#journey to the west 2000

[quitealotofsodapop]

Ok, so I'm just gonna get this out now . If I wait till I draw it out, it's gonna take a while, and I can't keep my mouth shut. I saw someone mention that spice and sugar would have a daughter as a first born, and I internally cried because I can never have an original idea. In my head, I pictured her with brown fur and colored eyes that remseble sugar's (or maybe spice's, im not too sure on the eye color) with four ears. Having a strong and exentric personality as a child and early teen eventually grows to be a mature woman(she still has a bit of a temper). That was a bit of a problem, seeing as since she was a child, she had KILLER strength. Just imagine a really happy and gentle looking lady walking by, then somebody says something stupid to her and they end up like this:

And I'm guessing she eventually gets twin brothers(seeing as every variation of shadowpeach get twins). If they do get twins, I imagine them looking more like spice. And do you have an idea as to how they would be made? Like, do sugar and spice go the clay route or natural route? Or would they be bisected entities?

What do the 2000s starwalts think of all this?

Sorry for all the questions I got carried away and started rambling :,)

Ref.

Downside of sharing the same Jttw braincell; chance of similar ideas sparking in different brains XD

Spice basically looks like a palette swap of Sugar/Ganzhe due to them being connected species, but with six ears. They spend a long time pretending to just be Sugar's shadow/clone so that they have an excuse to stay with the closest friend they've had in centuries.

The two agree to mutually create and raise kids together after the Journey is over, leading to the creation of their first child Xiao/Cai Hong "Rainbow". Name for the rainbow quartz they rolled into a clay egg to start the process.

The tiniest little monkey with most OP strength hatches once they get home to FFM.

Ultimately the whole kingdom is overjoyed, if not a little sore (baby thrashed a bit when one of the Stalwarts held her and broke their nose). XD

I lvoe the idea of her having little twin brothers. They think their Jiejie is the strongest, most powerful big sister in the world!

The boys are a complete accident. When Sugar and Spice are asked what sort of accident occurred to create them - they got embarrassed and refused to elaborate. (hint: it involved a certain river and an attempt at the "natural" route)

[the-monkey-ruler]

What are Bailong Ma's siblings called in JTTW?

We have Bailong's brother's name in the book Ao Muang. He was the one to come help with the Tuolong Black River God who was Bailong and Muang's cousin, son of the dragon that was beheaded at the start of the novel and going through his 'rebel' phase for not having a father figure is his life despite being taken under the wing of

We sadly do not know Bailong's second brother's name. Which is a shame as Bailong also doesn't get an official name either. Personal headcanon that the Second Prince is named Ao Xue, which is another name that Bailong's was given in the series Westward, while the Third Prince gets the name Ao Lie.

He also has a sister as well! Ao Cinxin though I'm sure if she is older or younger as they never give an age.

So it goes

Ao Run - Dad

Ao Cinxin - First Princess

Ao Muang - First Prince

Nameless (Ao Xue) - Second Prince

Bailong (Ao Lie) - Third Prince

[lesbiancarat]

oh i see the korean title for super is sun wukong, the monkey king from journey to the west :o

[autisticmight]

getting into the source material of my hyperfixation so i can at least be weird about it faithfully

[volfoss]

i conquered the pdfs....

[angstandhappiness]

SO PRETTY

Strangers in the throne room

Close-ups under the cut because I spent way too much time fancifying their outfits

Keep reading

[centrally-unplanned]

We (somewhat rightly) mock the 2000's era fansub translation notes for their otaku fixations and privileging of trivia over the media, but they should be understood as serving their purpose for a bit of a different era in the anime fandom. Take this classic:

Like, its so obvious, right? Just say "pervert", you don't need the note! Which is true, for like a 'normie' audience member who just wants to watch A TV Show - but no one watching, uh *quick google* "Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne" in 1999 is that person. The audience is weebs, and for them the fact that show is Japanese is a huge selling point. They want it to feel as 'anime' as possible; and in the west language was one of the core signifiers of anime-ness. 2004 con-goers calling their friends "-kun" and throwing in "nani?" into conversations was the way this was done, and alongside that a lexicon of western anime fandom terminology was born. Seeing "ecchi" on the screen is, to this person, a better viewing experience - it enhances their connection to otaku identity the show is providing, and reinforces their shared cultural lexicon (Ecchi is now a term one 'expects' anime fans to know - a truth that translator notes like this simultaneously created and reflected).

