#and it helps that lmk is made by chinese people

[mx-paint]

.

[sushiwriterhere]

in a heartbeat

summary: "Maybe he just didn’t need the fanfare, maybe he needed to ditch the plans and just hand the rock to you over Chinese takeout and let that be it."  rating: explicit (no minors!) pairing: bradley 'rooster' bradshaw x f!reader word count: 3.9k warnings: very fluffy, PiV (unprotected), no use of y/n.  notes: this is my first fic in a while and im fighting writers block something awful. this is not proofread :( pls lmk what you think <3! my other works are here part of the coming home to you universe

four days before.

“I’m gonna go out for drinks with the girls Saturday.”

“Uhhh, you can’t.”

Did he need to loop your coworkers into the proposal plan too? Phoenix having dragged it out of him so they could all help was bad enough. Bradley could feel his headache building behind his eyes. He tried to avert eye contact to make the conversation feel natural, instead focusing his gaze on the onion he was trying to caramelize. 

“I can’t?”

Bradley’s never been controlling, never tried to tell you who you can and can’t hang out with, and certainly never with that particular tone in his voice. He heard the mail you were inspecting drop onto the granite countertop as you turned your full attention on him.

“Why?”

Fuck.

He could hear the way your eyes were narrowed from the uncharacteristically steady tone of your voice, the way one eyebrow was raised expectantly. 

In the back of his mind, Bradley also saw the picnic blanket, candles, and bottle of your favorite wine stashed at Mav’s. There were the flowers he had to pick up and arrange on Friday while you were working, the homemade meal Javy promised him that he needed to grab on Saturday around midday. 

“I made dinner reservations at this new place down by the beach, and the only time they had was Saturday evening.”

“And you forgot to tell me until now?”

Bradley didn’t forget. Not about these types of things. Ever since your first date, Bradley had been nothing but proactive. He planned dates, cooked meals, doted on you. Forgetting just wasn’t like him. 

“Made the reservation this morning and you seemed busy.” He finally met your eyes and he watched as your gaze softened and you turned back to the stack of mail.

“Bradley Bradshaw you are a sap.”

And the moment passed. 

You and Bradley had talked about marriage, you have. You’d talked about it enough for him to know what kind of ring you wanted, that you wanted a small, intimate ceremony, and that you’d lost more than enough sleep over whether to invite your parents. You’d talked enough to know Bradley would probably have the Dagger Squad as best men (people?) and that he’d let Phoenix be part of your bridal party if you wanted, that he wanted Mav right there next to him, and that there would be an empty chair for Goose and Carole. That was one thing. 

Getting down on one knee and actually going over that line? That was another. 

The rational part of his brain had always insisted that you would say yes, that you also knew from very early on, if not the beginning. The unhelpful part of his brain kept telling him the ring was the wrong size or that a seagull would swoop down and steal the shiny thing right from his fingertips before you could even say no.

three days before.

Bradley’s checked the ring at least six times since he, Javy, and the other guys came into the shop. The sound of the velvet clicking back against itself then sliding open again was starting to grate on his nerves, but he wanted to give Bradley the benefit of the doubt. He remembered what it was like, that lump in your throat, the way his brain tended to keep him up about every disagreement, every time he should’ve apologized instead of stewing on his anger. 

Javy, instead, choose peace. He watched calmly as Bradley opened the box again, and brought a finger up to trace the gems before deciding against it.

Doesn’t want to smudge it.

There was clearly something on his mind, because the ring had been paid for months ago and the re-sizing and adjustments were included in the price. But there Bradley was, stuck to the shop floor, looking like he was trying to decide between getting sick right there and maybe saving it for the trees outside the shop’s doors.

“What’cha thinkin’ about there, Rooster?” Jake sidled up to Bradley’s side, voice a low murmur, as if trying not to startle the man. 

Regardless, Bradley jumped slightly, jostling the open box and the sound of the box snapping shut echoed harshly around the showroom. Bradley looked like he might’ve decided on getting sick inside. 

“Should I get a second one? What if she doesn’t like this one?” 

Across the room, a sales associate perked up just slightly, clearly looking to score on another guy so nervous he looked like a ghost. Vultures.

“Bradley, my man, we’ve been over this a thousand times. Phoenix got her Pinterest, it’s all a certain style, and it’s definitely the perfect ring.” 

Jake and Bradley had begun to get along, rather begrudgingly at first, then very amicably, after the mission and Jake saved Bradley’s life. Seeing him comfort Bradley was something else though, Javy acknowledged. It was kind of nice to have that tension dissipate from within their team.

“But what if I need another perfect one?” 

“Are you gonna propose to her twice?” Bob had popped up on Bradley’s other side, silent as ever. “Usually there’s a second one for the wedding, but I’m here for a bit of a new tradition.”

At that, Bradley deflated a bit. The box in his hands clicked open, then shut again.

“No, no new tradition.” He murmured, before slipping the box into his pocket.

two days before.

Bradley knew Mav loved him, but he wasn’t sure how much he would after this whole ordeal. They must’ve run over the schedule at least a thousand times, forward and backward, even while flying over their comms. At this point, Bradley was sure he had the entire Dagger Squad reciting the plan in their sleep. He hoped he at least wasn’t, he didn’t need you to be clued into anything. 

“Nothing has moved since the last time you were here. Go home, Bradley.” Mav’s voice carried through the house as Bradley unceremoniously burst through the door. 

He’d started leaving work fifteen minutes early last week, just to double check that everything was in its place, that nothing had broken or spontaneously combusted. It was just enough time for him to stop at Mav’s place on the way home, do his round, and make it home around the same time as usual so as not to rouse suspicion. 

“I’m just–”

“Just checking yeah, get outta my house Bradley and go be with your fiance.” Mav had rounded the corner into his back room, all bathed in sunlight and a picture-perfect reminder of why people loved living in California. 

He was the picture of relaxed domesticity, dish towel over his shoulder, spatula in one hand that he was clearly thinking about hitting Bradley with as he paced the room and ticked things off on his fingers as he murmured to himself. 

“You’re gonna wear a hole in my carpet, and I happen to really like that rug.” Bradley stopped walking but the way his fingers twitched at his sides clued Mav into the way he was clearly still running through the run of show in his mind. 

“She’s not my fiance yet.”

“And she never will be if I murder you for breaking into my house and giving my wife a heart attack.”

“Penny’s not even home at this hour.” 

Mav had never seen Bradley like this. He’d missed graduations and recitals and all the shit you don’t get to see as an estranged god-father, but he’d done enough wondering about what he was like in those moments to have come up with this scenario. Bradley truly was the perfect mix of Goose and Carole–all Goose’s easy romantic energy, ever creative, ever attentive, and just as much of Carole’s eye for detail and desire for things to go right. 

“Bradley.”

Mav watched as the fight eased out of Bradley’s shoulders and his hands relaxed at his sides, “Right. Sorry.”

“Look son, you don’t have to be sorry for wanting this to go right. And you’ve only got a little of sorry to be about starting to drive me insane.” At that, Bradley cracked half a smile and Mav considered that a small success. “You like this at home?”

A sharp laugh echoed around the wood-paneled room, “Oh absolutely not. She’d know in a heartbeat.”

“Well, then you have your answer.” The gears were turning at a million miles an hour as Bradley tried to decipher what he meant. “She knows you in a heartbeat, which means she knows how she feels about you. And we both know what that means for Saturday.”

Bradley nodded, the picture of relaxation and ease all at once. “I’ll see you Saturday.”

one day before.

Bradley was starting to think the gash on his finger was some sort of awful omen, something terrible that had been awaiting to reveal itself until the last moment. He’d arranged flowers for you probably a million times at this point, had even done it blindfolded (only cheating a bit so he didn’t lose a finger) just to amuse you. Now, as he stared at the blood bubbing up from his middle left finger where he’d just stabbed himself with the scissors, the entire thing felt like some sort of cosmic joke.

He’d never doubted that he wanted to marry you, not even when you’d argued or insisted on shoving your ice cold fingers and toes up against him in the dead of night. Not once had he wavered since that initial thought in his brain, and he was even more sure when he went to open that fucking bank account that he’d been diligently adding a sizeable portion of his paycheck to. (What? He wanted to be sure he could afford exactly what you wanted, DeBeers advertising campaign be damned.)

Maybe he just didn’t need the fanfare, maybe he needed to ditch the plans and just hand the rock to you over Chinese takeout and let that be it. 

The only thing keeping him going despite all his nerves, aside from his deep love for you, was the way you’d once leaned against him when the two of you were spending a week away in the mountains. Overlooking something that felt like it was right from a postcard, you’d told him exactly how all the little romantic things he did made you feel. 

“Every time you buy me flowers, I get this little feeling in my chest, like something curling around my heart.” Bradley remembered keeping himself from making a joke, something about heart attacks, trying not to break the moment as the fog hung low over the trees. 

“From the moment you picked me up for our first date and insisted on opening the car door, bringing me flowers, they all make me get that little squirmy feeling that no one’s ever given me before.” You had pressed yourself to his side but not met his eyes, as if your confession was too powerful, too heavy to make when looking at him, “And some of it’s because I’m a sap at heart and you somehow know what I want before I do, but some of it’s just because it’s you Bradley. Always has been, always will be.”

The words said next would keep him going in his darkest moments, kept him together on long deployments, kept him pushing through every moment of doubt in the planning process.

“So if you ever decide to propose to me, even if it’s just you asking me over coffee, just know I’ll get that feeling, just because it’s you.” 

At that, you’d turned to face him, shifting so you could hook your chin over his shoulder where he turned his face to yours. He could see every lash, every spot on your face that he loved to press his lips to when you were too sleepy to protest. You’d graced him with a tiny smile, somehow just a bit melancholy, but all too loving. 

Bradley shook his head, clearing the memory as he scrambled to keep his blood from spattering on the countertop. He was going to have to grit his teeth through the pain of using a liquid bandaid so the pictures weren’t ruined by a regular bandaid. 

You’d compromised on drinks being Friday, so he had the evening to himself. All the time in the world for flowers, for a barbecue at Javy’s (home cooked meal to be picked up that night instead of Saturday morning), and for waiting up for you to text that you were ready to go home. 

the day of.

Bradley thought he’d be blinded by panic, or doubt, now that he was counting down hours and minutes in place of days or weeks. Instead, all he felt was a sense of serenity, almost like he was floating through the motions. 

The day started like every Saturday he’d had since you moved in and he’d been granted a relatively permanent station at Top Gun with Mav and the rest–you pressed up against him, your hair tickling some part of his bare skin, and the type of bone deep satisfaction with life that came with going to bed with a full belly and the love of his life at his side. He stared up at the ceiling fan as it made its lazy rotations and thought about how today was marking the difference between two parts of his life. 

After today, there would always be a time before the proposal, and after. 

The morning was lazy as you insisted you didn’t have a hangover but let Bradley cook you a plate full of turkey bacon, gently scrambled eggs, and a few hashbrowns. He knew you would be fine by afternoon, and after that excited to hang out at the beach before dinner. 

He was sort of counting on it. 

Apparently he’d underestimated your ability to bounce back because the way you draped yourself across his bare back was a little less than innocent as your hands smoothed over his shoulders and down his stomach. He slowed the way he was chewing the last of his hashbrown as you pressed a kiss to the sensitive spot under his ear. 

“Good morning, Bradley,” You crooned lowly.

“Mornin’.” 

