#i actually made something

[unseelie-robynx]

Cult AU Snippet

So this is a snippet from my Curse AU (breakdown can be found HERE) placed somewhere midway through Xiaotian’s backslid into his cult upbringing, where he still doesn’t believe that what the cult wants is good, but he doesn’t not believe that either. This snippet is about the gang finally starting to learn what’s actually going on with the cult, (courtesy of a certain pair of demon brothers), beyond just the basic ‘there’s a creepy demon worshiping cult that wants to maybe destroy the celestial realm but also maybe destroy Yama / we know they think there’s some king that supposed to do all of this and-slash make things quote-unquote ‘better’ by taking over’.

It is under read more because long, please enjoy.

(No real warnings apply I don’t think, beyond mentioning a cult)

Xiaotia- MK was twitching. He was trying really hard not to be, but he was. He’d had to shove his hand behind his back, to hide the fact they were shaking, and it was taking more self control than Xaio- MK knew he had to keep from just throwing the demon twins out of Pigsy’s shop altogether.

Because that would be suspicious. In like, the worst ways.

So instead, he was stuck, listening to the twins spill information they had NO BUSINESS KNOWING and he was going to have to tell Shifu about- no. No he wasn’t involved with them anymore. He was MK, was the Monkey Kid, and he didn’t know anything about anything Yin and Jin might be babbling on about. He didn’t.

And man did the two of them have a lot of things to go on about. It was like they’d never had a good meal in their lives with how savagely they were tearing apart the noodles Pigsy had given them, and while their manners were atrocious and Xiaotian ignored the suspiciously familiar voice in the back of his mind that was wrinkling its nose as said behavior they were appreciative, and dumping out a lot of information between bites.

“So like, I really don’t see how you don’t know this-“ Jin said around a mouthful of noodles.

“-like *really* don’t see how you didn’t know.” Yin added around his own.

“I mean, honestly-“

“-considerin’ the subject matter-“

“-the fact that you don’t-“

“-almost seems like-“

“-could be an oversight on their part. But then again-“

“-might be a reason, you know? Don’t want you findin’ out before the ‘end game’ or whatever. Although-“

“-how that would work-“

“-considerin’ how said ‘end game’ is supposed to go-“

“-kinda goes back to that oversight on their part thing, ya know?”

At least Xiaoti- MK, wasn’t the only one getting annoyed. He could see Xiaojiao’s eyebrow starting to twitch, and honestly the fact that Red Son hadn’t flipped his top yet was a minor miracle. Maybe, if he was lucky, one of them would get fed up first and throw the twins out preferably before they spilled anything that was actually important or made sense without preexisting context that the others didn’t have, so that MK didn’t have to be the one to break character and do it.

But of course, Xiaotian was never lucky.

But… was that true? He’d been lucky that Shifu found him, had taken him in and raised him and given him a home and the truth but- NO. Because… because it wasn’t… it was a c-… was a… that. His friends all said so, MONKEY KING, said so. So it… it was and he was right to try and get away but then Shifu reminded him that Monkey King couldn’t really… that he… Xiaojiao’s sword came down in a streak of lighting, halting right above Pigsy’s counter (which was good because he would have killed her, resurrected her, and then killed her again if she’d actually broken it). It was enough to both snap MK out of his thoughts, and shut the twins right up, and the both swallowed HARD before turning in jerky unison to stare at the glaring (and glowing) girl.

“So since Pigsy was kind enough to convince me to not chop you into little pieces despite you trying to break in and steal his stuff, why don’t you get to the POINT, m’kay?” Xiaojiao hummed out, tone entirely too cheery for the murderous expression on her face.

The demon twins both swallowed in unison, turning to look at each other and doing that silent ‘twin communication’ thing with their eyes before turning to the group and moving in eerie synch to point… at Monkey King.

Shit.

(He should have taken the opportunity to throw them both out the door when he had the chance)

There was a bit of confusion as everyone looked between the pointing demon brothers and Monkey King and back again, which was only compounded when Monkey King himself raised a confused finger, pointing at his chest as if to confirm ‘Me?’, while still looking just as lost as everyone else about what was going on and what Yin and Jin were talking about. And this was bad, this was really bad Monkey King couldn’t know. It’s not like he didn’t know but THEY couldn’t know that he knew and they were watching (because they always were) and if Monkey King ‘found out’ they would know that he knew and probably do something even worse than what they already had and!

 “Yah um, we’re going to need a bit more than that, actually.” Mr. Tang’s voice cut in his voice was so similar but so wrong and even after all these years Xiaot- MK had still never fully gotten used to it, gotten over the way the similarity felt so wrong.

MK knew he needed to do… something, but he didn’t know what and the more he panicked the less chance he had to do anything, just like now because the twins were speaking again and-

 “Well it’s obvious, aint it Yin?”

“Totally obvious Jin.”

“I mean, It’s not like they even tried that hard, what with the name and all.”

“Nope, didn’t try hard at ALL Jin.”

“Great King-“

“-Great Sage-“

“-Equaling Heaven-“

“Uniting Heaven and Earth?”

