#i love twig and also that gay monkey

[ninjapaste]

Do you have any original artwork? I’d like to support it

Oh yeah I do some non-fandom original oc/story stuff (most of it is in my sketchbooks 🥲) and yknow i saw this ask and coincidentally decided to draw a few things for fun. Unfortunately tho its a lot more sketches than refined art and I rlly wanna change that sometime!!

I always love drawing and doodling my main oc Twig, shes an imp with a spirit stuck up her ear, and shes expected to kill a god with a stick bless her heart.

And also Manny the monkey he's cool too, he likes peaches (and boys) and hes the last of his kind and with his friend Hanz he sets off to kill the evil wizard who colonized the continent and maybe not die, but he does in fact die brutally.

But plot twist he DOESNT DIE a scientist gives him a really convincing robot body and now he enjoys life with Hanz and likes to switch up his hairstyle a lot

I also like to draw very small petite little gay men from time to time, if they step on a crack in the pavement they might fall in... maybe not fibrus bc hes an elemental who can fly but not Dean lol

Anyway once im done with the havoc of school coursework id love to continue developing a story/comic for all of these ocs!! That or I can flesh out some toyhouse profiles lmao

[dorkshadows]

I just watched Journey to the west: the demons strike back and I know that gif set is old now but you're the only I found that even mentioned the somewhat gay subtext. But the other things that happened in the movie? Did I read those wrong or were they actually gay or just used for jokes? I've been going nuts to find any discussion.

Hi anon! I’m always down to talk JTTW, so I hope you enjoyed The Demons Strike Back (it was my fav adaptation of 2017). From memory, I think 90% of the gifsets I made had gay subtext lol. To preface, I was shipping Wukong/Sanzang before the movie came out so I admit to being biased when it comes to them, but I hope what I say helps you form an opinion.

It’s up to you how you want to read all the other moments. Just keep in mind that JTTW 2017 was a big budget, high profile Chinese New Year film aimed primarily at domestic audiences based on an IP that everyone and their mother knows. With that in mind, it’s impressive that Hark and Chow managed to get away with as much gay subtext as they did. 

I could never find a source (as in, a transcription or recording) for it, but once on Weibo, I saw someone say they attended a live Q&A with the cast and when Kenny Lin (Wukong’s actor) was asked if he’d have a love interest in the movie, he said Wukong suffers from “unrequited love.” 

There’s the mystery of this image here and the second part of this trailer gif set. These were filmed but removed from the final movie, and general speculation leans towards the censors not wanting these moments on the big screen (maybe they were cut for time? But who knows. They were very short scenes anyway). 

Also note that Tsui Hark (who usually does fantasy dramas or wuxia flicks) directed this one and he’s never shied away from LGBT themes. In his adaptation of the Legend of White Snake (Green Snake 1993), the narrative’s pretty explicit about the female leads being into one another (if you google the summary, it refers to the leads as “sisters”- they’re not related. They’re sworn sisters in the same way that Wukong and the Bull King are sworn siblings). In his adaptation of Swordsman, he’s explicit about bisexuality and trans-identity as well.

Of course, there are general jokes all over the movie (Chow wrote it after all!), but to me at least, being gay was never the punchline of any of them unlike The Monkey King 3 because holy shit that film. Wukong’s feelings for Sanzang are teased the same way as a straight person’s feelings for another straight person’s would be and vice versa. And if we want to dig deeper, there are shades of the Green Snake/White Snake dynamic here too. 

And I almost forgot this moment when Sanzang takes Wukong’s twig and puts it into his own mouth while he’s angsting over Duan. It’s a more subtle moment that doesn’t lean into any jokes, which tells me Hark (or Chow) did want to imply a deeper relationship.

TLDR; There’s no official statement (and even if there was, we’d need both Chow and Hark to agree for it to be considered “canon”) so you’re free to think whatever you want, anon! But I hope my answer gave you some more context and makes you feel better about the way you read the movie. In the end, I think it’s safe to say there are a lot of genuine moments between the 2 leads but it gets lost in the fray since the film loves blurring the lines between jokes and seriousness so much (because it basically had 2 directors lmao). 

[alindakb]

Letters to my Parents - Sunday 24 October 1993 - by Alinda

Sunday 24 October 1993

Dear mom and dad,

So, this month it was me who ended up on the hospital wing. Hermione joked it looks like Draco and I are trying to set a record or something. I thought it was funny, Draco doesn’t really agree. I think he had a big freight when I fell off my broom. He yelled at me to don’t do anything that stupid again. And when he was done, Marcus came to yell at me some more for making us lose our first match of the season. He went on and on about that he was a fool to believe anything Terence would say. He stormed off to go and write to Terence about what a disaster our first match was. Adrian and Miles seemed happy to see that Marcus and Terence are communication this much. They say they used to be friends when they were younger and that it maybe will temper Marcus a little if they would start hanging out again.

