#baji lore

[baji-sideblog]

🤔 Why were Akira and Dean fighting?

Akira and Dean

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚˚ʚ♡ɞ˚˚ʚ♡ɞ˚˚ʚ♡ɞ˚˚ʚ♡ɞ˚˚ʚ♡ɞ˚˚ʚ♡ɞ˚˚ʚ♡ɞ˚˚ʚ♡ɞ˚

Akira in modern times runs a notorious mob from the shadows. It’s something he runs with an iron fist in hopes of finding the other remaining vampires to kill them, and go keep himself high in power and protected.

Even though he’s quite powerful on his own he can still be killed so having a lot of minions and people in debt to you helps a lot.

Dean works as a police officer so he was on the case as a rookie cop due to his size and strength. He went to investigate a lead he found only to find Akira himself with his protege. The lead was a trap.

“Ok now watch me close Elijah. Heres how’s you’ll learn how to take down any giant.”

That’s when the fight proceeded to take place and since Dean didn’t die right away and could still fight him, Akira deemed him a useful tool.

So basically Akira was fighting Dean to educate his protege his adopted son on how to fight giants in a safe environment.

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚˚ʚ♡ɞ˚˚ʚ♡ɞ˚˚ʚ♡ɞ˚˚ʚ♡ɞ˚˚ʚ♡ɞ˚˚ʚ♡ɞ˚˚ʚ♡ɞ˚˚ʚ♡ɞ˚

[baji-sideblog]

UGH VEEEE!!

This is so cute and it’s so sweet seeing you do a ref sheet like mine. And look at their true form I wanna boop their nose! Mandus gonna have another shapeshifter around to relax around.

And as for world building it’s pretty good and can fit into their world rather nicely.

Shapeshifters can either be really good at shapeshifting taking any form they desire, mimic a few features, or struggle entirely to even make a more human form and just still to their original form.

It’s a skill they have to work on growing and develop. Usually they start off mimicking things and then the big test is to see if they can make themselves a human form and keep that up for day to day use. Those who practice a lot tend to be the shapeshifters that can copy a whole other person and switch between looks fast.

Shapeshifters were made by the moon god as a way to sneak into places his brother’s creations lived and to start chaos. He gave their true form thick claws and arms, long horns, and a whip like tail to help them fight if they ever got caught. Before when the races of the moon and the races of the sun were constantly fighting they used to use their shapeshifting abilities all the time.

But as time went on and things got peaceful especially when the godly brothers calmed down and got over their issues things changed. There wasn’t a need to constantly use their abilities so some just didn’t it’s why nowadays some shapeshifters barely well shapeshift it’s not needed in a time of peace.

That’s not to say you shouldn’t question some things, not all is what it seems in this world. When love comes from and linked to a god who has a twisted idea of it is, be careful who you may talk to you never know if you’re sealing your fate. Especially when they can take on many faces.

Bailey's Design for the nightshift gang universe by @baji-sideblog

I'm so extra for replicating the ref sheet but its fun! also an excuse for me to draw there monster form :3

small lore stuff for him under the cut

Bailey is a shapeshifter! (buffalo demon to be specific)

though he has his powers through a different context of the world building for the Nightshift gang I think it can still fit ... maybe

he mostly changes into different animals, though he can mimic peoples features, but not fully turn into someone else

Its mostly personal preference , keeping another humans form is difficult for him and the origins of his powers being more compatible with animals

though his actual beast\monster form is a semi based on a water buffalo, they very heavily dislike it due to a stigma in his family finding the origins of these powers disgusting

so he is not really good at controlling his shifts and often times will get the better of him when he's highly emotional

[zamypachi]

The chaos that’s able to ensue

Ittw belongs to @skittlescripts

[violetvirus]

my cyberpunk spin on jttw☆

next is ao lie and nezha...

[appreciatingtokrev]

can we just talk about baji & chifuyu for a second, please?

because i noticed something. essentially, baji dies to protect his friends, yes, but because he decided to do everything on his own, and not tell anyone. this is something chifuyu knows. to the core. more than anyone else, perhaps.

and you know what chifuyu keeps on doing? doing things all by himself, refusing to ask for help, and not even telling anyone what he’s doing. the same exact thing that led to baji’s death. which he knows.

idk. it makes me think. especially because he also dies because of it. in the future at the end of the anime. he dies in the same way baji dies, trying to solve the problem by himself, in private, and saving everyone on his own. and just like baji, he fails with that, but doesn’t end up mattering. because neither him nor baji managed to kill kisaki, but both of them set a baseline for takemichi to keep working on.

i think it’s a nice, though also pretty tragic parallel. (even though chifuyu doesn’t even really die, and, yk, the last few tr chapters. but i like to ignore those and keep the character development) still, what i think about most, is why. honestly, no matter how you see baji’s & chifuyu’s relationship, you’ve got to admit that they were pretty close, that chifuyu cares about baji a lot, and that he loves him very much (platonically, romantically, queerplatonically, whatever, take your pick). and baji’s death affected him deeply. so why? why would he, the one who knows best what essentially caused baji’s death, and who will never forget why he died, i’m sure, do the exact same things that led to baji’s death, just twelve years later?

