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cat-and-fox-hub · 3 days

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[Yōkai AU] Info & Tease

Made by Cat, aka Researcher Serif/AW

"Master...? Y-you're my Master?! Please—, let me soothe your dreams forevermore—! No wait that sounded like a marriage proposal wejusTMETI'MSOSORRY—!!!" "Haha... Is this my luck or Fate bringing me to you? Ah—, never mind. It's really nice to meet you, Master!" "...I never would've thought I'd meet you in my life time. Hahaha~... What a welcome surprise. I dearly for hope you continue to do so, my dear Master." "Th-..the rope... C-could you... tie it t-...to me, Master? I'll... I'll foll'w you t-to th....the e-ends'f the earth...pr'mise..." "Hello Master!!! It's so nice to finally meet you!! Please, tie this rope around my neck! I can't wait to show you around— I think you'd love Sanctuary!" "You... hahaha—! It was you all along?? ......You're not leaving me Master. EVER... I won't EVER let you. Ahuhuhu~! Buckle up 'cause you're stuck with me forever, Master~!"

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This is an AU very much based/inspired on @twstedforyou's own original Yōkai Twisted Wonderland AU with @cosmica-galaxy's OCs as the victims subjects!

(If you want, check them out! Their art and story is super cool! Sorry in advance for this skibidi Jouice twstedforyou!)

This may or may not be updated further with moar stuff but we'll see~! Hope you enjoy!

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"Yōkai are a class of supernatural entities and spirits in Japanese folklore."

They can range from your classic demon or Oni, to objects gained spirit and sentience such as Kasa-Obake, a friendly and playful one eyed, one legged sentient umbrella. So now that that's outta the way...

My Yōkai AU's similarities with @twstedforyou's AU:

Yōkai have a predestined soulmate or 'Master' who they care for very much; their love for their Master can range from platonic to romantic to beyond, it's really whatever their Master wishes for their relationship to be, the Yōkai will simply follow to their whims

Yōkai can only ever have one Master in their long lifetime but the Master can have multiple Yōkai familiars

When a Yōkai meets their Master for the first time, their overwhelming love manifests as a literal physical thing, namely the rope that rests around their neck. Its typically referred by humans as the 'red string of fate'.

When it appears, the Yōkai in question ask for their Master to tie said rope around their neck. It's a symbol of claim and acceptance. Once put on, the Yōkai will be very possessive and be protective of it, never letting anyone but themselves and their Master to touch it. Prayers for idiots that decide otherwise...

When a Yōkai's Master dies, things can go in a violent or non-violent way. Both ways are usually done in the extremes with very few composed enough to grieve normally, for Yōkai at least. In the non-violent way, the Yōkai will mourn greatly for years, perhaps centuries, sometimes taking up the role of defending whatever's left of their Master be it their possessions or remaining family. Other times, some Yōkai can be guided into finding a way to reverse their death, if only to give them something other than wasting away in their Master's territory for centuries or following their Master to the grave themselves... In the violent way, the Yōkai will go on a rampage, destroying things and hurting other beings, even fellow Yōkai under the same Master. Rampages can be sporadic or constant. Either way, if the Yōkai in question can't reign in themselves soon enough, a Yōkai Hunter will be sent to cull them for the greater good.

My Yōkai AU:

It's not only Yōkai that apply to this AU, other supernatural creatures from other cultures and folklore apply to this as well. Beings such as Fae, Yaoguai, Nymphs, Mermaids, Golems, Angels etc, etc... Each culture's supernatural beings have a District in the Other Realm, the dimension for all supernatural beings. Districts are basically sub dimensions of the Other Realm that encompass their own folklore like Tír na nÓg for the Celtic other world or the Yōkai District for the Japanese other world. These sub dimensions are accessible almost anywhere in the human realm, one merely needs to have a resident of whichever district one plans to go to. Otherwise, majority of accessible District Gateways are ones related to the region's folklore. (eg. England has most District Gateways to the Faerie Courts) It's also worth noting the Other Wold may have time differences with the human realm, sometimes going faster and sometimes slower.

When a Yōkai manifests their rope, sometimes, the Master will reject them. It will hurt at first but they're tied by fate for a reason. The Yōkai will wait however long until the Master is ready, no matter what the Yōkai's temperance my be. What's a few more years to the centuries they've waited after all?

A Yōkai's rope will only manifest if they meet their Master properly. If a Yōkai were to simply pass by their master, the rope won't manifest which has led to many missing each other by total accident. Not to say the Yōkai wouldn't notice anything, they would actually get a nagging feeling of something important nearby. Some dismiss it and others latch on to it, its a game of chance whether or not the Yōkai recognizes it.

The Hunter's Association is a group of Yōkai Hunters that work for the secretive liaison government that bridge and balance between the normal and supernatural society. They're usually sent out to keep the peace and rid of 'out of control Yōkai' that pose a treat to the tentative peace. They're pretty much a neutral entity that has mostly humans and few hybrids. Somewhat similar to twstedforyou's but a little more involved in government business.

While every Yōkai has a destined soulmate, not all meet their Masters. Some unfortunately die before their meeting, it can happen on both sides, or they simply never venture out to search, opting to stay in their District than venture the human realm. (Also somewhat important to note that the fickle time difference in the Other Realm has to do with this as well. Some Yōkai will spend all their lives or a bit too long in their Districts to ever meet their Master.)

While twstedforyou's Yōkai cannot kill each other, Yōkai can be killed by fellow familiars if one tries hard enough. It does also have to do with the will of the Master though. In simple terms, if the Master doesn't believe or want their Yōkai to hurt their fellow familiars, they can't. Only if the Master were truly want them dead, they can be killed by fellow familiars. For the most part, they wouldn't kill them out of respect of their master and familiar kinship but they can certainly beat them to a pulp and leave others to finish the job they can't.

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Check out my main blog: @researcher-serif

Here's my NSFW blog if that tickles your fancy: @grandfather-of-sin

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#no art thieves allowed #do not repost #without permission at least #mine art #skibidi tag #skibidi toilet mimic #skibidi mimic #yokai au

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nikofortuna · 3 months

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JTTW Chapter 28 Thoughts

Chapter 28 for the @journeythroughjourneytothewest Reading Group!

Starting off strong with some creatures! So I was curious and looked up where seagulls are native to and indeed they are native to China. Specifically the Larus Crassirostris or Black-tailed Gull, though mentioned in the Chinese Original seems to be only the general family of Laridae, which gulls are a part of.

This is a Black-tailed Gull that already looks like it’s plotting to come after your fries.

The thought of a potential seagull yaoguai is hilarious to me.

Erlang didn’t seem to have ordered the burning of Huaguoshan in chapter six though. I would have liked a hint to that at least, like a scene where something is vaguely implied to happen but there’s a cut just before the reveal.

So way back in chapter six I did the math and…“more than half” is a mild estimate. If you go through the numbers backwards 42000 monkeys had to have died in the fire. 420 blazin’ for real huh, but make it times 100. Since half went away right after, should they manage to return, the troop could get back up to maybe 3000 to 3500 again, but that’s about it. Around 1100 to I estimate 1500 were taken by the hunters. I am not okay.

Also do the hunters perhaps harken back to the lesser gods Erlang brought with him in chapter six? They too had bows and crossbows as well as dogs and birds of prey.

On a lighter note love to see Sun Wukong use multiple colours for the banner. Probably in reference to the Wuxing, but a guy can dream about it being at least a little queer.

Not very responsible to just leave the horse there. I mean Bailong Ma will be fine, but it’s still kind of rude to just leave him there.

The way those little fiends and their Great King talk about the handsome monk sounds so fruity. He wants him to submit you say?

Casserole Mountain?! That’s the funniest name for a place I have heard yet! I cannot not think of an actual casserole dish. In the J. F. Jenner and German translation it’s called Bowl Mountain.

#xiyouji #journey to the west #jttw #sun wukong #monkey king #bai longma #erlang shen #jttw reading group #jttw book club #bird #seagull #Black-tailed Gull #Larus Crassirostris

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journeythroughjourneytothewest · 7 months

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Chapter 13 Recap: In the den of tigers, the Gold Star brings deliverance; At Double-Fork Ridge, Boquin detains the monk.

Now at long last on his journey “to seek the source of Chan,” Tang Sanzang’s first stop is at the Temple of the Law Gate. The five hundred monks who live there are quite concerned about the dangers Tripitaka will encounter on the journey west, but he responds by stating that he had “already made an important vow before Buddha in the Temple of Transformation, and he has no alternative but to fulfill it with his whole heart.” The other monks praise Tang Sanzang for his dedication, and they all go to bed. The next morning, Xuanzang makes further vows to “burn incense whenever I come upon a temple…worship Buddha whenever I meet a Buddha, and…sweep a pagoda whenever I reach a pagoda.” With a final prayer to let his journey succeed, Tang Sanzang and his two attendants are back on the road.

