#The Mystic Crew

[familyofpaladins]

Guys. Monkey king doesn't know

If Monkey king truly doesn't know why he keeps going back to MK's rock when looking for Mk in the scroll, then he doesn't know it's MK'S rock.

If he doesn't know its MK's rock, then he doesn't know that MK came from the same rock he did.

Then he doesn't know the MK is also a stone monkey.

If he doesn't know MK is a stone monkey, then he has no idea why MK is turning into a monkey

He Doesn't Know

Monkey king: - but it's fine!. You look like you're doing f-fine.

Like like. I always thought this moment was like when you're watching over a kid and the kid hits their head and the kid is crying and you're trying to calm them down while trying not to freak out yourself because you don't Actually Know if they're okay yet. Like, that's how I think Monkey King feels in that moment because he doesn't know what's wrong with MK (he has No Clue Why MK is glitching into a monkey!!) and doesn't want to freak him out more.

He has no idea that MK is turning into a Monkey because he came from the same stone that Wukong did.

MK: I don't know what's happening to me Monkey King: we can figure it out after this! But we gotta deal with the now first!

"We can figure it out after this"

He. Doesn't. Know

And he doesn't get any time to figure it out!

Ink curse: Nice of you to join us, bud! Ya know none of this would have happened without you, right?

That's all he gets before the Monkie Crew shows up!

And then the next time the curse is talking about Mk's monkey form is how MK is "a demon destined to bring destruction, a harbinger of chaos", which honestly I'm not even 100% sure the others even heard any of that or if MK was the only one who could hear it considering we don't get to see any of the others react to what the ink curse says.

But nothing the ink says tells monkey king anything about where MK came from or what he really is!!!

I don't know if he'll even connect the fact that he ended up near the area where he kept going back to rock, because MK's fight with the curse kinda destroyed the area and I'm not even sure if they're on the same mountain top!

So Monkey king can't even put the pieces together that MK is connected to the stone!

All he knows is that he gave this wonderful good kid his powers and now the kid is being turned into a monkey and the ink curse is using tha to hurt MK

Ink MK: Ya know this never would have happened without you, right?!

Guys... he's gonna think Mk is turning into a monkey because he made Mk his successor and gave him his powers

[archerinventive]

Thank you!

As the year comes to a close, I just wanted to stop and take a moment to thank all the people who have made this year possible for both the Archer Inventive shop, and for Loreamour and it's Knights.

It was a busy year filled with plenty of uncertainties, hurdles, and challenges to overcome, but thanks to all of you Loreamour was able to throw not just one event for the community but TWO! On top of that the The Knights of Loreamour were able to attend multiple events, and you allowed the Archer Inventive shop to continue to grow.

It took a lot of hard work, late nights, and a few smashed pumpkins, but thanks to all of you, we did it!!

So, to those who helped spread the word, or who inspired and motivated through kind words, Thank you!

To those who visited the shop. Thank you!

To those of you who came out to help us with setup and teardown, or simply to say hi, Thank you!

To those who donated their time and/ or resources to make all the events of this past year possible, Thank you!

And to those who came out to attend in the festivities and added their own laughter to the frivolity, Thank you! We couldn't have done this without you.

Here's to many more years of laughter as we gather and grow. Creating magical memories and new friendships to last a lifetime.

Best wishes to you all, and thank you for all your support!

❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

Credit to: Emma Rockenbeck, Alexis Baker,  Mumma Archer, Ila Belle, Anthony Orange, Rae, Sarah Florian, Liv F.H. , Sara Danielle, Loni D Fairman, @confessions-of-a-ex-cheesaholic, Ila Faubion, @unicorn-shieldmaiden , Gabbi Lindley, David Lucio, Nate Castronovo, Lexi.the.First, Steven.the.Second, Damian, Paul, and Genevieve Duflock. :)

[ghost-papers]

Source: Marco Renna's twitter

🥹🥹🥹

[fullscoreshenanigans]

Cute idea:

Yuugo holds tea parties for the younger GF kids and anyone else who wants to join in

(He first did it in an attempt to distract them when Emma was still in a coma recovering and they were sad)

OUGH very cute indeed this is 100% canon in my mind.

In addition to reassurances from Anna, Don, Gilda, and Nat, Yuugo's words would keep them grounded with his steadfast conviction that Emma would pull through and Ray would return within three weeks, even with the latter happening and Emma still not having woken up yet.

(Chapter 58)

The youngest were already so keen on being around him even before his turn around that I feel like it wouldn't take much convincing to get them on board with the first one.