“Use the same kanji and everythin’-“

“-really aren’t trying all that hard to disguise it.”

“Plus I mean, with all their ’natural order was disrupted’-“

“-’the new age where the heavens are PROPERLY overthrown’ and all that-“

“-makes it hard not to reference what they’re takin’ ‘bout, you know?”

“Not that WE want anything to do with any of that.”

“Oh absolutely not. We done saw what it was like the first time-“

“-and if they’re planning on any sorta carnage like the last time, Whoooooh boy.”

“Nope”

“Nu-uh.”

“Not happenin’.”

“No offense-“

“Mr. Great Sage-“

“-but you was terrifyin’ back than-“

“-not that you aint now-“

“-oh no, you’re still plenty terrifyin’ now-“

“but like, you get it, yah? There’s like-“

“-levels of terifyin’ and you used to be on a whole different one.”

“And not that the Celestials are all that great-“

“- I mean we definitely jumped ship soon as we got a good chance-“

“But like if that’s the kinda thing these guys are seein’ as the ‘ideal’-“

“-that just gonna be like, slaughter for most people.”

“You understand?”

 There was silence around the room for a few long moments as everyone sort of… digested what the twins had said. Everyone but him. Finally though, Xiaojiao broke the silence.

“Wait. So you’re saying that the creepy doomsday demon cult, and their whole ‘evil demon king to destroy the three realms’ and all of that, that they’re talking about Monkey King?”

The disbelief and incredulability in her voice was blatant, but not in a way that she disbelieved the twins, oh no. That would be to easy and nothing in Xiaoti- MK’s life could ever be EASY. Instead it was disbelief at the quote unquote ‘stupidity’ of this ‘cult’.

And a part of him rankled at that tone. What did she know after all? Nothing. Nothing true, anyways, nothing important. She didn’t understand, had never been shown how things would be better, why they would be better. She only knew the painful reality they were stuck with, and the layers upon layers upon layers of masks that Sun Wukong was compelled by enchantment and self-preservation to wear. She’d never learned the truth of who the Great Sage truly was. (But Xiaotian had. And he’d learned it sitting in the lap and by the side of one who had managed to catch glimpses of the truth for himself)

“So, um, gonna have to actually agree with the twins on this one.” Monkey King pipped in rubbing at the back of his neck. “Never thought I’d say that one.” He added in a softer tone before continuing. “Just, I feel like if I’m supposed to be like… important, to this cult, they probably should have like, you know, told me, or something. I mean, I’m not really sure how I’m supposed to be this ‘Great King’ of theirs if I, you know, don’t know I’m supposed to be doin’ the job and all that.”

It was clear that Monkey King was trying to be funny, to play the whole thing off. To distract the celestial realm, to not let his watchers know that he already knew.

But it was also clear that it… wasn’t working. All that well.

This whole thing was making Monkey King anxious, and it showed.

And Monkey King being anxious was making him anxious, because what terrible thing was going to happen to his mentor (slash kinda father figure but he was really trying not to think too hard about that right now) because of this? What ‘punishment’ would the celestials come up with simply for the crime of other people knowing the truth and wanting to see justice done?

Not that, that he thought it was justice, or anything. Because he… he didn’t. But he also knew that what the celestials did certainly wasn’t justice, and Monkey King didn’t deserve any of what they would probably end up doing to him because of this.

“So wait,” MK finally found his voice to cut in. “Do you guys like actually know that it’s Monkey King, or do you just think that it’s Monkey King based off stuff you’ve heard?” (Please let it be the latter, please let it be the latter)

“Oh no, it aint speculation-“ Yin quickly pipped up to defend his honor, or something.

“Not at all!” Jin agreed.

“What do you take us for?”

“Charlatans?”

“You think we’d just go ‘round,”

“Givin’ out fake information like that?”

The twins were giving their own incredulous looks, while everyone else in the room suddenly had something else to look at.

“Well we aint!” Jin declared, evidently incensed by the unspoken accusations.

“We most certainly aint!” Yin agreed right on cue.

“We’ll have you know that we got his bona fide information the hard way!”

“That’s right! And it was a real mess of a situation believe you us!”

“Why when that Monk came in I thought for sure we was-“

 CrAsH

 MK had never been more grateful for a demon attack on the city in his life.

[ryca]

I'm two episodes into The Winchesters, and I'd throw down for Carlos and Lata in a heartbeat.

That does not bode well for their fates on this show, but I don't wanna think about it or hear about it.

[planefood]

rules for thee and not for me

[cowboybeebonk]

And then she did. Happy pride.

(Alternate versions under cut)

[musubiki]

balor + ponytail (feat my farmer isa)

[lazylittledragon]

look gang i know the cishets are going to be annoying about chappell roan like they are with every popular queer artist but we CAN'T gatekeep, because think about how much it would've meant to your little queer self to hear songs about girls kissing girls being played on the radio every single day

[bunnieswithknives]

As much as I love angst I think it would be funny if he just didnt give af

[threewishgoldfish]

I'm back on my bullshit. Aeorian wizard kisses!

