#sha answers

[chibichibisha]

For years I've been noticing that you haven't creating twst oc fanarts nowadays. Why's that?

Hello!! Thanks for the ask. My interest in twst just changed to other things and different fandoms, but I still love my oc's and hold them dear. That's all! ♥

[lululocomo]

What are the monkey parents'/jttw pilgrimage's reaction to when MK firstly lifts and controls Ruyi Jingu Bang?

Wukong is so proud of him✨

Macaque is also proud, but he worry a bit, it's a pretty powerful weapon and MK might not know how to control how hard he can it-

but mostly everyone reaction is " oh god it's really a mini Wukong" and they are scared of the possible damages lmao

Wukong: LOOK EVERYONE!! THAT'S MY BABY!!!

[chiisanajimi]

could you draw Shadow with Maria? please

here friend i lined some sketches for you :)

[elodieunderglass]

(Killie the jockey OC and his coworkers)

(Killie is absurdly strong! but also - this is important, listen up, Rossa - the instructions are written on the cap)

(As a dual champion flat and jump jockey, Killie is capable of opening jars and also immune to the lure of the single grape)

[complakei]

I think something that probably takes up a good 3/4 of my thinking space is like. How does the scum villain timeline work so that shang qinghua dies and transmigrates into pidw as a little babe yet still finishes writing it but shen yuan transmigrates post peak lord inauguration????? like i absolutely cannot come up with an explanation for this at all because it would make sense if they were transmigrated into different worlds within the pidw universe so that's not right either..... of course there's also the usual Space And Time Fuckery but that explanation just feels sooooo lackluster.... IT DOESNT MAKE SENSE

and also what is the criteria to be transmigrated into a certain character????? like do u have to share a last name (i.e. 沈垣 transmigrates into 沈九 / 沈清秋) which means that airplanes last name would be 尚 something.... obviously it's not someone that matches their personality because if that was it i think that shen yuan would have transmigrated into like.. maybe mu qingfang WHICH WOULD HAVE BEEN REALLY INGERESTING CAN SOMEONE EXPLORE THAT

maybe it's the character that they hate the most??? because shen yuan blames shen jiu for the way bingge turned out to be and is kinda the reason everything happened so maybe airplane hated shang qinghua??? maybe because he was close to mobei (his dream man) and absolute canon fodder???? but i don't know how realistic that is IDK IDKKKKK

i think another solid argument would be the character that they look most similar to. we know that shen yuan looks Really Really similar to shen jiu which is why sha hualing kidnapped him in the vegetable body to make bing happy and shen yuan has described his former self as "a dispirited pretty boy sitting around waiting to die" (i will expand on this in another post i have so many thoughts on this) which would also make sense for airplane to transmigrate into shang qinghua because dream man = guy who knows dream man = self insert character whether subconscious or otherwise...... i don't know i need someone else's input you guys 😭😭😭

[sketching-shark]

Who are your favorite jttw artists? I've been looking for more content lately and you seem to be dependable on these kinds of things >.>

Hi there @thebeastandthehedgegrowth! Many thanks for your vote of confidence :)

So I would say that my current definite favorite JTTW artist would be Dongzi Liu, who's created some phenomenal Xiyouji-based pieces. Here's a small sampling that I yoinked off of his twitter:

The Pilgrims:

A close-up of Sun Wukong:

And just check out these kings of Lion-Camel Ridge!

Another artist I very much like is Chen Huiguan, who's created some really endearing presentations of the pilgrimage. Irwen Wong has a really good collection of them as part of his extremely helpful summary of Journey to the West. Here's a small sampling of the work:

The stone monkey leaving Mt. Huaguoshan in the quest for immortality:

Sun Wukong feeling the full effects of the headache spell for the first time:

Zhu Bajie trying to convince the Monkey King to return after his first banishment:

Cartoonist Chaiko Tsai has also recently come out with a lovely graphic novel version of Journey to the West, and while other people have posted some really adorable images from it I'll give some samplings of the art that I found online:

Zhu Bajie, Tang Sanzang, Bai Longma, and Sun Wukong looking apprehensive near a body of water:

A student Sun Wukong learning how to fly:

Those are the professional artists that come to mind, but if you're interested in something a little "closer to home" as it were (i.e. hobby artists on tumblr), then I'd say that the best JTTW artists would be @antidotefortheawkward-art, @archrui, @lavaflowe, @sixteenthchapel, @kaijufluffs, and @sunny-days-and-warm-mournings

These are the artists that first come to mind, and as you can see there's some really amazing styles present! I hope you enjoy all this art as much as I do, and it goes without saying that everyone should feel free to reblog with their own favorite JTTW-inspired artists.