i think it’s very in character for him, actually (generally i think that his character is one of the most consistent throughout the whole manga) but i’ve been stuck on why i think that for a while. because, technically, it’s stupid. and he knows that. he knows that trying to kill kisaki on your own will (most probably) lead to your death. and he still tries.

then i remembered this part from the spin-off: chifuyu really wants to join toman (because of baji) and baji is pissed off at him following him everywhere because of it. one day they meet on some random street, and baji decides to punch him once, so chifuyu finally leaves. he doesn't. baji starts beating him up. then, chifuyu starts talking about how his father died when he was a little kid, and how he died a heroic death, by saving a little girl, a stranger, from getting hit by a truck. and then he drops this:

and, damn, he really commited to the bit in that future. he literally died right in front of takemichi. before takemichi. hoping that someone, anyone will come to save him. and kazutora actually did, but he didn’t know that. he just hoped.

the sad thing is that at that time, in his eyes, it wasn’t even a heroic death. in his eyes, he failed. everything. he failed to stop kisaki, he failed to kill kisaki, he failed to save takemichi. so i kind of hope that he remembers the timeline, and realises that he did, in fact, die the heroic death he felt the need to accomplish because of his father.

anyways, now i think it makes sense that he did all those same things baji did. he wanted to protect people, he wanted to save them, and he wanted to do it on his own because he’s a stubborn little idiot and didn’t want to put anyone else in danger by asking for help. so really, it’s just a tragic parallel, but i’m convinced that chifuyu knew the whole time that what he was doing was so similar to what led to baji’s death, and that it made him feel very uneasy at times. he just ignored it.

i think chifuyu’s ability to commit to promises is astonishing. i mean, i’m fascinated enough by the fact that he keeps the hairstyle baji ‘gave’ him when he was twelve in all of the timelines, without fail. but the fact that he truly dies his heroic death... the chifuyu in that timeline might just be my favorite, to be honest. he throws all of his dreams away for promises he made when he was a kid. and he actually succeeds, even though he isn’t there to realise it in said timeline. which makes it all the more tragic.

conclusion: chifuyu is incredibly strong-willed, and holds onto promises for infinity, even if you might not notice without a little digging. and he’s very commited to those promises, too, willing to throw away the nice life he could’ve had when not trying to keep them. that’s why he keeps on doing what essentially killed baji, he wants to protect his loved ones and keep promises he’s made years ago.

[akystaracer22]

Yes I was 1 hour late but in my defence I had reference sheets to post. This chapter contains a few contents from our beloved JTTW, which I can confidently say that @celticdoggo and I basically ripped the book to shreds picking out which parts of what stories stay, and what does not. There's also backstories! You all get to see how each member of our beloved pilgrims in Jade Furnace found themselves on the pilgrimage- well... almost all of them.

As always, comments, kudos, bookmarks, and other forms of support is greatly appreciated, and we're more than happy to look at anything we see!

[moonyheartache]

There was a chapter in JTTW where the group came across the Valley of Women or something along the lines. There's a village of only women and their way of getting pregnant is by drinking the magic river next to the village. When the group got there Baijie and Tripitaka drank the water not knowing about its properties. Literally a Mpreg chapter in the book.

Yah Yah I searched it on Mr.Google but I also found out that in the 2018 Movie they actually wanted to keep the babies but Sun Wukong forced them to drink the abortive water anyways and that's twenty different shades of fucked up

[angstandhappiness]

NEAT NEAT NEAT

Back at Huaguo Shan

[dunanana]

Birdie outfits/lore!

Heaven's songbird: Birdie's design during her imprisonment in the heavens, I made it more so it looks like she's more eye candy and mainly emphasizes her tails. She was born from a flaming egg in a far off island, frolicking among nature and generous with her miracles, she had no human form back then. It wasn't until she revived someone one day that heaven took notice of her, the immortals from the underworld submitted a complaint to the jade emperor and in return he had captured the bird with a golden rope and gifted her to the empress. She would use birdie's miracles whenever she wants (when birdie is noncompliant, more forceful means were used) running out of miracles were no problem since they could let her sleep and what is time for immortals?

She grew strong enough to attain human form eventually, still she longed to be free once more. That wish was then granted by drunk wukong rampaging thru the heavens and stealing her away to flower fruit mountain.

JTTW to Black Myth Wukong: Her stay in flower fruit mountain was short and sweet bonding with the monkeys and celebrating with Wukong but when Erlang came to take Wukong, she fled. She was afraid of being captured again and seeing her protector defeated and with her no fighting experience she had no choice. She found refuge in one of Erlang's temple that was abandoned and asked for protection when Erlang eventually found her. Erlang sympathized with birdie's plight, agreed to protect her from heaven's eyes in exchange for restoring the temple she's residing in now. After finding out about Wukong's imprisonment from him after a time, she decided to journey often to the mountain to feed Wukong peaches and other fruits and keeping him company while she does her tasks and this went on till Guanyin came by to inform Wukong of the journey. Birdie immediately volunteered to help come with them, when asked why birdie only said "To ask for my freedom" and Guanyin agreed. And of they go. At the end of the journey, she tried to confess her long held feelings but with Wukong so far in enlightenment, cannot return her feelings and ascended. Heartbroken but free, she took to travelling and after many years, came back to flower fruit mountain to settle. And to her surprise Wukong came back to live amongst them and Birdie felt her feelings come back like they never left. She could be happy just loving him from afar. It was peaceful till the events of black myth wukong then took place. She was in the mountain helping the remaining monkeys escape the slaughter and did not get to be in the final battle. Devastated, she mourned and vowed to help him and the other destined ones to revive him. But in time after witnessing failures after failure of destined ones, chose to give up before the current Destined One with Bajie needed her help once again. Will this time be different?