But of course your audiences have different levels of otaku-dom, and so you can't just say 'ecchi' and call it a day - so for those who are only Level 2 on their anime journey, you give them a translation note. Most of the translation notes of the era are like this - terms the fansubber thought the audience might know well enough that they would understand it and want that pure Japanese cultural experience, but that not all of them would know, so you have to hedge. The Lucky Star one I posted is a great example of that:

Its Lucky Star, the otaku-crown of anime! You desperately want the core text to preserve as much anime vocab as possible, to give off that feeling, but you can't assume everyone knows what a GALGE is - doing both is the only way to solve that dilemma.

This is often a good guideline when looking at old memetically bad fansubs by the way:

This isn't real, no fansub had this - it was a meme that was posted on a wiki forum in 2007. Which makes sense, right? "Plan" isn't a Japanese cultural or otaku term, so there is no reason not to translate it, it doesn't deepen the ~otaku connection~.

Which, I know, I'm explaining the joke right now, but over time I think many have grown to believe that this (and others like it) is a real fansub, and that these sort of arbitrary untranslations just peppered fansub works of the time? It happened, sure, but they would be equally mocked back then as missteps - or were jokes themselves. Some groups even had a reputation for inserting jokes into their works, imo Commie Subs was most notable for this; part of the competitive & casual environment of the time. But they weren't serious, they are not examples of "bad fansubs" in the same way.

This all faded for a bunch of reasons - primarily that the market for anime expanded dramatically. First, that lead to professionally released translations by centralized agencies that had universal standards for their subs and accountability to the original creators of the show. Second, the far larger audience is far less invested in anime-as-identity; they like it, but its not special the way its special when you are a bullied internet recluse in 2004. They just want to watch the show, and would find "caring" about translation nuances to be cringe. And since these centralized agencies release their product infinitely faster and more accessibly than fansubs ever did, their copies now dominate the space (including being the versions ripped to all illegal streaming sites), so fansubs died.

Though not totally - a lot of those fansub groups are still around! Commie Subs is still kicking for example. They either do the weird nuance stuff, or fansub unreleased-in-the-west old or niche anime, or even have pivoted to non-anime Japanese content that never gets international release. But they used to be the taste-makers of the community; now they are the fringe devotees in a culture that has moved beyond them. So fansubs remain something of a joke of the 90's and 2000's in the eyes of the anime culture of today, in a way that maybe they don't deserve.

[moonmausoleum]

Fengdu Ghost City

The Fengdu Ghost City in China is steeped with the paranormal and cultural afterlife as well as being a big tourist attraction. Check out how the afterlife could end up after your death for the cost of a ticked.

The Fengdu Ghost City in China is steeped with the paranormal and cultural afterlife as well as being a big tourist attraction. Check out how the afterlife could end up after your death for the cost of a ticked. In the Chongqing region in China, at the lean for the Tibetan Plateau and along the Yangtze river. Far from the sea, at the heart of the country, the city for the dead is built: Fengdu…

[maturemenoftvandfilms]

Mr. Walz

Featuring Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz

Back in the late ‘90s, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, and now Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, was a high school teacher and football coach in rural Minnesota. I attended Mankato West from 2000-2004, having Walz for 11th grade history. Being gay at the time, I initially expected to hate Walz, because he was a football coach and a hunter. But he was accepting and really friendly with me; with everyone really. He’s genuinely the goofy teacher that was in the hallway greeting every kid every morning, giving high fives and fist bumps. He and his wife, also a teacher at the school, provided vital support during my formative years. And to be honest, I thought he was cute.

He was in his late 30s and about 21 years my senior at that time, about my height, which is just shy of five foot-nine. He was chiselled like most middle-aged men with a gut. He dressed conservatively, usually a short sleeve solid colored shirt with a tee shirt under it and trousers which seemed to be a few sizes too small. I couldn’t help but find myself staring at his tightly held manhood, which showed a clear outline of his thick cock. That bulge had me daydreaming during our meets and school outings. I would jerk-off with this image in my mind every night.

After graduation, I didn’t see my ex-teacher again until I attended a campaign dinner in Falcon Heights, Minnesota. He instantly recognized me, smiling broadly and gave me a big hug. We’re talking 20-something years ago, and to have your 10th-grade geography teacher remember you after all of that time, it means something. I couldn’t call him Gov. Walz, because he will forever be Mr. Walz.