Marcus really wants to win the Quidditch cup this year, since it will be his last chance to win it. It doesn’t count that he had won it already a couple of times in his younger years. He wasn’t captain back then, just a player. He’s really uptight about it. Blaming it all on bad luck, and stupid cancellation of tournaments because of some crazy snake. When he said that, Draco murmured in my ear that it was a bit more than a crazy snake. We both remember the massive Basilisk in the Chamber that had almost cost us both our lives. Of course, that made Marcus tell us off again for being a tacky couple and that we should leave all the lovely dovely stuff out of the team and focus on scoring points and catching snitches. That just made Adrian and Miles laugh, joking that Marcus wanted the impossible to happen. And we do keep the PDA down in public and during Quidditch practice, really. We both know that Derrick and Bole aren’t really a fan of the gays and we do have to play together with them. They are good beaters, well up to a good match against Fred and George of the Gryffindor team. So, Draco and I are good boys during practice and try to focus as much as possible on Quidditch and not on each other.

But back to me ending up in the hospital wing. It happened during our first Quidditch match against Hufflepuff. It was a dreadful day, with heavy rain and strong winds. Marcus was all worried about Hufflepuff’s new Seeker, Cedric Diggory. He’s a handsome guy, tall, strong and silent. I know a lot of girls like to look at him, and Draco and I would both be lying if we say we don’t appreciate the view.

On the day of the match, I was very nervous and woke up very early. I stayed in bed with Draco’s arms around me and tried to relax. I think I didn’t do a good job because I woke up Draco. We kissed for a long time until I felt a little better. We went down to breakfast and I just tried to eat some porridge, while Draco started to make us both toast. The rest of the team joined us not much later. Everyone was kind of nervous, which made me feel a little better.

At the Quidditch pitch the wind was so bad we all staggered sideways as we walked out onto the team, except for Derrick and Bole. They are so big, it was like the wind was no match for them. And only five minutes into the game I was already soaked to my skin and half frozen on my broom. I could hardly see my teammates, let alone the Snitch. The commentary wasn’t to be heard over the winds. My glazes kept getting clouded by the rain and I was glad when we had a short time-out. We were fifty points ahead. Draco complained that his hair was getting too long, that it was sticking to his face and getting in his eyes all the time. He used a small band to tie it at the back, but it kept slipping out. We’ll have to look into a way to keep it out of the way for the next match. I’m sure Daphne will be able to help with that.

For my glasses, Miles knew a nice trick. He used Impervius on them so they would repel water. And then we were off again. It was still cold and wet, but at least I could see more. Lighting started to strike around us, and I was desperate to find the Snitch and be able to go back to the castle and crawl into a warm bed together with Draco. And then I saw it, the Grim. It was sitting at the topmost row of the stands. It freaked me out a little and I almost slipped off my broom. When I looked back up the dog was gone and I had to race towards the snitch, that was hovering in the space between me and Diggory.  I zoomed towards the snitch and then the entire stadium went silent. I was like I was suddenly deaf. And then a cold swept over me, inside me. When I looked down there were at least a hundred Dementors beneath me. And then I heard the screaming again. It was a woman, pleading: ‘Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry! Take me, kill me instead.’

The next thing I know is waking up here in the hospital wing, Draco next to me, his trembling hand in mine. Marcus, Adrian en Miles from the team were also there, just like Hermione, Blaise, Greg and Daphne. I fainted again and had fallen to the ground. If the headmaster hadn’t slowed down my fall I might have died. Draco won’t leave my side at the moment. Even Madam Pomfrey has given up on trying to make him leave. He slept here with me last night. He had another nightmare about me dying. He’s really shaken up. I haven’t told him that I also saw the Grim, I think it would only upset him more.

And on top off all that, we also lost the game. Diggory had caught the snitch just after I fell. He hadn’t realised what happened and tried to call it off. He even suggested a rematch, but everyone agrees that they won fair and square. It’s why Marcus is a bit upset with me right now, and apparently with Terence.

Hermione said that Headmaster Dumbledore was really angry, furious even that the Dementors had come onto the grounds. He had slowed my fall and then magicked me onto a stretcher and walked me up to the school. Draco had run after him, just like Hermione, Blaise, Greg and Daphne. Greg said they were afraid they had to comfort Draco because they thought I was dead. His voice trailed off a little and I just squeezed Draco’s hand to comfort him.