________ Post Game/Happy End?: This is her as the Queen of Flower Fruit Mountain as a happy ending 🤭❤️ I haven't really gotten to what happens here but this is a very what if scenario i thought I should draw.

Miscellaneous Outfits: Modern AU!

Formal phoenix outfit? 👀

THANK YOU FOR READING THIS FAR! I hope you like her and feel free to ask questions if you'd like ❤️

[sanflawoah]

Black Myth: Wukong ramblings because I'M GOING INSANE.

FOUR YEARS. I. DID. MY. WAITING. WOULD VERY MUCH LIKE TO EXPRESS MANY THOUGHTS ABOUT THIS GAME.

(Lengthy words and massive spoilers below!)

First minutes into the game I was all chill expecting the opening to be a long prologue cutscene about JTTW, explaining core things you need to understand, a helpful guide for those unfamiliar with the lore beforehand. But NOOOOO....we jump straight ahead fighting ERLANG SHEN AND THE FOUR HEAVENLY KINGS. We're WIDE AWAKE.

About gameplay, the devs stated repeatedly that it's not a souls-like game, and more like a God of War ish. Yet so many still questions whether it's a souls-like and then went into the game just to say "meh not souls-like". Amazing density of head.

I really don't demand much for whatever mechanic they serve, I'm really just here for the monkey smash experience and the childhood nostalgia and the fresh aesthetics.

The character design?? The environment?? The architecture?? The statues?? Soooo beautiful oh my god you really need to stop and admire these things (when you don't have a boss shredding you) up close. Look up their inspirations and concept arts, some statues and buildings exist in real life and it's really mind boggling how they incorporate it into the story. The part where you fight with Yellowbrow at Thunderclap temple, what a creative choice, the idea of "miniature fight" on the temple altar. I'm farming so many screenshots for art references. 10/10 visuals, graphics will definitely fry your PC.

Again with the character designs. I'm really loving the absurd looking bosses one, really fresh take. Then to the celestials and yaoguais, I just..... OH they're ALL hella gorgeous. I've seen some people going "WOULD" towards Wukong or The Destined One and I don't blame you. I've had my fair share of neuron activation moment.

Erlang yoo, I was stunned at first with the way they present his personality during the opening, but turns out we got the reason for it near the ending :"(((. He was helping us all along ughsjsjsjsksdsd. Also, they know EXACTLY what they're doing by casting Andrew Koji as the english VA.

White Clad Noble? Half snake man hissing at you to get off his lawn. I feel kinda bad for him lmao, dude was just minding his business and we go monkey smash all over his place.

Keeper of Flaming Mountain? Neat hat and cool makeup bro, awesome yin yang palette and battle area design. BANGER THEME I'll get to it.

The Third Prince in Pagoda realm prison, why does he looks so good, you encounter this guy in his cell just suffering, and somehow he's still serving looks.

The girlies damn, the spider sisters are gorgeous, and YES even madam violet spider, come look at spider granny serving fashion and arachnophobia.

At first I was scared that they're going to sexualise the hell out of the spider sisters or any of the female characters, since the book itself tells their trait as luring men with their beauty (to be eaten though). But actually?? They're a lot tamer than I expected? I mentally prepared myself for the worst, like racy sexualised outfit and personality, but turns out they're all very normal. Like how you would see Tang dynasty inspired ladies. I braced for GTA or cyberpunk-like explicitness but thank god it's not the case, not at all.

Rakshasi and Pingping having the relatively "sexy" look, but then both of them had a moment where they're not actually their real selves, but rather a transformation of Zhu Bajie and Red Boy LMAO. Funny boner killer.

Talk about this boi, our Destined One. To be honest I was kinda disappointed when I found out he doesn't speak at all. Banters, insults, cackles, anything you would expect a Wukong-like personality, he doesn't have it.

I tried to think of a reason, and I think the dev's choice of making The Destined One silent kinda has a root to it. Our MC is NOT the Wukong himself, we are literally just some monke, and we're tasked to gather the six relics Wukong had scattered by retracing his journey. Also, I think it's a funny thought that probably it's just their personality difference, Wukong the loud, Destined One the quiet. Wukong sometimes does chaos for shits and giggles, our Destined One does chaos because we have to.

My theory: our Destined One is just non-verbal! Zhu Bajie even acknowledged it. When we first met him after defeating Kang-Jin Loong, he bantered "A furry coat and a pinched face, luck's all you've got", and he looked confused when we don't say anything back because Wukong would've returned the favour, "Great, another mute. Let's not dally". So the game actually acknowledges it, it's not like they intentionally muted us and have the NPCs acting as if we talk back to them all the time.

Non-verbal and asexual coded? I'll take it.

