#she is actually based on wukong fun fact!

[marijuanas-a-working-woman]

art dump

hey guys... long time no see... ahahaha...

[night-faye]

*cracks knuckles* ALRIGHT- 1) Update on what I said for a hero will sacrifice one to save the world, a villain will sacrifice the world for one but its hero/warrior philosophy. I finally found Mei's line for it! "Wukong knew the risks. It's what he would do if he had to. That's the hard part of being a hero." And THAT'S why the next episode is "Time to be Warriors" because being a hero never works out :D 2) Isn't it SO funny how Macky's complaints about "other people will tell you to be patient" feels like the kind of thing Wukong would've learned himself from the Monk after the journey 🤔 "your first strike should be your last strike" *coughs in jttw wukong killed macky in one hit to the head* "you don't use a weapon, you are a weapon." Sir WHAT HAPPENED. This wasn't you before 😭 I'm starting to think his "don't you feel stronger now" might be something someone told him after this so called "who did you make a deal with?" 🤔 3) So we know Macky instigated the fight, naturally. but seriously WHAT HAPPENEDDDDDDD. he was SAD and GUILTY and WUKONG LOVED HIM SM HE WAS RUFFLING HIS FUR AND FIXING HIS CLOTHES. how does a guy go to such murdery lengths that they started hating each other sm in S1 and then??? like?? S5 that love is creeping back???? of course, just like Macky getting interrupted in S4, they just can NOT seem to hold hands 😔 so Fluffy had the bright idea of ShadowPeach hand holding when Wukong dies. She is obsessed with his death flags as a mentor. 4) "The old you would've leveled this whole mountain range!" <-- monkey MK splits a mountain in half. 5) "inevitably bring darkness to those they hold dear." now that we know how crazy this play is for hinting stuff, WHAT is up with the monkey we see get attacked with evil vibes and why is it on this line Macky 👀 also hilarious to me "last show actually I was just heading off-" he seriously spent ALL DAY just talking about his break up over and over to anybody who would listen. "always the comedian" <--- s4 opens with Wukong joking and dancing on a table. Can you tell I'm obsessed with recontextualizing dialogue? "so you're her puppet now?" "haha you know me." HELLO? IMPLYING WHAT? all this talk about "a winning side" is very owie, when you think of the side that lost the war against heaven but also <3 in joining MK. despite LBD having WUKONG on her side. "your buddy Wukong values people by how useful they are to him." BUDDY YOURE THE ONE WHO FELT BAD YOU COULDNT BE USEFUL ENOUGH TO BREAK HIM OUT. I'm sensing some serious miscommunication over the Journey West here. BUT GEE really makes you think about Macky telling MK to be a weapon! That'll make you useful to the Monkey King for sure! also! the winning side was almost titled "a traitor inside" gee isn't THAT suspect. *pokes Macky repeatedly* double agent vibes lowkey. or is this a callout for betraying Wukong lol. 6) going through my like history and someone pointed out that MK was probably "you're in time out young man!" while Macky, fully able to fight back, stood there and let them tie him up like "oh no I can't believe you're overpowering me like this. this place is a nightmare." 7) Update on "Wukong is the undefeatable Monkey King he HAS to be strong." he only reacts to the spicy pepper burning his mouth bc he's used to pain ^_^ who cared at all if he was hurt by the circlet, why would they care if he complained about the burning? and really? a spicy burning hot pepper? when he already was forced to eat molten copper pellets? and dropping a rock on him when he had a mountain dropped on him? which fun fact: based on Wukong's pose, it seems he got trapped while running ;D

1) Update on what I said for a hero will sacrifice one to save the world, a villain will sacrifice the world for one but its hero/warrior philosophy. I finally found Mei's line for it! "Wukong knew the risks. It's what he would do if he had to. That's the hard part of being a hero." And THAT'S why the next episode is "Time to be Warriors" because being a hero never works out :D

🥺🥺🥺🥺

2) Isn't it SO funny how Macky's complaints about "other people will tell you to be patient" feels like the kind of thing Wukong would've learned himself from the Monk after the journey 🤔

MMM! YEAH I HAD THOUGHTS ON THIS THAT I WILL BE EXPLORING IN FICS HEHE

"your first strike should be your last strike" *coughs in jttw wukong killed macky in one hit to the head*

Hey, hey hey, shut up <3

"you don't use a weapon, you are a weapon." Sir WHAT HAPPENED. This wasn't you before 😭 I'm starting to think his "don't you feel stronger now" might be something someone told him after this so called "who did you make a deal with?" 🤔

Ohohohoh yes. this line. this line makes me Thing Things. So Many Things.

Will also be explored in fics I write hehehehe

3) So we know Macky instigated the fight, naturally. but seriously WHAT HAPPENEDDDDDDD. he was SAD and GUILTY and WUKONG LOVED HIM SM HE WAS RUFFLING HIS FUR AND FIXING HIS CLOTHES. how does a guy go to such murdery lengths that they started hating each other sm in S1

No lie I am currently working on a fic that will be exploring this EXACT thing :) You should Be Afraid :)

and then??? like?? S5 that love is creeping back???? of course, just like Macky getting interrupted in S4, they just can NOT seem to hold hands 😔

GOD YEAH IT'S SO HEARTBREAKING AHHHH

so Fluffy had the bright idea of ShadowPeach hand holding when Wukong dies. She is obsessed with his death flags as a mentor.

@fluffypotatey when I get you

Can you tell I'm obsessed with recontextualizing dialogue?

yes dw i am too hehe

"so you're her puppet now?""haha you know me."HELLO? IMPLYING WHAT? all this talk about "a winning side" is very owie, when you think of the side that lost the war against heaven

:)))) >*pats my trunk full of plans*<

6) going through my like history and someone pointed out that MK was probably "you're in time out young man!" while Macky, fully able to fight back, stood there and let them tie him up like "oh no I can't believe you're overpowering me like this. this place is a nightmare."

LMAO THAT'S SO FUNNY

7) Update on "Wukong is the undefeatable Monkey King he HAS to be strong." he only reacts to the spicy pepper burning his mouth bc he's used to pain ^_^ who cared at all if he was hurt by the circlet, why would they care if he complained about the burning? and really? a spicy burning hot pepper? when he already was forced to eat molten copper pellets? and dropping a rock on him when he had a mountain dropped on him? which fun fact: based on Wukong's pose, it seems he got trapped while running ;D

HEY WHAT IF YOU DIDN'T? (I'mjustkiddingthisisgreat)

[littlethingsrae]

Is She Sun Wukongs Daughter?

//Nope! She’s not related to Wukong in any way ^^

//HOWEVER - thinking about this question made me realise that the two do have some similar features :0

//Exhibit A above lol

//Jin’s design and colours are actually solely based on a real sunset (albeit some bits slightly brighter to fit the show’s style)

(Below)

//In fact: this was a picture I only took TODAY and it lined up so well - SO I KNEW IT WAS TIME TO ANSWER THIS QUESTION

//Double however: I thought this question was SO fun and the similarities were really funny sooo

//Have a Monkey!Jin :3c

[zoguy1]

So. Every June, I try to challenge myself by posting something for Pride Month. For the past couple years, it's been ships with cute little pride flags. This year, the priority focus will be on the Trolls Summer Gift exchange. But at the very least I'd like to show ya'll the ones I've made in the past.

2022 bundle:

Bi Hiccup x Gay Jack. Fun fact: This was the first gay couple I've ever laid my eyes on as a young child. I saw this ship and thought "I want that kind of relationship."

Bi Tony x Gay Rudolph Watching the 2017 movie, these two reminded me of Luca and Alberto so much.

Aro Merida You get it? Cuz she's an archer. It's funny. Laugh.

Bi Nan Fang x Ace Fu Yao The headcannon was based off of a fanfic I read a while ago.

Demi Ace Xie Lian x Gay Hua Cheng. I sevearly enjoyed the series. I occasionally eat fics of these two as comfort foods.

Pan Xu Xuan x Trans Xiao Bai White snake was basically 2 hours of "What you are doesn't matter, it's who you are that matters", THEE Pansexual anthem, and then the second movie Turned Blanca into a guy? This is cannon.

Ace Liu Qingge x Bi Shen Yuan Imma be honest. I didn't like SVSSS very much. Yandere's are not my cup of tea. And I was really hoping Shizun would have gotten with Liu-shidi instead.

Gay Luca x Gay Alberto I'm so glad Luberto was actually confirmed to be somewhat cannon. Though Nowadays I see Luca as bi, cuz if we're counting the concept art as apart of the lore, then Luca had a crush on both Alberto and Giulia.

Gay Jade x Gay Katie. Kate is the first character I actually felt scene as a queer person.

Genderfluid Shi Qingxuan I freaking love them so much. Easily my favorite character.

Aro Nezha This kid knows chaos and only chaos.

Pan Adam x Gray Ace Freddy I saw this crossover on DA and thought they made so much sense together. Adam the literal personification of nature, and Freddy the unification of humanity and animals.

Non-Binary Merz x Lesbian Alice These two are OCs of mine.