We talked a bit then, and a couple times throughout the evening. He asked me about what I was up to, if I was dating, the usual chit chat. I was so giddy to see Mr. Walz that I confessed that I had a crush on him in high school. I told him I thought about him every night when I jack off. How I use a big carrot up my ass, and pretend it was his dick. And I told him I knew he would never like me, that way, but I had to tell him.

Surprisingly, he suggested I should come over to his hotel, later, placing his hotel room card on the edge of the sink right next to me.

"Wait here, I'll have an agent escort you to my room in an hour." He said before leaving. I looked around to see if anyone had noticed, but no one had, so I quickly grabbed the key.

Sure enough, an hour later, a secret service agent escorted me to his hotel. The journey upstairs was unbearable. Reporters to dodge, people for the agent to nod away. By the time I got to Mr. Walz’s room, I was afraid he’d think I wasn’t’ interested, but when I entered the room, he was ready and waiting. The lights were dim, Mr. Walz was in a hotel bathrobe, and he’d ordered porn on the television.

"Is this what you really want?" I asked.

"More then anything." He replied.

I made the first move, leaning in to kiss him and as soon as our lips met, his arms went around me. Quickly, he started unbuttoning my shirt, unzipping my pants, and basically tearing my clothes off as he moved his tongue around inside my mouth. His hand was on my hard dick, feeling and testing the size.

"Oh, yeah." He moaned, as he ran his hand down my tender, sensitive cock before squatting.

With his mouth at my crotch, he ran his tongue up all seven inches, before gently pushing me towards the bed. On the bed, our bodies melded into one. His hard dick was teasing mine, as once again, our tongues found the other's mouth. Hands everywhere, as we hugged and rocked each other. Kissing my way down his chest, I left a trail of saliva all the way to his cock. Taking him in my mouth, I began to suck while I swirled my tongue around his boner before he started thrusting into my throat, making me gag. I guess he got pretty turned on by what I was doing to him as he turned me around and put us into 69 position.

As Mr. Walz took my dick in his mouth, I took his dick in mine. I worked on it with such skill that he began moaning deep inside his throat as he sucked my dick. And he could really suck; he knew how to please a man. I began to feel him starting to breathe rapidly and shake. I knew he was going to explode soon. I was getting close as well.

Wanting Mr. Walz to fuck me, I quickly seperated, and rolled off the bed leaving him laying there completely naked with a huge hard-on. Hurrying to my pants, I pulled a tube of lubrication out of his pocket before I bounded back to the bed. After telling him I wanted him to fuck me, I tensely watched as Mr. Walz applied the lubricate to his cock, knowing the pain I was about to feel. I couldn’t help but thinking back to my high school years when I first saw him. I had always wanted Mr. Walz to fuck me since then. Now was the time.

“You got a nice tight asshole.” Mr. Walz told me as he rubbed some of the KY onto my asshole.

He lifted my legs and stared me straight in the eyes as he guided the head of his cock to my ass. As soon as his dick made contact, he immediately thrust all 8 inches into me. I gasped loudly, so loudly in fact that I’m sure the people in the next room heard.

“I’m going to really open up your asshole.” Mr. Walz called out with a wicked smile on his face as he slowly started fucking me.

Noticing each time the fat head of his cock passed my hard prostate, pre-cum would squirt from the tip of my dick. He reached down and scooped it up with his finger, brought it to his mouth and licked it clean.

"Oh, man, that's good." He said, as he scooped up more, but I pulled his finger to his mouth, and sucked it in.

We smiled at each other before he leaned forward and kissed me deep, our tongues caressed each other, sharing my pre-cum. Then as we kissed he sent his cock plunging deeper into me. I arched my back as I was forced to take more cock deeper into my ass than ever before.

“Yes, fuck me, Mr. Walz.” I found myself saying when he broke our embrace, “Give it to me, Mr. Walz. Make me yours!”

And he did just that. Mr. Walz started fucking me hard and fast. I took each of the strokes of his his old manhood willingly. I wanted to give him total pleasure and I could tell from the far away look in his eye that the old man was as lost in me as I was in him. I knew he was getting close, and I didn’t want to stop him, so I didn’t say a word about pulling out. Having only had sex with his wife for all those years, he didn’t think of it either. Soon he was filling my ass with ropes of cum, and I felt it filling me up.

