping Pomelo in Willows arm and gave his tail a good hard yank. The little orange furred babe sat up straight screeching.

“Ha! Got your Tail Pomelo!” And the prankster was off, little brown tail flagging behind him. Like father like son.

Pomelo rushed off after Lychee, racing into the shade by her sisters. The two little monkeys didn’t seem to notice how fast they were going, how quickly they were approaching the blanket. Wukong was still engrossed in his Storytelling and was unable to prevent what happened next.

As the two monkeys reached the blanket, Pomelos little hand grabbed Lychees tail and gave it a yank.

“No you didn’t I got yours!”

The two tumbled together in simple monkey fashion, rolling and mock bitting and kicking. It would have been adorable- Willow thought it was- until they hit the tea tray.

Sweets and fruits went flying, the tarts falling like rain as the plate was sent up and spun in the air. Autumn gave a chortle as the food went flying. Could, Sea and Little gave mock cries of woe and then we’re laughing as well as a bit of coconut cake slapped Sea square in the face and sent cream flying. Willow laughed- but her laughter turned to horror as Winter and Summer turned like lionesses to snarl at the two babies.

“WHATS THE MEANING OF THIS!” Winter shot her most withering glare down at the two babies who had frozen upon the sisters roar. “These little apes just knocked over all the food! Little mongrels.”

“Honestly these little beasties would be better as pets dancing on a rope.” Summer commented. “Less chaotic more entertaining.”

The whole clearing fell silent. All except the laughter of the celestial sisters Winter and Summer.

Ma was nearby, feeling her teeth slip and flash in a terrible grin- those were her babies they were talking about putting on a rope.

Liu had turned from his guard pose, hackles raised along his sides and fist shaking. The marshal barely held back from marching forward and calling challenge to their words.

Ba was physically being held back by Beng nearby, the new Father almost red in the face with fury. His boy was over there. Beng felt his own anger itch his fur- but he kept his head for Chestnut was away with Rin Rin gathering fruits. If the whole entourage had been there, The celestial sisters would have been in worse straights.

Wukong felt his tail thrashing as the laughter dragged along his ears, cut over his fur. It dragged like sand and made him feel the instinctual response of teeth slowly curving in a threatening smile. As he turned, to request or to challenge or to kick the two sisters completely off the mountain he felt Willow past him- and froze.

He had never seen her look like that.

In the midst of the cruel laughter between the sisters Willow felt her body grow cold. She felt the drum of the ocean inside her roar. The little babies faces were of shock and fear.

Her family. Her heavenly family. Had been the first ones to give these children a taste of the contempt Heaven would always hold. Had always held. Her blood family had hurt her found family. It was not too hard to swallow if the slights were towards her. It was not so hard if the barbs were more about her choices in her life and her choice in partner.

Little Pomelo and Lychee were close to tears. The small babies didn’t know why these pretty little women- these spoiled women- were laughing. Willow had told them they were her sisters. Her sisters. I wish I did not have sisters. It was such a violent and shameful thought. Willow felt shame. Shame and rage.

Willow set Apple down then gently gave Pear a nudge. Pear had dropped the cups some time ago, her little eyes wide with fear. She turned at Willows nudge.

“Go to your father for me my Little Pear. He needs you.” Willow saw the little girl nod and scamper off. Willow turned to the two boys on the ground, with Apple patting their backs soothingly.

“I have a handful of sweet candies to the first one who can grab me some sweet fruits and bring them here. We will make a tea party with better foods.” Willow proposed. Stay calm. Just stay calm.

“Sweet candies ?” Lychee sniffed. His little face was tear stained. Willow knelt down and whipped the tears away. I did this.

“Yes. A whole handful.” She took in Apple, Pomelo and Mulberry. “But you have to bring me things to replace what was spilt. Ok?”

“Yes Grandma” the trio said and scampered away, glad to be gone but possibly sensing that something was about to happen.

“Take help- if you can’t carry it make trips ok?” Willow called after them.

“Good little treasures.” She muttered to herself. Then she turned. And felt her sights narrow on her elder sisters. Autumn was now laughing with Summer and Winter, always finding mirth in anything.

Willow moved passed her three younger sisters to the elders. The laughter was still loud in the air, still mocking. Before Willow could think, before she could even speak more or try to say something Summer had to open her mouth, had to cut the last of Willows control free.

“Doesn’t it make you miss Heaven?” Summer chortled, wiping a tear from her eye.

Willow was proud of her restraint. She was her fathers daughter. He had stood calmly in the wake of dragons roaring, and typhoons raging. It was something Willow had always looked up to- and had honed like a fine drawn tool. She was proud of her ability to be composed. That Willow however had been cut away- and now stood a Willow her sisters had rarely seen. A Willow who had no Heavenly patience left in her body for two women who made children cry.

So of course Summer and Winter screamed in suprise and shock when the water jug was upturned over both of them.

“WILLOW!”Summer screamed.

“H-HEY!” Winter choked as the water went into her nose. Autumn blinked as her laughter died on her lips, finally looking shocked. The three sisters looked at the eldest of them- and flinched.

“Listen here,” Willows voice was gentle, a coiled snake with fangs raised. “The only reason I don’t throw you off the mountain bodily myself is because it would make mother cry. You all have been nothing but insufferable to my Earthly family- To my earthly home! You have insulted my husband, have insulted his people- YOU eluded to SLAVERY with children. You joke and mock and taunt and talk how Heaven is the best place to be when you know nothing of the world because you have never wanted to learn about it.”

Willow felt her words rushing through her, taking her along in the eddy of there tsunami.

“You think Heaven is such a wonderous place?” Fools “Let me tell you- it’s stagnation- it’s perfection given no challenge- no variation. You live in boring squalor. I invited you here so you could see the mountain I love the place I have lived and fought in word games to keep safe.”

Tears threatened Willow and she let them flow free. They were the rage slipping out, the ocean storm in her body.

“And you insult it. Insult me. Look around you-“ Willow spun, encompassing all the Mountain and the shocked monkeys “The trees are blooming the sky is clear.”

Willow pointed the pitcher at Winter. “The air is full of the smells of spring and you have the gall to say it’s pungent. Do you breath anything but those incense sticks sister because I worry it may have muddled your brain.”

Winter opened her mouth and closed it, a fish gasping in the air.

“The sunset in heaven is the same droll colours every day while here it can be a canvas of new paint every evening!” Summer was now pointed at, her face gone white beneath her makeup. “The days are never the same they bring with it the chance to experince and witness new beautiful things and you, in all your great celestial bearing, look upon your sisters home and spit in her face.”

“Willow— I’m-“ Winter began, drawing her sisters eye back to her. None of the sisters had seen this Willow. Willow had never raised her voice - she had started quiet and now she was a firestorm, catching the three in her eyes.

“Oh this is gonna be good.” Sea muttered to Cloud, picking up a discarded tart and popping it into her mouth.

“Sorry? You are sorry? To me? No. You have a whole mountain to apologize to for your actions.” Willow gestured outwardly to Huaguoshan. “Those children you said should be on a rope? Those are my dearest friends children. I would sooner never call you sister then have one who would tell children they belong on rope.”

Summer flinched back, eyes wide.

“Willow please—“ Autumn tried to cut in but was over ridden. The tsunami and firestorm of her anger and shame was surging forward, taking them all in.

“ You who turned your nose up at the thought of taking a gift so lovingly brought from the most difficult patch of mountain. You who called my home savage. You have never seen savage beauty until you’ve witnessed a forest fire, the complete destruction and rebirth of a continent in the molten power of a volcano.”

“ You want savage dear sisters I can show it to you. And then you will see how beautiful and peaceful my wonderful Flower Fruit Mountain is.” Willow looked each of her sisters in the eye, pinning them like bugs on a diorama.

“Unless you apologize to everyone for what you have done I want nothing further to do with you. I’ll have tea with my real family and not the demons I thought were my sisters.” Willow turned, dismissing them and staring at her younger sisters. Sea and Cloud were nibbling some cookies, while Little was gathering up the discarded bits.

“Sea, Little, Cloud.”

They all stared.

“Come with me- it seems in my absence our sisters have been terrible role models and I have to show you what to do when someone creates disharmony among people.” Willow turned to Wukong. What would she see in his eyes? Would it be the same hurt as when she had first defended her Heavenly family?

I feel such great shame.

Willow didn’t look up. She simply kowtowed as low as possible at his feet.

“My apologies husband. Forgive me for my sisters words. They are ignorant in the kindness and grace you have shown them.”

“Willow…”

Another body bowed beside her. Willow peaked. Sea and Cloud were bowing deeply- Little also bowing on the opposite side.

“We apologize Brother-in-Law” Little Weaver Girl said. “I’m sorry if my words caused offense”

“I apologize too.” Weaves the Clouds spoke up from her bow. “Your waterfall throws up a beautiful rainbow.”

“Please forgive us.” Wind Over Sea atoned, their voice sheepish. “My wager sounds rude now I think on it.”

The rest of the Huaguoshan was all a fire in whispering. The monkey in the trees were babbling, the youngsters were watching, and the solideres all had hands hovering over weapons. Their memories flashed back to the war, to the time when Heaven had rained down terror upon their home. How the Celestials then had wanted to turn the mountain into nothing but an ash pile, a stain on any cartographers map. The Celestials thought them lesser for their Kings actions, had passed that judgment without seeing who they were, what families they had. When Wukong had been locked away in the brazier to be boiled and turned to liquid, to sweat out the immortality he had taken, Heavens wrath loomed. The heavenly court of the Pole Star Palace waited, a snow leopard from on high waiting to leap down and break Huaguoshan neck between their starry teeth.