Aro Lesbian Isabela and Aro Lesbian Elsa. I ship this in a sort of queer platonic way. Like a "we don't really want to date people, but everyone thinks we're dating, and we just don't care enough to correct them." kind of way.

Genderfluid Camilo I want the ability to shapeshift so badly.

Pan Ao Bing x Bi Xiao Jiu Ya'll get brownie points if you know which Ao Bing this is and double points if you know who Xiao Jiu is. Lol. It was a random crossover ship I made because the company liked to crossover their medias for advertisements, and we see the adults interacting and having fun, and Nezha joins them. But we don't see the two teenagers interact at all.

Bi Verta x Bi Li Yunxiang Another crossover ship I made up cuz I didn't see a lot of Nezha Reborn and White Snake crossovers. Which surprised me, especially after Green Snake.

Gay Jiang Ziya x Gay Shen Gongbao These two lived in the same house together for 10 years and adopted a daughter together. I am convinced these two are a married couple.

Bi Mirabel There was a little bisexual rainbow on her dress. That's proof enough for me. Lol.

Lesbian Amaya x Lesbian Janai I loved seeing their dynamic in the show.

Non-Binary Kazi I love them. I'm glad they got more attention in the show.

Lesbian Susie x Trans Noelle "Why does Noelle have antlers. Is she trans? The Null the Null the Null the Null..."

Non-Binary Kris I love them. They literally never said a word, and I love them.

AroAce Krel Based on a comic I made.

Aro Blaze Another OC.

Aro Douxie Idk why, but I get that vibe from him.

2023 Pack:

Furry Omni Toby x Furry Demigirl Darci The moment Darci said she didn't want people to like her just because she was a girl, I felt that in my soul.

Bi Steve x Pan Aja I am not convinced Steve is straight.

Pan Simon x Gay Ao Bing This ship was inspired by a youtube video that had a list of crossover ships, this being on of them. And I freaking love it.

AroAce Sun Wukong and AroAce Tang Sanzang In Monkey King Reborn, out of everyone in the friend group, you can just tell that these two cared about each other the most. And I think that's just sweet.

Fuck. I can only have 30 images per post. I'll reblog with the rest of the 2023 pack.

[auburnitzy]

I kinda forgot to include the dragon form on the last reference... so I went and redid it (and an extra image at the end!)

Her name is Nawa Elyas (English) / [月亮 金井] Yueliang Jinjing (Chinese)! She's somewhere in her 20s and is bisexual!

She's a descendant of a Filipino moon goddess and s Bakunawa goddess (this means she's Filipino and not Chinese, as I didn't want to mess up making my own OC based on Chinese mythology.)

She's not really the fighting type, but she's best at healing and buffing other's powers.

DESIGN NOTES:

- The bell in her chest is some sort of ward so she doesn't go feral whenever in her dragon form (Bakunawa's are sensitive to loud noises, and this is very painful for her.)

- I chose purple because it's my favorite color, and also because I thought using blue was gonna be cliché and wanted to reflect Sun Wukong and Macaque's colors in MK and Nawa.

FUN FACTS:

- She was actually made in 2017, and used to be a Ninjago OC (which unfortunately was shipped with Lloyd, please kill me.)

- Pronouns are [SHE/THEY]

[peony-flowerking7]

Lmk Qiulong Descendants part 2

YEAH MORE OF THESE GUYS! Gotta drop some lore here Qiulong powers are not classified and for that many of these characters can do their own magic, Qiulong just add itself into a mix which can bring dangerous consequences to the user. They can go insane with the power and can't control themselves losing their own identity and the thing that remains is Qiulong itself. Btw the second once I based and reference her outfit on Toph as well as the personality.

Jingyi The fourth descendant of Qiulong, directly born from a demon instead of a mortal, making her a full demon. Jingyi and Shen are the only ones directly born from Qiulong but anyways. She lived a relatively normal life in a village full of peaceful demons and since she did not have any of Qiulong scent, aura or even characteristics, the heavens never knew she was a Qiulong but it actually the first time Qiulong genetic was not strong enough to pass down their genetics so Jingyi was not albino. AND SHE HAD SCALES BECAUSE DEMON REPTILES GENETICS!

Her signature weapon was a rake kind of like Pigsy rake except she use it for plowing the fields and using it to cause some natural disasters. Floods are her greatest strengths but she doesn't know she did that until the end.

Bao The Fifth descendant of Qiulong, A more rough and exciting young woman that basically is if Toph was the Avatar. Bao had control of nature itself cultivating her power and using her disability as an advantage, also she is kind of half blind but covers her eyes to train herself when it comes to using her powers, Bao even met Sun Wukong and his travelling friends and join them for a bit building friendship but having to leave them because she needed to find herself in this world.

Her signature weapons was a metal staff that she use for her blindness and to attack, she made it herself using different materials. Btw Bao and Jingyi were the only ones who use their powers for good but both also do not know of their origin and their end was more of a unfortunate circumstance.

Zhihao The last descendant of Qiulong a young girl turn into a warrior creating conflicts with the heavens, the earth and the underworld wanting everybody to feel her mother wrath to avenge her aunt and cripple the world into devastating despair. Wanting all to feel her sadness a true Qiulong till the end. She was sealed away by a dear friend of hers. In the end Zhihao was the one to prove that Qiulong descendants were never going to change and that was the end of Qiulong legacy.

Her signature weapon was a slingshot and not so fun fact she was the only of her family to ever use the full potential of Qiulong, by that I mean she was able to turn into a full on dragon. A poor unfortunate monster until the very end. Btw her monster dragoness will be half inspired by The Nowhere King.

[yanderelmk]

Hey my amazing gang of spiders! I have several questions that has kept me up for almost a two month and I’m running on off coffee and hope.

Anyways

1. Apparently Spiders don’t actually have queens..so technically The Spider Queen is the first ever Spider Queen..or maybe I’m wrong? How does this make you feel??

2. So I kinda figured what kind of spider Goliath and Huntsman is (my fear of spiders could not stop me for looking this up) but what about Syntax and the beautiful Spider Queen herself?

3. Syntax. You. Do you have scars on your back from being turned into a spider? How does it feel being kinda like..a human/spider??

4. Please all four of you step on m—/J/J/J/J🤭🤭

5. What’s your guys ring size?…for research purposes I SWEAR—

-✨

Question One: Spider Queen smiles. "Oooh, this one's interesting! Now here's something not a lot of people pick up on: I was actually a human who had more fun than most girls my age. So much, in fact, that my demon-ification or whatever you'd call it transformed me into a spider demoness. It took me many, many years to become powerful enough to take down all the other spider demons vying for the position of Spider Monarch. Normally a demon's hierarchy is based off of power rather than lineage, that's why Iron Fan is a Princess despite bein' married to a king. It's also why little Red Son is the Boy Sage King despite his old man still bein' up and about. Some of the best years of my life as a spiderling were filled with learning to crush my enemies underfoot with my newfound abilities." She sighs, an annoyed look crossing her face. "I even was powerful enough to become an Empress, but then Sun Wukong ripped it all away from me. Just like he did with my sisters and nephews. But I'm gonna make my comeback. I will get back my empire, and this time I won't let anyone steal my throne." Question Two: "Considering the fact that I am not a purebred spider demon, I suppose you could say I don't really have a "species" of spider. I have tried to test my DNA and match it to spider species, but the most I have is that my species lies somewhere within the Synotaxus genus, hence the name. The fact that my own venom is diluted makes it very difficult to run the proper tests." "As for me," Spider Queen uses a mech leg to push Syntax out of the way. "I myself am a black widow. My venom definitely isn't weakened." Question Three: Syntax's face gets a bit lime from the question in embarrassment. "That...is a rather personal question, but yes. After all, the mechanical limbs burst forth from my back, it did lead to some scarring. I am proud to be the first human-spider demon hybrid of my queen's queendom, though I do admit it can be vexing trying to compensate for the lack of limbs, eyes, and other enhancements prue-bred spider demons possess. However..." He gestures to his mech legs. "I find ways around my shortcomings." Question Four: Syntax steps on your back to use your shirt as a rug to wipe his shoes clean. Huntsman takes a few steps back before running and jumping on your back, making a few loud POPs before falling backwards from the imbalance. Goliath...gently taps your back with his mechanical leg before helping you up. The Queen, however, hops down from her mech to stand upon your back. She's definitely shorter, about 5'8", but she's no different personality-wise. "Just how it should be. Now get up, mortal, if you can stand I wanna be carried on your shoulders!" Question Five: For this Syntax has to do a quick Google search and some measuring. "Let me see... my size is 7.5, Huntsman's is 8, my queen is 7.5, and Goliath..." Goliath looks at his hand, a bit sad. "I don't think any rings would fit me. Probably thirty-five or something."

[spectralscathath]

This is pure self-indulgence AU of an AU while the next chapter is being worked on (i've had the WORST creative block), but I really got into the Magnus Archives this year, and I thought I'd do a little breakdown of the Fears that the Antares characters might be most closely tied to. Becaquse the worldbuilding system in that podcast is FUN.

