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The wilbur soot subreddit seems to be going well.

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I saw @woompfy3 made an owl house/bench trio au and I immediately fell in love with it. So I put my own little twists in it (Like ranboo being part abomination), drew a few things for it and now I’m shipping it to Tumblr! Enjoy!

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I wish that I could shed my skin so that way I could have a really good prank every few months

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SUN WUKONG AND THE SIX-EARED MACAQUE ARE ACTUALLY BROTHERS?

Hi guys! I want to talk with you about something that got me curious when scrolling through some people tumblrs on jttw, many claimed the Six Eared Macaque to be Wukong's "evil twin brother", in a literal way I suppose because he's similar in the aspect and in personality. But I looked for infos in the book and what I found out it's that Buddha described him as another type of monkey, different from Wukong's, indeed he's the six-eared macaque, whose species doesn't exist anymore because Wukong killed him at the end, so regardless of what you can think, they're not blood brothers, and the reason why he looks the same as Wukong is because he wants all the merits for the journey and he disguised himself as him. Besides he has his own aspect but it isn't described in the novel unfortunately.

For who actually read the book, it's known the six eared macaque deceived the population of monkey making them believe he's the actual monkey king, and because he's been chased away by Sanzang, he created new members of his group looking exactly like the original ones, a fake Sanzang, a fake Pigsy, a fake Sandy and a fake Bailong. He was reciting over and over the master passport learning it by heart, so he can say it in front of Buddha and deceiving him like the others.

As for being the "evil part of Wukong", at a certain point, Buddha says to his companions "look to this split spirit which battles against itself" but I think it's ironical since he doesn't mention anything about Macaque being the half of Wukong lost along the journey or something. Like I said before, if they're two different monkeys, this statement doesn't make sense. He's been describing exactly what he was looking at in that moment, and he was watching two Wukongs fighting against each other but without further interpretation. We see him as evil, simply because he's against the protagonist and wants to sabotage his journey.

So the reason because he's exactly like Wukong it's not because they're brothers, or they're parts of the same soul, the yin and the yang, but because he is a stand alone creature who was trying to deceive everyone and get all merits for the journey taking Wukong's aspect and personality.

This is why I think they're absolutely not twin brothers or blood relatives, maybe you can think of them as the good and the evil half in a metaphorical way, but they're two distinct species of monkeys, who doesn't have anything to do with each other, besides powers and such.

If there's anyone who wants to tell me their opinions they are certainly welcomed, as long as it doesn't end up in a heated discussion to see who's right or not. I don't claim to be in the right, absolutely not, but this is only my opinion based on facts. So go ahead and tell me your ideas about it! ^^

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What is the Relationship between Sun Wukong and the Six Eared Macaque?

So, it is widely accepted in China that the Six Eared Macaque is a manifestation of Sun Wukong's dark inner thoughts and is his other self. I can see why some people would be skeptical of this interpretation because of the passages that seem to imply there were other Six Eared Macaques and that there is a whole species of Six Eared Macaque:

"I can see that the false Sun Wukong is just a Six Eared Macaque" - p 1332 "that is why this species is extinct" - p1333 - W.F. Jenner Translation

[in reference to the death of the Six Eared Macaque] "that is why this species is extinct" - p1333 - W.F. Jenner Translation

However, Journey to the West has a lot of metaphors and a lot of Buddhist allegories, in fact, the entire novel is considered an extended Buddhist allegory, and, according to Kai Zhang, is "intentionally composed of symbols, images, and codes that function to project a heroic adventure with a complex pattern of meaning, primarily representing the eternal human struggle for identity and a fully realized existence, that are Buddhist in nature." So, basically, not everything should be taken literally, in fact, most things should be considered symbolically. Plus, taking it literally means there are potentially contradictions, because the Six Eared Macaque is referred to as “an earth spirit who has long refined his powers” at the beginning of Chapter 58 (page 1317, W. J. F. Jenner translation).

Journey to the West is a Chinese novel (that is one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese Literature), and because of this, most commentary and discussion about it is in Chinese and not particularly accessible to English speakers/readers. So, unfortunately, there isn’t much in English about the Six Eared Macaque’s origins. Thankfully, various Chinese people have provided explanations (with sources) on how the Six Eared Macaque is shown to be made from Sun Wukong in JTTW:

Post by @/antidotefortheawkaward-art

Post by @/taopunk

While I’m not Chinese and can't read Chinese, I did some of my own research (with the help of Google Translate), which basically affirms/reiterates/expands on what those posts say.

So, there appears to be a concept in China of doublemindedness, or double-heartedness, in which one’s self is split or conflicted.

“If people have two hearts, it means their heart is divided, not focused, on something or somebody” (The Chinese HEART in a Cognitive Perspective: Culture, Body, and Language By Ning Yu (p198))

“Two minds, three hearts, a Chinese idiom, pinyin is liǎng yì sān xīn, which means thinking one way and another in one's heart, describing indecision or indecision”

In JTTW, Sun Wukong and the Six Eared Macaque are frequently referred to as the “two hearts” or “two minds” (English translations tend to favour the “two minds”).

