#he may have smashed more people into meat patties than he can remember

[sketching-shark]

U know wgat? I gotta give props to dyslite for making their swk and lemh as twins.

Bc their dynamics fits sm as this rather than in a romantic sense.

Plus! The lemh esper wants swk esper dead. Jusy like the jttw classic ;D

It is so bizarre that sm of swk history gets rewritten in western fandom in favor for lemh. And makes swk OR ANY OF HIS ACTUAL FRIENDS AND COWORKERS BE WORSE THAN THEY ACTUALLY ARE

The lemh favoritism irks me sm—like u completely rework this guy in order for u to like him. Thats no longer lemh—its the better swk who could do no wrong and is emo.

Hmmmm I'm going to actually have to look into what the deal with dyslite is one of these days because I've never played it and am still not sure what's going on there, but I'm glad people are appreciating the "twins who want to kill each other" relationship between the two from the og classic manifesting in other works. Cain and Abel in monkey form <3

[appletable80-blog]

Adam Richman’s Tips for Hosting an Epic Football-Viewing Feast

TV personality, cook, and author Adam Richman has wolfed down a 7-pound burrito, violently spicy suicide wings, and a towering 12-patty cheeseburger on the hit Travel Channel show “Man v Food,” which he hosted from 2008 to 2012.

But Richman has posed as more than a glutton for our entertainment before that time and since then. And our football parties can benefit.The Brooklyn-born graduate of Emory University and the Yale School of Drama possesses the skills, talent, and charm that enabled to do other projects since then — such as NBC’s food competition show “Food Fighters” in 2014. Richman has authored America the Edible by Rodale Publishing in 2011, and Straight-Up Tasty by Clarkson Potter in 2015.

From this last book of Richman’s, we pulled two recipes that will make your tastebuds cheer as you watch the game with your friends and family this football season. But you need more in your game plan than those two decadent dishes. Passionate about food and entertaining in his personal life as well as professional career, it’s no surprise Richman is expert enough to give us a bunch of winning pointers to up our party-hosting game.

Remember, it’s not just about the food (or the game! Yes, we said it). When people come your home to watch a football game, it’s a gathering at the end of the day, he says. “You can’t lose sight that while it may not be a hearth — it’s a flickering box with a bunch of guys smashing each other on the grid iron — you still have to be the hostess with the mostess,” Richman says.

1. Know your crowd.

Angie’s List/iStock

Plan according to the vibe you expect. You could have a crowd of calm, civilized, married couples or a bunch of jersey-clad bros, pacing, betting and talking smack.

For the calm crowd, you can have a potluck-buffet-style table so guests can go in the kitchen to fill their plates. But you still should have something for snacking in front of the TV. You can do a little more food that requires a fork and knife, or save that for half time. “You can ask more from your viewing experience than most people do,” Richman says, who once brought his grandma’s sweet and sour meatballs to a football-focused potluck. Pasta salad is another good idea.

For the rowdy crowd, focus more on finger food and communal dishes. Use disposable plates, utensils, and plastic table cloths. Set out an additional trash can within arm’s reach of the coffee table and couch. “People are more protective of their seat when they watch the Super Bowl,” so they’ll be more reluctant to leave their viewing spot, Richman says. “I’ve seen a friend demonstrate a tackle while holding wings with a dollop of blue cheese dip.” With that in mind, have easy-to-eat dishes for the guys who stand and pace the whole time, as well food for the guys who sit and relax and socialize during the game.

2. Make everything obvious and easy to eat.

Getty

Put everything out, including your disposable utensils nestled in Solo cups. You can get a big sandwich loaf and pre-cut the slices, marking them with toothpicks. But remember to make a big sign that says “Remove toothpicks.” It’s not as obvious as you think when all your attention is zeroed in on the action onscreen. “I’ve had to tell guys that,” Richman says, laughing.

Remember, people are multi-tasking. Most people are watching the screen and gesticulating wildly while eating and drinking. “There’s something to be said for acknowledging that ahead of time,” Richman says, and creating for your guests “the ability to absentmindedly pop something in your mouth while watching television and have a flavor bomb.” If you make a pizza at home, slice the crust so people can just grab it and eat. Do that with everything.