Over the next several days these three “master and disciples” and their horse (which is described as the “fourth member of the team”) arrive and depart from the city of Gongzhou and the District of Hezhou, but are then, now in late autumn, faced with the “exceedingly difficult” terrain of a mountain range. As they’re worrying over their slow progress and as to whether they might be going the wrong way, all three humans suddenly tumble into a deep pit. They are understandably terrified, and their situation but becomes worse when “a mob of fifty or sixty ogres appeared, who seized Tripitaka with his companions and hauled them out of the pit.” Brought before a “ferocious Monster King” named General Yin (who’s a tiger yaoguai), the three are on his orders tied up with ropes and are “being prepared to be eaten” when more yaoguai kings, the Bear Mountain Lord and the Steer Hermit, arrive. The three yaoguai kings chat amicably for some time until one of Tripitaka’s attendants, who was bound very tightly, began “to moan pitifully.” The yaoguai kings agree that as these humans had “practically presented themselves at the door” they would do very well for dinner, though they would leave one over for a later meal. And thus does Tang Sanzang experience his “first bitter ordeal since his departure from Chang’an”:

“[General Yin] called his subordinates at once to have the attendants eviscerated and their carcasses carved up; their heads, hearts, and livers were to be presented to the guests, the limbs to the host, and the remaining portions of flesh and bone to the rest of the ogres. The moment the order was given, the ogres pounced on the attendants like tigers preying on sheep: munching and crunching, they devoured them in no time at all.”

Left in a stupor from the horror of it all, Tang Sanzang can do nothing until the yaoguai had retired to their separate abodes, the sun is high in the sky, and an old man suddenly appears and just as suddenly magically snaps the ropes holding the monk captive. Tripitaka thanks the “aged father for saving the life of this poor monk,” and learns that he’s come to trouble at the Double-Fork Ridge, “a place infested with tigers and wolves.” The old man further informs Xuanzang that the yaoguai were the spirits “of strange beasts and wolves,” and that because of “the primal purity of your nature, they cannot devour you.” He then leads Tripitaka out of the cave and back to his horse and the main road. It is only then that the old man, actually the Planet Venus from the West, travels back to Heaven and leaves Tang Sanzang to “his lonely and melancholy journey.”

Though he is ready “to abandon his body and sacrifice his life,” Tripitaka is still “gnawed by hunger and disheartened by the rough road.” To add to his troubles, he’s suddenly accosted by two fierce tigers in front of him and several huge snakes blocking the path behind. Tang Sanzang is about to submit himself to death when suddenly the predators run away. This is all thanks to the sudden appearance of Liu Boqin, a hunter. Also known as Senior Guardian of the Mountain, Liu Boqin picks Xuanzang up from where he had been huddled on top of his exhausted horse, and invites the monk to spend the night at his house. Tang Sanzang gratefully accepts the offer.

As they’re travelling, Liu Boquin suddenly has Tripitaka halt, as the howling of the wind told him that a tiger is approaching. Planning to use this animal to “make a meal of him for you,” Liu Boquin leaves Tang Sanzang rooted in fear to the ground and engages the tiger in a battle so terrifying that it leaves the monk “paralyzed on the grass.” Liu Boqin emerges victorious after battling the tiger for an hour, stabbing the huge beast with his trident through the heart and delighting over how it will make a good meal for the monk. It is only after Tripitaka is within Liu Boqin’s home, has met his wife and mother, and had “several dishes of well-cooked tiger meat” set in front of him that the monk reveals that he’s a vegetarian. The issue of what the monk is going to eat is resolved when Liu Boqin’s mother prepares a meal of elm leaf soup, rice, and dried vegetables from a pan that she scrubbed free of all traces of animal grease.

After the meal and the night spent at Liu Boqin’s home, Tripitaka spends the entirely of the next day performing a Buddhist service for the deliverance of the deceased on behalf of Liu Boqin’s father, but one year dead. That night, the soul of Liu Boqin’s father, “verily a ghost redeemed from perdition…appeared to all the members of his family in a dream.” He does so to inform his family that Tang Sanzang’s recitations of sutras on his behalf had “expiated my sins” and that he is being set to an incarnation in a noble family. The family is delighted by this shared dream and try to offer Xuanzang money as a gesture of gratitude. Tripitaka refuses to accept anything but does ask to be escorted through the mountain range as far as Boqin is able to, which the family accepts. After biscuits made of unrefined flower are made for Tang Sanzang’s journey, he, Liu Boqin, and several houseboys armed with hunting equipment set off.

After traveling for half a day, this group comes upon a mountain “so tall and rugged that it truly seemed to touch the blue sky.” After ascending the mountain halfway “as if he were walking of level ground,” Liu Boqin informs Tripitaka that they must part ways here, even though the monk begs the mountain guardian to escort him a little further. This is impossible for, as Liu Boqin explains, this is “the Mountain of Two Frontiers; the eastern half belongs to our Great Tang domain, but the western half is the territory of the Tartars. The tigers and wolves over there are not my subjects, nor should I cross the border. You must proceed by yourself.” Terrified at the thought, Xuanzang, “tears pouring from his eyes,” clutches at Liu Boqin’s sleeves.

It is precisely at “this tender moment” that from beneath the mountain a “thunderous voice,” so terrifying that it leaves Tripitaka dumbfounded and Liu Boqin trembling, starts crying out “My master has come! My master has come!” Who that voice belongs to is a mystery that will have to be left for the next chapter.

#jttw chapter recap #tang sanzang #tripitaka #xiyouji #journey to the west #jttw #jttw reading group #jttw book club

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kachawo · 1 year

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YilingWei Sect AU: Honor Disciple

Click here for previous YilingWei Sect posts

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Honor Disciple Xue Yang, courtesy Xue Chengmei. Otherwise known as the local rascal.

Although he is still a junior disciple, Xue Yang—along with A-Yuan— are both model disciples that their shidis and shimeis look up to; thus giving them the titles of honor disciple.

Before he came to Yiling, Xue Yang was adopted by bandits after the incident with the Chang Clan (unfortunately he does still lose a finger), and though he was still completely unhinged he wasn’t borderline insane. Someone took him in as a kid and cared for him, he still had resentment left but it wasn’t enough to make him want to kill a whole generation (although, said someone who adopted him was a thief and did teach him to rob instead.)

When Xue Yang turned 11 years olds, his troupe was attacked by a horde of yaoguai near Yiling and only a few of them survived. He had been among the people who were gravely injured—close to death, he lost an arm from a stampede and nearly bleed his organs onto the forest floor.

Wen Ning had found them hours later, and had driven them into town to Wen Qing’s clinic. Most of the bandits were tended to, but Xue Yang was a lost cause— Wen Qing had to amputate his arm and perform surgery on his tiny little body.

Xue Yang came later than Mo Xuanyu, though only for a few months, and decided himself that he was gonna be a wei disciple. Wei Wuxian shrugged and threw his arms up— awarding him a jab to the rib from the doctor.

(“I mean- what do I say, No?” “He’s literally half a person!”)

Xy is older than Mxy by five months, but Mxy had a head-start that made path to being a head disciple. Xue Yang would have declined it anyway, he didn’t like head duties.

He often likes to hang-out with Wen Ning on patrol duty, and A-Qing stuck to him pretty well.

Xxc and SL have basically adopted him though, they like to gift him sweets every once and then. (Mostly xxc)

His right arm is completely prosthetic, made by Wei Wuxian, and is designed to move when it comes into contact with spiritual energy. It’s made from animal bone, implemented with a silver core that stores energy to command it.

(“You literally only have four fingers now, I don’t think you can hold a sword with that amount.”)

But even so, Xue Yang still uses his right as his dominant hand, it’s gotten easier for him over the years that it feels like he never lost it in the first place. Though he still trained with his left arm with a dagger.

Bonus!: The bandits that survived turned over a new leaf and started living in Yiling, some are farmers some are hunters. They occasionally drop by the BM to check in in Xue Yang, and oftentimes he spends his free days with them.

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Which character next, I wonder?

#mdzs #mdzs au #wwx #wei wuxian #yilingwei sect #yilingwei sect au #yilingwei sect ideas #yilingwei sect au ideas #xue yang #xue chengmei

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amalgamorph · 4 days

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whats circus monkey?? plz share! :0

OOOOOOO!!!!!! Okay so, Circus Monkey takes place in modern day LMK with Wukong, Macaque, and the commanders. The setup for it is very complicated, but it boils down to Liu and Ba had a kid that was almost kidnapped at birth and Wukong wasn't having it so he held a press conference calling out any and all yaoguai hunters to stop.

Practically everyone heard this, and most of the yaoguai hunters got pissed at him for it.

“Turn that darn thing off!” The ringmaster shouted. “We don’t need it gettin’ any ideas.” “Relax, it’s too stupid to have ideas. And besides, it’s asleep.” The hunter turned off the radio with a scowl. “Stupid Monkey King. Who does he think he is, telling us to stop our way of life?” The ringmaster grunted in agreement. “He thinks he’s a god, but he’s nothing more than a filthy yaoguai who can lift a heavy stick.” The hunter took a swig of his bottle. “It’s all ‘cause of that one baby. If only those guys had just gotten rid of the stupid thing, then none of this would be happening.”