Quick breakdown for context: there's 14 (later 15) Dread Powers in the Magnus Archives, all encompassing some sort of phobia. More of a broader term, generally also has some symbolic stuff, eg. arachnophobia also ties into fears of manipulation and addiction (loss of control), or more abstract fears like loneliness, or the inability to trust your own mind. I'll explain as they go, but it's a very fun system, and what characters fear is always good to know.

Also, if this sort of horror interests you and you'd rather not have some of the Fear classifications spoiled if you want to go listen to the podcast, I'll pop this under a readmore. Oh also this is a discussion of horror themes and fears so just mind yourself and don't read if you don't like mentions of stuff like bugs and violence, it's mostly mild but just in case.

Team RWBY first, as always.

Ruby Rose is both victim and avatar (follower) of the fear known as The Hunt, which is mostly based around predator/prey, chasing something down, and ends up having a very interesting pack mentality thing as well. These are just some of the ways The Hunt manifests, all the fears have a lot going on.

Now, Ruby is a victim of this as basically the archetypical fairytale victim, and also for the fact that for basically all of Antares she finds herself being hunted by basically everyone who knows what and who she is, for different reasons. But, as well, she's also basically the epitome of determination, as time goes on, and that's a core characteristic of the Hunt as well.

Weiss Schnee is The Lonely. I mean- it's associated with feeling alone (even in crowds), feeling trapped and unheard, and the idea of coldness, self-explanatory. Easy pick.

Blake Belladonna is, a little bit more interestingly, associated with The Dark (self-explanatory) for me, and not just because of her shadow motif. While most of The Dark statements can be a bit hit or miss for me, I like it best for what it represents in opposition for some of the other fears, specifically it acts in opposition to the fear of 'knowing' and has a lot of themse of secrets and blindness.

And- well, Blake in Antares has a bit of a reoccuring character trait of wilfully ignoring things until she basically can't. Her life in the White Fang took nearly blowing up a train to drive her away, she basically refuses to engage with her own self-destructive tendencies until someone shines light on them, and Ilia basically was popped out of her mind until she showed up again. Wilful ignorance + the shadow theme? Oh she's tied to this Fear for sure.

Yang Xiao Long is actually almost a complete opposite. Sure I could take her fire themes and go for the pyrophobia fear, but that's not really her. No, I think Yang would be tied to The Eye (fear of knowing too much/being watched), since so much of her is about seeking answers. From Raven, about her family, seeking for a purpose. Yang wants to know things, and as seen in her backstory, sometimes to a detrimental effect of nearly getting eaten by Grimm.

It also makes her a handy contrast to Blake, who will choose to ignore an uncomfortable truth if possible, but Yang gets very angry about people hiding things from her. Secrets do not do well with her.

Sun Wukong is, actually, I would think both avatar and victim of The Vast. The Vast is one of the more cosmic fears, literally. It's the fear of being small and insignificant in the universe, often manifests as too much space, or heights, falling, vertigo, giant monsters too big to comprehend, space, storms, deep waters that stretch forever... and listen- I can't go too into spoilers, but Sun is very vibrant and makes himself stand out for many reasons.

This is a slightly weird pick, but both Pyrrha Nikos and Adam Taurus have a connection to The Slaughter, which is basically the fear of unpredictable and senseless violence, and tends to have a lot of war imagery. It's also tied to music, which is fun. And, well, Adam lashes out to make the world hurt as much as he himself was hurt, while Pyrrha can swing between cold regimented precision to wild fury. Fun to consider.

Nora Valkyrie, gone before her time, would, and I base this slightly more off her canon counterpart because Antares Nora was a Good Bean, is easily The Corruption. The Corruption manifests in a few different ways, mainly rot, disease, decay, fungus, all non-spider bugs, the fucking worm woman, general filth and grime- but it's most interesting when it dives into the more psychological aspects of what else falls under 'Corruption' and this one is all about toxic and unhealthy love, codependency, loss of identity to a greater being (there's even a cult episode all about toxic positivity and lovebombing!) and just. All the good creepy stuff. And while Antares Nora had a handle on herself, canon Nora is all about that codepedent toxicity by the time atlas rolls around.

Oh- and Salem manages to dual wield both The Web: for the manipulation/puppeteer aspect and maybe a lil spiderness, and The Extinction: world ending cataclysmic change, things that replace humanity but are not human or not human anymore, destruction of nature, and also some funky body horror themes. That's literally just Salem. Also has some interesting themes of technology, which are basically one degree of separation away from her via Watts. Groovy!

Think that's it for this round, I might come do another one of these with some other Antares characters later. If you have any you'd like to see discussed in this manner, let me know.

[the-real-aku]

IM BACK WITH THE WARFRAME AU

You might ask yourself, Aku...what is a Warframe...and the only thing I am going to say to that is a biomechanic warriors with awesome power.

SO HERE'S A 9-HOUR VIDEO ON ALL OF WARFRAME'S LORE IF YOU ARE THAT CURIOUS

Hi, if you're a Warframe fan with no idea who or what the Bat Family is...I'll sum that up as the Batman Family, aka all the kids and heroes he decided were "his". Anyways, this obviously isn't all of them but these are the ones I care about. I'm too lazy to do anything more than the bare minimum rn

Au below the cut: CAUTION, IF YOU HAVE NOT PLAYED THE WAR WITHIN THIS WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS!!!

Also...im not following the no-killing rule with this AU as it is impossible for it, as someone needs to control Grineer population.

Bruce Wayne/Batman:

Ash Prime - the most assassin stealth-based Warframe literally has a batman skin -like no one can look me in the eye and say this isn't Batman

Excalibur Prime - a limited edition Prime Warframe, no long available to buy and or make

Hildryn - Honestly, big buff lady who is a tank-support

Protea - utility support with massive firepower

Vauban Prime - similar to Protea but way more defensive-based rather than support fits Bruce pretty well when it comes to taking out crowds

Rhino Prime -Tankiest boy, a proud beast

Harrow Prime -this one cracks me up. Harrow is a Warframe that casts its abilities by flogging itself and its whole back story is about carrying the weight of the world on its shoulders to hold back a force of evil and punishing itself...literally Bruce

Excalibur Umbra - I'm gonna expand on this a little and if you have not played the Sacrifice please ignore this or if you don't care...keep reading I guess. - Umbra kills his own child when he becomes fully infested, he is one of the few Warframes that have recorded sentience. -I think its fitting for Bruce.

Why does Bruce have mostly all primes you may be asking yourself, and to be clear you know exactly why motherfucker. Because he's fuckin' Bruce Wayne. I don't think I need a better reason other than he is (A) Bruce Wayne (B) Batman.

Dick Grayson/Nightwing:

Zephyr Prime - b-bird...it flies, its a bird because h-hes robin - also her idle animations have MASSIVE Dickergy

Baruuk - I know hes a "pacifist" but blah blah blah I don't care, he is scary when he loses his "restraint" and so is Dick

Titania - I...I don't actually have a reason for this, I just find it fitting

Excalibur - a classic, basic, but matches Bruce in being one of the OGs - he's a true classic and an OG but incredibly powerful nonetheless, fan fav, poster boy, you get it.

Nezha - fruity ass Nezha, jumpy, always moving, kinda like Dick

Wukong - hehehhe monke...he just has that playful energy in his abilities like Dick. Oh, and the cloud. LOVES the cloud and the twin he can summon.

Mirage - the same thing with Wukong, it plays with Dick's teasing fun nature. I think he would take advantage of her duplicates when in comes to fights, seeing as how Dick has a tendency to be fuckin' stupid and not call in for help so having holograms that can pack some damage and copy your moves seems like something he needs Dick started with Zephyr, enjoying the fact that he could shoot across the sky with her. He's not a fan of running like Volt or Gauss, he enjoys being in the air like he can be with Zephyr, Wukong, and Titania. I think he regrets having Zephyr as the Prime Bruce gives him.

Jason Todd/Red Hood:

Mesa Prime - she is literally a gunslinger, she gets a buff if she goes into missed with no melee weapon equipped. What more could Jason want in a Warframe?

Rhino - tanky, built like a fridge, like Jason

Styanax - based on hoplite soldiers, a warrior, fitting.

Sevagoth - a Warframe split in two from death, "Return eternally from beyond the grave, as his Shadow eclipses the light while harvesting wicked souls to sate his esurient darkness." Again, fitting

Nidus - fucked up a bastardization of Warframes, its insides look like its outside, unlike many other Warframes. Idk, again, felt fitting

Atlas - idk, bicc, tanky, no real deep reason. Probably just enjoys the backup he can summon

Banshee - thinking about this from an All-Caste standpoint, Banshee's utility wise is incredibly strong for assassinations as she can cancel out all noise and track enemies easily.