Only … those teeth never fell. Instead Willow had been there. Willow had come to the mountain and in all the long years their king was away she had battled on their behalf. The mountain was not without a defender, though she did not battle with blade but words. Willow had written document after document, scroll after scroll, letter after letter. She had claimed it as her right her home.

Her father had asked if she wished for absolution- for the marriage to be voided. Willow had turned to him and had not said any words. Instead she had delivered her magnum opus, setting the document upon her fathers desk. It was a a three thousand page letter that sealed, banned, protected and wrapped Huaguoshan in such armor that not even the teeth and blades of heaven could violate its right as Willows home, as her holy site. As her sanctuary.

Willow had waited for her father to read all of the text, Liu and Xinshu her guards that long fateful day. It was a story that spread like fire how Willow had defanged and declawed Heaven with nothing more then parchment and ink.

Here she was again, defending them all. It was being whispered among the monkeys, flying from lip to ear as she and her sisters bowed before their king again.

Willow had, once again, become Huaguoshan defender. Against her own family. Her own sisters.

Liu held Pear in his arms. He marveled at how Willow had both embarrassed and reprimanded her sisters. Autumn, Winter, and Summer had been embarrassed fully and put in their place. The Marshal felt a swell of pride expand his chest.

Ba had stopped his furious scrambling to get past Beng. He was still agitated, twitching his tail painfully as he watched. But the fire was banked, the threat of violence abated. For now. Beng watched with hooded eyes. He waited, seeing four sisters atoning while three were sitting like abandoned chicks.

The mountain watched.

It was Autumn Leaves Falling who made the first move. The daughter of Heaven looked about her. She saw the whole mountain watching her and felt shame prickle her skin. She may not like Earth, but she had laughed at her sisters jokes. She had belittled these monkeys actions. Especially the one in the armor. The one beneath the tree holding a tiny babe in his arms.

“I apologize to you, sir.” Autumn knew her mocking of this monkey hard hurt her sister. She felt the slap of her words still in her mind. Autumn kowtowed to the Marshal“You treated me with courtesy and kindness and I laughed at you. I beg forgiveness.”

Autumn had never seen Willow that angry. Her elder sister had always been kind and compassionate. When she got mad she spoke softly. Never yelled like she had.

Winter and Summer, who after the shock of the of both the drenching and their elder sisters upbraiding, were next. Willow who was calm pillar in their lives, who had always smiled and offered council and a shoulder for the sisters to cry on, was upset by them. Had been made to cry by their words.

Wukong didn’t say anything. He wanted to have Willow stand up, wanted to stop her from bowing and groveling for forgiveness. There was no forgiveness to beg for Willow. At least, not from her. However the Monkey King understood what was being done here. He saw the stage his wife was setting up.

Willow was giving her sisters a chance. To prove themselves. Wukong just hoped that the remaining two wanted to apologize.

Winter and Summer both looked to one another, looked to Willow.

And broke down crying. They came blubbering over to their sisters, pulling Willow, Sea, Cloud and Little to their feet. For though they may be the second and third oldest- seeing their sisters upset and asking for forgiveness for them- it was unbearable.

“Willow don’t apologize for us.” Winter sobbed.

“Sister please stand.” Summer cried. They tugged Willow up and took their sisters place, bowing at Wukongs feet.

“This is our fault.”

“We know Willow loves this mountain- loves all of you.” Summer looked up at Willow, her face a messy streak of makeup and tears. The raw emotion there was bright and hot.

“We don’t understand why—“ Winter began but an elbow from Summer set the snappier sister to correcting herself.

“We don’t understand but we want to learn- because we want to remain sisters to our Willow.” Winter said.

“Forgive us … brother in law.” Summer and Winter asked in unison. “We just wanted to enjoy some tea and treats with our sister.”

“We have more treats!” Came the little voice from further down. Willow looked down to see that Lychee, Pomelo and Mulberry had returned their arms full of fruits. Pears and apples, a little basket of blueberry’s, some gooseberries and pomegranates, so many fruits that they little babies looked to just be walking hills of food.

The troop of monkeys watched, eyes taking it in.

Winter and Summer gapped at this brave little brown ball of fluff as he grabbed a peach and pressed it into Winters hand.

“Wanna try some?” Lychee asked. He took a bite of the peach and offered it forward, showing that it was safe to eat. “They may not be as good as Grandma Willows baking but…”

“But Huaguoshan is Full of sweets!” Apple called. She had gathered water all on her own, a new pitcher being carried by her little arms.

“We are sorry we knocked over the treats.” Pomelo spoke, his voice still sleepy. Lychee nodded.

Summer reached out and gently took Pomelos little hands. “No little ones. We are sorry. Sorry for all we said.”

“We were cruel.” Winter mumbled.

“Well yes that wasn’t very nice to say.” Apple retorted. She set the watet pitcher down beside Wukong. “But I’ve said mean things to my friends too.”

“Remember when we called Pear a short baby face?” Pomelo recounted.

“I HEARD THAT!” Pear called from her fathers arms. Pear jumped forward, climbing up Autumn with nimble little hands. The sister giggled as the little monkey fingers tickled her side. “I can’t be little if I’m on one of Willows Sisters!”

“… Do you want to try again?” Willow felt as if her heart was waiting to beat. The world was on the tip of a blade balancing between her sisters and these brave little babies.

Winter looked at the peach in her hands. At the perfect bite shape out of the fruit. And her snobbish sister took a bite.

“Yes.”

[miserymerci]

Fluffy February Day 4: Learn - Dictionary of Mine

@fluffyfebruary

Fandom: Lego Monkie Kid

Characters: MK and Sun Wukong

(Father-son relationship, hurt and comfort)

Summary: Set after the S4 special “The Emperor’s Wrath”. MK isn’t sure what he’s supposed to be. Sun Wukong doesn’t, either, but he might have a few ideas.

If you were to dump a rock-baby into Sun Wukong’s hands and tell him to take care of it, he would assume that you meant ‘kill it’ or something. Well, there was a perfectly good mountain top they would have been on, and he would have blinked owlishly at you before chucking it off the cliff. See? There, all done. No more rock-baby-whatever.

But really, Wukong hadn’t killed anyone since his Journey to the West days, and it wasn’t exactly something you’d like to keep a streak in. 

So in that case, it would be a classic case of miscommunication. You didn’t really want him to drop a not-egg down a mountain, but maybe it was also a little bit of your fault for not clarifying. 

But it would still be mostly Wukong’s fault. You just wouldn’t hear that come out of anyone’s mouth. Ever.

Wukong turned to look further into the cozy cave that had been his home for hundreds of years. It may have been an awful wreck in the aftermath of the not-end-of-the-universe, but he was quite the repair-monkey if he wanted to be– and he was the Monkey King. 

He had monkeys to look after.

Wukong wiped an arm across his forehead and sighed.

“How’re you holding up, bud?” said Wukong. 

MK was doing this weird thing with his tongue where it poked out in the corner of his mouth. Wukong didn’t think he’d ever actually seen anyone do that while painting.

“Uh, yeah!” said MK, looking up at his progress. 

During the fight, the memorial that Wukong had had of himself was quite literally wiped clean from the walls. It had been fine, because to be fair, Wukong had spent half his life looking at it– and his whole life experiencing it.

But Tang was torn about a piece of history being lost, and MK (the lovable scamp he was) offered to replace it.

“Looking great, kid. It’s a spitting image,” said Wukong, stepping over the bag of trash he had been filling to get a little closer. “I think you may have made me more handsome than the original.”

The focused lines on MK’s face eased up. 

“You think so?” he asked.

“Sure do.”

“I thought that I may have gotten the nose wrong.”

“Naw. It’s perfect.”

Now that the conversation’s icebreaker was over, Wukong reached over to put a hand on MK’s shoulder.

“In fact,” he said, “there’ll probably be some room on the other side of the room. Could put something different there.”

“Different how?” said MK, the little cheap paint tray palette easing down to his side. His grip on his brush, however, only got tighter.

“Well, I am immortal. Lots of things going on in my life, and the legacy lives on. I don’t think there’s enough space on the walls to be able to mention everything,” a squeeze, “just the important bits.”

MK blinked at him. Something sparkled in those brave eyes, but they quickly dropped to the floor.

“Uh, yeah. I understand. ‘Harbinger of Chaos’ does sound pretty important,” he said, tightly.

“Oh,” said Wukong, begging himself to catch onto what was going on with his successor, “oh. Well, yeah, but that’s not really what I had in mind, you know?”

“That’s sort of what I am in this story,” MK winced, an upsetting thing to see on his face, before turning to the memorial again and taking a step back.

Wukong followed his gaze. 

In hindsight, maybe he should have had this conversation away from the grand painting of the Journey of the West pilgrims. 

Wukong sniffed and then slotted himself between MK and the painting. 

“You don’t have to be that stuff,” he said, wishing he had chosen a better word than ‘stuff’, but it had already left his mouth anyway. “You spent so long not being that, so it doesn’t have to change now. Not if you don’t want it to.”

“Things change,” said MK, fiddling with the edges of his sleeves. He opened his mouth to continue, and nothing came out– but Wukong could fill in the blanks. 

It was true. Things did change, whether the change is welcomed or not. Wukong changed when the Brotherhood had failed to beat the Jade Emperor, Wukong changed when that circlet squeezed around his head, Wukong changed when he met MK. 

MK’s eyes drifted from his hands to the memorial behind Wukong. Wukong side-stepped to match him.