[starsfic]

Sun Wukong: Master, I'm sad.

Tang Sanzang: *Holds out arms for a hug* It’s going to be okay.

Zhu Bajie: Little brother, I'm sad.

Sha Wujing, nodding: mood.

Ao Lie: "I'm sad." *gets assaulted with hugs in all directions*

[jojea]

girl who did nothing wrong ever

[waitineedaname]

I keep thinking about that Tinder Girl text convo and imagining cumplane arguing over each other's names because bingyuan are getting married and need to put Moshang on the invite list but Shen Yuan only knows them as "Airplane" and "Airplane's boyfriend" and Shang Qinghua genuinely mistakes Shen Yuan for "Shen Qingqiu" because he only ever refers to him as "Cucumber bro" and never got his first name from him. Think that bit where everytime he's about to say his name a loud and inopportune noise drowns him out and Airplane refuses to keep asking.

PLEASE LSDKJFLKSDJF i love that in this scenario they're not the ones getting married. it's more like your best man threatening to not come to the wedding because you don't know his name sldkjflksdjf now im imagining sqh being like I OBJECT in the middle of the wedding just because his best bro doesn't know his name (never mind that he also doesn't remember his best bro's name). I also love that binghe and mobei-jun aren't helpful in this scenario, presumably because shen yuan and sqh get so focused on bothering each other about it that they. forget they can just ask their partners what their friends' names are.

[violetvirus]

HELLO DID I HEAR CYBERPUNK JTTW?

YES!! YOU DID!!!

I'm working on a couple of longer lore related comics, so have a video of what would happen if you put the robot disciples in the studio together lmao

tripitaka is trying to be nice because they created it. sandy added the dolphin noises

[lululocomo]

Not gonna lie I don’t care which pilgrims it is. I just wanna see some art of MK interacting with the pilgrims. 🤭

I couldn't choose which pilgrims so have all of them!!

It's not very clear but Wukong is looking at Zhu Bajie and MK is looking at Ao Lie-

And Wukong being a good dad is grooming MK after spending the whole day traveling❤️

not me noticing I forgot to draw the circlet right before posting so I had to go back and draw it 💀

and a little close up of Ao Lie who's drinking some tea~

[techs-goggles9902]

trick or treat

(any of the 501st tricksters will do)

You get a treat ❤️

[penumbramewtwos]

So Ash did exist in your universe. But now he had been reborn as Sha

yup :> All human characters from the animation are in my universe. Ash would have been over 110 years old at the time of his passing, and ofc, coming after Chilli, that makes him the second human soul to give a part of themselves to morsanima in many centuries.

[lavaflowe]

spero che ti piaccia...

😭

LMAOOOOOOO WHY DOES WUJING HAVE LIPS AJFKSJJD

I enjoyed this very much AJKDSJJD

[sketching-shark]

Youve talked a lot about why you admire jttw's redemption arcs for acknowledging how fucked up everyone was beforehand but i just wanna show some appreciation for how everyone still retains parts of themselves that could be considered flaws in other narratives. like when SWK becomes a buddha, he's not a pacifist, he's the *fighting* buddha. and zbj celebrates gluttony and indulgence yet when he attains enlightenment his role still celebrates that as an altar-cleanser :>

Oh you are so genuinely big-brained for this anon.

