#I had to mirror your post

[bloodyarn]

calling babsi good girl when she is, in fact, a good girl :)

[medicalunprofessional]

never change, man !

[a-s-levynn]

Your reflection, your bitter deception / Setting you free A Series of Small Offerings - IV/6 - day38

[post-it-notes7]

Please tell me this will be a happy ending

dearest anon, only time will tell

[thetwilightroadtonightfall]

family visit 🏝️

(ghosts can be haunted too)

[Scala script translation in alt text]

[vanityangel]

You never changed! You never change.

[crows-home]

You were supposed to enjoy it!-

Dead Plate is a free game on itch.io and i really liked it :)

[luck-of-the-drawings]

oh the dread, oh the worry! you love your sister so much and you need to know shes okay. you trust her but you cant trust the world, and more than anything else you cant trust yourself

[sourscratched]

the hand that feeds

[sforzesco]

Historia Augusta, Geta

Cassius Dio, 78.1

Cassius Dio, 78.4

Mutiliation and Transformation: Damnatio Memoriae and the Roman Imperial Portraiture, Eric R. Varner

this is. well! it's probably fine.

[lavenoon]

This started out as cat mirroring and fluff but unfortunately for Eclipse a lot of my trapcards have their origin in the first half of the 20th century and I'd like words.

@naffeclipse someone save him

*self insert Aster is not a girl (he/ she)

og detective au by sunnys-aesthetic!

[acourtofquestions]

Rowaelin Chapter 41 Kingdom of Ash:

She'd rebuild it—what she had been.

Perhaps one last time, perhaps only for a little while, but she'd do it. If only for Terrasen.

Rowan swooped from the mast, shifting as he reached her side at the rail. He surveyed the night-black sea beyond them. "You should rest." She slid him a glance. "I'm not tired." Not a lie, not in some regards. "Want to spar?" He frowned. "Training can start tomorrow."

"Or tonight." She held his piercing stare, matched his dominance with her own.

"It can wait a few hours, Aelin."

"Every day counts." Against Erawan, even a day of training would count.

Rowan's jaw tightened. "True," he said at last. "But it can still wait. There are ... there are things we need to discuss." The silent words rose in his animal-bright eyes. About you and me.

Her mouth went dry. But Aelin nodded In silence, they strode into their spacious quarters, its only decoration the wall of windows that overlooked the churning sea behind them. A far cry from a queen's chamber, or any she might have purchased as Adarlan's assassin.

At least the bed built into the wall looked clean enough, the sheets crisp and stainless. But Aelin headed for the oak desk anchored to the floor, and leaned against it while Rowan shut the door.

In the dim lantern light, they stared at each other.

She'd endured Maeve and Cairn; she'd endured Endovier and countless other horrors and losses. She could have this conversation with him. The first step toward rebuilding herself.

Aelin knew Rowan could hear her thundering heart as the space between them went taut. She swallowed once. "Elide and Lorcan told you... told you everything that was said on that beach."

A curt nod, wariness flooding his eyes. "Everything that Maeve said." Another nod.

She braced herself. "That I'm-we're mates."

Understanding and something like relief replaced that wariness. "Yes."

"I'm your mate," she said, needing to voice it. "And you are mine."

Rowan crossed the room, but halted a few feet from the desk on which she leaned. "What of it, Aelin?" His question was low, rough.

"Don't you..." She scrubbed at her face. "You know what she did to you, to ..." She couldn't say her name. Lyria. "Because of it."

"I do know."

"And?"

"And what do you wish me to say?"

She pushed off the desk. "I wish you to tell me how you feel about it. If…"

"If what?"

"If you wish it wasn't so."

His brows narrowed. "Why would I ever wish that?"

She shook her head, unable to answer, and stared over her shoulder toward the sea.

It seemed like he would close the distance between them, but he remained where he was.

"Aelin." His voice turned hoarse. "Aelin."

She looked at him then, at the pain in his words.

"Do you know what I wish?" He exposed his palms, one tattooed, the other unmarked. "I wish that you had told me. When you realized it. I wish you had told me then."

