#scatter journey

[marciaillust]

the post office is open for business!!

[whywontuluvme]

There's something about dramas like Our Liberation Notes, Call it love, Summer Strike and Tell Me that You Love me that just heal me and provide me with so much comfort.

[szynkaaa]

Zhu Bajie and the Violet Spider (and i guess all the other tragic love stories)

Alright, finished Chapter 4 in my NG+ and here are some of my thoughts, ramblings and musings about Zhu Bajie and the Violet Spider. Also will be going with Black Myth Wukong's version of JTTW

Everything is under cut because long text

What we know:

ZBJ was an Admiral in the Celestial Court, there was a maid working there who was crushing on him and took care of him at some point. ZBJ gets cast out from the court into the mortal realm and turns into a pig. Maid tries to follow him, but gets turned into a spider because the word pig (猪zhū) and spider (蜘蛛Zhīzhū) sound similar and she thought he turned into a spider.

The pilgrims run into White Bone Demon, who turns into 3 mortals and each time SWK beat them down. It is not explained how they fell in love or why, just that he was in love with her. The subtitles from the scene:

ZBJ: "It was her tricks that made Master drive Wukong away" Old Monkey: "On White Tiger Ridge, he forsook his lover. Three times he broke her into pieces, convincing himself his heart would ache no more. Yet, as you must know, he had never let go of her. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been so eager to get away from the Buddahood he attained."

Side note, in CN the old moneky says "他倒是狠心绝情", which translates to "he was very cruel and heartless".

Like all the other demon in the book they wanted to eat Tripitaka because they were convinced that would grant them immortality. In JTTW, White Bone Demon transforms herself into a young lady, then elder woman and then old man, pretending to ask for help. Each time SWK was able to see through her disguise and he struck them down. Tripitaka thought he was killing innocent mortals so he sent SWK away, said he wasn't one of his disciple anymore. iirc ZBJ was not helping lol.

I hope the DLC will shed some more information on the romance, but I also understand if they don't elaborate further. According to some redditors the White Bone Demon romance is a nod towards another game Game Science worked on where SWK and White Bone Demon where a thing.

Later on in their journey, ZBJ sees a bunch of pretty women bathing. He turns himself into a fish. The Violet Spider recognizes him and I guess they reconcile?? or not really because the spiders also try to kidnap and eat Tripitaka and SWK leaves ZBJ to take care of the spiders, he killed everyone except the Violet Spider, who had to eat the remains of her sisters in order to survive.

Speculation from my side is if SWK knew about ZBJ history with the Violet Spider. I think it would be interesting for them to have a conversation about it at some point, since both of them had demon lovers who tried to eat their master so they were forced to kill them (except ZBJ spared the Violet Spider). Maybe SWK wishes he had that option too instead of living with the pain later on. A lot of wiggle rooms for interpretations and headcanons.

lot of shit happens. they finish their travel, SWK attains buddahood. Realizes he hates the court life, also cannot let go that he had to kills his past lover. just wants to chill with his homies and be back on his mountain. and the circlet is still there. hatches his masterplan to die so he can be reborn and be truly free

Throughout the game and dialogues in the game, we know that there were several monkeys/Destined One attempting to retrieve all 5 artifacts and become SWK. The way I understood is, if you reach the bad ending, the cycle starts a new. a new monkey will arise and try again until said monkey reaches the True Ending.

It is very heavily implied that the 4th spider was in love with one of the reincarnation, and they were supposed to get married or have gotten married. but alas monke has to continue his main quest, and he never returned back to her.

My question is, do each Destine One reincarnation retain memories from previous Destined One? Does "our" Destined One know who she is and what he means to her? fun things to also think about.

Oh yeah also pretty sure ZBJ and the Violet Spider got married in chapter 4 LOL. Very questionable marriage since ZBJ was not in a place to consent to it and was pretty much forced into it. But she came out wearing a red wedding dress and then sisters were telling him what to do and not to do, and they were also saying he is the one mother wants all those years even though they disagree with the choice. And then later on before the Violet Spider boss battle, iirc ZBJ says she should have just eaten him before the vows and stuff. Either she mates and then eats her husbands LOL. and her daughters also feast on the newly wed husband.

