#and it's pretty fun to watch

[cave-monkey]

Monkey King 2009 Episode 12

Jade Rabbit is the funniest character in this whole show. I will accept argument but you will not win.

The way she just straight tosses Ginseng Fruit once she's done with them, yes, but primarily I am talking about her faces. The look after she casually takes Ginseng Fruit prisoner? Absolute gold. Love it. Also the way she might soften a little but still gives zero ground whatsoever. Oh, you were gathering food for a starving refugee population? How noble! You're still wrong and should feel bad, but in light of this new information you've earned five seconds to grovel for forgiveness.

I love her.

Ginseng Fruit's flair for storytelling makes a comeback and I am here for it. Child was dramatizing for their life so hard they needed a whole other nap after that, and honestly? They earned it. Even made sure to throw in that audience participation. Ginseng Fruit is aiming for pro.

Anyway, back to the program. They're drawing their peaches differently! Huh. Did someone complain about the old style? I never really thought 'peach' when I looked at them, sure, but these new ones are like. Well, they certainly look more like peaches! To be fair! But they're almost so realistic it actually circles back around to looking super weird and sort of off-putting? It might be the coloring not really matching the coloring of anything else. I don't know, maybe they'll grow on me.

Another episode lightly touching on Stone Monkey's flaws and it was really good, actually. Unlike last time, these are less "flaws" that are mostly just products of him trying to survive his environment and more things that make me think, "Oh, yeah, okay. That actually is something he should work on."

The primary ones seem to be 1) a return of his obliviousness toward others' feelings and 2) impulsivity with 3) a dash of 'I'll just do everything by myself'.

Which sort of gets into the Six Ears Situation. Which I thought was really well done this episode. I really like how they're taking care to show why Six Ears - though still definitely going down a concerning path - might be feeling these things and give actual reasons for his growing distance from Stone Monkey. I think the primary example was in the food foraging mission.

Like, nearly from the word go, Stone Monkey doesn't fully grasp the gravity of the situation. This is frustrating for both of them. Stone Monkey, because he doesn't understand why Six Ears is acting so different, and Six Ears, because he feels he can't rely on Stone Monkey, forcing him to go on even higher alert and winding him up that much tighter.

And this is because Six Ears does understand the gravity of the situation. They are in enemy territory and Six Ears is tense. He's a far cry from the kid who was cheerfully helping Stone Monkey fix the peach stores just a couple episodes ago. He wants to get the mission done, get it done right, and go home. For probably the first time since they met, Six Ears doesn't want to play Stone Monkey's games, and Stone Monkey doesn't understand why.

And, honestly, Six Ears is right, is the thing. The peaches? Peaches ripen even off the tree. They're perfectly edible (if not very pleasant) even when they're still very green, so peaches that are just a little green are definitely not that bad. They won't taste as good as a peach left on a tree to fully ripen, but they'll do the job. Six Ears grabbing every peach in range as quickly as possible is absolutely the right thing to do when they need to get in and out quickly, and have so many mouths to feed on top of a need to pad out their stores (specifically so what happens to them later in the episode (they end up trapped and starving in a siege) doesn't happen). Stone Monkey wants to help and do right by the monkeys and give them something nice, but his priorities are off. He doesn't have a sense of urgency and he's not really thinking long-term. He's also not really willing to listen when Six Ears explains. This is a very realistic form of miscommunication and mutual frustration and I love how they wrote it and included it.

I also love Old Monkey King's delight at Jade Rabbit bullying Stone Monkey into teamwork. Man was tickled.

And then later when Stone Monkey throws himself out of the cave to "lead them away", therefore immediately giving away their entire position even though the Demon King was still unsure and preventing them from using that time to better prepare themselves? Even Old Monkey King shouted after him to stop that shit. You know how you have that super laid back guy who is basically never phased by anything and then suddenly they decide to put their foot down and they use that specific voice at three times their normal volume and only a quarter their usual octave and everyone in the vicinity abruptly morphs into wide-eyed scolded children no matter their age?

Right, so I have no idea how Stone Monkey didn't shrivel up on the spot when Old Monkey Kind barked at him. A true superpower.

I gotta say I love Stone Monkey's impulsivity. Any version of a young Sun Wukong just feels so incomplete without it. In this show it's also generally always worked out for him in the past too, so I think this is the first time he's actually messed something up and not been immediately able to fix it? Love that for his character. Sun Wukong should be so competent and capable that he outpaces the development of caution and a true sense for consequences.

And, oh, so now the monkey troops are able to make a stand when their backs are to a wall, huh? No one out here calling for an immediate retreat? Is that so?

Say what you will though, the monkeys continue the trend of a better second showing over the first. They believe in a culture of constant improvement! Old Monkey King is not playing around, either. He hasn't thrown down this hard since Episode 4.