She swallowed against the ache in her throat. "I didn't want to hurt you."

"Why would it ever hurt me to know the truth that was already in my heart? The truth I hoped for?"

"I didn't understand it. I didn't understand how it was possible. I thought maybe ... maybe you might be able to have two mates within a lifetime, but even then, I just ….." She blew out a breath. "I didn't want you to be distressed." His eyes softened. "Do I regret that Lyria was dragged into this, that the cost of Maeve's game was her life, and the life of the child we might have had? Yes. I regret that, and I wish it had never happened." He would bear the tattoo to remember it for the rest of his days. "But none of that was your fault. I will always carry some of the burden of it, always know I chose to leave her for war and glory, and that I played right into Maeve's hands."

"Maeve wanted to ensnare you to get to me, though."

"Then it is her choice, not yours."

Aelin ran a hand over the worn wood of the desk. "In those illusions she spun for me, she showed me variations on one more than all the others." The words were strained, but she forced them out. Forced herself to look at him. "She spun me one dreamscape that felt so real I could smell the wind off the Staghorns."

"What did she show you?" A breathless question.

Aelin had to swallow before she could answer. "She showed me what might have been—if there had been no Erawan, if Elena had dealt with him properly and banished him. If there had been no Lyria, none of that pain or despair you endured. She showed me Terrasen as it would have been today, with my father as king, and my childhood happy, and..." Her lips wobbled. "When I turned twenty, you came with a delegation of Fae to Terrasen, to make amends for the rift between my mother and Maeve. And you and I took one look at each other in my father's throne room, and we knew."

She didn't fight the stinging in her eyes. "I wanted to believe that was the true world. That this was the nightmare from which I'd awaken. I wanted to believe that there was a place where you and I had never known this suffering and loss, where we'd take one look at each other and know we were mates. Maeve told me she could make it so. If I gave her the keys, she'd make it all possible." She wiped at her cheek, at the tear that escaped down it. "She spun me realities where you were dead, where you'd been killed by Erawan and only in handing over the keys to her would I be able to avenge you. But those realities made me ... I stopped being useful to her when she told me you were gone. She couldn't get me to talk, to think. Yet in the ones where you and I met, where things were as they should have been ... that was when I came the closest."

His swallow was audible. "What stopped you?"

She wiped at her face again. "The male I fell in love with was you. It was you, who knew pain as I did, and who walked with me through it, back to the light. Maeve didn't understand that. That even if she could create that perfect world, it wouldn't be you with me. And I'd never trade that, trade this. Not for anything." He extended his hand. An offer and invitation.

Aelin laid hers atop his, and his callused fingers squeezed gently. "I wanted it to be you," he breathed, closing his eyes. "For months and months, even in Wendlyn, I wondered why you weren't my mate instead. It tore me up, wondering it, but I still did." He opened his eyes, and they burned like green fire. "All this time, I wanted it to be you."

She lowered her gaze, but he hooked a thumb and forefinger around her chin and lifted her face.

"I know you are tired, Fireheart. I know that the burden on your shoulders is more than anyone should endure." He took their joined hands and laid them on his heart. "But we'll face this together. Erawan, the Lock, all of it.

"We'll face it together. And when we are done, when you Settle, we will have a thousand years together. Longer."

A small sound came out of her. "Elena said the Lock requires—"

"We'll face it together," he swore again.

"And if the cost of it truly is you, then we'll pay it together. As one soul in two bodies.

Her heart strained to the point of cleaving. "Terrasen needs a king."

"I have no intention of ruling Terrasen without you. Aedion can have the job."

She scanned his face. He meant every word He brushed the hair from her face, his other hand still clasping hers to his chest, where his heart pounded a steady, unfaltering rhythm.

"Even if I had my choice of any dream-realities, any perfect illusions, I would still choose you, too."

She felt the truth of his words echo into the unbreakable thing that bound their very souls, and tilted her face up toward his. But he made no move beyond it.

She frowned. "Why aren't you kissing me?"

"I thought you might want to be asked first."

"That never stopped you before."