Heavily implied that the youngest spider kid is ZBJ and Violet Spiders kid. At least that's how I interprested the scene, why else would she show him the youngest daughter? Also all the daughters were born after ZBJ killed Violet Spider's sisters and left her to die, as they say it all happened before they were born so they cannot understand mother's obsession

My 2 cents: None of the spider sisters share the same father. I believe that the Violet Spider would find a new mate, get married, consumate the marriage and then eat the husband. Probably got pregnant from each marriage. It seems like the spider sisters are also very familiar with the ritual ( also LOL would the 4th spider sister have eaten the Destined One??). I also thought at first that Chapter 4 is the first time since JTTW Zhu Bajie bumped into the spider sisters and Violet Spider, but after my NG+ playthrough I realize that would not make much sense. If the youngest daughter really is their kid, then that means they must have met before the current event and JTTW.

We know that this is also not the first Destined One ZBJ met: when we rescue him in chapter 3, he says something along the line "great another mute" - implying he has helped other DO before. Which also means he has visited the spider lair with the DO before, so my guess it is very likely that he may have done the deed with the Violet Spider, and this is how the youngest daughter was conceived? And then he and the Destined One left once again, leaving the 4th Sister and Violet Spider behind again. I think that this would also "make sense" why the Violet Spider was so obsessed and hung up on ZBJ in chapter 4. It couldn't have been "just" what happened in JTTW, some more things must have happened in-between. ZBJ constantly picking bros before hoes I guess.

Fan speculation is also that the reason why ZBJ cannot be with the Violet Spider is to protect them from the Celestial Court.

We have 4 different love stories in this game: SWK and White Bone Demon, Zhu Bajie and the Violet Spider, Destined One and 4th Sister and then the Bull Demon King and Princess Iron-Fan.

I don't haven't started my chapter 5 playthrough yet but the gist I got is that their story isn't a happy one either and controlled by the Celestial Court. It sounds like none of the love stories have a happy ending and in one way or another, the Celestial Court is the cause for it. SWK and White Bone Demon doesn't fully fall into that category, but in JTTW it is said that all the demons they encounter were all orchestrated by Buddha, where they have to face 81 trials. Putting that into BMW's version of JTTW, technically a higher being still interfered with their love story and "forced" SWK to kill his lover, if they put White Bone Demon into their way. Again, this is just my musing and headcanon, and nothing of this is confirmed.

This is my opinion, but I personally love that Game Science gave both SWK and DO and ZBJ a love story, some more obvious than the others. It just adds a more human touch to the overall story of the game that I personally love.

Now excuse me while I go try to smooch a stone monkey.

[ferberus-skull]

LMAO??? WHAT IS THAT??

phenomenal. what are you doing.

[fisheito]

here i am again

[lovinggreeniehours]

2022 / 2024 (+takahara getting eepy)

hi they're getting married in 2 months btw :) if that matters to you

[ut-scatteredextension]

Empress and Hero of the Underground.

(Alternate colour schemes below the cut!)

[novelconcepts]

the other side of someday [complete]

When the Yellowjackets’ plane crashes in the Wilderness, they aren’t the first. Another team has already been here. Other girls have already died here.

As Taissa discovers when she awakens with a long-dead goalie sharing her body, dead doesn’t mean gone.

chapter 1/4 - head

chapter 2/4 - hands

chapter 3/4 - hips

chapter 4/4 - heart

M; 49k words

A blink of the eye, and graduation is here again. She’s packing up her dorm for the last time, smiling gently—if a bit awkwardly—at half-remembered girls who try to catch her eye down at the local watering hole. Her parents are embracing her, excited beyond words for the progress their daughter has achieved in only a few years. “Just think,” says Van lightly, “four years ago, your plane fell out of the sky. And now you’re Columbia-bound. You should take your story on the road, use it to spread hope across the nation.” Taissa very subtly flips her off in the reflection of her drink. Van beams. “Seriously, dude. Proud of you.”