After we got off and caught our breath, he looked at me and we both started laughing and telling each other how glad we were that we'd just met up today.

[akajustmerry]

"The cycle of violence in The Last of Us Part II appears to be largely modelled after the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I suspect that some players, if they consciously clock the parallels at all, will think The Last of Us Part II is taking a balanced and fair perspective on that conflict, humanizing and exposing flaws in both sides of its in-game analogues. But as someone who grew up in Israel, I recognized a familiar, firmly Israeli way of seeing and explaining the conflict which tries to appear evenhanded and even enlightened, but in practice marginalizes the Palestinian experience in a manner that perpetuates a horrific status quo.

The game's co-director and co-writer Neil Druckmann, an Israeli who was born and raised in the West Bank before his family moved to the U.S., told the Washington Post that the game's themes of revenge can be traced back to the 2000 killing of two Israeli soldiers by a mob in Ramallah. Some of the gruesome details of the incident were captured on video, which Druckmann viewed. In his interview, he recounted the anger and desire for vengeance he felt when he saw the video—and how he later reconsidered and regretted those impulses, saying they made him feel “gross and guilty.” But it gave him the kernel of a story.

“I landed on this emotional idea of, can we, over the course of the game, make you feel this intense hate that is universal in the same way that unconditional love is universal?” Druckmann told the Post. “This hate that people feel has the same kind of universality. You hate someone so much that you want them to suffer in the way they’ve made someone you love suffer.”

"That's what this story is about, do the ends justify the means, and it's so much about perspective. If it was to save a strange kid maybe Joel would have made a very different decision, but when it was his tribe, his daughter, there was no question about what he was going to do," Druckmann said.

In the game, most of the Wolves regime's restrictions are directed at a post-apocalyptic religious sect called the Seraphites (the Wolves call them "Scars" after the ritualistic scarring of their faces). These Scars vexed FEDRA as well when it was in control. The dynamic in the city when the game begins is one of conflict, escalation, and a broken truce. The Wolves, like FEDRA, leverage more resources and raw power, while the Scars rely on surprise strikes against Wolf patrols, and a zealous willingness to die for the cause.

To run through just a few key ways in which the Scars uncomfortably reflect some Israeli stereotypes about Palestinians: Later in the game, Ellie finds a location called "Martyr Gate," where the Scars' spiritual leader apparently died, indicating a religious significance of a specific and disputed location, and emphasizing the notion of martyrdom as central to their culture. The Scars are able to get around Wolf patrols and various barriers around the city via an elaborate, secret system of bridges between skyscrapers. These function as a kind of flipped version of the underground tunnels Palestinians use to bypass Israeli blockades and other means of limiting free movement in order to get supplies and carry out attacks on Israel.

In The Last of Us Part II's Seattle, Scars and Wolves hurt each other terribly, and the same can be said about Israel and Palestine. The difference is that when flashes of violence abate and the smoke clears, one side continues to live freely and prosper, while the other goes back to a life of occupation and humiliation. One side continues to expand while the other continues to lose the land it needs to live. Imagining this process as some kind of symmetric cycle benefits one side more than the other, and allows it to continue.

Ellie's journey of revenge seems especially cruel, even idiotic, because we are never given a good reason for why she keeps recommitting to it. Acts of cruelty along the way, like Ellie's torturing another character to get information, are presented as inevitable. This seems to be The Last of Us Part II's thesis: humans experience a kind of "intense hate that is universal," as Druckmann told The Post, which keep us trapped in these cycles. This is not a universal feeling as much as it's a learned way of seeing the world. 

The Last of Us Part II is an incredible journey that provides not only one of the most mesmerizing spectacles that we've seen from big budget video games, but one that manages to ask difficult questions along the way. It's clearly coming from an emotionally authentic and self-examining place. The trouble with it, and the reason that Ellie's journey ultimately feels nonsensical, is that it begins from a place that accepts "intense hate that is universal" as a fact of life, rather than examining where and why this behaviour is learned."

The Not So Hidden Israeli Politics of 'The Last of Us Part II' by Emanuel Maiberg

[quitealotofsodapop]

I’m loving your courtnapping posts and lore. Question tho, who is Sai Tai Sui and what’s his story in JTTW and your aus? Trying to remember if you already made a post but just can’t find it.

tw in advance for discussion of SA.