THE ANIMATED CUTSCENES??? OH MY GODDD. Impossible to put ALL the epic frames here. I really don't expect this from a game at all, real time cutscenes are great, but a WHOLE 2D AND STOP MOTION ANIMATED SCENE?? No wonder the full development took SIX years. You could pause the scenes at any frame and it's worthy of analysis.

The stop motion one really surprised me, how are they that dedicated. The plot as well, it started out romantic and escalated into HORROR real quick. Batshit insane, love it.

For many players, the animated cutscenes may be confusing on the first watch. So many references to JTTW, metaphors, mix of Chinese Taoism and Buddhism. I personally encourage people to look around in forums for explanations, plenty of the Chinese words are untranslatable into English, but it's all so worth the knowledge.

Enjoying the JTTW shows and contents as a child is all about the fun and giggles, understanding the lesson of it all as an adult hits me like bricks, especially with the way they're adapted in this game.

I CRIED?? A LOT??? Of all characters I could cry for, ZHU BAJIE?? Man is literally a nasty pervert in the book, living to the pig form indeed, but in this game he's a bit better. Sure he's still his natural pervert self, but since the game took place after JTTW, he surely had some character development. His animated love story cutscene, loorddd they have no business making it so full of freshly diced onions.

Love how each character in animations have different styles. Erlang's design in particular are different in each scenes. Most of the time he has dark hair, in others he has white hair and different armor, same goes for Wukong's design. I'd imagine the devs struggled to choose for one consistent design and decided to just fuck it and put them all in lmao.

And then THE SOUNDTRACKS, THE SOUNDTRACKS YALL. Love love love it when they incorporate buddhist prayer chants flawlessly into the soundrack. The soundtrack during the chapter one ending animation caught my attention with it, I asked around what mantra is it and they say it's probably Cundi Dharani? Please correct me if I'm wrong. The track is called "I See" in the official playlist. The lyrics too, my god, the way they narate the animations.

During the fight with Keeper of Flaming Mountains, IS THE SOUNDTRACK A RENDITION OF "FISHERMAN'S SONG AT DUSK"? IS IT? Losing my mind because it's my favourite chinese traditional piece. Half expected him to pull out a guzheng and blast me with phantom blade from the strings, IYKYK.

And of course, a new rendition of the classic JTTW theme. This will be my neighbour's favourite music for a while.

Some tidbits I like, apparently if you're idle for a while and Zhu Bajie is with you, sometimes he'll start to talk about past stories or lectures you. If you push him around for a few times he'll get annoyed, if you keep pushing him then he'll struck you with his rake lmaoooo. Perhaps we weren't so different from Wukong after all.

Another insane stuff is the headless singing guy. GoW has a talking disembodied head, now BMW has a HEADLESS singing man, literally a reverse Mimir.

The rematch with The Four Heavenly Kings YOOOOO I love their design so much. They look like statues from temples jumping straight to life. The stances! Throwing hands with them is the true Monke of War experience. The East King with his Pipa literally playing the background music, excellent touch.

This has been an insane scroll of yappings, I'll stop here (for now) and take a moment to touch grass. If you've been reading ALL THE WAY to this line, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to harm your braincells.

[chorllosbook]

Playing horror games with them while on call

Mikey,draken,baji,Chifuyu.ran,rindou,izana

(I’m so sorry if they are out of character I tried ok😭)

-mikey

This man is so confusing you don’t know if he is screaming inside or just doesn’t care😭

Would blame his deaths on you or the internet

Would keep on dying like he is so bad at the game😔

Would hide behind you the whole time💀

Would rage quit eventually…

Would make you stop and wait for him when he is having a “little” food break.

-draken

He would mutter “creepy” under his breath💀

Would pretty much break the keyboard every time he dies.

He’s ok…at the game

would always go in front of you.

If you died he would bully your dead body like “the fuck wrong with your ass”😭

-baji

His loud ass screams at EVERYTHING like tf😭

Would have a big ass bible on stand by💀

If the game has story line he is skipping it all even if you want to read it

Would laugh manically if you die😔

He is not waiting for you man you wish but it’s not like he really knows what to do anyways…

Beats the shit outta his computer💀

Makes you read out all the secret notes and shit.

-Chifyuyu

While your on call while playing all you hear is him aggressively slurping ramen😭

Bro reads all the lore and bitch takes his time to

If you die he will tea bag your dead body

When he dies he pretty chill 😌

Would die when peke J jumps on his keybored

He would scream for you to help him when he’s on the verge of death

-ran

Would flirt with the ghost like until you hang up💀

Would always make you die💀

He would also like chifyuyu tea bag your dead body

When he dies he is quite about it hoping you don’t notice…

This man would fall out of his chair when he gets jump scared though

Laughs so loud when you die that rindou has to tell him to shut the fuck up💀

-Rindou

Man Is like scary good at the game💀

He would make you follow him everywhere😒

He laughs just a bit when you die😅

He groans so loud when he dies man is pissed💀

Bro swears he’s not scared but you hear his chair jumping up every signal jump scare

-izana

You can’t tell if he’s scared or not💀

Man is cracked at the game😭

He would make you get things for him somtimes

He would try to protect you😌

When you die he just leaves your dead body😭

He smirks so cheekily when you scream from being jump scared💀

If your fav character isn’t in here I’m sorry I will do a part 2 soon pookie wookies😊

[baji-sideblog]

How do genetics work ? Like can there be mixed species? Like a demon/shape shifter combined or is one more dominant then the other

Genetic time!!