“You’re right. But if there’s anything I’ve learned, it’s that you can be more than one thing at once. And not all of it is true. Have you ever believed for one second that I was some monster?”

“Of course not,” wheezed MK. 

“Of course not,” echoed Wukong, “but others would tell you otherwise, right?”

MK swallowed. He blinked rapidly at the painting supplies in his hands before putting them down on a nearby rock. 

“I’m really upset about it,” said MK quietly once they were both sitting on the ground.

“I’m sorry,” said Wukong, because he was. Having your entire identity crash down on you like that was horrible. Yet, here Wukong was, still keeping little bits and pieces of it secret. The guilt of it twisted in his belly. He wanted to make it right, but anything else would have made MK feel more wrong. 

“If I’m not the Harbinger of Chaos,” whispered MK so softly that Wukong hadn’t even heard it at first, “and I’m not MK the delivery boy… then what am I?” 

“Yeah, you did stop pretending to deliver noodles a while ago, didn’t you?” said Wukong, mostly to himself.

MK laughed (sheepishly), so he counted it as a win. 

“Well,” said Wukong, “for one, you’re ‘MK’.” 

“Are you sure?” asked MK, and Wukong was about to launch into a very serious five-hour lecture about ‘yes, MK you are Mk’, but the teasing smirk on his successor’s face stopped him short.

“Hey. I’m aware how dumb that sounded but I had a point.”

“Uh-huh.”

“My point,” a sharp look, “my point. Is that you’re different things to different people. You’re MK, the Monkie Kid, Mei’s best friend, Sandy’s go-to to giggle about TV dramas, Pigsy’s and Tang’s kid, my… student. You can make a killer bowl of noodles and beat anyone but Mei at Brick Fighter 2. Not to mention a pretty talented artist, if I do say so myself.”

MK flustered at the compliment, picking at a place on his thumbpad where red paint had dried off.

“Does that really make me me, though?”

“How about this,” said Wukong, crossing his legs and leaning forward. “What makes me me?” 

“Oh,” said MK, brightening a tad bit, “your adventures, the experiences. You’re the bedtime stories that I grew up listening to. You’re a hero, Monkey King, and you’ve taught me almost everything I know in a fight.” 

MK blinked, turning away from picking paint to look at Wukong’s careful expression. 

Wukong crossed his arms and let his elbows rest on his knees, then smiled.

“Uh,” said MK, blinking again, scratching the back of his neck, “uh, but… oh… But that’s not all of you, is it?”

“Is it not?” said Wukong.

“No, it’s not.”

MK’s face went a funny red, embarrassed about the lesson that he was quickly catching onto. 

“Okay then,” said Wukong after MK sat there looking at his hands for a few minutes. 

“Okay then,” repeated MK. He took a deep breath. “I think… Well, you’re cheeky. You’re smart. Brave, too. You’re good at making people laugh– you make me laugh. It’s nice. You’re nice. But sometimes… you’re kind of not-so-smart.”

Wukong nodded, listing off the situations in his head where he hadn’t been completely truthful. 

Maybe Wukong was a hypocrite (he was). Maybe this entire lesson was something he should be teaching himself (it was). Wukong had always been a quick learner in the arts of battle. Being eye-to-eye with something so different to bruised knuckles and sturdy chains was a situation Wukong never believed he’d be in. 

Sunshine in the palms of his hands in the form of a rock. Stone that refused to stay cold. Orders, though confusing, could be tossed away– exchanged into something else. 

Sun Wukong swallowed thickly, the guilt in his belly turning and twisting, but the sunshine in his palms remained warm.

“But I still admire you,” said MK, turning away from where his hands were being cradled by his mentor’s. Wukong didn’t know when he had done that.

MK was kind. MK was fierce. MK was sun. MK was moon. MK was everything and anything and nothing all at once. First, a hook deep in his heart that he did not yet understand. In the light of the sun, a little stone monkey was left at the highest mountain to be forgotten.

Wukong took the guilt and buried it deep in his being. Redemption came in all sorts of ways; in all sorts of meanings.

“I still admire you, too, kiddo,” said Wukong.

They took a deep breath together.

Finally, Wukong reached over to the abandoned paint palette and dipped his finger into the yellow paint.

“How about I help you finish this part up,” said Wukong, smearing the yellow paint onto MK’s nose. He proceeded to ignore MK’s noises of protest at the attack. “I like to think of myself as an artist, too. But more abstract, you know?”

“Maybe,” said MK, standing up. “But um… after, could you make those peach pancakes that we had that one time?”

“You mean the ones you don’t like?”

“I never said that. Here, hold the palette.”

[pompomqt]

Journey to the West Chapter 2

I love how small Sun Wukong's natural form is compared to most of the demons he fights lol.

Anyways for Chapter 2 of Journey to the west with @journeythroughjourneytothewest we get a new case of Sun Wukong crying (Because his teacher kicked him out which...harsh...)

And some fun new crimes! Including what will soon be the very popular murder (Monstrous King of Havoc) and Mass murder (The imps that worked for him) Bringing his kill count up to 1 + an unknown number. We also get to add arson to the list, because he set the cave on fire before he left. Luckily he was able to save all his captured monkey friends though. He also got some major power ups this chapter, gaining most of his most famous abilities like shapeshifting, flying and duplication. I'm sure his training montage will serve him well in the future. Other thoughts:

I found the whole situation with Sun Wukong getting kicked out pretty sad- but also really interesting. The Patriarch says he won't condemn him, but goes on to say that Monkey is bound to end up evil doing. I wonder if this was a bit of a self fulfilling prophecy there? He also was kicking him out because he felt Wukong was putting his life in jeopardy if he showed off his powers- But also threatened to skin him alive and break all his bones if he dared mention him. Which Wukong said he would say he learned it all himself- but did tell his monkey family that he was taught by a master, but I guess he didn't mention anything else about said master so it still counts as keeping his word I suppose. Another thing is that Sun Wukong really wants to repay people who do things for him, despite wanting to go home and see his subjects again, he didn't want to leave before he had properly repaid him. Which I feel is an important quality of his during the journey. Also, he gave all the monkey's of Flowerfruit mountain his last name- so now they are all the Sun family. Aww that's cute. Current Sun Wukong Stats:

Immortality: 1 Weapon: Himself. Abilities: 72 Transformations, Cloud-Somersault, Ability to transform his individual hairs and super strength. Demon Kill Count: 1 + Unknown number of minions. Crime List: Robbery, Murder, Mass Murder, and Arson. Cry Count: 2

[quitealotofsodapop]

I imagine that, since Wukong is the only one capable of lifting the staff, PIF would prioritize her sworn brother-in-law. Especially since his health was significantly more at risk than her husband. While she would love to prioritize DBK in this matter, and would do that under any other circumstances, the way things line up in Century Egg au do so in jsut the right way to make PIF worry more for Wukong's health and safety. Afterall, if she is to understand the terms of the request Wukong had made of her husband, now inherited by her after DBK was sealed, than PIF was charged with protecting Wukong and his the island in his stead and ensure he is only awoken within the safe window for the Egg to form to ensure hus safety and health. It is still much too early for such a disturbance to interfere with Wukong, and she would be both a terrible wife and sister if she did not do everything in her power to ensure the safety and health of the younger brother her husband had lived so dearly as to sacrifice his own reputation and freedom for

ooo true.

PIF would likely redirect her time and energy to keeping FFM and by extention Wukong safe. The Stone Monkey would need help the moment he awokened from his slumber, both with delivering and with caring for a newborn.

She would likely set up shop on the volcanic ring itself as it's direct warden. She takes up a modest living similar to her fate in Jttw, becoming almost like a cryptid to people who catch a glimpse of her before wild winds knock their boats/drones back to land.

The monkeys of the island appriciate her greatly as a protector - seeing her as an opposing power to the one that destroyed their island in the past. They try to invite to parties and celebrations so that she doesn't feel too alone on her sentry. the Stalwarts might make a point of visiting PIF directly for company.

She leaves her post for less than a day to retrieve her son, and finds a whole-ass boat of people looking like the Pilgrims walking around?!

PIF def panics and tries flying down to make sure they don't mess with anything - she isn't sure what the outcome is if a Stone Monkey got woken too early in the process and didn't want to take a chance.

She finds that she's a little too late, as the Not-Monk is already in the cave, dusting off the unconcious Monkey King like he's a statue.

Tang: "Oh hi! How did yo-" *sees the banana leaf fan* "OH MY BUDDHA. It's Princess Iron Fan!!" *nerding out* Baby Mei, has no idea whats going on: "Yay! Princess!!" PIF, looking a wind-swept mess: "What the actual diyu...?" Pigsy & Sandy: *jump into the cave looking for Tang* PIF: "What the-" The Ao-Longs: *fly inusing their dragon forms, looking for Mei* PIF: "How many people did my brother-in-law tell about this!?"

[theknittingshadow]

A Shadow’s Scattered Thoughts on “Journey to the West”

Alright, people. Blame @semisolidmind for getting me into Lego Monkie Kid. Finally decided to check out the original “Journey to the West. Strap yourselves in because there will be NO organization or cohesion to this whatsoever!

I’m at Chapter 20 right now and so far…

-Wukong’s a little pretentious and entitled but, considering none of the monkeys of Huaguoshan questioned the existence of a fully-furnished palace in Water Curtain Cave, I’m not surprised.

-Shifu Subhodi definitely WAS harsh striking Wukong on the head, as I had heard about before. However, IT WAS ALL A SECRET CODE FOR SECRET IMMORTALITY LESSONS! Hallelujah, he’s not as big a jerk as I feared. Still, there are better ways to get your point across, sir.