Sai Tai Sui aka "Jupiter's Rival" is the villain of the Scarlet-Purple Kingdom Arc.

Roughly; Chapters 68-71 in the unabridged version of Journey to the West. Just before the Spider Demons arc.

Sai Tai Sui fell in lust with the King's wife "Lady of the Golden-Sage Palace", and kidnapped her while her and the king were enjoying the Dragon Boat Festival. The King the fell terribly ill/almost comatose from grief for the next three years.

Luckily, Dr Sun Wukong answered the call for an experienced doctor to cure the king! Well more specifically he tricked Zhu Bajie into answering it to punish him for falling asleep when he was supposed to be grocery shopping. Wukong then offers to take the heat off Bajie and treat the King instead.

Wukong spends literally the next whole chapter nerding out about traditional Chinese medical procedures and treatments.

Wukong accurately identifies that the King's illness was from emotional distress... and constipation. He goofs on the palace retainers a bit to hide what his medicine actually is (both out cunning and cus they were keeping Tripitaka hostage as collateral in case the monkey accidentally killed the king through medical malpractice).

The medicine gives the King a colon clean-out big enough to snap him out of his depression, and get him able to recount what happened the night his wife got courtnapped.

The only reason Sai Tai Sui hadn't forced himself upon the stolen Queen by that point was because a Daoist Immortal named Zhang Ziyang saw her being kidnapped, and sneaked her a garment that would make any physical contact upon her extremely painful.

So what does the celestial horn-dog do now that he can't SA his target of affection?

Over the next three years Sai Tai Sui extorts the kingdom to give him women and girls under the guise of providing servants for the Queen. The text sort of tip-toes what he actually does to the women he steals; but one of his demon lackeys mutters that the stolen women are "substitutes" for the Queen. And that the women are "driven to death" by the abuse they suffer.

Bruh.

Cut to Wukong sneaking in disguised as a minion to offer a rescue to the Queen. But the Queen warns him that Sai Tai Sui possesses weaponized bells called Purple-Gold Bells; that with a single shake they can release poison, fire, and sand able to harm even Wukong of all people.

We know she ain't lying cus when Wukong tries to swap out the bell with fakes the first time - he accidentally activates them, hurting him and alerting Sai Tai Sui to his presence.

Wukong is forced to disguise himself as one of the unfortunate servant girls as part of Rescue Plan B. Curiously, the servants/slaves in the fiend's compound include fox and deer demons, making it likely that Sai Tai Sui's crimes extend beyond what he's done to humans.

Wukong forms a plan with the Queen to seduce Sai Tai Sui into dropping his guard so Wukong can steal the real bells. Wukong even blasts off a bunch of tiny hair clones to act as fleas and lice to force Sai Tai Sui to take a bath.

Sai Tai Sui gives the disguised Wukong ("Spring Grace/Beauty) the real bells to clean (note: he be creeping on him too). But the horndog is so embarrassed by the sudden infestation of lice that he's not in the mood for pushing his luck with the Queen and instead goes to "retire with a palace maiden".

Note: In some adaptations (like the 1999/2000s cartoon) Wukong disguises himself as the Queen/the unfortunate palace maiden and does the seducing himself, albeit while wearing the same "don't fcking touch me"-dress as a precaution.

Wukong then goes outside to call Sai Tai Sui for a one-on-one fight.

When the fiend's fails to activate the fake bells' powers, Wukong pulls out the real ones, and jokes "Well clearly your male bells fail to preform in front of my female ones." (it's a erectile dysfunction joke)

Guanyin shows up, subdues Sai Tai Sui with the real Purple-Gold Bells (like a dog collar), and explains the Lore of what went down.

Lore:

Turns out that when the King of Scaret-Purple Kingdom was a young man, he shot and killed two peachicks while hunting. The peachick's mom? Oh you know, Mahāmāyūrī. The same primordial peacock-phoenix who's the Buddha's mom?

So yeah, Mahāmāyūrī (Peng's sister btw) cursed the then-Prince to be separated from his true love, as he'd separated her from her children. Guanyin was witness to this sentence, as was her current steed; The Golden Haired Hou. The unicorn-wolf decided "why the heck not?" and steal the future king's love for himself - breaking through his chain leash when the watch-disciple in charge was asleep.