In this case, it was a ringmaster and a hunter that use yaoguai for the circus acts. They are pissed at Wukong cuz now they have to have an inspection for the yaoguai they "employ" to make sure they are not exploiting them (spoiler alert: THEY ARE!).

ANYWAYS, the main character here is the starring act in the circus: "The Amazing Spider-Monkey". At the beginning, he's trapped in a small cage but is freed by the kind inspector and he manages to get free.

...But the inspector made no move to leave. Instead she crouched down in front of Spider’s cage again and unlocked the bolt. Spider watched her in confusion as she stood back up and left without a word. She helped him? Was this a trick? Did she actually work for the ringmaster and this was a test? “We don't need to live in fear anymore.” The Monkey King’s words echoed in Spider’s mind once more. If he really was going to escape, this would be the best opportunity he was going to get. Moving cautiously, Spider crawled to the front of his cage and pushed it open. It swung open with a slight squeal that had Spider flinching backwards. He watched the door to see if either the ringmaster or hunter was going to burst through it. When nothing happened after a few seconds, Spider slowly crawled out of his cage.

He called himself Spider in the beginning, since that was the only name he was ever called for years. Then after escaping, he goes by Mango for a time before finally settling on Mu.

By chance of fate, Sandy happens to be at port when Mu escapes and is able to take Mu to Flower Fruit Mountain where he can be taken care of by people of his own kind. Mostly at least since he is a Spider Monkey Demon and those are only found in Central America in this fic.

As Mu is being cared for by the monkeys of Flower Fruit, he and Ma form a bond with each other and they end up adopting each other as family. There is a lot of drama and stuff that goes on during this part of the story that will take another post to talk about, or I can leave it until I actually get around to writing the story.

I can keep going about about Mu and Ma but I think I'll leave it here for now

#oc mu #marshal ma #ask #circus monkey au

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aikoiya · 2 years

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DP AU - Timeless Journey

What if the Infini-Map episode was more like individual, full-scale journeys. Like, the map deactivates for a period of time after each leap, so Vlad & Team Phantom have to survive in each time until then. Because of this, they are essentially stuck for months at a time. Like, depending on how far into the future/past it sends someone, the more it drains the map & the longer it takes for it to recharge. Sending people to other places in the same time is small beans, but sending people through time is difficult.

So, they literally have to dress & act the part while becoming part of the legends there.

Like, there was this one Danny Phantom x Teen Titans fic that did this with the Ancient Asia time & it was super cool!

Like, in these times, they have other things to contend with besides Vlad. In fact, Vlad is about the only Hereafter Ghost that they have to fight & as such, they have to adjust how they fight.

In Rome, they have to fight monsters. In Salem, they are hunted regularly by Supernatural hunters, legit human-sacrificing, devil-worshiping witches, zealous Puritans, monsters, & angry Natives. In Asia, they have to go against Yaoguai & Youkai, as well as Yuurei.

In Salem, it becomes apparent that it's far more complicated than just black & white. For one, there are legit witches & then there are people who just wanna live their lives in a way that might not be entirely endorced by the general public. There are also true Children of God Christians who want to live a good life in His honor, then there are religious zealots that go way too far, & then there are those who use their religion to manipulate others & as a ticket to further their own agendas or to spread hate. Not to mention how there were places where there was conflict between settlers & Natives where in some places it was the settlers who attack, while in others, it was the Natives.

They were especially surprised to see how the 2 sides delt with the other's dead. Generally, settlers just killed & buried, & sometimes so did the Natives. However, there were also tribes that actually did scalp people or even ate the losers in order to 'gain their power.' At the same time, there were also plenty of places where the 2 sides actually got along very well.

Sam is especially shocked to learn that it actually wasn't a genocide as genocides imply an intent & concerted effort by a people to cause an entire population to go extinct. Yes, there were dickwads that mistreated them, but there are assholes like that everywhere, you can't get rid of 'em. It wasn't the norm, nor the goal. In fact, what killed most of the Natives were diseases accidentally brought over by the English. That isn't genocide. That's an accident.

As for the reason behind Lincoln's execution of 38 indigenous individuals. From what I'm seeing, the Dakota killed hundreds of settlers & took many hostages, hundreds infact; most of said hostages being women & children. Not just white people either, but "mixed-blood" as well. True, their land was taken, they were asked to stop their traditional hunting practices, forced to farm (after which there was crop failure, a harsh winter, & depletion of wild game due to poor hunting practices; none of which besides the poor hunting was something that could've possibly been predicted at the time by either the Dakota or the settlers), they were promised provisions & annuity which, just before the war they didn't get, & they weren't able to trade because of the Civil War.

All these things were obviously wrong & unfair, & I can definitely understand their anger, but the Dakota also shouldn't have attacked & killed so many people in retaliation. Protest should always be your first option in these situations.

At the end of the war, 2,000 Dakota either surrendered or were taken into custody. This included 1,658 non-combatants, as well as those who opposed the war & tried to free the hostages. In actuality, out of all those people, only a little more than 300 Dakota men were initially sentenced to death. Then, Lincoln came in, reviewed the cases, & reduced that number even further until it was only 39. Even then, one later got a reprieve, so the total was reduced to 38!

Only 38 out of 2,000!

The likelihood that even one of those 38 Dakota were innocent is very low. And the fact that it was so few meant that Lincoln was trying his damnedest to salvage the situation!

If it were a true genocide, each & every one of those 2,000 Dakota, including the 1,658 non-combatants & indigenous who didn't agree with the war & tried to free the hostages & the "mixed-bloods," would've also been killed, but they weren't!

Also keep in mind that what we know of today as Native Americans weren't even the original occupants of America. Most Natives can trace their lineage back to Asia because the Natives migrated to America from across the Baring Straight. Those migrants then either fought with the original inhabitants of America or mixed with them exactly like how the English did, so Natives have no more claim over American land than modern Americans.

Back then, land was obtained via right of conquest because, whether you like it or not, back then the general belief was might makes right.

The same could be said of the Natives. They waged wars between each other all the time. Not just with the white man. And when one tribe won, what do you think happened? The winner took the losers, either their belongings, people, or land. Sometimes all 3. Life was just cruel back then. So, why is it okay when the Native Americans did it, but when the white man did it, it was wrong?

That's what we in the business call a double standard.

It is very much not just black & white.

While briefly in Japan, specifically, Danny is called a Hanyuu, or 'Half-Spirit' & is often targeted by Youkai, Buddhist monks, Taijiya, as well as Shinto Miko & Kanushi. He has a similar journey there to what was described in the Teen Titans Crossover fic I mentioned.

Like, I'd like to see character growth in the trio especially. Especially in Sam who, as a very modern, vegan, & obviously left-leaning, feminist individual, has to learn that women actually have it super good back home. That she is not oppressed &, in fact, even has a couple of freedoms that men don't. Also that if she doesn't eat meat in these times, it's actually possible that she might not eat for long periods of time & might even die. At least, she definitely wouldn't be able to eat enough to keep her healthy. It's not like they made supplements back then.

Not to mention how up-in-arms she gets with a lot of the Puritans in Salem. There is this belief that she has that all of them were wicked & evil & were genocidal maniac zealots & barbaric slavers, but she's very quickly confronted with the fact that most of them were actually just people.

Let's not forget how much Tucker actually learns about actual slavery & racism. Yeah, the Emancipation Proclaimation was passed at least a decade before the time that they arrive there, but prejudices still ran very high. Like, he never really knew that there were black plantation owners & while he knew, conceptually, that slavery was a world-wide issue, it never really clicked inside his head what that meant. Such as the fact that there were white slaves such as the Irish or that 99% of the black slaves in America had not been stolen from Africa by white colonists, but rather sold by other African natives such as the Dahomey. Let alone the fact that the Barbary Pirates had more white slaves in Africa than there ever were black slaves in America.

It's only here in this journey to different times & countries that he realizes that slavery was legitimately a world-wide pandemic. That it had existed since the foundation of human history & had a handhold in practically every country. That people didn't simply imprison other cultures or races because of racism. Rather, the strong enslaved the weak. To the victor went the spoils & that included the people of the same race. If you lost, you were likely enslaved.

Hell, slavery was even worse in Rome than it ever was in America. Tucker never knew that in Rome it was entirely legal if a slave killed their master, for every slave in that household to then be executed to dissuade rebellion. THAT'S NUTS!!

Then, to connect the fact that the very word "Slave" was derived from Slavs who were white themselves & were often enslaved in the Ottoman Empire. It was mind-boggling.

As such, in modern times, there was likely not a single human alive that wasn't descended from at least one slave. No one group had more right to being angry about it than anyone else. If anything, white people should be proud because they can truthfully say that their ancestors ended slavery. Or, at least made it illegal in most of the free world. No other race has done more, sacrificed more, to end slavery than white people. If not for Europeans & white Americans it's highly likely that slavery never would've ended. In fact, no other country has ever had slavery as part of their institution for such a short amount of time as America. No other country has abolished it so quickly after their inception.