Revenant -rose from the dead - "This is Revenant, the returned - the condemned. Harnessing the essence of Eidolon and warrior alike, he mystifies and obliterates his foes. Revenant serves last rites for the souls he leaves on fire, without a plea for mercy."

again...fitting

Valkyr

angry, sacrificed herself and experimented on. Could compare to the Lazarus pit and Jason

Jason's original Warframe that Bruce gifted him was Ash. It was destroyed in the explosion that killed him. He can't get himself to rebuild an Ash. Also, yes...I know Jason's have deep meanings, but....eeuugghhhhh he's my FAVORITE DON'T JUDGE MEEEE

Tim Drake/Red Robin/Robin:

 Loki Prime - Trickster, fast, stealthy, can create a hologram that can attack, it fits

Protea -utility wise, she is techy and an engineer, a lot like Tim, a protector

Gyre - mmm...idk, I know shocking people is Dick's thing but Gyre really has more Tim energy to her with the whole Tesla coil aesthetic

Mag - mmmagnet...can yank, pull, and crush, versatile

Lavos - elemental, mixes and experiments with the elements to make subcategories, incredibly smart, and runs on timers vs energy -felt fitting

Banshee - much like Jason's reason, cancels out noise and makes him far stealthier, probably not Tim's most used Warframe

Volt - I...I'm not sure why Tim is getting the electricity frames. - Shield, fast, shock shit, OG, really useful, and boosts teammate's speed.

Limbo - can leap into the void to avoid damage and can drag enemies in with him, only people in the void can attack and damage him and the same goes for the enemies. - Don't really know again, it felt like a Warframe Tim would experiment with to try and push its limits.

Wukong - my friend who played Warframe just a little bit requested I give Tim Wukong because he was the one Warframe they really enjoyed playing - oh and staff. They both have a bo staff

Damian Al-Ghul Wayne/Robin:

Ash Prime - just like his daddy, need I say more?

Inaros - old, mummy themes, makes me think of a Ra's hand-me-down, good at keeping you alive.

Valkyr - used to teach Damian control over his emotions, I HC that Valkyr's final ability hysteria is kinda intoxicating as it induces a blood-lust-like state.

Garuda - beauty in slaughter teaches grace in combat. She is brutal and effective, self-mutilates to refill her energy, then siphons blood from enemies to heal herself. - Probably teaches more about regulation vs grace...

Nekros - bringer of death, not too much of a damage dealer, but he's able to raise the dead with his 4th ability and that seems like something Damian would like - mini army for him to rule

Now...everyone further down on this list I am way less familiar with and have fewer Warframes because of that. They will also have less meaningful reasons behind why and for that I'm kinda half sorry.

Duke Thomas/Signal:

Equinox Prime - Equinox splits into Day and Night form - I think you see where I'm going with this. - Equinox's abilities complement each other, one supports the other harms and debuffs. - it's the nearest I could get to controlling light and shadow okay

Nova - portals, gravity, idk tbh, she just felt like a frame he would enjoy with the massive amounts of damage and crowd control

Chroma - elemental breath, again, the closest I could get to shadow and light - Chroma is a tankier Warframe, probably one of the few Duke uses when he's running without his family and clan.

Stephenie Brown/Spoiler:

Mirage Prime - Playful, fun, dangerous, a trickster, feels like a good Prime for Steph

Octavia - Steph seems like someone who likes to dance, and who doesn't love blasting music while you mow down hordes of infested or battalions of Grineer :D?

Yareli - I don't...really know how to explain this one for it to not sound derogatory? Yareli's design is super...cute and e-girl-ish? - She's not particularly powerful but she has some mean CC and looks good while drowning you so-

Titania - all of Steph's seem to be tricksters omg - yeah Titania is good for buffing and rebuffing, her 4 shrinks her and gives her massive boosts in speed as she flies around and tears people apart with razor blade butterflies

Cassandra Cain/Black Bat/Orphan:

Banshee Prime - as said before...Banshee is a frame who silences everything around her, stealthy and deadly

Ivara - the hunter warframe, can become invisible and create lines to run around on, seems like something Cass would definitely enjoy and use to destroy everyone in her way

Wisp - not...really sure why I picked Cass to have a Wisp, but she floats instead of walking and opens a portal to channel a literal laser beam of the sun at her enemies. This is not a joke.

Nekros - reaper of the dead, deadly, terrifying, C A S S

Kate Kane/Batwoman:

Sayrn Prime - deadly, powerful, stupid strong, litter the ground with bodies with her kit. Something I think Kate would appreciate

Mesa - G U N. Thats it. I don't really have a better reason or explanation, sorry

Gara - defensive, powerful, sacrificed herself to save the Ostrons from the Eidolon, a hero - I can see Kate in that kinda

Ember - I was gonna make a red-head joke because fire and..and its not that funny. Honestly, no real good reason for Ember either

Vauban - strong, tanky, defensive tech-based kit, no deeper reasons

Barbara Gordon/Oracle/Batgirl:

Nyx Prime - focus on the power of the mind, manipulates and confuses enemies before exploding a mass of psychic energy. Fits with Babs big brain

Lavos - sc ience, that's it.

Protea - defensive support, is powerful, can reverse time, something I think Babs would over-utilize which makes what happens to her...ironic and interesting

Limbo - a lot like Tim's reason, intrigue in pushing Limbo's limit and seeing what she could accomplish with his powers

After she is paralyzed she becomes “Oracle”, replacing The Lotus for the family. She guides the family through missions and helps them work on their gear.

Selina Kyle/Catwoman:

Khora Prime - dommy mommy with a cat. Has a chain whip and yeah I...yeah... - the cat is super cute tho too btw

Garuda - claws, grace in bloodshed, calculated slaughter

Valkyr - uhm....angry kitty. Yeah...I...yeah the last two were literally because of the fact that she's Catwoman.

Mirage - playful, teasing, deadly, like I said with Cass. It fits.

Ivara - fantastic potential to be used to steal shit with her wires, stealth, and pick-pocketing ability

[aleiiii]

Hi hello!! I absolutely LOVE your art and I love how you depict the monkey boysss. I remember in a past request that you stated that Na was based on a magpie (If I remember correctly) and I was wondering you said she was originally supposed to be more animal based but instead you made it more of spiritually. Now this is just a a little something my lizard brain happened to come up with but what if Na ended up somehow being turned into a magpie (not permanently but like a little magic mess up) and the monkey boys had to take care of her in this more vulnerable state? I can imagine the two boys panicking and trying their best to be gentle with her lol.

hello hello!!! ((TYSM AAAA <333 ))

This thought has been floating around in my brain for a while, so you practically read my mind anon…. Magical anon…..

In any case, they probably thought they would take Nà to a far out forest to let her explore and do her lil hiking for the week. But suddenly poof!

After they figure out it’s her, the safest thing would to take her back to FFM, just to keep her close and under their supervision. Trying to figure out how to change her back and why this could’ve happened. In the meantime, Wukong having his occasional meltdown in allowing this to happen in the first place while giving her plenty of fruits and nuts. Fun fact… Nà actually has a pet bird, SO, I would think the boys would’ve picked up the general basics in what a bird can and can’t eat and generally how to take care of them. They’re still very cautious in handling her though (monkey claws n all) , birds are quite fragile.

Finally the star of the show…..

since they would be entirely scared to handle her too much, but not wanting to leave her alone, they just shapeshift into their bird forms and accompany her like that. Many bird cuddles until she shifts back hehe

[screechingkroh]

Bro I— I LOVED chapter 9 so much holy shit it's so full of memes and references 😭 ESPECIALLY THE LESBIAN FILIPINO TITAS??? I WANT THEM TO ADOPT ME. Would die to let them have a cameo in the future tbh I like to think they'd threaten Wukong with absolutely ZERO hesitation if he ever tries to hurt Y/N's feelings bc let's be real that's how filo titas act 😭💖

ANYWAY I HOPE YOU'RE HAVING A GREAT DAY!!!

Hi! Hello!

So fun fact about Tita Mercy and her wife!

They're based on my titas in real life! So the one Tita Mercy is based off of (I'll just call her Tita Mercy because why not?) actually figured out I was uhhh not straight before I did? Which is super funny because I was always so confused when she also went "or girls or anyone else you're interested in" whenever my dating life was brought up.

Anyways-- I found out, like, a year or so after I found out I was a little fruity that she was, well, gay. And then everything made fucking sense. Like everything and I sat in my room going "MY TITA IS A LESBIAN??" and was so hyped. Uhh-- So the Lesbian Titas are definitely going to make more appearances because my Tita Mercy and her wife are comfort people for me! And I think it's only fair for Reader to have comfort people outside the main group!!

They 100% do threaten Wukong and Macaque, by the way. 100%. They also threaten Red Son when-- uh-- they find out he likes MK so HAHAHA

I do plan on posting a drawing of them! Because... Why not? Right?

ANYWAYS THIS ASK MADE ME SUPER HAPPY BC I NEVER GET TO TALK ABOUT MY TITAS!!! I LOVE THEM SO MUCH AND I WOULD FIGHT THE FUCKING UNIVERSE FOR THEM!!!

[sketching-shark]

I think we should start a protection squad (although they don’t need it because they can protect themselves) for Sun Wukong and Guanyin

“Begone monkie kid fandom trying to down grade these really interesting characters with interesting personality’s and backstory ( the both of them like seriously Guanyin backstory is so cool) to a villain wile trying to justify your angsty backstory (that are no where near as cool as monkey who fights gods and Person who has 1000 arms and heads to help people in need) for the actual villain”

So who wants to join

Me:*raises my hand*

Ps: sorry if I got Guanyin backstory wrong am not an expert on it.