-At first, it seemed like the book went on long tangents of unrelated stories. I began to think this was less a book with one overarching storyline and more a collection of stories. Then, I finally got to when Tang is chosen to go on the journey. I realized it was all BACKSTORY.

-The Celestial Realm is simultaneously more and less merciful than I thought. On one hand, they kept giving Wukong chance after chance when he’d get upset and beat someone up or something. On the other hand, they beat and banished Wujing over BREAKING A CUP.

-I was super confused on Lego Monkie Kid’s characterization of Ao Lie when the book first implied he set his father’s palace on fire on purpose. Continuing, it seems more like he lit the place on ACCIDENT. WHICH MAKES HIS WHOLE “AVOIDING CARELESS ACTIONS” and “MY POWES HAVE ONLY EVER GOTTEN ME IN TROUBLE” SPIEL MAKE TOTAL SENSE!!!!!!

-There is so much poetry in here, guys. So So So Much.

-Speaking of poetry, it reminded me of both the Odyssey and several Shakespeare plays where they pause to sing a song or something.

-Why does the author keep making the characters reiterate what just happened? They Do The Thing. Then they gotta explain to someone else The Thing. There’s rarely an instance of “and they recounted the events just described” and leave it at that.

-Why does the Jade Emperor need to take a carriage to go literally anywhere? Even just to the other side of the courtyard? Is it a really big yard?

-Tripitaka DID seem like an overreacting crybaby but then I thought “this is PTSD at work” and IT ALL MAKES SENSE. He gets kidnapped by ogres who kill and eat his personally chosen companions (who came from his monastery and whom he most likely grew up with as friends) before his very eyes. Of course he’s going to freeze up and/or freak out every time a monster appears and Wukong needs to leave his side for whatever reason.

-Related, crying now that you have to walk to the West seems ridiculous until you think it might be more crying about how he was nearly eaten by the dragon that ate his horse!

-Seriously, I could go on about Tang’s unusually frequent crying and how it relates to potential PTSD and delayed reaction to said trauma.

-People keep calling the disciples ugly right to their faces and I Do Not Appreciate It. On another note, Wukong is surprisingly chill about this.

-Bodhisattva Guanyin used a fillet on a bear yaogaui in one chapter. I was not expecting that. Maybe ancient ideas of mercy are different compared to today?

-I’ve read and seen SO many stories of how Zhu Bajie kidnapped the human woman he married but that’s…not what happened. Sort of. They married with both her and her family’s consent. It was only after his true appearance, huge appetite, and poor manners were revealed that her family tries to get rid of him. He keeps his wife away from them as a result. Normally, I’d say good for him for trying to cut off toxic people but his wife was described as pale and unkept when Tang and Wukong arrive. So…she’s not doing good and should really be returned to her family.

-Wukong laughs at people and calls himself “Old Monkey” a lot.

More scattered thoughts to come!

[mental-mario]

Sibling Rivalry, Favoritism, and Multiplayer

Hey all, it's been an upsetting week for me, not gonna lie. I'm gonna skip the spiel and just get into it, so I'll just say that if you can relate then please Like and Follow and be sure to tip your struggling blogger. Also I'm lonely and need friends, so send me a request on Switch and message me on here as well! My mental issues make it difficult for me to sustain friendships, but I'd love a pen pal or 10k of them!

I'll be opening up more about things as I get more comfortable with this whole self-awareness and vulnerability thing, so subscribe and bear with me, but let's just say for now as a quick background that my mother is a narcissist, my dad is the flying monkey, my brother is the golden boy, and he married a conniving narcissist as well, so as to continue the cycle of abuse to his two kids. I am the damaged scapegoat who is trying to navigate away to healthier dynamics for my spouse and kids. I'm currently no-contact with my brother and his family as well as my mother and any relatives whatsoever. I do meet up with my dad occasionally for pancakes, but it is very much about sticking heads in the sand and pretending like we aren't estranged. I was no-contact with him as well until my wife informed him I was in the psych ward a couple months ago. I'm willing to answer questions as we go...

Anyway, he recently sent me $500 since I finally got up the nerve to put my pride and ego aside and outright ask him for help; something that has been instilled as a big source of shame for me to ever do because my mom especially would verbally berate me about how incompetent I am and how I would die alone and unwanted. Anyways, I digress, you may be asking what I would have to complain about? While I am thankful for any help I can get, let's just say $500 is chump change when it comes to my parents. They have money that I have been long since cut off from but that my brother and his family still very much access unabashedly, at the age of 32. I am 38. Also important to note is that he works a lucrative career where he has been able to make similar or better money as me over the past decade. The difference has been that my wife and I have been smart and careful with our money, while they have spent it recklessly. I always tend to leave out background details inadvertently, so I'm trying to recall as much as I can so as to not sound like unjustified soured grapes.

After years of no contact, our wives started communicating again, and it eventually got to where they decided to move to the south where we had relocated, originally in order to get away from them all. I wasn't thrilled about this, but I didn't want to deny my wife a chance at a friendship. My brother was reluctant to move here too, for reasons that I will get into someday as I work up the nerve to do so. My mom said I should take that said reason to the grave, but I'm not going to do that. They lived in an apartment for 6 months while making excellent money, by most people's standards, but they then exited out of the lease and moved into my parents' house, yet again, rent free, until they could buy a house of their own (or at least, that was how it was phrased to me when I decided to go nc with my parents yet again, due to the emotional pain of yet again seeing him and his family completely chosen over me and mine). They had to get out of their lease because they are assholes and got a bit too brazen with their neighbors. Despite being brazen in the past with neighbors who produced guns in their faces, they still find it rather funny to try and cave their downstairs neighbor's ceiling in by purposely jumping around as hard as they could out of spite. So long story short, another awful neighbor who couldn't take a joke decided to make them feel less than safe for their choices.

With the money and assets they have, there should've been no reason why they couldn't just pivot into another short term lease or something, but my parents ate up the chance to get into that abusive dynamic yet again, telling themselves that they couldn't let their son and his family go homeless (I can't say that without laughing because that is hardly the only other choice in this scenario). Regardless, we have come back into this situation because my parents decided to move those who we are once again no longer in contact with into their own house, essentially choosing a side once again. Of course, the explanation evolved from this being a temporary thing to suddenly they can't afford a down payment on anything because they don't have any money saved, meaning they would be living with them indefinitely. My only satisfaction in this was knowing that my mom's vicious lap dog, who she refuses to rehome because she spent $6k from a breeder, would be biting the shit out of all of them. Despite the dog being a barrier to letting my kids stay over my parents or anything of the sort, you can at least cordon a dog off for someone to visit. Sadly, they refuse to kennel my brother's wife.

Anyways, my spouse has some acquaintances in the real estate industry, since we have bought and sold a number of homes over the years. She got a message from one of them, asking her if she was aware how terribly entitled and obnoxious her in-laws are. Despite having to search numerous banks for a loan due to their awful credit rating, they still have the nerve to act like they are rich and powerful somehow. They were apparently searching originally for a house priced in the $300's but could not get a mortgage unless my parents cosigned and put up their retirement assets as collateral. They refused that, but they did cosign a mortgage for $200k. This after having always told me about how they would never cosign a loan for anyone ever. So basically, my parents bought my fully grown ass brother and his family a house, because when push comes to shove they will definitely stop paying the mortgage payment and could care less if they force my parents into doing so. Of course, I am sitting on this knowledge since before I was gifted $500 by my parents, and my parents won't ever tell me they did this. To answer your question, if you are asking it, I do intend to call my dad out on this, and it may be the last time I ever speak to him, depending on how that conversation goes.

My parents for the longest time would act like they did so evenly for both their kids and their grandkids, but I've called them out on that enough over the years so that they don't even make that claim anymore. From money to time spent to emotional support (if you can call it that), his family got 99.9%, and I'm an ingrate to complain about not getting my 0.1%. To clarify, I could care less except for the impact it all has had on my kids, but I do acknowledge that it's a blessing in disguise that my kids are growing up without that toxic influence so prevalent in their lives. Just makes me sad because if they would cosign a $200k mortgage for me like that, I'd be set for life, but bro's family gets rewarded for their recklessness while mine gets punished for trying to do things "the right way."

I want to shift gears now before I become too bitter, but I will just ask you to comment or message me, do you have experience with being the black sheep? If so, how's it going? Conversely, do you have experience being the golden child and self-aware of it? How has that been like for you??

To channel my inner Cranky Kong: kids these days experience multiplayer gaming far different than we did as young bloods. In my day *groans as he shifts in his recliner* multiplayer meant your friend or sibling played a single player game while you waited and rooted for them to screw up so you could have your turn to play! SMB3 made some progress in this by establishing a cooperative level progression, despite continuing the alternating turns system of play, but it was still waiting impatiently for your turn to play. Other games that did have simultaneous co-op could be frustrating if you had a younger sibling who couldn't hold up to your skill level. Nowadays, you got co-op where players don't get in each other's way, and you even got games that are accessible for players who can't coordinate keeping the acceleration button held down in Mario Kart. I may sound like I'm complaining, but I assure you this is quite the opposite. I might have had better interpersonal relationships growing up if it was more about this level of inclusive play and bonding rather than the confusing cooperative yet competitive setup that led to a rather passive aggressive style of friendships and relationships that I experienced.

A quick update before I wrap this up: I will be going away for a couple of weeks without access to internet, so know that I am okay during this time and will post more when I get back. I would like to ask, has anyone reading this ever called the suicide hotline, and what was that experience like for you? I have not yet called, but I do have them in my contacts (it's 988 in the US for anyone who doesn't know).