His stomach jumped as you ran a nail over one of his nipples, and kissed at his shoulder. Tilting his head to the side to give you more room to work with, he took a slow drink of his water. 

Maybe he wanted you to work for it just a little, what with how badly he’d been stressing these last few weeks. 

And work for it you did. The light drag of your nails just barely there on his stomach and arms had him getting hard faster than he thought was humanly possible. But there was just something about the warmth of your chest at his back, the thinness of some shirt you’d stolen from him doing little to hide the swell of your breasts, that did it for him. Hell, it was really just that it was you that got him going. 

“I missed you last night.” You whined, just a bit, as he finally turned around on the barstool and gathered you into his lap. 

You could definitely feel the way he was hard against the soft give of your thighs, but somehow in that moment, all he wanted was you near. Sensing that somehow the moment had maybe passed, you curled in his lap and stretched your arms around his shoulders, apparently just content to be touching him.

“I missed you too.”

The way your lips met his was almost as natural as breathing, and then the moment wasn’t so innocent anymore. Your lips slotted against his as you kneaded at his arm muscles and part of Bradley was incredibly satisfied that you were enjoying just how much effort he put in at the gym. Sure, he had to be fit for his physical, but how hard he went on his biceps and shoulders was purely for your benefit. 

When the two of you finally stumbled back into the bedroom, Bradley thought he might pass out from how hard he was. Everything about you was amplified somehow. Your skin was softer and the gentle scent of whatever perfume you’d worn last night filled his nose. The give of your hips and thighs was easier and all he wanted was to sink his teeth into you and never let go. You might even let him.

Sprawled underneath him you looked like a goddess, bathed in the rising morning sun, nipples gently peaked as your chest rose and fell. 

“I love you.” 

It was so tender in comparison to the way you sat up and worked a hand inside Bradley’s boxers to grab firmly at his cock. He groaned as you shoved at the little clothing the two of you were wearing and in a moment, your skin was a beautiful contrast to the crisp white of the sheets. 

Bradley made to go down on you but you kept his face in your hands, “Been ready to go since I watched you scramble those eggs.”

He couldn’t hold back the way he barked out a laugh, that one was new. “The way the white and yolk were combined really do it for you?”

You smacked at his chest indignantly as he propped one of your thighs over the crook of his elbow, “Your back and arms look nice when you whisk, you asshole.”

You weren’t so huffy as he slid into you, gentle as ever. Bradley knew he wasn’t the biggest ever, but he also knew he wasn’t anything to scoff at either. He kissed away any discomfort he could see on your features til you rocked your hips up against his insistently.

“Give it to me like you mean it, babe,” Grinning all cheerfully, Bradley cursed under his breath as he felt you bear down on him.

After that, there was little to be said beyond whispers of I love you and the occasional swear word. Sometimes sex between the two of you was raunchy and heated, and other times it rounded out his Saturday mornings in a way that left him sated like nothing else. Sometimes he thought it might be better than flying. 

You came first, digging your nails into his shoulders and breathing his name in repeat. The feeling of you squeezing around him did little to keep him from coming and besides, the way you scraped your nails down his chest and begged him to let go definitely did him in. 

Clean up was quiet kisses and gentle shoves in the direction of the en-suite bathroom, Bradley making sure the water wasn’t too cold for you as you peed. (It was the little things.)

-

Fuck what Bradley had thought earlier about being serene, he thought he was going to crawl out of his skin. Holding your hand as the two of you made your way down the beachfront towards the space behind the Hard Deck, you were chattering on about some coworker’s baby shower and Bradley was focusing way too hard on not absolutely eating shit with the way the sand was shifting under his feet. 

In the distance, he could see the candles and the picnic blanket like a homing beacon. He couldn’t see Mav or Javy or anyone else, but he knew they were all hiding somewhere, ready to burst from the shadows in excitement. Harvard was also brandishing a camera even though Bradley couldn’t see any hint that he was around–turns out he was a more-than-amatuer photographer and had volunteered to capture the moment. 

“Bradley, what’s all this?” Your voice reached a winded sort of pitch as the two of you finally reached the set up.

It was perfect, and part of Bradley finally exhaled. The picnic blanket from your fourth date, the little tea candles doting the beach, and the bouquet of flowers resting at the corner of the blanket, right within Bradley’s reach.

Gently dropping your hand, Bradley picked up the flowers and pressed them into your hands. By now, you’d clearly caught on that something was happening because your eyes were wide and slightly teary, and there was a ghost of a wobble in your lower lip. 

Tan suit be damned, Bradley dropped to one knee and pulled out the velvet box that had been burning a hole in his pocket since before the two of you had gone out to dinner. (The dinner reservation had actually been real, to his credit.)

“Oh my god,” you whispered, bringing a hand to your mouth in a way that betrayed the way your hands were shaking. 

Bradley inhaled deeply, before popping open the lid of the box and letting his eyes flick down to where the ring was sitting, nestled right where it was supposed to be.

As if unable to stop yourself, you opened your mouth and blurted, “If you’re about to ask me what I think you are, the answer is yes. A thousand times yes.” 

Blinking up at you, Bradley didn’t move a muscle as you kept going, “Oh my god wait you probably have a whole speech, I’m so sorry, I’ll shut up now.”

Distantly, Bradley heard a shutter clicking but neither of you broke eye contact as his face broke into a huge smile. He kept going according to his plan, the unspoken understanding passing between the two of you that you’d never live that down.

He said your first name like a prayer, before launching into the speech he’d rehearsed for months now, “I have loved you since I met you. I love every part of you–your laugh, the way you’re passionate about your work, the way you love everyone around you with such intensity. I love you when we argue, I love you when we’re together and apart. You consume my every waking thought, and grace me with your presence when I dream. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“I want to wake up next to you for the rest of my life. I want to bicker about how we go through junk mail, the right way to parallel park, and what show we’re going to watch on Thursdays for however long you’ll let me. I want you by my side for the good, the bad, in sickness, and in health.” He said your name again, before asking the question he already knew the answer to, “Will you marry me?”

“Yes, oh my god yes.” 

Miraculously, Bradley slipped the ring on your finger without incident, then gathered you up into his arms and pressed your lips together. His cheeks were wet with your tears. 

“I love you so much, Bradley Bradshaw, you are my everything,” You choked out when he set you down unable to stop yourself from sticking your hand out in front of you and crying harder when you saw the ring of your dreams adorning your hand. 

“I can’t believe you said yes before I asked,” He breathed before pulling you into him to kiss you fiercely one more time.

-

“She said yes before I even opened my mouth,” Bradley chuckled as you giggled by his side, hands never leaving the new ring on your finger.

“That’s not nearly as bad as you were for the last three months,” Javy crowed, and the crowd was in uproar as Bradley attempted to defend himself. 

Above all the noise and the lighthearted teasing, Bradley knew one thing–he was happy. And you had said yes.

----

tagging: @sebsxphia @roosterbruiser @bradshawburner @gretagerwigsmuse @sometimesanalice @joaquinwhorres @roosterbruiser @roosterforme @bradshawsbitch @seresinsweetie @notroosterbradshaw @kmc1989 @peachystenbrough @rhettabbotts @theharddeck @wkndwlff @waklman @blue-aconite @thedroneranger @bibitches-r-us @sunlightmurdock @laracrofted @jupitercomet - tagging ppl either by request or whom i feel like are luv <r bradley. pls lmk if you'd like to be added/removed

[ninjasmudge]

reminder to please please not draw any LMK characters with yellow skin unless specifically drawn in full LEGO style

i dont want to sound callous bc i know theres new people in the fandom who might not have known, but this has been a problem since the very start, giving chinese people yellow skin is a racist stereotype and not something that can be overlooked. chinese people have repeatedly asked the lmk fandom to avoid coloring them yellow, or a heavily yellowed skin tone, but its still common

adding a link to shiroxix's skin pallet as a ref you can use to help if youre unsure, and heres a ref i made from colors ive used if anyone would like to use it, (no credit needed)

also! its important to take into account the rest of the tones in your picture when color picking, for example, if the rest of the picture is very vibrant, a brighter and more saturated tone will match, but on a piece with more muted tones the same color could look too yellow

[ryin-silverfish]

Hey I just wanted to say thank you for your Tripitaka post and for explaining this so well without being rude or dismissive. A while ago I made a post questioning Tripitaka that I had to take down within a few hours due to the amount of hate and harassment I was receiving. It was awfuly belittling and some of the things people were saying were just cruel insults towards me nothing that tried to explain or be helpful. I wish someone responded like this back then.

Awww, thank you!

It is true that old Chinese novels have a lot of nuances and contexts even native speakers could easily miss, not to mention all the things lost in translation. It is also true that they are a product of their times, and often have views and practices that most modern readers would not be comfortable with.

However, that is no reason to attack people who simply don't know, or jump to the worst conclusions. It reeks of the sort of fandom mentality where nuanced discussions go to die, and having been guilty of that mentality as a teen, I'm trying to steer clear of it.

Like, from what I understood, there was a recent trend of demonizing Tripitaka in popular JTTW adjacent fandoms like LMK (I mean, enough Chinese fans of JTTW medias disliked him too, but the "abusive" take, especially in relation to shipping discourse, is a new flavor), then a reaction against that, but people end up overcorrecting and going toward the "Tripitaka did nothing wrong!" end.

Frankly, this need to hold fictional characters "accountable" is tiring, and often just a way for people to feel like they have the moral high ground.

To me, it also distracts from more interesting questions one could be asking——from "How do the characters in question justify their actions to themselves?" to "What does it tell us about the time period the work was set in?" to "Could there be allegorical and metatexual layers we are not aware of?"

But even if we aren't going all literary, at the end of the day, it, is, flipping, fiction. You can complain about the execution, debate about people's takes on it, or write your own fix-it fanfics, but it is not an one-on-one correspondance to IRL morality or beliefs. Like, dude, you aren't "respecting Chinese culture" by being an asshole on our behalf over fictional characters and ships.

It is truly awful that people would personally insult you without explaining anything first. I hope it does not discourage you from learning about—or loving—JTTW and its related media, and wish you better luck in future online interactions.

[mysticarts]

Do you have any fun facts abt your OC's? (Any Fandom would do.)

Have a good day/Night! :)

OHHHHH YEAHHHH THIS GONNA BE A LONNNNG POST.

So I have a lot of LMK ocs, like a A LOT. Some I never even introduced on this blog yet. And I know some people may even forget some of my LMK ocs. So imma draw some of the OC's introduced in the past. So let's start!-

LMK OCS:

Jingwei

Jingwei here is Aroace! She never really liked the idea of romance in her head.

Jingwei is Hui Ying and Tai's grandmother! (She found a way to make their father without doing sexual reproduction)

Jingwei is a actual person in Chinese mythology, being transformed into a goddess after dying by drowning, and Transfroms into a bird to try and fill up the sea! (This oc of Jingwei still does that, but does have breaks once and a while)

Absolute Fashion Icon. Jingwei loves fashion. She loves dresses, she loves the pretty hairstyles and crowns, she loves Absolutely anything girly.

When Jingwei died and became a goddess, she was only fifteen years old. Because of this, most Celestials never took her seriously except the workers assigned to her and Chang'e

Due to dying by drowning in the sea, Jingwei regularly cuts her hair short because with long hair, Jingwei can feel the weight holding her down, and Jingwei hates that feeling.

Jingwei was Peng's NUMBER 1 HATER since the moment she saw him. She saw his arrogance and wasn't vibing with it.