So, what did he have to complain about? Hell, Sam is Jewish! They'd been enslaved multiple times! They'd been culled in Egypt & had a genocide waged upon them! Sure, the genocide failed, but only due to American intervention.

So, the entire idea of reparations is sheer lunacy because if one group that'd suffered from slavery got reparations, then shouldn't every other group that suffered through it too? Including white people? Realistically, if everyone got reparations for their ancestors' suffering in slavery, then how would you even keep track of the exchange of money because, again, literally every person on the planet probably has a slave ancestor.

And if you say that only those who suffered the most should get reparations, then how do you even measure that?? You can only know this sort of thing through deep, deep research. Do you have any idea the amount of money it would take to figure all that out? It'd probably take more money to sus all this out than to actually pay reparations! Then there's the reparations on top of that?? Entire countries would go bankrupt all to soothe a phantom hurt that no one still alive actually experienced for themselves! A hurt that isn't even secondhand!

And just like with Natives, African tribes waged war against each other & took the spoils including people & land from the losers all the time! So, why was it perfectly fine for the black man to do this, but not for the white man? Why does everyone hold the white man to such a high standard??

But I digress.

Either way, Tucker & Danny become the designated hunters of the group, while Sam forages. With how naturally archery came to him in Beauty Marked, I see Tucker getting very good & seemed to be oddly suited to the life of a hunter, to Sam's growing anger.

However, she is quickly forced to either eat meat or die because, without her supplements or access to a wide enough variety of vegetables, she becomes very sick.

Then, one night she was attacked by a bear who would've killed her if not for Tucker's shooting. Sam's automatic response was to go ballistic on him for killing an animal, until he told her that it would've killed her. Period.

It wasn't playing games, it would've killed her & she expected him, her best friend, to do nothing? To what? Choose the bear's life over hers? Hard pass.

That already was humbling, but then Tucker later taught her a hard lesson in the natural order; you kill it, you eat it.

She'd been attacked again, but neither Tucker nor Danny had been near & so she was forced to defend herself.

The cougar that had attacked her, went down with a lucky shot to the head.

The thing was, when Tucker, Danny, & an old, grisled hunter who lived nearby found her crying over it, the old man told her that they had to use its parts or it'd rot & it'd have died for nothing. That she needed to take responsibility for the life she took.

It was a hard lesson for Sam to learn. She sobbed as she ate the cougar's meat. As much as she hated to admit it, it was the most delicious thing she'd tasted in a long time. Due to her stubborn adherence to veganism, she'd been slowly starving herself.

It was here that she finally realized that not everyone had the luxury of veganism. That it was only possible because of modern convenience & if society were to collapse, the stubborn vegans would be the first ones to die.

#danny phantom #dp #infi-map #danny fenton #sam manson #tucker foley #vlad masters #vlad plasmius #Aikoiya au #Timeless journey au #infini-map #time travel #salem massachusetts #ancient asia #ancient rome #writing prompt

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precognitor · 1 year

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👫

Two's cybernetics frequently fail around Ardaka and in Ardaka's ship--to the point that it's actually legitimately frustrating. Early on in their relationship before Two understood how kariian EMPs and EMP technology operated that at least once Ardaka showed up to be cool and heroic (and make no mistake it Was cool and heroic) while Two was mid-combat with yaoguai--and it ended with Two's gecko anchors turning off mid-wall climb, falling 34 feet, and eating shit on the sidewalk.

Likewise Two has had to figure out exactly how heavy 6000 pounds is and how Ardaka can like, function, in everyday Tokyo and where they can and can't go. Subway, sidewalk, outdoor stuff? Fine, no problem. But he's taken them to a building that had fancy tile and glass floors before and shattered the fuck out of that foundation.

Ardaka gets calls from the rest of Epiphany (Two's "bioterrorist friends" that help him fight KASMAR Corporation) pretty frequently. They seem to misinterpret him and Talon as a Robin Hood or Goemon type figure, and not as a brutal bounty hunter that kills generally whoever he deems needs it, and so they tend to try to get him involved for support during KASMAR laboratory or factory raids with mixed results.

Speaking of KASMAR Corporation, they know he exists; and they're developing methodologies to deal with Ardaka's presence in Tokyo and harness his antipsionic material for their own ends. The chance to deny the psychic powers of their enemies and ensure only they can wield and manufacture them is too tempting to ignore.

#apexulansis #FANMAIL ; ASKS )#OUT OF THE MIND ; HEADCANONS )

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wuxiaphoenix · 2 years

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Worldbuilding: The Paper Trail

I’d like to see more fantasy OHA/manager type reports. Something like this....

Report: Tributary lumber quota unfilled.

Reason: Attack of banyan yaoguai.

Work stoppage of: Two (2) days.

Day 1: Locating survivors and evacuating yaoguai vicinity.

Day 2: Persuasion to resume logging areas outside yaoguai territory, contingent on 1) immediate summons of fashi to deal with problem, 2) settling of back pay accounts.

Itemized expenses:

Three (3) messenger pigeon dispatches. 1) Fashi. 2) Accounts payable for 500 silver taels. 3) Fashi. Again.

Meals.

Bandages.

Tweezers.

Burn medications.

Two (2) replacement axes.

Load of bamboo stakes.

Three (3) replacement shovels.

1 skein scarlet silk thread.

50 sheets talisman paper.

Recruitment fees, ten (10) new workers, to replace:

3: Eaten. (2 by yaoguai, 1 fashi claims was tiger kill. See further submission of tiger hunter request.)

1: Heart attack.

5: Sudden filial duties elsewhere.

1: Recruited by fashi.

Note: Mixed feelings on loss of fashi recruit. On the one hand, level head in a crisis, tracks tigers, will be missed. OTOH apparently friendly with spirits, tracks tigers, retention might have led to desertion of entire logging crew.

Tributary lumber shortfall this month will be....

This, sadly, is one of the best arguments against monsters being as common as folklore and fantasy might wish. Because if they were, we’d have all kinds of fussy bureaucratic excuses for why X didn’t get done on time and under budget because monsters.

Although given the use of talismans and cultivation manuals, the phrase “paper pusher” might have earned new and terrifying meanings.

I love fantasy action/adventures. They’re like the magical equivalent of James Bond espionage. But like the 007 movies, sometimes that larger-than-life feeling isn’t the right flavor of escapism to fit your mood. Sure, often you’re so bogged down with the everyday that you just want giant mecha punching out alien kaiju. But there are times you’ve been slogging so long, you want to see someone succeeding at a normal life. Well, mostly normal. As normal as it gets when you’re a beekeeper dragged into proving a monster invasion is on the way, a vet with griffons for patients, or a modern neurosurgeon somehow dumped into Joseon Korea. Stories where the setting may be fantastical, but the problems our heroes have to solve are ones we can imagine ourselves tackling, if push came to shove.

Like, say, figuring out the right proportions of bonemeal and blood for your Venus Mantrap. Or an infestation of sparrow-dragons in the greenhouse. Sure, they look fancy, and they may keep the mice from nibbling tender tubers, but you haven’t been able to get a ripe chili pepper for weeks-!

You know. Aggravating problems. Not world-ending ones. Given how much stress people are under these days, a world-ending threat might not get an emotional response besides “whatever”. You never want readers to whatever your story!

So maybe some small-scale stakes are in order. A new job, a new town, trying to start a relationship. Only that perfect new friend never lets you get a good look in the daylight, why-?

A little fantasy, a little mystery, and your story just might take off!

#creative writing #worldbuilding

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sketching-shark · 2 months

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which of swk's kids do you think would be his heir? and what roles do you think the others would take on?

Uh. Well with the Monkey King's whole 5+ immortality and enlightenment deal, probably none of them XD. As is--and while I am very much aware that this is going against macaques' usual structure of most young directly inheriting their status-- I imagine that SWK would take a little more of a background role to the politics of day-to-day living on Mt. Huaguoshan after he becomes the Buddha Victorious in Strife, and spends more time on that side of things ensuring that the relations between the monkey yao and other beings in heaven and earth stay amicable. So who's officially "in charge" of Mt. Huaguoshan is a pretty fluid thing that can't be completely pinned to one specific individual, but is rather made of a loose coalition between SWK, the immortal monkey generals and marshals Ma, Liu, Beng, and Ba, and a large collection of frequently shifting yaoguai and even a number of humans who specialize in different necessary fields like agriculture, masonry, and medicine.

That said, SWK IS Mt. Huaguoshan's official figurehead, mostly because of his long history as the official communal grandpa and protector of the Fruit and Flower monkey yao, and because of his status as a being who's both monkey, man, and buddha all at once. But less fortunately, there's also the fact that his raw power more or less makes him a living WMD, as proven to heaven all those centuries ago when he havoced through the ranks of the deities and other immortals. So while most are on board with keeping up a good or at least civil relationship with the Mt. Huaguoshan yaoguai now, there's also that background threat of what could and did happen when they're attacked.