Golden Haired Hou = Sai Tai Sui.

In other words he's another Celestial animal giving demons a bad name.

End of Lore.

Wukong: "I'm gonna kill this guy." Guanyin: "No. No killing." Wukong: "Seriously!?" Guanyin: "Killing him would be merciful. I'm going to strap his own weapon to his body and trap him in the South Sea so that he can't walk the mortal plane ever again. If he ever defies this sentence, then you can kill him" Wukong: "Ok! That punishment is more like it!"

Sai Tai Sui is a curious case in that; unlikely many threats faced by the PIlgrims, he did not try to hide his actions behind "Well you got 80-something trials to face, and I was available" rather he was a genuinely evil creature who exploited Mahāmāyūrī's sentence to chase his dark desires. And unlike the earlier Kui Mulang - who courtnapped out of genuine, misguided love for a woman who did not remember her past life with him - Sai Tai Sui was motivated by sexual sadism.

Also though Guanyin doesn't want their steed killed, they do not forgive Sai Tai Sui - instead condemning him to an eternal imprisonment in the South Seas, unable to leave less he invokes a bounty on his head from all the Buddhist and Taoist pantheon.

You know it bad when the embodiment of Mercy and Forgiveness is like;

It's really dark story arc in that it deals with some nasty stuff done to women. Stuff that Wukong himself is in danger of since Sai Tai Sui has powers exceeding his, and has no qualms SA-ing his servants/captives.

You can imagine why Sai Tai Sui isn't explored in adaptations much. Amongst all the murder, monk-eating, and treasons; this guy takes it a step farther.

Also rare occurrence; Tripitaka didn't get kidnapped this time. Though considering what Sai Tai Sui does to his captives that's probably for the best.

I'm using the Yu and Jenner translations of Jttw as reference, with help from this cool Chapter-by-Chapter Summary of Jttw to break down the info.

[the-monkey-ruler]

Can you elaborate on Yao Ji having her husband and first son killed? Because I looked her up but that part of her story didn’t show up in either version of her origins

So looking into it, it turns out that this was another case of a single piece of media making headcanon so popular that other pieces of media copy it. It was Lotus Lantern the TV series that makes Yao Ji Erlang's mother when she is more considered a daughter of the jade emperor (something the 1996 series kept right). And from there other series or stories have copied that format giving Yaoji that attention.

But the real name of Erlang Shen's mother is Yunhua 云花女. She is still considered a daughter in some myth but it is hard to tell which myths are the most popular. Yunhua, also known as Cloud Flower Girl, is a character also known as Zhang Xiangu, Zhang Sanjie, Zhang Yuntai, and San Shengu, her titles are Princess Bailian and Princess Lotus. The records mainly come from classical literary works such as "Erlang Baojuan" and "Journey to the West " as well as folklore. 

She is the wife of Yang Tianyou, the third princess of Heaven, and the owner of the Bullfighting Palace. Yunhua is either the third daughter of the Jade Emperor and the Queen Mother of the West (other theories believe that Yunhua is the sister of the Jade Emperor, and the Third Holy Mother is the daughter of the God of Huashan Mountain in Xiyue).

So sorry for the confusion! Here are links to both Yunhua and Yaoji if you wish to read more!

[aerkame]

Hey! I saw your HC’s about the versions of sun wukong’s. May I request “ Journey to the West: Legends of the Monkey King 2000? ” I really loved the show as a kid. I saw it on YouTube again and wondered about it! If..you saw this series that is. If not, I’ll take Netflix monkey king! It’s up to you!

I feel like doing both :p Also I'll be doing general HC because I'm not sure if you meant reader insert or just in general if this were in a fanfiction

Journey to the West: Legends of the Monkey King 2000

This monkey man is the definition of assertive

He sees something he likes? He makes it clear he will have it. There's a demon he wants to beat up? He'll talk about beating them up before actually following through with it. There's a person he wants to get with? He makes his intentions crystal clear to everyone around him without hesitation, heaven forbid you try to stop him, he will not allow it.

Surprisingly optimistic despite everything that has happened. There is nothing that can really bring down his mood once he's in a good one.

That means he's not exactly stable when he's in a rare bad mood. Just...give the guy some space if that happens.