(TPN Light Novel 3: Records of Comrades - “Two Paths”​)

Assuming Yuugo doesn't fix the cup he was sipping air from before this a second time, I wonder if he would automatically include it among his set-up or if the kids would notice and insist on setting another place to honor Dina and the rest of the group from Glory Bell. If the latter, Yuugo would surely be touched and be one of many instances where he can't stop himself from thinking a combination of just how good these kids are and how he's grateful he's alive to participate in this.

The older Grace Field kids wouldn't take much prompting to join either, with the exception of Gilda. She was ready to follow through on her threat to blow up the shelter after seeing Ray didn't return with them and Emma was in critical condition.

(Chapter 96)

But once she understands the situation, she's quick to adapt so Emma's life can be saved.

Still, there's probably a bit of awkwardness once everything's calmed down. I love the thought of the younger kids pulling her into either the first or second one and her being a bit hesitant, but Yuugo, handling it with grace and without drawing much attention to why that might be, hands her a cup with a small but kind smile. She accepts it with a smile of her own.

Understandably, there's more focus on his relationships and dynamics with Emma and Ray, but I love whenever creators focus on his relationship with Don and Gilda considering the four of them maybe have…two or three months at the shelter with him and Lucas before they're killed compared to the rest of the kids who stay behind? Same with Zack and Violet.

(Mystic Code Book Chapter 7; the timeline's a little fuzzy on how much time they spend at the bunker between the East and West expeditions.)

Love a bunkerman getting to know and spend time with all his kids. Naturally, this extends to all of them participating in a tea party at some point. There's not enough cups from the set him and Lucas brought from Glory Bell, but if the shelter doesn't have any spare sets, they make due with what they have since it's not the type of cups that matter, but that they're all taking time to enjoy these little moments of happiness with one another in the new home and family they've made for themselves.

Other odd thoughts:

• I'm not sure whether it's funnier to have the kids teach Yuugo proper tea party etiquette or if he surprises them with his knowledge on the subject based on what he learned back at Glory Bell or what he read in some books in the bunker library. (Over the course of thirteen years, he might have come across something, but put the books down upon coming across those passages because at the time, it was too painful. Now he has a reason to go back and read them.) • Gillian would 110% be on board for pulling out all the stops for this and along with Pepe would be stepping up the dessert game. • Pepe would also have his own assortment of tea blends to share, along with Lucas and Paula. • We see Paula eating with the rest of the group in chapter 98

so the ritual of eating with Adam shown in the chapter 92 bonus sketch might have been left at Goldy Pond, but on some occasions where she seeks out a more quiet spot to enjoy her tea, Adam ends up accompanying her.

[mugiwaraboyyy1]

One Piece Daily

[tmos-time]

in my petty era playing pokemon go; you do not allow me space in the gym ecosystem to get 50 coins in a day? i will simply avoid letting you get your 50 coins <3

[catgirlforeskin]

I hope one day we learn what happened with the Halo show. It got a lot of unfair criticism from people who didn’t watch it or wanted it to be a retread of the games (which would’ve been terrible).

The show clearly had people on board who had deep knowledge and respect for Halo and its themes, much more than many of the detractors who decried that the show “wasn’t Halo” because it had civilians and mister chief took off his helmet. One of the main characters of the show, Soren, was only ever mentioned in a single short story in an anthology book that’s not even popular among people who like the books. And I love that dude! I lost it when he showed up!

It focuses on Madrigal and the Rubble and the insurrectionist conflict there, something only brought up in a single book primarily about unimportant side characters, and yeah, it changed some details around (like making it a mostly Korean colony instead of Mexican, which I didn’t love) but like, if years ago you asked me what my ideal Halo show would be, I’d talk about the insurrectionist conflict, and the best I would realistically hope for is a “both sides bad” story, but we didn’t get that! We’re meant to root for the anarchist terrorist group!

But I say all this upfront because the show had so many baffling design choices, leaning in hard on chosen one prophecy junk with Forerunners, putting in Master Chief at all, having Master Chief have a straight sex scene. There’s a lot that wasn’t great, and I have to wonder, why?

People like to say it was just made by people who don’t care about halo but that clearly isn’t true. Was it just a case of having lots of writers on the team who all wanted different things, and thus the show came out as a patchwork of different aspects of halo poorly stitched together? Was it executives fighting with the writers and shoehorning in more easily marketable material like Master Chief and the sex scene and whatnot?