So with that kind of situation, Quidou, Luohou, and Yuebei Xing are left in this kind of weird and sometimes frightening place. They have a lot of freedom to choose what they want to do with their lives since Sun Wukong had them not because he needed heirs but because he wanted biological children to love and encourage in their passions. But they are also living in the aftermath of the war with heaven, the burning of Mt. Huaguoshan, and the years-long massacre of monkeys at the hands of hunters which only stopped because SWK massacred said hunters in turn. Things have stabilized significantly since the days of war, genocide and famine, and their father constantly emphasizes the need for diplomatic solutions. Yet there's also always that sense that things could in fact go very bad for them and their loved ones if they aren't able to back up their words with legitimate threats. And they only have to look at the human world to see how often that's the case, even between nations :( Plus while they may also be stone monkeys, Quidhou, Luohou, and Yuebei Xing are also a LOT less immortal and invulnerable than their famous father.

But to give a quick summary, as adults Quidou does find contentment in acting as a Mt. Huaguoshan guard and a shifu for many young monkey yaoguai in the martial arts (he's actually the most skilled fighter out of the three), Luohou becomes an interesting mix of a court painter/traveling diplomat who's frequently on the move, and Yuebei Xing, while more of a homebody and scholar than her brothers, out of the three Sun children ends up gaining the most fame and notoriety mainly because of her vast knowledge of curses, especially one that can condemn even immortals to a painful death.

It's no wonder that a number of deities are regarding the existence of even more dangerous stone monkeys with concern and fear. But the truce between Heaven and Mt. Huagushan still holds.

#anon answered #jttw au #jtts au #sun wukong #monkey king #yuebei xing #quidou #jidu #luohou #thanks for the chance to ramble about some of my ideas for this jttw sequel anon haha

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morfanerina · 2 years

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Lost and Found (and Lost again) - 2/3

Six-eared Macaque was always a wanderer, never managing to quite keep to one place. There was too much to see from what he could hear and staying for too long kept him antsy. He needed to move, as the wind from which he was born did.

Then he meets a little Stone Monkey.

–.—-.–

A life when Macaque becomes the main caretaker of a stubborn stone born Monkey. From their first meeting to the beginning of the Journey to the West.

CW: Some blood and (not really descriptive but to be safe) gore, Animal Death. Child kidnapping.

Chapter 2 of 3

Chapter 1/Chapter 3

Also on AO3

The town closest to FlowerFruit Mountain took two days to reach. On the way, Macaque saw no yaoguai or beast, the opposite from when he had arrived at the mountain, from the other side. He heard the birds chirping and the wind rustling the leaves, but no bigger sized animal was present. A couple of rabbits ran from him and that was it for anything bigger than a rat.

The town was much like many others, if bustling with more rough looking humans than others. The glamor and cloak let him hide between them as just a traveler, barely receiving more than an assessing glance from a couple of merchants. He quickly found an inn to rest in, thankful he had ‘found’ some coins a ways back that could be used in this place.

“Are you here for the merchants' fair?” a young woman asked as she looked for the room key. Questioning her about it, she explained quickly “It is filled with rare ingredients and specimens from mystical mountains. Some even argue that they got celestial items! It starts tomorrow if you wish to visit sir. It is quite an event here.” with that, she gave him the key with a smile, turning to the next client, another rough looking human carrying a few bags that smelled like magic and blood.

The urge to skip town increased with every moment, as his glamored ears started to recognize conversations of these supposed merchants, about ingredients and animals that tomorrow would be strung into a market. He could feel the heavy magic as disguised yaoguai entered the town, chittering between themselves about business deals and poisons, the underlings of the nearby yaoguai kings gathering information about what the others want and may get and of possible plots.

Too many dangerous people in one place, and more were to come if what he was hearing was true. He should make his escape, get some distance between this town and himself before anyone noticed he wasn’t human..

Your six ears make you a beautiful spy, did you know? You should be thankful I took you before those hunters could, you would sell very well..

He heard beasts growling and squawking. There were whimpers and howls from outside the town, just far enough to not bother the residents. Some of the merchants cursed and yelled for them to shut up and a few yelps, far too sapient for a mindless animal, answered them.

He stayed for the market.

-:::-:::-

The stands occupied the main and largest street, in an almost orderly fashion. Some had cages with prowling tigers and a variety of pheasants disguised as phoenixes, others boasted a variety of mystical items such as phoenix feathers and dragon blood. Near the alleys, a few more discrete ones boasted the same, but magic and glamor showed these ones were true, illegal in all the ways and hidden in plain sight from those without magic. Farther from the rest, there were more cages, and these were the ones Macaques was discreetly looking at. Glamored to look like normal beasts, several of the cages were filled with mystical beings, including a few yaoguai, young and old. The slave trade right beneath the normal populace disgusted him and made him carefully adjust the hood so none could tell he was not as human as he looked at first glance.

Macaque tried to pretend he was not focusing on one specific group, but it was difficult. A few normal monkeys were huddled in a couple of cages. They were dressed in colorful rags, to both stand out and make sure they couldn’t escape without being noticed. The stand behind them proudly displayed pelts of several beings, including of different monkeys. A gray gibbon pelt made his stomach twist, though logically the color was lighter than the elder was ‘Hunters’ he snarled in his head. These ones were yaoguai, disguised as three human brothers and one sister, who smiled seductively to interested buyers. No customer yet had paid more than a glance at the animal cages but he knew eventually, one buyer would.

He hated getting involved, but he hated these types of hunters more, especially as he heard them whisper that a few of their squad were trying to get more monkeys at the nearby mountain, yaoguai even. They were far too informed of the different factions for it to be casual, and Macaque wondered where they got all that information about FlowerFruit mountain’s inhabitants… unless…

“There’s this one with beautiful golden fur,” one of them suddenly said to the ‘sister’ “I saw it playing with the rest. If we get it, we can sell it for triple the amount we usually do just for the pelt.”

“But is it intelligent? If it is, a few yaoguai lords have been looking for a pretty thing to be their servant,” another ‘brother’ asked, writing something down.

“Maybe, it was with that other monkey. The one with six ears,” the third one commented. Macaque tensed, freezing in place “Too bad it seemed to disappear, another one that we could get a pretty penny from.”

The first one snorted “It was too old to be trained anyway, It would be more work than it was worth. The golden one was young, I told the rest of the gang to focus on it and the other young ones, Jùn Dé agreed. The rest, they could skin them for all I care. Too much fight in them.”

He had heard enough. The way the stand and cages were displayed meant they were in the shadows during this time of the day, and Macaque didn’t try to hide his glee when he summoned some of his own shadows. First, the cages of the monkeys and all other beasts nearby, mystical or not, were opened, allowing a variety of beasts to be released. Then, he released his hold on his shadows and let them start their own brand of chaos. Soon, there were yells all around him and he walked into a dark alley, empty of anyone but darkness, and breathed deeply. He didn’t know his eyes glowed purple as he entered a shadow portal to the town’s entrance, but the human who had just entered it to hide certainly did.

-:::-:::-

Shadow portals were something he still wasn’t used to taking for longer distances. It wasn’t even noon, so no deep shadows were available for him to jump into anyway, but he wished he could. He wondered, as he ran, why he was doing this. These were just one of several troupes and places he had passed through. Others had been kind, if a bit standoffish, with a few even teaching him a few extra tricks to help his survival. He had even been asked to babysit cubs. Occasionally, some of these had been destroyed days if not weeks after he stayed there, him hearing from the grapevine about it.

He was no hero, so why was he going there?

The monkey slowed down, from tiredness and his thoughts, a few birds chirping overhead as he stopped to look blankly at the ground. ‘You released a few monkeys, you already did enough,’ a part of him, the part that always tried to make him do the safe action, crooned ‘You did more than enough, more than you were obligated to. Anymore is just calling attention to yourself.’

A flash of Stone Monkey, golden fur and eyes trying to get at his ears, in his mind shut it up ‘I can stop them, I know their plans. Just six more yaoguai,’ he thought ‘it will be quick.’

He stayed in place just long enough to take a drink from the plum wine ‘For the days life is a headache.’ the other had said ‘I think this counts.’

He started his way again.

-:::-:::-

It was silent when Macaque arrived, a day and a half later. It was three hours to night, and no signs of any monkeys were around the nests. If he had to guess, the troupe had scattered when the hunters arrived and the closest yaoguai factions had hid around to observe them.

Unfurling his ears from his glamor, he concentrated in hearing. Where before the yaoguai had been close by, now it was silent. Even the smaller animals seemed to be silent, with no phoenix cry of warning for the danger the mountain was in. His ears twitched as he tried to hear farther away, until he managed to hear the hunters congratulating themselves into a great capture. A few whimpers were nearby.