Daiyu

(first pic is younger Daiyu, second pic is Daiyu during the LMK series)

Daiyu is literally a shadow. Like, her body is made up of shadows, sometimes when feeling extreme emotions parts of her body turn into shadows. Most of the time it's her hair.

Daiyu was created by the Chinese God Xuanwu. Xuanwu wanted more workers and maids, so he made people out of shadows, Daiyu was one of these many people

Daiyu was actually taken away from Xuanwu at a young age, as Xuanwu noticed that Daiyu would make a great soilder, so He sent Daiyu away to properly train and become a soilder for the Celestial realm.

For most of Daiyu's life after becoming a soilder, was to protecting the Mother of the West. She graduated as she kid, and spent her teenage years protecting the mother, she never really had a proper childhood. Although she stopped being a guard for the Mother of the West when she was chosen for an important quest with Jingwei and one other.

Daiyu has a lot of battle scars. I mean A LOT of them. But she takes extreme pride in them, She'd tell stories of her battles to more younger kids.

Due to being raised as a child Solider, Daiyu never got to experience feminine things, or enjoy them. Daiyu does try to be more Feminie, but she still feels a bit uncomfortable whenever she is. Jingwei helps her with that though!

Daiyu is Macaque's mother! (Suprise!)

Tai

Doesn't like physical touch much. Despite Hui Ying trying to hug Tai sometimes, Tai usually dosent hug or touch anyone, and that extends to family. He usually leaves or makes things for people tp show his affection.

Absolutely loves animals. He protects them with his life. Especially Cats and Dogs. He loves those two animals the most. That's why he usually helps out at the local pet adoption center.

Weird enough, Tai loves classical music. He knew how to play the cello really well at one point, but due to his teachers shaming him for it, he quit. The only time Tai ever pulls out his Cello now is when Hui Ying is sad.

Tai, lucky for him, got his mother's powers, which involve light. Because of this, Tai can sometimes be a menace, turning invisible and pranking people.

Tai was rather taught not to express or show his feelings. He was basically shoved Toxic masculinity since he was a kid. Tai would have been a much bigger jerk if Hui Ying and his dad didn't encourage him to speak his mind and to be himself.

Hui Ying

Funny enough, Hui is terrified of animals. Especially dogs. No one really knows why, but she just is. Tai is trying to make her get rid of that fear however

Hui Ying like her grandmother, absolutely loves Fashion. She loves dresses styling her hair, and all the girly stuff. But also Hui Ying likes to sneak around and be rebellious once in a blue moon.

You know in Tai and Hui's design they have the sun and moon tattoos on their arms? Yeah well, they didn't get those willingly. When they both hit puberty and their powers got heightened, they got those tattoos. However, while Tai's Tattos where celebrated, Hui Ying got reprimanded for them, as the other Celestial Maidens stated that it was a sign of impurity.

Hui Ying usually would hide her tattoos, but when she arrived down to the Mortal realm with Tai to live with Yujin, she would show her tattoos as a attempt to fit in. Luckily enough, it did work.

Loves music! However, unlike her brother, Hui Ying likes Jazz more than classical!

Yujin

Yujin is biologically related to PIF, being her younger sister. Yujin did look a lot like PIF when younger and in past designs, but she grew more into her own person.

Yujin, as you all know, had a emperor as a husband. Until her husband died, leaving her to rule his empire alone. And due to them not having children, Yujin's Husband's bloodline ended.

As much as Yujin loves dresses, her royal duties require her to be outside and walking around a lot. Because of this, Yujin has more pants in her wardrobe than dresses.

You know the horns Yujin has in her design? Yeah, that's her royal crown. It was a gift from DBK, as Yujin was friends with DBK since she was a teen.

Due to committing Several Felonies as a teen, Yujin got kicked out of the Celestial realm, becoming a human. However, Yujin kept on traveling with friends until she found immortality.

before Redson had the Sahmadi Fire, Yujin was the holder of it. However due to Yujin not having a child, the power was passed onto the nest blood relative who had a child, which was PIF's family. Let's just say Yujin cried for hours when she found out.

If you're wondering why Yujin never had a child, it's because she's infertile. She's rather sensitive about the topic, because she always wanted to birth and raise a child.

Shuimu!

Shuimu has amnesia, she totally forgot who she was before Tai and Hui Ying freed her from her prison. However, her body remembers. So whenever Shuimu eats noodles, no matter how good they are, she'll throw it up.

Sometimes Shuimu is afraid to talk or that she can't due to being chained underwater by her mouth for millennia. Sometimes even Shuimu dosent know why.

Shuimu feels very uncomfortable around Wukong. Again, her mind may not remember what happened, but her body does. So of course you're gonna feel uncomfortable when the guy who chained you is by you.

Shuimu dosent really know affection, as she never experiences it. That's why whenever she gets treated with affection, she gets suspicious.

Even though Shuimu is close to Hui, she's also a pretty close friend to Tai on his own terms. Tai would usually teach Shuimu about the modern world.

Ling!

Ling, like her father, has tattoos on her arms! But instead of moon motif, it's waves. However, Ling dosent take pride in this, and regularly uses Glamour to hide them.

Ling loves diving, even at the local beach, she'll wear a normal suit, hop into the water, and not come back up until a few hours later. This is because Ling can breath underwater!

Has a personal vendetta against her magic. Ling refuses to use her magic, and relies on potions and her smarts for combat. Ling is pretty physically strong to!

A professional honor roll student. Ling always had straight A's since grade seven. This isn't because of her parents pressure. Ling strives for good grades to make herself proud, to make herself feel accomplished as to avoid the feeling of loneliness

That's not all of my LMK ocs, but I haven't finished the other ocs lore yet, so yall will have to wait!

So, onto Lackadaisy!

Carmen!

Absolutely a hopeless Romantic. You'll never find more of a hopeless romantic and a hypewoman than Carmen. She'll always support you!

No filter, unless if speaking in German counts. If something happens that Carmen called out, she won't hesitate to say: I TOLD YOU SO!

Funny enough, Carmen dosent like chocolate much! She prefers vanilla flavors over chocolates.

Carmen is a daddy's girl, she loves spending time with her dad it makes her happy. Without her dad, Carmen would probably not know how to weild a gun!

In a sequel series when Nia is a full fledged adult.......Carmen's dead. The reason why? It depends if Carmen ever gets a lover/shipped with someone: Either Childbirth or getting killed by a gang when she tried to protect Nia.

Avis

Avis has a small amount of Japanese heritage in her, but her parents hid it as much as possible.

Avis loves anything with Carmel In it. It's one of the main reasons why she named Carmen, 'Carmen'

Avis's Maiden last name was Parr

Elias taught Avis how to weild a gun, just wanting to make sure she's safe. Little did he know that the same gun used to teach Avis was the same gun involved in her death (ooooo lore :D)

HAS THE MOST STRONGEST LOUISIANA ACCENT IN HISTORY!

Thatll be all! Be free to ask more questions!

[lucidboba]

This is a vent post on the Lego Monkie Kid fandom and the show. I am in no way an expert on the Journey To The West book so take this with a grain of salt.

I am honestly so sick of the Lego Monkie Kid fandom spreading misinformation around and claiming they know everything about JTTW Sun Wukong as a character when half of them don't even read the book and just get their information from OSP JTTW and LMK.

OSP on their podcast already said they left out a lot of stuff from the book for their videos as it's a summary and might have made Sun Wukong seem more impulsive then he actually are and they encouraged more people to read the book instead so I don't blame them.

What I blame is the part of the fandom that keeps on acting like they know everything when they just watch a short summary of a very long and complex book.

I get it, LMK is different from JTTW and change the original story a lot as it's a kids show. You shouldn't have to read the book just to enjoy the show. But you shouldn't spread misinformation around about the actual book just because you heard it from somewhere and did little to nothing research and just read a couple of short analysis.

This happens mostly to Sun Wukong as there are people saying he was unjustly punished and he didn't do anything wrong or people saying he was a moster demon spawn that deserve his punishment even when Guan Yin had to step in to intervene or people saying he was dumb, entire personality is being impulsive.

He is the Intelligent Stone monkey, the Monkey of the Mind, the monkey that have knowledge of ancient medicine and cured a king, the monkey that almost managed to sued the Devarāja Li if not for the Gold Star Of Venus's intervene, ment to represent the mind in all it's clever chaotic glory. he was one of the top students under Patriarch Puti for goodness sake and was the one who solves most of their problems on the journey. He has his moments of being impulsive and dumb but not nearly as much as people might think.

Not to mention their favoritism of the Six Eared Macaque, they baby him as if he wasn't the representation of what Sun Wukong would be like if he actually didn't have any control and just did whatever he wanted. Now LMK Macaque actually is trying to help MK in season 4 which I am very happy about, but JTTW and LMK are very different. So please, if you want to say JTTW Macaque did nothing wrong, don't use LMK as source.

Now the show have some flaws that I feel need to be adress. The show deviates from the actual book a lot which I have no problems with as it's a kids show but how much deviations are you allowed to have to the point of being an bad representation of the actual book. They said they consulted Chinese experts on the book which sometimes you can tell but other times, it just doesn't feel like it.

But there are also some fans that spread nonsense around and because they have a lot of followers everyone just believes them without more research. It made the show just feel like another bad adaptation in a sea of plastics that just so happens to float above the rest of the bad adaptations the book have gone through.

Which is a shame, you can tell a lot of thought and hard work have been put in the show with it's stellar animation, amazing voice acting, beautiful soundtracks and some actual moments that can put you to tears. But I wish the fandom would stop taking information from the show and stop saying it's exactly like the book. It made just enjoying the show and interacting with the good part of the fandom with it's beautiful fanart and great discussions harder to enjoy when all you can think about are the inaccuracies people are spewing around about the actual book.

Anyway, thanks for listening to my long rant. I really needed to get this of my chest.😮‍💨

I might rephrase this at a later date if I'm unhappy with it.

[istopaskingmemate]

just a quick guide on the importance of lmk characters to Chinses methoylogy so people know

disclaimer I'm not Chinese nor was I raised in the culture I'm just doing research so more people know.

Zhu Bajie: is an actively worshiped god (not a Buddha). is the patron deity of masseuses, hostesses, and prostitutes within Taiwan and other parts of East Asia.

Sun Wukong: is an actively worshiped trickster god and Buddha. though Buddhist monks don't generally worship him, the people of southern China, Taiwan, and areas of Southeast Asia, Malaysia, Singapore, and even Thailand and Vietnam. there is even a temple dedicated to him in America. along with the trickster aspects he is also a god of nature, god protector, patron deity of athletes (in Singapore at least), and protector of children. he is also considered a Dharmapala (guardian deity of the dharmic path dharmic path). a large part of his worship is with Spirit-mediums who "are believed to channel his spirit to interact with believers, generally answering their questions, blessing them or their belongings with paper talismans, or prescribing medicine". link to helpful if you want to learn more

Tripitaka: is actively worshipped god protector and achieved Buddhahood in the jttw. the real-life monk that he is based on is also worshiped as a god of success. though neither the character nor the real-life monk is worshiped as a Buddha in modern times.

Sha Wujing: is an arhat(a saint of one of the highest ranks.). he has links to a minor Buddhist protector deity in Japan but apart from that I can find no resources to say he is actively worshiped. please still be respectful though

Ao lie: at the end of the jttw ao lie is made a nāga are mythical creatures that are believed to be protectors of Buddhism and often represent water and abundance. not actively worshiped but still sacred.