Was it a mix of a lot of factors? Probably! Will we ever really know? Probably not! But I can’t help but wonder at why this happened, and what else could’ve been

[lugagl]

finally someone let me out of my cage

[achilleswishes]

George, engineer: Consider the Allen wrench

Pauline, dealing with her 3rd space crisis of the day: how many cups of coffee until heart attack?

Holly, first mate extraordinaire: I'm on it. Looking it up. Okay Captain, so this says... how many have you had today? Uh-oh.

Danielle, engineering: ...When was my last tetanus shot?

Carlos, not navigating: You have beautiful eyes, Sacha.

Sacha, what was his job anyway: I... think I'm in love.

Harken, stuck in medical bay: It's only a papercut, doctor.

Badger, the best doctor nurse alive: You might die if I don't run more tests!

Zen, their helpful AI: I've been getting really into A Space Odyssey lately. if you even care. btw.

Adam, everybody's favorite robot: beep boop

Rainer, in tears: please don't die little buddy.

Marion, on tumblr: how do I become the next sexyman...

George: it's a helpful and versatile tool.

[xboxissues]

New Xbox Games for September 11th to 15th 2023

[notasouleater]

Lying awake at night before I realized who would make a Great remora actually

[angelcake10023]

Curious MK 💛 and the Man In The Red Scarf 🧣

This au is everything to me… be ready for me to not shut up about it.

If you want a little explanation on the au look under the cut

The au pretty much follows the beats of the movie with some twists to fit the world of LMK a bit better

Tang works at his College’s museum, doing tours on a lot of historical exhibits which heavily align with his special interests (lots of JTTW like stuff)

Pigsy is the local school teacher that takes his class to the museum every week- to learn obviously. Not cause he has a big crush on this pathetic museum nerd.

Anyway the museum is loosing interest and funding you know the gist, Tang somehow agrees to go on an expedition to flower fruit mountain to maybe find something worth putting on display. Probably something related to Sun Wukong

Tang is out of his element, but also this is his hyperfixation and he can tooootally find something of note surely. However what he doesn’t know is that a few certain spider henchmen in disguise have made their way onto his expedition crew and are hoping to find something powerful to bring back to their queen.

Once they get there they do a lot of fruitless searching, set up camp for the day, and an exhausted Tang is quickly ambushed by a newly awakened baby Monkey MK. He’s very curious about the bright color of Tang’s scarf and steals it when Tang takes it off to eat.

Tang has never seen or heard of this type of monkey on the mountain before, thinking he resembles Sun Wukong but thinking it ridiculous to think more of it. They play for a bit, Tang playfully wagering for his scarf back.

Anyway the expedition continues and they’re still unable to find anything and have to leave empty handed, (except for two pieces of a little monkey shaped rock.)

Mk ends up with Tang’s scarf as he’s leaving, deciding to secretly follow them back. Wholesome shenanigans ensue just like in the movie. Tang struggles being a dad to this monkey who’s attached himself to him, while also learning he might not really be normal monkey. Add in some Monkey power shenanigans hehe. Also some spider henchmen repeatedly trying and failing to capture Mk (comedically managing to also go unnoticed every time)

Of course in the climax, Tang is pretty worn down. He’s homeless, jobless, and a disappointment. He doesn’t think he can handle taking care of MK, and that’s when Sun Wukong shows up. He’s been keeping an eye on them and knows MK has mystic powers that are probably too much for a human to handle- so he’s willing to take him off Tang’s hands.

Tang reluctantly agrees, much to MK’s confusion and sadness. Trying to reach and grab onto him repeatedly as Tang holds back tears and begs Wukong to take him. Wukong does and Mk, who’s been struggling with any speech up to this point finally manages a soft and scratchy “no” just as Wukong’s cloud zips away with them both.

Tang immediately regrets it, his regret fueled after he talks with Pigsy. He made a mistake and he needs his kid back.

Unfortunately, The Spider Queen and co managed to ambush Wukong similar to the show and capture baby MK. Cue Tang, Pigsy, and Sandy teaming up to rescue the monkeys

Rescue ensues, Tang and Mk reunite wholesomely, Wukong is impressed by Tangs determination to save the kid despite his mortality. Wukong gives him some cool treasure junk that they can take back to the museum

The day is saved, Tang and MK are a family, and Tang finally got Pigsy’s flirting through his dense head lmaooooo

Dad Tang and Baby MK are so special to me… thank you for reading haha. Itll probably be fleshed out more in the future as well

[comicaurora]

hi red!! i'm doing an analysis of sun wukong's (and journey to the west in general's) impact on modern culture for my world mythology final, and for some reason i'm having a hard time finding sources. is there anything you can recommend?