Sometimes he'll accidentally break things or break someone. He just gets excitable and well...

Of course there's lots of apologies that ensue if the worst happens, though he doesn't like admitting he did something wrong.

Out of all the versions of Monkey King, this one is probably the most extroverted and friendly of the bunch. He for sure will make loads of friends if given the chance.

This version also seems to be the most open minded on things. Got something to say? He's all ears. Got something you want him to learn? He'll actually sit and listen (a rarity among Monkey kings)

Despite how loud and assertive he is, sometimes he can also be more quiet and gentle when the situation calls for it. It took some learned behavior from Tang though. But, it's a useful trait to have when you're someone like Monkey king.

Very energetic sometimes. He always needs to be doing something with his hands or going out and fighting stuff.

I'd assume this version is extremely protective of his SO if he has one.

Same can be said for his friends.

Would absolutely do everything he can to cheer someone up if they started crying in front of him. It really hurts to see someone so hurt...

Usually encourages people to be a better version of themselves (except Pigsy, he gave up on that guy)

Netflix Monkey King 2023

Oh boy where do I start?

If Leo the zodiac sign was a person, this would be him.

This guy, ooo- this guy really loves himself, and he makes sure everyone around him knows it too at every given chance.

Very confident in his ability to overcome any challenge or obstacle (he's just the best ain't he?)

Probably takes better care of himself and Stick than his own armor or anything else that's with him.

Would absolutely have a bunch of different shampoos, conditioners, and lotions in modern days. The guy loves to love himself, and look loved too.

Probably a huge flirt when he sees someone he mildly finds interest in. That or he'll just brag about himself to seem more impressive. (He's probably exaggerating)

Loves showing off

Modern version of him would probably be a lot more chilled out after the years, learning to just let things go and not be so impulsive or take things personally. He's still got a lot of work to do when it comes to letting people in though.

He's just afraid of losing people like Lin again you know? Right when he realizes he has a family, he loses them and sits isolated form the world for hundreds of years.

Usually prefers staying away from people, alone with Stick. Being alone as a kid does that to you.

Sometimes seeks out validation and love from crowds of people and fans.

He's a little more patient over the years, but just as chaotic.

Expect lots of malicious compliance from him. And pranks, he enjoys getting a good laugh out of others or just doing it for his own entertainment. (though he can border on just being a jerk)

Sometimes talks to Stick when he's alone, it's usually just him venting about things from the past.

Tends to get anxious when he's alone for too long or if there's a thunderstorm (doesn't need a lot of explaining to understand that).

Will be the sweetest monkey with someone he really likes. It's like he's a completely different person!

[xiakeponz]

for modern AU fics - what chinese media did diaspora consume?

making this post because some of us in the diaspora server were having a chat about what Chinese media "Diaspora Chinese" watched in the 90's - 2000's (and even sooner than that) while not having access to satellite chinese media or streaming services - this is in the context of writing modern AU fics based off Chinese media/novels (so your main character's grandpa or uncle is not, in fact, watching an episode of Friends or Shortland Street or something as flavour text because sorry what the hell-)

We generally watched a lot of stuff on VCDs, including bootlegged and non-bootlegged movies, shows, anime/donghua. My household had a whole VCD album of this, and a lot of VCDs (even if they were pirated editions) would have a fancy hardcover box with a magnetic clasp and some artwork representing the show on it.

All of this is Mandarin - so not TVB stuff, because I'm from Northern China and I don't know any cantonese - but Canto friends, please feel free to add to the list! This is mostly stuff my parents liked to watch, or I liked to watch with them, with the exception of a few which I mainly watched with friends/cousins when I was maybe (in most cases) eleven/twelve years old onwards. This is a pretty personal list, meant to give people general idea of a possible "ballpark" of sorts, and by no means exhaustive.

Now, for the list of shows which I can confirm I had or someone I know had on VCD or some kind of offline media format lol (I'll try add release year stamps and links to the EN wikipedia where possible):

Period dramas (mostly Qing Dynasty stuff):

Huan Zhu Gege 还珠格格 (1998, April-) This is a classic, so many memes come from this show; hugely popular series, basically cemented Zhang Tie Lin's face as the face of the Qing Emperor for about a decade. Tie Chi Tong Ya Ji Xiao Lan 铁齿铜牙纪晓岚 (2002-2010) - I loved this show as a kid and watched all four seasons on repeat with family... The "trio" in this show are well known and loved.