"This first time, I wanted to make sure you were ... ready." After Cairn and Maeve. After months of having no choices whatsoever.

She smiled despite that truth. "I'm ready to be kissed again, Prince."

He let out a dark chuckle and muttered, "Thank the gods," before he lowered his mouth to hers.

"You're my mate." Her words were a breathless rush. "And I am yours."

The world might have been burning around them for all she cared, all he cared, too.

"Together, Aelin," he promised, and she heard the rest of the words in every place their bodies joined. Together they would face this, together they would find a way.

Together we'll find a way, their mingling breaths, the crashing sea, seemed to echo.

Together.

[foxgonyoom]

I don't think MK is worried about being a demon monkey thing.

I think he's worried about becoming LBD.

(My theory below, with pictures and colored text, so you don't get bored of course!)

Now I thought this idea up a while back, when I first watched the Jade Emperor episode (which was probably in Chinese when I originally watched it). And what made me think of it was this scene:

(I think I saw someone somewhere say that there weren't any MK reflections in S4, which is a lie because there's one right here. However it's possible that this is the ONLY MK reflection in S4, which actually ties into my theory because his face is reflected over a skull (and guess who's associated with those in this show?))

Now after a while I forgot about it for the most part, but recently I recalled it, and after looking through some of S4 a bit, I've realized that it's actually probably canon.

Now why don't I start by addressing the conversation MK had LBD when she was defeated, the one they had in the white void.

LBD: "Save your hero speech, child. I've existed long enough to know when it's over." MK: "You still think that the universe really wants anything from... any of us?" LBD: "Don't you?" MK: "I try not to think too hard." LBD: "So it would seem." LBD: "Know this, monkey. You and I are not so different. We both fight for what we think is right. That pursuit only leads to one thing." MK: "Mhm, to destiny, right?" LBD: "No. To pain."

Now, while I've noticed several callbacks throughout S4 to not only S3 but maybe even previous seasons (IT'S ALL CONNECTED) I'm mainly going to focus on the fight in Pitiful Creatures and take a look at MK and Subodhi's discussion they had in Show Me the Monster. I've got a lot of thoughts but to spare myself I'm just going to focus on things that relates to my theory.

See if you can follow along.

Master Subodhi: This is not about the Monkey King. There is something more at play here. Something about you." MK: "Wha-? Me? I'm just a regular noodle delivery boy." Master Subodhi: "Ha! Do you even believe that?"

Master Subodhi: "Although this was the stone from which Sun Wukong once sprung, it appears, over time, it was used to form another. A simple creature with no past, no family, and no name. There is a reason you are at the center of these stories. A reason you can harness the power of the Monkey King himself!"

Master Subodhi: "Who or what you are, even I do not know the answer. But of one thing I am certain. Fate has plans for you. Great plans or foul? Time will tell."

MK: "You still think that the universe really wants anything from... any of us?" LBD: "Don't you?"

(Not gonna lie, considering the perception MK's been given on fate (which is a generally pretty cruel and heartless one, considering how it was mainly in tandem with LBD) Master Subodhi telling him fate had plans for him was probably like a giant slap to the face. Like it probably seemed to him like Subodhi was basically saying "lol you're gonna eat shit kid, hope you like being the imposter among us and causing pain and suffering". Especially considering how the one who was always claiming that fate had plans for them was LBD. To MK, Master Subodhi was basically saying that he'd end up like LBD. He was confirming LBD's last words. Hence the "Shifu Subodhi said it himself" line later, even though Subodhi didn't say shit about MK bringing pain and destruction on the world, just fate having plans for him and him being more special than previously thought)

MK: "You're not real. You're just the curse of the scroll trying to get all up inside of my head, just like-" Protective curse: "The Lady Bone Demon? Tell me, what do you think we are? Honestly. 'Cause I have been dying to hear us say it. Out loud."

(Fun fact, when the curse (which is currently formed as MK) says "The Lady Bone Demon?" You can hear LBD's voice in the background saying the exact same thing)

Protective curse: "Seriously? You still think we're just some... 'noodle delivery guy'? You can't remember where we came from, and we got all this power, and you never once thought, why us? What are we?! What is our purpose?!" MK: "Of course I thought about it! I mean, maybe! I was gonna thought about it. I just... I just wanna be me. To be MK!"