The fact that Journey to the West has contributed an enormous number of tropes to modern media is very clear when the media in question is examined, but I don't know of a specific secondary source that's already done that analysis for you. However, this IS a very good excuse for you to plow through a metric buttload of shonen manga, since the lineage is basically Sun Wukong -> Son Goku -> like a solid third of all shonen action heroes written in the last forty years.

Dragon Ball kicks things off:

Started in 1984 and almost unquestionably the most influential manga ever made. Its first arc features the weird super-strong monkey-kid Son Goku - which is just the japanese pronunciation of the characters of Sun Wukong's name - meeting up with a wacky crew of thinly-veiled expys of the Journey to the West crew, with teen inventor Bulma filling the role of Tripitaka, Oolong the pig-man filling Zhu Bajie's role and Yamcha the desert-based bandit as Sha Wujing.

Hijinks ensue, and while the story drifts pretty far from Journey to the West's original plot, it actually stays pretty solidly referential in weirdly unexpected ways. Several the villains of the week are JttW references, and even the later appearance of three more Saiyans lines up with the surprise reveal of three more Wukong-like mystical apes in the original story.

The connection between Dragon Ball and JttW is very unsubtle and a frequent reference in the chapter covers and supplemental art.

Not every subsequent JttW reference is the result of Dragon Ball popularizing it or anything, since it was already enormously popular, but I think it's pretty hard to extricate Dragon Ball's influence on anime and manga from the original influence of Journey to the West itself.

One way that a distinction can be drawn is in the differences in characterization between Goku and Sun Wukong himself. A lot of the next generation of shonen protagonists were kind of Goku-alikes - pure-hearted dumbasses who only care for the three Fs: Food, Fighting and Friendship.

But the original characterization of Sun Wukong is not really all that similar. He's a trickster, sure, but he's far from a young, friendship-motivated goober. He's profoundly intelligent, pretty much the most well-educated entity on the planet, and routinely brings up that he's centuries older than most of his peers. The Goku-alikes from the later decades of shonen anime are tellingly far-removed from that original characterization. So you get characters based on Goku's cheerful idiocy, but it's just a small subset of the broader influence of Journey to the West on the space of literature.

In general, Journey to the West frequently shows up in very small, bite-sized tropes in other stories. It's less "this is wholly based on Journey to the West" and more "oh, I know where they maybe got this idea/aesthetic/power/weapon/villain of the week from." There are way too many to list, but some of the ones that tend to jump out at me are-

Sneaky characters with monkey motifs:

Tricksy, highly mobile characters who fight with a staff:

Characters afflicted with a magical restraint artifact that allows a much weaker character to stop them from misbehaving:

Specific esoteric weapons, eg. magical fans, rakes, gourds, namedropping The Sword of Seven Stars, etc.

Villains with prominent ox or pig design motifs:

Characters whose primary combat strat is just making Shitloads Of Disposable Copies Of Themselves:

Honestly it just keeps going like this. It's kinda everywhere. Finding the JttW in things is my favorite conspiracy theory rabbit hole because it's 100% harmless and more often than not completely correct.

[thethingsiwouldvedone]

I love isekai stories with Reader inserts but 👀👀👀

Readers who the main characters only find interesting because they've completely flipped as a person and just give top energy 24-7 so hard they've lk began to become somewhat of an icon in the kingdom.

Villainous character (isekai'd Reader) who instead of plotting, opts to get drunk with their advisor and knights in the slums. Instead of attending the ball that the main character ends up stealing the spot light Reader is on the other side of the city telling people that they'll give a gold piece for each rotation someone can complete while upside down on their head. (They've got the civilians break dancing in the street while the main characters are lk awkward and bored having no villain to push them all together.) They don't have time to make others' lives messy while trying to balance the shit they end up getting themselves into. Cue scene of black out drunk Reader falling asleep in some random cart (it ended up being up a box), and shipped to a foreign country. Cue traveling crew to panic about the fact they've kidnapped an important figure. Cue Reader slowly putting the lid back on the box much too hungover to deal with anything at the moment.

Shy Meak Prince/ess character(honestly a non royal character would go so hard) (isekai'd Reader) who suddenly begins to go missing every now and again and one day disappears altogether. The kingdom thinks they've been captured or worse but in reality they have a hard time falling asleep and opt to fall asleep next to a creek not knowing that venturing into the forest meant attracting the attention of beasts and monsters that lurked. Is Reader scared, fuck no? This is they're fucking moment, bitch grew up on how to train your dragon, this is their fucking moment. Enter Reader returning after a week. Mostly fine, a few nips, and bruises. Hair a mess and dirt caked but what really shocked people were the not one but two mystical beasts following closely behind them. (Or they just reappear. Nobody knows anything about the beasts as Reader tries to hide their newly made friends from the other characters).