𖥔 ࣪ ᥫ᭡ꗃ⋆࣪. 𖥔 ࣪ ᥫ᭡ꗃ⋆࣪. 𖥔 ࣪ ᥫ᭡ꗃ⋆࣪. 𖥔 ࣪ ᥫ᭡ꗃ⋆࣪. 𖥔 ࣪ ᥫ᭡ꗃ⋆࣪. 𖥔 ࣪ ᥫ᭡ꗃ⋆࣪.

Yes there can be mixed species! It’s actually quite common typically it would be like an equal split between the parents genetics.

Though of course some kids just take after one parent more than the other. Like they can have more demon traits for example then shapeshifter traits. While their sibling can have more shapeshifters traits then demon.

(With mixed shapeshifters they are limited in their transformations sometimes cause somethings from their other parent can’t be hidden well. But with enough practice they can get better at it.)

The only exception are mix species where one parent is either a human/slime. Humans and slimes were made by Dio to balance out everyone else’s creations and as such their genetics can deluded some of the other races traits, give them a random trait they wouldn’t originally have, or just look like a plain mix.

𖥔 ࣪ ᥫ᭡ꗃ⋆࣪. 𖥔 ࣪ ᥫ᭡ꗃ⋆࣪. 𖥔 ࣪ ᥫ᭡ꗃ⋆࣪. 𖥔 ࣪ ᥫ᭡ꗃ⋆࣪. 𖥔 ࣪ ᥫ᭡ꗃ⋆࣪. 𖥔 ࣪ ᥫ᭡ꗃ⋆࣪.

Here’s a little doodle of all the races that aren’t made by Dio.

I will be now drawing some mixed ones for fun later

𖥔 ࣪ ᥫ᭡ꗃ⋆࣪. 𖥔 ࣪ ᥫ᭡ꗃ⋆࣪. 𖥔 ࣪ ᥫ᭡ꗃ⋆࣪. 𖥔 ࣪ ᥫ᭡ꗃ⋆࣪. 𖥔 ࣪ ᥫ᭡ꗃ⋆࣪. 𖥔 ࣪ ᥫ᭡ꗃ⋆࣪.

[somewhat-insane]

Can we get some general jealous headcanons for Sun Wukong, Macaque and the Nine headed demon? Pretty please?

OH MY GOSH ABSOLUTELY I LOVE THEM AND I LOVE WRITING THEM JEALOUS (even if I suck at it, we're not going to talk about that)

I try my best to balance fluff and stuff with more realistic traits like the more toxic aspects and stuff, and that might not be everyone's cup of tea. With a subject like jealousy it tends to skew more towards angsty traits because all three of these men have issues.

Per usual, I'm sorry if I go off request, I can not focus while writing for the life of me and I always get sidetracked. I'm working on it though. That's part of the reason this took so long- I had to keep deleting and rewriting everything because it didn't fit the theme-

~*Jealousy SWK, SEM, NHD*~

~Sun Wukong~

Surprisingly the least jealous of the three... on the surface, at least

Separation anxiety; he's a monkey so physical affection is really important for him

Poor clingy insecure whiner boy :(

Loves having his arms around you; will carry you if you let him

doesn't like sleeping without you close and if he wakes up and you're not there he's 100% panicking. Safe to say it will take a lot of convincing to let you leave his sight that day

He doesn't really mind much if other people flirt with you, he trusts you and doubts a couple of pickup lines from a friend or coworker or whatever will be enough to take you from him, he traveled with Zhu Bajie during the journey after all, he's used to watching people flirt and nothing come out of it

He uses disassociation as a coping mechanism so he doesn't get super upset if your attention isn't on him 24/7 because he's usually thinking about something else anyway, but in the times when he is present, he'll shut down and be pretty sad if you don't give him attention

He's a bit more... intense when it comes to physical contact though

In the case that you're touching someone else, hugging them, or patting them on the back or whatever, he'll get all pouty and won't stop looking at you like a pathetic wet cat until you give him attention instead

If someone touches you though he'll death glare them

Not afraid to show he's jealous

He wants you to know that he wants you by his side exclusively

If anything he's afraid of not showing you enough

Constantly trying to walk the line between "not being too controlling" but also "not seeming like he doesn't care"

On one hand, everything he's learned from his master tells him to take a step back and let things happen as they will, but on the other hand, he's tired of losing the people he cares about, ESPECIALLY when there are times he could've prevented it

Really just wants to be good for you

Hates the idea that there's someone out there who's better for you than him, but knows letting you leave would be the right thing to do (even if he cries about it)

~Six-Eared Macaque~

Kinda possessive and controlling but is doing his best to improve for you

Unlike Wukong who will sometimes be affectionate with the rest of the crew, Macaque only really trusts you, and sometimes Mk (Mk's a bit too loud and energetic for him most of the time though)

Abandonment issues incarnate (though he usually displays this by pushing people away before they can leave him... just expect a lot of silent treatments from him)

Wraps his tail around your wrist or ankle to assure himself you're close. He'll wrap his tail around your waist if he's feeling particularly possessive

Prefers to have you close by but doesn't rely on physical affection as much as Wukong

Likes being in the same room as you while you both do your own things

Wants to be the first person you tell any big news to (though knowing him he already knows from slinking through the shadows...)