[girlwiththegreenhat]

team fortress 2 finally getting rid of the bots after 5 years

work on the team fortress 2 comic continuing after 7+ years

half life 3 development looking more likely than ever with legitimate code, file, and voicework leaks referencing a new non-VR single-player game from valve featuring a HEV suit wearing protagonist and Xen creatures and concepts

shoutout to the valve fan that found the genie lamp. you a real one

[inkskinned]

they want to talk about mental illness and acceptance and how everyone is a little ocd it's cute and quirky and their "intrusive thoughts" are about cutting their hair off and you say yours are about taking a razorblade to your eye and they say ew can you not and everyone is a little adhd sometimes! except if you're late it's a personality flaw and it's because you are careless and cruel (and someone else with adhd mentions they can be on time, so why can't you?) and it's not an eating disorder if it's girl dinner! it's not mania if it's girl math! what do you mean you blew all of your savings on nonrefundable plane tickets for a plane you didn't even end up taking. what do you mean that you are afraid of eating. get over it. they roll their little lips up into a sneer. can you not, like, trauma dump?

they love it on them they like to wear pieces of your suffering like jewels so that it hangs off their tongue in rapiers. they are allowed to arm-chair diagnose and cherrypick their poisons but you can't ever miss too many showers because that's, like, "fuckken gross?" so anyone mean is a narcissist. so anyone with visual tics is clearly faking it and is so cringe. but they get to scream and hit customer service employees because well, i got overwhelmed.

you keep seeing these posts about how people pleasers are "inherently manipulative" and how it's totally unfair behavior. but you are a people pleaser, you have an ingrained fawn response. in the comments, you have typed and deleted the words just because it is technically true does not make it an empathetic or kind reading of the reaction about one million times. it is technically accurate, after all. you think of catholic guilt, how sometimes you feel bad when doing a good deed because the sense of pride you get from acting kind - that pride is a sin. the word "manipulation" is not without bias or stigma attached to it. many people with the fawn response are direct victims of someone who was malignantly manipulative. calling the victims manipulative too is an unfair and unkind reading of the situation. it would be better and more empathetic to say it is safety-seeking or connection-seeking behavior. yes, it can be toxic. no, in general it is not intended to be toxic. there is no reason to make mentally ill people feel worse for what we undergo.

you type why is everyone so quick to turn on someone showing clear signs of trauma but you already know the fucking answer, so what's the point of bothering. you kind of hate those this is what anxiety looks like! infographics because at this point you're so good at white-knuckling through a severe panic attack that people just think you're stoic. even people who know the situation sometimes comment you just don't seem depressed. and you're not a 9 year old white kid so there's no way you're on the spectrum, you're not obsessed with trains and you were never a good mathematician. okay then.

mental illness is trending. in 2012 tumblr said don't romanticize our symptoms but to be fair tiktok didn't exist yet. there's these series of videos where someone pretends to be "the most boring person on earth" and is just being a normal fucking person, which makes your skin crawl, because that probably means you are boring. your friend reads aloud a profile from tinder - no depressed bitches i fucking hate that mental illness crap. your father says that medication never actually works.

you still haven't told your grandmother that you're in therapy. despite everything (and the fact it's helping): you just don't want her to see you differently.

[brother-emperors]

something. about. the horror of being sent on an impossible (death) quest and obligations and hospitality politics. the trauma of not having a home, and then the trauma of being in a house that becomes actively hostile to you, one that would swallow you whole and spit out your bones if you step out of line. all of this is conditional, your existence continues to be something men want gone.

it's about going back as far as I can with the perseus narrative because there's always a version of a myth that exists behind the one that survives. the missing pieces are clearly defined, but the oldest recorded version of it isn't there! and there's probably something older before that!! but it's doomed to forever be an unfilled space, clearly defined by an outline of something that was there and continues to be there in it's absence.

and love. it's also about love. even when you had nothing, you had love.

on the opposite side of the spectrum, this is Not About Ovid Or Roman-Renaissance Reception, Depictions And Discourses On The Perseus Narrative.

edit: to add to the above, while it's not about Ovid, because I'm specifically trying to peel things back to the oldest version of this story, Ovid is fine. alterations on the Perseus myth that give more attention Medusa predate Ovid by several centuries. this comic is also not about those, either! there are many versions of this story from the ancient world. there is not one singular True or Better version, they're all saying something.

Perseus, Daniel Ogden

Anthology of Classical Myth: Primary Sources in Translation, edited & translated by Stephen M Trzaskoma, R. Scott Smith, Stephen Brunet

[heybaetae]

maknae line + gestures of love 🫰🏼💋🫶🏼🌹🤟🏼 happy birthday @jkvjimin! ♡

[tshortik]

Cryptic visions of space and time...

[abnomi]

been trying to get back into animation

original gif below ^^ teehee!

[houseswife]

practically emanating

[feralforbeanix]

If I wasn't familiar with Ace Attorney and you asked me which one of these is an edited meme and which one is an actual line he says if you pick the wrong answer I'd be flabbergasted to hear the truth.