And like Ginseng Fruit's flair for storytelling, Demon King's theater hobby has popped its head back up. He was thrilled to finally be able to use that line. Do you think he's taken the time to mentally sort the monkeys into these opera roles? Who are the painted characters and who gets which face color, buddy? Old Monkey King get his own special category? That's so precious. No, no, don't be shy. I want to hear all your meta.

(But also, show, are you telling me that Iron-Backed Gray Wolf can run sideways on vertical cliff faces but can't balance on a barely shaking branch? Guy, what are you doing.)

Honestly though, this whole battle scene is tense in exactly the right way. Loved it.

*bops Jade Rabbit gently* Stop meta-gaming.

Listen, if Jade Rabbit's going to be accusing anyone of "wanting the acclaim" based solely off their recent actions, Stone Monkey literally gave away their entire position by deciding all on his own to take on an entire army single-handedly, and prefaced this by solemnly-but-resolutely declaring to the king that he was going alone to "lead them away" and then not listening when literally everyone said, "Wait, don't do that."

He wasn't doing it for praise, but you can't say a case couldn't be made that he was. And I'm just saying that, in this particular instance, if anyone feels the need to accuse anyone else of fishing for praise, Six Ears should probably not be the first name that comes to mind. Just. Based on what little has been seen by a certain person's own two eyes. Get out of the script, Jade Rabbit.

(Acclaim is definitely a motivating factor in Six Ears's decision, yes, but the point is how does Jade Rabbit have any reason to know that? Easy! She doesn't! *bangs gavel* case closed defendant found guilty of meta-knowledge)

That said, it was sort of a struggle figuring out Six Ears's motivations here. I almost wrote off his whole plan here as a sort of a contrived event to force the plot along, but I actually think it does make sense. I'm about to ramble a lot, bear with me.

Okay, so Six Ears deciding to quietly stage a surprise attack on the enemy camp at night without input from Old Monkey King or anyone else...doesn't actually fit his character, in most circumstances? At least in my opinion? Since Episode 1, Six Ears has always made sure to declare his intentions/seek permission from at least Old Monkey King before taking on a task, as is typically the proper way to do these things. Just taking off on his own isn't really his MO - that's Stone Monkey's thing, which Six Ears has scolded him for in the past. We should also consider even just the beginning of the episode, where he was definitely taking his enemies seriously and trying to handle the whole mission in as efficient and safe a manner as possible, and also being the first to insist to Stone Monkey that he needs to work together with someone. Six Ears abruptly deciding to underestimate Havoc's army and also go entirely rogue from any authority figure is just...odd.

Unless he doesn't think Stone Monkey was ever punished for his earlier stunt of throwing himself out of the waterfall in front of the whole Demon King army and trying to take them on single-handedly. (Are you still with me? I swear I'm getting to the point.)

This isn't quite correct. Stone Monkey was sort of being punished. Or at least that's how I took it. Old Monkey King's giving him the same unimpressed and doubtful looks he tends to give the four generals. He's not humoring him or favoring him with any extra patience when he defends Six Ears's plan. Stone Monkey takes it like a champ and convinces him anyway, sure, but only after Old Monkey King listens long enough to decide that Stone Monkey learned something beneficial from his mistake after all, and he's mostly a cold wall until he does. Even when he voices approval, it's not exactly warm. He's far and away from the indulgent figure we usually see around the kids. Stone Monkey is in trouble.

But I'm not sure Six Ears would have seen it that way. In his head, it might look like Stone Monkey's recklessness and impulsivity is what they all want. If he's barely gotten a slap on the wrist for a mistake that big, that's almost approval, isn't it?

So! Six Ears's plan makes sense to me if he's trying to be Stone Monkey. It doesn't sit naturally with him, but he's desperate and scared (see all of last episode) and has spent a good chunk of his life chasing Old Monkey King's approval. I can see him trying, even if he knows it's a bad idea. Six Ears's caution and prudence, after all, hasn't benefited him in a single way he actually cares about - it hasn't kept him safe from the Demon King's army and it hasn't kept him in Old Monkey King's esteem (in his view). If he's deliberately ignoring the voice in his head listing why this can't work and he needs to run it by Old Monkey King right now - all the things he would probably want to say to Stone Monkey, if Stone Monkey had tried anything like this - well, Stone Monkey's been just fine without that voice, hasn't he? And so Six Ears buries it. (I actually think that dramatic hesitation when he's being questioned by the guards is just him internally screaming when he realized he'd have to say his dumb plan out loud. RIP kid, make better choices.)

(He still brought people along, though. No amount of pretending to be Stone Monkey will be able to remove Six Ears's better judgement entirely. He's just gotten started. Give him a bit. He needs to work his way up to Stone Monkey's level. Baby steps.)