Note: just because not all of these characters are worshiped doesn't mean they are not sacred. please please be considerate. Also, please keep in mind that all the above characters are Buddhist monks if you want to write a story about them research restrictions for Buddhist monks. this means no meals with meat, no killing (except for wukong), and no sex! you can be a little lenient for Zhu Bajie but for the other if you want to write anything including that stuff it needs to be pre-jttw. This not meant shaming anyone for writing smut or porn but please their characters their deities.

[hsinnii]

week 1 of studying chinese everyday in january

so ive (kinda) started over with mandarin to learn traditional characters rather than simplified, which is what i learned in the CHN101 course at my community college

this is because i’ll hopefully be studying in taiwan over the summer and that is where most of my interest is plus traditional should somewhat help with japanese as well as if i wanna learn cantonese in the future

i didnt record what i did daily so heres a summary so far

- have gotten an okay handle on zhuyin, just need practice and to learn where each character is on apples zhuyin keyboard since the site i used to learn used something else. i do like the concept more than pinyin but some of the final combinations confuse me (more on that another day)

- started reviewing my integrated chinese textbook as thats what both my old and current college use as their class resources. i bought the fluencylink (e-learning) account this time instead of the physical textbook and i looove it, its interactive, contains all the audio/video to go along and gives immediate grades on each section you complete. i did buy the physical workbook just to have in class though.

- have been taking some online classes through LTL and despite signing up/paying for group classes every class ive taken so far has just been 1 on 1 (i take them at like 3 am so i guess other people just dont sign up for those times) and have been enjoying it! online classes and tutors have made me anxious in the past and prior to this my online mandarin teachers almost never corrected my tones which i hated but these are great! i definitely feel like my pronunciation has improved but i still have to work a lot on sentence flow and tone sandhi/combinations.

- scouring the internet for taiwanese shows/movies/youtubers etc to get a feel for the accent differences and just for some listening practice (if you have recommendations lmk)

- also been going crazy looking for apps and sites that offer traditional characters as most are made for simplified/standard mandarin. i have a few that i like so far but hope to find more. i like to have a textbook to guide me through and give me structure but also various other resources to learn things that interest me or that i’ll actually talk about in daily conversation.

overall feeling pretty good and pretty excited to finally get back to studying languages and traveling.

oh and!!! i have mostly finalized what my chinese name is with the help of the teachers i’ve had so far, hence the username change as well and it is … 昕霓 ! (xīnní) i havent chosen a last name tho as im not sure if i need one atm but if anyone has ideas as to what would sound good im open to suggestions.

if anyone would want it im more than happy to post what resources ive been using, and/or what media ive been watching/liking that use traditional characters since its definitely been a little more challenging to find it all. lmk !!

[digitaldoeslmk]

I just have to say I love your art and your AU! As someone who is a big fan of LMK, but also reading JTTW right now (Anthony C. Yu Abridged Version since thats all I have access too right now), you have effectively mixed two of my favorite things right now!

I enjoy LMK because it's a fair intro to the stories while still being altered for the enjoyment of the viewers (and a younger audience). Things are definitely far from being one to one with the books, but I see it as a good starting point for people who have no idea about the culture or original story. I will admit Macaque is one of my favorites in the show, I'm a big fan of bastard characters, but even I can see that the mischaracterization of him is quite heavy since they altered the story so much. It's why I separate LMK!Macaque from JTTW!Macaque.

That being said I do also absolutely love JTTW. I'm from America so I'm used to westernized versions of stuff, but reading JTTW has been a blast. I love the characters and the story because it's a way for me to learn about a culture that's not my own. That also being said it's not the easiest read I've ever had, just because it isn't my culture and I went into reading it havign very little knowledge of the religions they touch on in the books. All the same it's still amazing. I also enjoy Macaque in JTTW. I mean who wouldn't love the cannibalistic and antagonist monkey who's actually super intelligent?

All in all I love your AU and I love that it still holds that ability to tell the story more in-line with JTTW's events (also give Macaque a more predominant role and characterization) while still holding the behavioralisms I loved to see in the characters of LMK.

- Lycori 🌸

thank you so much!! i'm happy that you enjoy my au! :DD

personally, i think that some of the changes made by the series go too far, or make it harder to get into jttw rather than easier, but i can't deny it has introduced a whole lot of new people into his wonderful novel! i think if they have kept some buddho-daoist cosmology fundamentals rather than westernizing it, maybe folks like you wouldn't struggle as much with some of te cultural contexts, yknow? and most importantly, chinese fans wouldn't feel alienated from the western fans.

still, i'm glad to hear you're able to separate the two, and that you can enjoy them both in their own merits!! i think that lmk has a lot of good qualities, not just the animation and voice acting, and hopefully my au can make a compelling point for how it could have been an overall stronger narrative if it had leaned harder on the source material and culture without cutting off those good qualities :D

if you'd like, i can always offer some good articles and meta posts i've come across related to jttw! i'm also working on a post of my notes and annotations of Oedipall God by Meir Shahar, which gave me a lot of cultural context that helped me make sense of a lot of plot beats in both jttw and fsyy (Investiture of the Gods), so people can't read the book can have access to some of its material :D

again thank you for the ask, it was very sweet! <33

[inksmearedpages]

The Radiant Dragon of Celebration

Happy Lunar New Year!

In celebration of The Year of the Dragon, I’m going to tell you the story of one of my oldest OC’s. He was originally made for a Rise of the Guardians fic in 2012, but his back story and personality was rather stereotypical and shallow back then. I nearly forgot about him for a while, until I started getting into LEGO Monkie Kid in 2020. As he was a dragon of Chinese descent, he eventually resurfaced in my memory and I decided to revamp his entire character. He’s still primarily a Rise of the Guardians OC, but I would be able to add him into any LMK fic with very few changes needed.

So without further ado, this is the legend of Xin Zhiqiang, his discovery that would change the world, and his ascension into Ao Huang, the Radiant Dragon of Celebration.

----------

Our story begins in a small, rural village in the mountains during the late Tang Dynasty era (~800 - ~870 AD). Here, a boy is born to a pair of farmers. His life is simple yet happy, growing up loved and cared for by his parents and the other villagers. Tragically however, he looses both parents at a young age. He is taken in by a good friend of his parents, the local apothecary.

This man not only provides medicine for the village, but is actually a well studied alchemist and aspiring magician. He teaches Zhiqiang everything he knows, and Zhiqiang takes to the teachings like a duck to water. Curious, studious, and never one to let failures keep him down, Zhiqiang is a dutiful apprentice who’s efforts help the village thrive.

Zhiqiang soon surpasses his master’s skill, who in his old age retires. On top of keeping the village healthy, Zhiqiang begins to experiment with his alchemy and magic. During his tests, he accidentally creates a powder that reacts violently when exposed to fire. While not what he was trying to create, Zhiqiang is intrigued and replicates the powder to experiment further. He creates many different containment devices and ways for the powder to explode.

It has the potential for destruction, but Zhiqiang is more compelled by the potential spectacle. The hissing and fizzing as trail of the powder burns. The bright sparks and flames that are given off. The loud yet satisfying burst that he can feel in his bones when a packet of the powder is ignited. He begins to work on this powder in his spare time with a fervor, trying many combinations over a few years.

He eventually unveils his masterpieces to the village during one festival. Long sticks with bits of the powder on the end that fizz and spark as they’re waved around. Small bits of condensed powder wrapped in rice paper that snap and crackle when thrown against stone. But his greatest accompaniments were the tubes of bamboo that he would ignite and launch over the lake. They produced bright blasts of sparks and fire that lit up the night sky.

The villagers were amazed and awed by Zhiqiang’s inventions and insisted they be used for every festival or celebration. Pleased that his discovery was well received, he agreed, and continued to research and experiment with what he had named fire powder. Some villagers suggested he go traveling, showing his “fireworks” to the world and selling them to become rich. Zhiqiang declined, happy with his experimentation in the village he grew up in and loved.

His fireworks grew more complex and spectacular over the next few years and he began experimenting with using magic in their creation. Colors and shapes and even simple sounds not normally possible with alchemy alone began to appear much to the delight of the villagers. He even developed the ability to create the signature sparks and blasts with his magic alone. His master joked that he worked with the fire powder so much it now ran in his veins.

At some time in his mid twenties, the village seems to be struck by a strange ailment. It wasn’t a physical illness, but people would just… stop caring. They became listless, uninterested with anything beyond the basic necessities of staying alive. Simply surviving, but no longer truly living.

Alarmed by this malady, Zhiqiang does his absolute best to counter it. It seemed to affect the adults first, so he moved the children up the mountain to his workshop and home so they would not catch whatever this disease was. None of his medicines or magics seem to do anything to alleviate the symptoms. Work to provide food was still being done, so their village was not in danger of starving, but its spark of life was gone.

Zhiqiang refuses to give up and keeps trying. A few weeks go by, and then a month. He begins to grow anxious because while he has taken every precaution, he worries that he will eventually succumb to the sickness as well. The children manage to keep him in high spirits as they live with him. They manage to convince him to help them throw a festival in the hopes that maybe that will cheer up their parents.

He goes along with it, helping prepare food and decorations. He delivers them to the adults who give halfhearted thanks. He gets everyone afflicted to meet by the lake and with the assistance of the children, puts on a spectacular fireworks show.

To his shock, this seems to temporarily rouse the adults back to their old selves. They describe the feeling of wading through thick water, all their senses dulled. Nothing seemed to matter until the bursts of light and color and sound reawakened them. However, the following morning, they seem to slip back into their subdued state.

More determined than ever now, Zhiqiang sets to work. He installs magical stalls around the village that would constantly give off sparks. Every night he put on a fireworks show. Children and adults alike would carry around bundles of the long “sparklers” and light them if they noticed someone seeming to slip back into their listlessness. As his supply of fire powder began to deplete, Zhiqiang began relying more and more on his magic to create the fireworks, slowly exhausting him as he continued to search for a permanent cure.

Two weeks after discovering that his fireworks warded off the illness, a stranger who hid their features under a heavy cloak arrived. They walked through the village and wherever they passed, the sparklers and stalls would be snuffed out. The children, noticing this strange person and seeing their parents immediately fall back into lethargy, ran up the mountain to inform Zhiqiang.

Zhiqiang tells the children to remain in his home and goes to confront this intruder. He meets them halfway down the trail and demands who they are. The stranger simply begins to talk about the illness. How it has spread to every corner of China, and is rumored to have even seeped into the Heavens. How none have seemed to escape its grasp. Except here. Here where strange sticks give off sparks of fire and light.

Zhiqiang again demands for this person to reveal their identity. The person chuckles and remarks how curious it is that Zhiqiang hasn’t fallen ill himself. Usually its the children who take the longest to succumb. But succumb they do. They all do. They would make sure of it to ensure his ascension.

Alarmed at this, Zhiqiang asks if this person is responsible for the sickness. The stranger ignores him a third time and says how troublesome these strange fire sticks are. How he’ll need to get rid of them if he wishes to rule over the Heavens and Earth. How to ensure that they do not spread beyond this village, everyone here must die.

Zhiqiang, realizing this person is a threat, instinctively launches a magical firework at them. They manage to barely dodge, but their cloak catches fire. The person tosses it aside, revealing a demon with toad-like features. They laugh, realizing Zhiqiang is the one responsible for countering his Idle Mist. They’ll have to kill him first.