I’m fine by the way. Madam Pomfrey said I’ll be allowed to leave before dinner tonight. I didn’t break anything or got hurt, I just fainted. The only reason I had to stay overnight is that Madam Pomfrey is worried about me since this is the second time I passed out because of the Dementors.

And today I found out that my broom is dead. Marcus came by this morning to check if I was okay, and to make sure we were both well enough to start training again on Tuesday. He went on and on about who has to lose and win games and with what kind of scores so we could still win the cup. And then he asked me if I would be able to buy a new broom. Both I and Draco looked at him confused. I hadn’t thought about my broom at all. But it seems the wind had blown it into the Whomping Willow and now it’s just a dozen bits of splintered wood and twigs. It’s like losing a very good friend. I loved flying on my Nimbus 2001.

But on more fun subjects, Defence Against the Dark Arts is quickly turning into my favourite subject. Professor Lupin is a very good teacher. We’ve studied Red Caps (little goblin-like creatures that lurk wherever there has been bloodshed) and Kappas (creepy water-dwellers that look like scaly monkeys) so far. Draco is a little bit shy in the class ever since the Bogart incident, but none of the Gryffindors says a word about it. I think Ron and Neville told them not to, I haven’t really asked them. We don’t see them that much lately, only in class. Ron and Hermione are not getting along anymore. I asked Hermione, and she just said that Ron is a stupid moron. Draco thinks she still loves him and that she wants him to take the first step, but Ron is clueless, so he doesn’t get that Hermione wants to be his girlfriend again. And their pets seem to be on a warpath too. Seamus said that a couple of weeks ago Crookshanks had jumped Scrabbers again. And when Brown got the news that her pet died, it even made Ron and Hermione fight a little until Professor McGonagall opened the door to her classroom and we could go in.

Professor Snape has been in a foul mood, we think it’s because of Neville his Bogart taking Snape’s shape and then getting dressed in Neville’s grandmother's clothes. The story has been circling the castle all month. And whenever anyone in his vicinity says Professor Lupin’s name Snape his eyes flash menacingly at them. I feel sorry for the Gryffindors in his class. Professor Snape is ducking them points all the time. I’m glad I have Draco helping me with my potions and all, otherwise, I’m sure he would be yelling at me all the time too. Neville is really having a hard time.

Hagrid has lost all his confidence when it comes to teaching. After the incident with Buckbeak, we’ve only learnt about Flobberworms. And let me tell you, those are the most boring creatures in existence. It’s really sad to see, and Nott and Crabbe like to point out all the time how crappy Hagrid is at teaching. Draco almost got into a fight with them last week. If Blaise and I hadn’t pulled him back to the castle I’m sure he would have been suspended to play Quidditch and that would make our loss even worse since Draco had scored all of the points we got that game.

Draco and I had a fight. About a week ago, a notice went up to announce the first Hogsmeade weekend for this coming Halloween. Draco wants to stay in the castle with me, and I told him not to be stupid and go with our friends and enjoy the day away. He thinks it won’t be any fun without me. And to be honest, I would like him to stay behind with me. I hate Halloween. I’m sure you understand why. But I don’t want to take away this experience from Draco. He deserves to have fun with Blaise, Greg, Daphne and Hermione. We didn’t agree on anything, just yelled at each other and then both sat on different sides of the common room until it was time for bed. For a little while, I was afraid Draco won’t come to sleep in my bed, but after a couple of minutes, he came anyway. He said he was sorry and that he loves me. I told him I was sorry too.

I know Draco isn’t feeling all that great. The Bogart thing freaked him out, he hates that everyone now knows what his biggest fear is. Also, it turns out that his father has filed a complaint against Hagrid with the Department for Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. All because of the silly accident during his lesson. Draco is fine, he was released from the hospital wing after only an hour and his arm is fine. You can’t even see where Buckbeak hit him. I told Miss Davis this, said that I was worried about him. But she just wants to talk about me, and how I’m dealing with lessons and stuff. I’m not sure why I still need to go there, I’m good. I’m happy and I don’t want to hurt myself anymore. Okay, I’m a bit sad that I lost my very first Quidditch match, but I’m fine. I really am and it would be so much more productive when I can use my free period to do some homework. It will make more free time I can spend with Draco on a sofa or bed, snuggling him. It’s something we do a lot when were alone. It’s the best past time in the world. I think I’ll go and snuggle a little just now.

Love you both,

Harry James Potter.