Also I agree with Stone Monkey that it's not a bad plan, exactly. It's the way Six Ears is trying to execute it that's wrong, not the plan itself. He's right that they need to break the siege as quickly as possible - they have no other options. They have no food and it's not even a day in, and the longer they wait the weaker they'll get. Even doing nothing, it wouldn't be a week before the Demon King's army could just walk right in with no resistance. A well-targeted, hard-hitting attack when they're most likely to be disorganized and slowest to respond is ideal considering their comparatively weaker fighting force. It's a good plan, actually.

The primary issue is that it's severely under-resourced and lacks any degree of cohesion with the larger troop. Old Monkey King, properly alerted to the plan, could have forces on standby in case something goes wrong and they need to provide an escape route, mount a defense of the entryway, or an opportunity to break the Demon King's army otherwise presents itself. They could make sure there are no conflicting operations. Old Monkey King wouldn't suddenly be absent three guards on the main entrance. I mean, hey, we don't even know if those three guys are good for a stealth mission. They could put together an actual team, maybe.

*claps hands* COMMUNICATION COMMUNICATION COMMUNICATION

(A second of silence for Old Monkey King, please, having just finished hammering this lesson home in one kid only to have the other immediately forget it to go sneaking off to single-handedly fight an enemy army.)

(The moment he must realize that these kids have one rational brain cell between them and by giving it to Stone Monkey he may have forcibly evicted it from Six Ears. Like magnets. They cannot both possess impulse control at the same time.)

(Really funny the whole 'kid sneaks off to single-handedly fight an army' thing happened twice in one day though. Literally can't turn your back on them for a single second, huh?)

[shesmore-shoebill]

"I had choice paralysis :(" is a KILLER line.

He's such a comedic powerhouse, I'm glad more people are getting exposed to him :'D

[itsadancingdinosaur]

I'm so glad the fnaf movie just kept Balloon Boy as this creepy mf. No explanation. Why is he here. Who is he. Who cares? All the jumpscares with him were great

[inkskinned]

hey btw if you're in the USA at  2:20 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Oct. 4, they're testing the emergency broadcast system. your phone is probably going to make a really loud noise, even if it's on silent. there's a backup date on the 11th if they need to postpone it.

if you're not in a safe situation and have an extra phone, you should turn that phone completely off beforehand.

additionally, if you're like me, and are easily startled; i recommend treating it like a party. have a countdown or something. be surrounded by your loved ones. take the actions you personally need to take to make yourself safe.

i have already seen mockery towards any person who feels nervous about this. for the record, it completely, completely valid to have "emergency broadcast sounds" be an anxiety trigger. do not let other people make fun of you for that. emergency sounds are legitimately engineered to make us take action; those of us with high levels of anxiety and/or neurodivergence are already pre-disposed to have a Bad Time. sometimes it is best to acknowledge that the situation will be triggering for some, and to prepare for that; rather than just saying "well that's stupid, it's just a test."

"loud scary sound time" isn't like, my favorite thing, but we can at least try to prevent some additional anxiety by preparing for it. maybe get yourself a cake? noise cancelling headphones? the new hozier album? whatever helps. love u, hope you're okay. we are gonna ride it out together.

[inber]

imagine being a fbi agent trying to do ur job at a crime scene when ur boss jack crawford yells OKAY EVERYBODY CLEAR OUT I NEED MY MOST SPECIAL BOY IN HERE and some queasy lookin dude wobbles in, closes his eyes for 10 sweaty minutes, and opens them like "we're looking for a guy with two pomeranians and a recent injury to his left earlobe" and it turns out he's right

[wilimia]

Dungeon Meshi is fun

[the-one-teapot]

Oh hey it’s Spoontarp from that Five honk shoos at Fredrickson’s game

[retroautomaton]

🍳🐖🌱

[suckishima]

furudate watching that amazingly fun and gut wrenching match between italy and japan and then immediately dropping a new drawing to express just how fun volleyball can be?? furudate we don't deserve you 😭😭😭

[almondcroissantsandink]

Ambrosius was in charge up putting up the wanted posters

[shandsformation]

magma doodles with @sleepyeule

[mintjeru]

olympics 2024 men's volleyball japan vs. argentina match you will always be famous

open for better quality | no reposts

[phantom-0-writer]

prompt 02: tim’s birthday present

Tim sat in his empty house at the empty dining table. The table was actually quite large; it had enough seats to sit at least 15 people. But there was just Tim there. 

His parents had promised and sworn up and down that they would come back in time for his birthday. He had everything planned out. He picked out the birthday cake, put on the candles, decorated, ordered his parents' favorite foods, his parents' favorite movie for movie night, popcorn the likes. But that morning, just when Tim was double checking to make sure everything was ready for the most perfect birthday ever, his parents had called to tell him that something really important had come up, and they wouldn’t be able to make it. Tim figured it was better than last year, at least they called this time. 