Amazing Detective Di Ren Jie / 神探狄仁杰 (2004) A very popular and addictive show. Ok now the Big Four:

Romance of 3 kingdoms 1994 / 三国演义 (1994) - a classic that has had many remakes, my older cousin would play this on repeat...

Hong Lou Meng/红楼梦 （1987） - another classic with many remakes, but I think the most recognised by the public one is the 1987 one.

Journey to the West / 西游记 live action (1986) - I think the 1986 version of the live action is the most recognised one. *Shui Hu Zhuan / 水浒传 (1998) - I am not too familliar with the live action of this one in my household tbh bc my mum doesn't like it lol (she keeps saying it's too depressing) but I'm sure it's up there with the rest of the big four, if anyone has an opinion on this one please let me know!

Modern setting shows:

My dad loved all the Sun Honglei (孙红雷 - actor name) stuff, iirc it was a lot of MinGuo period espionage stuff, your shanghai 1920's sxc aesthetic. This actor has been around since 1999? Qian Fu （潜伏）was very famous, and Ren Jian Zheng Dao Shi Cang Sang （人间正道是沧桑）。 These were around '08 and '09.

Chuang Guan Dong - 闯关东 (2008) (Baidu link, sorry - couldn't get an EN wikipedia one). This show was huge when it was airing, everyone was watching it. I was pretty young but even I watched it and got invested ... and I thought it was such an "old person" show at the time lmao. Xiao Bing Zhang Ga / 小兵张嘎 （2004） (sorry, again Baidu link) - yo, anti-japanese war movies set between 1937-1945 were crazy popular - this is one of them and was very popular):

Donghua/Anime (all the stuff kid me watched and some which I didn't but were popular):

喜羊羊与灰太狼 (2005-) Calabash Brothers / 葫芦兄弟 （1986-1987） Black Cat Detective / Hei Mao Jing Zhang 黑猫警长 （1984-2010） Lan Mao Tao Qi 3000 Wen 蓝蓝猫淘气3000问 AKA 蓝猫 (blue cat) (October 1999 - Present) Legend of Ne Zha 哪吒传奇 (2003) Journey to the West/Xi You Ji 西游记 This was truly the Donghua I grew up on from when I was a bb, the OP song and ED song are classic bangers all kids know. Slam Dunk/ 灌篮高手 - People truly watched a lot of anime that may or may not have been terribly dubbed into mando (possibly canto too). Late 80s and 90s kids were all over this, and Dragon Ball, Crayon Shinchan (labixiaoxin).

Taiwanese Dramas:

This is mid-late 2000's, I would be remiss to not talk about the Taiwanese dramas of this era. Mike He, Rainie Yang, Wu Zun (amongst many, many others) were huge. Stuff like Dou Niu Yao Bu Yao, it started with a kiss, Hua Yang Shao Nv (Taiwanese version of Hana Kimi) were all pretty popular. Not sure if these shows all hold up in 2023, but boy were they popular at the time.

Note about CNY:

For CNY, people would try to tune into 春节联欢晚会 (the CCTV official CNY show) at that One Friend Who Had China Satellite TV's house. Zhao Ben Shan / 赵本山 was a comedy staple, and the show would often feature people from the music industry to perform. Eventually these people became more and more relevant to my gen and Jay Chou etc started appearing.

Last but not least Xian Jiaaaan 仙剑:

In 2005 I was all over 仙剑奇侠传 (Chinese Paladin), based off the video game. This show was crazy popular and probably sent me and a whole lot of other kids into Xianxia / Wuxia hell (and Hu Ge hell, and later I came back to love Liu Yifei). Thank you. The OST is a true banger.

[askgildaseniors]

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DISCLAIMER: The following program contains material, situations, and/or themes that may disturb some viewers. Viewer discretion is advised.

[yinyuedijun]

this is a kind of discourse no one here will understand but in c-media fandoms there's this very common kind of argument (usually from western second gen and later diaspora) complaining about how people will "sexualize" characters in journey to the west even though chinese people (not in the diaspora) are already doing it routinely. this is already kinda funny, but it's especially hysterical to me because this entire series existed in the 2000s without cancellation from any chinese person LMFAOFMDJSKDH