Eiderr !!

They/He | Minor | Artist sometimes, suntang lover 24/7

[bloodypetee]

I wish I wasn't too lazy and could finally make an animatic I've been thinking about for years, but my best friend is a freakin hero and made this FOR ME ❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹. In case the reference isn't clear, it's heavily inspired by this scene from Steven Universe.

If you want to check out more of my friend's art, they're @ / terridots on Instagram

[bloodypetee]

I think it's only fair to upload this here too, even though I'm a little embarrassed (⁠╥⁠﹏⁠╥⁠)

I hardly ever draw Wukong in my "complex" style, so I think he looks odd, even so, I should practice that more, and everyone's designs too

[blublublubnate]

IM FREE IM FREEEEEEEEEEEEE

Stupid Cupid || LMK/JTTW animatic

song - Stupid Cupid by Connie Francies Social: Tumblr - @blublublubnate

[crisscrossapplesaauce]

Whiteboard fox art from the Bigger Undercover Slop Factory 💚

[fablevii]

Tang Sanzang and Sun Wukong's Dynamic: The Interplay Between Duality and Destiny

I am currently reading the Chinese classic, Journey to the West, written by Wu Cheng'en, using Anthony C. Yu's English translation. I am not exposed to the popular JTTW adaptations on Tumblr, i.e. LMK and BMK, so my analysis will be based on the original JTTW novel. While JTTW is an allegory for the human condition, I will primarily be analyzing this relationship dynamic from a character perspective and will take into account an allegorical interpretation when relevant. This post will cover Chapters 1 - 13. As I continue reading JTTW, I may post more of my personal thoughts on their development and if I choose to do so, I will be labeling my JTTW analyses accordingly so as to prevent confusion. If my initial reading contradicts future information later in the novel, I will acknowledge it in a future analysis when relevant.

Sun Wukong and Tang Sanzang are arguably the two main characters of this classic, what with the former being a powerful immortal monkey that is sent to protect the latter, a monk that is going on a long and treacherous journey to the west to collect the sacred Buddhist scriptures. This analysis will be about my initial reading (i.e. thoughts and assumptions) on their respective backgrounds and what I believe it says to their future dynamic.

Tang Sanzang's backstory is a tragic one. His mother, who was pregnant with him at the time, was forced to marry the man that murdered his father. For her son's safety, she sends him away in a basket floating on a river. Eventually, the basket is discovered by a monk of a Buddhist temple thus Sanzang is raised to be a Buddhist monk. There isn't much information about how Sanzang adjusted to his monk life, but he seems to take to its teachings well and is shown to be quite intelligent when he outwits his fellow monk with his questions during their intellectual discussions. However, one of his fellow monks shouts at him in front of their fellow monks that he has no name or parents of his own. This is only an assumption, but this scene implies that Sanzang had trouble adjusting in regard to fitting in with his peers. After this moment, Sanzang goes to his teacher and asks him:

“Though a human being born into this world receives his natural endowments from the forces of yin and yang and from the Five Phases, he is always nurtured by his parents. How can there be a person in this world who has no father or mother?"

At this moment, without Sanzang realizing, there is another being out there that is like him. We know that there is actually one other person who has no father or mother (or even a name of his own) and that is Sun Wukong himself. Wukong was born from a stone and the name he has was bestowed upon him by his Daoist teacher. Sanzang's personal and religious name (Jiang Liu and Xuanzang, respectively) was also bestowed upon him by his own teacher.

Unlike Sanzang, Wukong doesn't have a tragic backstory. He befriends a clan of monkeys easily and is proclaimed the Handsome Monkey King after finding them a suitable cave to live in to protect them from the elements and from predators. After learning that everyone is fated to die, Wukong leaves his home to find a way to escape it. There isn't much information about Wukong's first few years living among human civilization while he continues searching. But I can only assume that the contrast between being the Handsome Monkey King and scaring off humans due to his very being was jarring, to say the least. However, Wukong is able to discover a way to avoid death by being accepted as a student under the teachings of Daoism. Just like Sanzang, he is very disciplined when taught his respective lessons. It is uncertain whether his relationship with his fellow disciples is of a teasing nature or a more underlying malicious one, taking into account how the disciples got angry at him when he refuses to learn any Daoist division except for the way of immortality and how they tease about his newfound abilities being used for menial work (unknowing that there even exists a way of immortality, let alone that Wukong has learned it). But it is clear that Wukong, like Sanzang, both do not fit in.

Another interesting parallel is how their respective peers foreshadow their ‘paths’ and are later proven wrong. When the disciples learned that Wukong is learning how to cloud-soar, or rather cloud-somersault to suit his form, the disciples say, "Lucky Wukong! If he learns this little trick, he can become a dispatcher for someone to deliver documents or carry circulars. He'll be able to make a living anywhere!" Time-skip forward, he goes on to become the Great Sage Equal to Heaven.

In comparison, Sanzang’s fellow monk says to him, “You damnable beast! You don’t even know your own name, and you are ignorant of your own parents! Why are you still hanging around here playing tricks on people?” Later in the very same chapter, he is able to reunite with his family. Wukong and Sanzang inadvertently prove their peers wrong, and these comments are subverted in a twist of irony that there is something greater that lies in their future ahead of them.

However, this is where their similarities end and where one can see how they are foils to the other.

I mentioned above that they don’t fit in with their peers but what adds an extra layer to Wukong standing out is that he is the only one of his kind. However, I reason that Wukong doesn’t see this as a weakness and views the existence of his being as special, as a miracle. What would add further evidence to Wukong seeing his existence in an almost egotistical manner is how quickly he learns powerful techniques and how he gains immortality seven times over. This reflects in his behavior such as how he refuses to leave the Dragon King’s palace until he is given a weapon and armor suitable to his needs, and how he proclaims himself the Great Sage Equal to Heaven as to send the message that he is on the same level as the highest being in Heaven.

In comparison, Sanzang is special by fate’s design unlike Wukong who seems to be born from pure luck (whether this is actually true or not remains to be seen as of Chapter 13). Sanzang is the incarnation of the Golden Cicada, a former disciple of Buddha himself, and the monk chosen by Bodhisattva Guanyin to go on the journey to the west to collect the sacred Buddhist scriptures. He is able to avenge his family, return his grandmother’s sight, and have his father brought back to life with the help of the heavenly beings. However, he doesn’t view himself as special or above any other human being. This reflects in his behavior when he declines the emperor’s offer of a seat in office, choosing to remain a monk, and when he volunteers himself for the journey to the west, despite having a good life at home where he was chosen by the emperor to lead the Grand Mass of Land and Water for the safe deliverance of the passed souls.

While sharing a similar starting point in their lives, Wukong and Sanzang’s life trajectories are inverted. Where Wukong is crowned the Monkey King, Sanzang has a tragic backstory where his mother is forced to marry the same person who murdered his father. Where Wukong reached a rank high enough to be in Heaven, Sanzang declined a seat in office and returned to his life as a monk. Where Wukong was not invited to Heaven’s great feast, the Festival of Immortal Peaches, Sanzang was chosen as the head priest of the Grand Mass of Land and Water, a huge ceremony that the Emperor Taizong commissioned. Their paths here are essentially switched: Wukong started at the top and ended at the bottom while Sanzang started from the bottom and ended up at the top.

Their different approaches to life can be summed up to how they gain their well-recognized equipment: Wukong forces the Dragon King to give him armor and the gold-banded staff while Sanzang accepts the cassock and priestly staff given freely by Bodhisattva Guanyin.

The common allegorical interpretation of JTTW is that Wukong represents the mind so what Sanzang says before embarking on his journey in response to the other monks discussing the risks of the journey strikes me as really interesting:

“When the mind is active, all kinds of mara come into existence; when the mind is extinguished, all kinds of mara will be extinguished. This disciple has already made an important vow before Buddha in the Temple of Transformation, and he has no alternative but to fulfill it with his whole heart.”

Sanzang knows how dangerous this journey will be, and he is well-aware enough to know that if he stops to think deeply about all the risks he will most likely encounter, it will frighten him from undertaking this journey. It is a brave mindset, but it is simultaneously a naive one. Without the mind (i.e. Wukong), Sanzang would have died. But without the heart (i.e. Sanzang), Wukong would have never been redeemed. The mind and the heart cannot survive on its own. The mind cares only for the efficient way without thinking about the repercussions while the heart cares only for the effort made without any results accomplished.

Sanzang and Wukong are like yin and yang in that the concepts they represent are both opposing forces but are equally as important and necessary. This also reflects in their behavior and their worldviews. Wukong strives to be at the top while Sanzang is satisfied with what he has. Wukong carves out his own path while Sanzang accepts what lies ahead in his path. Wukong questions and doubts while Sanzang believes and trusts.

They both lack what the other has and have what the other lacks. This destined journey to the west is the catalyst that makes their paths meet and forces them to teach and learn from each other in order to finish this journey together. Although Sanzang is Wukong’s master, Wukong has as much to teach Sanzang. I’d say that their dynamic is equally balanced and well-matched because Wukong is a powerful immortal with many techniques and abilities up his sleeve while Sanzang has the ability to subdue Wukong with the golden headband and its associated sutra chant if needs be.

Tang Sanzang and Sun Wukong are a duality to the other in every way, but their destinies are the same. Their lives may have started at similar points and later gone into opposite directions, but their paths have now converged in order to end up at the same point again.

Endnote: I wrote this analysis, based solely from their backgrounds, before Sanzang and Wukong had even interacted with the other in Chapter 14 (which I have not read yet as of writing this), but it goes to show how their experiences and personalities are narrative parallels to the other and how it informs us of their future dynamic later on in the novel.

[kasspergh]

and then some demon kidnaps him again

[thatguythatdrawsalot]

Never and Forever.

With how many near death experiences Wukong goes through both in the book and in the show… I could imagine a moment like this happening cause I’m a monster who isn’t worthy of sympathy :D

Yes I’m fine, here’s them in all their glory.

[bloodypetee]

WHAT IF I FUCKING KILL MYSELF /jk

[leapfog1]

Megapolis's hero

[trickymonkey]

[straylungs]

illustration by @anyaboz

Announcing our next project in development...

My Darling Monk, a Journey to the West visual novel

You are One who has left their family. Thousands of miles lie between you and salvation for the people back home. You're all alone. Oh, except for your posse of demon-crushing, cloud-riding, demigod besties. They'll follow you to the ends of earth. If they don't kill each other first.

My Darling Monk is a story of choice, change, and transformation. It's also a story of being irresistibly yummy to monsters (smash), solving problems for useless monarchs (pass), and having absolutely no powers at all. Sound interesting?

Follow us on itch.io!

Sign up for updates on our website!

Buy us a coffee or an album to help support the project!

Or follow our socials on Instagram and Bluesky for more!

[bloodypetee]

PAVLOVA COOKIE 🪉

Not a big fan of him actually, BUT HES DESIGN

This is a slightly old drawing I uploaded to Tiktok, Twitter, and Pinterest, but it kind of flopped, and since I'm proud of it, I'm uploading it here too. (⁠´⁠-⁠﹏⁠-⁠`⁠；⁠)

[bloodypetee]

Sandy: te prometo que en la próxima partida te recupero mo 🙏

Intento en el lmk estilo pero no sé siento que pigsy es el que me salió mejor jsnsbs

No posteo mucho mis dibujos por acá pq solo quisiera dedicarlo a jttw, pero creo que debería empezar a

[aynl]

‘revered monkey king, look forward to the future ! ‘

suntang + the crew !! im still trying to find a design for them i like oo AND my second jttw piece (i forgot how much tumblr destroys the resolution)

[ya12448]

I CANT-

[bloodypetee]

SUNTANG WEEK – DAY 7 "Blue" (Late)

"What's wrong with you? Don't you remember what he looked like?"

Sweet, sweet and horrible taste of melancholy

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I apologize for being absent these past few days; life gets complicated... But I promise, there's always time for more Suntang ^⁠_⁠_⁠_⁠_⁠_⁠^

[bloodypetee]

SUNTANG WEEK - DAY 2 "Red"

Isn't it difficult? When you end up feeling love for a being full of violence, The blood that booms in their hearts is both filled with passion, that red passion for different sides.

[bloodypetee]

SUNTANG WEEK - DAY 1 "Green"

The beautiful green of envy

Sanzang would never admit it, for it was unbecoming of a monk like him, but sometimes he felt envious of Wukong. His disciple could make him feel so insignificant; he envied his strength, his abilities, the ease with which he accomplished things that, for Sanzang, were achievements (like, for example, being able to pick fruit from a tree with his bare hands). Wukong easily outshone him, even managing to put an end to conflicts that he had already tried to stop.

How dare he?

No, you silly monkey, you're not half as good as me.

Calm down, you're a bad master.

Meditate, calm down.

You're not like this. He's doing it for you. Don't be ungrateful.

He hated that word, he hated envy, he hated feeling it. He wasn't that kind of person.

It's still the 15th in my country, so I'm not that late!! This idea has been buried in my head for a few months now, so when I read the color description I was excited, I also admit that I wanted to do something more complicated, but my final exams just finished yesterday.

I like to make Sanzang feel some more human emotions, even things like resentment, but of course, it's a matter of how each of us see him.

I also made a meme last night, phew, I love it.

You can't tell I edited it, okay? Okay