amazing what a difference adding a multiply layer for shading does

and here is a grayscale

“When the monkeys heard this, they all clapped their hands and shouted happily, ‘If the great king is Elder Sun, then we are all Junior Suns, Suns the Third, small Suns, tiny Suns—the Sun Family, the Sun Nation, and the Sun Cave!’” ~JttW ch 2

“Displaying his martial skill, he made extensive visits to various heroes and warriors; performing his magic, he made many good friends. At this time, moreover, he entered into fraternal alliance with six other monarchs…Day after day they discussed civil and military arts, exchanged wine cups and goblets, sang and danced…there was not a single pleasure that they overlooked.” ~JttW ch 3

“He was free and content to tour the mansions and meet friends, to make new acquaintances and form new alliances at his leisure. The numerous gods…he called them all brother and treated them in a fraternal manner.” ~JttW ch 5

And then, after five centuries beneath a mountain:

"Waiting" by Tuima11

There was a strand of ivy in his ear.

Monkey’s hands were pinioned just slightly too far away from his face too pull the creeper free, and no amount of shaking his head seemed to deter the damn thing. It had spent the last few weeks worming its way along the rockface and curling up through his hair, and now it had stuck an exploratory tendril straight down his ear canal. Deep down, past the Ruyi Jingu Bang and on toward his brain. If he were anything less than what he was, it’d probably be agonizing; instead, it tickled. Incessantly.

He was pretty sure that was worse.

Also, it blocked his hearing, which was worst of all. Not just because he didn’t actually know how he’d cope if he had to hold still in silence on top of everything else, but because today was definitely (absolutely, this-time-for-sure) the day that Guanyin’s promised scripture pilgrim would pass by, and Monkey couldn’t afford to miss him. It had been five months since she had gone to pick him out.

Five months and eight and a half days.

He tried hard not to wonder how far away the so-called Great Tang was from his prison. He didn’t even know which continent he was currently laminated to, but he had to hope it was the same one as this Tang place.

He tried harder not to remember Guanyin’s answer when he’d asked her how long it’d be. “It rather depends on whether or not he’s been born yet,” she’d said.

Monkey reminded himself ferociously that human lives sped by quickly. And anyway just five months (and eight and a half days) ago, he’d truly believed that he would spend the rest of eternity immobilized and alone. The fact that it was taking the monk a long time to show up almost didn’t matter. What mattered was that hope was no longer just some fragile silken lie he bound around his chest every morning to keep the mountain from crushing it entirely; it was real. Someday he would be free.

Probably today. Definitely today.

“When the monkeys heard this, they all clapped their hands and shouted happily, ‘If the great king is Elder Sun, then we are all Junior Suns, Suns the Third, small Suns, tiny Suns—the Sun Family, the Sun Nation, and the Sun Cave!’” ~JttW ch 2

“Displaying his martial skill, he made extensive visits to various heroes and warriors; performing his magic, he made many good friends. At this time, moreover, he entered into fraternal alliance with six other monarchs…Day after day they discussed civil and military arts, exchanged wine cups and goblets, sang and danced…there was not a single pleasure that they overlooked.” ~JttW ch 3

“He was free and content to tour the mansions and meet friends, to make new acquaintances and form new alliances at his leisure. The numerous gods…he called them all brother and treated them in a fraternal manner.” ~JttW ch 5

And then, after five centuries beneath a mountain:

"Waiting" by Tuima11

There was a strand of ivy in his ear.

Monkey’s hands were pinioned just slightly too far away from his face too pull the creeper free, and no amount of shaking his head seemed to deter the damn thing. It had spent the last few weeks worming its way along the rockface and curling up through his hair, and now it had stuck an exploratory tendril straight down his ear canal. Deep down, past the Ruyi Jingu Bang and on toward his brain. If he were anything less than what he was, it’d probably be agonizing; instead, it tickled. Incessantly.

He was pretty sure that was worse.

Also, it blocked his hearing, which was worst of all. Not just because he didn’t actually know how he’d cope if he had to hold still in silence on top of everything else, but because today was definitely (absolutely, this-time-for-sure) the day that Guanyin’s promised scripture pilgrim would pass by, and Monkey couldn’t afford to miss him. It had been five months since she had gone to pick him out.

Five months and eight and a half days.

He tried hard not to wonder how far away the so-called Great Tang was from his prison. He didn’t even know which continent he was currently laminated to, but he had to hope it was the same one as this Tang place.

He tried harder not to remember Guanyin’s answer when he’d asked her how long it’d be. “It rather depends on whether or not he’s been born yet,” she’d said.

Monkey reminded himself ferociously that human lives sped by quickly. And anyway just five months (and eight and a half days) ago, he’d truly believed that he would spend the rest of eternity immobilized and alone. The fact that it was taking the monk a long time to show up almost didn’t matter. What mattered was that hope was no longer just some fragile silken lie he bound around his chest every morning to keep the mountain from crushing it entirely; it was real. Someday he would be free.