[tigergender]

I like going back over early SU episodes and thinking about them too hard until my blood vessels in my brain pop. I enjoy the show as much as I did when I was younger but I think my enjoyment has shifted from "watching Steven go on exciting magical adventures" to "watching the horrible threads of everything that encompasses Steven in SU:F betray themselves through innocuous interactions and episodes."

[mikiruma]

8 4 23

funny story abt these doodles, they were supposed to be more wilbur-centric, but of course once i started thinking abt laszlo and tallulah..... yeah >u>;

[theknittingshadow]

A Shadow’s Scattered Thoughts on “Journey to the West”

Alright, people. Blame @semisolidmind for getting me into Lego Monkie Kid. Finally decided to check out the original “Journey to the West. Strap yourselves in because there will be NO organization or cohesion to this whatsoever!

I’m at Chapter 20 right now and so far…

-Wukong’s a little pretentious and entitled but, considering none of the monkeys of Huaguoshan questioned the existence of a fully-furnished palace in Water Curtain Cave, I’m not surprised.

-Shifu Subhodi definitely WAS harsh striking Wukong on the head, as I had heard about before. However, IT WAS ALL A SECRET CODE FOR SECRET IMMORTALITY LESSONS! Hallelujah, he’s not as big a jerk as I feared. Still, there are better ways to get your point across, sir.

-At first, it seemed like the book went on long tangents of unrelated stories. I began to think this was less a book with one overarching storyline and more a collection of stories. Then, I finally got to when Tang is chosen to go on the journey. I realized it was all BACKSTORY.

-The Celestial Realm is simultaneously more and less merciful than I thought. On one hand, they kept giving Wukong chance after chance when he’d get upset and beat someone up or something. On the other hand, they beat and banished Wujing over BREAKING A CUP.

-I was super confused on Lego Monkie Kid’s characterization of Ao Lie when the book first implied he set his father’s palace on fire on purpose. Continuing, it seems more like he lit the place on ACCIDENT. WHICH MAKES HIS WHOLE “AVOIDING CARELESS ACTIONS” and “MY POWES HAVE ONLY EVER GOTTEN ME IN TROUBLE” SPIEL MAKE TOTAL SENSE!!!!!!

-There is so much poetry in here, guys. So So So Much.

-Speaking of poetry, it reminded me of both the Odyssey and several Shakespeare plays where they pause to sing a song or something.

-Why does the author keep making the characters reiterate what just happened? They Do The Thing. Then they gotta explain to someone else The Thing. There’s rarely an instance of “and they recounted the events just described” and leave it at that.

-Why does the Jade Emperor need to take a carriage to go literally anywhere? Even just to the other side of the courtyard? Is it a really big yard?

-Tripitaka DID seem like an overreacting crybaby but then I thought “this is PTSD at work” and IT ALL MAKES SENSE. He gets kidnapped by ogres who kill and eat his personally chosen companions (who came from his monastery and whom he most likely grew up with as friends) before his very eyes. Of course he’s going to freeze up and/or freak out every time a monster appears and Wukong needs to leave his side for whatever reason.

-Related, crying now that you have to walk to the West seems ridiculous until you think it might be more crying about how he was nearly eaten by the dragon that ate his horse!

-Seriously, I could go on about Tang’s unusually frequent crying and how it relates to potential PTSD and delayed reaction to said trauma.

-People keep calling the disciples ugly right to their faces and I Do Not Appreciate It. On another note, Wukong is surprisingly chill about this.

-Bodhisattva Guanyin used a fillet on a bear yaogaui in one chapter. I was not expecting that. Maybe ancient ideas of mercy are different compared to today?