MK: "I try not to think too hard."

Protective curse: "We're just like Wukong. A fraud, a trickster, destructive. Why would our legacy be any different? Actually, no, no. The chaos and destruction that we'll bring upon the world will make Wukong's past look like nothing. Shifu Subodhi said it himself, right?" MK: "No. No, you're wrong. I'm-I'm... I'm not—" Protective curse: "Not what? Some monkey demon thing destined to bring chaos upon the world? Come on! Use your words, big brain boy. Say it! What are we?"

(If MK is worried he might be like LBD, then it's possible that his perception of LBD is leaking into his perception of the person he's also been compared with, Monkey King)

(Also, keep in mind LBD posed as a little girl, tricked MK, and tried to destroy the world)

Protective curse: "Yeah, boi! Oh, that's what I'm talking about! You can't escape it. This thing, whatever you are, embrace it. Embrace your destiny!"

(I would once again like to refer to Spider Queen's line of "there's no running from what she is!")

And here's a little treat for ya, several times throughout the show characters have consistently referred to LBD as a "what". Saying stuff like, "There's no running from what she is" and whatnot. Now I want you to go back through the evidence I've presented (heck, maybe even go back through S4), and look for anytime that anyone/anything refers to "what MK is". Go on. I'll be here when you get back, pinky promise. :)

(Fun fact, when MK was telling DBK what LBD was, he said she was an "ancient demon". Now in S4, MK is wondering if he's a demon monkey)

Now, there are many more references I could make here. But, to spare my sanity, and to keep you from getting bored from seeing the same shit over and over again, I'll move on now, and instead invite you to look for connections like this in the show on your own time.

For my final point before I end this post, I would like to say something. I don't think the concept of LBD and MK having things in common started with the white void scene. I think, it started here:

MK: "It's ok. I get it. It's scary being alone."

LBD wasn't the one to make the connection first. MK was. That they were alike in some way. Here, in Minor Scale Major Lift. A season 2 episode. And the one where he first met her.

And, funnily enough, it's possible that there could be more references in Minor Scale Major Lift. For example:

LBD: "You were right, you know. It's scary being alone! I do pity you."

Meanwhile the episode I referenced the most in this post is called Pitiful Creatures. Plus, in that episode, MK tells the scroll to "get out of his head", and in Minor Scale Major Lift, the Lady Bone Demon "got into his head" so to speak.

Ya know, I think it's funny. We all heard LBD compare herself with MK, telling him that they were alike. Yet, we never seemed to consider that maybe MK actually believed her.

[e-adlirez]

#Technoblade25

Heeyyyyy am I late to the party? I hope I'm not too late, been working on this thing for the occasion

hebe hebe HEBE amiinm'enbimikta HEBE AMIINM'ENBIMIKTA AMIINM'ENBIMIKTA HEBE HEBE HEBE AMIINM'ENBIMIKTA

Ne yhdeini sy caera, Tommy? Meku AMULVHT VID LIIN!

For the record, the ripple thingies are from Tsevhu, aka the funni koi fish language :D I've been studying the conlang lately

Anyway, the red Tsevhu is a translation of "you want to be a hero, Tommy? Then DIE like one!", while the pale red are the voices chanting "one of us" and the closest the Tsevhu Discord could approximate for "blood for the blood god" in a phrase (the actual thing translates something to like "start giving completely and involuntarily", which in Tsevhu is kinda like chanting for sacrifice, which is fun and very much chat :3)

("blood for the blood god" would've translated to a straight-up sentence that I'd have to frame in koiwrit, which I felt would be too cluttered, as much as clutteredness is very in-character for chat)

Anyway hope I'm not too late haha, happy 25th birthday, Techno.

[a-gassy-antelope]

[pennamepersona]

hey when withers says thou shall not perish while i endure or whatever, how literal is that. is durge functionally immortal. is durge undead. [shakes the bars of my enclosure] i need to know