YEAH YEAH YEAH when it comes to everyone's favorite ex-assholes' attainment of enlightenment and what this could mean for any potential Xiyouji sequels, there is just so many interesting possibilities and implications you can work with when it comes to the pilgrims' post-journey lives! I know they only get their new positions at the very end of Journey to the West--and given the assumedly "great"final" ending that is achieving enlightenment this is probably why a lot of jttw-related media taking place in the future either re-writes jttw in some major ways and/or has it that the pilgrims failed in their mission and/or became basically the complete opposite of who they once were--but as you say there's something really compelling in the idea that they were successful AND retained their core characteristics BUT with all the maturity and desire to do genuine good that they developed over the course of the journey and solidified with enlightenment. I think that's at least why a few people playing around with jttw sequels have the pilgrims' be more like boddhisatvas than buddhas, as from what I understand this means that they DID attain enlightement but have put off entering paradise in order to more actively help others achieve the same. I feel like that makes a lot of sense for the pilgrims too, as they all experienced the wide gamut of pain and desires that can drive a person down the paths of samsara, which could end up providing a strong foundation for compassion for others. Plus there is something very cool with the idea that the same traits--even ones like a willingness to violence, gluttony, etc--can be beneficial or detrimental depending on how they manifest. That really drives home the idea of just how much there's no such thing as a "naturally" wicked individual, but that so much of one's moral character depends on what one actually DOES.

So (just to put it down) with the pilgrims you have:

Sun Wukong as the Victorious Figthing Buddha/Buddha Victorious in Strife, whose role is now that of a great exorcist and a protector of children. Interestingly too this title also suggests his prowess in defeating the emotions that drive negative actions as well as his victory over cyclic existence, something that we definitely see him achieve for himself!

Tang Sanzang is the Buddha of Candana (Sandalwood) Merit, a figure that others call upon to help absolve them of sin and a title that seems to be attached to the idea that the fragrance of sandalwood can help cool the passions of sentient beings and help them settle their minds (i.e. the very reason Xuanzang wanted to undertake the journey in the first place & something that Tripitaka is seen as having a lot of practice with given who his tudi are!)

Zhu Bajie becomes Janitor of the Altars, which is a role indicating that he actually did NOT in the end achieve enlightenment because he is still beholden to his base desires, but that he will now be able to put his appetite to work in a beneficial way. Interestingly enough, it seems to have been partly because of his lowest rank among the pilgrims at the end that Zhu Bajie has recently been adopted as a patron deity for sex workers in Taiwan, as many of them feel that other more "legitimate" deities would but look down on them.

Sha Wujing becomes the Golden-Bodied Ahrat. Unfortunately I wasn't able to find much information on what exactly this role suggests besides that ahrats are perfected people who have freed themselves from the bonds of desire and therefore will not be reborn, so if anyone has more information please let me know!

Bai Longma is made one of the dragons belonging to the Eight Classes of Supernatural Beings, who from what I understand are an interesting mix of entities, from demons to nagas, who all work as Buddhist protectors. For me at least it's kind of neat to think of the possibilities of everyone's favorite dragon horse, after he seems to have been so thoroughly rejected by his own family, found a bigger one both in the pilgrims and then with these other supernaturals.

[starsfic]

Art school au prompt:

Sha Wujing showing Sandy’s baby pictures to Huntsman (during when he and Huntsman probably got along better later)

Huntsman was nervous.

Not because of his date. (Maybe a little, because he and Sandy had been so blind to each other's affections for so long that, every time they had a date, Huntsman feared it was a cruel joke from the universe.) No, the source of his nerves sat across from him, both waiting for Sandy to finish getting ready.

Sha Wujing both looked and acted tough. Sandy said he was a sweetie, really, but Huntsman could barely believe it. The man looked wild and acted wild. Supposedly, Wukong had befriended him over wrestling and Huntsman could believe it, especially with how protective Wujing was over his baby brother.

They were working on it. Huntsman just had to hope-

"Wanna see Sandy's baby pictures?"

Huntsman blinked. "What?"

Wujing glanced down the hall and pulled out a book. Across the front was scrawled SANDY'S BABY PICTURES with an adorable little Sandy holding up what appeared to be a kitten Mo. "I've been waiting for years for Sandy to get a date to show baby pictures. I showed Bai He, but it's different when it's a kid." He chuckled. "Less embarrassment and Bai He felt better about not having many baby pictures of her own. So..." He dangled the book. "Wanna see?"

Huntsman only had a second to think about it.

"Yes."