Tim stared down at the cake, the candles lit. He had heard online that people would make wishes on their birthday cake and blow it out. Tim thought that was a weird thing to do, but it wouldn’t hurt to try. 

What should he wish for? It would have to be something special that he doesn’t already have. Tim thought for a long moment, the candles bleeding into the frosting of the cake. 

A brother. 

Tim closed his eyes and put his hands together like he’s seen the other children to do in the cartoons. And Tim wished for a big brother. When he finally wished hard enough (whatever that meant) he opened his eyes and blew out what was left of the candles. 

Tim waited. What exactly was he supposed to do now? In the cartoons, everyone would celebrate and cheer and the birthday boy would open his presents. There wasn’t anyone to cheer for Tim, or any presents for him to open. 

Suddenly the house shook, and the loud sound of a crash sound came from the backyard. Quickly, Tim did the sensible thing and go check out what the noise was. That's what the characters always did in horror movies. 

In Tim’s backyard, there was what looked like a weird space ship that had crashed into his backyard. There wasn’t any fire or anything, but the spaceship looked pretty wrecked. Getting closer, Tim could vaguely make out that someone was inside the spaceship. Looking around, he saw what looked like maybe the handle. Tim couldn’t really tell. 

When Tim put his hand on it and tried to open it, something poked out mechanically and pricked his finger. He flinched back instinctively, caressing his finger tip.

“Recognized: Danny Fenton. System Override.” A robotic lady spoke. Who is Danny Fenton? As if to answer him, the space ship opened its hatch, and inside was an unconscious black haired teenager. “System Malfunctioning. Please Assis-” The robotic voice spoke again, before getting cut off as if the power had died. 

Suddenly, Tim remembered his wish. A big brother. 

This was Danny Fenton, and he was supposed to be Tim’s big brother

----

When Danny woke up, he found himself in a very soft plush something. Something that definitely wasn’t the Spector Speeder. Alarmed, he sat up quickly to find that he didn’t recognize where he was at all. He also didn’t recognize the weird kid that was staging at him from two feet away. 

“Hi, I’m Tim. Timothy Drake.” The boy introduced himself almost business like. 

“Uh, hi Tim.” Danny responded awkwardly. “You got any idea where I am?” Danny sat up properly, moving the blanket (?) off of him and turned to face the weird and kinda creepy kid. 

“You’re in Drake Manor. Which is where I live.” He answered again. 

“Ok…ay” Danny nodded thoughtfully. “Any idea how I got here?” Truthfully, Danny hadn’t really been expecting an answer, but he still got one. 

“Because I made a birthday wish to have a big brother.” He answered in the same way he had answered the other question, very matter-of-factly. 

“Ok- Wait. What?” Danny asked, doing a double take at Tim. 

“You’re supposed to be my big brother, right?” Tim was starting to look a little hesitant, and as weirded out as Danny felt he couldn’t help but feel bad about the whole situation. 

“Where are your parents, Tim?” 

“There not home, because they had really important things to do for work.” 

Danny nodded. “Do you know when they’ll be back?” 

Tim shook his head. “They were supposed to come back today, because it’s my birthday. But they said they couldn’t make it.” 

Well, shit. Didn’t that sound awfully like Danny’s birthdays before he had given up on his parents showing up. At least he had Jazz. This kid looked like he was alone. 

Not liking the silence, Tim started fidgeting again. “So, are you gonna be my brother, then?” 

And what was Danny supposed to say, No? Besides, if he was really causing problems being in this random universe, then Clockwork would figure it out. 

Bonus: 

Danny sat at Tim’s dinner table, the kid looking at him radiating in excitement, each with a plate of stupid expensive pasta in front of them. “You said your name was Tim, right?” Danny started thoughtfully. Tim nodded, drinking up everything Danny said. “Well, first course of action as you, big brother. I need to give you a nickname.” 

Tim’s eyes sparkled at the prospect. “Like what?”

Danny tapped his chin exaggeratedly, “Hm… Tim, Tim.” Turing the name around while he absentmindedly twirled his fork between his fingers, Danny wondered what he should come up with. Suddenly, in a misplaced strength, Danny’s fork flew out of his hand. 

Before Danny could even say anything, “I’ll get you a new one!” Tim offered quickly. Getting up from his chair, his foot got tangled behind the leg of the chair and Tim fell quietly on the floor with an oof. 

Danny laughed at him. “You okay, Timbers?” He asked, getting up to check on the boy. 

“Yeah, I like Timbers.” Tim said, a bright smile on his face despite the blossoming bruise on his arm.

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

table of contents

[kugisakiss]

I watched M27!! it was fun so here's some thoughts

[ramblerogue]

See you next year.

[binary-bird]

II. the seer | david hammond