Macaque cursed but continued listening around. A familiar voice, the gray yaoguai that had given him his provisions, took his attention, as he hissed and groaned, being berated by another unknown voice, apparently helping with his injuries. The small faction the elder and this monkey were a part of was dissolved, the few members left either killed by the hunters or too injured to fight against the enemy factions that were ready to strike ‘Pathetic, needing hunters to get the upper hand’. At least, Macaque felt assured that the other didn’t seem to be in danger, his caretaker apparently willing to take him under her metaphoric wing. Allied faction most likely.

Good. Now he had a cub to save and a few hunters to get rid of.

-:::-:::-

The group of four was next to the stream where he and the cub had been attacked by the tiger. As the night darkened, the hunters made a fire in the natural clearing. One of them checked the restraints in the six cubs they had captured.

Stone Monkey was hissing, golden eyes glinting dangerously. Maybe that was why he was separated from the rest and closer to the fire, one of the hunters laughing as he pulled the rope restraining the cub and making him fall to the side with an oof, squirming.

Macaque observed them, hidden between the branches of a tree. His ears twitched and he turned as nearby, another monkey settled in another tree close by. He carefully jumped to where the other was, not wanting interference before he got a good plan, and found himself next to the female yaoguai he had talked to the other day, glaring into the group and reeking of blood. Even with the growing darkness he could see how her fur was matted in it, though he couldn’t see that many injuries. The cloak was nowhere to be seen.

Dark eyes turned to him then and she gave an aggressive smile, but didn’t attack “Betrayal has its price,” she whispered. Macaque nodded, having suspected one of the factions of having given too much information to outsiders. If he had to guess, the yaoguai took upon herself to be the traitor’s executioner the blood a sign for proof of what she did. She studied him and whatever she saw was enough for her to nod back and turn her attention again to the cubs. The hunters were cheery as night closed in, one jeering at the huddling group of whimpering cubs (yaoguai, he realized, as the yaoguai merchants had said) about several of their future living arrangements. If they were to stay living.

Their guard was down, this far away from any known territory and he just barely stopped the other yaoguai from jumping and trying to tear their throats out, gripping her tightly and pushing her closer to the tree trunk, carefully using his shadows for a better cover. One of his hands covered her mouth and he could tell she was trembling with anger until she heard what made him move and froze.

The final two hunters from the group walked underneath them to the campfire, being loudly greeted by the rest. The smell of blood was thicker, the reason for it was the variety of pelts each had acquired. Most were visibly stained but the hunters seemed satisfied. Sadistically, they decided to put the pelts in display and jeered at the cubs, threatening them if they didn't behave, they would be next. His companion’s chest started rumbling and she gripped his arms strongly, claws prickling him as she looked at each of the seven pelts they displayed, resisting the urge to jump in.

He wondered if she recognized any of them.

“We need a plan,” he hissed.

She glared at him and hissed back “We go and eviscerate them.”

“Yes, because us going alone against a hunter gang with hostages is sure to go well,” he replied sarcastically. Admittedly, he might be able to but… a tendril of shadow reminded him he was still hiding them and he released her from his hold, knowing they should be hidden enough. He looked at her again, focusing on the blood,and wondering “How stealthy are you?”

She considered him before answering “One of the best in FlowerFruit mountain,” she didn’t sound like she was boasting, she was telling a fact “Why?”

-:::-:::-

It was a well paying job but the whimpering got tiring after a while “Shut it brats,” Ᾱn growled and was immediately rewarded by the group shushing and stifling themselves. The golden cub next to him huffed and he smiled as he elbowed him strongly in the belly. A surprised whine escaped the monkey and Ᾱn patronizingly asked “Did you want something, cub?” The monkey glared at him with pained tears in his unusual golden eyes, but broke eye contact soon enough, trying to curl himself into a protective ball.

“Stop trying to ruin our merchandise,” Jùn Dé warned. Ᾱn rolled his eyes but didn’t say anything. Ᾱn had muscle, but nothing like the current boss, who commanded the youngest element of the group to try to catch something to eat in the stream.

There was a rustle of leaves from the nearby trees and he looked over. He swore he saw glowing eyes. Tensing, he got up “Something’s in the trees,” he said. The gang looked at him, and then the trees.

“You sure you haven’t drank too much?” the member closest to the captive group laughed, and he snarled, stopping when he noticed the light reaching less space. Did the fire get dimmer?

Jùn Dé seemed to take his warning more seriously “You two,” he pointed to the two admiring the pelts “Go see if there’s someone observing us,” he ordered. The duo scowled, but obeyed, grabbing a torch from their supplies and lighting it.

They quickly disappeared out of sight, into the dark shadows but soon returned, snickering.

“Probably a bird,” one of them mocked and sat next to the fire, leaving his companion at the edge “Hey, what are you doing over there?”

“Could have sworn I heard something right now.”

“You too? Aw, you getting scared? Like Ᾱn?”

“Oh, shut your-” and the yaoguai screamed as he was suddenly dragged into the darkness.

The sudden silence deafened the group, staring at where the hunter had been. The dark seemed to solidify.

Ᾱn grabbed a torch, lit it, and threw it into the darkness. The light quickly succumbed and the dark almost seemed to writhe for the glimpse of the light flickering. The golden cub breathed sharply making Ᾱn and Jùn Dé look at him, but the fire flickered. The other cubs, farther from the fire, whimpered, scooting away from the darkness awkwardly.

The hunters armed themselves, the first to mock Ᾱn immediately getting closer to the fire and leaving the cubs vulnerable. Jùn Dé lit a torch.

From the stream a splash was heard and then a gurgle. Ᾱn recognised another element was lost but turned and still saw nothing but darkness and their partner floating away, face down. Notably, the stream was visible as normal, the encroaching darkness not as prominent, as if it was a normal night.

“Everyone, get a torch,” Jùn Dé ordered and the other two scrambled, almost burning themselves in their eagerness to get closer to the light. Rolling his eyes at their cowardliness, he looked at their captives and locked eyes with an adult monkey cutting the ropes, releasing the last of the suspiciously silent cubs. She cursed loudly and pushed the children into the darkness, the knife in her hands being thrown at him as a distraction. He dodged and ran to her, furious at losing most of his shipment but the other hid inside the shadows that then lashed out at him - and his crew if the cursing from them were anything to go by. The campfire light flickered again and dimmed, and he turned to see their remaining cub kicking dirt into it. Snarling, he picked it up by the scruff and roughly shook it as punishment.

“Boss, c’mere,” Ᾱn called “We can get away following the stream,”

Not seeing any other options to get away from the ambush, he held the child tightly and ran to his partner, only giving a glance to the pale faces of the others yelling at them for help right as the shadows took one and the female yaoguai stabbed the other in the back, a snarl visible on her muzzle as she glared at him.

A pity, it was hard to get men as cheap as those.

The two remaining hunters ran, the unnatural darkness giving way to one of a normal night. They could hear a pursuer and feel magic trying to get to them, but now that they had an idea of the trick, they could more easily dodge it. Their captive was their ticket to staying alive so Jùn Dé squeezed him tightly when it started to fight his hold, to the point of the child starting to struggle to breathe. They needed shelter, somewhere they could ambush so they entered the trees once they noticed their pursuer had lost enough ground, and saw a cave. The one torch they had was surprisingly still lit so they could see it fairly well. It was a dark cave, with luck they could hide and regroup before counter attacking and getting some extra pelts.

It was Ᾱn that made the fatal mistake, the first to step into the cave. Immediately, the shadows striked, and there was barely any time for him to scream before all that was left of him was pieces.

Jùn Dé stopped in time, the torch making the darkness shrink from him just enough that both him and the cub escaped the same fate. Turning, he saw a cloaked figure a few meters away, the oppressing shadows twisting at its feet. “Get back!” he ordered and, making a gamble, grabbed the cub’s scruff again and dangled it near to the cave’s mouth, carefully using his other arm to make sure the torch's light kept the darkness away, so the cub wouldn’t be grabbed. He was rewarded by a step back and a startled cry from the other, who quickly froze his position. He smirked “Show me your face and maybe I won’t throw it inside,” the figure paused, and then revealed his face. Six ears were the most obvious characteristic, and he recognized immediately the description of his captive’s companion. His smile grew, realizing the position he was in, in possession of the being that could be used to control such an unusual yaoguai, with his six ears and deadly magic.

As Jùn Dé debated to himself how to proceed, Macaque’s attention was on the struggling Stone Monkey, unsure whether to demand him to stop struggling or not. Then, the cub stopped and looked down. He followed his line of sight.

Oh. Seems the hunter made a mistake.

Quickly, he used the shadow created by the torch light and the hunter’s own arm to connect with the cave’s darkness and shadow-jumped in their direction, startling the other in letting go of his hostage.

It didn’t matter, the action wouldn’t save him now.

The hunter’s leg was pulled violently into the cave and, like his companion, there was barely any time for him to scream, not even the torch’s light managing to save him. Macaque’s jump was true and he picked the cub before he was snatched by any shadow, and fell back, away from the cave’s mouth, losing his breath when his back hit the ground, but quickly scooting farther back.

Both monkeys stared at the shadows writhing, until they spewed out the torch. This time, no corpse was left there on display.