Haha okay so some critiques on the jttw & associated media western fandom & fandom in general coming up, so please skip this upcoming text wall if you don't want to encounter my undoubtedly ~devastating~ words (i.e. don't like don't read as people love to say, & if I have to be inundated with images of my notp every time I go into the sun wukong tag then I imagine people can be chill with me expressing my opinions & giving people fair warning that I WILL be critiquing common fandom trends, but no need for you to see that if you don’t want to. Cool? Cool.)

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PFFFFFTTT oh man there are many times when I feel like signing up for such a protection squad...when it comes to the current western jttw & Sun Wukong fandom I do feel like I'm often swinging at a rapid pace between "well it's fandom & people are allowed to make the stories they want" & "I am once again begging my fellow monkie kid enthusiasts (& sometimes creators) to do more research into the og classic/show it more respect so you can avoid any potentially offensive/off-the-mark misunderstandings of the status & cultural context of the characters in their country of origin (I promise it's super interesting & I can provide you with links to free pdf copies of the entire Yu translation, i.e. the best one ever created, so feel free to ask!) & maybe also stop constantly stripping away all the nuance of Sun Wukong's character for the sake of either making him an entire asshole so your little meow meow can look completely innocent in comparison and/or making the monkey king's entire life & character revolve around said meow meow."

Like I get that fandom's supposed to be a kind of anything-goes environment, but one thing that honestly seems to be true of a lot of fandoms--and the western one for Sun Wukong & co. is certainly not immune from this--is that there often seems to be a kind of monoculturalization at work in what stories are created & what character interpretations are made popular. Across a multitude of fandoms, you frequently see basically nothing but the exact same tropes being made popular & even being insisted on for the canonical work (especially hasty redemption arcs & enemies to lovers these days), the exact same one-dimensional character types that characters from an original work keep getting shoved into, the exact same story beats, etc. And I get it to an extent, as fandom is generally a space where people just make art and fic for fun & without thinking too hard about it & without any pressure. 

This seems to, however, often unfortunately lead to the mentality that it’s your god-given right to do literally whatever you want with literally any cultural figure without even the slightest bit of thought put into their cultural, historical, and even religious context, even (and sometimes especially) when it comes to figures that are really important in a culture outside your own. For such figures--even if you first encounter them in a children’s cartoon--you should be a little more careful with what you do with them than you would with your usual Saturday morning line-up. It of course has to be acknowledged that there exists a whole pile of absolutely ridiculous & cursed pieces of media that are based on Journey to the West & that were produced in mainland China, but for your own education if nothing else I consider it good practice for those of us (myself certainly included) who aren’t part of the culture that produced JTTW to put more thought into how we might want to portray these characters so that at the very least (to pull some things I’ve seen from the jttw western fandom) we’re not turning a goddess of mercy into an evil figure for the sake of Angst(TM), or relegating other important literary figures into the positions of offensive stereotypes, or making broad claims about the source text & original characterizations of various figures that are blatantly untrue, or mocking heavenly deities because of what’s actually your misunderstanding of how immortality works according to Daoist beliefs. Yet while a lot of this is often due to people not even trying to understand the context these figures are coming from, I do want to acknowledge that the journey (lol reference) to understand even a fraction of the original cultural context can be a daunting one, especially since, as I’ve mentioned before, it can be really hard & even next to impossible to find good, accessible, & legitimate explanations in English of how, for example, the relationship between Sun Wukong and the Six-Eared Macaque is commonly interpreted in China & according to the Buddhist beliefs that define the original work. 

That is to say, I do think it’s an unfortunate, if unavoidable, part of any introduction of an original text into a culture foreign to its own for there to be sometimes a significant amount of misinterpretation, mistranslations, and false assumptions. There is, however, a big difference between learning from your honest mistakes, & doubling down on them while dismissing all criticism of your misinterpretation into that abstract category of “fandom drama.” The latter attitude is kind of shitty at best and horrifically entitled at worst. 

Plus, as I’ve discovered, there is a great deal of interest and joy to be drawn from keeping yourself open to learning aspects of these texts & figures that you weren’t aware of! I can say from my own experience that I’ve always really enjoyed & appreciated it when individuals on this site who come from a Chinese background--and who know much more about the cultural context of JTTW than me--have taken the time to explain its various aspects. It often leaves me feeling like woooooaaaahhhhhHHH!!!! as to how amazingly full of nuanced meaning JTTW is like dang no wonder it’s one of China’s Four Great Classical Novels. 

And I guess that right there is the heart of a lot of my own personal frustration and disappointment with the ways that fandoms often approach a literary work or other piece of media...like don’t get me wrong, a lot of the original works a fandom may grow around are just straight-up goofy & everyone’s aware of it & has fun with it, yet the trend of approaching what are often nuanced and multi-layered works in terms of how well they fit and/or can be shoved into pretty cliche ideas of Redemption Arc or Enemies to Lovers or Hero Actually Bad, Villain Actually Good etc...well, it just seems to cheapen and even erase even the possibility of understanding the wonderful complexity or even endearing simplicity that made these works so beloved in the first place. Again, I feel like I need to make it clear that I’m not saying fandom should be a space where people are constantly trying to one-up each other with their hot takes in literary analysis, but it would be nice and even beneficial to allow room for commentary that strives to approach these works in a multi-faceted way, analysis & interpretations that go against the popular fandom beliefs, & criticism of the work or even of fandom trends (yes it is in fact possible to legitimately love something but still be critical of its aspects) instead of immediately attacking people who try to engage in such as just being haters who don’t want anyone to have fun ever (X_X).   

----

Anyway, I know I didn’t cover even half of the stuff you brought up in the first place anon, but I don’t want any interested parties to this post to suffer too long through my text wall lol. I was asked to try my hand at illustrating Guanyin, but as with you I’m nowhere near as informed as I should be about her, so I want to do more research on her history and religious importance before I attempt a portrait. I’ll try my best, and do plan to pair that illustration with my own outsider’s attempt to summarize her character. From what little I do know I am in full agreement that her backstory is so incredibly amazing...just the fact that she literally eschewed the bliss of Nirvana to help all beings reach it, and even split herself into pieces in the attempt to do so (with Buddha granting her eleven heads and a thousand arms as a result)...man, I can see why she’s such a beloved & respected deity. 

----

 As for what western fandom commonly does with everyone’s favorite god-fighting primate...I can talk about this at length if there’s interest, but for this post I’ll just say that I guess one lesson from all of this is that for all the centuries that have passed since Journey to the West was first completed, literally no one drawing inspiration from the original tale in the west (lol) has come even slightly close to being able to equal or even capture half the extent of the nuance, complexity, religious, historical, and cultural aspects, and humor that define Wu Cheng'en's story of an overpowered monkey who defied even Buddha.

So thank the heavens we'll always have the original.

[night-faye]

Wukong has ZERO CHILL he is going to roast Macky into melting all that ice on him 😂 but ow, bud 😭 yes, we do indeed wonder if Wukong is throwing shade back. Could Macky have said something about Wukong screwing back to the Monk? You might be wondering "anon why are you so fixated on lines repeating" it's what they DO. Some are narrative parallels, some are Season 4 that makes you go "oh so this is why you said all that earlier that pretty much didn't show up in S3" it was coming :)

"I couldn't care less about what the LBD wants." Ugh, my guy. You know it's pointless trying to tell people that, but thanks. I will chew on every one of those lines. Also. BRO WHERE IS YOUR CHILL. Sorry I know you're a frozen salmon right now, but "the Samadhi Fire is my last hope" also Macky: *LITERALLY BREAKS THE RINGS* sir. SIR. my brother in mammal, you are quite sincerely on a ticking timer before the ice consumes you back into the grave. WHAT were you thinking??? I don't think he's thinking at all. that noggin of his is too shaken up and he's swapping plans on the fly as soon as he hears the rings are with MK. my guy, they were going to do the ritual later anyway, or well, they already started, but were you allergic to waiting to ask politely for someone to use the fire on you? eh tbf, it was better they didn't rip the fire out of Mei to put into Wukong so. can't say it's THAT bad he forced them to finish it without Wukong.

Very optimistic take on Wukong's expressions there! Could be, but he doesn't inspire much hope in that lol. I think it was him feeling guilt about keeping secrets and leaving MK back in S2. And maybe some secret ShadowPeach past that *gets dragged off stage* *claws back onto stage* Ep 10!! Parallels my beloved, *reaches out for you* Him AND Mei I- *screams over the ocean flooding on me* SPECIAL. You will know the scene when you hear it. and see it.