They fight, Zhiqiang attacking with his fireworks and the Idle Mist Demon spewing out clouds of fog to conceal his location. Zhiqiang, still exhausted and untrained in combat, is forced to give ground to the Idle Mist Demon. He retreats up the mountain, heading for his storage shed where he keeps a stock of fireworks that he hopes to use to change they tide of the battle.

Unfortunately, the Idle Mist Demon manages to catch him off guard as he’s preparing a large firework. He launched into his shed, where it immediately catches fire from him unfinished firework. Time seems to stop as Zhiqiang realizes he’s about to die. The amount of fireworks that have just been lit going off all at once will create a blast he could not survive. He’s failed.

Light from the full moon seems to pour in from the damaged wall and roof. A voice speaks to him.

What are you fighting for?

Zhiqiang immediately thinks of the children he told to stay in his home to keep them safe. Of the other villagers that are family to him. How the Idle Mist Demon would kill them just for a chance at ruling everything. How if they do win, life would be over. There would still be people left living, but the things that made life worthwhile would be gone forever.

He could not allow any of that to happen.

I can help you. But you will be forever changed from your fellow man. You would be able to walk amongst them for some years yet, but eventually you would have to live apart. Rarely seen or heard except by those who believe. Would you willingly give up your humanity and your place amongst them in order to save them?

Filled with new resolve, Zhiqiang unhesitatingly answers yes.

The moonlight grows impossibly bright and fills him just as the shed explodes. The Idle Mist Demon laughs over his triumph, when a enormous pillar of sparks and fire bursts from the wreckage of the shed. It flies through the air before solidifying into a dragon.

He had bright crimson scales, a mane of fiery orange, glittering black horns and claws to match his fire powder, whiskers that were lit at the ends like his sparklers, and glowing eyes that burst between every color imaginable.

Zhiqang looks down at the now terrified demon and roars. He has newfound control over his fireworks now and give the Idle Mist Demon no quarter. The Idle Mist Demon does not go down easily, but Zhiqiang manages to grab them in his claws and flings them into the air. He blasts them with a powerful firework from his mouth, launching them further upwards and ending them once and for all in a massive blast of rainbow flame.

His foe defeated, Zhiqiang surveys the land and sees what was hidden from his mortal eyes before. A thick mist covered everything, with more being spewed from horse-sized toads. He blasts one with a fireworks and it burns away swiftly. Zhiqang, now with a way to end the sickness apparently affecting all of China, goes first to his house to let the children know it is safe.

The children, awed by his new dragon form beg to go with him. They insist he’ll need their help finding all the toads in the nooks and cranny’s of the big cities. He gives in, and together they fly around the country, destroying any of the Idle Mist Demon’s toads they come across and dissipating the mist. A messenger of heaven approaches them and begs for some of his fireworks so they could free the Heavens from the mist as well.

It takes them nearly three days to find and destroy all of the toads and clear the mist. Zhiqiang flies them home to their village once their task is done. Exhausted, he reverts to a human form, and passes out.

When he awakes a few days later, he is met with a huge celebration from the villagers and a procession of messengers from various nobles. They wish to have him come to their cities so he may be honored and that their alchemists can learn of his incredible invention that cured them all of the idle sickness. He politely declines but says that he would happily teach anyone who made the journey to the village instead.

So many come to the village to learn, that a college is built nearby and the village grows into a bustling town known for its alchemists.

Zhiqiang teaches at the college for many years, taking on many apprentices who would go on to invent incredible things. Over time, it becomes apparent that Zhiqang does not seem to be aging. As the years pass and the people he knew as a human grew and aged and died, Zhiqiang began to think more and more of the words of the moon. It was when a new group of students walked through him, neither seeing or hearing him, that Zhiqang knew that his time among the humans were over.

Saying goodbye to those few who could still see him, he traveled to the top of the mountain to look down at his home for one last time. When the sun set, he gave one last fireworks display in tribute. As the last firework faded, he was approached by a person claiming to be a dragon like him. They explained that they’ve been keeping an eye on him, waiting for the right time to take him back to his master who wished to invite Zhiqiang into his court.

When Zhiqiang asks who this master is, he’s shocked to hear it is Ao Qin, the Dragon King of the South. He accepts the offer and follows the messenger to the Southern Dragon Palace. There he meets Ao Qin, who explains that Zhiqiang is the last living descendant of his first born son. He had fallen in love with a human woman and renounced his immortality to be with her. Ao Qin had been keeping an eye on their children and was pleased that Zhiqiang managed to awaken his dragon ancestry.

Ao Qin informally adopts Zhiqiang, renaming him Ao Huang in honor of his invention and his deed in saving all of China. Huang is taught the politics and customs of the Dragon Courts. He is also given his own domain withing a mountaintop valley rich with the materials to create his fireworks that just so happens to be close by to his human town. He is even put in charge of a fireworks show during every Solstice and Equinox council the four dragon courts have every year.

Huang grows into his new role with ease. Over time, he meets and befriends certain individuals. The sole survivor of the Sisters of Flight. A man made of golden sand. A loud and boisterous adventurer. A being that looks like a giant rabbit, but has an air of ancientness around him. He eventually meets a young Winter spirit as well.

----------

How he meets each Guardian and what occurs after I will leave out for now as they are relevant to a potential fic I may write with this character.

Unfortunately, while I have his back story all figured out, his personality is still a bit nebulous at the moment. I know he enjoys marbles and marble runs. He even creates little marble with perpetually exploding fireworks trapped within them to give to his close friends. But beyond that, Xin Zhiqiang/Ao Huang is still very much a work in progress.

Still! He’s come a long way from just being a modernized repeat of Jack’s back story.

I hope you enjoyed this little look into my oldest character! Until next time!

-Ink

[starsfic]

Season 2 LMK Wukong but hes actually on Vacation/Holiday

So, I got reminded that Erlang Shen is a complex figure in Chinese mythology and even claims, if I remember this right, Wukong as a sworn brother. So I decided to write them chilling.

Honestly, when Sun Wukong received the invite, he didn't expect this.

"A toast!" Erlang Shen called. The members of the court cheered with his cry. "Gānbēi!" he called again, thrusting up his cup. "Wàn shòu wú jiāng to Sun Wukong and his heir!" Wukong, on cue, held up his cup so Erlang could clink his cup against his.

A party was...nice. After five hundred years alone on Flower Fruit Mountain, Wukong could admit that. It was a touch too noisy in the center of the hall for his tastes, but up front? Sitting next to Erlang Shen as the people of Sichuan celebrated? It was peaceful.

"So, a party for me, huh?" Wukong considered the war god. He and Erlang weren't the closest of friends, despite claiming him as a sworn brother. So the invite had been unexpected, especially after the craziness of the Lunar New Year with the last remaining spider sister kicking up a fuss.

"Why, of course! It's been ages since I saw you, Old Sun. You know that." Erlang threw back his cup. "Honestly, I was beginning to worry you died!"

Wukong hummed. "I heard that was a common rumor." Until, well... "This wouldn't have something to do with my successor, would it?" Erlang froze mid-pour. He turned back with an innocent beam. Wukong rolled his eyes and pushed the immortal's face away with his tail. "Don't look at me like that. I know better than anyone what you're really like. Brute."

"Stinking ape."

"Brat."

"Double brat."

Erlang groaned, pulling out a phone, the case being made of what looked to be a cute picture of the dog Xiaotian. "I can't help it. Everyone is buzzing about them." He turned the phone to show a now familiar image- Qi Xiaotian, fillet around his brow, glaring down DBK. Wukong couldn't help a chuckle. "Everyone is making bets about who they are and where they come from!"

Wukong raised a brow. "And your bet?"

The war god groaned, called out. "...a relative to one of the peach maidens." he whispered almost silently. "I know of your fondness for them."

Ah, right. That old rumor. Wukong couldn't blame people for assuming, especially after that one maiden broke down and admitted she had a crush. Still, seriously? He thought Erlang was more creative than that.

"Alright. I'll tell you."

"Really?"

Wukong nodded.

He looked around.

He beckoned Erlang close to whisper in his ear.

"I...have no clue."

As he expected, Erlang's face dropped from expectation to very confused. "Wait, what?" The war god leaned away, brows furrowing together. "You don't know?!"

Wukong chuckled, leaning back. "Nope. No clue." Erlang stared at him. "I'm telling the truth, Erlang. I have no idea where he came from."

It technically wasn't a lie.

He knew Qi Xiaotian came from him somehow.

That was all that mattered.

[frogking17]

HEADCANON FOR MONKIE KID

I’ve been a little nervous to do this one but I need to get it out of my head. However, feel free to correct me if I say anything that’s incorrect.

Monkey king is trans

Okay let’s start with the fact that monkey troops are usually matriarchal (or at least Rhesus macaques, which is the species that monkey king resembles, are matriarchal) meaning it would be odd for the troop to make a male their leader. Furthermore I’ve heard people talk about how the title Wukong is officially given by the monkeys is gender neutral (sadly, I don’t speak mandarin or cantonese so I can’t confirm or deny this but antidotefortheawkward posted about it: click here to read it)

Second, Wukong learns transformation by the immortal Taoist so technically throughout the journey he could have transformed himself to look more masculine (also I doubt people would be able to tell the difference between a born female or male demon monkey. I also slightly headcanon that Wukong didn’t understand human concept of gender and Subodhi was the first to explain it to him (“WAIT! So humans treat females as weak?”, “sadly yes”, “but that makes no sense… you’d fear anyone if they were holding a weapon to you, just because their female doesn’t mean they can’t kill you!”). It’s also during this time that I think Wukong starts to transition with the help of magic.

We’re going to skip a couple chapters to when Wukong gets a position in heaven. His first position is Bow Ma Wen and I believe this is because of the Chinese tradition of raising monkeys in stables. (P.s antidotefortheawkward also talks about this). From what I’ve managed to gather the monkeys were believed to keep the horses active and therefore healthy. (I guess Warning for the rest of this paragraph because it’s going to be talking about menstruation) However, they usually used female monkeys because the blood produced from their periods and childbirth when added to the horses food was thought to stave off disease. Here’s an article I read on the matter.

The second position given to Wukong is protector of the immortal peaches. I believe it was a position specifically made for Wukong but I find it interesting that the only other people usually in the orchard of immortal peaches are the peach maidens. Personally I find it interesting that heaven (which is often shown to be very close minded throughout the novel) puts Wukong with a group of women, especially when in Chinese mythology male monkeys are often see seducing woman. So I hypothesise that heaven put Wukong in an orchard full of women because they believed Wukong was one too (I am aware that ancient china has examples of same-sex love and that it was common but I think heaven was trying to ‘stop Wukong from seducing the men of heaven’).

Now journey to the west has a lot of aspects that make it appealing to the modern day audience (the pilgrims being pro-choice is one example that I am here for), however, I doubt the writer wrote Wukong as trans.

It’s a nice headcanon thought that I like to imagine while watching lmk or when writing.

MASTERLIST

[violet-kink-rambles]

It’s funny how weight gain starts huh? A few nights indulging yourself just a bit more than usual, a burger here, some desert there, but it soon becomes a habit. Everyone knows that once a ball starts rolling down a hill it’s pretty hard to stop.

You on the other hand pushed the ball even faster, it was almost as if you wanted to be fat. What if not a desire but instead a necessity? Your body responds positively to food! Think about it. The way your taste buds pick up on the fattening ingredients and dance is intoxicating. The smell making your belly growl and beg for more. The slow accumulation of more fat, such a soft and pretty thing to have more of!