When Macaque looked at the cub, he found himself looking into wide teary eyes, silent sobs making him shake as the adrenaline started to pass. Cursing, he cut off the restraints and then tried to calm the cub until the other grabbed his fur almost painfully and hid his face. Hiding his wince, he tried to comfort him while walking back to the meeting spot he and the other yaoguai had decided on when planning their sort of successful plan.

Guess the cub wasn’t the only one attached.

-:::-:::-

The gray yaoguai gaped at Macaque as he appeared with the kidnapped cubs and another yaoguai. The female monkey, fur still matted with blood, explained to the elder about the execution by her own hand of her own leader for the betrayal of using hunters to get the upper hand, and how she had teamed with the young one (Macaque muttered he wasn’t that young, being heard only by Stone Monkey who hid his trembling smile by smothering his face on the other’s neck) to rescue the cubs.

“There were several casualties we could not save.” she finished mournfully. The elder studied the group, the cubs already being swiped away by other yaoguai for medicine. The only exception was the golden cub in the Six ears’ arms, the famous Stone Monkey they had heard whispers about for a couple of weeks now.

“And the hunters?” they questioned.

“Gone. Most of the corpses can still be seen.” the female yaoguai answered.

“Most?” they wondered, looking at Six ears when the female didn't explain.

“There were… events,” Six ears said “I would recommend not going near caves in that area for a while.” the cub snorted and the darker monkey twitched “Strongly recommend.” he stressed. The female yaoguai seemed as confused as the rest of them and the elder decided to let it go, for now. It was early morning and the three monkeys in front of them had nothing to eat for hours. The gray yaoguai they had rescued the afternoon before seemed to recognize Six ears so they suggested they rest together. The female yaoguai followed hesitantly when they gestured for her to do so.

They supposed they could accept the strange trio. Or turn them away. By the female’s own admittance, she had murdered her leader, even if because of his own lack of honor. On the other hand, they had just saved several cubs by themselves, from a group of hunters, something not every young monkey could say about themselves.

Better to keep them close as allies than as enemies, the elder decided. Now they just needed to give the female a name. After all, such an individual should be remembered by a proper name.

They were thinking Ma.

-:::-:::-

In between sleeping and eating and the now known as Ma getting an officially recognized name in the mountain (with subsequent celebration), it took a few days for Macaque and Stone Monkey to get a few moments to talk alone. Though always together, the cub had barely said a word, only clinging fiercely to the older monkey when he made to step away for a while.

Grey, as Macaque started calling the gray gibbon yaoguai that gave the elder gibbon’s supplies, had admitted to him the cub was more lively now than after he left, where he just laid down on a tree branch, depressed. It had been Grey who had managed to convince the cub to go to play with others near the main area, and it had been there that the attack centered. Most had dispersed but the hunters had injured many and killed others quickly and efficiently. Grey himself had slowly healing scars on his chest and survived probably because he had been knocked unconscious and his fur was rather bland. Unfortunately, it meant Stone Monkey had been taken on his watch, and the guilt was strong, even as the cub himself didn't blame the other and even told him off for being silly to think that.

Even when they managed to be alone, the cub barely spoke, though his clinginess lessened with time as he saw Macaque was going nowhere..

More time passed, Macaque getting used to a routine in a community again. He tried to ignore the sounds the wind brought, the way his feet sometimes wanted to run from this place, his magic whispering for adventure and new knowledge in the world. He tried to ignore the suffocation he felt being in one place for such a long time.

The day the elder suggested Macaque to be a courier for the message they had written to the Demon King of Confusion, he had hesitated to accept. It would be a week, less if he felt like using portals.

Ma was the one to convince him. In her own way. “It was Stone Monkey’s idea,” she had blurted, and ignored the squeak from said cub she was grooming (having decided Macaque’s own grooming attempts were lackluster) “He knows you are restless so he asked me to suggest it to the elder. You should go, get some gifts when you come back. It would do you both good.”

She was right, as Macaque was having the displeasure to discover was a common occurrence. Stone Monkey had run to him when he returned, clingy for a few days, but as he went for other small missions, the less nervous Stone Monkey was every time he went away and the less antsy he himself was.

If it wasn’t for the politics’ it would be perfect, but he supposed nothing was perfect. At least the elder themselves pretended to give him his liberty and only tried to manipulate Stone Monkey when he was alone, attempting to gain any advantage in the faction fight of the mountain by gaining the favor of the Stone born monkey. Which, if Grey and Ma were to be believed, as well as his ever attentive hearing, was basically never.

Macaque wondered if the FlowerFruit monkey inhabitants would ever join together under a single ruler.

#lmk #lego monkie kid #monkie kid #monkie kid fic #fic #my fic #fanfiction #sun wukong #six eared macaque #lmk six eared macaque #lmk sun wukong

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abigailxiang · 21 days

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You Could Poison Poison || Solo

Timing: April 23rd, 2024, early evening.

Location: Edgewood Park

Description: Abigail was having a lovely day. Until she wasn't.

Warnings: TW Blood, Gore.

Pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose, Abigail let out a sigh. She had spent all afternoon reorganizing the latest collection they had received, sorting out the pieces from most to least damaged, cataloguing what would need major restorations and what could potentially be added to the library's archives within the next month or so. It was the work she preferred to do-- quiet and calm in the climate controlled confines of the clean room she worked in. No coworkers, no students walking through the shelves, just the texts and her thoughts.

It had been a perfect day. The rain wasn't ideal, but she'd brought an umbrella and it wasn't that bad after all. A quick walk and she'd be back at her apartment, ready for another evening of what was feeling increasingly like an exercise in insanity.

No matter how many books she scrutinized, no matter the era, the region, she was no closer to figuring out what Sutton was than she had been a month ago. Which was. Utterly infuriating. Research was her job. Her life's work. And she was failing at it.

Fingers flexing on the rubber grip of her umbrella, Abigail pushed the thought from her mind. Her back stiffened as she made her way down the gravel walkway that snaked through the park she liked walking through after work. It was a set back. Eventually, she would figure out what Sutton was and then she would know how to kill it. It, she reminded herself. Not a person-- that day in the library, she had come... uncomfortably close to seeing Sutton as something that it wasn't.

Which was why she had refrained from directly seeking out Sutton in the past weeks. She kept tabs on the creature, of course. She knew its schedule quite well at this point, when it had classes, when it went in for studio, its propensity for overindulging on wine every Wednesday. Abigail now made sure to keep... more distance between them. She was a Fangxiangshi and Sutton was a Yaoguai. The Hunter and the hunted.

If Abigail had been less lost in her thoughts, more focused on the world around her, she might have noticed the shadows that darted around the wooded park. If it hadn't been raining and the water droplets hadn't been so loud against the fabric of her umbrella, she might have heard the beating of heavy wings above her.

But, she didn't.

And the creature descended upon her in a single swoop from the tree line, all claws and snarling teeth.

The umbrella was shredded between claws and, if it wasn't for her years of training and sharpened reaction time, she would have been sliced to ribbons alongside it. Abigail let the umbrella fall from her fingers as she leapt instinctively out of the way, tucking her head into her neck as she rolled off the path and into the wooded area of the park.

Even through the cover of the trees, rain poured down on her, drenching Abigail in an instant. Her glasses, useless things, were a hindrance as they fogged and smudged with water. She didn't have time to fling them away as a blurred shape lashed out at her. Abigail dodged out of the way, keeping her feet planted in the wet earth. A snarling roar emanated from the creature in front of her and Abigail blinked through the watery lenses. What kind of--

She didn't have time to finish that thought because a sulfurous smell filled the air, followed by a sharp clicking sound. The hair on the back of her neck stood up on end and Abigail let her instincts take over. Her legs drove into the earth and she feinted right before cutting quickly to her left and sprinting as fast as she could.

A rush of heat exploded behind her-- Fire? What kind of creature could breath fire and sounded like that? A Lung? But the four ancient dragons had no business in New Haven, they hardly bothered to travel beyond the mainland. Abigail ripped her glasses off in irritation before whirling around to take in the creature that had made the mistake of choosing her as prey.

"What the fu--" Abigail's words were cut off as the three-headed creature lunged at her, a lion's bloody mouth bearing down on her. Abigail's staff was in her hand in an instant, but what could she do with a staff against a lion? And-- she blinked, not sure she understood what she was seeing. The second head, the one joined at the base with the lion's was... a goat?

The goat's mouth opened and the sulfurous smell filled the air again-- the goat head could breath fire. The goat could breath fire.

Abigail had killed a great many creatures. But she had never seen anything like this before. Not in her family texts. Not in person. Only in... Greek myths.

"Chimera." She breathed before turning tail and sprinting away. Abigail was many things and stupid wasn't among them. Head of a lion, fire breathing goat head, wings of an eagle, the claws and talons and ferocity of every beast that made up the awful patchwork creature. She had a metal staff and a packet of talismans that would do absolutely nothing against a flesh and blood monster straight out of the classics.