"Don't get in my way, kid. I don't have time for you. I'm just here for the Samadhi fire, then, I'm done with you all." 😔😔😔 it's ok, let him think the fandom even cares about the fact he seriously wants nothing to do with this or interact with the Gang on purpose ever again and has decided hunting down MK is not as fun as it was in the first two seasons. Speaking of, he technically did neither as they came to his play and he was looking at the sky in his intro, as if waiting for Wukong to show up before MK popped up instead. he was even backing up to leave.

actually new thing because our friend Macaroni really isn't right in the head. he was in a mech and all trying to take the rings? when he just destroyed the fakes thinking they were real? and would've what, left it at that until that light shone from the altar? we know he doesn't want to bring em to LBD, unless if that was a moment of weakness/confession because of Wukong, and decided "ok maybe she's my last chance if I give them to her" because HE sure can't use them alone if he removes them from the altar. so WHAT CHANGED to make him force them to finish the ritual? unless if it was another test for MK and he was not impressed with the power. "So THIS was the Monkey King's great plan?" It wasn't actually, but how curious that you think so. "How do you still not see that he has no idea what he's doing." some villains drop false statements to complain about society that the hero denies bc they were biased extremists all along. other villains drop truths based in backstory that gets confirmed by Wukong and everybody else there, including the story and it's not meant to be bashing, but rather a character trait and flaw that also has a reason and its okay, it will get better. I'm 0.0 like that meme of slow head turn wide eyes at Macky's final emotional break. he's FULLY lost it here, amazing. this is the most vicious he's ever been oof. gotta also love his shadow shark moves and YES you caught that stressed twitch in his eyebrows!! he's walking pretty slow and heavy, bc of the weight of everything with battling emotions and decisions or bc of the weight of the ice? 🤔

It is so late at night I have no thoughts to articulate, so take this

Thought I will say this bit: I took it as he knew they were fake?

Like, the way he splays them open, stares at them, and then goes "Hm" as he narrows his eyes. and then when Wukong starts talking he glances back at him and raises an eyebrow, almost like "I know him too well, and he seems way too confident for these to be the real rings"

And then of course Wukong digs in the LBD dagger, which gets Mackaroni angry, so him breaking the rings wasn't so much meant To Break The Rings, but more. They were what were in his hands when Wukong started mocking him about LBD, so he broke them to take out his frustration. both at Wukong and at the entire shit situation he's in

and then Ne'zha going "they were fake?" and wukong owning up to it is just icing on the confirmation cake at that point

[tigerseye46]

Red Sand/Shark AU

So this is an au where Sha Wujing is the one who retired and Red is his successor.

I had a lot of amazing help from my anons and others for this au and I just want to thank them for that! You all made the au 100% more awesome! So here’s the au (re-uploaded cause it wouldn’t appear on my dash):

Sha Wujing: Sha Wujing takes Wukong’s place as the teacher and retired hero of this au and is the mentor of Red Son, albeit a reluctant mentor. Sha Wujing, unlike his canon counterpart, has not calmed down and is still rage-filled due to isolating himself for centuries. He has isolated himself due to Tripitaka’s death at the hands of a demon which he believes he, Bajie and Wukong could have prevented even though the other two were nowhere near at the time. He has a strained relationship with them because of this belief. Due to the monk’s death, he started picking fights in the mortal realm with any demon and sometimes human he could. The other three tried to stop him at multiple points but he wouldn’t listen and they had no choice but to give up. Eventually he came to the conclusion that this isn’t what Tripitaka would want and decided to pick one last fight to seal the Spider Queen before retiring.

He has rarely spoken to anyone else in centuries, he is extremely closed off to people. and has a lot of rage pent up. He lives on a mountain around the city that has a small house on his mountain and it has a river. He has the basics, oven, microwave, fridge, he also has a tv. Although he doesn’t use the television as much and considers it good background noise while he’s cooking or training. He absolutely despises it when any trace of his past adventures come onto the screen due to the events that have happened. He has a bunch of training equipment around that he uses to at least better manage his rage. He also builds inventions similar to his counterpart and it is something he and Red have in common. He does love tea and cats in this au but doesn’t own any cats in the beginning. He keeps a shrine of Tripitaka in his home and talks to it at certain points, he also has Tripitaka’s old staff.

Fun fact, he didn’t even want a successor and the only reason Red became his successor is because Guanyin appeared to him a couple years before the au and told him that trouble was brewing. She knows he gave up fighting so she proposes that he find a successor and she knows the perfect candidate, Red. After watching him for a bit, he agreed with her and waited for something to happen but wasn't exactly happy at the thought of having to train someone since it meant having prolonged social interaction, especially someone that almost killed his brother even if he isn’t Wukong’s biggest fan by that point. He is rather grumpy while training Red and they clash at certain points but they do have a respect for each other. He is more blunt and honest here.

Red: Red Son is the successor of Sha Wujing and formerly the disciple of Guanyin who after noticing how far he had come decided to let him go to the city to meet new people. He arrives at the city 2-5 years before the events of the au start and keeps a human form. While they still have somewhat of a temper, it is nowhere as bad as canon. They were initially confused by the city as due to being under Guanyin’s teaching, they weren’t as exposed to technology. It wasn’t until they met Mei who showed them the ropes that they finally got the hang of things. They build inventions like their counterpart but aren’t as skilled as canon Red since they’ve only been doing this for five years tops.

Mei actually gave her a place in the beginning since they didn’t have anywhere to go since they were still new. Red refused at first but gradually gave into Mei’s persistence. They were roommates for a while while the demon figured out where they could work. They noticed Mei’s struggle with her parents and encouraged her to be open about it, resulting in her becoming happier as a person and embracing her dragon heritage. Mei introduced them to Tang and got taken in by the human. Tang gave Red a place at his shop, although he works more at the cover business since he wants some sense of normalcy but he does do things like stock supplies for the magic side sometimes.

He hasn’t told anyone who his parents are nor has he found them again and prefers to keep a low profile. He also keeps the fact that he’s a demon a secret along with his fire powers. The fire powers only show up when he’s overcome with rage but since they aren’t as rage filled as their canon counterpart, that is rare. He isn’t exactly thrilled to be someone’s successor since it meant giving up his normal life but does it to further atone for his actions.

Mei/Long Xiaojiao: Xiaojiao remains here as the descendant of the Dragon of the West and is Red’s best friend. She found Red Son wandering the city one day and allowed him to stay with them until they found a place to work so Red has actually been inside her house before. Throughout his stay, she accidentally vented about her troubles with her parents which Red helped her with and because of that, she is less insecure about her place as descendant of the Dragon of the West. From that point forth, she was more open about her problems. She also obtained the dragon blade relatively early thanks to Red and her parents’ urging.

She, like Red, works for Tang but at his magic business and spends time being Tang’s assistant. Her job is to sometimes collect ingredients and deliver if the client asks. She is more reckless here due to having the dragon blade for years and because of the amount of demons she faced. She is slightly more protective here because of Red since she thinks he doesn’t know how to expertly fight as he hasn’t revealed who he is to her yet.

MK/Qi Xiaotian: Xiaotian is the biological son of Syntax and the only human of the Spider group. After the incident when he was around 12 that resulted in his dad becoming a spider, his life was completely changed and they were taken in by Huntsman and Goliath. Learning of their plan to free the Spider Queen, Syntax offered to help, knowing from Goliath that she would protect his son. They raised him where he turned into a mix of all of them. Since he is Syntax’s son, his father made sure he got the best education and taught him many things because of this, he knows a lot about tech and sometimes uses technology based insults like his dad, the other insults he uses are the more crass ones because of Huntsman. While he knows a lot about tech, he’s bad at practical applications and ends up setting things on fire.

They know how to hunt because of Huntsman and spar with him regularly in an effort to get strong to protect their family. Since they’re the only human, they feel the need to prove themself to the Spider Queen who doesn’t really give them a thought in the beginning as she’s more concerned with returning the spider demons to their former glory. The issue of him as the only human has caused somewhat of a disconnect between him and his father.

He is rather cocky and reckless here because of Huntsman and Syntax who both have massive egos, something that was passed down to him. Although deep down he is a sweetheart thanks to Goliath. He uses the tech insults to insult his rival, Red Son and makes fun of him on a daily basis which is great because Red only slightly knows what those mean. He is still an artist here and was encouraged by his father to pursue his passion, he is also still a slight Monkey King fan because of stories he heard when he was little. While he makes fun of Huntsman for wanting to date his dad, he does want to be able to call him his stepdad one day. He has a staff given to him by his dad when he was around 15 that contains some cool things.

Sun Wukong: takes Tang’s place kinda. Actor and scholar. Sun Wukong in this au is the owner of a theatre that for the most part does JTTW plays, he is also an actor and scholar. He spent about 300-400 years in retirement before finally deciding to enter the world again and do something. He has a rivalry with Macaque since both are scholars and always have academic arguments. He remains king of Flower Fruit Mountain but mainly lives in the city now. He maintains a human form to not attract attention from demons.

Before owning the theatre, he was a big name actor (well still is) that did mostly Monkey King related stuff to honor his past adventures and family. He even directed, starred and wrote stuff for his own movies and tv shows, something he does for the theatre now. He also produced some video games. He used to bring his monkeys on the set sometimes and does that now for his theatre, people have no idea where the monkeys come from. Some joke that he’s gotten really into his role and there are those that call him the “Monkey Actor.”