Using the W. J. F. Jenner English translation of Journey to the West:

Chapter 58 title: “Two Minds Throw Heaven and Earth into Uproar, One Body Cannot Achieve True Nirvana” (page 1316) (but using this Chinese version the chapter title is 下卷 第五十八回 二心搅乱大乾坤 一体难修真寂灭 , which Google translates to: ‘Volume Two, Chapter 58: Two Hearts Disturb the Great Universe, One Body Difficult to Comprehend and Perish’.)

“Tathagata … said to them: “You are all of one mind. Watch the struggle of the two minds coming here.”” (chapter 58, page 1330)

“Watch the two Monkeys as they fly by cloud and mist to the Western Heaven, there is a poem about it that goes: Troubles arise if one has two minds; doubts cloud everything from sea to sky…” (chapter 58, page 1329)

Because all of the above quotes mention the “two hearts”/“two minds”, in reference to the Six Eared Macaque and Sun Wukong, it is commonly accepted in China that Journey to the West is heavily implying the Six Eared Macaque is Sun Wukong’s second/evil heart and is born from his dark inner thoughts.

I found a lot of promising academic articles on this, but they were behind paywalls or subscription walls I couldn’t get past. Thankfully, I did manage to access one really good Chinese academic article on how the Six Eared Macaque is a manifestation of Sun Wukong’s dark inner thoughts:

論《西遊記》中悟空與六耳獼猴之重像關係及其文本中之意蘊 (which translates to On the relationship between Wukong and the six-eared macaque in "Journey to the West" and its implication in the text) by Hung Wah

I put the PDF through the PDF translator and the translated PDF can be found here (the formatting and translation is a bit off, but it’s understandable (fyi, Sun Wukong’s name is sometimes translated to Goku)).

I found a LOT of Chinese [web]articles that discuss/explain how the Six Eared Macaque is the other heart of Sun Wukong, and these are some of the best, but they are no-where near as academic or as good as the above academic article (but the fact that I found countless articles on how the Six Eared Macaque was made from Sun Wukong shows how widespread this interpretation is):

Six-eared macaque is actually another clone of Sun Wukong, the incarnation of his evil inner demon 

Two Monkey Kings "two hearts disturb the world", whose two hearts are they?

The six-eared macaque knew that it was going to die, why did it dare to go to the west to see the Tathagata? After reading it, you will understand

six-eared macaque (Character in "Journey to the West")

Where did the six-eared macaque go after being killed?

Furthermore, the Six Eared Macaque is also described as having the same powers as Sun Wukong. In addition to this, Sun Wukong apparently acts less violently after he killed the Six Eared Macaque, which could symbolize how he has defeated his inner evils.

Additionally, the phrase ‘six ears’ likely refers to the six roots/senses and six desires of a person; in Buddhism the six senses are “sight, hearing, smell, touch, taste, and mind”, so the Six Eared Macaque's name refers to how he is an embodiment of Sun Wukong’s six impurities.

Linking to this (using this Chinese version of JTTW), the Six Eared Macaque is possibly referenced in one of the early chapters of JTTW Volume I:

“此间更无六耳，止只弟子一人，望师父大舍慈悲，传与我长生 之道罢，永不忘恩！” = “There are no six ears here, only one disciple. I hope that Master will show mercy to me and teach me the way of longevity, and never forget the kindness!” (page 24)

Interestingly enough, the W. J. F. Jenner English translation of this passage says “there is no third pair of ears” (page 33) instead of “six ears”.

Overall, it is widely accepted in China that Six Eared Macaque is a manifestation of Sun Wukong’s dark inner thoughts, and this affects lot of JTTW adaptations. For example, this concept/interpretation is utilized in Volume 14 of Wei Dong Chen’s Monkey King.

In my opinion, this concept also appears to have potentially been used in Lego Monkie Kid, as Sun Wukong and the Six Eared Macaque have very similar appearances (even their clothes were similar) and similar powers. Additionally, the shadow motif of the Six Eared Macaque implies that the original interpretation of JTTW has been reworked to have the Six Eared Macaque be born of Sun Wukong’s shadow. Of course, the origin of the Six Eared Macaque in Lego Monkie Kid has yet to be disclosed, but knowledge of the Six Eared Macaque’s origins in JTTW can provide potential insight.

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PSA for Ao3 Users:

Be sure to check the URL before clicking on any site to go to Ao3. I noticed today when I searched via Google Chrome that there is a false Ao3 site that comes up as the first result.

It says archiveofour.net

When you go to it, it looks EXACTLY like Ao3, but it is NOT.

When I curiously tapped the search bar, a pop-up opened to direct me elsewhere. I believe this to be a spoof site for the purpose of either phishing or possibly hijacking PCs for mining bitcoin or some other malicious purpose.