The holiday season is filled with controlling propaganda for family, friends, and other such obligations disguised as tradition, so if you are like me and can't conform to society's expectations, just know you aren't alone and that this is a safe spot to share and discuss. You don't have to feel shame and guilt for putting your own health and quality of life first. Trauma sucks, but we all have it. Understand that your own personal experience is valid and that you aren't lesser than anyone else. I hope you are able to find peace and comfort this season in your spirituality because that's far stronger than worrying about the company you keep, possessions you have, or living a lifestyle by others' standards. What's the point in living that way if it just adds to your stress? Family sucks, and that is why I have opted out. If you are considering doing the same but haven't yet, I hope you survive this year. If you are considering breaking free, I'm happy to lend a friendly ear and chat!

[nsharks]

Okay so I spent the whole morning (I spent most of it on TikTok cause I have the attention span of a humming bird) making a playlist for Ghost and Twix’s relationship and a few songs that compliment their personalities separately. I also made a little moodboard as the cover which took for fucking ever cause I’m really picky when it comes to moodboards. There’s no reason as to why there’s so many songs by the weeknd. I just love his music. Here’s a few of the highlights;

GHOST’S THEME;

I’m still standing by Elton John

The fourth line in the song is “you’ll wind up like the wreck you hide behind the mask you use” which can be interpreted both literally and figuratively. Ghost has his mask which he uses to hide his expressions plus he keeps everyone at arms length and uses his cold demeanour as a sort of mask itself.

TWIX’S THEME;

Carry on Wayward Son by Kansas City

This one was difficult I won’t even lie. I was looking through the playlist to find a song for Twix but honestly none of the ones I had in the Twist playlist were it. And then I found this one which wasn’t even in the playlist to begin with. But the lyrics go; I hear the voices when I'm dreaming I can hear them say Carry on, my wayward son There'll be peace when you are done Lay your weary head to rest Don't you cry no more—which I think is perfect for her. She’s absolutely bone tired, starving and ready to quite literally off herself. We see that in the very first chapter when she meets ghost but she’s too stubborn to die. Not to mention the fact she’s kept her humanity despite the things she’s seen and been through. As for the voices, I interpret that as her family and Paul telling her to “carry on” because they couldn’t.

TWIST’S THEME;

do I wanna know by the arctic monkeys

This was a toss up between “as the world caves in by Matt Maltese” and this song. While the latter has a more apocalyptic feel to it, which could be associated with BB I didn’t want the song to be about that cause it’s a playlist for ghost and Twix—not the end of the world. The whole song just describes they way they feel towards each other. The uncertainty of their feelings, the complexity of their situation knowing they’re both emotionally unavailable. Especially with Simon, who we know wouldn’t even notice the fact that that he’s in love and would refuse to admit it. They dance around each other and they way they feel.

I quite literally analyzed every lyric until I found the right songs 😭. This was such a fun way to spend my time. The code is here if you want to listen to the whole thing. I also used a quote from the first chapter as the description I hope you don’t mind. I can totally change it to something else if you want.

OKAY I FINALLY GOT THROIGH LISTENING TO THE WHOLE PLAYLIST AND JUST WOW WOW WOW!

The thought and analysis and attention to the characters?? You are so incredible! I literally cried listening to this playlist. Thank you so much for sharing 💙💙💙

I absolutely love what you said about Twix.

(Where’s the mood board 👀)

[wykwryt]

playing through oxenfree and i think i'm finding new additions (or at least new to me. possibly for the netflix edition specifically?), keeping a record here, will edit:

[indicates some sound, action, whatever] {indicates distorted audio i'm not sure about}

104.5 @ beacon beach at the top of the stairs to the adler estate before going to the caves (10pm? also 11pm.): okay, it's on. status? or statuses? two seconds... boom on. i think i got it. it's uh flashing? it shouldn't be. then i think i don't got it. that's uh it's a safety thing, just press- [interrupted] the red button yup got it, we're good. pressing mine. is this safe? i hope not. [alarm] is it raining for you guys? nope. no. there's a drizzle... whatever. my weather app said there was like a 10% chance [thunder] whoa! everyone okay? that wasn't near me. me neither. i'm okay. are you okay? [static, thunder] s-shut up both of- [voices? whispering? swirling?] what's happening over there? take her out. i'll tell you all about it. just stay tuned everyone. [end]

107 @ harden tower right after waking up (11pm): {a blink? i tried and pressed 30 point.} over. what happened? what happened? where did everybody go? {the ??? is} keeping the portal closed. it's not working yet. we're not. we're not getting through. .. .... ..... . ..... . . .... . . .... ... . .... ...... (idk morse code man) [end tone] -> this one makes the radio glow a little when you get to it.

103.3 @ harden tower (11pm): some funky ass distorted voicing. very creepy.

105 @ the very top of harden tower BEFORE interacting with tower things (11pm): recording. attempt 4 successfully. 60 and 6 degrees, eh jesus who cares. it worked. i'm staring at everything we ever wanted. the looks aren't everything. i'm stepping inside. no you are not! we decided- one foot in. no, no, no! oh my god. guys relax it's [distorted repeat x2: guys relax it's...] wait, wait! [end] -> oh my god i think all this new stuff has to do with lost signals. i think they said they added new stuff having to do with it.

101 @ out on the edge by the sentry in epiphany fields (11pm): {last night i had a nightmare. ????????? blood from the sky make the planet shine. blood on the dirt makes the planet shine. drizzle. whatever. agreement. how did it get here? hello? hello! can anyone hear me. blood from the skies make the planet shine. blood on the dirt makes the planet shine. if i'm... sorry we couldn't- are you two mobile? i'm just waiting for a monkey to pop out. no. nope. [noises] oh my god. all alone/i'm alone. [noise of something winding down... the end]} <- this one's super distorted, may be very incorrect. also lost signals prolly.

106 @ beacon beach by the campfire (11pm): i know where to go. no more hopes, no more dreams. bad or otherwise. i know where to go, how to get there, and what's inside. we're making one more deal. you know how mine work. you keep listening and that's your name, written in red right next to mine. so if you're interested, don't be surprised... when things get bloody. still there? good. i'm not lost anymore. i don't need to be found. so when i'm gone, be happy for me. that's the deal. please. let me be happy. i'm not lost. [end] <- lost signals? wondering about those cult kids since we're at the beach. i think this is the same girl from the end of 104.5.

noting this twitter thread for hints on all the lost signals messages. yep the new stuff i'm finding is showing up in these vids. total of 8? yes i know i'm over a whole year late in looking for this stuff, how has it already been nearly two years since the announcement jesus.

107 @ the beginning of towhee grove (11pm) (huh, maybe i wasn't supposed to hear this one before, it sounds a little clearer now. radios still glows a lil): i'm at uh, a bridge? a sign says charity point. over. what happened? what happened? where did everybody go? the {????} is keeping the portal closed. it's not working then, we're not, we're not getting through. … . . - …- . - --. --. .- …- --.--.--. (guessing at the morse code ://////)

based on several tries listening (a compilation: … . . - …- . - --. --. .- …- --.--.--. // … . . -. // . …. . - --. // … . . - -.. -. - --. ---. - ---. --.--.--.) and putting it through a translator, something about seeking something? i'll look up someone's youtube video compilation of all of these eventually for answers

92 @ towhee grove (12pm): i just don't remember this random wind

92.7 @ the camp grounds at the top by the edge of the cairn (gotta really stand at the edge to hear properly, i stood listening to shitty audio for ages like an idiot) (12pm): okay, you've had a minute. i don't know, it was really dark... i felt red light... i don't know. i don't know what i saw either. really? you were there for so long. i don't know, okay? i don't know and i'm not going to know until we try again. what?! i- ugh, {???} i'm not done talking! i thought the problem was voltage, {and} i thought right, {let me/and when we} get more equipment, i'll- I'M NOT. DONE! {jeeper girl!} whatever it was, whatever i... whatever we saw, if it was anything, it was close. we're going to get closer. we are not done climbing. that's the deal, take it or break it. you guys know it. how pathetic is it if i say it's all i have left? the most pathetic... but here we are, time to be the most pathetic. just stop. blood from the sky makes the planet shine. blood on the dirt makes the planet shine. blood in the ground makes the planet shine. [end]

93.7 @ relay point by the wishing well (12pm): why did you... nevermind. uh, yeah try again cowboy. why did i what? he wants to know why you said that thing on your tape. about not wanting to be found. so you found that huh? i mean, you did just leave it out. maybe you didn't wanna be found but you had different hopes for that tape. yeah. maybe i did. definitely you did! it doesn't matter. are we nothing to you? no. then what? 3 2 1 go!, what are we to you? so since you're saying nothing i can only guess- ok stop, just stop. i didn't think aaanyone would hear that, okay? i didn't think it would work and just. i didn't. think. i was without thinking. you're not nothing. then what? not nothing. okay. you guys should go home. what about you? i'm... going home too. [end] <- this is def riley.

ok the stuff i'm finding is not in those tweets, hunting down more night school studio tweet here: (red for stuff i've already found at this point in time, other crosses as i go)

89.1 electric fence harden tower

105.2 top of tower

97.3 epiphany fields by entrance to ft milner

101.4 the sentry

106.1 at the top of that tower in the lil town area beneath the fort

99.4 inside the fort by one of them lock posters in the middle of some stairs

93.3 inside the spooky scary room in the fort

104.2 next to building with 'he volunteered submarine' graffiti before climbing down ladder

90.2 somewhere in the woods? above the roosting tree where the grounds keeper hung himself

91.3 on the rock in the middle to hop over to the smallest cemetery beneath the cable bridge

92.4 the one by the top by the cairn

93.5 the wishing well

oh god this video's fast

104.0 at the edge of maggie adler's dock

105.0 the attic? in maggie adler's place

106.0 the campfire

107.0 by the lighthouse??