3. Put more thought into the drink situation.

Getty

“There’s this classic idea of beer and wings, and that’s great,” he says. But do more. “I’ll mix in with the alcoholic beverages some nonalcoholic beverages so the guy who doesn’t want to drink doesn’t have to go somewhere else and feel ostracized.”

Richman recommends a cool bourbon drink in a pitcher, a peach sangria, or spiked Arnold Palmer (lemonade-tea mix). “For people who want an alcoholic option that’s not beer, they appreciate it,” he says. “Again, know your crowd. If you know guys are into craft beers, you’ll drink it from bottles, or maybe they want a case of Coronas.”

Tie in the drinks with who’s playing on the field. “It’s a chance to customize the experience to that particular game,” Richman says. If it’s Cincinnati versus ‘Nola, consider offering Fat Head beer v. Abita beer or pitcher of Hurricanes.

4. Prevent a mess with good strategy.

Getty/Burlingham

You need to seriously consider the logistics of the event. Be a true entertainer: Let people know where the bathroom is, what towels to use, and where the trash is. Make everything self-explanatory. If it’s snowy or wet out, have a clear, designated place for people to take their shoes off so they’re not stepping on wet stuff the whole time.

Create a specific spot to go for beverages that’s not the fridge. Use a metal tub or cooler filled with ice and beer. If you’re doing the tub or cooler in the living room, spread out a vinyl, disposable tablecloth, or lawn-leaf bag underneath to protect the floor. “When people reach in this ice thing to get a drink, they’re bound to drip, and ice shifts and melts,” Richman says. “It’s a great way to avoid spillage ahead of time and prevent people from slipping or ruining your floors.”

Use a completely separate container, lined with a bag, for ice. A red Solo cup can be the ice scoop, and “literally take a black Sharpie and write on it ‘ice scoop’ because you don’t want people digging with their hands where ever they’ve been been, scratching and all,” Richman says. Or use a kids’s sand-sculpting shovel.

You probably want to recycle the bottles and cans. Richman lines one trash can with blue liner for recycling bottles and cans. “I always make it clear this is where the bottles go,” he says. It’s important to make this bin easy to reach from the TV viewing area, because you don’t want everyone to leave empty glass bottles on the edge of the coffee table where it could break with all the commotion, kids, and pets.

Provide antibacterial soap or hand sanitizer. “I’m not above getting a Purell and putting it on the edge of the table next to the Solo cups full of silverware,” Richman says. If people are going to reach in to get chips from the communal bowl, they’re more likely to wash their hands beforehand if it’s right there.

As for the bathroom, make sure you have backup toilet tissue and provide air freshener to keep your guests from being embarrassed or compromised.

5. Elevate the classics.

Tangy horseradish roast beef sliders on Hawaiian sweet rolls. Image: Getty/Msaandy033

A big sandwich doesn’t have to be a cold-cut submarine like you get at corporate affairs. Your massive sandwich be a salmon steak BLT.  Make wings, but flavor them with lemon pepper and Champagne. “You can play with elevated flavor profiles on the most mundane dishes,” he says.  Place four cheeses in your grilled cheese, make your own tortilla chips for nachos, and top your pizza with Fontina cheese, speck, arugula, and truffle oil.

If you’re doing a buffet, create pasta dishes studded with big flavor, such as sausage and shrimp. The bulk of the dish is pasta, so you can feed a crowd with less expense.

Set up a charcuterie plate, with good local bread, cheeses, and olives. “People can find the combinations they like. It’s a customizable experience,” Richman says. “You can put it out in the first quarter, and it’ll still be good hours later; the meat might sweat a bit but it won’t go bad by the fourth quarter.”

People love dips and intense, crunchy foods when they’re anxious. That’s partly why fried food works so well as sports bar fare. Cut chicken breast into tenders, bread them, fry them, and serve with honey mustard and ranch dressing.

People love spring rolls and egg rolls, but you can be even more creative, combining those with everyone’s love of Southern barbecue: Crunchy, pulled pork egg rolls with dipping sauce.

“In the winter and at these games, you want something hearty and stick-to-your-ribs,” he says. Richman made both the recipes below for his friends, and they’re included in his Straight-Up Tasty cookbook.