People flirting with you ticks him off

How could anyone else think they deserve you? (This may or may not be him deflecting his own thoughts about how he doesn't deserve you onto other people)

He loves listening to you ramble or lore dump but he'll get all tense and cagey if you start talking about something you did with someone else

Doesn't mind if your attention is on something else, but does get kinda upset when your attention is on someone else

Feels the need to one-up anyone you say anything positive about

You liked the waiter's dress at that restaurant you went to? Macaque's showing up in an even better dress the next day

Will not hesitate to bad-mouth someone he's jealous of

Sees anyone touching you as a threat and he immediately feels like he needs to protect you

Sees you touching anyone else as him not being good enough and will either close himself off for a few days or obsess over being perfect for you

Afraid to show he's jealous

Has to keep his aloof demeanor or you'll think he cares too much and you'll leave :(

Still kinda believes power and manipulation are the best way to get what you want but is working on more healthy ideals like "communicating his thoughts" and "not sending people to the shadow realm whenever they get too close to you"

Doesn't want to hurt or scare you but he will fight to keep you by his side

He'll eventually relent if you really want to leave though, I don't think he would be able to handle trapping you with him if it's not what you want

~Nine-Headed Demon~

Pretty possessive and controlling and doesn't really plan on changing

Superiority complex

Has decided you're his and if you think otherwise you're just confused

The most manipulative on the list

I'm not entirely sure where to begin with his issues but there's definitely some insecurity

Gives you the illusion of choice and freedom

"You can choose whatever you want as long as you always choose me and no one else :)"

He knows he's better than everyone else but he's afraid of you not seeing that

Even if he's not the most affectionate person, he'll definitely get upset if anyone gets too affectionate with you or vice versa

Needs to know where you are 24/7 or he goes on a rampage in his full dragon form

Kinda the Mother Gothel of partners

If you tell him he's being too overbearing he'll get offended and try and convince you he's just doing what's best for you

He does genuinely think he's doing what's best for you

The only way he would ever change is if he failed to reach the chaos, but that's a story for another time

He refuses to admit to being jealous and instead insists he's just keeping you safe

I don't even think he knows he's jealous

~

Despite how much I adore NHD's design, I am incapable of writing him as a healthy partner-

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it! Thoughts are appreciated. I'm sorry NHD's was so short writing for Wukong and Mac is just a lot easier since we have multiple seasons worth of content with them.

[zamypachi]

The long awaited part 2. Now reader has given the pilgrims another reasons to argue amongst themselves.

Also a nice contribution to the Five Nights at Freddy’s movie. I watched it with my sister on opening day and I LOVE IT!! Definitely a great cinematic experience for long time fans of the franchise. School has been meddling with my drawing so I wasn’t able to finish some of my drawings. But more is yet to be posted. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll watching FNAF for the 100th time.

ITTW belongs to @skittlescripts

[quitealotofsodapop]

Tangzi, when he and Pigsy adopt MK, know exactly what he's doing in the tiger au. He knows this is someone just like his uncle/big brother Wukong and he looks forward to the day Wukong returns to claim him as a student and also because Wukong been isolating himself for way too long ever since sealing uncle DBK in a depressive episode. It's why he tells MK so many Monkey King stories (also be ause he legit thinks his uncle is the coolest ever)

Prev.

Tangzi (or just "Tang" to his friends) recognises what the "weird muddy kid" in Pigsy's restaurant actually is the moment he sees the little guy.

Him and Pigsy (one of Bajie's many many grandkids), have been dear friends for as long as they could remember. Although Pigsy is farther removed from the lore of Journey to the West than Tang is, he accepts that "weird nonsense" will happen to him at some point or other in his life.

He calmly (as much as he can without shaking with excitement) explains to his dear Piggy that the "human toddler" is in fact; a very rare baby stone monkey demon with a glamour spell on it. Pigsy is confused, but rolls with it since it's an already odd situation - he just wants to make sure that the little guy is safe.

Over the course of the chaotic reports to CPS and checking police records for any missing kids, a pair of childhood friends slowly begin to realise not only feelings for one another, but also that little MK (short for "mystery kid" as Pigsy called him at first)/Xiaotian needs a home that will understand his unique situation...

A call is made to Tang's mother to inform him of the situation...