But after 30, 40, or if you’re really oblivious 50lbs you notice it’s time for a new wardrobe. So you throw on your least tight outfit and get to the store, start picking out clothes only to have to go get a bigger size after trying to force them onto your big flabby body in the dressing room. And once you checkout with some adequate clothes you just can’t help it but stop and get some Chinese food or some other greasy lard inducing food overflowing with preservatives and sugar. With that the cycle continues, you haven’t even thought of working out in at least a year.

Since you had loose clothes again it was hard to notice how much more you were eating since you didn’t have a button nearly piping off anymore. No tightening shirt clinging to your belly like paint. But after 6 months and another 30 lbs you had those reminders again. At this point with your weight gain people got concerned, some even offered to be your gym buddy. The look on their faces when you declined must have been a mix of shock and confusion. You’ve gained so much weight in only a year and a half, I doubt some of your old friends would recognize you. But as always you got back to work eating. Your friends didn’t realize it but there comments made you hungry. You can’t remember when but at some point in your gain you noticed that.. it’s kinda hot. The increasing lack of care and the affinity to gluttony also just feels so damn good. Letting go and giving in to your hunger, feeding yourself all of this wonderful food. So of course you’re not gonna stop, in fact you’re looking for someone to feed you even more. More food, more calories, more relaxation, and more fat for the pig.

If I should continue this lmk!

[nightmare8-420]

Intro

Call me J

Pronouns are he/him but they and it are fine too

I like screaming into the void known as this hellsite

somehow am still lonely while having friends

I call this an ed/sh blog but its relly just my shitty life™️ i wont ever post body checks of me or someone else. Everything that could potentially trigger someone should have a tw on it, if not lmk. I dont promote anything in my shitty life. probably not a safe space for ppl in recovery, love yall, just dont wanna trigger you

B0mblover is my writing/sometimes art blog

killmeplese34 (yes its spelled like that) is my sh blog bc worried abt being t worded

free Palestine🇵🇸

im a minor so please dont be too weird

i want to bash my head in in pavement

as of feb 24 2024 im learning chinese (simplified) i might post in it, please correct me if i mess up

Dni list:

Racists

Homophobes

Transphobes

Xenophobes

ablest “people”

pedos (does that need to be said?)

conservatives (american ones specifically bc ive heard its different in other places we will not get along)

pro “life” “people”

Fbi

government in general (i will call a crack head next time bc YALL DIDNT FUCKIN SHOW UP)

Do not ask me about

•gun control (im too confused on it to have a proper stance)

•for help financially (sorry but i legit cant do jack shit about it besides reblog bro im broke af)

•real advice (i can try to help but i make things much worse)

•how i feel about Kunai Tadashi (i mean you can just it will be long)

•every illegal thing ive done (FUCK YOU FBI YOULL NEVER CATCH ME as i post my ip address)

Info

Email: adolf.hitlers.goldfish@gmail.com

Email2: anidiot5317@gmail.com

Email3: (professional shitttt) J.Nitoro@gmail.com

Instagram: Insane_268_2

Discord: mocchi59

(ao3 will be hopefully added if i ever make an account)

Tags, if you need to block smth (or need an index)

•idiot ass drawing (drawing)

• j’s a bloody mess (selfharm/blood)

• j isnt suffering for once? (my infrequent high points)

• j’s crying and listening to music (music)

• j’s guchiry posting again (guchiry)

• j is down bad as fuck and doesnt know how or deal with it / really any variation of it (me being down bad for a certain someone and handing it poorly, i made the tag as a joke and just kept using it)

•cooking with j (me cooking gross shit seeing if it tastes good)

•j answers (new tag, “answering” asks)

im mostly into

Guchiry /ぐちり

Hiiragi Kirai / 柊キライ

Syudou

And ¿?(wada shimon)

and i have severe trauma so i sometimes post about that 👍

I wish you luck

[michaelsbigreddick]

red lights pt 5 - m.m

MDNI pls and thx <3

you can find the previous parts here

i know its been a while but I really hope this makes up for it.

warnings: smut; slight choking, slightish spit kink?, i think that's it but lmk if I need to add anything else here.

summary- after a few weeks of meeting with daredevil, one night when you and him have had enough of just sharing each others space you take the next steps and he finally reveals his true identity. its a little something cute with a side of fucking.

thank you so much for reading!

It was late august now, matt had just won a big case and Foggy doing his best to get things to how they used to be, wanted to throw him a surprise party with gifts and everything. He liked the way you did his birthday so much he asked you for help. Which was why you were wrestling with frosting once again.

“I don’t understand why we have to decorate the place if he can't see it.”

“It’s the thought that counts.” he tied the last balloon bundle onto a hook near the door.

“How's the cake going?” you were making him a red velvet cake with the signature cream cheese frosting.

“Almost done. Just have to apply the crumbs.” you pick up the bowl of cake crumbs and begin to sprinkle along the side.

“When is Karen getting here with matt?”

“Eager to see him are we?” he teased. There was a heat that grew on your cheeks.

“I was just wondering how much longer we had. I have to order the food at some point don't I?”

“Sure, that's it.” he said unconvinced.

“You know what I find odd. Both you and Matt started talking to these mystery people around the same time.”

“That is pretty odd since he's the most insufferable person I've ever laid my eyes on.”

“That's not what it seems like ever since my birthday. You guys seem to get along a lot better.” you try to keep your smile to yourself.

“Keeping the peace for the sake of you isn't getting along foggy.”

“It could be.”

Karen and Matt arrived just in time of you finishing the cake. Matt did his best to act surprised but he was a lawyer and not an actor for a reason.

“How did you know?”

“You're not very good at making surprises foggy.”

When the food arrived you tore yourself from the group to set it up for them to serve themselves. Takeout, a blend of chinese and thai. The evening was nice though foggy's words continued to play in your head. Was it possible that you had been seeing each other? You hadn't heard that Matt was talking to anyone, but it was true. When you all hung out, conversation and easy laughs came easier than they did before. But it couldn't be possible for him to be Daredevil due to his condition.

When he cut the cake you hoped he liked it. Foggy gave you the freedom to choose something you thought he'd like. When it came to it you were torn between red velvet and a german chocolate cake. You wanted something that was more about rich flavor and texture than it was about presentation. You chose the red velvet in the end because of the frosting, thick and rich in flavor compared to the sweet coconut texture that would’ve been the other option.

He blew out the candles and made a wish. “If I say it out loud it won't come true.”

After the cake Karen insisted that he opened his gifts. First was hers ofcourse. She gifted him a tie with the color embroidered on the back. Foggy gave him a braille set of cards against humanity which he bought in hopes that we’d play tonight. You gifted him a rumba because well his place was a bit dusty.

“Thank you very much for this y/n. I’ll try not to trip and hurt myself too much,”

“Don't try too hard.” you say next to him. He laughs and you smile. He rarely giggled but you couldn't lie, you enjoyed it when he did.

“Who says we try the set out then?” you spent an hour and a half playing the game. The longer it went off the more foggy found his sets that weren't all that funny, funnier than the last. By ten thirty Karen had called a cap and offered to get him home safe.

“You don't have to stay. I'll be okay.”

“I'll stay.” You began to wash the dishes and he dried them moving around his kitchen you assumed he had mapped in his head.

“The cake was the best I've ever had. Thank you for making it.”

“You should really be thanking foggy. He paid me to make it.”

“Oh.”

“I'm joking. I'm happy to be of service.” he chuckled and sat down on one of his kitchen chairs.

“Do you want something to drink?” he was pouring himself one.

“No, I have to go.”

“Somewhere to get to?”

“no , just home.”

“So someone.”

“Would that be a problem for you?”

“No actually, I have somewhere to get to as well.” there was that pang in your stomach again. Anytime anything was mentioned, the simple idea of him with someone else frustrated you. You didn't understand why you felt such a claim on him, but you did and you hated it.

“Alright then. I'll lock the door on my way out.” you picked up your coat and bag and left. As you were waiting for your cab you let your eyes wander to his window. He was there. Not looking at you but his head was turned in your direction.

When you got home you went straight to your shower. You had to wash off the bitter feeling of him meeting with someone else. You played the evening in your head. You played it all of your previous moments together as well. Even the most brief ones left an impression and taste in your mouth and memory that you wanted to wash out. You wanted to wash him and his cockiness out of your head, erase any attraction you had for him.

But he wouldn't leave, like a stain you weren't quite sure you wanted to get rid of. You drag your hand down from your hair then down your neck and breasts. Your breath shutters when you drag your light touch against your stomach, imagining it was the ghost of his breath. You reach your aching core and let out a deep groan. The things you would do for it to be him between your legs instead of your hand. You rub your clit, imagining it to be his tongue. Your panting against the cold tiles of your shower ricoshade back to you, you imagine it was his. Him breathing against your cheek whispering vile things that only he would make sound sweet, while getting you off with his fingers. You had almost reached your climax when you heard the ring bell.

“God damn it.” you wash off and dry yourself off cursing yourself for not bringing something to change into. You pick something from a pile you were meaning to fold, one of the shirts you let him borrow and your softest pair of pajama bottoms.

“Hey.” you say exiting your room He was seated on your couch, and Nicki was curled up next to him.

“Hi.'' Daredevil was wearing his black ‘suit’ which made you feel like he didn’t do much protecting tonight.

“Slow night?” you go to your kitchen and pick out a bottle of wine that he had gifted you earlier in the month. It was a bottle of blueberry wine, something from the grocery store that loves to cause hangovers. Ever since that night you didn't do much drinking anymore. Just the occasional glass, tonight seemed like a glass of blueberry.

You pour him a glass and take the bottle for yourself. It was friday, you could afford to have a hangover tomorrow.

Handing it to him he thanks you. Which meant he was done for the night. You sat on the other side of your couch. When you took your first drink from the bottle he grinned into his glass.

“Rough night?”

“I'll live.” you take another drink. “Seems like the opposite for you though. Its early.”

“Yea.. I decided to take tonight off.” he drank the rest of the wine and placed the glass on your coffee table. You scoot closer to him. You didn't know what came over you but you moved closer to him. You're now between his legs.

“How do you see with the mask over your eyes?”

“Super senses.”

“But explain that. Like what you just don't need your eyes to see?”

“Kind of. I uh rely on my hearing mostly.”

“And how does that work?” you asked, pushing into him. Your hands started at his chest, you led them to his neck. There you played with his stubble and let them wander to his hair. He pressed his leg against your right one. You lifted it and he slid it under you. You sat on his thigh.

“I can hear what's happening across the street if I focus on it.” he set his hands on your waist hesitantly. You reached for them and he immediately removed them. You took each one in your hands.

“Its alright.” you dragged them slowly across your neck and chest. When they reached your covered breast you heard his breast hitch. You drag them down like you had imagined in the shower, but this time you just placed them back on your waist.

“Do you ever listen for me before you come in?”

“Every time.”

You grab a hold of his collar, and pull him toward you. you lean into his ear and whisper. “Did you like what you heard today?”

“Yes.” he whispers back.

You kiss down the side of his face and down his neck. You begin to create friction between his leg and your growing heat. You trace your hands down his sides, till you hit the hem of his shirt. You lift it half way, and he helps you take it off.