-I’ve read and seen SO many stories of how Zhu Bajie kidnapped the human woman he married but that’s…not what happened. Sort of. They married with both her and her family’s consent. It was only after his true appearance, huge appetite, and poor manners were revealed that her family tries to get rid of him. He keeps his wife away from them as a result. Normally, I’d say good for him for trying to cut off toxic people but his wife was described as pale and unkept when Tang and Wukong arrive. So…she’s not doing good and should really be returned to her family.

-Wukong laughs at people and calls himself “Old Monkey” a lot.

More scattered thoughts to come!

[amethyst-halo]

Sunbeam blinked at him guiltily. “I’m sorry,” she mewed. “I put you all in danger.”

Rootspring shook his pelt out. “You did fine,” he told her. “Are you hurt?”

hiiii ive been working on this forever i liked sky’s journey chapters so much

[terra-tortoise]

hatched this girl. didnt vibe with her colors (not a huge fan of red range). scattered her (twice. had cerise as a primary BOTH times). went to bed not super happy about her. sat down to make a theme week post and decided im obsessed with her, so meet Liminal! she likes when people are in debt to her <3

[ferberus-skull]

right off the bat we start with. this. ... okay.

[gurlgallade]

I am so sorry to anyone who followed us for funny crackfic. Still absolutely lost in the sauce of the most wild angst fic I have ever imagined.

[lanternlightss]

ISAT anon here, assuming the big relevation about the king’s motives is the one in chapter 3’s ending and not some further relevation in act 4 I haven’t reached yet, revived deca having similar motives is so. Ough!!!! How have I not thought of it yet?? That is so diabolically evil I need to write it at some point. One of the main reasons I started playing was because I wanted to see if I could draw any lines between deca and the king and so far I am *not* disappointed.

Old mond finding out about the change belief,,, it would be so jarring for them to go from a “everything has to stay the same, the only way to break the dull monotony is to try something new but half of it is illegal now” society to a “do whatever you want forever :)” society. Isn’t the ability to change a personal freedom of sorts? I don’t know much about the change god itself yet but from what I do know Barbatos would approve of them.

I did not know you could talk to the change god but did you know once you fish enough times you can actually catch a fish? I know nothing about the odds or if it fluctuates over time but I found it interesting :D

RIGHT !!! RIGHT ????????

going to put the rest under the cut bc of spoilers but . pointing at you YEAH .

like . like . the Idea of decarabian, perhaps, finding This Mond so …. nice. it’s perfect. but he can’t shield it from the world, that didn’t go so well last time (and this new wind god would give him a piece of their mind if he so much as tried), but maybe. there’s another way to preserve this. there’s another way to keep everyone okay.

but THEN what if he tries that with old mond. my city, my people—they’re all gone. i have nothing. nothing to return to. the things left of me are passed down records, and ruins. what happened to our language? what happened to our beliefs? what Happened, please, tell me. when you all left, what did you take with you? (<- like how much would deccy Mourn. how much would he be in a similar position; of trying to grasp onto grains of sands.)

HONESTLY it would be so cool to see how decarabian would react to the king. both doing something … not so great, out of love, out of grief, out of protection, out of “it’s better this way.” put the two of them in a room what discussion would they have 🎤 (also 👀👀👀👀 revived deccy fic !!!!! looking !!!! and YEAH god theyre both so. shakes them !!!)

ALSO REAL !!!!! like that would be so jarring for them !!!! i wonder if they would spend a while waiting for the other shoe to drop—this has to come with a cost, right? you can’t just. keep. doing. things?? this information cannot be this easily attainable, right? eyes.. eyes and ears are everywhere. (also: nb encountering the list of names for when you change,,,) but YEAH vaugarde is so. mond coded. to not be shackled by anything, to be a helping hand. agh (also giggles !!! barbatos would certainly have many thoughts :3)

ALSO YEAH !!!!!!! ITS COOL, esp the dialogue for the event !!!!!!! sif buddy !!!!?! i dont remember the exact numbers, but i think the chances for it are really really really low ? which . is . Interesting 👁 (also . hey . Hey hey :) another thing. have you …. shown loop anything ………. if not you should Totally totally show them that silver coin sif has there a whole bunch <3)