Creamy Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese Sandwich Dumplings

Chowhound

White Wonder Bread, waxy slices of American cheese, and comfort food classics don’t conjure images of sophistication, and they’re not supposed to anyway. But this technique that puts a twist on this simple American comfort meal is impressive — and still easy to do. Get our Creamy Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese Sandwich Dumplings recipe.

Baked Gouda with Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto

Chowhound

Serve an “ooey-gooey melted cheese and a nice crust” with a technique that’s not hard at all, Richman says. But it produces a wow-worthy result that will have guests digging in with appreciation. The creamy Gouda with the fresh herbs and acidic bite of the sun-dried tomatoes creates a winning appetizer that can work for an elegant dinner party as well as a rowdy football-viewing afternoon. Get our Baked Gouda with Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto recipe.

Related Video: How to Make Mini Football Potatoes

— Head Photo: The Adam Richman.

Source: https://www.chowhound.com/food-news/180127/adam-richmans-tips-for-hosting-an-epic-football-viewing-feast/

[talhaghafoor2019-blog]

GOOD MUSIC IS GOOD MUSIC

ROCKER GONE SOFT?

I mean, LA Opera’s “Hansel & Gretel” for pete’s sake, the children’s tale, now a holiday staple? And all that other classical stuff?

Well, “H&G“ rocks, baby. The first opera based entirely on a fairy tale, German composer Engelbert Humperdinck picked a Grimm one, and the brothers were indeed grim, I learned at the pre-concert lecture from LA Opera conductor James Conlon. Two of nine Grimm children (three died in childhood), they knew quite well the pain of hunger, and that is an important opening and backdrop to this story. And at the LA Opera community outreach lecture that afternoon at our main library here, I learned and saw how different the H&G interpretations can be.

You can have a really ugly witch (like in the film we saw), or one like this production’s Susan Graham who brought great comedic skills with her superb voice. (All the singers were outstanding, especially H & G and their father, there are only five, plus two minor parts).

The sets and the forest characters were magical, and I was completely entertained, in an adult way. You shouldn’t miss this one. See below.

Also at our main library last week, I caught another performance of their outstanding, always provocative and high quality Soundwaves concert series, which, as usual, was a shorter preview of a later performance at Disney Hall’s Zipper Hall, next Tuesday (not free). Outstanding pianist Gloria Cheng presented “Garlands for Steven Stucky,” the LA Phil’s composer in residence for decades who was greatly skilled and loved as a mentor.

And Sunday morning I was treated to a marvelous Ted talk-like program upstairs at the Laemmle Theatre downtown, mixing data mining with music interpretation by a marvelous string quartet, in a most intriguing way. What a great town.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED:

LA OPERA: Hansel & Gretel (Engelbert Humperdinck ain’t no Puccini, Verdi or Strauss but H&G is considered his greatest work and Strauss dug him so much he conducted the premier, a smashing success, and he also ain’t the schmaltzy crooner who stole his name in the ‘60s, but don’t get too distracted from the superb Wagnerian score by the 12-foot magical characters on stage, the fantastical sets and special effects of this production and it’s also got laughs, see above), Sun 2 p.m., Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, downtown LA, $16-$294.

RECOMMENDED:

TONIGHT! – LA PHILHARMONIC: Stanley Kubrick’s Sound Odyssey (Kubrick loved him some classical music scores for his films, Beethoven to Bartok, Ligeti to Penderecki, can’t imagine “2001” or “A Clockwork Orange” without those signatures, you will see a string of clips from his great ones, hosted by none other than “Clockwork’s” Alex, Malcolm McDowell, and hear the music live and fabulous from the LA Phil, seems like a good night’s entertainment), Thurs, Fri 8 p.m., Sun 2 p.m., Walt Disney Concert Hall, downtown LA, $20-$204.