He carries a good amount of guilt over Tripitaka’s death especially after what Wujing said to him and believes he doesn’t really deserve to be called a hero. He also feels bad that he couldn’t help Wujing and that the incident resulted in the demon closing off. He hides all of this under a confident attitude. He hardly uses his staff anymore but still has it. He’s had off/on contact with Zhu Bajie over the years and misses him and the rest of his family deeply. When they meet up around the time the series starts, the pig informs him that he’s found Wujing but they don’t go talk to him since they know the other doesn’t want them around. Instead, the two hang out again with Wukong absolutely dreading the idea that they’ll lose contact again. Bajie actually introduces him to the kids he sometimes babysits and they eventually begin calling Wukong “yéyé.” He met Tang when he heard a rumor about his magic business and decided to check it out, he stuck around even after finding out the human was harmless because he met Red again, he hasn’t told Red or Tang who he is.

Tang: Tang is surprise, surprise, Tripitaka’s reincarnation. He does get dreams sometimes but he writes them off as fantasies. Compared to his counterpart, he is a lot tougher than his normal counterpart and actually fights. He runs two shops with one that is a secret magic shop (mostly temporary enhancements and minor spells), he’s proficient in both hand to hand combat and magic.

He is slightly more serious in this due to running a business now but not as serious as Pigsy would be. His nerdiness is toned down here but still present. In fact when Red is working, Tang likes to bring up different stories from the past despite the fact that Red knows them already. He gave Red the apartment above the shop and has no idea that the kid he adopted is actually a demon. He is rather annoyed and angry at the fact that Red was chosen by Sha Wujing to be his successor even though he is partially a fan of the demon and totally doesn’t have a celebrity crush on him. While he isn’t aware of everything Red has gone through, he is aware that the kid has had a rough life and wants to protect him.

Zhu Bajie/Pigsy: Zhu Bajie, after years of loneliness, came out of hiding and wandered the mortal world as he needed something to occupy his time. He’s had off/on contact with Wukong throughout the years. Eventually he settled into the city where he’s known as a beloved and involved member of a small part of it. He is seen as an ‘uncle/grandpa figure’ there and is sometimes asked to watch over the kids. The kids absolutely adore him and he in turn adores them. He takes them out a lot to places and spoils the heck out of them. He actually met Wukong again when he took the kids out to see the plays at Wukong’s theatre and enjoys taking them there because he gets to see the king, he’s become a huge fan. He memorized the surrounding mountain range there and partially chose the city as there is a path that leads to Wujing, he hasn’t told Wujing he’s tracked him down. He’s just kept tabs on him, mildly happy with that since he knows his brother doesn’t want to see him.

While he retains his snarkiness here, his temper isn’t as bad here due to not being business focused since he doesn’t own one. He retains his parental instincts here since he’s a grandpa now. He has grown a lot since the JTTW days and is proud of this fact. He is on the more reasonable side of things between Wujing who is unnecessarily angry and Wukong who believes he doesn’t have the right to be considered a hero.

Macaque: Macaque in this au is retired from fighting and does not have much of a grudge against Wukong as he does in canon. Although they do have a rivalry as fellow scholars and constantly complain about each other’s theses suck. They are usually one debate away from fighting each other in the parking lot of Wukong’s theatre.

Demon Bull King: Demon Bull King takes Macaque’s spot as the one who trains and plans to take Red’s powers. After their son became Guanyin’s disciple, the two were extremely worried about their child and held resentment for Sun Wukong and his gang that continued long after the gang defeated him. Princess Iron Fan and him had a falling out that resulted in them parting ways (although still married) but they still love each other very much. DBK heard rumors floating around about someone that had become Sha Wujing’s successor and that someone matched his son’s description. Angered over the fact that his son was forced to become someone’s successor, he found a spell that would take his powers. He crafted a plan to lure his son out to do so so his son could be relieved of that pressure along with protecting him and so he could use that power to take revenge on those around them.

Princess Iron Fan: Princess Iron Fan is the main villain of the Red Sand/Shark au. Due to the loss of her son and the fall out with her husband, Princess Iron Fan has become rather desperate to get her family back and she’ll do it by any means necessary. She has kept herself hidden for years, plotting ways to bring her family together. Once she found out that Red Son became Sha Wujing’s successor, it caused her to lash out as her son was within reach but forced to be what she considered a weapon, a pawn. She took advantage of the blood oath she made, promising the twins that if they joined her, she would make people cower before them. She used them to attack on New Years in the hopes of grabbing her son and taking over the world. While that might have failed, she has other tricks up her sleeve and will make Red join her, no matter what.

Spider Queen: Spider Queen once led a powerful army that threatened to disrupt the mortal realm. She was feared by mortals and respected and loved by her subjects. This ended when she faced Sha Wujing and was actually the last demon Sha Wujing fought before he retired. He decided to seal her, citing her as a danger. Due to her containment, the various spider clans started declining as their royal line had been deposed of. Things have become desperate and it is believed that the Spider Boys are part of the last generation before they are wiped out entirely, although there may be more out there. They have decided to free the Spider Queen as her era was the last time the spiders were prosperous and believe she is the key to saving their future.

Goliath (Strong Spider): Goliath remains a total sweetheart in this au and is one of the reasons Xiaotian contains sweet qualities. He is completely supportive and encouraging of Syntax and Huntsman’s feelings for each other and wishes they would just admit it. He bakes in his spare time and gets help from Xiaotian. He is also the other’s confidant and manages to keep secrets relatively well. He does suggest that they speak about these issues but doesn’t push them.

Huntsman: Huntsman is the same here but has a more fatherly side to him as he’s helped Syntax raise MK and has actually developed feelings for the nerd spider. He taught Xiaotian to be an excellent hunter and spars with him on a regular basis. He cheers the kid on during fights unless he has to do something like go save him for a reckless endeavor. He doesn’t admit how much the kid and the others mean to him often but will slip up and admit it. He and Syntax have snarky banter with each other and have a trusting relationship that neither acknowledges.

Syntax: Syntax is the biological and single father of Xiaotian. He was a relatively hardworking and great father that taught Xiaotian to make different things, gave him the best education he could and encouraged him in art endeavors. He was turned into a spider by a horrific lab accident when his son was around twelve. Resentment, horror and terror piled up in him because of that incident. He had absolutely no idea what to do, he was a human turned spider all because of what happened, there is a possibility that no one was going to treat him the same after this, people would assume he had malicious intent and might try to separate him from his son. After that, he spent a good portion trying to return himself back to normal but no matter what he did he could not. Afraid for the safety of him and his son, Syntax began to research the spiders, learning they were almost gone but there may be some out there. He took Xiaotian with him where they bumped into Huntsman and Goliath who were trying to find ways to bring the Spider Queen back. He joined them as Goliath had assured the queen would offer them protection. Along the way, he had come to see them less as allies and more as family, not that he would admit it. He began falling in love with Huntsman after getting to know him for years and seeing deeper sides of him. When Xiaotian was around 15, he crafted a sci fi tech staff for his son which contains some tricks and traps, including a GPS that can be used for when his son is in trouble.

Yin and Jin: Yin and Jin take Spider Queen’s place here. They trapped Red in the calabash just like they did with canon MK and after that incident, they continued popping up with a variety of plans, most that have failed. Red eventually stopped taking them seriously and treated them more as nuisances than real threats. In an effort to be taken more seriously they created a partnership between them and PIF. They shook with excitement at New Years when they began to topple people around them, this died down when the plan didn’t work but they continued to listen to PIF’s instructions, little do they know she’s just using them to get her son back.

White Bone Spirit and Mayor: These two are nowhere near as dangerous as they are in canon and actually replace Yin and Jin as the comic relief although the Mayor is still slightly creepy. WBS probably has a much older host or has shapeshifted to give herself a human form. She tries to get revenge for her defeat at the hands of Sun Wukong and since Red is the closest thing she messes with him instead. She believes she is a powerful antagonist but is more of the average shape-shifting demon and the Mayor serves as her minion. They come up with schemes similar to Yin and Jin but unlike Yin and Jin don’t ever come up with a way to be taken more seriously.

[eirikrjs]

In defense of Soejima's feet

So I do kind of empathize with the idea that it’s a lot fun to mock the feet of Soejima’s Personas, but honestly, I absolutely believe that a lot of Soejima’s design decisions are informed by the technological constraints of the project he is working on. P4 was created within a relatively short timeframe on an aging console, so it makes sense for him to come up with designs that reflect that: Evolved Personas that are basically palette swaps and modeling those feet would take significantly more polygons that simply using the infamous hooves. I won’t deny that a certain aesthetic preference of Soejima’s might also factor in, but I do would like to point out that Soejima’s Persona designs in P5, P5R (Cendrillon+Vanadis, the rest were most likely done by someone else on the art team going by the handwriting on the concept art) and P5S are almost all far more detailed than the Personas from P3 and P4 - I’m sure that it’s no coincendence that the games that regularly feature Personas with lots of flowing elements like capes or dresses with intricate textures are the one on PS3, PS4 and the Switch. A large portion of these designs even has actual feet (Kidd, Goemon, Carmen, Zorro, Robin Hood, etc. …)!