Tang, astral projecting: "Hi mom!" Tripitaka, meditating with Guanyin: "Oh! Tangzi! It's been some time since you've made contact. How is the outside world?" Tang, obviously nervous: "FINE! Uh... I mean... something happened at Pigsy's place. Nothing bad. Just uh... let me just get him. It's easier to explain." (*pops out of focus to get something*) Tripitaka, tired sigh: "Merciful Buddha. I've told you, that boy gets himself into all sorts of trouble. He's nearly as bad as his-" Tang: (*holds up a baby monkey demon so they appear in the projection*) Tang, awkward smile: "TA-DA!" (*Nearly a full minute of silence ensues as both Tripitaka and Guanyin watch the baby monkey demon clinging to Tang's fur*) Tripitaka, stunned: "...what?" Tang, getting pawed at by the baby: "So uh-! This little guy was found wandering outside the restaurant - in a human glamour by the way - and he is definitely a... special case I would say!" Tripitaka. trying to regain composure: "Although uncommon in this day and age, street children still tragically do occur. This child should be turned over to the authorities, and if luck provided; a next of kin. I trust that you've made the appropriate calls." Tang, nervously tugs at scarf: "Yeaaaah, about that... me and Pigsy have decided to keep him." Tripitaka: "What!? You're but a young man yourself! To take on the responsibility of a child is no light commitment!" Tang: "Trust me. He made it an easy decision." Baby Monkey: (*reaches out towards the two Bodhisattvas*) Guanyin, realising: "He can see us." Tripitaka, waves to the baby: "Hmm? Well, that is nice. Hello dear. but it doesn't explain why my youngest child has- wait." (*Tang slowly lifts a tuff of hair on the baby monkeys' forehead, revealing glowing golden eyes amidst a familiar-shaped face marking*) Tang: "He's... like eldest brother Wukong." Tripitaka, squeaks: "What?" Wukong: (*phases in with his own projection. A delighted cheeky grin on his face.*) Wukong: "Yup! He's a genuine Stone-Egg-born Monkey! I checked on him and around the island, and it looks like the little guy popped right out of a fragment of my old rock! How he got to the city, I'll never know. Probably sneezed so hard that he launched himself across the sea and into a different form!" Tang: "And now he's going to be part of the family! Me and Pigsy have been sorting out the legal stuff. Say hi Xiaotian!" Baby Monkey: (*happy burbling baby sounds!*) Tripitaka: "...OOOoooooohh!" (*dramatically faints*) Tang: "Oops... is he ok auntie?" Guanyin, catching Tripitaka as he fell: "All is calm, Tangzi. Your mother is merely overwhelmed by the prospect of being a grandparent to a Celestial Stone Monkey." Wukong, laughing: "I'm more shocked that it's his first grandchild!"

Sun Wukong had been the first person Tang contacted, obviously. Wukong had panicked and flipped - turning the island upside down to try and figure out how the baby monkey happened.

But the cheeky monkey didn't want to pass up on seeing his master's/adoptive father's reaction to learning about the new baby in the family. >:3

He can't wait to see the look on the Brotherhood's faces when they learn. It'd be a good reason to finally reunite the old gang after the fallout of DBK's imprisonment.

[szynkaaa]

BMW Journal Entries: The Three Tigers

Let's talk about the lore surrounding the three tigers from chapter 2! Bit of a sad story

Part 1 is about the monkeys from Mount HuaguoPart 2 is about Sun Wukong's armor pieces (and insight on his personality)

In chapter 2 of Black Myth Wukong, you can fight in total of three tigers, and what dya know their lore is connected too!

"Tiger Vanguard"

Unlocked by finding the Secret Location in chapter 2. He is the father of both Mad Tiger and Tiger Vanguard

He shows up in the original JTTW novel, and is the Yellow Wind Sage's vanguard.

His two sons are not mentioned in the original novel, but mentioned in the BMW journal entries

The guard rushed in to report. Out came two tiger cubs who hailed the vanguard as their father and made their courtesies. The older cub asked, "Where did you find this pale-faced monk?" The vanguard laughed. "A stroke of luck! I was patrolling the mountain and chanced upon him." The younger cub, overjoyed, said: "Well done, Father! Teach me how you did it someday." [...] The two young tigers followed their father out. The elder muttered, "Master has always devoured mortals without a second thought. There should be something he left unsaid." The younger added: "He seems almost… afraid of that mortal." Their father snapped: "You know nothing of the powers of our master! Long seasons have I served him. How could he shrink before any other?" The brothers exchanged glances but said no more. Scarcely half a day had passed when the master sent for them again. It was Sun Wukong challenging upon their gate. The Tiger Vanguard requested to face him, but the master demurred, "I fear you cannot prevail against him. You may well be wounded, and you must not then impute blame unto me." The vanguard's sons urged him to reconsider, but he paid them no heed. "Rest assured, you! Wait only until I return!"

Spoiler alert, he never returned cause Zhu Bajie killed him

In the secret location, we do not "kill" him after the battle, he accepts your strength and then allows you to go see the his master, the Yellow Wind Sage

Tiger Vanguard

the elder of the two tiger cubs. His father was the "Tiger Vanguard"

had to fend for themselves after their father died

Were in charge of other lesser yaoguai and looked out for them, their father taught them how to survive

managed to govern the yaoguai, things looked good. The mortals were happy about it and built a temple worshipping the tigers, the Crouching Tiger Temple

Younger brother - Mad Tiger - jealous as the mortal only worshipped the elder tiger

Yellow Wind Sage returns with a bunch of yao guais in tow, Mad Tiger blames the Sage for their father's death.

Both brother try to fight the Yellow Wind Sage and his minions, the elder going after the rat guais and the younger going after the Yellow Wind Sage himself

Yellow Wind Sage uses the severed head he carries (that has SWK artifact inside) to beat Mad Tiger. He is wounded badly.