I could be wrong. Perhaps it's a proxy site- but the fact that it redirected me to yet another suspicious-looking URL is alarming.

I let a few friends know, but it doesn't appear on every browser. @plague-of-insomnia mentioned using CC and Safari, and it didn't appear for them.

Ya'll be careful, and remember to always check the URL! At first glance, this spoof site is very convincing. If I had been half asleep, I may not have noticed it was different.

Please reblog to make your friends and other fic writers and readers aware!

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I LOVE Phil's s4 hardcore world guys did you know that I love his s4 hardcore world because I do

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Hi bun very important question if I said you had to fight a duel against my greatest enemy (wolfy) with a pool noodle as a weapon, for my honor and name, would u do it

in a heartbeat, beloved

cant guarantee i’d win against that menace (/affectionate) but i’d give it my best shot

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With the Anastasia au, I can just picture Techno being the one who helped Wilbur and Phil escape by opening the hidden passage. Then he meets Tommy a couple years later and they become con artists but he never tells Tommy that he used to work at the palace, there was no need, he doesn't even mention this even after he realises Wilbur is the real deal. And Tommy doesn't clock on until Techno refuses the money from Phil and is like “Oh shit, you're the guy Wilbur talked about. You helped them escape!”

Tommy wouldn't be mad about the money though. At the start of the journey that's all he wanted for him and Techno, but by the end honestly, he just wanted their small group to stay together.

And then we have Phil who would be like, “I didn’t even expect to get my only son back, never mind gain three in one day-”

Yeah!!! Technically I assigned Tommy as dimitri and techno as vlad but they can switch tbh, both roles are easily switchable in this au :D Tommy probably would've been too young when the palace got stormed so Techno would be the one to help Wilbur escape yeye

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have you ever thought about an avatar the last airbender dream smp AU?

OH ACTUALLY!!

It’s a bit old but I still stand by with most of these assignments haha

Rivals duo’s final Agni Kai would be so cool man

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(1/5)Hey, so I sent this ask chain before you did The Purge, so hopefully you see it now (sorry for adding to the overwhelming asks tho). Anyways, so I was listening to Interlude IV a while back, and my first idea w/ it was Phil died and Techno was yelling at Kristen over it, BUT THEN I thought this au thingy: Techno dies, and Phil was the one who killed him (for whatever reason, maybe somebody manipulated him into a rage and Phil had to deal the last blow as the Angel of Death??? Idk).

(2/5)As he’s grieving his friend who “never dies” (“Technobl ade was s up p os ed to n ev er di e”), Kristin comes over and tells him to let him go, trying to comfort him. Phil gets extremely upset with her for taking his friend away (“He lived a good life and he gave it to you” “Oh, is th at rig ht? Y ou kn o w it ‘s n ot t ru e”) and like couples quarrel I guess?

(3/5)Anyway, something’s wrong with Phil which makes him a bit too aggressive, and that’s because the voices Techno had were a sort of curse where if you kill the person who possessed them, they move into YOUR mind and fester there. “Technoblade never dies” was a promise of Techno’s to himself and everyone else that no one else would kill him and adopt his voices. It took a long time for him to control them. They’re something he wouldn’t wish upon even his worst enemies.

(4/5)Back when Techno was struck, he looked at Phil with such a horror and guilt and whispered “Not you… An yon e bu t y o u,” but Phil didn’t understand. He hadn’t been told of the passing of hosts rule. Until now, told by a screaming head. Now he has the voices anrgily yelling at him, at Kristen, and Philza’s slowly turning into Redza. Kristin tries to calm him down as their murder or crows watches with worry, but she doesn’t succeed.

(5/5)When Redza storms off wearing Techno’s cloak—a cloak a few sizes too big, with a mind a few volumes too loud—his eyes turn scarlet as the voices plant themselves in his mind, screaming for Blood. Blood for the fallen Blood God. Redza is concerningly happy to oblige. (“Sho w’s ab o ut to sta rt. D o n ‘ t b e l a t e”) —Bagel Bites Anon {PS: Since I’m not as knowledgable about the DSMP as everyone else, I am aware this might be out of character ^^’ sorry if it is, I j think it’s a fun idea}

awwwwwwwwwwww :((( techno worrying for his friend even in his death D: Redza with techno's cloak is a banger concept, it's like a mantle(haha) that he now carries. the voices being a curse is really cool I love that hc

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hello tommyinnit from nowhere in particular 

wanted to doodle a random design based on fanon dfkghdf 

the thing on his head is for eryn, around his neck for tubbo, and different patches of wilbur’s coat and his old lmanburg uniform and ghostbur’s sweater sewn into his jacket. Herbs, alliums, and wheats grains in his pocket 

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I saw some of your art on Twitter one day and that’s actually what got my into mcyt again. By again I mean I stopped watching mcyt after Stampy and dantdm kinda died, so it was nice to see new people

They what

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Edited the chapter to add very important additions

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oh snap