You trace your fingertips along his bruised sides, tracing the patches of colors with the lightest touch. He leans into you and you grab a handful of his hair pulling him back. He grunts and you pull him back towards you. You feel his breath on your lips

“It was rude of you to interrupt me the way you did.” you kissed up his jaw and spoke onto his parted lips. “Do you plan on making up for that?” you questioned.

He nodded vigorously and swallowed “Yes.”

“Good boy.” you allowed him to kiss you only then. Only after he gave you the power over the next events. Deepening the kiss you begin to play with your shirt, hinting him to take it off. Instead he pulled away.

“I-I have to tell you something first. If we’re going to do this I have to tell you something.”

“What is it baby?” you crawl off of him and sit between his legs, on your knees again. He reaches up for his mask.

“You don't have to,”

“I do.” He pulls his head down to your hand and holds it to his heart. It was pounding in his chest waiting for the moment he pulled it off. It was waiting for your reaction, ready to explode.

“This might change things. And I understand if it does.” you wanted to reassure him that it didn't have to change but he pulled it off before the first word even left your mouth. You feel your own heart stop.

“Matt? How?” you stammered you didn't know what to do. It was the first time you had ever seen his eyes without the red tint. Each and every time you had seen him he never took his glasses off. And now here he was exposed to you in every form. The amber in his eyes, a sweet brown like concentrated chamomile. Hints of honey and heaven in his eyes.

“When you mentioned about me not really needing my eyesight to fight, it was more about me not being able to rely on it to fight,”

“Oh matt, i'm sorry if I-”

“No no it's alright. You didn't mean anything by it I know.”

“i , i didn't want to make this something you might regret.”

“I would never regret this”

“You were about to have sex with daredevil not matt murdock. You prefer him.” There was a whine to his voice, Like the thought of that hurt him.

”Matty you are him.” You start kissing across his chest.

“You've said it yourself baby, you feel more like yourself in the suit than you do during the day.

“And I, I spend all day remembering. You help me forget, You make me live. Matty don't you want to make me feel alive?”

He nods and you wipe the tear that threatened to fall across his perfect little face. Reaching for his belt buckle you tug on it twice. “Take them off for me will you?”

He got off the couch kicking off his boots and taking his pants off just as quickly. He was left now only in his boxers. His cock causing a tent you were aching to tear apart. You shifted on your couch and reached for the waistband and pulled them down, They fell to his ankles. Taking him into your hand you could feel the dampness between your legs grow and your aching core desperate for some sort of action.

You spit in him, Your warm spit and cold hands causing enough of a difference to earn and low moan that grew into a string of whimpers when you took what you could into your mouth. You continued till you felt him twitch signaling that he was close.

you removed your mouth from him. He looked at you defeated and desperate for you again.

“you didn't think it was going to be that easy did you baby?" he smiled shyly shaking his head.

"I'm going to clean you up, then you're going to make up for it alright?"

you took him back into your mouth and collected as much of your saliva off of him . with your hands on his shoulder as you lead him down to your level. You take your thumb into his mouth and easily pry it open. He nods already knowing what you're going to do next.

Pinching his cheeks together with your hands you create an o shape with his lips. You spit the mixture of his precum and spit into his mouth. he swallows it eagerly. You take your bottoms off and lie down on your couch. You spread your legs open for him. He sets himself between them, he took his time caressing the sides of your legs and kissing your lips before beginning.

“Make me feel good baby. That's all you want isn't it?”

He licks your slit working you up. Asking for your permission he inserts a finger then adds another as you begin to push yourself onto him. Wet and desperate for his cock he quickly makes you cum.

You catch your breath. He kissed you up your shirt. He smelled himself on it. He liked the scent of him on you. You let him make his way to your lips on his own. You were enjoying his sweet kisses and soft caresses. The care behind his anxious hands. You could feel the way he was holding back. Afraid to wrap his hands around something new, delicate. He might have even been afraid to scare you off. You didn't think anyone had ever seen you like this, actually seeing you for what you were. He has been around every part of you now, unknowingly you had let him in on everything about you, and he stayed. He's here and laying his lips on you over and over again, enjoying your body and space, enjoying you.

He kisses you now. Carefully tangling his fingers in your hair, reaching your necks, setting a soft yet firm grip on your neck. You let him take care control of this kiss. His lips moved better than you had ever imagined. He was better than anything anyone else had to offer. More than you thought you deserved. Bliss was the feeling of his moving lips with yours.

You moved things to the bedroom. You walked behind him admiring his body and butt you loved so much.

You laid him down onto your bed and told him to lay his back against the headboard. He did as told again. You crawled between his legs again on your knees. Wrapping your hand on his throbbing cock he groaned.

“Please,”

“Please what baby?” you spit on his cock and begin to make soft circles on his sensitive tip.

“Please don't make me,” you pull him into your mouth, bouncing your head a few times interrupting him. He lets out shaky breaths trying to contain himself, bottling up the noises you are causing his body.

“Use your words honey.” you couldn't wait to fuck him already. So needy for your pussy. Any and every little touch had him whining, and you couldn't get enough of it.

“Please fuck me.”

“That's all you needed to say.” you drag your finger up and down the inside of his thigh before finally getting onto him. He helped you align yourself with him. He rested his hands on your waist, you set yours on his shoulders, rubbing your thumbs into his skin as you dove into him.

Matt moaned out this time. You giggled startled at how vocal he was being.

“Matt the neighbors.”

“I don't mean to be rude. But I don't really care about the neighbors right now.” he kissed your chest. Then began to pay special attention to your neck grazing his teeth against your skin. When you finally adjusted to him, there was no stopping you. You couldn't get enough of him, you needed more of him. Your hands, even in the position you were in, were all over him. His hair, neck, arms and stomach. His thighs that you reached down and scratch at as you reached your second high right before achieving the third and final one soon after.

There wasn't a part you hadn't mapped out and engraved by the time he had filled you up. His head was clinging onto your shoulder. As he caught his breath again he traced figures into your back, probably just wanting to get to know your body as well as you did his. He helps you off of him, and goes to your bathroom for something to clean you up with. After cleaning you off with careful hands and getting you another pair of bottoms,he walks you to the bathroom.

When you wash your hands you look at the red marks on your skin. You reach for your phone and take a picture of them for safe keeping. You don't typically like hickeys, but these were love marks. These were from him. You were finally his.

Walking back into your room he hands you a cup of water from your kitchen. He had his boxers back on and was holding his pants. You thank him and set the cup on a coaster on your bedside table. You grab the hand with his clothes.

“Can you stay?”

“Are you sure? If you don't want it too, this doesn't have to mean anything.” he was referring to the time you had told him off on foggys birthday. Your heart hurt at how you could ever make him feel so unwanted.

"Though you should know, I think you're meant for me." he smiled weakly.

“I want you here.” you could feel your cheeks begin to feel heavy. Wanting wasn't a big enough feeling.

"I need you here." He caressed your cheek.

“I’m sorry if this is coming off too strong. I know, I know this is simple. You've been very clear about what I can't know. But now I know matt. I, i know this is,”

“Delicate?”

“Yea.”

“y/n.”

“There's nowhere else i would rather be right now.” he kissed you on the forehead and pulled you into him. Cooled down from your activities you noticed his cold skin.

You pull your shirt off for him and hand it over.

“Don't you have more?” He puts it on getting under the messy covers.

“Yea but I like the way you look in that one.” you smile getting into bed with him. “Plus, what do I need a shirt for when I have you to keep me warm tonight?”

He laughed nuzzling his head into your neck that was sensitive from before.

That night was the first of many. And even though you couldn't have him around all the time, or scream it out to the world, half of his heart would just have to do for the time being.

[sketching-shark]

LMK fandom: Oh, what do we do about this guy who has nothing but hurt Xiaotian, tried to replace Sun Wukong and his crew, hurt Tripitaka and ordered servants to cannibalize a monkey? Oh I know! We’ll turn him into our little meow meow~ he’s so innocent and Sun Wukong is obviously the villain!

What doesn’t help is this idea is perpetuated by multiple fan fic writers and artists for some reason. Especially some aus they make that turn SWK into a bastard for the sake of the story rather than considering cultural context and thinking they should be respectful.

And almost everyone lets them get away with it just because the art or fanfic is good and they get so popular that no one can point what is actually wrong without feeling like they’re going to get attacked.

I'm starting to feel like my blog is the one anons go to specifically to vent their frustrations about the Six Eared Macaque in his lego monkey show form & the associated fandom lmao. But I guess this makes sense, as I’ve had fun quasi-dragging him before & will in fact use this anon submission as an opportunity to have my own, to put it academically, bitch fest about not just this fandom's favorite protagonist-traumatizing meow meow, but about the way villains are often treated in not just fanon, but increasingly in canon works as well. But same policy as with the last anon; I'll post my opinions below the cut, and as fandoms love to say, don’t like don't read if you don't want to see me dunking on the six eared simian & common fandom tendencies towards villains.

Oh man I would say where would you even begin with this but anon you’ve pretty much started yourself with my main gripe with a lot of ways that the Six-Eared Macaque is portrayed in fandom; there seems to be this unspoken agreement that his acts of violence towards Sun Wukong, Qi Xioatian, and Qi Xioatian’s loved ones are either to be framed as somewhat or totally justified, to be immediately forgiven/excused, or to simply & completely be ignored. Like friends maybe this is just me not seeing the proper posts but while the fandom is inundated with art and fanfics of Macaque as a generally decent individual & a true member of team good guy, I have yet to see one person address the fact that this monkey literally kidnapped & mind-controlled Xiaotian’s best friend and father figures & forced them to brutalize Xiaotian while ol’ Six Ear looked on and laughed (X_X). Like this kind of fandom villain treatment is definitely not something that’s solely at work for Monkie Kid, but it is kind of nutty how fandoms will swing between yelling that people should be allowed to like villains without even mild critique, and then will just flat-out not address the villainous behavior, and will even bend over backwards to frame even characters who committed genocide as just poor innocent widdle victims who need a hug. At its worst, I’ve even seen tons of people in a fandom get really angry at other people who don’t like a villain, and will even start accusing those people of hating real-life mentally disabled or abused individuals all because they don’t like the fandom’s favorite literal war criminal. The Monkie Kid fandom is FAR more chill & better than a lot of other fandoms I’ve come across in that regard, but that is an exceedingly low bar, & the tendency to woobify certain kinds of villains-- as with Macaque and the extreme emphasis on his bad boy/sad boy thing--is very much at work.  