89.7 in a caption?

this list doesn't make sense with what i have unless they scrambled the numbers for just some of them. and/or switched it up since over a year ago. i am putting in an unreasonable amount of effort into chronicling this but it's fun lol, i missed this game.

[astronomical-bagel]

Whats your monkie kid au about?

YIPPEEEEEEEEEEEEEE IM SO GLAD YOU ASKED!!!!! IVE BEEN WORKING ON A POKEMON AU!!!!!!!

(idk when the cutoff will be, but warning for a very long infodump XD)

okay listen i cannot emphasize how much thought has been put into this, i have backstories for each of the pokemon, i know how all of them met their trainers, ive designated the serious trainers with a specific type of pokemon they train, like. listen to me. i have put SO much thought into this and how pokemon would fit into the lmk universe and canon. im going insane.

anyways, heres some of the pokemon/trainer lineups. ive done..... a large majority of the important cast? i havent gone into azure's whole group, but i think thats all im missing. i've done a lot.

ANYWAYS take the traffic light trio, they were the first ones i did!

And heres how they met each pokemon! (I havent named any of them yet LMAO, but i will!)

MK

No specialty

Whimsicott

it flew into his face on a breeze when he was a kid (like ten), he begged to keep it. It evolves before canon starts while theyre playing together :)

Monferno

found during “A hero is born”, when climbing down the mountain (it kind of just followed him for a while until he noticed it and went :D!!). it evolved in s4 “the emperor’s wrath” against azure (when he fully accepted his monkey form)

Kubfu 

“Impossible delivery”, He runs into it (literally) on the way home down the mountain, and he keeps it bc why not

Mei

Dragon/Electric

Rayquaza 

Passed down through the family, kinda fucks off until mei calls upon it (mei can still turn into a dragon, needs to learn to work together with him and do JOINT ATTACKS)

Vibrava

Chosen at a store with her parents before canon, evolved when she used the dragon blade

Boltund

“The great wall race”, evolved during the training in s2 “this is the end”

Pawmi

Found in s3 special “this imperfect world” during training with redson, helped her conceptualize the storing and release of energy of the Samadhi fire and stuff

Red Son

Fire

Ponyta

Chosen w parents as a child

Tauros

Inherited from his father after he was trapped (the other pokemon didnt make it)

Salandit

Caught before his father was released, found in volcano 

Sizzlepede

Found in volcano cave (different one, still before dbk was released) and it tried to eat him and he was Delighted

Fletchling 

Found sometime around “revenge of the spider queen”. It was injured (fell out of nest? Hurt leg? hmm) but still tried to attack him and defend its territory, so he deemed it strong enough to become his teammate 

okay okay some notes:

Pigsy didn't want MK having too many pokemon, partially because of mess/healthcode violations, and also because of money reasons. he had just the one pokemon the for the majority of his life, and after 'A Hero Is Born' pigsy was 1. so glad that MK was alive that he didn't care and 2. mk promised to keep it away from the kitchen and pay for all of its needs itself and ect ect. it was very much a 'PLEAAAASEEE can I keep it 🥺' kind of thing. The Kubfu mainly stays at the training ground (its very dedicated), so that wasn't an issue.

For Mei, she chose the trapinch (the preevolution of the vibrava) at the pokemon equivalent of a pet store bc its a tradition in the family to get a dragon-type pokemon when they turn twelve. her parents showed her a bunch of options and she thought the final evolution looked epic. The Boltund is known for chasing fast things, including vehicles. it chased her until the finish line and she was delighted to have attracted such a fast pokemon. the pawmi was just a little guy that she was secretly messing with instead of paying attention to red son XD

okay there's not too much extrapolation i have to go into for red son, BUT. the fact that none of his pokemon have evolved was/is a major sore point for him, and his parents often were critical on whether they (and by proxy, red son) were strong enough. Now he and his parents are more normal about it, and ironically its the lack of stress and pressure that's going to make it easy for them to evolve now. smth smth friendship is an important part of a pokemon's health, its like a whole character arc for him.

AND THATS NOT ALL. I wanted to go over like... specifically why i chose some of these pokemon!! like, for MK, his pokemon represent different parts of him, like, narratively!

the whimscott is playful, loves pranks, and its kind of a metaphor for the more childish side of him? Which is why i made it his first pokemon! (I also chose it because it reminded me of the monkey kings cloud, which i feel like his younger self would have wanted sooo bad LMAO)

the monferno is obviously related to his connection to the monkey king, but most importantly it hangs in packs, and THEREFORE represents his love for his friends bc obviously that's a huge part of him, yk? (I also really like this pokemon for him bc it matches his color scheme XD)

And for the Kubfu, the episode it was found on is very important! the kubfu is known for how dedicated it is to its training both its body and its mind, as well as its "fighting spirit". Sooo obviously it represents MK's sense of duty and his want to train to be better! He and his kubfu train a LOT in season 2, when he's trying to prepare for the LBD. (Fun Fact: this was almost Wukong's pokemon, but i couldnt stop drawing connections to MK when looking at it because its got the little bandana and everything, and i thought it was too similar to him to be wukongs pokemon. i mean, if he already mentored that pokemon, that would make the fact that he's mentoring MK way less meaningful, yk?)

OKAY OKAY IM FINALLY DONE, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE ASK AND LETTING ME RAMBLE. PLEASE SEND ME MORE ASKS, I HAVE PUT JUST AS MUCH THOUGHT INTO EVERY OTHER CHARACTER'S POKEMON, AND I HAVE SO MUCH TO SAY ON EVERYTHING. I AM NOT EXAGERATING IN THE SLIGHTEST MY GOOGLE DOCS FOR THIS IS ALREADY SO LARGE. IF YOU WANT YOU CAN ASK FOR SPECIFIC CHARACTERS OR GROUPS AND I CAN GIVE YOU ALL THE POKEMON THEY HAVE AND STUFF.

[missyourflight]

some stuff i read and watched in june:

taskmaster (s1-5): haven't done an early seasons rewatch in so long, s4 and 5 are basically perfect 2 me. incredible that mark watson manages to be both my favourite type of taskmaster guy (hopelessly despairing) and also nearly won the thing lol. nish forever obviously

silo: got well into this! probably at some point apple will stop throwing millions at sci-fi shows but i'm going to enjoy their folly in the meantime

mission: impossible ii: hadn't seen this one! the weakest of the lot but the john woo of it all is undeniable

mission: impossible iii: PSH outrageously good as the villain, hi keri russell

mission: impossible - ghost protocol: so much fun, especially the sequences where you can see brad bird's animation brain going

mission: impossible - rogue nation: ILSA my beloved, the opera sequence is so gorgeous, no notes!

mission: impossible - fallout: it's good when henry cavill reloads his arms, it's better when tom cruise is sprinting around london rooftops and breaking his ankle etc, my most basic trait is that i Love when they're in london like oooh tate modern. anyway i'm very ready for dead reckoning

asteroid city: the bits about making art really got to me! the vending machines were cool!

joint security area: crash landing on you prepared me for this, blank check weren't lying when they said it was homoerotic, song kang-ho forever etc

dodie smith, the town in bloom: the most delightful narrative voice i've read in Ages and v funny. easy to sell me on 1920s theatrical shenanigans

k patrick, mrs s: So hot and butch, i liked the butch friendship stuff almost more than the sex stuff. more sexy lesbian novels Please

kj charles, the secret lives of country gentlemen: another winner from KJC, my most reliable romantic comfort reads. this time it's smugglers!

alice slater, death of a bookseller: sticky little thriller about being poisoned by true crime, great sense of place, So many pints of dark fruits

laura kay, wild things: bisexual disaster in love with her best friend, tragically very me- and also george russell-coded, god i want to swim in a pond again

SOME STUFF I SAW AT ROCK WERCHTER

the dj on the first nigt who played a mash up of i'm gonna be (500 miles) into temperature and then the 1d cover of one way or another into little lion man (deeply cursed fandom flashbacks etc)

weyes blood with candelabras and glowing hearts and amazing adam curtis projections on the big screen behind her

king princess sending the gay girls of belgium absolutely wild - "you wanna hear a sad lesbian song?"

matty healy is a dickhead but he's very good at being the frontman of the 1975. like if ben whishaw was straight and kind of disgusting

stormzy!!! literally the rain was pouring during blinded by your grace pt 2

mumford and sons - this whole festival was like being borne back ceaseless into the past but the cave still fucks me up, marcus really in his ken marino era, face-wise

PUP - i do believe if this tour doesn't kill you, i will to be a wholly perfect song, they had a trans flag on stage, best vibes of the festival

sigur ros - sometimes you just want to be in a massive barn with thousands of people with your faces turned up in the dark feeling like you're inside the sound somehow

muse - fucking incredible live band still!! every time i'm see them i'm floored by how hot chris the bassist is and then i forget about it and then i see them again and i'm poleaxed etc. they had a tech meltdown during knights of cydonia at the encore so we got showbiz instead!!

christine and the queens - beautiful and terrible as the dawn

jacob collier - asked if we wanted to get funky then put on a special hat, bit george russell-coded in the face

arctic monkeys - sometimes you just want to be in a field with one of your oldest friends singing the songs of your youth!! i love the 70s act actually! there are so many sexy songs on AM!! the skies finally cleared for the beautiful full moon, thank you belgium, good night

[winterpower98]

Part 2 on the way

- beach episode but macaque stays hidden under the umbrella judging everyone

Ma supervising

Wukong either running around to look for cool rocks or sleep the whole time

And Ba and Beng being cute around

Also yk those people who sell like granite (i swear how do you say it in English) ? Okay wukong would zoom just to get the peach flavored and then go back to sleep like a grandpa

- i like to think that Beng didn't know how to swim, and felt stupid for it because he was scared of water (and never learned how to swim)

So one day, when he tried to swim, Mac was watching, Ba was teaching him, and Ma was making sure Beng wasn't scared or anything.