Probably today. Definitely today.

Descending

Descending

Source:

Anthony C. Yu translation, Chapter 8)

Also please don't bully me about my mediocre pig drawings they're an improvement from where I started

In which the Monkey King makes a trip to Hell, and Hell loses.

King Yama did not have "Monkey" on his list of things to deal with today

I imagine this is the expression worn by many, many Celestials in the aftermath of Monkey.

Harried scribe: SO many Life and Death books. Even overtime isn’t enough to mend them whole!

King Yama: Abandon it, this is beyond fixing.

Poor king Yama. Clearly the only solution here... is to SUE that monkey in a court of law!!

I think chapter three is where we really start to see Sun Wukong in his "surely the conses won't quence" era. Can you blame him? He pisses off two powerful kings (eleven if you count all the other kings of the underworld), and as a direct result he gets a badass weapon, a swag suit of armor, and a job.

("It's right behind me isn't it" esc scenario with it planning to the other pilgrims looking at Ao Lie in confusion and very big, very angry dragon mama right behind them.)

this is cinema, honestly, no notes

"I beseech the master to forgive me," Wukong said, kowtowing. "I won't condemn you," said the Patriarch, "but you must leave this place." When Wukong heard this, tears fell from his eyes. "Where am I to go, Teacher?" he asked. "From wherever you came," the Patriarch said, "you should go back there." - Journey to the West, chapter 2

~~~

Aka local immortal kicks out his wild monke son so he can keep up his low profile XD In all seriousness though, I enjoyed seeing how Wukong gained his magic, and his dynamic Subodhi! I'm only familiar with Wukong and Sanzang's relationship, so it was fascinating to watch Wukong interact with his first master and see how reverent he is of him, even when he's still a cheeky show-off hahaa

I also felt bad when Subodhi kicked Wukong out at the end, but at the same time, I get it XD Subodhi can sense the monke havoc on the horizon lololl

I know it's a short series, but will we be seeing a bit more of Gaster's abilities in 'If Your Mother Knew...'? The forge/metallurgic theme of his magic is different and I'm oh so curious :]. I love the details you add of magics and world building 💜

I am constantly torn between adding more detail about the magicology in my focs because I personally think its cool, and deleting entire paragraphs because I'm afraid people will think they're boring/distracting 😂

First off, thank you so much to everyone for reading my fics! It really means a lot to know you guys enjoy them and I read every comment, reply, reblog, like, etc with such overwhelming joy.

On that note, some of you may have noticed my posts have slowed down a bit. My summer job has officially started for the season and that on top of my regular week job has me working seven days a week for eight weeks straight. Sadly, this currently leaves me little time and energy to write as much as I would like.

I am still working on fics when I get the chance; including drabbles, requests, Eyes of Gold, and other fandom stories. It might just be a bit slower for me to finish and post some of them until my summer job has wrapped up in a few weeks time. If you submitted a request, I promise you weren't forgotten. All of them are currently on my to-do list and I will do my best to catch up on them soon.

In the meantime, thank you so much to all my amazing readers and I hope to bring you more stories once my schedule has cleared some.

~Kay 🧡

Sanzang's path to enlightenment! This was mainly inspired by @tuima11's interpretation of the Tang Monk where he starts off depressed during the journey but finds a found family with his disciples <333 (And I was also inspired by the latest chapter in The Found Family Field Guide XD)

"And Tripitaka…Wukong had turned True Sight on his Master as they flew over the ocean together and it had all just been…radiance. There was an impression of a body in there, but there was also an impression of translucent golden wings and distant singing and a hundred years of peaceful summer days at once, sunlight filtering through green leaves, and Wukong’s only real emotion was relief. Yes. There. That was his Master. It was like if you’d spent fourteen years being friends with someone who wore a heavy muffling veil all the time, and then you finally got to see them without it, all their half-familiar features suddenly clear and correct and easy."

It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these! Below is the order my next chapters will be released.

A Tale Painted with Blood

I’m almost done with the next chapter. The section I’m writing could easily become its own chapter, but I also really want to be done with Chapter 2 of the game and finally move on to Chapter 3 so I can get Bajie in the mix and have that back-and-forth banter I’ve been craving. (And the drama lol)

So now I’m debating whether I should drop the chapter as it is, or add a few summarized sections at the end covering Monkey Boy’s ventures up until he meets a certain NPC who likes… pills, lol.

Sword and Spice

I’ve written a little bit into the next chapter, but since we’re probably at the saddest part of the whole story, I want to take a little time with it and make sure it’s right.

Once my other story above is updated, I’ll get back to this one.

Dungeon Crawler Maple

So excited to start this reading group with @journeythroughjourneytothewest and all the rest of you! It's been a while since I read JttW straight through instead of just dipping in and out of my favorite chapters. My main impression, just like @arleniansdoodles, was, "oh wow I forgot how sweet and polite and innocent this lil' guy was at first!" He's so deferential to Subodhi and so delighted to have his new name!