I mean the fact that the lead character artist probably takes the actual modeling into consideration is most likely something that is true for Kaneko and Doi as well. Kaneko’s demon art for example got significantly more angular once the demons were primarily rendered in 3D since that is easier to replicate with fewer polygons.

I’m sorry if i’m overreacting to a silly joke, but sometimes the stuff people are bashing Soejima for feels pretty unfair. This isn’t even going into the Soejima neck joke that is mostly a P3 era thing that can also be found in some of Kaneko’s art from the early 2000s as well. Soejima’s work is certainly not above criticism, but if you want to critique him, then take his newer art into consideration as well.

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I’ll be honest, the Soejima Stubs are a thing I barely paid any attention to until I made the comparison to Doi’s Satan’s own peg legs (far right):

It’s why the feet collage exists in the first place. I’d forgotten how terrible Satan’s are, and, honestly, they’re much worse than the personas because demons are literal and thus more suited to follow naturalistic base forms (so, feet). However, the actual motive wasn’t to make fun but to point out how persona design trends have bled over into demons, and how similar Satan and others like Doi’s Odin are to personas; personas tending be visual metaphors for their host characters devoid of the cultural context that lends significance to the best of demon design.

I have to disagree that P3/4 personas don’t have feet because of technical limitations. Even the chibi PS1 FF7 models had feet. A good example of technical limitations affecting a design is Atavaka (thanks @b-reis):

The PS2 model lacks the elephant head knee decor, various sashes, the spear tassel, and it’s hard to see but the rope carried by the downward pointing right first is also absent. But what did make it through is the distilled essence of Atavaka: his body. The basic anthropomorphic form is the most important element, followed by the symbolic armaments (minus the rope, hence being secondary); the rest is mere adornment.

But unlike Atavaka (who still has feet!), Soejima’s personas were originally designed for the PS2. The team had a lot of experience with PS2 limitations by then and surely, if Soejima wanted to, the personas could have been designed with feet. But that was neither the intent nor the priority. As the original quote from him says… wait, I didn’t actually translate the whole quote, which is really why I was joking about it. So here it is, roughly translated:

コノハナサクヤにかかととつま先がないからのは、常時空中に浮いているからです。宙に浮いているキャラクターは、完全な脚があるよりも、かかととつま先がないほどがビジュアル的に映えるとの理由からです。そしてもうひとつは、この造形が自分の好みだからでもあります。

Konohana Sakuya has no heels or toes because she’s always floating. Simply, floating characters, visually speaking, don’t require them. Another reason is that this modeling is to my liking!

It just seems to be Soejima’s stylistic preference. And sure, I do get that many personas do float (esp. in P4, the context of this quote) and the absence of feet does make them otherworldly. It fits. But apparently Soejima didn’t come to that conclusion until P4 since plenty of P3 personas still have feet (and float!), yes, even comically tiny, vestigial feet:

And yes, as some others have chimed in to say but to whom I have yet neglected to reply, P5 personas have feet! But many aren’t just floating, they are either on the ground or their feet are anchored to something, in the case of Kidd or Wukong.

Being fully aware of the context always helps, but here I don’t think you need to know the new designs before you can comment on his old, as the different games follow different design motifs and presentations:

Persona 3: Lots of feet, lots of stubs/skewers

Persona 4: Mostly stubs/skewers

Persona 5: Mostly feet

Despite all of this, I still think the P4 personas’ lack of feet is kinda funny. It feels like Soejima was grasping for a unifying theme for the personas but shot wide of the mark. Like, Chie’s Tomoe has big ol’ laced-up boots and still floats.

Really, the worst for me is seeing SMT demons like Satan replicating these ideas that usually don’t belong as part of the visual language that separates them from personas. Plus, from my perspective, making fun of Persona counts as “punching up.” It’s fun/cathartic and Persona/Soejima/Meguro/Hashino will come out of it completely unscathed! Total win-win.

[zwei-the-penguin-with-a-pen]

‘Feeling’

Yang Xiao Long was beside herself with anticipation! Her favorite band was coming to Vale, and she had scored tickets from a show on the radio. Mistral's very own Smile Bomb was performing an outdoor concert in an upscale park uptown.

Yang had to find the absolute best outfit for the occasion, as she was positively in love with two of the band's members: drummer and singer Sun Wukong and guitarist Blake Belladonna. She was almost certain they were dating, or at least otherwise enamored, but she figured it would still be neat to meet them.

Meeting Sage Ayana would be a treat also. His bass guitar really embellished Smile Bomb's sultry sounds, and his spiky green hair was easy on the eyes. Lead singer Scarlet David and guitarist Neptune Vasilias rounded out her most favorite band in the world. All five of them were so dreamy, especially Blake. Something about that hair, and those kitty ears.

Yang had decided to invite Ruby. She knew Ruby wasn't as fond of their music, but Rubes would never turn down a concert. She lived for live music, and she loved snapping photographs of concerts. She was getting pretty great at it. The Daily Dust could use such a great photog, but they preferred the use of an actual camera to a Scroll.

Yang knocked on Ruby's bedroom door. The little red had just gotten back from a sparring match with Taiyang, so she'd let Ruby decompress in the shower. "Yo!" She heard from inside the door. She turned the lock slowly and pushed the wooden door open. Her sister sat on the bed in casual clothes, her hair drying off in the cool air that poured from the window. "What's up, Yang?"

"So, I know you don't like them as much as I do, buuuuut I got Smile Bomb tickets, and I figured you'd might want to come jam, too!" Yang answered, waving her two tickets in her hand. Ruby's eyes widened at the thought. She squeaked out something like a 'yes' and hugged Yang tightly. Yang grinned at her kid sister.

"Wait... is that a real camera?" Yang mentioned as she saw a full sized camera on Ruby's dresser. It looked almost like the one Velvet Scarlatina was always seen with in the Daily Dust, though it was black trimmed with red instead of brown and gold. "Check out my sister, folks, the next big thing at the Daily Dust! I bet Velvet's got nothing on you!" The blonde cheered for her sister.

Ruby blushed twenty shades of red. "Oh, shush! I bet we'll make a great team, though. I love Velvet so much!" The tiny red woman squeaked again, hardly able to contain herself.

\/\/\/\/\/

The entire park was abuzz in the moments before the concert finally kicked in around them. Yang could no longer contain her excitement. From their fast and wild songs like 'Feeling' and 'Fantastic Baby' to more driving songs like 'All to Myself' and 'Perfect', Smile Bomb impressed more and more with every jam. Yang danced and sang to each one, and Ruby snapped photo after glorious photo.

She caught up with Sun Wukong while the band was signing autographs after the show, and found out that he wasn't, in fact, with Blake. "Oh no, sweetie. I don't think Blake even likes dudes... Of course it wouldn't make much difference if she did. Not for me, I mean. I like dudes, too." The incredible drummer with the killer abs and the monkey tail told her.

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah, everyone in the band is pretty gay." He chortled at the thought.

"Well, that's awesome! I mean, I knew Scarlet and Sage were a thing. They're, like, relentlessly gay. So who are you squeezing on? Must be a lucky man!" She smiled.

"The spicy man piece with the blue hair is mine." He laughed as he pointed up the table at Neptune.

"Good job. he's cute! So, is Blake seeing anyone?" She blushed ten shades of red at the idea. Wukong laughed loudly.

"She's right there, hon! Go ask her yourself!"

Yang's heart and stomach both flipped. Could she even ask the incredible Blake Belladonna such a question without stepping all over herself?

Before she realized, she and Blake were face-to-face. "Can I help you?" Blake asked her. Wow, her speaking voice was as glorious as her singing.

"Yes, I'm gay--I MEAN YANG!" She turned ten shades of red at that. She pushed her CD of Smile Bomb's music toward Blake for her to sign. "So, are you doing anything later? Or are you guys leaving really soon?"

"I'm not sure when we're leaving... but I think I may have just made plans with a blonde-haired knockout." Blake returned. Yang had not been ready for that, turning redder and redder by the second. "Wait around for me until this signing is through, and we'll catch up." Blake winked at Yang. Oh, this could not be happening.

"YANG!" She snapped out of her daze at the sound of Ruby's voice. Her sister appeared with her camera in hand. "Check out all my great shots!!" She passed the camera to Yang, who cycled through them all.

"Yep, you're Daily Dust material, sis!" She complimented. Yang passed Ruby the CD she'd gotten the band to sign, and she squealed loudly at that. She mentioned what Blake had said, and Ruby's eyes turned to stars.

"I can't believe you hit on Blake Belladonna! You want me to split? You know, so you two can be alone?"

"You don't have to. But here's a few Lien just in case you decide we aren't good company." Yang slid her a handful of cash, and she sped off to a snack stand. Yang stretched out and waited for her dreamy cat girl to finish signing autographs.

This would be fun, whatever came of it!

\/\/\/\/\/

\/\/\/\/\/

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Day Four: Team SSSN Member

I know, it drops off before they meet, but I’ve got work soon. Sorry

Team SSSN is based on a boy band, so I imagine them performing BigBang songs. I also imagine them singing Mariana’s Trench songs, though, and Blake and Sun as band mates is an idea that came to me some time ago.