Wukong? Under water holding Beng up so he didn't sink. Just standing at the bottom giving Beng a chair with his hands.

- imagine you're relaxing and suddenly wukong says "lmao" out of no where.

- like to think that sometimes or deadass every Friday Beng and Ba receive a gift. A gift for both, maybe a book for Ba and something else for Beng, anything that they would like.

They don't know who is the person who gives them a gift, and honestly they have started to wait for them each Friday.

Little did they know it's wukong giving them gifts.

- this hc is really funny to me but- macaque being jacket but not being able to open a jar of pickles, then you see wukong, this skinny man, being able to lift a whole mountain. Even better if you think that wukong is a bit chubby because he doesn't train and keeps eating junk.

- feel like Mami, despite wukong horrible choices, is very proud of wukong.

He started as some stubborn child, and ended up as being half if not all china hero and a god. He matured a lot and she's proud of her son for it.

- wukong as both a grave for Ma and one that used to belong to macaque, he used to stay there and sit and give flowers to each grave.

He still does, but doesn't do it to Macaque one anymore, since he isn't dead anymore.

- wukong still has a big amount of animals in his house, especially weird cats and horses.

- wukong used to groom his friends a lot, monkey way to show affection 💪

Sometimes he gave flowers too because apparently humans did it to show that they loved someone. He didn't quite get it was rather more romantically than platonic. But did he care? No.

- wukong likes salami. That's it. Bono er salame

- wukong acted like a grandpa since he was a kid, maybe he took it from langur and horse, unknown, he was just a grandpa since birth man. The ultimate old sun.

- both handsome monkey king and old sun were nicknames made by his monkeys,

Handsome monkey king because he reached both demons and monkey standards,

And old sun because everyone saw their king as a second parent or directly their grandpa.

- Ma was likely the first one with Beng to ask wukong to train them, both wanted to protect their people when wukong wasn't there!

- monkey king is so bored as a god that he knows how to code, sew, draw, paint, and make a rocket

Like wow dude

- if Beng and Ba ever visit again wukong the first thing they'll see is probably wukong with 7 monkeys on him, one grooming him, one attached to his leg, one trying to tackle him and push him, one playing with his tail, and one asking questions for the next three hours (imagine wukong and the monkey asking questions like : "wabadababa is that true? Yeh")

- i imagine the whole group feeling bad in different ways for wukong, they already do because of jttw (other than Mac). because despite Tripitaka treating wukong so badly, wukong still misses him and can't let go. It's just..sad. y'know? (I'm talking about Ma if she was alive too)

- they all liked Mami. Mami is a very likeable person and wukong will beat up whoever says otherwise.

whenever the ground had a sleepover to wukong house Mami always made food that wasn't fruits, everyone liked that.

- speaking of the house, wukong house was a human one, so Mami and wukong were the only monkeys who lived in an actual house and not maybe little camps or also caves. That's why doing a sleepover there was the best. Cozy house.

- bet Ba and Beng would have loved how well taken care and full of life flower fruit mountain is again!

- apparently, monkeys do get periods! Yes menstrual ones. so i can only imagine wukong taking good care of Mami whenever her period came, he did the exact same to Ma and Ba too. Just helping like a true gentleman. (i do wonder if he would have periods too because of my trans headcanon..)

- if the monkeys could ever meet MK, what would be their reaction? We know that Mac didn't had the...best first impression, but he's working on it.

We already talked about how Mami treats MK like her kid just like wukong, (i don't know if you ever talked about MK with langur and horse, i remember you saying that wukong tried to hide the fact that he had a successor from them but failed though!)

Part 1

(I think it's like a gelato kinda situation, you just call it granita I guess. Because granite is the rock)

Oh, I love the idea of Beng not knowing how to swim and Ba teaching him! That's very cute.

Of course Mami is proud of her son! Yes he made mistakes, but that is part of growing and he did his best to atone for them

Man god ADHD and was alone for 500 years. That is a dangerous combination, no wonder he knows how to do so many things

I didn't know monkeys get menstrual periods too. I'm sorry for them, I hoped they would be free from that pain

I did say that Wukong tried to keep MK a secret from Langur and Horse. That's because he knew the two would have made fun of him, calling him a dad even when he had only started to train the kid. Both immortals like MK very much, he's a sweeter version of Wukong to them.

And while I'm sure Ba, Beng and Ma would absolutely adore MK too, they would also be equally worried about him because 1 he's a kid, and 2 why would Wukong even need a successor?

[grimmgrinningghouls]

Ark map tier list?

ark map tier list. for u anon. I'll even give u a whole breakdown cause I love talking about this game.

S Tier

Ragnarok - I remember when rag released and everyone lost their goddamn minds. It was and still is such a good map, I remember the frantic rush to be the first on the server to have griffins or steal wyvern eggs, especially ice wyvern eggs. Ragnarok is an absolutely beautiful map and I've built some of my all time fav bases on there, I'll have to see if I can find some pics. It has a lot to it in terms of creatures, caves, base locations, and scenery. Its got a lot to it, and theres even a good amount of hidden easter eggs if you look hard enough. I'd very much recommend rag for any beginner ark players out there, trust me it is easier than the island lol. plus u can get dragons.

Fjordur - Fjordur is just....such an amazing map I don't even have words. Nekatus really outdid himself. It is beyond gorgeous, like, some jaw-droppingly beautiful scenery. It has so much to it, there's so many places to go and so many things to explore, so many secrets to find, so many bosses to kill and so many creatures to tame. I will say I am a little disappointed in Fenrir, but hey, nothin a mod can't fix. Or a lil bit of research on the inis for console players. Plus, all the realms are just so fucking cool. Me and my friends built a massive Viking village in Asgard, I'll make sure to get pics next time I'm on that server. The caves r so fun, and all the bossfights are amazing. I really, really love the boss system they had set up. Its so unique and gave us so much to do, plus the final boss, fenrisulfr (pronoucned fenris-ulver btw) is such a fun fight. I had an absolute blast, also I absolutely love the new dinos. Much more than the lost island ones but we'll get to that.

Aberration - Screaming and frothing at the mouth. How do I even begin to describe how amazing aberration is. Its a hauntingly beautiful map, and the lore is so good. Did you know that you can hear the whispers of the survivors rockwell killed and trapped? its creepy as hell but its just so cool. its just such a unique experience as compared to the rest of ark. Theres no flyers, yet its got some of the most dangerous dinos in the game lurking around every corner. Aberration and scorched are tied for the hardest map imo. Its super fun to play on, and in terms of creatures its got some of the best new ones. I love rock drakes I would die for them.

A Tier

The island - I'll be honest, this ones mostly just here cause of nostalgia lol. I've been playing since day 1, I remember ark before it even had all its biomes. I remember a time when the volcano was just a mountain with a hole in the top, a time when pvp was just a bunch of naked people running around with bolas and spears, when having a rex made you a god, and most of all: When mammoths had buttholes and sabers had nutsacks. Sorry I had too lol. But anyways, the islands still a pretty solid map. Its like, the base map that everyone starts out on but its harder than a lot of the maps lol. Its extremely fun, and it has some fun caves. The boss fights will always be classics to me, Does anyone else remember when the monkey's boulders could hurt the rider? that was fun. The island may not be the best map, but it always has a special place in my heart.

Extinction - Not a ton to say about extinction, its certainly a fun map and the creatures are pretty amazing, I love adhd puppies and turret raptors lol. But its not that fun to actually like, survive on. Extinctions more fun when ur playing on a cluster with access to other maps. I do like OSD's and the boss fights are fr some of the best in the game, and I absolutely adore the ost. Probably my fave tbh lol

Crystal isles - This map is like, beyond beautiful and I do really, really like the crystal wyverns. But it was rather disappointing, I mean we all kinda expected them to remove the cool variants and stuff, but I feel like removing most of the cool variants the original mod had took away a lot from the maps charm. Plus, the removal of rock drakes was just such a let down for me. I do quite like the map still, and its very fun to play on and build bases on, as well as the wyverns, they're super fun, but it doesn't do much to compel me to play on it besides just getting crystal wyverns.

B Tier

Lost island - The big thing that tanks this map for me is its new creatures. Lost islands fun ig, but it just feels like an upgraded version of the island. Its pretty, and it does have manas so yay, but still. Its fun, but there's nothing that really makes it stand out besides being the only free map with manas on it. And as I mentioned before, I really do not like the new creatures. The dinopithecus is just a reskinned thyla with the Ferox's animation, I guess it has the poop stuff but it's just a very underwhelming creature. I feel like people voted for it more because of the memes than actually wanting it. The amargas…okay, I guess. but it doesn't really add anything and is a huge pain to tame, it doesn't feel very worth it. The Sinos prolly the best out of the 3, its a pretty good travel dino, and I call them rich man's glide suits lol. Also I hate the boss fight and the caves are very much not fun.