Tailor/Seamstress/or? (Isekai'd Reader) who's blunt as hell and with horrible brain rot from their own world and just opts to not speak in the presence of others. Others think of them as just a wise and mysterious character with an excellent set of skills for design and fashion. Enter the mind reading character who's just absolutely shook about the absolute unfiltered filth that is coming from the reader as they get fitted for an upcoming ball.

[timmie-p]

april fools post translation 👍 * indicates i have notes on the translation if you want to read below

Hyun Woo —> He stopped acting in his childhood but is currently working on ALNST as a lighting crew member. Worries about his dull, slow sister

Hyuna —> The last and youngest of the ALNST cast to debut! Her real personality is gentle and innocent

Mizi —> Fan favourite among the actors. Shy personality and very nervous about her first leading role

Sua —> The feisty actress is popular among her co-stars, thanks to her nonchalant friendliness

Sua: Great job on the shoot today. I’m sure Director Kim was only speaking so harshly because he was worried about your safety, so don’t take it personally.

Mizi: Yeah.. ((It’s sunbae!!! What should I do! What should I do!!))

Sfx: Thump thump thump [heartbeat sound]

Ivan and Luka are actors from a different agency. They’re also in an idol group together (for the record, Luka hates it)

Ivan —> Ivan loves kids and voluntarily takes care of them

Luka —> Luka is Ivan’s best friend, so he’s forced to babysit with him

Baby Till —> Baby Till for flashback scenes

Baby Mizi —> Baby Mizi for flashback scenes when the kids are older

Till —> Till, the youngest in the series, is actually the oldest in the cast and debuted with CF before he could even speak in a diaper commercial. Till has a strong “my pace”* persona. He just wants to quickly wrap up the shoot and go home. His dark circles are from overwork, not make-up.

Others —> Three people who want to approach their mysterious** senior but can’t

Ivan: ((Lamenting over delays..?))

Mizi: Want me to talk to him?

Luka: Yeah

Till: ((I want to go home))

Sfx: Spacing out~

*according to namu wiki, either someone who’s strongly independent and doesn’t care what others think or someone who’s always chill

**according to namu wiki, the adjective translates to a famous person who deliberately keeps their private life secret. i just went with mysterious bc it directly translates to “mystic”

i didn’t choose to translate sunbae in Mizi’s thoughts because it sounds weird and most of you probably know what it means anyway

lol it looks like everyone’s personalities were flipped. does that mean ivan actually hates kids? and till as the cool mysterious senior everyone is scared to talk to vs hyuna as no thoughts head empty is kinda funny. i have a feeling ivan and luka are shipped together a lot by fans in this au.. the woes of being besties. also mizisua is always canon 🙏 theyre so yuri

[fullscoreshenanigans]

#ive literally never thought of emma and oliver before but ur giving me ideas

yeeesss Emma & Oliver has always felt like one of the most pertinent dynamics to come out of Goldy Pond alongside Emma & Violet with the amount of focus each are given individually as effectively the leaders of the Grace Field escapees and Goldy Pond kids, respectively, and together. The latter is significantly less, unfortunately, but Oliver usually acts as Emma's point person when she needs to confer information/plans and Norman and Ray won't work for the situation because symbolically the scene calls for a representation of larger group cohesion with the kids she didn't grow up with.

Also, after losing so many older siblings at Grace Field and becoming the big sister/leader of them, it's nice to have her regain that kind of relationship with any of the Goldy Pond group; Oliver just happens to have more panels dedicated to it lol

Few scenes below the cut:

(Chapter 69)

(Chapter 110 & 111)

(Chapter 122; this moment is so minuscule, but again we have Oliver acting in a leader role and Emma using him as a point of reference to confirm that taking it easy in this new place is wise and safe for everyone. If even Oliver thinks it's okay to act like this—to say nothing of the way he tells her so gently and in so few words—then she can rest a little more soundly.)

(Chapter 161)

(Chapter 179; he's not the only one given focus here, but I like that he's the one this bit ends on to drive the point home to Norman and Ray about Emma.)

And then this piece by @nagaikei-ajin is my favorite of the two of them for the intensity and parallels.

i want to believe emma and oliver are carrying on yugo and lucas’ will and even got a pair of gloves for remembrance... 

Grace Field Kids Edition Other Platonic Duo Polls Suggestions Post