Tiger Vanguard kneels down and begs for mercy to spare his brother's life

Yellow Wind Sage is like "ayo I know you two and I don't hold grudges. Have the title your father previously had and serve me". Eldest tiger became the new Tiger Vanguard for Yellow Wind Sage

Mad Tiger woke up, is not happy that his brother is the Tiger Vanguard and serving the yaoguai he deemed responsible for their father's death. Leaves and cuts off any family ties they had. sad.

In the Tiger Vanguard's eyes, that yellow-furred rat had twice destroyed his family and left them broken and scattered. He hated him for that, but he was no fool. As long as the rat had protection from the higher ones, what more could a tiger do beyond venting his rage by devouring a few lesser rats each day?

btw, the rat yaoguai were former humans. there's a lot to unpack there too so let's just throw the entire luggage away

Tiger's Acolyte

Not a tiger, but plays an important role to the Mad Tiger's story

Wandering swordsmand, who fell in love, settled down and they have a child

Wife and child both became ill, wife died, child is gravely ill. Sickness is caused by the wind from the Yellow Wind Sage

Hears about a Bodhisattva that can cure the illness, sets out with his sick son to find them

hears a tiger roar coming down from a well in a village, and like every horror movie protagonist ever, climbs down the well to check it out

finds a wounded tiger, our Mad Tiger

Mad Tiger pretends to be his brother, says he is revered by the village, he has a temple, but he was ambushed by lesser yaoguai and is now hiding and recovering

Swordsmand has his doubts, asks around, they say it's true, he goes back and begs for help

Mad Tiger has a magical gourd, gives the child a sip and child gets better

Mad Tiger says if he brings him human sacrifices to eat, he can recover and beat the Yellow Wind Sage and then heal the child completely

Swordsman wasn't sure at first, but saw his kid getting better each day, playing with the village child, so he agrees and starts leading villager down the well, thinking this will help the tiger recover and thus also helping his son fully recover

Villager found out what he did, and beat his son to death

The man was consumed by regret and drew the sword he had sealed away for years. He fell upon the villagers, and one by one, he cut them down, until the streets ran red with blood. Then, alone, he set out into the shifting sandstorm, lost in the ever-howling wind.

Mad Tiger

Mad Tiger got the magical gourd from his brother

Human child he saved is very polite and earnestly thanked the Mad Tiger for his help. Mad Tiger realizes it feels nice to be thanked and praised

Tells them to come back every day to take a sip otherwise the kid would get sick again

Kid calls Mad Tiger "Tiger God and shares his food, toys and stories from his life

Gave the gourd to the father and son duo, and kids health improved more and more each day

Stopped getting visits, thought they might have run off with his gourd so he left his well to go look for them

Walks into a horror scene, there is blood everywhere. Find the boy's body in a little coffin, the gourd still hanging around his neck

Tiger Brother carried the coffin back to the bottom of the well. He decided to wait until he was strong enough. One day, he would stop that cursed wind and sand…

Here is the cutscene of the ghost of the little boy leading SWK down the well and the intro the Mad Tiger boss battle

When you beath him, he says "I have yet to avenge my father..."

After you beat him, there is a single coffin in the cave. It plays a special cutscene, where you see the Destined One hesitating, before opening it - most likely because he knew what was inside. I can't find a video of the DO opening the coffing, but here is a video of what is inside the coffin: a human skeleton.

EDIT: here is a video of DO opening the coffing, massive thanks to @cosmic-fantasizer for providing the link

My thoughts/interpretation/word vomit:

From the tiger's story, it is clear that the Yellow Wind Sage ruined both families.

I didn't feel very strongly for the Tiger Vanguard (the elder tiger brother) because it took me fucking forever to beat his ass and at that point it was just personal and I really thought he was a dick eating humans all day long at his temple lol. But man now I just feel so sorry for all of them (even though they are all doing horrible things)

The Tiger Vanguard only surrendered to save his brother's life, and in turn also lost the only family he had left. But he was also eating on the rat yaoguai that used to be humans.

The Mad Tiger, who also lost his brother, and "found" a new one in the little kid, that praised and adored him, and played with him and shared his every day life stories with him. I think it's easy to say that he only did it so the child's father would bring humans to feast on (and I think the Tiger's Acolyte saw this all as transactional too), buuuut I think he truly came to care for the kid. He gave the kid the gourd, knowing there is risk they could just book it, and then carried the entire coffin back to his well after he found out he was beaten to death. I think that at first, his goal was to get stronger and beat the Yellow Wind Sage to avenge his father (which is what he says when he dies), but based on the journal entry, I think that it was also to avenge the little kid that became his friend.

Sure, the Mad Tiger was trying to get stronger to avenge his father, maybe the kid, BUT he was still eating the villagers to get stronger everyday.

Same goes for the Acolytes, yes he was doing it all for his kid, BUT he was still leading innocent people down to their death. And in turn, the villagers beat up his son to death, and then he also massacred the whole village.

I think as a player, it's easy for us to just go in and boink some enemies several times because they are in our way, and well we need the EXP to level up asap to get through the game. After deep diving into each character and reading their entires, I do appreciat that none of the characters are sorted into the good and bad archetype - rather there are different shades of greys. Overall the tiger's story are on of my favorite side stories in the game

To close up this post, here is a photo of the tigers after I am through with them: