screencaps: #*caps / jttw ao3: @talentshow
main @soft-galaxies
she/her, 華裔美國人 ✌️
no particular reason for picking eagle sorrow gorge (happened to remember it and figured it'd be an available username) but it refers to the place where the white dragon horse is introduced ^_^
the official english subtitled youtube playlist: the translations aren't the most accurate, but it does the job, and i like that you can see the chinese characters in the hardcoded subtitles as well. one caveat is that each episode has been edited down to like 45 min, so there's def some missing scenes here and there, and most episodes "end" a few minutes into the next episode's upload. (after ep 6, i tag based on the actual episode's story, not the cctv subtitled upload start/end points)
(i've already watched the series several times over since i was a kid, but it's been a while since i did a full rewatch, so this is what my many many posts are about. i'll also be jumping back and forth between episodes as i remember things i want to revisit, but currently am mostly going in sequential order)
if you don't want a subtitled version, cctv also has an alternate playlist with slightly different edits per episode (which are closer to the original starting/stopping points). distressingly, eps 10 and 11 were uploaded only in 240p
note: neither have the original full opening/ending sequences ;( but you can find them in various clips on youtube
a couple notes about the english translations & a short tag list under the readmore to keep this shorter:
english translations of the full novel:
my personal recommendation: i grew up with jenner's translation, so i'm biased towards that, and prefer it for stylistic reasons as well as its balance of readability and comprehensiveness. i have a couple of hard copies from the beijing foreign language press, and am also using the pdf kindly provided here for searchability: https://journeytothewestresearch.com/2023/08/08/archive-42-pdfs-of-journey-to-the-west-translations/
currently also making my way through yu's updated translation (on vol. 3), which removes the wades-giles romanization i didn't like when i was reading an older edition previously, but i still prefer jenner's word choices for the most part (e.g. yu refers to bajie as "eight rules" throughout, which may be the literal translation but constantly takes me out of the book). however, it's also interesting to read yu's translation to get an even more comprehensive understanding of the text and to finally read a translation by someone of chinese descent for once, so i'd also recommend checking it out as well ^_^
some tags:
#jttw 86: mostly screencap posts but also anything related to the show. variants include #jttw 86 cast, #jttw 86 ost, #jttw cast in other jttw roles, #jttw 86 misc
#journey to the west: was originally tagging everything under this, but am mainly using it for the book. individual chapters are tagged by chapter number, a.k.a. #jttw ch 39
#bilibili adventures: amusing things i find on bilibili about the show
#jttw fic: i dabble a bit (on ao3 @ talentshow), mostly gen with a few secret third things here and there
#fav out of context: some personal fav screencaps or scenes
mulling over some contrasts while thinking about the book's versions of wukong and sanzang and their respective differences re: attractiveness, agency, and ability to consent:
wukong is someone who is frequently described in the book as hideous and ugly and hairy-faced like a thunder god. people like him, but aren't attracted to him sexually. other than the times people have hit on him while he was transformed as someone else (usually as the spouse of the person hitting on him) and a couple of hints in dialogue that he just doesn't care about that sort of thing, wukong hasn't really had to make a conscious decision to avoid sex or define himself as someone who doesn't have it. he has the physical and magical capability to block anyone from forcing themselves on him, but also the only times he's actually had to fend someone off was because he had transformed into their spouse and he got out of those situations by transforming back into himself. his inherent self is not someone who gets tested by sexuality. the one time guanyin suggests he might be tempted to steal her naga maiden away (in chapter 42), wukong expresses sadness and disappointment she'd ever think that of him, and he affirms he hasn't done anything like that since converting to buddhism. for wukong, the inability to consent is never a concern, and to him, there's no other risk of ever breaking his vows.
sanzang, however, is frequently described in the book as the peak of male attractiveness for a human at the time. he's constantly having to fend off female advances (human or demon) and usually in a disempowered position until wukong can come to save him from his predicament. he's permitted to resist when it's narratively convenient for him to do so (e.g. being able to resist the scorpion demon's advances for the entire night) but he doesn't have any of wukong's powers to defend himself if someone actually did force themselves on him. in the womanland arc, he (somewhat explicitly) verbalized to wukong how worried he was that the queen of western liang would expect him to perform the conjugal rites and cause him to permanently fall out of the buddhist faith, as if it would be inevitable that the queen's will would override his lack of consent. his concern isn't that he'll give into temptation, but that external forces will make him do what he doesn't want to do. he is always making the choice to uphold his vows but also constantly confronted with the futility of making that choice. on his own, he doesn't have much agency. it's only when wukong is with him that he can actually make a meaningful choice not to have sex and continue living his life.
sanzang locking into another depression moment after yellow brow brags about wukong getting turned into pus in three days and goes into this bizarre claim about taking over the pilgrimage to fetch the scriptures after eating the tang priest's flesh. why can't you just want to eat my flesh like a normal demon, sanzang wonders. do you have to try to take my JOB too??