TONIGHT! – PATTI LABELLE (would I send you all the way out to Temecula, yes I would to see the great Patti Labelle, sometimes not included in the pantheon of the greatest soul voices ever but she most definitely is, put her on your bucket list, you may not have seen her blow minds in the ‘70s on tour with her outrageous trio LaBelle, I did, straight from the New York Continental baths scene, glammed up in what I dubbed the Crustaceans from Outer Space silver outfits, it’s when I learned there were gay people in Albuquerque, what a party that was, you may not have seen her take the stage in LA as the Tina Turner “replacement” Acid Queen in the one-off all-star “Tommy,” I did, no one missed Tina I’ll tell ya, but you can always see my other sweetest performance by her, you know how people say so-and-so could sing the phone book, or the alphabet and it would be fabulous, well she did sing the ABCs song gospel-style on Sesame Street 2/19/99, 11+M views, and you should watch, I did, I do, pretty often, good for the soul, but call Pechanga if you really want to go because it may be sold out but it is her only show in the area, so, bucket list), 7 p.m., Pechanga Resort & Casino, Temecula, $69 up.

JACK SHELDON (great trumpeter-singer-actor who was part of the ‘50s West Coast jazz scene and has been performing ever since in so many fields, this is his birthday party for himself, turning 87, famous voices singing in “Schoolhouse Rock” including “I’m Just a Bill” and the guy who explained the electoral college — I think he needs a re-do now explaining how we can get rid of it — and if you see him live you will not only catch a legend with the best sidemen but you will wonder if he missed his calling at stand-up, he is sooo bawdy funny), Fri, Sat 8:30 p.m., Catalina Bar & Grill, Hollywood, $25-$30.

I SEE HAWKS IN LA, MEAT PUPPETS (two great bands with very different styles and right, another long journey for great music I’m sending you on, the Hawks do play locally somewhat regularly but not Phoenix’s legendary Meat Puppets so maybe you’re coming back from Thanksgiving anyway past Joshua Tree, do yourself a favor and dew drop inn), Sat 9 p.m., Pappy & Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace, Joshua Tree, $25.

GLORIA CHENG, “Garlands for Steven Stucky” (see above), Tues 8 p.m., the Colburn School of Music, Zipper Concert Hall.

THE SKATALITES (they’re still around? didn’t they invent ska in the mid-’60s? maybe, named it anyway, were really active only 1964-’65 but so influential, worked with all the best Jamaican producers and players, the 10 founders were a who’s who of JA music, Jackie Mitoo, Don Drummond, Tommy McCook, Rolando Alphonso et al, started playing together in ‘55, all gone now save Lester Sterling and Doreen Shaffer, reformed and touring the last 35 years so I believe you will get the real deal), Wed 9 p.m., the Echoplex, Echo Park, $20.

HOUSE OF VIBE ALL STARS (ordinarily I never recommend something I haven’t seen but the boys at Harvelle’s, with the perfect resume for taking over this nearly 90-year-old blues club in downtown Santa Monica from longtime mogul Seven, keep telling me this is a great show I must see so I am recommending it based on great sources and promise to go so I can give a personal assessment, meanwhile if you go and you hate it I will personally give you your 5 bucks back), Wed 9 p.m., Harvelle’s, Santa Monica, $5.

ELVIS COSTELLO (Elvis Costello!), next Thurs, 7 p.m., the Wiltern, Mid-Wilshire, $125-$240 (too much! but it’s your money).

A LYRIC SO GOOD I WISH I HAD THOUGHT OF IT: “I’d rather go blind, boy, than to see you walk away from me.”

— (Etta James, Ellington Jordan, Billy Foster  1967)

Sung with such palpable, heart-wrenching emotion by the late great Etta James, it became an instant blues classic, covered by Beyonce (playing her in “Cadillac Ranch”), Clarence Carter (blind from birth), Koko Taylor, Little Milton, B.B. King and currently on the airwaves — remember airwaves? — a very credible version by Grace Potter.

But what an image. For a sighted person, is there a much bleaker future than to suddenly go blind? Think of it. I think about it, probably you have too, at least once. Your whole world would change. A pitch black world filled achingly with color memories, fading each day a little more. What worse could happen? And yet, the love-struck singer tells us, I’d choose it, rather than have eyes to witness the unbearable sight of you walking away from me. Has that ever been portrayed more powerfully, 13 words, in written word anywhere?

Charles Andrews has listened to a lot of music of all kinds, including more than 2,000 live shows. He has lived in Santa Monica for 32 years and wouldn’t live anywhere else in the world. Really. Send love and/or rebuke to him at  therealmrmusic@gmail.com

[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.