Abigail sprinted through the park, weaving through trees as tightly as she could. She hated running, hated turning tail and retreating when that meant the creature would be free to attack innocent people. But. If she wanted to do anything about it, she needed to be alive to do so. So she ran.

She ducked to avoid branches and tore out through a row of bushes, trying to slow the creature that was still barrelling down after her. She didn't want to draw it into the open but--

Pain lanced through her shoulder and Abigail gasped as she saw a giant yellow eye leering at her from where the giant snake's mouth had closed around her flesh. Sharp agony spread through her arm like wildfire as the chimera dragged backwards, yanking her back into the depths of the park. The staff she carried, it was still clenched tight in her right hand and what choice did she have?

Hitting the button of the staff, Abigail felt the pole retract into its much smaller, denser form. Hefting the cylinder, she slammed the point into the beady eye that stared at her.

The fangs in her arm clenched even harder, slicing through skin and flesh, but she continued to hammer at the snake's head until the jaws relented and she fell free from its grasp. Abigail's arm hung uselessly at her side, but she didn't care. Pain and adrenaline spurred her on and she ran faster than she'd ever run before. Blood poured from her arm and soaked into the black fabric of her jacket, but she couldn't focus on that. She just had to run. She had to run. She had to get away from the park, she had to-- had to... Had to get...

Her lungs burned as she sprinted down a back alleyway, away from the main street. Even through the haze of pain that filled her mind, her lectures from youth reminded her. Humans could never be involved in their work. And she couldn't-- wouldn't...

"Fuck." Abigail panted, slowing to a jog, to a trot, to a stumbling walk that ended with her slumping against the damp brick of the alleyway. Her legs felt like the bones had been liquefied and her arm... Fuck. Abigail sank to the ground, remembering something from the books she'd been pouring over for the past week.

Chimera's. A mythical creature with the head of a lion and goat, capable of breathing fire. Some even possessed a tail that took the form of... "a venomous snake." Abigail finished the quote out loud and let out a laugh that sounded far more manic than it should have been.

This was how she was going to die, wasn't it?

#solo 002

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theartofmany · 2 years

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Artist: Suke ∷ Title: The visitor

"Suanni: The visitor. Happy to update my personal project name "Yaoguai Hunter" to "狻猊 /Suanni", I'll keep posting new works for this series" Wonderful...

#Suke ∷#The visitor #Suanni #concept art #illustration #character design #painting #matte painting #digital 2d #fantasy #beauty #weapon #helmet #Yaoguai Hunter #hunter #狻猊

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journeythroughjourneytothewest · 9 months

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Chapter 6 Recap: Guanyin, attending the banquet, inquires into the cause; the Little Sage, exerting his power, subdues the Great Sage

Providing a break from the war between Heaven and yaoguai, this chapter begins by recounting how the Bodhisattva Guanyin had arrived in Heaven for the peach banquet only to find the whole place largely deserted and no peaches to be had. Talking with a few gods who are still present, Guanyin manages to get an audience with an enraged Jade Emperor, and hears all about the Monkey King’s various crimes and exploits that prompted the Jade Emperor’s massive escalation. Hearing this, Guanyin orders her disciple Hui’an/Prince Moksa to go down to Flower-Fruit Mountain at once so that he can bring back “a factual report.” Moksa receives this from his father Devaraja Li until all conversation is broken up by “The Great Sage, leading his band of monkey monsters…shouting for battle outside.” Moksa tells Devaraja Li that he’ll battle the monkey if allowed, and his father agrees.

Old Monkey and Moksa engage in a “magnificent battle” until after “fifty or sixty rounds” an exhausted Moksa is forced to flee. Shocked at seeing his son so defeated, Devaraja Li writes to request further assistance from the Jade Emperor to capture the Monkey King. Agreeing to transport the request, Moksa is able to give his report on the situation to both Guanyin and the Jade Emperor, the latter of which laughs at the idea that one monkey monster could require this much effort to subdue. Guanyin then recommends that the Jade Emperor summon his nephew, Erlang Shen, to capture Sun Wukong. The Jade Emperor immediately does so.

Erlang Shen and his sworn brothers, the Six Brothers of Plum Mountain, are “delighted and willing” to obey, gathering their weapons and heading to Mt. Huaguoshan in “a violent magic wind.” After arranging themselves in such a way where Sun Wukong has little hope of victory or escape, Erlang Shen and his sworn brothers head to the Water-Curtain Cave, where the Little Sage first insults Sun Wukong for his audacity, the Monkey King calls him a “little boy,” and the fight between the two sages is on!

Erlang Shen and Sun Wukong battle for “more than three hundred rounds, but the result still could not be determined.” Unable to score a victory the “traditional” way, the Little Sage uses magic to take on a “green-faced, saber-toothed” war form “a hundred thousand feet tall," and Sun Wukong does the same. Yet seeing these warring behemoths and their beloved king in such a monstrous form “terrified” and “appalled” the marshals Ma and Liu and the generals Beng and Ba so completely that they entirely lose the ability to both lead their troops and fight. Seeing their prey in such confusion, the deities, led by the Six Brothers of Plum Mountain, go after the Mt. Huaguoshan simians with arrows, falcons, and dogs. They capture two or three thousand of their monkey foes. The rest “scattered in all directions,” and Heaven thus scores a complete victory over the yaoguai.

Sun Wukong, upon seeing his monkeys so thoroughly defeated, loses his will to keep fighting with Erlang Shen in their war forms “which imitated Heaven and Earth.” He flees with the Little Sage hot at his heels. Barred from running any further by the Six Brothers of Plum Mountain, the Monkey King escapes detection by transforming himself into a little sparrow, but Erlang Shen, using “his phoenix eye,” spots Sun Wukong and chases after him in the form of a sparrow hawk. The two then act as hunter and prey in a multitude of animal forms: Sun Wukong changes himself into a cormorant, Erlang Shen into a huge ocean crane; the Great Sage transforms himself into a small fish, the Little Sage hunts him as a fish hawk; Sun Wukong wriggles away as a water snake, Erlang Shen chases the monkey as a scarlet-topped gray crane. This ends when the Monkey King changes himself into a spotted bustard, which Erlang Shen, knowing that his beast “is the basest and most promiscuous of birds, mating indiscriminately with phoenixes, hawks, or crows," refuses to approach. He elects instead to revert to his true form and shoots the monkey with an arrow.

Though he’s sent tumbling down a mountain slope, Sun Wukong nevertheless “took advantage of this opportunity” and hides himself in the form of a little temple. Erlang Shen immediately knows it’s the monkey though, and the Great Sage leaps up and “disappeared again into the air” so thoroughly that not even the Little Sage can find him. Swiftly mounting the clouds and rising up to where Devaraja Li is, Erlang Shen recounts his duel of transformations with the simian and the monkey’s mysterious disappearance. Now knowing the situation, Devaraja Li uses an imp-reflecting mirror to reveal that the Monkey King escaped the Heaven’s net and is now heading for Erlang Shen’s home at the River of Libations.

The Great Sage, upon reaching Erlang Shen’s home, transforms himself into a duplicate of the Little Sage so perfect that “the demon magistrates could not tell that he was not the real Erlang.” The real Erlang Shen soon crashes in, and Sun Wukong, revealing his true form, engages the Little Sage in combat once again. The fight from Erlang Shen’s temple all the way back to Flower-Fruit Mountain, shouting insults at each other all the way.

While all this chaos is going on, the Jade Emperor is left wondering yet again why he hasn’t gotten any reports on how the battle is faring. Guanyin suggests that the two of them go to see for themselves what's happening, to which the Jade Emperor agrees. Calling for his imperial carriage, the Jade Emperor, his entourage, and Guanyin go to see the situation below, and find that while Erlang Shen and his brothers have managed to surround the Monkey King, they haven’t been able to capture him. To rectify this situation, Guanyin suggests that she thrown down her immaculate vase so that the Monkey King will be knocked down. Yet Laozi, noting that her vase is made of porcelain and susceptible to breaking, instead throws down his diamond snare right on top of Sun Wukong’s head. Engaged in “a bitter struggle with the Seven Sages,” the Monkey King didn’t see this surprise attack coming and is knocked to his feet before further being held there by Erlang Shen’s “small hound,” which bites him on the calf. Sun Wukong attempts to get up, but “the Seven Sages all pounced on him and pinned him down. They bound him with ropes and punctured his breastbone with a knife, so that he could transform no further.”

Their victory now complete, the deities began the process of retiring their troops and offering congratulations to each other. Erlang Shen further tells his sworn brothers that while he makes a report to the Jade Emperor of his success they are to “make a thorough search of the mountain here. After you have cleaned it out, got back to the River of Libations. When I have our deeds recorded and received our rewards, I shall return to celebrate with you.” And when he receives news of the Monkey King’s defeat, the Jade Emperor gives the order for him to be taken “to the monster execution block, where he was to be cut to small pieces.”

Whether this is the painful and disgraced end of Sun Wukong or not will have to wait for the next chapter.

#jtjttw chapter recap #xiyouji #journey to the west #jttw

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