 I’ve also talked before about a kind of monoculturalization of certain character interpretations and story beats in fandoms, and one of the more popular ones that seems to be applied to Macaque a lot is the “hero actually bad, villain actually good” cliche, as observable from the general fandom assumption that Mr. Six-Ears he wasn’t even slightly lying or remembering things through a rose-tinted or skewed lens when he gave his version of his and Sun Wukong’s past. Like at this point it seems the possibility that people WILL NOT even consider is that Sun Wukong never did & still doesn't care that much about the Six Eared Macaque (in JTTW they weren’t sworn brothers & in Monkie Kid the only thing the monkey king really said to Macaque before attacking him was a pretty contemptuous "Aren't you ever going to get sick of living under my shadow?," & responds to his "beloved friend" getting blown up with "You did good, bud" to Qi Xiaotian, who did the exploding), or that their original fight may in fact have mostly been instigated by Macaque. After all, to repeat what this anon summarized & what I've said before about their original JTTW context (& in an example of the things that do feel like it's often lost in translation) is that the Six Ear Macaque was a villain not just because he beat up the Tang Monk, but because he wanted to take over Sun Wukong's entire life and identity so he could have all that glory, prestige, and power for himself. To quote the macaque himself from the Anthony C. Yu translation, "I struck the T'ang monk and I took the luggage...precisely because I want to go to the West all by myself to ask Buddha for the scriptures. When I deliver them to the Land of the East, it will be my success and no one else's. Those people of the South Jambudvipa Continent will honor me then as their patriarch and my fame will last for all posterity." And in order to do this, the Six Eared Macaque had apparently made Sun Wukong's "little ones," his monkey family, his captives through either trickery or force, and gotten a number of them to take on the appearance of Tang Sanzang and the other pilgrims. It's also made clear that in very direct contrast to Sun Wukong, he doesn't care about these monkeys beyond how they might serve him. In fact, after Sha Wujing kills the monkey posing as him the Six Eared Macaque not only all but immediately replaces him with another, but also "told his little ones to have the dead monkey skinned. Then his meat was taken to be fried and served as food along with coconut and grape wines." So this monkey is not only willing to risk the lives of a lot of other monkeys for his own personal benefit, but is also a literal cannibal. And yes yes, I know a lot of people have argued that Monkie Kid shouldn't be considered a direct sequel to JTTW & that's fair enough (for example, Sun Wukong probably shouldn't be smashing anyone into a meat patty in a children's cartoon lol). And of course, it needs to be noted that there are a buttload of really out there & really cursed pieces of media based on JTTW & that were created in China. Yet the above description is the oft-ignored in the west original facet of the Six Eared Macaque's character. And it is this selfishness, entitlement, and treatment of other individuals as tools for his own self-serving ends  that is, from where I’m standing, still very much present in Monkie Kid. Like besides repeatedly going out of his way to physically and psychologically traumatize Xioatian, with the last episode Macaque seemed to be going right back to his manipulative ways. I’ve seen people frame their last conversation as Macaque softening to Xioatian a little bit, but personally that read a lot more like that common tactic among abusers where even after they’ve hurt you they’ll dangle something you want or need over your head (in Macaque’s case, the promise of desperately needed training and information about a serious looming threat), with the implication that you’ll only get it if you do what they want you to, such as, in this case, Xioatian going back to Macaque as his student even after having been so terribly hurt by this monkey, which would give Macaque power over Xiaotian and probably Sun Wukong as a result. And it is this violence and manipulation that it seems the fandom at large has tacitly decided shouldn’t even be addressed, instead leaning more towards a (and this is an exaggeration) “Six-Eared Macaque my poor meow meow Sun Wukong has always been bad & has always been wrong about literally everything” reading. 

And while it is the case that I am not Chinese and feel that as such it would be best left to someone who actually comes from that background to provide more context into how common interpretations of the Six Eared Macaque from China may clash really badly with the stuff the western fandom creates, it also must be noted that, as much as we all want to have fun in fandom & in spite of all the out-there versions of JTTW from China, we westerners should recognize that there is a very long and very ugly history of western countries stripping other cultures’ important religious and literary works for parts & mashing them into their own thing while implying or even insisting that what they present provides a true understanding of the original piece. And while I trust most individuals in regards to Monkie Kid are able to step back and think “this is a lego cartoon and not a set guide for how I should understand JTTW” (especially given the insistence that JTTW and Monkie Kid should be considered there own separate works) there does nevertheless seem to be something of a tendency to take the conclusions people come to, for example, about Sun Wukong’s characteristic in his lego form & then assume that’s just reflective to Sun Wukong as a totality. I imagine a good portion of this is due to people not reading JTTW & especially to not having easy access to solid information or answers about JTTW’s many different facets (like geez awhile ago I was trying to get a clear answer on what is considered the most accurate translation of the names of Sun Wukong’s six sworn brothers & got like 5 different responses lmao), but that tendency to take a western fandom interpretation & run with it instead of doing any background research or questioning said interpretation is still very much at play. As such, & as made prominent in the way people have been interpreting the dynamic between Sun Wukong and the Six Eared Macaque in the lego monkey show, tbh it does seem kind of shitty for western creators & audience to sometimes go really out of their way to ignore all of this original cultural & narrative context for the sake of Angst (TM) in Macaque's favor, demonizing Sun Wukong, and shipping the monkey king with his evil twin (X_X).

And speaking of which, even beyond the potential inherent creepiness & revulsion that can be inspired by this specific ship given common interpretations of the og classic's original meaning (again, it's my understanding, given both summaries of translated Chinese academic texts I've been kindly provided with, my own reading of the Anthony C. Yu translation of JTTW, & vents from a number of Chinese people I've seen on this site, that the Six-Eared Macaque is commonly interpreted in China as having originated from Sun Wukong himself as a living embodiment of his worst traits, hence why only Buddha can tell the difference between them & why the monkey king is much more slow to violence after he kills the macaque), I'd argue that in the face of all the uwu poor widdle meow meow portrayals lego show Macaque is, especially if you include JTTW's events, still in the role of “Sun Wukong but worse” as he is very much a violent & selfish creep. Like he was basically running around in JTTW wearing a Sun Wukong fursuit, but there he had the sole reason of wanting to replace Sun Wukong wholesale so he could have all the good things in the monkey king's life without actually having to work as hard for them. But if you combine that with Macaque now claiming that he used to be best friend with Sun Wukong in his pre-journey days (something that's made funny from a JTTW context given that that status actually belongs to the Demon Bull King lol), his original violence has now blown into this centuries long and really unhealthy obsession with the monkey king. Like he's apparently gone from wanting to literally be Sun Wukong to being so obsessed with getting revenge on Sun Wukong that he's got basically nothing else going on in his life. Like he's only appeared in two episodes but...does he have any friends? Any family? A career or even a hobby that DOESN'T center the monkey king? Anything at all outside of his "get revenge on and/or kill Sun Wukong/use his successor as my personal punching bag” thing? Like dude! That is extremely creepy and extremely bad for everyone all around! As I’ve said before, this seeming refusal to see beyond the past or to do something that doesn’t involve Sun Wukong in some capacity is a trait that makes Macaque an interesting and somewhat tragic villain--he even seems to be working as Sun Wukong’s reflection in a mirror darkly, with lego show Sun Wukong pretty clearly not being able to heal from his own past which is hinted to be defined by one loss after another, and with Monkie Kid even kind of having these two characters somewhat follow their JTTW characterizations in that in the latter half of the journey Sun Wukong often gets sad & starts crying in the face of what seems insurmountable odds (& Monkie Kid Sun Wukong does seem to be hiding some serious depression behind a cheerful facade), whereas the Six-Eared Macaque retains a worse version of Sun Wukong’s pre-journey characteristic of getting pissed and lashing out if things don’t go his way--but it’s also what would make any current friendship or romantic relationship between these monkeys horrific. Although to be fair even the fandom seems to recognize this in an unconscious way, in that a lot of the art & fanfic seems to swing erratically between them kissing & screaming at each other in yet another example of bog-standard fandom adulation of romanticized toxic relationships lol.  

At the end of the day, of course, this is nothing new. You'll find versions of this dynamic across a ton of fandoms and now even canonical work. And as such, I can only look at this kind of popularized relationship dynamic with a kind of resigned weariness whenever it pops up, & my frustrated question with the popularity of this kind of pairing is the exact same one that I have for a multitude of blatantly toxic villain/hero ships, given common fandom discourse & the tendency to either ignore or justify the villain's actions & demonize the hero: if you're THAT convinced that everything is the hero's fault, if you believe THAT much that the hero is the one in the wrong for the villain's pain and their subsequent actions, then why are you so set on them not only becoming a romantic pair, but framing this get-together as a good thing? Like I know we contain multitudes but that's waaay too many contradictions for me to wrap my head around. And it definitely doesn’t help that one branch of underlying reasoning behind this kind of pairing seems to be the ever-present “you break it, you fix it” mentality, where the assumption is that if you’re in a failing, abusive, and/or generally toxic relationship (platonically or romantically), if you put in enough time and effort & attempts to compromise, you’ll be able to restore/have the relationship you dreamed of, even with someone who hurt you really badly. And this assumption isn’t limited to fandom: I’d even argue that it’s everywhere in the culture, hence why a lot of people feel like they “failed” if they have to get a divorce or make the choice to leave an unhealthy friendship. Personally, I feel like people could really benefit from more stories about how it is not only the case that the people you hurt don’t owe you their forgiveness & you can still become a better and happier person without the one you hurt in your life, & that while it can be really hard it can also be a good thing to leave a relationship, even if it’s one that once meant a lot to you. 

  But in all honestly, from my own perspective this kind of pairing is starting to read far less like enemies to lovers and far more like a horrible fantasy where you can pull whatever shit you want, even on the people you "love," & never be held accountable for your terrible behavior or even have to consider that maybe you were in the wrong. It's another facet that makes me larf every time I see people insist that fandom is an inherently "transformative" or "progressive" form of storytelling like friends you are literally just taking status quo toxic monogamy & rebranding it as somehow beneficial & romantic (X_X).

But as to anon’s last frustration, it is hard to know what is the appropriate response with this kind of thing...like for my own part I’m keeping my frustrations to my blog & now increasingly to posts that you would have to click on the “read more” button to see what I have to say, but I totally get the hesitation to give even a mild critique to big names in a fandom. Like I've now seen it happen repeatedly where someone who has a big name in a fandom will make something that's kind of shitty for one reason or another, someone will message them with some version of "hey, that's kind of shitty, you shouldn't do that," and the typical response is either to blatantly ignore the issue completely, or more popularly to make a giant crying circus that seems deliberately geared towards stoking emotions on both sides of the, for example, fiction does/doesn't affect reality issue so that something that didn't even have to be that big a deal gets blown out of all proportion, with the big name often framing what often started out as a very mild critique into a long crying jag about how the initial response to their kind of shitty thing was so mean/cruel and they're just a poor innocent & that YOU'RE the true racist/sexist/bigot etc. if you don't agree with their opinion. It must of course be noted that there have also been numerous instances of people taking it too far the other way & sending not just big names but smaller creators literal deaths threats over stuff like innocuous ships which like holy hell bells people that’s a horrible thing to do. But for the big names at least, the end result of all this fighting is usually that once the dust has settled they have more attention/fame/money/power in the fandom than before, and with anyone who might have a problem with their stuff feeling afraid to voice their opinion lest they be swarmed by that person's fans. In that way fandom does often seem to increasingly be geared towards presenting an “official” fandom perspective about various facets of a piece of media instead of allowing for a multitude of interpretations, and with criticism, no matter its shape or form or how genuinely warranted it may be, being hounded out of existence. I feel like a lot of this could be made less bad if there wasn’t this constant assumption & even drive to think that a different interpretation of or criticism of your favorite work of fiction or your fanwork isn’t a direct claim that you are a thoroughly loathsome individual (& maybe also if people cultivated an enjoyment of learning things about important works from a culture outside their own, even if what you learn clashes with your own initial understandings), but I guess we’ll see if that ever happens. 

So these are my general thinks about the Six Eared Macaque’s current fandom meow meow status & some of my bigger gripes with fandom tendencies as a whole. I stand by my idea that the most interesting & beneficial route for Macaque moving forward would be a kind of “redemption without forgiveness from the ones you hurt” arc--as I think was done pretty excellently with the character Grace in Infinity Train--and if for no other reason than gosh dern this monkey really needs to cultivate some sort of identity beyond his “Sun Wukong but worse” persona.