Gen 2 - Don't get me wrong, I do like gen 2, and I feel like it approved upon a lot of gen 1's issues and added some super awesome new items into the game, but it also completely destroyed the pvp meta lol. This is very much just personal preference, but I'm not super big on all the tek sci fi stuff. I mean it is fun to use the tek bow as well as like the hoversail. Gen 2 was very heavily biased towards the pvpers, which isn't bad, but as a pve player its just that a lot of the new dinos and items aren't worth getting for me. The stryder is useful I guess but being unable to cryo it...oof lol. Maewings and shadowmanes are also useful, but like the Noglin, Astrodelphis, and Voidwyrm are completely useless in pvp. The delphis is just a fancy way to get around, the Noglin has zero use in pve, and the voidwyrm is just a wyvern that doesn't do breath dmg. They're all cool lookin dinos I guess, but again just not much of a reason for me to tame them since they're a pain in the ass. I like gen 2's scenery, rockwells garden and the eden zone are cool and pretty but to me, they aren't as pretty as like fjordur or aberration. The R-dinos were cool, but I can get all those on other maps. Cool map, and it sent ark out with a bang, but still its meh for me.

Valguero - I do quite like it, but I don't like it enuf to put it on A tier lol. I adore deinonychus and its a pretty fun map to run around on, its also super pretty and I have built some dope ass bases, but its still just not a map I play on much or have much of a reason to go on. I can get deinons on a ton of different maps, so I pretty much go over there to make a cool base lol.

C Tier

Theres only one map on here lol. I do kinda like scorched, its fun, but its just not super enjoyable. I don't hate it or anything, but I don't consider it as good as anything on B tier. It gave us wyverns and has some good base locations, as well as being the first story map, it does offer a pretty fun challenge but much like extinction its more fun on a cluster than it is alone. Its caves are like, super fun tho, I love scorched's caves and I always have a blast doing them. Buuut I wouldn't say they're like, as good as fjordurs or anything. Okayish map, just not a fav.

D Tier

Gen 1 - eugh...I made a whole other post for gen 1 and this is getting long so imma just link that and give a summary here: the missions suck balls, its biomes are lame, and I don't like it lol.

The center - I'll be honest, I totally forgot this existed lol. I do not like the center. I know its fun for pvpers but eh. It was fun back in the day, but nowadays you can just go spend ur time on another map and have more fun. I don't really like the scenery either, very, very forgettable and idk anyone who goes over to the center for any reason lol.

and thats it! sorry for the long post I love ark and I love talking abt it.

[cloudeling]

i only read one wof book because the library never had the second available i only remember liking pearl and them being kept underground and escaping

is it too basic if i ask for liek. the plot also isn’t one of those things were there are multiple series within it

im gonna assume u meam peril not pearl bcus if there was a pearl they were a pretty minor character in which case good taste peril is soooo. like shes not my favourite character necessarily but she is just. the kind of character you have many thoughts on youknow. shes neat. ive been thinking abt her a lot recently and she is just. such a character. ANYWAYS.

under the cut because boy oh boy do i like talking

wof does have multiple series kinda theyre not subdivided the way warriors is but theres 3 different 'arcs' (<- thats how i see most ppl refer to them) each 5 books long the 3rd arc just finished :} arc one is my favourite i will always be a dragonets of destiny enjoyer <333 and the whole thing w arc one is that 20 years ago the sandwing queen died. okay just 2 clarify: on the continent of pyrrhia (<- ill get 2 that when we talk abt arc 3) there r 7 tribes sandwings mudwings rainwings icewings seawings skywings nightwings n they all have different appearances and abilities and whatnot. all tribes r ruled by a queen ! and for all tribes (except rainwings (i have so many opinions abt the way the rainwings were handled but i will !! hold back !!!)) in order 2 take over as queen a daughter or sister of the current queen must challenge her to a fight to the death. fun stuff.

the issue arises when queen oasis of the sandwings is killed by a scavenger (little creatures meant 2 be humans. they talk later but rn theyre basically just monkeys) (murderous monkeys) and leaves her 3 daughters blister blaze & burn behind. instead of fighting each other directly the sisters decide to start a war. massive big war involving pretty much everyone except the rainwings (bcus theyre hiding in the rainforest and everyone thinks theyre lazy (i have so many opinions and i am holding them all back right now)) and the nightwings (bcus theyre special). the nightwings make a prophecy and thats where my guys come in. the dragonets of destiny!

the prophecy calls for 5 dragonets all born on the brightest night (pyrrhia has 3 moons the brightest night is when all of them r full) a skywing a sandwing a nightwing a mudwing & a seawing. these 5 dragonets r found still in their eggs by the talons of peace (organization who wants 2 stop the war) except the skywing egg gets thrown off a cliff so they grab glory instead (shes a rainwing)

the dragonets grow up 2gether in a cave under a mountain and then big nightwing morrowseer shows up and tells their guardians (3 dragons called kestrel webs & dune they are. not good people. dragons. whatever. dune dies in the first book though.) that they need 2 kill glory. dragonets overhear and well they don't want glory 2 die. so they escape the cave and go off to meet their parents and also end the war (like the prophecy says)

lotta stuff happens along the way im gonna stop being so long winded and fast track this they end up in queen scarlets (skywing queen) prison and thats where they meet peril shes down bad for clay (in an aro way though <- headcanon) they escape that too and go around pyrrhia meeting all the sandwing princesses. burn is the strong violent one blister is the smart manipulative one and blaze is just kinda ditsy. in the final book sunny meets her mom thorn and her adopted son qibli (i rlly rlly rlly like sunny n qibli as a duo we needed more of them) and they decide that no all of these guys suck we're making thorn queen. blister brings these two super dangerous snakes her and burn end up dead blaze lives and is like oh yay im alive ^_^ thorns queen now huh thats neat. ALSO the prophecy that the nightwings made Well it was fake actually they made it up <3 nightwings don't have prophecy or mindreading abilities after all theyre just all liars. we find that out in book 4 when they visit the secret nightwing island (its a miserable volcano island that explodes at the end of the book) (they find it bcus the nightwings have been kidnapping dragons from the rainforest) (holding back many thoughts right now. sigh.) sunny saves the world anyways though bcus shes epic like that.

arc two ! the dragonets of destiny start a school in the mountain where sunnys father lives. (stonemover. hes an animus. animus dragons basically have the magic to do Whatever They Want but it turns them evil so there's definitely proper balancing of overpoweredness there uh huh. <- sarcasm.) we meet moon shes a little timid nightwing who grew up in the rainforest instead of the volcano bcus her mom wasn't a coward lh and she Can read minds and see the future! bcus nightwings get their powers from the moons actually. she talks to this ancient crusty dragon in the ground called darkstalker who's also a mindreader and a prophecy seer and ! an animus! he made himself immortal but his girlfriend clearsight trapped him in the ground bcus he was evil. and stuff. theres a legends book abt them (plus theres a seawing called fathom. turtle n him get compared a lot.)

also moon gets her own found family too /silly theres this system at the school jade mountain academy called winglets where u get one dragon from each tribe moons dragons r winter qibli kinkajou carnelian turtle & umber. carnelian dies right away and then peril shows up again. theres some death and murder and whatnot and then moon spits out a big ole prophecy n tells her winglet abt the magic nightwing powers. stuff happens yepyep. various things happen and then moon reveals that shes been talking 2 darkstalker in her head we find out he made his dad disembowel himself and they argue abt who gets his magic scroll containing all his animus powers and peril burns it good for her <3 except it kinda backfires cause theres an earthquake and out of the ground pops darkstalker. hes back babeyyyy. and hes enchanting everyone to like him esp qibli and he tries to take rulership of the nightwings (theyre all being ruled by glory after the volcano explosion) and gives them magic powers and curses all the icewings with a magic plague. qibli has magic immunity earrings courtesy of turtle (also an animus. silly guy. so's his sister anenome bcus he magicked her into being one way back when) so he saves most of the icewings and also defeats darkstalker yippee. they turn him into a dragonet with a magic strawberry.

arc three is fun we get a new continent! and also. Well. on pantala our new continent there r three tribes hivewings silkwings and leafwings and a billion (two thousand) years ago (after darkstalker got put in the ground by clearsight) clearsight runs away 2 pantala using her future powers to survive aand she has so many kids that she makes a whole new tribes (hivewings) (its a more gradual generation-spanning process obviously but its silly to word it this way). she gives her kids this book with all the prophecies forever and way later the hivewings use this to take over the silkwings & leafwings. leafwings r all killed (or they go hide in the jungle but shh they don't know that) and the silkwings are enslaved by the hivewings. fun kids book series everyone. queen wasp (hivewing queen) has the ability 2 mind control her subjects but our main hivewing cricket is immune to it we later find out that this is due to a fancy plant. some leafwings can talk to/control plants with this thing called leafspeak btw including sundew shes fun. ALSO theres some silkwings blue luna and swordtail and theyre our other main guys this arc also an icewing called snowfall

snowfall comes in because the magic plant takes over the whole continent and a whole bunch of dragons fly over to pyrrhia using a map clearsight hid in her prophecy book. ALSO the prophecy book turned out 2 be a big lie the hivewings said it was like. everything ever and they were supposed to rule everyone bcus thats what the book said but actually there were barely any prophecies left in the book <3. anyways they end up at the ice kingdoms border and snowfall is very mad abt it (shes queen now bcus queen glacier died in the icewing plague darkstalker made) theres all sorts of shenanigans and idk how it ends bcus i haven't read book 15 yet i hear theres talking scavengers and a nonbinary character. woo.